[*] According to Nabonidus's date 3800 B.C.， though many Assyriologists regard this as being a millennium too early.
The earliest form of the Babylonian religion.
The state of development to which the religious system of the Babylonians had attained at the earliest period to which the inscriptions refer naturally precludes the possibility of a trustworthy history of its origin and early growth.There is no doubt， however， that it may be regarded as having reached the stage at which we find it in consequence of there being a number of states in ancient Babylonia (which was at that time like the Heptarchy in England) each possessing its own divinity--who， in its district， was regarded as supreme--with a number of lesser gods forming his court.It was the adding together of all these small pantheons which ultimately made that of Babylonia as a whole so exceedingly extensive.Thus the chief divinity of Babylon， as has already been stated， as Merodach； at Sippar and Larsa the sun-god ？ama？ was worshipped； at Ur the moon-god Sin or Nannar； at Erech and Dêr the god of the heavens， Anu； at Muru， Ennigi， and Kakru， the god of the atmosphere， Hadad or Rimmon； at êridu， the god of the deep， Aa or êa； at Niffur[*] the god Bel； at Cuthah the god of war， Nergal； at Dailem the god Ura？； at Ki？ the god of battle， Zagaga； Lugal-Amarda， the king of Marad， as the city so called； at Opis Zakar， one of the gods of dreams； at Agadé， Nineveh， and Arbela， I？tar， goddess of love and of war； Nina at the city Nina in Babylonia， etc.When the chief deities were masculine， they were naturally all identified with each other， just as the Greeks called the Babylonian Merodach by the name of Zeus； and as Zer-pan？tum， the consort of Merodach， was identified with Juno， so the consorts， divine attendants， and children of each chief divinity， as far as they possessed them， could also be regarded as the same， though possibly distinct in their different attributes.
[*] Noufar at present， according to the latest explorers.Layard (1856) has Niffer， Loftus (1857) Niffar.The native spelling is Noufer， due to the French system of phonetics.
How the religion of the Babylonians developed.
The fact that the rise of Merodach to the position of king of the gods was due to the attainment， by the city of Babylon， of the position of capital of all Babylonia， leads one to suspect that the kingly rank of his father êa， at an earlier period， was due to a somewhat similar cause， and if so， the still earlier kingship of Anu， the god of the heavens， may be in like manner explained.This leads to the question whether the first state to attain to supremacy was Dêr， Anu's seat， and whether Dêr was succeeded by êridu， of which city êa was the patron--concerning the importance of Babylon， Merodach's city， later on， there is no doubt whatever.The rise of Anu and êa to divine overlordship， however， may not have been due to the political supremacy of the cities where they were worshipped--it may have come about simply on account of renown gained through religious enthusiasm due to wonders said to have been performed where they were worshipped， or to the reported discovery of new records concerning their temples， or to the influence of some renowned high-priest， like En-we-dur-an-ki of Sippar， whose devotion undoubtedly brought great renown to the city of his dominion.
Was Animism its original form？
But the question naturally arises， can we go back beyond the indications of the inscriptions？ The Babylonians attributed life， in certain not very numerous cases， to such things as trees and plants， and naturally to the winds， and the heavenly bodies.Whether they regarded stones， rocks， mountains， storms， and rain in the same way， however， is doubtful， but it may be taken for granted， that the sea， with all its rivers and streams， was regarded as animated with the spirit of êa and his children， whilst the great cities and temple-towers were pervaded with the spirit of the god whose abode they were.Innumerable good and evil spirits were believed in， such as the spirit of the mountain， the sea， the plain， and the grave.These spirits were of various kinds， and bore names which do not always reveal their real character--such as the /edimmu/， /utukku/， /？êdu/， /a？akku/ (spirit of fevers)， /namtaru/ (spirit of fate)， /al？/(regarded as the spirit of the south wind)， /gallu/， /rabisu/， /labartu/， /labasu/， /ahhazu/ (the seizer)， /lilu/ and /lilithu/ (male and female spirits of the mist)， with their attendants.
All this points to animism as the pervading idea of the worship of the peoples of the Babylonian states in the prehistoric period--the attribution of life to every appearance of nature.The question is， however， Is the evidence of the inscriptions sufficient to make this absolutely certain？ It is hard to believe that such intelligent people， as the primitive Babylonians naturally were， believed that such things as stones， rocks， mountains， storms， and rain were， in themselves， and apart from the divinity which they regarded as presiding over them， living things.A stone might be a /b？t ？li/ or bethel--a "house of god，" and almost invested with the status of a living thing， but that does not prove that the Babylonians thought of every stone as being endowed with life， even in prehistoric times.
