[1571] See above, pp. [195], [196].
[1572] See Ashurbanabal Cylinder B, col. v. l. 16 (Keils Bibl. ii. 248; also Meissner, Beiträge zum Altbabylonischen Privatrecht, no. 14, p. 23).
[1573] VR. 61. col. v. l. 51-vi. l. 8.
[1574] See above, pp. [74] and [176].
[1575] Winckler, Zeits. f. Assyr. ii. 155 (col. ii. l. 41).
[1576] One is reminded of the sanctity attaching in the Jewish ritual to the "counting" of the seven weeks intervening between Passover (the old Nisan festival) and Pentecost (an old summer festival). See Deut. xvi. 9. The 33d day of this period has a special significance in the Jewish Church.
[1577] The non-Jewish origin of the Purim festival is generally accepted by critical scholars. Lagarde (Purim—Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Religions) endeavors to trace it back to a Persian fire festival; Zimmern (Zeits. f. Alt. Wiss., 1891, pp. 160 seq.) connects it with the Babylonian Zagmuku. Sayce's supposition (Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch. xix. 280, 281) is not to be taken seriously. The origin of the Jewish feast and fast of Purim is still obscure. The fact that there is both a fast (14th Adar) and a festival (15th Adar) is a safe indication of antiquity. Zimmern's view of a possible relationship between Purim and Zagmuku is untenable, but that there is a connection between Purim and some Babylonian festival follows from the fact that the two chief personages in the Book of Esther—namely, Mordecai and Esther—bear names identical with the two Babylonian deities, Marduk and Ishtar. This cannot be an accident. On the other hand, Haman and Vashti, according to Jensen (Wiener Zeits. f.d. Kunde des Morgenlandes, vi. 70), are Elamitic names of deities corresponding to the Babylonian Marduk and Ishtar. The case for Vashti is not clearly made out by Jensen, but, for all that, it is certain that the Babylonian elements in the institution have been combined with some bits of Persian mythology. The historical setting is the work of the Jewish compiler of the tale, that has of course some historical basis. See now Toy, Esther as a Babylonian Goddess (The New World, vi. 130-145).
[1578] VR. 33, col. v. l. 40.
[1579] Winckler, Die Keilschrifttexte Sargon's, p. 172 and p. xxvi, note.
[1580] E.g., Sargon's Annals, l. 179; Cylinder, l. 20, VR. 33, col. v. l. 40 (nigatu).