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 NINEVEH 
 
 ITS REMAINS, 
 
 VOL. II.
 
 NINEVEH 
 
 ITS REMAINS 
 
 WITH AN ACCOUNT OF A VISIT TO THE CHALDEAN 
 
 CHRISTIANS OF KURDISTAN, AND THE YEZLDIS, 
 
 OR DEVIL-WORSHIPPERS ; AND AN ENQUIRY 
 
 INTO THE MANNERS AND ARTS OF 
 
 THE ANCIENT ASSYRIANS. 
 
 BY AUSTEN HENRY LAYARD, ESQ. D.C.L. 
 
 " She saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with 
 vermilion. 
 
 " Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their heads, all 
 of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of 
 their nativity." EZKKIBL, xxiii. 14, 15. 
 
 IX TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 
 
 1849.
 
 10 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE SECOND VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Death of Tahyar Pasha. Excavations carried on. Discoveries in 
 the North-west Palace. New Chambers and Bas-reliefs. 
 Ivory Ornaments and Cartouches with Hieroglyphics. Painted 
 Chambers. Pottery. Discovery of upper Chambers. Paintings 
 on the Walls. Pavement Slabs. Discoveries in the Centre of 
 the Mound. Tombs containing Vases and Ornaments. Their 
 Egyptian Character. Bas-reliefs collected together. Descrip- 
 tion of the Sculptures. Further Discoveries in the South-west 
 Edifice. Crouching Sphinxes. Sculptures. A Description of 
 the Bas-reliefs. Small Figures in unbaked Clay. A Beam of 
 Wood. Discovery of more Tombs in the South-east Corner 
 of Chambers beneath them of an arched or vaulted Room. 
 Discoveries in various Parts of the Mound. - - Page 1 
 
 CHAP. XH. 
 
 Excavations undertaken at Kalah Sherghat. Departure for the 
 Ruins. Senidij. The Bitumen Pits. Abd'rubbou. My 
 Reception. Reach the Ruins. Fears of the Workmen. Dis- 
 covery of a sitting Figure. Arab Encampment. Arab Life. 
 Excavations in the Mound. Discovery of Tombs. Remains of 
 Building. Description of the Mounds. Return to Nimroud 44
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 System of Irrigation adopted by the ancient Assyrians. Want of 
 Rain. Fears for the Crops. Preparations for the Removal of a 
 winged Bull and winged Lion. Construction of a Cart. Surprise 
 of the Natives. Discovery of a Bas-relief of a Drain. Lower- 
 ing of the winged Bull. Its Removal from the Ruins. Excite- 
 ment of the Arabs. Rejoicings in the Village. The Bull 
 dragged down to the River. The Removal of the Lion. Discon- 
 tent amongst the Arabs. They leave the Ruins. Rafts prepared 
 for the Transport of the Sculptures to Busrah. The Lion and 
 Bull placed upon them. Their Departure from Nimroud. Return 
 of the Arabs. Excavations commenced in the Pyramid. Con- 
 clusion of the Excavations at Nimroud. General Description of 
 the Ruins. - - Page 68 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 Excavations planned at Kouyunjik. Leave Nimroud. Remove 
 to Mosul. Discovery of a Building in Kouyunjik. Bas-reliefs. 
 General Description of the Sculptures. Excavations carried on 
 by Mr. Ross. His Discoveries. Bas-reliefs. A sculptured 
 Slab and Sarcophagus. Preparations for my Return to Con- 
 stantinople. Leave Mosul. - 115 
 
 PART IT. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Materials for the History of Assyria. Comparative Dates of 
 Monuments. Assyrian Writing. The Cuneiform. Its Varieties. 
 Assyrian Records. Writing Materials. Monumental Records. 
 Bricks and Tiles. Progress in Deciphering. Assyrian Monu- 
 ments of various Periods. The Ivory Ornaments. Cartouches. 
 Connection between Assyria and Egypt. Historical Evidence 
 of Period of Ninus. The Assyrian Dynasties. The Tombs at 
 Nimroud. Antiquity of Nineveh - 153
 
 CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Semitic Origin of the Assyrians. Identification of the Site of 
 Nineveh. Dimensions of the City. Architecture of the Assy- 
 rians. Their first Cities. Building Materials. Sun-dried 
 Bricks. Alabaster. Painted Walls. The Roof and Ceiling. 
 Knowledge of Vaulting and the Arch. Pavement and Drains. 
 Description of an Assyrian Palace. The sculptured and pic- 
 torial Records. The Nature of the Buildings discovered in 
 Assyria. Exterior Architecture. Private Houses. Absence 
 of the Column. Walls of the Cities. Their Towers and Gate- 
 ways - - Page 236 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 The Arts amongst the Assyrians. Their Origin. Connection 
 between Assyrian and Greek Art. The Assyrian Origin of 
 Persian Art. Its Passage into Asia Minor. The Lycian 
 Sculptures. Various Greek Ornaments and Forms borrowed 
 from Assyria. Taste of Assyrians displayed in Embroideries, 
 Arms, and personal Ornaments in domestic Furniture in 
 Vessels of Gold and Silver. Paintings. Ezekiel's Description 
 of painted Bas-reliefs. Colours used by the Assyrians. Their 
 Dyes. Materials for Sculpture. Alabaster or Mosul Marble. 
 Limestone and Basalt. Knowledge of Mechanics. The Pulley. 
 Mode of Transport of Blocks of Stone - - 280 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Costume of the Assyrian Kings. Their Arms. The Eunuchs. 
 Their Dress. The History of Parsondes. Officers of State. The 
 Warriors. Their Armour. Their Costume. Spearmen. 
 Archers. Helmets. Arms. Slingers. Shields. Regular 
 Troops. Chariots. Harness and Caparison of the Horses. 
 Cavalry. Horses. - 319 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Military System of the Assyrians. Magnitude of their Armies. 
 Their Pomp. Sieges. The Battering-ram and other Engines 
 of War. Mode of Defence. Scaling the Walls. Sack of a City.
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 Treatment of the Captives and of the City. Knowledge of Ship- 
 building. Earliest Vessels. Later Vessels, as represented at 
 Khorsabad and Kouyunjik. Enemies of the Assyrians distin- 
 guished by their Dress. Armenians and Parthians or Persians. 
 Captives and Tribute from India. The Arabs. The Jews. The 
 Babylonians. The Phoenicians. Northern Nations. Identifi- 
 cation of Enemies of the Assyrians with those of the Egyp- 
 tians - Page 362 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Private Life of the Assyrians. Public Festivals. Music. Manu - 
 factures. Embroideries and Carpets. Metals. Gold and Silver. 
 Iron and Copper. Ivory. ' Glass. Agriculture. Domestic 
 Animals. Wild Animals. The Lion. The Wild Bull. The 
 Ibex. Hunting. Parks or Paradises. Wild Animals brought 
 as Tribute. The Bactrian Camel, Elephant, and Rhinoceros. 
 Monkeys and Apes, Birds. Fish. Trees - 409 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Religion of the Assyrians. Distinctions between earliest and 
 latest Periods. Sabaeanism and Worship of the Heavenly Bodies. 
 Identity of Assyrian and Persian Systems of Fire-worship. The 
 Chaldoeans. Religious Emblems in the Sculptures. The winged 
 Figure in the Circle. Baal or Belus. Hera, Venus, or Astarte. 
 Rhea. Nisroch or Eagle-headed God. The Gryphon. Winged 
 Bulls and Lions. The Sphinx. Mythological Figures. Sym- 
 bolic Figures of Ezekiel. Cannes or the Man-fish. Fire-worship. 
 The Magi. Flowers and sacred Emblems. Influence of Religion 
 on public and private Life. Mode of Burial. Tomb of Ninus. 
 Death and Tomb of Sardanapalus. Conclusion - - 439
 
 LIST OF PLATES, WOODCUTS, AND PLANS. 
 
 VOLUME II. 
 
 Procession of the Bull beneath the Mound of Nimroud. Frontispiece. 
 The King. (N. W. Palace, Niinroud.) Facing page 7. 
 
 Plan 4. Upper Chambers on the West Side of the Mound. (Nimroud.) 
 
 In page 14. 
 
 Enemy asking Quarter of Assyrian Horsemen. (S. W. Palace, Nimroud.) 
 
 In page 28. 
 
 Part of a Bas-relief showing a Pulley, and a Warrior cutting a Bucket 
 
 from the Rope. In page 32. 
 
 Plan 5. Excavations in the South-east Corner of the Mound. (Nimroud ) 
 
 In page 39. 
 
 Sitting Figure in Basalt, from Kahili Sherghat. In page 52 
 
 Warriors hunting the Lion. (N.W. Palace, Nimroud.) Facing page 77. 
 Plan of excavated Ruins at Kouyunjik. Facing page 124. 
 
 The King in his Chariot returning from Battle. (Kouyunjik.) 
 
 Facing page 137. 
 
 Wi-ilge or Arrow-head on an Altar. (From a Stone in the Bibliotheque 
 
 Nationale at Paris.) In page 181. 
 
 Scribes writing down the Number of Heads of the Slain, and the Amount 
 
 of the Spoil. (Kouyunjik.) In page 184. 
 
 Figures, and Cartouche with Hieroglyphics, on an Ivory Panel from the 
 
 N. W. Palace, Nimroud. Facing page 209. 
 
 The Egyptian Goddess Ken (from a Tablet in the British Museum) ; and 
 
 Assyrian Deity, ? the Astarte of the Assyrians and the Ken of the 
 
 Egyptians (from a Hock Tablet at Malthaiyah, near Mosul). 
 
 In page 212. 
 Forms of Pottery found in the Tombs above the Ruins at Nimroud. 
 
 In page 219. 
 A House. (Kouyunjik.) The Interior of a Tent. (Kouyunjik.) 
 
 In page 271. 
 
 A Temple, or Fishing Pavilion, supported by Proto-Ionic Columns, and 
 standing in u River or artificial Lake. (Khorsabad.) In page 273. 
 
 VOL. II. a
 
 X LIST OF PLATES, WOODCUTS, AND PLANS. 
 
 Head of winged Bull. (Khorsabad and Kouyunjik.) Head of winged 
 Monster. (Persepolis.) In page :>!K>. 
 
 Fragment of a Lycian Monument in the British Museum. In page 292. 
 
 Bas-relief from a Monument from Xanthus, in the British Museum. 
 
 In page 293. 
 
 Assyrian Ornament, (Nimroud.) Greek Honeysuckle Ornaments. 
 
 In page 294. 
 
 Ornament on a Lath at Allahabad. Ornament. (N. TV. Palace, Nim- 
 roud.) In page 295. 
 
 Ornaments. (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) In page 296. 
 
 Sacred Tree. (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) In page 297. 
 
 Ear-ring. (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) Assyrian Ear-rings. (Khorsabud.) 
 Hilt of a Sword. (Khorsabad.) End of a Sword Sheath. (N. W. 
 Palace, Nimroud.) In page 298. 
 
 Handles of three Daggers carried in the Girdle. (N. W. Palace, Xiin- 
 roud.) In page 299. 
 
 A Throne or Stool. (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) In page 300. 
 
 A Stool. (Khorsabad.) An Arm-chair. (Khorsabad.) In page 301. 
 
 A Couch or Table. (Khorsabad.) A Footstool supported by Lion's 
 Paws. (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) In page 302. 
 
 A Table. (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) Altars, or Stands for Jars. (N. Vf . 
 Palace. (Nimroud.) Cup with Handle. (Khorsabad.) In page 303. 
 
 Drinking Cup. (Khorsabad.) Vase from a Bas-relief. (Khorsabad.) 
 
 In page 304. 
 
 Basket or Vessel carried by winged Figures. (Khorsabad.) In page 305. 
 
 Head-dress of the King (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) Head-dress of the 
 King. (Kouyunjik.) In page 320. 
 
 A Sandal. (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) A Sandal. (Khorsabad.) 
 
 In page 324. 
 
 A Spearman. (Kouyunjik.) Greaves or Gaiters worn by Warriors. 
 (Khorsabad.) In page 337. 
 
 An Archer. (Kouyunjik.) Helmets. (Centre Palace, Nimroud.) 
 
 In page 338. 
 
 Circular Helmet. (Centre Palace, Nimroud.) In page 339. 
 
 Assyrian Warriors fighting with the Enemy. An Eagle is carrying away 
 the Entrails of the Slain. (Centre Palace, Nimroud.) In page 340. 
 
 Slingcr. (Kouyunjik.) In page 344. 
 
 Assyrian Warrior with Spear and Shield. (Kouyunjik.) In page 345. 
 
 Warriors forming a Phalanx before the Walls of a besieged City. (Kou- 
 yunjik.) In page 348. 
 
 Assyrian Warriors in a Chariot. (S. W. Ruins, Nimroud ; but originally 
 brought from the N. W. Palace.) Facing page 350. 
 
 Groom leading Horses. (From a Fragment discovered at Khorsabad, 
 and now in the British Museum.) In page 353.
 
 LIST OF PLATES, WOODCUTS, AND PLANS. XI 
 
 Assyrian Chariot of the later Period. (S. W. Ruins, Nimroud.) 
 
 Facing page 356. 
 
 Horsemen one drawing the Bow, the other holding the Reins of both 
 Horses. (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) In page 357. 
 
 Head-dress of a riding Horse. (Kouyunjik.) In page 358. 
 
 A Horseman pursued by Assyrian Warriors. (Kouyunjik.) (From a Cast 
 in the British Museum.) Facing page 360. 
 
 Buttering-ram, with moveable Tower containing Warriors. (N. W. 
 Palace, Nimroud.) In page 368. 
 
 Bas-relief representing Warriors before a besieged City. A Battering- 
 rain drawn up to the Walls, and Captives impaled. (Centre Palace, 
 Nimroud.) In page 369. 
 
 Warriors forcing Stones out of the lower Part of the Wall of a besieged 
 City. (S. W. Palace, Nimroud.) In page 372. 
 
 A City taken by Assault, and the Inhabitants led away Captive. (Kouy- 
 unjik.) Facing page 372. 
 
 Manacles for the Feet. (Khorsabad and Kouyunjik.) Manacles for the 
 Hands. (Khorsabad and Kouyunjik.) In page 376. 
 
 A pair of Scales for weighing the Spoil. (Khorsabad.) In page 377. 
 
 A Boat carrying a Chariot, and Men floating on inflated Skins. 
 
 In page 381. 
 
 A Ship. (Khorsabad.) In page 383. 
 
 Ship. (Kouyunjik.) Coin of uncertain Origin, conjectured to belong to 
 a City on the Syrian Coast during the Persian Occupation. 
 
 In page 386. 
 
 Castle of a maritime People, probably the Tyrians. (Kouyunjik.) 
 
 In page 388. 
 
 A Galley. (Kouyunjik.) In page 389. 
 
 Flying Warrior discharging an Arrow. (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) 
 
 In page 393. 
 
 A walled City standing on a River or on the Sea. (Centre Palace, Niui- 
 roud.) In page 395. 
 
 Captive Women in a Cart drawn by Oxen. (Centre Palace, Nimroud.) 
 
 In page 396. 
 
 Assyrian Horsemen pursuing a Man, probably an Arab, on a Camel. 
 (Centre Ruins, Nimroud.) Facing page 396. 
 
 Chariot carried away by the Assyrians, amongst other Spoil, from a 
 captured City. (Khorsabad.) In page 309. 
 
 Enemies of the Assyrians discharging their Arrows behind them. (Kouy- 
 unjik.) In page 402. 
 
 Bactrian or two-humped Camels. (Obelisk, Nimroud.) In page -433. 
 
 Elephant, the Ouran Outan(?), the Houuuman, or small Indian Monkey (?). 
 (Obelisk, Nimroud.) In page 434.
 
 Xll LIST OF PLATES, WOODCUTS, AND PLANS. 
 
 The Bull, the Rhinoceros, and the Chikara, or large Indian Antelope (?). 
 (Obelisk, Nimroud.) In page 435. 
 
 The Bruh, or great Indian Monkey (?), and the Wanderoo, or maned 
 Ape(?). (Obelisk, Nimroud.) In page 436. 
 
 Sacred Emblems suspended round the Neck of the King. (N. W. Palace. 
 Nimroud.) In page 446 
 
 Emblems of the Deity. (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) In page 448. 
 
 Winged Circle. (Pterium.) In page 449. 
 
 Idols carried in Procession by Assyrian Warriors. (S. W. Ruins, Nim- 
 roud.) Facing page 451. 
 
 Hera or the Assyrian Venus. (From a Rock Tablet near the ancient 
 Pterium.) Facing page 456. 
 
 A Gryphon. (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) In page 459. 
 
 Winged Horse. (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) In page 461. 
 
 Eagle-headed Figure. (S. W. Palace, Nimroud.) Warriors carrying a 
 Bird. (Centre Palace, Nimroud.) In page 462. 
 
 Lion-headed Figure. (S. W. Palace, Nimroud.) In page 463. 
 
 The Fish God. (Khorsabad.) In page 466. 
 
 An Altar, resembling that on the Sassanian Coins (Khorsabad.) 
 
 In page 467. 
 
 Fire-Altar. (Khorsabad.) In page 468. 
 
 Fire-Altar and Sacrifice. (Kouyunjik.) In page 469. 
 
 Altar, or Tripod. (From Khorsabad.) In page 470.
 
 NINEVEH 
 
 ITS REMAINS, 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 DEATH OF TAHTAR PASHA EXCAVATIONS CARRIED ON. DIS- 
 COVERIES IN THE NORTH-WEST PALACE. NEW CHAMBERS AND 
 
 BAS-RELIEFS. IVORY ORNAMENTS AND CARTOUCHES WITH HIERO- 
 GLYPHICS. PAINTED CHAMBERS. POTTERY. DISCOVERY OF 
 
 UPPER CHAMBERS. PAINTINGS ON THE WALLS. PAVEMENT 
 
 SLABS. DISCOVERIES IN THE CENTRE OF THE MOUND. 
 
 TOMBS CONTAINING VASES AND ORNAMENTS. THEIR EGYPTIAN 
 
 CHARACTER. BAS-RELIEFS COLLECTED TOGETHER. DESCRIP- 
 TION OF THE SCULPTURES. FURTHER DISCO VERIES IN THE 
 
 SOUTH-WEST EDD?ICE. CROUCHING SPHINXES. SCULPTURES 
 
 A DESCRIPTION OF THE BAS-RELIEFS. SMALL FIGURES IN UN- 
 BAKED CLAY. A BEAM OF WOOD. DISCOVERY OF MORE 
 
 TOMBS IN THE SOUTH-EAST CORNER OF CHAMBERS BENEATH 
 
 THEM. OF AN ARCHED OR VAULTED ROOM. DISCOVERIES IN 
 
 VARIOUS PARTS OF THE MOUND. 
 
 As I was drawing one morning at the mound, 
 Ibrahim Agha came to me, with his eyes full of tears, 
 and announced the death of Tahyar Pasha. The 
 Cawass had followed the fortunes of the late Governor 
 
 VOL. II. B
 
 2 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [Cnxr. XI. 
 
 of Mosul almost since childhood, and was looked 
 upon as a member of his family. Like other Turks 
 of his class, he had been devoted to the service of 
 his patron, and was treated more like a companion 
 than a servant. In no country in the world are ties 
 of this nature more close than in Turkey ; nowhere 
 does there exist a better feeling between the master 
 and the servant, and the master and the slave. 
 
 I was much grieved at the sudden death of Tahyar ; 
 for he was a man of gentle and kindly manners, just 
 and considerate in his government, and of consider- 
 able information and learning for a Turk. I felt a 
 kind of affection for him. The cause of his death 
 shewed his integrity. His troops had plundered a 
 friendly tribe, falsely represented to him as rebellious 
 by his principal officers, who were anxious to have 
 an opportunity of enriching themselves with the spoil. 
 When he learnt the particulars of the affair, and that 
 the tribe, so far from being hostile, were peaceably 
 pasturing their flocks on the banks of the Khabour, 
 he exclaimed, " You have destroyed my house " (i. e. 
 its honour), and, without speaking again, died of a 
 broken heart. He was buried in the court-yard of 
 the principal mosque at Mardin. A simple but ele- 
 gant tomb, surrounded by flowers and evergreens, 
 was raised over his remains ; and an Arabic inscrip- 
 tion records the virtues and probable reward of one 
 of the most honest and amiable men that it has 
 been my lot, in a life of some experience amongst 
 men of various kinds, to meet. I visited his monu- 
 ment on my return to Constantinople. From the
 
 CHAP. XI.] RESULTS OF THE EXCAVATION. 3 
 
 lofty terrace, where it stands, the eye wanders over 
 the vast plains of Mesopotamia, stretching to the 
 -Euphrates in spring one great meadow, covered 
 with the tents and flocks of innumerable tribes. 
 
 The Kiayah, or chief secretary, was chosen Governor 
 of the province by the council, until the Porte could 
 name a new Pasha, or take other steps for the ad- 
 ministration of affairs. Essad Pasha, who had lately 
 been at Beyrout, was at length appointed to succeed 
 Tahyar, and soon after reached his Pashalic. These 
 changes did not affect my proceedings. Armed with 
 my firman I was able to defy the machinations of the 
 Cadi and the Ulema, who did not cease their endea- 
 vours to throw obstacles in my way. 
 
 After the celebration of Christmas I returned to 
 Nimroud, and the excavations were again carried on 
 with activity. 
 
 I should weary the reader, were I to describe, step 
 by step, the progress of the work, and the discoveries 
 gradually made in various parts of the great mound. 
 The labours of one day resembled those of the pre- 
 ceding ; but it would be difficult to convey to others 
 an idea of the excitement which was produced by the 
 constant discovery of objects of the highest interest. 
 A mere journal of my proceedings would afford but 
 little amusement, and I should have to repeat, over 
 and over again, the same details, and should probably 
 be led into a repetition of the same reflections. I 
 prefer, therefore, describing at once the results of my 
 labours during the first three months of the year; 
 and I will endeavour to explain, as concisely as pos- 
 
 B 2
 
 4 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XI. 
 
 sible, the extent of the operations, and the nature of 
 the buildings uncovered. I must necessarily make 
 frequent reference to the plans ; as, without the as- 
 sistance they afford, it would be difficult to convey 
 an accurate idea of the form of the edifices and posi- 
 tion of the chambers. 
 
 The north-west palace was naturally the most in- 
 teresting portion of the ruins, and to it were prin- 
 cipally directed my researches. I had satisfied 
 myself beyond a doubt that it was the most ancient 
 building yet explored in Assyria. Not having been 
 exposed to a conflagration like other edifices, the 
 sculptures, bas-reliefs, and inscriptions, which it con- 
 tained, were still admirably preserved. 
 
 When the excavations were resumed after Christ- 
 mas, eight chambers had been discovered. There were 
 now so many outlets, and entrances, that I had no 
 trouble in finding .new rooms and halls one cham- 
 ber leading into another. By the end of the month 
 of April I had explored almost the whole building ; 
 and had opened twenty-eight chambers cased with 
 alabaster slabs. Although many new objects of 
 sculpture of considerable interest and importance 
 were found in them, still the principal part of the 
 edifice seems to have been that to the north. Cham- 
 bers B and G contained the most remarkable bas- 
 reliefs; they represented the deeds of the king in 
 war and in the chase, his triumphant return, and the 
 celebration of religious ceremonies. The best artists 
 had evidently been employed upon them ; and they 
 excelled all those that had yet been discovered, in the
 
 CHAP. XL] DESCRIPTION OF CHAMBERS. 5 
 
 elegance and finish of the ornaments, and in the 
 knowledge of art displayed in the grouping of the 
 figures. The walls of the other chambers were either 
 occupied by a series of winged figures, separated by 
 the sacred tree, the figures resembling one another 
 in every respect, or the usual inscription alone was 
 carved upon the slabs. 
 
 It will be perceived that a certain symmetry was, 
 to some extent, observed in the plan of the building ; 
 particularly in the arrangement of the chambers to 
 the East; those marked I and L corresponding in 
 form and size, and both leading into small rooms, 
 which do not communicate with any other part of 
 the edifice. Each slab, however, in chamber L, is 
 occupied by only one figure, a gigantic winged 
 divinity, or priest, and is not divided into two 
 compartments, as in chamber I. But it is remark- 
 able that on the slab No. 20. there is a figure dif- 
 fering from all the rest, and corresponding with the 
 figures found on the lower part of the slab No. 16. 
 of chamber I. It is that of a winged female deity 
 or priestess, bearing a garland in one hand, and 
 raising the other as if in some act of adoration. 
 Around her neck are suspended, in the form of a 
 double necklace, the star-shaped ornaments already 
 described.* In this chamber also occur niches simi- 
 larly placed to those in I. In front of the female 
 figure, and forming part of the pavement, was a 
 
 * See page 341. Vol. I. This figure has been moved, and is amongst 
 the sculptures which have been secured for the British Museum. 
 
 B 3
 
 6 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XL 
 
 slab with a hole through the centre. On raising it I 
 found an earthen pipe, about eight inches in diameter 
 and two feet in length, communicating with a drain 
 running underneath, the whole being lined and ce- 
 mented with bitumen. One or two fragments of 
 ivory were also found in this room. 
 
 In chamber H all the groups were similar re- 
 presenting the king, holding a cup in one hand and 
 his bow in the other, attended by two winged figures 
 with garlands round their heads. The sculptures in 
 chamber G, as I have already observed, were chiefly 
 remarkable for the variety and elegance of the orna- 
 ments on the robes of the king, and his attendants. 
 Amongst them were groups of figures similar to those 
 represented on the walls of the palace, such as the 
 king slaying the lion, and hunting the bull ; winged 
 figures before the sacred tree ; religious emblems ; 
 
 O ' O 
 
 various animals and elaborate scroll work; all fur- 
 nishing not only beautiful designs, but important 
 illustrations of the religion of the Assyrians. 
 
 The entrance d to this chamber was formed by 
 two gigantic eagle-headed winged figures, of consider- 
 able beauty and finish; One of them was moved, 
 and will be brought to England. In the chamber 
 beyond, were repeated the winged divinities or priests, 
 with the emblematic tree ; except on slab 6, which had 
 the king holding a bow in one hand, and two arrows 
 in the other. 
 
 The four sculptures in the chamber, or rather 
 passage, P (Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4.), were remarkable for 
 the beauty of the ornaments and details, and their
 
 To face page 7. Vol. II 
 
 THE KING. (N. W. Palace. Nimroud.)
 
 CHAP. XI.] DESCRIPTION OF CHAMBERS. 7 
 
 careful finish. They all represented winged figures 
 either holding a mace, a fir-cone, or some religious 
 emblem. On their dresses, however, were a variety 
 of groups and designs lion hunts, bull hunts, 
 winged animals, and many groups of winged figures. 
 Amongst the last was a curious representation of 
 the Assyrian Venus, Mylitta or Astarte, in an inde- 
 cent posture which indicated the peculiar nature of 
 her worship. 
 
 On each of the slabs forming the narrow passage 
 a, leading from the chamber P, were two winged 
 figures back to back. They were well designed and 
 carefully executed. Beyond them, on slabs 2, 3, 
 and 4 of chamber S, was the king between two 
 eunuchs. The figure of the king, one of the most 
 carefully sculptured and best preserved in the palace, 
 has been removed, and will be brought to England. 
 He is represented with one hand on the hilt of his 
 sword, the other being supported by a long wand, 
 or staff. 
 
 On the remaining slabs of chamber S the winged 
 figures were repeated. Some carried flowers of 
 various shapes, whilst others had the usual fir-cone, 
 and square basket, or utensil. 
 
 Three sides alone of the great hall Y, were found 
 entire. From its size it is probable that it was not 
 roofed in, but was an open court. It appears to have 
 been nearly square ; but the western wall has been 
 completely destroyed ; the slabs having perhaps been 
 carried away to be used in the construction of the 
 south-west palace. Three entrances are still stand- 
 
 B 4
 
 8 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XT. 
 
 ing. The one at >, formed by a pair of winged 
 lions, those at e and /, by winged bulls. There 
 was probably a fourth entrance on the western side, 
 formed by a pair of lions, to correspond with that 
 on the eastern ; but I found no remains of it, al- 
 though some might perhaps be discovered on a more 
 careful examination. The removal of the slabs, which 
 formed the western wall, has caused a depression in 
 the mound ; and consequently, if any large sculptures, 
 such as the winged lions, had been left, when the slabs 
 adjoining them were taken away, they would pro- 
 bably have been exposed to decay ; and the upper 
 part, remaining longest uncovered, would have been 
 completely destroyed. 
 
 Behind the great hall Y, to the south, were a 
 cluster of chambers leading one into another. Their 
 proportions were small. V and W did not contain 
 sculptures. T was surrounded by the usual winged 
 figures: one of its entrances (a) being formed by 
 two gigantic priests or divinities, with garlands round 
 their heads, holding in one hand an ear of corn, and 
 in the other an ibex, or mountain goat. 
 
 The chamber V is remarkable for the discovery, 
 near the entrance a, of a number of ivory ornaments 
 of considerable beauty and interest. These ivories, 
 when uncovered, adhered so firmly to the soil, and 
 were in so forward a state of decomposition, that 
 I had the greatest difficulty in extracting them, 
 even in fragments. I spent hours lying on the 
 ground, separating them, with a penknife, from the 
 rubbish by which they were surrounded. Those who
 
 CHAP. XL] DISCOVERY OF IVORY ORNAMENTS. 9 
 
 saw them when they first reached this country, will 
 be aware of the difficulty of releasing them from the 
 hardened mass in which they were embedded. The 
 ivory separated itself in flakes. Even the falling 
 away of the earth was sufficient to reduce it almost 
 to powder. This will account for the condition of 
 the specimens which have been placed in the British 
 Museum. With all the care that I could devote to the 
 collection of the fragments, many were lost, or re- 
 mained unperceived, in the immense heap of rubbish 
 under which they were buried. Since they have been 
 in England, they have been admirably restored and 
 cleaned. The glutinous matter, by which the par- 
 ticles forming the ivory are kept together, had, from 
 the decay of centuries, been completely exhausted. 
 By an ingenious process it has been restored, and 
 the ornaments, which on their discovery fell to pieces 
 almost upon mere exposure to the air, have regained 
 the appearance and consistency of recent ivory, and 
 may be handled without risk of injury. 
 
 The important evidence, as to the epoch of the 
 destruction of the building, furnished by these ivories, 
 will be alluded to in another place. I will here merely 
 describe them. The most interesting are the remains 
 of two small tablets, one nearly entire, the other much 
 injured. Upon them are represented two sitting 
 figures, holding in one hand the Egyptian sceptre or 
 symbol of power. Between them is a cartouche, 
 containing a name or words in hieroglyphics, and 
 surmounted by a feather or plume, such as is found 
 in monuments of the eighteenth, and subsequent
 
 10 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XL 
 
 dynasties, of Egypt. The chairs on which the figures 
 are seated, the robes of the figures themselves, the 
 hieroglyphics in the cartouche, and the feather above 
 it, were enamelled with a blue substance let into the 
 ivory, and the whole ground of the tablet, as well 
 as the cartouche and part of the figures, was origin- 
 ally gilded, remains of the gold leaf still adhering 
 to them. The forms, and style of art, have a purely 
 Egyptian character ; although there are certain pecu- 
 liarities in the execution, and mode of treatment, that 
 would seem to mark the work of a foreign, perhaps 
 an Assyrian, artist. The same peculiarities the 
 same anomalies, characterize all the other objects 
 discovered. Several small heads in frames, supported 
 by pillars or pedestals, most elegant in design and 
 elaborate in execution, show not only a considerable 
 acquaintance with art, but an intimate knowledge 
 of the method of working in ivory. Found with them 
 were oblong tablets, upon which are sculptured, with 
 great delicacy, standing figures, with one hand ele- 
 vated, and holding in the other a stem or staiF, sur- 
 mounted by a flower or ornament resembling the 
 Egyptian lotus. Scattered about were fragments 
 of winged sphinxes, the head of a lion of singular 
 beauty, but which unfortunately fell to pieces, human 
 heads, hands, legs, and feet, bulls, flowers, and scroll- 
 work. In all these specimens the spirit of the design 
 and the delicacy of the workmanship are equally to 
 be admired. * 
 
 * I add Mr. Birch's description of the most important of the ivory 
 ornaments that containing the cartouche. " The first of these panels,
 
 CHAP. XL] PAINTED CHAMBER. 11 
 
 On the two slabs forming the entrance to chamber 
 U, were two remarkable inscriptions, cut above those 
 which invariably occur on the slabs of this palace. 
 They contained the name of the king who founded 
 Khorsabad, and they had evidently been placed there 
 long after the lower inscriptions (from which they 
 differ in the forms of many characters) had been cut. 
 They may have been carved to celebrate the re- 
 opening, or the restoration, of the building. 
 
 In all the chambers to the south of the great hall 
 Y, were found copper vessels of peculiar shape ; but 
 they fell to pieces almost immediately on exposure 
 to the air, and I was unable to preserve one of them 
 entire. 
 
 Beyond the entrance &, as far as chamber S, the 
 alabaster slabs ceased altogether ; and I was, for some 
 time, at a loss to account for the manner in which 
 
 which is the most complete, measures nine inches long by six inches high. 
 The cartouche is placed vertically in the centre, surmounted by a solar 
 disk, gilded, flanked by two ostrich feathers, which are inlaid with narrow 
 horizontal strips of opaque blue glass, probably imitations of lapis-lazuli, 
 and with some few bars in green. The area of the cartouche is gilded, 
 and the hieroglyphics are incused, and inlaid with blue glass. At each 
 side is a divinity, beardless, wearing the long hair-dress called namms, 
 also inlaid with blue, and draped in linen garments, enveloping the whole 
 of the form, with a border of inlaid blue ovals. The seats on which they 
 sit are the usual Egyptian throne, the side decorated with scales alter- 
 nately of blue and opaque green pastes, inlaid into the ivory, and in- 
 tended to imitate lapis-lazuli and felspar. At the lower corner, in a 
 compartment, in gilded ivory on a blue back-ground, is a symbol of life. 
 Each divinity holds in one hand a tarn or kukupha sceptre, and holds up 
 the other with the palm turned towards the cartouche. No name is at- 
 tached to either of these figures, which are probably intended for deities 
 of an inferior rank, such as the Persian Izjeds. Like all the Egyptian 
 figures, they are unbearded ; but their drapery is not that of Egyptian 
 females." (Trans, of the Eoyal Society of Literature, New Series.) For a 
 detailed description of all the ivory fragments discovered, see Appendix.
 
 12 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XL 
 
 the building had been continued. The pavement of 
 baked bricks was still carried on, and it was evident 
 that the edifice did not end here. It was some time 
 before I discovered that I was now digging into 
 chambers formed by walls of sun-dried bricks, over 
 which a thin coating of plaster had been laid. They 
 had been painted with figures and ornaments ; but 
 the colours had faded so completely, that scarcely 
 any of the subjects or designs could be traced. It 
 required the greatest care to separate the rubbish 
 from the walls, without destroying, at the same time, 
 the plaster to which it adhered. I seldom succeeded 
 in uncovering even a small portion of the paintings, 
 as the plaster fell from the walls in flakes, notwith- 
 standing all my efforts to preserve it. I was able to 
 draw a few of the ornaments, in which the colours 
 chiefly distinguishable were red, blue, black, and 
 white. The subjects of the paintings appeared to 
 be generally processions, in which the king was repre- 
 sented followed by his eunuchs and attendant warriors. 
 The figures were merely in outline, in black upon a 
 blue ground, and I was unable to distinguish any 
 other colour. In design they resembled the sculp- 
 tures exhibiting the same features, and the same 
 peculiar treatment in the draperies and attitudes. 
 
 As the means at my disposal did not warrant any 
 outlay in making mere experiments, without the pro- 
 mise of the discovery of something to carry away, 
 I felt myself compelled, much against my inclination, 
 to abandon the excavations in this part of the mound, 
 after uncovering portions of two chambers. The
 
 CHAP. XL] TAINTED BRICKS. 13 
 
 doorway, which united them, was paved with one 
 large slab, ornamented with flowers and scroll-work. 
 The flooring was of baked bricks. 
 
 I found, by opening trenches behind chambers I 
 and L, that similar painted rooms existed in other 
 parts of the mound. The palace did not, therefore, 
 only contain chambers formed by slabs of alabaster, 
 but had other apartments, extending considerably be- 
 yond the limits shown in the plan. How far, I could 
 not ascertain. 
 
 It may be mentioned that on the slabs 1 and 2, and 
 those opposite, of chamber Z, were sculptured small 
 winged figures, two, one above the other, on each. 
 On removing No. 2., I found behind it, embedded in 
 the wall of sun-dried bricks, a small earthen bowl, or 
 cup, of baked clay of a dark red colour. This, con- 
 sequently, is the most ancient specimen of pottery 
 hitherto discovered in Assyria ; for, from its position 
 behind the slab, it is evident that it must have been 
 placed there at the time of the building of the edi- 
 fice.* Between the bulls and lions, forming the en- 
 trances in different parts of the palace, were invariably 
 found a large collection of baked bricks, elaborately 
 painted with figures of animals, and flowers, arid with 
 cuneiform characters. It is remarkable, that on 
 the back of these bricks, or on one of the sides not 
 coloured, are rude designs, in black paint or ink, of 
 men and animals, and marks having the appearance 
 of numbers. They appear to have been built into a 
 
 * It has been preserved, and will be placed in the British Museum.
 
 14 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XI. 
 
 wall above the sculptures. That they belonged to 
 this edifice is proved by the name of the king which 
 is painted upon them.* 
 
 Whilst excavating above the southern chambers of 
 this palace, I found, in the rubbish several feet above 
 the walls, numerous vases of baked clay. In those 
 that were preserved entire, human remains could be 
 distinguished; but it was not until I had made fur- 
 ther discoveries, that I learnt the nature and import- 
 ance of these objects. 
 
 On the western side of the great mound, to the 
 south of the palace in which the discoveries just 
 described were made, there is a considerable eleva- 
 
 /ft A 
 
 PLAN 4 VPPRR CIIVMBEB.S ON THE WEST SIDE OP THE MOI;\D. (NIMROUD.) 
 
