City Life Seven
'PTTli II r fTd'K it A f V t I lifcil?
Thousand Years Ago
(Copyright, I'joO, by Theodore Waters.)
Tho Herman mall Bteumor which has JiiHt
arrived In Now York City brings u message
from tho beginnings of civilization through
Prof. II. V. Hllprecht of tho University of
Pennsylvania, wIioho remarkable discoveries
on tho silo of undent Nippur liavo boon or
such great archaeological vuluo and Inter
est. It Ih fully expected tliul IiIh roport of
what ho Iiiih found In old llnbylonla In ti Ih
inoHt recent oxoavntlotiH will project the
history of mankind bin Kunnl Into the piiHl.
Hovornl tlioiiHaml years boyoml Iho bcgln
iiIukh heretofore assigned to it. Knough In
formation from tho work at Nippur linn
found Itn way to Philadelphia to hIiow that
ton thoiiHanil years ago (centuries prior to
tho old-tlmo ilato of tho creation) thoro ox
IhIoiI a civilization an comprehensive aH our
own, a ciiinmorclnl Hystom built on "mod-
digging Is carried on In tho midst of warring
trlbos of Arabs, who gallop suddenly ovc
tho desert nnil attack tho explorers, com.
polling them to Bcurry to their fortified
castle, built of bricks tnkon from tho tempi
of Surgon, who lived 3S00 1J, C, and from
thoro to boat off tho besiegers until help can
arrlvo In tho form of tho Turkish police.
These bricks nro meaningless to all of the
party until Hllprecht can scan thorn one by
olio nnd road tho story which the ancient
Horlbo has stumped In curious Cuneiform
script. So In his threefold capacity I'm.
Hllprecht has been tho life of tho expedi
tion and henco not only lo tho world nt
archaeology, but to tho world In general hi
coming will be an event of Importance, since
what ho has learned In tho link which con
nects uu with the remote past,
So, In anticipation of tho tale ho will tell,
reign of Sargon I, and Nnrlm Sin, 3800 I).
(V Now, bible scholars had read of this
King Sargon, but the evidence of his ex
istence was not very strong, and ho was
thought by many to be a myth. Dr. Hll
precht found his name stamped Into
thousands of bricks. Even this was not tho
last, for ono day tho explorers broke through
the platform of Sargon, and there, lying on
tho ground, wero vestiges of what has slnco
proved to bo a civilization that existed over
7,000 years ago. They had gone through to
vlrln soli, and In tho hole they found
evidence that It wns the site of tho ancient
city of Calneh, mentioned In (lenesls. A
pllo of cun-drled brick nt ono sldo of tho
hole, when dug out, was found to bo an
altar, on which tho ashes of a last sacrifice
worn still lying several Inches thick. And
I hero wero terra cottii vases and some
pottery of ouch pronounced beauty that
Pi of. Hllprecht hays It would have been
called (ireclan had It been found under less
positive conditions. There was u keystone
arch also, although It had previously been
held that keystone arches wero of Homan
Invention, and finally, moat important of all,
many fingmentH of tablets, which, when
KXCAVATiONS AT NM'I'Ult, SliOWINtl ANCIHNT WCI.L Oil DRAIN LKADIN'C DOWN TO Till UKCJlNNlNt! OK CIVILIZATION.
eru lines;" an exulted patronage of art and
letters; u fur-scolng appreciation of the
good opinion of posterity; people then went
to war on tho same proloxts that animate
modern armies; they had libraries In which
wore dictionaries, histories, etc.; public
museums In which were paintings, sculp
ture, archaeological specimens; they used
machinery for making earthen pots and
platters; they did exquisite enameling;
their architecture included palaces at least
two stories high, covering the extent of u
modern city block and having a drainage
system in which a rcsomblauco In principle
to some recorded patents can bo traced;
their scientists studied astronomy and
speculated on thu movements of iho stars;
tho educated went lu for special religious
cults and looked down upon thoso pagans
who weru without the law; tho rich wore
Jewelry which a modern goldsmith might bo
pioud to make and (hoy lived lu tho cities
during tho season, leaving their estates lu
the malarious country districts to tlio euro
of agents. Hut most irurvolnus of all, with
thu evidence that this ancient civilization
differed but little from our own Is Incor
porated the belief that even thou It must
already havu been lu process of formation
as many years as havu elapsed between that
day and our day.
Iliiiiiiri-il li- (lit- SiiIIiiii.
