The Opelousas courier., 1900-08-11
ANOTABLE EXCAVATION
DISCOVERIES MADE BY AMERICANS
At ANCIENT NlePUR. =

ing made at the site of ancient Nip
pur by the University OF Pennsylvania
under tho direction of Professor n. v.
Hillprecht, the worlds authority on
AS syrian history. The article reads,
in part:
professor H~illprecht aas been
constantly finding fragments of tab
lets, of vases, of urns, Of sarcophagi,
ETC., each fragment inscribed with
some enlightening fact, or perhaps
with some ~puzzling statement, the
meaning of which was not understood
until later. He was able ut times to
corroborate many historical state.
ments concerning kings before Christ,
and at others to fill completely many
gaps in the long line of succession
until they traced back to the days of
Ur Cur, $500 B. c., Narim Sin and
his father, Sargon ], $500 B. c., and
to Is kings who lived previous to Sar-
gon. 1t was in the temple area that
the fragmentary evidence Of These
rulers was found. The temple was
the Temple of Bel or mill, around
which the religion of Nippur had
centred. Ii is curious, however, that
in the three or four strata marked by
the successive platforms of the temple
everything was in such a fragmentary
condition. It was some time before
the Investigators succeeded in learn.
that this damage was the result of o
raid by the Elimites, who came down
from the north about 22O0 b. C. and
sacked Nippur. They carried away
to Elm every article of value which
they could take. What they could
not take they broke into pieces and
scattered. The proof of this is that
some of the spoil of this ancient raid
is today being dug up ON the site of
old Susa.
"Among the fragments of pre-Sar-
Comic times is one which told of a
King, Ensha9shur-ana, and his
achievements in defending Kengi
from the enmity of the city of Kish.
The significance of this and other
fragments of similar character, how
ever, was never realized so much as
when they were collated with that
great find which revealed the existence
of one Of the greatest men of ancient
time-King L~ugalzaggisi, the con-
queror of the world. The fragments
were found in the sanctuary of the
temple. The fragments were parts of
vases scattered and broken, some
times into the very smallest of pieces.
But when properly placed together
they revealed the longest inscription
yet deciphered concerning the fourth
and fifth milenniums B. G. The de-
ciphering of this inscription must
have been a stupendous task. Pro-
lessor Hillprecht says:
"s1he text was restored by myself
from SO fragments of 81 different vases
under the most trying circumstances.
The work was just as much O mathe-
NAUTICAL task as it was a photographic
cal and pathological problem. On the
basis of pal typographical evidence, I
selected $50 pieces out of q heap Of
600 fragments and particles. Then I
succeeded in placing five fragments
together, whereby / obtained the be-
ginning and ends OF each column.
Then followed the tedious
work of arranging the little fragments
and determining their exact position,
although often enough not more than
q few traces of the original characters
were left to guide me-.
"This document is perhaps the
most wonderful in existence. Ger
tainly it is the oldest Of any length,
and, taken in connection with other
fragments of the time, it tells q mar
v~elous. story of human life as it ex-
listed between 5000 and 1000 years
ago. Here it is briefly, as compiled
from the findings of Professor Hill
sprect:
1.-THE first king OF whom there is
any record was Enshagshur-ana, lord
OF Kengi. Kengi was the ancient
name of Babylonia. It signified s1and
of the canals and reeds" SO that the
general character of the country at
least must then have been very SINH
lar to that Of the present time. Kengi
was then in an advanced state OF
civilization, and was inhabited partly
by Semites and partly by Sumerians.
The Sumerians were the cultured
class. In q manner they were to the
Semites what the Greeks were to the
Romans, but the cultural difference
was greater perhaps. The capital
of this early kingdom is NOT yet
known, though in all probability it
was the city of Erech Genesis K, iO).
But the religious centre of Kengi was
the temple OF the god Bel or mill in
Nippur, which was Calneh. Nippur
was under the especial care of of the
kings off Kengi, each Of whom was
called q Ybtesi, . title which signifed
that the king was great, sovereign,
lord OF tbs temple and chief servant
OF its god. Patesi gal mil, or Great
Priest King of Bel, meant that the
king was ruler by divine right. Other
temples had their patesis, who were
not kings. but who enjoyed privileges
which virtually made them rulers of
the cities and towns in which the
temples were located.
SAT this early time Kengi was
greatly harrassed by the people of
Kish, q nearby city. Kish enjoyed a
cult of its own, and it's patesi was an
ambitious man, who desired to ex-
tend his influence outside Of his own
city or kingdom. Nearly every city
was q kingdom in those days. Kish
lay in the north of Kengi, and the
people of the latter place called it
gul shag, that is, wicked OF heart"
and ga gul, or ''teeming with wicked
ness. Once, indeed. Atug, the pa