﻿4 
  PEOCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  NATIONAL 
  MUSEUM 
  vol. 
  67 
  

  

  but 
  the 
  true 
  God 
  of 
  Israel 
  quelled 
  and 
  put 
  to 
  silence 
  the 
  evil 
  

   dragon. 
  Thus 
  Isaiah 
  LI, 
  9: 
  "Art 
  thou 
  not 
  it 
  that 
  cut 
  Rahab 
  and 
  

   wounded 
  the 
  dragon.*' 
  Rahab, 
  which 
  means 
  raging-, 
  insolence, 
  

   tumultuousness, 
  is 
  not 
  unsuitable 
  as 
  a 
  title 
  of 
  the 
  chaos 
  dragon, 
  com- 
  

   pare 
  Isaiah 
  XXX, 
  7. 
  Psalm 
  LXXXIX, 
  10: 
  "Thou 
  hast 
  broken 
  

   Rahab 
  in 
  pieces, 
  as 
  one 
  that 
  is 
  slain.*' 
  Job 
  XXVI, 
  12: 
  "He 
  stilleth 
  

   the 
  sea 
  with 
  his 
  power, 
  and 
  by 
  his 
  understanding 
  he 
  smiteth 
  through 
  

   Rahab,"' 
  compare 
  Job 
  IX, 
  13. 
  In 
  all 
  these 
  passages 
  Rahab 
  is 
  evi- 
  

   dently 
  an 
  alternative 
  for 
  the 
  Babylonian 
  Tiamat 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  

   time 
  an 
  emblematic 
  synonym 
  for 
  Egypt. 
  Isaiah 
  XXVII, 
  2 
  : 
  "In 
  

   that 
  day 
  the 
  Lord 
  with 
  his 
  sore 
  (properly, 
  hard) 
  and 
  great 
  and 
  

   strong 
  sword 
  shall 
  punish 
  leviathan 
  the 
  piercing 
  (Revised 
  Ver- 
  

   sion, 
  the 
  swift, 
  and 
  margin, 
  gliding 
  or 
  fleeing) 
  serpent, 
  and 
  

   leviathan 
  the 
  crooked 
  (Revised 
  Version, 
  margin, 
  winding) 
  serpent, 
  

   and 
  he 
  shall 
  slay 
  the 
  dragon 
  that 
  is 
  in 
  the 
  sea." 
  The 
  three 
  monsters 
  

   in 
  this 
  passage 
  are 
  not 
  implausibly 
  interpreted 
  by 
  some 
  com- 
  

   mentators 
  (so, 
  for 
  instance, 
  by 
  Franz 
  Delitzsch) 
  as 
  designating 
  

   the 
  three 
  rivers, 
  the 
  Tigris, 
  Euphrates, 
  and 
  Nile, 
  and 
  symbolic 
  of 
  

   Assyria, 
  Babylonia, 
  and 
  Egypt, 
  respectively, 
  the 
  three 
  hostile 
  powers 
  

   of 
  the 
  world 
  which 
  were 
  situated 
  on 
  these 
  rivers. 
  The 
  " 
  swift. 
  " 
  

   or 
  " 
  fleeing 
  leviathan 
  " 
  (compare 
  the 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  Tiamat 
  cylin- 
  

   der 
  seal 
  above) 
  is 
  a 
  fit 
  designation 
  of 
  the 
  Tigris 
  with 
  its 
  swiftly 
  

   running 
  course 
  and 
  rapids, 
  whence 
  its 
  name, 
  which 
  is 
  derived 
  from 
  

   old-Persian 
  tigra, 
  pointed, 
  and 
  tigri, 
  arrow, 
  characterizing 
  it 
  as 
  

   darting 
  or 
  shooting 
  forth 
  like 
  an 
  arrow, 
  compare 
  Horace 
  Odes 
  IV, 
  

   14. 
  46: 
  rapidus 
  Tigris. 
  Its 
  Hebrew 
  name, 
  hiddekel, 
  means 
  sharp. 
  

   The 
  " 
  crooked 
  " 
  or 
  " 
  winding 
  leviathan 
  " 
  may 
  well 
  describe 
  the 
  

   Euphrates 
  with 
  its 
  many 
  windings 
  and 
  bendings; 
  while 
  the 
  dragon, 
  

   Hebrew, 
  tannin, 
  originally 
  a 
  personification 
  of 
  the 
  sea 
  or 
  the 
  floods, 
  

   was 
  subsequently 
  applied 
  to 
  Egypt, 
  compare 
  Isaiah 
  LI, 
  9; 
  Ezekiel 
  

   XXIX, 
  3. 
  

  

  An 
  instance 
  in 
  which 
  a 
  deity 
  personifies 
  the 
  fructifying 
  river 
  

   Euphrates 
  and 
  is 
  on 
  this 
  account 
  denominated 
  a 
  serpent 
  is 
  found 
  

   in 
  an 
  early 
  Babylonian 
  liturgy. 
  Ninlil 
  (also 
  called 
  Nintu 
  and 
  Nin 
  

   Kharsag), 
  spouse 
  of 
  Enlil, 
  the 
  supreme 
  god 
  of 
  Nippur, 
  who 
  repre- 
  

   sents 
  or 
  symbolizes 
  the 
  female 
  element 
  of 
  reproducing 
  nature, 
  is 
  

   called 
  serpent 
  (Assyrian, 
  Sir),* 
  and 
  the 
  Euphrates 
  itself 
  was 
  called 
  

   the 
  " 
  river 
  of 
  the 
  snake.*' 
  

  

  Finally, 
  the 
  symbol 
  of 
  representing 
  the 
  world 
  under 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  

   a 
  serpent 
  biting 
  its 
  tail 
  is 
  explained 
  from 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  

   cosmogony 
  of 
  Egypt. 
  Babylonia, 
  Greece, 
  and 
  India, 
  the 
  earth 
  was 
  

   believed 
  to 
  be 
  circumscribed 
  by 
  an 
  ocean 
  or 
  "celestial 
  river," 
  whose 
  

   circular 
  course 
  is 
  compared 
  to 
  a 
  serpent. 
  

  

  * 
  George 
  A. 
  Barton, 
  Miscellaneous 
  Babylonian 
  Inscriptions, 
  1918, 
  pp. 
  16, 
  41, 
  43, 
  and 
  

   46, 
  compare. 
  J. 
  P. 
  Peters, 
  Journal 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  Oriental 
  Society, 
  vol. 
  41, 
  pp 
  131 
  and 
  

   following, 
  especially 
  pp. 
  142 
  and 
  following. 
  

  

  o 
  

  

  