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Myths of Babylonia and Assyria

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This work presents a compact survey of Babylonian and Assyrian civilization and mythology, tracing racial origins and early city-states and then detailing major deities, rival pantheons, demons, and popular cults such as Tammuz and Ishtar. It retells foundational narratives including creation as Merodach’s dragon-slaying, famed hero-quests of Etana and Gilgamesh, and the flood and underworld traditions, and examines material culture, laws, temple and urban life, astronomical lore, and imperial history from regional ascendancies to Assyrian splendour and decline, highlighting how myth, religion, and shifting peoples shaped political and social institutions.

N

Nabonidus (na-bo´nid-us), King of Babylonia, religious innovations of, 492, 493; relations with Cyrus, 494, 495.
Näbo-pol-äs´sar, King of Babylon, 487; alliance of with Medes, 488; fall of Nineveh, 488; Cyaxares the ally of, 493.
Nabu (nä´bü). See Nebo.
Nabu-aplu-iddin (na´bu-ap-lu-id´din), King of Babylon, 408.
Nabu-na´id, King of Babylonia. See Nabonidus.
Nadab (na´dab), King of Israel, 403.
Nahum, the doom of Nineveh, 477, 478, 488.
Naki´a, queen mother of Esarhaddon, 470; reigns in absence of Esarhaddon, 472; coronation of Ashur-bani-pal, 480.
Namtar (näm´tar), demon of disease, smites Ishtar in Hades, 97.
Nana (nä´nä), goddess of Erech, 124, 125; statue of 1635 years in Elam, 485.
Nannar (nän´nar), moon god, origin of name of, 52; consort and children of, 53; as father of Isis, 100; as a bisexual deity, 161, 299; cult of in Kish, 241; as bull of heaven, 334; Ishtar and, 436. See Moon and Sin.
Naram-Sin (nä´ram-sin), King of Akkad, famous stele of, 128; great empire of, 129; pigtails worn by enemies of, 265.
Naturalism, xxxiii; the conception of "self power", 291; Sumerian and Indian beliefs, 291, 292, 304, 328, 329; Totemism and, 293 et seq.; various co-existing forms of deities, 297.
Navigation, Sumerians and, 2.
Nebo (nā´bo), protector of Ashur-bani-pal's library, xxii, xxiii, 303; as Mercury, the messenger, 302; Merodach and Ea and, 303, 435, 436; as Mermer-Ramman, 303; month of, 305; Semiramis inscription, 419, 422; mother worship and, 434; spouse of, 436; small Kalkhi temple of, 487.
Nebuchadrezzar I (ne-bü-chad-rez´zar) of Babylonia, 380; conquests of, 381; power of, 382.
Nebuchadrezzar II, Hanging Gardens of, 220, 489; fiery furnace of, 349; monotheistic hymn of, 479; Egyptians routed by, 489; King of Judah captured by, 490; takes Jews captive, 491, 492.
Necho, the Pharaoh, Asiatic campaigns of, 489; rout of by Nebuchadrezzar, 489, 490.
Necho of Sais, Assyrian governor in Egypt, 475; Ashur-bani-pal and, 482; slain by Ethiopians, 483.
Neheb-Kau (ne´heb-kä´ü), Egyptian serpent goddess, 150.
Nehemiah in the Susan palace, III; restoration of Jews, 496.
Neith, Egyptian cult of, 105; her arrows of fertility, 337; "shuttle" of a thunderbolt, 337 n.
Neolithic Age. See Stone Age, the Late.
Neolithic folk tales, 156.
Nepthys (nep´thys) mourning for Osiris, 83; laments with Isis for Osiris, 99; as joint mother of Osiris, 99; as serpent goddess, 150.
Neptune, connection of with Ea, Dagon, &c, 33; the horn of, 238.
