The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-04-24

ssssssis ssssa u ~ Bss.usly co1is. ,sose-
In translaainG sia In tho frst chapter %
0snsais -fruis tree bearing fruit instead
Of IN number herb yielding SOD in
stead OF its number.' waters bringing
forth abundmnaly instead Of IT. num-
her, &c.
We must. however. do Prof Hilprecht
the Justice az saying thai he b. no means
claims % have exhausted all The posi-
billtiss % rsstorations Of tho frASnsns
or Of its parallels TO the Biblical story.
He freely leaves every reader 10 draw
his Own conclusions' and grants every
onS the privilege TO supplement- the largs
Eaps ~ the Nippu1 text - he may -
nt' Every reader whether he knows
AnythingOf the subject OF not. b 10 make
hin Own restoratlons'
Ths tablet consisted. according 10
Prof. Hilprecht's. calculations. % I'D IN
ISs lines. though his calculation n ~
fanciful - 80 many other things IN this
monograph. Why limit the ooniectnral
reservations to the fOurteen hnc~i Why
. Il necessary TO bother about the few
signs that are visible in th~ss linss' Why
and get the complete parallel TO the
.-Priestly Code version % the Biols.
which Prof Hilprecht nov finds confirmed
by this Tablet The only serious objection
IN thAt--since the Biblical aOcount consists
Of two vsrsions-h only the one version
10 -oonhrmed.- what u to become ot the
-Jahwisl- version. which IL not yet cum
hrmedP Il n an oblis alton resting upon
Prof Hilprscht 60 discover another tablet
giving the Jahwist version. and II he can
not hnd II In the Temple Library Of
Nippur. perhaps he can pick IL up In Con-
ssantinople. A few years ago when Prod.
Hilprecht WAS in trouble. not knowing
how 10 piece fragments 81 an inscription
together. -S'ImeTian- priest appeared to
hun In q vision and told him how To do IL
II is time for that priest 20 make his ap-
psarAnce again Co reveal the whereabouts
Of the -Jahwistic Version- Of the BABY
lonian Delugs story.
Meanwhile the dissrSlss aroused 10y Prof
Hilprecht's statements in The past will not
bs diminished by his presen, volume. Il
contains too many -Ap~es % memory
and the list u growing. To his volume of
foFty-nve fragments % school Texts
published in 1913 and which he neverthe-
lees spohe of a. part Of the Temple La
brAFy.' he Added q long introduction In
which he demonstrated that the famous
Platonic numbsE ~ so 60 was Of Baby
lonian origin. This was herAldsd in the
usual sensational manner a. a great dis
covery- He forgot however. TO add the
fact-to which Prof. {. n. W Johns OF
CambridGe. also Canon Of Norwich. first
- ~. "A
been made thirteen years before Hilprecht
by q French scholar. Aurss. in an article
published in the leading AssyriologicAl
periodical OF France. Prof. Hilprecht
had an opportunity of correcfing this
lapse in his monograph. for on page ~
hs refers TO the PiAtonic number. but he
prefers not to do 30. In his monograph
he announces q new theory. THAI the
deification Of RAbyIoniAn rulers was con-
nscted with the pnasession 81 the sacred
city Of Nippur. The professor has again
forgotten 20 state that this theory was set
forth before hum by DR.. Kugler in a vol-
ums issued just about -iK months before
the appearance % Hilprecht's mono
graph. In fact. Dr kugler devotr- a con-
siderable chapter to sitting forth this
theory. Il II surprising that
the impatience ~ scholars IL aroused Ivy
this aoc1m ulating evidence ~ chronic
TO claim discoveries made by
others
With - many -lap.ez" % his credit.
what knarantse have ne that the professor
may not again be mistaken In surprising
that this particular fragment came from
one of the boA.s 90 the fourth eNTsedi;ipns
Perhaps he got hold Of tho wrong hon. /
BOx~s look very much alike. and PERHAPS ,
this one came from SINE other place than
Nippur. Who knows
A few years ago in the ofifcial history I
% the Nippur expedition Dr Hilpr-cht
spoke 81 several tablets In a way which /
Rnve the impr~asiOn that they were exca-
waited at Nippur but which turned out To
have been purchased. one - them in 7
fact was bought before the excavations
90 Sippur had begun 4 scholar who /.
adopts such a method once might do 40
gain.
To he Just. however. IN Br HilPr@.-ht
we should mention uns discovery made
by him in which he can ~ quite certain .
that he has MT been anticipated Incl 4
dental 10 a hrlef description e hi-'nri- F.
cal inscription 1t "a King ~ Gun identified
by the late Prof Oppert with tho Cloths .
a highly improbable superstition Prot .
Hiprecht mentions one ~ thr-a r'Iiers II .
Quit Who beAT- the name II Sharlak. lie /
suggests m his new monograph that this |
name of ruler % some A-istic power or .
principahty ~ about sOD Year, ago -
identical with the Engiish nar'e Sherlock I
Tho progenitor Il SnsrlpcL IIo'me- has I
J ~en found at last aud 49, may eNpe''t I
further de,ails with the newt in-talment .
from the Temple Library NJ Nippur. Bu' 7
II Sharlak u Sherlock, Why not also ~uuate
'sharlak with Shylock' That would he i
still now interesting a. proving hat even
ishA ksspears had delved into tho mys,er- ,
Ies 20 Temple hhrarteS
4 sub Arctic IIsuTneJ.
II vas happy inspiration which
prompted Mr. GEoR0E KEENAN, tn issue