[1271] VR. 61, col. vi. ll. 54, 55.
[1272] Rassam Cylinder, col. iii. l. 40.
[1273] Rassam Cylinder, col. iv. ll. 74-76.
[1274] Ib. col. vi. ll. 70-76.
[1275] Rassam Cylinder, col. iii. l. 64. The favorite mutilation was the cutting off of the head. On one of the sculptured slabs from the palace of Ashurbanabal, a pyramid of heads is portrayed. The cutting off of the hands, the lips, the nose, and the male organ, as well as the flaying of the skin, were also practised. (See Sennacherib's account IR. 42, col. vi. ll. 1-6; Rassam Cylinder (Ashurbanabal), ii. 4 and iv. 136.)
[1276] Rassam Cylinder, col. vii. ll. 46-48.
[1279] Heuzey offers another explanation of the scene which is less plausible. (See De Sarzec, Découvertes en Chaldée, p. 98.)
[1280] Hebrew word Sak. The other rite of mourning among the Hebrews, the putting of earth on the head (e.g., I Sam. iv. 12; II Sam. i. 2 and xv. 32; Neh. ix. 1), is a survival of the method of burial as portrayed in the 'stele of vultures.' The earth was originally placed in a basket on the head and used to cover the dead body.