The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-03-14
TEN THOUSAND YEARS AGO.
THE ExCATATIONS At NIPPUR By
THE MEXICAN EXPEDITION.
Opening the Records or Prehistoric BabJionia
lis Their Antiquity Ovcrcstimntcd f-LurnI-
shns-zns-Ann the oldest or Known kinEs.

fTOUl " fNnrpcHutNe " NV 80
IL is probable that tho general results Of the
University OF Pennsylvania expedition to
Babylonin have been moe widely known In
the United States and have awakened n more
lively interest in Bsbyionian excavations than
any results which have been obtained In the
Semitic field. II IL. first OF all. an American er-
petition. led by Americans. DR.. Peters and Mr..
Haynes.and supported by.Amoricnn'generos'ty
and. at the same time. /, Is worthy OF a place
alongside tho best expeditions sent OCT by
France and England. But aside from this. the
clnims Of the gentlemen directly connected
with the expedition that tho civilization OF the
cxcnvated city # Nippur reaches back to the
seventh or eighth millennium II. c. have been
90 startling Ms 10 attract universal attention.
tits. therefore. with unsuitable expectancy that
the publications containing tho results OF thi,
expedition arc being watched bv laymen rs
well NJ Nv scholars. Tho publication OF the
cuneitorn texts. rs Is we'll kno Sn. is being
conducted BY Prot. Iiflprscht in n series Of
volumes under tho auspices of the American
Philosophical Society.
The preface Of tho second volume contains a
short summary Of the three campaigns made
AZ Nippur. On the last campaign. which IL
appurcntly orc Of the most ren, nrkable IN the
whole history ot excavations In Bahylouia.
Mr.. Haynes. who carried on the work with n
force Of from nftv :" sixty Arabs. remained at
Nippur. with m interruption Of only two
months. from April. lSoJ. to February. 1900.
something never before ATTEMPTED in the pois-
onouS swan ps Of southern Iabylonio. To his
faith fulncss and endurance In due n large mart
Of the success Of the campaign. In this third
ram naiGn The great temple OF Bel. called E-kur.
has been completely laid bare. and tho history
OF ia construction worked out from the bricks
stamped with the rnmcs %, tie Kings who
built and repaired II. In three places excava-
tions have been c, rricd down 10 The water
level. Drawings. plans. and photographs have
been made of everything Of interest. Streets
and private houses have been e=roscd 10 view:
two true arches. small bat Of great nnt;Gu!tY,
have been found: and the ancien; d.ainnee
system ~ the temple has been studied out.
More than II. COO ella" tablets have l"-n carried
or, besides many other. objects. Among. tie
latter ARE ins"ribcd bricks and stamps OF Mar.
hm.Siu and .Sargon J., an inscribed hrics Of
Dui.i. an vases and Npttre stones bearing the
Nh" period lcfnre SarEon. The history Of the
exec Nat pns will he given In detail by Mr..
Haynes in Series Is Of these PUBLICATIONS.
Following tins preface Prof. Hilprecht hns
Summarized tho most ilgI oriant historical facts
when te has L%h'hrrel from the reports ~ the
excavations and from the text Themselves.
Tne luwrst stratum found which contained
STAMPED bricks was n platform of tie re! Tenn
pie. eleven metros, below the top ley"l of the
icbris and nine and n uarter metres ABOVE VIZ
Sin SOL. The bricks OF this platform were
stain ped with the name ~ Nardri.Sin ~. IN a
few eases. With that ~ hiS IA; her. The plat.
form WAS evidently built bN Narhm.sin him.
self. As Is well known. Nahonidus. King Of
BABYLON. 555'5as BE-. states that IN rebuilding
q temple lie found the ionndStion siore -;
Naranl Sin, the son OF Sargnn. who lived 200
years before his time. hc"r riin. to this stnie.
Incnt. NArnm.Sin lived about $3.50 II. &. II is
perhaps only fair Ia saw that some Au-vriolo-
gi>ts admit the possibility that the 80 rifles of
Nah.nilu. have raaIr a mistake Of IA thoussni
Nanr. l.sur ine. ~ Z An mimi mn RNi.nnpa I.
then. that this platform OF Snram.Sin lnid
bare NJ Nippur wa built about 3Tiu Is. {. The
eleven metres OF debris above u represent then
about I,OuU years OF Bahylnnian history. II
suggests itself ut once that tho nine AMI a
quarter metres of debris between this pave
Non. and virgin soil also repr"s"n,s u long p"-
r,ol 81 time. Prof. Hilprecht ION 'lud-s thai. as
III" great ziegnrat. or tower. vas not built be-.
lore .Narlm' SINS time. he accumulation OF
debris must have been slower In the pre-. Sar-
gouic period than later. Solely on this evi-
Hence. 80 far rs | am able to see. Prof. III
prech' asserts That the Founding Of The Temple
OF l"I ard the first settlements OF Nippur date
back 10 the seventh or eighth millennium u. G.
