Part 15

SEMITIC EPIGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES.--M. Clermont-Ganneau has published in the _Journal Asiatique_ for 1892, No. 1, a series of the discoveries and investigations made in Semitic epigraphy and antiquities during the year 1891. It is the address by which he opened his course at the Collège de France. He commences with Phornicia and notices besides such discoveries as are reported in the Journal, such books as Goblet d'Aviella's _La migration des symboles_, which is a comparative study of Oriental art symbols, and Ph. Berger's _Histoire de l'écriture dans l'antiquité_, which treats especially of the development of the Phornician alphabet. As an original supplement he describes some antiquities recently sent to him, which had been found in the necropolis of Sidon, _e.g._, a terracotta head of Egyptian style; a smaller head of Cypriote style; a statuette of Bes; two gold ear-rings; bottom of a Greek vase with a Phornician inscription; piece of a diorite scarcophagus cover of Egyptian origin, probably that of a king of Sidon. Another complete anthropoid sarcophagus from the same site at Sidon has been sent to Constantinople. Still another sarcophagus of this type has been found in Spain, at Cadiz, the ancient Gades. Its importance is incalculable, as it proves for the first time the passing of the Phornicians to Spain. Mr. Clermont-Ganneau then takes up Aramean antiquities and inscriptions, especially those of Palmyra. Among them are a number secured by the writer himself; they are three fine monumental funerary inscriptions and six funerary busts of men and women, two of which are finely executed and remarkably well preserved; all are inscribed and several are dated. He notices the publication of the valuable _Journal d'un voyage en Arabie_ (1883-1884) by Charles Huber, in which the five note-books of the traveller are reproduced. It will be remembered that he was treacherously murdered during his journey. Dr. Euting in his _Sinaïtische Inschriften_ publishes 67 inscriptions copied by him in the Sinaitic peninsula. His readings are very careful and accurate. Three of the texts are dated and are important in view of the controversy as to the age of all these inscriptions.

Palestine and Hebrew antiquities are very fully treated. M. Clement-Ganneau reads the famous Lachish inscription [Hebrew: jons] = _ad libandum_; he calls attention to hematite weight with an early inscription found at Sebaste; mentions the vandalism perpetrated in cutting away the famous Pool of Siloam inscription, _etc._ He notes the importance of the discovery by MM. Lees and Hanauer in the subterranean structures at Page 131 Jerusalem called "Solomon's Stables," of the spring of an immense ancient arch, analogous to Robinson's arch. It introduces quite a new element in the complicated problem of the Jewish Temple. Mr. Wrightson, an English engineer, concludes that the two arches or bridges formed part of a continuous system of parallel arches which occupied, between the two east and west walls, the sub-structure of the entire southern part of the esplanade of the temple. Mr. Schick's investigations are carefully noticed. Finally praise is given to the new publication of the Abbé Vigouroux, _Dictionnaire de la Bible_.

ARABIA.

A HISTORY OF YEMEN.--The British Museum acquired in 1886 the MS. of Omârah's 'History of Yemen,' a work of which it was long feared that no copy was at the present day in existence. Omârah's 'History' extends over a period of about three hundred and fifty years. It commences with the foundation of the city and principality of Zabid in the ninth century, and extends down to the eve of the conquest by the Ayyûbites in the twelfth. Mr. Henry C. Kay, a member of the Council of the Royal Asiatic Society, has prepared the MS. for publication, together with an English translation, notes and indices. The volume also contains, besides other similar matter, an account and genealogical list of the Imams of Yemen, down to the thirteenth century, derived from the Zeydite MSS. recently added to the British Museum library.--_Athenæum_.

COINS OF THE BENU RASOOL DYNASTY OF SULTANS.--Out of the fourteen sovereigns who composed the Benu Rasool dynasty, we are in possession of the coins of only eight, and these the first eight; their inscriptions are in Arabic, and it is by no means easy to decipher all of them. The mints of these are: Aden, Zebîd, El-Mahdjâm, Thabat, Sana and Taiz, and each is characterized by a particular figure, a fish for Aden, a bird for Zebîd, a lion for El-Mahdjâm, and other symbols. There are also noticed several coins struck by rebels under the Benu Rasool dynasty.--_Revue Numismatique_, III s. tom. 10, III trim. 1892, p. 350.