Naturally thu discoverer of this old world
holds an exalted place among archacologlstn.
Already ho has been honored lu Kuropo by
tho sultan of Turkey, who has conferred r
decoration upon him, and by thu (iurmaii
universities, which are vying with ono an
other lu llatterlng offers of piufusBorshlpn
and doctorates. Now 1'iof, Hllpiechl Is it
(icrmnn of thu (Icrmans and these Teutonic
favors, which havu come from tho emporoi
dowu, must be very tempting to him. Hut
In splto of them ho has declared his al
legiance to his American college, and tlm
gain to tho latter can bo gauged from tli
fact that he has declared tho mounds ot
Nippur to ho so extensive that at least n
dozen years will bo required to complete thu
work ot excavation. Tho man Is as Interest
ing ns his work, for the latter Is tho direct
result of his personality. Tho mounds or
Nippur wore known to students put Imps bo.
foro Hllprecht was born, and oven after tho
wore opened and tomu of their contents scru
tinized tholr Importance was not fully real
ized until this almost unknown student
pieced tho fragments into a wonderful mo
saic of tho early history ot tho world. Ana
slnco then It has been his astute diplomacy,
his unfailing courage and his scientific acu
men which have brought forth this veritable
sermon lu stones triumphing over many
dltllcultles.
Other seats of learning lu other countries
havu striven mightily to win the Ottoman
consent to their delving lu Nippur. Tho
the scholars aro brushing up on his past pieced together, wero found to he the public
achievements. It Is a fascinating story and records of this most ancient time,
hero aro Its outlines: Ancient Nippur, or. Thu tablets celebrated for tho most part
as It was called during thu days of Its lho yimorles of King Lugalzagglsl, tho
prosperity, Kengl. Is situated on a marshy wor,i con(iiuror of his time, a sort of Na
plitln lu .Mesopotamia, about two days' ride ,,(,leon, who overran tho then known earth,
on horseback from llugdad. When the ex- uml nftur 8Ui,juutlng nll llu, peoples within
ploreiH lit st went then, they saw only great roui.h or h,a armlo3( acUlca ,,ow t0 enJoy
mounds of sand, acres and acres In extent. tho frulta o victory and to promote that
rising out of the plain. Arab tribes had clvnZntlon spoken of In tho foregoing,
their camps among these sand piles, and lu Thl(t W11H nt tn8t ,rl00 u c n)d lt may
p aces they had burrowed Into tho piles lmvo buull onrllcr f()r Uu,ru nro mce8 ,n
short .Usances In quest of tho cu. Ions tho excavations where unaccounted for mil
tablets which occasionally cropped out on ,,, lnUBl lmvo a8SU(li Tho uatlmiUu
ho surface, and which brought a small sum of ttmu ,8 rnthor Umll
f.om dealers lu Constantinople and else- lln,t Umt cou(, ,m t
where. Some of these Arabs wero employed ... ,,
at sums greater than they had over earned !.1 13 0 ov,',ol,l.t th!lt "'BKlsl was
for like periods in their lives to dig Into thu
not a natlvo of Kengl. About thu time
mines ami carry tho sand away lu baskets A.' V' '"''V''1 r(-'ck,onlnK' w
and dump It lu tho marsh far out on tho Hl , freHh rroln thu l5llrau" of K,lu"' u,,
plain. From an arid waste tho place camo aola l'r ,was ltnckliiB thu city from tho
to take on an air of bustling activity, and "orlll as the son of Ukush, king of
soon walls, rooms, storehouses, pottery, lanui- aml 11,0 cmlrao of 1,18 uotniuests
tablets and other things that had been 10 BWUl1, tho, wl,ol,u country beforu him
burled for centuries began to bo found In from tho K" to tl'" Mediterranean
an abundance that surprised and delighted BL'n-, , Uu 'do Kreeh tho capital of his
the explorers. world, and settled himself comfortably to
On the surface of thu sand piles wero t)Ur8UU tl,u nrta of l,urico- 1,1 enforcing
found pottery and small objects of various civilization on all of his subjects, how.
character, somo of which wero lettered in ovur' 1,0 was not 11,0 crentor of a now and
a way to let the scientists know that they KrL'at IUl!a- Uo merely mimicked that which
had been dropped by tho Jews, who lived Ilu fouml to llls lm,ltl V- t
on the mound In the manner of thu present- ,1,ls '''"Kilom. I-ong before oven tho
day Arab, as Into as 800 A. I). Hut, once ysty of Lugalzagglsl had mado ltsolf a
the llrst layer of sand was removed, and f,,,wor l" ll,u ll"(l u'u Sutnerlans had lived
uld walls mado their appearance, tho objects 1,1 Kongl. They wero highly clvlllzod, peaco
pleke.l up showed thu excavators that they ful People, to whom thu fine arts, loarnlng,
were amid tho ruins of a city which sclunco and Industry nnd an advanced ro
uvl.leutly nourished centuries before Christ. "kIous cult wero leading objects In llfo.
