, 1879-07-31

nhich built The eseat cities Of na
iI,,gsn 1,aeyonnn Ex.,1 plains md originated % 'ho
Semitic succes.ors They were stuntc1 and
oblIaac.eSod ptoplo, aud spoke an aGeluitnat've
langilaGo. Much Of tie literary remains Of
l'abyionla and Aasyrta .as o@rlslnelly @ written in
lonen and Assvrtan after tho conquest Of Chal.
den By tho sen,ities 2,OO0B. q.
II gives us an idea Of the age Of TIM world to
knoW that II, the time Of 8ardanapat'ts anti be-
the Bahylonia,la were students of greater mast,
of a dead iIternturet oB were tho Europeans
Of our fifteenth century,, With Tho fa'f
Of the Accadlan power the la'eunRe By.
works composed in It, especially law asl rcltg-
ton, caused II to liBger on AZ learned dialect,
like Iattn IN The Middle Agns. Ferrous prc.
tending to education must study i ~ VIC study
ticcd in IT. 1t 10 curious fact that 1ate spcc'~
tnens oi this OLD language orc as full Of tnrltB
as "dog g.I.attn" Or Tie Greek excrcses Of our
schools. TO facilitate the study OF tttt tlcnd
books Of Accadtan and As.yrian wcso drawn ,!p,
passages were Written with interltnear translo-
tsons. md sometimes the original is given with
parallel translations IN another colnml. trnb,
these as "pontes." 1,y meana Of thcso helps
our scholars have learned Accadian.
Tile contents OF n f}nbyfonian library, judged
BY th'a Of N'neyoh, which Is largely drawn from
historical aud NEUROLOGICAL DOCUMENTS. rclig-
io,ls records, cgaf, geoRraphcal. astronomical.
and astrological trentisea, poems, gsaslta,ntica!
md a.xteal dlsquisttlons, lists Of stones AMI
eointercat comm III trn,sacons @ s % Of royal proeiama-
tlous, md petitions to the King. On one tablet
IL the pirate will of HeanachcFtb. and On an
other lesson in spelling and pronunciation to
ono OF the rrnccsscs.
The lihrasy Of Niueyo1, is particularly ricli IN
historical Religious, and scientific literature, and
Ia ot the highest tnteFeat to biblical students, ~
well as to tho students OF Creek art md fltcra-
tse From the Ast5san ss'on g q aoarcs
1ssaoltist Kings hns been restored. There Is au-
thorisy hero for rccetfylng tho conflicting nun-
hers In t'e second Book of Kings. The feag.
back further thau 100 Il. .. Ahab vas living IL,
the year sd .. c, whrn he shared the defeat Of
Dcnhsdnd, Of Damascus, BY the Assyrians;
JchU sent tribute to Nlneyeh In bt3 i. T., Uz-
ziah leaEued hlmaclf with Klamath in ~ q: C.,
1i*!atl. r!escs received trouble from slenader!!
IN S37 B. C., and from Abaz In 134 u. G.. md
scnlachertt made bis campaign against uczc-
kah In 7o1 D. G.
Much Of the religious literature consists OF
iorInulas aud exfrctsnIs against evil Ap!rita; but
tht Accalcan Shaninnis1n,- or sorccry, was
tinnlly combined with tic Semitic nature wor-
ship Into great religious system which lastcd
for centuries. It hatl hierarchy Of hundreds
of Qosis, at the head OF which was trinity; and
this passionate movement Of ro1Lgiuus reform
resulted Ia nn outbllrsa of poetry, and 4 Coleec-
tton Of hymns making Chaidcan Bible. which
has been compared to tho Rg.Veia.. Some OF
Ia tho psalms 81 David aud III one or two Of
tho later nlonothcist, takca tue PLACE Of poly"
tl,csm, and all the gods nrc resolved into man
ifcstattoiis Of "onc." 1t is becoming clear ttMt
the germs Of Greek mythology, like thc germs
ylonla uni Assyria. through tho phmnIctans.
