8 OLD BABYLONIAN INSCRIPTIONS 



of such fragments. It was thus that I myself, after the printing had begun, was 

 enabled to recognize the connection of PI. 21, No. 41 and No. 46, and between PI. 

 22, No. 50, and PI. 20, No. 74. 



Where I have shaded the inscription in my copy, it is not meant to indicate 

 that the reading is to me uncertain, but that it can be recognized only in a special 

 light and by a practiced eye, looking at it from an especial angle. How necessary it 

 was to make an autograph copy of such inscriptions may be seen by comparing PI. 23, 

 Nos. 56, 57, and the direct photographic reproduction on PI. X. A restoration of broken 

 characters and lines I have avoided on principle, even when there was no doubt in my 

 own mind as to what was missing. My translations will show in due time what my 

 understanding of such passages is. For obvious reasons, I have given the characters 

 in some inscriptions only in outline. Of the plates which reproduce the inscription on 

 the Abu Habba slab I have avoided altogether making an autograph copy, since I 

 thought this needless. This stone was found in Abu Habba during the excavation 

 undertaken at the private expense of the Sultan in 1889, and is now in the Imperial 

 Museum at Constantinople. Through the courtesy of His Excellency Hamdy-Bey, 

 a cast of it was furnished to our Expedition. Unfortunately this was broken in 

 pieces in transportation, but it was restored by one of my students. It is this cast 

 that has been directly photographed for the present publication. Some portions of 

 its margin have an indistinctness, which is faithfully shown by the photographic re- 

 production. 



To convey to scholars a clearer picture of the ruins of Nippur, and to show the 

 sites at which the several inscriptions were found, a plan of the excavations of the 

 first year is given. In the Table of Contents the texts are described with reference 

 to this Plan, which has been prepared in accordance with the bas-relief of the ruins 

 made by Mr. Charles Muret in Paris under the supervision of Mr. Perez Hastings 

 Field, the architect of the Expedition. 



In determining the mineralogic character of the several stones, I have had the 

 assistance of my colleagues, Drs. Gr. A. Koenig and E. Smith, of the University of 

 Pennsylvania, to whom I extend my thanks. As I was able to accompany the 

 Expedition only during the first year, I am greatly indebted to my esteemed col- 

 league, Dr. Peters, for much valuable information as to the sites in which objects 

 were found, and for sketches and copies of a series of objects and inscriptions which 

 he made during its second year. As the anticpiities disinterred arrived in this coun- 

 try at long intervals, I found myself obliged to proceed with the help of casts, 

 squeezes, electrotypes and Prof. Peters' notebooks, in order not to delay needlessly 

 the publication of the Texts. This circumstance, however, prevented my determining 



