the Chaldaeans had
on it after the conquest; Halevy, in most of the names of
the gods given as Cossaean, sees merely the names of Chaldaean
divinities slightly disguised in the writing.

They worshipped twelve great gods, of whom the chief--Kashshu, the lord
of heaven-gave his name to the principal tribe, and possibly to the
whole race:* Shumalia, queen of the snowy heights, was enthroned beside
him,** and the divinities next in order were, as in the cities of the
Euphrates, the Moon, the Sun (Sakh or Shuriash), the air or the
tempest (Ubriash), and Khudkha.*** Then followed the stellar deities or
secondary incarnations of the sun,--Mirizir, who represented both Istar
and Beltis; and Khala, answering to Gula.****

* The existence of Kashshu is proved by the name of
Kashshunadinakhe: Ashshur also bore a name identical with
that of his worshippers.

** She is mentioned in a rescript of Nebuchadrezzar I., at
the head of the gods of Namar, that is to say, the Cossaean
deities, as "the lady of the shining mountains, the
inhabitants of the summits, the frequenter of peaks." She is
called Shimalia in Rawlinson, but Delitzsch has restored her
name which was slightly mutilated; one of her statues was
taken by Samsiramman III., King of Assyria, in one of that
sovereign's campaigns against Chaldaea.

*** All these identifications are furnished by the glossary
of Delitzsch. Ubriash, under the form of Buriash, is met
with in a large number of proper names, Burnaburiash,
Shagashaltiburiash, Ulamburiash, Kadashmanburiash, where the
Assyrian scribe translates it _Bel-matati_, lord of the
world: Buriash is, therefore, an epithet of the god who was
called Ramman in Chaldaea. The name of the moon-god is
mutilated, and only the initial syllable Shi... remains,
followed by an indistinct sign: it has not yet been
restored.

**** Halevy considers Khala, or Khali, as a harsh form of
Gula: if this is the case, the Cossaeans must have borrowed
the name, and perhaps the goddess herself, from their
Chaldaean neighbours.

The Chaldaean Ninip corresponded both to Gidar and Maruttash, Bel to
Kharbe and Turgu, Merodach to Shipak, Nergal to Shugab.* The Cossaean
kings, already enriched by the spoils of their neighbours, and supported
by a warlike youth, eager to enlist under their banner at the first
call