pre-Mosaic period. Throughout the
entire literature Abraham and Jacob and Joseph are also connected with
the beginnings of the Hebrew nation and with the beginning of the
religious mission of the people. The memory of the pre-Mosaic period
seems indeed to have been securely founded.

What, then, are the results of this comparative study? The Old
Testament world has become a new world. Dark regions were Egypt,
Assyria, Elam, and other countries mentioned in the Old Testament
before the explorers and excavators entered these lands. Now it is
comparatively easy to trace with considerable accuracy the boundaries
of empires that existed in the first {152} and second millenniums B.C.
In addition, we can fix with certainty the sites of some Old Testament
cities whose location was previously unknown and, in some cases, whose
very existence had been doubted. The topography of cities like
Nineveh, Nippur, and Babylon has become quite definitely fixed.

The historical gains are even more remarkable. Whole nations have been
resurrected. What did we know a century ago of Elam? Nothing but the
name. What of Assyria? Only a few traditions, sometimes
untrustworthy, preserved by classical writers, and the statements of
the Bible, some of which were unintelligible because of their
fragmentary character. Now these and other nations pass one after the
other in review, great and powerful in all their ancient glory. And,
almost every day, new light is thrown on these early centuries. Only a
few years ago it was thought that Assyrian history, as distinct from
that of Babylon, began about B.C. 1800; now we know the names of many
rulers who lived generations and centuries before that date.

The chronological gains are especially important. It is generally
admitted that Hebrew chronology is not always reliable, and various
expedients have been resorted to to remove the difficulties. It was
very gratifying, therefore, to discover that the chronological system
of the Assyrians was {153} more precise. Among the inscriptions are
especially three classes of public records in which the occurrences are
carefully dated: (1) Records of the reigns of certain kings in which
their activities are carefully arranged in chronological order; (2)
business tablets in which transactions are definitely dated; and (3)
the so-called eponym lists. According to Assyrian custom, each year
was named after a prominent official. Lists of these were car