CURIOUS CREATURES. 79 



him. He is, however, told by his huntsman, Zaidu, of 

 a very wise creature who dwells in the marshes, three 

 days' journey from Erech. . . . The strange being, 

 whom this companion of the hero is despatched to bring 

 to the Court, is one of the most interesting in the Epic. 

 He is called Hea-bani 'he whom Hea has made.' 

 This mysterious creature is represented on the gems, 

 as half a man, and half a bull. He has the body, face, 

 and arms of a man, and the horns, legs, hoofs, and tail 

 of a bull. Though in form rather resembling the satyrs, 

 and in fondness for, and in association with the cattle, 

 the rustic deity Pan, yet in his companionship with 

 Gizdhubar, and his strange death, he approaches nearer 

 the Centaur Chiron, who was the companion of Heracles. 

 " By his name he was the son of Hea, whom Berosus 

 identifies as Cronos, as Chiron was the son of Cronos. 

 Like Chiron, he was celebrated for his wisdom, and acted 

 as the counsellor of the hero, interpreting his dreams, 

 and enabling him to overcome the enemies who attacked 

 him. Chiron met his death at the hand of Heracles, 

 one of whose poisoned arrows struck him, and, though 

 immortal, he would not live any longer, and gave his 

 immortality to Prometheus. . . . Zeus made Chiron 

 among the stars a Sagittarius. Here again we have a 

 striking echo of the Chaldaean legend, in the Erech story. 

 According to the arrangement of tablets, the death of 

 Hea-bani takes place under the sign of Sagittarius, and 

 is the result of some fatal accident during the combat 

 between Gizdhubar and Khumbaba. Like the Centaurs, 

 before his call to the Court of Gizdhubar, Hea-bani led 

 a wild and savage life. It is said on the tablets ' that 

 he consorted with the wild beasts. With the gazelles 

 he took his food by night, and consorted with the cattle 



