rt from the same principles and agree in many of their
details. Between them, however, lies that deep gulf which separates
the religion of {182} Israel from that of Babylonia as a whole. The
one is monotheistic, the other polytheistic. Upon the basis of this
fundamental difference the religious leaders of Israel gave to the
similar forms adopted from other nations a new and deeper meaning and
significance.

Like the Hebrew religion, the religion of Babylonia has its guardian
angels.[23] The Babylonian rulers stood in need of hosts of messengers
to bear their behests into all quarters of their dominions. In a
similar manner, it was thought, the gods needed their heavenly hosts to
carry out their commissions. These angels are represented under
various forms, but all of them are equipped with wings, so as to be
able to carry upon the winds of heaven the commands of the gods to the
children of men. Sometimes they are represented with eagles' heads,
perhaps to indicate that they possess the keenness of vision and the
rapidity of flight of an eagle; sometimes they have human countenances
to denote their human intelligence. Frequently they appear as hybrid
figures, with the body of a lion or bull, the wings of an eagle, and
the head of a man, symbolizing strength, swiftness, and intelligence.

The duties of these angels are manifold. Those placed at the entrances
of palaces or temples are to guard those entrances. The peculiar
relations of angels to men are suggested, for example, by {183} a
letter of a Babylonian officer to the queen mother. He writes: "Mother
of the king, my lady, be comforted. Bel's and Nabu's angel of mercy
attends on the king of the land, my lord." A letter addressed to
Esarhaddon contains these words: "May the great gods send a guardian of
salvation and life to stand by the king my lord." And Nabopolassar,
the founder of the Chaldean empire, and father of Nebuchadrezzar,
writes: "To lordship over land and people, Marduk called me. He sent a
cherub of mercy to attend on me, and everything I undertook he aided."

Alongside of these guardian angels there appear evil spirits and
demons. "These demons were everywhere: they lurked in every corner,
watching for their prey. The city streets knew their malevolent
presence, the rivers, the seas, the tops of the mountains. They
appeared sometimes as serpents gliding noiselessly upon their victims;
as birds, horrid of mien, flying resistlessly to