The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-12-12


University of Pennsylvania, the
sum of $4,000 having been con-
tributed for this purpose by a
few wealthy and generous Phila-
delphians. There have been in all
three campaigns, as they might be
called, into antiquity, under these
auspices, that of 1889 in charge of
Dr. John P. Peters and Prof. Hill
precht, that of 1899 under DR..
Peters and Mr.. Haynes, and that of
1898 SO under the latter gentleman.
But as above stated. it is to the
labors of Prof Hilprecht, Assyriolo-
gist, that the chief credit for the
amazing discoveries is due. A writer in
the Philadelphia Press thus sums up
the results of these expeditions:
Summed up in a nutshell, the
secrets of Nippur are as follows: By
excavating there the long line of
Babylonian history has been pushed
back to 1000 B. G.. Asshulrbanapel
1858 626 B. C.) Kadashman Turku
(about 1850 B. c. and Ur Cur (about
2S00 B. C), who especially y impressed
himself on Nippur by building a
great temple tower like that ever
famed one at Babel; Sargon (once be-
lieved to be mythical, but now known
to have lived at $3.50 B. Co., Lugalza-
gissi (4500 B. c., the great Semitic
conquerer who overthrow the original
Babylonian kingdoms and long line
of early kings before the time of the
Semitic invasion, and whose history
is the history of the earliest civiliza-
ton known have all left their traces
at Nippur and have all come under
Prof. Hilprecht's observation"
The site of these discoveries was
passed over many years ago by Lay
ard who prospected the Nippur ruins
ami was of opinion nothing of i'm
portance could be found there.
Prof Hilpricht, however, thought
differently and the results have veri-
fed his judgment and as the result
ofeight years work at these ruins from
5000 to 5000 years have been added
| to the heretofore accepted chronolo
| gies of this most ancient seat of civili-
zation and the ideas of scholars have
been revolutionized as to ancient
Babylonian history.
Not only this but 1he ancient cane
form writing, hitherto supposed to
be the most ancient form of Babylon
ian writing, has been shown to be a
development from still earlier form,
that whose records have been un-
earthed at Nippur. The transition
stage of linear into the cuneiform
writing is shown to Professor Hill
precht to have run over 5000 years,
the linear becoming the cuneiform
between Sargon, $500 B. G. and Ur-
Cur, $500 B. c.
The opening up of this rem ote
early and long forgotten page of hu-
man history must be regarded as one
of the greatest achievements of mod
ern scholarship, ranking with Cham
pollion's deciphering the hieroglyph-
les of Egypt. How much of what is
claimed to have been discovered at
Nippur will stand the further tests OF
archaeological research and scholar
ship it is yet too soon to say, but the
interest attaching to these discover
les is undeniable, even though one
feels in reading about the ancient
Sumerians who left their records al
Nippur as if walking in fog where
objects may be distorted and exag
gerated.
1t must be remembered that Mas
pero, the greatest arch9ologist OF
France, and Winckler, of Germany
place the most ancient Babylonian
civilization at $500, B. c., while Prof
Hilprecht's reported discoveries in.
dicate that at least two or three thous.
and and possibly six thousand years
must be added to this chronology, a
discovery that is startling in the an
tiquity it assigns to man upon the
i globe.
| CHICAGO, Dec. /.