He also acknowledges that the book of Esther
"contains many exaggerations and improbabilities, and is simply
founded upon one of those same historical tales of which the
Persian chronicles seem to have been full." Great was the
dissatisfaction of the traditionalists with their expected
champion; well might they repeat the words of Balak to Balaam,
"I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast
altogether blessed them."[[374]]
No less fruitful have been modern researches in Egypt. While, on
one hand, they have revealed a very considerable number of
geographical and archaeological facts proving the good faith of the
narratives entering into the books attributed to Moses, and have
thus made our early sacred literature all the more valuable, they
have at the same time revealed the limitations of the sacred
authors and compilers. They have brought to light facts utterly
disproving the sacred Hebrew date of creation and the main framework
of the early biblical chronology; they have shown the suggestive
correspondence between the ten antediluvian patriarchs in Genesis
and the ten early dynasties of the Egyptian gods, and have placed
by the side of these the ten antediluvian kings of Chaldean
tradition, the ten heroes of Armenia, the ten primeval kings of
Persian sacred tradition, the ten "fathers" of Hindu sacred
tradition, and multitudes of other tens, throwing much light on the
manner in which the sacred chronicles of ancient nations were
generally developed.
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