CHAPTER VI. 
ARCHAIC CYLINDERS: A DEITY IN A BOAT, 
Occasionally on these most primitive cylinders we have the representation of 
a boat, sometimes in combination with other scenes. It would seem to be the god 
Ea, or more likely Shamash, who stands in a boat, in fig. 102, with streams from 
his shoulders. The boat is propelled by two oarsmen, through a stream or canal, 
beside which are reeds and a wild boar, while branches are attached to the god’s 
streams. The boat seems to be of the round coracle style still used in the East. If 
this is Shamash, it may be that he 1s sailing through the upper or lower heavens, as 
in fig. 293. It would appear to be a boat that is represented in fig. 103, where a 


deity sits in the boat and holds a line or a tube, perhaps for drinking, which pro- 
trudes from the vase. On the other side a small figure standing at the end of the 
boat seizes a similar line or tube. Behind the seated figure is another vase, and a 
goat, perhaps, stands outside the boat. In this case it is not absolutely certain that 
it is a boat that is represented. But there can be no doubt about fig. 104. In this 
cylinder a portion of the design covers its entire length, while the rest is in two 
registers. In the single-register portion a seated goddess, the sex designated by 
the long hair, rests her feet on an animal, perhaps the lion of Ishtar. Before her 
Veer 




is an altar and an approaching worshiper brings a goat as an offering. tp i eS eT design 
of a worshiper with a goat, here most primitive, becomes exceedingly frequent 
somewhat later. In the upper register of the remaining portion we see the familiar 
two seated deities and the gate, while the lower register gives us a composition which 
piques curiosity. In a boat are two figures, one seated in the stern apparently 
steering or poling, while the other stands at the prow and seems to be addressing 
two approaching figures, one of which carries a weight, slung by a stick over his 
shoulder, perhaps an animal or a big fish. Is it possible that this design represents 
the passage of the soul of the dead over a river, as in the Egyptian and Greek 
mythologies ? 
40 
