SOURCE: "The Song of Songs and Tamil Poetry," in Studies in Religion, Vol. 3, No. 3, 1973/74, pp. 205-19.

In the following essay, Rabin explores the connections between the Songs of Songs and Indian—specifically Tamil—poetry.

1. Monkeys And Peacocks

Letters written by Mesopotamian merchants between 2200 and 1900 B.C. often mention the country of Melukkha with which they traded. The late Benno Landsberger conclusively proved that this was Northwest India, where at that time the Indus civilization was flourishing.

In various places in Mesopotamia a few dozen of the typical Indus culture seals have been found, with pictures representing, as usual, religious motifs. Some appear to be local imitations. Motifs common to the Indus civilization and to Sumero-Akkadian culture have been pointed out, including some occurring on the seals found in Mesopotamia. It is therefore probable that such objects were brought in not as knicknacks, but because of their religious symbolism...