TALBOT1248

23^d October 1876

Dear Sir,

I will bear in mind what you say about a photographer ¹ but do not know if it will be possible to do so with the Funds at my disposal the Excavations cost £100 per month without a photographer. There is no English Assyriologist available to send out, my assistant is wanted here and none of the others are advanced enough to employ as copyists in Mesopotamia Rassam ² knows nothing about cuneiform which in my opinion is as well. I have told him what is required is that all the fragments should be sent here The 2000 tablets or fragments must be close at hand, they were at Suez about ten days ago The other day I purchased about 30 contracts Tablets of one Shemtob a Jew of Baghdad now here. Two of them are dated in the 11^h year of Nabonides ³ which Throws the usual chronology out of gear. D^r Delitsczh ⁴ and <sic> very hard at work on the syllabaries.

Believe me Yours very truly

S Birch