Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1881-10-13

light any very important remains. only
number OF inscribed bricks of the
time Of Nebuchadnezzar. and no in
formation was afforded as to the site
represented by the ruins But if the
mounds OF Deyr were drawn blank. n
more fruitful spot was awaiting the
touch of the explorers wand to burst
forth into a rich harvest of discoveries.
While working at Deyr Mr.. Rassam
paid a visit to the mounds called by the
Arabs Tell Abu Hubba. where his test
trenches soon rewarded him for the dis
appointment of Deyr. The mounds Of
Abu Hubba are very extensive, cover
ing an area over two miles in circum-
ference, and the position of the walls
and citadel are clearly marked by
mounds and embankments of debris.
Like most Babylonian edifces, the
buildings at Abu Hubba are built with
the angles to the cardinal points
The citadel occupies the southern
portion of the euceinte, and its highest
point was on the southwest face, which
was once on the banks OF broad canal
or q branch of the Euphrates. the bed
of which Is now represented by
the dry channel of the Ruthwaniyeh
Canal In the interior OF the ediiice
an interesting pair of rooms were
discovered and cleared of debris
by the fortunate explorer. and it
is from records found in these cham
bers that we have been able to ascertain
the name of the city and the nature of
the edifice whose ruins are buried be-
meath the mounds of Abu Hubba. In
excavating trench following wall in
the central portion of the mound, a
doorway was found leading into large
gallery or chamber one hundred feet in
length and about thirty-five feet in
width. In this chamber were the re-
mains of large brick altar nearly thirty
feet square. and evidently the great
sacrificial altar of the temple. In the
wall of this chamber a door was found
leading into smaller room, which, from
its construction and position. Mr.. Ras-
sam considered to be the record cham
Der of the edifice. In his explorations
at Ballawat, which we fully described
some time since, Mr.. Rassam found the
memorial records of the builder of the
great temple of the Assyrian war god
placed in stone cist and buried near
the altar. The scarcity of stone in
Babylonia caused the builders OF the
temples at Abu Hubba to inclose the
records in a cist made OF terra Gotta,
and to bury this beneath the floor Of the
chamber. The shaft sunk by the ex.
cavators employed by Mr.. Rassam
brought these precious records to light,
and from them we are able to ascertain
the name of the city and temple whose
ruins have been discovered. The first
three lines OF the largest of the founda.
ton records brings our speculative
thoughts to focus and center oul
minds on the traditions of one of the
most ancient cities of Chaldea: Ito the
Sun-god. the great lord. dwelling in
Bit-Parra. which is within the city oil
Sippara." Here, then. we have re
stored to us the ruins anu records of 8
city whose traditions 60 back to the
days before the food, when pious Xis
uthrus. by order OF his God. "buried
in the city Of Sippara of the Sun the
history of the beginning. progress. and
the end of all things antediluvian
And now we recover, twenty-seven cen
turtles after they were buried, the rec
ords of the pious restorers of this an
cient temple. Such discovery as thi'
almost makes US inclined to dig on il
hopes OF finding the most ancient rec
ords buried there by the Chaldear
Noah.
There are many points of histor,
raised by this inscription. but it will
suffice to say that from the earliest day
of Babylonian history the city of "Sip
para Of the SUM- was prominent cen
ter Of social and religious life. The ex
cavations, therefore. at Abu Hubbs
have restored to us the ruins of the
great temple of the sun-god. "the
House of Light" in the Chaldean He'll
op0lis. The monument reveals to u:
the fact that there was a second city o.