10 PROCEEDIXGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 0!) 



4. Gilgamesh is holding the bull by the hind legs and his right foot on the 



head of the bull, while Enkidu is engaging the lion. In the field, two 

 small figures in antipodal position ; four dots — the four winds or four 

 points of the compass (?) — ; a crook placed on a tiny dog (the animal 

 of the goddess Gula or Bau), and between Enkidu and the lion, a fish 

 (which may be connected with Nina, a fish goddess, or with Nineveh, 

 in Assyrian, Ninua, the fish city). The original of chalcedony is owned 

 by Mrs. Talcott Williams. (Cat. No. 31126.3, U.S.N.M.) 



5. Contest with monsters. In the main the scene represents a single hero (man 



or deity) fighting a single animal. The second animal is loosely related 

 to the composition. The original of chalcedony from Bagdad, Meso- 

 potamia, is owned by Prof. H. Hyvernat. (Cat. No. 300593, U.S.N.M. 



Plate 3 



1. Marduk fighting Tiamut, the personification of chaos and disorder. Tiamat 



is here represented as a long serpent with horned head. (See above, 

 p. 7, and note 12.) The god thrusts at the serpent's mouth with a lance 

 or scimitar weapon. There is a kneeling worshipper, perhaps the owner 

 of the seal, and probably an attendant deity or priest. In the field, 

 crescent, the symbol of Sin, the moon god ; rhomb or oval, which is per- 

 haps a conventionalizing of the eye, so frequent in Egyptian symbolism," 

 seven dots (one missing), which are interpreted to stand for the seven 

 Igigi, the spirits of heaven, or the pleiades (sun, moon, and the five 

 plane's), and two small trees — to fill out space. This seal has had quite a 

 history. The original, probably of serpentine, was bought by the Rev. 

 W. Frederick Williams from an Arab who had come over the river from 

 Layard's diggings near Mosul in 1857. It passed into the hands of Prof. 

 Frederick Wells Williams, from him to Dr. William Hays Ward, and then 

 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. (Cat. 15S319, U.S.N.M.) 



2. Tiamat is here represented as human-headed, winged sphinx with body of a 



lion, on the left side as a male sphinx, on the right as a female sphinx. 

 The doubling is for the sake of symmetry. In the field, a star, the emblem 

 of Ishtar, the goddess of fertility. The original is unknown. (Cat. No. 

 16S976, A, U.S.N.M. 



3. Marduk with bow, quiver, and ax attacks Tiamat, represented with head 



and forelegs of a lion, hind legs of an eagle, l)ody covered with feathers, 

 wings and short tail. The god stands upon another smaller dragon with 

 scorpion tail, crouching, and shoots his three-pronged arrow of lightning 

 at the monster. In the field, the winged disk of the god Ashur, the 

 •crescent of Sin, the moon god, and the star of Ishtar. Below, a fish, two 

 rhombs (for which see No. 1), and a palmette (the sacred tree). The 

 original of greenish serpentine is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 

 New York. (Cat. No. 130285, U.S.N.M.) 



4. Marduk attacking Tiamut with the scimitar. Behind is the tree of life 



surmounted by the winged disk of Ashur. In the field on the right, above, 

 lamp, symbol of Nusku, the fire god, below, the rhomb. The original of 

 chalcedony is owned by Prof. H. Hyvernat. (Cat. No. 300605, U.S.N.M.) 



5. Marduk with bow and sword pursuing Tiamat. represented as winged dragon 



with horned head, forelegs of a lion and hind legs of an eagle. Two 

 worshippers, one kneeling under the winged disk of Ashur. In the field, 

 seven dots (see pi. 3, no. 1), and the rhomb. Original of chalcedony is in 

 the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. (Cat. No. 130287, U.S.N.M.) 



"Compare Ward, The Seal Cylinders of Western Asia, p. 410. 



