as the pantheon is concerned, the
limitations in the development of doctrines connected with it were
reached when the union of the several Euphratean states was permanently
effected under Hammurabi. Marduk, a solar deity, takes his place as the
head of the pantheon by virtue of the preeminent place occupied by his
patron city,--Babylon. The other great gods, each representing some
religious center that at one time or the other rose to importance,
grouped themselves around Marduk, as the princes and nobles gather
around a supreme monarch. A certain measure of independence was reserved
for the great mother goddess Ishtar, who, worshipped under various names
as the symbol of fertility, plenty, and strength, is not so decidedly
affected by the change as deities like En-lil, Shamash, Sin, and Ea, who
could at any time become rivals of Marduk. As the position of Marduk,
however, became more and more assured without danger of being shaken,
the feeling of rivalry in his relations to the other gods began to
disappear. Marduk's supremacy no longer being questioned, there was no
necessity to curtail the homage paid to Shamash at Sippar or to En-lil
at Nippur; hence the religious importance of the old centers is not
diminished by the surpassing glory of Babylon. There was room for all.
Marduk's toleration is the best evidence of his unquestioned headship.

The centralization of political power and of religious supremacy is
concomitant with the focussing of intellectual life in Babylon. The
priests of Marduk set the fashion in theological thought. So far as
possible, the ancient traditions and myths were reshaped so as to
contribute to the glory of Marduk. The chief part in the work of
creation is assigned to him. The storm-god En-lil is set aside to make
room for the solar deity Marduk. But, despite such efforts, the old
tales, once committed to writing on the practically imperishable clay,
survived, if not in the minds of the people, at least in the archives of
the ancient temples.

The antiquity of literature in Babylonia was the factor that prevented
the cult from acquiring a uniform character in the various parts of the
empire. The priests of Nippur, of Sippar, of Eridu, of Erech, Cuthah,
Ur, and other places began long before the period of Hammurabi to
compile, on the basis of past experience and as a guide for future
needs, omen lists, incantation formulas, and sacrificial rituals. These
collections created orthodox standard