Would
that I might make thee love books more than thy mother.
Would that I might bring
their beauty before thy face. Verily it is greater
than [that of] any office.
[From
Papyrus Sallier II. Dr. Ludlow S. Bull writes: "The Papyrus was actually
written down in the XIX Dynasty, about 1300 B.C., but the work itself,
which is in praise of schools and education, is shown by internal evidence
to belong to the Middle Kingdom, the best literary period. In transcribing
the text from the hieratic I made certain changes to bring the inscription
into accord with monumental hieroglyphic writing."]
Assyrian.
The wisdom of the god Ea. the science of priesthood, the lore of the wise,
that which is suitable for the contentment of the heart of the great gods,
upon tablets in accordance with the documentary copies of Assyria and Akkad
[Babylonia] I wrote, condensed, revised, and placed in the library of Ezida,
the temple of the god Nabû, which is in the midst of Nineveh, my
lord. Forever may the god Nabû, the king of heaven and earth, look
with joy upon that library and upon Ashurbanipal, the chief, the venerator
of thy divinity, grant daily favor! Decree his [continuance of] life! [So]
shall I exalt thy great divinity!
[Part of a cuneiform inscription
from the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. Selected by Professor Dougherty.]
Hebrew.
Lord, thou hast been our
dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains
were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the
earth and the world: even from everlasting to everlasting thou art
God.
Thou turnest man to destruction:
and sayest, Return ye children of men.
For a thousand years
in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past:
and as a watch in the night.
Thou carriest them away
as with a flood, they are as a sleep: in the
morning they are like grass which groweth up.
In the morning it flourisheth,
and groweth up: in the evening it is cut
down, and withereth.
