ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 January 1928, Page 7

ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

TOMB TREASURES REVEALED KING’S WONDERFUL CHARIOT (A.P.A. & Sun.) (By Cable—Press Assn—Copyright.) LONDON, January 12.The second tomb dated 3500 before Christ, discovered in Ur of the Chaldees. contained treasure .more remarkable than the Prince’s previously found, says the British Museum. The offerings to the dead include golden vessels, ttoilet sets, saws, axes, spears, gaming board with men, lapis dice inlaid with gold, scores of silver cups, vases, many nested within others, in groups of five, and the remains of a chariot, the wood of which has disappeared, decorated with golden heads of lions, bulls, with lapis manes, silver panthers, the heads surmountedl by a realistically sculptured electrum figure of a donkey. The bodies of the asses, by which it was pulled lay beside the pole, the harness being of copper and silver. Also the remains of a twelve-stringed harp, ornamented with gold.

HAREM BURIED WITH KING. ("Sydney Sun” Service.) NEW YORK. January 12. Further details of the grave discovered in Ur of the Chaldees, show that besides being rich tn treasures, it is strewn -with bodies of musicians, servants, and gold-decked women of the harem, who accompanied their master in death. The body of the King himself was not found amongst the score of men and women constituting the household. The discoveries offer proof that in the fourth millenium 8.C., there were practised in Mesopotamia, burial ceremonies about which, later tradition was silent, and archaeologist, hitherto knew nothing. Two grooms stood at the head of the ass in each chariot, still holding the reins. A third lay by their side, piled against the clothes chest, where human bodies were huddled up as if suddenly smitten by death. Thirteen more bodies were found near the chariot, two of these being children. The others were apparently women. All were dressed alike .with elaborate headdress and veils, from which hung gold pendants. Undoubtedly, these belonged to the dead King’s harem. • In a rectangle stood large limestone blocks probably forming the altar on which the victims were sacrificed. The Royal grave illustrates the extraordinary degree of material civilisation, Mesopotamia enjoyed in the fourth millennium. It seems to have been far in advance of contemporary Egypt. It shows that art was already old and stereotyped and even decadent. GLOZEL "FINDS.” (“Sydney Sun” Service.) PARIS, January 12. Fradin says that he is determined to confront his calumniators. Everything concerning the Glozel finds shall be thrashed out, and the public shall know the truth. He is claiming one franc damages only, to clear his reputation.