44 THEOPHILUS G. PINCHES^ ESQ.^ LL.D._, M.E.A.S., ON 



forty-one names of a divinity called " the lady of the gods," a 

 goddess who is described in the recently issued fourteenth 

 part of Cundform Texts from Babylonian Tablets, as having 

 brought forth offspring on three different occasions. She was 

 certainly not regarded as anything very evil, however, for this 

 new text is described as a song concerning her — a song 

 " better than honey and wine, better than grapes and apples 

 (or something of the kind), purer even than butter " (which, as 

 is well known, is clarified in the East). 



Though there are neither in the names of the " lady of the 

 gods," nor in those of her spouse Dun-sig-e, any which resemble 

 (as far as they are preserved) the names of Tiawthu and her 

 spouse Kingu, a few parallels at least occur, which make some 

 sort of an identiHcation possible. Thus the spouse of "the 

 lady of the gods" has, apparently, two sets of names, each 

 consisting of five — ten in all. Of these the second group is 

 explained as hennu, a word used in the sense of " malady " in 

 the recently discovered laws of King Hammurabi. The con- 

 jecture that hennu in this list of gods means " evil principle," 

 or something of the kind, lies, therefore, very close. None of 

 these names, to all appearance, contains any indication of the 

 idea here suggested, except the third of the second group, 

 A-ga-giga-dugga, which may be translated " the evil-speaking 

 inundation " — a not inappropriate name. Upon the exception 

 here referred to I do not wish to lay any stress. The list may 

 not have anything to do with Tiawthu and her consort at all, 

 notwithstanding the seeming probability of it, but the two 

 name-lists of the consort of " the lady of the gods " is followed 

 by the names of three divinities who were possibly their 

 attendants, and the third of this triad was, as it seems, called 

 Tud-udda, "the offspring of Death." The deity Ugga, 

 "Death," has already been referred to in the description of 

 the Semitic story of the Creation, and it is noteworthy that 

 Tiawthu's spouse Kingu was counted worthy, for his evil 

 deeds, to be his companion. 



The above is immediately followed by the names of the 

 deities belonging to E-mah, " the supreme temj^le," but whether 

 this be an earthly temple of that name, or one in heaven or 

 elsewhere of which that in Babylon was the type, does not 

 appear. This section of the list ends with the names of the 

 fourteen sons of the goddess Mah (were they the overseers of 

 the fourteen precincts of Hades which the legend of N'ergal 

 and Eres-ki-gala allows us to presuppose ?), and of her four 

 porters or gate - keepers, and the cpiestion naturally arises 



