most tuneful voices in
Shinar.

First came the priests of Bel, two and two, robed in their white tunics,
loose white garments on their legs, the white mitre of the priestly
order on their heads, and their great beards curled smooth and glossy as
silk. In their midst, with stately dignity, walked their chief, his eyes
upon the ground, his hands crossed upon his breast, his face like dark
marble in the twilight. On either side, those who had officiated at the
sacrifice, bore the implements of their service,--the knife, the axe,
the cord, and the fire in its dish; and their hands were red with the
blood of the victim lately slain. Grand, great men, mighty of body and
broad of brow, were these priests of Bel,--strong with the meat and the
wine of the offerings that were their daily portion, and confident in
the faith of their ancient wisdom.

After the priests the musicians, one hundred chosen men of skill, making
strange deep harmonies in a noble and measured rhythm, marching ten and
ten abreast, in ten ranks; and as they came on, the light streaming from
the porch of the palace caught their silver ornaments and the strange
shapes of their instruments in broken reflections between the twilight
and the glare of the lamps.

Behind these came the singers,--of young boys two hundred, of youths a
hundred, and of bearded men also a hundred; the most famous of all that
sang praises to Bel in the land of Assur. Ten and ten they marched, with
ordered ranks and step in time to the massive beat of the long-drawn
measure.

_"Mighty to rule the day, great in his glory and the
pride of his heat,
Shooting great bolts of light into the dark earth,
turning death into life,
Making the seed to grow, strongly and fairly, high
in furrow and field,
Making the heart of man glad with his gladness,
rideth over the dawn
Bel, the prince, the king of kings.

"Hotly his flaming hair, streaming with brightness,
and the locks of his beard
Curl'd into clouds of heat, sweeping the heavens,
spread all over the sky:
Who shall abide his face, fearful and deadly, when
he devours the land,
Angry with man and beast, horribly raging, hungry
for sacrifice?
Bel, the prince, the king of kings.

"Striding his three great strides, out of the morning
through the noon to the night,
Cometh he down at last, ready for feasting, ready
for sac