Page:The Babylonian conception of heaven and hell - Jeremias (1902).djvu/36

 Hades, Nergal, god of war and pestilence. He is known as "lord of the tombs," "lord of the great city," "king of the river (of death)"; and ancient Babylonian texts call him "lord of the great land," "lord of the land without return." The special seat of his cult, the Babylonian city Kutha, became so closely identified with conceptions of Hades that in poetry the Underworld is actually called " Kutha." His temple in Kutha was regarded as the likeness of Hades, just as other temples were supposed to be in the likeness of the heavenly abodes of the gods worshipped in them. Among the clay tablets of Tell el Amarna is a Babylonian poem vividly describing the marriage of Erishkigal and Nergal. In some of its features the story recalls the Greek legend of Persephone: "Once when the gods were about to prepare a feast they sent a messenger to their sister Erishkigal to say to her, "We must certainly descend to thee; if thou wilt not ascend to us, send one to receive thy portion of the feast. Then Erishkigal sent Namtar, her servant." From further fragments of the story we learn that Nergal himself set out for the Underworld with twice seven assistants, bearing such names as Lightning, Fever, Fervent Heat, &c. The servants of Nergal were placed at the fourteen gates of the Underworld, and imperiously he ordered the watchman to admit them. Then in