See also:

• CHRONOLOGY (Gr. xpovo?oyfa, computation of time, xp6vos)

CHRONOLOGY (Gr. xpovo?oyfa, computation of See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time, xp6vos)  , the See also:

• SCIENCE (Lat. scientia, from scire; to learn, know)

science which treats of See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time, its See also:

• OBJECT

object being to arrange and exhibit the various events which have occurred in the See also:

• HISTORY

history of the See also:

• WORLD

world in the See also:

• ORDER
• ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
• ORDER, HOLY

order of their See also:

• SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession, and to ascertain the intervals of time between them . The See also:

• TERM

term " See also:

• CHRONOLOGY (Gr. xpovo?oyfa, computation of time, xp6vos)

chronology " is also used of the order in time itself, as adopted, and of the See also:

• SYSTEM

system by which the order is fixed . The preservation of any See also:

• RECORD (Lat. recordari, to recall to mind, from cor, heart or mind)

record, however See also:

• RUDE, FRANCOIS (1784–1855)

rude, of the See also:

• LAPSE (Lat. lapses, a slip or departure)

lapse of time implies some knowledge of the See also:

• CELESTIAL, OR STELLAR

celestial motions, by which alone time can be accurately measured, and some See also:

• ADVANCEMENT

advancement in the arts of civilized See also:

• LIFE

life, which could be attained only by the accumulated experience of many generations (see TIME) . Before the invention of letters the memory of past transactions could not be preserved beyond a few years with any tolerable degree of accuracy . Events which greatly affected the See also:

• PHYSICAL

physical See also:

• CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition of the human See also:

• RACE

race, or were of a nature to make a deep impression on the minds of the rude inhabitants of the See also:

• EARTH
• EARTH (a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Erde, Dutch aarde, Swed. and Dan. jord; outside Teutonic it appears only in the Gr. 'pq'e, on the ground; it has been connected by some etymologists with the Aryan root ar-, to plough, which is seen in
• EARTH, FIGURE OF
• EARTH, FIGURE OF THE

earth, might be vaguely transmitted through several ages by traditional narrative; but intervals of time, expressed by abstract See also:

• NUMBERS, BOOK OF
• NUMBERS, PARTITION OF

numbers, and these constantly varying besides, would soon See also:

• ESCAPE (in mid. Eng. eschape or escape, from the O. Fr. eschapper, modern echapper, and escaper, low Lat. escapium, from ex, out of, and cappa, cape, cloak; cf. for the sense development the Gr. iichueoOat, literally to put off one's clothes, hence to sli

escape the memory . The invention of the See also:

• ART

art of See also:

• WRITING
• WRITING (the verbal noun of " to write," O. Eng. writan, to inscribe)

writing afforded the means of substituting precise and permanent records for vague and evanescent tradition; but in the See also:

• INFANCY

infancy of the world, mankind had learned neither to estimate accurately the duration of time, nor to refer passing events to any fixed See also:

• EPOCH (Gr. E7roxij, holding in suspense, a pause, from E1rxav, to hold up, to stop)

epoch . For these reasons the See also:

• ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt at an accurate chronology of the See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early ages of the world is only of See also:

• RECENT

recent origin . After See also:

• POLITICAL

political relations began to be established, the See also:

• NECESSITY (Lat. necessitas)

necessity of preserving a See also:

• REGISTER

register of passing seasons and years would soon be See also:

• FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt, and the practice of recording important transactions must have grown up as a necessary consequence of social life . But of these deliberate early records a very small portion only has escaped the ravages of time and barbarism . The earliest written See also:

• ANNALS (Annales, from annus, a year)

annals of the Greeks, Etruscans and See also:

• ROMANS
• ROMANS, EPISTLE TO THE

Romans are irretrievably lost . The traditions of the See also:

• DRUIDS, ORDER OF

Druids perished with them . A See also:

• CHINESE, JAPANESE AND

Chinese See also:

• EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor has the See also:

• CREDIT (Lat. credere, to believe)

credit of burning " the books " extant in his See also:

• DAY (O. Eng. dreg, Ger. Tag; according to the New English Dictionary, " in no way related to the Lat. dies")
• DAY, JOHN (1574-1640?)
• DAY, THOMAS (1748-1789)

day (about 220 B.C.), and of burying alive the scholars who were acquainted with them .

And a See also:

• SPANISH

Spanish adventurer destroyed the picture records which were found in the See also:

• PUEBLO

pueblo of Montezuma . Of the more formal See also:

• HISTORICAL

historical writings in which the first ineffectual attempts were made in the direction of systematic chronology we have no knowledge at first-See also:

• HAND
• HAND (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Hand, Goth. handus)
• HAND, FERDINAND GOTTHELF (1786-185r)

hand . Of See also:

• HELLANICUS

Hellanicus, the See also:

• GREEK
• GREEK, ETRUSCAN AND

Greek logographer, who appears to have lived through the greater See also:

• PART

part of the 5th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century B.C., and who See also:

• DREW
• DREW, SAMUEL (1765-1833)

drew up a See also:

• CHRONOLOGICAL

chronological See also:

• LIST (O.E. lisle, a Teutonic word, cf. Dut. lust, Ger. Leiste, adapted in Ital. lista and Fr. lisle)
• LIST, FRIEDRICH (1789-1846)

list of the priestesses of Here at See also:

• ARGOS

Argos; of See also:

• EPHORUS (c. 400–330 B.C.)

Ephorus, who lived in the 4th century B.C., and is distinguished as the first Greek who attempted the See also:

• COMPOSITION
• COMPOSITION (Lat. compositio, from componere, to put together)

composition of a universal history ; and of See also:

• TIMAEUS (c. 345—c. 250 B.e.)

