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THE 


BABYLONIAN  &  ORIENTAL 

RECORD : 

A  Monthly  Magazine  of  the  Antiquities  of  the  East. 


EDITORIAL  COMMITTEE|: 

PROF.    T.    DE    LACOUPERIE,    Ph     &    Litt.D.    THEO.    G 
PINCHES  AND  WM.  C   CAPPER. 

Corresponding  Continental  Editor  :  Prof.  C.  de  HARLEZ, 

LL.D. 

Sub-Editor  :  H.  M.  MACKENZIE. 


VOLUME  FIRST.— from  Nov,,  1886— Oc/.,  1887. 


LONDON 


51,     KNOWLE    ROAD, 
BRIXTON,     S.W. 


D.     N  UTT, 

BRITISH  AND  FOREIGN   BOOKSELLER, 

270,    STRAND,    W.C. 

Glasgow  :  D.  Bryce  &  Son.  Edinburgh  :  Macniven  &  Wallace. 

Paris  :   Ernest  Leroux,  28,   rue  Bonaparte. — Louvain  :     Lefever  freres,  30, 

rue  des  Orphelins. 


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CONTENTS     OF    VOLUME     FIRST. 

NO.    I.  PAGE 

Sumerian  and  Akkadian  in    Comparative  Pliilology.   By  Prof.  T.  de  Lacouperie.  1 

Singasid's  Gift  to  the  Temple  E-ana.      By   Tlieo.    G.    Pinches.  8 

The  Plague  Legends  of  Chaldoa.     By  B.  W.  H 

Reviews.  14 

News,    Notes,    and    Queries.  Ig 

NO.  II. 

'  The  Burning  Fiery   Furnace."  By  Geor_i>e  Bertin.  17 

The  Erechite's  Lament  over  the  Desolation  of  Lis  Fatherland.  By  T.  G.  Pinches.  21 

Gleanings  from  Clay  Commentaries. — I.  By  W.  St  Chad    Boscawen.  23 

The  Kushites— who  were  they?   By  Prof.  T.  de  Lacouperie.  25 

Reviews.  31 

Notes,  News,  and   Queries.  ;^)2 

NO.  in. 

Babylonian  Astronomy  in  the  West — the  Aries  of  Aratos.  By  Robt.  Brown,  jun.,  F.S.A.  33 

Iranian  Studies — The  Four-Eyed  Dogs  of  the  Avesta.     By  Prof.Dr  C.  De  Harlez.  36 

Babylonian  Teraphim.      By  W.  St.  Chad  Boscawen.  39 
The  Babylonians  and    Assyrians    as    Maritime  Nations. — 1. — An    Assyrian    Letter 
anentthe  Transport,  by  Ship,  of  Stone  for  a  winged  Bull  and  Colossus.  By  Theo.  G. 

Pinches.  41 

The  Sinhn  of  Isaiah,  not  the  Chinese.  By  Prof.   T.  de  Lacouperie.  45 

Reviews.  48 

NO.  iV. 
Iranian  Studies — II.   The  Origin  and  Nature  of  the  Pahlavi.  By  Prof.   C.  de  Harlez, 

Louvain.  49 
Babylonian  Notes — I.  Gaddas,  an  early  Babylonian  King.  II.  Tarzia,  "  King  of  Baby- 
lon and  Countries."  The  Deities  llan  and  Hur.  By  Theo.  G.  Pinches,  54 
The  Babylonian  idea  of  a  disembodied  Soul.  By  Thomas  Tyler,  M.  A.  55 
Did  Cyrus  introduce  Writing  into  India  ?  By  Prof.  T.  de  Lacouperie,  Ph.  &  Litt.  D.  58 
Reviews.  .  .  64 
Notes,  News  and  Queries.  64 

NO.  V. 

A  Babylonian  Land  Grant.  By  W.  St.  Chad    Boscawen,  F.R.H.S.  65 

St.  John  VII.  38.  Illustrated  by  a  Babylonian  Seal.  By  Rev.  W.  A.  Harrison,  M.A,  68 
Iranian  Studies — II.  The  Origin  and  Nature  of  the  Pahlavi.  {Continued)  By  Prof. 

C.  De  Harlez,  Louvain.  69 
A  Fragment  of  a  Babylonian  Tithe-List.   Additional  Note  on  King  Gaddas.    By 

Theo.   G.    Pinches.  76 

Note  on  Babylonian  Astronoaiy.  By  W.   T.  Lynn,  M.A.,  F.R.A.S.  78 

Egypt  Exploration  Fund.                                       '  79 

Notes,  News  and   Queries.  80 

NO.    VI. 

Tablets  referring  to  the  Apprenticeship  of  Slaves  at  Babylon.  By  Theo.  G.  Pinches.  81 

Deciphenng  the  Hittite  Inscriptions  :  A  Retrospect.  By  R,  Q.,  with  Notes  by  T;  de  L.  85 
The  Eranian  Origin  of  the  Teutonic  Concept  of  Deity.  By  Herbert  Baynes,  M.R.A.S.  90 
Iranian  Studies- II.  The  Origin  and   Nature  of  the  Paldavi.   {Continued).  By 

Prof.   C.  De  Harlez,  Louvain.  93 

Pehlevi  Notes.— I.  The  Semitic  Verb  in  Pehlevi.  By  Dr  L.  C.  Casartclli.  95 

Notes,  News  and  Queries.  96 


NO.  VII. 

Two  Discourses  of  Oliosroes.  By  Dr.  L.  Casartelli,  97 
Sworn  Obligations  in  Egyptian  and  Babylonian  Law.  By  Prof.  E.  &  Dr.  V.  Revillout.  iOl 
Iranian  Studies— II.  Tlie  Nature  and  Origin  of  the  Pahlavi.  (eoncluded). — III.  God= 

K'hadata  ?      By  Prof.  Dr.  C,  de  Harlez.  104 
The  Hibbert  Lectures  onthe  Religion  of  the -Babylonians,  by  Prof.  A.  H.  Sayce. 

[Abstract  by  S.  A.  S.]  10^ 

Oriental  Work  of  English  Societies.  Ill 

Notes,  News  and  Queries.  112 

NO.  VIII. 

Babylonia  and  China.     By  Prof.  Dr.  T.  de  Lacouperie.  I  la 

Some  Babylonian  Cylinders.     By  William  Hayes  Ward,  New    York.  1 1 5- 

A  Settlement    of  Accounts   in    Nabopolassar's  Time.         By  Dr.  V.  Revillout.  117 

Glimpses  of  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  life.     By  Theo.  G.  Pinches.  119 

The  Names  of  Sumer  and  Akkad  in  the  Cuneiform  Texts.    By  Arthur  Amiaud,  Paris.  120 

An  Assyrian  Lexicon.  124 
The  Hibbert  Lectures  on  the  Religion  of  the  ancient  Babylonians.         {concluded). 

[Abstract  by  S.  A.  S.]  126 
NO.  IX, 

The  names  of  Sumer  and  Akkad  in  the  Cuneiform  Texts,  (concl.).  By  A.  Amiaud.  129 

The  Borsippa  Inscription  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  By  S.  Alden  Smith.  133 
Glimpses  of  Babylonian  &  Assyrian  Life,— II.  A  Babylonian  Wedding.  By  T.  G.  Pinches.  137 

Rehlevi  Notes.— II.  A  Parallel  to  the  Pehlevi  Jargon.     By    Dr.  L.  C.  Casartelli.  139 

emarks  on  some  Euphratean  Names  in  the  Lexicon  of  Hesychios.  By  R.  Brown,  jun.  140 

Notes,  News  and  Queries.  144 

NO.   X. 
Glimpses  of  Babylonian  &  Assyrian  Life.— III.  A  Wedding  Ceremony.  By  T.G.  Pinches.  145 

Notice  of  a  legal  term  in  the  Babylonian  Contract  Tablets.  By  Prof.  Eber.  Schrader.  147 
Remarks  on  si>me  Euphratean  names  in  the  Lexicon  of  Hesychios.         (concluded) 

By  Robt.  Brown,  jun.  148 

New  Hittite  Seal,  found  near  Tarsus.         By  Thomas  Tyler,  M,A.  150 

A  Season's  Results  in  Egypt.     By  W.  M.  Flinders  Petrie.  151 

Zoroastrian  Deities  on  Indo-Scythian  Coins.         By  Dr.  M.  A.  Stein,  Budapest.  155 

NO.   XL 

Yemen  Inicriptions:  The  Glaser  Collection,    By  Prof.  Hartwig  Derenbourg,  Paris.  167 

Sumerological    Notes.         By  Prof.  Dr.  Fritz  Hommel,  Munich.  18l 

The  Land  of  Sinim  in  Isaiah.     By  Prof.  Dr.  T.  K.  Cheyne,  Oxford.  182 

The  Land  of  Sinim,  not  China.      By  Prof,  Dr.  T.  de  Lacouperie.  183 

Review —  Babylonische  Texte  :  J.  N.  Strassmaier.     [  S.  Alden  Smith.]  19l 

NO.  XII. 

New  Phoenician  &  Israelitish  Inscriptions,  By  Prof.  Dr.  A.  H.  Sayce.  193 
Yemen  Inscriptions  :  The  Glaser  Collection.  (Continued).  By  Prof.  Hartwig 

Derenbourg,  Paris.  195 

The  Deities  of  the  Indo-Scythic  Coins.    By  Prof,  Dr.  0.  De  Harlez.  206 

Babylonian  Etymologies.  By  Theo.  G.  Pinches.  207 

A  Royal  Tithe  of  Nabonidus.  By  W.  St.  Chad  Boscawen.  209 


TIIK 


BABYLONIAN  AND  ORIENTAL  RECORD, 


AKKADIAN  ASD  SUMEIUAN  IN  COMPAUATIVE  PHILOLOGY. 


§  I.  TiiK  position  wliich  tlie  Sumorian  and 
Aivivadian  dialects^  are  entitled  to  take  in  the 
languages  of  the  world  is  still  disputed. 

A  hroad  connection  with  the  Turanian  lan- 
guages^  has  been  claimed  for  them  from  the 
(beginning,  i.  e.,  185  1,  and  several  times  denied 
with  apparent  reason.  Altaic  scholars  of 
eminence,  as  well  as  comparative  philolog- 
ists engaged  in  other  lines  of  linguistic  re- 
search, have  objected  to  the  propt)sed  classifi- 
cation^  of  the  Akkadian  among  the  Ugro- 
Finnish  languages.  Too  confident  in  the 
small  variability  (apparent  only)  of  these  ton- 
gues, and  despite  the  fact  that  the  ground 
they  offer  to  study  is  TuKted  by  the  existent 
literary  documents  to  five  or  six  centuries  only, 
they  had  based  their  objection  on  two  main 
discrepancies.  The  position  of  the  adjective 
or  genixive  in  Akkadian,  with  a  few  excep- 
tions, is  after  the  word  which  it  qualifies, 
while  the  reverse  is  the  rule  in  Uralo-Altaic. 
The  verbal  conjugation  most  frequently  in  use 
-in  Akkadian  is  prepositive,  or  largely  incor- 
porating, and  not  postpositive,  as  in  the  said 
languages.  The  objection,  which  is  chieily 
grammatical,  was  enhanced  by  the  incorrect- 
ness of  some  premature  comparisons  of  words 
still  dubiously  deciphered,  and  rested  mainly 
on  the  old  assumpti(m  that  grammar  is  a 
permanent  feature  in  a  language. 


§  2.  A  large  proportion  of  the  Sumero-Ak^ 
kadian  affinities  with  the  Turki  languages, 
ably  shewn  lately  by  Prof,  llommel,*  will  cer- 
tainly remain  as  genuine  instances  of  a  rela- 
tionship, however  remote  it  may  be  proved  to 
be,  and  whatever  explanation  it  may  receive. 
But  the  questiim  remains  whether  a  similarly 
large,  if  not  larger,  proportion  of  aitinities 
might  not  be  ju-oved  related  as  well  to  another 
branch  of  the  Turanian  languages.  Though 
some  of  the  XTgro-Finnish  affinities  pointed 
out  ten  years  ago  by  the  late  Francois  Lenor- 
mant,  are  now  disqualified  by  recent  progress 
and  better  decipherment,  many  of  them  stand 
good.^  And  their  number  is  large  enough,  in 
phonetic,  glossarial,  and  morphological  simil- 
arities, to  show  that,  after  all,  the  balance  of 
affinities  does  not  lean  more  on  the  Turko- 
Tartaric  than  on  the  Ugro-Finnish  side. 

l)r  Hommel  has  the  merit  of  having  estab- 
lished,  beyond  all  reasonable  doubts,  that 
})arts  of  the  phonesis,  morphology,  and  many 
words  of  the  Sumero-Akkadian  dialects,  have 
a  decidedly  Turanian  character  ;  which  conclu- 
si(m,  before  his  last  papers,  had  still  remain- 
ed unsettled. 

§  3.  Notwithstanding  these  efforts,  even 
this  solution  is  open  to  doubt,  so  far  as  it  bears 
on  the  genealogy  of  the  language,  as  hmg  as 
the  grammatical  objections  have  not  been  re- 


1)  The  distinction  of  the  dialects  was  not  made  scientifically  before  1880.  See  my  note 
on  The  Sttmerian  and  Akkadian  dialects,  The  Academy,  Jime  1,  1882,  No.  530. 

2)  Including  three  large  divisions,  each  comprehending  several  famihes  or  groups :  a)  Uralo- 
Altaic  ;  6)  Kumlanic  ;  c)  Himalaic  ;  and  some  minor  ones,  as  shown  in  my  forthcoming 
work  on  Tlie  Science  of  Language,  chiefly  with  reference  to  S.  E,  Asia. 

3)  As  at  first  claimed  by  the  late  Frangois  Lenormant  in  several  of  his  works,  notably  : 
LaLanguepriinitivedela  Chaldee  et  les  Idiomes  Tourani  ens,  Far  is,  1875,  8\^o;  Chaldean 
Magic,  Jjondon,  1878  8v(..  In  the  latter  work,  p.  294,  he  had  somewhat  modified  his 
views, 'and  claimed  an  equal  parentage  with  the  Ugro-Finnish  and  Turko-Tartaric  groups. 

4)  In  two  valuable  papers  :  Die  Sumero-Akkadische  Sprache  und  ihre  Verioandtschaft- 
verhaltnisse,  65  pp.,  reprinted  from  the  Zeitschrift  fur  Keilschriftforschung,  Munich,  1884, 
vol.  i.  ;  The  Sumerian  language  and  its  ajjfinities,  13  pp.,  in  J.  R.  A.  S.,  18S6,  vol.  xviii. 

5)  F(.r  instance,  despite  Pr..f.  Ilommci's  ingenious  cimiparisons  with  the  Turki,  I  cannot 
help  finding  the  Sumero-Akkadian  numerals  more  similar  to  the  Ugric  than  to  the  Altaic 
numerals.     Vid.  F.  Lenormant's  Tables  of  Comparison,  Chaldean  Magic,  p.  300. 

Vol.  I.-No.  1.  [1]  Nov.    1886. 


AKKADIAN  AND  SUMERIAN  IN  COMPARATIVE    PHILOLOCxY. 


moved;  and  should  they  prove  insuperable,  as 
some  Altaist  scholars  maintain,  these  affin- 
ities will  require  another  explanation,  such,  for 
instance,  as  a  Turanian  importation  and  super- 
imposition  on  the  Sumerian  and  Akkadian, 
whose  relationship  and  origin  will  have  to  be 
sought  for  elsewhere. 

The  population  speaking  the  Akkado-Sume- 
rian  dialects  may  have  been  of  Turanian  origin, 
though  the  monumental  evidence,  far  from 
being  conclusive  in  favour  of  a  mongoloid 
type,  suggests  more  an  hybrid  type  than  any 
other  of  a  pure  race.  So  that  would  not  pre- 
clude the  possibility,  when  coming  down  to 
the  vicinity  of  the  Persian  gulf,  of  their  hav- 
ing adopted  a  language  different  from  their 
own,  though  retaining  something  of  their 
plionesis,  vocabulary  and  morphology. 

§  4.  Therefore  the  interesting  problems, 
historical  and  linguistic,  of  the  genealogy  of 
Akkadian  and  Sumerian,  still  remain  un- 
solved, and  must  so  continue,  as  long  as  the 
important  grammatical  question  which  their 
solution  implies  is  left  unanswered  and  open. 
And  it  cannot  be  answered  but  by  a  special 
study  of  Comparative  Ideology,  in  the  depart- 
ment of  which  is  the  point  at  issue. 

§  5.  Tliis  new  branch  of  the  science  of  lan- 
guage is  concerned  with  the  word-order  in 
the  sentence  ;  it  proves  that  languages  are 
respectively  built  according  to  a  few  different 
■pja^is  of  tliought,  and  that  grammar,  though 
with  greater  difficulty  than  any  other  part  of 
a  language,  does  evolve,  mix  and  change  un- 
der the  pressure  or  intermingling  of  another 
language  having  a  different  ideology.6  In  a 
special  work^  I  have  ventured  to  show  that  it 
is  a  most  important  fi-.ctor  for  ethnological 
research,  genealogical  classification  of  lan- 
guages, and  the  history  of  the  human  mind. 
In  order  to  reduce  its  difficult  management  to 


a  minimum  and  make  it  practical,   I  make 
use  of  the  following  formulje  of  Arabic  and 
Roman  figures  which,  with  five  figures,  (four 
Arabic  for  the  separate  points  of  word-order, 
and  one  Roman  for   the  sentence  arrange- 
ments), permit  the  ideology  of  any  language 
to  be  notated  in  its  main  lines  : 
— I,  genitive 4- noun —2,  noun -|- genitive  ; 
—  3,  adjective -|- noun — 4,  noun -|- adjective  ; 
— 5,  object -j- verb — 6,  verb-}- object  ; 
— 7,  verb  +  subject — 8,  subject  +  verb  ;8 

— I,  object  +  subject  4- verb — II,  obj.  +  verb  -|- 

subject  ; 
— Ill,  verb-|-obj.-|-subj.-IV,  verb-f-subj.-|-obj. 
— V,  subj.-|-obj.-|-verb— VI,  subj.-j-verb-j-obj. 
#  •  « 

§  6.  The  Ideological  Indices  of  the  Ak- 
kadian, f  .  *.  5.  8. 1,  are  rather  complex,  and 
those  of  the  Sumerian  dialect,  supposed  to  be 
of  later  date,  2.  4.  5.  8.  V,  show,  in  compar- 
ison with  the  other,  an  ongoing  or  regressive 
evolution  of  tlie  language  which  it  is  import- 
ant to  examine  carefully.  Both  are  hybrid 
formulae,  and  suggest  an  intermingled  in- 
fluence of  languages  of  different  linguistic 
formations. 

§  7.  The  first  two  points  of  ideology  in 
Akkadian,  ^  3  ,  f or  the  positions,  postpositive 
and  prepositive,  of  the  genitive  and  adjective, 
require  to  be  explained  away.  The  four  pos- 
itions, noun  +  adjective,  adjective  -f-  noun,  gen- 
itive-!-noun,  and  noun -I- genitive,  do  not  ap- 
pear equally  in  the  ancient  texts. 

The  preposition  of  the  genitive  to  the  noun 
is  found  in  group-characters  which  have  re- 
mained undisturbed  when  the  indirect  ideo- 
logy, in  accordance  with  which  their  composi- 
tion had  been  framed,  was  no  longer  in  use, 
l^.g.,zu-ab,  lit.  "wisdom's  residence,"  reada6- 
zu,   lit.  *  residence  of   wisdom,'    for  abyss^ ; 


6)  Cf.  Comparative  Ideology,  The  Academy,  No.  748,  Sept.  4,  1886. 

7)  Word-order  or  Ideology  of  LangvAiges  and  its  relation  to  history.  (London,  D.  Nutt, 
1886,  8vo.) 

8)  These  formulae  are  extended  in  the  above  work,  with  the  help  of  diacritical  marks 
and  small  additional  letters,  in  order  to  carry  the  descriptions  and  distinctions  further,  as 
shewn  in  the  instances  below. 

9)  Fritz  Hommel,    hie  SemltiscJie  Volker  und  Sj^rachen,  p.  295. 


AKKADIAN    AND    SUMERIAN    IN    COMPARATIVE    PHILOLOGY. 


bil^i,  lit.  '  fire's  convey,'  read  gi-bil,^^  with 
the  same  meaning  in  another  ideology. 

The  preposition  of  the   adjective  to   the 
noun,  3,  is  only  known  through  similar  in- 
stances  of  former   group  -  characters  which 
have  remained  crystallized.      For  instance  : 
Gal-lu,    'great  man',  read   lu~gal,  or  'man 

great' ; 
Gal-usum,  '  great  unique',  read  usum-gaP;  or 
'unique  great'. 

Otherwise  genitive  and  adjective  follow 
their  nouns,  2.4,  as  in  e-sag-il,  'house  of  (the) 
head  high'^^^  ^s  they  always  do  in  Sumerian, 
according  to  the  Semitic  Assyrian  ideology, 
which  has  most  probably  affected  the  ideology 
of  these  languages  on  those  two  points. 

§  8.  So  that,  after  all,  the  first  two  points 
of  inversive  ideology,  1.3,  are  not  regularly 
used  in  the  oldest  current  texts  ;  they  are 
only  met  with  crystallized  in  a  few  obsolete 
groups  of  characters,  thus  preserved  in  the 
written  style,  as  survivals  of  a  former  period. 
And,  consequently,  nothing  shows  that  these 
instances  do  belong  more  to  the  Akkadian 
than  to  any  other  language  spoken  by  any 
people  who  used  to  write  these  characters  in 
former  times.  Taking  the  matter  as  it  stands, 
with   reference  to   the   improbability  of  the 


Akkadians  liaviiig  deflected  tlieir  ideology 
on  both  these  points,  without  having  altered 
the  respective  positions  of  the  component 
character  of  these  groups,  the  great  probab- 
ility is  that  their  arrangement  belongs  to  a 
pre  -  Akkadian  period,  when  an  older  non- 
Semitic  people,  speaking  an  inversive  lan- 
guage, made  use  of  this  writing,  probably  of 
of  their  own  invention  or  derivation'^. 

§  9.  The  third  and  fourth  Indices,  5.  8, 
showing  the  pn^piacing  of  the  object  and  sub' 
ject  to  the  verb,  stand  good  for  the  most  an- 
cient and  the  more  modern  Akkadian  and 
Sumerian  texts.  But  their  relative  position 
has  differed,  and  the  syntactical  Indices  per- 
mit to  follow  the  evolution.  The  first  stan- 
dard, (I.,  or,  Object  +  subject -f verb),  was 
prevalent  during  the  Akkadian  or  older  period, 
while  the  Vth  standard  became  dominant 
in  the  later  or  Sumerian  period,  as  it  did  in 
Assyrian.  It  probably  remained  there  as  a 
survival  of  a  former  stage,  which  had  been 
altered  in  Aklvadian  for  a  certain  time,  by 
the  influence  of  a  pre-Akkadian  population, 
as  we  shall  see  hereafter. 

§  10.  One  of  the  principal  difficulties  for 
the  classification  of  the  Akkadian  and  Su- 
merian dialects  is  this  complexity  of  the  verb. 


10)  Name  of  the  god  of  fire,  on  which  cf.  Lenormant,  Chaldean  Magic,  p.  184-8.  The 
learned  author  had  translated  Bil-gi,  'fire  of  the  rushes',  because  gi(n)=gi  means  'reed', 
but  this  interpretation  proves  philologically  impossible,  as  it  ^vould  be  against  the  law  of 
ideology,  (1)  as  in  zio-ab.  There  is  no  doubt  that  gil  is  here  a  genitive,  in  which  case  gi 
has  a  noun  value  of  one  of  the  meanings,  'bringen,  drelien,  evenden,  zurlickkehren,  senden', 
(cf.  P.  Haupt,  Akkadische  und  Sumerische  Keilschrifttexte,  p.  152,  for  these  meanings  ;) 
and  the  compound  word  alludes  to  the  old  practice  of  fire-drill,  as  a  means  of  producing  fire, 
which  was  known  in  ancient  Babylonia.  I  have  already  explained  as  a  i^rainaiitha  the  cone 
of  wood  held  by  the  small  kneeled  bronze  statues,  which  used  to  be  said  of  Gudea,  in  my 
Early  history  of  the  Chinese  civilization^  p.  32,  (London,  1880,  8vo.) 

11)  T.  G.  Pinches,  MS. note... Prof.  Hommel writes  ershu-gal  in  Die Semitischen  Volker 
und  Sjjrachen,  p.  276. 

12)  An  Akkadian  name  of  the  temple  of  Babel. 

13)  This  will  be  discussed  in  a  special  paper  on  The  Kushite  origin  of  the  Babylonian 
writing.  I  have  advocated  for  several  years  the  existence  of  the  Chaldean  or  Babylonian 
writing,  anterior  to  the  arrival  of  the  Akkadians  there,  and  in  the  J.  R.  A.  S.^  April,  1883, 
vol.  XV.,  p.  279,  n.  3,  I  gave  several  pala^ographical  reasons  in  support  of  this  view.  Tliis 
discovery  of  mine  has  just  received  new  confirmation  by  the  disclosures  of  Mr  G.  Bertin, 
in  his  paper  on  The  Pre-Akkadian  Semites,  about  the  original  Semitic  names  of  the  stars 
afterwards  translated  into  Akkadian. 


4  AKKADIAN  AND  8UMERIAN  IN  COMPARATIVE    PHILOLOGY. 

Not  only  conld  it  be  expressed  by  the  simple  (I/)  gahimmanry    i.  e.,  gab-xm-^m-an-ri^^^ 

Btemi^,  but  to  it  might  be  added  series  of  lit.   '  breast-him-to-he-set,'    or,  *he   Bet   the 

particles,  expressing  the  persons,  both  sub-  breast  to  him',  (he  opposed  him.) 

ject  and  object,  or  the  passive,  causative,  or  (I/*)  iglmanvse,  i.  e.,    tgi-im-na-an-se,^  lit. 

intensive  idea's.  And,  as  the  late  Lenormant  « eye-on-him-he-give(s,'  for  *  he  looks  at  him.' 

had  himself  stated,  this  prepositive  arrange-  (I)    munnesingalgalla,  i.  e.,    mu-un-ne-ai-in 

ment  is  in  opposition  to  the  usual  postposi-  gal-galla'^^^\\i.  '  that-them-to-he-give*,  for  'he 

tive    conjugation   of  the  Uralo-Altaic  Ian-  gives  that  to  them'. 

guages'6.  (I)   mnanlal^  i.  e.,  in-na-an-lal,^  lit.  'him 
The  most  interesting  phenomenon  is  that  to-he-weigh',  for  •  he  weights  to  him',  other- 
process  of  incorporation,  which  was  carried  wise,  'he  pays  him.' 

in  Akkadian  to  a  high  extent^'  seldom  met  (Vic)  as  gulagalla  kime  lu-rahan-in-gar^, 

with  elsewhere,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter.  Let  Ht.  *  curse  evil  demon-hke  man  upon  itself-it 

ns  see  how  it  is   exemplified  in  several  in-  -fix,  for  *an  evil   curse,  like  a  demon,  has 

stances,  and  combined  with  the  general  ar-  fixed  upon  a  man.' 

rangement  of  the  sentence.  I  append  the  (Vic)  SiUhnuluhi  ine  im-ma-an-si2*,Ut.  Si- 
ideological  indices  :  likmuhhi,  '  mercy  him-on-he-place,'  for  'Silik- 
(IJ)  Ivr-gisgallu-bi  aS  gula  Iw-hime  %umma}\  muliiki  pities  him'. 

Ht. '  man-that  curse  evil  lamb-like  slaughter(s  (V)  Ana  zae  magmen^^t  lit.  '  heaven-in  thou 

-he',  for  *  the  evil  curse  slaughters  that  man  great  be' ,  for  'thou  art  great  in  heaven'. 

as  a  lamb.*  While  the  first  of  these  arrangements  is 

14)  With  only  the  lengthening,  or  the  suffix,  marking  the  plural.  Cf.  Theo.  G.  Pinches, 
Observations  upon  the  languages  of  the  early  inhabitants  of  Mesopotamia^  p.  14,  from  J".  E. 
A.  S.,  xvi. 

15)  T.  G.  Pinches,  Report  on  the  progress  of  Cuneiform  Research^  p.  96,  in  Eleventh 
Annual  Address  of  the  President  (A.  G.  Ellis)  to  the  Philological  Society^  May  19,  1882, 
pp.  77-100. 

16)  Chaldean  Magic,  p.  286. 

17)  Mentioned  slightly  by  the  late  Lenormant,  Prof.  Sayce,  and  Dr  Paul  Haupt.  It 
was  noticed  by  Mr  T.  G.  Pinches  and  Prof.  Hommel  in  their  above  papers  ;  and  quite 
lately  it  has  been  studied  specially  in  an  important  paper  by  Mr  G.  Bertin,  on  V Incorpora- 
tion verbale  en  Accadien,  pp.  105-15,  148-61,  in  Revue  d'Assyriologie  et  Archeologie  ori- 
entale,  vol.  i.,  (Paris,  1885-6,  4.) 

18)  Of.  T.  G.  Pinches,  Report,  p.  94.— Onswmma  cf.  Lenormant,  Etudes  Accadiennes,  ii^ 
226;  iii.,  9  ;  Ed.  de  Chossat,  Repertoire  Sumerien  (Akkadien)  p.  192,  (Lyons,  1882, 8vo.) 

19)  T,  G.  Pinches,  Observations  ujwn  the  languages  of  the  early  inhabitants  of  Mesopo- 
tamvi,  p.  10.  Reprinted  from  J,  R.  A.  S.,  vol.  xvi.,  1884.— TFiss^erw  Asia  Inscriptions,. 
iv.  26,  15. 

20)  Cf.  T.  G.  Pinches,  Observations,  p.  lO»-^Western  Asia  Inscriptions,  iv,  26, 15.  ;G» 
Bertin,  De  F Incorporation,  p.  1 2. 

21)  Western  Asia  Inscriptions,  iv..  5,  61,  ;  G.  Bertin,  De  V Incorporation,  p.  11. 

22)  Cf.  Fr.  Lenormant,  Glossaire,  in  Ed.  de  Ohossat,  Repertoire  Sumerien,  p.  75. 

23)  Cf.  T.  G.  Pinches,  Report,  p.  94. 

24)  E.  Lenormant,  Incantation  magique  bilingue  ChaldSenne,  d  texte  primitif  Accadien, 
avec  version  Assyrienne,  in  Journal  Asiatique,  1878  ;  cf.  p.  223,  where  immansi  is  trans- 
lated 'grandement-l-il  +  a  accorde',  by  a  wrong  identification  of  the  pronominal  suffixes. 

25)  Cf.  F.  Lonormant,  Etudes  Accadiennes,  ii.,  116,  17. — ^T.  G.  Pinches,  Report  on  the 
progress  of  Cuneiform  research,  p.  95. 


AKKADIAN   AND   SUmSBIAH   IH   OOMPARATXVX  PHILOLOOT. 


more  commonly  met  in  Akkadian,  the  latter 
is  that  which  is  more  usual  in  Sumerian,  and 
instances  could  be  multiplied  without  any  other 
result  here  than  a  useless  lengthening  of  this 
paper. 

•  *  • 

§  11.  It  results  from  the  foregoing  re- 
marks and  instances  that  the  Ideologies  of 
Akkadian,  and,  to  a  less  extent,  that  of  Su- 
merian, are  abnormal  and  composite.  The 
postposition  of  the  genitive  and  of  the  adject- 
iye  have  been  explained  away  above  as  a  result 
from  a  deep  influence  of  the  Semitic  ideology. 
But  if  this  explanation  is  true,  we  ought  to 
find  also  traces  of  such  an  important  influence 
as  this  in  the  verbal  ideology  ;  and  if  such  is 
the  case,  the  clumsy  arrangements  as  exhibit- 
ed by  the  Akkadian  verb  cannot  be  consider- 
ed otherwise  than  as  makeshifts.  When  object 
and  subject,  represented  by  pronouns  more 
or  less  dependent,  are  both  incorporated,  or 
one  incorporated  and  one  affixed  to  the  verbal 
base,  notwithstanding  the  presence,  independ- 
ently and  outside  the  verb,  of  the  nouns  object 
and  subject,  we  may  be  sure  that  it  is  the  out- 
come of  hybridism.  It  must  be  distinctly  put 
apart  from  the  regular  phenomenon  of  incor- 
poration, where  the  nouns  themselves,  object 
or  subject,  are  used,  as  in  Nahualt  of  the 
American  Indians.  Such  complicated  arrange- 
ments result  from  the  impotent  efforts  at 
satisfying  the  intelligibility  required  by  both 
people  speaking  and  spoken  to,  without  sac- 
rificing one  ideology  to  the  other. 

§  12.  Experience  teaches  us^s  that  similar 
phenomena  of  incorporation  take  place  where- 
ever  a  language  of  the  fifth  syntactical  stan- 
dard (Subject -I- object -f- verb)  comes  under 
the  modifying  influence  of  another  language 
-of  the  fourth  standard  (verb  4- subject -f- ob- 
ject). The  Turanian  languages  whose  original 
family  standard  of  syntax  was  the  Vth,  have, 
Accordingly  with  the  sentence  word-order  of 
that  type,  a  common  tendency  of  this  kind 
which  has  remained  in  a  state  of  virtuality  and 
undevelopment  in   such  of  these  languages 


which  have  not  been  pushed  onward  before 
having  reached  a  certain  degree  of  fixity  from 
literary  culture.  But  it  has  been  stretched 
to  the  utmost  by  such  other  of  these  languages 
which  were  compelled  by  the  pressure  of  one  or 
several  tongues  of  different  origin  to  strive 
after  clearness.  The  difference  of  syntactical 
standards  required  for  this  result  has  just 
been  pointed  out.  The  instances,  not  to  be 
numerous,  are,  however,  conclusive  in  some 
known  cases.  InMoksha-Mordwin,  and  some 
Ugrian  tongues,  there  is  a  simple  incorpora- 
tion of  an  objective  pronoun  which  has  been 
rightly  or  wrongly  explained  as  resulting 
from  the  weakness  of  distinction,  between  the 
action  and  its  object,  common  to  the  Turan- 
ian languages  in  general,  and  there  carried 
into  practice  from  the  obligation  of  satisfying 
some  extra  want  of  intelligibility. 

§  13.  The  phenomena  of  incorporation  are 
more  developed  in  Abkasian,  Vayu  (Gan- 
getic),  Santhali  (Kolarian),  and  Euskarian. 
The  first  is  one  of  the  North  Caucasian  lan- 
guages, but  too  little  is  known  of  its  histori- 
cal circumstances  to  give  it  as  an  instance 
explanatory  of  other  cases. 

The  Euskarian, which  is  decidedly  a  stray  lan- 
guage of  the  Uralo- Altaic  stem,  has  stretched 
to  their  utmost  all  its  capacities  under  the 
pressure  of  languages  of  the  IVth  and  Vlth 
standard,  which  have  successively  surrounded 
and  impressed  it.  Now  the  Vayu,  one  of  the 
Gangetic,andthe  Santhali,one  of  the  Kolarian, 
languages  of  Central  India,  both  belonging 
to  sub-branches  of  the  Turanian  family,  Hi- 
malaic  division,  are  particularly  interesting  in 
connection  with  the  olv'ect  of  the  present  pa- 
per. They  possess  the  general  features  of 
indirect  ideology  proper  to  the  stock  to  which 
it  belongs  ;  but  they  have  altered  their  syn- 
tactical order,  and  largely  developed,  specially 
the  Santhali,  the  phenomenon  of  incorporation. 

The  modifying  influence  there  has  been  that 
of  an  Indo-Pacific  language  narrowly  connect- 
ed with  the  Peguan  and  Cambodian  of  Indo- 
China,  having  a  direct  ideology  and  a  synlax 


26)  Cf.  my  Ideology  of  Languages  and  its  relation  to  history.  Part  iii. 


AKKADIAN  AND  SUMERIAN  IN  COMPARATIVE    PHILOLOGY. 


of  the  lyth  or  Ylth  standard  proper  to  the 
Indo-Pacific  family.  A 11  this  illustrates  the 
law  of  comparative  ideology  mentioned  above. 

§  14.  But  there  are  some  forms  of  Ideo- 
logical evolution,  taught  us  by  comparative 
ideology,  which  we  must  quote  before  return- 
ing to  the  Akkadian  problem  on  which  they 
have  a  direct  bearing.27 

XYII.  Wherever  a  language  spoken  hy  im- 
migrant tribes  is  brought  into  contact  with 
another  language  of  dijferent  ideology  spoken 
hy  a  settled  population,  and  intermingles  with 
it,  the  power  of  preserving  its  sentence  ar- 
rangement is  greater  with  the  less  civilized  of 
the  two,  settled  or  not  settled. 

XVIII.  When  there  is  sitperimposition 
and  not  superseding,  of  two  languages  sp)oken 
by  two  ptopulations  at  different  stages  of  civil- 
ization, the  position  of  the  genitive  and  ad- 
jective which  generally  prevails  as  to  their 
nouns,  is  that  proper  to  the  most  civilized 
language,  frequently  with  the  addition  of  an 
affix. 

XIX.  Under  the  same  conditions,  the  pos- 
ition of  the  verb,  as  to  its  subject  and  object, 
which  has  the  greater  chance  ofp)revailing,  is 
that  of  the  less  civilized  language  of  the  two, 
frequently  with  the  addition  of  reiterative 
pronouns,  object  and  subject. 

XX.  Phenomena  of  incorporative pronouns^ 
reiterative  of  object  or  subject,  take  'place 
wherever  a  language  of  indirect  standard  (  V) 
comes  under  the  modifying  injluence  of  an- 
other language  of  a  direct  standard  (IV,  VI). 

*  %  % 

§  15.  Now  let  us  see  how  the  Akkadian 
and  Sumerian  imbrogHo  will  yield  to  the  ap- 
plication of  the  rules  and  experience  exposed 
in  the  above  page. 

The  hybridism  of  the  ideology  of  Akkadian, 
i. ^.5.8.1,  and  of  that  of  Sumerian,  2.4.5.8.V, 
are  now  clearly  such  as  should  be  expected 


from  an  intermingling  of  two  opposite  normal 
standards,  like  2.4.6.7.IV  and  1.3.5.8.V,  as 
wanted  by  the  fourth  law  mentioned  above. 
Let  us  remember  that  2.4.6. 7. IV,  which  is  a 
normal  standard,  and  the  original  one,  of  the 
Shemo-Hamitic  languages,  implies  the  post- 
position of  the  genitive  and  adjective  to  their 
respective  noun  and  the  sequel,  verb  +  subject 
-I- object,  in  the  sentence  ;  while  1.3.5.8.V 
also  a  normal  standard  and  original  to  the  Tu- 
ranian languages,  is  the  inverse  of  the  other, 
and  requires  the  ante-position  of  the  genitive 
and  adjective  to  their  noun,  and  the  order, 
subject -f- object  4- verb,  for  the  sentence. 

§  1  G.  In  the  present  case,  the  language  of 
the  IVth  standard  is  that  of  the  Babylonian 
Semites,  which  originally,  as  shewn  by  an 
analysis  of  the  older  proper  names  and  the  pos- 
ition of  the  pronouns  united  to  the  verb  at  the 
permansive^s,  belonged  to  the  normal  Shemo- 
Hamitic  standard  2.4.6.7.  IV,  as  exhibited 
in  Egyptian,  Arabic,  and  partly  in  Hebrew, 
Gheez,  &c.  This  language  which,  for  conven- 
ience, might  be  called  the  Assyro-Babylonian, 
underwent  several  changes  in  its  syntactical 
and  verbal  arrangement,  which  show  that  the 
modifying  influence  was  due  to  an  indirect 
language,  spoken  by  an  uncouth  and  some- 
what uncivilized  people.  It  passed  transitorily, 
as  shown  by  isolated  archaisms  through  the 
second  and  third  syntactical  standards  before 
settling  finally  with  the  fifth  standard,  2.4.5. 
8.V.  At  first  sight  it  miglit  be  supposed  a 
result  of  the  Turanian  influence  suspected 
above,  in  other  words,  of  the  Akkadian  and 
Sumerian,  as  we  shall  see  below  ;  but  it 
cannot  be  the  case  for  two  or  more  reasons. 
One  alteration  of  the  original  features  of  the 
language  had  taken  place  previous  to  the  poss- 
ibility of  any  Akkadian  influence29,  and  the 
Assyro-Babylonian  is  not  the  only  Shemitic 
language  which  has  altered  in  the  same  way 


27)  The  numbers,  XVII — XX,  are  those  under  which  these  rules  appear,  in  the  attempt 
at  a  classification  I  have  made  in  my    Ideology  of  Languages  and  its  relation  to  history. 

28)  G.  Beitin,  The  Akkadian  Semites.      I  am  indebted  to  the  author  for  an  advanced 
proof  of  this  paper. 

29)  G.  Bertin,    The  Akkadian  Semites. 


AKKADIAN    AND    SUMEIUAN    IN    COMPARATIVE    PHILOLOGY. 


its  original  ideological  standard.  The  Syrian 
Aramaic  of  the  northern  and  the  Aniharic  of 
the  southern  branch  have  both  altered  their  ori- 
ginal standard  into  2.4. 5.8.V  and  1.3.5.8.  V 
respectively.^^  Admitting  that  the  Syrian 
change  may  have  been  caused  by  the  Assyro- 
Babylonian,  the  explanation  is  worthless  for 
the  Amharic  ;  and  what  makes  it  more  than 
doubtful  in  the  first  case,  is  that  the  early  alt- 
erations alluded  to  in  Assyro-Baby Ionian  have 
been  pointed  out  similarly  in  another  lan- 
guage of  the  same  family.  Therefore  we  are 
to  attribute  this  influence  to  another  and  pre- 
vious local  language  of  indirect  ideology  of 
the  fifth  standard,  similar  to  that  which  was 
apparently  spoken,  as  we  have  seen  above,  by 
the  people  who  brought,  innovated  or,  in  any 
case,  who  made  first  use  of  the  Chaldean  writ- 
ings This  people  was  apparently  one  of  the 
old  Kushite  tribes,  of  renowned  mythical  fame, 
who  used  to  inhabit  the  lands  and  the  sea- 
shores from  Abyssinia  to  India,  and  of  whom 
the  Bishari,  Somali,  Agao,  Galla,  &c.,  of  Abys- 
sinia, the  Bagas  of  the  Oman  coast,  the 
Brahui  of  the  Northern,  the  Kolariansof  Cen- 
tral, aiid  the  Dravidians  of  Southern  India, 
are  the  representatives  diverged  by  Semitic 
Aiyan  or  Negritic  intermingling,  all  of  them 
speaking  languages  of  the  fifth  standard. 

§  17.  The  Turanian  Ideological  Indices 
(1.3.5.8.V),  which  analogy  of  linguistic  in- 
stances has  led  us  to  surmise  in  the  case  of 
the  Akkadian  and  Sumerian,  were  most  cer- 
tainly those  of  the  original  state  of  these  dia- 
lects. The  abnormal  ideology  of  Akkadian 
speaks  by  itself  of  a  deep  intermingling,  and 
that  of  the  Sumerian  shows  still  more  com- 
pletely than  the  preceding,  31  that  the  foreign 
ia.luence  was  that  of  a  more  civilized  people 
than  themselves,  speaking  a  direct  language 
which  is  here  the  Assyro-Babylonian.  The 
permanence  of  the  word-order,  subject,  object 

18th  Aug,,  1886. 


and  verb  in  the  Sumerian,  notwithstanding 
the  altering  pressure  of  the  latter,  may  be  ac- 
counted for  somehow  by  the  apparent  prob- 
ability of  their  being  less  under  the  Assyro- 
Babylonian  pressure  than  the  Akkadians,  and 
their  coming  into  contact  with  the  local  Ku- 
shite tribes  whose  general  ideology  belonged 
to  the  fifth  class. 

§  18.  The  syntactical  standard  of  the  Ak- 
kadian and  its  incorporatiye  features  is,  as  we 
have  seen  above,  nothing  more  than  one  of 
those  which  Turanian  languages  are  apt  to 
assume  under  the  pressure  of  a  foreign  tongue, 
direct  in  Ideology  and  powerless  to  impose  its 
own  standard.  That  5.8,V,  the  Turanian 
standard,  was  the  original  one  of  the  Ak- 
kadian and  Sumerian,  is  furthermore  proved 
by  the  common  possession  of  these  Ideological 
Indices  by  the  other  extinct  languages  of  S. 
E.  Asia  with  which  a  parentage  has  been 
claimed.  The  Indices  of  the  Sumerians  were 
2.3.5,8.V,  and  those  of  the  Amardian,  J.4.5. 
8.I.V.32.  The  latter  known  to  us  at  two 
periods  by  the  inscriptions  at  Mal-amir  and 
that  of  the  second  column  of  the  Akha}men- 
ian  inscriptions,  also  known  as  Proto-Medic, 
Medic,  Scythic,  &c.,  long  after  the  extinction 
of  Akkadian,  had  gone  a  long  way  towards  the 
possession  of  similar  hybrid  ideology  as  that 
of  ihQ  latter.  The  Susian  had  altered  only 
its  original  position  of  the  genitive. 

§  19.  No  doubt  ought  to  remain  now  in 
the  mind  of  our  readers  about  the  Turanian 
character  of  the  Akkadian  and  Sumerian  ;  they 
certainly  belong  to  the  same  stock  as  the  Ugro- 
Finnish,  Turko-Tatar,  and  Kuenlunic  groups 
of  languages  ;  and  they  have  branched  off  at 
a  very  early  period,  previous  to  the  modern 
arrangement  of  these  groups,  long  before  they 
had  evolved  or  acquired  their  present  distinct 
features.  Such  is  the  conclusion  of  our  re- 
searches as  resumed  in  the  present  paper. 
Terrien  de  Lacouperie. 


30)  Ideology  of  languages  in  its  relation  to  history,  Part  iii. 

31)  By  its  more  complete  adoption  of  the  post-position  of  the  genitive  and  adjective. 

32)  As  exemplified  in  Prof.  A.  H.  Sayce's  learned  paper  on  The  Inscription  of  Mal-amir^ 
and  the  Language  of  the  second  column  of  the  Akhcemenian  Inscriptions,  pp,  638 — 756,  vol.  ii, 
Actes  du  Vlieme  Congres  des  Orientalistes,   1883,  Leiden. 


SIN-GASID  S   GIFT   TO  THE   TKMPI.R    E-ANA. 


SIN-GASID'S    GIFT  TO    THE    TEMPLE   E-ANA. 


The  text  wliicli  forms  the  subject  of  the 
present  paper  is  one  of  peculiar  interest.  It 
is  an  inscription,  in  the  Akkadian  lan- 
guage, of  an  early  Mesopotamian  king  who 
bears  a  Semitic  Babylonian  name  ;  and  it  is 
n(it  au  original,  but  a  copy  in  clay,  by  a  man 
named  Nabu-balatsu-ikbi,  of  a  stone  tablet 


Akkad'an  language.  The  size  of  the  tablet 
is  4  inches  and  |,  by  2  inches  and  gths,  the 
thickness  in  the  thickest  part  being  about  I 
inch  and  gth.  Like  most  Dabyhniian  tablets, 
whetlier  of  clay  or  stone,  the  obverse  is  Hat 
or  nearly  so,  and  the  reverse  convex  -  a  form 
probably  originally  arising  from  the  sinking 


kept,  in  ancient  times,  in  the  great  temple  of     of  the  ends  of  a  clay  tablet  whilst  in  a  soft 


E-zida,  now  the  ruin  known  as  the  Birs- 
Nimroud.  The  tablet  which  has  come  down 
to  us,  (of  which  i\\Q  plates  accompanying  this 
paper  will  give  a  fair  idea),  has  been  inscribed 
by  the  copy  st  with  the  utmost  care,  and  the 
forms  of  the  chaTOcters,  as  he  has  given 
them,  probably  reproduce  the  exact  style  of 


state,  and  afterwards  adopted  by  the  scribes  ay 
a  very  convenient  f.)rm  for  inscribed  tablets  of 
all  kinds. 

In  order  to  make  the  ex[)knation  of  the 
text  as  clear  as  possible,  I  give  herewith  two 
transcriptions  and  two  translations.  The 
first  transcription  gives  the  text  transcribed 


the  original.     The  number  of  lines  of  writing  character  by  character,  the  groups  only  be- 

is  twenty-six,  the   last  line  of  the   obverse  jng  given  as  complete  words.^  This  is  follow- 

(1.  14),  however,  being  double.        The  three  ed  by  a  transcription  in  which  the  characters 

lines  at  the  end  are  written  smaller  than  the  are  joined  as  they  ought  to  be  pronounced  to 

re.t,  and  are  in  the  late- Babylonian  style  of  make  complete  words,   and  a  literal  transla- 

writing.     With  the  exception  of  these  three  tion  in  parallel  columns.         Lastly,    I  have 

lines,   and    also,  of  course,  of  the    name  of  given  a  free  translation  in  idiomatic  Enghsh:- 
asid,  the  whole  of    the  text  is   in  the 


Sin 


OlJVEIlSE. 

1.  D.  P.    Lugal-banda 

2.  diiiyir-i'o-ni^r, 

3.  D.  P.    Ningul 

4.  ama-a-^i'-ir . 

5.  D.  P.  Sin-ga-si-id, 

6.  lugal  Uniicj-D.S.-ga, 

7.  lugal  Am-na-nii-um 

8.  ti-a  E-an-na. 

9.  Ud    E-an-na 
10.  mu-dur-a, 
1 ' .  E-kankalf  e  ki-tur 

12.  m-gtil-Ia-ka-ne 

13.  jnvr-ne-en-du. 
li.Bala  na>n-lugal-la- 

ka-nt, 
TRANSCRIPTIOTT. 
(with  the  words  properli/  joined). 
Lugal-banda  dingiranir,  Nin-gul  amanir, 
Sin-gasid,  lugal  Uuuga,  lugal  Amnanum,  ua 
]&-ana.     Ud  E-ana  mudua,  E-kankal,  e 


TRANSCRIPTION. 

Reverse. 
1  5.  hrtf?)  se-gur-ta, 

16.  giJr-min  ma-na  sig-ta^ 

17.  yii  ma-na  um-ta, 

18.  as  S'll-gis-ta 

19.  ki-lam-ma  da-na-ka 

20.  gnskin  gi  ge-e 

21.  gi-ip-da-zig 

22.  mu-a-ni  mugi-gal-la 

23.  gi-a. 

24.  Oah^ri  na-ru-a  sa  uU, 

25.  sa-ga  E-zida,  Nabu-balat-su-ih-bij 
27.  abil  Mi-sir-a-a  is-tu?\ 


WoRD-FOR-WoRD 

TRANSLATION. 

Lugal-banda  god  his  to,  Ningul  mother  his  to, 
Sin-gasid,  king  of  Erech,  king  of  Amnanum, 
nourisnerjof  E-ana.  When  E-ana  he  builtf  E- 


SIN-GA811)*S   GIFT   TO   THE    TEMPLE   E^ANA. 

OBVERSE. 


^^^^m^-^r^gzi^ 


^ 


^^  ^: 


<? 


^^     It 


^rM^^^^^ 


^^HC:^  ^=^»^^f^ 


^ 


7f  ,  ^Bf  ^>^^-    ;^ 


^>^^     .^ 


'^r^^^^ 


I 


^ 


S1N-GASIL)'8   GIFT    T(3    THE    TP^MPLE    E-ANA, 

RK  VERSE. 


n4 


'^ti^p-^  ^^? 


'fci^.^F^^^. 


..O  T 


^^t|^  'M=^^^M. 


^If^^i^^^M 


I 


7  E?rt  to  "^^  «<T  1  ^fm^^^^fii 


SlNOAi^ID  S    OlFT    TO    TUK    TRAIPLE     K-ANA. 


kitiir  sa-gulakaiio,  munondii.     Bala 
Daniliigalukaiii,  ba  ;5c;^-iir-ta  gumin 
iiiaiia  sig  ta,    gu  niaiia  uiiita,  as 
salgis-ta,  kilaiua-danaka,  guskin 
gi  go'o  gipdazig,  muaui  ma  gigala 

Gabri  riaraa  sa  usi,  saga  E-zIda,   Nabu- 
baliitsu-ikbi,  abil  Misiraa,  iatur. 


kaiikal,  tlieliouso]  the  seat  of  heart-joy  his  he 
made  it.  During]  loiiiiuion  his,  30  wheat  meas- 
ure with,  12]mana  wool  witii,  10  mana  produce 
witli,an  as]of  oil  with,  the  tarif! according  to(?) 
gold]()ue  shekel,  le!  him  endow,  his  yeara  year 
of  plenty]   mayi^n   )  be. 

Copy  of  the  tablet  of  lU-d-stone,  the  property  of 
E-zida,  (which)]  Nabu-balatsu-ikbi,  son  of 
Misirria,  has  written. 
FREE  TKAN  U.AT10N. 
Sin-gasid,  king  of  Erech,  king  of  Annii;nu  n,  and  patron  of  E-ana,  to  Lugal-banda 
his  god  and  Nin-gul  his  goddess.  When  he  built  E-aua,  he  erected  E-kankal,  the  house 
which  is  the  seat  of  the  joy  of  his  heart.  During  his  dominion,  he  will  endow  it  with  30 
measures  of  wheat,  12  mana  of  wool,  lU  m.uia  of  produce,  an  as  of  oil  according  to  (?)  the 
tariff,  and  one  shekel  of  gold.        May  his  years  be  years  of  plenty. 

Copy  of  the  tablet  of  usu-stone,  the  property  of  E-zida,  which  Nabu-balatsu-ikbi,   son  of 
the  Egyptian,  has  written. 


As  will  be  seen  from  the  above  translation, 
.Sin-gasid  begins  with  an  invocation  to  Lugal- 
banda  and  his  consort  Nin-gul,  who  were  his 
patron  god  and  goddess.  He  then  speaks  of 
E-ana,  one  of  the  great  temples  of  Erech, 
(which  seems  to  have  been  Sin-gasid's  capital), 


that  it  is  to  Lugat-handx  and  a  goddess,  his 
consort,  whose  name  I  read  provisionally  Nin- 
gul.  The  reading  of  this  latter  name  is  part- 
ly based  upon  the  passage  in  Vol.  II,  of  the 
C  ui'iform  Inscriptions  of  Western  Asia,  pi. 
59, 11.    4  &  25,  where  the  characters  Nin-gul 


id  E-kankal,  probably  one  of  the  shrines  in     (col.  ii.)  are  followed  in  col.  iii.  by  the  words. 


the  temple  E-ana.  Judging  from  the  word- 
ing, he  seems  to  claim  to  be  the  founder  of 
both  these  fanes,  though  he  probably  only  re- 
built them.  Sin-gasid  then  gives  a  list  of 
the  amounts  of  produce,  &c,  with  which  he 
had  endowed  the  shrine,  and  ends  with  a  pious 
wish  for  his  country.     The  date  of  the  original 


dssati-su,  zinnistu,  "  his  consort,  female," 
which  are  a  literal  translation  of  the  common 
Akkadian  phrase  dama-hi,  sal,  and  refer  to  the 
name  Lngal-banda  in  the  line  above.  This 
identification  of  Ningul  as  the  consort  of 
Lugal-banda  is  important,  as  it  shows  that 
S"n-gasid,  who  calls  her  his  "mother,"  did  not 
inscription  was  most  likely  about  iiGOO  years  mean  to  imj)ly  that  she  was  his  real  earthly 
l/cfore  Christ.  The  copy  which  has  come  parent,  but  that  he  simply  traced  his  descent 
down  to  us  probably  dates  from  the  time  of  from  her,  thus  asserting  his  divine  origin.  Geo. 
the  antiquarian  revival  in  Babylonia  during  Smith's  double-queried  "Belat-sunat"  (as  he 
the  reign  of  Nabonidus.  transcribed  the  name  of  this  goddess),  "the 

The  invocation  may  be  regarded  as  extend-  earliest  known  queen  in  the  Euphrates  valley" 
ing  as  far  as  line  8,  and  presents  many  points  must  therefore  be  erased  from  the  list  of 
of  interest.       The   first  fact  to  be  noted  is     historical  rulers  in  Erech.' 


1)  With  regard  to  the  readings  of  these  two  divine  names,  it  must  be  noted  that  they  are 
both  more  or  less  doubtful.  In  transcribing  them,  I  have  simply  given  the  usual  values 
of  the  characters  of  which  they  are  composed.  As,  however,  the  dialectic  forms  of  these  names 
seem  to  be  Umun-banda  or  Un-handa  and  Umnn-gul  or  tjn-gid  respectively,  the  Akkadian 
or  non-dialectic  pronunciation  of  the  former  was  probably  Vgum-handa  or  tln-banda,  and 
of  the  latter  Ugum-gul  or  Un-gul  or  E-gul.  The  meaning  of  Lugal-banda  or  Ugun- 
banda  is  "powerful  king,"  or  "king  of  youthful  strength." 


10 


SINGASID  S    GIFT    TO    THE    TEMPLE    E-ANA. 


The  next  interesting  point  is  the  titles  of 
Sin-gasid,  which  are  '-king  of  Unuga,  king 
of  Amnanu,  and  patron  of  E-ana."  As  we 
know  from  pi.  23  of  Vol.  V.  of  the  Ctmei- 
form  Inscriptions  of  Western  Asia,  Unug  is 
the  Akkadian  form  of  the  Semitic  Babylonian 
or  Assyrian  Uruk,  the  Erecli  of  the  Bible, 
now  called  Warka  by  the  Arabs.  In  this 
most  interesting  word,  all  the  Semitic  forms 
show  r  for  the  Akkadian  n,  and  k  for  the 
Akkadian  g.  In  our  text  the  determinative 
suffix  denoting  the  name  of  a  place  comes 
between  the  ideograph  Unug  and  the  phonetic 
complement  ga.  Amnanum  or  Amnanu  was 
possibly  the  district  in  which  Erech  was 
situated.2  E-ana  ("the  house  of  heaven") 
was  the  principal  temple  of  the  city  of  Erech, 
and  Ekankal  (  "  the  house  of  the  sanctuary' '?) 
was  probably  the  name  of  one  of  the  shrines 
within  it.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  E- 
kankal  here  mentioned  is  the  same  as,  or  the 
fellow-shrine  to  the  E-gili-ana  mentioned  by 
Assur-bani-apli  as  the  sanctuary,  apparently 
in  or  connected  with  E-ana,  to  which  he 
restored  the  image  of  the  goddess  IsTanii,  which 
was  carried  off  by  the  king  of  Elam,  Kudur- 
nanhundi,  about  2280  years  before  Christ. 
As  the  passage  is  interesting,  I  give  it  here 
in  full:— 

"For  1635  years  had  the  goddess  Nana 
been  angry,  had  gone,  and  had  dwelt  within 
Elam,  which  was  not  her  proper  place;  and 
in  those  days  she  and  the  gods  her  fathers 
proclaimed  my  name  to  the  dominion  of  the 
world.  She  entrusted  to  me  the  return  of 
her  divinity  thus:  'As§ur-bani-aph  shall  bring 
me  out  of  the  midst  of  wicked  Elam,  and  shall 
cause  me  to  enter  within  E-ana.'  The  words  of 
the  command  of  her  divinity,  which  she  had 
spoken  from  remote  days,  she  again  revealed 
to  the  later  people.  I  grasped  the  hand  of 
her  great  divinity,  and  she  took  the  straight 


road,  with  joy  of  heart,  to  E-ana.  In  the 
month  Kislev,  on  the  first  day,  I  caused  her 
to  enter  Erech,  and  in  E-gili-ana,  which  she 
loves,  I  caused  an  everlasting  shrine  to  be 
founded  for  her."3 

As  the  date  of  Sin-gasid  is  doubtful,  it  is 
impossible  to  say  whether  the  capture  of  the 
image  of  Nana  took  place  before  or  after  his 
reign,  bnt  it  was  probably  after. 

After  the  invocation,  which  may  be  regarded 
as  ending  with  line  8,  Sin-gasid  refers  to  the 
restorations  which  he  had  made  at  E-ana, 
and  in  E-kankal,  "  the  house  of  the  seat  of 
his  heart-joy.  "  Here  may  be  noted  that  the 
scribe  has  not  written  sa-guUane  "  his  heart- 
joy,  "  hxiisa-guUakane,  with  the  ending  g  of 
guUag  not  only  retained,  but  even  hardened 
to  k.  This  fact  may  be  regarded  as  bespeaking 
a  rather  early  date  for  the  composition  of  the 
inscription,  for  in  most  inscriptions  this  final 
g  or  k  has  entirely  disappeared.  The  last  line 
of  the  obverse  shows  also  the  same  retention 
of  the  final  consonant  in  the  word  namlugala- 
kani,  "his  dominion." 

The  list  of  objects  or  produce  given  by 
Sin-gasid  presents  some  few  difficulties.  The 
three  horizontal  wedges  before  the  sign  se* 
"  wheat"  in  the  first  line  of  the  reverse  I  have 
transcribed  as  "30"  because  "3"  seemed  to 
be  too  small  an  amount  for  the  gift  of  a  king. 
If,  however,  my  rendering  be  right  (as  is  very 
probable),  this  form  of  the  numeral  will  throw 
some  light  on  those  interesting  but  puzzling 
half  discs  used  evidently  as  numerals  in  the 
archaic  inscriptions  from  Sippara  of  the  Sun- 
god.  In  the  third  line  I  have  transcribed  the 
last  character  but  one  as  um,  and  translated 
it  "  produce,  "  regarding  it  as  an  early  phonetic 
writing  of  the  character  u  which  is  translated 
into  Semitic  Babylonian  as  ujnu,  meaning 
"green  herbs"  (W.A.I.,V.,pl.27. 1.56).  The 
character  in  the  inscription  now  under  ex- 


2)  Samas-sum-ukin  or  Saosduchinos,  brother  of  Assurbanipal,  also  calls  himself  king  of 
Amnanu. 

3)  There  is  hardly  any  doubt  that  Nana  of  Erech  is  the  same  as  the  goddess  Istar,  and 
Lugal-banda,  her  consort,  is  therefore,  the  same  as  Dumu-zi,  "  the  son  of  fife,"  Tammuz 
or  Adonis. 

4)  The  line-form  of  the  character  se  shows  an  ear  of  corn. 


THE  PLAGUE  LEGENDS  OF  CHALDEA. 


11 


amination  may,  however,  have  had  a  more 
restricted  meaning.  In  addition  to  tlie  above, 
the  translation  of  the  three  characters  follow- 
ing kilama  in  the  fifth  line  of  the  reverse  is 
doubtful. 

Turning  to  the  expressions  in  the  list  of 
which  the  translations  are  mr)re  certain,  the 
following  remarks  may  serve  to  elucidate  a  few 
points.  The  group  ni-ir  (line  4,  reverse):  I 
have  in  this  case  thought  it  best  to  transcribe 
zcd-gis  "  oil  of  wood  "  =  "  vegetable  oil," 
rather  than  kisal  (=^is-^a/5),  "wood  of  oil" 
= altar, "  on  account  of  the  sense  here  required. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  signs  is  the  charac- 
ter zig,  at  the  end  of  the  7th  line  of  the  reverse. 
This  character,  which  I  have  translated  by 
"  endow,  "  is  formed  of  se  "  wheat "  (see  the 
second  character  of  the  first  line  of  the  reverse) 
within  the  sign  gur  (ninda)  (in  Assyrian 
namandu)  meaning  "  measure  "  —  in  fact,  by 
turning  the  character  round  so  that  the  right- 
hand  end  is  at  the  bottom,  a  very  good  figure 
of  a  corn-measure  is  obtained.  In  the  verbal 
form  gipdazig  "may  he  with  endow, "the 
presence  of  the  infix  -da-  '•  with  "  seems  to 
have  made  the  repetiton  of  the  suffix -^«  (rev., 
lines  1 — 4  )  after  gie  "  shekel  "  (1.  6)  needless. 
With  regard  to  the  two  characters  transcribed 
as  gi  ( 11.  8  &  9  ),  the  extra  wedges  in  the 
latter  have  been  inserted  by  the  scribe  simply 
because  he  had  more  room  to  put  them  than 
in  the  case  of  the  character  in  the  foregoing- 
line. 

The  colophon  added  by  the  scribe  who 
copied  the  text  enables  us  to  guess  what  may 
have  been  the  kind  of  stone  upon  which  tlie 
original  was  written.     As  this  colophon  is  in 


Semitic  Babylonian  or  Assyrian,  the  Semitic 
word -forms  of  the  ideographs  have  l)een  insert- 
ed in  the  transcription,  and  for  this  reason  the 
two  end-characters  of  the  first  line  of  the 
colophon  ( the  sign  for  "  stone  ",  rm,  and  the 
sign  for  "  precious,  "^a/rt^  have  been  trans- 
cribed by  the  word  usu.  Now  this  usu,^{  the 
Akkadian  form  of  which  is  esi)^  is  used  also 
to  denote  some  precious  wood  ( the  group  used 
is  gis  "  wood  "  and  k  ila  •'  precious  "),  and  the 
early  translators,  when  they  met  with  the  word 
in  the  inscriptions,  sometimes  gave,  as  a  con- 
jecture, the  translation  "  ebony."  If  this 
conjecture  be  correct,  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
usu  designates  some  such  stone  as  black 
basalt. 

The  inscription  here  translated  and  com- 
mented on  is  a  dupHcate  of  one  published  in 
Vol.  IV.  of  the  Cuneiform  Inscriptions  of 
Western  Asia.  pi.  35,  No.  3,  from  two  cones 
from  Warka.  This  text,  which  is  ratlier 
roughly  written,  gives  the  reading  sa-gid'a- 
kansne,  "  their  heart-joy  "  for  sa-gidlakan  ■  (1. 
2,  obv.),  and  has  the  sign  denoting  a  precious 
metal  (ku  or  azag,  the  first  character  of  1.  6, 
rev.)  between  the  characters  gi  and  e  {goe 
'•  shekel  ")  at  the  end  of  1.6.  This  additional 
character  is  apparently  a  kind  of  determinati  ve 
suffix  inserted  (like  ki  between  Unug  and  ga 
in  1.  6  of  the  obv.)  between  the  word  and  its 
lengthening.  It  possibly  denotes  that  the 
weight  here  meant  was  the  shekel  specially 
used  for  precious  metals.  A  tentative  render- 
ing of  the  text  published  in  the  Cuneiform 
Inscriptions  of  Western  Asia  was  given  by 
the  late  Geo.  Smith  in  his  "  Early  history  of 
Babylonia."  Theo.  G.  Pinches. 


5)  Bezold,   Zeitschrift  fur  Keilschriftforschung,  Vol.  ii.  p.  71. 

6)  The  form  isu  or  em  also  occurs. 

THE  PLAGUE  LEGENDS  OF  CHALDEA. 

In  a  thickly  populated  land  like  ancient  native  punishments  offered  to  David  for  his 

Babylonia,  its  cities  teeming  with  all  the  va-  sin  in  numbering  the  people  (2  Sam.  xxiv. 

ried  elements  of  Oriental  hfe  that  war  and  13)  ;  they  formed  also  a  trinity  in  the  four 

commerce  had  brought  thither,  and  with  an  dire  disasters  threatened  to  fall  upon  Jeru- 

ever  ebbing  and  flowing  tide  of  humanity  salem  (Ezek.  xiv.  13,  21)  ;  and  tlu'oughout 

through  its  marts  and  highways,  it  is  only  Hebrew,  Greek,    Roman  and  Mohammedan 

natural  to  suppose  that  epidemics,  as  at  the  chronicles,  and  even  to  the  present  day,  the 

present  time,  broke  out  there,  and  the  plague  records  of  the  visitations  of  plague  and  pesti- 

demon  inflicted  his  scourge  on  the  land.  The  lence  in  Syria  and  the  Tigro-Euphrates  valley 

sword,  pestilence  and  famine,  were  the  alter-  are  almost  continuous. 


12 


THE  PLAGUE  LEGENDS  OF  CHALDEA- 


The  plague,  iu  its  various  forms,  lias  ever 
been  regarded  in  the  East  as  a  demon  who 
makes  war  upon  mankind.  The  dread  trinity 
of  destruction,  the  sword,  the  pestilence,  and 
famine,  is  one  common  to  most  of  the  oriental 
mythologies. 

Among  the  legends  gathered  from  the  As- 
syrian Inscriptions  are  some  very  poetic  tales 
relating  to  this  god  of  pestilence,  and  they 
appear,  like  the  Gisdhubar  legends,  to  have 
formed  part  of  an  ancient  epic  poem,  consist- 
ing of  at  least  six  tablets,  which  was  called 
the  "  Story  of  Dibbara."  The  name  of  this 
ancient  deity  is  evidently  of  Semitic  origin, 
and  may  be  compared  with  the  Hebrew  jDebeVy 
•\plague  or  death,"  which  Gesenius  derives 
from  a  root  meaning  to  destroy  or  plot  against, 
comparing  it  with  the  Arabic  Dabr,  "  destruc- 
tion." The  root,  however,  occurs  in  Assyrian 
with  the  sense  of  "  to  sting,  to  bite  with  venom," 
and  from  this  we  get  the  derivation  of  the 
plague  as  "the  sting  of  the  grave,  "  and  also 
of  the  name  of  Deborah,  "  the  bee — the  fe- 
male stinger."  The  god  Dibbara  in  the  le- 
gends is  another  form  of  the  war-god  Nergal 
or  Aria,  who  is  also  termed  the  "lion-headed" 
god  of  death,  whose  chief  epithet  was  that  of 
Dakhihe,  "the  trampler"  or  "crusher."  The 
seat  of  worship  of  this  direful  trinity,  which 
consisted  of  Aria  or  Nergal,  Dibbara,  and  the 
goddess  Laz,  the  goddess  of  famine,  was  the 
city  of  Kutha,  now  marked  by  the  mounds  of 
Tel-Ibrahim.  This  city  was  the  great  necro- 
polis of  Chaldea,  and  at  the  present  day  the 
remains  of  tombs  are  scattered  for  miles  round 
the  central  mound.  The  ancient  name  of  the 
city  in  the  Accadian  was  Gudu,  from  which 
the  Semitic  form  Kutu,  the  Cutha  of  the 
Scriptures,  was  derived,  this  being  the  phonetic 
reading  of  a  compound  name  which  meant 
"the  city  of  the  bowing  down  of  the  ];ead,"  a 
most  fit  and  appropriate  name  for  the  great 
l^ecropoHs. 

It  is  with  this  city  Cutha  that  the  legends 
of  the  plague-god  are  closely  cf)nnected.  The 
tablets  on  which  those  legends  are  written  (K 
1282  and  M  55)  come  from  the  library  at  Ni- 
neveh, and  are  copies  of  tablets  in  the  library 


at  Kutu,  made  by  order  of  Assur-bani-pal. 
Although  written  in  the  form  of  an  epic  poem, 
like  the  legends  of  Gisdhubar,  they  appear  to 
have  some  historical  basis,  such  as  the  sweep- 
ing of  the  land  iu  remote  days  by  a  great 
pestilence.  As  in  the  case  of  the  Deluge,  so 
in  this  ;  the  plague  or  visitation  of  the  god 
Dibbara  was  a  punishment  for  sin  apparently 
against  the  god  Bel.  The  legend,  therefore, 
begins  by  stating  the  command  of  the  Gods 
to  Dibbara  to  go  and  destroy  the  wicked  : 
"Dibbara  opened  his  mouth  and  said,  I  cry 
unto  all  of  you  [people]  ;  I  will  drive  away 
the  former  sin,  for  in  my  heart  I  am  enraged 
...Like  a  flock  of  sheep  may  they  flee.  Like 
the  spoiler  of  cultivated  land  and  pasture  land, 
[may  I  sweep].  In  the  mouth  even  of  a  dog 
reputation  may  they  not  have." 

The  close  connection  between  the  pestilence 
-god  and  the  war-god  is  shewn  in  this  poem 
by  the  narrative  assuming  the  form  of  the  de- 
scription of  a  war  or  campaign  by  Dibbara 
against  his  enemies,  and  the  phraseology  is  of 
a  military  character.  Thus  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  fifth  tablet  we  read  :  "  One  shall  slay 
seven.  All  his  cities  turn  thou  to  ruin  and 
heaps;  his  great  spoil  thou  shalt  carry  away  as 
spoil  from  the  midst,  and  all  the  productions 
of  the  countries  thou  shalt  seize. " 

In  another  part  of  this  tablet  a  most 
curious  phrase  occurs,  which  affords  a  valu- 
able illustration  of  the  Hebrew  idea  of  the 
pestilence;  we  read  :  "In  the  beginning  of 
the  night  I  sent  him."  He  is  also  called 
"the  chastising  sword."  We  have  here  a 
close  parallel  to  the  passage  in  the  Psalms 
(xci.  6) :"  The  pestilence  that  walketh  in 
darkness,"  while  the  latter  epithet  reminds 
us  of  the  drawn  sword  the  Angel  held  over 
Jerusalem  during  the  three  days'  pestilence, 
(2  Sam.  xxiv.  16).  The  larger  fragment  of 
tliese  legends  (M  55)  abounds  in  orientaHsms, 
and  it  is  sufficiently  well  preserved  to  be 
translatable  fully  in  parts  ; — 

Dibbara  couches  in  the  great  gate  on  the 
body  of  noble  and  slave  ; 

There  he  has  fixed  his  seat. 

The  men  of  Babylon,  even  they  themselvefl. 


THE     I'LAOUE     LEGENDS    OF     CHALDEA. 


are  shut  in. 
Their  curse  thou  art. 
Thou  throwest  down,  dust  thou  makest, 
Oh,  warrior  Dibbara ! 
Thou  departest  not  [when]  thou  goest  to 

another  place. 
Gnawing  as  a  dog  thou  makest,  and  the 

palace  thou  enterest. 
They  shall  see  thee,    and  throw  away  their 

arms. 
The  high-priest  of  Babylon,  the  enticer  to 

evil,  hardens  his  heart. 
Go  to  that  city  whither  I  shall  send  thee, 
Reverence  no  man  —fear  not  a  soul. 
The  host  of  the  king  is  gathered,  and  enter- 

-eth  the  city. 
Drawing  the   bow  and  piercing  with  the 

sword. 
The  host  of  the  bound  ones  he  cuts  down. 
Their  weapons  thou  breakest. 
Their  corpses,  into  the  streets  like  the  down- 

-pour  of  rain,  thou  hast  cast. 
Their  store-houses  thou  openest,  and  sweep- 

-est  [the  food]  into  the  river. 
This  extract  abounds  in  fine  similes  indica- 
-ting  the  poetic  character  of  the  work.  One 
of  the  most  quaint  metaphors,  perhaps,  is  that 
the  pestilence  departs  not,  when  it  goes  to 
another  place  —  an  evidently  poetical  phrase 
for  the  spread  of  the  infection,  which  does  not 
leave  one  city  to  pass  to  another. 

In  the  second  column  of  the  same  tablet  we 
have  a  most  valuable  reference  to  the  cultus  of 
the  city  of  Erech,  one  of  the  cities  of  Nimrod, 
and  the  chief  seat  of  the  worship  of  Istar.  The 
pestilence  now  passes  to — 

Erech  the  dwelling  of  Anu  and  Istar, 
The  city  of  the  handmaidens  Samkhat  and 

*Kharimat,  companions  of  Istar. 
Death  they  fear,  and  are  delivered  into  my 

hands. 
They  are  slain.    In  the  temple  of  Anu,  the 

priests  the  sacrifice-makers, 
Who  to  deceive  the  people  of  Istar  their 
manhood  have  turned  away : 


1)  Two  deifications  of  Pleasure  and  the  Devotee— who 
accompany  Istar  the  g^oddess  of  Love  as  her  constant  atten- 
dants in  all  her  adventures 


Carrying  swords,  scrapers,  diqye  and  knives, 

who  hoped  to  make  glad  the  heart  of  Istar. 

But,  0  fierce  high  priest !  the  bowing  down 
of  the  face  over  them  thou  shalt  make. 

Their  foundations  and  shrines  I  sweep 
away. 

Istar  cried  out  with  rage,  and  was  grieved 
over  the  city. 

It  is  evident  that  the  writer  of  this  poem 
was  one  who  was  opposed  to  the  peculiar 
worship  of  Istar,  the  mother-goddess,  which 
was  the  same  as  that  practised  throughout  all 
Western  Asia.  This  consisted  in  the  service 
of  the  temple  by  emasculated  priests.  From 
a  passage  in  the  last  column  of  the  Text,  in 
which  the  writer  speaks  of  the  glory  that  shall 
come  to  the  city  of  Akkad  after  the  pestilence 
has  visited  all  the  surrounding  lands,  and  es- 
pecially Babylon  and  Erech,  cities  of  the 
south,  it  is  probable  that  he  was  an  Akkad- 
ian, or  ISforth  Babylonian,  who  was  opposed 
to  the  southern  cities  of  Chaldea. 

If  this  is  proved  to  ba  the  case,  as  there  is 
strong  reason  to  suppose,  we  have  a  curious 
parallel  to  the  feud  between  Israel  and  Judah 
so  apparent  in  Hebrew  literature. 

The  dread  god  now  passes  on  from  city  to 
city.  The  city  of  Duran  "streamed  with  blood 
—the  people  who  dwell  within  it  shake  even  as 
the  reeds."  The  small  portion  which  remains 
ofthe  third  column  gives  us  an  account  of 
the  city  of  Kutu  or  Cuth,  wherein  was  the 
temple  of  the  god  of  Death  and  Pestilence. 

Short  as  this  passage  is,  it  very  valuable 
as  illustrating  the  eschatology  of  Chaldea  :— 

0  warrior  Dibbara  the  established  in  Kuta, 
and  the  unestablished  in  Kuta, 

Those  who  sin  against  thee,  and  those  who 
do  not  sin  aguinst  thee. 

All  fear  thee. 

This  extract  illustrates  a  belief  current  in 
Chaldea  that  Cutha  was  the  abode  of  a  dual 
population  of  the  living  and  the  dead. 

It  was  in  this  city  that  the  great  miracle- 
play  of  the  descent  of  Istar  into  Hades  was 
performed,  and  the  description  of  the  under- 
world there  given  is  that  of  a  ruined  deserted 


14 


REVIEWS, 


city.  The  palace,  dark  and  dreary,  peopled 
by  disembodied  souls  clad  in  birdlike  robes  of 
feathers  flitting  to  and  fro,  feeding  on  mud 
and  dust,  and  shunning  the  light  of  day — 
this  was  the  abode  of  the  trinity  of  death, 
Dibbara,  Aria  and  LazorNin-Kigal.  In  these 
legends  Dibbara  has  a  friend  and  companion 
who  advises  him,  as  Heabani  was  the  mentor 
of  Gisdhubar.  This  companion  is  Isuv,  "  the 
burner,  or  fire."  He  is  rather  to  be  regard- 
ed as  the  hot  fever-demon  than  the  fire- 
god,  and  his  epithet  of  "  the  street  traverser" 
is  appHcable  to  him  as  the  god  of  fever.  This 
companion  of  the  plague-demon  who  is  said 


to  come  from  the  land  of  Khikhi,  an  ancient 
name  of  the  desert  of  the  south-west,  is  prob- 
ably to  be  identified  with  the  demon  of  the 
south-west  wind.  This  wind,  which  blew 
from  the  hot  deserts  of  Arabia  across  the 
marshes  and  lagoons  of  the  Persian  gulf,  came 
to  the  land  laden  with  death.  There  is  in 
the  Louvre  a  remarkable  statue  of  this  demon 
represented  as  having  four  wings,  the  body 
of  a  man  with  the  claw-like  feet  of  a  gryphon 
and  the  head,  a  half-decayed  parched  skull. 
Special  invocations  against  this  demon,  the 
"  burner,"  as  he  is  called,  are  found  in  the 
legends  and  magical  tablets. 

B.  W. 


[The  foregoing  paper  does  not  profess  to  treat  the  subject  from  a  scientific  point  of  view ; 
hence  the  omission  of  certain  lines,  and  the  freeness  of  the  translation.] 


REVIEWS, 


Decouvertes  en  Chaldee.  Par  Ernest 
de  Sarzec.  Parti.  Paris,  1884,  &lq.JoL 
Lefoux. 

This  splendid  work  describes  the  explora- 
tions undertaken  by  M.  de  Sarzec,  the  French 
consul  at  Bussorah,  which  have  resulted  in 
the  discovery  of  a  series  of  monuments  of 
Ancient  Chaldea,  for  his  Government,  un- 
equalled by  any  other  collection.  The  statues 
and  carved  objects  show  the  astonishing  pro- 
gress which  Chaldean  art  had  attained  at  a 
very  early  period,  and  present  a  remarkable 
likeness  to  the  work  of  the  earliest  dynasties 
of  Egypt.  Indeed  the  resemblance  between 
the  green  diorite  statues  of  Gudea,  the  pate- 
si  of  Zergul  or  Lagas,  the  site  of  which  is 
marked  by  the  mounds  of  Tel-Lo,  and  the 
famous  diorite  statue  of  Kephren,  is  very 
striking. 

In  the  work  before  us,  the  results  of  the 
explorations  carried  out  by  M.  de  Sarzec  are 
illustrated  in  the  most  lavish  style.  The  re- 
production of  the  long  inscription  upon  tlie 
large  statue  of  the  king  Gudea,  by  the  process 
of  heliogravure,  is  most  perfect,  the  form  of 


every  character  being  clearly  shewn.  This  in- 
scription, over  three  hundred  lines  in  length, 
is  the  longest  text  in  the  Sumero- Akkadian 
dialects  which  has  been  preserved  to  us,  and 
contains  matter  of  the  greatest  value  to  the 
historian  and  philologist.  The  translation 
of  portions  of  these  inscriptions  recently  pub- 
lislied  by  M.  Amiand  in  the  Zeitschrift  Jur 
KeilschriftforscJnmg,  shews  that  at  tlie  time 
when  this  document  was  written,  B.C.  2500, 
there  was  an  intercourse  of  trade  between  the 
South  of  Chaldea  and  the  region  of  the  Sin- 
aitic  peninsula.  There  is  mention  also  of 
wars  and  campaigns  in  the  land  of  Ansan  in 
Elam,  a  land  of  the  greatest  importance  in 
the  history  of  Western  Asiatic  civilization, 
a  region  which  was  no  doubt  the  cradle  of 
the  Elamite  civilization.  One  of  the  most 
interesting  objects  here  represented  is  a  twelve 
sided  cylinder,  bearing  a  long  inscription 
of  Gudea,  partly  duplicate  of  the  text  upon 
the  statue  but  which  is  especially  interesting 
as  shewing  that  the  cylinder,  so  extensively 
used  by  the  Assyrians  and  the  later 
Babylonians,  was  also  in  use  in  Chaldea  in 
the  earliest  times. 


REYIEWg. 


15 


The  great  care  which  has  been  expended  by 
the  artist  on  the  carving  of  the  statues,  not- 
ably on  the  fine  liead  of  red  porphyry,  lias  pre- 
served to  lis  a  very  valuable  representation  of 
the  ancient  human  features.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  success  of  M  de  Sarzec's  work 
will  encourage  others  to  undertake  explora- 
tions in  Chaldea. 


Guide  to  the  Antiquities  in  the  ^JsTimroud 
Central  Saloon,  British  Museum.  Pub- 
lisJied  by  the  Trustees.     London,  1886. 

In  this  little  work  Mr  Pinches  continues 
the  description  of  Assyrian  antiquities  in 
the  British  Museum,  which  he  commenced 
in  his  former  guide  to  the  Koyunjik  gallery. 
The  rapidly  increasing  interest  in  Assyrian 
and  Babylonian  archaeology  has  rendered  the 
publication  of  a  more  detailed  guide  than 
that  embodied  in  the  "  General  Guide  to  the 
Collections  in  the  British  Museum"  necessary, 
and  the  work  which  Mr  Pinches  has  prepar- 
ed will  be  welcomed  by  students,  as  well  as 
thfc  general  public,  as  supplying  a  long  felt 
want.  Tlie  antiquities  in  the  Central  Saloon 
have  chiefly  been  obtained  by  Sir  Austen  H. 
Layard  during  his  explorations  in  the  mound 
of  Nimroud,  the  site  of  the  ancient  city  of 
Calah,  the  capital  of  the  middle  Assyrian  em- 
pire; to  these  have  been  added  the  antiquities 
obtained  from  this  site,  and  in  the  neighbour- 
ing mound  of  Ballawat.  In  addition,  there 
are  now  arranged  in  this  saloon  a  very  impor- 
tant series  of  Babylonian  antiquities,  chiefly 
the  results  of  Mr  Rassam's  explorations  at 
Aboo-Hubba,the  ancient  Sippara,  and  in  the 
ruins  of  Babylon,  Borsippa,  and  Cutha.  The 
author  has  divided  his  work  into  two  parts. 
The  first  portion  is  descriptive  of  the  objects 
from  Assyria,  and  the  second  and  larger  part, 
of  those  from  Chaldea. 

In  the  work  now  before  us,  there  are  to  be 
noticed  several  improvements  on  the  former 
guides,  such  as  the  introduction  of  translations 
of  the  most  important  inscriptions;  among 
others,  the  standard  inscription  of  Assur-nasir- 
abla,  (B.C.  885),  the  inscription  on  the  four 
statues  of  the  god  Nebo  dedicated  by  the  pre- 
fect Bel-tarsi-ili,  for  the  preservation  of  the 
lives  of  Rimmanu-nirari,  and  his  queen  Sam- 
muramat,  &c.  In  the  Babylonian  section,  the 


very  full  translations  given  of  legal,  con- 
tract, and  other  tablets,  afford  the  visitor  to 
the  gallery  an  insight  into  Chaldean  life  and 
manners,  such  as  could  not  otherwise  be  ob- 
tained without  very  extensive  reading. 

In  the  Assyrian  portion  the  author  has  al- 
lowed a  mistake  to  appear  which  we  hope  to 
see  corrected  in  the  next  edition.  The  iden- 
tification of  the  region  of  Sa-imiri-su  with 
Samaria  certainly  cannot  be  proved,  and  has 
the  effect  of  making  Benhadad  and  Hazael 
appear  as  Israelite  kings.  It  can  be  no  other 
than  Damascus.  In  the  analysis  of  the  Black 
Obelisk,  also,  the  geographical  details  are 
not  as  clear  as  they  might  be  made.  For  ex- 
ample, the  author  has  failed  to  recognise  the 
Sukhai  as  the  Shuhites  of  the  Book  of  Job, 
(viii.  1),  or  the  land  of  the  Patinai  as  the 
Batenea  of  the  classics. 

In  the  Babjdonian  section,  Mr  Pinches 
displays  his  well-known  mastery  of  the  difficul- 
ties of  the  literature  of  the  Southern  empire. 
From  the  inscriptions  exhibited  and  described, 
we  are  now  able  to  understand  very  clear- 
ly the  remarkably  popular  character  of  the 
literature  of  Chaldea,  and  the  extensive  pat- 
ronage it  received  from  all  classes.  In  As- 
syria literature  was  essentially  a  product  of  the 
state,  all  the  libraries  were  royal  libraries, 
and  all  the  works  bore  the  ascription  of  tho 
king.  In  Chaldea  the  support  of  the  art  of 
letters  extended  to  the  lowest  ranks,  and  we 
find  even  workmen,  gardeners  and  irrigators 
dedicating  tablet-books  to  the  temple  libraries. 

From  the  large  number  of  legal  and  con- 
tract tablets, thre  is  much  valuable  information 
as  to  the  commercial  and  social  hfe  of  Babylon 
from  the  sixth  to  the  first  century  before  the 
Christian  era. 


L'Incorporatiox  Yerbale  en  Accadien, 
par  G.  Bertin.  Reprinted  from  the  Revue 
d'assyrlologie  et  archeologie  orientale,  vol. 
i.,  ISTos.  3  &4.  Paris,   1886. 

This  work  consists  of  two  articles  published 
in  the  "Revue  d'assyriologie  et  d'archeologie 
orientale,"  in  which  Mr  Bertin  treats  in  a  very 
detailed  manner  of  one  of  the  most  important, 
and  at  tlie  same  time  most  complicated,  sections 
of  Akkadian  grammar.  In  the  analysis  of  the 
various  forms  the  author  shews  very  clearly 
the  agglutinative  character  of  the  language. 
E.A. 


16 


XOTES.  NFAVS,  AND  (lUKRIKS. 


Another  value  tor  the  character  kdl  or 
kad  (Sayce,  Gram.  Syllabary,  No.  21  ; 
Pinches,  Texts,  Signlist,  No  18)  is  iai 
or  dad.  These  values  are  used  not  unfre- 
quentlv  in  late- Babylonian  texts.  The 
value  dad  is  found  in  tlni  word  imaddad, 
and  the  root  madadu,  in  the  texts  in 
question,  seems  not  to  have  the  meaning 
of  "  to  measure,"  but  "  to  commit "  (a 
crime).  T.G.P. 

A  paper  entitled  "  The  Erechite's  lament 

over  the  Desolation  of  his  Fatherland^  is 

unavoidably  postponed  till  next  month  for 

want  of  space. 

*  *  * 

It  is  difficult  to  give  in  a  short  space  all 
the  details  of  the  Orientalist  Congress, 
which  took  place  at  Vienna,  and  lasted 
from  September  27th  to  October  2nd.  The 
gathering  was,  however,  highly  successful, 
and  the  papers  were  of  great  value  and 
interest.  We  can  do  but  little  more  here 
than  note  the  more  important.  Dr  C. 
Bezold,  of  Munich,  read  some  rem  irks  upon 
his  "  Prolegomena  to  an  Assyrian  Gram- 
mar;"  Mr.  S.  A.  Smith  (U.S  A.)  gave  a 
new  and  thoroughly  revised  translation  of 
the  principal  inscription  of  Assurbanipal 
(Cyhnder  A),  and  the  Rev.  J.  N.  Strass- 
maier,  S  J.,  made  a  statement  on  the 
inscriptions  of  Nabonidus  which  he  has 
recently  copied  Prof.  J.  Oppert  also 
treated  of  some  of  the  so-called  juridical 
texts,  dating  from  about  2500  B.C.  One 
of  the  most  valuable  communications, 
however,  was  an  explanation  by  the  Rev. 
W.  H.  Bechler,  Chai)lain  to  tiie  British 
Embassy  at  Vienna,  of  his  Chart  of  Ribhcal 
Chronology,  extending  from  the  death  of 
Solomon  to  the  close  of  Old  Testament 
history.  The  author,  who  has  been  engaged 
on  this  work  for  the  last  sixteen  years,  has 
incorporated  all  the  latest  researches  of 
Assyriologists  and  others,  referring  to  the 
formerly  unknown  kings  of  Babylon, 
Assyria,  and  Egypt.  This  communication 
was  made  first  in  English,  and  afterwards 
in  German.  The  lecturer  also  showed 
some  of  the  oldest  inscriptions  known,  these 
being  of  the  time  of  Gudea,  2500  or  2700 
years  B.C.  They  had  recently  reached 
him  from  the  ruins  known  as  Tel  Loh  in 


Soutli  Rabylonia,  the  site  of  the  ancient 
Lagas.  Prof.  Hommel,  of  Munich,  joined 
in  the  discussion,  and  promised  an  accurate 
description  for  the  Congress,  of  these  old 
Babylonian  records.  These  texts  are  of 
great  importance  and  one  of  them  refers  to 
a  city,  the  name  of  which  is  written  with 
the  same  ideographs  as  that  of  the  city 
Nineveh,  by  which  name  it  may  also  have 
been  called,  l^rof.  Hommel,  however,  reads 
the  name  as  ghanna  ki  {=ga7ina  ki), 
seemingly  on  account  of  the  sign  ga  (ha) 
within  It  is  said  to  be  likely  that  the 
Rev.  W.  H.  Hechler's  historical  chart 
will  be  introduced  into  the  Austrian  scho  'Is. 
Dr  Jeremias  spoke  of  the  important 
Assyrian  dictionary  now  being  compiled 
by  Prof.  Fried  Delitzsch,  who  has  been 
working  upon  it  in  London  for  the  last 
three  weeks,  and  studying  the  many  docu- 
ments of  the  British  Museum 

The  next  Congress  of  Orientalists,  which 
will  take  place  in  two  years  time,  will  be 
held  at  Stockholm. 

As  we  are  going  to  press,  we  receive  the 
prospectusof  DrF.  Delitzsch's  "Assyrisches 
VVorterbuch,"  and  as  this  work  will  doubt- 
less prove  of  great  value  to  scholars,  copies 
of  the  prospectus  accompany  this  number 

of  the   "  Record." 

*  *  * 

Will  a  contributor  give  the  history  of 
the  Akkadian  decipherment  and  the  crypto- 
graphic hypothesis,  and  explain  how  the 
two  now  stand  ? 

What  are  the  various  epithets  given  to 
the  languages  in  cuneiform  inscriptions, 
as  "  tongue  of  slaves,"  "  of  women,  '  &c.  ? 

Is  the  forgery  of  Assy ro- Babylonian  clay 
tablets  still  going  on?  And  by  what  means 
can  a  false  tablet  be  detected  ? 

What  was  probably  the  true  pronouncia- 
tion  of  the  consonant  transcribed  by  the 
older  school  of  Assyriologists  as  v  or  m, 
and  by  the  younger  school  as  m? 

Special  attention  is  drawn  to  the  section 
"  Queries,"  as  by  means  of  this  monthly 
medium  a  great  manj-^  interesting  questions, 
obscure,  probably,  simply  because  attention 
has  not  been  drawn  to  them,  may  be 
elucidated.  [Hdit.'] 


Printed  for  the  Proprietor  at  51,  Knowle  Road,  Brixton,  S.W.,  and  published  by  him  there  ;  and  by 
D.  NuTT,  British  and  Foreign  Bookseller,  270,  Btrand,  W.C. 


THE 


BABYLONIAN  AMD  ORIENTAL  RECORD. 

Trie  Editorial  Committee  is  not  responsible  for  the  opinions  or  statements  of  the  Contributors. 


''THE  BURNING  FIERY  FURNACES 


When  the  first  Cuneiform  Inscriptions 
were  deciphered,  it  was  predicted  that  the 
Assyriological  researches  would  throw  a  new 
light  on  many  passages  of  the  Bible.  Ko 
prediction  has  been  so  well  fulfilled ;  for  many 
statements  contained  in  the  Old  •  Testament 
have  already  been  confirmed,  and  many  ob- 
scure points  elucidated.  But  much  more 
r^till  remains  to  be  done  ;  and  the  cuneiform 
texts  might  explain  things  which  are  even  now 
enigmatic  or  unsatisfactorily  interpreted. 

The  book  of  Daniel,*  for  instance,  tells  us 
how  the  Babylonian  king  Nebuchadnezzar 
threatened  to  cast  into  the  "burning  fiery 
furnace,"  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and  Abednego, 
on  their  refusal  to  worship  the  golden  image 
set  up  on  the  plain  of  Dura,  and  how,  on  seeing 
the  three  young  Jews  persisting  in  their  re- 
fusal, he  commanded  that  the  furnace  be 
heated  "  seven  times  more  than  it  was  wont 
to  bfe  heated." 

According  to  some  eastern  traditions,  this 
is  not  the  only  instance  of  a  Babylonian 
king  having  cast  into  the  furnace  those  who 
refused  to  worship  his  idols.  In  the  Koran 
Abraham  is  said  to  have  been  treated  in  the 
same  way  for  having  destroyed  the  Babylonian 
idols.^ 

What  were  these  furnaces  always  burning? 
and  why  was  this  punishment  chosen  in  pre- 
ference to  any  other? 

To  these  two  questions  answers  may  be 


found  in  Babylonian  customs,  of  which  we 
were  ignorant,  but  which  have  now  been  re- 
vealed by  the  Assyriological  discoveries  and 
cuneiform  studies.  One  of  these  customs 
was  the  burning  of  the  dead — what  we  call 
cremation.  This  was  so  unexpected,  and  the 
idea  of  a  Semitic  population  disposing  of 
their  dead  by  annihilating  them  by  fire,  was 
so  adverse  to  all  that  was  accepted,  that  it 
was  at  first  rejected.  George  Smith  was  the 
first,  I  believe,  who  admitted  the  possibility 
of  such  a  custom;  but,  even  with  a  clear  text 
before  him,  he  did  so  timidly.  The  text  pub- 
lished by  him^  is  a  fragment  of  the  Babylon- 
ian royal  Canon,  which  gave  the  list  of  all 
the  kings,  with  the  length  of  their  reigns, 
and,  in  some  instances,  a  few  remarks  about 
them;  in  the  case  of  Simmas-sihu,  it  is  stated 
that  "  he  was  burned  in  the  palace  of  SaiS 
gina." 

The  text  of  the  tablet  is  written  principally 
in  ideograms,  and  by  means  of  Akkadian 
words  and  even  verbal  forms  ;  but  the  whole 
is  to  be  read  in  Semitic  Babylonian,  the  Ak- 
kadian words  and  verbal  forms  being  consi- 
dered as  ideographic  groups,  as  happens  often 
in  more  modern  texts,  even  in  private  con- 
tract tablets.  If  there  were  any  doubt  as  to 
the  text  having  to  be  read  in  Semitic  Babyl- 
onian, it  would  be  removed  by  the  presence 
in  it  of  prepositions,  and  not  postpositions 
as  Akkadian  would  require,  and  of  few  Semitic 


1)  Dan.  iii. 

2)  This  legend  has  boen  rejected  as  apocryphal  by  most  Orientalists,  no  doubt  because 
it  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  and  it  is  said  to  have  arisen  from  a  mis  translation.  But 
the  legend  is  also  accepted  by  the  Syrian  Christians,  (See  Sale's  AL  Koran^  pp.  245  &  246.) 

3)  Transl.  of  the  S.  B.  A.,  vol.  iii,  p.371. 

Vol.  I—No.  2,  [17]  Peg.,  1886. 


18 


"the  burning  fiery  furnace." 


words  phonetically  written. 

The  passage  referred  to  abore  runs  thus  : 
Ina  e-kal  Sar-gina  ki-bir,^  "  he  was  burned 
in  the  palace  of  Sargina.  The  tablet  con- 
tains three  other  similar  statements,  in  which 
ki-btr  must  be  equally  translated  by  "was 
burned."  This  word  is  written  phonetically 
^10  -^^^  ki-hir,  and  is  very  likely  of  pure 
Semitic  origin.  It  must  be  acknowledged, 
however,  that  in  the  other  Semitic  tongues  the 
corresponding  words  have  the  meaning 
of  to  inter,  Hke  the  Arabic  ^^,  and  the 
Hebrew  "^Ip,  but  we  must  only  see  in  these 
different  adaptations  of  the  word  the  con- 
sequence of  its  being  taken  to  mean  "  to 
dispose  of  the  dead,"  without  reference  to  the 
manner  in  which  it  was  carried  out. 

The  ideograph  J^,  which  is  to  be  read 
ki-bir,  leaves  no  doubt  as  to  the  mean- 
ing "to  burn."  It  is  explained  in  a  syllabary* 
by  kilitu,  a  "  burning; "  in  another  syllabarye 
the  pronunciation  ki-bir  and  gibil  is  given  in 
the  first  column,  the  former  being  the  dialec- 
tical or  Sunierian,  and  the  latter  the  Akkad- 
ian, forms  of  the  word;  but  as  noticed  by  Geo. 
Smith,  it  is  also  used  in  Assyrian  under  the 
form  of  kibiru.'f  With  the  prefix  of  wood, 
the  same  sign,  t^]  ^^,  is  given  as  the  ideo- 
graphic name  of  several  kinds  of  woods — 
used  in  funerals,  no  doubt,  to  burn  the  dead 
—and  is  translated  in  Assyrian  by  kibirru 
and  makkadu  ;  glosses  in  the  non-Semitic 
column  give  the  pronunciation  kibir  in  the 
first  case,  and  gisklbir  in  the  otlier.  Another 
syllabary  gives  also  gihil  as  one  of  the  Ak- 
kadian readings  of  ^:]j^^y,  with  the  Assyrian 

vol.  iii.  p.  374, 


explanation  kalu,  "  to  bum."  In  other  cases 
this  sign  is  explained  by  "fire"  and  "flame.**^ 
There  is,  therefore,  very  little  doubt  as  to  ki- 
hir  meaning  "  to  burn."* 

How  we  find  this  Semitic  word,  meaning 
primitively  "to  bury,"  used  by  the  Akkadians 
and  Babylonians  in  their  respective  languages 
with  the  meaning  of  "  to  burn  the  dead, "  is 
simple  to  explain.  The  early  Semites  probably 
used  to  bury  their  dead,  as  was  customary 
among  their  kindred  of  Syria  and  Arabia. 
When  the  Akkadians  invaded  Mesopotamia, 
they  introduced  their  custom  of  burning  the 
dead;  but  in  consequence  of  the  intercourse 
of  eveiy  day  life,  their  borrowing  the  Semitic 
word  f  (jr  burial  gave  it  naturally  the  meaning 
carried  by  their  own  way  of  disposing  of  their 
dead.  The  Babylonians  having  adopted,  to 
a  great  extent,  the  religion  and  customs  of  the 
conquerers,  accepted  also  the  new  meaning 
given  to  their  word  for  "  to  bury,"  which  came 
then  to  mean  "  to  burn.  " 

Another  fact  which  supports  the  argument 
in  favour  of  the  existence  of  this  custom 
among  the  Babylonians  and  Assyrians  is,  that 
nowhere  in  Mesopotamia  do  we  find  tombs 
which  miglit  be  assigned  to  them. 

Sir  H.  Layard  noticed  that  all  the  funereal 
remains  are  found  in  the  mounds  formed  by 
the  ruins,  but  over  the  palaces  or  temples, 
leaving  no  doubt  as  to  their  having  been 
placed  there  after  the  destruction  of  the 
monuments.  Some  tombs  contained  sarco- 
phagi, but  these  are  undoubtedly  Parthian  ; 
others  contained  small  stone  cases  or  large 
clay  vases,  and  belong  no  doubt  to  the  Sas- 


4)  Transl.  of  the  S.  B.  A. 

5)  W.  A.  I.  II,  iv.  Gof). 

6 )  ibid.  III.  Ixx.  195  &  196. 
7)S.  B.  A.  p.  740. 

8)   Prof.  Sayce's  Syllabary,  No.  244. 

*  The  reason  why  the  word  kibir  is  in  the  syllabary  generally  found  in  the  non-Semitic 
column  is  easy  to  explain.  At  the  time  of  the  Semitic  renaissance,  when  the  syllabaries  were 
written,  the  Babylonian  grammarians,  or  rather  commentators,  not  being  able  to  connect  the 
word  kibir,  "  to  bum,"  with  any  Semitic  root  of  kindred  meaning,  and  having  no  idea  that 
the  word  meaning  primitively  "to  bury,"  had  changed  its  meaning  into  "to  bum"  with  the 
change  of  custom,  took  it  to  be  of  Akkadian  ;)rigin, 


'tHB  BURNlNO  PlitRt  ^URNACB. 


1§ 


sanian  period^ :  while  the  clay  vases  contain- 
ing half-charred  bones  must  be  assigned  to 
the  Greek  period.  None  of  these  funereal 
monuments  bear  any  inscription.  This  fact 
alone  excludes  all  idea  of  their  being  Assyr- 
ian or  Babylonian;  for,  among  people  having 
such  a  high  esteem  for  Hterary  works, 
the  funereal  monuments  would  certainly  be 
covered  with  inscriptions. 

But  how  are  we  to  explain  that  the  Baby- 
lonians have  left  no  trace  of  their  funereal 
customs  in  monuments  ?  It  can  be  explained 
in  two  ways.  They  may  have  had  a  custom 
similar  to  that  of  the  Brahminic  population  of 
India,  who  throw  the  ashes  of  their  burnt 
relatives  into  the  river  Ganges,  believing 
that  these  ashes  are  carried  up  the  river 
to  the  land  of  the  Blessed  ;  the  Babylonians, 
if  they  had  the  same  idea,  would  have  thrown 
the  a?hes  into  the  Tigris  or  Euphrates,  as 
they  thought  that  the  land  of  the  Blessed 
was  at  the  mouth  of  these  two  rivers.^^^  The 
other  explanation  is  that  the  Babylonians, 
having  for  their  object  the  annihilation  of  the 
body,  would  leave  the  corpse  in  the  cremat- 
orium till  it  was  entirely  consumed,  and 
would  not  gather  any  remains.  They 
had,  no  doubt,  in  every  city  a  special  furnace 
kept  always  burning,  to  consume  the  corpses 
as  soon  as  life  was  extinct. 

We  are  not,  therefore,  surprised  to  see  the 
Babylonian  king  threatening  to  cast  the 
young  Jews  into  the  furnace  which  was  kept 
always  burning,  as  implied  by  his  order  that 
it  should  be  heated  seven  times  more  than 
usual. 

The  Babylonians  had,  no  doubt,  a  special 


reason  for  choosing  this  strange  way  of  an- 
nihilating those  they  considered  as  impious. 
There  was  certainly  a  mystic  idea  in  their 
mind  as  to  consumption  by  fire. 

Cremation  has  been  advocated  in  our  own 
time  on  sanitary  grounds.  Its  partisans  ar- 
gue that  the  living  must  be  thought  of  before 
the  dead,  and  that  the  corpses  being  reduced 
to  ashes  all  danger  of  spreading  disease  is 
avoided.  The  Babylonians  appear,  indeed,  to 
have  been  the  precursors  of  our  modern  crem- 
ationists;  fire  was  in  their  eyes  the  great 
purifier  morally  as  well  as  physically. 

This  character  of  purifier  is  well  illustrated 
by  a  bilingual  incantation  preserved  in  a  tablet 
now  in  the  British  Museum'^ ;  the  poet  ad- 
dresses the  Fire  as  a  god,  calling  him  by 
his  Akkadian  name  gibil.  The  Assyrian 
translation  leaves  this  name  untranslated,  but 
as  we  have  seen  gibil  is  the  Akkadian  form 
of  the  Semitic  kihir,  it  therefore  is  the  burner 
or  god  of  burning,  and  the  same  word  as  that 
used  to  describe  the  burning  of  the  dead. 

The  incantation  runs  as  follows  : — 

0  god  Gibil !  great  prince  who  risest  over 
the  land; 

Warrior  son  of  the  abyss,  who  risest  over 
the  land; 

0  Gibil !  thou  bringest  light  with  thy  fire; 

Thou  makest  bright  the  house  of  darkness; 

Thou  fixest  the  destiny  of  every  thing  which 
has  a  name; 

Thou  art  the  improver  of  copper  with  lead ;  i* 

Thou  art  the  poHshertof  silver  and  gold; 

Thou  art  the  companion  of  the  goddess 
Ninkasi; 

Thou  art  the  one  who  hast  power  to  turn  the 
breast  of  the  wicked; 


9)  See  Layard's  Nineveh ,  popular  editioa. 

10)  Transl.   of  the  S.  B.  A.  vol.  iii.    567. 

11)  W.  A.  I.  IV.  xiv.  No.  2. 

12)  That  is,  *  the  maker  of  bronze.'       The  Assyrian  transl.  is  *the  mixer  of  copper  &lead.* 
•)•   Literally,  *  the  one  who  makes  silver  and  gold  shine.' 

13)  It  is  difficult  to  say  if  in  the  last  3  fines,  the  child  of  God,*  t.  «.,  'the  rightful  man,'or 
'.he  god  himself,  is  meant.  This  incantation  has  been  translated  by  Dr  Oppert,  M.  Lenor- 
mant,  and  many  others.  It  is  not  thought  necessary,  therefore,  to  give  the  text  and  the 
transliteration  here.  The  Assyrian  is  not  always  the  exact  rendering  of  the  Akkadian  ;  for 
instance,  the  Assyrian  scribe  writes:  'in  the  middle  of  the  sky,'  no  doubt  to  avoid  ifepeating 
the  same  line  as  the  last  bat  two. 


K> 


THB  BURNING  riBRY  P0RKAOB, 


Mayest  thou  make  shine  the  limbs  of  the  child 
May  he  shine  Hke  the  sky!  [of  God! 

May  he  shine  Hke  the  earth! 
May  he  shine  like  the  sky  l'^ 
It  is  evident  from  this  incantation  that 
fire  was  considered  as  the  purifier  and  the 
improver  morally  as  well  as  physically.  The 
annihilation  of  the  body  by  fire  had,  therefore, 
for  its  object  the  purification  and  the  improve- 
ment of  the  soul;  by  burning  the  body  the 
soul,  which  always  had  a  kind  of  attraction 
for  its  material  envelope,  even  after  death,  was 
dehvered  from  the  burden  of  its  corpse  and 
broken  from  all  material  connexion. 

This  purification  is  also  very  apparent  in 
the  Babylonian  religious  poetry.  The  material 
evil,  that  is  disease,  and  the  moral  evil,  that 
is  sin,  was,  according  to  the  Babylonian,  always 
the  work  of  some  evil  spirit,  called  Utuk,  Gallu, 
&c.  When  a  Babylonian  was  ill,  or  when  he 
thought  he  was  in  a  state  of  sin,  it  was  pract- 
ically the  same  as  to  be  possessed  by  some 
evil  spirits;  to  be  cured  physically  or  morally 
he  had  to  drive  away  the  evil  spirits  by  means 
of  incantations  or  charms.  For  that  purpose 
the  supplicant  went  into  the  temple,  and 
standing  before  the  blazing  altar,  he  recited 
the  incantation.  He  held  in  his  hand  pieces 
of  ribbon,  of  cloth,  of  thread,  seed  or  other 
objects,  and  assuming  that  the  evil  spirits  had 
passed  from  his  body  into  them,  he  tlirew 
them  into  the  fire  one  by  one,  saying  : 

"May  he  be  burned  Hke  this  reed!  may  he  be 
consumed  Hke  this  cloth!  &c." 

A  tablet,^*  now  in  the  British  Museum,  con- 
tains a  collection  of  incantations  of  this  kind. 
The  text  is  written  in  Semitic  Babylonian, 
but  with  such  a  profusion  of  ideograms  and 
Akkadian  expressions  used  ideographically, 
that  Hues  now  and  then  might  be  taken  for 
Akkadian.  The  order  of  the  words  alone 
shows  that  we  have  a  Semitic  text;  the  reason 
is  no  doubt  that  we  have  in  it  a  piece  of  the 


ritual  translated  from  Akkadian;  but  as  it 
was  to  be  recited  by  the  laic  supplicant,  the 
Akkadian  is  not  given.  Akkadian  was,  it  is 
to  be  remembered,  like  Latin  for  the  Roman 
Church,  the  reHgious  language.  The  scribe 
who  made  the  translation,  however,  wishing 
no  doubt  to  preserve  as  much  as  possible  the 
character  of  the  original,  transcribed  the  Ak- 
kadian ideograms,  to  be  read  then  as  Semitic 
words. 

Like  this  plant  he  is  cut,  and,  in  the  fire 

Of  the  consuming  god  Gibil,  he  is  burnt; 

It  shall  grow  no  more  in  the  furrows; 

It  shall  not  be  placed  in  a  pot  or  in  a  vase; 

It  shall  not  take  its  food  from  the  ground; 

Its  seed  shaU  not  come  up,  and  the  sun  shall 
not  shine  on  it; 

It  shall  not  be  taken  to  adorn  the  god  or  the 
king,  &c. 
And  the  suppHcant  adds  : 

The  sickness  is  in  my  body,  in  my  flesh,  in 
my  veins. 

Like  this  plant  may  it  be  cut; 

In  the  fire  of  the  god  Gibil  may  it  be  burnt; 

May  the  plague  go  out,  and  myself  may  I 
see  the  Hght ! 

In  other  words:  May  the  evil  spirits  which 
cause  my  disease  be  destroyed,  and  may 
I  be  purified.^^ 

The  object  of  the  Babylonians  in  casting  the 
Jews  into  the  furnace  was,  therefore,  to  purify 
them,  that  is,  to  send  away  from  their  bodies 
the  evil  spirits  who  possessed  them  and  made 
them,  from  the  Babylonian  point  of  view,  blas- 
pheme the  gods. 

Many  years  ago  I  suggested  that  the  custom 
of  burning  the  dead  had  been  imported  into 
Greece  from  Mesopotamia  through  Asia 
Minor.  16  If  such  is  the  case,  we  must  find 
among  the  Greeks  a  religious  conception,  simi- 
lar to  that  of  the  Babylonians,  concerning  the 
practice,  for  a  custom  is  always  the  expression 
of  a  certain  view,  as  the  burning  of  the  dead 
grew  among  the   Akitadians  from  the  mystic 


14)  W.  A.  I.,  IV,  7. 

15)  As  my  object  is  not  to  give  a  philologicar  interpretation  of  the  text,  whichj  on  account 
of  its  ideographic  character,  would  require  a  great  development,  and  would  extend  too  long, 
I  only  give  the  translation  of  one  passage  as  an  illustration.  It  has  also  been  translated  and 
pubHshed-by  M.  Lenormaht^^ 

16)  The  Antiquary,    vol.  i.,  p.  176;    (^April,  1880). 


IHE  ERECHITES  LAMENT 
OVER  THE  DESOLATION  OF  BIS  FATHERLAND. 


1!  ^ 


REMARKS, 


The  accompanying  plate  (which  is  a  reproduct- 
ion of  a  pen  and  ink  drawing)  shows  the  upper 
part  of  the  reverse  of  a  large  bilingual  tablet, 
the  lines  of  which,  ( with  the  exception  of  four 
at  the  end),  are  alternately  Sumerian  and 
Semitic  Babylonian  or  Assyrian.  The 
lines  written  in  Sumerian  are  distinguished 
from  the  others  by  their  beginning  at  the  very 
edge  of  the  clay  tablet.  In  drawing  this  text, 
I  have  tried  to  reproduce  all  the  peculiarities 
of  the  writing  of  the  original. 

In  addition  to  the  Sumerian  lines  being 
written  more  to  the  left,  the  scribe  has  also 
taken  extra  care  to  get  these  lines  straight, 
by  ruling  with  a  rectangular  straight-edge  or 
the  handle  of  his  stilus,  lines  against  which 
he  has  ranged  the  tops  (not  the  bottoms,  as 
with  us),  of  the  characters.  His  writing, 
however,  has   an  upward  tendency,   so  that 


though  each  line  is  fairly  begun,  yet  his 
guiding  lines  go  through  the  middle  of  the 
characters  towards  the  ends  of  the  line.  Where 
the  characters  are  close  together,  the  guiding 
line  has  become  obliterated  by  what  is  tech- 
nically known  among  die-sinkers  as  "the  burr," 
and  is  therefore  invisible. 

As  indicated  on  the  accompanying  plate, 
each  Hne  is,  in  the  original,  divided  into  two 
parts,  probably  to  mark  the  metre. 

At  the  end  of  1.  16,  the  scribe  seems  to 
have  wavered  between  ku  and  ki  {haaaki  for 
hasakii),  hence  the  corner-wedge  which  I  have 
reproduced.  Hasaku  is,  however,  apparently 
the  right  reading.  In  tliree  cases  the  lines 
of  the  translation  extend  beyond  the  surface 
of  the  reverse  on  to  the  edge  of  the  clay  tablet. 

T.G.P. 


tH«    KRBCHITB  S    LAMKNt. 


n 


idea  of  purifying  the  body,  or  rather  of  anni- 
hilating the  body  to  purify  the  soul. 

The  Greeks  had  indeed  a  view  of  cre- 
mation very  similar  to  that  of  the  Babylon- 
ians ;  like  them  they  burnt  their  dead  to  purify 
them,  or  rather  to  deliver  them  from  all  mat- 
erial parts;  if  they  gathered  piously  the  ashes 
or  a  few  charred  bones  from  the  funeral  pyre, 
it  was  by  a  refined  feeling  of  respect  to  keep 
a  kind  of  memento  of  the  departed. 

The  idea  of  the  purifying  nature  of  fire 
was  equally  strong  among  the  Greeks,  so 
much  so  in  fact  that  the  burning  of  the  body 
became  a  part  of  the  apotheosis.  The  soul 
being  immortal  participates,  in  their  mind, 
in  the  divine  essence  of  the  gods,  and  it  was 
prisoner  in  the  material  body;  the  destruction 
of  this  body  by  fire  was  the  liberation  of  the 
soul  and  at  the  same  time  its  purification  of  all 
the  pollutions  which  it  might  have  received 
during  its  association  with  its  mortal  envelope. 
Before  being  placed  among  the  gods,  Hercules 
hhs  to  ascend  the  pyre.  There  are  many  other 
cases  mentioned  by  the  classics  in  which  im- 
mortality is  acquired  by  means  of  fire, 
and  this  is  the  material  development  of  the 
idea  of  purification  by  fire. 

Perhaps  we  might  trace  to  the  same  con- 


tept ion  the  monstrous  custom  of  the  Pheni- 
cians  of  burning  their  own  children  as  offerings 
to  their  god. 

We  might  also  trace  back  to  the  same 
source  many  other  customs,  but  what  has 
been  said  is  enough  to  shew  what  was  the 
mystic  idea  from  which  sprung  the  custom 
of  the  burning  of  the  dead. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  said  that  when 
Nebuchadnezzar  ordered  the  three  young 
Jews  to  be  cast  into  the  "  burning  fiery  fur- 
nace," it  was  not  through  the  capricious  cruelty 
of  a  despot.  The  Babylonian  king,  who 
knew  how  to  acknowledge  the  merits  of 
Daniel,  must  have  been  above  such  petty  acts; 
he  was  a  great  statesman,  and  was  also  a  pious 
man,  having  in  view  the  glory  of  his  gods 
and  the  prosperity  of  his  country,  but  ordering 
those  who,  in  his  judgment,  were  blaspheming 
the  gods,  to  be  cast  into  the  furnace,  he  had 
for  object,  neither  to  take  a  mean  revenge  nor 
to  inflict  a  cruel  punishment,  but  to  drive  away 
from  the  blasphemers'  bodies  the  evil  spirits 
who  possessed  them.  Hence  his  quick  conver- 
sion,when  he  found  that  the  God  of  the  Jews 
had  preserved  the  three  young  men  unhurt  in 
"  the  burning  fiery  furnace  !" 

George  Bbrtiit. 


THE   ERECHITE'S  LAMENT 
OVER   THE  DESOLATION  OF  HIS   FATHERLAND. 


In  connection  with  the  paper,  published 
jn  the  first  number  of  the  Record,  on  Sin- 
gasid's  gift  to  the  temple  of  Lugal-banda, 
1  give  herewith  a  kind  of  penitential  psalm, 
written  in  the  Sumerian  dialect,  and  accomp- 
anied by  a  translation  into  Semitic  Babylonian, 
This  interesting  composition,  if  not  actually 
written  and  sung  after  the  carrying  away 
of  the  statue  of  the  goddess  Nana  by  the 
Elamites,  might  well  have  chanted  by  the 
desolate  Erechites  on  that  occasion.  The 
text  is  published  in  Vol.  IV  of  the  Cunei- 
form Inscriptions  of  Western  Asia,  pi.  19,  No. 
3.  The  transcription  and  transaltion  here 
given,  however,  are  based  on  several  recent 
and  most  careful  collations  of  the  text,  and 


many  improved  readings  have  thereby  come 
to  light. 

This  fragment,as  published,  begins  with  the 
reverse  of  the  text,  and  breaks  off  when  rather 
less  than  half-way  through  it.  Of  the  obverse, 
which  is  unpublished,  the  remains  only  of 
about  sixteen  lines  at  the  bottom  are  left. 
It  refers  to  the  devastation  wrought  by  an 
enemy  in  the  city  of  Erech.  This  same 
subject  is  continued  on  the  reverse,  and  ends 
with  a  kind  of  litany.  Translations  of  this 
most  interesting  text  have  been  given  by 
Prof.  F.  Hommel,  in  his  work  Die  Semiten, 
p.  225,  and  by  Dr.  Zimmem,  inhis  Bab/lon- 
iscke  Busspsalmen,  pp.  74 — 78. 


1.  Li-su   uMuy-Mu    ["mulu 

2.  Adi,   matim    beltt,  nakru  gab. 


mag]    MASTAGaX?)zA     nr  s]lN-KAnA-TA  ? 

t,  qahsu  mastal'-Jci  imsii'  ? 


1)  The  original  has  the  character  mal  with  sal  inside,  instead  of  leak  a?  in  the  syllabaries. 


22  THE     ERECHTTE'h     LAMENT. 

How   long,    my    lady,    shall  the  strong  enemy  hold  thy    sanctuary  ? 
;).    Uru    (eri)   8AGA-ZU,    Unug-(D.  S.)-su   imma-imma  ban-mar  ; 

4.  Ina   dli-ki  riHi    Uruk,    mmii   ittaskan  ; 

In   thy  glorious  city,    Erech,    want    has    come   on; 

5.  E-ULBAR,     E-BARA-ZU,     A     MUDA-DIM     MUNSDM-EN  : 

6.  Ina   JS-ulbar,    hit  piristiki,    dami   kima    me   innakku ; 

In    E-ulbar,   the   house  of  thy  oracle,   blood  is    flowing    like    water; 

7.  KURKUR  NIGINAZU  BIL  MUNDa[sUb],  SEMUR-DIM  BA-DUB. 

8.  Ina  naphar  mdtdti-ki  iMtam  iddima  kima  tiimri  ispuk. 

In  all  tliy  lands  he  has    placed  fire,  and  poured  it    out   like    hail. 

9.  Umun  mu  gula  mag-bi  lalani. 

10.  Belti,   ma'dis  mlpiiU   sandaku ; 

My  lady,  greatly         am  I  bound  up  with  misfortune  ; 

11.  UnUM-MU     SIRSIRATA     GIGA     BANDUE. 

12.  (Belli)  tukattirinnima  marsis  tusimlnni. 

•  My   lady,    thou   hast    surrounded  me    and  placed  me    in    grief. 
i3i  (mulu)    Kur   magam   gi    as-dim   munsigsigi  ; 

14.  Nakru   dannu   kima    kan^    idi    usippdni  : 

The  mighty  enemy  has  smitten  (?)  me   down   like   a   single  reed  ; 

15.  DiMMU     NUMUNDIB,     NI-MU     NUMUSrUGMEN   ; 

16.  Teme   id    sahtakv,    ramant   id      hasaku  ; 

1    cannot   take   counsel,    myself    1    am  not  wise  ; 

17.  ZUGADIM     6-MIGA  MUNSKSSSS 

18.  Kima   sus^  musam   u   urri   adammum. 
Like   the   fields  night   and   day    I    mourn. 

19.  Mae,  eriza  uout.-anmama. 

20.  Anaku,   arad-ki  utnen-ki. 

I,    thy  servant,  pray   to  thee. 

21.  §A-ZT7     GENKUE,  BARAK-ZU     GENSIDE. 

May   thy  heart   take   rest,     may   thy   disposition  be    softened. 

22.  .  .  ASERA  SA-ZU 

.    weeping,                 (naay)    thy   heart   (take   rest). 
28. SA-ZU 


(may)   thy   heart   (take   rest). 

24. .  8UR8UR(?)ANSIB.' 

save  (?)  thou  ! 

FREE   RENDERING. 

How   long,   my    lady,    shall   the    strong  enemy  hold   thy   sanctuary  ? 

There   is   want  in  Erech,   thy   glorious    city; 

Blood   is    flowing   like   water   in    E-ulbar,   the    house    of   thy   oracle; 

He   has   kindled    and   poured    out   fire  like   hailstones   on    all   thy    lands. 

My   lady,   sorely  am  I   fettered   by   misfortune; 

My    lady,    thou   hast    surrounded    me,  and  brought   me    to   grief. 

The    mighty    enemy  has   smitten    me   down    like    a   single    reed. 

Not  wise    myself,    I   cannot   take   counsel; 

I    mourn   day  and    night   like   the   wide    fields. 

I,    thy    servant    pray    to    thee. 

Let  thy   heart    take   rest,   let  thine  anger    be    softened. 

The  twentyfirst  and  following  lines,  which  are,  as  before  remarked,  written  as  a  kind  of 
litany,  are  in  the  Sumerian  language  only,  and  it  is  very  probable  that  the  remainder  of 
the  text  was  exclusively  in  that  language.  The  accompanying  plate  gives  the  cuneiform  text  of 
this  interesting  psalm.  Theo.  G.  Pinches. 

2)     Or,  . . .  garans'.h,    "  make  thou." 


GLEANINGS  FROM  CLAY   COMMENTARIES. 


25 


GLEANINGS  FROM  CLAY  COMMENTARIES.  —  No.  I. 
The  moon  and  the  stars  which  Thou  hast  ordained.'\..F8ALvi  viii.  3. 


The  recovery  of  the  "records  of  the  past," 
which  has  resulted  from  the  discovery  of  the 
inscriptions  of  Assyria  and  Babylonia,  has 
been  the  means  of  restoring  to  us  long  lost 
chapters  of  the  world's  history  ;  and  we  are 
thus  able  to  test  the  accuracy  of  the  Hebrew 
historians  by  a  strict  and  continuous  canon 
of  contemporary  documents.  It  is  not  in 
the  field  of  history  alone  that  this  ancient 
literature  has  proved  of  value  to  the  student 
of  the  Scriptures. 

