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

DURING 19 CENTURY- ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 159
mound, and that in all probability long after the fall ot the
Babylonian empire a citadel had crowned its summit. He
exposed at the foot of the hill enormous piers and buttresses
of brickwork, frequently bearing the name of Nebuchadrezzar,
but he could find no clue as to the original
character of the gigantic structure which had left such vast
remains.
Next he turned to the shapeless mass of shattered walls,
known since the time of Rich under the name of Kl-Oasr
("The Palace"), but like Babil also frequently called Mujeliba
(" Overturned ") by the Arab population. Again his
labors were deficient in positive results. He gathered nothing
but a few specimens of the well-known enamelled
bricks of various colors, and excavated some rudely engraved
gems and the fragment of a limestone slab containing
two human figures with unimportant cuneiform characters.
No better antiquities were discovered at Tell 'Omran
ibn 'Ali and several smaller mounds included in the territory
of ancient Babylon.
After a month of nearly fruitless
digging in the extensive ruins of the famous metropolis he
decided to leave a small gang of workmen at these disappointing
mounds and to depart with his Mosul Arabs for
Tell Nuffar, the only place in the interior of the country
to which he devoted a few weeks of concentrated attention.
At the head of a good-sized caravan of fiftv men he arrived
at the marshes ot Nuffar on January 17, 1851. He was
received in the most friendlv manner by the shaikh ot the
'Afej, whose protection he had solicited before he left the
banks of the Euphrates.
But much to his disappointment
and personal discomfort he felt obliged to comply with the
shaikh's request and to pitch his tent at Suq el- c Afej, " the
market place " of the tribe and the residence ot his
newly acquired patron.
The conglomeration ot filthy reed
huts which had received this high-sounding name was
situated at the southeast edge of the unhealthy marshes