“HOME OF ABRAHAM.”

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLV, Issue 288, 9 November 1925, Page 10

“HOME OF ABRAHAM.”

WORLD’S OLDEST TEMPLE.

THE ANCIENT CIY OF UR

A fascinating story of the' results of three years’ excavations in the “Home of Abraham” was told recently in London by Mr C. Leonard Woolley, director of tlio joint expedition of the British Museum and the University of Philadelphia. In an address before a large audience he spoko of the wonderful discoveries that had been made in the ancient city of Ur of the Chaldees. In order to continue their proportion of the cost, the British Museum authorities are anxious to obtain financial help from all interested in the project. Mr Woolley first described tho excavations carried on at Tell-el-Obeid, four miles from tho city of Ur, where they found ruins of the oldest temple in the world, to which they could assign an approximate date. It was built by an important King of Ur, who reigned somewhere between 350 U and 3300 8.C., and was of brick covered with wooden jianelling, raised upon a platform approached by a flight of stone steps. At the door stood statues of lions made of copper, and on each side of the door were columns encrusted with mosaic in mother of pearl and red and black stones. Along the bare of tho walls were statues of bulls in metal, the oldest metal statues known to us by a thousand years, and so well made that modern brass founders said they could not beat the work. Above this was a frieze with figures of white stono or shell, inlaid against the black background, representing cattle and farmyard scenes, with men milking cows and other straining and storing the milk.

SACREDNESS OF BIRDS,

Another frieze showed birds sacred to tho goddess of the place. They actually found, he said, a email mar ole tablet which was tho foundation stone of the building, and tho inscription on it explained that tho temple was built in honour of tho goddess Nin-Kharsag. They knew before that this goddess was concerned with the creation of tho world, according to the belief of tho primitive people. They' now found that she was the goddess of cattle and the farmyard.. • With these pastoral people lile depended . upon tlie live stock.

Almost under the shadow of the Temple, Mr Woolley said, lie found a cemetery of the same date, where people had been brought for burial from Ur. Round the bodies were placed the things they had needed in this fife—foodstuffs in jars, weapons and .tools in tho case of a man, and beads, rouge, and eye-paint in the case of a woman. It was clear that these people believed in a future life, and that the goddess who made and preserved them in this world was also prepared to bring them to a new birth m the world to come. Turning to tho city of Ur, Mr Woolley said its main feature was the Ziggurat—the great tower upon which stood the most-holy temple of tho city, dedicated to the Moon God. It was built about 2300 8.C., three centuries beforo the time of Abraham, who must have been familiar with it when lie lived at Ur. Every ancient Sumerian town of importance had such a tower, the most famous being that of Babylon which we knew to-<lay as the Tower of ’Babel. That at Ur was the best preserved of those that in Mesopotamia. It was 200 ft long, 150 ft wide, and still stood 70ft high, made of solid brick set in bitumen instead ol mortar.

SHRINES ON THE HILLS

The Sumerians came from a hilly country in. the Euphrates Valley. In their original home they were accustomed to i put their altars in shrines upon the hills. When they reached Mesopotamia tlley found no hills, and because their gods could not bo proB’ ’ worshipped in the plain they with brick artificial hills winch they called the Mountains of God. There were still preserved the lower stages of this great building, and the three staircases which led to it. It was seen how effective these converging stairs! would have been for any great religious function, and they could thus understand tho dream of Jacob when he had a vision of a ladder set up to heaven and angels going up and down it The dream was based on a memory of what he had learned from his grandfather of the wonderful tower up and down which the priests went to the houso of God at Ur. The lecturer described the convent of which Belshazzar’s sister was mother superior, where she kept a school and a museum, also the Temple of the Moon God and his wife, which dated B'om the earliest time, but was remodelled by Nebuchadnezzar. Mr Woolley mil leave London shortly to resume direction of the expedition.