and Gimil-Sin, were
the immediate predecessors of the first dynasty of Babylon (to which
Kharnmurabi belonged), must henceforth be termed the third.

Among the latest acquisitions from Tello are the seals of the _patesi_,
Lugal-usumgal, which finally remove all doubt as to the identity of
"Sargani, king of the city," with the famous Sargon of Akkad. The
historical accuracy of Sargon's annals, moreover, have been fully
vindicated. Not only have the American excavators found the contemporary
monuments of him and his son Naram-Sin, but also tablets dated in the
years of his campaigns against "the land of the Amorites." In short,
Sargon of Akkad, so lately spoken of as "a half-mythical" personage, has
now emerged into the full glare of authentic history.

That the native chronologists had sufficient material for reconstructing
the past history of their country, is also now clear. The early
Babylonian contract-tablets are dated by events which officially
distinguished the several years of a king's reign, and tablets have been
discovered compiled at the close of a reign which give year by year the
events which thus characterised them. One of these tablets, for example,
from the excavations at Niffer, begins with the words: (1) "The year
when Par-Sin (II.) becomes king. (2) The year when Pur-Sin the king
conquers Urbillum," and ends with "the year when Gimil-Sin becomes King
of Ur, and conquers the land of Zabsali" in the Lebanon.

Of special interest to the biblical student are the discoveries made
by Mr. Pinches among some of the Babylonian tablets which have recently
been acquired by the British Museum. Four of them relate to no less a
personage than Kudur-Laghghamar or Chedor-laomer, "King of Elam," as
well as to Eri-Aku or Arioch, King of Larsa, and his son Dur-makh-ilani;
to Tudghula or Tidal, the son of Gazza[ni], and to their war against
Babylon in the time of Khamrnu[rabi]. In one of the texts the question
is asked, "Who is the son of a king's daughter who has sat on the throne
of royalty? Dur-makh-ilani, the son of Eri-Aku, the son of the lady
Kur... has sat on the throne of royalty," from which it may perhaps be
inferred that Eri-Aku was the son of Kudur-Laghghamar's daughter; and in
another we read, "Who is Kudur-Laghghamar, the doer of mischief? He
has gathered together the Umman Manda, has devastated the land of Bel
(Babylonia), and [has marched] at their side." The Umman Manda were the
"Barbarian Hordes" of th