The sun., 1916-11-05

University Museum treasure.
Books" had no cases and when
found are often crumbled. broken,
cracked or so badly Clipped that ports
Of the translation must be guessed at
or omitted entirely. Others, fortunately,
are found intact.
Letters. on the other hand, were
sent in envelopes, also Of clay. when
the tablet letter had been duly In
scribed and signed, II was rolled In
fne clay powder and slipped into Q
hollow clay pocket. More clay dust
was then shaken in, 20 that layers Of
powder were packed about the Con-
tents Of the pocket and the letter could
not get rubbed or scratched. The clay
opening was then sealed and stamped
with the sender's ring.
Afterward. the address was added
and a slave despatched with II. Later,
we know that Babylonian and Sumsr-
Ian governments supported regular
postal systems. 1t Is quite possible
that that regime was in existence In
1900 ID. c.
Many letters are found with seals
~unbroken. and these are marvcllousiy
preserved In their soft powder pads.
Wv '"' Vuiy Iifii INC TcdSOu IOI
their sealed state. Perhaps a man
Kept sealed copies Of the most import
ant letters he had to write. Dupll-
cate cop - of records and transactions
have beer unearthed. sometimes miles
apart: and the same practice could
have held. nationally. Of letters.
Some OF these letters may never
have been delivered. thanks to an In
emcient postal service In some E
ticular locality: or. and this 10 more
plausible. the breaking out Of frequent
revolutions could have conceavsbly
crippled tho B~abylonian post ofioss and
left many letters forever undeliversd.
Indubitably the oldest undelivsrsd
letter In the world Is In the Baby
lonian collection Of the University NJ
pennsylvania museum. Its date would
be 22O0 b. c., and DR.. Lsngdon opened
n read It only last week!
II Is from q master to his slave or
to some underling or employee. Oh
viously. II Is only M Of several let
ters. since II refers to previous cor
r~espondence and to "A previous transact
ton over which the writer is per
turbed. Its archaic Sumerian ia do
tatorial. ~overbearing and peevish, and
rants OF some unsatisfactory -four
deal that the underling has under
taken. One wonders whatever became
Of that flour!
Other tablets now being c%ataloyued
have pictures on them. One, a hunt
ing scene. reminds one OF the prehis-
tor!c cave drawings found in France.
There is another of n battle scene, very
much broken but rare and interesting.
The coming OF DR.. Langdon to the
University OF Pennsylvania museum
is timely and fortunate. The Baby.
lonian division has had no curator
since the beginning Of the European
war, when DIR. Arno Poebel left to
Join his regiment at the German front.
The Eckley b. Coke. Jr.. expeditions,
which began operations in Egypt In
1889 and have carried them on through
various years since, even finding local..
ties OF the war ridden land where they
can still operate this year. have sen,
back TO the museum an incalculabls
treasure trove. not only in tablets but
in all kinds OF articles dug I'D from
the dirt layers OF Biblical and pre-
Biblical lands.
All this accumulation has not had
~ csS Ntus III. Lang
don's labors will be bent toward ar.
ranging tho Babylonlan exhibit. The
collection is the largest In America,
the second largest in the world. No
other museum has such "A quantity Of
sacred Sumerian documents. which
make tins the most important Baby
lonian collection in the world. even
though 1t is not so large as hat i'm the
British Museum.
The war. which already has done 50
much damage. bids fair to rob us Of
this comparative recent achievement,
the ability to decipher these tablets
which tell Of the lives and histories Of
peoples who lived so many hundred
years ago. Younger men, Ike Poebel,
are at the front and may never come
back, other well known Egyptologists
are old men.
Not enough young men will be left
to carry on the work of translating
the ancient cune!form writinGs: and
no less n mar thar Prof. A. IL. Sayce
asserts that the outlook is d%ishearten-
ing. When the present scholars pass
away the achievement may die with
them and Sumerian-Akkadian become
again IA dead language, for not enough
young college men are proposing to
take up archaeology.
Their" Is to-day no endowed seat
OF Assyriology in any university. The
University of Pennsylvania museum
Ia cXer'!ng every effort TO secure such
an endowment, that other intcllects Of
50 high an order as DIR. Langdon's
may be encouraged and helped to
carry on "A work similar TO his.
Eckley II. Coke. Jr,. died in Phila-
dclphia in September last and left an
endowment fund of $500, 900 to carry
on the work he has been eQuipping
expeditions to do in Egypt so many
years. But II expedition can only
scratch the surface OF the myriad hills
there and the countless buried and for
gotten cities that lie beneath them.
Our only hope Of getting the rest
Of the tablets buried there says DR..
Langdon. lis to go back to Nippur
again and again, and dig for them"
Endowments for these expeditions are
another of the crying needs of schol-
ars, The world at large will lose n
archaeological excavations and re-
search ave to he abandoned.
There is no doubt that the general
public appreciates the work done by
museums and by scholars. To Bibli-
cal students alone there Is inexhaus-
tiblo pleasure and satisfaction 10 be