FISH IDENTIFIED 377 



" 3. The senu, in Greek o-aVSaXoy, in Latin solea, in English 

 ' sole.' ^enu means ' sandal ' in Babylonian. 



" 4. Stiihu, or ' fox fish,' perhaps so-called from its slyness ; 

 probably Alopecias vulpcs. 



"5. The kalbu, ' dog-fish,' said to be the Greek KapxapCa^ kvW. 



" 6. The piazu, ' pig-fish,' Galeus canis, ' sea sow.' 



" 7. The puhadu, ' lamb fish,' perhaps Pclecus culiratus. 



"8. The balgu, a fish well known in all periods, and said to be the 

 same as the widely spread Mongolian balyq, the ordinary word for 

 fish in Turkish ; in some parts the sword fish, in others the ' bull 

 head.' 



" 9. The qarshu, probably the ' shark,' or a fish of prey of the 

 Persian Gulf. 



" 10. The gallabu, ' barber,' not yet identified, 



" II. The siniunu, ' swallow fish,' by some identified with the 

 ' flying fish.' 



" 12. The zingur, supposed to be the ' sturgeon.' " 



Other fish names, especially Sumerian, remained unidentified 

 till (in May, 191 8), Langdon translated the only hymn (yet 

 published) to Nina, the Fish Goddess, and spouse of Tammuz. 

 Among its twelve fish we get the ' electric fish ' (query the vupKn), 

 the ' nun fish,' the ' fire fish of the sea,' and the ' swallow fish.' 

 The touching lines bewailing the death of Tammuz are, alas ! 

 imperfect. 1 



Fish abounded in the Two Rivers. Euphrates fish were so 

 plentiful that they could be caught simply in one's hand, 

 apparently without any " tickling." 2 The coast folk could 

 not cope with their catches. 3 Wicker traps, automatically 

 opened and shut by the tides, yielded their " harvest of ocean." 



Sluice gates were far commoner in Assyria than in Palestine. 

 The numerous rivers, and scientific system of irrigation which 

 from earliest ages threaded Sumeria and later on Western 

 Assyria, account for the frequency. 



According to Sir W. Willcocks, " The granary of the ancient 



^ Proc. of Soc. of Biblical Archcsology (London, May, 1918), p. 83. 



* Lewysohn's (Zool. d. Talmud, 248, as quoted by Keller, op. cit., p. 330) 

 " Euphrat heisst etymologisch der fischreiche " is far from generally accepted. 

 The river in Babylonian is Purattu, pronounced by the Persians Ufratus, 

 which became when borrowed by the Greeks, Euphrates. So far from meaning 

 rich in fish, Langdon traces the name to the Sumerian buranna, burnuna, 

 meaning great basin. 



3 Diod. Sic, HI. 22. 



