Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-04-28


ernment, have commenced the work OF
excavation, and 100 laborers in a few
weeks laid bare large number OF
blocks forming, as had been supposed,
the basement of Hittite palace. They
were nearly oil in situ. resting upon rude
! foundations of masonry. A line OF
blocks extends along the entire front,
then opens midway into an entrance
hall, which widens into q court about
! forty feet square. a narrow hall con-
! meets this court with another large court
( further within, which has been uncov-
cred only in part, but seems to be sew
eral rods square. The halls and courts
are lined by single row of basalt
blocks. each standing on end, and nearly
every block contains on its inner surface
q Hittite sculpture.
At one place is hunting scene, con-
tinued along dozen blocks. The men
are armed with daggers, spears. and tho
bow and arrow. Deer, rabbits, and
birds represent variety OF game. At
the entrance to the main court, on either
side. are the bas-relief sculptures OF en-
immense lion looking toward the outer
door, and behind each lion stands a
heavily-armed soldier. The superstruct-
ure. resting upon these Hittite blocks,
must have been OF sun-dried brick. and,
perhaps, in part of wood. The stones
bear evidence that the buildings above
them were burned. The pile OF earth
that forms the mound must be the debris
of mud roofs and walls OF Hittite palaces
TO tho peasant novels of modern times.
No Hittite hieroglyphics have yet been
discovered but the most remarkable
find" is the colossal statue of Sarda-
napalus, King of Nineveh, eighth Gen.
tury, Il. G., standing on a pedestal in
the smaller court of the palace. The
workmanship is very fine. The face
speaks like the finest Grecian statues.
The statue had been thrown down and
broken, but the fragments are all there,
and the whole figure can easily be re-
stored. On tins statue were several
square yards of Assyrisn inscription In
cuneiform hieroglyphics. from which the
name was determined. But how this
statue Of an Assyrisn King came to be
placed in a Hittite palace is not easily
accounted for. 1t is presumed that
when Sardanapalus made his expedition
through Asia Minor he conquered this
Hittite city and erected his own statue
in the centre of the palace, carefully
preserving intact all the productions oil
Hittite art.
Several shafts have been sunk in diff
ferent parts of the mound, but thus far
no important results have been reached.
A few feet below the surface in various
places were found the rude foundations
OF medieval and Roman peasant huts,
with some hand-mills, mortars, jars, and
other relics Of those periods. One shaft,
reaching to the level of the plain, dis
closed colossal image OF an animal de-
signed for lion, but its rude workman
ship belongs to an early period IN the art
of sculpture. There are traces also OF a
wall and a moat few rods distant en-
closing the mound. Opposite the en-
trance to the palace dozen sculpsured
blocks have been uncovered. They mark
the gateway in the wall. The Germans
propose to continue their excavations
three yea rs and turn over the
WHOLE MOUND WITH THE SPADE.
The great desderatum in Hittite dis
coveres is q bilingual inscription to be
used as key TO interpret the mysterious
hieroglyphics. Nothing of the kind has
vet appeared, except a very brief inscrip-
zion on a silver boss, which few years ago
was offered for sale in Ccnstantinople
and fortunately copied, but the original
has mysteriously disappeared. The Ian
guages were HIttite and Assyrian cunei-
form, giving the name of king and OF
his country, but both were unknown to
history. The Germans have also dis
covered in Turkish cemetery near Ecu
jirli human statue with nearly square
yard of inscription in what seems to
be Phenician characters.
Hittite remains have been discovered
at different points in Central and South
ern Asia Minor, extending as far south |
as Smyrna and east to the Euphrates. !
Bible history also speaks of these people |
at Hebron, IN Southern Palestine. They |
are not only many times mentioned in |
the Assyrian inscriptions exhumed from |
the mounds of Koyounjuk and Khorasa-
bad at Nineveh, but also in the mightiest |
of the Pharaohs Of Egypt, when, to glo- |
rify themselves, they delineated their |
personal achievements upon the lofty |
pylous at the entrance of their temples |
and could find no prouder record Of
their valor than the representation OF |
their victories over the Hittltes. Ra- |
messes III. at Karnak and at the Rame-
scum thus not only records his own bril- |
liant victories. but undesignedly bears |
testimony to the strength and courage |
of those whom he calls the despised |
Hittites, whose power he overcame with |
so much difficulty. 1t is an interesting |
fact that the treaty of peace between |
the Hittites and the Egyptians is en-
graved upon q stone tablet in the walls
of Karnak, and is the first treaty of |
peace on record. The Hittites were !
known at Jerusalem, Tbebes and Nine |
veh for the period of 200 years.
This mysterious nation has now been |
lost to history for $500 years, and it is
very remarkable that all traces of its ex-
istence, except the few brief references in |
the Bible, are inscribed on tablets OF |
stone. These people chiselled their bas-
relief hieroglyphics upon black basalt,
even the most durable stonein the land,
and in the distinctions of the temples
and palaces these precious slabs were
buried deep under the mounds Of earth,
and kept for distant ages more safely |
than they could have been in any mu-
scum or library. The enemy did not
take in all this when he threw his fire.
brand into the palace halls. 1t is not
surprising that these mementoes of such |
a lost nation, as they come to light one
by one, should awaken a deep interest |
in the civilized world.
The experiment at Zeniirli suggests
possibilities of the deepest moment
Hundreds of similar mounds in South |
ern Asia Minor and in the Mesopotamia |
are waiting for the spade to reveal their
treasures They may not all contain the
ruins of palaces, temples, stone libraries,
or works of art, but it is a remarkable /
fact that the first mound opened in Cen
trail Turkey contained genuine palace,
a statue OF king OF Nineveh with an ex- |