Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-11-26
HITTITE REMAINS.
IstereBtIng Rsp,rt Ffsm Ceasul Bis
singer CsucsrHisg Hits.is Remains
In AirRss and Vicinity, Csn.
trail turkey.
chs HeIrogiyphics Bear No z ssembla1ce TO
ANY Known system of ssrisinS-Ourious
Workmanship and Illustrations.
THE HITTITE REMAINS.

your department some further intelli.
gencs from Mr.. Henry Marden, United
States consular agent as Msrash, upon
the subject Of "Hittise remsins in Msrash
and vicinity, Central Turkey"
In the year 1879 the mounds OF Jerab-
lous, on the Euphrates, six hours below
B.ridjik, were identified by Mr.. Hender-
son, the English consul st Aleppo, as the
site Of "Csrchemish," the capital Ct the
ancient but long lost nstion Of the Hit
titles. Soon stewards tie American
missionaries visited those mines and ex,
amined them with deep Interest, and as
they toured through their mission fslds
from time to time, they scIutiniz ed every
fragment Of chlseled stone in search of
Hittise sculptures and Inscriptions.
Two lions OF black basalt were found
on the top Of the wall Of the old Gencese
castle, in the city Of Marsh, guarding the
entrance. Their workmanship 1as SO
unlike the other ornamentatlons Of the
wall, that 1t WAS but natural to infer that
they were made for some other purpose
One Of them was covered with hero
gIyphics in the same character as those
at Csrchem:sh. They were found also
to be Identical with the mysterious writ
ing on the Klamath blocks in the museum
st Constsntinople. The Inscriptions are
in raised characters, arranged in horiza
tsl bands, four inches wide, extending
from left to right and then right to left,
with raised line separating the bands
from each other.
Among the characters appears the heads
OF mer, oxen, goats, hares and other ami
mals, human hands, feet and fscss with
rings in the lips, and many other similar
figures and others still, which, In their
present form, do not seem to represent
any natural object. The smaller chsrac-
tween the lines, but the larger forms eX =
tend ne.rly from line to line.
The faces and feet on the fist band all
lock toward the right, but on the second
they lock toward the left aud continue
alternately in the same order, irdicatlpg
the direction in which the writing must
be read. These Inscriptions bear very
little resemblance 20 any known system
OF writing, and no attempt to decipher
their meaning has thus far been success
ful.
Near the base Of the fort WAS found tee
colossal trunk Of human statue or an
idol, which must have been nearly eigh
feet in height. Tie head and both feet
have been broken { # This lsrge trunk
now serves as step in thu stairwsy OF q
mosque.
Ga grave in the Christian cemetery
was found slab of black basalt, four
feet in length, two In width and one in
thickness. The upper surface only had
been trimmed, snd contained il bas relief
q human figure dressed in long tunic
fastened by girdle In the hand wss q
wsnd or staff. The besrd resembled that
of the Assyrisn sculptures, but the hair
was long and gathered ct the back Of the
neck IN peculiar loll turned upward.
The shoes were painted and turned up 81
the toes. These peculiarities are chsrac.,
terstic OF nearly al Hit:i.e sculptures.
This slab also contained an Inscription
covering its entire face, the bands OF
hieroglyphlcs ex ending back and forth
scross the human figure, but the charac.
ters DIFF r from others in being inclsed
instead Ct In re- LEI. They were, however,
much deiaced. Fifteen to twenty other
slabs of the same general character nave
been discovered in Marash. One Is the
door -step Of q minaret, another is in the
pavement OF . doo-sysrd, another still,
containing the figure OF part CT chariot,
serves as horse block st o street door
One heavy slab WAS found lying on its
face four feet under ground in vineyard,
on which YVES represented two human
figures sitting in chairs on either side Of
& cross-legg table, on which were
plates Of bread and fowl. These slabs
al ~ hlooR haoaIS hayinn nnlu
face Of the stone trimmed; the figures
are in bss-relief and the inscriptions ell
in the same characters, though there is
variety Of form corresponding to the
handwriting Of different men or possibly
Of different times.
The lion on the fort has recently been
transferred to the Roysl Muse um,
Cor stantinople, and two CT three small
slabs have been carried away by Eu-
ropean travellers. Oilers remain Hhere
they were discovered.
The lions on the fort, the trunk Of the
idol, and several other blocks near Its
has suggest thst the natural mound OIL
which the fort was built may one have
been crowned with Hittite palace OF
temple, ana block found on the side OF
the mound-perhaps piece OF an altar
containing on two sides beautiful CD,
inscription, but charred and cracked by
hea.-otars silent testimony to the
method BY which the building WAS des
troyed. There seen 81 q o1Lt evidence
that Msrssh was an important Hi!tite
city, and many relics Of its rsncient build
ings doubtless lie buried under the
prt 9 mt streets sndjwalls. Several interest
ing Hittise slabs have been discovered in
the Albusts pls!p, eighty miles no rth of
MRrash; also fine interruption near
ROOM Ksls, sixty miles east on the
Euphretes.
O:her blocks with the peculiar chlseling
Of the Hittites have been found In differ
emit places on the plains from twenty to
fifty miles south Of Msrash.
II is well known that the plains Of Gem
trsl Turkey are scattered over with mys.
terious mounds Of earth. They are Of
different sizes, but generally covering
from two to four acres and xre 80 to Is
feet In height, with lsvel acre on the
summit. They are seen Only on the
plsirs, in all cases several miles from
each other and in nearly every instance
close by fountain Ct water. Some sup
pose they were w2tch-towers, others that
they supplied the plsce Of fort, the PEG.
pie gathering on the summit to defend
themselves from the attacks Of horsemen
who could not ascend the steep tides
still others hold that they ar monuments