 * Many specimens have been secured, and will be deposited in the 
 British Museum
 
 CHAP. XL] UPPER CHAMBERS. 15 
 
 tion. The spot is marked e on plan 1. To examine 
 the place, a trench was opened on a level with the 
 platform. It was some time before I discovered that 
 we were cutting into a kind of tower, or nest of 
 upper chambers, constructed entirely of unbaked 
 bricks ; the walls being plastered, and elaborately 
 painted. I explored three rooms, and part of a fourth, 
 on the southern side of the building. 
 
 It is probable that there were four similar groups 
 of chambers, facing the four cardinal points. In 
 front of the entrance a*, was a large square slab with 
 slightly-raised edges, similar to those frequently 
 found in the north-west palace. Parallel with it were 
 two narrow pieces of alabaster, with a groove running 
 down the centre, carefully cut and fitted together, 
 which I can only compare to the rails of a railroad. 
 I cannot form any conjecture as to their use. The 
 rooms had been twice painted two distinct coats of 
 plaster being visible on the walls. The outer coating, 
 when carefully detached, left the under ; on which 
 were painted ornaments differing from those above. 
 
 In the centre, and in one of the corners, of cham- 
 ber C, were recesses, similar to those in some of the 
 alabaster slabs in the north-west palace. No remains 
 of plaster, or colour, could be traced upon the sun- 
 dried bricks, forming the back of these recesses. 
 
 The painted ornaments were elaborate and graceful 
 in design. The Assyrian bull was frequently pour- 
 trayed, sometimes with wings, sometimes without. 
 Above the animals were painted battlements, similar 
 
 * See plan 4.
 
 16 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XL 
 
 to those of castles, as represented in the sculptures. 
 Below them, forming a kind of cornice, were squares 
 and circles, tastefully arranged ; and more elaborate 
 combinations were not wanting. The colours found 
 were blue, red, white, yellow, and black. I doubt 
 whether any green was used in this building ; the 
 green on the under coating of plaster, being rather 
 the result of the decomposition of the blue. The 
 pale yellow of the ground, on which the designs were 
 painted, resembles the tint on the walls of Egypt; 
 but it is possible that white had changed to this 
 colour. 
 
 But the most important discovery, connected with 
 these upper chambers, was that of the slabs forming 
 the pavement of the two entrances a and b. Upon 
 them were the names and titles of five kings, in genea- 
 logical succession ; commencing with the father of the 
 founder of the north-west palace, and ending with the 
 grandson of the builder of the centre edifice. By this 
 valuable record, I was able to verify the connection 
 between the names already discovered, and to add 
 two more to the list.* 
 
 I could not ascertain whether there were any 
 chambers, or remains of buildings, beneath this upper 
 edifice ; or whether this was a tower constructed on 
 the solid outer wall. A deep trench was opened on 
 the eastern side of itf, and about twenty feet below 
 the surface, a pavement of brick and several square 
 slabs of alabaster were uncoverd ; but these remains 
 
 * One of these slabs will be placed in the British Museum. 
 | At d, in plan 1.
 
 CIIAP. XL] DISCOVERY OF TOMBS. 17 
 
 did not throw any light upon the nature of the 
 building above ; nor were they sufficient to show 
 that the north-west palace had been carried under 
 these upper chambers. To the south of them there 
 were no remains of building, the platform of un- 
 baked bricks being continued up to the level of the 
 flooring of the chambers ; but there is reason to be- 
 lieve that this part of the mound is of a more recent 
 date than that to the north of it, and was added at a 
 subsequent period. 
 
 In the centre of the mound, to the north of the 
 great winged bulls, I had in vain endeavoured to 
 find traces of building. Except the obelisk, two 
 winged figures, and a few fragments of yellow lime- 
 stone, which appeared to have formed part of a 
 gigantic bull or lion, no remains of sculpture had 
 yet been discovered. On excavating to the south, I 
 found a well formed tomb, built of bricks, and 
 covered with a slab of alabaster. It was about five 
 feet in length, and scarcely more than eighteen inches 
 in breadth in the interior. On removing the lid, 
 parts of a skeleton were exposed to view ; the skull 
 and some of the larger bones were still entire ; but, on 
 an attempt being made to move them, they crumbled 
 into dust. With them were three earthen vessels. 
 A vase of reddish clay, with a long narrow neck, 
 stood in a dish of such delicate fabric, that I had 
 great difficulty in removing it entire. Over the 
 mouth of the vase was placed a bowl or cup, also 
 of red clay. This pottery appears to have stood 
 near the right shoulder of the body. In the dust, 
 
 VOL. II. C
 
 18 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XI. 
 
 which had accumulated round the skeleton, were 
 found beads and small ornaments belonging to a 
 necklace. The beads are of opaque coloured glass, 
 agate, cornelian and amethyst. A small crouching 
 lion of lapis lazuli, pierced on the back, had been 
 attached to the end of the necklace. The vases and 
 ornaments are Egyptian in their character, being 
 identical with similar remains found in the tombs of 
 Egypt, and preserved in collections of antiquities 
 from that country. With the beads was a cylinder, 
 on which is represented the king in his chariot, hunt- 
 ing the wild bull, as in the bas-relief from the north- 
 west palace. The surface of the cylinder has been 
 so much worn and injured, that it is difficult to 
 distinguish the figures upon it. A copper ornament 
 resembling a modern seal, two bracelets of silver, 
 and a pin for the hair were also discovered. I care- 
 fully collected and preserved these interesting re- 
 mains, which seemed to prove that the body had been 
 that of a female. 
 
 On digging beyond this tomb, I found a second, 
 similarly constructed, and of the same size. In it 
 were two vases of highly glazed green pottery, ele- 
 gant in shape, and in perfect preservation. Near 
 them was a copper mirror, and a copper lustral spoon, 
 all Egyptian in form. 
 
 Many other tombs were opened, containing vases, 
 plates, mirrors, spoons, beads, and ornaments. Some 
 of them were built of baked bricks, carefully joined, 
 but without mortar ; others were formed by large 
 earthen sarcophagi, covered with an entire alabaster
 
 CHAP. XL] DISCOVFRY OF BAS-RELIEFS. 19 
 
 slab, similar to those discovered in the south-east 
 corner of the mound, and already described.* 
 
 Having carefully collected and packed the contents 
 of the tombs, I removed them and dug deeper into 
 the mound. I was surprised to find, about jive feet 
 beneath them, the remains of a building. AYalls of 
 unbaked bricks could still be traced ; but the slabs, 
 with which they had been cased, were no longer in 
 their places, being scattered about without order, 
 and lying mostly with their faces on the flooring 
 of baked bricks. Upon them, were both sculptures 
 and inscriptions. Slab succeeded to slab ; and when 
 I had removed nearly twenty tombs, and cleared 
 away the earth from a space about fifty feet square, 
 the ruins, which had been thus uncovered, presented 
 a very singular appearance. Above one hundred 
 slabs were exposed to view, packed in rows, one 
 against the other, as slabs in a stone-cutter's yard, 
 or as the leaves of a gigantic book. Every slab was 
 sculptured ; and as they were placed in a regular 
 series, according to the subjects upon them, it was evi- 
 dent that they had been moved, in the order in which 
 they stood, from their original positions against the 
 walls of sun-dried brick ; and had been left as found 
 preparatory to their removal elsewhere. That they 
 were not thus arranged before being used in the 
 building for which they had been originally sculp- 
 tured, was evident from the fact, proved beyond a 
 doubt by repeated observation, that the Assyrians 
 
 * See Vol. I. p. 351. 
 c 2
 
 20 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP XL 
 
 carved their slabs after, and not before, they were 
 placed. Subjects were continued on adjoining slabs, 
 figures and chariots being divided in the centre. 
 There were places for the iron brackets, or dove- 
 tails. They had evidently been once filled, for I 
 could still trace marks and stains left by the metal. 
 To the south of the centre bulls were two gigantic 
 figures, similar to those discovered to the north.* 
 
 These sculptures resembled, in many respects, some 
 of the bas-reliefs found in the south-west palace, in 
 which the sculptured face of the slab was turned, it 
 will be remembered, towards the walls of unbaked 
 bricks. It appeared, therefore, that the centre build- 
 ing had been destroyed, to supply materials for the 
 construction of this edifice. But here were tombs 
 over the ruins. The edifice had perished, and in the 
 earth and rubbish accumulating above its remains, 
 a people, whose funereal vases and ornaments were 
 identical in form and material with those found in 
 the catacombs of Egypt, had buried their dead. 
 What race, then, occupied the country after the de- 
 struction of the Assyrian palaces ? At what period 
 were these tombs made ? What antiquity did their 
 presence assign to the buildings beneath them ? These 
 are questions which I am yet unable to answer ; and 
 which must be left undecided, until the origin and 
 age of the contents of the tombs can be satisfactorily 
 determined. 
 
 The bas-reliefs differed considerably from those of 
 the north-west palace, both in the character of the 
 
 * See Vol. I. p. 344.
 
 CHAP. XI.] DESCRIPTION OF SCULPTURES. 21 
 
 sculpture, and the treatment of the subjects ; in the 
 costumes of the figures, in the caparisons of the 
 horses, and in the form of the chariots. The distinc- 
 tion was so great, that the short period elapsing be- 
 tween the reigns of a father and son could scarcely 
 have given rise, except under extraordinary circum- 
 stances, to so considerable a change in all these 
 points. As the centre bulls were inscribed with the 
 name of the son of the founder of the north-west 
 building, it might be presumed that the ruins near 
 them belong to the same period as the rest of the 
 palace. However, this is liable to doubt. The bulls, 
 as it has already been pointed out *, may have stood 
 alone on the platform, and may have been placed 
 long previous to the construction of an edifice. 
 There were a few inscriptions accompanying the bas- 
 reliefs, and they may hereafter serve to decide the 
 question. On the greater number of slabs, however, 
 the space between the bas-reliefs was left without 
 any inscription. 
 
 The subjects principally recorded by the sculptures 
 thus found collected together, with the exception of 
 a few gigantic figures of the king and his attend- 
 ant eunuchs, and of the winged priests or divinities, 
 were battle-pieces and sieges. Some cities were re- 
 presented t as standing on a river, in the midst of 
 groves of date-trees ; others on mountains. Amongst 
 the conquered people were warriors mounted on 
 camels. It may be inferred, therefore, that a part of 
 these sculptures were made to record the invasion or 
 
 * Vol. I. p. 344. 
 c 3
 
 22 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XI. 
 
 conquest of an Arab nation, or perhaps of a part of 
 Babylonia ; the inhabitants of the cities being as- 
 sisted by auxiliaries, or allies from the neighbouring 
 desert. The conquered race, as in the bas-reliefs of 
 the north-west palace, were generally without hel- 
 mets or armour, their hair falling loosely on their 
 shoulders. Some, however, were provided with hel- 
 mets, which vary in shape from those worn by the 
 conquerors. 
 
 A battering ram, differing in form from that seen 
 in the earlier sculptures, was found on bas-reliefs 
 representing sieges. They were unaccompanied by 
 the moving tower; some were provided with two 
 rams, the ends of which, instead of being broad 
 and blunt, were pointed, and resembled the heads of 
 spears. 
 
 On two slabs (occupied by one subject) were bas- 
 reliefs of considerable interest. They have been sent 
 to England, and represent the taking of a city, within 
 the walls of which grew the palm and other trees. 
 The place having been sacked, the conquerors are 
 seen carrying away the spoil. Two eunuchs, stand- 
 ing near the gates, count, as they pass before them, 
 the sheep, oxen, and other cattle driven away by the 
 warriors, and write down the numbers with a pen 
 upon rolls of paper or leather. In the lower part of 
 the bas-relief, are two carts drawn by oxen. Two 
 women and a child are in each. The women appear 
 to be carrying away bags, containing provisions or 
 valuable property, saved during the sack. Near 
 the gates stand two battering rams, which, the city
 
 CHAP. XI.] SCULPTURED SLABS. 23 
 
 having been taken, are no longer at work. The sub- 
 ject is not ill-arranged, and the oxen drawing the 
 cart are well designed. 
 
 On the fragment of a slab were found two gigantic 
 horses' heads, well designed ; but sculptured in very 
 low relief, and greatly injured. T also discovered 
 parts of a winged human-headed bull, the whole being 
 in relief. I was able to preserve one of the heads. 
 
 Upon other slabs were the king seated on his 
 throne, the sun, moon, and other religious symbols 
 being placed above his head, and receiving prisoners 
 with their arms bound behind them ; eunuchs re- 
 gistering the heads of the enemy, laid at their feet 
 by the conquering warriors; a procession of gods 
 borne on the shoulders of men ; and many other 
 subjects. 
 
 The sides of all the slabs thus placed one against 
 the other the part which, in the event of their 
 gradual covering up, would have been longest ex- 
 posed were worn away. It was, therefore, evident 
 that they had not been buried by the same process 
 as the sculptures in the north-west palace, the walls 
 of which could not have been long exposed. If the 
 edifice to which they originally belonged had been 
 suddenly covered up, it must have been subsequently 
 excavated. The slabs were then removed from their 
 places, and arranged as they were found, preparatory 
 to being used for other purposes, probably for the 
 construction of the south-west palace. Not having 
 been carried away, as that palace had not been 
 finished, they were left exposed, and were gradually 
 
 c 4
 
 24 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XI. 
 
 covered by dust and rubbish. As the slabs stood on 
 their sides, and not upright, all the bas-reliefs had 
 suffered more or less injury. Many were completely 
 destroyed, no traces of sculpture remaining upon 
 them. The upper part of the slabs had not been the 
 first injured ; this proves that they were not exposed 
 whilst standing in their original position, but subse- 
 quent to their removal. 
 
 Although on each slab the two bas-reliefs were 
 divided by an unsculptured space, as in the north- 
 west palace, in few instances, as I have already 
 mentioned, were inscriptions cut upon it. It had 
 been left blank ; but whether intentionally, or because 
 the building had never been completed, there were 
 no means of ascertaining. The slabs, too, were much 
 thinner than those used in other parts of the mound ; 
 and, as the dove-tailed and circular holes for metal 
 braces on the top were cut in half, it is evident 
 that they had been reduced in size after having been 
 used. They had probably been sawn in two, the 
 other half having been carried elsewhere. There were 
 no inscriptions on the back, as is invariably the case 
 in the north-west palace ; and this is another proof 
 that the slabs had been reduced after they had been 
 placed. In fact, I have little doubt, from the appear- 
 ance of these ruins, that the building to which the 
 sculptures originally belonged had been suddenly 
 buried, like that in the north-west corner of the 
 mound ; and that it had subsequently been un- 
 covered, the materials being wanted for the con- 
 struction, as I have conjectured, of the south-west
 
 CHAP. XL] SOUTH-WEST PALACE. 25 
 
 palace. The slabs, not having been required, were 
 left exposed, until they were reburied by a gradual 
 accumulation of dust and rubbish. I could still 
 trace the walls of unbaked bricks, forming the divi- 
 sions of chambers in the old edifice. 
 
 To the east of the centre bulls I discovered the 
 remains of several slabs, still standing in their proper 
 position. The lower part alone remained, the upper 
 having been completely destroyed. Upon them had 
 been sculptured gigantic winged figures, carrying the 
 usual square vessel, and a sacred flower. 
 
 Several trenches were opened around these remains ; 
 but, with the exception of the sculptures just men- 
 tioned, and the fragments of a second winged bull of 
 yellow limestone, I could find no traces of build- 
 ing in the centre of the mound. 
 
 I have described the singular appearance presented 
 by the ruins in the south-west corner. Several 
 parties of workmen were now engaged in exploring 
 them. When all the walls still standing had been 
 traced, and trenches opened in opposite directions, so 
 that no remains of building could escape observation, 
 I was equally at a loss to determine the position of 
 the chambers, and the extent of the edifice. 
 
 It will be seen, by a reference to plan 2., that the 
 only portion of the building sufficiently well pre- 
 served to give any idea of its original form, was one 
 large hall curiously constructed. Leading into it were 
 two entrances, formed by gigantic winged bulls and 
 lions, with human heads ; and, in the centre, was a 
 portal formed by a second pair of bulls. At entrance
 
 26 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XI. 
 
 a, were a pair of lions with the crouching sphinxes 
 between ; at entrance c, a pair of bulls, much injured, 
 only the lower part being entire. A human head, 
 belonging to one of them, was, however, discovered 
 near the remains of the body ; and, as it was nearly 
 entire, I sent it to Busrah. The second pair of bulls 
 were at entrance b. They resembled the lions at en- 
 trance a, in having figures sculptured behind the body 
 of the animal, and between the cap and the wings. 
 Between them were a pair of double sphinxes 
 two sphinxes, resembling those already described, 
 being united, and forming one pedestal. They had 
 been greatly injured by fire, and the heads and all 
 the sculptured portions of the figure had fallen to 
 pieces. * 
 
 The lions and bulls were all sculptured out of a 
 coarse grey limestone ; the space between them was 
 paved with small slabs of the same material. I have 
 called all the space enclosed by the walls c?, 0, m, /, /:, 
 and jj one hall ; although it is divided into four 
 separate chambers by a thick partition in the centre. 
 This partition appears to have been merely constructed 
 to support the beams of the roof, and not to have 
 been meant as a division between different rooms. 
 
 The hall narrows near the four corners, and in the 
 narrowest part at each extremity were two low sphe- 
 rical stones, flattened at the top. I cannot account 
 for their use. If they were bases of columns sup- 
 
 * The remains of n small double sphinx of this kind had already been 
 found in the rubbish at entrance a. See Vol. I. page 349.
 
 CHAP. XL] SOUTH-WEST PALACE. 27 
 
 porting the roof, why were they placed in the narrow- 
 est part of the hall ? No remains of pillars were 
 found near them, and if any ever existed they must 
 have been of wood. It appears more probable that 
 these stones corresponded in some manner with the 
 crouching sphinxes between the bulls and lions ; and 
 were altars to receive sacrifices, or tables upon which 
 vases or utensils were laid. 
 
 The whole of this hall was panelled with slabs 
 brought from elsewhere ; the only sculptures, attri- 
 butable to those who built it, being the gigantic lions 
 and bulls, and the crouching sphinxes. The slabs 
 were not all from the same edifice. Some, and by 
 far the greater number, belonged to the north-west, 
 others to the centre, palace. But there were many 
 bas-reliefs which differed greatly, in the style of art, 
 from the sculptures discovered in both those build- 
 ings. From whence they were obtained I was unable 
 to determine ; whether from a palace of another 
 period once existing at Nimroud, and still concealed 
 in a part of the mound not explored, or from some 
 ruin in the neighbourhood. 
 
 All the walls had been exposed to fire; the slabs 
 were nearly reduced to lime, and were too much 
 injured and cracked to bear removal. They were not 
 all sculptured ; the bas-reliefs being scattered here 
 and there; and, as I have already observed, always 
 when left entire, turned towards the wall of sun-dried 
 brick. The earth had consequently to be removed 
 by the workmen from both sides of the slabs.
 
 28 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. XI. 
 
 I will proceed to describe the walls as they are 
 marked on the plan ; without a reference to which, the 
 details and form of the ruins can scarcely be un- 
 derstood. 
 
 All the slabs in wall a were unsculptured, except 
 Nos. 5. and 10. On the first were represented the 
 walls of a castle, the king being within, seated on 
 his throne, and receiving his vizir. Around him were 
 his attendants, and above him a groom bringing corn 
 
 ENEMY ASKING QOAKTER OF ASSYRIAN HOU3EHEN. (S. W. TAL4CE. NIMR'JUD.)
 
 CHAP. XL] DESCRIPTION OF BAS-RELIEFS. 29 
 
 to a horse tied to a manger. On the other slab was 
 a horseman wearing a helmet with a curved crest, of 
 which a sketch is given. He appears to be raising 
 his hand in the act of asking for quarter, whilst his 
 horse, pierced by the spears of two pursuing warriors, 
 is rearing and plunging.* Both the slabs had been 
 greatly injured. 
 
 No remains of sculpture could be traced on walls 
 >, c, and d. Upon the faces of most of the slabs 
 forming wall e, were the marks of a chisel, or of 
 some metal instrument. The bas-reliefs had been 
 carefully erased, the only part of the figures remain- 
 ing being the feet, which would probably have been 
 concealed by the pavement of the chamber. As 
 the sculptured face of the slabs had been turned 
 towards the chamber, and not to the wall of sun- 
 dried brick, it is evident that the bas-reliefs had been 
 purposely destroyed ; the intention of the builders 
 of the edifice being either to recarve the alabaster, 
 or to reduce it to a smooth surface. The boots, 
 and fringes on the lower part of the dresses of the 
 erased figures, identified them with the sculptures in 
 chambers D and E of the north-west palace (plan 3.), 
 from whence indeed they may have been brought, as 
 the ravine to the north of that edifice must have 
 been partly caused by the removal of a wall. On the 
 slab adjoining entrance e, were two bas-reliefs, the 
 upper (partly destroyed) representing warriors hewing 
 down trees ; the lower, a warrior on horseback hunt- 
 
 * This sculpture will be placed in the British Museum.
 
 30 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XI. 
 
 ing the wild bull. Both were too much injured to 
 bear removal. 
 
 Only parts of walls / and h had been finished ; 
 many of the slabs not having been used, and still 
 lying in the centre of the chamber. It was evident 
 that they had not fallen after having been placed, 
 for they were entire, having only suffered injury from 
 fire ; they were, moreover, arranged in rows with 
 great regularity, and, in one or two instances, heaped 
 one above the other. These prostrate slabs, therefore, 
 furnished additional evidence that the building had 
 been destroyed before its completion. In wall/, were 
 the two sculptured slabs already described.* In 
 wall A, there were bas-reliefs on Nos. 1, 2., and on 
 the adjoining prostrate slab. In the upper com- 
 partment of No. 2. was represented the king, in his 
 chariot, discharging an arrow against a charioteer, 
 whose horses had already been wounded. Scattered 
 about, were the bodies of the slain. The top of this 
 bas-relief had been destroyed, and the slab so much 
 injured, that it could not be moved. In the lower 
 compartment were two kneeling archers, wearing the 
 conical helmet, and an eunuch also discharging an 
 arrow; behind them were several figures, probably 
 prisoners, raising their hands. The draperies, and 
 ornaments on both bas-reliefs were elegant and ela- 
 borate, resembling those on the opposite slab (No. 1. 
 wall /), to which they appear originally to have 
 been joined, forming part of the same subjects. 
 
 * See Vol. I. page 40.
 
 CHAP. XL] BAS-RELIEF WITH PULLEY. 31 
 
 The corner stone (No. 1.) was reversed; upon it 
 was a figure with the conical cap, apparently made 
 of bands of linen or felt, and already described as 
 represented in the sculptures of chambers D and E 
 (plan 3.).* The upper part of the stone (or the 
 lower part of the reversed figure) had been pur- 
 posely destroyed, the marks of the chisel being 
 visible. In this respect, and in its position, it re- 
 sembled the opposite corner stone. 
 
 On the prostrate slab were two bas-reliefs. The 
 upper was so much injured that the outlines of a 
 chariot, and warriors on foot, could with difficulty 
 be traced. The lower was the siege of a castle ; an 
 eunuch was represented discharging his arrows against 
 warriors, without helmets, who manned the towers 
 and walls. The besiegers were leading away pri- 
 soners, and carrying off the spoil. One high-capped 
 warrior was seen cutting a bucket from a rope passed 
 through a pulley ; and probably used .by the be- 
 sieged to supply themselves with water from a well, 
 without the castle walls. The pulley resembled those 
 now in common use, for raising and lowering buckets 
 into wells. This bas-relief had been brought from 
 the north-west palace. 
 
 There were no slabs against wall g, nor near it ; 
 those of wall i were unsculptured. Upon the two 
 opposite slabs at ii, were winged human-headed bulls, 
 resembling in form those at the entrance to the hall ; 
 
 * See Vol. I. page 126. The head of this figure will be placed in the 
 British Museum.
 
 32 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. XI. 
 
 PART OF A HAS RELIEF, SHOWING A PDLLET, AND A WARRIOR CDTTINO 
 A BUCKET FROM THE ROPE 
 
 except that the whole, including the head and fore- 
 part, was sculptured in low relief. They bore no 
 traces of an inscription. The cap was high and 
 square ; and they resembled, in all respects, the re- 
 mains of the bull discovered in the centre of the 
 mound. 
 
 Walls j, and jj, were cased with unsculptured slabs, 
 each bearing an inscription similar to that on the 
 back of the slabs in the north-west palace : they had 
 evidently been brought from that building. 
 
 In wall k there were three sculptured slabs. The 
 bas-reliefs on Nos. 12. and 16. have already been
 
 CHAP. XL] SOUTH-WEST PALACE. 33 
 
 described.* On No. 17. was a winged figure almost 
 completely destroyed. On the floor, and opposite 
 No. 18. of this wall, was a large square slab bearing 
 a long inscription. It commenced with the name 
 and titles of a king, of whom no other records have 
 yet been discovered. The forms of certain arrow- 
 headed characters show, that this inscription belongs 
 to a period posterior to the reign of the great- 
 grandson of the founder of the north-west palace. 
 
 On the backs of several slabs, forming the wall ^, 
 were bas-reliefs ; but all so much inj ured, that scarcely 
 a trace of the sculpture remained. The slab lying on 
 the pavement opposite this wall was plain ; the edges 
 were raised, and it was pierced in the centre. 
 
 On all the slabs of wall ra, was the inscription con- 
 taining the name of the founder of the north-west 
 palace ; and the reversed slab (No. 10.), already de- 
 scribed, appears to have been a pavement stone, also 
 brought from that building. 
 
 To the north of the entrance c of the great hall, 
 remains of buildings were discovered, but no entire 
 chamber. A large number of unplaced slabs were 
 scattered about. They appear to have been brought 
 from elsewhere, to be used in the construction of the 
 palace, and to have been abandoned before they 
 reached their destination. Although many detached 
 walls were uncovered, it was impossible to determine 
 the form and size of the chambers to which they be- 
 longed. 
 
 * See Vol. I. page 55. 
 VOL. II. D
 
 34 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XT. 
 
 In front of entrance c, and about 220 feet from 
 it, were the remains of a pair of winged bulls, 
 forming another entrance, The whole space be- 
 tween may have been comprised in one large hall, 
 open at the top. The wall forming the east side 
 of this hall, if it had ever been finished, had al- 
 most completely disappeared ; the traces of it being 
 only marked here and there, by fragments of calcined 
 alabaster. Of the opposite, or western wall, a few 
 sculptured slabs, probably brought from elsewhere, 
 were alone standing. To the right and left of the 
 entrance /, were the remains of gigantic figures in 
 relief; but they had been exposed to the fire, and 
 had been cracked into a thousand pieces.* They 
 also appear to have belonged to another edifice. 
 
 Upon the three slabs forming the wall ?', were bas- 
 reliefs of considerable interest. They once formed 
 part of another building, but do not belong to either 
 the north-west, or the centre palace. They appear to 
 be of the same period as the bas-reliefs on wall <?f, 
 already described. In the lower compartment of 
 No. 1. was a charioteer, in a highly ornamented chariot 
 the horse being held by a groom on foot, preceded 
 by an eunuch. This relief must have formed part of 
 a series ; the figures represented in it being probably 
 the attendants of the king. The caparisons of 
 the horses resembled those at Khorsabad. Above 
 this bas-relief was also a chariot, and a man on foot ; 
 
 On No. 2. wall , could be still traced a winged figure leading a goat, 
 or an ibex. 
 
 f Vol. I. page 59.
 
 CHAP. XI.] A PROCESSION OF GODS. 35 
 
 but they had been almost entirely destroyed. On the 
 lower part of No. 2. was the king placing his foot 
 on the neck of a prostrate prisoner, and raising his 
 spear over him. Following the king is an eunuch 
 carrying a fan ; and standing before him, his vizir, 
 also attended by an eunuch. This bas-relief did not 
 form part of the preceding ; for the king would have 
 faced the chariot on that slab a position which he 
 never appears to occupy in the Assyrian sculptures. 
 The upper compartment was nearly defaced ; I could, 
 however, trace the figures of warriors discharging 
 their arrows from behind a high shield held in front 
 of them by an attendant. 
 
 On the lower part of slab No. 3. was a bas-relief of 
 considerable interest. It represented either a pro- 
 cession of gods, borne on the shoulders of warriors ; or 
 warriors, returning from the sack of a city, carrying 
 away the idols of the conquered people. Each figure 
 was raised by four men : the first was that of a female, 
 seated on a high-backed arm-chair, looking towards 
 the spectator ; the face is, consequently, sculptured in 
 full, a rare occurrence in Assyrian sculpture. In 
 one hand, she holds a ring ; in the other, apparently, 
 a kind of fan or triangle ; on the top of her square 
 horned cap is a star. The next figure is also that of 
 a female, wearing a similar cap, seated in a chair, and 
 holding in her left hand a ring ; she carries some- 
 thing in her right hand, but its form cannot be dis- 
 tinguished. The third figure is much smaller in its 
 proportions than those preceding it, and is half con- 
 
 D 2
 
 36 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XI. 
 
 cealed in a case, or box, carried on a chair : there is 
 also a ring in its left hand. The fourth is that of 
 a man in the act of walking : in one hand, he holds 
 the thunderbolt of the Greek Jove represented as 
 at Malthaiyah ; and in the other, an axe. He wears 
 a richly ornamented tunic descending to the knees. 
 The warriors, bearing these figures, were probably 
 preceded and followed by others, also carrying idols ; 
 but no traces of the slabs, forming the rest of the 
 series, could be found amongst the ruins. On each 
 slab, between the bas-reliefs, was an inscription, di- 
 vided into two parts by a perpendicular line. 
 
 Trenches were opened, in various directions, across 
 the corner of the mound in which these remains were 
 discovered. Nothing, however, was found but iso- 
 lated unplaced slabs, and fragments of burnt walls. 
 With adequate means and time at my disposal, I 
 might have determined, by a careful examination, 
 the position of the walls of sun-dried bricks, if they 
 had ever been built. Tracing them, by the frag- 
 ments remaining, I could have ascertained the form of 
 the chambers, and perhaps that of the entire building. 
 It would have been difficult, however, to distinguish 
 between these walls and the earth and rubbish under 
 which they were buried ; and as no more sculptures 
 appeared to exist, I did not think it worth while to 
 incur additional expense in such an examination. 
 
 As the bottom of the slabs, forming this edifice, was 
 even above the level of the top of those in the north- 
 west palace, and as no building had yet been found
 
 CHAP. XI.J A BEAM OF WOOD. 37 
 
 from which many of the sculptures could have been 
 taken, it appeared to me possible that the south- 
 west palace stood above other ruins. By way of 
 experiment, I directed long and very deep trenches 
 to be opened in three different directions: nothing, 
 however, was discovered, but a box or square hole, 
 formed by bricks carefully fitted together, contain- 
 ing several small heads in unbaked clay of a dark 
 brown colour. These heads are furnished with 
 beards, and have very high pointed caps (not hel- 
 mets) or mitres.* They were found about twenty 
 feet beneath the surface, and were probably idols 
 placed, for some religious purpose, under the founda- 
 tions of buildings. Objects somewhat similar, in 
 unbaked clay, were discovered at Khorsabad, buried 
 under the slabs forming the pavement between the 
 gigantic bulls. 
 
 Near the entrance d of the great hall was found, 
 amidst a mass of charred wood and charcoal, and be- 
 neath a fallen slab, part of a beam in good preserv- 
 ation. It appears to be mulberry. This is the only 
 portion of entire wood as yet discovered in the ruins 
 of Assyria. 
 
 The south-east corner of the mound, which was 
 considerably higher than any other part, appears to 
 have been the principal burying place of those who 
 occupied the country after the destruction of the 
 oldest of the Assyrian palaces. I have already de- 
 
 * They will be deposited in the British Museum. 
 D 3
 
 38 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CIIAP. XI. 
 
 scribed two tombs discovered there * : many others 
 were subsequently found. The sarcophagi were 
 mostly of the same shape, that of a dish-cover ; but 
 there were other tombs constructed of bricks, well 
 fitted together and covered by a slab, similar to 
 those above the ruins of the edifice in the centre of 
 the mound. In nearly all were earthen vases, copper 
 and silver ornaments, lachrymatories and small ala- 
 baster bottles. The skeletons, as soon as uncovered, 
 crumbled to pieces, although entire when first ex- 
 posed. Two skulls alone have been preserved. Scat- 
 tered amongst these tombs were a large number of 
 vases of all sizes, lamps, and small objects of pottery 
 some uninjured, others broken into fragments. 
 
 Removing these tombs I discovered beneath them 
 the remains of a building, and explored seven 
 chambers, of which I give the plan. No sculptured 
 slabs, or inscriptions were found in them. They re- 
 sembled those in the ruin to the north of Kouyun- 
 jikf ; the lower part of the walls being built of 
 plain slabs of limestone, three feet seven inches high 
 and from two to three feet wide, closely fitted to- 
 gether. The upper part, of sun-dried bricks, had 
 been covered by a thick coat of white plaster. I 
 could trace this brick wall about fourteen feet above 
 the slabs. The chambers were paved with limestone. 
 There were no traces of inscriptions, nor were there 
 any remains or fragments by which the comparative 
 age of the building could be determined. In the 
 
 * See Vol. I. p. 351., &c. t Vol. I. p. 144.
 
 CHAP. XI.] DISCOVERY OF SMALL OBJECTS. 39 
 
 SCALE (K FEET 
 
 PLAN 5 EXCAVATIONS IM THE SOOTH-EAST CORNER OF THE MOUND. (NIMROUD.) 
 
 walls were recesses like those in some of the cham- 
 bers of the north-west palace, and the door-posts 
 were slightly ornamented with a rough kind of cor- 
 nice. No remains of colour could be seen on the 
 plastered walls. 
 
 In the rubbish, near the bottom of these chambers, 
 several small objects were found ; amongst them I may 
 mention a female head in white alabaster, highly or- 
 namented and showing traces of colour.* 
 
 A trench having been opened on the southern edge 
 of the mound, an outer wall, built of squared stones, 
 or rather slabs, was discovered. Behind it were 
 
 * This head will be placed in the British Museum. 
 D 4
 
 40 NINEVEH AND ITS KEMAINS. [CHAP. XI. 
 
 other walls of similar construction leading inwards, 
 and alow platform, resembling a stone seat, in which 
 were cut several holes, like the fireplaces used by the 
 natives of the country to hold charcoal when they 
 roast their meat. The Arabs consequently named 
 the place the " Kibab Shop." The whole was buried 
 under a heap of charcoal and rubbish, in which were 
 found several small vases, and part of a highly 
 polished black slab, having, on either face, a cuneiform 
 inscription, and on the sides figures of animals. 
 Similar remains of building were discovered on 
 the south-eastern edge of this part of the mound. 
 The whole, including the centre chambers, appeared 
 to form parts of one extensive edifice. 
 
 Between the palace in the south-west corner and 
 the ruins last described, was a deep ravine ; whether 
 an ancient artificial ascent to the platform, gradu- 
 ally deepened and widened by the winter rains, or 
 entirely a natural watercourse, I was unable to 
 determine. Along its sides, to a considerable depth, 
 were exposed masses of brickwork. I directed 
 several trenches to be carried from this ravine into 
 the south-eastern corner, in the expectation of finding 
 buildings beneath the chambers already explored. A 
 few fragments of sculptured alabaster, the remains 
 of a winged bull in yellow limestone, and a piece of 
 black stone bearing small figures, evidently from 
 an obelisk resembling that found in the centre 
 palace, were discovered ; but to the west of the upper 
 building. I could also trace walls of sun-dried brick, 
 still bearing remains of painted ornaments, but the ex-
 
 CHAP. XL] BUILDING IN SOUTH-EAST COENEK. 41 
 
 cavations were not sufficiently extensive to enable me 
 to ascertain the nature, and extent of the edifice. 
 Finding no sculptured slabs, I did not continue my 
 researches in this part of the ruins. 
 
 It only remains for me to mention a singular dis- 
 covery on the eastern face of the mound, near its 
 northern extremity. I had opened a trench * from 
 the outer slope, with a view to ascertain the nature of 
 the wall surrounding the inner buildings. I found no 
 traces of stone, or of alabaster slabs ; the wall being 
 built of sun-dried bricks and nearly fifty feet thick. 
 In its centre, about fifteen feet below the surface of 
 the platform, the workmen came upon a small vaulted 
 chamber, built of baked bricks. It was about ten 
 feet high, and the same in width. The arch was con- 
 structed upon the well-known principle of vaulted 
 roofs the bricks being placed sideways, one against 
 the other, and having been probably sustained by a 
 frame-work until the vault was completed. This 
 chamber was nearly blocked up with rubbish, the 
 greater part being a kind of slag. The sides of the 
 bricks, forming the arched roof and the walls, were 
 almost vitrified, and had evidently been exposed to 
 very intense heat. In fact, the chamber had the ap- 
 pearance of a large furnace for making glass, or for 
 fusing metal. I am unable to account for its use. 
 It is buried in the centre of a thick wall, and I 
 could find no access to it from without. If, there- 
 fore, either originally a furnace or serving for any 
 
 * r, plan 1.
 
 42 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XI. 
 
 other purpose, it must have been used before the 
 upper part of the wall was built. 
 
 Several trenches were opened in other parts of 
 the mound.* Everywhere I found traces of build- 
 ings, and generally reached a pavement of baked 
 bricks between ten and fifteen feet beneath the sur- 
 face. In the northern half of the mound, the name 
 of the founder of the earliest palace was written 
 upon all these bricks. No remains, however, of 
 sculptured slabs or inscriptions were discovered; 
 but many small objects of considerable interest were 
 occasionally taken out of the rubbish : amongst them 
 I may mention three lions' paws in copper, of beau- 
 tiful form, which may have belonged to the bottom 
 of a couch or throne. f 
 
 The ruins were, of course, very inadequately ex- 
 plored ; but with the small sum at my disposal I was 
 unable to pursue my researches to the extent that I 
 could have wished. If, after carrying a trench to a 
 reasonable depth and distance, no remains of sculpture 
 or inscription appeared, I abandoned it and renewed 
 the experiment elsewhere. By this mode of pro- 
 ceeding I could ascertain, at least, that in no part of 
 the mound was there any very extensive edifice still 
 standing ; although it is highly probable that slabs 
 taken from such an edifice, and placed together in 
 readiness for removal, like those discovered in the 
 centre, may still be buried under the soil. But there 
 is nothing to point out the spot where such remains 
 
 * At 0, p, q, , and t in plan 1. f Found at/>, plan 1.
 
