Feb.4] PROCEEDINGS. [1890.
- Nuukhkhutu. Acutelyconnectedby Mr. Bertin witha root
whichappearsin Heb. as TTTti, "to lead back."*
Udie. Mr. Bertin thinksthis word mightbe a Pael formof idu,
"to know," usedas passive, andthereforemeaning"is known." In
his translation of the B.M. TabletSp. 41, Mr. Pinches rendersu-di-e,
' furniture,' the passage being" The tablet of his sonship we wrote
and 2 niana 10 shekels of silver and the furniture (u-di-e)of a house,
the dowry of Nubta, my daughter, we made known."f He remarks
on the word, " Ode, ' furniture' (the meaning is implied by the
context). Perhapsconnectedwiththe Heb. TTT." Now!T1\"to
cast,"appears to mean "to showor point out with the extended
hand,"and the Pael formof a connected Assyrianverbmightmean
"is shown." Nor are we, I think, obligedby the Sp. 41, to under
standu-di-eas meaning 'furniture.' Theaccountrelatesto litigation,
and we find that "thetablets andcontractsthe judges discussed";
and u-di-e seems to mean the ' evidences,' " documents of title "
(tabletsandcontracts),i.e., that whichshows(to whom the property
belongs). I do not understand whatis meant by " the furniture of
a house we made known." In line 14 we read, "bymy tablet made
(it) known"; it was the documentary evidencewhichmade known
the facts. - ►»f- 2^ «f-. In Ak. an ki an, i.e., "the (sun)-godwith
the (moon)-god." In W.A.I. Ill,61, 2, after the insertion of the
threelines54-6,as mentioned, the next line reads,"TheMoonits
pathdirects,andthe Sun duringthe day goes "; so that the Sun and
Moonand their respectivepathsare the matters in question.
Thegeneralsenseof lines 54-56is :—Observations madeduring
threeparticularmonths: the moon completesits course "thereand
back" throughthe various moon-stations. On the 15th days of
thesemonths,sun andmoonwerenot seen together: on the 30th
daystheywereso seen.
An Assyrian Cylinderof great interest,figuredin the Chaldean
Accountof Genesis, p. 112, exactlyillustrates this circling lunar
course. At each end,i.e., in east and west, is a Palm-tree, represen
tativeof the Grove of the Underworld, eastern andwestern, and
reduplicated in the Homeric u\<reaYiepae&veliis.X Next to the
easternPalm-tree,on the back of a Leopard, which,as it could be
* Cf. Job xii, 23. T Transactions, VIII,p. 284.
J Od., X, 509 ; vide R. B., Jr., The Mythof Kirk!,p. 106-7.
205 Q 2