Feb.4] SOCIETYOF BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY. [1890.gamlu,' benefit,'and stcru, ' kindness.' TheRev.WilliamHoughton,
in his admirable Paper, The Birds of the Assyrian Monumentsand
Records,afternoticingthatGam-gamis an Akkadian nameof the
Ostrich,and that gam " is in the syllabaries compared withgi-mil-lu
('torecompense')andsikru,a 'reward,'" observes,"Itis not easy
to see the exact meaningof this expression as applied to the Ostrich."
Theexpression,as we shall see,doesnot apply to it at all ; but an
Assyriannamefor the Ostrich is ia-ka-tuv, which" maybe compared
with the Arabic saka', ' abiit, declivavit, deflexita vi& recta,' and
mayalludeto the well-known habitof these birdsalwaysrunningin
circleswhenhunted."*
Mr. Pinches, who at times has kindly assisted me in these
investigations,wrote," Perhaps it would be better to read gam,which
is translated in Assyrian by Sikru, and referit to ' the weapon,' as
'thedrinker'(of blood.";| Thisis ingenious, but, I think, on the
wrongtrack. Theweapongam,whateverit may be, is not regarded
as a ' blood-drinker,' but is so valuable that it has come to be
equivalentto 'benefit' in a general sense.
Mr. Bertin readsJ^E^t^in this passage as the Assyrian
gamlu,or Sikru, andwhicheverof these is the correct reading, he
regardsas meaning ' ostrich.' Accordingto him, therefore,the right
translationis " the Star of the Ostrich." To this it may be objected
that: (1) Not gam,but gam-gam (i.e.,intensive—the Gam)J is the
name of the Ostrich, (2) The Ostrich doesnot appear on the
monuments as a star or constellation. (3) It is impossible to
understandhowthe Ostrich couldbe Merodax's weapon; on the
contrary,we find the god engaged in contest withthisbird. Thus,
a god, presumably Merodax,because armed with the saparu, or
sickle-shaped sword, which "is always represented, both in the
sculpturesandinscriptions,as a weapon of Bel Merodach,"§ in the
waragainstthe dragon Tiamat, grasps a large Ostrich, which is
evidentlycryingout,by the neck, and apparentlyis about to slay
it. || The same divinity, four-winged in each instance, is repre
sentedas standing between twogreat Ostriches,eachof which he
* Transactions, VIII,p. 101.
t He appears to connect iikrtt,withthe Heb. shothoh,'drink.'
X Cf. the Heb. peace+ peace= " perfect peace."
§ Smith and Sayce, ChaldeanAccountof Genesis,p. 109.
|| Lajard, Culted< Mithra, PI. LI, Fig. 8.
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