Evening star., 1925-06-14
Bible History Verified

and scholars today say Abraham lived
1000 years B. c. 1t was not until the
| middle of the last century that Sir
Henry Rawlinson, the great archie
ologist, discovered the ruins of Ur,
buried and lost in the Syrian Desert
| 10 miles west of the river Euphrates
and about 80 miles north of the Per
| sian Gulf.
| The most prominent part of the
ruins is a broad-spreading mound that
rises high above the level surface of
| the desert. with still higher protu-
berance in the middle. This land
mark, that can be seen at great dis
tance across the desert. is known as a
''Ziggurat" or tower. and is exactly
| like the Tower of Babel, which, al
| though 1t has itself entirely disap.
| peared, is fairly represented by the
| Ziggurat of Ur of the Chaldeans.
The political changes brought about
| by the World War directed attention
| to the antiquities of the Euphrates
Valley. and as soon as peace came
arrangements were made for the joint
work of expedition to excavate Ur
of Chaldea for light on the early his.
| tory of the city of Abraham.
The start was made in 1922, under
the direction of Maj Woolley. who
still is in charge. But so far, to quote
DR.. Gordon, the surface has only
been scratched 1t is possible ONLY
to work between November / and the
| end of February, as the rest of the
year is Summer in Ur. with the tenn
perature rising to 125 degrees in the
shade-and there isn't any shade.
In spite of this condition the results
already have added whole chapters to
the history of the Euphrates Valley
Work has been begun on the Temple
| of the Moon God and upon the great
| Ziggurat itself In the course of the
| excavations inscriptions have been
| found that carry the history of Ur as
| a royal city back to 1000 BIC. The
| Oldest known inscription in the world
| written on limestone tablet, was dis
! covered last season and refers to a
| King called A-an-ni pa da, the second
ruler of the first dynasty.
| All around the ruins of Ur today
] is spread the parched desert with nc
| green thing in sight, but 1t is assumed
that in Biblical times, when it was in
habited, the desert had not encroached
| so far upon the valley of the
| Euphrates.
The Temple of the Moon God was a
vast incloSure surrounded by a wall,
within which the house of the deity
1 occupied only a small area. And this
| temple was the seat of government
as the god was the lawgiver of the
, land, and his ministers exercised their
authority from within his inclosure
This accounts for the great number OF
] houses, storerooms and offices found
within the temple wall.
The woman employe was no novice
in 1000 BIC. The excavations have
revealed records showing that mum
bers of female workers were employed
in various industries, the. principal
one of Which was weaving.
A n interesting discovery made ir
the temple was the quarters OF
the high priestess. A museum was
found in these quarters containing
relics that the high priestess had
gathered together, covering two mil
llenniums. 1t was apparently pub
lie museum, because In an Inscription
the high priestess declares that she
founded it for the admiration of the
people. But this lady was only q
younsster. as compared with those
who lived in the early days of Ur
back in the 4000s BIC. Her date was
1850 BIC. She was the daughter oi
| tNabonidus, the last King of Babylon