Timaeus, who in the following century wrote an elaborate history of See also:

• SICILY (Ital. Sicilia)

Sicily, in which he set the example of using the Olympiads as the basis of chronology, the See also:

• WORKS

works have perished and our meagre knowledge of their contents is derived only from fragmentary citations in later writers . The same See also:

• FATE

fate has befallen the works of See also:

• BEROSSUS

Berossus and See also:

• MANETHO (Mav40cov in an inscription of Carthage; MaveBees in a papyrus)

Manetho, Eratosthenes and See also:

• APOLLODORUS

Apollodorus . Berossus, a See also:

• PRIEST (Ger. Priester, Fr. pretre)

priest of Belus living at See also:

• BABYLON (mod. Hillah)

Babylon' in the 3rd century B.c., added to his historical See also:

• ACCOUNT
• ACCOUNT (through O. Fr. acont, Late Lat. comptum, cornputare, to calculate)

account of Babylonia a chronological list of its See also:

• KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

kings, which he claimed to have compiled from genuine archives preserved in the See also:

• TEMPLE
• TEMPLE, FREDERICK (1821-1902)
• TEMPLE, RICHARD
• TEMPLE, SIR RICHARD, BART
• TEMPLE, SIR WILLIAM, BART

temple . Manetho, likenise a priest, living at Sebennytus in See also:

• LOWER

Lower See also:

• EGYPT

Egypt in the 3rd century B.C., wrote in Greek a history of Egypt, with an account of its See also:

• THIRTY

thirty dynasties of sovereigns, which he professed to have See also:

• DRAWN

drawn from genuine archives in the keeping of the priests . Of these works fragments only, more or less copious and accurate, have been preserved . Eratosthenes, who in the latter See also:

• HALF

half of the and century B.C. was keeper of the famous Alexandrian library, not only made himself a See also:

• GREAT

great name by his important See also:

• WORK

work on See also:

• GEOGRAPHY (Gr. yil, earth, and ypiickty, to write)

geography, but by his See also:

• TREATISE

treatise entitled Chronographia, one of the first attempts to establish an exact See also:

• SCHEME (Lat. schema, Gr. oxfjya, figure, form, from the root axe, seen in exeiv, to have, hold, to be of such shape, form, &c.)

scheme of See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general chronology, earned for himself the See also:

• TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of " See also:

• FATHER

father of chronology." His method of See also:

• PROCEDURE (Fr. procedure, from Lat. procedere, to go for-ward)

procedure; however, was usually conjectural; and guess-work, however careful, acute and plausible, is still guess-work and not testimony . Apollodorus, an Athenian who flourished in the See also:

• MIDDLE

middle of the and century B.c., wrote a metrical See also:

• CHRONICLE (from Gr. Xpovos, time)

chronicle of events, ranging from the supposed See also:

• PERIOD
• PERIOD (Gr. irepioSos, a going or way round, circuit, aepi, round, and &Sis, way, road)

period of the fall of See also:

• TROY
• TROY, JEAN FRANCOIS DE (1679–1752)

Troy to his own day . These writers were followed by other investigators and systematizers in the same See also:

• FIELD (a word common to many West German languages, cf. Ger. Feld, Dutch veld, possibly cognate with O.E. f olde, the earth, and ultimately with root of the Gr. irAaror, broad)
• FIELD, CYRUS WEST (1819-1892)
• FIELD, DAVID DUDLEY (18o5-1894)
• FIELD, EUGENE (1850-1895)
• FIELD, FREDERICK (18o1—1885)
• FIELD, HENRY MARTYN (1822-1907)
• FIELD, JOHN (1782—1837)
• FIELD, MARSHALL (183 1906)
• FIELD, NATHAN (1587—1633)
• FIELD, STEPHEN JOHNSON (1816-1899)
• FIELD, WILLIAM VENTRIS FIELD, BARON (1813-1907)

field, but their works are lost . Of the See also:

• PRINCIPAL

principal later writers whose works are extant, and to whom we owe what little knowledge we possess of the labours of their predecessors, mention will be made hereafter . The See also:

• ABSENCE (Lat. absentia)

absence or incompleteness of See also:

• AUTHENTIC (from Gr. aOO 'rns, one who does a thing himself)

authentic records, however, is not the only source of obscurity and confusion in the chronology of remote ages .

There can be no exact computation of time orplacing of events without a fixed point or epoch from which the reckoning takes its start . It was See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long before this was apprehended . When it began to be seen, various epochs were selected by various writers; and at first each small See also:

• SEPARATE

separate community had its own epoch and method of time-reckoning . Thus in one See also:

• CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city the reckoning was by succession of kings, in another by archons or See also:

• ANNUAL

annual magistrates, in a third by succession of priests . It seems now surprising that vague counting by generations should so long have prevailed and satisfied the wants of inquiring men, and that so See also:

• SIMPLE

simple, precise and seemingly obvious a See also:

• PLAN
• PLAN (from Lat. planes, flat)

plan as counting by years, the largest natural See also:

• DIVISION (from Lat. dividere, to break up into parts, separate)

division of time, did not occur to any investigator before Eratosthenes . Precision, which was at first unattainable for want of an epoch, was afterwards no less unattainable from the multiplicity, and sometimes the variation, of epochs . But by a natural See also:

• PROCESS

process the See also:

• MISCHIEF

mischief was gradually and partially remedied . The ex-tension of intercourse between the various small See also:

• GROUPS
• GROUPS, THEORY

groups or See also:

• SOCIETIES, LEARNED

societies of men, and still more their See also:

• UNION
• UNION (known locally as Union Hill and officially as Town of Union)

union in larger groups, made a See also:

• COMMON

common epoch necessary, and led to the See also:

• ADOPTION (Lat. adoptio, for adoptalio, from adoptare, to choose for oneself)

adoption of such a starting point by each larger See also:

• GROUP

group . These leading epochs continued in use for many centuries . The task of the chronologer was thus simplified and reduced to a study and comparison of See also:

• DATES

dates in a few leading systems . The most important of these systems in what we See also:

• CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call See also:

• ANCIENT
• ANCIENT (also spelt ANTIENT; derived, through the Fr. ancien, old, from the late Lat. antianum, from ante, before)

ancient times were the Babylonian, the Greek and the See also:

• ROMAN

Roman . The See also:

• JEWS
• JEWS (Heb. Y8hudi, man of Judah; Gr. 'Iovbaiot; Lat. Judaei)

Jews had no general era, properly so called .

