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presence on earth which even his enemies behold with grudging admiration. In the short compass of these Pastoral Epistles, in all only thirteen chapters, we have no less than eight special reminders to be earnest and zealous in good works. There was evidently a dread in St. Paul's mind that some of those who professed to live the life of Christ, and said they followed after the great salvation, would content themselves with merely acquiescing to the great truths while the life remain unaltered. It is noteworthy that these epistles, containing so many urgent exhortations to work for Christ, were St. Paul's last inspired utterances."

It may be well to note further the historical accuracy of this epistle as shown by its personal references near its close. In verses 12 and 13 the author refers to persons whose names are not familiar to us, nor, indeed, mentioned in church history. It is said that nothing is known of Artemas except that tradition mentions him as bishop of Lystra. Tychicus is mentioned once "as one of St. Paul's friends." The place where Paul determined to winter is Nicopolis. But there are several cities by that name, and we cannot tell which one it is. The best conclusion probably is that it was Nicopolis in Epirus, which was given the name of "City of Victory" after the battle of Actium. Of Zenas, the lawyer, we have no definite knowledge, though he is supposed to have been one of the seventy disciples sent forth (see Spence). Apollos, who also is mentioned, is familiar to us as a friend of St. Paul. The placing of all these names in this epistle greatly indicates the absolute truthfulness of the writer in that he mingles, without any attempt at explanation, names both known and unknown. It would seem from this, however, that the church was always composed of those well qualified to judge of its doctrines and doctrinal system. While ordinarily the church of the plain people, it has ever been the church of the thinkers, writers, and orators, the world over. Probably Zenas was a Roman jurist, but the fact that his name is not mentioned in the New Testament is an indication of the straightforwardness of the apostle's statements in intermingling in one group names which are both known and unknown in the history of the church.

It would have been very strange in an epistle of St. Paul if he did not show somewhere the missionary temperament. He informs Titus that when Artemas and Tychicus should come to Crete, then he (Titus) was to come to Nicopolis and visit Paul, who expected to winter there. He would not leave Crete vacant without somebody to guard its interests, and so he does not summon Titus until he has appointed some one to take his place. How wonderful is Paul's interest in the minutest details of the church life! His missionary interest is further shown in the exhortation to bring Zenas, the lawyer, and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them. He wants them to be provided with everything necessary for their journey. This is in harmony with the missionary spirit of the twentieth century, and shows how closely the church, in many of its aspects, at least, is following the teachings and practices of St. Paul.

ARCHEOLOGY AND BIBLICAL RESEARCH.

EXPLORATIONS IN BABYLONIA.

THOUGH great work has been done by the archæologist in the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris during the past sixty years, and though many a venerable ruin has yielded up its well-kept secret, thereby enriching materially our knowledge of ancient history, yet it is a matter of fact that the science of archæology is but in its infancy, for there are still numberless ancient ruins of unknown cities all over Bible lands awaiting the pick and the spade of the experienced excavator. Moreover, our museums contain thousands upon thousands of inscriptions yet undeciphered. It is estimated that the British Museum alone has no fewer than thirty thousand tablets which have never been read. Exploration, however, has commenced in earnest, and interest in archæology has never been greater than it is to-day. The wonderful work done by the French and English is so well known to our readers that nothing but a passing reference to it is necessary. The rich and magnificent collections at the Louvre and the British Museum bear eloquent testimony to the success of these noble pioneers in the fields of archæology. The Germans also have been of late years exceedingly zealous and successful in this branch of research. Not only have they large numbers of intelligent men throughout the Orient ever on the lookout for fresh archæological trophies for the Berlin Museum, but they have also several groups of experienced and trained explorers actually at work on a number of ancient sites in various Bible lands. Besides these there is another large number of noted scholars, surrounded by young enthusiasts, more anxious for fame than for gold, at the several universities in the Fatherland, who are constantly at work trying to decipher the latest inscriptions and thus add their mite to the vast treasure of human knowledge.

