Belus

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Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (Retd.)

Belus or Belos or Bel in classical Greek or classical Latin texts in an Assyrian context refers to one or another purportedly ancient and historically mythical Assyrian king, such king in part at least a euhemerization of the Babylonian god Bel Marduk.

Variants

Jat Gotras Namesake

Jat Gotras Namesake

Mention by Pliny

Pliny[1] mentions Mesopotamia....Babylon, the capital of the nations of Chaldæa, long enjoyed the greatest celebrity of all cities throughout the whole world: and it is from this place that the remaining parts of Mesopotamia and Assyria received the name of Babylonia. The circuit of its walls, which were two hundred feet in height, was sixty miles. These walls were also fifty feet in breadth, reckoning to every foot three fingers' breadth beyond the ordinary measure of our foot. The river Euphrates flowed through the city, with quays of marvellous workmanship erected on either side. The temple there18 of Jupiter Belus19 is still in existence; he was the first inventor of the science of Astronomy. In all other respects it has been reduced to a desert, having been drained of its population in consequence of its vicinity to Seleucia20, founded for that purpose by Nicator, at a distance of ninety miles, on the confluence of the Tigris and the canal that leads from the Euphrates. Seleucia, however, still bears the surname of Babylonia: it is a free and independent city, and retains the features of the Macedonian manners. It is said that the population of this city amounts to six hundred thousand, and that the outline of its walls resembles an eagle with expanded wings: its territory, they say, is the most fertile in all the East.

18 As to the identity of this, see a Note at the beginning of this Chapter.

19 Meaning Jupiter Uranius, or "Heavenly Jupiter," according to Parisot, who observes that Eusebius interprets baal, or bel, "heaven." According to one account, he was the father of king Ninus and son of Nimrod. The Greeks in later times attached to his name many of their legendary fables.

20 The city of Seleucia ad Tigrin, long the capital of Western Asia, until it was eclipsed by Ctesiphon. Its site has been a matter of considerable discussion, but the most probable opinion is, that it stood on the western bank of the Tigris, to the north of its junction with the royal canal (probably the river Chobar above mentioned), opposite to the mouth of the river Delas or Silla (now Diala), and to the spot where Ctesiphon was afterwards built by the Parthians. It stood a little to the south of the modern city of Baghdad; thus commanding the navigation of the Tigris and Euphrates, and the whole plain formed by those two rivers.

History

A final list is found in the Excerpta Latina Barbari. The list can be found in Scaliger's Thesaurus temporum (1606). The list dates Belus, the first Assyrian king to c. 2206 BC.The Assyrian King list in the Excerpta Latina Barbari claims Belus ruled 1430 years before the first Olympiad (776 BC) thus dating him to 2206 BC.

Belus most commonly appears as the father of Ninus, who otherwise mostly appears as the first known Assyrian king. Ctesias provides no information about Ninus' parentage. But already in Herodotus there is a Ninus son of Belus among the ancestors of the Heraclid dynasty of Lydia, though here Belus is strangely and uniquely made a grandson of Heracles.

Ninus (Greek: Νίνος), according to Greek historians writing in the Hellenistic period and later, was accepted as the eponymous founder of Nineveh (also called Νίνου πόλις "city of Ninus" in Greek), ancient capital of Assyria.

Nonnus in his Dionysiaca (18.5f) brings in King Staphylus of Assyria and his son Botrys who entertain Dionysus, characters unknown elsewhere. Staphylus claims to be grandson of Belus.

Sumerian mythology

In Sumerian mythology and later for Assyrians and Babylonians, Anu (also An; 𒀭) was a sky-god, the god of heaven, lord of constellations, king of gods, spirits and demons, and dwelt in the highest heavenly regions. He was called Anu by the Akkadians, rulers of Mesopotamia after the conquest of Sumer in 2334 BCE by King Sargon of Akkad. By virtue of being the first figure in a triad consisting of Anu, Bel and Ea, Anu came to be regarded as the father and at first, king of the gods. Anu is so prominently associated with the city of Uruk, Biblical Erech in southern Babylonia that there are good reasons for believing this place to have been the original seat of the Anu cult. If this be correct, then the goddess Inanna (or Ishtar) of Uruk may at one time have been his consort. Probably Uruk was the country of Aulakh Jats.[2]

