The Old Testament In the Light of The Historical Records and Legends Part 51

P. 499, -- 108. The "large stone" was seemingly large only by comparison with the "small stone" which weighed 1/3 of a shekel.

P. 500, -- 116, etc. "The son of a man" Winckler translates as "a free-born person."

P. 501, -- 126. Or "As (in the case of) his property (which) has not been lost, he shall state his deficiency before G.o.d."

P. 510, ---- 215, 218, 220. Instead of "cataract" Winckler translates "tumour," but thinks "lachrymal fistula" still better, though "cataract"

is possible.

P. 513, -- 257. Here, as in other places, the character for field-labourer is the archaic form of [Cuneiform] _ikkaru_ or _irriu_.

APPENDIX TO THE THIRD EDITION.

The Hitt.i.tes.

In consequence of the very important discoveries of the German explorers at Boghaz-Koi, the site of the ancient Hitt.i.te capital ?attu,(311) much light will be thrown on the ancient history, religion, manners, and customs of that portion of Western Asia, and Syria as well, together with the relations of the empire of the Hitt.i.tes with Egypt. As far as can at present be judged, the language of the Hitt.i.tes was Aryan, and the similar terminations in such Ka.s.site(312) words as are known point to its being of the same family, and the same may, perhaps, be said of Mitannian.(313) The excavations at Boghaz-Koi began where fragments of tablets had already been found, namely, on the slope of the hill at Boyuk-kale, the doc.u.ments becoming more complete as the explorers went higher. Another ma.s.s of records was found at the foot of the hill, by the ruins of the temple. It was in the upper find that the Babylonian version of the treaty between Rameses II. and the Hitt.i.te king ?attuil was found. The founder of the dynasty was ubbiluliuma, the name read _Sapalulu_ in the Egyptian version of the treaty. He was evidently a warrior-king, whose overlords.h.i.+p the state of Mitanni acknowledged, and seems to have been succeeded by his son Aranda. The next ruler was Muril, the _Maurasar_ of Egyptologists, who appears to have been a great conqueror. Muril's successor was his brother Mutallu (_Mautenel_), who, however, was apparently killed in a revolt, whereupon the renowned ?attuil (the _Khetasir_ of Egyptologists) mounted the throne. His queen was Pudu-?ipa, and they had a son Dud?alia, whose name recalls the Tidal (Tid'al) of the 14th chapter of Genesis, and the Tud?ula (or Tud?ul) of the tablets which apparently refer to Chedorlaomer and his allies.(314) In the Babylonian version of the treaty of ?attuil with Rameses II., we learn that the t.i.tles of the Egyptian king were _Wamua-ria atepuaria Ria-maea mai Amana mar Mim-mua-Ria binbin Min-pa?irita-Ria_, _i.e._ User-maat-ra Ra-messu Mery Amen, son of Men-maat-ra (Seti I.), grandson of Men-pe?ti-ra (Rameses I.).(315)

The ?abiri.

Dr. Hugo Winckler, the explorer of Boghaz-Koi, who has published many interesting details of the result of his researches, states that parallel pa.s.sages prove the ident.i.ty of the Sa-gas (_see_ pp. 291, 292) of the Tel-al-Amarna tablets with the ?abiri, and that not only the Sa-gas people, but also the Sa-gas G.o.ds are referred to. For these latter, he says, compare the image of the "valley of the _'oberim_" (translated "them that pa.s.s") in Ezekiel (x.x.xix. 11), in which further justification of the comparison of _?abiri_ and _'eber_ (Eber, regarded as the ancestor of the _'Ibrim_ or Hebrews) results. One would like to have further details of the learned explorer's opinions upon this point. To all appearance the connection of _'oberim_ with _'eber_ would involve a change in the vocalization. For the author, the difficulty of connecting _?abiri_ with _'Ibrim_ (Hebrews) still continues to exist. The connection of _?abiri_ with _'Ibri_ (Hebrew) requires that the _ain_ should have been p.r.o.nounced as _ghain_, and the Septuagint generally gives _gh_ when it was so p.r.o.nounced.(316) In _'Ibrim_, however, this is not the case, and Prof.

