But while most Babylonians appear to have believed that the life
principle was in blood, some were apparently of opinion that it was in
breath--the air of life. A man died when he ceased to breathe; his
spirit, therefore, it was argued, was identical with the
atmosphere--the moving wind--and was accordingly derived from the
atmospheric or wind god. When, in the Gilgamesh epic, the hero invokes
the dead Ea-bani, the ghost rises up like a "breath of wind". A
Babylonian charm runs:

The gods which seize on men
Came forth from the grave;
The evil wind gusts
Have come forth from the grave,
To demand payment of rites and the pouring out of libations
They have come forth from the grave;
All that is evil in their hosts, like a whirlwind,
Hath come forth from the grave.[59]

The Hebrew "nephesh ruach" and "neshamah" (in Arabic "ruh" and "nefs")
pass from meaning "breath" to "spirit".[60] In Egypt the god Khnumu
was "Kneph" in his character as an atmospheric deity. The ascendancy
of storm and wind gods in some Babylonian cities may have been due to
the belief that they were the source of the "air of life". It is
possible that this conception was popularized by the Semites.
Inspiration was perhaps derived from these deities by burning incense,
which, if we follow evidence obtained elsewhere, induced a prophetic
trance. The gods were also invoked by incense. In the Flood legend the
Babylonian Noah burned incense. "The gods smelled a sweet savour and
gathered like flies over the sacrificer." In Egypt devotees who
inhaled the breath of the Apis bull were enabled to prophesy.

In addition to water and atmospheric deities Babylonia had also its
fire gods, Girru, Gish Bar, Gibil, and Nusku. Their origin is obscure.
It is doubtful if their worshippers, like those of the Indian Agni,
believed that fire, the "vital spark", was the principle of life which
was manifested by bodily heat. The Aryan fire worshippers cremated
their dead so that the spirits might be transferred by fire to
Paradise. This practice, however, did not obtain among the fire
worshippers of Persia, nor, as was once believed, in Sumer or Akkad
either. Fire was, however, used in Babylonia for magical purposes. It
destroyed demons, and put to flight the spirits of disease. Possibly
the fire-purification ceremonies resembled those which were practised
by the Canaanites, and are referred to in the Bible. Ahaz "made his
son to pass