THE OLDEST OF EARTH'S CITIES.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIX, Issue 12548, 11 July 1905, Page 8

THE OLDEST OF EARTH'S CITIES.

Deep down under the ruins of four other cities, in what is 'believed to hare • once been the Garden of Eden, but what now is only a sandy desert waste, the •oldest city an the world, Adab, is being . uncovered. Centuries before Nippur, which ruled the East, thousands of years ■before Christ, was founded ; before King Naram Sin, from whose epoch, 3800 8.C., archaeologists heretofore have •dated the history of Babylonia, lived, *tihis city, Adab, rich in palaces and temples, and honeycombed with sewers, just iike the ones of to-day, lived and fought and flourished. Tb© facts surrounding ihe discovery of this wonderful old city, -and the rich relics of antiquity found in it have just been sent to America by I>r. Edward J. Banks, of the University ■of Chicago, under whose directions the •excavations aie being made. Tho evidences of .aiicient human habi--tation that led Dr. Banks to work upon -the site of Adab consisted of a series of -mounds from thirty-five to forty feet high, and extending in a line along the valley plane for more than three-quarters -of a mile. The extent of the ruins, toother with their proximity to excavations that had yielded rich treasures, ■ cxeitod the hope that'within the mounds •records of history that would antedate *my then known to the world lay concealed. At Nippur, -twenty-two miles to the iiorth, excavations had yielded the most important results of modern research. JNot far away, also, the ruins of Ur, of the Chaldeans, lie buried beneath the hillocks that rise on the banks of the Euphrates. Although excavations were begun at Ur some time ago, little pro\gr9ss has been made. It was th© peculiar location of Adab -also that aroused expectations of import, ant discoveries. Cunieform inscriptions unearthed at Nippur mentioned the City of Bel. the "lord of gods," the abode of "kings living more than four thousand ;years before, the birth of Christ. This "Beat of primitive human (habitation scholars in archaeology had come to believe lay to the south of Nippur. All about 4dab -are the evidences of -a very ancient civilisation. To the east, on the remnants of the canal that 5000 -years ago connected the Tigris and the "Euphrat.es, is Shi-rpuri; to the southwest are Erech and Allaser, of Biblical -fame and not fa.r away is famous Babylon. Thirty miles to the south lies Ur, containing the site of the Temple of the "Moon. It was from Ur that Abraham iset forth on his journey into Canaan, j t3ent:iries before, when the city of Babylon was not yet known to fame, Ur was tine capital city of Babylonia. At Ur, hi Abraham's time, reigned, Khammurabi, King of Babylonia, whose code of laws ■was unearthed not long ago by M. le "Morgan, a Fr#nch explorer, a*" ancient ' Susa^ the capital of the kingdom of the Islamites." With all these- facts indicating a field of richest promise, Dr. Baaiks began his work. No one expected, however, that ■the oldest city of the world—certainly one of the group of oldest cities of which sthere is any knowledge or tradition— svould be unearthed. It was not until. i:he explorers had penetrated various -strata of (archaic richness that the iden- ' tity of the moot ancient of the ruins was I ■established. In fact, workmen dug through the remains of five cities buried •*ne on top of the other before the most important find of all was made. When -one city was uncovered the ruins of an. other and an older city were discovered "to be immediately beneath. Below that ■was another, and underneath that still another, until, at the bottom of this wonderf-il pile of ruins, which lay like stepping stones of the centuries, the old -old city of Adab, the hoary ancestor of Tall other cities of the world, was laid bare in its tomb of s-and. Tho identity of this most ancient of ■;all the congregated dwellings of men was •established by many tablets bearing its name in the ancient inscription reading CJD.NUN.KI, interpreted by Dr. Banks as meaning Adab. The epoch of this city Tvas fixed by tablets, statues, vases, and similar articles of household and temple use, and by the marks of builders on twicks used in erecting and repairing the -.great temple. As unearthed, the temple Tvas found to consist of four structures, tone superimposed upon the ruins of the -ether, indicating the immense antiquity --of the city as well as the vicissitudes it underwent during the wars waged by the sovereigns who ruled in that ancient valley. King Khammurabi (the King Amraphal mentioned in Genesis) among his -other claims to fame declared that he was "the King who lent life to Adab." From this it is supposed that Adab wad -one of the cities looted and wrecked by "the Elamites in their early raids, and "that Khammurabi restored it. It probsably underwent a series of such mishaps and restorations, as among the building "%rieks and tablets are found inscriptions -of succeeding generations anid centuries. In has report Dr. Banks givfss the following tentative dates to tbo varioi'ss foundations of tho Temple of Adab:— "The top (the latest construction) is of Dungi ; 2750 B.C. "Tlie second (next lower down), possibly of Naram-Sing, 2800 B.C "The third of plano-convex brick, m -£/he fourth millennium, B.C. "Th© lowest, of stone blocks, possibly 'from the fifth millennium, 8.C." While building bricks "with distinguishing marks establishing the various T>eri--ods of work rave been unearthed at Fara, Nippur and 'other ancient cities, It is only at Adab that & series has'appeared sufficiently complete to enable the 'archaeologist to trace their development and to determine their relative ages. Already forty-three varieties of bricks liave beesa discovered at Adab, and as the excavations progress the number will ■probably be largely increased. These Wicks are divided into three general -.groups, representing successive periods ■or epochs. The first group is comprised of the so-called plano-convex bricks, flat on one side and rounded on the other, ■*i.nd not unlike a small loaf of baker's foread. - The upper side still bears the marks of the workman's fingers as he shaped the soft clay in th© mould before it was baked many thousands of years ago. Less frequently the upper surface bears the impression of a thumb, to dis"tiriguish it from the bricks of earlier Guilders. In the second group or period i>he bricks are large, thin and fiat, and I>ear on the upper side one or more deep • (grooves formed by drawing the fingers across the soft clay.^ In the third group, ■or period, the distinguishing mark was sio longer the groove, but the insorip-

