f the Babylonian empire. The
zikkurat itself being, as we saw, an attempt to reproduce the shape of
the earth, the representation of the 'apsu' would suggest itself as a
natural accessory to the temple. The zikkurat and the basin together
would thus become living symbols of the current cosmological
conceptions. Gudea already regards the zikkurat as a symbol. To make the
ascent is a virtuous deed.[1441] The thought of adding a symbol of the
apsu belongs, accordingly, to the period when this view of the zikkurat
was generally recognized. The shape of the 'sea' was oblong or round. It
was cut of large blocks of stone and was elaborately decorated. One of
the oldest[1442] has a frieze of female figures on it, holding in their
outstretched hands flagons from which they pour water. In Marduk's
temple we learn that there were two basins,--a larger and a smaller one.
The comparison with the great 'sea' that stood in the court of Solomon's
temple naturally suggests itself, and there can be little doubt that the
latter is an imitation of a Babylonian model.

Another sacred object in the construction of which much care was taken
was the ship in which the deity was carried in solemn procession. It is
again in the inscriptions of Gudea[1443] that we come across the first
mention of this ship. This ruler tells us that he built the 'beloved
ship' for Nin-girsu, and gave it the name Kar-nuna-ta-uddua, the ship of
'the one that rises up out of the dam of the deep.' The ship of Nabu is
of considerable size, and is fitted out with a captain and crew, has
masts and compartments.[1444] The ship resembled a moon's crescent, not
differing much, therefore, from the ordinary flatbottomed Babylonian
boat with upturned edges. Through Nebuchadnezzar[1445] we learn that
these ships were brilliantly studded with precious stones, their
compartments handsomely fitted out, and that in them the gods were
carried in solemn procession on the festivals celebrated in their
honor.[1446] A long list[1447] of such ships shows that it was a symbol
that belonged to all the great gods. The ships of Nin-lil, Ea, Marduk,
Sin, Shamash, Nabu, Ninib, Bau, Nin-gal, and of others are specially
mentioned. A custom of this kind of carrying the gods in ships must have
originated, of course, among a maritime people. We may trace it back,
therefore, to the very early period when the sacred cities of Babylonia
lay on the Persian Gulf. The use of the ships also suggests, that t