Omaha daily bee., 1901-02-03
MYSTERY OF An ANClENTRACE
Exploration In the Ruins Of Babylon Bring
to Light Monument.
GIVES A CLUE TO THE HnTITt LANGUAGE
Strange HieroEiypbics the Prize Pu,-
Eie of ArcbaeoIogy-GIimp
of the Pay Rolls of
Nebuchndnczznr.

rhree thousand years before the birth OF
Christ a mighty nation ruled with the
strong hand In Syria and Mesopotamia. us
influence extended far beyond the borders
Of the realm and made Itself felt among
the outside nations, enduring long alIe'
the nation itself had ceased to be. Inns was
the Hittte nation, the mystery ana uaH''us
puzzle Of archaeology. What little Is KNOWN
OF the Httites is derived from the oiDle an"
from Assyrian and Egyptian inscrlp'iou5
All the crudition Of modern schoIaTsn'P' az
the genius and patience thiI IahS'a',u
the arrow headed inscriptions ana maue
clear the ancient writings CUT INV 'uS
bricks Of Nippur. have failed TO throw
st,gle raw of light upon the strange Ian
guege OF the Hittites or TO Gull from tne'r
enduring records in stone one definite MIS-
toricaI fact about this once mighty race.
Endeayor in this direction has recently
been stimulated by the hndng among the
ruins OF the ancient city OF Babylon, by the
German scholars and explorers now ex-
cayating there, a stone monument OF Hlttlte
nrt and literature, in perfect condition, ana
inscribed with a long legend In the un-
translatable language. The monument was
recently found in the ruins OF Babylonian
temple to the goddess Min Mach. 1t IS ~
inches high. q inches wide and II Inches
OF a Hittite deity, excellently preserved.
There is no doubt that this Is the god OF
thunder, for he grasps in one hand the
triple fork which so often represents light
ming In ancient art. But the inscription
IS not so simple a matter. Clear cut as
the characters are, not all the scholars
IN the world can translate the legend, or
even evolve from the characters an alpha
betical system. But even to the eye OF
one who has no acquaintance with ancient
languages the inscription is interesting
pictorially one character represents an
arm; another a leg and foot; still another
the outline bust OF n man with his hand
raised TO his face, and there are squares.
angles and other familiar figures, each one
seeming to mean something when consd-
cred by Itself, but without attainable mean
ing when regarded in total Within those
simple looking characters lies the secret
that an Archaeological would give lifetime
OF toll to learn.
Exodus of the Uittites.
Students OF the bible will recollect that
among the nations which were driven out
OF the Promised Land by the Israeltcs
under the leadership OF Joshua, the Hitttes
are mentioned. This. scholars agree. must
have been when the Hittite power was
waning for 1t was several centuries before
this that Setl ana hhneSes, fudTdOnS ol
Egypt, sent out several expeditions against
the Hlttites and reduced them TO subsection
n the inscriptions upon the walls OF the
great temple at Karnak are to be believed.
1t Is also known that the Hittites held
sway In the city OF Carchemish on the
Euphrates for many of the puzzling in
scriptions attributed to them have been
found in the ruins OF that great emporium
OF the day II is not known with certainty
to what race they belonged, although the
pictures OF the Hittites found in Egypt
have led many to the conclusion that they
were Mongolians, for the pigtail, still
found In China, and the straight nose and
receding forehead prove absolutely that
they could not have been of the Semitic
race, like the Babylonians. nor of the
Egyptian stock Some have suggested that
the Httites were Turanians, but
one can 40 more tnun
guess at the matter. Before a language
can be deciphered It is necessary to know
TO which stock It belongs, and this un-
certainty about the origin of the Httites
has only deepened the difficulty in reading
their inscriptions. Some, like Colonel
Conder, have thought that at last solu-
tion OF the problem had been found, only
TO be proved wrong in few weeks by other
scholars. The only hope seems to lie in
finding some Httite inscription, side by
side with one in another language, now
known, which will serve as key. This