Another letter from ancient Mesopotamia contains graphic description of crime scene by investigator. 2400 BCE – 1700 BCE
Tell my lord: Your servant Bahdi-Lim sends the following message:
The body of a small child which was hardly one year old was found lying in front of the old dike which is upstream from the lower ditch openings(?) on the embankment of the river (Euphrates). The body of the child was cut open at its waist and the [contents] of its chest were placed on its head and it was [mutilated] from head to foot. Nobody can tell whether it was male or female.
Nothing is left from its middle down to its lower end. The very day I heard this report, I resorted to strict measures; I questioned the overseers of the city quarters, the craftsmen and the harbor(?) people, but neither any owner of this child nor its father or mother nor anybody who could [shed light] on this incident came forward. The very same day, I sent Bell-lu-dari to my lord with this news. Also during the seven days since I sent Bell-lu-dari, I have done much questioning but [end broken]
