or brought into harmony with the chronology of the Achæmenids. Dr. West's valuable labours have cleared up much, but the chronological system of the Bundahishn is so obviously artificial, and even incorrect, that were it not for the invaluable reference to the taking of Babylon by Alexander there would be no safe point of departure for calculation.

There are also many other more technical questions awaiting investigation and settlement. These will more appropriately be included in researches on the religion which Zoroaster founded. It is certainly much to be hoped that the learned Professor, whose firm grasp of facts, and keenly discriminating judgment has made this ancient sage a living reality to us, will ere long follow up this volume with another, in which he will go through the whole range of surviving Zoroastrian literature-Gáthas, Yasna, Visparad and Vendidad-and bring to bear on the religion which they teach the same lucid clearness of exposition that he has so admirably devoted to the life of its founder.

THE CONGRESS OF ORIENTALISTS AT

ROME.

BY PROFESSOR DR. E. MONTET.

THE Twelfth International Congress of Orientalists was held in Rome from October 3 to 15 last, the climate of the capital of Italy being such as to render it necessary to delay by a month the date of its usual assembly. It brought together a very large number of members, Orientalists by profession, others interested in Oriental research. The Italians received them with their usual politeness and kindness, and the organizing committee neglected nothing to make their visit as agreeable and interesting as possible. Count de Gubernatis, the president of the organizing committee, placed all his time with the utmost cordiality at the service of the foreign scholars who had assembled. The municipality of Rome, the Ministries of Public Instruction and of Foreign Affairs, the Press, the municipality of Tivoli, vied with the organizing committee in their reception and cordial welcome. The Vatican alone abstained, and gave the Congress the cold shoulder, and hence surprisingly few Roman Catholic clergymen were to be found among its members. It pretended to see in the Congress in Rome a liberal, anti-clerical, and political manifestation. It is true that the King of Italy had given it his patronage, which was sufficient for the Vatican to take dislike to it.

Indeed, politics were attempted, though without success, to be introduced, and I believe that this is the first time that it has been tried to transform Orientalists assembled in session into politicians. The Roumanians, who were numerous, during several meetings, wished, by votes of a political character, to influence the Congress in favour of their country. The Congress, although favourably disposed towards Roumania, declined, and thus may be congratulated on their wise decision.

It is to be regretted that several subjects foreign to Orientalism had also a large share in its deliberations. This happened repeatedly in the section of the History of Religion, and in that of Greece-Orient and OrientAmerica. It even went so far as making a proposition in favour of the unification of the calendars now in use. This motion, very legitimate in its way, and which cannot be too much commended, obviously did not come within the province of the Congress.

The Congress was divided into twelve sections and sub-sections: (1) General Indo-European Linguistics and Paleo-italic Languages; (2) Geography and Ethnography of the East; (3) History of Religions and Folklore in connection with the East; (4) China and Japan; (5) Burma, Indo-China and Malay; (6) India and Persia; (7) Central Asia; (8) Semitic Languages and Literature; (9) Mussulman Literature, History, Civilization; (10) Egyptology and African Languages; (11) Greece and the Orient; (12) America and the Orient.

From this very extensive programme it will be seen that it is impossible for me to give a full account of the work of all sections. I will pay special

THIRD SERIES.

VOL. IX.

H

attention to the Semitic portion, and will give only a summary of the others.* Before beginning, I may say that there has been much valuable work done, of which I shall point out the most important, apologizing to those of my colleagues whose labours I am unable to specify.

=

SEMITIC SECTION.

