The sun., 1916-12-03
PRESUMABLY A STATUE OF
GUDEA WHO RULED OVER
lAGASA THE ANCIENT
, TEIln IN 1000 &c

1GlCO. ~ 1000 &C
Clay arrests attention because he says,
THE fourth law is of special interest
In connection with the parable Of the
prodigal son. inasmuch as It shows
that 1t is based on legal grounds"
Thus the law: III "a SOM say unto
his father and his mother. not my
father. not my mother from the
house. field. plantation. servants. prop.
erty. animals. he shall go forth: md
his portion. 70 Its full amount, he the
father) shall give him His father and
his mother shall say to him mot our
SON. from the neighborhood Of the
house he shall 60
As to its application to the parable
| OF the ~prodigal son. DR.. Clay says:
THE law legislates with reference
to a son who, desiring to venture o
a separate career. his son
ship. receives his wages or rortion.
after which he leaves his home and is
thereafter legally separated from his
family. 1t d not stated what the por-
ton Is. The Code OF Hammurabi in
providing for an adopted child which
the foster father desired to repudlate
requires that he give him OF his
goods one-third of the portion OF a
son. and he shall go. He shall not
give to him OF field. garden or house
This implies that the portion differed
from that which the law of inheritance
would have granted him. The legal
Punishment contained in the words OF
the law thou art not our SON. &C. was
prudential in character, The son had
no further claim upon the estate. As
a eon he was legally dead. This pro-
vision annulled the law which pro-
vlded a share for him after the death
of the father. II also protected the
parents from further demands. and
was a wise provision in the interest OF
the other children. who were the sole
heirs.
The son in the parable does not
make a request, but rather a demand:
Father, give me the portion Of sub
stance that falleth to me-: and after
he received it he gathered all to-
gether and took his journey into a far
country In his extremity. knowing
that he was legally dead as a son. he
could at least ask to be taken in as n
hired eervant.
His brother. the sole beneficiary Of
the estate. who Is generally unjustly
'o1iu'lili'u, hututdh. SlioWcu w
as to what his father intended doing.
Whereupon his father reminded him
of the fact that all he had was his, but
at the same time he told him that It
wan meet to rejoice over the return Of
his brother, who though legally dead
was still his son.
This legal aspect OF the parable does
not seem to have been even surmised
~, ~ communicated. l--.A A.
contrast between the father, who on
the one hand compiled with what the
law permitted the son to demand, and
on the other the forgiving father who
r~ejoiced over his return not as a legal
heir but as a real SON"
Among the Yale tablets. as in other
collections, the finding OF an absolutely
new fact il rare. but v~eriications OF
manners and customs already sus-
pected Or half revealed ny previous
finds have cropped out in records that
are virtually intact. Thus II would
appear that the Babylonians had a
kind OF Sabbath:
an IA large acchive of temple docu-
ments In the Yale collection, discovered
in the ruins Of the ancient city OF
Erech, there Is found a group OF twenty
three tablets containing monthly re-
ceipts Of animals, which were apar-
entity intended for the temple service.
Nearly all OF the tablets arc baked. and
are more or less perfect. They are
dated between the NTH year of Cyrus
1884. b. O. and the sixth year Of Cam
byscs 1929 II. c. inclusive. The gen.
eral character OF the contents is quits
similar.
1.-THE important feature of these lists
IL the note following certain days OF
the month, the 7th l4th. 2lst and 2Sth
days, in some instances. however, one
day earlier. which reads: one young
kid. an Offering or simply one offer
ing
"These tablets with this interesting
phenomena furnish the first actual OBJ
scrvance Of anything that suggests the
existence OF a paSallel 10 the Sabbath
In Babylonia; and yet, as Is well
."