Nereids (nē´rē-ids), the, 33; the Babylonian, 34; as demon lovers, 68.
Nergal (ner´gäl), solar god of disease, 53; as King of Hades, 53, 54; Yama and, 56; as Destroyer, 62, 63, 303; like Teutonic Bell, 95; as form of Merodach, 160; conflict with Eresh-ki-gal, 205; as planet Mars, 303; Horus and Ares and, 304; like Agni, 304; Osiris and Tammuz and, 304; month of, 305; as "high head", 334; worship of in Samaria, 455.
Nergal-shar-utsur (ü´tsür), King of Babylonia, 492.
Nidaba (ni´da-ba), goddess of Lugal-zaggisi, 124.
Nightmare, Babylonian demon of, 68, 69.
Nimrod, eagle myth regarding, 167; agricultural myth of, 170; John Barleycorn and, 170, 170n.; the Biblical "mighty hunter", 276; as Ni-Marad (Merodach), 277, 343; the fires of, 350; Asshur and, 354.
Nimrud. See Kalkhi.
Nina (ni´na), the fish goddess, Ishtar as, 100; at Lagash, 117, 118, 327; Derceto and Atargatis and, 277; goddess of Nineveh, 327, 423; creatrix and, 437; Persian Anahita and, 496.
Nineveh, excavations at, xix; called after Nina, fish goddess, 100, 423; King Ninus and, 424; Biblical reference to origin of, 276, 277; Semiramis legend of origin of, 277; plundered by King of Mitanni, 280; observatory at, 321; Ashur and, 354; palace of Ashur-natsir-pal III at, 399; Ionians deported from Cilicia to, 464; as Babylon's rival, 469; Esarhaddon's Ashur temple at, 476; Nahum's prophecy, 477, 478; Ashur-bani-pal's palace and library at, 487; fall of, 488; Scythian legend, 488.
Nin-Girsu (nin-gir´su), the god of Lagash, Ninip and Tammuz and, 53, 115, 116, 333; Ur-Nina and, 117, 118; Urukagina, the reformer, and, 121 et seq.; famous silver vase from temple of, 120; lion-headed eagle of, 120; Gudea's temple to, 130; Shamash and Babbar and, 132; development of, 135; eagle of, 168; Merodach and Zamama and, 126, 241.
Ninip (nin´ip, or Nin´ib), as Nirig and destroying sun, 53; Zamama identified with, 126; during Isin Dynasty, 132; in flood legend, 190 et seq.; father and son myth, 158, 302; as bull god and boar god, 302, 334; month of, 305; the boar and, 315; as Kronos and Saturn, as elder and younger Horus, 316.
Nin´-shach, Babylonian boar god, 86.
Nin´-sun, as destroying goddess, 57, 100.
Nin´tü, the Babylonian serpent mother, 76; Tiamat and, 150.
Ninus, king, legendary founder of Nineveh, 277, 424; Semiramis and, 424, 425.
Nin´yas, son of Semiramis, 426.
Nippur (nip´pur), Enlil god of, 35; Ninip the Destroyer advances against, 53; Ramman, Hadad or Dadu and, 57; Ur-Nina and, 116, 117; Lugal-zaggisi and, 124; Ur moon god at, 130; Ea's temple at, 131; Isin kings from, 132, 133; Kassites showed preference for, 218; observatory at, 321; Kheber (Chebar) canal near, 344. Nirig (ni´rig), as Ninip and destroying sun, 53. See Ninip.
Nisroch, the Biblical, Ashur as, 343, 470.
Njord (nyerd), the Eddic sea god, 33.
Noah, the Babylonian, 27.
Nü, the Egyptian god, the crocodile as 29; Sumerian form of, 36, 37; vaguer than Nut, 106.
Nudimmud (nü´dim-müd). See Ea.
Nüsk´ü, the god, as fire deity, 49, 50, 51; as messenger of gods, 50, 53; connection of with sea fire, 50, 51; association of with sun and moon gods, 50, 353; identified with Nirig and Tammuz, 354.
Nut (noo´it), the Egyptian goddess, 36; Tiamat as, 37; as mother of Osiris, 101; Nu vaguer than, 106.

