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Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

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4G4<br />

EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS<br />

name. Thus, e. g. y<br />

<strong>the</strong> xiggurrat of Shamash, both at Sippara<br />

1 and at Larsa, was called E-Duranki y<br />

"House of <strong>the</strong><br />

l<strong>in</strong>k of heaven and earth," 2 or abbreviated E-Duranna,<br />

<strong>the</strong> xiggurrat of Mar-<br />

"House of <strong>the</strong> l<strong>in</strong>k of heaven," and<br />

duk at Babylon, Etemenanki, " House of <strong>the</strong> foundation of<br />

heaven and earth."<br />

Bel, " <strong>the</strong> lord " par excellence, who took <strong>the</strong> place of<br />

<strong>the</strong> Sumerian En-lil <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Semitic pan<strong>the</strong>on, is, as we have<br />

seen, <strong>the</strong> k<strong>in</strong>g of this " middle empire." His manifestation<br />

is " <strong>the</strong> w<strong>in</strong>d " (//'/), and his name designates him <strong>the</strong>refore<br />

as " <strong>the</strong> lord {en) of <strong>the</strong> w<strong>in</strong>d {lit) " or " storm," and of<br />

all those o<strong>the</strong>r phenomena which frequently accompany it,<br />

"thunder," " lightn<strong>in</strong>g," etc. The hundreds of terra-cotta<br />

images of Bel or En-lil discovered at Nippur accord<strong>in</strong>glv<br />

represent him generally as an old man (a real " fa<strong>the</strong>r of<br />

<strong>the</strong> gods ") with a long flow<strong>in</strong>g beard, and a thunderbolt or<br />

some o<strong>the</strong>r weapon <strong>in</strong> his hand. 3 He and his consort Beltis<br />

reside <strong>in</strong> a house on <strong>the</strong> top of <strong>the</strong> great " mounta<strong>in</strong> of <strong>the</strong><br />

world," which reaches unto heaven (Gen. n :<br />

4). There<br />

<strong>the</strong> gods were born, 4 and from <strong>the</strong>nce " <strong>the</strong> k<strong>in</strong>g of heaven<br />

and earth " hurls down his thunderbolts. This house is<br />

localized <strong>in</strong> Ekur (" House of <strong>the</strong> mounta<strong>in</strong> "), Bel's<br />

famous temple at Nippur. Though this name generally<br />

designates <strong>the</strong> whole temple complex <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>scriptions,<br />

orig<strong>in</strong>ally, as <strong>the</strong> etymology of <strong>the</strong> word <strong>in</strong>dicates, it can<br />

have been applied only to <strong>the</strong> most important part of it,<br />

1<br />

I <strong>in</strong>fer this from <strong>the</strong> fact that an ancient k<strong>in</strong>g of Sippara, known from a<br />

text of <strong>the</strong> library of Ashurbanapal, has <strong>the</strong> name Enme-Duranhi, concern<strong>in</strong>g<br />

whom comp. Zimmern, <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> third edition of Schrader's Keil<strong>in</strong>schrtften u?id<br />

das Alte Testament, vol. i, part 2 (Leipzig, 1902), pp. 532, seqq.<br />

2<br />

Comp. also Jensen, /. c, p. 485.<br />

3<br />

For <strong>the</strong> present comp. <strong>the</strong> illustration fac<strong>in</strong>g p. 342, above.<br />

4<br />

Sargon, " Khorsabad," 155, seq. : " The gods Ea, S<strong>in</strong>, Shamash, Nebo,<br />

Adad, N<strong>in</strong>ib, and <strong>the</strong>ir sublime consorts, who are born legitimately <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

house of [situated on <strong>the</strong> top of] <strong>the</strong> great mounta<strong>in</strong> of <strong>the</strong> world, <strong>the</strong> mounta<strong>in</strong><br />

of < <strong>the</strong> ne<strong>the</strong>r world.' "

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