In no land has excavation assisted history so greatly as in
Mesopotamia. In Egypt, although spade-work has widened our knowledge of
life and religion in the Nile country, most of what we know of these
subjects has been gleaned from temples and pyramids, rock-tombs and
mastabas, for the proper examination of which little or no digging
was necessary, and generally speaking it may be said that excavation
in Egypt has furnished us with a greater insight into the earlier
periods of Egyptian progress, its 'prehistoric' life. But in the
Babylonian-Assyrian region, practically every discovery has been due to
strenuous labour with pick and spade; our knowledge of Chaldea in its
hey-day has literally been dug up piece by piece.
The honour of beginning the great task of unearthing the buried cities
of Mesopotamia belongs to M. Botta, who was French consul at Mosul in
1842. Moved by the belief that many of the great sand-covered mounds
which are so conspicuous a feature of the Mesopotamian landscape
probably concealed ruins of a vanished civilization, Botta commenced to
excavate the large mound of Kouyunjik, which is situated close to the
village where he resided. But he found little to reward his labours,
and he does not seem to have gone about the business of excavation in
a very workmanlike manner. His attention was called by an intelligent
native to the mounds of Khorsabad, the site of ancient Nineveh, and
he dispatched a party of workmen to the spot. Soon his perseverance
was rewarded by the discovery of some sculptures, and recognizing
the superior importance of Khorsabad for archæological purposes, he
transferred his establishment to that village and resolved to devote
himself to a thorough investigation of the site.
Soon a well-planned sinking operation came upon one of the palace
walls, and subsequent digging was rewarded by the discovery of many
chambers and halls faced with slabs of gypsum covered with mythological
figures, battle scenes, processions, and similar subjects. He had, in
fact, unearthed a palace built at Nineveh by Sargon, King of Assyria,
who reigned 722-705 B.C., one of the finest examples of Assyrian
palatial architecture. He continued his excavations at Khorsabad until
1845, and was successful in bringing to light a temple and a grand
porch decorated by three pairs of wings, under which passed the road
from the city to the palace. Many of the fruits of his labours were
removed to Paris and deposited in the Louvre. His successor, Victor
Place, continued Botta's work at Khorsabad, and discovered a city gate
guarded by winged bulls, the backs of which supported the arch of the
entrance.
Sir Henry Layard
Meanwhile Mr, afterward Sir Henry, Layard had visited the country in
1840, and was greatly impressed by Botta's work and its results. Five
years later, through the assistance of Sir Stratford Canning, he was
enabled himself to commence excavations at Nimrûd. He soon unearthed
the remains of extensive buildings--in fact he discovered two Assyrian
palaces on the very first day of his excavations! At the outset he
had only eleven men in his employ, and being anxious to push on the
work in fear that the local Turkish governor or the approach of the
winter season would put an end to his operations, he increased his
staff to thirty men. The peasants laboured enthusiastically, but to the
excavator's disgust the Turkish authorities forbade him to proceed.
Layard, nevertheless, hoodwinked the authorities, and succeeded in
uncovering several large figures of winged bulls and lions.
[Illustration: EXCAVATIONS IN BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA. From _Guide to the
Babylonian and Assyrian Antiquities_, by permission of the Director of
the British Museum.]
Soon after this Layard spent Christmas with Sir Henry Rawlinson of the
British Museum, with whom he cemented a warm friendship, and together
they were able to overcome the unfriendliness of the Turkish officials.
Hormuzd Rassam, an intelligent native Christian, came to Layard's
assistance, and operations were once more commenced at Nimrûd. Rassam's
labours were quickly crowned by success, for he came upon a large hall
in a fine state of preservation. The serious work of excavation was
not without its humorous side, for if they chanced to unearth a carven
monster with the body of a bull and the head of a bearded man, the
native labourers threw down their tools and ran. The Turkish Governor,
too, hearing from a native source that 'Nimrod' had been found, sent a
message to the effect that "his remains should be treated with respect
and be no further disturbed."
[Illustration: The 'Black Obelisk' of Shalmaneser II.--Photo W. A.
Mansell and Co.]
Layard had now unearthed many valuable sculptures, and he resolved to
attempt their dispatch to England. Rawlinson sent a small steamer,
the _Nitocris_, to Nimrûd, but it was found impossible to ship the
massive pieces on this frail craft, and even the smaller sculptures
had perforce to be floated down the Tigris on rafts. Layard's health
was by this time in no very robust state, but a two months' mountain
holiday in Kurdistan refreshed him, and once more he recommenced his
labours at Nimrûd, heartened by the news that the British Government
had awarded a grant for the continuation of his researches. The grant,
however, was distressingly small, and its inadequacy compelled him to
limit his excavations in the most unsatisfactory way. Despite this, the
new operations were rich in results, especially those in the building
known as the 'south-west palace.' This palace, he ascertained from
bricks unearthed, had been built by Esar-haddon, King of Assyria.
Sculptures glorifying King Assur-nazir-pal (885-860 B.C.) were also
discovered at the north-west palace, some of them of a most spirited
character, representing the King in battle, crossing a river full of
turtles and fishes, or leading his army.
It was in the central building, however, that one of his most important
discoveries awaited him. This was the obelisk of Shalmaneser II
(860-825 B.C.), nearly seven feet high, and in admirable preservation.
The monarch had erected this in his palace to commemorate the leading
military events of his career. It contains twenty small bas-reliefs and
210 lines of cuneiform inscription, alluding among other things to the
receipt of the tribute of "Jehu, son of Omri."[1] This priceless relic
is one of the treasures in the keeping of the British Museum.
Layard devoted the first four months of 1847 to the exploration of
the north-west palace, and disclosed painted chambers on which were
represented hunting-scenes and various religious ceremonies, each
design separated by a conventional representation of the sacred tree.
Many of the lesser objects found here exhibited Egyptian influence.
Here he also came upon the oldest Assyrian arch ever discovered.
He had now collected a large number of important sculptures, and of
these he succeeded in sending three by raft to Basra, whence they were
later shipped to England. By the middle of May 1847 he had finished his
work at Nimrûd, and had commenced his search for the ruins of Nineveh
in the mound of Kouyunjik, near Mosul, where Botta had laboured before
him. He dug for the platform of sun-dried bricks which he knew by
experience formed the foundation of all large Assyrian edifices, and
came upon it, as he had expected, at a depth of twenty feet, shortly
afterward discovering the entrance, flanked by the inevitable winged
bulls. But the building itself had been so damaged by fire as to
present little more than crumbling heaps of lime.
