,
with all the consequences that the establishment of a central
priesthood, with growing powers over ever-increasing territory,
involves. It is to be noted, moreover, that the manner in which in the
old Babylonian inscriptions _Anu_ is written,[75] indicates that the
abstraction involved in the conception of a god of heaven had not yet
been reached, though some measure of personification was of course
inevitable at a time when animistic notions still held sway. A direct
indication of this personification of heaven without the deification
appears in the epithet 'child of Anu,' bestowed upon the goddess Bau.
The reference to the heavens in this connection is an allusion to Bau's
position as the patroness of that quarter of Lagash known as the
'brilliant town,'[76] and where Bau's temple stood. The transference of
the quality of 'brilliancy' from the town to the goddess would be
expressed by calling the latter the offspring of that part of visible
nature which is associated in the mind with 'brilliancy.' Somewhat
mysterious, and still awaiting a satisfactory explanation, is the title
'sacrificer,' or 'priest of Anu,' which one of the rulers of Lagash,
Ur-Nin-girsu, assumes. It is scarcely possible that the god of heaven
can be meant; and, on the other hand, if we are to assume merely a
personification of heaven, we encounter fresh difficulties. It seems to
me that the use of Anu[77] here is purely metaphorical for 'high' or
'lofty,' and that the king merely wishes to emphasize the dignity of his
station by declaring himself to be the heavenly priest, somewhat as we
should say 'priest by divine grace,' or 'supreme priest.'

Nin-si[78]-a.

Ur-Bau and Gudea alone of the ancient rulers refer to this god. The
former erects a temple in honor of the god in some quarter of his
capitol city, while the latter emphasizes the strength that the god has
given him. These references, however, show that the god must have been
of considerable importance, and in this case, his disappearance from the
later pantheon is probably due to the absorption of his role by the
greater god of Lagash,--Nin-girsu. Like Nin-girsu, Nin-si-a was a god of
war, and his worship, imported perhaps from some ancient site to Lagash,
falls into desuetude, as the attribute accorded to him becomes the
distinguishing trait of the chief deity of the place.

Gal-alim.

Among the various deities to whom Gudea gives praise for the position
and glory which he attai