The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-01
A wAnm norrnoyrRsY.


 We have been somewhat interested in the controversy over those alleged Nippur tablets. and in the probable outcome of the squabble. pr. Herman volrath Hilprecht of the University of Pennsylvania. is a man of worldwide fame as an archaeologist and investi- gator. His researches among the ruins and remains of ancient Babylon and Egypt have been extensive and his many books and papers and essays have hitherto been considered an au- thority on such matters.
 Much of Professor Hilprechts work has been done among the ruins of the old city of Nippur. one of the principal cities of Babylonia. which was a noted place before the days of Abraham, and some of his most interesting writings have been in connection with his dis coveries there. And that is just the cause of all the bobbery that has been raised lately. One of his recent report ed finds was the alleged discovery of an ancient library among the ruins of Nippur. consisting of inscribed clay tablets containing information which, 1t is said, will throw much light on the early history of humanity. and 'es- peoially of the Israelites.
 It is not difficult to understand the vided 1t is all true, but here comes another professor in the person of John Punsett Peters. who has also been connected with the Pennsylvania Uni versity. He, also, has a wide reputa- ton as a scholar and explorer, and he, like Professor Hilprecht. has dug and delved and pottered amid Nippur's debris. Now he comes out with a very positive assertion that there has been no library discovered at Nippur. and the still more important statement that some of the tablets which the other professor claims ta have just discov- cred have been known for ten years, at least. In short. he plainly charges that the alleged discovery is fake.
 This is a very serious charge, as all will admit, and it remains for one of them to make good. Both are eminent scientists, both have been extensively engaged in the work of exploring an- cient ruins. and both have contributed much to the literature of ancient civ illzations. If Professor Hilprecht's discoveries are genuine he should have due credit and If he Is trying to palm off something of which he is not the discoverer the fact should be known. It is a matter of too much importance to be left in the air. as 1t were.
 Reading of this controversy brings to mind Bret Harte's poem about the meeting of the Society of the Stanis- lans. It was a scientific organization, and at one of their assemblages Brown of Calaveras" brought in a lot of fossil bones and proceeded to reconstruct the skeleton of a mann moth. Then Jones butted in and as- serted that the bones were the remains of one of his lost mules. This brought from Brown the sarcastic regret that he seemed to have been trespassing on the Jones family vault. and then the fun began. chunk of old red sand stone struck Abner Dean in the stom- ach and, in the words of the poet, | He smiled a kind of sickly smile and curled up on the floor,
 And the subsequent proceedings inter- ested him no more.
 Naturally, other members of the so- ciety proceeded to get busy, and The way they heaved those fossils in their anger was sln,
 | I'll the skull of an old mammoth caved the head of Thompson in. That naturally broke up the meeting and the question of fossils remained undecided. Something of the same na- ture, in a fgurative sense, is going on among the learned professors about the tablets. If they are not exactly heaving the tablets at each other they are firing some heavy specimens of the Kings English to and fro, and though they may not cave in any heads they are likely to damage some regulations very seriously. It is to be hoped that they will succeed in getting at the truth of the matter, so that we may have a translation of Nippurs lltera- ture