Layard returned to England in June 1847, and was appointed attaché
to the Embassy at Constantinople. Meanwhile his published works had
created an extraordinary impression throughout Europe, and the pressure
of public opinion so wrought upon the Government that he was requested
to lead a second expedition to Nineveh.
Where Rawlinson Slept
Better equipped, Layard left Constantinople in August 1849 and arrived
at Kouyunjik in October. Employing about a hundred men, he set
strenuously to work, removing only as much earth as was necessary to
show the sculptured walls. Having fairly started the work at Kouyunjik,
Layard, accompanied by Rassam, returned to Nimrûd, and recommenced
work there. One morning he was inspecting the trenches when he found
Rawlinson asleep on the floor of an excavated chamber, wrapped in his
travelling cloak, "wearied out by a long and harassing night's ride."
He was on his way home to England, which he had not seen for twenty-two
years.
The rich finds in the painted palace of Sennacherib at Kouyunjik
consisted chiefly of mural paintings and bas-reliefs. Of these
Professor Hilprecht says:[2] "Hundreds of figures cover the face of the
slabs from top to bottom. We become acquainted with the peculiarities,
in type and dress, of foreign nations, and the characteristic features
and products of their lands; we are introduced into the very life
and occupations of the persons represented. The sculptor shows us
the Babylonian swamps with their jungles of tall reeds, frequented
by wild boars, and barbarous tribes skimming over the waters in
their light boats of wicker-work, exactly such as are used to-day by
the inhabitants of the same marshes; or he takes us into the high
mountains of Kurdistan, covered with trees and crowned with castles,
endeavouring even to convey the idea of a valley by reversing the trees
and mountains on one side of the stream, which is filled with fishes
and crabs and turtles. He indicates the different head-gear worn by
female musicians, or by captive women carried with their husbands
and children to Nineveh. Some wear their hair in long ringlets, some
plaited or braided, some confined in a net; others are characterized by
hoods fitting close to their heads, others by a kind of turban; Elamite
ladies with their hair in curls falling on their shoulders, bound above
the temples by a band or fillet, while those from Syria wear a high
conical head-dress, similar to that which is frequently found to-day in
those regions."
The excavation of Sennacherib's palace with its seventy rooms, halls,
and galleries was indeed one of the most striking results of Layard's
second expedition to Nineveh. But even more remarkable was the find of
Assur-bani-pal's famous royal library at Nineveh, which has already
been described. Results at Nimrûd, too, had been favourable, perhaps
the most interesting being the discovery of the tower of Calah,
regarded at first as the tomb of Sardanapalus. Now for the second time
Layard began to feel the effects of overwork and exposure, and in April
1851, accompanied by Rassam, he turned from the ruins of Nineveh "with
a heavy heart." Twenty-four years later he was to become Ambassador
at Constantinople, in which capacity he loyally assisted the zealous
Rassam, his worthy subordinate.
[Illustration: Outline of the Mounds at Nimrûd. From a drawing made on
the spot by Sir Henry Layard.]
In 1851 Rawlinson was entrusted by the British Government with the
excavations in Assyria and Babylonia. He had the invaluable assistance
of Rassam as 'chief practical excavator.' Stationing his workmen at
as many sites as possible, he unearthed the annals of Tiglath-pileser
I at Qal'at Sherqat, discovered E-zide, the temple of Nebo at Nimrûd,
and a 'stele' of Samsi-Adad IV (825-812 B.C.). At Kouyunjik he came
upon the palace of Assur-bani-pal. A beautiful bas-relief was recovered
representing Assur-bani-pal in his chariot on a hunting expedition.
The 'lion-room,' the walls of which represented a lion-hunt, was also
unearthed, and was shown to have been used both as a library and a
picture-gallery, many thousands of clay book-tablets being found
therein.
Abandoning excavation for a political appointment, Mr Rassam was
followed by William Kennet Loftus, who did good work at the ruins of
Warkâ in Babylonia. Meanwhile the French expedition under Fresnel,
Oppert, and Thomes was excavating at Babylon, coming upon the remains
of the Nebuchadrezzar period and excavating the mound of Bâbil.
George Smith
One who was to perform yeoman service for Assyriology now entered the
field. This was George Smith, whose name is so unalterably associated
with the romantic side of that science he loved so well. Writing of
himself he says: "Everyone has some bent or inclination which, if
fostered by favourable circumstances, will colour the rest of his life.
My own taste has always been for Oriental studies, and from my youth I
have taken a great interest in Eastern explorations and discoveries,
particularly in the great work in which Layard and Rawlinson were
engaged. For some years I did little or nothing, but in 1866, seeing
the unsatisfactory state of our knowledge of those parts of Assyrian
history which bore upon the history of the Bible, I felt anxious to do
something towards settling the questions involved."[3] Smith found the
Deluge tablets among the scores of fragments sent to the British Museum
by Layard and Loftus, and this and other discoveries whetted his desire
to go to Mesopotamia and unearth its treasures with his own hands. In
consequence of the wide interest taken at the time in these discoveries
the proprietors of _The Daily Telegraph_ came forward with the offer of
a thousand guineas for fresh researches at Nineveh, with the proviso
that Smith should head the expedition and supply the journal with
accounts of his discoveries. The offer was accepted, and Smith, now a
member of the staff of the British Museum, received leave of absence
for six months.
Arrived at Nimrûd, Smith settled down to excavation there, commencing
operations at the temple of Nebo; but he found little to justify his
labour, as the structure was in a ruinous condition and had latterly
been used as a granary. On each side of the entrance stood a colossal
figure of the god with crossed arms in an attitude of meditation,
and lesser images of him were found inside the ruined building.
Smith's reason for digging here was that he suspected the presence of
inscriptions which might cast light upon the reign of Tiglath-pileser
II (745 B.C.) and therefore upon Bible history. His industry was
rewarded by the discovery of the upper portion of a tablet of this
monarch, but further finds of importance were not forthcoming.
[Illustration: The Palaces of Nimrûd (Restored). From a sketch by James
Ferguson for Sir Henry Layard.]
The Palace of Nimrûd
Smith then instituted systematic excavations in the south-east palace,
and made some interesting discoveries. On examining this part of the
mound he saw a considerable tunnel in the south face, commencing on
the sloping part of the mound. This tunnel appeared to go along the
middle of a chamber, the floor having been cut through and appearing
in a line on each side of the tunnel. Further on, the tunnel reached
the wall at the end of the chamber, and the face of this had been
cleared for some little distance; then, descending below the foundation
of this wall, the passage ran for some distance into the base of the
mound. He commenced on the two sides of this cutting, and cleared away
to the level of the pavement, soon coming to the wall on each side.
