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

248 EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS
distinct groups of rectangular galleries constructed of crude
bricks, upon which these first
large collections of clay tablets
from Tello were arranged in five or six layers, one
above another. Unfortunately, soon after their discovery,
these interesting depots, which must be regarded as regular
business archives of the temple, similar to others unearthed
at Abu Habba and
Nuffar, were plundered by the natives.
Nearly all the leading museums of Europe and America
have profited therefrom. But nevertheless it will always
remain a source of deep regret that the French government
does not appear to have succeeded in establishing regular
guards at Tello. 1 Even when De Sarzec was in the field,
the ruins were not sufficiently protected at night, to say
nothing of the frequent and long intervals in his work
when no one was left on guard and those precious mounds
remained at the mercy of unscrupulous merchants and of
the neighboring Arabs, who soon began to realize the financial
value of these almost inexhaustible mines. 2 A large
number of the stolen tablets are still in the hands of the
antiquity dealers. At first greedily bought by the latter in
the sure expectation of an extraordinarv gain, this archaeological
contraband began recently to disappoint them, the
comparatively uninteresting and monotonous contents of
the average clay tablet from Tello offering too little attraction
to most of the Assvriological students.
As a rule they refer to the administration of temple pro-
1
The ruins of Nuffar, the neighborhood of which is as unsafe as that of
Tello, and the property of the expedition
of the University of Pennsylvania
(house and gardens, and stores, furniture and utensils locked up in the former)
were always entrusted to native guards during our absence from the field, the
'Afej shaikhs agreeing to guarantee their inviolability for a comparatively small
remuneration. Thev have always kept their promise faithfully, notwithstanding
the wars which thev frequently waged against the Shammar or against each
other in the meanwhile.
2
Comp. Heuzey, Catalogue de la Sculpture Chaldeenne au Mus'ee du
Louvre, Paris, 1902, Introduction.