The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-07-09
AMONG The. ARABS | !. J
Mrs. Haynes Aids Her Husband IN
Making Excavations.
YEAROFExCITEMENTA AND DANGER
The Natives Resented WomnI's
Presence, but Mrs. Haynes Won
Their Affection.

!. e, yGs<Sz IN -
That woman should take her life in
her hands and go among the barbarous
Arabs of Assyria to take part in the work
of excavating ancient ruins is unique.
This has ben done by an American Wom-s
an, Mrs. John II. Haynes, who accom-
panied her husband in the latest expedt-
tion sent out by the University OF
Pennsylvania to continue the excavations
begun by him In conjunction with DR.
Hilprecht at Nippur some years ago.
It was during the last campaign, trls
which DR.. Haynes was accompanied and
assisted by his wife. that the now famous
library Of $4,000 clay. tablets was dis
covered. When deciphered these cannot
fail to. shed a food Of light upon the;
life led by the men and women In one
Of Assyria's greatest cities 1900 years
before Christ. ~a IT, 49, - X
Upon their arrival. at Bagdad the clay
houses! occupied by DR.. Haynes on his
previous stay there were unsealed and
found in tolerably good condition, but
further improvements were necessary, for
there the doctor and Mrs. Haynes were
to dwell for more than year. The walls
were thick, to protect the Americans from
the extreme heat of the summer, and yet
the degree of comfort attainable was only
limited, even after all repairs had been
| made. II g." s~.'s' -, ..>s.'s
Mrs. Haynes had to fight her chief bat
tie with public opinion. Her husband was
popular with his workmen, but 1t was
novel enterprise to bring civilized wom-
an among them Her reception was chill
ly and had 1t not been for the friendli-
ness of. the sheikh of the district, Hail
Tarfa by name, the outcome might have
been disastrous Knowing how much de-
pended upon him, all preparations were
made for receiving him with due eere-
mony. VA sheep was sacrificed. and "a
tent pitched for the reception Of the
CHI oil ,h@ ~ fh@
as it. was considered a .harem on ac-
count Of Mrs. Haynes living in 1t.
Mrs. Haynes became popular with the
workmen and the natives round about,
and many of the women came to her to
be treated for sore eyes and other Attic
lions. A child who had fallen into a
fire and been badly burned about the legs
was one of her first patients, and the skill
with which she cured it's wounds did much
to esta blish her in the good graces Of the
multitude.
After her popularity seemed estab-
lished, when no danger to her person ap-
peared probable, she took her share of
going on simultaneously in various parts
of the huge mounds of .Nippur. Ultimately
the workmen in her division became so
| much attached to her that at nightfall,
when the work was done, they bore her to
the house upon their. shoulders. = The
osities were brought to her by the Arabs,
especially by the children, whose devotion
| to 'sthe Beg'ss harem,' as she was called.
was remarkable
The wall of the city was traced for 1872
feet, and the gateway with the stair
ways on either side and the large open
space into which the chariots wer driven
to await their masters, were all laid bare.
No better idea'of the work done by Mrs.
Haynes can be given than by copying an
extract from page of her diary, at which
I have been permitted to glance. This
entry was made a month after reach
i ing 3NippursE ,o. ~ s3a5E, IL 4 ~ 4
Il am kept very busy busy ana wonder that
I the time passes so rapidly in this place
! where we are so much alone. The finds
Of to-day were a clay image, or idol; :
f1forty-eig sound tablets tone fine and
one coarse seal; one perforated prism; a
Kitchen unearthed by Hazam and photo
graphed, and eighteen graves opened: The
kitchen is built of bricks twenty inches
square; the floor and portion of the walls
are intact. The frepot made of bricks is
perfectly good and shows the marks Of
/ fire. = 49,
Almost every day new tablets we're dis
covered, and as these are the books Of an
cient Babylonia they are considered of
| the highest value. From them may be
Il learned much Of thezhnsiness land the so=
cial life of ancient times. Here are con-
tracts between bankers and farmers for
loans, marriage contracts, and the docu-
ments Of the entire life ia highly civil
lized people who lived six thousand years
or more ago. :.,'''f.' 49,
1t was not until the campaign was al
most a year old, after more than one
narrow escape from the treacherous at
tacks of neighboring tribes of Arabs,
that the triumph of the campaign and for
that matter, of the entire excavation OF
Nippur was reached by the discovery OF
} the now famous library. Almost an entire
month was required for the removal and
} packing Of the tablets, which had to be
taken out of the ground one by one with
the greatest care, so as to avoid all dan
ger of injury. At the end of that time,
there were 100 cases of tablets, the richest
archaeological treasure ever found in any
one place atone time, ready to be shipped
to- the imperial museum at Constantinople
to W hich everything must by law be sent.