The southern wall of the chamber had fallen over into the plain, as it
was here close to the edge of the platform, and the chamber commenced
with two parallel walls running north and south. The right-hand wall,
in a place near the edge where it was much broken down, showed three
steps of an ascent which had gone apparently to some upper chambers.
Further on it showed two recesses, each ornamented on both sides
with three square pilasters. The left hand showed an entrance into a
second chamber running east to west, and from this turned a third,
running parallel with the first. Altogether in this place he opened
six chambers, all of the same character, the entrances ornamented by
clusters of square pilasters and recesses in the rooms in the same
style. The walls were coloured in horizontal bands of red, green, and
yellow on plaster; and where the lower parts of the chambers were
panelled with small stone slabs, the plaster and colours were continued
over these. In one of these rooms there appeared a brick receptacle
let into the floor, and on lifting the brick which covered this Smith
found six terra-cotta winged figures, closely packed in the receptacle.
Each figure was full-faced, having a head like a lion, four wings, with
one hand across the breast, holding a basket in the other, and clothed
in a long dress to the feet. These figures were probably intended to
preserve the building against the power of evil spirits.
All the eastern and southern portions of the mound of Nimrûd had
been destroyed by being turned into a burial-place. The ruins had
been excavated after the fall of the Assyrian empire, walls had been
dug through, and chambers broken into, and the openings filled with
coffins.
Mr Smith then turned his attention to the ruins of Nineveh at Kouyunjik
and Nebbi Yunas. Layard and even the Turkish Government had both been
before him here. He commenced operations by cutting trenches at the
south-eastern corner of Assur-bani-pal's palace. But at first nothing
of great interest resulted, and he diverted operations to the palace
of Sennacherib hard by. Here he came upon a number of inscriptions
which compensated him for his labour. At length the excavations in
Assur-bani-pal's palace bore fruit, for there were unearthed the
greater portion of seventeen lines of inscription belonging to the
first column of the Deluge narrative, and fitting into the only place
where there was a serious blank in the story.
The palace of Sennacherib also steadily produced its tribute of
objects, including a small tablet of Esar-haddon, King of Assyria, some
new fragments of one of the historical cylinders of Assur-bani-pal, and
a curious fragment of the history of Sargon, King of Assyria, relating
to his expedition against Ashdod, which is mentioned in the twentieth
chapter of the Book of Isaiah. On the same fragment was also part of
the list of Median chiefs who paid tribute to Sargon.
The proprietors of _The Daily Telegraph_ considered that with the
finding of the Deluge fragment the purpose of the expedition had been
served, and that further excavation in Mesopotamia should be carried
on under national auspices. Mr Smith was therefore forced to return to
England, but not before he had discovered further a valuable syllabary,
and two portions of the sixth tablet of the Deluge story, as well as
other minor objects of interest.
About the end of 1873, however, the British Museum authorities
dispatched Mr Smith once more to Mesopotamia, where he recommenced
operations at Kouyunjik, and unearthed on this occasion an inscription
of Shalmaneser I, King of Assyria (1300 B.C.), recording that he
founded the palace of Nineveh, and alluding to his restoration of the
temple of Ishtar. Inscriptions of his son Tukulti-ninip were also
found at this place, as were dedications of Assur-nazir-pal (885 B.C.)
and Shalmaneser II (860 B.C.). Some very curious pottery, too, came
from this spot, ornamentations being laid on the clay, as in many
examples of the pottery of the Maya of Central America. At the same
time fragments of sculptured walls representing marching warriors were
brought to light, and some tablets of great importance giving the names
of six new Babylonian kings, a sixth tablet of the Deluge series, and a
bilingual tablet in fine preservation.
In the south-west palace Smith excavated at the grand entrance to see
if any records remained under the pavement, but there were none. This
part of the pavement had been broken through, and anything under it
had long ago been carried away. He sank some trenches in the grand
hall and found a fragment of inscription, and further on in the palace
several other fragments. His principal excavation was, however, carried
on over what Layard called the library chamber of this palace. Layard,
who discovered the library chamber, describes it as full of fragments
of tablets, up to a foot or more from the floor. This chamber Layard
had cleared out and he had brought its treasures to England, but
Smith thought on examining the collection at the British Museum that
not one-half of the library had been removed, and steadily adhered
to the belief that the rest of the tablets must be in the palace of
Sennacherib. On excavating he found nearly three thousand fragments of
tablets in the chambers round Layard's library chamber, and from the
position of these fragments he was led to the opinion that the library
was not originally situated in these chambers but in an upper story of
the palace, and that on the collapse of the building they fell into
the chambers below. Some of the chambers in which he found inscribed
tablets had no communication with each other, while fragments of the
same tablets were in them; and looking at this fact, and the positions
and distribution of the fragments, he was convinced that the tablets
were scattered over a wide area and resolved to excavate over an
extensive section of the palace.
"In the long gallery, which contained scenes representing the moving
of winged figures," says Smith, "I found a great number of tablets,
mostly along the floor; they included syllabaries, bilingual lists,
mythological and historical tablets. Among these tablets I discovered a
beautiful bronze Assyrian fork, having two prongs joined by ornamental
shoulder to shaft of spiral work, the shaft ending in the head of an
ass. This is a beautiful and unique specimen of Assyrian work, and
shows the advances the people had made in the refinements of life.
South of this there were numerous tablets round Layard's old library
chamber, and here I found part of a curious astrolabe, and fragments of
the history of Sargon, King of Assyria, 722 B.C. In one place, below
the level of the floor, I discovered a fine fragment of the history
of Assurbanipal, containing new and curious matter relating to his
Egyptian wars, and to the affairs of Gyges, King of Lydia. From this
part of the palace I gained also the shoulder of a colossal statue,
with an inscription of Assurbanipal. In another spot I obtained a bone
spoon, and a fragment of the tablet with the history of the seven
evil spirits. Near this I discovered a bronze style, with which I
believe the cuneiform tablets were impressed. In another part of the
excavation I found part of a monument with the representation of a
fortification. In the western part of the palace, near the edge of the
mound, I excavated and found remains of crystal and alabaster vases,
and specimens of the royal seal. Two of these are very curious; one
is a paste seal, the earliest example of its kind, and the other is
a clay impression of the seal of Sargon, King of Assyria. Near where
the principal seals were discovered I found part of a sculpture with a
good figure of a dead buffalo in a stream. Among these sculptures and
inscriptions were numerous small objects, including beads, rings, stone
seals, etc."[4]
By January 1, 1874, Smith had no less than six hundred men employed.
