The L'Anse sentinel., 1908-04-11
DRAujEDNro sAla
sxwssAor SysrtA 81 NO.
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II n generally supposed that It 10
eRly modern. man who has perfected
8 system Or drainage and, sewerage
to carry from ia-hutss and city the
'cvern6wing tsin. water and Nth and
garbage which. accumuiate.
In the excavation Of Bismya. the
'aHcieut sSumerian, or presBaby ylonian
city which .fiouished $500 years ago,
a remarkable system Of drainage. per-
fecuy adapted to the alluvial plain
OF the MesopotandIAn desert. has been
discovered:
~ Babylcnia As perfectly level; from
Bagdad: to the Persian gulf there Is
not the slightest elevation, save fof
the SartiAcial mounds or an occasional
changing sand drift
In most places there Is q crust of
hard clay .upoR 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 q
country. without sloping hills or
streams Of running water. might tax
the ingenuity OF the modern builder.
In constructing q house the an
cient Sumerian 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 depth
of IA meters beneath the foundation
.of the house. =. 49,
~ From the bottom he built up YER
teal 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 inch.
The tiles were punctured at inter-
walls with small holes. The section at
the top of the drain was semispheri-
cal, fitting over 1t like 4 cap and pro;
vided with an opening to receive the
water from above. Sand and potsherds
were then filled in about the drain, and
II was ready for use.
The water. pouring into II, was rap
idly absorbed by the sand at the bot
tom, and if there II 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 q modern Turkish
bath and provided with bitumen
moor, sloping to one corner, emptied
its waste water into one.
In clearing out the drains at the
temple We removed dozens of shallow
terra-cotta drinking cups. not unlike
q large saucer in shape and size. Evil
IDENTIFY it received the waste water Of
drinking fountain, and the cups had
accidentally dropped within.
In the Bismya temple platform, con.
structed about also B. C. We uncov.
cred a horizontal drain of tiles. each
Of which was about yard long.
and not unlike In shape those at pres
ent employed. It conducted the rain
water from the platform to one of
the vertical drains.
The Babylonians Of later period.
who buried instead Of cremating their
dead. carefully provided their ceme-
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 we're protected
above by a breakwater. while along
the sides we're 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 a perfect state of preser'
misunderstanding American.