From  the  libraries  of  the  cities  and  temples 
of  Chaldea,  and  the  palaces  of  Nineveh,  have 
come  a  vast  number  of  clay  books,  whose  im- 
perishable pages  have  preserved  the  sacred 
literature  of  the  ancestors  of  the  Hebrew  na- 
tioii.  From  these  we  can  learn  the  religious 
thoughts  and  aspirations  of  the  servants  of 
Assur  and  Merodach  preserved  to  us  in  a  lang- 
uage akin  to  the  Hebrew.  In  these  sacred 
pages  we  see  the  same  pious  feelings  of  the 
heart  in  words  and  phrases  identical  with  those 
already  familiar  to  us  from  the  Scriptures,  and 
thus  these  restored  volumes  are  placed  before 
us  as  valuable  clay  commentaries,  to  aid  us  in 
explaining  the  beauties  of  the  Hebrew  writings. 
It  is  only  those  who  have  wandered  from 
our  humid  northern  clime,  with  its  clouded 
and  leaden  skies,  and  spent  their  nights  be- 
neath the  clear  azure  dome  of  an  eastern  sky, 
who  can  understand  how  vast  a  factor  the  stars 
are,  by  their  pure  brilliancy,  by  their  innumer- 
able host,  and  the  systematic  and  regular 
character  of  their  movements,  in  proclaiming 
to  men  the  illimitable  power  and  guidance  of 
the  hand  of  the  divine  creator.  To  warm 
blooded  races  such  asthe  Hebrews  and  the  Arabs 
— ever  in  commune  with  nature,  ever  using 
her  myriad  beauties  as  instruments  of  poetic 
thought  and  expression  —  the  stars  were  a 
source  of  boundless  inspiration.  The  shep- 
herd, who  passed  the  long  night  watches  in 
lonely  guard,  found  in  them  a  counterpart  of 
ivis  flock  on  earth*     Each  morning  as  the  sun 


rose  and  veiled  the  stars  by  its  brightuess,  it 
was  to  him  but  the  folding  of  the  celestial  flock, 
each  night  once  more  to  be  scattered  over  the 
celestial  field.  It  must  have  been  some  such 
communing  with  the  host  of  heaven  which  in- 
spired the  royal  Psalmist  of  Israel,  perhaps  in 
his  youth  on  the  plains  about  Bethlehem,  with 
such  a  beautiful  pastoral  simile  as  that  ex- 
pressed in  the  words,  "Hetelleth  the  number 
of  the  stars,  and  giveth  them  all  their  names." 
(Ps.  cxlvii.  4).  How  often  must  he  as  a  lad 
have  waited  eagerly  for  the  "singing  of  the 
morning  stars,"  (Job  xxxviii.  7),  for  that 
flickering  light  in  which  the  stars  of  the  twi- 
light (Job  iii.  9)  gradually  fade  away.  It 
must  have  been  oft  with  the  same  longing  as 
that  so  beautifully  expressed  by  an  Arab  poet, 
Al  Nabiga,  who  thus  describes  a  long  night 
as  :  "A  night  so  long that  I  say  to  my- 
self, it  has  no  end,  and  the  Shepherd  of  the 
Stars  will  not  come  back  today."  In  the 
Psalms,  and  in  that  most  pastoral  of  all  the 
Hebrew  writings,  the  book  of  Job,  the  stars 
are  a  source  of  many  beautiful  similes  and 
poetic  outpourings  of  the  heart. 

To  the  Hebrew  it  was  forbidden  to  find  an 
expression  of  his  wondering  admiration  in  wor- 
ship of  these  bright  orbs  of  heaven  (Deut.  iv. 
19)  t  but  other  nations  of  the  same  family, 
Assyrians,  Chaldeans  and  Arabs,  blended 
largely  in  their  creeds  the  worship  of  the  ce- 
lestial hOrit. 

The  Chaldeans  have  ever  been  regarded, 
and  justly  so,  as  the  fathers  of  Astronomy  and 
Astrology.  Those  ancient  star-gazers  who,  in 
their  nomad  life,  had  communed  hour  after 
hour  in  wondering  awe  with  the  stars  that  had 
guided  them  across  the  deserts,  and  seen  in 
them  the  heralds  of  coming  heat  or  drought, 
had  learned  to  read  with  no  mean  skill  the 
book  of  heaven.  In  their  astronomical  books, 
many  of  which  are  in  the  British  Museum,  we 
find  numerous  striking  parallels  to  the  Hebrew 
writings  ;  and  thus  they  afford  u^  valuable 


24 


GLEANINGS  FROM  CLAY  COMMENTARIES. 


commentaries  on  the  sacred  writings.  The 
frequent  reference  to  the  stars  in  their  in- 
numerable character  in  such  passages  as  :  "I 
will  multiply  thy  seed  as  the  stars  of  the 
heaven"(Gen.xxii.l7');  "tell  the  stars  if  thou 
be  able  to  tell  them"(Gen.xv.5);has  its  exact 
counterpart  in  the  Inscriptions  :  for  the  great 
conquerer  Assur-bani-pal  speaks  of  his  booty 
of  sheep  oxen  and  camels  as  being  "without 
number  as  the  stars  of  heaven,"  (Smith,  Hist. 
p.86.)  In  hke  manner  the  pastoral  similes 
above  referred  to  are  to  be  found  in  the  In- 
scriptions. The  name  given  to  the  planets 
by  Akkadians  was  Lubat,  which  is  translat- 
ed by  tsenu,''  sheep,"the  Hebrew  Tson,  while 
they  were  also  called  Ailu,  bellwethers  or 
leaders  of  the  flock  (Is.xiv.  9).  So  also  the 
pole-star  is  called  "  the  star  of  the  flock  of 
the  many  sheep  of  heaven,"  and  in  a  hymn 
we  meet  with  the  expression,  "  the  stars  of 
heaven  in  their  courses  like  sheep."  In  the 
tablets  this  same  pastoral  tone  is  prevalent, 
and  it  is  remarkable,  as  has  been  already 
noted,  that  but  few  omens  in  the  "  book  of 
the  Illumination  of  Bel, "  as  the  great  work 
on  astronomy  is  called,  relate  to  cities.  The 
following  may  be  quoted  :  "  The  star  on  high 
rises,  and  to  rain  it  points.  The  star  of 
the  eagle  is  observed;  the  cattle  decrease." 
Another  omen,  evidently  the  deduction  of  a 
nomad  tribe,  reads  thus :  "The  moon,  at  its  ap- 
pearance with  the  rising  sun,  is  seen.  The  gods 
the  fields  of  the  land  to  evil  assign;  Bel  cour- 
age to  the  enemy  gives."  This  points  directly 
to  the  dark  nights  under  which  the  ghazzi, 
or  tribal  raid,  could  advance — a  time  often 
sung  of  by  the  Arab  poets. 

Among  the  tablets  obtained  by  Mr  Rassam 
from  Babylonia  is  a  valuable  astronomical  list. 
This  tablet  bears  a  docket  stating  that  it  was 
Kima  lahri  su  sadir-va  hari,  "like  its  old 
copy  written  and  explained,"  and  that  it  was 
a  tablet  sagaE-zida"  the  property  of  the 
temple  of  Ezida,"  (tl  e  h  -use  of  life),  the 
temple  of  Nebo  in  the  ciy  of  Borsippa,  the 
ruins  of  which  are  marked  by  the  mound  of 
the  Birs  Nimroud.    We  l^now  moreover  the 


name  of  the  ancient  astronomer  who  edited 
this  new  edition  of  this  ancient  work ;  it  is 
Nahv^lddina-akha  (Nebo  has  given  a  bro- 
ther) the  son  of  Arkat-ilani-damkati  (From 
the  gods  is  fortune),  who  placed  it  in  the 
library  of  the  temple.  This  tablet  proves 
most  clearly  the  naming  of  the  stars,  and 
some  of  the  names  are  of  great  interest.  The 
star  of  the  god  Merodach  is  called  "the  king," 
while  two  stars  termed  "  the  star  of  the  flock" 
and  "the  star  of  stars"  are  called  "the  star  of 
of  the  weapon  of  the  hands  of  Merodach."  The 
star  of  the  "  Hyena"  is  the  god  Anu.  Venus 
as  evening  star  is  called  Nahat  kakkabu^^xo- 
claimer  of  the  star.  The  star  of  the  Lady  was 
the  "  star  of  Venus  of  Babylon  ."  Two  other 
stars  of  special  interest  are  the  "star  of  the 
Horse ,"  dedicated  to  the  god  of  the  whirlwind, 
reminding  us  of  the  Maruts  and  their  horses 
in  the  Vedic  mythology,  also  of  the  Hebrew 
expressions:  "  Herodeupon  a  cherub  and  did 
fly.  Yea,  he  flew  swiftly  npon  the  wings  of 
the  wind  (Ps.xviii.lO)."  Also:"To  him  that 
rideth  upon  the  heavens  of  heavens  (Ps.lxviii. 
33).  Again :  "Behold  the  Lord  rideth  upon 
a  swift  clorid"(Isa.xix.l).  So  also  the  star 
whose  Akkadian  name  was  "the  star  who 
speaks  before  the  day,"  is  called  "the  river  of 
the  day."  or  day-spring  or  dawn,  sometimes 
called  nam  sa  yumi,  the  river  of  day,  so  well 
referred  to  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  :  "He 
causeth  the  dayspring  to  know  its  place,"  (Job 
xxxviii.  12), 

More  sombre  are  the  titles,  "  the  star  of 
the  serpent,  sacred  to  the  goddess  Nin-kigal, 
the  "lady  of  the  great  land,"  that  is,  the 
goddess  of  death.  The  serpent  was  called 
Binut  aralli,''  offspring  of  the  grave,"  so 
the  star  became  the  star  of  death :  as  there 
was  a  star  of  Death  so  there  was  kakahu 
baladhum,  "  the  star  of  life."  Other  stars  in 
this  list  were  "  bright  star,"  the  star  Iku  or 
Dilgan,  called  the  star  of  the  land  of  Babylon, 
Among  the  stars  none  was  more  important 
than  the  morningstar  which  came  as  a  brilliant 
forerunner  of  the  Lord  of  Lic^ht.  We  find 
the  morning  stars  Venus  and  Mercury  called 


THK  KU8HITB8— WHO  WKRS  THBV 


25 


by  deeply  suggestive  and  interesting  names. 
But  we  must  reserve  further  remarks  on  this 


and  similar  points  for  consideration  in  another 
paper. 

W.  St  Cha.d  Boscawbm. 


•*->^-^-g§-*-^-'* 


THE  KUSHITES—  WHO  WERE  THE  Y  ? 


I.    THE    BIBLICAL    EVIDENCE.. 

1.  In  the  ethnographical  table  of  the 
10th  chapter  of  Genesis  Kush  appears  as 
one  of  the  sons  of  Ham  with  Misraim,  Put, 
and  Kanaan.  In  Listcoical  tinjes,  as  shown 
by  the  Egyptian  inscriptions,  the  race  ci 
Kush  was  identified  wiih  the  Ethiopian 
populations  of  the  South  of  Nubia,  on  the 
upper  course  of  the  Nile,  But  the  scholars 
who  have  investigated  the  matter  all  agree 
to  admit  that  in  Genesis  this  name,  like 
that  of  Ethiopians  in  classical  geography, 
had  a  much  wider  meaning. 

?j.  1  he  extensive  sense  is  proved  by 
the  list  given  in  the  biblical  text  of  the 
sons  of  Kush,  wliich  f^Jlows  a  regular 
geographical  order  from  the  west  to  the 
east^ 

Seha,  on  the  Red  Sea,  north  of  the 
Straits  of  Bab  el-Mandeb. 

Havilah^  which  must  be  distinguished 
from  the  Yagtanide  people  of  tho  same 
name,  and  represents  the  Arabites  on  the 
right  of  the  lied  !Sea,  near  the  gulf  of 
Zeulah. 

Sabtahf  capital  city  of  the  Chatramotites, 
or  inhabitants  of  the  Hadramaut,  Southern 
Arabia. 

Jt'aemah,  (Regma),  on  the  Arab  side  of 
the  Persian  Gulf;  the  names  of  his  sons, 
Daden  and  Sheba^  appear  respectively  in 
that  of  Daden,  one  of  the  Bahrein  islands, 
and  in  that  of  Asabes,  on  the  coast  of 
Oman. 


Sabteka,  which  survived  in  the  names 
of  Tamydaces  and  Samydaces,  town  and 
river  on  the  shores  of  Garamania. 

3.  Therefore  this  biblical  list  of  popu- 
lations descendant  from  Kush  extends 
from  African  Ethiopia  to  the  borders  of 
Gedrosia.  Let  us  see  how  it  is  confirmed 
by  evidence  from  other  sources. 

n.   THE  HISrOIlICAL&  ETHNICAL  EVIDE\CE. 

4.  The  Kushites  ot  antiquity,  along 
the  shores  of  the  Southern  0,ean  from 
Abyssinia  to  India,  have  remained  famous 
in  the  traditions  and  semi-mythological 
accounts  of  a  piehistoric  period.  Their 
activity  in  trade,  their  boldness  in  seafar- 
ing expeditions,  and  the  extensive  spread 
of  civilization  which  followed  their  efforts 
have  won  for  them  a  lastins?  fame.  But 
the  historical  data  concerning  their  deeds 
have  to  be  inferred  from  shadowy  and 
nearly  faded  away  traditions,  lost  in  the 
mist  of  antiquity,  and  a  few  vague  state- 
ments of  historical  authors  only,  have 
been  understood  as  countenancing  these 
h.df-forgotten  souvenirs  All  this  period 
of  past  history  has  been  gloriously  depicted 
some  thirty  years  ago,  in  a  series  of  valu- 
able and  most  interesting  papers  by  the 
late  Baron  d'Eckstein,  who  was  endowed 
in  an  extraor  linary  manner  with  an  in- 
tuition of  Oriental  antiquity  and  the 
talent  of  reviving  with  his  pen  events  of 
former  times. 

5.  We   are  told^   that  the    Kushites 


1)  Cf.  Fr.  Lenormant,  Hi4oire  Avcknne  Se  V Orient  (9th  edit.),  vol.  i.,  p.  266. 

2)  Scientific  accuracy  could  not,  from  insufficiency  of  documents,  be  always  respected 
in  these  premature  generalizations,  where  imagination  had  to  p  ay  some  part ;    but, 

bvgone  ages, 
in  Rtvue 


ques, 


taken  in  the  whole,  these  papers  present  several  faithful  tableaux  of 
Vid.     D'Eckstein,   Questions   ti'latives  aux  Antiquities  des  Feuples  SSmit' 
Archeoli'gique,  1855-56,  pp.  573,  677,  724;  Sur  les  Sources  de  la  Cosmoganie  de  Sanchoni- 
aton,  in  Journal  Asiatique,   1859  60,  vol.  xiv.  pp.  157,  362,  501  ;  vol.  xv.  pp.  67,  210, 
3  99;   and  the  five  other  papers  quoted  in  the  following  notes. 

3)  See  G.  Maspero,  Histoire  Ancienne.  des  Peujiles  de  VOrient,  2n4  edit.,  p.  146.. 


26 


THE   KUSHITES — WHO    WERE  THEY  ? 


whose  name  means  dark-coloured,  were  a 
race  of  small  stature,  possf^ssing  a  well- 
proportioned  body  and  fine  limbs ;  a 
luxuriant  head  of  hair,  frequently  curly, 
but  never  woolly  like  that  of  the  negro  ; 
their  complexion  varied  from  light  brown 
to  black ;  features  regular  and  frequently 
refined  ;  forehead  fairly  high,  straight  and 
narrow ;  nose  long,  thin,  and  delicate,  less 
salient  than  that  of  the  Aryan.  Their 
one  solitaiy  defective  featu^-e  was  the 
mouth,  the  lips  being  thick  and  fit  shy.* 
Tradition  relegates  their  cradle  to  Biictria, 
that  portion  of  the  land  of  Kush  watered 
by  the  Gihon.^  A  few  of  the  Kushite 
tribes  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Amou- 
Daria  and  the  Syr-Daria,  at  the  foot  of 
mountains  which  divide  the  Bokharan 
plains  from  the  plateau  of  Iran,  which 
still  bear  the  name  of  Hindu-Kush;^ 
others  penetrated  as  far  as  Asia  Mi<  or,  if 
we  may  attach  credit  to  the  legends  of 
the  Carians  and  their  co-settlers,  as  a 
branch  of  the  Kushite  race  ;^  many  came 
down  the  Indus  and  spread  into  the 
Dekkan.  Some  of  the  more  venturesome 
crossed  the  Straits  of  Bab-el-Man  deb, 
settled  on  the  Blue  Nile,  their  descen- 
dants beingthe  most  irreconcilable  enemies 
of  the  Egyptians.  They  appear  to  have 
developed  seafaring  proclivities  from  a 
very  early  date. 


6.  "  From  the  mouths  of  the  Indus,  the 
shores  of  Catoch,  Guzerat,  Concan,  and 
Malabar;  from  the  strands  of  Gedrosia, 
Caramania  and  Persidia,  as  well  as  along 
the  windings  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  we  meet 
with  a  number  of  mythological  feats  which 
may  be  fairly  attributed  to  them.  They 
marched  along  the  shores  of  Arabia  to 
Ethiopian  Africa,^  where  they  spread 
into  the  regions  of  Sofala ;  they  pene- 
trated through  the  Straits  of  Bab-el-Man- 
deb,  advancii  g  towards  the  extreme  ends 
of  the  Elanitic  Gulf.  Their  activity  over- 
came these  barriers.  We  can  follow  their 
traces  towards  the  Mediterranean  Sea 
from  the  Delta  of  Egypt  to  Joppa  on  tie 
shores  of  Palestine."^ 

Such  names  as  those  of  Kui<h  for  Cappa- 
docia,'°  and  Kassi  or  Kassu  (N.E.  Mesopo- 
tamia) in  the  Cuneiform  inscriptions; 
Rush  or  Ethiopia;  Cukh  (Kachch)  of 
N.W.  India;  the  Kush  of  Hindu- Kush, 
Kuga-Irripa  and  Kusistan;  Ka.^h  of  Cash- 
mere and  others  may  be  considered  as  so 
many  landmarks  left  by  the  Ku-hite 
race ;"  and  the  Kuch  of  N.E.  India — the 
brown  Kugikas  of  heroic  times — one  of 
the  oldest  Indian  races,  are  most  probably 
their  modern  representatives,  much 
altered  and  mixed.  ^^ 

7.  Advancing  in  boats,  they  brought 
to   the  regions  of  Babylonia  the  arc  of 


4)  Pritchard,  Physical  History  of  Matikind,  t.  ii.  p.  44.  The  statues  and  heads  of 
statues  from  Tel  loh  illustrate  most  probably  the  type.  Cf.  E.  Babelon,  Histoire 
Ancienve  de  VOrient^  vol,  iv.  pp.  55,  57,  59. 

5)  Genesis  ii.  13. 

6)  Obry,  Du  Berceau  de  VEsphce  Humaine  selong  Us  Indiens,  les  Persaris  et  les  TTebreux, 
Amiens,  1858,  Svo.  D  Eckstein,  Les  Ethiopiens  de  VAsie^  in  Athenmum  Frangais,  22 
Avril,  1854,  pp.  364—368;  Les  Regions  de  Cousch  et  de  Chavila,  ibid.,  27  Mai,  1854, 
pp.  486—489  ;  Les  Origi'i,es  de  la  Metollurgie,  ibid.,  19  Aout,  1854,  pp.  775—778  ;  De 
Quelques  Legendes  Brahma'niques  qui  se  rapj^mtent  au  Berceau  de  VE^phce  Humaine^  1855, 
in  Journal  Asiattqm,  vi.  191,  297,  472.  Fr.  Lenormant,  Histoire  Ancienne  de  VOrient^ 
9th  edit.  t.  i.  p.  268. 

7)  Afterwards  superseded  by  or  mixed  with  an  Aryan  race.  D'Eckstein,  Les  Cares 
ou  Cariens  de  VAntiquite^  in  Revue  Archeologique,  1857,  p.  322  ;  1857-8,  p.  381  ;  1858-9, 
pp.  445,  509. 

8)  At  the  time  of  the  XXI.  and  XXII.  dynasties,  ie.,  1110—980—810  B.C.  Cf.  G. 
Maspero,  Histoire  Andeime  des  Peuples  de  /'Orient,  p.  424. 

9)  D'Eckstein,  Zes  Ethiopiens  de  PAsie,  I.e. 

10)  Lately  discovered  by  Mr.  T.  J.  Pinches,  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Biblical 
Archaeology. 

11)  Several  names  were  most  likely  locally  altered  by  folk-etymology. 

12)  On  the  Kuch  or  Kocch,  Vid.  Col.  Edw,  Twite  Dal  ton,  Descriptive  Ethnology  of 


THE  KUSHITBS — WHO  WERE  THET  t  37: 

writing,    apparently    derived    from   the  important  of  all   the  primitive  races  of 

same  source  as  that  of  Egypt,  which  pro-  which  we  possess  any  souvenir ,    a  people 

gressed   there  and   superseded   probably  extending  from  the  Ganges  to  the  Nile 

another  and  more  rude  system.     Thence  and  from  Greece   to   the    Indian  Ocean, 

they  ascended  the  two  great  rivers — the  Its  power,  although  considerably  dimin- 

Tigris,  which  way  led  them  to  the  founda-  ished  in  after-times  through  the  rise  of  the 

tion  of  Nineveh,  or  at  least  to  that  of  a  Greek   empire,    spread   as    far    as    that 

settlement  there  ;  whence  the  early  tradi-  country.   We  are  indebted  to  Greek  poets 

tions  about  Nimrod  the  Kushite  and  the  for  the  creation  of  Memnon,i*  the  founder 

afterwards  always-wanted   predominance  of  Susa,  ^  ^  the  ally  of  Priam  ;  and  these 

of   Nineveh.     Those   who   ascended   the  Ell  iopians  the  most  remote,  and  at  the 

Euphrates  carried  their  rude  art  of  writ-  same   time   the  wisest  of   nations,   were 

ing— half  phonetic,  half  pictorial — to  the  sungby  old  Homer  and ^^  immortalized  by 

north  of  Palestine,  where  it  became  the  him. 

Hittite   writing,   and   from   where    they  9.  The  direct  descendants  of  this  race 

advanced  in  Mediterrant^a  along  the  shores  do  not  seem  to  be  represented  nowadays 

of  Asia  Minor,  founding  those  establish-  in  any  state  of  pu'-ity  of  type,  unless  the 

ments,  colonies  and  trade  which  came  by  continuous  influence  of  climate  has  effected 

inheritance   to   the   Carians   and   to  the  strong  alterations  in  helping  the  return 

Phoenicians.^^  back  of  their  physiological  features^ ^  to 

8.  Hence  the  origin  of  Kush,  the  most  one  of  their  component  ethnical  character- 

^^>2^^/ ^ Calcutta,  1872,  4to,  py.  89- -94.  M.  Brian  H.  Hodgson,  Essay  on  the  Kocch^ 
Bodd,  and  Dhimal  Tribes,  Calcutta,  1847,  has  published  a  lengthy  description  of  ihem, 
as  well  as  a  grammar  and  vocabulary,  which  turn  to  be  corrupted  Bengali,  />.,  Bengali 
covering  a  substratum  of  their  earlier  language. 

13)  There  are  strong  reasons  to  believe  that  the  Babylonian  and  Egyptian  writing 
have  sprung  from  a  former  system.  They  have  many  symbols  in  common,  with  similar 
phonetic  values,  which  are  not  loan  signs.  A  list  of  such  signs  was  begun  by  Prof. 
Hommel  and  by  myself  independently,  and  requires  only  to  be  extended  for  being 
published.  Prof.  Hommel  thinks  that  the  Egyptian  writing  was  derived  from  that  of 
Babylon,  and  says  that  he  can  put  forward  some  facts  in  support  of  this  view.  For  my 
part,  I  find  that  there  are  cogent  reasons  to  believe  that  both  writings  have  come  from 
an  older  system,  which  has  also  produced  the  Hittite  hieroglyphics,  and  the  pictorial 
figures  and  symbols  which  were  preserved  on  the  blackstone  of  Susa,  the  bornstones 
cf  Babylonia,  and  also  preserved  in  some  later  symbols,  may  be  the  relics  ot  the  older 
system  in  that  region.     Cf.  my  Beginnings  of  Writing  §§  5,  n.  5,  and  7. 

14)  Hesiod.  Theogon.  984 ;  Pindar.    Nem.  iii.  62,  64  ;  ^schyl.  in  Strabo,  xv.  3,  §  2. 

15)  Herodot.  v.  54 ;  Diod.  Sicul.  ii.  22,  §  3. 

16)  Odyss.  i.  23,  24.  G.  Rawlinson,  Herodotus,  3rd  edit.,  vol.  iii.  p.  212;  iv.  p.  213  > 
i.  p.  675.     G.  Maspero,  Bisuire  Andenne,  p.  146. 

17)  Ther(;  was  certainly  some  exaggeration  in  this  idea  of  the  ancients,  that  the 
Ethiopians  of  Asia,  and  those  of  Africa,  were  a  single  and  homogeneous  race.  Strabo, 
better  informed  of  some  local  distinctions,  could  already  characterize  this  generalizing 
view  as  "  the  ancient  opinion  concerning  the  Ethiopians,"  and  Ptolemy,  like  Here- 
dotus,  could  go  further  in  his  distinctions.  But  it  is  not  impossible,  though  unlikely, 
that  the  earlier  opinion  may  be  right,  and  that  the  differences  of  type  spoken  of  by  the 
later  Greek  authors  may  have  appeared  only  afterwards,  and  broken  the  former  unity. 
Howe^er,  we  may  be  sure  that  tne  qualification  ot  Kushites  has  been  unduly  extended 
to  some  populations  belonging  to  the  Syro- Arabian  stem,  such  as  the  Phoenicians,  who 
had  partly  mixed  with  the  Kushites,  and  to  a  certain  extent  inherited  their  traditions 
and  experience. 


28 


THE    KUSHITES— WHO    WERE   THEY  t 


istics  at  the  expense  of  any  other.^**  This 
is  probably  the  solution  of  the  problem, 
and  it  is  an  open  question  whether  the 
Kusbitcs  have  ever  attain- d  to  any 
uniformi  y  of  type.  The  testimony  of 
antiquity  in  favour  of  such  a  unity  may 
be  un«lerstood  with  the  usual  absencn  of 
scientiHc  strictness  in  ancient  statements, 
as  sufficiently  justified  by  a  few  general 
features  in  common — such  as  a  melanian 
complexion  ani  thickish  h'ps,  trading  pro- 
pensities, (^c.*'  The  name  of  Kushite 
was  apparently  a  by-natne,  used  to  desig- 
nate the  senii-maiitime  pojtulations  which 
were  the  outcome  of  iiiterminglings,  here 
of  ISemitif,  there  of  atx-ther  race,  wiih  the 
mdanian  tribes  on  the  shores  of  the 
Jndian  Ocean,  ;ind  who  rose  to  civilization 
owing  to  the  inciteinei)t  of  the  mixture  of 
blood  and  the  topographical  nature  of 
their  surroundings  leading  them  to  inter- 
course with  other  countries,  ^^ 

10.  Populations  belonging  to  the  mela- 
nian  ethnic  element  which  entered  into 
the  Kushite  formation  and  sonieof  whom 
still  nowadays  pitssess  by  inheritance  some 
linguistic  features,  which,  in  anticipation 
of  my  conclusion,  I  shall  jet  here  char- 
acterize as  Kushite,  have  been  known 
since  historical  times.     They  formed  the 


ethnic  substratum  of  the  historical  Kush- 
ites,''^  and  ap /ear  to  have  always  inhabited 
the  region  of  the  great  marsh^-s  round  the 
Persi;in  Gulf,  where  they  lived  in  a  rather 
savage  state,  and  ov*  r  whom  the  culture 
of  tlie  great  cities  of  the  neighbourhood 
soon  lost  their  influ'^.iice.  Tiie  bas-reliefs 
of  h^asiana  prove  to  us  the  existence  of 
tribes  with  a  strong  melanian  element  in 
t'lem,'*'^  though  not  negro,  and  nssemhling 
the  present  iidiabitants  of  the  coast  of  the 
Red  Sea,  as  seen  from  an  examination  of 
skeletons  found  last,  year  during  some 
excavations  made  on  the  site  of  the 
palace  of  Atexerxes  Memnon.^'  The 
Assyrian  bas-reliefs  of  Sennacherib  and 
Assutbanipal  exhil'it  the  populations  of 
melanian  features  of  the  marshes  of  the 
Per^an  Gulf  as  coalesceing  with  other 
tribes  of  a  more  or  less  Mongolian  type. 
These  melanian  tribes  appear  to  have 
been  the  ancestors  of  the  trbes  of  the 
present  d  ly,*"*  who  are  closely  allied  as  an 
anthropol 'gical  type,  to  the  Bisharis  of 
the  nai'jrhbourino:  land  of  N.  K.  Africa. 

11.  We  are  thus  led,  from  mere  anthro- 
poh:>gical  evidence,  to  disclose  an  ever- 
lasting connection  between  some  popula- 
tions of  hthiopia  and  others  from  the 
shores  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  in  conformity 


18)  See  below,  §  10. 

19)  On  the  people  inhabiting  the  Lemlun  marshes,  vid.  Observations  sur  quelques 
Fopulati'ins  de  la  Perse,  by  Ch.  Texier.  B.eoue  Orientaleet  Aniericaine,  vol.  xi.  pp.  285 — 
292.  I'he  frizzly  head-dress  of  the  statues  discovered  at  ral-L)h  cannot  have  been  sug- 
gested by  anything  short  of  fr.zzly  hair,  which  therefore  were,  or  had  been  natural  to 
that  population. 

20)  The  late  Frangois  Lenormant  held  a  similar  view.  Of.  his  Chaldean  Magic, 
p.  347. 

21)  Ibid.,  p.  346. 

22)  G.  Rawlinson,  The  Five  Great  Monarchies,  2nd  edit.,  vol.  ii.,p.  500,  had  been  too 
far  in  his  opinion  that  they  belonged  to  an  almost  pure  negroid  type,  as  this  is  not 
countenanced  either  by  the  bas-reliefs  of  Koyundjik  or  the  later  discoveries.  Some 
Elamite  trib  s  from  the  pdace  of  Assurbanipal  at  Koyuufljik  are  reproduced  in 
Lenormant,  Histuiie  Ancienne  de  VOrient,  9th  edit.,  vol,  i.,  p.  280. 

23)  In  1885,  the  excavations  of  Mr.  Dieulafoy  in  Susiana  were  direct'^d  on  the 
palace  of  Artaxerxes  Memn<.n.  In  the  midst  of  the  foundations  was  found  a  frieze  in 
bas-relief  representing  twelve  soldiers.  .  .  .  Their  faces^  feet  and  hands  are  black. 
From  an  examination  of  skeletons  found  on  the  site,  it  would  appear  that  the  early 
population  of  Susiana  must  have  belonged  to  a  black  race,  not  negroid,  but  resembling 
the  present  inhabitants  of  the  coast  of  the  Red  Sea.— T^e  Academy,  July  24,  1886. 

24)  "  Of  whom  We  have  heard  a  good  deal  from  the  French  traveller  Texier.  .  .  ." 
Of.  F.  Lenormant,  Chaldean  Magic,,  p.  346. 


THE    KUSHltES — WHO    WERE  THET  t  59 

with  the  fabulous  traditions  of  former  able  ability  for  writing,  have  spread  its 
ages.'"  The  connection  can  still  be  traced  use,  and  extensively  multiplied  its  varie- 
eastwards  to  the  Indian  continent,  through  ties  in  Indonesia,  where  more  writings  are 
the  Bra>)ui  of  Beluchistan  (who  belong  found  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world 
someT^hat  to  the  same  type),  '^near  the  — who  have  carried  their  own  writing  so 
mouths  of  the  Indus,  and  speak  a  Dravi-  far  that  it  afterwards  extended  eastwards 
dian  language  now  Aryanized,  though  to  to  the  extreme  East,  so  that  we  find  it 
a  less  extent  than  its  congeners  of  nowadays,  forgotten  and  in  a  disguised 
Southern  India.  The  physical  types  of  form,  on  the  drift-wood  inscriptions  of 
the  populations  speakiig  the,  latter  idioms  Easter  Island.*' — the  Klings  have  con- 
are  by  no  means  object,] enable  to  the  kin-  tinued,  in  the  east  of  India,  'he habits  and 
ship  here  suggested.  merchant  traditions  of  the  Kushites,  their 

In  this  manner  the  mythological  connec-  probable  ancestors,  who  once  ruled  over 

tion  of  antiquity  from  Abyssinia  to  India  the    shores    of    the    Arabian    Sea    from 

would     be    recovered.      But  we    can   go  Ethiopia  to  India.'^ 
further. 

12  The  enterprising  seafarers  and  "r*  ^he  LINGUISTIC  EVIDENCE, 
traders,  the  Klings  or  Kalingas,  of  the  13.  A  certain  number  of  languages,  in- 
same  race  in  S.E.  India,  who  carried  away  eluding  some  Semitic  ones,  some  languages 
with  them  the  Indi-in  civi.ization  all  over  to  the  east  of  the  Persian  Gulf  and  some 
the  south  of  the  Far  Eust,  through  the  in  and  around  Ethinpiaj  besides  some 
Indian  Ocean  to  IndoChina,  Australasia,  more  non-Aryan  langu  ges  of  India, 
and  the  China  Sea,  who  have  left  traces  although  obviously  belonging  to  different 
of  their  nan»e  and  influence  everywhere  in  linguistic  formations,  have  each  one  of 
these  regions — who  have  shown  a  remark-  them  come  to  present  some  similar  kind 

25)  It  is  still  an  open  question,  which  may  very  likely  receive  an  affirmative  answer 
to  know  if  some  of  tlie  languages  of  India,  belonging  to  the  Himalaic  division  of  the 
Scytian  stock,  must  not  extend  their  affinities  so  as  to  include  in  their  group  some  of 
the  A^riciii  language's  mentioned  above.  The  name  Scythi'in  is  more  appropriate  than 
the  objectionable  and  meaningless  word  "Juranvin  ;  it  has  already  been  employed  by 
several  scholars,  and  offers  a  sufficiently  approximate  meaning  for  the  purpose 
required. 

26;  Tr  ices  of  a  Melanian  type  can  still  be  detected  among  the  Brahuis  of  Beluchistan, 
and  also  in  a  tnbe  of  the  coast  of  Oman,  the  Gabas.  Moreover,  on  the  coast  of 
Mozambique,  negrvjes  are  met  with  which  remind  of  the  Oceanian  negroes ;  some  of 
them  have  the  same  characti-ristics  of  hair  as  the  Papuans.  A  great  resemblance  has 
been  pointed  out  beiween  the  Australians  and  the  P>«kalaharis,  who  btlong  apparently 
to  the  same  race  as  the  Bethuanas,  their  neighbours.  Alfr.  Maury,  La  lerre  d 
rBomme,  p.  447. 

27)  Cf.  my  Beginnings  of  Writing,  §§  41—43  and  223. 

28)  The  pipers  of  D'Eckstein  quoted  above  will  be  advantageously  coupled  with  the 
following  Concerning  the  southern  trade  in  ancient  times  and  its  exten-ion  eastwards  : 
The  Islands  of  Bahrein,  by  S  r  Henry  Kawlinson  {Journ.  R<y.  As.  Soc,  1880,  vol.  xii., 
pp.  201 — 22'7). — Emporia,  chiefly  Paris  of  Arab  and  Indian  Interna iii,nal  Commerce  be- 
fore the  Christian  Era,  by  E.  b'ehatsek,  1881  {J.  Bombay  B.  R.  A.  S.,  vol.  xv.  pp.  109 
— 140,  and  map).— iVo^^s  on  the  oldest  Becords  (f  the  Sea  Bouie  fo  China  from  Wf'stera. 
Ad  ,  by  Col.  H.  Yule,  1882  {Proceed.  B.  G.  S.,  ^^ovember,  1882).— T.  Braddell,  Ue 
Anient  Trade  of  the  hidiui  Archipelago,  1S57  {Journ.  Ind.  Archi/>.,  ^^S.  ii.,  pp.  237 — 
277).  Cf.  also  my  notes  on  :  Babylcnian  and  Old  Chinese  Measures  {The  Acadtmy,  Oct. 
10,  1885) ;  Babylonia  and  China  (ibid.,  Aug.  7,  1886). — Material  proofs  of  the  early 
existence  of  this  trade  are  now  coming  forward.  During  his  trip  in  Egypt  in  1883, 
Prof.  A.  H.  Sayce  has  obtained  a  mother-of-pearl  siiell  of  the  Ceylonese  kind  ♦  ngraved 
with  the  cartouche  of  vsurtasen  (Xllbh  dynasty,  circa  3000  B.C.). 


30 


'THE    KUSHITES — WHO    WERE  THEY? 


of  Ideology,  especially  with  regard  to  the 
position  of  the  Subject,  Object,  and  Verb 
(Id.  Ind.  v.),  and  disjdiiy  more  or  less 
completely  ihe  Idenlogial  Indices  (or 
gen,  X  noun  ;  subj  x  noun;  object  x  verb ; 
subj.  X  verb ;  subj.  x  obj.  x  vrrb)  1,3,5, 3, 
which  as  an  important  substratum  underly 
the  wliole  rfgi<»n  from  Afiica  to  India, 
passing  through  ancient  Armenia  and  the 
mod«Mn  CancMsus.  If  Ideology  an<l  Com- 
parative I  hilology  mean  anything,  this 
roust  have  a  b;oader  import  ihan  would 
appear  to  anj- one  unaware  of  the  relations 
existing  between  history  and  language. 
This  characteristic,  conim  n  to  all  these 
languag.s,  is  not  that  ot  the  '-arly  Syro- 
African  stock  (or  so-called  Semitic  and 
sub-S.-mitic  or  Hamitic  langnages).  We 
are  assured  that  the  bleologv  of  this 
special  formation  was  2,  4,  6,  7,  IV  (or 
noun  X  gen  ;  noun  x  adj.;  veib  x  obj  ; 
verb  X  subj.  ;  verb  x  subj.  x  obj.),  which 
was  that  of  the  Hieiogl}  pliical  Kg>pian, 
and  is  still  that  of  the  Berber  formation 
— still  that  of  the  Arabian  and  Ht-bie  v, 
and  we  also  find  it  among  the  Nubian 
group  of  idioms  in  Eastern  Africa.  There- 
fore the  ?imilarily  of  divergences  observ- 
able in  some  of  the  Semitic  languages,  in 
Sumerian,  Susian,  Amar^iian,  and  Medic 
are  most  significant. 

14.  And  now  for  an  examination  of 
those  indirect  langimg'  s  of  Africa  to  which 
we  have  just  alluded.  It  is  very  lemark- 
able  that  they  should  stand  in  the  Dark 
Continent  between  the  language?  of  the 
Shem"-Hamitic  formation  and  those  of 
similar  Ideology  (limited  to  its  br<»ad  lines) 
which  belong  more  or  less  directly  to  the 
great  Ba-ntu  family  in  the  south  of  the 
continent.  Notv/ithstand  ng  the  substitu- 
tion of  races  and  the  intermingling  of 
blood  which  has  taken  place  since  their 
introduction  in  the  Dark  Continent,  these 
inversive  languages  are  gene-rally  spoken 
by  n  on -Negro  races.  Bishari,  Dan  kali, 
Somali,  Galla,  Agao,  Chaho,  Billin,  Kuna- 
ma,  all  belong  to  this  inversive  formation, 
and    their  former    arrangement    as    an 


Ethiopian  branch  of  the  Hamitic  languages 
must,  in  our  opinion,  give  way  to  some 
other  classification.  They  have  extended 
their  influence  westward -i,  and  the  Man- 
dingo,  Susu,  Vei,  and  otheis  bear  testi- 
mony by  their  indirect  Ideology,  isolated 
in  the  west,  to  the  influence  here  spoken 
of.  Bdtvveen  these  and  the  above-men- 
tioned languages,  lor  which  the  denomi- 
nation of  Ethiopian  is  sufficient,  we  mt-et 
with  tliH  B  )rnu  group,  which  is  a  witness 
to  a  similar  bearing  from  a  lengthy  period. 

15.  Most  important  similarities  in  Mor- 
phology and  words,  n3t  to  speak  of 
Ideology  (as  the  latter  had  not  as  jiet 
attracted  the  attention  ot  scholars),  were 
pointed  out  as  an  inexplicable  phenomenon 
between  tliose  inversive  languages  of 
Africi  and  the  Caucasian,  Dravidian,  and 
Kolarian  groups  in  particular,  and  the 
S  :ytliian  stock  at  large.^'  The  affinities 
shown,  however,  in  the  Ko'arian  and 
Dravidian  languages  seem  only  to  be  sur- 
vivals of  an  older  formati  .n,  extending  to 
India,  of  which  remnants  may  be  found 
in  a  few  idioms  still  exi-^ting  in  some  out- 
(»f  the-way  corner-,  the  latter  being  par- 
ticulatized  by  a  similar  Ideology,  and  a 
large  stock  of  common  words. 

16.  The  most  lemarkable  of  all  these 
connections  is  the  relationship  between 
Daghestan,  N.  Caucasian,  and  Alarodian 
or  S.  Caucasian  languages,  and  the  pre- 
ceding. Large  and  numerous  :  ffinities 
have  been  disclosed  between  their  grammar 
and  glossary  with  those  of  several  lan- 
iiUiges  of  the  Kuenlunic  divisi  ms  in  par- 
ticular, and  the  Scythian  stock  in  general, 
and  also  of  the  indirect  languages  of 
Af  ica.  These  remarks  of  formtr  philo- 
logists are  now  confirmed  and  completed 
by  recent  research,  co  necting  them  with 
several  wedgn-written  languages  now 
extinct.  The  Melanian  ethnic  substratum 
in  the  Caucasus,  spoken  of  by  Greek 
authors,  has  disappeared  under  several 
strata  of  other  races  whrse  languages  have 
mixed  with  the  older  one. 

17.   In  the  broad  lines  sketched  here  we 


29)  By  a  great  philologist  of  Singapore,  the  late  J.  Logan,  in  his  valuable  papers  on 
The  Ethnology  of  the  Indo-Pacific  Islavds,  published  in  the  Journal  of  the  Iridian  Archi- 
pelago^ vol.  ix  (Singapore,  lfc55,  and  suppl.  Penang,  1856). 


RKVIKWS. 


tl 


are  compelled  to  neglect  the  divergencies 
presented  by  these  languages  in  their 
MorplioloLry,  and  imposed  upon  thjna 
through  the  necessity  of  striving  after 
intelligibility. 

18.  It  would  appear  from  all  that  we 
have  seen  hitherto  that  thus  far  we  have 
unwillingly  been  led  to  trace  out  an  old, 
and  now  extinct,  formation,  which  once 
covered  the  sea-shore  from  Vbyssinia  t  > 
India,  and  inland  fr^m  the  Pe'sian  Gulf 
to  the  Mt^diterranean.  This  f'nnati)n 
cann/^t  be  other  than  that  of  th?,  mythical 
Kusliites  so  much  spoken  of,  but  hitherto 
unrecovered.  It  is  perft^cly  clear  from 
other  grounds  that  the  exclusively  Semitic 
character  attribute.!  to  the  Kushite  race 
arose  from  misconception  ;md  we  have  no 
doubt  that  this  misconception  his  pre- 
vented ethnol  "gists  from  clearly  conceiv- 
ing what  wa-,  in  language  and  otherwise, 
the  great  race  which  at  the  dawn  of  liis- 
toiy  has  played  so  important  a  jiart  in  the 


spreading  of  civilisation. 

IV,    CONCLUSION. 

19.  The  biblical  evidence,  the  triditions 
of  liistory,  as  well  as  the  lin  uisti;  re- 
mains and  suggestions,  all  agree  in  testi- 
fying to  the  pa-t  existenc ;  ot  tiie  Kushitie 
race  m  the  above-nam  d  regions. 

20.  S  lould  the  views  here  presented 
be  definitely  proved,  they  wou'd  simplify 
muiy  difficulties  of  a»»  ient  history.  The 
cross  evolur ion  of  the  Se\iiitic  hin.uaLces, 
that  of  t  e  S  itnero-Akkakian,  the  civilis;  .- 
tion  of  Balylniia  by  the  Persian  Gulf, 
the  many  myths  an.l  fables  preserved  by 
ancient  authors  whiih  connect  aU  the-e 
re  ions  from  Africa  to  India,  would  be  so 
many  traces  in  ancient  hi.-story  of  the 
first  ^^fforts  of  an  iinpnt<int  primitive 
race  (the  effects  of  which  are  now  fust 
disappearing)  towards  civiliz.ition. 

T.  DE  Lacoupeiue, 
I5th  Nov.,  1S86. 


REVIEWS, 
Hebraica  :  A  Quarterly  Journal  in  the  in- 
terests of  Hebrew  study.  October,  1886. 
The  Amer.  Pub.  Soc.  of  Heb.  Chicago. 
In  this  number  special  attention  is  devoted 
to  the  subject  of  Assyriology,  for  Mr  T,  G. 
Pinches  cimtr^butes  a  very  interesting  article 
on  the  subject  of  the  laws  of  inheritance  in 
ancient  Babylonia.  The  tablet  which  forms 
the  subject  of  this  article  forms  part  of  the 
collection  obtained  by  the  Wolfe  expedition, 
under  Dr  Hayes  Ward.  A  portion  of  the 
tablet  was,  however,  purchased  in  1885  by 
t'ae  Trustees  of  the  British  Museum.  It  re- 
lates to  the  application  of  Bel-kasir  son  of 
Nadinu  to  be  allowed  to  adopt  his  step-son 
Bel-ukin,  and  make  him  his  heir.  This 
application  his  father  refuses,  as  he  wishes  the 
property,  in  default  of  issue,  to  go  to  his  second 
son. 

The  tablet  is  dated  on  the  15th  day  of  the 
month  Sebar,  in  the  ninth  year  of  Nabonidus 
king  of  Babylon,  B.C. 546. 

In  a  translation,  with  an  accompanying 
plate,  Mr  Pinches  shews,  by  long  and  careful 
study,  he  has  mastered  the  difficulties  of  this 
clars  of  tablet  in  which  technical  ideography 
and  signs  often  form  the  most  important  sec- 
tion. The  translation  has  the  merit  of  read- 
ing smoothly,  and  being  correct  in  its  legal 
phraseology.  W.  St  C.  B. 


Db  InscriptIonibus  CaxEATis  qu?e  p3r- 
tinent  ad  Sam  .s  s  im-ukin,  Regis  Babylo- 
niie,  &c.  By  C.  F.  Lehmann.  Mun  cb. 
This  small  but  carefully  compiled  mono- 
graph, which  formed  tiie  thesis  presented  by 
Dr  Lehmann  to  the  University  of  Berlin,  is 
the  forerunner  of  a  larger  and  m  tre  important 
work  which  will  contain  all  the  inscriptions  of 
the  royal  brothers,  Samas-sum-ukin  and 
Assur-bani-abla.  The  two  inscriptions  which 
form  the  subject  of  this  memoir  are  both  in 
the  British  Museum,  having  been  obtained  by 
MrRassam  dur'ng  his  explorations  in  the  east. 
The  bihngual  c}  I  uder  of  Samas-sum-ukin, 
now  translated  for  the  first  time,  is  a  document 
of  great  interest,  as  it  affords  another  proof 
of  the  well  known  desire  of  the  kings  of  the 
Sargonide  dynasty  to  associate  themselves  in 
every  possible  way  with  the  ancient  traditions 
of  the  mother  empire.  Sargon  in  his  Cyprus 
monohth,  Esarhaddon  in  the  inscription  on 
the  black  stone  formerly  in  the  possessicm  of 
Lord  Aberdeen,  each  adopt  the  most  archaic 
formsof  Babylonian  writing;  but  in  this  cyl- 
inder Sam;.s-s  im-ukin  not  only  adopts  a  very 
archaic  script,  but  writes  his  royal  record  in 
Akkadian  and  Semitic-Babylonian,  in  imitat- 
ion of  the  inscriptions  of  Khammurabi,  and 
the  earliest  rulers  of  Chaldea.  This  aifectation 
of  Babylonianism  is  carried  to  excess  as,  e.  g.. 


^$ 


NOTI^ift,    NEWS    AND   QUERIES. 


the  use  of  enut  for  the  asual  bilut,  "  lordship" 
The  msation  of  thegDddess  Erua  is  of  int- 
erest, a3,  it  will  b3  remembarei  that,  under 
other  names,  she  forms  an  important  person- 
age in  Clialdean  mythology.  In  the  s'xth 
line  we  find  the  city  of  Assur  mentioned  under 
its  ancient  name  of  Balki-ki,  and  we  also  have 
an  explanation  of  the  ancient  name  Din-tir- 
Ki  applied  to  Babylon.  Hera  the  Akkidian 
portion  reals  :  kir.  bal.  be.  ki.  dint-tir- 
ki-ta;  which  the  Assyrian  version  rendars 
u^t'i  klrib  Bal-ki(a33ar)  ani.  siu-iat  dx-Ia-tn; 
*From  within  (the  city  of)  Assur  to  the  seat 

NOTES,  NEWS 

It  is  rather  needful  to  note  that,  in  the 
transcription  of  Babylonian  words,  the 
letter  m  is  often  to  ba  pronounced  as  w. 
The  uniform  transcription  as  m^  however, 
has  baen  adopted  by  many  Assyriologists 
tn  consequence  of  the  difficulty  of  deter- 
mining in  all  cases  which  transcription  was 
the  more  correct.  Thus  the  name  of 
Darius  is  not  to  be  pronounbed  Daiiamus 
(as  it  is  often  written),  but  Dariawus. 
Similarly  us'im-gallu  '-the  great  one"  (a 
word  which  has  been  probably  somewhat 
Assyrianized  in  form)  ought  most  likely  to  be 
pronounced  usuw  {z:--usu)-galla;  and  the  con- 
tracted form  un  '-lord"  shows  tin'  umun  (cf. 
p.  9)  would  b .  better  transcribed  as  uwun. 
That  Samas  (the  name  of  the  Sungod),  and 
the  word  amelu  "man,"  were  pronounced  as 
Sawas  and  amelu,  is  implied  by  the  names 
Saosducliinos  and  Evil-Merodach,  and  has 
lately  received  new  confirmation  from  the 
Aramaic  dockets  found  on  Babylonian  contract 
tablets,  which  give  Sawas  and  awelut — the 
former  as  the  name  of  the  Sungod,  and 
the  latter  as  the  abstract  noun  from  amelu. 
One  of  the  most  interest'ng  examples,  however, 
of  the  interchange  between  m  and  w,  is  pre- 
served in  the  name  of  the  month  Marcheswan, 
the  Babylonian  form  of  which  is  arah-samna, 
"the  eighth  month"  "October,"  in  which  w 
has  been  restored  as  m  at  the  beginning  of  this 
compound,  whilst  the  m  in  samna  is  repre- 
sented by  w  in  the  transcription.  An  an- 
alogous change  takes  place  in  German,  the 
word  wir  (for  example)  becoming  m/r  in  some 
districts.  T.G.P. 

»  *  ♦ 

ANZAN.   Prof.  A.  H,  Sayce  has  written 
in  the  Museon  (vol.  v.  pp-  501—505),  an  in- 
teresting notice,  from  which  the  conclusions 
are  the  following  : 
♦*  1)  Anzan  or  Ansan  was  the  name  of  a  town 


of  life." 

The  second  inscription  referred  to  here 
is  one  engraved  upon  a  small  stela,  by  or  der 
of  Assur-bani-abla.  It  records  the  app  oint- 
ment of  his  own  brother  Ahct-talim  Samas-sum 
ukin  to  the  throne  of  Babylon.  This  text 
presents  butfewditiiiulties,  but  is  an  excellent 
speciman  of  the  dedicatory  inscription  of  the 
bast  period  of  Assyrian  literature.  The  care- 
ful way  in  which  Dr  Lehmann  has  prepared 
this  brochure  leads  us  to  anxiously  await  the 
largar  work  he  has  in  preparation. 

W.  St  C.  B. 

AND  QUERIE:s 

which  later  on  gave  its  name  to  the  district 
which  3)  corresptmds  to  Susiana,  Akkadian 
Niimma,  Assyrian  Elam,  in  the  Hmited  sense 
of  the  geographical  names.  Numraa  or  Elam 
comprehended  the  whole  of  the  mountainous 
region  east  of  Babylonia,  but  use  restricted  it 
to  the  country  ruled  by  the  kings  of  Susiana. 
And  it  is  not  impossible  that  Anzan  was  the 
old  capital  city  ousteq  afterwards  by  Susum  or 
Susa." 

Among  recent  publications  is  Essai  (Tin- 
terpretation  As^i/vo-Chaldeenne  by  G.  Massa- 
roli  (in  Le  Museon,  Nrv„  1886,  vol.  v,  pp. 
610-620.)  It  is  a  new  Latin  version  of  the 
description  of  Bit-zida,  from  the  great  in- 
scription of  Nabuchodonosor  (Borsippa). 

Two  very  interesting  courses  are  now  being 
delivered  at  the  British  Museum  by  Mr  G. 
Bortin  and  Mr  W.  St.  C.  Boscawen.  The 
former  treats  of  the  languages  of  the  Cunei- 
form Inscriptions,  and  the  course  is  free;  and 
the  latter  of  the  Ancient  Civilizations  of  the 
East.  Both  series  have  been  very  well  attend- 
ed. Mr  Bertin's  lectures  are  on  Thursdays  and 
Mr  Boscawen's  on  Wednesdays,  both  at  half 

past  2. 

#  ♦  * 

The  forgery  of  Babylonian  clay  tablets, 
which  was  carried  on  a  few  years  ago  to  a 
large  extent  by  certain  enterprising  dealers  in 
Baghdad,  has  now  almost  entirely  ceased ;  but 
f(jrged  cylinders  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  of  the 
two  column  barrel  form,  are  still  offered  for 
sale.  Forged  tablets  may  be  detected  by  the 
frequent  repetition  of  the  same  tablet,  also  by 
traces  of  the  joining  of  the  portions  in  the 
mould,  and  by  a  lack  of  sharpness  in  the 
characters.  Any  one  accustomed  to  examine 
these  tablets  would  also  at  once  detect  a  forgery 
by  the  "feel"  of  the  tablet  which  is  greasy  and 
soft,  quite  different  from  that  of  a  genuine 
inscription.  W.  St.  C.  B. 


i^rinted  for  the  Proprietor  at  51,  Knowles  Road,  Brixton,  S.W.,  and  published  by  him  there  j  and  hf 
D.  NuTT,  British  and  Foreign  Bookseller,  2JO,  Strand.  W.C, 


THE 


BABYLONIAN  AND  ORIENTAL  RECORD. 

The  Editorial  Committee  is  not  responsible  for  the  opinions  or  statements  of  the  ContribiUora, 


BABYLONIAN  ASTRONOMY  IN  THE  WEST— 
THE  ARIES   OF  ARATOS. 


The  researches  of  the  last  few  years  have 
brought  to  light  a  large  quantity  of  highly 
interesting  and  important  evidence,  historical 
and  archseological,  from  which  it  appears  be- 
yond doubt  that  the  now  famihar  Twelve 
Signs  of  the  Zodiac,  together  with  others  of 
the  48  ancient  Constellation  figures,  were 
well  known  in  the  Euphrates  Valley  at  an 
archaic  period^;  and  were  thence  brought 
westward,  chiefly  by  land  through  Asia  Minor, 
into  Greece,  to  be  subsequently  for  ever  ster- 
eotyped in  the  Phainomena^  the  famous  astro- 
nomical poem  of  the  unscientific  Aratos,  B.C. 
270,  and  which  was  itself  a  versification  of 
the  Phainomena  of  the  astronomer  Eudoxos, 
B.C.  403-350.  The  poem  of  Aratos,  which 
was  early  illustrated  by  representations  of  the 
constellation-figures,  became  deservedly  pop- 
ular ;  numberless  commentators,  at  the  head 
of  whom  stands  the  great  astronomer  Hip- 
parchos,  in  the  second  century  B.C.,  have  ex- 
ercised their  learning  and  ingenuity  upon  it  ; 
the  elegant  Latin  verse  translations  by  Cicero 
and  Germanicus  are  familiar  ;  and  a  third 
rendering  in  Latin  verse  by  Rufus  Festus 
Avienus,  cir.  A.D.  370,  is  both  of  much  merit 
in  itself,  and  also  interesting  from  the  addi- 
tions of  the  learned  author. 

Now  it  could  not  escape  the  trained  intelli  - 
gence  of  Hipparchos,  that  many  of  the  stellar 
observations  recorded  by  Aratos  were  incorrect 
if  applied  to  the  stars  at  the  period  when  the 
poet  wrote;  and  assuming  that  the  poem  was 
meant  to  record  actual  observations  made  cir. 


B.  0.  370-270,  Hipparchos,  in  the  interest  of 
science,  proceeded  to  criticise  and  correct  these 
supposed  errors  in  his  work  Twv  'Aparov  kuI 

I  have  long  been  satisfied  (1)  that  Arat<-)s 
was  no  original  observer,  but,  as  Cicero  calls 
him,  "hominem  ignarum  astrologije"2 ;  (2)that 
he  faithfully  handed  down  ancient  statements, 
which  had  been  handed  down  to  him;  and  (3) 
that  these  statements  had  once  been  correct 
somewhere.  The  cycle  of  the  precession  of 
the  equinoxes  is  25,870  years  ;  and  hence  if 
we  have  an  observation  which  was  once  correct, 
the  when  and  the  where  are  simply  matters 
of  calculation.  Thus,  at  onetime  Vega 
was  the  Pole-star,  called  in  Ak.  Tir-anna, 
("  Life-of-heaven"),  and  in  As.  Dayan-same, 
("  Judge-of-heaven"),  as  having  the  highest 
seat  or  throne  :  at  another  time,  e.  g.,  when 
the  Great  Pyramid  was  built,  a,  Draconis 
was  the  heavenly  Dayan  ;  now  our  Polaris 
is  a,  U7^sce  Min. 

Since  the  historical  and  archa?ological  evi- 
dence pointed  to  Babylonia  as  the  earliest 
known  home  of  the  zodiacal  Signs,  it  seemed 
desirable  to  determine  whether  the  observa- 
tions recorded  by  Aratos  were  correct  at  an 
early  period  in  the  Euphrates  Valley  ;  and 
thus  to  re-test  the  conclusions  of  history  and 
archaeology  on  the  independent  lines  of  as- 
tronomy. I,  therefore,  witli  the  able  assis- 
tance of  Mr  John  T.  Plummer,  of  the  Orwell 
Park  Observatory,  proceeded  to  examine  the 
statements  of  Aratos  respecting  the  constel- 


1)  Vide  Sayce,  Astron.  and  Astrol.  of  the  Babylonians,  (Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  Archaeol.,  vol. 
iii);  R.  B.,  On  the  origin  of  the  Signs  of  the  Zodiac,  {Archoeologia,  xlvii.  Pt.  ii)  ;  The  Law 
of  Kosmic  Order,  1882  ;  Eridanus,  River  and  Constellation,  1883. 

2)  De    Orator e,    i.   16. 

Vol.  I.— No.  3,  [38]  Jan.  1887. 


34 


BABYLONIAN  ASTRONOMY  IN  THE  WEST 


lations  on  the  Equinoctial  ;  and  I  give  here 
the  result  arrived  at  with  reference  to  the 
first  of  them.  Aries,  "  the  Leader  and  Prince 
of  the  Signs."   Tlie  annexed  Star-map  shows 


Aries, 

(Equinox 
2084.) 




^ 

— 

bt 

.-.     ) 

r 

the  position  of  this  constellation  with  regard 
to  the  celestial  Equator  in  B.C.  2084,  a  time 
when  the  Babylonian  constellation-scheme 
had  been  fully  developed.  Says  Aratos  : — 
"  In  midst  of  both,^  vast  as  the  Milky  Way, 
A  circle  trends  'neath  earth,  like   one   in 

twain ; 
And  on  it  twice  are  equal  days  and  nights, 
At  summer's  close  and  when  the  spring 

begins, 
ff^/ta  ^6  ol  Kpio^  Tavpoio  re  f^ovvara  Ketrai^ 
Kpio<i  fieu  Kara  fiTjKo^  eXrjXdfievov  Bia  kvkXov 
Tavpov  Se  aKeXewv  oaffij  TrepKJiuiverai  okXci^. 

As  mark  there  lies  the  Haniy  and  the  Bull's 

knees  ; 
The   Ram  along   the   circle   stretched    at 

length, -* 


But  the 5w//'s crouching  legs^alone  appear." 
(Fhainomena,  511-17.) 

Such  was  the  exact  position  of  Aries, 
as  viewed  from  the  Euphrates  Valley,  for 
many  years  prior  to  B.C.  2000  ;  and,  con- 
versely, the  modern  globe  shows  Aries  con- 
siderably to  th  north  of  the  celestial  equator. 

Turning  to  the  monuments,  we  find  nu- 
merous constellational  representations  of  the 
Mam  or  Ibex,  often  "  stretched  at  length  ;"6 
and  in  the  Tablets  we  meet  with  the  Star-of- 
the-Flocks  and  tt]*-^]  IgJ  <{-,  kakab 
Lu-lim,  the  star  RarrCs-eye,''  possibly  Hamal 
("  Ram"),  a,  Arietis,  and  the  nucleus  of  the 
constellation  ;  for  constellations  sprang  up 
round  particular  stars,  like  counties  round  a 
county  town.  Lenormant  refers  to  W.A.I., 
III.  Hi.  3,  in  support  of  the  statement  "  c'est 
I'etoile  alpha  du  belier,  appele'e  en  accadien 
dil-kar  '  qui  annonce  la  lumiere',  dont  I'ob- 
servation  determinait  astronomiquement  le 
commencement  de  I'annee."**  Stellar  identi- 
fication is  necessarily  very  slow  and  tentative, 
but  astronomy  can  render  important  assis- 
tance in  the  matter  ;  and  the  agreement  be- 
tween the  statements  of  Aratos  and  the  facts 
of  B.  C.  2084,  is  not  confined  to  the  case  of 
Aries,  but  extends  to  the  other  constellations 
then  on  the  celestial  equator .^ 


3)  The   Tropics  of  Cancer  and  Capricorn, 

4)  So   Avienus  : — 

"  Indicium  est  aries,  hunc  totum  linea  quippe 
Sustinet." 

5)  The  crouching  legs  of  the  Euphratean  Taurus  are  well  shown  on  a  boundary-stone, 
(Vide  R.  B.,  Remarks  on  the  Zodiacal  VirgOy  Fig.  xxi.  Reprinted  from  the  Yorkshire 
Archaeological   Journal,    Pt.   xxxvi,    1886). 

6)  Vide  Stone  of  Merodach  Baladan  I.,  where  the  Ram  appears  next  the  Bull ;  Conical 
black  Bab.  Uranographic  Stone  in  Brit.  Mus.,  (Eridanus,  Fig.  iv.  ;)  Cullimore,  Oriental 
Cylinders,  No.  121  :  Human-headed  Ram,  "stretched  at  length,"  near  which,  human  figure 
holding  a  little  Bull  under  the  lunar  crescent,  (Vide  Remarks,  Sees,  ix,  x,  for  illustration 
of  the  connexion  between  the  Moon  and  the  zodiacal  Taurus)  ;  Lajard,  Culte  de  Mithra, 
Iviii,  5  :  Ram  on  circular  uranographic  stone,  "  sceau  d'agate,  apporte  de  Syrie,"  with  Cre- 
scent-moon and  constellational  figs.,  including  Lion,  Hare,  and  Bird ;  Lenormant,  Les 
Origines,   i.    237,   note. 

7)  W,A.  I.  Ill,  liii,  No.  1.  30.  8)  Les  Origines,  i.    263,   note    2. 

9)  I.  e.,  Taurus,  Orion  (known  in  the  Euphrates  Valley  as  "  the  god  Tammuz,'' )  ;  Hy- 
dra, (^the  Great  Serpent,  is  a  familiar  figure  among  Euphratean  constellations ;  vide  Stone 
of  Merodach  Baladan  I.,  Michaux  Stone,  and  Brit.  Mus.  Stone  above  mentioned.     The  In- 


*HB      ARIES       OF     AUAtOS. 


85 


I  have  sliown  elsewhere'o  that  there  is  mucli 
reason  to  identify  the  star  Hamal  with  A- 
loros,  (=As.  AUuv,  Heb.  Ayil,  the  equiva- 
lent of  the  Ak.  Lu-nit,  "  male-sheep"),  the 
first  of  the  10  mythical  antediluvian  Baby- 
lonian kings,  and  that  such  kings  re- 
present 10  principal  stars  in  the  ecliptic. 
The  Ten  are  said  to  have  reigned  120  sars, 
aapoi,  which,  it  is  stated,  =432,000  years. 
This  equation  is  arrived  at  thus  :  Each  Sign 
was  divided  into  10  parts  (=121  x  0=120, 
the  sars),  and  each  part  contained  60',  and 
each  minute  60";  therefore  10  x  60  x  60 
(=.86,000)  =  ,1  of  th9  circle,  and  36,000 
X  12=432,000=the  circle  in  seconds.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  60  was  the  Euph- 
ratean  mathematical  unit. 

Lastly,  it  may  be  asked,  Why  should  a 
particular  star,  and  that  not  one  of  the  first 
magnitude,  be  called  the  Bam?  We  must  not 
appeal  to  the  principles  of  Chance  and  Inven- 
tion; they  are  useless  in  archaic  psychology, 
and  do  but  repeat  the  problem  they  cannot 
explain.  The  human  mind  moves  easily,  on 
the  line  of  least  resistance,  and  ever  with  a 
reason  luminous  to  itself  at  the  time,  although 
necessarily  frequently  unknown  to  posterity. 


We  may  remember  generally  that  it  was  na- 
tural to  the  Euphratean  to  speak  of  the  stars 
as  a  "flock,"  and  of  bright  planets  as  "old  (/. 
e.  protagonistic)  sheep."  But  tliis  will  not 
suffice  to  explain  the  particular  problem.  It 
is  the  Principle  of  Reduplication  which  we 
must  call  to  our  aid.  Long  ere  the  triumphs 
of  primitive  astronomy,  the  Sun  had  l)een  re- 
garded as  a  golden  Ram,  who  opened  the  Day; 
as  the  stellar  Ram,  in  subsequent  thought, 
opened  the  Year.  Archaic  Egypt  knew  of 
the  solar  "Ram,  the  greatest  of  the  creat- 
ures. ""  Archaic  India  knew  Indra  as  "  the 
Ram  irradiating  the  firmament.  ^2  There  is 
no  borrowing  in  the  matter  between  these  an- 
cient nations  ;  the  same  idea  arises  naturally 
and  spontaneously  here  and  there.  No 
Euphratean  tablets  have  as  yet  given  us  a 
whole  circle  of  archaic  ideas  equivalent,  in 
mental  standpoint,  to  the  oldest  portions  of 
the  Book  of  the  Dead  or  of  the  Vedic  Hymns. 
But  this  may  come  ;  and,  meanwhile,  we  see 
in  Babylonia  the  same  human  mind,  at  work 
on  the  same  worlds  external  and  internal,  and 
producing,  as  it  necessarily  must,  similar  re- 
sults. 

RoBT.  Brown,  Jun. 


scriptions  name  the  star  Sir,  "  the  Snake"),  Crater,  Corvus  (vide  R.  B.,  The  Heavenly  Dis- 
play  of  Aratos,  Fig.  Ixvi.  The  Crow),  the  Claws{Ibid.  Fig.  Ixvii.),  the  Snake-holder,  the 
Snake,  the  Eagle,  (perhaps  Idkhu^  "  theEagle"),  and  the  Horse  (vide  The  Heavenly  Display, 
Fig.  Ixv.  The  Winged-horse  was  also  a  Hittite  symbol ;  vide  the  Hittite  seal  in  Lajard, 
Culte  de  Mithra,  xliv.  3,  a).  In  the  case  of  Orion  alone  there  is  a  discrepancy,  which,  how- 
ever, is  easily  accounted  for,  (vide  R.  B.,  The  Heavenly  Display,  82)  ;  in  all  the  other  con- 
stellations the  agreement  between  the  statements  of  Aratos,  and  the  state  of  things  in  B.  C. 
2084  is  absolute.  This  harmony  cannot,  theref(jre,  be  the  result  of  chance  ;  and  it  follows, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  that  Babylonia  had  originally  supplied  the  material  from  which  the 
verses    were   constructed. 

10)  Vide  letter  in  the   Academy,   dated  May  17,  1884  ;    The  Antediluvian  Babylonian 
Kings,  in  the  Journal  of  the  American  Akademe,  Oct.,  1884;  The  Heavenly  Display,  App.  II. 

11)  Litany  of  Ra,   i.   26,    ap.   Naville. 

12)  Rig-Veda,    L    li.    1.    2. 


86 


THE  FOOR-BYED    dogs    OP    tHE    AVESTA. 


THE  FOUR-EYED  DOGS   OF   THE  AVESTA. 


The  ioviy-^xBifargard  of  the  Vlllth  chapter 
of  the  Vendidad'  is  one  of  those  which  have 
most  set  to  work  the  imagination  of  expound- 
ers. It  relates  to  that  part  of  the  road  which 
>vas  once  followed  by  people  who  carried  the 
corpses  of  men  or  of  dogs,  and  to  the  impur- 
ity which  the  passage  of  those  baneful  objects 
communicated  to  those  ways.  "  Through  it," 
says  Ahura-Mazda  to  his  prophet,  "there 
shall  pass  no  more  either  flocks,  or  beasts  of 
burden,  or  man,  or  woman,  or  the  fire  son  of 
Ahura-Mazda,  or  the  baregma  formed  accord- 
ing to  the  ceremonies." 2  Then  the  god  indi- 
cates how  these  routes  may  be  purified  and 
rendered  fit  for  traffic.  "  Only  let  them  first 
cause  to  pass  through  them  three  times  a 
yellow  dog  with  four  eyes,  or  a  white  dog  with 
yellow  ears.  If  they  will  make  him  do  that, 
theNagus^will  fly  towards  the  regions  of  the 
west  under  the  form  of  a  hideous  insect." 

Who  are  these  four-eyed  dogs  ?  Of  what 
kind  is  this  idea?  It  is  this  which  exegetes 
have  explained  in  the  most  various  ways. 

To  solve  this  question  there  was  one  method 
simple  enough,  and  that  was  to  apply  to  it  the 
explanation  of  the  Zoroastrian  interpreters. 
To  them  the  matter  has  no  obscurity.  Tradi- 
tional teaching  informed  them  that  this  passage 
related  to  dogs  which  had  a  very  marked  spot 
above  each  eye,  a  spot  which  had  the  appear- 
ance of  a  second  eye.  The  Pahlavi  gloss  re- 
lative to  the  passage  affirms  this  without 
hesitation,  and  without  leaving  one  to  suppose 
even  the  existence  of  a  different  opinion. 

But  this  explanation  was  remote  from  the 
system  of  the  interpreters  who  believed  that 
one  should  find  in  the  A  vesta  a  continual  echo 


of  the  Vedas.  It  is  in  the  sacred  book 
of  the  Aryo-Hindus  that  they  thought  they 
should  seek  for  the  solution  of  the  problem. 
To  that  first  conviction  became  united  this 
other,  that  every  act  of  religion  should  spring 
from  a  inyth,  and  consequently  that  our  dogs 
of  the  Avesta  owed  their  birth  to  one  or  other 
of  the  mythical  conceptions  originating  in 
the  treasury  of  the  Indo-European  imagina- 
tion. The  four-eyed  dogs  were  thus  the  fathers 
of  the  Greek  Cerberus  with  the  three  heads, 
or  of  the  dogs  of  Pluto,  (Hindu,  Yama,  men- 
tioned in  the  Rig-Veda,  X,14,  10,  &c.),  and 
who  protect  the  dead  on  the  way  to  Hades. 
Those  interpreters  even  stated  that  the  white 
dogs  with  yellow  ears  had  only  been  added 
to  our  text,  to  supply  the  want  of  others 
whom  it  was  naturally  difficult  to  find  in  that 
land.  Indeed  the  neglect  of  the  real  sense 
and  the  true  origin  of  the  mythical  animals 
has  caused  the  invention  of  the  explanation 
of  which  the  Pahlavi  translators  have  only 
given  the  echo. 

I  confess  that  I  have  never  been  able  to 
convince  myself  of  tlie  correctness  of  this  iden- 
tification. I  certainly  give  all  credit  to  the 
perspicacity  of  those  searchers  who  have  dis- 
covered the  points  of  resemblance,  but  I  can- 
not accept  their  views. 

In  arriving  at  this  conclusion,  I  had  first 
the  conviction,  contrary  to  that  of  my  hon- 
oured colleagues — the  conviction  that  every- 
thing is  not  a  myth  in  reUgions,  and  that 
superstition  has  often  a  totally  different 
source.  I  had  also  some  exegetical  reasons 
which  appeared  to  me  preponderating.  In 
the  first  place,  I  believed  that,  among  these 


1)  Book  of  the  Avesta,  treatino;  of  the  rales  of  discipline,  of  impurities,  purifications,  &c. 

2)  A  bundle  of  twigs  which  the  priest  licld  while  reciting  the  prayers. 

8)  The  spirit  in  all  corpses,  which  takes  possession  of  them  and  defiles  them. 


THE    FOUn-EYED    DOGS    OF    TITE    AVESTA. 


87 


various  categories  of  conceptions,  there  were 
essential  differences.      We  have,  on  the  one 
hand,  some  animals  belonging  to  the  infernal 
world  ;  on  the  other  hand,  some  agents  of  the 
sublunary  world,  upon   the   surface  of  the 
earth.     The  one   class  are  engaged  with  the 
dead,  the  others  with  the  evil  spirits  which 
haunt  our  world  and  attack  mortals.     As  to 
what  relates  to  Cerberus,  the  non-resemblance 
is  absolute.     Between  a  dog  with  three  heads, 
which  guards  hell  against  any  escape  from 
it,  and  another  dog  with  four  eyes,  or  a  white 
dog  having  yellow  ears,  which  chases  from 
the  terrestrial  roads  a  monster  entirely  un- 
known to  the   Italo-Hellenic  world,  there  is 
not,    I   think,  any  sort  of  connexion.      The 
dogs  of  Yama  have,  it  is  true,  with  the  ani- 
mals of  the  Avesta,  the  common  feature  of 
four  eyes.      But  that  even  is  only  in  appcar- 
a'nce.     The   eyes  of    the  guardians   of  the 
kingdom  of  Yama  indicate  their  watchfulness. 
Even  that  quality  is  not  peculiar  to  them.  The 
Fire-god  Agni  is  uniformly  termed  Caturaksa 
in  the  Rig- Veda,  I.  ;31.  18;  Varuna,  the  god 
of  the  Empyrean,  is  distinguished  in  like  man- 
ner as  Caturamka,  (having  four  faces.),    R. 
v.,  V.  47.  3.     The  poet  by  this  desires  (mly 
to  give  it  to  be  understood  that  these  super- 
natural personages  see  on  all  sides,  and  that 
nothing  escapes  their  observation.    But  how 
could  this  extraordinary  gift  be  of  use  to  the 
purifying  dogs  of  the  Avesta  ?  And  how  could 
the  Mazdians  introduce  into  their  paths  of 
communication  certain  animals  endowed  with 
this  double  sight?  As  far  as  it  does  not  con- 
cern itself  with  speculati(ms  or  poetical  con- 
ceptions, the  myth  may  take  free  scope,  but 
when  it  meddles  with  practical  operations,  with 
acts  to  be  frequently  performed,  I  do  not  see 
what  place  can  be  found  for  it  then.     What 
religious  legislator  has  ever  introduced  upon 
earth  the   cliimerical  beings  of  mythology  ? 
Moreover,  the  addition  of  the  white  dog  with 
yellow  ears  shows  in  a  plain  manner  that  we 
^re  on  gi'ound  of  the  most  vulgar  reality.  To 


say  tliat  this  creature  replaces  only  the  myth- 
ical dog  is,  in  the  first  place,  to  affirm  what 
cannot  be  proved:  next,  it  is  t/>  suppose  thai 
the  animal  of  the  myth  has  been  used  in  the 
first  instance.  All  these  considerations  have 
always  prevented  me  from  adhesion  to  this 
exegetical  system:  and  I  am  still  constrained 
to  accept,  with  Spiegel,  the  explanations  of 
the  Mazdians. 

Things  were  in  this  position,  when  chanco 
brought  under  my  notice  a  Mandshu  word, 
whose  meaning  and  use  are,  as  it  seems  to 
me,  capable  of  throwing  great  light  upon  this 
question.  The  word  is  durbe^  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  T"  sing-wen -vet -.<h>(h,mdicate^  a  {\oo^ 
with  four  eyes,  a  dog  which  has  two  yellow  or 
white  spots  above  the  eyes.  Any  one  can 
satisfy  himself  on  the  subject  by  consulting 
the  dictionary  of  Amiot  8.  h.  v&rboy  II.  p. 
824.  The  Mirror  of  the  Mandshu  tongue. 
{  Manju  gisun-i  hulcku-bitlie),  explains  flvrhe 
in  the  same  way  as  to  the  spots. 

No  one,  doubtless,  can  assert  that  the 
Mandshus  have  borrowed  this  idea  from  the 
old  Indian  myth.  This  would  bo  nmch  less 
admissible  on  the  ground  that  this  myth  was  not 
spread  abroad,  nor  even  in  India.  It  is  quoted 
only  once  in  the  most  recent  book  of  the  Rig- 
Veda.  And  the  great  Dictionary  of  St  Peters- 
burg mentions  only  three  other  ca  ses,  in  which 
it  is  spoken  of  in  the  post-Vedic  hterature. 
In  the  borrowings  which  the  Tartars  made 
later  from  Buddhist  India,  they  have  always 
preserved  the  Sanscrit  words  by  deforming 
them  only  according  to  the  exigencies  of  their 
phonesis.  Indeed  the  Vedic  myth  does  not 
appear  anywhere  among  the  Tartar  supersti- 
tions which  contain  no  tradition  of  this  kind.  • 

It  is,  then,  quite  permissible  to  say  that 
the  dogs  of  the  Avesta  have  a  Tartar-Turanian 
origin.  It  is  among  the  people  of  the  Amur 
exclusively  that  they  have  an  equivalent. 
Thus  still  more  is  the  Avestic  conception 
thoroughly  explained,  and  it  is  only  explic- 
able by  the  Tartar  idea. 


THE  FOUR-EYED  DOGS  OP  THE  AVB8TA, 


The  notion  of  the  Nagus  or  spirit  haunting 
the  corpses,  is  essentially  Tartar,  and  is  veiy 
nearly  the  same  thing  as  the  Mandshu  buceli^ 
spirit  of  the  corpses,  whose  name  also  is  de- 
rived from  a  root  which  signifies  "to  die," 
buce.  This  kind  of  spirits  is  of  a  nature 
essentially  proper  to  Tartar  demonology;  and 
this  method  of  chasing  them,  by  a  supernatural 
power,  from  a  man  or  a  dog,  springs  from  a 
class  of  ideas  belonging  to  Western  Tartary. 
There  are  some  analogous  practices  referred 
to  in  the  paper  on  the  Tartar  religion  which 
I  am  at  present  preparing. 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  asked  if  th3  origin  of 
the  Avestic  ideas  may  be  sought  for  in  the 
countries  of  Central  or  Western  Asia.  The 
reply  to  this  question  cannot  be  doubtful. 
There  were  in  the  Avesta — in  the  Avestic 
religion — many  beliefs  and  practices  which 
did  not  belong  to  the  Aryan  race,  and  which 
could  not  be  borrowed  except  from  among 
peoples  called  Turanian,  Tartar,  or  by  some 
other  similar  name.  There  are  three  of  them 
whose  origin  cannot  be  doubtful. 

1.  The  custom  of  exposing  the  corpses  in 
the  open  air,  on  skins,  mats,  trees,  or  rocks, 
to  save  them  from  the  teeth  of  the  wolf,  or 
the  talons  of  the  vulture. 


2.  The  religious  respect  which  surrounded 
the  canine  race,  and  which  wem,  amongst  the 
Lamas,  so  far  as  to  consider  a  re-birth  in 
the  body  of  a  dog  as  noble  as  to  be  bom  in 
human  form  again. 

3.  The  worship  of  Fire.  The  Mongols, 
among  other  peoples,did  not  dare  to  extinguish 
it  by  a  breath,  nor  to  sputter  it  inwards,  nor 
to  contaminate  it  in  any  way.  ( Cf .  J.  Schmidt, 
Forschungen  im  Gebiete  alt.  Religionen,  ^c, 
p.  145.)  We  do  not  say  that  the  disciples 
of  the  Avesta  have  borrowed  all  this  from 
the  Tibetans  or  the  Mongols,  but  that  they 
have  received  these  ideas  from  peoples  of 
the  same  race,  dwelling  quite  near  them,  or 
even  amongst  them. 

I  conclude,  then,  that  in  my  view  the  best 
and  simplest  explanation  of  the  Four-eyed 
Dogs  of  the  Avesta  is  that  which  makes  them 
the  subject  of  a  Turanian  (?)  superstition — 
a  superstition  which  attributes  to  these  ani- 
mals, of  a  somewhat  bizarre  aspect,  a  super- 
natural power  capable  of  chasing  away  evil 
spirits. 

Farewell,  then,  to  the  dogs  of  Yama  ! 

C.  DE  Harlez. 


Louvain,   December,   1886. 


THE  FIRE-GOD. 
(A   Teraphim  Jigure)^ 


nAHYLONIAN    I'EUAPHIM. 


BABYLONIAN  TERAPHIM. 


In  a  creed  such  as  the  Chaldaeo-Assyrian, 
possessing  an  essentially  magical  basis,  we 
may  certainly  expect  that  the  belief  in  talis- 
manic  objects,  such  as  figures  of  deities,  en- 
graved stones  and  other  objects,  formed  an 
irriportant  feature.  Of  this  we  have  ample 
proof  afforded  by  the  discovery  of  examples  of 
several  classes  of  these  articles. 

The  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  the  figures  of 
gods  or  mythic  personages,  to  drive  away  evil 
from  the  house  or  person  of  the  worshipper, 
is  one  common  to  all  ancient  religions,  and 
exists  to  this  day  in  various  forms  in  more  mo- 
dern systems. 

In  the  magical  hymns  of  Chaldea  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  manufacture  of  these  figures, 
(W.  A.  I,  iv.  23,  1),  and  their  disposition 
throughout  the  various  parts  of  the  house,  is 
given.  The  evidence  ot  the  Inscriptions  is 
still  further  substantiated  by  the  discovery  of 
many  examples  of  these  figures,  varying  in 
size  from  the  huge  winged  bulls  to  the  small 
terra  cotta  images,  or  minute  charms  for  per- 
sonal wear. 

The  winged  bulls,  which  were  placed  at  the 
entrances  to  the  Assyrian  palaces,  were  of 
Akkadian  origin,  being  called  by  these  an- 
cient people  Alat  or  Lama,  were  known  to 
the  Assyrians  as  sedi  or  '  spirits,'  the  sedim 
of  the  Hebrews,  or  LcmiasL  *colossi,'  and 
were  a  species  of  teraphim  or  talismanic  fi- 
gures, being  called  "the  guardians  of  the 
royal  footsteps— the  opponents  of  evil,"  while 
the  winged  lions  were  the  emblems  of  Nergal, 
the  god  of  War  and  Death,  and  were  espec- 
ially effective  in  protecting  the  house  from 
evil.  Ll  an  ancient  fragment  relating  to  the 
disposal  of  the  various  talismanic  imageis  we 
read:  "Place  the  image  of  the  heroic  warrior 
(Nergal),  who  cuts  in  pieces,  inside  the  door» 
Place  the  heroic  warrior,  who  cuts  in  pieces, 
who  overpowers  the  hand  of  rebels,  on  the 


threshold  of  the  door,  right  and  left."  The 
statue  of  Merodach,  "  the  protector  of  the  host 
of  men"  and  his  all-wise  father  Hea,  were  to 
be  placed  within    the   doorway. 

Of  such  an  arrangementof  guardian  figures 
as  this  we  have  ample  proof  afforded  by  the 
discovery  made  byM.  Botta  in  the  palace  at 
Khorsabad  of  a  number  of  statues  of  the  divine 
protectors  of  the  royal  abode  of  Sargon  (B.  C 
721),  which  were  placed  beneath  the  thresh- 
old of  the  door  in  a  specially  prepared  recept- 
acle. These  were  the  emblems  of  the  gods 
who  ^ere  to  protect  the  going  out  and  coming 
in  of  the  royal  footsteps,  and  to  turn  away 
evil  from  the  dwelling  of  the  King  of  nations. 

In  addition  to  the  images  of  Nergal  and 
Merodach,  wliich  were  powerful  to  expel  evil 
from  the  home  or  person  of  the  worshipper, 
there  were  also  the  images  of  the  special  guard- 
ian gods  and  goddesses  of  the  person  using 
them,  which  formed  a  species  of  domestic 
Lares  and  Penates,  and  which  approach  near- 
est to  the  Teraphim  of  the  Scriptures.  The 
teraphim  which  Rachel  stole  from  her  father, 
(Gen.  xxxi.  19)  were  evidently  small  images 
capable  of  being  hid  in  the  camel's  furniture 
(V.  34)  ;  yet  these  are  distinctly  called  by 
Laban  "my  gods"  (V.  31).  So  also  in  the 
case  of  David's  wife,  Michal;  she  hid  the  tera- 
phim in  the  bed  (1  Sam.xix.  13).  They  also 
formed  an  important  feature  in  the  Bethel  or 
House  of  God  made  by  Micah  the  Ephraimite 
(Judges  xvii.  5).  These  references  point  to 
the  teraphim  as  btJing  the  images  of  the  special 
deity  or  deities  who  guarded  the  Hfe  of  the 
worshipper;  and  they  therefore  correspond  to 
the  god  and  goddess  who  were  assigned  to 
every  Chaldean  coming  into  the  world.  This 
idea  still  survives  in  the  Fravashis  of  the 
Zend-Avesta  and  in  the  Ketubim  of  the  Arabs 
—  the  ever  guardian  and  recording  spirits 
assigned  to  each  man.      In  the  Inscription 


i  I 


llAHYLONIAN    TERAPHIM. 


above  referred  to  we  reaa  : 

his  god  M ,  and  his  goddess,  N ,  place 

at  the  door;"  where  the  names  are  left  blank, 
in  order  that  the  priest  giving  the  directions 
may  insert  them. 

The  character  and  role  of  these  guardian 
gods  is  shewn  in  the  hymns  with  great  clear- 
ness, where  the  usual  formula  is  :  -'The  man, 
son  of  his  god,"  or  "  May  the  heart  of  my  god 
be  appeased !"  "  May  the  heart  of  the  goddess 
my  mother  be  appeased  !" 

The  teraphim  may  be  regarded  as  small 
figures  of  the  special  divine  protectors  of  the 
persons  using  them,  and  of  certain  other  Gods, 
especially  Merodach  and  Nergal,  who  were 
guardians  of  the  house. 

The  Fire-god  was  often  represented  by 
small  teraphim  figures,  as  he  was  the  dis- 
peller  of  evil,  and  the  guardian  of  the  house 
and  hearth,  and  we  may  quote  the  following 
hymn  to  that  deity  : — 

Fire  supreme  chief,  rising  high  in  the  land ! 

Hero,  son  of  the  Absi,  rising  high  in  the 
land  ! 

Fire,  with  thy  pure  and  brilliant  flame 

Thoumakest  light  in  the  abodes  of  dark- 
ness ; 

Thou   decidest  the  fate  of  all  that  has  a 
name: 


Thou  art  the  mingler  of  copper  and  tin ! 

Thou  art  the  pm-ifier  of  silver  and  gold ! 
Among  the  teraphim  figures  found  at  Khor- 
sabad  was  a  small  statue  of  the  Fire-god. 
The  bright  god  is  here  represented,  as  the 
Sun-god  is  also,  with  flowing  locks  and 
beard,  symbolical  of  the  flames,  while  he 
holds  in  his  hands  the  sacred  cone,  the  em- 
blem of  the  reed — the  Arani  of  the  Indians, 
with  which  the  fire  was  kindled. 

Figures  also  of  Bel,  with  the  homed  cap, 
called  in  the  Inscriptions  "  the  crown  of  div- 
inity," and  of  the  jackal-headed  god  of  death, 
were  also  found,  placed  in  the  teraphim  shrine 
beneath  the  threshold  of  the  door.  In  the 
British  Museum  there  are  several  small  tera- 
phim figures  from  Nimroud,  and  also  a  little 
shrine,  in  which  figures  of  Hea,  the  Fish-god, 
were  found.  These  come  chiefly  from  Nim- 
roud, and  date  about  B.  C.  800. 

In  conclusion,  the  use  of  these  teraphim  in 
Chaldea,  prior  to  the  Abramic  migration,  and 
afterwards  in  Kharran  the  city  of  Laban, 
shew  that  some  among  the  family  of  Terah 
still  retained  their  old  Chaldean  superstitions 
after  they  had  come  forth  from  Ur  of  the 
Chaldees. 

W.  St.  0.  BosCAWEN. 


THIS  BABYiiONIAKS  At^D  ASSYRIAi^S  A8  MARITIME  NATION?. 


41 


THE  BABYLONIANS  AND   ASSYRIANS  AS  MARITTME  NATTONS.-^L 


Information   supplied   by  the   Bilingual  Insobiptions. 


Though  the  Assyrians,  from  tho  inland  poa- 
ition  of  their  country,  could  never  become 
great  as  shipbuilders  or  as  navigators,  they 
seem  nevertheless  to  have  made  the  fullest  use 
of  their  rivers  and  canals  for  the  transport  of 
merchandize  from  place  to  place,  by  means 
either  of  boats  or  of  rafts  made  of  planks  placed 
on  inflated  skins  of  'animals.  Their  neigh- 
bours, however,  were,  in  many  cases,  more 
fortunate  than  they  in  having  a  certain  amount 
of  seaboard,  which  gave  them  scope  for  exer 
cising  their  ingenuity  in  building  ships,  and 
their  skill  in  navigating  "the  rolling  main," 
and  communicating,  for  purposes  of  trade, 
with  the  inhabitants  of  distant  lands.  Thus 
it  must  have  been  with  Babylonia,  Assyria's 
parent-state,  and  her  southern  neighbour, 
which  possessed  a  certain  stretch  of  seaboard 
on  the  Persian  Gulf,  an  arm  of  the  sea  which, 
in  ancient  times,  reached  much  further  inland 
than  now.  It  must  have  been  at  a  very  early 
period  indeed  that  the  Babylonians  (  both  Ak- 
kadians and  Semites)  first  began  to  launch 
their  keels  on  the  waters  which  lay  at  their 
doors,  judging  from  the  most  interesting  Hsts 
of  kinds  of  ships  and  parts  of  ships,  drawn  up 
by  the  Babylonians,  and  copied  by  the  Assyr- 
ians, which  have  been  unearthed  on  the  sites 
of  their  cities:  and  a  good  idea  of  the  extent 
to  which  navigation  was  carried  on  in  Meso- 
potamia, in  exceedingly  ancient  times,  may  be 
obtained  from  these  same  lists.  There  we 
find  mentioned  Mairite,  Assyrian,  Urite,  Ak- 
kadian, Dilmunite,  Makkanite,  and  Meluhh- 
ian  ships  (elippu  Mairitum,  Assuntum,  TJr- 
itum,  Akkaditum,  Dilmunitum,  Makkanitum 
Meluhhitum:  in  Akkadian  ma  Matri,  Ausar, 


Uri,  Ura,  Nitug,  Maganna,  Meluhha) ;  and 
jndging  from  this  short  list  of  places,  each  of 
which  most  likely  had  a  distinct  build  of  ship, 
there  must  have  been  many  boat-  and  ship- 
building yards  in  Mesopotamia  in  early  times 
— indeed,  the  first  of  the  above-named  ship- 
building towns  in  Babylonia  and  A?:^yria, 
Mai'ri,  means  (if  we  take  the  usual  significa- 
tion of  each  component  part  of  the  name) 
nothing  else  but  "  ship-city"  f^jyi  »-^yy,  ma- 
il), and  it  is  possibly  for  this  reason  that  the 
name  of  the  town  was  put  at  or  near  the  head 
of  the  list  by  the  Babylonian  and  Assyrian 
scribes.  The  name  of  this  city  or  district  also 
occurs,  in  Vol.  V  of  the  Cuneiform  Inscrip- 
tions of  Western  4s/a,pl.  14,  at  the  head  of  a 
short  list  of  districts  from  which  wool  was 
obtained,  showing  that  it  was  a  place  of 
some  commercial  importance. 

The  word  for  **ship"  or  "  ark"  was  elippu 
in  Semitic  Babylonian  or  Assyrian,  and  ma 
in  Akkadian.  Other  words  for  boat  or  ship 
no  doubt  existed,  but  these  are  by  far  the 
most  common.  In  many  cases  new  words 
were  formed  by  adding  other  words  to  the 
Akkadian  ma,  making  compounds  to  which 
a  Semitic  form  was,  as  much  as  possible, 
given.  Thus  we  find  nmturra  "boat,"  liter- 
ally, "little  sliip,"  from  ma  "ship,"  and  tur 
"small;"  Tnagilum  and  magisu,  perhaps  little 
arks  made  of  reeds,  (mrt  "ship,"  and  gi 
"reed,"  added  to  turn  "to  be  fruitful,"  and 
.m);  also  malah  "boatman,"  "sailor,"  from 
rrm  "  ship,"  and  Ja^  "  to  go  ;"  and  ma/ludU 
(ai»i)arently  partly  a  synonym  of  malah^s 
from  ma  " ship,"  and  dadu,  "to  g.)  (often)" 
— perhaps  "  ferryman."  ^ 


1)  A  god  named  In-ah  ("Lord  of  the  Deep  [?]")  bears  the  title  of  maduda  of  Eridu 
fin-ab  madudu  Gurudugakit)~^vohM\  the  Babylonian  Charon,  who  may  have  been  regarded 
as  ferrying  the  souls  of  the  dead  over  to  Gurudu^a  or  Eridu.  The  god  In-ab  is  perhaps, 
to  be  identified  with  Ea  or  Ac  (often  read  Hea),  the  "  lord  of  the  abyss,"  and  god  of  seas, 
rivers,  sailors,  and  the  madudu.  The  Eridu  above-menti.med  is  probably  not  the  well-known 
city  in  Southern  Babylonia  of  that  name,  but  simply  the  "  Good  City,"  the  abode  of  thg 
blessed  in  the  world  to  come. 


42 


THE  BABYLONIAVS  AND  ASSYRIANS  AS    MARITIME  NATIONS. 


Besides  the  classes  of  ships  mentioned  a- 
bove,  there  were  also  others,  whose  character- 
istics are  expressed  without  having  recourse 
to  Akkadian,  namely,  the  Uippu  driktu, 
"  long  ship,"  the  elippu  siktum,  "  short  ship" 
(the  word  siktum  is  from  the  Akkadian  sig 
"  weak,"  probably  also  "  small,"  puny,")  ; 
the  ntbiruj  probably  "ferryboat,"  (names 
of  larger  ships  for  this  purpose  seem 
to  have  been  elip  igri  and  Uip  nihiri)  ;  and 
other  kinds  of  vessels,  one  of  which  was 
called  Uip  Gistubar  (Akkadian,  ma  gistiLg), 
•'Gistubar's  ship,"  and  another  Mip  dhi  (Akk. 
ma  aba)f  "  the  father's"  or  "  old  man's  ship,'' 
both  expressions  being  probably  applied  to 
vessels  of  antiquated  pattern. 

Parts  of  a  boat  or  ship  mentioned  in  the 
lists  are  kakkar  iUppt,  '•  the  ground  of  a 
ship,"  probably  the  deck  ;  tsid  ^lippi^  "  the 
foundation  of  a  ship,"  probably  the  lower 
part  of  the  hull;  karnu  elippi,  "  the  horn  of 
a  ship,"  and  ka?mati  Elippi,  "  the  horns  of  a 
ship",  probably  intended  to  express  "mast" 
and  "  masts  ;"  sil  Uippi^  "  the  side  of  a  ship;" 
igurate  Hippi^  "  the  bulwarks  of  a  ship  ;'* 
^sen  seri  Elippi,  "  the  strength  of  the  back  of 
a  ship,"  probably  the  keel ;  kiskitti  Blippl, 
perhaps  "the  ribs  of  a  ship;'*  markas  Slippi 
and  timmusa  Elippi,  "  the  cordage  if  a  ship ;" 
tmeri  elippi i  "the  ass  of  a  ship,'"  ^ perhaps 
the  prow  or  figure-head  ;  drkat  Elippi,  "  the 
stern  of  a  ship  ;"  hin  elippi,  the  "  hold"  or 
"  hull  of  a  ship,"  «fcc.      Accessories,  such  as 


bit  ^Uppi,  "  the  house  of  a  ship  ;"  and  hart 
Elippi,  "  the  treasury  of  a  ship,"  &c.,  are 
also  mentioned.  All  these  interesting  details 
are  furnished  by  a  bilingual  list  which  could 
hardly  have  been  drawn  up  later  than  2500 
B.  C,  and  gives,  as  has  already  been  remark- 
ed, the  equivalent  nautical  terms,  as  far  as 
the  shape  and  accessories  of  ships  are  concern- 
ed, in  the  Akkadian  and  Semitic  Babylonian 
or  Assyrian  languages.  The  great  advance 
made  by  these  people  in  the  art  of  shipbuild- 
ing at  an  exceedingly  early  date  is  therefore 
quite  beyond  question. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  another  exceed- 
ingly interesting  fact  indicated  by  the  same 
document  may  be  noted;  and  that  is,  the 
method  of  indicating  the  tonnage.  One  of 
the  most  common  measures  for  field-produce 
was  the  gur,  and  being  apparently  a  large 
measure,  it  was  found  to  be  very  convenient 
for  indicating  the  capacity  of  such  ships  as 
were  used  for  the  conveyance  of  grain  and 
other  merchandize.  The  list  in  question 
mentions  ships  of  60,  50,  40,  30,  20,  15, 10, 
and  5  gurru  or  gurri.  All  these  vessels  were, 
naturally,  of  very  small  size;  but  although  the 
list  does  not  go  higher  than  60  gurri  (the 
number  with  which  the  list  begins),  it  does 
not  follow  therefrom  that  vessels  of  greater 
capacity  were  not  built — the  scribe  merely 
began  with  60  because  that  number  was,  with 
the  Akkadians,  Babylonians  and  Assyrians, 
a  kind  of  "  mathematical  unit." 

Theo.  Gr.  Pinches. 


2)  Prof,  de  Lacouperie  has  pointed  out  to  me  that  Herodotus  (1. 194)  says  that  "each 
vessel  has  a  live  ass  on  board,"  (tocarry  back  the  skins  of  which  the  vessel  was  constructed), 
Whether  "  the  ass  of  a  sliip"  mentioned  in  the  inscriptions  be  a  living  one  or  not  will  be  dis- 
cussed when  describing  the  vessels  depicted  on  the  sculptures. 


AN  ASSYRIAN  LETTER 

ANBNT  THE  TRANSPORT  OF  STONE  BY  ShIP.   [S,  1031.] 


I. 

n-^Tfcg^S-H^T? 

2. 

-^T  -^tl  T  ->V  --T  J^ 

3- 

IgO[<TriN>^T?-^Tj^:Sf-Il5*T? 

4. 

T  -V  >^  <IS  ,^:w 

5- 

-T<K  j^m  JiT  E^n  -+  j^ 

6. 

5?^?  -+  J^TM  -+  ^TTf 

7- 

-  ^m  ^T  ^m  T— 

8. 

^TTTj.  ^  <MT<T  <©  ^T- 

9- 

s^T^TTTT— -ETs=T?^«^T<T--^l 

lO. 

-t]  ^m  -m  ??< 

II. 

T?  -^Idf  m  ^T  4-+  ^T 

12. 

T?  ^— ^  -^T 

13- 

j^rr  5£m  ^^T  V  J^  £T 

REVERSE. 

14. 

tm«=  ET  T? 

15- 

tntp  ^  ^  !^ 

16. 

cTTTi^   t!T   -g<T   T? 

AN  ASSYRIAN  LETTER. 


48 


AN    ASSYRIAN    LETTER 

ANENT     THE      I'KANSPOliT,     BY     SniP,     OF     STONE     FOU     A     WINGED    BULL 
AND     COLOSSUS. 


The  following  translation  of  a  text  referring 
to  the  carriage  "in  the  midst  of  ships"  (to 
use  the  quaint  language  of  the  original)  of 
certain  stones,  which  were  apparently  to  be 
carved  into  the  likeness  of  a  winged  bull  and 
a  colossus  (the  latter  probably  a  winged  lion), 
may  not  be  unacceptable  to  the  readers  of  the 
Recordy  as  it  will  illustrate,  to  a  certain  extent 
the  paper  entitled  "The  Babylonians  and 
Assyrians  as  Maritime  Nations"  in  the  pres- 
ent number.  Tne  original  is  an  ordinary 
Assyrian  letter-tablet,  rather  less  than  2  in. 
and  |tlis  long  by  1  in.  and  |ths  broad;  and 
i^  numbered  S.  1031,  being  one  of  the  tablets 
obtained  by  Geo.  Smith  at  Kouyunjik  on  his 
second  expedition  to  Assyria  in  1878-4.  The 
inscription  is  very  well  written,  but  is  not 
altogether  easy  to  translate,  as  it  seems  to 
contain  idiomatic  phrases  or  provincialisms. 

Line  for  line  and  character  for  character 

TRANSCRIPTION,  AND  LITERAL 

TRANSLATION. 

1.  A-NA    SARRI    BELI-IA 

To  the  king  my  lord 

2.  ARDI-KA    y  ASSUR-BA-NI. 

thy  servant    Assur-bani. 

8.    Ltr-SALI-MU  A-NA     SARRI    BELI-IA 

May  there  be  peace      to  the  king  my  lord  | 

4.    y  ASSUR  -  MU  -  KI  -  IN 

Assur  -  mukin 

6.    IK-TA-AD  -RA- AN-NI 

has         aided  me, 

6.  ARAN  >->f-  SeDI     i-jJf-  LaMASSI 

the  stone  of  the  bull  (and)  colossus 

7.  INA      LIB       [eLIPPETI] 

in  the  midst  of    ships 

8.  U  -SA  -  AR-KI-  PI. 

I  have  caused  to  ride. 


9.  [Elippeti]   la  b-mu-ka  si-na 

The  ships      not    deep  (\\er<^;  tli<!y, 

10.  la     in  -  TU  -  HA 

they  did  not  rest. 

11.  A-KA-NI       DA-'-TAM 

Thus         hindrance 

12.  A    -    BU     -   TU 

I  have  de^^troved. 


18. 

E  -  TA  -AP  -  SA  -  NI  -  MA 

I    have      done      and 

Ihverse. 

14. 

U  -  MA  -  A 

today 

15. 

U  -  SA  -  HI  -  IR, 

I    collected, 

16. 

U  -  SI  -LI -A. 

I    sent    up. 

In  order  to  make  the  text  clearer,  I  give 
herewith  (after  my  usual  custom)  a  connected 
transcription  and  a  free  translation  of  the 
aboA^e  text,  with  a  few  remarks  upon  the  words. 

TRANSCRIPTION 
(with  the  words  joined  as  they  are  to  be 
pronounced). 

Ana  sarri  belia,  ardi-ka,  Assur-bani.  Lu- 
salimu  ana  sarri  belia. 

Assur-mukin  iktadranni,  aban  §edi,  Lam- 
aesi,  ina  lib  elippeti  usarkipi.  Elippeti  la 
emuka  sina,  la  intfthu.  Akani  da'tam  abutu; 
^psani-ma  uma  usahir,  uselia. 

FREE  TRANSLATION. 

"  To  the  King  my  lord  thy  sevant  Assur- 
bani.  May  there  be  peace  to  the  king  my 
lord  ! 

Assur-mukin  has  aided  me,  and  I  have 
shipped  the  stone  for  the  bull  and  colossus. 


44 


AN  ASSYRIAN  LETTER. 


The  draught  of  the  ships  was  not  great\  and 
therefore  they  did  not  ground.  I  have  thus 
got  rid  of  all  hindrance.  I  have  now  finished; 
and  today  I  collected  and  sent  up  the  stones)." 

NOTES  UPON  THE  WORDS,    &c. 

Lines  1-2.  "To  the  King  my  lord,"  &c.  This  is 
the  usual  short  form  of  address  to  the  king, 
in  which  the  sender  of  the  letter  announces 
who  he  is.  The  name  Assiir-bani  means 
"Assur  creator"  (or  "creating"),  or  "  Assur 
my  creator."  Perhaps  an  abbreviated 
name.  The  character  >->^  (Assur),  in 
the  original,  is  written  almost  like  the  sign 
>->]^  {Uu  "god"),  with  three  small  wedges 
on  the  top  of  the  single  upright  one.  The 
same  form  occurs  at  the  beginning  of  the 
fourth  line,  in  the  name  of  Assur-mukin. 

L.  3.  Here  we  have  the  usual  salutation  in 
its  shortest  form.  It  often  extends,  how- 
ever, to  several  lines. 

L.  4.  Assur-muhin,  "  Assur,  establisher"  (or 
"establishing").  It  is  possible  that  this 
name  is  also  abbreviated. 

L.  5.  Iktadranni.  Aorist  of  the  secondary 
form  of  Kal  from  the  root  kaddru. 

L.  6.  The  character  for  Sedu  is  dan  (not 
dir)  with  bat  inside — the  usual  form.  The 
origin  of  the  group  is  doubtful, 

L.  7.     Elippdti.  This  I  conjecture  to  be  the 


correct  plural  of  Uippu  "  ship,"  on  account 
of  its  being  of  the  feminine  gender.  The 
termination  eti'm  that  generally  fouixl  with 
nouns  having  i  in  the  second  root-syllable. 

L.  8.  Usarkipi.  Aorist  shaphel  of  laLdpu 
(more  usually  rakdbu)  "  to  ride,"  with  the 
provincialism  of  0  instead  of  \^  in  the  for- 
mative syllable. 

L.  1 0.  Intuha.  Aorist  of  the  secondary  form 
of  Kal  from  the  root  ndhu,  "  to  rest,"  here, 
apparently,  used  to  indicate  the  resting  or 
grounding  of  a  vessel  too  deeply  laden,  or 
of  too  great  draught. 

L.  11.  The  translation  of  this  line  is  doubt- 
ful, and  is  partly  suggested  by  the  context. 

L.  14.  Umdi  "  now,"  "today,"  accusative  of 
umUf  "  day,"  here  used  with  an  adverbial 
force.  Very  common  in  documents  of  this 
class, 

L.  15.  Usahir.  Aorist  Piel  of  saAarw,  "  to 
enclose,"  "  to  collect." 

L,  16.  Uselia.  Aorist  shaphel  of  elii,  "to 
ascend,"  for  usUia,  with  formative  ^  in- 
stead of  tl^,  as  in  line  8. 

The  probable  date  of  the  above  text  is  about 
630.  B.  C.  (reign  of  Assur-bani-apli  or  Assur- 
banipal).  Of  course  the  vessels  which  Assur- 
bani  designates  as  ships  were  not  such  as  we 
should  so  name  nowadays-— they  were  pro- 
bably simply  large  boats. 

Theo.  G.  Pinches. 


1)  Or  :  "  The  ships  were  not  deeply  laden. 


THE  8INIM    OF  ISAIAH,  NOT  THE  CHINESE. 


45 


THE   SINIM   OF  ISAIAH,  NOT  THE    CHINESE. 


The  12th  verse,  chap,  xlix  of  the  book 
of  Isaiah,  has  been  generally  understood 
until  the  present  day  as  containing  a  re- 
ference to  the  country  of  tie  Chinese,  i.e., 
China ;  and  not  a  few  books  or  pamph- 
lets relating  to  the  Middle  Kingdom  or 
its  people  have  been  launched  upon  the 
world  under  headings  borrowed  from  or 
alluding  to  the  words  of  the  Bible.  My 
object  in  the  following  note  is  to  show  that 
this  assumption  rests  on  a  twofold  mipos- 
sibility,  and  that  the  country  alluded  to 
must  be  sought  for  on  the  slopes  of  the 
Hindu-Kush.  Let  us  recall  the  wording 
of  the  verse  referred  to  as  rendered  in  the 
Revised  Version. 

Behold,  these  shall  come  from  far  :  and,  lo, 
these  from  the  north  and  from  the  west ;  and  these 
from  the  land  of  Sinim. 

The  inspired  author,  whoever  he  was, 
speaks  of  the  dispersed  of  Israel,  who, 
when  the  mercy  of  lahveh  extends  to 
them,  shall  be  called  back  from  the  distant 
regions  of  their  exile.  Two  verses — 5  and 
6,  chap,  xliii., — illustrate  plainly  the  pur- 
pose of  the  speaker. 

Fear  not,  for  I  am  with  thee  ;  I  will  bring  thy 
seed  from  the  east,  and  gather  thee  from  the  west ; 

I  will  say  to  the  north,  Give  up  ;  and  to  the 
south,  Keep  not  bnck;  bring  my  sons  from  far, 
and  my  daughters  from  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

It  is  now  admitted  among  the  exegetes 
that  the  Book  which  goes  by  the  name  of 
Isaiah  had  been  written  in  Babylon  during 
the  captivity,  about  the  middle  of  the  6th 
century  B,c. 

The  xlv.  chapter  has  been  understood  as 
a  charge  against  the  dualist  proclivities  of 
the  time,  addressed  to  Kyros  the  Great, 
who  conquered  Babylonia  in  538  B.C. 
And  an  eminent  critic,  Dr.  Reuss,  has  felt 
himself  justified  in  admitting  the.  date  of 
536  B.C.  as  that  of  the  composition  of  the 
Book. 

From  the  internal  evidence  offered  by 
the  context,  the  country  of  Sinim  is  a  far 
distant  land,  which  must  be  sought  for  in 


the  East,  the  only  point  of  the  horizon 
left  unnoticed  by  the  author.  The  word 
Sinim  exhibits  the  grammatical  form  of  the 
Semitic  plural,  therefore  it  is  an  ethnic 
term — the  name  of  a  people,  not  that  of  a 
country. 

In  the  Septuagint  version  the  difficulty 
of  identification,  ipsis  verbis,  was  explained 
away  by  a  simple  substitution  of  names. 
The  country  of  the  Persians  ck  7?;?  Uepawv, 
was  named  instead  of  the  country  of 
Sinim. 

We  may  corclude  these  pr  liminary  re- 
marks by  recognising  that  the  Sinim  were 
a  distant  population  in  the  East,  whose 
name,  equivalent  to  that  of  the  further- 
most known  lands,  had  been  heard  of  in 
Babylon  through  the  Persians. 
II. 

Just  before  his  conquest  of  Babylon  the 
great  Kyros  had  achieved  extensive  con- 
quests in  the  East,  which  had  busied  him 
for  fifteen  years  (534-539  B.C.)  The  regions 
of  Bactria,  Margiana,  Uvarazmiya,  orKbo- 
rasmia,  on  the  east  of  the  Caspian  sea,  were 
successively  subdued  and  garrisoned ; 
stopped  in  the  north  by  the  Siberian 
steppes,  his  advance  in  the  north-east  did 
not  reach  further  than  the  Sacoe,  who  re- 
cognised his  suzerainty,  and  henceforth  be- 
came the  vanguard  of  his  dominions 
against  the  wandering  tribes  of  the  East. 
Kyros  then,  descending  southwards  on  the 
plateau  of  Iran,  conquered  the  regions  of 
Haraiva  (Arya),  Thatagous  (Sattagydia), 
Haraurati,  Zaranka,  and  the  country  be- 
tween the  Cabul  river  and  the  Indus — 
namely,  the  modern  Kohistan  and  Kafiri- 
stan. 

Thus  far  no  impossbiility  has  appeared 
to  show  why  the  Persians  in  their  con- 
quests could  not  have  heard  from  their 
border  populations  the  name  of  the  Chinese, 
should  this  name  have  been  in  existence. 
But  it  was  not  in  existence,  and  the  political 
circumstances  which  later  on  have  put  for- 


46 


THE  SINIM  OF  ISAIAH,   NOT  THE  CHINESE. 


ward  the  name  which  became  the  antece- 
dent of  that  of   China,  had  not  yet  ap- 
peared, and  were  not  to  do  so  yet  for  two 
hundred  and  odd  years. 
III. 

The  late  exegetes  who  have  upheld  the 
identification  of  the  name  of  the  Sinim 
with  that  of  the  Chinese  have  followed,  as 
to  the  origin  of  the  latter's  name,  a  track 
beaten  by  the  early  Sinologists,  unaware 
of  the  peculiarities  of  the  evolutions  under- 
gone by  the  Chinese  sounds  in  the  course 
of  history. 

On  the  north-west  of  the  Chinese  do- 
minion, and  as  a  part  of  it,  was  an  impor- 
tant state,  whose  name  was  written  with  a 
symbol  which  in  modern  Chinese  orthoepy 
is  pronounced  Ts'in.  Established  about 
909  B  c.,this  principality  grew  steadily,  and 
in  the  third  century  B.C.  was  powerful 
enough  to  conquer  the  six  other  states  of 
the  Chinese  confederation ;  and  its  prince 
assuming  the  title  of  She  Hwang-ti,  or  "First 
Universal  Emperor,"  founded  the  Chinese 
empire  in  221  B.C.  His  dynasty  under  the 
aforesaid  name,  now  pronounced  Ts'in,  was 
extinguished  soon  after  his  death,  and  did 
not  last,  his  own  reign  of  12  years  in- 
cluded, more  than  sixteen  years. 

The  end  of  the  third  century  being  the 
time  when  the  country  of  China,  then 
covering  about  one-half  of  the  modern 
China  proper,  was  known  under  the  name 
of  its  ruling  dynasty,  which  is  now  pro- 
nounced Ts'in,  it  is  out  of  question  for  the 
Chinese  Empire  to  have  been  spoken  of 
three  hundred  years  previously  in  the  Book 
of  Isaiah.  But  the  name  of  the  princi- 
pality of  the  same  name,  from  909  B.C. 
downwards,  might  have  been  heard  of  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Tsung-ling  range,  that 
which  is  commonly,  though  erroneously, 
known  as  the  Bolor  range,  on  the  west  side 
of  which  were  the  Sacse  subjects  of  Kyros 


the  Great.  It  is  exceedingly  probable  that 
the  said  Chinese  principality  was  not  dur- 
ing these  several  centuries  without  com- 
munications and  intercourse,  casual,  inter- 
mittent or  otherwise,  with  the  West.  But 
no  records  have  been  preserved  of  the 
Chinese  and  semi-Chinese  bordering  states. 
And  this  absence  is  the  reason,  and  the  only 
one  reason,  which  has  led  some  to  suppose 
that  the  middle  kingdom  has  remained 
during  so  many  centuries  without  any  re- 
lation with  the  outside  world. 

Now  the  name  of  the  state  lately  pro- 
nounced Ts'in,  should  it  have  been  dis- 
guised into  Sinim,  ought  to  have  been  pro- 
nounced in  antiquity  as  it  is  in  modern 
times.  There  comes  a  crushing  evidence 
against  the  assimilation  of  the  two  names. 
It  is  only  three  centuries  after  the  Christian 
era  that  the  Chinese  symbol  employed  to 
write  this  name  began  to  assume  in  its  pro- 
nunciation a  hissing  sound  which,  in  the 
wear  and  tear  of  speech,  was  developed 
from  an  originally  dental  mute.  The  pris- 
tine pronunciation  of  the  name  we  ascertain 
in  several  ways.  The  most  archaic  of  the 
Chinese  dialects — the  Sinico-Annamite  has 
still  preserved  the  old  sound  of  Tan.  A 
dictionary  of  ancient  words,  the  She-ming, 
compiled  in  the  first  century  of  our  era  by 
Liu-hi,  a  scion  of  the  Han  dynastic  family, 
gives  for  the  same  symbol  the  sound  of 
Tan.  Kuoh  P'oh,  a  great  scholar  of  the 
third  century,  very  learned  as  to  the  old 
words,  confirms  the  same,  and  further 
proofs  may  be  adduced  from  the  rhymes  in 
the  poetry  of  antiquity. 

Therefore,  the  evidence  is  overwhelming 
against  the  proposed  assimilation.  The 
name  of  the  Chinese  principality  of  Tan 
cannot  be  that  of  the  country  of  Sinim 
more  than  it  can  be  the  antecedent  of  the 
name  of  China.  The  latter  name,  as  I  have 
shown   elsewhere,^    arose   in  the    south- 


\)  Beginnings  of  Writings^  %  80;    also  in  Col.   H.   Yule,    Glossary  of  Anglo-Indian. 
fVords,  p.  157. 


THE  SINIM  OF  ISAIAH,    NOT  THE  CHINESE. 


Tchen  or  Tsen  was  the  name  of  the  lake  of 
Yunnanf u,  which  becam  e  that  of  a  power- 
ful non-Chinese  state  in  the  south-west  of 
China,  and  which  for  several  centuries 
after  its  foundation  in  331  B.C.,  centralised 
and  monopolised  the  trade  routes  from  the 
interior  of  China  to  the  Gulf  of  Tungking, 
and  to  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  And  it  is  by 
this  name  of  one  of  its  feudal  states  that 
the  Empire  of  China  became  known  far  and 
wide  through  the  maritime  trade  to  the 
Persian  Gulf  and  the  West.  But  all  this 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  Sinim  of  Isaiah 
whose  identification  is  still  wanting  and 
must  be  sought  for  elsewhere. 
IV. 
Since  the  Sinim  cannot  be  the  Chinese, 
who  did  not  bear  any  name  of  the  sort, 
who  can  they  be  %  In  the  Persian  tradi- 
tions fabulous,  misty,  and  untrustworthy 
as  traditions  may  be,  we  meet  with  the 
name  of  the  country  of  Seni.  It  is  said 
that  Afrasiab,  the  Turanian  king,  whose 
historical  existence  dates  probably  from  the 
seventh  century  B.C.,  gave  his  daughter 
Ferangiz.  as  a  dower,  the  aforesaid  country 
of  Seni^  which  is  Tchiniztan,  and  was  prob- 
ably a  territory  near  Samarkand,  also,  per- 
haps, connected  with  the  mount  Tchino.^ 
Ferangiz  was  married  by  Siyawesh  and 
became  the  mother  of  Kyros  or  Khusrau, 
according  to  the  same  traditions.^  A  link 
between  the  country  of  Seni^  which  might 
have  become  Sinim  in  the  Biblical  text, 
and  Kyros,  the  king  of  the  Persians,  would 
thus  be  established.  But  is  the  tradition 
trustworthy  so  far  as  the  antiquity  of  the 
name  is  concerned  ?  The  affirmation  of  this 


is  more  than  doubtful,  and  the  reverse  is 
more  than  probable.  The  names  of  Stni 
and  Ichino^  whence  Tchiniztan,  were  ap- 
parently applied  to  these  regions  a  long 
time  after  the  deaths  of  Afrasiab  and 
Kyros  ;  most  probably  when  the  Buddhist 
monks  and  the  merchants,  acquainted  with 
the  names  of  Tchen  or  Tzen  by  the  south- 
ern intercourse  and  trade  as  that  of  the 
powerful  empire  of  China,  had  it  applied  to 
the  aforesaid  region,  which  in  the  first  cen- 
tury B.C.  became  the  western  most  ad- 
vanced posts  of  the  Chinese  dominions. 
The  Persian  tradition  may  be  true  as  far 
as  the  country  is  concerned ;  but  the  an- 
tiquity of  the  geographical  appellatives  rest 
on  too  slender  a  basis  to  be  trusted,  and  I 
think  I  am  justified  in  believing  them  to 
be  lacking  in  the  antiquity  required  for  the 
explanation  of  Sinim. 
V. 
In  his  conquests  eastwards,  Kyros  the 
Great,  as  we  have  seen  before,  advanced  as 
far  as  the  modern  Kafiristan  and  Yaghi- 
stan,  on  the  N.W.  borders  of  India,  and 
these  he  included  in  his  dominions.  The 
population  there  formed  at  that  time  the 
most  distant  people  known,  and  though  no 
detailed  list  of  their  nameswhen  they  were 
subdued  by  the  Persian  conqueror,  has  been 
handed  down  by  tradition,  we  are  enabled 
to  ascertain  the  existence  of  at  least  several 
of  them  through  Indian  sources.  The 
Shinas  were  amongst  the  most  important. 
They  are  enumerated  in  the  laws  of  Manu* 
in  the  Mahabhirata,^  the  great  epos  of 
India,  in  the  Laliia  vistara,^  the  Buddhist 
history  of  the  Bodhisattva  Buddha,  in  the 


2)  Cf.  Dr.  F.  W.  West,  Pahlavi  texts,  i.,  59  {Sacred  Books  of  the  East.  vol.  v.      Also 
Prof.  8.  Beal,  Gleanings  from  the  S%-yu-K%,  p.  283  (/.  R.  A.  S,  1884,  vol.  xvi. 

3)  Mirkhond,  History  of  the  Early  Kings  of  Persia,  transl.  D.  Shea,  p.  225. 

4)  Manava  Dharmaqastta.  x.,  44. 

5)  Mahabharata  Bhishma  Parvan%\.  317—378.    H.  H.  Wilson,  The  Vishnu  Purana, 
translated  edit.,  F.  Hall,  1865,  vol.  ii.,  p.  181. 

6)  Lalita  Vistam,  x. ;  transl.  Kajendra  Lai  Mitra  Bihlioteca  Indiai,  N.  S.,  n.    473 ; 
transl.  Foucaux,  Annates  du  Musee  Guimet,  1884,  vol.  vi.,  p.  164. 


48 


REVIEWS,    NOTES.    &C. 


Ramayana^'^  the Puranas^^  and  elsewhere ; 
a  body  of  evidence  which  goes  back  to  the 
times  preceding  the  Christian  era.  The 
Shina  tribes,  now  five  in  number,  are  still 
in  existence  in  the  same  or  nearly  the  same 
region  as  they  have  been  driven  eastwards 
in  the  mountainous  country  somewhat  more 
than  in  former  times.  They  have  beien 
extensively  studied  in  late  years,  in  sifu,  by 
Dr.  Leitner,  Major  Biddulph,  and  their 
dialects  have  been  examined  also  by  some 


scholars   of   eminence — Dr.     Trumpp,    J. 

Van  den  Ghein,  and  others.® 

VI. 
There  is  no  probability  of  doubt  that  these 
Shinas  of  ancient  and  modern  times  on  the 
slopes  of  the  Hindu-Kush,  were  the  remote 
populations  referred  to  in  the  expression 
land  of  Sinim  of  the  Book  of  Isaiah,  f^uch 
will  be  the  conclusion  of  my  enquiry. 

T.  DE  Lacouperie. 
December.  1886. 


7)  Ramayana^  Bengal  recension  Kishkinda-Kanda,  xliv.,  14. 

8)  Markandeya,  Ivii.,  39. 

9)  Cf.  Leitner,  Dardislan,  1870 — 1877;  Trumpp,  Calcutta  Review,  cviii.,  1872; 
Shaw,  Journal  Bengal  Asiatic  Society^  1877  ;  Major  Biddulph,  Iribes  of  the  Hindoo-Koosh, 
ch.  iii. ;  J.  Van  den  Ghein,  Les  Langues  de  VAsie  Centrale,  ii.,  &c. 


REVIEWS. 


Remarks  on  the  Zodiacal  Virgo,  in  con- 
nection with  a  representation  of  the  con- 
stellation upon  the  porch  of  St.  Margaret's 
Church,  York,  by  Robert  Brown,  Jun., 
F.S.A.  {Yorkshire  Archaeological  Journal, 
vol.  ix.)  The  author  continues  in  detail 
his  diligent  researches  On  the  Origin  of  the 
Signs  of  the  Zodiac,  which  were  the  subject 
of  his  important  paper  published  in  Archce- 
ologia,  xlvii.,  part  ii.  It  is  a  serious  en- 
quiry, worthy  of  being  referred  to. — 
T.  DE  L. 

Ancient  Sculptures  in  China,  with  nine 
plates,  by  Prof.  Robert  K,  Douglas  (Journal 
Royal  Asiatic  Society,  1886,  vol  xviii.,  extr. 
8  pp.)  Under  this  uncompromising  title, 
the  author  publishes  six  plates  of  sculptures 
in  Eastern  China  of  147  A.D.  and  three 
plates  of  Egyptian  sculpture  for  compari- 
son, with  a  few  descriptions.  It  is  evident 
that  the  Chinese  artists  at  that  time  had 
in  their  minds  some  notions  of  ornamen- 
tation and  symbolism,  derived  from  old 
Egypt.  We  may  suggest  that  they  were 
probably  carried  from  hand  to  hand  through 
the  sea  trade  of  the  South,  which  brought 
to  the  Northern  shores  of  China,  as  early 
as  a  few  centuries  before  the  Christian  era, 
many  notions  from  the  West.  — T.  DE  L. 

