The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-11-21
S0yfx NEW BOOKS
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tonctusions arrived ut. fof the pres
ept. by scholars me investigators
Shout the discoveries made IN the lari
seventy years IN the valley ~ ID.
Euphratcs n ~. Tigr,s. the trIdi.
tioiial birthplace ~ mankind and cav.
i1isatton. Irof MopNls J,s1kov. Jr. uf
h University OF l'%cnnsylvaniI has
performed =. tot IDLE" service While
b subjects n" dealt with IN the ihi,I-
delphis Lectures which are ncorpo-
rated In his stately volume on Thc
Civilization Of iSspri1 and R1byiopia
~. b. L%ippiucott Company have been
treated partially or briefly In popular
FORM before and have been discussed.
sometimes rather acrimouiously. IN
scientific publications they have %
been presented nh 40 large u scale
before in English. The author T..
aware Of the fraymcniary atu Of
U knowledge: 'much still remains
to be lone before we can he said Ia
have solved the problems historical.
linguistic, archaeological and cthno-
logical --raised by The discoveries made
beneath the mounds which concealed
the remains of forgotten Babyloniau
n Assyrian cities for 80 MANY cen-
turtles. nevertheless We have learned
to know the CUSTOM and manners.
the religion. the law. the commerce
and art OF both Babylonia and Assyria
quite intimately. We know how these
people lived ard how they died, the
nrrangcmcr' Of their houses. palaces
and temples. as well as of their tombs
their daily life n their religious
aspirations. From the ma that
have come to light We are able to
make intelligent guesscs and infer
cnces regarding general conditions
four and five thousand years ago. but
there is naturally room for much d.
vcrsity OF OPP ZION. Prof. Jastrow's
aim throughout has been ito present
only such results AS Ia be safely
regarded as definite. and to abstain
from mere iaphazard and conjectural
views" He has helped out his state
ments with many BEAUTIFUL and illu-
minating illustration.
Among the achievements OF the
nineteenth century not the least uota-
bic is the service rendered to histuri-
cal knowledge by the use ~ the pick
and the spade. 1t is difficult tn esti-
a tlC NN'NllNlpll VI wi NIl'N ''iS'
OF the past by the exc1va. ions in
Troy, Greece, in Crete and ~ cyprus.
in Egypt. in >sin Minor md in tho
lands OF tho Old T'o-slan crrrire T,ay
have not or'v dic1 20 M ~ !cid,'ed
what was handed down IN literary
records but 'heN hav. rc''t'o1 % rs
peoples. languages and civilizations
that were wholly unknown or were
mere m n Y urorght to
light trnc0s - wln's ncti -i'v thai
antedate wr't'en his'orv Wy thousands
Of years TiN dir'c .l'~s IN tho wnv
OF procuring these ld"n remains
have caused My II por = 90 them -
he exp,t -CJ I'D ev,n - has h ~
rescued 'a@ q been ye' ''n-oigh,y
eNa,nirtr 90 hal 'tere ..,.r To-
change OF opinion and for much more
complete Information in ev nv sphere
that the explorers have entered When
science In allowed to wors again I'M
disturbed any day may rrirg to our
knowledg n new manusc-'pt a great
statue or another engraved code of
laws. Meanwhile II is desirable To
know soon the substance of what has
been acquired and this Is what Prof.
JdStToW e'l'tIntS us 10 ~ WIFI TtSslT'l
to the discoveries in the Scripture
lands, discoveries IN which American
scholars and ~eNcavators have taken
their fun share.
Even grenter than the difficulties IN
Digging out and taking 10 "A place
where they could he studied the oh-
Jects found in Enhvlnnla and Assyria.
were those ~ waking ont 'hli the
marks on them were inscriptions ~
learning - cd N Sc nr,! ~ recon-
struCtirg ~" mt nowr llngrHc"s N
which thew We're wr'''en The chin'
building m"tor'H! used in those lands
was clay mad. INFO bake Or unhak Il
bricks. on these bricks were written
Inscriptions in wedge or arrow shared
characters. aud brick. were also used
for documents or letters. /, was nat
ural that travellers in the t.as, N
later times should take tles, home
as curiositi"s. They observed that 'h,v
w"r" numerous @ the mounds
which covered ia" ruin Of cities, and
after - While II WAS decided that the
wedge marks were writing OF some
sort.
lrtf jastrow begins with the story
OF the explorations ami then takes up
that of the deciphernent of the cunei-
form writing. He limits himself Ia
Eabylonia and Assyria strictly, which
Is unfortunate because both the earli-
est and the most important inscrip-
lions were found outside Of that dis
trlci. An Italian. Pictro della Vale.
who's" book appeared in 1850, visited
the ruins ut I'erscpQlls ard cop
led some inscriptions. examined the
mounds of Babylon aud Ir and
brought d few Inscribed bricks TO En-
rope. he guessed that the writing
must lie read from left to right. which
VAS correct. H. the following century
tho ban" ''aTsicu Nichul,r identified
III" -..c of an"lctlt babylon: he also
copied many inscriptions at ~l'rrsepvlls.
dit' luSutSl"u thro" varieties among
ih"m auJ started ia. sricutlti" study
of thCm. other Travellers iruUght
other Inscriptions. Thou Win the
nineteenth century ~cN'aNHtluu bcgiu..
&. j. Rich. agent for til" t.i., India at
liagJad. mad, u tlIornlgh studV uf the
MOUNDS of Babylon AVID NincVch aud
between Basdad and Nosul lie died
IA ISL aud Sent hls collections 10 tho
British Museum Another agent. u
Maguan, a few years later, studied the
mounds in the south aud clt trenches
into SIM" Of them, These Ncrc the
49,.