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

DURING 19 CENTURY: ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 329
a larger scale, — either by deep perpendicular holes or by
"innumerable" horizontal mines, instead of peeling off the
single layers successively and carefully.
Was this scientific
research ? The results, as indicated above, were naturally
commensurate with the method employed. Peters did not
procure a satisfactory plan nor the necessary details of the
originally well-preserved vast complex of buildings which
occupied the site of the temple of Bel " at the time of its last
great construction " ; he failed to ascertain its character and
purpose, and to define its precise relation to the ziggurrat ; he
was unable to determine its age, or even to fix the two extreme
limits of the three successive periods of its occupation ; and
he did not recognize that the line of booths situated outside
of the southeast fortified enclosure and yielding him
a fine collection of inscribed Cassite monuments belonged
to the same general epoch as the mass of crude brickwork
covering the temple. As far as possible, his assertions have
either been verified or corrected by the present writer's later
investigations on the ruins. But, unfortunately, much of
the precious material had been removed in the course of the
second and third campaigns, or was subsequently destroyed
by rain and other causes, so that it
could no longer be used
for the study and reconstruction of the history of the venerable
sanctuary of Nippur.
The following is Peters' own view in a nutshell : There
are about sixteen feet of ruins below a surface layer of three
feet, which represent the last important restoration of the
ancient temple by a monarch " not far removed from Nebuchadrezzar
in time," and living about 500 b. c.
This ruler
consequently can have been only one of the Persian kings,
notably Darius I, or perhaps Xerxes. The sacred precincts
were no longer " consecrated to the worship of Bel," but
stood in the service of " a new religion." The old form
of the ziggurrat was changed by " huge buttress-like wings
added on each of the four sides," which gave the structure