886 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



kneeling on the right knee, before the sacred tree, with the hands ex- 

 tended towards it — the right, to its bottom : and the left, to its top. 

 The sculpture is exactly similar to that in Layard's Monuments of Ni- 

 niveh, at pi. 7 (A), except that this latter represents two figures, with 

 the whole of the sacred tree between them, and the slab has only the 

 left-hand one, and not the whole of the sacred tree, 



The Cuneiform writing is the beginning of the "standard inscrip- 

 tion," so called from its having been found on many of the slabs from 

 the north-west palace. 



The foregoing inscription I would thus analyse : — 

 Melcal is the well-known ideogram for a " palace," compounded of 

 lit and rah, signifying " great house." Next come the set of mono- 

 grams expressing the name of the king, Assur-nazir-pal, preceded by 

 the vertical wedge, as determinative of the name of a man. The first 

 of these is the known monogram for Assur, the supreme god of the 

 Assyrians. The second is used as one for ")VJ> " to protect," which 

 is here under the form of a present participle — if syllabic, it might be 

 hir. The third is one for Sabal, Pallu, or Pal, " a son," — if notideo- 

 grammatic, it might be a. The whole name, therefore, means "Assur 

 protects the son." M_[][ , the next character, which I have interpreted 

 Jcarib, is difficult. Its value, if syllabic, might be lak ; but as a charac- 

 ter in use as a monogram for Assur follows, there is a presumption 

 that it is ideographic, and the ordinary interpretations of " seal" or 

 "writing" do not answer. I have, therefore, searched the Syllabaries 

 of Sardanapalus, or Assur-bani-pal, and find in " The Cuneiform 

 Inscriptions of "Western Asia," published by the Trustees of the British 

 3Iuseum, vol. ii., p. 1, No. 120, £jTJT explained in the first, left-hand, 

 Proto-Babylonian, or phonetic column, by hi si ip, but in the 

 third, right-hand, Assyrian, or ideographic column, by ri it turn. The 

 latter may, I think, be paralleled with the Heb. root T)1T\, " to 

 subdue," and we would thence get the signification of "vassal," or 

 " servant." A better meaning still, however, is perhaps afforded by 

 Xo. 373, where it is rendered by la ah in the first column, and by hir 

 ba an nu in the third. This may be fairly assimilated to the Heb. 

 imp? an " offering," from 3~|p, "to approach," and therefore I would 

 render ^YTY by Karib, present participle from the corresponding 

 verb in Assyrian, to 3")p, and translate it " worshipper." Then 

 comes Assur again. The following character, pr y , which, if syllabic, 



