aean intaglio pointed out
by Heuzey-Sarzcc; the original is in the Louvre. The scene
depicted behind Shamash deals with a legend still unknown. A
goddess, pursued by a genius with a double face, has taken
refuge under a tree, which bows down to protect her; while
the monster endeavours to break down the obstacle branch by
branch, a god rises from the stem and hands to the goddess a
stone-headed mace to protect her against her enemy.

In the most ancient times it would appear that even human sacrifices
were offered, but this custom was obsolete except on rare occasions, and
lambs, oxen, sometimes swine's flesh, formed the usual elements of
the sacrifice. The gods seized as it arose from the altar the unctuous
smoke, and fed on it with delight. When they had finished their repast,
the supplication of a favour was adroitly added, to which they gave a
favourable hearing. Services were frequent in the temples: there was one
in the morning and another in the evening on ordinary days, in addition
to those which private individuals might require at any hour of the day.
The festivals assigned to the local god and his colleagues, together
with the acts of praise in which the whole nation joined, such as that
of the New Year, required an abundance of extravagant sacrifices, in
which the blood of the victims flowed like water. Days of sorrow and
mourning alternated with these days of joy, during which the people and
the magnates gave themselves up to severe fasting and acts of penitence.
The Chaldeans had a lively sense of human frailty, and of the risks
entailed upon the sinner by disobedience to the gods. The dread of
sinning haunted them during their whole life; they continually
subjected the motives of their actions to a strict scrutiny, and once
self-examination had revealed to them the shadow of an evil intent, they
were accustomed to implore pardon for it in a humble manner. "Lord, my
sins are many, great are my misdeeds!--O my god, my sins are many, great
my misdeeds!--O my goddess, my sins are many, great my misdeeds!--I have
committed faults and I knew them not; I have committed sin and I knew
it not; I have fed upon misdeeds and I knew them not; I have walked in
omissions and I knew them not.--The lord, in the anger of his heart,
he has stricken me,--the god, in the wrath of his heart, has abandoned
me,--Ishtar is enraged against me, and has treated me harshly!--I make
an effort, and no