THE SCHOLASTIC TRADITION 227 Column ii: This column lists zodiacal signs, beginning with Aries, the first constellation in the zodiac, and continuing through Pisces, the last. Before the break in the tablet, the sequence appears to repeat, but only four lines of this second sequence are preserved. 1n some astronomical texts the signs of the zodiac are listed along with their ordinal equivalences, I to 12 (cf. Neugebauer, ACT 1050). However, in MMA 86.11.364 there is no pattern discernible in the pairing of numerals, all multi­ ples of ten, with their zodiacal signs. Further, the scribe has not employed any presently known association between numerals and these signs. Column iii: The practice of writing divine names with numerical equivalents is well known in the cuneiform corpus. See W. Rollig, "Gotterzahlen," RLA 3 (1957-71), pp. 499-500; and Note 11 above (for the use of numerical equivalents for deities from the Ur III period on see 1. 1. Gelb, Materialsfor the Assyrian Dictionary 2, 2nd ed. [Chicago, 1961], p. 213 n. 275). By the sixteenth century B.C., this practice had become more widespread and is evidenced, e.g., in the inscription on the statue of Idrimi (see G. Oller, The Autobiography of Idrimi: A New Text Edition, with Philolog­ ical and Historical Commentary, Ph.D. diss., University of Pennsylvania [Philadelphia, 1977]). See also CT 25, 50 + CT 46, 50 (K. 170 + Rm 520), a Neo-Assyrian text from the library of NabG-zuqup-kena, which contains a guide to divine names, their numerical equivalents, and a theoretical statement about the nature of those equations. In this text the gods are ordered according to the hierarchy of the pantheon. L1. 6-11 lists the deities with their respective numer­ als: Anu (= 60), Enlil (= 50), Ea (= 40), SIn (= 30), Samas (= 20), and Adad (= 6). The reverse contains additional divine names and numerical equivalents: Bel Marduk (= 10), IStar (= 15), Ninurta (= 50), Nergal and Sakkan (= 11), Gibil and Nuska (= 10). At the beginning of MMA 86.11.364: rev. col. iii, the gods do not appear to be arranged according to the hierarchy of the pantheon. In fact, the first three preserved entries proceed from lesser to greater deity, prior to the introduction of IStar in 1. 5'. In II. 6'-10', the divine names are arranged in descending order of prominence, starting with the head of the pantheon, Anu. The numerals assigned to the first four divine names in this column are the same values given in K. 170 + Rm. 520 (CT 25, 50 + CT 46, 50). Additionally, 11. 6'-10' contain the unusual construction: "MIN, numeral, DN." It is impossible to offer a convincing explanation for the presence of the MIN or ditto sign in this position. Therefore, the alternative suggestion can be made that the two vertical wedges be understood instead as "60 (+) 60," or 120. While this suggestion has the advantage of maintaining the pattern and technique used throughout the present text, the resulting pairings remain unusual and otherwise unattested. Remarks MMA 86.11.364 is an academic or scholarly exercise text. The tablet preserves the most complete exemplar of the number-syllabary texts, in which the signs of sa are paired with numerals. Comparison of the six known exemplars of the number-syllabaries shows that the scribes were consistent in their assignment of a particular numeral to an sa sign (see the table of signs and numerical equivalences in 1. Oelsner, "'Number Syllabaries': Das Keilschrift-Syllabar A mit Zahlwerten," in M. Gorg, ed., Meilenstein: Festgabe fur Herbert Donner. Agypten und Altes Testament: Studien zu Geschichte, Kultur und Religion Agyptens und des Alten Testaments 30 [Wiesbaden, 1995], pp. 154-63; and L. Pearce, "The Number-Syllabary Texts," JAOS 116 [1996], pp. 463-68)..