THE LATEST DISCOVERIES IN BABYLONIA. 



181 



of this tablet, and it has often been quoted — Professor Sayce 

 even reproduced G. Smith's rendering in full in his Hibbert 

 Lectures of 1887, — but no one knew the whereabouts of the 

 original document. I myself have often spoken of the disappear- 

 ance of the record — once before this Institute — in the hope that 

 the newspapers would carry the news farther — perhaps to the 

 notice of the owner — but without success, or at least without 

 effect. Probably no seeker for the document lost hope, however, 

 for clay, when in a good condition, is practically indestructible 

 — wilful damage alone can utterly ruin a clay record. 



This being the case, none were surprised, and most scholars 

 were gratified to learn, last year, that the missing inscription 

 had come to light again at last, and was in the hands of the 

 Rev. V. Scheil. The document, however, did not belong to him, 

 but to Mme. Femerly, who had possessed it for a long time, and 

 its whereabouts had been indicated to Father Scheil by M. 

 Schlumberger in 1912. Under the title of" Esagil, ou le Temple 

 de Bel-Marduk," Father Scheil, aided by the well-known 

 architect and archieologist, M. Marcel Dieulafoy, has published 

 a most valuable monograph upon the record. Both these 

 scholars are Members of the Institute of France. 



The tablet first described by Suiith is a beautifully-written 

 document, 7h inches high by 4 inches wide. It is inscribed 

 with 39 lines of writing in seven sections on the obverse, and 11 

 lines in three sections on the reverse. In the large blank space 

 which follows are three lines wide apart — the colophon — which 

 state that the copy in question was made in the 83rd year of 

 the Seleucid Era (229 B.C.). 



The first section contains the dimensionsofthe du-mah or " sub- 

 lime sanctuary," wherein were to be found the sanctuaries {du) 

 of Istar and Zagaga, and the azamu of the Ubsukiiia, or " place 

 of Assembly," where the New-Year ceremonies took place in the 

 first fortnight of Nisan,the first month of the year. The " sublime 

 sanctuary " and the shrines^ connected therewith did not form 

 part of the Tower, but of E-sagila, the great Temple of Belus 

 (Bel-Merodach). The du-mah, which was a kind of terrace, and 

 which contained the shrines of Istar and Zagaga, measured, 

 according to Dieulafoy, 6 33 J Babylonian feet from north to south 

 and 270 feet from east to west. To the east of this again was the 

 great terrace, 540 feet wide (from north to south) and 720 feet 

 long (from east to west). These two structures were centred on 

 a lower platform measuring in total depth (east to west) 990 

 Babylonian feet. The total depth of the lower terrace (whereon 

 the higher central portion stood) was 200 feet. 



