Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1879-11-09
THE TOMB OF JONAH.
A Highly Interesting Historical Locality.
London Athenfeum.l

A Highly Interesting Historical Locality.
London Athenaum.1
The second Assyrian expedition which
Mr.. Rass4m 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 completely the
sites Of the Assyrlan cities Of Nincveh,
Cui.h, Assur and the Babylonian cities
Babylon, Borsippl (Birs Nimrud) and
Telgul Gel Ho), us well as to make a
slight examination Of a number OF small
car sites, which he passed en- route IN his
journey. On the site Of Mineveh he was
able in this expedition to penetrate into
amound which had long been closed to
all explorers, the Nebby Yunus, or Tomb
Of Jonah. The mound is crowned by a
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 to obtain leave to excavate in the
mound. Here he found remains of pal
ace erected by Sennacherib, and possibly
extended by Essarhaddon, his son. The
inscription OF the latter King from this
site gives him the title Of King OF the
Kings Of Cush, (Ethiopia) and Muzri
(Egypt), which proves that the edlfce
was erected late in his reign, after his
conquest of Egypt, IS 66S B. C. The ex-
ploration of the two palaces on the Koun-
Tx Mounl-thatis, those of Sennacherib
and Assurbadipal-has been continued,
and a large number of inscriptions OBJ
tanned. The Temple of Venus, on the
Mounds OF Nimrud, which was discover
ed during the last expedition, was thor
oughly explored; and one OF the seats of
the priests brought to England. On &C.
count of the great opposition met with
la the former explorations, no attempt
was made to explore the Mound of Bala-
wat, which had proved so prolific in
1877.
A short visit was paid to the mounds
of Kilch Sherget, which marks the site
Of the ancient City Of Assur, the metrop-
oils Of Assyria. These vast ruins have
never yet received tile thorough cxplora-
ton they deserve, and yet here we might
find, as Mr. Cassam by the recovery of
an extremely early brick legend, the ear
LEST record OF the Assyrlan empire The
explorations 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-
Sylon have clearly proved the rich ma
.ure of the treasures which lie under
neath its ruins. HIS explorations on the
Aujelibi hsve proved that it was from
this mound that the famous collection of
the Egibl tablets came, and the close re-
iation OF the editice where they were
found to the Royal palace proves beyond
doubt that they were the Imperial Chan
eellors Of the Exchequer Of the Kings Of
Babylon.
Mr.. Rassam's excavations in the Mule
hlbi Mound oavu proved that this is the
site OF the fan GUS hanging gardens, for in
IT'S RUNS he found wells, acqueducts and
ponderous masses Of stone, all proving
that the building ha lbeen erected, as the
Greek writers say, % initiate mountain
scenery. The stone used was black ba
salt which IS found only in the Armenian
Hills, and the immense masses must have
t1oated down the river. In mound to the
south of the mass OF city ruins called jun
juma, Mr.. Russian discovered the remains
OF rich hallsOr palace with columns com,
posed OF enameled bricks and mosaic, The
cornlccs were Of painted bricks, and the
rsof OF rich Indian black wood. From the
position of the palace or banquetting hall il
would appear to have been situated on the
site Of the state festivals and banouets
The inscriptions found there prove the ed
ltice to have been erected there by Nebu
chadaczzar. and probably beautitied by hls
successors. The able explorer also com
menced series of excavations in the
mound OF Bris Nimrud-a building
which has been considered by many t
represent the Tower of Babel. In this
mound Mr.. Ranssam found the remains
Of several richly decorated chambers. II
these edifces, both at Babylon and the
Birs Nimrud, Mr.. Rassam found that the
mode OF decoration was by painting or
enameled bricks and plaster walls covered
with painted designs; no traces were
found of the sculptured slabs
such as adorn the .Assyrian palaces
Some two years ago an interesting guam.
tlty OF relics were found on the site OF an
ancient Chaldean city, near the Shal-el
HE. Mr.. Rassam, therefore, extended
his operations so tar south as to visit this
site. This mound is called Tel HE
Here Mr.. Rassam carried on short Sc.
ries of explorations, and he discovered
number of interesting relics of the an.
sient city of which this mound marks
the site, The cones and bricks from this
were found to bear inscriptions of Gudea
an eaIly Chaldean King.