The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1889-01-17
A MYSTERY OF THE ANcIENTs.
Interesting Discoveries Concerning a
Long-Vanished Kingdom.

In the special issue No. 50 of the
United States consular reports, just
published, there is an interesting arti-
Gle by MIR. Blisslnger, cur consul at
BEIRUT. upon the recent discoveries of
a Hittite palace and other remains at
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
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-
Jers running from right to left and
then from left to right. The charac-
ters 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--indicating the direction in
which the writing is to be read. Slabs
of black basalt, with Hittite inscrip-
tons, have been discovered in large
numbers. One of them has the human
figure in bas-relief, the subject being
man dressed in long tunic fastened
with a girdle. In the hand is staff.
The beard resembles that of Assyrian
sculptures, but the hair is gathered in
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 table, the menu being
bread and fruit.
Many slabs have been found at
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-iive feet high,
with a level area on top. A fountain
of water is nearly always found near.
It 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 unGuestionably artificial, 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 mound
fifty miles south of Marash attracted
the attention of antiquarians, and sug-
gested exploration, which, during the
winter of 1SS7-S8, was undertaken by
party of Germans. They were re-
warded by the discovery of blocks
forming, 1t is supposed, the basement
of palace. Numerous halls and
courts have been defined. Every
block, it is found. has a bas-relief on
its inner surface In one room a hunt
ing scene is continued along dozen
blocks. Mao 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-dred brick, and there is
evidence that the building was burned.
Among the surprising discoveries is
statue identified as that of Sardanap-
alus, broken into fragments. An
Assyrian inscription fixes its identity.
Other finds OF nearly equal interest
were made, and the German explorers
will continue their work till the con-
tents of the mount are exhausted.
Biblical scholars will have a special
interest in disc 3ycries that throw SO
much light on The civilization and
achievements of the people who were
near neighbors Of the Hebrews. .-Bdl-
tS7nOrg SUn