merian doubles of various names); the astrologers connected the other planets with the greater gods of the Babylonian pantheon, but with which gods they were severally associated, and whether at all periods the same gods, is still subject to controversy. For the Assyrian and Neobabylonian period it seems to be fairly made out that Jupiter was assigned to Marduk, Mercury to Nabu, Mars to Nergal, and Saturn to "Nin-ib." An examination of the texts does not show any dominant correspondence between the sphere or character of the deity and the prognostications drawn from the behaviour of his planet; Mars is generally a baleful star, but for that there are other possible explanations besides association with Nergal. The omens of Jupiter have no such specific reference to the fortunes of the king and the nation as might be expected of Marduk's planet; Venus gives substantially the same omens. In general, the planets have no such distinctive and significant characters as in European astrology, in which they determine the fortune of individuals.

It has been asserted that the Babylonian astrology was based on the theory of an exact correspondence between celestial phenomena and terrestrial events: the world is in all respects the counterpart of the heavens, and there is a complete and necessitated parallelism between what goes on above and below. This theory of the universe, it is affirmed, underlies the Babylonian religion and gives it its peculiar character; from Babylonia it passed to the West, and dominated Greek as well as Hebrew thought. In short, the conception of the universe which prevailed in all our world down to the epoch of modern science is at bottom the Babylonian "Weltanschauung." The Babylonian theory itself, according to this doctrine, rests upon an observation and interpretation of astronomical phenomena which in very remote times led to extraordinary results. Not only was the track of the planets early mapped off into the twelve signs of the zodiac, but the precession of the equinoxes was known to the Babylonian star-gazers thousands of years before our era. It has been proved, on the contrary, that the Babylonian

astronomers at the height of their art, down to the second century B. C., were ignorant of the precession of the equinoxes, and that, though some zodiacal constellations appear on "boundary stones" from Kassite times, there is no trace of the equal division of the ecliptic into twelve parts till the Neobabylonian or Persian period. Anything like a scientific astronomy, as distinguished from observations for purposes of divination, begins only in the last millennium before our era, and reaches its highest point only after the fall of Babylon-in fact, in the Greek and Arsacidan time.

Divination by the stars was practised by the Babylonians and Assyrians to learn what was going to befall kings and peoples; they do not seem to have imagined that the private fortunes of individuals were determined by the heavenly bodies, and therefore to be read in the sky. The development of this side of astrology, with its elaborate methods of forecasting the whole life of a man by the position of the stars at the hour of his birth (genethlialogy), is of later date, and, however much they may have learned from the "Chaldeans," the Greeks were its inventors.

The religion of Assyria, as we have seen, was closely akin to that of its neighbours in northern Babylonia, from which it borrowed largely. The extension of Assyrian dominion over a great part of Syria introduced the worship of AssyrianBabylonian gods. In the eastern part of this area, which was for centuries really a part of Assyria, the influence of Assyrian civilisation and religion was most profound and durable. The worship of the Babylonian Bel and Nabu at Edessa, for example, flourished until Christian times. Even in this region, however, the native elements greatly preponderated in the local religions; and farther west AssyrianBabylonian influence is, speaking generally, sporadic and superficial, while there is a larger admixture from Asia Minor. On the seaboard, finally, the most diverse civilisations in successive ages left their mark-Syrian, Hittite, Phoenician, Cypriote, Egyptian-but it is hardly at all affected, directly or indirectly, by Babylonian culture.

Not only has the influence of the Babylonian religion been enormously exaggerated, but wholly erroneous notions are entertained about the religion itself. So far from being the religious initiators of humanity, the Babylonians remained to the end on a relatively low plane of religious development-compared with the ancient Chinese, for example. They were great in demonology and divination, but showed no capacity for religious ideas. The "latent" monotheism which some Assyriologists attribute to them comes to no more than such banal litanies as

"Ninib is the Marduk of might,

Nergal is the Marduk of fight,
Zamama is the Marduk of battle,

Enlil is the Marduk of rule and dominion,
Nabu is the Marduk of superintendence(?),
Sin is the Marduk of nocturnal light,
Shamash is the Marduk of decisions,
Adad is the Marduk of rain," etc.

