fficiently proved by the repair and restoration of the ancient temples
under Nebuchadnezzar, and their re-dedication (as a general rule) to
the same deities. It appears also from the names of the later kings and
nobles, which embrace among their elements the old divine appellations.
Still, together with this general uniformity, we seem to see a certain
amount of fluctuation--a sort of fashion in the religion, whereby
particular gods were at different times exalted to a higher rank in the
Pantheon, and were sometimes even confounded with other deities commonly
regarded as wholly distinct from them. Thus Nebuchadnezzar devoted
himself in an especial way to Merodach, and not only assigned him titles
of honor which implied his supremacy over all the remaining gods, but
even identified him with the great Bel, the ancient tutelary god of the
capital. Nabonidus, on the other hand, seems to have restored Bel to his
old position, re-establishing the distinction between him and Merodach,
and preferring to devote himself to the former.

A similar confusion occurs between the goddesses Beltis and Nana or
Ishtar, though this is not peculiar to the later kingdom. It may perhaps
be suspected from such instances of connection and quasi-convertibility,
that an esoteric doctrine, known to the priests and communicated by
them to the kings, taught the real identity of the several gods and
goddesses, who may have been understood by the better instructed to
represent, not distinct and separate beings, but the several phases
of the Divine Nature. Ancient polytheism had, it may be surmised, to a
great extent this origin, the various names and titles of the Supreme,
which designated His different attributes or the different spheres of
His operation, coming by degrees to be misunderstood, and to pass, first
with the vulgar, and at last with all but the most enlightened, for the
appellations of a number of gods.

The chief objects of Babylonian worship were Bel, Merodach, and Nebo.
Nebo, the special deity of Borsippa, seems to have been regarded as a
sort of powerful patron-saint under whose protection it was important
to place individuals. During the period of the later kingdom, no divine
element is so common in names. Of the seven kings who form the entire
list, three certainly, four probably, had appellations composed with it.
The usage extended from the royal house to the courtiers; and such names
as Nebu-zar-adan, Samgar-Nebo, and Nebushazba