At Eridu, Campbell Thomson set his diggers to cut through the layers of the mound, until they came to the bottom layer of sand, which had never been disturbed by human hands. He found that men of the Stone Age lived here, men who used flints to cultivate the soil in the days when the use of metal was unknown. They cut their corn with sickles made of clay baked hard, and they were intelligent and clever enough to make pottery, although the use of the potter’s wheel was not then known. It was a pottery of a fine texture, painted with taste in a number of designs. The hands that made it were skilled, and the eyes of the potters were true enough to guide their hands aright. Only a dozen miles across the desert is Ur of the Chaldees, where Mr. Taylor, who was British vice-consul at Basra in the days when Layard was making a stir, managed to find the remains of the temple of the Moon God. Seas of sand have been shifted since on behalf of the British Museum, and the mighty walls of the temple are now laid bare, while in the background rises the huge mound covering the city. The luck of digging was never better exemplified than at Ur. A Persian and a Babylonian pavement adjoined, and Mr. Woolley, who was in charge of the digging operations, states that he was anxious to know whether there were any traces of a Babylonian pavement below the Persian pavement. He describes how he set his diggers to take up a portion of the Persian pavement, and left them wielding their picks while he betook himself to another part of the diggings. In a little while a small Arab boy came rushing up, his black eyes aglow with astonishment, words coming breathlessly from his mouth. “Come quick, Sahib! Come quick and see what the diggers have found!” he cried. Mr. Woolley wasted no time in returning. Directly he entered the ruins he saw an old cloak spread on the floor, and lying upon it were gold and silver ornaments, which had lain undiscovered under the pavement for twenty-five centuries or more. Giving a few sharp orders, he cleared the room of the diggers. Then he undertook further operations with his own hands, and brought up beads and bits of gold necklaces, with lapis lazuli and other semi-precious stones. But the gem of the find was a beautiful gold statuette of a woman. Quickly he sent out for boxes and packing materials, and he was placing the treasure trove in the boxes, when he was still further astonished. The Arab in charge of the diggers came up. “Here, Sahib!” he exclaimed, and began to take more jewels from his capacious pockets. “I was afraid to let the men see them, in case they murdered me for the treasure,” he added simply.