182 



T. G. PINCHES, LL.D., M.R.A.S., ON 



The great Temple-tower, called E-temen-an-ki, " the House 

 of the foundation of heaven and earth," lay farther to the 

 W.S.W., It lay in the great courtyard— the terrace of 

 E-temen-an-ki — measuring 1,200 Babylonian feet each way, 

 and entered, according to the plan of the German explorers, by 

 nine gates. Of these the names of six only are given, the others 

 having been blocked, seemingly by rows of cells placed against 

 its eastern wall. Section 3 of the inscription gives us the 

 names of these gates : the Sublime Gate ; the Gate of the 

 Eisiiig Sun ; the Great Gate ; the Gate of the Lamassu (pro- 

 tecting genius) ; the Gate of Abundance ; and the Gate of the 

 Glorious Wonder {ha-it-di-harra). These gates and the court- 

 yard or platform itself, were used for the ceremonies of the 



E-hur (Temple of the Land) — so called, perhaps, to distinguish 

 this sacred portion from the inner sanctuaries, both of the 

 Tower and of the Temple of Bel us. 



Within the enclosure of tlie platform or terrace, near the 

 western wall, lay the higallu^ or platform of tlie Tower itself, 

 measuring 600 Babylonian feet each way. This was the base of 

 the first stage, and the substructure {Idgcdlu, § 4) of this world- 

 renowned building. Centred to the extreme south-western 

 edge of this, again, lay the true substructure {kiyaUu, § 5) — in 

 reality the Tower's lowest stage — measuring 300 "enlarged" 

 feet each way. This rose to a height of 120 feet above the 

 platform upon which it stood. 



Here the tablet mentions (§ 6) the chapels or sanctuaries of 

 the Tower, six in number, which surrounded it on this level. 

 Two of these were situated on tlie east, and dedicated, one to 

 Merodach, and the other to Xebo and his spouse Tasmetu"\ 

 The latter was seemingly 45 cubits square and 40 high. 



On the north, in couples (§ 7), were the temples of Ea and 

 Nusku (the gods of the waters and of light respectively) ; on 

 the south was the Temple of Anu and Sin (the god of the 

 heavens and the moon) ; on the west were the Tiium and " the 

 temple of the net " ; and behind these, facing " the Gate of the 

 Implements," was " the house " or " temple of the couch." 



The association of the ''net" {nam'istio'") \s\th. the tic iwi is 

 interesting, suggesting, as it does, that the latter may be the 

 Babylonian form of the Hebrew Tclioin or " deep," and the 

 concrete idea of the deified Tiawath (Tiamtu) of the Babylonian 

 Creation-story. Dieulafoy has followed George Smith in 

 rendering hc'um, by '' double " or " twin," and this is a possible 

 rendering. The twin-sanctuaries would in that case be the 

 temples of the net and of the couch and throne respectively. 