BABYLONIA.

A BAS-RELIEF OF NARAM-SIN.--At a meeting of the _Acad. des Inscriptions_ M. Maspero exhibited a photograph of a Chaldean bas-relief from Constantinople. It was erected by, and bears the name of King Naram-sin, who reigned over Babylonia about 3800 B.C. Though much mutilated, what remains shows workmanship of a refined kind. It represents a human figure standing, Page 132 clothed (as on the most ancient cylinders) with a robe that passes under one arm and over the shoulder, and wearing a conical head-piece flanked with horns. The general appearance strikingly recalls Egyptian monuments of the same date. The relief is extremely low, the lines clear, but not stiff. There is no muscular exaggeration as is often the case in the cylinders. Naram-sin, like his father, Sargon I, has left the reputation (perhaps legendary) of a great conqueror; a campaign against Magan is attributed to him. M. Maspero was disposed to explain the style of the bas-relief by the Egyptian influence. It differs widely from the sculptures of Telloh, which are less refined and artistically advanced. But these, though of later date, come from a provincial town, not from a capital. M. Menant mentioned that the collection of M. de Clerq contains a cylinder, also of remarkable workmanahip, with an inscription with characters of the same style as those on the bas-relief in question; but it bears the name of Sargani, king of Agyadi, who is several generations earlier than Sargon I. Both of these are examples of an art which was never surpassed in Chaldea.--_Academy_, Oct. 15; _Chron. des Arts_, 1892, No. 33.

TELLOH.--BABYLONIAN SCULPTURE--The later excavations of M. de Sarzec at Telloh, in so far as they concern sculpture, are treated by M. Heuzey in some communications to the _Acad. des Inscriptions_. M. de Sarzec has reconstructed from some fragments a series of reliefs relating to King Ur-Nina, the ancestor of King E-anna-du, who is commemorated in the _stele of the vultures_. The sculptures of Ur-Nina are of rude and primitive workmanship and belong to the earliest period of Babylonian sculpture. The king is represented more than once, either carrying on his head the sacred basket, or seated and raising in his hand the drinking-horn. Around him are ranged his children and servants, all with their names inscribed upon the drapery. Among them is A-kur-gal, who is to succeed his father, replacing another prince, his older brother. The reunion of these fragments has given us an historic and archæological document of the highest antiquity.--_Revue Critique_, 1892, No. 44.

At a meeting of the _Acad. des Inscr._ M. Heuzey read a paper upon the "Stèle des Vautours." M. de Sarzec has been able to find and piece together several additional fragments, from which it appears that the name of the person who set up the pillar was E-anna-du, king of Sirpula, son of A-kur-gal, and grandson of King of Ur-Nina. He is represented in front of his warriors, beating down his enemies, sometimes on foot, sometimes in a chariot, of which only a trace remains. The Page 133 details of the armor resemble in some respects that of the Assyrians of a much later date. From what can be read of the inscription, it seems that the conquered enemies belonged to the country of Is-ban-ki. There is also mention of a city of Ur, allied with Sirpula. The pillar was sculptured on both faces. On the reverse is a royal or divine figure, of large size, holding in one hand the heraldic design of Sirpula (an eagle with the head of a lion), while the other brandishes a war-club over a crowd of prisoners, who are tumbling one over another in a sort of net or cage. In illustration of this scene, M. Heuzey quoted the passage from Habakkuk (i. 15), describing the vengeance of the Chaldeans: "They catch them in their net and gather them in their drag."--_Academy_, Sept. 3.

THE BABYLONIAN STANDARD WEIGHT.--Prof. Sayce writes: "Mr. Greville Chester has become the possessor of a very remarkable relic of antiquity, discovered in Babylonia, probably on the site of Babylon. It is a large weight of hard green stone, highly polished, and of a cone-like form. The picture of an altar has been engraved upon it, and down one side runs a cuneiform inscription of ten lines. They read as follows:

"One maneh standard weight, the property of Merodach-sar-ilani, a duplicate of the weight which Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, the son of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, made in exact accordance with the weight prescribed by the deified Dungi, a former king."

