Waterbury evening Democrat., 1891-04-06
Nissivcs That wcrc Passed Between the Kings of Jerusalem and Egypt Four Centuries Before the Birth
 of David.

The Smithsonian institution has just received informatio of the recent dis covery at Tel-el-Amaria, in Upper Egypt, of number of tablets relating to the history of Jerusalem and dating back six hundred years earlier than any records hitherto known. When it is understood that these tablets of stone arc letters passed between the King of Jerusalem and the Pharaoh of Egypt four hundred years before the birth of David, who was the father of Solomon, some notion will be formed of their ex- treme interest. These letters were written, so Dr. Cyrus Adler told writ CT for the Washington Star, about the year 1900 E. C., and cast a great light upon the relations of Egypt at that ancient epoch. This of course was long before Jerusalem was captured by the Jews.
 At that time Palestine was a fedora tion of independent cities, each of which. like Jerusalem, was governed by Q "prefect"-this word meaning literal ly liking of a city" Nevertheless, these towns paid a tribute to the Pharoah, and it was in relation to this tribute that several of the letters found were addressed to the ruler of Egypt by the king of Jerusalem, Abdi-Taba. In them he tries to explain, with due re- spect, that he occupies a more indo- pendent position than the other pre- fleets and ought to be treated according | ly. For example, In one missive he says:
 "Behold, this city of Jerusalem neith- CT my father nor my mother has given unto me, but the call of mighty King"
 This refers to the ancient custom in Palestine by which rulers were some- times chosen in consequence of a sup posed divine call and without any ref eronce to hereditary law. Having been summoned to his throne by the Deity, Abdi-Taba argued that he should be treated moro leniently with regard to tribute. In another of the letters ho says:
 "Behold, neither my father nor my mother has appointed me to this place, but the mighty King has made mo enter into the house of my fathers"
 That the mighty King" spoken of was the Deity Is proved by the fact that to Him as authority is referred an oracle says that: "As long as a ship sails upon tho sea, so long will Mesopotamia and Babylonia conquer"
 The chief aim of the three other let ters written by Abdi-Taba is to ask the Pharaoh for military aid against the foreign conquerors invading Palestine, and especially the district of Jerusalem, These warlilSe strangers he calls people of Habri-in other words, they were Hebrews It seems hardly probable that tho Hebrews as O nation should have invaded Palestine at so early q date, and so 1t Is likely that these were some advanced tribes of Israel which settled down west of the Jordan anG made incursions from time to time. IT one of his letters on this subject Abdi Tabo says:
 "The Habri people are conquerine the cities of the Kingn-i. e., the oitie: tributary to the Pharaoh-''therefort the King may turn His face to His sub tects and send troops. If the troops ar : rive this year the countries of tho King, my Lord, may be saved, but 1. no troops arrive the countries of tho King, my Lord, will exist no longer" This tremendous ''hnd'' at Tel-el . Amaria includes two hundred tablets largely of Dabylonian cuneiform script which Is thus discovered for the frs time to have been in use at so early { period in Egypt and Palestine. Many of the other tablets arc dispatches O
 about the same date from projects O , other cities of Palestine to the Pharaoh l Some of the inscriptions are in an un
 known language which no one has sC far been able to translate. It Is funny { to think that Solomon himself woulC
 have looked upon these tablets as re