In the Tell of the Fruit-house M. de Sarzec had already discovered numbers of monuments dating from the earlier periods of Sumerian history before the conquest and consolidation of Babylonia under Sargon of Agade, and had excavated a primitive terrace built by the early king Ur-Nina.  Both on and around this large mound Capt.  Cros cut an extensive series of trenches, and in digging to the north of the mound he found a number of objects, including an alabaster tablet of Ente-mena which had been blackened by fire.  At the foot of the tell he found a copper helmet like those represented on the famous Stele of Vultures discovered by M. de Sarzec, and among the tablets here recovered was one with an inscription of the time of Urukagina, which records the complete destruction of the city of Shirpurla during his reign, and will be described in greater detail later on in this chapter.  On the mound itself a considerable area was uncovered with remains of buildings still in place, the use of which appears to have been of an industrial character.  They included flights of steps, canals with raised banks, and basins for storing water.  Not far off are the previously discovered wells of Bannadu, so that it is legitimate to suppose that Capt.  Cros has here come upon part of the works which were erected at a very early period of Sumerian history for the distribution of water to this portion of the city.

[Illustration:  154.jpg Obelisk of Manishtusu.]

     An early Semitic king of the city of Kish in Babylonia.  The
     photograph is taken from M. de Morgan’s Delegation en Perse,
     M’em., t. i, pi. ix.

In the Palace Tell Capt.  Cros has sunk a series of deep shafts to determine precisely the relations which the buildings of Ur-Bau and Gudea, found already on this part of the site, bear to each other, and to the building of Adad-nadin-akhe, which had been erected there at a much later period.  Prom this slight sketch of the work carried out during the last two years at Telloh it will have been seen that the Prench mission in Chaldaea is at present engaged in excavations of a most important character, which are being conducted in a regular and scientific manner.  As the area of the excavations marks the site of the chief city of the Sumerians, the diggings there have yielded and are yielding material of the greatest interest and value for the reconstruction of the early history of Chaldaea.  After briefly describing the character and results of other recent excavations in Mesopotamia and the neighbouring lands, we will return to the discoveries at Telloh and sketch the new information they supply on the history of the earliest inhabitants of the country.