7.

[123] There is also a goddess _Eria_ worshipped in Elam, who may be
identical with Erua. The scribes in the days of Nebuchadnezzar (_c._
1140 B.C.), at least, appear to have thought so, for they associate her
with Bel, just as Sarpanitum is associated with Del-Marduk. (See the
Inscription VR. 57, col. ii. ll. 11, 12.)

[124] Whether, however, this was the real meaning of the name is
doubtful, for the name of the goddess is also written Aru and Arua,
which points to a different verbal stem.

[125] See below under Tashmitum.

[126] There are indications also of an arrested amalgamation of
Erua-Sarpanitum with Tashmitum, the wife of Nabu. (See Sayce, _Hibbert
Lectures_, p. 112.)

[127] Rawlinson, ii. 60, 30.

[128] _Hibbert Lectures_, p. 117.

[129] See further on, _sub_ Ea.

[130] _Kosmologie_, p. 239.

[131] _Sub_ Nusku, chapter xiii.

[132] Tiele, _Geschichte d. Religion i. Alterthum_, i. 171 and 188, is
of the opinion that Nabu is a late deity whose worship dates from a
period considerably subsequent to Hammurabi. This conclusion from the
non-occurrence of the god in early inscriptions is not justified. There
is no reason why Nabu should have been added as a deity in later times,
and in general we must be on our guard against assuming new deities
subsequent to Hammurabi. It is much more plausible to assume the
restored popularity of very old ones.

[133] Bel being Marduk, the title was equivalent to that of 'governor of
Babylonia.'

[134] So, Tiele, _Geschichte d. Religion i. Alterthum_, i. 191.

[135] The Hebrew word for prophet, _nabi_, is of the same stem as the
Assyrian Nabu, and the popular tradition is placing the last scene in
the life of Moses on Mt. Nebo is apparently influenced by the fact that
Moses was a _nabi_.

[136] See above, p. 123.

[137] So in the cylinder of Shamash-shum-ukin (Lehmann's publication,
pls. viii. _seq._).

[138] _E.g._, in the so-called Grotefend Cylinder, col. ii. 34.

[139] _Wiener Zeitschrift fuer die Kunde d. Morgenlandes_, iv. 301-307.

[140] We only know the name through Eusebius' extract from Alexander
Polyhistor's digest of Berosus. The form, therefore, cannot be vouched
for. The various modern attempts to explain the name have failed (see
_e.g._, Lenormant's _Magic und Wahrsagekunst der Chaldaer_, 2d German
edition, pp. 376-379). There may be some ultimate connection between
Oannes and Jonah (see Trumbull in _Journal of Bibl. Liter._ xl. 58,
note).