an be taken
to this putting of the claim.

What are the facts in the case? (1) The Babylonians observed in a
peculiar way the seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-eighth
days of the month, that is, the days on which the moon entered a new
phase. They also observed the nineteenth day of the month, which was
the forty-ninth day from the beginning of the preceding month. These
days were considered unlucky days, on which certain actions had to be
avoided, at least by important personages, like the king, {177} priest,
and physician. The prohibition reads: "The shepherd (king) of the
great nations shall not eat roasted nor smoked meat, not change his
garment, not put on white raiment, not offer sacrifice; the king shall
not mount his chariot, as ruler not pronounce judgment; the priest
shall not give oracles in the secret place; the physician shall not lay
his hand on the sick, the day being inauspicious for any affair
whatever." The Babylonians evidently observed these days by at least
partial cessation of work, because nothing would prosper anyway on
those days. In contrast, it may be well to notice that in the Sabbath
observance among the early Hebrews the humanitarian element played a
prominent part. (2) The name _Sha-bat-tu_ has been found in the
inscriptions as an interpretation of the phrase, _um nuh libbi_, which
means, a day for appeasing the heart (of the deity). It would seem,
therefore, that the Babylonian Sabbath was intended to be a day of
atonement or supplication, which might imply cessation of ordinary
labor, especially since the word _Sha-bat-tu_ may be identical in
meaning with _gamaru_, to complete or finish, which leads naturally to
the idea of rest, because the work is completed. (3) There is no
definite evidence that the five days mentioned were called
_Sha-bat-tu_; the name is given rather to the fifteenth day of the
month, which is the day of the full moon.

{178}

In the light of these facts it is not improbable that there is some
connection between the Hebrew Sabbath and certain special days among
the Babylonians; but, as in other cases, the Hebrews have given to the
adopted institution a new significance. Some of the changes introduced
by the Hebrews are: (a) The Hebrews observed every seventh day without
regard for the month or the year. The Babylonians observed the
seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-eighth days of each
month, (b) The motive underlying the observ