for the
Assyrian kings to appoint a member of the royal house--a son or
brother--to the lieutenancy over Babylonia. As for the cult, the
Assyrian kings were at great pains to leave it undisturbed, or where it
had been interrupted to restore it, and thus secure the favor of the
southern gods. So Shalmaneser II. upon the completion of his campaign
enters Marduk's great temple at Babylon, E-sagila, and offers prayers
and sacrifices to Bel and Belit, _i.e._, Marduk and Sarpanitum. From
E-sagila he crosses over to Borsippa, and pays homage to Nabu and to
Nabu's consort, whom he calls Nana.[288] The kings are fond, especially
when speaking of the Babylonian campaigns, of slipping in the name of
Marduk after that of Ashur. With the help of Ashur and Marduk their
troops are victorious. Marduk shares Ashur's terrible majesty. At times
Shamash, or Shamash and Ramman, are added to form a little pantheon
whose assistance is invoked in the Babylonian wars. From being used in
restricted application to Babylonian affairs, Ashur and Marduk came to
be invoked in a general way. Esarhaddon expressly sets up the claim of
being the savior of Marduk's honor, as a kind of apology for proceeding
against Babylonia with his armies. Sargon, to emphasize his legitimate
control over Babylonia as well as Assyria, says that he has been called
to the throne by Ashur and Marduk, but Ashurbanabal goes further even
than his predecessors. He proceeds to Babylon on the occasion of the
formal installation of his brother Shamash-shumukin as viceroy of the
district, enters the temple of Marduk, whom he does not hesitate to call
'the lord of lords,' performs the customary rites, and closes the
ceremonies by a fervent prayer to Marduk for his continued good will and
blessing.[289] The great gods Nergal, Nabu, and Shamash come from their
respective shrines to do homage to Marduk. Ashurbanabal's brother
Shamash-shumukin, when he attempts as governor of Babylon to make
himself independent of his brother, endeavors by means of sacrifices and
other devices to secure the favor of Marduk, well aware that in this way
he will also gain the support of the Babylonians. On another occasion,
incidental to a northern campaign, Ashurbanabal mentions that the day on
which he broke up camp at Damascus was the festival of Marduk,--an
indication that the Babylonian god was in his thoughts, even when he
himself was far away from Babylonia. Esarhaddon and Ashurbanabal, when
approac