13 



his tributaries in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis, of which 

 I have treated on a former occasion.* 



Contemporary with these rulers we may cite Semitic names 

 of considerable interest. Mr. Boscawen writes to me : 

 " Some time ago I made a special study of a number of 

 early Chaldasan tablets of a commercial nature found at 

 Warka [ancient Erech] and Mugheir [Ur of the Chaldees]. 

 These are dated in the reigns "of Eri-aku or Erioch (Gen. 

 xiv), and of Hammuragas, and others of that period, and 

 among them I found such names as Abu-Khibu, " father of 

 concealment," Bel-ni, "my lord," Abbu, " green" [cf. 3, 

 but may not the meaning be " fruit ? " see Gesenius] ; 

 Banu roa ; Lazibu (326), Kainu (jij) [pp ?], Ram-ena-ya " the 

 lifter up of my eyes," Mukhaidu (mms), "the joyful one" 

 [? rrrnn, Ezra ii. 52., Neh. vii. 54, "perhaps a joining 

 together, Ges.] Abil (*?3n) [Abel. It is very interesting to 

 find this name, "a son," used absolutely. It was Dr. 

 Oppert who first pointed out the true meaning of Abel from 

 the Assyrian] ; Abil-irziti, " son of the soil " ; Miss Braddon's 

 "only a clod?" [does it not rather mean "son of the 

 land?"] Akhu Sunu (their brother) Akhu-kalli "brother 

 of all," Pirkhu (ms). There are more than a hundred 

 names of this class," Mr. Boscawen adds. I trust he will 

 make public his study of this very important collection of 

 Semitic names of so early a date. Meanwhile we have here 

 the names Cain and Abel, for Mr. Boscawen identifies the 

 former name in a paper contributed to the Palestine Ex- 

 ploration Fund's statement.f Mr. Pinches has remarked : 

 " almost every proper name in Assyrian, as in Hebrew, tells 

 of some event or circumstance connected either with the 

 birth or the life of the person bearing it."J 



This is very well brought out, with fine feeling and rever- 

 ence, by Mr. Wilkinson in his work before mentioned on the 

 Personal Names of the Bible. A large number of such names 

 are actual sentences that will stand on their own feet, alike in 

 Babylonian, Assyrian, and Hebrew names. But we must not 

 enlarge on these. 



The names which emerge in the captivities on the Tigris 

 and Euphrates are interesting ; such, for instance, as those 

 given to the noble Jewish captives in Babylonia. I suppose 

 Belteshazzar (-isttwoba) is Bilat-sarra-utsiir, " Beltis defend 



* Trans. Viet. Inst., xii. 37 ; also see Stiidies on the Times of Abraham. 

 t P.E.F., 1881. 224. t Eec., xi. 22. 



See also Lenormant " Les Origines, &c" xi., 153. 



