Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-17
THE RUINS OF UR
Native City Of Abraham and Sarah
to Be Excavated.
SULTAN HAS GIVEN PERMISSION
Will Surely Throw Much Light on
BabyIonian History.
OF ALUE TO STUDENTS

Written for The Evening Star.
About a year ago DR.. Edgar James
Banks, our former consul to Bagdad, I'M
dertook the task of organizing an eXpedi-
ton to excavate the ruins of Ur of the
CEaldees. His efforts have been attended
with great success. and he will leave for
the orient about the middle of next month.
He has already obtained the financial sup
port of several prominent men in the finan-
cial world, among whom is Mr.. John d.
Rockefeller Of New York, who has Just
made a contribution of $1,000 to the eX-
penseS of the expedition In the list Of
vice presidents and members Of the adj
visory board are two names well known in
Washington, Representative r. r. Hit and
DR.. Cyrus Adler. Other well-known names
those of Bishop Potter and Bishop
Hurst. Mr.. Isidor Straus, brother of our
minister to Turkey; DR.. W. Hayes Ward,
Professor Paul Haupt of Baltimore, and
President Henry Morton of the Stevens In
stitute, Hoboken, N j. DR.. William r.
Harper is president of the expedition, and
DR.. Banks will personally direct the work
of excavation 1t is probable that a natur-
alist from the National Museum will &C
company the expedition. The people OF
Washington will be interested in knowing
that what may be found at Ur will be de-
posted In the National Museum.
Early in the fall the State Department
requested the TURKISH government 10 grant
a firman under which to conduct the eX-
cavations, and on Monday last letter was
received from Constantinople stating that
informal permission to eXcavate had been
obtained and that in a month or two the
formal firman would be granted.
A Historic Site.
Ur of the Chaldees is one of the most
important historic sites in the world, and
the name is known to every Sunday school
scholar and reader of the Bible. The mod
ern name of Ur is Mugher, and the ruins
are located about $50 miles below those of
Babylon and six miles west of the Eu-
pirates.
once a seaport city, perhaps 1000 years ago
when the northern part of the Persian gulf
was not yet filled with the deposits of the
Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The city was
known to the early Samaritan people of the
country as ru-unu-ki-"Brothers' or Pro-
tectors' de, the moon-god's) dwelling
place" About $500 BIC. Ur-ba-u built the
great temple of Ur, and dedicated 1t to the
moon-god, and the same god had famous
temple at Ha-an, the place where Abraham
and Sarah settled after leaving Ur Gen.
IBID, between 22so and 2253 b: C., which
accounts largely for their migrating to that
northern city of the Babylonian empire.
Whenever the Euphrates overflows Its
banks the surrounding country becomes
marsh, and he ruins, presenting the ap-
pearance Of an island, must be reached in
a boat; at low water it is a ride of half an
hour by horseback from Nasarich. The
group Of mounds is somewhat oval in
shape; the longest diameter from north to
south is the distance of half a mile. The
principal feature is large rectangular
structure at the northern end, a heap Of
ruins seventy feet in height. in which the
platform and the two stories OF a building
may be seen.
Description of the Structure.
The platform is about twenty feet in
height and is faced with red brick to the
depth of ten feet. The lower story is TWEEN
ty-seven feet high, its sides measure 1873 by
1913 feet and it's walls are supported by but
tresses. The upper story Is fourteen rect
high, and its sides measure 10 by 119 feet
and are without buttresses. The bricks are
larger than those below and cemented
with mortar. The entire structure is per-
forated with apertures. Along the west
side Of the group are two parallel lines of
mounds and another upon the east and
south. similar to surrounding wall. The
Enclosure is filed with mounds of various
heights, and outside low mounds slope
another group of mounds, and 800 yards to
the west is the bed of an ancient canal
leading to the Euphrates. In the distance
to the south, just upon the horizon, ap-
pears the summit Of Abu Sharein, the an
cient Erdu.
In forthcoming article Of Records of the
Past, DR.. Banks says: THE past half CEN
fury has witnessed greater progress in the
study of the Bible than all the preceding
centuries of our era. Two generations ago
the scholar regarded the Assyrians and
Babylonians As but little more important
than the numerous tribes with which the
Hebrews were surrounded. When, in 1872
the French consul, NJ. Botta, discovered the
wonderful paiace of Sargon at Khorsabad
covering twenty-five acres of ground and
containing more than 200 rooms, the scholar
began to realize the greatness of Assyria
When upon the walls of that palace he
read the Assyrian account Of the capture
of Samaria and of the deportation of the
tribes of north Israel, he began to see that
new and powerful help had come to the
Bible student.
Later, Layard discovered the palaces Of