226 A.E. Gardner Porter claimed in 1983 (29) that Mesopotamian Birth Omens influenced Daniel’s description of the four beasts. He investigated the Shumma Izbu (If an Anamoly) which lists physical characteristics of defective human and animal births and what they indicate in terms of future events. He listed the aspects of the four beasts of Daniel and showed possible correspondences in the Shumma Izbu. There is no exact correlation however and so one must conclude that Daniel 7 does not depend directly on this text. Kvanig proposed in 1988 (30) that the vision of Daniel 7 is based upon the Assyrian text VAT 10057 (seventh century B.C.E.) “Vision of the Netherworld”, which in turn was dependant upon “The Death Dream of Enkidu” in The Gilgamesh Epic. There is a certain literary-structural similarity between part of Daniel’s vision and the “Vision of the Netherworld” as indeed there is between Daniel and the Enuma Elish, but there are many discrepancies between the details of each vision as is recognised by Day (31), Lucas (32), Collins (33) and Bryan (34). Ancient Near Eastern Iconography has been cited by numerous scholars as providing the prototypes for each of the four beasts of the vision of Daniel 7. A lion with wings is known from Persepolis (Persia) and from Hittite reliefs. The bear appears in a hunting scene on a Persian cylinder seal and also on a Sumerian plaque from c. 2,500 B.C.E. (35). Three other depictions of bears are known from Nineveh, Elam and Tell Brak (36) although none of them conform to the description of the bear in Dan 7,5. The leopard is depicted frequently in Ancient Near Eastern iconography but no exact match for the bear in Dan 7,6 has been found. None have wings or more than two heads. The fourth beast of Dan 7,7 is not distinguished by any animal features other than horns. The search for an iconographic background has therefore concentrated on them. Morenz (37) showed that horned portraits of the first two Seleucid kings appeared on coins. Staub (38) was able to augment the list of Hellenistic kings who were depicted wearing horns and even tusks emerging from a cap of elephant skin. However, there is no evidence of Seleucid monarchs wearing horns by the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. Further as will (29) P.A. PORTER, Metaphors and Monsters. A Literary-Critical Study of Daniel 7 and 8 (CBOTS 20; Lund 1983). (30) H.S. KVANIG, Roots of Apocalyptic. The Mesopotamian Background of the Enoch Figure and the Son of Man (WMANT 61; Neukirchen 1988). (31) J. DAY, God’s Conflict with the Dragon and the Sea. Echoes of a Canaanite Myth in the Old Testament (Cambridge 1985) 159. (32) LUCAS, “The Sourc”, 169-170. (33) COLLINS, Daniel, 285. (34) D. BRYAN, Cosmos, Chaos And The Kosher Mentality (JSP Supp 12; Sheffield 1995) 224-225. (35) H. JUNKER, H., Untersuchungen über literarische und exegetische Probleme des Buches Daniel (Bonn 1932) 36-40. (36) M. HILZHEIMER, “Bär” Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie, (Berlin – New York 1928) 398-440. (37) S. MORENZ, “Das Tier mit den Hörnen, ein Beitrag zu Dan 7:7f.”, ZAW 63 (1951) 151-153. (38) U. STAUB, “Das Tier mit den Hörnen, ein Beitrag zu Dan 7:7f.”, Hellenismus und Judentum. Vier Studien zu Daniel 7 und zur der Religionsnot unter Antiochus IV (eds. O. KEEL – U. STAUB) (OBO 178; Freiburg – Göttingen 2000) 37-77 (=FrZPhTh 25 [1978] 356-397).