GREEK AND ROMAN SECTION.--

The temple of Diana.

Julius Caesar, Emperors Augustus, Tiberius, Nero, Titus.

Entrance Hall.--Greek inscription from Thessalonica, and inscription from

Herod's Temple ­ ""the middle wall of partition" of Eph. 2:

There are many objects of interest which have not been indicated in this outline, and

no notes have been offered on those included. We intend, however, to take up each

section separately, giving fuller notes than was possible in this general survey.

In our last issue we gave an outline of subjects of biblical interest which are to be

found in The British Museum.  We propose to consider some of these wonderful

witnesses, and trust that when the series is complete it will constitute a real help to all

who believe and love the Word of God.

The MSS. which are of the most importance to us are:

Hebrew Manuscript of Pentateuch.--This fine specimen is probably the oldest

Hebrew MS. of any substantial part of the Old Testament now in existence, having been

written in the ninth century. It will be noticed that there are three columns of large

writing (which is the text itself), and that in the margins are words written in smaller

characters. This smaller writing is a part of what is known as "The Massorah."

A word or two concerning the Massorah may be of service to the reader. The earliest

direct evidence as to the text of the Hebrew Scriptures is found in the TARGUMS, or

paraphrases of Scripture into the Aramaic dialect. Another source of literary criticism is

found in the TALMUD. The Talmud differs from the Targums in that while the Targums

simply paraphrased the Hebrew text, the Talmud explained and commented upon it. The

period of the Talmudists extends from A.D. 270-500.  Following these came the

MASSORETES. The work of the Massoretes was to sift out from the accumulated mass

of tradition and exposition written in the Talmud all that pertained to the Hebrew text.

They practically edited the Old Testament. To the Massoretes we owe the present system

of vowel pointing and accentuation. They tabulated the number of occurrences of every

letter and word. It is interesting to note that "M" occurs 77,778 times. They enumerated

the verses which contain the whole, or nearly the whole alphabet. They were scrupulous

to the degree of superstition relative to the literary purity of the text. Nothing was altered

by them, but when they found evidence for what appeared to be a superior reading, they