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SACRED ANNALS:

OR,

RESEARCHES

INTO

THE HISTORY AND RELIGION OF MANKIND.

VOL. II.

THE HEBREW PEOPLE.

A

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DEDUCED FROM THE WRITINGS OF MOSES AND OTHER
INSPIRED AUTHORS;

AND ILLUSTRATED BY COPIOUS REFERENCES

TO THE ANCIENT RECORDS, TRADITIONS, AND MYTHOLOGY

OF THE HEATHEN WORLD.

BY GEORGE SMITH, F.A.S.,

MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND,
OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE, OF THE IRISH
ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, &c.

LONDON:

LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS.

MDCCCL.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY JAMES NICHOLS,

HOXTON-SQUARE.

PREFACE.

THE second part of the "SACRED ANNALS," which is now presented to the public, comprises the History and Religion of the Hebrew People, from the Origin of the Nation to the Time of Christ. In the preparation of this portion of the work, the Author has steadily kept in view the purpose which he announced in the Preface to the preceding volume; namely, to "present a complete view of the history and religion" of this nation in a decidedly religious manner. In the prosecution of this attempt he has encountered great, and, in some respects, unexpected, difficulty. To arrange and condense into a limited compass the civil and religious history of a great people during seventeen centuries, would, under any circumstances, be a work sufficiently onerous; but this has been greatly increased by numerous collateral subjects, of the most embarrassing character, with which the history of the Jews is involved. The most important questions in theology, the most recondite inquiries in ancient history, the most perplexing cases of Biblical criticism, the most difficult problems in early geography,-all obtruded themselves upon the attention of the writer; and required to be investigated, adjusted, reconciled, and wrought up into a homogeneous narrative. Beyond all the embarrassments from these sources, has been that occasioned by the irreligious and unscriptural tendency of the productions of certain authors, whose great talents, extensive learning,

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