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

158 EXPLORATIONS IN MULE LANDS
Warka, the trustees of the British Museum granted him
permission to excavate some ot the more prominent Babylonian
mounds.
Accompanied by his trusted comrade Rassam and by
about thirty of his most experienced workmen from Mosul,
he descended the Tigris on a raft,
reaching Baghdad October
26, 1850. But the time was ill chosen for his exploring
tour. His old friend Dr. Ross had died a year before;
Colonel Rawlinson, the British resident, was on a leave of
absence in England; Hormuzd Rassam fell seriously ill
soon after their arrival, and the whole country around the
was swarming with Bedouins in open revolt against the
city
Ottoman government, so that it was next to impossible to
leave for the ruins of Babylon.
Not to lose time, he began operations at Tell Mohammed,
a few miles to the southeast of Baghdad, where Captain
Jones' crew had discovered inscribed bronze balls, from
which it became evident that at some previous time a royal
Babylonian palace (of Hammurabi) had occupied this site.
Beyond several insignificant finds Lavard's excavations
proved unsuccessful. After a delay of nearly six weeks he
moved to Hilla. Owing to the disturbed state of the
country he could do no more than pay a hurried visit to
the conspicuous mound of El-Birs, which, like his predecessors,
he recognized at once as the remains of a stage
tower, " the general type of the Chaldean and Assyrian
temples."
As soon as he had established friendly relations with the
most influential inhabitants of the town, he commenced excavations
at Babil. The subterranean passages opened by
Rich forty vears previously were quickly discovered and
followed up, but without results. By means of a few deep
trenches he arrived at the doubtless correct conclusion that
the coffins here found must belong to a period subsequent to
the destruction of the edifice which forms the centre of the