The Birds of the Assyrian Monuments and Records. 97 
(38.) I have already alluded to the question whether the 
Assyrians kept domesticated poultry : I think there is suffi- 
cient evidence to show that the answer may be given in the 
affirmative. There are several names of one and the same 
bird mentioned in a food list in W.A.I., II, 42, lines 67-70, 
the most common being those called JjjEjI "^S- cu-ni-pu 
and H^T^ *~^~H ,e ^~ zu - All these words demand 
examination. There can be no reasonable doubt that the 
domestic cock is the bird denoted. At one time I was 
inclined to think that the swan was intended, but my friend 
Mr. Sayce was able to point out one of three occurring 
names which served as a key to the problem. The cunipu 
and 'ezizu denote the same bird, and the 9 ezizu in line 19 of 
the same plate (42) is equated with >=- >~< dil-bat as an edible 
bird. Fortunately dilbat is well known : it is " the announcer,' 
" the proclaimer," or " herald "; see W.A.I., II, 7, 37, 
where dilbat = nabu, to proclaim, &c, and >— >~< or 
^^y^^- >— >~< is the planet Venus (Istar), the " announcer " 
of the dawn or of the evening. It follows therefore that all 
the names which are equated with 'ezizu must also be equated 
with dilbat. The cock as the " announcer of dawn," as the 
" trumpet of the morn," is proverbial almost everywhere. As 
the announcer of news the cock was sacred to Mercury, 
as the curer of diseases to iEsculapius, as a warrior to Mars, 
Hercules, &c. Among the Persians the cock not only awakened 
Aurora and aroused men from sleep, but it also caused the 
demons of night to depart. In the Avesta the cock is called 
Parodars, " upon whom evil-speaking men impose the (nick) 
name of Kahrkatas ">• " this bird," it is added, " lifts up his 
Voice at every godly morning dawn, (saying) 'Stand up, 
ye men, praise the best purity, destroy the Daeva.' " (See 
Vendidad, xviii, 34-37 ; Bleek's translation, p. 128.) The 
demon which the cock puts to flight is the Daeva Bushajangta, 
44 with long hands," i.e., the demon of long sleep. In extracts 
from the Avesta, p. 197, the following Jewish prayer is given, 
" Blessed art Thou, 0 Lord our God ! King of the universe, 
who grantest to the cock understanding to distinguish 
between day and night." We are further told that the 
Vol. VIII. 7 
