132 
will probably finish, as he began, by exalting some hero, some 
“ benefactor,” * * * § into the place of divine authority and 
power. Some centre of worship there must be ; some visible 
authority to control all consciences. 
The leopard skin of united priestly and kingly authority 
may, for anything I can see, be yet thrown around the 
shoulders of some glorious mortal greater than Caesar, claiming 
the homage of all !f 
Such a personage seems to have been the mighty Nimrod, 
whose career, though little noticed in Scripture, must have 
left indelible traces on the early destinies of mankind. It is 
most evident that the material on which he had to work was 
that of a fallen humanity; and if, as appears probable, he was 
the first to claim for himself divine honours, his career makes 
out very clearly the effect of the early infusion of the poison 
of the old Serpent, and the tendency of the race of man 
towards the attempted usurpation of the prerogatives of the 
Most High ; indicated by the proud assumption, “ Ye shall be 
as Elohim.” It was as “ a mighty hunter,” rather than as a 
philosopher, that he found the means of establishing his 
kingdom. 
The Rev. Mr. Sayce has attempted to show that all our 
evidence arising from recent study of early Babylonian history 
goes to identify this great hunter of the ancient world with 
Merodach, the primary object of Nebuchadnezzar’s worship. J 
Babylonia is described in the cuneiform inscriptions as “ the 
land of Merodach,” just as in the Bible it is called “the 
land of Nimrod. ”§ Merodach is the wild hunter of the ancient 
world, having his four celebrated dogs, “the Despoiler,” 
“the Devourer,” “the Seizer,” and “ the Capturer.” The 
name Maruduc (in Assyrian) is a modification of the Accadian 
Amarud. 
Merodach alone of the gods in Babylonia is symbolised by 
the human figure as a man -walking. He is called Gusur , 
or the hero. According to Genesis, he was a descendant of 
Cush; and this brings us back to the land of Cush, of which 
we have already spoken. He was worshipped at a later 
period in a most famous temple, Kharris-Nipra, which was 
the especial dwelling-place of Bilu-Nipru. Rawlinson, in 
his “ History of Herodotus,” says that, after mature delibe- 
* Comp. Ptolemy Euergetes. 
f See figure in Rawiinson’s Herodotus, ii. p. 53. The high priest (styled 
Sem) always wore a leopard’s shin placed over the linen dress, as his symbol 
of office. 
t Soc. Bib. Arch. Trans., ii. 243 ; see also paper by J. Grivel, iii. 136. 
§ Micah v. 6. 
