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Show BOOKS MADE OF CLAY. Curiosities Found In the Ruins of tho City of Nineveh. Far bejond the plains of Mesopotamia, Mesopo-tamia, on tho banks ot tho river Tigris, llo tho ruins of tho ancient elty of Nineveh. Not long ago huge mounds of earth and stono marked tho placo whero tho palaces nnd walls of tho proud capital ot tho great Assyrian emplro stood. Tho spado nnd scraper first of tho French nnd then of tho Urltlsh, hnvo cleared all tho earth away and laid baro all that remains of tho old rtreetB nnd palaces where tho proud princes of Assyria worshiped and the books thnt they read have all been revealed to tho sight of n wondering won-dering world, Tho most curious of nil tho curious things preserved In this wonderful mnnuer nro tho clay books of Nino-voh. Nino-voh. Tho chief library of tho city was contained In tho palace of KnnyunJIk. Tho clay books, which composed Its contents, wero sets of tnbletB, covered cover-ed with very smnll letters. The tnb-lets tnb-lets are all oblong In shop, nnd when Bovernl of them wcro used for ono book, the first lino of the tnblot following fol-lowing was written nt tho end of tho ono preceding It. Tho writing vuis eono when tho clay of tho tnblet was foft: tho tablet was thon baked to harden It. Each tablet was numbered number-ed Just as librarians of to-day number num-ber the bookB of which they have charge. |