Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-10-04

some OF the most important afohae-
illogical material that ever came to
America has just arrived at the Uni
versity of'Pennsylvanla, says the New
York Tribune. A library OF which every
volume or tablet was written prior TO
Abraham's leaving Ur Of the Chadees
was eXcayated in the recent campaign
In Nlppur. These treasures were
brought TO this country IN % large
cases, containing from six 10 eight
boxes each. More than year ago
Prof. Hnprecht left Philadelphia for
constantinople, expecting to continue
his work of organizing the new Semitic
section Of the Imperial Ottoman mu-
scum, which occupies the third new
building recently erected at the sui
tans order, and at the same time ex-
anime and study the immense results
Of the last expedition TO Nippur, which
had arrived at Constantlnople As
Prof. Hllprecht was about to leave
cpnstantinople the sultan. who had
Heretofore on number Of occasions
manifested his appreciation Of the yolu.
able services rendered by Prof Hill
pyecht presented TO him, among other
Nbtortaht antiquities. the larger part
81 The fpmous temple library whlch'gas
NSeavated by the expedition Of the
University OF Pennsylvania, Prof Hll-
brscM In turn presented this magnlfi-
fsnt collection Of tablets 20 the institu-
tiot which he represented
n little over 26 Years ago the intel
laktpaa world was startled by the an
hpupcemeut that AGhurbanapal's It.
Drag bad been discovered By the Eng
1iah explorers Iayard md Smith, and
that among the clay volumes there
were ACCOUNTS OF the cseation and
Heluge which much resembled the Blbll-
zeal stories IL was then ascertained
sthat thaae legends were copies OF older
steblets which belonged TO BPbylonian
'Nhralies In the southern part OF the
valley. For some time scholars have
,assumed that every important Baby
lonian city had It's library. and that II
they could be found most important
dhta for Representation OF tn early
History Of man would be forthcoming,
without detractlng therefore, from the
Importance OF the discovery Of this an
luleut Assyrinn library at Nineveh, the
Iafinoupcement that the library Of the
0Nat Temple of Bel, tn most famous
sancc0ary OF the early liabyionla, has
been found surely must be regarded as
being Of even greater Importance. The
'seEhes Of Aahurbanapal made no.coples
lot tablets from this library, for II had
been thrown into ruin over 1900 wears
prior TO his time The Elamlte hordes
under Kudur-N anRhundi 22S5 b. c..
who destroyed nearly every city OF
Babylonia, threw into ruins at the same
time the temple library at Nippur, in
which condition II remained pntil exca-
waited. This fact determines that every
tablet found In It's ruins belongs TO the
period prior TO this inyaslon. or. In
other words. was written before or
about the time Abraham left southern
Babylonia for the Promised Land.
About IL years ago. when Prof Hill
precht first rode over the mounds at
Nippur, he pointed out an extensive
group OF mounds south OF the temple
hill which he regarded as the probable
site OF the temple library About $500
tablets were recovered from this mound
In the first campaign The mound was
called Tablet Tiill, Later excavations
revealed many additional inscriptions,
hut on the recent campaign Prof. ILL.,
precht was able 20 establish definitely
that his old theory was correct, In the
brief space OF about eight weeks n
series Of book stacks" or rooms. were
cleared by his field director Or.
Haynes and rich harvest Of nearly
10000 tablets was gathered.
In the uppermost stratum OF this
mound the eKcayatOrs found coifns
which had been buried In the early
centuries OF our Christian era. A great
many antiquities were also gathered
which belonged 10 the Jews who con-
tlnued TO live at Nppur after the return
Of Ezra and Nehemiah. Prominent
among them were terra Gotta bowls
containing incantatlOns and charms In
scribed In Hebrew and Mandaean.
Down the eXcavators went, through %
feet Of accumulations Of debris, repre-
senting several millennlums OF history.
when they finally came on the library
Here they found n series Of rooms, a
number Of which contained lodges or
shelves built out from the wall. for the
purpose OF laying out the tablets In
rows. The library seems TO have been
business section for keeping accounts,
and the educational quarters, with a
vast library OF a literary character,
Only the southeastern and northwest
ern wings OF the Immense edifoe have !
thus far been cleared; In all about one
twentieth part Of the entire library |
Prof. Hilprecht estimates, on a basis |
OF the discoveries already made. on the |
typographical appearance 81 the mound !
and the history Of the temple with |
which the library was connected, that |
when the entire mound has been COM
pletely excavated Il will have yielded AZ |
least 10000 tablets every one Of which !
belongs TO the third millennium before
Christ.
The clearing Of the library was con.
tlnued "A few weeks after Prof Hit |
precht's arrival ct Nippur, when he !
withdrew the Arabic workmen from its |
ruins. owing TO the shortness of the !
time az his disposal. and set them az |
work ON the eastern Notifications Of the !
city, NJ the same time having one of the !
architects make ground plan OF the !
rooms exposed The complete eXcava. |
tlon OF this most important structure
with IL precious literature " long |
forgotten past, VIII require several !
years OF continuous labor While the !
destruction Of temples, palaces, H. |
hraries and works Of art which the |
Elamites then accomplished must he re-
garded as gross vandalism vet IN this |
particular instance so far as the people |
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