Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

PREFACE
ix
tions had he not profited by the material kindly placed at
his disposal by Mrs. Sara Y. Stevenson, Sc.
D., Curator of
the Egyptian Section of the Archaeological Museum of the
University of Pennsylvania; Miss Mary Robinson, daughter
of the late Professor Edward Robinson of New York ;
Mrs.
T. Bent and Mrs. W. Wright of London ; Mr. C. S. Fisher,
of the Babylonian Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania
; Mr. T. Grotefend of Hanover; Professor J.
Halevv
of Paris ; and Count Landberg of Munich; to all of whom
are due his cordial thanks.
It is the hope of both authors and publishers that the
present volume may help to fill a serious gap in our modern
literature by presenting in a systematic but popular form a
fascinating subject, equal in importance to the Bible student,
historian, archaeologist, and philologist. The rich material
often scattered through old editions of rare books and comparatively
inaccessible journals has been examined anew,
sifted, and treated by a number of experts in the light of
their latest researches. It was our one aim to bring the
history of the gradual exploration of those distant oriental
countries, which formed the significant scene and background
of God's dealings with Israel as a nation, more
vividly before the educated classes of Christendom. May
the time and labor devoted to the preparation of this work
contribute their small share towards arousing a deeper
interest on the part of the public in excavating more ot
those priceless treasures of the past which have played
such a conspicuous role in the interpretation of the Old
Testament writings.
Jena, December 27, 1902.
THE EDITOR.