The Washington times., 1901-06-30
A SEARCH FOR ANCIENT UR
The Important Undertaking Pro-
posed by Scientists.
Extensive Excavations to BE Made
in the WiIds of Arnbia If Permis-
sion Can BE Obtained From the
Turkish RuIer-The Party's Plans.

bian desert the remains Of ''Ur of the
Chaldees.' the natal city OF Abraham,
whence he set out by divine command
for the land of Canaan, is the work
proposed by an exploring party of three
| scientists, one of whom, DR.. e. J.
Banks, is now in Constantinople await
ing the necessary permission from the
Sultan of Turkey.
The results of the expedition. in in
scribed and sculptured stone-in fact,
in remains of all kinds-will be sent
TO the National Museum, where they
will be placed on public view as soon
as practicable.
Application has been made, through
the Department of State, to the Sub
| lime Porte for permission to excavate
| JTr of the Chaldees, and the neighbor-
| ing ruins of the ancient Babylonian
| city of Eridu. Even in the event of the
permission being granted, work cannot
be commenced until next fall or winter,
as the thermometer stands ordinarily
| in the locality to be explored at 140 de-
grees Fahrenheit.
Prof William Palmer, naturalist, is
| the only scientist of the Smithsonian
who viii accompany the expedition.
DR.. E. ]. Banks, director, and MIR. Fred
! +. LAWS, engineer, the remaining
members, are also eminently fitted for
their task DR.. Banks is a profound
/ Assyriologist, q graduate of Harvard
/ University and of the Royal Univer-
sity of Breslau, Germany. He was for
some time United States Consul at
Bagdad Turkey. Mr. LAWS is an ex-
| perienced engineer.
Ur, perhaps the oldest city in history
and the birthplace of civilization. is
| represented today by the mounds of
Mugheir, hills of larger size rising
above the rolling sands of the desert.
'And Thare took Abram, his son, and
Lot the son of Aran, his sons son, and
Sarai. his daughter-in-law, the wife Of
Abranl his son, and brought them on.
of Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the
land of Canaan, and they came as
far as Haran, and dwelt there" Suci,
is the Biblical mention of Ur Genesis,
KIDD.
The ruins which il is proposed to in
vestigate, and which are determined to
be the remains of the ancient political
and religious head of the Babylonian
Empire, consist, superfnially, of a
group of mounds near the River Eu-
pirates. opposite Nasarieh. They were
examined in 1854 by Mr. Taylor, an
English Consul at Busreh. Digging a
few trenches, he revealed the walls of
an ancient temple. the most perfect
specimen of Babylonian architecture
known. In its corners were first found
inscriptions containing the name of Bel
shaZzar. Other mounds of the group
conceal the palaces of the kings OF Ur.
and the artistic and literary remains of
this most ancient city. Ancient inscrip-
tions uncovered by the rains Or by the
native Arabs may now be seen lying on
the surface. Mr.. Taylor opened a few
Of the graves which abound In one
of them he found a skeleton lying on a
reed mat, with a reed basket at the feet,
fourteen clay vessels, a copper bowl,
an inscribed cylinder fastened about
the wrist, a band of pure gold about
an inch broad, four duck statuettes, q
cat's-eye stone, and a white sandstone
cylinder. This grave was more than
2,50e years old.
From Babylonian history it is known
that the palaces of three dynasties of
kings and five temples were erected
at Ur. Search in the mounds, il is ex-
pected, VIII reveal not only their ruins,
but the rich bas-reliefs and Inscriptions
which lined the walls, and Babylon
ian library similar to those found at
Ninevah and Nippur.
1t is urged that the excavation of Ur
should not be delayed, for the neigh
boring Arabs are digging bricks from
the ruins, destroying the inscriptions,
probably of priceless value, which they
uncover. Delay may thus cause the de-
struction of some of the most valuable
records of antiquity.
No explorations have been made on
the site of Ur since Mr.. Taylor's dis
covery, that is, for nearly fifty years.
During that time scholars have urged
the necessity for investigating what
may prove the richest mine of anti
quarian lore yet found-a course which
may reveal more direct evidence in sup
port Of the account of the infancy of
the human race as contained in the
Scriptures. Says William r. Harper,
Ph. D., D. D., LII. D., President of the |
University OF Chicago. and Principal |
Of the American Institute of Sacred |
Literature: From no source have we |
received so much material of educa-
tional value foE purposes of history, |
archaeology, and language, as from the |
material obtained in expeditions to the |
ancient Assyrians and Babylonian |
cities.'
Paul Haupt, Phi. D., professor of Sc
mitic languages and Director of the |
Oriental Seminary, Johns Hopkins Uni |
versity, Baltimore, Honorary Curator |
Of the Division of Historic Archaeolo- |
gy. u. S. National Museum formerly |
professor Of Assyriology in the Royal |
University of Gottingen, etc, says: Il |
have advocated exploration of Ur Of |
the Chaldees for the last seventeen |
years. Excavations in the traditional |
home of Abraham Genesis, xi:31), will |
no doubt throw a flood of light on the |
early history Of Babylonia as well as |
on the early narratives of Genesis. If |
the plan can be carried out in the prop |
er way, we may be able TO bring to |
this country a collection OF Babylonian /
antiquities. calculating the dawn of |
civilization and especially Biblical |