* The passive and almost impersonal character of the majority of the Babylonian and Assyrian goddesses is well known. The majority must have been independent at the outset, in the Sumerian period, and were married later on, under the influence of Semitic ideas.
The triads were, therefore, nothing more than theological fictions. Each of them was really composed of six members, and it was thus really a council of twelve divinities which the priests of Uruk had instituted to attend to the affairs of the universe; with this qualification, that the feminine half of the assembly rarely asserted itself, and contributed but an insignificant part to the common work. When once the great divisions had been arranged, and the principal functionaries designated, it was still necessary to work out the details, and to select v agents to preserve an order among them. Nothing happens by chance in this world, and the most insignificant events are determined by previsional arrangements, and decisions arrived at a long time previously. The gods assembled every morning in a hall, situated near the gates of the sun in the east, and there deliberated on the events of the day. The sagacious Ea submitted to them the fates which are about to be fulfilled, and caused a record of them to be made in the chamber of destiny on tablets which Shamash or Merodach carried with them to scatter everywhere on his way; but he who should be lucky enough to snatch these tablets from him would make himself master of the world for that day. This misfortune had arisen only once, at the beginning of the ages. Zu, the storm-bird, who lives with his wife and children on Mount Sabu under the protection of Bel, and who from this elevation pounces down upon the country to ravage it, once took it into his head to make himself equal to the supreme gods. He forced his way at an early hour into the chamber of destiny before the sun had risen: he perceived within it the royal insignia of Bel, "the mitre of his power, the garment of his divinity,--the fatal tablets of his divinity, Zu perceived them. He perceived the father of the gods, the god who is the tie between heaven and earth,--and the desire of ruling took possession of his heart;--yea, Zu perceived the father of the gods, the god who is the tie between heaven and earth,--and the desire of ruling took possession of his heart,--'I will take the fatal tablets of the gods, I myself,--and the oracles of all the gods, it is I who will give them forth;--I will install myself on the throne, I will send forth decrees,--I will manage the whole of the Igigi.'--And his heart plotted warfare;--lying in wait on the threshold of the hall, he watched for the dawn.--When Bel had poured out the shining waters,--had installed himself on the throne, and donned the crown, Zu took away the fatal tablets from his hand,--he seized power, and the authority to give forth decrees,--the god Zu, he flew away and concealed himself in the mountains." Bel immediately cried out, he was inflamed with anger, and ravaged the world with the fire of his wrath. "Anu opened his mouth, he spake,--he said to the gods his offspring:--'Who will conquer the god Zu?--He will make his name great in every land.'--Bamman, the supreme, the son of Anu, was called, and Anu himself gave to him his orders;--yea, Bamman, the supreme, the son of Anu, was called, and Anu himself gave to him his orders.--'Go, my son Kamman, the valiant, since nothing resists thy attack;--conquer Zu by thine arm, and thy name shall be great among the great gods,--among the gods, thy brothers, thou shalt have no equal: sanctuaries shall be built to thee, and if thou buildest for thyself thy cities in the "four houses of the world,"* --thy cities shall extend over all the terrestrial mountain! 'Be valiant, then, in the sight of the gods, and may thy name be strong.' Bamman answers, he addresses this bpeech to Anu his father:--'Father, who will go to the inaccessible mountains? Who is the equal of Zu among the gods, thy offspring? He has carried off in his hand the fatal tablets,--he has seized power and authority to give forth decrees,--Zu thereupon flew away and hid himself in his mountain.--Now, the word of his mouth is like that of the god who unites heaven and earth;---my power is no more than clay,--and all the gods must bow before him.'" Anu sent for the god Bara, the son of Ishtar, to help him, and exhorted him in the same language he had addressed to Ramman: Bara refused to attempt the enterprise. Shamash, called in his turn, at length consented to set out for Mount Sabu: he triumphed over the storm-bird, tore the fatal tablets from him, and brought him before Ea as a prisoner.