Hi bd(s were picked up marked Ashurbanapal, Tlluy ,iullt Kro!t temples, they practiced
a king who lived prior to titu II C. Tho carving and sculpture, their libraries wero
value of this find was eclipsed, however, by housed In sepurato buildings, they studied
the discovery of objects which evidently be- tllu lieavens and they weru ndcptB In simple
lunged to the reign of one King Kndash- manufacturing pursuits. Lugalzagglsl
inaii-Turgu, who nourished 1100 11. C. f'l them excollout modols and followed
Scattered around lu profusion were the re- their ideas In nil things, oven to adopting
mains of many objects belonging to that their worship of Hoi, tho god of Nippur,
time, and when thu llnd was announced, with I,ow fllr this civilization had advanced on
tho many evidences of tho culture nnd certain lines may ho Judged from tho fol
progress of thu time, tho world In general lowing extract taken from a letter rocontly
compared lt easily with tho Creek and written by Dr. Hllprecht whllo sitting amid
Homan chronology, and found It not so hard the very things ho describes,
to look back these fow additional years. "Tho eastern city fortifications lmvo been
ItfiiuiliiM of Hidden Temple. receiving my attention and thu whole
Hut further along In the report It was northern half of tho big city wall has been
Blated that below the temple platform on traced. The great eastern gato has been
which the relics were found were discovered Identllled. It was called Abullu-Habu
tho remains of another temple, which must (Croat Cute.) It was an Immense solid
have been bulK lu thu reign of King Ur-(lur, structure ot tho earliest pro-Sargonlc
many centuries beforu Abraham, thu founder period.
of the Jewish nation, was born. Then the "The most Importnnt discovery mado Is
world wondered. There was very little, uu- the llndlng and tracing of a huge pro-Sar-less
It might be tho creation Itself, to com- gonle palace having a C00-foot front. It
puio with this. was buried far hulow tho desert under u
And later, when the platform of Ur-Cur ponderous mass of ruins. The wholo
had been broken through, still another southern facade of tho buildings has now
temple was found; this ono built In tho been excavuled. I have been ablo to prove
conclusively that lt had at least two stories.
Ono window, the only ono preserved on this
side of the structure, was found. We ex
cavated a few rooms. The floors were cure
fully laid with baked brick.
"In the rooms were found a number of
pro-Sargonlc tablets, a seal, a very uuclest
seal Impression In clay, showing an eaglo
with outspread wings, recognized from
similar figures o the monuments ot Tello,
and a fow other objects of peculiar charac
ter. At the west wing was a well, built of
characteristic pro-Sargonlc bricks. A large
vuso and cup were found nearby standing
ou a little platform. Many traces ot tlm
pro-Sargonlc period have been discovered,
umong them are seven large fragments of a
limestone relief representing a battle scene.
Wo have found so many pro-Sargonlc struc
tures at so many different places in
Nippur that wo begin grudually to under
stand what Importance tho city must havo
had In possessing tho chief and most
revered shrine lu all Uabyloula."
In another letter Dr. Hllprecht states
that ho discovered tho temple library, lt
was In a separate library building and lt
contained 23,000 tablets Inscribed with n
history of tho time and of times then long
gone by. When they aro all translated lt Is
probable they will extend our knowledge of
man far beyond the conquests of Lugal
zagglsl. All KxtcilHlve Will led City.
So, what Lugalzagglsl tuund and what
Dr. Hllprecht uncovered wns an extensive
walled city, with great gates curved with u
definite Idea ot urt; a king's palace which
for 'size und beauty would compare with
modern structures of this kind; a govern
ment library, lu which the history of tho
nation was Indelibly cut Into tablets and
thu latter stored uwuy on ledges around tho
walls; uu appreciation of good living us
evinced In tho remains of private dwellings,
lu one ot which u kitchen was found in an
excellent state of preservation; In short, a
city laid out and operated on a modern
basis In tho days when man heretofore
was supposed to bo not much more ad
vanced than tho beasts of tho Held. Kur
thermure, these people had lu them the
vital spark of patriotism, tho most con
vincing evidence of their civilization, fir
hardly had tho heel ot the oppressor been
removed from their neck by tho death of
tho world conqueror than they arose and
forcibly reclaimed their ancient rights from
his successors.
