The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-10-06
Discovery of the Oldest Known Letters
in the World.

In the course Of several recent expedi-
tons to the East, DR. Ernest A. Wallis
Bulge. keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian
antiquities in the British Museum, was
the discoverer of a most valuable collec-
ton of small tablets of the envelope or
duplicate class, found in the ruins at
Tellsefr in South Babylonia, representing
the ancient city of Larsa (the "Ellasar''
of Genesis, chapter xiv. These tablets
consisted partly of contracts and other
legal documents, partly of public and
private letters. The latter have just been
carefully arranged. and for the first time
their full Importance is evident Biblia
AugusO pronounces them 1.-The most i'm
portant series Of inscriptions which has
ever been rescued from Oriental ruins"
The writer says of this collection
TT is group of fifty letters, written
by Khammurabi, King of Babylon, who
reigned about 2300 B. c., and who is gen.
orally identified with the @Amraphel of
Genesis xiv. We have already been made
acquainted with the existence of a system
O. letter-writing in use among the kings
OF the East at an early period, as Illus
trated by the famous Tel-el-Amarna tab
let's. These, we know, present the diplo-
matte and private correspondence between
the kings of Syria, Mitanni, or northern
Mesopotamia, and Babylon, and may be
da ted about 1450 B. c. The valuable Sc
ries of tablets which has recently been
received for the British Museum belongs
to period of 1000 years earlier, and are
certainly the oldest known letters in the
world The position of those Babylonian
letters In Oriental literature is of ex-
treme Importance. They reveal the exist
ence of a regular system of correspond
ence between rulers and their subordinates
and that writing was used not only to re-
cord events in royal annals, but for ordi-
nary purposes. They are besides, mani
G. IL e.
the case of the diplomatic correspondence
in the Tel-el-Amarna tablets We car
now see how overshadowing was the In
fluence of Babylonia over all western
Asia. During the thousand years which
elapsed between the time of Khammurab
and the date of these later letters discov-
cred some years ago, Babylonia became
the educational center of the Oriental
world.
1.-THE great library at Borsippa was the
school and university not only of Chal
dea, but of Syria, North Mesopotamia anG
Asia Minor. Fragments of the deluge
and creation tablets dated from periot
more. than 1000 years before Moses hav,
been discovered in Babylonia. 1t Is there.
fore clear that if the scribes of Canaan
were taught to write and use the cunei
! form script through these influences there
must have been some among them wht
were acquainted with the traditions stor
ed in the Chaldean libraries. The presen
fine is indeed good one; but one can on.
/ ly regard 1t as prelude to still more i'm
portant discoveries which probably viii
put a new aspect on the vexed question O
hebrew origin. To possess letters con
temporary with the time of Abraham i
certainly an astonishing resuIy of Orient
a. exploration, and one which far exceed
the widest dreams of those who frs
revealed to US the buried cities of Assy
ria and Babylonia.
"Messrs. Luzac and Co, of London
have recently published the Letters an.
Inscriptions of Hammurabi, King O
Babylon about 1900 B. c. to which ar
added a series of letters of other kings o
the first dynasty of Babylon. The origi
Eal Babylonian text is given with nj
/ English translation