1. There are in the British Museum several fragments of Neo-Babylonian
copies of the Seven Tablets of Creation, the exact position of which is
at present uncertain. One of these (S. 2013) is of some importance
because it speaks of one object which was in the "upper Tiamat", and of
another which was in the "lower Tiamat". This shows that the Babylonians
thought that one half of the body of Tiamat, which was split up by
Marduk, was made into the celestial ocean, and the other half into the
terrestrial ocean, in other words, into "the waters that were above" and
"the waters that were beneath" the firmament respectively.
2. When George Smith published his _Chaldean Account of Genesis_
in 1876, he was of opinion that the Creation Tablets in the British
Museum contained descriptions of the Temptation of Eve by the serpent
and of the building and overthrow of the Tower of Babel. The
description of Paradise in Genesis ii seems to show traces of
Babylonian influence, and the cylinder seal, Brit. Mus. No. 89,326,
was thought to be proof that a Babylonian legend of the Temptation
existed. In fact, George Smith printed a copy of the seal in his book
(p. 91). But it is now known that the tablet which was believed to
refer to man's eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge (K. 3, 473
+ 79-7-8, 296 + R. 615) describes the banquet of the gods to which
they invited Marduk. In like manner the text on K. 3657, which Smith
thought referred to the Tower of Babel, is now known to contain no
mention of a tower or building of any sort. It was also thought by him
that K. 3364 contained a set of instructions which God gave to Adam
and Eve after their creation, but it is now known and admitted by all
Assyriologists that the text on this tablet contains moral precepts
and has nothing to do with the Creation Series. Enquiries are from
time to time made at the Museum for tablets which deal with the
Temptation of Eve, and the destruction of the Tower of Babel, and the
Divine commands to Adam and Eve; it is perhaps not superfluous to say
that nothing of the kind exists.
LIST OF THE NAMES OF THE STARS OR SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC, WITH A LIST
SHOWING THE MONTH THAT WAS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH STAR IN THE PERSIAN
PERIOD.
BY SIDNEY SMITH, M.A., and C.J. GADD, M.A., Assistants in the Department.
No. 77,821 (85-4-30, 15).
Determinative Modern
Month. of Star. Name of the Sign of the Zodiac. Equivalent
[Cuneiform] Goat.
[Cuneiform] Bull.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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