In the history of Babylonia, the fixed point from which time was reckoned was the era of Nabonassar, 747 B.C . Among the Greeks the reckoning was by Olympiads, the point of departure being the See also:

• YEAR

year in which Coroebus was See also:

• VICTOR
• VICTOR, GAIUS JULIUS (4th cent. A.D.)
• VICTOR, SEXTUS AURELIUS

victor in the Olympic See also:

• GAMES, CLASSICAL

Games, 776 B.C . The Roman chronology started from the See also:

• FOUNDATION (Lat. fundatio, from fundare, to found)

foundation of the city, the year of which, however, was variously given by different authors . The most generally adopted was that assigned by See also:

• VARRO, MARCUS TERENTIUS (116—27 B.C.)
• VARRO, PUBLIUS TERENTIUS

Varro, 753 B.C . It is noteworthy how nearly these three great epochs approach each other,—all lying near the middle of the 8th century B.C . But it is to be remembered that the beginning of an era and its adoption and use as such are not the same thing, nor are they necessarily synchronous . Of the three ancient eras above spoken of, the earliest is that of the Olympiads, next that of the foundation of See also:

• ROME
• ROME (Roma)

Rome, and the latest the era of Nabonassar . But in order of adoption and actual usage the last is first . It is believed to have been in use from the year of its origin . It is not known when the Romans began to use their era . The Olympiads were not in current use till about the middle of the 3rd century B.C., when Timaeus, as already mentioned, set the example of reckoning by them . Even after the adoption in See also:

• EUROPE

Europe of the See also:

• CHRISTIAN
• CHRISTIAN, WILLIAM (1608-1663)

Christian era, a great variety of methods of dating—See also:

• NATIONAL

national, provincial and ecclesiastical—See also:

• GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712)

grew up and prevailed for a long time in different countries, thus renewing in See also:

• MODERN

modern times the difficulties experienced in ancient times from diversities of reckoning .

An acquaintance with these various methods is indispensable to the student of the charters, See also:

• CHRONICLES, BOOKS OF

chronicles and legal See also:

• INSTRUMENTS

instruments of the middle ages . In reckoning years from any fixed epoch in See also:

• CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant succession, the number denoting the years is necessarily always on the increase . But rude nations and illiterate See also:

• PEOPLE

people seldom attach any definite See also:

• IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea to large numbers . Hence it has been a practice, very extensively followed, to employ cycles or periods, consisting of a moderate number of years, and to distinguish and reckon the years by their number in the See also:

• CYCLE
• CYCLE (Gr. KUK)^os, a circle)

cycle . The Chinese and other nations of See also:

• ASIA

Asia reckon, not only the years, but also the months and days, by cycles of sixty . The See also:

• SAROS

Saros of the Chaldaeans, the See also:

• OLYMPIAD

Olympiad of the Greeks, and the Roman Indiction are instances of this mode of reckoning time . Several cycles were formerly known in Europe; but most of them were invented for the purpose of adjusting the See also:

• SOLAR, SOLLER (Lat. solarium, Fr.• galetas, Ital. solaio)

solar and lunar divisions of time, and were rather employed in the regulation of the See also:

• CALENDAR

calendar than as chronological eras . They are frequently, however, of very great use in fixing dates that have been otherwise imperfectly expressed, and consequently See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form important elements of chronology . (W . L . R . C.) Modern Results of Archaeological See also:

• RESEARCH (O. Fr. recerche, from recercher, re- and cercer, mod. chercher, to search; Late Lat. circare, to go round in a circle, to explore)

Research .

When See also:

• QUEEN
• QUEEN (O.E. cwen, wife, related to "quean," O.E. cwene, a hussy; cf. Gr. yvvi7: from root gan-, to produce; cf. genus, " kin," &c.)

Queen See also:

• VICTORIA
• VICTORIA (or VITTORIA), TOMMASSO LUDOVICO DA (C. I540-C. 1613)
• VICTORIA [ALEXANDRINA VICTORIA]

Victoria came to the See also:

• ENGLISH

English See also:

• THRONE

throne, 4004 B.C. was still accepted, in all sobriety, as the date of the creation of the world . Perhaps no single statement could more vividly emphasize the See also:

• CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change in the point of view from which scholars regard the chronology of ancient history than the See also:

• CITATION (Lat. citare, to cite)

citation of this indisputable fact . To-day, though Bibles are still printed with the year 4004 B.C. in the margin of the first See also:

• CHAPTER (a shortened form of chapiter, a word still used in architecture for a capital; derived from O. Fr. chapitre, Lat. capitellum, diminutive of caput, head)

chapter of See also:

• GENESIS
• GENESIS (Gr. 'ybeo-es, becoming; the term being used in English as a synonym for origin or process of coming into being)

Genesis, no See also:

• SCHOLAR, SCHOLARSHIP

scholar would pretend to regard this reference seriously . On the contrary, the scholarship of to-day regards the fifth See also:

• MILLENNIUM (a pseudo-Latin word formed on the analogy of biennium, triennium, from Lat. milk, a thousand, and armies, year)

millennium B.C. as well within the historical period for such nations as the Egyptians and the Babylonians . It has come to be fully accepted that when we use such a phrase as " the See also:

• AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age of the world " we are dealing with a period that must be measured not in thousands but in millions of years; and that to the age of See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

man must be allotted a period some hundreds of times as great as the five thousand and See also:

• ODD (in middle English odde, from old Norwegian oddi, an angle of a triangle; the old Norwegian oddamann is used of the third man who gives a casting vote in a dispute)

odd years allowed by the old chronologists . This changed point of view, needless to say, has not been reachedwithout ardent and even See also:

• BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS (1867– )

bitter controversy . Yet the transformation is unequivocal; and the revised conception no longer seems to connote the theological implications that were at first ascribed to it . It has now become obvious that the data afforded by the See also:

• HEBREW

Hebrew writings should never have been regarded as sufficiently accurate for the purpose of exact historical computations: that, in See also:

• SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short, no historian working along modern scientific lines could well have made the See also:

• MISTAKE (i.e. take amiss)

mistake of supposing that the genealogical lists of the See also:

• PENTATEUCH

Pentateuch afforded an adequate chronology of world-history . But it should not be forgotten that to many generations of See also:

