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

DURING 19TU CENTURY: ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 327
Among the various
mounds and ridges which constitute
the ruins of Nuffar, there was none more important than
the conical hill of Bint el-Amir with its irregular plateau of
debris (I), containing the stage-tower and temple of Bel.
" This great mass of earth covered a surface of more than
eight acres," the careful examination of which was an ambitious
problem in itself, especially as none of the large Babylonian
temples had yet been excavated completely. At the
outset the expedition had therefore decided to investigate
this complex methodically, to determine its characteristic
architectural features, and to trace its development through
all the periods of Babylonian history down to its final decay.
But owing to the large accumulations of rubbish and the
very limited time in the first year at our disposal, we had
not been able to do much more than to fix the corners of
the ancient ziggurrat and to run trenches along its peculiar
lateral additions. As the latter were constructed of large
crude bricks and surrounded by extensive remains of rooms
built of the same material, and as numerous antiquities of the
Hellenistic period and coins of the Arsacide kings (about
250 b. c-226 a. d.) were unearthed in connection with them,
I had " reached the conclusion that the ruins we had found
were those of a Parthian fortress built on the site ot the
ancient temple; and the majority of the members of the
expedition inclined to this opinion." *
But soon afterwards
Peters changed his conviction and put forth his own theory,
according to which we " had found the ancient temple of
Bel " itself. For the following years it was impossible for
me to test his statements by a personal examination of the
trenches ; and as Haynes simply adopted his predecessor's
theory and failed to throw any new light on this funda-
1
Comp. Peters, "Nippur," vol. ii, p. 118, where he reproduces my view
correctlv, except that he substitutes Sassanian for Parthian, owing to his
frequently indiscriminate use of these two words (comp. p. 129 of the same
work).