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[ Transcriber's Notes:
Older spellings have been retained. Variations in the spelling of a few personal and place names, listed at the end of the text have also been retained.
Some minor printer's errors have been corrected. They are listed at the end of the text.
OE ligatures have been expanded.
Italic text has been marked with _underscores_.
Text originally printed in Greek has been marked with ~tildes~. ]
Istar of Babylon
A Phantasy
BY MARGARET HORTON POTTER
AUTHOR OF "_THE HOUSE OF DE MAILLY_"
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON 1902
Copyright, 1902, by HARPER & BROTHERS.
All rights reserved. Published September, 1902.
TO MY HUSBAND AND DEAR COMRADE JOHN DONALD BLACK
CONTENTS
Book I
THE JOURNEY
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE SEA 3
II. THE VOW 21
III. INTO THE EAST 43
IV. ASHTORETH 62
V. TO THE GATE OF GOD 79
Book II
THE GREAT CITY
I. THE A-IBUR-SABU 101
II. THE SANCTUARY OF ISTAR 119
III. A BABYLONISH HOUSEHOLD 137
IV. BELSHAZZAR 156
V. THE JEW 176
VI. ISTAR OF ERECH 191
VII. LORD RIBATA'S GARDEN 207
VIII. BABA 228
IX. BABYLON BY NIGHT 248
X. THE ANGER OF BEL 268
XI. FROM THE HOUSE OF HEAVEN 292
XII. EGIBI & SONS 309
XIII. THE RAB-MAG 327
XIV. STRANGE GODS 350
XV. SIPPAR 366
XVI. BELTI-SHAR-UZZUR 385
XVII. THE WOMAN'S WOE 405
XVIII. THE FEAST OF TAMMUZ 420
XIX. THE REGIMENT OF GUTI 441
XX. PESTILENCE 455
XXI. KURUSH THE KING 472
XXII. AT THE GATE 483
XXIII. THE SILVER SKY 490
PREFACE
"The higher ideas, my dear friend, can hardly be set forth exceptthrough the medium of examples; every man seems to know all things in akind of dream, and then again to know nothing when he wakes.... Butpeople seem to forget that some things have sensible images, which maybe easily shown when any one desires to exhibit any of them or explainthem to an inquirer, without any trouble or argument; while the greatestand noblest truths have no outward image of themselves visible to manwhich he who wishes to satisfy the longing soul of the inquirer canadapt to the eye of sense, and therefore we ought to practise ourselvesin the idea of them; for immaterial things, which are the highest andgreatest, are shown only in thought and idea, and in no other way, _andall that we are saying is said for the sake of them._"[1]
"Then reflect ... that the soul is in the very likeness of the divine,and immortal and intelligible and uniform and unchangeable; and the bodyis in the very likeness of the human, and mortal and unintelligible andmultiform and dissoluble and changeable.
"And were we not saying long ago that the soul, when using the body asan instrument of perception, ... is then dragged by the body into theregion of the changeable, and wanders and is confused; the world spinsround her, and she is like a drunkard when under their influence.
"But when, returning unto herself, she reflects, then she passes intothe realm of purity and eternity and immortality and unchangeableness,which are her kindred; ... then she ceases from erring ways, and, beingin communion with the unchanging, is unchanging."[2]
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