The same fragment gives the celestial names of Merodach for every month of the year， from which it would appear， that the astrologers called him Umun-sig-êa in Nisan (March-April)， Dapinu in Tammuz (June-July)， Nibiru in Tisri (September-October)， ？arru (the star Regulus)， in Tebet (December-January)， etc.The first three are names by which the planet Jupiter was known.
As for the planets and stars， so also for the constellations， which are identified with many gods and divine beings， and probably contain references， in their names and descriptions， to many legends.In the sixth tablet of the Creation-series， it is related of Merodach that， after creating the heavens and the stations for Anu， Bêl， and Ae，"He built firmly the stations of the great gods--Stars their likeness--he set up the /Lumali/， He designated the year， he outlined the (heavenly) forms.
He set for the twelve months three stars each， From the day when the year begins，...for signs."As pointed out by Mr.Robert Brown， jr.， who has made a study of these things， the "three stars" for each month occur on one of the remains of planispheres in the British Museum， and are completed by a tablet which gives them in list-form， in one case with explanations.Until these are properly identified， however， it will be impossible to estimate their real value.The signs of the Zodiac， which are given by another tablet， are of greater interest， as they are the originals of those which are in use at the present time：--Month SignEquivalentNisan (Mar.-Apr.) The LabourerThe Ram Iyyar (Apr.-May)/Mulmula/ and the Bull of heavenThe Bull Sivan (May-June)/Sib-zi-anna/ and the great Twins The Twins Tammuz (June-July) /Allul/ or /Nagar/ The Crab Ab (July.-Aug.) The Lion (or dog) The Lion Elul (Aug.-Sep.)The Ear of corn(？) The ear of Corn (Virgo)Tisri (Sep.-Oct.) The Scales The Scales Marcheswan (Oct.-Nov.) The ScorpionThe Scorpion Chisleu (Nov.-Dec.) /Pa-bil-sag/The Archer Tebet (Dec.-Jan.) /Sahar-ma？/， the Fish-kid The Goat Sebat (Jan.-Feb.) /Gula/ The Water-bearer Adar (Feb.-Mar.)The Water Channel and the Tails The Fishes Parallels in Babylonian legends.
The "bull of heaven" probably refers to some legend such as that of the story of Gilgame？ in his conflict with the goddess I？tar when the divine bull was killed； /Sib-zi-anna/， "the faithful shepherd of heaven，" suggests that this constellation may refer to Tammuz， the divine shepherd； whilst "the scorpion" reminds us of the scorpion-men who guarded the gate of the sun (？ama？)， when Gilgame？ was journeying to gain information concerning his friend Enki-du， who had departed to the place of the dead.Sir Henry Rawlinson many years ago pointed out that the story of the Flood occupied the eleventh tablet of the Gilgame？ series， corresponding with the eleventh sign of the Zodiac， Aquarius， or the Water-bearer.
Other star-names.
Other names of stars or constellations include "the weapon of Merodach's hand，" probably that with which he slew the dragon of Chaos； "the Horse，" which is described as "the god Z？，" Rimmon's storm-bird--Pegasus； "the Serpent，" explained as Ere？-ki-gal， the queen of Hades， who would therefore seem to have been conceived in that form； "the Scorpion，" which is given as /I？hara tantim/， "I？hara of the sea，" a description difficult to explain， unless it refer to her as the goddess of the Ph？nician coast.Many other identifications， exceedingly interesting， await solution.
