The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-04-01
,UR OF THE CHALDEES NEXT
ABRfH aM'S FIHsT HOME TO NE
INC.fDl7ED NY ANERiCIN M.
kxpiorers IN Biblical Lands About to Dig
~ the Earliest Babylonian CITY known
--Promisipg RUFUS Near Nasarieh ON
- lhs Euphrates- Hope to Begin This Year.

~ HshE " "
-Promi.ing Ruins Near Nnsarieh on
the Euphrates- Hope to Begin This Year.
Mr. Edgar Jane, Banks Of Cambridge, who
IA preparing The plans Tor excava,ing the ruins
Of Tho ancient Ur Of ths Chald,es, Is In hopes that
the funds Tor tina, purpose will have been collected
by next fall The work promises rich rewards
In discoveries tina, will interest Biblical students
2 and archneo'ogisis throughout the world, and II
u desirable that the antiquities found should
nnd a resting plac, In IN. United States, where
% much has been done OF late years In furthering
exploration in the Old Testament lands. Mr..
Bankss interesting account Of the presen, state
81 knowledge about ur, and what scholars hoped
70 accomplish on the site OF the ruins, follows:
To the siuden, OF early Hebrew history no d'y
should awaken greater interest than tr Of ths
Chaldccs. which Genesis XI, 81 calls the birth
place Of Abraham and his people, Whether
Abraham was m individual or a tribal name,
lr Of IN ChnldeeS must be regarded as III" or-t
nsl home ~ th' Hebrew nation, tho starting point
from which a colony Of Babylonians, pcrhaps
rrowed out by over population, migrated To
Canaan, a Babylon province which offered them
. suitable home.
The cuDeiform inscriptions as yet tell us nothing
bf this migration. and the occurrence OF the name
Ah-ra mu does not point 10 the Biblical Abraham
Cr. however. Is q familiar name, for the city was
y 4Ahs osntrs Of tbs worship Of Sin, the Moon God.
A. Hsrsn, also a centre Of the Moon God cult,
the migrating Abrahami,es rested, another In
dication that they were devoted TO the worship
OF Sin. The Journey continued westward to the
.. south OF Canaan. Apparently the steep walls
Of Sinai reminded thu wanderers Of the mountain
like temples OF lr and Ilaran which they had
len behind, aud the rock served as ,hyir temple,
for the name Sinai does no, mean "A burning
bush" but the place of the Moon God Sin.
The ats Of Ir Was long a debated point. The
older scholars located it in the north al Edessa'
some have identified IL with Warka In the south,
and others, misled by a statement In the Septua
gint. have regarded ur as the name OF a large
country These discussions were ended in 1901
when Sir Henry Ravlinson read the word | ri
upon he bricks which Mr. Taylor had taken from
Mugheir. The Identification is rendered more
complete by Eusebius, who calls the ruin Cana
rina. derived from the Arabic kGmar, the moon.
Six miles to the right Of the Euphrates, directly
opposite the modern garrison town Nasarirh'
are the ruins Of ancient Jr Mughrir, thu modern
name, originated from the bitumin in which the
bricks Of the principal mound of the group are
laid. Whenever the Euphrates overt'ows its
banks the surrounding country becomes a marsh
and the ruins, presenting tn appearance OF an
island, must be reached in a boat. at low water
Il IL a ride of half an hour by horseback from
Nasaheh. The group Of mounds is somewhat
,pyaI in shan; the longes, diameter from north
90 south Is the distance Of half q mile. The pr'n-
,ipal feature is a large rectangular structure at
D. The northern end, a hap OF ruins seventy feet In
height, in which the platform aud the first two
'sioips Of a building may be seen, The platform
l. about twenty feet in height and Is faced with
o.. SAJ kvtrl a al, ,lsnih NJ ton fact The lower
story is twenty seven feet high, its sides measure
. las by 1893 feet. and It's walls are supported by
buttress,s The upper story is fourteen fec, high
and lis sides measure Is by ll9 feet and are with
out buttresses. The bricks are larger than those
below and are cpmsnted with mortar. The entire
structure is perforated with a%psrtures, Along
80 che west side Of the group are two parallel lines
80 Of mounds and another upon the east and south,
~ similar 10 q surrounding wall. The enclosure
90 j. tlied with mounds Of various heights, and
''o outside low mounds siop~ away 10 the desert
.aroA little 10 the east Is another group Of mounds,
, and 800 yards to the west is the bed Of an ancient
10 cana leading to the Enphrates. In the distance
.- a. the south Just upon the horizon appears the
D summit OF Abu Sharein, the ancient Eridu.
