Omaha daily bee., 1901-02-03

inscribed clay tablets have been discovered,
bearing the names Of the workmen and the
wages paid to those engaged in building
tho temple. These pay rolls are dated
giving day month and year OF the reign
OF Nebuchadnezzar and Evil -Merodach.
From this it Is evident that the construc-
tion OF the building began during the reign
of Nebuchadenezzar and was merely COM
pleted by Assurbanipal, or Sardanapalus. as
the Greeks called him. A cylinder found
in this temple has been translated by DR..
Meissner, the Assyriologst OF the expedi-
tion, and reads as follows: "Assur-bani-
pal, the great king, the mighty king, the
king of the world. the king of Assyria, the
king of the four ends of the earth, the
king OF kings, the peerless prince, who
rules from the upper sea to the lower sea
and treads all lower kings beneath his feet;
the son Of Asarhaddon, OF the great king,
of the mighty king, of the king of the
world of the king OF Assyria, of the Lord
Of Babel. the king of Sumer and Akad;
grandson OF Sanherib, the mighty king,
king of the world. king OF Assyria am
l. l completed the building of Esagila.
which my father, my begetter, did not finish
and the gifts for offerings OF Esagila and
for the divinities of Babel | established
we'll, and the government of Babel | made
firm. So that power might not harm the
weak, l have entrusted the dominion of
Babel to my beloved brother, Shamas- sun
ukin. At the same time ! established
Emach, the temple of the goddess MIN
Mach, in the midst OF Babel. Do thou, o
sublime NinMach, look down with favor
upon my pious deeds and daily beseech my
prosperity before Bel and Belt. Set
life Of many days my fate and make my
dominion firm as heaven and earth. And az
to my dear brother, Samas sun -ukin, king of
Babel, grant that his days may be long
and that he may be satisfied with many
! successors. Whoever craftily erases my
name or the name OF my dear brother, or
breaks my inscription, or changes its place.
may Min Mach implore misfortune for him
before Bell and Belt, and wipe out his
name and his seed from the land"
Wonders in Prospect.
II has been proven 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 Babylonlan
ruins. Excavations are now proceeding
rapidly at this point and already some OF
the ancient ruins are being brought to light
Deep down in this mound IL is expected that
the palace of Nebuchadnezzar will be found
and here, too, must be those marvellous
hanging gardens, one of the wonders OF
the world. 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 1t
is probable that the very arches upon which
the gardens were planted will come to light.
They were not actually hanging gardens,
but rather elevated gardens, planted upon
arches seventy five feet high and extending
800 feet In every direction, but covered
with so deep a soil that the largest trees
grew there. From distance these gardens
seemed TO hang in the air, hence the name
But It was necessary TO water these
artificial layers of earth, and the water ol
the Euphrates was brought over in canals
and raised to the proper height by some
method not yet clear, but soon to be ex-
planned by the discovery OF the gardens
| themselves,
| II is IN this more ancient part OF the city
| that a large amount OF Babylonian and
| Assyrian remains have come to light, con-
sisting not only OF ancient walls, but also
| OF many cylinders inscribed In cuneform
| characters, numerous ornaments and yotive
| figures, besides a building, the top story
OF which contains stamped bricks Of the
! time Of Nebuchadnezzar. The lower portion
must be much older, but II is only now
being uncovered Here, too, have been
found. upon some OF the seal cylinders,
pictures OF the god of thunder aud lightning,
Hadad much like that OF the Hittite deity,
Babylonian pantheon. The representation