Page:The Chaldean Account of Genesis (1876).djvu/114

 It is quite clear that the dragon of the sea or dragon of Tiamat is connected with the Fall like the serpent in the book of Genesis, and in fact is the equivalent of the serpent. The name of the dragon is not written phonetically, but by two monograms which probably mean the "scaly one," or animal covered with scales. This description, of course, might apply either to a fabulous dragon, a serpent, or a fish.

The only passage where there is any phonetic explanation of the signs is in "Cuneiform Inscriptions," vol. ii. p. 32, l. 9, where we have turbuhtu for the place or den of the dragon, perhaps connected with the Hebrew, sea-monster. The form of this creature as given on the gems is that of a griffin or dragon generally with a head like a carnivorous animal, body covered with scales, legs terminating in claws, like an eagle, and wings on the back. Our own heraldic griffins are so strikingly like the sculptures of this creature that we might almost suspect them to be copies from the Chaldean works. In some cases, however, the early Babylonian seals, which contained devices taken from these legends, more closely approached the Genesis story. One striking and important specimen of early type in the British Museum collection has two figures sitting one on each side of a tree, holding out their hands to the fruit, while at the back of one is stretched a serpent. We know well that in these early sculptures none of these figures were chance devices, but all represented events