Feb. 4] PROCEEDINGS. [1890.Line 14, Star No.XI.
tB *J. + Mf ¥ <T- -tyu TC 4 "gTT
Kakkab Gis-bar namru sa pan Bel - me - khi - ra
The-StarWood-of-lightthe shiningwhichbeforeBel-the-Confronter(is)." Bel-the-Confronter" is Ursa Major Prof. Sayce recently
suppliedme with the reading, " The fire of light which(is) before
Bel the voice of the firmament " (mbsdrra) ; but I do not think that
any part of the line, exceptthe name of the Star, is in Akkadian.
Mr. Benin reads, " Which before Bel is going in front " ; and
rendersthe line, " Theshining discwhichgoesbeforeBel,"remark
ing that the group t| »f- " is a kind of weapon, or disc, whichwas
thrown at the enemy." In a Hymn to Merddax the god Anu is
madeto exclaim :—
" In my right handthe god who binds the hostsof the firmament
I bear.
The Sun-god of fifty faces, the falchion whichproclaimsme as
AnuI bear."t
Thesun is the original disk hurledat darkness by the heaven-
power,andherethe solar diskis reduplicated in a stellar disk,which,
beingnext on the list and oppositethe GreatBear, thereis no
difficulty in identifying with the upper part of the Sickle, in Leo,
the stars of which forman excellent circle, whilethe whole of it
exactlyrepresents in form the " sickle-shaped sword" of Merodax-
Perseus.J TheSickleformsthe 10th Arabianmoon-station. What
the actual nameof this Starwas, is very doubtful: for Gisbar is
merely,liketf ^TTEf ^, Gis-dhu-bar, a phonetic reading,andthe
name maybe written ideographically. At one time Prof. Sayce
thoughtthe Akkadian pronunciationof c| ^TTEf »f- was Kibir-ra ; §
fc[ is the determinative prefix for 'tree' and 'wood,'and >{-, as
Mr. Boscawen has pointed out, || "appears to contain the elements of
the primitive fire-stick." TheAkkadianFire-god, likethe Vedic
Agni,is doubtless the Son of the Two Sticks.
- Vide R. B., Jr., On Euphratean Namesof the Constellation UrsaMajor
(Proceedings,March,1887).
t W.A.I. II, 19, No. 2, Rev., lines8, 10, ap. Sayce.
% Vide sup.,p. 184. § Vide sup.,p. 189.
|| Transactions, VI, p. 275.
191