him and thus to keep him, as it were, in good humor.
What better means of accomplishing this than to have the record of his
deeds constantly before one's eyes? The British Museum contains two
specimens of tablets on which a portion of the Dibbarra legend is
inscribed, and which are pierced with holes in a manner as to leave no
doubt[1065] that the tablets were intended to be hung up in houses with
a view of securing protection from Dibbarra and his associates. The
reference in the closing lines of the story:

The house where this tablet is set up,

thus becomes clear. As the Hebrews were commanded, in order to secure
the protection of Yahwe, to write his law

On the doorposts of the house,[1066]

so the Babylonians were instructed by their priests to hang tablets in
their homes--probably at the entrance--on which Dibbarra was glorified.
Naturally, it was impossible to inscribe the whole story on a little
tablet, just as it was impossible to place the entire law of Yahwe on
the doorposts. In both cases a significant extract served as a part,
representative of the whole. In the case of the Dibbarra legend, the
closing portion was selected, which emphasized the necessity of keeping
the deeds of Dibbarra and the greatness of his power in mind. Like the
Gilgamesh epic, so the Dibbarra legend was to be taught by the father to
his son. The scribes were enjoined to teach the story to the people. The
poets were to make it the subject of their songs, and kings and nobles
were not exempt from the obligation to listen to the tale.

The Myth of the Storm-God Zu.

Birds and bulls were to the Babylonians the symbols of storms and
clouds. In the Gilgamesh epic, it will be recalled, Anu sends a divine
bull to engage in a contest with Gilgamesh.[1067] The text of the epic
being unfortunately defective, we have no definite indication of the
character of the attack to be made upon the hero by the messenger from
the god of heaven; but since storms and disease are the two chief
weapons in the hands of the gods, and inasmuch as Gilgamesh in a later
section of the epic is struck down by disease, it is more than likely
that the bull represents a storm that is to sweep the hero and his
companion off the earth. The winged bulls placed at the entrance of
palaces embody the same idea, and in addition to the explanation for
these fantastic figures above[1068] suggested, it is noteworthy that the
two types of animals chosen for this symb