Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-10-27

side of the hole when dug out, was found
to be an altar, on which the ashes of a last
sacrifice were still lying several inches
thick. And there were terra Gotta vases,
and some pottery of such pronounced
beauty that Professor Hilprecht says it
would have been called Grecian had 1t
There was keystone arch also, although
1t had previously been held that keystone
arches were If Roman invention, and final
ly, most important of all, many fragments
of tablets. which, when pieced together,
were found to be the public records of this
most ancient time.
An Early Napoleon.
The tablets celebrated for the most part
the victories of King Lugalzaggls the
world conqueror of his time a sort of Ma
pC!eon who Overrau the then known earth,
and after subjecting all the peoples within
reach of his armies. settled down to enjoy
the fruits of victory and to promote that
civilization spoken of in the foregoing. This
was at least 1900 3. =, and 1t may have
been earlier. The estimate of time is I'M
der, rather than over, any limit that could
be put upon il.
1t is quite evident that Lugalzaggisi was
not a native of Kengi. About the time
Adam and Eve, in the old reckoning, were
still fresh from the Garden of Eden. this
soldier was attacking the city from the
north. He was the son of UkuSh, king of
Haran, and in the course of his conquests
W
the Persian gulf to the Mediterranean sea
He made Erech the capital of his world
and settled himself comfortably to pursue
the arts of peace. In enforcing civiliza-
ton on all of his subjects, however, he
was not the creator of new and great
idea. He merely mimicked that which ne
found ready 10 his hand in one part Of
this kingdom. Long before even the dy-
TASTY of Lugalzaggisi had made itself a
power in the land the Sumerians had lived
in Kengi They We're highly civilized,
peaceful people, to whom the fine arts,
learning. science and industry and an adj
vanced religious cult were leading objects
in life. They built great temples. they
practiced carving and sculpture. their libra
rles were housed in separate buildings, they
studied the heavens and they were adopts in
simple manufacturing pursuits. LugalZag
gisi found them excellent models and fol-
lowed their ideas in all things, even to
adopting their worship of Bel, the god OF
Nlppur. How far this civilization had ad
yanced on certain lines may be judged
from the following extract taken from
letter recently written by DR.. Hilprecht
while sitting amid the very things he de-
scribes:
The eastern city Notifications have been
receiving my attention, and the whole
northern half of the big city wall has been
traced. The great eastern gate has been
identified 1t was called Abulu-Rabu
Great Gate) 1t was an immense solid
structure of the earliest pre-Sargonic
period.
nearthinE Palace.
1.-The most important discovery made is
the finding and tracing of huge pre-Sar-
comic palace having GOD-foot front. 1t
was buried far below the desert under a
ponderous mass of ruins. The whole
southern facade of the buildings has now
been excavated. l have been able to prove
cnnclUsivcly that it had at least two stor-
les. one window, the only one preserved
do of no 1fsft
We eXcaVated a few rooms. The floors
Were carefully laid with baked brick
In the rooms were found number
of pre-SargOnic tablets, seal, d very
ancient seal impre sSiOn in clay. showing
an eagle with nUtspread wings. recognized
from similar figures on the monuments of
Tello. and Il few other objects of peculiar
character. At the west wing was well,
built of characteristic pre-Sargonic bricks.
y large vase and cup We're found nearby
standing on little platform. Many traces
OF the pre-Sarsonic period have been dis
covered; among them are seven large
fragments of a limestone relief represent
ing a battle scene. We have found so
many pre-Sargonic structures at so many
different places in Nippur that We begin
gradually to understand what Importance
the city must have had in possessing the
chief and most revered shrine in all Baby
lunia.'
In another letter Or. Hilprecht states
that he discovered the temple library 1t
was in separate library building, and it
contained -'''F' tahieLS inscribed with a
history Oh me t!fnG anu OF times then long
gone by: W feh lheE are All translated 1t
is probable they will extend our knowledge
of man far beyond the conquests of Lugal-
ZasslSl'
SPiehdih my.
So what IugalZaggisi found and what
DR.. Hilprecht uncovered was an extensive
,.,1,ad ,it,. With erao. e.o. ,s,,, -,
80 i'eu WIN
d uei!i!le 4ue' VI dit' d h4lS ; palace Wnlcn
modern structures OF this kind; a govern
ment library in which the history Of rho