symbolized the sun rays, for Merodach had solar attributes.  It is possible that the belief obtained among even the water worshippers of Eridu that the sun and moon, which rose from the primordial deep, had their origin in the everlasting fire in Ea’s domain at the bottom of the sea.  In the Indian god Varuna’s ocean home an “Asura fire” (demon fire) burned constantly; it was “bound and confined”, but could not be extinguished.  Fed by water, this fire, it was believed, would burst forth at the last day and consume the universe.[64] A similar belief can be traced in Teutonic mythology.  The Babylonian incantation cult appealed to many gods, but “the most important share in the rites”, says Jastrow, “are taken by fire and water—­suggesting, therefore, that the god of water—­more particularly Ea—­and the god of fire ... are the chief deities on which the ritual itself hinges”.  In some temples there was a bit rimki, a “house of washing”, and a bit nuri, a “house of light".[65]

It is possible, of course, that fire was regarded as the vital principle by some city cults, which were influenced by imported ideas.  If so, the belief never became prevalent.  The most enduring influence in Babylonian religion was the early Sumerian; and as Sumerian modes of thought were the outcome of habits of life necessitated by the character of the country, they were bound, sooner or later, to leave a deep impress on the minds of foreign peoples who settled in the Garden of Western Asia.  It is not surprising, therefore, to find that imported deities assumed Babylonian characteristics, and were identified or associated with Babylonian gods in the later imperial pantheon.

Moon worship appears to have been as ancient as water worship, with which, as we have seen, it was closely associated.  It was widely prevalent throughout Babylonia.  The chief seat of the lunar deity, Nannar or Sin, was the ancient city of Ur, from which Abraham migrated to Harran, where the “Baal” (the lord) was also a moon god.  Ur was situated in Sumer, in the south, between the west bank of the Euphrates and the low hills bordering the Arabian desert, and not far distant from sea-washed Eridu.  No doubt, like that city, it had its origin at an exceedingly remote period.  At any rate, the excavations conducted there have afforded proof that it flourished in the prehistoric period.

As in Arabia, Egypt, and throughout ancient Europe and elsewhere, the moon god of Sumeria was regarded as the “friend of man”.  He controlled nature as a fertilizing agency; he caused grass, trees, and crops to grow; he increased flocks and herds, and gave human offspring.  At Ur he was exalted above Ea as “the lord and prince of the gods, supreme in heaven, the Father of all”; he was also called “great Anu”, an indication that Anu, the sky god, had at one time a lunar character.  The moon god was believed to be the father of the sun god:  he was the “great steer with mighty horns and perfect limbs”.