Tke  Hit  lite  Empire,  by  Rev.  W.  Wright, 
D.D.  (  Victoria  Institute,  Jan,  3,  87).    The 


author,  who  has  the  merit  of  being  the  first 
collector  in  situ  of  Hittite  inscriptions  and 
whose  work,  The  Empire  of  the  Hittites, 
has  reached  a  second  edition,  has  explained 
in  this  paper  the  ensemble  of  the  historical 
position  of  this  interesting  people.  T.  DE  L. 

Die  Keilschrifttexte  Asurbanipals 
....  mit  Transscription,  &c.  — Von 
Samuel  Alden  Smith.  8vo.  Leipzig, 
Pfeiflfer,  1887. 

In  this  work  Mr.  Smith  gives  a  very 
complete  and  readable  translation  of  the 
important  and  excellently  preserved  cylin- 
der discovered  by  Mr.  Rassam  in  the  north- 
west palace  at  Koyunjik.  This  cylinder 
is  one  of  the  most  valuable  inscriptions  in 
Cuneiform  literature,  and  contains  an 
account  of  the  first  and  second  Egyptian 
campaigns  of  Assurbanipal  m  Egypt  and 
the  capture  of  Thebes  by  the  invaders 
— most  important  material  for  the  recon- 
struction of  the  history  of  the  XXIV. 
Egyptian  dynasty.  The  carefully  written 
accounts  of  the  Babylonian  King's  action 
against  his  rebel  brother,  Samas-Sum-ukin, 
are  now,  for  the  first  time  fully  translated, 
and  restore  important  chapters  in  the  his- 
tory of  Western  Asia  during  the  seventh 
century.  Mr.  Smith  accompanies  his  trans- 
lation with  a  transliteration  of  the  text  and 
a  vocabulary  which  will  render  it  of  con- 
siderable value  t '  students.      W.  St.  C.  B, 


Printed  for  the  Proprietor  at  51,  Knowle  Road,  Brixton,  S.W.,  and  published  by  him  there  ,and  by 
p.  NUTT,  British  and  Foreign  Bookseller,  270,  Strand,  W.C. 


TBB 


BABYLONIAN  AND  ORIENTAL  RECORD. 

The  Editorial  Committee  is  not  responsible  for  the  opinions  or  statements  of  the  Contributors, 


IRANIAN  STUDIES.— II. 
THE  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OF  THE  PAHLAVI. 


Everyone  knows  that  the  language  in 
which  were  written,  under  the  Sassanian  kings, 
the  royal  edicts,  the  legends  upon  coins  and 
seals,  as  well  as  all  the  religious  books  of 
Mazdeism,  is  a  composition  of  heterogene- 
ous elements,  of  Aramaic  and  Persian  words. 
The  Iranian  part  of  this  singular  mixture, 
was  the  Persian,  such  as  it  was  spoken  at  that 
time,  mixed  up'  nevertheless,  of  words  borrow- 
ed from  the  Avesta,  and  slightly  modified  ac- 
.  cording  to  the  genius  of  the  language  of  the 
period.  The  Aramean  part  was  composed, 
either  of  pure  Aramean  words,  or  of 
mixed  terms  in  which  a  Persian  suffix  for- 
mative or  flexive,  was  added  to  an  Aramean 
root.  To  the  first  category  belong,  e.  g., 
yam  day,  akh  brother,  gabrd  man,  am  mother, 
ahar  after,  kola  all ;  to  the  second,  loitik 
non-existence,  yedrunishn  carrying,  yedrun- 
tanoto  csi^rry,  karttuntano  to  summon,  &c.  &c.2 
Certain  suffixes  and  words  cannot  yet  be 
classed  with  certainty.  But  that  matters  little 
to  us  in  the  meantime. 

At  whatever  period  we  study  it,  the 
Pahlavi  appears  with  a  double  character.  The 
most  ancient  monuments  present  some  words 
of  the  two  kinds  mixed  together.  The  greater 
number  of  Aramean  words  have  an  Iranian 
correspondent;  a  few  only,  among  others 
the  prohibitive  negative  Za,  do  not  appear  to 
have  had  any  in  the  written  language. 
But  a  very  large  number  of  Persian  words 
have  no  Semitic  representatives. 

The  use  of  these  last  seems  not  to  have 


been  regulated  by  any  fixed  law.  This  use, 
and  even  the  creation  of  the  words  with  a 
Semitic  form,  seem  to  have  been  left  more  or 
less  free.  Sometimes  it  is  the  Persian  word 
which  is  employed,  sometimes  it  is  its  Aram- 
ean equivalent ;  often  the  one  and  the  other 
are  in  one  and  the  same  phrase.  We  shall 
see  farther  on  some  examples  of  these  differ- 
ent cases. 

When  the  decipherment  and  comprehension 
of  a  considerable  number  of  Pahlavi  frag- 
ments had  been  accomplished,  it  was  sought 
to  ascertain  the  nature  of  this  singular  com- 
pound. It  was  thought  at  first  tliat  there 
was  here  a  Semitic  language  mixed  up  with 
Persian  forms  and  words.  But  it  was  not 
difficult  to  discover  that  all,  or  nearly  all, 
the  suffixes,  the  forms  of  flexion  and  the 
construction  of  the  words  belong  to  the 
Persian  grammar  ;  and  this  prevented  the 
admission  of  anything  but  an  Iranian 
origin. 

As  the  Pahlavi  was  still  taken  for  an  or- 
dinary tongue,  it  was  considered  to  be  a  mix- 
ed idiom,  similar  to  English,  which  is  com- 
posed of  Roman  and  German  elements.  But 
this  error  was  soon  recognised  and  generally 
rejected.  The  freedom  of  choice  between  Ara- 
mean and  Persian  words,  and  the  arbitrary 
substitution  of  the  one  for  the  other,  revealed 
a  conventional  language.  Other  indications 
not  less  clear,  as  well  as  the  testimony  of  some 
oriental  authors,  removed  all  doubts  on  this 
point.     The  examiners  then  went  to  the  op- 


1)  By  this  term,  although  it  is  not  properly  used,  is  meant  the  collection  of  Persian  and 
Aramean  words.     It  probably  had  no  special  name. 

2)  See  my  Manuel  de  la  Imigiie  Pehlevie,  ^-c,   Introd.,  pp.  11,  12. 

Vol..  I,— No.  4.  [49]  Feb.  1887. 


50 


IRANIAN    STUDIES— 


posite  extreme,  and   proceeded  to  maintain 
that  the  Pahlavi  was  purely  and  simply   the 
Persian   of   the   middle  age,  that  Aramean 
words  did  not   figure  there  but  in  form,  and 
that  they  were  only   the  written   represen- 
tations of  Iranian  words,    and   never   read. 
According  to   this  system  a  Pahlavi  phrase 
would  be  represented  thus  : 
Arma  awc^rumque   aeido   Trojae   'o  proins 
ap^  oris  ^ ; 
which  ought  not  to  be  read  thus,  but  as   it 
really  is  : 
Arma  virumque  cano  Trojae  qui  primus  aboris. 

This  opinion  appears  to  have  prevailed  till 
now.  However,  the  learned  dragoman  of  the 
German  Consulate  at  Constantinople,  (whose 
premature  death  is  a  source  of  deep  regret  to 
science).  Dr.  J.  H.  Mordtmann,  maintained 
to  the  last  that  the  Pahlavi  is  a  language  of 
the  Effendis,  that  is  to  say,  a  real  language, 
but  one  created  to  please  the  people  of  the 
higher  classes,  to  place  them  above  the  vul- 
gar, and  thus  to  be  unintelligible  to  the 
latter.  The  question  actually  stands  at  this 
point  at  present. 

Since  the  demise  of  Dr.  Mordtmann, 
his  opinion  has  been  without  a  defender  ;  it 
appears  generally  to  be  admitted  that  the  Se- 
mitic portion  of  the  Pahlavi  has  never  been 
used  except  for  writing,  and  that  no  word  of 
this  description  was  ever  pronounced. 

This  opinion  can  boast  in  its  favour  the 
names  of  savants  of  superior  authority  to  all 
others — Spiegel  and  Noldeke.  It  rules  at 
present,  and  it  appears  rash  not  to  range 
oneself  determinedly  on  its  side.  And  yet 
there  remain  in  our  minds  a  good  many  doubts 
and  difficulties  whose  solution  has  not  been 
given.  We  shall  set  these  forth  fully,  what- 
ever may  be  our  fate,  and  we  hope,  in  submit- 
ting them  to  the  judgment  of  our  learned  col- 
leagues, to  call  forth  a  definite  solution  of  this 
important  problem. 

Let  us  first  put  the  question  distinctly.  It 
is  certain  that  at  a  particular  epoch  the 
Huzvaresh  did  not  serve  for  any  other  purpose 


than  reading,  and  that  the  Pahlavi  had  the 
character  which  Spiegel  and  Noldeke  attribut- 
ed to  it.  That  appears  incontestable.  But 
it  remains  to  be  discovered  if  this  character 
existed  at  its  origin,  if  the  first  authors  of  the 
Pallia vi  system,  the  first  who  thought  of  em- 
ploying collaterally  with  Persian  words,  cer- 
tain Aramean  words  and  radicals,  did  not  take 
these  last  for  simple  representative  signs,  en- 
tirely despoiled  of  their  own  value. 

To  render  the  discussion  clearer,  and  to  give 
it  a  palpable  basis,  let  us  expose  and  analyse 
two  or  three  Pahlavi  phrases  taken  from  the 
more  ancient  monuments  of  the  language. 
We  shall  choose  for  this  purpose  the  legend 
upon  a  coin  of  a  Cilician  satrap,  an  inscription 
of  the  first  Sassanian  king,  and  a  fragment  of 
theZend  orPalilavi  commentary  on  the  Avesta. 
The  words,  or  parts  of  the  Aramean  words, 
are  written  in  italics.  We  translate  them  as 
types  in  Latin-Greek,  the  Greek  representing 
the  Aramean. 

1.  The  Satrap  coin. 

Mizdi  zt  val  Abd  Zoharan  Khalk. 
misthos  qui  pro  Abdou  Zoarou. 

2.  Sassanide  Inscription. 

Patkali  denman  bagi  Artakhashar  malksm 
mailed  airan  minucetri  men  Yazat^  barman 
bagi  Papeke  malkd. 

Imago  tavie  divi  A.  hasilevim  basiletiSj  Er^ni 
celestis-originis  apo  deo  huios  divi  papeki 
basileos. 

3.  Verse  from  the  Avesta.    Vendidad,  Farg. 

V.  §  1. 

Gabrd  aitun  bara  vitirit  mehim  yini  zaJc  zo- 
far  rostak  (aigh  zofar  men  rostak  ;  ait  (?) 
mano  rostak  yemlalunit)  zak  murfi  vazit  men 
zak  biland  gir  avo  zak  zofar  rostak.  Mehim 
%ak\iQ\\XT^vashta  unit  valmanvo^idtk  anshota. 
— An^r  onto  apo  transit  (moritur)  hupei'  en 
tint,  saltii  collis  (touf  esti  fauces  ek  monte  ; 
sunt  (?)  hoi  collem  legouMnt.  tis  avis  epi  it 
ai^o  autou  alto  colle  ad  auton  saltum.  Huper 
touto  corpore  pro  esthiit  ho  mortui  anthropou. 
Let  us  specially  analyse  this  passage. 
We  find  there  anAramean  noun  subject,  then 


3)  First  ver^e  of  the  uEne%d  written  in  Latin-Greek, 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OP  THE  PAHLAVI. 


61 


a  Persian  noun  witli  an  Aramean  prefix,  a 
preposition  composed  of  two  Aramean  terms 
rendering  a  simple  Persian  term,  an  Aramean 
pronoun  determining  a  Persian  noun  ob- 
jective, having  itself  an  objective  of  the  same 
nature.  The  parenthesis  which  follows  ex- 
plaining the  two  last  words,  contains  a  Semitic 
adverb  and  two  Persian  words  bound  between 
them  by  a  Semitic  preposition,  then  a  doubt- 
ful word,  a  Semitic  pronoun,  a  Persian  noun, 
and  at  the  end  an  Aramean  verb.  The  an- 
alysis could  be  easily  continued. 

Here  is  certainly  the  most  singular  mixture 
of  words  that  can  be  conceived.  And  all  this 
should  be  read  as  if  there  were  nothing  in  it 
but  Persian  words!  Just  as  if  Greek  words 
ought  to  be  pronounced  as  if  their  Latin 
equivalents  were  written  only!  There  is  here, 
one  cannot  deny,  a  very  extraordinary  fact. 
We  know  that  in  many  countries  there  are 
some  ordinary  or  artificial  languages  which 
present  a  mixture  of  heterogeneous  elements 
of  one  and  the  same  kind,  although  different 
from  various  points  of  view.  The  Urdu,  the 
English,  the  pidgin-English,  have  something 
in  common.  But  a  hybrid  dialect,  with  words 
intended  to  be  spoken,  some  as  they  were  writ- 
ten, others  in  quite  a  different  manner,  is  not- 
withstanding what  we  have  said,  as  we  shall 
see  further  on,  a  phenomenon  unexampled  in 
history.  A  fact  unique  of  its  kind,  is  not  to 
be  rejected  for  that  alone ;  but  in  order  that  it 
should  be  accepted,  while  its  awkwardness 
renders  it  unlikely,  there  must  be  grave  reasons 
and  serious  proofs.  Can  we  imagine  an 
Austrian  author  writing  first  a  German  word, 
and  following  it  with  a  Hungarian  word  writ- 
ten in  every  letter,  but  only  intended  to  repres- 
ent its  German  synonym,  which  alone  ought 
to  be  read  ?  Yet  that  is  the  very  case  which 
is  supposed  to  exist  here. 

The  scholars  who  have  adopted  this  ex- 
planation, have  been  drawn  naturally  to  it 
by  reasons  which  have  appeared  to  them  suff- 
icient. i>We  have  then  first  to  examine  the 
value  of  these  motives,  then  to  set  forth  the 
fact  which  makes  us  incline  towards  a  differ- 
ent opinion.     The  arguments  which  are  ad- 


duced for  the  figurative  use  of  Semitic  words 
may  be  resumed  and  arranged  under  two 
heads,  the  irregularity  of  the  expressions 
which  are  apparently  Aramean,  and  the  testi- 
mony of  Orientals.  Let  us  examine  each 
of  them  successively. 

1.  The  irregularities  which  are  of  principal 
moment  are  those  presented  by  the  title  taken 
by  theArsicidan  and  Sassanian  kings — iMalk- 
dnmalkd,  king  of  kings.  We  find,  in  fact,  in 
this  expression  two  Semitic  words  construed 
according  to  the  rules  of  Persian  syntax. 
Further,  the  first  is  formed  of  an  Aramean 
radical  and  a  Persian  suffix  indicating  the 
plural;  the  second  is  purely  Semitic,  but  it  has 
a  form  which  the  genius  of  Aramean  does 
not  allow;  it  is  in  the  emphatic  state  when 
it  ought  to  be  in  the  construct  state  as  gov- 
erning the  genitive  Malkdn.  The  t^rms  have 
the  impossible  sense  of  "  a  king  of  kings." 
Now,  it  is  declared,  it  cannot  be  admitted  that 
words  containing  such  gross  faults  have  ever 
been  pronounced.  These  scholars  conclude  from 
this  that  they  serve  only  as  indicators,  and 
that  in  reading,  Iranian  equivalents  were  sub- 
tituted  for  them. 

This  argument,  we  frankly  avow,  in  no 
way  convinces  us.  Let  us  admit,  without 
reserve,  the  existence  of  the  grammatical  er- 
rors which  are  pointed  out;  we  draw  from  them 
the  diametrically  opposite  conclusion. 

If  such  gross  barbarisms  could  not  be  uttered 
by  the  lips  of  an  educated  man,  there  is  much 
more  reason  that  they  should  be  excluded 
from  his  writing.  Verba  volant^  acripta  man- 
ent.  The  Sassanian  kings  would  have 
blushed  to  employ  these  expressions  in  the 
fleeting  act  of  speech,  and  tliey  would  not 
have  hesitated  to  engrave  them  in  iron  and 
on  the  rocks,  and  to  spread  through  the  world 
coins  stamped  with  this  seal  of  ignorance, 
which  would  expose  tliom  to  the  laughter  of 
the  world,  especially  of  their  neighbours  and 
Semitic  subjects  !    This  is  not  probable. 

These  scholars  would  perhaps  reply  that 
the  use  of  the  term^  Mallcdn  malkd  is 
justified  by  their  being  imitated  from  the 
Persian  words  Shahdn  Shah,  and  that  the  a  in 


62 


IRANIAN     STUDIES — 


malkd  is  in  fact  only  the  final  of  shah.  Tliis 
would  seem  to  us  quite  useless.  This  justifi- 
cation would  have  some  value  if  Malkdn  mal- 
kd were  the  only  expr.ssion  of  this  kind.  Now 
tjiis  construction  is  to  be  found  at  every  step 
in  the  Pahlavi  books,  (e.  g.,  ahrubdn  rubdn, 
darvanddnpatfras,  &c.),  and  many  Huzvaresh 
words  have  the  form  in  d  (ah)  of  the  em- 
phatic state,  while  there  is  no  Persian  word 
in  ah  to  correspond  ;  e.  g.,  gabrd  (Pers.  mart) 
man  ;  lalbd {Vers. sag)  dog;  matd  (Pers.  dih) 
country,  &c.  Indeed,  if  this  supposition  were 
true,  it  would  necessitate  Malkahdn  malkd 
like  Sh/hdn  s/iah^  and  not  Malkdn  malkd  ; 
therefore  the  whole  explanation  falls  to  the 
ground.  We  shall  see,  besides,  farther  on, 
how  the  title  Malkdn  malkd  was  formed. 

And  even  if  we  were  to  put  this  considera- 
tion aside,  the  reasoning  would  not  be  more 
solid,  for  the  expression  Malkdn  malkd  has 
nothing  of  the  character  they  attribute  to  it, 
and  is  not  faulty,  as  they  assert.  It  is,  on 
the  contrary,  easily  explained  by  a  constant 
and  universal  fact,  and  it  is  formed  according 
to  the  process  followed  by  all  those  nations 
who  borrow  words  from  other  peoples.  Where- 
ever  foreign  words  are  introduced  into  a  lan- 
guage, they  are  so  in  the  fashion  and  accord- 
ing to  the  genius  of  the  people  who  appro- 
priate them,  whether  it  be  to  make  a  super- 
ficial and  transitory  use  of  them,  or  to  incor- 
porate them  into  their  vocabulary. 

Let  us  take  German  as  an  illustration.  We 
find  there  a  large  number  of  words  taken  from 
Latin  or  even  French.  Now  in  none  of  these 
borrowings  is  there  any  account  taken  of  the 
laws  of  these  languages  ;  nearly  all  violate 
openly  the  rules  of  orthography  and  gram- 
mar, both  Latin  and  French.  Let  us  recall 
only  such  words  as  theater,  medizin,  Uteratar, 
Cur,  notiz,  mamer,  passagier,  officier,  adjut- 
ant, umversitdt;  spital,  mediziniren,  kritisir- 
en,  privat  dozent.  Religions  lehrer,  soldaten, 
memoiren,  realien,  personalien,  Italien,  and 
a  hundred  others  like  them,  and  we  shall  see 
how  German  does  not  in  the  least  regard  the 
orthography,  flexions,  or  rules  of  construction, 
either  French  or  Latin.    Let  us  now  consider 


again,  and  separately,  the  two  Pahlavi  terms. 

1.  Malkdn.  While  even  admitting  that 
the  suffix  dn  may  be  of  Persian  origin,  we 
can  find  in  tliis  word  nothing  extraordinary  or 
Irregular.  It  is  the  exact  counterpart  of  sol- 
daten, realien,  personalien.  The  first,  like 
all  the  other  three,  is  formed  by  an  exotic  ra- 
dical (malk-,  soldat-,  reali-,  personali-,)  and 
by  a  plural  suffix  in  use  among  the  people 
borrowing  ;  dn  corresponds  exactly  to  en  in 
German.  We  have,  then,  this  parallelism  : 

Malk  -  an 
soldat  -  en 
reali  -  en,     &c. 
Thus  the  form  Malkdn  is  perfectly  normal ; 
let  us  proceed. 

2.  Malkd.  The  fault  we  find  in  this  word 
is  that  it  is  in  the  emphatic  state,  that  is  to 
say,  as  isolated  and  determined,  although  it 
ought  to  be  in  the  construct  case,  as  govern- 
ing a  genitive.  There  is  in  this  argument 
a  sort  of  appreciation  which  we  do  not 
share.  But,  to  be  clearer,  let  us  divide 
our  observations. 

a.  First,  Malkdn  malkd  does  not  signify 
"a  king  of  kings,"  but  "  the  king  of  kings"— 
(see  hereafter.) 

b.  Besides,  we  cannot  be  certain  that  the 
Persians  observed  the  distinctions  and  rules 
of  the  three  states  of  Aramean  nouns.  That 
would  be  an  unheard-of  fact.  As  we  have 
remarked  above,  all  people  who  appropriate  an 
exotic  expression  transform  it  and  employ  it 
according  to  their  own  system,  and  without 
regard  to  any  foreign  custom. 

German,  e.  g,,  which  borrows  from  Latin 
some  words  such  as,  genius,  ordinarius,  gym- 
nasium ;  does  it  trouble  itself  in  the  least  with 
their  different  forms  ?  Certainly  not  ;  but  it 
says, —  der  genius,  des  genius,  dem  genius, 
die,  den  genien  ;  absolutely  as  if  no  Latin 
declension  existed.  Of  the  French  m£moires 
it  makes  Memoiren',  of  belles  lettres  it  makes 
Bellettristik.  It  says  Religions-,  Unlversi_ 
tats  lehrer,  as  if  religion  and  universitdt 
were  German  words.  And  ye  it  can  be 
demanded  that  the  Persians  should  have 
observed  the  distinction,  more  or  less  subtle, 


TflE  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OF    THE  I'AHLAVI. 


5;^ 


of  the  nominal  states,  of  which  their  grammar 
has  no  suspicion,  and  this  contrary  to  the 
usages  of  all  peoples ! 

3.  a.  This  is  much  less  justified,  inasmuch 
as  the  Arameans  themselves  commenced  to 
lose  the  feeling  of  these  differences,  and  to 
confound  the  various  cases  of  the  nouns. 
Many  words,  in  Chaldea  as  in  Syria,  have 
lost  the  form  of  the  absolute  case,  and  use 

i>        7 

the  emphatic  in  both  cases.  These  are  ]3oZ 
ball,  )Za^  dead,  )^^^  demon,  ]L^] 
servant.  In  many  instances,  the  two  cases 
are  used  indifferently.  We  find  some  words 
in  the  emphatic  with  the  indefinite  pronoun 
(Jehad),  '  quidam,'  and  even  without  that 
pronoun,  but  with  the  same  sense. 

Ex.  ^I^A.  ^i:c  and]..^A.  JiO    e    suh'to, 

Luke  ii.  ISandxiii.  7.  ^  )j.Ci^=  auOpw-n-os 
Tis,  Luke  xix.  12. 

The  value  of  the  emphatic  is  lost  at  tliat 
point  where  the  demonstrative  oai  is  added 
to  convey  the  force  of  the  article. 

Ex.  1^.^  ooi^S^'locutusestmutus,' 
iXd\r](rev  6  kojc^o?,  Matth.  ix.  33. 

But  more  than  that ;  they  use  the  emphatic 
instead  of  the  construct  case,  by  prefixing  the 
particle  "7j  ^  to  the  word  governed,       Ex.  : 

K^V£,  ] -a]  and  sometimes  even  without 
hat  particle.      See  Esther  i.  9. 

h.  The  same  phenomena  show  themseh-es  in 
Mandasan  with  still  greater  frequency.  The 
distinction  of  the  cases  is  yet  more  effaced. 
The  emphatic  oftener  replaces  tlie  construct 
case  before  the  governed  word ;  it  sometimes 
even  designates  the  attribute  or  tlie  objective 
of  an  adjective.  E.  g.,  \^''T\  rvi'i^  the  good 
fortune  of  life,  ^^m  "I'^Jli^^  abnnndinginlife. 
(See  Th.  Noldeke,  Ueber  die  Mundart  der 
Mandaeer,  pp.  69-70). 

It  is  to  be  noted  tliat  the,  Manda\an  liad 
its  seat  nearer  the  Iranian  countries  than  the 
other  known  Aramean  dialects. 

c.  As  soon  as  the  Persians  adopted  Iho 
construction  Malkdn  malkd,  (and  tliat  it 
ou^ht  to  be,  we  shall  see  in  a  moment,)  there 


could  be  no  longer  any  question  of  the  con- 
struct case  for  the  second  word;  tlie  omjiliatic 
agrees  with  it  best,  as  it  is  use<l  in  a  deter- 
mined sense.  The  thing  is  so  nmdi  the 
clearer  because  these  terms  are  often  procoded 
by  the  particle  t  which  is,  without  contradic- 
tion, a  determinative. 

d.  The  construction  of  these  words  cannot 
be  other  than  Iranian  ;  that  is  the  result  of 
our  first  observation.  Thus  German,  when 
it  would  render  the  idea  contained  in  the  wonls 
"maniere"  and  "  soldat"  takes  the  two  French 
words  "maniere"  and  "soldat."  It  mutilates 
the  former  to  adapt  its  elements  to  its  own 
phonesis,  and  thus  makes  from  it  manij- 
(manier);  to  the  latter  it  adds  the  suffix  en 
of  the  German  plural;  then  placing  two  terms 
in  the  order  required  by  the  Gennan  cf)n- 
struction,  it  makes  up  the  compound  f>o!daten 
manier.  Some  expressions,  such  as  'Religions 
lehrer'  present  phenomena  of  the  same  kimi. 

e.  All,  then,  is  natural,  all  is  normal  in 
the  formula  of  the  royal  title  of  the 
Sassanians.  Its  mode  of  formation  will  point 
out  to  us  its  nature.  The  Parthian  kings  who 
took  it  did  not  quite  at  first  entitle  them- 
selves malkdn  malkd  or  !<hahdn  shah]  they 
began  with  the  simple  qualification  malkd, 
king,  in  the  emjyhatic  state,  and  as  that  was 
more  natural  to  foreigners,  it  was  first  Mit- 
radat  malkd,  Valgash  i  malkd ;  the  same  also, 
with  the  Aramean  term  zi,  zi  Malkd,  6  jSaa-i- 
X€vs,  Mitradat  king,  Valgash  (  Vologes  i),  the 
king,  as  they  had  had  Apcra/x>;%/SaoriA6vs  before 
MLOpiSaTTj^;  /Sao-iXcvs  ^acnXewv.  Then  the  title, 
completing  itself,  became  i  Malkdn  malkd, 
the  king  of  kings,  as  that  ought  U)  be;  for  a 
Persian  could  not  have  dreamed  of  changing 
the  form  of  the  word  malkd  to  follow  the  laws 
of  the  Aramean  grammar,  which,  besides  had 
already  fallen  \\\U)  desuetude. 

We  might  remark  here,  that  the  first  time 
this  title  appears  is  in  the  fonn  malktn  mal- 
kd, and  not  ma/^vi/?.. Valgash  i  Akhshak  Mai- 
kin  malkd.  The  question  is  not  then  of  a 
Semitic  radical  uultod  t>  an  Iranian  suffix, 
lint  of  a  word  ])urcly  and  exclusively  Semitic 
which  could  not  be  copied  over  a  Persian  word 


54 


BAP.\  LON^IAN    NOTES. 


only  intended  to  be  pronounced.    But  we  are      above   all  to  whom   they    refer,    and  whom 
sure  enough  on  this  point.      Let  us  pass  on      we  shall  specially  discuss, 
to  the  evidence  of  Orientals.     There  me  two  C.  de  Harlez. 

[To  he  continued.'] 


I.  Gaddas,  an  early  Babylonian  king. 
The  tablet  84-2-11,  178  is  one  of  pecuhar 
interest.  It  is  apparently  an  address  by  a 
king  named  Gaddas  (j  g^^  >rgy  Jjy  Ga-ad- 
das)  "to  the  bright  day  {((rta  umu  naviri),  the 
divine  bull  of  Ilan(,->f  iz]^  ^>f  ^^D.P.  H<xr 
tlan^),  the  three  lords."  Gaddas  calls  him- 
self "  king  of  the  four  regions  (sar  hiprdtu 
drbd),  king  of  Sumer  and  Akkad,  and  king 
of  <<<  <«  ^>^yy ."  The  last  two  lines  of  the 
obverse  seem  to  speak  of  some  misfortune 
which  befel  this  last-named  land  or  city,  and 
the  reverse  is  inscribed  with  a  kind  of  lamen- 
tation, in  Sumerian  and  Babjdonian,  as  fol- 
lows : — 

*'Woe,  woe!  heart  of  (my)  lieart!  zinzigi 
zingi  f  my  city  has  no  judge. 
Woe,  woe!  heart  of  (my)  heart!  kiniJi  kinili  I 
in  my  city  Nippu^  there  is  no  judge." 

This  lamentation  is  followed  by  two  short 
Hnes  of  doubtful  meaning,  the  last  reading 
ana  pijn  sadir,  and  apparently  meaning, 
literally,  "  to  mouth  -  mouth  written"—  that 
is  :  "Written  down  according  to  the  po- 
pular tradition."  The  doubtful  word  is 
pipi,  which  looks  like  a  reduplicate  form  of 
the  word  ^m  "  mouth"—"  written  down  at 
mouth  and  mouth" — compare  the  pbrase  "  at 
his  mouth." 

In  the  word  ^^^  ^^^  ^'^TT  ^^  have  appar- 
ently one  of  the  forms  of  the  name  of  the  city 
Babylon,  for,  as  has  been  pointed  out  by  Dr. 
Jensen,  and  as  we  learn  also  from  pi.  37 
of  Vol.  V.  of  the  W.  A.  I.,  1.  43,  tbe  char- 
acter ^^^  has  sometimes  the  value  of  ba,  be- 
sides that  of  sin  and  e§.  This  group  is  there- 
fore undoubtedly  to  be  read  Babalam,  a  form 
which  implies,  as  has  already  been  supposed 
by  some  scholars,  that  the  more  common  form 


BABYLONIAN  NOTES. 

BabiH,  ("  gate  of  God"),  which  is  also  often 
written  Bahilam,  is  a  folk-etymology  origin- 
ating with  the  Babylonians  themselves,  and 
which  was  translated  into  Akkadian  under 
the  form  of  Ka-dingira,  also  meaning  "  gate 
of  God."  The  Hebrew  explanation  of  i\\Q 
word  as  meaning  "  confusion"  lias,  therefore, 
great  probability — for  the  confusion  of  tongues 
was  indeed  great  there  in  Babylon,  A  Baby- 
lonianian,  however,  would  probably  have  pre- 
ferred (supposing  that  he  had  not  chosen  the 
etymology  Bdb-ilt,  "  gate  of  God)  to  derive 
the  name  Babalam  from  the  Babylonian  ba- 
baln,  to  bring,"  rather  than  from  77I  "  to 
confuse." 

Thus,  from  a  small  fragment,  with  no 
more  than  12  Hnes  of  writing,  do  we  get  rp- 
vealed  to  us  two  facts  of  early  Babylonian 
history — the  name  of  an  ancient  and  hitherto- 
unknown  king,  and  a  most  interesting  vari- 
ant for  the  name  of  Babylon. 

II.  Tarzia,  "king  of  Babylon 
AND  Countries." 
The  tablet  82-9-18,  360a,  Avhicli  is  a  re- 
ceipt for  a  certain  amount  of  tithe  for  the 
month  Marcheswan  (October),  paid  to  Tnk's- 
Gula,  (apparently  a  receiver  of  tithes  at  Sij  ar 
or  Sepbarvaim),  is  dated  "the  11th  day  of 
Marcheswan,  in  the  first  year  of  Tarzia,  kiiiij 
of  Babylon  and  countries,"  (  ^|>-    ^Yy    ^ 

^  ^i^ly  -^  K  ^"^  Arcih  mmiui, iimii  H-tin- 
f'si'it,  sattu  Utin,  Tar-%i-ia,  sar  BdhUi  u 
mdtdti).  This  Tarzia  is  apparently  a  variant 
for  the  more  common  Barzw,  (y  *^  jp]L-g^y|r) 
the  Babylonian  form  of  the  well-known 
name    Bardes    or     Smerdis.  Wlictbor, 

however,  this  variant  is  to  bo  looked  upon  ns 
a  slip  of  the  pen  on  the  ]iart  of  the  scribe,  or 


1)  For  an  explanation  of  this  expression,  see  below.     2)  Or,  "in  the  city  Yanibbu." 


THE   BABYLON liN    IDEA   01 


i;U   SOUL. 


55 


nssonio  ]iof'nHnntv  in  ])ronniiciatiori,  is  un- 
certain. The  Persian  form  is  Bard'h/a,  tif  ^T 
^TT  n  T^*"  Jh(-r-d^-(-ya —  a  form  wliich  gives 
no  indication  of  tlie  existence  of  a  dental. 
It  is,  liowever,  not  unlikely,  that  tliere  was 
some  suspicion  of  a  dental  or  sibilant  sound 
in  the  Babylonian  pronunciation  of  the  name, 
which  would  account  for  the  strange  form 
Tarzia,  and,  at  the  same  time,  for  the  Sm 
which  replaces  the  B  in  tlie  Greek  form  Smer- 
dis.  It  is  hardly  likely  that  this  Tarzia  is 
any  other  than  Bardes,  notwithstanding  that 
the  reading  Hcizzm  is  also  possible. 

III.  The  Deities  Ilan  and   Har. 

In  the  note  printed  above,  upon  the  in- 
scription of  king  Gaddas,  I  have  said  that  the 
inscription  is  dedicated  by  him  "  to  the  bright 
day,  the  divine  bull  of  Ilan,  th ;  three  lords,' ' 

-^  ^V  -^  -^  -\'-\>-\-  A  few 
remarks  upon  those  expressions  may  not  be 
altogether  uninteresting. 

The  important  text  for  the  explanation  of 
this  rather  difficult  half-hne  is  W.  A.  I.  III., 
pi.  68,  No.  2.  We  there  find  that  ^>f  jrfA 
pronounced  ^a?-,  is  the  messenger  of  Bar-tabba 

( £35  Ul>\]A  T?  -+  +  -  --T  ^m 

D,  P.    Kingia  D.  P.  £artabba-Ht).      Bar- 


tiihha  means  "double,"  and  tlierofore  we  fin^^ 
four   lines    lower   down  the  characters  IJ.P, 
Bar-tahha  explained  by    ilu  kilaUan,   "the 
doul)legod"-    an   explanation   wliicli   is  aj)- 
plied  both  to  ,^>f  yy  If  ^,  D.  P.  Mimih,\ 
also  moaning  "double"  andto.->]f-  ^yyr  c:^i^! 
a      group     to     wlii.'h     the      pnumnciation 
of  Minabi    seems    to    have    l)een   given    as 
well.  From  this  same  text  we  learn,  moreover, 
that  the  names  of  the  two   persons   of  this 
double  divinity,  were  Birdn  and  &irrapu,,  and 
that  the  characters  .->]f-  >-»Jf-  are  to   }je  pro- 
nounced IJan  "the  two  gods"   (dual   of  Vn 
"god"),  a    formation  like  hilallan '' ih&  two 
sides"  (a  word  whose  true  meaning  was  first 
treated  of  by  Dr  Jensen).    This  dual  in  -«;?, 
of  which  the  dual  in  a  is  apparently  only  an 
abbreviation  (compare  saptan  and  snpta,  "the 
two  lips")  is  most  interesting  —  only  less  so 
indeed,  then   the  fact  of   the   existence,   in 
Babylonian  mythology,  of  the  trinity  com- 
posed of  Birdu,  Sarrapu,  and  their  messenger 
Ifw,   which,    in  the  ext  of  Gaddas  noticed 
above,  are  apparently  designated  by  the  char- 
acter for  lord   (*^Jj^)    repeated  three  times. 
Theo.  G.  Pinches. 


THE  BABYLONIAN  IDEA 
Dr.  W.  Hayes  Ward,  writing  recently  on 
the  scenes  depicted  on  the  Babylonian 
cylindrical  seals,  has  expressed  tiie  opinion 
that  these  are  concerned  somewhat  exten- 
sively with  the  introduction  of  the  souls  of 
deceased  persons  to  one  or  other  of  the 
gods,  or  with  other  circumstances  in  the 
passage  of  the  souls  of  the  dead  to  the  un- 
seen world.  ^  The  generalisation  which 
Dr.  Ward  has  suggested  is  probably  too 
wide  ;  but  there  is  at  least  one  seal  in  his 
collection  of  which  it  may  be  said  with 


OF  A  DISEMBODIED  SOUL. 
some  confidence  that  it  does  depict  the  dis- 
embodied soul  as  brought  up  for  judgment 
in  the  lower  world.-  This  seal  Dr.  Ward 
describes  as  "  of  green  jasper,  and  with  the 
concave  face  of  the  older  period,"  and  as 
representing  a  "  fignre,  half-man  and  half- 
bird,  being  led  to  the  god  by  the  figure  in 
front  of  him,  and  pushed  on  by  the  figure 
behind.  The  rear,  and  fourth  standing 
figure,  instead  of  lifting  his  empty  arms, 
carries  a  victim  for  sacrifice.  The  god  is 
distinguished  by  streams  flowing  from  hig 


1)  See  Soibner's  Magazine^  January,  art.   "The  Babylonian  ►'ileals." 

2)  This  is  the  ninth  of  twenty-five  figures  with  which  Dr.  Ward's  article  is  illustrated, 
and  it  represents  a  seal  in  Dr.  Ward's  collection  not  previously  publishe:!.  The  sketch 
accompaning  the  present  article  (Fig.  1)  will  iiivesome  general  idea  of  the  scene  depicted 
on  the  seal.  The  presiding  deity  tr  jud^e,  however,  is  shown  at  the  left,  instead  of  the 
riaht,  to  enfible  the  effect  of  the  scene  to  be  more  easily  discerned. 


56 


THE  BABYLONIAN   IDEA   OF   A  DISEMBODIED  SOUL 


abdomen,  while  near  them  are  several  fishes 
to  indicate  that  it  is  water  which  is  de- 
lineated. The  god  would  seem  to  be  Hea, 
deity  of  the  waters  of  the  lower  world. 
There  is  no  crescent  to  indicate  the  moon- 
god.  The  reader  will  imagine  the  seated 
god  repeated  at  left  of  figure."^  With 
regard  to  the  *^  half-man  and  half-bird," 
with  which  we  are  at  present  chiefly  con- 
cerned, Dr.  Ward  adds,  "It  would  seem 
as  if  for  some  offence  the  culprit  was  being 
changed  into  a  bird."  This  last  statement 
must  be  regarded,  however,  as  inad- 
missible. The  soul  is  not  being  changed 
into  a  bird  as  a  punishment  for  its  sins. 
There  is  evidence  pointing  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  Babylonians  regarded  all  souls 
as  possessing,  when  disembodied,  a  semi- 
birdlike  character — a  conception  agreeing, 
indeed,  substantially  with  what  is  to  be 
seen  on  Egyptian  paintings — and  it  is  this 
conception  which  is  portrayed  on  the  seal. 
In  proof  of  the  assertion  just  made  the 
reader  may  be  referred  to  the  tenth  line  in 
the  "  Descent  of  Ishtar  ": — 

m  £T  £y  <En  ^^t  ^m  -tt<t  ^m  ^ 

LAB  -  SU  -  MA  KIMA   IS  -  SU  -  RI    SU  -  BAT 

clothed  also,      like        birds,     [in]  a  dress 

GAP  -VI, 

of  feathers. 
Here  the  quasi-birdlike  character  of  the 
soul  comes  out  with  sufiicient  clearness. 
Dr.  Ward's  seal,  then,  may  be  taken  as  re- 
presenting the  disembodied  soul  as  brought 
up  unwillingly  for  judgment  before  the 
Babylonian  Minos.  The  attendant  next 
to  the  judge  is  apparently  listening  to  the 
delivery  of  the  judgment,  which  would 
seem  to  include  a  castigation  with  a  stick 
or  similar  instrument  in  the  hand  of  the 
attendant,  and  behind  the  back  of  the  un- 
fortunate soul.  How  severe  is  the  sentence 
is  seen   from  the  shrinking   away  of  the 


soul,  and  from  the  position  of  its  hands. 

The  Babylonian  conception  of  human 
immortality  has  an  important  relation  to 
the  question,  formerly  a  good  deal  dis- 
puted, as  to  the  belief  of  the  Hebrews  in 
earlier  times  concerning  a  future  retribu- 
tion. But,  apart  from  this  general  refer- 
ence, there  is  one  obscure  passage  of  the 
Old  Testament  on  which  Dr.  Ward's  seal 
sheds  a  new  and  unexpected  light.  This 
passage  is  Job  xxvi.,  5.  The  translators 
of  the  Authorised  Version  would  seem  to 
have  been  unable  to  get  any  consistent 
sense  out  of  the  passage,  for  they  give  the 
translation — "  Dead  [things]  are  formed 
from  under  the  waters  and  the  inhabitants 
thereof."  This  the  Revisers  have  certainly 
much  improved,  for  they  render — 
"  They  that  are  deceased  tremble 

Beneath  the  waters  and  the  inhabitants  thereof. " 

But  perhaps  the  sense  would  be  given  a 
little  more  forcibly  as  "The  shades  (ha- 
repkaim)  writhe  {Yecholalu)  beneath  the 
waters  and  the  inhabitants  thereof."  It 
would  seem  not  unlikely  that  the  author 
of  the  Book  of  Job  had  in  view,  when  he 
wrote  this  verse,  just  such  a  scene  as  that 
depicted  on  Dr.  Ward's  seal,  where  the 
judgment  is  taking  place  *' beneath  the 
waters,"  whose  "  inhabitants  "  are  repre- 
sented by  the  fishes.  The  "  writhing,"  or 
"trembling"  is  entirely  suitable  to  the 
unhappy  position  of  the  soul  shrinking 
from  the  judge,  and  about  to  receive  severe 
punishment. 

Several  seals  more  or  less  analogous 
appear  to  exist  in  different  collections, 
though  the  British  Museum  does  not  seem 
to  possess  one.  Cullimore,  in  his  Oriental 
Cylinders,  a  work  unfortunately  never  com- 
pleted, depicted  a  seal  from  the  Imperial 
Collection  at  Vienna,  which  is  worth  com- 
paring with  that  of  Dr.  Ward.^  The 
scene  is  essentially  the  same,  tliough  some 


3)  In  Fig.  1,  as  we  have  said,  it  has  been  attempted  to  remedy  the  defect  of  Dr. 
Ward's  figure. 

4)  The  translation  is  by  Mr.  Pinches,  who  has  also  kindly  transcribed  the  text. 

5)  This  seal  is  pumbered  147  in  Cullimore;  see  Fig.  2  in  the  accompanying  plate, 


THE   BABYLONIAN   IDEA   OF  A  DISEMBODIED   SOUL. 


57 


of  the  accessories  are  varied.  The  minister 
of  justice  bears  now  a  drawn  sword;  with 
which,  no  doubt,  the  punishment  adjudged 
is  to  be  inflicted.  There  is,  however,  no 
clear  indication  that  the  scene  is  laid 
beneath  the  waters ;  but  the  water  ap- 
parently spouting  up  from  behind  the 
judge  is  probably  to  be  connected  with 
originally  sub-aqueous  characteristics. 

There  is  in  the  British  Museum  a  very 
interesting  seal,  on  which  the  semi-bird- 
like character  of  the  soul,  according  to  the 
Babylonian  conception,  throws  an  im- 
portant light.'''  This  seal  represents,  I 
have  no  doubt,  the  nightly  voyage  of  the 
sun  beneath  the  waters,  from  the  place  of 
setting  in  the  west  to  his  eastern  starting 
place.  On  the  tablet  of  the  sun-god  obtained 
by  Mr.  Rassam  from  Abu-habba  (W.  A.  /., 
vol.  V.  pi.  60)  the  sun  is  represented  in 
successive  places  beneath  the  waters,  to 
denote  his  sub-aqueous  jouruey.  But  on 
the  seal  the  representation  is  more 
elaborate,  and  he  is  conveyed  or  escorted 
by  a  spirit  crew  on  a  boat  or  raft.  The 
sun  is  seen  above  the  helmsman.  In 
the  middle  of  the  vessel  are  two  other 
figures,  between  two  masts,  and  above  is, 
as  Mr.  Pinches  points  out,  a  canopy  or 
awning,  needed  apparently  for  protection 
from  the  rays  nimium  propinqui  solis.  It 
may  be  doubted  whether  this  is  not  to  be 
looked  upon  as  a  sort  of  engine  room. 
There  is  something  like  a  bottle,  probably 
in  the  hand  of  the  shorter  figure,  and  there 
is  another  globe  above.  These  may  con- 
tain the  imprisoned  winds  as  a  motive  power 
in  the  absence  of  sails.  One  is  reminded 
of  the  bag  of  winds  presented  to  Ulysses, 
and  which  his  companions  so  unfortunately 
opened.  Beyond  the  canopied  compart- 
ment is  what  would  appear  to  be  the  man 
at  the  bows  on  the  look  out. '' 

In  Dr.  Ward's  article  and  illustrations 


before  alluded  to  there   are  various  other 
matters  of  interest  which   I  cannot  now 
discuss;    but  a  word  must  be  said  with 
regard  to  the  seal  numbered  by  Dr.  Ward 
Fig  20.     Here  we  have  a  priest  or  wor- 
shipper   standing    before    two    altars    or 
pedestals,  one  in  front  of  the  other.     On 
that  in  the  rear  an  animal ,  perhaps  a  dog, 
is  seated.      Immediately  in   front   of   the 
worshipper  is  an  altar,  beiiring  above  it 
what  Dr.  Ward  describes  as  "  an  irregular 
oval  object  not  easy  to  identify."     This 
object  is  clearly,  to   my  mind,   a  phallic 
symbol  or  ashera/i.     Queen  Maachah's  mipt 
letsethj  or  "abonainable  image,"  which  Asa 
cut  down  (I.   Kings,  xv.,   13)   may  very 
well  have  been  just  such  an  object  as  that 
on    the    seal    in    question.     The   British 
Museum  has  a  seal  essentially  analogous, 
though   differing   very   much    in    details. 
Among  these  diff'erences  is  the  fact  that 
the  asherah  approaches  more  nearly  to  a 
cone.     This  seal  has  curiously  indicated  on 
it  the  number  15,*^  connecting  the  objects 
delineated  with  Ishtar  as  goddess  of  love, 
she  being   the   goddess    15,  >-^y  ^,    a 
name  supposed  to  be  connected  with  half 
the  days  of  the  month.     On   the    "oval 
object"  in  Dr.  Ward's  figure   there   is  a 
number  of  marks,   probably   also  fifteen, 
though  from  the  nature  of  the  representa- 
tion this  cannot  be  clearly  made  out.     On 
another  seal  in  the  British  Museum  with 
two  asherahs,  one  surmounted   by  a  star 
and  the  other  by  a  crescent ;  that  bearing 
the  star  probably  had  fifteen  marks  origin- 
ally, though  a  piece  is  now  chipped  ofi'. 
The   other  asherah  under  the  crescent  has 
ten  marks,  still  it  should  be  observed  a 
multiijle  of  five.     It  seems   not  unlikely 
that  there  is  under  these  numerical  indi- 
cations some  principle  at  present  hidden, 
but  which  hereafter  may  come  to  light. 

Thomas  Tyler. 


6)  See  Fig.  3.  ,         .     •      j 

7)  One  is  tempted  to  suggest  that  with  the  shape  of  the  Sun's  vessel,  as  depicted  on 
the  seal,  is  to  be  connected  what  is  said  in  the  Greek  poets  of  the  Sun's  nightly  voyage 
being  performed  in  a  cup.  In  this  voyage,  moreover,  the  sun  appears  to  have  descended 
to  the  depths  of  Oceanus  (Athenaeus,  lib.  xi.  p.  469). 

8)  As  to  the  indication  of  this  number,  I  am  permitted  to  say  that  Mr.  Pinches  agrees 
-yvith  me, 


58  DID   CYRUS   INTRODUCE   WRITING   INTO   INDIA 

DID  CYRUS  INTRODUCE  WRITING  INTO  JNDIA? 

In  the  Lalita  vistara,'^  ch.  x.,  to  the  young  position.     Therefore  the  vexed  question  as 

Bodisattva-    led  to  the  writing-school  lipi-  to  the  date  of  the  work  is  important.    The 

sala,  is  attributed  the  authorship  of  a  list  Sanskrit  text  now  known  is  almost  identical 

of  64  writings.     In  a  recent  translation,^  with  that  which  was  translated  into  Chinese 

the  stat(  ment  runs  thus  :  in  615  A.  D.  under  the  title  of  Fang  kwang 

"Now  Bodhisattva,  taking  up  a  tablet  tatchimngyenklng,  B^jidilditQv  onix\ioT\hQt'd\\ 

made  of  Uragasara  sandal-wood  and  excel-  Rgya-tcher-rol-pa.     The  differences  are  un- 

lent  ink,  with  a  golden  pen  mounted  with  important,    as    for    instance  in    this    case, 

jewels,    thus    addressed    the  tutor  Vigva-  the  list  amounts  to  65    in  these  Chinese 

mitra :  '  Which  is  the  writing,  sir,  which  and  Tibetan   versions.     The  said  Chinese 

you  wish  to  teach  me  ?  version  covers  about  540  pages  of  text.^ 

Is  it  the  Brahmi  writing  1  An  earlier  text  of  the  same  work  had 

or  the  Kharosti  writing  ?  been    previously    translated    three    times 

(and   so   forth    unto    sixty-four    different  into  Chinese,  in  circa  250,  308  and  427  a.d. 

writings)*  under  the  title  of  P'u-yao  king,  bnt  the  first 

Out  of  these  sixty-four  kinds  which  is  it,  and  third  of  these  were   already   lost  in 

sir,  that  you  wish  to  teach  me  1 '"  730  A.d.*'     The  second,  which  is  still  in 

2.  This  complete  list  is  in  itself  valueless  existence,  covers  about  360  pages  of  text, 
for  scientific  purposes,  but  a  few  of  the  namely,  one^hird  less  than  the  version  of 
names  derive  interest  as  far  as  we  can  685  A.D.  in  thd  same  edition  of  the  Bud- 
ascertain  their  precise  reference  to  some  dhist  Tripitaka."  The  third  century®  A.D. 
known  writings,  from  the  date  of  its  com-  would   be    therefore    the   earliest    peiiod 

1  The  Lalita-visita  is  neither  a  poem  nor  a  prose  text.  Mr.  Ph.  Ed.  Foucaux  evaluates 
the  proportion  of  prose  to  three-fifths  of  the  whole  work.  The  other  two-fifths  are  some 
sort  of  gathas,  or  popular  verses  interspersed  with  the  prose  text,  and  always  introduced 
in  support  of  the  latter.  The  distinction  between  prose  and  verse  is  carefully  preserved 
in  the  Chinese  translations. 

2  Gautama  the  Buddha,  also  called  Sa-kyamuni,  i.e.,  the  Monk  of  the  Sakya  family. 

3  By  the  Babu  Bajendra  Lai  Mitra,  in  the  Biblioteca  Indica,  N.S..  No.  473.  Cf,  also 
Ph.  Ed,  Foucaux,  Rgya-Tcher  Rol-pa,  on  develop pemetit  des  yeux  contenant  Thistoire  du 
Bouddha  Cakya-Muni.  traduite  sur  la  version  Tibetaine  du  Bkah  Hgyour  et  revu  sur 
I'original  Sanscrit  (Lalita-vistara),  2  vols.,  Paris,  1847,  4-to ;  vol.  ii.,  pp.  122-123.  Le 
Lalita  Vistara,  traduit  dis  Sanscrit  en  frangais  (in  Annales  dn  Mnsee  Guimet,  vol.  vi., 
1884),  pp.  114-115.  I  have  compared  also  the  list  with  those  of  the  two  Chinese  ver- 
sions, viz.,  in  the  P'ti yao  king,  iii.,  7,  fol.  5,  and  in  the  Fangkwa7igta  tchwang yen  king, 
bk.  iv.,  fol.  6  (edit,  Tripittaka,  Nos.  159,  160),  and  I  have  noticed  the  variants  of  names 
when  important,   marking   them   A  and  B  for  these  two  works — in  my  Beginning  of 

Writing,  ii,,  147,  where  the  list  is  given  in  full  with  commentaries. 

t  All  the  names  given  there  may  be  classified  under  five  heads.  Referring  to 
certain  writings  (1 )  of  importance,  (2)  Of  particular  people  or  countries.  (3)  Of  fabulous 
beings.  (4)  Of  semi-mythical  lands.  (5)  Implying  peculiarities  in  the  configuration  of 
letters  ;  cryptic  or  immaginative  forms.  The  names  of  Brahmi  and  Kharosti  belong  to 
the  first  of  these  classes. 

5  In  the  Japanese  edition  of  the  Chinese  Tripitaka  at  the  India  Office  Library. 

6  Bunyiu  Nanjio,  Catalogue  of  the  Chinese  Tripitaka,  Nos.  159,  160. 

7  M.  E.  Senart,  La  Legende  du  Bouddha,  p.  497,  n.  4,  has  given  an  accurate  summary 
of  this  work,  says  S.  Beale,  IJie  Buddhist  Iripitaka,  p.  18. 

8  That  of  75  A.D.,  which  is  often  lepeated  from  the  late  Stan.  J  alien,  was  a  confusion 
made  by  this  scholai-  with  another  work,    Cf.  I^.  Nanjio,  Catalogue,  col.  380. 


DID   CYRUS   INTRODUCE  WRITING   INTO   INDIA  ? 


59 


which  tlie  Chinese  translations  permit  to 
be  assigned  for  the  composition  of  the 
ground-work  of  tlie  Lalitavistara.  But  it 
is  possible  to  carry  on  our  investigations 
further,  and  the  short  statement  above 
quoted  from  the  list  of  writings  is  an  evi- 
dence of  an  earlier  date,  as  we  shall  see 
presently. 

3.  The  Fa  luan  shu  lin,  a  Chinese  En- 
cyclopaedia of  Extracts  from  the  Tripitaka, 
compiled  in  668  A.D.  by  Tao-shi,  reports  a 
traditional  legend  attributing  the  inven- 
tion of  writing  to  three  individuals  :  1)  Fan 
(or  Brahma),  who  wrote  from  left  to  right; 
2)  Kia-Iu  (or  Kia-lu-she-to  for  Karoshta), 
who  wrote  from  right  to  lefc ,  and  3) 
Tsaiig-hieh  (the  Chaldean  Dungi,  as  I  have 
shown  elsewhere),  who  wrote  from  top  to 
bottom,  and  is  the  legendary  inventor  of 
the  Chinese  characters.  Now  the  Kia-lu 
was  transcribed  variously,^  but  explained 
^y  ^  ff )  i-6-  'ass'  lips'  which  is  the 
meaning  of  Kharostit  which  name  can  be 
easily  recognised  in  the  complete  Chinese 
rendering  Kia-lu-she-ti.  Kharosti  is  the 
name  of  the  man  to  whom  the  legend 
ascribes  the  introduction  of  astronomy  into 
Chaldea,  according  to  Armenian  authori- 
ties, ^o 

All  this  goes  far  to   explain  what    the 


Brahmi  writing,  and  that  of  KharosU, 
above  quoted  from  the  Lalita-vidara^  were 
in  reality. 

i.  From  the  aforesaid  association  of  the 
two  names  of  the  Fan  and  Kia-lu  writings 
on  the  same  footing,  we  may  infer  that 
this  association  belongs  to  the  time  when 
two  writings  were  used  simultaneously  in 
India,  namely,  to  the  time  of  the  Indo- 
Pali,  and  Bactro  -  Pali  alphabets,  their 
respective  directions  from  left  to  right  and 
from  right  to  left,  as  explained  by  the 
Chinese  legend,  support  this  inference, 
which  is  suggestive  in  other  respects. 

5.  In  the  short  preamble  which,  in  the 
later  Chinese  version  of  the  Lalita-vistara^^  ^ 
precedes  the  enumeration  of  the  64  writ- 
ings, P'lirsat  ^  j^>^^  i-6.  Bodhisattva,  is 
made  to  taKe  in  hand  the  tablet  of  red 
sandal  wood  employed  for  the  Tien-shu  or 
Divine  writing,  i.e.  the  Devanagari,  and 
so  far  agrees  with  the  present  Sanskrit 
text.  In  the  older  Chinese  version,  i** 
which  is  that  of  an  earlier  text,  this  pre- 
amble is  somewhat  longer  and  especially 
interesting  for  the  case  in  point.  The 
Fu-sat  takes  in  hand  the  golden  pencil  and 
the  red  sandal  wood  tablet;  then  the  master 
(Vigvamitra)  states  that  there  are  two 
writings,  that  of   Fan^  *  or  Brahma,  and 


9  Chin.  A. :  >f^  g  Kiii-liu  .•  B :  j^  Jl  \^  £  Kiillu-she-ti.  The  first  syllable  is 
also  written  fjg  kia. 

10  The  accuracy  of  the  Chinese  transcription  and  explanation  does  not  permit  our 
acceptance  of  the  suggestion  of  Prof.  Alb.  Weber  (Indian  Litefaiure,  p.  248  j  assimilating 
the  nan  e  to  that  ofKraushtuki,  reputed  in  the  Atharva  (Lit.  C.  BL,  1869,  p.  1497),  to 
have  arrang(^d  the  constellations  in  the  order  beginning  with  Krittika, 

11  Fa7ig  Kwang  ta  tchwang  yen  kin,  bk.  iv.,  fol.  5z/. 

12  Now  P'u-sa^  commonly  used  in  China  for  all  kinds  of  gods  and  idols. 

13  P'u  yao  king,  bk.  iii.,  f.  ^v. 

14  5J  Fan  (formerly  Bam)  for  Brahma,  as  disclosed  by  Stan.  Julien  {Mr.hode  pour 
dechiffrer  ies  noms  Satiskrits  dans  les  livres  Chinois,  N.  281),  who,  however,  has  not  under- 
stood the  ingenious  formation  of  this  Chinese  symbol  of  Buddhist  make.  The  under 
character  was  Bam,  and  the  upper  one  lam  for  ram ;  the  two  making  Barn-ram,  or  bet- 
ter B-ram,  according  to  the  practice  followed  usually  by  the  Buddhists  in  their  Chmese 
transliteration  of  co.i.plex  groups,  which  required  the  dropping  of  the  last  part  of  the 
first  of  two  rhyming  syllables. 


60 


DID  CYRUS   INTRODUCE  WRITING   INTO   INDIA  1 


that  of  K'u-liu,  both  equally  good  and  not 
differing;  but  the  Fu-sat  retorts  that  there 
are  in  fact  64  different  writings,  and  that 
he  does  not  see  why  the  master  advocates 
only  two  sorts.  From  all  that  precedes, 
Fan  was  for  the  Brahman  South  Indian 
writing  running  from  left  to  right.  li'u-Hu 
was  for  Kia-lu-she-ti  or  Kharosti,  i.e.  'Ass' 
lips,'  the  writing  running  from  right  to 
lett.  These  two  names  are  here  the  desig- 
nations of  the  Indo-Pali  and  Bactro-Pali ; 
and  their  association  on  an  equal  footing 
goes  far  to  show  that  the  redaction  of  the 
text,  where  it  occurs,  belongs  to  the  period 
when  they  were  both  in  use,  from  the  time 
of  or  before  Agoca  (250  B.C.)  to  the  first 
century  of  our  era,  Avhen  the  traditions  of 
the  respective  origins  of  the  two  writings 
were  still  fresh. 

6,  But  in  this  name  of  K'u-liu  and  its 
meaning  is  hidden,  I  think,  another  valuable 
information  concerning  the  primeval  origin 
of  this  writing  for  the  Hindus.  Let  us 
keep  in  mind  the  meaning  '  ass'  lips,'  of 
its  full  form  Kharosti,  ^^  and  premise  that 
this  name,  foreign  to  the  Sanskrit  onomas- 
tics,  is  a  folk  etymology,  an  Indian  signifi- 
cant adaptation  obtained  in  the  striving- 
after-meaning  of  a  foreign  name,  ^^  which 
name  was  probably  no  other  than  that  of 
Kyros,  the  Kuras  and  Kurush  of  the  Cunei- 
form inscriptions,  the  Khusrau  of  Persian 
history.      The  great  conqueror  had   van- 


quished Kraesos  (554  B.c,)  in  fulfilment 
of  the  following  prediction  of  the  Pythoness 
of  Delphi,  whose  oracle  the  Lydian  King 
had  just  consulted  : 

"  When  Media's  King  shall  be  a  mule, 
Soft-footed  Lydian,  by  the  pool 
Of  pebbly  Hennos  fly,  nor  stay 
Nor  dread  the  coward's  name  that  day.'  '  ^ 

Now  as  Kyros  was  then  looked  upon  as 
a  mule,  being  the  offspring  of  a  Persian 
and  his  Median  wife,  the  accomplishment 
of  the  predi'jtion  was  certainly  spread  far 
and  wide,  in  order  to  magnify  his  fame 
and  inculcate  a  just  apprehension  of  his 
advance  as  a  conqueror.  ^^ 

7.  It  was  previously  to  540  B.C.  that 
Kyros  extended  his  sway  in  the  east,  north 
and  south,  and  subjected  to  his  rule  the 
regions  bordering  India  on  the  north-west, 
and  it  is  therefore  from  that  date  that  the 
introduction  into  India  of  notions  of  civiliza- 
tion from  the  west  became  possible  through 
the  channel  of  the  well-managed  Persian 
monarchy.  ^^  The  knowledge  and  use  of 
alphabetic  writing,  though  limited  as  it 
may  have  been,  because  of  the  little  de- 
mand for  it  in  N.W.  India,  were  certainly 
among  the  then  introduced  notions ;  and 
there  is  a  great  probability  that  in  the 
name  of  the  Kharosti  writing,  running 
from  right  to  left,  as  was  that  of  the  Per- 
sians, we  find  concealed  the  name  of  Kyros, 
introducer  of  the  writing  in  India,  and 
traces  of  his  fabulous  capacity  of  a  mule  or 


15  Zend  X/tara;  Afghan  Khar  \  Pamir  dialects  Khur^  &c.  ;  Kurd,  Kefr\  Ossete 
Charagj  &c.,  &c.,  same  meaning.  A.  Pictet,  les  origines  Indo- Europeennes,  1859,  vol.  i., 
p.  355.     Dr.  0.  Schrader,  Sprachvergleichung  und  Urgeschichte,  1883,  p.  347. 

16  We  do  not  think  necessary  to  insist  here  on  this  interesting  fact  known  to  every 
observer,  that  foreign  proper  names  undergo  gradually  in  current  and  popular  speech, 
such  alterations  and  adaptations  that  are  required  to  make  them  significant. 

17.  Herodot.  i  ^^^  transl.  Sayce. 

18.  G.  Maspero,  Histoire  a?tcienne,  p.  516.  Prof.  A.  H.  Sayce  {Museotty  1882,  vol.  i. 
p.  550)  says :  Cyrus  was  a  Mardian,  whose  father  Athadates  was  a  brigand,  and  whose 
mother  Argoste  was  a  shepherdess  of  goats.  Mirkhond,  History  of  the  Early  Kings  of 
Persia,  transl.  D.  Shea,  makes  Khusrau  son  of  Ferangiz,  daughter  of  Afrasiab,  the 
Turanian  King,  and  of  the  Persian  Siyawesh  son  of  Kai  Kaoos.     Vid.  pp.  226,  233. 

19.  These  conquests  of  Kyros  the  Great  were  achieved  previously  to  his  conquest  of 
Babylon,  which  took  place  on  the  16th  of  June,  538  B.C.  He  conquered  Media  in  550 
and  Persia  in  548  B.C. 


DID  CYRUS   INTRODUCE  WRITING  INTO  INDIA? 


61 


ass  ;  the  motive  of  the  former  having  been 
lost  on  the  way,  or  found  objectionable  for 
the  play  which  was  made  on  the  name  of 
th(^  Persian  conqueror. 

We  shall  return  directly  to  the  peculiari- 
ties concerning  this  Persian  writing,  but 
we  must  first  examine  with  reference  to 
the   above   explanation    of    an    historical 
problem,  the  bearing  of  the  Armenian  tra- 
dition already  reported.     Kharosti  is  said 
to  have  been  the  introducer  of  astronomy 
into  Chaldaea,  a  statement  which,  with  the 
large  allowance   due  to  the  Persian  exag- 
geration,   is  by  no  means  antagonistic  to 
the  identification  of  Kharosti  with  Kyros. 
There  is  a  growing  feeling  among  Assyri- 
ologists,   increasing   with  the  progress   of 
their  science,  that  the  ancient  knowledge 
of  astronomy  in  Chaldsea  was  not  W(rthy 
of  its  wide  repute,    and  did    not   extend 
much  beyond   a  notation  of  astronomical 
events.     More  sensible  notions  and  better 
knowledge  appear  on  the  Cuneiform  tablets 
of  later   times   only.      This  would   agree 
with  an  importation  of  astronomical  lore  by 
the  Persian  conquest.     We  are  well  aware 
that  Kwarism  on  the  east  of  the  Caspian 
Sea  was  an  old  focus  of  astronomy,  and 
that  important  progress  in  the  science  was 
made    there.     An    adaptation   of   twenty- 
eight  lunar  mansions  with  the  solar  year 
was  one  ot  them,  and  it  is  most  likely  there 
also  that  the  zodiacal  signs  were  regulated. 
The  Chorasmians  used  to  reckon  from  the 


beginning  of  the  colonization  of  their  coun- 
try, 980  years  before  Alexander,-"  Le. 
1304  B.C.  Kyros  had  subdued  their  coun- 
try and  incorporated  it  in  his  dominions, 
previous  to  his  conquest  of  Babylon,  -  ^  and 
therefore  their  advanced  knowledge  in 
astronomy  must  have  been  carried  there 
afterwards.  The  great  Persian  conqueror 
was  an  enlightened  monarch,  and  was  no 
doubt  interested  in  the  progress  of  science, 
if  not  himself  acquainted  especially  with 
the  science  of  Kwarism,  inasmuch  as  the 
Chorasmian  traditions  report  that  his 
father  Siyawesh  had  ruled  over  their 
country.  ^  - 

9.  The  Persians  employed  a  Cuneiform 
writing  from  the  time  of  Darius  (521  — 
485  B.C),  down  to  Artaxerxes  Okhos  (362 
339  B.c.),^'^  for  monumental  purposes. 
They  had  derived  if-*  from  the  wedge 
characters  of  Assyro-Baby Ionia,  and  this 
derivation  and  adaptation  to  the  require- 
ments of  their  language  has  been  rightly 
looked  upon  as  an  accessory  proof  of  their 
having  an  earlier  system  of  phonetic  writ- 


ing. 


These  older  characters  were  traced 


on  skins. '-^^  A  tradition  preserved  by  a 
very  early  and  learned  Arabic  writer,  Ibn- 
el-Nadim,  who  is  reputed  to  have  had  un- 
usually good  means  of  information  as  to 
genuine  Persian  traditions,  ascribes  the  in- 
vention of  Pt  rsian  writing  to  Djamshld,  the 
son  of  Vivengham  (who,  with  the  Zoroas- 
trians,  was  the  Eponym   of  the   Persian 


20.  Albiruni,  2 he  Chronology  of  Ancient  NaiiofiSy  transl.  Sachau,  pp.  40,  57,  172, 
173,  etc. 

21.  The  same  date  occurs  in  India  as  that  of  the  Jyotisha  observation  of  ihe  Colures, 
still  in  use  in  the  Vedic  rituals  of  India. — Edward  Thomas,  Comments  on  recent  Pehlvt 
Decipherments^  p.  18. 

22.  Albiruni,  /.  c. — The  Siyawesh  of  tradition  is  apparently  the  Teispes  or  Chaish- 
paish  of  the  Greeks,  who  ruled  at  Susa  600  B.C.  But  according  to  historians,  Cyrus  was  not 
the  son  but  the  grandson  of  Teispes. 

23.  Prof.  A.  H.  8ayce,  The  Ancient  Empires  of  the  East,  pp.  438,  483. 

24.  It  was  neither  an  alphabet  nor  a  syllabary,  as  some  of  the  signs  were  syllabic. 
The  total  of  the  characters  was  38  and  odd.  Cf.  Dr.  J.  Oppert,  Expedition  scieniijiqve  en 
Mesopotamie,  vol.  ii.  1851,  p.  12;  Melanges  perses  in  Revue  de  Liiiguistique^  iv.  pp.  205  206. 

25.  Prof.  C.  de  Harlez,  Introduction  ct  t etude  de  tAvesta  et  de  la  religion  Alaz- 
deenne,  p.  54. 

26.  Vid.  the  authorities  in  C.  de  Harlez  ibid 


62 


DID  CYRUS  INTRODUCE  WRITING  INTO  INDIA? 


race),  and  adds  that  he,  Djamshid,  dwelt  at 
Assan,  one  of  the  districts  of  Tuster 
(modern  Shuster).^''  We  can  dismiss  this 
legend  so  far  as  the  name  of  the  inventor 
is  concerned,  as  Djamshid,  the  sixth  an- 
cestor sovereign  of  Kyros,  is  attributed  the 
authorship  of  everything  useful  and  good 
in  the  Persian  histories,  such  as  that  of 
Mirkhond.  But  we  take  it  as  meaning 
simply  that  the  use  of  writing  among  the 
Persians  was  much  older  than  the  time  of 
Kyros,  i.e.  some  150  years  previously,  or 
about  700  B,c. 

10.  Though  no  specimen  of  this  ancient 
writing  is  known  to  be  still  in  existence, 
as  Persian  writing  in  Persia^  we  may  be  sure 
that  it  was  derived  from  the  Shemitic  stem, 
as  we  have  elsewhere,  I  think,  some  remains 
and  descendants  from  it  which  do  not  bear 
any  other  geneological  ancestry. 

There  are  three  sorts  of  them,  two  of 
which  are  exemplified  by  single  specimens^ 
viz.,  from  Southern  Arabia,  from  Babylon, 
and  from  N.  India. 

11.  A  round  and  cursive  writing,  which 
reminds   us  of  the  Indo-Bactrian,  and  of 


which  neither  the  ancestry  nor  the  progeny 
are  known,  occurs  on  the  Sabsean  coins 
from  the  fifth  (?)  century  B.C.  down- 
wards. -  ^  These  coins  are  trilingual,  Greek, 
Musnad,  and  the  writing  unknown. 
Putting  aside  the  Greek  letters  A  Q  E, 
which  are  reproduced  in  imitation  of  the 
Athenian  originals,  there  remain  two 
genuine  legends.  ^  ^  The  Musnad  characters, 
also  called  Himyaritic,  give  two  words, 
y-n-j)  and  x-W,  which  I  have  recovered  in 
the  unknown  letters  with  the  help  of  the 
Indo-Bactrian  alphabet,  to  which  thej'  are 
evidently  related.  The  matter  requires 
more  extended  explanations  and  a  distinct 
enquiry,  which  space  here  precludes.  ^*^ 

All  that  can  be  said  is  that  this  cursive 
writing  must  have  been  carried  there  by 
an  extension  of  the  Persian  influence  and 
probably  conquest,  under  the  rule  of  the 
Akhsemenides  in  Babylonia,  i.e.  after 
538  B.C. 

12.  An  unknown  writing,  which  seems 
to  fill  up  a  much-wanted  gap,  has  been 
found^^  in  1882  on  a  contract  clay-tablet 
at   Babylon,  dated   in  the   23rd  year   of 


27.  Kitab-el-Fihrist^  p.  12,  1.  22;  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson,  Notes  on  a  newly-discovered 
Clay  Cylinder  of  Cyrus  the  Great,  p.  77  of  /ourn  Roy,  Asiat.  Soc.  1880,  vol.  xii. 
pp.  70-97. 

28.  Cf.  Barclay  V.  Head,  Hiniyarite  and  other  Arabian  Imitations  of  Athenian  Coins 
{Numismatic  Chronicle,  n.S.  187S,  vol.  xviii.  pp. 273-284);  on  a  Himyaritic  Tetradfachm  and 
the  Tresor  de  Sana  (ibid.  1880,  vol.  xx.  pp.  303-310).  W.  F.  Prideaux,  On  some  Recent 
Discoveries  in  South-Western  Arabia  {Trans,  Soc.  Bibl.  Arch,  vol.  i,  1873).  G.  Schlum- 
berger,  Le  Iresor  de  Sana  i^oixm^A^Q^  himyaritiques),  Paris,  1880,  4to.  The  most  im- 
portant work  on  the  history  of  the  region  is  that  of  i)x,  D.  H.  MtiUer,  of  Vienna,  Bur  gen 
und  Schlosser  Sudarabiens,  parts  i.  and  ii. 

29.  Dr.  Mordtmann,  in  his  Neue  himyarische  Munzen,  p.  299  {Numismatische  Zeits- 
chrijt,  Wien,  1881),  has  proposed  a  decipherment  with  the  aid  of  the  early  Pehlvi  in 
reading  the  legend  topsy-turvy  !  Besides  the  incongruity  of  this  process,  there  is  an  in- 
superable objection  to  read  an  inscription  with  a  writing  of  a  distant  country  seven  cen- 
turies afterwards. 

30.  M.  J.  Halevy  (Journal  A  siatique,  14  Jan.  1881)  has  remarked  that  the  coins  must 
be  called  Sabean  and  not  Himyaritic,  as  they  belong  to  a  period  previous  to  the  Him- 
yaritic dynasty.  Caussin  de  Perceval  {Essai  sut  Niistoire  des  Arabes  avant  tislamisme, 
vol.  i.  p.  63)  says  that  this  dynasty  began  in  the  first  century  before  the  Christian  era. 
Cf.  also  Fr.  Lenormant,  Lettres  Assyriologiques,  vol.  ii.  p.  13. 

31.  By  Mr.  T.  G.  Pinches,  of  the  British  Museum,  who  then  showed  it  to  me.  He 
has  since  published  a  facsimile  of  the  whole  tablet,  and  a  translation  of  the  Cuneiform 
text,  in  Proc.  Soc.  Bibl.  Archceology,  3  April,  1883, 


DID  CYRUS   INTRODUCE  WRITING   INTO   INDIA  ? 


63 


Artakshatshu  ( Artaxerxes).  Besides  twen  ty- 
three  lines  of  Cuneiform  writing,  it  con- 
tains one  line  and  several  strips  of  un- 
known characters,  more  or  less  clearly 
traced,  some  forty  in  number.  Their 
characteristics  are  rounded  forms  and 
apparent  combinations  of  signs,  two  traits 
similar  to  the  Indo-Bactrian  alphabet^  ^  in 
contradistinction  to  the  pointed  forms  and 
individual  isolation  of  the  characters  in  the 
Aramseam  alphabets.  Some  of  the  charac- 
ters on  the  Babylonian  tablet  can  be  easily 
enough  connected  with  the  Indo-Bactrian 
letters  and  combinations. -"^^  From  an  at- 
tempt at  decipherment  which  I  did  in 
March,  1882,  with  the  two-fold  aid  of  the 
Aramaean  and  Indo-Bactrian  letters,  and 
which  disclosed  notably  words  correspond- 
ing to  several  of  the  names  of  the  wit- 
nesses mentioned  in  the  cuneiform  text,  I 
thought  and  still  think^*  that  further  in- 
vestigation will  show  that  this  unknown 
writing  furnishes  the  wanted  link  between 
the  recognised  Shemitic  basis  of  the  Indo- 
Bactrian  writing  and  its  antecedent. 

Since  my  above  remarks,  and  quite  in- 
dependently, these   characters   have  been 


looked  upon  by  a  great  scholar'^ ^  as  be 
longing  to  a  kind  of  cursive  Persian 
writing. 

Therefore  all  that  represents  most 
probably  the  oldest  writing  of  Persia  is  a 
mere  wreck. 

13.  The  next  remnants  we  have  now  to 
consider  consists  of  the  Bactro-Pali,  or 
Aryan -Pali,  or  Indo-Bactrian  alphabet, 
which  represents  a  great  advance  on  the 
preceding.  The  Aramaean  basis  of  this 
alphabet,  however  remote,  has  never  been 
doubted  since  its  decipherment  in  1837, 
but  its  immediate  antecedent  had  never 
been  found.  I  think  that  the  above-quoted 
fragments  represent  this  antecedent,  and 
forming  the  link  which  was  wanted,  show 
it  a  regular  descendant  of  the  old  writing 
of  Persia. 

This  Indo-Bactrian  alphabet  is  chiofly 
known  as  that  of  the  inscription  set  up  by 
the  Maurya  King  Agoka,  at  Kapur  di 
Giri,  on  the  confines  of  India  and  Af- 
ghanistan in  25 1  B.  c.  There  are  altogether 
eleven  other  inscriptions  of  various  lengths 
known  in  this  writing,  "^^  besides  the 
legends  on  coins  of  the  Indo-Scythic  Kings 


32.  It  is  worth  noticing  that  the  practice  of  monograms,  where  the  principle  of  com- 
bination is  carried  to  the  utmost,  by  the  pouring  in  of  several  characters  into  one,  did 
not  begin  in  Greece  before  the  Persian  period.  I  am  indebted  to  Prof.  Dr.  Percy 
Gardner,  of  Cambridge  and  the  British  Museum,  for  the  following  note  :  "  The  earliest 
monogram,  so  far  as  1  know,  to  be  found  on  a  Greek  coin  is  <E  ( =  E  A  )  on  a  coin  of 
Adessa,  of  about  480  B.C.  (see  Cat.  Gr.  Coins,  Macedon,  p.  37).  But  for  a  century  after 
this  they  are  very  rare,  and  do  not  become  usual  until  the  time  of  Alexander  the 
Great." 

33.  The  late  Dr.  A.  Burnell,  in  his  last  days,  was  made  acquainted  with  this  unknown 
writing  by  a  rude  tracing,  which  he  was  unable  to  study  properly,  and  from  which  he 
fancied  a  connection  with  the  Indo-Pali  characters  {T/ie  Academy,  No.  528,  17  June, 
1882),  an  opinion  to  which  I  most  strongly  object. 

34.  Cf.  Tlie  Oldest  Book  of  the  Chinese  and  its  Authoi's,  §  25  n.,  Jour.  Boy.  Asiat.  Soc. 
Oct.,  1882,  vol.  xiv.,  p.  803. 

35.  Dr.  J.  Oppert,  writing  about  this  unknown  writing,  exprested  it  as  his  opinion  that, 
"  the  '  unknown '  characters  are  a  kind  of  cursive  Persian  writing,  and  the  name  may 
be  a  Persian  one.  Several  of  the  characters  look  like  our  Zendic  characters ;  some  others 
resemble  Georgian,  and  one  or  two  show  Phoenician  forms."  {Proceed.  Soc.  Bibl,  Arch., 
May  1,  1883. 

36.  Cf.  On  a  newly-discovered  Badrian  Pali  Inscription  ;  and  on  other  Inscriptions  in  the 
Bactrian  Pali  character,  by  the  late  Prof,  J,  Dawson, 


64 


NOTES,   NEWS,   AND   QUERIES. 


of  Bactria.  ^  ^ 

14.  It  is  a  development  of  a  former  and 
simpler  system ;  the  number  of  characters 
have  been  multiplied,  and  their  systemati- 
zation,  as  well,  has  taken  place  undoubtedly 
in  connection  with  that  of  the  other  Indian 
writing,  that  which  is  called  Indo-pali,  Lat 
Pali,  or  even  South  Agoka  from  the  fact 
that  it  was  also  employed  by  the  latter 
monarch  for  his  engraved  moral  inscrip- 
tions. 


15.  To  resume  this  paper,  we  may  say 

that  our  investigations  show  the  following 
result : — 

The  Kharosta  writing  mentioned  in  the 
Lalita  Vistara  was  the  Indo-Bactrian,  and 
its  name  conceals  a  curious  tradition,  show- 
ing that  (notwithstanding  the  changes  and 
improvements  it  had  undergone  probably 
in  the  meantime)  it  was  connected  with 
the  sway  of  Kyros  the  Great,  established 
540  B.C.  on  the  northern  confines  of  India. 
T.  DE  L\COUPERIE. 


37.  On  the  latter  vid.  The  Coins  of  the  Greek  and  Scythic  Kiiig^  of  Bactria  and  India,  by 
Prof.  Dr.  Percey  Gardner  (London,  1886), — I  have  shown  reasons  to  believe  that  the 
Sulek  or  Soghdian  writing  of  old  was  most  probably  derived  from  the  Indo-Bactrian. 
Cf.  my  Beginnings  of  Writing,  ii.  §§    169-172. 


REVIEWS. 

Traite  de  Medecine  Mazdiene,  tra- 
duit  du  Pahlavi  et  commente,by  L.C.Cosar- 
telli,  D.L.O.,  Louvain,  1886,  8vo.  51  pp. 
The  author,  who  dates  his  pamphlet  from 
Manchester,  has  reprinted  separately  his 
series  of  articles  which  have  appeared  in 
the  Mushon,  of  1885  and  1886.  They 
begin  by  an  introductory  on  th  subject, 
and  an  analysis  of  what  is  found  in  the 
Avesta  on  the  same  matter.  1  hen  comes 
an  analysis  followed  by  a  tr.mslation  of 
the  chapter  of  the  Dinkart,  which  consti- 
tutes the  Traite,  and  whi-.h  the  learned 
author  looks  upon  as  an  old  medical  treatise 
remodelled  and  rewritten,  based  on  the 
Avestic  system,  and  presenting  a  tableau 
of  the  Iranian  medicine  at  the  Sassanian 
period.  The  paper  is  wound  up  by  a  few 
grammatical  notes  referring  chiefly  to 
faults  and  variants  caused  by  the  writing. 

When  did  Babylonian  Astrology  eater 
China  ?  by  Rev.  J.  Edkins  (Society  of 
Biblical  Archaeology,  Dec,  7,  86.  Eastern 
spread  of  Chaldeans,  by  the  same  (The 
Academy,  Jan.  1,  87).  The  learned  author, 
who  writes  from  Peking,  has  collected  in 
these  papers  some  of  his  researches  on  the 
Si>read  of  Chaldean  culture  and  thought  to 
China  at  successive  periods  in  ancient 
times,  a  task  in  which  Prof.  T,  de  Lacou- 
perie  and  he  have  been  engaged  for  some 
years. 


Recent  V^^o^k.— Astrology  in  the  Apo- 
calypse ;  an  essay  on  Biblical  allusions  to 
Chaldean  science.  B.  W.  Gershaw  Colling- 
wood,  M.A.  Orpington,  G.  Allen,  1886. 
A  work  full  of  suggestions. — T.  de  L. 

N02ES,  NEWS  AND  QUERIES. 

A  fact  which  has  been  communicated 
to  us  by  a  kind  and  learned  reader  of  the 
"  B  &  O.  R.,"  tends  to  confirm  what  I  have 
said  in  the  preceding  number,  concerning 
the  four-eyed  dogs  of  the  Avesta.  Miss 
Agnes  Smith,  of  Kingston  -  on  -  Thames, 
writes  ine  that  she  has  a  dog  possessing 
the  qualities  of  the  magical  animal  of 
the  Avesta.  Covered  as  it  is  with  a 
thick  fur  of  a  chestnut  colour,  this  little 
dog  has  under  its  eyes  spots  of  a  bright 
yellow,  resembling  spectacles  or  extra  eyes. 
Originally  from  Lapland,  this  animal,  like 
those  of  the  same  kind,  belongs  to  coun- 
tries inhabited  by  Turanian  peoples,  Tar- 
tars, or  the  like  races.  This  goes  to  prove 
that  the  origin  of  this  superstition  is  not 
Aryan,  still  less  Hindu,  and  that  it  has 
really  for  its  foundation  a  fact  of  natural 
history,  and  not  a  myth. — C.  DE  Harlez. 

|"In  the  translation  of  Dr.  dft  Harlez's 
article  in  last  number,  *•  The  Four-Eyed 
Dogs  of  the  Avesta,"  we  regret  that  at  page 
38,  col.  1,  last  line  but  one,  the  phrase 
occurs  "  to  save  them  from  the  teeth,  etc." 
It  should  have  been  the  opposite,  "  to 
deliver  them  to  the  teeth,  &c." — Ed.] 


Printed  for  the  Proprietor  at  51,  Knowle  Road,  Brixton,  S.VV.,  and  published  by  him  there,  and  by 
P  NuTT,  British  wd  Foreign  Bookseller,  270,  Strand,  W,C 


^  >^ 


IMMI 


^////'^  ,^.^^///A 


^^', 


Inscription  of  Nabu-apla-iddina.    (p.  65.) 


THE 


BABYLONIAN  AND  ORIENTAL  RECORD, 


The  Editorial  Committee  is  not  responsible  for  the  opinions  or  statements  of  the  Contributors. 


In  the  beautiful  tablet  recording  the  re- 
storation of  the  temple  of  the  Sungod  in  the 
city  of  Sippara  by  Nabu-apla-iddina,  king  of 
Babylon,  in  his  31st  year,  the  king  makes 
special  mention  of  the  fact  that  the  carrying 
out  of  his  benefactions  to  the  temple  and  the 
annual  presentations  of  offerings,  sacrifices, 
robes  for  the  gods,  was  entrusted  to  a  com- 
mision  of  Babylonian  officials  of  which  Nabu- 
iddina-sama  was  the  head.  The  king  thus 
.describes  the  appointment  "  Kalu  VI  lubusti 
damhati  sahal  s-atti  nadan  s-arri  sa  (Ilu) 
samas  (Ilu)  Ai  u  ( Ilu)  Sernene  Nabu-apla- 
iddina  sar  Babilu  (din-tir-ki)  ana  Nabu- 
iddina-suma  i-angii  (^y  t^)Sippar  nis  gas- 
sic  (^^)  arad  su  irim.  In  all,  six  beauti- 
ful robes  the  tale  of  the  year  the  gift  of  the 
king  for  Samas,  Ai  and  Sernene,  Nabu-apla- 
iddina  king  of  Babylon  to  Nabu-iddina-siima 
the  priest  of  Sippara  the  gassu  his  servant  he 
has  given,  (  W.A.I.,  pi.  61,  col.  VI,  5-13). 
The  fuller  genealogy  of  this  man  is  given  in 
another  part  of  the  inscription,  and  reveals  to 
us  an  important  fact  regarding  the  hereditary 
character  of  certain  official  positions  in  Baby- 
lonia. In  this  same  tablet  we  learn  that  in 
the  reign  of  an  early  Babylonian  'km^E-idbdr- 
sakin-suma,  (  ^j  ^iz'f^    +    V    *ii  )•  ^^^^ 

Witnesses 


A  BABYLONIAN  LAND  GRANT. 

work  of  restoration  of  certain  portions  of  the 
temple  was  entrusted  to   Ekur-suma-ibasiiy 

( T  5?T  ^^^  -ii  lij  <T-)  -  P"«^  «'  Sip- 

para,  the  gassu.  This  restoration  took  place 
about  B.  C.  1140,  and  from  the  same  tablet 
we  find  that  the  priest,  Nabu-iddina-sunuiy 
(Col.  I.  29  -  31),  whom  the  king  Nabu- 
apla-iddina  appointed  his  executor  about 
three  centuries  later,  was  a  member  of  this 
family,  his  genealogy  being  given  as  of  the 
seed  ina  seri  (^  V^5)>  Ekur-suma-ibass'. 
This  indicates  that  the  priesthood,  and  the 
office  of  gassu  whatever  that  post  may  have 
been,  was  liereditary  in  the  family  of  Ekur- 
sama-ibassi. 

Among  the  tablets  in  the  British  Museum 
is  a  very  fine  inscribed  stone,  on  which  is  a 
land-grant  by  Nabu-apla-iddina,  to  a  man 
named  Nabu-apla-iddina,  son  of  Adnai,  to 
whom  had  been  entrusted  the  charge  of  the 
king's  statue.  This  document  which  is  dated 
on  "the  20th  day  of  Nisan,  in  the  20th  year 
of  the  reign  of  Nabu-apla-iddina  king  of  Baby- 
lon," is,  therefore,  eleven  years  earlier  than 
the  Aboo-Hubba  tablet;  and  a  comparison  of 
the  witnesses  affords  additional  proof  of  the 
hereditary  character  of  certain  official  posts. 


Tablet,   20th  year. 

1.  Bel-suma-ibni,  son   of    Kaba-sa-Marduk, 
prefect  of  Nisin. 

2.  Akhi-irbi,  son  of  Kirban  the  Icalu. 

3.  Nergal-usibsi,  son  of  Tambasada  the  priest 
(sangu). 

4.  Marduk-umzir,  son  of  the  same,  the  chief 
of  the  land. 

5.  Irba-marduk,  son  of  Arad-Hea,  the  chief 
of  the  prefects,  {nis  bel-piJchati). 

Vol.  I—Ko,  5,  l^'^'] 


Tablet,  31st  year. 


2.  Marduk-sama-ukin,    son   of   Kirban,  the 

Icalu. 

3.  Ibassi-ilu,  son  of  Hea-irimani,  the  priest. 

4.  Marduk-umzir,  son  of  Tambasada  the  chief. 

5.  Marduk-balatsu-ikbi,    son   of   Arad-Hea, 
tlie  chief  of  the  prefects. 

^Iarch,  1887, 


66 


A    BABYLONIAN   LAND    CxRANT. 


Thus  we  see  that,  during  tlio  eleven  years 
that  elaj)sed  between  the  drawing-  up  of  tliese 
two  documents,   changes   had  taken  place  in 
the  offices  of  halu,    priest,    and  chief  of   the 
prefects,  and  in  every  case  in  the  same  family. 
The  house  of  Kirban    (T^Y  ET)    seems  to 
have  been  an  influential  one  in  North  Eastern 
Mesopotamia,  for,   from  the   tablet  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar I.,    (B.C.  1150    W.A.L    V,  56- 
69),    we   find   that    Bel-nadin-mma,  son   of 
Kirban,  was  governor  of  Namar  or  Kurdis- 
tan,  a   post  which  also   seems  to  have  been 
^eredita  y    ;    for   in  that  remarkable  charter 
the  following  passage  occurs    (Col,  II,  26)  : 
"  In  future  days,  whcsoever  among  the  sons 
of  Kirban,  or  anyone  else,  to  the  governorship 
of  Namar  shall  be  appointed  ;"  which  seems 
to  indicate  that  a  sort  of  priority  of  claim  was 
vested  in  the  family  of  Kirban. 
'    Tfie  tablet  of  the  20th  year,  which  is  mark- 
ed with  the  British  Museum  register  numbers 
83.1. 18,  is  of  black  marble,  (4|  x  6|  in.),  in- 
scribed on  either  side  with  thirtytwo  lines  of 
writing,  the  text  on  the  lower  part  of  the  ob- 
verse being  slightly  mutilated.        On  the  ob- 
verse is  a  small  sculptured  plaque,  in  which, 
as  is  usual  in  the  case  of  these   land  grants, 
is  a  representation   of  the    chief    contracting 
parties,  here  Nabu-apla-iddina  the  king,  and 
Nabu-apla-iddina,  the  son  of  Adnai.       The 
former  is  represented  as  holding  in  his  hand 
the  long  staff,  his  emblem  of  office,  and  wear- 
ing on  his  head  a  pointed  helmet,  while  his 
servant,  Nabu-apla-iddina,  stands  before  him 
with  hand  raised  in  token  of  reverence  ;    be- 
hind each  of  the  figures  we  have  short   ex- 


planatory descriptions  : 

1.  Zalam  D.P.  ISfahu-^apla-iddina  apil  D.P. 

The  statue  of  Nabu-apla-iddina,  son  of  Adnai. 

2.  Z dam  D.P.   Nahu-apla-iddina  sarru. 
The  statue  of  Nabu-apla-iddina  the  king. 

The  text  on  the  obverse  is  somewhat  ob- 
literated, but  the  transliterated  version  ap- 
pended to  this  paper  indicates  the  broken 
portions.  The  genealogy  of  Nabu-apla-iddina 
remains:  "Nabu-apla-iddina,  son  of  Adnai, 
descendant  (lip-pal-pal)  of  Agar-Nabu",  the 
priest  (tiimal). 

We  then  read :  "  Nabu-aqla-iddina,  the  king 
<*of  glorious  form"  (buni  namruti),  favourably 
had  regarded  Nabu-apla-i  ddina,  son  of  Adnia, 
and  three  gur  of  cor nl and  (se-zi?-),  in  an  en- 
closure measured  by  the  great  cubit;  "the 
boundaries  being:  "The  upper  side  on  the 
East  a  boundary  is  fixed  by  Gu  la-zer-basa, 
the  sukha,  the  lower  side  on  the  West,  a 
boundary  i.i  fixed  by  the  land  which  Zer-ya, 
son  of  Agar-Nabu  had  bought.  The  upper 
headland  on  the  South,  the  bank  of  the  Eu- 
phrates and  the  lower  headland  on  the  North, 
is  the  river  Mase;  in  all  three  gu7'  corn  land 
in  an  enclosure  measured  according  to  the 
great  cubit  and  five  gardens  (Kirieti),  the 
land  of  Bit- Adnia,  Nabu-apla-iddina  king  of 
Babvlon,  to  Nabu-apla-iddina  son  of  Adnai, 
and  his  servant  has  given."  The  names  of 
the  witnesses  whom  I  have  already  enumerated 
are  appended,  and  the  date  "  Month  Nisan, 
20th  day,  20th  year  of  Nabu-apla-iddina, 
king  of  Babylon."  The  river  Mase  Cgf^^ 
^][)  was  probably  one  of  the  small  canals  sit- 
uated between  Sippar  and  the  Euphrates. 


TEXT,  TRANSCRIBED  AND  TRANSLATED, 

1.  D.  P.  Nahu-apla-iddina  a2nl  Adnai  lip-pal-pal  (^y  *^<]^  *^<T'^) 

Nabu-apla-iddina,   son  of  Adnai,  descendant  of 

2.  D.P.  Agar  Cp.^1)  d-P-  -  Nabu   tiimal    d.p.    Nabu-apla-iddina 

Agar  -  Nabu,  the  priest.  To  Nabu-apla-iddina, 

3.  Sa?'   hel-su         it-ma   wm[ma].    ... 

the  king  his  lord     ...         he     spake    thus  : 
4:.Mlu   bit   a5i[2/a  (Y/)]  ...  «''«^  (^l^TT)     ^^^   ^^^'"^^ 

The  field  of  the  house  of  my  father  to  ...  the  servant  of  the  house  of  my  father 

5.  ana  ahli  (!«->->-)  •••  gi  -  ib 

to   the   sons   of  ...  has   passed  [?] 

6.  Sarru    ittadin         u      rikhi  (>-yy<y^)    <^^^i   ^^^  -  <^^i-y(^ 

the  king  has  given.     The  increase  of  the  field  of  the  house  of  my  father 


A  nABYLONIAN   tAND   OftAKt.  $7 


7.  »S(a7-    li-ri-man-ni  hit    abhja 

The  king  may  he  grant  me        the  house  of  my  father, 

8.  ana  zi-it-ti  la    us-si 

for   a  possession  not  passing  away, 

9.  Nabu-apla-iddina    sar  ina    huni   namruti 
Nabu-apla-iddina,  the  king  "  of  glorious  form," 

10.  and    Nabic-apla-ukUna      apil    Adndi     khadis 
On     Nabu-apla-iddina,     son   of  Adnai  favourably 

11.  ippalis  nut    salasti     Gur    se-zer    ina   gani 

looked,         and     Three     gur  of  arable  land  in  an  enclosure 
madid     [as]    ana    ammatu   rahu 
measured  according  to  the  great  cubit, 

12.  emid  [us]     eJis    d.p.  $ddu     eimdu     [us-sa-du] 
The  upper  boundary  on  the  East   is  fixed 

13.  D.p. D.p,   Gula-zer-basa  nis  su-hha 

by  (the  property  of)  Gula-zer-basa  the  sukha  ; 

14.  emid    saplis  d.p.   Akharru     emidu 
the  lower  boundary  on  the  West  is  fixed 

15.  D.p.  Zer-ya  abil   Nurea,  abil   Nahu-elu-zera 

by  the  [property]  of  Zerya,  son  of  Nurea  [from]   Nabu-clu-zera, 
1^.  abil    Agar-Nahu     i-sa-mu 
son  of   Agar-Nabu,  has   bought. 

17.  Sak-ki   elis  d.p.  Sictu  akhi  nar  Pur-rat-ti 

The  upper  end  on  the  South  is  the  bank  of  the  Euphrates. 

18.  Sak-ki  sa2)lis  d.p.   Iltanu  sa  nar  Ma-se-e  ("^YT  ^  ^J) 
The  lower  end  on  the  North  is  the  bank  of  the  river  Mase  ; 

19.  halu  kilastu  Gur  Se-zer  ina  gani  madid  ana 

In   all,  Three  Gur  of   corn  land,  measured  according  to 
ammatu  rahu 
the  great  cubit, 

20.  tt  khamisti  kirieti  C^zy  <<<  ^y  f'^^-)  ^^i^  ^i^  Adnd  >, 
and  five  gardens,  the  field  of  Bit-Adnai, 

21.  Nabu-apla-iddina  sar   Bahilu 
Nabu-apla-iddina,  king  of  Babylon, 

22.  ana  Nabu-apla-iddina  apil  d,p.   Adndi  ardd  su  i-ri^mu 

to  Nabu-apla-iddina,   son  of  Adnai,  his  servant,  he  has  given. 

23.  Ina  kanak  dup)pi  (X^f  ^Jf^l)  suatu 
For  the  sealing  (attesting)  of  this  tablet, 

24.  D.p,  Bel  suma  ibnl  apal    d.p,  Raha-sa-Marduk 
[by]  Bel  suma-ibni,   son  of  Raba-sa- Marduk, 

25.  [rw«]    salat    NisiN 

Prefect  of    Nisin, 

26.  D.p.  Akhi-irha  apil  D.  p.    Kirban[nis']  kalu 
Akhi-irba,  son  of  Kirban,       the  Kalu, 

27.  D.p.  Nergal-usibsi  a^xd  d.p.  Tambasada   [nis"]  sangu 
Nergal-usibsi,      son  of  Tambasada,  the  priest, 

28.  D.p.  Marduk-iimzer  apil  [_nis\  sakiL  mati 

Marduk-umser,  son  of  the  same,  chief  of  the  district, 

29.  D.p.  Irba-Marduh  apil  d.p.  Arad-Hea  nis  bel  pikhati 

Irba-Marduk,  son  of  Arad-Hea,  chief  of  the  prefects  ; 


68 


ST.    JOHN   Vil.    38,    ILLUSTllAtKb. 


30.  is-sa-as  Bahllu  Arahli  Nisannu    urn    XX\_Kan~\^ 
it  is  established   Babylon,  month  Nisan ,  20th  day, 

31.  Sattu   (mu-an-na)    Nafm-apU-iddina   s'lr   Bahilii, 
20th  year  of  Nabu-apla-iddina  king  of  Babylon. 

32.  Dupim  sa  sipreti 
Tablet  which  is  written. 


W.  St.  Chad  Boscawen, 


ST,  JOHN  VIL  38,  ILLUSTRATED  BY  A  BABYLONIAN  SEAL. 


In  his  interesting  article  on  the  Baby- 
lonian Seal  (fig.  1),  depicted  in  the  last 
number,  Mr.  Thomas  Tyler  called 
attention  to  the  "new  and  unexpected 
light "  which  it  has  thrown  upon  an 
*' obscure  passage  in  the  Old  Testament." 
I  should  like  to  point  out  how  it  illustrates 
an  equally  obscure  text  in  the  New 
Testament.  The  passage  to  which  I  refer 
is,  John  VII.,  38.—"  He  that  believeth  on 
Me,  as  the  Scripture  hath  said,  out  of 
his  belly  ck  t//9  KoXu'af  uvtov  shall  flow 
rivers  of  living  water."  These  words,  as 
is  well  known,  have  proved  a  source  of  per- 
plexity to  expositors  of  the  New  Testament, 
from  the  fact  that,  although  Jesus  utters 
them  with  the  formula  dtandi,  no  such 
sentence  is  to  be  found  in  any  Canonical 
book  of  the  Old  Testament,  nor  yet  in  the 
Apocrjfpha.  It  would  be  out  of  place  here 
to  enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  various 
suggestions  that  have  been  made  with  a 
view  to  meet  the  difficulty.  Probably  the 
best  suggestion  that  has  been  advanced  is, 
that  Christ  regarded  the  thought  rather 
than  the  words  as  the  essence  of  the  quota- 
tion in  this  particular  instance.     It  is  not 

the     strict     kuOCc^-      '^/c'^^/tmndi,     but      k:aOiv<i 

elirev  y  7/^«0v>  words  wliicli  may,  with- 
out any  forced  interpretation,  be  under- 
stood as  meaning,  "  according  to  the 
Scriptural  exp'ession."  And  a  similar 
figurative  reference  to  rivers  of  living 
water,  we  find,  over  and  over  again,  in  the 
Old  Testament.  But,  even  admitting  this, 
the  fact  remains  that  the  allusion  here  is 


to  a  great  extent  different  from  that  in  the 
Old  Testament  passages  which  are  usually 
quoted  in  connection  with  the  subject. 

In  such  places  as  Isaiah  xiv.  3,  viii,  11, 
the  reference  is  to  a  spiritual  refreshment 
in  the  soul  of  the  individual  believer.  And 
in  this  sense  Christ  applies  the  same  figure 
in  Chap,  iv.,  v.  14  of  the  Gospel.  Hore, 
however,  the  reference  is  no  longer  ex- 
clusively personal.  The  believer  in  Christ 
has  become,  in  his  turn,  a  source  of  refresh- 
ments to  others.  From  him  the  quicken- 
ing influence  flows  forth  like  the  streams 
of  a  fertilising  river. 

Kuinoel  cites,  in  illustration  of  this 
passage,  two  Rabbinical  sayings :  "  When 
a  man  turneth  unto  the  Lord,  he  shall  be 
as  a  fountain  of  living  water,  and  hig 
streams  shall  flow  to  all  the  nations  and 
tribes  of  man."  And  again—"  His  two 
reins  are  like  fountains  of  water  from 
which  the  Law  flows."  This  last  passage 
is  singularlarly  illustrated  by  the  drawing 
(fig.  1)  from  Dr.  Ward's  seal,  where  a 
double  stream  of  water  would  seem  to  be 
flowing  from  the  reins  of  the  god.  It  is 
clear  that  in  the  passage  from  the  fourth 
Gospel,  Jesus  is  making  use  of  symbolism 
with  which  not  only  the  Jews  but  other 
Orientals  also  were  familiar.  It  would  be 
interesting  tD  know  whether  the  deity  Hea 
was  regarded,  like  Poseidon,  both  as  ruler 
of  the  waters  and  the  source  of  fertility. 
The  symbol  of  the  water  flowing  out  would 
seem  to  imply  this. 

W.  A.  Harrison. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OF   THE  PAH L AVI. 


69 


IRANIAN  STUDIES.— IL 
THE  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OF  THE  PAHLAVI, 
(  Continued  from  p.  *  hi.) 


A.  xVuimuiii  Murcellin  says,  lib.  xix,  2, 11, 
of  his  history,  that  the  Persians  called  their 
king  (Sapor  III)  shaansha  andj)i2:o^es(victor- 
ious).  They  conclude  from  that,  that  the 
words  malkcin  nialkd  were  never  pronouncd, 
but  were  read  Shahdn  shah. 

We  can  understand  how  this  argument 
might  be  pled  at  the  time  when  the  Pahlavi 
was  held  to  be  an  ordinary  language,  mixed, 
like  the  English.  But  what  we  cannot  con- 
ceive is  that  it  should  be  repeated  today.  The 
Huzvareshhas  manifestly  never  been  spoken; 
or  if  it  ever  has  been,  it  was  certainly  not  by 
the  army  and  the  Persian  people.  It  has 
never  been  a  national  language.  The  ordin- 
ary formula  was,  without  contiadiction,  Shah- 
dn shah,  and  not  malkdn  malkd,  when  even 
that  might  have  existed  in  the  language  of 
the  educated  classes.  By  the  same  argument 
we  could  prove  that  the  Latin  legends  of  the 
Middle  Ages  were  not  pronounced,  because 
the  French  and  German  soldiers  did  not  call 
their  sovereigns  Francorum  rex  or  German- 
orum  imperator.  What  we  say  here  apphes 
equally  to  the  explanation  of  another  fact, 
from  which  they  likewise  reason,  to  account 
for  the  complete  disappearance  of  Aramean 
terms  from  geographical  nouns  in  which  we 
see  them  figure,  in  Karnameh  and  elsewhere. 
Once  more,  the  usual  names  have  nothing  in 
in  common  with  the  Iluzvaresh  and  those 
alone  remain  ;  the  artificial  creations  of  books 
never  could  have  anything  but  a  passing  ex- 
istence, and  are  confined  to  the  place  where 
they  were  used. 


B.  The  second  evidence  is  the  well-known 
text  of  Kitdb  al  Fihrist  which  we  reproduce 
in  order  to  render  the  point  in  dispute  more 
simple.  "The  Persians,"  says  the  Arab 
author  of  this  book,  "have  a  system  of  form- 
ing syllables, 4  in  which  the  letters  are  written, 
joined  and  separate.  5  There  are  in  this  system 
about  a  thousand  words  (which  serve  to  dis- 
tinguish words  that  are  alike.)  E.  g.,  if  any 
one  were  going  to  write  gosht  (Iranian),  he 
wrote  bisryd,  and  pronounced  it  gosht.  They 
thus  write,  according  to  this  system)  anything 
they  desire.  There  are  none  except  the  words 
which  are  not  suitable  for  this  exchange  which 
they  write  according  to  the  pronunciation." 
This  passage  is  certainly  obscure  in  its  ex- 
planations. What  are  those  like  words  which 
this  system  teaches  to  distinguish,  and  how 
is   this   distinction    made  ?  Why  are 

certain  words  suitable  to  be  subjected  to  this 
exchange,  and  others  not?  It  would  be  im- 
possible to  answer  these  questions.  Never- 
theless, what  seems  perfectly  clear  is  that  at 
the  time  the  Fihrist  was  written,  and  even 
sooner,  perhaps  at  the  end  of  the  eighth  cen- 
tury, the  Aramean  words  served  for  no  other 
purpose  than  writing,  and  that  the  Iranians 
read  everything  in  Persian.  The  fact  is  in- 
contestable and  uncontested.  But  if  this 
usage  did  prevail  at  that  period,  can  we  affirm 
that  it  was  the  same  at  the  origin?  Evidently 
not  The  change  supervening  on  the  sacred 
language  of  Sassian  Persian  is  perfectly  ex- 
plained; its  date  and  its  origin  are  known  ;6 
but  what  will  always  remain  inexpHcable  is 


4)  We  willingly  admit  that  hijd  refers  commonly  to  spelling,  to  speaking  and^not  to 
writing;  but  here  it  ought  to  be  otherwise  since  the  author  says: 'After  this  hijd  they 
write  the  letters  joined  or  separate.'  They  did  not  write  after  a  system  of  spelling,  it  seems 
to  us. 

5)  It  is  a  question  of  the  Pahlavi  ligatures  used  as  much  for  Persian  as  for  Aramean 
words. 

6)  We  shall  give  further  some  details  ou  this  subject. 


0 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OP    THE  PAHLAVI. 


that  the  Persians  could,  from  the  beginning, 
have  taken  some  Aramean  words  (entire  and 
intact)  only  for  the  show,  and  intermingle 
these  with  some  words  of  their  own  language, 
written  as  they  were  read,  and  that  in  the 
name  which  has  been  explained  above.  We 
remark  that  often  a  single  and  same  word  is 
formed  from  two  heterogeneous  elements,  of 
which  the  one  would  be  read  as  it  was  written, 
and  the  other  quite  differently.  E.g.,  ustdno 
yaclman. ' 

To  support  what  is  called  the  purely  figur- 
atiA'C  system,  they  have  naturally  sought  in 
history  for  facts  analogous  to  those  which 
this  thesis  has  for  fundamental  principles,  and 
many  think  they  have  found  three.  The  first 
consists  in  those  abbreviations  which  are 
used  in  English  to  designate  weights,  meas- 
ures, monetary  values,  &c.  It  is  unnecessary 
to  discuss  this  proof.  There  is  plainly  no 
connection  between  the  use  of  signs  intended 
to  shorten  the  work  of  writing,  signs  without 
any  value  of  their  own,  representing  only  the 
words  referred  to,  and  an  entire  system  con- 
sisting of  a  use  of  the  words  of  a  foreign  lan- 
guage, complete  and  written  in  all  the  letters, 
simply  to  recall  the  usual  terms.  Far  from 
facilitating  the  labour  of  the  scribe,  the 
use  of  the  Aramean  words  served  rather  to 
increase  it ;  for  the  words  are  frequently  longer 
than  their  Iranian  correspondents.  (Cf.  yad- 
man  and  dast,  kavbd  and  sag,  ydityuntano 
and  7natano%  &c.,  &c.)  One  of  the  two  facts 
is  as  natural  as  the  other  is  little  so  ;  let  us 
pass  on  then. 

The  two  other  cases  of  analogy  are  fur- 
nished by  the  Assyrian  and  Japanese.      The 


Assyrian  sought  to  write  Akkadian,  and  the 
Japanese,  Chinese  ;  both  of  these  peoples 
made  use  of  words  in  the  languages  of  their 
masters  to  represent  those  of  their  own  idiom. 
It  was  thus  the  Persians  did  in  the  school  of 
the  Semites  ;  the  cases  are  exactly  the  same. 
That  is  what  they  say  of  it.  The  fact  is,  the 
processes  are  really  analogous,  in  apjoearance, 
only  so  long  as  we  consider  them  quite  super- 
ficially ;  but  whenever  we  examine  them 
closely,  the  analogy  disappears,  and  we  find 
nothing  more  than  irreducible  cases. 

The  graphical  processes  of  the  Assyrian 
and  Japanese  are  quite  other  than  those  of 
the  Pahlavi;  they  are  essentially  different. 

The  Sumerian  (?)  characters  which  the 
Assyrians  first  used  were,  in  general,  ideo- 
graphic. Thus,  to  write  "month"  the  As- 
syrians drew  a  sort  of  circle  representing  the 
disc  of  the  sun,  and,  in  the  centre  of  the 
circle  the  number  30,  recalling  the  number  of 
the  d ays  in  the  month.  Three  triangles  touch- 
ing each  other  at  one  of  the  points  symbolize 
the  idea  of  division,  and,  with  the  help  of  dif- 
ferent readings,  mat,  sat,  kur,  &c.,  represent 
"  country,    mountain,  hand."  The   ideo- 

grams, picturing  objects  and  not  sounds, 
could  naturally  serve  for  all  languages. 

The  Chinese  writing,  being  also  ideographic 
in  principle,  is  easily  adapted  to  the  expres- 
sion of  Japanese  words.  Besides,  the  Jap- 
anese have  had  recourse  to  a  system  entirely 
unknown  to  the  peoples  of  Western  Asia. 
The  Chinese  words  being  monosyllabic,  each 
of  them  serves  to  render  a  Japanese  exactly  as 
in  our  rebus  the  signs  for  the  musical  notes 
represent  syllables,  the  notes  do  and  re,  e.  g., 


7)  M.  Darmestater,  holding  fully  to  this  opinion  in  his  learned  Iranian  Studies,  appeals 
farther  to  the  forms  abitar  abitan,  and  above  all  gabrdum.  This  last  word  is  significant. 
It  evidently  cannot  be  anything  but  a  graphical  substitute  for  martum.  But  it  there  describes 
a  manner  of  slow  writing  which  was  not  employed  except  at  the  period  when  the  Pahlavi 
had  become  a  real  series  of  figures. 

M.  D.  sees  also  in  the  ^  read  ye  in  certain  Pahlavi  Aramean  verbs  the  first  letter  of 
the  corresponding  Persian  words  and  the  letter  da.  I  should  have  difficulty  in  expressing 
myself  as  of  that  opinion.  This  use  of  the  first  letter  of  the  Persian  word  would  be  too  ex- 
ceptional to  be  admitted  with  certainty.  The  explanation  is,  besides,  not  ai^plicable  to  many 
words  such  as  yedruntdno^hardan  y6mUunitano=murtan.  yensabuntan=silddan,  ^'C,  4'c- 


1 


THE    ORIGIN   AND  NATURE  OF  THE  PAIILAVI. 


71 


signifying  do,  re.  In  the  same  manner,  when 
the  Japanese  wish  to  write  fumite,  a  pencil, 
they  take  three  Chinese  words  (monosyllabic) 
whose  sovmds  come  closest  to  Japanese  sounds : 
pu-mei-tJii,  We  see  that  this  process  is  ex- 
actly the  reverse  of  that  adopted  by  the  Per- 
sians. With  the  Japanese  the  Chinese  sounds 
alone  are  taken  into  consideration  ;  and  if 
they  used  Chinese  characters,  it  was  solely 
because  of  the  sense  arbitrarily  assigned 
to  them.  It  is  to  have  the  three  sounds  pu, 
mei,  and  thi,  that  the  Japanese  borrow  from 
the  Chinese  the  signs  representing  these 
words.  The  Pahlavi  does  quite  the  reverse  ; 
it  uses  Aramean  characters  to  represent 
sounds  altogether  different  from  those  which 
these  letters  naturally  indicate.  E,  g.,  the 
word  Ulyd  would  be  written  in  all  the  letters 
chssen  originally  to  read  shap. 

Besides,  as  the  Chinese  fundamental  charac- 
ters did  not  represent  the  sounds,  it  was  easy 
to  give  them  the  pronunciation  suitable  to  the 
purpose  in  view.  The  Chinese,  moreover, 
having  made  for  themselves  a  system  of 
writing  which  could  be  used  for  all  dialects, 
the  same  word  could  be  read  j;a?/  or  hu^  while 
retaining  the  meaning  "father." 

All  these  Assyrian,  Chinese,  or  Japanese 
usages  are  perfectly  natural ;  the  ideograms 
help  all  the  readings.  But  nothing  of  this 
kind  exists  in  the  Pahlavi. 

The  Semitic  words  whichform  part  of  its  vo- 
cabulary are  written  in  alphabetical  characters. 
All  the  Semitic  letters  are  found  even  when 
they  are  disfigured  in  the  ligatures.  We  sup- 
pose then  that  the  Iranians,  in  learning  from 
the  Semites  the  art  of  writing,  have  taken  no 
account  of  the  alphabet  of  their  masters,  and 
have  sought  to  pronounce  the  Semitic  words 
without  troubling  themselves  in  the  very  least 
concerning  the  value  of  the  letters — taking 
them  as  indivisible  figures  to  represent  Iranian 
words.  The  Persians  in  using  such  terms  as 
^,a5  ^  jy^^^  0  knew  quite  well  that  they  wrote 
all  its  letters  including  the  a,  lakumini  i.man; 
and  recognised  these  letters  since  they  used 
them  ta  render  the  Iranian  suffixes.  Who 
can  explain,  then,  why  they  should  have  pre- 


ferred the  use  of  arbitrary  signs  to  render,  e, 
g.,  tan  (you),  dahdn  (mouth)  to  that  of  the 
proper  letters  to  represent  these  words? 

All  this  is  very  unlikely. 

This  supposition,  inadmissable  in  itself,  is 
at  the  same  time  contradicted  by  the  best  es- 
tablished historical  facts.  The  Cuneiform 
Inscriptions  show  us  the  Persian  in  tlie  school 
of  the  Semites.  Now,  we  see  here  that  the 
Persians,  far  from  adopting  the  Semitic  words 
as  representing  Iranian,  created  for  them- 
selves an  alphabet  agreeably  to  the  phonetic 
laws  of  their  tongue — a  writing  exclusively 
appropiated  to  the  Persian  language.  By 
what  marvellous  phenomenon  could  they  at 
a  later  time  have  fallen  to  such  a  degree  of 
ignorance,  that  they  should  have  taken  Ara- 
mean words  written  phonetically  for  simple 
ideograms  ? 

This  system  of  explanation  rests  at  the  out- 
set on  an  inadvertance.  In  order  that  this 
should  be  true,  the  Pahlavi  would  require  to 
be  the  most  ancient  language  which  has  ever 
been  written.  ISTow,  it  is  impossible  to  carry 
the  date  of  its  origin  further  back  than  the 
middle  age  of  the  Arsacides.  The  Persians 
wrote  their  language,  with  its  own  alphabeti- 
cal characters,  already  under  Cyrus  ;  and  yet 
they  were  to  owe,  after  Alexander,  their 
knowledge  of  the  art  of  writing  to  their  neigh- 
bours of  the  West  ? 

We  know,  besides,  from  the  testimony  of 
Herodotus,  of  Ctesias^  and  from  the  book  of 
Esther,  that  the  Achimenian  kings  had  in 
their  service  scribes  who  wrote  on  parchment 
both  their  decrees  and  annals.  We  have 
treated  this  point  elsewhere  ;  it  will  be  suf- 
ficient to  refer  to  the  texts.  See  Herodotus, 
III,  128.  IV.  91.  V.  58.  VII,  100.  VIII, 
90.  ;  Esther  IV,  8,  VI,  1-2.  VIII,  8  ;  Dio- 
dorus  Sic,  II,  32. 

We  cannot  reasonably  suppose  that  the 
translation  of  the  A  vesta  had  been  put  into 
writing  before  the  text  itself.  Now,  if  the 
Avestic  words  were  written  in  their  own  char- 
acters, why  should  ideogams  have  been  ne- 
cessary to  write  the  Pahlavi  words  ? 

The   supposition  on  which  this  system  is 


72 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OF    THE  PAHLAVI. 


founded    would   be  admissible,  if  the  prim- 
itive Pablavi  contained  only  Semitic  words. 

We  could  understand  that  the  Persians 
would  have  used  Semitic  words  thus  if  they 
had  done  so  in  a  complete  manner.  They 
would  have  been  obHged  to  do  so  in  that  case, 
because  they  were  incapable  of  writing  their 
own  language.  But  the  most  ancient  Pahlavi 
already  contained  a  mixture  of  written  Semi- 
tic and  Iranian  words.  There  are  likewise 
some  which  are  nothing  but  Persian  words 
(See  Blau,  De  numis  Achcemenidorum^  p.  5, 
B.  class  I  ;  p.  7,  class  IV).  Thus  the  legend 
on  the  medal  or  coin  of  Abd  Zoharau,  satrap 
of  Cilicia,  which  we  have  assigned  to  tlie  last 
days  of  the  Achimenides,  bears  these  words  : 
imizdi  zi  val  A.  Z.,  that  is  to  say,  a  Persian 
word  mizd,  and  two  Semitic  words  zi  val.  If 
the  Persians  knew  how  to  write  the  word 
mizd  (pay),  how  were  they  incapable  of  writ- 
ing the  relative  and  the  preposition  of  tendency? 
how,  besides,  could  they  havcd  wished  to  give 
themselves  the  trouble  of  acquiring  a  system 
of  writing  so  comj^licated  and  so  difficult, 
since  they  knew  how  to  write  their  national 
words  ?  In  mizdi  zi  the  first  z  and  the  first  i 
have  their  own  value  and  natural  sound  ;  in 
zi,  on  the  contrary,  they  would  do  nothing  but 
represent  hya  I     Is  that  likely  ? 

Thus  some  authors  abandon  this  rather  un- 
tenable ground,  or  betake  themselves  to  an- 
other kind  of  proof.  According  to  them,  the 
influence  of  a  powerful  sacerdotal  body  was 
sufficient  to  impose  upon  Persian  this  very 
inconvenient  mode  of  expression,  and  the 
Magi,  who  were  this  privileged  body,  created 
the  Huzvarcsh,  to  make  their  sacred  books 
unintelligible  to  the  profane.  They  rest  their 
opinion  on  the  final  text  of  Yesht  IV,  which 
prescribes  the  secret  relating  to  its  contents. 
This  hypothesis  is  equally  untenable.  We 
could  admit  it  up  to  a  certain  point,  if  the 
Pahlavi  had  not  been  employed  except  in  re- 
ligious treatises,  but  it  was  used  also  for  roy- 
al proclamations,  and  for  the  legends  on  coins. 
Can  we  suppose  the  Persian  monarchs  would 
thus  desire  not  .to  be  comprehended  by  their 
subjects  ?     And  did  the  satrap  of  OiHcia  not 


intend  that  he  should  be  understood  by  his 
satellites  to  whom  he  gave  pay,  or  by  his 
subordinates  on  whom  he  imposed  tribute  ? 
Was  he  willing  that  they  should  comprehend 
the  word  "pay"  (or  "  tribute"),  inizd,  and  the 
name  of  their  governor;  but  did  he  wish  them 
to  remain  ignorant  of  the  sense  of  the  pre- 
position "  for"  which  united  these  two  terms 
(val)  ?  Would  this  not  have  been  an  inex- 
plicable childishness  ? 

They  forget  that  the  Huzvaresh  is  older 
than  the  advent  of  the  Mazdian  monarchy  of 
the  Sassanians ;  that  they  have  already  proved 
its  existence  under  the  Arsacides;  and  that 
at  that  time  the  Magi  were  not  in  a  position 
thus  to  impose  their  will  upon  Iran. 

The  means,  moreover,  were  altogether 
wrong  to  obtain  the  end  in  view.  The  intro- 
duction of  Pahlavi  words  might  well  discon- 
cert the  vulgar,  but  not  the  educated  classes  of 
Semitic  origin.  Now  if  the  Magi  thought  to 
conceal  their  doctrines,  it  would  have  been 
above  all  from  their  fellow-citizens  of  foreign 
(Semitic)  race  ;  Semitic  words  were,  surely, 
not  fit  for  this  purpose. 

We  see,  besides,  the  Sassanian  monarchs 
setting  forth  their  beliefs  in  their  writings,  and 
designing  to  impose  them  on  the  East.  Let 
them  read  inEHseusthe  edict  of  Yezdejerd  II, 
and  they  will  see  if  the  Magi  sought  to  con- 
ceal their  doctrines.  All  the  manifestations 
of  public  life  in  Persia  at  this  period  are  pro- 
duced by  means  of  the  Pahlavi;  it  is  the 
mode  of  writing  royal  inscriptions,  money  le- 
gends, &c. ;  is  there  in  that  the  cliaracter  of  a 
tongue  for  religious  mysteries  ?  Certainly  not. 
Yesht  IV  cannot  be  cited  to  corroborate  the 
argument.  In  that  passage  there  is  no  ques- 
tion of  the  Mazdian  law,  but  of  a  magical 
formula,  the  property  of  a  family.  The  text 
says  :  ''  Do  not  communicate  this  manthra 
except  to  a  father,  a  son,  a  brother,  or  a  dom- 
estic priest."  It  would  be  a  very  curious 
thing  if  the  Avesta  prescribed  the  non-in- 
struction in  its  precepts  to  any  but  the  near- 
est relatives,  and  to  keep  them  secret  from 
all  other  Mazdians  who  knew  them  perfectly. 
An  interdiction  like  tins  would  be  laughable  ; 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OF  THE  PAHLAVI. 


73 


it  was  therefore  impossible.  The  Avesta,  more- 
over, exliorts  its  believers,  above  all,  to  propa- 
gate the  holy  law,  to  make  it  known  ;  which 
is,  doubtless,  quite  the  reverse  of  prescribing 
the  secret.  This,  then,  only  concerns  the  magi- 
cal formulas  belonging  to  a  family.  All  the 
reasons  adduced  in  favour  of  the  exclusively 
figurative  system  are,  therefore,  insufficient  ; 
and  the  Pahlavi,  as  to  its  formation,  remains 
unexplained. 

But  we  have  hitherto  looked  only  at  the 
negative  side  of  the  question.  Let  us  see  if 
the  examination  of  the  facts  will  not  furnish 
us  with  probable,  if  not  certain,  indices  of  the 
true  nature  of  the  Huzvaresh,  or  the  Aramean 
part  of  the  Pahlavi  writing.  Let  us  enquire 
into  all,  or  at  least  the  principal,  features 
which  may  help  to  a  solution.  Of  these  the 
most  important  seem  to  me  : 

1.  The  date  of  the  origin  of  the  Pahlavi 
can  scarcely  be  carried  as  far  back  as  that  of 
the  last  days  of  the  Achemenian  monarchy. 
The  language  which  forms  its  essential  part  is 
the  same  middle-Persian  which  was  spoken 
and  written  in  the  middle  of  the  Middle  Age, 
It  is  going  far  enough  to  admit  for  it  an  ex- 
istence anterior  to  the  conquests  of  Alexander. 
It  is  not  probable  that  this  mixture  of  Ara- 
mean and  Iranian  writing  should  have  been 
made  before  this  period.  Earlier,  moreover, 
they  would  have  used  the  Assyrian  idiom 
which  had  penetrated  into  the  Persian  ; 
and  that  was  not  before  this.  It  is,  there- 
fore, certain  thatthe  Pahlavi  had  been  formed 
at  the  time  when  the  Persians  already  ^pos- 
sessed an  alphabet  suited  to  their  language, 
and  which  they  had  created  for  themselves. 
The  use  of  Semitic  words  as  a  means  of 
writing  was  useless  and  quite  impossible. 

