LONDON
SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE
NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, W.C.; 43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C.
Brighton: 129, North Street
New York: E. S. GORHAM
1908
Richard Clay & Sons, Limited,
BREAD STREET HILL, E.C., AND
BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.
CONTENTS
| CHAP. | PAGE | |
|---|---|---|
| PREFACE | [v] | |
| I. | THE DECIPHERMENT OF THE CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS | [7] |
| II. | THE ARCHÆOLOGICAL MATERIALS; THE EXCAVATIONS AT SUSA AND THE ORIGIN OF BRONZE | [36] |
| III. | THE SUMERIANS | [67] |
| IV. | THE RELATION OF BABYLONIAN TO EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION | [101] |
| V. | BABYLONIA AND PALESTINE | [135] |
| VI. | ASIA MINOR | [160] |
| VII. | CANAAN IN THE CENTURY BEFORE THE EXODUS | [187] |
| INDEX | [215] |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| Facing page | |
|---|---|
| REVERSE OF A TABLET IN THE HITTITE LANGUAGE FROM BOGHAZ KEUI (Frontispiece) | |
| MAP—THE EASTERN WORLD IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY B.C. | [7] |
| THE TOMB OF DARIUS | [16] |
| BLACK OBELISK OF SHAL-MANESER II | [21] |
| CHALDÆAN HOUSEHOLD UTENSILS IN TERRA-COTTA | [21] |
| THE TELL OF JERABIS (PROBABLY THE ANCIENT CARCHEMISH) | [40] |
| THE TUMULUS OF SUSA, AS IT APPEARED TOWARDS THE MIDDLE OF LAST CENTURY | [46] |
| HEAD OF ONE OF THE STATUES FROM TELLO | [58] |
| VASE OF SILVER, DEDICATED TO NINGIRSU BY ENTENA PATESI OF LAGAS | [58] |
| THE TELL OF BORSIPPA, THE PRESENT BIRS-NIMRUD | [78] |
| THE SEAL OF SHARGANI-SHAR-ALI (SARGON OF AKKAD): GILGAMES WATERS THE CELESTIAL OX | [88] |
| BAS-RELIEF OF NARAM-SIN | [88] |
| SITTING STATUE OF GUDEA | [122] |
| MAP—THE FIRST ASSYRIAN EMPIRE | [135] |
| VIEW OF THE TEMPLE OF UR IN ITS PRESENT STATE, ACCORDING TO LOFTUS | [141] |
| THE GARDENS AND HILL OF DHUSPAS OR VAN | [163] |
| THE RUINS OF A PALACE OF URARTU AT TOPRAK-KALEH | [166] |
| THE RUINS AT BOGHAZ KEUI | [174] |
| ONE OF THE PROCESSIONS IN THE RAVINE OF BOGHAZ | [176] |
PREFACE
The first six chapters which follow, embody the Rhind Lectures in Archæology which I delivered at Edinburgh in October 1906. The seventh chapter appeared as an article in the Contemporary Review for August 1905, and is here reprinted by the courtesy of the Editor to whom I render my thanks. The book is the first attempt to deal with what I would call the archæology of cuneiform decipherment, and like all pioneering work consequently claims the indulgence of the reader. For the sake of clearness I have been forced to repeat myself in a few instances, more especially in the sixth chapter, but what has thereby been lost in literary finish will, I hope, be compensated by an increase of clearness in the argument.
If what I have written serves no other purpose, I shall be content if it draws attention to the miserably defective state of our archæological knowledge of Babylonia and Assyria, and to the necessity of scientific excavations being carried on there similar to those inaugurated by Mr. Rhind in Egypt. We have abundance of epigraphic material; it is the more purely archæological material that is still wanting.