PROBLEMS WHICH THE STUDY OFFERS
Monotheism.
As the matter of Babylonian monotheism has been publicly touched upon by Fried.Delitzsch in his "Babel und Bibel" lectures， a few words upon that important point will be regarded in all probability as appropriate.It has already been indicated that the giving of the names of "the gods his fathers" to Merodach practically identified them with him， thus leading to a tendency to monotheism.That tendency is， perhaps， hinted at in a letter of A？？ur-ban？-apli to the Babylonians， in which he frequently mentions the Deity， but in doing so， uses either the word /？lu/， "God，" Merodach， the god of Babylon， or Bêl， which may be regarded as one of his names.The most important document for this monotheistic tendency， however (confirming as it does the tablet of the fifty-one names)， is that in which at least thirteen of the Babylonian deities are identified with Merodach， and that in such a way as to make them merely forms in which he manifested himself to men.The text of this inscription is as follows：--"...is Merodach of planting.
Lugal-aki-...is Merodach of the water-course.
Nirig is Merodach of strength.
Nergalis Merodach of war.
Zagagais Merodach of battle.
Bêl is Merodach of lordship and domination.
Nebo is Merodach of trading(？).
Sin is Merodach the illuminator of the night.
？ama？ is Merodach of righteous things.
Addu is Merodach of rain.
Ti？pakis Merodach of frost(？).
Sig is Merodach of green things(？).
？uqamunu is Merodach of the irrigation-channel."Here the text breaks off， but must have contained several more similar identifications， showing how at least the more thoughtful of the Babylonians of old looked upon the host of gods whom they worshipped.
What may be the date of this document is uncertain， but as the colophon seems to describe it as a copy of an older inscription， it may go back as far as 2000 years B.C.This is the period at which the name /Yaum-？lu/ "Jah is God，" is found， together with numerous references to /？lu/ as the name for the one great god， and is also， roughly， the date of Abraham， who， it may be noted， was a Babylonian of Ur of the Chaldees.It will probably not be thought too venturesome to say that his monotheism was possibly the result of the religious trend of thought in his time.
Dualism.
Damascius， in his valuable account of the belief of the Babylonians concerning the Creation， states that， like the other barbarians， they reject the doctrine of the one origin of the universe， and constitute two， Tauthé (Tiawath) and Apason (Apsu).This twofold principle， however， is only applicable to the system in that it makes of the sea and the deep (for such are the meanings of the two words) two personages--the female and the male personifications of prim？val matter， from which all creation sprang， and which gave birth to the gods of heaven themselves.As far as the physical constituents of these two principals are concerned， their tenets might be described as having "materialistic monism" as their basis， but inasmuch as they believed that each of these two principals had a mind， the description "idealistic monism" cannot be applied to it--it is distinctly a dualism.
And Monism.
Divested of its idealistic side， however， there would seem to be no escape from regarding the Babylonian idea of the origin of things as monistic.[*] This idea has its reflection， though not its reproduction， in the first chapter of Genesis， in which， verses 2， 6， and 7， water is represented as the first thing existing， though not the first abode of life.This divergency from the Babylonian view was inevitable with a monotheistic nation， such as the Jews were， regarding as they did the Deity as the great source of everything existing.What effect the moving of the Spirit of God upon the face of the waters (v.2) was supposed by them to have had， is uncertain， but it is to be noted that it was the land (vv.11， 12) which first brought forth， at the command of God.
[*] Monism.The doctrine which holds that in the universe there is only a single element or principle from which everything is developed， this single principle being either mind (/idealistic monism/) or matter (/materialistic monism/).(Annandale.)The future life.
The belief in a future life is the natural outcome of a religious belief such as the Babylonians， Assyrians， and many of the surrounding nations possessed.As has been shown， a portion of their creed consisted in hero-worship， which pre-supposes that the heroes in question continued to exist， in a state of still greater power and glory， after the conclusion of their life here upon earth.