2.  The  Pahlavi  was  not,  in  its  Semitic 
part,  a  uniform  language.  We  distinguish 
three  or  four  kinds  of  it,  especially  what  is 
called  the  Sassanian  Pahlavi,  the  Chaldean 
Pahlavi,  and  the  Pahlavi  of  the  manuscripts. 
These  three  dialects,  if  we  can  qualify  them 
so,  are  principally  represented  by  the  in- 
scriptions of  HajUhul  and  of  Nakhi-R astern, 
and  by  the  Parsee  manuscripts.    The  Persian 


words  used  in  these  tliree  classes  of  monu- 
ments are  naturally  the  same,  but  tlie  forei.gn 
terms  designating  the  same  objects  and  tlie 
same  ideas  are  altogether  different,  and  give 
evidence  of  a  multiple  origin.  Let  us  quote 
as  an  example  the  commencement  of  the  in- 
scriptions A  and  B  of  liaji Abaci.  We  see 
tagalciM,  dpan,  hatyd,  levtm,  corresponding 
to  Karzdvani,  valan,  hararyd,  and  qadmat- 
man  of  the  second  ;  similarly  regelmuji=nag- 
alin,  hanakhtun^haqdimiit,  &c.  «fec. 

This  simple  fact  places  before  our  eyes 
several  particulars  : 

1.  In  the  Pahlavi  of  the  Sassanians  tlie 
words  have  not  always  flexional  Persian 
forms  ;  hanakhtun,  e.  g.,  and  many  other 
words  in  the  following  lines  are  entirely  un- 
provided with  them,  (see  hanitiin,  ramitun, 
homan).  There  are,  therefore,  no  Semitic 
radicals  (for  the  show),  with  Persian  suffixes, 
as  has  been  asserted,  and  as  is  necessary  to 
the  purely  figurative  system. 

2.  The  corresponding  words  of  the  two  in- 
scriptions have  not  the  same  suffixes; — cf. 
levini,  and  qadmatman,  regelmcm,  nagalin, 
&c. — which  would  he  equally  indispensable. 

3.  If  the  exotic  words  were  only  used  to 
represent  the  Iranian  words,  can  we  believe 
that  the  Persians  would  at  this  point  liave 
created  difficulties  and  would  have  accumul- 
ated them  at  pleasure,  by  taking  the  exclus- 
ively figurative  teims  of  three  or  four  different 
dialects?  The  phenomenon  is  on  the  contrary 
more  simple  if  we  suppose  these  parasites  to 
have  been  admitted  with  their  phonic  force. 
It  was  natural  to  borrow  the  words  from  the 
best  known  language  of  tlie  country  where 
they  were  written.  In  the  same  manner,  if 
ever  the  mania  for  using  archaic  terms  had 
prevailed  in  France,  the  Roman  Walloon 
would  have  been  laid  under  conlribution  in 
the  north,  Provengal  in  the  south-east,  Gas- 
con in  the  south-west. 

We  have  seen  by  the  foregoing  that  the 
Persians  knew  how  to  write  when  the  Palilavi 
was  formed.  On  the  other  hand,  the  oldest 
monuments  of  this  language  presented  al- 
ready   a  mixture    of    heterogeneous  words 


74 


THE  OniGIN  AND  NATURE  OF  THE  PAHLAVI. 


which  made  for  it  its  own  character.  How 
are  we  to  beUeve  that  from  the  beginning 
these  words  had  a  value  so  different.  Let  us 
see  a  Persian  busy  with  the  work.  He  first 
wrote  phonetically  two  or  three  words  of  his 
own  language,  and  these  were  to  be  read  just 
as  they  were  written.  Then  he  traced,  phon- 
etically also,  alphabetically  or  all  in  the  same 
letters,  an  Aramean  word,  e.  g.,  €f  yom, 
*  day,'  ^^^  Ulyd,  '  night,'  »\\^  'bull'  That 
ought  not  to  be  pronounced  ;  it  is  only  there 
for  the  show,  it  must  be  replaced  by  the  syn- 
onymous Persian  word ;  and  that  without  any 
object,  for  to  the  author  the  Semitic  word  was 
neither  an  ideogram  nor  an  archaic  term.  He 
reads  it  perfectly,  but  he  makes  a  complete 
abstraction  of  what  he  reads.  He  addresses 
himself  to  a  reader  who  knows  Aramean,  for 
otherwise  he  would  not  be  understood.  He 
speaks  Aramean  to  him,  and,  to  him,  that 
is  to  speak  Persian.  Further  and  better 
still.  To  a  Persian  verb  he  joins  a  Semitic 
prefix,  he  couples  in  the  same  compound  two 
elements  of  different  origin.  E.  g,  ustdno 
yadman,  '  who  has  the  hands  raised,'  com- 
posed of  the  Avestic  ustdno,  '  raised,*  '  lifted 
up,'  and  of  the  Semitic  yad(man).  In  a 
single  phrase  he  presents  us  with  the  same 
words  under  the  two  forms.  Thus  in  the 
Yagna  XXVIII,  11.  c,  fratum,  'at  first,* 
is  repeated  under  the  Semitic  form  avla.  In 
Yagna  XI  huzvd  is  so  by  the  synonymous 
Aramean  Ushnd  ;  and  here,  as  in  the  in- 
sciptions  which  have  been  spoken  of  above, 
the  Semitic  words  never  have  the  Iranian 
finals  which  would  call  for  their  explanation 
by  simple  figures.  Thus  the  heterogeneous 
elements  follow,  intermingle  with,  and  cross 
each  other  in  a  pile-mele  of  the  greatest  ab- 
surdities, some  for  reading,  some  for  the 
show  ;  and  that  without  any  assignable  reason 
or  object. 

Again,  let  us  put  ourselves  in  the  place 
of  the  reader.  He  may  know  Aramean  well, 
or  he  may  not  know  it  well.  In  the  former 
case  he  sees  before  him,  after  sonie  words 
which  he  naturally  reads,  certain  other  forms 


in  which  he  sees,  clearly  and  in  their  order,  all 
the  letters  of  words  such  as  c"  y^^  '^^j' 
■H3^^  Uhjd,  'night,'  gabrd 'md.ii\  &c.  He 
reads  there  in  spite  of  himself,  lelyd,  &c.,  but 
he  puts  a  shade  before  his  eyes  that  he  may  not 
perceive  them,  and  pronounces  mentally  roc, 
shaj),  and  martum.  In  the  latter  case,  he  has 
before  him  certain  obscure  forms,  in  which  he 
easily  recognises  some  letters  famiHar  to  him, 
yet  to  which  he  does  not  attribute  any  sound^ 
but  in  which  a  written  vocabulary  has  appris- 
ed him  he  should  find  certain  ideographs  re- 
calling the  corresponding  Persian  expressions, 
in  spite  of  the  alphabetical  nature  of  the  char- 
acters; this  would  have  explained  to  the  young 
Persian  that  «•  was  identical  with    S  ,that  in 

the  first  he  had  not  to  disturb  himself  about 
the  letters  ^i  '» &  ii  which  he  has  distinguished 
without  difficulty,  and  that  they  have  there  no 
value,  and  ought  to  be  read  roc. 

But  this  is  not  all  yet. 

In  the  legend  of  Parthian  and  Sassanian 
coins,  Malkdn  malkd,  the  Aramean  subjects 
of  the  Persian  empire  could  only  read  what 
they  saw  before  them,  written  in  all  the  letters : 
the  foreign  people  in  the  Sassanian  monarchy, 
the  Semites,  Greeks,  Hindus  and  other  neigh- 
bours of  Persia  came  necessarily  to  use  it  in 
such  a  way  that  a  Greek,  a  Lydian,  a  Cap- 
podocian  or  any  other  person  into  whose  hands 
one  of  these  coins  fell  would  be  able  to  read 
it,  if  it  bore,  e.  g.,  Valgash  malkd  or  Tirdat 
malkdn  malkd.  Was  each  piece  accompanied 
by  an  instruction  pointing  out  the  true  read- 
ing ?  How  the  letters  tw,  Z,  k,  d,  were  there 
only  to  be  read  shah  ? 

It  may  be  that  some  very  distinguished 
scholars  persuade  themselves  that  this  theory 
has  some  probability.  For  ourselves,  we  can- 
not admit  it  in  any  manner.  Everything  in 
it  is  against  nature.  The  opposite  supposi- 
tion is,  on  the  contrary,  of  the  simplest  kind. 
In  all  ages  we  have  seen  people  borrow  ex- 
pressions from  people  more  civilized  than 
themselves,  and  mixing  them  with  their  own 
expressions,  as  if  they  made  part  of  the  na- 
tional vocabulary. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OP   THE  PAHLAVI. 


75 


Only  one  reservation  is  to  be  made  here.  The 
Huzvaresh  has  a  special  character  which  is 
not  altogether  without  analogy,  but  which 
may  be  explained  by  the  records.  This  point 
will  be  treated  in  a  few  moments;  let  us  not 
anticipate  lest  we  repeat  ourselves. 

They  will  ask,  perhaps,  if  the  Huzvaresh 
and  the  usage  of  the  Persian  are  explicable  on 
our  hypothesis.  To  reply  to  this  objection, 
we  ought  to  consider  the  question  in  all 
its  bearings.  The  origin,  the  formation  and 
use  of  the  Huzvaresh  cannot  be  explained  by 
the  figurative  thesis ;  their  explanation  is  quite 
simple  if  ours  be  adopted.  The  fourth  problem, 
the  decline  of  the  Aramean  words,  finds,  it 
is  true,  a  natural  solution  in  a  supposition  flow- 
ing from  the  ideographic  system,  but  it  resolves 
itself  in  a  manner  quite  as  natural,  and  more 
historic,  by  the  opposite  system.  But  we 
shall  once  more  seek  to  reconsider  this  dis- 
cussion at  the  close  of  our  study. 

All  that  has  been  said  hitherto  has  rendered 
more  and  more  improbable  the  hypothesis  of 
the  ideographic  origin  of  the  Huzvaresh. 
The  question  would  have  made  a  decisive 
step  if  we  could  find  in  the  language  itself 
some  signs  indicating  that  the  Huzvaresh  was 
sometimes  read.  The  doubt  then  no  longer 
remains  possible. 

Now,  we  believe  we  have  found  these  indices 
and  are  able  to  point  them  out  to  our  readers. 
The  principal  have  furnished  us  with  the  fol- 
lowing facts : 

1.  The  Pahlavi  alphabets  are  Armean  in 
origin,  but  they  have  been  specially  adapted 
to  an  Iranian  language.  L  and  E  are 
confounded  as  in  Persian  and  Avestic.  The 
aspirated  gutturals  have  only  one  expression; 
it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  the  Semitic  H  H 
from  J^.  In  the  same  way  kal  and  qol 
have  only  one  expression,  ^  the  Persian  iT, 
&c.  The  letters  of  the  Aramean  words  re- 
quire to  be  transformed  so  as  to  be  capable 
of  writing  correct  Pahlavi.  It  is  therefore 
Persian  which  has  been  first  written,  the  Ara- 
mean comes  only  in  the  second  and  subord- 
inate place. 

2.  In  the  greater  number  of  Aramean  word.-? 


the  Ain  is  changed  into  F";  e.  g.,  kevan  '  now' 
for  hehan-,  val  for  hal,  &c.  How  can  we  im- 
agine that  they  would  change  the  ortho- 
graphy of  these  words,  that  they  would  change 
it  regularly,  and  that  it  was  never  pronounced  ? 

3.  Certain  joinings  of  terms  indicate  clearly 
that  the  Huzvaresh  words  had  their  own 
reading.  E.  g.,  the  Semitic  prefix  laid  cor- 
responds to  uq,  '  on  high,'  '  upwards.'  Now 
it  is  found  before  some  words  which  have  al- 
ready the  prefix  wc;  e  g.,  laid  uggtat  zarttusht. 
If  the  Persians  had  read  the  Iranian  word  in 
place  of  the  Semitic  term  they  would  have 
clearly  perceived  that  in  ugug  the  same  term 
was  repeated  twice,  and  they  would  have  a- 
voidedthat  logomachy.     (Fg.  XIX,  11,  16). 

In  the  version  of  the  A  vesta,  gdus,  '  ox' 
'  cow',  is  rendered  in  Iranian  hj  gogjyend;  the 
corresponding  Semitic  word  is  torn.  '  Now  in 
Fargard  II.  100,  we  find  tord  gogpend.  If 
tord  were  nothing  but  an  ideogram  represent- 
ing gogiiend,  did  the  Persians  then  read  gog- 
pend gogpendl     Who  would  believe  that? 

4.  Frequently,  in  the  Pahlavi  version,  Ir- 
anian words  are  explained  by  Semitic  words. 
Thus,  in  Fargard  XIX.  1,  nemak  is  ex- 
plained by  jindk  ;  fratum  is  so  by  avla  in 
Yagna  XXVIII,  11,  c,  as  kart  is  by  vddunt 
in  the  same  song,  o,  at  end.  In  the  same 
way  tdshit  is  explained  by  yeliabunt  (Y. 
XXIX,  1,  a,  at  end),  and  fshoinitano  by 
lakhvdr  yehsuntano,  (Y.  XI,  6).  Could  the 
author  who  at  the  side  of  nemak  wrote  jindk^ 
and  yehahunt  at  the  side  of  tdsMt,  think  of 
explaining  an  obscure  term  by  an  ideogram 
which  demanded  the  erudition  of  his  readers  ? 
And  the  Persian  who  had  read  kai't  in  his 
mother  tongue,  what  could  he  do  with  vd- 
dunt following,  if  that  were  intended  only  to 
reproduce  the  same  sounds  and  the  same 
words  ? 

It  will  be  said,  perhaps,  that  these  Aram- 
ean words  were  introduced  to  embarrass  the 
uninitiated  reader.  But  why,  then,  is  the 
reverse  fact  so  often  produced  ?  Why  are 
the  Huzvaresh  words  explained  in  Persian  ? 
(See  yemitunt=:margih,  Fg.  IV,  135,  &c.) 
Why  are  some  explanations  in  pure  Persian  ? 


76 


A  FRAGMENT  OF  A    BABYLONIAN  TITHE-LIST  . 


(See  Y.  XI,   8,  r,  gloss  ;  13,  Y.  XXVIII, 

o,  last  gloss.       Farg.  II.  126,  gloss,  &c.) 
Aiid  when  in  a  repeated  phrase  one  word  is 


given  first  in  Aramean  and  then  in  Persian, 
is  this  also  to  embarrass  the  reader  ?  Is  it  not 
rather  to  give  him  the  key  of  the  enigma  ? 
C.  DE  Harlez, 


A  FRAGMENT  OF  A  BABYLONIAN  TITHE-LIST 


As  a  rule,  Babylonian  tithe-lists  are  dry 
and  uninteresting.  They  give  simj^ly  the 
usual  formula,  with  the  list  of  amounts  paid 
and  the  names *of  the  payers,  and  it  is  often 
merely  in  these  last  (the  names)  that  the  main 
interest  lies. 

Very  few,  however,  of  these  texts  have  been, 
as  yet,  pubjished,  and  I  therefore  present  to 
the  readers  of  the  Babylonian  and  Oriental 
Record  a  specimen  of  a  tablet  of  the  nature 
above  indicated,  the  text  in  question  being 
slightly  above  i\\Q  average  in  point  of  interest. 

The  text,  as  it  has  come  down  to  us,  is 
exceedingly  short,  eiglit  lines  being  all  that 
are  now  legible.  Tlie  tablet,  which  is  of  un- 
baked clay,  is  broken  off  short  about  the  mid- 
dle, and  the   inscriution  on   the  back   is   so 


mutilated  that  only  two  or  three  characters 
remain.  It  begins  with  a  heading  in  the 
usual  way,  stating  that  what  follows  is  the 
tithe  for  the  treasury  of  the  Sungod  of  E-papar 
(E-babar)  from  Nidintu™  son  of  Bel-ibni  ,for 
the  month  lyyar,  1st  year  of  Darius  the  king. 
The  tithe  in  question  is  paid,not  by  individuals 
(as  it  usually  is),  but  by  certain  cities,  the 
names  of  which  are  given.  It  would  seem, 
therefore,  that  every  place  was  laid  under 
contribution  to  support  the  great  temj^le  of 
the  Sungod  at  Sippara,  in  addition  to  the 
smaller  fanes  which  existed  in  all  the  chief 
cities  of  ancient  Babylonia,  and  of  which  it 
may  reasonably  be  supposed  that  each  of  the 
cities  named  in  tliis  short  list  had  at  least  one. 


TEXT  OF  THE  TITHE-LIST,    82-7-14,  Ul, 

5 


m 

tTT  -8+  •£!! 

-H^  H  ::^M 

J=g 

< 

tTT  ^TT  J^  X^  ^^ 

< 

tTT  >£TT  1^ 

^  » -a^M 

8-    <  ^TT  "STT  "-"  ST  t?^  < 


A  Fragment  of  a  Babylonian  tithe-lIsi? 


ii 


1.  Se-] 


TRANSCRIPTION. 

-BAii    Ck--ru-u   sa-ga   >->]f-   Samas 

2.  E-papar   i-a  mdintu^\    dbli-su   sa     y  Bel-lbnt, 

3.  sa^  drah    Aari,    sattu   estin   y  Dar-i-mu-su,   mrru. 

4.  Bit   t:^^    sittd   sa   ina  jmn   ^  iimmanati. 

5.  Selasda    gurru    se-bar   dlu   Fallukatu^. 
G.  -£'s77Y     (/Tirri^    dlu     Ni-ik-^ii. 

7,  ^^i-r/i   ^ifr;-zfc    dlu    llah-hi-i-li. 

8,  ii'.snY    r/?ir;7«    dlu    Kur-ra-su    u    bdb.... 

TRANSLATION", 

1 .  Grain,  tlie  tithe  of  the  treasury  of  the  Suugod  of 

2.  ]<]-papar,  from  Nidintiini ,  son  of  Bel-ibni 

^3.  for  the  month  lyyar,  1st  year  of  Darius  the  king. 

4.  Bit-sitti  which  is  before  the  peoj^le. 

5.  :30  gitrru  of  grain  the  city  of  Pallukatu^^ 

6.  10  gurru  the  city  Nikku 

7.  10  gurru  the   city   Rabbi-ih" 

8.  10  gurru  the  city  Kurrasu  and  the   gate  of... 

REMARKS. 


1.  In  translating  the  above  text  I  have 
adopted  for  se-bar  the  rendering  of  "  grain" 
there  being  a  certain  amount  of  doubt  as  to 
the  correct  translation  of  the  word.  Instead 
of  SE  BAR,  the  group  might  just  as  well  be 
read  se-mas  ("  the  double  seed,")  and  if  this 
be  correct,  it  is  not  improbably  connected 
with  the  word  samas  in  the  compound  samas- 
sa?nme,  a  word  of  wliich  the  Akkadian  render- 
ing, 4<^  ^y  ^  (se-gis-sal),  shows  that  it  is 
for  samas  samne  "  seed  of  oil,""oilseed,"  iden- 
tified as  "sesame,"    Arab.    ^^^^  (simsim). 

Se-i3ar  or  se-mas  is  not  barley,  as  this  was 
expressed  by  the  group  :^  /^. 

2.  The  more  usual  way  of  writing  the  name 


(Dariawus),]  ^]<]  yj  ^  ^yY  ^^^  ^Da-a- 

rur-ia-es-su  (Ddruiaessu),  found  mainly 
during  the  early  years  of  his  reign  when  the 
name  was  new  and  strange  to  the  Babylonian 
scribes.'  It  is  doubtful  whether  other  char- 
acters follow  the  word  sarru  "  king,"  or  not, 
as  the  tablet  is  defaced  after  this  character. 

4.  What  may  be  the  exact  meaning  of  this 
line  is  difficult  to  say,  as  there  is  no  verb  in 
the  whole  sentence.  Most  likely  we  have  to 
supply  the  words  "collected  in"  before  the 
phrase  "  Bit-sitti  which  [is]  before  the  people.'' 

^y     ::;^-<    ^4jjy     I^  ,   BH-sim, 

means  literally  "the  house  of  hands,"  the  first 
character  being  the  sign  bttu  or  bttu  "  house," 


of  the  great  temple  of  the  Sungod  at  Sippara  the  second  the  determinative  prefix  for  a  part 
'^^^^^]  E-2Kira[bara)oYE-2)a2Kira(babara).  of  the  body  {seru,  "flesh"),  the  third  the 
The  scribe  here  seems  to  have  written  phon-      character  sit  or  rit,  one  of  whose  meanings  is 


etically  E-papar. 

3.  The  spelling  of  the  name  Dar-i~n.u-su 
(Darius)  is  unusual.  The  most  common  form 
is  y  '^y<y  ;i^  gyr  ^^^  Da-rl4a-mus 
{Dariawus].  Other  uncommon  forms  of  the 
name  are  y  ^y<gy  \7  yf  ^^\  Dar-ia-a-m,us 


"  the  flat  part  of  the  hand"  (palm  or  back, 
including  the  wrist).  BU-slttl  is,  therefore, 
most  likely,  to  be  translated  "  the  house  of 
hand-palms ;"  that  is,  a  temple  where  there 
were  receptacles  for  collecting  the  gifts  of 
worshippers.   Time  alone  will  show  whether 


1)  In  this  last  form  there  seems  to  be  some  attempt  at  a  pun,  ddru  and  essii,  in  Babylon- 
ian, meaning  respectively  "long-existing,"  and  "new" — Ddric-ia-essu  "My  long-existing 
u'ew  one," 


H 


kOTB    ON     BABYLONIAN     ASTRONOMY. 


this  interpretation  be  tlie  right  one  or  not, 
but  it  seems  to  have  a  certain  amount  of 
probability,  especially  when  taken  in  con- 
nexion with  the  Avords  "  before  the  people," 
We  may  therefore  translate  "  [From]  the 
offertory-house  which  [is]  before  the  people." 
L.  5 — 8.  The  names  of  cities  here  given 
are  all  Babylonian,  and  the  cities  themselves 
all  lay,  probably,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Sepharvaim  or  Sippara.  Palluhatu  was 
probably  the  name  of  a  village,  and  seems  to 
be  connected  with  the  word  pallukku,  the 
name  of  a  tree  or  plant — perhaps  a  name  of 
the  cypress.  Palluhatu  is  seemingly  a  fem- 
inine plural  of  2)(illukhu,  which  was  probably 
borrowed  from  Akkadian.  ^  NiJzku  is  probably 
a  town  or  village,  so  called  after  a  star  or 
constellation  which  seems  to  have  borne  that 
name.  Rabbi-ilu  is  one  of  the  Aramean  towns 


taken  by  Tiglath-pileser  III.,  who  writes  the 
name  £^  gjify  ^  ^>f-,  Ra-hi-  ilu 
The  probable  meaning  is  "great  (is)God."The 
last  line  has  apparently  two  names,  Kurrasu, 
[which  may  also  be  read  Madras u  {^Matrasu, 
Matrasu)  or  Sadrasu  (Satrasu,  Satrasii), 
&c.],  and  a  name  beginning  with  bdb.  With 
regard  to  the  latter  name  it  is  not  unlikely  that 
the  broken  wedges  following  the  last  character 
are  the  two  single  uprights  meaning  "  ditto," 
in  which  case  the  word  should  be  restored  as 
^J  yy  A^,  and  read  Bab-iU,  the  common 
form  of  the  name  of  Babylon. 

This  little  text  will  give  some  idea  of  the 
character  of  a  large  number  of  the  tablets 
fromAbu-habbah  (Sippara  or  Sepharvaim )and 
elsewhere.  Examples  of  others  will  probably 
be  given  from  time  to  time  in  the  Record. 


ADDITIONAL  NOTE  ox  the  name  of  the  BABYLONIAN  KING  GADDAS. 


The  name  of  the  early  Babylonian  king 
y  ^^  J:*^y  Jiy, which  I  have  transcribed(B. 
&  0.  K.  p.  54)  as  Gaddas,  may  also  be  read 
Gaddes  or  Gaddis.  If  either  of  these  last- 
named  transcriptions  be  correct,  it  is  not  un- 
likely that  this  ruler  is  to  be  identified  with 
the  king  whose  name  I  have  transcribed 
(Proceedings  Soc.  Bibl.  Arch,  for  May,  1881, 


p.  105)  as  Kandis.  y  f:»^  y  Gandis  (or 
Kandis)  ruled  about  1570  B.  C,  and 
nothing  is  known  about  his  reign  except  that 
it  lasted  IG  years,  ending  about  B.  C.  1551. 
The  assimilation  of  n  with  d  would  explain 
the  form  Gaddis^  and  presents  no  difficulty, 
as  it  is  a  sound-change  often  met  Avith  in 
the  wedge-inscriptions. 

Theo.  G.  Pinches. 


2)  Words  borrowed  by  the  Semitic  Babylonians  and  Assyrians   from    foreign  language^ 
have  ^ewQX'dWj  J'emiiune  i)lurals  {iguru,  pi.  igurate\  ekallu,  pi.  ekalldti,  &c.) 


NOTE  ON  BABYLONIAN  ASTRONOMY. 


The  point  respecting  how  far  the  des- 
cription of  the  constellations  versified  by 
Aratus  agrees  better,  through  the  effects  of 
precession,  with  their  positions  in  the 
heavens  at  a  period  several  centuries  before 


his  own  time,  than  with  those  they  occupied 
in  the  time  of  Eudoxus,  has  been  discussed 
byDelambre  in  the  first  volume  of  his  Eis- 
toire  dAsironomie  Ancierim.  He  considers 
that  it  is  impossible  to  come  to  any  decided 


I 


EGYPT    EXPLORATION    FUND. 


^9 


conclusion  on  the  subject,  owing  to  the 
difficulty  of  feeling  sure  as  to  what  part 
of  a  constellation  is  alluded  t©  in  any  par- 
ticular case.  But  he  says,  "  il  est  en  effet 
tres  possible  et  tr^s  probable  que  la  sphere 
d'Eudoxe  ne  soit  pas  r6ellement  de  lui  et 
qu'elle  appartienne  h  une  epoque  plus 
ancienne."  I  may  remark  that  a  Arietis 
was  very  nearly  in  the  vernal  equinox 
little  more  than  two  thousand  years  ago, 
or  in  the  time  of  Eudoxus,  whilst  four 
thousand  years  ago  Aldebaran  {a  Tauri) 
was  at  no  great  distance  from  it.  The 
allusion,  therefore,  to  the  "  crouching  legs  " 
of  the  Bull  having  been  in  the  equator 
would  apply  very  well  to  Babylonian  times. 
The  strongest  point,  it  appears  to  me, 
which  seems  to  bear  out  Mr.  Brown's 
theory  is  that  of  the  position  of  the  pole 
with  respect  to  the  stars.  Hippar- 
chus  condemns  Eudoxus  for  stating  that 
there  was  a  star  in  the  north  pole  of  the 
he.ivens,  but  affirms  that  three  stars  form 
a  sort  of  square  with  it.  (It  is  interesting 
to  us  as  Englishmen  that  he  cites  as  his 
authority  for  this  Pytheas,  of  Marseilles, 


who  was  the  earliest  Greek  navigator  to 
the  shores  of  Britain.)  Delambre  identifies 
these  three  stars  as  /i  Ursje  Minoris; 
a  and  k  Draconis,  but  thinks  it  possible 
that  Eudoxus  was  alluding  to  a  small  star 
in  the  nose  of  the  modern  constellation, 
Camelopardus.  Two  thousand  years,  how- 
ever, before  the  time  when  he  wrote 
or  about  four  thousand  years  ago,  a 
Draconis  (as  is  well  known)  a  star  of  the 
third  magnitude,  was  very  near  the  pole, 
and  may  have  been  the  star  alluded  to  by 
him  in  of  the  description  of  the  heavens, 
on  which  the  "  Phainomena  "  of  Aratus  is 
founded.  Of  the  work  itself,  of  Euaoxus, 
there  are  only  extant  the  few  fragments 
preserved  by  Hipparchus. 

I  must  remark,  in  conclusion,  with  re- 
gard to  Mr.  Brown's  allusion  to  a  Ly isa 
as  formerly  having  been  a  pole  star,  tliat 
that  has  not  been  the  case  since  about 
twelve  thousand  years  ago,  long  before 
historic,  even  Babylonian,  times. 

W.  T.  Lynn. 

Blackheath.  Feb.  2,  1887. 


EGYPT  EXPLORATION  PUND. 


We  quote  from  the  last  Report  of  this 
Fund  the  following  sentences  which  will 
show  the  important  and  interesting 
character  of  the  present  campaign  : — 

"  The  course  of  the  Sweetwater  Canal 
from  Cairo  to  the  Wady  Tumilat,  the  fertile 
pasture  land  between  Zagazig  and  Tell  el- 
Kebir,  the  caravan  route  from  Kantara  to 
Farama,  lie  mapped  out  before  you.  With 
this  part  of  the  ground  you  are  already 
familiar.  You  visited  Tel-el- Maskhuta  in 
the  Wady  Tumilat,  in  1883,  and  the 
country  lying  between  Belbeis  and  Fakils 
in  1885.  Your  next  journey  will  be  taken 
with  the  same  objects  and  under  the  same 
leadership.  The  name  of  the  discoverer  of 
Pithom,  the  "  treasure  city,"  and  Goshen 
the  capital  town  of  the  old  Scripture  region, 
is  identified  with  the  quest  of  the  route  of 


the  Exodus  ;  and  we  all  know  how  deeply 
Mr.  Naville  is  interested  in  the  solution  of 
that  most  difficult  and  important  problem 
of  ancient  history.  Three  great  Biblical 
sites,  be  it  remembered,  have  been  dis- 
covered by  the  instrumentality  of  the 
Egypt  Exploration  Fund— Pithom,  Goshen, 
Tapanhes — and  for  two  out  of  three  we 
have  to  thank  Mr.  Naville.  Those  two — 
Pithom  and  Goshen — are,  I  need  scarcely 
sa}^,  of  incalculably  high  importance,  inas- 
much as  they  determine  a  host  of  such 
issues,  and  establish  upon  an  unquestion- 
able basis  the  historical  accuracy  of  a 
substantial  part  of  the  Pentateuch." 

Mr.  Ed.  Naville  has  sent  his  first 
report  from  Cairo,  Jan  31,  on  his  tour  of 
inspection  in  the  land  of  Goshen,  "  namely, 
the  district  east  of  Zagazig,  between 
Tell-el-Kebir  and  Belbeis,*'     The  explorer 


80 


i^OTES,   NEWS,   AND   QUERIES. 


"found  that  there  had  been  at  Belbeis  a 
temple  built  by  Nekhthorheb (Nectanebo  I.) 
and  that  it  was  dedicated  to  '  The  great 
Sekhet  who  resides  at  Bast.'  No  other 
royal  name  occurs  except  once  that  of 
Eamses  11."  Near  the  same  place  at  Tell- 
el-Yahoudieh,  i.e.,  "The  Mound  of  the 
Jewess,"  which  is  quite  different  from  the 
Tell  of  like  name  near  f^chibin-el-Kanatir, 
the  explorer  found  thrice  repeated,  on  a 
square  granite  stone,  the  name  of  a  king 
hitherto  unknown.  •'  It  is  a  strange  sound- 
ins:   name.      His   first   cartouche   reads — 


'  User  ma  Ra  Sotep  en  Amen ; '  and  his 
name,  '  Thot  upet  si  Bast  mi  Amen.'  I  do 
not  believe  this  cartouche  has  ever  been 
seen  before.  Judging  from  his  coronation 
name,  which  is  iientical  with  that  of 
Takeloth  II.,  Sheshonk  III.,  and  Pimai, 
I  should  say  that  he  belonged  to  the 
Bribastite  dynasty,  or  that  he  was  one  of 
the  petty  princes  who  reigned  in  the 
Delta  at  the  time  of  the  Conquest  of 
Piankhi  or  Esarhaddon,"  For  this  in- 
teresting report  in  full,  see  The  Academy, 
Feb.  19,  p.  136-137. 


NOTES,  NEWS  AND  QUERIES. 


KiBiR,  GiBiL,  "fire."— The  Akkadian 
Kibir,  Sumerian  GMl,  "fire,"  has  some 
Scythian  affinities,  and  is  apparently  cog- 
nate to  the  Mongolian  ghel,  glial,  Sokpa 
Ktval  Garo  wal,  Chinese  kwoh,  Bra!:ui 
Kdhkar,  all  with  the  same  meaning  of 
"  fire."— T.  DE  L. 

•5(-  ■*  -X-  -X- 

Babylonian  Astronomy. — Our  Col- 
laborateur,  Mr.  G.  Bertin,  writes  to  say 
that  (as  far  as  he  knows)  "he  is  the  only 
Assyriologist  having  expressed  publicly  or 
in  private  conversation,  though  not  printed 
anywhere,"  the  opinio-n  that  the  astronomy 
of  the  Babylonians  was  not  worthy  its 
wide  repute,  as  recorded  in  the  last  num- 
ber of  this  Magazine,  p.  61.  We  may, 
however,  assure  Mr.  Bertin  that  he  is  not 
the  only  person  entertaining  these  views 
(a5  he  will  see  when  forthcoming  papers 
appear).  The  Editorial  Committee  will, 
no  doubt,  be  glad  to  publish  in  these 
coluiuns  an  article  from  him  explaining  his 
views  and  assertions  on  the  subject,  which 
Avill  do  more  to  establish  his  claims  to 
priority  than  any  possible  ulterior  con- 
troversy. 

We  take  this  opportunity  to  state  that 
one  of  the  rules  laid  down  by  co^nmon  con- 
sent of  the  Editorial  Committee  and  the 
Proprietor  of  the  Babylonian  and 
Oriental  Record  at  the  time  of  its 
foundation,  strictly  precludes  the  opening 


of  its  columns  to  any  paper  of  a  polemical 
or  personal  nature. — T.  DE  L. 

Forthcoming  Papers. — H.  M.  Baynes: 
"  Iranian  origin  of  the  word  God." — "  The 
Mongol  Concept  of  Deity.  W.  St.  Chad 
Boscawen  :  "  New  Assyrian  Tablets." 
Bob.  Brown,  Jun.  :  "On  Oriental  words 
from  Hezychius."  Dr.  L.  0.  Casartelli : 
"  The  Semitic  Verbs  in  Pahlavi."  Dr.  de 
Harlez  :  "Iranian Studies,  II.  The  origin 
and  Nature  of  the  Pahlavi,"  (concluded). 
Dr.  T.  de  Lacouperie :  "  Tatooing  in 
Babvlonia  and  China." — Babylonia  and 
China  I,  "  The  Cardinal  Points.^'  Theo. 
G.  Pinches :  ''  The  Babylonians  and 
Assyrians  as  Maritime  Nations,"  (con- 
tinued). Dr.  Mark  Aurel  Stein:  "A 
newly  discovered  inscription  in  the  Hert 
Eiid  Valley.'^  Thomas  Tyler:  "On  the 
Hittite  Inscriptions  :  the  Yuzgat  Seal  and 
the  Seal  of  Tarkutimme." 

■X-  *  -x-  -St 

Is  there  any  differense  between  the 
literary  and  spoken  language  in  Assyria 
and  Babylonia,  and  if  so,  what  documents 
are  there  which  give  indications  % 

Is  Semitic  Babylonian  most  closely  allied 
to  the  Hebrew  or  to  the  Arabic  divisions 
of  the  Semitic  family  of  languages  % 
What  are  its  relations,  if  any,  to  Chaldee 
and  Syriac  %  Should  we  not  expect  rather 
a  language  related  to  these  last-named 
tongues  % 


Printed  for  the  Proprietor  at  51,  Knovvle  Road,  Brixton,  S.W:,  and  published  by  him  there,  and  by 
p.  NuTT,  British  and  Foreign  Bookseller,  270,  Strand,  W,C. 


THR 


BABYLONIAN  AND  ORIENTAL  RECORD. 

T'le  Eilitorial  Committee  is  not  responsible  for  the  opinions  or  statements  of  the  Contributors. 


TABLETS  REFERRING  TO  THE  APPRENTICESHIP 
SLAVES  AT  BABYLON. 


OF 


This  month  I  present  to  the  readers  of  the 
Record  a  pi«ture  of  Babylonian  life,  which  could 
probably  be  seen  at  any  time  in  that  great  city 
—  namely,  the  apprenticeship  of  a  slave  by 
his  master  or  mistress  to  learn  some  trade  or 
occupation  which,  when  he  had  served  his  time, 
would  be  useful  or  profitable  to  his  owners. 
Great  must  have  been  the  injury  done  by  this 
system  to  the  free  skilled-handicraftsman;  but 

The  first  of  the  two  documents  here  trans- 
lated refers  to  the  apprenticing,  by  a  woman 
named  Nubta,  of  a  slave  belonging  to  Itti- 
Marduk-balatu,  to  Bel-edir  for  five  years. 
The  trade  which  he  is  to  learn  is  that  of  an 
isparutu—2L  word  which  is  probably  derived 
from  the  Akkadian  us-har  "  loom,"  also 
"weaver."  (The  Babylonians,  as  is  well 
known,  were  celebrated  for  their  woven  stuffs.) 
Bel-edir  is  to  tjach  Attan-ana-Marduk,  the 
slave,  thoroughly,  and  Nubta  engages  to  give 
the  slave  his  food  and  other  necessaries  (oil, 
clothing,  &c.)  during  the  time  of  his  ap- 
prenticeship. If,  however,  Bel-edir  failed  to 
make  the  slave  learn  his  trade,  he  was  to  pay 
a  half  measure  of  corn  daily,  and  forty  shekels 
of  silver,  apparently  if  he  contested  the  con- 
contract.  The  names  of  three  wit- 
nesses   are    given,  followed   by  that  of  the 


the  injury  was  probably  not  recognised  by  tlie 
ancient  Babylonians,  accustomed  as  they  were 
to  slavery  from  the  very  earliest  times;  and 
the  poorer  classes  of  freemen  probably  had  to 
keep  their  feelings  to  themselves  when  the 
questions  of  scarcity  of  work  and  the  employ- 
ment of  skilled  slave-hands  came — as  it  must 
have  done  sometimes — forcibly  before  them. 


I. 


scribe.  The  date  is  "  20th  of  Tammuz,  third 
year  of  Cyrus,  king  of  Babylon  and  countries" 
July,  535  B.  C).  One  peculiarity  of  the 
text  is,  that  the  character  e  has  more  the 
Assyrian  than  the  Babylonian  form  (compare 
lines  3,  5,  &c.).  The  letter  e  of  the  name 
Egibi  (Hue  16)  is,  apparently  by  a  mistake  of 
the  scribe,  written  twice  over.  The  text  is 
otherwise  very  well  written.  A  translation 
has  already  been  given  by  me  in  the  Guide 
to  the  Himroud  Central  Saloon,  p.  98,  no.  57, 
but  the  text,  with  transciption,  is  here  pub- 
lished for  the  first  time.  A  comparison  of 
the  translation  given  in  the  "  Guide"  with 
that  here  published,  will  show  that  there  is, 
as  yet,  very  little  to  alter  in  the  former,  which 
like  all  the  other  translations  which  accora 
pany  it,  is  published  as  a  free,  not  as  a  strictly 
literal  translation.^ 


1)  I  should  here 


like  to  remark  that   the  whole  of  the    Guide  to  the   Nimroud   Centra 
Saloon  was  completed  by  Dec.  29th,  1885;   and  that  the  translations  therein  are  therefore 
all  really  older  than  the  date  of  the  preface  (May  14th,  1886)  implies. 


Vol.  I^No.  6, 


[81] 


April,  1887. 


g2  APPRENTICESHIP    OF  BABYLONIAN  SLAVES. 

TRANSCRIPTION. 

1.  D.  p.  Nu-uh-ta-a,  mdrat-su  sa  Iddln-  d.  p,  Marduk,  dbll  ISfur-  d.  p.  Sin^ 

2.  At-tan^a-na-  D.  p.  Marduk.  d,  p.  Gah-la-sa  Itti-  d.  p.  Marduk-haldtu^ 

3.  dhli-su  sa  Nahu-dhe-iddin,  dhil  E-gi-bi,  a-na  d.  p.  is-pa-ru-tu 

4.  a-di  hassu  sandti  a-nx   Bel-ed-ir,  dhli-su 

5.  sa  Ab-la-a,  dbll  Bel-e-de-ru  ta-ad-di-in. 

6.  Is-pa-ru-tu  gab-hi     u-lam-mad-su. 

7.  Dup-pi  dap-pi  u-mu  esten  ka  dkale  u 

8.  mu'Sib-tum  d.  p.  Nu-ub-ta-a  a-na   At-tan-a-na-   d.  p.  Marduk 

9.  ta-nam-din.      Ki-i  is-pa-ru-tu 

10.  ^a   ul-tam-mi-du-us,   u-mu   bar   se-mas 

11.  man-da-at-ta-su   i-nam-din  ;    na-bal-kat-ta-nu 

12.  sussan  ma-na    kaspi   i-nam-din.        d.  p.  Mu-kin-nu :  Nabu-ina-tsi-^diVf 

13.  dbli'SU   sa   Bel-kasir,    abil    Ba-bu-tu  ;  JVabu-sarra-usur 

14.  abli-su  sa  Ki-na-a ;  Iddin-Nabu^    dhli-su-sa   Iki-sa-a ; 

15.  D.  p.  rittUy   Du-uni-mu-^a,    dbli  su  sa  Bel-dhe-iddin, 

16.  J^dbil']    E-gi-bi.    Tin-tir   ki,    drah    Du^uzi,  umu   esrd 

17.  [^sattu"]    selaltu,  Ku-ra-as,   sar    Tin-tir   ki, 

18.  sar    mdtdti. 

TRANSLATION. 

1.  Nubta,  daughter  of  Iddin-Marduk,  son  of  Niir-Sin, 

2.  Attan-ana-Marduk,  slave  of  Itti -Marduk-balatu, 

3.  son  of   Nabu-ahe-iddin,  son  of  Egibi,  for  an  isparutu 

4.  for  5  years  to  Bel-edir,  son 

5.  of   Abla,  son  of  Bel-ederu ,  has  given. 
9.  He  shall  teach  him  all  the    isparutu. 

7.  [By]  tablet  [and]  tablet  a  day  1  ka  of  food  and 

8.  necessaries  Nubta  to  Attan-ana-Marduk 

9.  shall  give.       If  the  isparutu 

10.  he  do   not  make  him    learn,  a  day  a  half  of  grain, 

11.  his   gift,    he  shall  give.       The  rebellious  one 

12.  frds  of  a   mana  of  silver  shall  give.     Witnesses  :  Nabu-ina-6si-edir, 
12.  son  of  Bel-kasir,   son   of  Babutu  ;  Nabu-sarra-usur, 

14.  son  of  Kina  ;  Iddin-Nabu,    son   of   Ikisfi ;  [and] 

15.  the   scribe,    Dummuka,   son   of   Bel-ahe-iddin, 

16.  [son  of]   Egibi.     Babylon,  month  Tammuz,   20th  day, 

17.  3rd  [year]  of  Cyrus,  king  of  Babylon, 

18.  king  of  countries. 

FREE  TRANSCRIPTION  AND  TRANSLATION, 

CONTAINING  THE  ESSENTIAL    PART  OF  THE  CONTRACT. 

Nubta,  marat-su  sa  Iddin-Marduk,  abil  Niir-Sin,  Attan-ana-  Marduk,  galla  sa  Itti-Marduk- 
balatu,  abli-sa  s  i  Nabu-ahe-iddin,  abil  Egibi,  ana  ispariitu  adi  hassu  sanati  ana  Bel-edir, 
abli-su  sa  AblA.  luil  Bel-ederu  taddin.  Ispariitu  gabbi  ulammad-su.  Duppi  duppi,  umu, 
esten  ka  awaie  u  mftsibtum  Nubta  ana  Attan-ana-Marduk  tanamdin.  Ki  isparutu  la 
ultammidus,  umu  bar  soma?  mandatta  -  su  inamdin  ;  nabalkatt9,nu  sussan  mana  kaspi 
inamdin. 


APPRENTICESHIP  OF    IJABYLONIAN  SLAVES,  83 

Nubta,  daughter  of  Iddiii-Mardiik,  descendant  of  Nur-Sin,  has  given  Attan-ana-Marduk 
slave  of  Itti-Marduk-balatu,  son  of  NabiVrdic-iddin,  descendant  of  Kgibi,  as  an  is/nirutu  for 
five  years  to  Bel-edir,  son  of  Abla,  descendant  ot  Bclederu,  He  sliallteacli  him  all  (tlie  trade 
of)  isparutu.  According  to  the  tablets  Nubta  shall  give  to  Attan-ana-Marduk  one  ka  of 
food  and  necessaries  daily.  If  (BeUedir)  do  not  teach  him  (the  trade  of)  isparutu,  he  shall 
give  a  half  [measure]  of  grain  a  day  as  his  fine^,  [and]  he  who  contests  [this  agreement] 
fihtjll  pay  f  rds  of  a  mana  (=40  shekels)  of  silver. 

In  the  above  document  it  will  be  noted  of  his  new  apprentice  during  the  space  of  five 
that  Nubta  has  not  to  pay  Bel-edir  any  pre-  years.  Bel-edir  also  stood  to  lose  half  a 
mium  for  teaching  the  slave  Attan-ana-  measure  of  grain  daily  should  he  fail  to  make 
Marduk  -  it  was  without  doubt  considered  the  slave  learn  his  trade—  a  considerable 
that  the  teacher  of  the  handicraft  was  amount  in  the  end,  if  every  day  of  the  five 
sufficiently  well  paid  by  having  the  services     years  of  service  were  reckoned. 

II. 

The  second  tablet  is  one  of  similar  nature  the  slave  his  occupation)  a  present  of  "one 
to  the  foregoing.  Marduk-nasir-adlu  appren-  robe  {estenit  uzari)^  nothing  more,  seem- 
tices  his  slave  Itti-Ib-pania  to  Guzanu  to  ingly.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  Guzanu  failed 
learn  some  occupation  called  //  utu — probably  to  teach  the  slave,  he  was  to  pay,  as  fine,  three 
not  exactly  "book-keeping"  but  "tablet-  ka  of  grain  each  day.  Each  of  the  contracting 
keeping,"  —  but  this  is  only  a  conjecture^  parties,  it  is  stated,  took  a  copy  of  the  agree- 
"Ouzanu  takes  Itti-Ib-pania  "for  tablet  ment.  The  transaction  is  witnessed  by  three 
and  tablet,  and  three  months,"  a  phrase  persons,  and  the  scribe  who  drew  up  the  doc- 
wliich  apparently  means,  "  according  to  ument.  The  date  is  "  15th  day  of  Adar, 
agreements  already  made,  and  upon  three  26th  year  of  Darius,  king  of  Babylon  and 
months'  trial."  In  this  document  also,  no  countries,"  (about  494  years  B.C.,  February 
premium  is  mentioned,  but  Marduk-nasir  ablu  — March).  The  text  is  exceedingly  well 
promises  to  Guzanu  {if  he  succeed  in  teaching     written. 

TRANSCRIPTION, 

1.  D.  p.  Mardak-nasir-ab-lu^  mciru  sa  Itti-Mardak-baldta  mar  E-gi-bi^ 

2.  l-na  ha- lid  lid-bi-su,  Itti-Ib-jyani-i  / 

3.  D.  p.  gal-la-su,  a-na  la-ma-a-du  d.  p.  mu-u-tu^ 

4.  a-di  dup-pi,  u  duppi,  u  selaltu  drhe^    a-na 

5.  Gu-za-nu,  mdri  sa  Ha-am-ba-ku,  mar  d.  p.  man-dl-di 

6.  iddin.     d.  p.  Mu-u-tu,  tul-lu  ka-ti-su  gab-bi,  u  laTn-mad-su 

7.  Ki-i  ul-tam-mida-su,  Uten-it   d.  v.io-za-ri    n.  p.  Marduh-nasir-ab-lu 

8.  Or-na  Gu-za-nu  i-nam-din.     Ki-i   la  ul-tam-mi-du-su, 

9.  u-mu  selalta  ka  se-mas,    man-da-at  sa  Itti-Ib-pani-ia 

10.  Gu-za-nu  a-na  d.  p.  Marduk-na-sir-ab-lu 

11.  i-nam-din.     Est-en-ta-a-an  sa-ta-ri 

12.  il^u  -  u. 

Reverse. 

13.  D.  p.  Mu-kin-nu:  Ri-mut-Bel,  mdru  sa  Ardi-oa,  mar  d.  p ; 

14.  Is-sw-ur,  mdru  sa  Nabu-sum-iddin,  mar  Ep-es-Uu; 

15.  BeUriba,  mdru  sa  Kal-ba-a,  mar  Mu^kaUlim  ; 

IG.  Sa~  Bel-at-a,  d.p.  dup-sar,  mdru  sa   d.  p.  Marduk-sumibnt 

17.  mar  E-gi-bi.     Tin-tir  d.  s.,  dra/i  Adaru,  umu  hamisserit, 

18.  sattu  (sissu'isrda),  Da-a-ri-ia-mus,  sar  Thi-tir  d.  s., 

19.  sar  indtdti. 


84  APPRENTICESHIP    OF  I3ABYL0NIAN  SLAVES, 

TRANSLATION. 

1.  Marduiv-iiusir-ubiU,  sou  ol  ltLi-x»xtiiuuK-uu,iutu,   sua  oi  iiigibi, 

2.  in  the  joy  of  his  heart,    Itti-Ib-pania, 
8.  his   slave,  to  learn  the  mutu  [trade] 

4.  for  tablet  and  tablet  and  3  months,  to 
5.  Guzanu,  son  ot   Jtiauibaku,    sou  ot  the    proctor 
G.  has  given.     The  ?nutu,  the  work  of  his  hands,  all,  he  shall  teacli  him. 

7.  If  he  make  him  learn  [it],  a  garment  Marduk-nasir-abhi 

8.  to  Guzanu  will  give.      If  he  do  not  make  him  learn  [it^, 

9.  a  day  3  ka  of  grain,  the  measure  of  Itti-Ib-pania, 

10.  Guzanu  to  Marduk-nasir-ablu 

11.  will  give.     Each  one  a  writing 

12.  has  taken. 

13.  Witnesses  :  Remiit-Bel,  son  of  Ardia,  son  of  the  ... , 

14.  Issur,  son   of  Nabu-sum-iddina,   son  of  Espes-ilu ; 

15.  Bel-iriba,  son  of  Kalba,   son   of  MukaHim; 

16.  Sa-Bel-atta,  the  scribe,   son  of  Marduk-sum-ibni, 

17.  son  of  Egibi.  Babylon,  month  Adar,  day  15th, 

18.  year    26th.  Darius,  king  of  Babylon 

19.  king  of  countries. 

FREE  TRANSCRIPTION  AND  TRANSLATION  OF  THE  OBVERSE, 

CONTAINING  THE  ESSENTIAL  PART  OF  THE  CONTRACT. 

]\larduk-nasir-ablu,  maru  sa  Itti-Marduk-balatu,  mar  Egibi,  ina  hud  libbi-su,  Itti-Ib. 
pania,  galla-sii,  ana  lamiidu  mfitu,  adi  duppi  u  duppi,  u  selalti  arhe,  ana  Guzanu,  mari  sa 
Hambuku,  mar  mandidi,  iddin.  Mutu,  tullu  kati-su  gabbi,  ulammad-su.  Ki  ultammidu" 
s;i,  estiuit  fizari  Marduk-nasir-ablu  ana  Guzanu  inamdin.  Ki  la  ultammidu-su,  umu 
sjlaha  KA  SEMAS,  mandat  sa  Itti-Ib-pania  Guzanu  ana  Marduk-nasir-ablu  inamdin.  Esten- 
tan  [or   estentam]  satariilk^. 

MarJuk-uasir-ablu,  sou  of  Itti-Marduk-balatu,  son  of  Egibi,  in  the  joy  of  his  heart,  has 
given  Itti-Ib-pania,  his  slave,  to  Guzanu,  son  of  Hambuku,  son  of  the  proctor,  to  learn  [the 
trade  of]  the  miitu,  according  to  the  tablets  [exchanged]  and  the  3  months'  trial.  He  shall  teach 
him  [the  trade  of]  the  miitu—siW  his  handicraft.  If  he  make  him  learn,  Marduk-nasir-ablu  will 
give  a  robe  to  Guzanu.  If  he  do  not  make  him  learn,  Guzanu  shall  give,  daily,  3  ka  of  grain, 
the  value  of  Itti-Ib 'pani a,  to  Marduk-na§ir-^blu.  Each  one  has  taken  a  copy  of    the  contract. 


REMARKS, 

Abil,  dblif  &\id^Abld>.  are  all  one  and  the  noun.     The  third  is  a  proper  name,  and  is 

same  word,  and  mean  "son."  The  first  is  the  apparently     for    Ablia   "my   son."        The 

construct  form  signifying  "son  of  or  "des-  nominative   form   Is  dblu,   and   comes  fsom 

cendantof."  The  second  is  the  form  used  after  a^aZw  (or  ajoaZw),  "to  produce."  The  Akkadian 

another  noun  (genitive),    after  a   preposition  form  tbila  is  evidently   borrowed   from   the 

(indirect  object),  or  before  a  possessive  pro-  Semitic  Babylonian  dbil. 


DECIPHERING   THE   HITTITE   INSCRIPTIONS  :    A    RETROSPECT. 


85 


DupjH  duppi  is  apparently  abbreviated 
from  the  fuller  phrase  adi  duppi  u  duppi  "  by 
tablet  and  tablet." 

Maridatta  and  mandat  are  for  mandanta 
and  mandant  respectively,  from  the  root 
naddnu  "to  give." 

The  reading  ei'tentam  is  probably  better 
than  Utentdn  in  the  phrase  ei-tentam  satari 
ilku  "  each  one  has  taken  (a  copy  of)  the 
document."     According  to  the  syllabaries,  the 


group  y^  ^J^  is  to  be  read  am,  and  this  is 
supported  by  the  more  uncommon,  but  prob- 
ably more  phonetic  spelling  j^JJ^^^J  ^i^f^*^ 
es't-en-na-ta  '  {esteniiata),  which  is  also  found. 
The  transcriptions  of  the  compounded  num- 
erals are  provisional,  and  are  probably  only 
somewhat  like  the  true  forms,  though  they 
may,  by  chance,  turn  out  to  be  correct  when 
complete  lists  come  to  light. 

Theo.  G.  Pinches. 


DECIPHERING  THE  HIITITE  mSCRIPTIONS :  A  RETROSPECT. 


The  interest  excited  by  the  inscriptions 
now  known  as  "Hittite"^  has  been  lately 
rendered  more  intense  by  the  announce- 
ment in  the  public  Journals  that  the  clue 
to  the  decipherment  of  these  inscriptions 
has  been  discovered,  and  that  their  import 
has  been  disclosed.  Though  careful  study 
of  these  inscriptions  makes  me  somewhat 
sceptical  as  to  the  possibility  of  any  sud- 
den revelation  of  this  kind,  no  decided 
judgment  should  be  pronounced  till  both  the 
results  attained  and  the  method  of  pro- 
cedure adopted  are  fully  published.  Mean- 
while a  review  of  the  efforts  previously  made 
for  the  decipherment  of  the  inscriptions 
cannot  be  without  interest. 

Whether  the  marble  pillar  seen  by  La 
Roque  at  Hamath,  adorned  with  figures  of 
men,  animals,  birds  and  flowers  was  a 
Hittite  monument  may  be  doubted.  ^  When 
Burckhardt  visited  the  phce  in  1812,  he 
made  search   for  this  monument  without 


success.  "I  enquired  in  vain,"  he  says, 
"for  a  piece  of  marble  with  figures  in  relief 
which  La  Roque  saw,  but  in  the  corner  of 
a  house  in  the  Bazar  is  a  stone  with  a 
number  of  small  figures  and  signs,  which 
appears  to  be  a  kind  of  hieroglyphical 
writing,  though  it  does  not  resemble  that 
of  Egypt." -^  Here  undoubtedly  we  have 
mention  of  a  Hittite  inscription,  and,  be- 
sides, the  expression  of  opinion  that  the 
hieroglyphics  were  not  even  similar  to 
the  Egyptian.  Though  one  or  other  of  the 
inscriptions  had  probably  been  seen  by  a 
good  many  European  travellers  during  the 
interval,  it  was  not  till  about  the  year 
1870  that  public  attention  was  again 
directed  to  them.  "  They  remained  in 
obscurity  till  187  0,  when  Mr.  J.  Augustus 
Johnson,  of  New  York,  Consul-general  for 
the  United  States  at  Bayrut,  and  the  Rev. 
S.  Jessup,  of  the  Syrian  Mission,  remarked 
thorn,  while  looking  through  the  Bazar  of 


1.  The  propriety  of  ihe  name  "  Hittite"  has  been,  and  probably  will  be,  called  in 
question  ;  but  the  name,  nevertheless,  is  likely  to  be  enduring. 

2.  "  Une  haute  colonne  de  marbre  orn^e  de  bas-reliefs  d'une  excellente  sculpture,  qui 
representent  des  figures  humaines,  plusieurs  especes  d'animaux,  des  oiseaux  et  des 
fleurs." — Voyage  de  Syrie  et  du  Mont-Lihan,  Paris,  1722,  vol.  1,  p.  243. 

3.  Burckhardt's  Travels  in  Syria  and  the  Holy  Land^  London,  1822,  pp.  146,147, 


86 


DECIPHERING  THE  HITTITE  INSCRIPTIONS  :   A  RETROSPECT 


the  old  town.  The  former  presently 
printed  in  the  'First  Statement  of  the 
Palestine  Exploration  Society'  (No.  1, 
July,  1871;  New  York,  published  by  the 
Committee),  a  reduction  from  a  fac-simile 
of  No.  4  inscription  —  that  noticed  by 
Burckhardt,  and  still  embedded  in  a  wall 
near  the  bridge.  The  latter  also  attempted 
to  purchase  a  blue  (basaltio)  stone,  con- 
taining two  lines  of  these  strange  charac- 
ters, but  failed  to  obtain  it,  because  of  the 
traditions  connected  with,  and  the  income 
derived  from  it.  Deformed  persons  were 
willing  to  pay  for  the  privilege  of  lying 
upon  it,  in  the  hope  of  a  speedy  cure,  as 
it  was  believed  to  be  efficacious  in  spinal 
diseases."* 

Representations  of  the  Hamath  inscrip- 
tions were  given  in  Burton  and  Drake's 
work  just  quoted.  These  representations 
were,  however,  by  no  means  adequate,  and 
probably  led  to  a  good  deal  of  subsequent 
misinterpretation  of  the  characters.  More- 
over, the  figures  were  in  part  given  upside 
down.  But  in  1872  Dr.  W.  Wright  (now 
of  the  Bible  Society),  succeeded  in  obtaining 
and  transmitting  to  Europe,  two  sets  of 
casts  of  the  Hamath  inscriptions,  the  mon- 
uments themselves  being  consigned  to 
Constantinople.  ^  Capt.  Burton  had  spoken 
of  the  characters  as  "a  system  of  local 
hieroglyphics  peculiar  to  this  part  of  Syria," 
and  forming  *'  the  connecting  link  between 
picture-writing  and  the  true  syllabarium."^ 
Dr.  Wright,  however,  while  giving  the 
inscriptions  the  name  of  "Hittite,"  had 
asserted  them  to  be  monuments  of  a  widely- 
extended   Hittite  empire. '^     But  whether 


there  is  or  is  not  satisfactory  evidence  of  a 
Hittite  empire  extending  from  the  Euphra- 
tes to  the  ^gean  sea  we  need  not  now 
inquire. 

In  the  year  last  named  (1872),  Dr.  Hyde 
Clarke  published  his  view  of  the  inscrip- 
tions (at  that  time),  in  an  appendix  to 
Burton  and  Drake's  work,  and  in  the 
Quarterly  Statement  of  the  Palestine  Explo- 
ration Fund.  In  the  former  he  said  of  the 
characters,  "They  are  not  Egyptian  hiero- 
glj'phics ;  they  are  not  entire  ideographs  ; 
and  any  semblance  they  show  to  Cadmean 
or  Phoenician,  or  such  characters,  is  sus- 
ceptible of  other  explanations;''^  and  in 
the  latter,  "  So  far  as  can  be  at  present 
judged  the  characters  are  rather  alphabetic 
than  syllabic.  .  .  .  The  words  or  phrases 
appear  to  be  read  from  top  to  bottom,  and 
may  then  possibly  return  as  in  boustro- 
phedon  and  Hirayaritic."  In  fact  Dr.  Hyde 
Clarke  seems  to  have  regarded  the  Hamath 
inscriptions  as  making  some  approach  to 
the  Himyaritic,  even  if  of  greater  anti- 
quity.^ In  the  same  year  (1872),  the  Rev. 
Dunber  Heatii,  in  the  Quarterly  Statement 
of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  appears 
to  have  suggested  that  the  Boustrophedon 
manner  of  writing  was  to  be  observed,  for 
he  says  with  reference  to  one  of  the 
inscriptions, — "A  close  inspection,  how- 
ever, shows  that  your  three  short  lines 
were  never  meant  to  be  read  as  we  should 
naturally  read  them.  .  .  .  Two  were  read 
one  way,  and  the  middle  one  a  different 
way."  Mr.  Heath,  however,  considered 
that  Egyptian  symbols  were  present,  and 
that  "  the  two  names,  Thothmes  III.  and 


4.  Burton  and  Drake,  Unexplored  Syria,  London,  1872,  pp.  333,334. 

5.  Wright's  Empire  of  the  Hittites,  sec.  ed.,  p.  8  sqq. 

6.  Unexp.  Syr.,  vol.  i.,  pp.  138,139. 

7.  "A  great  people,  called  Hittites  in  the  Bible,  but  never  referred  to  in  classic  history, 
had  once  formed  a  mighty  empire  in  that  region." — Empire  of  the  Hittites,  p.  7. 

8.  Unexp.  Syr.,  p.  353. 

9.  Quart.  Statem.  Pal  Exp.  Fund,  1872,  pp.  74,  75 ;  Unexp.  Syr.,  p.  359, 


DECIPHERING  THE  HITTITE  INSCRIPTIONS  ;  A  RETROSPECT. 


87 


probably  Amenophis  I."  were  to  be  recog- 
nized.^^ A  short  time  later  Mr.  Heath 
again  wrote  on  the  subject  in  the  Quarterly 
Statement.  He  still  saw  some  Egyptian 
symbols,  and  recognized  45  distinct  charac- 
ters, indicating  possibly  a  syllabic  alpha- 
bet. ^  ^  In  the  same  Journal  and  of  the 
same  year  M.  Clermont  Glanneau  wrote  on 
the  inscription  then,  and  for  some  time 
after,  at  Aleppo,  and  accompanying  his 
paper  with  a  figure  upside  down,  like 
others  previously  published.  The  inscrip- 
tion was  described  as  "  an  apparently 
figurative  system  of  writing  specially 
belonging  to  Syria,  and  dating  from  a 
very  early  epoch,"  and  further  as  a  "■  Syrian 
system  of  ideography."^^  In  187G  Prof, 
v'^ayce  contributed  a  paper  to  the  Society 
of  Biblical  Archaeology  on  "The  Hamatliite 
Inscriptions."  Mr.  Heath's  previous  at- 
tempts at  decipherment  were  condemned  : 
"  The  characters  are  generally  unlike  those 
found  on  the  Egyptian  monuments,  and 
Mr.  Dunbar  Heath's  attempt  to  provide 
them  with  Egyptian  values  has  been  a 
signal  failure.  So  far  as  our  present  ma- 
terials allow  us  to  infer,  the  Hamathite 
hieroglyphics  appear  to  have  been  an  in- 
vention of  an  early  population  of  northern 
Syrians.  Their  occurrence  in  Lycaonia  is 
probably  due  to  Syrian  conquest. "  ^  ^  With 
respect   to  the  actual   value  and  form  of 


the  characters,  Prof.  Sayce's  paper  was 
tentative,  suggesting  1)  that  resemblance 
of  the  characters  to  Phoenician  letters 
might  possibly  lead  to  a  determination  of 
their  syllabic  values ;  or  2)  that  this  result 
might  perhaps  be  attained  by  a  comparison 
of  the  Cypriote  characters  and  syllabary.^* 
In  1877  Dr.  Hyde  Clarke  published  a 
pamphlet  on  The  Khita  and  Khita-Peru- 
vian  Epochs  in  which  some  twelve  pages 
deal  exclusively  with  comparisons,  in  a 
desultory  way,  of  shapes  between  the 
Hittite  hieroglyphics  and  characters, chiefly 
from  the  south  Semitic  alphabets. 

In  1879  Eev.  Dunbar  Heath  communi- 
cated to  the  Anthropological  Institute  a 
paper  on  "Squeezes  of  Hamath  Inscrip- 
tions," which  was  published  in  the  follow- 
ing year,  accompanied  by  numerous  figures. 
Mr.  Heath  seems  now  to  have  pretty  well 
abandoned  his  Egyptian  analogies.  The 
paper  had  reference  to  the  then  recently 
acquired  monuments  from  Jerablus,  in  the 
British  Museum.  The  language  was  said 
"  to  be  evidently  Semitic,  and  the  dialect  a 
very  fair  Chaldee."  One  alleged  transla- 
tion was  "  '  Make  songs,  play  ye  my  harmo- 
nies, that  they  may  cause  thee  to  cure." 
(This  may  be  supposed  to  be  the  divine 
voice  to  the  body  of  the  Priesthood  in  the 
Temple).  'Thy  fee  is  the  gift  of  me, 
Sakidijah,  from  which  (viz.,  from  the  fee), 


10.  Q.S.P.E.F.,  1872.  The  discovery  of  the  boustrophedon  manner  of  writing 
on  the  Hamath  inscriptions  has  been  ascribed  to  Dr.  Hayes  Ward,  but  I  am  unable 
to  say  whether  the  announcement  by  him  preceded  that  of  Mr.  Heath.  Cf.  Sayce  in  Trans. 
Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  v.,  p.  23. 

11.  Q.S.P.E.F.,  1873,  p.  35. 

12.  Q.  S.  P.  E.F.,  1873.  p.  73. 

13.  Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  v.,  p.  26.  What  is  said  of  Lycaonia  refers  to  "  the  has 
relief  found  by  Mr.  Davies  at  Ibreez  in  Lycaonia,"  and  represented  in  the  Transactions 
Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  vol.  iv.,  part  2,  pp.  336-346. 

14.  Prof  Sayce  has  since  gone  further  into  the  question,  and  his  views  on  the  deriva- 
tion of  the  Cypriote  syllabary  from  the  Hittite  characters,  applied  to  the  verification  of 
the  phonetic  values  he  had  proposed  on  other  grounds  for  some  of  the  Hittite  signs  have 
I  think,  justified  these  values  in  more  than  the  half  of  the  possible  cases,  see  Dr.  Isaac 
Taylor,  The  Alphabet, 1SS3,  ii.,p.  123;  and  Prof.  Sayce's  own  chapter  on  llie  Decipherment 
of  the  Hittite  Inscriptions,  T^^.  168-188  in  Rev.  William  Wright,  The  Empire  of  the  Hittites 
1884.— T.  DE  L. 


88 


DECIPHKRING  THE  HITTITE  iNSCRimONS  ;  A  RETROSPECT. 


came  praises  to  his  Gods  in  Iban.' "  An- 
other translation  made  mention  of  "  collect- 
ing oil  for  the  Goddess  of  Oil,"  and  of  a 
"  libation  to  the  Goddess  of  Honey. ' '  Mr. 
Heath  thought  that  this  "  collection  of  oil 
and  honey  may  be  considered  passing 
strange."  But  nevertheless  he  maintained 
that  the  language  of  the  tablets  ought  to 
be  regarded  as  settled.  Of  the  total  of  ten 
inscriptions  which  had  been  discovered, 
not  less  than  four  were  found  to  "  begin 
with  a  call  for  music,  sacred  music. ''  And 
Mr.  Heath  appealed,  in  proof  of  his  success 
to  his  finding  the  letters  i  r.  h.  z.,  which, 
it  was  contended,  represented  Jerabis.  It 
was  objected,  however,  that  the  values 
assigned  by  Mr.  Heath  to  the  several 
characters  rested  on  no  principle  which 
could  be  discerned.  1^  And  as  to  the 
identification  of  "Jerabis'  'it  was 
observed  by  the  late  Dr.  Birch  that 
there  was  no  probability  that  this  was  the 
name  of  the  place  in  so  remote  antiquity, 
while  Dr.  W.  Wright,  of  Cambridge,  re- 
marked that  it  was  extraordinary  that  in 
so  very  ancient  an  inscription  the  r  should 
have  a  form  analagous  to  that  of  the  com- 
paratively modern  Hebrew  7'esJi. 

Professor  Sayce,  in  1880,  contributed  to 
the  Transactions  of  the  Society  of  Biblical 
Archceology  a  much  longer  paper  than  that 
of  1876,  entitled  "  The  Monuments  of  the 
Hittites."  The  opinion  was  now  expressed 
that  "  Hittite  influence  and  culture  once 
penetrated  as  far  as  the  shores  of  the 
^gean,''  and  the  remarkable  monuments 
representing  "a  series  of  divinities,"  at 
Boghaz-keui,  in  the  centre  of  Asia  Minor 
were  recognized  as  Hittite.  Certain  sym- 
bols  in  the  hands   of  these  deities  were 


supposed  to  represent  their  names.  But 
it  was  not  shown  that  these  figures  are 
not  personifications  of  cities,  or,  of  possibly 
tutelary  deities  of  cities,  that  the  symbols 
in  their  hands  are  not  the  distinctive 
standards  of  cities — a  view  which  the  late 
Dr.  Birch  was  inclined  to  accept,  when  was 
mentioned  the  matter  to  him.  Such  a  view 
would  suit  very  well  the  form  of  the 
symbols. 

Very  shortly  after  the  communication 
of  this  paper,  Prof.  Sayce  made  an  impor- 
tant discovery,  namely,  that  of  a  short 
bilingual  inscription,  Hittite  and  Assyrian, 
on  what  he  has  called  "  the  boss  of  Tark- 
ondemos."  The  discovery  was  announced 
in  the  Academy^  of  August  21,  1880,  and 
subsequently  in  the  Trans,  Soc.  Bib.  Arch. 
vol.  vii.,  p,  256,  sqq.  The  seal,  for  such  must 
tainly  have  been  the  character  of  the 
original  object,  had  been  previously  des- 
cribed by  the  late  Dr.  A.  D,  Mordtmann^* 
ia  t\iQ  Miinzstudien  of  Grote(1863,  t.  III., 
pi.  III.,  n.  1),  and  subsequently  in  the 
Zeitschr.  d.  deutsch.  morgandl.  Gesells^  1872, 
p.  625,  sqq.  But  Mordtmann  had  no  idea 
of  symbols  on  the  seal  being  Hittite  or 
Hamathite.  The  discovery  of  this  was 
due  to  the  penetration  and  research  of 
Prof.  Sayce  Conclusions  somewhat 
different  from  those  of  Prof.  Sayce  were 
expressed  about  the  same  time  by  Mr. 
Tyler,  who  also  discussed  the  then  (1880  > 
recently  acquired  monuments  in  the  Brit. 
Mus.  in  their  relation  to  the  seal.  {Proc. 
Soc.  Bib.  Arch,  Nov.  21,  880,  pp.  6-8.) 

Prof.  Sayce's  views  with  regard  to  the 
"boss  of  Tarkondemos""  have  been  re- 
cently criticised  by  M.  A.  Amiaud  in  the 
Zeitschrift  fiir  Assyriologie,  pt.  2,  p.    274, 


15.  See  remarks  by  several  scholars  in  Journal  of  Anthr.  Inst,]  1886,  pp.  369-375 ; 
Proc.  S.  B.  A.,  Dec.  7,  1880. 

16.  At  first  at  Constantinople :  Scemt  de  Tarkoundimmi,  roi  de  Tarsous,  1861,  in-8 ; 
according  to  G.  Maspero,  Histoire  Ancienne,  4th  edit.,  p.  744. — T.  DE  L. 

17.  Prof.  A.  H.  Sayce  entered  again  in  the  field  about  this  special  inscription  in  1885,  at 
the  occasion  of  a  paper  by  Mr.  T.  J.  Pinches  on  The  name  of  the  city  and  country  over  which 


1 
I 


DECIPHERING  THE  HITTITE  INSCRIPTIONS  ;  A  RETROSPECT. 


89 


and  a  reply  by  Prof,  Sayce  has  appeared 
in  the  fourth  oart  of  the  same  Journal,  p. 
380.  ^« 

Capt.  Conder/'  in  the  Q.S.,P.E.F.,  for 
1884,  p.  18,  wrote  a  short  article  entitled 
"  Hamathite  and  Egyptian,"  suggesting  a 
good  many  analogies  between  the  Egyp- 
tian and  the  Hamathite  or  Hittite  charac- 
ters ;  but  several  oi  these  analogies  can 
scarcely  appear  other  than  fanciful.  Capt. 
Conder,  however,  is  careful  to  observe, 
'•  I  oflfer  such  notes  as  suggestions  only, 
not  as  positive  facts."  And  in  his  very 
lately  published  Syrkm  Stonfi-Lore  (London, 
1886,  8vo.)  he  remarks,  "  We  may  at  least 
say  that  the  present  state  of  our  inform- 
ation on  the  subject  does  not  permit  us  to 
draw  definite  conclusions,  or  even  to  at- 
tribute these  texts  to  the  Hittites  with 
certainty."  It  would  seem,  therefore,  from 
the  confidence  with  which  some  transla- 
tions were  put  forth  recently  in  The  Times, 
(Feb.,  1882,  that  Capt.  Conder  thinks 
that  he  has  made  very  lately  indeed  an 
important  discovery  which  he  has  not  yet 
revealed. 


We  must  also  mention  the  researches  of 
the  late  Francois  Lenormant,-"  in  his 
Origines  deVhistoire  (vol.  II.,  part  II.) ;  and 
the  views  of  Prof,  de  Lacouperie,  who 
thinks  that  both  the  Babylonian  and 
Egyptian  writings  have  come  from  an  older 
system,  which  has  also  produced,  besides 
others,  the  Hittite  hieroglyphics;  this  earlier 
system  of  Kuschite  (non-Semitic)  origin, 
being  derived  from  the  primitive  mode  of 
writing  by  fixing  objects,  genuine  or  not, 
on  boards.—/.  R.  A.  S.,  1885,  vol.  XVII., 
pp.  420-422 ;  Bik  Or  II,  I.,  p.  27. 

The  Rev.  C.  J.  Ball,  in  a  paper,  quite 
recently,  much  elaborated  {Froc.  Soc.  Bib. 
Arch.,  Feb.  1,  1887,  pp.  67-77),  has  con- 
tended that  many  Hittite  proper  names, 
hitherto  differently  explained,  are  easily 
understood  as  Semitic,  and  therefore  show 
the  Semitic  nature  of  the  languag  e  ;  and 
he  has  proposed  a  translation  of  two  frag- 
ments of  inscriptions  in  giving  to  the  Hit- 
tite signs  phonetic  values  derived  from 
their  similarities  of  shape  (sometimes  far 
fetched),  with  characters  of  the  Cypriote 
syllabary  and  of  the  south  Semitic  alpha- 


TarMtimme  ruled  (Froc.  Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  March  3,  pp.  124-127),  and  wrote  a  note  on  The 
inscription  of  Tarkoiidemos  (ibid.  May  5,  pp.  143-147)  where  he  maintained  strongly  his 
opinions  that  the  Hittites  were  a  Kappadokian  and  not  a  Semitic  people,  that  the  in- 
scriptions are  various  and  that  the  Hittite  system  of  writing  may  have  been  used  by 
tribes  speaking  diff'erent  languages  and  belonging  to  different  nationaliti.  s. — T.  DE  L. 

IS.  In  1881-83  an  attempt  of  another  kind  was  made  by  Mr.  John  Campbell,  of 
Montreal,  who  wrote  a  paper  on  A  Keij  to  the  Hittite  Inscriptions  (Froc.  Soc.  Bib.  Arch. 
6th  Dec,  1881),  also  On  the  Hittite  Inscriptions  (in  The  American  Antiquarian  and  Oriental 
Journal,  Chicago,  1882,  vol.  iv.,  Jan.),  and  a  special  pamphlet,  A  Translation  of  the 
principal  Hittite  Inscriptions  yet  published  (1883,  privately  printed).  The  author  proposed 
translations  of  several  inscriptions  as  historical  texts,  with  the  special  help  of  the 
Japanese  ! — T.  DE  L. 

19.  The  same  author  had  written  previously  on  Hamath  Inscriptions  (in  the  Q  S.F.E.F., 
1883.  pp.  133-134,  189-192).— T.  DE  L. 

20.  Though  not  working  on  the  inscriptions,  the  researches  of  this  great  scholar  have 
a  direct  bearing  on  the  language  in  which  they  are  written.  At  the  very  moment  of  his 
lamented  death,  9th  Dec,  1883,  he  was  deeply  engaged  in  a  thorough  investigation  of 
all  the  Hittite  proper  names,  and  he  had  already  come  to  the  conclusion  that  they  are 
not  Semitic  nor  Aryans  in  the  case  of  the  Hittites  of  the  north,  while  they  are  purely 
Hebrew  in  the  case  of  those  of  the  south.  Vide  his  Orig.  Hist.  ii.  (ii)  pp.  255-279. — Mr. 
Fr.  Chabas  had  already  sh^wn  the  first  case  with  the  names  found  in  the  Egyptian  in- 
scriptions.    (Voyage  d*u  Egyptien  en  Syrie,  &c.)    Paris,  1866,  pp.  326-346.) — T\  DE  L. 


90 


THE  ERANIAN  ORIGIN  OF  THE  TEUTONIC  CONCEPr  OF  DEITY. 


bets.  The  paper,  however,  seems  to  have 
undergone  very  considerable  changes  since 
it  was  read  before  the  Society. 

K  Q. 

There  is  little  to  be  added  bo  the  report 
which  our  esteemed  contributor  has  drawn 
up  at  our  special  request.  Some  special 
papers  may  have  escaped  his  notice,  but  with 
the  dispersion,  of  scientific  communications 
into  many  periodicals,  we  are  sure  that 
the  authors  of  the  papers  he  has  left  behind 
will  easily  excuse  his  unwilling  neglect. 

From  this  report  and  the  notes  appended 
to,  we  may  resume  that  five  distinct  at- 
tempts, more  or  less  incomplete,  have  been 
made  at  deciphering  the  Hittite  inscrip- 
tions, by 


1 — Uev.  Dunbar  Heath,  in  1880,  by  a 
Semitic  Aramean  process  of  guess-at-the- 
meaning. 

2 — Mr.  John  Campbell,  of  Montreal,  in 
1882-83,  by  a  Japanese  system  of  guess-at- 
the-meaning. 

3— Rev.  Prof.  A.  H.  Sayce,  in  1880 
85.  from  a  bi-lingual  text,  internal  evi- 
dence, and  Cypriote  similarities. 

4 — Rev.  C.  J.  Ball,  in  1887,  by  resem- 
blances of  characters  from  Cypriote  syl- 
labary and  south  Semitic  alphabets. 

Fancy  and  science  have  an  equal  share 
in  these  four  tentatives.  We  do  not  know 
as  yet  on  which  side  Capt.  Conder's  at- 
tt^mpt  shall  have  to  be  placed. 

T.  DE  Lacouperie. 


21.  Scholars  are  indebted  to  the  industry  of  Mr.  W.  H.  Rylands,  who  has  published 
a  collection  of  all  the  inscriptions  complete  at  the  time,  and  augmented  in  a  second 
edition.     T.  DE  L. 


THE   ERANIAN  ORIGIN  OF  THE   TEUTONIC   CONCEPT  OF  DIETY. 


In  matters  of  scientific  discovery  there  is 
perhaps  no  safer  maxim  than  the  well- 
known  aphorism  of  Bacon  : — 

"  Sola  spes  est  in  vera  indudione." 
But  nowhere  has  it  been  on  the  whole  so 
persistently  neglected  as  in  the  attempts  to 
explain  the  rise  and  fall  of  religious  ideas. 
And  yet  it  is  precisely  in  an  examination 
of  the  fundamental  facts  of  man's  common 
religious  consciousness  that  the  inductive 
method  should  prove  most  fruitful.  What 
philology  and  ethnology  have  done  to 
strengthen  the  tie  that  binds  the  individual  to 
his  fellow-man,  I  venture  to  think  com- 
parative conceptology  will  do  for  the 
broadening  and  deepening  of  his  faith. 
It  is  not  too  much  to  hold  that,  in  the 
multiform  manifestation  of  human  speech 
we  have  a  contemporary  antiquity,  and  are 
able,  as  Goethe  would  say,  to  look  into 
great  maxims  of  creation,  nay,  into  the 
secret  workshop  of  God. 

The  consideration  of  the  cell-element  of 


all  religious  thought,  namely,  the  Concept 
of  Deity,  can  thus  vie  in  interest  with  the 
astronomer's  study  of  galaxy  and  nebulae, 
of  systems  and  of  worlds.  To  trace  the 
history  of  the  name  which  is  above  every 
name,  to  gauge  the  supreme  concept  must 
be  to  every  thoughtful  student  of  man,  be 
he  ethnographer  or  psychologist,  historian 
or  antiquarian,  a  very  choice  delight. 
Neveitheless,  we  have  to  confess  that 
though  there  is  now  little  doubt  as  to  the 
origin  and  meaning  of  Hottentot  Zuni-jl 
Goam,  of  Papuan  Dirava,  of  African  Dendid, 
and  American  Kittanitowit,  we  have,  for 
the  most  part,  been  far  from  arriving  at  a 
truly  scientific  derivation  of  our  own  Teu- 
tonic word  for  the  All-Father,  which,  from 
the  cradle  to  the  grave,  expresses  for  each 
his  sublimest  thought,  his  best  feeling,  his 
loftiest  aspiration. 

In  the  present  paper  I  propose,  by  means 
of  national  and  international  linguistic 
analysis,  to  trace  the  Teutonic  expression 


TlIK  ERANIA.N  ORIGIN  OF  THE  TEUTONIC  CONCEPr  OF  DEITy. 


91 


of  theistic  Idea,  and  to  see  whether  it  is 
possible  to  point  out  an  Aryan  phonetic 
type  expressing  a  concept  of  Deity. 

"Parmi  les  noms  europ6ens  de  Dieu," 
says  M.  Ad.  Pictet,^  "qui  n'ont  pas  de  cor- 
r^latifs  orientaux,  mais  dont  quelques-uns 
peuvent  etre  fort  anciens,  je  ne  m'occu- 
perai  ici  que  du  gothique  Guth^  et  de  ses 
analogues  germaniques.  Les  essais  multi- 
plies qui  ont  6t^  faits  pour  I'expliquer 
montrent  bien  k  quel  point  nous  sommes 
livr^s  aux  incertitudes  etymologiques  quand 
les  termes  Sanscrits  ou  zends  nous  font  dd- 
faut."  Starting  from  the  base  ghuta,  M. 
Pictet  would  naturally  look  for  a  Sanskrit 
form  g'uta.  Not  finding  this,  however,  he 
suggests  that  the  Gothic  word  came  from 
Huta  ( y  hu),  which  has  the  double  sense 
of  sacrificatus  and  is  cui  sacrificatur,  *et  ce 
dernier  couviendrait  parfaitement  k  Dieu,' 
giving  us  the  formula  Huta  :  x^^'-'^  ••  X^'^P^'- 
:  sao-t^'ra. 

Now,  though  this  may  at  first  sight  s6em 
a  tempting  etymology,  especially  as  we 
have  the  analogue  skt.  jag'ata,  sd.  jasata, 
p.  isad,  h.  Isten  (a/ jag),  yet  I  cannot 
but  agree  with  Ebel'-^  that  gud  and  not 
guth  is  the  true  Gothic  form,  as  the  corres- 
ponding term  in  old  High  German  is  Kot. 

That  "  God  "  cannot  come  from  *'  good  " 
will,  I  think,  be  no  longer  doubted  by  any 
competent  philologist.  Not  only  is  it  that 
in  Gothic  the  vowels  are  different,  Gud  in 
the  one  case  and  g6d  in  the  other,  but 
there  is  the  never-failing  distinction  be- 
tween the  long  and  the  short  vowel  in 
Anglo-saxon.  Let  us  take,  for  instance, 
two  passages  from  Be6vulf  (1554-1563) : 
"  And  halig  God 
Geve6ld  vig-sigor,  vitig  drihten. 

pat  vas  vaepna  cyst 


Btiton  hit  vas  mare  ponne  aenig  mon  6ther 
To  beadu-lace  iitboran  meahte 
God  and  geatolio  giganta  geveorc." 

And  in  the  following  verse  from  St. 
Luke  (viii.  19)  :— 

"  Tha  cwaeth  seHaeland :  hwi  sej'st  thu 
me  godne  .  nis  nan  man  god  buton  God 
ana." 

Li  Gothic  : — 

*'  Kvath  than  du  imma  laisus  .  hva  mik 
kvithis  godana  .  ni  ainshun  gods  niba  ains 
Gud:' 

In  Norsk  : — 

''Men  Jesus  sagde  til  ham  :  HviKalder 
du  mig  godi  Ingen  er  god,  uden  Een, 
nemlig  Gud" 

The  forms  Gud  and  god  in  Gothic  become, 
according  to  a  phonetic  law  affecting  the 
Aryan  stratification  of  speech,  Kot  and  Kuot 
in  Old  High  German.  Of  the  former  we 
have  proof  in  a  translation  of  St.  Ambrose's 
three  Hymns,  beginning  ; — 

Kotes  kalaupu  dera  lepames 
Dei  fide,  qu^  vivimus,  etc. 
whilst  in  the  word  kuotchunti  for  Gothic 
godkundi  gospel,  we  have  an  interesting 
verification  of  the  latter.  It  is  a  law  as 
well  understood  and  as  regularly  applied 
as  the  so-called  *  Celtic  process,'  according 
to  which  initial  consonants  are  changed 
into  others  of  the  same  origin,  to  denote 
a  diversity  of  logical  or  grammatical 
relation.     For  instance, 

Tad  father 

Ei  Dad  his  father 

Ei  Thad  her  father 

In  his  Etymologische  Forschungen^  Prof. 
Pott  suggests  the  root  'sud"  to  purify,  but 
we  know  that  'sud*'  is  a  corruption  of  kud* 
or  kvad''  (cf.  tca^^-apo^,  cas-tus,  cistu)  which 
could  only  give  us  Hud  or  Hciid  in  Gothic. 

Similarly    when    Ebel*    connects    Gud 


1.  Les  Origines  Indo-Europeenne%  p.  658. 

2.  Zeitschrift  fur  Keilschriftfarschung,  v.  235. 

3.  i.  252. 

4.  Zeitschriftj  v.  235. 


92 


THE  ERANIAN  ORIGIN  OF  THE  TEUTONIC  CONCEPT  OF  DEITY. 


with  skr.  gud"  (kvS^-ov,  KeuS^-u),  custos)  the 
reply  is  that  an  Aryan  form  kud^a  would 
have  given  us  what  in  fact  we  find,  namely 
Hilda,  hide,  Hut. 

Nor  do  I  think  Schweizer^  and  Leo 
Meyer^  have  been  more  successful.  The 
hypothesis  of  the  one  being  Guth  =  ved. 
D'^Ati,  because,  forsooth,  skt.  d''  is  some- 
times reduced  to  h,  and  h  =  g  Gothic  ! 
whilst  that  of  the  other  is  that  Gutha  = 
G-'uta. 

No,  if  we  want  an  etymology  which  is 
t3  be  of  any  scientific  value,  we  dare  not 
disregard  the  Lautverschidmugsgesetz.  If 
the  exact  phonetic  equivalent  cannot  be 
found  in  Sanskrit,  let  us  turn  to  Ancient 
Bactrian. 

What  I  venture  to  submit  is  that  the 
word  "  God  "  is  derived  from  the  Eranian 
verbal  adjective  K'ad^ata,  meaning  'self- 
evolved  '  or  '  self-determined,'  obeying 
one's  own  law,  as  opposed  to  stid^'ata 
'  following  the  law  of  the  world.'  So  far 
from  agreeing  with  M.  Pictet  when  he  says  ; 
'Le  g  gothique,  en  effet,  ne  saurait  en 
aucun  cas  r^pondre  au  g  zend,'  it  seems  to 
me  that  a  sound  which  is  the  equivalent  of 
Pahlavi  K'  and  Persion  K'  cannot  have 
been  very  different  from  Greek  x  >  which 
is  the  normal  exponent  of  Gothic  g. 

Very  remarkable  are  the  passages  in  the 
Avesta  in  which  the  word  K'ad'^ata  occurs, 
I  shall  quote  at  least  three,  firstly  word  for 
word,  and  then  in  M.  Darmesteter's  ex- 
cellent translation.  —  Vendidad,  xix,  13 
(44):- 
//Nisbajaguha     .     tu     .     Saraf'ustra 

Invoke  thou  Zoroaster 

f'wasahe  .  k'adMtahe  .  Srvilnah^ 
Universe  (gen.)  self-determined  time 
akaranahe     .    vajaos    .     uparo-kairjeh^ 

boundless         Vaju         high-in- action 

'  Invoke,  0   Zarafustra,    the   sovereign 


Heaven,    the  boundless  Time,  and  Vayu, 

whose  action  is  most  high.' 

36  (122]  ;— 

//Nisbajemi      .     mis'vanahe     .     gatvahe 

I  call  upon  Mis'vana  place. 

K'ad'^at&.be  K'invad-peretum  MasdadMtam 

sovereign    Kinvad  bridge   Masda-made. 

"  I  invoke  the  sovereign  place  of  eternal 
weal,  and  the  Kinvad  bridge,  made  by 
Masda.' 

The  last  is  a  very  obscure  passage  from 
the  Vendidad  Sadah,  and  M.  Darmesteter 
has  to  confess  that  his  translation  is  doubt- 
ful. 
//Nisbajemi  .    Meresu  .   P6uru-K'ad''at6 

I  invoke  Msresu  Ancient-s  lf_ 

existent. 

juidisto  .   mainivao  .    daman     . 

most  warlike  of  the  two  spirits  creation 
savaghaitis 

mighty  // 

M.  Darmesteter  translates :  '  I  invoke  the 
ancient  and  sovereign  Meresu,  the  greatest 
s  at  of  Battle  in  the  creation  of  the  two 
spirits.'  If  I  venture  to  give  another 
version  it  is  because  I  feel  that  I  am  sup. 
ported  by  the  note  of  a  distinguished 
Eranian  scholar.  In  his  Haiulhuch  der 
Awestaspniche  (p.  111.  n.2),  Dr.  Wilhelm 
Geiger  says,  referring  to  this  passage,  "Das 
Folgende  ...  ist  vollkommen  unerklarbar 
Bemerken  mochte  ich  nur  dass  in  Qadhata 
ein  Eigenname  vorliegen  konnte."  This  is 
the  more  probable,  because  Pouru-K'ad''dtd 
is  the  subjective  case,  so  that  I  should 
render  the  sentence  as  follows  : — 

'  I  call  upon  Meresu.  The  Ancient  and 
self-existent,  in  the  creation  of  the  two 
spirits,  was  a  mighty  warrior.' 

Kad^dta  is  composed  of  K'a,  self,  and 
data,  the  perfect  participle  passive  of  the 
root  da,  to  put,  make,  create.    The  Sanskrit 


5.  Zeitschrift,  i.  157. 

6.  Zeitschrift,  vii.  12. 


IRANIAN      STUDIES. 


93 


equivalent  is  Soad^dta^  for  Sd.  k'a  is  another 
form  of  hva,  which  represents  Sat.  sra. 
We  have  seen  that  it  is  used  both  as  an 
adjective  and  as  a  substantive  ;  and  I  think 
it  is  not  going  too  far  to  hold  that  we  have 
here  an  Aryan  phonetic  type  expressing 
a  concept  of  Deity,  when  we  look  at  the 
following  table  of  cognates. 
yD'A. 

Aryan — Svad'^ata. 

Sand — Kad'^ata. 

Pahlavi— K'utat. 

G-reek — (e  )-^eo9  =  <rfe-^6T09 

Parsi-(jr — K'^odao. 


Persian — K'uda. 
Kurdish— K'6de. 
Pa'sto— K'ud^. 
Osseti — K'uzau. 
Ka'smiri — K'udan. 
Sind'i  -K'uda. 
Urdu— K'uda. 
Dak'ani— K*uda 
Musulman-Bengali — K*oda. 
Gothic— Gud. 
Old  High  German — Kot. 

Thus,  the  Aryan  concept  of  Deity,  alike 
in  extension  and  intension,  is  a  truly  noble 

one ;  it  is  the  absolutism  of  the  Supreme 

'Law unto  Himself,'  Lawgiver  to  man. 


"  God  is  law,  say  the  wise,  0  Soul,  and  let  us  rejoice. 
For  if  He  thunder  by  law,  the  thunder  is  yet  His  voice. 

Law  is  God,  say  some ;  no  God  at  all,  says  the  fool. 

For  all  we  have  power  to  see  is  a  straight  staff  bent  in  a  pool. 

And  the  ear  of  man  cannot  hear,  and  the  eye  of  man  cannot  see. 
But  if  we  could  hear  and  see  this  vision — were  it  not  He  ?  " 

Herbert  Baynes. 

IRANIAN    iSTUDLES.^ll. 
THE  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OF  THE  PAHLAVL 

(Continued  from,  p.  7Q,) 


5.  Certain  words  of  constant  use  are  not  re- 
presented in  Pahlavi  by  the  Aramean  form; 
such  are  shedd  (deva),  Id  negation.  If  they 
had  there  read  only  dev  and  md,  how  should 
it  happen  that  some  words  occuring  so 
frequently  had  never  been  replaced  by  Iranian, 
although  all  others  had  been  so  ? 

6.  The  mode  of  forming  Pahlavi  words  is  quite 
regular,  and  denotes  a  systematic  spirit  which 
a  simply  ideographic  usage  would  not  serve 
to  explain.  On  the  contrary,  it  would  be 
perfectly  similar  to  that  followed  by  all  peoples 
when  they  have  appropriated  a  series  of  foreign 
words  for  naturalization  among  themselves. 
The  Huzvaresh  verbs  and  verbal  nouns  are 
formed  precisely  as  those  which  German 
borrows  from  French  and  Latin.  In  the  one 
as  in  the  other  language,  there  is  joined  to 
exotic  subjects  a  special  suffix  proper  to 
themselves,  which  makes  of  it  a  Pahlavi,  or 
German,  radical.  It  is  un  in  Pahlavi,  and 
ir  in  German.     To  this  radical  are  joined  the 


personal  suffixes,  modal  or  nominal.  Tliey 
have  thus  the  forms  which  we  can  place  in 
parallelism: 


Reg-ir-en, 
katar-6n-tan, 

Reg-ir-ung, 
yedr-un-ishn, 
German  conjugates  : 


exerc-ir-en  ; 
yedr-un-tan ; 
prob-ir-iing  ; 
katr-un-ishn. 

exercire^  exerciresty 


exerciret ;  like  the  Pahlavi  katrunam,  kat- 
runat,  katrunit. 

The  junction  of  the  subject  and  the  suffix 
is  made  under  certain  fixed  rules,  much  as 
they  vary.  Does  anyone  operate  in  that  man- 
ner on  simple  lines  or  in  the  style  of  a  rebics  ? 

The  adjective  sarya,  j^^j*,  'bad,'  has  a 
comparative  saritar,  3(»»^3»  ;  why  should 
they  have  given  themselves  the  trouble  of 
modifying  the  positive,  and  not  have  written 
V»o%'  ^^  *^®  question  were  only  one  of  an 
ideogram  deprived  of  its  own  sound  ? 


9^ 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OP  THE  PAHLAVl. 


7.  Sumefuruis  are  exclusively  proper  to  the 
Aramean  verbs,  e.  g,,  the  participial  forms, 
^,  ^  (y<^in,  an? J.  Thus  2/(?c??-wwd7i  corresponds 
to  bwtj  'carried',  (participle  of  burtano,  'to 
carry');  see  Farg  II.  106,  110,  112,  and  V. 
11,  12,  compared  with  19,  20.  How  should 
these  forms  be  read  in  Persian,  which  has 
nothing  analogous;  and  how  are  they  pro- 
duced if  none  of  the  Huzvaresh  words  were 
read? 

8.  Certain  constructions,  essential  or  much 
used  in  Pahlavi,  are  entirely  Semitic,  even  op- 
posed sometimes  to  the  genius  of  the  Iranian. 
Thus  the  Pahlavi  employs  the  positive  for  the 
Semitic  preposition  men.  It  says,  e,  g., 
honum  ab  aliquo,  (niuk  men)  for  '  better  than 
some  one.'  That  usage  would  not  have  been 
possible  if  the  Persians  had  been  contented 
with  representing  the  Iranian  words  by  their 
Semitic  correspondents.  The  old  Iranians 
did  not  say  vanhu,  vohu  haca.  It  is  here, 
then,  the  Aramean  which  has  penetrated  into 
the  Pahlavi,  and  the  Parsi  veh  ezh  is  nothing 
but  an  imitation  of  muk  men. 

We  might  say  as  much  of  the  pronominal 
suffixes  added  to  the  nouns  and  particles. 
The  old  Persian  had  some  enclitic  but  no 
construct  pronouns,  nor  suffixes.  But  these 
can  be  contested. 

Some  combinations  of  prepositions  are  not 
made  after  the  pattern  of  Persian  phrases;  e.g., 
mehin  men  above  corresponds  to  azavar,  me- 
hinyhi  being  rendered  avi  in  Farg.  V,  1,  &c, 
Mehin  men  could  be  read  avw  az,  never 
azavar.  If  al  hat  is  the  copy  of  md  gar,  that 
proves  solely  the  imitation,  and  not  the 
absence  of  ,pronunciation.  The  Huzvaresh 
^)  ,  loit,  levit,  is  exactly  the  Syriac  and 
Samaritan  latt,  (Chald,  Tl^^).     Would  these 

languages  intend  to  adopt  and  transfigure 
the  Parsi  nist  ?  Can  we  believe  they  would 
create  these  artificial  forms  in  those  different 
languages  to  make  nist  to  be  quite  plainly 
read,  when  it  would  have  been  so  simple  to 
write  it  just  as  it  was  ?  Besides,  would  they 
have  changed  lait  into  loU  or  levity  if  nothing 
of  it  had  been  read  ? 


9.  A  good  number  of  the  Huzvaresh 
nouns  are  formed  by  a  complete  Aram- 
ean word  and  the  suffix  man.  Of  this 
kind  are  also  barman,  '  son,'  yadman,  'hand,' 
gadman,  '  glory,'  '  fortune,'  and  many  others. 
What  could  the  suffix  do  in  these  words,  if 
it  was  not  pronounced  ?  It  is  not  a  usual 
Iranian  suffix,  much  less  the  suffix  of  the 
corresponding  Persian  words ;  for,  in  middb- 
Perslan,  to  barman  corresponds  pugar  ;  to 
yadman,  dast ;  to  gadman,  bakht  or  kvor. 
This  suffix  man  was  perfectly  superfluous, 
and  its  use  inexplicable,  if  they  substituted 
for  it  everywhere  and  always  the  Persian 
word  to  the  Huzvaresh,  if  barman,  yudman,  and 
the  like,  were  written  never  to  be  pronounced. 
This  is  specially  so  in  regard  to  barman  ;  for 
if  this  word  ought  to  have  been  pronounced 
pug  r,  it  would  have  been  much  more  natural 
to  have  substituted  for  it  simply  the  real 
Aramean  word  bar,  which  had  the  same  final, 
and  would  have  recalled  to  the  memory  much 
more  naturally  the  word  which  they  really 
wished  to  represent.  This  word  barman  is 
found  in  a  single  inscription,  and  that  even 
one  of  the  oldest,  alternating  with  pusar. 
They  certainly  could  never  have  written  qad- 
man,  gadman,  barman,  in  place  of  qad,  gad, 
bar^  for  dast,  hakht,  pusar,  if  the  former 
words  were  nothing  but  figurative  signs. 

10,  The  same  reflection  appHes  to  the 
Huzvaresh  verbs.  All  the  Aramean  verbs 
terminate  in  a  guttural  ^^,  H,  H,  y,  losing  the 
guttural,  and  taking  the  suffix  Uun,  inter- 
mediary between  the  root  and  the  from  tano 
of  the  infinitive  ;  e,  g.,  ram'jh,  ramituntano, 
(Pers.  algandan)  i  qarah,  karituntano,  (Pers, 
khvdndan. 

How  can  it  be  explained  to  us    how  they 

thought  of  introducing  into  a  word  which  was 

not  pronounced  anew  suffix,  expressly  created. 

and  not  to  be  pronounced  in  the  very  least  ? 

And  we  remark   that    tliis    suffix   has    been 
from  the  first  alone,  and  the  only  sign  of  the 

infinitive  of  the  Aramean  verbs.     In  order  to 

represent  afgandan   or  matan,  they  take  the 

Aramean  root  ramah  as  a  simple  sign  ;  then 

they  add  to  it  a   special  form,  intended  only 


PEHLRVl     NoTBS. 


95 


to  be  seen,  and  not  representing  anything  at 
all,  and  so  tliey  have  properly  invented  and 
added  the  suffix  ttun,  with  all  the  letters 
written,  but  never  rend !  Who  has  ever 
seen  such  a  thing  ?  And  who  can  believe  it  ? 

11.  A  passage  of  the  Boundehesh  appears 
to  us  decisive.  In  chapter  XVI.,  p.  39, 
L  1—14,  certain  beings  are  spoken  of,  some 
male,  and  some  female.  The  Pahlavi  text 
runs  :  "  The  sky,  metals,  the  wind  [are] 
male,  (^3akar),  and  never  otherwise  . . .  The 
earth,  water,  plants,  fishes,  [are]  female,  (ya- 
kad)... All  other  creatures  are  male  and  fe« 
male,  (nar,  vakad)."  As  we  have  seen,  the 
first  time  the  word  '  male  '  is  rendered 
by  the  Aramean  zakar  ;  the  second  time  by 
the  Persian  nai-.  Then  the  text  adds  :  ♦  nar 
yekavimunitcigon  zak  i  zakar.  ...  nar  is  the 
same  as  zakar.' 

Here,  then,  is  a  Pahlavi  author  who  em- 
ploys successively  the  two  terms  zakar  (Sem.) 
and  nar  (Pers.),  and  who  believes  that   he 


ought  not  to  explain  the  foreign  Semitic  word 
but  the  Iranian  word,  and  who  does  this  by 
saying  that  the  Iranian  term  is  equivalent  to 
the  Aramean  term.  How  could  lie  have  thought 
of  explaining  the  one  of  these  two  terms,  if 
both  had  b,en  read  alike,  if  he  had  only 
placed  there  for  his  readers  twice  the  word 
nar;  and  if  he  had  th(jught  of  explaining  any- 
thing, would  it  not  have  been  before  everything 
this  Aramean  mask  which  concealed  the  true 
word  to  be  read  ?  If  these  two  words  had 
been  pronounced  in  the  same  way,  the  explan- 
ation would  amount  to  this:  nar  is  equivalent 
t(»  nar.  And  if  he  concerned  himself  only 
with  the  reading,  the  author  would  have  said 
that  zakar  ought  to  be  read  war,  while  he 
literally  said:  "  7i«rest  sicut  illud  quod  zakar. '' 
Now  the  expression  zak  i  points  out  the 
nature,  the  existence,  and  not  only  the  letters 
of  the  writing. 

C.  DE  HaRLEZ. 


I.- 


PEHLEVI    NOTES, 
-THE  SEMITIC  VERB  III  PEHLEVI. 


Prof,  be  Harlez  in  his  interesting  and 
valuable  remarks  on  "the  Origin  of  the  Peh- 
levi"  in  No  4.  of  this  Journal,  has  very  well 
illustrated,  by  the  system  of  the  borrowing 
and  adaptation  of  Latin  or  French  words  in 
modern  German,  the  similar  processes  observ- 
able in  Pahlavi  ;  in  its  treatment  of  words 
taken  from  Semitic  languages.  It  would  be 
needless  to  repeat  here  the  examples  quoted. 
But  the  analogy  can  really  be  carried  much 
further,  and  will  then  appear  more  striking. 
As  I  have  not  seen  this  analogy  (in  the  mat- 
ter of  the  verb)  yet  mentioned  by  any  writer,^ 
I  venture  to  call  attention  to  it  in  this  place. 
1.  It  is  a  peculiarity  of  Pehlevi  that,  in 
borrowing  Semitic  verbs,  it  always  adds  the 
curious  and  hitherto  unexplained  syllable  un 
to  the  Semitic  stem-form,  before  adding  the 
Eranian  mood,  or  tense,  or  personal  suffixes, 

1)  I   have,    since  writing  the  above, 
stater.  Etudes  Iraniennes,  t.  i.,  p.  80. 


Thus  :  katr-un-tanOf  to  remain,  (from  Sem. 
*^ri!])  5A0)  ;  yehev-un-tano,  to  be,  (from 
Sem.  b^'irr^  5 1 001)  ;  yait-un-tanOy  to  bring 
(Sem.  ^il'^i"^  ,  t-AA^I)  ;  -yemlal-un-tano,  to 
speak,  (*^^0)  }  hinkhit-un-tano,  to  place, 
(from  hiphil  of  lin!^  H^Tl^n)-  Also,  khall- 
un-agtano,  to  loosen,      ^7       Mja  ,    &c.  )  ; 

bavih-un-agtano,  to    enquire,    (Sem,  t^"^^^  > 

IqIs). 

2.  It  is  surprising  to  find  that  modern 
German  also  employs  a  fixed  syllable  //•  (for- 
merly ier),  which  is,  exactly  like  the  Pehlevi 
un,  inserted  between  the  borrowed  French- 
Latin,  or  other  stem-form,  and  the  German 
grammatical  terminations,  e.  g.,  command-ir- 
en,  (Fr.  commander),  sticd-ir-en,  (Lat.  stu- 
dere),  polemis-ir-en,  (Gr.  7ro\efiit^-civ),  blam- 
ir-en,  (Fr.  blam-er),  confisc-ir-en,  (Lat.  con 

noticed  that  it  is  briefly  referred  to  by    M.  Darmes- 


96 


NOTES,   NEWS,   AND  QUERIES. 


fisc-are),  hoycott-ir-en,  (Eng.  boycott).  It 
would  be  interesting  to  know  the  origin  of 
this  -ir  suffix.  It  might,  perhaps,  be  thought 
that  it  originated  with  the  borrowing  of  verbs 
of  the  Second  French  Conjugation,  whose 
nfinitive  is  in  /;•  ;  for  example,  agir~en,  (Fr. 
agir),  polir-en,  (Fr.  polir),  etablir-en,  (Fr. 
^tablir),  &c,  ;  and  that  it  was  subsequently 
extended,  by  the  familiar  process  of  analogy, 
to  all  borrowed  foreign  verbs.  But  to  ad- 
vance this  theory  with  any  plausibility  would 
require  a  knowledge  of  the  historical  lexico- 
graphy of  Modern  German,  so  as  to  find 
which  of  thoe  h^en  forms  was  the  earliest 
introduced.^ 

8.  I  would  venture  to  suggest  that  the  wi 
of  the  Pehlevi,  may  possibly  be  a  nunnated  3 


per.  pi.  ending,  so  common  in  Syriac  /  '  ) 
in  the  Arabic  aorists  ^  ^  "^  '  \  and  c^* 
the  older  Hebrew  form  in    J^"^-  This 

borrowing  of  the  Semitic  stem,  in  one  fixed 
form,  would  very  well  accord  with  the  habit 
of  borrowing  the  noun  in  the  emphatic  state, 
to  which  Prof,  de  Harlez  alludes.  It  is 
known  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  Semitic 
verbs  are  borrowed  direct  from  the  Aorist  or 
so-called  "future"  form,  as  in  several  exam- 
ples quoted, —  yehevuntano,  yekavfmuntano, 
ydtuntano,  yehguntano,  &c.,  and  such  a  form 
as  yekatibuntano,  to  write,  practically  con- 
tains the  Arab.  3  pers.  pi.  aorist  nunnated 
form,   ^^^^' 

L.  0.  Casartelli. 


2)  Since  writing  the  above,  it  has  occurred  to  me  that  the  suggested  origin  of  the  -ir 
formative  syllable  from  French  infinitives  in  -ir  is  not  Hkely  :  [1]  Because  the  older  form 
was  -ier,  as  stiJl  seen  in  Reg-?'<?r-ung,  from  verb  reg-/e;--en,  (now  written  reg-«V-n)  ;  [2J  Be- 
cause the  Dutch  employs  in  corresponding  cases  the  syllable  -eer,  e.  g.,  reg-eer-en,  organis- 
e^r-en,  &c.     This  does  not  affect  the  parallelism  with  Pehlevi  -un. 


NOTES,  NEWS  AND  QUERIES. 


In  the  April  number  of  the  Contempm'ary 
Review  Prof.  Robertson  Smith,  while 
admitting  the  service  which  Capt.  Conder 
has  rendered  to  Biblical  science  by  his 
work  in  the  field  in  Palestine,  administers 
to  the  gallant  officer  a  severe  castigation 
for  recent  performances  of  another  kind, 
and  especially  for  his  attack  on  Wellhausen 
and  the  Grafian  School.  We  forbear  to 
express  any  opinion  concerning  the  main 
question  at  issue,  but  we  are  disposed  to 
concur  in  the  doubt  expressed  with  regard 
to  Capt.  Conder's  qualifications  for  the  task 
he  has  essayed. 

Mr.  W.  St  Chad  Boscawen  is  at  present 
delivering,  at  the  British  Museum,  a  series 
of  Lectures  on  the  History  and  Civilization 
of  Babylonia,  embracing  the  period  from  the 
Fall  of  the  Assyrian,  to  the  Fall  of  the 
Babylonian,  Empire. 


Forthcoming  Papers.     Arthur  Amiaud : 
"  The  various  names  of  Sumer  and  Akkad  in 
the  Cuneiform  Texts,"    W.  St  C.  Boscawen  : 
"  New  Assyrian  Tablets."  Rob.  Brown,  Jun.: 
"  Oriental  words  from  Hezychius."  Dr.  L.  0. 
Casertelli:  "Pehlevi  Notes.  II.  A  parallel  to 
the  Pehlevi  "Jargon"'; —  "Two  Discourses 
of   Chosroes   the  Immortal-souled. "    Dr.   C. 
de   Harlez:   "  The  Origin  and  Nature  of  the 
Pahlavi,"  (concluded).  Dr.  T,  de  Lacouperie: 
"  Tatooing  in  Babylonia  and  China."— Baby- 
lonia and  China,  I.  The  Cardinal  Points.  II. 
Shamash  and  Shang-ti,  Dr,  Julius    Oppert: 
"A    Juridic    Cuneiform  Text."     Theo.    G, 
Pinches:  "The  Babylonians  and   Assyrians 
as  maritime  nations,"  (continued).     Prof.  E, 
Revillout  and    Dr.    V.    Revillout:    "Sworn 
obligations  in  the  Egyptian  and  Babylonian 
laws."  Dr.  Mark  Aurel  Stein:  •'  An  inscription 
from  the  Heri    Rud  valley."  T.  Tyler:  "  On 
the  Hittite  inscription  of   the  Yuzgat  Seal." 


Printed  for  the  Proprietor  at  51,  Knowle  Road,  Brixton,  S.W.,  and  published  by  him  there,  and  by 
D.  NuTT,  British  and  Foreign  Bookseller,  270,  Strand,  W,C, 


THE 


BABYLONIAN  AND  ORIENTAL  RECORD. 

''~"~"~  ^~- '-■  ""  ■       -        -T 

The  Editorial  Committee  is  not  responsible  for  the  opinions  or  statements  of  the  Contributors. 


TWO    DISCOURSES 
OF  CHOSROES  THE  IMMORTAL-SOULED. 


In  the  last  book  of  his  Cyropoedia,  (viii.  7)> 
Xenophoii  reports  the  discourse  on  the  im 
mortality  of  the  soul,  which  the  great  Persian 
king,  Cyrus,  is  said  to  have  spoken  to  his 
children  when  at  the  point  of  death.  That 
noble  discourse  is  rendered  still  better 
known,  by  the  translation  of  it  which  Cicero 
has  inserted  in  the  most  charming  part  of 
his  charming  Essay  on  Old  Age  (c.  xxii). 

Is  there  any  historical  foundation  for  the 
words  which  Xenophon  has  put  into  the 
mouth  of  the  dying  king  ?  Or  is  this  speech, 
like  so  many,  (though  not  all,)  of  the  inci- 
dents of  this  "  philosophical  novel,"  a  pure 
invention  of  the  writer  ?  This  is  a  question 
into  which  I  will  not  enter  here.  I  merely 
touch  upon  it,  in  order  to  call  attention  to 
the  striking  coincidence  that  Persian  and 
Parsi  tradition  has  preserved  to  us  the  dying 
speech,  (whether  apocryphal  or  genuine  we 
know  not),  of  another  and  equally  great 
Persian  monarch.  Just  as  Xenophon  puts 
into  the  mouth  of  the  greatest  king  of  the 
Achasmenid  dynasty,  who  died  some  five 
hundred  years  before  Christ  (529),  a  dis- 
course on  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul, — so 
does  the  Andarj-i  Khugro-i  Kavaidn  put 
into  the  mouth  of  the  greatest  of  the  Sas- 
sanid  dynasty,  Chosroes, — whose  very  title 
Anoshak-RCibano"^  signifies  exactly  "ho  of 
the  Immortal  Soul,"  and  thus  bears  testi- 
mony to  the  same  great  doctrine  which  Cyrus 
is  made  to  enunciate,— and  wlio  died  some 
five    hundred    years    after    Christ   (570), — 


a  moral  discourse  of  still  greater  beauty. 

This  discourse  has  lately  been  published  in 
its  Pehlevi  text  by  the  learned  and  indefat- 
igible  High-Priest  of  the  Parsis  in  Bombay, 
Dastur  Peshotan  Sanjana,  as  one  of  the  pieces 
edited  by  him  in  an  interesting  volume  (con- 
taining four  Pehlevi  treatises,  Ganj-i  Shdycu- 
gdn  and  others,  Bombay,  1885),  which  is 
uniform  with  his  invaluable  edition  of  the 
Dinkart^  and  is  arranged  on  the  same  plan. 
The  Andarj,  or  "  Last  Will"  of  King  Chosroes 
is  the  shortest  of  these  four  treatises,  and  like 
them,  is  accompanied  by  a  transcription  into 
Avestic  characters,  an  English  as  well  as  a 
Gujerati  version,  and  a  "  select  glossary." 

It  is  a  pleasure,  in  passing,  to  refer  to  the 
debt  of  gratitude  which  Eranian  scholars  owe 
both  to  the  High-Priest  himself  for  his  various 
editions  of  hitherto  inaccessible  Pehlevi  texts, 
and  to  his  accomplished  son  Darab  Dastur 
for  his  really  excellent  Enghsh  versions  and 
editions  of  the  German  writings  of  Spiegel 
and  Geiger  on  Avestic  subjects, — particularly 
his  handsome  translation  of  the  latter's 
Civilisation  of  the  Eastern  Iranians  in  An- 
cient Times,  of  which  the  second  volume  has 
just  appeared  (London:  Henry  Frowde). 

At  the  same  time,  it  is  known  that  native 
systems  of  translation  often  vary  more  or  less 
widely  from  those  of  European  scholars,  who 
follow  much  more  closely  the  intricacies  oi 
the  original  text.  These  divergencies  are 
sometimes  serious,  as  may  be  seen  in  Dr 
West's  Pahlavi  texts  ^ and  my  own  studies  on 


1)  Popularly,  Anosharvan,  or,  Anushirwan. 

2)  In  the  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  e.  g.,  Vol-  xviii.  pp. 
Yql.  I._No,  7,  [07] 


399-410. 


May,  1887, 


TWO    DISCOURSES    OF    CHOSROES. 


98 


Mazdean  philosophy^  and  medicine.*  For 
that  reason,  Prof,  de  Harlez  has  in  a  recent 
number  of  the  Museon  (Jan.  1887)  retrans- 
lated one  of  the  four  treatises  edited  by  Dastur 
Peshofcan  in  the  volume  above  referred  to,  viz: 
the  "Book  of  Counsels  of  Aterpat-i  Man- 
sarspendan;"  and  this  retranslation,  as  will 
be  easily  seen,  differs  very  widely  in  parts 
from  that  contained  in  Dastur  Peshotan's 
edition. 

In  this  paper  I  have  followed  suit   in  at- 


tempting a  fresh  version  of  King  Chosroes' 
dying  discourse.  Certainly,  in  this  little  work, 
which  is  very  brief,  there  is  but  very  slight 
discrepancy  between  my  version  and  that 
given  in  the  Dastur's  Edition;  still  a  few 
sentences  are  differently  rendered,  as  will  be 
seen. 

I  append  to  the  version  also  a  transcription 
in  Latin  characters,  as  modern  Parsis 
read  Pehlevi  in  several  respects  differently 
to  European  scholars. 


In  the  Name  of  the   Adorable   Creator 
auharmazd. 

1.  Thus  they  say  that  the  Immortal-souled 
Chosroes,  son  of  Kobad,  at  the  moment  when 
he  was  come  to  the  end  of  his  time  before 
that  his  life  was  parted  from  his  body,  by 
way  of  last  will  unto  the  people,  spake; 

2.  To  wit:  "As  soon  as  tliis  Hfe  shall  be 
parted  from  my  body,  take  this  my  throne 
and  bear  it  to  Ispahan,  and  in  Ispahan  set 
me  up,  before  the  face  of  the  people  make  ye 
proclamation,  saying: 

'0  men,  from  doing  sin  preserve  yourselves; 
and  in  the  working  of  meritorious  deeds  be  ye 
active;  and  the  splendour  of  this  world  hold 
ye  in  contempt. 

*  For  this  is  the  body  of  him  who  yesterday 
was  in  the  body,  and  whom  men  approached 


Pa  VAN  Shem-i  Yazato  Datar 

AdHARMAZD. 

1.  Aituno  ycmlalund  aigha  anoshak-rubano 
Khucro-i  Kavatano,  yin  zak  ana  hamat 
/)M7'(7a^5yehevunt,  pesh  men  zak  hamat  jan 
men  tano  gvitfdc  yehevimt,  pavan  andarj  val 
gehdnikdn^  guft  : — 

2.  Aigha  cigun  hamat  denman  jdn'^  men 
tano-i  li  dvitaiv  yehevunit  denman  takht-i  11 
mehim  yehounet  va-paran  Igpahano^li  ye- 
drimet  va-paran  Igpahano  li  bara  hinkhitunet 
pavan  gar-i  gehanikan  kahald  vahdunet  aigha : 

MartCiman  men  vanag  kartano  bara  pahr 
ijet  va-pavan  kerfak  varjeshnih  tvakhshak 
yehevunet  va  cabu-i  gtik  pavan  khvar^^yeh- 
gunet. 

Mano  denman  zak  tano  ait  mano 
detmihir'^^  [?]    bara  denman  tano  yehevunt 


3)  Philosophic  Eeligieuse  du  Mazdeisme,  (Paris,  1874),  pp.  38-43,  97-99. 

4)  Traite  de  MMecine  Mrzleenne,  (Louvain,  1886),  pp.24— 45. 

5)  This,  I  suppose,  is  P.^  .pur=full)-f  i»lS,  (the  Peh.  -^y^  gar=time.)  This 
gac,  meaning  '  time'  is  from  Zend  gdtha,  and  thus  differs  even  in  derivation  from  gaQ= 
place,  Z.  gdtu.     So  West  Mainyo-i-khard,  p.  88. 

6")  The  P.    lo^'^ili^'^  people,  creatures,  'mundani.' 

7)  The  Parsis  always  write  this  word  gayo. 

8)  This  is  written  exactly  like  agpano,  '  horses.'  It  might,  perhaps,  be  "  put  on  horses 
(i.  e.,  on  a  chariot),  and  bear  it  to  Ispahan." 

9)  jul>jii4.  Pesh,  reads  kdld.  It  seems  to  be  from  the  Semitic  ^Hp,  ^CJID,  to  gather 
together,  make  an  assembly  ;  cf .  Jl^Pfp  =^  preacher. 

10)  Cf.  Pers.     \y^  in  the  sense  of  'poor,'  and  verb    .^I^j    \y^  =  ^^^  despise. 

11)  ijAa-^ny  seems  clearly  to  mean  'yesterday.'  Posh,  roacls  (LH-7?iak7ia7',  and  his  ex- 
planation is  ingenious  p.«.,  det=Z.  dvattya(J),  '  second' -f- Semitic  in?2  r-**^'  'morning']. 
J5ut  this  is  very  doubtful.     The  Zend  for  '  second'  is  bitya.       He   ought   to   compare    Old 


99 


TWO    DISCOURSES    OF    CH0SR0E8. 


with  three  obeisances;  in  every  place  and  time 
he  cultivated  purity  and  the  splendour  of  this 
world:  and  today,  on  account  of  his  condition 
of  impurity,  everyone  who  placeth  his  hand 
upon  him,  is  thereafter  obliged  to  purify  him- 
self by  the  bareshnum,  or  else  to  the  worship 
of  God  and  the  conversation  of  the  good  they 
do  not  admit  him, 

'Yesterday,  on  account  of  the  pomp  of 
his  sovereignty,  he  gave  not  his  hand  to  any 
one  :  today,  on  account  of  his  condition  of 
impurity,  no  man  placeth  his  hand  on  him. 

'  Ye  men  of  the  world  !  being  upright,  go 
ye  forward  in  your  conduct,  with  thoughts  of 
justice,  the  accomplishment  of  duty,  and  in 
the  duty  of  creatures  be  ye  active  and  lively. 
At  the  same  time,  also  due  measure  in  doing 
your  duty  observe  ye;  and  in  the  duties  of 
religion  be  liberal  and  in  unanimity  with  the 
'  just. 

'  Hearkening  to  the  admonitions  of  those 
who  give  advice  concerning  life,  with  respect 
to  action,  observe  also  moderation. 

'With  your  own  lot  be  content;  and  the 
natural  lot  of  any  man  do  not  grasp  at. 

'  In  giving  to  the  poor,  mean  inconstancy 
do  not  practice. 


va  denman  martftm  pa  van  3  gam  nazdiktar 
yehevunt  pa  van  kol^  g&g  va  zemun  aharftyih 
va  cabu-i  gtih  bar^  afzClt  va  la-denman  yom 
bahar-i  rimanih  rai  kolS,  mano  yadman  mehim 
hinkhitunit  adinash  pa  van  bareshnClm  av^yit 
Ichalalunagtano^^  ayuf  pa  van  yajeshno  Yaz- 
dan  val  hampurgakih-i  shapirano  1&  shed 
kCinand. 

Ditmihr  shikuh}^-i  khfttaih  r^i  yadman 
val  khadash  Ik  yehebdnt  la-denman  yom  ba- 
har-i rimanih  rat  khadash  yadman  mehim  la 
hinkhitunit. 

AnshM^^n-i  geh^n  drut  homand  yezitClnet 
rayinishno  pavan  minishno-i  ragt  kar  varji- 
garih  va-pavan  kar-i  gehanikan  tvakhshak 
va  zivanand  yeheviin^t  agnino^*y&  patman 
pavan  kur  yehgHnet  va-pavan  kar-i  dinak 
rat  va  ragtan  hamijano  yehevfinet  andaraj 
guftarano-i  j4n  andaraj-i  nyokshit^r  paYan 
andajak  val  kar  va-patmano  vakhdunet  pavan 
bahar-i  nafshman  khurgand  yehevfinet  va- 
bahar-i  ahuo  khadih  al  shavazrunet  pavan 
deheshn-i  daregushan  sipanj^^  vacdriW^  al 
vakhdfinet 


Persian  duvitiya,  (the  Gathas  have  daihityci).  There  is  a  Parsi  word  did,  c?^c?=second, 
which  West  thinks  a  "  misreading"  of  Huzvaresh  }^f^.  Still  I  do  not  see  why  it  should 
not  really  represent  the  0.  P.  duvitya.  As  regards  tiie  second  part,  Peshotan's  derivation  is 
very  doubtful.  IHt^  ^^^  i^s  allies  are  always  used  (like  our  '  morrow')  for  the  following 
day — tomorrow.  May  the  word  perhaps  be  mihir  (Z.  mithra)  i.  e.,  the  Sun.  used  in  the 
sense  of  '  day  ?'  The  Modern  Persian  for  'yesterday'  is  di  ruz  T  • ,  .  ^S)->  and  this  dx 
represents,  according  to  Darmesteter,  ( Etudes Iraniennes^  I.  251),  a  presumed  O.  P.  *dyi  or 
Zend  *22/^=Sanskrit  hyas  and  Greek  x^ev,  Lat.  her-i,  our  yes-i^x.  Can  the  Pehl.  j«* 
or  det  (dyet  ? )  in  any  way  belong  to  this  ? 

12)  Apparently  the  Semitic  root  seen  in  Heb.   77n»  to  free,  loosen,  and  Ar.  7    ,  loosing, 

J^,    looser. 

13)  Of.  Pers.  ^»Li>  =  pomp. 

