This discovery of ancient treasure follows another important Mesopotamian find, by Dr. Hall, of the British Museum, at Tell el Obeid in 1919. Wonderful life-size heads of lions, most cunningly modelled in bitumen, were uncovered. The Sumerian artists, striving after realism, simulated the fiery eyes and red tongues of the animals by imitating them in red jasper. Originally the heads were covered with fine copper masks, but the metal became corroded and only the grey-green fragments of the masks remain. The heads, now among the treasures of the British Museum, are undoubtedly some of the finest examples of early Sumerian art in existence. Richer treasures still may await the spade of the excavator, for the deserts of Mesopotamia hide the relics of many nations; traces of many a hard-fought battle are swallowed up in the sands. Bits of the mighty past peep out of Babylon, great gateways and walls that have been uncovered by the hands of strangers, men who speak in divers tongues, even as the slaves who toiled to build the Tower of Babel. No longer is there any uncertainty as to the site of the Tower of Babel. Here in Babylon itself was the Tower erected that was to reach to Heaven. The power of Babylon went to the building of the enormous square tower which, rising terrace on terrace, dominated the plains for many miles, a landmark for the whole country-side, and a symbol of the Strength of Babylon. Thousands of slaves toiled at making the bricks, thousands more expended their energies in the building of the gigantic square platforms which gradually rose above the city like a series of boxes, each smaller than that below. A flick of the Finger of Time and the mighty tower toppled, changed into a mountain of broken brick and debris. Amid the debris, the lower platform of the tower stood firm, to prove to us that Babel existed in the days of old. Here in Babylon Nebuchadnezzar reigned, the city echoed to the tramp of his armies as he led them forth to triumph; out on the plains he caused the golden image to be set up for his subjects to worship; here followed the ordeal by fire of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the madness which drove the monarch to eat grass as the beasts of the field. Daniel once paced the palaces that stood here in their glory, found favour with the king, saw the writing on the wall and prophesied the downfall of the city when Belshazzar came to the throne. “God has numbered thy kingdom and finished it. Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians,” says the prophet in the Book of Daniel. The pages of the Bible whisper to us the history of the world. Gone is the glory. Only thousands of bricks stamped with the name of Nebuchadnezzar remain to call up visions of the pleasure-loving Babylonians who were swept away by fire and sword. [Illustration: _By courtesy of Major Kenneth Mason, M.C., R.E._