Headache ... a rushing hag-demon,
Granting no rest, nor giving kindly sleep ... 
Whose shape is as the whirlwind. 
Its appearance is as the darkening heavens,
And its face as the deep shadow of the forest.

Sickness ... breaking the fingers as a rope of wind ... 
Flashing like a heavenly star, it cometh like the dew.

These early poets had no canons of Art, and there were no critics to disturb their meditations.  Many singers had to sing and die ere a critic could find much to say.  In ancient times, therefore, poets had their Golden Age—­they were a law unto themselves.  Even the “minors” were influential members of society.

CHAPTER XI.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF BABYLONIA

Rise of the Sun God—­Amorites and Elamites struggle for Ascendancy—­The Conquering Ancestors of Hammurabi—­Sumerian Cities Destroyed—­Widespread Race Movements—­Phoenician Migration from Persian Gulf—­Wanderings of Abraham and Lot—­Biblical References to Hittites and Amorites—­Battles of Four Kings with Five—­Amraphel, Arioch, and Tidal—­Hammurabi’s Brilliant Reign—­Elamite Power Stamped Out—­Babylon’s Great General and Statesman—­The Growth of Commerce, Agriculture, and Education—­An Ancient School—­Business and Private Correspondence—­A Love Letter—­Postal System—­Hammurabi’s Successors—­The Earliest Kassites—­The Sealand Dynasty—­Hittite Raid on Babylon and Hyksos Invasion of Egypt.

Sun worship came into prominence in its most fully developed form during the obscure period which followed the decline of the Dynasty of Isin.  This was probably due to the changed political conditions which brought about the ascendancy for a time of Larsa, the seat of the Sumerian sun cult, and of Sippar, the seat of the Akkadian sun cult.  Larsa was selected as the capital of the Elamite conquerors, while their rivals, the Amorites, appear to have first established their power at Sippar.

Babbar, the sun god of Sippar, whose Semitic name was Shamash, must have been credited with the early successes of the Amorites, who became domiciled under his care, and it was possibly on that account that the ruling family subsequently devoted so much attention to his worship in Merodach’s city of Babylon, where a sun temple was erected, and Shamash received devout recognition as an abstract deity of righteousness and law, who reflected the ideals of well organized and firmly governed communities.

The first Amoritic king was Sumu-abum, but little is known regarding him except that he reigned at Sippar.  He was succeeded by Sumu-la-ilu, a deified monarch, who moved from Sippar to Babylon, the great wall of which he either repaired or entirely reconstructed in his fifth year.  With these two monarchs began the brilliant Hammurabi, or First Dynasty of Babylonia, which endured for three centuries.  Except Sumu-abum, who seems to stand alone, all its kings belonged to the same family, and son succeeded father in unbroken succession.