Page 270 - Records of Bahrain (2)(ii)_Neat

I

596 Records of Bahrain

THE ISLANDS OF BAHREIN. 215

uppor,” in contradistinction to Magan, “ tlio lower.”1 At what­
ever prcciso spot this port may have been situated, it was no
doubt from the very earliest times the emporium of Indian
commerce, and on this account attracted the navies of
Solomon, the articles with which his ships were loaded being,
as is well known, Indian both in name and character. The
sister port of Magan seems to have given its name to the
God who was worshipped there, and who was either “the
Sun,” or his attendant Mercury, and the God’s name
^iyy FIT rausk in later times have applied
to the port itself, for Mar/ivSdva is laid down in Ptolemy’s
chart, which was taken from the Roman traders of the time,
at the entrance of the Sinus Gcrraicus, where is now found
the village of Dhclura, answering to the Dhcldma of the
Arab geographers.2 It is only necessary to state further, in
reference to Nidukld or Tilmun, that its identification with
Bahrein is further shown by the well-known passage in the
annals of the younger Sargon, where the submission is
described of Hupir, the king of the islands, who dwelt like a
fish in the sea, at the distance of 30 kasjm or “ double hours ”
(equal to about 210 English miles) from the mouth of tho
Euphrates, a measurement which is strictly accurate.
To return, now, to the mythological part of the subject,
the identification of the God Inzak is of great interest. On
Capt. Durand’s stone the name is written >->~y yy

with which we must compare the form >->-y >-JJ ^F^
given as the equivalent of >~>~y £^yIJJ^- “Nebo of

1 Tho augment of locality is found in many of tho old Accndinn names, such
os Asnuuak., /SurippaJc, Susinak, Apirak, etc. It is probably a relic of hi
‘ plftco.’ Sayco has shown some reason for reparding Apir} tho vernacular namo
oi Susiana, ns a synonym of Minima or Mam ‘ upper ’ (Jouru. Bib. Arch. vol. iii.
p. 4G8), and Mayan is certainly used in B.M.I. vol. iv. p. 13,1. 1G, for * lower,*
in contradistinction to clili or * upper.’
2 I used to consider all tho names in tho fragment, B.M.I. vol. iii. p. G9, lines
63-68, from Milra to JJischaf as titles for tho ‘sun,’ and I then supposed
Mayanda-anna to bo tho same as ina isid same ‘ in tho lowor part of heaven,’ an
epithet constantly applied to tho sun (B.M.I. vol. iv. p. 28, 1. 26, and Bib. Arch,
vol. v. p. 438 and vol. vi. p. 383); but it seemed impossible that ‘ the dark God,’
Ilu zalam, which is used for tho shadow of the sun in B.M.I. vol. i. p. 18,1. 44,
could also represent tho sun itself j and I prefer, thoroforo, now referring all tho
names, oxcluding Biseba, to Morcury. I may add that tho titlo of ‘ tho dusky
God.’ very possibly survives in tho modern village of Dhclum.