-"' In 1854 Mr.. j. L.. Taylor, the English Consul
= st Busreh, made slight but successful excavations
81 Mugheir under the supervision Of Sir Henry
''- Rawlinson. On the north side Of the tower
or Liggurat he sank a shaft fourteen feet
8 In depth, from the bottom OF which he tun.
nelled thirty six fee, 10 the centre Of the mound.
ID. Solid brick masonry, fragments Of enamelled
bricks and Of an inscribed barrel cylinder were
found. Al the four corners Of the upper story
In openings in the walls he found four perfect
cylinders: one was twelve feet below the surface
and another but two. Forty Ave yards from the
sou,heas, corner of the temple, Mr.. Taylor un-
covered the perfect walls of a house: the arches
and passages were still standing and charred
date stems showed the construction Of its former
roof. In the long western mound were two
8. large clay Jars filled with case tablets, and the
m Of cones abounded. A slight eIami-
nation Of the eastern mound revealed a coffin
In " hich was a periectscaraband pieces OF carved
The central mounds seemed 10 Be- filled With
tornbs, some Of which are house shaped, seven
feet long and five feet wide, and sometimes lined
II touched upon first, exposure Crumblcd TO
dust, but in time they hardened and could be
upon a c%ushioned brick. The left hand held a cop,
per dish in which the fingers of the right hand
were resting about Ne left wrist were thc re.
attached. Clay dishes containing fish and chick
on bones and the remains 81 date stones, water
Jars and drinking cups, gold and agate beads.
let's, precious stones, duck images, Z mes and
o. tablets, copper spear and arrow heads we among
the objects which the tOinDS contained. hfAdn-
der may have refc rred 10 this burial piece when he
Says that the tombs ~ the Assyrian kings are in
the great marshes Of the lower country MIR,
IA. Taylor dug into the ruins at various places but
nowhere we're the excavations carried 10 a great
depth, and the work which he did Is only AN in
dicatinn Of what We may expect 10 find In this
most interesting Of the Babylonlan ruins.
The ms, ribcd cylinders Oi Nabonldus, which
we're taken from the corners OF the temple at r,
are OF special interest to the Bible student, for there
the na me Of BalshazLar was read in The cuneitOrm
for the first time, and The mystery Of the hero
Of a story in the book Of Daniel was explained.
The longer inscriptions speak Of temple ConStruc-
tons at Lassa aud Again.; the shorter is an account
OF che final restoration al the temple Of sin in
which the cylinders wero found. II reads
"Nabonidus, kiIg Of Babylon, the supporter
3d. Of Esagil and Eyida, the re vcrencer Of the great
gods am l. Elug iC)sidi the 2lggurat Of the
temple GiSh shlr gal which is al lr, which | rgur
his son. Completed. Upon the Inscriptions Of tr
gr and Dungi, | saw that lrgUr had 'r,c'd that
zi,gura, bat had not completrdit lurri his Spn
iihi she'd the work, Now that 2iggurat has be-
cone old, Upon the old foundation which trgur
and Dungi, his sDI, erected, ! restored hat zig
eurat with cement aud brick like the oi iginal,
err To in the lord of the god. ~ heaven and earth.
the king Of the gods Of the gods, who lnhabit the
great heavens. the lord If GiSh Shir gel which |
d. founded and erected in lr, my lord Sin. tho lord
OF the gotis. the king Of the gods of heaven and
earth, The god Of the gods who inhabii the great
heavens, as thou loyfully enirrsst hat house may
the blessings Of Esasil ana ELIa of GiSh Shir gal
the I temples Of thy greet divinity he established
against thy great divinity. May their lounda ions
J. el Ia Ia A.N.nG bpAA.rt. m. mi