PUSHING BACK HISTORY'S HORIZON 



213 



nated by them. Yes ; it can be said that 

 additional chronicles of the kings of Ju- 

 dah and Israel can be gathered from the 

 Assyrian and Babylonian monuments. 



These archaeological discoveries, more- 

 over, while illustrating and substantiat- 

 ing the historical value of much of the 

 Old Testament records, also give rise at 

 the same time to new historical and liter- 

 ary difficulties. It is found that the tra- 

 ditional view of the Old Testament must 

 be modified very considerably — a knowl- 

 edge of which, however, does not disturb 

 the conception of the Old Testament as 

 a religious book. 



A HUNDRED BABYLONIAN RULERS PRIOR TO 

 ABRAHAM 



To cite a single instance : the Biblical 

 chronology of the creation, whether we 

 accept the Septuagint figures and make 

 it 5500 B. C. or the Hebrew at 4000 B. C, 

 cannot be harmonized with that which we 

 know at present. The Old Testament 



gives a genealogy of ten names covering 

 427 years, according to the Hebrew, and 

 1,307 years, according to the Greek ver- 

 sion, between the deluge and Abraham. 



In order to show that the period was 

 longer, it is only necessary to mention 

 that about one hundred rulers of Baby- 

 lonia prior to Abraham are now known, 

 and how many more will be restored to 

 history in the near future it is impossible 

 to tell. 



The work of uncovering the ruin-hills 

 of Assyria and Babylonia is only in its 

 infancy. The spade and the pick have 

 only begun to dispel the darkness which 

 has shrouded the mounds of these lands. 

 Hundreds of ruins remain unnoticed and 

 unrecorded, because many are low and 

 insignificant, and yet some of them con- 

 tain right beneath the surface remains of 

 a hoary antiquity. Destroyed in some 

 early epoch, the city perhaps was never 

 rebuilt. Surprise upon surprise awaits 

 the explorer. 



Photograph from Prof. Albert T. Clay 



A GROUP OP ARAB WORKMEN RESTING, WITH THEIR BASKETS FOR CARRYING OPE THE 

 DEBRIS AND THEIR PICKS AND SHOVELS 



"These researches have resulted in astounding revelations. Israel, instead of being one 

 of the foremost nations of antiquity, is now found to have been a small power which had 

 thrived in the late pre-Christian centuries and had occupied a comparatively insignificant 

 position among the great nations of its age" (see text, page 164). 