Temple of Belus

Arrian[3] writes....Entering the city (Babylon), he (Alexander) commanded the Babylonians to rebuild all the temples which Xerxes had destroyed, and especially that of Belus, whom the Babylonians venerate more than any other god. Belus, or Bel, the supreme deity of the Babylonians, was identical with the Syrian Baal. The signification of the name is mighty. [4]...He also sent Mithrines, who had surrendered to him the citadel of Sardis, down into Armenia to be viceroy there. Here also he met with the Chaldaeans; and whatever they directed in regard to the religious rites of Babylon he performed, and in particular he offered sacrifice to Belus according to their instructions.

Arrian[5] writes....Alexander had a suspicion that the Chaldaeans were trying to prevent his entrance into Babylon at that time with reference rather to their own advantage than to the declaration of the oracle. For in the middle of the city of the Babylonians was the temple of Belus, an edifice very great in size, constructed of baked bricks which were cemented together with bitumen. This temple had been razed to the ground by Xerxes, when he returned from Greece. Herodotus (i. 181) gives a description of this temple, which he says existed in his time. Strabo (xvi. 1) agrees with Arrian that it was said to have been destroyed by Xerxes. He also says that Alexander employed 10,000 men in clearing away the rubbish of the ruins.

Ch 3.16: Escape of Darius into Media.— March of Alexander to Babylon and Susa

Arrian[6] writes.... Immediately after the battle, Darius marched through the mountains of Armenia towards Media, accompanied in his flight by the Bactrian cavalry, as they had then been posted with him in the battle; also by those Persians who were called the king's kinsmen, and by a few of the men called apple-bearers.[1] About 2,000 of his Grecian mercenaries also accompanied him in his flight, under the command of Paron the Phocian, and Glaucus the Aetolian. He fled towards Media for this reason, because he thought Alexander would take the road to Susa and Babylon immediately after the battle, inasmuch as the whole of that country was inhabited and the road was not difficult for the transit of baggage; and besides Babylon and Susa appeared to be the prizes of the war; whereas the road towards Media was by no means easy for the march of a large army. In this conjecture Darius was mistaken; for when Alexander started from Arbela, he advanced straight towards Babylon; and when he was now not far from that city, he drew up his army in order of battle and marched forward. The Babylonians came out to meet him in mass, with their priests and rulers, each of whom individually brought gifts, and offered to surrender their city, citadel, and money.[2] Entering the city, he commanded the Babylonians to rebuild all the temples which Xerxes had destroyed, and especially that of Belus, whom the Babylonians venerate more than any other god.[3] He then appointed Mazaeus viceroy of the Babylonians, Apollodorus the Amphipolitan general of the soldiers who were left behind with Mazaeus, and Asclepiodorus, son of Philo, collector of the revenue. He also sent Mithrines, who had surrendered to him the citadel of Sardis, down into Armenia to be viceroy there.[4] Here also he met with the Chaldaeans; and whatever they directed in regard to the religious rites of Babylon he performed, and in particular he offered sacrifice to Belus according to their instructions.[5] He then marched away to Susa[6]; and on the way he was met by the son of the viceroy of the Susians,[7] and a man bearing a letter from Philoxenus, whom he had despatched to Susa directly after the battle. In the letter Philoxenus had written that the Susians had surrendered their city to him, and that all the money was safe for Alexander. In twenty days the king arrived at Susa from Babylon; and entering the city he took possession of the money, which amounted to 50,000 talents, as well as the rest of the royal property.[8] Many other things were also captured there, which Xerxes brought with him from Greece, especially the brazen statues of Harmodius and Aristogeiton.[9] These Alexander sent back to the Athenians, and they are now standing at Athens in the Ceramicus, where we go up into the Acropolis,[10] right opposite the temple of Rhea, the mother of the gods, not far from the altar of the Eudanemi. Whoever has been initiated in the mysteries of the two goddesses[11] at Eleusis, knows the altar of Eudanemus which is upon the plain. At Susa Alexander offered sacrifice after the custom of his fathers, and celebrated a torch race and a gymnastic contest; and then, leaving Abulites, a Persian, as viceroy of Susiana, Mazarus, one of his Companions, as commander of the garrison in the citadel of Susa, and Archelaüs, son of Theodorus, as general, he advanced towards the land of the Persians. He also sent Menes down to the sea, as governor of Syria, Phœnicia, and Cilicia, giving him 3,000 talents of silver[12] to convey to the sea, with orders to despatch as many of them to Antipater as he might need to carry on the war against the Lacedaemonians.[13] There also Amyntas, son of Andromenes, reached him with the forces which he was leading from Macedonia[14]; of whom Alexander placed the horsemen in the ranks of the Companion cavalry, and the foot he added to the various regiments of infantry, arranging each according to nationalities. He also established two companies in each squadron of cavalry, whereas before this time companies did not exist in the cavalry; and over them he set as captains those of the Companions who were pre-eminent for merit.

