"H. V. Hilprecht."
Upon the priest's statement that the fragments were those of a votive cylinder, Professor Hilprecht makes the following comment:—
"There are not many of these votive cylinders. I had seen, all told, up to that evening, not more than two. They very much resemble the so-called seal cylinders, but usually have no pictorial representations upon them, and the inscription is not reversed, not being intended for use in sealing, but is written as it is read."
The following transliteration of the inscription, in the Sumerian language, will serve to give those of us who are unlearned in cuneiform languages an idea of the material which suggested the dream. The straight vertical lines represent the cuts by which the stone-cutter divided the original cylinder into three sections. The bracketed words are entirely lost, and have been supplied by analogy from the many similar inscriptions.
| Line | 1. | Dingir N | inib du | (mu) | To the god Ninib, child |
| " | 2. | dingir | En- | (lil) | of the god Bel |
| " | 3. | luga | l-a-ni | (ir) | his lord |
| " | 4. | Ku-r | (i- galzu) | Kurigalzu | |
| " | 5. | pa- | (tesi dingir Enlil) | pontifex of the god Bel | |
| " | 6. | (in- na- | ba) | has presented it. | |
I translate also the following statement which Mrs. Hilprecht kindly made at my request.
"I was awakened from sleep by a sigh, immediately thereafter heard a spring from the bed, and at the same moment saw Professor Hilprecht hurrying into his study. Thence came the cry, 'It is so, it is so.' Grasping the situation, I followed him and satisfied myself in the midnight hour as to the outcome of his most interesting dream.[218]
"J. C. Hilprecht."
At the time Professor Hilprecht told me of this curious dream, which was a few weeks after its occurrence, there remained a serious difficulty which he was not able to explain. According to the memoranda in our possession, the fragments were of different colours, and therefore could have scarcely belonged to the same object. The original fragments were in Constantinople, and it was with no little interest that I awaited Professor Hilprecht's return from the trip which he made thither in the summer of 1893. I translate again his own account of what he then ascertained.