M. Massignon was, however, the first to make any record of Ukhaiḍir. His preliminary notes, together with a plan and some photographs, were published in the _Bulletin de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres_ of March 1909, and in the _Gazette des Beaux-Arts_ of April 1909. The next visitor to the palace was myself. I left Aleppo in February 1909 and reached Ukhaiḍir on March 25, travelling by the east bank of the Euphrates and across the desert from Hît via Kubaisah and Shethâthâ. I had no knowledge of M. Massignon’s journey, neither did the Arabs, who were at that time inhabiting the place, give me any information concerning him. I did not hear of his discovery until I reached Constantinople in the following July. M. Massignon followed up his observations with the first volume of his _Mission en Mésopotamie_ (published in 1910), which was concerned chiefly with Ukhaiḍir. I, in the meantime, had published a paper on the vaulting system of the palace in the _Journal of Hellenic Studies_ for 1910 (p. 69), and I gave a more detailed account of the building in the following year (_Amurath to Amurath_, p. 140). I returned to the site in March 1911, in order to correct my plans and to take measurements for elevations and sections. Going thence to Babylon, I found that some of the members of the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft who were engaged upon the excavations there had been to Ukhaiḍir during the two years of my absence and were preparing a book upon it. They were so kind as to show me their drawings while I was at Babylon, and I had the advantage of discussing with them my conjectures and difficulties, and the satisfaction of finding that we were in agreement on all important points. Their book appeared in 1912 (Dr. Reuther, _Ocheïdir_, published by the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft), and is referred to frequently in this volume. For their generosity in allowing me to use some of their architectural drawings, I tender my grateful thanks, together with my respectful admiration for their masterly production. I feel, indeed, that I must apologize for venturing to offer a second version of the features of a building which has been excellently described and portrayed already. But my excuse must be that my work, which was almost completed when the German volume came out, covers not only the ground traversed by my learned friends in Babylon, but also ground which they had neither leisure nor opportunity to explore; and, further, that I believe the time has come for a comparative study of the data collected by myself and others, such as is contained in this book.