Note 54 — Chapter VIII

The phrase "the Sea in the East," opposed to the Country of the West, can only mean the Eastern Sea, i.e. the Persian Gulf. It would be more than a fanciful interpretation to take it as implying a maritime expedition in the eastern portion of the Western Sea, as Winckler suggests (see "Orient. Lit.-Zeit.," Nov. 1907, col. 580). The Neo-Babylonian Chronicle, though the tablet on which it is written is later in point of time than the Omen-tablet from Ashur-bani-pal's Library, clearly represents the more original version. There would be no object in amending the Chronicle's text, while its mutilation to fit the Liver-omens would naturally introduce inconsistencies, which it would be tempting to a copyist to correct.