The Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia

20 The Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia

to the modern European, this is no reason why we should
deny the existence of them. In fact, without them religious
language and beliefs are impossible; it is only through the world
[019] of the senses that a way lies to a knowledge of the world
beyond. The conditions into which we were born necessitate
our expressing and realising our mental, moral, and religious
conceptions through sensuous imagery and similitude. Only we
must never forget that the imagery is not the same for different
races or generations of mankind.
Before concluding, I must say a few words in explanation
of the title I have given to the course of lectures I have the
honour of delivering before you. It is not my intention to give
a systematic description or analysis of the ancient religions of
Egypt and Babylonia. That would hardly be in keeping with
the terms of Lord Gifford's bequest, nor would the details be
interesting, except to a small company of specialists. Indeed,
in the case of the ancient religion of Babylonia, the details are
still so imperfect and disputed, that a discussion of them is fitted
rather for the pages of a learned Society's journal than for a
course of lectures. What the lecturer has to do is to take the facts
that have been already ascertained, to see to what conclusions
they point, and to review the theories which they countenance
or condemn. The names and number of the gods and goddesses
worshipped by the Egyptians and Babylonians is of little moment
to the scientific student of religion: what he wants to know is the
conception of the deity which underlay these manifold forms,
and the relation in which man was believed to stand to the divine
powers around him. What was it that the civilised Babylonian
or Egyptian meant by the term“god”? What was the idea or
belief that lay behind the polytheism of the popular cult, and in
what respects is it marked off from the ideas and beliefs that rule
the religions of our modern world? The old Egyptian, indeed,
might not have understood what we mean by“polytheism”and
“monotheism,”but would he not have already recognised the