The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1877-12-16

Cldlty.
erence in value between originals and
copies in such an exchange. In the
course of the inquiries which Ptolemy
made into the literature OF the surround.
ing nations, in his search tor ac-
cessiOns 10 his library, he
heard that the Jews had certain
sacred writings in their temple at Jeru-
salem, comprising minute and extremes
ly interesting history OF their nation
IRON the earliest periods, and also many
other books Of sacred prophecy and
poetry. These books, which were, in
fact, the Hebrew Scriptures of the Old
Testament, were then wholly unknown
to all nations except the Jews, and
among the Jews were known only to
priests and scholars. They were kept
sacred at Jerusalem. The Jews would
have considered them profaned In being
exhibited to the view OF pagan nations.
In fact, the learned men of other nations
would not haye been able to read them,
tor the Jews secluded themselves so
closely from the rest OF mankind that
their language was in that age scarcely
ever heard beyond the confines Of Judea
and Galilee. Ptolemy very naturally
thought that copy of these sacred books
would be great accession 10 his library.
They constituted, in fact, the whole lit
erature of nation, which was In some
respects the most extraordinary that
ever existed on the globe. Ptolemy not
only conceived the idea of adding to his
library copy of these writings In the
original Hebrew, but OF causing trans
| lalion of them to be made into Greek,
SO that they might easily be read by the
Greek and Roman scholars who were
drawn in great numbers to his capital by
the libraries and learned institutions
which he had established there. The
first thing to be effected in ACCOMPLISH
ing either OF these plans was to
obtain the consent of the Jewish
authorities. They would probably OBJ.
ject to giving up any copy OF their sacred
writings at all. There was one clrcum>
stance which led Ptolemy to imagine
that the Jews would be ayerse, at that
time particularly, to granting any re-
quest of such nature coming from an
Egyptian king, and that was that during
certain wars which had taken place IN
previous relgns. considerable number
of prisoners had been taken by the Egypt
ians, and had been brought to Egypt as
captives, where they had been sold to the
inhabitants, and were now scattered oyer
| the land as slaves. The masters Of these
hapless bondmen had bought them OF
the government at the close OF the war
for A consideration, and that fact would
certainly give them just claim towards
the government OF whom they were
bought in case of subsequent manumis>
sion. Ptolemy, or his minister, for it
cannot be determined at this late day who
was the real actor, determined on llber~
ating these slaves and sending them back
to their native land, as a means OF pro-
pitlating the Jews and inclining them to
listen iavorably to the request which he
was about to prefer for a copy Of their
sacred writings, He, however. paid to
those who held the captives avery liberal
sum tor their ransom. According to an'
clent historians, the sum paid for them
as compensation to their owners was six
hundred talents, equal to six hundred
thousand dollars. The Greek talent is
equal in English money to two hundred
and fifty pounds, in American to athou'
sand dollars. The historian further says,
that as large as the sum total seems to
have been the amount paid for each In
diyidual was only about five dollars, and
yet this was only a preliminary expense
to pave the way for the acquisition OF a
single series OF books to add to the vari-
ETY. of the immense collection. After
the liberation and return OF the captives'
Ptolemy sent splendid embassage to
Jerusalem with very respectful letters
to the high priest, and with magnificent
presenls. The ambassadors were re-
ceiyed with the highest honors. The
request of Ptolemy was very readily
granted. The priests caused copies OF oil
the sacred writings to be made. These
) comics were executed in the most magnl'
tlceut style, and were splendldly illumi-
mated with letters of gold. The Jewish
government also, ut Ptolemy's request
) designated company Of Hebrew schol
ars, six from each tribe, men learned II
both the Greek aud Hebrew language, L
proceed to Alexandria, and there. ut thu
museum, to make q careful translation
Of the Hebrew books into Greek. Al
there were twelve tribes, and six trans
. istors chospn from each, there were ~