Mayi] PROCEEDINGS. [1894.
earthin the religious sphere is also donein heaven. Earthlyrites
and ceremonies were,as the Apostolic writerexpressesit, " copies of
thingsin the heavens " (Heb. ix, 23). Otherwise,I suppose, they
wouldhavehad no validity or efficacy in the opinionof those who
performedthem.
- Tammuz, theSwineGod.
I pass to another topic. In the Fourth of his Hibbert Lectures,
whichare as rich in varied learning and fruitful suggestionas they
are remarkable for numerous and extraordinary inaccuracies of
translation, Prof. Saycewrites of Tammuz: "Thisis how an old
Accadianhymnspeaksof him (W.A.I.IV, 27, No. 1) :—
' O Tammuz, shepherdandlord,bridegroomof Istar the lady of
heaven,
lordof Hades, lordof the shepherd's cot,
the green cornwhichis in the meadow has not drunk the water,
its progeny in the desert is not green of leaf ;
the acacia (?) tree whichin the canal is planted not,
the acacia (?) tree whosefoundationis taken away;
the grain whichin the meadow has not drunk the water.'"
This is not very lucid. How could " green " corn have a
" progeny in the desert," or any where else,''green" or not " green
of leaf?" An acacia would surely never be planted in a canal.
Foundationsagain suggest buildings rather than trees; and one
wouldexpectto find grassrather thangrainin meadows. " The
poemis written in the artificial dialectwhichsprungup in the court
of Sargon," addsthe Oxford Professorof Assyriology. Perhaps this
fact,if fact it be, accounts for the peculiarities of the Professor's
EnglishTargum. However,let us refer to the original text,as one
is morally boundto do in such casesof doubt. It may be tran
scribedas follows :—
Sibbain Dumuzi | mutanna shinanna
UmunArali | umun Du-sibba
Gishshiniggamusar| a nu nagd-mu
Suguridinna| pa nu siggd-mu
Gisha-amsunnaba | nu sugga-mu
Gisha-amurraba | absirrd-mu
Gu musarra [ a nu nagd-mu
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