A New Boundary Stone of Nebuchadrezzar I from Nippur with a Concordance of Proper Names and a Glossary of the Kudurru Inscriptions thus far Published - Ancient Near East: Classic Studies

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1907 Excerpt: ...fig. 12', p. 30; fig. 13s, p. 34. 'See fig. 49", p. 131. s See fig. 6", p. 17; fig. 11", p. 28. 4 See fig. 24', p. 86; fig. 2", p. 6. Cf. also the chart given by Hommel at the end of his Aujsdtze und Abhondlungen III, 1. Redlich, Der Drache zu Babel in the Globus, Voi. 84 (1903), Nos. 23,24. The identifications of Redlich are as follows: (1) Spearhead of Marduk--Pleiades, (2) Twin lion heads--Orion, (3) Sitting dog--Prokyon, (4) Serpent--Hydra, (5) Bird on nerM. R---We may summarize the results of our investigation as follows: (1) The symbols on the Babylonian boundary stones represent Fig. 45.--Northern hemisphere showing the ecliptic and the equatorial circles at, 1000 B. C. primarily certain deities, as is now definitely known from Susa I, XIV and XIX. The deities thus symbolically represented are independent of the deities enumerated in the texts. The two series never agree. The symbols represent the deities either by their shrines, their weapons, their sacred animals or in human form. (2) Babylonian deities being also stellar in their nature, the symbols represent by implication certain constellations. Some signs of the zodiac are represented, but not the zodiac itself, for there is no order such as we expect if the zodiac as such were represented.1 (3) There being more than forty symbols, other constellations besides the zodiac are included. These are most likely the planets and the constellations of the dodekaoros. Here again there is no representation of the full series, but, as in the case of the zodiacal signs, only a selection is made. The problems in connection with these symbols which still await future solution are: (1) The compete identification of all the symbols with the gods they represent. (2) The identification of the...