38 THEOPHJLUS G. PINCHES, ESQ., LL.D., M.R.A.S., ON 



What " the glorious crown " refers to is doubtful, but there is 

 every probability that Merodach is so named as the desire of 

 all the faithful among his worshippers, who, on leaving this life, 

 would go forth from earth to live with him. " The glorious 

 incantation is easier to comprehend, Merodach being the lord of 

 all such things, and one of them had, in the words of the text, 

 rooted out all the evil ones. Just as the god Ninip is called 

 " the supreme word," so Merodach could be called in a similar 

 way " the glorious incantation," because of the efficacy of that 

 which he had uttered when attacking Tiamthu. What "the 

 silent life " or " spirit of silence " (either may be the translation 

 of Zi-si) refers to is not known, but the completion of the 

 inscription (when that happens) will probably make this clear 

 to us. " The annihilator of the enemy " needs no explanation, 

 as it is evident that Tiamthu is referred to. She, with her 

 helpers, was the type of all evil, and it is doubtless his 

 triumph over them which caused this name to be given to him. 



With regard to the rest of the inscription of this last tablet 

 of the series, it is noteworthy that Merodach is said to have 

 seized Tiamthu by the back part of the head, a statement which 

 seems to differ from the account of her destruction in the 

 earlier part of the legend. His creation of heaven and earth is 

 also spoken of, but chiefest of all would seem to have been the 

 formation of mankind, either in the room of the rebellious gods, 

 or in lasting remembrance of their evil-doing. Throughout 

 this part, the gratitude due to him, his mercy and goodness, his 

 glory in having overcome the source of evil, and his renown in 

 after ages among men on account of his glorious deeds, are the 

 points especially touched upon. It is noteworthy that also 

 here, as in the preceding tablets of the legend, the fixity of his 

 word, the changelessness of his command, and the powerlessness 

 of the other gods against him with regard to these things, are 

 again stated. Worthy of special attention is also the statement 

 that the other deities called Merodach by their own names, 

 thereby conferring upon him, at the same time, their attributes, 

 and making him as it were participator in their being. Whilst, 

 therefore, he was the manifestation of the whole of them 

 collectively, they were at the same time individually manifes- 

 tations of him, as other tablets of a religious nature from 

 Babylonia abundantly prove. 



VIII. 



Tn the absence of the account of the creation of man and the 



