Origin and Early History. 9 



and the Sun, c. ; in later works, to Brahma, Vishnu, 

 Siva, and Kama; it denotes te the leader of the flock," 

 a " he-goat," or " ram," and from the numerous com- 

 pounds of aja which occur in Indian writings goats must 

 have been well known. In Indian mythology the goat 

 forms a conspicuous figure. Now it represents the sun 

 veiled by clouds of grotesque and demoniacal form ; now 

 the grey-white and golden sky of the morning, or the 

 golden and grey-white sky of evening; and now the 

 moon. (Gubernatis, " Zoological Mythology," i., p. 401.) 

 In the " Khordah-Avesta " (" little Avesta'" or " texts ") 

 of the old Iranians we find Veretraghna (Indras) " with 

 the body of a warrior he-goat, handsome, and with sharp- 

 ened horns." (Avesta, Spiegel, and Bleeck, " Khordah- 

 Avesta," p. 1 06.) 



That many, if not most, of the tales of European 

 mythology originated in the East is a well -ascertained 

 fact ; the Aryan migrations westerly spread their ideas, 

 and though the fables vary considerably in some of their 

 details, yet it is clear whence the earliest forms were 

 borrowed. 



The goat was known to, and held in high estimation by, 

 the ancient Jews of Palestine, who used several Hebrew 

 words to describe this animal at various ages. Thus ez, 

 from dzaz, " to become strong," generally signifies a " she- 

 goat " ; gedi, " a kid " from one to nearly three years 

 old ; a kid just yeaned was called gdddh, i.e., " cast out " 

 of the body. ' Attud is a " he-goat," from a root meaning 

 " to make ready," " prepare," from the idea of the goat 

 taking the lead of the flock. Compare what was said 

 above of the Sanskrit aja; and see Jer. 1. 8, " Remove 

 out of the midst of Babylon ..... and be as the he 

 goats before the flocks." The names tsdphir and sa'ir 

 mean " hairy," hence used of a goat, especially of a he- 

 goat. One other word occurs here and there, namely, 



