Page:Buried cities and Bible countries (1891).djvu/383

 The cylinders were found to bear inscriptions of Nabonidos, king of Babylon, 555, recording the restoration of this temple in the year 550; and the stone tablet bore a long and important record of the restoration of the temple by Nabu-abla-iddina, king of Babylon, whose date may be given as about 852. Above the figure of the Sun-god on this tablet were the words—"The statue of the Sun-god—the great lord—dwelling in the House of Light, which is within the city of Sippara." But the statue and other objects of value had been removed. From the cylinder of Nabonidos, as previously stated, we learn that the temple had been restored by Naram-Sin, the son of Sargon I., in the year 3750 It was of very great interest to find in the lower strata of the temple area a small ovoid of pink and white marble, bearing an inscription of Sargon I., of such archaic character as to appear to confirm this date.

The temple was called by many titles—as, "Palace of the God," "High Place," "Dwelling of the God," "Resting-Place of the God,"—and, among others, the "House of God," in Akkadian, E-Din-gira, in Semitic Babylonian, Bit-ilu, in Hebrew, Bethel.

The city of Akkad or Agadé, built by Sargon I., seems to have been a part of the double Sippara, and here Sargon founded the celebrated library which contained among its treasures a great work on astronomy and astrology, in seventy books. Around this nucleus other writings aggregated, and the temple of Shamas became the great record office of the state. Mr Rassam found at Abu Hubba some thousands of tablets relating to fiscal, legal, and commercial transactions; and it would thus appear that all documents of this character were preserved by the priests. A remarkable example of the careful preservation of the writings committed to their charge was furnished in the course of the excavations. On the south-east side of the large quadrangle was a smaller square, in which were a