The Arguments In favour of the Babylonian origin of the zodiacal signs are even stronger than is stated by Dr. Fotheringham. He says: ‘In our zodiac the place of the Ear of Corn is taken by the Virgin holding the ear of corn. As the Babylonians connected this ear of corn with the goddess Ishtar, the process from the ear to the virgin holding the ear is not very great.’ But (kakkab) Eŝŝim (a word which means ‘ear of corn’ according to Landsberger, Der kultische Kalender der Babylonier und Assyrer, 9–10) is actually represented on a Babylonian tablet as a virgin holding the ear (see Thureau-Dangin in Revue d'Assyriologie, xvi. p. 135). There was not therefore any change in the conception.