ARCHEOLOGY. (AFRICA.) 



33 



graved on five faces, bears on one face two fig- 

 ures presenting a floral symbol resembling the 

 mandrake, while of seven other principal fig- 

 uivs. two, one having the head of a hawk, wear 

 the pigtail. All the figures have the toes turned 

 up, as in what are called the Hittite boots. Fig- 

 ilso occur resembling the crux ansata, or 

 svmbol of life, of the Egyptian monuments. 

 ' The Stela of Fassiller. Mr. Sterrett, of the 

 American School at Athens, describes the dis- 

 covery at Fassiller, not far from the site of Lys- 

 tra, in Isauria, of a monument of the same class 

 of the sculptures at Bogaz Keui, Etiyiik. and Gi- 

 aur Kalesi. It is an immense monolithic stela, 

 now lying on its back, and contains the figures 

 of two men and two lions in very high relief. 

 Occupying the center of the stone, at the bot- 

 tom, is an erect human figure, clothed in a gown 

 draping the whole of it. to the ground. The 

 hands are clasped on the breast, with the chin 

 touching them. The head-dress seems to be 

 a helmet ; its mouth is open; its ears and eyes 

 are very large. On either side of this figure 

 stands a lion, full face, about as tall as the man 

 without his crested helmet, and with the legs 

 not divided ; that is, the curvatures alone are 

 indicated, while the mass of stone between 

 the legs has not been dug away. Above the 

 human figure is a second figure of a man strid- 

 ing forward, his left foot, which is in front, 

 supporting his whole weight. This foot rests 

 on the top of the crest of the helmet of the 

 lower figure; but the feet are not chiseled out, 

 or even indicated. The legs are merely straight 

 lines. The right hand is raised, and holds a 

 round object, with something projecting from 

 it vertically on one side, while a large object 

 is held under the left arm. This object reach- 

 es to the feet, but diminishes in size and relief, 

 till at the foot the relief is very slight. On 

 the head is a grand tiara, with four divisions 

 or bosses. The whole height of the stela is 7'23 

 metres; width at bottom, 2*75 metres: thick- 

 ness at top, - 32 metre. A circular seal hav- 

 ing a string-hole, was engraved on one of the 

 two convex sides with a human figure having 

 an ox's head and wearing the boots with turned 

 up toes, and with a design on the other side 

 that could not be made out. 



Babylonia. Babylonian Exploration Fund of Phila- 

 delphia. An exploring party has been sent out 

 to Babylonia under the auspices of the Baby- 

 lonian Exploration Fund of Philadelphia, and 

 sailed from Xew York on the 23d of June. It 

 consists of Dr. John P. Peters, director, with 

 his assistant, Mr. J. D. Prince; Dr. Hilprecht, 

 of the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. 

 Harper, of Yale, Assyriolgists; Mr. P. H. 

 Field, architect ; and Mr. J. H. Haynes, pho- 

 tographer. Arrangements were made for carry- 

 ing on the work for one year, its continuance 

 to depend upon the success achieved during 

 that time. The Babylonian Exploration Fund 

 was organized in Philadelphia, in November, 

 1887, under the presidency of Dr. Pepper, Pro- 

 vost of the University of Pennsylvania, and 

 VOL. xsviu. 3 A 



obtains its funds through the subscriptions of 

 citizens. 



The Temple at Sippara. In describing the tem- 

 ple that Mr. Rassam has discovered at Aboo 

 Hubba, the site of the ancient Sippara, or 

 Sepharvaim, Mr. W. St. Chad Boscawen has 

 pointed out the close resemblance that it pre- 

 sented to the Jewish temple. Its internal 

 arrangements and even the names of the dif- 

 ferent portions were identical with those of 

 the Jewish temple. The Holy Place (Jielcal) 

 was separated from the Holy of Holies (par- 

 rako) by a veil. In the civil portions of the 

 temple a close parallel was presented to those 

 of the Mohammedan mosque. The temple was 

 the treasury; it was also the school, and, like 

 the mosque, was supported by a glebe or itaTcvf 

 estates and a regular tithe. Several thousand 

 tablets had been discovered by Mr. Rassam in 

 the treasury of the temple, covering a period 

 extending from the fall of Kineveh, 625 B. c., 

 until the time of Alexander the Great. These 

 archives throw much light upon all branches 

 of Babylonian social customs, and make possi- 

 ble a restoration of the life of the people in the 

 by-gone past with the fullest detail. Among 

 the tablets is one recording the payment of the 

 tithes by the major domo of Belshazzar, and a 

 list of the dues paid by the prince himself iu 

 behalf of himself and his father. The date of 

 the reign of the older Sargon, as given on the 

 cylinder of Nabonidus which was recovered in 

 this temple (about 3800 B. c.), may be regarded 

 as correct. The historical statements on the 

 same cylinder are in all other particulars accu- 

 rate. Among the other inscriptions found on 

 this site, were some cylinders recording the 

 restoration of the great canal known as the 

 Xahr Malka by Khauimurabi, who reigned 

 about 2200 B. c. These inscriptiors, coupled 

 with others written nearly fifteen centuries 

 later by Nabopolassar, show that during that 

 long interval the Euphrates had shifted its 

 course to the west. In Sargon's time (3800 

 B. c.) the river no doubt flowed close to the 

 walls of Sippara, but in 2200 B. c. it had re- 

 moved so far west that a canal had to be cut 

 to connect the city with the river, and in 550 

 B. c. this canal had to be still further prolonged 

 to meet the still receding river. These facts 

 afford evidence of the antiquity of the city. 



ifriea. The Cares of the Troglodytes. The 

 caves of the troglodytes, near Ain Tarsil, 

 about three days' ride southwest of the city of 

 Morocco, have been visited and partly explored 

 by a correspondent of the London "Times." 

 They had been previously visited by Balanza 

 and Sir Joseph Hooker, who mention them 

 but did not explore them. They are situated 

 in a narrow gorge, or canon, the cliffs of which 

 rise almost perpendicularly from a deep valley, 

 and are cut in the solid rock at a considerable 

 height from the ground. In some places they 

 are in single tiers, and in other places in two or 

 three tiers, one above the other, and ordinarily 

 inaccessible, except by ropes aod ladders. The 



