450 The Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia“If he smites a man of Sippara and gives a wrong decision,
the sun-god, who judges heaven and earth, will appoint another
judge in his land, and a just prince and a just judge instead of
unjust ones.
“If the sons of Nippur come to him for judgment, and he
accepts bribes and treats them harshly, Bel, the lord of the world,
will bring a foreign enemy against him and destroy his army; the
prince and his general will be hunted like outcasts through the
streets.
“If the sons of Babylon bring silver and offer bribes, and
he favours the Babylonians and turns himself to their entreaty,
Merodach, the lord of heaven and earth, will set his foes over
him, and give his goods and his treasure to his enemy. The sons
of Nippur, or Sippar, or Babylon who act thus shall be cast into
prison.”^398
The dissociation of ethics and religion in Babylonia was due
to a considerable extent to the practical character of Babylonian
theology and the limitation of the doctrine of rewards and
punishments to this life. In contrast to the Egyptian, who may
be said to have lived for the next world, the Babylonian lived
for this. It was here that he was rewarded for his piety or
[491] punished for his sins. The world beyond the grave was a place of
unspeakable dreariness. I have already described it in a previous
lecture. It was a prison-house of darkness and unsubstantiality;
a land where all things were forgotten, and those who inhabited
it were themselves forgotten of men. It resembled the Hebrew
Sheol; indeed, it is probable that the name of Sheol is borrowed
from Babylonia,^399 and borrowed names are apt to indicate that
(^398) WAI.iv. 55. The inscription was first translated by George Smith,Assyrian
Discoveries(1875), pp. 409-411, and by myself in theRecords of the Past,
first ser., vii. (1876), pp. 119-122. Mr. King has recently given the first part of
the text in hisBabylonian Religion, pp. 217, 218.
(^399) Hommel suggests thatsilân,“the hollow place underneath the earth,”is
derived fromsa'ûlânu,“sheol”(AufsätzeundAbhandlungen, iii. p. 347).