, 1875-03-29
LOCAL LETTERS,

LOCAL LETTERS.
THE AnsYELsS DlsCosEnIEs.
| 10 he Eiitor of The Chicago 1,ib'nc:
CHICAGO, March 27.-1 hare read With intercat
your lato account of tho rccent discoveries
| among tho cunelform inscriptions tnkcn frotuth
excavations a. Kouyoun1lk BY tho expedition OF
tho Loudon Telegraph, aud, wlo not disputing
their great Interest and Importance wish to
differ with you as to tho conclusions drawn by
you In your editorial regarding tho origin Of tho
Book Of Gencsls, sloeo conclNs,ons not being
sustained by tho facts. You taEe ground with
Draper, tint the greater part o! tho narrative
portion Of the look Of Genesis is Of Assyriau
origin, being tho Aesyrian version Of tho many
mythical touching tho Crcat!on common
among oil PRIMITIVE peoples: that during tho
Dabylonian captivity undet sLa1mauoscr and
Nobuclladnczzar, lasting during period Of dfty-
Bi1 yca.B, tho Jews became familiar with tho
Aesyrian legends. which, upoi tlcir rotarn to
their own country 'npon tho accession os
Cyrus, they carried with them, aud In.
co1porated with. their national religion.
Tho coinc,dolce bet,soen tho recently-discoyar-
ed Inscriptions a1ld tho Uooi Of Genesis In It,
self proves nothing further than tho moro fact
Tint Gomc time in their respective historcD, tho
Israclitca md AsHyrianB had come into contact
and that ut that time one Of thom lnd received
here wisli to correct tho chronology bY which
you aseign D. C. 100 ~ tho dato At which tho
library Of Sar(lanaraluH was collected. SatdarA-
palus H., tho King In question: WAS the last King
of Aaavte. and tho beBt authorities, lsawllnBon,
LayaTd. etc., FIX tho dato Of hiB fall between u.
D. G25 anl COS. This difference OF dates makes a
mnteriht difference ct result, As at that time ton
Of tho 1sEaclitinh tribes, those known as tlie
1sraelites In distinction to thure OF tho JoMB,
Ind been III years IN captivity, distributed
throughout the ontIIe Kingdom. These records
had therefore 1t that time been tho joint posscy-
sion Of boil, 1sraclites aud hsaytlans for lit
years. and thero is nothing to show exclusive
posAcBson on the part of tho ARsyI,aus prior to
that time, and tho presu1nptiye evidence
ecoms to bs ngntnst ouch conclusion AZ shall
sl,ow. Tho h!stoE! of tho Jows from tho time Of
the Exodus IL toicrab}y cortatn, aa also their
Iigious beliof, which, however derived WAS first
formuI atod and strictly defined BY htoBos l,4o0
i. 9. Their religion differed totally from TINT
OF nil othor religions, By isa peculiar feature Of
monotheetn-by its iars Of one God, omnino-
tent, omuiscicnt, imn,utahlc. tho Croa.or OF ali
things. Tho formulation OF their rolislon WAS
complete and thorough; thore were 70 ambiGui-
tics, no uncertainties, but MI TAB s'Thua saith
the Lord" aud the pcrvadtng idea was tho powor
md might Of tho Lord, tho all-petrading oinnip-
otencn. Whatever dispute th0re may bo regard
Ing tho facs narrated prior 10 tho Exodus. thero
is dispute to te fac! that tho 1sracsites did
lcayo Egypt, that thoir Government became q
puro theocracy, tho laws OF which Wcrc rigidly
AQlluG1 hslu LltAE 1OI NV YGAEU knOH3 lAHR were
ecrupulouay preserved intact by lilo priests, and
In tho main, rigid]y obcyca by tho people. Aud
thosn 1awa La4 for centtsl idea tic illca OF ono
God, tho Lord OF tho uniYerae, alo Ctentor ind
givcr Of all things.
uoYo we have Two salient facsa, rteilIy-doaued
Laws on tho ono hand, and Ateadtaht observance
Of those laws on tho other. This notwitll-
standing tint thoy lad many times been brought
into intimate oonsact with many Of tho healllen
religions, from assimilation With which tIoy had
ccTrr1t10t,aip r,d III
period came the invasion of Shaimancacr, by
whom tho greater portion Of tho Inhabitants OF
tho Kingdom Of Israel were carried into captivity.
Tho captlrca "ero woll treasoa, ant gsalualI, be-
and custonH and perhaps also In religious belioE
One hundred End thirty four yaars !atar, Nub-
uchIdnczzar made another irruptIou into Canaan,
aud carried OF the tEibo of Judah TO Babylon.
unllke tl.clr breshfen Of tho ten tsibos, tho
Jutteaus not eepat ated from each other, but
were treated IN all respects NJ AsSyriAas they
wore permitted to lire bY fames. .were goyerunl
according to the Mosaic law, lsd their own chief,
aud WeIo allowed FREQ oxorcisc OF tLoir owu re-
ligion.
iro now como to the question uhet!ler tic
Jowa adopted tho Assyrian account, or vice
versa. Tho peculiar claractcr1sticI oT the JoW-
isl, religion. ttn foundation III tnonothetau,, with
tho necessarily accompanying Ideas Of auurenlo
to hago been possessed md maintained EIth
great tcnacity amidst all vicisAltudes By tllo
Jldoans until tue Tabylonish captivity, period
Of upwards Of 500 yoarn. They rcmaincd In
90 years. NOT long enough for . great many OF
the.n 10 forget their nat1yo coutstry.-and during
that time they weFo not subjected to any lntltl-
ouoea which might lead them to abandon OF cor
rrnpt tho religion Of their fathers. That they
did not abandon It, but that. OH tho contrary,
tho national religious fcc'ing remained strong,
ne liayo abundant proof from aho sacrcl
writings OF that porsod, and the fact That, Oh tho