“To Naram-Sin, King of the Four Races, Conqueror of Apirak and Magan.” A second alabaster vase was found by M. de Sarazec in the ruins of Tel-Loh, having inscribed on it the words: “Naram-Sin, King of the Four Regions,” or king of the north, south, east and west. This vase was imbedded in the masonry, evidently later restorations of the earlier buildings of Gudea. A cylinder found by General Cesnola, at Cyprus has on it an inscription declaring its owner as a worshipper of Naram-Sin, who it seems had been deified by his subjects. In the first volume of Babylonian inscriptions found at Nippur, Prof. Hilfrecht records six inscriptions of Sargon, two brick stamps of baked clay, fragments of many vases and three door sockets, most of these temple offerings to Bel—Mul-lil, of Nippur. The door sockets contain the longest inscriptions of Sargon thus far known. There are many inscriptions of Naram-Sin in the Nippur remains, and yet more now in course of translation. These refer again to the restoration by these kings of the temple of Bel and their dominion over the whole of South Babylonia. As these explorations are yet in progress, it is too early to indicate the farther evidences of these early rulers of Babylonia remaining at Nippur. The various localities in which these relics have been found indicate the extensive sway of these monarchs. They suggest also the period when certain gods of Chaldea were adopted by the various nations and people conquered by Sargon or Naram-Sin. Sinai, the mountain of Sin, the Moon God, may be a reminiscence of the invasion of Arabia by Naram-Sin directed by this divinity. Mount Nebo, the mountain upon which Moses died, received its name from the Chaldean Nebo, the god of science and literature, the god of wisdom and prophesy. Istar, the evening star, the Chaldean Venus, the goddess of love and fertility, became the Atthar of southern Arabia, is identical with the goddess Hathor, of Egyptian mythology, and was worshipped by the Canaanites as Ashtaroth, and finally by the Greeks as Astarte. Against this background of history and tradition, of civilization so remote, a notable figure appears about fifteen hundred and forty years later than the great Sharrukin, or 2260 B. C., in whom the most sacred traditions of later civilizations were to have their rise. This was Abraham, or Abu-ramu, “the exalted father” with whom the history of the people of Israel begins. A Semite, and a native of Ur, his historical position is an important landmark in the story of letters. Of special significance in this connection is this early contact of Abraham and his family with the land and people of Chaldea;—the lingering survivals of Accadian speech and traditions in Hebrew language and literature. Again, when Abraham left Chaldea to found a great nation in another land, writing and literature could not have been unknown to him.