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

400 EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS
like sheep, from seeking shelter within it against the pitiless
sun's rays in midsummer," while the present writer
rather sees in it a strengthening pillar erected to protect
the most exposed part of the tunnel at the point where
the arching proper begins and the side walls are most
liable to yield to the unequal pressure from the surrounding
mass of earth. That the last-mentioned view is the
more plausible and the explanation of the single pipe placed
over the arch as given above is reasonable, follows from
what happened in the course of the excavations. A few
months after Haynes had removed the brick structure with
its two arms, he reported suddenly that the arch had been
" forced out of its shape, probably from the unequal pressure
of the settling mass above it, which had been drenched
with rain water." Truly the original purpose of these simple
means, which had secured the preservation of the arch
for six thousand years, could not have been demonstrated
more forcibly. At the same time, Haynes, who never
thought of this occurrence as having any bearing upon the
whole question, could not have paid a higher compliment
to the inventive genius and the extraordinary forethought
of the ancient Babylonian architects.
Like all other parts, the long side walls of this unique
tunnel were built with remarkable care. They consisted of
eleven courses of bricks laid in clay mortar — a sure indication
that the tunnel itself was not intended to carry
water. 1 The six lowest courses, the eighth, the tenth, and
eleventh, were placed flatwise with their long edge presented
to view, while the seventh and ninth courses were
arranged on their long edges like books on a shelf with
their small edge visible. Considering all the details of this
1
In the earliest days of Babylonian architecture, bitumen is the regular
cement used for important baked brick walls constantly washed by water.
Comp. p. 252, above. Small gutters and similar conduits carrying water
over open places, etc., show clav mortar occasionally.