• CLOSE
• CLOSE (from Lat. clausum, shut)
• CLOSE, MAXWELL HENRY (1822-1903)

close scholarship these genealogical lists seemed to convey such knowledge in the most precise terms, and that at so recent a date as, for example, the year in which Queen Victoria came to the throne, it was nothing less than a See also:

• RANK (O.Fr. rant or rent, mod. rang, generally connected with the O.E. and O.H.G. bring, a ring)

rank See also:

• HERESY

heresy to question the historical accuracy and finality of chronologies which had no other source or foundation . This changed point of view regarding the chronology of history may without hesitation be ascribed to the See also:

• INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence of See also:

• EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence obtained in a single field of inquiry, the field, namely, of See also:

• ARCHAEOLOGY (from Gr. &pxa1a, ancient things, and Xoyos, theory or science)

archaeology . No doubt the evidence as to the age of the earth and as to the antiquity of man was gathered by a class of workers not formally included in the ranks of the archaeologist: workers commonly spoken of as palaeontologists, anthropologists, ethnologists and the like . But the distinction scarcely covers a real difference .

The See also:

• SCOPE (through Ital. scopo, aim, purpose, intent, from Gr. o'KOaos, mark to shoot at, aim, o ic07reiv, to see, whence the termination in telescope, microscope, &c.)

scope of the archaeologist's studies must include every See also:

• DEPARTMENT (Fr. departement, from departir, to separate into parts)

department of the ancient history of man as preserved in antiquities of whatever See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character, be they tumuli along the Baltic, fossil skulls and graven bones from the caves of See also:

• FRANCE
• FRANCE, ANATOLE (1844– )

France, the See also:

• FLINT
• FLINT, AUSTIN (1812-1886)
• FLINT, or FLTNTSHTRE (sir Gallestr)
• FLINT, ROBERT (1838- )
• FLINT, TIMOTHY (1780-1840)

flint implements, pottery, and mummies of Egypt, tablets and bas-reliefs from See also:

• MESOPOTAMIA (Mevoaora)

Mesopotamia, coins and sculptures of See also:

• GREECE

Greece and Rome, or See also:

• INSCRIPTIONS (from Lat. inscribere, to write upon)

inscriptions, waien tablets, See also:

• PARCHMENT

parchment rolls, and papyri of a relatively See also:

• LATE

late period of classical antiquity . If at one time the monuments of Greece and Rome claimed the almost undisputed See also:

• ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention of the archaeologist, that time has long since passed . For the most important historical records that have come to us in recent decades we have to thank the Orientalist, though the classical explorer has been by no means idle . It will be sufficient here to point out in general terms the import of the See also:

• MESSAGE (a word occurring in slightly different forms in several languages, e.g. Fr. message, Span. mensaje, Ital. messagio; adapted from the Low Lat. missaticum, from mittere)

message of archaeological See also:

• DISCOVERY

discovery in the Victorian Era in its See also:

• BEARINGS

bearings upon the great problems of world-history . A start was made through the efforts of the palaeontologists and geologists, with only indirect or incidental aid from the chron- archaeologists . The new See also:

• MOVEMENT

movement began actively ()logy of with See also:

• JAMES
• JAMES (Gr. 'IlrKw,l3or, the Heb. Ya`akob or Jacob)
• JAMES (JAMES FRANCIS EDWARD STUART) (1688-1766)
• JAMES, 2ND EARL OF DOUGLAS AND MAR(c. 1358–1388)
• JAMES, DAVID (1839-1893)
• JAMES, EPISTLE OF
• JAMES, GEORGE PAYNE RAINSFOP
• JAMES, HENRY (1843— )
• JAMES, JOHN ANGELL (1785-1859)
• JAMES, THOMAS (c. 1573–1629)
• JAMES, WILLIAM (1842–1910)
• JAMES, WILLIAM (d. 1827)

James See also:

• HUTTON, CHARLES (1737-1823)
• HUTTON, JAMES (1726-1797)
• HUTTON, RICHARD HOLT (1826-1897)

Hutton in the later years of the 18th ancient century, and was forwarded by the studies of See also:

• WILLIAM
• WILLIAM (1143-1214)
• WILLIAM (1227-1256)
• WILLIAM (1J33-1584)
• WILLIAM (A.S. Wilhelm, O. Norse Vilhidlmr; O. H. Ger. Willahelm, Willahalm, M. H. Ger. Willehelm, Willehalm, Mod.Ger. Wilhelm; Du. Willem; O. Fr. Villalme, Mod. Fr. Guillaume; from " will," Goth. vilja, and " helm," Goth. hilms, Old Norse hidlmr, meaning
• WILLIAM (c. 1130-C. 1190)
• WILLIAM, 13TH

William history . See also:

• SMITH
• SMITH, ADAM (1723–1790)
• SMITH, ALEXANDER (183o-1867)
• SMITH, ANDREW JACKSON (1815-1897)
• SMITH, CHARLES EMORY (1842–1908)
• SMITH, CHARLES FERGUSON (1807–1862)
• SMITH, CHARLOTTE (1749-1806)
• SMITH, COLVIN (1795—1875)
• SMITH, EDMUND KIRBY (1824-1893)
• SMITH, G
• SMITH, GEORGE (1789-1846)
• SMITH, GEORGE (184o-1876)
• SMITH, GEORGE ADAM (1856- )
• SMITH, GERRIT (1797–1874)
• SMITH, GOLDWIN (1823-191o)
• SMITH, HENRY BOYNTON (1815-1877)
• SMITH, HENRY JOHN STEPHEN (1826-1883)
• SMITH, HENRY PRESERVED (1847– )
• SMITH, JAMES (1775–1839)
• SMITH, JOHN (1579-1631)
• SMITH, JOHN RAPHAEL (1752–1812)
• SMITH, JOSEPH, JR
• SMITH, MORGAN LEWIS (1822–1874)
• SMITH, RICHARD BAIRD (1818-1861)
• SMITH, ROBERT (1689-1768)
• SMITH, SIR HENRY GEORGE WAKELYN
• SMITH, SIR THOMAS (1513-1577)
• SMITH, SIR WILLIAM (1813-1893)
• SMITH, SIR WILLIAM SIDNEY (1764-1840)
• SMITH, SYDNEY (1771-1845)
• SMITH, THOMAS SOUTHWOOD (1788-1861)
• SMITH, WILLIAM (1769-1839)
• SMITH, WILLIAM (c. 1730-1819)
• SMITH, WILLIAM (fl. 1596)
• SMITH, WILLIAM FARRAR (1824—1903)
• SMITH, WILLIAM HENRY (1808—1872)
• SMITH, WILLIAM HENRY (1825—1891)
• SMITH, WILLIAM ROBERTSON (1846-'894)

