Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-02
BABYLON SITE Barred
WOnderOus Finds Made by
German ArcheoIogists.
SOME MAGNIFICENT RELICS
Hall Where Belshazzar Held Feast
Is Located.
MUCH ,PREDYNAST1C POTTERY
Cruise 5000 Years Old Still Full Of
Oil-Toilet Articles of
5000 B. C.
MUCH ,PREDYNASTIC POTTERY

Further details are now in hand of the
striking discoveries made upon the site
Of the palace fortress of ancient Babylon
by the German excavators under the di-
rection of DR.. Holloway. Beneath the
great mound known to the modern Arab
population as FL kasr. or the castle.
which rises above the plain of the Eu-
pirates. has been found the palace of Ne
buchadnezzar.
The London Times in describing the dis
coveries. says:
Years of labor will still be required to
trace the ground plan of all the palace
buildings adjacent to and protecting the
royal dwelling, built by acknowledgements
above the less splendid edifice Of his
father, NobopOlaSsar. But the great ir-
regular Enclosure which has already been
laid bare contains specimens of architec-
ture which amply illustrate the magni-
tude of the kings work. One of the outer
walls. for example, is more than twenty
four yards thick
Scene Of Belshazzar's Feast.
Besides the palace buildings. with the
great oblong hall. with its alcove at one
end to contain a throne, which is supposed
20 have been the scene of Belshazzar's
feast. conspicuous feature of the eX-
cavations is the So-called sacred way"
which leads along the east side of the
palace to the temple of the goddess lsh-
tar, crossed by the great gate which was
heightened by Nebuchadnezzar four or
five times over as he repeatedly raised
the road in his successive undertakings.
This great city of brick has peculiar
features OF interest and also of difficulty
for the explorer as compared with monu-
ments OF stone. The desiccated soil OF
Mesopotamia has wrought little damage
to the buried structure although the
gradual rising OF the bed OF the Euphrates
by alluval deposits has submerged and
perhaps seriously injured the lower layers
OF debris. some of which date from
period more than thousand years
earlier than that of the brief but splendid
second Baby1onian empire. which reached
it's highest point under Nebuchadnezzar.
Magnificent are the relics already
discovered of the second BaDylonian en-
pire. they represent but some OF the later
stages in the long story OF human civil
ization upon this site. Though Nebu-
chadneZZars Babylon lies buried many
feet beneath the ruins Of subsequent do
minionS. ii rests upon succession OF
earlier strata. which go back not lmprob-
bly, to date yet more remote from
Nebuchadnezzar's than his is from our
OWE The difficulty of exploring these
earlier layers is naturally much greater
in proportion to the depth at which they
lie But i'll one of the most ancient parts
OF the city DIR. Holloway and his col
leagues are now engaged in investigating
Z.
which was long antecedent both to Ne
buchandezzar and to his Assyran prede-
ceSSors.
Fine Specimens Secured.
The results OF the work OF the Egyptian
exploration fund during the last season
at Abydos and FL Mahasna are now on
view in London at Kings College and
comprise a most interesting and valu-
,lol ne and ,,,iS
from the predynastic to the eighteenth
dynasty periods. The main camp OF the
exploring party was situated at Abydos.
but while engaged on excavations at this
spot they received. through native
sources Information that a ?redynastic
cemetery was being plundered at II
Mahasna, a place eight miles north OF
Abydos. After getting the necessary per-
mission from the Egyptian government
they moved camp and dug there Tor a
month. securing a number of very fine
objects.
In a large grave which contained two
skeletons was found unique hoMl-shap
ed vase with conventional decorations
and having on the rim four beautifully
modelled Important. The animals are
in a wonderful state of preservation, de-
spite the fact that the vase was made
nearly seven thousand years ago. There
were also several pottery vases and
group OF worries. The ulOSl
lag q carved figure OF q man.
In another cave was found a clay gam
ing table divided into eighteen squares
and provided with twelve cone-shaped
mud men Apparently il was used for
a rudimentary form of draughts thus
taking the game back to somewhere
about $500 T. {. Another valuable Ehd
was an ebony cylinder seal OF the first
DYNASTY. which was probably used by
King Ter for sealing his wine vessels
An Example Of this jar sealing is shown
The method employed was to mold
hmm of vet clay over the mouth OF the
lar and run the cylinder round II, ieaV-
ing the seal impressed
Predynastic Pottery.
4 number OF examples of biacktopped !
predynastic pottery are shown, several of
Them being marked with tie lion. These
.ave regarded as being EXCEPTIONALLY inter-
cst.re, ard il is sugs ste1 that the lion
y.as iriiaI ra,k. tie Saul Of :. long
;.o!s.ed OK found me hnttoE- % a
sixth dynasty sre", 2ttaft Is remarkable '
by reason of the sact that the teeth are
worn as II by bit. The horse was UNI !
known at this period, and no other exam
pie has been discovered of tue use of the