The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1898-04-26

here were enacted the closing scenes
of the career of Alexander the Great
Here died Julian the apostate in his
| Inflated war against the Persians.
On these plains were passed the early
days of SaIadin-the magnanimOus foe
| of Richard COeur de Lion. This val
ley witnessed the glory of Haroun al
Raschid and the power of Genghis
Khan and Scleiman the magnificent.
This vast section, once teeming
with population, with its cities and
! temples, its groves and gardens, its
! canals and waterways, the road Of
commerce from the east to the Medi-
! terranean, has become, under degen-
| crate race, a sterile wilderness, and
with the exception of a few small
towns. inhabited mostly by nomads,
| is practically a desert.
Modern exploration in this section
| began i'll 1885, when the British Gov
| ernment undertook a survey of the
| Euphrates as a route to India. This
work was continued till the likelihood
of the success of the Suez canal render
! ed a Euphrates railroad and steamer
| line unnecessary. Up to the present
| day investigation has been prosecuted
by British, French and American So
cieties and individuals. In this work,
George Smith (the EngIishman) must
be considered by men of culture in all
lands a benefactor to the Republic of
Letters. Means for the work have
been furnished in America by Miss
Wolfe of New York City and Mr.. E.
w. Clark of Philadelphia.
Though Nippur has been little more
than a name, it is now known that it
was more familiar to the people of Mi
neveh and Babylon than their names
are now The temple of Bel at Nippur
was to their religion what the temple
at Jerusalem was to the religion of the
Hebrews. This Oldest of temples, DR.
Peters tells us, was the religious cen
ter of the dominant people of the world
at a period as much prior to the time
of Abraham (2120 B. Co. as the time
of Abraham is prior to our own day.
We discovered written records no less
than 5000 years old and proved that
writing and civilization were then by
no means in their infancy. Further
than that, our explorations have shown
that Nippur possessed extending back
ward of the earliest written documents
found by us at least 1000 years. Re
cent works have shown that men in a
high state of viliZation-building
cities, organizing states, conducting
distant expeditions for conquest, rul-
ing widely extended countries, traf-
ticking with remote lands-eXisted in
BabyIonia 1000 years before the period
assigned by Archbishop Ussher's chrO-
nolOgy for the creation of the world
Bricks have been found of $500 B.
G.. and a brick arch of that date has
been photographed. The tablets found
tell of business transactions and affairs
of the day There has been translated
an account of the flood. One transla-
ton is the letter Of a young man of
1000 years ago stationed in the cOun-
try as an official and writing to his
father to complain of the rough fare.
A number of Liturgies have been
found containing sacred hymns. One
hymn reads: Long suffering Father,
full Of forgiveness, whose hands up
hold the lives of mankind; Lord, thy
Diety is as the wide Heavens and fills
the sea with fear But these people
wOrshipped many Gods. The version
Of the deluge was written seven cen !
turies before Moses, or about the time
of Abraham. These people of Babylon |
and neighbOring towns were art work |
ers in stone, and skilled with imple- |
ments. Women were held in honor |
especially the mother. The wife could |
hold property apart from her husband. |
The laws were codified and judges in |
court quoted written precedents. They |
had the sun-diaI and the water clock |
the lever and pulley, lenses of glass |
and quartz. Reference is made to the |
four moons of the planet now called |
Jupiter. The calendar was almost the !
same as at present. They had Sab
bath and there were silver coins
Professor Hosmer replied to num-
Der of questions, as had DR.. Maxwell. |
The Society had the pleasure Of hear |
ing for a few minutes from Rev. NJ. |
L. Berger, d. d. of Cleveland, O., who |
spoke of his recent visit to Egypt and |
of twenty excursions made with a Nile |
steamer as headquarters. The visitor |
said all men were astOunded with the |
evidences of civilization which had OBJ |
tanned in that country ages ago. How |
ever there was actual regret over the |
fact that while the people recOgnizd !
the immortality of the soul they in |
dulged in worship that was worse |
than heathensih. In ruins Of temples |
were forests of pillars yet remaining. |
In the afternoon, Rev. DR.. Berger had |
lectured to the students at Punahou on !
Egypt and the Nile" and had talked |
most interestingly for more than an |
hour. The visitor is we'll known in |
America and in Europe as well. He |
was for number Of years secretary |
of the Mccall Mission at Paris, France. !
At the close Of the program there |
was served on the lanai under the |
direction of Rev. D. P. Birnie a fna /
luncheon.
Associate Justice Frear presided. It |
was announced by Rev. c. NJ. Hyde, I