phis, the Assyrians may have found this motive
repeated a thousand times upon the ivories, the jewels, the various objects
of luxury which Phoenician merchants carried from the ports of the Delta to
distribute over every neighbouring country.[114]

[Illustration: FIG. 18.--The winged globe; from Layard.]

The Assyrians appropriated the emblem in question, sometimes with hardly a
modification upon its Egyptian form (Fig. 18), but more often with an
alteration of some significance. In the centre of the symbol and between
the outspread wings, appears a ring, and, within it, the figure of a man
draped in flowing robes and covered with a tiara. He is upright, in some
cases his right hand is raised as if in prayer, while his left grasps a
strong bow (Fig. 19); in others he is stretching his bow and about to
launch a triple-headed arrow, which can be nothing but a thunderbolt.

[Illustration: FIG. 19.--The winged globe with human figure; from Layard.]

The meaning attached to this plastic group by the Assyrians is made clear
to us by the important place it held in the religious imagery of the Aryans
of Media and Persia. These people, the last born of the ancient Asiatic
world, borrowed nearly the whole of their artistic motives from their
predecessors; they only modified their significance when the difference
between their religious notions and those of the inventors required it.
Now, we find this symbol upon the rocks of Behistan and Persepolis, where,
according to texts the meaning of which is beyond a doubt, it represents
Ahura-Mazda. The name has changed, but we may fairly conclude that the idea
and intention remained the same. Both in Mesopotamia and in Iran this group
was meant to embody the notion of a supreme being, the master of the
universe, the clement and faithful protector of the chosen race by whom his
images were multiplied to infinity.

* * * * *

In this rapid analysis of the beliefs held by the dwellers on the Tigris
and Euphrates, we have made no attempt to discriminate between Chaldaea and
Assyria. To one who looks rather to similarities than to differences, the
two peoples, brothers in blood and language, had, in fact, but one religion
between them. We possess several lists of the Assyrian gods and goddesses,
and when we compare them we find that they differ one from the other both
in the names and numbers of the deities inscribed upon them; but, with the
exception of Ass