The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-11-24
A CITY UNDER THE SAND
AMERICAN EXPLORATION IN THE
DESERTS OF BABYLONIA.
Temple OF BaaI Has Yielded UD a Liz
brary Lost Before Abraham Was
Born-Ancicnt City Of Nippur.
Philadelphia Public Ledger.

Philadelphia Public Ledger.
Prof Herman V. Hilprecht, the distin-
guished curator of the Babylonian section
of the archaeological museum of the Uni
versity of Pennsylvania, arrived on the
North German Lloyd steamer Friedrich der
Crosse He has just returned from another
years exploration of the ruins Of the an
cient city of Nippur. during which time
he has made probably the most important
archaeological discovery of the nineteenth
century. His progress homeward from the
Turkish dominions has been triumphal
one. He has been honored by the leading
professors of Germany and England. and
the European press has teemed with no.
tees of the great results he has achieved
in the sy SYSTEMATIC excavations he has made
In the deserts of Babylonia.
Professor Hilprecht gave a Ledger re-
porter an interesting talk descriptive of the
work attempted and the results attained
during the eleven years since he COM
menced the excavations at Nippur under
the auspices of the University of Penn
sylvana, and gave a particular account
of the great discovery of the library of the
Temple of Bel, or Baal, as it is written
In the Old Testament.
Nippur is situated seventy miles south OF
Bagdad, nearly east from the margin of
the Affej swamps, which are inhabited by
Bedouins. 1t is a large mound rising one
hundred to two hundred feet above the
desert, irregular in shape, which a person
could walk around in an hour and quar-
ter. 1t is divided into two parts by
stream which runs through IL. On the
eastern side is the Temple of Bel with all
its surroundings, the residences of the
priests and the temple library. On the
western side the people lived. These an
cient cities We're destroyed by rebellons
and conquests and rebuilt again, and one
civilization followed another, and all have
been covered up by the Accommodations OF
ages. By methodical excavation each of
these civilizations is reached and studied.
and about thirty-three feet below the
desert the remains of high civilization
The excavations are carried on by a
force of about 400 native workmen, super
intended in gangs OF about thirty men each
by some of the old experienced Arabs, who
have been with former expeditions. Great
care is taken to prevent the breakage or
the tablets. which, being OF unbaked clay
and lying in the moist earth, become al
most indstinguishable from it.
DR.. Hilprecht's idea was that at Nippur
there existed very early civilization, pre-
ceding anything of which there was any
knowledge. A fair conception of former
results was that the civilization ran back
5000 years. p. c. Fragments of vases found
there enabled him TO frame a Scaffolding
of an historical period antedating that. His
plan during the last year was TO discover
how far into the past this civilization did
extend in all the different parts of Nippur.
He began first in the eastern and south
ern limits of the city, and typographical
maps were prepared by the architects. The
outlines of the city were clearly pictured
and the trenches made by excavation
They succeeded in finding the great eastern
gate of Nippur. which dates from the early
part of the fifth millennium, b. G. 1t was
twenty feet below the desert, constructed
of baked bricks laid in bitumen The
bricks were fat on one side and convex on
the other, which peculiar form was used
by the earliest builders in Babylonia. The
men who built those bricks used the same
as were used In the tower of Babel.
BY digging down the peculiar system of
fertilization of that period was discov-
cred. The walls were fifty feet thick at the
eyed Arabs would point out where the lines
came Of the walls built upon them by later
civilizations. The exact limits of the city
proper were determined and a street was
outlined. AT the foot of the wall the
weapons used by the oldest inhabitants
We're found. Having no metals, and there
being TO stones, even the smallest, they
made baked clay balls of different sizes,
from marbles TO much larger sizes. Also
the remains of spears.
While digging for the walls Dr. Hilprecht
came across tremendous building, entire
| ly below the desert. 1t was over 600 feet
long on the front. There was ninety feet of
rubbish on top of it. 1t had at least two
stories. The windows were little holes not
for light, but for air. The houses were used
for sleeping purposes, and business was
| transacted in the open air. From the in
dications and the objects found, the play
| things for children, etc.. he. believed the
| building could not be later than 1000 years
| b. G.
| DIR. Hiprecht said that while he person.
| ally regarded the discovery of this oldest
building the chief and most important
result OF the expedition, perhaps others
| would regard the discovery of the great
Temple Library, at Nippur the oldest IL
brary In BabylOnia, as more important.
| There was found great library of tablets.
| arranged on shelves. When he began the
excavation he found a large number of re-
mains on lodges about two feet wide, a
| little raised from the ground. of unbaked
| cay. They were arranged In rows, hum
| dIeds and thousands Of tablets. 1t was a
glorious sight. The tablets had suffered
from the moist earth and had to be dried
and carefully handled. They had also
been crushed by the falling buildings
which had been burned. The fact was
| established by what was inscribed upon
them that there was a library and archives
/ OF some kind. He found that the tablets,
contained grammatical sentences, written
half dozen times as by pupil practicing
upon them. Then there were lists of words
Tor chairs, stools and other articles lists
OF words of animals. birds or plants There
were the grammatical and arithmetical and
| astronomical literature of the Babyionians.
| Large numbers of astrological and mytho-
| logical tablets and beautiful hymns as well
| as large number of historical tablets.
| There were tablets which showed how
many robes, how many garments the god
| Bel had on such and such day, how many
| temples there were besides the chief tenn
| pie. what their revenues were, etc There
| fore there was not the slightest doubt that
| the explorers actually stood in that early
| temple library known only by copies found
| IN the Royal Library OF Nineveh about
| coo Il. c.. and this library a ruin
| a. the time OF Abraham. There was no tab
| let In ii later than go Il. c.
Thousands of tombs were excavated and
| examined. Most of them were of a date
800 10 600 b. c. There were others ND 10
1000 b. c. But DIR. Hilprecht found one
tomb that he was certain belonged TO the
| NTH millennium Il. G. IL was found far
below the lowest trench of the temple.
| The burial was long before the days OF
| Solomon. Many objects of gold and silver
| were found in connection with il.