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

DURING 19TU CENTURY: ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA 529
But they also included more scientific works, tablets for religious
edification, and " books " of reference. To the firstmentioned
class belong the many mathematical, astronomical,
medical, historical and linguistic tablets recovered ; to
the second the hymns and prayers, omens and incantations,
mythological and astrological texts. Among the books of
reference I
classify the lists
of dates giving the names
of kings and the principal
event for every year, the
multiplication tables, the
lists of the different measures
of length and capacity,
the lists of synonyms,
geographical lists of mountains
and countries, stones,
plants, objects made of
wood, etc. It must be
Lutanist surrounded by Animals
borne in mind that thus far only about the twelfth part of
entire library complex has been excavated, and, though
the
it would be useless to speculate as to the exact number of
tablets once contained in the temple library, it is certain
that whole classes of texts, only sporadically represented
among our present collections, must still lie buried somewhere
in the large triangular mound to the south of the
temple. During our latest campaign we struck principally
the rooms in which the mathematical, astronomical (see p.
530), astrological, linguistic, grammatical and certain religious
texts had been stored. This fact alone proves that
the library was arranged according to subjects and classified
according to scientific principles.
In consequence of the unscrupulous proceedings of the
barbarous Elamites we can say very little as to the manner
in which the single tablets were arranged on the shelves.
But there is hope that we may find some better-preserved