The Historians' History of the World 01

Gustave Charles Ernest Chocquin de Sarzec was born 11th August, 1836. After the discoveries of Botta and Layard had shown the scientific world what neglected treasure-houses were to be found in Mesopotamia, it was natural that explorers should seek out the other fields of ancient activity, in particular those to the south in Old Babylonia, and yet older Chaldea. Among those who went into the latter field most successfully was M. de Sarzec. His explorations at Tello, one of the oldest seats of Mesopotamian civilisation revealed a vast quantity of most interesting antiquities of a type in many ways different from those of the comparatively recent Assyrian period. In particular the statues in the round, which seem to have been a common form of artistic expression with the ancient Chaldeans, have interest because of their difference from the bas-reliefs that were the favourite sculptures of the artists of Nineveh. In the interpretation of the large store of material which De Sarzec secured he had had the assistance of M. Layon Heuzey and M. Amiaud.

Sayce, A. H., Lectures on the Religions of Ancient Assyria and Babylonia. London, 1888; Ancient Empires of the East. London, 1884; Assyria: its Princes, Priests, and People. London, 1882; Babylonians and Assyrians: Life and Customs. New York, 1899; Social Life among the Assyrians. London, 1893; Primer of Assyriology. London, 1894; The Races of the Old Testament. London, 1891; Fresh Light from the Ancient Monuments. London, 1884.

Archibald Henry Sayce, born at Shirehampton, near Bristol, 25th September, 1846. Deputy Professor of comparative Philology at Oxford from 1876 to 1890; at present Professor of Assyriology at Oxford. The well-known Oxford Professor has been one of the most versatile and active of orientalists. He seems equally at home whether the field be Egypt, Mesopotamia, or Assyria, and he is a writer of such indefatigable industry that scholarly works on one subject or another are constantly coming from his pen. Professor Sayce is by no means a closet student only but is a traveller of wide experience, and latterly it has become his custom to spend his winters and springs house-boating in Egypt. He has a rare merit of combining the utmost scholarship with a capacity for clear presentation of his subject, and his works are therefore almost as well known to the general reader as they are to the specialist. In each generation there are but a few men who combining these traits act as interpreters between the land of scholarship and the abiding place of ordinary mortals and among these in our generation Professor Sayce takes a foremost rank.

Saulcy, L. F. J. C., de, Recherches sur la chronologie des empires de Ninive, de Babylone et d’Ekbatane. Paris, 1854.—Schäfer, B., Die Entdeckungen in Assyrien und Aegypten in ihrer Beziehung zur heiligen Schrift. Wien, 1896.—Schmidt, V., Assyriens of Aegyptens gamle Historie. Copenhagen, 1872-1877.—Schrader, E., Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament. London, 1873, 2 vols.; Die Höllenfahrt der Istar ein altbabylon. Epos; Giessen, 1874; Eine Sammlung von Übersetzungen der wichtigsten Texte (Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek). Berlin, 1889-1901, vols. 1-6; Keilinschriften und Geschichtsforschung. Giessen, 1878.

Eberhard Schrader was born at Brunswick, Germany, 5th January, 1836. He studied at the gymnasium in Brunswick and in the University at Göttingen. Shortly after finishing his studies in Göttingen he was appointed Professor of Hebrew and Semitic Languages at Zürich, and later he filled corresponding chairs at Giessen and Jena. In 1875 he was given a professorship and made a member of the Royal Academy at Berlin. He also edited Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek. Only a few of his works have been translated into English, most notable among these being The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament.

Smith, G., Assyrian Discoveries. London, 1875; Assyria, from the Earliest Times. London, 1875; The Chaldean Genesis. London, 1881; The History of Babylon. London, 1877; History of Sennacherib (from inscriptions). London, 1878; History of Asshurbanipal (from inscriptions). London, 1871; Assyria from the Earliest Times to the Fall of Nineveh. New York, 1876.