THE BABYLONIAN “EVIL DAYS” AND THE SHABATTUM

The “evil days” of the months of Elul II and Markheshwan, pp. 223, 224.—Possible explanations of the origin of these days, pp. 224, 225.—The Babylonian lunar month, p. 226.—Determination of the beginning of the month, pp. 226, 227.—Adjustment of septenary divisions to the lunation, pp. 227, 228.—Association of septenary divisions with successive phases of the moon, pp. 228, 229.—The seven-day cycles in Babylonia not true “weeks,” pp. 229, 230.—Special significance attached to the seventh day, pp. 230, 231.—Taboo in Babylonia, pp. 231, 232.—Prohibitions observed on the seventh day, p. 232.—Their connection with primitive taboos, pp. 232-234.—How far the seventh day was marked by a general abstention from labour, pp. 234, 235.—The term _shabattum_, pp. 235, 236.—Various explanations of its meaning, pp. 236-238.—_Shabattum_ applied to the fifteenth day of the month, pp. 238, 239.—Festival observance of new moon and full moon by the Babylonians, pp. 239, 240.—Probable connection of the _shabattum_ with the “evil days,” pp. 240, 241.