Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-04-20

THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADNEzZAE AND OTHER
EINGs-yALUABLE TABLETS DISCOVERED.

| DuDl NuEOuoioSJ.
THE REIGN OF NEBucHADNEzzAE AND OTHER
EINGs-yALUABLE TABLETS DISCOVERED.
Among the effects or the late Mr. George
Smith were several note books, from one OF
which the following valuable and historical
information has been taken MIR. Smith
writes: early last year some Arabs dis
| covered vault and chamber in the ruins of
Babylon, stored with some 5000 cuneiform
| Inscriptions. These inscribed tablets were
cleared out from the earth and divided among
some twenty or more persons engaged in the
search. When found the Tables ARE said to
have been packed in jars something like the
| common water jars of the country, but only
one of these Jars has come to my hand, and
this has few cuneiform characters upon it.
My own impression is that the jar may pos
sibly be antique, but the characters upon it
are forged. This find of tablets was kept
back for some time in hopes that should so
TO Bagdad last year, but when l did not come
letter was written to Sir Henry Ravlinson,
asking him to purchase the collection. As
was about to start for the East, Sir Henry
forwarded the letter to me, with the sugges-
ton that I should purchase the tablets for
the British Museum, and ! received direc-
tions from the Trustees to go to Bagdad on
my way and buy them.
"After left England the plague broke out
at Hillah, and spread to Bagdad and all the
surrounding country, and the people who pos
sessed the tablets fledin different directions. l
stayed in or about Bagdad two months, until
the plague was almost ended, buying from
time to time, part of this collection, and ul-
timately obtained the bulk of the inscrip-
tions. From the terms OF the letter sent to
Sir Horny Rawlinson, we had supposed that
the tablets came from the neighborhood of
the River Hye IA stream connecting the Tig-
ris and Euphrates, J and that they belonged
to the period of the early Chaldean monar-
chy. Such, however, was not the case. On
examining the relics l found that very few
came from this neighborhood. the great ma
jority being sale or contract tablets from
Babylon down to the death of Darius Hys-
taspes. At first | was considerably disap-
pointed at this, for contract tablets are, as
rule, the least interesting of the cuneiform
Inscriptions; but it struck me afterward that,
as these tablets were SO numerous by col
lecting the lot and arranging the dates upon
them ! might make ont the chronology of
the period of the Jewish captivity, which is
at present involved in considerable obscurity.
Historical students are well acquainted
with the numerous questions still unsettled
with respect to this period, such as the date
of the battle of Carchemish and the COM
mencement of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar,
the identity and history of Belshazzar, the
question rs to the existence of Darius the
Mede, and the chronology of the Behistun
inscription of Darius. The new inscriptions
are numerous enough, | believe, to settle all
these points and by unexceptional evidence
namely, by the dates attached to the docu-
ments, which show in each case what king
Al.
written. Most of the tablets are trade re-
cords, belonging to q great mercantile and
banking family, the descendants of n man
named Egibi and the outlines Of the chrono-
logy can easily be made out by noting the
dates when the successive generations took
up the business.
Early in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar,
Sula was the head of the firm, but in the
fifteenth year of Nebuchndnezzar he united
himself with his son, Nabu-abidin. who, in
TIE twenty-fourth year of that monarch, took
the business Nuhuabi-idin continued
through the rest Ot Ike r-ign of Nebuchad-
nezzar the reigns of Evilmerodach, Nergal-
sharezer and until the eleventh year of Ma
bonidas but he united his son with himself
in the eighth year of that monarch; and this
son, ltti-marruduk-bal succeeded him
through the rest of the reign of NabOnidus
and the reigns of Cyrus, Cambyses, and
Bardes, (the Magus) ending i'll the beginning
of the reign of Naditabirus, the usurper,
who called himself Nebuchadnezzar, the son
of Nabonidus. He was succeeded by his son,
Maruduk- -nazir- pal, who began in the first
year of Naditabirus, and continued to the
thirty-iitth year of Darius. With this dnte
the records cease. Other lines of succession
given on the tablets agree with this, and
prove that the order Of the Eabylonian SOW
ereigus, us given in Berosus and tt"lemy's
canon, is quite correct. Irertn thIs be-
cause attempts have been made 10 throw
doubt on this order of succession As nv
Investigations are not concluded | can not
enter into all points involved, but | thought
1t would be interesting to chronologists to
have the first results of the new materials,
leaving n more extended account for future
time. In the first place, the new inscriptions
on all points confirm and prove ptolemy s
dates of the Babylonian Kings. enabling us
also 10 make closer approximation to the
exact dates of accession, for Ptolemy only
indicated tho year, while these tablets enable
us i'll almost all cases to come within fifty
days of the actual day of accession