ii6 Hutton Webster 



ular application of a widespread and generally accepted super- 

 stition. 



The Rawlinson calendar contains specific directions for the 

 observance of the five evil days, in each instance the same except 

 for differences in the names of the deities. ^^ The regulations for 

 the seventh day read as follows : 



"The seventh day is a fast of Merodach [Marduk] and Zir- 

 panitum, a fortunate day, an evil day. The shepherd of the great 

 peoples shall not eat flesh cooked by fire, which is smoked^- (?), 

 he shall not change the dress of his body, he shall not put on 

 white, he shall not make an offering. The king shall not ride in 

 his chariot, the priestess shall not declare (a divine decision), in 

 secret spot a seer shall not make (an oracle), a physician shall 

 not lay his hand on a sick man, (the day) is unsuitable for doing 

 business. "^^ 



In the light of the illustrations which have been previously 

 given, it is clear that the regulations for the " evil days" prescribe 

 a season of abstinence affecting many royal activities. The 

 " shepherd of the great peoples " is to abstain from cooked meat 



^ For discussions of the evil days from various points of view see 

 Jensen, op. cit., 153; Meinhold, op. cit., 15 sqq.; Friedrich Bohn, Der 

 Sabbat im Alten Testament, Giitersloh, 1903, pp. 39-43; Hehn, op. cit., 

 106-09; Lagrange, Etudes sur les religions semitiques,- Paris, 1905, pp. 

 291 sqq. 



^^ On the nineteenth day " the shepherd of the great peoples " is for- 

 bidden to eat " anything which the fire has touched." 



^I have used the version by Pinches (Proceedings of the Society of 

 Biblical Archaeology, xxvi. 52. The text has been frequently translated 

 and for purposes of comparison I add the rendering given by Thompson 

 (op. cit., pp. xlviii sq.) : " The seventh day is the festival day of Marduk 

 and Sarpanitum. A happy (?) day. An evil day. The shepherd of the 

 wide-spreading peoples must not eat flesh that has been cooked over coals, 

 nor bread (cooked) in ashes. He must not change the clothes of his 

 body, nor put on white garments. He nnist not ofTer sacrifices. The king 

 must not ride out in his chariot, and must not utter decisions in a secret 

 place. The physician must not lay his hand on the sick. It is unfitted for 

 making a curse. In the evening the king should make offerings and offer 

 sacrifice to Marduk and Ishtar: his prayer will be pleasing unto the god." 



116 



