The explanation is to be found in the influence of the theological system that must have been developed in part, at least, even before the union of the Babylonian states.[153] Bel, as the god of earth, was associated with Anu, as the god of heaven, and Ea, as the god of the deep, to form a triad that embraced the entire universe.

When, therefore, Anu, Bel, and Ea were invoked, it was equivalent to naming all the powers that influenced the fate of man.

They embraced, as it were, the three kingdoms of the gods, within which all the other gods could be comprised.

The systematization involved in the assumption of a triad of gods controlling the entire pantheon can hardly be supposed to have been a popular process.

It betokens an amount of thought and speculation, a comprehensive view of the powers of nature, that could only have arisen in minds superior to the average intelligence.