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

DURING 19 th CENTURY: ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 245
bish within and around them, will enable us to answer the
question and to determine the general character of the vast
enclosure with reasonable certainty.
We notice, first of all, that the most prominent structure
discovered in the
stratum of the period of Ur-Nina, about
thirty-five feet long and twenty-four wide, shows no trace
of a door or any other kind of entrance, though its walls,
when excavated, were still standing to the height of nearly
four feet. It is therefore evident that access to it must have
been had from above by means of a staircase or ladder now
destroyed, and that for this reason it could never have
been used as a regular dwelling-place for men or beasts.
A
French Excavations at Tello under De Sarzec
Southeast facade of the storehouse of King Ur-Nina, about 4000 B. C.
similar result is reached by examining the more archaic but
somewhat smaller building below, which presents even
greater puzzles from an architectural standpoint.
The inner disposition of the upper edifice is no less
remarkable than its external appearance. It consists of
two rooms of different size, which, however, do not extend