238 EEV. JOHX TUCKWELL^ M.R.A.S._, OX APXH^OLOGT AND 



men concerned for truth and rii^liteousness. Surely a strange 

 alliance between light and darkness, truth and falseliood, to 

 advance the cause of a truth-loving God. 



In opposition to this incredible theory Archaeology has 

 brought to light the fact that as far back as two thousand 

 seven hundred years before Christ the custom existed of 

 burying written documents at the foundations or in the walls 

 of important buildings. Xabonidus, King of Babylon, in his 

 well-known inscription of the sixth century B.C., says of the 

 Temple of Sippar, " That temple I excavated, and its ancient 

 foundation I sought, fifteen cubits I dug up and the foundation- 

 stone of Xaram-Sin, the son of Sargon, which for 3,200 years 

 no king before me had seen, etc." (This date is now known to 

 be erroneous.) Excavations conducted by M. Xaville in Egypt 

 have brought to our knowledge the fact that in that country 

 also, thousands of years ago, copies of portions of "The Book of 

 the Dead " were buried within temple-walls. Surely it is more 

 reasonable to conclude with M. Xaville that the Book of the 

 Law found by Hilkiah had been actually buried there, probably 

 ar the building of the Temple by Solomon, and that it was a 

 genuine Book of the Law of Moses. There is thus no need to 

 cast moral aspersion upon the Jewish high-priest, or upon the 

 divine methods of insisting upon truth and righteousness in 

 the world. 



Before closing this subject one more discovery may be referred 

 to. The supposed late date of Deuteronomy is based partly 

 upon what is called the " Law of the Central Sanctuary con- 

 tained in the twelfth chapter. But the recent translations of the 

 Aramaic papyri found in the island of Elephantine in Egypt 

 have revealed the fact that as far back as the middle of the 

 seventh century B.C. when Psammetichus I. drove the governors 

 of Assurbanipal out of F.gypt, a costly temple was built there 

 for the use of a Jewish colony. Here burnt-offerings and sacrifices, 

 meal-offerings and frankincense were being presented continually. 

 This temple was the only one of its kind known to have been 

 standing during the seventy years of the Babylonisli captivity. 

 The importance of this discovery lies in the fact that while 

 modern BibKcai scholai-ship has been confidently affirming that 

 the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy and the whole " Priestly 

 Code (jjail of " P " ) were not the work of Moses and that the 

 latter did not come into operation until after the exile, these 

 bits of papyri show us the Levitical code in full operation 

 150 years earlier. 



But it is replied that at all events the Book of Deuteronomy 



