ithets, therefore, referred to his
power, to his supremacy over other gods, to his favor shown to his
worshippers by granting them unprecedented glory; and since the
political supremacy remained undisputed for many centuries, no
opportunity was afforded for ever reverting to the attributes of the god
as a solar deity. He remained--if one may so express it--a political
deity. The political significance of Babylon permitted only one phase of
his nature to be brought forward.

In the religious texts, however, preserving as they do the more
primitive conceptions by the side of the most advanced ones, some traces
of other attributes besides prowess in war are found. By virtue of his
character as a solar deity, Marduk, like the orb personified through
him, is essentially a life-giving god. Whereas Shamash is viewed as the
'judge of mankind,' Marduk becomes the god who restores the dead to
life, though he shares this power with Shamash, Gula, Nebo, and Nergal.
But after all, even in the religious texts, his more prominent role is
that of a ruler,--a magnified king. He protects the weak, releases the
imprisoned, and makes great the small. He controls by his powerful hand
the mountains and rivers and fountains. He is the counsellor who guides
the decrees, even of the great gods, Anu and Bel. On his head rests a
crown with high horns, as the symbol of rulership. As the supreme ruler,
life and death are in his hands. Blessings flow from him; and of
awe-inspiring appearance, his wrath inflicts severe punishment on the
evil-doer.

It is a noteworthy circumstance, and characteristic of the phase of the
Babylonian religion which we are considering, that the extension of
Marduk's political sway did not lead to the establishment of Marduk
cults outside of Babylon. One reason for this was that, in accordance
with the political conceptions, dwelt upon in the introductory chapter,
the empire of Babylonia was regarded simply as an extension of the city
of Babylon. Babylonia, therefore, being identified in theory with the
city of Babylon, there was no need of emphasizing the power of Marduk by
establishing his cult elsewhere. Within the limits of Babylon, however,
there might be more than one shrine to Marduk, and accordingly, when the
city was extended so as to include the place known as Borsippa, a temple
to Marduk was also erected there. The temple on the east side of the
Euphrates, known as E-Sagila, 'the lofty house,' was the older, an