410 SEAL CYLINDERS OF WESTERN ASIA. 
35. The Man-fish: ‘The human-headed fish appears as early as Gudea, with the 
goat-fish of Ea, as shown in Chapter XxxvII, fig. 649. 
Heuzey takes it to represent the mythical Oannes, 
who came out of the water and taught the arts of 
civilization to the Babylonians. On the other hand 
Oannes has been identified by Lenormant and 
others with Ea. The man-fish is associated with 
the goat-fish, and so with Ea, and no better identif- va¥F 
cation than that with Oannes is at hand, although Oannes as distinct from Ea 1s 
not yet known in the literature of the inscriptions. 

36. The Monkey? Goat? It is not at all uncommon to meet with a squat 
creature, on the Babylonian cylinders of perhaps the later portion of the 
Middle Empire, which may be a monkey or an ape or a jackal, and some- 
times (once or twice distinctly) a goat; but the tail does not usually agree 
with either animal. It must have had a significance, but what it was is 
unknown. A consideration of figure 380 would lead to the conclusion that the 
animal was originally a goat. 
37. The Fly does not often appear, although sometimes seen on compara- 
tively late cylinders, as in fig. 523; but we have no further identification than is 
suggested in the name of the Syrian Beelzebub, god of flies. 
38. The Lotus: At times on cylinders related to the Vp 
Syro-Hittite class, we see a deity holding a wand sharply 
bent in the middle and expanded at the end, which 
is not a throw-stick, but is to be regarded as de- 
rived from the Egyptian lotus held by the gods, 
as in figs. 923, 940. | a i a 
39. The Tree of Life or Sacred Tree has been fully discussed in Chapter x1 
and takes various forms there shown. It represents the gifts of life and fortune 
presented to the worshiper, and certainly not the fertilization of the date-palm. 
40. The Rhomb or Oval: ‘This has usually been taken to be what Lenor- 
mant first called it, the xveis, or feminine emblem. But there is no special reason 
for so regarding it and it does not seem to be according to the spirit of the Assyrians, 
with whom we perhaps first find it. It does not appear until after the period of the 
middle Babylonian Empire and probably was introduced from farther to the west. 
It is usual enough in the Syrian art, and perhaps the most probable interpretation 
of it is to identify it with the eye so frequent in Egyp- 
tian symbolism. ‘The attempt to show that the triangle << <= 
was the feminine emblem is supported by no evidence on the cylinders. All that 
can be said is that the capillus pudendi is occasionally drawn by a triangle, as in 
ie 422. For further discussion see Ohnefalsch-Richter, Text, p. 147. 
200 
. The Seven Sibitti: Seven round dots are among the most Qe 
common emblems at a late period, but are not found in the first or @oa® 
middle Babylonian empire. They are called the Seven on the Senjirli a 
relief, and we may perhaps take them to be the seven Igigi; although they have 
