The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-12-03
SEWERAGE $500 YEARS AGO.
Some Scientific Facts for the Student
of Architecture.
Scientific Americana

(Scientific Americanl
1t is generally supposed that it IS
only modern man who has perfected a
system Of drainage and sewerage to
carry from his house and city the
overlooking rain water and the Nth
and garbage which accumulate In the
excavation Of Bismya. the ancient Su-
merriam or pre-BabylOnian city which
fourished 4,500 years go, a remarkable
system of drainage perfectly adapted
to the alluvial plain Of the 8fesopOta-
milan desert, has been discovered.
: BabylOnia is perfectly level. From
| iSagdad TO the Persian gulf there is
not the slightest elevation. save for the
artificial mounds or an occasional
changing sand drift In most places
there is a crust of hard clay upon the
surface, baked by the hot sun of sum
mer time. 50 hard that il resembles
| stone. Parts of the desert are perfect
for bicycle riding Beneath the crust
which at Bismya is seldom more than
/ four feet i'm thickness and in places en-
tirely lacking. is loose. caving sand
reaching 10 an unknown depth.
Drainage i'm such a country, without
! slOping hills or streams Of running wa
ter. might tax the ingenuity of the
/ modern builder. In constructing a
/ house the ancient SumeriaH Of more
than 5000 years ago first dug a hole
into the sand To considerable depth
At Bismya several instances were found
where the shaft had reached the depth
of fourteen meters beneath the f0un-
dalton of the house.
=
From tie bottom he built up "A perfl-
I cal drain of large, cylindrical terra
Gotta sections. each of which is pro-
Vided with grOOved fanges to receive
The one above. The sections of one
drain We're fOrty-eight centimeters in
diameter and sixty i'm height: others
We're larger and much shorter: the
thickness Of the wall was 2.7 cent?
meters. The tiles were punctUed at
intervals with small holes about two
centimeteTs i'm diameter. The section
al the top of the drain was semi-spher-
ical. fitting over IL ike a cap, and pro-
vided with an opening to receive the
wafer from above. Sand and pOtsherds
We're then filled I'm about the drain. and
it was ready for use The water pour
ing into IT, was rapidly absorbed by the
sand at the bottom. and II there il be-
came clpgged the water escaped
through the holes ia the sides of the
tiles
The temple at Bismya was provided
with several such drains. One place
was discovered with four: a large bath,
resembling "a modern Turkish bath, and
provided with bitUmeu floor, SlOpiug
to one corner. emptied its waste water
into one.
Tn clearing out the drains. few OF
them, whose openings had been ex~
posed, We're filed With the drifting
sand, others were half fun of the filth
Of long past ages; in one at the temple
Wa removed dozens of shallow terra
Gotta drinking cups. not unlike a large
IN 4 ii ~
received the waste water OF a drinking
fountain. and the cups had accidental
ly dropped within.
X
Tn the Bismya temple platform, con-
structed about 2l50 T.. c.. We uncovered
"a horizontal drain Of tiles, each OF
which was about a meter long and fir
teen centimeters in diameter. and not
unlike in shape those at present en-
ployed. 1t conducted the rain water
from the platform to one of the vertical
drain. One tile was so constructed that
for a long time it served as a chimney
for our house until my Turkish over
seer suggested that its dark smoked
end project from the Dattlements OF
the house TO convince the Arabs thar
we We're well fortified. Thus il served as
a gun until the close Of the excava-
tious.
IN other parts Of the temple more
elementary drains We're employed 10
carry off the surface water from the
slightly inclined platform. It consisted
simply of a groove constructed of bricks
or arranged by emitting the bricks IN
the floor: frequently the groove was
continued down over the vertical edge
Of the platform
The Babylonians Of a later period.
who buried instead Of cremating their
dead carefully provided their Gene
teries with drains. The graves We're
or partly above ground and whenever
they were found upon the slOping side
Of a mound, they were protected above
by brealkwater, while along the sides
were square, open brick drains. The
result was that some Of the graves.
although thousands OF years old, and
constructed of unbaked clay. are still
in a perfect state of preservation.
To the student OF architecture it may
be surprising to learn that the arch.
until recently supposed 10 have been
unknown 10 the ancients. was frequent
ly employed by the pre- Babylonians OF
more than 5000 years ago. Such an
arch in poor state Of preservati0u.
was a few years ago discovered IN the
lowest stratum, beneath the BabylOniau
city OF Nippur. More recently an
arched drain was found beneath the ola
city of Fara. which the Cermana have
eXcaYated in central Babylon The
| city, although one of the earliest
known, was built upon an earlier drain
constructed of small planO-conveN
/ bricks. II measures about one meter
( III height, and has an equai width.
/ While delving among the ruins of thf
+ oldest cities of the world we are thn7
+ finding that a he time when we SUP
/ posed that man was primitive and saw
lage he provided his home and city WITH
! improvement" which 've are inclined
e. cali modern, but which We are only