the head of which is
carved a bird. The procession is brought up by the queen-
mother, who carries the youngest baby and leads a pet lamb.

Such monuments surely illustrate the adaptability of the Semitic
craftsman among men of Phoenician and Aramaean strain. Excavation in
Palestine has failed to furnish examples of Hebrew work. But Hebrew
tradition itself justifies us in regarding this _trait_ as of more
general application, or at any rate as not repugnant to Hebrew thought,
when it relates that Solomon employed Tyrian craftsmen for work upon the
Temple and its furniture; for Phoenician art was essentially Egyptian in
its origin and general character. Even Eshmun-'zar's desire for burial
in an Egyptian sarcophagus may be paralleled in Hebrew tradition of
a much earlier period, when, in the last verse of Genesis,(1) it is
recorded that Joseph died, "and they embalmed him, and he was put in a
coffin in Egypt". Since it formed the subject of prophetic denunciation,
I refrain for the moment from citing the notorious adoption of Assyrian
customs at certain periods of the later Judaean monarchy. The two
records I have referred to will suffice, for we have in them cherished
traditions, of which the Hebrews themselves were proud, concerning the
most famous example of Hebrew religious architecture and the burial of
one of the patriarchs of the race. A similar readiness to make use of
the best available resources, even of foreign origin, may on analogy be
regarded as at least possible in the composition of Hebrew literature.

(1) Gen. l. 26, assigned by critics to E.

We shall see that the problems we have to face concern the possible
influence of Babylon, rather than of Egypt, upon Hebrew tradition. And
one last example, drawn from the later period, will serve to demonstrate
how Babylonian influence penetrated the ancient world and has even left
some trace upon modern civilization. It is a fact, though one perhaps
not generally realized, that the twelve divisions on the dials of
our clocks and watches have a Babylonian, and ultimately a Sumerian,
ancestry. For why is it we divide the day into twenty-four hours? We
have a decimal system of reckoning, we count by tens; why then should we
divide the day and night into twelve hours each, instead of into ten or
some multiple of ten? The reason is that the Babylonians divided the day
into twelve double-hours; and the Greeks took over their ancient system
of time-div