BABYLONIAN LITERATURE. 75 



Assyria/ in the same way that the Cyrimen- 

 sores Latini, recently published for the first 

 time, have preserved to us usages and rites, 

 which can only be explained by reference 

 to the Brahmanas of India ; and which be- 

 long, therefore, to the most ancient periods 

 of the Arian race. The question now under 

 discussion is a question of literary history ; 

 such questions, it is well known, are quite 

 apart from historical criticism. In con- 

 fining the problem, within these limits, I 

 venture to believe that the proofs adduced 

 above are conclusive. Peculiarities which 

 mark a modern age, are found in the very 

 heart of "The Book of Nabathsean Agri- 

 culture ;" the theories of the book, taken 

 altogether, are those of the Hellenic period ; 

 the authors cited by Kiithami, themselves 

 quote the Greeks ; the point to which the 

 book carries us, is that of the Sabiasm of 

 the first centuries of our era. Before draw- 

 ing this statement to a close, however, I 

 ought, 1st, to endeavour to account for some 



1 See Berosi Fragmenta, 1. iai f . 