1. As to the kinsmen and apple-bearers, see iii. 11 supra.

2. Diodorus (xvii. 63) and Curtius (v. 6) state that from the treasure captured in Babylon, Alexander distributed to each Macedonian horseman about £24, to each of the Grecian horsemen £20, to each of the Macedonian infantry £8, and to the allied infantry two months' pay.

3. Belus, or Bel, the supreme deity of the Babylonians, was identical with the Syrian Baal. The signification of the name is mighty. Cf. Herodotus (i. 181); Diodorus (ii. 9); Strabo (xvi. 1).

4. See i. 17 supra.

5. The Chaldees appear in Hebrew under the name of Casdim, who seem to have originally dwelt in Carduchia, the northern part of Assyria. The Assyrians transported these rude mountaineers to the plains of Babylonia (Isa. xxiii. 13). The name of Casdim, or Chaldees, was applied to the inhabitants of Mesopotamia (Gen. xi. 28); the inhabitants of the Arabian desert in the vicinity of Edom (Job i. 17); those who dwelt near the river Chaboras (Ezek. i. 3; xi. 24); and the priestly caste who had settled at a very early period in Babylon, as we are informed by Diodorus and Eusebius. Herodotus says that these priests were dedicated to Belus. It is proved by inscriptions that the ancient language was retained as a learned and religious literature. This is probably what is meant in Daniel i. 4 by "the book and tongue of the Casdim." Cf. Diodorus (ii. 29-31); Ptolemy (v. 20, 3); and Cicero (De Divinatione, i. 1). See Fürst's Hebrew Lexicon, sub voce כֶּֽשֶֹד.

6. In the Bible this city is called Shushan. Near it was the fortress of Shushan, called in our Bible the Palace (Neb. i. 2; Esth. ii. 8). Susa was situated on the Choaspes, a river remarkable for the excellence of its water, a fact referred to by Tibullus (iv. 1, 140) and by Milton (Paradise Reg., iii. 288). The name Shushan is derived from the Persian word for lily, which grew abundantly in the vicinity. The ruins of the palace mentioned in Esther i. have recently been explored, and were found to consist of an immense hall, the roof of which was supported by a central group of thirty-six pillars arranged in the form of a square. This was flanked by three porticoes, each containing two rows of six pillars. Cf. Strabo (xv. 7, 28).

7. The name of the viceroy was Abulites (Curtius, v. 8).

8. If these were Attic talents, the amount would be, equivalent to £11,600,000; but if they were Babylonian or Aeginetan talents, they were equal to £19,000,000. Cf. Plutarch (Alex., 36, 37); Justin (xi. 14); and Curtius (v. 8). Diodorus (xvii. 66) tells us that 40,000 talents were of uncoined gold and silver, and 9,000 talents of gold bearing the effigy of Darius.

9. Cf. Arrian (vii. 19); Pausanias (i. 8, 5); Pliny (Nat. Hist., xxxiv. 9); Valerius Maximus (ii. 10, 1). For Harmodius and Aristogeiton see Thucydides, vi. 56-58.

