619th ordinary GENERAL MEETING, 



HELD IN COMMITTEE ROOM B, THE CENTRAL HALL, 

 WESTMINSTER, on MONDAY, APRIL 26th, 1920, 



At the opening of the proceedings the Dean explained that he was 

 unexpectedly summoned to a funeral of a friend in Manchester, and was 

 therefore obliged to leave in a few minutes, but before doing so he warmly 

 commended the paper about to be read by Dr. Pinches to the attention 

 of those present. He believed that as the truth of Holy Scripture had in 

 the past been borne out by the work of exploration in Eastern fields, so 

 the cause of Truth had nothing to fear, but everything to hope for, in this 

 domain of research in the future. The Dean then relinquished the chair 



to Dr. A. T. SCHOFIELD. 



The Minutes of the previous Meeting were read, confirmed and signed, 

 and the Hon. Secretary announced the election of the following : 

 The Rev. J. E. H. Thomson, M.A., D.D., as a Member, Bertram Seymour 

 Whidborne, Esq., B.A., M.C., as a Life Associate, and Arthur Rendle 

 Short, Esq., M.D., B.Sc, F.R.C.S., and the Hon. Mrs. Carr-Gregg as 

 Associates. 



The Chairman then called upon Dr. T. G. Pinches, M.R.A.S., to read 

 his paper. 



BABYLON IN THE DAYS OF NEBUCHADREZZAR. By 

 Theophilus G. Pinches, LL.D., M.R.A.S. 



F all the many and renowned rulers that Babylonia, in 



the centuries of her long history, possessed, there is 

 probably none who attained a greater reputation than 

 he who captured Jerusalem, and led the Jews into captivity 

 at Babylon. This, of course, made his name one of the most 

 prominent in Jewish history. But in addition to this, he was 

 regarded by them as the great builder, or one of the great builders, 

 of the Babylon of later days — that great capital of the ancient- 

 Eastern world, described for us, among others, by Herodotus, 

 and specially referred to in the Book of Daniel as Nebuchad- 

 rezzar's work. This king, in fact, is represented as congratulat- 

 ing himself upon this great achievement, when, walking about 

 in his palace, he said, " Is not this great Babylon which I have 

 built for the royal dwelling-place, by the might of my power 

 and for the glory of my majesty ? " That he should have 

 imagined himself the builder of a city founded at least 2000 

 years before his time, might well be regarded as the beginning 

 of his madness, but there is no doubt that not a few of its glories, 

 such as they were, were due to him, as many of his inscriptions 

 show. 



AT 4.30 P.M. 



The Dean of Durham in the Chair. 



