Onoma
Active Member
This is just a post to tell the little known story of Hilprecht's dream
Hermann V. Hilprecht is a rather well known Assyriologist / archaeologist who was present in the first excavations of the city of Nippur ( Nibru, etc )
Here's a little background on Hermann:
Hermann Volrath Hilprecht - Wikipedia
After the excavations, there was a peculiar script that remained largely undeciphered ( What we call Old Babylonian )
Late one night in 1893, Hilprecht, a noted Assyrian scholar, fell asleep at his desk in Philadelphia
He awakened to a vision of a priest from the Temple of Bel in Nippur ( Present day Turkey ) As he looked about, he realized he was no longer in his study, but seated on a giant stone step. A hot wind circled his body. The priest beckoned him to follow, saying " I will help you ". They walked through the deserted streets to a magnificent building. " You are in the Temple of Bel, at Nippur, between the Tigris and the Euphrates ", the priest said. Hilprecht asked his guide to show him the secret treasure room, where he discovered some agate inscriptions. As he began to read the words, the vision faded and he was back in his Philadelphia study, the priest still by his side. On a piece of paper was written the word " Nebuchadnezzar " translated by the priest as " Nebo, protect my boundary ". The vision of the inscriptions and their translations provided Hilprecht with the missing link he needed to complete the Old Babylonian Inscription translations, most importantly from Nippur, which he published later that year
He had another interesting dream concerning an inscription on earrings from Nippur, which is detailed in this paper:
https://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0109/PennGaz0109_feature3.pdf
I always thought it to be a curious story
Hermann V. Hilprecht is a rather well known Assyriologist / archaeologist who was present in the first excavations of the city of Nippur ( Nibru, etc )
Here's a little background on Hermann:
Hermann Volrath Hilprecht - Wikipedia
After the excavations, there was a peculiar script that remained largely undeciphered ( What we call Old Babylonian )
Late one night in 1893, Hilprecht, a noted Assyrian scholar, fell asleep at his desk in Philadelphia
He awakened to a vision of a priest from the Temple of Bel in Nippur ( Present day Turkey ) As he looked about, he realized he was no longer in his study, but seated on a giant stone step. A hot wind circled his body. The priest beckoned him to follow, saying " I will help you ". They walked through the deserted streets to a magnificent building. " You are in the Temple of Bel, at Nippur, between the Tigris and the Euphrates ", the priest said. Hilprecht asked his guide to show him the secret treasure room, where he discovered some agate inscriptions. As he began to read the words, the vision faded and he was back in his Philadelphia study, the priest still by his side. On a piece of paper was written the word " Nebuchadnezzar " translated by the priest as " Nebo, protect my boundary ". The vision of the inscriptions and their translations provided Hilprecht with the missing link he needed to complete the Old Babylonian Inscription translations, most importantly from Nippur, which he published later that year
He had another interesting dream concerning an inscription on earrings from Nippur, which is detailed in this paper:
https://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0109/PennGaz0109_feature3.pdf
I always thought it to be a curious story