Swete has only the soft breathing in his edition.

A Letter Apparently From Prince Belshazzar (_see_ pp. 446-451).

This is evidently one of the doc.u.ments obtained by Mr. Hormuzd Ra.s.sam at Sippar (Abu-habbah), as the reference to Bunene, one of the deities of the city, shows. Unfortunately, it is very defective, there being only eight lines (five of them incomplete) on the obverse, and the remains of the last three lines of the communication on the reverse. What makes it probable that the Belshazzar who sent the letter is the son of Nabonidus, and the hero of the fall of Babylon, is, that no honorific expressions are used with reference to the person to whom it is addressed-he does not call Muezib-Marduk his lord, or father, or brother, as was the custom in private correspondence. As far as it is preserved, the following is a rendering of this doc.u.ment, which is of interest mainly on account of the personality of its a.s.sumed writer-

"Letter of Bel-arra-u?ur to Muezib-Marduk. May the G.o.ds grant thee prosperity. Behold, I have sent Bel-unu and ... the (two) _mamae_, to.... Send the requirements for the robes (?) of the deity Bunene....

(Several lines are wanting here.)

... I have caused ... to be ... the threshold ... may all...."

The doc.u.ments referring to Belshazzar's residence at Sippar, are mentioned on pp. 414, 449, 450.

The Aramaic Papyri From Elephantine.

These noteworthy doc.u.ments, which have attracted considerable attention, were found in the ruins of the city which lie at the southern point of the island. Almost all the brick-built private houses of Elephantine are in a ruinous state, partly due to the ravages of time, but princ.i.p.ally to the Fellahin, who have for many years dug there for garden-mould. To the south of the place where Mr. Mond's Aramaic papyri(317) are said to have been found, Greek papyri were discovered, but proceeding north of that point, the German explorers soon came upon the Aramaic fragments. Those first found are said to have been in earthen vessels, but the most important of them (the texts translated below) were buried, without any protective covering, close to the eastern and southern walls of the room in which they lay. To all appearance these last had escaped the notice of the earlier excavators, who had thrown them away with the rubbish cast aside as containing nothing more worth carrying off.

The text of the most perfect of them reads as follows-

"To our lord Bagohi, governor of Judea, thy servants Yedoniah and his companions, the priests in the fortress of Yeb, salutation! May our Lord, the G.o.d of heaven, grant (thee) prosperity at all times, and set thee in favour before Darius the king, and the sons of the (royal) house a thousandfold more than now, and may He give thee long life. Be at all times joyful and firm. Now speak thy servants Yedoniah and his companions as follows-

"In the month Tammuz in the 14th year of Darius the king, when Arsam (Asames) had marched forth and gone to the king, the priests of the G.o.d Khnub, who are in Yeb, the fortress, [made] with Waidrang, who is the governor here, a secret union of the following nature-

" 'The temple of Yahu, the G.o.d who is in Yeb, the fortress, shall be removed(318) from that place.'

"Thereupon that Waidrang, the _la?ya_,(319) sent letters to Nephayan, his son, who was commander-in-chief in Syene, the fortress, saying-

" 'The temple which is in Yeb, the fortress, they shall destroy.'

"Thereupon Nephayan brought in Egyptians, together with other warriors; they came to the fortress of Yeb together with their _tali_,(320) penetrated into that temple, destroyed it down to the ground. And they shattered the stone columns which were there. It also happened, (that) they shattered the seven stone doors,(321) built out of a hewn block of stone, which were in that temple, and their heads, they ...(322) and their hinges which were in the marble, those were of bra.s.s,(323) and the roofing, consisting wholly of cedar beams, together with the plaster pavement (?) of the forecourt (?) and other (things) which were there-all this have they burned with fire. And the sacrificial dishes of gold and silver, and the things which were in that temple, all have they taken and have used as their own. And since the days of the kings of Egypt have our fathers built that temple in Yeb, the fortress. And when Cambyses came up to Egypt, he found that temple (already) built, but they pulled all the temples of the G.o.ds of Egypt down. In that temple, on the contrary, no one had destroyed anything.

