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

104 EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS
of the discovery of something to carry away, I felt myself
compelled, much against my inclination, to abandon the
excavations in this part of the mound, after uncovering
portions of two chambers." Or again :
" If, after carrying
a trench to a reasonable depth and distance, no remains of
sculpture or inscription appeared, I abandoned it and renewed
the experiment elsewhere."
In view of the unsatisfactory manner in which the excavations
at Nimrud were now conducted, it would be an
exceedinglv unpleasant task to follow Layard into all the
different trenches which he cut at many parts of the mound
for no other purpose than to obtain the largest possible
number of well-preserved objects of art at the least possible
outlay of time and money. The winter season was fast
approaching.
In order to protect himself sufficiently against
the dangers of the climate and the thievish inclinations
of the marauding Bedouins, he constructed his own house
in the plain near the ruins, and settled the Arab workmen
with their families and friends around this temporary abode.
Fifty strong
Nestorian Christians, who wielded the pickaxe
in the trenches, were quartered with their wives and children
in a house on the mound itself. By the first of November
the excavations were recommenced on a large scale at different
sections :
at the northwest and southwest buildings, in
the centre of the mound, near the gigantic bulls
mentioned
above ; in the southeast corner, where no walls as yet had
been discovered, and in other parts of the ruins hitherto
unexamined. The first six weeks following this new arrangement
" were amongst the most prosperous and fruitful in
events " during all his researches in Assyria. Scarcely a
day passed by without some new and important discovery.
The trenches carried to a considerable depth in the southeast
corner yielded at first nothing but inscribed bricks and
pottery and several clay coffins of a late period ; but those
in the southwest palace brought to light a number of very