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

176 EXPLORATIONS IN lilliLK LANDS
them having the impressions of the tips of two fingers at the
back ; none were inscribed, the whole imbedded in bitumen."
From what the present writer has pointed out in
1896 as a characteristic feature of the earliest Babylonian
bricks, 1 it is very evident that here Taylor had reached the
pre-Sargonic period (about 4000 b. a).
He mentions other interesting bricks found upon the
same mound, which were " painted red, and had an inscription
over nearlv the whole length and breadth in a small
neat character," while "on one portion of them was the
symbol of two crescents, back to back."
But his statements
here and in other places are so vague that our curiositv is
onlv raised without any chance of being satisfied.
The rest of the mounds of Muqayvar, so far as Tavlor
was able to dig into them, seemed to represent a vast cemeterv
of the early Babylonians, yielding clay coffins and
Clav Coffin from Muqayyar
vases of different size and shape, numerous drains, and
many smaller objects in stone, metal, and clav valuable for
illustrating the life and customs of the former inhabitants,
especiallv those of the later periods.
All around the graves in the different parts of the ruins
1
Comp. Hilprecht, "The Babylonian Expedition of the University of
Pennsylvania," Series A, vol. i., part 2, p. 4^.