UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. 449 



General of the Imperial Museum in Constantinople. The ex- 

 plorers penetrated deeper and deeper into the secrets and riddles 

 of the huge mound of ruins at Nippur. Hundreds of graves, clay 

 coffins, and urns were opened, and the ruins of demolished habita- 

 tions and storehouses, along with the contents of their chambers, 

 were explored. In this way thousands of documents, inscribed 

 bricks, vases, and votive tablets were collected. Evidences of 

 the activity which once pulsated in the streets of the city were 

 unfolded before the eyes of the restless explorers. The terraces 

 of the Temple of Ekur were disclosed. Numerous bricks bearing 

 the name of the great Sargon came forth to the light of day 

 under pickaxe and shovel. Under the building of Sargon one of 

 the most important finds rewarded the labor that had been ex- 

 pended. An arch of brick was laid bare, and by this the question 

 long discussed by the historians of architecture as to the an- 

 tiquity of the arch entered upon a new stage, and its existence 

 in Babylonia at the beginning of the fourth millennium before 

 Christ was proved. The excavations have not yet reached the 

 deepest foundations of this venerable sanctuary, whose influence 

 for over four thousand years had been felt by all classes of the 

 Babylonian people. But in the presence of this fact we begin to 

 have some notion why Nippur is spoken of as the oldest city of 

 the earth in the old Sumerian legends of the creation. Nearly 

 seventy thousand dollars have already been spent on the excava- 

 tions in Nippur, and great sacrifices of time, money, and personal 

 devotion will be needed to carry the exploration to its end. 

 Among the most important objects secured for the university 

 museum may be mentioned about thirty-five thousand cuneiform 

 documents in clay. The Babylonian Museum is the most impor- 

 tant in America, and ranks immediately after the British Mu- 

 seum and the Louvre. 



The classification and editing of the numerous and important 

 results of the expedition has been intrusted to Prof. Hilprecht, 

 who has planned their publication in four series of from ten to 

 fifteen volumes each. Two volumes have appeared already, three 

 are in the press, while seven others are in preparation. During 

 the summer of 1893 Prof. Hilprecht was sent to Constantinople 

 by the Babylonian Publication Committee to examine the inscrip- 

 tions of the cuneiform tablets which had been deposited there 

 according to the laws governing the disposal of such objects in 

 the Turkish Empire. Hamdy Bey, Director- General of the Impe- 

 rial Ottoman Museum, requested Prof. Hilprecht to reorganize 

 the Semitic section of the Imperial Museum and furnish the basis 

 of a catalogue of that section. Dr. Hilprecht complied with the 

 request, and since that time he has acted as curator of the section. 

 In March, 1896, Dr. Hilprecht again sailed for Constantinople to 



