Chapter VII: 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.