Persia

east of the Tigris, [The Akkadian name is Si-nim, “high region,” Babylonian ’"Hiamu. See Isaiah xlix, 12.—Ep; ] Elapatra. Sanskrit. A powerful serpent, hero, or deity, son of Kadru, a daughter of Daksha, and of Kasyapa (the sun): she produced a you sand many-headed snakes. Elburz. The mountain chain N. of Teheran (see Damavand and Elvand), rising 18,600 feet above sea level, with many peaks 10,000 feet high. It was the Persian “world mountain,” Hara-barazaite, or Hala-barjat. ‘ Elektra. Greek. The daughter of Okéanos and Tethus, the “bright one,” wife of Athamas (Tammuz), also a daughter of Iris, the rainbow. She bore Dardanos, and Iason, to Ilios—a sky god; and through grief for the destruction of Troy (Ilion), she was changed into one of the Pleiades. - Eleos. An A then i an god of “ mercy.” Elephant. This revered and royal animal symbolises wisdom in India (see Ganesa), but was not generally worshiped. It was the carrier and symbol of Indra; and Buddha took the form of a white elephant in the womb of Maya, which is the reason why it is sacred in Barmah. The range of the elephant in W. Asia appears to have ‘been considerably wider in earlier ages. Carved ivory figures of elephants are mentioned as offerings even in the reign of Khufu (2nd king of 4th dynasty) in Egypt, and they decorate the coffin of Antef II, About 1580 B.c., Thothmes III hunted 120 wild elephants near Ni (Ninus Vetus), on the Euphrates; and a picture of his reign shows a Syrian leading a young elephant as a present to Egypt. 68