14)  Pesh.  reads  atnine,  but  the  sense  seems  to  agree  better  with  Parsi  agntn,  '  at  one 
time,  at  once,  together,'  with  which  West  compares  P.  ^Jy^\,  (Darmesteter,  i.  251, 
connects  this  with  nun,  nun-c,  4'c.J 

15)  Pesh.  takes  this  as  'loan,'  (P.  ^,^lx^).  but  the  meaning  '  short  of  duration,  short, 
weak,  fragile,'  [lit.  '  fifteen,V+;?aw;  =^3  x  5  ]  here  suits  better,  as  used  by  Firdusi. 

16)  Parsi  vastdri,  P.  c^.Huu^,  '  weakness,  frailty,  inconstancy.' 


loo 


TWO    DISCOURSES    OF    CHOSROES. 


'  Observe  that  when  sickness  comes,  sover- 
eignty and  wealth  go  away.  Vast  wealth  and 
esteem,  obscurity  and  poverty,  pass  away. 
Here  below  life  is  short  ;  in  the  next  world, 
there  is  a  long  road,  and  a  rough  adversary 
and  a  just  judge,  and  merit  cannot  be  got  on 
loan. 

'  Deceit  and  bribery  do  not  practice  ;  and 
for  the  soul's  sake,  afflict  not  the  body. 

*  Again,  ye  must  have  done  many  meritor- 
ious actions,  or  else  ye  will  not  be  able  to  pass 
over  the  Cinvat  Bridge.  There  the  judge  is 
of  such  a  nature  as  Mitro  and  Rasht. 

'  Be  ye  of  the  Good  Religion,  and  ye  shall 
go  to  Garotman. 

'Do  ye  no  injury  in  order  to  become 
glorious.  For  scrutiny  and  examination  con 
cerning  every  time  and  every  individual  must 
come  to  pass. 

'Consider  this  world  as  a  caravanserai; 
and  keep  your  body  in  peace  and  virtue  in 
your  action ;  and  sin  with  toil  must  be  thrust 
away,  and  heaven  must  be  made  one's 
own.  [?] 

3.  '  Let  this  too  be  said,  to  wit ;  Every 
man  ought  to  know  this,  viz:  from  what  I 
have  come,  and  why  I  am  here  below,  and 
again  into  what  I  must  go  ;  moreover,  what 
is  required  of  me. 

'Now  I  know  this,  to  wit;  From  before 
the  Majesty  of  Auharmazd  I  have  come,  and 
for  the  purpose  of  overthrowing  the  Evil 
Spirit  [or,  falsehood]  I  am  here;  and  again 
before  the  Majesty  of  Auharmazd  must  I  go,' 


Bara  nikir^t  aigha  cigun  az^r  yehevCmit 
khutaih  va-khvagtak  bara  vazlunit  cabu-i  gta- 
var  va  dusharm  va  dushkhvarih  va  daryusMW^ 
bar^  vitirit  letamman  zivandakih  andak  va 
tamman  rag-i  dur  va-hamimali  shkaft  va  d  1- 
tubar-i  ragt  va-kerfak  pa  van  avom^^  la 
ashkakliund.  ^^ 

Druj   va-;)«rj^j20  |a    vakhdfinet    va   tano 

ruban  rai  la  mahdrunU.^  ^ 

Bara  hamat  kabed  kerfak  kart  yekavi- 
munet  ayuf  pa  van  Cinvat  puhal  nitart§,no 
la  tuban  tamman  d^tobar  avino  cigftn  Mitro 
Rashnu. 

Veh  -  dinan  yehevunet  vad  Garotman 
yehevunet. 

Af^osh  al  vahdunet  vad  gadman  hom- 
and  yehevunet  maman  vinakih  va  gvi- 
tdrih^^  pavan  kola  gkg  va-pavan  kolakhadih 
shayit    yehevuntano, 

Otik  pavan  aspanp^  yeh^ftnet  va 
tano  pavan  agano  niukih  pavan  kart 
yehpfinet  va  bazak  pavan  ranj  gpoj  va- 
minoi  pavan  nafshman  kiinishno.^* 

3.  Denman-ac  guft  yekavimunit  aigha 
kola  khadih  bar^  avayit  khavitMagtano 
aigha  men  aigha  yat^nt  homanam  va  maman 
latamman  homanam  afam  lakhvar  val  aigha 
avayit  vazluntano  afam  maman  afash  bavihun- 
and  va  li  denman  khavitiinam  aigha  men  p^sh-i 
Auharmazd  khM^i  bar^  yatCmt  homanam 
va  gtohinttano^^-i  druj  rai  latamman  homa- 
nam lakhvar  val  pesh-i  Auharmazd  khuta 


17)  Notice  the  constructio  chiastica, 

18)  Cf.  Pers.   ^^^,=debt,  loan  ;  ^jL>   A  =  to  lend. 

19)  To    find  ;  from  the  aphel  of  TOtT.    ^ 

20)  Cf.  Zend  i^dra  =debt,  sin  ;  Pers,  ^  \j  =bribe. 

21)  Evidently  from  Semitic  "^"y^,  . tX^,==to  trouble,  vex,  afflict  ;  cf.  Syr.  |;^p=infirmus, 
[There  is  another  makdruntano,  which  seems  to  be  from  7%*^,  De  Harlez,  Manuel  du 
Pehlevi,  p.  283].  To  explain  this  passage,  it  must  be  remembered  that  Mazdeism  alto- 
gether rejects  corporal  mortification  and  austerities, — in  striking  contrast  to  the  Hindu  creeds. 

22)  Cf.  Pers.  j^jo^^=to  seek,  search. 

23)  This  is  Parsi  aspangh,  and  Pers.  ^Ju-s 

24)  I  am  doubtful  about  this  passage. 

25)  Cf,  |^<<?6w=beaten  down,  P.      -" 


SWORN    OBLIGATIONS    IN    EGYPTIAN    AND    BABYLONIAN    LAW. 


101 


moreover,  tliis  is  required  of  me, — holiness 
and  the  actions  proper  to  the  wise  and  the 
living  in  union  with  wisdom  and  also  the  re- 
gulation, of  my  natural  disposition." 

4.  May  Chosroes,  King  of  Kings,  Son  of 
Kobad,  be  immortal-souled,  who  made  this 
admonition  and  gave  this  command  !  So 
be   it  ! 


It  needs  no  words  of  mine  to  emphasize 
the  lofty  morahty  and  noble  sentiments  of 
this  dying  discourse,  worthy  of  a  Christian 
monarch,  and  far  surpassing  in  its  reverent 
humility  the  words  which  Xenophon  puts  into 
the  mouth  of  his  hero. 

It  would  be  interesting,  had  we  space,  to 
compare  the  string  of  precepts    here  given 


avayit  vazlantano  afam  aharayih  afash  bavi- 
hfinand  va.  khvhkharih^Q'i  danakan  va  ham- 
zinishnih  i  khart  ayuf  virayishn-i  khim. 

4.  Anoshak  rftban  yehevanat  Khugroi 
Malkaan  Malkai  Kavatan  mano  denman 
andarj  kart  afash  denman  farman  yeheb&nt 
aituno  yehevundt,  2' 


with  other  specimens  of  the  sententious  phil- 
osophy of  Mazdeism,  as  found  for  instance 
in  the  Maioryo-i  Khard,  and  elsewhere. 

Whether  the  discourse   be  really  what   it 
professes  to  be,    or  as  apocryphal  as    Xeno- 
phon's,  at  any  rate,  it   will  remain  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  pieces  of  Pehlevi  literature, 
L.  C.  Casartblli. 


26)  A  very  expressive  term  ;  lit.  the  business,  proper  occupation  (kvesh^^dlA-  Jkar ) 

27)  Exactly  the  French  ainsi  soit-il  /  ^  ^  (  -r  v  ^^arj. 


SWORN  OBLIGATIONS 
IN  EGYPTIAN  AND  BABYLONIAN   LAW. 


Nothing  is  more  frequent  in  old  Egyptian 
law  than  contracts  under  the  form  of  an  oath 
or  an  adjuration  to  the  gods.  Perhaps  it  is 
on  that  account  that  debts  were  called  sanch 
(adjurations).  No  bond  could  have  appeared? 
at  first,  to  a  religious  nation,  stronger  than  a 
promise  made  before  the  divinity.  Among 
the  Romans  themselves  a  stipulation  was  not 
thing  else  but  an  oath  after  all,  as  is  proved 
by  the  solemn  question  :  Spondesne  ?  — 
Spondeo* 

From  the  time  of  contracts — that  is  to  say 
since  Bocchoris,  the  written  deed  replaced, 
little  by  little,  the  oral  oath,  which  was  spe- 
cially retained  for  lawsuits.^  Nevertheless  we 
find,  even  at  the  latest  period,  obligationes 
faciendi  aut  non  faciendi  by  adjurations  to 


the  gods.  In  illustration  of  this  may  be  cited 
the  ostracon  no.  12065  of  the  British  Museum, 
in  which  a  man  named  Petamenapi.  son  of 
Hoe,  engages,  before  the  god  Momt-neb- 
mauun,  to  remain  quiet,  and  to  abstain  from 
exercising  his  rights,  in  the  year  27,  from 
guch  a  month  to  such  another  later  month. 

In  another  oath,  preserved  on  the  papyrus 
147  of  Berlin,  and  drawn  up  in  the  year  22 
of  one  of  the  Ptolemies,  one  of  the  parties 
swears,  before  Anubis,  to  pay  an  argenteus 
at  a  certain  fixed  date. 

In  yet  another  (upon  papyrus),  of  which 
we  have  already  spoken  in  the  Revue  Egypto. 
logt'que,  Petkes  engages  himself  to  give  over 
certain  properties  to  a  girl  whom  he  is  accused 
of  having  seduced;  and  in  fact  he  fulfils  his 


I    See,  for  this  question,  the  last  number  of  the  Revue  Egyptologique^ 


102  SWORN    OBLIGATIONS    IN 

Contract  by  causing  a  certified  deed  of  gift  to  give  up  a   deposit,    on  the  day  when    it 

(which  we  also  possess)  to  be  drawn  up.  should  be  demanded  of  him,  into  the  hands 

Finally,  upon  the  unpublished  ostracon  7899  of  whomsover  should  produce  his  written  deed . 

of  the  Louyre,  a  man  named  Psechons  swears  The  text  is  as  follows : — 

^^-ii-.  t  M  >  f 2^Ai  j*'»/2-  u; ) fa-  3 
|i^1^1j)»5:b3_;fV,'^,„)) 

"  Copy  of  the  oath  which  Psechons,  son  o^  This  text  may  be  compared  with  very  nu- 
Hermocles,  has  made  in  the  temple  of  Chons,  merous  texts  of  oaths  published  in  the  open- 
to  wit: —  Adjured  be  Chons  who  reposes  with  ing  lecture  by  one  of  us  at  the  School  of  the 
every  other  god  who  reposes  with  him.  The  Louvre  ;  (see  the  Revue  Egyptologique  of  M. 
day  when  they  shall  bring  these  things-  the  E.  Revillout,  4th  year,  No. Ill— IV,  and  5th 
people  — for  the  deposit, ^  to  the  man  whom  year,  No.  I— II,  Leroux,  editeur). 
they  shall  choose  for  the  purpose  (word  for  At  Babylon  also  we  find  oaths  of  the  same 
word :  which  they  shall  take)  I  will  give  up  kind.  Here  is  one  which  belongs  to  our  own 
[the  deposit]  in  the  midst  of  Thebes."  collection  (No.  146): 

-  -tm  <  -i-w^  i  >-  T  m  -M  "^  ^^ 

t^  ^?  ;^  <  \- jgL  T?  .4  T -+ 2TT  #^T  Jff^ -TT<T  ^ 
TK  ?  T ->f  44f  4^  £I4T  ^T  T- ^  ^  T?  ^  t^n  T?  ^ 
*T  <W  %  M  J=^tT  .^  <  TT  ^  T  m  -m  m  ^^ 

Q^^T  ?  T  Sn  #^T  S?^T  -TM  :=:  TU  ?  T  -+  4-ff  4^ 
?  KiW^  ^T{  Tf  ^  T  2TT  t^1  ^^1  -TT<T  ^ 
T?  -V]^  A  •  •  •  • 

^?  ET  *T  ■«  ^'  ^  "^  <TT  ^ 

T  m  -TM  ^ -^^  i^  ^'i  m  <  ^<^  m. 

2)  Kelou  represents  (JXXcJO  X^\o,  deponere  apud  aliquem,  concredere,  commendare. 
It  is  the  deposit.  The  same  word  is  found  again  under  the  form  *)  ^  p  /  .  kelu,  in  an 
ostracon  in  London,  pubHshed  in  the  i?^mt6  ^^^/p^o/o^/^we,  IV^  lY.,  pi,  L,  and  under  the 
form  *)^,  /,].=XA.Xo,  ibid.  II,  II-III.,  (antigraph  of  luminaries)  in  the  decrees  of  Ro- 


fiGYPl^IAN    AND    BABYLONIAN    LAW. 


103 


"[Ina]  Samas-addannu  son  of  Bel. .  .by  Bel  and 

Nebo  and  king  Darius,  king  of  Babylon  and 
countries,  with  regard  to  Issartaribi,  son  of 
Ramanu-ibni,  establishes  this:  As  for  me,  the 
15th  of  the  month  of  Abu  of  the  12th  year 
of  Darius,  king  of  Babylon  and  king  of 
countries,  I  will  give  to  Issartaribi  8  shekels 
and  a  half  of  silver,  (credit  of)  Issartaribi  son 
of  Ramanu-ibni,  upon  me. 

"  Witnesses:  &c. 

"  Sippara,  the  28th  of  Duzu  of  the  12th 
year  of  Darius  king  of  Babylon  and  countries." 

The  name  Issartaribi  is  curious.  The  div- 
ine elementbeing  applied  to  a  female  divinity, 
as  the  third  pers.  fem.  indicates,  Tarihi,  re- 
calls the  name  of  the  goddess  Istar,  and  it 
appears  to  us  very  probable  that  it  is  a  de- 
signation of  that  goddess.  The  ideogram 
^5^y,  which  has  the  readings  sar  or  sar, 
signifies  *  to  write,'  and  represents,  from  this 
point  of  view,  in  a  Semitic  language  the  verb 
sataru  or  sataru.  The  syllable  which  pre- 
cedes would  thus  be  one  of  those  phonetic 
complements  as  frequent  in  Babylonian  as  in 
Egyptian. 

Another  oath,  (No.  118  of  our  collection)^ 
relates  to  the  time  of  the  delivery  of  a  sheep 
which  belonged  to  him  by  whom  this  oath 
was  taken,  following  the  terms  of  the  con- 
tract constituting  his  title  as  creditor.  After 
the  verb  ^f^f  "^f  f*-,  (transitive  form  of 
^^/; -j^,  from  which  we  have  determined  the 
value  in  the  sense  of  to  establish  by  oath,  to 
swear,  this  text  continues  thus  : 

"  As  far  as  relates  to  me,  in  the  month 
of  Airu,  conformably  to  thy  credit  which  is 
upon   me,  thy  sheep    [shall  be]    received  by 


thee,  (word-for-word  :  *thy  recep  ion')." 

The  word  ediru  is  that  substantive  which 
we  find  so  frequently  in  the  formula  of  guar- 
antee: buut  ediru  sa  kaspa  such  an  one  naai^ 
''  For  the  receipt  of  the  money  such  an  one 
holds  himself  security." 
We  find   the   same    formulae     »—   *-^yiJ^^ 

-t^^^  <  T  ET<!  -TT<T  ^^  ?^=  ET4T 

'^y  !>-  Jpy  yj  ^  <fec.,  for  an  oath  in 
another  text  of  our  own  collection  (No.  140), 
and  in  this  contract  it  is  a  question  as  to  lands 
planted  with  date-palms,  ^t^-/-^  S*£^  "S*"  *^^* 
delivered   for    culture   to     some    gardeners, 

T?  .4  .^  tT  #:?:T  M-  ^""^  «■"  ^*^« 

the  direct  proof  oi  what  we  surmised  as  to  the 
oath  of  Ardia,  of  which  the  text  has  been 
published  by  Mr.  Strassmaier  (No.  176),  and 
which  we  have  translated  in  the  appendix  of 
the  course  of  lectures  made  by  one  of  us,  upon 
"Contracts  in  Egyptian  law,  compared  with 
the  other  legal  systems  of  antiquity,"  {Obliga- 
tions en  droit  egyptien  compare  avec  les  autres 
droits  de  Vantiguite).  We  shall  have,  how- 
ever, to  come  back  shortly  to  the  oath  of 
Ardia,  when  speaking  of  certain  questions, 
(exceedingly  impcjrtant  from  a  juridical  point 
of  view),  which  have  been  already  raised — 
notably  one  concerning  the  possible  transfer 
of  a  slave  as  part-payment  (simhariis). 

In  all  these  deeds,  dated  uniformly  in  the 

reign  of  Darius,  after  the  verb]  ^^  *j^'\  "[^ 

the  formula  of  the  oath  continues  with  the 

words:     J|y    ^    y?  i!^^y]f,       "^»      ^°' 

what  relates  to  me,"    (word-for-word:  "like 

towards   me").     But  upon  one  tablet,  more 

ancient,  since   it  goes  back  to  the   reign  of 

Neriglissar,  No.  1824  of  the  Museum  of  the 

Louvre,  these  words  do  not  follow  itesib  in  an 

oath  taken  on  another  class  of  debt  similarly 

at  the  time,  upon  the  gods  and  the  reigning 

king.      It  is  concerned   with   a  ^scal   debt 


setta    and  Can  ope:  {Chrestomathie  demotique,  passim),  &c.     We  note  that,  after  the  word 
"  deposit,"  between  the  lines,  there  has  been  added  this  fixed  delay  to  the  demand  for  thi 
deposit... )p,o^,   "until..." 

3)    We  do  not  accept  the  reading  ittemi,  from  tamu,  loqui,  coUoqui. 


104 


THE  ORIGIN  AND    NATURE  OF    THE  PAHLAVl. 


and  Giraillu,  this 


3t]  T?  -M  ?  ^ 

chief  of  the  fisc, 
>^^,  of  whom  there  is  such  frequent  men- 
tion in  deeds  of  this  period,  granting,  accord- 
ing to  his  custom,  to  the  debtor  to  the  royal 
treasury  a  very  short  delay,  (here  till  the  30th 
of  the  month  Si  van,  and  the  deed  is  dated 
the  27th),  exacts,  moreover,  the  formal  oath 
that  the  sum  due  shall  be  deposited  on  the 
day  indicated,  the  30th  of  Sivan. 

In  the  Egyptian  oath,  of  which  we  have 


spoken  above,  there  is  a  style  of  expression 
which  one  often  finds  in  Babylonian  transac- 
tions. In  fact,  immediately  after  the  formula 
of  adjuration  our  Egyption  deed  begins  with 
the  words  "  On  the  day  when. . .,"  words  which 
occur  at  the  beginning  of  many  Babylonian 
documents,  and  which  commence  also  certain 
special  classes  of  deeds  of  greater  length. 
Besides  the  tablets  copied  by  Mr.  Strassmaier, 
No.  130  of  our  collection  may  also  be  specially 
mentioned. 

E.  ET  V.  Revillout. 


RANIAN  STUDIES.— II. 
THE  OKIGIN  AND  NATURE  OF  THE  PAHLAVl, 

(Concluded  from  j).  95.^ 


12.  The  primitive  iorm'malkm,  plur.  Aram, 
of  JIale/c  malfcd,  indicates  ulrfo  that  it  is  the 
Semitic  word,  and  not  only  the  graphical  form, 
which  has  been  borrowed. 

13.  Some  Sassanian  kings,  Schapur  III., 
Yezdejert  III.,  Piruz,  took  the  Arabian  title 
Kadi  in  place  of  the  Aramean  Mailed]  was 
this  also  to  be  read  simply  shah  ?  And  if  the 
first  word  was  pronounced,  why  was  not  the 
second  likewise?  (See  Mordtmann,  Die 
Mlinzen  der  Sassaniden.  Zeitschrift  de  D.  M. 
G.,  p.  72,  100—102,  101,  109.) 

14.  A  last  fact,  exterior,  it  is  true,  but  not 
the  less  convincing,  is  the  persistence  of  the 
Persians  in  giving  a  pronunciation  to  the 
Huzvaresh  words. 

At  some  period  which  we  can  fix,  we  see 
them  setting  themselves  to  transmit  these 
from  the  dictionaries  in  which  the  pronunci- 
ation of  these  terms  is  carefully  noted.  In 
consequence  of  what  phenomonon  would  they 
suddenly  have  taken  it  into  their  heads  to  give 
certain  sounds  to  some  signs  which  were  not 
destitute  of  them,  and  how  would  they  have 


succeeded  in  restoring  to  them  their  proper 
nature  since  the  state  of  decadence  and  ignor- 
ance of  these  Persianisms  had  reached  its  ex- 
treme point.  It  will  be  objected,  perhaps, 
that  there  are  numerous  errors  in  the  tradi- 
tional transcription  of  the  Parsees;  but  this 
would  be  in  vain.  The  same  errors  rule  in 
the  reading  of  the  Persian  words  which,  with- 
out doubt,  had  not  been  expressed  by  simple 
figurative  signs.  The  most  important  words 
of  the  Iranian  Pahlavi  are  badly  transcribed 
by  the  Parsees;  even  the  names  of  their  God^ 
which  they  read  yadaddn  and  Auhomd  in  place 
oiyazaddn  (yazatdn),  and  Auharmazd.  The 
errors  are  the  same  in  the  two  classes  of  words, 
and  probably  from  the  same  source — the  neo- 
Persian  pronunciation  and  the  deceptive  form 
of  the  letters.  Thus  ^V*)M^  is  read  ja7nnun- 
atan  for  yemlaluntan,  as  "i^^  is  read  jdto 
for  yazato.^ 

15.  As  a  last  resource,  the  partizans  of 
the  ideographic  explanation  generally  make 
this  tirade:  "  If  the  Pahlavi  was  composed 


8)  The  Samaritan  has  laiti  like  the  Parsi  nisti. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OF  THE  PAHLAVl. 


105 


thus,  it  was  a  very  ridiculous  language."  Ri- 
diculous !  It  may  be  ;  but  less  singular  in 
any  case  tlian  that  in  which  the  Persian  words 
pronounced,  were  mixed  with  Aramean  words, 
written  in  all  the  letters,  but  without  any  value 
of  their  own,  only  to  recall  the  recollection  of 
their  Persian  synonyms.  What  would  we  say 
of  a  Frenchman  who  took  it  into  his  head  to 
write  in  this  style,  half  in  his  own  language, 
and  half  in  German  : 

Was   willez-euch  qu'il  that  contre  drei  ? 

qu'il  starbfjt  ; 
and  to  give  this  as  the  reading  : 

Que   voulez-vous   qu'il   fit   contre   trois  ? 

qu'il  mourut. 

Yet  that  is  the  figurative  Pahlavi ! 

The  other  is  represented  to  us,  e.  g.,  by 
these  phrases  which  we  can  imagine  in  the 
grammars  and  journals  : 

,  Herr  X.,  privat-dozent  der  national  oecon- 
omie,  director  des  mineralogischen  Museums, 
ist  zum  ordinarius  an  den  Universitat  K. 
ernannt  worden  ; 

Der  Caporal  hat  die  Soldaten  exercirt. 

Between  the  Pahlavi  and  this  sort  of  Ger- 
man there  is  nothing  but  the  distance,  more 
or  less.  It  is  true  that  the  difference  extends 
to  some  essential  points,  the  pronouns  and  the 
particles,  but  that  pertains  to  the  exceptional 
nature  of  the  Huzvaresh,  whose  words  have 
never  been  inco  rporated  in  the  Persian  voc- 
abulary, and  were  not  employed  except  in  an 
occasional  affectation  of  learning. 

This  leads  us  to  speak,  finally,  of  the  nature, 
the  origin,  and  the  strong  points  of  the  Pah- 
lavi Huzvaresh.  But  before  that,  let  us  recall 
two  facts  which  throw  a  strong  Hght  upon 
this  question — the  different  kinds  of  languages 
which  were  spoken  in  Persia  in  the  middle 
age,  and  the  influence  of  the  Aramaic  in  that 
country. 

a.  As  to  the  first  point,  Ibn  Muqaffa  in- 
forms us  that  five  different  languages  were 
spoken  in  Persia,  viz.,  the  Pahlavi  in  the 
country  of  the  Media,  situated  on  the  Caspian 
sea;  the  Devi^  originally  from  the  East,  and 
spoken  at  all  the  courts  of  the  Princes;  the 
Fdrsi  the  tongue  of  the  Fdrs,  spoken  by  the 


Mobedi  and  the  literati ;  the  Khusi,  which 
the  kings  and  the  nobles  used  in  their  dom- 
estic relations,  in  their  pleasure  parties,  &c., 
and,  lastly,  the  Syriac,  used  in  the  region  of 
Sewad.  The  Arabian  author  adds  that  cor- 
respondence was  conducted  in  a  special  lan- 
guage Syro-Persian.  (See  Journal  des 
Savants,  1840;  p.  412,  ff.,  Article  Quatre- 
m^re). 

We  have  no  need  to  enter  on  any  discus- 
sion relative  to  the  precise  sense  of  the  terms 
of  Ibn  Muqaffa,  whatever  it  may  be  and  al- 
though it  may  even  leave  some  inexactness; 
it  results  in  an  irrefragable  testimony  that,  in 
Sassanian  Persia,  the  educated  classes  created 
for  themselves  at  pleasure  different  languages 
for  the  different  circumstances  of  life.  One 
was  the  official  speech  of  their  kings  and 
great  persons;  another  that  of  their  familiar 
relations;  while  another  was  that  used  for  cor- 
respondence. And,  to  note  one  thing,  that 
of  their  correspondence,  of  their  writings,  {al 
Kdtihat)  is  a  sort  of  language,  with  a  vocab- 
ulary (al  leghat)  Syro-Persian  (hd^t)  sirydni 
jtdrsi). 

b.  The  position  of  Syrian  in  Persia  is  too 
well  known,  and  has  been  too  often  set  forth, 
for  us  to  need  to  stop  here  again.  We  may 
confine  ourselves  to  recalling  some  facts  which 
will  make  us  understand  its  extent. 

The  Sjrriac  was  one  of  the  languages  spoken 
at  the  Persian  court  as  Ibn  Mnqaffa,  Ibn 
Hauqal,  and  others,  testify.  Paul  the  Per- 
sian wrote  in  Syriac  a  dialectical  treatise  for 
the  king,  Khosrow  Anoshirvan. 

Sergius  of  Resam,  bishop  and  archpriest, 
wrote  likewise  in  Syriac  a  book  on  logic  for 
Theodosius,  bishop  of  Merv.  The  Persians, 
according  to  the  testimony  of  Moses  of  Khoren, 
had  burned  the  Greek  books  in  Armenia;  they 
had  forbidden  the  Greeks  of  that  country  to 
teach  their  language,  and  had  prescribed 
for  them  the  Syriac  ;  (see  L.  III.  ch.  liv.) 

Theophylact  informs  us  that  Khosrow 
had  studied  the  astronomy  of  the  Chaldeans 
And  Epiphanes  testifies  that  the  Persians 
employed  the  language  of  Palmyra,  (Dehoir^ 
esihus,  t.  II.  p.  269),     We  know  the  Syrian 


106 


THS  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OF  THE  PAHLAVI, 


school  of  Edessa,  founded  by  the  -Persians, 
from  which  the  Nestorians  were  scattered 
over  Persia,  favoured  by  the  Sassanian  kings. 
The  Persian  Catholic  Bishops  used  Syriac 
as  an  ecclesiastical  language  ;  the  acts  of  the 
Council  of  Ctesiphon  were  drawn  up  in  Syr- 
iac. The  Christians  of  Persia  emigrated  to 
the  south  and  to  Ethiopia,  where  they  con- 
tinued the  use  of  the  Syriac.^  These  are  the 
Syrians  who,  as  we  are  aware,  initiated  the 
Arabs  into  the  study  of  Hterature  and  the 
sciences.  Manes  and  his  disciples  wrote 
in  Syriac. 

These  premisses  being  granted,  the  his- 
tory of  the  Pahlavi-Huzvaresh  appears  to  us 
to  be  one  of  great  simplicity. 

Already  under  the  Achemenides,  Assyrian 
played  a  grand  role  in  the  Persian  Empires. 
Darius  I  caused  to  be  engraven,  in  Greek  and 
Assyrian,  on  the  columns  raised  on  the  shores 
of  the  Bosphorus,  the  names  of  the  peoples 
of  whom  his  army  was  composed.  {Herod. 
IV).  Assyrian  fell  into  desuetude;  the 
Aramaic  replaced  it  ;  and  the  influence  of  this 
language  was  not  less  great.  It  grew  to  a 
large  extent  under  the  Seleucides.  All  these 
princes  or  their  Arsacide  successors  began  to 
introduce  the  use  of  Aramean  words  mixed 
with  Persian;  just  as  German  had  encroached 
on  some  French  words,  under  Frederick  II, 
and  French  on  some  Spanish  or  Italian  terms 
in  the  time  of  the  League  and  of  Mazarin;  but 
this  in  a  manner  quite  different  and  proper 
to  the  East.  This  use  of  parasite  Aramean 
words  in  conversation,  and  the  mania  of  the 
great  in  Persia  for  creating  special  jargons, 
(a  mania  attested  by  Ibn  Maqaffa,  Ibn  Hau- 
qal,  the  Meragid  ul  ittila,  &c.),  gave  birth  to 
this  singular  kind  of  lanc-nage,  invented,  not 


for  speech,  but  for  the  correspondence  of  the 
lettered  classes,  and  clearly  indicated  as  such 
by  the   Arabian  authors.  The  Aramean 

words  were  introduced  in  large  numbers  into 
this  kind  of  writing  ;  a  special  style  of 
formation  had  been  adopted  for  the  Ara- 
mean nouns  and  verbs.  But  these  foreign 
words  were  nothing  but  simple  ideograms 
without  proper  graphical  value,  and  repres- 
ent figuratively  certain  Persian  words.  The 
Aramean  terms  were  taken  as  such  ;  and  he 
who  employed  them,  as  well  as  he  who  read 
them,  knew  their  sound  and  signification  ; 
being  free,  as  to  this  latter  point,  to  read  the 
Aramean  word  or  to  substitute  mentally  for 
it  its  Iranian  correspondent.  This  character 
of  Aramean  terms  is  shown  us  by  the  text  of 
Ibn  Maqaffa,who  calls  this  kind  of  language, 
not  a  mc  d.^  of  reading  or  writing  (hijd)  at 
all,  but  a  vocabulary,  a  language  (legJiat). 
"  Correspondence,"  he  says,  "  was  conducted 
in  a  sort  of  language  ft  nu  men  leghat,  ha!l 
sh'ijdnt  Jdrsi." 

The  use  of  Aramean  words  was  not  deter- 
mined by  fixed  rule.  People  emplo3^ed  or 
rejected  at  will  those  which  were  already 
admitted,  or  they  introduced  new  on  as  quite 
as  arbitrarily,  bending  them  all  to  the  re- 
ceived laws  of  formation.'o  But  these  laws 
had  been  formed  progressively,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  inscription  of  Sapor,  where  we 
find  verbal  forms  without  any  other  suffix 
tlian  itim,  then  provided  with  personal  and 
modal  suffixes,  even  hdman  being  used  with- 
out a  suffix. 

This  custom  probably  lasted  for  two  or 
three  centuries,  and  the  translation  of  the 
Avesta  was  written  in  that  manner.  But 
the    Zoroastrian  kings  of    Persia      perceived 


9)  "Notumex  historicis  ecclesiasticis  et  catalogo  Syrorum  seriptorum  Ebed  Jcsu  l^^tri- 
archfB."       Lacroze,  Thesaurus  epistolarum,  t.    III.,  p.  82.     Cf.  Journal  Asiatique,  1839, 
Memoire  sur  les  Nabateens  de  Quatremere,     Spec.  pp.  214,  255,  257.     Id.,  Ayril,   1852;  p. 
Memoire  de  M.  Renan.—  De  Sacy,  Memoire  sur  diverses  antlqidtes  de  la  Perse,  &c.. 


320. 


les  historiens  ar- 


pp.  38,  119,  121.— Patkanian,  Essai  d\me  histoire  des  Sassanides  dapres 
meniens,  traduit  par  Proudhomme,  Paris,  1866;  p.  38.— Renan,  Histoire  generale  des  langues 
Semetiques,!^!^...   &c.,  &c. 
10)  These  laws  have  been  indicated  in  my  .Manuel  de  Pehlevi,  pp.  xi,  xii,  16  ff. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OF  THE  PAHLAVI. 


107 


soon  that  the  extension  of  Syriac  t'avourcil 
that  of  Christianity,  in  vvliich  it  served  as  a 
sacred  language  in  Persia.  Guided  by  this 
idea,  king  Behram  Ghour  forbade  the  vulgar 
use  of  Syriac.  The  Huzvaresh  would  have 
succumbed  under  this  blow,  if  it  had  not  been 
employed  in  the  sacred  books  of  Zoroastrian- 
ism.  There,  nothing  could  touch  it  without 
sacrilege. 

As  to  the  spoken  language,  it  had  not 
been  impeached  by  the  mania  for  Aram- 
aicizing,  or  had  been  so  indeed  but 
very  faintly.  The  Persian  people  and  the 
soldiers  never  had  said,  or  could  say  any- 
thing but  Shahdn  shah,  while  geographical 
and  other  proper  names  were  not  affected  by 
this  mania.  And  thus,  when  the  Huzvaresh 
was  no  longer  in  use  except  among  the 
Mazdean  doctors,  the  Pursi  (fdrsi)  or  middle- 
^  Persian  was  exhibited  in  its  integrity  in 
writing,  and  the  Persians  wrote  it  as  they 
spoke   it. 

The  origin  of  thePahlavi  was  not  sacerdotal, 
but  civil  and  political  ;  the  kings  used  it  first 
for  their  inscriptions  and  their  coins  ;  the 
Dasturs  adopted  it  when  it  had  been  already 
developed  and  formed  a  methodical  system. 
We  are  able  thus  to  trace  the  land-marks  ; 
a  use  of  Aramean  words,  by  one  and  by  twos 
only  for  coinc,  probably  extended  into  the 
language,  but  without  making  these  words 
enter  into  the  vocabulary  as  any  integral  part, 
if  that  were  not  perhaps  a  restricted  enough 
number  ;  extension  of  the  use  in  writing, 
formation  of  a  system  permitting  the  em- 
ployment ad  libitum  of  a  multitude  of  words 
or  Aramean  radicals  with  Persian  finals,  as 
in  German,  soldaten,  exerciren,  foreign  sub- 
jects adapting  themselves  to  German  suffixes 
with  addition,  sometimes  by  the  special  forms 
of  the  radicals,  ^r,  &c.), —  formation  of 
an  artificial  language  for  correspondence  and 
books  ;  repression  of  the  use  of  Aramean 
and  complete  reading  in  Persian  ;  sup- 
pression of  Aramean  words  written  but  not 
pronounced.      What   specially   characterizes 


mj  explanation  is  that  it  rejects  the  sacerdotal 
origin  of  the  Pahlavi;  again,  that  in  place  of 
seeing  in  the  Pahlavi  a  pure  and  simple 
cryptography  from  its  commencement,  the 
us  of  words  and  radicals  which  were  not 
pronounced  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  it  re- 
cognises in  it  the  extension  of  a  practice  found- 
ed on  the  real  use  of  a  certain  number  of 
Aramean  words  admitted  into  the  spoken 
language  as  well  as  into  its  writing.  This 
explanation  of  the  annals  of  the  Pahlavi 
Huzvaresh  seems  to  me  to  reply  of  itself  to  all 
the  difficulties  raised  on  the  one  side  and  the 
other.  We  shall  be  happy,  however,  to  see  those 
which  we  may  not  have  foreseen  formulated, 
and  this  interesting  question  definitively 
solved. 


Since  the  foregoing  pages  were  written,  a 
fact  set  forth  very  fully  and  learnedly  by  M. 
Senart,  Journal  Asiatique,  Sept.  —  Oct., 
1886,  pp.  518  ff.  has  appeared,  and  completely 
confirms  our  argument.  In  his  last  study  of 
the  inscription  of  Piyadasi,  M.  Senart  shows 
us  a  conventional  language,  a  capricious  and 
unequal  mixture,  prakrit  and  classical  Sanscrit, 
to  which  he  gives  the  name  of  mixed  Sanscrit, 
in  which  he  recognises  an  incoherent  pele-mele 
of  forms  and  words  pertaining  to  both 
dioms.  This  language,  employed  in  the 
inscriptions,  in  treatises  both  in  prose  and 
poetry,  can  be  explained,  as  the  author  re- 
marks, neither  by  the  pedantry  of  a  parti- 
cular scribe,  nor  by  vulgar  ignorance,  nor  by 
a  poetical  jargon.  Still  less  can  we  see  in 
it  the  direct  expression  of  the  current  lan- 
guage at  any  one  period  of  its  development. 
Not  less  impossible  would  be  the  hypothesis 
of  a  use  of  words,  forms,  or  Sanscrit  radicals, 
intended  exclusively  to  be  read  in  prakrit. 
Mixed  Sanscrit  is  evidently,  like  the  Pahlavi, 
a  conventional  language,  the  result  of  a 
custom,  restricted  at  first,  then  always  in- 
creasing and  completely  conventional,  serving 
exclusively  for  writing  and  the   inscriptions. 


108 


god=k'hadata  ? 


ijike  the  Pahlavi,  mixed  Sanscrit  is  without 
rule,  without  fixity,  but  all  following  in  one 
general   direction. 

There  are,  doubtless,  remarkable  differences 
between  these  two  artificial  idioms  ;  but  they 
are  only  accessory  to  our  point  of  view ;  and 
the  foundation,  the  essence,  are  the  same  on 
both  sides.  And  this  was  being  used  in 
India  at  the  same  period  when  the  Pahlavi 
was  employed  in  Persia. 

We  need  not  search  for  instances  beyond 
the  boundaries  of  Persia.  Soon  after  the 
Arabian  conquest  the  Persian  language  was 
intermingled  with  Arabic  words,  as  the  idiom 
of  the  Sassanides  was  with  Aramean.  And 
Firdusi  was  able  to  banish  the  foreign  terms, 
and  write  pure  Persian,  as  the  Parsis  could 
free  their  religious  books  from  the  Aramean 
intruders,  and  conform  the  written  to  the 
spoken  language.  Between  these  two  similar 
cases  there  was  but  a  difference  which  our 
last  words  expressed  precisely,  Pahlavi  was 
to  spoken   idiom ;   and   the  introduction  of 


Aramean  words  was  rare  ana  sporadic,  al- 
though it  is  to  be  considered  as  the  source 
of  the  mingled  mode  of  writing.  Arabic 
words  in  modern  Persian  conserve,  it  is  trne, 
their  proper  form  and  suffixes  ;  but  in  this 
the  Pahlavi  mode  is  more  conform  to  the 
general  usage,  which  we  have  seen  abundant- 
ly exemplified  in  mmeralien,  realten,  soldaten, 
exerciren,  &c.,  &c. 

We  may  thus  divide  the  history  of  Pahlavi 
into  three  periods. 

1.  Aramean  words  are  introduced  into  the 
common  language  of  Persia  in  the  same  way 
as  foreign  terms  are  borrowed  in  any  other 
country. 

2.  This  usage  is  extended  in  the  written 
idioms,  inscriptions,  books,  &c.  ;  so  that 
Aramean  and  Persian  words  are  intermingled 
and  exchanged  according  to  one's  own  fancy. 

3.  Aramean  is  expelled  from  the  literary 
ground,  and  remains  but  for  the  show  in 
Mazdean  books. 

C.  DE  Harlez. 


IRANIAN    STUDIES—. 

r^I  have  readjwithjgreat  pleasure  MrBaynes' 
interesting  study  on  God  =  K'ad1ta.  It  would 
certainly  be  desirable  to  obtain  a  solution  of 
the  question  of  the  origin  of  the  Germanic 
word  guth,  Gott,  God.   But,  notwithstanding 
the  erudition  of  the  learned  author,  it  seems 
me  rather  difficult  f  to  admit  the  solution  pro- 
posed, for   the  following  reasons, 
1.  The  word  written  K adnata  or  Qad'dta  is 
nothing  but  a  bad  transcription,  as  may  be 
Been  in  my  Manuel  de  la  langue  Avestique. 
The  only  admissible  transcription  is  hva,  hya. 
In  fact  the  character  which  is  transcribed  Fa 
has  always  in  the  manuscripts  the  form  /^  , 
composed  of  )  w,    absolutely  identical  with 
the  Pahlavi  ^ ,  and  containing  certainly  a  u^ 
V    I,  and  a  strongly  aspirated  CO.      Hence  it 
results  that   God,   guth,  ought  to  correspond 
to  an  Aryan  suadhdta,  should  it  be  primitive, 
or  a  Germanic   gu,  go,  corresponding  to   an 
Aryan  sva  ;  these  might  have  been  admitted 
in  the  eighteenth   century,    but  at   this   day 


///.     GOD=K'HADATA  ? 
no  one  would  even  think  of  such  a  thing. 

2.  The  expression  suadhdta  is  not  Aryan; 
we  cannot  find  it  anywhere  outside  the  Avesta. 
It  is  a  term  exclusively  proper  to  the  Avestic 
or  Zoroastrian  philosophy.  That  6>6os  is 
derived  from  afeOero^  Oejos!  >  Oeo^  is  inadmiss- 
ible. We  cannot  then  suppose  that  the  term 
svaddta  has  been  taken  by  the  Germans  from 
the  common  source  and  transformed  into 
guth,  God.  It  would  be  necessary  in  that  case 
that  the  Germans  should  have  borrowed  the 
word  directly  from  the  Avestic  land.  But 
that  supposition  even  is  not  admissible.  In 
fact;— 

3.  In  the  Avesta  the  sense  of  the  word 
hvad'dta  is  very  obscure  ;  but  in  any  case,  as 
may  be  seen  from  my  translation,  it  never 
designates  the  divinity.  Ahura  Mazda  is 
not  described  by  hvaddta.  That  epithet  is 
exclusively  proper  to,  and  reserved  for,  the 
beings  who  personify  all,  or  part  of,  time  and 
space'  whom  the  Avestic  philosophy  supposes 


1)  Or^  of  light,  the  habitat  of  A.hura  Mazda. 


The  Uibbert  lectures. 


too 


to  bo  eternal  and  not  created  or  stkVdta,  To 
suppose  a  proper  name  is  in  poura  h^addta 
is  absolutely  without  reason.  All  testimony 
indicates  that  this  word  is  a  quaHficative;  in 
any  case  it  cannot  be  connected  with  God. 

4.  Persians,  like  every  other  nation,  did 
not  know  the  word  Jwaddta',  it  was  not  used 
except  in  the  learned  language  of  the  authors 
of  the  Avesta;  no  one  beyond  them,  knew  it; 
the  AA'esta  itself  was  not  known  certainly  at 
that  time  to  more  than  two  or  three  Greek 
philosophers.  How  should  the  Germans,  who 
were  besides  in  the  north  of  Europe  have 
understood  and  borrowed  a  term  unknown 
beyond  certain  mountainous  districts  of  Asia? 
What  motive  could  they  have  in  adopting  and 
applying  it  to  God? 

5.  The  Germans  already  used  the  words 
guth,  God,  in  the  third  century  of  our  era, 
since  Ulfilas  adopted  it  in  his  translation 
of  the  Gospels.  Now  at  this  time  the  Pjr- 
sian-Pahlavi  Khuddt  was  nothing  yet  but 
a  transcription  of  the  Avestic,  and  was  in  no 
way  connected  with  the  divinity.  The  word 
Khudd  which  we  find  in  the  Pahlavi  books 
of  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  has  still  the 
exclusive  sense  'king',  'master',  'chief.'  Thus 
katah-khudd  is  '  the  head  of  the  house'.  It 
was  only  later  that  khudd  and  its  varieties  took 
the  sense  of  Supreme  Master,  God.  How 
could  the   Goths    have  borrowed  this   word 


by  giving  it  a  sense  which  its  generator  had 

not  till  a  long  time  afterwards,  and  with  which 
it  bad  spread  only  among  some  neighbouring 
Iranian  tribes  and  some  non-Iranians  dwell- 
ing further  to  the  East. 

6.  It  is  very  doubtful  if  khudd  comes  from 
k'^ad'dta.  The  last  term  has  given  khuddt  in 
Middle  Persian  or  Pahlavi.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  explain  the  transfonnation  of  the 
form  and  the  sense  of  this  word.  Khudd  with 
its  varieties  is  much  rather  connected  with 
khild,  khaud,  khvesh, '  by  himself,' '  to  himself,' 
independant;'  Avestic  h'^ato,  Sscr.  svataa), 
from    which  'master,  sovereign,  king.' 

It  is  therefore  impossible  to  discover  any 
channel  of  communication  between  Guth,  god^ 
and  Wad!dta.  The  only  way  which  can  be  con- 
ceived, it  appears  to  me,  to  obtain  this  deriv- 
ation would  be  to  suppose  that  the  word  Gidh 
is  an  invention  of  Ulfilas,  who  took  the 
word  khudd  from  some  people  of  Iranian 
origin,  who  had  already  employed  it  then  in 
the  sense  of  'chief,  king,'  and  that  the  apostle 
of  the  Goths  made  it  the  name  of  the  divinity, 
although  it  was  entirely  unknown  to  his  na- 
tion. Was  it  this  which  made  him  a  prose- 
lytiser  of  the  people?  Otherwise  is  the 
the  fundamental  supposition  admissible?  And 
if  it  were,  it  w  ould  only  bring  us  back  to 
K^ad'dta. 

C,  DE  Harlez. 


ABSTRACT  OF  THE 
HIBBERT  LECTURES  ON  THE  RELIGION  OF  THE  ANCIENT  BABYLONIANS, 

By  Prof.  A.  H.  Sayce,  LL.D. 


Lectcire  I. 
Sources  of  our  knowledge  almost  wholly 
monumental.  Only  a  few  notices  in  the 
Old  Testament,  and  some  statements  in 
classical  authors,  for  the  most  part  the  off- 
spring of  Greek  imagination.  Tradition  is 
mute.  Texts  a^e  difficult.  Religion  loves 
to  cloak  itself  in  mystery.  No  wonder, 
therefore,  if  the  sacred  texts  were  made 
intentionally  difficult.  The  Accadians  pre- 
ceded the  Babylonians,  and  therefore  we 
have  to  distinguish  between  the  Accadian 
and  Semitic  elements  in  the  language  of 
hese  texts.     The  greatest  difficulty  is  that 


our  tablets  come  from  the  library  of  Assur- 
banipal  at  Nineveh,  and  the  Assyrians  did 
not  represent  all  sides  of  the  Babylonian 
religion.  No  tablets  older  than  800  B.C. 
Hen'ie  the  difficulty  of  telling  the  age  of 
the  myths  that  are  given  in  them.  2000 
B.C.,  the  Accadian  was  superceded  by  the 
the  Semite.  They  brought  new  theo- 
logical conceptions.  The  sun-god  was  their 
supreme  object  of  worship.  The  union  of 
their  ideas  with  those  of  the  Accadians 
formed  a  state  religion  that  was  carefully 
watched  over.  Old  theories  had  to  be 
thrown   aside  when  a  text  of  Nabonidus 


no 


THE  HlBBEtlT  LECtUHES. 


was  discovered,  showing  that  Sargon  I,  the 
first  Semite  king,  lived  3750  B.C.  He  is 
said  to  have  been  born  of  an  unknown 
father,  probably  some  unnamed  god.  The 
story  of  his  preservation  among  the  rushes 
on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  reminds  us 
of  Komulus  and  Remus,  and  still  more  of 
Moses.  He  crossed  to  Cyprus  after  con- 
quering Syria.  At  this  time  the  Semite 
mind  was  absorbing  Accadianreligiousideas 
But  of  what  interest  is  the  religion  of 
the  Babylonians  to  us  ?  A  moment's 
thought  will  suggest  it ;  tor  Jewish  religion 
influences  Christianity,  and  Jewish  religion 
was  bound  up  with  Jewish  history.  The 
lesson  is  to  be  tauofht  them  that  the  God 

o 

of  the  Jews  is  the  God  of  the  whole  world. 
The  Babylonians  were  the  chosen  instru- 
ments to  do  this.  Our  knowledge  of 
Babylonian  religion  teaches  us  that  the 
Jews  did  not  fail  to  learn  from  them  in 
the  seventy  years  of  captivity. 

Light  is  thrown  on  the  Bible  by  the 
Babylonian  religion.  Sargon  was  the 
founder  of  the  state  and  law-giver,  as 
Moses  was  in  Israel.  Origin  of  word 
Moses.  None  in  the  Hebrew  lexicon. 
Assyrian  equivalent  masu  occurs  frequently; 
it  means  "hero."  It  was  given  to  Adar 
and  Meodach.  Joseph  may  also  be  ex- 
plained from  Babylonia  —  asi'pvL  meano 
"  diviner." 

The  king  performed  many  functions  of 
high  priest  in  Assyria.  Like' Solomon,  he 
could  pour  out  libations  to  the  gods.  Pure 
water  was  used  for  washing  the  hands,  &c., 
and  deep  basins,  much  like  "the  sea," 
made  by  Solomon.  In  the  temple  the 
"  holy  of  holies  "  was  concealed  by  a  veil. 

The  ark  of  the  Hebrews  was  a  ship  in 
Babylonia.  The  sabbath  was  also  known.  It 
is  called  an  "unlawful  day,"  "rest  day," 
"  a  day  of  rest  for  the  heart."  Seven  was 
a  sacred  number. 
Lecture  II. — Merodach  of  Babylon. 

Nabonidus,  the  last  independent  king  of 
Babylon,  is  said  to  have  been  overthrown 
because  he  tried  to  centralise  Babylonian 
worship.  The  anger  of  Merodach  was 
aroused,  and  he  chose  Cyrus  as  sovereign 
of  Chaldsea.  Like  that  of  the  House  of 
David,  the  overthrow  of  Nabonidus  was 
ascribed  to  divine  anger. 

Babylonian  religion  was  always  local, 
and  the  supremacy  of  Merodach  was  con- 
fined to  Babylon.  In  this  it  presents  a 
contrast  to   the  god  of  Darius,  mentioned 


on  the  rock  of  Behistun,  who  would  brook 
no  rival.  In  Judah  Yahveh  is  supreme — 
a  jealous  God.  Who  is  Merodach  %  He 
is  the  protector  of  Babylon — the  Belos 
of  the  Greeks,  and  the  "  Baal "  of  the  Old 
Testament.  His  temple  at  Babylon  is 
described  by  Herodotos.  The  inscriptions 
of  Nebuchadnezzar  give  us  much  informa- 
tion, and  serve  to  correct  Herodotos  in  the 
details.  This  temple  dates  from  B.C.  2250. 
Its  name  is  E-saggila.  The  Chapel  dedi- 
cated to  Nebo,  was  called  E-zida.  Mero- 
dach is  called  riminu,  "  merciful " ;  the 
law-god  is  also  called  by  this  title. 
E-saggila  was  also  the  temple  of  the  sun. 
Probably  Merodach  was  a  solar  deity. 

His  combat  with  the  dragon  Tiamat. 
He  restores  the  light  of  the  moon  alter  it 
had  been  eclipsed.  He  is  termed  "  the 
first-born  of  the  gods,"  but  he  is,  in  one 
sense,  the  youngest  of  them  all.  This  was 
only  a  title  of  honour.  From  the  time  of 
Cyrus,  he  began  to  lose  his  local  character 
and  became  the  god  of  all  men  every- 
where. Before  this  time,  however,  the 
local  view  had  disappeared  from  Assyria. 
Certain  Assyrian  kings  revered  Merodach 
with  the  fervour  of  Babylonians. 

Every  god  was  provided  with  his  female 
reflection.  Zarpanit  was  the  wife  of  Mero- 
dach. Nebo  was  his  son.  Nahl  means 
proclaimer.  He  was  the  god  of  the 
literary.  In  a  literary  age  the  Hebrews 
changed  "  seer  "  to  NeU.  Tasmit,  "  the 
hearer,"  was  his  wife.  The  Semites  of 
Babylon  resembled  their  brethren  in 
Canaan.  The  Canaanites  had  "  lords 
many."  The  Assyrians  were  warriors,  and 
education  was  confined  to  a  class.  We 
have  to  learn  Assyrian  religion  from  the 
learned.  Their  religion  only  differed  from 
that  of  the  Babylonians  in  that  a  new  god, 
the  national  deity  Asur  rises,  who  claimed 
to  be  king  above  all  gods.  The  Assyrian 
kings  turn  to  Asur  for  deliverance  in  the 
moment  of  distress.  At  first  he  was  local, 
but  the  removal  of  the  capital  to  Nineveh 
and  the  unity  of  Assyria  enabled  a  national 
feeling  for  him  to  grow  up.  Like  the 
Yahveh  of  Israel,  he  was  the  national  god 
of  a  race.  Like  Yahveh,  also,  he  had  no 
goddess  by  his  side.  He  was  also  less  near 
to  his  worshippers,  and  hence  more  awe- 
inspiring  ;  under  some  circumstances  there 
might  have  been  developed  as  pure  a  faith 
with  Assur  as  with  Yahveh  of  Israel. 

S.  A.  S. 


ENGLISH  SOCIETIES. 


Ill 


ORIENTAL  WORK  OF  ENGLISH  SOCIETIES. 


Egypt  Exploration  Fund. 
A  second  report  has  come  from  Dr.  Edw. 
Naville  on  '  The  Necropolis  of  Tell-el-  Yah- 
oodleh'  the  'mound  of  the  Jews,'  which  is 
supposed  to  be  tlie  site  of  the  city  of  Onia. 
founded  by  the  Jewish  liereditary  high  priest 
Onias,  who,  in  the  second  century  B.  C.  fled 
from  the  persecution  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes^ 
and  obtained  leave  from  Ptolemy  Philometor 
to  build  in  Egypt  "  a  temple  to  Almighty  God, 
after  the  pattern  of  that  in  Jerusalem."  Ex- 
cavations made  by  tha  learned  explorer,  with 
the  help  of  Mr  F.  Llewellyn  Griffith,  hav 
brought  to  light  several  remains  from  the  early 
period  of  the  Xlllth  downwards  to  the 
XXIInd  dynasty.  In  the  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood, a  large  number  of  tombs  were  un- 
earthed; their  inscriptions  pointed  almost  un. 
mista)veably  to  a  Jewish  origin.  Still  further 
oiit  in  the  desert,  a  necropolis  of  artificial 
tumuli  has  yielded  some  50  or  60  terra-cotta 
coffins,  curiously  resembling  the  '  slipper- 
coffins'  found  at  Warka  in  Babylonia.  (On 
these  latter  coffins,  found  in  prodigious  num- 
ber and  attributed  to  the  Parthian  period, 
cf.  Loftus,  Chaldoea  and  Susiana,  p.  203). 
Near  Alexandria,  Count  d'  Hulst,  excavating 
for  the  same  E.  E.  F.,  has  discovered  an 
early  Christian  cemetery. 

Palestine  Exploration  Fund. 

The  Quarter  It/  Statement  just  issued,  con- 
tains an  explanation  and  sensible  letter  of 
Capt.  Conder,  referring  to  his  so-pompously - 
announced  complete  decipherment  of  the 
Hittite  inscriptions.  He  says:  "All  that  I 
claim  to  have  done  is  to  restore  the  known 
sounds  of  the  symbols  to  the  language  to 
which  they  belong,  to  show  that  this  was  the 
Hittite  language,  and  to  put  in  the  hands  of 
specialists  the  key  which  will  enable  them  to 
make  final  and  complete  translations  of  the 
text,"  Capt.  Conder  seems  to  think  the  char- 
acters syllabic  and  the  language  Turanian. 
Royal  Archaeological  Institute.  May  5. 

Mr  W.  St  Chad  Boscawen,  The  Bahjlon- 
ian  Sun-God,  a  study  in  Oomimrative 
mythology. 


Royal  Asiatic  Society,  May  2 

Surgeon-General  Bellew,  read  Notes  on 
the  Names  home  by  some  of  the  tribes  of 
AfghanisUm,  where  he  assimilated  from 
sheer  semblance  of  names,  many  modern 
tribes  with  those  mentioned  by  Herodotus. 
He  was  strongly  opposed  by  Sir  Henry 
Kawlinson,  who  objected  to  the  process  of 
comparison,  insufficient  in  itself  to  prove 
the  duration  of  tribes,  as  shown  by 
historical  instances.  Dr.  M.  A.  Stein 
added  some  further  proofs  to  show  that  the 
forms  of  the  names  in  Herodotus  are  not 
reliable.  The  quarterly  Journal  of  this 
society  contains  among  articles  within  our 
range — DescripHon  of  the  Noble  Sanctuary 
at  Jerusalem  in  1470,  A.D.,  by  Kamcil  (or 
Shams)  ad  Din  as  suyilts.  Extracts  re- 
translated by  Guy  le  Strange ,  Ihe  Tri- 
Ratna^  by  Frederic  Pincott;  and  among 
the  notes — Assyrian  Names  of  Domestic 
Animals,  by  Theo.  G.  Pinches. 
Royal    Historical    Society,    April  21. 

Mr.  S.  Stuart  Glennie,  M.A.—The 
White  Race,  founder  of  the  first  civilisations. 
The  view  of  the  author,  which  he  has 
supported  with  great  erudition  and  exten- 
sive research,  was  that  this  white  lace  was 
neither  Semitic  nor  Aryan  ;  and  an  article 
of  this  magazine,  No.  2,  p.  25,  was  much 
praised  and  utilised. 

Society  of  Biblical  ARCHiEOLOGv. 

The  proceedings  ot  the  meetings  of 
March  1st  contain  among  other  papers  — 
An  Egyptian  Description  of  the  Xlllth 
Dynasty,  in  the  Dublin  National  Museum, 
by  Dr.  A.  Macalister  ;  Enphratean  Names 
of  the  Constellation  Ursa  Major,  by  Robert 
Brown,  Jun.  ;  The  Metrical  Structure  of 
Ginoth,  the  book  of  Lamentations,  arranged 
according  to  the  original  measures,  by  Rev. 
C.  J.  Ball.  At  the  following  meeting, 
May  3rd,  the  Rev.  H.  G.  Tomkins  pre- 
sented his  M.S.  of  The  Topography  of 
Northern  Syria,  with  special  veference  to  the 
Karnak  Lists  of  Ihothemes  III,  an  important 
work  on  which  the  author  was  engaged  for 
several  years;  MM.  Eugt§ne  and  Victor 
Bjevilluut, Egyptian  and  Assyrian  Documents. 
Victoria  Institute,  May  2. 

Prof.  Hull,  L.L.D. — Petra.  the  Rock-hewn 
capital  of  Idumcva,  was  described  by  the 
traveller,  with  historical  references, 


11:2 


NOTES,   NEWS   AND   QUERIES. 


NOTES,  NEWS 

ZUMRU    AND    ZamIrU. 

Well  are  these  two  words  known  to  Assyri- 
ologists.  The  former  means  "body,"  and 
the  latter  "  to  sing,"  "  to  bray — "  meanings 
which  are  widely  different.  Yet  both  these 
words  come  from  the  same  root. 

The  root  expressed  by  the  consonants  Z 
M  R  is  one  that  is  much  used  in  the  Sem- 
itic tongues.  The  general  meaning  is  "  to 
sing"  (in  Arabic  "to  play  the  flute").  How, 
then,  is  the  meaning  of  "  body"  for  znmru  to 
be  accounted  for?  It  is  the  Arabic  which 
supplies  the  key.  One  of  the  meanings  of 
the  Arabic  zamara  is  "to  fill  (a  leathern 
bottle),"  and  it  is  from  this  idea  of  making 
the  hollow  thing  give  out  sounds,  or  else  from 
that  of  playing  music  by  means  of  skin  bag- 
pipes that  the  word  zumru  has  obtained,  first 
the  meaning  of  skin,  then  that  of  body.  The 
Akkadian  character  su,  of  which  zumru  is  a 
translation,  has  the  meaning  of  masku  "  skin," 
and  sh'u,  "flesh,"  besides  that  of  "body," 
thus  confirming  the  derivation  here  suggested. 

T.  G.  P. 

We  would  specially  call  attention  to  three 
articles  in  the  current  number  of  "  Hebraica." 
One  is  by  the  Rev.  J.  F.  X.  O'Conor,  S.  J., 
who  treats  of  the  inscriptions  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar. The  second  gives  a  series  of  very 
valuable  corrections  to  the  published  inscrip- 
tions of  Esarhaddon,  and  is  by  Robert  F. 
Harper,  Ph.  D.,  who  promises  to  continue  the 
subject  in  the  July  number  of  the  journal. 
The  Rev.  Prof.  T.  K.  Cheyne  also  discusses 
the  possibility  of  the  Heb.  mahhid  (7^3,^2) 
and  nepMlim  (0*^7^5^)  being  connected  with 
the  Babylonian  roots  nabdlu  and  (a  possible) 
napalu.  We  are  glad  to  see  Assyriology  re- 
cognised by  scholars  of  note  outside  what  may 
be  called  the  ranks  of  the  specialists, 

Answers  to  Queries  on  p.  80,  (No.  5). 
The  spoken  and  the  written  languages  of 
Assyria  differed  greatly.  The  former  was 
more  irregular,  but  often  also  more  conser- 
vative in  its  forms,  and  certain  dialects  pre- 
served words  and  phrases  not  found  in  the 
written  language  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon. 
The  spoken  language  is  shown  best  in  the 
letters  and  reports  sent  from  the  various 
provinces.     An  example  of  one  of  these  docu- 


AND  QUERIES. 

ments  will  be  found  in  the  B.  ^'  0.  R.  for 
January,  p.   43. 

Semitic  Babylonian  or  Assyrian  is  most  close- 
ly alHed  to  Hebrew — indeed,  it  may  be  regard- 
ed as  the  mother-speech,  for  the  home  of  Abra- 
ham, the  father  of  so  many  ancient  nations, 
was  "  Ur  of  the  Chaldees"  (Gen.  xi.  v.  28  & 
31),  The  Chaldeans  were  simply  a  number 
of  tribes  dwelling  in  Babylonia  who  spoke  a 
language  very  much  Hke  that  of  the  Chaldee 
portions  of  the  Bible.  This  is  proved  by  the 
name  of  one  of  their  chiefs,  who  was  called 
Dakkura  (from  the  root  *^!D"T  =  "^]Dt)»  a 
name  which  shows  the  common  change  of  -j 
(Hebrew)  into  *7  (Chaldee).  If  we  are  right 
in  calling  the  many  dockets  on  the  contract- 
tablets  from  Assyria  and  Babylonia  Aramean, 
it  seems  likely  that  these  last-named  spoke  a 
language  which  was  closer  akin  to  Hebrew 
and  Semitic  Babylonian  or  Assyrian,  than  to 
Chaldee,  though  a  portion  of  them  probably 
spoke  a  dialect  similar  to  that  of  the  Aram- 
aic or  Syriac  of  the  manuscripts.  Ii  may,  there- 
fore, from  documentary  evidence  be  regarded 
as  certain  that  at  least  three  Semitic  dialects 
were  spoken  in  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  be- 
sides the  non-Semitic  tongues,  Sumerian, 
Akkadian,  and,  perhaps,    Kassite.       T.G.P. 

Forthcoming  Papers.  Arthur  Amiaud  ; 
"  The  various  names  of  Sumer  and  Akkad  in 
the  Cuneiform  Texts."  Prof.  S.  Beal  : 
Fragments  of  a  hfe  of  the  Buddha  (Fhc 
yao  king).  W,  St  C,  Boscawen:     "New 

Assyrian    Tablets."  Rob.  Brown,  Jun.  : 

Euphratean  Astronomical  names  in  Hezychios. 
Dr.  L.  C.  Casartelli  :  Pehlevi  Notes." II.  A 
Parallel  to  the  Pehlevi  Jargon.  J,  S.  Stuart 
Glennie,  M.A.:  The  Kushi^es  and  the  white 
race  founder  of  civilization.  Dr.  T.  de  Lacoup- 
erie  :  Tatooing; — Babylonia  and  China.  — 
I.  The  shifted  Cardinal  Points,  II.  Utuku- 
Shamash  and  Tik-Sliang-ti.  Dr,  Julius 
Oppert  :  A  Juridic  Cuneiform  Text.  Theo, 
G,  Pinches  :  The  Babylonians  and  Assyrians 
as  maritime  nations,  (continued.)  S,  Alden 
Smith:  The  Borsippa  inscription  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar. Dr.  Mark  Aurel  Stein :  An  in- 
scription from  the  Heri  RCid  valley. — Iran- 
ian deities  on  Indo-Syctliian  coins.  T.  Tyler, 
M.  A.:  On  the  Hittite  inscription  of  the 
Yuzgat  Seal.  Dr.  Hayes  Ward:  Babylonian 
cyhnders  with  figures  of  the  soul. 


Printed  for  tl^e  proprietor  at  51,  Knowle  Road,  Brixton,  S.W.,  and  Published  by  him  there  ;  and  by  D. 
J<IUTT,  British  and  Foreign  Booksefier,  270,  Strand,  W.C. 


tHT? 


BABYLONIAN  AND  ORIENTAL  RECORD. 

The  Editorial  Committee  is  not  responsible  for  the  opinions  or  statements  of  the  Contribuiors, 


BABYLONIA   AND    CHINA, 


I. 


WESTERN   ORIGIN  OF  THE  EARLY   CHINESE 
CIVILIZATION. 

The  place  of  China  in  the  past  and 
future  is  not  that  which  it  was  long  supposed 
to  be.  Recent  researches  have  disclosed 
that  its  civilization,  like  ours,  was  variously 
derived  from  the  same  old  focus  of  culture 
of  South  Western  Asia,  and  that  its  evo- 
lution has  not  remained  undisturbed  by, 
nor  foreign  to,  the  great  movements  which 
occurred  in  the  history  of  the  western 
world.  Its  part  in  the  general  concerc  of 
mankind  is  an  historical  fact,  though,  per- 
ha'ps,  unknown  still  to  many,  as  the  dis- 
coveries which  have  produced  this  great 
change  in  our  knowledge,  have  generally 
remained,  as  yet,  buried  in  scientific  papers 
scattered  in  periodicals,  collections  and 
special  works. 

I. 

In  accordance  with  Biblical  views, 
though  not  with  any  special  words  of 
Scripture,  and  with  preconceived  opinions 
but  without  any  scientific  proofs,  the 
Chinese,  and  therefore  their  civilization, 
were  said,  by  many  ancient  writers,  to 
have  come  from  the  plains  of  Sennaar  after 
the  Confusion  of  Babel !  At  variance  with 
these  views,  the  language  of  the  Chinese 
was  for  long  wrongly  looked  upon  by 
recent  writers,  as  branched  off  from  the 
common  speech,  previously  to  the  latter 
event,  or  independently  from  it,  and  as  a 
cristallized  remnant  of  the  primitive  lan- 
guage gratuitiously  supposed  to  have  been 
inorganic  and  monosyllabic  !     This  opinion, 


which,  some   twenty  years 
Vol.  I.— No.  S. 


still 


currently  received,  is  now  rapidly  dis- 
appearing, as  it  cannot,  in  any  way,  stand 
the  search  of  modern  criticism  based  on  a 
better  knowledge  of  the  general  and  special 
conditions  of  the  case. 

The  Rev.  Prof.  James  Legge,  then  at  Hong 
Kong,  in  1865,  1871  and  1875,  in  his  valu 
able  introductions  to  his  edition  of  the  Shu 
King,  Shi  King  and  Tchun-tsiu,  had  called 
attention  to  the  smallness  of  the  beginnings 
of  the  Chinese  (also  pointed  out  by  Prof. 
R.  K.  Douglas  in  several  of  his  works), 
and  to  their  knowledge  of  the  art  of  writ- 
ing when  they  arrived  in  the  country. 
Working  on  the  same  line,  in  1863,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  James  Chalmers,  also  at  Hong  Kong, 
in  his  pamphlet  on  The  Origin  of  the  Chinese, 
took  the  gilt  away  from  the  shining  and 
much  adorned  traditions  concerning  the 
early  Chinese  leaders,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  was  enabled  in  some  desultory  com- 
parisons, to  point  out  several  affinities  be- 
tween the  civilisation  of  China  and  those 
of  the  west. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  Edkins,  of  Peking, 
in  his  book  China's  Place  in  PhUologi/,  V^^' 
lished  in  1871,  endeavoured  to  show  that 
the  Chinese,  migrated  after  the  Confusion 
of  Babel,  had  carried  with  them  the  same 
germs  of  civilization  that  were  possessed 
by  their  Hamitic  brethren  of  Babylonia! 
Whence,  by  a  separate  development  of  the 
same  germs,  several  similarities  have 
sprung  up  between  the  civilization  of 
China  and  that  of  Babylon.  And  he  up- 
held, in  1876,  the  ancient  view  that  the 
Chinese  were  the  inventors  of  their  o^^^l 
writinii'. 


[118] 


JONE,   1887. 


114 


BABYLONIA  AND   CHINA. 


As  a  correlative  opiBion  to  the  preceetl- 
ing,  notions  were  also  entertained  of  a 
self-development  of  the  Chin«;se  from  the 
level  of  savage  life  to  their  high  state  of 
culture,  which  was  unparalleled  in  Europe 
five  hundred  years  ago.  But  those  ground- 
less speculations,  themselves  the  basis  of 
further  speculations  altogether  in  the  air, 
were  useful  only  as  a  temporary  hypothesis 
showing  the  deficient  character  of  the 
opposite  views. 

After  having  spent  a  great  deal  of  time 
in  vain  researches  for  satisfactory 
evidence  of  a  common  descent  of  the 
Chinese  civilization  with  that  of  S.  W. 
Asia,  as  had  been  suggested  by  several 
eminent  scholars,  the  present  writer  found 
himself  led  by  his  studies  in  an  unexpected 
direction,  and  soon  felt  solid  ground 
under  his  feet.  Since  then  fresh  proofs 
have  been  continuously  forthcoming  from 
various  parts  in  support  of  his  discovery, 
precising  or  rectifying  its  details,  and  estab- 
lishing it  finally  as  an  important  historical 
advance. 

II. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  able  to 
show,  in  an  uninterrupted  series  of  a  score 
or  so,  of  papers  in  periodicals,  of  communi- 
cations to  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society  and  else- 
where published  and  unpublished,  and  of 
contributions  to  several  works,  since  April, 
1880,  downwards,  that  the  writing  and 
some  knowledge  of  arts,  science  and 
government  of  the  early  Chinese,  more  or 
less  enumerated  below,  were  derived  from 
the  old  civilization  of  Babylonia  through 
the  secondary  focus  of  Susiana,  and  that 
this  derivation  was  a  social  fact,  resultmg 
not  from  scientific  teaching  but  from 
practical  intercourse  of  some  length  be- 
tween the  Susian  confederation  and  the 
future  civilizers  of  the  Chinese,  the  Bak 
tribes,  who  from  their  neighbouring  settle- 
ments in  the  N.,  moved  eastwards  at  the 
time  of  the  great  rising  of  the  XXIII  cen- 
tury B.C. 


Coming  again  in  the  field.  Dr..  J.  Edkins 
has  joined  me  on  the  same  line,  making  it 
his  object,  in  several  papers,  to  find  among 
the  minor  points  borrowed  of  Babylonian 
and  ancient  Persian  civilization  in  China, 
those  which  were  introduced  through  later 
channels  than  that  of  the  early  civilizers. 
Everyone  of  these  cases  has  to  be  judged 
on  its  own  merits,  as  in  the  wrecked  state 
of  old  Chinese  documents,  positive  proofs, 
in  one  way  or  another,  are  often  wanting. 
III. 

Some  three  scores  of  distinct  and  unmis- 
takable affinities  may  be  pointed  out  in  the 
ancient  civilization  of  China  with  that  of 
Babylonia  and  Susiana,  the  largest  part  of 
which,  by  far,  brought  in  by  the  early 
civilizers. 

We  shall  here  enumerate  them  briefly : 

(1)  The  art  of  writing,  (2)  from  top  to 
bottom  and  from  right  to  loft  as  was  the 
practice  in  S.  W.  Asia,  and  (3)  not  in  relief 
but  engraved,  (4)  characters  derived  from 
those  of  Babylonia  and  still  semi-hierogly- 
phical,  with  (5)  their  meanings,  (6)  their 
phonetic  and  polyphonic  values,  and  (7) 
tiieir  imperfect  system  of  aerology  and 
phonetism ;  (8)  probably  some  written 
texts ;  (9)  the  use  of  lists  of  written 
characters  arranged  (10)  phonetically,  and 
(11)  ideographically ;  (12)  some  souvenirs 
of  the  cuneiform  or  monumental  form  of 
writing;  (13)  the  extensive  use  of  seals, 
&c. ;  (14)  the  shifted  cardinal  points  of 
Assyro-Babylonia,  and  (15)  the  symbols  to 
write  them,  which  they  further  embroiled 
during  their  journey  eastwards  ;  (16)  astro- 
nomical instruments  ;  (17)  many  names  of 
stars  and  constellations  ;  (18)  of  twenty- 
four  stellar  points ;  (19)  the  twelve  Baby- 
lonian months,  (20)  with  an  intercalary 
one,  (21)  and  a  certain  use  of  the  week; 
(22)  the  erection  of  lofty  terraces  for  astro- 
nomical purposes,  &c. ;  (23)  the  machinery 
of  imperial  governmfint ;  (24)  titles  ot 
dignities,  and  (25)  the  names  of  several 
offices  with  which  they  had  been  made 
familiar  with  near  Susiana;  (26)  the 
system  of  twelve  pastors  ;  (27)  the  concept 
of  four  regions,  (28)  and  a  special  officer 
bearing  that  title ;  (29)  the  political  idea 


SOIVJE  BABYLONIAN   CYLINDERS. 


115 


of  a  Middle  Kingdom  ;  (30)  many  proper 
names  which,  appearing  in  their  beginning 
and,  once  restored  to  an  approximation  of 
their  old  form,  are    easily   recognised    as 
similar  to  some  names  used  in  the  aforesaid 
S.     W.    Asiatic   countries,    &c. ;  (31)   the 
cycle  of  ten,  and  (32)  that  of  twelve  ;  (33) 
several  standard  measures  ;  (34)  the  twelve 
scales  of  music  ;  (35)  the  decimal  notation ; 
(36)  the  ten  periods,  &c.  ;  (37)  the  wheat, 
which  is  aboriginal  in  Mesopotamia  only  ; 
(38)  the  arts  of  clay-brick  building,  (39)  of 
embanking  rivers,    and    (40)    of    making 
canals;    (41)    many    words    of    Akkado- 
Sumerian    and    Babylonian    civilization ; 
(42)    the    use    of  metals ;    and  also  (43) 
many  minor  notions  of  arts  and  sciences, 
such  as   (44)  the  fire  drill,  (45)  the  use  of 
war-chariots  with  horses  liarnessed  abreast, 
&c. ;  (46)  the  practice  of    divination   and 
(47)  the  use  of  eight  wands  of  fate;  (48) 
known    terms   of  good    or   bad    fortune ; 
(49)  numerical  categories;  (50)  the  symbolic 
tree  of  life  or  calendaric  plant ;  (51)  special 
emblems   on  their  rulers'  dress ;  (52)   the 
worship  or  at  least  the    name  of   Utuku 
(— Tik)   otherwise    Shamash   as   supreme 
god  ;  (53)   the  six  honoured  ones,  or  the 
six  gods  of  Susiana;  (54)   the  ruling  idea 
that   events    repeat  themselves  ;  ^55)   tlie 
lucky  and  unlucky  days  ;  (56)  the  mythical 
colouis  of  planets  ;  (57)  the  concept  of  Yn 
and  Yang  (not  Persian) ;  (53)  large  square 
altars,  &c,  ;  (59)   the  royal  canon  of  Baby- 
lonia ;  (60)  many  peculiar  legends  therein, 
&c.,  &c. 

This  list,  however  long,  is  not  complete 
and  could  be  extended,  but  such  as  it  is, 
its  seven  classes  constitute  the  most  for- 


midable array  of  facts  which  has  ever  been 
put  forward  in  support  of  an  historical  dis- 
covery.    Many    of    these  fact«  have   the 
greatest  importance,  and  infuse  value  into 
a  few  others  which  isolate  would  be  rather 
insignificant  by  themselves.     Al)Out  ten  of 
them,  and  curiously  enough  not  the  most 
important,  had  been  quoted  before  mo  by 
the  aforesaid  scholars.     With  hw  excep- 
tions all  the  others  have  been  pointed  out 
and  more  or  less  discussed  and  explained 
by   me       But  some   of  them   deserve   a 
special  treatment,  which  they  shall  receive 
in  a  few  articles  to  appear  from  time  to 
time  in  the  Bahijlonian  and  Orienkd  Itecwd, 
The  above  list  of  derivations  and  loans 
is  limited  to    one    only    of    the    several 
currents  which  have  entered  into  the  for- 
mation of  the  Chinese  civilization.     And 
though  we  are  here  exclusively  concerned 
with  antiquarian  research,  we  cannot  help 
directing  the  attention  of  our  readers  to  the 
important  fact  that  the  derivation  of  the 
civilization  of  the  Chinese  partly  from  the 
same    source  as   ours,  and  the   youth  of 
their  gieatness  as  an  empire  and  powerful 
nation,  are  matters  of  great  concern  for  the 
future  of  mankind  of  the  whole  of  which 
they  constitute  one  fourth.     Youth  implies 
progress    and     development,     and     their 
economical   conditions,  so   different   from 
ours,  make  the  unavoidable  and  pacific  com- 
petition between  them  and  old  Europe,  an 
affair  of  general  interest. 

T.  DE  Lacouperie. 


SOME  BABYLONIAN  CYLINDERS. 


I  am  obliged  to  Mr.  T.  Tyler  for  his 
conjecture  that  the  half-bird  form  tak^m 
by  the  personage  being  led  into  the  pre- 
sence of  the  sitting  god  on  certain  Baby- 
lonian Cylinders,  as  in  that  in  my  posses- 
sion on  which  he  comments  in  the  February 
number  of  this  journal,  merely  indicated 
t'hat  it  is  the   soul  of  a  deceased   person. 


Certainly  the  Egyptian  monuments  often 
represent  the  soul  by  a  bird.  So  far  as  I 
know,  however,  it  is  only  the  culprit  soul 
which  is  tlius  represented  on  the  Baby- 
lonian cylinders,  while  in  other  cases  the 
person  led  into  the  presence  of  the  god 
has  the  human  form 

Mr.  Tyler  mentions  one  other  analagou. 


116 


SOME   BABYLONIAN   CYLINDERS. 


There  are  eight  seals  known  to  me 
having  this  scene  depicted  upon  them. 
These  are  to  be  found  in  CuUimore's 
''Oriental  Cylinders,"  No.  85  and  147; 
Lajard's  "  Culte  de  Mithra,"  pi.  xxix.,  fig.  2, 
and  pi.  xxxii.,  fig.  8  ;  Menant's  "  Catalogue 
des  Cylindres  Orientana  a  la  Haye,"  fig. 
12;  "and  my  own  in  Scribners  Magazine, 
January,  1887,  p.  86,  repeated  by  Mr. 
Tyler  in  the  Bahjlonian  and  Oriental  Record, 
No.  4.  Besides  these  six  there  are  two 
unpublished,  mentioned  by  Menant  in  his 
*' Cylindres  de  la  Chaldee,"  pp.  108,  109, 
of  which  one  is  in  the  Louvre  and  the 
other  in  the  British  Museum.  The  fact 
that  there  is  only  this  single  one  (Mr. 
Tyler  says  there  is  not  one)  in  the  British 
Museum's  magnificent  collection,  and  none 
in  Le  Clercy's  almost  equally  fine  collection, 
shows  how  scarce  this  type  is. 

These  cylinders  belong  to  a  very  closely 
related  family,  and  I  think  they  all  came 
out  of  the  same  workshop.  Of  the  six  seals 
published  five  have  streams  of  water  flow- 
ing from  the  body  of  the  seated  God,  and 
in  three  cases  the  water  is  further  indicated 
by  the  presence  of  fishes.  In  four  cases 
the  bird  figure  is  being  both  pulled  and 
pushed  in  by  force.  In  two  others  he  is 
pushed  by  the  figure  behind,  but  not  led 
by  that  in  front.  In  one  of  these  cases, 
however,  (Lajard,  xxix.,  2),  and  I  think  in 
both  (see  CuUimore,  No.  85),  the  figure  in 
front  has  two  faces  drawn,  a  mere  pictorial 
device,  one  looking  forward  at  the  God, 
and  the  other  watching  the  culprit  behind 
him.  In  the  case  of  the  unpublished 
British  Museum  cylinder,  described  by 
Menant  (Cyl.  de  la  Chaldee,  p.  109)  the 
culprit  stands  between  his  two  attendants, 
but  neither  has  his  hand  upon  him.  On 
two  cylinders  there  is,  besides  the  God 
and  three  usual  figures,  a  fourth  behind 
them  who  has  no  more  relation  to  the  scene 
than  the  figure  of  the  Pope  has  in  Raphael's 
^jstine   Madonna,    but  represents   a  wor- 


shipper, perhaps  the  owner  of  the  seal, 
in  one  case  carrying  a  victim  for  sacrifice, 
and  in  the  other  bearing  a  bundle  on  a 
stafi"  over  his  shoulder.  The  size  of  these 
cylinders  is  generally  large,  the  material  of 
various  stones,  green  jasper,  white  marble, 
serpentine,  and  white  agate,  and  I  presume 
they  are  generally  constructed  in  the 
middle,  making  their  vertical  line  concave. 
Unfortunately  we  seldom  know  where- 
abouts between  Cyprus  and  Persia  a 
cylinder  was  found.  The  five  in  my 
possession  I  purchased  in  Baghdad,  and  I 
judge  they  all  came  from  Southern  Baby- 
lonia, and  are  of  a  very  early  period,  per- 
haps 20^0  B.C.  or  earlier.  They  resemble 
each  other  so  much  that  they  might  well 
have  come  from  the  same  workshop.  Such 
little  points  as  the  identical  state  of  the 
God's  stool,  and  of  the  crescent  worn,  seem 
to  indicate  more  than  a  common  School  of 
Art.  Menant  finds  evidence  in  the  coifture 
of  the  culprit  that  they  belong  to  the 
school  of  the  city  of  Erech.  This  point  is 
worth  considering,  as  it  falls  in  with  what 
is,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  a  general  rule  that 
the  divine  beings  are  distinguished  from 
the  human  on  the  old  cylinders  by  their 
headdress.  The  culprit,  on  these  seals, 
may  well  be  a  human  soul,  as  it  always,  in 
the  cylinders  whose  condition  allows  us  to 
tell,  wears  this  peculiar  long  queue  hanging 
down,  and  then  doubled  up  in  the  middle 
and  then  tied.  I  notice  that  in  the  two 
cylinders  in  which  a  worshiper  is  added  to 
the  two  who  conduct  the  culprit,  the  hair 
is  thus  dressed,  while  the  divine  figures 
wear  their  horned  tiaras.  This  way  of 
wearing  the  queue  is  very  different  from  that 
in  another  series  of  cylinders  in  which  it 
hangs  straight  down  the  back  after  the 
Chinese  style.  These  ancient  styles  of 
hair-dressing  deserve  consideration  of  those 
who,  like  Prof,  de  Lacouperie,  find  evi- 
dence of  an  early  period  between  the 
Chaldeans  and  the  Chinese,    Whether  they 


A   SETTLEMENT  OF  ACCOITNTS. 


117 


mark  a  special  loeality  or  race  in  Babylonia, 
as  well  as  period,  is  nob  yot  clear. 

I  am  not  unfamiliar  with  the  idea  that 
the  irregular  oval  object  seen  on  the  altar 
in  some  of  the  latest  Babylonian  cylinders 
is,  as  Mr.  Tyler  supposes,  phallic ;  but  the 
evidence  that  such  is  the  case  is  not 
familiar  to  me.  Certainly  the  presence  of 
the  number  15  somewhere  in  thefieli  on  a 
similar  cylinder  in  the  British  Museum, 
with  no  accompanying  ideogram  for  G-od^ 
is  not  sufficient  to  connect  this  oval  object 
with  the  goddess  Ishtar.  The  marks  Mr. 
Tyler  discovers  on  my  lapis  lazuli  seal  are 
not  fifteen  in  number,  but  thirteen,  and 
belong  to  the  same  ladder  like  markings  as 
are  found  on  a  number  of  similar  seals  (see 
Lajard,  pi.  xxxix.,  figs.  4,  6).  The  sun, 
crescent,  star  and  horns,  found  indifferently 
surmounting  this  oval  object  on  these 
cylinders,  do  not  suggest  that  it  is  a  cone 
of  Venus.  On  the  earlier  "boundary 
stones"  this  object  takes  the  form  of  a 
succession  of  pairs  of  horns,  one  above 
another,  which  hardly  allows  a  phallic 
origin.  My  own  impression  is  that  the 
oval  figures  on  the  cylinders  are  of  somewhat 
more  conventional  forms  of  the  hive-shaped 
objects  adorned  with  horns  on  the  boundary 
stones,  in  which  case  the  ladder  shaped 
ornament  is  merely  a  vapid  conventional 
indication  of  the  median  line  where  the 
six  pair  of  horns,  more  or  less,  join  at  their 
points.  The  number  of  cross  lines  on  the 
oval  objects  figured  by  Lajard  are  re- 
spectively eleven  and  twelve  on  one 
cylinder,  and  ten  and  sixteen  on  another. 
The  number  has  no  significance,  but  is  a 
matter  of  accident. 


No  one  could  see  the  cylinder  of  mine, 
to  which  Mr.  Harrison  lefers  in  liis  letter 
on  p.  68  of  this  journal,  without  being  re- 
minded, as  was  Mr.  Harrison,  of  the 
passage,  John  vii,,  38, — "  Out  of  his  belly 
shall  flow  streams  of  living  water."  I  had 
it  in  my  mind  when  I  made  the  description 
to  minute  on  this  point.  Bnt  I  still  fail 
so  make  the  connection  between  the 
cylinder  and  the  passage  which  Mr. 
Harrison  makes.  There  is  an  impassable 
gulp  of  many  revolutions  between  the  time 
of  the  ancient  Babylonian  Empire  and  the 
time  of  Christ,  and  I  cannot  conceive  how 
a  very  rare  symbolism  of  Ancient  Chaldea 
could  have  come  down,  even  in  Babylon, 
to  the  times  of  Herod  and  Pilate.  Besides, 
I  think  that  where  streams  proceed  from 
the  person  of  the  God  they  generally  flow 
from  his  shoulders.  I  do  not  remember 
another  case  in  which  they  flow  from  the 
belly.  The  figures  to  be  considered  are 
Cullimore,  Nos.  118  (Is  there  here  a  bird- 
form  misconceived  as  half-bull  ?),  147 ; 
Lajard,  xxxix.,  figs.  1,  2  ;  xxx.,  4  ;  and 
xxxii.,  8 ;  Menant,  "  Cyl.  de  la  Chaldee," 
pp.  106,  112;  and  Collection  De  Clercq, 
pi.  xxxviii.,  No.  83,  Us. 

I  would  wish  to  add  a  correction  of  my 
article  in  Scrihiier''^  Monlhly  for  last  January. 
When  I  wrote  that  article  I  followed 
Menant  in  supposing  the  cylinders  which 
have  a  gate  on  them  to  represent  the 
passage  of  the  soul  tlirough  the  gates  of  the 
lower  world.  This  explanation  1  would 
withdraw,  and  I  discuss  these  seals  some- 
what fully  in  a  paper  soon  to  appear  in  the 
American  Journal  of  Archaeology. 

William  Hayes  Ward. 


A  SETTLEMENT  OF  ACCOUNTS  IN  NABOPOLASSAWS   TIME. 

Documents  of  the  reign  of  Nabopolassar,  We  have,  however,  a  certain  number  of  them 
especially  the  contracts,  have  hitherto  been  iu  our  own  collection.  Here,  for  example,  is 
rather  rare— at  least  it  would  appear  so  from  a  document  of  the  reign  of  this  king,  referring 
the  publicaticMis  containing  cuneiform  texts,     to  a  settlement  uf  accounts  : 


118 


A    SETTLEMENT    OE    ACCOUNTS. 


-]  t]  -4  Tl  IMT  '^^T  -S-f  ^  -T<TI  4 

<  IMT  SL^T  -  IS?  ST  <  IMT  ^^^T 

^  :ST  ^^T  T  -ST  t^  ESpT  ^?TI  -+  -i> 

¥  X  IMT  ll^T  4  <?  t^  ^y<Tt  4 

^ -^  a;  ^  T-tTIl.it:- 

yU?  T  -  ^?  "ST  y  T?  ^  -jn  ?-  4  ^ 

T  -+  J^  ^  ^^  -^  Tu  -tm  -? 

T 

T 

<  ^  !=ra  T  -TT<T  -T<T4  -hhl 
T?T-tTIlP^?#TaJ-?-iT^ 
M  i^^i  ^  TTT  '^ 

.^  <W  ^  T  -t?=^T  Tf  a^ 

li  uiana  kaspa  sa  Nabu-kitapsi-lisir  (sidi) 


"  Sippara,  the  ;^rd  of  Sivau  of  the  18th 
year  of  Nabopohissar,  king  of  Babylon." 

We  can  see  what  is  the  subject  of  the  con- 
tract. Nabu-kitapsi-lisir  had  a  credit  of  1 
mine  ^ — that  is  to  say,  1  mine  50  shekels, 
upon  Rimut-Nabu,  who,  on  his  side,  had  a 
credit  of  10  shekels  upon  Nabu-kitapsi-lisir, 
In  the  present  settlement  of  accounts,  it  is 
said  that  Rimut-NabCi  will  pay  partly  in 
wheat,  partly  in  money,  and  partly  by  the 
set-off  of  the  struck-off  debt  (hi pat).  The 
money  was  to  be  paid  in  two  instalments 
of  10  shekels  each,  but  without  interest 
{ana  la  harra).  The  word  employed  here 
for  "credit,"  the  ideogram  uantim,  has  al- 
ways indeed  this  signification,  as  we  have 
been  tlie  first  to  show.  Tho  feminine  form 
hipat  shows  that  the  Semitic  word  which 
was  hidden  under  the  ideogram  uantim  is 
also  feminine.  As  for  the  word  hipu,  this 
is  the  technical  term  to  indicate  that  a  debt 
is  struck  off  by  compensation  or  by  renewal,  ^ 

1)  Thus  it  is  that  in  the  7th  year  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  woman  Bui'tum,  taking  at 
her  own  hand  a  debt  contracted  in  the  3rd  year  of  the  same  reign  by  her  husband,  and  for 
which  she  was  security  (No.  5  of  Strassmaier),  has  good  care,  when  declaring  herself  per- 
sonally responsible,  to  cause  the  words  "  the  anterior  debt  is  struck  off"  {uantiin  mahriti 
hipat u)  tc  be  written, 


abal  su  sa  Agara  abal  Da  -  Marduk  ina  eli 
E-imut-Nabu  abal  Belederu.  aki  kilam  sa  arah 
Duzu  ina  1  mana  ^  (du  ?)  kaspa  sebar  inam- 
din.  10  du  kaspa  ina  arah  Duzu  10  du  kaspa 
ina  arah  abu  ana  la  harra,  uantim  sa  10  du 
kaspa  hipat  inamdin.  Mukinu  :  Belibni 
abal  su  sa  Ina-elu-sakin  abal  tu2>sar  Sipparki, 
Samas    (ilu   dainu)-nazir-suma  abal    Nabii- 

edir u  tupsar  Rimut-Nabuabal  Belederu. 

Sipparki  arah  Sivan  yum  3  ^^  sanat  18  !iH? 
Nabuapaluzur  sar  Dintirki. 

"  A  f  mine  of  silver  credit  of  Nabu-kitapsi- 
lisir,  son  of  Agara,  of  the  tribe  Da-Marduk, 
upon  Rimut-Nabu,  son  of  Belederu — at  the 
tariff*  of  the  market  for  the  month  of  Duzu, 
for  one  mine  ^  of  silver  he  will  give  wheat  ; 
he  will  give  10  shekels  of  silver  in  the  month 
of  Duzu,  10  shekels  of  silver  in  the  month 
of  Abu  and  a  credit  of  10  shekels  of  silver  to 
strike  off. 

"Witnesses:  Belibni,  son  of  Ina-elu-sakin- 
of  the  tribe  of  scribes  of  Sippara;  Samas-nazir, 

suma,  son  of  Nabu-edir and,  as    scribe, 

Rimut-Nabu,  son  of  Belederu. 


I 


OLIMPflES    OF     BABYLONIAN    AND    ASSYRIAN    LIFE. 


119 


as  also  to  iiidicato  tliat  la  word  is  effaced 
in  a  text.  The  wlieat,  wliicli  is  to  represent 
tlie  sum  of  a  mine  and  20  shekels,  must  be 
estimated  according  to  the  state  of  the  mar- 
ket inth3  montli  Duzu.  Tlie  exact  corres- 
ponding term  to  ahi  kila/n  is  employed  in 
the  contract  of  Ardia  (No.  176  of  Strassmaier) 
to  represent  the  same  idea.  In  the  contract 
of  Ardia,  in  fact,  it  is  said  that  if  the  wheat 
due  from  him  be  not  paid  by  the  day  indicated 
the  value  will  be  paid  in  silver  aki  makiri  sa 
Dintirl'i,  "according  to  the  tariff  of  the 
market  of  Babylon."  In  the  bilingual  texts 
of  the  palace  of  Assurbanipal  it  is  always  the 
word  vmktru  which  translates  hilam  in  Sem- 
itic. It  is  the  same  in  the  judgments  of 
auction  (so  well  understood  by  Prof.  Oppert 
who  first  translated  them),  where,  to  say  that 


an  individual  is  proclaimed  buyer,  one  finds 
sometimes  LUani  imhic  and  sometitnes  makira 
imbte.  We  liave  already  proved  elsewhere 
that  kllam  and  makirii  mean  hmjer^  merclvani 
and  market,  (See,  for  all  these  questicms,  the 
Ajjpendice  hahylonien  of  the  course  of  lectures 
upon  the  Obligations  en  Droit  egyptien. 

The  name  of  the  man  who  served  as  scribe 
has  here  a  real  interest — in  fact,  it  is  the 
debtor  himself  who  wrote  the  contract,  and 
has  even  made  a  mistake,  for  he  has  written 
the  word  dit  after  "  after  one  mine  ^" — a 
mistake  which  might  have  caused  error,  if 
the  total  did  not  indicate  that  it  was  really 
a  question  of  a  third  of  a  mine. 

It  will  be  remarked  that  they  hoped  to  have 
more  witnesses  than  were  the  present  at  the 
drawing  up  of  the  contract.    V.  Revillout. 


GLIMPSES  OF  BABYLON  I  ±17  AND  ASSYRIAN  LIFE. 


but  not  the  less  valuable  texts,  shedding  ad- 
ditional light  upon  it,  and  trust  they  may 
be  found  not  unacceptable  to  the  student  of 
the  condition  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  East 
in  ancient  times. 


In  former  numbers  of  the  Record  I  have 
given  one  or  two  papers  which  may  be  regard- 
ed as  illustrating  the  private  life  of  the  Baby- 
lonians.^ As  the  subject  is  one  of  very 
great  interest,  I  present  here  two  very  short, 

I.    A  NINEVITE  TRAGEDY. 
On  a  small  tablet  (K.  819}  2  inches  'and      the  two  following  lines  :• 
^  in  length  by  Jths  of  an  inch  in  width,  are 

^^  ^n  m^  -^  t?  -4 1*  -^  ►<!<  v 

s-TTT.S  ^^  <  J#  !^m  J^  m  £!  Sff 

These  1  transcribe  as  follows: — 

DaUMU    ana    mar    MUTI  -  SA 
TASKtjNI  TAD^KUSUNI   ; 

and     translate :  — 

Daumu  to  the  child  of  her  hicsband 
has  given  to  drink — she  lias  hilled  him. 


"  Daumu  has  given  to  drink  to  her  hus- 
band's child  —  she  has  killed  him," — only 
this,  and  nothing  more.  No  greetings,  no 
superscription,  no  indication  whatever  as  to 
who  the  writer  was,  nor  Daumu,  nor  her  hus- 
band, whose  very  name  even  is  hidden  from 
us — just  the  simple  record  that  Daumu  has 
poisoned  her  stepson.  As  to  whether  jealousy 


or  revenge  were  the  motive  for  the  act ;  whe- 
ther the  fact  be  true,  or  only  a  piece  of  court-' 
intrigue  ;  whether  the  anonymous  writer  of 
these  two  lines  simply  wished  to  further  jus- 
tice by  putting  the  officers  of  the  Ninevite 
secret  service  on  the  track  of  the  criminal — 
all  these  and  other  like  questions  I  leave  to 
the  imagination  of  the  reader.     Certain  it  is, 


1)  See  "  A  fragment  of  a  Babylonian  Tithe-list,"  in  No.  5,  and  "Tablet  referring  to  the 
apprenticeship  of  slaves  at  Babylon,"  in  No,  6, 


120 


NAMES  OF  SUMER  AND  AKKAD. 


that  tliis  little  tablet,  ^Yith  its  two  lines  of 
Avriting,  came  from  what  may  be  regarded  as 
tlie  Royal  Kecord-Otlfice  of  Assur-bani-apli 
at  Nineveh. 

The  name  Daumu  is  peculiar  for  a  woman 
—  we  should  expect  the  fern.  Daumat.  The 
meaning  of  the  former  is  probably  i\\Q.  same 
as  the  latter, — "  darkness."  Compare  the 
phrase  Samai-  via  dst-su  daummat-su'^lUsnh, 
"  may  the   Sungod  in  his  rising  remove  his 


flarknefs'  (W.  A.  I.  IV.,  14,  No.  2,  1.  28). 
The  root  is  cldmu  or  dciJamii.^  Mar  const,  of 
//;arw,  the  common  word  for  "child." — Midi, 
gen.  of  mutu,  "husband." — TasMni,  3rd 
pers.  fern.  Aorist  of  sa/i7<,  "  to  give  to  drink" 
(Heb.  nDtl)  )»  "^^i^^^i    suffixed   nl. — Tadukii- 

't    t 

suni,  8rd  pers,  fem,  Aor.  of  ddkii  (daku), 
"  to  kill,"  with  suffixed  pronoun  -i-u,  and 
particle  -??/,  as  above. 

Theo.  G.  Pinches. 


2)  The  double  m  here  is  probably  merely  a  graphic  variant. 
?i)  Tlie  reading  Saumu  is  also  possible. 


THE  VARIOUS  NAMES  OF  SUMER  AND  AKKAD 
IN   THE    CUNEIFOUM   TEXTS. 


Nearly  all  Assyriologists  have  agreed,  for  a 
considerable  time  past,  to  seek  in  the  geo- 
graphical names  of  Sumer  and  Akkad  the 
appellations  for  the  two  principal  dialects  of 
the  non-Semitic  language  of  Chald^ea.  They 
differ  on  this  point  only,  that  some  of  them 
would  discern  the  language  of  the  South,  the 
Sumerian,  in  the  dialect  which  expresses  'god' 
by  "  dingir,''  while  the  others  prefer  to  see  in 
this  dialect  the  language  of  the  North,  or 
Akkadian.^  Prof.  Fritz  Hommel,  in  several 
of  his  recent  works,  and  Dr.  Lehmann,  in 
his  recent  thesis,  have  pronounced  themselves 
completely  against  both  these  opinions.  They 
are  nothing  short  of  certain,  in  their  view, 
that  the  two  Chaldjean  dialects  were  not 
regional.  According  to  these  writers,  they 
represent  rather  two  successive  conditions  of 
the  same  language,  common  to  the  whole  of 
Babylonia  and  Chaldsea.  The  more  ancient 
was  that  which  pronounced  dingii\  the  more 
recent  that  which  pronounced  dimmer.  Prof. 
Hommel  and  Dr.  Lehmann  have,  therefore, 
refused  to  distinguish  the  appellations  of  Su- 
merian and  Akkadian.  I  am  much  disposed 
to  rank  myself  as  of  their  opinion ;  and  I  wish 
to  attempt  now  to  show  that  the  truth,  in 
this  question  as  in  many  others,  has  been 
discovered,  for  the  first  time,  by  our  eminent 
master.  Prof.  J.  Oppert. 

We  read  indeed  in  the  Journal  Asiatiqiie, 
January,  1873,  p.  114  :  "Dans  son  cours 
au  College  de  France,   M.    Oppert  a  etabli 


que  le  veritable  nom  a  donner  a  cet  idiomo 
antique  etait  celui  de  Sumerien  et  non  pas 
celui  d'  Accadien,  que    les  Anglais  avaient 

cru  pouvoir  choisir Dans  les  textes  cunei- 

formes,  les  rois,  meme  de  la  derniere  epoque, 
s'appellent  rois  des  Soumers  et  des  Accads, 
De  ces  deux  appellations,  les  Accads  repre- 
sent le  peuple  semitique,  et  les  Soumers  la 
nationalite  touranienna.  De  plus,  I'ideo- 
gramme  exprimant  le  nom  de  Soumer  est 
ecrit  par  deux  signes,  dont  runsignifie  'langue' 
etl'autre  'adoration;'  Soumer  veut  done  dire 
'  langue  sacree.'  Le  signe  d'Accad  exprime 
aussi  le  pays  d' Ararat,  ce  qui  denote  une  pro- 
venance  septentrionale  ;  de  plus,  cet  ideo- 
gramnie  d'Accad  signifiant  la  Babylonie 
semble  etre  forme  de  celui  d'Assour  super- 
pose a   lui-meme. 

"  Dans  un  texte,  les  grammairiens  d'As- 
sour sont  identifies  a  ceux  d'Accad  ;  dans 
un  autre,  un  texte  assyrien  est  qualifie  de  do- 
cument accadien  ;  et,  si  nous  ne  nommions 
pas  la  langue  '  assyrienne^^  il  nous  f audrait 
la  nommer  '  accadlenne'  " 

I  have  purposely  reproduced  here  the  com- 
plete passage  from  the  Journal  Asiatique, 
although  the  progress  of  science  permits  us 
t  )day  to  retain  only  the  first  and  last  linos. 
It  will  serve,  however,  to  show  precisely  tlie 
modifications  which  I  believe  should  be  made 
upon  the  opinion  of  M.  Oppert. 

We  meet  frequently  enough,  in  the  texts 
in  the  Assyrian  language,    to  designate  the 


1)  As  we  understand  here  in  England,  the   Akkadian    (or  Old  Sumerian)    is  the    dialect 
where  'go4'  is  dingir,  while  in  Sumerian  (or  neo- Sumerian)  it  is  dimmer, — T,  de  L, 


NAMES    OF    SITMER    ANT)    AKKAD 


121 


wliole  of  Babylonia,tlie  expression  "land  of  Sii- 
mer  and  Akkad,"  which  was  written  phonetic- 
ally mat  Sumeri  u  Akkadi,  (sec  Fr.  Delitzsch, 
Wo  lag  das  Paradies?  p.  196).  From  tlie  per- 
iod when  this  reading  was  established  (and  it 
was  already  existent  in  the  inscriptions  of 
Hammurabi),  Sumer  and  Akkad  were  con- 
sidered as.  one  country, ^  or  rather  as  two 
countries  united  into  only  one  and  subject 
to  tJie  same  power.  For  it  is  undeniable  that 
they  had  been  originally  distinct,  and  that 
the  remembrance  of  the  distinction  did 
perpetuate  itself  to  the  latest  times.  Tliat 
isimnedby  the  primitive  Sumerian  expression 
Kienc/i  Kiburhnr,  which  contains  twice  the 
word  for  •'  country,'*  Ki,  and  even  by  a  variety 
of  the  Assyrian  readings,  mat  Sumeri  .mat 
Akkadi,  which  we  meet  in  the  synchronous 
history  of  the  kingdoms  of  Babylonia  and 
Assyria,  (ii,  65,  a,  52).  Now  of  the  two 
names  of  Sumer  and  Akkad,  one  only  has 
survived  in  the  usual  geography.  We  indeed 
find  in  the  inscriptions  a  country  designated 
by  the  sole  name  of  Akkad,  (see  Pognon, 
Inscription  de  Bavian,  p.  125,  If.,  and 
Delitzsch,  Paradies,  p.  199),  and  we  can  fix 
with  considerable  certainty  the  northern 
boundary  of  this  country,  towards  Assyria, 
on  the  lower  Zab,  or  little  ZTib.  But 
we  never  find  the  indication  of  a  land  of 
Sumer  geographically  isolated.  M,  Pognon, 
who  believed  that  he  had  disclosed  this  in- 
dication in  the  inscription  of  Samsi  Raraman 
IV  (col.  4, 1.  26),  has  doubtless  been  in  error. 
The  sign  which  he  sought  to  identify  with 
»-^TT^y,  (^Bavian,  p.  130),  appears  to  me  to 
be  a  different  sign,  to  be  read  perhaps  »^ 
TY<y,  inasihirti.^  Besides,  Sumer  is  never 
expressed  by  the  ideogram  erne  alone,  but 
always  by  the  complex  mat  Eme-hu.  We 
can  now  no  longer  quote  as  evidence  of  the 
existence  of  the  land  of  Sumer  at  the  time 
of  the  Semitic  domination,  V,  29,  c,  45  to 
47,  which  is  nothing   but  a    fragment  of  a 


lexicon,  and  wliich  liad  no  other  object  except 
to  explain,  by  decomposing,  so  to  speak,  piece 
by  piece,  the  traditional  title  of  the  kings  of 
Babylonia:  lugal  Kiugi  Kihurbar.  From  tlic 
geographical  point  of  view,  it  is  clear  that 
this  fragment  cannot  liave  had,  since  the  time 
of  its  composition,  anything  but  a  purely 
historical  value.  Besides,  having  admitleil 
that  tlie  land  of  Sumer  should  represen^ 
southern  Babylonia,  which  is  quite  prolmblc 
Prof.  Delitzsch  ought  to  have  added  that  it  was 
impossible  to  decide  where  the  exai  i  limit  of 
Sumer  and  Akkad  should  be  placed  {Para- 
dies,  p.  200). 

I  would  willingly  believe  that  the  greater 
number  of  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians  of 
the  last  millenary  before  Christ  would  not 
have  been,  on  ihat  question,  nmch  less  em- 
barrassed than  Prof.  Delitzsch.  If  I  am  not 
mistaken,  the  land  of  Sumer  and  its  bound- 
aries could  not  then,  nor  perhaps  for  a  long 
time  previously,  have  been  known  except  to 
historians  and  the  learned.  I^et  me  explain. 
The  most  ancient  civilization  of  Babylonia 
was  a  non- Semitic  civilization,  whose  focus 
must  be  sought  for  in  Lower  Chalda;a,  that 
is  to  say,  in  the  land  of  Sumer.  The  mas- 
ters of  this  country  must  have,  at  a  very  re- 
mote period,  extended  their  power  over  the 
Babylonia  of  the  North,  or  land  of  Akkad,  in- 
habited already  by  a  Semitic  population  ; 
hence  tlie  title  taken  by  them,  "  kings  of 
Sumer  and  Akkad."  This  Semitic  population 
yielded  to  the  influence  of  the  more  advanced 
civihzation  of  the  Sumerians  ;  it  adopted  a 
great  part  of  their  religious  ideas,  and  ac 
cepted  their  tongue  as  the  learned  and  sacred 
language.  At  the  same  time,  it  absorbed 
them.  Little  by  little,  the  Semites  became 
more  numerous  and  stronger  :  they  attained 
the  supremacy.  The  Sumerian  race  inter- 
mingled with  the  younger  race  ;  and  Su_ 
merian  ceased  to  be  spoken,  giving  place  to 
the    Babylo-Assyrian   language.        It    con- 


2)   See  Pognon,  L' inscription  de  Bavian,  p.  129  &  ff. 

o)  Cf.  i.  48,  no.  9,  1.  6,  where  JjTy  is  used  L.v  ^  with  the  pronunciation  gil  or  kit.    Now 
^,      at    least    under     the    redoubled    form    5^53'    ^^^^  ^^®    sense  of  sihirtu,  See 

Strassmaier,  WOrterverzeichniss,  no.  6640, 


122 


NAMES  OF  SUMER  AND  AKKAD. 


tinued,  howerer,  to  be  cultivated  and  writ- 
ten. But  from  that  time  there  is  no  mention 
of  a  land  of  Sumer,  except  in  liistorical  recol- 
lections, and  in  some  fornmlas  consecrated  by 
tradition.  Lower  Babylonia  is  no  longer 
described  except  by  the  names  of  the  Semitic 
principalities  which  had  been  founded  tliere, 
(for  example,  7ndt  Bit  Yakin  or  Tamdi),  and 
the  tribes  wliich  had  been  established  there 
(amelu  Kaldu^  amelu  Arumu).  Only  some- 
times, the  name  of  mat  Kaklii  or  amelu 
Kaldu  appears  to  receive  an  almost  general 
signification. 

The  most  ancient  non-Semitic  reading  to 
express  the  whole  country  of  Sumer  and  Ak- 
kad  was  <Ig  ^11  ^yy4  <;ig[  [|V .  This  is 
proved  by  the  inscriptions  of  all  the  ancient 
kings  of  Chaldiea  and  Babylonia.  When 
Prof.  Delitzsch  puts  in  the  same  rank  as  this 
ancient  reading  (Paradies^  p.  196 J,  some  or- 
thographical variants,  as  Kiengi  Kibarhur 
kij  or  Kingi  hurbur  ki,  (ii.  50,  d,  47,  and 
cf.  V.  29  e,  47),  he  no  doubt  makes  a  slight 
confusion,  but  that  must  now  be  avoided. 
These  two  variants  are  due  to  some  scribes  of 
the  Assyrian  language,  more  or  less  unfam- 
iliar already  with  the  Sumerian,  and  the  texts, 
where  they  have  been  recovered,  are  in  fact 
only  texts  relatively  recent,  written  out  in 
view  of  the  instruction  by  the  Semites  for 
Semites,  Hence  the  triple  pleonastic  repetition 
of  J:i  in  Kiengi  Id  hurhur  ki,  the  scribe  hav- 
ing no  longer  recognised  the  presence  of  this 
ki  in  Kiengi.  Hence  also,  in  Kingi  burbur 
hi,  the  mistaken  use  of  in  for  en,  and  the 
rejection  of  the  second  hi  at  the  end  of  the 
formula,  while  its  place  was  originally  before 
burbur.  These  observations,  which  appear 
frivolous,  may  acquire  in  some  circumstances 
a  certain  importance  for  the  exact  interpre- 
tation of  the  words  in  question.  Now  the 
equivalence  of  the  Sumerian  Kiengi  Kiburbur 


and  the  Assyrian  mat  Sumer i  u  Ahkadt  is  a 
fact  long  ago  i)laced  beyond  doubt  by  the 
fragment  of  lexicon  which  I  have  already 
mentioned,  v.  29  c,  45  to  47.  But  is  it  nec- 
essary to  consider  the  Assyrian  formula  as  a 
transcription,  or  only  as  a  translation  of  the 
Sumerian  formula  ?  There  are  indeed  some 
Assyriologists  who  admit  that  Su7ner  is  no- 
thing but  a  transcription  of  Kiengi,  through 
the  medium  of  dialectic  forms,  Kengin,  Sin- 
gir.^  It  would  follow  with  great  probability 
that  hurbur  should  have  had  in  Sumerian  the 
reading  Agade,  of  which  the  Assyrian  Ahhad 
would  also  be  nothing  more  than  a  transcrip- 
tion. But  I  should  find  it  difficult  to  explain 
how  Sumer  should  come  from  Kengi  or  Kiengi, 
and  above  all  from  whence  should  come  the 
final  r.  In  my  opinion  Kiengi  and  burbur 
have  nothing  in  common,  phonetically  speak- 
ing, with  their  translations  Sumer  and  Ahhady 
any  more  than  dingir  with  its  translation  ilu. 
Even  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  absolute 
sense,  our  two  Sumerian  terms  have  nothing 
in  common  with  their  Assyrian  equivalents. 
In  place  of  simply  borrowing  from  the  Sum- 
erians  their  appellations  of  Kiengi  Kiburbur, 
or  of  translating  them  literally,  the  Semites 
have  preferred,  I  believe,  to  name  each  of  the 
parts  of  Babylonia  after  the  city  which  oc- 
cupied the  first  rank  in  it.^  It  was  evidently 
at  that  iAVi\QAgade= Ahkadt  in  the  Babylonia 
of  the  North.  We  know  today  the  very  lofty 
antiquity  of  the  Semitic  dynasty  of  Sargon 
[,  and  of  Naram-Sln,  whose  inscriptions  are 
written  out  in  Assyrian,  and  who  entitle 
themselves  only  '  kings  of  Agade,'  but  who 
must  have  reigned  over  Akkad  in  its 
entirety,  since  Nabonidus  gave  them  the  title 
of  'kings  of  Babylon,'  (i.  69,  col.  2,  1.  30). 
As  to  the  Babylonia  of  the  South,  it  was 
perhaps  Girsu-ki.  Nothing  prevents  us,  in 
fact,  although  certainly  nothing  compels  us, 


4)  Hommel,  Geschichte  Babyloniens  und  Assj/riens,  p.  220,  234.  In  my  opinion,  the 
dialectic  form  oi  Kiengi  would  rather  be  »-J:y  i^t-  ^I^^  (iv.  38,  no.  1.,  col.  2,  35),  as  it 
must,  perhaps,  be  read,  according  to  an  Ingenious  sujiposltlon  of  Prof,  Hommel,  (^Geschichte, 
p.  236),  imi-hi.       Should  this  imi-Ki  be  for  Ki-inu  ?     See,  farther  on 

5)  Cf.  Hommel,  0^).  hxud..  p.  204, 


NAMES    OF    SCMKII    A^^D    AKKAf>. 


12;^> 


to  read  the  name  of  that  city  ISn-nqir,  whence 
*Sumer,  Si-me-ir,  (cf.  ii,  59,  fi,  25).  And 
I  observe  that  a  very  ancient  king,  wliom  it 
has  been  a  general  inclination  to  place  at 
an  older  date  still  than  the  patesis  of  Sirpulla, 
Uru-Kagina,  is  entitled  '  king  of  Girsii'  or 
'  Sungir.'  In  any  case,  whatever  may  be  the 
name  which  has  given  birth  to  the  Semitic 
Sumer,  it  is  probably  that  of  a  city  which 
held  sway  over  Lower  Chaldsea,  about  the 
period  when  the  dynasty  of  Agade  ruled, 
that  is  to  say,  long  before  Larsa,  and  pro- 
bably even  before  U r.  But  this  oould  not 
be  tlie  name  of  Kiengi. 

What  then  do  these  words  Kiengi  Kiburhur 
used  by  the  Sumerians  mean?  Kiengi,  a 
lexicon  informs  us  (ii.  39,  b,  9),  should  be 
read  mdtwn.  *  country.'  It  was,  then,  '  the 
country,'  jmr  excellence,  the  native  land,  the 
country  inhabited  by  the  men  of  Sumerian 
'race,  where  the  national  language  was  spoken: 
for  generally  the  distinctive  sign  of  a  race  is 
the  language.  ^  Here,  it  seems  to  me,  is  a 
strange  way  to  distinguish  the  land  of  Sumer 
troni  the  land  of  Akkad,  if  the  Akkadians 
were,  indeed,  of  the  same  race  as  the  Sumer- 
ians. And  I  add  that  the  description  of 
the  land  of  Akkad  by  Kiburhur  would  not  be 
less  strange,  if  it  were  necessary  to  translate 
these  words,  as  has  been  done,  by  *  land  of 
the  rivers,'  or  '  of  the  two  rivers.'  Akkad 
had  no  more  right  to  such  a  name  than  Su- 
mer. On  the  contrary,  if  the  two  countries 
were  inhabited,  at  least  at  the  period  to 
which  our  appellations  go  back,  by  different 
races,  we  can  very  well  understand  how  the 
land  of  Sumer  had  been  termed  by  its 
inhabitants  'the  country  par  excellence: 
I  would  then  willingly  seek  for  an  opposition 
of  meaning  between  the  two  denominations 
of  Kiengi  and  Kiburbur.  We  know  the 
general  tendency  of  peoples  io  treat  as  bar- 
barians,  as  iVfXieaoot,  D'??T.^!,  iVienitsy.&c..., 


the  neighbouring  peoples  whose  language  they 
do  not  understand.  Perhaps  we  might,  in 
that  case,  comprehend  Kiburbur  as  *  the 
country  of  the  barbarians,  the  country  of  the 
confused  language.'  Let  us  recall  the  ety- 
mology given  by  the  Bible  <jf  the  name  of 
Babylon,  the  most  celebrated,  if  not  the  first, 
capital  of  the  land  of  Akkad.  ^3^  would 
be  for  7373,  'stammering,  confusion  of 
tongues.'  I  in  no  wise  pretend  to  affirm  that 
such  indeed  would  be  the  scientific  etymology 
of  the  name  Bahilu^  understood  later  as  sig- 
nifying, '  Gate  of  God,'  nor  that  Bahilu  is 
derived  from  hurbur,  or  from  another  possible 
pronunciation,  bulbul.  But  there  may  jk)s- 
sibly  be  here,  at  the  groundwork  of  the  legend 
of  the  Tower  of  Tongues,  a  rememi)rance, 
more  or  less  distinct,  of  the  ancient  Sumerian 
appellation  of  Babylonia.  However  that  may 
be,  here  is  a  text  which,  if  I  properly  under- 
stand it,  gives  strong  evidence  in  favour  of 
the  translation  of  Kiburbur  which  I  propose. 
The  lexicon  ii.  30,  b,  17  (cf.  Strassmaier,  no. 

2231),  explains  ^-fcl  ^"^  <!S  ^H^  ^V^ 
by  elilum.  Gu  hurhitr-Li-pale  is  evidently 
'to  speak  the  language  of  Akkad;'  for  we 
know  from  ii.  7,b.  32,  that  ^^JJ  i-i^f^  .-^f^ 
fiYJ  signifies  mutamu,  '  he  who  pronounces, 
who  speaks,' from  <am?l  XDwitis  not  impos- 
ible  that  elilum  may  have  here  the  sense  of 
♦  to  speak  badly,    to    stanmier.'  We  can 

easily  compare  elilam  with  Heb.  ?7^V,  which 
still  awaits  a  certain  etymological  explanation. 
The  LXX  nearly  always  render  "??iy  by 
vijiriov^  whjse  primitive  meaning  is  '  he  who 
does  not  speak  yet,  infans ;'  and,  indeed, 
"iiy)  is  usually  employed  in  Hebrew  to  de- 
scribe an  infant  of  tender  age,  but  who  is  no 
longer  at  the  breast,  since  this  word  is  perfectly 
distinguished    from     P?.i\  See    siwcially 

Samuel,  xv.  3.  and  xxii.  19  :  P;v  ny\  V^'W^ 
"  a      parvulo     usque     ad     lactentem.*         It 


G)  I  have  also  thought  of  decomposing  Kiengi  into  Ki  +  engi,  'country  of  the  language 
par  excellence.  Yet,  even  admitting  that  a  primitive  ^^^^m  could  l3e  ma,nt^med.«^. 
^tono-ue'=^m^,  I  believe  that  in  that  sense  they  would  rather  have  written  m  old  feumerian 


124 


AN  ASSYRIAN  LEXICON. 


is  plain,  if  the  Simienans  could  say.  '  to  speak 
the  language  of  Akkad,'  in  the  same  sense  as 
the  Greeks  said  €ap€apo(t>ovHv,  that  Sunier 
and  Akkad  were  not  countries  of  the  same 
race  and  the  same  language.  The  Akkadians 
could  not,  in  that  case,  be  but  Semites,  and  their 
language  could  not  but  be  Babylonian.'' 

But  how  can  we  understand,  if  Kihurhur 
signifies  in  reality  '  the  land  of  stammering 
of  the  barbarous  language,'  that  the  Baby_ 
lonians  themselves  and,  after  them,  the  As- 
syrians, had  accepted  this  little  flattering  ex- 
pression to  describe  the  land  of  Akkad,  their 
own  country  ?  I  should  reply  first  that  the 
words  Kihurhur  were  to  them  onlv  an    ideo- 


graphic writing,  and  that  they  replaced  th  :!se, 
in  reading,  not  by  their  exact  translation,  but 
only  by  an  equivalent:  '  the  land  of  Akkad 
or  of  Agade.'  We  can  suppose  also  that,  by 
a  sort  of  play  upon  the  words,  of  which  ex- 
amples are  not  rare  among  any  people,  the 
expression  Kihurhur  had  been  diverted  from 
its  primitive  meaning  and  was  explained  by 
'  land  of  the  rivers.'  It  is  this  at  least  which 
suggests      the      idea     of     an     ideographic 


variant  of   the  name   of    Akkad, 


V,Vv 


which  could  also  be  pronounced  hiirhur  in 
Sumerian,*^  a  variant  which  does  not  appear 
except  in  the  Assyrian  texts,  and  which 
seems  to  me  to  be  a  Semitic  invention. 

A.  Amiaud. 


{To  he  continued.) 


7)  I  may  be  allowed  to  remark  here  what  importance  this  simple  line,  ii.  80b,  17  would 
assume  in  the  controversy  between  the  i)artisans  and  adversaries  of  the  Sumerian,  if  my 
interpretation  should  become  certain. 

8)  The  identification  of  this  variant  with  the  land  of  Akkad  is  due  to  Tlev.  J.  Strassmaier. 


AN     ASSYRIA 

Two  hours'  study  in  the  British  Museum  will 
convince  anyone  having  a  very  moderate 
knowledge  of  Assyrian  of  the  unreliableness 
of  this  publication.  The  pretensions  of  its 
author,  who  has  for  so  many  years  referred 
Semitic  scholars  to  this  book,  have  been  such 
as  to  raise  the  highest  hopes.  There  are  many 
scholars  desirous  of  using  Assyrian  for  com- 
parative purposes  who  have  not  the  time  or 
opportunity  to  copy  tablets,  or  collect  a  large 
glossary  of  words  from  the  published  inscrip- 
tions. It  is,  therefore,  of  the  highest  im- 
portance that  a  work  like  this  should'  be 
especially  accurate,  as  to  the  existence  of  the 
words  which  it  treats  or  the  copies  of  texts 
which  it  gives.  This  work  has  neither  merit, 
Delitzsch  has  always  shown  that  he  cannot 
decide  between  that  which  is  certain  and  that 


N     LEXICONS 

which  is  probable  or  barely  possible.  AU 
things  in  Assyrian  are  "  perfectly  clear  to 
him.  Assyrian  inscriptions  can  be  read  like 
the  Times."  A  man  with  such  ghostly  visions 
is  not  jier  se  fitted  for  the  sober  task  of  work- 
ing out  a  lexicon  upon  a  sound  philological 
basis.  But  what  are  the  facts  as  to  Delitzsch's 
ability  to  copy  texts  ?  The  careful  student  of 
the  third  edition  of  his  Lesestilcke  will  be 
astonished  at  the  bad  copying  it  shows. 
Attention  has  been  called  in  the  Expositor, 
Sept.  188G,  to  the  interesting  conclusions 
that  may  be  drawn  from  his  copy  of  the 
"  Heirathscontract,"  p.  125.  It  will  only  be 
necessary  here  to  call  to  notice  some  important 
mistakes  in  K,  40,  pp..  80-1  of  the  Lesestucke, 
Delitzsch  has  here  failed  to  see  that  W.  A. 
I.  Y,  pi.  20  JSTo,  3,  is  a  duplicate  of  this  and 


*Asst/rische8     Worterhuch     zur 
nnter  Beriicksichtigung   zalilr etcher 
Leipzig  :  J.  C.  Hinrichs,  1887. 


gesammten     bisher    verifff'sntlichten    Keilschriftliteratar 
unverofentlichter  Texte  :     von  Dr.  Friedrich  Delitzsch. 


AX    ASSVHIAN    LEXICON. 


125 


tliat  lines  29  and  80  in  col.  I  a,  and  col.  I  h, 
1.  20-:)()  may  all  ho,  completed  I'rom  tliis  frag- 
ment. Ill  addition  to  tliis  the  following-  errors 
arc  to  be  noted.  Col.  I  a,  1.  1 3  is  clearly  to 
l)e  read  ^^  instead  of  -^j  col.  II  a,  1.  15,  '^i^ 
>—  is  a  gloss  ;  1.  17,  there  is  no  such  character 
in  Assyrian  as  he  has  drawn  at  the  end  of 
the  line,  hut  the  original  gives  t:^^>^  quite 
clear;  1.  35  J^f,  f^gain  is  a  gloss.  There  are 
everywhere  inaccuracies  in  the  forms  of  the 
eharacters,  one  of  the  most  glaring  of  which 
is  p.  81,  col.  I  1.  57-8 — the  character  follow- 
ing sa.  The  value  of  the  character  is  un- 
known, but  the  learned  professor  ought  to 
learn  its  form,  for  what  he  gives  us  here  is 
little  like  that  given  by  the  Assyrian  scribe. 
Perhaps  the  worst  blunder  in  the  text  is  to 
be  found  in  col.  II  b,  1.  70,  where  he  has 
read  tt]  instead  of  ^yy.  The  latter  character 
is  clear  enough,  and  even  if  it  were  not,  the 
reading  sa-lca-lu  1.  63,  above  ought  to  have 
shown  him  what  must  be  read  here. 

