Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1889-10-17
A MYSTERY OF THE AhciENTs.


In the special issue No. 50 of the
United States consular reports, Just
published, there is an interesting arti-
Gle by Mr.. Blissinger, our consul al
BEIRUT, upon the recent discoveries OF
Hittite palace and other remains al
Marash, on the river Jihon, in central
Turkey, about one hundred miles west
OF the western-most bend of the Eu-
pirates river.
In 1869 the mound of Jerablus, on
the Euphrates, was identified by the
English consul at Aleppo as the site of
Carchemish. Inscriptions in the Hit
tite character had previously been dis
covered at Ibreez in Lycaonis. No
satisfactory clew to the reading of such
Inscriptions has yet, it may be observ-
ed, been found. Among the objects
discovered at Marash, according to our
consul, are two basalt lions, with Hit
tite writing on one of them identical
with that on the famous Klamath
blocks in the museum of Constantine
pie. The writing is in raised charac-
ters running from right to left and
then from left to right. The charac-
tiers include the heads of men, figures
of oxen, goats, horses, and other ami
mails. together with hands, feet, and
other marks which do not appear to
be meant to represent any natural OBJ
ject.
The faces and feet of the first line
look to the right; those of the second
to the left-lndicating the direction in
which the writing is to be read. Slabs
of black basalt, with Hittite inscrip-
tions, have been discovered in large
numbers. One of them has the human
t,oc iof fho
q man dressed in long tunic fastened
with girdle. In the hand is a staff.
The beard resembles that of Assyrian
sculptures, but the hair is gathered i'm
roll behind the head, and the shoes
are turned up at the toes-a peculiar
ity of Hittite representations. Another
slab depicts two human figures sitting
In chairs at a table, the menu being
bread and fruit.
Many slabs have been found at a
place eighty miles north. of Marash,
and fine inscription has been discov-
cred at Room Kala, sixty miles east,
on the Euphrates. Others have been
turned up at places from twenty to
fifty miles south of Marash.
1t is inferred that Marash in its day
was an important Hittite city. The
country around has many mysterious
mounds of various sizes, but generally
from two to four acres in area and
from fifty to seventy-tive feet high,
with a level area on top. A fountain
OF water is nearly always found near.
1t is supposed by some that these
mounds were the sites of forts, by 9TH
ers that they are the burial-places of
kings, and by others still that they
were the bases of watch-towers. They
are unquestionably artificial, a stone
in the Assyrian department of the
British museum representing men en-
gagged in the construction of just such
mounds. The fact that slabs of basalt,
with Hittite inscriptions, were found
projecting from the side of a mound
fifty miles south of Marash attracted
the attention of antiquarians, and sug-
gested exploration, which. during the
winter of 1888. was undertaken by
a party of Germans. They were re-
warded by the discovery of blocks
forming, 1T is supposed, the basement
of a palace. Numerous halls and
courts have been defined. Every
block, it Is found, has bas-relief on
its inner surface. In one room a hunt
ing scene is continued along a dozen
blocks. Men armed with spears, dag
gers, bows and arrows, pursue deer,
rabbits, and birds. In another place
are found bas-reliefs of lions and SOL
diers. The super-structure is suppos-
ed to have consisted of wood, filled in
with sun-dried brick, and there is
evidence that the building was burned.
Among the surprising discoveries is
a statue identified as that of Sardanap-
alus, broken into fragments. An
Assyrian inscription fixes its identity.
Other ''hnds" of nearly equal interest
The Heroism Of the Gar.
A Russian paper gives the following
description of the behavior of the car
during the recent accident to the inn
perial train: ''But our czar, our en-
peror, what man and what a golden
heart! All those saved testified how,
under a pouring rain, knee-deep in the
cold mud, bleeding terribly from both
arms and hands, he helped personally
to rescue the dying and the wounded
for over two hours, his colossal strength
doing him goodly service on that day.
They tell how he spoke words of con-
ISOLATION to those sufferers still alive,
pledged his word of honor to the dying
to care for their families as long as
tiicf HsSu. "a piicSt WAS 1ctcucQ III q
hurry from an adjacent village. All
the survivors clamored loudly, "A
mass, a Thanksgiving service, for the
escape of our father, the carl .NoP
cried the emperor in a laundering
voice, the mass for the dead; first of
all the prayers for the wounded You
should have seen the whole august
family falling upon their knees and
praying fervently for the dead and the
relief of the wounded. before ever Civ
ing a thought of thanks for their own
escape, and praying for the salvation
of Russia, not for their own"
were made. and the German explorers
Will continue their work till the con-
tents OF the mound are exhausted.
Biblical scholars will have a special
interest in disc ,veries that throw so
much light on the civilization and
achievements of the people who were
near neighbors of the Hebrews.-RaL-
tinsore Sam
employees of the Central Railroad at
Macon, Ga, are good deal disturbed
over the ghost of an immense New
Ioundiand dog that roams around in
the rear of the TT0iou nonnt