The God Fish, the mystic animal, half man, half fish, which came up from
the Persian gulf to teach astronomy and letters to the first settlers on
the Euphrates and Tigris.
According to Berosus the civilization was brought to Mesopotamia by
_Oannes_ and six other beings, who, like himself, were half man, half
fish, and that they came from the Indian Ocean. We have already seen
that the Mayas of India were not only architects, but also astronomers;
and the symbolic figure of a being half man and half fish seems to
clearly indicate that those who brought civilization to the shores of
the Euphrates and Tigris came in boats.
Hoa-Ana, or Oannes, according to the Maya would mean, he who has his
residence or house on the water. HA, being water; _a_, thy; _ná_, house;
literally, _water thy house_. Canon Rawlison remarks in that
connection: "There are very strong grounds for connecting HEA or Hoa,
with the serpent of the Scripture, and the paradisaical traditions of
the tree of knowledge and the tree of life." As the title of the god of
knowledge and science, _Oannes_, is the lord of the abyss, or of the
great deep, the intelligent fish, one of his emblems being the serpent,
CAN, which occupies so conspicuous a place among the symbols of the gods
on the black stones recording benefactions.