The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 13, 1898, Page 18

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1898. OLDEST RECORDS FOUND OF HOMAN BEINGS Scholars Seeking Civilization’s Dawn in the Ruins of Babylonia. - Remarkable Discoveries Recently Made by the Assyriologists of Two Continents. cuneiform scripts by which history.can by the scholars of two hundred and torso of an inscribed statue, hundreds now be written backward three thou- fifty years ago, who were as wise in the of vase fragments, ruins of what was sand years beyond the days of Sargon. matter as the excavations and tradi- an old fountain in terra cotta bas re- The cuneiform scripts of Sargon and tions of their period permitted. lief, water cocks, drain tiles, fifty clay his son and those of Nebuchadnezzar The work has been done under the coffins and burial urns—these were are after all not very dissimilar, while greatest of difficulties. The famous among the other finds. The - texts found deep down below the Bnglish explorer Sir Henry Layard re- savants of Europe and Amer- le of Bel (Baal) are to those of the tired discouraged from the great mound ica agree that by the great n period as is the writing of a of Nippur, where the American expedi- results obtained, the studies of ancient child to that of a man. The French tion has toiled for several years, in the history, palecgraphy and philology pedition, which has been at work far- campaign previous to the present for have been badly upset and a universal ther south, confirms these general re- thirty-four months continuou often revision is held to be necessary. sults and places the age of, the world, in heat of 120 degrees In the shade, The vast ruins of the Temple of Bel tion, from seven thousand t» With sand storms and biting insects as are situated near the empty bed of the in civil ten thousand years before Christ. Thus almost constant terror: _and with Shatt-en-Nil, which divided Nippur Sargon 1, instead of representing the treacherous Arabs, very willing to rob into two parts. Out of the midst of dawn of o ation, can stand for lit- and kill, as frequent companions. The the ruins there arises a conical mound, e = the middle chapter of the first American expedition left the Uni- whose top is about one hundred feet hrist. The whole effect of Versity of Pennsylvania in 1885. Since above the level of the surrounding NORTHWESTERN FACADE OF THE FAMOUS TEMPLE TOWER. that time about $100,000 has been ex- ING SARGON I[—NIPPUR h v confirmatory of the hees BRICK OF K " No conflict can result between Pended, contributed by a few citizens is ab hast three years te , from benea new B. C. 7000 and the Biblical B, ©f Philadelphia. The work nfl thfe 1{1;;1 F’lx'mn‘f ’l;hwlm;s-s(“«-f :l&s\ n‘mu?d 1515;17::1: tio his city, many the ) 4. This cal da va expedition covered the period of 1888- i1 eet above the surrounding debris. fouminnane B e . 4004 This Biblical date was fixed Y e i 0¢ Dr’ JORR.B. In this mound are the ruins of the great Temple of Bel. To the care of tor; W. Herman v. Hil- Peters, dir yriologist, and J. H. Haynes, precht, £ excavator. The laborers, 200 Arabs, were fur- nished by the Turkish Government, which has always, through Dr. Hil- precht, been a party to the work. Tur- key has had its reward as the excava- tions have progressed in the increase of its store of obj of antiquity. The second exy n, entering the field later, in 1889, resumed the work with 400 Arabs, securing some 8000 tab- lets, several stamps in ter cotta, hun- dreds of v bearing i riptions, and many bowls and other antiquiti It w from this expedition t the sensational results. For thre the members of the e dition worked, pursuing their purpose bheneath the burning sun for nearly three years without cessation, inspired by the ever opening, ever widening discoveries re- vealed to them as they delved down deep beneath the temple of Bel. There was made a thorough examination of the lower strata of the temple as de- scribed by Dj r mental work, ‘The Babylonian Expedi- tion of the Univ Pennsyl- vania.” Three sections were excavated down to the water level of the old de- parted river Shatt-en-Nil. A tematic study of Babylonian drainage .was made and the two incient arches of Babylonia were unearthed by Mr. this temple the kings of Babylonia ap- plied themselves as to a religion. Shrines were added, its beauties were enhanced, and there is every evidence that the sanitary arrangements wera good and that they were not allowed to fall into bad condition. At the time of Ur-Gur, B. C. 2800, the ziggurat, or temple tower, stood on the northwestern edge of an immense plat- form which formed the pavement of the whole temple inclosure. This platform was made entirely of sun-dried bricks, not inscribed, identical®with the mass of crude bricks forming the body of the temple tower. Below the platform of Ur-Gur was another pavement, consi ing of two courses of burned br These were fifty centimeters square and eight centimeters thick. Most of them were stamped. Dr. Hilprecht believes that the inscriptions on these bricks and on some door sockets establish the identity of Shargani-Sharali with Sar- gon I, and states that this second plat- torm was apparently laid by Sargon and relaid by his son, Naram-Sin. Another striking illustration of the activity of Naram-Sin was found in the ruins of the outer wall of the city. The foundation of this wall was placed on solid clay, two-thirds of a meter be- low the water line of the river, or five meters below the plane of the desert. This foundation was built of worked clay with cut straw, and was raised to present vy engaged th the hope and and the to come. ing this ht of the pedition, d by of Pennsylvania e al idea of the re- worse than the pr to the layman hundred Haynes. Structures built by Naram and before Sin and pre-Sargc buildings and a height of five and a half meters. The A vases were found. Four hundred tombs top of the foundation was thirteen and arious periods and forms were ex- three-quarters meters wide, and upon s justifiable to assume, a great wall was raised to some unknown height. The ruins of this wall, were there nothing else, would establish the leading position of Nippur in the world during that' eity’s existéence. —— e ———— contents saved. nd cuneiform tablets . tablets s plainly written to are the text books of our collieges and universities to their students to-day. Many fragments were also found, cavated and t Twenty-one thou were found and containing history that th and the > Univ sylva ce establishe ed the “Seen my.boy Tommy anywhere, among them contracts dated in the 4 Mrs. Rook?"” reign of Dungi, son of Ur-Gur, of many BELOW THE PLATFORM OF KING SARGON, “Well, no, I hain’t seen ’fm, but Cassite kings hitherto unknown, of Da- Showing a wall around a Shrine and an open drain, near the mouth there's a fight at the other end of the Artaxerxes Mnemon. The of which a Keystone Arch, 5000 B. C., was found. street. SOUTHEASTERN CORNER OF THE TEMPLE TOWER OF UR-GUR. rius and o VALENTINES SHOWING WHAT TWO .BIG NATIONS THINK OF ONE ANOTHER Uncle Sam to “J. Bull, Esq.” John Bull to “U. Sam, Esq.” SOME SOME OF OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE . ; : 5 5 3 i 3 . z BROTHER JONATHAN : —“AFTER WEVE D ok ‘ o o b fhas FOR You A:1D GOT CUBA WELL BAvERT s i : ; ) : i TURNAT JOHN BULL AND JAMAICA - THE PERTINENT \‘ , €9/ 2 p 4 g 1 e (R ¢ e /.| PERTINENT THINGS ABOUT ABOUT AMERICA A . " \ 14 SENATORIAL CANDIDATE Ve (L AWE { ; THAT IS NEVER BEATEN 1 G2 ; 7 » ENGLAND AND THE ENGLISH AMERICANS THAT THAT : \ “ WELL, JONATHAN, DINGLEY: Z - ] CARICA- X Ho S TARIFF WORKING OUT E g \ ALL RIGHT, EH 2" / - CARICA- IN AMERICAN ENGLISH A4 PAPERS, PAFERS.