90 Assyro-Pseitdo-Sesostris. [No. 2, 



As yet the elements for the determination of these pre-historical 

 questions are very few. They are indeed hardly known, and we are 

 not yet in a situation to judge of the ethnology, the monuments, or 

 the mythology either of an earlier or a later age. 



There are two elements in particular that exercised a great influence 

 over this region, that have not been adequately studied, the Iberian 

 and the Caucaso-Tibetan. The remarkable discovery of Mr. B. H- 

 Hodgson, communicated to your Society, of a connection between the 

 tribes of the Caucasus and those of the Himalaya and its valleys, 

 opens up new views as to the history of Central and Western Asia, 

 and will in time afford one of the keys for unlocking their secrets, not 

 less valuable perhaps than those applied to hieroglyphics or cuneiform. 



I was led by a like train of investigations with Mr. Hodgson to the 

 like results, and I am glad to find that what I have done, has been in 

 confirmation of such an authority. I lately communicated a paper on 

 this subject to the Asiatic Society of London, with the hope of 

 inviting other inquiries. 



It is perhaps by means of the Caucaso-Tibetan, that we shall 

 obtain a knowledge of the early history of Iranistan, of the influences 

 which have affected so peculiarly the early Indo-Europeans, the 

 Armenians, the Ossetes and the Koords, of the third arrow-headed, 

 and the Lycian. 



It is here we shall perhaps find another element in the determin- 

 ation of mythology, though so far as the mythology of these regions is 

 concerned, and particularly its local character, Iberian sources must be 

 searched. It is there we must seek for the explanation of much of 

 the mythology, and not in Sanskrit sources, however plausible such 

 explanations may appear. 



The Hellenes found a mythology ready made for them in the 

 Iberian countries, in which they settled, and they adopted Iberian 

 terms. To a certain extent, they brought with them Indo-European 

 dogmas, and here Sanskrit philology will help us ; but the local 

 colony is Iberian. This western country of Asia Minor was, in fact, 

 the seat of mythology and the land of the gods, before the Hellenes 

 appeared. In some cases an Indo-European legend may have been 

 attached to a local site, but the Hellenes borrowed more than they gave, 

 The Sesostris I propose to designate Assyro-Pseudo-Sesostris. 