 CHAP. XI.] PART OF NIMROUD UNEXPLORED. 43 
 
 may be deposited, and I might have sought after them 
 in vain for months. There were too many tangible 
 objects in view to warrant an outlay in experiments, 
 perhaps leading to no results ; and I have left a great 
 part of the mound of Nimroud to be explored by 
 those, who may hereafter succeed me in the exami- 
 nation of the ruins of Assyria.
 
 44 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XII. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 EXCAVATIONS UNDERTAKEN AT KALAH SHERGHAT. DEPARTURE 
 
 FOR THE RUINS. SENIDIJ. THE BITUMEN PITS. ABD*RUB- 
 
 BOU. MY RECEPTION. REACH THE RUINS. FEARS OF THE 
 
 WORKMEN. DISCOVERY OF A SITTING FIGURE. ARAB EN- 
 CAMPMENT. ARAB LIFE. EXCAVATIONS IN THE MOUND. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF TOMBS. REMAINS OF BUILDING. DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF THE MOUNDS. RETURN TO N1MROUD. 
 
 I HAD long wished to excavate in the mounds of 
 Kalah Sherghat, ruins rivalling those of N iinroud, 
 and Kouyunjik in extent. An Arab, from the 
 Shammar, would occasionally spend a night amongst 
 my workmen, and entertain them with accounts of 
 idols and sculptured figures of giants, which had long 
 been the cause of wonder and awe to the wandering 
 tribes, who occasionally pitch their tents near the 
 place. On my first visit, I had searched in vain for 
 such remains ; but the Arabs, who are accustomed to 
 seek for pasture during the spring in the neighbour- 
 hood, persisted in their assertions, and offered to show 
 me where these strange statues, carved, it was said, in 
 black stone, were to be found. As there is scarcely a 
 ruin in Mesopotamia without its wondrous tale of 
 apparitions and Frank idols, I concluded that Kalah 
 Sherghat was to be ranked amongst the number, and 
 that all these accounts were to be attributed to the 
 fertile imagination of the Arabs. As the vicinity is 
 notoriously dangerous, being a place of rendezvous
 
 CHAP. XII.] THE DESERT. 45 
 
 for all plundering parties, whether of the Sharamar, 
 the Aneyza, or the Obeid, I had deferred a visit to 
 the ruins, until I could remain amongst them for a 
 short time under the protection of some powerful 
 tribe. This safeguard was also absolutely necessary 
 in the event of my sending workmen to the place, to 
 carry on excavations. 
 
 The pastures in the neighbourhood of Mosul 
 having this year been completely dried from the 
 want of rain, the three great divisions of the 
 Jebour Arabs sought the jungles on the banks of 
 the Tigris below Mosul. Abd'rubbou with his tribe 
 descended the river, and first pitching his tents at 
 Senidij *, near the confluence of the Tigris and the 
 Zab, subsequently moved towards Kalah Sherghat. 
 I thought this a favourable time for excavating in 
 the great mound ; and the Sheikh having promised to 
 supply me with Arabs for the work, and with guards 
 for their defence, I sent Mansour, one of my super- 
 intendents, to the spot. I followed some days after- 
 wards, accompanied by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, the 
 Bairakdar, and several well-armed men, chosen from 
 amongst the Jebour who were employed at Niinroud. 
 
 We crossed the river on a small raft, our horses 
 having to swim the stream. Striking into the 
 desert by the Wadi Jehennem, we rode through 
 a tract of land, at this time of year usually covered 
 with vegetation ; but then, from the drought, a barren 
 
 * A corruption of Sunedik, the plural form of Sanduk, a box. The 
 place is so called by the Arabs from the peculiar form of the rocks near 
 the river.
 
 46 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XII. 
 
 waste. During some hours' ride we scarcely saw any 
 human being, except a solitary shepherd in the dis- 
 tance, driving before him his half-famished flocks. 
 We reached at sunset a small encampment of the 
 Jebour. The tents were pitched in the midst of a 
 cluster of high reeds on the banks of the Tigris, 
 and nearly opposite to the tomb of Sultan Abdallah. 
 They were so well concealed, that it required the ex- 
 perienced eye of a Bedouin to detect them *, by the 
 thin smoke rising above the thicket. The cattle and 
 sheep found scanty pasturage in a marsh formed by 
 the river. The Arabs were as poor and miserable as 
 their beasts; they received us, however, with hos- 
 pitality, and killed a very lean lamb for our enter- 
 tainment. 
 
 Near the encampment was a quadrangle, resembling 
 on a small scale the great enclosures of Nimroud and 
 Kouyunjik, formed by low mounds, and evidently 
 marking the site of an Assyrian town or fort. I 
 searched for some time, but without success, for 
 fragments of pottery or brick bearing the traces of 
 cuneiform characters. 
 
 On the following day we passed the bitumen pits, 
 or the " Kiyara," as they are called by the Arabs. 
 They cover a considerable extent of ground ; the 
 bitumen bubbling up in springs from crevices in the 
 earth. The Jebour, and other tribes encamping near 
 
 * In the desert, the vicinity of an encampment is generally marked 
 by some sign well known to the members of the tribe. It would other- 
 wise be very difficult to discover the tents, pitched, as they usually 
 are, in some hollow or ravine to conceal them from hostile plundering 
 parties.
 
 CHAP. XII.] SHEIKH ABD'RUBBOU. 47 
 
 the pits, carry the bitumen for sale to Mosul, and 
 other parts of the Pashalic. It is extensively used 
 for building purposes, for lining the boats on the 
 river, and particularly for smearing camels, when 
 suffering from certain diseases of the skin to which 
 they are liable. Before leaving the pits, the Arabs, 
 as is their habit, set fire to the bitumen, which sent forth 
 a dense smoke, obscuring the sky, and being visible 
 for many miles. We reached the tents of Abd'rubbou 
 early in the afternoon. They were pitched about ten 
 miles to the north of Kalah Sherghat, at the upper end 
 of a long slip of rich alluvial soil, lying between the 
 river and the range of low hills parallel to it. The 
 great mound was visible from this spot, rising high 
 above the Zor, or jungle, which clothes the banks of 
 the Tigris. 
 
 No Sheikh could have made a more creditable 
 show of friendship than did Abd'rubbou. He rode 
 out to meet me, and, without delay, ordered sheep 
 enough to be slain to feast half his tribe. I declined, 
 however, to spend the night with him, as he pressed 
 me to do, on the plea that I was anxious to see the 
 result of the excavations at Kalah Sherghat. He 
 volunteered to accompany me to the ruins after we 
 had breakfasted, and declared that if a blade of grass 
 were to be found near the mound, he would move 
 all his tents there immediately for my protection. In 
 the meanwhile, to do me proper honour, he intro- 
 duced me to his wives, and to his sister, whose beauty 
 I had often heard extolled by the Jebour, and who 
 was not altogether undeserving of her reputation.
 
 48 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XII. 
 
 She was still unmarried. Abd'rubbou himself was 
 one of the handsomest Arabs in Mesopotamia. 
 
 We started for the ruins in the afternoon, and rode 
 along the edge of the jungle. Hares, wolves, foxes, 
 jackals, and wild boars continually crossed our path, 
 and game of all kinds seemed to abound. The Arabs 
 gave chase ; but the animals were able to enter the 
 thick brushwood, and conceal themselves before my 
 greyhounds could reach them. Lions are sometimes 
 found near Kalah Sherghat, rarely higher up on the 
 Tigris.* As I floated down to Baghdad a year be- 
 fore, I had heard the roar of a lion not far from this 
 spot : they are, however, seldom seen, and we beat 
 the bushes in vain for such noble game. 
 
 As for grass, except in scanty tufts at the foot of 
 the trees in the jungle, there appeared to be none at 
 all. The drought had been felt all over the desert : 
 in the place of the green meadows of last year, co- 
 vered with flowers, and abounding in natural reser- 
 voirs of water, there was a naked yellow waste, in 
 which even the abstemious flocks of the Bedouin 
 could scarcely escape starvation. 
 
 As we rode along, Abd'rubbou examined every 
 corner and ravine in the hope of finding an encamping 
 
 * The lion is frequently met with on the banks of the Tigris below 
 Baghdad, rarely above. On the Euphrates it has been seen, I believe, 
 almost as high as Bir, where the steamers of the first Euphrates expedition, 
 under Colonel Chesney, were launched. In the Sinjar, and on the banks of 
 the Khabour, they are frequently caught by the Arabs. They abound in 
 Khuzistan, the ancient Susiana : I have frequently seen three or four 
 together, and have hunted them with the chiefs of the tribes inhabiting 
 that province.
 
 CHAP. XII.] ARAB ROBBERS. 49 
 
 place, and a little pasture for his cattle, but his search 
 was not attended with much success. 
 
 The workmen on the mound, seeing horsemen ap- 
 proach, made ready for an encounter, under the im- 
 pression that we were a foraging party from a hostile 
 tribe. As soon, however, as they recognised us, they 
 threw off the few superfluous garments they possessed. 
 Dropping their shirts from their shoulders, and tying 
 them round their waist by the arms, they set up the 
 war cry, and rushed in and out of the trenches like 
 madmen. 
 
 We heard their shouts from afar, but could see 
 nothing from the dust they made in throwing out the 
 earth. I found that Mansour, the superintendent, 
 had organised a regular system of warlike defence. 
 We were hailed by scouts as we advanced, and there 
 were well-armed watchmen on all the heights. Near 
 each trench were the matchlocks and spears of the 
 workmen, ready for use. " What need of all these 
 precautions ? " said I to the timid Christian, as he ad- 
 vanced to receive me. " Yia Rubbi ! May God pre- 
 serve you, Bey ! " replied he. " Our lives, under 
 your shadow, are, of course, of no value may yours 
 be prolonged. But all the unbelievers in the world 
 whether they be Aneyza, Shammar, Obeid, or any 
 other manner of infidel congregate here. If we put 
 a morsel of bread into our mouths lo ! we have to 
 spit it out again, before we can eat it, to meet those 
 accursed Bedouins. If we shut our eyes in sleep, they 
 steal our cauldrons and pots, and we have nothing 
 wherewith to bake our bread ; so that, if we are not 
 
 VOL. TT. E
 
 50 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XH. 
 
 killed, we must be starved. They come from the desert 
 and from the river from north, south, east and west. 
 But we have eaten your bread, and shall not go un- 
 rewarded after all these sufferings." The concluding 
 paragraph accounted to some extent for this exag- 
 gerated history of their miseries ; but I learnt that 
 scarcely a day had elapsed without the appearance of 
 a body of horsemen from some of the tribes of the 
 desert, and that their visits were not always prompted 
 by the most friendly intentions. The general scarcity, 
 and the rivalry between Sofuk and Nejris, had un- 
 settled the Arabs, and every one was on the look-out 
 to help himself to his neighbour's property. More- 
 over, reports had soon been spread abroad that a 
 Frank, acquainted with all the secrets and hidden 
 mysteries of wisdom, had been successfully searching 
 for treasure. Many of those who rode to Kalah 
 Sherghat, expected to return much wealthier men 
 than they went, by seizing the heaps of gold and silver 
 to which, as possessors of the country, they were con- 
 vinced they had better claims than a stranger. How- 
 ever, with the exception of an occasional squabble with 
 the Bedouins who visited the mound, ending in a few 
 broken heads, no very serious engagement had yet 
 taken place my workmen presenting much too for- 
 midable an appearance to be exposed to the attack of 
 any but a large and well-armed party. 
 
 The principal excavations had been made on the 
 western side of the mound. After I had succeeded 
 in obtaining silence, and calming the sudden fit of 
 enthusiasm which had sprung up on my arrival, I
 
 CHAP. XII. J A SITTING FIGURE. 51 
 
 descended into the trenches. A sitting figure in 
 black basalt, of the size of life, had been uncovered. 
 It was, however, much mutilated. The head and 
 hands had been destroyed and other parts of the 
 statue had been injured. The square stool, or block, 
 upon which the figure sat, was covered on three sides 
 with a cuneiform inscription. The first line, con- 
 taining the name and titles of the king, was almost 
 defaced ; but one or two characters enabled me to 
 restore a name, identical with that on the great bulls 
 in the centre of the mound at Nimroud. On casting 
 my eye down the first column of the inscription, I 
 found the names of his father (the builder of the most 
 ancient palace of Nimroud), and of his grandfather, 
 which at once proved that the reading was correct. 
 An Arab soon afterwards brought me a brick bearing 
 a short legend, which contained the three names entire. 
 I was thus enabled to fix the comparative epoch of 
 the newly-discovered ruins. At no time did I feel 
 the value of the genealogical lists on the different 
 monuments at Nimroud, more than when exploring 
 other remains in Assyria. They enabled me to as- 
 certain the comparative date of every edifice, and rock 
 tablet, with which I became acquainted ; and to fix 
 the style of art of each period. 
 
 The figure, unlike the sculptures of Nimroud and 
 Khorsabad,was in full, and not in relief; and probably 
 represented the king. Part of the beard was still 
 preserved ; the hands appear to have rested on the 
 knees, and a long robe edged with tassels reached 
 to the ankles. The Arabs declared that this 
 
 E 2
 
 52 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XII. 
 
 statue had been seen some years before ; and it is pos- 
 sible that, at some period of heavy rain, it may have 
 
 SITTING FIGURE IN BASALT, FROM KALAH SHERGHAT. 
 
 been for a short time exposed to view, and subse- 
 quently reburied. It stood on a spur of the mound, 
 and probably in its original position. Mansour had 
 dug trenches at right angles with it on four sides, in 
 the expectation of finding a corresponding figure; 
 but he was disappointed in his search, and no re- 
 mains of building were discovered near it. 
 
 In other parts of the mound there were ruins of 
 walls, but we found no more sculptures. Several 
 tombs, similar to those discovered above the palaces 
 of Nimroud, had been opened ; and Mansour brought 
 me earthen vases, and bottles taken from them. He 
 had also picked up, amongst the rubbish, a few frag- 
 ments of stone bearing cuneiform characters, a piece 
 of copper similarly inscribed, and several bits of black
 
 CHAP. XII.] CHANGING AN ENCAMPMENT. 53 
 
 stone with small figures in relief, which appeared to 
 have belonged to an obelisk, like that dug up at 
 Nimroud. 
 
 Having made a hasty survey of the trenches, I 
 rode to my tent. It had been pitched in the midst 
 of those of my workmen. The Arabs had found for 
 their encampment a secure place in the jungle at the 
 northern foot of the mound, and not far from the 
 Tigris. A ditch, leading from the river, nearly sur- 
 rounded the tents, which were completely concealed 
 by the trees and shrubs. Abd'rubbou remained 
 with me for the night. Whilst I was examining the 
 ruins, he had' been riding to and fro, to find a con- 
 venient spot for his tents, and grass for his cattle. 
 Such is the custom with the Arabs. When the grass, 
 within a certain distance of their encampment, has 
 been exhausted, they prepare to seek new pastures. 
 The Sheikhs, and the principal men of the tribe mount 
 their mares, and ride backwards and forwards over 
 the face of the country, until they find herbage suf- 
 ficient for the wants of their flocks. Having fixed 
 upon a spot, they return to acquaint their followers 
 with their success, and announce their intention of 
 moving thither on the following morning. The 
 Sheikh's tent is generally the first struck ; and the rest 
 of the Arabs, if they feel inclined, follow his move- 
 ments. If any of the tribe have quarrelled with the 
 chief and wish to desert him, they seize this occasion ; 
 leaving their tents standing until the others are 
 gone, and then moving off in another direction. 
 
 Abd'rubbou having, at length, fixed upon a suit- 
 
 E 3
 
 54 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XII. 
 
 able spot on the banks of the river, to the south of the 
 mound, he marked out a place for his tents, and sent 
 a horseman to his tribe, with orders for them to move 
 to Kalah Sherghat on the following morning. These 
 preliminaries having been settled, he adjourned to 
 my tent to supper. It was cold and damp, and the 
 Arabs, collecting brushwood and trunks of trees, 
 made a great fire, which lighted up the recesses of 
 the jungle. As the night advanced, a violent storm 
 broke over us ; the wind rose to a hurricane the 
 rain descended in torrents the thunder rolled in 
 one long peal and the vivid streams of lightning, 
 almost incessant, showed the surrounding landscape. 
 When the storm had abated, I walked to a short dis- 
 tance from the tents to gaze upon the scene. The 
 huge fire we had kindled, threw a lurid glare over 
 the trees around our encampment. The great 
 mound could be distinguished through the gloom, 
 rising like a distant mountain against the dark sky. 
 From all sides came the melancholy wail of the 
 jackals thousands of these animals having issued 
 from their subterranean dwellings in the ruins, as 
 soon as the last gleam of twilight was fading in the 
 western horizon. The owl, perched on the old ma- 
 sonry, occasionally sent forth its mournful note. 
 The shrill laugh of the Arabs would sometimes rise 
 above the cry of the jackal. Then all earthly noises 
 were buried in the deep roll of the distant thunder. 
 It was desolation such as those alone who have wit- 
 nessed such scenes, can know desolation greater 
 than the desolation of the sandy wastes of Africa :
 
 CHAP. XII.] ARABS ENCAMPING. 55 
 
 for there was the wreck of man, as well as that 
 of nature. Some years before, I had passed a night 
 on the same spot. We were four strangers in 
 the land, without guide or defence. Our horses were 
 picketted about us ; and although surrounded by 
 dangers, of which we then thought little, and ex- 
 posed to a continual rain, we ate the frugal fare 
 our own guns had obtained for us ; and slept in our 
 cloaks undisturbed, round the embers of the small 
 fire we had lighted.* I did not think then that I 
 should ever revisit the place. 
 
 Soon after sunrise, on the following morning, strag- 
 glers on horseback from Abd'rubbou's late encamp- 
 ment, began to arrive. They were soon followed by 
 the main body of the tribe. Long lines of camels, 
 sheep, laden donkeys, men, women, and children, 
 such as I have described in my visit to Sofuk, covered 
 the small plain, near the banks of the river. A scene 
 of activity and bustle ensued. Every one appeared 
 desirous to outdo his neighbour in vehemence of 
 shouting, and violence of action. A stranger would 
 have fancied that there was one general quarrel ; in 
 which, out of several hundred men and women con- 
 cerned, no two persons took the same side of the ques- 
 tion. Every one seemed to differ from every one else. 
 All this confusion, however, was but the result of a 
 friendly debate on the site of the respective tents; 
 and when the matter had been settled to the general 
 satisfaction, without recourse to any more violent 
 measures than mere yelling, each family commenced 
 
 Ainsworth's Travels in Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, &c. vol. ii. 
 B 4
 
 56 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XII. 
 
 raising their temporary abode. The camels being 
 made to kneel down, and the donkeys to stop in 
 the place fixed upon, the loads were rolled off their 
 backs. The women next spread the coarse, black, 
 goat-hair canvass. The men rushed about with 
 wooden mallets to drive in the stakes and pegs ; and 
 in a few minutes the dwellings, which were to afford 
 them shelter until they needed shelter no longer, 
 and under which they had lived from their birth up- 
 wards, were complete. The women and girls were 
 then sent forth to fetch water, or to collect brush- 
 wood and dry twigs for fire. The men, leaving all 
 household matters to their wives and daughters, as- 
 sembled in the tent of the Sheikh ; and crouching in 
 a circle round an entire trunk of an old tree, which 
 was soon enveloped in flames, they prepared to pass 
 the rest of the day in that desultory small-talk, re- 
 lating to stolen sheep, stray donkeys, or successful 
 robberies, which fills up the leisure of an Arab, unless 
 he be better employed in plundering, or in war. 
 
 There is a charm in this wandering existence, 
 whether of the Kurd or the Arab, which cannot be 
 described. I have had some experience in it, and 
 look back with pleasure to the days I have spent 
 in the desert, notwithstanding the occasional incon- 
 veniences of such a life, not the least of them being 
 a strong tendency on the part of all nomads to 
 profess a kind of communist philosophy, supposed in 
 Europe to be the result of modern wisdom ; but which 
 appears to have been known, from the earliest times, 
 in the East. Friends and strangers are not always
 
 CUAF. XII.] EXCAVATION IN THE MOUND. 57 
 
 exempted from the rules of this philosophy, and, as 
 reciprocity is as little understood in the Asiatic, as in 
 the European system, their property is made no less 
 free with than that of Job was, by Arabs and Chal- 
 dees, some four thousand years ago. Still this mode 
 of life has not always a bad effect on human nature : 
 
 * 
 
 on the contrary, it frequently acts favourably. One 
 cannot but admire the poor half-naked Arab, who, in- 
 trusted with a letter or a message from his Sheikh 
 to the haughty Pasha of Baghdad, walks proudly up 
 to the great man's sofa, and seats himself, unbidden, 
 upon it as an equal. He fulfils his errand as if he 
 were half ashamed of it. If it be too late to re- 
 turn to his tent that night, or if business still keep 
 him from the desert, he stretches himself under a 
 tree outside the city gate, that he may not be de- 
 graded by sleeping under a roof or within walls. He 
 believes that the town corrupts the wanderer; and 
 he remembers that, until the Sheikh of the desert 
 visited the citizens, and was feasted in the palaces of 
 their governors, oppression and vices most odious to 
 the Arab were unknown in his tribe. 
 
 Leaving Abd'rubbou and his Arabs to pitch their 
 tents, and settle their domestic matters, I walked to 
 the mound. The trenches dug by the workmen 
 around the sitting figure, were almost sufficiently ex- 
 tensive to prove, that no other remains of building 
 existed in its immediate vicinity. Had not the figure 
 been in an upright position I should have concluded, 
 at once, that it had been brought from elsewhere ; as 
 I could not find traces of pavement, nor any fragments 
 of sculpture or hewn stone, near it. Removing the
 
 58 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XII. 
 
 workmen, therefore, from this part of the mound, 
 I divided them into small parties, and employed 
 them in making experiments in different directions. 
 Wherever trenches were opened, remains of the As- 
 syrian period were found, but only in fragments ; 
 such as bits of basalt, with small figures in relief, 
 portions of slabs bearing cuneiform inscriptions, and 
 bricks similarly inscribed. Many tombs were also 
 uncovered. Like those of Nimroud, they had been 
 made long after the destruction of the Assyrian 
 building, and in the rubbish and earth which had 
 accumulated above it. The sarcophagi resembled 
 those I have already described large cases of baked 
 clay, some square, others in the form of a dish-cover ; 
 as at Nimroud, they were all much too small to hold 
 a human body, unless it had been violently forced in, 
 or the limbs had been separated. That the body had 
 not been burned, was proved by all the bones of the 
 skeleton being found entire. They may have been ex- 
 posed, as is the custom amongst the Parsees, until, by 
 the usual process of decomposition, or from the flesh 
 being devoured by birds and beasts of prey, the bones 
 were left naked ; they may then have been collected, 
 and buried in these earthen cases. In the sarcophagi 
 were found numerous small vases, metal ornaments, 
 and a copper cup, resembling in shape and in the 
 embossing upon it, that represented in the hand of 
 the king, in one of the bas-reliefs of a chamber of the 
 north-west palace of Nimroud.* 
 
 * This cup was taken out entire, but was unfortunately broken by 
 the man who was employed to carry it to Mosul.
 
 CHAP. XII.] FRAGMENTS OF SCULPTURE. 59 
 
 Above these ancient tombs were graves of more 
 recent date, some of them, indeed, belonged to the 
 tribes which had, but a few days before, encamped 
 amongst the ruins.* The tenant of one had been re- 
 moved from his last resting-place by the hungry 
 hyenas and jackals, who haunt these depositories of 
 the dead. The rude casing of stones, forming the 
 interior of an Arab grave, was exposed to view ; and 
 the bones and skull, still clothed with shreds of flesh, 
 were scattered around. 
 
 Although I remained two days at Kalah Sherghat I 
 was not able to find the platform of sun-dried bricks 
 upon which the edifice, now in ruins, and covered 
 with earth, must originally have been built. Re- 
 mains of walls were found in abundance ; but they 
 were evidently of a more recent period than the 
 Assyrian building, to which the inscribed bricks, and 
 the fragments of sculptured stone belonged. The 
 trenches opened by the workmen were deep; but 
 still they did not, I think, reach the platform of 
 the older building. The ruins were consequently 
 not thoroughly explored. I saw no remains of the 
 alabaster or Mosul marble, so generally employed 
 in the palaces to the north of Kalah Sherghat. As 
 quarries of that stone do not exist in the neigh- 
 bourhood, unbaked bricks alone may have been used ; 
 
 * The Arabs generally seek some elevated spot to bury their dead. 
 The artificial mounds, abounding in Mesopotamia and Assyria, are 
 usually chosen for the purpose, and there is scarcely one whose summit 
 is not covered with them. On this account I frequently experienced 
 great difficulty whilst excavating, and was compelled to leave unexamined 
 one or two ruins, into which I wished to open trenches.
 
 60 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XU. 
 
 and if so, the walls built with them could no longer, 
 without very careful examination, be distinguished 
 from the soil in which they are buried. Had there 
 been sculptured slabs, as at Nimroud, it is probable 
 that fragments, at least, would have been found in 
 the ravines after the earth had been washed away 
 by the rains ; and they would then most likely have 
 been taken by the Arabs to decorate their graves (the 
 use to which they are generally applied) ; but no 
 such fragments were to be met with. All the hewn 
 stones discovered amongst the ruins, except the re- 
 mains of basalt, were evidently obtained from the 
 hills in the immediate vicinity.* 
 
 The Tigris has been gradually encroaching upon the 
 ruins, and is yearly undermining and wearing away 
 the mound. Large masses of earth are continually 
 falling into the stream, leaving exposed to view 
 vases, sarcophagi, and remains of building. Along 
 the banks of the river, to the south of the great 
 mound, several remains of circular masonry, which 
 had the appearance of wells, had been thus uncovered. 
 At the time of my first visit, similar wells were 
 exposed, and we were at a loss to account for their 
 origin and use. I now opened two or three of them. 
 They were filled with earth, mixed with human bones 
 and fragments of vases and pottery f ; but whether 
 the bones and the vases had been originally deposited 
 
 * They are of a coarse fossilifcrous limestone. 
 
 f I found similar wells amongst the ruins on the banks of the rivers of 
 Susiana. One having been opened on the river of Dizful, remains, similar 
 to those described in the text, were found in it.
 
 CHAP. XII.] REMAINS OF MASONRY. 61 
 
 there, or had fallen in from above with the rubbish, I 
 could not determine. It is possible that these wells 
 may have been constructed, at a very early period, for 
 purposes of irrigation, or to supply water to the 
 inhabitants of the city ; and may have been buried, 
 like the surrounding buildings, long before the erec- 
 tion of the upper edifices, and even before the time 
 of the tombs. 
 
 The principal ruin at Kalah Sherghat, as at Nim- 
 roud, Khorsabad, and on other ancient Assyrian 
 sites, is a large square mound, surmounted by a 
 cone or pyramid. Long lines of smaller mounds 
 or ramparts, enclose a quadrangle, which, from the 
 irregularities in the surface of the ground, and 
 from the pottery and other rubbish scattered about, 
 appears originally to have been partly occupied by 
 small houses, or unimportant buildings. 
 
 At Kalah Sherghat, the high conical mound rises 
 nearly in the centre of the north side of the great 
 platform. Immediately below this cone, and forming 
 a facing to the great mound, is a wall of well-hewn 
 stones or slabs, carefully fitted together, and bevelled 
 at the edges. The battlements still existing on the 
 top of this wall, are cut into gradines, resembling in 
 this respect the battlements of castles and towers, as 
 frequently represented in the Nimroud sculptures. 
 It is probably an Assyrian work, and the four sides 
 of the mound may originally have been similarly 
 cased. 
 
 It is not improbable that much of the masonry, 
 still visible on the summit of the mound, may be
 
 62 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XII. 
 
 the remains of an Arab or Turkish fort. The posi- 
 tion of Kalah Sherghat is well adapted to a permanent 
 settlement. The lands around are rich, and could 
 be irrigated without much labour. If the popu- 
 lation of Mesopotamia were more settled than it now 
 is, the high road between Mosul and Baghdad would 
 be carried along the western banks of the Tigris ; and 
 Kalah Sherghat might soon become a place of import- 
 ance, both as a station and as a post of defence. At 
 present, caravans, carrying on the trade between 
 those two cities, are compelled to make a considerable 
 detour to the left of the river. They pass through 
 the towns of Arbil and Kerkouk, and skirt the Kur- 
 dish hills, to avoid the Arab tribes of Tai and Obeid. 
 The journey is long and circuitous; and, from the num- 
 ber of large rivers and torrents to be crossed, mer- 
 chants are, in the winter and spring, frequently delay- 
 ed for many days. The road through the desert to the 
 right of the Tigris would be direct and short ; water 
 could, of course, be easily obtained during the whole 
 journey, and there are no streams to interrupt the 
 progress of a caravan. There can be little doubt 
 that, in the days of the Arab supremacy, a flourish- 
 ing commerce was carried on through this wilder- 
 ness, and that there was a line of settlements, and 
 stations on both sides of the river; but its banks 
 are now the encamping places of wild tribes ; and no 
 merchant dares to brave the dangers of the desert, 
 or to compound, if he escapes them, by the payment 
 of an enormous black-mail to the Arab Sheikhs, 
 through whose pasture-grounds his camels must pass.
 
 CHAP. XII.] IDENTIFICATION OF THE RUINS. 63 
 
 The principal mound of Kalah Sherghat, is one of 
 the largest ruins with which I am acquainted in 
 Assyria. I had not the leisure, or the means, to 
 measure it accurately during this visit ; but when on 
 the spot with Mr. Ainsworth, we carefully paced 
 round it ; and the result, according to that gentleman's 
 calculation, gives a circumference of 4685 yards.* A 
 part of it, however, is not artificial. Irregularities in 
 the face of the country, and natural eminences, have 
 been united into one great platform by layers of sun- 
 dried bricks. It is, nevertheless, a stupendous struc- 
 ture, yielding in magnitude and extent to no other 
 artificial mound in Assyria. In height it is unequal ; 
 to the south it slopes off nearly to the level of the 
 plain, whilst to the north, where it is most lofty, its 
 sides are perpendicular, in some places rising nearly 
 one hundred feet above the plain. 
 
 I will not attempt to connect, without better mate- 
 rials than we now possess, the ruins of Kalah Sher- 
 ghat with any ancient city whose name occurs in 
 the sacred books, or has been preserved by ancient 
 geographers. That it was one of the most ancient 
 cities of Assyria, the identification of the name 
 of the king, found on its monuments and bricks, 
 with that of the founder of the centre palace of 
 Nimroud, will be sufficient to prove ; but whether it 
 be Chalah, one of the four primitive cities mentioned 
 in Genesis f, or the Ur of Abraham, still existing in 
 
 * Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. xi. p. 5. 
 t Chap. x. 11.
 
 64 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XII. 
 
 the time of Aminianus Marcellinus*, I will not ven- 
 ture to determine. Of the geography of ancient As- 
 syria, we know scarcely any thing. When even the 
 site of Nineveh could not recently be determined 
 with any degree of certainty, we can scarcely expect 
 to be able to identify the ruins of less important 
 places. We possess but few names of cities preceding 
 the Persian conquest ; and the accounts handed down 
 to us are too meagre and vague, to lead to the iden- 
 tification of the site of any of them. An extended 
 knowledge of the monuments of Assyria, and an 
 acquaintance with the contents of the inscriptions, 
 may, hereafter, enable us not only to fix the position 
 of these cities, but to ascertain the names of many 
 more, which must have existed in so well-peopled a 
 country, and may have perished on the fall of the 
 Empire. 
 
 Having directed Mansour to continue the exca- 
 vations, I prepared to return to Mosul. Abd'rubbou 
 offered to accompany me, and as the desert between 
 Kalah Sherghat and Hammum Ali was infested by 
 roving parties of the Shammar and Aneyza Arabs, I 
 deemed it prudent to accept his escort. He chose 
 eight horsemen from his tribe, and we started toge- 
 ther for the desert. 
 
 We slept the first night at the tents of a Seyyid, 
 or descendant of the Prophet, of some repute for 
 
 * Lib. xxv. c 8. Aminianus does not mention Hatra after, but before 
 Ur ; so that Mr. Ainsworth's argument in favour of the identification of 
 the latter city with Kalah Sherghat, is scarcely tenable. (Journal of the 
 Geog. Soc. vol. xi.)
 
 CHAP. XII.] A NIGHT AMONGST ARABS. 65 
 
 sanctity, for the miraculous cure of diseases, which he 
 effected by merely touching the patient. The Arabs 
 are fully persuaded of the existence of this power ; 
 but I never saw any one who even pretended to have 
 been cured, although there was certainly no lack of 
 subjects for the Seyyid to practise upon. The old 
 gentleman's daughter, a dark, handsome girl, was 
 claimed by a Sheikh of the Jebour, to whom, accord- 
 ing to some accounts, she had been betrothed. The 
 greater part of the night was spent in quarrelling and 
 wrangling upon this subject. The Seyyid resolutely 
 denied the contract, on the mere plea that one of such 
 holy descent could not be united to a man, in whose 
 veins the blood of the Prophet did not flow. Abd'- 
 rubbou and his friends, on the other hand, as stoutly 
 contended for the claims of the lover, not treating, I 
 thought, so great a saint with a proper degree of re- 
 spect. Although my tent was pitched at some dis- 
 tance from the assembly, the discordant voices, all 
 joining at the same time in the most violent discus- 
 sion, kept me awake until past midnight. Suddenly 
 the disputants appeared to have talked themselves out, 
 and there was a lull. Vainly flattering myself that 
 the company had sunk into sleep, I prepared to follow 
 their example. But I had scarcely closed my eyes, 
 when I was roused by a fresh outbreak of noises. 
 An Arab had suddenly arrived from the banks of the 
 Khabour the old pasture grounds of the tribe : he 
 was overwhelmed with a thousand questions, and the 
 news he brought of struggles between the Aneyza 
 and the Asai, and the defeat of the former enemies 
 
 VOL. II. F
 
 66 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XII. 
 
 of the Jebour, led to continual bursts of enthusiasm, 
 and to one or two attempts to raise a general shout- 
 ing of the war-cry. Thus they passed the night, to 
 my great discomfort. 
 
 On the morrow I started early with Abd'rubbou 
 and his horsemen. We struck directly across the 
 desert, leaving my servants and baggage to follow 
 leisurely along the banks of the river, by a longer 
 but safer road. When we were within four or five 
 miles of that part of the Tigris at which the raft was 
 waiting for me, I requested Abd'rubbou to return, as 
 there appeared to be no further need of an escort. 
 Mr. Hormuzd Rassam and myself galloped over the 
 plain. We disturbed, as we rode along, a few herds of 
 gazelles, and a solitary wolf, or a jackal ; but we saw 
 no human beings. Abd'rubbou and his Arabs were 
 less fortunate ; they had scarcely left us when they 
 observed a party of horsemen in the distance, whom 
 they mistook for men of their own tribe returning 
 from Mosul. It was not until they drew nigh that 
 they discovered their mistake. The horsemen were 
 plunderers from the Aneyza. The numbers were 
 pretty equal. A fight ensued, in which two men on 
 the side of the enemy, and one of the Jebour, were 
 killed ; but the Aneyza were defeated, and Abd'rub- 
 bou carried off, in triumph, a couple of mares. 
 
 A few days after my return to Nimroud, the Je- 
 bour were compelled, from want of pasturage, to 
 leave the neighbourhood of Kalah Sherghat. The 
 whole desert, as well as the jungle on the banks of the 
 river, which generally supplied, even in the driest
 
 CHAP. XII.] REMOVAL OF SITTING FIGURE. 67 
 
 seasons, a little grass to the flocks, was dried up. 
 Abd'rubbou, with his tribe, moved to the north. A 
 few of his people came to Nimroud to cultivate millet ; 
 but the Sheikh himself, with the greater part of his 
 followers, left the district of Mosul altogether, and 
 migrated to the sources of the Khabour, and to the 
 Nisibin branch of that river the ancient Mygdonius. 
 The desert to the south of the town was now only 
 frequented by wandering parties of plunderers, and 
 the position of my workmen at Kalah Sherghat be- 
 came daily more insecure. After they had been once 
 or twice exposed to molestation from the Aneyza, and 
 the Obeid, I found it necessary to withdraw them 
 had I not, they would probably have run away of 
 themselves. I renounced the further examination of 
 these ruins with regret, as they had not been pro- 
 perly explored ; and I have little doubt, from the 
 fragments discovered, that many objects of interest, 
 if not sculptured slabs, exist in the mound. 
 
 Although I was unable, at this time, to remove the 
 sitting figure, I have, since my return to England, 
 at the desire of the Trustees of the British Museum, 
 sent orders for its transport to Baghdad. This has 
 been accomplished under the directions of Mr. Ross. 
 It will, I trust, be ere long added to the Assyrian 
 remains now in the national collection. Although it 
 has unfortunately suffered greatly from long expo- 
 sure, it is of considerable interest, as being the only 
 specimen, hitherto discovered, of an entire Assyrian 
 figure. 
 
 r 2
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. X1H. 
 
 CHAP. xm. 
 
 SYSTEM OF IRRIGATION ADOPTED BY THE ANCIENT ASSYRIANS. 
 
 WANT OF RAIN. FEARS FOR THE CROPS. PREPARATIONS FOR 
 THE REMOVAL OF A WINGED BULL AND WINGED LION CON- 
 STRUCTION OF A CART. SURPRISE OF THE NATIVES. DISCOY1.RY 
 
 OF A BAS-RELIEF OF A DRAIN. LOWERING OF THE WINGED 
 
 BULL. ITS REMOVAL FROM THE RUINS. EXCITEMENT OF THE 
 
 ARABS. REJOICINGS IN THE VILLAGE. THE BULL DRAGGED 
 
 DOWN TO THE RIVER. THE REMOVAL OF THE LION. DISCON- 
 TENT AMONGST THE ARABS. THEY LEAVE THE RUINS. RAFTS 
 
 PREPARED FOR THE TRANSPORT OF THE SCULPTURES TO BUS- 
 RAH. THE LION AND BULL PLACED UPON THEM. THEIR DE- 
 PARTURE FROM NIMROUD. RETURN OF THE ARABS. EXCA- 
 VATIONS COMMENCED IN THE PYRAMID. CONCLUSION OF THE 
 
 EXCAVATIONS AT NIMROUD. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE 
 
 RUINS. 
 
