Jan. 14] SOCIETYOF BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY. [189a
Line 38, Star No. XXX.
Ma-{^rar} Kakkab Muna-Xa
Makhar, (i.e.) the Star of -the- He-goat-fish.
< Hf- IW T- s=E
ft D.P. Ur - me - turn
The-god Nebd and the-god Urmetum.
The male Goat-fishis of course Capricornus,who appears on the
monumentsmuch as in a modern almanac,*the ideograph (the
readingof which is not quite certain)showinggoat + fish + tail; and
thereforenextto the Goat-fish comes"theStar of the Foundation."
Thisaffordsa striking illustrationthat we have beforeus a lunar
circle,for a solar circlewould beginwith the Ram, or (earlier) the
Bull; and the Pleiades, for many reasons,wouldexcellentlyanswer
suchan appellation as "the Foundation Stars."f But, whilstthe
" Star of the Foundation " being placedfirst is strongly suggestiveof
an orderly, as opposed to a hap-hazard arrangement,on this theory
we are necessarily precludedfromidentifyingit with the Pleiades.
Onestar would be the ' Foundation,'- or first star, in a solar scheme
and another in a lunar scheme; and the term ' foundation' may be
usedin various senses. Thus Ur (Jzi^yj), the horizon, was also
"thegod of the Foundation," % the nadir. Mr. Pinches prefersto
translateApin by 'channel,' but Messrs. Sayce,Bertin,and Budge
read 'foundation.' Mr. Bertin, in accordance with his linguistic
views,would renderthe star-name by the Semitic equivalentUssu.
In VV.A.I. Ill, 53, No. 1, 1. 2, we read (ap. Sayce) :—"Thestar Apin
portendsa gate to be begun," whichremindsus of Tablet K. 2894,
- Vide RobertBrown,Jun.,The HeavenlyDisplay,Fig.58.
t This is well illustratedby the Indian Nakshatrasor lunarmansions,the order
of which has been changedseveraltimesandin different ways. "Oneancient
orderof the asterisms" commenceswithKrittikd,the Pleiades, "preciselyas we find
it among the Chinese" (Weber,Historyof IndianLiterature,247). The second
asterismis Rohini(" the Red-one," "a red cow ") = Aldebaran (" the Follower,"
of the Pleiades). The namesof the twenty-eight Pahlavilunarmansionsare given
in corrupt PSzandformsin the Bumlahis, cap.ii, the first of them beingPadhar,
whichcorrespondswiththe Indian Aivini,and the Arabian El Sheralain("The
TwoSigns"), and consists of a and ft Arietis, a solar commencement.
J Sayce, Rtl.Anct.Babylonians, 1 18, 249.
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