[35] Cf. Berthelot, "La chimie au moyen âge," tome I., Appendix IX., p. 391 f.; "Introduction à l'étude de la chimie," p. 227 f., and Heuzey in "Déc. en Chaldée," p. 238; antimony is said to have been known and used by itself, though not as an alloy (Berthelot, "Introd.," p. 223), but there is no proof of the date of the fragment from Tello, which was analysed. It may be added that the votive figures of Gudea's reign, which are preserved in the British Museum and are usually regarded as of bronze (cf. the plate opposite p. 272), should, since they came from Tello, be more accurately described as of copper.
[36] See Loftus, "Chaldaea and Susiana," p. 268 f., who describes all the objects as of copper. One of the knives excavated by Loftus was subsequently analysed and found to be copper (see "Report of the British Assoc.," Nottingham, 1893, p. 715); this analysis was confirmed by that of Dr. J. H. Gladstone (published in the "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," vol. xvi., p. 98 f.). A careful analysis of the metal objects found by members of the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft at Fâra in 1902 and 1903, and styled by them as bronze (see "Mitteilungen," No. 17, p. 6), would probably result in proving the absence of any alloy.
[37] See the blocks on [p. 256].
[38] See the plate opposite [p. 272].
[39] See "Déc. en Chaldée," pl. 45, Fig. 1.
[40] See Fig. 27, and cf. Hilprecht, "Explorations," p. 539 f.
[41] Like the brick-stamps, they may sometimes have been made of clay burnt to an extreme hardness.
[42] See the stamped figure published on the plate opposite [p. 72] from a terra-cotta in the British Museum.
[43] The ringed staff occurs as a sacred emblem upon cylinder-seals, and is sometimes carried by heroes (cf. p. 82, Fig. 34). A colossal example of one, made of wood and sheathed in copper, was found at Tello by De Sarzec (see Heuzey, "Rev. d'Assyr.," IV., p. 112, and "Déc. en Chaldée," pl. 57, Fig. 1), but the precise use and significance of the object has not been determined.
[44] See the plate opposite [p. 76], and see below, [p. 174 f].