Aventinus 10

Johannes Turmayr's 1520 History of Bavaria, Chapter 10 - translated and annotated by Ras Feqade, AD 2020.

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## 10. Beginning of idolatry, how and when it came about.

When the first Emperor in Germany, Tuitsch, had ruled in Germany 118 years, **Bell** died, the second king at Babylon, called Jupiter, that is in our language, highest father and greatest helper, a son of Nimrod. This giant Nimrod (inasmuch as he ruled viciously, weighed down the country and people, did not protect the poor and wise men), as was the custom back then, strangled and tore the heroes, when he drove much willfulness in Babylon 56 years (as the holy scriptures then also indicate in short words).

[In *Defloratio* the 'Era of Saturn' encompasses the 56 years from the fall of the tower (2424 BC) to the accession of Gilgamesh (Belus) in Erech in 2367 BC. It thus includes Enmerkar's post-tower reign, and the reigns of Enmerkar's immediate successors, Lugalbanda (2398-2392 BC) and Dumuzid (2392-2374 BC), as well as the seven years of struggle after Dumuzid from which Gilgamesh emerged. Saturn, or more likely Cronos, may come from a title shared by Ham, grandfather of Nimrod.

Likewise the following 'Era of Belus' or Jupiter in *Defloratio* seems to include the reign of Gilgamesh (2367-2342 BC), and his son Ur-Nungal (2342-2337 BC), as well as the next king to hold hegemony in Nippur, Mesannepada of Ur (2337-2306 BC). The figure of 118 years thus refers to the 56 years *Defloratio* gives to Saturn, added to the 62 years assigned there to Belus, and not to the 118th year of Tuyscon.]

His grandson, the above-mentioned king Bel's son, the third king of Babilon, called Ashur by Moses in the Bible but **Ninus** by us, came to the Babylonian or Assyrian kingdom after his father's death. At hand, either out of arrogance, that he wants to be born of divine origin, or out of love that he had for his father, so that he brought him to a special place of honor and eternal memory, or (which I believe) out of an evil spirit, he raised up the above-mentioned king Bel, his father, made him holy, put him in the sky, set up a temple in the city of Babylon, built there in honor of the above-mentioned Bel, his father, a costly, wonderful shrine (of which also Pliny reports) in the middle of the city, put up his father's portrait and consecrated it: whoever went there must bow and kneel for it, whoever is guilty of something and fled there, had freedom; shoved next to it, that everyone must hold it in such honor, call in need, have refuge and confidence in as a great helper. So he offered him openly divine honors, had a messenger go out so that such honoring would be proven and shown to his father by all men and women. That was just a game of evil fiends...

[The remainder of this chapter goes on at length about how evil spirits led the kings and people astray into idolatry, which, lacking in historical details, is omitted for brevity. Ninus refers not to Asshur but to Meskiag-nuna, the son of Mesannepada of Ur, who followed him in 2306 BC. He is said here to have been the first to deify his predecessor, Belus, erecting idols and temples for his cult. In fact it is likely that Gilgamesh, or Belus himself, had already deified his predecessors Lugalbanda and Dumuzid.]