immense mound of Abnar some twenty miles from Babylon, on the banks
of the Euphrates. This was the centre of Jewish scholarship during the
Babylonian exile. One of the great schools in which the Talmud was
composed was located here. The great psalm, "By the waters of Babylon,
we sat down and wept." was also composed on this spot, and here, too,
Jeremiah and Isaiah thundered their impassioned eloquence. Broken tombs
and a few inscribed bowls have been brought to light. Probably the
original scrolls of the Talmud will be found here. Several curiously
wrought vases and ruins have been also unearthed.

Several monuments bearing inscriptions which are sorely puzzling the
archaeologists have recently been unearthed at the site of Boghaz-Keni
which was the ancient, if not original capital, of the mysterious
people called the Hittites who have been for so long a worry to Bible
students. Archaeology has now revealed the secret of this people. There
is no doubt they were of Mongolian origin, as the monuments just
discovered represent them with slant eyes and pigtails. No one as yet
has been able to read the inscriptions. They were great warriors, great
builders and influenced the fate of many of the ancient nations.

In many other places throughout these lands, deep students of Biblical
lore are pushing on the work of excavation and daily adding to our
knowledge concerning the peoples and nations in whom posterity must
ever take a vital interest.

A short time ago, Professor Doerpfeld announced to the world that he
had discovered on the island of Ithaca, off the west coast of Greece,
the ruins of the palace of Ulysses, Homer's half-mythical hero of the
_Odyssey_. The German archaeologist has traced the different rooms
of the palace and is convinced that here is the very place to which