The Red Cloud chief., 1881-11-24

the stage tower. From this site Nj.
kassam has brought some fragments
from the great mass OF vitrifed brick.
which has 70 long been a puzzle 10
travellers. and il is 20 be hoped that
some student OF science may explain
the cause o. this vitrifacfion. Fabylon
may claim to be the mother Of Ninevah
and the cities OF Assvria. ret among
the cities of its own land there are
those which could La claim TO FAR more
ancient traditions. and even To being
the ancestors of Babylon Itself. Al
students of history and antiquity viii
welcome the discovery male b. SIR.
Rassam Of the sites OF two Of these an
Gent cities. whose records ant trati-
tons carry us far back 10 the days
when. perciance. Rabyion was yet "a
little village" While in the neigh
borhood OF Raydsd. SIR. Rasszm
heard from the. Arabs OF
some ruins on the bank OF \ halliday
canal, called by the Arabs Yusufieh.
where plenty of written stones were
TO be found" The mounds 10 which
his attentions was directed were called
Deyr. and were situated on the north
bank of the canal about thirty miles
southwest Of Bagdad. Tine test trenches
cut in the mounds did not bring 4
light any very important remains. only
a number Of inscribed bricas of the
time Of Nebuchadnezzar. and no in
formation was afforded as to the site
re presented by the ruins. But IL the
mounds of Deyr were drawn blank. a
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.. Rassan
paid a visit TO the mounds called by the
Arabs Tell Abu Hubba. where his test
trenches Dol 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 AMI 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 eDceinte, aud its highest
point was on the southwest face. which
was once on the banks of a broad cana.
VI ~ bIdINI Va Int IsI Jill httS. tut ptu
of which is now represented bv
the dry channel OF the Ruthwaniyeh
Canal. In the interior of the eiii!ce
an interesting pair of rooms were
discovered and cleared Of debris
b. the fortunate explorer. and il
is from records found in these cham
bers that we nave been able TO ascertain
the name of the city and the nature OF
the ediiice whose ruins are bured be.
meath the mounds of Abu Hubba. In
~excavating a trench following a wall in
the central portion OF the mound, n
doorway was found leading into a large
gallery or chamber one hundred feet in
length and about thirty-tive feet in
width. In this chamber were the re-
mains OF a large brick altar nearly thirty
feet square. and evidently the great
sacriiicial altar of the temple. In the
wall OF this chamber q door was found
leading into a smaller room. which, from
its construction and position. Mr.. Ras.
sam considered 10 be the record cham
Der of the ediiice. In his explorations
at Ballawat, which We fully described
some time since, Mr.. Rassam found the
memorial records of the builder of the
gitdl LtIiDNC vi Auc hSSN tldu wal you
placed in q 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 n 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 90 light,
and from them We are abe to ascertain
the name Of the city and temple whose
ruins have been discovered. Tn. first
three lines of the largest of the founda-
ton records brings our speculative
thoughts TO a focus and center our
minds on the traditions of one of the
most ancient cities of Chaldea: 40 the
Sun-god. the great lord. dwelling in
Bit-Parra. which is within the city of
Sippara." Here, then, we have re-
stored to us the ruins and records OF a
city whose traditions 90 back to the
DAVIS before the flood. 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
Client temple. Such a discovery as this
almost makes US inclined to dig on in
hopes OF finding the most ancient rec
ords buried there by the Chaldean
Noah.
There are many points of history
raised by this inscription. but it will
suffice to say that from the earliest days
of Babylonian history the city of "Sip-
para of the Sun was a prominent cen
ter of social and re ,igious life. The ex-
cavations, therefore. at Abu Hubba
have restored to us the ruins of the
great temple of the sun-god, 1.-the
House of Light in the Chaldean He'll
opolis. The monument reveals t o Us
the TACT that there was a second city Of
Sppara, whose ruins are probably
marked by the mounds of Deyr. and
which was dedicated to the goddess
Anat or Anunit. and the two cities of
Sippara may be identified with the
cities OF S~epharvhim, mentioned by the
Hebrew writers of the Second Book Of
Kings. This discovery is greatly en-
HANGED by the further discoveries made
by Mr.. Rassam in another grave mound
of Chaldea. The excavations which the
explorer made in the mounds of Hubl
~lbraheen, some ter miles east of Baby
Ion. have restored records which prove
that teneath these ruins were the re-
mains of the temples and palaces of the
CITY of Cutha. one of the great theolog-
ical centers of Babylonia- In the south
ern portion of the larger of the two
mounds at Hubl Ibraheem. Mr.. Ras-
sam found extensive remains of build
ings, chambers and corridors. and
the inscribed bricks AMI tablets recov-
cred point to these ediiices as being the
remains of the great Temple of Nergal
and his consort Laz, which was re-
stored by the great temple builder.
Nebuchadnezzar. To the Biblical
scholar the discoveries of these cities,
Sepharvaim and Cutha. is a great gain.
for from them were brought the men of
Sepharvaim and the men of Cutha. who
were placed in Samaria by the Assyrian
conqueror Saigon q Kings, xvii, 2i-3l).
The descendants of these worshipers OF
Adrammelech and Anammelech, and
Neral. the cod of Cutha- are now To he !