Smith in See also:

• ENGLAND
• ENGLAND, THE CHURCH OF

England and of See also:

• CUVIER, GEORGES LEOPOLD CHRETIEN FREDERIC DAGOBERT, BARON (1769-1832)

Cuvier in France; but the really efficient See also:

• CHAMPION (Fr. champion, Late Lat. campio from campus; a field or open space, i.e. one " who takes the field " or fights; cf. Ger. Kampf, battle, and Kampfer, fighter)

champion of the conception that the earth is very old was See also:

• SIR

Sir See also:

• CHARLES
• CHARLES (1270-1325)
• CHARLES (1421-1461)
• CHARLES (1525-1574)
• CHARLES (c. 1319-1364)
• CHARLES (Fr. Charles; Span. Carlos; Ital. Carlo; Ger. Karl; derived from O.H.G. Charal,latinized as Carolus, meaning originally " man ": cf. Mod.Ger., Kerl," fellow," A.S. ceorl, Mod. Eng. " churl ")
• CHARLES (KARL EITEL ZEPHYRIN LUDWIG; in Rum. CAROL)
• CHARLES [KARL ALEXANDER] (1712-1780)
• CHARLES, ELIZABETH (1828-1896)
• CHARLES, JACQUES ALEXANDRE CESAR (1746-1823)
• CHARLES, THOMAS (1755-1814)

Charles See also:

• LYELL, SIR CHARLES (1797-1875)

Lyell, who published the first edition of his epoch-making Principles of See also:

• GEOLOGY (from Gr. yp7, the earth, and Abyor, science)

Geology only a few years before Queen Victoria came to the throne . Lyell demonstrated to the See also:

• SATISFACTION (Lat. salisfacerc, to satisfy)

satisfaction, or—perhaps it should rather be said—to the dissatisfaction, of his contemporaries that the See also:

• STORY, JOHN (c. 1510-1571)
• STORY, JOSEPH (1779-1845)
• STORY, ROBERT HERBERT (1835-1907)
• STORY, WILLIAM WETMORE (1819—1895)

story of the See also:

• GEOLOGICAL

geological ages as recorded in the strata of the earth becomes intelligible only when vast stretches of time are presupposed . Of course the demonstration was not accepted at once . On the contrary, the champions of the tradition that the earth was less than six thousand years old held their ground most tenaciously, and the earlier years of the Victorian era were years of bitter controversy . The result of the contest was never in doubt, however, for the geological evidence, once it had been gathered, was unequivocal; and by about the middle of the century it was See also:

• PRETTY

pretty generally admitted that the age of the earth must be measured by an utterly different See also:

• STANDARD
• STANDARD, BATTLE OF THE

standard from that hitherto in See also:

• VOGUE, EUGENE MELCHIOR, COMTE DE (1848- )

vogue . This concession, however, by no means implied a like change of view regarding the age of man .

A fresh See also:

• VOLUME

volume of evidence required to be gathered, and a new controversy to be waged, before the old data for the creation of man could be abandoned . Lyell again was in the forefront of the progressive movement, and his work on The Antiquity of Man, published in 1863, gave currency for the first time to the new opinions . The evidence upon which these opinions were based had been gathered by such anthropologists as See also:

• SCHMERLING, ANTON VON (1805-1893)

Schmerling, See also:

• BOUCHER, FRANCOIS (1703-1770)
• BOUCHER, JONATHAN (1738-1804)

Boucher de See also:

• PERTHES, FRIEDRICH CHRISTOPH (1772—1843)
• PERTHES, JOHAN GEORG JUSTUS (1749-1816)

Perthes and others, and it had to do chiefly with the finding of implements of human construction associated with the remains of See also:

• EXTINCT

extinct animals in the beds of caves, and with the recovery of similar antiquities from alluvial deposits the great age of which was demonstrated by their See also:

• DEPTH

depth . Every See also:

• ITEM (a Latin adverb meaning " also," " likewise ")

item of the evidence was naturally subjected to the closest See also:

• SCRUTINY (Fr. scrutin, Late Lat. scrulinium, from scrutari, to search or examine thoroughly)

scrutiny, but at last the conservatives were forced reluctantly to confess themselves beaten . Their traditional arguments were powerless before the See also:

• ARRAY (from the O. Fr. areyer, Med. Lat. arredare, to get ready)

array of data marshalled by the new science of prehistoric archaeology . Looking back even at the short remove of a single See also:

• GENERATION (from Lat. generare, to beget, procreate; genus, stock, race)

generation, it is difficult to appreciate how revolutionary was the conception of the antiquity of man thus inculcated . It rudely shocked the traditional attitude of scholarship towards the history of our race . It disturbed the most cherished traditions and the most sacred themes . It seemed to threaten the very See also:

• FOUNDATIONS

foundations of See also:

• RELIGION
• RELIGION, FOLKLORE, CUSTOM

religion itself . Yet the See also:

• PRESENT

present generation accepts the antiquity of man as a See also:

• MERE
• MERE, ADALBERT (1838-1909)

mere See also:

• MATTER

matter of fact . Here; as so often elsewhere, the heresy of an See also:

• ELDER (0. Eng. ellarn; Ger. Holunder; Fr. sureau)
• ELDER (Gr. 1rpev(3iTepos)

elder day has come to seem almost an axiomatic truth . If we go back in See also:

• IMAGINATION

imagination to the beginning of the Victorian era and ask what was then known of the history of Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Asia See also:

• MINOR
• MINOR (Lat. for smaller, lesser)
• MINOR, ROBERT CRANNELL (1839-1904)

Minor, we find ourselves See also:

• CON

con-fronted with a startling paucity of knowledge .

