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

DURING 19 CENTURY: ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 393
as clearly defined as that in the upper strata. He had to
determine (A) the earliest form of Bel's sanctuary beneath
the ziggurrat, as far as this could safely be done by means
of tunnels and without a complete removal of the whole
ponderous mass above it; {B) the character and contents of
the court adjoining the latter on the southeast. The proper
way to proceed would have been to descend gradually and
equally on the whole section to be excavated. But Haynes,
repeating his former mistake, attempted to carry out the two
parts of his task consecutively, thereby lessening our chances
of comprehending the sanctuary as a whole and depriving
us of an opportunity of controlling
and checking his results
at every step. He accordingly descended first by two shafts
along the southeast face of the ziggurrat, and excavated
what was left of the court afterwards. 1 Much against my
will, I am obliged to observe his arrangement and to present
his work in the manner in which he executed it. He
again made several interesting and important discoveries,
but he totally failed to ascertain the character of the sanctuary
and the real contents of its surroundings, and was
often unsuccessful in understanding the single antiquities
excavated and their mutual relation to each other.
A. Haynes was doubtless most eager to find out what
was lying beneath the ziggurrat. In the course of his excavations
he disclosed
four constructions either beneath the
tower or in its immediate neighborhood, which deserve our
special attention. They stood apparently in direct connection
with the earliest sanctuary, or even formed part of it.
i. About three and a half feet below Naram-Sin's pavement
he came upon the top of a narrow strip of burned
brickwork (No. 6). It was about twelve feet distant from
the front face of the stage-tower, with which it
ran roughly
parallel, continuing its course equally to the southwest
1
Comp. the illustration facing p. 453,
which enables the reader to understand
the method by which Haynes proceeded.