V. Hilprecht is Professor of Assyriology in the University of
Pennsylvania. That university had despatched an expedition to explore
the ruins of Babylon, and sketches of the objects discovered had been
sent home. Among these were drawings of two small fragments of agate,
inscribed with characters. One Saturday night in March, 1893,
Professor Hilprecht had wearied himself with puzzling over these two
fragments, which were supposed to be broken pieces of finger-rings.
He was inclined, from the nature of the characters, to date them about
1700-1140 B.C.; and as the first character of the third line of the
first fragment seemed to read KU, he guessed that it might stand for
Kurigalzu, a king of that name.
About midnight the professor went, weary and perplexed, to bed.
"Then I dreamed the following remarkable dream. A tall thin priest of
the old pre-Christian Nippur, about forty years of age, and clad in a
simple abba, led me to the treasure-chamber of the temple, on its
south-east side. He went with me into a small low-ceiled room without
windows, in which there was a large wooden chest, while scraps of
agate and lapis lazuli lay scattered on the floor.
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