"And after they had done this, we, with our wives and children, wore mourning-garments, fasted, and prayed to Yahu, the lord of heaven, who had given us warning concerning that Waidrang, the _kalbya_.(324) They have taken the chains(325) away from his feet, and all the treasures, which he had acquired, have gone to ruin. And all the men who wished evil to that temple, have all been killed, and we have been witnesses thereof.

"Also before this, at the time when this evil was committed upon us, did we send a letter to our lord, and to Yeho?anan, the high-priest, and his companions, the priests who were in Jerusalem, and to Ostan (Ostanes), his brother, that is, 'Anani,(326) and the free ones (princes) of the Jews.

They have not sent us one letter (in reply).

"Also since the days of Tammuz of the 14th year of Darius the king, and until this day, we wear mourning-garments and fast, our wives have been made as a widow, we have not anointed (ourselves with) oil nor drunk wine.

Also since then and until (this) day of the 17th year of Darius the king they have not made food-offerings, incense-offerings, and burnt-offerings in that temple.

"Moreover, thy servants, Yedoniah and his companions, and the Jews, all citizens of Yeb, speak as follows-

" 'If it be good to our lord, mayest thou consider upon that temple, for its rebuilding, as they do not allow us to rebuild it. Look to the receivers of thy benefits and favours, who are here in Egypt. Let a letter be sent from thee to them with regard to the temple of the G.o.d Yahu, to rebuild it in Yeb, the fortress, even as it was heretofore built. And they shall offer food-offerings and incense-offerings and burnt-offerings upon the altar of the G.o.d Yahu in thy name. And we will pray for thee at every time-we and our wives and our children and all the Jews who are here, if they(327) have then worked until that temple is rebuilt.

" 'And a share shall be thine before Yahu the G.o.d of heaven from the man who offers to him a burnt-offering and a sacrifice, a value equal to the worth of a silver (shekel) for (every) 1000 talents.(328) And with regard to the gold, concerning that we have sent and given instruction. We have also sent everything in a letter in our name to Delaiah and Shelemiah, sons of Sanaballat, governor of Samaria. Also Arsames had no knowledge of all that which has been done unto us.'

"On the 20th of Marcheswan in the year 17 of Darius the king."

A fragment of a duplicate gives some instructive variants of this exceedingly interesting doc.u.ment, from which it would appear that gold and treasure was given to Waidrang to induce him to act against the temple of Yahu at Yeb.

To this plea on the part of Yedoniah and the Jewish congregation at Yeb a favourable answer was given, as the following doc.u.ment shows-

"Memorandum of what Bagohi and Delaiah said to me-Memorandum as follows-

" 'Thou shalt speak in Egypt before Arsames concerning the temple of the sacrificial altar of the G.o.d of Heaven which is in Yeb, the fortress, before our time, before Cambyses, which Waidrang, that _lahia_,(329) destroyed in the 14th year of Darius the king, to rebuild it in its place, as it was formerly. And they shall offer food-offerings and incense upon that altar, even as was wont to be done formerly.' "

Nothing could be more satisfactory than this little episode of the Jewish colony at Yeb-it needs but the discovery of the record of the rebuilding and the inauguration of the temple to round it off.

Bagohi governor of Judea is the Bagoas or Bagoses of Josephus, _Antiquities of the Jews_, xi. 7. The high-priest Johannes or John (the Yo?anan mentioned on p. 539) had slain his brother Jesus in the temple, because the latter, supported by Bagoas, sought to dispute with him the High-priesthood. Notwithstanding the protests of the Jews, Bagoas penetrated into the temple, and imposed upon it a fine of 50 drachmas for every lamb sacrificed therein. It will thus be seen, that in offering to him a percentage of the sacrifices in return for his support in rebuilding the temple at Yeb, Yedoniah and his companions were acting in accordance with what was known to be his character. The reference to Yohanan's refraining from helping them, it is reasonable to suppose, also occurred to them as likely to further their desires.