Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-04-04
EXCAVATIONS OF BABYLON.
Much of Mighty City of the Past Now
Exposed to View.

Z visited the place in September.
1917" Edmund Gambler writes of
Babylon in 1.-The Long Road of Bagh-
dad" The excavations lie on the left
bank Of the Staff ell l-Hilleh. the west
erly of the two channels of the Euph-
rates which bifurcates at Hindieh.
1t is fifty-six miles from Baghdad.
The old nursery rhyme that gives the
distance to Babylon as threescore
miles and ten is only ont bare four
leagues, and one can get there between
breakfast and lunch, If not by candle
light
Twenty years ago when l visited
the site the ground was barely
scratched by the professional excava-
tor, though the robbers Of bricks had
been busy quarrying there for CEN
turtles. Modern Hilleh owes much to
the kilns of Nebuchadnezzar. and the
unstable Turkish barrage at Hind1eh
was built Of Babylonian debris. The
excavations were begun by the Ger
and from two hundred 80 two hundred
and fifty workmen were employed
daily, winter and summer, until the
war put an end to the work. Ihe
house of the mission stands on the
banks of the Euphrates, and contains
museum which we have placed under
an Arab guard. A concise summary
of the work has been compiled by
Professor Koldewey in The rExcaVa-
tions of Babylon With the help OF
this volume with its illustrations ana
plans we were able to identify the
main sites. The greater part OF the
city which the Germans have brought
to light belongs to the comparatively
modern period Of Nebuchadnezzar
1861 -5o4 B. c.; but there are traces
in the ruins left by the first Baby
lonian kings (circa $500 B. c., and
successive strata reveal the streets
and houses built by succeeding dynas-
ties Of the Assyrian, Neo-Babylonlan'
Persian and Graeco- Parthian PERIODS.
Also there were relics that prove a pre-
historic Babylon, but It is impossible
to carry excavations down to TINS
depth owing to the rise in the water
level"
"It is only a few hundred yards
from the Germans house to the kasr'
or Acropolis, the center OF the CITY,
and the most renowned Of the three
great eminences Of Babylon. 1t Is
here that the excavators have been
most active. They follow the line OF
the Kasr roadway. 6 broad street
which leads to the Ishtar Gate, mace
nv Nebuchadnezzar as a professional
road for the great god Marduk' 10
whose temple of Esagila it leads. The
walls of the Ishtar Gate stand forty
feet above the foundations, and are
covered with figures Of bulls ana
dragons in brick relief. From the
summit one can command a view OF
the whole city as far as the outer
walls. Part of the brick pavement
still exists. covered with asphait'
which formed the substratum OF the
Immense limestone dags OF the road
way. The double gate ct 1shtar Is oy
far the most striking feature Of Baby
Ion that has been revealed. and II
figures in the foreground Of most OF
the bird's-eye views one sees OF tne
Excavations. The nine horizontal
rows of bulls and dragons are alter
nate, and the representations are
never mixed. The bull is the sacred
animal Of Ramman; the dragon OF
Marduk and of Nabu. He is scaled
beast with the neck and head and
forked tongue Of a serpent, the leg
of a leopard, the clawed foot OF Vul-
ture. and the tail ending in small
curved sting.
There Is little else that is decora-
tive to catch the uninitiated eye al
Babylon. The silver and gold and
precious stones with which Sardana-
palus filled the temple or Esagila are
forgotten. The images have been re-
moved the double doors of cedarwood
overlaid with copper the bulls OF
bronze. the cedar roofs, the thresholds
and hinges Of brass. There Is the
famous headless lion standing over its
human prey, raised high above the
roof tops since my last visit owing 10
the delving all round. II and the brick
reliefs Of the bulls and dragons on
the Gate Of Ishtar are the only pic
lures likely to remain in the mino Oh
the hasty uninstructed visitor. For
the rest, there is the vista OF dead
brick walls with no windows or steps
and few doors. 1t is hard to tell II
one is standing on the roof or the moor
of Babylon. The roofs of one period be-
came the foundations OF the next, yet
out of this confusion the archaeolo-
gists have reconstructed the ancient
city. They have discovered what they
are convinced is Belshazzars banquet
ing chamber and the vaulted roofs
which, they argue with much erudite
reasoning, supported the hanging
gardens. In a general way, in spite
of the superimposed strata of the hun
cry generations that have trodden one
another down, the identification or
sites of Babylon is easier than in most
buried cities. And this is due to the
inscription on the bricks and flag
stones. For the kings of Babylonia
were providentially vain. They left
their stamp everywhere in no uncer-
tain traces. Sardanapalus invoked en-
nifty on the head of whosoever should
destroy the records Of his name. Him
may Marduk the king Of All behold
with wrath and destroy his name and
his seed in the land Nebuchadnezzar
caused a legend to be inscribed on
every brick, clarifying his works. He
and his line were Jealous Of the record
Of their Names