416 SEAL CYLINDERS OF WESTERN ASIA. 
The Zebu (Bos indicus) has the horns turned back and a hump on the shoulders. 
It is a somewhat smaller species of the ox family. It does not appear in Babylonian 
or Assyrian art until a rather late period, probably not earlier than 1000 B.C., 
perhaps somewhat later. A tablet once in my possession had on one side the con- 
tract for the sale of an alpu, or ox, and on the other side the scratched figure of 
this humped ox. More definitely the humped ox was alpu sumu’u. For perhaps 
the older examples, see figs. 459, 461, 930. ‘There is a picture of an alpu head, 
named, in Scheil’s “Recueil de Signes Archaiques,”’ 1898, p. 11. 
The Zion was well known and was found everywhere, in low lands and high. 
He still infests the Chaldean wilds, haunting the occasional thickets. He is power- 
fully and realistically conceived, usually as conquered by Gilgamesh, who lifts him 
by a hind leg, or tosses him over his shoulder, or swings him on his back, or breaks 
his back over his knee. On his part the lion attacks buffaloes, bulls, ibexes, or 
other animals. In the later Hittite art he becomes simply a heraldic emblem. 
The lion is the emblem of Ishtar, who stands often on one lion, occasionally on two, 
or has the lion figured on her throne. The lion’s head is given to composite animals, 
as the eagle of Lagash and the representations of Tiamat and the evil spirits. In 
the Persian art the lion is preéminent, being attacked by the god, and the lion is the 
present emblem of Persia and many other countries. On a Hittite seal a bull tosses 
a lion. The early drawing of the lion is crude, as seen in Chapter vit. 
The Leopard occasionally appears on the more archaic cylinders, very rarely 
on those of a later period. He is one of the animals engaged in conflict by Gil- 
gamesh and Eabani and is easily recognized by his lack of a mane and his spots. 
Examples of the leopard on archaic cylinders are to be seen in figs. 179, 195, 196. 
For later examples see figs. 702, 751. 
The Oryx (Oryx leucoryx) is one of the largest of the ruminants, next after the 
Bovidz. It is a powerful animal, about the size of the elk, and is remarkable for 
its long tail. Its horns are very long and reach over the shoulders and the back. 
It inhabits hills and forests. It rarely is seen in the older cylinders and is one of 
the animals with which Gilgamesh and Eabani fight. Examples appear in figs. 
58, 66, 67, 68. ‘The oryx may be the Sumerian alim, which is also a Sumerian name 
for Bel, and is translated kaptu, great, honorable. ‘The Semitic for alim, oryx, 
is ditanu, which seems to be the powerful animal of Bel (Pinches). 
The Mountain Sheep (Outs tragelaphus) seems to be occasionally represented 
on the cylinders. It will be recognized by its divergent, curved, spreading horns. 
See figs. 60, 170, 174, 380, 1069. 
The Ibex or Ture (Capra caucasica) may be confounded, from the shape of 
its horns, with the mountain sheep; but it has a beard (see figs. 56, 1075), which 
neither the sheep nor the oryx has. The Babylonian word for the ibex Ys shapuru, 
goat of the mountains. ‘There is another wild goat of the mountains known as 
the Capra egagrus, which has very long horns reaching over its back. Examples 
seem to be figs. 57, 63, 66, 94, 484, 490, 1067. The ibex was also perhaps ayalum 
in Babylonian, Hebrew ayal. The Sumerian is si-mul, which means star-horn 
or bright-horn. Delitzsch makes it the stag, but the stag’s horns are not shiny. 
The Assyrian turakhu is translated steinbock by Delitzsch. It is one of the names 
of Ka (W. A. L, 1v, plate 25, 1.40) and forms part of four other names of Ea (zb., 
II, plate 55). Na-a-lu is translated hind by Delitzsch, and armu is made the chamots. 
