The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-03-28
Babylonian Life and History in the Age of
Abraham.



The veil is gradually being lifted
which has so long covered the early his
tory Of civilization. Centuries which
seemed too far off for echoes even of them
to reach us have suddenly become al
most as familiar as the middle ages of
Europe. First Egypt yielded up its dead;
now it is Babylonia which is revealing
to us the history and social life. even the
thoughts and religious beliefs Of men
who lived when Abraham had not yet
been born in Ur of the Chaldees.
During tho last seven or eight years
excavations in Babylonia has brought
to light vast number Of contract.t tab
let's and other documents which go back
to remote antiquity. They belong for
the most part to period when foreign
dynasty from the south OF Arabia was
ruling in Babylonia and had for the first
time united the country into single
monarchy with Babylon as its capitol.
Before this dynasty had risen into
power. Ur, the city of the Moon 1.-The
present Mugheir of the western bank of
the Euphrates,-was the leading city of
Chaldea. Its rulers claimed supremacy
over the rival princes of the land. Some
among them gained victories in Elan,
in northern Arabia, and in the distant
west. The daughter of one of them,
Pur-Sin, even became pdtesi or high
priestess of Ansan in Elan and of
Markhas. now Mer'ash. in northern
Syria. Pur-Sin's predecessor, had con-
quered Ansan, as we'll as Zemar in Phen-
icia, whose inhabitants are referred to
in the book Of Genesis TX: 18).
But the dynasty of Ur had given place
to the dynasty Of Babylon. Sunni abb,
whose name means "the god Shen is my
father came from southern Arabia.
speaking a language which, while that
OF the southern Arabs, was at the same
time closely related to Hebrew, and
made himself master of the old city of
Babylon. His fifth successor was
Khammu-rabi (B. G. 23OO) who reigned
for 30 years. Then came his son Sam
su-iluna,-the Sun-god is our god, for
| 35 years, followed by Abesuh, the Abis-
hua of the Old Testament by Ammi-
Sabana. by Ammi-zaduga. and by Sam
suSabana, with whom after a reign OF
81 years the dynasty came to an end.
Many different attempts were made
by the Babylonians to represent in
writing the pronunciation of these
| foreign names, and the result is that
the same royal name appears under
various forms. "Khammu" in Khammu-
rabi, for example. is the same as s"Ammi"
10 Ammi-Zaduga, both being endeavors
to express in cuneiform characters the
name of the god which we find in the
Biblical Ammi-el and Ammi nadab as
we'll as in BENJAMIN., the ancestor of the
people of Ammon. Khammu-rabi means
Am is great" Ammi-zaduga "Am is
righteous"
1t was Khammu rabi who united
Babylonia under one head. When he
assembled the throne it was under the
suzeranity of the Elamites who had SUBJ
dued the country and given the kingdom
of Larsa to Eri-Aku or Arioch the son of
Kudurmabug. Kudur-mabug was an
Elamite prince, but since he bears the
title of father of the land of the Amor
ties, s,"-as Syria andCanaan were called in
those days,-it would seem that he must
have been related to the royal family of
Shushan. Larsa lay in southern Baby
lonia, not far from Ur, but on the east
ern bank of the Ellasar of the Bible
(Gen. xiv. y. Assyriologists. moreover,
have suspected for some time that
Khammu-rabi is the Biblical Amraphel,
and the suspicion has now become al
most a certainty in consequence of the
discovery by Mr.. Pinches of a cunei-
form tablet in which Khammu.rabi is
associated with Kudur- -Lagamar or
Chedorlaomer, "the servant of the god
Lagamar," Arioch of Larsa and Tudkhu-
la or Tidal. Khammu-rabi, further
more, was king of "the land of the Amo
rites" or Canaan, like his successor
Ammi.satana who calls himself king
Of Babylon, of Kish. of Sumer and
Accad and of the Amorite land"
This sovereignty over the west must
have been one of the fruits of Khammu-
rabi's victory over the Elamites. He
succeeded in restoring the Independence
of Babylonia. in overthrowing Eri-Aku
and his Elamite allies, and in making
himself sole ruler of all the land. From
this time forward Babylonia remained
united monarchy, and Babylon the
capitol Of the empire.
The contract and other cuneiform
tablets whose discovery has been re-
ferred to at the beginning of this article.
are mainly dated in the reigns of the
kings of this early Babylonian dynasty
or in those of the later sovereigns of Ur
Many Of them, too, were drawn up under
Eri-Aku, king of Larsa. The first which
came into European hands were found
at -Habba. the ancient Sippara;
then the American exploring expedition
disinterred large numbers at Nuffar, the
ancient Nipur; and finally DR.. Scheil, a
Dominican monk and Assyriolooist vbo