 ASSYRIA PROPER, like Babylonia, owed its ancient fer- 
 tility as much to the system of artificial irrigation, so 
 extensively and successfully adopted by the inhabi- 
 tants of the country, as to the rains which fell during 
 the winter and early spring. The Tigris and Eu- 
 phrates, unlike the Nile, did not overflow their banks, 
 and deposit a rich manure on the face of the land. 
 They rose sufficiently at the time of the melting of 
 the snows in the Armenian hills, to fill the numerous 
 canals led from them into the adjacent country ; but 
 their beds were generally so deep, or their banks so 
 high, that when the stream returned to its usual 
 level, water could only be raised by artificial means. 
 
 The great canals dug in the most prosperous 
 period of the Assyrian Empire, and used for many
 
 CHAP. XIIL] ASSYKIAN HARVESTS. 69 
 
 centuries by the inhabitants of the country pro- 
 bably even after the Arab invasion have long since 
 been choked up, and are now useless. When the 
 waters of the rivers are high, it is still only by the 
 labour of man that they can be led into the fields. I 
 have already described the rude wheels constructed 
 along the banks of the Tigris. Even these are scarce. 
 The government, or rather the local authorities, levy 
 a considerable tax upon machines for irrigation, and 
 the simple buckets of the Arabs become in many cases 
 the source of exaction or oppression. Few are con- 
 sequently bold enough to make use of them. The 
 land, therefore, near the rivers, as well as that in the 
 interior of the country out of the reach of the canals, 
 is entirely dependent upon the rains for its fertility. 
 
 Rain, amply sufficient to ensure the most plentiful 
 crops, generally falls during the winter ; the grain, in 
 the days of Herodotus, yielding two and even three 
 hundred fold. Indeed, such is the richness of the 
 soil of Assyria, that even a few heavy showers in the 
 course of the year, at the time of sowing the seed, and 
 when the corn is about a foot above the ground, are 
 sufficient to ensure a good harvest.* It frequently, 
 however, happens that the season passes without rain. 
 
 * The description of Herodotus agrees exactly with the present state of 
 the country, and with the remains of canals still existing near the two 
 rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. " The Assyrians," he says, " have but 
 little rain ; the lands, however, are fertilised, and the fruits of the earth 
 nourished, by means of the river. This does not, like the Egyptian Nile, 
 enrich the country by overflowing its banks, but is dispersed by manual 
 labour, or by hydraulic engines. The Babylonian district is intersected 
 by a number of canals. Of all countries which have come under my ob- 
 servation this is the most fruitful in corn." (lib. i. c. 193.) 
 
 F 3
 
 70 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Such was the case this year. During the winter and 
 spring, no water fell. The inhabitants of the villages, 
 who had been induced to return by the improved 
 administration and conciliatory measures of the late 
 Pasha, had put their whole stock of wheat and barley 
 into the ground. They now looked in despair upon 
 the cloudless sky. I watched the young grass as it 
 struggled to break through the parched earth ; but 
 it was burnt up almost at its birth. Sometimes a 
 distant cloud hanging over the solitary hill of Ar- 
 bela, or rising from the desert in the far west, led to 
 hopes, and a few drops of rain gave rise to general 
 rejoicings. The Arabs would then form a dance, and 
 raise songs and shouts, the women joining with the 
 shrill tahlehl. But disappointment always ensued. 
 The clouds passed over, and the same pure blue sky 
 was above us. To me, the total absence of verdure 
 in spring was particularly painful. For months my 
 eye had not rested upon a green thing ; and that 
 unchanging yellow, barren, waste, has a depressing 
 effect upon the spirits. The Jaif, which the year 
 before had been a flower garden and had teemed 
 with life, was now as naked and bare as a desert in 
 the midst of summer. I had been looking forward 
 
 o 
 
 to the return of the grass to encamp outside the 
 village, and had meditated many excursions to an- 
 cient ruins in the desert and the mountains ; but I 
 was doomed to disappointment like the rest. 
 
 The Pasha issued orders that Christians, as well 
 as Mussulmans, should join in a general fast and 
 in prayers. Supplications were offered up in the
 
 CHAP. X1IL] WANT OF KAIN. 71 
 
 churches and the mosques. The Mohammedans held 
 a kind of three days Ramazan, starving themselves 
 during the day, and feasting during the night. The 
 Christians abstained from meat for the same length 
 of time. If a cloud were seen on the horizon the 
 inhabitants of the villages, headed by their mullahs, 
 would immediately walk into the open country to 
 chant prayers and verses from the Koran. Sheikhs 
 crazy ascetics who wandered over the country, 
 either half clothed in the skins of lions or gazelles, or 
 stark naked burnt themselves with hot irons, and 
 ran shouting about the streets of Mosul. Even a kind 
 of necromancy was not neglected, and the Cadi and 
 the Turkish authorities had recourse to all manner 
 of mysterious incantations, which were pronounced 
 to have been successful in other parts of the Sul- 
 tan's dominions on similar occasions. A Dervish re- 
 turning from Mecca, had fortunately brought with 
 him a bottle of the holy water of Zemzem. He 
 offered it, for a consideration, to the Pasha, declaring 
 that when the sacred fluid was poured out in the 
 great mosque, rain must necessarily follow. The 
 experiment had never been known to fail. The 
 Pasha paid the money, some twenty purses, and 
 emptied the bottle; but the results were not such 
 as had been anticipated ; and the dervish, when 
 sought after to explain, was not to be found. 
 
 There was no rain, not even the prospect of a 
 shower. A famine appeared to be inevitable. It 
 was known, however, that there were abundant sup- 
 plies of corn in the granaries of the principal families 
 
 r 4
 
 72 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 of Mosul ; and the fact having been brought to the 
 notice of the Pasha, he at once ordered the stores to 
 be opened, and their contents to be offered for sale in 
 the market at moderate prices. As usual, the orders 
 were given to the very persons who were specula- 
 ting upon the miseries of the poor and needy to 
 the cadi, the mufti, and the head people of the town. 
 They proceeded to obey, with great zeal and punc- 
 tuality, the orders of his Excellency ; but somehow or 
 another overlooked their own stores and those of their 
 friends, and ransacked the houses of the rest of the 
 inhabitants. In a few days, consequently, those who 
 had saved up a little grain for their own immediate 
 wants, were added to the number of the starving ; 
 and the necessities and misery of the town were in- 
 creased. 
 
 The Bedouins, who are dependent upon the vil- 
 lages for supplies, now also began to feel the effects 
 of the failure of the crops. As is generally the case 
 in such times, they were preparing to make up for 
 their sufferings by plundering the caravans of mer- 
 chants, and the peaceable inhabitants of the districts 
 within reach of the desert. Although early in the 
 spring, the Shammar and other formidable tribes 
 had not yet encamped in the vicinity of Mosul ; still 
 casual plundering parties had made their appearance 
 among the villages, and it was predicted that as soon 
 as their tents were pitched nearer the town, the 
 country without the walls would be not only very 
 unsafe, but almost uninhabitable. 
 
 These circumstances induced me to undertake the
 
 CHAP. XIII.] EEMOVAL OF SCULPTURES. 73 
 
 removal of the larger sculptures as early as possible. 
 The dry season had enabled me to carry on the ex- 
 cavations without interruption. As no rain fell to 
 loosen the earth above the ruins, there was no occa- 
 sion to prop up the sides of the trenches, or to cover 
 the sculptures : considerable expense was thus saved. 
 Had there been the usual violent storms, not only 
 would the soil have continually fallen in and re- 
 buried the building, but the bas-reliefs would have 
 been exposed to injury. A marsh would also have 
 been formed round the base of the mound, completely 
 cutting me off from the river, and impassable to any 
 cart carrying the larger sculptures. My first plan, 
 when anticipating the usual wet weather, was to wait, 
 before moving the bas-reliefs, until the rain had com- 
 pletely ceased, and the low ground under the mound 
 had been dried up. I could not, in that case, com- 
 mence operations before the month of May, when 
 the Tigris would still be swollen by the melting of 
 the snows in the Armenian hills. The stream would 
 then be sufficiently rapid to carry to Baghdad a 
 heavily laden raft, without the fear of obstruction 
 from shallows and sand banks. This year, how- 
 ever, there was no marsh round the ruins, nor had 
 any snow fallen in the mountains to promise a con- 
 siderable rise in the river. I determined, therefore, to 
 send the sculptures to Busrah in the month of March 
 or April, foreseeing that as soon as the Bedouins had 
 moved northwards from Babylonia, and had com- 
 menced their plundering expeditions in the vicinity 
 of Mosul, I should be compelled to leave Nimroud.
 
 74 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 The Trustees of the British Museum had not con- 
 templated the removal of either a winged bull or 
 lion, and I had at first believed that, with the means 
 at my disposal, it would have been useless to attempt 
 it. They wisely determined that these sculptures 
 should not be sawn into pieces, to be put together 
 again in Europe, as the pair of bulls from Khorsabad. 
 They were to remain, where discovered, until some 
 favourable opportunity of moving them entire might 
 occur ; and I was directed to heap earth over them, 
 after the excavations had been brought to an end. 
 Being loath, however, to leave all these fine spe- 
 cimens of Assyrian sculpture behind me, I resolved 
 upon attempting the removal, and embarcation of 
 two of the smallest, and best preserved. Those fixed 
 upon were the lion No. 2. from entrance 6, hall Y, 
 in plan 3., and a bull from entrance e, of the same 
 hall. Thirteen pairs of these gigantic sculptures, and 
 several fragments of others, had been discovered ; but 
 many of them were too much injured to be worth 
 moving. I had wished to secure the pair of lions 
 forming the great entrance into the principal cham- 
 ber of the north-west palace * ; the finest specimens 
 of Assyrian sculpture discovered in the ruins. But 
 after some deliberation I determined to leave them 
 for the present ; as, from their size, the expense at- 
 tending their conveyance to the river would have 
 been very considerable. 
 
 I formed various plans for lowering the smaller 
 
 * Entrance a, chamber B, plan 3.
 
 CHAP. XIII.] A CART. 75 
 
 lion and bull, for dragging them to the river, and 
 for placing them upon rafts. Each step had its diffi- 
 culties, and a variety of original suggestions and 
 ideas were supplied by my workmen, and by the good 
 people of Mosul. At last I resolved upon construct- 
 ing a cart, sufficiently strong to bear any of the 
 masses to be moved. As no wood but poplar could 
 be procured in the town, a carpenter was sent to the 
 mountains with directions to fell the largest mulberry 
 tree, or any tree of equally compact grain, he could 
 find ; and to bring beams of it, and thick slices from 
 the trunk, to Mosul. 
 
 By the month of March this wood was ready. I 
 purchased from the dragoman of the French Con- 
 sulate a pair of strong iron axles, formerly used by 
 M. Botta in bringing sculptures from Khorsabad. 
 Each wheel was formed of three solid pieces, nearly a 
 foot thick, from the trunk of a mulberry tree, bound 
 together by iron hoops. Across the axles were laid 
 three beams, and above them several cross-beams, all 
 of the same wood. A pole was fixed to one axle, 
 to which were also attached iron rings for ropes, to 
 enable men, as well as buffaloes, to draw the cart. 
 The wheels were provided with moveable hooks for 
 the same purpose. 
 
 Simple as this cart was, it became an object of 
 wonder in the town. Crowds came to look at it, as 
 it stood in the yard of the vice-consul's khan ; and the 
 Pasha's topjis, or artillery-men, who, from their ac- 
 quaintance with the mysteries of gun carriages, were 
 looked up to as authorities on such matters, daily
 
 76 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 declaimed on the properties and use of this vehicle, 
 and of carts in general, to a large circle of curious 
 and attentive listeners. As long as the cart was in 
 Mosul, it was examined by every stranger who visited 
 the town. But when the news spread that it was about 
 to leave the gates, and to be drawn over the bridge, 
 the business of the place was completely suspended. 
 The secretaries and scribes from the palace left their 
 divans ; the guards their posts ; the bazaars were 
 deserted ; and half the population assembled on the 
 banks of the river to witness the mano3uvres of the 
 cart. A pair of buffaloes, with the assistance of a 
 crowd of Chaldaeans and shouting Arabs, forced the 
 ponderous wheels over the rotten bridge of boats. * 
 The multitude seemed to be fully satisfied with the 
 spectacle. The cart was the topic of general con- 
 versation in Mosul until the arrival, from Europe, 
 of some children's toys, barking dogs, and moving 
 puppets which gave rise to fresh excitement, and 
 filled even the gravest of the clergy with wonder 
 at the learning and wisdom of the Infidels. 
 
 To lessen the weight of the lion and bull, with- 
 out in any way interfering with the sculpture, I 
 reduced the thickness of the slabs, by cutting away 
 
 * The bridge of Mosul consists of a number of rude boats bound together 
 by iron chains. Planks are laid from boat to boat, and the whole is 
 covered with earth. During the time of the floods this frail bridge 
 would be unable to resist the force of the stream ; the chains holding it 
 on one side of the river are then loosened, and it swings round. All 
 communication between the two banks of the river is thus cut off, and a 
 ferry is established until the waters subside, and the bridge can be re- 
 placed.
 
 WARRIOR HUNTING THE
 
 . ?A!_ACE.NIMROUD).
 
 CHAP. XIII.] DISCOVERY OF A BAS-RELIEF. 77 
 
 as much as possible from the back. Their bulk was 
 thus considerably diminished ; and as the back of the 
 slab was never meant to be seen, being placed against 
 the wall of sun-dried bricks, no part of the sculpture 
 was sacrificed. As in order to move these figures at 
 all, I had to choose between this plan and that of 
 sawing them into several pieces, I did not hesitate to 
 adopt it. 
 
 To enable me to move the bull from the ruins, and 
 to place it on the cart in the plain below, it was 
 necessary to cut a trench nearly two hundred feet 
 long, about fifteen feet wide, and, in some places, 
 twenty feet deep. A road was thus constructed from 
 the entrance, in which stood the bull, to the edge of 
 the mound. There being no means at my disposal 
 to raise the sculpture out of the trenches, like the 
 smaller bas-reliefs, this road was necessary. It was 
 a tedious undertaking, as a very large accumulation 
 of earth had to be removed. About fifty Arabs and 
 Nestorians were employed in the work. 
 
 On opening this trench it was found, that a cham- 
 ber had once existed to the west of hall Y. The 
 sculptured slabs, forming its sides, had been de- 
 stroyed or carried away. Part of the walls of un- 
 baked bricks, however, could still be traced. The 
 only bas-relief discovered was lying flat on the pave- 
 ment, where it had evidently been left when the 
 adjoining slabs were removed. It has been sent to 
 England, and represents a lion hunt. Only one lion, 
 wounded, and under the horse's feet, is visible. A 
 warrior, in a chariot, is discharging his arrows at
 
 78 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 some object before him. It is evident that the sub- 
 ject must have been continued on an adjoining 
 slab, on which was probably represented the king 
 joining in the chase. This small bas-relief is re- 
 markable for its finish, the elegance of the orna- 
 ments, and the great spirit of the design. In these 
 respects it resembles the battle-scene in the south- 
 west palace * ; and I am inclined to believe that they 
 both belonged to this ruined chamber ; in which, per- 
 haps, the sculptures were more elaborate and more 
 highly finished than in any other part of the build- 
 ing. The work of different artists may be plainly 
 traced in the Assyrian edifices. Frequently where 
 the outline is spirited and correct, and the orna- 
 ments designed with considerable taste, the execution 
 is defective or coarse ; evidently showing, that whilst 
 the subject was drawn by a master, the carving of the 
 stone had been entrusted to an inferior workman. In 
 many sculptures some parts are more highly finished 
 than others, as if they had been retouched by an 
 experienced sculptor. The figures of the enemy are 
 generally rudely drawn and left unfinished, to show 
 probably, that being those of the conquered or cap- 
 tive race, they were unworthy the care of the artist. 
 It is rare to find an entire bas-relief equally well 
 executed in all its parts. The most perfect hitherto 
 discovered in Assyria are, the lion hunt now in the 
 British Museum, the lion hunt just described, and 
 the large group of the king sitting on his throne, 
 
 * See Vol. L p. 40.
 
 CHAP. XIII.] LOWERING THE BULL. 79 
 
 in the midst of his attendants and winged figures, 
 which formed the end of chamber G, of the north- 
 west palace, and will be brought to England. 
 
 Whilst making this trench, I also discovered, about 
 three feet beneath the pavement, a drain, which ap- 
 peared to communicate with others previously opened 
 in different parts of the building. It was probably 
 the main sewer, through which all the minor water- 
 courses were discharged. It was square, built of 
 baked bricks, and covered in with large slabs and 
 tiles. 
 
 As the bull was to be lowered on its back, the un- 
 sculptured side of the slab having to be placed on 
 rollers, I removed the walls behind it as far as the 
 entrance a. An open space was thus formed, large 
 enough to admit of the sculpture when prostrate, and 
 leaving room for the workmen to pass on all sides of 
 it. The principal difficulty was of course to lower 
 the mass ; when once on the ground, or on rollers, it 
 could be dragged forwards by the united force of a 
 number of men; but, during its descent, it could 
 only be sustained by ropes. If not strong enough 
 to bear the weight, they chanced to break, the sculp- 
 ture would be precipitated to the ground, and would, 
 probably, be broken in the fall. The few ropes I 
 possessed had been expressly sent to me, across the 
 desert, from Aleppo; but they were small. From 
 Baghdad, I had obtained a thick hawser, made of 
 the fibres of the palm. In addition I had been fur- 
 nished with two pairs of blocks, and a pair of jack- 
 screws belonging to the steamers of the Euphrates
 
 80 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 expedition. These were all the means at my com- 
 mand for moving the bull and lion. The sculptures 
 were wrapped in mats and felts, to preserve them, 
 as far as possible, from injury in case of a fall; and 
 to prevent the ropes chipping or rubbing the ala- 
 baster. 
 
 The bull was ready to be moved by the 18th of 
 March. The earth had been taken from under it, 
 and it was now only supported by beams resting 
 against the opposite wall. Amongst the wood ob- 
 tained from the mountains were several thick rollers. 
 These were placed upon sleepers, or half beams, 
 formed out of the trunks of poplar trees, well greased 
 and laid on the ground parallel to the sculpture. 
 The bull was to be lowered upon these rollers. A 
 deep trench had been cut behind the second bull, 
 completely across the wall, and, consequently, ex- 
 tending from chamber to chamber. A bundle of 
 ropes coiled round this isolated mass of earth, served 
 to hold two blocks, two others being attached to 
 ropes wound round the bull to be moved. The 
 ropes, by which the sculpture was to be lowered, 
 were passed through these blocks ; the ends, or falls of 
 the tackle, as they are technically called, being led 
 from the blocks above the second bull, and held 
 by the Arabs. The cable having been first passed 
 through the trench, and then round the sculpture, 
 the ends were given to two bodies of men. Several 
 of the strongest Chaldajans placed thick beams against 
 the back of the bull, and were directed to withdraw 
 them gradually, supporting the weight of the slab,
 
 CHAP. XIII.] LOWERING THE BULL. 8t 
 
 and checking it in its descent, in case the ropes 
 should give way. 
 
 My own people were reinforced by a large number 
 of the Abou Salman. I had invited Sheikh Abd-ur- 
 rahman to be present, and he came attended by a 
 body of horsemen. The inhabitants of Naifa, and 
 Nimroud having volunteered to assist on the occasion, 
 were distributed amongst my Arabs. The workmen, 
 except the Chakkeans who supported the beams, were 
 divided into four parties, two of which were stationed 
 in front of the bull, and held the ropes passed through 
 the blocks. The rest clung to the ends of the cable, and 
 were directed to slack off gradually as the sculpture 
 descended. 
 
 The men being ready, and all my preparations 
 complete, I stationed myself on the top of the high 
 bank of earth over the second bull, and ordered the 
 wedges to be struck out from under the sculpture to 
 be moved. Still, however, it remained firmly in its 
 place. A rope having been passed round it, six or 
 seven men easily tilted it over. The thick, ill-made 
 cable stretched with the strain, and almost buried 
 itself in the earth round which it was coiled. The 
 ropes held well. The mass descended gradually, the 
 Chalda?ans propping it up firmly with the beams. It 
 was a moment of great anxiety. The drums, and shrill 
 pipes of the Kurdish musicians, increased the din and 
 confusion caused by the war-cry of the Arabs, who 
 were half frantic with excitement. They had thrown 
 off nearly all their garments; their long hair floated in 
 the wind ; and they indulged in the wildest postures 
 
 VOL. n. G
 
 82 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 and gesticulations as they clung to the ropes. The 
 women had congregated on the sides of the trenches, 
 and by their incessant screams, and by the ear-piercing 
 tahlehl, added to the enthusiasm of the men. The 
 bull once in motion, it was no longer possible to 
 obtain a hearing. The loudest cries I could produce 
 were buried in the heap of discordant sounds. Xeither 
 the hippopotamus hide whips of the Cawasses, nor the 
 bricks and clods of earth with which I endeavoured 
 to draw attention from some of the most noisy of the 
 group, were of any avail. Away went the bull, steady 
 enough as long as supported by the props behind ; 
 but as it came nearer to the rollers, the beams could 
 no longer be used. The cable and ropes stretched 
 more and more. Dry from the climate, as they 
 felt the strain, they creaked and threw out dust. 
 Water was thrown over them, but in vain, for they all 
 broke together when the sculpture was within four 
 or five feet of the rollers. The bull was precipitated 
 to the ground. Those who held the ropes, thus sud- 
 denly released, followed its example, and were rolling 
 one over the other, in the dust. A sudden silence 
 succeeded to the clamour. I rushed into the trenches, 
 prepared to find the bull in many pieces. It would 
 be difficult to describe my satisfaction, when I saw 
 it lying precisely where I had wished to place it, 
 and uninjured! The Arabs no sooner got on their 
 legs again, than seeing the result of the accident, 
 they darted out of the trenches, and seizing by the 
 hands the women who were looking on, formed a 
 large circle, and yelling their war-cry with redoubled
 
 CHAP. XIII.] REMOVAL OF THE BULL. 83 
 
 energy, commenced a most mad dance. The musi- 
 cians exerted themselves to the utmost ; but their 
 music was drowned by the cries of the dancers. 
 Even Abd-ur-rahman shared in the excitement, and 
 throwing his cloak to one of his attendants, insisted 
 upon leading off the debkhe. It would have been 
 useless to endeavour to put any check upon these 
 proceedings. I preferred allowing the men to wear 
 themselves out, a result which, considering the 
 amount of exertion, and energy, displayed both by 
 limbs and throat, was not long in taking place. 
 
 I now prepared, with the aid of Behnan, the Bai- 
 rakdar, and the Tiyari. to move the bull into the 
 long trench which led to the edge of the mound. 
 The rollers were in good order ; arid as soon as the 
 excitement of the Arabs had sufficiently abated to 
 enable them to resume work, the sculpture was 
 dragged out of its place by ropes. 
 
 Sleepers were laid to the end of the trench, and 
 fresh rollers were placed under the bull as it was 
 pulled forwards by cables, to which were fixed the 
 tackles held by logs buried in the earth, on the 
 edge of the mound. The sun was going down as 
 these preparations were completed. I deferred any 
 further labour to the morrow. The Arabs dressed 
 themselves ; and placing the musicians at their head, 
 marched towards the village, singing their war songs, 
 and occasionally raising a wild yell, throwing their 
 lances into the air, and flourishing their swords and 
 shields over their heads. 
 
 G 2
 
 84 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 I rode back with Abd-ur-rahman. Schloss and 
 his horsemen galloped round us, playing the jerrid, 
 and bringing the ends of their lances into a proximity 
 with my head and body, which was far from comfort- 
 able; for it was evident enough that had the mares 
 refused to fall almost instantaneously back on their 
 haunches, or had they stumbled, I should have been 
 transfixed on the spot. As the exhibition, however, 
 was meant as a compliment, and enabled the young 
 warriors to exhibit their prowess, and the admirable 
 training of their horses, I declared myself highly de- 
 lighted, and bestowed equal commendations on all 
 parties. 
 
 The Arab Sheikh, his enthusiasm once cooled down, 
 gave way to moral reflections. " Wonderful ! Won- 
 derful ! There is surely no God but God, and Mo- 
 hammed is his Prophet," exclaimed he, after a long 
 pause. " In the name of the most High, tell me, Bey, 
 what you are going to do with those stones. So many 
 thousands of purses spent upon such things ! Can it 
 be, as you say, that your people learn wisdom from 
 them ; or is it, as his reverence the Cadi declares, that 
 they are to go to the palace of your Queen, who, witli 
 the rest of the unbelievers, worships these idols ? As 
 for wisdom, these figures will not teach you to make 
 any better knives, or scissors, or chintzes ; and it is in 
 the making of those things that the English show their 
 wisdom. But God is great ! God is great ! Here are 
 stones which have been buried ever since the time of 
 the holy Noah, peace be with him ! Perhaps they 
 were under ground before the deluge. I have lived
 
 CHAP. XIIL] REFLECTIONS. 85 
 
 on these lands for years. My father, and the father 
 of my father, pitched their tents here before me ; 
 but they never heard of these figures. For twelve 
 hundred years have the true believers (and, praise 
 be to God! all true wisdom is with them alone) 
 been settled in this country, and none of them ever 
 heard of a palace under-ground. Neither did they 
 who went before them. But lo ! here comes a Frank 
 from many days' journey off, and he walks up to 
 the very place, and he takes a stick (illustrating 
 the description at the same time with the point of 
 his spear), and makes a line here, and makes a line 
 there. Here, says he, is the palace ; there, says he, 
 is the gate ; and he shows us what has been all our 
 lives beneath our feet, without our having known 
 anything about it. Wonderful ! Wonderful ! Is it by 
 books, is it by magic, is it by your prophets, that you 
 have learnt these things ? Speak, Bey ; tell me the 
 secret of wisdom." 
 
 The wonder of Abd-ur-rahman was certainly not 
 without cause, and his reflections were natural enough. 
 Whilst riding by his side I had been indulging in a 
 reverie, not unlike his own, which he suddenly in- 
 terrupted by these exclamations. Such thoughts 
 crowded upon me day by day, as I looked upon every 
 newly discovered sculpture. A stranger laying open 
 monuments buried for more than twenty centuries, and 
 thus proving, to those who dwelt around them, 
 that much of the civilisation and knowledge of which 
 we now boast, existed amongst their forefathers when 
 our " ancestors were yet unborn," was, in a manner, 
 
 G 3
 
 86 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 an acknowledgment of the debt which the West owes 
 to the East. It is, indeed, no small matter of wonder, 
 that far distant, and comparatively new, nations 
 should have preserved the only records of a people 
 once ruling over nearly half the globe ; and should 
 now be able to teach the descendants of that people, 
 or those who have taken their place, where their cities 
 and monuments once stood. There was more than 
 enough to excite the astonishment of Abd-ur-rahinun, 
 and I seized this opportunity to give him a short 
 lecture upon the advantages of civilisation, and of 
 knowledge. I will not pledge myself, however, that 
 my endeavours were attended with as much success 
 as those of some may be, who boast of their missions 
 to the East. All I could accomplish was, to give 
 the Arab Sheikh an exalted idea of the wisdom and 
 power of the Franks ; which was so far useful to me, 
 that through his means the impression was spread 
 about the country, and was not one of the least ef- 
 fective guarantees for the safety of my property and 
 person. 
 
 This night was, of course, looked upon as one of 
 rejoicing. Abd-ur-rahman and his brother dined with 
 me; although, had it not been for the honour and 
 distinction conferred by the privilege of using knives 
 and forks, they would rather have exercised their 
 fingers with the crowds gathered round the wooden 
 platters in the court-yard. Sheep were of course 
 killed, and boiled or roasted whole ; they formed the 
 essence of all entertainments and public festivities. 
 They had scarcely been devoured before dancing was
 
 CHAP. XIII.] MOVING THE BULL. 87 
 
 commenced. There were fortunately relays of musi- 
 cians ; for no human lungs could have furnished the 
 requisite amount of breath. When some were nearly 
 falling from exhaustion, the ranks were recruited by 
 others. And so the Arabs went on until dawn. It 
 was useless to preach moderation, or to entreat for 
 quiet. Advice and remonstrances were received with 
 deafening shouts of the war-cry, and outrageous antics 
 as proofs of gratitude for the entertainment, and of 
 ability to resist fatigue. 
 
 After passing the night in this fashion, these extra- 
 ordinary beings, still singing and capering, started for 
 the mound. Everything had been prepared on the 
 previous day for moving the bull, and the men had 
 now only to haul on the ropes. As the sculpture ad- 
 vanced, the rollers left behind were removed to the 
 front, and thus in a short time it reached the end of 
 the trench. There was little difficulty in dragging it 
 down the precipitous side of the mound. When it 
 arrived within three or four feet of the bottom, suffi- 
 cient earth was removed from beneath it to admit the 
 cart, upon which the bull itself was then lowered by 
 still further digging away the soil. It was soon ready 
 to be dragged to the river. Buifaloes were first har- 
 nessed to the yoke ; but, although the men pulled with 
 ropes fastened to the rings attached to the wheels, 
 and to other parts of the cart, the animals, feeling 
 the weight behind them, refused to move. We were 
 compelled, therefore, to take them out; and the 
 Tiyari, in parties of eight, lifted by turns the pole, 
 whilst the Arabs, assisted by the people of Naifa and 
 
 G 4
 
 88 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAF. XIII. 
 
 Ximroud, dragged the cart. The procession was 
 thus formed. I rode first, with the Bairakdar, to 
 point out the road. Then came the musicians, with 
 their drums and fifes, drumming and fifing with 
 might and main. The cart followed, dragged by 
 about three hundred men, all screeching at the top 
 of their voices, and urged on by the Cawasses and 
 superintendents. The procession was closed by the 
 women, who kept up the enthusiasm of the Arabs by 
 their shrill cries. Abd-ur-rahman's horsemen per- 
 formed divers feats round the group, dashing back- 
 wards and forwards, and charging with their spears. 
 
 We advanced well enough, although the ground 
 was very heavy, until we reached the ruins of the 
 former village of Nimroud.* It is the custom, in this 
 part of Turkey, for the villagers to dig deep pits to 
 store their corn, barley, and straw for the autumn 
 and winter. These pits generally surround the vil- 
 lages. Being only covered by a light framework of 
 boughs and stakes, plastered over with mud, they 
 become, particularly when half empty, a snare and a 
 trap to the horseman ; who, unless guided by some 
 one acquainted with the localities, is pretty certain 
 to find the hind legs of his horse on a level with its 
 ears, and himself suddenly sprawling in front. The 
 corn-pits around Nimroud had long since been emptied 
 of their supplies, and had been concealed by the light 
 sand and dust, which, blown over the plain during 
 
 * The village was moved to its present site after the river had gradually 
 receded to the westward. The inhabitants had been then left at a very 
 inconvenient distance from water.
 
 CHAP. XIII.] MOVING THE BULL. 89 
 
 summer, soon fill up every hole and crevice. Although 
 I had carefully examined the ground before starting, 
 one of these holes had escaped my notice, and into it 
 two wheels of the cart completely sank. The Arabs 
 pulled and yelled in vain. The ropes broke, but the 
 wheels refused to move. We tried every means to re- 
 lease them, but unsuccessfully. After working until 
 dusk, we were obliged to give up the attempt. I left a 
 party of Arabs to guard the cart and its contents, sus- 
 pecting that some adventurous Bedouins, attracted by 
 the ropes, mats, and felts, with which the sculpture 
 was enveloped, might turn their steps towards the 
 spot during the night. My suspicions did not prove 
 unfounded ; for I had scarcely got into bed before the 
 whole village was thrown into commotion by the re- 
 ports of fire-arms, and the war-cry of the Jebour. 
 Hastening to the scene of action, I found that a party 
 of Arabs had fallen upon my workmen. They were 
 beaten off, leaving behind them, however, their mark ; 
 for a ball, passing through the matting and felt, struck 
 and indented the side of the bull. I was anxious to 
 learn who the authors of this wanton attack were, and 
 had organised a scheme for taking summary vengeance. 
 But they were discovered too late ; for, anticipating 
 punishment, they had struck their tents, and had 
 moved off into the desert. 
 
 Next morning we succeeded in clearing away the 
 earth, and in placing thick planks beneath the buried 
 wheels. After a few efforts the cart moved forwards 
 amidst the shouts of the Arabs ; who, as was invari- 
 ably their custom on such occasions 5 indulged, whilst
 
 90 NINEVEH AND ITS KEMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 pulling at the ropes, in the most outrageous antics. 
 The procession was formed as on the previous day, 
 and we dragged the bull triumphantly down to 
 within a few hundred yards of the river. Here 
 the wheels buried themselves in the sand, and it 
 was night before we contrived, with the aid of 
 planks and by increased exertions, to place the sculp- 
 ture on the platform prepared to receive it, and from 
 which it was to slide down on the raft. The 
 tents of the Arabs, who encamped near the river, 
 were pitched round the bull, until its companion, the 
 lion, should be brought down ; and the two embarked 
 together for Baghdad. The night was passed in re- 
 newed rejoicings, to celebrate the successful termina- 
 tion of our labours. On the following morning I 
 rode to Mosul, to enjoy a few days' rest after my 
 exertions. 
 
 The bull having thus been successfully transported 
 to the banks of the river, preparations were made, on 
 my return to Nimroud, for the removal of the second 
 sculpture. I ordered the trench, already opened for 
 the passage of the bull, to be continued beyond the 
 entrance formed by the lions, or about eighty feet to 
 the north. It was then necessary to move the slabs 
 from behind these sculptures. The slabs in hall Y 
 were plain, having only the usual inscription. The 
 bas-reliefs on those adjoining the lion, in chamber G, 
 had been almost entirely destroyed, apparently by 
 the action of water. 
 
 My preparations were completed by the middle 
 of April. I determined to lower the lion at once on
 
 CHAP. XIII.] KKMOVAL OF THE LION. 91 
 
 the cart, and not to drag it out of the mound over 
 the rollers. This sculpture, during its descent, was 
 supported in the same manner as the bull had been ; 
 but to avoid a second accident, I doubled the number 
 of ropes and the coils of the cable. Enough earth 
 was removed to bring the top of the cart to a level 
 with the bottom of the lion. Whilst clearing away 
 the wiill of unbaked bricks, I discovered two small 
 tablets, similar to those previously dug out in cham- 
 ber B.* On both sides they had the usual standard 
 inscription, and they had evidently been placed where 
 found, when the palace was built ; probably as coins, 
 and similar tablets, are now laid under the founda- 
 tion-stones of edifices, to commemorate the period 
 and object of their erection. 
 
 As the lion was cracked in more than one place, 
 considerable care was required in lowering and mov- 
 ing it. Both, however, were effected without acci- 
 dent. The Arabs assembled as they had done at 
 the removal of the bull. Abd-ur-rahman and his 
 horsemen rode over to the mound. We had the same 
 shouting, and the same festivities. The lion de- 
 scended into the place I had prepared for it on the 
 cart, and was easily dragged out of the ruins. It was 
 two days in reaching the river, as the wheels of the 
 cart sank more than once into the loose soil, and 
 were with difficulty extricated. 
 
 The lion and bull were at length placed, side by 
 side, on the banks of the Tigris, ready to proceed to 
 
 * Vol.1, p. 116.
 
 92 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Busrah, as soon as I could make the necessary ar- 
 rangements for embarking them on rafts. 
 
 The sculptures, which I had hitherto sent to Bus- 
 rah, had been floated down the river on rafts, as far 
 only as Baghdad. There they had been placed in 
 boats built by the natives for the navigation of the 
 lower part of the Tigris and Euphrates. These vessels, 
 principally constructed of thin poplar planks, reeds, 
 and bitumen, were much too small and weak to 
 carry either the lion or the bull; and indeed, had 
 they been large enough, it would have been diffi- 
 cult, if not impossible, in the absence of proper 
 machinery, to move such heavy masses into them. 
 I resolved, therefore, to attempt the navigation of 
 the lower, as well as of the upper, part of the river 
 with rafts ; and to embark the lion and bull, at once, 
 for Busrah. The raftmen of Mosul, who are accus- 
 tomed to navigate the Tigris to Baghdad, but never 
 venture further, pronounced the scheme to be im- 
 practicable, and refused to attempt it. Even my 
 friends at Baghdad doubted of my success ; prin- 
 cipally, however, on the ground that the prejudices 
 and customs of the natives were against me, and 
 every one knows how difficult it is to prevail upon 
 Easterns to undertake anything, in opposition to 
 their established habits. Such has been their nature 
 for ages. As their fathers have done, so have they 
 done after them, forgetting or omitting many things, 
 but never adding or improving. As rafts meet 
 with no insurmountable difficulties in descending, 
 even from the mountainous districts of Diarbekir,
 
 CHAP. XIII.] THE RAFTMAN. 93 
 
 to Baghdad, there was no good reason why they 
 should not extend their journey as far as Busrah. 
 The real obstructions would occur in the upper part 
 of the river, which abounds in rapids, rocks, and 
 shallows ; and not in the lower, where there is depth 
 of water, and nothing to impede the passage of large 
 boats. The stream below Baghdad is sluggish, and 
 the tide ascends nearly sixty miles above Busrah : 
 these were the only objections, and they merely 
 affected the time to be employed in the descent, and 
 not its practicability. 
 
