Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-17
SABYLONLA

| five ASsyrian kings-three at Nimrud ana
! two at Nineveh-and four OF the builders of
| these palaces were biblical characters
When George Smith read upon Il fragment
| of a clay tablet from the great ASsyrian
| library which was recovered from the ruins
OF Uneven the words. Il released dove;
| 1t flew about, and. finding resting place
returned" still greater impulse was given
to Assyrian research. There are now at
hand seven copies Of the Babyl0nIan story
of the flood. of which one is nearly 300
years older than the Oldest Hebrew manu-
script of the Pentateuch known 10 exist
There are also at hand three copies of the
Babylonian story of the creation OF the
world.
Were Real People.
I'VE may now read SinacherIhs own ac-
count of the siege of Jerusalem and study
the history of Nebuchadnezzar from the
writings of his own palace. Rnlshazzar
once called a legendary character. has LETT
! us lease of house which he rented As
proof of his existence. and now we may
read the account of the fall OF Babylon
written at the dictaton of the man who
captured the city. Two generations ago the
mothers We're repeating to their children
this nursery rhyme:
What Is a name the trumpet Of fameY
He lived and he died he laughed and he cried
And that was all any one knew.
To-day this mysterious character, the
great and noble Osnappar of the book of
Ezra. Is one fthe best-known characters
In history, for he is none other than Assur-
banipal, the sculptures of whose palace ana
whose library enrich the British museum.
When DesarZec eXcavated Teloh and
later. when DR.. Peters discovered the tenn
pie which Sargon l erected at Nippur, $500
b. c., the scholar believed that the very be-
ginning of things had been found, but now
Dr. Haynes is digging from beneath the
foundation of that same temple ruins in
he is al
most modern. Biblical chronology. so long
puzzle, is becoming clear. The mysteries
OF the books of Daniel and the prophets are
no longer mysteries, for with an under
standing Of the contemporary history of
Babylonia and Assyria the most obscure
passages are Ineligible. Assyriology is the
searchlight, which, directed upon the Old
Testament, makes clear Its darkest pass
ages"
Messages From the Past
Until the present time each Babylonian
ruin which has been opened by the excava-
tor has brought some new message from
the past. Nppur and Telloh have told us
OF the most remote antiquity. Telel-Amar-
ma has presented us with letters written at
Jerusalem Just before Moses time MINI
rud, Khorsabad and Nineveh have supple
mented Hebrew history from 1000 B. c.
to GIG B. c.. and Babylon, through the gem
erosity of the German emperor is yielding
its relics of the past exile period.
Hebrew and Babylonian history of Abra-
hams time is still obscure, for the excava-
tor has not yet uncovered a Babylonian
city which was at its greatest prominence
during his time. Ur is such city. From
the summit of the temple ruin may see
stretching for half a mile to the south
mounds, varying in height. and slipping
away into the desert. In 1854 Mr.. Taylor.
the English consul at Busreh. dug from the
ruins some bricks upon which was the word
U-ru. marking it as the original home of
the Hebrews. His excavations were slight,
but the results were remarkable. Shafts
sunk here and there showed the construc-
ton of the tower-like temples: from the
corners of its second story he took the long
Inscriptions of King Nabonidus. which
speak of the crown prince, the biblical Bel
shazZar Nearby he came upon the perfect
walls of a house. and at still another place
he uncovered two large jars filled with in
scribed tablets. In many Of the mounds
were collins containing. with the skeletons,
engraved seal cylinders. copper and clay
dishes, water jars and drinking cups,
gold silver and agate beads. cop
per bangles, rings, bracelets. pre-
cous stones and weapons. Alexander the
Great said that the kings Of Assyria were
buried in the marshes of the lower coun-
try. Their tombs may be found al ur.
What may excavations in the ruins of Ur
reveal? Already know that three dy-
nasties of kings lived there; remains of
their palaces must exist and search will re-
veal them The inscriptions speak Of at
least five temples which have stood there;
one remains, and in it we may hope to find
a Babylonian library containing perhaps
the original tablets from which the stories
of the creation and flood were copied for
the library at Nineveh. The few tablets
already discovered are part of it, The
walls of the buildings may be covered with
bas-reliefs and inscriptions.
THE ruins must certainly conceal images
of the gods. furniture, dishes, ornaments
of costly metal and stone and the graves
of royalty. Upon the inscriptions We shall
read history now unknown.
What VIII Re Revealed.
"In addition to the great value of the in
scribed material which we have every right
to expect to find there, it is probable also
that shall find remains of ancient art,
for Ur was closely connected with Sirpurla
Telloh). The ziggurat at Ur also differs
in its relation to the temple about it from
the ziggurat at Nippur that at Erech,
both of which belong to the older period,
sippa, which belongs to the later period
The ziggurat at Ur was not raised
enormous terrace or platform, as at Nip
pur and Erech, but was apparently sur
rounded by a wall, constituting a temenos,
or sacred precinct. The excavation of this
work, will be of great Importance in the
study of the construction Of Babylonian
temples and the history of the development
of the Babylonian religion
Fifty thousand dollars will cover the cost
of excavating Ur, and the work will ex-
tend a period of about three years.
DR.. Banks residence in the Tigro-Eu-
mate, which will enable him to conduct the
work without intermisSion.
HENRY MASON BAUM