The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-11-22

pears in all our modern editions of the
Bible
! But greater things have developed
since Prof. Hilprecht has returned
fresh from the scene with further in
formation Of a most interesting nature.
Prof Hilprecht's first announcement,
was that he can now positively and
authoritatively add 1000 years more to
the age of the world. DR.. Peters COM
putation on the Information at hand,
in August, placed. the probable date of
the beginning of civilization at 1000
B. c. Prof. Hilprecht now declares that
his knowledge of the development of
cuneiforn1 writing justifies him in say
ing that the earliest writing found could
not have been developed in less than
1900 years. Ar7-...f4
This places the beginning of civiliza-
ton at about the year 5000 B. c.! " :st
Prof. Hilprecht is one of the half dozen
men in the world who have SO mastered
all the developments of cuneiform IN
scriptions that he can at glance de-
termine the age of the writing. 1t was
he who three years ago enunciated the
principle of the development Of the
cuneiform writings from pictures and
Of their gradual change from the SEM
blance of the pictured things to the
signs of the later forms. The truth Of
his theory is admitted now by all stu
dents of archaeology. 1t forms an i'm
portant part in the proof that he brings
to support his announcement.
The discoveries were made in the uni
versity's excavations at Nippur. Eight
years ago, when it was decided to send
| out an expedition for Babylonian re-
search, Prof HiIprecht and the Rev.
nr TNI- Z +ny.E han 80
archaeology at5the university, decided
upon Nippur as the spot that offered
promise of the most ancient finds.
They were not mistaken. The Eng
lish, German and French scientists at
work in Babylon, and Tello have little
chance of finding anything nearly so
ancient as the7ib bits of vases that the
American excavators dug up under the
Temple of Bel ~
THEORY OF THE EXPEDITION.
From the beginning of religion in
the East, there hasi been firm belief,
which thousands ofeyears have not been
able to shake, n that nothing about a
temple must ever be destroyed. The
vases on which were written the tenn
| pie archives were kept for thousands
of years, and were broken only by ac-
cident. The worshippers believed that
never could any temple prosper or bring
peace and happiness to its people that
| did not stand on the outline Of the
! first temple that had been built there.
If the old temple was in ruins, they did
! not remove the fallen walls, but built
| upon them.
The same practice is still adhered to
! in Constantinople and lother modern
| cities, which are continually rising on
| their old walls. The spectacle of a
house being torn down and taken away
| is seldom offered in the East.
In the days when Noah built his
ark the kings and high priests of Baby
| lonia had the same belief, and some of
! them in making alterations in the tenn
pie left such inscriptions on clay as
/ this
But previous kings have not kept
! the boundary of the temple; they nave
not searched out it's foundation stone,
/ and gathered their architects TO lay
! out the lines on the true places or the
! former temple; and the gods were not
/ in favor and did not look kindly on
! the people"
| And so they built their own temples
with a care and precision that they
/ thought would meet with the approval
of their deities.
! All this may not seem at first to
| have very much 10. do with the work
/ of the PennsyfTanfa expedition, but 1t
/ has. If it had not been for this belief
/ Of the worshipRers of Bel there would
i nave Deen no SOcn rlcn VEINS VI the
I strata OF civilization as the scientist
| unearthed there, uncovering their finds
with more pride and joy than they
would have had IN discovering gold
mine. From even.thousand years be-
/ fore Christ the, Inscription Of the
I worlds history scratched in clay and
/ baked to a hardness against which
/ time and weather have had no effect.
| had been placed here, as If a treasure
/ were being slbwlYi deposited by the
human race for the enlightenment of
races that should come afterward,
! It was this spot which, of all the
! other places in the world, promised the
richest return for the enthusiasts
money and labor that the two arch
! biologists of the University of Pennsyl-
| vania decided upon in their council be-
| fore the first party was sent out, eight
/ years ago Fortune placed the enter
| prise in the right place; and Hilprecht
and his sturdy assistants saw the
work done properly. They fell to and
began to pick and pull the temple to
| pieces In one place and another to see
how it was built. and who had built It,
| They had guessed pretty definitely that
| they would unearth strata Of civiIiza-