O

Oak, Saul buried under, 350; association of with thunder gods, 350.
Oannes (ō-än´nes), as Ea, 27, 30.
Odin (ō´din), 64; lovers of wife of, 103; Gilgamesh and, 184, 185; the mythical Ages and, 202; Paradise of like Indra's, 209.
Olympus, the Babylonian, 332.
Omri, King of Israel, 405.
Opener, the, Horus as, 302. See Apuata and Patriarch.
Opis, Kish swayed by, 114; King of captured by Eannatum of Lagash, 119; Entemena's sack of, 120.
Ops, 103.
Ori´on, the Constellation, as form of Osiris, 297; Nin-Girsu and Tammuz as, 301; as form of the sun, 305.
Orion, the Greek giant, origin of, 45.
Osiris (ō-sī´ris), Tammuz cult and cult of, xxxi, 81. Yama and Gilgamesh and, xxxii; as god of the Nile, 33; creative tears of, 45; as a "dangerous god", 63; as patriarch, 52, 82, 83, 84, 86, 90; weeping for, 83, twin goddesses mourn for, 99; Adonis myth, 83, 84; origin of, 84; blood of in Nile, 85; swine associated with, 85; as the lunar babe, 89; as child, husband, brother, and father of Isis, &c, 99, 297; as son with two mothers, 99; Nut as mother of, 101; Paradise of, 209; fusion of Ptah with Seb and, 264; Isis star and, 296; the grave of, 296; makes Isis a male, 299; Nergal and, 304; in star lore, 315; backbone symbol of world mountain, 332; Merodach and Ashur and, 354.
Osiris-Sokar, Merodach like, 299.
Owl, as ghost of sorrowful mother, 65; Arabian belief regarding, 70; reference to in Isaiah., 114.
Ox, the wild, in eagle and serpent myth, 75. 76.

