Demoine courier., 1855-10-25

D~iseoytries By he French Consulate
moral Of antiquities 10 Eance--
Colonel R~aniinSCn's Discoveries in
BaJyfnia and .7s,yrif.
BEInur. SYRIA, July 80, 1885.
In my last communication referred
TO the generous Efforts Of The American
missionaries to place valuable NOM.
meu,s OF ancient Nineveh in the cabinets
of several New England Colleges. |.
is to be hoped every College IN the Uni.
IN NAV ultimately possess more or less
specimens Of these dlsintcrreG treasures;
for what nigh, be sacrl'egs at Rome, at
Athens. jerusalem, Bethlehem, IS no
sacrilere here, where order and beauty
are moi impaired. and ,he,c are no eyes
to admire. or in,elIects to appreciate
them. The sutject thus introduced is
suggestive of other matters Of ln,eres.
c INJECTED with these almvs, miraculous
discoveries. aud instructive as well as
z ganiic relies.
Col. Rawiinscn, who had expected 10
receive the appointment of Minister To-
The Court Of Persia. by reason OF his long
residence IN the Eas, and intIf tate &C
qualuiance with Persian manhers end
politics. having been disappointed by the
recent appointment o. anuilIer end lnie
rior man, has Indignantly thrown up his
oin mission as Consul a, Bigdad; and
taking with Tim his valuable collection
o. an iqaities. which he has been many
years IN accommodating. is on his way To
Eagiand, if indeed be has noi already ar
n,eI there. L, Will be deposited IN the
British Museum, which has 50 long been
enriched by the public pride and private
abeTslity,
Col. Rawlinson being in B imbay or
his way home in the monih OF April LAST,
Inhibited to an Antiquarian Society
there, tie rare collection which he had
Obtained, and which. ~iasseat, Of being
confined 10 one locality, were gathered
from Chaldea. AssyrFa. and Babylonia.
fiie antiquities were affangee IN three
classes. aud designed 10 illus,fate three
different neriods OF history.
The most anr;ent class was Chaidsan.
consisting az relics found at The rritnsAve
caplials of Southern chaldsa, whi-ts are
now reprcse med by ruins Of Nogheir,
tn Ug Of lie CIfsi!ees; Of ~ arka, the
Ertvtt a GeAesls; OF Sen htfeh, the
E.Far IL Genesis. and 1T NiVef the
Accad OF Genesis; and from the neigh
boring i0ceiiii.s Afnepg the ancient
relics arc sgampsm The cuieifo M leg
ends or 10 wedge like, OF arrow headed
characters. impressed on the bricks OF
the a aces and temples; and alSo a nnin-
DER OF concs Of baked clay covered with
in srriptions. together with a small tablet
nf slack marble. hearing a well pfesery
ell inscription IN tie anrient sacred cha
racirr. Col. Rawl!nson believed and
slowed llai these mGnumenis Belonged
10 The tssicd between the thirteenth ard
.wceniisrh century seloro Christ; The de
ia led prcof Of which this is no, the place
to e;ye. Bot Col Rawlinsou stated,
that though The names OF the Cha'dean
kttgs unknown IN history. a lis, OF about
tveaty had been obtained from the ,n;ns
II the Inwer Tigris and Eupiiaian.s;
while hs entertained hope. that as lie
! Gla'trials accumulated. all the names
| nigh, BE- classified and CONNECT, finer
in b genealogical series, atlcas' IN = dy
naslpal succession.
IL. The second class Of relics for the
mos, part consisted oil tablets Of terra
! cola. and belonged 10 the tssyrian per,
cd, which extendended from The ihir
teenih censurv before Ctris.down 10 the
capture Of NineYeh, abou, 62S years be.
fore Chris.. TO this period belong all
those specimens Of Assytian arr, which
have been disin,cred, and created 40 in
tense an interest throughout the Civilized
world. Previous 10 the long period
when Chaidea was the leading Eastern
power, evidence is furnished that Assy.
ria occupied a very inferior position A
vas, amount Of information has been fur
| nislied by The monuments OF Ninerehi
as every one who has read Layard and
other writer's; and more recent discover
les hare made a great addition Of import
AMI historical facts. The most valuable
relics al Ni.eyeh, 70 the ~;ntgnieui Of
/ Col. Raulinson. where the Ia blets OF
baked clay. Of which the incredible mum
Der Of 10000 had already been exhum
ed, all OF which were Inscribed or written
over with Assy,ian characters. and in
fact constitute the royal library Of Nine.
veh. They embraced every branch Of
science known to the a%ncien, Assyrians,
and were Of special value in aIording
assistance in explaining the Assvrian
system Of writing. Sill the work OF
decy pherlng had proceeded slowly; bus
when the 10000 tablets shall he trans
ia,ed. i, cannotb be imagined whatinteresi.
ing disclosures will be made in science
and history. Col. Rawlinson presented
a mass Of fac.s and statements, which
doubtless he will expand into a volume
when he shall be settled down in Eng
land.
III. Tie most interesting par, Of
Col. Raylinson's discourse related 10
discoveries he himself had made the las,
Autumn. and Of which no report had
been made TO the public. A remarkable
ruin named Birs Nimrud, situated on a
mound in the vicinity Of ancient Baby