MALLERY. ] SYRIAN SYMBOLS. 617 
Below these symbols stand seven deities facing to the right, with iong robes, and 
the heads of various animals. The first to the left resembles a lion, the second a 
wolf or hound, the fourth a ram, the sixth a bird, the seventh a serpent, while the 
third and fifth are less easily recogmized. In the third compartment a body lies on 
a bier, with a deity at the head, and another at the feet. These deities have the 
tight hand held up, and the left down (a common feature of Indian symbolism also 
observable in the attitude of the Malawiyeh dervishes), and the figure to the left 
appears to hold a branch or three ears of corn. Both are robed in the peculiar fish- 
headed costume, with a scaly body and fish tail, which is supposed to be symbolical 
of the mythical Oannes, who according to Berosus, issued from the Persian gulf and 
taught laws and arts to the early dwellers on the Euphrates. Behind the left-hand 
fish-god is a tripod stand, on which is an indefinite object; to the right of the other 
fish-god are two lion-headed human figures with eagles’ claws, apparently contend- 
ing with one another, the right arms being raised, the left holding hand by hand. 
To the right of these is another figure of Assyrian type, with a domed headdress 
and beard. 
In the lowest compartment the infernal river fringed with rushes, and full of fish, 
isrepresented. A fearful lion-headed goddess with eagles’ claws kneels on one knee 
on a horse (the emblem of death) which is carried in a kneeling attitude on a boat 
with bird-headed prow. The goddess crushes a serpent in either hand, and two lion 
cubs are represented sucking her breasts. To the left is a demon bearing a close 
resemblance to the one which supports the tablet itself, and which appears to urge on 
the boat from the bank; to the right are various objects, mostly of an indefinite char- 
acter, among which M. Ganneau recognizes a vase, and a bottle, a horse’s leg with 
hoof, ete. ; possibly offerings to appease the infernal deities. The lion-headed goddess 
might well be taken for the terrible infernal deity Kali or Durga, the worship of 
whose consort, Yama, was the original source of that of the later Serapis, whose 
dog was the ancestor of Cerberus. There is also a general resemblance between this 
design and the well-known Egyptian picture representing the wicked soul conveyed 
to hell in the form of a pig. 
The Oannes figures take the place of the two goddesses who in Egyptian designs 
stand at either end of the mummy and who form the prototype of the two angels for 
whom the pious Moslem provides seats at the head and foot of his tombstone. 
Perhaps the miserable horse who stumbles under the weight of the gigantic lion 
goddess may represent the unhappy soul itself, while the three ears of corn remind 
us of the grains of corn which have been found in skulls dug up in Syria by Capt. 
Burton. Corn is intimately connected with Dagon, the Syrian fish-god. 
Asa tentative suggestion I may, perhaps, be allowed to propose that the seven 
deities in the second compartment are the planets, and that the symbols above 
belong to them as follows, commencing on the right: 
Planet. Assyrian name. Head of deity. Symbol 
1s Spina ssooesese @hiunigeaac:=-c2===< SeLpen teere seen sat Seven stars. 
AGMOON fem aes .scle- Nannatsyaeecss ace Birdsscsse seen- soe Crescent. 
Sb ISN, ooo c aos eased | Shamashesesseeseeee BOariG? )iaeacse -2e Winged disc. 
A Mars 2.5252 922 | Marduk ......------ Raine saaaelacsae == Rayed dise. 
be Mercunye-r-- crs: feNebOme ceases eae AGE) eerie lose see seraa= Two columns. 
GiVienus esse sane LISTER? sso gee once eaee Volts?) se see pees Trisul. 
Ted Upbery. 9-2 sce LE oe ee ee re Wt Gntere ones as oe Cidaris (? ). 
The serpent is often the emblem of Saturn, who, as the eldest of the seven (‘‘the 
great serpent father of the gods”), naturally comes first and therefore on the right, 
and has seven stars for his symbol. 
