We must seek, therefore, for some more reliable record of early Chaldean history; and this we have in the stone monuments on which its annals were engraved. Sir Henry Rawlinson, on their authority, says of the Chaldeans of Babylonia that they were “a branch of the great Hamitic race of _Akkad_, which inhabited Babylonia from the earliest times. With this race originated the art of writing, the building of cities, the institution of a religious system, the cultivation of all science, and of astronomy in particular.” The race affinity of the _Akkad_ is hardly yet settled, but some information as to this point may be gained from the name by which they were designated. This appears to be composed of two words _Ak(k)-Ad_, the latter of which may be identified with the first syllable of the name Adam. As to the word _Ak_, some light may probably be thrown on its meaning by reference to the Celtic languages. Baldwin, without seeing its full bearing, makes the remark that the Dravidians of Southern India use _Mag_, as the Berbers and Gaels use _Mac_ (_Mach_), the former word denoting “kindred” in all the Teutonic languages. Now, it could be proved by many examples that the letter _M_, which is found at the beginning of certain words in various eastern languages, is often simply a prefix. This is especially the case in Hebrew and Arabic, and, therefore, probably in the more ancient languages with which they are allied. Such, at least, must be the case with the initial letter of the word _mach_, “son,” as in Erse the _m_ is wanting, and in Welsh the related word, having the sense of “a root or stem, lineage,” is also simply _ach_. Thus _Ak(k)-Ad_ may well be “the sons or lineage of Ad;” as Mac-Adam in Gaelic is a son of Adam. That the first syllable of this word had the signification here assigned to it is rendered extremely probable by another circumstance. It is well known that the Welsh equivalent for _Mach_, in the sense of “son,” is _Ap_; and so also we find that in Hebrew “son” is rendered by _ben_ (the Assyrian _ban_), while in Arabic it is _ibn_. In these words the _b_ is the root sound, and if son was expressed by _ak_ in the old Akkad tongue, this would bear the same relation to the Semitic languages as the Welsh does to the Gaelic and Erse—_ak_ and _ben_ in the one class answering to _ach_ and _ap_ in the other. Nor is this view without positive support. The Hebrew has a word _ach_ which expresses, not only the sense of “a brother,” but also “one of the same kindred.” In Assyrian _uk_ means a “people,” while _ak_ signifies a “Creator;” these words being connected with the old Egyptian _uk_, and also _ahi_, “to live.”