The Press.
London, England, 1856-08-16 00:00:00

CUNEIFORM RESEARCH.

He bad learned the value of fifty or sixty letters, which
was but a small proportion of the 350 or 360 letters in
that language. During the last year he had discovered
that there was more important matter to be found in the
old Babylonian records, the language of Nimrod, the Assy-
rians having adopted the old Hamite language. All cunei•
form inquirers had been staggered with the extraordinary
fact that the letters represented a variety of powers—some.
times half a dozen. This difficulty he could now see his
way of overcoming. In all the dibris of the palaces, they
found a number of clay tablets engrossed with inscriptions
—not less than 20,000 to 30,000 of these were in the
British Museum. A certain class of these tablets were
found to be arranged in columns, and he had discovered
that these were text books in the Assyrian, with their
translations in the ancient Chaldean. He had also found
copious vocabularies and grammars. It was obvious that
the Assyrians had paid great attention to philology, as all
their learning was in the old language which was brought
into the country by the people of Nimrod. The difficul-
ties of interpreting arose from the mixture of the Hamite
and the Semitic languages, in the same manner di in
Engl'sh we write the Latin words videlicet, exempli
Am The cuneiform character was originally a picture
character. There were three periods of cuneiform cha-
racter—the Chaldean period, the Assyrian, and the Baby.
loam

SATURDAY,

To show how small facts assist investigation, he might
mention that he had long been acquainted with the names
of two kings, but did not know their relationship, but the
impression of a signet ring received by him that day from
a friend in Bagdad, enabled him to learn that they were
father and son. In Assyrian history we had as yet no anus
of any importance, until we came to Sardanapalus, who
built the N.W. Palace of Nimroud ; and in these records
occur the names of Jehu, King of Israel ; and Hazael,
King of Jndah. We have the full annals of those kings.
He believed that Semiramis was a Median Princess, and
that it was owing to some treachery on her part that Pul
lost the kingdom of Assyria and transferred his residence
to Babylon.

Colonel Rawlinson then read extracts from a cylinder
of Sennacherib to show how those annals agreed with
the records of Scripture, and described the discovery,
in what was supposed to be the remains of the Tower
of Babel, of a cylinder which contained the following
curious inscription :

I am Nabu-kuduri-uzur, King of Babylon, the established go-
vernor, he who pays homage to Merodach, adorer of the Gods,
glorifier of Nabu, the supreme chief, he who cultivates worship
in honour or the Great Gods, the subduer of the disobedient
man, repairer of the temples of Bit Shaggath and Bit-Tzida, the
eldest son of Nabupal-uzur, King of Babylon. Behold now,
Merodach, my great Lord, has established me in strength and
has urged me to repair his buildings. Nabu. the guardian over
the heavens and the earth, has committed to my hands the
sceptre of royalty therefore. Bit•Shaggath, the palace of the
heavens and the earth for Merodach, the supreme chief of the
Gods, and Bit.Kua, the shrine of his divinity, and adorned with
shining gold, I have appointed them. Bit•Tzida also I have
firmly built. With silver and gold and a facing of stone; with
wood of fir, and plane, and pine I have completed it. The build.
ing named the Planisphere, which was the wonder of Babylon, I
have made and finished. With bricks enriched with lapis lazuli
I have exalted its bead. Behold now the building named the
Stages of the Seven Spheres, which was the wonder of Bersippa,
had been built by a former king. He had completed 42 cubits
(of the height) but he did not finish its head. From the lapse of
time it had become ruined ; they had not taken care of the exits
of the waters, so the rain and wet had penetrated into the brick-
work, the casing of burnt brick had bulged out, and the terraces
of crude brick lay scattered in heaps; then Merodach, my great
Lord. inclined my heartto repair the building. I did not change
its site, nor did I destroy its foundation platform, but in a for-
tunate month, and upon an auspicious day, I undertook the re-
building of the crude brick terraces and the burnt brick casing
of the temple. I strengthened its foundation, and I placed a
titular record on the part I had rebuilt. I set my hand to build
it up and to exalt its summit. As it had been in ancient times
so I built up its structure; as it had been in former days, thus
I exalted its head. Nabu, the strengthener of his children, he
who ministers to the Gods, and Merodach, the supporter of so.
vereignty, may they cause this my work to be established for
ever; may it last through the seven ages, and may the stability
of my throne and the antiquity of my empire, secure against
strangers, and triumphant over many foes, continue to the eud
of time.

At the conclusion of Colonel Rawlinson's address
Mr. J. NACMYTEE read a paper to prove the plastic
origin of the cuneiform character, and its relations
to our own alphabet.

Colonel RAWLINSON said he had no doubt whatever
as to the correctness of Mr. Nasmyth's idea as to the
plastic origin of the cuneiform character; but they
had yet to explain why the inhabitants of the banks
of the Euphrates adopted this character to express
their ideas. The cuneiform character was not an
alphabet, but a series of pictures. Although there
was no immediate connection between the English
alphabet and the cuneiform character, he thought
he could show how a particular connection might
have been introduced, and which might have given
rise to the peculiarity referred to by Mr. Nasmyth.
There was a particular Assyrian colony transported
almost to the banks of the Mediterranean, the
Samaritans. The oldest Samaritan character we
have is cuneiform—the Semitic character written
with arrow heads. In deference to the usages of
that colony brought from the Tigris, this peculiarity
of a foot to letters was adopted in Syria. We first
found it used by the Syro•Macedonians ; it was
adopted by the Samaritans, and by them brought
from Syria to Palestine. Great care was bestowed
on the graphic art; the high priest was made the
keeper of the records. Later inscriptions, to prevent
decay, were overlaid with flint varnish, which in one
instance had preserved an inscription of 1,000 lines,
although the limestone on which it was written was
mumbling away. This flint varnish is supposed to
be a modern invention, butit was known to Hystaspes.
Mr. R. H. WALSH, on Tuesday, read an interesting
paper upon " The present Export of Silver to the
East," which this year is proceeding at the enor-
mous rate of over 9,000,0001. per annum. As the
annual production of silver is only 8,000,0001., there
must be some auxiliary fund to meet the demand,
which Mr. Walsh asserted was to be found in the
great cessation of the demand for silver in France
and the United States to the extent of twelve and
four millions worth per annum.
In Section •1, Mr. CLAY read a paper upon "The
late Manufacture of the Large Wrought-Iron Gun
at Liverpool," describing the whole process of menu•
facture, and concluded by expressing his opinion
that, with regard to the crystallisation of iron by
exposure to extreme heat, or from being carelessly
burnt, its fibre might be restored by working, either
under the hammer, or in the rolls.

MR. BESSEMER, on Wednesda3, read a valuable
paper upon