P

Palaeolithic Age, skull forms of in France, 8; Palestine in, 10.
Palestine, early races in, 10; Palaeolithic finds in, 10; cave dwellers of, 10, 11; in empire of Naram Sin, 129; Abraham's wanderings in, 245; tribes he found in, 245, 246; Elamites in, 247, 248, 249; Necho's campaigns in, 489.
Pan, Ea-bani and, 135; the pipes of, 238.
Pantheon, the National, during Isin Dynasty, 132.
Pap-sukal (pap-sü´kal), messenger of gods, rescues Ishtar from Hades, 97.
Paradise, childless ghosts excluded from, 71; the Indian, Germanic, and Egyptian, 209; Babylonian beliefs, 210. See Hades.
Patesi (pa´te-si), priest king, 1.
Patriarch, the, Apuatu as, xxxii; Sargon of Akkad as, xxxiii, 91; Yama as, xxxii, 56, 200; Osiris and Tammuz as, xxxii, 82, 86, 90, 297; Scyld or Sceaf as, 92; Yngve, Frey, Hermod, and Heimdal as, 93; the mythical "sleepers" and, 164; Nimrod as, 170, 277, 354; Gilgamesh as, xxxii, 200; Mitra as, 201; the Biblical Asshur, 276, 327, 354; King Ninus of Nineveh and, 424, 425; the Persian and Cyrus, 493.
Paul, Mars' hill sermon of, 59, 60.
Pekah, King of Israel, 450, 451; Assyrian king overthrows, 453.
Pelasgians, the, Sumerian kinship with, 9; Achaeans and, 393.
Pennsylvania, University of, expedition of, xxiv.
Penrith, "Long Meg's" stone circle near, 156.
Persephone (per-sef´on-ē), the Babylonian, 53; as lover of Adonis, 90.
Perseus, legend of, 152; the Babylonian, 159, 164.
Persia, fire worship in, 50; Yama of India and Gilgamesh, and Yima of, 200, 201; the mythical Ages of, 202; eagle symbol of great god of, 347, 493; Ashur cult and, 355; Britain and Russia in, 357; Cyrus King of, 493; religion of and Babylonian influence, 496.
Persian Gulf, early Sumerians traded on, 2; Eridu once a port on, 22.
Petrie, Professor Flinders, dating of, xxv, 212; alien pottery in Egypt found by, 263; on Egypt's culture debt to Syria, 275.
Pharaoh, "Piru" theory, 458, 458 n[526].
Philistines, the, their god Dagon, 32, 33; "way of" an ancient trade route, 357; invasion of Palestine by, 379; as overlords of Hebrews, 379, 380; Hittites and, 386; civilization of, 387, 403, 405; as vassals of Damascus, 414; tribute from to Assyria, 439.
Phoenicians, Baau, mother goddess of, 150; traditional racial cradle of, 244; appearance of on Mediterranean coast, 245; Melkarth, god of, 346; as allies of Hebrews, 388.
Phrygia, thunder god of, 261; Cybele and Attis of, 267; Muski and, 395; King Midas of, 460; Cimmerians overrun, 472; Lydia absorbs, 494.
Picts, why they painted themselves, 212.
Pig, demon in, 71; sacrificed to Tammuz, 85; associated with Osiris, 85; sacrifice of to cure disease, 236; totemic significance of, 293; as the devil in Egypt and Britain, 293; Ninip as boar god, 302.
Pigeons. See Doves.
Pillar worship, "world tree" and "world spine", 334.
Pinches, Professor, on Ea, Ya or Jah, and Dagan, 31; on Babylonian "Will-o'-the-wisp", 66; on Babylonian boar god, 86; on flocks of Tammuz, 93; on Creation hymn, 149, 150; on Babylonian monotheism, 160; on names of Hammurabi, Tidal, &c, 248; on Merodach as Nimrod, 277; on Nebo and Ramman, 303; on Ashur worship, 352, 353; on Nusku and Tammuz, 353, 354; on Ashur, Merodach, and Osiris, 354; on the sacred doves, 427.
Pir-na-pish´tim, the Babylonian Noah, 27; sun god and, 55; Gilgamesh's journey to island of, 177, 178, 180; revelation of, 181, 182; the flood legend of, 190 et seq.; the Indian Yama and, 200; the Persian Yima and, 201.
Planets, deities identified with, 296; Merodach as Jupiter and Mercury, 299; Venus female at sunset and male at sunrise, 299; when gods were first associated with, 300; Horus identified with three, 300; the seven included sun and moon, 301; Jupiter as "bull of light", 301; the "bearded Aphrodite" and Ishtar, 301; Ninip (Nirig) and Horus as Saturn, 302; Nebo and Merodach as Mercury, 303; Nergal and Horus as Mars, 303, 304; in doctrine of mythical Ages, 313 et seq.; the Babylonian and Greek, 316; in astrology, 318.
Plant of Birth, Etana's quest for, 164.
Plant of Life, Gilgamesh's quest for, 164, 177.
Plato, the dance of the stars, 333.
Pleiades (plī´a-dēz), the. See Constellations.
Pleistocene (plīst´o-sēn) Age, the, Palestinian races of, 10.
Pliny, on the "Will-o'-the-wisp", 67.
Plutarch, the Osirian bull myth, 89; on Babylonian astrology, 318.
Poetry, magical origin of, 236 et seq.
Poets, inspired by sacred mead, 45.
Polar star, as "world spike", 332; Lucifer as, 331, 332.
Pork, tabooed by races, 293.
Poseidon (pō-sī´don), 64, 105.
Postal arrangements, in Hammurabi Age, 251.
Pottery, linking specimens of in Turkestan, Elam, Asia Minor, and Southern Europe, 5, 263.
Prajapati (prăjä´păti), the Indian god, creative tears of, 45.
Preservers, the, mother goddesses as, 100.
Priests, En-we-dur-an-ki of Sippar, 42; the sorcerer's spell, 46; Dudu of Lagash, 120; as rulers of Lagash, 121; and burial ceremonies, 208, 209; fees of cut down by reformer, 210, 211; as patrons of culture, 287, 288, 289.
Pritha (preet´hä), mother of Indian Karna, 126.
Prophecy, blood-drinking ceremony and, 48; breath of Apis bull and, 49.
Prophets, clothing of, 213, 214.
Psamtik (sam´tik), Pharaoh of Egypt under Assyrians, 483; throws off Assyrian yoke, 486.
Ptah (tä), the Egyptian god, Ea compared to, 30; cult of and mother worshippers, 105; deities that link with, 263, 264.
Pül, Assyrian king called in Bible, 444.
Pumpelly expedition, Turkestan discoveries of, 5, 6, 263.
Punt, the land of, as "cradle" of Mediterranean race, 39.
Purusha (pür-üsh´ă), the Indian chaos giant, 429.