us duly attested have in
general been enveloped, after they were baked, in a cover of moist clay,
upon which their contents have been again inscribed, so as to present
externally a duplicate of the writing within; and the tablet in its cover
has then been baked afresh. That this was the process employed is
evident from the fact that the inner side of the envelope bears a cast,
in relief, of the inscription beneath it. Probably the object in view
was greater security--that if the external cover became illegible, or was
tampered with, there might be a means of proving beyond a doubt what the
document actually contained. The tablets in question have in a
considerable number of cases been deciphered; they are for the most part
deeds, contracts, or engagements, entered into by private persons and
preserved among the archives of families.

Besides their writings on clay, the Chaldaeans were in the habit, from
very early times, of engraving inscriptions on gems. The signet cylinder
of a very ancient king exhibits that archaic formation of letters which
has been already noted as appearing upon some of the earliest bricks.
[PLATE VII., Fig. 3.] That it belongs to the same period is evident,
not only from the resemblance of the literal type, but from the fact that
the same king's name appears upon both. This signet inscription--so far
as it has been hitherto deciphered--is read as follows:--"The signet of
Urukh, the pious chief, king of Ur, . . . . High-Priest (?) of . . . .
Niffer." Another similar relic, belonging to a son of this monarch, has
the inscription, "To the manifestation of Nergal, king of Bit-Zida, of
Zurgulla, for the saving of the life of Ilgi, the powerful hero, the king
of Ur, . . . . son of Urukh . . . . May his name be preserved." A third
signet, which belongs to a later king in the series, bears the following
legend: "--_sin, the powerful chief, the king of Ur, the king of the
Kiprat-arbat (or four races) . . . . his seal." The cylinders, however,
of this period are more usually without inscriptions, being often plain,
and often engraved with figures, but without a legend.

CHAPTER V.

ARTS AND SCIENCES.

"Chaldaei cognitione astrorum sollertiaque ingeniorum antecellunt."
Cic. _de Div._ i. 41.

Among the arts which the first Ethiopic settlers on the shores of the
Persian Gulf either brought with them from their former homes, or very
early invented in their new abode, must undoubtedly hav