Professor Guidi made a communication on a Syriac history ending about the year 1233; also on a history of King Claude of Abyssinia (1540-59). -Mr. Gaster read an interesting paper on the magical alphabets of the Cabala. Professor Goldziher gave a lecture on a work by Brönnle entitled “Ali Ibn Hamza and his Criticisms on famous Arabic Philologists.”—Mr. Seybold gave a report of his Spanish-Arabic studies, and of the edition of the large "Glossarium Latino - Arabicum" of Leyden, the printing of which will shortly be completed. He proposed the compilation of a grand "Thesaurus Arabico-Latino-Hispanicus."-Professor Goldziher also made a second communication on the chu'übite movement in Spain.—Mr. Jastrow read a paper on the name of Samuel (from the Assyrian schumu - descendant; Samuel = descendant of El) and the root sha'al.-Dr. Ginsburg discoursed on the Hebraic abbreviations with respect to a Sephardic Bible issued from the Genîza of Cairo, and entirely written in abridgment. -Mr. Lasinio made a communication on the Oriental manuscripts in the Italian libraries. - Muhammad Sherif Salim introduced an apologetical work on the future of the Arabic language.-Professor Goldziher read a report on the scheme for a Mussulman encyclopedia, a project which originated at the last Congress of Paris. The result of the project is that since 1897 the matter has made little or no advance. Professor Houtsma of Leyden has been entrusted with the editorship of the encyclopædia. The committee will take steps with the Governments interested in it, and the learned societies, in order to obtain their pecuniary co-operation, which is indispensable.-Mr. Westermarck described the worship of saints in Morocco.--Dr. Haupt made a communication on the sanitary basis of the Mosaic ritual, which called forth an observation from Mr. Bulmerincq regarding the fact that the ritual precepts of Leviticus and Deuteronomy have their basis on a religious order.-Rabbi Gollancz read a memoir entitled, "Specimens of Charms from Syriac MSS."-Mr. Israel Levy discussed some Hebrew fragments of Ecclesiasticus, and maintained the thesis of the Syriac origin of these fragments.†-Professor Euting describes and translates an Aramaic papyrus of the Strasbourg library, dated (a curious fact) the 14th year of Darius.-Professor Merx made a communication on the age of the Targum of the Song of Solomon, of which Origen expounded the system of allegorical interpretation; the Targum would thus be anterior to the seventh century.-Professor Hommel spoke of the goddess Ashera (Athirat) in the inscriptions of Southern Arabia.—Mr.

* We shall not refer under a special heading to the history of religions, which has been discussed in every section. We shall point out more especially in this regard the com munication of J. Reville on the Congress of the History of Religions which should meet in

Paris this year.

+ See our Quarterly Report in this number.

Johansson read a memoir on the Habiri of letters from Tell-el-Amarna. The Habiri are certainly not Hebrews, as it has been asserted, but the Sagas mentioned in the same documents.*

*

On the motion of Dr. Kantzsch the Semitic section unanimously protested against the absurd accusation brought against the Jews of the use of Christian blood for ritual purposes, an accusation unworthy of the end of the nineteenth century.

OTHER SECTIONS.

India and Persia.-Professor Deussen presented a paper on the history of the philosophy of the Upanishads.-Professor Hardy read a memoir on two books treating of the piety of Buddhism. Mr. Jackson explained the plan and method of his dictionary of the Avesta, which he is preparing with the assistance of Mr. Geldner.-Count Pullé made a communication on the cartography of India.—Mr. Macauliffe spoke of the life and writings of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth guru of the Sikhs. †-Professor Leumann treated of the legend of Brahmadatta.-Mr. Gerson da Hunha read a memoir on the Rama-tankas.-Miss Plunkett read a paper on astronomy in the Vedas. -Mr. Hewitt read a memoir entitled, " History of the Ark or Ship of the Gods, its astronomical origin, and later forms." -Dr. Hoernle communicated a memoir on an exhibition of the British collection of Central Asian antiquities (manuscripts, xylographs, etc.).—— Mr. Radloff gave a short account of his work on the manuscripts, books and inscriptions discovered by the Clementz expedition in Tourfan.

