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Topography and archaeology, 1878-1879          597

          216               TIIE ISLANDS OF BAHREIN.'


          Nidukki,” in B.M.I. vol. ii. p. 54,1. G6. This name of Inzalc,
          however, is composed of two elements, In, “a Lord,” and
          zak, “the-first or nearest,” a variant of the title, >->-y ^

          TJzak, being thus given in B.M.I. vol. ii. p. 60,1. 30, among the
          titles of Nebo, with the translation of >-JJ ^ >zyyj J^<y

          bit asaridu, or “ Lord, the nearest.” This title of Asaridu
          was probably given to Mercury, because lie was the nearest
          planet to the sun.1 Another Accadian compound for the
          same word asaridu was                   (see Smith’s Alphabet,
          No. 94, 2), and  we  arc fully justified, therefore, in applying

          to Mercury the planetary title of ^yy^Jz
          (B.M.I. vol. ii. p. 49, 1. 42), which has hit lerto been usually
         referred to Saturn ; this identification, again, leads to further
          explanations, for            £^y >->~y (literally “the

          nearest star to the sun ”) is stated to be the samo as
          —y or —y ^yy^fz “ tho dark God,” who is noticed
          in B.M.I. vol. iv. p. 25, 1. 18, as the special God of Nidukki.
          No doubt the title of >->~y ^pyyjjz “tho dark God” (Assyr.
          Ilu zalmi, B.M.I. vol. ii. p. 49,1. 42, and vol. iii. p. 69,1.66), was
          given to Mercury on account of its close propinquity to tho
          sun, the star being, according to the Latin astronomers, “perus-
          tus aut solatus” (and for the same reason Nebo is often styled in
          the Inscriptions >->*-y ^I^^y          or emuk UU, “steeped in
          flame,” and is oven confounded with tho “spirit of fire,”
         ~-y            -yy^, who seems, nevertheless, astronomically
          to have been properly identified with the lightning);2 and

           1  Asaridu, which is given in tho lists ns tho equivalent both of   ^ nud
          ^yy^fz J^y (rend by Lenormnut ns Sag-gis)) usually means ‘ tho first * or
          ‘chief* or ‘oldest,* but ‘nearest* seems to bo also quito n legitimate rendering.
          Tho etymology is unknown, but I coujccturo it to bo tho word from which tho
          Arabs have derived their namoof   A{drul, for Mercury, by substituting
          tho ain for alif, and hardening tho sibilant, ns in )Alhlar for Jstar or Venus,
          Aluvia for Assyria, etc.                  ..................... ... ,
           2  Sco B.M.I. vol. ii. p. GO, 1. 38. Tho most direct identification of Nebo with
          tho Fire God occurs in tho inscription on tho famous tablet which gives tho
          numerical vnluo of tho Assyrian deities, and which, though often quoted, lias
          nover, I boliovo, boon published in extenso. Hero tho Inst God of tho seeped
          division, which must necessarily answer to Nobo, is named ►-^y £-|
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