Rev. J. Osborne Seager, M.A., Stevenage. The following were duly elected Members of the Society, having been nominated on June 10th :— Prof. William G. Blaikie, D.D., Edinburgh. Rev. James Cooper, M.A., Forfar. Charles A. Flint, Canterbury. John Hirst, Saddleworth. Rev. H. H. Vowles, Bermondsey. A communication sent from Mossul, by Hormuzd Rassam, F.R.G.S., giving an account of his excavations in Assyria, &c., was read by the author : Mr. Rassam commenced this interesting account of his connection with the explorations in Assyria and Babylonia, which dated from the time he joined Sir Henry Layard, in his first expedition, by an account of his important discovery, at Kouyunjik, of the Palace of Assur-bani-pal, the grandson of Sennacherib. No correct account has yet been published of the extraordinary manner in which Mr. Rassam discovered the palace. Many inscriptions of great value have been obtained from it, and in the Assyrian Basement Room, at the British Museum, are preserved numerous sculptures, exhibiting with great delicacy of execution and freedom of design, hunting and battle scenes of Assur-bani-pal, or Sardanapalus, which originally ornamented this palace. In 1876 Mr. Rassam visited Constantinople, but a firman was not then obtained. Mr. Layard having obtained the requisite permit in 1877, Mr. Rassam again proceeded to Mossul. A large number of workmen were placed at Kouyunjik to search for inscriptions in the Palaces of Sennacherib and Assur-bani-pal, and a few others were employed to dig in unexplored spots. A little time earlier Mr. Rassam had heard of a mound called Balawat, situated about 15 miles to the east of Mossul, where some copper plates bearing inscriptions and Assyrian figures had been found. Aware of the great difficulty that would be encountered in making excavations at this place owing to its being covered with Sabbak graves, Mr. Rassam exerted every effort to obtain the required permission. A long and interesting account was given how these difficulties were at last overcome, and the excavations commenced. The result was, with the discovery of many other antiquities, the recovery of the bronze plates from the gates of the Temple of Balawat, reproductions of which are to be published by the Society, and a coffer containing two alabaster tablets inscribed by Assur-nazir-pal, a translation of which was read before the Society in March last by Ernest A. Budge. A description of the form of the temple, &c., was given, and the position in which the gates were found, &c., &c. The paper will be printed in a future part of the Transactions, with plans and drawings of the different sites excavated. The thanks of the Meeting were returned for this communication. Dr. Oppert in expressing the pleasure he had experienced in hearing Mr. Rassam's description of his explorations in Assyria, wished to call attention to what would be a new field for excavations. Constant reference is made in the Cuneiform Texts to an Island which in the Sumerian language is written Nitukki, and may probably be translated "The Original Land." It must refer to some place situated in the Persian Gulf. Dr. Oppert at first read the Assyrian characters Dilmun, identifying the Island with Deylam in the neighbourhood of Bender-Busheer. Further consideration had, he stated, caused him to abandon this opinion, and to read the name Tilvun, identifying the place with the Tylos of the ancients, referred to by Theophrastus, Arrian, and Ptolemy, but more particularly by Pliny (Book VI. 148, XII. 38, XVI. 221), whose references are of considerable importance. Amongst the ancients, Tylos was celebrated for its pearl-fisheries, the production of cotton, and also for the best timberwood for vessels. It is agreed that Tylos is to be identified with the modern Samak, Owal, or Bahrein, in the Persian Gulf. From this Island came the principal deities of the Assyrian Pantheon, and it was probable that from the sea at this place, arose the monsters who, as we are told in the Chaldean legend, taught mankind the arts and sciences. Strabo, who calls it Tyrus, like Stephen of Byzantium, states that from this place, and the neighbouring Island of Aradus, the Phoenicians had their origin, and it was the opinion of Dr. Oppert that if some scientific excavations were made at this place, much light would be thrown on the early history of the world. Dr. Oppert wished further to correct the mis-statement first made before this Society, and often repeated, that