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

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EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS
The material treated by the two German scholars Gesenius
and Rodiger having been increased bv Arnaud's fiftysix
numbers and in 1863 by fourteen inscribed stones and
twenty-eight bronze tablets from 'Amran acquired by the
British Museum, even before the publication of Halevy's
686 new inscriptions, the decipherment of the South Arabian
inscriptions — except in a few minor points — was actually
completed by Osiander, 1
whose interpretation of the British
Museum texts just mentioned appeared in 1865, 2 a year
after his death, while his resume of all the results hitherto
obtained was published in 1866. 3
The historv of Sabean philology from 1866 to
1892 can
best be followed in connection with the full bibliographical
summary in Hommel's "South Arabian Chrestomathv." 4
The most distinguished names in it are those of the scholars
Joseph Halevv, Franz Praetorius, T. H. Mordtmann,
D. H. Muller, and Eduard Glaser. As showing the progress
of epigraphical research in the last decade, we must
refer also to Part IV 5 of the Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum^
edited bv Hartw. Derenbourg and published bv the
Paris Academy, to Hommel's above-mentioned " South
Arabian Chrestomathy," and to several publications by
Mordtmann, Hommel, Hugo Winckler, and especially
Glaser.
Most important are the religious features presented to us
in the South Arabian inscriptions, which since the time of
1
Died March 21, 1864, as minister (diaconus) at Goeppingen.
2
In Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenldndischen Gesellschaft, vol. xix., pp.
159-293, with 35 lithographic plates, under the title Zur himjarischen
Alter thumskunde, I.
3
In the same journal, vol. xx., 1866, pp. 205-287 : Zur himjarischen
Alter thumskunde, II., a. Writing and Language of the Inscriptions, h. Historical
and Archaeological Significance of the Same.
4
Sudarabische Chrestomathie ( Grammar, Bibliography, Minean Inscriptions
with Glossary), Munich, 1893.
5
Published in three sections, 1889, 1892, and 1899.