Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1901-03-02
BABYLON DISCOVERIES.
German Scholars Unearth a
Stone Hittite Monument.
TEE GREAT WALL ALSO FOUND

Made Fer the Famous
az Babylon.
Three thousand years before the birth
Of Christ a mighty nation ruled 10
Syria and Mesopotamia- This was the
Hittase nation. the mystery and az
ding puzzle of archaeology. All the cru
dition of modern scholarship has failed
to throw upon the strange language OF
he lffttitos or to Gull from their en-
during records ia stone n definite his
torical fact about this once mighty
race.
Endeavor In this direction has re-
Gently been stimulated by the finding
among the ruins of the ancient city OF
Babylon by the German scholars and
explorers now excavating there a stone
monument of Hittite art and literature
In perfect condition and inscribed with
a long legend in the untranslatable Ian
guage, say the New York Sun. b
monument was recently found In the
ruins OF a Babylonian temple to the
goddess Nin-Mach. 1t is 40 inches high.
II inches wide and IA inches thick.
On one side is d bas-relief or a HIT
lite deity excellently preserved. There
is no doubt that this is the god of thun-
der, for he grasps in n hand the
triple fork which SO often represents
lightning in ancient art. But the In
scription 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 alphabetical system. One
character represents an arm. another a
leg and foot, still another the outline
bust of a man with his hand raised to
his face. and there are squares. angles
and other familiar figures, each one
seeming to mean something when con-
sidered by itself. but without attain
able meaning when regarded in total.
Within those simple looking characters
lies the secret that an archRologist
would give a lifetime to learn.
Many attempts have been made to
decipher the lost tongue. There Is
good ground for hope that the German
expedition to Babylon may offer the
long sought solution of the problem by
finding some monument bearing a
double inscription. in both the Hittite
character and the Assyrian. which
would give the key. The rest would
be only a matter of detail. for he
finding of this monument in so perfect
a state of preservation shows that at
some time the Hittite power nus have
been great, even in the city of Baby
Ion itself. and where one monument has
been found it is always certain that
others will be discovered.
But this mysterious monument of a
vanished race. utterly swept from the
face of the earth by the power Of
Egypt and Assyria. is not the only
valuable discovery which has been
made by the German expedition. With
true German t~horoughness the entire
mound or series of mounds covering
the site Nof ancient Babylon is being
cleared away. The explorers have al
ready succeeded in finding the great
wall described by Herodotus and re-
garded as fictitious by critics of the
father of history, whom they CURLY
termed the father of lies.
H%erodotus. who visited Babylon in
the time of .ArtaxerXes | t465 Il. O.,
said h the wall surrounding the city
was so royal ellis wide and o ellis high
(S4 by 33G feet,. and that on top of the
wall. ON each edge. were one story
houses. leaving a space between the
rows of houses on which four chariots
could drive abreast. This wall has
been found. but 1t surpasses the de-
scription of Herodotus.
The retaining wall was built of bak-
ed bricks laid in asphalt and vas 231a
feet thick. Beyond this vas a filing in
of sand and gravel 80 feet thick and
then another retaining wall A feet
thick. making the entire breadth of the
wall 1862 feet.
This wall surrounded the city in
which were the palace of Nebuchad-
neZzaf and all of the temples. Only
one Oh tutst tculplt udS ptch ouuu ~
far-the temple of the Hittite monu
ment-but this is a fine structure. built
in the usual Assyrian fashion of a
steep tower. or ziggurat. and many of
its rooms have now been uncovered.
From inscriptions found there 1t seems
that this temple was built by Assur-
banipal t66S-626 B. ca and by him ded-
icated to Nin-Mach and called Emach.
The leader of the expedition, DR..
Robert Koidewey. states that the court
Of the temple, containing a well. is sur
rounded by rooms which are shut off
by doors from the court and show in
teresting mural concentrations. In
the court and rooms there Is a double
tile pavement. with a space of 6H feet
between the two pavements. In this
peculiar store chamber a great number
Of inscribed clay tablets have been dis
covered bearing the of the