The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-05-09
Interesting Information Cleaned From
the Germans Babyloniar Excavations

as E- @- j. 10 @ & 1
small push cars to carry the dirt to
the edge of the mound, has ever been
employed in Babylonia.
The antiquities discovered in the
Kasr have not been so ancient as the
Germans had hoped. Babylon is a
modern city when compared with otn-
er Babylonian cities to the south.
to 6S1, boasts that he completely de-
stroyed it, scraping even its founda-
tions into the river; it is q fact that
little or nothing previous to Sinacher-
lbs time has been found. The Baby
Ion whose ruins still exist is the city
of NebucharneZzar;- the palaces ana
temples the Germans have excavated
were constructed by him or by later
| kings. 3 '.".' r.,
An object of interest from the Kasr
| was found by Arabs long before the
Germans began their excavations. 1t
Is a large granite lion standing over
| the figure Of a PROSTATE man. The
manument was never completed, and
the Arabs have mutilated it by dig
ging deep holes into its. sides In the
search for hidden wealth. 1t bears no
inscription to tell its age or history.
DR.. Xoldewey has erected it upon a
| platform of bricks, where it nov
stands as if to guard the ruins. The
first valuable object discovered by the
Germans was black monolith,
brought in ancient times as a trophy
| of war from the Hitite city of Karke-
mish. 1t adorns Babylon just as now
! Egyptian obelisks adorn New York
and various European cities, The front
7 flat side Of the StoneliS is%culptured with
a Hitite warrior, holding, his weapons
in the air: the rounded back is cover
ed with the u~ndeciphered characters Of
the Hitite language.
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS palace in the Kasr
, may be regarded as the greatest of DR..
Koldeway's discoveries. Little but the
foundations of the palace remain, and
they are of square burned bricks, each
of which bears on it's lower face the
name and title of the great king. The
several hundred chambers of the pal
ace are small; some of them are,
scarcely larger than a modern bed. AS
they were cleared out they We're found
70 contain little of value. One cham.
Der, much larger than the rest, had on
one of it's sides a low platform Of
bricks. h is supposed to have been
the throne 20 and upon the plat
form the throne of the king may have
stood. So thorough was DR.. Koldewey
in his excavations that he removed the
bricks of the walls and the paving of
the throne room; now only the place
where they were is visible.
There was a sacred street in Baby
Ion leading from the palace to the
temple, along which the images Of the
gods were carried in professions, &C
cording to a religious rite. The gate
way known as the Ishtar gate, leading
to the street, is most imposing, and
gives us a good picture of how Baby
lon must AVE looked. Fortunately it
has escaped destruction at the hands
of the Arab brick diggers. Whatever
it's original height may have been, it
| 90 sl -{orJ- f@-{,r c~14 nl~x-~ 4I1 r{~NNf
It's square towers of burned bricks,
measuring twelve feet each way, con-
tain OF all their sides, n above an
other, beautiful reliefS of bulls and
lions and dragons and animals of fan
tastic shapes. The reliefs are of brick
glazed blue and yellow and white, and
the coloring is as fresh as ever it was.
Each brick of the relief was shaped
and glazed separately and SO accurate
ly that when it was placed in the wall
1t formed a part of the perfect picture.
The art could scarcely be surpassed.
The most stupendous work done by
the Germans has been in Amram, the
southern Of the three large mounds.
There, forty feet beneath the surface,
below the .accumulations of the Arabs
and Hebrews n Parthians and Per
slams, who have. lived and built upon
the site, was discovered Esagil, the
famous temple of Babylon. Imagine
a hole an acre or more in extent and
forty feet deep, excaVated entirely by
hand, and you will understand the un-
firing patience of the Germans. Lit
tie but the foundation of the temple
was found. Yet that is enough to re-
veal it's plan, it's extent, and the SINH
larity of the Babylonian temple, with
it's outer and inner court, it's holy OF
holes, its secrets chambers n pas
sageways, to the Hebrew temple.
Few clay tablets have been found by
the Germans at Babylon. Their smaller
finds consist of Parthian coins, pot.
terry. weights, stone implements, i'm.
ages, beads, jewelry and similar OBJ.
:, jects. However, in Jumiuma, one Of
Arabs found a large collection Of clay
tablets, many of which came from
the Hebrew concern of the Egibi fam
lily, Egibi Is the Babylonian pro
:, nunciation Of the name Jacob. The
tablets teach that for many generation!
the most influential brokerage concern
of Babylon was In the hands Of thu
, Hebrew family Of Jacob. Equally in
teresting was q clay barrel-shaped cyl
inder, describing the capture Of thu
city by Cyrus, king OF Persia. The ex'
cavation Of Babylon Is not yet com
pleted. Much of 1t still lies beneath
, forty or fifty feet of later ruins. ant
= future results MAJ be Of greater. value
than those of the past.
, The excavations at Assur, the Assy'
' rian ruin nov called Shergat, which
, lies on the right shore Of the Tigris
about half way between Nineveh ant
a Bagdad, have. been OF the greatest I'm
portance. Work began there in 1904
! it Is expected. that 1t will be completed