Now, this outllno of tho discoveries of
Dr. Hllprecht has led tho reader so rapidly
back through tho millenniums as to suggest
thu possibility of gaps In tho succession,
but Nippur Is an Inscribed monument of tho
history of tho world and tho dlgglugs are
roveallng tho ovldcnco of tho successive
centuries with tho regularity of a carefully
numbered folio. Only It Is tho early pages
In which tho world is most Interested, tho
record of that civilization which existed
long previous to C000 H. C. It Is of this
wondorful period that Dr. Hllprecht is
coming home to speak and It Is because It
will bring us many millenniums nearer to
our origin that his words will bo regarded
as are those ot an oracle.
Quaint Features of Life
Nearly thirty years ago Jonas Silverman,
a farmer living near Springfield, O., was
swindled out of $1,500 by sharpers whllo ou
a train nenr Valparaiso, Ind. The criminals
escaped and ore long ono of them died. Tho
other two drifted to the Klondike a year
or two ago, became rich and have Just ro
Mirned to the states. They hunted up Mr.
Silverman, paid him tho $1,500 aud gave
hltn $1,000 more by wny of Interest on tho
forced loan.
Somo German brokers engaged In promot
ing an "Industrial" company advertised
that tho enterprise promised to pay 5 per
cent tho first year nnd more Inter on. The
public Invested, but fallod to get any
dividends. Thon somo of tho investors sued
to recover their money, claiming that It
had been obtained by falsp pretenses. After
wlnnlug a compromlso verdict they appealed
and a decision has been rendered In a
higher court ordering roturn of their money
ou surrender ot tho stock.
Tho Middlesex probate court at Eust Cam
bridge, Mass., has been called upou to do
cldo whether or not a certain church Is
"visible." It seems that a deceased mem
ber of tho Independent Haptlst church of
Woburn left a trust fund of $1,000 for tho
beueflt of her fellow members, tho Interest
to bo paid to them so long as tho church
"maintained Its visibility and tho doctrine
of tho old school Haptlst principles." The
residuary legatees, to whom the money was
to revert If at- any tlmo the church should
forfolt tho title to It, claim that the society
no longer "maintains its visibility." It hns
October 28, 1000.
only nine members, onty one of whom lives
In Woburn, nnd lt does not support a
preacher. On tho other hnnd, the society
claims that, according to Its doctrines, It Is
still a church within the meaning of tho
testator.
Mrs. Henrietta Chasoof Danbury, Conn.,
died recently, leaving quite a little property
to various persons. To Alansou Chase, who
was supposed to bo her favorite nephew, she
bequeathed "my set of false teeth, which
will bo found In tho upper right-hand
drawer of my burenu." Thu young man at
once coucluded that his aunt must have
concealed gome diamonds or other precious
Btones In tho set of teeth. Accordingly ho
smashed up his bequest, but found no
Jewels. Ho will now contest tho will.
Tho following epitaph Is found ou a
tombstone In a graveyard in Wlnslow,
Me.: "Hero lies tho body of Richard
Thomas. An Hugllsumnn by birth. A
whig of '70. Uy occupation n cooper.
Now food for worms. Llku nn old rum
puncheon, marked, numbered nnd shooked.
Ho will be raised again and finished by
bis Crentor. Ho died September 1!S, 1S1M,
aged 75. America, my adopted outntry.
my best advice to you is this: Take care
of your liberties."
"We, the Jury, llnd for the defendant,"
was the verdict lu thu case of tho estato of
Mrs. Lizzie Doty of Mexico, Mo., against
the Monumental Hronzu company of Bridge
port, Conn. Mrs. Doty ordered a $:JSI brone
monument erected at the giave of her par
ents with the Inscription:
Tho Lord Is my Shepherd,
I shall not want.
The engraver made lt read "fear" In
stead of "want" and the estate refused
to pay thu bill anil a law suit followed.
Tho Judge Instructed the Jury that If It
considered lt n material variance from
tho words of tho psalmist lt should llnd
for thu defendant and lt did so.
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