52 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[March 1, 1895. 



nitrogen from an atmospheric mixture. Again, a mona- 

 tomic gas can only be an element, or a mixture of elements ; 

 hence it follo'n-s that argon is not of a compound nature. 

 Some of Prof. Olszewski's results point strongly to 

 argon being a single element ; on the other hand, Mr. 

 Crookes' spectroscopic work is in favour of its being a 

 mixture. On the whole the discoverers are inclined at 

 present to regard argon as one elementary substance, but 

 they are careful to state that this opinion is merely 

 tentative, and maybe overset by subsequent investigations. 

 There is only one other point to which we would refer 

 here. If argon should ultimately prove to be a mona- 

 tomic gas with an atomic weight of about 40, there would 

 then be no place for it in Newlands and Mendeleeffs 

 " Periodic System of the Elements," the greatest 

 generalization of modern chemistry ; the " Periodic 

 Law," which has already done such wonders towards the 

 discovery of new elements, would, therefore, require revision. 

 On the other baud, should argon prove to be a mixture of 

 two or more elements, these might quite conceivably fill 

 up gaps in and conform to the periodic system. But it would 

 be premature to speculate further upon this point until we 

 have more actual knowledge of the new gas. What 

 strikes one forcibly in reading the abstract of the paper is 

 the great number of important issues which it suggests for 

 further investigation. And who knows but that in time 

 the gas may fill an important industrial role — may be 

 doing so just now, in fact, for anything we can tell to the 

 contrary '? Prof. Roberts Austen made a suggestion of 

 this nature with regard to the possible part played by argon 

 in the manufacture of Bessemer steel. 



One thing, so far, is certain, viz., that a gas, be it one 

 element or a mixture of two or more, which has eluded 

 discovery for the past hundred years, is now made known 

 to us. And there can be but the one opinion that this 

 discovery, the result of so much patient and far-sighted 

 investigation, will take its place in the history of science 

 as one of the most brilliant achievements of our day. 



A MYTH OF OLD BABYLON. 



By Theo. G. Pinches, M.R.A.S. 



Di'/mrtment of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities, British 



Museiim. 



THE literature of Assyria and Babylonia has of late 

 years received such remarkable additions, that it 

 promises to be an inexhaustible storehouse of 

 information as to the ancient life of the East, 

 among the Semites, and the most important 

 thing for the early history of the civilization upon which 

 that of to-day is foimded. The discoveries of Layard and 

 Rassam, mostly at Nineveh, resulted in the finding of 

 twenty thousand fragments of tablets, to which later 

 excavations have added a few thousands more. Sixty 

 thousand fi-agments were the result of Rassam's excava- 

 tions at Abu-abbah (Sippara), Babylon, and other places, 

 and the French and Americans have since made very 

 successful excavations at Tel-loh (Lagash) and i-'ifi'er 

 (Nippur). The durability of the material employed (baked 

 and imbaked clay) makes it extremely probable that the 

 large collections of tablets which exist in the various great 

 museums of Europe and America will be enormously 

 supplemented as time goes on. The remarkable discovery 

 of letters from Palestine, Tyre, Sidou, Babylon, and else- 

 where, at Tel-el-Armana, in Egypt, eight years ago, forms a 

 most important addition to our store of documents bearing 

 on the history of the ancient East. 



Though the number of fragments of legends i.s com- 



paratively small, it is easy to see, from the care with 

 which these texts are generally written, that they were 

 thought much of by the ancient inhabitants of Assyria and 

 Babylonia. Unfortimately, all, or almost all, are in a very 

 incomplete — not to say fragmentary — state, but this is a 

 defect that will probably be removed as time goes on, and 

 discoveries bring to light the missing parts. 



Probably the most complete of the myths of old Babylon 

 is that which relates the descent of the goddess Istar into 

 Hades. It has often been published, the first attempt 

 having been made by the well-known scholar and scientist. 

 Fox Talbot, in I860. Later, Mr. George Smith, having 

 recognized and joined on the missing fragment of the 

 legend, published an almost complete translation of the 

 text in the Daily Tt'leynijili of August 19th, 1873. 

 Lenonnant, Scbrader, Sayce, and other scholars, have also 

 furnished renderings of this highly interesting legend. 



It is possible that some of the readers of Knowledge 

 may be unacquainted with the drift of the story. Istar 

 goes down to the land of Nugia (" No-return "/ demanding, 

 with threats, admission to that region. The porter 

 goes to Eres-ki-gala, the queen of Nugia, for instructions, 

 and she tells him to admit the goddess Istar, but to do to 

 her according to his former instructions. Istar then 

 passes through the seven gates of Hades, led by the 

 porter, who takes away from her, at each gate, a part of 

 her clothing and jewels, from " the great crown upon her 

 head" to "the garment of the nakedness of her body." 

 At each gate she asks him why he has taken the jewel or 





.:=* -.2^--;S'i<_ 



Istar staiKling on an Animal, with a Priest worsUippinc: before her. 



the garment, as the case may be, away ; but his only 

 answer is " Enter, lady, for these are the commands of 

 the lady of the land." 



After Istar's arrival in Hades, Eres-ki-gala saw her, and 

 a \'iolent quarrel (to use comparatively mild language) 

 ensued, ending in the queen of Hades calling up Namtar 

 (the spirit of fate), her messenger, whom she commanded 

 to strike Istar with disease of the eyes, sides, feet, heart 

 and head. The result of Istar's absence from earth began, 

 however, after a while, to make itself felt, for neither 

 animals nor mankind fell in love any longer, and " the great 

 gods," having heard of the state of affairs, resolved to take 

 action in the matter, the outcome being that the god £a 

 created a monster called " Uddusu-namir, the assinnu,'' a 

 creature apparently having many heads, whom Eres-ki- 

 gala, the queen of Hades, was at first inclined to resist, 

 and against whom she uttered threats of imprisonment, 

 accompanied by various indignities — threats which seem 

 to have been all in vain, because of the divine powers 

 with which I'ddusu-namir, the messenger of the gods, 

 had been endowed. This being the case, she judged it 

 prudent to yield, and sending for Namtar, her messenger, 

 again, she commanded him to bring forth a genius called 

 Anunnaki — a spirit of the earth — who, when he came, gave 

 to Istar, at the command of Eres-ki-gala, the waters of 

 life, and, leading her again through the seven gates of 



