Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-04-28
LOST TO HISTORY.
BRANCHING FOE rHE REMAINS or A
Mysterious NATION.
xxesvs tloas OF Buried Rittits cities-Thc
Only Record Of Them Carved on Bssait
p,acKe.
lncs,on nernld.l

Consul Efhard Bissinger at Beirut, IN
continuing biz very interesting informa-
lion on the Hittisc remains TO the State
Department, says that in the year 1879
Che mounds OF 1erablous, on the Eu-
pirates, six hours below Biridllk, were
identified by Mr.. Henderson, tho Eng
hsh Consul at Aleppo, at the sight Of
"Carchemish, tbecapital of the ancient
but long-lost nation Of the Hittites. Soon
afterward the American missionaries Wis
tied those mines and examined them
with deep interest. and as they
toured through their mission fields
from time 20 time they scruti-
nIzed every fragment OF chiselled stone
in search Of Hittite sculptures and In
scriptionS Two lines OF black basalt
were found on the top Of the wall OF the
old Genocse castle. in the city of Ma
rash. guarding the entrance. Their
workmanship was so unlike the other
ornamentstions OF the wall that 1t was
bat natural to infer that they were made
for some other purpose. one of them
VAS covered with hieroglyphics IN the
ZANE character ~ those st Caparche-
mish. They were found 10 be also iden-
teal with the mysterious writings on the
Klamath blocks In the museum at Constan-
tinopie. The inscriptions are IN raised
characters arranged in horizontal bands
four inches wide. extending from left to
right, then right to left, with raised
line separating the bands from each
other. Among the characters appear the
heads of men, oxen, goats, hares, and
other animals human hands, feet, and
faces 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 characters are written one above
another between the lines, but the larger
forms extend nearly from line to line.
The faces and feet on the first band
oil look toward the right, but on the
second they look toward the left and
continue alternately in the came order,
indicating the direction In which the
writing must be read. These inscnp-
tons bear very little resemblance to any
known system OF writing, and no attempt
70 dacipher their meaning has thus far
been successful. Near the base of thefort
was found the colossal trunk of human
statue or an idol, which must have been
eight feet IN height. The head and both
feet have been broken OIL The large
trunk now serves as a step in the stair
way of mosque. On a grave in the
Christian cemetery was found a slab OF
black basalt four feet in length, two in
width, and ore in thickness The upper
surface only had been trimmed, and
contained in bas-relief human figure
dressed in a long tunic fastened by
girdle. In the hand was wand or staff.
The beard resem5led that of Assyrian
sculptures, but the hair was long and
gathered ct the back Of the neck in a
peculiar roll turned upward. The shoes
we're pointed and turned up at the toes.
These peculisrities are characteristic OF
nearly
ALL. HITTITE SCULPTURES.
This elab also contained an inscription
covering its entire face, the bands OF HE
rogiyphics extending back and forth
across the human figure, but the charac-
tiers differ from others in being incised
instead OF relief. They were, however,
much defaced. Fifteen or twenty other
slabs OF the same general character have
been discovered in Marssh. One Is the
doorstep of a minaret another Is in
the pavement OF door-yard another
still, containing the figure OF q
psrt of q chariot, serves as horse
block at street door. One heavy
slab was found lying on its face
four feet under ground in vineyard, on
which were represented human figures |
sitting in chairs on either side OF cross
legged table, on which were plates of |
bread and fowl. These slabs are all OF |
black bssalt, having only one face Of |
the stone trimmed. The figures are in |
has relief and the inscriptions all in the |
same characters, though there is va
riety of form corresponding to the hand |
writing of different men or possibly of |
different times.
The lion on the fort has recently been !
transferred to the Royal Museum, Con-
stantinople. and two or three small slabs
have been carried away by European
travellers. Others remRin where they |
were discovered. The lions on the fort, |
the trunk of the idol. and several other
blocks near It's base, suggest that the |
natural mound on which the fort WAS
built may once have been crowned with |
n Hittite palace or temple, and block |
found on the side of the mound-per-
haps a piece of an altar, containing on |
two sides beautifully cut inscription,
bat charred and cracked by heat
bears silent testimony to the |
method 10y which the building was de-
stroyed. There seems abundant evil |
dence that Aiarash WAS an important |
Hitite city, and many relics of lis an
cient building doubtless lie buried under |
its present streets and walls. Several |
Hittite slabs have been dis
covered in the Albustan plain, eighty |
miles north of Marasb also a fine In
near Room kala, sixty miles
east on the Euphrates.
Other blocks with the peculiar chisel- |
ing OF the Hittites have been found IN |
places on the plains from twenty
TO fifty miles south of Marash. 1t is well
known that the plains of Central Tur-
key are scattered over with the
MYSTERIOUS MOUNDS OF EARTH.
new are Oh QIlcfOut nlLtb Dhe SShSt"iAJ
covering from two to four acres. and are
fifty to seventy-fve feet in height, with
II level acre on the summit. They are
seen only on the plains. in all cases
several miles from each other, and IN
nearly every instance close by a fountain
of water. Some suppose they were
watch-towers, others that they supplied
the place of fort-the people gathering
on the summit TO defend themselves
from the attacks of horsenen, who could
not Ascend the steepsides still others hold
that they are monuments over the re-
mains OF buried kings, while there are
not wanting those who think they are
merely natural formations; but the frag-
ments of pottery and the alluvial soil
that compose them prove their human
origin.
In modern times rude Turkish vii
lage often appears at the base and part
of the way up the side Of mound in
other cases the whole mound is covered
with vineyard or a wheat-feld, or its
steep sides are perforated with the dens
OF foxes and jacksls No light is to be