New-York tribune., 1900-09-02

win this volume Professor Maspero's great
work on the history Of the ancient E,sst &C. oor,
GUIDED The preceding parts brought the nara
I'VE down 70 the time Of the Assyrian revival
me relgns Of Assur- -nazir-paI CSS5-SGO and
Hh2lmaneser III (S60-S25), and the present in
s'@ifnent carries 1t on to the Macedonian con-
quest The period covered by the latter-a
PERIOD somewhat POLITICALLY entitled by the Eng
hsh editor, Professor Sayce, the Passing of the
Enap1res-is one Of very great interest, and one
10y "hlch the sources Of accurate information
are relatively abundant The monumental e1i
oence Is VoIuminous, and It is supplemented by
thaf OF classical and Hebrew writers, though. as
Professor Sayce remarks, the latter sometimes
Increase rather than lessen the historians
perpIeNues- 1t hardly needs to be added that
recent scientific literature dealing with this evf
oehce and with every phase Of the history and
Life Of the period is enormous
OF all this material Professor Masnero-,borgb
not BY profession an AssyrioIogist-has made
himself master, and he presents II in a manner
which Tor clearness and exactness leaves moth
ING 10 be desired One is amazed at the pro-
olgious amount Of work which he has accom-
plisheds and at the skill with which he has
wrought an immense mass Of disconnected de-
! t2l-s into well ordered narrative. Fragmentarv
and imperfect in nUmberless ways Of course
The materials even when the most IS made Of
them, remain; but whatever Of consecutive his
tory they are at present capable Of yielding is
certainly 10 be found in this volume. One al
most regrets that il must be added that Pro
fessor Naspero's labor vast and successful as
Il has been, could not, from the nature Of the
case, produce permanent results. So rapid is
The progress Of discovery in Oriental archaeology
that almost anything that the specialist writes
today may have 10 be rewritten tomorrow. To
quote from Professor Sayce's preface: Since
the first volume Of Professor Maspero's work
vas published excavation has gone on apace in
Egypt and Babylonias and discoveries Of a
startling and unexpected nature have followed
on the wake OF excavation. Many pages Of the
volume viii have 10 be rewritten in the light Of
them; such is always the fate Of the historian
Il The past II this age Of rapid and persistent
r=search- Ages that seemed prehistoric step
sud EenIy forth into the daydawn Of history;
psrsonases whom a sceptical criticism has con-
--=c 70 land Of myth or fable are clothed once
more with flesh and blood, and events which
had been long forgotten demand TO be recorded
and described. In Babylonia, for example the
excavations at Nippur and Teuo have shown
that Sargon Of Akkad, so far from being
creature OF romance, was as much historical
monarch as Nebuchadnezzar himself. monu-
u=n-s Of his reign have been discovered and
- learn from them that the empire he is said
q have founded had very real existence Con-
tracts have been found dated in the years when
h was occupied IL conQuering Syria, and ca
Cl--ral survey that was made for the purposes
or caxation mentions Canaanite who had been
appointed governor Of the land Of the Amor
ties Even q postal service had already been es-
ratIshed along the highroads which knit the
several parts Of the empire together, and some
Ot The clay seals which franked the letters
nov II the Museum Of the Louvre" In fact, il
may be said that exploration and, probably,
discovery have only just begun. However, the
scholars who, as Professor Maspero has done,
Z 20 tine 10 time sum UP the results Of re-
search, and set them forth in form that is
Ineligible TO the layman, render the reading
public service Of the very greatest Importance. !
To the general reader the most interesting
lertions Of the volume will doubtless, be those
ahich deal with the history OF Israel and the
-=lations Of the statements contained in the
books Of the Old Testament 10 the evidence of
the monuments This question, however, IL
must be admitted, is not discussed by PTofes
sa- Maspero in a way that viii satisfy one who
c-zres TO know the exact results Of recent crit-
cal scholarship. The General Literature Commit
r-= Of the Society for the Propagation Of Chris
ian knowledge Cunder whose auspices the
-raaslation is pUblished) 1t is true, warn the
rl5lic that they GO not take upon themselves /
-- pronounce on conclusions in the field Of Bibl-
cal criticism deduced by the author from the
VIII he