FISH IDENTIFIED 377 
“3. The 3énu, in Greek oavdadov, in Latin solea, in English 
‘sole. 5énu means ‘sandal’ in Babylonian. 
‘4. Sélibu, or ‘fox fish,’ perhaps so-called from its slyness ; 
probably Alopecias vulpes. 
‘5. The kalbu, ‘ dog-fish,’ said to be the Greek xapyapias xtwy, 
‘©6. The piazu, ‘ pig-fish,’ Galeus canis, ‘sea sow.’ 
“7, The puhadu, ‘lamb fish, perhaps Pelecus cultratus. 
‘8. The balgu, a fish well known in all periods, and said to be the 
same as the widely spread Mongolian balyg, the ordinary word for 
fish in Turkish; in some parts the sword fish, in others the ‘ bull 
head.’ 
“‘g. The garshu, probably the ‘shark, or a fish of prey of the 
Persian Gulf. 
‘to. The gallabu, ‘ barber,’ not yet identified. 
“‘tx. The simunu, ‘ swallow fish,’ by some identified with the 
* flying fish.’ 
‘‘12. The zingur, supposed to be the ‘ sturgeon.’ ” 
Other fish names, especially Sumerian, remained unidentified 
till (in May, 1918), Langdon translated the only hymn (yet 
published) to Nina, the Fish Goddess, and spouse of Tammuz. 
Among its twelve fish we get the ‘ electric fish’ (query the vapxn), 
the ‘ nun fish,’ the ‘ fire fish of the sea,’ and the ‘ swallow fish.’ 
The touching lines bewailing the death of Tammuz are, alas ! 
imperfect.! 
Fish abounded in the Two Rivers. Euphrates fish were so 
plentiful that they could be caught simply in one’s hand, 
apparently without any “ tickling.” 2 The coast folk could 
not cope with their catches. Wicker traps, automatically 
opened and shut by the tides, yielded their ‘‘ harvest of ocean.’’ 
Sluice gates were far commoner in Assyria than in Palestine. 
The numerous rivers, and scientific system of irrigation which 
from earliest ages threaded Sumeria and later on Western 
Assyria, account for the frequency. 
According to Sir W. Willcocks, “‘ The granary of the ancient 
1 Proc. of Soc. of Biblical Archeology (London, May, 1918), p. 83. 
? Lewysohn’s (Zool. d. Talmud, 248, as quoted by Keller, op. cit., p. 330) 
‘‘ Euphrat heisst etymologisch der fischreiche ”’ is far from generally accepted. 
The river in Babylonian is Puyattu, pronounced by the Persians Ufratus, 
which became when borrowed by the Greeks, Euphrates. So far from meaning 
rich in fish, Langdon traces the name to the Sumerian buvanna, burnuna, 
meaning great basin. 
3 Diod. Sic., III. 22. 
