The brief outline that has been given of our knowledge concerning the early cities of Sumer and Akkad, and of the results obtained by the partial excavation of their sites, will have served to show how much still remains to be done in this field of archaeological research. Not only do the majority of the sites still await systematic excavation, but a large part of the material already obtained has not yet been published. Up to the present time, for instance, only the briefest notes have been given of the important finds at Fâra and Abû Hatab. In contrast to this rather leisurely method of publication, the plan followed by M. de Morgan in making available without delay the results of his work in Persia is strongly to be commended. In this connection mention should in any case be made of the excavations at Susa, since they have brought to light some of the most remarkable monuments of the early Semitic kings of Akkad. It is true the majority of these had been carried as spoil from Babylonia to Elam, but they are none the less precious as examples of early Semitic art. Such monuments as the recently discovered stele of Sharru-Gi, the statues of Manishtusu, and Narâm-Sin's stele of victory afford valuable evidence concerning the racial characteristics of the early inhabitants of Northern Babylonia, and enable us to trace some of the stages in their artistic development. But in Akkad itself the excavations have not thrown much light upon these subjects, nor have they contributed to the solution of the problems as to the period at which Sumerians and Semites first came in contact, or which race was first in possession of the land. For the study of these questions our material is mainly furnished from the Sumerian side, more particularly by the sculptures and inscriptions discovered during the French excavations at Tello.