Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-13
GERMANS IN BABYLON
WORK OF THE EXPLORATION Elk
PEDITIoN DISAPPOINTING.
From the London Globe.

From the London Globe.
The well-eQuipped expedition under DR..
Koldwey has now been working for FIVE
years upon the excavations of the i'm
mense mounds which mark the site Of
the Bahxjonian capital. With every mod
arn appliance required for excavation,
Including light railway. 1t must be said
that, taken as a whole. the results have
been disappointing. The discovery of the
great professional street leading from
the Temple of Bit-Saglia the Temple of
Nerodach to the Istar gate certainly
brought with 1t many interesting his
torical associations, for 1t was along this
way that most of the great conquerors.
from the days of khammurabi, must have
passed. The encaustic decorations of the
Istar gate, in blue, yellow and green tiles,
oriental art, for in them, no doubt, we
have the works which inspired the cera-
mic artists who decorated the palaces of
/ the Persian kings at Susa. From an ar
chftectual point of view the excavations
have considerable value, for they have
shown the very shallow foundation on
which the traditional splendor of the
Temple of Belno rested.
The Babylonian kings, especially Nebu-
chadnezzar, weary us with the descrip-
tions of the gold, silver and precious
stones which they lavished in the decora-
ton of the great temple-"making 1t
gold, walls inlaid with silver and pre-
cious stones, and doors covered with
shining bronze. are among the objects
of adOrnment specified. The very extern
sive explorations of the site of this great
temple have shown that if these adorn-
ments did exist they must have been of
very portable character. for all that
manned was an immense group of more
than a hundred monotonous brick rooms.
No sculpture lined the walls, as in the
palaces of Nineveh and Kalah. and no
winged bulls or lions guarded the doors.
Even more remarkable than the diSap-
pointing results in relation to archae-
ology has been the astonishing absence
Of inscriptions.
any great library attached to the temple.
This is not surprising. however, for it was
the Temple of Nebo at Borsipha that, from
B. c. 2090 until few centuries before the
Christian era, was the chief center of light
and learning, not only of haldea, but of
all western Asia. Still. however. If uni
versity library was found. We should have
expected to find some royal records. founda-
ton cylinders and tablets. OF course, many
cylinders of Nebuchadnezzar have been
found, with the usual embarrassing in
scription. full of piety and empty of his
torical information. In the last report Is
sued by the German Oriental Society there
are published two Inscriptions, however,
one of which is of more than ordinary in
tereSt, for it differs from the majority of
royal inscriptions of the later Babylonian
ton. The first inscription Is on cylinder
placed as a foundation record by Assur-
bani-pal, King of Assyria, and records his
accession. and the installation of his foster
brother. SamasSamukin as King of Baby
lon. The most interesting passage in the
inscription is that in which the king states
that he confirmed the rights and privi-
leges of the people of Babylon He records
the gifts he made to the Temple of Marduk,
and concludes with the usual pious prayer.
The second inscription is of much greater
interest. for both in style and matter it
differs from all other Babylonian texts
it's nearest approach in style being the cor
onation inscription of Nabonidus, engraved
upon a black stone pillar now in the i'm
perial Ottoman Museum at Constantinople.
The inscription in question was written by
order of the usurper. King Nabupalassar,
the founder of the new Babylonian empire.
who, In B. c. 625. revolted against the As
syrian and proclaimed himself King of
Babylon. The text Is engraved upon bar
rel cylinder of terra Gotta, and contains
forty-one lines of very clear writing.
Being a usurper. the king opens the In
scription with no elaborate pedigree. and.
is, indeed. sweetly candid in speaking OF
himself. The opening lines seem to indicate
that the king was priest and scribe as
well as a general.