The See also:

• KEY
• KEY (in O. Eng. tang; the ultimate origin of the word is unknown; it appears only in Old Frisian kei of other Teutonic languages; until the end of the 17th century the pronunciation was kay, as in other words in O. Eng. ending in aeg; cf. daeg, day; clang
• KEY (the phraseograms being indicated by hyphens)
• KEY, SIR ASTLEY COOPER (1821-1888)
• KEY, THOMAS HEWITT (1799-1875)

key to the mysteries of See also:

• EGYPTIAN

Egyptian history had indeed been found, thanks to the recent efforts of See also:

• THOMAS
• THOMAS (c. 1654-1720)
• THOMAS (d. 110o)
• THOMAS, ARTHUR GORING (1850-1892)
• THOMAS, CHARLES LOUIS AMBROISE (1811-1896)
• THOMAS, GEORGE (c. 1756-1802)
• THOMAS, GEORGE HENRY (1816-187o)
• THOMAS, ISAIAH (1749-1831)
• THOMAS, PIERRE (1634-1698)
• THOMAS, SIDNEY GILCHRIST (1850-1885)
• THOMAS, ST
• THOMAS, THEODORE (1835-1905)
• THOMAS, WILLIAM (d. 1554)

Thomas See also:

• YOUNG
• YOUNG, A
• YOUNG, ARTHUR (1741-1820)
• YOUNG, BRIGHAM (1801-1877)
• YOUNG, CHARLES MAYNE (1777–1856)
• YOUNG, EDWARD (1683–1765)
• YOUNG, JAMES (1811-1883)
• YOUNG, THOMAS (1773-1829)

Young and See also:

• CHAMPOLLION, JEAN FRANCOIS (1790–1832)

Champollion, but the deciphering of inscriptions had not yet progressed far enough to give more than a vague inkling of what was to follow . It remained, then, virtually true, as it had been for two thousand years, that for all that we could learn of the history of the Old Orient in pre-classical days, we must go solely to the pages of the See also:

• BIBLE
• BIBLE, ENGLISH

Bible and to a few classical authors, notably See also:

• HERODOTUS (c. 484-425 B.C.)

Herodotus and Diodorus . A comparatively few pages summed up, in See also:

• LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language often vague and mystical, all that the modern world had been permitted to remember of the history of the greatest nations of antiquity . To these nations the classical writers had ascribed a traditional importance, the glamour of which still lighted their names, albeit revealing them in the vague See also:

• TWILIGHT

twilight of tradition rather than in the clear See also:

• LIGHT

light of history . It would have been a bold, not to say a reckless, dreamer who dared predict that any future researches could restore to us the lost knowledge that had been forgotten for more than two millenniums . Yet the Victorian era was scarcely ushered in before the work of rehabilitation began, which was to See also:

• LEAD
• LEAD (pronounced iced)

lead to the most astounding discoveries and to an altogether unprecedented See also:

• EXTENSION (Lat. ex, out ; tendere, to stretch)

extension of historical knowledge . Early in the 'forties the Frenchman See also:

• BOTTA, CARLO GIUSEPPE GUGLIELMO (1766–1837)

Botta, quickly followed by Sir See also:

• HENRY
• HENRY (1129-1195)
• HENRY (c. 1108-1139)
• HENRY (c. 1174–1216)
• HENRY (Fr. Henri; Span. Enrique; Ger. Heinrich; Mid. H. Ger. Heinrich and Heimrich; O.H.G. Haimi- or Heimirih, i.e. " prince, or chief of the house," from O.H.G. heim, the Eng. home, and rih, Goth. reiks; compare Lat. rex " king "—" rich," therefore " mig
• HENRY, EDWARD LAMSON (1841– )
• HENRY, JAMES (1798-1876)
• HENRY, JOSEPH (1797-1878)
• HENRY, MATTHEW (1662-1714)
• HENRY, PATRICK (1736–1799)
• HENRY, PRINCE OF BATTENBERG (1858-1896)
• HENRY, ROBERT (1718-1790)
• HENRY, VICTOR (1850– )
• HENRY, WILLIAM (1795-1836)

Henry See also:

• LAYARD, SIR AUSTEN HENRY (1817-1894)

Layard, began making excavations on the site of ancient See also:

• NINEVEH (Heb. m}'?, in classical authors Nivos, Ninus; LXX. Ntsetni, Nnveun: Assyrian Nind or Ninua)

Nineveh, the name and fame of which were a tradition having scarcely more than mythical status . The See also:

• SPADE

spade of the discoverer soon showed that all the fabled glories of the ancient See also:

• ASSYRIAN

Assyrian See also:

• CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
• CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

capital were founded on realities, and evidence was afforded of a See also:

• STATE
• STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF

state of See also:

• CIVILIZATION

civilization and culture such as few men supposed to have existed on the earth before the olden Age of Greece . Not merely were See also:

• ARTISTIC

artistic sculptures and bas-reliefs found that demonstrated a high development of artistic See also:

• GENIUS (from Lat. genere, gignere)

genius, but great See also:

• LIBRARIES

libraries were soon revealed, books consisting of bricks of various sizes, or of cylinders of the same material, inscribed while in the state of See also:

• CLAY (from O. Eng. claeg, a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Klei)
• CLAY, CASSIUS MARCELLUS (1810-1903)
• CLAY, CHARLES (1801–1893)
• CLAY, FREDERIC (1838–1889)
• CLAY, HENRY (1777–1852)

clay with curious characters which became indelible when See also:

• BAKING

baking transformed the clay into See also:

• BRICK (derived according to some etymologists from the Teutonic bricke, a disk or plate; but more authoritatively, through the French brique, originally a " broken piece," applied especially to bread, and so to clay, from the Teutonic brikan, to break)

brick . No one was able to guess, even in the vaguest way, the exact See also:

• INTERPRETATION (from Lat. interpretari, to expound, explain, inter pres, an agent, go-between, interpreter; inter, between, and the root pret-, possibly connected with that seen either in Greek 4 p4'ew, to speak, or irpa-rrecv, to do)

interpretation of these odd characters; but, on the other hand, no one could doubt that they constituted a system of writing, and that the piles of inscribed tablets were veritable books . There were numerous sceptics, however, who did not hesitate to assert that the import of the message so obviously locked in these curious inscriptions must for ever remain an See also:

• ABSOLUTE (Lat. absolvere, to loose, set free)

absolute See also:

• MYSTERY (Gr. µw(Trilpcov, from tcuvrm, an initiate, µfew, to shut the mouth)

mystery . Here, it was said, were inscriptions written in an unknown character and in a language that for at least two thousand years had been absolutely forgotten .