Now  the  question  comes  :  Do  these  inac- 
curacies go  over  into  the  Wdrferbiirh  ?  In 
his  copy  of  the  part  of  the  text  just  men- 
tioned, published  W.  A.  I.  26.  in  Col.  Ilia, 
1,  68,  he  has  failed  to  correct  >-yy'^  into 
>^y<yi^,  although  a  glance  at  1.  18  e,  just  above 
would  have  shown  him  the  same  character  ex- 
plained by  JJ.  Of  course,  if  he  has  failed  to  cor. 
i-ect  these  errors  of  copying  in  his  publication  of 
the  texts,  they  will  also  be  found  in  the  I17;r- 
terbuch.  Dr.  Delitzsch  has  referred  to  this 
very  text  on  the  cover  of  his  book.  What 
is  then  the  state  of  the  case  wih  those  texts 
which  he  has  given  in  the  book  itself,  follow- 
ing  a    mixed,    inaccurate    and    unscholarly 

Transcriptionsmethode"?  His  Worterhuch 
is  full  of  inaccuracies  in  the  forms  of  the 
characters,  as  well  as  the  most  inexcusable 
blunders  in  copying.  There  are  no  less 
than  fifteen  mistakes  in  his  copy  of  K.  525 
(p.  114)— a  letter  containing  44-  lines.  In 
K  183  the  following  may  be  noted.  In 
line  18,  at  the  beginning,  he  has  read  ha-mi- 
ri,  which  is  ut  erly  impossible.  The  tablet 
is  not  A-ery  clear,  but  it  is  ceitain  that  De- 
litzpch's  reading  will  not  do  :  and  it  is  highly 


probable  that  the  correct  readirg  is  ha-<U  u 
.ii-s-((,  "joy  and  shouting,"  whicli  suit^  the 
connection  ;  1.  19,  the  reading  is  kn-ilu-da-ti 
^e.  The  third  character  cannot  be  ^:<yy  as 
Dehtzsch  reads.  The  character  preceding 
the  la.'t  in  1.  42  is  clearly  »-J^,  and  if  it 
were  not,  how  would  the  Professor  translate 
his  ^^^  %  In  S.  1064,  a  beautiful  little 
tablet,  he  fails  to  read  two  words.  The  end 
of  line  13  is  to  be  read  ina  ap-jn-iu  'upon 
his  face.'  Delitzsch  gives  us  ^y  instead  of 
^j:y,  and  the  '^y>-  he  cannot  make  out  at  all. 
The  last  word  in  1.  24  is  me-me-nl.  Cf. 
Pinches,  in  S.  A.  Smith's  Kcilschrifttexte 
Asurbanipals,  Heft  II.  p,  63  .  He  tells  us 
K.  542,  1.  22,  that  there  are  two  characters 
wanting.  The  reading  here  is  >.^y  ^  J^. 
To  shovv  Delitzsch's  limited  knowledge  of  the 
characters,  it  may  be  noted  that,  on  the  mar- 
gin opposite  1.  21,  as  well  as  in  the  JAterar. 
CentraJhlatt,  Apr.  16,  1887,  he  has  stated 
that  Strassmaier  reads  ul-Ia  hi*la,  while  the 
fact  is  that  Strassmaier  does  no  sucli  thing, 
but  sinipdy  imitates  the  writing  on  the  tablet, 
which  makes  only  a  very  slight  difference 
between  the  la  and  the  te.  The  fact  is  that 
the  learned  Professor  could  not  read  tlie 
characters  after  they  had  been  drawn  for 
him. 

Prof.  Delitzsch  some  years  ago  changed 
the  reading  t'dlu  of  the  English  Assyriologists 
to  etlu,  '  lord,'  but  now  he  has  returned,  we 
are  gratified  to  note,  to  this  reading,  and 
gives  the  root  (p.  150)  as  7*7^^4.  In  his  note^ 
p.  152  ft'.,  he  points  to  Dr.  tlensen's  proof 
of  this  reading  Z  A  I,  399,  and  considers 
the  root  with  "7  as  now  settled.  If  all  this 
be  true,  how  is  it  that  Delitzsch  gave  "7ilfc^4 
gross  sein  oder  werden  Mu,  etellu  erhaben 
Herr,"  with  so  much  certainty  in  his  J^et^e- 
stilcke,  p.  138? 

It  is  not  here  denied  that  he  has  been  able 
to  determine  some  new  meanings  for  differ- 
ent roots,  and  to  correct  some  mistakes  in 
Strassmaier's  copies,  but  that  any  one  can 
do.  Delitzsch  has,  hoAvever,  by  no  means 
copied  so  well  as  Strassmaier.  In  his  ex- 
planations he  takes  u}>  too  much  space  wij]] 


120 


THE      III13P.ERT      LECTURER. 


well-known  words.  Why,  for  instance, 
slipnld  three  pages  he  devoted  to  the  word 
abu,   '  father'  ? 

But  it  would  be  impossible  to  point  out 
all  the  mtstakes  the  writer  has  found  by 
using  the  book  only  a  few  hours.  He  has 
not  even  singled  out  the  worst  ones  so  far  as 
the  copies  of  the  texts  are  concerned.  Their 
name  is  legion.  This  is  but  the  first  of  ton 
parts  which  contains  108  autographed  pages. 
The  cost  of  it   is   one  and  one-half  a'uineas. 


After  the  work  is  finished  the  price  for  the 
whole  will  be  £'20,  a  price  which  puts  it 
beyond  the  reach  of  most  students  of  Assyrian. 
If  the  parts  yet  to  come  are  not  nmch  better 
than  this,  since  the  work  .of  Strassmaier  is 
sufficient  for  the  Semitic  scholar,  who  can 
decide  the  meanings  of  the  words  from  the 
passages  there  given  at  least  as  well  as  Prof. 
Delitz^cli  has  done  it,  we  must  doubt  very 
much  wliether  he  will  contribute  £20  worth 
to  Assyrian  lexicography. 

BEL-I15Ni. 


THE  HIBBJSRT  LECTURES. 


Lecture  II  f. 

Two  gods  to  be  considered — Ka  and  Bel. 
Ea  was  the  god  of  the  deep  and  of 
wisdom.  Ea  had  the  form  of  a  fish  and 
the  voice  of  a  man,  came  among  men, 
taught  them  all  things  and  returned  to  the 
sea,  corresponds  to  the  Cannes  of  the 
Greeks.  The  seat  of  the  worship  of  Ea 
was  Eridu,  which  means  "good  city."  It 
stood  at  the  mouth  of  the  Euphrates, 
4000  B.C.  Was  its  culture  imported  "?  Is 
Ea  of  foreign  origin?  Lepsius  said  this 
culture  was  imported.  But  the  civilization 
and  the  cuneiform  writing  were  bound 
together  and  there  is  no  trace  of 
hieoroglyphs.  Telloh  and  Egypt  were  con- 
nected, as  a  stone  testifies.  Early  com- 
merce with  India.  Ea  may  have  been 
foreign,  but  there  is  no  proof  of  it.  Ea  was 
also  the  god  of  pure  light. 

Nipur  was  the  home  of  another  worship. 
Bel  was  the  god — originally  called  Mul-lil. 
Lilat  or  Lilith^  the  feminine  of  lil  passed  to 
the  Hebrew  (Isaiah).  He  caused  the  deluge, 
and  was  not  allowed  to  come  to  the  sacri- 
fice. Long  before  this  he  was  called  Bel 
Eridu  and  Nipur  were  the  schools  of  Baby- 
lonian Semitic  thought. 

Ur  was  the  seat  of  the  worship  of  the 
moon.  Each  city  had  its  moon-god.  The 
sun-god  was  the  off-spring  of  the  moon- 
god.  The  njoon  is  made  to  be  a  pale 
reflection  of  the  sun.  The  Accadmn  idea 
was  that  the  ylu  on  existed  before  the  sun. 
Sippara  was  the  great  seat  of  the  worship 
of  the  sun-god.  This  was  the  seat  of  early 
Semitic   power,       Wherever   the    Semite) 


conquered  the  sun-god  was  w^orshipped. 

In  Erech  the  sky  was  considered  divine. 
In  early  times  little  was  known  of  Ana. 
As  the  Semitic  Anu  he  becomes  known ; 
Anu  and  Dagon  are  associated  in 
Asurnazirpal.  The  word  denoted  originally 
the  visible  heaven,  but  later  the  invisible 
heaven.  It  was  only  a  step  further  to 
make  him  the  universe.  Pantheistic 
rather  than  monotheistic.  The  god  of  the 
winds  and  tempest  was  Martu  in  Acca- 
dian.  He  was  united  with  Kammanu,  the 
air-god.  The  Masorites  identified  him 
with  rimmoiij  the  pomegranate.  All  was 
made  Semitic  wherever  the  Semites  went. 
In  Egypt  the  older  Nubians  drove  out  the 
Semites  of  the  north  after  500  years,  but 
the  older  inhabitants  of  Babylonia  were 
never  so  fortunate. 

Lecture  IV. 

One  mythological  poem  is  still  preserved 
to  us — The  Descent  of  Istar  into  Hades. 
Afiairs  had  come  to  a  standstill  in  the 
upper  w^orld ;  a  council  of  the  gods  was  held 
and  she  was  commissioned  to  descend  to 
Hades,  which  she  does.  The  poem  throws 
light  on  the  Old  Testament.  Jeremiah 
uses  the  same  words — "  Ah  me. "  Tammuz 
and  Istar  of  the  Babylonians  correspond 
to  Adonis  and  Aphrodite  of  the  Greeks. 
The  goddess  cries  like  the  women  of  Judah. 
The  death  of  Adonis  announced  his  resur- 
rection. The  resurrection  of  Tammuz 
was  commemorated  as  well  as  his  death. 
In  Babylonia  Tammuz  was  the  sun-god  of 
spring,  but  afterwards  became  that  of 
summer ;  his  primitive  home  was  in  Edeii 


THE    HIBBERT   LECTURES. 


127 


which  the  Babylonians  placed  in  the 
vicinity  of  Eridu.  The  cedar  was  called 
the '-tree  of  life,"  and  was  employed  in 
incantations.  The  palm  was  much  used 
and  was  possibly  the  "  tree  of  life  "  of 
another  place  than  Eridu. 

Tammuz  did  not  stand  alone.  Other 
cities  knew  of  the  destruction  of  sun-gods. 
Istar  is  at  once  the  most  faithful  consort, 
and  the  most  brilliant  coquette.  New 
elements  entered  into  Istar.  In  the  time 
of  Asurbanipal  and  Nabonidus  she  is  a 
combination.  The  is  Semitic,  but  on  a 
non-Semitic  basis.  She  is  not  found  in 
Arabia,  but  only  where  Accadian  influence 
is  felt.  Traces  of  non-Semitic — 1.  She  is 
not  merely  a  female  reflection,  but  indepen- 
dent. Tammuz  is  but  t'.ie  bridegroom  of 
Istar.  2,  The  important  difference  be- 
tween Istar  and  the  Astoreth  of  Phoenicia. 
Astoreth  was  the  goddess  of  the  moon  ; 
Istar  was  not.  Istar  ceased  to  be  the  pure 
goddess  of  the  evening  star.  The 
worshipper  must  mourn  the  loss  of  her 
ponsort  with  her.  The  abominations  con- 
nected with  her  worship  are  denounced  by 
the  prophet,  and  beheld  in  astonishment 
by  the  Greeks.  The  Babylonians  did  not 
prod  ace  prophets,  but  scribes,  who  formed 
a  purer  worship. 

The  earlier  kings  of  Assyria  paid  little 
attention  to  Istar,  but  with  Esarhaddon  all 
is  changed.  Asurbanipal  inherits  this  de- 
votion to  Istar  from  him.  In  trouble  the 
great  king  at  once  calls  upon  Istar.  She 
is  represented  in  human  form.  The  deities 
of  Babylonia  are  very  human  in  form  and 
character.  There  is  a  great  contrast  to  the 
forms  of  Egyptian  gods.  This  is  also  not 
true  of  Accadia  as  the  older  pictures  show. 
In  early  timos  each  tribe  had  its  totem  or 
animal. 

The  storm  biid  is  identified  with  Zu. 
The  wind,  in  many  mythologies,  is  repre- 
sented as  a  storm-bird  descending  down- 
wards. He  desires  to  become  Mul-lil  and 
assumes  his  attributes,  but  is  driven  away 
and  changed  to  a  bird. 

Sickness    was   ascribed   to    demoniacal 
possession.       The  plague  was  held  to   be 
divine.      The  Babylonians  saw  in  the  god 
of  death  another  plague  god. 
Lecture  V. 

The  hymns  introduce  ils  to  a  world  of 


gods.  The  Babylonian  Kig  Veda.  The 
l)eritential  psalms  are  much  like  those  in 
the  Old  Testament.  They  probably  were 
produced  gradually,  and  then  were 
collected  together  and  made  sacred.  The 
hymns  are  older  than  the  text  in  which 
they  are  found.  Medical  receipts,  differing 
little  from  one  of  to-day,  are  found  in  the 
midst  of  spells  and  incautious  to  drive 
away  disease.  It  is  thus  seen  that  incanta- 
tions gather  around  the  hymns,  and  that 
divine  worship  was  a  performance  and  not 
a  devotion.  Sometfmes  there  is  no  Acca- 
dian original.  Hymns  to  the  sun-god 
removed  the  curse  that  had  fallen  upon 
anyone.  Many  Accadian  texts  were  not 
Accadian  in  origin  ;  Accadian  was  learned 
like  Latin  in  the  middle  ages.  As  an 
artificial  literary  language,  Accadian  main- 
tained its  place  for  centuries.  We  can 
detect  them.  Compositions  containing 
Semitic  ideas  are  of  a  later  date.  The 
flood  I  believe  to  be  the  product  of  the 
age  of  Asurbanipal.  The  story  of  Izdubar 
is  a  collection  of  historic  accounts.  The 
account  of  the  deluge  is  compiled  from  two 
separate  accounts,  in  one  of  which  it  is 
ascribed  to  the  sun-god,  and  in  the  other 
to  Bel.  The  D-escent  of  Istar  is  composed 
from  more  than  one  original.  There  is 
often  no  connection. 

Lenormant's  theory  is,  in  the  main,  still 
true ;  much  remains  to  be  explained. 
There  is  a  Z%  or  spirit,  in  all  things.  The 
arrow  in  the  air,  fire  and  the  stars  above, 
all  had  their  spirits  or  life.  Moral  ideas  are 
wholly  wanting  in  the  older  hymns.  They 
had  not  yet  entered  the  garden  of  Eden 
and  eaten  of  the  tree  of  the  knowledge  of 
good  and  evil.  Disease  was  regarded  as 
possession  by  spirits.  The  medicine  men 
expelled  them.  Animals  as  well  as  other 
objects  had  each  a  special  spirit.  The  idea 
of  the  existence  of  good  spirits  and  their 
superioty  over  the  evil  marked  an  advance. 
From  this  point  we  can  trace  development. 
The  good  and  evil  spirits  are  opposed  to 
each  other.  The  old  medicine  man  became 
a  priest.  The  earth  and  the  sky  were  the 
first  creators.  The  gods  were  amenable  to 
the  spells  of  the  sorcerer. 

We  enter  on  the  era  of  hymns.  Two 
classes  of  hymns  according  to  Dr.  Hommel. 
1.  Those    showing    no    connection    with 


128 


THE     HIBBERT     LECtURES. 


magical  ideas.  2.  Those  showing  traces  of 
them  to  a  greater  or  less  extent.  The  hymns 
all  had  a  Semitic  origin ;  the  Accadian  is 
merely  a  translation.  The  sun-god  became 
the  Samas  of  the  Semites.  The  Accadian 
was  acceptable  to  the  gods.  How  far  they 
have  come  to  us  in  their  original  form  we 
cannot  say.  Some  we  know  have  been 
changed.  The  gods  become  human,  the 
old  totemism  has  passed  away.  Family 
connection  was  introduced  among  the  gods. 
A  god  cannot  be  addressed  alone — a 
goddess  is  with  him. 

What  were  the  views  of  the  Babylonians 
concerning  a  future  life  1  The  earlier 
texts  limit  everything  to  this  life.  Their 
ideas  of  the  ghost  world  were  rather  misty. 
Hades  was  that  of  Homer.  Later  the 
doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  is 
found.  They  prayed  for  life  hereafter  in 
the  land  of  the  Silver  Sky. 
Lecture  VI. 

Theological  ideas  of  creation  are  found 
very  early.  Some  tried  to  account  for  the 
world  by  development,  and  to  make  the 
gods  a  development  as  well.  There  were 
two  theories — the  genealogical  and  the 
creative.  The  Semites  regarded  the  world 
to  be  a  birth  or  emanation  ;  the  Accadians 
considered  it  to  have  been  created  by  the 
gods.  The  account  of  Berosus  does  not 
come  directly  from  him ;  it  was  copied  by 
Polyhistor.  It  includes  two  inconsistent 
accounts,  which  do  not  fit  together.  Both 
accounts  tell  us  that  there  was  a  chaos  at 
the  beginning  filled  with  life.  The 
beginnings  of  Darwinisin  are  to  be  found 
here.  The  legend  of  Cutha,  that  remains 
to  us  from  the  library  at  Nineveh,  agrees 
in  the  main  with  Berosus.  The  watery 
abyss  was  the  source  of  all  things. 

The  creation  tablet  opens  very  much 
like  Genesis.  The  cosmogony  here  given 
bears  marks  of  a  late  date.  The  Tiamat 
of  the  first  creation  tablet  and  the  Tiamat 
of  the  fourth  are  very  different.  I  doubt 
whether  in  its  present  form  it  is  older  than 

[No,  II.  of  "  Glimpses  of  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  Life,''  entitled 
ding,"  will  appear  in  next  number.] 

Printed  for  the  Proprietor  at  51,  Knowle  Road    Brixton,  vS.W.,  and  Published  by  him  there  ;  and  by  D. 
NuTT,  British  and  Foreign  Bookseller,  270,  Strand,  W.C. 


the  time  of  Asurbanipal.  The  Assyrian 
cosmological  tablet  is  very  incomplete. 
The  part  preserved  gives  the  creation  of 
the  host  of  heaven.  Another  tablet  re- 
cords the  creation  of  animals.  The  Baby- 
lonian Genesis  is  neither  simple  nor  uniform. 
In  each  case  the  present  creation  was  pre- 
ceded by  another.  Ea  (Cannes)  rose  out 
of  the  Persian  gulf.  Eridu  gives  us  this 
idea  ;  it  went  westward  to  the  shores  of 
the  Mediterranean. 

The  creation  story  is  the  different 
theories  put  together.  Its  spirit  is 
materialistic.  The  tablet  states  that 
heaven  was  first  created  out  of  the  deep, 
just  as  in  Genesis.  It  differs  in  two  re- 
spects from  the  Bible.  Instead  of  the 
creation  of  vegetation  on  the  third  day, 
there  is  an  interpolation  of  chaos,  and  the 
seventh  day  is  a  day  of  work  and  not  of 
rest. 

Babylonia  was  really  the  cradle  of 
astronomy.  Before  the  temples  were  made 
the  year  was  divided  into  twelve  parts. 
Thus  the  zodiac  had  its  origin.  They  had 
not  learned  to  look  for  causes.  They  were 
guilty  of  the  fallacy,  "  post  hoc  ergo 
propter  hoc."  Thus  astrology  grew  up.  It 
was  assumed  that  if  a  war  occurred  at  a 
certain  time  it  would  occur  again  when 
the  same  astromical  phenomenon  should 
return. 

Totemism  pre-supposes  a  worship  of  the 
stars.  It  started  from  the  prominence  of 
the  evening  and  morning  stars.  We 
should  expect  to  find  river  worship.  We 
do  to  some  extent.  We  must  remember 
that  the  rivers  of  Babylonia  did  not  bring 
unmixed  good  like  the  Nile  in  Egypt. 
They  required  dams,  and  sometimes  were 
the  cause  of  great  destruction.  The 
greatest  mound  was  Borsippa.  The  tablet 
giving  an  account  of  what  I  believe  to  be 
the  building  of  the  tower  of  Babel,  identi- 
fies it  with  the  illustrious  mound.  The 
worship  of  stones  is  also  found. 

S.  A.  S. 


A  Babylonian  Wed- 


Tlitt 


BABYLONIAN  AND  ORIENTAL  RECORD. 


The  Editorial  Committee  is  not  r.csponsiblefoj'  the  opinions  or  statements  of  the  Contrilutors. 


THE  VARIOUS  NAMES  OF  SUMER  AND  AKKAD 

IN  THE   CUNEIFORM   TEXTS. 

( conchtded  from  p.  124^. 


The  ideogram  V  *^^]S  Ef  employed 
to  describe  the  land  of  Sumer  should  also  be 
held,  in  my  opinion,  as  of  Semitic  invention. 
It  is  certain  that  we  never  meet  that  ideogram 
in  any  cuneiform  text  before  the  period  of 
Sargon.  The  earlier  kings  of  Babylonia  or 
Assyria,  who  had  the  title  "  kings  of  Sumer 
and  Akkad,"  always  had  written  phonet- 
ically Sumeri,  when  they  had  not  preserved 
the  ancient  writing  Kiengi.  See,  e.  g.,  i,  35, 
No. ,  3,  20,  and  the  inscription  of  Teglath- 
^halasar  II,  published  by  Prof,  Schrader. 
Not  that  I  pretend  to  fix  as  late  as  Sargon 
the  creation  of  the  name  Eme-ku.  It  is 
enough  for  me  that  it  should  be  the  work  of 
the  Semites  of  Mesopotamia,  as  far  back, 
besides,  as  one  would  wish  it  to  go.  To  deny 
that  the  Assyrians  or  Babylonians  could 
have  thought  of  creating  out  of  all  the  parts 
a  Sumerian  expression,  is  impossible,  because 
we  have  the  case  of  Asarhaddon,  giving  to  a 
palace  which  had  been  built  by  liim  the 
name  of  tt]  ^f'-  ^£[11  ^I  5^  Tt  ^^^^^^^  P^'- 
qidat  kalamu,  (i,  47,  col.  C,  1.  25).  The 
Semites  had  properly  excellent  reasons  to 
modify  the  primitive  Sumerian  appellations,  if 
these  indeed  did  signify  "the  landjy«r  ex- 
cellence, and  the  land  of  the  barbarians." 
It  was  they — these  barbarians  of  another 
time,  who  now  held  the  power,  and  who  had 
inherited  the  civilization  of  their  old  masters ; 
it  was  their  language  which  reigned  without 
a  rival  in  the  two  countries.  Yet  they  could 
not  absolutely  reverse  the  terms  of  the  ancient 
formula,  the  Sumerian  having  become  to  them 
a  sacred  language.     They  felt  contented  to 


seek  for  certain  expressions  more  suitable  to 
the  new  order  of  things. 

They  found  these  in  "ti^  »^^Yt^  Y^  and  in 
\^  -^IlSf  ^]]]<  R<.  The  texts  only  offer 
a  single  example  of  this  last  expression,  dis- 
covered by  an  ingenious  retnark  of  Mr. 
Pinches,  P.S.B.A.,  iii,  p.  44.  But,  although 
it  might  never  succeed  in  supplanting  in 
common  use  the  name  of  Kiburbur,  whose 
persistence  I  have  sought  to  explain  before, 
it  is  evident  that  it  is  it  indeed  the  true 
pendant  of  mat  Eme-ku.  It  has  been  pro- 
posed to  translate  the  two  denominations  by 
'•land  of  the  language  of  the  masters  or  chiefs" 
=Sumer,  and  by  "  land  of  the  language  of 
the  servants  or  slaves"  =  Akkad.  That 
translation  would  be  yet  much  more  favour- 
able to  the  opinion  of  M.  Oppert,  who  sees 
in  the  Sumerians  and  Akkadians  peoples  of 
distinct  race,  than  to  that  of  his  opponents. 
But  it  would  then  be  necessary  to  admit 
that  the  two  names  in  question  should  go 
back  also  to  the  time  of  the  Sumerian  dom- 
ination ;  otherwise,  it  would  not  have  been 
worth  the  trouble,  for  the  Semites,  to  change 
the  primitive  appellations.  Besides,  the 
translations  of  ]^  rubu,  by  'master,  chief,'  and 
qI  ^"^"^^yy^^sukaUu,  by  '  servant,  slave,'  are 
not  certain.  One  Assyriologist  even.  Prof.  Paul 
Haupt,  who  had  at  first  admitted  them,  has 
since  shewn  himself  rather  disposed  to  aban- 
don them.  He  has  written  in  the  Zeitsrhrift 
far  Keilschrift/orschung,  ii.,  p.  261)  :  "  Jg[ 
wird  ja  allerdings  V,  R.  13,  44  a,  durch 
riibii.  orkliirt,  aber  dies  bedeutet  doch  hehr 
und  nicht  Herr  ;"  and  a   little  farther  on  : 


Vol.  I.— No.  9. 


[129] 


July,  1887. 


i30 


NAMES    OF    SUMER    AND    AliKAj) 


•'^yyy<  hei^St^'nidit  Sklave,  sonderii  Bote" 
Perhaps  I  have  some  better  interpretations 
to  propose.  As  I  hope  to  show  further  on 
tliat  Meluhha  has  never  had  anything  in 
common  with  Akkad,  nor  Mdgan  anything 
in  common  with  Sumer,  there  is  therefore  no 
more  reason  to  write  mat  Emelu^^a,  as  Dr. 
Dehtzsch  would  have  it,  than  to  read  mat 
Emela^^a,  as  Mr.  Pinches  has  proposed. 
In  my  opinion,  this  last  scholar  is  correct. 
But,  instead  of  translating  with  him  '  the 
land  of  the  pure  tongue,'  since  the  primitive 
sense  of  la^  was  *  brilliant,  clear,'  I  translate 
it:  *the  land  of  the  clear,  comprehensible 
language.'^  Here  indeed  is  a  name  which 
the  Akkadian  Semites,  having  become  mas- 
ters of  Babylonia,  could  give  to  their  country. 
As  to  the  name  of  mat  Eme-ku,  it  appears 
to  me  that  it  might  be  explained  thus  :  '  the 
land  of  the  language  of  oracles,'  or  *  the 
land  of  the  language  of  incantations,  of  ex- 
orcisms,' that  is  to  say,  the  land  of  the  sacred 
language.  The  Sumerian  was,  in  fact,  just 
that  to  the  Semites  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria. 
I  admit  that  my  explanation  rests  entirely 
upon  the  following  hypothesis,  which  I  sub- 
mit for  the  appreciation  of  Assyriologists.  We 
are  quite  aware  that  Jg[  exchanges  in  Assyri- 
an with  the  ideogram  ^>-J:^|y|y  in  the 
sense  of  tukultu,  *  protection.'  It  concerns 
us  to  admit  that  Jg[  had  still  the  other 
meanings  of  ^"-^^yyyy,  namely  :  kasdpu, 
•incantare,'  Heb.  f]?^?, — ittu,  plural  iddti 
•augur,  oracle,  formula  of  exorcism, '^  Heb. 
n*1^n  , —  baru,  '  to  have  a  prophetic  vision.' 
Perhaps  a  beginning  of  proof  might  be  found  in 
behalf  of  that  community  of  signification  in 


the  fact  that  ^^-=temu=sipru  (V.  38,  c> 
35  ;  ii,  48,  d,  17);  for  oracles  and  dreams  are 
the  messages  and  communications  which 
come  to  us  from  the  gods.  I  add  that  J^y 
^  =  kalu  (erne  sal),  ii,  21,  b,  39,  could 
be  but  a  dialectal  spelling  for  amelu 
»yY<y  ^y'^^^yyyy  ^  winch  we  know  from 
the  Assyrian  Dictionary  of  Prof.  Delitzsch, 
verbo    abarakku.  Since    kalu    signifies 

*  priest'  (Zimmern),  the  translation  '  man  of 
oracles,'  would  agree  very  well  with  its  Sumer- 
ian equivalent  ^^^.  Moreover,  if  ^»-j:^yyyy 
has  indeed  the  reading  se,  (Delitzsch,  Heb, 
^  Assyr.,  p.  26),  we  could  compare  with  it 
the  reading  su  of  the  sign  Jg[. 

It  remains  for  me  to  speak  of  the  names 
of  Mdgan  and  Meluhha  in  which  many 
Assyriologists  would  see  two  other  appellations 
of  Sumer  and  Akkad.  Not  indeed  that 
they  deny  that  these  names  could  be  ap- 
plied still  to  different  countries  ;  but  they 
admit  that  Mdgan  signifies  sometimes  Egypt, 
sometimes  Sumer, — that  Meluhha  designates 
sometimes  Ethiopia,  sometimes  Akkad. 
Already,  at  the  first  glance,  such  a  duality  of 
sense  appears  very  strange.  Strong  proofs 
would  be  needed  to  render  it  admissible,  and 
I  hope  to  show  how  insufficient  are  those  which 
have  been  furnished.  These  are  they,  as 
they  have  been  presented  first  by  Prof, 
Schrader,  Keilinschriften  und  Geschichtsfor- 
sckung,  p.  282 — 299,  and,  after  him,  by 
Prof.  Delitzsch,  Wo  lag  das  Paradies  ?  p. 
129,   ff.3 

1.  The  very  name  of  Mdgan  decomposes 
into  md,  'vessel,'  and  gan,  *  river.'  The 
country  of  Mdgan  signifies,  therefore,   *  land 


1)  I  do  not  believe  that  the  writing  S:yyy<,  in  place  of  ^y,  could  make  a  difficulty,  above 
all  if  the  relatively  recent  origin  of  the  expression  mdt  Emela^^a  is  admitted.  Cf„  besides, 
t:yyy<,  mlsu,  *■  to  purify. 

2)  On  this  last  moaning,  see  IV,  3,  col.  I,  30  :  ittasit  gamirtu  markassu  manma  ul  idt, 
•  the  formula  which  cures  head-ache,  which  fetters  it,'  no  one  knows  it.' — The^  meaning  of 
•oracle,  augur,'  is  more  frequent.  I  shall  only  cite  IV,  63,  b,  11  :  Sin,  bU  age,  parts  pur^ 
usse,  mukalUm  iddti,  '  Sin,  the  lord  of  destinies,  who  pronounces  decrees,  who  gives  oracles.' 

3)  Consult,  against  the  opinion  of  Profs.  Schrader  and  Delitzsch,  the  objections  already 
formulated  by  M.  Halevy,  Melanges  de  critique  et  d'histoire,    p.  152. 


IN  THE    CUNFJFORM    TEXTS. 


131 


of  navigable  rivers,'  a  designation  which  might 
be  applied  as  well  to  Lower  Babylonia  as  to 
Lower  Egypt.  The  translation  of  gan  by 
'  river,'  being  today  no  longer  tenable,  Prof. 
Delitzsch  contents  liimself,  without  proposing 
another,  with  insisting  upon  the  etymology 
of  the  first  part  oi.Md-gan,  which  discovers, 
under  this  name,  a  country  rich  in  vessels, 
largely  open  to  navigation,  such  as  Southern 
Babylonia,  (Paradies,  p.  139).  But  I  do 
not  believe  that  it  would  be  wise  to  apply  a 
similar  system  of  interpretation  to  the  proper 
names,  as  well  as  to  the  common  Sumerian 
names.  The  proper  names  can  have  been 
simply  borrowed  names.  The  Latins  spoke 
of  Assyria  and  Bab?/ Ionia;  now,  who  would 
think  of  explaining  these  two  words  by  the 
Latin  language?  Nothing  forbids  the  idea 
that  Mdgan  represents  a  foreign  denomina- 
tion, e.  g.,  the  |iV^  of  Judges,  x,  12,  in 
the  environs  of  Petra,  in  Arabic  ^X^^ . 

2.  An  ancient  geographical  Hst  of  towns 
and  countries  of  which  none,  they  say,  takes 
us  to  any  distance  from  the  region  watered 
by  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  mentions  the 
country  of  Mdgan-ki  and  Meluhha-ki  (IV,  ■ 
38,  No.  1).  And  what  concurs  to  prove  the 
purely  Mesopotamian  character  of  this  list  is 
that  Phenicia,  mat  Martu  or  mat  Aharri,  does 
not  appear  there.  I  do  not  believe,  however, 
that  one  would  seek  to  rank  in  the  number 
of  Mesopotamian  countries  Elam :  Nim-ki 
(col.  I,  1.  19),  Ansan  (col.  I,  1.  16),  nor 
^\mT>\\m\m:  Nituk-ki  {qo\.  I,  1.  21).  Indeed 
it  must  be  readily  admitted  that  the  list  in 
question  contains  some  foreign  countries, 
since  the  subscription  or  the  table  of  matters, 
as  they  like  to  call  it,  has  judged  it  necessary 
to  make  mention  of  them,  and  distinguishes 
them  even  from  the  countries  of  Elam:  al  mat 
Elamtl.  al  mat  nukurti  (col.  2,  last  lines). 
We  have  here  to  do  with  a  list  of  the  countries 
known  by  Babylonia,  and  trading  with  her 
at  a  time  doubtless .  very  ancient,  and  the 
inscriptions  of  Gudea  prove  to  us  that 
Mdgan  and  Meluhha,  two  adjacent  countries 
of  the  Red  Sea,  had  the  right  to  be  placed  in 


such  a  list.  I  am  not  sure,  on  the  other 
liand,  that  Phenicia  ought  to  appear  there 
necessarily  ;  for  I  do  not  know  if  our  list 
does  not  preserve  the  remembrance  of  a 
time  anterior  to  the  install.'ition  of  the 
Phenicians  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean, 
or  to  the  relations  of  the  Babylonians  with 
this  people.  I  doubt  whether,  in  the  old 
inscriptions  which  relate  to  Sargon  of 
Agade  and  to  Naiam-Sin,  mat  Martu-ki 
really  designates  Phenicia. .  With  Kudur- 
mabug,  ar  least,  it  appears  certain  that  Martu- 
ki  exchanges  with  Emutbala  (cf.  I,  2,  No. 
iii,  1.  4;  I.  5,  No.  xvi,  1.  10;  Lenormant, 
Textes  Cuneiformes  No.  70),  The  geograph- 
ical application  of  the  name  of  Martu-ki  could 
be  easily  modified  in  the  course  of  time,  since 
it  signifies  originaally  nothing  but  "land 
of  the  West." 

3.  In  a  lexicographical  tablet  (II.  46),- 
mention  is  made  of  ships  of  Surippak,  of 
Assur,  of  Ur,  of  Akkad,  of  Dilmun,  of  Mak- 
kan  and  of  Meluhha  (b,  1. 1-7  ) ; — of  copper 
plates  from  Makkan,  Meluhha,  Ur  and 
Akkad,  (c,  48-51)  ;  —  of  thrones  or  seats 
from  Makkan  and  Meluhha  (a,  1.  78  79),. 
Here,  there  is  no  doubt  that  Mdgan  (=Mak- 
kan)  and  Meluhha  appear  in  the  midst  of 
countries  all  merely  Mesopotamian.  But  if 
Mdgan  and  Meluhha  signify  Sumer  and 
Akkad,  why  is  double  mention  made  of  the 
ships  and  plates  of  Akkad,  of  the  ships  and 
plates  of  Sumer,  first  under  the  denomination 
of  ships  and  plates  of  Akkad  and  Ur, 
(which  evidently  represents  Sumer),  and 
second,  under  the  denomination  of  ships 
and  plates  of  Mdgan  and  Meluhha  ?  Does 
anyone  assert  that  our  tablet  is  purely  lexi- 
cographicaH  In  that  case,  no  information  aS' 
to  geography  should  be  sought  for  there. 
I  do  not  believe,  however,  that  there  would  be 
ground  for  taking  up  this  last  position.  I 
think  the  lexicographer  has  been  naturally 
led  to  enumerate,  after  their  nationality  or 
their  principal  building  ports,  the  ships 
he  had  been  accustomed  to  see  in  the 
^^aters  of  Babylonia,         Those  of   countries 


132 


THE  NAMES  OF  SUMER  AND  AKKAD. 


adjacent  to  the  Red  Sea  ought  consequently 
to  figure  in  his  enumeration  ;  for  doubtless 
from  a  very  remote  period' there  had  already 
existed  commercial  relations  between  the 
shores  of  tliat  sea  and  Mesopotamia.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  could  be  no  mention  there- 
fore of  ships  of  Phenicia.  As  to  the  elijrpe  of 
the  land  of  i/a^ii  or  Syria,  which  the  dwellers 
on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  or  Tigris  could 
in  fact  see  floating  on  the  waters  of  those  rivers, 
since  Sennacherib  used  such  to  cross  the  Per- 
sian Gulf  from  the  land  of  Bit-yakin  to  the 
land  of  Elam,  (Taylor's  Cylinder,  Col.  4, 
1,  26),  it  is  probable  that  they  were  only 
boats  built  on  the  high  Euphrates,  and 
which  no  one  could  think  of  mentioning 
beside  larger  ships,  prepared  for  long  voy- 
ages. Besides,  our  tablet,  which  gives  in 
its  first  line  the  ships  of  Surippak,  seems 
to  preserve  to  us  the  remembrance  of  a  time 
long  before  that  of  Sennacherib.  And  then 
it  can  be  asked  :  What  do  we  know  of  the 
relations  of  Babylonia  and  Syria  at  that  very 
ancient  time  ?  Till  now  I  have  spoken  only 
of  the  ships  of  Mdgan  and  Meluhha  ;  bur, 
if  my  reasoning  be  correct  in  regard  to  them, 
it  is  necessarily  so  also  to  the  plates  and  the 
thrones  of  these  countries,  whatever  may  be 
the  peculiarities  which  marked,  in  the  eyes 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Mesopotamia,  the  for- 
eign origin  of  these  articles. 

4.  We  find  Mdgan  and  Meluhha  again 
mentioned  in  a  list  of  47  mountains  known 
to  the  Babylonians,  with  a  description  of 
their  products  (11,  51,  No.  1).  As  this  Hst 
names  Amanus,  Libanus,  Atilur,  and  other 
mountains  certainly  situated  beyond  Meso- 
potamia, it  is  naturally  here  no  longer  upon 
groundi  of  neighbourhood  that  Prof.  Delitzsch 
supports  his  indentification  of  Mdgan^z^u- 
mer  and  o/  MeluhhazzzAk^id^di,  He  has  re- 
course to  this  other  argument.  All  the  names 
Jn  the  list  in  .-question  are  those  of  mountains, 
while  Mdgan  aad  Meluhha  are   known  only 


as  the  names  of  places  or  countries. 4  This 
argument  is  hardly  satisfactory.  Switzer- 
land is  certainly  also  a  country  ;  but  that 
does  nor.  prevent  us  saying  :  the  mountains 
of  Switzei'land.  This  objection  could  be 

made  to  Prof.  Delitzsch,  that  there  are  no 
mountains  in  Babylonia.  He  has  replied  in 
advance  by  stating  hat  sad  signifies  '  hillock 
as  well  as  '  mountain.'  This  reply  evades 
the  real  question.  Whether  the  Hst  II,  51, 
InTo.  1.  be  purely  geographical,  as  is  Prof. 
Delitzsch'sopinion,  or  at  bottom  a  magical 
litany,  as  M.  Halevy  has  maintained,  its 
peculiarity  and  importance  lie  in  the  fact 
hat  it  informs  us  of  the  principal  products 
of  each  of  the  enumerated  places.  We  thus 
understand  that  Mdgan  was  the  country  or 
the  mounrain  of  copper,  Meluhha,  the  land 
or  mountain  of  turquoises.  What,  therefore, 
would  need  to  be  proved,  is  not  that  Mdgan 
and  Meluhha  might  be  only  hills,  and  con- 
sequently may  be  sought  for  in  Babylonia, 
but  that  in  Babylonia  there  were  mines  of 
copper  and  beds  of  turquoises. 

5.  Again,  they  would  argue  from  IV, 
13,^0.  1,  recto,  I.  14,  ff.,  where  mention  is 
made  of  the  high  land,  that  is  to  say,  Elam, 
and  of  the  country  of  Mdgan,  in  two  succes- 
sive verses  of  a  hymn  to  Adar.  What  could 
Adar,  a  Babylonian  god,  have  to  do  with 
Egypt  1  it  has  been  asked.  Evidently  here 
Mdgan  is  the  low  land,  Chaldea,  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  high  land.  Unless,  however,  I 
should  reply,  we  can  translate  thus  the 
passage  invoked:  Istu  mdtl  ellti  linna-\_sili\ 
istu  sad  mahhan    luhlu-  [^nissu'],   atta    era 

dannu  Jcima  maski  ta ,  'Whether    it 

be  taken  out  of  the  land  of  Elam,  or  whe- 
ther ti  be  brought  from  the  mountains  of 
Makkan,  it  is  thou  who  [makest  flexible] 
like  a  skin   the  hard  copper.' 

6.  The  proximity  of  Mdgan  and  of  Apirak 
should  be  proved,  they  said,  by  the  inscription  of 
Naram-Sin,  I,  3,  No.  vii.     I  have  elsewhere ^ 


4)  Paradies,  p,».  102  &  105. 

5)  See  the  Revut  d' Assyriologie,  ii.  Paris,  1887.  And  cf,  Hommel,  Qescldchte  Assyriens 
V,nd  Bahi/loniens,  pp.  279  and  309, 


THE      DORSirPA    INSCRIPTION. 


lU 


sliowii  tliat  tills  liiscrli)ti()a  must  be  read  as 
follows  :  Narain-S in,  king  of  four  regions; — 
bur  namraq  Mdgan-ki — "vase  (brought  as) 
spoil  from  the  land  of  Mdgan.^'  As  to 
IV,  84,  b,  1. 10— 18,  the  examination  of  he 
text  as  a  whole  establishes  that  the  lines  10 — 
14  are  entirely  independent  of  the  lines 
15—18. 

7.  Lastly,  some  expressions  like  gan  Mak- 
kan  (V,  32,  No.  4,  1.  64,  65),  and  sahu 
makkanu  (II,  6  b,  28)  are  useless  to  prove 
anything.  Babylonia  was  not  the  only  coun- 
try where  reeds  and  wild  boars  were  to  be 
found. 

I  beg  to  remark,  and  this  is  my  prin- 
cipal objection, — that  nearly  all  the  docu- 
ments appealed  to  in  favour  of  a  Mdgan  = 


to  Sumer  and  of  a  Meluhfia  =  to  Akkad 
are  dry  enumerations  of  projicr  names 
lexicons  rendering  simply  the  Sumcrian 
word  by  its  Semitic  transcription,  texts  of  a 
hai;dly  decided  kind,  fragmentary,  without 
context,  made  rather  to  suggest  questions  tlian 
to  solve  them.  -  On  the  contrary,  every  time 
that  Mdgan  ami-  Meluhha  are  named  in  a 
connected  discourse,  in  a  historical  narrative, 
the  general  sense  compels  us,  by  tlie  very 
avowal  of  those  scholars  whose  opinion  I 
oppose,  to  recognise  in  them  countries  foreign 
to  Babylonia.  But  where  are  these  countries 
to  be  placed?  Another  problem,  upon 
which  Assyriologists  are  divided,  and  whose 
study  shall  form  the  subject  of  a  succeeding 
article. 

A.  Amiaud. 


THE    BORSIPPA     INSCRIPTION    OF  NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 

In  the  translation  of  this  inscription,  meaning,  and  some  explanations  given  be- 
the  text  of  which  is  to  be  found,  W.A.L,  low  will  aid  in  arriving  at  the  true  traus- 
vol  I.,  pi.  51,  No.  1,  I  have  tried  to  give  lation  of  several  passages  in  other  texts  of 
the  original  as  literally  as  possible,  in  order  N  ebuchadnezzar.  The  transcription  is 
to  better  enable  those  readers  who  may  given  in  separate  syllables,  so  that  it  may 
not  read  Assyrian  readily,  to  study  with  be  more  convenient  for  Semitic  scholars 
ease.  I  have  taken  the  trouble  to  collate  who  may  not  have  found  time  to  make 
the  text  and  th«  result  of  this  is  given  in  themselves  perfectly  familar  with  the 
the  notes  below.  Although  there  are  a  few  Babylonian  character.  The  most  im- 
words  which  I  am  not  able  to  explain,  yet  portant  variant  readings  are  called  attention 
the  inscription  is  quite  clear  in  its  general      to  in  the  notes. 

Transcription. 

Na  -  bi  -  um  -  ku  -  du  -  ur  -  ri  •  u  •  su  -  ur     sar  Babili 

ri  -  e  -  a  -  um  ki  -  i  -  nuui  i  -  tu  -  ut    ku  -  un  li  -  ib  -  bi  Marduk 

is  -  sa  -  ak  -  ku  si  -  i  -  ri  na  -  ra  -  am  Na  -  bi  -  um 

mu  -  da  '  a  c  -  im  -  ga  sa  al  -  ka  -  ka  -  a  -  at  ilani  rabute 
5  ba  -  sa  -  a  u  -  zu  -  na  -  a  -  su 

sa  -  ak  -  ka  -  na  -  ku  la  a  -  ni  -  ha    za  -  ni  -  in  Esaggil 

u  E  -  -zi  -  da 

aplu  a  -  sa  -  ri  -  du  sa  Na  -  bi  -  um  -  ablu  -  u  -  su  -  ur 

sar    Babili    a  -na  -  ku 
10  i  -  nu  <-  um  Marduk    be  -  li  ra  -  bi  -  u 

ki  -  ni  -  is     ib  -  na  -  an  -  ni  -  ma 

za  -  ni  -  nu-  ut  -  su    c-bi  -  su     u  -  ma  -  '  -  ir  -  an  -  ni 

Na  -  bi-um   pa  -  ki  -  id    ki  -is  -  sa  -  at    sa.mi  -  c    u    ir  -  si  -  ti'" 

liattu     i  -  sa  -ar  -  ti"*    u  -  sa  -  at  -  mi  -ill  ga  -  tu  -  u  -  a 
15  Esaggil    e  -  kal    sa  -  mi  -  e  u  ir  -  si  -  ti'" 


134  THE    B0U8IPPA    INSCllII'TION. 

su  -  ba  -  at  bel   ilani    Marduk 

E  -ku  -  a    pa  -  pa  -  ha    bi  -  e  -  hi  -  ti  -  su 

hurusi    na  -  am  -  ri    sa  -  al  -  la  -  ri-is  as  -  tak  -  ka  -  an 

E  -  zi  -  da    e  -  es  -  si  -  is     e  -  pii  -  iis  -  ma 
20  i  -  na    kaspi    hurasi    ni  -  si  -  ik  -  ti"*  ab  -nam 

e  -  ra  -  a  mis  -  ma  -  kan  -  na  erinii 

u  -  sa  -ak  -  H  -  il      si  -  bi  -  ir  -  su 

E  -  temen  -  an  -  ki    zi  -  ku  -  ra  -  at     Babih 

e  -  pu  -  us    u  -  aa-ak  -  h  -  il  -  ma 
25    i  -  na    a  -  gur-ri     za  -  mat    e  -el  -  h  -  ti"» 

u  -  ul  -  la  -  a     ri  -  e  -  si  -  sa 

i  -  nu  -  mi  -  su    E  -  ur  •  VII  -  au  -  ki    zi  -  ku  -  ra  -  at       Bar  -  sip 

sa    sar   ma  -  ah  -  ri    i  -  pu  -  su  -  ma 

XLII    ammatu    u  -  za  -ak  -  ki  -ru  -ma 
30  la  u  -  ul  -  la  -  a    ri  -  e  -  sa  -  a  -  sa 

ul  -  tu    u  -  um    ri  -  e  -  ku  -  ti™  in  -  na  -  mu  -  u  -ma 

la    su  -  te  -  su  -  ru    mu  -  si  -  e   mi  -  e  -  sa 

Column    II. 

zu  -  un  -num    u     ra  -  a  -  du 

u  -  na  -  as  -  su  -  u    H  -  bi  •  it  -  tu  -  sa 

a  -  gu  -  ur  -  ri    ta  -  ah  -  lu  -  ub  -  ti  -  sa    up  -  ta  -at  -  ti  -  ir  -  ma 

li  -  bi  -  it  -  ti    ku  -  um  -  mi  -  sa    is  -  sa  -  pi  -  ik    ti  -  la  -  ni  -  is 
5  a-na    e    bi-si-sa     be-H    ra  -  bi-  u      Marduk 

u  -  sa  -at  -  ka  -  an  -  ni     li  -  ib  -  ba 

a  -  sa  -  ar  sa    la   e  -  ni  -  ma     la    u  -  na  -  ak  -  ki  -  ir      te  -  me  -  eu  -  sa 

i  -  na    arhi    sa  -  al  -  mu    i  -  na    iitni     jmagiru 

li  _  bi  -  it  -  ti    ku  -  um  -  mi  •  si    u  a  -  giir  -  ri    ta  -  ah  -  la  -  ub  -  ti  'SH 
10  ap  -  ta  -  a  -  ti     e  -  ik-si  -  ir  -  ma 

mi  -  ki  -  it  -  ta  -  sa    u  -  us  -  zi  -  iz  -  ma 

si  -  ti  -  ir     su  -  mi  -  ia 

i  -  na     ki  -  tir  -  ri     ap  -  ta  -  a  -  ti  -  sa     as  -  ku  -    un 

a-na      e  -  bi  -  si  -  sa 
15  u     u  -  ul  -  lu  -  u     ri  -  e  -  si  -  sa     ga  -  ta     as  -  ku  -   un 

Na  -  bi  -  um     ablu  ki  -  i  -  nu™   su  -  uk  -  ka  -  al  -  lam   si  -  i  -  ri 

si  -  it  -  lu  -  tu      na  -  ra  -  am      Marduk 

e  -  ip  -  s5  -  ta  -  u  -  a     a  -  na     da  -  mi  -  ik  -  ti™   ha  -  di  -  is 

na  -  ap  -  li  -  is  -  ma 
20  ba  -  la  -  ta™     dara  -  a     se  -  bi  -  e     li  -  it  -  tu  -  ti™ 

ku  -  un     kassi      la  -  ba  -  ri     pa  -  li  -  e  -      su  -  um  -  ka  -  tu     na  -  ki  -  ri 

ka  -  sa.da™     mata    ai  -  bi        a-na     si  -  ri  -  ri  -  ik  -  tim    su  -  ur  -ka  -am 

i  -  na    li'u'u  -  ki     ki  -  i  -  nu'u     mu-ki  -  in     pu  -  lu.  uk 

sa  -  mi-  -  c    u    ir  -  si  -  tim 
25  i-  bi      a  -  ra  -  ku      (i  -  mi  -  ia     su  -  du  -  ur    li  -  it  -  tu  -  u  -  tim 

ma  -  ha  -  ar    Marduk     sar     sa  -  mi  -  e      u     ir  -  si  -  ti  m 

a  -  bi     a  -  li  -  di  -  ka    e  -  ip  -  se  -  tu  -  u  -  a     su  -  am  -  gi  -  ri 

ki  -  bi    du  -  um  -  ku  -  u  -  a 

Na  -  bi  -  um  -  ku  -  du  -  ur  *  ri  -  u  su  -  ur 


THE    nORSlPPA    INSCRIPTION.  1:^5 

80  III     sarru     za  -  ni  -  iisi  -  an 

li  -  is  -  sa  -  ki .  in    i  •  na    pi  -  i .  ka 

Translation. 

Nebuchadnezzar,     king     of      Babylon, 

the    faithful    shepherd,    the   supporter  of   the  decision  of   the  heart  of  Merrxiach, 

the  exalted  priest,  the  beloved  of   Nebo, 

the  understanding,  the  wise  [one],  who,  for  the  heroic  deeds  of  the  great  •gijds, 
5     has     attentive      ears, 

the  ruler,  who  does  not  grow  weary,  the  finisher  of  Esaggil  and  Ezida, 

the  first-born  son  of  Nabopolassar, 

king  of  Babylon  [am]   I. 
10     x\s     Merodach,     the     great     lord, 

faithfully     created     ine     and 

sent  me  to  make  its   restoration, 

Nebo,  the  protector  of  the  host  of  heaven  and  earth, 

a  righteous  sceptre  caused  my  hand  to  grasp, 
15      Esaggil,  the  palace  of  heaven  and   earth, 

the  dwelling-place  of  the  lord  of   the  Gods  Merodach, 

Ekua,  the  sanctuary  of  his  lordship, 

with  glittering  gold  like  a  wall  I  erected, 

Ezida     anew     I     made     and 
20     with  silver,  gold,  precious  stones  I  built  ; 

with  copper,    mis  wood  from  Makan,   cedar, 

I    finished     its     building. 

E-temen  -  an  -  ki,  the  tower  of  Babylon 

I     made,     finished     and 
25     with  a  covering  of  glittering    bright  stones   (?) 

I     erected     its     top. 

At  this  time  E-  ur-  VII  -  an  -  ki,  the  tower  of   Borsippa. 

which  the  previous  king  built  had 

made     42     ells     high,     but 
80     did     not     erect     its     top, 

from  days  of  old  had  decayed  and 

the   drains  for  its  water  had  not  been  kept  up. 

Column     II. 

rain    and     storm 

had    torn  .  away     its     bricks. 

The  covering  of  its  roof  was  torn  away  and 

the  bricks  of  the  building  itself  heaped   up  like  a  hill. 
5     To  build  it  the  great  lord,  Merodach, 

caused  my  heart  to  <  drive  me. 

The  place  I  did  not  change  and  I  did  not  alter  its  foundation. 

In  a  month  of  peace,  on  a  favourable  day, 

the  bricks  of  the  main-building  and  the  covering  of  the  ceiling 
10     of  the  stories  I  joined  firmly  together    and 

its  decay  I  caused  to  be  restored  and 

the  inscription  of  my  name 


136 


THE    BORSIPPA    INSCRIPTION. 


15 


20 


2i) 


30 


in  the  corners  of  the    stories  I  placed. 

To   build   it 

and  erect  its  top  my    hand  I  stretched   out. 

Nebo,  the  faithful  son,  the  exalt'ed  messenger, 

the  victorious  (one),  the  beloved  of  Merodach 

upon  my   deeds  in  mercy  joyfully 

look     and 
an  everlasting  life,  old  age,  offspring, 

a  firm  throne,  a  long  reign,    the   overthrow  of  my  enemies, 
the   conquest  of  the  land  of  my  enemies  as  a  present    grant, 
on  thy   everlasting   tablet,   who  boldest  the  reinsC?) 

of   lieaA^en  and  earth 
proclaim  the  length  of  my  days,  command  offspring  to  me. 
Before  Merodach,  king  of  heaven  and  earth, 
the  father,  thy  begetter  my  deeds  cause  to   bless, 
command    mercy  to  me  I 
Nebuchadnezzar 
is  truly  the  king,  the  restorer, 
may  he  be  established  by  thy  mouth  (=command)! 


Notes. 

Col.  I.,  1.  2,  itu-ut.  I  am  unable  to 
explain  this  word ;  my  translation,  is, 
therefore,  only  what  the  connection  seems 
to  me  to  demand.  The  same  expression 
occurs  1.  52,  1.  2. 

L.  3,  issakku.  W.A.I.L,  pi.  53,  1.  5., 
this  word  is  written  ideographically  pa-te- 
si.  For  other  passages,  as  well  as  some 
remarks,  cf.  P  lemming  Diss.  p.  24. 

L.  4,  al-ka-ka-a-at  The  root  is  "7711;  the 
form  Piel.  Cf.  the  note  on  this  word  in 
my  work  Die  Keilscrift  texte  Asurhanipals, 
Heft  IL,  p.  5  ff. 

L.  6,  (Mii-ha  is  from  r\^^  "  to  become 
weary."  La  a-ni-ha  is  "  the  one  who  does 
not  become  weary." — The  root  pt  meant 
originally  "to  make  full"  then  "to  make 
<,ood,  finish."  Cf.  LatriUe  Z  K  II,  259. 
Pinches  calls  my  attention  to  W.A.I.V. 
pi.  40,  1.  6  ef.,  where  this  word  stands  im- 
mediately following  ri^ww  "pasture,"  and 
maskitum  "drink."  According  to  this,  it 
might  have  meant  "  to  give  food." 

L.  8,  aaandu.  Cf.  the  remarks  of 
Lairille  Z  K  II,  347  ff. 

L.  10,  i-'i'ii-vm.  This  is  undoubtedly  the 
qoriect    reading  as    the   varian    Senkereh 


I,  11  proves.  We  read  here  i-na-(var.  nu)- 
um-mi-su.  For  this  word  cf.  Schrader, 
K.A.T.,  p.  2,  1.  1.,  p.  17.  1.  5.  and  Lotz, 
Tiglathpileser,  p.  183.  Flemming's  attempt 
(Diss.  p.  30)  to  read  ninilm  and  to  con- 
nect the  word  with  Heb.  ^l^;^  fails  com 
pletely.  All  the  passages  that  he  cites  are 
clearly  to  be  explained  thus. 

L.  21,  era  "copper,"  but  not  "bronze" 
cf  Jensen  Z  A  I.  p.  254  ff. — mis-ma-kan-na. 
"Miswood  from  the  country  of  Makan." 
Cf.  Heft.  II.  p  24  of  my  Asurhanipal. 

L.  23,  note  the  variant  hit  for  e  cf.  pi.  48, 
No.  9,  1,  7. 

L.  25,  agurri  This  word  has  different 
meanings  in  the  Assyrian  inscriptions. 
Esarhaddon  col.  V,  1.  18,  we  read  ciskup^e 
a-gur-ri,  which  certainly  means  "thresh- 
olds of  flagstones."  K.  1794  col.  x.  1.  22 
(cf .  my  Asurhani^al  Heft  II.  p.  1 9)  it  means 
"  burned  bricks,"  while  in  the  large  Nebu- 
chadnezzar inscription,  it  means  "covering." 
Probably  all  of  these  meanings  belong  to 
the   Heb.    "^^n.       Mr.   Pinches,    however, 

compares     Arabic     '^-^\      or      [^\     — 

za-mat.      Cf.  Asmhimi/pal  Eeft  II.   p.  24, 
Delitzsch  A.L.,  p.    36,    No.     315,    reads 


A    BABYLONIAN    WEDDING— p.  137. 

T  ^  -+  <:::^T  a  in  ?  T  "^^m  ^^  fw  -^  er  t  *f  -+  « < 

3-  •J^  4flF  -+  H  Jf-  c^^  4  =Tf }  -+  H  J^-  £^  "0-  ^iliT  -(k 
<?-Ht^"f  t^'!iT3l:T"!i:i^T-^*  V  ^  ^  yjy- 5Si{  c<e 
<  ^  J^  5:?  3tT  -ET^T  >4<  T^  1?^^  -+  .4  ^^  Tf  ■Ert^  >4<  I 

6-  n  ^-<r  T^  IF?  -3^  ;i^  5:?  n  ^4  t  -+  c:*t  -^  nr  jf^ 

It  ;?  T  "^^TH ^  l^  -gtT^  4fl-  TM  J^  <<<  -+ 

Reverse. 

9-  ^  -^  M  -7^  T  RTf  in?  T  •STU-^  It  T  J^  -(<<  -+ 

T  -+  c:*T  -^  -^  iri¥  T  <t!^  m  ir  t  ^^  liti 
T  Jpi  -+  <c:^T  A  in?  T  '^m  ^*  r  a  "et^t 
i^.  t  in  j^  <<'(-+ 

T  ^tjr^?  i^m  jff-g  JN«  tn  ?  T  -iW^T  ^  isL  m  -£> 

ir  T  J^  <«  -+ 1  -+  <^TT  *  -S/  in  ?  T  -.^WtT  ^*  IS.  4  "ET4T 
t5-  ir  T  J^  <«  -+<  T  "f  4  -^  ^S  ®  ^35T  ^n 

in?  T  JfH  -+  <:*T  ir  t  <?- 1^*  -mi^ 
i8.  ^  Ax  ^- -^mf  ^^  A  -stn  ^ 

c^  ^  is 

*  Here,  apparently,  an  erasure. 

t  Here  an  erasure,  the  scribe  having  begun  to  write  line  13  in  the  blank  space. 


A    r.ABYLONIAN    WEDDING. 


137 


?«/&w/^  "  Krystall."  The  Akkadian  form  is 
za-gin,  which  means  "white  stone."  Cf. 
W.  A.  I.  IV,  1)1.  18,  1.  42,  45,  where  the 
reading  za-gin-na  occurs. 

L.  26,  u-v/-la-a.  This  word  is  II.,  I. ,  from 
the  root  pf /t^4-  This  form  means  to  make 
high. 

L.  27,  E-nr-VII-an-lci.  The  character  ur 
is  explained  b}!  ha-ma-imt  S^  271.  The 
name  then  means  "house  of  the  seven 
spheres  of  heaven  (and)  earth." 

32  mu-si-e  means  "outlet,"  "passage," 
and  comes  from  the  roo   ^^ill^. 

Col.  II,  1.  1,  ra-a-du  "storm."  Cf. 
Arab.       ^^y 

L.  3,  up-ta-at-ti-ir-ma  II,  2  from  ItOS- 

L.  4,  ku-um-mi-sa.  This  word  means 
literally  "place,  stead,  room."  Here  we 
must  translate  "its  own  building."  The 
root  is  Di::.  Cf.  W.A.I. V.  pi.  8,  1.  46.— 
ti-la-ni-is  is  an  adverb  from  tiht  "  hill." 

L.  6,  u-sa-at-ka-an-ni  This  is  from  the 
same  root  as  the  word  at-ki  W.A.I.V.,  10, 
74.  Cf.  my  Asurbanipal  Heft  I,  p.  105,  and 
the  "Glossar."  K  2675  Heft  II,  p,  12, 
1.  9.  The  root  is  n^H.  The  translation 
here  is  "  my  heart  drove  me  "  ;  the  form  is 
III,  I,  with  the  suffix  of  the  first  person. 

L.  7,  e-ni-ma.  This  word  is  synony- 
mous with  the  following  unakkir.  The 
root  is  n^i^4'  The  words  in-nin-nu-u,  W. 
A.I.V.,  10,  9,  and  mut-nitirnu-u,  7,  95,  are 
also  to  be  deprived  from  this  root.    Haupt, 


Hebraica,  Oct.  1885,  pp.  4-6,  attempts  to 
derive  the  last  named  word  from  pji,  hut 
this  is  utterly  impossible.  Cf.  my  remarks 
Asurh.  Heft  I.  p.  102. 

L.  10,  ap-ta-a-ti.  This  words  quite 
certainly  means  "stories."  I  think  the 
root  is  nilD- 

L.  11,  ki-tir-ri.  This  is  quite  clearly  the 
reading  of  the  original ;  the  li.  in  W.A.I. 
is  wrong.  I  think  that  this  word  means 
**  corner."      Perhaps    Arab.    J^    may   be 

compared.  This  translation  seems  to  me 
to  suit  the  connection. 

L.  21,  kiMm  is  inf.  II.,  1,  from  p^. 

L.  22,  hir-ur-ka-am,  Impr.  from  py^. 
Cf.  Bezold  in  the  "Nachtrage"  to  my 
Asurh.,  Heft  II. 

23  li'tmi.  These  characteis  are  to  be 
read  thus.  Cf  W.A.I  II.  42,  22e,  and 
the  passages  given  by  Strassmaier  Alpha- 
bet. Verz.  No.  4800.,  W.A.L  III.  2,  1. 
Cf.  further  Pinches  PSBA,  June,  1886.— 
pu-lu-uk.  This  word  is  doubtful  both  as  to 
etymology  and  meaning.  The  same  word 
occurs  Tiglathpileser  I.,  39,  written  with 
g  an.i  Sb.  169,  written  with  k.  Cf.  W.A. 
I.  v.,  63,  col.  II,  15,  where  this  expres- 
sion also  occurs.     I  ihink  the  root  is  ^770. 

L.  25,  i-hi.  That  this  last  character  is 
to  be  read  hi,  is  proved  by  the  variant 
^Z^y^iy  for  ^  in  1,  28.  lUh  imper.  from 
nahu.     Cf.  pi.  52,  1.  28. 

Li,  30,  za-ni-na-an  is  a  substantive  formed 
from  the  part  in  dnu.        S.  Alden  Smith. 


GLIMPSES  OF  BABYLONIAN  AND  ASSYRIAN  LIFE. 
II. -A  BABYLONIxVN  WEDDING. 
Transcription. 

1.  Itti-  D.p.  Marduk-bfilatu,  mriri-su  sa  d.p.  Bel-ahe-iddin,  milr  d.p.  Nur-Sin, 

2.  i-na  liu-ud  lib-bi-sii,  esrit  raa-na  kaspi  d.pp.  Ba-ni-tum  iitor-ahi, 

3.  D.p.    Sar-D.p.  Ba-ni-tiun-tabu,  d.p.  Ba-ni-tum-si-il-mi, 

4.  u  D.PP.  Beltu-si-il-mu,  irbit-ta  d.p.  a-me-lut-tum 

5.  u  u-di-e  biti,  it-ti  d.p.  Amat-D.p.  Nana,  mar-ti-su, 

6.  a-na  mi-dun-nu-iii-o,  a-na  d.pp.  Marduk-siim-ib-ni, 

7.  mriri-sii  sa  d.p.  Bel-u-sal-li-ini,  abil  d.p.  Kp-es-iln; 

8.  id-di-iu. 


138  A    BAB\LONIAN    WEDDING. 

9.  D.p.  Mu-kin-nu:  d.p.  Abla-a,  mari-sii  sa  d.p.  BeMddin,  mar  d.p.  Ep-es-ilu; 

10.  D.pp.  Marduk-sum-iddin,  mari-su  sa  d.p.  Kapti-ia,  mar  d.p.  Ga-lial; 

11.  D.p.  Itti-D.p.  Marduk-balatu,  mari-su  sa  d.p.  Nabu-rilie-biiU-it 

12.  mar  d.p.  Ep-es-ili; 
18.  D.p.  Nabu-edir-napsati,  mari  sa    sa  d.p.    Nabu-ahe-bull-it 

14:.  ma-r  d.p.  Ep-es-ilu  ;    d.pp.  Nergal-use-zib,  mari-su  sa  d.p.  Nabu-ahe-bull-it. 

15.  mrir  D.p.  Ep-es-ilu  ;  u  d.pp.    Simas-suQi-u-kiii,  dupsar, 

16.  mari  su  sa  d.p.  Ukin  Marduk,   mar  d.p.  Si-gu-u-a. 

17.  [Tiu-tir  d.s.]  arah  samna,  Cimu  salasserit    suttu  selaltu, 

18.  [d.p.  Kam.bu-]zi-ia,  sar  Tin-tir  d.s., 

19.  sar  matati. 

Translation. 

1.  Itti-Marduk-balatu,  son  of  Bel-ahe-iddin,  son  of  Nur-Sin, 

2.  in  the  joy  of  his  heart,  10  mana  of  silver,  Banitum-uter-ahi 
8.  §ar-Banitum-tabu,  Banitum-silmi 

4.  and  Beltu-silmu,  4  slaves 

5.  and  the  furniture  of  a  house,  with  Amat-Nanii  liis  daughter, 

6.  as  a  dowry,  to  Marduk -sum-ibni 

7.  son  of  Bel-usallim,  son  of  Epes-ilu 

8.  he  has  given. 

9.  Witnesses:  Abla,  son  of  Bel-iddin,  son  of  Epes-ilu; 

10.  Marduk-sum-iddin,  son  of  Kaptia,  son  of  Gahal; 

11.  Itti-Marduk-balatu,  son  of  Nabu-ahe-buUit,  ^ 

12.  son  of  Epes-ilu; 
18.  Nabu-edirnap-sati,  son  of  Nabu-tllie  bullit, 

14.  son  of  Epes-ilu;  Nergal-usezib,  son  of  Nabu-ahe-buUit, 

15.  son  of  Epes-ilu  ;  and  §amas-sum-ukin,  the  scribe, 

16.  son  of  Ukin-Marduk,  son   of  Sigua. 

17.  [Babylon],  Marcheswan,  13th  day,  3rd  year. 

18.  [Cambyjses,    king  of  Babylon, 

19.  king  of  c>^untries. 

Free  Rendering  of  the  Obverse. 
"  Itti-Marduk-balatu,  son  of  Bel-ahe-iddin,  descendant  of  Nur-Sin,  in  tha  joy  of  his 
heart,  has  given  10  mana  of  silver,  and  the  female  slaves  Banitum-uter*ahi,  §ar-Banitum- 
tabu,  Banitum-silmi,  and  Beltu-silmu — (in  all)  4  slaves,  and  the  furnitnre  of  a  house,  with 
Amat-Nanii  his  daughter,  as  a  dowry,  to  Marduk-sum-ibni,  son  of  Belusallim,  descendant 
of  Epes-ilu." 

The   document  here  translated  seems  not  nudunnime,    instead    of      simply    nudunne 

to  be  the  original,  but  a  copy,  and  although  "  dowry"   (oblique  case  after  the  preposition 

the  characters  are  fairly  clear  and  well  formed,  ana)  the  Nom.  being  nudunnu. 
yet  the  scribe  has  apparently  made  two  mis-  It  will  be  noted  that  four  ijut  of  the   six 

takes  in  copying  it.     The  first  is  in  the  third  witnesses  (one  of  whom,  §amas-sum-ukin — 

Ine,  where  he  has  left  out  the  determinative  the  namesake  of  the  brother  of  Assur-bani- 

prefix    ^  before  the  name   BanUum-silmi.  apli,   called  Saosduchinos  by  the  Greekt^ — is 

The  other  is  in  line  six,  where  he  has  written  the  scribe  who  drew  up  the  document)  are  of 


i 


PEHLEVI    NOTES. 


139 


tlie  bridegroom's  family,  whose  ancestor  was 
a  certain  Epes-ilu,  so  that  there  is  only  one 


really  independent  witness  for  Itti-Marduk- 
balatu,  the  father  of  the  bride/ 

Thbo.  G.  Pinches, 


1)  A  translation  of  this  inscription  has  already  been  given  by  me  in  the  Guide  to  the 
Nimroud  Central  Saloon,  p.  103—104,  but  the  text  and  transcription  are  here  pui)lishcd 
for  the  first  time. 

PEIILEVI  NOTES.— IL     A  PARALLEL  TO  THE  PEHLEVI  JARGON. 


I  SHALL  not  be  so  presumptuous  as  to  ex- 
press an  opinion  either  way  upon  Professor 
de  Harlez's  elaborate  argument  against  the 
'  ideogrammatic'  nature  of  the  Pahlavi  huz- 
varei<h,  and  in  favour  of  its  being  a  real  lan- 
guage, or  rather  jargon.  My  object  in  this 
Note  is  merely  to  point  out  a  curious  paral- 
lel, whicli  may  not  be  without  value,  drawn 
from  an  interesting  article  in  a  former  vol- 
ume of  the  Mvseon^  which  Dr.  de  Harlez 
edits. 

First  of  all,  let  me  remind  the  reader 
that  Prof,  de  Harlez,  in  order  to  give  an 
idiea  of  the  character  of  the  queer  mixed 
Persian  and  Semitic  farrago  called  Pehlevi, 
presents  the  first  line  of  the  ^neid  in  a  cor- 
respondingly formed  farrago  of  Latin  and 
Greek,  (B.  &  0.  Record,  No.  4,  p.  50),  in 
which  the  Greek  words  are  supposed  to  re- 
present the  huzvaresh,  or  Semitic  elements 
I  take  the  liberty  of  reprinting  the  line,  with 
the  difference  that,  for  clearness'  sake,  I 
introduce  the  Greek  alphabetic  characters  for 
Greek  forms  as  follows  : — 
Arma  di/^/^umque  deiSo  Trojaj  6  Trpwins 
air  oris. 
Now,  odd  as  this  jargon  looks,  it  is  no 
stranger  than  an  ordinary  line  of  Pehlevi. 
It  will  be  observed  that  not  only  are  these 
Greek  terms  mixed  with  Latin  ones,  but  also 
that  the  former  have  Latin  grammatical 
terminations  affixed,  (umque,  -o,  -tus). 

It  may  be  asked,  could  such  a  jargon  ever 
exist  ?  It  is  somewhat  startling  to  find  that 
one  actually  does  exist  and  flourish  at  the  pre- 
sent day.  I  refer  to  the  groups  of  dialects 
of  Greek  Soutliern  Italy,  the  ancient  Magna 
Gra?cia.  In  the  Museon  for  1884,  Professor 
Vito  Palumbo,  who  was  the  first  to  explore 
the  rich  mines  of  folk-lore  of  the  Greek  col- 


ony of  the  Terra  d'Otranto,  gave  a  curiously 
interesting  specimen  of  this  Greco-Salentinc 
dialect,  in  the  form  of  a  folk-legend  "  Tlie 
Three  Counsels  of  King  Solomon."  A  few 
extracts  will  at  once  render  it  evident  that 
we  have  here  a  Greco- Italian  "  Pehlevi."  '. 
will  once  more  introduce  the  Greek  letters 
for  the  Greek  forms,  in  order  to  bring  out 
the  correspondence  with  Prof,  de  Harlez's 
imaginary  verse  : — 

Praduna,  domnm  eva  cosiglio  Trpoinn  va  'nuo, 
Rispundei;<re  o  praduna  ce  l-n-e  :  aKwrov  du- 

can,  esu  pov  ^tin. 
[Master,  give  me  a  counsel  before  I  go  away. 
Answered  the  master  and  said  :  A  hundred 
ducats,  this  thou  slialt  give  me]. 

Here  we  have,  mixed  up  with  dialectical 
Italian,  the  Greek  Words  iva(=eva).  TrpoTnrt 
( =  TT^o  +  tVt)  i/a,  Ce  (  =  *:«*),  ittg  (^  e^Tre), 
aKWTov      (^  =  tKuTov)^     o      (  =  o),      fiov.        Not 

only  so,  but  we  have  Greek  words  with  It- 
alian grammatical  inflexions  (Vao,  apparent- 
ly for  uTT-eijiii,  with  Italian  -o,  tivi,  from 
Si'Biv^i?  with  suffix  m),  and  even  an  Italian 
word  with  Greek  suffix  (rispundev  -  ae,  with 
ending  of  3  pers.  aorist  ?)  Once  more  : 
•'isa  kaH  e  kosigli  Ci  pradun-mu,"  which 
may  be  rendered  thus  :  t/ffau  koXoI  oi  con- 
sigli  Tov  padrone  /lov. 

I  need  not  quote  further.  The  above 
specimens  will  be  enough  to  shew  that  some- 
thing very  like  the  jargon  of  Dr.  de  Harlez's 
fabricated  line  of  Virgil,  and  consequently 
analogous  to  Pehlevi,  really  exists,  and  is  still 
in  use  as  a  folk-speech  in  Italy.  The  only 
difference  is  that  we  should  here  probably 
consider  the  foundation  Greek,  the  Italiau  to 
represent  the  intrusive  element, — the  huzvar- 
esh  in  fact. 

L.  C.  Casartelli. 


1^0 


EUPHRATEAN    NAMES    IN 


REMARKS    ON  SOME   EUPHRATEAN  ASTRONOMICAL  NAMES  IN 

LEXICON  OF  IIESYGHIOS. 


THE 


II 


It  would  b3  a  work  worthy  of  modern  scholar- 
ship to  make  a  scientific  analysis  of  tli^ 
great  K^^^lkov  of  the  grammarian  Hesychios , 
cir.  A.  D.  370;  to  distinguish  between  xAryan 
and  Non- Aryan  words  and  names;  to  class 
the  divinity-epithets  and  thoroughly  investig- 
ate the  dialectology;  and,  assisted  by  the 
iglit  of  modern  discovery,  to  grapple  success- 
fully with  the  frequent  obscurities  and  cor- 
ruptions of  the  text.  The  Lexicon  contains 
many  Oriental,  and  some  Euphratean  words 
or  epithets;  and  in  the  days  when  Assyriology 
was  younger,  and  when  cuneiform  decipher- 
ment was  doubted  or  ridiculed,  it  was  cheer- 
ing to  occasionally  find  investigation  or 
conjecture  supported  by  the  weighty  testimony 
of  a  Hesychios  or  a  Damaskios.'  I  propose 
in  this  Paper  to  illustrate  the  value  and 
importance  of  Hesychios,  by  noticing  the 
Euphratean  terms  which  he  has  preserved 
for  Heaven,  Moon,  Sun,  Mercury,  Venus, 
Jupiter,  and  Mars. 


^avi-j.  'o  KofTjJio'i  BajSuXouio^.  Corr.  'S.avrj 
=  (As.)  Save,  sawe,^  same,  ■'  the  heavens," 
Heb.  shamayini.  The  heaven  in  kosmic 
order,  as  distinguished  from  the  state  of 
tohu  and  holm,  which  latter  is  personified  in 
the  Phoenician  Baav,^  the  goddess  Bahu  of 
the  Inscriptions.'* 

'At^6s%  11  (TeXtjuq  Trapd  ILaXSaioa.  =(Ak.) 
Idic^  the  full  moon,  expressed  ^in  archaic 
Babylonian  by  the  ideograph  ^^=the  circle, 
solar  or  lunar,  +  <(^^  (10-1-10  +  10),  i.  e. 
the  30  days  of  the  month.  As  might  be 
expected,  it  is  the  protagonistic  name  which 
Hesychios  has  preserved,  and  the  word  is 
connected  with  an  archaic  and  widely-spread 
Turanian  moon-name.  "  The  primitive  Chal- 
deean  title  [of  the  moon  is]  represented  by  a 
cuneiform  sign  which  is  phonetically  AI,  as 
\A    modern  Turkish.^  The  name  of  "  la 

deesse  lunaire  Ai,  epouse  de  Samas,"^  ap- 
pears written  thus,  >->f-  fj  ]],  Ilu  AA 
("goddess  xVA").  So  Strahlenberg  in  his  very 
interesting  •'  Polyglot-Table  of  the  dialects 
of    32  Tartarian    Nations,"   gives  as  moon- 


1)  Yide  Damaskios,  Tlepi  twv  Trpwruu  apx*^^,  cxxv.  2*77;  (often  mistranslated  "  in 
silence")~Ak.  Ziku,  ttjv  ^ilav  t&v  bXivv  apxyi^,  "the  primitive  substance  of  the  universe" 
(Prof.  Sa^ce)  :  T«t;^G=As.  Tavtu,  Tamtu,  Tiilmat,  Heb.  Tehom,  the  primal  Chaotic-deep, 
personified  as  a  monster,  dralvontic  or  serpentine,  -end  combining  the  ideas  of.  watery-chaos, 
night,  storm-darkness,  and  moral  evil.  A7ra<rw,/=As.  Apsu,  Ak.  Zuab  ("Deep-wisdom." 
Does  zuafj-apsu  resii^pesiv  in  the  Gk,  magical  word  ^ayjr,  said  to  mean  "the  sea,"  apsu 
being  "  the  deep  ?"  Vide  Clem.  Alex.  Stromata,  v.  8).  Mw(>>t?=Mami  ("  the  Waters"). 
Aaxi;(not  Aax^)=Lakhmu,  the  Clear-sky.  A^x^^  O^^t  Aaxo9)=Lakhamu.  YLiaaapri^ 
Kisar,  the  Lower-expanse.  "A(ro-to/jov=Asar,  probably  the  Upper-expanse.  "Ai/ov=Ak. 
Ana,  As.  Anu,  "Heaven."  IWivo^  (coir.  a\t/to9)=Elim,  Elum  (=Bel).^  "Ao^  =  Ea, 
the  'Q75  of  Helladios,  also  called  'Qat/j/,;9=Ak.    Ea-khan    (Lenormant)   "  Ea-the-Fish." 

2)  Vide  inf.  in  voc.    Saw?. 

3)  OvT(V<i    ovojxd^ovai   voktu  ^oiviKe^    (Sanchou.  1.  3. 

5)  I-da  might  mean  "the  Glorious-goer  (cf.  the  Aryan  lo,  "  the  Goer"),  Id-u='^  the 
Measuring-lord,"  7iw72t="  the  Father-the-goer."  The  ideograph  >-^y,  du,  originally 
two  legs  (=the  Goers),  also=^w^  (kup)  "  to  wax"  (as  the  moon),  and  reminds  us  pf  Kup- 
ra,  the  Etruscan  (non-Aryan)  full-moon  goddess. 

6)  Sir  H.  C.  Rawlinson,  in  Canon  Rawlinson's  Herodotus,  i.  123. 

7)  Lenormant,  Etude  sur  quelques  parties  des  Syllabaires  Cuneiformes,,  16. 


THE    LEXICON    OF  HEflYCHIOS 


141 


names  : —  Siberian-Mahometan-Tatars,  Ay^ 
Jakuti  on  the  river  Lena,  JJicli  ;  Ostiaks, 
Ire  ;  Ostiaks  near  Tomskoi,  Irrnen  ;  Sam- 
ogedi-Taui^i,  In?  I  have  elsewliere^  sliown 
that  tlie  famous  Homeric  story  of  Kirkc  (the 
'  Round'-moon)  who  Hved  in  the  mysterious 
island  Aia  (=  Moon),  was  Euplimtean  in 
origin.  A  variant  of  Idii  is  Ita\  now  as  Idu 
=  (Gk.)  Aidh,  Itii  =  (Gk.)  Aites  and  as 
Ai  is  the  Moon,  and  A?«,  the  Moon-island, 
we  obtain  the  form  Aiaites  =  Alites  = 
(Gk.)  Aiates,  Aietes  —  {hk.)  Ai-Itu.  No 
one  need  be  surprised  to  find  a  stray  Ak. 
name  preserved  in  the  Homeric  Poems,  when 
we  find  these  names  in  Hesychios,  Hellad- 
ios,  Damaskios  and  Hyginus.'° 

We  thus  have  a  male  and  a  female  Eu- 
pliratean  lunar  power.  Idu  (Aitu)  and  Ai 
(Aa,  Aia,)  Limus  and  Luna ;  and  being 
twin  phases  of  the  same  original,  they 
,  might  well  be  called  brother  and  sister,  and 
that  in  the  full  and  closest  degree.  Now, 
if  we  turn  to  the  Homeric  Poems,  we  find 
that  this  particular  closeness  of  relationship 
is  specially  mentioned  as  existing  between 
Kirke  (Aia)  and  Aietes.     Kirke  is 

aVTOKa(ji^(vi]Ta   o\oo(^povo<i     Aiarao." 

Their     sire    was     Aelios     (  =  Samas)    and 


their  mother  Persa,  a  female  sun-phase;  we 
can  therefore  well  understand  the  statement 
tliat*  (the  lunar)  Aietes  was  driven  from 
his  kingdom  by  liis  brother  (tlie  solar)  Por- 
ses,  but  restored  to  it  again  by  his  daugli- 
ter  (th6  lunar)  Medeia,"  a  reduplication  of 
himself.  This  contest  of  the  hostile  bre- 
thren is  the  ancient  battle  between  tlie  ori- 
ginal Twins,    Sun    and    Moon,    of    whom 

tty^]  >f  ::  •^'^T  ^T"-  ET-'  '^""^^'^^  Bartab- 
hagalgal.  "  the  Constellations  of  the  Great 
Twins, "'3  is  a  stellar  reduphcation,  andwho, 
in  the  curious  version  of  the  ?>i()vy  pre- 
served by  Nicholas  of  Damaskos,'"*  are 
called  Parsondas'3  (=Ak.  Par,  *  Sun,'  + 
Sandan,  the  Kilikian  Sun-god)  and  Nan- 
naros  (=Nannaru,  "the  Brilliant," a  name 
of  the   Moon-god). 

Aietes  is  represented  in  the  Gk.  myth, 
which  contains  a  curious  melange  of  Eu- 
phratean  and  Semitic  reminiscences,  as  being 
at  one  period  the  possessor  of  the  skin  of 
the  sacrificed  '•  Ariea^^  nitidissimus  auro,"'^ 
"  pecudem  Athamantidos,"'^  i.e.  belonging 
to  Athamas-Tammuz,  the  Sun-god.  The 
golden,  solar,  diurnal  Ram  is  naturally  slain 
when  it  comes  under  i\\e  control  of  the 
Moon-king.       At  Athens  was  a  representa- 


8)  Description  of  Siberia,  1788. 

9)  The  ^Myth  of  liirkS,  1883.  "  Your  comparison  of  the  myth  of  Kirke  with  that  of 
Istar  in  the  myth  of  Gisdhubar,  is  as  self  -  convincing  as  your  discovery  that  Athamas  is 
Tammuz"  (Prof.  Sayce). 

10)  "  Euahanes  [or  '  Euhadnes,'=Ea-khan],  qui  in  Chaldea  de  mari  exisse  dicitur' 
{fahulce,  cclxxiv). 

11)  '0^v(T(Tew<f  j/oVto9,  a  135,  according  to  Fick's  restoration  (^Die  Homerische  Odysee  in 
der  Ursprimglichen  Sjn^achform,  1883)  =  0d.  x.  136. 

12)  Apollodoros,  I,  ix,  28.  13)   Gemini.  14)  Fragment,  x, 

15)  Perseus  can  hardly  be  an  Arj^an  name  (vide  Cox^Mythol.  of  the  Aryan  Nations,  edii, 
1882,  p.  302).  According  to  the  Paschal  Chronicle,  there  was  a  "  statue  of  Perseus  erect- 
ed just  outside  the  city  of  Iconium... which  seems  to  have  been  an  old  Hittite  monument" 
(Saj^e,  in  Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  Archa>ol.  vii.  271).  Herodotos  (ii.  91)  states  he  met  with 
the  Perseus-cult  in  Egypt.  "  Brugsch  suggests  that  the  sbrine  [in  question]  was  that  of 
Horus,  who  bore  the  title  oi  per-se,  'son  of  Isis' "  (Sayce,  Herodotus,  172).  As  Parsa 
(Persia)  =  Gk.  Persis,  and  Perses,  son  of  Perseus  and  Andromede  (a  non-Aryan  personage) 
was,  according  to  the  Hellenes,  the  eponymous  sire  of  the  Persians,  so  the  per  in  Perseus 
probably = the  7)ar  in  Par-sondas. 

IG)  Vide  R.B.,  Babylonian  Astronomy  in  the  West — the  Aries  of  Aratos,  {Bab.  ^'  Orient, 
Record,  January,  1887), 

17)  Ovid,  Fasti,  iii.  «67.  18)  Ibid,  iv,  903, 


142 


EUPHRATEAN  NAMES  IN 


tion  of  Phrixos  sacrificing  the  Ram  to  some 
foreign  divinity /^  The  x/^^'^^o/taXXoi/  Kplou, 
£0'  ov  Phrixos  and  his  sister  (j^epojiievoi   81 

ovpavov   '^p]v    VTTepe^^ffaif  kol    daXarraav^^     is 

said  to  have  been  the  gift  of  Hermes.  Now 
it  is  quite  true  that  in  Aryan  mythology 
Hermes  is  the  Wind-god,  and  has  special 
power  over  flocks  and  herds,  both  aerial 
and  terrestrial;^'  but,  as  Mr  Ruskin,  a  true 
seer,  points  out,  he  "  becomes  the  spirit  of 
the  movement  of  the  sky^  or  firmament... 
the  great  motion  of  the  heavens  and  stars 
rhemseWes.  In  his  highest  power  he  cor- 
tesponds  to  the  '  primo  mobile'  of  the  later 
Italian  philosophy."'^  xVnd,  certain  it  ;is, 
that  Hermes  is  Kpio(/)6po^'^^  not  only  as 
cattle-guardian  and  lord,  but  also  in  another 
and  a  remarkable  sense.  The  Euphratean 
astronomical  Hermes,  i.e.,  the  planet  Nabu- 
^  Mercury,  is  often  called  Sulpa-uddu, 
(•'the  Messenger  of  the  Rising-sun");  and, 
as  such,  bears  on  and  gives  to  all  the  Golden 
(solar)  Ram. 

On  arriving  at  the  Oriental  home  of 
Aietes,  Phrixos  (=  the  Unsunlit  -  air) 
married  his  daughter  Chalkiope  (=the 
full  'Copper'-moon),  a  redupHcation  of 
Aietes  himself;  and  Apollodoros,  evidently 
following  some  very  curious  and  archaic 
account,  the  real  meaning  of  which  had 
been  lost  for  ages,  gives  their  issue  as 
Argos  (=White-light=Moon-light),  Melas 
,(=Darkness).  Phrontis  ('Thought,' suitable 


descendant  of  Aietes  Oloophron,  and  his 
spouse  Idyia,  "the  Knowing"),  and  Kut/- 
aicpo^  or  KvTiffffiopos;^^  an  utterly  unex- 
plained personage  whose  name  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  connect  with  the  Euphratean 
" kaaudpo^  (vide  sii'p.  note  1).^^ 

With  respect  to  tha  meaning  of  the  title 
XaXBa7oi,  it  may  be  noted  that  it  has 
passed  through  at  least  three  distinct  his- 
torical phases,  i.  e.  (1).  The  Kaldai  appear 
in  the  9th  cent.  B.  C.  as  a  non-Semitic  tribe 
living  on  the  shore  of  what  was  aftei-wards 
known  as  the  "Persian  Gulf."  (2).  The 
Kaldai  having  subsequently  conquered  Baby- 
lonia, the  Greeks  applied  their  name  to  it; 
and  "  the  reputation  of  the  Babylonians  for 
magic  and  astrology  caused  the  name  Khal- 
dfean  to  become  synonymous  with  'priest' 
and  '  soothsayer. '^7  (^^y  Even  as  late  as 
the  Parthian  Empire  the  Chaldaeans  are 
recognised  as  a  distinct  nationahty,  and  by 
Latin  writers  of  the  time  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  the  term  '  Chald^ei'  is  applied  in  a 
general  way  to  professors  of  the  form  of  oc- 
cultism connected  with  astronomico-as- 
trology."' 

The  term  '  Babylonians'  had  sometimes  an 
exceedingly  wide  signification;  thus  we  find 
in     Hesychios: — Ba^vXwvioi.     oi    ^apfiapoi 

III. 

^aiv^.    iyXi09«   Ba^vXivvioi.    =(As.)    SawaS 

(^=Snvas.  Samas).  Cf.  the  Gk.  form  of  the 


19)  Paus.  I.  xxiv.  2.  20)  Apollodoros,  I.  ix.  1. 

21)  Vide  Horn.  Hymn,  Eh  'Epjuijv,  Roscher,  Hermes  tier  Windgott  ;  Cox,  Mythol.  of 
the  Aryan  Nations,  446.  et  seq.  ;  and  the  charming  and  delicate  remarks  of  Ruskin,  Queen 
,of  the  Air,  i.  27.  22)  Ibid.  i.    128. 

23)  Vide  Pans.  IX.  xxii.  1.  The  god-fearing  Pausanias  will  not  relate  what  was  said 
iv  -reXeTt]  Miyrpos-  [=the  great  Babylonio-Hittite  goddess-mother  of  Asia  Minor]  about 
Hermes  and  the  Ram  (Ibid.  II.  iii.  4),  In  art  Hermes Kriophoros  naturally  supplied  a  pro- 
totype for  representations  of  the  Good  Shepherd. 

24)  Na/3w  (LXX)  is  henotheistically  styled  "  the  Lord  of  lords/'  "  the  Supreme  Chief" 
"  the  Lord  of  the  Constellations,"  "  the  Guardian  over  heaven  and  earth"  (Vide  Ruskin, 
8up.). 

25)  Also  mentioned  by  the  Schol.  ad  Appolon.  Rhod.  ii.  1123. 

26)  It  may  i>erhiii^s=Kut-Asar  (="the  Divided-expanse,"  or  Kisar-f  Asar). 

27)  Sayce,  in  Heiod.  i.  181  :     ol  XaXBa7oi  lepe2^  rovjov  rod  0eov, 

28)  Cf.  Juvenal,  Sat.  vi.  552  ;  Tacitus,  Annales,  ii,  27,  iii.  22,  &e, 
29^  Cf.  the  Babylonians  of  Aristophanes. 


tHE    LEXICOiJ   OF  HESVCHIOS. 


143 


king-name  Saosdoiikhinos,  and  tlic  remarks 
of  Mr  Pinches  on  the  Babylonian  pronun- 
ciation of  m  as   w.^° 

The  Babylonian  cosmogony   of  Damaski- 

OS^'      concludes,     rov     he      'Aou     Kal     ^avKtj9 

[Daukc= Ak.  Davkina,  "  Mistress  -  of  -  the 

earth"  [viou  r^feveaOai  top  BjyXoi/,  01/  hrj^iovp- 
r^foi/  elvac  <;()a(Tii/.=Bij\o^ — As.  Bilu,  ("  the 
Lord"),  and  the  divinity  referred  to  is  Bilu 
Maruduk  (-'the  Brilliance-of-the-sun"),  the 
Babylonian  Sun-god  and  special  patron  of 
the  city,3^  the  later  Bel,  Elum  being,  as 
noticed,  the  earlier  Bel.  Maruduk  being  in 
later  times  the  protagonistic  member  of  the 
Pantheon,  was  naturally  identified  by  the 
Greeks  with  Zeus,^^  and  hence  subsequently 
with  Ouranos.3'*  So  we  find  in  Hesychios, 
Brj\o9.  ovpavo^i.  Kal  ZeV9.  B^\  (LXX,  in 
Is.  xlvi,  l)=the  Phoenician)  Baal,  whose 
spouse  is  Baalath,=As-  Belat  ('  Lady')  Gk. 
Beltis.  So  Hesychios    defines     BrjX^t}^ 

(  =  Baaltis)    as     y     "Hpa    y    'Acjypotny.       It 

was  rather  difficult  for  a  Greek  to  decide 
which  she  most  resembled ;  like  Hera  she  was 
the  chief  female  goddess,  whilst  her  character 
resembled  that  of  Aphrodite.  So  the  Pseudo. 
Lucian,  Uepl  rys  ^vplij^  O^ov^  calls  the  great 
Babylonio-Hittite  goddess  ''H/aa. 
IV. 

2e;^e9,    Tou  *Kp/^iod   aCTijp.    Ba^v\u}vioi.'=^ 

(Ak.)  Sakvisa.    Perhaps  the  name  may  mean 


Sak  -  Y\  -  sa 
2gx  -  e  -  s- 
Head-heaven-4: 
Paphie,  Phaethon^ 


'♦Lord  (Head)-of-the- 
four-quarters  of  the  hea- 
ven. "3^  It  is  clear  that 
the  planets  Stilbon 
and  Thourlos  (Pyroets, 
were  respectively  connected  by  the  Greeks 
with  Hermes,3^  Aphrodite,  Zeus,  and  Ares, 
because  these  four  divinities  were  considered 


to  correspond  with  Nabu,  Istar,  Maruduk, 
and  Nergalin  the  Clialdaean  system;  it  is  also 
very  interesting  to  find  that  the  Chaldajan 
characteristics  of  the  7  planets  have  always 
remained  the  same  from  a  vast  antiquity,  and 
are  those  of  modem  astrology.  Thns  Plutarch 
states :^XaX.5atot  ^e  Twu  7r\ai/c7wi/,  ov^  Ocov<i 
''(cve6\iov<i  KoXovai^  cvo  /.dv  d'-{a6ovp^/6v9 
[/.e.  Jupiter  and  Venus'],  cov  ce  KaKOTrotom 
[i  .e.  Mars  and  Saturn\,  /leaov^  ce  rovi 
rpet^  [Sun,  Moon,  and  Mercwy]  a7ro(paci/ovai 

Kal   KOIVOV^.^^ 

Sakvisa  is  the  Nabu  ('  Proclaimer')  of  the 
coming  Sun;  and  asthe  \)\a.nGt  Mercury  has 
different  morning  and  evening  aspects,  the 
latter  receives  a  separate  name  and  a  distinct 
personality  as  the  god  Nusku,  "  holder  of  the 
golden  sceptre."  Prof.  Sayce  has  noted  that 
Nabu  "  the  Morning-star  is  associated  with 
the  god  of  death",3^  Tu;  and,  similarly,  the 
Evening-Jferc?fry  or  golden-sceptre-holding 
Nusku,  reappears  in  a  familiar  Homeric 
scene : — 

'E^/tf/s-  ^e  yJ/Vx^a^'^  KvWrjvio^e  ^eKoXeiTo 
avSpwu  jnvt]aT7]pwi/'   e^e  he  pa^Sov  /tera  X^P^'^ 
KaXyu  xpvucnjv,  fj  t   avhpdbu  ofifxara  OeX'^/ei 
wv  eOeXei  Torn  ^'  aure  Kal  oTri/wovja-i  er-fetpeu^ 
That  is  to  say,    Hermes   the   Evening-star 
lulls'  and  Hermes  the  Morning-star  '  rouses.*" 
Here   in  the   twilight    gloom  the  Evening- 
star   (not   the    soothing   and    good-omened 
"Eo-TTe/Jo?  a<n^p,=^  Venus)  shows  the  bat-like 
souls  of  the  Suitors  "down  the  dark  ways." 
So  in  the  Euphratean  story  of  2'he  Seven 
Wicked  Spirits,   the  "attendant  Nusku"  is 
sent   by  Belto"Hea  in  the  ocean,"  just  as 
Hermes    is   the    messenger   from    Zeus   to 
Kalypso. 

RoBT.  Brown,  Jun. 


[  to  he  continued]. 


30)  Bab,  4'  Or.  Record,  Dec.  1886,  p.  22.  31)  Vide  sup.  Note  1. 

32)  Thus  the  LXX  in  Jer.  Xxvii,  2,  3  :    Karrjirxvpen,  B^yXov,  7rapeh6ey   Uaipwbax^ 

33)  So  Herodotos  (i.  181)  speaks  of  AJos  BrjXov  leplv.     So  Berosos  :   Toi/  B//\oi/,  hv  ^la 
/iieS^ep/iirjpetiovai   (Chaldaika,   i.  6). 

34)  The  connection  between  the  two  being  somewhat  close.        Thus    Herodotos  (i.  131) 
speaks  of  the  Persians  as  lov  kvkXou  rravra  rod  ovpavov  A/«  KoXcovTe^, 

35)Vide  suo.   note  24.  26)  Cf,  Platon,  Timaios. 

37)  Peri  Is.  Tcai  Os,  xlviii.  38)   Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  ArchtvoL,  iii.  168. 

39)  Od.  xxiv.  1—4.  40)  A  familiar  expression  ;  cf.  Ibid.  v.  47—8. 


U4 


NOTES,   NEWS  AND  QUERIES. 


NOTES,  NEWS 
Altaic  Hieroglyphs  and  Hittite  In- 
sCRiFTioNs,  by  C.  K.  Conder,  Capt.  R.  E. 
(London,  R.  Bentley  &  Sons,  1887,  XI, 
247  pp.) — This  much-announced  work  leaves 
the  matter  as  it  stood  before  its  publication, 
and  the  Hittite  inscriptions  remain  undeciph- 
ered.  T  le  whole  fabric  displays  a  lack  of 
the  special  erudition  which  its  object  requir- 
ed, and  inaccuracies  abound  all  through. 
However,  we  remark  witli  pleasure  that  it 
contains  many  ingenious  suggestions,  some 
of  which  may  afterwards  turn  to  be  happy 
hits  when  they  are  proved.  Why  the 
amiable  author  has  used  the  expression 
Altaic  is  by  no  means  clear.  On  p.  117, 
quotations  are  given  from  my  article  on 
The  Kushites  in  this  Record,  but  their 
purpose  has  been  mistaken,;  p.  143,  my 
discovery  in  1880  of  the  derivation  of  the 
Chinese  writing  from  S.  W.  Asia  is  in- 
accurately mentioned  and  wrongly  attributed 
to  Dr.   Hyde    Clark.  ^      T.  de   L. 

Dower  Contracts. — In  connection 
with  the  Dower  Contract  (see  "  A  Baby- 
lonian Wedding,"  in  the  present  number), 
I  give  here  a  new  translation  of  a  tablet  of 
which  a  drawing  (not  a  copy)  has  been 
already  published  by  me  in  the  Journal  of 
the  British  Archceological  Association  for 
1880  (pp.  398-464),  and  again  by  Prof. 
Fried.  Delitzsch  (from  my  drawing)  in  the 
third  edition  of  his  Lesestikke,  pp.  1 25  126. 

(It  may  be  noted  that  no  mention  of 
the  source  is  made  in  the  Lesest/lcke,  and  that 
the  ends  of  the  lines,  necessarily  ommitted 
in  my  drawing  because  round  the  edge  of 
the  tablet  (and  therefore  invisible)  are  also 
wanting  in  Prof.  Delitzsch  s  reproduction.) 
The  new  translation,  though  uncertain  in 
many  points,  I  believe  to  be  better  than 
that  published  by  me  in  1880,  and  may  be 
regarded  as  cancelling  it. 

"  Zeria,  son  of  Nabu-ibni,  said  thus  to 
Iddina-Marduk,  son  of  Ikisa,  descendant  of 
Niir-Sin  :  '  7  mana  of  silver.  3  slaves,  and 
the  furniture  of  a  house  (to  the)  amount  of 
3  mana  of  silver,  which  is  by  promise, 
with  Ina-E-sagila-ramat,  my  daughter,  as 
dowry  thus  I  give  thee.  The  creditors, 
who  were  not  pressing  with  Ikisa,  thy 
father,  shall  be  reckoned  herewith.' 
Iddina-Marduk    spoke     thus    to      Zeria : 


AND  QUERIES 
'  Instead  of  her  dowry,  which  I  renounce, 
he  has  sealed  Ubartum  and  her  3  children, 
Nana-kisirat  and  her  two  children,  and  all 
his  property  that  there  is  in  town  and 
country,  and  he  has  bequeathed  (them), 
instead  of  the  7  mana  of  silver,  the  dowry 
of  Ina-E-sagila-ramat,  his  daughter,  unto 
Ina-E-sagila-ramat,  his  wife'  (probably 
"  unto  Ina-E-sagila-ramat,  mi/  wife "). 
Here  follow  the  names  of  the  witnesses, 
and  the  date,  '*  13th  da}'-  of  Ab,  34th  year 
of  Nebuchadnezzar,  King  of  Babylon." 
The  wording  of  the  text  is  not  by  any 
means  clear.  T.G.P. 

In  the  June  number  of  Harpers  Magazine 
is  a  most  interesting  article  by  Madame 
Dieulafoy,  who,  wath  her  husband,  M. 
Marcel  Dieulafoy,  has  been  exploring  the 
ruined  palaces  of  the  ancient  rulers  of 
Persia,  upon  the  discoveries  made  there. 
We  would  call  special  attention  to  this 
valuable  article.  There  are  several  good 
pictures  of  modern  Persian  scenes,  as  well 
as  reproductions  of  ancient  Persian  remains 
and  '  early  Babylonian  cylinder  seals. 
Madame  Dieulafoy  is  right  in  supposing 
one  of  the  last-named  to  have  belonged  to 
a  Babylonian  princess  (the  name  reads — 
*'  Mamanisa,  the  daughter  of  the  king  "). 
Another  bears  the  name  Terimanni,  who 
seems  to  call  himself  "servant  of 
Durigalzu." 

Forthcoming  Papers. — A.  Amiaud:  '-The 
countries  of  Mugan  and  Meluhha."  Prof. 
S.  Beal :  Fragments  of  a  hfe  of  the  Buddha" 
(P'tt  yao  KingJ.W.  St.  C.  Boscawen:  "New 
Assyrian  Tablets."  Robert  Brown,  Jun. : 
"Remarks  on  some  Euphratean  Astronomical 
Names  in  the  Lexicon  of  Hesychios."  J. 
S.  Stuart  Glennie,  M.A.:  The  Kushites  and 
the  white  race  founder  of  civilization.  Dr.T, 
de  Lacouperie  :  Tatooing  ; — Babylonia  and 
China,  II.  The  shifted  Cardinal  Points." 
Dr,  Julius  Oppert:  A  Juridic  Cuneiform 
Text.  Theo.  G.  Pinches:  A  Babylo- 
nian Dower  Contract  ;  The  Babylonians 
and  Assyrians  as  maritime  nations,"  (con- 
tinued.) Dr.  Mark  Aurel  Stein:  "Iranian 
deities  on  Indo-Scythian  coins.  "xVn Inscrip- 
tion from  the  Heri  Rud  Valley."  Thos. 
Tyler:  On  the  Hittite  Inscription  of  the 
Yuzgat  Seal. 


Printed  for  the  Proprietor  at  51,  Knowle  Road,  Brixton,  S.W.,  and  Published  by  him  there  ;  and  by  D. 
NUTT,  P,ritish  and  Foreign  Bookseller,  270,  wStrand,  W.C. 


*■ 


A    BABYLONIAN  WEDDING  CEEEMONY.— p.  145. 

K.  5641. 
Obverse  (end  of  column  I). 


Reverse  (beginning'  of  the  last  column). 

m  T—  I ET  ^T  I—  I  m  ti  -m  ^m  -^  £T  eu  ^^t  -^h 

-  ^  D  T  <T-  -+  tTm  n  -+  ^T  -+  C:^1  "J  -M  ^  J^T  -+ 
^  V  -^T  I^^T  -^TT  V  -f  V  ISI  <E  T-^  -H*  <M 


15- 


18. 


THE 


BABYLONIAM  AM  ORIEMTAL  RECORD. 

The  Editorial  Committee  is  not  responsible  for  the  opinions  or  statement§  of  the  Contributors. 


GLIMPSES    OF  BABYLONIAN  AND    ASSYRIAN  LIFE. 
III.— A  BABYLONIAN  WEDDING    CEREMONY. 

SlNCK   writing  the   translation  and   notes  ing  words  of  an  address  by  the  officiating 

given   in  the    last  part  of   the   Eecm'd  fpp,  priest,    who    apparently    commands    the 

137 — 139),  a  fragment  of  a  tablet  recently  bridal  pair  to  repair  and  make  restitution 

cleaned  has  shown  itself,  on  examination,  for  any  wrong  they  may  have  done  to  any 

to  be  part  of  a  text  referring  to  the  wed-  one,    and   then   utters  the    words    which 

ding  ceremony  itself.     As   this  text,  not-  make   the   couple   man    and   wife.      The 

withstanding  its  imperfect  nature,  is  very  second  section  gives  directions,  apparently 

interesting,  I  give  it  here  as  a  continuation  to  the  priest,  as  to  the  offerings  and  sacri- 

of  the  paper  contributed  last  month.  fices  to   be  made  next   day.       The  third 

>  The  fragment  in  question  is  the  bottom  gives  an  incantation  or  prayer^  apparently 

left-hand  corner  (seen  from  the  obverse)  of  pronounced  by  the  priest,  exorcising  every 

a  large   tablet  which   probably   contained  evil  thing  which  could  possibly  do  them 

three  columns  of  writing  on  each  side.     On  harm.     This  last  named  is  couched  in  the 

the  obverse  only  a  few  words  are  to  be  usual  strain  of  such  compositions. 

read,    but   the   reverse    has   twenty  lines,  The   size  of    the  fragment   is  3fin.    by 

eight  of  them  being  complete.     This  por-  3|in.     The  portion  of  the  text   which  is 

tion  of  the  the  text  formed  the  beginning  preserved  is  in  very  good  condition,  but 

of  the  concluding    column    (probably   the  many  of  the  words  are  exceedingly  diffi- 

sixth).     It  is  divided  into  three  sections,  cult  to  translate,  and  the  present  attempt 

The  first  apparently  contains  the  conclud-  must  therefore  be  taken  as  provisional. 

Transcription  of  the  Obverse. 

1.  

2.  rubu(?)  ,         , 

i).  a-na  ••••.....,... 

4.  ki-a-am  .  .  ......... 

5.  ta-ka-ab-bi •         .        . 

6.  rubu  ina  bal)(?)  ........  .  .  . 

7.  rubu    ana  pan    ili  .........  id-di 

Transcription  of  the  Reverse. 

1.  At-tu-nu  mim-ma  Hmuttu  mim-ma  la  tabu  sa  N.    apil  N. 

2.  tasabbata-sii-ma   tcmida-su  idin-ma  zi-kar-ka-ma  lu-assati-ka 
8.  idni-ma  si-nis-ta-ki-ma  an-nu-u  lii-muti-ki 

4.  Ina  se-rim  ana  pan  d.p.  Ea,    u,p.  Samas,  d.p.  Marduk  sibit  oi-oah  TAKA-an 

Vol.  I— No  10.  [145]  August,  1887, 


146  A    BABVLONIAN    WEDDING   CEREMONY. 

5.  sibit  sA-NA  SIM-LI  TASAKK-an  sibit  nike  takki 

6.  seri  imitti  seri  me-gan  seri  ka-bil  tu-tah-ha  bi-ris  takki 

7.  salme  an-nn-ti  sibit  ina  istin  ammat  ultii  si-hir  tu-pat-ta-su-nn-ti 

8.  tu-se-sab-su-nu-ti  kerne  kitu  tal-me-su-nu-ti 

9.  (ameln)  idlu  u  (sinis)  ardatu  ina  ide-sii-nii  tn-se-sab 

10.  si?sigtu-su-nu  is-tn    a-ha-mes  ta-ka-* 

11.  ki-is-pi    ta-ka-si-ip-su-nu-  [ti] 

12.  ana  si-hir  takan-ma  ki-a-am    takabbi 

13.  Siptu  :  D.p.  E-a  d.p.  Samas  d.p.  Marduk  ilani 

14.  daan  an-ta-mes  n  ki-ta-mes 

15.  (amelu)  salamtu  balatu  ka-sa-a  gab(?) 

16.  as-sum  mim-ma    limuttu   amelu 

17.  ilu  limuttu,  rabisu  [limuttu] 

18.  lu-u  resu    limuttu  ........... 

19.  lu-u  su . 

20.  lu  

Translation  of    the   Of.yerse. 

1.  

2.  the  prince  (?) 

3.  to 

4.  thus  .         > 

,5.  thou  shalt  say  .  .• 

6.  the  prince  in  the  gate . 

7.  the  prince  before  the  god  placed(?)    « 

Translation  of   the    Reverse. 

1 .  You  whatever  is  evil,  whatever  is  not  good,  of  so-and-so,  son  of  so-and-so, 

2.  shall  take  away  from  him,  and  restore  him.    Give  also  thy  manhood,  and  may  she 

be  thy  wife, 

3.  give  also  thy  womanhood,  and  this  man,  may  he  be  thy  husband. 

4.  In  the  morning  thou  shalt  fix  7  gi-gab  (canes)  before  Ea,  Samas,  and  Merodach, 

5.  thou  shalt  place  7  branches(?)  of  cypress,  thou  shalt  sacrifice  7  victims, 

6.  thou  shalt  cut  the  flesh  of  the  right  side,  the  flesh  of  the  me-Jcan,  the  flesh  of  the 

ka-bil,  thou  shalt  pour  out  a  libation — 

7.  these  things  thou  shalt  separate  7  cubits  from  the  si-hi?^ 

8.  thou  shalt  set  them   down  ;    cloths,  linen,  thou  shalt  put  around  them 

9.  Thou  shalt  set  the  man  and  the  maid  beside  them, 

10.  thou  shalt  take(?)  from  each  their  girdle(?) 

11.  thou  shalt  make  a  rent  in  them, 

12.  affix  (them)  to  the  si-hir,  and  thus  speak: — 

13.  Incantation  : — Ea,  Samas,  Merodach,  the  [gieat]  gods 

14.  judge  of  things  above  and  below  ........ 

15.  the  dead  man  life,  cover  ........ 

16.  as  for  everything  evil,  the  man  ........ 

17.  the  evil  god,  the  evil   incubus  ....         .         .         .        . 


A   BABYLONIAN   LEGAL    TERM. 


147 


IS.  whellior  tlie  evil  lioad 

19.  or    tli(; 

20.  or  ... 


11EMAUK6. 


Reverse,  1.  ii.  .sinistfj,  accus.  of  siniitu 
•'  woman,"  often  written  sinistu.  This 
word  is  generally  transcribed  zinniHu  (Nvith 
t),  but  the  form  with  D  is  certainly  more 
correct. 

L.  5.  The  characters  transcribed  sim-li 
arc  probably  to  be  read  hurasL 

L.  7.  Sibtt  ma  estin  dmmat,  "  seven  by 
the  one  cubit,"  is  apparently =7  cubits. 

L.  10.  For  JgJ  I^II^  ==  s-issigtu,  see 
W.A.I.,  v.,  pi   15,  1.  24  cd.        This   was 


an  article   of    clothing    evidently    made    of 
wool.     I  translate,  doubtfully,  "  girdle. 

L.  11.  For  htspi,  see  Assurbanipal,  col.  iv., 
I.  72,  and  vi.,  I.  76  (Cf.  S.  A.  Smith's  Keil- 
schrifttexte  Asurhanipah,  Heft  I.,  pp.  34  & 
50).  I  take  the  meaning  to  be  "narrow  pas- 
sage," "  watercourse"  (more  or  less  winding). 
The  meaning  of  the  root  kampu,  therefore, 
probably  is  "  to  cut,  rend,  make  a  cutting." 

Theo.  G.   Pinches. 


NOTE  ON  A  LEGAL    TERM  IN  THE 
BABYLON/AN  CONTRACT    TABLETS, 


In  the  equally  interesting  as  instructive 
article  by  Prof.  E.  and  Dr  V.  Revillout, 
"  Sworn  Obligations  in  Egyptian  and  Bab- 
ylonian Law,"  {B.  c>  0.  n,.  No.  7,  p.  101 
-104),  the  expression  ^  g  yj  ^  gfj, 
ki-i  a-di-ya,  which  often  occurs  in  the  con- 
tracts, is  explained  by  "  as  for  what  relates 
to  me"  (word  for  word  :  "like  towards  me.)" 
I  do  not  think  that  such  a  rendering  is 
grammatically  allowable.  The  authors  of 
the  article  have  evidently  taken  the  word 
«-c?/asthe  Preposition  a<iz=Heb.  ^IJ^jIJ^; 
but  the  use  of  this  preposition  in  the   sense 


of  "  to wards"="  for  what  relates  to  me"  is 
as  far  as  I  can  see,  as  unusual  in  Assyrian 
as  in  the  kindred  tongues.  I  do  not  believe 
that  I  shall  be  far  wrong,  if  I  take  the 
word  adi  (pronounced  adt)  merely  as  the 
genitive  of  the  substantive  adu,  "  declara- 
tion," "  contract"— we  might  even  render 
it  "  oath"  (Root  ppj*!'  compare  the  Heb. 
ilTin,  and  my  "  Keilinschriften  und  das 
Alte  Testament",  2nd  edition,  p.  548),  and 
translate  the  expression  M  adtya  by  "accord- 
ing to  my  contract",  or  perhaps  even  "  ac- 
cording to  my  oath." 

Eberhard    Schrader. 


U8 


EUrHRATEAN    NAMES    IN 


REMARKS    ON  SOME   EUPHRATEAN  ASTRONOMICAL  NAMES  IN 

LEXICON  OF  HESYCHIOS. 
(Concluded  from  page  1 44.  j 


THE 


V. 

AeXG0aT.  o    Ttj^^A(^poCiTt]'?  cKTrrjp.   vwo  XaX- 

Sai'ivy.  =  (Ak.)  Dilbat  ("  the  Ancient-pro- 
claimer. '')  Dilbat,    it  is   said,  =  (As.)  ^V«&w/' 

> >-^  Mr.  G.   Bertin,    after    re- 

Dil  -  bat  marking  that  "many  values 

AeX-(e)-0aT  of  the  pre-Akkadian  Semi- 
Proclaim-old  tic  period  must  have  been 
lost,"  gives  among  these  C^Jly'^Hf-  *—  >^  "tlie 
name  of  a  star  to  be  read  dil-inut.'''^^  But 
whether  the  name  be  Semitic  in  origin  or 
not,  it  is  clear  that  at  one  time  it  was  read 
Dil-bat,  and  thus  corresponds  with  the  Ak. 
Lubat  (  'Old  sheep"),  a  name  for  the  planets. 

Mo\o^6/3ap.  oTov   Aio9  ciffTijp,  Trapa 'XaXdai- 

oi9.  In  this  case  we  shall  expect  Hesy- 
chios,  as  usual,  to  have  preserved  a  prota- 
gonistic  name  of  the  planet.  The  ordinary 
name  of  Jupiter  is  JgJ  >-<  iz^^  -^y,  render- 
ed Lubat  (=the  VlMiet)  Guttav^^  and  it  is 
called,  par  excellence,  the  lubat  or  bibbu  \^^ 
hence  it  is  possible  that  MoXojio^a  might 
=Mul  Bibbu  (•'  the  Star  Bihhu") = Jupiter^ 
Gattav  (="  Bull-of-the-'Sun")  "is  explained 
by  the  Assyrian  pidnu  sa  same  ('•  furrow- 
of-heaven"),  i.e.  the  ecliptic,  to  which  Ju- 
piter is  near.^s  There  is  a  close  connexion 
in  formation  between  the  sign  tY^,  gut.  'bull', 
and  ^t:yi^,  ul,  or  mul,  '  star','^^  and  it  is 
likewise  somewhat  singular  that  -^Y,  the  re- 
mains of  an  original  (solar)  circle,  has,  a- 
mongst  ot  ers  the  value  babar,  '  sunrise'. 
A  group  ^i^  ^y  would  read  Mul  -  babar^ 
*'  Star-of-the-sun",   i.e.,  sunlike  star,  but  the 


word  babar  is  not  used  as  a  phonetic  value. 
We  find,  however,  the  forms  bahbar,  ba- 
bar, modifications  of  pappar,  (i.e.  2y<^ir  doub- 
led), with  the  meanings  'white','  white  sur- 
face for  an  inscription',  'silver'  (="  white 
gold"),  and  hence  'shining',  'bright',  so  that 
Mo\ol3o(3ap=  ''the  Bright-star"  =  ''the  ph- 
iieV'= Zeus. 

VI. 

BeXt'^aro?.  oirvpo^  aarijp.^a^uXuJuioi.   ThlS 

thoroughly  ill-omened  star  was  known  as  Ul- 
nakaru  ("  The  Hostile")  Ultsarru  ("  The 
Enemy"),  Ul  khumkhum  ("The  Sultry"), 
Nu-mia  ("  The  Star-which-is-not"),  refer- 
ring to  tlie  fact  that  Mars  recedes  from  the 
Earth  until  it  is  almost  invisible' V^  Manma 
("  The  King-of-the-land"-of  the  dead  ?),  "tlie 
Star  of  Death",  and  Nibatanu,  the  meaning 
of  which  is  very  doubtful.  The  title  "  lord 
ot  the  house  of  death".  (=Bel-e-bat)  given 
in  Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  Archasol.,  iii.  171,  was 
founded  on  an  error  in  the  published  text  of 
the  original  inscription  ;  and  Prof.  Sayce 
has  suggested  to  me  that  "  nibat  (or  rather 
ni-bady  may  mean  "  he  dies."  The  Under- 
world, Ekar-bat  ("The  Temple-of-the  dead,") 
was  ruled,  according  to  Ak.  ideas,  by  Ninki- 
gal  ("  Lady  of-the-great-region,"  /.6.,Sclie6l_ 
Hades),  also  called  Ninge  ( Queen-of-the- 
Underworld"),  and  Mulge^^  ( "King-of-the 
Underworld"),  and  it  is  obvious  that  the  lat- 
ter personage,  "  lord  of  countries,"  the  ana- 
logue of  the  Semitic  Bel,  must  have  been 
called  "  Lord-of-the  -  house  -  of  -  death"— 
BeXey3aT09,  which  title  would  be  subsequently 


41)  Vide  sup.  Sec.  IV.  ^2)  The  Fre-Akkadian  Semites,   15. 

43)  Gut^gud,  and  Prof.  Sayce  suggests  that  the   Plinenician  name  of  the  planet (^  ad 
("  Good-fortune",  cf.  Is.  Ixv.  11)  may  be  hence  derived,  with  a  Semitic  meaning  added. 

44)  Some  bright-eyed  animal.  45)  Prof.  Sayce  {Trans,  Soc.  Bib.  Archasol.  iii. 170. 
4(;)  Vide  the  interesting  remarks  of  tlic  Rev.  Wni.  Houghton   {Ibid.  vi.  468-9). 

47)  Prof.  Sayce.  48)  Mulge  and  Ninge  exactly  correspond  with  the  Etruscan 

Mantus  and  Mania,  king  and  queen  of  the  Underworld,  and  I  have  called  attention  to 


THE    LEXICON    oK   HfiSYCHIOS. 


14D 


applied  to  Mm's  as  the  ill-oniened  star  oi  the 
the  Underworld  and  of   Death. 

Every  lunar  and  stellar  position  was,  ac- 
cording to  the  Enphratean  scheme  of  tilings, 
more  or  less  portentous,  the  system  of  por- 
tents being  founded  on  the  trii)le  basis  of  (1  ) 
actual  natural  incident,  (2)  anthropomorphic 
analogy,  e.g.  the  Star  which  recedes  and  is 
not,  is  naturally  the  Star-of-death  ;  or  {?>) 
synchronous  occurrence,  e.g.,  if  "  Goat  and 
Kids  oft  behold  men  tossed  about  on  the 
dark  stormy  sea,"'*'  we  read  of  "Insana  Ca}»- 
ne  sidera,"=°  and  thus  on. 

Nergal,  the  god  of  the  ])lanet  Marts,  which 
was  known  as  Nerig  in  Menda^an  astronomy, 
is  himself  a  chthonian  divinity,  the  fighting 
Sun  in  the  Underworld,  "  illuminator  of  the 
great  city"  (Hades),  ne  ('  fire')  -|-  iirugal 
("  great  city")  ;  -and  uriigal  and  arali  ("the 
tomb")  are  i-endered  by  the  As.  mitu  death, 
the  ,Pliainician  Mutli  ;  Qavwrov  Se  rovrov  kuI 
'UXovTtvi^a  [=god  of  the  Underworld]  (Poi'uiKe^- 
opofid^ovai.^'  Another  Ak.  combination 
read  urugal,  is  equated  with  the  As.  gabru 
(*  opposer' — in  the  sense  of  '  hero'),  and  the 
LXX  give  the  god's   name  as  'E^76\.5- 

In  Ptolemy's  star-list,  which  was  little 
different  from  that  of  Hipparchos,  we  find 
Star  No.  8  in  "the  asterism  of  the  Scor- 
pion" described  as, —  "  The  centre-one  ["  of 
the  3  bright-ones  in  the  body"]'  also  a  red- 
dish-yellow, called  'Aviapr^'s^  (=' equal'  or 
'  opposite'  "  to  Ares,  the  planet  Mars),  Cor 
Scorpionis  ;  and  in  W.A.I.  III.  53,  No.  1, 
line  20,  we  find  an  observation  connected 
witli ,  these  two  stars  : — 


Kakuh     Ni  -  l>at -a  -  iiu  ana  kakab 
The  Star  Death-in-heave n'^"^  to  the  constelhition 

Gir  -  tab  dikhu 
of-the  Scorpion^  is-opposite. 
Tlie  position  here  indicated  will  not  be  id- 
entical with  "  the  Opposition"  of  later  eh- 
trology,  the  |  aspect,  when  two  planets  arc 
separated  by  G  signs  of  the  Zodiac,  and 
which  "  is  deemed  most  malignant  and  emi- 
nently unfortunate  ;"  but  at  the  same  time  I 
understand  the  combination  as  having  a 
malignant  aspect,  and  that  the  next  state- 
ment Ina  ecali-ruh-u-su  ihas-si,  means,  "In 
the  palace  a  (new)  master  is  placed,"  i.e. 
the  king  is  dethroned  or  dies.  Now. modern 
astrology  has,  as  noticed,^^  retained  the 
Chalda^an  characteristics  of  the  7  planets  : 
and  it  has  also,  by  its  division  of  the  con- 
stellations of  the  Zodiac  into  Diurnal  and 
Nocturnal  Signs,  retained  in  a  marvellous 
manner  the  evidence  of  the  character  of  the 
original  concepts  upon  which  the  Twelve 
Signs  are  founded.^^  We  shall  not  be  sur- 
prised  to  find  that  the  6  Signs  originally 
connected  with  Day  and  the  Light-of-day, 
are  called  by  astrologers  (who  are  quite  ig- 
norant of  the  underlying  reason)  'fortunate'; 
and  that  the  6  Signs  originally  connected 
with  Night  and  Darkness,  i.e.,  the  so-called 
Nocturnal  Signs,  are  regarded  as  '  unfortu- 
ate.'  Amongst  these  is  Scorpio  ;  originally 
a  type  of  Darkness,^^  and  therefore  consi- 
dered as,  on  the  whole,  an  ominous  and 
fortunate   Sign.  In  a  curious  Table    in 

my  possession  of  the  properties    and   char- 
acteristics   "  of  the    Most   Eminent    Fixed 


the  fact  that  various  Etruscan  pei-sonage-names  are  easily  and  appropriately  explained  by 
the  Akkadian  language — e.g.  Mantu-s=''  King-of-darkness",  Mania  (Ji(a-«(/):="  Land- 
,)f-eclipse"  (Vide  Academy,  Nov.  27,  188G,  p.  3(i(;). 

