Symbolic, liturgical and theological features of the Minh Đạo sects were shared with the Caodaist religion. Scholars can easily trace such sublime pagan deities as Venus to Ishtar, Jupiter to Marduk, etc. The Israelite and Jewish religion itself was strongly influenced by the remarkable civilization unfolded in the Euphrates valley. The mother goddess, Ishtar, remained a powerful presence in her own right, often associated with male deities as their consort or as a fierce warrior and protector. References in the Epic of Gilgamesh and elsewhere to the priestesses of Ishtar as sacred prostitutes indicate the tradition of hieros gamos, in which the king or other representatives of the male principle would engage in sexual acts with the priestesses as representatives of Ishtar in a tradition designed to propitiate the fertility of crops, livestock, and human beings. Earlier, the goddess Inanna (or Ishtar) came to be widely honored, as did male counterparts to the goddess, such as Enlil and Enki.

By the side of the first triad, consisting of Anu, Enlil, and Ea, was sometimes found a second triad composed of Shamash, Sin, and Ishtar. By the sixth century B.C.E., Anu’s position as the chief god found expression in his portrayal as the first figure of a triad consisting of Anu, Enlil and Ea (also called Enki), who reigned over the heavens, the earth, and the watery expanse, respectively. As the first triad symbolized the three divisions of the universe-the heavens, earth, and the watery element-so the second represented the three great forces of nature: The sun, the moon, and the life-giving power. With this accomplished, it was also possible to foretell what events were portended by the position and relationship to one another of sun, moon, planets, and certain stars. But don’t worry – as far as gruesome Greek myths go, this one has some semblance of a happy ending (for the children at least).

The growth of apocalyptic literature, both Jewish and Christian seems to be influenced to some degree at least by the astral-theology of Babylonia and Assyria. In the royal collection of cuneiform literature-made by King Assur-bani-pal of Assyria (668-626 B.C.E.) and deposited in his palace at Nineveh-the omen collections connected with the astral theology of Babylonia and Assyria form the largest class. To all practical purposes, however, the religion of Assyria was very similar with that practiced in the south. She was frequently associated with Marduk, and still more closely with the chief god of Assyria, Ashur, who occupied in Northern Mesopotamia a position similar to that of Marduk in the south. Originally the patron god of the city which bore his name, Ashur came to hold the same position in the north that Marduk occupied in the south. Marduk and Ashur became rivals only when Babylonia came to give the Assyrians trouble.

Other than the substitution of Ashur for Marduk, the Assyrian pantheon was basically the same as that in the south, though some of the gods were endowed with attributes which differ slightly from their southern counterparts. An important variation, however, was that the role of the head of the pantheon in Assyria was held by Ashur rather than Marduk. The war-like nature of the Assyrians was reflected in their conceptions of the gods, who stood by the side of the great protector Ashur. All the gods, great and small, had their places assigned to them in the heavens. The gods, to be sure, are easily aroused to anger. Grouped around this pair, as princes around a throne, were the chief deities of the older religious centers: Ea and Damkina of Eridu; Nabu and Tashmit of Borsippa; Nergal and Allatu of Kutha; Shamash of Sippar; Sin and Ningal of Ur, as well as other deities whose locations are unknown. Each tended to honor a specific god, which was looked upon as the chief deity, around whom were gathered a number of minor deities and with whom there was invariably associated a female consort. Paralleling the centralization of political administration, the gods of the chief religious centers, together with those of the minor local shrines, formed a group around Marduk.