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talents of gold, 800 talents of molten silver, many rubies and sapphires, chairs of ivory, high thrones of ivory, skins of wild bulls, weapons of all kinds—a mighty treasure—and women of his palace, slaves and handmaids, he caused to be sent after me to Nineveh, my royal city, giving tribute; and he sent his envoy to make submi ion.” —EDp.] Kune i form tablets were used in Palestine as early as the 15th century B.c., and down to 649 B.c. (see Gezer); and we know that the Hebrews used tablets in writing in the same age. But we have no allusion to their having written in kune i form characters; and the earliest alphabetic text is the Moabite Stone, about 900 B.c., in a dialect very like Hebrew. In this, Yahveh appears as the tribal god of Israel. The Siloam text (about 700 B.c. according to Dr Isaac Taylor) is written in a variety of the same Phonic i an letters used by the Moabites, and in pure Hebrew. We also po e weights of about the same age, which are inscribed, and represent the Hebrew shekel of about 320 grains imperial. We have seals said to come from Jerusalem, which are equally early, bearing names compounded with that of Yahveh; and one of these has on it a winged sun. We have also many handles of pitchers, bearing the same characters in texts which dedicate them to the Melek or Moloch of various S. 236