Manchester Memoirs, Vol. lix. (191 5), No, 10. 81 



The " ability to restore the dead to life " is probably 

 a reference to the Egyptian ritual of" the opening of the 

 mouth," which of course is an integral part of the funerary 

 procedure incidental to the practice of mummification. 



" The Nagas occupy a very prominent position in 

 connection with Indian astronomy, and this is not likely 

 to have been assigned to them, by their Brahmanical 

 rivals, without good reason. Probably this and other 

 branches of science were brought, by the Asuras, from 

 their ancient home in the countries between the Kaspian 

 and the Persian Gulf. 



" The close relationship between the Indian and the 

 Chaldean astronomical systems has been frequently 

 noticed. 



" The sun-worship of the Asuras ; their holding sacred 

 the Naga or hooded serpent, sometimes represented with 

 many heads ; their deification of kings and ancestors ; 

 their veneration of the cedar ; their religious dances ; 

 their sacrificial rights ; their communication with the 

 deities through the medium of inspired prophets ; their 

 occasional tendency towards democratic institutions ; 

 their use of tribal emblems or totems — and many of their 

 social customs ; seem to connect them with that very 

 early civilization — Turanian or otherwise — which we find 

 amongst so many of the peoples of extreme antiquity. 

 They had, in fact, much in common with the early inhabi- 

 tants of Babylonia ; and, perhaps, even more with those 

 of Elam and the neighbouring countries. 



" We shall see later that the Asuras and the Dra- 

 vidians were, apparently, the same people." 



" Not only were the Asuras or Nagas a civilized 



people, but they were a maritime power. Holding both 



banks of the great river Indus, they must have had access 



to the sea from a very early period. Their kinship, too, 



