16 THEO. G. PINCHES, ESQ., ON 



groups «->f- <^^^, i.e., the god XXX, from the 30 days of tlie 

 Babylonian civil month; and '^flj^^fy, I'^i'ely "^fllL^TT «-'^' 

 En-zii{-na), explained by some as being possibly for Zu-en-na, 

 later corrupted to Zenna and then to Sin. En-'zu means 

 " lord of knowledge," and is a very fair snggestion as to the 

 meaning of his name. 



Apparently the Moongod was a very lucky divinity, for 

 we find such names as Sin-udammik, " Sin gives luck," or 

 "joy," and Sin-iidammik-unninu, " Sin gives joy (for) weep- 

 ing " — also Sin-damaku, " Sin is lucky." He could be a 

 protector (Siii-nasir), a guardian {Si7i-('ti7'), and the giver of a 

 name (Sin-7iadin-simii). A very common name is Sin-sadunu, 

 "Sin (is) our mountain (of defence)," likewise Sin-imitti, 

 " Sin is my right-hand ; " and the names Sin-karahi-isme, 

 " Sin has heard my prayers," Sin-simdnni, " Sin, hear me," 

 and Sin-ikhi, " Sin has spoken," seem to carry with them an 

 indication of their origin, and to explain or illustrate the 

 titles generally given to this god in the texts, where he is 

 called bel purussl, " lord of the decision." As the moongod, 

 one of his titles was nas karni birCiti, " raiser of the horn of 

 intelligence." 



Though Nergal was the god of war, this is not the side of 

 his character which is by any means prominent in the names 

 of the people. Nergal-uSaUim, "Nergal has delivered," or 

 '• given peace;" Nergcd-iddina, "Nergal has given; " Nergal- 

 haniinu, "Nergal (is) our creator;" N'ergal-resua, "Nergal 

 (is) my helper ; " Nergal-ddnu, " Nergal judges " — such are 

 the names one meets with. Others are Nergcd-sarra-nsur , 

 "Nergal, protect the king" (Neriglissar) ; and Nergal- 

 suzibanni, "Nergal, save me." His name is generally written 

 >->^ ^'^IT? l^^T^'t it often appears in phonetic form, >->^ -^^ 

 *^3<1T '^T'^' li^ ^^'^s " loi'<l of strength and poAver {bel abari 

 u dunni), and a long text printed in the fourth volume of the 

 Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia is devoted to him. 



The sun god was another favourite deity. His name is 

 generally written *~>^ ^, D.P. Utu "Day-god," or "Bright 

 one," but it is often found written (>">f-) K^, and sometimes 

 »->f- t:y >-^>->-. A man would call his son "Light of the 

 Sungod" {Nur-Samas), or he would say that he was "a 

 Sungod to his house" {Samas-ana-hiti-su), and naturally those 

 names would stick to him. But this god was also a judge, 

 and we have therefore such names as Samas-ddnu, " Samas 