Several votes or resolutions were carried by the section: On the expediency of a translation of the sacred books of the Sikhs, on the realization of the project for a Sanscrit-Chinese dictionary by Takakusu and Buniyu Nanjio, on the publication of an edition of the Mahabharata in the recension of the South (Sanscrit Epic Society), and, finally, on the critical study and thorough examination of Jainism.

the

Egyptology and African Languages.-Mr. Borchardt read a memoir on papyrus found at Kahun last winter.-Mr. Virey made a communication on some words of the text of Menephtah relating to the people of Canaan and the Israelites. The sentence respecting Israel should be thus translated, according to the author, " Israel is rooted up, there is no more corn in it [Egypt]," which confirms the date of the exodus under Menephtah. -Dr. Gregorio read a paper on the Ewe language (Togo region, West Africa). Mr. Revillout presented a memoir on the legal state of the

* I myself presented to the Semitic section two memoirs--one on the first origin of the people of Israel, and the other on a medal bearing a Hebrew inscription and the image of Jesus. The ironical inscription of the medal (Italian), of the fifteenth or sixteenth century, is, to our mind, the work of a humanist, sceptical as regards the Christian faith; the Hebrew is also too peculiar to be the work of an Israelite.

+ "Mr. Macauliffe, after many years of preliminary labour, retired from a high official position to study and translate the Sikh Scriptures in collaboration with the chief native scholars of the Punjab, and his rendering has been examined by them verse by verse. The result is to place one of the most interesting and, for military purposes, the most important development of Hinduism in a new light. A vote was passed expressing the hope that means would be found to secure the publication of this large and valuable contribution to Oriental scholarship."--Special Correspondent Times, October 16, 1899.

Nemhiu serfs in contradistinction to the nobles at different periods of Egyptian authority.—Mr. Schmidt made a communication on the wrappings of Egyptian mummies.—Mr. Guimet showed a curious list of objects recently discovered (timbrels and sacerdotal ornaments of a priest of Nimes), Egyptian objects found in France in Roman tombs.--Professor Schiaparelli discoursed on papyri of the Egyptian museum of Turin.Mr. Erman gave an account of the Egyptian dictionary published by the Academy of Berlin.—Mr. Botti made a communication on the Pharaonic monuments of Alexandria and its environs.-Professor Haupt read a work entitled "The Mitanian wives of Amenophis III. and Amenophis IV.”— Professor Naville read a paper on the Karnac texts concerning Queen Hatasu. Mr. Schmidt spoke on Pharaoh Petibast of the demotic papyrus of Vienna. Professor Schiaparelli showed a picture representing a Coptic textile fabric of the Turin Museum. On this tissue is represented a fairfaced and fair-haired person of the type of the Ababdeh, descendants of the Blemmyes (a unique example of the appearance of those formidable invaders).

Central Asia.-Mr. Kunos communicated a work on the modern literature of the Osmanli Turks.-Professor Vambery spoke of the ancient language of the Osmanlis.-Mr. Balint discoursed on the origin of the Circassians, who are the descendants of the nobility of the Huns.-Mr. Huth spoke of the results of his journey among the Tunguses of the Yenisei.

China, Japan, and Australasia.—Mr. Kumazo Tsuboi read a paper on a book of geography and ethnography, entitled Lingwai-taita.-Mr. Chevalier lectured on Korean head-dresses.-Professor Marre gave a list of Portuguese words adopted in the Malay language and the terms showing the several styles of poetry, terms which the Malays have borrowed from the Arabs.—-Mr. Hoffmann explained a new theory of the invention of ciphers, which are not of Hindu-Arabic origin, but really derivatives of the nine Chinese characters representing units.-A very long discussion, which had no practical result, took place on the elaboration of a uniform system of transcribing Chinese characters. The section closed with a resolution carried by a majority that each country should fix upon a uniform and official system of transcription.

Geography and Ethnography of the East.-Mr. Urechia made a communication on the ethnographical chart of Europe, and especially of the European Orient.-Mr. Sergi spoke of the origin of alphabetical writing, showing that the Phoenicians could not have invented the letters of the alphabet, but that they merely simplified the characters known in the basin of the Mediterranean before their appearance in history (alphabetical signs of the dolmens in France; pebbles, coloured with signs analogous to those of the grotto of Mas at Azil, etc.).

Greece and the Orient.-Mr. Krumbacher reported on the made progress in Byzantine studies since the last Congress.-Mr. Strzygowski drew attention to some miniatures in a Vatican MS. illustrating a Byzantine ceremony -the reception given to a fiancée. These kinds of illustrations are extremely rare. Mr. Furtwaengler spoke of the relationship between Grecian archaic and Oriental art.—Mr. Gauckler explained the results of some