[Illustration: 171.jpg SHAMASH IN HIS SHRINE, HIS EMBLEM BEFORE HIM ON THE ALTAR.]
Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Rassam. The busts of the two deities on the front of the roof of the shrine are the two charioteers of the sun; they uphold and guide the rayed disk upon the altar. Cf. in the Assyrian period the winged disk led with cords by two genii.
As soon as he appeared he was hailed with the chanting of hymns: "O Sun, thou appearest on the foundation of the heavens,--thou drawest back the bolts which bar the scintillating heavens, thou openest the gate of the heavens! O Sun, thou raisest thy head above the earth,--Sun, thou extendest over the earth the brilliant vaults of the heavens." The powers of darkness fly at his approach or take refuge in their mysterious caverns, for "he destroys the wicked, he scatters them, the omens and gloomy portents, dreams, and wicked ghouls--he converts evil to good, and he drives to their destruction the countries and men--who devote themselves to black magic." In addition to natural light, he sheds upon the earth truth and justice abundantly; he is the "high judge" before whom everything makes obeisance, his laws never waver, his decrees are never set at naught. "O Sun, when thou goest to rest in the middle of the heavens--may the bars of the bright heaven salute thee in peace, and may the gate of heaven bless thee!--May Misharu, thy well-beloved servant, guide aright thy progress, so that on Rbarra, the seat of thy rule, thy greatness may rise, and that A, thy cherished spouse, may receive thee joyfully! May thy glad heart find in her thy rest!--May the food of thy divinity be brought to thee by her,--warrior, hero, sun, and may she increase thy vigour;--lord of Ebarra, when thou ap-proachest, mayest thou direct thy course aright!---0 Sun, urge rightly thy way along the fixed road determined for thee,--O Sun, thou who art the judge of the land, and the arbiter of its laws!"
It would appear that the triad had begun by having in the third place a goddess, Ishtar of Dilbat. Ishtar is the evening star which precedes the appearance of the moon, and the morning star which heralds the approach of the sun: the brilliance of its light justifies the choice which made it an associate of the greater heavenly bodies. "In the days of the past.... Ea charged Sin, Shamash, and Ishtar with the ruling of the firmament of heaven; he distributed among them, with Anu, the command of the army of heaven, and among these three gods, his children, he apportioned the day and the night, and compelled them to work ceaselessly."