se up.[531]
Up onto the mountain I bring them.
There to rain down upon them destructive stones.
Thine enemies I hew down,
With their blood I fill the river.
Let them behold and glorify me,
For Ashur, the lord of gods, am I.'

This important and striking message, coming direct from Ashur we are
told, is to be formally presented and read in the presence of the king.
Instructions are added to the priests to pour out a libation of precious
oil. Sacrifices of animals and waving of incense are to accompany the
presentation.

The oracle, as the god's answer to the king's questions, thus gave rise
to a ritual as elaborate as the rites connected with the preparations
for the answer. The oracles were not always trustworthy, as we can well
believe, and often they were not definite enough. If we may judge from
an expression in one of the divine messages to Esarhaddon, the king
appears to have entered a complaint against a former oracle, which was
not to his liking. Ishtar accordingly sends the following message:[532]

The former word which I spoke to thee,
On it thou didst not rely.
Now, then, in the later one you may have confidence.
Glorify me!

Clearly, the Assyrian kings believed that the oracles existed to
announce what they wanted to hear. They probably did not hesitate to
follow their own judgment whenever they considered it superior to the
advice given to them by the gods. There would, of course, be no
difficulty in accounting for failures brought about through obedience to
the oracles. The priests, hemmed in on every side by minute ceremonial
observances, forfeited their power as mediators by the slightest failure
in the observance of these rites. An error or a mishap would entail most
serious consequences. A misleading oracle, therefore, and to a certain
extent, unfavorable omens, would be the fault of the priests. The deity
would send 'a lying message'[533] or bring about unfavorable omens as a
sign of his or her displeasure. On the other hand, the priests in turn
would not hesitate--speaking of course in the name of the gods--to
accuse the kings of neglecting Ishtar or Nabu or Shamash, as the case
may be. In an oracle addressed to Esarhaddon,[534] Ishtar of Arbela is
represented as complaining that the king has done nothing for her,
although she has done so much for him. Such a state of affairs cannot go
on.

Since they do nothing for me,
I will not give anything to thee.

The king pr