Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 1.djvu/93

 THE CHALD/KAN RELIGION. 73 superior though it was to all others in its power for good or ill, and in its incomparable splendour. They watched the sky with a curiosity too lively and too intelligent to permit of a willing sacrifice of all the stars to one. Sam as, the sun, and Sin, Fir,, ro. Stone of Merodnch-Balridnn T. (Smith's Assyrian Discoveries}. the moon-god, played an important role in their religion and theology, but it does not appear that the gods of the other five planets were inferior to them in rank. If we accept the parallels established by the Greeks and Romans, these were Adar (Saturn), jIerodach (Jupiter), Nergal (Mars), I star (Venus), and Nebo (Mercury). L