There is much that is interesting to the physician in the “Zend Avesta,” but I cannot present it here. One interesting passage I may quote. Ahura-Mazda is addressed thus: “O Maker of the material world, thou Holy One! If a worshipper of Mazda want to practice the art of healing, on whom shall he first prove his skill? On the worshippers of Mazda, or on the worshippers of the Dævas?”[373] The reply is: “On the worshippers of the Dævas he shall first prove himself.” If on these the surgeon use the knife three times with success, “then is he fit to practice the art of healing for ever and ever.”[374] [Illustration: FIG. 14.—SILIK-MULU-KHI.[375]] SILIK-MULU-KHI, the son of Hea, was a remarkable divinity, of whom I feel it desirable to speak. In him we have one kindly disposed toward man, a special friend of humanity, largely medical in character. What he was has been unveiled, mainly of late, through the decipherment of cuneiform inscriptions. The Babylonians prized him highly.[376] He became assimilated with Mardux,[377] or Marodach, of the Babylono-Assyrians, and Bel, of later times.[378] Space forbids me to give a long account of him. Much can be learned about him _passim_ in the admirable works of M. François Lenormant,[379] and in the “Records of the Past.”[380] Silik-mulu-khi—that is, “He who distributes good among men”[381]—was, as already stated, the son of Hea, to whom he remained subject. He overcame the dragon of the deep, and is spoken of as the Redeemer of mankind, the Restorer of life, and the Raiser from the dead. He took shape among the Accadio-Sumerians. Hea, or Ea,[382] “the master of the eternal secrets,” “the god who presides over theurgical action,” revealed to Silik-mulu-khi “the mysterious rite, the formula, or the all-powerful hidden name which shall thwart the efforts of the most formidable powers of the Abyss.”[383] Like Apollo, he had special medical functions; indeed, Mr. Sayce observes that “he was emphatically the god of healing, who had revealed medicine to mankind.”[384] As the symbol of his office, Silik-mulu-khi carried a reed, which took the place of both the royal sceptre and magic wand, and which was transmitted to the Assyrian Mardux.[385] In a hymn it is said:— “Golden reed, great reed, tall reed of the marshes, sacred bed of the gods, ... I am the messenger of Silik-mulu-khi, who causes all to grow young again.”[386]