t of the moon-god Sin or
Nannar. As, according to Babylonian notions, the sun does not properly
belong to the heavens and plays an insignificant part in the calendrical
system in comparison with the moon, sun-worship proper does not seem to
have existed in Babylonia. At the same time it would seem as though when
the "primitive sun"=Polaris became the hidden, secret god of the
priest-astronomers, who determined the seasons by Ursa Major, the populace
was taught to regard Bel as the personification of the diurnal sun and of
the herald of day, the morning star.

When it is borne in mind how, as the empire spread, new cities were
founded on the plan of the metropolis, that each of these must therefore
have been, in turn, governed by a pair of minor rulers, and had its own
minor zikkurat, we can understand the various indications that exist
showing how the ancient sacred capital of the state became the place of
reunion for the minor "gods," who assembled there annually in the main
sanctuary, and the fact that each minor chief necessarily required his
dwelling place and tribal council-chamber, would account for the
"references to zikkurats ... or special sanctuaries of some kind, which
were erected within the sacred precinct of the main capital ..." (Jastrow,
p. 637).

When it is realized that each zikkurat was an artificial "mountain" the
description of Babylon in Revelations XVIII becomes clearly intelligible
and is seen to apply to the seven-fold organization of the ancient empire
which had become the centre of the debasing earth-worship ultimately
identified with a female goddess. "And the woman which thou sawest is that
great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth.... I saw a woman
sit upon a scarlet colored beast ... having seven heads.... The seven
heads are seven _mountains_, on which the woman sitteth ... and there are
seven kings"....

Future investigation will doubtlessly furnish us with exact knowledge
concerning the original relation of the governors of the "four regions" to
the central ruler and of the "seven divisions" of the state to each other.
It would be desirable to establish whether each territorial division and
tribe bore the name of its tribal ancestor and whether these names agree
with those of the seven chief "gods" of the pantheon, each of whom is
associated with a celestial body, a day of the seven-day period and, as
shown in the bas-relief already cited, with a different animal. I am
st