ARCHEOLOGY. (AFRICA.) 



ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



23 



of th- oldest in Babylonia a fiirt which is cor- 

 iied in the new Akkadian story of the crea- 

 tion, win-re NilTVr is the first city mentioned by 

 name. Among tin' finds from tin- temple of Bel 

 number of votive inscriptions on lapis- 

 la/iili. agate, and a chalk-like white stone, so soft 

 that it had to be covered with u kind of enamel. 

 'fhey \\vre all found in one room, in a series of 

 boot'hs or shops before the temple; had all been 

 contained in one box ; and were in various stages 

 of completion, showing that this was the shop of 

 ler or manufacturer of objects of this kind. 

 The inscriptions on the bulk of these belong to 

 Kurigal:-.!!, son of Burnaburiash, but the largest 

 and most important of the series bears the name 

 of a king of Babylon, which Mr. Pinches reads 

 Kadasinan-Turgii. Another similar name, Kadas- 

 man-Bel, occurs on an agate tablet of the same 

 series. These give us the names of two Kassite 

 kind's, one wholly, the other partially, new. 



Akkadian Account of the Creation. A 

 tablet found by Mr. Pinches among those col- 

 lected by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam at Konyunjik, 

 containing on the reverse an incantation for the 

 purification of the great temple tower E-Zida, 

 or Birs Nimrud, has on the obverse an account 

 of the creation. The text, according to Mr. 

 Pinches, may be divided roughly into sections of 

 about ten lines each. The first section describes 

 the time when nothing was, neither the "glori- 

 ous house of the gods, neither plants, nor cities, 

 nor houses, and not even the abyss (Hades) nor 

 Eridu (probably a type of paradise) existed. The 

 second section describes the making of Eridu, 

 with its temple E-sagila, which had been founded 

 within the abyss. Then were made Babylon, the 

 gods, the spirits, the land, the abode of the gods, 

 and mankind. The third section treats of the 

 creation of animals, plants, and trees, the Tigris 

 and Euphrates, etc. ; and the fourth and last 

 remaining section records the building of cities 

 and houses. Merodach figures as the principal 

 creator and constructor of all things. 



Africa. Ruins of "Zimbabye. The cyclo- 

 pean ruins of Zimbabye, in Mashonaland, South 

 Africa, were discovered and visited several years 

 ago by the German traveler Mauch, and are illus- 

 t rated, from his notes, in Baines's works on " The 

 Gold Fields of South Africa." They were visited 

 again, and are described by a correspondent of 

 the London " Times," a member of the British 

 South Africa Company's expedition, in the sum- 

 mer of 1890. They are situated close to the edge 

 of the Mashonaland plateau, at the base of a pre- 

 cipitous granite " kopje," or knoll, which is in- 

 habited by one of the Mashona tribes. They are 

 surrounded by an outer wnll, running apparently 

 round the entire kopje, which could not be traced 

 for more than half a mile on account of the high 

 grass and jungle. Next, are indications of a sec- 

 ond and inner wall, which also could not be traced 

 for any great length. Then, amid the remains 

 of many small circular buildings, and 300 yards 

 southwest of the base of the kopje, is "a high 

 wall of circular shape, from 30 to 35 feet high, 

 forming a complete inclosure of an area 80 van Is 

 in diameter. This wall (about 10 feet in t hickness 

 at the base, and tapering to about 7 or 8 feet at 

 the top) is built of small granite blocks, about 

 twice the size of an ordinary brick, beautifully 

 hewed and dressed, laid in perfectly even courses, 



and put together without the use of a dingle atom 



of cement. This strange incloHure IH entered on its 

 eastern side by what at first sight apjx-ars to be 

 u mere gap in the wall, but which cluscr examina- 

 tion reveals to be what was once evident ly a well- 

 defined narrow entrance, a shown clearly by the 

 rourided-off courses. Inside the building itself 

 (which is nio-t difficult to examine thoroughly, 

 owing lx>th to the dense undergrowth and the 

 presence of quantities of trees hundreds of years 

 old, which conceal traces of, seemingly, a series 

 of further circular or elliptical walls), and close 

 to the entrance and outer wall, here 80 feet high, 

 stands a conical-shaped tower or turret. 85 feet 

 in height and 18 feet in diameter at the base, 

 built of the same granite blocks and consisting 

 of solid masonry. Lastly, ... on the southeast 

 front of the wall and 20 feet from its base runs a 

 zigzag scroll, one third of the distance round, 

 composed of the same-sized granite blocks placed 

 in diagonal positions." 



The ruins were visited in 1891 by Mr. Theo- 

 dore Bent, who found the remains of a temple 

 adorned with phallic emblems, a phallic altar, 

 and fragments of blue and green pottery. 



Bibliography, Gerard Fowke, "Some Popular Er- 

 rors in regard to Mound-builders and Indians" (in 

 the " Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly," 

 1889); "The Manufacture and Use of Aboriginal 

 Stone Implements." W. K. Moorehead, "Fort An- 

 cient, the Great Prehistoric Earth-work of Warren 

 County, Ohio" ("Cincinnati). G. P. Thruston, " The 

 Antiquities of Tennessee " (Cincinnati). G. Fred- 

 erick Wright, "Man and the Glacial Period," sup- 

 plementary note to a new edition of" The Ice Age in 

 North America and its Bearings upon the Antiquity 

 of Man" (New York). Marquis de Nadaillac, "Pre- 

 historic America" (New York). Henry A. Shep- 

 herd, "The Antiquities of the State of Ohio" (Cin- 

 cinnati). "The American Antiquarian," quarterly 

 (Chicago). Cyrus Thomas, " The Storv of a Mound *; 

 and many other papers on subjects of North Ameri- 

 can archaeology (Washington). " Reports of the Pea- 

 body Museum of American Archaeology and Eth- 

 nology" (Cambridge, Mass.). Reports ot the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, of the United States National 

 Museum, and of the United States Bureau of Eth- 

 nology. Special papers by Stephen D. Peet, Chica- 

 go; T. H. Lewis, St. Paul, Minn.; Thomas Wilson, 

 Washington; Otis T. Mason, Washington. Report* 

 and publications of the Archaeological Institute of 

 America. Dr. C. SchuchharL " Schliemann's Exca- 

 vations" (New York). "Biblia," monthly, Charles 

 S. Davis (Meriden, Conn.). " Oriental and Baby- 

 lonian Record" (London). Publications of the So- 

 ciety of Biblical Archaeology (London). Publica- 

 tions of the Egypt Exploration Fund (London). 



ARGENTINE REPUBLIC, a federal repub- 

 lic in South America, having a Constitution mod- 

 eled after that of the United States. The Presi- 

 dent is elected for six years. The Congress con- 

 sists of a Senate of 38 members, two from each 

 province, and a House of Representatives con- 

 taining 86 members voted for directlv by the 

 Rjople and serving four years. One half of the 

 ouse is renewed every two years, and one third 

 of the Senate every three years. Every member 

 of either house draws a 'salary of $8.400 per 

 annum. The Vice-President presides over the 

 Senate, and succeeds to the presidency in case of 

 a vacancy. On the resignation of President 

 Juarez Celinan. on Aug. 6^ 1890, Dr. Carlos Pel- 

 legrini, then Vice-President, assumed the office 

 for the remainder of the term, which expires 



