day were the invention of the natives of Chaldæa, and that the first instrument for recording the advance of the sun through the sky, and so dividing the time into equal sections--that is to say, the concave sun-dial with its index-was introduced into the West from the banks of the Euphrates. The system of intercalary months kept the Babylonian year almost in accordance with the progress of the sun. It is probable that the division of the lunar month into periods of seven days also originated in Babylonia, where there are indications that a sabbath, or day of rest, was observed; but these are points which require further investigation. The division of the hour into sixty minutes belongs to the sexagesimal system of notation which was peculiar to the Babylonians.

An indirect result of the systematic observation of the stars by the Babylonians was the establishment of an exact chronology among them. In the first place, the astrologers were obliged to date their observations that they might be of use to their successors; and in the second place, one of their principal objects was to connect such or such a phenomenon among the heavenly bodies with such or such an event in the life of a king. The result was that gradually lists of kings were drawn up, with the length of their reign and the principal events which happened in such and such years. Berosus, in the third century before our era, seems to have had access to a complete series of chronological records from the very beginning of history; they were, it may be presumed, those preserved among the archives of his

own Temple of Bel-Merodach: the great structure named Bit-Saggil. Modern researches have already succeeded in discovering fragments of such records. We have already considered the Assyrian lists of eponyms, first made known by George Smith. Within the last ten years lists of Babylonian kings have been brought to light. These lists give the names of the kings in proper order, and add the number of years during which each monarch reigned. The Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy, or rather Hipparchus, from whom the former derived his knowledge, must have had access to a similar list, from which the famous Ptolemaic canon was drawn up. It is now possible to compare Ptolemy's list of Babylonian kings from the time of Nabonassar (B.c. 747) downwards with the clay tablets on which it must originally have been based; and it is satisfactory to be able to convince ourselves of the absolute authenticity of a document which has until the present day been of such incalculable value to chronologists.

CHAPTER XI.

LEGAL DEEDS OF THE BABYLONIANS.

THE prophet Jeremiah describes for us the form in which deeds of sale were drawn up in his time. He says:

"Fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

"Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the Lord."

Many such deeds of sale have been discovered in recent times, and are now stored up in our museums. They are, of course, written upon the ordinary writing material of the Babylonians: that is to say, upon clay tablets, such as the prophet Ezekiel speaks of :

"Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem.”

Such plans of towns and buildings as this which was drawn upon a clay tablet by the prophet Ezekiel, have been found among the cuneiform inscriptions. Even as early as the time of Gudea, governor of Lagash, the architects traced their plans upon tablets, and this

personage himself is represented in a statue at the Louvre, already alluded to, holding such a design of a palace or fort upon his knees, with the stylus which served as his instrument to mark it out upon the clay. Plans of the city of Babylon itself, and of other towns or buildings, have also been found. When Ezekiel wrote, he was a captive in Babylonia, and naturally followed the custom of the country.

Of the deeds of sale of this period, similar in form to those described by Jeremiah, we find such examples as the following, of the time of Evil-Merodach, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, and successor of the latter upon the throne of Babylon :

"A piece of land, consisting of five measures of corn-land, a field, a meadow, and a palm-garden, adjoining the corn-field of Itri-Saktum, in front of the gate of the Sun-god, in the suburbs of Babylon. Its

measurements are:

"336% cubits on the upper western side, adjoining the property of Zillâ, son of Nur-Sin;

"339 cubits on the lower eastern side, adjoining the property of Rimut-Bel, son of Bel-uballit, son of Sin-shadunu;

"128 cubits, 20 fingers on the upper northern side, adjoining the road.

"126 cubits, 20 fingers on the lower southern side, adjoining the property of Rimut, son of Nadin, son of Sin-kudurnu.

"Total: 5 measures of corn-land and 1 measure of pasture-land. "During the years from the 32nd year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, Marduk-akhi-usur, son of Marduk-ibni, the king's officer, has held the land as pledge for three manehs of silver, at the hands of Ramman-nasir, son of Aplâ, son of the priest of Rimmon. Afterwards, in the second year of Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon, Marduk-akhi-usur, son of Marduk-ibni, the king's officer, has declared and reckoned the full value of the land as 3 manehs, 6 shekels of pure silver, and has deposited 54 shekels of silver in addition. The

total price, 33 manehs, 1 shekel, 3 ud of pure silver. Ramman-nasir, son of Aplâ, son of the priest of Rimmon, has received the full price of the land in silver, at the hands of Marduk-akhi-usur, son of Marduk-ibni, the king's officer.

"In the presence of the Royal Scribes, in the city of Ipkida, the tablet has been sealed, and Marduk-akhi-usur has paid the price.

"Witnesses: Bel-iddin, son of Sitillu, son of the chief architect ; Nabu-etir-napshâti, son of Shamash-nasir, son of Nur-Sin; Nabuiddin, son of Mushallim, son of the sword-bearer; Mushezib-Marduk, son of Nabu-pal-iddin, son of Dabibi.

"Besides the male witnesses of the tablet of Marduk-akhi-usur, Saggil-namrat, daughter of Ramman-nasir, and wife of UballitMarduk, sat as witness.

“Ramman-takul, son of Ramman-nasir, son of the priest of Rimmon, has received three shekels of stamped (?) silver at the hands of Marduk-akhi-usur, and sat together with the witnesses.

"Scribe: Nabu-shar-usur, son of Zirutu, son of Marduk-shakinpushu.

66

Babylon, month of Tammuz, 15th day, 2nd year of EvilMerodach, king of Babylon.

"Nail-mark of Ramman-nasir, son of Aplâ, son of the Priest of Rimmon, in place of his seal."

We here see the legal process described by Jeremiah in the words quoted above, and also in another passage where the prophet says:

"I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen skekels of silver.

"And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.

"So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open :

"And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.