178 



NATURE 



[June 25, 1903 



Looking at the results of the four expeditions, we 

 are struck with the careful way in which all operations 

 have been conducted, especially towards the end of 

 the period. The mounds were carefully surveyed, and 

 even a relief map of them was made in plaster, the 

 buildings which were discovered were accurately 

 mapped, numerous photographs were taken of the 

 various phases of the diggings, and as time went on 

 those in command became even more methodical in 

 their diggings. The manner in which the excavations 

 were carried on merits the highest praise. 



The " section " of the shafts dug through the 

 mounds, as figured by Prof. Hilprecht in his latest 

 work, " Explorations in Bible Lands " (p. 549), shows, 

 as is common in ancient mounds, that the city was 

 occupied from a very early period, and that from time 

 to time new builders superimposed their pavements 

 and dwellings upon those of an earlier period, so that 

 the mounds are made up of successive layers, each 

 marking an earlier building as the shafts sink lower. 

 The diggers first cut through soil containing Sassanian 

 and early Arabic remains. Then came the great 

 Parthian fortress of the second or third century B.C. 

 Next were found in six successive strata the pavements 

 of buildings of (a) Ashurbanipal, who restored the 

 great ziggurat, or temple-tower (c. 668-626 B.C.); (b) 

 Kadashman-turgu (c. 1350 B.C.); (c) Ur-ninib (c. 2500 

 B.C.); (d) Ur-gur (c. 2700 B.C.); (e) Lugal-surzu (c. 

 3500 B.C.); (/) Sargon and Naram-Sin (c. 3750 B.C.). 

 Below these, and beneath the level of the surrounding 

 plain, a vaulted drain came to light, of a period dis- 

 tinctly before Sargon, and in the heart of the mound, 

 on a slightly higher level, was a pre-Sargonic 

 ziggurat. Straight down through these layers, from 

 almost the top to the very water-level, a Parthian well 

 had been sunk, a total distance of about seventy feet 

 in depth. The mound of Nippur is therefore similar 

 to Hissarlik and Tel-el-Hesy in the superimposition 

 of cities. 



The larger of the two Parthian buildings was a 

 palace and fortress occupying what had been the centre 

 part of the old Babylonian temple, and was an almost 

 rectangular building surrounded by an enormous 

 double wall, five hundred and sixty feet long on its 

 south-eastern front. From the discovery of great 

 masses of water-jars piled together in the southern 

 part, as well as various fire-places and other kitchen 

 arrangements close to them, it is clear that these were 

 the servants' quarters, storehouses and bakeries. In 

 the centre of the whole building rose the citadel, built 

 over the ancient ziggurat, and it was through this 

 that the only well of the whole building had been dug, 

 evidently with the idea of the garrison holding out 

 against a long protracted siege. 



The smaller Parthian palace, west of the Chebar, 

 which has been completely excavated, was a square 

 building, measuring each side about 170 feet. It 

 apparently had but one entrance, which was situated 

 in the centre of the north-west facade. The walls 

 varied in thickness from three to eight and a half feet, 

 and the material used in the construction was brick, 

 baked and unbaked. The roof, as the pieces of 

 charred wood discovered in the ruins plainly show, 

 was of palm logs, matting and earth. Prof. Hilprecht 

 divides the building into two almost equal parts, the 

 one for public functions and the other for the family 

 life. 



But important as these two buildings were, their 

 interest cannot compare with the discoveries of earlier 

 Babylonian ruins. Of these the huge ziggurat, or 

 tower of the Temple of Bel, stands out pre-eminent, 

 a huge brick building, the origin of which dates back to 

 pre-Sargonic times, and shows in its various strata 

 traces of the handiwork of the many kings who re- 

 stored and added to it. According to Prof. Hilprecht, 



NO. 1756, VOL. 68] 



the Temple o" Bel (called Ekur in the cuneiform in- 

 scriptions) was divided into two principal buildings, the 

 ziggurat or great tower, and the " House of Bel." 

 The whole was surrounded by the great wall called 

 Imgur-Marduk. It is to this temple that the energies 

 of the excavators have been principally directed, and 

 from it have come the majority of the tablets found. 

 The temple in Babylonia was not only a place wherein 

 the gods might be worshipped, but was also a college 

 at which priests were trained, and for this a reference 

 library was essential. Consequently, it is not going 

 too far to say that probably every important temple 

 in Assyria and Babylonia had its own library of clay 

 tablets. An excellent idea of what the temple rooms 

 looked like may be gained from the photograph in 

 Prof. Hilprecht's book, " Explorations in Bible 

 Lands," p. 509. 



In the remains of this Babylonian city many dis- 

 coveries were made which add considerably to our 

 knowledge of the daily life of the inhabitants. One 

 of the most remarkable things found was a baking 

 furnace made of brick, dating back to the third 

 millennium B.C., composed of a series of seven (origin- 

 ally nine) parallel arches over a fire-box which ran 

 lengthwise through the whole kiln. Ife was, in fact, 

 very similar to the military field-ovens in use at the 

 present day. Still earlier is the specimen of the 

 elliptical arch which Haynes discovered, which Prof. 

 Hilprecht assigns to the fifth millennium B.C. This is 

 undoubtedly the first Babylonian arch known, and will 

 go far to prove the much-disputed question of the 

 origin of the arch. 



Up to the present comparatively few of the tablets 

 discovered in the ruins have been published, so that 

 it is impossible to speak of the possibilities of the great 

 temple library. We may notice, however, an im- 

 portant clay map of Nippur, photographed in Prof. 

 Hilprecht's book (p. 518), which gives the environ- 

 ments of that ancient city as they were about two 

 thousand five hundred years ago. Interesting, also, 

 are the " practice " tablets, written by the pupils in 

 the schools during their study of the Babylonian 

 language. Indeed, it is to this class of tablet that we 

 owe much of our knowledge of the classical works in 

 cuneiform, for many similar are preserved in the 

 British Museum which are inscribed with excerpts 

 from the Creation legends, syllabaries, and incanta- 

 tions. 



Much remains to be done at Nippur, and it is to 

 be hoped that the Americans will continue and com- 

 plete the great work they have begun. There is little 

 doubt that when the mounds of Assyria and Babylonia 

 have yielded up their hoards of cuneiform tablets 

 stored up in the palace and temple libraries, our know- 

 ledge of those countries will equal, if not surpass, 

 what we know of the archaeology of Greece and Rome. 



MATHEMATICAL REFORM AT CAMBRIDGE. 



THE syndicate appointed in December, 1902, to 

 consider what changes, if any, should be made 

 in the regulations affecting the mathematical portions 

 of the pass examinations of the University of Cam- 

 bridge has recently presented a report A^hich has just 

 been adopted by the Senate, and will prpfoundly and 

 beneficially affect the teaching of the subject in our 

 public schools and throughout the country. 



Recognising the widespread desire for reform, 

 noting the changes that have already been made in the 

 schedules of important examining bodies, and having 

 examined the recommendations of various committees, 

 the syndicate is convinced, that changes are desir- 

 able, and that a " modification of the requirements of 