 It was impossible by the most convincing argu- 
 ments, even though supported by the exhibition of 
 a heap of coins, to prevail upon the raftrnen of 
 Mosul to construct such rafts as I required, or to 
 undertake the voyage. I applied therefore to Mr. 
 Hector, and through him found a man at Baghdad, 
 who declared himself willing to make the great sacri- 
 fice generally believed to be involved in the attempt. 
 He was indebted in a considerable sum of money, 
 and being the owner of a large number of skins, now 
 lying useless, he preferred a desperate undertaking 
 to the prospect of a debtor's prison. It was not in 
 any one's power to persuade him that his raft could 
 reach its destination, or that even he could survive 
 the enterprise ; and it would have been equally im- 
 possible to convince him that my stake in the matter 
 was greater than his own. As it was evident that no 
 harm would come to him, but that, on the contrary, 
 by entering into my service he would pay the greater 
 part of his debts, and escape a prolonged residence in
 
 94 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 the gloomy subterranean abodes of hopeless debtors, 
 I felt less compunctions of conscience in resorting 
 to the last extremity. Indeed it was consoling to 
 reflect that it was all for the man's own good. At 
 any rate, I had to choose between leaving the sculp- 
 tures on the river bank near Mosul, the sport of mis- 
 chievous Arabs, and seeing them safely transported to 
 Busrah, and ultimately to England. I did not, there- 
 fore, long hesitate upon the course to be pursued. 
 
 Mullah Ali for such was the name of my raft- 
 contractor at length made his appearance. He was 
 followed by a dirty half-naked Arab, his assistant in 
 the construction of rafts ; and, like those who carried 
 on his trade some two thousand years before, by 
 a couple of donkeys laden with skins ready for use. 
 Like a genuine native of Baghdad, he had exhausted 
 his ingenuity in the choice of materials for the com- 
 position of his garments. There could not have been 
 a more dexterous mixture of colours than that dis- 
 played by his antari, cloak, and voluminous turban. 
 He began, of course, by a long speech, protesting, by 
 the Prophet, that he would undertake for no one else in 
 the world what he was going to do for me ; that he 
 was my slave and my sacrifice, and that the man 
 who was not, was worse than an infideL I cut him 
 short in this complimentary discourse. He then, as 
 is usual in such transactions, began to make excuses, 
 to increase his demands, and to throw difficulties in 
 the way. On these points I declined all discussion, 
 directing Ibrahim Agha to give him an insight into 
 my way of doing business, to recommend him to
 
 CHAP. XIII.] TUB RAFTMAN. 95 
 
 resign himself to his fate, as the contract had been 
 signed, and to hint that he was now in the power of 
 an authority from which there was no appeal. 
 
 Mullah Ali made many vain efforts to amend his 
 condition, and to induce, on my part, a fuller appre- 
 ciation of his merits. He expected that these en- 
 deavours might, at least, lead to an additional amount 
 of bakshish. At last he resigned himself to his fate, 
 and slowly worked, with his assistant, at the binding 
 together of beams, and logs of wood, with willow 
 twigs to form a framework for a raft. There were 
 still some difficulties, and obstacles to be surmounted. 
 The man of Baghdad had his own opinions on the 
 building of rafts in general, founded upon immemorial 
 customs, and the traditions of the country. I had 
 my theories, which could not be supported by equally 
 substantial arguments. Consequently, he, who had 
 all the proof on his side, may not have been wrong 
 in declaring against any method, in favour of which, 
 I could produce no better evidence than my own will. 
 But, like many other injured men, he fell a victim 
 to the " droit du plus fort," and had to sacrifice, at 
 once, prejudice and habit. 
 
 I did not doubt that the skins, once blown up, 
 would support the sculptures without difficulty as 
 far as Baghdad. The journey would take eight or 
 ten days, under favourable circumstances. But here 
 they would require to be opened and refilled, or the 
 rafts would scarcely sustain so heavy a weight all 
 the way to Busrah ; the voyage from Baghdad to that 
 port being considerably longer, in point of time, than
 
 96 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 that from Mosul to Baghdad. However carefully the 
 skins are filled, the air gradually escapes. Rafts, 
 bearing merchandise, are generally detained several 
 times during their descent, to enable the raftinen 
 to examine and refill the skins. If the sculptures 
 rested upon only one framework, the beams being 
 almost on a level with the water, the raftmen would 
 be unable to get beneath them to reach the mouths 
 of the skins, when they required replenishing, with- 
 out moving the cargo. This would have been both 
 inconvenient, and difficult to accomplish. I was there- 
 fore desirous of raising the lion and bull as much as 
 possible above the water, so as to leave room for the 
 men to creep under them. 
 
 It may interest the reader to know how these 
 rafts, which have probably formed for ages the only 
 means of traffic on the upper parts of the rivers of 
 Mesopotamia, are constructed. The skins of full- 
 grown sheep and goats are used. They are taken 
 off with as few incisions as possible, and then dried 
 and prepared. The air is forced in by the lungs. 
 The aperture is then tied up with string. A square 
 framework, formed of poplar beams, branches of 
 trees, and reeds, having been constructed of the size 
 of the intended raft, the inflated skins are tied to it 
 by osier and other twigs, the whole being firmly 
 bound together. The raft is then moved to the water 
 and launched. Care is taken to place the skins with 
 their mouths upwards, that in case any should burst, 
 or require filling, they can be easily opened by the 
 raftmen. Upon the framework of wood are piled
 
 CHAP. XIII.] RAFTS ON THE TIGRIS. 97 
 
 bales of goods, and property belonging to merchants 
 and travellers. When any person of rank, or wealth, 
 descends the river in this fashion, small huts are con- 
 structed on the raft by covering a common wooden 
 takhtj or bedstead of the country, with a hood formed 
 of reeds and lined with felt. In these huts the tra- 
 vellers live and sleep during the journey. The poorer 
 passengers bury themselves, to seek shade or warmth, 
 amongst the bales of goods and other merchandise, 
 and sit patiently, almost in one position, until they 
 reach their destination. They carry with them a 
 small earthen mangal or chafing-dish, containing a 
 charcoal fire, which serves to light their pipes, and to 
 cook their coffee and food. The only real danger 
 to be apprehended on the river is from the Arabs ; 
 who, when the country is in a disturbed state, in- 
 variably attack and pillage the rafts. 
 
 The raftmen guide their rude vessels by long 
 oars, straight poles, at the end of which a few split 
 canes are fastened by a piece of twine. They skil- 
 fully avoid the rapids ; and, seated on the bales of 
 goods, work continually, even in the hottest sun. 
 They will seldom travel after dark before reaching 
 Tekrit, on account of the rocks and shoals, Avhich 
 abound in the upper part of the river ; but when they 
 have passed that place, they resign themselves, night 
 and day, to the sluggish stream. During the floods 
 in the spring, or after violent rains, small rafts may 
 float from Mosul to Baghdad in about eighty-four 
 hours ; but the large rafts are generally six or seven 
 clays in performing the voyage. In summer, and 
 
 VOL. II. H
 
 98 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XHI. 
 
 when the river is low, they are frequently nearly a 
 month in reaching their destination. When the rafts 
 have been unloaded, they are broken up, and the beams, 
 wood, and twigs are sold at a considerable profit, form- 
 ing one of the principal branches of trade between 
 Mosul and Baghdad. The skins are washed and 
 afterwards rubbed with a preparation of pounded 
 pomegranate skins, to keep them from cracking and 
 rotting. They are then brought back, either upon 
 the shoulders of the raftmen or upon donkeys, to 
 Mosul or Tekrit, where the men engaged in the navi- 
 gation of the Tigris usually reside. 
 
 On the 20th of April, there being fortunately a 
 slight rise in the river, and the rafts being ready, I 
 determined to attempt the embarkation of the lion 
 and bull. The two sculptures had been so placed 
 onbeams that, by withdrawing wedges from under 
 them, they would slide nearly into the centre of 
 the raft. The high bank of the river had been cut 
 away into a rapid slope to the water's edge. 
 
 In the morning Mr. Hormuzd Rassam informed me 
 that signs of discontent had shown themselves 
 amongst the workmen, and that there was a general 
 strike for higher wages. They had chosen the time 
 fixed upon for embarking the sculptures, under the 
 impression that I should be compelled, from the dif- 
 ficulty of obtaining any other assistance, to accede to 
 their terms. Several circumstances had contributed 
 to this manoeuvre. As I have already mentioned, the 
 want of rain had led to a complete failure of the 
 crops ; the country around Nimroud was one yellow
 
 CHAP. XIIL] DEPATITUKE OF THE ARABS. 99 
 
 barren waste ; the villagers had been exposed to 
 several years of tyranny and oppression ; during which 
 their small stock of grain, unrenewed by fresh har- 
 vests, had gradually diminished. Last autumn, en- 
 couraged by the liberal policy of the new Pasha, they 
 had sown the small supply of corn that had been 
 hoarded up, and now that the crops had failed, their 
 last hopes had perished. If they remained in the coun- 
 try, they could only look forward to starvation. They 
 were consequently leaving the plain and migrating 
 to the Kurdish hills, or to the lands under Mardin 
 watered by the Khabour ; where, by dint of irrigation, 
 they could hope to raise millet, and other grain, suffi- 
 cient to meet their wants until the winter rains might 
 promise better times. The country around Nimroud 
 was deserted ; not a human being was to be seen 
 within some miles of the place. Abd-ur-rahman, 
 whose crops had failed like the rest, and who could 
 no longer find pasture for his flocks in the Jaif, had 
 followed the example of the villagers, and was 
 moving northwards. Two or three days before, his 
 Arabs, driving before them their sheep and cattle, 
 and their beasts of burden laden with all the pro- 
 perty they possessed, had passed under the mound, 
 on their way to the territories of Beder Khan Bey. 
 The Sheikh himself had spent the night in my house, 
 to take leave of me prior to his departure. I con- 
 sequently remained alone with my workmen, and 
 the few Arabs who were cultivating millet along the 
 banks of the Tigris. Not only, in case of a further 
 
 u 2
 
 100 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XHI. 
 
 emigration of the Jebour, should I have been left 
 without the means of carrying on the excavations, 
 but I should even have run considerable risk from the 
 parties of Bedouins, who were now taking advantage 
 of the absence of the Abou Salman to cross the river 
 in search of plunder scouring the country by night 
 and by day. The time chosen by the Jebour to 
 demand higher wages, and to threaten to leave me, 
 was not, therefore, ill-chosen. They were persuaded 
 that I should be compelled to agree to their demands, 
 or to leave the lion and bull where they were. It 
 was not, however, my intention to do either. 
 
 T found, on issuing from the house, that the Arabs 
 had already commenced their preparations for de- 
 parture. The greater part of the tents had been 
 struck, the flocks were collected together, the donkeys 
 were half loaded, and all, men and women, were 
 actively and busily engaged, except half a dozen 
 families who did not show any desire to leave me. 
 A few of the Sheikhs were hanging about the door of 
 my court-yard with gloomy expectant looks, anxious 
 to learn my decision, and little doubting, that on 
 seeing the signs of packing, I would at once yield. 
 However reasonable their demands might have been, 
 the unceremonious fashion in which they were urged 
 was somewhat repugnant to my feelings. There are 
 some bad characters in most societies, who, mis- 
 chievous themselves, contrive to lead others into 
 mischief; and I was aware that one or two of the 
 chiefs, who did not work, but managed to raise 
 money from those who did, were the originators of
 
 CHAP. Xin.] DEPASTURE OF THE ARABS. 101 
 
 the scheme. I ordered my Cawass and the Bairakdar 
 to seize them at once, and then took leave of those 
 who were preparing to depart. Their plans were some- 
 what disconcerted, and they went on sullenly with 
 their arrangements. When at length their prepara- 
 tions for the march were completed, they moved off 
 at a very slow pace, looking back continually, not 
 believing it possible that I would obstinately persist in 
 my determination to refuse a compromise. As a last 
 attempt a deputation of one or two Sheikhs came to 
 express a disinterested anxiety for my safety, should 
 the Jebour leave the country. I did my best to quiet 
 their alarms by employing the Tiyari to put my pre- 
 mises into a state of defence, and to reopen all the 
 loop-holes, Avhich Ibrahim Agha had industriously 
 made in the walls surrounding my dwelling, when 
 they had been first built. Defeated in all their endea- 
 vours to make me sensible of the danger of my posi- 
 tion, they walked sulkily off to join their companions, 
 who took care to encamp for the night within sight of 
 the village. 
 
 Many families, however, refusing to desert me, 
 pitched their tents under the walls of my house. 
 The wives, too, of those who were going, had been 
 to me, sobbing and weeping, protesting that the men, 
 although anxious to remain, were afraid to disobey 
 their Sheikhs. 
 
 The tents of the Abou Salman were still within 
 reach, and I despatched a horseman, without delay, to 
 Sheikh Abd-ur-rnhman with a note, acquainting him 
 
 11 3
 
 102 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 with what had occurred, and requesting him to send 
 me some of his Arabs to assist in embarking the 
 bull. There was a rival tribe of the Jebour encamp- 
 ing at some distance from Nimroud, and I also offered 
 them work. 
 
 In the evening, Abd-ur-rahman, followed by a party 
 of horsemen, came to Nimroud. He undertook at 
 once to furnish me with as many men as I might 
 require to place the sculptures on the rafts, and sent 
 orders to his people to delay their projected march. 
 
 Next morning, when the Jebour perceived a large 
 body of the Abou Salman advancing towards Nim- 
 roud, they repented themselves of their manoeuvre, 
 and returned in a body to offer their services on any 
 terms that I might think fit to propose. But I was 
 well able to do without them, and wished to convince 
 them, that the method they had chosen to put for- 
 ward their demands was neither rational, nor likely 
 to prove successful. I refused, therefore, to listen 
 to any overtures, and commenced my preparations 
 for embarking the lion and bull with the aid of the 
 Chaldeans, the Abou Salman, and such of my Arab 
 workmen as had remained with me. 
 
 The beams of poplar wood, forming an inclined 
 plane from beneath the sculptures to the rafts, 
 were first well greased. A raft, supported by six 
 hundred skins, having been brought to the river 
 bank, opposite the bull, the wedges were removed 
 from under the sculpture, which immediately slided 
 down into its place. The only difficulty was to pre- 
 vent its descending too rapidly, and bursting the
 
 CiiAp.XIIL] SHEIKH ABD-UR-RAHMAN. 103 
 
 skins by the sudden pressure. The Arabs checked 
 it by ropes, and it was placed without any accident. 
 The lion was then embarked in the same way, and 
 with equal success, upon a second raft of the same 
 size as the first ; in a few hours the two sculptures 
 were properly secured, and before night they were 
 ready to float down the river to Busrah. 
 
 Many slabs, including the large bas-reliefs of the 
 king on his throne, between the eunuchs and winged 
 figures, which formed the end of chamber G, the 
 altar-piece in chamber B, and above thirty cases con- 
 taining small objects discovered in the ruins, were 
 placed on the rafts with the lion and bull. 
 
 After the labours of the day were over, sheep were 
 slaughtered for the entertainment of Abd-ur-rahman's 
 Arabs, and for those who had helped in the embark- 
 ation of the sculptures. The Abou Salman returned 
 to their tents after dark. Abd-ur-rahman took leave 
 of me, and we did not meet again : the next day he 
 continued his march towards the district of Jezirah. 
 I heard of him on my journey to Constantinople ; the 
 Kurds by the road complaining, that his tribe were 
 making up the number of their flocks, by appropri- 
 ating the stray sheep of their neighbours. I had 
 seen much of the Sheikh during my residence at 
 Nimroud ; and although, like all Arabs, he was not 
 averse to ask for what he thought there might be a 
 remote chance of getting by a little importunity, 
 he was, on the whole, a very friendly and useful 
 ally. 
 
 On the morning of the 22d, all the sculptures having 
 
 ii 4
 
 104 NINEVEII AND ITS REMAINS. [CitAr. XIII. 
 
 been embarked, I gave two sheep to the raftmen to be 
 slain on the bank of the river, as a sacrifice to ensure 
 the success of the undertaking. The carcases were 
 distributed, as is proper on such occasions, amongst 
 the poor. A third sheep was reserved for a pro- 
 pitiatory offering, to be immolated at the tomb of 
 Sultan Abd- Allah. This saint still appears to inter- 
 fere considerably with the navigation of the river, 
 and closed the further ascent of the Tigris against 
 the infidel crew of the Frank steamer, because they 
 neglected to make the customary sacrifice. All cere- 
 monies having been duly performed, Mullah Ali kissed 
 my hand, placed himself on one of the rafts, and 
 slowly floated, with the cargo under his charge, down 
 the stream.* 
 
 I watched the rafts, until they disappeared be- 
 hind a projecting bank forming a distant reach of 
 
 * It is not improbable that the great obelisk which, according to Diodo- 
 rus Siculus (lib. ii. c. 1.), was brought to Babylon from Armenia by Semi- 
 ramis, was floated down on rafts supported by skins, in the same way that 
 I transported the sculptures of Nineveh to Busrah. It was 130 feet in 
 height, and 25 feet square at the base, and cut out of the solid rock, and 
 must consequently, if the account be not a little exaggerated, have 
 been of prodigious weight. The principal difficulty might probably ap- 
 pear to have been to place it on the raft ; but this could have been accom- 
 plished by a simple method by putting the beams forming the frame- 
 work of wood, and fastening the skins under the obelisk, in some dry place, 
 which would be overflowed during the periodical floods. When the water 
 began to rise, by gradually removing the earth from beneath the skins, 
 they could easily be filled with air ; and when the stream had reached the 
 raft they would lift up the obelisk, which could then be floated into the 
 centre of the river. I should have adopted this method of moving the 
 larger lions and bulls, had I been required to send them to Busrah with- 
 out being provided with any mechanical contrivance, sufficiently powerful 
 to embark such large weights by a simpler process.
 
 CIIAP. XIII.] INSECURITY AT NIMROUD. , 105 
 
 the river. I could not forbear musing upon the 
 strange destiny of their burdens ; which, after adorn- 
 ing the palaces of the Assyrian kings, the objects of 
 the wonder, and may be the worship, of thousands, had 
 been buried unknown for centuries beneath a soil 
 trodden by Persians under Cyrus, by Greeks under 
 Alexander, and by Arabs under the first descend- 
 ants of their prophet. They were now to visit India, 
 to cross the most distant seas of the southern hemi- 
 sphere, and to be finally placed in a British Museum. 
 Who can venture to foretell how their strange career 
 will end ? 
 
 I had scarcely returned to the village, when a 
 party of the refractory Jebour presented themselves. 
 They were now lavish in professions of regret for 
 what had occurred, and in promises for the future, 
 in case they were again employed. They laid the 
 blame of their misconduct upon their Sheikhs, and 
 offered to return at once to their work, for any 
 amount of wages I might think proper to give them. 
 The excavations at Nimroud were almost brought 
 to a close, and I had no longer any need of a large 
 body of workmen. Choosing, therefore, the most 
 active and well-disposed amongst those who had been 
 in my service, I ordered a little summary punishment 
 to be inflicted upon the captive Sheikhs, who had 
 been the cause of the mischief, and then sent them 
 away with the rest of the tribe. 
 
 After the departure of the Abou Salman, the 
 plain of Nimroud was a complete desert. The visits 
 of armed parties of Arabs became daily more fre-
 
 106 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 quent, and we often watched them from the mound, 
 as they rode towards the hills in search of pillage, 
 or returned from their expeditions driving the plun- 
 dered flocks and cattle before them. We were still 
 too strong to fear the Bedouins; but I was com- 
 pelled to put my house into a complete state of 
 defence, and to keep patrols round my premises 
 during the night to avoid surprise. The Jebour 
 were exposed to constant losses, in the way of don- 
 keys or tent furniture, as the country was infested 
 by petty thieves, who issued from their hiding- 
 places, and wandered to and fro, like jackals, after 
 dark. Nothing was too small or worthless to escape 
 their notice. I was roused almost nightly by 
 shoutings and the discharge of fire-arms, when the 
 whole encampment was thrown into commotion at 
 the disappearance of a copper pot or an old grain 
 sack. I was fortunate enough to escape their depre- 
 dations. 
 
 The fears of my Jebour increased with the num- 
 ber of the plundering parties, and at last, Avhen a 
 small Arab settlement, within sight of Nimroud, was 
 attacked by a band of Aneyza horsemen, who mur- 
 dered several of the inhabitants, and carried away 
 all the sheep and cattle, the workmen protested in 
 a body against any further residence in so dan- 
 gerous a vicinity. I found that it would not be 
 much longer possible to keep them together, and I 
 determined, therefore, to bring the excavations to 
 an end. 
 
 After the departure of the lion and bull, I opened,
 
 CIIAP. XIIT.] THE PYRAMID. 107 
 
 in the high conical mound or pyramid, a very deep 
 trench, or rather well, which reached nearly to the 
 natural platform of river deposits, forming the basis 
 of the artificial structure. The whole mass was 
 built of sun-dried bricks. There were no remains 
 of stone or alabaster, nor indeed even of baked 
 bricks, except in the thin outer coating of earth and 
 rubbish which had accumulated over the unbaked 
 bricks. As to the use to which this pyramid was 
 applied, I can only conjecture that, being originally 
 cased with stone or coloured baked bricks, it may 
 have been raised over the tomb of some monarch ; or 
 may have served as an ornament, marking the site 
 of the city from afar ; or that it was intended as a 
 watch-tower. It was opened on two sides, the 
 trenches being carried completely into the centre ; 
 but no entrance, nor any traces of an interior chamber 
 were found. It is possible, however, that on a more 
 complete and extended examination than I was able 
 to attempt, some discovery of great interest might be 
 made, and that this may prove to be the very pyramid, 
 raised above the remains of the founder of the city, 
 by the Assyrian Queen the " busta Nini " under 
 which may still be some traces of the sepulchre of 
 the great king. Although the sides of this high 
 conical mound have been worn away and rounded, 
 it is evident that its original shape was pyramidical. 
 As soon as the outer covering, whether of stone or 
 of baked bricks, had fallen off, or had been re- 
 moved, the structure of unbaked bricks would rapidly 
 decay, and would naturally assume its present form.
 
 108 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 That it was not at any period hollow, there can 
 be no doubt. To examine it completely, in order 
 to ascertain whether any remains exist beneath it, 
 would be a labour requiring considerable time and 
 expense. 
 
 On the edge of the ravine, to the north of cham- 
 ber B*, I discovered two enormous winged bulls, 
 about seventeen feet in height, which had fallen from 
 their places. They did not form an entrance, but 
 each one stood alone, adjoining the great slabs 
 with the colossal winged figures in chambers D, 
 and E. I was unable to raise them, and the sculp- 
 tured face of the slab was downwards. They had 
 evidently been long exposed to the atmosphere, and 
 the heads had been greatly injured. 
 
 I now commenced burying in those parts of the 
 ruins which still remained exposed, according to the 
 instructions I had received from the Trustees of the 
 British Museum. Had the numerous sculptures 
 been left, without any precaution being taken to 
 preserve them, they would have suffered, not only 
 from the effects of the atmosphere, but from the 
 spears and clubs of the Arabs, who are always ready 
 to knock out the eyes, and to otherwise disfigure, the 
 idols of the unbelievers. The rubbish and earth re- 
 moved on opening the building, was accordingly 
 brought back in baskets, thrown into the chambers, 
 and heaped over the slabs until the whole was again 
 covered over. 
 
 * Plan 3.
 
 CHAP. XIII.] RECAPITULATION. 109 
 
 But before leaving Mmroud and reburying its 
 palaces, I would wish to lead the reader once more 
 through the ruins of the principal edifice, and to convey 
 as distinct an idea as I am able of the excavated halls, 
 and chambers, as they appeared when fully explored. 
 Let us imagine ourselves issuing from my tent near 
 the village in the plain. On approaching the mound, 
 not a trace of building can be perceived, except a 
 small mud hut covered with reeds, erected for the 
 accommodation of my Chaldean workmen. We as- 
 cend this artificial hill, but still see no ruins, not a 
 stone protruding from the soil. There is only a 
 broad level platform before us, perhaps covered with 
 a luxuriant crop of barley, or may be yellow and 
 parched, without a blade of vegetation, except here 
 and there a scanty tuft of camel-thorn. Low black 
 heaps, surrounded by brushwood and dried grass, a 
 thin column of smoke issuing from the midst of them, 
 may be seen here and there. These are the tents 
 of the Arabs ; and a few miserable old women are 
 groping about them, picking up camel's-dung or dry 
 twigs. One or two girls, with firm step and erect 
 carriage, are perceived just reaching the top of the 
 mound, with the water-jar on their shoulders, or a 
 bundle of brushwood on their heads. On all sides of 
 us, apparently issuing from under-ground, are long 
 lines of wild -looking beings, with dishevelled hair, their 
 limbs only half concealed by a short loose shirt, some 
 jumping and capering, and all hurrying to and fro 
 shouting like madmen. Each one carries a basket, and 
 as he reaches the edge of the mound, or some con-
 
 110 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 venient spot near, empties its contents, raising at the 
 same time a cloud of dust. He then returns at the top 
 of his speed, dancing and yelling as before, and flourish- 
 ing his basket over his head ; again he suddenly dis- 
 appears in the bowels of the earth, from whence he 
 emerged. These are the workmen employed in re- 
 moving the rubbish from the ruins. 
 
 We will descend into the principal trench, by a flight 
 of steps rudely cut into the earth, near the western 
 face of the mound. As we approach it, we find a 
 party of Arabs bending on their knees, and intently 
 gazing at something beneath them. Each holds his 
 long spear, tufted with ostrich feathers, in one hand ; 
 and in the other the halter of his mare, which stands 
 patiently behind him. The party consists of a Be- 
 douin Sheikh from the desert, and his followers ; who, 
 having heard strange reports of the wonders of Nim- 
 roud, have made several days' journey to remove 
 their doubts, and satisfy their curiosity. He rises as 
 he hears us approach, and if we wish to escape the 
 embrace of a very dirty stranger, we had better at 
 once hurry into the trenches. 
 
 We descend about twenty feet, and suddenly find 
 ourselves between a pair of colossal lions, winged 
 and human-headed, forming a portal. I have already 
 described my feelings when gazing for the first time 
 on these majestic figures. Those of the reader would 
 probably be the same, particularly if caused by 
 the reflection, that before those wonderful forms 
 Ezekiel, Jonah, and others of the prophets stood, 
 and Sennacherib bowed ; that even the patriarch
 
 CHAP. XIII. ] RECAPITULATION. Ill 
 
 Abraham himself may possibly have looked upon 
 them. 
 
 In the subterraneous labyrinth which we have 
 reached, all is bustle and confusion. Arabs are run- 
 ning about in different directions ; some bearing 
 baskets filled with earth, others carrying the water- 
 jars to their companions. The ChaldaBans or Tiyari, 
 in their striped dresses and curious conical caps, 
 are digging with picks into the tenacious earth, 
 raising a dense cloud of fine dust at every stroke. 
 The wild strains of Kurdish music may be heard 
 occasionally issuing from some distant part of the 
 ruins, and if they are caught by the parties at 
 work, the Arabs join their voices in chorus, raise 
 the war-cry, and labour with renewed energy. 
 Leaving behind us a small chamber, in which 
 the sculptures are distinguished by a want of finish 
 in the execution, and considerable rudeness in the 
 design of the ornaments, we issue from between 
 the winged lions, and enter the remains of the prin- 
 cipal hall. On both sides of us are sculptured gi- 
 gantic, winged figures ; some with the heads of eagles, 
 others entirely human, and carrying mysterious sym- 
 bols in their hands. To the left is another portal, 
 also formed by winged lions. One of them has, 
 however, fallen across the entrance, and there is just 
 room to creep beneath it. Beyond this- portal is a 
 winged figure, and two slabs with bas-reliefs; but 
 they have been so much injured that we can scarcely 
 trace the subject upon them. Further on there are 
 no traces of wall, although a deep trench has been
 
 112 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CiiAr. XIII. 
 
 opened. The opposite side of the hall has also dis- 
 appeared, and we only see a high wall of earth. On 
 examining it attentively, we can detect the marks 
 of masonry; and we soon find that it is a solid 
 structure built of bricks of unbaked clay, now of the 
 same colour as the surrounding soil, and scarcely to 
 be distinguished from it. 
 
 The slabs of alabaster, fallen from their original 
 position, have, however, been raised ; and we tread in 
 the midst of a maze of small bas-reliefs, representing 
 chariots, horsemen, battles, and sieges. Perhaps the 
 workmen are about to raise a slab for the first time ; 
 and we watch, with eager curiosity, what new event 
 of Assyrian history, or what unknown custom or reli- 
 gious ceremony, may be illustrated by the sculpture 
 beneath. 
 
 Having walked about one hundred feet amongst 
 these scattered monuments of ancient history and 
 art, we reach another door- way, formed by gigantic 
 winged bulls in yellow limestone. One is still entire ; 
 but its companion has fallen, and is broken into 
 several pieces the great human head is at our feet. 
 
 We pass on without turning into the part of the 
 building to which this portal leads. Beyond it we 
 see another winged figure, holding a graceful flower 
 in its hand, and apparently presenting it as an offer- 
 ing to the winged bull. Adjoining this sculpture 
 we find eight fine bas-reliefs. There is the king, 
 hunting, and triumphing over, the lion and wild 
 bull ; and the siege of the castle, with the battering- 
 ram. We have now reached the end of the hall, and
 
 CHAP. XIII.] RECAPITULATION. 113 
 
 find before us an elaborate and beautiful sculpture, 
 representing two kings, standing beneath the emblem 
 of the supreme deity, and attended by winged figures. 
 Between them is the sacred tree. In front of this 
 bas-relief is the great stone platform, upon which, 
 in days of old, may have been placed the throne of 
 the Assyrian monarch, when he received his captive 
 enemies, or his courtiers. 
 
 To the left of us is a fourth outlet from the hall, 
 formed by another pair of lions. We issue from 
 between them, and find ourselves on the edge of a 
 deep ravine, to the north of which rises, high above 
 us, the lofty pyramid. Figures of captives bearing 
 objects of tribute, ear-rings, bracelets, and mon- 
 keys, may be seen on walls near this ravine ; and 
 two enormous bulls, and two winged figures above 
 fourteen feet high, are lying on its very edge. 
 
 As the ravine bounds the ruins on this side, we 
 must return to the yellow bulls. Passing through 
 the entrance formed by them, we enter a large cham- 
 ber surrounded by eagle-headed figures : at one end 
 of it is a doorway guarded by two priests or divi- 
 nities, and in the centre another portal with winged 
 bulls. Whichever way we turn, we find ourselves 
 in the midst of a nest of rooms ; and without an 
 acquaintance with the intricacies of the place, we 
 should soon lose ourselves in this labyrinth. The 
 accumulated rubbish being generally left in the 
 centre of the chambers, the whole excavation con- 
 sists of a number of narrow passages, panelled on 
 one side with slabs of alabaster ; and shut in on the 
 
 VOL. II. I
 
 114 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIII. 
 
 other by a high wall of earth, half buried, in which 
 may here and there be seen a broken vase, or a brick 
 painted with brilliant colours. We may wander 
 through these galleries for an hour or two, examin- 
 ing the marvellous sculptures, or the numerous 
 inscriptions that surround us. Here we meet long 
 rows of kings, attended by their eunuchs and priests, 
 there lines of winged figures, carrying fir-cones 
 and religious emblems, and seemingly in adoration 
 before the mystic tree. Other entrances, formed 
 by winged lions and bulls, lead us into new cham- 
 bers. In every one of them are fresh objects of 
 curiosity and surprise. At length, wearied, we issue 
 from the buried edifice by a trench on the opposite 
 side to that by which we entered, and find ourselves 
 again upon the naked platform. We look around in 
 vain for any traces of the wonderful remains we have 
 just seen, and are half inclined to believe that we 
 have dreamed a dream, or have been listening to 
 some tale of Eastern romance. 
 
 Some, who may hereafter tread on the spot when 
 the grass again grows over the ruins of the Assyrian 
 palaces, may indeed suspect that I have been relating 
 a vision.
 
 CHAP. XIV.] KOUYUNJIK. 115 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 EXCAVATIONS PLANNED AT KOUYUNJIK. LEAVE NIMROUD. 
 
 REMOVE TO MOSUL. DISCOVERY OF A BUILDING IN KOUYUNJIK. 
 BAS-RELIEFS. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE SCULPTURES. 
 
 EXCAVATIONS CARRIED ON BY MR. ROSS. HIS DISCOVERIES. 
 
 BAS-RELIEFS. A SCULPTURED SLAB AND SARCOPHAGUS. 
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR MY RETURN TO CONSTANTINOPLE. LEAVE 
 MOSUL. 
 
 THE chambers at Nimroud had been filled up with 
 earth, and the sculptures thus preserved from injury. 
 The surrounding country became daily more danger- 
 ous from the incursions of the Arabs of the desert, 
 who now began to encamp even on the west bank of 
 the Tigris. It was time, therefore, to leave the village. 
 As a small sum of money still remained at my disposal, 
 I proposed to devote it to an examination of the ruins 
 opposite Mosul ; particularly of the great mound of 
 Kouyunjik. Although excavations on a small scale 
 had already been made there, I had not hitherto had 
 time to superintend them myself, and in such rer 
 searches, the natives of the country cannot be trusted. 
 It is well known that almost since the fall of the 
 Assyrian Empire, a city of some extent, representing 
 the ancient Nineveh, although no longer the seat of 
 government, nor a place of great importance, has 
 stood on the banks of the Tigris in this part of its 
 course. The modern city may not have been built 
 above the ruins of the ancient ; but it certainly rose 
 in their immediate vicinity, either to the east of the 
 
 I 2
 
 116 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 river, or to the west, as the modern Mosul. The 
 alabaster slabs, which had once lined the walls of the 
 old palaces, and still remained concealed by the earth 
 forming the mound, had been frequently exposed by 
 accident or by design. Those who were settling in 
 the neighbourhood, soon found that the ruins offered 
 an inexhaustible mine of building materials. The 
 alabaster was dug out to be either used entire in the 
 construction of houses, or to be burnt for lime. A 
 few years ago a bas-relief had been discovered in one 
 part of the ruins, during a search after stones for the 
 erection of a bridge across the Tigris. The removal 
 of slabs, and the destruction of sculptures, for similar 
 purposes, may have been going on for centuries. 
 There was, therefore, good reason to doubt whether 
 any edifice, even in an imperfect state, still existed in 
 Kouyunjik. I knew that under the village, containing 
 the tomb of the prophet Jonah, there were remains of 
 considerable importance, probably as entire as those 
 discovered at Nimroud. They owe their preservation 
 to the existence, from a very remote period, of the 
 tomb and village above them. Portions of sculpture, 
 and inscriptions, had frequently been found, when the 
 inhabitants of the place had dug the foundations of 
 their dwellings. But the prejudices of the people 
 of Mosul, forbade any attempt to explore a spot so 
 venerated for its sanctity. 
 
 The edifices at Nimroud, being far distant from 
 any large town, when once buried were not dis- 
 turbed. It does not appear that after the fall of the 
 Empire any place of importance rose near them,
 
 CHAP. XIV.] LEAVE NIMROUD. 117 
 
 except, perhaps, Selamiyah, which is now but an in- 
 significant village, although it may formerly have 
 been a small market town. It is three miles from 
 the mound, and there are no remains near it to show 
 that, at any time since the Assyrian period, it at- 
 tained a considerable size. It may, consequently, 
 be inferred that the great mound of Nimroud has 
 never been opened, and its contents carried away for 
 building purposes, since the destruction of the last pa- 
 lace, except, as it has already been mentioned, when 
 a late Pasha of Mosul endeavoured to remove one or 
 two slabs to repair the tomb of a Mussulman saint. 
 
 By the middle of May, I had finished my work at 
 Nimroud. My house was dismantled. The windows 
 and doors, which had been temporarily fitted up, were 
 taken out ; and, with the little furniture that had 
 been collected together, were placed on the backs of 
 donkeys and camels to be carried to the town. The 
 Arabs struck their tents and commenced their march. 
 I remained behind until every one had left, and then 
 turned my back upon the deserted village. We were 
 the last to quit the plains of Nimroud ; and, indeed, 
 nearly the whole country to the south of Mosul, as far 
 as the Zab, became, after our departure, a wilderness. 
 
 Halfway between Mosul and Nimroud the road 
 crosses a low hill. From its crest, both the town 
 and the ruins are visible. On one side, in the dis- 
 tance, rises the pyramid, in the midst of the broad 
 plain of the Jaif ; and on the other may be faintly 
 distinguished the great artificial mound of Kouy- 
 unjik, and the surrounding remains. The leaning 
 
 i 3
 
 118 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 minaret of the old mosque of Mosul, may also be seen 
 springing above the dark patch which marks the site 
 of the town. The river can be traced for many miles, 
 winding in the midst of the plain, suddenly losing 
 itself amongst low hills, and again emerging into the 
 level country. The whole space over which the eye 
 ranges from this spot, was probably once covered 
 with the buildings and gardens of the Assyrian 
 capital that great city of three days' journey. At 
 an earlier period, that distant pyramid directed the 
 traveller from afar to Nineveh, when the limits of 
 the city were small. It was then one of those pri- 
 mitive settlements which, for the first time, had 
 been formed by the congregated habitations of men. 
 To me, of course, the long dark line of mounds 
 in the distance, were objects of deep interest. I 
 reined up my horse to look upon them for the last 
 time for from no other part of the road are they 
 visible and then galloped on towards Mosul. 
 
 In excavating at Kouyunjik, I pursued the plan 
 I had adopted at Nimroud. I resided in the town. 
 The Arabs pitched their tents on the summit of the 
 mound, at the entrances to the trenches. The Tiyari 
 encamped at its foot, on the banks of the Khausser, the 
 small stream which flows through the ruins. Here the 
 men and women found a convenient place for their 
 constant ablutions. They were still obliged, however, 
 to fetch water, when required for other purposes, 
 from the Tigris ; that from the Khausser being con- 
 sidered heavy and unwholesome. It is rarely drank 
 by those who live near the stream, if other water can
 
 CHAP. XIV.] ASSYRIAN RUINS. 119 
 
 be obtained from wells, or even from natural pools of 
 rain water. The nearness of the ruins to Mosul, en- 
 abled the inhabitants of the town to gratify their 
 curiosity by a constant inspection of my proceedings ; 
 and a great crowd of gaping Mussulmans and Chris- 
 tians was continually gathered round the trenches. I 
 rode to the mound early every morning, and remained 
 there during the day. 
 
