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

138 EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS
excavations at Nineveh and Calah after Rawlinson's final
departure from Baghdad, for Loftus and Boutcher were soon
recalled. Repeated attempts have been made since to resume
the work at Qoyunjuk, but a Layard was not found
to remove the obstacles in the field and to stir the masses
at home to provide the financial support. Neither of the
two large buildings which occupy the platform of Qoyunjuk
has as vet been thoroughly explored, and much more remains
to be done before the grand palace of Ashurbanapal
with its hidden treasures will rise before our eyes as completely
as that excavated in a methodical manner by Botta
and Place at
Khorsabad.
FIRST SUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS IN BABYLONIA
During the first four years of the second half of the last
century the proverbial solitude of the Babylonian ruins
seemed to have disappeared temporarily under the powerful
influence of some magical spell. Fraser's intrepid march
across the desolate plain and extensive swamps ot 'Iraq, followed
by his intelligent report of the innumerable mounds
and other frequent traces of a high civilization which he had
met everywhere in the almost forgotten districts of the interior
of Babylonia, had directed the general attention again
to the vast ruins of ancient Chaldea. Botta's and Layard's
epoch-making discoveries in the royal palaces of Khorsabad
and Nimrud had created an extraordinary enthusiasm
throughout Europe. As a result of both, scholars began
to meditate about the possibilities connected with a methodical
exploration of the most conspicuous ruins in Babylonia.
The earlier accounts and descriptions of Rich and Ker
Porter and Buckingham were eagerly devoured and reexamined
with a new zeal, stimulated by the hope of finding
other indications that the soil of the country in the south