That is to say-putting the utmost possible into the words-the many gods are names of Marduk in various functions and operations. Such utterances may signify much or little. When we read in the Veda,

"Men call it Indra, Mitra, Agni, Varuna,

Or heavenly Garutman with glorious pinions.

By many names the poets name what is but One;
They name it Agni, Yama, Matariçvan,"

we recognise the dawning of a philosophical conception of unity, out of which the monism of the Upanishads will spring. We understand the pantheistic self-laudation of Isis in Apuleius. But the Babylonian text before us conceals no such subtleties; what it says is that Marduk is the whole pantheon, and that, not as a piece of speculation, but as a liturgical glorification of Marduk. Even such purely verbal unifications of the godhead are late and infrequent.

CHAPTER XI

INDIA

THE RELIGION OF THE VEDA

The Aryans in India-The Hymns of the Rig-Veda-Vedic Deities -Indra, Varuna, and Mitra-Nature Gods-Agni and SomaNymphs and Elves-Demons-Worship: Priests, Sacrifice, Expiations-Magic in the Atharva-Veda-The Dead and Their Abodes— The Beginnings of Speculation-The Philosophy of the Upanishads -Brahman-Atman-Rebirth and Deliverance-Dualistic Philosophy-Practical Means of Salvation.

THE peninsula of India was occupied in early times by peoples of several ethnic and linguistic stocks, the most numerous, if not the oldest, being the Dravidians, who now form the characteristic population of the Deccan, but once extended farther to the north into the Panjab and the Gangetic plain. In the north and east of the latter region there were also Mongoloid tribes, akin to the peoples of Nepal and the Tibetan plateau, which in time mingled with the Dravidians. In the second millennium before the Christian era, or perhaps in the third, Aryan tribes began to enter India from the northwest. The movement was a migration in several successive waves, rather than an invasion, and doubtless continued for several centuries. As the Aryans pressed southward and eastward they subjugated and enslaved the older dark-skinned natives or forced them back before them.

The Aryan division of the Indo-European family, before the migration, was settled north of the Hindu-Kush. One branch, the forefathers of the Aryo-Indians, moving southward, made their way into the valley of the Indus, perhaps by the river gorges of the Kabul, and thence into the Panjab,

while the branch which we know as Iranian remained in their old homes or moved westward as far as Media and Persia. Before the division the two branches of the race spoke closely related dialects of the same language, and had substantially the same primitive religion; through centuries of separation, and in widely different surroundings, they diverged ever more widely in character, and the development of religion, especially, took wholly different directions.

The Aryan invaders of India were, like their Iranian kinsmen, a hardy and vigorous race, and the climate of the region which they first occupied was by no means so enervating as that of the Ganges plain. They were already beyond the stage of pure nomads; they lived in unwalled villages, with forts on high ground in which they could take refuge from attack. At the head of the several tribes were chiefs or kings, "protectors of the people," their leaders in war. The principal wealth of the people was in its herds of cattle, for which the region offered wide pasture lands. Horses, which were highly prized, were used to draw chariots, while the ordinary draught animals were oxen and asses; flocks of sheep and goats were also kept. Barley was cultivated; rice seems not to have been known.

The herds were the chief support of the people-milk fresh from the cow or made into a mush with meal, curdled milk, butter. Meat was an infrequent addition to their diet, domestic animals being rarely slaughtered except in sacrifice or on festive occasions such as weddings. Intoxicating drinks were prepared from the juice of the soma plant mixed with milk or from grain, and inordinate indulgence in them was not infrequent. Trade was by barter, the standard unit of value being the cow; ornaments of gold and silver and precious stones were also used in exchange. The people were fond of sport, especially of chariot-racing and of the chase, and much addicted to gambling. The social distinctions natural to such a society existed, but there were no castes, nor was there a priesthood with exclusive prerogatives. The position of woman was freer and more honourable