49)    Aratos,  PJudnomena,   157-0.  50)   Horace,  Carmina,   III.  vii.  G. 

51)   Sanchou.  i.    7.  52)  iv  Kings,  xvii.  81. 

53)   So  the  name  seems  to   be  read  (vide  sup.  in  voc). 

o-t)  Formerly  rendered  "  Star  of  the  Double  Sword"   (vide  R.  B.,  Eridamts.  Gl). 

55)  Su}>.   Sec.  iv.  -      5G)   Vide  R.  B.,    The  Law  of  Kosmic  Order  ;  Eridami^,  sec.   iv 

57)    Vide  R,B..  On  the  Origin  of  the  Signs  of  the  Zodiac,  sec.  ix     {Archceologia ,    xlvii.. 


150 


NEW    HITTITE   SEAL. 


Stars,"  Antares  (a  Scorplonis)  is  said  to 
be  connected  with  "Activity  and  Eminence;" 
and  the  aspect  described  in  the  Tablet 
seems  to  illustrate  this,  for  whilst  the  Star- 
of-death  facing  Scorpio,  bodes  ill  to  the 
king,  Antares  shines  brightly  on  his  suc- 
cessor. 

In  Line  21  the   statement    about    Mars 

and  Scorpio  is  repeated,  and  the  latter  part 

of  the  Line  is  translated  by  Prof.  Sayce:— 

"  The  Zodiacal    Sign^^     by  its  lower  part 


it  seizes." 
The  Planet  is  here  described  as  entering  the 
Sign,  the  process  being  termed  a  seizing  of 
the  latter  (itsabhat)  •  and  the  passage  ex- 
plains the  meaning  of  the  Hindu  temi  for 
planet  Graha  ('Seizer').  The  idea  may  of 
course  have  arisen  independently  in  India, 
or  have  been  derived,  like  so  much  beside  in 
Hindu  astronomy  and  astrology,  from  the 
West. 

RoBT.    Brown,  Jun. 


58)  *">^TT»  -<*j   (Vide  Bosanquet  and  Sayce,   2'he  Babylonian  Astronomy  (^Monthly  Not- 
ices of  the  Royal  Astronomical  Society,  vol.  xl.  T^o.  8). 


NEW  HITTITE  SEAL,  FOUND  NEAR  TARSUS. 


Mr.  Greville  I.  Chester  lately  ob- 
tained from  the  neighbourhood  of  Tarsus 
a  hematite  seal  of  approximately  cubical 
form,  with  the  stone,  however,  so  cut  on 
one  side  as  to  serve  the  purpose  of  a 
handle  There  are  thus  five  engraved  faces, 
including  the  base.  Though  not,  in  my 
opinion,  so  ancient  as  the  Yuzgat  seal — an 
opinion  which  Mr.  Pinches  shares — the 
new  seal  presents  characteristics  of  very 
great  interest.  Four  out  of  the  five  en- 
graved faces  have  two  figures  ^one  seated 
and  one  standing)  which  may  be  supposed 
to  represent  either  men  or  deities.  ^  As, 
however,  the  general  subject  of  the  seal  is 
evidently  of  a  magical,  or  at  least,  mysti- 
cal, character,  it  is  not  altogether  easy  to 
distinguish  certainly  between  gods  and 
men.  But  a  hawk-headed  figure,  which  is 
apparently  pouring  out  a  libation,  from  a 
tall,  narrow  vase,  may  be  supposed  to  be  a 
deity.  This  figure  has,  moreover,  a  pig- 
tail, an  appendage  which  is  found  with  at 
least  one  other  figure.  Above  one  of  the 
seated  figures  is  what  in  all  probability  is 
a  modification  of  the  winged  solar   disk, 


though  in  this  case  the  sun  has  assumed  a 
somewhat  star-like  appearance.  In  the 
hand  of  this  seated  figure  is  what  appears 
to  be  a  double  three-forked  thunderbolt, 
which  is  introduced  possibly  as  an  example 
of  tri-imity,  an  idea  which  appears  to  have 
been  very  influential  in  the  East  in  ancient 
times,  and  which,  on  one  face  of  the  seal, 
is  represented  by  a  trident  of  ordinary 
form,  and  on  two  other  faces,  one  of  them 
the  base  of  the  seal,  by  a  trident-like  ob- 
ject with  a  sort  of  root  depending,  and  of 
which  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  it  is  an 
idealised  plant  or  flame.  Possibly  it  is  the 
latter,  as  it  is  above  a  kind  of  altar,  at  the 
base  of  which  the  hawk- headed  figure 
above  mentioned  is  pouring  out  the  liba- 
tion. On  either  side  of  this  trident-like 
object  is  a  very  curious  symbol, 
which  appears  to  denote  life  ^3R^ 
generally,  or  at  least  the  primor-  J/^ 
dial  principle  of  human  life.  On 
another  face  of  the  seal  this  symbol  is 
without  the  triangular  cap  (which,  how- 
ever, is  above  it)  and  it  is  supported  ap- 
parently by   a    string   which   a  standing 


1 .  The  fifth  side  has  one  seated  figure  holding  apparently  a  bird  with  wings  expanded 
and  a  hare  or  rabbit.     The  five  seats,  it  is  noteworthy,  are  in  each  case  diff'erent. 


A  SEASON'S   RESULTS    IN    EGYPT. 


151 


figure  holds  in  his  hand. 
Here  we  see  a  round- 
ed head  with  what  look 
like  projecting  ears. 
The  evolution  of  this 
curious  symbol  would 
seem  to  be  this.  The 
triangle  was  regarded 
as  sacred,  as  representing  the  primor- 
dial principle  of  things.  As  such  it  is 
found  in  India,  and,  remarkably,  it  is  to 
be  seen  also  on  a  stele  of  Lilybseum 
which  bears  a  Phoenician  inscription,  but 
here  the  triangle  has  a  head  and  arms.'^ 


^^  -In  Cyprus  this  triangle  seema  to 
-/V — 'have  lost  its  base,  and  accordingly 
//\\  it  appears  thus 
/_r__!A  coinage.  '■'  The 
tites  probably  modified  the 
triangle  somewhat  differ- 
and  added  turned-up  toes 
boots  "  to  accentuate  the  idea  of  life.* 
This  interesting  seal  is,  it  is  understood,  to 
be  engraved  immediately  by  the  Royal 
Archaeological  Institute,  and  the  plate  to 
be  issued  in  their  Journal,  with  some  ob- 
servations by  Prof.  Sayce. 

Thomas  Tyler. 


or 


on  the 
H  i  t- 
headed 
eiitly, 
Hittite 


2.  See  the  bas-relief  figured  in  Perrot  and  Chipiez's  Histoire  de  V  Art  \yo\.  iii.,  p.  309) 
from  the  Cwp.  imci\  sem..  According  to  P.  &  C,  p.  308,  analogous  examples  exist  "sur 
les  monnaies  de  certaines  villes  d'Asie,"  but  I  have  been  unable  to  find  them. 

3.  Cf.  H.  de  Luynes,  Numismatique  et  Inscriptmis  Cypriote^  pi.  v.,  fig  12.  There  is  an 
example  also  in  the  Brit.  Mus. 

,  4.  Mr.  Pinches  very  appropriately  suggests  the  analogy  of  the  Egyptian  ank\  or 
symbol  of  life.  This  analogy  is  remarkable,  but  if  there  is  an  actual  connection,  it  must 
be  referred  back  to  a  very  remote  antiquity.  I  may  add  that  there  are  numerous  tri- 
angles on  the  Yuzgat  seal,  which,  though  inserted  to  fill  up  vacant  spaces,  probably  have 
a  sacred  or  mystical  significance. 


A  SEASON'S  RESULTS  IN  EGYPT. 


In  giving  an  outline  of  a  student's  work  in 
Egypt  for  a  winter,  two  objects  are  in  view; 
first,  to  show  what  can  be  easily  done  for 
scientific  work  in  that  country,  and  secondly 
to  save  others  from  going  over  the  same 
ground,  when  so  much  else  is  waiting  to 
be  done. 

My  friend,  Mr.  Griffith,  and  myself  went 
up  to  Minieh  last  December,  direct  by 
train,  and  that  point  is  within  a  week  of 
England,  as  is  any  part  of  Egypt  below 
Siut.  There  hiring  a  small  boat,  in  which 
we  could  be  our  own  masters,  we  started 
on  a  leisurely  cruise,  walking  a  good  part 
of  the  way  in  and  out  of  ^the  valleys  and 
ovdr  all  the  good  sites,  up  to  Assuan.  This 
way  of  seeing  and  exploring  is  to  be  much 
recommended  for  any  one  who  wishes  to 
mal^e  tl>e  most  of  their  means  and  oppor- 


tunities. Then,  after  dismissing  the  boat, 
we  stayed  for  some  weeks  at  Assuan  and 
Thebes  in  tents,  returning  northward  by 
the  postal  steamer,  and  afterward^s  separat- 
ing to  our  more  individual  work.  Such  a 
trip  showed  how  much  remains  to  be  done 
by  any  one  who  will  undertake  it.  In 
many  cases  we  found  tombs  which  could 
never  have  been  copied  before,  as  they 
were  covered  over  with  Coptic  or  Arab 
plastering,  and  these  occurred  even  in  dis- 
tricts well  known,  where  no  one  would 
think  of  going  for  discoveries.  In  short, 
one  of  the  best  grounds  for  novelties  is  in 
any  place  where  everyone  supposes  that  the 
remains  have  been  all  examined. 

At  Deir  el  Gibrawi,  north  of  Siut,  there 
are  ranges  of  tombs,  many  of  whieh  are 
white- washed  or  plastered  :  those  which  we 


152 


A   season's   results   in   EGYPT. 


could  attbrd  time  to  scrape  down  a  little, 
showed  long  inscriptions  of  the  Xllth  or 
Xlllth  dynasty ;  a  careful  cleaning  of  these 
tombs  would  restore  a  whole  group  of  in- 
scriptions to  light.  At  Rifa,  some  miles 
south  of  Siut,  a  range  of  grand  tombs  of 
the  same  age  awaited  a  copyist;  unable 
then  to  stop  for  them,  Mr.  Griffith  returned 
later  on,  and  has  copied  them  completely, 
I  understand.  They  have  high  facades 
entirely  cut  in  the  rock  in  the  splendid 
bold  style  of  the  Middle  Kingdom,  rivalling 
and  even  exceeding  that  of  Beni  Hasan. 
Over  one  door  is  the  double  worship  of 
Osiris  and  Anubis,  seated  back  to  back.  A 
Coptic  village  inhabits  the  group  of  tombs, 
with  all  sorts  of  adaptations  of  mud  brick 
built  in. 

To  see  anything,  you  need  to  wind  up  stair- 
cases, round  corners,  through  courtyards, 
and  to  repel  fanatical  dogs  who  dispute 
every  yard  of  progress.  A  most  kindly 
guide  we  found  in  an  old  priest;  and 
climbing  a  shaky  mud  tower,  we  found  our- 
selves half-way  up  the  facade  of  a  tomb,  the 
intercolumnar  spaces  of  which  were  filled 
for  ten  feet  or  more  from  the  ground  by  a 
brick  wall ;  from  that  wall  we  descended  a 
flight  of  steps  into  the  church  built  in  the 
hall,  with  inscriptions  covering  the  walls, 
and  half  revealed  by  the  fall  of  thin  sheets 
of  plaster.  A  striking  feature  of  the  Xllth 
dynasty  tombs  in  middle  Egypt  is  the 
great  figure  of  the  deceased,  far  over  life- 
size,  on  the  wall ;  sometimes  a  row  of 
statues  of  the  deceased,  his  wife,  and  sister 
or  mother,  will  be  seated  on  a  bench  in  the 
inner  chamber,  impressive  from  their 
simple  largeness  and  gigantic  solemnity. 

At  Shekh  Gabr  two  or  three  tombs  of 
the  Vth  or  Vlth  dynasty  are  well  worth 
visiting ;  being  on  the  eastern  clift',  a  long 
tunnel  has  been  cut  for  each  in  the  rock, 
parallel  to  its  face,  so  as  to  obtain  a  wall 
for  the  false  doors,  which  need  to  be  in  the 
western  side  leadinsjto  the  blessed  Amenti; 


These  tombs  we  completely  copied.  They 
are  of  Ka-khent  and  his  wife  Khent-kau-s  ; 
also  of  another  Ka-khent,  who  appropriated 
some  titles  (SuUn-i^e,,  en  khrrt-f/rnrri-f,.^enirr- 
uakherpah  en  ah  neb-f)  which  were  disallowed 
afterward  and  erased.  There  is  a  very 
curious  tomb  round  the  corner  of  the  cliff 
southward,  with  a  sloping  side  passage  and 
a  flight  of  side  steps  cut  in  the  rock ;  if  a 
later  adaptation,  it  is  more  elaborate  than 
anything  seen  elsewhere.  A  strange  sight, 
both  here  and  at  El  Kab,  is  the  style  of 
tomb  decoration  by  Italian  artists ;  the  ex- 
tremely modern  cheap  wine-shop  appear- 
ance is  so  wholly  un-Egyptian,  with  its 
great  ropey  festoons,  showers  of  red  roses 
scattered  on  the  wall,  cupid-Horus,  togated 
figures,  and  a  table  of  offerings  painted 
with  a  marble  slab  top,  carved  legs,  and  a 
green  and  white  tumbler  standing  on  it. 

In  the  range  of  tombs  at  Hieraconpolis 
is  one  with  a  great  quantity  of  fine  coffers 
and  gold  work  represented,  which  were 
presented  to  the  temple  there  by  the  last  of 
the  E-amessides,  cill  the  objects  bearing  his 
name  and  titles.  At  Ei  Kab,  opposite,  a 
tomb  of  the  time  of  Sebakhotep  II.  has  had 
its  stone-cut  inscription  published  more 
than  once  ;  but  the  painted  walls  had  never 
been  cleaned  from  the  blackening  by  the 
bats.  With  water,  brushes,  and  cloths,  we 
went  carefully  over  it  and  cleaned  one  of 
the  most  thickly  peopled  tombs  I  have 
seen.  Not  only  all  the  owner's  relatives, 
connexions,  followers,  and  even  friends  are 
shown,  but  also  the  workmen  who  exca- 
vated the  tomb  and  their  families.  Alto- 
gether over  70  names  were  copied  with 
their  titles.  The  general  family  character 
of  the  tombs  at  El  Kab  and  around  there 
is  striking  ;  usually  the  walls  show  a  crowd 
of  relatives,  down  to  first  cousin's  grand- 
children ;  but  all,  except  the  nearest,  in  the 
female  line. 

On  nearing  Silsileh,   we  began  to  hunt 
for  the  tablet  of  Mentuhotep  IV.,  published 


A    season's    results    in    EGYPl', 


153 


from  the  Harris  papers  in  Trans.  Bib. 
Arch.  We  not  only  found  it,  rather  re- 
nowned in  the  neighboiuliood  as  the  ^'si)h<i 
rii/a/rh,"  or  "great  (lion-like)  man,"  but 
found  some  two  hundred  rock  graffiti 
along  the  Nile  banks  and  up  the  valley  in 
which  the  main  tablet  is  cut.  The  valley 
seems  to  have  been  a  road  avoiding  the 
Silsileh  rocks,  and  the  crowd  of  inscrip- 
tions of  the  Xltli,  Xllth  and  Xlllth 
dynasties  is  astonishing.  The  names  Antef 
and  Menbuhotep  abound,  and  farther  up 
the  valley  we  found  a  tablet  of  Sankhkara 
seated  with  a  table  of  offerings  before  him, 
and  two  worshippers  kneeling  behind  him. 
Sebekemsaf  and  Mentuhotep  II.  are  other 
cartouches  occurring  there.  We  copied  all 
that  seemed  copyable.  The  great  rock  in 
the  El  Kab  valley  with  many  graffiti  of  the 
Vlth  dynasty  we  did  not  copy,  as  it  seems 
,  to  have  been  done  already.  On  all  these 
rocks,  beside  the  hieroglyphic  and  hieratic 
graffiti,  are  numerous  drawings  of  animals 
and  boats.  These  certainly  were  begun 
before  the  XVlIIth  dynasty,  as  the  priority 
of  an  inscription  of  Amenhotep  I.  is  clear 
in  one  place  ;  and  from  the  appearances  of 
the  surfaces  of  these  figures,  and  of  adjacent 
early  inscriptions,  it  seems  not  improbable 
that  they  are  the  oldest  sculptures  in 
Egypt.  Gazelles,  oxen,  elephants  and 
ostriches  were  noted  among  them. 

At  Gebel  Silsileh  we  completely  copied 
all  the  tombs,  including  some  only  to  be 
reached  by  a  boat  and  climbing.  They  are 
nearly  all  of  the  XVllIth  dynasty.  The 
great  open  quarries  of  Silsileh  are  entirely 
Graeco-Iioman,  as  Greek  inscriptions  and 
marks  may  be  seen  50  or  100  feet  high  up 
on  the  quarry  face,  close  to  the  hill  top  ; 
the  earlier  quarries  are  probably  in  the 
gigantic  subterranean  cuttings.  Here,  and 
elsewhere,  the  quarry  marks  have  enabled 
us  to  identify  the  quarries  of  many  Ptol- 
maic  temples.  Many  of  the  Greek  quarry 
marks   are   curious,   especially  representa- 


tions of  a  ladder  used  for  reaching  the  top 

of  a  shrine.  We  also  copied  the  parts  of 
a  beautiful  mck  sliiiiic  of  Amenhotep  Hi., 
wliich  had  stood  isolated  in  tl.<!  quarry, with 
a  hawk,  in  the  round,  placed  on  the  top. 
The  fragments  do  not  seem  to  have  been 
understood  before. 

At  Assuan  we  worked  through  all  the 
rock  inscriptions,  only  omitting  the  large 
royal  tablets  which  had  been  already 
copied.  We  found  many  which  do  not 
seem  to  have  been  observed  before.  Two 
of  Mentuhotep  II.  along  the  Nile  side  by 
the  cataracts,  one  of  Ufeertesen  I.,  and  one 
of  Ameniritis  and  Kashta,  beside  some 
others  which  are  probably  yet  unpub- 
lished. The  private  lists  of  names  of 
families  and  their  friends  are  unparallelled, 
a  dozen  or  twenty  private  names  is 
often  to  be  seen  in  one  inscription,  and 
when  I  shall  have  arranged  and  indexed 
them  much  light  will  be  thrown  on  the 
dynastic  range  of  various  names.  But  at 
Elephantine  the  best  fi.  d  awaited  me.  In 
the  village  street,  just  over  the  ferry  land- 
ing, a  part  which  nearly  every  traveller 
passes,  I  saw  on  a  projecting  block  of  native 
granite  a  line  with  the  cartouche  of  Kameri 
(Vlth  dynasty),  and  on  clearing  away  the 
dust  around  it  for  a  little,  we  unearthed 
tablets  of  Unas,  with  the  king  standing  and 
the  hut  over  his  head,  Noferkara  (Vlth 
dynasty)  liameri  (above  the  others)  Antef- 
aa  and  Amenemhat  I.  The  rock  seems 
like  a  royal  register  of  the  place,  and  no 
other  spot  is  so  given  over  to  cartouches  ; 
moreover  most  of  these  are  earlier  than  any 
other  rock  inscriptions  in  the  district.  It 
is  melancholy  to  see  the  thousands  of  early 
Muhammedan  tombstones  being  gradually 
broken  up  and  carried  away  Irom  the 
cemetery.  It  is  hopeless  to  preserve  them 
on  their  individual  graves  ;  but  if  native 
soldiers  were  set  to  build  an  enclosure,  and 
line  the  wall  round  with  all  the  tablets, 
giving  a  character  to  the  place  by  adding 


154 


A  SEASON  S  RESULTS  IN  EGYPT. 


a  wel%  some  safety  might  be  obtained  for 
them  without  raising  any  fanaticism. 

At  Thebes  my  main  work  was  in  taking 
paper  squeezes  of  all  suitable  heads  o^ 
toreigners  on  the  monuments,  for  the 
British  Association  Committee  on  Racial 
Types.  For  this  purpose  I  took  about  180 
sheets  with  one  or  more  heads  on  each,  be 
sides  about  iO  photographs  from  paintings 
or  painted  sculpture.  The  photographs  in 
the  tombs  by  magnesium  light  were  so 
successful  that  I  should  employ  it  whenever 
good  lighting  cannot  be  obtained.  Grain 
magnesium  mixed  when  wanted  with  an 
equal  weight  of  chlorate  of  potash,  ex- 
plodes with  a  dull  thud  and  a  flash  which 
takes  an  instantaneous  photograph  before 
the  smoke  diff'uses  in  the  room.  Forty 
grains  of  magnesium  at  a  distance  of  eight 
feet  from  the  subject  are  needed;  the 
amount,,  of  course,  varying  as  the  square  of 
the  distance.  For  other  cases  in  tombs  I 
generally  used  sunlight,  reflected  in  by  two 
or  more  successive  reflectors  of  tin  plate, 
and  played  about  over  the  painting  for  two 
or  three  minutes.  These  are  such  an  ad- 
mirable means  of  lighting  a  tomb  lor  in- 
spection that  no  archaeologist  should  travel 
without  them ;  plain  sheets  of  tin  turned 
up  at  the  edges,  and  fitting  one  m  the  other 
is  all  that  is  needed,  and  a  very  little  sun- 
light reflected  far  outdoes  any  candle  light- 
ing. I  also  took  jjaper  squeezes  of  all  the 
plants  in  the  botanical  chamber  of  Tahut- 
mes  III.  The  stamped  cones- -fictitious 
bread  off'erings — were  constantly  brought 
to  me,  and  I  collected  a  quantity,  which 
will  add  to  our  list  of  persons  and  titles 
probably  when  worked  out.  Ostraka  also 
abounded,  and  I  pact  ed  up  many  hundreds, 
mainly  demotic  :  the  Greek,  so  far  as  I  have 
yet  examined  them,  are  mostly  under 
Tiberius,  receipts  for  money,  and  ns  late  as 
Trajan ;  but  there  is  some  months  of 
study  in  the  collection. 

Lastly,  coming  down  the  river,  I  walked 
from  opposite  Wasta  to  Helwan  on  the  east 


bank ;  but,  beside  Atfili,  this  part  proved 
barren  of  remains  before  the  late  Roman 
and  Cufic  time,  and  no  promising  spot  for 
tombs  or  rock  sculpture  is  to  be  found. 
This  brought  me  down  to  Dahshur,  where 
I  pitched  for  a  couple  of  months,  surveying 
the  pyramids  there ;  and,  after  some  delay, 
having  got  an  order  to  excavate,  I  un- 
covered the  original  base  and  casing  of  the 
two  southern  pyramids,  the  northern  one 
I  had  not  time  to  clear  suflficiently  to  find 
the  original  base,  as  it  has  been  so  much 
destroyed.  I  also  found,  while  exploring 
the  desert  west  of  them,  the  line  of  Roman 
road  from  Memphis  to  the  Faium,  marked 
out  with  stones  at  intervals  of  2000,  1000 
and  500  cubits  of  20*G  inches.  I  bought 
from  the  Arabs  many  hundreds  of  stone 
weights  from  Memphis,  which  will  settle 
the  metrology  of  that  district  when  studied. 
The  casts  of  the  foreigners,  Khita  and 
Amar,  Shairetana  and  Pulistu,  Kush  and 
Mashuash,  and  many  others,  I  hope  to 
exhibit  a  selection  of  at  the  forthcoming 
meeting  of  the  British  Association  at  Man- 
chester, and  a  complete  set  of  casts  will  be 
presented  I  believe  to  the  British  Museum. 
Photographs  (of  all  but  the  useless  repeti- 
tions) will  be  made,  and  available  for 
study.  I  shall  also  be  glad  to  receive  ap- 
plications from  museums  for  sets  of  the 
casts  The  other  results  I  hope  to  put  in 
shape  and  publish  this  autumn,  and  so 
wind  up  a  season's  work,  and  be  ready  for 
whatever  else  may  be  my  next  season's 
subject  in  that  land.  It  is  much  to  be 
wished  that  students  would  more  generally 
take  up  monumental  research  in  the  coun- 
try ;  the  field  is  far  from  exhausted,  and 
thg  difficulties  in  the  way  are  not  worth 
any  hesitation.  A  familiarity  with  a  small 
amount  of  colloquial  Arabic,  and  the  wil- 
lingness to  take  to  a  rough  life  with  tent 
and  blankets,  is  all  that  is  needful  for  any 
one  with  a  real  zeal  for  the  subject. 

W,  M.  Flinders  Petri e. 


ZOROASTRIAN    DEITIES. 


155 


ZOROASTRIAN  DEITIES  ON  INDO-SCYTHLIN  (JOINS, 


Although  the  latest  in  that  long  series  of 
numismatic  relics,  which  form  our  main 
documents  for  the  history  of  the  Greek  and 
Scythic  rulers  of  Bactria  and  India,  the 
coins  of  the  Turushka  kings  are  perhaps 
the  most  important  for  the  student  of 
Aryan  antiquities.  Their  extremely  varied 
reverses  exhibit  in  well-executed  designs 
and  clearly  legible  characters  the  figures 
and  names  of  numerous  deities,  many  among 
which,  as  already  recognized  by  the  first  ob- 
servers, bear  an  unmistakeably  Zoroastrian 
character.  These  representations  are,  in 
fact,  almost  our  only  contemporary  docu- 
ments for  that  most  obscure  period  in  the 
history  of  Zoroastrian  worship,  which  in- 
tervened between  the  fall  of  the  Ancient 
Persian  Empire  and  the  Sassanian  Revival. 
The  identification  of  the  types  represented 
must  therefore  be  considered  a  task  of  first- 
rate  importance  for  the  student  of  Iranian 
Keligion.  On  the  other  hand.  Historical 
Grammar  can  attach  scarcely  less  im- 
portance to  the  elucidation  of  the  legends, 
considering  that  they  are  clearly  written 
phonetic  specimens  of  the  language,  which 
can  be  dated,  with  something  like  chrono- 
logical exactness,  since  the  late  Mr. 
Fergusson's  ingenious  discovery  ^  has  re- 
vealed the  identity  of  the  Qaka  era  (start- 
from  A.D.  78)  with  the  era  employed  by 
the  Turushka  Kings  of  our  coins  in  their 
Indian  inscriptions. 

The  philological  enquiry  into  the  types 
and  legends  of  the  Indo-Scythic  coinage  has 
made  but  comparatively  slow  progress  since 
the  days  of  Prinsep  and  Lassen ;  but, 
perhaps,  it  may  now  be  resumed  with  some 
chance  of  success,  since  Von  Sallet's  exhaus- 
tive monograph,"  based  on  true  historical 
criticism,  and  more  recently  Prof.  Percy 
Gardner's  excellent  catalogue'^  of  the  rich 


collection  under  his  care,  have  placed  us 
in  full  possession  of  the  numismatic  facts. 
At  the  same  time  the  great  advance  made 
in  our  knowledge  of  Zoroastrianism, 
through  the  more  extensive  study  of  its 
sacred  literatures,  enables  us  to  litilize,  with 
a  clearer  view  of  the  issue,  the  fresh 
evidence  of  the  coins.  We  shall  attempt 
here  to  collect  in  a  condensed  form  the  in- 
formation, which  that  remarkable  coinage 
affords  on  the  state  of  Iranian  religion 
and  speech  in  the  centuries  preceding  the 
Sassanian  epoch. 

For  the  historical  facts  connected  with 
the  rule  of  the  Yueh-chi  or  Kushans  in 
India  we  can  refer  our  readers  at  the  pre- 
sent occasion  to  the  above  named  publica- 
tions of  Von  Sallet  and  Prof  Gardner;  they 
afford  but  little  material  for  the  solution  of 
the  question,  that  mainly  interests  the 
Iranian  scholar — viz.,  how  and.  where 
these  tribes  of  evidently  non-Aryan  descent 
became  so  deeply  penetrated  with 
Zoroastrian  influences.  From  Chinese 
annals  we  are  able  to  fix  the  date  of  the 
invasion,  which  brought  the  Yueh-chi  under 
King  Kadphises  south  of  the  Hindukosh, 
at  about  B.C.  25 ;  but  it  is  not  till  a  cen- 
tury later  that  we  meet  with  distinct  traces 
of  Zoroastrianism  among  them.  King 
Kanishka  (on  the  coins  KANHPKI) 
whom  Buddhist  tradition  claims  as  the 
great  patron  of  their  church,  and  with 
whom  the  Oaka  era  originated  (a.d.  78), 
is  the  first  known  to  employ  Iranian  types 
and  "Scythic"  legends  on  his  reverses. 
His  successor  was  OOHPKI  {Unvishhi) 
whose  inscriptions  range  from  the  year 
33  to  51  of  the  Caka  era  (a.d.  111- 
129) :  his  very  numerous  coinage,  from 
which  Greek  legends  have  now  defini- 
tely disappeared,  adds    some   new   types 


1.  On  the  (^aka,  toamvat  and  Gupta  Eras,  J.  K.  A.  S.     1880,    p.  259,  sqq. 

2.  Die  Nachfolger  Alexanders  des  Grossen  in  Bactrien  and  Indien  Berlin,  1871). 

3.  The  Coins  of  the  Greek  and   Scythic  Kings  of  Bactria  and  India,  in  the  British 

Museum,  London,  1886. 


156 


ZOROASTRIAN     DEITIES. 


of  Iranian  ■  deities  to  the  already  large 
Pantheon  of  Kanishka.  The  issues  of 
Huvishka  are  the  last  of  the  Tndo-Scythic 
coinage  with  which  we  are  concerned  on 
the  present  occasion,  as  the  much  inferior 
coins  of  a  later  king,  who  bears  the  name  of 
BAZOAHO  (Vusudeva  in  the  inscrip- 
tions), are  restricted  in  their  types  to  the 
more  or  less  barbarous  representations 
of  a  few  non-Zoroastrian  deities. 

The  plates  which  accompany  our  remarks 
on  the  various  types  represent  well-pre- 
served specimens  in  the  British  Museum, 
for  the  casts  of  which  we  are  indebted  to 
the  kindness  of  Prof.  Gardner.  These 
illustrations  obviate  the  necessity  of 
noticing  in  detail  the  characteristic  designs 
of  the  types  and  the  not  less  peculiar  writ- 
ing of  the  legends.  The  highly  original 
treatment  which  the  Greek  characters  have 
received  at  the  hands  of  the  Indo-Scythic 
die-cutters,  would  deserve  special  investi- 
gation from  epigraphists ;  for  our  present 
object  it  may  suffice  to  call  attention  to  the 
general  clearness  and  fluency  which 
distinguishes  very  favourably  this  ap- 
parently barbarous  writing  on  the  gold  coins 
of  Kanishka  and  Huvishka  from  the 
crammed  and  ill-shaped  legends  of  their 
Scythic  predecessors. 

In  the  large  assembly  of  Zoroastrian 
deities,  which  the  coins  of  their  Scythic 
worshippers  bring  before  us,  Mithra,  the 
God  of  heavenly  Light,  might  well  claim, 
precedence,  from  the  important  position  he 
occupies  in  Avestic  mythology   as  well  as 


in  Eastern  cult 


e  rally. 


T.  fOoer.  4).  II.  (Ooer.  67). 

The  Iranian  Mithra  has  been  loni^  airo 
recognized  in  the  very  characteristic  type 
of  the  Sun-god,  which   on   the  rare  Greek 


coins  of  Kanerki  bears  the  name  of 
HAIOC  Not  less  varied  than  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  God  himself  is  the  form  in 
which  his  Iranian  name  appears.  M I O  PO 
and  M 1 1  PO  are  the  most  frequent  read- 
ings, and  represent  but  slightly  varied  pro- 
nunciations of  the  same  form  mihr,  which 
the  Avestic  name  must  have  assumed  at  a 
comparatively  early  date  through  the  regu- 
lar phonetic  change  of  th  into  h.  MM  PO 
corresponds  to  the  modern  Persian  mihir, 
with  the  well  known  interposition  of  a 
secondary  vowel  lefore  r;  MIOPO  repre- 
sents 7mh7',  and  gives  us  a  clear  instance 
of  the  phonetic  rendering  of  h  by  O  (as 
in  OOH  PKI  =  Huokhka,)  to  which  we  shall 
have  to  refer  in  the  further  course  of  our 
enquiry.  The  closing  O,  which  recurs  at  the 
end  of  almost  all  Iranian  names  of  the  coins, 
can  as  yet  not  be  accounted  for  -vvibh  any 
certainty.  The  historical  study  of  the 
Iranian  language  leads  us  to  believe  that 
the  final  vowel  of  Zend  and  Old  Persian 
words  was  lost  in  their  transition  into  the 
phonetic  state  of  Middle  Persian  or  Pah- 
lavi ;  as  the  latter  is  in  its  main  character- 
istics reflected  by  the  legends  of  the  Indo- 
scythic  coinage,  this  closing  O  cannot  well 
be  considered  a  representative  of  the  old 
thematic  vowels.  We  may,  however,  look 
for  some  connexion  between  this  O  and 
the  sign  which  is  added  to  so  many  Pahlavl 
words  with  consonantal  ending,  and  is 
generally  transcribed  by  o. — Besides  the 
above  forms,  we  meet  with  numerous 
variants  of  the  same  name,  viz. — M€IPO, 
MIYPO,  MYIPO  on  Kanerki  coins 
(see  Oat.,  pp.  131,  134,  and  Von 
Sallet,  Nachfolger,  p.  197),  and  MIYPO, 
MYPO,  MlPO,  MIPPO  MIIOPO, 
MOPO  on  those  of  Ooerki  (see  Oat. 
pp.  141 -J  43,  155,  157;  Von  Sallet,  p. 
202  squ.)  Some  of  these  forms  maybe 
viewed  as  individual  attempts  to  give  a 
phonetical  equivalent  for  the  difficult  aspira- 
tion, others,  like  MIPPO,   MOPO   are 


ZOROASTRIAN     DEITIES. 


15: 


scarcely  more  than  mere  blunders  of  the 
die-cutters. 

From  this  list  of  forms  the  supposed 
MI0PO  has  been  justly  eliminated  by  Von 
Sallet ;  this  archaic  form  can  nowhere  be 
read  with  any  clearnes-:,  and  would,  in 
fact,  not  well  agree  with  the  general 
phonetic  character  of  the  names  lepre- 
sented.  It  is  of  considerable  interest  to 
compare  with  the  Scythic  name  of  Mithra 
the  various  forms  in  which  the  identical 
name  of  the  Iranian  month  Mihr  appears 
in  the  list  of  Cappadocian  months.  This 
list  has  been  preserved  for  us  in  a  chrono- 
logical table,  which  compares  the  calendars 
of  different  localities,  found  in  numer- 
ous Greek  MSS.  of  Ptolemy's  Can- 
ones.  It  has  been  carefully  exam- 
ined by  Benfey,*  and  proved  to  con- 
tain the  names  of  the  months  in  the 
Zorastrian  calendar,  as  still  in  use  in  Cap- 
padocia  under  the  Roman  rule.  Iranian 
months  are  designated  by  the  names  of 
their  respective  tutelary  deities,  and  as 
some  of  the  latter  are  represented  on  the 
Scythic  coinage,  these  Greek  transcriptions 
of  their  names  (which  are  found,  too,  in  a 
muoh  later  form  in  the  lists  of  Persian 
months  given  by  Isaacus  Monachus  and 
other  Byzantine  chronologists)  will  give  us 
much  valuable  help  for  the  identification 
of  the  Scythic  forms. 

The  MSS.  of  the  Hemerologium,  in 
wliicli  are  contained  the  Cappadocian 
nam  "S,  are  divided  into  two  classes;  one 
of  tli('S(!  pri'sents  us  witli  the  forms  Mirjpdv, 
Moyap,  MuoL,  Mvap,  which  all  corre- 
spond with  more  or  less  accuracy  to 
the  original  mihr,  the  M 1 1 PO,  M  lOPO  of 
our  coins  ;  the  other  class  gives  the  older 
form  Mi^pi,  which  may  have  been 
taken  from  an  earlier  compilation.  The 
later  lists  of  Byzantine  origin  represent  the 
Persian  milir  by  Me^'^p  or  Me'^^ep  (comp. 
Chrysococcas  in  Hyde,   Religio  Vett.   Per- 


sarum,  1700,  p.  101  ;  and  Remand,  Dis.ser- 
tat.  Miscellan.,  1706,  Pars  ii.,  p.  111). 

The  representation  of  the  god  makes  it 
sufficiently  evident  that  the  Avestic  Mithra, 
already  closely  connected  with  the  sun,  had 
by  that  time  become  completely  identified 
with  it.  None,  however,  of  those  numer- 
ous symbols,  proper  to  the  Western  Deo 
Invicto  Soli  Mithrae,  are  to  be  found  on 
the  types  of  MIOPO. 

The  type  of  MIlPO  appears  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  not  less  characteristic  repre- 
sentation of  his  heavenly  brother  the  Moon- 
god,  MAO,  On  a  coin  of  the  British  Mu- 
seum (Oat.  PI.  xxvii,  24).  The  types  of 
the  latter  resemble  in  all  important  fea- 
tures that  given  below  (No.  iv.),  and 
agree  well  with  the  masculine  conception 
of  the  Avestic  Moon-god,  called  mdo  ( =  Skr. 
mds)  or  (with  thematic  stem),  mdonha. 
His  name  becomes  7ndh  in  Pahlavi  and 
modern  Persian,  and  this  is  the  form  which 
is  represented  by  MAO  of  the  coins. 
Whether  the  O  corresponds  to  h  as  in 
MIOPO,  or  is  merely  the  closing  O  dis- 
cussed above,  cannot  be  decided.  On  two 
coins  of  the  Br.  M.  (Ooerki  Nros.  38,  40) 
we  find  the  fuller  transcription  MAOO, 
which  probably  must  be  read  md/io.  On  a 
Greek  coin  of  Kanerki  (Cat.  PI.  xxvi,  1), 
the  usual  male  figure  of  the  moon  deity  is 
accompanied  by  the  legend  CAAHNH. 


T) 


"Jr^   ^-^ 


'^-v 


III.  (Kau.  U).  IV.  (Ooer.  PyO). 

Here  we  may  notice  most  conveniently  a 
comparatively  rare  type  of  Kanerki  (No. 
iii.)  representing  a  bearded  God  with  a 
trotting  horse  beside  him,  as,  on  account  of 
the  legend,  we  have  to  identify  this  deity 
with   another,  less  known,  inhabitant   of 


4.   CJeber  die  Monatsnamen  einiger  alter  Volker,  Berlin,  1836,  p.  76  sqq. 


158 


ZOROASTRIAN     DEITIES. 


the  ethereal  regions  in  Avestic  mythology. 
Although    the    former   reading  APOOA- 
CnO,     had  to    be    abandoned   in  favour 
of   APOOACnO  on  the  evidence  of  the 
well-preserved  specimens  examined  by  Yon 
Sallet  and  Prof.  Gardner   (comp.    Kanerki 
14,  15  in  Br.  Mus.),  the  substantial  identity 
of  the  word  with  Zend  AurvLiif-agpa,^rst  pro- 
posed by  Windischmann,  can  scarcely  be 
doubted.       The     Avestic     word,     which 
literally    means    "  swift-horsed,"     is   the 
common  epithet    of   both  the  sun    {hvare- 
khshaeta)  and  the  god  Apam  napat  "the 
Son  of  the  Waters,"  whose  original  charac- 
ter as  an  old  Aryan  personification  of  the 
Fire,  born  in  the  clouds,  i.e.,  the  Lightning, 
(comp.  the  Apdm  napdt  of  Vedic  Mythology) 
can   still  be    traced   in  Avestic    passages. 
But  having  already  observed  that  th(i  Sun- 
god  became  merged  with  Mithra  into  the 
single  type  of  M  lOPO,  we  may  safely  con- 
clude tliat  the  APOOACnO  of  Kanerki 
is  "  the  High  Lord  Apdm  napat,  the  swift- 
horsed  "   of  the    Avesta       The   puzzling 
initial  A  of  the  Scythic  legend  may  be  ex- 
plained with  Prof.   Hoffmann'"^  as  the  first 
trace   of  the  phonetic  process,  by   which 
Aurvat-aqpa,  the  name  of  King  Vishta^pa's 
father,  was  turned  into  Lohardsp,  Lnihrmp, 
in  Pahlavi  and  Persian.  This  process  itself, 
however,  is  by  no  means  clear,   especially 
as  we  find  the  phonetically  correct  repre- 
sentant  of  Zend  aurvaf-a(;pci  still  preserved 
ill  the  name  Arvandfhp,  which  is  mentioned 
in      some     genealogical     lists      as      that 
of     King     Vlshta^pa's    grandflxther        If 
APOOACnO  is   to    be  considered  the 
link    between   the    Zend    form    and    the 
modern-  Luhrdi^p,  it  must  probably  be  read 
*Lrohaspo,   the  second  O  ri^.presenting  the 
sound  /i,  to  which  t  was  reduced  in  due 
course  by  its  position  between  two  vowels. 


V.  (Kan.  63.) 


The  type  of  the 
Iranian  Wind  -god, 
(running  bearded  figure 
with  loose  hair  and 
floating  garment),  is 
very  frequent  on  the 
bronze  coins  of  Kaner- 
ki (see  No.  v..  Cat.  p. 
135)  and  artistically,  perhaps,  the  most 
original  conception  of  the  whole  series. 
In  his  highly  characteristic  figure  and  the 
legend  OA  AO  it  was  not  easy  to  mistake 
Fdki,  the  "strong  Mazda-created  Wind" 
of  the  Avesta.  The  form  OAAO 
is  of  great  interest  to  the  grammarian  ; 
it  proves  most  conclusively  that  the  change 
of  intervocal  t  into  d  (cf,  Zend  vdki  with 
Persian  bad),  which  is  ignored  in  the  arti- 
ficial spelling  of  Pahlavi  {edto),  was  an 
accomplished  fact  as  early  as  the  1st  cen- 
tury of  our  era. 

The  flames  rising  from  the  shoulders  of 
the  God,  whose  most  common  type  is  given 
below  (No.  vii.),  would  clearly  proclaim  him 
a  personification  of  the  Fire,  so  important 
for  Zoroastrian  cult,  even  if  the  legend 
were  open  to  any  doubt.  A0PO,  with 
the  variant  A0OPO  on  a  gold  coin  of 
Ooerki  (see  Cat.  p,  136  and  PI.  xxvii,  8), 
which  represents  the  God  in  the  very 
characteristic  type  of  Hephaestus  with 
hammer  and  tongs,  is  directly  derived  from 
Zend  dtlir-,  the  weak  form  of  stem  dtar 
'•  fire,"  and  is,  therefore,  substantially 
identical  with  the  Pahlavi  dtrb  (comp. 
mitrb  for  *milhrb)  and  the  Persian  adhar 
"  fire."  The  latter  form  has  survived  be- 
side the  more  common  dtash  (a  descendant 
of  the  ancient  Nominativ  diars)  chiefly  as 
the  name  of  the  9th  Zoroastrian  month, 
which  is  transcribed  by  Isaacus  Monachus 
and  other  Byzantine  chronologists  as  aSep. 


0. 


Abhandlungen  "  of  the  German  Oriental  Society.     Vol.  vii.,  3,  p.  150. 


ZOROASTRIAN     DEITIES. 


159 


In  the  Cappadocian  list  of  months  we 
find  the  older  form  ^AS^pa,  which  is,  in 
fact,  the  closest  approach  to  A0PO  of 
our  coins.  Atar,  "  the  son  of  Ormazd,  the 
most  great  and  l)eneficent  Deity,"  is,  in 
accordance  witfi  the  all  irapoitant  part 
which  the  sacred  fire  plays  in  Zoroastrian 
cult,  frequently  addressed  in  the  hymns 
and  prayers  of  the  Avestic  ritual ;  and  be- 
sides, a  special  supplication  (Nyaish  V.)  is 
devoted  to  him.  The  tongs,  with  which 
A0PO  is  always  represented,  are  men- 
tioned among  other  instruments,  required 
for  the  proper  care  of  Ormazd's  fire  in  a 
passage  of  the  Vendidad  (xiv.  7). 


yi.  (Ooer.  116).  VII.  (Kan.  II). 

In  a  God  of  apparently  similar  cl.aracter 
(see  No.  vi.)  who  on  the  gold  coin?, 
especially  of  Ooerki  (comp.  Cat.  pp. 
150-153)  is  frequently  represented  as  hold- 
ing fire  in  his  hand.  Prof.  Hoff'mann  hns 
very  properly  recognized  a  representation 
of  "  the  mighty  kingly  Glory  ''  the  kavaem 
qareno  of  the  Avesta.  This  deity's  name 
reads  4>APPO  or  <I>APO  and  corresponds 
to  the  Persian  farr,  both  forms  being  de- 
rived from  farna,  which  is  the  phonetic 
equivalent  of  Zend  qareno  in  the  Ancient 
Persian  of  the  Achaemenidian  inscriptions. 
Zend  ViTida  -  qarena,  "  winning  glory," 
thus  becomes,  as  a  proper  noun,  Vifidafarna^ 
^IvTa<^epv7)<;  in  Old  Persian,  and  YNAO 
<I>EPPHZ  on  the  coins  of  an  Indo-Par- 
thian  ruler.  Similarly,  the  PHARNACO- 
TIS  of  Pliny,  vi.  25,  has  been  recognized 
by  the  present  writer  (see  ^'-  'AmcUmy,'^ 
1885,  p.  349)  in  the  derivative  form 
qdvenanhaiti,  found  as  a  river  name  in  the 
Avesta.  The  "  Kingly  Glory,"  which  is  a 
Zoroastrian  personification  of  lawful  rule 
over  Iran,  i^   well   charakterized   by   the 


sceptre  in  the  hand  of  4>APPO  on  som^ 
types  of  Ooerki  (comp.  Cat.  PI.  xxviii.  26- 
29) ;  its  great  importance  for  Zoroastrian 
mythology  is  indicated  from  the  length  of 
the  Yasht  (xix.),  devoted  to  its  praise,  and 
the  numerous  legends,  which  have  gatliered 
around  tliC  farr-i-kai/dn  in  later  l*ersiaii 
tradition 

The  God  OPAAFNO,  whom  a  type  o 
Kanerki  (No.  ix. )  rejresents  in  the  war- 
like attire  of  a  Scythian,  was  first 
recognized  by  Benfey  as  Ferethraghna^ 
the  Iranian  war  -  god.  The  form 
OPAAFNO  presents  us  with  a  con- 
siderably older  form  of  the  name,  than 
Pahlavi  Farahrdn  (the  0vpapdv7)9  of  the 
Greeks),  which,  in  modern  Persian,  is  still 
iurther  reduced  to  Bahrdrn.  A  as  a  ren- 
dciiiig  of  the  sounds  thr,  or  more  probably 
hr,  is  of  considerable  interest  for  the  history 
of  Iranian  phonetics.  OP  =  vers  will  prove 
useful  evidence  in  favour  of  the  explanation 
we  have  to  propose  for  PAOPHOPO. 
In  the  bird,  which  appears  sitting  on  the 
God's  helmet,  we  recognize  the  bird 
Fdrenjana  (or  Vdraghna)  of  the  Avesta, 
which  was  evidently  sacred  to  Ferethragh- 
na,  as  the  healing  and  protective  power  of 
a  feather  of  that  bird,  if  worn  as  an 
amulet,  forms  the  object  of  special  com- 
ment just  in  the  Vasht  of  Bahram  (§  34 
sqq).  The  eagle-like  appearance  of  the 
bird  on  our  coins  seems  to  point  to  a  closer 
relationship  between  the  bird  Fdrefijaim 
and  the  Szmurgh  (i.e.,  *9aen6  meregho 
"  eagle  bird  ")  of  the  Shah-namah  legend, 
than  hitherto  supposed. 


VIII.  (Obor.  95).  IX.  (Kan.  29). 

With  Verethraghna  we  may  connect 
most  appropriately  the  winged  Go*l«less, 
who  appears  in  the  distinct  type  of  a  Nike 


160 


ZOROASTRIAN     DEITIES. 


holding  wreath  and  trophy-stand  on  some 
rare  ^old  coins  of  Ooerki  (see  No.  viii.  ; 
Cat.  p.  147).  Her  name,  which,  with  a 
slight  variation,  is  written  both  OAN I N  A  A 
and  OANINAO,  induces  me,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  very  characteristic  type,  to 
identify  her  with  the  female  genius,  whose 
name  vanaifdi  uparatdt  "victorious  superi- 
ority "  is  invariably  coupled  in  all  formulas 
and  invocations  of  the  Avesta  with  that  of 
Ferethraghna  (comp.  e.g.  Yacna  i.  6,  Vis- 
pered  i.  6,  Yasht  xiv.  0). 

We  prefer  this  explanation  all  the  more 
to  the  hitherto  accepted  theory,  which 
identified  OANINAA  with  the  star 
Vanafit  (a  male  deity !),  as  it  disposes 
effectually  with  the  two  difficulties,  invol- 
ved by  the  latter  ;  both  the  female  repre- 
sentation ofOAN  IN  AA  and  ihe  Iota  of  the 
name,  are  now  easily  accounted  for,  the 
former  by  the  feminine  gender  of  vanaifdi 
(uparatdf)  smd  the  later  by  the  well-known 
phonetic  influence  of  epenthetic  i. 

The  opposite  type(No.  x.) 
presents  us  with  unusual 
difficulties  ;  it  is  found 
only  on  a  unique  gold  coin 
of  Ooerki,  now  in  the 
British  Museum  (Cat.  pp.  x.  (Ooer.  71). 
Ixi  and  1 44)  and  is  accompanied  by  a  legend, 
which  has  sorely  puzzled  numismatists  by 
its  curiously  contracted  characters.  The 
late  Mr.  Thomas  identified  the  figure  with 
an  archaic  representation  of  Artemis,  but 
the  supposed  resemblance  to  the  type  of  a 
gold  coin  of  Augustus  has  been  disputed 
by  Von  Sallet  (p.  202).  The  bow  and  arrow 
in  the  hand  of  the  deity  are,  however,  un- 
mistakeable  and  may  give  us,  perhap?,  some 
clue  to  its  true  character.  Scanning  the 
ranks  of  Zoroastrian  deities,  we  cannot  help 
being  reminded  of  Tishtrya,  the  star  Sirius, 
whose    later  name,    Tlr,    in    Pahlavi  and 


Persian  actually  means  "  arrow,"  That  the 
word  in  this  second  meaning  is  etymologi- 
cally  derived  from  Zend  fighri  fcomp.  Eusta- 
thiufe  ad  Dionys.  984  :  Mrjhoi  yap  Tlypii' 
Kokovoi  TO  Tp^ev^a),  is  on  one  side  cer- 
tain;  on  the  other  there  are  very  great 
grammatical  objections  against  a  direct  de- 
rivation of  Th',  "  Sirius,"  from  the  Avestic 
word  Tishtrya.  We  are  thus  led  to  suspect  a 
replacement  of  the  genuine  derivative  oi  tish- 
trya by  the  more  common  wor<l  for  the 
arrow,  which,  in  popular  conception,  was 
evidently  an  attribute  of  the  Star  :  in 
a  passage  of  the  Tir- Yasht  (viii.  37)  we 
find  tlie  swift  flight  of  the  Star  Tishtrya 
directly  compared  with  that  of  an  arrow. '^ 
The  legend  of  our  cc-in,  to  which  we  must 
now  turn^  has  been  read  Z€PO  by  Mr. 
Thomas,  and,  with  much  greater  exactness, 
M€l  PO  by  Herr  von  Sallet ;  as,  however, 
the  latter's  reading  supposes  a  ligature 
between  M  and  the  following  €1,  which 
is  unparellelled  on  Scythic  coins,  we 
shall  scarcely  be  blamed  for  not  sur- 
rendering at  once  on  this  particular  point 
even  to  so  great  an  authority.  Taking  the 
combined  characters  €1,  which  are  in 
fict  perfectly  clear,  for  granted,  and 
viewing  the  preceding  strokes  as  a 
single  independent  'character,  we  have  no 
difficulty  in  recognizing  the  letter  T.  Its 
rounded  shape  is  in  perfect  keeping  with 
the  general  character  of  Scythic  epigraphy ; 
the  explanation  of  its  having  so  long 
escaped  discovery,  is  contained  in  the  fact 
that  T  is  exactly  one  of  those  few  letters 
which  by  chance  have  not  yet  occurred  on 
the  Turushka  coinage.  In  order  to 
obtain  the  link,  which  is  wanted  in  the 
chain  of  evidence  for  the  identification  of 
the  God,  whose  name  we  now  read  TGI  PO, 
we  have  once  more  to  recur  to  the  list 
of  Cappadocian  months ;  there  we  find 
the  name  of   Tk,    the  fourth  Zoroasrtian 


6.   My  attention  was  called  to  this  passage  by  Prof.  Darmesteter,  who  further  suggests 
an  etymological  connexion  between  tishtrya  {*tij-tr-ya)  and  tigh-ri  (th). 


ZOROASTRIAN     DEITIES. 


161 


month,  rendered  in  the  two  best  MSS  of 
the  second  class  '>y  Tecpei,  a  form  to  which 
the  variants  of  the  other  two  MSS  Trjpi, 
and  Te/,  (for  *TEIP)  may  easily  be  recon- 
ciled. Whatever  explanation  we  shall 
have  to  give  in  future  of  Tiprj^  or 
Tlpi,^,  the  reading  of  the  first  class 
of  MSS  and  probably  a  much  older 
form,  it  will  not  affect  the  conclusive 
evidence  we  derive  from  Tecpet 
for  the  substantial  identity  of 
T€IPO  with  Tir.  It  will  be  an  object 
for  future  research  to  determine  the  exact 
phonetic  stage  in  the  transition  from  tighri 
to  tir,  which  has  been  recorded  by  the 
curiously  identical  spelling  of  the  Kappa- 
dokiau  and  Scythic  forms. 

In  view  of  the  philological  evidence 
given  above  for  the  identity  of  T€IPO 
with  the  later  name  of  Tistrya,  we  need 
not  attach  much  importance  to  th 
difficulty,  presented  by  the  apparently 
female  character  of  the  type.  The  latter  is 
evidently  a  mere  reproduction  of  the 
G-reek  Artemis,  which  was  a  type 
ready  at  hand  for  an  Indo-Scythian  die- 
cutter  wishing  to  exhibit  in  his  type  the 
characteristic  emblems  of  the  Deity,  bow 
and  arrow. 


XI.   (Ooer.   106).  XII.  (Ooer.  103). 

If  the  god,  who  appears  in  the  above 
types  (Nos.  xi.,  xii.)  and  similar  ones  on 
the  gold  coins  of  Ooerki  (comp.  Oat. 
PI.  xxviii.  17-19),  has  hitherto  completely 
escaped  recognition,  it  was  certainly  not 
owing  to  want  of  clearness  in  the  legend  or 
of  distinctive  character  in  the  type.  The 
latter  presents  us  in  all  its  variations  with 
the  well-modelled  figure  of  a  warrior  in 
full   Greek    armour,  with   Greek   helmet, 


spear  and  shield  (which  on  a  single  specimen 
in  the  British  Museum,  PI.  xxviii.  19,  is 
replaced  by  a  weapon  resemblin;.,'  a  hook), 
Ihe  legend  reads  on  all  well  preserved 
specimens  (for  a  wholly  barbarous  reproduc- 
tion, see  Br.  Mus.  Cat.  Ooer.  104),  with  un- 
common clearness  PAOPHOPO  (see  No. 
xii.),  with  the  exception  of  Ooerki  106  (see 
No.  xi.),  where  we  find  the  variant 
P AO  PH  O  A  P,  No  attempt  has  yet  been 
made  to  interpret  this  remarkable  name 
either  with  the  help  of  Iranian  or  Indian 
philology;  the  application  of  a  phonetic 
law,  long  ago  recognized  in  other  instances, 
will  enable  us  to  identify  PAOPHOPO 
with  the  well-known  name  of  a  Zoroastrian 
deity. 

In  our  opening  remarks  we  had  already 
occasion  to  mention  KANHPKI  and 
OOHPKI  as  the  Scythic  equivalents 
on  the  coins  for  the  names  Kanishka^ 
Ruvishka  of  the  inscriptions  and  later 
texts.  A  comparison  between  these  double 
sets  of  forms  shows  at  a  glance,  that  the 
Scythic  P  represents  necessarily  the  same 
letter,  as  the  sh  of  the  Indian  forms.  That 
this  Scythic  sound,  which,  in  the  Greek 
writing  of  the  Scythic  coins  was  rendered 
by  P,  really  bore  the  phonetic  character  of 
an  sh,  can  be  conclusively  proved  in  the 
caseofathirddoublet,KOPANO  =  Kiishan, 
which  was  first  identified  by  Lassen  {Ind. 
AUerthumskunde,  ii.  389)  as  the  name  of  the 
ruling  Indo-Scythian  tribe.  KOPANO, 
on  the  obverses  of  the  Turushka  coins, 
follows  immediately  upon  the  name  of  the 
king,  and  corresponds  in  this  position  to 
XOPAN  of  the  legends  of  Kadaphes  (one 
of  Kanerki's  Scythic  predecessors),  which 
in  the  Ariano-Pali  of  the  reverses  is 
actually  translated  hy KusJumasa (comp.  Cat. 
p.  123).  That  the  latter  form  represents  the 
genuine  native  pronunciation  of  the  name, 
cannot  be  doubted,  since  we  have,  as  to  the 
sh,    the    independent    testimony    of    the 


162 


ZOROASTRIAN    DEITIES. 


Chinese  transcript  in  tie  annals  of  the 
second  Han  Dynasty,  which  tell  us  that 
all  the  peoples  under  the  Yueh-chi  (Indo- 
Scythian)  rule,  when  speaking  of  their 
sovereign,  call  him  the  King  of  the 
Kuei-shuang—i.e.,  Kushans  (cp.  Journal  Asi- 
atique,  1883,  t.  ii.  325). 

If    we   suppose    that   the   phonetic   or 
graphic  rule  of  P  representing  sh,  which  is' 
so  evident  in  the  case  of  the  Scythian  words 
KANHPKI,     OOHPKI,     KOPANO, 
applied  as  well  to  the  corresponding  sound 
sh  in  the  Iranian   elements  of  the  legends, 
we    shall      have     no    further      difficulty 
in    identifying    PAOPHOPO  with   the 
third  Amesha  9penta   or  archangel  of  the 
Zoroastrian   creed,    whose    Avestic   name 
khshathra   vairya    "perfect  rule"  becomes 
by  ordinary  phonetic  changes  ShahrSvar  in 
Pahlavi  and  Persian.     Of  this  later  form 
of  the  name   PAOPHOPO  is  an  exact 
transliteration.       For   the   first   O  repre- 
senting h  we  can  adduce  the  evidence  of 
MIOPO  (and  perhaps  APOOACHO), 
for  the  second  0  =  mthat  of  OPAAFNO 
and     the    still    more     convincing     proof 
of    the      variant     PAOPHOAP      (see 
No.     xi.),     which    actually    presents     us 
with  the  fuller  spelling  of  the  last  syllable 
mr.— Shahrev^ar    appears    already    in    the 
Avesta,   what  he  is  par  excellence  in  later 
Zoroastrian  tradition,  the  genius  of  metals  ; 
the  representation  of    PAOPHOPO,  in 
full  metal  armour  with  Greek  helmet  and 
shield,    is   therefore   in  signal   agreement 
with    the    cosmologic    character    of    the 
Zrroastrian  deity. 

The  MS8.  of  the  Hemerologium  (see 
above)  give  the  name  of  the  6th  Cappadocian 
month  (corresponding  to  the  Pars! 
Shahremr)  in  various  forms,  UavSrjpi  (4 
MSS.),  BavSvpl,  BavSpLopr}^  Ba^pc, 
etc.,  all  of  which  show  a  much  closer 
approach  to  the  original  khshathru  (UavSp 


UavS-)  vairya  {irjpi,  i.e.,  *frjpl,  vpi),  than 
sltalwhar,  PAOPHOPO.  BavSpLSprjis 
of  peculiar  interest,  as  marking  the  tran- 
sition from  the  Zend  form,  of  which  it 
still  keeps  the  H  and  S,  to  shahrevar  = 
PAOPHOPO.  It  may,  however,  be 
doubted,  whether  the  apparently  more 
antique  charakter  of  these  Cappadocian 
forms  is  not  merely  due  to  learned  archai- 
cism,  as  in  the  case  of  the  form  shatfrj- 
mtro,  which  is  used  in  Pahlavi  texts  indif 
ferently  with  the  genuine  shahrevar. 

Late  Creek  transcripts  of  Shahrevar 
are  Saxptovp  of  Isaacus  Monachus  and 
Xape/Sap    (see  Hyde,  p.  191). 

PAOPHOPO,  however,  is  not  the  only 
puzzle  of  the  Indo-Scythic  legends,  that 
finds  its  simple  solution  by  the  assumption 
that  the  character  P  may  also  represent 
the  sound  sh.  Although  it  is  just  on  the 
obverses  of  Kanerki  and  Ooerki,  that  we 
meet  with  the  most  convincing  examples  of 
P=sh  (KANHPKI  =Kanishka,OOHPKI 
=  Huvishka,  KOPANO  -  Kushan),  no- 
body seems  to  have  yet  thought  of 
utilizing  their  evidence  for  the  enigma  in 
the  rest  of  the  legend. 

The  full  legends  on  the  obverses  of  the 
Turushka-coins  vary  merely  in  the  name  of 
the  king;  they  are  on  the  gold  coins 
of     Kanerki  :  PAONANO      PAO 

KANHPKI  KOPANO  (No.  xiii),  on 
those  of  his  successor  .  PAONANO 
PAO  OOHPKI  KOPANO  (No   xiv). 


Xl  I.  XIV. 

The  only  variants  of  any  importance  occur 
in  the  spelling  of  KANHPKI  (once  with 
the  ending  KO)  and  OOHPKI  (written 
sometimes        OOHPKO,        OOHPK6 


ZOROASTRIAJN     DEITIES. 


leu 


OYOHPKI),  and  can  easily  be  ascertained 
from  the  catalogue  of  Prof.  Gardner. 
The  bronze  coins  of  Kanerki  bear  the 
shortinscription  PAO  KANHPKI  ;  those 
of  (^oerki  bear  a  legend,  which  is  materially 
identical  with  that  of  the  gold  coins,  but 
being  written  in  a  rather  barbarous 
fashion  was  formerly  misread  into 
PAONANO  PAO  OOHP  K€NO 
PANO  (comp.  Cat.  p.  lii).  The  correspond- 
ing legend  of  the  rare  Greek  coins  of 
Kanerki,  BACIA€YC  BACIA€U)N 
KANHPKOY  (see  Cat.  p.  129),  leaves  no 
doubt  as  to  the  meaning  of  PAONANO 
PAO.  It  has  been  considered  an  estab- 
Hshed  fact  since  the  days  of  Prinsep,  that 
Scythic  PAO  represents  "King,"  and 
PAONANO  the  plural  of  the  same 
word,  but  no  satisfactory  etymology  of  these 
foims  has  yet  been  offered.  The  proposed 
identification  of  PAO  with  the  Indian  raja 
does  not  require  a  detailed  refutation.  We 
can  neither  suppose  that  the  Scythians,  so 
car'3ful  in  their  transcripts,  should  have 
^persisted  in  ignoring  the  palatal  j,  nor  that 
the  quite  modern  Indian  form  rao  should 
have  appeared  at  that  date  in  the  Pali 
vernacular,  which  in  the  inscriptions  of 
the  very  same  Turushka  Kings  still  exhibits 
the  full  forms  maharaja  rajadiraja. 

As  the  simple  PAO  evidently  expresses 
BACIA6YC  (comp.  the  legend  PAO 
KANHPKI  of  the  bronze  coins),  we 
must  look  in  PAONANO  for  a  genitive 
plural,  corresponding  to  BACIAGCON  of 
the  Greek  legend ;  but  not  only  does 
.  Indian  grammar  not  account  for  the 
peculiar  form  of  this  case-ending,  but, 
moreover,  the  construction  of  the  phiase 
is  distinctly  un-Indian.  '^  The  order  of  its 
elements  (Genitive  plural   +   Norn,  sing.) 


is,  on  the  contrary,  exactly  thlit  obaetrved 
in  the  Iranian  title  ShaJuin-shdh  (Old 
Persian  khshdyathiydndm  khshdyuihirja ^  of 
which  ^aaiXevs  ^aaiXetov  is  the  regilLar 
representative  in  Greek. 

PAO  and  PAONANO,  i.e.,  *shdh6 
and  *shdhanand  shako,  are,  in  fact,  the 
identical  Iranian  titles  ^hdli  and  Shdhwifh 
shdh,  which  we  can  prove  from  other  sources 
t3  have  been  the  distinctive  appellations  Of 
the  Indo-Scythian  rulers.  In  the  Mathura 
inscription*^  of  the  (^aka)  year  87  Vasu- 
deva,  the  BAZOAHO  of  our  coins,  is 
called  Maharaja  Kajatiraja  Shdhi ;  in  tHae 
daivaputra  shdhi  shdhdnashdhi  qaJca,  men- 
tioned in  the  AUaliabad  inscription  of 
Samudra  Gupta,  General  Cunningham  has 
long  ago  recognized  a  direct  reference  to  the 
Turushka  Kings,  called  ^em^^?'a  "ihes^ttis 
of  heaven  "  in  their  inscriptions ;  and,  lastly, 
we  find  a  late,  but  very  distinct  remjini- 
scence  of  these  Scythic  titles  in  the  JJ^in 
legend  of  Kalakacarya,  ^  which  calls  the 
princes  of  the  Qakas,  the  protectors  of  the 
saint,  Sdhi  (Shahi)  and  their  sovereign 
Lord  Sdhdnusdhi. 

The  form  Shdhi  (Prakrit  s^i)  still  pre- 
serves in  its  final  i  a  trace  of  the  old  end- 
ing ya  (in  khshdyathiya)  which  has  dis- 
appeared in  the  modern  Persian  form  shdJi. 
The  latter  form  is  represented  by  our 
PAO,  which,  after  the  analogy  of  MAO 
=  mdh,  we  read  shdho. 

The  Indian  transcripts  ot  the  fuller  title 
may  furnish  us  \vith  valuable  help  for  the 
determ  nation  of  the  grammatical  ending  in 
PAONANO  PAO,  which  evidently  forms 
a  link  between  the  ancient  khshdyathiydndm 
and  the  shdhan  of  the  Persian  title,  ai^d 
here  we  fintl  the  Vviik.v'\.t  sdhdmLsdh[  of  the 
Jain  legend^  even  more  inter  est  iag  than  the 


7.  Comp.  Prof.  Oldenberg's  Note  :  Indian  Antiquary,  1881,  p.  215. 

8.  Published  by  General  A.  Cunningham,  Archaeological  Survey  of  India,  Eepofis,  vol. 
iii.,  p.  35  and  Plat:;  XV.,  18.  • 

.9.  Published  by  Prof.H.  Jsicohi,  Zeitsdirift  of  .th.G.G&vm£in  Oriental .Soc.  vol^xxxi v., 
p.  255. 


M 


ZOROASTRIAN    DEITIES. 


shahdnashdhi  of  the  Sanskrit  inscription. 
Prof.  Jacobi  has  already  pointed  out  the 
striking  analogy  between  the  form  sdhdnu 
and  the  first  part  of  the  compound 
devdnuppiya,  which  is  the  Prakrit  form  in 
the  Jain  texts  for  the  Pali  devdnampriya 
(Sanskrit  devdndm  priya)  "  dear  to  the 
G-ods,"  the  well-known  epithet  of  A9oka. 
By  this  analogy,  which  proves  the  Prakrit 
-dnu  to  be  the  representant  of  the  older  end- 
ing -dnam  of  the  Genitive  plural,  when  placed 
in  the  middle  of  a  compound,  we  are  car- 
ried back  from  sdhdnu  to  an  older  form 
*shdhdnam.  This  form  differs  substantially 
from  PAONANOonly  in  the  quantity  of 
the  second  syllable,  which  in  the  Scythic 
form  must  be  read  ha  not  hd,  as  for  the 
latter  we  had  to  expect  A  (comp. 
MAACHNO  =  Skr.  mahdsena).  This 
variation,  however,  which  was  necessary  in 
order  to  give  to  the  Iranian  word  the 
grammatical  appearance  of  an  Indian 
genitive  plural,  is  of  special  interest,  as 
it  gives  a  distinct  hint  as  to  the  gramma- 
tical character  of  the  ending  in 
PAONANO. 

It  is,  in  fact,  the  genuine  Iranian  ending 
of  the  genitive  plural  of  thematic  stems, 
-dndm  in  old  Persian,  but  -andm  in  Zend, 
which  we  know  to  have  been  turned  at  a 
a  later  stage  of  the  language  into  the  general 
plural  termination  -dn}^  As  this  form  and 
use  of  the  ending  occurs  already  in  the 
earliest  Pahlavi  documents,  the  inscriptions 
of  Shdpnr  I  (A.D.  240-270),  we  should  feel 
some  difficulty  about  explaining  the  pre- 
servation of  a  much  older  form  of  the  case- 
ending  in  PAONANO,  if  we  could  not 
refer  our  readers  to  the  similarly  archaic 
forms,  which  the  Cappadocian  list  of 
months  has  preserved  of  Ahdn,  the  name 
of  the  8th  Zoroastrian  month. 

The  plural  form  dhdn  (Pahlavi  dpdno) 
desis^nates   the   "waters,"  to   which   this 


month  is  sacred,  and  must  be  derived  from 
a  thematic  form  of  the  Genitive  plural  in 
Zend,  ^apandm.  Benfey's  MS  II.,  from 
which  we  have  already  quoted  ^avS^pcoprj 
as  the  nearest  approach  to  .  PAO- 
PHOPO,  gives  us  here,  too,  the  best 
preserved  form  ;  'ATrove/xo/jLi,  represents  un- 
doubtedly *apandm  mdh  (comp.  'A'iT6v^a= 
dhdn  mdh  of  Isaacus  Monachus,  and,  as 
to  fjLV  =  fia,  the  variant  'ATrofieva/nc  Vll. 
with  * Airofjuevafid  X). 

As  the  same  list  contains  the  compara- 
tively modern  form  Mirjpdv,  corresponding 
to  M 1 1  PO,  it  cannot  date  back  to  a  much 
earlier  stage  of  the  language  than  that  re- 
presented on  our  coins.  We  are  therefore 
fully  entitled  to  see  in  vefjuo  essentially  the 
same  ending  as  in  NANO  of  our  legend. 
In  both  cases,  the  preservation  of  the  full 
ending  was  probably  due  to  its  being  pro- 
tected by  the  following  word  (PAO,  mdh), 
which  formed,  in  fact,  with  the  preceding 
genitive  a  compound  of  the  class,  called 
juxtapose  by  French  Grammarians. 

Most  of  the  other  MSS.  read  ^  Airofievaixd, 
^Airovjjbevafjbd  and  similar  forms,  in  which 
the  transposition  of  v  and  fj,  is  easily 
accounted  for  by  palaeographic  reasons. 
Nor  does  the  final  NO  of  the  ending 
[  PA]  ON  AN  O,  as  compared  with  the 
m  of  the  Zend  ending  -andm^  offer  any 
special  difl&culty,  as  various  indications  of 
Zend  phonetics  lead  us  to  believe  that  the 
final  m  had  in  reality  been  merged  into  the 
nasal  sound  ^,  to  which  the  m  of  our  MSS 
was  added  only  for  orthographic  reasons 
(comp.  Bartholomae,  Handhuch  der  altiran. 
Dialede,  §  79).  This  sound  d,  the  Indian 
am,  is  fitly  represented  by  ANO. 

After  the  fresh  evidence  we  have  given 
above  for  the  representation  of  sh  by  P, 
we  should  still  be  unable  to  explain  this 
remarkable  fact,  if  we  could  not  supple 
ment   our   philological   arguments   by   an 


10.  Comp.  Prof.  Darmesteter's  Etudes  Iraniennes,  I.  124. 


ZOROASTRIAN    DEITIES. 


165 


epigraphic  observation.  It  refers  to  the 
fact  (nowhere  noticed  in  numismatical 
accounts,  but  easily  ascertained  from  the 
coins  themselves),  that  the  charakter  uni- 
formly read  P  is  actually  found  in  two 
different  forms  on  our  coins.  One  is  the 
ordinary  Greek  P,  rather  in  its  minuscule 
form,  and  may  be  seen  e.g.  in  MIlPO, 
<l>APPO  (Nos.  ii.  vi.)  ;  the  other  bears 
a  slight  upward  stroke,  and,  in  this  shape, 
rather  resembles  an  Anglo-Saxon  ]?.  The 
latter  form  (which  for  brevity's  sake  we 
shall  designate  )?)  seems  constantly  to  be 
used  tor  the  sh  of  the  obverses,  but  appears 
also  sometimes  in  legends  like  OPAAFNO 
(No.  ix.),  A0PO  (No.  vii.),  where  its  value 
as  r  cannot  be  doubted,  and  where,  there- 
fore, the  occurrence  of  |?=,sA  could  be 
explained  only  by  the  assumption  of  a 
partial  confusion  of  two  charakters,  so 
similar  in  their  appearance.  The  minute 
examination  of  a  larger  number  of  coins, 
will,  perhaps,  supply  us  with  distinct  evi- 
dence as  to  the  origin  of  this  remarkable 
charakter  '\p=s'h. 

Both  the  forms  P  and  J?  are  distinctly 
represented  in  the  legend  APAOXPO, 
which  accompanies  a  female  type,  holding 
cornucopiae,  frequent  on  the  coins  of 
Kanerki  and  Ooerki  (see  Nos.  xv.  xvi.) 


XV.  (Kan.  13).  XVI.  (Over.  6). 

The  first  P  appears  always  in  the  ordi- 
nary Greek  shape,  the  second  always  like 
)?.      We   must,   therefore,    all    the   more 


regret,  that  the  real  name  of  this  evidently 
very  popular  Godde.ss,  has  not  yet  been 
ascertained.  Her  identification  with  Ashis 
vanguhi,  the  Avestic  goddess  of  Wealth 
and  Fortune,  ^  ^  is  strongly  recommended  by 
the  evidence  of  the  type,  which  closely 
resembles  that  of  the  Greek  Tychc;;  but 
we  see  as  yet  no  way  to  reconcile  her 
common  name  in  later  Zoroastrian  tra- 
dition, AsUslivmg  or  Ardishvaiuf^  (both 
forms  derived  from  Avestic  ashis  vanguhi), 
with  the  form  APAOXPO.  Nor  do  the 
occasional  variants  of  the  coins  (see  Cat. 
pp.  137,  138  ;  AOXPO,  Ooer.  19),  all  of 
them  with  \  in  the  second  place,  afford 
any  clue  to  this  remark  able  legend. 

The  same  [?  is  twice 
met  with  in  the  legend 
APA€lXPO,  which  we 
read  on  a  rare  type  of 
Ooerki  (see  No.  xvii. ; 
Cat-  p.  136)  representing 
a  male  deity  with  radiate 
disk  like  MIOPO.  The  name  when 
read  with  due  regard  to  the  peculiar 
character  of  the  two  |7,  might  well  remind 
us  of  the  second  Zoroastrian  archangel, 
the  personification  of  the  *'  holy  order  " 
and  the  genius  of  the  sacrificial  fire, 
whose  Avestic  name  Asha-vahishta  appears 
in  the  substantially  identical  fonns  Asha- 
vahishto  and  Ardavahishto  ( Ardibahi<ht ) 
in  later  Zoroastrian  literature  (for 
Pahlavi?Y^=Zend5A  see  Note  12).  The 
latter  form  of  the  name  is  represented  in 
the  Cappadocian  list  by  'ApTaearl — i.<?., 
*'ApTa[F]e[hi\aTl'  ;  we  should,  therefore, 
not  hesitate  to  identify  APA€IXPO 
— i.e.,     *ashaeikhsh6     with      ashavahishtd 


XVII 


11.  First  suggested  by  Prof .  Hoffmann ;  his  explanation  of  APAOXPO,  however,  is 
untenable  as  the  supposed  original  form  of  the  name  :  Ashis  ahurahe  ''  Ashi  [daughter]  of 

.Ahura,"  is  nowhere  met  with  in  Zoroastrian  literature. 

12.  Ashi,  originally  "^eretif  appears  again  as  Ard  in  Pahlavi ;  comp.  PahL  ard  for  Zend 
asha  =  ereta 


l66 


ZOROASTRIAN    DEITIES. 


of  the  Pahlavi,  if  any  satisfactory 
evidence  could  be  found  for  the  phonetic 
change  of  slit  into  Mish^  apparently  involved 
by  this  explanation. 

In  the  ranks  of  Zoroastrian  Deities 
the  Goddess  NANA,  very  frequent  on  the 
coins  of  all  Turushka  Kings  (see  No.  xviii), 
cannot  fairly  claim  a  place.  Although 
her  cult  is  found  in  various  localities  of 
Iran,  as  over  a  large  part  of  Western 
Asia,  there  can  be  little  doubt  as  to  her 
non-Iranian  origin.  She  was  certainly  nevsr 
recognized  by  the  Zoroastrian  Church ;  and 
the  few  instances  of  her  amalgamation  with 
the  Avestic  Anahita,  in  the  West  and  in 
a  syncretistic  age,  ^  ^  are  by  no  means  suffici- 
ent to  prove,  that  her  worship  in  Indo- 
Scythia  was  in  any  way  connected  with 
Zoroastrian  cult.  It  evidently  preceded 
and  outlasted  the  latter ;  her  name  is  found 
in  the  form  of  NANAIA  (as  on  the 
Greek  coins  of  Kanerki)  on  the  coins  of 
an  earlier  king,  who  makes  use  of  the  type 
of  Eucratides  (comp.  Von  Sallet,^p.  99 ;  Cat. 
p.  119),  and  it  still  occupies  a  prominent 
place  on  those  of  Bazodeo,  from  which 
all  true  Zoroastrian  types  have  already  dis- 
appeared. 


XVIII.  (Baz.  1). 


XTX.  (Ooer.  26), 


We  cannot  enter  here  into  a  discussion 
of  those  few  types,  which  can  as  yet  not  be 
assigned  to  any  of  the  various  mythologies 
represented  on  our  coins.  The  most 
puzzling  amongst  them  is  perhaps  the  four- 
armed  figure,  with  the  legend  MANAO- 
B  ArO  (see  No.xix.),  for  which  a  satisfactory 
interpretation  has  still  to  be  found.  More 
Zoroastrian  in  appearance  are  the  similarly 
obscure  and  rare  types  of  Ooerki  with  the 
legends  ON  I A 1  (Nos.  68-70),  OAIIO  (94), 
PIOM  %  (109),  and  WPON  (138,  139). 

A  comparatively  large  number  of  fresh 
types  has  been  found  during  recent  years 
on  very  scarce,  sometimes  even  on  unique 
specimens;  we  are,  therefore,  fully  entitled 
to  hope  that  further  finds  of  Turushka  coins, 
like  the  find  at  Peshawar,  may  yet  reveal 
to  us  some  new  representations  of  Zoroas- 
trian Deities. 

The  testimony  of  the  types  and  legends 
examined  above  is,  however,  in  itself  suf- 
ficient to  establish  the  important  fact, 
that  Iranian  language  and  traditions  as 
well  as  Zoroastrian  religion  were  introduced 
into  India  by  its  Indo-Scythian  conquerors. 
The  eloquent  and  most  authentic  evidence 
of  the  Turushka  coinage  thus  furnishes  a 
safe  starting  point  for  all  future  enquiries 
into  that  fascinating  epoch  in  the  history  of 
the  Aryan  nations,  which  witnessed  the 
interchange  of  Buddhist  and  Magian  in- 
fluences between  India  and  Iran. 

M.  A.  Stein. 


13.  Collected  by  Pi  of.  Hoffmann  in  his  exhaustive  notes  on  Nanai,  "Abhandlungen  " 
of  the  D.M.G.,  vol.  vii.,  part  3,  p.  130  sqq. 

14.  We  may  mention  as  an  independent  confirmation,  the  more  interesting  as  it 
comes  from  researches  pursued  in  a  difi"erent  direction,  that  Mr.  Darmesteter  has  re- 
cognised in  the  Mahabharata  legends  of  clearly  Iranian  origin,  the  introduction  of 
which  he  traces  to  the  Indo-Scythian  period  (see  the  forthcoming  number  for  Juillet- 
Aout,  1887,  of  the  Journal  Asiatique). 


Printed  for  the  Proprietor  at  51,  Knowle  Road,  Brixton,  S.W.,  and  Published  by  him  there ;  and  by  D. 
NuTT,  British  and  Foreign  Bookseller,  270,  Strand,  W.C. 


THT? 


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Edit. 

YEMEN  INSCRIPTIONS.— THE   G LASER    COLLECTION. 

The  British  Museum  has  just  made  a  con-  somewhat  frail  foundations,  after  having 
siderable  acquisition  of  genuine  stones  com-  taken  care  to  consolidate  them.  Only  let 
ii\g-  from  Yemen.  They  have  been  secured  them  not  be  too  severe  upon  the  first 
by  M.  Edouard  Glaser  in  the  second  journey  worker  in  the  field,  who  did  not  wish  to 
\vhich  he  undertook  in  these  localities  in  keep  to  himself  only  the  materials  he  pos- 
1885.  It  is  from  the  harvest  of  this  same  sessed  in  the  copies,  kindly  made  at  his  re- 
journey  that  formerly  came  the  monuments  quest  by  M.  Ed.  Glaser  personally.  To 
acquired  at  Berlin,  and  described  concurrent-  elaborate  these  materials  scientifically,  I  have 
ly  by  the  intrepid  explorer,  whom  his  Mit-  not  at  my  disposal  my  own  dictionary  in  slips 
iheilangen  have  shown  to  be  a  lucid  inter-  nor  many  of  my  most  indispensable  books, 
preter  of  the  Himyaritic  texts,  and  by  In  those  circumstances,  my  translation  will 
Prof.  David  Heinrich  Mliller,  whose  com-  present  numerous  lacunce,  and  more  than 
petence  in  these  matters  was  sufficiently  one  comparison  will  necessarily  escape  me 
established  by  his  fonner  publications.  But,  the  ground  once  cleared,  further    ad- 

Before  devoting  myself  to  these  new  in-  vance  on   it  will  be  more    secure  ;  and,    in 

scriptions,  I  proposed  at   first    to  wait  till  any   case,    should  I    not    have    any    other 

the  British  Museum  could  place  at  my  dis-  rew^ard,  I  shall  yet  rejoice  at  the  thought  of 

posal  some  "  squeezes."       But  I  was  afraid  having    shown   the   access,    and    of   having 

to  defer  a  first    decipherment,    which  will  opened  the  way  to  the  Semitists. 

doubtless  provoke  some  criticisms  upon  my  y.^j^^^  mh  July,    1887. 
improvised  attempt.  Scholars  may  build  on  my 

I. 
Glaser,  282. 

This  monument,   composed  of    five  frag-  the  copy  of  M.    Ed.  Glaser.     The  inscnp- 

ments,  comes  from  As-Saud^,  in  the  Djauf.  tion,    written  in  the  Minean  dialect,    is  as 

The  joining  of  the  fragments  is  given  after  follows  : 

Vol.— No.  11.  [167]  Sept.,  1887. 


r-^         (W 


lO 


00        05 


r-^^0-2ro-2rcz:Q-j--x" 

e  ^=3  -J-  /-N  cz:  o  ^ 
^  :?  X  "S"  ^  ^  "^ 


I—    -  X  "^  >  oo 

^   _   E=3   cq   ^^   __   .ii   ^*- 

' —         —       —  ooe  — 

^>c_  O  1= 


X    nC    *^    -^ 
^    O 

e  IX 


r^      G<i     eo      -^     »o 


OO 


jC    -T 


^    "^    *^    ^^  _     "^  "^^  "*^  i  J 


r 
C 


n 
n 


r 
o 


n 
n 

Q  - 


»"  ^  c   d  c 


r 


X    g 


n 


n 
n 

£ 
o 

D 


i3-  ^=1    C   — 

^  £-.1-  ? 

5  -  fl  5 

r  r  f  ,j^ 


><  ZH  ^  £ 


^      ^     -J"      -^     -C        -     cj^         c 


-  ^ 
2^   r 


X   ^   ^ 


-  5:  >  ^  B  :^  5 -c  5:  O 
0=  =  rl  e  c=J  o 

S^  ^  ::^  en  5:  22 


^  00  -r  —   e  «r 


00  -T  —   9 
^22j^^^x  —  0--C  — 
•Hccz  —  ^^^^^x     : 

^  ^  S   o   -r- -c  =  :J  >  21 
'^F"czx^/-^-^_-c 

_^  o  s  ^  22  F^  ?  g:  ? 

-CCZo-^  —  .^T'tt-O' 

^55^1  —  "*=^^=^ 
-c  o  xi-x-Cjcoa- 


j-<  r- 

W  Q 

.2  5s 

r^  — 

(X)  ^ 

^  n 


n  — 

D  — 

—  % 

n  ^ 

n  *- 


P  ^ 

D  — 

I? 

ew  o    r 

^   r 

jS.  — 


r 

r 


•'-1       —      I— 

^  r   P  I" 

^    — -f^  r 

a  _  _ 

r   r  J= 


r 


n 


z 

n 

r 

o 


Ft 
n 
n 


r  ^ 
7,  ^ 


s  a  ^ 

r\      fj  f 

r-  n 

z  — 

c  5  o 

Q   —  — 


—    D 

I 


n 

n 
n 

z 

D 

n 

D 


Pi 
z 

n 


a 


2J:    g   r   C 


P 


2 

a 


—   O   ^      (=> 

J^    ^%     -rC         — 


e    o-      -^ 


li 


.5, 


e 


jr 
e 


as 


a   c  - 


^  S     7i 
-     r      § 


THE   aLASBR    COLLECTION. 


169 


The  enigma  of  the  sense  which  this  piece 
conceals  has  not  been  solved  except  in  a  few 
points.    Here    is    the  small  contribution    I 


propose  to  make  to  its  solution.  I  separate 
the  last  column  from  the  rest,  as  it  was 
separated   on  the  stone  : 


1  Ladakh,  and  the  sons  (?)  of  the  race  of  Salwat  and   Vanlofi,  wife  of    (?)K.adrai'il, 
people   of  Maahat,  and    Asad,  of  the  dis- 

2  trict  of  'Amsaman,  among  the  people  of  Manahat,  and  Yankour  ...  ...  of  the 

sacrifice   of  Yous'arib    Ma'in, 

and  of  their  daughters       ...  in  the  day    when  ...  ...  the 

wife  who  had  come  down  witii  her  husband  (1),  to 

4  bring  the  stumbling  and  growing  part  of  her   sacrifice,    so   that 

by  the  favour  of  'Athtar,  the  sacrificeij  of  Ma — 

5  'in,  and  thanks  to  their  daugliters,  the  people  of  Yous'arib    'Athtar,         ...  in 
the  day  when                      ...          ...the  woman  who  con — 

6  veys  to  'Athtar  this  ...  ...  a  day  ...  'Athtar,     and 

the  rest  of  that  which  he  had  placed  for  them 

7  in  the  oratory  (?),  because  ...         to     perforate  (?)    this  opening,  at   the  right 
of  the  other  opening,  and  six  votive  monuments    in    clay         . .  . 

8  .  .         who  was  the  minister   of  Hauf'il,  master    of     Kadouman,    whom    had 
raised  to  power    Sama'    You'aus'il,  son   of  Scharah,  of  Rafz, 

9  and    You'aus'il  son    of  Hana',    of    Gamad,  and    he  took  the  power,   concluded    al- 
liances, and  committed  to  the    Sama'ites  the  guarding  of  this  opening 

10  .         .         and  of  Rafz,  in  the  suburbs  (?)  of  'Amsaman  (?)  and  .  .  . 


The  left  side  contained  certainly  some  im- 
precations against  him  who  should  touch  the 
monument.  But,  by  a  singular  irony,  it  is 
just  this  part  which  has  been  the  most  broken. 
We  can  read  there  still:  "^He  who  shall 
erase  (?)         .  .         ^      . 

in  the  house,  .  .  .  ." 

A  more  attentive  study  will  certainly  conduce 
to  restore  all  or  part  of  the  malediction 
thrown  against  the  destroyers. 

I  shall  add  nothing  to  my  partial  trans- 
lation of  the  principal  part  except  the  follow- 
ing justifications.  Line  1.  The  second 
word  I  have  read  1^^^. — For  Qpy,  cf.  0. 
M.  13,  1.  9  ;  the  py  expresses  the  con- 
struct state  in  the  Minean  dialect. — It  is 
in  connexion  with  the  opinion  of  J.  H, 
Mordtmann  (Mordtmann  und  Miiller,  Sa- 
hdische  Denkmdlei\  p.  89,  note  1)  that  is 
based  my  interpretation  of  ^ri17!^  ;  (cf-  the  in- 
scription II,  L  4).— For|nn::Dt^  i  Snt^  (cf 


1.  2),  I  find  in  my  copy,  facing  Hal.  2-1:7, 1.  3, 
a  reference  to  Zeltschrift  der  deutschen  morg. 
Gesellschaft,  XXX,  p.  33  ;  XXXI,  p.  70. 
— After  the  D  vvhich,  if  it  be  exact,  should 
be  synonymous  with  "f,  I  read  D?2n>  "dis- 
trict" ;  cf.  Langer  1,  1.  2  and  6  in  D.  H. 
Miiller,  Siegfried  Lunger's  Reiseberichte,  p. 
8  and  15.— Line  2.  The  suffix  ^T\  in  TirQ"! 
expresses  the  construct  case. — Line  3.  ri^n^ 
=l::jIJu  ^*^  *^^  n  inserted  between  the 
first  and  the  second  radical,  as  in  ^nll»  * 
dialectic  variant    of    1^. —  ]^\^^l-^^  1 

mrr\  \  ]«=c:-^j,j  J^l  ^f,  and-nn= 

^J'-.  Line  4.  Dnn'T  I  ^^31  I  "^hV  = 
.^ j  ^^  ys.  '  tliat  is  to  say, 
all  his  sacrifices.  On  the  verb  "i^^^  in 
Himyaritic,  see  Mordtmann  und  Miiller,  Sa- 
hdische  Denkmdler,  p.  33-34. —  Instead  of 
^^,  I  suggest  ^'^  =      j3  ;  see  :3  with  the 

same  sense  Reh.  7,  I.  7,  in  ]\Iordtmann  und 


^70  YEMEN    INSCRIPTIONS. 

MiiVLer,  ibid. — Line  5.  pfin  seems  a  strong      qiiarta,     p.     30   ;    D*ll^  =  ^  J^~"      ^^^ 

form,  wliich  recalls    ""  ^^  ••.-LineG.  ^^^D^      ^PP^^'^      *"       ^^      ^'^      abridged      proper 

.,,   ,,  ,^p,,  ,      i  name,  shortened  from         n*^t2J7^^' 

=>^,  with  the  mark  of  the  eonstruct  case.       j_^^^'^^.         ^^^^       ^^^mtl)  ;     cf.     0.    M' 

-For  in^  cf.  D.   H.  Muller,  -<?Hr(A  /:a;^(/.  ^o,  1.  1,  in   Mordtmann   und  Midler,    Sah 

Reiseh.,ix  26,  note  1,  and  the  inscription  VI,  d^>,,j,„,^^   p.  72.— Lino   1).     ^^^D1^^^  ^'t'-  the 

1.  5.— Line  7     ]n7!^  mnst  not  be  confound-  inscriptions  VI,  1.  6:  XXII,  1.  1:  Hal.  192. 

ed  with    plS!^(l.    1);  cf.  the  following  iii-  |^.  500._^;3pj  ;    cf.  Hal.  3,  1.  1  (D^^H): 

scription.-jnnD  I  nir:)'^^  1  ]nr\B  I  p  I  n:i7    509 ;  577,  1. 1.— -t^:^'^  -,  cf.  Hai.  109, 

inscription    XVII,    1.  3.--    For     the     last  ^y^\^  Jsjl^^^.  "'  ^^^  ^^^'  Tlp^tlD,    the  foL 

two   words,     cf.    Hal.    237,    1,  9 ;     238,    1.  lowing  inscription,    1.  10. — On  the  tribe  of 

9,  and  our  following  inscription  (Glaser,  283).  the  Sama'ites,     see  Glaser,    302,  1.   1,  3,  7, 

— On    lilDil^'    ^^  architectural  term,    see  inscription  37  of  the  Cor2).  iiisc.  Sem.,  pars 

Ed.  Glaser,  Mittheil.,  p.  71,  where  this  pas-  quarta. — Line  10.  Ireadj^QTO^^^  i^^  Hal. 

sage  is    quoted,    and   after   which   we  have  465, 1. 1,  and  I  compare  the  Arabic  aLa^^^^,  also 

changed  ^^tO  into  ^it^.— Tlie   noun  o^f  num-  ^_£j^^.— Does  not  the   text,  perhaps,  bear 

her  'mo  (c^-  in  Arabic  the  ordinal  ci-;jLj Y  afterwards  pDr^i?,    as  in  line  2  ? 

with  its   full    form,     had   already    been  re-  II. 

cognized  in    Hal.   192,    1.  1  ;    256,    1.    2.—  Glaser,  283. 

Lines.     ^b^DIH  ;    cf.  Hah    353,    11.—  This  inscription  comes  from  the  south  gate 

n^llD      appears       to      be     equivalent     to  o^  ^a'ln.     M.  Joseph   Halevy  has  pubHshed 

the    adjective       s^,     with     the    mark     of  it  in  his  collection  under  the  number  ^38.  The 

the      construct      case  ;     cf.      Os.     13,     1.  *^'^  "^p!"'  P"^'"^^*  '^^^"  ^^"^^^*'-     ^^'^  ""''- 

13-     Hal     155     13 ^^V^  1  =       '\\  ginal  being  now  in  London,  it  will  be  easy  to 

.     „  OoJi  seek  from  it  the  key    of  the  reading,    if  not 

J^y       DynO-pip     IS   fovmdidenti-  „{  the  interpretation, 
cally  in  Hal.    237,  1.  10  :    on    pip,    see 
Corpus     inscfiptionum     Semiticarum,    pars  ^^is  is  M.  Glaser  s    copy: 

HDii4'l4'XOISV.,II<i>?l?hA^fn8h'l4'        ©Shini))! 

DoiB)Whnisxi?iivi«i'4'iiniin''iHinHoA<i>.8«>na>ivsiiis 

x?hniiihRihoiiiiioiiiAHo8i?hnfniAhni?hvnisxvsBMiv?, 
®ihxi?iii<i>4'ii«)hx<DiAinHoA<»i'i?hn?nihoiii?hh 

soD..iini?hn?i?rhimxi?ii?i4';hi<«>oBiVH04'ii<» 

V?..l1VM<i>Bh?HI?fhIlV<i>mX1?i<»>IS?i 

<»ihni®nAiihhRi?hvnivhXoivii<D?ifhA^<Dn 

h?hXn?l1<i'lfhO<i>IHAn)lVIShSNo|ma>4'IllVII?^ 

8ii<»m4'xoixsii<i'?ihoiim'r]iiHA^iiiAsiii<»>-- 

Ili»ilV*<i>XiS<'>IQ3?'iHI1ihO«>V 


1 

2 

3 
4 

a 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 


THE   GLASRn    COLLBCTION,  17| 

Hebrew  Trauscription: 

::o-inlnnDlp-l  DVl^b^rjtrt^hb^.^n  "^^^iinD  i 

• . .  n:^  I  p«  I  ]n !  ]nVto !  nSinnn  I  ^nh'-r  I  ni^roi  I  rr\)r)  I  n:  •  I  j  2 

n^:no  I  p  I  j:j?n  1  dv  i  Doiiirn  1  ^n^  1  D«n  1  •^::nn  1  ]nn:n^^  1  Sn«  3 

^\  jnSb  I  ^irra^  I  ]rrh':^  \  niroi  i  ]'^:)i"'n  1 1^  I  ••md  4 

p?2  •  • .  n  i  ""iin^  I  ^^h  I  ]rhb  I  -"Sn^  I  id!?  I  rnonni  & 

n^  •  1 7n«  n!sj:n ! -"^^r^m  i  pSb")  I  ]«  6 

11  pSi  •  3 1  D«i  I  •':ni  I  n^TO  I  ^^^:Dt2h  1  h  ^ 

XircL'  I  71 1  b^si  I  "-rDti?  I  i:in  I  po  1  -r^r  I  f:^rM2 1  rra-'tr  s 

ny\\  jnriD l n^DV  I  jvn  1  ji^^  1  i^ti? I  no:ivhy . • .  9 

DD » npino"!  i  :o^:-T  I  ^«Din 10 

Partial  3  Translation  : 

[N         .         ,  son  of         .  ,  with  his  sons,    people  of] 

X     Maryab,  descendants  of  ,  has  renewed         .  .  ,  in  the  day   in 

whieli  he  pierced  (?)  this     opening,  to  the  ri[g-ht  of  the  other  ope — 

2  ning,  the  construction,  the  consohdation,  and  the  repair  of  that  which  had  fallen  into 
ruins  in  the  sacred  ground  of  the  oratory  (?)  and  in  the  land  of 'Am[saman,  between 

?)  the  people  of  Manahat,  descendants  of  Bou's,  at  the.  same  time  as  tlie  people  of 
Ma'm  constructed,  as  their  building  (?),  this  monument 

4  .  .  Ma'in,  the  builder.  And  he  has  repaired  Salwat,  and  the  sacred  ground 
of  the  oratory  (?j,  and     . 

5  and  the  fortress  of  Dafw,     .    of  the  oratory  (?),  in  order  that  (?)  they  might  build    . 
of   Ma'in  ... 

6  ,  .  and  the  oratory  (?),  and  .  .  .in  order  that  might  humble 
themselves  (?)  the  people   of         .         .         . 

7  .         .in  the  day  when  he  has  taken  care  of  the  descendants  of  Bou's  .  .  ,  and    . 

8  patron    of   the    sacred   ground  to   the   temple    (?)  of  the  city  of  Schakadh    . 
and  may  it  be  built      .... 

9  .  .  and  their  territory  (?)  Schakadh,  territory  of  Ma'in,  to  the  right  of  the 
opening  and  of  the  restored  monument    .... 

10     .         .         Haufil,  of  Nayit,  and  he  committed  to  the  Sama['ites]  the  care  of 

Line  1,       There  were   several    3,^"^J3    in  1.  3. — On   the    sense  of     iy\))    as   an   ar- 

Yemen,     as    we     learn    from    Glaser,    Mit-  chitectural  term,  see  Mordtmann  und  Miiller, 

theilungen,  p.  QQ. —  I    read    next     "^^^     or  Sab.  Denk\,  p,  91,  note  1,  and  D.  H.  Miiller, 

■'in. — Read     IJID.     ^^^^    ^^^  tbe  examples  Siegf.  Lang,  Reiseb.,    p,  64 — 6;"). — 2TVD  i^ 

given  in  D.  H.  Miiller,  AS'/e(7/.  Lang.  lieiseb.,  liere  equally  an  infinitive,.t]ie  three  infinitives 

p.  37—88. — ''i*^;^^!)  ^^  perhaps  a  name  of  god;  forming  a  series  of  construct  states  connect- 

cf.  1.  7. — The  verb  which  follows  Q")^  is  not  ed     with     S^hl,     whicli  "  has    the     value 

clear.     It  ought   to    have  the  same  sense  as  of     a     substantive,     and^    which    signifies 

tU    in    inscription  1,  1.  7. — At    the  end.    I  "that  whicli    has  fallen  into  ruins'*;    cf.  the 

complete       JinSD      I     n^DI"^       I       tPlJlD'  ^^■**-'^^' jU=i-  ;    1  ^'^^  like\vise  at  the  end  of 

cf.  1.   9,  and  mscription   I,    1.    7. — Line     2.  Hal.  237,  1.  2  ;  see  also  the  same  expression 

n^l     is    an    infinitive   of    the   verb      "i^l,  in  Hal.  485,  1,  2. — I  have  translated  SlPPD 


172 


YEMEN    IN  SCRIPTIONS. 


by  "  sacred  ground"  (see  the  examples  col- 
lected in  Mordtmann  und  Miiller,  Sab.  Denk., 
p.  91),  tliinking  of  the  Arab-     ^\  "     "  around 

of";  the  n  is  the  mark  of  the  construct 
state. — Upon  n  7tD  oi'  Tvyi  "  oratory,"  see 
inscription  I,  1.  7;  XXII,  1.  1,  and  Mordt- 
mann und  Miiller,  ihid,  p.  88 — 89.  The 
Hne    should  be    completed  according  to  our 

inscription    I,    1.    2,        |  p    |    pDlO;^- 

Line  d.  The  numerous  examples,  where  "^^j-^ 
figures  in  the  Yemenite  epigraphy,  have  been 
collected  by  Prof.  D.H.  Miiller,  Siegf.  Lang. 
Reiseb.,  p.  77.  The  exact  application  of  this 
architectural  term  has  not  yet  been  made 
clear.—Read  at  the  end  of  the  line  Ji;}^,^  |  ^'l? 
as  in  inscription  XJX,  1.  4. — Line  4.  After 
P^,  I  suggest  pi"i'"7  "the  builder". — 
This  text  proves  that  JT^^^  and  Jl/tO  (oi' 
rh^^  inscription  I,  I.  7)  differ  not  only  in  their 
orthography. — Line  5.  "^Q^  appears  here  to  be 
a  proper  name.  It  is,  however,  connected  with 
^Snb^»  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the  inscrip- 
tion XVII,  1.  2,  if  my  reading  is  admitted, 
and  in  Hal.  10  5,  1.  18  and  14;  for  i^nt^ 
should  that  reading  he  preferred  to  that  of 
Halevy,  ^'ppfb^'  ^^^  ^^^^  Hal.  353,  1.  4. — 
Does  iji^n  signify  '-in  order  that,"  or  would  it 


be  preferable  to  change  it  into  "^3^=   j^jasl 

have  proposed  for  inscription  I,  1.  4 1 — I  have 
considered  "^^^"^  to  be  a  copist's  error  for 
^^^^1;  on  this  Sabean  root,  analogous  to  the 
xVrabic .  •  in  the  sense  of  humiliation,  cf. 
Mordtmann  und  Miiller, /Sai.  Deiik.,  p.  34. — 
Line   7.    H^TlV  =      •  -    »• — ^ine     8.  xy^)^ 

"  patron"  is  ahvays  designating  a  local 
god;  see  Mordtmann  und  Miiller,  Sab.  Denk. 

p.  20.--!^^?  I  IV  ;  c^-  Hal.  353,  1.  4. 
The  numerous  examples  of  the  technical  term 
ptl?»  which  certainly  belongs  to  the  lan- 
guage of  architecture,  have  been  collected  by 
Mordtmann  and  Miiller  in  the  Sab. 
Denk.,  p. 74— 75,  but  the  two  scholars  hesitate 
as  to  the  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  these 
passages.— I  have  taken  'f^tl?  (cf.  1.  9)  for 
the  name  of  a  town. — ^^n;^^  =  JuJo- — 
Line  9.  My  translation  of  1^7,  twice  re- 
peated, only  rests  upon  a  conjecture. — 
At  the  end,  we  can  complete  ^rilJr\Q*1 
according  to  inscription  I,  1.  7. — Line  10. 
S^^D^H;  cf-  the  inscription  I,  1.  8  . — 
tD'^^'l  ;  cf.  to^'il  in  inscription  III,  1.  2 
and  4  ;  Sh^  I  tO*'^  Hal.  353,  1.  2.— 
"•Vl^D  I  npiriDT     ^ee  inscription  I,  1.   0. 


III. 

Glaser  284. 
This    stone  comes    from    As-Sauda.       It  can   be   clearly  read  in  the  Minean  dialect 


lhoDli»ino^<D|Soi]|AiIIIV^(D|oo?1h  1 

■a>H?hAI[n?hHinh)ll]o|4')^A<i)|H8)  2 

XII1AloSftMhX?XllXHIXh«>A  3 

>ihnn)mHni[i]?hHi?i4'Moo  4 


THE  GLASER   COLLECTION. 

Hebrew  Transcription : 

•)TND  I  tD^::"-T  i  it^n  I  n:^  I  mt^Di  I  nm  2 
t:i  I  ^D I  i;i!^fc^  I  ]nn:i  I  n^  I  n^iD  3 

^1 1  ]in"i  I  ("11 1  to^^'i  I  ^Sn«  I  :^D  4 

n-^iD I Dipii p^t^ h*^ti^i IrrjTin  » 


173 


Provisional  Translation: 

tlyafa'  Wakah,  king  of  Ma'in  and  of  his  tribe  of  Ma'in     .... 

has  consecrated  and  set  forth,  with  Ra'b  of  Nayit,  by  virtue  of  their  pofwer, 
This  poll-tax,  the  greatest  of  all  the  poll-[taxes],  has  been   .  .  .   [Da] — 
fw    (?)  .      .         of  Nayit,  in  this  domain,  and         .         .  [lie  committed] 

the  care  to  the  two  priests  of  (the  tribe)  Alhan,  and  to  the  chief  of 


Linel.  i^D'^Sb^  ;  cf.  Hal.  191,  1.  1;  229, 
1.  1  ;  260,  1.  1  :  445,  1.  1.  I  believe  that 
the  king  of  Ma'in  ilyafa'  Wakah  is  found 
here  for  the  first  time. — For  the  context 
"  king  of  Ma  in  and  of  his  tribe  of  Ma'in", 
cf.    Hal.    199,   1.    3.—  Line  2.      n^t^DI 


seems  to   be    like  a    fourth   form   of 


t-^ 


"  to  enlarge,  to  expose",  having  very  nearly 
the  sense  of  the  first. — I  have  attributed  to 
0^  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew  preposition  q^ 
"with"  v^^  in  Arabic),  the  meaning  proved 
for  p^in  Glaser  302,  1.  4;  cf.  Glaser 
Mitt.,  p.  40  —  41. — The  proper  name  ^^"^ 
is  found,  according  to  Glaser,  ibid,  p.  41, 
in  an  inscription  of  Praetorius  with  the 
mimation  (see  Zeit.  der  deut.  morg.  Gesell^ 
XXVI)  ;  cf.  St^lt^-1  Hal.  353,  1.  1,  ac- 
cording to  which  nfe^"^  would  be  abridged  from 
^^2^^^  ;  cf.  our  observations  on  nitl)>  ^^- 
scription  I,  1,  8. —  t^'i^''!  (cf.  1.  4),  see  in- 
scription II,  1.  10. —  1  =  ^  precedes  with- 
out doubt  ODHl'ITt^  '}  ^^'  Hal.  478,  1. 
6  and  7,  and  the  parallel  passages  quoted  in 
D.  H.  Miiller's  Sieg.  Lang.  Reiseb.,  p.  25 
notes. — Line  3.  p^ll,  third  pers.  sing. 
fern,  of  the  perfect;  verb  pi  ~  ^jf^  "to  be'S 


as  in  Arabic  and  inAi'amean. — T^V^^  = 
jj^  -J  ^ ,  a  word  we  suppose   likewise  after 

72  at  the  end  of  the  line. —  ^IJ^t*^^  a  form 
of  mascuHne  superlative,  whose  feminine  is 
"^\xjs^  ^yaw'a,  the  name  of  the  pre- 
sent capital  of  Yemen,  see  Corp* 
insc.  Sem.,  pars  quarta,  p.  2 — 3. 
— Line  4.  I  suggest  "y^Tl^  \  1Q[^,  as  in 
inscription  II,  1.  5,  although  this  compari- 
son does  not  explain  the  obscure  sense  of 
^'vHb^- — I  have  explained  7H*1  according 
to  the    Arabic  and    ^.^^j^ — Line 

5.  Read  npir\[D1>  as  in  the  inscriptions  I,  1. 
9;  II,  1.  10.-3  1  ^^^oi  Hal.  237,  1.  4,  has 
been  completed  by  pHb  i  "•lUTl  in  D.  H. 
MuUer,  Siegf.  Lang.  Iieiseb.,ip.SG,  and  trans- 
lated by  "the  two  priests  of  the  tribe  or  place 
named  Kahlan."  Here  likewise  I  translate : 
"the  two  priests  of  the  tribe  Ahlan";  on 
this  tribe,  see  D.  H.  Miiller,  ibid,  p.,  14— 
15. — For  Dip  =    ."r.,  compare    Hal.   237, 

1.  3. — ri12^  is  a  proper  name  or  the 
beginning  of  a  proper  name ;  cf.  inscription 
XXXVI  (Glaser  343  =  Hal.  406),  1.  2,  and 
the  name  of  a  town  Qn''2^,  in  Hal.  596, 1.  6. 


l7i  YEMEN    INgGRlI'TIONS. 

IV.  Hebrew  Traiisciipliuu: 

Glasbr,  285.  •  i  Vl  I  D  !  D    "I 

This  inscription,  like  the  preceding,  comes  ^^^v^  i  »-^-.     2 

from  As-Sauda.     This  is  the  text  :  "^        '"? 

rhMhUhVIXhUfh      ^  I  only  see  1st,  1.   1  :    p\  p  -  in  that'" 

>1l        I.          ninnx^  which  no  doubt  means    "  place    oi:    repose '' 

•  •  •  •    I  I  n  n  I  H  n  I  II  n  )    I      '*  DDi    signifying    in  Himyaritic,    as    in    the 

I    Tl  I,   -.  I  m  1      ^  Hebrew  of  the  Mischndh  "  a  tomb",  cf.  in- 

T  U  n       I  T  Y  scription  VI,  1.  4  :  3rd,  1.  -I,    1^,   perhaps 

Hebrew  Transcription  :  the  beginning  of  nim    "  altar  for  the  sa- 

,-^j  I  .yl^  [  rt^^^        1  crifices",  unless  it  be  the  proper  name  I'TO: 

. . .  .  DN  ,  jQ^n  I  riwDN  3^^  inscriptions  XXI;  XXVIII,  1.  8  :   Hal. 

'"T  I  '^OTpn  I  ■)•)        2  324  ;    and  cf.  the  ^^ j^  ^^\^  in    Halevy, 

....  7  I  D^^  I  tl  1  D!l"^S        3  RapiJort  sur  une  mission  archeologique,  p.  42, 

T     , , .     r.             ,         .        ...        T  This   and  the    following    inscriptions   are 

In  this  fragmentary  mscription,    I  recocr-  -,             •     i      .          .^-.         ,     „ 

r,;.,^  ^^1     1  +  1    a  .^^^..  u^   e      M  r  11        ,  engraved  on  a  suigle  stone,  28v  on  the  front, 

nise  only  1st,  1.   2,  i^lpl  "before"  followed  ^J"^        4.^     u    ^     %^      4.     \      i        i          ,1 

1     .1      1            ,     ,.      wtL  ..  xi    x?»    «    1    1     ,  'ioo  on  the  back.  The  stone  has  been  brou^'ht 

by  the  demonstrative  fl-f  "  that";  2nd,   1.  ;i  .           ^,           .            ,,   ,     „,     ,,         ^,  ^. 

Din^   "offree-stonei"(cf.Mordtmannuncl  ^^^             ^'^^ns    called    rW.6«^    //«,^;m 

Mliller,  ^ai.  DenL,  p.  92,  by  opportunity  of  ((V^  ^^^>    ^^"'  ''  ^^''  ^"""'^"  "^  *^^^^'^^' 

0.  M.  31,  1   1  and  9),  followed  by  n  "since",  *'"'  ^^''*''  * 

and  perhaps    by    DhtTlb^  its  foundation"  J  lli^irSv^lhhS^lhHIhn^     ^ 

finally  1.  -I  Hp  or  flpln,  a  verb   which  ap-  (D.  I  U 11 9  ^  H  I  U  ^  9 1  ni  V  W  A  '      > 

pears  to  me  to  signify  "  to  provide   a  house  Ilill/nlTyonillA  rvn    -^ 

with  an  interior  court",   with  a  ^\;;,  as  the  K  H  X  8  <I>  I  X  S  ED  X  H  I  Tfl  )    '^ 

If inSe.^^''^'^  "^'''^ '' ' ''  "^"^  )<i>iAOhi4J?o4^i^xoni 

oii,i,i0nhHihoiii?v^n  3 

V.  ?<i>II<i>Hh1HI1hAa)h?  G 

Glaser,     286.  0  B  h  H  N    ^ 

This  inscription  comes    from    the    temple  „  , 

{^t    )  "^  ^"'^^-       I*   l^^d«   it^^lf  l^^s  T.anscnption: 

stilith^  the  preceding    to  a    current  inter-  ^  '  ^^^^  '  P^'^  '  1"^  '  P^    ^ 

pretation:  1  I  p"**^!  I  n^lh^^l  I  nHCD    2 

MhHIhnm    ^  I pnnni I n:]tom I ^i^i  3 

iS  0  S  II I  h  0 )    2  -)T  I  dd:3  I  n^DH  I  nnsn  4 

BIA<i>|h0l    3  v72D\^^:i\p}2\^np2  5 

- 1,  -  ,  ':^^  I  n:::i'7 1  '^^Dit^^  e 


THE     (ILASRR     COLLECTION. 


I7r. 


Fragmentary     Translation  : 

1  and  of  this   idol,  an  . 

2  V      .in  the  retinue  of  Dhou  Rainian,  and 

3  Rabb'il  (?),  of  Tatnat  and  Thatdak       .     . 

4  in   opening   .    .    of  t lie  tomb,  and    , 

5  .     .   of  Ma'iu,  which  had  raised  the  Sa- 
ma'[ites 

6  You'aus'il,  of  Ganad,  and  Mi'yan    . 

7  .  .  .        '    . 

Line  1.  \'2=  \  .— ^DD  ;  cf.    inscription 

VII,  1.  4.— Line  2.  nHDD  ;cf.  JlTODD  in 
inscription  VII,  1.  2.--  p'^yil  c^-  I  hil^l 
•jn*!-^  HaL  144,  1.  1  ;  150,  1.  2.— Line  3. 
I  have  read  ^l"^,  perhaps  ^[b^]2L^;  the 
XawoMs  knows  the  contraction  i    ,  ,  for  which 

Al-Firofizabadhi  recommends  the  prnun- 
ciation,  ItihbU  like  SIL-Ilt,  see  Mordtmann 
und  'Muller,  Sab.  DenL\,  p.  72.~Line  5. 
1^2*1^  t'f.  inscription  I,  1.  6.— I  complete 
i]^^D  according  to  inscription  I,  1.  9. — 
On  "^^Xl  I  ^b^D'lt^*',  see  inscription  I,  1.  0. 
— Read  ^3]*i3;^1,  according  to  D.  H,  Miiller, 
Siegf.  Lang.  Reiseh.,  p.  28. 

VII. 

Glaser,    288. 
This  is  the  text   engraved  on  the  reverse 
of  the  same  stone: 


-HHOH'ISSg'DlSH® 
©X^iXVOiSDo) 

5mnin)i8?i?so 

1©" 

.l^foV^fX 

Hebrew  Transcriptioa : 

1 
2 

3 

5 

...•pi  iDH  1  pr\ !  p         1 
im  1  nncDD"!        2 

....tol]iiinSh^h:D        3 

....  D^n .  1  D3 t^DD   ^ 

t^v  ■  npnn  e 


This  text  contains  nothing  clear,  except 
1st,  1.  1,  pril  I  pf^  "and  this  idol";  2nd,  1. 
3,  after  a  preposition  ending  in  ^^Q  "  before", 
the  proper  name  H^^jl^,  as  M.  Glaser 
suggests  to  me,  followed  by  T^  "  son  of. — 
Line  4.  The  obscure  b^DD  is  already  found 
in  inscription  VI,  1.  1. — Line  5.  ^^"^ih 
"on  high",  see  Os.  13,  1.  IL 


VIII. 

Glaser,  289. 
This  is  a  fragmentary   inscription  brought  from  Ma'in.     Here  is  its  tenor 

.ilBii..-  Oi'i  1 

i..iXH'.ihB<i>IVhHhIl<i>IVX        2 

IIlIl^yHIS)A<i'lh)1VI)0<i>II<i>l).Hnii    3 

'X4'SS^<i>l<i'IlVX1h1Mna'IIlhHo  I  4 

IXHoHho..    BIAnkllVnoM  r> 


170 


YEMEN     INSCRIPTIONS. 


Hebrew  Transcription : 

?  ? 
ID no  1 

. .  • .  nih^^Di  I  nisi^^i  I  run  ^ 
1  u:":im  I  ]'^o^  i  Y):in  I  nsir^i  I  nDi  •  3 


nr .  n  I  ]v  •  •  •  •  I  D^iDn  I  it:nn:^^t2^  I    ^ 


Provisional  Translation: 

1  .  .  . 

2  his  .         ,  and  his  domain,  and  his  sources  of  income 

8  .    and  the  riches  of  the  city  and  of  the  country  of  Khadam 

.     [In  the  name  of  Dhat — 

4  Ba'dan,  and  of  all  their  gods,  and  of  their  divinities  who  make  the  waters  o'ush  of  . .  [and 

5  their  tribe  Bakil    [and  of  Ma] 'in  Dhoii-[Ra]idat. 


Line  1.  Read  IDLI.  as  in  1.  3. — Line  2. 
On  y\^,  the  name  of  a  district,  see  Mordt- 
mann  und  Muller,  Sab.  DenJc,  p.  30 — 31. 
The  suffix  shows  that  t  is  here  a  common 
noun. —  I  read,  with  a  suffix  likewise 
Ilinhb^Dlj  and  I  regard  the  word  as  a 
plural.— Line  3.  -^Q'!^   (cf.    Hal.  199,  1.  2) 


has  been  translated  according  to  the  Arabic 
root  :  —  Line  4.  1  have  completed 
D^l^[l  I  nil- —  I  I'ead  at  the  end 
IDnlnTO^r^V,  cf.  Langer  1,  1.  5;  2,  1.  3;. 
8,  1.  2,  and  specially  D.  H.  Muller,  Siegf 
Lang.  Beiseh.,  p.  58—55. — Line  5.  After 
dSdI,  I  conjecture  ^[72  I  11  and  nn^hJl' 


IX. 

Glaser,   290. 

This  inscription  comes  from  the  adjacent  Reise  durch  Arhah  und  Haschid  in  Peter- 
region  between  Arhab  and  Haschid.  On  mann's  Mittheilungen  of  1884.  This  is  the 
ihese     countries,     see   Ed.   Glaser,      Meine     tenor  of  this  fragmentary  text  : 

•  •■hniiiavTisniHnn* i 

)<i'i?h*vixo)xno 2 

{htSa'M«'Vhn<i'i<i> 3 

IlShl)X8o|hiH<i>fh 4 

1fhXIII?^XIIl<I'?l® 5 

nirhXIoOtXlHIIl®? 6 

a>ihMX81^IXo)Xn  7 


■I'FIK    cir..l3Klt     COI.I.KCrio.V, 


17 


l)«n?Ho|IISAo|... 

•••  n)Aiiinihxi?s  •• 
•  8H4»v<I>lh)<I>6lII^^ 

inxsvA^^Disi.. 

o?ninih 

Hebrew  Transcription : 

.plD^n:iiplpnp i 

ni !  ^:3prT  I  TO'^n  I  ^v 2 

• . .  i^Di«  hn:Dni  h 3 

•  ••n:it^.lnnh:jrHDit^ 4 

•  h^T)  I  n^tr\  \nv\^ 5 

•  •  •  i^«n  I  vG^riD  I  Dv 6 

•  it^«  I  nrht  I  w-im 1 

I'ptr  m:i^  I  QiDv ! 8 

n-^!«2 1  n^«n  h: 9 

mnn^  I  p'lD  I  Dip  •  •  •  •  10 

I  jnihopi  I J u 

12 


8 

9 

10 

11 

12 


?]pS  I  nVt^ 


1 

2 

3 

4 
5 

(; 

7 

8 
•) 

lu 

11 

12 


Provisional  Translation. 


N         .         [sion  of]  Kabbtxb,  son  of  Djaliid,  son  of 
[Ta'kib,  masj|ter  of    Tour'at,  has  vowed  and  con[secrated] 

and  his   son  Aus'[il  .  .  ,  . 

.    of  'Athtar  of  Anam  .... 

hi  the  day  when  Ta'la[b]  took  under  liis  patronage 
in  the  day  when  Ta'lab  made  to  ascend  (?) 
at  Tour'at  tlie  third  of  the  .  .  , 

[from]  .  till  the  roof  .... 

has  vow] ed to  Ta'lab  a  sculptured  (?)■  altar 
before  the  city,?  and   has    renewed 
the  .  and  the   clients  .  .  . 

Ta'lab  for  the  sacred  monument. 


[servant  of] 


Line  I.  The  name  of  a  man  T^^Dp  recalls 
the  name  of  the  sanctuary  nZlp>  i^^  ^^^^ 
Corp.  insc.  Sem.,  pars  quarta,  p.  49,  inscrip- 
tion aO,  1.  3  and  4.-^Q2n:i  =  j^U--— 
Line    2.  Supply    ^^tl  I  l^t^il.— 0"n     the 


sanctuary  of  Tour'at,  consecrated  to  Ta'lab, 
see  Mordtmann  uud  Miiller,  Sab.  Denlc,  p. 
20. — ^^*)  is  the  beginning  of  "TJIJI^. — Line 
3.  Read  S]«Dn«  cf.  Hal.  263,  1.  1.;  0. 
M.  34,  1.  3.~-Linc  4.  p^t^,  plural  of   JD1 


178 


YEMEN    IMSCRIPTIONS. 


is  obscure. — After  lilJlV'  ^^'^  ^iuve  certainly 
'•7,  followed  by  the  name  of  a  city  or  sanc- 
tuary; might  it  be  the  same  which  begins 
with  ^n  in  0.,  M.  18,  1.  2  (cf.  Mordtmann 
und  Miiller,  Sab.  Denl\,  p.  68)  ?  We  might 
also  think  upon  the  proper  name  □l^^b^  in 
Os.  6,  1.  1.— Line  5.  Q'>trr»5  fift^i  denomi- 
native form  drawn  from  Q'ltt?  "patron";  see  in- 
scription II,  1.  8. — Line  6.  ^D^TlD^  tenth 
form  of  ^C,  whence  the  proper  names 
^^''S^^'  VO'^j  &c.  We  have  translated 
only  by   conjecture. — Line  7.    riilSt!?  5   cf. 


Fresnel  9,  1.  2  ;  Hal.  50.— Line  7.  The 
word  which  precedes  "1*7^  is  perhaps  Q^D*!  5 
cf.  1.  4.  Notice  'I'l^  in  place  of  the  usual 
*7y  in  these  formulae. — Line  8.  For  2*)^ 
see  Hal.  485,  1.  o,  and  the  commentaries  of 
1>.  H.  Miiller,  Siegf.  Lang.  Reiseb.,  p.  80. — 
Line  10.  p*|D=^J^.— Line  11.  The  plural 
Jjl^nD^  li^s  been  explained  in  Mordtmann 
und  Miiller,  Sab.  Denl:,  p.  19  and  104.— 
Line  1 2.  On  ?ilp,  see  Corp.  insc.  Sem., 
[jars  quarta,  p.  23.  Perhaps  there  should  be 
read  before  this  word  a  ^  instead  of  the    ^ 


X. 

Glaser,    291. 

This    inscription    comes    doubtless    from  the    upper     edge,  and  on    the    right    hand 

Arhab.     It  has  some  affinities  with  G  laser*  edge,  the    stone  being    broken     to    the  left 

302,  now  in  the  Royal  Museums  of  Berlin.  and  at  the  lower  part,  as    the  reproduction 

This  is  how   it  may  be  read  in  the  middle,  on  we  give   sliows: 


xnioh[a.vB)?imoifliDnhXHmvio 


I    r 


I     I 


I     I     I     I 


oxiivi'iniiiosv?in)(iih  i 

...A<D|a.vsHih<i>i<i>Vih<^mh?ni  2 

?Oa>VIDoniI]HiS*<D|imha.    4 


Hebrew  Transcription:  1st,  on  the  upper  edge: 


words   of    the  long    line,  wliich 


is  going  all 


2nd,  on  the  right-hand  edge  which,  accord- 
ing   t.)     tlie  disposal    uf  the    letters,    rising      the  length,  and  whose  beginning  we  hnve  just 
from   below  upwards,  contains  the  three  last      made  known: 


D2nD  i  "i;:!  I  pv 


THE    (iLASEll    COLLECTION. 

