The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1911-03-01
CAME TO LIGHT
Ancient Records Abeas BabyIas Being
Found and Deciphered.
INTERESTING STUDY

Everyday Affairs in City Long An
teiating Birth Of Chri>t-The
.Arahtu Canal Fully Described
Vital Importance OF the Waterway
to Welfare Of the People.
4 correspondent OF The London
Standard gives some Interesting de-
tails OF 2 store .! cuneito-m written
tablets recently discovered 1t the an
ciea1 Gown OF D:ibat. near SaoSion-
The tablets tell in graphic manner
the story Of the citizens. their ouSi-
ness transactions. disputes and eS-
eryday life.
They are rot the usual royal edic,s
and records. but what may best be
termed family archives. They re-
late 20 a very early period. being
mostly dated in the reisas os the
predecessors Of that mighty mon
arch EaMmHrab who codited the
Saby,orian laws. and SO We're COM
posed at the period Of the first Baoy-
ioaia2 dynasty.
From these newly found tablets
and previously dec!phered references
in the records OF Babylon We now
know that D;.ba; was a small Baby
;oniaa town on tha, srea, master
piece OF Mesopotamian engineering.
the Arah:u canal.
The canal" says the correspond
great river Euphra,es. 70. it washed
the southern face OF Babylonian 5
ramparts and upon it opened one O:
the great city's gates dedicated 20
the god Cras II led away south
ward TO Di,bat. which. as the newly
found records inform Us. WAS built
between the canal and the Eu2h-a;es,
for some Of the tablets refer 10 pieces
OF property in land or houses. de-
scr:bed SIS within the city o: its sub
urbs. as bounded by the river. and
others By the canal. As the present
natives OF the district will not re-
yea! the site OF their End We anior-
tuaately do not yet know precisely
where Diibat stood.
THE Arahtu canal not only vat
cred the soil and so produced the
crops, but carried upon its surface
the ha-ves,s i, had created. Thus
an old tebt says 1t ~as the 'erineer
OF the HE to Babylon. Dilbat was
probably the great southern granery
10. the capital. for Hammurabi. in
his long photographed panesyr!c
boasts that he extended the planta-
tions OF Dilbat and accumulated corn
for Ip.'
When the Arahtu was arst con-
struc.ed I, would BE difficult to say.
bu, its benefits to their people caused
the kings always 20 keep it in re-
pair. and vice versa. invaders OF
Baoyloa!a in war time damaged It
as a preliminary to starving out the
capital.
The special deity o: Dilba. was
Ip. probably shortened form OF
Ninip. and his temple was called
Imb: anum, Proclaimed OF Anu.
There MS city wall coeval with the
foundation OF the city. and restored
By King Sumu-Abu. predecessor o!
Hamnurabi. The town appears to
have possessed three harbors or
dies and market. and one can imag-
Inc the busy hum OF commerce upon
its streets and wharves-
The documents rescced from its
ruins almost all concern the sale or
renting Of houses and lands and
fields or the hire and purchase OF
cattle and crops. Ds!bat being the
center OF rich agricultural district.
The terms employed are common to
all the Babylonian cities. The
ground and the houses are clearly
defined By the enumeration OF neigh
.ooriag properties and -ae names OF
the yender aad purchaser. and at the
end Of tie bargain the deed discloses
comes the oath sworn Setore the sod
OF the city in the temple and also an
invocation o; the reisniay king The
Dilba. scriees also added clause
placing the ones Of any subseuen, dis
pute Of the deed upon the seller.
For all the contests concerning the
property 4. ;B) is responsible. Fin
ally follows the names OF the wit
nesses. and often also the scribe Of
the tablet. and generally several sig
nets OF the persons concerned
Legally the vender should always
seal the tablet. but il he has not a
signet then some o. ali Of the WIT
nssses applied theirs. Properly
speaking also. the tablets should have
been il duplicate. The first was :n-
scribed and baked and copied. then a
cover OF sot, clay placed over or
around Il and the document re-en-
crossed upon this cover from the
copy. so ;ha: il could be referred TO
a: any time BY paving the required
fee al the record Office
In case OF dispute as 70 its ac-
curacy for an extra sum the outer
envelope was broken and compared
with its interior duplicate text. and
the Ii,isant who proved 70 be in er-
ror IN his allegation that the Two
versions were no, identical paid a
considerable forfeit. and new outer
case was placed over the ovig!na!
tablet and reinssribed. This pro-
ce6ure Is mentioned in the Old Tes-
lament as inqu!ring Of the outer and
the inner tablet Of deed
The :ellahin with their picks and
shovels have. however broken mos;
OF the outer covers OF the Dilba;
documents These methods for the