Feb.4] SOCIETYOF BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY. [1890.gd'r-by\tny, 'bent,' etc., etc. Gam, therefore, "the weapon of
Merodax,"is that whichis 'round,' 'bent,'or 'curved,' namely,the
saparu,"sickle-shaped sword,"or scimitar alreadyreferredto, and
one of his principal weapons against the Dragon.* In line 26,
StarNo. XXII,is similarly describedas mul-mul-Ia kakkusa kati
D.P. Maruduk. Talbot rendered mulmulla, ' falchion.'\ The
ideograph is star + star + the phonetic prolongation(la) ; as mul
means'star'and 'brightness,'mulmulla= " the very brightone."
Thesolar diskwith its arrowy rays,J lightnings, and starsare all
weaponsof Merodax againstdarknessandchaos.
In line 49 we have the important informationthatthe Ram is
saku- sa - risi kakkabi Gam
The-uppermost-part qf-the-Star of -the- Scimitar;
fromwhichI conclude thatthe constellation of the Scimitar ex
tended from Okda% to Hamal ("theRam," a Arietis), the Star
*T|, alsocalled Kakkab A-nuvkakkabLu-lim,\"theStarof An u
(i.e.,)the Ram." Thecurvedbladeof the Scimitar would consist
of a, /3, and 7 Arietis, andwouldappearin heaven justoverthe
headof Cetus, the Tiamat-monster, andnextto Perseus, the analogue
of Merodax, if not actually Merodaxhimself."J We observe further
thattwo lists of asterisms, solarand lunar, are evidently familiarto
the scribe, who,in his notes on the archaic Akkadian lunarlist,is- I shall not here discusswhatthe saparu represented. As to the weapons of
Merodax,videthe Hymn W.A.I.II, 19, No. 2. Translated by Prof. Saycein
Set.And.Babylonians,p. 480, et seq.
t The FightbetweenBel and the Dragon, in Transactions, V, p. 15. It is
alsotranslated"theshaft(of the sword)" (Smithand Sayce, ChaldeanAccount
of Genesis, p. ill).
t Cf. Macrohius, Saturnalia,I, 17 : " Sagittarum autem nomine non nisi
radiorumiactusostenditur."
§ Vide sup.,p. 180.
|| W.A.I. III,53. No. I, Rev., line 30.
T As to the Oriental originand character of the Family-group of Constellations
{Cepheus, Cassiopeia,Andromeda,andPerseus),videR. B., Jr., TheUnicorn,
sec. vii ; Eridanus, p. 69 ; The Heavenly Display,p. 90 ; Tumpel, Die Aithieprn-
liinderdes Atutromedamythos ; Gruppe, Der phoinikische Urtextder Kassiepeia-
Ugendt, Perseusis also specially representedbothin literature and art, as using
this same particularweapon,the khcrcb,harpl," portentous sickle,"or scimitar.
184