The German Orient Society, though comparatively young, has made a steady growth, so that to-day it stands at the head of the learned societies in the department of archæology, enjoying not only the confidence and cooperation of the best scholars in Germany and Europe, but having also the substantial support of Kaiser Wilhelm and the imperial government. The emperor contributes annually from his own private purse five thousand dollars, and the government five times that sum. Then, there are many private subscriptions, enough to swell the annual income to sixty thousand dollars. It now has trained explorers in Babylonia, Palestine, Egypt, Asia Minor, and elsewhere. Excellent work has been done at Borsippa, Babylon, and Baalbec. No one who has visited the World's Fair at St. Louis, and examined the German Department in the Educational Building, could have easily missed seeing the fine collection of very large and beautiful photographs illustrative of the work done by the German Orient Society among the ruins of Baalbec. These elegant pictures speak louder than words of the former glory of this ancient city, and gives him who views them a better idea of the magnificence of Baalbec than could be obtained from any book on the subject. Much has been done by Dr. Koldewy and his assistants on the site of ancient Babylon, of which we gave a de

tailed account in our last issue. One of the last places to engage the attention of the German Orient Society, under the guidance of its director, Dr. Koldewy, is Qal 'at Shirgât, on the west side of the Tigris, some hundred miles south of Mosul. The ruins at this place are supposed to be those of ancient Asshur, one of the oldest and most important cities of the Assyrian empire. The site was known to both Layard and Rassam, who many years ago did some work here with good results; nevertheless, no thorough excavations had been conducted in these mounds till Dr. Koldewy and his men began work here last October.

Nor has the United States been neglectful of exploration in Assyria and Babylonia. Philadelphia has so far taken the lead in this branch of work. The success of several expeditions sent out by the University of Pennsylvania has been very great not only in actual results, but also in stimulating our scholars and many of our wealthy people to increased efforts and profounder interest in archæological studies. Of the several scholars who have aided the work originated in New York and Philadelphia, we should mention the names of Dr. Peters and William Hayes Ward, the latter in connection with the Wolfe expedition. No American scholar, however, deserves more credit than Professor Hilprecht, of the University of Pennsylvania, who has spent much of his time among the ruins of Babylonia. He is thoroughly qualified in all branches of the work devolving upon the excavator and archæologist. He is a pupil of Delitzsch, though very much more conservative on theological questions. He is one of the foremost Assyriologists of the world, familiar with all modern archæological discoveries. Then, again, his connection with the Imperial Ottoman Museum in Constantinople brings him into intimate relations with the Turkish government, on whose soil and under whose protection all these explorations have to be made, and which, without special permission, allows no object found in any of its ruins to be taken away into any foreign country. Thus the most valuable discoveries of the future will serve to fill up the museums of Turkey rather than those of Europe and America. If, however, any inscription or sculpture is to be given away by Turkey no one will stand a better chance for securing such treasure than the United States. Dr. Hilprecht spends considerable of his time in arranging the Semitic collections at Constantinople. It is, however, expected that he will again soon take the field in the interest of his own university.

What promises to be the most successful organization for oriental exploration is the recently organized society called "The Oriental Exploration Fund of the University of Chicago." This has entered upon its mission under the most auspicious circumstances, and unless all signs fail it cannot but be most eminently successful in promoting the study of biblical antiquities far beyond any other institution of the same nature now in existence. Like most things American, the work under the direction of the Fund will be conducted on a large scale. Those in charge of the enterprise will see to it that all the excavations will be conducted on purely scientific principles. There are several things which will contribute to its success. First of all, there will be ample means at the command of those in charge of the Fund to insure speedy and thorough work. It is rumored that Mr. John D. Rockefeller himself is one of its chief patrons and promoters and has guaranteed a certain sum of money for at least ten years. Then there are several wealthy and public-spirited persons in Chicago and elsewhere who will give of their means so as to make the Haskell Museum one of the best

in the world. Very naturally this collection will profit most by the work of the Fund. In a circular recently sent out by the University of Chicago we read: "An oriental museum was erected on the foundation of a collection made. In July, 1903, a substantial gift of money for this purpose from one of the university's friends made possible an advanced step. This gift was made payable in a series of five yearly installments. It is expected that a similar sum will be available for the five years following. An opportunity for a ten years' campaign is thus opened. In view of this prospect plans long considered are being put into active operation, and the actual work of excavation will be entered upon immediately. The plans contemplate work in Babylonia and Assyria, in Egypt, in Palestine and Syria."

Work has been already in progress for several months and under favorable conditions at Bismya, supposed to be the Isin or Nisin of the monuments-we say "supposed," for the site of Nisin has never been identified beyond peradventure. Peters, Ward, and others point out Bismya as the probable location of ancient Nisin. These ruins are thirty-five miles southeast of Nippur, and forty-five miles northwest of Telloh. We have known for some years, from tablets discovered at Nippur, that Isin and Nippur were twin cities and connected by a canal, and that both were very important cities as early as 4000 B. C. The large number of inscriptions discovered by Hilprecht at Nippur and by De Sarzec at Telloh justify the expectations of those now at work among the ruins of Bismya for a like harvest here too. If we are to believe Dr. Peters, Bismya was one of the leading cities in southern Babylonia about 2600 B. C., and both Ur and Nippur were at one time its tributaries. The kings of Isin, as we learn from the cuneiform texts, like all Babylonian monarchs, delighted in building great temples in honor of their gods. Dr. E. J. Banks, field director of the expedition, has already laid bare the foundation of a vast temple, among whose ruins are found objects fully as old as the oldest discovered at Nippur.

