232 ASTRONOMICAL ALLUSIONS IN SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST. 



merely stating as plainly as possible the problem that lies before us 

 for solution. There are three possible solutions : St. Jude may 

 have invented the prophecy ; or the author of Eth. En. may have 

 done so ; or it may have been current before the time of either. 

 This last solution is the one I am myself inclined to accept. St. 

 Jude need never have come across Eth. En., nor the author of Eth. 

 En. have ever read St. Jude's Epistle. 



(6) The Grseco-Magian syncretism of which I speak on p. 223 is 

 not a general influence but a particular one. I wrote " This 

 combination of Greek and Magian thought " ; it was the frank 

 adoption of the astronomical system due to Hipparchus to which I 

 was referring. This could not have taken place much before the 

 date of the compilation of the Bundahis. 



I am greatly indebted to Dr. Dreyer for his comments, and 

 supported by the facts that he brings forward, venture now to 

 record the opinion which I lacked the courage to express before ; 

 viz., that Slav. En., so far from being a pre-Christian work is not 

 only a Mediaeval production, but a late one at that. 



A. S. D. Maunder. 



