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{{Meso myth}}
'''Babylonian religion''' is the religious practice of [[Babylonia]]. Babylonian mythology was greatly influenced by their [[Sumerian mythology|Sumerian]] counterparts, and was written on clay tablets inscribed with the cuneiform script derived from Sumerian [[cuneiform]]. The myths were usually either written in Sumerian or [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]. Some Babylonian texts were translations into Akkadian from the [[Sumerian language]] of earlier texts, although the names of some deities were changed in Babylonian texts.

Many of the stories of the [[Tanakh]] are believed to have been based on, influenced by, or inspired by the legendary mythological past of the Near East.<ref>{{cite web |authorlink= |author=Morris  Jastrow Jr. |title=Babylon |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=51&letter=B&search=Babylon |work= |publisher=Jewish Encyclopedia|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

==Mythology and cosmology==
{{Main|Mesopotamian mythology}}
{{See|Enûma Eliš}}
Babylonian mythology is a set of stories depicting the activities of [[Babylon]]ian [[deity|deities]], [[hero]]es, and [[mythological creature]]s. These stories served many social, political, ceremonial purposes, and at times tried to explain natural phenomena. Chaldean religion was largely centered around civilization.

Babylonian mythology was greatly influenced by their [[Sumerian mythology|Sumerian]] counterparts, and was written on clay tablets inscribed with the cuneiform script derived from sumerian [[cuneiform]]. The myths were usually either written in Sumerian or [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]. Some Babylonian texts were even translations into Akkadian from the [[Sumerian language]] of earlier texts, though the names of some deities were changed in Babylonian texts.

Many Babylonian deities, myths and religious writings are singular to that culture; for example, the uniquely Babylonian deity, [[Marduk]], replaced [[Enlil]] as the head of the mythological pantheon. The ''[[Enûma Eliš]]'', a [[creation myth]] [[Epic poetry|epic]] was an original Babylonian work.

==Religious festivals==
{{See|Akitu}}
[[Image:Detail Ishtar gate.JPG|thumb|left|200px|A relief image, part of the Babylonian [[Ishtar gate]].]]
Tablet fragments from the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Neo-Babylonian period]] describe a series of festival days celebrating the New Year. The Festival began on the first day of the first Babylonian month, Nisannu, roughly corresponding to April/May in the Gregorian calendar. This festival celebrated the re-creation of the Earth, drawing from the [[Marduk]]-centered creation story described in the Enûma Eliš.<ref>McIntosh, Jane R. "Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspectives". ABC-CLIO, Inc: Santa Barbera, CA, 2005. p. 221</ref>

==Importance of idols==
In Babylonian religion, the ritual care and worship of the statues of deities was considered sacred; the gods resided simultaneously in their statues in temples and in the natural forces they embodied. An elaborate ceremony of washing the mouths of the statues appeared sometime in the [[Old Babylonian period]].

The pillaging or destruction of idols was considered to be a withdrawal of divine patronage; during the Neo-Babylonian period, the Chaldean prince [[Marduk-apla-iddina II]] fled into the southern marshes of Mesopotamia with the statues of Babylon's gods to save them from the armies of [[Sennacherib]] of Assyria.<ref>McIntosh, Jane R. "Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspectives". ABC-CLIO, Inc: Santa Barbera, CA, 2005. pp. 35-43</ref>

==Influence on Abrahamic religions==
{{Main|Panbabylonism}}
Many of the stories of the [[Tanakh]] are believed to have been based on, influenced by, or inspired by the legendary mythological past of the Near East.<ref>{{cite web |authorlink= |author=Morris  Jastrow Jr. |title=Babylon |url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=51&letter=B&search=Babylon |work= |publisher=Jewish Encyclopedia|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Assyrian religion]]
*[[Mesopotamian religion]]
*[[Religions of the ancient Near East]]
*[[Sumerian religion]]
*[[Tower of Babel]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Citation|last=Renger|first=Johannes|contribution=Babylonian and Assyrian Religion|year=1999|title=Encyclopedia of Christianity|editor-last=Fahlbusch|editor-first=Erwin|volume=1|pages=177-178|place=Grand Rapids|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans|isbn = 0802824137}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babylonian Religion}}
[[Category:Babylonia]]
[[Category:Mesopotamian mythology]]