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

DURING 19 CENTURY: ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 437
official visit. In the presence of his warriors he put around
his neck a long chain of gold (for the watch previously
given to him), and threw over his shoulder a fine cloak
{
l
aba), woven with silver thread, presents from the committee,
to which, a year later, the present writer added a
Whitman saddle, for which Hajji Tarfa had expressed a
genuine admiration.
The care for the safety of the expedition through proper
guards was entrusted by the shaikh of all the 'Afej to the
same two Hamza leaders who in
former years had been responsible
to him. They kept their pledges honorablv to
the end of the campaign. All the tribes inhabiting the
borders of the marshes intermingled freely with our men and
looked upon us with a certain feeling of pride, almost as
upon members of their own clans, who from time to time
appeared on their territory, for a while sharing their pasture
grounds and leaving behind them untold blessings when
they departed. A great change had taken place on these
barren plains since I had seen them last. It was the natural
result of the transfer of the capital to Diwaniye, and in no
small measure due to the tactful
but energetic treatment of
the 'Afej tribes on the part of the Ottoman government.
sacred calm lay in the air, — not the calm preceding a disastrous
storm, but that divine calm which announces a new
era of happiness to the people. Every flower and reed,
every shepherd and bird seemed to be conscious of it and
to realize that Isaiah's and Jeremiah's curse of two thousand
years was about to lift from the country. The dry bones
of Babvlonia's vast graveyard began to rise and to be clad
again with sinews and flesh under Jehovah's life-breathing
spirit that blew softly through the land of Bel (Ezek. 37).
There can be no doubt that Babylonia stands at the dawn
of a general resurrection. Unmistakable signs of a new
and more peaceful development of the many natural resources
of Shumer and Akkad are visible everywhere. A
A