The historical importance of the inscription is obvious at the first glance. Dungi was the son and successor of Ur-Bagas, and his date may be roughly assigned to about 3000 B.C. It would appear that he had fixed the standard of weight in Babylonia; and the actual weight made by him in accordance with this standard seems to have been preserved down to the time of Nebuchadrezzar, who caused a duplicate of it to be made. The duplicate again became the standard by which all other weights in the country had to be tested.

The fact that Dungi is called "the deified" is not surprising. We know of other early kings of Chaldaea who were similarly raised to the rank of gods. One of them prefixes the title of "divine" to his own bricks; another, Naram-Sin, the son of Sargon, of Accad, is called "a god" on the seal of an individual who describes himself as his "worshipper. It is possible that in this cult of certain Babylonian kings we have an evidence of early intercourse with Egypt."--_Academy_, Dec. 19.

CATALOGUE OF BRITISH MUSEUM TABLETS.--Stored in the British Museum are some 50,000 inscribed pieces of terracotta or clay-tablets, forming the libraries of Assyria and Babylonia. Page 134 The great impetus given to cuneiform studies has made it necessary that the tablets should be catalogued, and the trustees have now issued a descriptive catalogue of some 8,000 inscribed tablets. The inscriptions in question come from the Kuyuryik Mound, at Nineveh. The tablets embrace every class of literature, historical documents, hymns, prayers and educational works, such as syllabaries or spelling-books, and dictionaries. The catalogues, of which the second is just issued, are prepared by Dr. Bezold.--_Biblia_, Sept., 1892.

ASHNUNNAK.--M. Pognon, French Consul at Bagdad, has announced to the _Acad. des Inscriptions_ that he has discovered the exact location of the region called anciently the land of Ashnunnak. He declares that he is not yet ready to announce his discovery more exactly, but publishes several bricks with the names and titles of several princes of Ashnunnak hitherto unknown. These are Ibalpil, Amil and Nulaku.

PERSIA.

M. de MORGAN'S RESEARCHES IN PERSIA AND LURISTAN.--In a communication to the _Acad. des Inscr._ M. de Morgan gives a report upon his mission in Persia and Luristan, of which the following are a few extracts. "In the valley of the Lar, I made a study of the subterranean habitations excavated in the rock and made a plan of the very ancient castle, Molla-Kölo, which once defended the pass of Vahné. Finally, in the ravine called _Ab-é-pardöma_, I discovered in the alluvion some stone instruments presenting very ancient paleolithic characters. At Amol, I studied the ruins of the ancient city and gathered some interesting collections containing quite a number of pieces of pottery and some bronzes of the xiv century."..... "Near Asterabad there is a mound called _Khaighruch-tépè_. I attempted to make some excavations of this point; unfortunately my work here was arrested by order of the Persian government just when, after twenty days of working with sixty laborers, I had reached a depth of 11½ meters. In this excavation I found some human bones, some pottery, some whorls and some thin objects composed of bronze much decomposed; all in the midst of ashes and cooking-debris. At the bottom was a skeleton stretched upon a very regular bed of pebbles, and I am of the opinion that _Khaighruch-tépè_ was primitively raised as a tomb and afterwards served for the construction of a village, the successive ruins of which coming to increase the importance of the mound. At a depth of 11½ meters I found more cinders and debris, indicating that I had not yet come to the level of the earliest works.".... "The _tépès_ are near together in the Page 135 eastern part of the Mazanderan and in the Turkoman steppe; but in the Lenkoran, the Ghilan and the western Mazanderan they are entirely wanting. It is concluded from this observation that the people who built here were not aborigines of the north of Persia, but that their migration moreover has left traces on the right and on the left of the Caspian. The Scythians of Herodotus present a very satisfactory solution for the problem of the Caspian _tépès_".... "From an archaeological point of view the Lenkoran was absolutely virgin soil and the finding of the first tomb was not an easy task. Finally, after long and minute research in the forests, I discovered the necropolis of Kravelady, composed of dolmens almost completely despoiled, but in sufficiently good condition to permit me to organize the natives in research for burial places of the same sort. I at first encountered much repugnance on the part of the inhabitants to excavate the tombs; finally, with some money and very long explanations, I brought them to terms and, thanks to my tomb-hunters, I found and excavated the necropoli of Horil, Beri, Djon, Tülü, Mistaïl, Hiveri, _etc._ These tombs present, according to their age, very different characteristics; the most ancient and at the same time the largest, contain rude arms of bronze. Those of the period following show the bronze well worked, iron, gold and silver being employed as jewels. Although we saw iron in very small quantities in the tombs of the second period, it is not until the third that it appears as the material of arms; at the same time, the jewels take the forms of animals, which change, as I have shown in the case of Russian Armenia in my preceding mission, indicates the appearance of a strange tribe possessed of special arts. During the last epoch all the arms are of iron. The pottery found in the tombs is glazed.

