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

346 EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS
men were in entire accord as to the feasibility of such a plan, 1
and as two members of the committee "warmly advocated
it," 2 promising to work towards its realization if the Ottoman
government should apportion a sufficient number of
antiquities to the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Peters'
methods of exploring soon had another chance of being
tested with regard to their actual merits. For upon the recommendation
of Hamdv Bey, who had not forgotten the
extraordinary difficulties and losses of our first expedition
and the praiseworthy energy and perseverance displayed
by the second, the Sultan presented to the American university
all those tablets and archaeological objects not required
to complete the collections of the Imperial
Museum.
As soon as the present writer had sufficiently recovered
from a long and severe illness contracted at Nuffar, which
had made him an invalid for almost a year, he commenced
the studv of the newly acquired cuneiform material and
reported on its great interest and value. In the spring of
1892 the committee decided upon another expedition, the
details of which were arranged "at a meeting in Newport
between Dr. Pepper, Mr. E. W. Clark, Mr. Haynes, and
Dr. Peters." 3
The last-mentioned gentleman "drew up with Haynes the
plan of work, and drafted general instructions for the conduct
of the excavations," 2 while it was left to Professor Hilprecht
to prepare a list of all the known Babylonian kings
and patesis in cuneiform writing with an accurate reproduction
of the palaeographical peculiarities of the Nuffar inscriptions,
and to write down such additional hints as might
enable Haynes to find and to identify the names of the
principal rulers on the different monuments.
About the same time a committee on publications was
1
Comp. Peters' own story, /. c. , vol. ii, pp. 342, seq.
2
Comp. Peters, /. c, vol. ii, pp. 369, seqq.
8
Comp. Peters, /. c, vol. ii, p. 371.