The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-09-16

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eal lnaporsance.
The London Tines In a recent issue says /;
:. srne shade Of The explorer has once more
.onn hnsv amid the mounds and ruins OF
sesvrla and Bsbylonia. aud q rich hsrSes'
- .~a,LnuIlIes has resulted from tire WORK
T,he exn,ora,ion carried out during eign'
teen months by Mr. Hormuzd hassam,
thoooh aaIordlng 90 such grdnde ro@odets
az me bronze gates from BaIlawat, nave,
newertheIess. been rich In discoveries winch
Win lie welcomed by oil students OF history
ga anthology. The recovery OF the library
~ ferra-cotta tablets from the palaces OF
Sennacherib and Assurbanipal has restored
"a as a vast mass OF literature ana sup
nHed lone-l0st chapters IN the history,
mythology, aud science OF the woriu. IL
has also proved TO Us that valuable as these
records are we have in them but second auu
thlrd editions Of works first compiled Dy
the scribes IN the library Giles OF BaDyio-
mia. The discovery OF fragments led Assl.
rloIogists 10 hope that the explorer wouiu
be able TO recover from The ruins OF tne CT
ties of Chaldea the older versions OF tne
Assyrian texts, and the expedition Oh 1851
,gI, which Mr. Rassam has Just c~onc'uueu,
has so far met their wishes 10 nat from ,ne
ruins OF the temples and palaces OF Dspy-
lon, Borsippa, Supra, and Cutha' nc oIIuss
records and copies OF religious leAls, sons
OF which will no doubt furnish Inc requires"
Chaldean versions
.. From the earliest days OF Mesopota-
milan travel the spade OF the explorer nas
been applied TO the ruins OF bapylon.
Strange as Il may seem, although tor more
than three centuries the runs nave Deeh
known aud visited, and Tor centuries Tue
Arab bric.; merchants have been digging
among It's ruins for bricks, II is Only With
tho ias, few wears that records OF import
anoo bave beeu recovered. With the eX-
centjon OF thousands OF brick' bearing the
names and titles OF Ne6uchadnezzar, anu
cylinders inscribed with the RECORDS OF tenn
nles aud palaces built or restored oy tue
hnilder.kine and his successors, no record
OF historical or scientific importance Bas
bccn recovered from amid The ruins. But
the year 1874 began a new era ID baoylo-
Man exploranons, for from that tme on
,here has been q continuous flow OF inscrip.
lions and records from the treasure.h0use
Of the city; aud we now know mucn more
~ the popular life OF Babylon and It's peo-
ple tLan after years OF study we nave Deeh
able TO ascertain regarding Uneven lroui
monuments and records. Inc tablets lounu
by the Arabs in 1915 were purchased Dy
the late George Smith Tor tue trustees ol
the British Museum, and the subsequent
finds made by Mr. Rassam have addeu
some hundreds TO this branch OF the
collection, 50 that Of this class OF tablets
there are now more than 5000 examples ID
the British Museum. These tablets snow
that for a long period, probably seVeiai
centuries, the family OF the Benz EglDi
were the leading commercial hrm OF BABY
Ion, and to them was conhded all the Dusl'
ness of the Babylonian Ministry OF FINANCE
building whose rains are marked oy
the mound OF Jumiuma was the chancenerle
Of The firm, and from its ruins come the re-
cords OF every class OF monetary transactions.
The documents being all most carefully
da,ed and compiled, are OF great value 10
the chronologist and historian hilelot the
student OF Babvlonian civilization they are
OF the highest importance. From the tax
receipts we learn how the revenue was
raised BY duties levied on land, on crops OF
dates and corn, on cattle, by imposts for ibe
use OF the irrigation canals and the use OF
the public roads. 1t is almost impOsslbleto
estimate too highly the Importance OF sucn
a series OF documents as these, dealing WIFI
every phase OF social life, and coming 10 us
from a city from within whose walls were
gathered representatives OF every { nation,
people, and tongue
"The inscriptions which Mr.. Rassam has
recovered are not confined to documents Of
this Glass only. 1t was long feared by AS
sy~riologlsts that BabylOAian history was
irretrieyahly lost, rs no historical records
were recovered, but from the ruins OF the
PALACES OF THE KINGS OF BABYLON
Mr.. Rassam has brought fragments OF his
toricaI inscriptions of NebuchadnezzIr: a
valuable prkciS Of the history OF the last
DAYS OF the Babylonian Empire, extending
from the seventh year OF NabOnldus to the
fall OF the city before the hosts OF Cyrus; q
rovaI record of the Persian c0nquer0r;
and lastly, an inscribed record Of the last
great victor who entered Baby Ion, Alex
ander of Maeedou. The scarcity OF stone
in Babylonia, and the extensive use
Of bricks, rendered the ruins OF Baby.
Ionian palaces not fruitful fields for
the explorer in search CT architectural
renaius. In the ruins OF the kasr, or pal
ace' mound, Mr.. Rassam has found cham
bers and corridors which formed part OF the
royal residence OF the Kings Of Babylon.
The use OF plaster and painted bricks as de-
coratiou in these chambers affords strong
support to the statements OF the Greek wri-
tiers as TO The mode Of decorating The royal
residences OF Babylon. On the extreme
north of the ruins Of Babylon, and partly
without the eneieRte, is the large mound
called by the natives the Babel mound.
Excavations made here have brought to
light the remains Of extensive hydraulic
works, wells and condulls lined with
stones, and evidently connected with
the Euphrates. The discovery Of these
remains would seem TO indicate that
here had stood the hanging gardens
| built BY the Babylonian King for his Me-
dian Queen, and the supposition receives
additional support from the recovery OF a
small inscribed tablet, which clearly proves
the fOnduess OF the BabylOnian Kings for
horticulture. A scribe attached 10 one OF
the palace or temple libraries OF Bsbylonia
has transmitted TO us q list Of the gardens
or paradlses OF the BabylOnian eODarch
Merodachbaladan, the contemporary OF Sar-
| gOu, SennacheTib, aud Hezekiah. This
I monarch appears TO have been u lavish
patron OF horticulture, for the list furnishes
the names OF more than sixty gardens and
parks in a1d about Babylon constructed by
the royal order.
"Leaytng Babylon, we now cross the Eu'
pirates sad pass southwest to glance at the
work which has been carried out on th,
ruins OF the Birs Nimroud, the traditional
site Of the Tower of Babel, but really Tho
ruins q the seven. staged Ziggmat, or OBJ
servstoTy to|er OF the great temple OF NebC
at Borsippa. Excavations In the Birs have
brought TO light seyerad chambers OF The
ancient temple, and ske afforded much in
form Fion regarding the construction OF tic
stage tower. From this site Mr.. RasSan
has drought some fragments from the
greet mass OF vitrided br4cks, which has
so l0O0 been a Uuzzie IN travellers and