The Place of Gods in Ancient Babylon
Religion in Ancient Babylon was divided between the state’s religion and the private citizen’s religion. The religion of the state involved huge followings that were very much cult-like and there were grand temples devoted to the religion of the state. Private individuals also sometimes followed a different type of religion, which involved sorcery and magic. There was no one god in the state religion but rather, many different gods, one for each city. The importance and power of a god was determined based on the political importance and power of the city for each particular god.
Marduk and his son, Nabu were the most powerful gods as they were the gods of the ever-important city of Babylon. Marduk was not only the god of Babylon but he was also the king of the gods and the god of the rising sun. Marduk, also known as Bel, was so powerful that he not only had temple built for him but he also had a ziggurat in his name, which is a temple in the form of a pyramid with many different stories. Babylonian legend tells us that the other gods built both the temple and the ziggurat for Marduk. The name of the temple was the temple of Esgalia.
Each god was also responsible for a particular element in the world. The sun god, Shamash, for example was the god of the sun while Ishtar, the goddess, was an ambassador for love and war. Because of the vast number of cities and therefore, gods, there were some gods that seemed to have similar roles. This caused much confusion and so theologians strived to find a system where it would be more understandable. They created a list where they listed each god with their particular strengths and responsibilities. They then paired up the lesser gods with the larger gods on the list. The list was then passed down throughout the generations and along the way, citizens would add to it and change it.
Every day the gods within the temple needed to be cared for quite meticulously. Those working in the temple would make offerings every day, the garments of the gods would be cleaned, and the temple would be purified. The offerings given to the gods were those of worldly goods, such as money from the rich citizens of the city or treasure obtained from war. Although the offerings were given to the gods, they were taken by those that worked in the temple.
Priests were a large part of temple life. The priests were thought to be able to predict the future, making it possible for citizens to anticipate it and change it if it was something undesirable. Citizens of Babylon felt that the priests could tell the future by looking at the winds, storms, drops of oil placed into water, the liver of sheep, and the stars. Priests would also often take money in exchange for warding off evil spirits that were thought to be the main cause of disease in Babylon.
Besides the gods of the different states and cities, every citizen had their own private god within their household. These gods were also given daily offerings and the citizen would speak to their god and ask for things such as protection from disease. It was thought that these gods would then relay the request to the higher gods of the cities and states. However, if a god did not fulfill a task, citizens often threatened that they would abandon their god and find another to take its place. Sorcery and black magic were also used in Ancient Babylon and these practices were thought to be extremely powerful and were often feared.