The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament; - The Search For ...

30 THE CUNEIFORM INSCBIPTIOKS AND TEE 0. T.
30 the portion of the Syrian desert situated West of the
Euphrates*. The same may be said of the Beddlach
(Bdellium?) mentioned in this passage. On the other hand
the Shoham- stone. (DiitS^n ip^) has been recognized by
Delitzsch with considerable show of probability in the
Assyrio-Babylonian (abnu) sa-am-tuv = s4mtu (masc.
sa-a-mu i. e. sS,mu). According to the law of consonantal
change in Assyrian, recognized by Haupt and Delitzsch, this
may likewise pass into the form sandu**, which may be
satisfactorily proved by the corresponding ideograms to have
some such signification as 'dark'***. In lists of such
stones this is called 'stone of Miluhha' i.e. 'stone of Upper-
Babylonia' (= Akkad) ; see II R. 51, 17a.b; VR. 30, 68 g.
We may infer that it was a precious stone from such pas-
sages as Sanher. Bavian 27; Taylor cylind. 111. 35 &c.
See the evidence cited in Pognon's Inscriptions de Bavian
(1879) p. 61 foil, and Delitzsch 'Wo lag das Paradies' pp.
131 foil. The fact that the corresponding root in Babylonio-
Assyrian exhibits an D (= DuD) , while the corresponding
word in Hebrew has a \^ [= DTt'^) ,
presents no difficulty
since we are not compelled to suppose that the word passed
direct from the Babylonians to the Hebrews. It is quite
as probable that it came to the latter through the Assyrians.
* I am not responsible for the opinion attributed to me by Delitzsch
respecting the extent of land which was held to be included under the
name Chawila; see 'Wo lag das Paradies' p. 59. And the same remai'k
applies to the view with which I am credited elsewhere in that treatise
respecting the situation of Paradise. The ai'ticle referred to, viz. "Eden"
in Eiehm's HandwUrterbuch des biblischen Alterthums (see Delitzsch's
preface to Wo lag das Paradies page X), does not come from my pen
but from that of the Editor.
** See Haupt Sintfluth 1 43 rem. 2; also comp. Keilinschriften und
Geschichtsforschung pp. 140 foil. & IV R. 18 liev. 45.
*** See for example the syllabary II Kawl. 26. 44 foil. e. f.