Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology

Feb.4] SOCIETYOF BIBLICAL ARCH.FOLOGY. [if 90.

Thenfollowsthe Artemis-legend, andthe poet continues:—

" And so 'tis said that, whenthe Scorpion comes,

Oriiinflies to utmost end of earth."

Andwhenthe Boiv-stars, whichare next to Girtab-Lesath, appear:—

" Then, too, the glitterings of the mighty Dog

Set, and descends Orion'swholeextent."*

The"mightyDog"is, of course, Kaksidi-Sirius,and"theStar

of the Dog," the Kalbu Samas(" Dog-of-the-Sun"), the fiery Dog,

the Kuon Seirios,t the Homeric kiV 'Qpiavoi, appears amongst

Euphrateanconstellations.J

Line33, Star No.XXVII.

tB ffif x "f fiL mi I -4- ^ 1T-

Kakkab Ur-bat D.P. Ku - su | D.P. Kur-gal

Tlie-StarBeast-of-dcath,the god Kush, \ god of-the Great-Country

TheStarUrbatappearsnextto the Star Girlab,but in an outer
circleon the planisphere S. 162, abovereferredto; thatis to say,
the Beast-of-deathlies south of the Scorpion, and so we shall findit.
Thus,Aratossaysof the solar Centaur,a reduplication of Sagittarius,
thatit
underliestwo Signs ;
Its human pastbeneaththe Scorpion rests,
The hinder-horse-part is below the Claws.
But his right handhe ever seemsto stretch
Beforethe Altar's circle.§ The hand grasps
Anothercreatureveryfirmlyclutched,
The Wild-beastj so the men of old it named." ||
ThisTherionbecomesspecializedas Lupus ; the Wolf, a familiar
mythological type of Darkness as the devourer and swallower, is
calledin Akkadian Likbiku("Greedy-dog"),and in Assyrian, Akiluv
(" the Devourer "). Theregentdivinityof this creature of night and
deathIT is Kusu ('Sunset,' 'Eclipse'),an Akkadian godof sunset
andnight,and a god of the Underworld or "Great Country."

• Phainomena, 634-6,645-6,676-7. t Aischylos, Agamemnin,9(7.
  J As to the Dog, videR. B., Jr., Eridanus, Sec.iv ; The Heavenly Display,
  p. 78.
  § A reduplication of the original zodiacalAltar,now Libra(videsup. , p. 19S. )
  || Phainomena, 436-42.
  T Cf. the Norse demon-wolfFeurir(" the-Dweller-in-the-depth").
  202