In such circumstances nothing less than a See also:

• MIRACLE (Lat. miraculum, from mirari, to wonder)

miracle could enable human ingenuity to See also:

• FATHOM

fathom the See also:

• SECRET (Lat. secretum, hidden, concealed)

secret . Yet the feat pronounced impossible by See also:

• MID

mid-century See also:

• SCEPTICISM (o-Kesrroµai, I consider, reflect, hesitate, doubt)

scepticism was accomplished by contemporary scholarship, amidst the clamour of opposition and incredulity . Its success contains at once a warning to those doubters who are always crying out that we have reached the limitations of knowledge, and an encouragement and stimulus to would-be explorers of new intellectual realms . In a few words the manner of the discovery was this . It appears at a glance that the Assyrian written character consists of groups of See also:

• HORIZONTAL

horizontal, See also:

• VERTICAL (from Lat. vertex, highest point)

vertical or oblique strokes .. The characters thus composed, though so simple as to their basal unit, are appallingly complex in their elaboration . The Assyrians with all their culture, never attained the See also:

• STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage of See also:

• ANALYSIS (Gr. avci and Meta, to break up into parts)

analysis which demonstrates that only a few fundamental sounds are involved in human speech, and hence that it is possible to See also:

• EXPRESS (through the French from the past participle of the Lat. exprimere, to press out, by transference used of representing objects in painting or sculpture, or of thoughts, &c. in words)

express all the niceties of utterance with an See also:

• ALPHABET (see also WRITING)

alphabet of little more than a See also:

• SCORE (O.E. scor, from sceran, to cut, notch, cf. " shear ")

score of letters . Halting just short of this analysis, the Assyrian ascribed syllabic values to the characters of his script, and hence, instead of finding twenty odd characters sufficient, he required about five See also:

• HUNDRED

hundred . There was a further complication in that each one of these characters had at least two different phonetic values; and there were other intricacies of usage which, had they been foreknown by inquirers in the middle of the 9th century, might well have made the problem of decipherment seem an utterly hopeless one . Fortunately it chanced that another people, the Persians, had adopted the Assyrian See also:

• WEDGE (O. Eng. wecg, a mass of metal, cognate with Dutch wig, wigge, Dan. vaegge, &c.; in Lith. the cognate form outside Teut. is found in wagis, a peg, spigot; there is no connexion with " weigh," " weight," which must be referred to the root wegh, to li

wedge-shaped stroke as the foundation of a written character, but making that analysis of which the Assyrians had fallen short, had borrowed only so many characters as were necessary to represent the alphabetical sounds . This made the problem of deciphering See also:

• PERSIAN
• PERSIAN, SYRIAN, EGYPTIAN AND TURKISH

Persian inscriptions a relatively easy one . In point of fact this problem had been partially solved in the early days of the 19th century, thanks to the sagacious guesses of the See also:

• GERMAN
• GERMAN, DUTCH AND SCANDINAVIAN

German philologist See also:

• GROTEFEND, GEORG FRIEDRICH (1775-1853)

Grotefend .

Working with some inscriptions from See also:

• PERSEPOLIS

Persepolis which were found to contain references to See also:

• DARIUS (Pers. Darayavaush; Old Test. Daryavesh)

Darius and See also:

• XERXES (the Greek form of the Pers. Khshayarsha; Old Testament Ahasverus, Akhashverosh—i.e. Ahasuerus (q.v.)—with wrong vocalization and substitution of y for v, instead of Akhshavarsh; in Aramaic inscriptions and papyri from Egypt the name is written Khs

Xerxes, Grotefend had established the phonetic values of certain of the Persian characters, and his successors were perfecting the discovery just about the time when the new Assyrian finds were made . It chanced that there existed on the polished See also:

• SURFACE

surface of a cliff at See also:

• BEHISTUN

Behistun in western See also:

• PERSIA

Persia a tri-lingual inscription which, according to Diodorus, had been made by Queen See also:

• SEMIRAMIS (c. 800 B.C.)

Semiramis of Nineveh, but which, as is now known, was really the work of See also:

• KING
• KING (O. Eng. cyning, abbreviated into cyng, cing; cf. O. H. G. chun- kuning, chun- kunig, M.H.G. kiinic, kiinec, kiinc, Mod. Ger. Konig, O. Norse konungr, kongr, Swed. konung, kung)
• KING [OF OCKHAM], PETER KING, 1ST BARON (1669-1734)
• KING, CHARLES WILLIAM (1818-1888)
• KING, CLARENCE (1842–1901)
• KING, EDWARD (1612–1637)
• KING, EDWARD (1829–1910)
• KING, HENRY (1591-1669)
• KING, RUFUS (1755–1827)
• KING, THOMAS (1730–1805)
• KING, WILLIAM (1650-1729)
• KING, WILLIAM (1663–1712)

King Darius . One of the See also:

• LANGUAGES

languages of this inscription was Persian; another, as it now appeared, was Assyrian, the language of the newly discovered books from the libraries of Nineveh . There was See also:

• REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason to suppose that the inscriptions were identical in meaning; and fortunately it proved, when the inscriptions were made accessible to investigation through the efforts of Sir Henry See also:

• RAWLINSON, GEORGE (1812-1902)
• RAWLINSON, RICHARD (169o-1755)
• RAWLINSON, SIR HENRY CRESWICKE (1810—1895)
• RAWLINSON, SIR ROBERT (1810—1898)

Rawlinson, that the Persian inscription contained a large number of proper names . It was well known that proper names are usually transcribed from one language into another with a tolerably close retention of their See also:

• ORIGINAL

original sounds . For example, the Greek names Ptolemaios and Kleopatra became a part of the Egyptian language and appeared regularly in Egyptian inscriptions after See also:

• ALEXANDER
• ALEXANDER (1461-1506)
• ALEXANDER (ALEXANDER OF BATTENBERG) (1857-1893)
• ALEXANDER (ALEXANDER OsxENOVici) (1876-1903)
• ALEXANDER, ARCHIBALD (1772—1851)
• ALEXANDER, FRANCIS (1800—1881)
• ALEXANDER, GEORGE (1858— )
• ALEXANDER, JOHN WHITE (1856- )
• ALEXANDER, JOSEPH ADDISON (18o9—186o)
• ALEXANDER, SIR JAMES EDWARD (1803—1885)
• ALEXANDER, WILLIAM (1824— )
• ALEXANDER, WILLIAM LINDSAY (1808—1884)

Alexander's general became king of Egypt . Similarly, the Greek names Kyros, Dareios and Xerxes were as close an See also:

• IMITATION (Lat. imitatio, from intitari, to imitate)

imitation aspracticable of the native names of these Persian monarchs . Assuming, then, that the proper names found in the Persian portion of the Behistun inscription occurred also in the Assyrian portion, retaining virtually the same See also:

• SOUND
• SOUND, THE (Danish Oresund)

sound in each, a See also:

• CLUE

clue to the phonetic values of a large number of the Assyrian characters was obviously at hand . Phonetic values known, Assyrian was found to be a Semitic language cognate to Hebrew . These clues were followed up by a considerable number of investigators, with Sir Henry Rawlinson in the See also:

• VAN

van . Thanks to their efforts, the new science of Assyriology came into being, and before long the message of the Assyrian books had ceased to be an See also:

• ENIGMA (Gr. aTvcyµa)

enigma . Of course this work was not accomplished in a day or in a year, but, considering the difficulties to be overcome, it was carried forward with marvellous expedition .

In r857 the new scholarship was put to a famous test, in which the See also:

• CHALLENGE (O. Fr. chalonge, calenge, &c., from Lat. calumnia, originally meaning trickery, from calvi, to deceive, hence a false accusation, a " calumny ")

challenge thrown down by Sir See also:

• GEORGE
• GEORGE, 8TH MARQUESS OF TWEEDDALE (1787-1876)
• GEORGE, HENRY (1839—1897)
• GEORGE, LAKE
• GEORGE, SAINT (d. 303)

George Cornewall See also:

• LEWIS, HENRY CARVILL
• LEWIS, JOHN FREDERICK (180 1876)
• LEWIS, MATTHEW GREGORY (1775-1818)
• LEWIS, MERIWETHER (1774-1809)
• LEWIS, SIR GEORGE CORNEWALL, BART

Lewis and Ernest See also:

• RENAN, ERNEST (1823-1892)

Renan was met by Rawlinson, See also:

• HINCKS, EDWARD (1792-1866)
• HINCKS, SIR FRANCIS (1807-1885)

Hincks, See also:

• OPPERT, JULIUS (1825-19o5)

Oppert and See also:

• FOX
• FOX, C
• FOX, CHARLES JAMES (1749-1806)
• FOX, EDWARD (c. 1496-1538)
• FOX, GEORGE (1624-1691)
• FOX, RICHARD (c. 1448-1528)
• FOX, ROBERT WERE (1789—1877)
• FOX, SIR STEPHEN (1627–1716)
• FOX, SIR WILLIAM (1812-1893)

Fox See also:

• TALBOT (FAMILY)
• TALBOT, MARY ANNE (1778-1808)
• TALBOT, WILLIAM HENRY FOX (1800–1877)

Talbot in a conclusive manner . The sceptics had declared that the new science of Assyriology was itself a myth: that the investigators, self-deceived, had in reality only invented a language and read into the Assyrian inscriptions something utterly See also:

• ALIEN (Lat. alienus)

alien to the minds of the Assyrians themselves . But when a See also:

• COMMITTEE (from commute, an Anglo-Fr. past participle of commettre, Lat. committere, to entrust; the modern Fr. equivalent comite is derived from the Eng.)

committee of the Royal See also:

• ASIATIC

Asiatic Society, with George See also:

• GROTE, GEORGE (1794–1871)

Grote at its See also:

• HEAD (in 0. Eng. heafad; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch hoofd, Ger. Haupt, generally taken to be in origin connected with Lat. caput, Gr. KerbOvi7)
• HEAD, SIR EDMUND WALKER, BART
• HEAD, SIR FRANCIS BOND, BART

head, decided that the See also:

• TRANSLATIONS

translations of an Assyrian See also:

• TEXT (Lat. textum, woven fabric, from texere, to weave)

text made independently by the scholars just named were at once perfectly intelligible and closely in See also:

• ACCORD (from Fr. accorder, to agree)

accord with one another, scepticism was silenced, and the new science was admitted to have made See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good its claims . Naturally the early investigators did not fathom all the niceties of the language, and the work of grammatical investigation has gone on continuously under the auspices of a constantly growing See also:

• BAND

band of workers . Doubtless much still remains to be done; but the essential thing, from the present standpoint, is that a sufficient knowledge of the Assyrian language has been acquired to ensure trustworthy translations of the See also:

• CUNEIFORM (from Lat. cuneus, a wedge)

cuneiform texts . Meanwhile, the material found by Botta and Layard, and other successors, in the ruins of Nineveh, has been constantly augmented through the efforts of companies of other investigators, and not merely Assyrian, but much earlier Babylonian and Chaldaean texts in the greatest profusion have been brought to the various museums of Europe and See also:

• AMERICA

America . The study of these different inscriptions has utterly revolutionized our knowledge of See also:

• ORIENTAL

Oriental history . Many of the documents are strictly historical in their character, giving full and accurate contemporary accounts of events that occurred some thousands of years ago . Exact dates are fixed for long See also:

• SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of events that previously were quite unknown . Monarchs whose very names had been forgotten are restored to history, and the records of their deeds inscribed under their very eyes are before us,—contemporary documents such as neither Greece nor Rome could boast, nor any other nation, with the single exception of Egypt, until strictly modern times . There are, no