i9o8.] FOR PLANET IN BABYLONIAN. 153 



in contradistinction to the other planets to whom generally a single 

 dominant trait is given. Intelligence, thought, feeling, eloquence, 

 artistic spirit are all associated with Mercury,^^ which thus be- 

 comes, as it were, the " soul " among the planets and it will not 

 seem far-fetched to see in the fancy which makes Mercury the 

 planet of revelation and of language^" a trace of primitive views 

 regarding the seat of vitality. In accord with this, we actually 

 find Mercury assigned to the liver^® as the organ of revelation, 

 though in deference to later views of the liver as the seat of the 

 affections specifically — and not of all intellectual life and of all 

 emotions — Venus is sometimes identified with this organ. ^^ To be 

 sure, such associations of ideas have not as yet been encountered 

 in Babylonian texts and therefore a certain reserve is called for. 

 On the other hand, the dependence of Greek astrology on Babylonian 

 conceptions, fancies and prototypes is so evident at every turn**' 

 that we are justified in assuming a large measure of identity between 

 the two systems of divination, just as, on the other hand, modern 

 astrology is full of conceits and notions that can be paralleled in 

 ancient Greece, India and Persia. 



Another factor that may have led to assigning to Mercury a 

 specially prominent place among the planets for purposes of divi- 

 nation is the circumstance that by virtue of its close position to the 

 sun and its small size, it makes its circuit in the short space of twelve 

 weeks and four days, or 87.97 solar days. Hence, since the basis of 

 divination in the case of the planets is largely bound up with their 

 relative position to the sun — upper conjunction, ascent, culmination, 

 standstill, descent, lower conjunction*^ — [Mercury would present a 

 far larger proportion of changes in any given time than any other 

 planet. In the case of frequent observations, Mercury would thus 

 play a more prominent part than the other planets whose movements 

 except for periods of some duration would furnish less of moment 



'" Bouche-Leclercq, p. loi ; Bennett, p. 99. 

 ^ Bouche-Leclercq, pp. 312, 321, 323. 

 ^ Ibid., p. 312 and 2^:^. 

 '"Ibid., p. 321. 



*° See Bouche-Leclercq's summary, pp. 70-71. 



*^ See the valuable discussion in Kugler, /'. c, p. 20 f., of the Babylonian 

 equivalents for those terms. 



