Transcription. Translation. Sipar, D.S. Sippara. Sipar Edina, D.S. Sippara of Eden. Sipar uldua, D.S. Sippara the everlasting. Sipar Šamaš, D.S. Sippara of the Sun-god. Here at last was the word Eden used as a geographical name, showing that the explanation of Delitzsch was not only plausible, but also, in all probability, true in substance and in fact. Less satisfactory, however, were the learned Professor’s identifications of the rivers of Eden, for he regards the Pishon and the Gihon as canals—the former being the Pallacopas (the Pallukatu of the Babylonian inscriptions), and the latter the Guḫandê (also called the Araḫtu, now identified with a large canal running through Babylon). He conjectured that it might be the waterway known as the Shatt en-Nîl. Whatever doubt, however, attaches to his identifications of the rivers, he seems certainly to be right with regard to the Biblical Eden, and this is a decided gain, for it locates the position of that district beyond a doubt. To Prof. Sayce belongs the honour of identifying the Babylonian story of the nature and position of Paradise as they conceived it, and here we have another example of the important details that the incantation-tablets may contain concerning beliefs not otherwise preserved to us, for the text in question, like the bilingual story of the Creation, is simply an introduction to a text of that nature. This interesting record, to which I have been able to add a few additional words since Prof. Sayce first gave his translation of it to the world, is as follows— “Incantation: ‘(In) Êridu a dark vine grew, it was made in a glorious place, Its appearance (as) lapis-lazuli, planted beside the Abyss, Which is Ae’s path, filling Êridu with fertility. Its seat is the (central) point of the earth, Its dwelling is the couch of Nammu. In the glorious house, which is like a forest, its shadow extends, No man enters its midst. In its interior is the Sun-god Tammuz. Between the mouths of the rivers (which are) on both sides.’ ” The lines which follow show how this plant, which was a miraculous remedy, was to be used in the cure of a sick man. It was to be placed upon his head, and beneficent spirits would then come and stay with him, whilst the evil ones would stand aside.