18 BABYLONIAN LITERATURE. 



had the rare merit of first making known 

 to Europeans. 



The statement of the opinion of Dr. 

 Chwolson as to the period of the composi- 

 tion of " The Book of Nabathrean Agricul- 

 ture " will, no doubt, excite the greatest 

 astonishment among persons who have 

 already been startled by the less bold 

 hypothesis of M. Quatremere. It resolves 

 itself into two propositions : firstly, that 

 Kuthami, the Babylonian, is the sole author 

 of the work in question ; that the work itself 

 is not the compilation of various hands ; and 

 that it has received from the Arabian trans- 

 lator only alterations of very little import- 

 ance ; secondly, that Kuthami could not have 

 written it later than the beginning of the 

 thirteenth century before Christ. 



It is not, however, a priori that such an 

 opinion can be combatted. In the field 

 of historical criticism, all should be ad- 

 mitted as possible. Civilization and litera- 

 ture nourished in Babylon at a very ancient 

 period. Entire systems of civilization have 



