the Chaldæns identified with their god Ninip; his statue was concealed
in a sanctuary inaccessible to the profane, but it was dragged from
thence by Assurbanipal of Nineveh in the VIIth century B.C.* This deity
was associated with six others of the first rank, who were divided into
two triads--Shumudu, Lagamaru, Partikira; Ammankasibar, Uduran, and
Sapak: of these names, the least repellent, Ammankasibar, may possibly
be the Memnon of the Greeks. The dwelling of these divinities was near
Susa, in the depths of a sacred forest to which the priests and kings
alone had access: their images were brought out on certain days to
receive solemn homage, and were afterwards carried back to their shrine
accompanied by a devout and reverent multitude. These deities received
a tenth of the spoil after any successful campaign--the offerings
comprising statues of the enemies' gods, valuable vases, ingots of
gold and silver, furniture, and stuffs. The Elamite armies were well
organized, and under a skilful general became irresistible. In other
respects the Elamites closely resembled the Chaldæans, pursuing the same
industries and having the same agricultural and commercial instincts. In
the absence of any bas-reliefs and inscriptions peculiar to this people,
we may glean from the monuments of Lagash and Babylon a fair idea of the
extent of their civilization in its earliest stages.

* _Shushinak_ is an adjective derived from the name of the
town of Susa. The real name of the god was probably kept
secret and rarely uttered. The names which appear by the
side of Shushinak in the text published by H. Rawlinson, as
equivalents of the Babylonian Ninip, perhaps represent
different deities; we may well ask whether the deity may not
be the Khumba, Umma, Ummân, who recurs so frequently in the
names of men and places, and who has hitherto never been met
with alone in any formula or dedicatory tablet.