, war became the
chief factor in keeping alive the thought of national solidarity.

Omen Calendars.

There was still another reason why the king and with him public affairs,
received such prominence in the omen texts. As the nation's ruler he was
not only an important personage by virtue of his power over his
subjects, but also by virtue of his close relationship to the gods. The
theory of the 'divine right of kings' was rigidly adhered to in
Babylonia and Assyria. When the monarchs speak of themselves as
nominated by this or that god to be the ruler of the country, this was
not a mere phrase. The king was the vicar of the deity on earth, his
representative who enjoyed divine favor and who was admitted into the
confidence of the gods. In earlier days priestly functions were
indissolubly associated with kingship. The oldest kings of Assyria call
themselves 'the priests of Ashur,' and it is only as with the growth of
political power a differentiation of functions takes place that the
priest, as the mediator between the deity and his subjects, becomes
distinct from the secular ruler.

The further development of this process led to the curious but perfectly
natural anomaly that the king, from being originally identical with the
priest, becomes in large measure dependent upon the latter in his
relations to the gods. In the more advanced stages of the religious
cult, the king requires the service of a priest to act as mediator
between himself and the gods, precisely as all of his subjects need this
mediatorship. The king cannot obtain an oracle directly. He must send to
the temple and inquire of the priests. The priest must intercede for the
king when he throws himself upon the mercy of an angered god or goddess.
The royal sacrifice is not acceptable unless the priest stands by the
side of the king.

Still there are traces left of the old direct relationship existing
between the king and his gods. A god sometimes reveals himself directly
to a ruler. Ishtar appears in a dream and gives him directions. Another
and more significant trace of this older relationship is to be found in
the importance assigned to the religious conduct of the king. If an
individual offends a deity, the individual alone suffers, or at the most
his family is involved in the punishment inflicted; but if the king
sins, the whole country suffers, and correspondingly the king's
atonement and reconciliation with the gods is essential for dispelling
so