Los Angeles herald., 1906-09-23

Az Rls,,ova two wells which had been
dug into the sand to the water leNeh
caved i'm. nearly burrying the men az
Tho bottom, a third well yielded, az the
depth of thirty feet, a slightly Dltter
water.
Arab Laborers
Tho fear of being unable to obtain
vvorkmen from among the desert Ara ps
ia aiwavs q cause of anxiety to the
newly arrived excavator, but Sucn rear .
arc s;roundless, for Arabs, most OIL
whom have never done DAY W.. W. i.
of anv kind flock to him and clalnor
TO he hired. Custom has fixed the price
OF labor at the excaV ations. Inc men
are divided into gangs of nine or Twelve
each. At the head OF each gang is the
nickma N. usia IIy a native who has been
trained by some of the earlier eXca-
vators. with a one-sided pick ho zoos
ems up the ground and searches through
II for antiquities; his pay Is i've TurK-
ish piasters, or twenty cents gay.
With each piCkman are two or three
natives provided with triangular hoes,
with which they break the chunks OF
dirt into finer pieces, and, searching
through II, scrape 1t into baskets TO
be carried to the dump. Their pay IS
sixteen cents a day.
To open the excavations a gang OF
men, placed upon the sloping side OF
the mound toward the summit, digs a
trench toward the center. When the
trench is brought to the wall of the
buried building. II is turned to follow
1t to a doorway, then through the
doorway into the interior, and from
one chamber TO another until the ell
tire structure has been cleared. The
roof of every Babylonian building has
long go fallen in and seldom do more
than three feet of the thick walls re-
main. 1t Is upon the floors of the
chambers especially in the corners,
that the antiquities are found, and
there, protected by the clay of the de-
composed bricks of the fallen roof and
walls, they are perfectly preserved. AS
the finely inscribed clay tablets are dug
from the debris they are so soft that
they break at the slightest touch. but
upon exposure to the air they harden
and may be handled with impunity.
AS the various chambers thus exca-
vated have been cleared, designed and
photographed. the remaining walls are
removed and trenches are dug at q
lower level, revealing the structures be-
meath. Everywhere scattered among
the walls of the earlier houses are the
graves of a later date, still frequently
In a perfect state of preservation. AS
they are opened one finds arranged
along the walls pots once containing
food for the spirits of the dead, and in
the dust of the decomposed bones is
scattered jewelry. An exciting work of
the excava tor is to sift the dust
through his fingers and collect red and
blue stone or gold beads of the neck
lace, the bronze, silver and gold rings
Of the ears, nose and fingers and the
larger bracelets and neck bands If the
grave is that of man the jewelry is
lacking, but in its place Is a beaut fully
engraved cylindrical seal which the
owner wore upon Il string about his
neck and with which he sealed his con-
tracts and letters.
In general the work Of excavation re-
sembles that of gold miner. He may
dig for months without reward other
than most commonplace objects, and
again a sin gle stroke of the pick may
reveal some rare antiquity which, il
1t does not bring wealth, may bring
more enduring fame to it's dscoverer.
EDGAR JAMES BANKS,
Field director of the recent Baby
lonian expedition of the University OF
Chicago.