The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-01-27
THE ORIGIN UF LbrrERS.
The Latest Light Thrown on the Early
ArabInns,

The Latest Light Thrown on the Earl
ArabIans.
Contemporary RsrieW.
The discovery OF tho antiquity Of writ
ing among the populations OF Arabil
cannot fail to influence the views tina
have been current OF late years in regart
to the earlier history OF the Old Tesla
ment. We have hitherto taken it fol
granted that the tribes to whom the
Israelites were related were illiteratt
nomads and that in indian or Edom the
invaders Of Palestine would have bad nc
opportunity OF making acquaintance
with books and written records. Before
the time OF Samuel and David il has been
stFeHuoasly maintained letters were IN.
known in Israel. But such assumptions
must now be considerably modified
The ancient Oriental world, even in
Northern Arabia, was far more literary
one than we have been accustomed to
imagine; and as for Canaan, the Gown
Try in which the fsraefites settled, fought
and intermarried, We NOW have evidence
that education was carried in it to o sur.
prisingiy high point, In the principal
cities OF Palestine an active literary cor.
respondsnca was not only carried on,
but WIS maintained by means OF for.
eigD Language, and IN extremely com.
pliCated script. There must have been
plenty Of schools and teachers, rs well
"a nf pupils and books.
The latest revelation that has been
furnished to us by the tablets Of Telel-
Amarna relates to Jerusalem. Among
the tablets nov in the Museum OF B,r.
lin, five have been found which prove,
upon examination, to have been letters
sent from the king or governor III Jeru-
salem TO the Egyptian sovertigns in the
century before the exodus, The g1ver-
nor in question was named Abdiohaba,
nr Ebed-toh, as his name would have
been written in Hebrew. He describes
himself as occupying more fndepend.
rnL position than the governors oil most
OF the other towns OF Palestine. They
were merely Egyptian officials; he, on
the other hand, though he owned alle-
glance to the Egyptian monarch, never.
,haleBs claima TO have derived his power
from "the oracle OF the mighty King."
AS one Of the letters shows that this
mighty king" was not the king OF
Egypt, but q deity, We are irrtsistibiy
reminded OF MelChizedek, the king If
Salem and priest Of "the most high GUd,"
from whom, therefore, the king derived
his authority. Last spring | had already
recognized the name Of "Urusalim," or
Jerusalem, in one OF the Telel.Amsrna
tablets ut Otiso, and one Of those which
| copied in the collection of NJ. Bouriant
tells US what was the local name Of "the
most high God" The tablet is unfortu.
nately broken but on one side Of it we
read, "The city ofthe mountain OF Jeru.
salem, the city OF the temple OF the good
Uras (whose) name (there iB) Marru, the
city OF the king which adjOins (2) the
locality OF the men OF Keilah." Marru
seems 10 be the same word as the
AramaiC mare, "lord;" be was identified
with the Babylonian Uras, and his
temple stood on 1.-THE mountain" which
was called Moriah, perhaps in remem-
brance OF the god. Long before the days
when Solomon built the temple OF
Yahveb, the spot on which it stood had
been the site Of hallowed sanctuary.