26 ACCOUNTS, &,C., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



Hasmatite weights ; from Cyprus. 



A bronze penannular armlet ; from Bey rut. 



The number of objects, including fragments, acquired during the year 1883, from 

 Assyria and Babylonia, was about 42,344. The following are the more important : — 



A series of exceedingly interesting letters, reports, petitions, &c., to the king of Assyria 

 at the time, referring to Cappadocian horses, to Ummanigas, king of Elam, to a rebellion 

 in Babylonia, to the Kimmerians, &c., &c., and one from Assurbanipal to the king of 

 Elam ; from Kouyunjik. 



A number of contract tablets, several of which are impressed with seals; from Kouyunjik. 



Some astrological tablets with glosses ; from Kouyunjik. 



A number of fragments of tablets of the class supposed to refer to the downfall of 

 Assyria ; from Kouyunjik. 



A large piece of the fourth tablet of the series beginning inuma elis, " when on high" 

 (the creation series), referring to the fight between the god Merodach and the monster of 

 the sea ; from the Birs-Nimroud. 



A perfect syllabary of baked clay from the Birs-Nimroud, giving, among other things, 

 the numerals in Akkadian. Of great value for the languages of the East in ancient times. 



A syllabary of baked clay, almost perfect, from the Birs-Nimroud, of great value for 

 Babylonian mythology, &c. 



Several fragments of syllabaries, also from the Birs-Nimroud, of great value for 

 the Babylonian and Akkadian languages. 



A small egg-shaped object of veined marble, containing an inscription of Sai'gani, king 

 of Agade, evidently the Sargon of Agade of the Assyrian and Babylonian inscriptions, 

 who reigned about 3800 B.C. 



A square oblong tablet of black steatite, recording a grant of land from Nabu-abla- 

 iddina, king of Babylon, about 900 B.C., to Nabu-abla-iddina, son of Adnaa. The upper 

 part of the obverse contains, besides the usual so-called signs of the Zodiac, a small bas- 

 relief representing the king, Nabu-abla-iddina, standing, wearing royal robes, holding a 

 tall staff' in his right hand. Before him stands Nabu-abla-iddina, son of Adnaa, bare- 

 headed but for a band passing round his head and falling down behind. His right hand 

 is raised, and he seems to be in conversation with the king. The workmanship of the 

 whole is exceedingly fine, and in good preservation. 



A document, in duplicate, relating to the dowry of Beltia-ussak, a Babylonian lady. 

 Dated in the 108th year, in the reign of Antiochus. Impressed on the edges with several 

 seals ; from the Birs-Nimroud. 



A tablet referring to the sale of a field situated near the great gate of the Sun-god, by 

 the Eastern ford, within Borsippa. Dated in the 117th year, in the reign of " Antiochus, 

 and Antiochus his son, kings ;" from the Birs-Nimroud. 



Several bilingual lists, mostly referring to the terms used in trading and the drawing-up 

 of contracts ; from the Birs-Nimroud. 



A tablet of baked clay, containing a copy of an ancient inscription, on stone, of Sin- 

 gasid, an ancient Babylonian king ; from the Birs-Nimroud. 



A large number of tablets referring to the tithes and revenues of the temple of the 

 Sun-god at Sippara, and also to various trade transactions, dated in the reigns of the 

 various kings of Babylonia from Saosduchinos to Artaxerxes. 



Bronze mould in six pieces, for making two kinds of arrow-heads, about B.C. 400 ; from 

 Mosul. 



Cast of the Moabite Stone. Presented by the Louvre, Paris. 



S. Birch. 



Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities. 

 I. — Arrangement. 



Fourteen inscriptions, forty-five sculptures, one piece of architecture, three mosaics, 

 and eight casts, have been repaired and mounted ; eighty-eight bronzes, one iron and one 

 leaden object have been cleaned, repaired, and mounted ; thirty-seven fictile vases, 

 twenty-two terracottas, two glass objects, one ivory object, and three paintings, have 

 been cleaned, repaired, and mounted ; eight vases have been mounted on wooden 

 pedestals and placed under glass shades ; one mosaic has been mounted and placed in 

 the Carthaginian Basement; twenty-one new moulds have been made from sculptures; 

 the walls and ceiling of the Ephesus Boom and of the Third Vase Room have been 

 cleaned and repainted ; the removal of the sculptures from the Mausoleum into the new 

 Gallery built for their reception has been completed, and progress has been made in the 

 re-arrangement of the Ephesus Room and of the Galleries on the Upper Floor; eight 

 hundred and twenty-seven descriptive titles have been attached to objects ; three hundred 

 and fifteen objects have been registered, and forty-two objects catalogued; Part 11. of 

 Ancient Greek Inscriptions in the British Museum has been completed, a new Guide to 

 the First Vase Room, and two new editions of the General Guide, have been issued. 



It is much to be regretted that no provision has yet been made for the exhibition of 

 the sculptures still withdrawn from public view in the Sepulchral Basement. This col- 

 lection, which contains pai't both of the Elgin and Towneley marbles, has already suffered 

 much from exposure to the foul atmosphere of the Basement ; and the detriment to the 

 surface of the sculptures will be aggravated year by year till a proper room is provided 

 for their exhibition. 



