Page:An Essay on the Age and Antiquity of the Book of Nabathaean Agriculture.djvu/91

Rh Assyria, in the same way that the Cyrimensores Latini, recently published for the first time, have preserved to us usages and rites, which can only be explained by reference to the Brahmanas of India; and which belong, therefore, to the most ancient periods of the Arian race. The question now under discussion is a question of literary history; such questions, it is well known, are quite apart from historical criticism. In confining the problem, within these limits, I venture to believe that the proofs adduced above are conclusive. Peculiarities which mark a modern age, are found in the very heart of “The Book of Nabathæan Agriculture;” the theories of the book, taken altogether, are those of the Hellenic period; the authors cited by Kúthámí, themselves quote the Greeks; the point to which the book carries us, is that of the Sabiasm of the first centuries of our era. Before drawing this statement to a close, however, I ought, 1st, to endeavour to account for some