The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-02

q Semitic supremacy.
The picture which the excavations have
presented OF the frst appearance Of the
Semites should be Of extreme interest
because Of the role which they still play
In he world.
Ihey were aaVaEes, or at least barbarians,
for they brought TO -hesopotamia no civ
tliHatton Of their own. They were wander
Ing bands, naked or nearly 20, and armed
with primitive sllnks.
Ia contrast betwoon their wi country,
which they had abandoned, and the walled
cities In the exceedingly fertils plain aroused
their cupidtty, and n town after another
was captured. At Bismya, they ruth
Iessly plundered and destroyed tho temple.
We found the marble sEshies a. they de-
capitated them and hurled them from
their p~edestals, and scattered about were
the fragmsnts Of tho beautifully engraved
and inlsid vases Of tho temple service
which they broke.
As in our " era the wild Turkish hordes
yielded to the influences OF tho cultured
Arabs, adopting their civilization, their
religion and their written characters.
though retaining their wi language,
90 the 6smitss adopted tho civilization Of
the sHxosrtaHs, accepted theiG polythsistic
worship, repaired tho temples which they
bad destroyed, learned TO sing tho old Su-
merriam hymns and responsive psalms.
offered sacrifices to the various local gods,
and though retaining their own Semitic
language, learned to express Il In writing
by employing tho wedge shape characters
Of the SumsriAns.
Tho houses In which these early Ssmites
lived were but ons story high and contained
generally q single room. nsver more than
three. The thick wslls Of mud, brick or
adobe were pierced by no Windows. and the
only light was admitted through the door
way.
The roof was nat. probably Of dirt, sup
ported upon the trunks Of date trees, yet
We found no houses at Bismya with moro
than four feet Of the kds walls standing:
In the more pretentious buildings q dome
might have bean employed. Within The
house the well trodden dirt was the floor.
Sometimes q bench Of bricks built along
the wall served a. q divan upon which the
date Leaf bed was spread; moro frequently,
as in Arabia to-day, the family sspt upon
the ground. In Some Of the larger houses
a little niohe in the wall, whore We should
expect to and Q window, served 90 . shelf
IOr INC low poVB Wuton OOuSbtIuVou tn0
household utenslh.
The oven In which tho bread was baked
was borrowed from tho Sumerians and was
identical with that now employed by the
modern desert Arab. A pot shaped struo-
ture Of clay 10 built up from the ground.
The fuel for beating tho walls In placed In
the opening At the top, while ventilation
10 given 70 the fre though o small opening
near the base.
When the walls wsrs thoroughly heated
the early Semitic housewife, removing the
fire, plastered her COARSE dough Of barley
meal upon tho interior Of tho over and In q
moment she took out the thin circular loaf
Of bread. To-day the won il called tsnNwY
by the modern Arabs; II bore the same name
5000 years ago, and the bread Of that day
resembled the coarss bread Of the modern
Bedouin.
The canal which irrigated the plain also
brought the water supply for the family,
yet the Sumerians dug wells and laid them
out with we'll formed bricks. As now the
water was filtered in the porous Jars still
employed In the Orient.
The system Of drainage in the houses Of
the early Semites was borrowed directly
from he SumeriAns. A number OF tile
rings about twenty inches in diameter and
placed vertically upon zach other wero
sunk through the mound Of ruins upon
which every village was perched TO the
desert sands below.
Al Bismya q SCORE or more Of such verti-
cal drains were found, and some, though
partly flled with tho garbage Of 1000 years
ago, were in q perfect condition. In one
a number Of saucer shaped drinking cups
which had accidentally dropped within
were embedded IN the dirt.
Tho streets Of the Semitic quarter OF the
city were narrow, In places hardly four feet
wide. and. as In q modern Oriental town they
were seldom straight. One, wider than
others, led to q bath which appears TO have
been constructed for the public. for lie one
large chamber had . floor Of bitumen slop-
ing to a drain in the corner.
In an adjoining upper chamber was a
reservoir for water, apparently arranged
over a furnace so that when heated Il might
flow to any part Of the room below. This
appears to AVE been one Of the first Of the
Turkish baths.
Ignorant as the c~Onquering Semites were,
they readily adapted themselves to their
suddenly acquired civilization. and in some
respects improved upon It. They developed
and simpliAed the cuneiform writing; they
became skilful engravers and s~culptors
and workers Of gold and bronze.
One Of the most remarkable pieces OF
ancient sculpture Is the head Of an anbaster
statue Of an early Semitic. Unlike the heads
Of the statues representing Sumerians, the
face Of this Semitic head il concealed with
pointed beard and q muetache.
The aquiline nose IL decidedly Semitic;
into the eye sockets are inserted and held
in place with bitumen well formed eyeballs
Of ivory, in which the pupils. now lost, were
Of bright colorcd stone, probably lapis-lAxuli.
Upon the head Ii q turban. The head IL not
only remarkable as being the only known
head Of the statue Of an ancient semitic,
but the symmetry OF the features, the facial
expression and the workmanship are per-
feet.
MANY Of the early Semitss were aRri-
culturlsts, raising the dates, barley, sesame
and cotton crops which hOurished In the
then well waterod valley, and which now,
though tho country Ii dry. spring up spon-
~taneousIy. Others OF Tho Semltes were
kralara.