The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-07
LIFE OF BIBLICAL TIMES
 REPRODUCED FOR STUDENTS
IsRAELS PEOPLE,
  OF TEMPLE RECONsTRUCTED.

real estate transactions were not very different from what they are today. A book of clay gives also an account or the building operations of Nebuchad- nezzar, who constructed the splendid hanging gardens at Babylon, and who, to the student of history, comes back to life a mighty conqueror, a great builder and a luxurious Oriental po- tentate.
 Also the bricks and bas-reliefs from ancient buildings tell their share of the story. Each brick Is impressed with the name and title of the king who erected the structure of which 1t | was a part, while each relief gives | pictorial record of some events In one l of the great dynasties. In the collec- | ton of originals is tile from the bar racks of Tituss tenth legion, which | took part in the destruction of Jerusa- l lem, in 70 A. D. It is marked, as simi- lar decorations might be today, with the legion's number and initial. its in-
 scrlption reading Leg. x. F.,' the F. standing for Frentensis, which was the legion's name.
 In the hallway of the museum Is an impressive cast of the colossal winged lion" of which the original, in the pal ace of Assurnazirpal, the Assyrian king of the 9th cen ntury, B. C., stood guard before the main entrance to the royal residence in the city of Calah
 There is an obelisk of Shalmaneser. a contemporary of Jehu: here are several of the painted casts of Goudea, king of Babylonia about 5000 years before the Christian era, who sits with his writ ing materials on his knee. Elsewhere in the museum is a reproduction of the monument of Esar-Haddon. the origi- nal of which is in the Berlin Museum; also of carvings, casts from originals
 treasured in the British Museum repre- senting Assurbanipal performing sacri- fcial ceremonies; of Sargon, the Assy rian conqueror of the Israelites of whom mention is made in the goth chapter of Isaiah; and of Sennacherib Not much is preserved of the early art of the Jews, but the Semitic Mu- | scum has specimens of their pottery, and a great deal of ancient glassware | from Palestine, some of which Is no
 doubt Jewish. while in that part of the | collection referring to later times, | down to the present, there are numbers | of pieces of Damascan ware, swords, | headcoverings, reading stands and | boxes for the Koran. and so on. There
 are Hebrew and SyriaG manuscripts l and a number of Greek papyri, one of | seven verses of the Epistle to the Ro-
 mans, from the early part of the fourth | century A. D. In one case are many | curious cylindrical seals, such as were
 used by the Assyrians and Babylonians, | perhaps among them some of the very | kind employed by the Israelltes in ac- l cordance with the custom relating to
 the sale of land and passing of deeds
 referred to in the 32nd chapter of Jere-
 miah. And in another case you see | specimens of the weights used by As
 syrian and Babylonian merchants in
 the market-place, curiously wrought in
 the shape of lions or ducks.
 |
 Is specially complete. Whatever, in
 fact, in the present-day life of this
 land will throw light upon the life
 of Biblical times finds al place. The
 primitive farming implements still
 used in the Holy Land are scarcely
 modified from those with which the
 sons of Jacob titled the soil; the shag-
 gy sheepskin coat of the tender of
 the flocks has changed but little in
 appearance from that of the herdsmen
 of Judea; the garments worn by Be-
 douin chieftains today will nigh surpass
 in gorgeous colors even Solomon in
 all his glory. There Is a large col
 lection of the birds of Palestine and
 the seeds. grasses, grains, Towering
 plants and woods that are mentioned in
 the Scriptures. Even geology is rep
 resented, and one large specimen of
 rock salt from the Dead Sea mas a
 peculiar interest in connection with the
 story of the fate of Lots wife
 Supplementing the other collec-
 tions are several hundred photographs,
 many of them made by the curator dur
 ing a trip in the Holy Land three years
 ago. These show all phases of the life
 of Palestine. changed but little in
 many ways throughout all the centur- lies, and picture spots familiar to the Bible student or important in the more
 general history Israel. It Is by the
 employment of these graphic aids, so
 to call them, in connection with the
 lectures-themselves sometimes illus
 trated with stereopticon views-that
 the Radcliffe girl pursues this most
 fascinating branch of history just as lit is taught in the big university for men.