PREFACE. IX 



ward to the time when the fruits of this 

 industry should be placed before them. To 

 quiet the many enquiries on that head, in 

 1859 there appeared in the Memoirs des 

 Savants Etrangers of St. Petersburgh, and 

 also in a separate form, Ueber die Ueberreste 

 der Altldbylonischen Liter atur in Arabischen 

 Uebersetzungen, a curious and startling work 

 "On the Remains of Old Babylonian Litera- 

 ture, preserved in Arabic translations;" and 

 it is that work which has given rise to this 

 essay of M. Ernest Renan, which is now 

 presented to the English reader, with his 

 sanction, in its present form. 



In his introductory chapter, Dr. Chwolson 

 puts forth two questions : 1. Could the 

 Babylonians have possessed an extensive 

 literature of high order in the time of 

 Nebuchadnezzar, or of the earlier Nebon- 

 assar ? 2. Was it possible that in Babylon 