III science there Was grfat intellectual nctiytty
among tie Babylonans. Chaidea was tho birth
placo OF astronomy and astrology: the motives
ot t,,c heavenly bodies, and fhe phcnomena
Of lie weather woro' observed md noted from
II very early period; ccllpses Of the sntl and
moon we're predicted, mud the connection oh
served between tho weather aud the changes Of
and tho water-c{ock. and we oUo the s!rns OF
the zodiac md t:le dnys Of the week to the Ac-
cad[ans; probably rude kind Of telescope WAS
knoHn, and Layara found Ut NInerah crYetal
lens; the "spots y ontlle sun age noted. Per-
haps tlc most singular fact recorded fs that the
Hcvcnth.aay Sabbath wns observed atitt kept rs
o dur pf rest and altnCst jewish slrictuesA: the
King on It wSa forbidden to cat cooked fruit Or
meat tco'a Sunday dishes arc 10 aHc!cnt}t to
ehpnEo his clothes Or wenr white robes, to drive
Ills chariot [probably not cvon to mect!ng], 70
~ In 1udgments to review his troops, OF to
Lake iDed!clnc. Thcsg notices arc for the most
part embodied In the work completed for Sar-
Gon OF Agane about 1900 ycars nro! And a
curious modern touch appears IN the catnloguo
Of this work in direction to the student, who
Is told to Hr1te down aud hantl 10 tho librarian
tho number ut tho book he wishes to consult.
No doubt tho Librarians Convention At Boston
cotilu got son,o points from this old catalogue.
The Uabyl0uiaus were superstttiolls, dirIna-
ton nourished like spisltualisn and clatrvoy-
ttOns which still ltngcr with us arc TRACED hack
TO them; tho Aceadan witch rode through tho
atr, on n" bcasn Of wood y instead OF broom
ssrtcs. But, for all that, they wcso ahrewd,
rrap ff11 hpnTfAs law Hnd 11llri81tPt
tho codo Of laws was remarkable for !nllaaess
And justice; tho elayc was protected against Ills
master, aud the women hau their !" rights to
the extent TINT "whatovcr married woman in
punished by 1fno and imprisonment; royal Judges
held court throughout The Kingdom, md nEsa.
ons wore erected In every torn. Taxpayers
we're divided into burghers und asens, mud taxes
were levied for roads anl public bslGkyards.
Tic merchants truden With this East Indians Oh
tile ado aid tile Greeks on the o,ilcr. On thu
west TIC great meeting. g.placo Of merchants was
Carrhamtsh. tl'c Capital q tho lllttttcs, ami
language Of commerce and diplomacy. Houses
wore leased and aold, innds Murtgarcd, and
tnoney lent Mt interest. A decd liated July ~,
d. G. 709. records tic sale OF three Israa!itrs
by a PhMntc!nn, and anotl1cr thu sale u! girl
bF her father nnd brothers 10 au Egyptian lady
VIM wanted u wife for hcr sou. Tho price of
the girl WAS only e g.: but tho penalty Tor
breach OF contract was LOO.
the Babylonlans clunc mors closely to the ugri-
cultural traditions Of the Accadtalls. Irrigation
wns perfectly aYstenattzcd, canals wera nuM,cr-
ous, fields were carefully tended, aud EahYloHia
must have been tho garden Of tho world. Thu
works on agriculture give gltmpses Of country
life; lnnrket gardeners rented ground OF richer
propretors aid pa!d ono-thirl OF the produce:
the flod SONGS Of thu Accad!an oxdr!vers nro
pTrscrscd; the high cultivation and caro- Of tho
lntld ID indicated By the discovery Of survoyora'
plans attached to sales OF land.
These researches orcn wonderful view OF an
extinct civilization by mems Ut libraries which
Abraham illHsclt may have. Consulted In tho
ianu OF bis birth.
The Fish story of tho Season In Pennsylvania.
PAfi9atIphta Hwtietta.
Ono OF the lupst wonderful OF tlIls summers
flsh stortca has Just come down from Uratitord
County, tn this State. Its pccuiiarity is III It's
complex nature. 1t combines two phenomena,
onu nprertatnng to ictilyoogy aud uno To gynsu~
Hoh IT.,