cuous position among
the symbols of the gods on the black stones recording Babylonian
benefactions. Now these flat black stones are themselves said to
symbolize the female element in the Deity, in contradistinction to the
obelisks, which prefigure the male, while the serpent, for reasons which
have already been explained, appeared for ages in connection with the
figure of a woman. In later inscriptions "king" is everywhere attached
to the name of the God Hea, which fact shows that the titles ascribed
to her were those particularly coveted by royalty. Hence we are not
surprised to find that in an inscription of Sardanapalus, in the British
Museum, there "occurs a remarkable phrase in which the king takes the
titles of Hea."

Among the Assyrian inscriptions appear Bel-Nimrod, Hea, and Nin or
Bar. In view of the facts which have come to light regarding Hea, it is
altogether probable that the triad Bel-Nimrod, Hea, and Nin represent
the trinity as figured by the father, mother, and child. That Nin
was the son or the child of Bel-Nimrod "is constantly asserted in the
inscriptions." He appears also as the son of Hea, yet the fact that
Hea should be represented as a woman, or as the mother of Nin, and the
central figure in the trinity, seems not to have been observed by those
who thus far have been engaged in deciphering these inscriptions. By
representing Hea as male, Nin is made to appear as the offspring of
two fathers while he is left absolutely motherless. To obviate this
difficulty an ingenious attempt has been made to account for his
existence by substituting his own wife as the author of his being.
Although in the numerous accounts which I had read of Hea, in my search
for information concerning her, she had always been designated as male,
still I was satisfied from the descriptions given that originally this
Deity was female. Therefore upon receiving a copy of Forlong's Rivers
of Life and Faiths of Man in All Lands, I was not surprised to find the
following:

"Hoa or Hea, the Hu of our Keltic ancestors, whose symbol was the shield
and the serpent, was worshipped near rivers and lakes, and if possible
on the sea-shore, where were offered to her such emblems as a golden
vessel, boat, coffer, or fish, and she was then named Belat Ili (the
mistress of the Gods)."(76)

76) Vol. ii., p. 94.

She was the Goddess of Water. Of this Forlong says: "Water, perhaps more
than fire, has always been used as a purifier..