Lectures on the origin and growth of religion as illustrated by the religion of the ancient Babylonians / by A. H. Sayce.

  • Sayce, A. H. (Archibald Henry), 1845-1933.
Date:
1898
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lectures on the origin and growth of religion as illustrated by the religion of the ancient Babylonians / by A. H. Sayce. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    first niglit of the new year in the temple of Bel-Merodach ; text and notes of ceremonial, 79-81 ; special dresses and ablutions necessary, 82. Sakkanaku, a special title of the high- priest of Bel-Merodach, sometimes as- sumed by the kings, 109, note. Saints' calendar for the intercalary month Elul; every day devoted to one or other of the gods, with certain rites and cere- monies, 70-5. Sala and Zarpanit once the same divinity, 210 ; Sala of the copper hand expressly called the wife of Taramuz, the Ijeauti- ful Sun-god of Eridu, 212. Salliman, or Solomon, name of a king of Moab, 57-8. Samas, the son of Sin, the Moon-god ; the Sun-gods of Babylonia as numerous as its Moon-gods; each city had its own, 166 ; the Samas of Sarsa and that of Sippara described, 167-8. Samlah, Semele, and Pen-Samlath, 54, note. Sangu, name of an ofEoe nearly like the levitical, 61. Sargon honoured alike by Accadians and Semites ; myths relating to his history compared with those about Kyros, Per- seus, Romulus and Remus, and Moses, 26-8 ; legend respecting Sargon ; Sar- ganu, same origin as the Biblical Serug, 28, note; his early occupation and his- torical chai-acter; founded the great library at Accad ; seal of his librarian ; the standard works on astronomy and omens ; afterwards translated by BSros- sos; Sargon's conquest of Elam, Syria and Cyprus, proved by Cesnola's disco- veries, 29-31. »Sarzec's discoveries at Tel-loh show the beginnings of ChaldEean art and writ- ing ; the latter more pictorial than cuneitic at the time, 32; statues of diorite from Magan. when the mines were held and worked by the Egyptians of the third dynasty; unit of measure- ment, 137. Savul or Sawul, a Babylonian deity ; name carried to Palestine and Edom, 35. Semitic conception of religion purely local in Babylon, Canaan and Phoenicia ; its Baalism in different places, so many aspects of the Sun-god, 121. Semitic encroachments and ascendency; formation of an upper class of soldiers, traders and priests; intercourse be- tween the Accadians and the Semitic intruders generally peaceful; theformer mostly became serfs and cultivated the soil, and intermarried ; edicts issued in two languages; cuneiform writing still imperfect; new values and signs in- vented; ideographs retained and script imitated ; rivalry of the scribes in copy- ing and compiling; rise of a mixed literary dialect and religious ideas of the two races; further influenced by dynastic changes, 35-6. Seven a sacred number; the Chaldean Noah's sacrifice, and use of sevens in the sacrificial vessels; the seven magic knots used by the witch ; the seven anointings of the sick with oil; the sabbath or seventh day; the seven pla- nets and demon messengers of Anu; the god of the same number; the De- luge said to have lasted seven days; the seven sheep of the hero; the seven gates of Hades; the seven zones or stones of Erech ; and the seven fish- like men from the Persian Gulf, 82, notes. Sex introduced into theology by the Se- mites, who provided every god with his female reflex, 110 ; want of sex in Ac- cadian divinities a sore puzzle to the Semites from their opposite modes of thought with regard to rank and pre- cedence, 176-7. Shamanism and Animism explained, and use of magical texts, 330 ; the intro- duction of a moral element, rise of totemism, and the various stages of a higher cult; cosmogonic speculations and the generalisation of phenomena followed, and faith was enlarged by the belief in good and evil spirits; contrast of the two systems, and their develop- ment reviewed, 332-3. Shinar, plains of, the earliest home of Sabianism ; the astronomy and astro- logy of Babylonia celebrated by Greek and Latin authors, and alluded to in the Old Testament, 396-7; where as- tronomical observations were made long before the towers of the temples were erected for the purpose; the leading groups of the stars had been named, a calendar formed and eclipses recorded ; the sun's apparent path noted and divided into twelve sections, and named from the chief constellations; the names refer to the totemistic age of the Acca- dian faith, 396-7 ; probable date of the invention of the Zodiac, 398. Sin, name of several localities in Arabia and Moab, 42. Sin the Moon-god never confounded with Istar in Harran, Yemen or Sinai, 256. Sin-muballidh defeated Kim-Agu, 25-6. Sinai quarries worked 6000 years ago; diorite statue of king Kephren, and that at Tel-loh almost similar, 33;