The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-05-31
DISCOVERIES
At BABYLON
Hittite Monument
Unearthed by
Germans.
HISTORY OF A
VANISHED RACE
The Great Wall of Babylon is Also
Brought to Light-Hans-
ing Gardens.

LONDON, May 15.-Three thousand
years before the birth of Christ
mighty nation ruled in Syria and Me-
sopotamia- This was the Hittite ma
ton, the mystery and battling puzzle
modern scholarship has failed to throw
upon the strange language of the Hit
tites or to Gull from their enduring
records in stone one definite historical
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 lit
erature, in perfect condition, and in
scribed 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. It is 40 inches high, q inches
wide and IA inches thick.
On one side. is a bas-relief of a Hit
tite 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
| lightning in ancient art. But the in
scription is not so simple a matter
/ Clearcut as the characters are, not all
the scholars in the world can translate
the inscription. 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 man with his hand raised
to his face; and there are squares,
angles and other familiar figures, each
one seeming to mean something when
considered by itself, but without at
tainable meaning when regarded in to-
tai. Within those simple looking char
acterS lies the secret that an archaic
ologist 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 ex
petition TO Babylon may offer the
long sought solution of the problem by
finding some monument bearing a dou<
BILE Inscription in both the Hittite chars
acter and, the Assyrian, which. would
give the key. The rest: would be only
a matter OF detail For the finding OF
this MONUMENT in SO perfect a state
shows that at some time the Hittite
power nfIsf have been great. even in
the city OF Babylon itself, and where
one monument has been found it is al
ways certain that others will be dis
covered.
But this mysterious monument of
vanished race, utterly swept from the
face of tie earth by the power OF
Egypt aid Assyria, is not the only
valuable discovery which has been
made by the German expedition. With
true Gern4sn thoroughness the entire
mound OPP series of mounds covering
the site ~ ancient Babylon is being
cleared away, The evnlorers have al
! ready succeeded in Fl ding the great
wall described by Herodotus. and re-
garded as.tfictitieus by critics of the
father of history, whom they CURLY
termed thef father of lies.
Herodotus, who visited Babylon in
the time OF ArtaXerNes I (465 B.. CD,
said that the wall surrounding the city
was so royal ellis wide and 200 ellis high
I ga by-3s6 .feet). ard that on top of the
wall, on each et!ga. were one story
houses. leating & Space between the
rows of houses on which four charfots
could drive abreast. This wall has
been found but it surpasses the de-
SCflpilOIl. OF 1SDGGOluS-
I The retaining wall was built of bak-
ed bricks laid in asphalt and was 231s
feet thick. Beyond this was q filling
! in Of sand and gravel 60 feet thick, and
| then another retaining wall "A feet
| thick, making the entire breadth Of the
wall 1861 feet
This wall surrounding the city IN
which We're the palace of Nebuchad-
nezzar and all the temples Only one
/
| far, the temple of the Hittite monu-
ment, but this is a fine structure, built
| in the usuaf Assyrian fashion of a
steep tower or ziggurat, and many OF
/ its rooms have now been uncovered.
From inscriptions found there it seems
| that this temple was built by Assur-
| banipal (66S-626 r. CO, and by him ded-
! icated to Min Mach and called Emach
The leader of the expedition, DIR.
Robert Koldewey, 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 Communications. In
| the court and, rooms there is a double
| tile pavement, with space of six and
a half feet between the two pavements.
In this peculiar store chamber a great
number of inscribed clay tablets have
! been discovered, bearing the names of
/
| those engaged in the building OF the
temple. Theses payrolls are dated, Civ
| ing day. month and year of the reign
of Nebuchadnezzar and Evil erodach.
It has been proved in the course of
| the excavations that the site OF this
temple really lies in the suburbs of the
city. and it was supposed that a
mound. called Amran by the Arabs,
covered the chief Babylonian ruins
| Excavations are now proceeding rap
idly at this point, and already some of
the ancient ruins are being brought 10
light. Deep down in this mound it is
expected that the palace of Nebuchad-
! nezzar Will be found. and here, too.
must be those marvellous Hanging
Gardens. one of the wonders Of the
world.
A large canal, used for bringing the
| water from the Euphrates. probably
for watering these gardens, and called
Libil, has been found and within short
| time it is probable that the very arch
es upon which the gardens were plant