Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1879-11-13
THE TOMB OF JONAH.
A Highly Interesting Historical Locality.

THE TOMB OF JONAH.
4 Highly Interesting Historical Locality.
[Iondon Athenaum,
The second Assyrian expedition which
Dir. Rassam has undertaken for the Trus-
tees Of the British Museum has now ter
minated by the return of Mr.. Rassam to
England, and the results which have
been obtained will be found to be of the
most valuable character. Mr. Rassam
was IN the short space of time which
he was able to devote to the work, able
to explore more or less com pletely the
sites Of the Assyrlan cities of Nineveh,
Calab, Assur and the Babylonlan cities
Babylon. Borsippi (Birs Nimrud) and
TclyuI (Cel Hoy, as we'll as to make
slight examination of a number of small
or sites, which he passed cn route IN his
journey On the site Of Nineveh he was
able in this expedition to penetrate into
mound which had long been closed to
all explorers, the Nebby yunus, or Tomb
Of Jonah. The mound is crowned by
mosque, and the land is the
property Of a religious corporation, out
owing to his intimate acquaintance with
the people OF the village, Mr.. Rassam was
able 10 obtain leave to exca vate in the
mound Here he found remains of pal
ace erected by Sennachcrib, and possibly
extended Dy Essariladdon, his son. The
inscription OF the latter King from this
site gives him the title of King OF the
Kings Of Cush,( Ethiopia} and MUIR,
(Egypt), which proves that the edlice
was erected late in his reign, after his
conquest of Egypt, IS Cos B. G. The ex-
Tloratlon Of the two palaces on the Koun-
Ink Mouna-that is, those of Sennacherib
and Assurbadipal-has been continued.
and large number OF inscriptions OBJ
tanned. The Temple Of Vcnu$, on the
Mounds OF Nimrud, which way discover
ed during the last expelitioo, was thor
oughly cxpored and one Of 1',c seats Of
the priests brought to England. On &c
count Of the great opposition met with
IL the former explorations, no attempt
was made TO explore the Mound of Ba!a-
wat, which had proved go prolific in
1877.
4 short visit was paid to the mounds
OF klleh ohcrget, which marks the site
of the ancient City Of Assur. the metrop-
Oils Of Assyria. These vast ruins have
never yet received the thorough cxplcra-
ZION they deserve, and yet here we might
find, as Mr.. Cassam by the recovery Of
au extremely early brick legend, the ear
hest record Of the Assyrlan empire. The
in Assyria have not this
year furnished any such piece de resist
ance as the Balawat gates, but they have
produced much that is valuable tor the
study of Assyrian history and topography,
and among thousands OF inscriptions OBJ
tanned we may expect much new matter.
In this expedition Mr.. Rassam extended
his operations into the fields Of Babylonia.
and his explorations of the ruins of Ba-
by'on hasc clearly proved the rich ma
ture OF the treasures which lie under
meath its ruins. His explorations on the
Mujelibi have proved that it was from
this mound that the famous collection of
the Egibi tablets came, and the close re
!atlon of the editice where they were
'ound to the Royal palace proves beyond
ioubt u,at they were the Imperial Chan
eellors Of the Exchequer Of the Kings of
Babylon
Mr.. Rassam's excavations in the Mule
llbl Mound NavC proved that this is the
site Of the far Gus hanging gardens, for in
is ruins he found wells, acGueducts and
ponderous masses of stone, all proving
TINT the building hi ibccn erected, as the
creek writers say, % initiate mountain
The stone used was black ba-
salt which is found only IN the Armenian
Hills, and the immense masses must have
1HgfnH Gncrn tna ~ Tn Il 10 H.,
south OF the mass OF city ruins called jun
una, Nj Rassam discovered the remains
If rich halI.or ;salace with columns com
posed Of cnaDleled bricks and mosaic The
,ornices were of painted bricks. and The
cot of rich Indian black wood From the
position otthe palace or banquetting hall
would appear to have been situated on the
ute Of the state fes! Is and banGuets.
The inscriptions fou' ere prove the ed
flee to have been e. ed there bv Ne1.-
hadnezzar. and pro: bly, bcautifed by his
uccessors. The able explorer also com
nenced series Of excavations in the
mound OF Bris Nimrud-a building
which has been considered by many to
epresent the Tower of Babel In this
hound Mr.. Ranssam found the remains
several richly decorated chambers. IN
hese edifccs, both at Babylon aud tho
'lrs Nimrud, Mr.. Rassam found that thc|
lode OF decoration was by painting on
nameled bricks and plaster walls covered
18th painted designs; no traces were
'und OF the sculptured slabs
1sh as adorn the Assyrian palaces
ONE two years ago an interesting GUAM
ty OF relics were found on the site OF an
1cient Chaldean city, near the Shal-e.1
lie. Mr.. Rassam, therefore, extended
is operations so tar south as to visit this
tie. This mound is called Tel HE
ere Mr.. Rassam carried on short SCI
es Of explorations, and he discovered
number of interesting relics of the an
ent city of which this mound marks
e site, The cones and bricks from this
ere found to bearinscriptions of Gudea
| early Chaldean King.