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

DURING 19TB CENTURY: ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 209
bish heap of Balawat was called Imgur-Bel. It had been
chosen by Ashurnasirapal II. as the site for one of his palaces,
restored and completed by his son and successor, Shalmaneser.
By means of tunnels Rassam extended his excavations to
various sections of the interesting mound, at one place coming
upon the ruins of a small temple, at the entrance of
which stood a huge marble coffer. The latter contained two
beautiful tablets of the same material covered with identical
inscriptions of Ashurnasirapal ; a similar third tablet was
lying upon an altar in its neighborhood, and fragments of
others were scattered among the debris. Exaggerated rumors
of this " great find " spread rapidly. Some credulous
people insisted that a treasure-chest lull of gold had been
brought to light, while others believed that the very stone
tablets of Moses inscribed with the Ten Commandments
had been discovered. Great excitement was the result in
the trenches, and new riots broke out in the villages. The
large quantity of human bones constantly unearthed tended
only to increase the general irritation, and to inflame all
slumbering passions. After a little while Rassam found it
useless to contend longer against ignorance and fanaticism.
As soon as he had cleared the little chamber entirely, he
abandoned his trenches at Balawat, convinced that a thorough
examination of the whole remarkable site was an absolute
impossibility for the time being.
The discovery of such a unique specimen of ancient metallurgy
as the bronze gates of Imgur-Bel had well inaugurated
the resumption of Rassam's researches in the Assyrian
mounds. Nearv 500 workmen were occupied at the same
time, to continue the British excavations at Ooyunjuk and
Nimrud. The most promising space of the palaces of
Sennacherib and Ashurbanapal, practically stripped
of only
their bas-reliefs and larger objects of art by the early explorers,
had been subjected by Smith to a more careful