ANTEDILUVIAN KINGS.

Shannon News, 11 March 1924, Page 4

ANTEDILUVIAN KINGS.

BABYLONIAN HISTORY.

NEW DISCOVERIES MADE. '

There lias been made at Oxford a great clironoligical discovery; one without rival not only in the present century but' probably in any century that has gone before. Chronology lies on the borderland of archaeology and astronomy; it forms between them as it were, a scaffolding by means of which each alternately • supports or takes its strength from the other. Its object is the accurate dating of ancient historical'events.

Till now there has been no continuous system of exaq| chronology further back than 900 B.C. The discovery of Professor Langdon and Dr. Fotheringham has extended that, system,' upon a firm basis, back to about 4000 B.C. The bridge of historical reckoning has doubled its span across the centuries; its fux-thest pier now stands upon the earliest age of civilisation.

A Foiu'.sided Prism. In 1922 H. Weld-Biundeli’s expedition brought to Oxford certain cuneiform texts. These wore examined by Professor Langdon, professor o,f Assy, riology at Oxford, who discovered amoug them a four-sided prism inscribed in the Sumerian language with a list of all kings who ruled Babylonia from the creation to the end of the Isin dynasty. It begins with the names of eight kings who ruled during the 241,200 years, preceding the flood. The flood is represented as lasting 64,800 years. The post-diluvian period down to.the end of the Isin' dynasty occupies 32,553 years, which are covered by 20 dynasties ruling in 11 cities. The first kingdom after the fload was established at Kish, and is described as lasting 24,510 years, three months* and three and a half > days;. This kingdom had 23 kings. There then follow the kingdom of Erech—--12 kings, and 2310 years—and the second kingdom of Kish. And this hist brings us to the beginning of the historical period, the first kingdom of Ur of the Chaldees. ,

• From this point onward the prism gives an .unbroken list of the kings‘and the lengths of their reign; from the four kings of Ur, who ruled 177 years, to the reign of Hummuraki, the last king of the Isin dynasty. Older than Methuselah. From the creation to the beginning of the kingdom of Ur, the list .is semi, mythical, but from there onward it is believed to be ■ highly accurate, The early part, however, is interesting in the super-human longevity it ascribes •to the most ancient kings, and in the gradually diminishing longevity as one passes down the ages. In this respect it resembles Hebrew tradition, although the actual figures given by the Hebrews are very much less astounding. The Bible tells us that Noah lived 950 years, and that the water prevailed for 150 days; the prism ‘gives 64,800 years as the duration of the flood. Likewise, are 969 years of : Methuselah were as nothing to the years of the antediluvian kings of; : Babylonia.

We see, nevertheless, that whereas ' the Weld-Blundell prism gives an accurate statement of the number of 'years lapsing between any two events ; mentioned thereon, from the kingdom of Ur to the end of the Isin dynasty, it gives no clue whatever to the actual ;'dato o.f these events—-to wit, the num- ' her of years elapsing between them and the beginning of the Christian era By itself, therefore, it Is no assistance in establishing a chronology continu. ous with that already existing as far as 900 B.C.

Year of Bolden Throne. Now, some years ago, leather Kuglor,, of Holland, investigated an ancient' tablet in the British Museum which gives certain astronomical observations of the planet Venus over a period of 21 years. It had long been thought impossible to date this tablet, since it did not contain the name of ijny king from which the year could be inferred. Father Kuglcr discovered that the eighth of those 21 years was described on the tablet as “The Year of the Golden Throne.” It happens that'this very same expression is used in an entirely different text to describe the eighth year of tlic 21 years of the reign of King Ammizaduga. It was therefore clear that the 21 years of the Venus tablet were identical with the 21 years of Ammizaduga’s reign. If the years on the Venus tablet could be dated by astron. omieal calculation, tlic dates of Amiaizaduga would immediately follow. Father Kuglcr undertook theso calculations, and arrived at four possible alternative solutions. He decided finally'that 1794 B.C. was the most probable date of the ‘‘Year of the Golden Throne.”

After this discovery of the Weld. Blundell prism Professor Langdon at once realised that the Venus tablet, if correctly dated, would give the clue to the entire dating of the kings upon the prism, for it was well-known that Ammizaduga was the fourth successor of Hannnuraki (the last king mentioned in. the list), and began to reign 103 years after the latter’s death. HM4 B.C.

'Now tlm calculation of Kugler depended on the determination of the exact positions of the sun, moon, and Venus- upon the ancient date in question. It has long- been known that the velocity of the maon-across the sky is slowly increasing, and it was therefore necessary in the calculations to take into account this soicalled ‘‘secular acceleration” of the moon. After the publication qf Kugler’s work Dr Fotliering'liain, uf Oxford, from an elaborate analysis of ancient eclipse records, bad discovered Unit both the sun and Venus were also subject to a secular acceleration: Dr. Foilicringham has, therefore, reinvestigated the problems of the Venus tablet,,and after applying these two additional corrections, has found that, all fouiv of Kugler’s solutions are impossible. He lias shown, moceever, thai the only possible date

for* ‘The Year of the Golden. Throne” is 1914 B.C.

Thus the investigations of Professor Langdon and Dr Fotheringham have established an accurate- • Babylonian chronology as far ■ back as . the first kingdom of Ur. They have fixed the dates of Hammuraki as 2067.2025 B.C. and thus established the ages of his contemporary, the Abraham of the Bible. The first kingdom of Ur placed at about 4000 B.C. It has been shown, also, that we may probably regard to . early Egyptian chronology as approximately settled, and may place the dates of Menes, founder of the first Egyptian dynasty certainly not further back than 3100 B.C.

Although we do not attach any i importance to the earlier dates, upon-the Weld-Bluridell prism; it is'interesting to note that it gives 84629 B.C. as the date of the end of the Flood, and 490-629 B.C. as the . date of the ; first appearance of man on the earth.