sublime Vedic hymns addressed by the Indian Aryans to Mitra and Varuna
the impress of Babylonian religious thought:

Whate'er exists within this earth, and all within the sky,
Yea, all that is beyond, King Varuna perceives....

_Rigveda_, iv, 16.[72]

O Varuna, whatever the offence may be
That we as men commit against the heavenly folk,
When through our want of thought we violate thy laws,
Chastise us not, O god, for that iniquity.

_Rigveda_, vii, 89.[73]

Shamash was similarly exalted in Babylonian hymns:

The progeny of those who deal unjustly will not prosper.
What their mouth utters in thy presence
Thou wilt destroy, what issues from their mouth thou wilt
dissipate.
Thou knowest their transgressions, the plan of the wicked thou
rejectest.
All, whoever they be, are in thy care....
He who takes no bribe, who cares for the oppressed,
Is favoured by Shamash,--his life shall be prolonged.[74]

The worshippers of Varuna and Mitra in the Punjab did not cremate
their dead like those who exalted the rival fire god Agni. The grave
was the "house of clay", as in Babylonia. Mitra, who was identical
with Yama, ruled over departed souls in the "Land of the Pitris"
(Fathers), which was reached by crossing the mountains and the rushing
stream of death.[75] As we have seen, the Babylonian solar god Nergal
was also the lord of the dead.

As Ma-banda-anna, "the boat of the sky", Shamash links with the
Egyptian sun god Ra, whose barque sailed over the heavens by day and
through the underworld of darkness and death during the night. The
consort of Shamash was Aa, and his attendants were Kittu and Mesharu,
"Truth" and "Righteousness".

Like the Hittites, the Babylonians had also a sun goddess: her name
was Nin-sun, which Jastrow renders "the annihilating lady". At Erech
she had a shrine in the temple of the sky god Anu.

We can trace in Babylonia, as in Egypt, the early belief that life in
the Universe had a female origin. Nin-sun links with Ishtar, whose
Sumerian name is Nana. Ishtar appears to be identical with the
Egyptian Hathor, who, as Sekhet, slaughtered the enemies of the sun
god Ra. She was similarly the goddess of maternity, and is depicted in
this character, like Isis and other goddesses of similar character,
suckling a babe. Another Babylonian lady of the gods was Ama, Mama, or
Mami, "the creatress of the seed of man