Mr. A.E. Outerbridge, Jr., gave a brief account of the finding of these
stones in the subterranean storeroom where they had reposed for a period
of a quarter of a century. The space between the slabs and the boxes
had been packed with camels' hair, which had in progress of time become
eaten by insects and reduced to a fine powder. The nails with which the
cases were fastened were remarkable both for their peculiar shape and
for the extraordinary toughness of the iron, far excelling in this
respect the wrought iron made in America to day.
The Rev. Dr. J.P. Peters gave a very instructive exposition of the
chronology of the kings of Assyria, their social and religious customs
and ceremonies, their methods of warfare, their systems of architecture,
etc. He stated that the finest Assyrian bass-reliefs in the British
Museum came from the same palace as this specimen, the carving of which
is not excelled by any period of the ancient glyptic art. The particular
piece of alabaster selected by the artist for this slab was unusually
fine, being mottled with nodules of crystallized gypsum.
The cuneiform inscription is not unlike the Hebrew in its character,
resembling it about as closely as the Yorkshire dialect resembles good
English.
Pages:
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175