ther by the equality accorded to all spirits.
The antiquity of the association of En-lil with Nippur justifies the
conclusion that we have before us a local deity who, originally the
protecting spirit merely, of a restricted territory, acquires the
position of 'chief demon' as the town of Nippur grows to be the capitol
of a large and powerful district. The fame and sanctity of Nippur
survives political vicissitudes; and, indeed, in proportion as Nippur
loses political prestige, the great deity of the place is released from
the limitations due to his local origin and rises to the still higher
dignity of a great power whose domain is the entire habitable universe.
As the 'lord of the lower world,' En-lil is contrasted to a god Anu, who
presides over the heavenly bodies. The age of Sargon (3800 B.C.), in
whose inscriptions En-lil already occurs, is one of considerable
culture, as is sufficiently evidenced by the flourishing condition of
art, and there can therefore be no objection against the assumption that
even at this early period, a theological system should have been evolved
which gave rise to beliefs in great powers whose dominion embraces the
'upper' and 'lower' worlds. It was because of this wide scope of his
power that he became known as Bel, _i.e._, the lord _par excellence_;
and it is equally natural to find his worship spread over the whole of
Babylonia. In the south, the patron deity of Lagash is designated by
Gudea as "the mighty warrior of Bel," showing the supremacy accorded to
the latter. A temple to En-lil at Lagash, and known as E-adda, 'house of
the father,' by virtue of the relationship existing between the god of
Nippur and Nin-girsu, is mentioned by Uru-kagina. The temple is
described as a lofty structure 'rising up to heaven.' In the north,
Nippur remains the place where his worship acquired the greatest
importance, so that Nippur was known as the "land of Bel." The temple
sacred to him at that place was a great edifice, famous throughout
Babylonian history as E-Kur, _i.e._, mountain house, in the construction
of which, a long line of Babylonian rulers took part. From Naram-Sin,
ruler of Agade, on through the period of Cassite rule, the kings of
Nippur proudly include in their titles that of 'builder of the Temple of
Bel at Nippur,' measuring their attachment to the deity by the additions
and repairs made to his sacred edifice.[25] Besides the kings of Agade,
the rulers of other places pay their devot