The arrival of the antiquities in England called forth great interest in the results of the expedition, and the trustees of the British Museum directed Mr. Smith to return to Mosul, setting aside a sum of £1000 for the enterprise. On this occasion he left London Nov. 25, 1873, and, traversing his former route, arrived at Alex- andretta on Dec. 9. He arrived at Mosul Jan. 1, 1874, and at once engaged a number of men to dig over the earth on the spot of the last j-ear's excavations. Soon afterwards they commenced w^ork on the mound, bringing a fine fragment of a tablet and a bronze figure as the first-fruits of the excavation. In spite of the embarrassments caused by the Turkish officials, jMr. Smith continued the work of excavation with great diligence and with considerable success. Remains of sculptures were discovered with inscriptions from the temples of Nebo and Merodach. There were also in- scriptions from Shalmaneser I, king of Assyria, record- ing that he founded the palace of Nineveh ; and mixed up with these were remains of inscriptions belonging to the same monarch, stating that he restored the tem- ple of Ishtar. From the same spot came inscriptions of his son, Tugulti-ninip, the conqueror of Babylonia, relatmg that lie also restored the temple of Islitar, and inscriptions of a similar purport of the monarchs As- shurnazir-pal and Shalmaneser II. Some curious speci- mens of pottery, ornamented with figures laid on the clay, were found near the same spot. Between the chambers in the centre of the mound and the eastern edge there were fragments of a palace and temple. The remains of the temple were most of them found in a square chamber, seemingly of later date, built up of stones from the Assyrian buildings near it. All along the walls were placed small square slabs witli inscrip- tions of Asshur-bani-pal, dedicated to the goddess of Nineveh, none of them in their original position. Near this chamber were fragments of an obelisk in black stone built into a later wall, and many fragments of a palace which stood in the neighborhood. Among these was an inscription of a king of Assyria, B.C. 1 170, and several fragments from sculptured walls rep- resenting processions of warriors. Near one corner of the palace was found the head of a female divinity, the hair arranged in bunches of curls on each side, the face exliibiting the usual corpulent style of Assyrian female beauty. Among otlicr fragments was the opening por- tion of a copy from an early Babylonian inscription,
giving the names of six new Babj'Ionian kings, and some curious details of early Babylonian liistory. At a subsecjuent date was found a new portion of the sixth tablet of the Deluge series.
The principal excavation was carried on over what Layard calls the library -chamber of the south-west palace. Upon removing the top earth from a section of the i^alace around the region of the library-chamber, jNIr. Smith was rewarded with a variety of discoveries of a valuable character. At first nothing turned up but modern objects, coins, pottery, and glass, but on going deeper the Assyrian cuneiform tablets were of frequent occurrence. In front of one of the entrances Mr. Smith - discovered the lintel of a door-way, formed of a block of stone six feet long, and sculjitured along the face. In the centre was an ornamental cup or vase with two handles; on each side stood a winged griffin or dragon ; and over the cup and the dragon was an ornament of honeysuckles. This curious lintel is the first Assyrian object of the kind which has been discovered, and it is no wonder that when lifted out of the excavation it ex- cited a thrill of pleasure. Many fragments were found along tlie Huor of a long gallery, including syllabaries, bilingual lists, and mythological and historical tablets. There was a beautiful bronze Assyrian fork, Avith two prongs joined by an ornamental shoulder to a shaft of spiral work, ending in the head of an ass. This is a unique specimen of Assyrian Avork, and sliows the ad- vance of the people in the refinements of life. Near by was found part of a curious astrolabe and fragments of the history of Sargon, king of Assyria, B.C. 722. In one place, below the level of the floor, j\Ir. Smith dis- covered a fine fragment of the history of Asshur-bani- pal, containing new and curious matter relating to his Egyptian wars, and to the affairs of Gyges, king of Lj-dia. From this part of the palace he also gained the shoulder of a colossal statue, with an inscription of Asshur-bani-pal. In another spot he obtained a bone spoon, and a fragment of a tablet with the history of the seven evil spirits. Near this was found a bronze style, with which the cuneiform tablets were probably impressed. In another part of the excavation there were the remains of crystal and alabaster vases, and specimens of the royal seal. One of these was a clay impression of the seal of Sargon, king of Assyria.
Mr. Smith left Mosul on April 4, and after various interesting excursions arrived at Alexandria toward the end of May, and finally reached London on June 9. The most important result of the expedition was the recovery of new tablets containing the Chaldrean ac- count of tlie Deluge. There is still much required to complete the series, but in their present state they form one of the most remarkable collections of inscriptions yet discovered. The whole number of inscriptions dis- covered by Mr. Smith, during the four months in which he was engaged in excavation, amounted to over oOOO, besides many other objects of great archfcological in- terest. In many instances they comprised very im- portant texts and antiquities. The majority of the fragments form parts of texts of which the other por- tions were already in the Britisli Museum, and the new fragments afford data for the completion or enlarge- ment of those inscriptions. In no branch of cuneiform inquiry have the late researclies added more to our knowledge than in the early Babylonian history. It is uncertain how far back the records of Babylonia ex- tend, and the lists of kings are too imperfect to afford materials for the construction of a satisfactory scheme. There is no doubt, however, that they reach up to the 24th century B.C., and some scholars are of opinion that they stretch nearly two thousand years beyond that time; but it will probably require many expedi- tions to the country in order to ascertain its primitive history'. The new inscriptions favor the opinion that the country gained a prominent place in the world much earher than some have supposed. Valuable data have been added to the period of Assyrian history con-