The ruins of Bismya are very extensive, and naturally divide themselves into two parts. They consist of a series of irregular mounds of more than a mile in length, with an average width of one half mile. There are at least one dozen of these tels, or mounds, some of them forty feet high, which is considerably higher than any of the Telloh mounds. The height of these tels may be fairly regarded as a true index to their antiquity as well as the magnitude of the edifices represented by these ruins. From what has been said it will be seen that the selection of Bismya, though not the first choice of the fund, was, nevertheless, a very fortunate and wise one, especially when we have every reason for believing that these ruins have never before been examined either by skilled archæologists or by the more destructive treasure or antiquity seekers. Unfortunately, many of the most important ruins in Egypt, Babylonia, and elsewhere have been ruthlessly excavated, very often by those absolutely unfitted for such work, ignorant of the comparative value of the objects exhumed, and, still worse, many inscriptions have been mutilated beyond the possibility of being deciphered, and the very stone or brick on which inscriptions were once found have been cut and broken so as to be utilized for building purposes. Now, as the mounds of Bismya are among the best preserved in Babylonia, there is every promise of very rich finds. The question naturally arises why a place of so great importance has been neglected to the present time. The an

swer is twofold: first, the region in which Bismya is situated has been regarded as a very dangerous spot, inasmuch as it is inhabited by a savage and lawless class of people. Dr. Peters characterizes the place as "a peculiarly unsafe region, a sort of land of Nod, full of vagabonds and irresponsible Arabs." (See Nippur, vol. ii, p. 271.) Secondly, there has been a great scarcity of water in this vicinity, making it unpleasant, nay, even impossible, to remain here for more than a few hours at a time. To be sure, water could be carried from a distance. This, however, would incur great expense and inconvenience. But these drawbacks have disappeared, for now the Turkish government has supplied the American expedition with a sufficient number of soldiers to protect those at work among the ruins. Moreover, the explorers succeeded by boring down deep into the earth to find an abundant supply of good, fresh water. Dr. Robert Francis Harper, reporting this fact in a late number of the Biblical World, says:

"On December 22 men were placed at work upon two wells in what Dr. Banks believes to be the bed of the old canal Shat-en-Nil, and also of a later stream, which dried up at the breaking of the Hindieh dam. At the end of the second day one of the wells reached a depth of ten meters, when the dry sand suddenly caved in, nearly burying the workmen, and they were forced to abandon this well. On December 24 work was begun on two more wells, and on the twenty-fifth, as he was arranging to send to Hai for some water skins and to establish a water caravan of several donkeys, the workmen announced that the sand seemed moist, and at nine o'clock on Christmas morning-the best Christmas gift possible-water sprang up through a hole made by a workman's pick, and the water was sweet. There was great excitement among the workmen; and they ran about the well dancing, singing, and swinging their baskets in the air. The field director was not less pleased than they, and he ordered a sheep to be sacrificed for their backsheesh. . . Thus one of the difficulties which have kept excavators from Bismya is settled."

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Dr. Banks has sent in several reports; the last one is dated April 22, and is, on the whole, very encouraging. He has brought to light many interesting articles, such as vases and statuettes in marble and terra-cotta, doubtless used in the temple services, some inscribed seal cylinders, and a very ancient bronze spike, ornamented with the head of a lion. Nearly everything bears the stamp of great antiquity. The tablets bear "the same ancient characters of Sargon's time. The name of this monarch, as well as that of Naram Sin, is found upon the bricks, from which it may be inferred that these two great kings lived at Bismya." The temple under examination as the last report was written, as indicated by the different style of marked bricks, must have been rebuilt at least seven times. Indeed, the lowest foundation, of irregular limestone blocks, seems to antedate the use of bricks and probably belonged to about 4500 B. C. The foundation next to the surface has bricks inscribed with the name of Dungi, king of Ur about 2750 B. C. So far nothing has been found to indicate that the temple was rebuilt later than the time of Dungi, which goes to prove that Bismya marks the site of one of the oldest cities of Babylonia. In a cablegram received July 18 Dr. Banks announces that he has found in the lowest level of the ruins bricks with the name Ud-nun-ki, which many students suppose to be the city of Adab mentioned in the Code of Hammurabi.

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