"As to the form of the monuments, it is very variable at different ages; there are some covered passages or chambers completely closed, some dolmens with openings like those of India. At the very time when my excavations were attaining their greatest importance I was compelled to discontinue them by order of the Russian administration and was obliged to leave the country, having only made a beginning in archaeology. An _ukase_ of the Czar reserves the excavations in all his great empire for the Archæological Society of St. Petersburg. But this interdict did not arrive until after I had excavated about two hundred and twenty tombs, so that we now possess more than fifteen hundred objects, vases, arms, trinkets of gold, bronze, silver, _etc._

"At Moukri, thanks to the kindness of a Kurd chief, I was enabled to excavate a tomb which, although it held no objects Page 136 of value, still contained some interesting relics. I have not yet been able to assign a date to any of them." .... "During my stay at Moukri I set up a map on the scale of 1/250000, and marked upon it all the ruins, mounds and ancient tombs....

"Although blockaded by snow at Hamadan I was able to visit the ancient Ecbatana and there acquired a small collection of Greek jewels and Chaldean cylinders. I found no trace whatever of the ancient palace; they told me that the last debris had been reduced to lime and that houses had been built over the rest. On the other hand, the trilingual inscription of the Elvend, the _Ghendj-nûméh_, is still admirably preserved, but the cold prevented me from taking a squeeze. After having visited and photographed the ruins of Dinâver, Kinghârer, Bisoutoun and several remains encountered on the route, I visited Tagh-é-Bostan, near Kirmanshahan; I took numerous photographs and squeezes of the more interesting fragments, like the pahlavi inscriptions of the smallest monument. At Zohab, I took the inscriptions of Ler-é-poul and of Hourin-cheïkh-khan, made plans of the ruins of Ler-é-poul, those of the Sassanian palace of Kasr-é-Chirîon and of Haoueh-Ruri; drew up a map on a scale of 1/250000 of the gates of the Zagros, and of the country around." ..... "Having arrived at Houleilan,..... I found the remains of a large number of towns and castles of the Sassanian epoch, besides some very ancient _tépès_. At Chirvan, near the fort of the Poncht-é-Kouh, are the ruins of a Sassanian town. I made a plan of it. Near it is a great _tell_ of unburnt brick...... In the valleys, situated near the plain, in the passes are some _tells_, and it is near one of them that I had the good fortune to find more than eight hundred objects carved in flint. Beyond these _tells_ which guard the frontier of the Semite border, the Poncht-é-Kouh does not contain a single ruin. In antiquity, as to-day, it was inhabited by nomads. On leaving the Poncht-é-Kouh, I entered the valley of the Kukha, where I encountered numerous ruins. I then advanced into Louristan, continually finding _tells_, of which the principal ones are those of Zakha and of Khorremâbâd. ..... Finally arriving at Susiana, we again found civilization, but also a country well known and that does not form a part of my mission."--_Journal Asiatique_, No. 2, 1892, pp. 189-200.