 The French consul had carried on his excavations 
 for some time at Kouyunjik, without finding any 
 traces of building. He was satisfied with digging 
 pits or wells, a few feet deep, and then renouncing 
 the attempt, if no sculptures or inscriptions were un- 
 covered. By excavating in this desultory manner, if 
 any remains of building were under ground, their 
 discovery would be a mere chance. An acquaintance 
 with the nature and position of the ancient edifices of 
 Assyria, will at once suggest the proper method of 
 examining the mounds which enclose them. The 
 Assyrians, when about to build a palace or public 
 edifice, appear to have first constructed a platform, or 
 solid compact mass of sun-dried bricks, about thirty 
 or forty feet above the level of the plain. Upon it 
 they raised the monument. When the building was 
 destroyed, its ruins, already half buried by the 
 falling in of the upper walls and roof, remained of 
 course on the platform ; and were in process of time 
 completely covered up by the dust and sand, carried 
 about by the hot winds of summer. Consequently, 
 in digging for remains, the first step is to reach the 
 platform of sun-dried bricks. AVhen this is discovered, 
 
 I 4
 
 120 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAF. XIV. 
 
 the trenches must be opened to the level of it, and 
 not deeper ; they should then be continued in oppo- 
 site directions, care being always taken to keep along 
 the platform. By these means, if there be any ruins, 
 they must necessarily be discovered, supposing the 
 trenches to be long enough ; for the chambers of the 
 Assyrian edifices are generally narrow, and their 
 walls, or the slabs which cased them if fallen, must 
 sooner or later be reached. 
 
 At Kouyunjik, the accumulation of rubbish and 
 earth was very considerable, and trenches were dug 
 to the depth of twenty feet, before the platform of 
 unbaked bricks was discovered. Before beginning 
 the excavations, I carefully examined all parts of the 
 mound, to ascertain where remains of buildings might 
 most probably exist ; and at length decided upon con- 
 tinuing my researches where I had commenced them 
 last summer, near the south-west corner. 
 
 The workmen had been digging for several days 
 without finding any other remains than fragments of 
 calcined alabaster, sufficient, however, to encourage 
 me to persevere in the examination of this part of the 
 ruins. One morning as I was in Mosul, two Arab 
 women came to me, and announced that sculptures 
 had been discovered. They had hurried from the 
 mounds as soon as the first slab had been exposed to 
 view ; and blowing up the skins, which they always 
 carry about with them, had swam upon them across 
 the river. They had scarcely received the present 
 claimed in the East by the bearers of good tidings, 
 and the expectation of which had led to the display
 
 CHAP. XIV.] DISCOVERY OF A NEW PALACE. 121 
 
 of so much eagerness, than one of my overseers, who 
 was generally known from his corpulence as Toma 
 Shishman, or fat Toma, made his appearance, breath- 
 less from his exertions. He had hurried as fast as his 
 legs could carry him over the bridge, to obtain the 
 reward carried off, in this instance, by the women. 
 
 I rode immediately to the ruins ; and, on entering 
 the trenches, found that the workmen had reached a 
 wall, and the remains of an entrance. The only slab 
 as yet uncovered had been almost completely de- 
 stroyed by fire. It stood on the edge of a deep ravine 
 which ran far into the southern side of the mound. 
 
 As the excavations at Kouyunjik were carried on 
 in precisely the same manner as those at Nimroud, I 
 need not trouble the reader with any detailed account 
 of my proceedings. The wall first discovered proved 
 to be the side of a chamber. By following it we 
 reached an entrance formed by winged bulls, leading 
 into a second hall. In a month nine chambers had 
 been explored. 
 
 The palace had been destroyed by fire. The ala- 
 baster slabs were almost reduced to lime, and many 
 of them fell to pieces as soon as uncovered. The 
 places, which others had occupied, could only be 
 traced by a thin white deposit, left by the burnt ala- 
 baster upon the wall of sun-dried bricks, and having 
 the appearance of a coating of plaster. 
 
 In its architecture, the newly discovered edifice 
 resembled the palaces of Nimroud, and Khorsabad. 
 The chambers were long and narrow. The walls 
 were of unbaked bricks, with a panelling of sculp-
 
 122 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [HAP. XIV. 
 
 tured slabs. The bas-reliefs were, however, much 
 larger in their dimensions than those generally found 
 at Nimroud, being about ten feet high, and from 
 eight to nine feet wide. The winged, human-headed 
 bulls, forming the entrances, were from fourteen to 
 sixteen feet square. The slabs, unlike those I had 
 hitherto discovered, were not divided in the centre by 
 a band of inscription, but were completely covered 
 with figures. The bas-reliefs were greatly inferior in 
 general design, and in the beauty of the details, to 
 those of the earliest palace of Nimroud ; but in many 
 parts they were very carefully and minutely finished : 
 in this respect Kouyunjik yields to no other known 
 monument in Assyria. The winged bulls resembled 
 in their head-dress the animals forming the portals in 
 the southern palace at Nimroud, and like them they 
 had four legs.* In the costumes of the warriors, 
 and in the trappings and caparisons of the horses, 
 the sculptures were similar to those of Khorsabad. 
 
 Inscriptions were not numerous. They occurred 
 between the legs of the winged bulls, above the head 
 of the king, on bas-reliefs representing the siege or 
 sacking of a city, and on the backs of many slabs ; 
 but they were all so much defaced, that I had great 
 difficulty in copying even a few characters from some 
 of them. Those on the bulls were long, the same 
 inscription being continued on the two sides of an 
 entrance. As four pairs of these gigantic figures 
 
 * It has already been mentioned that the winged lions of the north-west 
 palace at Nimroud were furnished with five legs, that the spectator, in 
 whatever position he stood, might have a perfect front and side view of 
 the animal.
 
 CHAP. XIV.] SMALL OBJECTS. 1 23 
 
 were discovered, each pair bearing nearly the same 
 inscription, the whole may be restored out of the 
 fragments copied.* 
 
 The name of the king, occurring both on the backs 
 of slabs and on the bricks, resembles that occupying 
 the second place in the genealogical list in the short 
 inscriptions on the bulls and lions of the southern, or 
 most recent, palace of Nimroud. He was the son of 
 the builder of Khorsabad. The comparative epoch of 
 the foundation of this edifice can thus be ascertained, 
 and its positive date will probably be hereafter de- 
 termined. Long before the discovery of the ruins, I 
 had conjectured, from a hasty examination of a few 
 fragments of sculpture and inscription picked up on 
 the mound, that the building, which once stood there, 
 must be referred to the time of the Khorsabad king, 
 or of his immediate predecessors or successors. There 
 are certain peculiarities in the forms of the figures, 
 in the ornaments, and in some of the characters 
 used in the inscriptions, which distinguish the sculp- 
 tures, and connect them, at the same time, with those 
 of Khorsabad. 
 
 In the earth, above the edifice at Kouyunjik, a 
 few earthen vases and fragments of pottery were 
 discovered ; but no sarcophagi, or tombs with hu- 
 man remains, like those of Nimroud and Kalah 
 Sherghat. The foundations of buildings, of roughly 
 hewn stone, were also found above the Assyrian 
 ruins. One or two small glass bottles entire, and 
 
 * It will be included in the collection published by the Trustees of the 
 British Museum.
 
 124 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 many fragments of glass, were taken out of the 
 rubbish ; and on the floors of the chambers were 
 several small oblong tablets of dark unbaked clay, 
 having a cuneiform inscription over the sides. De- 
 tached slabs of limestone, covered with inscriptions, 
 were also found in the ruins.* 
 
 I will now describe the subjects of such of the 
 sculptures, as could still be traced on the walls of 
 the chambers. A continual reference to the ac- 
 companying plan will be necessar} 7 , to convey to the 
 reader an idea of the nature and extent of the 
 edifice partly uncovered. 
 
 The first chamber seen, on entering the trenches 
 from the ravine, was that marked A, on the plan. 
 The two slabs which once formed its entrance had 
 been almost entirely destroyed. Upon the lower part 
 of them could be distinguished the feet and claws of 
 an eagle or vulture, and it is probable that the bas- 
 relief, when entire, represented a human figure with 
 the head and extremities of a bird. The relief must 
 have been, I think, even higher than that of the sculp- 
 tures of Khorsabad. All the slabs within the chamber 
 had been as much injured as those at the entrance. 
 The upper part of the wall had been completely de- 
 stroyed ; on the lower (about three feet of which re- 
 mained) could be traced processions of warriors, and 
 captives passing through a thickly wooded, moun- 
 tainous country ; the mountains being represented, as 
 in the bas-reliefs of Nimroud, by a network of lines. 
 
 The greater part of these small objects are on their way to the 
 British Museum.
 
 N 8 10 II /Z /3 IL IS Iff II If 19 ZO
 
 lace page r^i. vol. ii. 
 
 PI. AN 
 
 OF 
 
 EXCAVATED RUINS AT KOUYUNJIK.
 
 CHAP. XIV.] DESCRIPTION OF BAS-RELIEFS. 125 
 
 On the fragment of a slab *, I could distinguish an 
 altar or tripod, with vessels of various shapes near it. 
 An eunuch, carrying an utensil resembling a censer, 
 stood before the altar.f 
 
 The southern extremity of hall B, had been com- 
 pletely destroyed by the water-duct which had formed 
 the ravine. Its width was about forty-five feet, and 
 the length of the western wall from the entrance of 
 chamber A (to the south of which it could not be 
 traced), was nearly one hundred and sixty feet. The 
 first and second slabs J on the west side of the hall ap- 
 pear to have been occupied by one subject, the burn- 
 ing and sacking of a city. The bas-reliefs were divided 
 into several parts by parallel lines. In the upper com- 
 partment, which occupied about half the sculpture, 
 were represented houses, some two and three stories 
 high ; they had been fired by the enemy, and flames 
 were seen issuing from the windows and doors. Be- 
 neath were three rows of warriors, some marching in 
 file, each corps or regiment being distinguished by 
 the forms of the helmets, arms, and shields of the 
 men. Others were carrying away the spoil, consist- 
 ing of furniture, vases, chariots, and horses. On the 
 bottom of the slabs were figured vines, bearing grapes. 
 The captured city stood upon a mountain, and above 
 it was a short inscription, probably containing its 
 name, and a record of the event represented by the 
 
 * No. 11. in the plan. 
 
 t All the sculptures in this chamber were so much defaced that I was 
 unable to make sketches of them. 
 
 J Nos. 1. and 2. in the plan.
 
 126 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 bas-relief. The legend was unfortunately almost ille- 
 gible. The two slabs were greatly injured, and in 
 many places had been entirely destroyed.* 
 
 On the adjoining slab was a mountain clothed with 
 forests. Scattered amongst the trees were seen many 
 warriors, some descending in military array, and lead- 
 ing prisoners towards a castle, the wall of which 
 could be distinguished on the edge of the slab ; others 
 ascending the steep rocks with the aid of their spears, 
 or resting, seated under the trees. The next slab 
 probably contained a part of the same subject, but it 
 had been completely destroyed. 
 
 The wall was here interrupted by an entrance into 
 an inner hall, formed by two winged bulls, nearly 16 J 
 feet square, and sculptured out of one slab. The 
 human heads of these gigantic animals had disap- 
 peared. The inscription, which originally covered 
 all parts of the slab not occupied by the relief, was 
 so much defaced, that I was only able to copy a 
 few lines of it. This entrance was narrow, scarcely 
 exceeding six feet, differing in this respect from the 
 entrances at Nimroud. The pavement was formed 
 by one slab, elaborately carved with figures of flowers, 
 resembling the lotus, and with other ornaments. Be- 
 hind the bulls, was a short inscription, containing the 
 name and titles of the king. 
 
 Beyond this entrance the walls of the great hall, 
 to the distance of forty-five feet, had been destroyed. 
 
 * Engravings from drawings of the bas-reliefs discovered at Kouvunjik, 
 will be included in my work on the Monuments of Nineveh.
 
 CHAP. XIV.] DESCRIPTION OF BAS-RELIEFS. 127 
 
 On the lower part of a slab *, could be traced the 
 extremities of a human figure, but the remaining 
 sculptures were completely defaced. Of the slabs 
 forming the rest of the wall, to the end of the 
 chamber, only two were sufficiently well preserved 
 to be drawn, even in part, those numbered 9 and 13 
 in the plan. On the others I could trace, with dif- 
 ficulty, warriors descending and ascending thickly 
 wooded mountains, as in the bas-relief already de- 
 scribed. On No. 9. was the interior of a castle, the 
 Avail flanked by towers, and having angular battle- 
 ments ; the whole represented, as at Nimroud, by a 
 kind of ground plan. The king, seated within, on a 
 high chair or throne, was receiving his vizir, who 
 was accompanied by his attendants. Behind the 
 king stood two eunuchs, raising fans or fly-flappers 
 over his head. Without the walls were prisoners, 
 their hands confined by manacles ; and within were 
 represented the interiors of several houses and tents. 
 In the tents were seen men apparently engaged in 
 a variety of domestic occupations, and many articles 
 of furniture, tables, couches, and chairs. To the 
 tent-poles were suspended some utensils, perhaps 
 vases thus hung up, as is still the custom in the East, 
 to cool water. Above the head of the king was one 
 line of inscription containing his name and titles. 
 The castle was built on a mountain, and was sur- 
 rounded by trees. It had probably been captured 
 by the Assyrians, and the bas-relief represented the 
 
 * Marked No. 5. in the plan.
 
 128 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 king celebrating his victory, and receiving his pri- 
 soners within the walls. 
 
 On slab No. 13. was recorded the conquest of a 
 mountainous country. The enemy occupied the sum- 
 mit of a wooded hill, which they defended against 
 the enemy. Numerous Assyrian warriors were seen 
 scaling the rocks, supporting themselves with their 
 spears and with poles, or drawing themselves up by 
 the branches of trees. Others, returning from the 
 combat, were descending the mountains driving cap- 
 tives before them ; or carrying away the heads of 
 those whom they had slain. 
 
 A spacious entrance at the upper end of the hall 
 opened into a small chamber, which will be here- 
 after described. The bulls forming this portal were 
 in better preservation than those discovered at the 
 first entrance. The human heads, with the high and 
 elaborately adorned cap, or head-dress of the later 
 Assyrian period, although greatly injured, could still 
 be distinguished. Of the inscription also a consider- 
 able portion remained entire. 
 
 Upon the two slabs beyond this entrance *, was a 
 subject of considerable interest. Vessels filled with 
 warriors, and females, were represented leaving a 
 castle, built on the sea-shore, and on the declivity of a 
 mountain. A man stood at the castle gate, which 
 opened immediately upon the water. A woman, who 
 had already embarked in one of the ships, was seen 
 stretching out her arms to receive a child which the 
 man was giving to her. The sea was indicated by wavy 
 
 * Nos. 14. and 15. in the plan.
 
 CHAP. XR 7 .] DESCRIPTION OF SCULPTURES. 129 
 
 lines, carried across the slab from top to bottom, 
 and by fish, crabs, and turtles. The vessels were 
 of two kinds ; some had masts and sails as well as 
 oars, others were impelled by rowers alone. They 
 were furnished with two decks. On the upper stood 
 warriors armed with spears, and women wearing 
 high turbans or mitres. On the lower (which was 
 probably divided into two compartments) were double 
 sets of rowers ; eight, and sometimes ten men sitting 
 on a side, making sixteen or twenty in all. The 
 sides of the upper deck, as well as the battlements 
 of the castle on the sea shore, were hung with shields. 
 From the costume of the figures, and the position 
 of the city, it would appear that they were not As- 
 syrians, but a conquered people, flying from the 
 enemy. It will be shown that an Assyrian conquest 
 of the Tyrians, or of some other nation occupying 
 the coasts of the Mediterranean, was probably re- 
 corded by the bas-relief. 
 
 On the two slabs adjoining the sea-piece* was repre- 
 sented the besieging army. The upper part of both 
 slabs had been destroyed ; on the lower were still 
 preserved a few Assyrian warriors, protected by the 
 high wicker shield, and discharging arrows in the di- 
 rection of the castle. Rows of prisoners, with their 
 hands bound, were also seen led away by the con- 
 querors. 
 
 A third entrance, narrower than that on the op- 
 posite side of the hall, led into a chamber to the east. 
 
 * Nos. 16. and 17. in the plan. 
 VOL. II. K
 
 1 30 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 It was formed by two winged human-headed bulls 
 and two slabs, with bas-reliefs representing a battle 
 in a hilly country, wooded with pines or fir trees. 
 All these sculptures had been greatly injured. 
 
 Beyond this entrance the slabs, to the distance of 
 fourteen feet, had been completely destroyed. The 
 first, partly preserved, was that numbered 20 in the 
 plan. It was divided into six compartments. In 
 the upper was represented the sack of a city, out 
 of which men were dragging chariots, and driving 
 horses and cattle ; a second castle stood on a hill 
 above. In the second and third compartments were 
 combats between horsemen, and warriors on foot ; 
 and in the remainder, rows of chariots, drawn by 
 two horses, and carrying each three warriors, pre- 
 ceded by horsemen armed with long spears. At the 
 bottom of the slab, and between the warriors, were 
 trees. 
 
 Two other slabs were uncovered, but the subjects 
 upon them could not be ascertained. As the trench 
 now approached the ravine, and there appeared to be 
 no chance of finding any sculptures, even sufficiently 
 well preserved to be drawn, I removed the workmen 
 to another part of the ruins. 
 
 The doorway on the west side of the hall led into 
 a second hall *, the four sides of which were almost 
 entire. The bas-reliefs had unfortunately suffered 
 greatly from the fire, and in many places the slabs 
 had disappeared altogether. Mixed with the rubbish, 
 
 * Hall C in the plan.
 
 CHAP. XIV.] DESCRIPTION OF SCULPTURES. 131 
 
 which covered this part of the ruins, were fragments 
 of alabaster, and remains of sculpture. 
 
 The three first slabs to the left * appear to have 
 been each divided into three compartments. In the 
 first and second, were rows of archers and slingers ; 
 and in the third, warriors marching in single file, and 
 each carrying a spear and a shield. On the two fol- 
 lowing slabs was one subject the taking by assault 
 of a city or castle, built near a river in a mountainous 
 country, and surrounded by trees. Warriors, armed 
 with spears, were scaling the rocks, and archers, dis- 
 charging their arrows at the besieged, stood at the foot 
 of the mountain. The upper half of both slabs, con- 
 taining the greater part of the castle and the figures 
 of those who manned its walls, had been destroyed. 
 On the sixth slab the same castle was continued. 
 The walls were carried down the sides of the moun- 
 tain to its foot ; and houses were represented on the 
 banks of the river. The archers, and spearmen of the 
 besieging army, were assembled without the city. 
 Some warriors had already mounted the walls, and 
 were slaying the besieged on the house-tops ; whilst 
 others were leading off the captives they had taken. 
 The river was full of fish, tortoises, and eels. 
 
 The adjoining corner stone f was divided into three 
 compartments; the upper contained mountains and 
 trees : in the centre were represented an eunuch, and 
 a bearded scribe writing down, on rolls of parch- 
 ment or leather, the number of heads of the enemy 
 
 * Nos. 1, 2, and 3. in the plan. f No. 7. in the plan. 
 
 K 2
 
 132 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 brought to them by two warriors, who were placing 
 their trophies in a heap at the feet of the registrars. 
 In the lower compartment were three warriors with 
 spears and shields. 
 
 On No. 8. was the king in his chariot, preceded 
 by warriors on foot. At the bottom of the slab was 
 a river, and at the top, mountains and trees. This 
 bas-relief was also much injured. On the five follow- 
 ing slabs, which were almost entirely defaced, could 
 be traced one subject, the siege and sack of a city. 
 The king appeared in his chariot, and warriors were 
 seen driving off prisoners and cattle. The mountains 
 and river still indicated the scene of the events re- 
 corded. On slab No. 14. men and women led off 
 as prisoners, and flocks of sheep and goats, and herds 
 of cattle, were better preserved than the figures on 
 the preceding slabs. 
 
 From No. 14. to the entrance b, which opened into 
 another hall, the bas-reliefs had been almost com- 
 pletely destroyed. Here and there I could trace war- 
 riors discharging their arrows, prisoners and cattle 
 driven away, and a king or warrior in his chariot. 
 There were also the outlines of castles, mountains, 
 and trees ; but the whole series was far too much 
 injured to be even sketched. 
 
 The winged bulls, forming the entrance into the 
 hall to the west, were also in a very delapidated con- 
 dition, and the heads were wanting. Between them 
 I discovered a lion-headed human figure, raising a 
 sword or staff" in one hand. It was sculptured on a 
 small slab. Half the figure had been destroyed.
 
 CHAP. XIV.] DESCRIPTION OF SCULPTURES. 133 
 
 Beyond this entrance, the walls were in no better 
 condition. On slab No. 27. could be traced a double 
 row of warriors, carrying spears and shields, sepa- 
 rated by a river from horsemen riding amongst 
 mountains. No. 28. had been entirely destroyed by a 
 well, opened in this part of the mound, and carried 
 through the wall. On No. 29. could be distinguished 
 men leading horses, and warriors bringing the heads 
 of the slain to the scribes. The bottom of the slab 
 was occupied by horsemen ascending mountains, 
 separated by a river from the figures above. No. 30. 
 was better preserved than any of the preceding slabs. 
 The king stood in a chariot, holding a bow in his 
 left hand, and raising his right in token of triumph. 
 He was accompanied by a charioteer, and by an at- 
 tendant bearing an umbrella, to which was hung a 
 long curtain falling behind the back of the king, 
 and screening him entirely from the sun. The 
 chariot was drawn by two horses, and was preceded 
 by spearmen and archers. Above the king was ori- 
 ginally a short inscription, probably containing his 
 name and titles, but it had been entirely defaced. 
 Horsemen, crossing well-wooded mountains, were 
 separated from the group just described, by a river 
 abounding in fish. 
 
 The remaining bas-reliefs in this chamber appear 
 to have recorded similar events, the conquests of the 
 Assyrians, and the triumphs of their king. Only four 
 of them unfortunately were sufficiently well preserved 
 to enable me to make drawings ; the rest were almost 
 
 K 3
 
 134 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 completely destroyed. On Kos. 36. and 37. the taking 
 by assault of a city was pourtrayed with great spirit. 
 Warriors, armed with spears, were mounting ladders 
 placed against the walls; those who manned them 
 being held in check and assailed by archers who dis- 
 charged their arrows from below. The enemy de- 
 fended themselves with spears and bows, and carried 
 small oblong shields. Above the castle, a small in- 
 scription recorded most probably the name of the 
 city captured by the Assyrians; it had unfortu- 
 nately suffered great injury, a few characters only 
 being preserved. Under the castle walls were lines 
 of captives, driven off by the conquerors ; and at the 
 bottom and top of the slab were mountains, trees, 
 and a river, to indicate the nature of the country in 
 which the event represented took place. 
 
 The entrance b of chamber C, formed by two winged 
 bulls, led into a further chamber, a part only of which 
 I was able to explore. The alabaster slabs had in 
 many places completely disappeared, and I could not 
 even trace the walls and form of the apartment. 
 On slabs Nos. 1. and 2, was pourtrayed a mountainous 
 country ; a river ran through the midst of it. The 
 higher parts of the mountains were clothed with a 
 forest of pines or firs, the middle region by vine- 
 yards, and the lower by trees, resembling those 
 sculptured on other slabs, probably the dwarf oak of 
 the country. The king was seen riding through the 
 forest in his chariot, accompanied by many horse- 
 men. 
 
 The remaining slabs were covered from top to
 
 CHAP. XIV.] DESCRIPTION OF SCULPTURES. 135 
 
 bottom with rows of warriors, spearmen, and archers, 
 in their respective costumes, and in military array. 
 Each slab must have contained several hundred 
 minute figures, sculptured with great care and de- 
 licacy. 
 
 I found only one outlet from this chamber, that at 
 entrance b. The chambers to the west were dis- 
 covered by digging through the wall at the upper 
 end of chamber A. Here, too, the fire had raged, 
 and whilst the walls had in many places completely 
 disappeared, the few slabs that still remained in 
 their places were broken into a thousand pieces, and 
 could scarcely be held together whilst I sketched 
 the bas-reliefs. The chambers were half filled by 
 a heap of charcoal, earth, and fragments of burnt 
 alabaster. 
 
 Upon the walls of chamber D, were the siege and 
 capture of a city, standing on the banks of a river 
 in the midst of forests and mountains. On one slab 
 could be seen warriors cutting down trees, to form an 
 approach to the castle, whilst others were combating 
 with the enemy in the woods. On the adjoining 
 slabs were warriors scaling the walls, slaughtering 
 sheep, driving off captives and cattle, and carrying 
 away the heads of the slain. Small figures, wear- 
 ing high caps, and having their hands joined in 
 front, were represented as sitting astride on poles, 
 and borne on men's shoulders. They may have been 
 the divinities, or idols, of the conquered people. The 
 king in his chariot, the umbrella held over his head 
 by an eunuch, was receiving the spoil. 
 
 K 4
 
 136 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 On the bottom of slab No. 7. was a fisherman fishing 
 with a hook and line in a pond. Upon his back was 
 a wicker basket, containing the fish he had caught. 
 This was almost the only fragment of sculpture that 
 I was able to move and send to England, as a specimen 
 of the bas-reliefs of Kouyunjik. 
 
 Of the walls of chamber E, the lower part, to the 
 height of about four feet, alone remained. Upon it 
 could be traced long lines of captives, amongst them 
 women carrying their children, and riding on mules. 
 The prisoners were brought by archers before war- 
 riors standing, to receive them, with their spears 
 raised, and their shields resting on the ground. 
 
 The bas-reliefs on the walls of chamber F, recorded 
 the victories and triumphs of the king in a moun- 
 tainous country, and the siege of a city standing on 
 the banks of a river. The king stood in his chariot, 
 and around him were warriors leading away horses 
 and captives, bringing heads to the scribes, and con- 
 tending in battle with the enemy. All the slabs, 
 however, were equally injured. The figures upon 
 them could scarcely be distinguished. 
 
 The wide portal, formed by the winged bulls at the 
 upper end of chamber B, opened into a small chamber, 
 which had no other entrance. One side of it was 
 completely destroyed. On the remaining slabs were 
 represented the siege, and sack of a city, standing 
 between two rivers, in the midst of groves of palm 
 trees. From the absence of mountains, the nature 
 of the trees, and the two rivers, it may be conjec- 
 tured that the sculptures in this chamber recorded
 
 CHAP. XIV.] DESCRIPTION OF SCULPTURES. 137 
 
 the conquest of some part of Mesopotamia, or the 
 subjugation of a people, inhabiting that country, who 
 had rebelled against the authority of the Assyrian 
 king. Fortunately, a short inscription above the cap- 
 tured city has been preserved almost entire ; and we 
 may hope to find in it the name of the conquered 
 nation. The king was represented, several times, 
 in his chariot amidst groves of palm trees, and pre* 
 ceded and followed by warriors. The besiegers were 
 seen cutting down the palms, to open and clear the 
 approaches to the city. 
 
 A part only of chamber H, was uncovered. Se- 
 veral of the slabs appear to have been purposely 
 destroyed, as there were marks of the chisel upon 
 them. One of the winged bulls, forming an entrance 
 at the southern end of the chamber, had fallen from 
 its place. On the slab adjoining it was a gigantic 
 winged human figure, the upper part of which had 
 been defaced. On slabs Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7. could be 
 traced Avarriors urging their horses at full speed; 
 some discharging, at the same time, their arrows. 
 Beneath the horsemen were rows of chariots and led 
 horses. After my departure from Mosul, Mr. Ross 
 continued the excavations along this wall for a short 
 time, and discovered several other slabs and the 
 openings into three new chambers, one entrance 
 having, it appears, been formed by four lion sphinxes, 
 fragments of which were found amongst the rubbish. 
 The subjects of the bas-reliefs appear to have been 
 nearly the same as those preceding them. Mr. Ross 
 could trace chariots, horsemen, archers, and warriors
 
 138 NINEVEH AND ITS EEMAINS. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 in mail. The country, in which the events recorded 
 took place, was indicated by a river and palm trees. 
 On one slab were the remains of two lions. This 
 wall having ceased altogether, he first opened a 
 trench in the same direction, but without coming 
 upon other remains of building. Resuming the ex- 
 cavations at right angles to the end of the wall, he 
 discovered, about eighteen feet from it, an immense 
 square slab, which he conjectures to be a dais or altar, 
 resembling that found in the great hall of the prin- 
 cipal edifice at Nimroud.* The wall was continued 
 beyond it. The lower part of a few slabs still re- 
 mained, and it was evident that they had been sculp- 
 tured ; but this part of the building had been so 
 completely destroyed by fire, that Mr. Ross soon re- 
 nounced any further attempt to examine it. 
 
 This was the extent of my discoveries at Kouy- 
 unjik. The ruins were evidently those of a palace 
 of great extent and magnificence. From the size of 
 the slabs and the number of the figures, the walls, 
 when entire and painted, as they no doubt originally 
 were, must have been of considerable beauty, and 
 the dimensions of the chambers must have added 
 greatly to the general effect. At that time the 
 palace rose above the river, which swept round the 
 foot of the mound. Then also the edifice, now 
 covered by the village of Nebbi Yunus, stood entire 
 above the stream, and the whole quadrangle was 
 surrounded by lofty walls cased with stone, their 
 
 * See Vol. I. p. 133.
 
 CHAP. XIV.] RfR. ROSS'S DISCOVERIES. 139 
 
 towers adorned with sculptured alabaster, and their 
 gateways formed by colossal bulls. The position of 
 the ruins proves, that at one time this was one of 
 the most important parts of Nineveh ; and the mag- 
 nificence of the remains show, that the edifices must 
 have been founded by one of the greatest of the As- 
 syrian monarchs. 
 
 Mr. Ross having been requested, by the Trustees of 
 the British Museum, to carry on the excavations, on a 
 small scale, in Kouyunjik, he judiciously made expe- 
 riments in various parts of the mound. His dis- 
 coveries are of great interest, and tend to prove that 
 there were more buildings than one on the platform ; 
 but whether they were all of the same epoch I have 
 no means of judging; Mr. Ross not having yet sent 
 me the copies of any inscriptions from the palace last 
 explored by him. Unfortunately the building newly 
 found owes its destruction to fire, like that in the 
 south-west corner. Hitherto Mr. Ross has been un- 
 able to move any entire bas-reliefs, although there 
 are fragments which, it is hoped, will be secured, and 
 added to the collection of Assyrian antiquities to be 
 brought to this country. 
 
 Mr. Ross, on abandoning the edifice that I had dis- 
 covered, removed the workmen to the opposite side 
 of the mound. Here he has found a chamber formed 
 by slabs divided in the centre, as at Khorsabad and 
 Nimroud, by bands of inscription, and having bas- 
 reliefs in the two compartments. " The sculptures 
 represent," writes Mr. Ross, " the return of an army 
 in triumph, with chariots, led horses, and captives ;
 
 140 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 marching along the banks of a river, upon which are 
 groves of date trees in fruit. The river is full of fish, 
 tortoises, and crabs. Beyond is a city (also on the 
 banks of the river), out of the gates of which are 
 proceeding men and women on foot, in carts drawn 
 by oxen, and on mules, some bearing presents to the 
 conquerors. Near the castle is a field of millet in 
 ear. In the procession are carried two circular models 
 of towns " (probably representing places captured by 
 the king). " The accumulation of earth above the 
 ruins is so great that the workmen are now tunnel- 
 ling to reach the sculptures." 
 
 At the foot of the mound Mr. Ross has found 
 a monument of considerable interest. It was first 
 uncovered by a man ploughing. In shape it some- 
 what resembles a tombstone, being about three feet 
 high and rounded at the top. Upon it is a figure, 
 probably that of a king, and a long inscription in 
 the cuneiform character. Above the figure are 
 various emblems, amongst which is the winged di- 
 vinity in the circle. It was erect, and supported by 
 brickwork when discovered ; and near it was a sarco- 
 phagus in baked clay. Mr. Ross suggests that the 
 whole may have been an Assyrian tomb ; but I 
 question whether there is suificient evidence to prove 
 that its original site was where it was found ; or that 
 it had not been used, as portions of slabs with in- 
 scriptions at Nimroud, by people who occupied the 
 country after the destruction of the pure Assyrian 
 monuments. This interesting relic is nearly perfect, 
 one corner alone having been injured.
 
 CHAP. XIV.] PERIOD OF KOUYUNJIK. 141 
 
 In a mound, so vast as that of Kouyunjik, it is 
 probable that many remains of the highest interest 
 still exist. As it has been seen, the accumulation 
 of rubbish is so great, that a mere superficial ex- 
 amination would not suffice to prove the absence of 
 subterranean buildings. Hitherto only two corners 
 of the mound have been partially explored ; and in 
 both have ruins, with sculptures and inscriptions, 
 been discovered. They have been exposed to the 
 same great conflagration which apparently destroyed 
 all the edifices built upon the platform. It is possible, 
 however, that other parts of these palaces may be 
 found, which, if they have not escaped altogether the 
 general destruction, may at least be sufficiently well 
 preserved to admit of the removal of many important 
 relics. Such was the case at Khorsabad in ruins of 
 much less extent. 
 
 Although there may possibly be remains of more 
 than one epoch in Kouyunjik, I much doubt whether 
 there are any edifices earlier than that built by the 
 monarch, who is mentioned in the inscriptions of the 
 most recent palace of Nimroud, as the son of the 
 founder of Khorsabad. His name occurs on all the 
 bricks and monuments hitherto discovered (as far as I 
 am aware) in Kouyunjik, in the neighbouring mound 
 
 of Nebbi Yunus, and in the smaller mounds forming 
 
 o 
 
 the large quadrangle opposite Mosul. From the de- 
 scription given by Mr. Ross of the sculptures he has 
 recently found, I recognise in them, as well as in the 
 bas-reliefs of the palace above described, the style and
 
 142 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 mode of treatment of Khorsabad and of the latter 
 monuments of Nimroud.* 
 
 * In the winter of this year Mr. Ross visited the rock tablets of Bavian, 
 which want of time had, to my great regret, prevented me examining. The 
 account he has obligingly sent me of the result of his journey to these very 
 remarkable remains is so interesting, that I venture to transcribe it. " I 
 left Mosul," he writes, " a little before Asr," (the time of afternoon 
 prayer,) " and reached Baazani after dark. During the night it rained 
 heavily, and I started with rain and a high cutting cold wind, which lasted 
 the whole day. After a very disagreeable ride over the Jebel Makloub and 
 the Missouri hills, I reached Bavian an hour after sunset. The village stands 
 on the Gomel, at the point where the high range of mountains, running be- 
 hind Sheikh Adi, sinks into hills. It consists of three wretched houses, 
 whose inhabitants" (Kurds) " are in an equally destitute condition. I had 
 great difficulty in procuring any food for my horses and mules ; and could 
 find nothing but a little rice to give them there being neither wheat nor 
 barley in the place. Immediately opposite the village, on the west side 
 of the Gomel, rise the cliffs, on which are the bas-reliefs. There are eight 
 small tablets, each containing the portrait of a king, about four feet high ; 
 and one very large tablet with two kings, apparently worshipping two 
 priest-like figures standing, the one on a lion, and the other on a griffin. 
 Above this tablet rose a statue on two lions, but now only the paws of 
 a lion are well preserved ; the outline of the head of one can be traced, 
 but the statue is reduced to a square oblong block. I fancy it may 
 have been a sphinx like those of Nimroud. In the river are two masses 
 of rock, with figures of priests or gods standing on the backs of animals, 
 which must have originally been very beautiful. Other large masses 
 of rock are in the water, and may once have borne bas-reliefs. There 
 is also a tablet on which the body of a bull may be traced, but very 
 much defaced. I could not find the figure of the gigantic horseman. 
 It may be that it is so much injured that neither I nor the villagers 
 could discover it. Some of the small tablets are on the perpendicular 
 face of the rock, others are reached by a narrow ledge. "Where any 
 footing could be obtained, I trod with my Tiyari woollen shoes. Of 
 all the tablets which I examined, either closely or from below, only 
 one has an inscription. It is a tablet easily approached. The writing 
 runs completely across it, even over the figure of the king ; but it is 
 greatly injured from holes having been bored in it, as well as from long 
 exposure so much so, that I was unable to copy it. On the body of the 
 king, and in the centre of the writing, is an inscription enclosed within a 
 triangle I suppose a name. The large tablet, and that containing
 
 KOUYUNJIK. 143 
 
 Further researches at Kouyunjik could scarcely 
 fail to be productive of many interesting and im- 
 portant results. The inscriptions hitherto found 
 amongst the ruins are few in number. The bas- 
 reliefs evidently relate to great events, to the con- 
 quest of distant kingdoms, and the subjugation of 
 
 the bull, have chambers cut behind them. I am inclined to think that 
 these chambers were excavated, at the same time as the portraits were 
 sculptured. Their use is obvious. They were tombs, and my idea is that 
 the bas-reliefs outside are the portraits of the monarchs who were buried 
 within. Picture to yourself a small room, square in shape, and with a flat 
 vault. On either side, recesses or niches " (resembling a small oven) " are 
 cut into the wall, evidently to hold a body. These niches, being only about 
 four feet long, nftiy be thought too small to receive a man ; but I imagine 
 that the corpse was crammed into a sarcophagus, similar to those discovered 
 at Nimroud, which the recesses are well calculated to contain. These 
 tombs must once have been closed ; now they have small doors and even 
 windows ; those in the large tablet are numerous, and give the idea of a 
 church. The whole cliff would have made an extremely pretty sketch. The 
 windows of the large cave are close together in pairs, and arched. Being 
 without a ladder, I could not get into them, and could not therefore ascer- 
 tain whether they belonged to one large chamber, or to several adjoining 
 chambers. I am inclined to think that the latter is the case. It would seem 
 that these bas-reliefs covered royal tombs, with concealed entrances, which 
 were, at a later period, broken open and pillaged, and afterwards converted 
 into dwellings, and the windows opened. It is possible that chambers still 
 unrifled might be found behind the smaller tablets. I suspect that the in- 
 scription has been injured by holes having been bored into it to make an 
 opening, and that the attempt was subsequently abandoned. There are 
 various signs and religious emblems scattered about chiefly representa- 
 tions of the sun and moon." It is to be regretted that Mr. Ross was unable 
 to take a copy of the inscription, which would probably have enabled me 
 to ascertain the comparative epoch of the tablets, with reference to the ruins 
 of the Assyrian palaces. His suggestion, with regard to these bas-reliefs 
 marking places of sepulture, is well deserving of attention. It is possible 
 that I may, at some future period, be able to examine these rock sculptures 
 with the attention they deserve, and to determine their use. At present 
 there is reason to believe that the chambers belong to a more recent period 
 than the Assyrian bas-reliefs ; but their date has not been satisfactorily 
 determined, and they may after all have been what Mr. Ross conjectures.
 
