ophets, his well-beloved,
his pastors, elected by him to rule his human flocks, or as priests
devotedly attached to his service. While, however, the ordinary priest
chose for himself a single master to whom he devoted himself, the
priest-king exercised universal sacerdotal functions and claimed to be
pontiff of all the national religions. His choice naturally was directed
by preference to the patrons of his city, those who had raised his
ancestors from the dust, and had exalted him to the supreme rank, but
there were other divinities who claimed their share of his homage
and expected of him a devotion suited to their importance. If he had
attempted to carry out these duties personally in detail, he would have
had to spend his whole life at the foot of the altar; even when he had
delegated as many of them as he could to the regular clergy, there still
remained sufficient to occupy a large part of his time. Every month,
every day, brought its inevitable round of sacrifices, prayers, and
processions. On the 1st of the second Elul, the King of Babylon had to
present a gazelle without blemish to Sin; he then made an offering of
his own choosing to Shamash, and cut the throats of his victims
before the god. These ceremonies were repeated on the 2nd without any
alteration, but from the 3rd to the 12th they took place during the
night, before the statues of Merodach and Ishtar, in turn with those
of Nebo and Tashmit, of Mullil and Ninlil, of Eamman and of Zirbanit;
sometimes at the rising of a particular constellation--as, for instance,
that of the Great Bear, or that of the sons of Ishtar; sometimes at the
moment when the moon "raised above the earth her luminous crown." On such
a date a penitential psalm or a litany was to be recited; at another
time it was forbidden to eat of meat either cooked or smoked, to change
the body-linen, to wear white garments, to drink medicine, to sacrifice,
to put forth an edict, or to drive out in a chariot. Not only at
Babylon, but everywhere else, obedience to the religious rites weighed
heavily on the local princes; at Uru, at Lagash, at Nipur, and in
the ruling cities of Upper and Lower Chaldaea. The king, as soon as he
succeeded to the throne, repaired to the temple to receive his solemn
investiture, which differed in form according to the gods he worshipped:
at Babylon, he addressed himself to the statue of Bel-Merodach in the
first days of the month Nisan which followed his accession, and