232 OLD BABYLONIAN INSCRIPTIONS 



utterly ruined that the original dimensions can no moi*e he given. 1 The whole ziggur- 

 rat appears like an immense altar, in shape and construction resembling a smaller one 

 discovered in a building to the S.-W. of the temple. 



As stated above, the body (and faces) of the ziggurrat consist of small, crude 

 bricks, 2 with the exception of the S.-E. side of the lowest stage, which had an exter- 

 nal facing of burned bricks of the same size. 3 To preserve such a structure for any 

 length of time it was necessary to provide it with ample and substantial drainage. 

 Thanks to the untiring efforts of Haynes, who for the first time examined the ancient 

 Babylonian system of canalisation critically, we learn that the ziggurrat of Xippur 

 had water conduits of baked brick 4 in the centre of each of the three unprotected 

 sides. They were found in the lower stage and possibly existed also in the upper 5 

 ruined portions. On all four sides around the base of the walls was a plaster of bitu- 

 men, 6 2.75 cm. wide and gradually sloping outward from the ziggurrat towards a 

 gutter, which carried the water away (cf. PL XXIX, Xo. 74). 7 By this very simple 

 arrangement the falling rain was conducted to a safe distance and the unbaked brick 

 foundations were thoroughly protected. 



Unlike the ziggurrat of Sin in Ur, which had its entrance on the X.-E. side, 8 the 

 ascent to the different stages in Xippur was at the S.-E. Two walls of burned bricks, 9 

 3.40 m. high, 16.32 m. long and 7 m. distant from each other, ran nearly parallel, 10 at 



1 The surface of these stages " was covered with a very tenacious plaster of clay mixed with cut straw," in order 

 to protect them against storm and rain. "In places this plaster is still perfect, while in other places several coatings 

 are visible, plainly showing that from time to time the faces of the ziggurrat were replastered" (Haynes, Report of 

 Sept. 1, 1894). 



2 Cf. above, p. 230, note 8, "Traces of decayed straw were discovered in these bricks " (Haynes, Report of Feb. 

 9, 1895). 



3 In Ur the exterior of the whole lower story was faced by Ur-Gur with baked bricks (Loftus, I. c, pp. 129f.), 

 while in Warka "unlike other Babylonian structures" the lower stage of the Buwariyya "is without any external 



acing of kiln-baked brickwork " (Loftus, I. c, p. 167). 



4 Each c. 1 m. wide by 3.25 deep. To judge from the height of the " buttresses " in Warka, the true meaning of 

 which Loftus failed to recognize, the lowest stage of the Buwariyya had the same height as that of the ziggurrat of 

 Nippur. Cf. Loftus, I. c, p. 169. 



5 Cf. Loftus, I. c, p. 129. 



6 This plaster rested upon "a level pavement of two courses of bricks also laid in bitumen, and was 28 cm. thick 

 where it flanked the walls, and 7.7 cm. at its outer edge " (Haynes, Report of Feb. 10, 1894). 



'The projecting casing wall at the base (1.38 m. high) consists of sixteen courses of (stamped) bricks and was 

 built by Kadashman-Turgu around the three unprotected sides of the ziggurrat. In the middle distance of the picture 

 is seen a section of the latest crude brick superstructure (cf. above, p. 230 and note 3) with a tunnel tracing the face of 

 the lowest stage of Ur-Gur's and Kadashman-Turgu's ziggurrat. 



"Loftus, I. c, p. 129. 



9 Many of which were stamped with Ur-Gur's well-known legend I R. 1, No. 9. 



10 Where they joined the wall of the ziggurrat the distance between them (7 m.) was 1.65 m. greater than at their 

 outer end. 



