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

296 EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS
with numerous other antiquities, including the large torso of
an inscribed statue in dolerite of the period of Gudea, and
hundred vase fragments of the earliest rulers of the
over five
country. The fourth expedition (1898-1900) was the most
successful of all. It explored the Parthian palace completely,
and examined more than one thousand burials in various
parts of the ruins. It proved that, contrary to former assertions,
the upper strata of the temple complex did not belong
to the Babylonian period proper, but represented a huge Parthian
fortress lying on the top of it. It definitely located
the famous temple library of Nippur, from which thousands
of tablets had been previously obtained, and in addition
to many other inscribed objects, like the votive table of
Naram-Sin, a large dolerite vase of Gudea, etc., it excavated
about twenty-three thousand tablets and fragments, mostly of
a literary character. Above all it endeavored to determine
the extent of the pre-Sargonic settlement, discovered a very
large ancient wall below the level of the desert in the southwestern
half of the ruins, exposed nearly the whole eastern
city wall, ascertaining the different periods of its construction
and uncovering the earliest remains of its principal gate
deeply hidden in the soil of the desert. It traced the ancient
southeast wall of the inner temple enclosure, found its original
chief entrance in a tolerably good state of preservation,
ascertained the precise character of Bel's famous sanctuary,
and demonstrated by indisputable facts that the ziggurrat,
the characteristic part of every prominent Babylonian temple,
does not go back to Ur-Gur of Ur, about 2700 b. c,
but was a creation of the earliest Sumerian population.
It is evident from a mere glance at this summary of the
total results obtained that they cannot be fully comprehended
if treated exclusively under the head of each single
campaign. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that a
certain feeling of justice towards the various members of
the expedition, who worked under different conditions and