Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

72 EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS
ancient history and geography of the Euphrates and Tigris
vallevs ; and as long as this company existed, it never ceased
to be a generous patron of all
scientific undertakings carried
on in regions which, through their close connection with
the Bible, have always exercised a powerful influence upon
the mind of the English public. Under Rawlinson's energetic
and tactful management of British interests in " Turkish
Arabia," the old traditional policy of the company was
kept alive, and such a spirit of bold progress and scientific
investigation was inaugurated in England as
had never been
witnessed before in the Oriental studies of that country.
And yet, through a peculiar combination of circumstances
and events, the first decisive step in the line of actual excavations
was made not by an English explorer, but by an
Orientalist of France, Professor Julius von Mohl, one of
the secretaries of the French Asiatic Society, who, born and
educated in Germany, had gained the firm conviction that
those few but remarkable bricks which he had recently seen
in London were but the first indication and sure promise
of a rich literary harvest awaiting the fortunate excavator
in the mounds of Babylonia and Assyria. No sooner,
therefore, had the 'French government established a consular
agency in Mosul and selected a suitable candidate
for the new position, than Mohl urged him most strongly
to utilize his exceptional opportunity in the interest of science,
and to start
Mosul.
excavations in the large mounds opposite