Egibi was a banker at Babylon, and that the numerous tablets now in the British Museum were receipts for loans. But there are not only loans, by far the greater number concern sales of land, of houses, barters of sheep, cessions of debts or of certain servitudes, matrimonial settlements, agreements concerning successions; and these deeds are almost always in the form of judgments issued on account of the non-fulfilment of obligations. The name of Egibi occurs, as also the names of thirty other men, in this manner:-A son of B, man Egibi; C son of D, man Ereru; E son of F, man Bassiya; G son of H, man Nabunnai. These names, or those of Trani, Dabibi, Nursin, Zabinasisa, Zabiea, &c., are never those of the acting persons, but mentioned in the third place, from Assarhaddon (680 B.C.) down to Artaxerxes Ochus (360 B.C.). This circumstance excludes all idea of parentage: the foresaid names are tribal ones, as in Athens, Acamas, Oencus, Aegeus, Pordion and others. The most numerous tribes seem to have been those of Egibi and Nursin; and if the name of the tribe is not mentioned, we find some indication of the social position, or employment. As the name of Egibi occurs the most frequently among the whole thirty, Dr. Oppert stated it would be found upon examination that Egibi had some hundreds of sons, and must have lived at least upwards of two centuries. Dr. Oppert added some remarks on his system explaining the sources of chronology of Genesis, shortly enclosed in the following scheme : These are the same numbers, with different temporary unities : CHALDEAN. 168 myriads of years 93,600 years = 18,720 lustres At the request of the Rev. Dr. Currey, Dr. Oppert kindly promised to lay before the Society at an early date, papers which should embrace his opinions on the various subjects touched upon in his remarks. Remarks were added by R. Cull, F.S.A., Rev. Basil Cooper, Dr. Oppert, H. Rassam, Rev. E. N. Stott, and the President. A communication, entitled, "Le Décret de Phtah Totunen en faveur de Ramsès II. et de Ramsès III.," by M. Edouard Naville, was read. In this paper M. Naville gave translations of two stele. The first was erected in the great temple of Abu Simbel, by Rameses II. Numerous sculptures are to be found in the temple, recording his victories over the Asiatics; but he appears to have wished to leave behind him some other fitting record of his exploits. This he erected in the form of a stele about 10 feet in height, between the two pillars of the sanctuary of the temple. It contains, in 37 lines of hieroglyphics, the praises of the monarch, written in solemn and poetical terms. M. Naville considered that it, without doubt, held a famous place in the sacred literature of Egypt. A copy of the inscription was taken by Champollion, who speaks of it as "un monument fort curieux et d'un genre tout à fait particulier." This copy was published, but with the text reversed, and without the picture which is above it, in "Les Monuments de l'Egypte et de la Nubie," Vol. I., pl. 38. A more correct representation is given by M. Lepsius ("Denk. III.," 194), and by M. Renisch, in his "Chrest. Egypt.," pl. XIII. The other stele is that erected by Rameses III. upon one of the pylons of the temple which he built to Ammon, at Medinet Habou. Finding the poetical composition of Rameses II. better fitted than any other to express the glory which he himself had gained, Rameses III. caused it to be engraved anew. This inscription has only been twice copied: by M. Dümichen, who has published it in his "Historische Inschriften, I. 10; and by M. de Rougé. Although several extracts have been translated and published, the one submitted to the Society by M. Naville was the first giving a complete translation of the text, in which the differences of the two inscriptions were given, with a series of notes and explanations. Amongst the people conquered by Rameses II. may be mentioned the Aouentem, the Temouon, the Hebonou, the Hetaou, the Tenfou, and the Emtebebon; and those of Rameses III., Tirona, Tarbousa, Karona, Chibour, 'Ataro, &c. Thanks were returned for this communication. The next Meeting of the Society will be held at 9, Conduit Street, Hanover Square, W., on Tuesday, December 2nd, at 8.30 p.m., when the following papers will be read :— I. "On the Samaritans in Talmudical Writings." the Rev. A. Löwy. By II. "An Account given by a Samaritan, in A.D. 1713, on the Ancient Copy of the Pentateuch at Nablus." By the Rev. A. Löwy. |