Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1884-01-03
BIBLE STUDY.
Opening ~ 'nu WINTER Ictm ot =. n ~.
N"htEr-in" Address Ot tho DCcasiuu
- tni,orCT ThtcaI sutJcct InSost.

- rni,o"cuncai sutjcot in,ost.
go with ropuar intrt'sI
The winter term Of Franklin aud Mar.
Shal college was formally opened, IN the
! presence ui the students aud faculty Of the
several departments Oi tho iystitntiOn, at
10 "a IN to day, The address of tho oca
caStou was delivered by Rev. DR.. F'A
cast OF tie thCOlugichl seminary, aud ho
| improved the occasion u invest with pop.
! ul1r interest one of the branches of his
! department Oi Old Testament study. u,s
address rotated to the progress ot biblical
research IN this century aud especially
| with regard To the Investigations of stu
! Gonts aud explorers amid the sacred scenes
! oi Palestine, tho wild valleys and rocky
! uittS ut Sinai aud tho temples, Obolisks,
aud tomhs OF Egyp', aud tho flood Of
! .l>ht which the monuments OF Assyria aud
! blhyi"nia aSc pouring GA tho pages Of tho
! Old Testament.
DE, Cast briefly skctched the history
aud fate Of Nincych, for 800 years the
| terror Of Western Asia aud tho mistress of
tho world, rival OF Tyro in traffic and
! opuleut with tho spois Of war. Now its
tto IS covered with shapeless mounds OF
Garth and rubbish on tho east bank of tho
| llgIis. From the timo of the fulhllmout
| ~ NAhum,s prophecy of its destruction
| likely COG Il. Cit disappeared from bis
| tory until within the last half century its
site has been Determined. The cuueifoTm
or wedge shaped inscriptions which cover
| It's monuments consist of wedges vertical
horizontal and ubiquo, combined in
| every conceivable manner tD form the
single written sisns Originality It WAS
! picture writing, each CharhJtor represent.
! ing au object IN rude outline, or an ide;. by
\ kind OF symbolism aud two or moro
could bo combined TO represent new
ideas. But very early the picture
| origin OF those signs WAS forgotten,
aud thore grew out of this pic.urG writ,
ing = syllHbary. Each sign came To bo
associated with tho sound Of the word
which is primarily or most usually demo
! ted aud as ut this time tho AccadiAu
| language, in which the earliest inscrip.
| tons were written, had become mainly
mouusylla6ic, the signs were employed
only as idcOgraphs, appealing to the sight
| aud not To tho hearing but in general
the system became syllable The sane
| character might be an ideOgGapy, dCroting
au object or idea, aud at tho samo time
have the phonetic values of particular
! syllable. ludced each sign might have
several idoographic aud phonetic values.
| This Is thai remarkable feature Of the
| Cuuetiurm system called pUlyphony, which
| created such astUnishneut at the time of
! It's discovery aud naturally lCd men to
| doubt the very possibility of ey,r dec-
| phcvtng inscriptions in this strange cJmpl
! Gated whiting.
Without any guide at first TO tell
! WhCthor the inscriptions were real or only
| pIuameutal, IN what language they we're
made or in what direction they were to be
read, within eighty years the science of
| dugiphGring them has So progressed that
| the AssyriO Ogist reads cuueiOrm writing
with Is much ease as the Hebrew scholar
reads a moderately difficult text N the Old
Testament. One of the results of this
great triumph Of modern scholarship has
| been the recovery Of lost languages-the
| ACCadian aud Assyriau, buried for 3 600
| years with their libraries aud literature,
preserved on baked clay tablets, rs many
| rs 10000 of them in a single library. These
| literary treasures are of lnestimable value;
| they include copies of originals dating be
| fore Abraham aud their contents SO far 10.
| covered are three times greater III
extent than the Old Testament Al.
though this science IL yet in
its infancy, the kiuship of the
AssyTlan with tho Hebrew aud the close
historical relations OF these races has en-
ablcd AssyrOlogy b shed light on many q
dark place IN the Old Testament. In spite
OF the exhaustive study devoted % the
| Hebrew many words IN 1t arc as yet of
| very doubtful meaning, especially those
which occur rarely. Hereafter no Hebrew
| dictionary can De written without making
| the fullest use of tho aids afforded by the
| Assytian.
AsSyrlan research has taught Us already
the explanation Oi ma0y personal, official
| and geographical names that many
| words regarded as proper names are only
| 4fl Al hat
sian, Egyptian or Greek origin are Sc
mitic geographical names shrouded in
| daIkuess arc revealed in tho clear light Of
| history the heretofore insoluble dItiicu
| ties and Inconsistencies OF the history Ie.
corded in Kings are largely cleared up, and
! the gradual recovery OF the exact Assyran
| chronology will be of Invaluable service in
settling the Old Testament chronology.
In conclusion, DIR. Cast traced the con
nectiOn between Assyria's monuments and
| the history OF Israel these people came
| into early contact, and as the nam es and
titles OF the Assyrian aud Babylonish
rulers mentioned in the Scriptures are
! found in the cuueifOrm inscriptions, 80
most of the kings of Israel and Judea,
| from Jehu onward, are named in the
annals Of the Assyrian and Babylonian
| kings. An illustration of this interesting
study by comparison WAS given in the
case of SargOn, king of Assyria, named
| in Isaiah TX: |, for tho only time in tho
Scriptures, nor ever mentioned by any
ancient writer, except Isaiah. This
| singular silence was naturally per.
| picking to scholars. But IL is now
| known that Sargoi was the king
who in 722 B. G. succeeded Shalmaneser,
and in 705 b. &. was followed by his son
Sennacherib, and who enjoyed brilliant
Al. - a .I..k L..