COINS OF THE SATRAPS.--1. Money had been invented and was in circulation in the Greek cities of Asia Minor almost two hundred years, when Darius I introduced the daric. The Greek coins in circulation along the coast had not penetrated far from the Mediterranean, even the new Persian coinage was used chiefly in the commerce with the Greeks on the frontier, and Page 137 for the payment of Greek mercenaries, enrolled in the armies of the Great King. The interior of the empire, during the whole period of the Achæmenidæ, continued to employ wedges of precious metals in exchange. The coinage of the Persian empire divides into four clearly defined groups, according to the direct authority of its issue. (1) The coinage of the Great King; (2) The coinage of the tributary Greek towns; (3) The coinage of the tributary dynasties; (4) The coinage occasionally struck for the satraps, chiefs of the Persian army. It is the last category that is described in the paper here summarized. The towns then, and the tributary dynasties, and, under some circumstances, the satraps enjoyed the right to coin money but only in electrum, silver and bronze; the great King reserved the exclusive right to issue coins in gold; and this principle became universally acknowledged, so that gold effectually became the unique standard of the Persian empire. The few departures from this rule are not worthy of consideration. The towns of Asia Minor paying tribute to the great King continued to issue money, just as they had during their independence, retaining their own types, and betraying in no way their subjection. The tributary kings placed under the surveillance of satraps were allowed various degrees of liberty in issuing coinage, according to their countries and to their varying relations to the persian monarch; the dynasties of Caria, of Cyprus, of Gebal and of Tyre, like the tributary cities mentioned above, continued their old coinage, while those of Sidon and of Cilicia placed upon their coins, the figure of the Achæmenidean prince.

Besides the coinage already mentioned there exists a number of coins bearing the names of satraps, and the questions are raised, under what circumstances were these issued, and with what extraordinary powers was a satrap invested, who was permitted to issue money in his own name? The theory is advanced, that the satraps of the Persian empire never held the right to coin money in their capacity as satraps. All the instances we have of satrapal coins were issued by satraps invested with the command of armies. Fr. Lenormant says: "All the pieces known, which bear the names of high functionaries of Persia, mentioned in history, particularly those of Cilicia, should be ranged in the class of military coins; that is, coins issued by generals placed at the head of armies, on a campaign, and not as satraps exercising their regular powers." The only satrapies in which money was coined, before Alexander, are the following. The sixth satrapy, which comprised Egypt and Cyrenaica. The fifth satrapy or that of Syria, comprising Arabia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Phornicia, Palestine and the island of Cyprus. The fourth satrapy or that of Cilicia, which Page 138 acquired in the V century the states north of the Taurus. The first satrapy or that of Ionia, comprising Pamphilia, Lycia, Caria, Pisidia, Ionia and Eolis. The twelfth satrapy, known as the satrapy of Sardis, or of Lydia. The thirteenth satrapy, known also as the satrapy of Phrygia, which comprised, besides the coast of the Hellespont, all the central region of Asia Minor between the Taurus and the Black Sea. This huge province was divided in the fifth century into the satrapies of Greater Phrygia, Lesser Phrygia, and Cappadocia.

2. The coinage in circulation in Egypt, during the Achæmenidean supremacy was all of foreign origin, the staters of the Kings of Tyre and Sidon and the tetradrachmas of Athens. The commerce with Greece, and especially the incessant wars in which Greek mercenaries were largely employed, tended to make Athenian silver popular in the eastern countries. For the pay of these mercenaries, the Persians and Egyptians had recourse to silver money, and especially to those types with which the Greeks were acquainted. Thus the prevalence of Athenian coins in the Orient is accounted for by these circumstances. The generals of the Persian and Egyptian armies made use of the Athenian coins which had long been in circulation in the country. They merely imprinted upon the coin of Attic origin a counter-mark to officially authorize the circulation, and when the original Athenian coins in the country were insufficient to pay the troops, they struck off others as nearly like them as possible--these, however, are easily recognized by the defects of workmanship and altered inscriptions. One sort has in place of the Greek lettering an Aramean inscription. On a certain number of these we find the name Mazaios, the famous satrap of Cilicia, who undertook to subdue the insurgent king of Sidon.

The imitation of Athenian coins and the coins of Alexander was continued in Arabia down to the first century of our era. The Athenian coins were not the only ones copied in Egypt, Palestine, and Arabia. The coinage of the kings of Sidon were frequently imitated by the Aramean chiefs, of whom Bagoas was one. Then, too, the kings of Sidon had supreme command of the imperial fleet and had the paying of the naval army. Later, Mazaios, placed at the head of the Persian army, for a time imitated the Sidonian coins, substituting his name for that of the Sidonian dynasty. Bagoas, in turn, did likewise.