10. Polis meant in early times a particular part of Athens, viz. the citadel, usually called the Acropolis. Cf. Aristophanes (Lysistrata, 245 et passim).

11. Demeter and Persephone.

12.About £730,000.

13. Antipater had been left by Alexander regent of Macedonia. Agis III., king of Sparta, refused to acknowledge Alexander's hegemony, and after a hard struggle was defeated and slain by Antipater at Megalopolis, B.C. 330. See Diodorus, xvii. 63; Curtius, vi. 1 and 2.

14. According to Curtius (v. 6) these forces amounted to nearly 15,000 men. Amyntas also brought with him fifty sons of the chief laen in Macedonia, who wished to serve as royal pages. Cf. Diodorus, xvii. 64.

p.170-174

Ch 7.16 Exploration of the Caspian — The Chaldaean Soothsayers

Arrian[7] writes.... After this, Alexander sent Heraclides, son of Argaeus, into Hyrcania in command of a company of shipwrights, with orders to cut timber from the Hyrcanian mountains and with it to construct a number of ships of war, some without decks and others with decks after the Grecian fashion of ship-building.[1] For he was very desirous of discovering with what sea the one called the Hyrcanian or Caspian unites; whether it communicates with the water of the Euxine Sea, or whether the Great Sea comes right round from the Eastern Sea, which is near India and flows up into the Hyrcanian Gulf; just as he had discovered that the Persian Sea, which was called the Red Sea, is really a gulf of the Great Sea.[2] For the sources of the Caspian Sea had not yet been discovered, although many nations dwell around it, and navigable rivers discharge their waters into it. From Bactria, the Oxus, the largest of Asiatic rivers, those of India excepted, discharges itself into this sea[3]; and through Scythia flows the Jaxartes.[4] The general account is, that the Araxes also, which flows from Armenia, falls into the same sea.[5] These are the largest; but many others flow into these, while others again discharge themselves directly into this sea. Some of these were known to those who visited these nations with Alexander; others are situated towards the farther side of the gulf, as it seems, in the country of the Nomadic Scythians, a district which is quite unknown. When Alexander had crossed the river Tigres with his army and was marching to Babylon, he was met by the Chaldaean philosophers[6]; who, having led him away from his Companions, besought him to suspend his march to that city. For they said that an oracular declaration had been made to them by the god Belus, that his entrance into Babylon at that time would not be for his good. But he answered their speech with a line from the poet Euripides to this effect: He the best prophet is that guesses well."[7] But said the Chaldaeans:—"O king, do not at any rate enter the city looking towards the west nor leading the army advancing in that direction; but rather go right round towards' the east." But this did not turn out to be easy for him, on account of the difficulty of the ground; for the deity was leading him to the place where entering he was doomed soon to die. And perhaps it was better for him to be taken off in the very acme of his glory as well as of the affection entertained for him by men, before any of the vicissitudes natural to man befell him. Probably this was the reason Solon advised Croesus to look at the end of a long life, and not before pronounce any man happy.[8] Tea indeed, Hephaestion's death had been no small misfortune to Alexander; and I think he would rather have departed before it occurred than have been alive to experience it; no less than Achilles, as it seems to me, would rather have died before Patroclus than have been the avenger of his death.

1. These are what Hirtius (Bell. Alex. 11) calls " naves apertas et constratas."

2. See p. 155, note 6.

3. See p. 199, note 1. Strabo (xi.7) says that Aristobulus declared the Oxus to be the largest river which he had seen except those in India.

4. See p. 198, note 3. The Oxus and Jaxartes really flow into the Sea of Aral, or the Palus Oxiana, which was first noticed by Ammianus Marcellinus (xxiii. 6, 59) in the 4th century a.d. Ptolemy, however, mentions it as a small lake, and not as the recipient of these rivers. Of. Pliny, vi. 18.

5. The Araxes, or Aras, joins the Cyrus, or Kour, and falls into the Caspian Sea. It is now called Kizil-Ozan, or Yellow River. Its Hebrew name is Chabor (2 Kings xvii. 6). Pontem indignatus Araxes (Vergil, Aeneid, viii. 728). See Aeschylus (Prometheus, 736), Dr. Paley's note.