But he had to encounter tremendous local difficulties, especially
demands that he should pay immense sums to the proprietors of the land
which he excavated. Soon afterward, the season being unpropitious, he
returned to England. A third visit to Mesopotamia proved his last,
as he became ill and passed away at Aleppo in 1876, to the universal
regret not only of those who were privileged to have his friendship,
but to all who had perused his works and were aware of his strenuous
life and studies. From the position of a bank-note engraver he had
raised himself to that of an esteemed scholar, and his kindness of
heart and honesty of purpose, no less than his outstanding abilities,
make him one of the most gracious figures in the history of a science
to which many men of high endeavour have devoted their lives.
[Illustration: Work of the excavators in Babylon. One hundred workmen
laboured in digging this cut, which is 40 feet deep. Copyright by
Underwood and Underwood, London.]
Hormuzd Rassam
The lamented death of Smith caused the British authorities to request
Mr Hormuzd Rassam, who had retired into private life in England,
to take up the vacant post. Mr Rassam at once accepted the trust,
and started for Constantinople in November 1876. At first there was
serious trouble with the Turkish Government, but in January 1878
Rassam was enabled to commence excavations, which he carried on almost
continuously for five years. Layard, as ambassador at Constantinople,
stood him in good stead. He took much advantage of native talent,
which, if not up to the standard of European efficiency, he found in no
wise despicable. But too many excavations were being carried on at one
and the same time. Again, Rassam was prone to attempt sensational finds
rather than to keep steadily at the more solid and less showy work of
excavation. Guided by certain indications of the presence of objects
of the Shalmaneser period at Kouyunjik, he dug there once more and
succeeded in unearthing the bronze plaques which had covered the cedar
gates of a large Assyrian building at least 2500 years old, and built
by Shalmaneser II. They represented warriors and equestrian figures,
and it was found that the site on which they were discovered had been
the city of Imgur-Bel. Rassam also recovered further clay tablets from
the library of Assur-bani-pal at Kouyunjik. With his return to England
in 1882 it may be said that the Assyrian excavations of the nineteenth
century, in contradistinction to those carried out on Babylonian soil,
came to an end.
De Sarzec
With the excavations of the Frenchman de Sarzec at Tellô the second
great period of Chaldean archæological research may be said to have
commenced. Ernest de Sarzec was French Vice-consul at Basra, but by
his private efforts he succeeded in making Tellô 'the Pompeii of early
Babylonian antiquity.' The two principal mounds excavated by him are
known to Assyriologists as 'Mound A' and 'Mound B.' Digging in the
former he soon collected sufficient evidence to convince him that
he stood on a site of great antiquity. He found indeed that Mound A
consisted of a platform of unbaked bricks crowned by an edifice of
considerable size and extent. He unearthed part of a great statue,
on the shoulder of which was engraved the name of Gudea (2700 B.C.),
patesi, or ruler, of Lagash, with which city Mound A proved to be
identical, and later exposed numerous large columns of bricks of the
time of Gudea, the 'stele of vultures' erected by King E-anna-tum, and
two large terra-cotta cylinders of Gudea, each inscribed with about
2000 lines of early cuneiform writing.
On a later visit, at the end of 1880 and beginning of 1881, he further
developed excavation in Mound A, and discovered nine large dolerite
statues, fragments of precious bas-reliefs, and numerous inscriptions.
He also came upon layers of more ancient remains beneath the building
he had unearthed in Mound A.
The collection of early Babylonian sculptures regained by de Sarzec
was hailed with acclamation in Paris. An Oriental section was
instituted in the Louvre, and Léon Heuzy commenced the publication of a
monumental work, _Découvertes en Chaldée par Ernest de Sarzec_ (Paris,
1884, _seq._), which laid the foundation for a methodical treatment of
ancient Chaldean art. The subsequent excavation of de Sarzec in Tellô
and its neighbourhood carried the history of the city back to at least
4000 B.C., and a collection of more than 30,000 tablets of the time of
Gudea was gradually unearthed.
In 1886-1887 a German expedition under Dr Koldewey explored the
cemetery of El Hibba to the South of Tellô, and succeeded in throwing
much light upon the burial customs of ancient Babylonia. A second
German expedition under Dr Andrae, working at Babylon in 1889, laid
bare the palace of Nebuchadrezzar and the great processional road,
and subsequently conducted excavations at Qal'at Sherqat, the site of
Asshur.
The American Expedition of 1889
There had been keen interest in Babylonian archæology in America
almost from the inception of the series of excavations dealt with in
this sketch, and this was in all likelihood due to the popularity of
Biblical studies in the great republic of the West. The Babylonian
Exploration Fund was instituted on November 30, 1887. Excavatory
labours were commenced at Nippur in 1889, and on first beholding the
immense mass of the mounds which concealed the ruins of the temple-city
the members of the expedition were not a little disturbed. "Even at
a distance I began to realize that not twenty, not fifty years would
suffice to excavate this important site thoroughly," writes Professor
Hilprecht.[5] The ruins resembled "a picturesque mountain range" rather
than "the last impressive remains of human constructions." But the
Americans 'sat down' before the mass with the courage of their race,
resolved to probe into its innermost secrets. At first they speculated
as to the character of the buildings hidden from their view. The
director, Dr Peters, was rapidly exhausting his fund of $15,000 without
coming upon anything of value, and recognizing the necessity for the
prompt discovery of important objects if opinion at home was to be
placated, Hilprecht pointed out to him the desirability of attacking
an isolated mound which in his judgment contained the residences of
the priests and the temple library. Peters agreed to the proposal,
and almost at once an important series of tablets was discovered. The
mound seemed, indeed, inexhaustible, and most of its contents were of
a date about 2000 B.C., but there were also later tablets belonging to
the reign of Nabopolasser, Nebuchadrezzar, Nabonidus, and even Cyrus,
Cambyses, and Darius. Shortly after this the first expedition was
brought to a close.
[Illustration in text, previous page: Plan of Nineveh (Nippur) A.
