Idol of the Avvite colonists planted by Esarhaddon in Samaria (2 Kings 17:31). Worshipped under the form of a donkey (Talmud Bab. Sanhedrin, 63 b.). In Egyptian hieroglyphics the donkey symbolizes Tartak (Plutarch Isaiah and Os. 14). Tartak may be of Persian origin, meaning "the prince of darkness", belonging to the under world or some planet of ill fortune. The Carmanians worshipped Mars with a donkey (2 Kings 17:31). In Ρehlevi tar thakh means "deep darkness", "hero of darkness".