that the thirty stars referred to
"constituted the original Euphratean Lunar Zodiac, the parent of the
seven ancient lunar zodiacs which have come down to us, namely, the
Persian, Sogdian, Khorasmian, Chinese, Indian, Arab, and Coptic
schemes".

The three constellations associated with each month had each a
symbolic significance: they reflected the characters of their months.
At the height of the rainy season, for instance, the month of Ramman,
the thunder god, was presided over by the zodiacal constellation of
the water urn, the northern constellation "Fish of the Canal", and the
southern "the Horse". In India the black horse was sacrificed at
rain-getting and fertility ceremonies. The months of growth,
pestilence, and scorching sun heat were in turn symbolized. The "Great
Bear" was the "chariot" = "Charles's Wain", and the "Milky Way" the
"river of the high cloud", the Celestial Euphrates, as in Egypt it was
the Celestial Nile.

Of special interest among the many problems presented by Babylonian
astronomical lore is the theory of Cosmic periods or Ages of the
Universe. In the Indian, Greek, and Irish mythologies there are four
Ages--the Silvern (white), Golden (yellow), the Bronze (red), and the
Iron (black). As has been already indicated, Mr. R. Brown, jun., shows
that "the Indian system of Yugas, or ages of the world, presents many
features which forcibly remind us of the Euphratean scheme". The
Babylonians had ten antediluvian kings, who were reputed to have
reigned for vast periods, the total of which amounted to 120 saroi, or
432,000 years. These figures at once recall the Indian Maha-yuga of
4,320,000 years = 432,000 x 10. Apparently the Babylonian and Indian
systems of calculation were of common origin. In both countries the
measurements of time and space were arrived at by utilizing the
numerals 10 and 6.

When primitive man began to count he adopted a method which comes
naturally to every schoolboy; he utilized his fingers. Twice five gave
him ten, and from ten he progressed to twenty, and then on to a
hundred and beyond. In making measurements his hands, arms, and feet
were at his service. We are still measuring by feet and yards
(standardized strides) in this country, while those who engage in the
immemorial art of knitting, and, in doing so, repeat designs found on
neolithic pottery, continue to measure in finger breadths, finger
lengths, and hand breadths as did the ancient folks who called an arm
le