Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1913-06-06

cate the site have lacked the evidence obtained
by DR.. Koldewey in his extensive researches.
Only the site Is left. Time and war and the
elements assailed the tower. For twenty cen.
turtles it crumbled It was a quarry Of building
materials for man. Practically Babylonia was
left unexplored until the last quarter of the nine
teenth century. Before that the work of destruc-
ton had been completed. In the last century
modern towns and villages in the vicinity carted
off or foated down the Euphrates the last bricks
of the foundation of the Tower. of Babel The
foundation was over $50 feet square, a huge,
bulky mass. Hillah, a modern Arab town, four
miles south of it, was built with the bricks OF
the ancient city. Thus persisted the pride of
Babylon.
The temple of Esagila, the most important
Babylo.iian sanctuary brought to light, was a part
of the Tower of Babel. Its ruins were uncovered
by the German archaeologists after digging a
hole forty feet deep that was as broad as the
mouth of a volcano. The two walls in the CEN
ter of the picture mark the entrance to the pas
sage, a quarter of a mile long, which connected
the steep pyramid of Etomenanki, known in the
Bible as the Tower of Babel, with this temple.
Because of the depth of the debris caused by
the action of the centuries which have yelled
the earth here the entire foundation OF the
Tower of Babel has not yet been excayated, but
tunnels at the floor level have been bored into
the sides until the temple walls were properly
established and then the whole edifce was meas
ured.
This is the Oldest and most momentous ruiz
on account of its connection with the Tower OF
Babel. and the bricks which once represented
massive masonry are now so brittle that one
can crush them between the fingers.
In the picture showing the ruins of Babylon
TIE man on the left stands upon the remains OF
the brick pavement which was part of the long
street named after Daniel, who, no doubt. him
SELF traversed its length many times. In the
ruins on the right, in the hollow, there Is the
gate named after the goddess Ishtar. This is the.
most prominent and best preserved ruin in
ii Babylon. It's walls are adorned with reliefs OF
bulls. the holy animal Of Nebo, and dragons,
the holy animal of the god Marduk. 1t was
through this gate that the professional road Of
the god of Marduk led, and passing 1t and turn
ing to the right. it led on to Nebuchadnezzar's
throne hall.
The excavations have brought to light many
curious specimens of the work of the ancient
people of Babylon. The largest piece of sculp-
ture vet unearthed is that of a huge lion CHS
eled out of an enormous block of granite brought
down the Euphrates on a raft from Mesopotamia.
It shows a lion standing over a PROSTATE man.
The work is crude and probably is a product Of
the very earliest art of Babylon. The sculptor
typifes the superiority of the lions strength over
mans. Some collins Of the middle class were
also found. They were of burned clay and like
bathtubs in shape. Some of them were very
short because of the custom of the Assyrians and
Babylonians of burying their dead In a sitting
position, with the head between the knees.