zodiac were developed, so too may have been the
germs of the Yuga doctrine, which appears to have a long history.
Greece, on the other hand, came under the influence of Babylon at a
much later period. In Egypt Ra, the sun god, was an antediluvian king,
and he was followed by Osiris. Osiris was slain by Set, who was
depicted sometimes red and sometimes black. There was also a Horus
Age.

The Irish system of ages suggests an early cultural drift into Europe,
through Asia Minor, and along the uplands occupied by the
representatives of the Alpine or Armenoid peoples who have been traced
from Hindu Kush to Brittany. The culture of Gaul resembles that of
India in certain particulars; both the Gauls and the post-Vedic
Aryans, for instance, believed in the doctrine of Transmigration of
Souls, and practised "suttee". After the Roman occupation of Gaul,
Ireland appears to have been the refuge of Gaulish scholars, who
imported their beliefs and traditions and laid the foundations of that
brilliant culture which shed lustre on the Green Isle in late Pagan
and early Christian times.

The part played by the Mitanni people of Aryan speech in distributing
Asiatic culture throughout Europe may have been considerable, but we
know little or nothing regarding their movements and influence, nor
has sufficient evidence been forthcoming to connect them with the
cremating invaders of the Bronze Age, who penetrated as far as
northern Scotland and Scandinavia. On the other hand it is certain
that the Hittites adopted the planetary system of Babylonia and passed
it on to Europeans, including the Greeks. The five planets Ninip,
Merodach, Nergal, Ishtar, and Nebo were called by the Greeks after
their gods Kronos, Zeus, Ares, Aphrodite, and Hermes, and by the
Romans Saturnus, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercurius. It must be
recognized, however, that these equations were somewhat arbitrary.
Ninip resembled Kronos and Saturnus as a father, but he was also at
the same time a son; he was the Egyptian Horus the elder and Horus the
younger in one. Merodach was similarly of complex character--a
combination of Ea, Anu, Enlil, and Tammuz, who acquired, when exalted
by the Amoritic Dynasty of Babylon, the attributes of the thunder god
Adad-Ramman in the form of Amurru, "lord of the mountains". During the
Hammurabi Age Amurru was significantly popular in personal names. It
is as Amurru-Ramman that Merodach bears comparison with Zeus. He also
links with Hercu