Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1908-02-25
DRAINED INTO SAND
SEWERAGE SYSTEM or THOU.
SANDS OF YEARS AGO.
House Builders OF esmys, Pre- 1by.
lonian City, Showed Considerable
Ingenuity in Continuance That
Carried or Waste Water.

II is generally supposed that 1t Is
only modern man who has perfected
system of drainage and sewerage
to carry from his horse and city the
overlooking rain water and filth add
gaI 1age which accumulate
In the excavation OF Bismya. the
ancient Sumerian or pre- Babylonian
City which fourished $500 years ago.
a remarkable system OF drainage per.
fectly adapted to the alluvial plain
o. the MesOpotamian desert, has been
discovered.
Babyionia IS perfectly level; from
Bagdad to the Persian gulf there is
not the slightest elevation, save for
the artificial mounds or an occaaonal
changing sand drift
In most places there is crust OF
hard clay upon the surface, baked by
the hot sun of summer time, so hard
that IT resembles stone Parts OF the
desert are perfect for bicycle riding.
Beneath the crust which at Bismya
Is seldom more than four feet in thick.
ness, and in places entirely lacking,
Is loose. caving sand reaching to an
unknown depth. Drainage in such a
country without sloping hills or
streams of running water. might tax
the ingenuity OF the modern builder.
In constrr citing a house the an
cient Sumeriln OF more than 5000
years ago first dug a hole into the
sand to a considerable depth: at Bis
mya several instances were found
where the shaft had reached the depta
of IA meters beneath tho foundation
OF the house.
From the bottom he built up YER
teal drain of large. cyliI drical terra
Gotta sections. each OF which IS pro.
vided with grooved 1anges 90 receive
the one above. The sections of one
drain were 10 inches i'm diameter and
six in height; the thickness Of the
wall was about an inch.
The tiles were punctured at !nte'
walls with small holes. The section &,
the top of the drain was semispherl.
cal, fitting over 1t like a cap and pro
vided with an opening to receive the
water from above. Sand and potsherds
were then filled in about the drain, and
It was ready for use
The water, pouring into Il. was rap
Idly absorbed by the sand at the bot.
tom, and II there it became clogge6
the water escaped through the holes
In the sides of the tiles.
The temple at Bismya was provided
with several such drains. One palace
was discovered with four; large
bath, resembling modern Turkish
bath and provided with a bitumen
floor, sloping to one corner, emptied
It's waste water into one.
In clearing out the drains at the
temple we removed dozens of shallow
terracotta drinking cups, not unlike
large saucer in shape and size Evi.
IDENTITY 1t received the waste water OF
drinking fountain, and the cups had
accidentally dropped within.
In the Bismya temple platform con.
structed about $3.50 b. G. we uncov.
cred horizontal drain OF tiles. each
of which was about a yard long.
and not unlike in shape those at pres
ent employed. 1t conducted the rain
water from the platform to one OF
the vertical drains
The Babylonians of a later period
who buried instead of cremating their
dead, carefully provided their GENE.
teries with drains The graves were
small house-shaped structures entire
ly, or partly above ground, and when.
ever they were found upon the slopiDg
side OF mound, they were protected
above by a breakwater while along
the sides were square, open. brick
drains.
The result was that some OF tn,
graves, although thousands OF year.
old, and constructed Of unbaked clay
are still in a perfect state Of preser
misunderstanding American