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

DURING 19 CENTURY: ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 453
Naram-Sin's tower, and sloped gently from a point near and
within the pre-Sargonic curb towards the former, it was evident
that if a pre-Sargonic ziggurrat existed at Nippur it
must have been considerably smaller than that of Naram-
Sin and lay entirely within and largely below it. In order
to ascertain all the desirable details both of Naram-Sin's
and of this possibly earlier structure, it would have been
necessary to remove Bel's ziggurrat completely by peeling
off layer after layer. This method is the only one by
which the precise nature and
history of this important part
of the venerable sanctuary can be determined satisfactorily,
but it involves much time, labor and expense, and the
destruction of one of the earliest landmarks of the country.
All that the Philadelphia expedition could do under the
circumstances was to operate with a few carefully made tunnels
— a somewhat dangerous proceeding in view of the ponderous
mass of crude bricks above, but one already successfully
begun by Haynes in previous years, and without any
serious accident also continued by our ablest workmen during
the fourth campaign.
It seems, however, absolutely essential,
in view of the important problem before us, that a complete
vertical section, about a fourth of the whole mass,
should be cut out of the ziggurrat at one of its
four corners
by a future fifth expedition. The smooth and plastered
surface of the southeast side of a pre-Sargonic ziggurrat built
of crude bricks was discovered at two places about forty feet
distant from each other. It lay nearlv fourteen feet within
the outer edge of Ur-Gur's facing wall, and was traced for
about six to ten feet in its descent to the ancient level
of the plain. Whether and how far it went below that
point could not be ascertained without exposing the workmen
and the explorers to the risk of being entombed
and suffocated suddenly within the sacred precinct of Bel.
Two similar but sloping tunnels were carried into the mass
beneath the northeast side of the ziggurrat. But as the clay