The Babylonian Conception of Heaven and Hell/Salvation from "The Land Without Return"
Salvation from the "Land without Return."
In the light of the foregoing statements it can hardly be doubted that the Babylonians believed in personal immortality. The body decays in the grave (shalamtu is the name given to the corpse, that is to say, "that which is done with"), but the soul lives in the gloom of Hades, and in that abode of horror leads an immaterial, shadow-like existence. Their thoughts, however, took a further flight and conceived of a brighter fate. Diogenes Laertius appears to have been correctly informed in ascribing to the Babylonian schools of philosophy (or rather schools of the priests) a belief not only in immortality, but also to a certain extent in a resurrection.[1] We have already seen that to the gods of heaven was attributed the power in certain cases to shatter the whole realm of the dead, and also that in isolated instances the spirit of a dead man might be brought forth. The narrator of the "Journey of Istar in Hades," indicates in the mystic concluding lines of the poem what his auditor must do "if deliverance is refused," and earlier in the epic we are told how the goddess Istar herself is set free after the porter has been forced to sprinkle her with the "water of life." In the "eternal palace," however, the inmost sanctuary of the Underworld, there is a spring (?) of the water of life, guarded, apparently, by the Anunaki, already known to us as demons of the sepulchral world. Only indeed by violence and with the help of a special word of power of the god Ea can this water be reached. It was owing to the feast of Tammuz, who was condemned "to weep year after year," and whose return from the Underworld was celebrated annually, that the idea of deliverance from Hades had become one of the most widely diffused notions in the popular mind. The fact also that a whole series of divinities are distinguished by the epithet "raiser of the dead," is connected with the same order of ideas. It is, indeed, the Sun and Spring gods especially that are said to love to wake the dead. The statement was, therefore, due in the first place to experience of the renewal of nature in spring, though sometimes it was applied in a manner that cannot be misunderstood to the hope of mankind. Of Samas, the Sun god, it is said, "to make the dead live, to free the captive lies in thy hand." The god Nebo is praised as he "who lengthens the days of life and raises the dead." But above all it is Marduk, god of the Early Sun and of the Spring Sun who is spoken of as "the compassionate one, whose joy is in raising the dead," or simply—as on the last of the creation tablets—as "the raiser of the dead." In a charm against demons and sickness he is hailed as follows: "Thou compassionate one among the gods, thou compassionate one, thou who lovest to raise the dead, Marduk, king of heaven and earth, king of Babylon, lord of Esagila, king of Ezida, lord of the mighty house of life, heaven and earth are thine, the space of heaven and earth is thine, exorcism of life is thine, the saliva of life is thine, the pure exorcism of the ocean is thine, black-haired mankind, living creatures, as many as dwell on the earth, all the quarters of heaven, all spirits in heaven and earth [turn?] their ears to thee; thou art Shedu, thou art Lamasu (the spirit of protection and blessing), thou makest alive, thou bringest to peace, thou art the compassionate one among the gods . . . to thee will I devote myself." Cyrus caused it to be said of himself, after he had taken Babylon, the city of Marduk, that the inhabitants with one accord hailed him joyfully and greeted him with beaming countenances as "the lord who in the strength of him who calls the dead to life (i.e., Marduk), had blessed them all with care and protection." The same power of "raising the dead" is attributed to Gula, the wife of Marduk, who moreover is called "the lady, raiser of the dead," and once mention is made of "the ship of the goddess Gula, the raiser of the dead." Curiously enough among the many theophoric proper names embodying divine epithets attributing life-giving power to a deity, there appears the name "Nergaluballith," i.e., Nergal (god of Hades) makes alive."
- ↑ The attention of the English reader is drawn to the fact, that according to Jensen's recent translation of the Gilgamesh epic, the Babylonian priests distinctly taught the doctrine of a resurrection, giving instances of its occurrence in order to strengthen the belief in a future life. Though the English edition of this pamphlet appears later than the German, it does not deal with Jensen's general conclusions.