70 BABYLONIAN LITERATURE. 



the important deductions which follow this 

 admission ? The work of Tenkelusha, by Dr. 

 Chwolson's own confession, must be posterior 

 by fifteen centuries to the "Agriculture," 

 and "The Book of Poisons." There should, 

 therefore, be a marked difference between 

 the book of Kuthami (? Tenkelusha) and 

 these two works ; but there is scarcely 

 any. The work of Tenkelusha is exactly 

 of the same physiognomy as those of Ku- 

 thami and Yarbuka. There is similar 

 science ; a similar state of religion ; the 

 same celebrities ; the same authorities ; 1 

 similar apocryphal traditions ; and, in one 

 word, it is of the same school. Tenke- 

 lusha, like the ancient sages of " The Book 

 of Nabathsean Agriculture," is surrounded 

 by fabulous legends, mingled with the old 

 mythology of the country. 2 The state of 

 prosperity and political independence, that 

 flourishing cultivation, 3 that rich and varied 

 literature, that art so fully developed, 

 which induces M. Quatremere to fix the 



1 Pp. 99, 136, 156 if. 2 P. 132. 3 Pp. 150, 150 ff. 