Palace of Sennacherib. B. Palace of Assur-bani-pal. _By permission of
the Director of the British Museum._]
In the second expedition, also undertaken at Nippur, Dr Peters decided
to dispense with the services of Messrs Hilprecht and Field, the expert
Assyriologists who had been dispatched to advise him professionally.
Himself not an Assyriologist, he laboured at a disadvantage without
the assistance of these experts. The work of the first expedition had
concentrated at three conspicuous points--the temple, the 'tablet'
hill which had yielded such good results, and the 'Court of Columns.'
The principal objective was now the conical hill of Bint-el-Amir,
containing the zikkurat and temple of Bel. Peters regarded the temple
as having been built by a king "not far removed from Nebuchadrezzar in
time," but many of his inferences have been traversed by Hilprecht. "In
his endeavour to reach the older remains before the more recent strata
had been investigated in the least adequately, Peters broke through
the outer casing of the zikkurat, built of 'immense blocks of adobe,'
in a cavity of which he discovered a well-preserved goose egg, and
perceived that there was an older stage-tower of quite a different form
and much smaller dimensions enclosed within the other. By means of a
diagonal trench cut through its centre, he ascertained its height and
characteristic features down to the level of Ur-Gur, and came to the
conclusion (which, however, did not prove correct) that the zikkurat
of this ancient monarch was the earliest erected at Nippur. 'Wells and
similar shafts were sunk at other points of the temple,' especially
at the northern and western corners, where he reached original
constructions of Ashurbanapal (668-626 B.C.) and Ur-Gur (about 2700
B.C.), and discovered scattered bricks ... 'showing that many kings of
many ages had honoured the temple of Bel at Nippur.'"[6]
The Business Quarter of Nippur
The excavators soon concluded that they had hit upon the business
quarter of Nippur, basing their belief upon the commercial character
of the tablets found, the large number of day labels pierced for
attachment to sacks and jars, books of entry in clay, and weights
and measures. So much damage had been done to the buildings while
excavating, however that the appearance and plan of any of the
Babylonian business houses and warehouses could not be arrived at.
In August 1893 Haynes commenced a search for the original bed and
embankment of the river Chebar, which he came upon at a depth of
twenty feet from the surface. In the dried-up bed of the river or
canal he found a round terra-cotta fountain in three fragments,
decorated with birds from whose mouths the water passed.
The Fourth Campaign
The fourth campaign covered the years 1898-1900, and was under the
direct control of the University of Pennsylvania. Excavations were
commenced at the extreme south-eastern end of the west ridge. Spring
and summer were spent by Haynes in a 'nervous search' for tablets,
although a strictly scientific examination of Nippur had been asked
for. Late tablets and coffins resulted from this search; finds of old
Babylonian character were meagre. The director did not see eye to eye
with his architects, and one of them, Mr Fisher, resigned, returning,
however, in the autumn of 1899. The Committee in America requested
Haynes to confine his efforts to the exploration of the eastern half
of the temple court, and to this task he addressed himself with zeal
if only with partial success. Tablets, according to the director,
sufficient to institute "a distinct library by itself," continued to
pour out of 'Tablet Hill.' But technical and expert advice was lacking.
The architects desired to remove a Parthian round tower, Haynes
reluctantly consented, and upon its removal the gate of an ancient
temple was unearthed.
Hilprecht Returns
Professor Hilprecht now reappeared, and his coming put a new complexion
on affairs. A trained and efficient archæologist, he saw at once that
'Tablet Hill' represented the site of the temple library, so resolved
to leave its excavation to a later expedition, and meantime to settle
"the more essential topographical questions." He saw that these once
answered, "it would be a comparatively easy task for the Committee to
have the single mounds excavated one after another by somebody else, if
necessity arose, who was less familiar with the ruins and the history
of their exploration. Every trench cut henceforth--and there were a
great many--was cut for the sole purpose of excavating structures
systematically and of gathering necessary data for the history and
topography of ancient Nippur. If these trenches yielded tangible museum
results at the same time, so much the better; if they did not," he
says, "I was not troubled by their absence." However, "antiquities were
found so abundantly in the pursuit of the plan described, that the
principle was established anew that a strictly scientific method of
excavating is at the same time the most profitable."
Summarizing his 'explanations' of the ruins at Bint-el-Amir, Hilprecht
writes: "1. A stage-tower of smaller dimensions existed at Nippur
before Sargon I (about 3800 B.C.). 2. In pre-Sargonic times the ground
around the sacred enclosure was a vast graveyard, a regular fire
necropolis. 3. One of the names of the stage-tower of Nippur suggested
the idea of a tomb to the early inhabitants of the country. In the
course of time certain zikkurats were directly designated by the
Babylonians as tombs of the gods. 4. The stage-tower of Bel did not
occupy the centre of the enclosed platform, but the south-west section
of it, while the north-east part was reserved for 'the house of Bel,'
his principal sanctuary, which stood at the side of the stage-tower.
5. The temple of Bel consisted of two large courts adjoining each
other, the north-west court with the zikkurat and 'the house of
Bel' representing the most holy place or the inner court, while the
south-east (outer) court seems to have been studded with the shrines of
all the different gods and goddesses worshipped at Nippur, including
one for Bel himself. 6. Imgur-Marduk and Nimit-Marduk, mentioned in the
cuneiform inscriptions as the two walls of Nippur (dûru and Shalkhû),
cannot have surrounded the whole city. According to the results of the
excavations conducted under my own supervision, only the temple was
enclosed by a double wall, while in all probability the city itself
remained unprotected. 7. The large complex of buildings covering the
top of Bint-el-Amir has nothing to do with the ancient temple below,
but represents a huge fortified Parthian palace grouped around and upon
the remains of the stage-tower then visible."[7]
By means of careful tunnelling Hilprecht also unearthed the south-east
side of a pre-Sargonic temple-tower, but the nature of the excavation,
risking as it did a sudden collapse of soil and bricks, was too
dangerous to permit of further labours upon it.
The House of the Dead
A building-record of Assur-bani-pal was brought to light which
described the temple-tower of Nippur as E-gigunnû, 'House of the Tomb.'
Before this other titles of it had been recovered which alluded to it
as 'Mountain of the Wind,' and it was understood to have been a local
representation of the great mythological 'mountain of the world,'
Kharsag-kurkura. This was puzzling until Hilprecht found that the
tower penetrated so far into the earth as to descend to the 'city of
the dead' which, according to Babylonian belief, was directly below and
within the earth.
