some places it was the moon god Sin, as at Haran and Ur beside the
desert; elsewhere, as at Nippur, Bel, or at Eridu near the Persian Gulf,
Ea, the god of the great deep, was revered. In the name of the local
deity offerings were brought, hymns were sung, and traditions were
treasured, which extolled his might. The life of these little city
states centred about the temple and its cult. To make it more glorious
the artisans vied with each other, and the kings made campaigns that
they might dedicate the spoils to the deity.

[Sidenote: _The growth of extensive empires_]

In time, perhaps as early as 4000 B.C., certain more energetic and
ambitious kings succeeded in conquering neighboring cities; they even
broadened their boundaries until they ruled over great empires extending
to the Mediterranean on the west and the mountains of Elam on the east.
In the name of the local god, each went forth to fight, and to him was
attributed the glory of the victory. Naturally, when the territory of a
city state grew into an empire, the god of that city was proclaimed and
acknowledged as supreme throughout all the conquered territory. At the
same time the local deities of the conquered cities continued to be
worshipped at their ancient sanctuaries, and many a conquering king won
the loyalty of his subjects by making a rich offering to the god and at
the temple of a vanquished foe.

[Sidenote: _Its effect in developing the pantheon and popular theology_]

The logical and inevitable result of political union was the development
of a pantheon, modelled after the imperial court, with the god of the
victorious city at its head and the leading deities of the other cities
in subordinate positions. When, during the latter part of the third