ess of development which
transformed the old serpent-goddess, 'the lady Nina,' into the
embodiment of all that was hostile to the powers of heaven; but after
all, Nina had sprung from the fish-god of the deep [who also was both
antelope and serpent as well, see p. 282], and Tiamat is herself 'the
deep' in Semitic dress" (p. 283).

"At times Ea was regarded as a gazelle rather than as an antelope." The
position of the name in the list of animals shows what species of animal
must be meant. _Lulim_, "a stag," seems to be a re-duplicated form of
the same word. Both _lulim_ and _elim_ are said to be equivalent to
_sarru_, king (p. 284).

Certain Assyriologists, from whom I asked for enlightenment upon these
philological matters, express some doubt as to the antiquity or to the
reality of the association of the names of Ea and the word for an
antelope, gazelle or stag. But whatever the value of the linguistic
evidence, the archaeological, at any rate as early as the time of
Nebuchadnezzar I, brings both Ea and Marduk into close association with
a strange creature equipped with the horns of an antelope or gazelle.
The association with the antelope of the homologous deities in India and
Egypt leaves the reality of the connexion in no doubt. I had hoped that
Professor Sayce's evidence would have provided some explanation of the
strange association of the antelope. But whether or not the philological
data justify the inferences which Professor Sayce drew from them, there
can be no doubt concerning the correctness of his statement that Ea was
represented both by fish and antelope, for in the course of his
excavations at Susa M. J. de Morgan brought to light representations of
Ea's animal consisting of an antelope's head on the body of a fish.[228]
He also makes the statement that the ideogram of Ea, _turahu-apsu_,
means "antelope of the sea". I have already (p. 88) referred to the fact
that this "antelope of the sea," the so-called "goat-fish," is identical
with the prototype of the dragon.

If his claim that the names of Ea meant both a "fish" and an "antelope"
were well founded, the pun would have solved this problem, as it has
done in the case of many other puzzles in the history of early
civilization. But if this is not the case, the question is still open
for solution. As Set was held to be personified in all the desert
animals, the gazelle was identified with the demon of evil for this
reason. In her important treatise on