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

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152 EXPLORATIONS LN MULE LANDS
worn out by the heat and fatigue of the summer, is liable to
fall a victim to the severe fevers now following, which have
constantly proved to be the greatest real danger to our own
expeditions at Nuffar. At other times, particularly when
the Euphrates fails
to inundate those regions, fresh water is
not to be had for miles in the neighborhood, while at the
same time the frequent sand-storms, of which Warka is
one
of the most characteristic centres, increase the general discomfort
and render work in the trenches often absolutely impossible.
No expedition should ever resume excavations at
Warka unless it fullv understands all these difficulties beforehand,
and, in
contrast with the superficial scratchings of
Loftus, is prepared to excavate these largest of all Babylonian
mounds in a strictly methodical manner for a period
of at least fifty years, assured of a fund of no less than
£500,000. By the mere " digging" lor a few years at such
an important place as Warka, Assyriology w ; ould irreparably
lose more than it ever could gain by the unearthing of a
number of antiquities, however valuable in themselves.
Alter three months of brave battling against odd circumstances
Loftus instinctively began to realize the grandeur of
the task with which he was confronted, and the utter insufficiency
of the means at his disposal and the methods
hitherto employed. Accordingly he decided to quit Warka,
leaving its thorough exploration to an adequately equipped
future expedition. Under the protection of a friend!
shaikh of the Shammar Bedouins, then encamped near the
ruins of Warka, he moved to Senkere, on the western bank
of the Shatt el-Kar, situated about fifteen miles southeast of
the former and plainly visible on a clear day from the summit
of the Buweriye. These mounds had previously been
visited only by Fraser and Ross in
the course of their hasty
journey through the Jezire, briefly described above (pp.
54-5 6 )-
As over against the lofty ruins of Warka, covering a city