COCKS. The cock is preeminently a sun symbol. In western Asia the crowing cock is closely associated with solar rituals; in the ancient Near East it became an integral part of the solar iconography during the second millennium BCE, and the mythology of the "fire cock" has spread widely and survived in the folklore of western Asia. The solar cock is also attested among some of the most primitive peoples of Asia; the Nagas of Assam, for example, believe that the sun is lured out of darkness by the cock's crowing. According to the Miao of southern China, the sun, which hides itself behind the mountain and darkens the whole world, shows itself again with the crowing of a cock. Similarly, Japanese myths tell how Amaterasu, the sun goddess, hides in the heavenly cave but comes out again on hearing the crowing of cocks.

The symbolic importance of...