ground which stood up as islands in the fen-country.

Visitors should give the local names of tells in Arabic characters,
when possible, so that mistakes in transliteration into English may
be avoided. Antiquities bought in the neighbourhood of a tell should
be noted as coming from that neighbourhood. Depredations by Arabs (or
by others!) should be noted, and reported to the nearest Political
Officer or Inspector of Antiquities. The barbarous practice of
forcibly dislodging inscribed bricks from walls, as trophies and
'souvenirs', which has unhappily been common during the war, should
never be imitated and always discountenanced as much as possible.

Other good spots for antiquities than tells are rare. In the
mountainous and stony country of the North we may meet with rock-
sculptures, as at Bavian, and these should always be recorded by a
traveller, even if he is not certain that they have not been remarked
before: something new may turn up at any time. Antiquities acquired
in the neighbourhood of such monuments should be noted, and their
precise place of origin ascertained, if possible, as in this way the
site of some ancient settlement adjoining the monument may be
identified. The open ruin-fields, or _Khurbas_, characteristic of
Palestine are not usual, except in the case of Parthian or Sassanian
palace ruins such as Ctesiphon, Hatra, or Ukheidhir, which were often
abandoned almost as soon as they were built, so that no later
population could pile up rubbish-heaps or graves above them.

In order to aid the visitor to get some idea of the age of a tell or
other site from the antiquities found on its surface and its
neighbourhood, and so to be able to give some idea of what is likely
to be found in it, the following hints have been drawn up.