The Spanish Fork press. [volume] (Spanish Fork, Utah) 1902-current, 1908-01-02
DRAINED INTO SAND
SEWERAGE SYSTEM OF THou.
/, SANDS OF YEARS AGO.
Hous ssssuilders of 5ismya, Pre.Baby.
lonian &Ity, Showed Considerable
Inoenuit%In contrivance That
Carried M Waste Water.

1t is generally supp0Seu tnat IL is
only modern man who has btsT1eeted
system of drainage and sewerage
to carry from his house and city the
overfiowing rain water and filth and
garbage which accumulate.
In the excavation of Bismya, the
ancient Sumerian or preBabylonian
city which flourished $500 years ago,
remarkable system of drainage, per-
fectly adapted to the alluvial plain
of the Mesopotamian desert, has been
discovered.
Babylonia is perfectly level; from
Bagdad 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 summer time, so hard
that 1t 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 constructing house the an
cient Sumerian of more than 5000
years ago first dug hole into the
sand to considerable depth; at Bis
mya several instances were found
where the shaft had reached the depth
of IA meters beneath the foundation
of the house.
From the bottom he built up q YER
tical drain of large, cylindrical terra
Gotta sections, each of which is pro-
vided with grooved flanges to receive
the one above. The sections of one
drain were 10 inches in diameter and
six in height; the thickness of the
wall was about an 'roh.
The tiles werC lctured at inter-
walls with small holes. The section at
the top of the drain was semispheri-
cal, fitting over it like cap and pro-
vided with an opening to receive the
water from above. Sand and potsherds
We're then filled in about the drain, and
it was ready for use.
The water, pouring into it, was rap
idly absorbed by the sand at the bot
tom, and If there it became clogged
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 a large
bath, resembling modern Turkish
bath and provided with a bitumen
floor, sloping to one corner, emptied
its 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- |
drinking fountain, and the cups had
accidentally dropped within.
In the Bismya temple platform, con-
structed about 1850 b. c. we uncov-
cred a horizontal drain of tiles, each
of which was about a yard Ions, |
and not unlike in shape those at pres
ent employed. 1t conducted the rain |
the vertical drains.
The Babylonians of 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 sloping |
side of a mound, they were protected |
above by breakwater, 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 perfect state of preser-
American