ABSTRACT
TheSupremeGod,thefirstuniqueprinciplefrom whichalltheothergodstooktheirorigin,wasIlu1 whosenamesignifies"thegod"pre-eminently. HeistheOneandtheGoodwhomtheNeoplatonicianphilosophersannouncedasthecommon sourceofeverythinginChaldeantheology;• andindeedthefirstprincipleismentionedas"the godOne" 3indocumentsofthelaterepoch,which tellus,•thephilosophiclanguagehavingbeen completelyformedinthesacerdotalschools,thatin thebeginningtheExistingBeing(AuvKinuv)was begottenoftheAbyss(Apsu),andtheprimordialsea (Tiamat)andwasworshippedunderthisnameby Nebuchadnezzar.5Butthisbelongstoaphilosophicaldevelopmentofquiterecentdate.6Inthe religionoftheclassicalagesofthebasinofthe Euphrates,theideaofIluwastoocomprehensive
andtoovasttoreceiveaverydefiniteexteriorform, andconsequentlytheadorationofthepeople;the Greeksfoundinhimonthataccountacertain analogywiththeirCronos,towhomtheylikened him.ItseemsthatinChaldeanoimportanttemple wasespeciallydedicatedtohim,althoughtohim BabylonoweditsnameofBab-Ilu'orintheAccadian Ka-Dingira.ThepersonalityofIluwasnotclearly definedforalongtime;hisofficeandtitleas"God One"wereatfirstgiventoAnu,"theancientgod," andthefirstpersonofthesupremetrinity,which wasafterwardsheldtoemanatefromIlu;thepriests didnotdistinguishtheprimordialprinciplefromthe chiefofthistrinity.ItwasonlyamongsttheAssyriansthattheworshipofa"deusexsuperantissimus," thesourceandprinciplewhencealltheothers originate,tookalmostasimportantaplaceasinthat ofAhuramazdaamongstthePersians,intheperson oftheirnationalgodAssur,fromwhomthecountry itselfderiveditsname.
