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

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EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS
nearly a quarter of a century carried on by its own representative.
Great results doubtless will again be forthcoming.
But significant and surprising as the success of future expeditions
to this ancient seat of civilization may be, the name
of De Sarzec, to whom science owes the resurrection of
ancient Chaldean art and the restoration of a long forgotten
leaf in the history of mankind, will
always stand out as
an illustrious example of rare energy, great intelligence, and
indefatigable patience devoted to the cause of archaeology
in
the service and for the honor of his country.
ENGLISH EXCAVATIONS UNDER RASSAM AT BABYLON,
EL-BIRS, AND ABU HABBA
The exceptional terms and the wide scope of the firman
granted to Sir Henrv Lavard in 1878, induced Hormuzd
Rassam, then in charge of the British excavations in Assyria,
to extend his operations at once to as many ruins as
possible. In the interest of a strictly scientific exploration
of the ancient remains of Asshur and Babel, this decision
must be regretted, unless we regard the rapid working of new
mines of antiquities and the
mere accumulation of inscribed
tablets the principal — not to say the only — object of
archaeological missions to the countries of the Euphrates and
Tigris.
But whatever mav be said against Rassam's strange
methods, radically different from those of other recent Babylonian
explorers, and largely responsible for the irreparable
loss of manv important data necessary for a satisfactory reconstruction
of the topography and historv of the different
sites excavated bv him, he deserves credit for his extraordinary
mobility and devotion to what he regarded his duty, 1
and by which he was enabled to gather an immense number
of cuneiform texts and to enrich the collections of the British
Museum with manv priceless treasures.
1
Comp. Rassam, "Asshu-r and the Land of Nimrod," New York, 1897,
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