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Kohen interprets a Sumeric signet-cylinder found in 1879 by Ernest de Sarzec in the Sumeric town of Lagash. It is the description of an Oedipus scene. A son has caught his parents unaware in sexual intercourse and has killed the father, probably at the instigation of the mother. In connection with this plausible interpretation Kohen discusses the strange institution of the 'sacred murder of the king'. This institution exhibits the same motive wherever the sphere of influence of the Sumeric-Babylonic culture reaches. Kohen continues with other mythological and literary documents including the story of Candaules and Gyges, the story of the Parthian King Phraates IV, South-African findings, and evidence from the North European Bronze Age, to emphasize the universality and timelessness of the Oedipus. The basis of most of the material discussed seems to be the old Mesopotamian myth of Tammuz, and Kohen concludes: 'Our result points to an identity of destiny which makes the Mesopotamian Tammuz comparable to the Greek Oedipus. Like the latter the former was originally a phallic god who was resurrected again and again to fall into sin, and who had to die again and again to atone for the sin. Oedipus, who was recognized by mythological research as a phallic demon, is a parallel figure to Adonis whose phallic nature is evident. But since the myth of Oedipus is nothing but a later elaboration of the old legend of Tammuz, the essential similarity between Tammuz and Oedipus becomes apparent.'