New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-08-17

I OF Ur. the god OF the city OF Babylon
Marduk, was placed In the superior posi-
| ton. To him was ascribed the creation
| Of heaven and earth. and all the myths
and legends were changed 20 suit the
new condition. This was about 1000 Il. {.
In our tablet this god is not mentioned
at all. This indicates that II aniedates
, the period OF Bsbylonan supremacy and
gives us a clew TO the evolution OF the
| Babylonian theological system and the
divine authority OF the kings which was u
marked feature OF the Babylonian gov
eminent.
Originally the theory was that EMIL
conferred on Marduk, his favorite, all the
powers. Thus, in the evolutionary proc
ess Marduk became supreme. We find
in the historical inscriptions OF King
Hammurabi. for instance. an introduce
tory phrase, a sort Of genealogy Ike
those in the Old Testament, showing the
authority of the ruler. In 1t is first
named the Creator then Marduk and
then the transfer OF authority to Ham
murabi Through these Introductory
passages we can trace the evolution Of
the theological system.
THAT there was a Babylonian version
OF the creation was known before tbs
tablet was translated. but the previously
known account accredited the creation 10
Marduk. This shows that the present
tablet contains an earlier account than
the one previously known. 1t tells OF
the fight between the younger and older
generations OF the gods. and that Chaos
was vanqulshed by Marduk and his
body split into two parts.
OUT OF CHAOS.
From the upper part Marduk created
heaven and out Of the lower he formed
the earth. The idea sometimes appears
I'm another form In which Chaos was rep
resented as water, and when split be-
came the waters under the earth, such
as springs, and the waters above the
armament Perhaps the Biblical refer
ence TO the breaking up Of the fountains
OF the great deep and the opening OF
the windows Of heaven. has some con-
nection with this belief.
The favorite deity was not only
ruler goddess exercising power but she
was also the Goddess OF Wisdom. be-
cause she held this position she was also
considered the goddess OF special handi-
crafts such as carpentry and pottery. AS
the Goddess of Wisdom her most famous
work was the human heart and mankind
Tie heart was not only considered the
seat OF the emotions, but OF the intellect
as we'll She also was Goddess or ChiIo-
birth. Many pictures have been fouho
representing her as carrying child In
her arms and sucking II. These pictures
were supposed TO be the pictures OF an
other GODDESS because Assyriologists were
not aware OF her Importance. her most
sacred city was Adeb. the mooerh
Bismya, south OF Babylon. whlch mas
been excavated by the University OF en-
cago. These excavations are incofnp'e'e
because they were stopped by the lu'h-
ish government.
1T is of great importance 10 nave t'i'
new view Of Babylonian history Inns
tablet helps us TO distinguish among the
several versions of the creation anu III.
deluge as to the relative antiquity VI
each. II can be demonstrated from inns
tablet that there are at least three sep"'
rate versions Of the deluge and that theS
were interwoven-as we have seen ih l"o
Old Testament accounts. They heiP "
show how the present CONTRADICTORY
Biblical accounts came into existence
IL can be seen in the name OF the heio
Ziugiddo. which is a Sumerian name
'"The Sumerians ruled over Babylon oe-