592 



NATURE 



{April If), 1888 



"war in active operation." In the third combination 

 the change in both the symbols is to be noted. That at 

 the top may refer to a custom of enwreathing or adorning 

 the arms of warriors to denote success in war, and to 

 celebrate victory ; and the change in the shadoof cor- 

 responds therewith. In (i) the vertical bar is doubled, and 

 two short horizontal bars are added beneath ; in (2) we 

 may take it that the same end is attained by lengthening 

 the vertical bar, while, as before, the two short horizontal 

 bars are added, and the ornamentation of the spear is 

 lengthened. This third combination manifestly marks 

 the climax ; but it can only indicate this, if, in accordance 

 with what I have already said, the inscriptions are to be 

 read " with the faces." And very important additional 

 evidence is also furnished by these groups as to the 

 ideographic character of the inscriptions. 



That a comparatively primitive people, employing the 

 shadoof, the plough, and the threshing-sledge, should 

 use figures of these instruments to represent ideas more 

 or less abstract can scarcely excite surprise. Probably, 

 too, a paucity of symbols might lead to those employed 

 being used to denote a plurality of somewhat diverse 

 significations. 



A symbol, with regard to the meaning of which the 

 evidence is especially clear, is the symbol of deity or 

 divinity on the Jerablus monuments. This symbol con- 

 sists of a straight stroke and a crescent, denoting in all 

 probability Asherah, " the straight," and the goddess 



Fig. Q. — The symbol of deity, with various figures on Jerablus monuments. 



Ashtoreth. Such a combination would accord with the 

 close relation between Asherah and Ashtoreth in the Old 

 Testament.^ But, whether this explanation is admitted 

 or not, that the symbol denotes deity or sacredness can 

 scarcely admit of question. In the first place the symbol 

 occurs invariably at the top of the line on the J erablus 

 monuments. This fact is itself significant. Then, three 

 times on the " doorway inscription " what are evidently 

 hands, though somewhat conventionalized, are held up 

 towards the symbol in worship, as with the palm upward 

 (i), according to the widely-spread custom, and also, as it 

 would seem, in giving thanks (Fig. T). The symbol is to 

 be seen also above a sacred tree (3), and above a rudely- 

 shaped idol (2), from a fragment found at Jerablus. This 

 idol may have been a lusus fiaturce, presenting a distant 

 resemblance to the human face, and but slightly modified 

 by art. And on the rounded pillar from Jerablus, which 

 bears the most modern, comparatively, of the three con- 

 siderable inscriptions obtained from this site, we find the 

 same symbol over very curious figures which, as it seems 

 to me, were intended to represent spiritual beings or dis- 

 embodied souls (4). They are insubstantial tlbuKa, mere 

 masks as it would appear, and with tail-like prolonga- 



^ Asherah was probably a phallic symbol. This accords with the view 

 of Movers (" Die Phonizier," vol. i. p. 560 sgg.), and with that of the 

 Rabbins (cf. I. Kings xv. 13, and the commentaries thereon). 



tions instead of bodies. They are horned, however, and 

 the horn was a sign of dignity and power. On the whole, 

 the evidence of the value of the straight stroke and 

 crescent is, in my judgment, entirely conclusive. I ought 

 to add that this symbol is not found on the inscriptions 

 from Hamath ; and thus in all probability is indicated a 

 difference of religious cult.^ 



An interesting question presents itself as to whether 

 the names of Hamath and Carchemish can be detected 

 on the inscriptions. In reply it may be stated that the 

 name or symbol of the ancient city on the site of Jerabliis 

 may be pointed out with a good deal of confidence. 



Fig. R — Name of ancient city on Jerablus monument. 



The oval symbol, which appears at the top in Fig. R, in 

 its origin was intended, no doubt, as a plan of a city. A 

 similar oval form, both of the military camp and of the 

 city (Layard's " Monuments of Nineveh," pi. yj), is to be 

 seen depicted on the Assyrian monuments. And, with 

 regard to the Hittite symbol, it is also worthy of note that 

 not only on the Egyptian monuments is there an analo- 

 gous circular symbol of " city " or '' place," but that a similar 

 symbol, with the like meaning, was found in Mexico, both 

 of circular form, and, as it would seem, also oval. For 

 the latter see Brasseur de Bourgbourg, "Etudes sur le 

 Syst&me graphique et la Langue des Mayas," Paris, 1869, 

 vol. i. p. 1 50. From the Assyrian monuments it appears 

 that fortresses were not uncommonly of angular and 

 quadrilateral form. I therefore take the lozenge-shaped 

 figure to denote the idea of " fortress." Like the " city " 

 symbol it has what we may regard as a road or street 

 crossing it ; and it has markings indicating, in all prob- 

 ability, gates, at the other corners. Then, as to the eagle, 

 a question of great interest, if of some difficulty, presents 

 itself. The ancient city on the site of Jerablus we have 

 identified with Carchemish. As already stated, the name 

 Carchemish has been looked upon as denoting "the 

 fortress of Chemosh." The question then occurs. If the 

 lozenge-shaped figure denotes " fortress," does the eagle 

 denote Chemosh .'' Whatever may be the etymology of 

 " Chemosh," it is sufficiently probable that Chemosh was, 

 like Baal and Moloch, a solar deity. This, indeed, has 

 been previously suggested. And the sun might very well 

 be represented by the eagle, the bird of the sun. More- 

 over such a view is not purely hypothetical. As is well 

 known, in ancient Egypt, Horus, the god of the rising 

 sun, was represented by the hawk. Then there is reason 

 to think that, in connection with the solar cult, the eagle 

 was worshipped or regarded as a sacred bird at places 

 in or near the Hittite country, and not very far distant 

 from Carchemish. 



Looking, then, upon the eagle and upon the second 

 part of the name " Car-chemish" as both representing 

 Chemosh, there remains no difficulty about the first part 

 of the name, as we find, in Assyrian, cam, a fortress — 

 a word found also, with comparatively slight modification, 

 in Hebrew {ktr). 



' There is another sign, |L, which, though less frequent, yet appears as if 

 a variant of the sign of deity usual in inscriptions of the Jerablus type. This 

 sign somewhat puzzled me till, on the coinage of Mallus, in Cilii.ia, I found 

 the right angle together with the straight stroke, or asherah, the equilateral 

 triangle, and the cone. All these were, no doubt, connected with the goddess 

 Astarte, to whose service Mallus seems to have been especially devoted. It 

 is, in all probability, this deity who appears in winged form on the obverse of 

 the coin, which Mr. Barclay V. Head, the eminent numismatist, assigns to a 

 date e.^rlier than 400 B.C. I ought to add that the sign with the right angle, 

 which probably denotes a different aspect or function of the goddess, occurs 

 apparently in the Hamath inscriptions 