The Temple Library
Hilprecht now turned his attention to the temple library in 'Tablet
Hill,' with results most important for the science of Assyriology.
This building, contemporary with the time of Abram, now yielded large
quantities of ancient tablets, occurring in strata of from one to
four feet in thickness, as if they had once been disposed upon wooden
shelves.
A Babylonian Museum
An important find was made of a jar containing about twenty inscribed
objects, mostly clay tablets, which constituted a veritable small
Babylonian museum, evidently collected by a late Babylonian priest or
someone connected with the temple library. Archæology was probably
fashionable about the time of Nabonidus (556-539 B.C.), himself a
monarch of antiquarian tastes. The collector of this 'museum' had
actually taken a 'squeeze' or impression of an inscription of Sargon I
(3800 B.C.), in his time about 3340 years old, and had even placed upon
it a label stating that the object was a 'squeeze' or 'mould' of an
inscribed stone "which Nabûzêrlishir, the scribe, saw in the palace of
King Naram-Sin at Agade."
Says Hilprecht concerning this remarkable collection, "The owner,
or curator, of the little museum of Babylonian originals must have
obtained his specimens by purchase or through personal excavations
carried out in the ruined buildings of Bel's city. He doubtless lived
in the sixth century, about the time of King Nabonidos, and was a
man well versed in the ancient literature of his nation and deeply
interested in the past history of Nippur. This follows from the fact
that his vase was found in the Neo-Babylonian stratum of 'Tablet Hill,'
and from the circumstance that the latest antiquity of his collection
is dated in the government of Sin-sharishkun, the last representative
of the Assyrian dynasty (about 615 B.C.)."
In the second year of this campaign Peters contented himself with
'sounding' as many places as possible rather than settling down to the
steady work of excavation, in which preference he resembled Rassam. But
his labours were crowned with no little success, for he came upon a
large number of Kassite votive objects, the first great collection of
antiquities of this dynasty ever found, and a shrine of King Bur-Sin
I dedicated to Bel about 2600 B.C. The excavation of the large and
important building remains grouped around the temple tower of Bel
was, however, Peters' principal task during his second campaign. But
his hope of discovering many inscribed tablets while excavating these
ruins was not to be realized. He was more fortunate, however, in the
triangular mound (that known as 'Mound IV') to the south of the temple,
which yielded some 2000 tablets, scientific, literary, and financial
manuscripts, and even school exercises being turned up by the spade.
About the same time excavations in the south-eastern wing of the
large mounds disclosed the presence of thousands of tablets and many
figures of Bel and his consort Beltis. Most of the tablets here were
commercial, and of date about 2600 to 2000 B.C. In May the labours of
the second campaign came to a close.
Haynes' Work at Nippur
The third campaign (1893-1896) Peters delegated to Haynes, who
commenced operations at Nippur in the great ridge which stretches
along the southward bank of the Shatt-en-Nîl, where numerous tablets
had already been unearthed. In about four months he had collected some
8000 tablets, and when the supply of these began to fail he transferred
his attention to the temple mound which had been worked at before, and
which he continued to explore until April 1894. With the help of Joseph
A. Meyer, a young American architect, Haynes concentrated his work on
the zikkurat at Nippur. Unfortunately Meyer died in December, but not
until he had rendered priceless service to Haynes in his capacity as
advisory architect. Haynes, unable to continue the exploration of the
temple-mound without expert advice, undertook to unearth a sufficient
quantity of tablets to meet Peters' demand for inscribed material.
Later he pursued excavations at the Bint-el-Amir, where Peters had
worked before him, cleared the zikkurat of Assur-bani-pal there and
excavated the court of that building down to the water level. The
excavation of the immense façade of this great erection was a work of
enormous labour, hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of rubbish having
to be removed before a partial clearance was effected.
The excavation of the south-west court of the zikkurat of
Assur-bani-pal was the most interesting part of Haynes' work on
the temple of Bel. First he had to clear away the Parthian ruins
superimposed upon the site, until he came to the brick pavement of
Assur-bani-pal. He then came upon a pavement of the Sargonic period
which extended through a considerable part of the mound as a dividing
line. The rubbish which lay beneath this was about sixteen feet in
depth, and had been accumulated within a period of more than three
thousand years (3800-350 B.C.). The most important of the many strata
of this rubbish-heap is that which lies between the pavement of King
Ur-Ninib and that immediately below it. Over 600 fragments of vases,
statues, and slabs were gathered here, all seemingly deliberately
broken, "by somebody who lived between the reigns of Ur-Gur of Ur and
Ur-Ninib of Nisin"--perhaps the leader of an Elamite raid. The famous
text of Lugalzuggisi, King of Erech, with its 132 lines of writing, was
found here and restored by Hilprecht from sixty-four fragments.
Digging elsewhere, Haynes unearthed the oldest arch in the world at
a considerable depth, drain-pipes of the date about 4500 B.C., and
pre-Sargonic cellars containing large wine-or oil-jars. In one chamber
twenty feet below the surface were found the business archives of a
great Babylonian firm, Murashu and Sons, bankers and brokers at Nippur
(_c_. 464-424 B.C.).
[Illustration: Ruins of Babylon Uncovered after twelve years' labour
by German archæologists, who began excavating in 1900. Copyright by
Underwood and Underwood, London.]
Recent Research
Recent research in Mesopotamia has centred around the site of Babylon,
where results of a most interesting and encouraging description have
been achieved. The German Oriental Society commenced work upon the site
in the spring of 1899, and after twelve years of incessant labour under
the direction of Dr Robert Koldewey, published the report of their
labours in 1911.
The Babylon of Nebuchadrezzar II
The portion of the city laid bare in these twelve years of digging was
contemporary with the reigns of Nebuchadrezzar II and Nabonidus, the
last native King of Babylon, but certain parts of the ruins unearthed
had been built in the much more ancient era of Khammurabi, the great
law-maker, and even during the First Dynasty. The later Babylon is
known to us from the pages of Herodotus and Ctesias, and the explorers
speedily found that the accounts of these writers in nowise squared
with the actual topographical conditions of the ruins unearthed and
surveyed. Herodotus speaks of a Babylon 53 miles in circumference, and
Ctesias is not much more modest in his estimate of over 40 miles. The
city wall to the north-east side may still be traced in its entirety,
and remains to prove that the city on this side measured not more
than 2 3/4 miles, and judging from this, we obtain an approximate
circumference of 11 miles--a figure far short of the estimate of the
'Father of History.'
