FIGURES OF DEITIES. 379 
he appears are very complex and seem to represent scenes in the life of Etana in 
regard to which we have no literary remains. (See Chapter xxu1.) 
27- The Culprit Bird-Man: This may represent the Zu-bird as brought 
before the Sun-god for punishment as seen in No. 8. He has evidently been guilty 
of some offense, for which he is brought for judgment. (See Chapter xv.) 
28. The Porter: This auxiliary deity is usually attached to the older figures 
of Shamash rising over the mountains. The porter opens for him the gates of the 
morning. (See Chapter x11.) 
29. The Bijrons: While the two- 
headed figure appears occasionally, and 
generally on the older cylinders, to lead 
the bird-man or the worshiper into the 
presence of the god, he is seen also in 
the Hittite period. He must be regarded 
as merely a conventional device to show [505 
that he is paying respect to the god before oa while also inten: to the person- 
age brought to the god. (See Chapters xv and XLV1.) 
The deities thus far considered belong chiefly to the early Babylonian period, 
although some of them pass down into the Middle Empire. Those that follow, 
down to No. 40, belong properly to the Middle Empire, although they may be 
continued in the later periods and the neighboring regions. 
30. Ihe Standing Ishtar: The attributes of the standing Ishtar are much the 
same as of the seated goddess, the lions and the scimitar. But from each shoulder 
should appear the ends of the arrows in her two quivers, and she carries often in her 
hand the Babylonian caduceus, which may quite lose the serpent shape and look 
like a candelabrum. The lion is often degraded into a squat animal which might 
as well be a dragon. (See Chapter xxv.) 
31. Shamash uath Lifted Foot on a Stool: This 1s the 
degraded conventional form of Shamash stepping on a moun- 
tain, shown under No. 6. There are intermediate forms, but in 
the period of the Middle Empire, and later, this was a very com- 
mon element on the cheaper hematite cylinders, showmg how 
pervasive was the worship of this deity. He usually carries z : 
his notched sword, even after its meaning, coming down from a stone age, was 
forgotten; but later he may carry a modification of the Egyptian emblem of stability. 
32- The God usth the Samitar: Marduk: 
Inasmuch as Marduk emerged late as a princi- 
pal deity he is not to be expected to appear in 
art much before the tme of Hammurabi. He /}¥e 
is probably a western god and derived from the ; =: 



same Hittite original as the next. Heisrecog- | EoA 
nized by his peculiar weapon, the scimitar, €#%. 
which was onginally a serpent. Marduk slay- a ; 
ing the dragon with the scimitar appears in Greek story as — killing the 
Gorgon with the same weapon. Sometimes his foot is on his later characteristic 
ome (c). (See Chapter xxvtz.) 

