Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-04-08
language, history, and literature oil this
hitherto forgotten nation.

language, history, and nteraturc VI Wis
hitherto forgotten nation.
A FEW RESULTS.
I can only ask sufficient space to men,
ton briefly few results for which we
are indebted to these arduous and heroio
toilers in the field OF knowledge.
]. The first has already been sug-
pested. These scholarly discoveries are
fast giving us a Trustworthy history OF the
Assyrian people. The day approaches
when. concerning that nation of which
hitherto we have known next to nothing,
we shall know more than is known OF any
other ancient nation. How this happens
is easily explained. Each king was
careful to write upon the walls OF his
palace the story OF his reign. His bat
ties and other honorable events were
represented by elaborate engravings,
while underneath them we're written such
explanations as were needed for their
full understanding. Assyrian kings were
very minute 10 describing Conflicts in
which they were victorious, but not 50
fond of delineating those struggles in
which fortune turned against them.
In some Of the buried palaces have
been discovered immense libraries. In
the royal library of Nineveh there were
found over 10000 tablets. As fact,
each important city had its public
library. These odda ponderous tablets
contain treatises on religion, politics,
philosophy, mathematics. astronomy,
medicine. commerce, &c. One tablet
contained an account OF bank
ing establishment, and another was
found upon which the librarian had IN
scribed his rules for the management of
the library. One can easily picture an
Assyrian, of literary taste, hauling to his
house pile of these inscribed slabs,
CARLOAD Of which would hardly have
furnished him enough matter for SIN
gle days reading
,. Another result of these discoveries
is the better acquaintance which we are
enabled to gain with other important
matters in ancient history. Until re-
Gently, Egypt claimed to be the Oldest
country in the world, but now Assyrian
history plucks the laurel from her brow.
"Chaldea points to a monumentally-
recorded date nearly 1000 years before
Christ" This knocks the black out OF
Egypt
BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY.
The reader will readily understand
that Bible chronology does not claim in
any sense to be inspired, and it is not IT.
reverent to say that it can hardly be &C
cepted as altogether Trustworthy. Many
dark points as to dates have already been
cleared up 10y Assyrisn history. +. HON.
mel. an astute srcheolosist. furnishes
convincing proof that the Babvlonian
incautatious date back to 5000 years be-
fore Christ.
3. Another interesting outcome Of
these discoveries in Assyria Is the help
which is furnished in the department of
Comparative Philology. This IS pre-
eminently true so far as the Semitic Ian
guages are concerned. Hebraistic stu
dents are not slow to confess the assist
ance which they have derived from this
lately revived language. Hebrew and
Assyrian are sister languages OF the
great Semitic family, and a thorough I'M
derstanding of one is impossible without
a knowledge OF the other. Indeed the re-
semblance between the two languages IS
so marked that it has been suggested,
though bv no means proved, that they
are simply dialects of the same tongue,
BE this as it may, Assyrian is invaluable
in the study of Hebrew.
4. But by far the most significant re-
suit flowing from these new discoveries
is the light thrown upon Old Testament
history. The ordinary student will be
surprised in reading the old Bible to no.
tice how often the Assyrisns are men
toned. They were contemporary with
Israel. and the two nations often came in
contact. Biblical accounts are necessa-
rily brief and many have longed for
fuller histories with reference to Israers
wals and other dealings with Assyria than
the inspired record contains. This de-
sire is amply gratifed by Assyrian his
tory.
GENESIS ILLUMINED.
We know that the Old Testament, and
especially the Book Of Genesis, contains
many perplexing passages. They are
fragmentary, and inadequate, and some
timesseem 10 be- contradictory. These are
being gradually illumined and explained
by Assyrian historians. These dlscOve-
ries uphold Biblical history, aud this fact
ought to lead those who make haste to
reject the Bible on account OF alleged IN
t.,.1; a a . q ,,o,,oa n 4 wait for I'm bar