 144 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 powerful nations. The identity of the name of the 
 king, who caused them to be executed, with that 
 found on the well-known tablets near Beyrout, at 
 the mouth of the Dog river, or the Nahr-el-Kelb, 
 proves that the Assyrian Empire, at the time of the 
 building of the Kouyunjik palaces, extended to the 
 borders of the Mediterranean ; and this, as well as 
 several other circumstances go far to show, that the 
 bas-reliefs in which the sea is represented, celebrate 
 the conquest of Tyre or Sidon. But I will defer to 
 another chapter any further remarks upon the his- 
 torical, and other information afforded by the sculp- 
 tures of Kouyunjik, and upon the importance of 
 further researches. 
 
 My labours in Assyria had now drawn to a close. 
 The funds assigned to the Trustees of the British 
 Museum for the excavations had been expended, and 
 from the instructions sent to me, further researches 
 were not, for the present at least, contemplated. It 
 now, therefore, only remained for me to wind up my 
 affairs in Mosul, to bid adieu to my friends there, and 
 to turn my steps homewards, after an absence of some 
 years. The ruins of Nimroud had been again covered 
 up, and its palaces were once more hidden from the eye. 
 The sculptures taken from them had been safely re- 
 moved to Busrah, and were now awaiting their final 
 transport to England. The inscriptions, which pro- 
 mise to instruct us in the history and civilisation 
 of one of the most ancient and illustrious nations 
 of the earth, had been carefully copied. On look- 
 ing back upon the few months that I had passed in
 
 CHAP. XIV.] CONCLUSION. 145 
 
 Assyria, I could not but feel some satisfaction at the 
 result of my labours. Scarcely a year before, with 
 the exception of the ruins of Khorsabad, not one 
 Assyrian monument was known. Almost sufficient 
 materials had now been obtained to enable us to 
 restore much of the lost history of the country, and 
 to confirm the vague traditions of the learning and 
 civilisation of its people, hitherto treated as fabulous. 
 It had often occurred to me during my labours, 
 that the time of the discovery of these remains was 
 so opportune, that a person inclined to be super- 
 stitious might look upon it as something more than 
 accidental. Had these palaces been by chance ex- 
 posed to view some years before, no one would have 
 been ready to take advantage of the circumstance, 
 and they would have been completely destroyed by 
 the inhabitants of the country. Had they been dis- 
 covered a little later, it is highly probable that there 
 would have been insurmountable objections to their 
 removal. It was consequently just at the right mo- 
 ment that they were disinterred ; and we have been 
 fortunate enough to acquire the most convincing, and 
 lasting evidence of that magnificence, and power, 
 which made Nineveh the wonder of the ancient 
 world, and her fall the theme of the prophets, as 
 the most signal instance of divine vengeance. With- 
 out the evidence that these monuments afford, we 
 might almost have doubted that the great Nineveh 
 ever existed, so completely " has she become a deso- 
 lation and a waste." 
 
 VOL. II. L
 
 146 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 Before my departure I was desirous of giving a 
 last entertainment to my workmen, and to those 
 who had kindly aided me in my labours. On the 
 western side of Kouyunjik there is a small village. 
 It belongs, with the mound, to a former slave of a 
 Pasha of the Abd-el-Jelleel family, who had received 
 his liberty, and the land containing the ruins, as a 
 reward for long and faithful services. This village 
 was chosen for the festivities, and tents for the ac- 
 commodation of all the guests were pitched around 
 it. Large platters filled with boiled rice, and divers 
 inexplicable messes, only appreciated by Arabs, and 
 those who have lived with them, the chief com- 
 ponents being garlic and sour milk were placed 
 before the various groups of men and women, who 
 squatted in circles on the ground. Dances were 
 then commenced, and were carried on through the 
 greater part of the night, the Tiyari and the Arabs 
 joining in them, or relieving each other by turns. 
 The dancers were happy and enthusiastic, and kept 
 up a constant shouting. The quiet Christian ladies 
 of Mosul, who had scarcely before this occasion ven- 
 tured beyond the walls of the town, gazed with 
 wonder and delight on the scene ; lamenting, no 
 doubt, that the domestic arrangements of their hus- 
 bands did not permit more frequent indulgence in 
 such gaieties. 
 
 At the conclusion of the entertainment I spoke a 
 few words to the workmen, inviting any who had 
 been wronged, or ill-used, to come forward and receive
 
 CHAP. XIV.] DEPARTURE. 147 
 
 such redress as it was in my power to afford, and 
 expressing my satisfaction at the successful termina- 
 tion of our labours Avithout a single accident. One 
 Sheikh Khalaf, a very worthy man, who was usually 
 the spokesman on such occasions, answered for his 
 companions. They had lived, he said, under my 
 shadow, and, God be praised, no one had cause to 
 complain. Now that I was leaving, they should leave 
 also, and seek the distant banks of the Khabour, 
 where at least they would be far from the autho- 
 rities, and be able to enjoy the little they had saved. 
 All they wanted was each man a teskere, or note, to 
 certify that they had been in my service. This would 
 not only be some protection to them, but they would 
 show my writing to their children, and would tell 
 them of the days they had passed at Nimroud. Please 
 God, I should return to the Jebour, and live in tents 
 with them on their old pasture grounds, where there 
 were as many ruins as at Nimroud, plenty of plunder 
 within reach, and gazelles, wild boars, and lions for 
 the chase. After Sheikh Khalaf had concluded, the 
 women advanced in a body and made a similar ad- 
 dress. I gave a few presents to the principal work- 
 men and their wives, and all were highly satisfied with 
 their treatment. 
 
 A few days afterwards, the preparations for my 
 departure were complete. I paid my last visit to 
 Essad Pasha, called upon the principal people of the 
 town, and on the 24th of June was ready to leave 
 Mosul. 
 
 L 2
 
 148 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. XIV. 
 
 I was accompanied on my journey to Constantinople 
 by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, Ibrahim Agha, and the 
 Bairakdar, and by several members of the household 
 of the late Pasha; who were ready, in return for 
 their own food and that of their horses, to serve 
 me on the road. We were joined by many other 
 travellers, who had been waiting for an opportunity 
 to travel to the north in company with a sufficiently 
 strong party. The country was at this time very in- 
 secure. The Turkish troops had marched against 
 Beder Khan Bey, who had openly declared his inde- 
 pendence, and defied the authority of the Sultan. 
 The failure of the crops had brought parties of Arabs 
 abroad, and scarcely a day passed without the plunder 
 of a caravan and the murder of travellers. The Pasha 
 sent a body of irregular horse to accompany me as 
 far as the Turkish camp, which I wished to visit on 
 my way. With this escort, and with my own party, 
 all well armed and prepared to defend themselves, I 
 had no cause to apprehend any accident by the way. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Rassam, all the European residents, 
 and many of the principal Christian gentlemen of 
 Mosul, rode out with me to some distance from the 
 town. On the opposite side of the river, at the foot 
 of the bridge, were the ladies who had assembled to 
 bid me farewell. Beyond them were the wives and 
 daughters of my workmen, who clung to my horse, 
 many of them shedding tears as they kissed my 
 hand. The greater part of the Arabs insisted upon 
 walking as far as Tel Kef with me. In this village
 
 CHAP. XIV.] DEPARTURE. 149 
 
 supper had been prepared for the party. Old Gouriel, 
 the Kiayah, still rejoicing in his drunken leer, was 
 there to receive us. We sat on the house-top till mid- 
 night. The horses were then loaded and saddled. 1 
 bid a last farewell to my Arabs, and started on the 
 first stage of our long journey to Constantinople.
 
 PART II. 
 
 i. 4

 
 153 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 J[ATERIALS FOR THE HISTORY OF ASSYRIA. COMPARATIVE DATES 
 
 OF MONUMENTS. ASSYRIAN WRITING. THE CUNEIFORM. 
 
 ITS VARIETIES. ASSYRIAN RECORDS. WRITING MATERIALS. 
 
 MONUMENTAL RECORDS. BRICKS AND TILES. PROGRESS IN 
 
 DECIPHERING. ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS OF VARIOUS PERIODS. 
 
 THE IVORY ORNAMENTS. CARTOUCHES. CONNECTION BE- 
 TWEEN ASSYRIA AND EGYPT. HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF PERIOD 
 
 OF NINUS. THE ASSYRIAN DYNASTIES. THE TOMBS AT N1M- 
 
 KOUD. ANTIQUITY OF NINEVEH. 
 
 I HAVE endeavoured, in the preceding pages, to de- 
 scribe the manner in which excavations were carried 
 on amongst the ruins of Nineveh, and the discoveries 
 to which they gave rise. At the same time, I have 
 sought to convey to the reader, by short descriptions 
 of theChaldaBans, the Arabs, and the Yezidis, some idea 
 of the people, who are now found within the limits of 
 the ancient kingdom of Assyria Proper. This account 
 of my labours would, however, be incomplete, were I 
 not to point out the most important of their results ; 
 were I not to show how far the monuments and re- 
 mains discovered tend to elucidate disputed questions 
 of history or chronology, or to throw light upon the 
 civilisation, manners, and arts of a people, so little 
 known as the Assyrians. It must, however, be re- 
 membered that our materials are as yet exceedingly 
 incomplete. The history of this remarkable nation, 
 as derived from its monuments, is a subject hitherto 
 left untouched ; and indeed within a very few months 
 alone, have we possessed any positive data to aid us
 
 154 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 in such an inquiry. The meagre, and mostly fabu- 
 lous, notices scattered through the works of ancient 
 writers, scarcely afford us any aid whatever ; for 
 Nineveh had almost been forgotten before history 
 began. The examination of remains existing on the 
 banks of the Tigris has been but limited. Many ex- 
 tensive ruins are yet unexplored, and it can scarcely be 
 doubted that there are still mounds enclosing records 
 and monuments, the recovery of which would add 
 greatly to our acquaintance with this long-lost people. 
 Only three spots have been hitherto examined, Nim- 
 roud, Kouyunjik and Khorsabad ; and of the three, 
 Khorsabad, the smallest, alone thoroughly. Unfortu- 
 nately in the Assyrian edifices, little but the sculptured 
 slabs has been preserved. All the painted records which 
 once covered the walls, in addition to the bas-reliefs of 
 alabaster, have perished. Nor have we, as in Egypt, 
 labyrinths of tombs, on the sides of which, as well as on 
 the walls and columns of the temples, are most faith- 
 fully and elaborately pourtrayed the history, the arts, 
 the manners, and the domestic life of the former oc- 
 cupiers of the land so fully indeed, that, from these 
 monuments alone, we are able to obtain a complete 
 insight into the public and private condition of the 
 Egyptians, from the remotest period to their final ex- 
 tinction. * Hitherto, no tombs have been discovered 
 
 * I need scarcely mention the admirable work of Sir Gardner Wilkin- 
 son, in which he has availed himself of the paintings, sculptures, and 
 monuments of the ancient Egyptians to restore their manners and cus- 
 toms, and to place their public and private life before us, as fully as if 
 they still occupied the banks of the Nile. I shall frequently have occa- 
 sion to refer to it in the course of this and the following chapters.
 
 CHAP. I.] MATERIALS FOR ASSYRIAN HISTORY. 155 
 
 in Assyria, which can, with any degree of certainty, 
 be assigned to the Assyrians themselves. It is not 
 impossible that such tombs, even painted after the 
 fashion of the Egyptians, do exist in the bosom of 
 some unexplored hill ; their entrances so carefully 
 concealed, that they have escaped the notice of the 
 subsequent inhabitants of the country. At present, 
 however, the only sources from which we can obtain 
 any knowledge of Assyria, are the bas-reliefs dis- 
 covered in the ruins described in the previous pages. 
 To these may be added a few relics, such as seals, and 
 cylinders, and one or two inscriptions on stones, 
 bricks, and tiles, to be found in the Museums of 
 Europe. Still the sculptures do furnish us with very 
 interesting and important details, both with regard 
 to the arts, and to the manners of the Assyrians; 
 and there is every reason to presume that the in- 
 scriptions, when deciphered, will afford positive his- 
 torical data, which may enable us to fix, with some 
 confidence, the precise period of many events re- 
 corded in the bas-reliefs. 
 
 There are also other subjects, connected with the 
 discoveries in Assyria requiring notice. Through 
 them may be traced the origin of many arts, of many 
 myths and symbols, and of many traditions after- 
 wards perfected, and made familiar to us through the 
 genius of the Greeks. The connection between the 
 East and the West, and the Eastern origin of several 
 nations of Asia Minor, long suspected, may perhaps 
 be established by more positive proof than we have 
 hitherto possessed. These considerations alone require 
 a detailed account of the results of the excavations.
 
 156 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 I have endeavoured to avoid statements which do not 
 appear to be warranted by plausible evidence : and if 
 I have ventured to make any suggestions, I am ready 
 to admit that the corroboration of my views must 
 depend upon an acquaintance with the contents of 
 the inscriptions, and upon the future examination of 
 ruins, in which additional monuments may exist. 
 
 As I have frequently alluded to the remote anti- 
 quity of the Assyrian edifices, it will naturally be 
 asked upon what grounds we assign them to any par- 
 ticular period on what data do the proofs of their 
 early origin rest ? In answering these questions, it 
 will be necessary to point out the evidence afforded 
 by the monuments themselves, and how that evidence 
 agrees with the statements of ancient authors. 
 
 From our present limited knowledge of the character 
 used in the inscriptions, and from a want of adequate 
 acquaintance with the details of Assyrian art, which 
 might lead to a satisfactory classification of the various 
 remains, we can scarcely aim at more than fixing a 
 comparative epoch to these monuments. It would be 
 hazardous to assign any positive date to them, or to 
 ascribe their erection to any monarch whose name 
 can be recognised in a dynastic list of acknowledged 
 authenticity, and the time of whose reign can be de- 
 termined with any pretence to accuracy. Although a 
 conjecture may be allowed, we can come to no positive 
 conclusion upon the subject. More progress is required 
 in deciphering the character, more extensive researches 
 must be carried on amongst the ruins of Assyria, and 
 names of kings must be ascertained, by which we may
 
 CHAI>. I.] ANTIQUITY OF MONUMENTS. 157 
 
 connect the genealogical lists, undoubtedly of various 
 epochs, that have hitherto been discovered. I will 
 only point out facts which prove that the edifices de- 
 scribed in the previous pages must belong to a very 
 early period, without pretending to decide their exact 
 age. The inquiry is one of considerable importance, 
 for upon its results depend many questions of the 
 highest interest connected with the history of civil- 
 isation, in the countries watered by the Tigris and 
 Euphrates, of its passage into the neighbouring king- 
 doms, and of its ultimate effects upon the more dis- 
 tant regions of Asia, and even upon Greece. 
 
 The proofs to be adduced in support of the great 
 antiquity of some of the monuments of Nimroud, are 
 entitled to attention, and should not be rejected, 
 merely because they are at variance with precon- 
 ceived notions and theories. We are not justified in 
 attempting to draw conclusions from the state of the 
 arts, or sciences, amongst a people of whose history 
 and capabilities, before the discovery of these monu- 
 ments, we were totally ignorant. We knew nothing 
 of the civilisation of the Assyrians, except what could 
 be gathered from casual notices scattered through the 
 works of the Greeks. From their evidence, indeed, 
 we are led to believe that the inhabitants of Assyria 
 had attained a high degree of culture at a very remote 
 period. The testimony of the Bible, and the monu- 
 ments of the Egyptians, on which the conquests of that 
 people over Asiatic nations are recorded, lead to the 
 same conclusion. It will be shown, that in Assyria, 
 as in Egypt, the arts do not appear to have ad-
 
 158 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 vunced, after the construction of the earliest edifices 
 with which we are acquainted, but rather to have 
 declined. The most ancient sculptures we possess 
 are the most correct and severe in form, and show 
 the highest degree of taste in the details. The very 
 great antiquity of the early monuments of Egypt, 
 however much we may differ between the highest 
 and lowest date claimed for them, is now generally 
 admitted. Few persons indeed would be inclined to 
 ascribe them to a later epoch than that generally as- 
 signed to the foundation of Nineveh, about twenty 
 centuries before Christ. At that time the arts had 
 attained a very high degree of perfection in Egypt ; 
 and might obviously have attained even to a much 
 higher, had not those who practised them been re- 
 stricted by certain prejudices, and superstitions, to a 
 conventional style, from which it was not lawful to 
 depart. There is no reason to doubt, therefore, that 
 at the same remote period, the Assyrians also may 
 have excelled in them. Even the conventional forms 
 of Egypt are accompanied by extreme beauty in the 
 details, and in the shape of the domestic furniture 
 and utensils ; which proves that those who invented 
 them were capable of the highest culture, and, if 
 unfettered, might have attained to the greatest 
 perfection. The Assyrians may not have been con- 
 fined to the same extent as their rivals; they may 
 have copied nature more carefully, and may have 
 given more scope to their taste, and invention, in the 
 choice and arrangement of their ornaments. But the 
 subject will be more fully entered into when I come
 
 CHAP. I.] ANTIQUITY OF MONUMENTS. 159 
 
 to speak of the arts of the Assyrians.* We have now 
 to examine the evidences of the antiquity of their 
 monuments. 
 
 The first ascertained date from which our inquiry 
 must commence, is the destruction of Nineveh by the 
 combined armies of Cyaxares, King of Persia and 
 Media, and Nabopolassar, King of Babylon, or more 
 probably governor of that city on behalf of the Assy- 
 rian monarch. We must needs go backwards, as 
 we cannot with any degree of certainty fix the date 
 of any earlier event. 
 
 It must, I think, be readily admitted that all the 
 monuments hitherto discovered in Assyria are to be 
 attributed to a period preceding the Persian con- 
 quest. In the first place, history and tradition unite 
 in affirming that Nineveh was utterly destroyed by 
 the conquerors. Although the earlier prophets fre- 
 quently allude to the great city, and to its wealth and 
 power before its fall, it will be observed that the latter 
 rarely mention the name. If they do, it is in allusion 
 to the heap of ruins to the desolation which was 
 spread over the site of a once great city, as a special 
 instance of the divine vengeance. They pointed to it 
 as a warning to other nations against whom their 
 prophecies were directed, f When Xenophon passed 
 over the remains of Nineveh, its very name had been 
 forgotten, and he describes a part of it as a de- 
 serted city which had formerly been inhabited by the 
 
 * These remarks are necessary, as there is an impression that an ap- 
 proximate date can be assigned to the monuments discovered at Nimroud 
 from the style of art of the sculptures. (See a letter of Mr. Westmacott 
 in the Athenaeum of 7th August, 1847.) 
 
 f See particularly Ezekiel, ch. sxxi.
 
 160 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 Medes.* Strabo says, that when Cyaxares and his 
 allies took the city, they utterly destroyed it; its 
 inhabitants, according to Diodorus Siculus, being 
 distributed in the surrounding villages. Lucian 
 speaks of Nineveh as so completely laid waste, that 
 even its vestiges did not remain. | It is certain 
 that even if Nineveh were not levelled with the 
 ground, or deserted by its inhabitants, it was no 
 longer the seat of government, nor held a high place 
 amongst the cities of the East. If vast palaces and 
 edifices are found amongst its ruins, it is much more 
 reasonable to refer their construction to a period 
 when Nineveh was the capital of the Eastern world, 
 and the dwelling-place of the Assyrian monarchs, than 
 to the time of its subjection to the kings of Persia, 
 and of its degradation to a mere provincial town. 
 
 If these edifices between the periods of the 
 erection of which many years, even centuries, must 
 have elapsed were the work of the Persian con- 
 querors, we should find some record of the fact. 
 The peculiar variety of the cuneiform character 
 adopted by the Persians is perfectly well-known, 
 and is found on all their monuments. It was 
 even used in Egypt, accompanied by hieroglyphics, 
 
 * Cyrop. 1. iii. c. 4. " After this defeat the Persians retired, and the 
 Greeks, marching the rest of the day without disturbance, came to the 
 river Tigris, where stood a large uninhabited city, called Larissa, anciently 
 inhabited by the Medes." 
 
 f Strabo, lib. xvi. Herodotus appears to allude to it as a city that 
 formerly existed. (Lib. i. c. 193.) Clement of Alexandria, in his com- 
 mentaries on Nahum, confirms the account of Lucan of its utter destruc- 
 tion. The Nineveh of Tacitus (Annal. 1. xii. 13.) and Ammianus 
 Marcellinus (1. xviii. c. 7.), was a modern city built near or on the ruins 
 of the ancient.
 
 CHAP. I.] CUNEIFORM WRITING. 161 
 
 after their conquest of that country.* It occurs 
 on all the monuments of the same period in Persia 
 and Armenia, accompanied by translations, in parallel 
 columns, in the Babylonian and Median f writing. 
 Amongst the ruins of Assyria, this Persian variety of 
 the cuneiform character has never been found. It can 
 scarcely be doubted, that the bas-reliefs described in 
 the previous pages, represent the victories and con- 
 quests of the kings who built the edifices in which 
 they were contained ; it is not probable that, had these 
 kings been Persians, they would have omitted to re- 
 cord their deeds in their native tongue, when they 
 have done so in all other places where they have 
 caused similar monuments to be erected. 
 
 The date of the conquest of Nineveh by Cyaxares 
 is well ascertained as 606 before Christ. J The city 
 
 * I allude to the vases with the names of the Persian kings in hiero- 
 glyphics, as well as in cuneiform characters. One at Venice bears the 
 name of Artaxerxes ; that usually known as Caylus's vase, in the 
 National Library, at Paris, the name of Xerxes. 
 
 f I use the term Median, however inapplicable, because it has gene- 
 rally been adopted. 
 
 { The evidence afforded as to the exact date of the destruction of 
 Nineveh by the concurrent evidence of Scripture and Herodotus, is thus 
 collected by Clinton (Fasti Hellenici, vol. i. p. 269.) : " The overthrow 
 of Nineveh did not happen before the death of Josiah king of Judah in 
 B. c. 609, because a king of Assyria is mentioned at that period ; and 
 Zephaniah, in the prophecy delivered in the reign of Josiah, predicts the 
 destruction of Nineveh as a future event. The sum of the argument 
 is this : From the age of Tobit it appears that Nineveh was standing in 
 B.C. 610. For he became blind in the year 710, and survived that ac- 
 cident 100 years ; and yet he died before the fall of Nineveh. But a pro- 
 phecy of Jeremiah, written in the first year of the captivity, B.C. 605, 
 seems to imply that the city was then destroyed ; for in the particular 
 enumeration of all the kings of the north far and near, and all the 
 kingdoms of the world, &c., Assyria and Nineveh are not named. The 
 VOL. II. M
 
 162 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 had then been scarcely a year in the hands of the 
 Assyrians, after the expulsion of the Scyths, who, 
 according to the testimony of Herodotus, held this 
 part of Asia for twenty-eight years. We cannot at- 
 tribute these vast monuments, evidences of a high 
 state of civilisation, and of taste and knowledge, to 
 the wandering tribes ; who, during their short occu- 
 pation, did little, according to the historian, but 
 oppress the inhabitants, pass their days in licen- 
 tiousness amidst new luxuries, and destroy the re- 
 cords of former prosperity and power.* We have 
 consequently the date of 634 years before Christ to 
 go back from. No one will, I think, be inclined 
 to assign these edifices to a later epoch. 
 
 It has already been seen that there are buildings 
 of various periods in the mound of Nimroud, and I 
 have mentioned that they contain the names and 
 genealogies of several kings. The most recent 
 palace was that discovered in the south-west corner ; 
 and it was principally built of slabs and materials 
 
 testimony of Scripture, then, decides that the city was captured, and the 
 Assyrian monarchy destroyed, certainly after B.C. 609, and probably 
 before B.C. 605. Herodotus brings the date to a narrower point. Cy- 
 axares prepared to revenge his father's death upon the Assyrians, but 
 was interrupted by the Scythians, who held Asia for twenty-eight years. 
 After their expulsion Cyaxares conquered the Assyrians. But as the 
 Scythians were not expelled till B. c. 607, the capture of Nineveh could 
 not occur till B c. 606 ; and this date, obtained from Herodotus, is remark- 
 ably consistent with the accounts of Scripture." According to the Seder- 
 Olam (c. 24, 25.), the fall of Nineveh would have occurred about this 
 time ; and upon its authority M. Freret (Mem. de Lit. tires des Registres 
 de 1' Academic, vol. vii. p. 538.) places the event in 608 B. c. 
 
 * " After possessing the dominion of Asia for twenty-eight years, the 
 Scythians lost all they had obtained by their licentiousness and neglect." 
 Herod, lib. i. c. 106.
 
 CIIAP. I.] EPOCH OF BUILDINGS. 163 
 
 taken from the edifices in the north-west, the centre, 
 and other parts of the mound. This can be proved 
 beyond a question ; first, by identity in the style of 
 the sculptures ; secondly, by inscriptions, in which 
 certain formulas occur; thirdly, by the fact of the 
 sculptured faces of the slabs being turned against 
 the wall of sun-dried bricks, and smoothed on the 
 opposite side preparatory to their being used a second 
 time ; and, fourthly, by the discovery of sculptured 
 slabs lying in different parts of the ruins, where 
 they had evidently been left, whilst being removed 
 to the new pr.lace. 
 
 The only sculptures which can be attributed to 
 the builders of this edifice are the bulls and lions 
 forming the entrances, and the crouching sphinxes 
 between them. But the arguments they afford will 
 be the same, whether they were the work of those 
 who founded the building, or whether they were 
 brought from elsewhere. If the latter be the case, 
 we should be furnished with additional proof in 
 favour of the high antiquity of the earliest edifice. 
 In the material, a kind of limestone, out of which 
 they are sculptured, as well as in certain peculiarities 
 of form (as, for instance, in being provided with four 
 legs, and having small figures carved on the same 
 slab), they differ from any others discovered amongst 
 the ruins. It is not probable that they could have 
 been moved in their finished state without injury ; 
 and, as it will be hereafter shown, it was evidently 
 the custom of the Assyrians to sculpture their slabs, 
 not before, but after they had been placed. 
 
 M 2
 
 164 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 On the backs of these lions and bulls we have a 
 short, but highly important, inscription, which has en- 
 abled me, as I have already had occasion to observe, 
 to identify the comparative date of many monuments 
 discovered in Assyria, and of tablets existing in 
 other parts of Asia. Before submitting this inscrip- 
 tion, as well as others from the ruins, to the reader, 
 I must describe the process by which the names of 
 the kings have been determined; as the arguments 
 will mainly depend upon the proof which these 
 names afford. 
 
 Two characters appear at one time to have been in 
 use amongst the Assyrians. One, the cuneiform or 
 arrow-headed, as in Egypt, was probably the hiero- 
 glyphic, and principally employed for monumental 
 records * ; the other, the cursive or hieratic, may 
 have been used in documents of a private nature, 
 or for records of public events of minor importance. 
 The nature of the arrow-headed will be hereafter 
 fully described. The cursive resembles the writing 
 of the Phoenicians, Palmyrenes, Babylonians, and 
 Jews ; in fact, the character, which, under a few 
 unessential modifications, was common to the na- 
 tions speaking cognate dialects of one language, 
 variously termed the Semitic, Aramaean, or, more 
 appropriately, Syro- Arabian. There is this great dis- 
 tinction between the cuneiform and cursive, that 
 while the first was written from left to right, the 
 
 * Democritus is said to have written on the sacred letters of Babylon 
 ** TO irtpi rttiv iv BafjAtDv lipaiv ypafiftariiii'." (Diog. Laert. lib. ix.) This 
 appears to point to two forms of writing.
 
 CHAP. I.] ASSYRIAN WRITING. 165 
 
 second, after the fashion of the Hebrew and Arabic, 
 ran from right to left. This striking difference 
 would seem to show that the origin of the two modes 
 of writing was distinct.* 
 
 It would be difficult, in the present state of our 
 knowledge, to determine the period of the invention 
 and first use of written characters in Assyria ; nor 
 is there any evidence to prove which of the two 
 forms, the arrow-head or the cursive, is the more an- 
 cient, or whether they were introduced at the same 
 time. Pliny declares that it is to the Assyrians we 
 owe the invention of letters, although some have at- 
 tributed it to the Egyptians, who were said to have 
 been instructed in the art of writing by Mercury f ; 
 or to the Syrians, who, in the passage in Pliny, are 
 evidently distinguished from the Assyrians, with 
 whom they are by ancient authors very frequently 
 confounded. J Lucan ascribes their introduction to 
 the Phoenicians, a Syrian people. On monuments 
 and remains purely Syrian, or such as cannot be 
 
 * The numerals, like the letters, were expressed by various combi- 
 nations of the wedge. There appear to have been, at the same time, 
 numbers for the cursive, as well as for the cuneiform writing, the former 
 somewhat resembling the Egyptian. On the painted bricks ofNimroud 
 I could, I think, trace several of these cursive numerals, each brick 
 having apparently a number upon it. Dr. Hincks was, I believe, the first 
 to determine the forms and values of the Assyrian numerals by an ex- 
 amination of the inscriptions of Van. 
 
 f This deity, under the name of Thoth, or Taut, was the Egyptian god 
 of letters. 
 
 I " Literas semper arbitror Assyrias fuisse ; sed alii apud vEgyptios 
 a Mercurio, ut Gellius : alii apud Syros repertas volunt." Pliny, lib. vii. 
 c. 57. 
 
 " Phocnices primi famae si creditur ausi 
 
 Mansuram rudibus vocem signare figuris." Lib. iii. v. 220. 
 M 3
 
 166 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 traced to a foreign people, only one form of cha- 
 racter has been discovered, and it so closely resem- 
 bles the cursive of Assyria, that there appears to 
 be little doubt as to the identity of the origin of the 
 two. If, therefore, the inhabitants of Syria, whether 
 Phoenicians or others, were the inventors of letters, 
 and those letters were such as exist upon the earliest 
 monuments of that country, the cursive character of 
 the Assyrians may have been as ancient as the 
 cuneiform. However that may be, this hieratic cha- 
 racter has not yet been found in Assyria on remains 
 of a very early epoch, and it would seem probable 
 that simple perpendicular and horizontal lines pre- 
 ceded rounded forms, being better suited to letters 
 carved on stone tablets or rocks. At Nimroud, the 
 cursive writing was found on part of an alabaster 
 vase, and on fragments of pottery, taken out of the 
 rubbish covering the ruins. On the alabaster vase 
 it accompanied an inscription in the cuneiform 
 character, containing the name of the Khorsabad 
 king, to whose reign it is evident, from several cir- 
 cumstances, the vase must be attributed. It has also 
 been found on Babylonian bricks of the time of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar. The following are parts of inscriptions 
 in this character on fragments of pottery from Nim- 
 roud. 
 
 The cuneiform, however, appears to have been the
 
 CHAP. I.] ASSYRIAN WRITING. 107 
 
 character in general use in Assyria and Babylonia, 
 and at various periods in Persia, Media and Armenia. 
 It was not the same in all these countries ; the ele- 
 ment was the wedge, but the combination of wedges, 
 to form a letter, differed. The cuneiform has been 
 divided into three branches ; the Assyrian or Baby- 
 lonian ; the Persian ; and a third, which has been 
 named, probably with little regard to accuracy, the 
 Median. To one of these three divisions may be 
 referred all the forms of arrow-headed writing with 
 which we are acquainted ; and the three together 
 occur in the trilingual inscriptions, containing the 
 records of the Persian monarchs of the Achaemenian 
 dynasty.* These inscriptions are, as it is well known, 
 repeated three times on monuments of this period, in 
 parallel columns or tablets, in a distinct variety of 
 the arrow-headed character ; and, as it may be pre- 
 sumed, in a different language. 
 
 The investigation of the Persian branch of the cu- 
 neiform has now, through the labours of Rawlinson, 
 
 * Major Rawlinson has suggested the use of the term Scythic instead 
 of Median (the Persian Cuneiform Inscription at Behistun deciphered, 
 part i. p. 20. vol. x. of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society). However, 
 until the language of the inscriptions in this character can be determined 
 beyond a doubt, we can scarcely venture upon adopting definitively 
 either appellation. Major Rawlinson is of opinion that that language 
 is a Scythic or Mongolian dialect ; and from its use on monuments 
 erected by the Persian kings, it is highly probable that it is so. The 
 subjects of the Achannenian monarchs included three great divisions of 
 the human race, speaking respectively Semitic or Syro- Arabian, Indo- 
 European or Arian, and Scythic or Mongolian languages ; and when we 
 find that two of the columns of the trilingual inscriptions are dialects of 
 the first and second of these languages, we may consistently infer that the 
 remaining version of the inscriptions is in the third. 
 
 M 4
 
 168 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 Lassen, and others, been brought to a satisfactory 
 conclusion. I presume that there are few unacquainted 
 with the admirable memoirs by Major Rawlinson upon 
 the great inscription at Behistun *, published in the 
 Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Some, however, 
 are still inclined to look upon the results of his 
 labours with doubt, and even to consider his transla- 
 tion as little more than an ingenious fiction. That 
 the sudden restoration of a language no longer exist- 
 ing in the same form, and expressed in characters 
 previously unknown, should be regarded with con- 
 siderable suspicion, is not surprising. But even a 
 superficial examination of the ingenious reasoning of 
 Professor Grotefend, which led to the first steps in 
 the inquiry, the division of words and the discovery 
 of the names of the kings, and an acquaintance 
 with the subsequent discoveries of Rawlinson and 
 other eminent philologists, must at once remove all 
 doubt as to the general accuracy of the results to 
 which they have arrived. There may undoubtedly 
 be interpretations, and forms of construction open 
 to criticism. They will probably be rejected or 
 amended, when more materials are afforded by the 
 discovery of additional inscriptions, or when those 
 we already possess have been subjected to a still more 
 rigorous philological examination, and have been 
 further compared with known dialects of the same 
 primitive tongue. But as to the general correctness 
 of the translations of the inscriptions of Persepolis and 
 
 * This name is generally written Bisutun in the maps ; it is now 
 given to a small village near Kirmanshah, on the frontiers of Persia.
 
 CHAP. I.] PERSIAN INSCRIPTIONS. 169 
 
 Behistun, there cannot be a question. * The mate- 
 rials are in every one's hands. The inscriptions are 
 now accessible, and they scarcely contain a word 
 the meaning of which may not be determined by the 
 aid of dictionaries and vocabularies of the Sanscrit 
 and other early Indo-European languages, f 
 
 Before the publication of the great inscription of 
 Behistun, the monuments of Persia, containing little 
 more than the names of kings and royal titles, af- 
 forded few materials for the investigation of cunei- 
 form writing. That inscription was long known, 
 and had been seen by many travellers. MM. Coste 
 and Flandin, who accompanied M. de Sercey during 
 his embassy to the court of Teheran, for the ex- 
 press purpose of examining and making drawings 
 of ancient remains, were particularly directed to 
 copy it. They lingered many days on the spot, 
 making several fruitless endeavours to ascend to that 
 part of the rock on which it is cut. At length they 
 declared it to be inaccessible, and returned to France 
 
 * The transcription in cuneiform letters of an hieroglyphical legend on 
 a vase at Venice, is a test of the general accuracy of the deciphering of 
 both characters. The name of the king was found to be that of Arta- 
 xerxes, and was so read independently from the Persian and Egyptian 
 texts, by Major Rawlinson and Sir Gardner Wilkinson. 
 
 f There is not a more attractive subject of investigation, nor one more 
 delusive and uncertain in its results, unless carried on with the most 
 rigorous regard to criticism, than the origin, derivation, and connexion 
 of languages. But whilst this is admitted, it must be remembered, that 
 within the last few years this branch of study has been greatly facilitated 
 by the discovery of rules, which are now generally recognised. They go 
 far to guide those who engage in the inquiry, and to prevent a repetition 
 of the absurd speculations of the last century. Etymology may now take 
 its place amongst the sciences, and no science is more important in any 
 investigation connected with the history of the human race.
 
 170 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 without this important historical record. Major Raw- 
 linson, however, overcame all difficulties. During 
 two visits he succeeded in copying all that remains 
 of the three versions of the inscription ; and thus, 
 whilst we are indebted to his intrepidity and per- 
 severance for the transcript of the record, we owe to 
 his learning and research the translation of one of 
 the most interesting fragments of ancient history. * 
 
 Of the second, or so called Median branch of the 
 cuneiform, we know at present but little. It dif- 
 fers essentially, in the combination of the wedges, 
 from the Persian, and resembles in many respects the 
 Assyrian or Babylonian, many letters in both being 
 identical in shape, if not in phonetic power. 
 
 Whilst the Persian and Median cuneiform offer 
 each but one modification in the arrangement of the 
 wedges, the third division, or Assy ro-Baby Ionian, in- 
 cludes several varieties. It has been said to be the 
 most complex in its forms of the three ; but such is 
 not exactly the case, as we have in the varieties both 
 extremes : the primitive, or early Assyrian, containing 
 the most simple and elementary combinations, be- 
 ginning with the wedge standing alone, whilst the 
 Babylonian is distinguished by the most intricate and 
 complex. However, that the two are identically the 
 same, has been proved beyond a doubt by a compa- 
 rison of the monuments of Babylonia and Assyria, 
 
 * The contents of the Behistun inscription are of great importance to 
 all interested in the study of ancient history, as they so fully confirm the 
 statements of Herodotus, and afford fresh proofs of his veracity and 
 accuracy.
 
 CHAP. L] CUNEIFORM WHITING. 171 
 
 and by the existence of a transcript of a Babylonian 
 record in Assyrian characters. * The variations ap- 
 pear to be mere caligraphical distinctions, and were 
 perhaps purposely made, to mark the difference be- 
 tween the characters in use in the two countries. 
 The introduction of a few complex forms in the pure 
 Assyrian writing, may be attributed to the number 
 of alphabetic signs required. The alphabet of the 
 Persian cuneiform contains but thirty-nine or forty 
 letters ; in the Assyro-Babylonian inscriptions there 
 are about three hundred different characters ; the 
 simpler forms would consequently soon be exhausted.f 
 
 Major Rawlinson has thus classed the Assyro- 
 Babylonian cuneiform writing : Primitive Babylo- 
 nian ; Acha3menian Babylonian ; Medo- Assyrian ; 
 Assyrian ; and Elyma3an. 
 
