volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

FOURTH MISSION.
London to Damascus viA Egypt.
The greater number of the tablets which I acquired
in Baghdad in 1899 arrived at the British Museum
during the week following my return to duty on April
22nd, and Rawlinson came and inspected them and
passed much time in examining their contents. As
regards the tablets from Kuyunjik he was of opinion
that all the letters and grammatical fragments ought
to be published, and the fact that such tablets were
still to be found in the mound there made him determined
to recommend the continuance of excavations on
the site. He believed that the tablets inscribed with
astronomical and mathematical and magical texts
and omens came from Abu Habbah, and thought it
very important that the Trustees should take steps to
secure all the other parts of the group which were either
under the ground there or in the hands of the dealers
in Baghdad. He was specially interested in the fine,
large Babylonian case-tablets, which helped to complete
the series which I obtained at Der the previous
year, for he thought that they came from a site which
had not been previously excavated. The net result of
his examination of the whole collection was that he
suggested to his fellow-Trustees (i) to continue the
excavations at Kuyunjik for another year, and (2) to
apply to the Porte for a new permit, of a more liberal
character than that issued for Kujrunjik, to excavate
Der and some half dozen of the neighbouring sites.
The Keeper of the Department having consulted two
distinguished foreign Assyriologists, warmly supported
Rawlinson's views in his report to the Trustees on my
Third Mission, and they resolved to ask the Foreign
Office to apply to the Porte for a permit to excavate
several sites in Babylonia and for more generous terms