II must bc Remembered tint IL II not asserted
that inscribed monuments from that date hnve
been found or that an, great light has been
thrown on this alpalllaG antiGuitv. The In
s]rriptiOn of llgnlzngg.si j. dated by HilpreclIt
on nalcogtaHhlc evidence NJ about 900 Il. -.
u the date 500 J. g.; for >lrnm-Sin lie not
The oldest Inscriptions published y he ~arSrc
A. well n the oldest published by Hilprrcht he.
lorG pai"oIraphicailI To this same general
lcr,od 80 tue clnim stated above 4. sim aly that
Their. aro indications ot human hahitat,on ot
this spot roa hing bnck 5000 or 1000 years
before NSrnin-Sin. II hHs long been n recog-
niZcd fact inat the relatiS"li high state OF GIVE
iliaHtion. and the developed stage ct the writ
ins ut the time OF our oldest inscriptions. pre-
suppose u great may centuries OF develop
meat. | may even saw that NO one viii deny
the nossIbIllty that human neinGs may have
lived a. Ninpur in the eighth millennium Is. g..
ard vet this method o. proving thai Nip1ur
really was Inhabited at that early time will
convince no one. The growth OF ,lcpO SITS from
human lhhltNtlnnf ~ tOD uncertain ana trreEu-
lar t. give any confdcuCe In chronological "stI.
mates has-d:u pom the depth o. u mass OF debris.
II Is. hOwcvet. Of Interest 10 learn that Mr.,
Haynes. working day after dav In tho trenches.
has gained the conviction that .hc earliest ne
riOd Of BabY!Onian history H. Mt least 1000
years le.orc Naram-Sin; and rrrhaps lie may
he able To prnGur- souc substantial evidence
torn, however. these statements rrrt on too
insecure n fou ldation o he generality accepted,
and. Furthermore. add very little ot real his
torical value to our previous knowledge.
In fact. so far ms our knowledge OF the pre-
Snrgonic history Is concerned. the real addi
ticls ms - by the Niprur excavations concern
coed 1900 -. g.. according 10 Hilprecht's more
liberal estimate. aud is probably at least 800
wears later. In the investigation Of this pee
Rod. Prot. iIiiprerht's great knowledge and his
keen methods have produced very interesting
results. a mass OF over nv" hundred very
antique looking fragments. ZONE OF them Dear
ing the mans OF Strson. J.. were found mncA
abnvn the platform NJ NraAm-Sin. Now. the
lid Grchir-. or treasury OF the temple, uni! Ike
that Of the temple ~ rrIloh. was rmptg when
found. liilprccht shows that the archivc WAS
cote IN tn" third millennium &c. possibly By
the El1mitcs III tho great INVASION re-, orded as
occurring IN the yrnr 2nS5 Is. t.: and he y-ry
Justly Conclud"s that nj this time all I'll" all
ciel.L "a, I'VE offerings which had been suCredlv
preserved from I'll" earliest times were IN part
cEiI.td ~ ana IN part broken. The shattered
pieces Of the older tablets and vases hrokrn by
ground about the tcmplr long after the
other relies OF their own time had been buried
tS the cvrr-accumult ting debris from the tenn
pie buildings: aud 80 they were found appnr-
entity OUT OF place bv The American eXpedi.
tiun. Prof. IIilprpcht proves, ga archaeological
ground, OF undOuhIrl soundness. that certain
OF these fragment, are extremely old, slightly
older even than the Inscriptions OF Eru-kaginR,
King ut Shirpurla, found by De SARGE Older.
ia fact, than Rnv other inscribed fragments
known TO MS. All the rest OF tac texts Published
under Nos. 81. ~. although somewhat later
than tl3osr lust mentioned. belong 20 the same
general period that ~ Gru-kacinR, Ir.nina.
T. dinglrn naVin, sc. IilrrrclIt thea Arranges,
mainly on archaeological grounds, the texts %
this ueriod CnrOn"lUgically. proves That they
are older than the texts OF S1rgon |. and NAram.
Sin, nnd that tho feNts OF the latter are older
than those Ot Ur.Enu, Gulca. and Crgur.
IL Is u sound, plauslblr argument. agreeing in
general with the IN igments OF NJ. ~lieu3ey. tho
archn"logist of the Louvre; anil the cOnclu.
sions VIII DO Of the greatest value for the con.
struction OF the history. IL must be remem-
bered, however, that the nrgrL.ent- used uro
almost wholly photographic. AMI that puleo-
! rraDlip uruuTnOnfs Lad nnl w m "a pNrnx . ,ons