The tablets of the Chaldseans discovered at Mugheir are among the most interesting ever brought to light. On a brick from the great temple is tbe following inscription :—` Orchamus, king of Ur, is he who has built the temple of the Moon god.' On another :—` The Moon-god, his lord, has caused Orchamus, king of Ur, to build a temple to him, and has caused him to build the enceinte of Ur' (Rawlinson, Anct. Monarchies, i. 85).
Mr. Loftus' remarks on the discoveries at Mug heir are worthy of special note :—‘ From his exami nation of the numerous brick and cylinder inscrip tions at Mdgeyer Sir Henry Rawlinson regards this as one of the earliest, if not the very earliest, of the sites colonised by that Ethiopic or Scythic invasion. . . . These records bear the names of a series of kings from Urukh (B.c. 223o) to Naboni dus (n.c. 540). Among others is that of Kudur mapula, or Chalorlaomer (Gen. xiv. I). The temple was dedicated to Sill, or the moon,' which element was preserved by the Greeks in the name Mesene, applied by them to the surrounding region ; and also in that of Camarina, derived from the Arabic word Kamar, 'the moon,' assigned by Eupolemus to either Mdgeyer or Warka. The most important identification, however, is that of Mdgeyer with the Biblical Ur of the Chaldees, which Sir Henry Rawlinson supposes to be complete, from having read the name Hier upon the cylinders. In support of this proposed identification he states that one particular parish of this place was called Ibra, from which he supposes Abraham to have set out on his journey to Canaan, and from whence originated the word Hebrew. . . .
The cylinder inscriptions of Miigeyer are in valuable documents in confirming the authenticity and truth of Scripture. They not only inform us that Nabonidus, last king of Babylon, repaired the great temple of the moon at Hur ; but they also explain who Belshazzar was, concerning whom the early Bible critics have in vain endeavoured to reconcile conflicting statements. In the book of
Daniel (v. 3o) he is alluded to as the king of the Chaldees when Babylon was taken by the united armies of the Medes and Persians. The account of Berosus does not, however, agree with that of Scripture. It states that Nabonidus, after being utterly routed in the open plain by Cyrus, shut himself up in the city of Borsippa, but was soon obliged to surrender his person to the conqueror. From Daniel, therefore, we are led to conclude that Belshazzar was the last Chaldsean monarch ; while Nabonidus is represented in the same capacity by Berosus. . . . Sir Henry Rawlinson's reading of the Mdgeyer cylinders entirely reconciles these discrepancies. The records distinctly state that Belshazzar was the eldest son of Nabonithis, and that he was admitted to a share of the government' (Chaldaa and Susiana, pp. 123-133 ; cf. journal of Asiatic Society, xv. pp. 260, seq.) It appears from other inscriptions that Ur was originally a maritime city. Its ships are mentioned along with those of Ethiopia (Yournal of R. G. S. xxvii. 185; Anci. Monarchies, i. 2o). Probably the channel of the Euphrates was then close to the city. It was unquestionably the ancient capital of Chaldzea ; and subsequent to the rise of Babylon it retained a kind of ecclesiastical :,-4premacy as the principal seat of the national religion. It has now been desolate for long centuries. The mounds that mark the site of its great temples are bare ; the whole country around it is a dismal swamp. In regard to Ur as well as to Babylon, the words of Isaiah are true : The beauty of the Chaldees' excellency shall be as when God overthew Sodom and Gomorrah' (xiii. 19).—J. L. P.