The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-07-21
BOOKS FROM BABYLON.
The British Museums Remarkable Col
 lection of Clay Tablets.

l ClOStd lOI It-dlIdlStlIlCilt' u ID " N'eJ
 reopened to he public. For many
 years the authorities have been extend
 ing their collection, both by expeditions
 to the east, under the direction of pr
 E. A. w. Budge, the curator Of the de-
 partment of Oriental antiquities ana
 by extensive purchases from hatlVe
 dealers. The result of this quiet work,
 which has been carefully carried out, Is
 the acquisition of objects quite une-
 qualled by any other national museum
 Not only is the collection highly repre-
 sentative of all classes of Babylonlan
 and Assyrian archaeology, but it con
 tains specimens of Babylonian inscribed
 tablets in perfect preservation. Indeed,
 it is perfectly astonishing to see letters
 and account books from Babylonlan
 temples, more than four thousand years
 old, as fresh as if just taken from the
 potter's oven.
 The collections have been arranged
 historically, and the section Illustrating the origin and growth of various sys-
 tems of cuneform writing is most excel Iently displayed. Commencing with
 linear archaic inscriptions dating from
 about B. c. 4500, we can follow the de-
 velopment and spread of this curious
 script down to the age of Darious Hys-
 taspis, B. c. 521, and through Greek
 times until as late period as B. C. VA. | In this section a most interesting exhlp- it is that of some paper casts of the Be- kistun inscription taken by Sir Henry 1 Rawlinson which led to the declphering of tlie cuneiform inscriptions. It is
 only fitting that the father of Assyrlolo- gy should be thus represented in the
 great museum with which he was so | long associated.
 1 On passing to the table cases the first exhibit is that of a curious series of cir cular clay plaques, neatly inscribed l These documents, which date from Is. | c. 2500 are really the tithe rolls of the ancient temples of southern Chaldea ach tablet relates to an estate, and gives
 the estimated value of the various fields, according to the amount of corn re- l quired to SOW them. The plaques are all carefully dated by some important event occurring in the year when they were prepared. Such deeds had to be | compiled frequently, since the winter floods removed the boundaries of the es- | tates.
 | Te next case contains remarkable series of clay deeds relating to trade and commerce dating from B. c. 23O0- 2100 Many of them have attached tri- angular pieces of clay, like seals to vel lum charters and nearly all are in du- plicate, one copy inclosed within the other. Among the most interesting ob- jects are the unique series of royal let ters of Khammurab or Amraphel, which are contemporary with the age of Abraham. These wonderful little clay tablets are each accompanied by their clay envelopes, and show how the king managed not only business of state but the private affairs of the poorest of his subjects; and many of them relate to cases of exorbitant usury. The movement of troops and the provi- with the fullest detail. and from them we can reconstruct the history of the period with considerable accuracy.
 Letter writing was quite general at this, period, and from the varying hand writings 1t is evident that great num- bers of the people could read and write. Indeed, the correspondence here exhibi- ted became the model for letter writing throughout the east, as in the case of the missives from Tel Fl Amarna, q fine collection of which is now exhibited These valuable records from Egypt, Chaldea. Syria and Aram Naharaim have restored to us the history of Vest ern Asia a century before the Israelte invasion of Canaan.
 In the section relating to the later Babylonian times, the age of the captiv- ity, there has been ranged a most inter- esting series of dated contracts. Some of these contain the records of commer- cial transactions by Belshazzar, while one records the loan by Cambyses of three manch of silver upon the security of house. A fine series of Babylcnian bricks of all ages is exhibited, and one of these is remarkable It bears an in scription of Nabonidus (B. c. 555). and on it is a clear imprint of the foot of the workman, who trod on it while wet. Other interesting bricks are those of the Elamite Kings of Susa or Shushan. some of which have the btunen used as mortar still attached to them.
 Of babylonian literature there are several valuable examples shown-a fragment of the Deluge tablet, several portions of medical and magical books, fragments of works on astrology and several fine biographical tablets, one a vocabulary of Kossean words, with Babylonian translations. To astrono- mers the valuable lists of calculations of the new moon, by which to regulate the calendar, will be of great interest, as they date from B. c. 232 down to a century before our own era During the Greek rule in Mesopotamia much atten- tion was paid to time measuring, and a kind of nautical almanac seems to have been compiled. Mathematics are repre- scented by tables of square and cube roots, and by 8 curious list of calcula- tions of the result of multiplying the numbers from one to fifty by forty-five This was no doubt used by astrono- mers.
 In the archaeological cases we have fine stone maces of the earliest Babyli- nian kings, and a number of excellent specimens of bronze casting. Students of the glyptic art will find many impor- tant additions to the collection of en- graved cylinder seals, among them be- ing several royal ones. Recognizing that good collection deserves a good catalogue, the trustees have issued an | admirable guide, which embraces all the Assyran department The work is clearly written by Dr. Budge and MT. |