ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS. 



163 



South Kensington. On the sash, which goes across the 

 chest of this statue, there are the head and horns of an 

 antelope (fig. 85). Whether Buddha was in the habit 

 of wearing the horn-charm, or whether it was the fancy 

 of the sculptor, I do not know. To put such a badge 



Fig. 85.— From torso of Buddha, 

 3 cell. B.C. Indian Museum, 

 South Kensington. Badge on 

 sasli across chest. 



Fig. 86. — Genesis of the trident. 

 (a) The tree and horns ; {/>} its 

 degraded symbol. 



on such a saint, however, would seem to mean that in 

 those days horns must have been considered of the 

 highest importance for human welfare. 



The ' fourche ' or bident, whether plain or zigzag, is 

 i/ie important symbol, meaning a pair of horns. The 

 middle prong of the trident is a stick — a degraded 

 tree. In fig. 86 I have endeavoured to indicate what 

 I think was the genesis of the trident. The middle 

 prong should not be wavy, but straight, as in fig. '^6b. 

 Its waviness, when it occurs, is only an artistic assimi- 

 lation, and the donblencss of the trident, to make a thunder- 