tion. Sometimes it w.as stamped and sometimes written. The latest inscribed brick found at Adab bears the name of Kurigalzu, who reigned about 1300 B.C. It is proved by the series of bricks ' that at least fifteen rulers lived between the time of the last king who employed the plano-convex stylet amd of Sargon. As Sargon ruled 3800 years before Christ ■the plano-convex period ended at least a number of centuries before his time. Dr. Banks believes that, when deciphered, the inscriptions will reveal the names of a number of these rulers. Not only that, but the series will explain the relative age of every very ancient structure and ruin in Babylonia, and present proof by the side of which paleographie evidence, even when at band, must be of secondary importance. Considerable light upon very ancient history vn.ll, it is expected, be thrown by the inscribed tablets uncovered at Adab. Many such tablets -bear the name^ of Naram-Sin and this father,. Sargoh. Now the period of Naram-Sm is practically Iho starting-point of all Babylonian history, as calculated until the present ■time. Many of the earliest records begin: "In the year of Naram-Sin," or "From the year of Naram-Sin." It is gjenerallv agreed that he flourished about 3800 B.C. Naram-Sin was'a mighty warrior and conqueror. One tablet found at Adab describes him as "Naram-Sin, | the mighty god of Agade, King of the j four comers of the world"; "NaramSin. the mighty King of the four corners of the world, the conqueror of Armenia," etc. ■ Ninety per cent, of the.objects found at Adab are classed as pre-Sargonic, or| .antedating the reign of Saa'gon, father, of Naram-Sin, while the majority ofj those discovered at Nippur are postSargonie. The Rw. Mr Ussher, of Philadelphia, who visited Adab, says that the j city "seems to have been a ruin before i Nippur began to be great, such is its antiquity." The work at Adab. how-1 ■ever, is practically just begun. Most ofj iha records and inscriptions found so ] far have been taken from the temple and, vicinity of it. When the earth is re-j moved from some of the palaces, traces of which abound, the customs and his-j lory of the people who lived at the very dawn of civilised humanity, it is beiieved, will bo disclosed. I