6. As to the Chaldaeans, see Cicero (De Div., i. 1) and Diod. (ii. 29-31).

7. This is a verse from one of the lost tragedies of Euripides. It is also quoted by Cicero (De Divin., ii. 5): Est quidam Graecus vulgaris in hauc sententiam versus; bene qui oonjiciet, vatem huno perhibebo optimum."

ἐμὲ τοῦτο ἔτι ἐόν, meaning, not that he had himself seen the temple, but that it existed till his time. In chap. 183 he expressly states that he did not see other things which he is describing, but that he derived his information from the Chaldaeans. He was about twenty years of age when Xerxes was assassinated. It must not be forgotten that Strabo and Arrian lived five or six hundred years after Xerxes. The veracity of Strabo is never doubted; yet in his description of Babylon this author speaks of the walls and hanging gardens as if they were still in existence, though not expressly saying so.

8. See Herodotus (i. 32); Plutarch (Solon, 27).

p.400-402

Ch 7.17 The Advice of the Chaldees rejected

Arrian[8] writes.... But he had a suspicion that the Chaldaeans were trying to prevent his entrance into Babylon at that time with reference rather to their own advantage than to the declaration of the oracle. For in the middle of the city of the Babylonians was the temple of Belus,[1] an edifice very great in size, constructed of baked bricks which were cemented together with bitumen. This temple had been razed to the ground by Xerxes, when he returned from Greece; as were also all the other sacred buildings of the Babylonians. Some say that Alexander had formed the resolution to rebuild it upon the former foundations, and for this reason he ordered the Babylonians to carry away the mound. Others say that he intended to build a still larger one than that which formerly existed.[2] But after his departure, the men who had been entrusted with the work prosecuted it without any vigour, so that he determined to employ the whole of his army in completing it. A great quantity of land as well as gold had been dedicated to the god Belus by the Assyrian kings; and in olden times the temple was kept in repair and sacrifices were offered to the god. But at that time the Chaldaeans were appropriating the property of the god, since nothing existed upon which the revenues could be expended. Alexander suspected that they did not wish him to enter Babylon for this reason^ for fear that in a short time the temple would be finished, and they should be deprived of the gains accruing from the money. And yet, according to Aristobulus, he was willing to yield to their persuasions so far at least as to change the direction of his entry into the city. For this purpose, on the first day he encamped near the river Euphrates; and on the next day he marched along the bank, keeping the river on his right hand, with the intention of passing beyond the part of the city turned towards the west, and there wheeling round to lead his army towards the east. But on account of the difficulty of the ground he could not march with his army in this direction; because if a man who is entering the city from the west, here changes his direction eastward, he comes upon ground covered with marshes and shoals. Thus, partly by his own will and partly against his will, he disobeyed the god.

1. See p. 171, note 3. Herodotus (i. 181) gives a description of this temple, which he says existed in his time. Strabo (xvi. 1) agrees with Arrian that it was said to have been destroyed by Xerxes. He also says that Alexander employed 10,000 men in clearing away the rubbish of the ruins. Professor Sayoe and others adduce this passage of Arrian to prove that Herodotus is not to be trusted even when he says he had seen the places and things which he describes. The words of Herodotus are is

2. Cf. Arrian, iii. 16 supra.

p.402-404

References

  1. ↑ Natural History by Pliny Book VI/Chapter 30
  2. ↑ Bhim Singh Dahiya : Jats the Ancient Rulers, p. 245
  3. ↑ The Anabasis of Alexander/3b, Ch.16
  4. ↑ Cf. Herodotus (i. 181); Diodorus (ii. 9); Strabo (xvi. 1).
  5. ↑ The Anabasis of Alexander/7b , Ch.17
  6. ↑ The Anabasis of Alexander/3b, Ch.16
  7. ↑ The Anabasis of Alexander/7b , Ch.16
  8. ↑ The Anabasis of Alexander/7b , Ch.17
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