messengers.A small fragment in the British Museum gave his attributes as god of the various cities of Babylonia， but unfortunately their names are lost or incomplete.From what remains， however， we see that Nebo was god of ditching(？)， commerce(？)， granaries(？)， fasting(？)， and food； it was he who overthrew the land of the enemy， and who protected planting； and， lastly， he was god of Borsippa.
The worship of Nebo was not always as popular as it became in the later days of the Babylonian empire and after its fall， and Jastrow is of opinion that Hammurabi intentionally ignored this deity， giving the preference to Merodach， though he did not suppress the worship.Why this should have taken place is not by any means certain， for Nebo was a deity adored far and wide， as may be gathered from the fact that there was a mountain bearing his name in Moab， upon which Moses--also an "announcer，" adds Jastrow--died.Besides the mountain， there was a city in Moab so named， and another in Jud？a.That it was the Babylonian Nebo originally is implied by the form--the Hebrew corresponding word is /nabi/.
How old the worship of Ta？mêtum， his consort， is， is doubtful， but her name first occurs in a date of the reign of Hammurabi.Details concerning her attributes are rare， and Jastrow regards this goddess as the result of Babylonian religious speculations.It is noteworthy that her worship appears more especially in later times， but it may be doubted whether it is a product of those late times， especially when we bear in mind the remarkable seal-impression on an early tablet of 3500-4500 B.C.， belonging to Lord Amherst of Hackney， in which we see a male figure with wide-open mouth seizing a stag by his horns， and a female figure with no mouth at all， but with very prominent ears， holding a bull in a similar manner.Here we have the "teacher" and the "hearer" personified in a very remarkable manner， and it may well be that this primitive picture shows the idea then prevailing with regard to these two deities.It is to be noted that the name of Ta？mêtum has a Sumerian equivalent， namely， /Kurnun/， and that the ideograph by which it is represented is one whose general meaning seems to be "to bind，" perhaps with the additional signification of "to accomplish，"in which case "she who hears" would also be "she who obeys."？ama？ and his consort.
At all times the worship of the sun in Babylonia and Assyria was exceedingly popular， as， indeed， was to be expected from his importance as the greatest of the heavenly bodies and the brightest， without whose help men could not live， and it is an exceedingly noteworthy fact that this deity did not become， like Ra in Egypt， the head of the pantheon.This place was reserved for Merodach， also a sun-god， but possessing attributes of a far wider scope.？ama？ is mentioned as early as the reign of ê-anna-tum， whose date is set at about 4200 B.C.， and at this period his Semitic name does not， naturally， occur， the character used being /Utu/， or， in its longer form， /Utuki/.
It is worthy of note that， in consequence of the Babylonian idea of evolution in the creation of the world， less perfect beings brought forth those which were more perfect， and the sun was therefore the offspring of Nannara or Sin， the moon.In accordance with the same idea， the day， with the Semites， began with the evening， the time when the moon became visible， and thus becomes the offspring of the night.
In the inscriptions ？ama？ is described as "the light of things above and things below， the illuminator of the regions，" "the supreme judge of heaven and earth，" "the lord of living creatures， the gracious one of the lands." Dawning in the foundation of the sky， he opened the locks and threw wide the gates of the high heavens， and raised his head， covering heaven and earth with his splendour.He was the constantly righteous in heaven， the truth within the ears of the lands， the god knowing justice and injustice， righteousness he supported upon his shoulders， unrighteousness he burst asunder like a leather bond， etc.It will thus be seen， that the sun-god was the great god of judgment and justice--indeed， he is constantly alluded to as "the judge，" the reason in all probability being， that as the sun shines upon the earth all day long， and his light penetrates everywhere， he was regarded as the god who knew and investigated everything， and was therefore best in a position to judge aright， and deliver a just decision.It is for this reason that his image appears at the head of the stele inscribed with Hammurabi's laws， and legal ceremonies were performed within the precincts of his temples.The chief seats of his worship were the great temples called ê-babbara， "the house of great light，" in the cities of Larsa and Sippar.
The consort of ？ama？ was Aa， whose chief seat was at Sippar， side by side with ？ama？.Though only a weak reflex of the sun-god， her worship was exceedingly ancient， being mentioned in an inscription of Man-i？tusu， who is regarded as having reigned before Sargon of Agadé.
From the fact that， in one of the lists， she has names formed by reduplicating the name of the sun-god， /Utu/， she would seem once to have been identical with him， in which case it may be supposed that she personified the setting sun--"the double sun" from the magnified disc which he presents at sunset， when， according to a hymn to the setting sun sung at the temple at Borsippa， Aa， in the Sumerian line Kur-nirda， was accustomed to go to receive him.According to the list referred to above， Aa， with the name of Burida in Sumerian， was more especially the consort of ？a-zu， "him who knows the heart，" one of the names of Merodach， who was probably the morning sun， and therefore the exact counterpart of the sun at evening.
