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Nineveh and Its Remains

Sir Austen Layard, noted author of Nineveh and Its Remains, gave a speech in London in 1854 and said: “But who could have believed that records themselves should have been found which, as to the minuteness of their details, and the wonderful accuracy of their statements, should confirm almost word for word the very text of Scriptures?” Inscriptions have been uncovered that mention such Bible characters as Jehu, Menahem, Omri, and Hazael. Hezekiah is mentioned in Sennacherib’s own account of his invasion of Palestine.

The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom. March 1, 1960 p. 152

Nineveh and Its Remains 1849

The beams, as well as the sides of the chambers, may have been gilded, or even plated, with gold and silver; and the rarest woods, in which the cedar was conspicuous, were used for the woodwork. Square openings in the ceilings of the chambers admitted the light of day.”—Nineveh and Its Remains, 1856, Part II, pp. 207-209

Insight On the Scriptures-Volume II. 1988. p. 504

God next mentioned the wild bull. (Job 39:9-12) Concerning it, English archaeologist Austen Layard wrote: “The wild bull, from its frequent representation in the bas-reliefs, appears to have been considered scarcely less formidable and noble game than the lion. The king is frequently seen contending with it, and warriors pursue it both on horseback and on foot.” (Nineveh and Its Remains, 1849, Volume 2, page 326)

The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom. January 15, 2006 p. 14

The Non-Christian Cross

The book The Non-Christian Cross, by J. D. Parsons (London, 1896), adds: “There is not a single sentence in any of the numerous writings forming the New Testament, which, in the original Greek, bears even indirect evidence to the effect that the stauros used in the case of Jesus was other than an ordinary stauros; much less to the effect that it consisted, not of one piece of timber, but of two pieces nailed together in the form of a cross. . . . It is not a little misleading upon the part of our teachers to translate the word stauros as ‘cross’ when rendering the Greek documents of the Church into our native tongue, and to support that action by putting ‘cross’ in our lexicons as the meaning of stauros without carefully explaining that that was at any rate not the primary meaning of the word in the days of the Apostles, did not become its primary signification till long afterwards, and became so then, if at all, only because, despite the absence of corroborative evidence, it was for some reason or other assumed that the particular stauros upon which Jesus was executed had that particular shape.”—Pp. 23, 24; see also The Companion Bible, 1974, Appendix No. 162.

Insight On the Scriptures-Volume I. 1988. p. 1192

The book The Non-Christian Cross, by John Denham Parsons, states: “There is not a single sentence in any of the numerous writings forming the New Testament, which, in the original Greek, bears even indirect evidence to the effect that the stauros used in the case of Jesus was other than an ordinary stauros; much less to the effect that it consisted, not of one piece of timber, but of two pieces nailed together in the form of a cross. . . . it is not a little misleading upon the part of our teachers to translate the word stauros as ‘cross’ when rendering the Greek documents of the Church into our native tongue, and to support that action by putting ‘cross’ in our lexicons as the meaning of stauros without carefully explaining that that was at any rate not the primary meaning of the word in the days of the Apostles, did not become its primary signification till long afterwards, and became so then, if at all, only because, despite the absence of corroborative evidence, it was for some reason or other assumed that the particular stauros upon which Jesus was executed had that particular shape.”—London, 1896, pp. 23, 24.

Insight On the Scriptures-Volume II. 1988. p. 1116-1117

The book The Non-Christian Cross, by J. D. Parsons (London, 1896), says: “There is not a single sentence in any of the numerous writings forming the New Testament, which, in the original Greek, bears even indirect evidence to the effect that the stauros used in the case of Jesus was other than an ordinary stauros; much less to the effect that it consisted, not of one piece of timber, but of two pieces nailed together in the form of a cross. . . . It is not a little misleading upon the part of our teachers to translate the word stauros as ‘cross’ when rendering the Greek documents of the Church into our native tongue, and to support that action by putting ‘cross’ in our lexicons as the meaning of stauros without carefully explaining that that was at any rate not the primary meaning of the word in the days of the Apostles, did not become its primary signification till long afterwards, and became so then, if at all, only because, despite the absence of corroborative evidence, it was for some reason or other assumed that the particular stauros upon which Jesus was executed had that particular shape.”—Pp. 23, 24; see also The Companion Bible (London, 1885), Appendix No. 162.

Reasoning From the Scriptures. 1985, 1989 ed. p. 89

“These crosses were used as symbols of the Babylonian sun-god, [See book], and are first seen on a coin of Julius Cæsar, 100-44 B.C., and then on a coin struck by Cæsar’s heir (Augustus), 20 B.C. On the coins of Constantine the most frequent symbol is [See book]; but the same symbol is used without the surrounding circle, and with the four equal arms vertical and horizontal; and this was the symbol specially venerated as the ‘Solar Wheel’. It should be stated that Constantine was a sun-god worshipper, and would not enter the ‘Church’ till some quarter of a century after the legend of his having seen such a cross in the heavens.”—The Companion Bible, Appendix No. 162; see also The Non-Christian Cross, pp. 133-141.

Reasoning From the Scriptures. 1985, 1989 ed. p. 91

“Various figures of crosses are found everywhere on Egyptian monuments and tombs, and are considered by many authorities as symbolical either of the phallus [a representation of the male sex organ] or of coition. . . . In Egyptian tombs the crux ansata [cross with a circle or handle on top] is found side by side with the phallus.”—A Short History of Sex-Worship (London, 1940), H. Cutner, pp. 16, 17; see also The Non-Christian Cross, p. 183

Reasoning From the Scriptures. 1985, 1989 ed. p. 91

The Non-Christian Cross

The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World

Grecian Deities. An examination of the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece reveals the traces of Babylonian influence. Observed Oxford University Professor George Rawlinson: “The striking resemblance of the Chaldaean system to that of the Classical Mythology seems worthy of particular attention. This resemblance is too general, and too close in some respects, to allow of the supposition that mere accident has produced the coincidence. In the Pantheons of Greece and Rome, and in that of Chaldaea, the same general grouping is to be recognized; the same genealogical succession is not unfrequently to be traced; and in some cases even the familiar names and titles of classical divinities admit of the most curious illustration and explanation from Chaldaean sources. We can scarcely doubt but that, in some way or other, there was a communication of beliefs—a passage in very early times, from the shores of the Persian Gulf to the lands washed by the Mediterranean, of mythological notions and ideas.”—The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World, 1885, Vol. I, pp. 71, 72.

Insight On the Scriptures-Volume I. 1988. p. 978

To his worshipers Nebo was a god of wisdom and learning, “the god who possesses intelligence,” “he who hears from afar,” “he who teaches,” and “lord of the tablet stylus.”—The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World, by G. Rawlinson, 1885, Vol. I, p. 91; Ancient Near Eastern Texts, edited by J. Pritchard, 1974, p. 450.

Insight On the Scriptures-Volume II. 1988. p. 480

The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World-Volume I External Link