f the other
great goddesses of Babylonia,--Nina, Nana, Ishtar,--specific traits and
not political importance lending them the significance they acquired.

At one time we may well suppose that the festival of En-lil at Nippur,
which brought worshippers from all parts of Babylonia, was recognized as
a 'New Year's Day,' and we may some day find evidence that at a still
earlier period the first day of a month sacred to some other god,--Sin
or Shamash or Nana-Ishtar of Erech,--was recognized in some districts as
the starting-point for the year; but to an agricultural community, the
spring, when the seeds are sown, or the fall, after the harvest has been
gathered, are the two most natural periods for reckoning the beginning
of the year. Since we know that at the time when Babylon acquired her
supremacy the year began in the spring, the conservatism attaching to
religious observances makes it more than probable that Bau's festival
also fell in the spring.

After the ancient religious and political centers of the south yielded
their privileges to Babylon, it was natural for the priests of Marduk to
covet the honor of the New Year's festival for the new head of the
pantheon. Accordingly, we find the Zagmuku transformed into a Marduk
festival. That it did not originally belong to Marduk follows from the
fact that it was celebrated in the month of Nisan,--the first
month,--whereas the month sacred to Marduk was Arakh-shamna (or
Marcheshwan),--the eighth month. The deliberate transfer of the Zagmuku
to Marduk is also indicated by the fact that the festival of Nisan has
another name by which it is more commonly designated,--Akitu.[1542] The
name seems to have been originally a general term for a festival, and it
is natural that Marduk's festival should have come to be known as _the_
festival, just as among the Hebrews the annual fall pilgrimage to the
sanctuary at Jerusalem became known as _the_ Hag,--the pilgrimage _par
excellence_. To distinguish it from other festivals, Marduk's festival
is sometimes spoken of as the "great" or the "lofty" Akitu. The first
day was properly the Zagmuku, whereas the Akitu itself extended at
least over the first eleven days of Nisan[1543] and may indeed have
lasted the entire month; but Zagmuku was also used for the festival
period. The New Year's Day was marked by a solemn procession. The
union of Nabu and Marduk was symbolized by a visit which the former
paid to his father, the chief of the Babyl