1894.] G. Thibaut —Babylonian Origin of the Lunar Zodiac. 
149 
contains thirty-three stars. Strictly speaking, Professor Hommel, or 
any one espousing his views, would, therefore, have to show that not only 
the series of thirty-one stars, but also that which comprises two 
further stars, admits of being reduced to a series of twenty-four mem¬ 
bers. The difference of the two series is, however, of no great im¬ 
portance as far as the matter in question is concerned : for on the point 
of view adopted by Professor Hommel, the larger as well as the smaller 
list doubtless admits of reduction. This plan is to combine into one 
asterism (or station, to use the term employed by Professor Hommel) 
all those stars which are shewn by their names to have been viewed by 
the Babylonians as closely connected. The Babylonian list no doubt 
comprises a number of stars which were considered to constitute pairs : 
the two stars which Professor Epping by his calculations has identified 
as, [3 and £, Tauri, are designated on the tablets as the northern and 
southern sur narlcabti (translated by Professor Hommel as ‘ox of the 
wain’); y and /x, Geminorum, are called the western and the eastern 
star of the month of the Twins ; a and [3 , Geminorum, appear as the eastern 
and western Twins ; y and 8, Cancri, are called the southern and the north¬ 
ern one of pulukkn (translated ‘ Spindle ’ by Professor Hommel) ; a and 
(3, Librae, are called the southern and the northern one of the Balance ; 
y and c( Capricorni, appear as the western and the eastern one of — ac¬ 
cording to Professor Hommel’s translation — the goat-fish; a and (3, 
Arietis, are called the eastern and western one of the head of the 
Bam. Fourteen single stars thus being combiued into seven pairs of 
stars, the list of thirty-one stars is reduced to one of twenty-four mem¬ 
bers, part of them pairs of stars, and part single stars. Epping’s list 
of thirty-three stars appears to comprise eight pairs of stars, the 
counting of which as single stars would bring the number down to 
twenty-five. But it would probably not be difficult, by some further 
combination, to reduce this latter total by another unit, and thus 
again to arrive at what might be called a zodiac of 24 asterisms or 
stars. 
Next, as to the lunar zodiacs of the Arabs, Hindus and Chinese. 
Here also Professor Hommel labours to show that these zodiacs, in 
their original form consisted of no more than twenty-four members. 
This argumentation concerns itself with the Arabic Zodiac chiefly, and 
the means by which he undertakes to reduce the twenty-eight stations 
of that zodiac to an earlier series of twenty-four is as follows : — 
He in the first place, assumes the two stations al-Fargh al-awwal 
(a and /3 , Pegasi) and al-Fargh as-sdni (y, Pegasi, and a, Andromedee) to 
have originally constituted one station only, on the ground that in all 
the older passages which mention those stations, they are spoken of as 
