The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-05-11
P. O. Box 81, Blacksburg, Va.
Carohemish, the Capital of the
HittiteS.
BY W. ST. CHAD BosCAwEN.

On April Goth, 1899, Henry Maund-
rell, chaplain to the English mercantile
colony at Aleppo, in Syria, while on a
pleasure trip to the banks of the Esphrates,
pitched his tent beneath the great mound
of Kalaat Jerabhis, on the west bank of
the Euphrates, twenty miles below the
town of Biz or Biredjuk. In his care
fully compiled diary, published some
years after his death, this early traveller
in tSyria gives a very full description of
the ruins, making the great castle mound
and the traces of walls and gates, and
giving as his opinion that these ruins
must mark the site of some ancient city.
Yet nearly two centuries have elapsed
since the problem suggested by the men
ton of these ruins In Henry Maundrell's
diary met with the solution at the han Is
of explorer or arch@ologist. Had the
careful chaplain had but little explor-
ing zeal, he would have found, but few
feet below the surface, monuments which
would have. filled with establishment all
the learned men of the seventeenth CEN
fury, as they have now proved surprise
and puzzle to the psychologists of the
present day. The merit of proving these
ruins to be those of some city more an
Gent than Greco Roman frontier town
is due to Mr.. j. H Skene, the British
consul at Aleppo, who frs found there
remains OF antique sculptures.
The story of the discovery of most
ancient remains on this site is another OF
the amecootG archaeological. Sheik Busayn,
the head-man of the village of Jerabhis,
had built on the banks of the small
stream which flows down one side of the
ruins mill for the grinding of corn,
from which he derived a small income.
The mill required new millstones, so the
proprietor turned to the adjacent ruins
as the quarry from which to derive them.
Among the fragments lying but short
distance from the ruins were several
large blocks of black granite and basalt,
and, on turning one Of these, to examine
II 1T was fitted for the purpose of making
milestone, the vandal found a carved
tgure and many strange characters, evi-
IDENTIFY writing of the "cussed Giaours. q
But, hearing that Mr.. Skene was in the
neighborhood,. he sent to tell him of the
fortunate find, expecting to obtain q
handsome backsheesh The attention Of
Mr.. Skene, called to these ruins in 1874
was the means which led to Mr.. George
Smith visiting the ruins in his last expe
dltion to the East, and it was he who
first identified the ruins as those Of the
Hittite capital of Carchemish, a CITY
which for more than ten centuries wa,
one OF the most important cities in West.
ern Asia.
The site Of the city is one which shows
considerable skill in it's selection. as. both
from military and commercial point Of
view, the small headland in the bend Of
the river is admirably fitted to be the
site Of an ancient city. The enceir,te Of
the city is clearly indicated, as enclosed
within the line of~ramparts which mark
the ancient walls Of the city, and its ir-
regular shape gives us circular Of about
three thousand yards. The line is bro
ken IN three places by openings which
indicate where the ancient eatewavs
were. The heaps of debris, stones, and
columns, and fragments of cornices show