ological literature of the Babylonians, but hardly none at all in
the historical and incantation texts. A fuller treatment may therefore
be reserved for a future chapter.

Lugal-erima.

A purely local deity, if the reading and interpretation offered by
Jensen, 'King of the city Erim,' is correct. The mention of the deity in
an inscription of Ur-Bau, who calls himself the 'beloved servant' of
this god, would be due to the circumstance that the district within
which the city in question lay was controlled by the rulers of Lagash.
To invoke as large a number of deities as possible was not only a means
of securing protection from many sides, but was already in the early
days of Babylonian history indulged in by rulers, as a means of
emphasizing the extent and manifold character of their jurisdiction.

Nin-e-gal and Ningal.

A temple was erected to Nin-e-gal by the wife of Rim-Sin, of the dynasty
ruling in Larsa. Her name as interpreted in the tablet dedicated to her,
signifies again, as in several cases already noted, 'great lady.' She
was probably therefore only the consort of some patron deity; and Nannar
being the most prominent god invoked by Rim-Sin, it would seem that the
goddess to whom the queen pays her respects is again one of the consorts
of the moon-god.[87] This conclusion is supported by the direct
association of Nannar of Ur and Ningal in an inscription emanating from
an earlier member of the same dynasty to which Rim-Sin belongs.
Nur-Ramman speaks of building temples to these deities in the city of
Ur. Hence the goddess is also represented as interceding with Sin on
behalf of those who appeal to her. The form Nin-e-gal is but a variant
of Nin-gal, so that the identification of the two lies beyond doubt, and
it may very well be that the temple erected by the consort of Rim-Sin is
the same as the one referred to by Nur-Ramman. In a land where polygamy
was a prevailing custom, the gods too might be represented as having a
number of consorts. There would of course be, just as in human
relations, one chief consort, but there might be others ranged at the
side of the latter.[88] Some of these may have been consorts of other
minor deities, worshipped in the same district, and who were given to
the more important divinity as he gradually overshadowed the others. In
this way, we may account for the large variety of 'ladies' and 'great
ladies' met with in the Babylonian pantheon, and who, being merely
'reflect