EVIDENCES OF THE MIGRATION OF ABKAM. 119 



of my enemies, in the gate of the rising sun and left and right 

 I placed. The hands of Sin (Moon-god), and the Great Lady 

 of Nusku (Morning Star), and the god Sa bil-ku-nuna ? my 

 lords, in Suanua (Babylon), my royal city, I took hold of, and 

 with joy and gladness (to) the seat of the joy of heart -within it 

 (the temple) 1 caused to be seated. Victims, great white sheep, 

 in their presence, I offered. I arranged the servants of Bit 

 Khulkhul The city of Kharran throughout its bor- 

 ders I caused its splendour to be bright as the rising moon." 

 This splendid temple now lies buried beneath the mounds of 

 Eski-Haran or Old Haran, waiting the explorer's advent to 

 yield up its buried treasures, perchance some records of 

 Abram himself. The creed of the worship of the Moon-god 

 at Kharran was essentially the same as that of Ur, and the 

 prayers which Nabonidus offered to the god of Ur and the 

 god of Kharran show them to be the same deity. 



In his cylinder inscription Nabonidus thus addresses the 

 divine patron of the city of Kharran : — 



1. As for me, Nabonidus, King of Babylon, restorer of this 



temple, 



2. Sin, the king of the gods of the heavens and the earth, 



in the lifting up of his eyes, 



3. Joyfully may he regard me, and in each future day from 



dawn to twilight, 



4. May he bless my desires. My days may he prolong. 



5. My years may he extend, and may he establish my reign. 



6. My enemies may he capture, my evil opponents may he 



smite ; 



7. May he sweep away my foes. The great Lady Mother 



of the great gods, 



8. In the presence of Sin, her beloved, may she present 



my works. 



9. Samas (Sun), and Istar, the bright offspring of his 



heart, 



1 0. To Sin, their father, may they speak (in) my favour. 



11. Nusku (Morning star) his supreme messenger my words 



may he hear, 



12. May he lay hold of evil. 



This prayer is exactly the same as that which concludes the 

 inscription of Nabonidus, found at Ur, and shows the creeds 

 to be essentially the same. We have already seen how this 

 worship of the Moon-god revealed itself in the names of the 

 dwellers in Ur, as revealed to us in the contract tablets. We 

 may, therefore, reasonably conclude that in their migration 

 northward, they would migrate to a city where was a kindred 

 race to their own, and a creed similar to that of Ur. 