The Outer Wall
The walls themselves are of considerable interest. The outer wall
was nearly twenty feet in thickness, and was built of burnt bricks
impressed with the royal stamp of Nebuchadrezzar. Here and there
its length was broken by towers for outlook or defensive purposes.
Herodotus states that so broad was the top of the wall that a
four-horse chariot could easily turn upon its surface, and that two of
these vehicles had a sufficiency of room to pass one another without
risk to horses or driver. Companies of men could be moved along this
mural highway in time of siege, so that a supply of defenders could be
brought with dispatch to guard any portion of the defences that was
imminently threatened.
Bâbil as a Citadel
The mound of Bâbil, to which we have frequently referred in
this account of Babylonian excavation, was recognized by the
German expedition as a citadel built for defensive purposes by
Nebuchadrezzar--a place of refuge to which the King and court could
repair in case of the capture of the city itself. It contained the
royal stores and treasury, a large armoury and arsenal, and there is
reason to believe that the monarch resided there even in times of
peace. It was, indeed, a miniature city, a lesser Babylon, containing
everything necessary for the royal support and pleasure.
Babylon's Water-Supply
The question of a suitable water-supply agitated municipal Babylon just
as keenly as it does any of our own great centres of population, and
recent excavations have illustrated the manner in which the Euphrates
was utilized for this purpose. Nabopolasser has left inscriptions to
show how he rebuilt the walls of a channel called the Arakhtu to lead
the river Euphrates past the city boundaries. Nebuchadrezzar built
a massive fortification with walls of from fifty to sixty feet in
thickness into the bed of the Euphrates to prevent the formation of
sandbanks in the river which possibly caused the flooding of the left
bank above the temple of E-Sagila. This left a narrow channel between
the new wall and the old quay, and it is probable that this huge
construction caused a subsequent change in the course of the Euphrates.
Nebuchadrezzar's Palace
Nebuchadrezzar's palace was situated in the southern citadel on the
mound known as the Kasr. On this building he lavished both time and
treasure. When he came to the throne he found the site occupied by the
residence of his father Nabopolasser, but when he returned from his
triumphant Egyptian campaigns he despised the plain old place and, like
some modern potentates, resolved to build himself a royal edifice which
would symbolize the power and majesty of the empire he had won for
himself. He turned his father's palace into a mere platform upon which
to rear his own more flamboyant structure, and filled in its rooms,
courts, and spaces with rubble.
The Palace without Windows
For the most part the palace was built round open courts, much in the
Spanish fashion, and there is no trace of windows, a phenomenon which
constantly recurs in ancient buildings in the East, in Egypt, and in
Central America. But when we consider the extremes of heat encountered
in these latitudes we can appreciate the desire for a cool semi-gloom
which called for the windowless chamber. The flat roofs, too, were used
for sleeping purposes, so that the inhabitants did not wholly dispense
with fresh air.
The Great Throne Room
But by far the most interesting apartment in the palace is the great
Throne Room of Nebuchadrezzar, the apartment upon which he lavished so
much personal care and consideration. It stands immediately south of
the Great Court, and is much the most spacious room in the palace. In
the wall opposite the grand entrance from the court is a deep recess or
niche, where it is thought the royal throne must have stood, so that
not only the courtiers in the Throne Room but the lesser dignitaries
thronging the courtyard without could have had sight of the monarch of
the Eastern World seated in all his splendour upon his imperial throne.
Strangely enough the walls of this great apartment of state were merely
plastered with white gypsum, while the brickwork of the outer façade
which faced the court was decorated with brightly coloured enamels
displaying the most involved designs, floral and geometrical, in blue,
yellow, black, and white. Such ornamentation would probably be banned
from the Throne Room because of the high reflections from a brightly
polished enamelled surface, and as we have seen heat and light were
taboo in Babylonian interiors.
[Illustration: The Hanging Gardens of Babylon.--M. Dovaston, R.B.A.--By
permission of Messrs Hutchinson and Co.]
The Drainage System
Doors in the throne-room wall communicated with what were probably
the King's private apartments. The harem and other purely private
suites were placed further to the west, over the earlier residence of
Nabopolasser, the official portion of the palace being situated towards
the east. There was a most elaborate drainage system which not only
carried rain-water from the flat roofs but from the courts and walls as
well. The larger drains had corbel-shaped roofs, but the smaller ones
were formed of bricks set together in the shape of a 'V' and closed
in at the top with other bricks laid flat. Vertical shafts and gutters
were also in use, and these were conducted down the sides of towers and
fortifications.
The Hanging Gardens
Another structure has been indicated as perhaps the foundation of
the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon. It consists of a number of
barrel-vaulted cells, seven on each side of a central passage. These
cells are roofed over with semi-circular arches, and are flanked on
the north by the palace wall. It is known that hewn stone was employed
in the construction of this 'wonder of the world,' and only in three
other places in the palace demesne (the Sacred Road, the bridge over
the Euphrates, and the Kasr Wall) is stone employed. This points
to the identification of the site in question as being that of the
Hanging Gardens, on which layers of earth were laid and the shrubs,
trees, and arbours which decorated it planted thereon. Berossus
distinctly states that these gardens were within the buildings by which
Nebuchadrezzar enlarged his father's palace. But the dimensions of this
structure do not tally with those given by Strabo and Diodorus, and
the imagination revolts at the conception of these famous and romantic
gardens having for their foundation this obscure and prosaic cellarage.
Archæology must leave us something. By all means let us have truth and
enlightenment--unless where truth is itself uglier than falsehood! It
has been shrewdly conjectured by Professor King[8] that these cellars
formed the palace granary, and we must be grateful to him for the
suggestion.
The Great Gate of Ishtar
It was in the spring of 1902 that Dr. Koldewey made the important
discovery of the Great Gate of the goddess Ishtar which spanned the
Sacred Way of the imperial city. This turreted erection, ornamented
in relief by the figures of mythical animals in coloured brick, has
been excavated clean out of the superincumbent earth, and constitutes
a double monument to its ancient builders and to the patient
archæologists who recovered it from the sands of antiquity. It was the
main gate in the north citadel wall, and had been reconstructed by the
zealous Nebuchadrezzar. It is double (for the fortification line in
which it stood was twofold), and in front consists of two high towers
with gate-houses behind. The figures of the animals are so arranged
that to the eye of one approaching the city they would seem advancing
to meet him. At least 575 of these creatures were depicted on the
gate, the favourite subjects being bulls and dragons, beautifully and
realistically modelled in relief.
