bodied at the proper place the results reached by
others and which appeared to me acceptable. The work, therefore, as now
given to the public may fairly be said to represent the state of present
knowledge.

In a science that grows so rapidly as Assyriology, to which more than to
many others the adage of _dies diem docet_ is applicable, there is great
danger of producing a piece of work that is antiquated before it leaves
the press. At times a publication appeared too late to be utilized. So
Delitzsch's important contribution to the origin of cuneiform writing[4]
was published long after the introductory chapters had been printed. In
this book he practically abandons his position on the Sumerian question
(as set forth on p. 22 of this volume) and once more joins the opposite
camp. As far as my own position is concerned, I do not feel called upon
to make any changes from the statements found in chapter i., even after
reading Weissbach's _Die Sumerische Frage_ (Leipzig, 1898),--the latest
contribution to the subject, which is valuable as a history of the
controversy, but offers little that is new. Delitzsch's name must now be
removed from the list of those who accept Halevy's thesis; but, on the
other hand, Halevy has gained a strong ally in F. Thureau-Dangin, whose
_special_ studies in the old Babylonian inscriptions lend great weight
to his utterances on the origin of the cuneiform script. Dr. Alfred
Jeremias, of Leipzig, is likewise to be added to the adherents of
Halevy. The Sumero-Akkadian controversy is not yet settled, and
meanwhile it is well to bear in mind that not _every_ Assyriologist is
qualified to pronounce an opinion on the subject. A special study is
required, and but few Assyriologists have made such a study. Accepting a
view or a tradition from one's teacher does not constitute a person an
authority, and one may be a very good Assyriologist without having views
on the controversy that are of any particular value.

Lastly, I desire to call attention to the Bibliography, on which much
time has been spent, and which will, I trust, be found satisfactory. In
a list of addenda at the end of the book, I have noted some errors that
slipped into the book, and I have also embodied a few additions. The
copious index is the work of my student, Dr. S. Koppe, and it gives me
pleasure to express my deep obligations to him for the able and
painstaking manner in which he has carried out the work so kindly
undertaken by