by the Société Finno-Ougrienne at Helsingfors, containing
inscriptions from the valley of the Orkhon, brought home by the
Finnish Expedition in 1890. There are three large monuments,
the first erected 732 A.D.., by the order of the Chinese
Emperor in honour of Kiuèh-Jeghin, younger brother of the Khan
Page 129 of the Tukiu (Turks). On the west side it has an inscription in
Chinese, speaking of the relations between the Tukiu and
Chinese. The Tartar historian, Ye-lu-chi, of the thirteenth
century, saw it and gave some phrases from the front of it. On
all the other sides is a long inscription of 70 lines in runic
characters, which cannot be a mere translation of the Chinese
because it numbers about 1400 words, while the Chinese
inscription contains only about 800. The other monument has
also a Chinese inscription on one side, but greatly effaced. On
the other sides are runic inscriptions in 77 lines at least.
This monument was erected, by order of the Chinese Emperor, in
honour of Mekilikn (Moguilen), Khan of the Tukiu, who died 733
A.D.. About two-thirds of its runic inscription nearly line for
line contains the same as the first monument, a circumstance of
importance for the true reading of the text. The third
monument, which has been the largest one, was destroyed by
lightning and shattered into about fifty fragments. It is
trilingual--viz., Chinese, Uighur, and runic or Yenissei
characters. On comparing the texts they are found to contain
many identical words and forms, proving that the languages were
nearly identical. M. Devéria thinks that this is the memorial
stone which the Uighur Khan, 784 A.D.., placed at the gateway
of his palace to record the benefits the Uighurs had done to
the Chinese Empire. Concerning the characters of these
inscriptions they show small modifications. The tomb
inscriptions at Yenissei seem to be the more original; some
characters have been altered in the Tukiu alphabet and also in
the third monument, representing in that way the three several
nations--the Tukiu, the Uighurs, who followed them, and the
Hakas, or Khirgiz, at Yenissei. A comparison of the characters
themselves with the alphabets in Asia Minor shows that about
three-fourths of them are identical with the characters of the
Ionian, Phrygian, and Syrian [?]. The other part has
resemblances with the graphic systems of India and Central
Asia. We can now expect that the deciphering of these
interesting inscriptions will soon give us reliable specimens
of the oldest Turk dialects."--_Academy_, Sept. 17.
SIMFEROPOL.--At Simferopol Prof. Messelowski has made the most
interesting discovery of a Scythian warrior's grave, dating
probably from about the second or third century. The skeleton
lay on its back facing the east, on the head was a cap with
gold ornaments, and little gold plates were also fixed to
portions of the dress. Near the head stood two amphoræ and a
leathern quiver containing copper-headed arrows. At the feet
were the bones of an ox, an iron knife, four amphoraæ and some
lances--these were in a very rusty condition. The quiver had a
Page 130 fine gold-chased ornament upon it representing a flying eagle
gripping in its talons a small animal. It is admirably worked.
The skeleton itself fell to pieces immediately.--_Biblia_,
Oct., 1892.
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.