The Street of Processions
A portion of the Street of Processions upon which this gateway opened
has also been excavated. This highway was of imposing breadth, and
ran its course from north to south directly across the city. It was
a species of Via Sacra, for over its stones was carried the image of
Merodach upon his day of high festival. Its use was restricted to
foot-passengers, and no chariots or other horse-drawn vehicles were
permitted to make use of it. Its foundation is of burnt brick upon
which is overlaid an upper pavement of breccia (conglomerate rock) in
slabs.
The Temples of Babylon
Interest has naturally centred around the excavation of the five great
temples of Babylon, the ground-plans of four of which have been laid
bare. The temple of E-Makh, dedicated to the goddess Nin-Makh was the
first to be excavated. It contains one of the only two altars found in
Babylon, a structure of plain, crude brick, simple and unadorned, which
stands outside its main entrance. As the only other example in the city
occupies an exactly similar position, we must conclude that custom or
ritual dictated an exterior site for the sacrificial altar. The temple
of Nin-Makh was a simple shrine of mere mud-brick, decorated with black
and white designs superimposed upon a scanty coating of whitewash.
Nin-Makh (the great lady) was one of the titles of Ishtar. The temple
appears to have been built round a large court, and to have been
entered by a gateway flanked by a series of square, solid towers, three
on either side. There is a long, narrow passage behind the shrine,
which probably gave access to a concealed opening in the back wall of
the temple behind the image of the goddess, who could thus have been
made to give forth oracular utterances. In the courtyard was a well
from which water was drawn for the purpose of performing lustral rites.
We are ignorant of the precise form of the upper part of Babylonian
temples (apart from the _zikkurats_ or towers), as only the lower
portions of their walls in most cases remain to us. But from certain
plaques and seals on which temples are represented we can glean that
they were probably turreted or castellated in front and perhaps at
the sides as well, and that the entrance was arched, the frontage
presenting a picture not very unlike that of a heavily constructed
castle of the Norman epoch. Indeed one unidentified temple bears
resemblance to a prison, so forbidding is it in its almost unbroken
line of turret and retaining wall. We must remember, however, that
colour lent embellishment to these buildings, the otherwise heavy
façades of which would have been dreary indeed.
E-Sagila
The temple of E-Sagila, which was dedicated to Merodach, patron deity
of Babylon, is of course by far the most important within the city
bounds. It has not been wholly excavated from the mound of Tell Amran,
but the main western portion of it has been brought to light, and has
been shown, like other Babylonian shrines, to have consisted of a
series of chambers built round an open court. In the centre of each
side was an open gateway where once stood the famous eight bronze
serpents, two to each entrance. The especial shrine of Merodach,
which has not yet been unearthed, lay on the western side, and had a
towered entrance and decorated façade which Nebuchadrezzar stated he
caused 'to shine like the sun.' He coated the walls of the shrine with
gold and roofed it with the choicest cedars from Lebanon, 'the noble
forest.' Here, says Herodotus, the mighty figure of the god rested,
which, with the throne, dais, and table before it was fashioned of pure
gold, of 800 talents in weight. To the north of Merodach's temple rose
its _zikkurat_ or tower. So far excavation upon it has in a measure
disproved the account of Herodotus that it consisted of a stepped
tower in eight stages with the ascent to the summit encircling the
outside. The first stage, now uncovered, has a triple stairway built
against one side of the tower, but we shall never know what the upper
stories were like, for they have long since crumbled into desert dust.
Dr. Koldewey considers that the great tower was built in one stage,
decorated with coloured bands, and surmounted by a shrine.
The Great Tower of Nabu (E-Zida)
The foundations of the great tower of Nabu at Borsippa, a suburb of
Babylon, still awaits excavation, but as it stands it rises to a
height of over 100 feet above the desert. The clearing of its base
will necessitate a colossal amount of labour, but when effected, our
knowledge of these temple-towers will be considerably enhanced.
The Euphrates Bridge
The bridge over the river Euphrates is worthy of mention, since it
represents the oldest bridge known to the science of archæology. It
possessed stone piers, built in the shape of boats, thus showing that
it had been evolved from an earlier bridge of boats. The bows of these
piers point up-stream, and thus break the force of the current. The
river at the point where it was crossed by the bridge was at least
sixty feet broad, and the passage-way of wood was laid across the
boat-piers, and must have been rather narrow. The structure was the
work of Nabopolasser.
The Elder Babylon
During the first years of their labours the excavators were under the
impression that the destruction of the older portions of the city by
Sennacherib had been so complete that but few of its remains were to
be looked for in the course of excavation. But as time progressed it
was found that the relics of the older quarters lay mostly beneath the
present water-level. In the Menkes Mound a quarter of the ancient city
has been unearthed at a depth of some thirty feet, and the outline of
its streets clearly shown. Still lower were found houses dating from
the period of Merodach-baladan I (1201-1189 B.C.) and Meli-shipok II
(1216-1202 B.C.). A thick layer of ashes showed that a still earlier
portion of the city had been destroyed by fire, and this archaic
quarter has been identified as the city of Khammurabi, the princely
law-maker (2123-2081 B.C.), and his immediate successors, according
to dated tablets found among the burnt debris--mute witnesses of the
disaster which overtook Babylon's First Dynasty.
Town-Planning
It is noticeable that the later streets follow closely the trend and
plan of the older thoroughfares, which, generally speaking, ran north
and south, parallel to the course of the Sacred Way. Professor King[9]
gives it as his opinion that here we have a deliberate attempt at
town-planning on a scientific basis! He credits this to the Semitic
element in the population, as in Sumerian towns there is no trace of
town-planning. And yet Babylon was strangely conservative. As she
commenced, so she continued, and her early efforts were only superseded
in magnitude, not in quality of purpose.
[1] But _cf._ 1 Kings xix 16, _ff_.; 2 Kings ix and x.
[2] _Explorations in Bible Lands_ (T. and T. Clark, 1903).
[3] _Assyrian Discoveries_, p. 9 (London, 1875).
[4] _Assyrian Discoveries_, p. 148 (London, 1875).
[5] _Explorations in Bible Lands_ (T. and T. Clark, 1903).
[6] Hilprecht, _Explorations in Bible Lands_, p. 232 (T. and T. Clark,
1903).
[7] _Explorations in Bible Lands_ (T. and T. Clark, 1903).
[8] _History of Babylon_, p. 50 (1915).
[9] _History of Babylon_, p. 85.