These are the only two letters noticed, and the A has a peculiar form, used, as far as is known to the writer, at about the time of the Ptolemies, and not before.

The problem which these curious relics present is that of ascertaining the nature of the edifice which they adorned, and more particularly whether it was the one constructed or adapted by Onias for his temple.

There can be no doubt that an edifice was built by or for Rameses III., as this is proved by the hieroglyphs on the tiles and on the statues. An inscription quoted by Brugsch Bey shows also that a palace was actually erected on this site by Rameses III., but as to whether this was the building of Onias, we have as yet few data. Josephus describes it as a temple, but writing, at a distance, of a ruined building, the mistake might easily have been made.

There is the name in favour of the tradition, but this is not all conclusive, and a local antiquary of eminence considers it to be likely that the name was derived from a massacre of the Jews there, by the Arabs; and the tradition as to the temple might have been the result, much as in the case of Joseph's Well, in the Citadel of Cairo.

The decorative work bearing Greek characters was probably made by Alexandrine artists, and might have been of the time of Onias. The manufacture must have become extinct before the era of the Byzantines, as it could have been largely used by them and the Arabs. A much nearer clue to Onias' Temple might possibly have been obtained from a Hebrew inscription found at the Tel by Signor Lanzone, of Turin; but the stone which bore it was lost by the sinking of a boat in the Nile, and no copies of the inscription are known to the writer.

No doubt, careful explanation would solve the problem, and this case is just one of those in which a small sum of money put into the hands of a local and zealous antiquary (we may take Dr. Grant as an excellent example) would be likely to produce most important results.

Meanwhile we may console ourselves with the thought that even so much of this curious work has been saved from destruction, and trust that, when aided by future explorations, it may serve as a groundwork for a more definite theory.

Remarks were added by Rev. A Löwy, and the President.

Mr. Theo. G. Pinches announced that he hoped to be able to lay before the next meeting of the Society, some account of an Assyrian Tablet of peculiar interest.

So far as he had been able to examine it, it appeared to contain the annals of the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh years of the reign of Nabonidus (about B.C. 550-539), giving some new information. The reverse of the Tablet contains facts of great historical importance, evidently the history of the last year of the reign of Nabonidus (B.C. 538) recording the overthrow of this King and the capture of his City of Babylon on the 16th of the month Tammuz, by the celebrated General Gobryas, under Cyrus the Great, King of Persia.

THE NEXT MEETING OF THE SOCIETY will be held at 9, Conduit Street, Hanover Square, W., on Tuesday, March 2nd, 1880, at 8.30 p.m., when the following papers will be read:

:

I. "Notes on the Assyrian Numerals." By George Bertin.

II.

"On a cuneiform Tablet relating to the Capture of Babylon by Cyrus, and the Events which preceded and led to it." By Theo. G. Pinches.

ERRATA in last part of Proceedings, p. 17, at foot, for IX read XI.; p. 24, line 12 from foot, for Cast read Cust.

HARRISON AND SONS, PRINTERS IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTY, ST. MARTIN'S LANE.

PROCEEDINGS

OF

THE SOCIETY

OF

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY.

TENTH SESSION, 1879-80.

Fifth Meeting, 2nd March, 1880.

SAMUEL BIRCH, ESQ., PRESIDENT, D.C.L., LL.D., &c.,

IN THE CHAIR.

THE following Presents were announced, and thanks ordered to be returned to the Donors :

From the Royal Society:-Proceedings; Vol. XXIX.
London. 8vo. 1880.

No. 199.

From the Royal Geographical Society :-Proceedings and Monthly Record of Geography; Vol. II., No. 2. 8vo. London, February, 1880.

From the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland :Journal; New Series, Vol. XII., Part 1. London. 8vo. January, 1880.

From the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland :The Journal; Vol. IX, No. 2. London. 8vo.

1880.

·

From the Royal Institute of British Architects :-Transactions, Session, 1878-79. London. 4to. Proceedings, Session, 1878-79. London. 4to.

From the Royal Archæological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland: The Archæological Journal; Vol. XXXVI., No. 144. 1879. London. 8vo.

From the Académie Impériale des Sciences de St. Pétersbourg :Mélanges Asiatiques; Tome VIII., livr. 3 et 4. 8vo. St. Petersburg, 1879.

From the Author :-History of the Mongols, from the 9th to the 19th Century, by Henry H. Howorth, F.S.A. London. 8vo. 2 Vols.

1880.

Forming Part II. (in two divisions) of the Work, and treating of the "so-called Tartars of Russia and Central Asia."

From the Translator:-The Book of Job. Translated from the Hebrew by the Rev. J. M. Rodwell, M.A. London. 8vo. 1880. Third Edition.

A literal Translation of the original text (the Masoretic Text) of this ancient Poem.

From the Author :-Buddhist Architecture, Jellalabad. By William Simpson, F.R.G.S. London. 4to. 1880.

A separate reprint of a paper read before the Royal Institute of British Architects on the 12th January. It contains an account of the excavations and discoveries made by Mr. Simpson in the above region, illustrated by sections, plans, drawings, &c. From Arthur Cates, Hon. Sec.,-Bibliotheca Orientalis for 1878, compiled by Charles Friederici. London, &c. 8vo. Third Year. From G. Bertin:-Le Fils de la Vierge, par H. de Charencey. Havre. 8vo. 1879.

The following have been purchased by the Council for the Library of the Society :

Manuel de la langue Assyrienne, par M. Joachim Menant. I. Le Syllabaire. II. La Grammaire. III. Choix de Lectures. Paris. 8vo.

1880.

Lettres Assyriologiques. Seconde Série. Études Accadiennes, par François Lenormant. Tome III., livr. 2. Paris. 4to. 1880.

The following were nominated by the Council for election

at the next meeting on April 6th :

William John Belt, Bedford Square, W.C.

Miss Collette, Beyrut.

John Dixon, H.M. Vice-Consul, Beyrut.
Rev. J. Elphinstone-Robertson, Leatherhead.
Assadour Karabegof, Russell Square, W.C.
Mrs. H. Smith, Beyrut.

Villiers Stuart, of Dromana.

Richard Francis Weymouth, D. Lit., Mill Hill, N.W.
Thomas Wonnacott, F.R.I.B.A., Farnham, Surrey.

The following were duly elected Members of the Society, having been nominated on Feb. 3rd:—

Rev. John Davies, Belsize Square.

Frederick H. Deverell, Lewisham.

Rev. W. Jackson, M.A., F.S.A., &c., Oxford.
Thomas May, Sheffield.

J. Pollard, Hitchin, Herts.

Alfred Waterman, Westgate-on-Sea.

The following paper was read by the writer :

"Notes on the Assyrian Numerals." By George Bertin. The author in this paper stated that he had no particular theory to urge on the subject, his only wish being to bring before the Society something of what was known of the subject. One by one every known Assyrian numeral was taken, and compared in their various forms with those of the other Semitic dialects-Hebrew, Syriac, Aramean, Sabean, Ethiopic, and Arabic; he included also in his survey the Hamitic tongues, whose affinities with the Semitic have been lately supposed by some to have been proved, Egyptian, Coptic, and the Berbere dialects. The Aryan etymologies, used by some scholars to explain the Assyrian and other Semitic numerals, were rejected, and looking always in the Semitic and Hamitic roots for their origin, it was urged that the forms are often found in dialects severed from the original stock before historical times, and of which