3rd,  in  the  main  body  of  the  stone: 

31  i  in::ib^i  I  inDs:  i  pb  2 

.  •  ti?:  I  ]i !  pn^^ !  ps^nr^D  I  '^:n  3 
""Din I  Dvi I  D^Dpnl  D-TS1  4 


179 


Provisional    Translation,  at   first  of    the  quadrangular  line: 

'Alhan  of  Ta'allouk,  the.         .         of  his  land  A'labat 
with  the  descendants  of  Saman  (or  Sama') 

Then  of  the  principal  inscription  : 

1  llkaribYouhan'ini,sonof  Himmat'a[that 

2  Thabyan,  his  person,  his  fortune,    and   a[ll 

o    descendants  of  Samah'afak,  and  Youha'in,  son  of  Nascha['karib(?)      . 
4    and  his  (?)  servants,  the  servants(?)  of  the  family  (?)  of  Hauf  a[that 


Line  runinng  round  the  stone:  Tnhv  — 
(^l^X'  ^^'  ^^-  *1»  1-  1;  Corp.  insc.  Sem.,  pars 
(juaria,  p.  10,  by  opportunity  of  inscription  2, 
I.  11  -Dp^lf^n;  cf.   Glaser   302,  1.    2,    and 
that     which      D.    H.     Midler    and    Glaser 
have    said   about  it,   this,     not    only  in  his 
Mittheilungen ,  but     also    in     his    Sitdara- 
hische  Streitfragen   (Prag,    1887). — The  ob- 
scure  word  ni?^?2,    which    seems    here    to 
designate  a  function   or  a  dignity,  is  found 
already      in     Glaser    302,     1.     7.-ril^V^^ 
in  spite  of  the  transposition,  appears   as  if 
it  should  belong  to  the   same  root;  perhaps 
there     has  been  here  a  carelessness    of  the 
engi-aver. — On  the  preposition  "^^  "with", 
see  Glaser,  Mittheilungen,  p.  40 — 41.  I  have 
thought  I    recognised  the    preposition    Q^ 
In   inscription    III,    1.    1. — I  am  inclined  to 
read  at  tlie  end  D^^Dj  as  in  inscription  I, 
1.  8. 

Inscription  properly  speaking. — Line  1. 
n^D':'^^;  cf.  Hal,  7,  1.  1;  389,  1.  1  (in- 
stead of  ^niDSt^) ;  Langer,  1 U,  1.1:  see  Corp. 


insc.  6'em.,  jxirs  qiuirta,  p.  16  &  SS. — Com- 
plete riillVn^n?  according  to  Glaser  302, 
1,  4, —  At  the  end  of  the  line,  after  the 
genealogy  and  the  titles  of  llkarib  have  been 
completely  given,  I  read  ^1^  |  l^b^Jl  I  ^-pH 
according  to  Glaser  802, 1. 1 :  'Mia s  vowed 
to  Ta'lab,  in".— Line  2.  The  geographical  name 
of  Thabyan  has  given  ground  for  some  polemics ; 
see  last  of  them,  Ed.  Glaser,  Sildarabische 
Streitfragen,  p.  1 5  &  ff . — At  the  end,  I  supply 

^'n^1'\T\  I  ^TTh^  '  SIDI  "  and  allhls  children 
aiid  all  his  acquisitions",  according  to 
Glaser  302,  1.  2. — Line  3.  pCt^HT^D  J  cf. 
Glaser  302,  1.  3.  Let  it  be  said  occasionally, 
in  the  compounded  proper  names,  whose 
first  term  is  JIDD*  ^  do  not  admit  the  ex- 
planation by  j^^^^j,  but  I  see  in  TV20  a^ 
analogous    verb  to  the    Arabic  \^^^  "to  be 

high".—  prV  ;  cf .  Glaser  302,  I.  1  and 
4. — The  noun  which  ends  the  line  is  very 
probably  i^^^DlSIT^- — I^inc  4.  I  suggest,  un- 
less the  inscription  itself  forbids  it  afterwards, 


180 


SUMEROLOGICAL     NOTES. 


to  read  Ql^  |  iriQIt^l  "  and  his  servants, 
tlie  servants  of"  ;'^  but  then  what  would  be 
the  sense  of  D^2  ?  J  propose,  with  all  reserva- 
tions, Q'lprir^jjij  the  last  word  being 
nnli^Qin  ;  t^i©  lii^©  would  then  mean, 
"  and  his  servants,  the  servants  of  the 
family  of  Hauf  a[that]." 

XI. 

•!5.wt«'         Glaser,    292. 
,QThi8  little  text  comes  from  Arhab.      We 
read:  • 

^avxtnTo^ni)   i 
mvifsniifflv   a 

Hebrew  Transcription  : 

!  on  I  ^^1 1  bi:n  2 

Provisional   Translation : 

1  .     with  the  foundations  of  their  house 

2  .       of  the  Banofi  Hamdan  (?) 
Linel.  On  ^Q-^,  see  D.  H.  MiiUer,  Siegf- 

Lang.  Reiseh.,  p.  31.     In  Arabic,  the   jj| 
are    the  pieces  of    wood   which    hold  up   a 
roof. — Line    2.     I  read  at  the    end  Vi^'n 


with  so  much  more  of  likelihood  us  the 
stone  comes  from  Arhab.  The  obscure  *^t^n 
seems  to  conceal  a  branch  of  the  Hamda-: 
nites. 

XII. 
Glaser,  293. 
Stone   brouo'ht  from  SanVi,   which  bears 


hniA 

1 

vhnsx"! 

2 

nvsniTOcD 

3 

oiHiSD^n) 

4 

oB  V?0<i>M 

5 

Hebrew  Transcription : 

pb!J                       1 

xivoin . .        2 

t^nn  1  ^Qn      3 

•1 1  DD?:im"i    '1 

{To  be  continued) 


You  may  find  in  the  Corp,  insc.  Sem.,  pars 
qiiarta,  p.  49-50,  under  the  number  31,  an 
attempt  at  interpretation  of  this  little  text. 
Hartwig  Derenbourg. 


SUMEROLOGICAL    NOTES. 
a. 
A    PARALLEL  PASSAGE  IN  THE  GUDPA  INSCRIPTIONS  1 


Gudi'a,    Statue  C    (still  unpub.) 
col.  2,     "case"  14,  ff. 
Gu-di-a 
15  ^adda-ti-si 
Sir-gul-la{- ki) 
gis  ]gj  ^]^  dagal-a-kam 
urra  (servant)  nin-a-ni 

ki-agga  a-an 
20  ga  \_gis-']  sd  suh-ha-ha 


Gudi'a,  Statue  F,  (Sarzec,  pi.  14) 

col.  2,  "case"  6  ff. 
Gu-di-a 
^addor-ti-si 
Sirgul-la{-hi) 
gi?  ^]^  ]gf  dagal-ham 
10  urra  im  (read  ni)-tug 
nin-a-na 

-kam 
ga  gis-m    siib-ba-ka 


SUMEROLOOICAL    NOTES. 


181 


gis    ha-^ar 

ka  (or  gii)    al-ka  (or  gu) 
sit  (or  ur)  ba-mul  (or  rather  gul) 
Col.  3,  i  Iin-bi{-ki)   dug-dug-ga-a 
hn-mt-dib 

sig-bi  read  (stgd-bi) 
ki-il-a 
5  im-mi-gab 
us-bi  mu  azag 
ni  im-ta-lal 
ti-bi 

ni-ir-nun-ka 
10  su  siib  (written  S'nm)-ba-ii  i-Ln 
i  (house)     kl-ctg-ga-ni 
i-(in-na  sag-Gir-su  (-ki)-ka 
13  mn-na-ni-ru 


Explanation, 

In  gis-tag  "ear"  (C,  2,  17;  F,  2,  9)  is 
^|>-  an  unspoken  determinative  element.  C> 
2,  20,  seems  gis  before  sa  only  left  out  by 
negligence  of  the  architect  For  C  ,2,  23, 
F,  2,  15,  compare  CyL  A  24,  21  sis-bi...ba- 
mul-mul. 

Very  interesting  is  the  name  Imbi-(-kt), 
a  town  on  the  Eabylonian-Elamite  frontier  : 
compare  3.  Rawl.  -tl  Bit  Mb  fat?,  and  I)e_ 
litszch.  Paradies,  p.  324,  Bit-Im-bi  ;  perhaps 
we  may  also  compare  Cyl,  A,  16,  16f,  ^ur- 
tag-urad  x  Ki-mas-ta,  Imbi  mu-na  ab-pad 
urud-bigi  si-a-ba  mu-ni-ba-al,  that  is,  "in  the 
copper  -  mountain  Kimas,  which  Imbi  is 
called  his  name,  he  has  dug  (ba-al)  his 
copper  (with)  his..."  This  translation  right, 
it  would  prove  the  nearest  relationship  of 
Kimas  (or  Kimar  ?,  cf.  my  BabyL-Assyr. 
Geschichte,  p.   327)  and    Imbi. 

kinl-a,  a  bright  spot:  in  other  places  the 
expression  is  used  for  "  virgin  "  (ardatu), 
the  meaning  "  brightness,  chasteness,  (cf. 
ki~agg  i  "  love")  becoming  metaphorically 
"  virgin". 

That  ni  ni  im4a-lal  is  the  object  of  the 
verb  (and    not    ni-im-ta-Ial,    nim-ta-lal  for 


gis'ba-an-^ar 
ka    al~ka 
15  818  ba-mul 

[in-bi{-ki)  nzag-ga 
im-mi-dib 
sig-bi  ki-il-a 

im-mi-gab 
Col.  3,i  us-bi  mu  azag 
ni-ni  im-ta-l  I 
ti-bi 

ni-ir-nmv-ka 
5  su      sub-ba-ni-ka 
Ur-azag-ga  (^-ki) 
la^-la^-ga-a 
7  i  (house) 
mu-Tici-ru 

niri'ta-kd,)  is  proved   by  the    variant  n{-7i 
im-ta-lal. 

II. 

End  of  1881,  having  read  Dr.  Haupt's 
paper  on  a  new  Sumerian  dialect,  I  discov- 
ered in  2  Rawl.  59  a  bilingual  list  (cf.  Haupt, 
Akkad.  Sprache,  p.  xx).  of  a  kind  similar  to 
that  which  Haupt  and  Pinches  pointed  out  in  5 
Rawl.  11/2.  Today  I  should  like  to  give  atten- 
tion to  some  interesting  facts  contained  in  this 
bilingual  list  of  Gods  (left  :  Neo-Sumerian, 
midst :  Old-Sumerian,  right  :Babyl.-Assyrian). 
Long  ago,  I  supposed  that  >t  had  the  ori- 
ginal reading  ^ad,  ^a  in  Sumerian,  ba  (wa) 
in-  Neo- Sumerian,  and  that  the  Assyrian 
''  Lautwerth"  pa  is  only  a  hardening  of  the 
Neo-Sum.  loa  ;  now,  we  read  2  Rawl.  59, 
14,  ^  u-a  {i.e.  wa),  in  ^  ^,  ilu  Nusku. 

Prof.  Haupt  pointed  out,  that  in  the  Pen- 
itent. Psalms  we  have  sir-val  for  nir-gal ; 
2  Rawl.  59,  29,  we  read  another  example : 
sin  mwmu,  nin-mn-mu.  Hat  Nin-sig  The 
old  syllable  ?>n)ecameat  first  yi,  (comp.  also 
nln.  "  whatever",  before  substantives  to  yin^ 
yim,  im),  then  yi  became  si  i.e.  the 
French  ji.  Fritz  Hommkl. 


182 


THE   LAND   OF    SINIM   IN    ISAIAH. 


THE  LAND  OF 

Prof.  T.  de  Lacouperie  has  set  a  good 
example  in  treating  the  Hebrew  prophecies 
from  the  point  of  view  of  Oriental  philology, 
though  T  doubt  the  propriety  of  using  the 
phrase,  "  the  inspired  author,"  in  a  purely 
philological  journal  (The  Bab.  and  Or.  Re- 
cord, No.  3,  p.  45),  and  regret  the  lapsus 
calami  by  which  he  speaks  of  the  "  Book 
which  goes  by  the  name  of  Isaiah "  as 
having  been  written  in  Babylon  during  the 
captivity.  That,  however,  is  not  the  motive 
of  my  present  little  paper.  Prof,  de 
Lacouperie  could  not  help  writing  as  a 
scholar,  and  the  points  to  which  I  have 
taken  exception  are  of  no  great  moment. 
But  was  it  not  hasty  of  him  to  declare"^  that 
recent  exegetes  have  upheld  the  identifi- 
cation of  the  name  of  the  Sinim  with  that 
of  the  Chinese,  following  a  track  beaten  by 
the  early  Sinologists,  and  unaware  of  the 
peculiarities  of  the  evolutions  of  the  Chinese 
sounds  in  the  course  of  history  {ibid.,  p.  46). 
No  one  could  perhaps  criticise  my  own 
work  on  Isaiah  more  severely  than  myself, 
but  it  is,  at  any  rate,  well  known,  being  in 
its  4th  edition,  and  Prof,  de  Lacouperie's 
not  unfriendly  attack  on  recent  exegetes  is 
not  in  the  least  justified  by  what  I  have 
said  in  my  appendix  on  "The  Land  of 
Sinim,"  in  Vol.  II  of  Ihe  Prophecies  of 
Isaiah,  nor,  I  believe,  by  Delitzsch's  com- 
mentary. I  have  there  admitted  that 
Gesenius's  reasoning  (see  his  Isaiah,  1821, 
evidently  known  to  Prof,  de  Lacouperie) 


SINIM  IN  ISAIAH. 

"falls  short  of  demonstration,"  and  that 
his  most  plausible  argument  from  the 
Chinese  name  of  an  old  ruling  dynasty  and 
from  the  Chinas  of  the  Laws  of  Manu  and 
the  Mahabharata,  is  "  now  known  to  be 
valueless."  I  should,  no  doubt,  have  ob- 
tained a  critical  examination  even  of  this 
exploded  theory  from  some  good  Sinologist, 
and  not  referred  merely  on  Strauss  and 
Richthofen ;  but  the  range  of  studj'  required 
for  the  illustration  of  "  Isaiah "  is  large, 
and  something  was  necessarily  left  for 
future  editions.  I  revised  the  work  in 
many  parts  for  the  3rd  edition,  but  that 
appendix  still  appears  substantially  in  its 
original  form.  What  I  want  Prof,  de 
Lanouperie  to  do  is,  to  criticise  that  form 
of  "  the  Chinese  theory  "  which  I,  no  ex- 
pert, have  doubtless  inadequately  repre- 
sented as  based  on  "the  frequent  use  of 
sjin  (nearly  =  c/im),  literally  "man,"  to  de- 
scribe persons  acco  ding  to  their  qualities, 
occupation,  county,  or  locality."  Prof,  de 
Lacouperie's  memory  will  easily  suggest 
analogies  for  such  an  appropriation  of  a 
word  meaning  "  man  "  in  general  to  a  par- 
ticular nation.  I  know  that  he  is  far  from 
being  prejudiced  against  the  theory  I 
adopted  in  my  book,  and  have  annotated 
my  own  copy  of  Isaiah  with  several  referen- 
ces to  his  writings.  And,  in  conclusion, 
were  there  Israelites  among  the  Shinas  on 
the  slopes  of  the  Hindu-Kush  ? 

T.  K.  Cheyne. 


*  In  the  incriminated  article,  however,  I  did  not  declare  (as  Prof.  T.  K.  Cheyne  wants 
me  to  have  said)  "  that  recent  exegetes  have  upheld  the  identification  of  the  name  of 
the  Sinim  with  that  of  the  Chinese,"  thus  implying  that  if  not  all  the  recent  exegetes,  at 
least  the  most  important  of  them,  had  done  so — a  statement  which  I  could  not  make,  as 
I  knew  it  would  have  been  inaccurate.  I  only  said  "the  late  exegetes  who  have 
upheld  ..."  thus  implying  that  some  of  the  late  exegetes  did  not  share  the  same  view, 
as  I  was  well  aware  of,  though,  I  must  confess,  the  appendix  written  on  The  Land  of  the 
Sinim  by  the  learned  Professor  of  Oxford,  in  his  valuable  work  on  The  Prophecies  of 
Isaiah  (London,  1884,  3rd  edit.,  vol.  II.,  pp.  20 — 23)  had  not  been  read  by  me. — T.  de  L. 


THE   LAND   OF   STNIM,    NOT  CHINA. 


183 


THE  LAND  OF  SINIM,  NOT  CHINA. 


In  my  previous  article  on  The  Sinim  of 
Isaiah,  net  fhc  Chinese  (B.  and  Or.  R., 
January),  I  have  attempted  to  show  that 
Sinim  in  Isaiah  could  not  be  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  name  of  the  Chinese,  so  far 
as  the  antecedent  of  this  name  was  supposed 
to  be  that  of  a  western  state  of  the  Chinese 
Confederation  and  of  a  dynasty  (the  first 
of  the  Empire,  founded  by  the  ruler  of  the 
same  state),  written  with  a  symbol  now 
pronounced  Ts'in,  and  formerly  read  Tan. 
And  I  have  tried  to  show  that  the  name  of 
Sinim  represented  that  of  the  Shinas,  on 
the  slopes  of  the  Hindu-Kush. 

The  critical  part  of  my  paper  had  been 
limited  to  the  examination  and  disproval 
of  the  most  sensible  hypothesis  ever  put 
forward,  and  which,  despite  Strauss  and 
Kichthofen,  had  not  yet  been  proved  false 
with  reference  to  the  Sinim.  ^  Now  it  hap- 
pened that  other  hypotheses,  and  especially 
one,  which  I  had  looked  upon  as  unim- 
portant, and  neglected  accordingly,  have 
been  taken  seriously  by  some  scholars,  and 
therefore  must  be  disposed  of,  in  order 
that  my  explanation  Sinim  =  Shinas  should 
stand  unimpeached. 

I  am  much  indebted  to  Prof,  T.  K. 
Cheyne,  as  well  as  to  two  other  correspon- 
dents, for  having  called  my  attention  to 
the  matter,  and  thus  given  me  the  occasion 
of  writing  the  present  article. 


The  first  contention,  in  opposition  with 
my  views,  was  that  the  case  of  the  Sinim 
=  Chinese  is  not  to  be  despain^d  of,  not- 
withstanding that  the  identification  of 
Sinim  with  the  name  of  the  Western 
Chinese  State  of  Ts'in,  and  that  of  the 
Chinas  of  the  Laws  of  Manu  and  the 
Mahabharata  is  finally  disproved  by  Strauss 
and  Richthofen.  Though  I  have  come  to 
the  latter  negative  conclusion,  it  is  not  for 
the  reasons  put  forward  by  the  translator  of 
the  Shi-King  and  the  traveller  geographer, 
which  I  do  not  consider  to  be  conclusive. 
The  Chinas  of  the  Mdnava  dharmac^dstras 
(x,  44)  as  well  as  those  of  the  L.dita  vistara 
(x)  and  the  first  of  the  two  of  the  same 
name  mentioned  intheM^/i«6A^m/«(Bhisma 
Parvan)  are  undoubtedly  the  Shinas  of  the 
Hindu-Kush.^  But  in  the  latter  poem  there 
is  a  second  people  of  Chinas  mentioned 
along  with  the  RomanaSy  Dasamalikas^  etc., 
after  several  ferocious  and  uncivilized  races, 
and  this  special  arrangement  shows  that  in 
the  mind  of  the  poet  there  was  a  great  dif- 
ference between  the  two  Chinas,  the  second 
one  being  looked  upon  as  more  distant 
foreigners  and  greater  barbarians  than  the 
other.  "^  The  late  Pauthier,  and  the  two 
German  scholars  in  his  train,  do  not  seem 
to  have  known  anything  of  the  second 
Chinas  of  the  great  Indian  epos,  whose 


1.  Freiherr  von  Richthofon  has  rightly  shown  that  the  name  of  China  originated  in  the 
south,  through  the  foreign  trade  with  Indo-China,  and  especially  with  the  Kiao-tchi 
(Tungking),  about  the  Christian  era.  But  he  was  wrong  in  his  suggestion  that  the  ante- 
cedent of  the  name  of  China  was  that  of  Jih-nan  (a  part  of  Tungking,  now  Nghe-an),  as 
this  name  was  then  pronounced  Nit-nAM,  and  is  still  read  Nhui-nam  in  Sinico-Annamite, 
the  most  archaic  of  the  Chinese  dialects,  and  that  which  has  nearly  preserved  the  sounds 
of  the  aforesaid  period.  The  historical  antecedent  of  the  name  of  China  I  have  found  to 
be  the  name  TsEN,  an  important  non-Chinese  State  in  Yunnan  and  Tunking,  which  had 
for  centuries  monopolized  the  trade  of  the  region  {cf.  my  Beginnings  of  JFriting,  I.,  sec. 
80 — 81,  and  my  notice  in  Col.  H.  Yule's  Glossary  of  Anglo-Indian  Terms,  pp.  150 — 151.) 

2.  Cf.  A.  von  Gutschmid,  Z.D.M.G.,  vol.  xxxiv.,  pp.  202—203. 
,  Cf.  Beginnings  of  Writing,  II.,  sec.  150. 


184 


THE   LAND   OF   SINTM,    NOT  CHINA. 


presence  would  put  right  the  views  of  the 
French  author  and  upset  those  of  the  two 
German  writers,  if  we  were  not  in  a  posi- 
tion to  show  it  to  be  a  mere  moonshine. 
In  my  paper  The  Sinim  of  Isaiah,  not  the 
Chinese  (III.),  I  have  stated  that  the  name 
of  TsHn  did  not  exist  in  former  times  under 
that  form  which  is  a  late  and  corrupted 
pronunciation  of  the  name  Tan,  a  long 
while  after  the  name  had  disappeared  either 
as  a  name  of  a  particular  state  or  of  a 
dynasty.  Therefore  the  second  Chinas  of 
the  Mahabharata,  unless  it  be  an  interpo- 
lation, cannot  be  the  Chinese.  But  they 
may  be  the  people  of  Sin  or  Seni  or  Chin, 
which,  according  to  Tabari  (IT.,  158^)  was 
the  name  of  Samarkand  before  the  time  of 
Shamar,  and  which  I  have  mentioned  in 
my  aforesaid  paper.  ^ 
11. 
The  second  line  of  argument  rests  on  the 
facts  of  intercourse,  ascertained  and  un- 
ascertained between  the  Chinese  (or  better 
China)  and  the  West.  Here  I  am  ready 
to  join,  and  I  might  adduce  fresh  evidence, 
should  this  be  the  place  to  do  so,  which  it 
is  not.*^  But  I  am  compelled  to  traverse 
the  statements  given  on  the  unsafe  authority 
of  the  late  G.  Pauthier.  The  amusing 
story  of  ambassadors  wearing  long  robes 


sent  to  the  Chinese  Emperor  Yao  from  the 
Yueh  tchang,  and  carrying  as  presents 
white  pheasants,  besides  a  tortoise  of  1000 
years  old,  the  back  of  which  inscribed  in 
K'oh-tou  or  tadpole,  otherwise  cuneiform 
characters,  is  a  splendid  mare's  nest,  for 
the  building  of  which  the  French  has  vied 
of  ingeniosity  with  the  Chinese  writer.'^ 
This  is  another  instance  of  the  importance 
for  those  engaged  in  Chinese  researches  not 
to  trust  the  late  compilations,  historical 
and  geographical,  which  are  generally 
uncritical,  and  present  combinations  and 
interwoven  records  of  unhistorical  facts, 
arranged  with  the  remarkable  and  usual 
ingeniosity  of  the  Chinese  under  that 
respect,  and  so  far  difficult  to  disentangle 
for  European  criticism  unware  of  the  pro- 
cess. In  this  case  Pauthier  has  taken  his 
story,  with  the  exception  of  the  words  in 
italics  which  are  his  own  additions,  from 
the  Siih  wen  Men  fung  K'ao,  compiled  by 
Wang  K'i  in  1586,  as  a  supplement  to  the 
well-known  and  uncritical  IFen  Men  fung 
K'ao  or  "  Antiquarian  Researches  "  of  Ma 
Twanlin  (D.  circa  A.D.  1325).  The  oldest 
authority  which  I  find  in  favour  of  the 
story  is  that  of  Jen  Fang,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Vlth  century,  in  his  Shuh-i-ki  or 
"Notes  on  the  Wonderful."     Previous  to 


4.  Cf.  Ed.  Thomas,  Bilingual  Coins  of  Bokhara, -p.  4(Repr.  Numismatic  Chronicle,  1881.) 

5.  The  existence  of  this  smaller  Chin  gives  a  clue  to  the  adoption  in  the  Vlth  century 
of  the  appellative  of  Maha-China  for  the  great  empire  of  China.  This  explanation, 
which  I  propose  here  for  the  first  time,  does  away  with  many  difficulties  in  the  geo- 
graphical accounts  of  that  period. 

6.  The  notion  that  the  "  envoys  "  from  Yueh-tchang  did  wear  long  robes  has  been 
unwisely  inferred  by  Pauthier,  from  the  meaning  of  the  compound  symbol  read  tchang  or 
shang,  wJiich,  in  its  present  form,  means  simply  "the  lower  garments,"  (cf.  W.  H.  Med- 
hurse,  Chinese-English  Dictionary,  s.  v.  p.  1001),  and  which,  at  the  time  when  the  name 
was  put  in  writing,  was  perhaps  composed  of  other  phonetic  ideograms  (cf.  Min  Tsi  Kih, 
Luh  shu  fung,  Bk.  iv.,  f.  7),  carrying  a  different  meaning.  However,  the  idea  ideo- 
graphically  expressed  by  Yueh-tchang,  is  simply  the  lower  of  the  outside  borders,  imply- 
ing the  extreme  south. 

7.  In  his  Essai  sur  forigine  et  la  formation  similaire  des  Ecritures  figuratives  Chinoise  et 
Egvptienne  (Paris,  1842,  pp.  9-10),  the  late  G.  Pauthier  had  suggested  that  this  writing 
was  that  of  Egypt.  It  is  only  in  his  Histoire  des  relations  politiques  de  la  Chine  ( Paris, 
1859,  pp.  6-8),  that  he  suggested  that  this  Tortoise  writing  was  the  cuneiform  characters. 


THE   LAND   OF  SINIM,    NOT  CHINA. 


185 


this  rather  suspicious  source,  no  mention  is 
made  of  the  inscribed  tortoise  with  reference 
to  the  Yueh-tchang  envoys  whose  story  is 
reported  at  length  by  several  authorities  of 
the  second  century  B.C.,  such  as  Fuh  Sheng 
in  his  Ta  fch'tian  or  "Introduction  to  the 
Shu-King,"  Han  ying  in  his  "Introduction 
to  the  Shi-King,  &c.,^  and  of  the  fourth 
century  A.D.,  but  only  as  having  appeared 
at  the  Chinese  Court  in  the  sixth  year  of 
the  regency  of  tlie  Duke  of  Tchou,  i.e.  1034 
B.c.^  Nothing  is  said  of  an  arrival  of 
Yueh  tchang  envoys  as  early  as  the  time  of 
Yao,  who  was  not  more  than  a  chieftain 
struggling  on  a  small  territory  in  the  north 
of  modern  China  proper,  for  the  welfare  of 
his  follower  co-immigrants,  and  whose 
legendary  greatness,  like  that  of  his  imme- 
diate predecessors  and  successors,  arose  in 
the  mind  of  Chinese  historians  from  the 
fact  that  they  were  civilized  while  the  sur- 
rounding native  tribes  were  not  so.'"  It  is 
not  an  uncommon  thing  for  the  investigator 
in  ancient  Chinese  history  to  see  among 
the  native  compilers  a  tendency  to  suppose 
and  even  to  admit  as  having  happened 
under  the  rule  of  their  early  "Emperors," 
events  enhancing  the  glory  of  their  sway, 
and  similar  to  those  of  the  historical  period 
of  which  they  should  have  been  the  fore- 
shadows." The  present  legend  must  have 
been  concocted,  and  the  information  com- 


bined, by  the  aforesaid  Jen  Fang  in  the 
sixtli  century,  or  by  some  other  writer  very 
little  before  his  time.  The  term  X'oh  ton 
or  "tadpole"  characters,  applied  to  the 
oldest  Chinese  characters  in  order  to  indi- 
cate that  they  were  composed  of  strokes, 
which,  like  the  tadpole,  were  thin  at  one 
end  and  thick  at  the  other,  was  used  for 
the  first  time  by  K'ung  ngan  Kwoh  about 
150  B.c.^'  And  the  country  of  Yueh-tchang 
is  known  to  have  been  the  region  now 
covered  by  the  provinces  of  Nghe-An, 
Thuan-hoa  and  Quang-nam  of  Tung- King.** 

A.S  to  the  fact  of  the  writing  on  the 
tortoise,  which  has  been  injudiciously  com- 
bined with  this  legend,  and  about  which 
there  are  several  accounts  connected  with 
the  beginnings  of  the  writing  among  the 
Chinese,  it  does  really  refer  to  the  cunei- 
form writing  which,  as  I  have  discovered, 
was  known  and  used  by  the  leaders  of  the 
Chinese  Bak  tribes  previoiisly  to  their 
migration  to  the  East,  where  they  carried 
it,  about  2250  B.c.^*  We  shall  examine 
these  traditions  in  a  future  article  of  the 
B.  and  0.  R. 

Very  little  is  known  of  the  intercourses 
between  the  Chinese  and  the  other  countries 
in  ancient  times,*' for  the  simple  reasons  that 
the  Chinese  States  were  rather  unimportant, 
and  that  the  relations,  chiefly  commercial, 
have   taken   place  with  the  semi-Chinese 


8.  Prof,  James  Legge  has  collected  those  texts  in  his  Chinese  Classics^  vol.  iii,  pp.  535. 

9.  According  to  the  chronology  of  the  Annals  of  the  Bamboo  Books ^  or  Tchiih  Sha  KH 
nim^  Tch'eng  Wang,  10th  year, 

10.  Cf.  my  work  just  issued,  Ihe  Languages  of  China  before  the  Chinese,  sec.  13-19,  and 
187-208. 

11.  Cf.  T.  de  L.,  The  Old  Numerals,  the  Counting  Rods,  and  the  Sivan-jpan  in  China,  p.  1 ; 
Paper  Money  of  the  IXth  Century,  p.  4. 

12.  Ct.  Tailing  yu  Ian,  Bk.  747,  f.  %—K'ang-hi  Tze-ticn,  s.  v.  142-9,  115-4. 

'  13,  Cf  the  official  geography  of  Annam,  published  in  1829  ;  Hoang  viet  dia  du  chi, 
vol.  I.,  ff.  1,  9 ;  vol.  II.,  f  31  ;  and  my  Beginnings  of  Writing,  sec.  44. 

14.  Cf.  my  resume.  Babylonia  and  China,  Western  Chigin  of  the  Early  Chinese  Civiliza- 
tion, in  B.  and  0.  R.  for  June,  pp.  113-1 15.  ,     ^    ,.        .  /^,  . 

15.  Prof  T.  K.  C.  refers,  as  a  proof  of  such  ancient  relations,  to  the  finding  of  Chmese 
porcelain  ware  in  Egyptian  Thebes,  as  if  this  archeological  puzzle  had  not  been  exploded 


186  THE  LAND   OF  SINIM,   NOT  CHINA. 

and  non-Chinese  States  by  which  they  were  for  their  name  to  have  been  carried  wide 

surrounded,  and  which  were  playing  the  and   far,  should  their  name  have  had  any 

part  of  buffers  between  them  and  the  outer  similarity,  which  they  had  not,  with  Chin  or 

world.     Their  annals  have  not  been  pre-  Tsin.^^     The  same  remark  stands  good  for 

served,    and    it   occurred   only    in   a   few  any  peculiarity  of  the  speech  of  its  inhabit- 

occasions  that  the  mercantile  parties,  the  ants,  like  that  which  has  been  advocated 

so-called  ambassadors  of  foreign  States,  did  to,  as  mentioned  below,  should  the  wanted 

reach  the   Middle  Kingdom,   the   Tchung  peculiarity  have  existed,  which  it  did  not, 

Ktvoh,  and  that  the  Official  Recorders  could  as  we  shall  see  directly, 
take  down  the  notices  on  them  which  we  III. 

now  possess.^^     Anyhow,  the  Hwa  Hia,  or         The   opinion   adopted   by   Prof.   T.  K. 

Pang  Kwoh  (general  name  of  the  Chinese  Clieyne*  is,  that  travellers  may  have  taken 

States),    were    too   small    in    importance  for  the  own  name  of  the  Chinese  the  word 

since  a  long  time.  The  snuff-bottles  referred  to  were  employed  for  carrying  kohl  or  some 
perfumes.  Their  recent  age  is  shown  not  only  by  the  fact  that  the  Chinese  porcelain 
was  not  invented  before  the  Christian  era,  but  also  by  their  inscriptions  in  modern 
cursive  characters.  These  consist  of  verses  from  well-known  poets,  such  as  Wang  Wai, 
who  lived  in  the  eighth  century  (a.d.  702-745),  Unnamed  (A.D.  831-837),  Wei  Ying-wuh 
(A.D.  702-795),  Su  Tung-po  (a.d.  1068-1085),  (fee.  The  age  and  origin  of  these  bottles 
has  excited  much  inquiry,  and  as  the  late  Wells  Williams  has  remarked  (The  Middle 
Kingdom,  rev.  ed.,  vol.  II.,  p.  28),  the  weight  of  evidence  points  to  their  having  been 
taken  to  Egypt  and  Arabia  by  the  Arabs  who  traded  at  Canton  and  Hang-Chou  down  to 
the  end  of  the  Sung  dynasty  in  1278 — (cf  Transactions  of  the  North  China  Branch  of  the 
Roijal  Asiatic  Society,  1852,  pp.  34-40  ;  1854,  p.  93;  Stanislas  Julien,  Histoire  dc  la  Porce- 
laine  Chinoise,  pp.  xi. — xxii.  This  proof,  however,  is  good  for  seven  and  eight  centuries 
past,  and  therefore  is  better  than  the  finding  of  Chinese  seals  in  Ireland^  which  was  advo- 
cated by  some  (not  by  Prof.  T.  K.)  as  a  proof  of  an  ancient  trade  of  the  Phenicians  with 
China  and  Ireland  !  (Cf.  Edmund  Getty,  Notices  of  Chinese  Seals  found  in  Ireland,  Dub- 
lin, 1850  ;  J.  H.  W.,  Chinese  Porcelain  Seals  found  in  Ireland,  Notes  and  Queries  on  China 
and  Japan,  Sept.,  1868,  p.  141).  They  have  come  to  a  prosaic  end,  being  simply  some 
sort  of  premium  imported  from  China,  given  to  their  purchasers  by  a  tirm  in  silk  goods  in 
the  last  century  at  Dublin,  and  therefore  spread  all  over  the  country.  (Cf.  William 
Lockhart  in  The  Phoenix,  February,  1872,  p.  132,  and  J.  F.  G.  Lamprey,  ibid.  March, 
1872,  p,  152). 

16.  Some  available  information  and  possible  inferences  on  the  matter  have 
been  collected  by  me  in  a  special  paper  read  before  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  1 6th  June, 
1884,  on  such  of  these  mercantile  parties  which  came  from  the  south  :  Three  Embassies 

from  Indo-China  to  the  Middle  Kingdom,  and  the  Trade  Boutes  thither  3000  years  ago.  Cf. 
my  Beginnings  of  Writing,  11. ,  156,  b,  n. 

17.  The  names  of  the  Chinese  agglomeration  previous  to  the  foundation  of  the  Empire 
221  B.C.,  from  which  time  it  has  been  called  by  the  name  of  the  Ruling  dynasty,  or 
simply  r(;/wi«^--Arw(>A,  were  the  following  :-iEfM,  "large,"  or  Hwa,  "flowery,"  or  both 
EvjaHia  ;  or  IFanKwuh,  "  all  the  States  "  ;  or  Pang  Kwoh,  "the  Kingdoms  and  States." 
Tchung  Kwoh,  or  Middle  Kingdom,  was  then  specially  applied  to  one  State,  that  of  Tchou, 
which,  during  the  dynasty  of  this  name,  was  depository  of  the  traditional  authority. 
The  people  were  called  Kwoh  Kia,  '^ families  of  the  Kingdom;"  an  individual,  Kwohjen, 
"man  of  the  Kingdom."     Cf.  the  Shu  King,  Shi-King,  Tchun  Tsiu  and  Tso  tchuen.  passim. 

*  Ihe  Land  of  the  Sinim,,  appendix  pp.  20-23,  vol.  II.,  3rd  edit,  of  The  Prophecies  of 
Isaiah  (London,  1884). — Prof,  C.  J.  Bredenkamp,  Der  Prophet  J esaia  (Erlangen,  1887,  3rd 
part),  p.  281,  commenting  on  the  Sinim,  favours  their  identification  with  the  Chinese. 


THE  LAND   OF  SINIM,    NOT  CHINA. 


187 


for  ^'man,"  sj,en,  not  nearly  chin,  which  they 
are  supposed  to  have  made  use  of  frequently, 
as  they  still  do  now,  to  describe  persons 
according  to  certain  qualities  or  occupation, 
and  their  county  or  locality.  The  first 
objection  to  be  made,  which  is,  I  am  afraid, 
altogether  fatal  to  this  ingenious  suggestion 
is,  that  the  aforesaid  word  in  its  form  of 
jeit  (French  /),  also  transcribed  zin  or  sjhi, 
and  altogether  different  from  cMn  or  sin,  is 
recent,  and  was  formerly  pronounced  quite 
otherwise,  as  shown  by  overwhelming  evi- 
dence. 

Therefore  the  solution  depends  upon  the 
ancient  sound  of  the  Chinese  A  "man,''  in 
modern  Mandarin  jen}^  There  are  several 
means  of  ascertaining  the  archaic  phonetic 
form  of  a  word  in  Chinese  as  in  any  other 
language,  and  these  means  are  those  which 
are  indicated  by  the  principles  of  historical 
and  comparative  philology  in  general. 
Four  kinds  of  these  means  may  be  succes- 
sively and  successfully  employed. 

1. — Histmical  Documents.  In  the  case  of 
the  Chinese,  written  as  it  is  now  with  ideo- 
grams, or  with  ideo-phonetic  symbols  (the 
latter  composed  of  a  silent  ideogram  and  a 
symbol  taken  exclusively  for  its  phonetic 
value)  the  sounds  cannot  be  ascertained,  as 
they  can  be  in  languages  written  with  an 
alphabetic  or  syllabic  writing.  Even  in  the 
case  of  the  ideo-phonetic  compounds,  the 


indication  which  can  be  derived  from  their 
phonetic  element  does  not  go  beyond  the 
time  of  the  formation  of  the  compound 
character  itself,  and  therefore  i.s  limited  to 
the  proper  sound,  altered  or  not,  of  the 
phonetic,  at  the  time  and  in  the  dialectal 
region,  when  and  where  it  was  made."  In 
the  present  case,  however,  there  is  no  such 
a  difficulty  to  deal  with,  as  the  symbol /cw 
is  not  a  compound,  but  a  singles  character. 
It  is  a  happy  circumstance  that  the  Chinese 
in  their  worship-like  respect  for  all  that 
concerns  their  written  characters,  have  pre- 
served with  their  fan-tsieh  process  of  nota- 
tion ^^  the  sounds  attached  to  them,  from 
the  centuries  following  the  Christian  era, 
downwards.  In  the  T'an.(/  ipm  dictionary 
of  the  T'ang  dynasty,  by  Sun-mien,  com- 
piled A.D.  676 — 679  in  Honan,  and  based 
upon  two  works  of  the  previous  century, 
the  sound  of  the  symbol,  now  read  jen, 
is  transcribed  jp  :^  Jj|,  which,  in  modem 
standard  Chinese,  would  be  "JU  LIN  cut 
off."^^  But  this  reading  is  worthless 
unless  it  be  rectified  into  the  reading 
of  the  period  when  the  transcription  was 
made.  And  this  rectification  cannot  be 
obtained  otherwise  than  by  a  series  of 
circumstantial  evidence,  the  chief  authority 
being  the  archaic  dialects  according  to  their 
chronological  branching  off  from  the  com- 
mon stock.  ^  2     The  corresponding  dialects 


18.  In  Wells  Williams'  Syllabic  Dictionary  of  the  Chinese  Language,  p.  286,  this  now 
is  written  zhan  in  Pekinese  and  jdn  in  Mandarin  dialect. 

19.  The  neglect  of  these  principles  has  misled  the  sinologists  who  have  built  specula- 
tions on  the  old  Chinese  sounds,  picked  up  without  discrimination.  Cf.  my  book  The 
Languages  of  China  before  the  Chinese,  sec.  57  n. 

26.  Chinese  scholars,  acting  apparently  at  the  suggestion  of  some  ingenious  Buddhist 
monk,  then  numerous  among  them,  adopted  this  curious  system,  which  consists  in  indi- 
cating the  sound  of  a  word  by  the  initial  of  one  and  the  final  uf  another.  CI  my  Begin- 
nings of  Writing,  I.,  sec.  o^,  n.  The  ndimQ  fan-tsieh,  horn  fan,  "  to  turn  back,"  and  tsieh, 
"  to  rub,"  form  an  appropriate  hazy  designation,  says  rightly  T.  Watters,  in  his  Essays 
on  the  Chinese  Language,  ch.  iii. 

21.  K'ans[-hi-tze-tien,  s.  v.  ■..  ,     ,       r  i,     1         /r/ 

22.  For  the  chronological  arrangement  of  the  Chmese  dialects,  cf.  my  book  on  The 
Languages  of  China  before  the  Chinese,  sec.  205. 


188 


THE  LAND   OF  SINIM,    NOT   CHINA. 


I 


in  this  case  would  be  those  of  Amoy  and 
Fuhtchou,  should  not  the  symbol  ^Q  be 
one  of  those  whose  sound-  ^  has  been  altered 
similarly  to  that  of  X.,  and  therefore  any 
information  derived  from  these  would  be 
begging  the  question.  In  the  Wentchou 
and  Kuatchou  dialects  of  Tchehkiang,  which 
in  the  Xlllth  century,  had  still  preserved 
some  archaic  sounds,-^  the  above  JQ  was 
read  ni  and  nu,  thus  showing  the  old  initial 
n  to  have  been  also  that  of  the  ancient 
sound  of  A-  We  shall  have  to  come  again 
to  the  dialectal  information  for  further 
demonstration  of  this  point.  In  the  diction- 
ary called  She-minrj,  of  which  I  have  spoken 
in  my  former  article,  ^^  compiled  in  the 
second  century  of  our  era,  and  where  the 
sounds  are  given  by  homonymous  symbols, 
we  find  A  ^-  \,  the  latter  in  its  turn  being 
explained  by  ^,.  Now,  in  the  Sinico- 
Annamite  dialect,  which  has  preserved  the 
sounds  of  the  period^*^  with  only  a  slight 
alteration,  these  three  symbols  are  read 
respectively^''  nJion,  ?ihan,  and  nhan^'^^  a 
uniformity  which  goes  far  as  a  demonstra- 
tion of  its  accuracy. 

This  information,  however,  does  not  go 
back  to  times  sufficiently  remote,  and  there- 
fore might  leave  some  doubts  in  the  mind 
of  some  of  our  readers.     They  might  object 


that  the  ni  initial  of  the  Ts'in  and  Han 
periods,  onward,  might  be  a  temporary 
phonetic  equivalence  of  a  former  j,  though 
the  line  of  alteration  and  decay  in  sounds 
runs  in  the  opposite  direction.  But  the 
Chinese  have  preserved  unconsciously,  in 
the  oldest  forms  of  their  written  characters, 
at  least  in  some  of  them,  the  means  of 
ascertaining  the  old  sound  of  their  words. 
In  many  of  these  oldest  forms,  either 
genuinely  primitive  so  far  as  the  Chinese 
go,  or  imitated  in  later  though  olden  times 
from  the  primitive  forms,  the  sounds  are 
indicated  by  a  rough  process  of  aerology 
and  syllabism.^^  And  this  process  was 
casually  used  instead  of  the  ideographic 
symbols  of  the  words.  "Man,''  written 
ideographically  A)  was  also  written  phon- 
etically. In  the  MS.  copies  of  the  Tao  teh 
King  of  Laotze,^^  purporting  to  be  exact 
copies  of  the  work  of  the  founder  of  Taoism, 
as  written  by  his  disciples,  the  spelling  of 
the  words  ought  to  be  looked  upon  as  a 
trustworthy  representative  of  the  genuine 
traditions  of  orthoepy,  inasmuch  as  Lao-tze 
was  Keeper  of  the  Koyal  Archives  at  Loh 
about  the  close  of  the  Vlth  century  B.C. 
Now  we  see  that  Lao-tze  or  his  disciples 
wrote  the  word  for  "  man  "  A  with  two 
symbols  A,  ^^e  over  the  other,  and  intended 


23.  At  Amoy  it  is  ready«. 

24.  Tai  T'ung,  Luh  Shu  Ku  ;  The  six  scripts,  transl.  L.  0.  Hopkins  (Amoy,  1881), 
p.  57.     Tai  T'ung,  whose  authority  is  here  quoted,  Hved  in  the  Xlllth  century. 

25.  Bab.  and  Or.  R.,  p.  46  b. 

26.  Cf.  I  he  Languages  of  China  before  the  Chinese^  scs.  92,  205. 

27.  P.  Legrand  de  la  Liraye,  Pronunciation  figuree  des  caracteres  Chinois  en  Mandarin 
Annamite  (Saigou,  1876,  fol.)  s.  v. 

28.  In  the  chu  quoc  ngu,  i.e.,  the  Roman  transcription  adopted  in  Annam  by  the  early 
European  missionaries,  the  nh  represents  nie^  Cf.  G.  Aubaret,  Grammaire  Annamite, 
p.  10. 

29.  I  have  been  the  first  to  point  out  this  peculiar  feature  of  the  oldest  Ku-wen  char- 
acters, framed  in  accordance  with  the  traditions  brought  by  the  early  leaders  of  the 
Chinese  tribes  as  a  necessary  accompaniment  of  the  art  of  writing  in  Babylonian  charac- 
ters, which  they  had  learned  in  S.W.  Asia,  previously  to  their  migration  to  the  Far-East. 
Cf.  my  papers  On  the  History  of  the  Archaic  Chinese  IVriting  and  Texts,  p.  4  \  The  Oldest 
Book  of  the  Chinese  and  its  Authors,  &ec.  23  (London,  1882). 

30.  Cf.  Min  Ts'i-kih,  Luh  shu  fung,  Bk.  II.,  f.  16. 


THE   LAND   OF  SINIM,  NOT  CHINA. 


189 


as  usual  to  suggest  the  initial  and  final 
sounds  of  the  word  ;  the  upper  character 
representing  the  final.  This  same  spelling 
occurs  also  in  several  inscriptions'^  ^  ;  and  in 
a  Ki-tze,  i.e.,  a  variant  of  spelling  which 
does  not  occur  in  the  official  books, '^^  the 
lower  character  is  /^  nip'^'^  (now  ju),  the 
ancient  initial  nasal  of  which  has  never 
been,  and  cannot  be,  doubted.  Therefore^ 
as  the  final  nasal  of  the  old  word  for  "  man  " 
is  well  ascertained  by  its  permanence 
through  all  the  dialectal  and  archaic  varie- 
ties, as  well  as  by  the  rhymes  of  ancient 
poetry,  '^  ^  there  is  no  room  left  for  doubting 
that  the  oldest  known  initial  of  the  modern 
word  jen,  "man,"  was  an  n  (or  its  imme- 
diate substitute  occasionally  written  for  it, 
viz.,  /).  All  this  indicating  a  word  like 
nen  or  len,  nan  or  Ian.  We  shall  now 
examine  the  second  class  of  proofs. 

2. — Dialectal  Archaisms.  This  proof  re- 
sults from  the  fact,  well  ascertained  in 
comparative  philology,  that  dialects  being 
exposed  to  surrounding  circumstances  dif- 
ferent in  character  to  those  which  have 
dominated  the  wear  and  tear  and  the  evo- 
lution of  the  sister  languages,  are  thus 
far  enabled  to  preserve  old  sounds  and 
torms  of  speech  unaltered,  or  altered  in  a 
different  direction,  and  therefore  easily 
ascertainable  by  inter-comparison.  AVith 
reference  to  the  Chinese  dialects  in  the  case 


of  the  modern  Mandarin  jen,  *'man,"  we 
see  by  the  Cantonese  form  yan  that  this 
dialect,  in  the  course  of  its  alteration,  has 
run  there  near  the  path  of  the  standard 
language.  But  the  forms  niang  at  Shanghai, 
lang  at  Amoy,  neng  at  Fuhtchou,  confirmed 
by  the  Sinico-Annamite^*^  nhan  and  the 
diverged  form  ren  in  Gyami  or  dialect  of 
VV.  Szetchuen,  leave  no  doubt  that  the  old 
form  was  nen  or  len,  nan  or  lau,  thus  agree- 
ing with  the  indication  obtained  through 
the  first  order  of  proofs. 

3. — Loaned  words  in  ancient  times.  These 
occurred  chiefly  with  the  Japanese  and  the 
Shan  Siamese  languages.  The  formation 
of  the  nucleus  of  the  latter  family  has  taken 
place  in  historical  times  within  the  modern 
boundaries  of  China  proper,  "^^  and  there- 
fore is  a  highly-interesting  and  favourable 
circumstance  for  the  history  of  the  loan 
words.  In  the  various  diaLcts,  Shan, 
Siamese,  Aliom,  Khamti,  Laos,  &c.,  the  word 
for  "man"  is  Kon  or  ICon  and  Kun  or 
K'un,  which  finds  no  cognates  in  the  other 
languages  of  the  great  linguistical  stock, 
the  Indo-Pacific,  to  which  they  belong. 
As  a  rule,  the  L  initial  of  the  Chinese 
words  boirowed  by  the  Tai-Shans  has  be- 
come among  them  an  initial  K,  and  there- 
fore the  Kon  or  Kun  above,  being  loan 
words,  suggest  an  original  Ion  or  Vun,  which 
are  sufficiently  near  to  the  form  Ian  or  mm 


31.  Such  as  the  Yun  tat  pet,  the  Pi-loh  pei,  etc.,  ibid. 

32.  Also  in  Min  Ts'i-kih,  1.  c. 

33.  Sinico-Annamite  nhap.  In  Ku-wen  spelling,  it  was  written  ]\  nip,  placed  under 
y\pat.  Cf.  ibid.  X.,  25  v. ;  and  Tung  Wei  Fu,  Tchuen  tze  Wei,  s.  v.  Cf.  Dr.  J.  Edkins, 
Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Chinese  Characters,  p.  5. 

34.  Cf.  the  lists  drawn  by  Dr.  J.  Chalmers,  in  his  valuable  paper  on  The  Rhymes  of 
the  Shi-King  {G]\m3i  Review,  1877,  vol.  VI). 

35.  The  respective  dates  ascribed  in  a  general  way  for  the  branching  off  of  these  various 
dialects  are  the  following  : — Sinico-Annamite,  200  B.C. ;  Amoy,  600  a-d.  ;  Fuhtchou, 
Shanghai,  between  600-1300  A.D.  Cf.  my  General  Historical  Scheme  of  the  Chinese  Family 
of  Languages,  sec.  205  of  The  Languages  of  China  before  the  Chinese  (London,  1887). 

36.  Cf.  my  paper  I  he  Cradle  of  the  Shan  Race,  introduction  to  A.  K.  Colqulioun's 
Amongst  the  Shans  (London,  1885) ;  and  7 he  Languages  of  China  before  the  Chinese,  sec< 
96,  126,  and  221. 


190 


THE  LAND   OF   SINIM,   NOT  CHINA. 


of  ancient  Chinese  to  permit  our  concluding 
that  they  all  represent  one  and  the  same 
original  word. 

In  Japan  the  knowledge  of  Chinese 
characters  was  carried  in  the  third  century 
of  our  era  with  the  sounds  in  use  at  the 
time  in  the  State  of  Wu  (a.d.  222—280), 
the  western  of  the  three  contemporary 
States  between  which  the  Empire  of  the 
Han  dynasty  had  been  separated  In  this 
pronunciation,  known  in  Japan  as  the  Go- 
on, or  sounds  of  Go,  i.e.,  Wu  or  Ngu,  nin  is 
the  sound  attributed  to  the  symbol  for 
"  man,"  therefore  agreeing  with  the  indica- 
tion obtained  from  the  other  sources. 

4. — Words  of  common  descent  in  cognate 
languages.  The  very  remote  time  of  the 
severance  of  the  Chinese  from  the  Turano- 
Scythian  original  nucleus,  and  its  starting 
of  its  own  course  of  evolution,  makes  this 
order  of  proofs  difficult.  However,  we  are 
still  enabled  to  point  out  a  few  related 
words,  though  only  among  distant  languages. 
It  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  the  Accadian 
nun,  "lord  or  master,"  is  the  oldest  instance 
of  the  word  we  are  just  studying.  Coming 
eastwards,  we  find  in  Brahui  a  language  of 
the  Dravidian  family  left  behind,  narina, 
"man."  In  several  Tibeto-Buimese  tongues 
we  remark  in  Dhimal :  diang,  Namsang 
Naga  : — nyan,  in  Khyeng — lung,  all  mean- 
ing "  man,"  and  obviously  connected  with 
the  Chinese  nan  or  Ian. 

The  perusal  of  the  four  class  of  proofs, 
long  and  fastidious  as  it  proved  to  be,  must 
have  dispelled  in  the  mind  of  our  readers 
all  possible  derivation  in  ancient  times  of 
an  appellative  "sjin"  or  "chin"  from  a 
common  word  of  the  language  which  was 
pronounced  nen  or  /en. 
IV. 

I  have  thus  far  shown  reasons  to  reject 
the  two  most  important  explanations  which 
had  been  put  forward  for  the  Sinim  as 
being  the  Chinese  ;  and  I  need  not  abandon 
the  question  without  mentioning  that  the 


names  of  two  other  States  of  the  Chinese 
agglomeration,  under  the  rule  of  the  Tchou 
dynasty  (1'  50 — 249  B.C.),  have  been  quoted 
rather  injudiciously  by  some  writers  as 
probable  antecedents  to  the  name  of  China. 
In  case  that  these  other  names,  hitherto 
unmentioned  by  us,  should  be  dragged  into 
the  question  by  someone  unaware  that  the 
suggestion  would  1)e  worthless,  we  had 
better  to  dispDse  of  them  here.  One,  that 
of  Tch'en,  in  Honan,  was  one  of  the  smaller 
of  the  States  which  came  to  an  end  in 
477  B.C.  The  symbol  of  its  name  is  now 
read  trcin  in  Sinico-Annamite.  The  other 
principality,  of  which  the  name  has  been 
quoted,  is  that  of  Shen  (now  read  fan  in 
Sinics-Annamite),  was  insignificant  and 
hardly  worth  mentioning,  as  it  was  sup- 
pressed in  688  B.C.  Both  of  them  had  no 
political  nor  numerical  importance ;  they 
were  encircled  in  other  States,  had  no  pos- 
sible intercourse  with  the  outside,  and  must 
be  left  altogether  out  of  the  question  at 
issue,  on  which  they  cannot  have  exercised 
any  influence  whatever. 
V. 

These  last  remarks  ought  to  conclude 
the  series  of  criticisms  which,  we  hope,  will 
put  an  end  to  any  speculation  tending  to 
assimilate  the  name  of  Sinim  with  that  of 
the  Chinese.  They  leave  untouched  the 
constructive  part  of  my  paper  on  The  Sinim 
of  Isaiah,  not  the  Chinese,  where  I  have  at- 
tempted to  show  that  the  Sinim  were  the 
Shinas  of  the  Hindu-Kush,  whose  name,  as 
that  of  a  most  distant  country,  had  reached 
Babylon  when  that  part  of  the  Book  of 
Isaiah  was  written. 

I  do  not  feel  myself  competent  to  go 
further,  and  answer  the  question  of  Prof. 
T.  K.  Cheyne:  "  Were  Israelites  among  the 
Shinas  of  the  Hindu-Kush  ?"  otherwise  than 
by  remarking  that  the  ruling  tribes  of  the 
Afghans  of  the  present  day  claim,  with  the 
same  sort  of  possibility,  a  Jewish  descent. 
I  shall  not  make  it  my  business  to  enqui-v; 


REVIEW. 


101 


about  their  riglits  to  such  a  claim,  and  the 
probability  or  improbability  that  they  are 
the  descendants  of  the  Israelites  of  the 
Exil,  or  of  any  Jewish  migration  of  later 
date.  I  do  not  think  the  solution  of  this 
question  is  necessary  to  establish  the  just- 
ness of  my  contention,     As  I  understand 


the  words  of  tlie  prophecy,  geographical 
precision  was  not  the  aim  of  tlie  autlior, 
and  his  object  in  s[)eaking  of  tlie  Lan<l  of 
Sinim  was  to  indicate  the  most  remote 
region  of  the  East  which  had  been  heard  of 
by  him. 

Terrien  I)E  Lacouprrie. 


IlEVIEW. 


Babylonischk  Texte.  Inschrif  ten  von 
Nabonidus,  konig  von  Babylon  von  den 
Thontafeln  des  Britischen  Museums  copirt 
und  autographirt  von  J.  N.  Strassmaier, 
S..T.  160  autographed  page?. 

This  work,  which  comes  from  the  ikmv 
Publishing  House  of  Edward  Pfeiffei-,  of 
Leipsic,  is  perfect  in  form  and  finish.  Of 
all  those  Assyriologists  who  have  attemp- 
ted to  autograph  texts,  Strassmaier  is  by 
far  the  most  successful.  He  seems  to  pos- 
sess any  amount  of  patience  and  endurance, 
which  qualifies  him  for  the  task.  Even  the 
shading  of  the  doubtful  characters  is  done 
in  such  a  masterly  way  that  no  blotting 
can  be  detected.  Mr.  S.  lays  great  stress 
on  the  exact  reproduction  of  the  characters, 
and  this  has  been  faithfully  carried  out 
wherever  the  writer  has  examined  the 
original.  The  printing  and  form  of  the 
book  are  such  as  to  reflect  the  greatest 
credit  on  both  the  printer  and  the  pub- 
lisher. Type  is  certainly  in  many  ways 
preferable  to  autographing,  but  this  work 
answers  some  of  the  objections  that  have 
hitherto  been  urged  against  it.  Notice  for 
example  No.  65,  p.  42.  The  book  before 
me  is  the  first  part  of  a  work  which  is  to 
contain  all  the  texts  of  Nabonidus,  the  last 
independent  king  of  Babylon  The  author 
has  collected  together  nearly  one  thousand 
texts  of  this  king,  which  will  lil]  five  such 
parts  as  the  one  before  ue^.  The  import- 
ance of  such  a  collection  of  texts  as  this 
for  the  Assyrian  language  cannot  be  over- 
estimated.    It  is  certain  that  many  new 


words  and  forms  will  be  found.  In  addition 
to  this,  they  will  be  of  much  interest  to 
the  historian  and  the  exegete;  for  the 
documents  are  of  the  time  of  the  prophet 
Daniel  and  the  fjaby  Ionian  captivity. 
Strassmaier  has  don.;  his  work  well.  In 
the  texts  thai  1  have  examined  thtr.*  i.*< 
little  fault  to  find  with  the  copying. 
In  S.  X  979  (Strass.,  No.  15),  line  1, 
the   shaded   part   is,    1    think,    the  name 

3?!    :^T^T    ^V.4    £tTT     <^  .    cf. 

Heirathscontrid  AL3,  p.  125,  line  6, 
obv.,  where  the  same  name  occurs  with  a 
slight  difi'erence  of  writing.  In  this  tablet, 
line  8,  the  last  sign  visible  seems  to  be  sa, 
instead  of  zV,  and  probably  the  character 
te  or  perhaps  a-te  is  lost.  S.  \  535,  line  9, 
instead  of  the  two  signs  at  the  end  I  see 
only  "^gf.  Aside  from  these  things, 
I  have  found  almost  no  mistake  in  all  the 
texts  that  I  have  collated.  The  great 
wonder  is  that  they  are  done  so  well,  since 
the  author  was  engaged  on  so  large  a  num- 
ber at  once.  The  untiring  way  in  which 
Mr,  Strassmaier  copies  texts  deserves  the 
gratitude  of  all  students  of  Assyrian. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  parts  of  the 
book  is  the  preface,  in  which  the  author 
speaks  of  the  way  in  which  the  "  Conti- 
nental Sshool  of  Assyriologists"  ignore  the 
existence  of  the  woik  of  others,  although, 
at  the  same  time,  they  have  undoubtedly 
copied  much  from  them.  Some  of  the  ex- 
pressions are  quite  sharp  and  cutting,  but 
no  fair-minded  man  will  think  that  they 
are  too  much  so.     No  coudemuation  is  too 


192 


FORTHCOMING  PAPERS. 


strong  when  a  scholar  will  not  recognise 
the  work  of  another,  which  he  is  incapable 
of  doing  himself.  The  writer  believes, 
therefore,  that  those  who  are  best  in  posi- 
tion to  understand  the  words  of  this  pre- 
face, will  quite  agree  with  its  author. 
In  the  prospectus  of  this  work  we  are 


promised  complete  lists  of  words  at  the 
close  of  the  last  part,  which  will  be  of  great 
import  nice  and  advantage  to  students. 
We  welcome,  therefore,  this  work  as  one 
of  the  most  valuable  publications  of  Assy- 
rian texts. 


Forthcoming  Papers.— Arthur  Ami- 
and :  The  Countries  of  Magan  and  Meluhha ; 
E.  Colborne  Baber  :  Assyrian  and  Chinese 
Gates  ;  Prof.  Dr.  S.  Beal  :  Krishna  and  the 
Solar  Myths ;  Fragments  of  a  life  of  the 
Buddha  {Fu  yao  King)  ;  W.  St.  C.  Bo3- 
cawen  :  Inscriptions  relating  to  Belshazzar; 
A  Royal  Tithe  of  Nabonidus  ;  Prof.  Har.wig 
Derenbourg :  Yemen  Inscriptions  (con- 
tinued) ;  Prof.  Dr.  C.  do  Ilarlez  :  A  N,->m»!n- 
clature  of  Buddhist  Terms ;  The  Deities  of 
the  Indo-Scythian  Coins  ;  Joseph  Jacobs  : 
The  Nethinira,  a  Biblical  Study  ;  Prof.  N. 
Kondakoff:  New  Archaeological  Discoveries 
at  Tashkent ;  Prof.  Dr.  T.  de  Lacoup(  r  e  : 
Bactro  Chinese  Coiiis  ;  Tattooing  ; 
Shifted      Cardinal      Points       in       Baby- 


lonia and  China ;  Prof.  Dr.  J.  Oppert : 
A  Juridic  Cuneiform  Text ;  W.  M.  Flinders 
Petrie  :  A  Poyal  Egyi)tian  Cylinder  with 
figures;  Theo.  G.  Pinches:  Sumer  and 
Akkad  ;  Akkadian  Etymologies  ;  A  Baby- 
lonian Dower  Contract ;  Prof.  E  Pevillout; 
On  a  so  called  Hittite  Seal  from  Tarsus  ; 
The  Babylonian  Istar  laribi  ;  A  Contract 
of  Apprenticeship  from  Sipj)ara ;  Prof. 
E.  P^villout  and  Dr.  V.  Revillouf^.  :  Sworn 
Obligations  in  i Babylonian  Law  ;  Prof.  Dr. 
A.  H.Sayc:  New  Phoenician  and  Israelitish 
Inscriptions  ;  was  Jareb  the  Original  Name 
of  Sargon  1  Dr.  H.  G.  Tomkins  ;  Geograph 
(  f  Northern  Syria  vievved  from  the  Assyrian 
f-ih^;  T.  Tjler:  On  the  Hittite  Inscription 
of  the  Yuzgat  Seal. 


Printed  for  the  Proprietor  at  51,  Knowle  Road,  Prixton,  S.W.,  and  Publi.shed  1)y  him  there  ;  a  ^1  by  1"), 
NUTT,  B.iiishand  Forjisjn  Bookseller,  270,  Strantl,  W.C, 


THB 


BABYLONIAN  AND  ORIENTAL  RECORD. 

The  Editorial  Committee  is  not  responsible  for  the  opinions  or  statements  of  the  Contributors. 

As  this  number  closes  our  first  year's  issue,  we  take  this  opportunity  to  thank  our  Contri- 
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Edit. 


NE^^  PECENICIAN  d;  ISRAELITISH  INSCRIPTIONS. 


The  Phoenician  graffito  discovered  by  Mr. 
Flinders  Petrie  at  Silsileh,  last  winter,  is 
very  interesting,  not  only  on  account  of  its 
clearness  and  completeness,  but  still  more 
on  account  of  its  contents.  The  forms  of 
the  characters  would  refer  it  to  the  5th  (or 
possibly  the  6th)  century  B.C.  They  re- 
semble those  found  on  the  coins  of  the 
Persian  satrapies,  with  the  exception  of  the 
yod  and  kaph^  which  preserve  the  archaic 
forms  of  the  Abu-Simbel  letters.  I  read  the 
inscription  as  follows: —  '^O'is^  T\^T\  b^D"Tl 
"Bodka  has  cried  to  Isis."  The 
words  "^y^  and  ^'Db^  are  new,  but  the 
spelling  of  the  name  oi  his  with  samech  is 
conformable  to  the  spelling  of  the  name  of 
Osiris  with  the  same  letter.  In  Hebrew, 
the  verb  pf^n  is  used  not  only  of  "  ad- 
dressing "  a  person,  but  also  of  "  singing 
praise  "  (Ps.  xxxv.  28,  Ixxi.  24) ;  its  proper 
signification,  however,  is  that  of  "  uttering 


a  cry  of  mourning,"  as  in  Ps.  xvi.  7,  Jer 
xlviii.  31.  This,  I  believe,  is  its  meaning 
in  Mr.  Petrie's  inscription,  where  a  reference 
is  made  to  the  rites  of  mourning,  associated 
with  the  worship  of  Isis.  As  for  the  proper 
name  b^D*!!'  12  is  a  well-known  contrac- 
tion of  "Tiy  in  later  Phoenician,  and  the 
analogy  of  names  like  Bod-Ashtoreth,  "  the 
servant  of  Ashtoreth,"  would  indicate  that 
t^;3  must  be  the  name  of  some  deity.  A 
Phoenician  deity  with  such  a  name  is,  how- 
ever, unknown,  and  I  can  therefore  only 
conjecture  that  the  name  may  represent 
the  Egyptian  ka  or  "  double," 

The  inscription  seems  to  imply  the 
existence  of  a  chapel  or  altar  dedicated  to 
Isis  in  the  place  where  it  was  found. 

The  two  seals  belonging  to  Dr.  Grant 
Bey  of  Caii'o,  are  of  still  greater  interest 
than  the  Phoenician  inscription.  The 
double  lines  between  which  the  letters  are 


Vol.  I.-~No.  12. 


[193] 


Oci.,  1887. 


194 


NEW   PHCENICIAN   AND   ISRAELITISH   INSCRIPTIONS. 


placed,  characterize  inscriptions  on  gems  of 
Israelitish  origin,  and,  I  may  also  add,  of 
Moabite  origin,  since  a  gem  reading 
"^TV  —  11^72^h  "  belonging  to  Chemosh- 
yekhi, "  with  the  winged  solar  disk  and  sym- 
bol of  Asherah  above,  is  characterised  in 
the  same  way  (De  Vogiie :  ''Melanges 
d'Arch6ologie  orientale,"  p.  89).  That  the 
larger  inscription  on  Dr.  Grant's  gems  is 
Israelitish  is  further  shown  by  its  contents. 
It  reads  ^DDH  VOfc^  "  Amoz  the  scribe." 
The  occurrence  of  the  Hebrew  article  is 
noticeable,  as  well  as  that  of  a  name  which 
was  borne  by  the  father  of  Isaiah.  So  also 
is  the  upright  line  which  denotes  the  end 
of  the  text,  and  reminds  us  of  the  points 
by  which  the  words  are  divided  on  the 
Moabite  Stone  and  in  the  Siloam  inscrip- 
tion. The  characters,  however,  are  rather 
those  found  in  the  Aramaean  dockets 
attached  to  Assyrian  contract-tables  of  the 
8th  and  9th  centuries  B.C.,  than  those 
belonging  to  the  Judaean  alphabet  of  which 
the  Siloam  inscription  affords  us  the  oldest 
known  example.  It  is  only  the  mem  with 
its  rounded  tail  that  claims  affinity  with 
the  latter,  and  bears  witness  to  an  alphabet 
which  was  used  for  writing  upon  papyrus 
or  parchment  and  not  upon  stone.  The 
tsadde,  too,  is  somewhat  more  like  that  of 
Siloam  than  that  of  the  Aramaean  dockets, 
and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  resh  with 
its  upright  stem.  But  the  samech  is  that 
of  the  Aramaean  dockets  of  the  7th  century 


and  we  may  accordingly  consider  the  seal  to 
have  been  made  for  an  Israelitish  exile  in 
Nineveh  in  the  line  of  Sennacherib  or  Esar. 
haddon.  Other  Israelitish  seals  of  the  same 
age  and  locality  have  already  informed  us 
that  some  at  least  of  the  Israelitish  exiles 
had  conformed  to  the  prevailing  Sun- 
worship  ;  the  same  fact  is  indicated  by  the 
seal  of  Amoz,  with  the  winged  solar  disk 
above  an  altar,  on  one  side  of  which  stands 
a  priest  with  flounced  dress,  while  the 
owner  of  the  seal  stands  on  the  other  side. 
The  second  seal  may  have  belonged  to  a 
worshipper  of  Yahveh  ;  at  all  events  there 
are  no  pagan  symbols  upon  it.  The  open 
heth  shows  that  it  must  be  assigned  to  a 
little  later  period  than  the  other,  though 
the  mem  has  the  same  form.  It  reads 
nyoh  "  belonging  to  M(a)b(a)kh."  I  can- 
not vocalize  the  name,  as  I  do  not  know  to 
what  root  it  can  be  referred,  or  even  in- 
deed whether  it  is  Semitic  at  all.  It  can 
hardly  represent  either  Mabbikh  *'  he  who 
causes  to  bark,  or  Mubbakh  "he  who  is 
made  to  bark." 

A.  H.  Sayce. 

The  Phoenician  graffito  is  on  the  sand- 
stone cliffs  of  the  Nile,  about  four  miles  N. 
of  Silsileh,  on  the  W.  side,  along  with 
numberless  Egyptian  gmffiti :  it  is  partly 
hidden  by  a  fallen  block.  The  seals  Dr. 
Grant  kindly  allowed  me  to  take  some  time 
since  :  they  were  purchased  by  him  in 
Cairo. 

W.  M.  F.  Petrie. 


I 


YEMEN    J\ST|ui>TJ(»\s. 


195 


YEMEN  INSCmPTJONS.-THE   GLASER    COLLECTION. 

(Conrlvfh'fJ  from  /;.    ]80). 


r 


XIII. 

Glaseu,     294. 
Stone  broken  in  three  pieces,  brought  from 
Ma'in.  It  is  tlie  original  of  Hal^vy,  194.  We 
rendthere,   In  tlie  Minean   dialoct- 

ioni'i')Am>4'nA?i  i 

'ISHIX1X«>l?XV<i>1  2 

Hebrew  Transcription: 

Partial  Translation: 
1      In  order  that  he  .     .     .   Naki-ali,  master 

of 

2 '   for  these     .     .     .    this  [statue    .     . 

Line  1.  The  root  *^ni,  although  frequent 
enough  in  the  Yemenite  texts  ("irQ^,  proper 
name  D^m),  remains  obscure.—Tlie  god 
m^Di  was  adored  by  the  Ma'inites;  see 
Hal.  191,  1.  2;  192,  1.  1;  199,  1.  2;  &c., 
and  tiie  following  inscription  (Glaser,  295).-' 
Line  2.  The  form  ij-ini  may  probably  be  a 
demonstrative    pronoun    analogous    to    the 

Ethiopian   pronouns. After  [7,  I  suggest 

]t27!r  "statue".  * 

XIV. 

Glaser,    295. 
A     small    fragment,    also    coming    from 
Ma'in.    This  is  the  text  of  the  inscription  : 


••o|snioH?no| 

Hebrew  Transcription  : 


• » •  id: 

Translation  : 
1  'Amvada',    son 


of    'A 


to  ^akrafh 


Line  1.  yr^y:^))'^  cf.  Hal.  187,  1.  1;  188, 
1^3:  520,  1.  1.— Line  2.  On  the  worship  of 
JVakrah  at  Ma'in,  see  the  preceding  inscrip- 
tion. 

XV. 

Glaskr    290. 

Funereal  stela,  coniing  from  Ma'in.        It 
heai's : 

nv® 

Hebrew  Transcription : 

nm 

The  two  ellipses  placed  at  the  top  represent 
eyes,  as  on  the  Egyptian  inscriptions  ;  se^ 
the  inscription  XXI,  and  Corp.  insc.  Sem.,pars 
quarta,\).bO. — The  theophore  apocopated  pro- 
per name  Ipn  is  already  found  in  Os.  19,  b 
1.— I  read  next  Tl'l  "that  of  Wadd",  and  I 
compare  Tl2:i  Hal.  577,  1.  1  and  2;  T)"TVD 
Hal.  221,  1.  2;  see  Mordtmann  und  Midler, 
Sabaische  Denkmdler,  p.  69. 

XVI. 
Glaser,  297. 
This  inscription,  in    the    Minean  dialect, 
comes   from    As-Sauda.     This  is  its  tenor: 

IMIw,  1 

ADniDAIVA,,,,,!!      2 

nv<DivxhB<i>n«iv    3 

Mii(hsvn<i>iDAv®)n    4 

^l®lIIl^V8^^<l>lDSo  5 

Rnisxn*^ii<i>isv?h)nv  s. 

I.YA A^JI.'I>ll,^1llXll,<I>  7 


196 


Hebrew  Transcription: 

DtDi  I  ddShd  •  •  •  rD 

Partial  Translation : 


pb^t^  i  'p 


1 

2  thanks  to    their  present,    conformably  to 

[his]  de[mand 

3  and  the  places  of  the  ablutions,  of  Wahb- 

['ii  (?)  — 

4  their    ....  and  their  sons  .... 
6       'anam    and    their   wives,   and     .     .     . 

6  the   two   towns,  and   the    valley  between 

the     rocks     .... 

7  .     .     .     .  the  possessions   and   offerings. 

It  is  impossible  from  this  text  to  re- 
construct the  context.  It  has  been  urged 
that  it  refers  to  the  offerings  made  to  a  god 
who  is  not  named.  All  that  is  preserved 
appears  to  point  to  that,  unless  some 
phrases  following  can  be  re-constructed. 
Line  2.  I  read  DD^b^lDrDllDDbn^,  and  I 
compare    j^^  j;^,— Line  3.  nb^!J'l?2,  cf. 

*^)  one  of  the  chapters  of  the  Musul- 
man  canon  -  law. — Perhaps  ^Hl  is  the 
complete  proper  name,  as  in  the  inscription 
XV,  1.  1. — Line  4.  Perhaps  it  is  necessary  to 
read  DDrn'^Hs  although  I  do  not  know  what 
meaning  it  would  be  suitable  to  attribute 
to  it. — Line  5.  QDilJlit^  5  ^f.  the  inscrip- 


YEMBN    INSCRIPTIONS. 

<i>«l4')AmH8)Il<i> 

•Hhkoiixtnhihn 

HIXXni<i>IIlSH)X<i> 
hklX'pMOX'I'lhXVhl] 
)  I A 1 1 II ,  (H I  n  "  I 

Hebrew  Transcription : 


?  ?  ?      ?   ?  ?  ? 

Donn .  D  1 11 1  s 

Provisional  Translation  : 

1  and   as  consecration    to    Nakrah  and  to 
'A[thtar 

2  between  the  houses    of    I}afw  (?).... 

3  Watar  (?)  Younim;    and    to    pierce  this 
opening 

4  [people    of]    Manahat,  has    served    with 
zeal,    and     .... 

.5 and  by    their    gods  (?) 

Line  L  I  consider  "Tri"^?:^  ^^^re  as  a 
common  noun,  derived  from  the  verb  -fj-\-^ 
"to  consecrate";  cf.  the  inscription  XX,  1. 
2. — After  the  god  Nakrah,  (cf.  the  inscrip- 
tions XIII,  1.2;  XIV,  1.  2),  I  should  have 
supposed  D"7]11  "and  thegod  Wadd".  But  the 
usage  is  that,  in  the  inscriptions,  Wadd 
precedes  Nakrah,  'Athtar  being  reserved  for 
the  end.  Read  therefore  ^r\r\]^1- — Line  2. 
I  believe  we  find  "^jn^  \  IDL^J],  as  in  the 
inscription  11,1.5. —  Line  3.  Read  perhaps 
Di^  I  ^HT  two  surnames  of  a  personage 
who  was  just  named. — 'PuSi  ;  cf.  the 
inscription  I,    1.    7,  after    which    I    supply 


tion    I,   1.  1  and  3.— Lin    6.    p^inJJH  is     ]nnD  I  JJ"7.~Line  4.  Read  ]nn:?^[t^  I  bn«, 
a  dual;  cf.  Langer,  1,  1.  1,  and  D.  H.  Muller,        --        -       •        •    •         -     .  _      . 

Siegf.  Lang.  Beiseh,,  p.  11 — 12. —  I  have 
translated  ^JllpU^D  after  the  Arabic  /^^ 
"  opening  in  the  midst  of  the  rocks  ".---Line 

XVIL 

Glaser,  298. 
This  inscription    comes    from    Siraka,   in 
he    Djauf.     Here  is    what   we  read  there  : 


after  the  inscriptions  I,  1.  1  •  II,  1.  3. 
^Onn  =  «XiL>-U —  Line  5.  I  sup- 
pose something  analogous  to  l]^Dn7b^» 
although  the  mim  appears  to  be  certain  ; 
perhaps  it  ought  to  be  read  l]j;2DnO*'tI) 
"  their  patron";  cf.   the   inscription  II,  1.   8. 

XVIIL 

Glaser,     299. 
This  very  difficult    text  comes    from  As- 
SaudA.     Mv  co])y  reproduces    exactlv    that 
of  M,   Ed.  Glaserr 


YEMEN    INSCRIPTIONS. 


197 


-% 


u 
a 


-I 
a 


3 


d    ±  u  Q 

-   ^  ^^ 

-  ^  -S 

"•J" 3  E!  — 

O    a  5  y. 

zs   ^  ^  Q 


S 


-   s- 

1  r 


§  ?  ^  .7-£ 


a 
a 


u 
a 


oo 

Do 

e_ 

v/ 


3- 

e 


3^ 

3^ 


oo 
Do 

e 


r«  *-i  ..  . J        Ld        r 


—  •* —  V* 

3  5  ^  rf  a 


U 

-I 

u 
J- 


M     fed     I-' 


cr 

o 
o 

B 

Q 
CO 

e-t- 
(D 

5* 
o 


—  -^   -C  HI 


t^   IK   -2. 

3-- 


-o  vy 

J-  e 
o   oo 


=^  o 


—  X 
3^  o 

e  y 


S  e 
-c  e 

e    e 


^.f^^:!l 


IK 
J- 

—I        CD        _. 

y    o    «. 


e 


-o  TT  ^-^ 


3r  X   = 

-O  _A  ^ 

-A  go  j- 

-e  =3  X 

±  ^  30 

=>-  e  =3 

?5  J"  ^ 

-o  3.  EI^ 

=E  -7:  e 


m  .^  _\ 

=D   D'   3C 
^  c=d  -C 

N^     -O    C=I 

X  w  -o 
-C  ^^  3- 

X  ^  _e 
—  e  ^ 

-*     -o 

e  =■  ° 


3^ 

e 


=       e  _ 


-^  t=i  3 

3-05: 

?<i 

-3  X  Ir 

^  3-  - 


Q>      ^ 


to 


l98  YEMEN    INSCRIPTIONS. 

We  submit  to  our  learned   colleagues   th  ^_ 

text  of  this    inscription,  ut  disceptatio  fiaV  ^^^Pf^^^J^         A      ~"^ 

The  opportunity  will  no  doubt  be  presented  r-Vk  I  ik         \         — \cA 

for    our    intervening   once     in    the    debate  ^T^rv           1     ^      W 

whiche  this    curious    fraorment    cannot    fail  /     V     >  / ^r    V 

to     provoke.  Z. fl>  /  ^    V     > 

XIX.  ^ 

Glaser,    300.  M.  Ed.    Glaser    has    furnished    me    with 

From     Siraka,    in    the     Djauf,     like   in-  ^\^^   following  descri})tive  commentary:  "The 

scription    XVII.      Tliis   is  what     the  stone  faces    a,    h,  and    c    liave    inscriptions,    also 

b^^^'*^-  h\    d    being    anepigrai3hic.        The    inscrip- 

Ix^VfliinH^*       ^  tion  commences  upon   the  face    «,    and  con- 

ilYAmo«Yy       9  tinues  on  the  faces  h  and  f ."     M.  Ed.  Glase_ 

lIlAVTm    An       -"  adds,  and  we  produce  liis  opinion,  without  being 

.  rn    I  ^  n  O  I  T]      3  in  a  condition  to  verify  its  degree  of  correct 

L  n  Tl  "^^*^  •  "  "^^  ^^  DO^"!'     which   I  hold  to  be 

hlllllhihnil      4  identical     with     the    Biblical    place     ^^^ 

Hebi-ew  Transcription  :  mentioned  -with  p^   and    p^  as  submitted 

?  to  the  Assyrian  kingdom,  do  not  fail  to  refer 

I  n^nn  I  7^^"Ti^  •      1  to    my    conference,      Ueher   meine  Eeise    in 

•  I  pCTO  I  m      2  Arabien,  (Wien,  1887),  p.  J 3  and  U.  ^)^ 

L  I  .«-..  I  —      o  =Hirran  and  l^^O  =  Aden  were  therefore  at 

that  time,    like  the  greatest  part  of  southern 

'  I  •  ^^^  Arabia,    under  Assyrian  domination,     which 

Partial  Translation:  ^s     besides     sh(jwn    by     the    inscription   of 

1  Wadad'il    son    of  .    .     .     .  Sargon,    according  to    wliich    Ithamara  the 

2  this  plain Sabean()  J]  fl^  o3f)p^itl  tribute  to  Assyria." 

;}     [to  Nakrah]   (?),  master  of  (?)   .     ,     .  ^lie  diagram  on  the  next  page    groups    the 

4     [this    construction         faces  which  bear  some  characters : 

Line    1.  I  propose  ^t^nn  after  Hal.  44,  ^     (^laser    has     accompanied   this  very 

1.1;    188,    1.  1;  416,  1. 1;  567;  see  however,  characteristic     drawing     by     the   following 

Sb^l^  Hal,  51,  1.  2.-— Line  2.  triDTOl  ^^ee  notices:   "The  face  Z>  bore  evidently  two  bull's 

above  inscription  I,  1.    10. — Line    3.     Per-  lieads    symmetrically  arranged. — The    word 

haps    bvilDm^:);     cf.     the    inscription  '^^oV-'^PPeaTS  to  correspond  to  the  Arabic 

XIII,   I    1.— Line  4.  piDL  1  ]1,      as     in  j^.„_xiie    obs cure  word    of    the    first 

the  inscription  II,  1.  3.  ^       „                               ,        i   timiiti 

Ime  of    c   appears    to    be     nUyTjJ,     or 

Glaser,'  30,  h© ? VB  "^^  h)D]^Il'  t^^'^t    is    to    say 

A  Httle  altar,    coming    from    As-Sauda.  p"^nt:i,    or  p^ipt:),  or  pIOp^.— The    word 

It  is  what  is  called  a  m^^ram  ( .^        ).    An  «i^  ^^e   face   a,  which    comes   after  []^o, 

other  monument  of  the  same  kind  is  named  appears  to  be  |l, )  f]  O.— In  line  3  of  the  face 

in    inscription    XXIX  (Glaser,  334, 1.  6)    a  ^,  HFDIH  DXS©    (certainly  not  Lirab) 

DnD?2.    The  two    conjoined   figures,    which  must     evidently    be    read  O^^Xl  I  '^ilhi^ 

M.  Glaser  has  kindly  drawn  for  my  purpose,  Tlie  Kitah  aJ-ikW   knows  this  place,  which, 

will  give  an  idea  of  the  cutting  of  the  stones;  jt  calls  i^\j^  jO*   From  the  position  of  this 


THE    0LA9BR    COLLBCTION. 


199 


'<ajct 


\ 
\ 
\ 

I 


o<^ 


)11s»h?SHI 


tl 


/  h  )  ^^  S  u 
cpYThflW      W 


^•''1 1  DD^rnTl  I  D 


place  it  might  be  concluded  that  A  A  ^  (HIH) 
wat5  likewise  in  the  Djauf,  a  ^hort  distance 
from  As-Saiida.  The  Assyrians  dominated 
at  that  time  in  the  region  from  Hirran  up  to- 
wards Ma 'rib,  as  well  as  in  the  port  of  Aden." 
Here  is  the  Hebrew  transcription  of  this 
llimyaritic  text  : 

h. 

hhvn 
ni  I  "inhir !  ^:pn  1  □  • 


^^n^lnivlD 2 


Provisional  Translation  : 

1  ....    Bayyin,     servant     of    the    Banou     has    consecrated   to    'Athtar  of 

Rasaf,  the  construction  (?)     Ya'oud.  •       u     j 

2  '[and]    .    .    .   'Adhab,  ...  [and]...  the   temple    of   the   sanctuaiy   Arthat,    ni  the  d»y 
when by    reason    of    the  obla — 

8     [tiun] 'Athar    of  Djirab,  and   of    Rasaf,  and 


200 


YEMEN    IMSCRIPTIONS. 


4  May   he  accept  the   tithe 

5  to   protect  him,  as   well  as 

6  his    [for] tune,    and    [his]  rank, 

7  .  and    his  children. 

Notwithstanding  the  linguistic  difficulties, 
1  am  not  disinclined  to  accept  for  77^n  the 
interpretation  proposed  by  M.  Glaser. — 
Line  1.  The  names  which  usually  precede 
the  surname  p^,  such  as  S^^^T,  or  7^^^"^^ 
are  too  long  for  the  unoccupied  space. — After 
DS!^*ll'  I  propose  to  read  Ji^^^,  as  in  in- 
scription XIX,  I.  2,  thinking  of  1^*1  nnn*"! 
in  Glaser,  302,  1.  2. — Line  2.  ^'PTV^  has 
appeared  to  be  a  common  name,  as  in 
inscription  XVII,  1.  1. —  Line  3.  On  'Athtai' 
of  Djirab,'see  the  communication  of  M.  Glaser, 
which  has  been  just  alleged.  Dl^Il  r^iay  also 
be  likewise  a  common  name,  see  inscription 
IV,  1.  3. —  Line  4.  I  have  translated  the  word 
'^'{^^  according  to  the  Arabic  "a  "to  levy 
the  tithe";  cf.,  on  this  verb,  the  examples 
quoted  in  Mordtmann  und  Miiller,  hah. 
Denhn.,  p.  46. 

The  cutting  of  this  inscription  which  is 
continued  horizontally  on  three  faces,  with 
a  pedestal  containing  a  conclusion  in  four 
independant  Hues,  gives  some  likelihood  to 
the  analogous  solution  which  we  have  given 
for  inscription  349  of  Hale'vy,  a  solution 
which  has  been  disputed  by  M.  D.  H.  Miiller 
In  the  Zeits.  der  deutsclien  morg.  Gesells.  of 
1883. 

XXI. 
Glaser,     303. 

Funeral  stela,  coming  from  Hadakan. 
This  is  M.  Glaser's  rough  draught: 


Underneath  two  eyes  (cf.   the  inscription 
XV),  we  read  the  proper  name  riHT]  ^"^TJ^I 
cf.  the  inscription  V,  1.  4. 
XXIL 
Glaser,  305. 

Stone   brought  from  Ma'in,  on  which  we 
read : 

l1hAa>h?IX1ff  1 
in<i>IX8oO<»)V   2 

m?xiiivh  3 

Hebrew  Transcription : 

? 

ip:ji^n«  3 

Provisional    Translation, 

1  Oratory  (Q  of  You'aus'il     .     .    .    [and] 

2  Hauf  athat,  and   Ba 

3  people  of   Gizyan 

Line  ).  I  have  translated  JlVtO  ^^t^*" 
Mordtmann  und  Miiller,  Sah.  Denhn.,  p^ 
88—89.  It  seems  that  they  wrote  indiffer- 
ently nStO  and  n^!^-— St^DI^''  ;  cf.  the 
inscriptions  I,  1.  9;  VI,  1.  6. — Line  3.  On 
the  root  ^t^  in  Sabean,  see  Mordtmann 
und  Miiller,   ibid.,  p.   18. 

XXIII. 

Glaser,   306. 
Two  lines,  coming  frem  Arhab,  conceived 
thus : 

nv<p<i>!hoV?<D|X8oO®--    1 
o(i.|iiAIl)<i>in)fih   2 

Hebrew  Transcription : 


YEMEN  INSCRiPTIONH. 


201 


Translation  : 

1  H]anfathat,  and  Yonlia'in,  and  Wahb  .  • 

2  and  !N'asclia['karib,  and  Rams,  and  'A  .  . 
Line  1.  Read  ililVQin,  as  in  the  in- 
scription XXII,  1.  2. —  V^'n^  see,  above,  tho 
nscription  X,  1.  3. — Line  2.  I  have  com- 
pleted l-^:D[t<tr':i,  perhaps  l^rDt^L^Tl.— 
For  DD^^)  tliis  name  recalls  to  M.  Glaser  the 

^yX^^oj  of   Al-Hamdani, 
XXIV 
Glaser,    308. 
A  sort  of  head,    perhaps  that  of  an   idol", 
M.  Glaser  writes  me,  "perhaps  also  a  fmier- 
eal  monument,    bearing     the   proper    name 
1fhH8)'   ^^"^^"•'    I^athad'il." 
XXV. 
Glaser,     308. 
A  sort  of  head  of  Janus  an  idol  with  the 
singular    inscription    *~^  JU   wliich     we    re- 
produce   without  trying  to  explain   it.       M. 
Glaser  informs  us   that  such  idols  appear  to 
be  still   worshipped  at    this    day   in  certain 
regions  of   Tihama. 

XXVI. 

Glaser,    309. 
Inscription  coming  from  As-Sauda,  ident- 
ical with  the  inscription  512  of  Joseph  Hal- 
evy.     The  text  given  by  M.    Ed.  Giaser  is 
on  next  column  : 

As  for  the  inscription  XVIII,,  I  content 
self  with  giving  this  text  under  its  rectified 
form,  reserving  it  for  further  consideration  at 
an  early  opportunity. 

XXVII 
Glaser,    323. 

Brought  from  As-Sauda.  A  little  animal^ 
a  sheep  or  ram,  which  bears  the  letter  [^  ^, 
evidently  an  abbreviation.  Of  what  word,  I 
cannot   tell. 

XXVIII, 

Glaser,  333. 
Stone  brought  from  Barakisch,  on  which 
we  read  (at  foot  of  next  column)  : 
Provisional    Translation; 
[N    .     .     .     ,  son  of has] 

1  vowed  to  'Athtar,  [of] 

2  Youharik,  the  palm-trees  [of  Ma- 

3  dhab.      He    who 


(M        CO        -rjl       lO 


e 
oo 


X 

e 

-<: 


e   ^ 

3C    O 
C     O 

o  nnxi 
3=   e 


—  o 

e  X 

nn  — 

>  e" 

oo  r— 


—  nC 

cz  -c 

o-  \ 


e    o 

o  ^ 
r-  o- 

—  3C 


o-  SC 


e 

-c 


oo 


d 
a, 

•c 

o 

m 

a 

t 


r      "     ^  CJ 

1^  aznn  —  ^ 

H"  ozzzo^p  ~7 

n   S  f;  B 


D     - 


p  g  I  g 

nil 


?  n    ^ 


o 

_      -      D     p 
p.     D     7^     a 

j:   - 


2?> 


e 


e 


S      ?:.     *■ 

"  8 


"5^  s:  ^ 
OK  h:  *:: 


2l  O    ? 


)X8oK8X 
HfHin^H 

Hebrew  Transcription : 


202 


■YEMEN    INHCUIPTIONS* 


n 

a 
n 


Line  I .  I  consider  l^jlil  a*^  identical  with 
the  Arabic  ..tv\  the  eiahth'form  ol:'  -J.  ; 
The  worship  of  'Athtar  Youharik  war<  veiy 
widespread  at  Barakiscli,  as  is  proved  by 
Hal.  424;  425,  1.  2  and  8:  420,  1.  1:  437, 
1.  1;  &c.. — Line  8.  I  have  inferred  palm-trees 
ofMadhab,  by  supi)Osing  the  full  Arabic 
spelling  L^\s^  instead  of  the  more  fre- 
quent Himyaritic  spelling  W\\]\  11^,  see 
the  inscriptions  V,  1.  4;  XX I  —  T'-f  i  p 
perhaps  the  commencement  of  the  impre- 
cation against  plunderei-s. 
XXIX. 
Glaser,    334. 

The  diagram  reproduced  beneath  gives  an 
idea  of  the  monument  which  comes  from 
Harim: 


'  iThe  moniimeiit  bears  no  inscriptJt^n  except 
on  the  outer  face,  of  which  the  following  is 
th^  appearance  and  contents: 

i  Q  fi  1 1 11  I  I  rm 


II 


Translation  : 

1  'Amdhara      and 
•2   Haufwadd,     desccn- 

3  dants     of     Aus     Dhou- 

4  Zalam,    has    consecrated 
4  to  'xVthtar  Dhou-Kabd, 
6   tw^o    censers  (?) 

The  reading  of  the  monogram,  borrowed 
in  line  4,  leaves  no  room  for  doubt.  On 
DHD^?  see  the  opinion  of  M.  Glaser,  above, 
p.  198.  My  translation  connects  this  word 
with  the  Arabic    >csyj>  ^U^i  "  charcoal". 

XXX. 

Glaser,    337. 
Funereal    monument,    analogous    to    our 
numbers    XV     and    XXI  (Glaser,  290  and 
303).     This  stela  comes  from  Harim: 


oo  — 

Z2  •< 
o  "^ 


Underneath  the  two  sepulchral  eyes,  we 
read  nothing  but  a  single  word  ^oXQ 
Ji^ni^j  "  Pat'an",  a  proper  name  which 
might  well  be  foreign.  ;We  have 
perhaps  to  read  ^OXQ  ]Vr\2'  "the  Bata- 
'ite".  This  should  then  be  the  tomb  of  an 
anonymous  person  of  the  tribe  of  Bata', 
tribe,  on  which  may  be  consulted  Mordtmann 
und  Miiller,  Sab.  Denkm.,  p.  44 — 46. 

XXXL 

Glaser,   338. 
Funereal  monument,  coming  from  Harmi, 
like  tlie  preceding: 


Hebrew  Transcription  : 

t,*  r 


I 


THR     OLA5ER    COLLECTION. 


203 


Underneath  the  two  eyes,  we  read  J]  f]  *!  A 

Dl7D,      ^^1<,  ^^*^^^-     In  the  following  line 

tliere  is  what  seems  the  outline  of  a  letter, 
of  which  the  nature  and  object  cannot  be 
distinguished.  The  stone-cutter  appears  to 
have  had  the  design,  then  to  have  abandoned 
it,  of  adding  to  the  name  an  ethnic  adjective; 
cf.  the  preceding  inscription. 

XXXII. 

Glaser,  339. 
Another  tomb-stone,  coming  from  Harim 
likewise,  without  the  two  eyes,  and  only 
bearing  a  proper  name  )<D^n{'ii  llttJlfc^. 
See  the  name  as  an  epithet  of  the  god 
rtOiin^  in  Hal.  148,  1.  5. 

XXXIII. 

Glaser,    340. 
A  stone  coming  from  As-Saud&,  on  which 
we    read : 

iiihAivi.<i>mn  2 
?niv)nAix?n  3 
)'nmn<i>ih?o8  4 

IVII®?l?hfi<»   5 
Aih<i>l4')h       6 

Hebiew  Transcription : 

omippiip  1 

This  fragment  suggests  to  me  the  follow- 
ing reflections:  1st,  Linel,  if  the  series  of 
parallel  names  represent  towns,  the 
last  word  ought  to  be  read  p-^ni  ''  ^^^^ 
Hirra[n  :    2nd,  line    3,    I    trahslate    "  the 


house  of  the  minister  of  Gai[man,  rr^l'^  being 
here  as  in  inscription  I,  1.  8,  and  pD]^V 
being  identical  with  the  town  situated  five 
hours  to  the  south-west  of  San'a,  of  which 
MM.  Mordtmann  anrl  Miiller  have  8iK>ken 
Sab.  Denk.,  n.  15;  3rd.  line  G,  I  imagine 
"l]D«1imtr[7«;  ^^'  tlie  shorter  name  n^^tt? 
which  we  can  equally  suppose  here,  in  in- 
scription I,  1.  8,  and  ^DM  '"  the  same 
inscription,  1.  1. 

XXXIV. 
Glaser,  341. 
Inscription  from  Ma'iu,  conceived  in  those 
terms : 

nv<i>l®rS   2 
"OBIM      3 

Hebrew  Transcription : 

nm  hD  2 

.  D^  I  «^         3 
Probable     Translation: 

1  lldharrih,     [and 

2  his  [son],  Wahb        .     .     . 
3,  has  f vow]ed  T>af[w 

Line  1.  Without  knowing  the  full  length  of 
the  line,  I  suggest  at  the  end  •^DC^ni"!  "and 
his  [son]",  or  rather  "and  his  [sons]" — 
Line  2.  ^PH  i^  the  beginning  of  a  proper 
namennirJnmoi'Dn^tnm;  they  are  both 
conjoined  in  inscription  1  of  the  Corpdnsc. 
Sent.,  pars  quarta,  p.  6. —  Line  3.  I  read 
t-^/L'tT'  ^^  '^^  our  inscription  XXIX,  1.  4.— P 
itconvenient  tosupposeat  the  end'^Lo^j,  as  in 
insciiption  II,    1.  5  ? 

XXXV. 
Glaser,  342. 
A  fragment  of  which  M.  Glaser  indicates 
as  the  place  from  which  it  comes,  Hasina, 
probably  Hasina,  between  Ma'in  and  Bara- 
kisch.  Tnls  is  the  form  and  the  tenor  of 
the  inscription  : 


20i 


YEMEN    INSCRIPTIONS. 


Hebrew  Transcription  : 

nm  I  r 


Proyisional  Translation : 

1  Ni'yam  (?) 

2  Raiman  (?) 


o   [have    bui]lt  and  rene[wed 

Line    1.     I     have    supposed     the    proper 
name   Q^V2,   ^I'om  the  root  Q^^,  pronounced 

like  -X/*.^  •  — Line  2.  Can  J^*^by  chance  be 
an  abridged  spelling  of  Jo*'*^  (see  the  in_ 
scription    VI,    1.    2  ? — In  line    3,    I    read 

n]nni  i  v[:2i-    ^^  the  root  ^•^j^  (:ijpn- 

applied  to  constructions,  (see  the  inscription 
II,  1.  1,  and  D.  H.  Milller,  Sieqf.  Lang 
Riseb.,  p.  37   -38. 


XXXVI. 

Glaser,  3^3. 

This    stone  is    the    original    of  Halevy,      Here  is  the    text,    just  as    M.    Glaser  has 
406.    It  has  been  brought  from  As-Sauda.      communicated  it  to  me: 


iBih^Mii?ihii<i>is)4'iiihHi<i>imxmi<i>?i 

?<DiH?HlhmA<'>liS1''iS?l1®l18?®ll!Hol]IX 

Hebrew  Transcription: 

'ion  I  Mn:iDi  I  oShtr'  I  h^  I  Sh-'-i  I  0:1^  I  n  4 

Provisional  Translation:  designation  in  Hal.  154,  1.  22,  and  also  pro- 

1  [DhoCi]    Kabd  bably  elsewhere- . —  Line  2.  I  have  supposed 

2  [Na]fis   and  Manawat,  and  the  people  ••        t? 
ofManahat a  proper  name  ODi=(^U   or  (^^^*oou  .  .-For 

3  to   the  right   of    the   jDOsition    of  this  in'li?;^'    ^ee    the   inscription    III,    1.     5.— 
sanctuary  (?).  And  whosoever  shall  injure  it  L^lSnt^  1  Snt^l  see  the  inscriptions  I,  1.  1 

•  -/y   -te^'-^^^  ^^A    fV".v.-i           1.           1  *nd  2  ;  II,    1,   3.-Line  3.  ri^DV  "to  the 

4  ds  of  Ma  m  and  of  1  athil,  may  he  expel  .,,,„.     .,      .        ■  I-      4    i   t    ti 
him    and    send   every  one    away  who  shall  "gl^*  "^  '  »^    >"  *«  inscnpt.on  I,  1.  7;  II, 
make  common    cause  [with  him]. 


1.  9. — ^^y,    cf.    the  inscription    1,    1.  6.- 
have  supposed  ^to]"^ntD  !  "jl* — -^^^ 
Athtar^?fKabd;"   cl  this  sarne"''shortened      who"  (perhaps    we  ought    to    read   n),    I 


Line  1.  ^:2pl  '^  abridged  from  Vlp'llinTO      ^'""^^  supposed  ^tohHtD  !  (l.— After  p  "  he 


THE    OLASER     COLLECTION. 


205 


conjecture  DD'l^lD}',  as  well  as  in  Hal 
199,  1.  3.— Line  4.  The  p\  is  the  end  of 
n[7«7«  i  7D  -'all  the  gods";  see  Hal.  109 
1.  2  and  3;  260,  1.  2  ;  465,  1.  8;  &c.— 
7ntl?=  J^^,. — Before  the  second  verb 
t^l^D  the  «i  of  tho  third  person  has  been 
omitted,  as  it  is  omitted  sometimes  in  Himy 
antic  ;  thus  p^p^  for  li^Dp*"^  on  the 
inscription  8  of  the  Louvre.  The  meaning  of 
this  verb,  in  the  first  and  fourth  forms, 
has  been    cleared    up  in    Mordtmann    and 

Muller,  Sab,  Denkm.,  p,  16.— I  read  at  the 
j' 

endD>*lD''l=  *VJ^l  c^J^U 

xxxVii. 

Glaser,   344. 
A  little  fragment  in  marble  from  the  D jauf , 
We   read  >|)<|)Xa)  -Hpni.    I  derive  ^pn 
from  the  root  ^j,  and  I  imagine  that   this 
Vvord  expresses    honour,    respect. 
XXXVIII. 
Glaser,  346. 
A    stone   brought    from    Thafar  (  .lii?)» 
where  it  has  been  found  at  the  west  of  Kasr 
Zaidan.    We  read  there: 


iiiihni  .1     t 
?iiiooi?on)h<»i  2 

Hebrew  Transcription: 

•^!pl  I 

1  I  DD"l2t^  I  ]    3 

Provisional  Translation  : 
1 son    of    M  .  .  .  . 

2  and  hun  [dred]and  fortyf[ive  .    .     . 

3  .  -  .  horses,  and  .... 

Line  2.  Read  Drl]^^p1  '  ^Vl^'t^i^  I  C\y2r\= 
a  hundred  and  fortyfive.  Is  this  a  date,  as 
M.  Ed.  Glaser  supposes  it  to  be,  or  a  num- 
ber connected  with  a  class  of  objects  which 
are  about  to  be  mentioned?  I  should  incline 
to  the  latter  hypothesis,  as  I  observe  in  the 
last  line  DD")DW  =  t^5/^ 


Arrived  at  the  conclusion  of  this  rapid  in- 
ventory, I  give  it  over,  such  as  it  is,  without 
hiding  from  myself  the  lacunce  which  my  at- 
tempts at  explanation  present.  I  have  only 
sought  to  make  known,  as  soon  as  possible^ 
this  admirable  collection  of  unedited   texts  • 


I  did  not  think  myself  authorised  to  keep 
back  from  the  curiosity  and  impatience  of 
those,  who  are  less  favoured  than  I,  the 
excellent  copies  which  M.  Glaser  had  the 
kindness  to  send  me.  After  what  my  friend 
Prof.  Terrien  de  Lacouperie  has  written  me,  it 


206 


THE  DEITIES   OF   THE   INDO-SCYTHIC   COINS. 


will  be  impossible  to  obtain  "  squeezes"  until 
the  collection  shall  be  aiTanged,  classed, 
and  numbered,  consequently  not  before  the 
end  cf  the  year.  Such  delays,  we 
must  always  fear,  may  be  exceeded.  How- 
ever     ephemeral     may    be     the    usefulness 


of  my  present  decipherment,  those  who  shall 
build  after  me  upon  a  more  certain  founda;l:ion 
will  perhaps  remember  him  who  has  first 
broken  up  the  ground. 

Hartwio    Derbmbourg. 


THE  DEITIES  OF  THE  INDO-SCYTHIC  COINS. 


Everyone  will  have  read  with  lively  in- 
terest the  learned  paper  of  Dr.  M.  A.  Stein 
on  the  Zoroastrian  Deities  in  Indo-Scyihian 
Coins,  and  will  have  found  it,  as  I  have, 
soli  i  and  suggestive.  But,  to  prevent  some 
conclusions  perhaps  false,  I  may  be  allowed 
to  present  an  observation  which  appears  to 
me  very  important. 

We  are  accustomed  to  call  Avestic  or 
Zoroastrian  everything  which  is  found  in 
our  text  of  the  Avesta.  This  ought  to  be 
understood  with  a  certain  subtraction,  lest 
things  utterly  different  in  nature  and  origin 
should  be  confounded. 

The  Avesta  is  not  a  book  written  at  one 
stroke,  nor  composed  of  homogeneous  parts. 
Far  from  that,  we  find  there  things  even 
the  most  incongruous.  Sometimes  we  find 
there  the  purest  dualism,  two  eternal  spirits 
equal  in  power ;  it  is  thus  in  two  passages 
of  the  Gathas  especially  (see  Yasna  XXX., 
1—5  ;  XLIV.,  2  ;  LVL,  7,  6.  Elsewhere 
it  is  a  softened  dualism,  the  good  God  is 
raised  above  the  spirit  of  evil,  and  the 
latter  will  perish  miserably ;  only  the  pre- 
sence of  Zoroaster  breaks  his  power,  &c., 
&c.  (V.  p  e.  Yt.  XIX.  at  end,  Vd.  XIX., 
150,  &c.  Sometimes,  also,  the  Avestic 
authors    profess   a    nearly   irreproachable 


monotheism.     It  is  thus  in  nearly  the  whole 
of  the  Gathas,  in  the  Yesht  of   Ormazd 
(Yt.    I),    and    elsewhere.      Then    Ahura 
Mazda  governs  the  universe  ;   the  Druje, 
the  spirit  of  evil,  cannot  undertake  anything 
serious  against  him,  and  the  most  exalted 
heavenly  spirits  in  power  and  dignity  are 
nothing  but  his  creatures  and  servants  (see 
spec.  Yt.  I.,  37,  Westerg.  XX.)     On  the 
other  hand,  in  many  passages  the  Avesta 
testifies  concerning  naturalistic  beliefs  and 
practices  the  most  impeached,  and,  let  us 
say  it,  of  a  true  polytheism.     In  the  first 
chapters  of  the  Vispered  and  of  the  Yasna, 
and  others  besides,  all  material  nature,  and 
particularly  fire,  are  the  objects  of  a  real 
worship,  on  the  ground  of   their  natural 
power.      In     a     hundred     passages,     the 
ancient   spirits  of   nature    appeared    with 
an  independent  nature,  a  power  of  their 
own,  which   made    them    veritable   gods. 
Thus  it  is  the  worship  of  Haoma,  and  not 
that  of  Ahura  Mazda,  which  brought  to 
the    ancient     heroes     the     extraordinary 
favours,  the  signal  victories   which   have 
made  them  famous.     It  is  to  Haoma  that 
Pourushacpa  should  be  father  of  Zoroaster, 
Haoma,   Mithra,  &c.,  give  all  good  things, 
smite     with    all    the    evil,    destroy    the 


BABYLONIAN    ETYMOLOGIES. 


207 


countries  which  do  not  honour  them,  and 
that  according  to  their  fancy  (V.  Ys.  IX., 
1—43,  59,  ff.,  the  Yesht  of  Mithra  nearly 
as  a  whole).  Much  more  the  faithful 
Avesta  demands  from  these  spirits — half 
person,  half  material  element — even  as 
much  as  the  Paradise  of  the  righteous  (see 
Yasna  IX.,  64  from  Haoma,  Y.  LXVII.,  36 
from  Ardvi  Sura,  &c.)  "  Give  to  him  who 
honours  thee  the  perfect  world  of  the 
righteous,  shining  with  all  the  splendours  !" 
Ahura  Mazda  then  disappears  completely  ; 
sometimes  a  "  created  by  Mazda,"  added 
after  a  stroke,  makes  the  independent  spirit 
re-enter  in  the  Zoroastrian  system. 

This  fact  appears  strange  at  first  sight, 
but  it  is  to  be  explained  by  an  error.  The 
collection  of  books  and  of  pieces  which 
compose  our  Avesta  does  not  belong  to 
only  one  school,  and  pure  Zoroastrianism 
never  had  been  in  a  condition  to  stifle 
entirely  the  ancient  beliefs,  the  antique 
traditions.  The  worship  of  the  spirits  of 
nature  has  resisted  the  efforts  of  Zoroastrian- 
ism, and  it  is  perpetuated  in  the  Eran. 
By  the  side  of  the  Zoioastrians,  the  parti- 
sans of  myths  and  primitive  beliefs  knew 
how  to  maintain  them,  and  a  compromise 


ought  to  be  made,  whethor  at  tlie  epoch 
purely  Zoroastrian,  or  later,  when  the 
Avesta  was  collected. 

The  result  is  that  the  larger  number  of 
the  spirits  to  whom  are  devoted  a  great 
many  of  the  chapters  of  the  Avesta,  have 
nothing  about  them  Zoroastrian  or  Avestic, 
properly  speaking,  if  we  take  this  word  in 
the  sense  of  sacred  book  of  Zero  istrianism. 
It  is  specially  so  of  Haoma  and  Mithra,  of 
the  sun,  of  the  moon,  of  the  wind,  of  fire,  of 
Tishtrya,  and  other  deities  who  figure  on 
the  Indo-Scythic  coins.  They  could  belong 
only  to  the  Iranian  religion  properly  speak- 
ing, to  the  ancient  naturalist  worship,  and 
not  in  any  way  to  Zoroastrianism. 

What  would  induce  me  to  believe  this 
is,  that  these  coins  do  not  bear  any  trace 
of  the  Ahura  Maz  la  cult,  without  whom 
there  could  be  nothing  Zoroastrian  nor 
Avestic.  The  Indo-Scythic  deities  were, 
therefore,  rather  Iranian  than  Zoroastrian, 
although  there  might  be  a  certain  influence, 
a  certain  mingling  of  Avestic  ideas. 

I  confine  myself  to  these  reflections. 
They  could  be  developed  much  more. 

C.   DE   HaKLEZ. 


BAB  YLONIAN 
THE  PRONUCIATION  OP  THE 

It  has  been  the  custom  among  Assyriologists 
to  transcribe  the  well-known  group  >->|-*"^y 
£^yf  as  Dibbara  or  Lubara,  upon  the 
ground,  apparently,  of  W.  A.  I.  II,  pi. 
25,  1. 13  gh  (=W.  A.  I.,  v.,  p).  '2S,  U\cd\ 
where  we  find    ->f   ^^f   ^-ff  ^   ^<^ 


ETYMOLOGIES. 

DIVINE  NAME    ^>f     ^j^f     g-yy. 

explained  by  JgJ  >y-  J^  Jg[f  >->f-^,  lubar 
(or  dihhar)  niluti  (or  mlliUi).  The  trans- 
lation of  these  phrases  is  by  no  means  cer- 
tain, but  there  is  one  thing  that  is  quite 
clear,  and  that  is,  that  lubar  is  not  given 
as  the  pronunciation  of     *->f-     »-^y     ^Jf 


2U8 


I;ABVLC»MaX  ETVMOLOGlEi!. 


— ii-dew'd,  a  glance  at  the  7th  Une  above, 
where  we  have  the  word  Jiths-iij  "a  garment," 
explained  by  Jgjy  >^>ty  -^Jfl  lubarii,  shows 
conclusively  that  this  canoot  be  the  case,  for 
lubar  is,  naturally,  the  construct  state  of 
labarii,  and  salluti  is  in  the  genitive  after 
it.  The  meaning  of  luhar  salluti  must 
therefore  be  something  like  "  garment  of  pi"o- 
tection,"  "  protecting  dress."  This  being  the 
case,  it  becomes,  of  course,  needful  to  try 
to  find  out  what  the  phonetic  value  of  the 
group  .->y-     *-^y     £^yy     really  is. 

As  is  well  known,  the  common  meaning 
of  the  character  >-^y  is  drdu  or  dhdu,  "ser- 
vant," and  the  dialectic  (Sumerian)  form  of 
the  equivalent  word  is  ^1^  *^TTKT'  ^~''*-  ^^^ 
non-dialectic  form  of  this  eri  should,  ac- 
cording to  the  laws  of  sound-change  in  these 
ancient  tongues,  give  us  the  word  uru^  which 
ought  to  be  the  pronunciation  of  the  char- 
acter '-^y.  For  this  reason,  amongst  others, 
1  wrote  last  year,  in  my  Zusatzhemerkungen 
to  S.  A.Smith's  KeilschrtfttexteAsurbanipals, 
Heft  1.,  p.  110  :  Meines  Erachtens  sind  die 
Zeichen  an-ur-ra  nicht  Liibara,  sondern  ein- 
facli  Urra  odcr  Ura  zu  lesen." 

My  conjecture  is  now  turned  to  certainty 
by  a  fragment  of  a  list  of  gods,  which  gives 
the  very  group  which  has  been  so  strangely 
mistranscribed.  In  this  text  we  find  the 
group  »->y-  »-^y  ^yy?  written  with  the  gloss 
5^  close  to  the  character  *-^y  thus  show- 
ing that  its  pronunciation  was  ir.  This  Ira 
(for  so  we  nnist,  in  this  case,  read  the  group 
^J_  >-^y  ^^yy)  is  probably  either  the  dia- 
lectic form  of  the  name,  or  else  indicates 
that  the  word  was,  in  Akkadian,  to  be  pro- 
nounced lira  (with  modified  u,  as  is  some- 
times found).  With  regard  to  lubaru,  this 
word  has  a  most  interesting  variant,  namely, 


^y,  s'li,  for  ^yy,  ru  in  line  11  ah  of  the 
same  plate  —  a  variation  which  natur 
ally  raises  the  question  A>h-^ther  we  have 
not  here  an  example  of  the  interchange  be- 
tween s  and  r,  which  we  find  in  the  words 
irdudu  for  is-dudu,  martahal  for  inastakaU 
irtanu  for  istanu  (W.  A,  1.  V.  31,  1.  40  efy 
mtirpalu  for  muspalu  (Prof.  Sayce),  and 
probably  other   words. 

Besides  the  simple  Ira  or  Ura,  the  divine 
names  Ira-gal,  Ira-kalkal,  &c.,  are  also 
found. 


-+ 


■HPf- 


-7^- 


This  word,  as  is  well  known  from  W.  A. 
I.  V.  pi.  46,  1.  42,  is  not  to  be  read  Ni- 
batanu,  but  mustabarru  mutanu,  and  trans- 
lated ''  the  foreboder  of  deaths."  Tlie  tablet 
Rn^  2,  38  gives  the  variant  >->f-  4?^^  *^  Tt 
»YY>^  {rnustabarru  mutant),  with  the  geni- 
tive case  after  the  verbal  noun  mustabarru 
(Jf^>:^).  As  -anu  or  -anl  is  only  the  pho- 
netic complement  in  Semitic  Babylonian, 
the  Akkadian  portion  of  the  phrase  is  *->^ 
J5Z  >-<,  which,  if  ever  used  by  the  Akkad- 
ians, in  this  form,  probably  had  the  pronun- 
ciation of  Ni-bada. 

^tgr    ^gt    ^yy,     KIKIDA  or  KIKIDDA. 

The  above  Akkadian  group  seems  to  have 
been  pronounced  kikida.  It  was  taken  into 
Assyrian  under  the  form  ^J^f  .-Qf  jngf. 
►ryyy^:  hkittU,  and  the  oblique  case 
(or  plural)  in  e,  '-jSf  "-Qf  r-<4^T 
>.yr,  (variant  <l|y  ^yyy  <y^  ^kikitte) 
also  occurs.  (W.  A.  I.  V„  47,  Obv.  88 
and  39).  Synonyms  are  nepisu  and  eps-etu, 
"  deed."  It  is  not  unhkely  that  the  original 
form  of  the  word  was  kikkida,  for  kidkkla,  a 
reduplicate  from  the  root  kid. 

Theo.  G,  Pinches. 


A    ROVAL    TITHE. 


>U9 


A   nOYAL  TITHE  OF  NABONIDUS. 


Among  the  iuscriittioiit?  oUtnined  by  Mr. 
Rassani  from  Aboo-Hnbba  i:>  one  of  special 
interest,  which  appears  to  record  the  royal 
titlie  or  dues  presented  by  Nab(jnidus  to  the 
temple  of  the  Sun-god  at  Sippara,  on  his 
accession  to  the  throne  in  B.  C.  556.  The 
earliest  date  in  the  reign  of  Nabonidus  is 
the  18th  day  of  tlic  ,  month  Sivan,  (Stras. 
Nabi).\  No.  1)  the  third  month.  The  tablet 
in  question  is  dated  on  tlie  twenty-sixth 
day,  or  eight  days  later,  and  both  in  the 
accession  year.  The  accession  of  Nabonidug 
must-^  therefore,  have  taken  place  subsequent 
to  I^isun  1st,  B.  C.  556.2  The  tablet  is 
transcribed  by  Dr.  Strassmaier  (Nabn,  I 
No.  ->.) 

Transcription. 

S.M.Si     MA-NA    KHURATSU  ES-RU-U 

SA    SAURI    INA    ABULLI 

SA     E    PAURA    ID-DIN-NU 

ARAKH     SiMANU    YUM  ESRA-SALSI    (kaN) 

SaTTU  RlS    SARRUTl 

D.  P.   Nabu-xaid  sar  Babilu 

Translation^ 
Six  mana  of  gc^ld,  the  tithes 
of  the  king,  in   the  great  gate 
of  E.  Parra,  were  given, 
(in  the)  month  Sivan  26th  day, 
in  the  accession  year  of 
Nabonidus,  king  of   Babylon. 


The  richness  of  this  tithe  offering,  equal  to 
a  large  sum  of  the  present  currency,  leads 
me  to  regard  it  as  the  offering  of  the  king. 
Mr  Pincheshas  already  shewn  {B.  if*  0.  R, 
No.  5,  p.  72, )  that  these  tithe  tlues  were 
paid  by  villages  as  well  as  individuals,  Ijeing 
apparently  regulated  according  to  the  pop- 
ulation. In  another  tablet  (S  +  329j  we  have 
the  record  of  a  tithe  paid  to  the  several  gods 
Sinihu  Mana  hamilti  siJ^H  kaspi  eiru  ia 
Belu  JS'abu  Nergallu  u  Bilat  Uruki:  "Two 
thirds  of  a  mana  five  shekels  of  silver,  the 
tithes  of  Bel,  Nebo,  Nergal,  and  the  Lady 
of  Erech  (Islar)."  Kings  appear  to  liave 
dedicated  fixed  offerings  to  tiie  temples  of 
Babylonia,  as  in  the  case  of  Nabu-npla-iddina 
(B.  C.  850).  In  the  tablet  from  Aiwo- 
Hubba  (JF.  A.  I.  V,  pi.  61.  col.  V,  5-8): 
Ana  D.p.  Sartias  d.p.  At  d.p.  Sernene  ukinu 
akhu  tfiitti  sarruii  sipar  sanqani  ina  tsem 
(lu-nit-mes)  nik  sarrii  sa^at  i-attn  :  '*  to 
Samas,  Ai  and  Sernene  he  appointed  to  each 
aroyal  p  )rtion,  (and)  the  portion  of  the 
priests  of  sheep,  the  victims  of  the  king,  the 
tale  of  the  year."  In  Assyria  also  we  find 
Sennacherib,  after  the  defeat  of  Merodach- 
baladan,  appointing  offerings  to  his  gtnls 
^  {W.  A.  /,  I.  87,  Col.  II,  61):"  Esru  imiru 
(^]^)  kunmni,  esra  imij-u  suluppi  (ka- 
LUM-ma)  resti  su  ana  ilarU  mat  Assuri  belt 
ya  ukin  kakri:  "Ten  omers  of  wine  and 
twenty  omers  of  first  fruits,  to  the  gods  of 
Assyria  my  lords  I  appointed  curiently."^ 
Another  tal)let  recording  tlie  gift  of  gold 
to  the  temple  of  the  Sun-god  is  also  in  the 
collection  (A.  H.  268.  Strass.  Nabn.  No. 
190),  in  which  mention  is  made  of  iJ2^ 
shekels  of  gold   for  the  making   of  chains 


1)  Inschriften  von  Nabonidus,  Konig  von  Babylon.     1887.     Heft  1. 

2)  The  tablet  of  Labasi-Marluk  or  Labasi-Kurdur,  in  the  British  Museum,  is  dated  14 
of  the  m(»nth  Airu  (Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  Arch.,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  8,)  which  reduces  tlie  interval  t;»  the 
short   period  of  thirty  four  days. 

3)  Sec  also  the  passage  ([uoted  by  Mr  Pinches  (Trans.  Soc.  Bib.  Vll,  1^<1 )  which 
records  the  yearly  ottering  to  the  priests  in  the  time  of  Demetrius. 


•210 


Forthcoming  papers   &c. 


lid  tablets  for  the  shrine  of  the  goddess  Ai. 
As  an  example  of  the  payment  of  tithes 
by  private  individuals,  the  following-  may  be 
quoted:  (A.  H.  184,  Stras.  Nabn.  No.  97) 
9|  Mana  2 J"  sikli  kaspi  eira  2)  sa  d.p. 
Musezib-Marduk  (amelu)3)  siprii  sippar(ki) 
ana  4)  d.p.  Bilat  Sippar  (ki)  iddin  5) 
Arakh  airu  yum  VIII  (kam)  6)  Satin  III 
(kam)  Nabu-^midl)  sar  Babilu  (ki).  "Five 


sixth  mana,  2J  shekels  of  silver  the  tithes 
of  Musezib-Marduk  the  scribe  of  Sippara 
for  the  lady  of  Sippar  (Anunitum)  he  has 
given,  month  Airu  8th  day  in  the  8rd  year 
of  Nabonidus  king  of  Babylon." 

In  an  early  number  of  the  Record  I  hope 
to  pubHsh  some  inscriptions  relating  to  Bel- 
shazzar  and  his  household  during  the  reign 
of  Nabonidus. 

W.  St   C.    Boscawen. 


Forthcoming  Papers. — Arthur  Amiaud: 
The  Countries  of  Magan  and  Meluhha; 
E,  Colbome  Baber  :  Assyrian  and  Chinese 
Gates  ;  Prof.  Dr.  S.  Beal  :  Krishna  and  the 
Solar  Myths  ;  Fragments  of  a  life  of  the 
Buddha  {Fu  yao  Khig);  W.  St.  C.  Bos- 
cawen ;  Inscriptions  relating  to  Belshazzar; 
Dr.  L.  C.  Casartelli :  Tmo  discourses  of 
Chosroes  the  Immortal-souled.  II.  Chosroes 
argues  from  the  New  Testament— Pehlevi 
Notes.  III.  The  Semitic  suffix-  man  .nd 
its  origin  ;  Prof.  Dr.  C.  de  Harlez :  A 
Pentaglotte  Nomenclature  of  Buddhist 
Terms  :  Dr  Arthur  Helbig  :  On  Babylonian 
and  Assyrian  Music;  Joseph  Jacobs  :  The 
Nethinim,  a  Biblical  Study :  Prof.  N.  Kon- 
dakoff  :  New  Archaeological  Discoveries  at 
Tashkent ;  Prof.  Dr.  T.  de  Lacouperie  : 
Tattooing;  Shifted  Cardinal  Points  in  Baby- 


lonia and  China;  Remarks  on  the  early 
Babylonian  writing:  Prof.  Dr.  J.  Oppert  : 
A  Juridic  Cuneiform  Text;  W.  M.  Flinders 
Petrie  :  A  Royal  Egyptian  Cyhnder  with 
figures  ;  Egyptian  Funereal  cones  and  their 
classification  —  Ethnological  photographs 
from  Egypt— Rock  inscription  in  Upper 
Egypt  :  Theo.  G.  Pinches  :  Sumer  and  Ak- 
kad  :  A  Babylonian  dower  Contract;  Prof. 
E.  Revillout:  The  Babylonian  Istar  Taribi; 
A  Contract  of  xVpprenticeship  from  Sippara  ; 
Prof.  E.  Revillout  and  Dr.  V.  Revillout  : 
Sworn  Obligations  in  Babylonian  Law  ; 
Prof.  Dr.  A.  H.  Sayce  :  Was  Jareb  the 
Original  Name  of  Sargon  ?  Dr.  H.  G.  Tom- 
kins  :  Geography  of  Northern  Syria  viewed 
from  the  Assj'rian  side  ;  T.  Tyler :  On  the 
Hittite  Inscription  of  the  Yuzgat  Seal. 


In  our  last  issue  the  two  following  misprints  must  be  corrected  : 

P.  188,  col.  a,  1.  19  :  for  /^  read  1=  p.    189,  col.  a,  1.  7:  for    A    read  \. 

*^*  A  title-page  and  table  of  contents  of  vol.  1  will  be  issued  with  next  number. 

END  OF  VOLUME  FIRST. 


.  r 


PJ 

3 

B25 

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