 Whilst concurring in this division I would suggest, 
 that early Assyrian and later Assyrian, be substi- 
 tuted for Assyrian and Medo- Assyrian. By Medo- 
 Assyrian, Major Rawlinson indicates the character 
 
 * I particularly refer to the fragment of a cylinder given in vol. ii. of 
 Ker Porter's Travels, and the celebrated inscription in the India House, 
 supposed to contain the decrees of Nebuchadnezzar, of which the cylinder, 
 when entire, appears to have been a transcript. Their identity was, I 
 believe, discovered by Grotefend. It is on the tablets and cylinders of 
 baked clay, that the Assyrian cuneiform character is most complex. Be- 
 sides the substitution of forms not used on the monuments, common 
 letters are rendered more intricate by adding to the number of wedges : 
 
 thus "^ becomes YY ami 
 
 ] Many of these characters are undoubtedly what are termed " vari- 
 ants;" that is, merely a different way of forming the same letter; but 
 even admitting a large number to be so, and to be interchangeable 
 arbitrarily, still there are between 100 and 150 letters which appear to 
 have each their distinct phonetic value.
 
 172 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 used in the inscriptions of Yan, belonging to a 
 period preceding the Persian domination*, and in 
 those at Palou f, and near Malatia, on the banks of 
 the Euphrates. But at the time he made the dis- 
 tinction he was unacquainted with the earliest monu- 
 ments of Nimroud, and had only examined inscrip- 
 tions from Khorsabad, and a fragment from Nim- 
 roud both belonging to the same period. The most 
 ancient Assyrian letters are identical in form with 
 those found in Armenia. The distinction lies be- 
 tween the earliest and latest Assyrian writing, and 
 is amply sufficient to determine the comparative 
 date of monuments, as the shape of our own letters 
 marks the time of a document. 
 
 The primitive Babylonian is found on bricks, cy- 
 linders, and tablets from ruins in Babylonia ; the 
 AchaBmenian Babylonian in the trilingual inscriptions 
 of Persia. The former is well known from its fre- 
 quent occurrence on relics, brought to this country, 
 from the remains on the Euphrates near the modern 
 Arab town of Hillah, hitherto believed to be those of 
 primitive Babylon. It is the most intricate variety 
 of the cuneiform yet discovered. Those who used it 
 appear to have exhausted their ingenuity in com- 
 plicating the simplest forms of the Assyrians. 
 
 * There is also a trilingual inscription of Xerxes on the rock at Van. 
 
 f The inscription at Palou, an ancient Armenian city, was first ex- 
 amined and copied by me on my return from Mosul last year. My 
 attention was called to it by Dr. Smith, of the American Board of Foreign 
 Missions. It closely resembles the inscription near Malatia, copied by 
 Captain Van Muhlbach. (See Papers of the Syro-Egyptian Society, vol. i. 
 part i.)
 
 CHAP. I.] CUNEIFORM WRITING. 173 
 
 By a comparison of many letters of the same 
 power in the Assyrian and Babylonian alphabets, it 
 is evident that their dissimilitude frequently arises 
 from the manner of shaping the elementary wedge, 
 either angle of which might be elongated accord- 
 ing to the fancy of the writer or sculptor. Thus 
 
 y becomes "1 or , and the simple Assyrian 
 
 letter 5ff^f is identical with fpjpf , a character of com- 
 mon occurrence in Babylonian inscriptions. 
 
 With regard to the relative antiquity of the several 
 forms of cuneiform writing, it may be asserted, with 
 some degree of confidence, that the most ancient 
 hitherto discovered is the Assyrian. The three 
 varieties found in the trilingual inscriptions are all of 
 a comparatively recent period, the reigns of the Achas- 
 menian dynasty. The inscriptions in the Babylonian 
 character, from the ruins near Hillah, can be shown 
 to belong to the time of Nebuchadnezzar, and con- 
 sequently to a period subsequent to the fall of the 
 Assyrian empire. The name of that monarch is 
 found upon them all. Amongst the ruins of Niffer, 
 to the south of Hillah, Major Rawlinson has dis- 
 covered other inscriptions with a new royal name ; 
 but it is uncertain to what period they belong. That 
 eminent antiquary, who was, I believe, the first to 
 identify the name of Nebuchadnezzar on the bricks 
 and tablets, from the ruins so long believed to be 
 those of the scriptural Babylon, inclines to the opinion 
 that Niffer may represent its true site, whilst the 
 mounds around Hillah are the remains of a more
 
 174 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 recent city of the same name.* Nor is this suppo- 
 sition of the existence of two Babylons, inconsistent 
 with history, and eastern customs. Nebuchadnezzar 
 declares that he built the city. " At the end of 
 twelve months he walked in the palace of the king- 
 dom of Babylon. The king spake, and said, ' Is not 
 this great Babylon that I have built for the house of 
 the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for 
 the honour of my majesty ? '" f After the successful 
 revolt of the Babylonians, and the fall of Nineveh, 
 it is not improbable that Nebuchadnezzar, on found- 
 ing a new empire which was to rival the Assyrian 
 in power and extent, should have desired to build a 
 capital worthy of it. During the Assyrian supre- 
 
 * None of the ruins in Babylonia have yet been properly examined, 
 and there is little doubt that excavations in them would lead to very in- 
 teresting results. The great obelisk ascribed to Seiniraiuis, by Diodorus 
 Siculus, may have been the pillar or column of Acicarus, seen and inter- 
 preted by Democritus in his travels in the commencement of the 4th 
 century B. c. (Laertius, in Vita Democriti, p. 650., ed. Casaubon, and 
 Clemens Alexandrinus Stromata, lib. i. cxv. 8. 69.) It was, there can be 
 little doubt, a Babylonian monument ; and it probably still exists some- 
 where in the ruins. Major Rawlinson, in a recent letter, informs me 
 that, according to the Arabs, an obelisk has been seen at Niffer, and such 
 reports have generally some foundation, as I have shown with regard to 
 the sitting figure of Kalah Sherghat (see Chap. XII.). It may have 
 been exposed to view for a short period, and have again been covered 
 up by rubbish. Major Rawlinson is of opinion that all the most ancient 
 remains of Chaldaea (previous to the reign of Nebuchadnezzar) must be 
 looked for in the ruins to the south of Hillah, in southern Babylonia ; 
 those to the north being chiefly referable to that king. I have visited 
 most of the remains in the province ; but too hastily, and at times of too 
 great danger to admit of a careful and prolonged examination. With 
 proper means and support, researches might, however, be carried on. 
 
 f Daniel, iv. 29. Josephus (cont. Ap. 1. i.), quoting Berosus, says that 
 Nebuchadnezzar repaired the city of Babylon which then existed, and 
 added another city to it.
 
 CHAP. L] THE SITE OF BABYLON. 175 
 
 niacy, the ancient capital of the Chaldaeans may have 
 partly fallen into ruins ; and it was perfectly in accord- 
 ance with the customs and prejudices of an Eastern 
 people, to choose for rebuilding it a new site not far 
 removed from the old. Babylon affords more than 
 one instance of this very custom. The successor of 
 Alexander the Great in the empire of the East, 
 seeking for a capital, did not rebuild Babylon, which 
 had again fallen into decay. He chose a site near it 
 on the banks of the Tigris, founded a new city, call- 
 ing it Seleucia, after his own name, and partly con- 
 structing it of materials taken from Babylon. Subse- 
 quently, when another change of dynasty took place, 
 the Parthian succeeding to the Greek, the city was 
 again removed, and Ctesiphon rose on the oppo- 
 site side of the river. After the Persians came the 
 Arabs, who, desiring to found a capital for their new 
 empire, chose a different site ; still, however, remain- 
 ing in the vicinity of the old. Changing the locality 
 more than once they at length built the celebrated 
 city of Baghdad, which actually represents the ancient 
 Babylon.* Such appears to have been the general 
 practice in the East ; and there is scarcely a place of 
 any note which has not been rebuilt on a different 
 site. The present inhabitants of the country, whether 
 Turks or Arabs, either aware of this fact, or still 
 labouring under the prejudices of the former people, 
 
 * Baghdad is frequently called Babylon by the early travellers, and 
 even by the Arab geographers. The Church of Rome still gives the title 
 of " Bishop of Babylon " to the prelate who is placed over the Roman 
 Catholic Christians in the Pashalic of Baghdad.
 
 176 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CiiAr. I. 
 
 generally seek in the neighbourhood of a modern 
 town some ancient remains, to which they attach the 
 same name.* 
 
 It is probable, however, that the half-fabulous ac- 
 counts of the walls, palaces, temples, and bridges of 
 Babylon, whose foundation was attributed by Hero- 
 dotus, Diodorus Siculus, and other ancient authors, to 
 two queens, Semiramis and Nitocris, related to the 
 edifices of the second Babylon, built by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar. The Chaldees still nourished the traditions 
 of their ancient greatness, and may have endeavoured, 
 in satisfying the curiosity of a stranger, to assign the 
 highest antiquity to their monuments. 
 
 It may be asked what proof have we that the name 
 of Nebuchadnezzar exists on bricks, and 'fragments, 
 from the ruins near Hillah ? The name, written 
 nearly as in our version of the prophecies of Ezekiel, 
 appears to have been assumed by one of the rebels 
 subdued by Darius Hystaspes. It consequently oc- 
 curs in the trilingual incription of Behistun. One 
 Natitabires is there stated to have called himself 
 Nabokhodrossor, the son of Nabonidus, the King of 
 Babylon. As these names are transcribed in the 
 Babylonian column, there is of course no difficulty 
 in recognising the letters composing them, and 
 hence their identification when found elsewhere, as 
 at Hillah, in the pure Babylonian writing. In in- 
 scriptions from that site, Nebuchadnezzar is called 
 
 * Thus, there is Mosul and Eski (old) Mosul, Baghdad and Eski (old) 
 Baghdad, &c. &c.
 
 CIIAP. I.] NAMES ON BRICKS. 177 
 
 the son of Nabonassar, and king of the land of the 
 Chaldees.* 
 
 Although Major Rawlinson has suggested a read- 
 ing for the name on the bricks from Niffer, it is 
 doubtful to what period they belong ; and at pre- 
 sent there is no evidence to show that they are older 
 than the most ancient edifice of Nimroud. We may, 
 therefore, fairly assume that the Assyrian is the 
 earliest known form of the arrow-headed writing. 
 The complex shapes of the Babylonian characters, 
 and their apparent derivation by elongation of angles 
 and other processes from the simpler Assyrian letters, 
 undoubtedly point to a more recent invention. There 
 cannot be a doubt that the characters as formed in 
 the earliest palace of Nimroud long preceded those 
 of the inscriptions of Khorsabad and Kouyunjik. 
 This is an important fact, as it proves that the most 
 simple were the earliest, and that there was a gradual 
 progression towards the more intricate. This pro- 
 gression may be very clearly traced in the inscriptions 
 
 * An extraordinary laxity in the use, omission, and interchange of 
 certain consonants, as it will be shown, is one of the distinguishing fea- 
 tures of the language expressed by this branch of the cuneiform character. 
 The name of Nebuchadnezzar is written in many ways in the Bisutun 
 inscription, we have Nabokhodrossor, Nabukhadrachar, and Nabukhu- 
 drachar. In pure Babylonian inscriptions it undergoes even more nume- 
 rous changes. In Daniel he is called Nebuchadnezzar, or Nabuchod- 
 onosor ; in Ezekiel (ch. xxvi. v. 7.) the name is written Nebuchadrezzar. 
 The first component of the word, Nebo, was the name of a Babylonian 
 divinity. (Isaiah, ch. xlvi. v. 1.) The interchanges which take place in 
 consonants is shown by the names of several Babylonian kings, as given 
 by the Greeks. Thus, the Labunitus of Herodotus is called JVabunidus 
 by Berosus. 
 
 VOL. II. N
 
 178 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 from different Assyrian ruins. "We may, therefore, 
 consistently conclude that the Babylonian, being the 
 most complex, was the most modern of this branch 
 of cuneiform writing. 
 
 The question of prior antiquity now, therefore, 
 lies between the monuments of Assyria, and the 
 rock-tablets of Armenia. At present there is no 
 positive evidence to decide their respective claims, 
 but there are strong grounds for believing that the 
 earliest inscriptions of Nimroud are the most ancient. 
 We have the testimony of ancient authors, who at- 
 tribute the invention of letters to the Assyrians, and 
 give the name of Assyrian to the cuneiform writing, 
 even when changed and modified by the Persians.* 
 In the earliest inscriptions of Armenia, the royal titles 
 resemble those of the first kings of Nimroud. In 
 the latter inscriptions of the same Armenian dynasty, 
 the titles are similar to those on the monuments of 
 Khorsabad and Kouyunjik. f It may be inferred, 
 therefore, that these Armenian kings lived between 
 the erection of the earliest and latest monuments of 
 Assyria proper. Whether there were cotemporaneous 
 Assyrian and Armenian dynasties, or whether the 
 names at Van are those of kings who reigned at the 
 same time over Armenia and Assyria, and are con- 
 
 * Herodotus always calls this form of writing Assyrian. (See lib. iv. 
 c. 87, &c.) According to Amyntas, the inscription on the tomb of Sar- 
 danapalus was written in Chaldaean letters (xaA5o?(co?s ypd/j-ftaa-iv) on a 
 stone column. Aristobulus terms them Assyrian letters. (Athena;us, lib. 
 xii.) Also Arrian. (Exp. Alex. lib. ii. c. 5.) 
 
 ) This was brought to my notice by Major Rawlinson.
 
 CHAP, I.] CUNEIFORM WRITING. 179 
 
 scqucntly to be included in the Assyrian dynastic 
 lists, are questions which can only be determined 
 when the contents of the inscriptions are known, 
 and the ruins of Assyria more thoroughly examined. 
 Admitting, therefore, that the Assyrian is the 
 most ancient known form of arrow-headed writing, 
 it would be interesting to ascertain its origin. The 
 epithets of cuneiform, cuneatic, wedge-shaped, and 
 arrow-headed, tete-a-clou (nail -headed) in French, 
 and keilforrnig in German, have been variously as- 
 signed to it, because its component parts resemble 
 either a wedge, the barb of an arrow, or a nail, ac- 
 cording to the fancy of the describer. It is not im- 
 probable, however, that the original or primitive 
 elements of the letters were merely simple lines, the 
 wedge or arrow-head being a subsequent improvement 
 or embellishment. On a slab at Nimroud, forming a 
 part of a wall in the south-west palace, but brought 
 from the most ancient edifice, I found one line of 
 writing in which the characters were thus formed. 
 It occurred beneath the usual inscription, and was 
 but slightly cut : 
 
 mn 
 
 It is evident that, by substituting the wedge, or 
 arrow-head, for the lines in the above inscription, 
 the characters would resemble such as are found 
 
 N 2
 
 180 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 on the earliest Assyrian monuments. The simpler 
 letters may have been used in documents, and could 
 have been written easily and quickly, whilst the more 
 elaborate monumental character would require both 
 time and care. In the inscriptions on Babylonian 
 bricks the wedges are also frequently replaced by mere 
 
 ~~ -*g v 
 
 lines, as frR for [fi^f or [Jjpf ,* these characters 
 
 being the same. Nor is the element of the most an- 
 cient form of Assyrian monumental writing always 
 the arrow-head or the wedge ; it sometimes assumes 
 the shape of a hammer on painted bricks from the 
 earliest palace at Nimroud. 
 
 The use of the wedge may have been suggested 
 by the impression of the angular corner of a square 
 rod on a surface of soft clay, which will produce 
 this form very accurately. Even complicated cha- 
 racters and a short inscription might thus have been 
 impressed on a tablet of any soft material. But 
 this elementary figure appears to have been sacred ; 
 for we find it represented as placed upon an altar, 
 amongst other religious emblems, on a Babylonian 
 relic, usually known as the " Caillou de Michaux," in 
 the National Library of Paris. Whether it became 
 sacred from its employment in the written character, 
 
 * The character thus formed occurs in the inscriptions of Susiana. 
 The Assyrian letter, of which the three variants in the text are modifi- 
 cations, has been given, p. 173.
 
 CHAP. l.J 
 
 CUNEIFORM WRITING. 
 
 181 
 
 WEDGE OK ARROW-HEAD ON AN ALTAR. (From a stoc 
 at Paris.) 
 
 i the Bibliotlieque Nationale 
 
 or whether it was adopted as an emblem, I will not 
 attempt to determine.* 
 
 Nor will I stop to inquire whether, in their original 
 forms, the Assyrian letters were ideographic ; whe- 
 ther, as it has been assumed with regard to the al- 
 phabets of Syria, their names were derived from 
 things which they were meant to represent. It will 
 require a much more intimate acquaintance with the 
 nature and powers of these characters than we can 
 hope to attain for some time to come, before we can 
 
 * It would not be difficult for those who are apt at discovering the 
 hidden meaning of ancient symbols, to invest the arrow-head or wedge of 
 the inscriptions, assuming, as it frequently does, the form of an equilateral 
 triangle, with sacred and mythic properties ; and to find in it a direct 
 illustration of the sacred triad, the basis of Chaldasan worship and theo- 
 gony, or of another well-known Eastern object of worship. (See Lajard's 
 elaborate Essays on the Worship of Venus, on the Cypress, and on the 
 Religious Symbols of the Assyrians and Persians, in the " Memoires de 
 1' Academic des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres," and in the " Annales de 
 1'Institut Archeologique.") 
 
 N 3
 
 182 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 determine whether the arrangement of the wedges 
 depends upon any system, or whether it be merely 
 accidental. At present there is no proof in support 
 of either supposition. 
 
 The first records of the Assyrians, like those of 
 most ancient nations, were probably monumental. 
 They were cut either on the walls of temples, palaces, 
 and other edifices, or upon the smoothed face of a 
 rock. After the subjection of a distant nation, the 
 limits of the conquest of the king were marked, or 
 his triumphs celebrated, by an inscription in some 
 conspicuous spot in the conquered country. The 
 side of a lofty precipice was generally chosen. A 
 tablet was first cut sufficiently deep into the rock 
 to leave above it a projecting ledge, to protect the 
 sculpture as much as possible from the effects of the 
 weather, and from the water which might run down 
 its face. A bas-relief, representing the king alone, or 
 the king receiving captives, was then generally sculp- 
 tured. Below the figures, or near, was explained in 
 writing the event recorded by the bas-relief, and 
 sometimes a short inscription on the dress*, or above 
 the head, of each person contained his name and 
 titles. Such is the Assyrian monument at the mouth 
 of the Nahr-el-Kelb, or Dog River, in Syria. Fre- 
 quently an inscription, or a bas-relief was alone 
 carved, as in parts of Asia Minor. The rock below 
 the tablet was generally scarped, all access to the 
 
 * Across the breast of the figures in Ionia, attributed by Herodotus 
 (lil). ii. c. 106.) to Sesostris, but which were probably Assyrian, was an 
 inscription.
 
 CIIAP. I.] ASSYRIAN RECORDS. 183 
 
 monument being cut off, to save it from injury or 
 destruction. If no convenient rock could be found, 
 or if the king wished to mark the boundaries of his 
 dominions, a square pillar or slab was erected, as on 
 the summit of the pass of Kel-i-Shin, in the high 
 mountains dividing Assyria from Media.* The Per- 
 sians, who appear to have closely imitated the Assy- 
 rians in all their customs, adopted the same method 
 of recording their conquests and victories, as the 
 rock sculptures of Behistun still testify. According 
 to Herodotus, Darius in his Scythian expedition 
 erected, on the shores of the Bosphorus, two columns 
 of white marble, one having inscribed in Assyrian 
 (cuneiform), and the other in Greek characters, the 
 names of the different nations which composed his 
 vast army. He placed a third on the Tearus, after 
 crossing the straits into Thrace.f 
 
 AYhen events were to be recorded more in detail, 
 the inscriptions appear to have been engraved on the 
 walls of their temples or palaces, as in Egypt, to 
 
 * The custom of putting up tablets and pillars to fix the boundaries of 
 an empire, is frequently alluded to in the monumental records of Egypt. 
 (See Birch's Translation of the Obelisk at Constantinople, and Observa- 
 tions on the Statistical Tablet of Karnak, in the New Series of the Trans- 
 actions of the Royal Society of Literature, vol. ii.) 
 
 f Herod, lib. iv. c. 87. and 91. This appears also to have been the 
 most ancient method of chronicling events and keeping records. Jose- 
 phus, following an ancient tradition, declares that Seth erected in the land 
 of Siriad, two pillars, one of brick, the other of stone, and inscribed upon 
 them the principal antediluvian arts and sciences. (Antiq. Jud. lib. i. 
 c. 3.) Sesostris, according to Herodotus, erected pillars and carved 
 tablets in the places which he conquered. The Greek historian mentions 
 those he had seen in Palestine (probably the tablets still existing near 
 the Nahr-el-Kelb) and in Asia Minor. (Lib. ii. c. 102. and 106.) 
 
 N 4
 
 184 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. I. 
 
 accompany painted or sculptured representations of 
 the scenes they described. 
 
 It is not improbable that during the early period of 
 the Assyrian monarchy, stone and clay were the only 
 substances on which private as well as public records 
 were written. In the most ancient sculptures of 
 Nimroud there are no representations of scribes. 
 In the more recent, however, at Khorsabad, Kouy- 
 unjik, and Nimroud, we have eunuchs writing down 
 the number of heads, and the amount of spoil, on 
 rolls of leather, or some other flexible material.* 
 
 The material generally used cannot be determined 
 
 SCRIBES WRITISO DOWN TJ 
 
 . OF HEADS OF THE SLAIN AND THE AMOUNT 
 
 OS 1 THE SPOIL. (iODYDNJIK.) 
 
 * It could scarcely have been papyrus, as that substance is too brittle 
 to be rolled or bent, as represented in the sculptures. Parchment was 
 not invented until a much later period. Mr. Birch inclines to the idea of 
 leather, which the Egyptians used occasionally as early as the 18th 
 dynasty.
 
 CII\P. I.] ASSYRIAN RECORDS. 185 
 
 from the sculptures. At the time of the close inter- 
 course between Assyria and Egypt, probably ex- 
 isting, as it will be shown, at the period to which 
 these bas-reliefs belong, the papyrus may have been 
 an article of commerce between the two countries ; or 
 rolls of leather manufactured in Assyria may have 
 been the only substance employed. The reed grow- 
 ing in the marshes formed by the Tigris and Eu- 
 phrates may have served, as it does to this day, for 
 a pen ; and the cursive or hieratic characters, on the 
 fragments of vases from Nimroud, appear to have 
 been written with some such instrument. 
 
 But the most common mode of keeping records 
 in Assyria and Babylonia was on prepared bricks, 
 tiles, or cylinders of clay, baked after the inscription 
 was impressed. The characters appear to have 
 been formed by an instrument, or may sometimes 
 have been stamped. The Chaldasan priests informed 
 Callisthenes that they kept their astronomical ob- 
 servations on bricks baked in the furnace * ; and 
 we have the testimony of Epigenes to the same 
 effect, f Ezekiel, who prophesied near the river 
 Chebar in Assyria, was commanded to take a tile and 
 pourtray upon it the city of Jerusalem. J Of such 
 
 * Simplicius, Aristot. de Coelo, 1. ii. 
 
 f " E diverse Epigenes, apud Babylonios DCCXX. annorum observa- 
 tiones siderum coctilibus laterculis inscriptas, docet gravis auctor in 
 primis, qui minimum, Berosus et Critodemus ccccxc. annorum. Ex quo 
 apparet aeternum literarum usum." Plin. Hist. Nat. 1. vii. c. Ivi. s. 57. ed. 
 Sillig. In some editions of Pliny a thousand years is added to both these 
 periods ; but this appears to have been an error of Brottier, rectified in 
 the last edition, as quoted. 
 
 J " Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and 
 pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem." Ch. iv. 1.
 
 186 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 records we have many specimens. The most re- 
 markable are two hexagonal cylinders, one in the 
 possession of Colonel Taylor, late political agent at 
 Baghdad, and the other given by me to the British 
 Museum. They were both discovered in the ruins 
 opposite Mosul, and, I believe, in the mound of Xebbi 
 Yunus.* On each side there are about sixty lines 
 of writing, in such minute characters that the aid 
 of a magnifying glass is required to ascertain their 
 forms. Habit, and long practice have enabled me 
 to analyse and copy the inscription on my own 
 cylinder ; that on Colonel Taylor's has not yet been 
 examined. I find in it the name of the Kouyunjik 
 king, with those, I think, of his father and son. 
 Other royal names are frequently repeated, and the 
 whole appears to be some public document or his- 
 torical record, j" The identification of the fragment 
 (probably of a similar cylinder) published in Ker 
 Porter's Travels, with the inscription on the stone 
 in the Museum of the East India Company, con- 
 taining decrees or annals of Nebuchadnezzar, renders 
 it highly probable that these cylinders were gene- 
 rally used for such purposes. 
 
 * That formerly in my possession was used as a candlestick by a re- 
 spectable Turcoman family living in the village, on the mound of Nebbi 
 Yunus near the tomb of the prophet. The cylinder is hollow, and was 
 probably closed at both ends : only one extremity is now perfect. A 
 hole in the centre of one of the ends received the tallow candle. To such 
 base uses are now turned the records of the Assyrians ! I also found half 
 of another cylinder of the same kind. 
 
 f The inscription will be included in the collection brought by me 
 from Assyria, now in the course of publication by the Trustees of the 
 British Museum.
 
 CHAP. I.] CUNEIFORM WRITING. 187 
 
 In many public and private collections there are 
 inscriptions on tiles, and on barreLshaped cylinders 
 of baked clay. On a tile formerly in the possession 
 of Dr. Ross of Baghdad, and afterwards, I believe, in 
 that of the late Mr. Steuart, there are many lines of 
 writing, accompanied by the impression of seals, pro- 
 bably of attesting witnesses.* 
 
 The inscriptions on the Babylonian bricks are 
 generally enclosed in a small square, and are formed 
 with considerable care and nicety. They appear to 
 have been impressed with a stamp, upon which the 
 entire inscription, and not isolated letters, was cut 
 in relief. This art, so nearly approaching to the 
 modern invention of printing, is proved to have been 
 known at a very remote epoch to the Egyptians f and 
 Chinese. The characters on the Assyrian bricks 
 were made separately. Some letters may have been 
 impressed singly by a stamp, but from the care- 
 less and irregular way in which they are formed 
 and grouped together, it appears more probable that 
 they were all cut with an instrument, and by the 
 hand. J The characters, however, on the cylinders, 
 
 * On a fragment brought by me from Nimroud, in the most minute 
 letters, are parallel columns apparently of words and numbers, perhaps 
 an account. On a rectangular tile, also formerly in the possession of 
 Mr. Steuart, a small engraved cylinder of stone or metal appears to have 
 been rolled or passed completely round the edges, probably to prevent 
 enlargement or counterfaction of the document. 
 
 f The Egyptian monarchs also stamped their names on bricks. The 
 stamps used were of wood, and several are preserved in European col- 
 lections. The characters are, I believe, generally incised, so that the im- 
 pression, unlike that on the Babylonian bricks, is in relief. 
 
 J The stamp being used in Babylonia, and not in Assyria, may furnish 
 an additional argument in favour of the greater antiquity of the Assyrian 
 writing.
 
 188 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 particularly on one or two fragments discovered at 
 Nimroud, are so elaborately minute*, and at the 
 same time so accurately made, that only an instru- 
 ment of the most delicate construction could have 
 produced them. 
 
 The great antiquity of carving documents on 
 stone, is shown by the Bible. The divine commands 
 were first given to mankind on stone tablets, and 
 amongst all primitive nations this appears to have 
 been considered the most appropriate and durable 
 method of perpetuating records. The letters were 
 evidently cut with a sharp instrument of iron, or 
 of prepared copper. From the passage in Job f , " Oh 
 that my words were written ! that they were graven 
 with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever ! " it 
 has been conjectured that the incised letters were 
 filled up with lead. No remains of metal were 
 found by me in the inscriptions ; but M. Botta states, 
 that in letters on the pavement slabs of Khorsabad, 
 traces of copper were still evident, the stone being 
 coloured by it. J 
 
 The cuneiform characters on most of the monu- 
 ments of Assyria and Persia are formed with great 
 neatness and care. Major Rawlinson states, that 
 on the surface of the rock at Behistun could still be 
 traced the remains of varnish, or some transparent 
 
 * Particularly on a very beautiful fragment of baked clay now in the 
 British Museum. 
 
 f Ch. xix. 23. and 24. 
 
 J Botta's letters in the Journal Asiatique and Flandin's memoirs in 
 the Kevue des deux Mondes. I discovered at Khalah Sherghat a frag- 
 ment of a copper tablet with cuneiform letters.
 
 CHAP. I.] CUNEIFORM WHITING. 189 
 
 substance which appears to have been laid over the 
 whole tablet to preserve it, as far as possible, from 
 injury, by exposure to the atmosphere. No kind of 
 letter can be better adapted to resist the ordinary 
 process of decay than the Assyrian when well sculp- 
 tured. Simple horizontal or perpendicular lines, 
 deeply incised, will defy for ages the effects of decay. 
 When an inscription is so much injured, that a 
 person unaccustomed to the examination of similar 
 monuments, would either fail to distinguish it, or 
 would soon abandon an attempt to copy it as hope- 
 less, it is frequently possible, by watching the shadows 
 thrown by the sun, to transcribe the whole. Some 
 inscriptions, visible at certain periods of the day, en- 
 tirely vanish at others, and would escape even the 
 most experienced eye. * 
 
 The foregoing remarks will, it is hoped, have given 
 the reader some insight into the writing of the As- 
 syrians. It only remains for me to add that the 
 great trilingual record of Behistun, the inscription 
 over the tomb of Darius near the ruins of Perse- 
 polis, and various shorter and less important in- 
 scriptions in other parts of Persia, have afforded a 
 ground- work for the investigation of the Assyrian 
 character. From the progress already made, there 
 
 * Such are the inscriptions in the Babylonian character discovered by 
 Major Rawlinson near Holwan, to the west of Kirmanshah, and also to 
 a certain extent the inscription partly copied by me at Palou. I was 
 unable to distinguish the letters in one corner of the tablet which, during 
 my visit, was thrown into the shade by a projecting ledge. Dr. Smith, 
 who first saw the tablet, was doutbful whether there were still any remains 
 of the inscription upon it.
 
 190 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 is every reason to hope, that within a short period 
 we shall be able to ascertain the general contents, if 
 not to give accurate translations, of the numerous 
 inscriptions which have, within the last three years, 
 been added to the written records of the ancient 
 world. The labour of deciphering an unknown cha- 
 racter, probably representing an extinct dialect, if not 
 an extinct language, is however very great. Not only 
 is an intimate acquaintance with etymology and phi- 
 lology absolutely required, but at the same time con- 
 siderable ingenuity, a vast deal of mere mechanical 
 investigation, and a tedious comparison of all known 
 inscriptions in the same character. I have already 
 alluded to the extreme laxity prevailing in the con- 
 struction, and orthography, of the language of the 
 Assyrian inscriptions, and to the number of distinct 
 characters which appear to make up its alphabet. 
 Letters differing widely in their forms, and evidently 
 the most opposite in their phonetic powers, are in- 
 terchangeable. The shortest name may be written 
 in a variety of ways ; every character in it may be 
 changed, till at last the word is so altered, that a 
 person unacquainted with the process which it has 
 undergone, would never suspect that the two were 
 in fact the same. These changes will be pointed 
 out hereafter in the name of the king who appears 
 to have been the founder of the earliest edifice at 
 Nimroud. 
 
 By a careful comparison of inscriptions more than 
 once repeated, it will be found that many characters,
 
 CHAP. I.] CUNEIFORM WRITING. 191 
 
 greatly or even altogether differing in form, are only 
 varieties or variants of the same letter. If we deter- 
 mine, by a process of comparison, the number of 
 characters which have evidently the same phonetic 
 power, and admit that many letters have, to a certain 
 extent, a syllabic value, consonants being differently 
 formed according to the vowel sound attached to 
 them, the number of letters may be reduced within 
 the compass of an alphabet.* 
 
 We derive another important aid in deciphering 
 from the well-proved fact, that in Assyrian monu- 
 mental writing it was never the custom to divide a 
 word at the end of a line. To avoid doing so, the 
 sculptor would carry it beyond the limits of the rest 
 of the inscription, or would prefer finishing it on 
 the side, or even back, of the slab. This appears also 
 to have been frequently the case when inscriptions 
 were carried across figures, the word not being di- 
 vided, when an interruption from drapery, or other 
 portions of the sculpture, took place. The knowledge 
 of this fact has enabled me, by a careful comparison of 
 the inscriptions of similar import, which are repeated 
 on almost every slab in the earliest palace of Nim- 
 roud, to determine nearly all the words in them.f 
 
 * A table, drawn up by the careful comparison of several hundred in- 
 scriptions, will be included in the work published by the Trustees of the 
 British Museum. It shows a large number of variants and marks the 
 division between words. M. Botta has also published a highly useful 
 table of variants in the " Journal Asiatique " for October 1847. 
 
 f In the Persian cuneiform inscriptions each word is separated by a 
 slanting wedge ; hence one of the principal difficulties in deciphering is
 
 192 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 Several proper names, in the trilingual inscriptions, 
 particularly those of kings and countries, have given 
 us the undoubted value of many letters, and have 
 enabled us to find corresponding geographical names 
 on the Assyrian monuments. We are able at the 
 same time to prove that the name of a man * is gene- 
 rally, if not always, preceded by a simple wedge, and 
 to determine the character representing " son of," as 
 well as that meaning a country, or denoting that the 
 following name belongs to a people or to a nation. 
 The names of cities, above their sculptured repre- 
 sentations in the bas-reliefs, are also always preceded 
 by a determinative sign.f 
 
 Such are the materials for inquiry. They are con- 
 siderable ; quite sufficient indeed to warrant the hope 
 of future success, when the investigation is pursued by 
 such men as Rawlinson, Birch, or Norris, and others, 
 in France and Germany, no less distinguished for 
 extensive philological acquirements, than for eminent 
 abilities, perseverance, and ingenuity. J 
 
 avoided. But such is not the case either in the Assyro-Babylonian or in 
 the Median. 
 
 * And sometimes the personal pronoun. 
 
 f The character preceding the proper name, and those signifying " son 
 
 of" and " king," are given elsewhere. That denoting country is "^ or 
 "S^, a city >~f j or its variant ^^ ] There is reason to believe 
 
 that ->t- precedes the name of a divinity. p4^ is the sign of the plural. 
 
 J Since writing the above I have learnt from Major Rawlinson that he 
 has succeeded in deciphering the inscription on the obelisk described in 
 the preceding pages. It contains, according to him, the annals of the 
 reign of the son of Ninus. He has obtained, moreover, fifteen royal 
 names.
 
 CHAP. I.] ASSYRIAN GENEALOGIES. 193 
 
 I have thus placed before the reader the principal 
 steps made towards deciphering the Assyrian in- 
 scriptions, and pointed out the amount of knowledge 
 we possess. I will now return to the inscriptions of 
 Nimroud, and resume the arguments afforded by them 
 as to the comparative dates of the various buildings. 
 
 I have had frequent occasion to observe that there 
 is scarcely a kiln- burnt brick or a stone employed 
 in the ancient edifices of Assyria without an in- 
 scription upon it. In buildings of various epochs 
 we find different formulae ; but in every mound 
 where there are the remains of but one building, as 
 at Khorsabad for instance, one formula is constantly 
 repeated, with a few unessential variations. The 
 inscription on the bricks of the earliest palace at 
 Nimroud, that in the north-west corner, is as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 8-" T -V -V Tf ( I 
 T? IE! >f ( I ^ -) 
 
 v> 
 
 * It has been conjectured that these two characters signify " the great 
 house " or palace ; but there appears to me to be objections to this inter- 
 pretation. They are sometimes replaced by >-^. 
 
 f The cuneiform type used in the text has been cut by Mr. Harrison, 
 of St. Martin's Lane. The inscriptions from Assyria printed by him for 
 the Trustees of the British Museum, are the first specimens of an extensive 
 use of moveable cuneiform types, and they are remarkable instances of 
 the ingenuity, and I may add taste, of a British printer. The letters were 
 cut and put together under my superintendence, and that of Mr. Norris, 
 translator of Eastern languages at the Foreign Office, and one of the 
 secretaries of the Asiatic Society ; of whose eminent abilities and most 
 extensive knowledge in every branch of eastern philology and literature, 
 VOL. II. O
 
 1 94 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 The inscription, which is found on almost every 
 slab in the same building, commences nearly in a 
 similar way : 
 
 - T -W -V T? M ~V ^ tjn f ~ 
 f 4- ^T B+T -A f I? Of <~f sET<! c 
 -tfcl JT s^<T f T< &- T< tm 
 I -c -V) T? l! 4- ( fr tff ^ 
 I -c V) Tf < *1 *^ < I ^ - 
 
 On the bricks discovered in the centre palace we 
 have the following inscription : 
 
 T 
 
 -TT? 4- I 
 
 Tf T -V ^ T? ( 
 
 cTW 4- I 
 
 T? T 1 4- ( I 
 
 -TTI 4+ v <r 
 
 V 
 
 it would be superfluous in me to speak. That the inscriptions of Assyria 
 should be perpetuated, and be made accessible to all through the medium 
 of moveable types, after the loss of the character for nearly 2500 years, is 
 not one of the least of the many wonderful achievements of printing. 
 
 * Characters, in which perpendicular wedges are placed between two 
 horizontal wedges, are formed, in the oldest inscriptions, by carrying one 
 horizontal wedge across the perpendicular. I have not made this dis- 
 tinction in the text.
 
 CHAP. I.] ASSYRIAN GENEALOGIES. 195 
 
 It is evident that in these inscriptions a certain 
 formula is repeated three times*, preceded on each oc- 
 casion by a different group of characters. In the in- 
 scriptions from the earliest palace, these groups are 
 -^ ^- fj[, Tg >f and < ^f >^ in those from 
 
 the centre ^TT^ ^T Hh HK ^V ^r T? and 
 T^y >^-. It will also be observed that, in both in- 
 scriptions, the groups before the second and third 
 repetition of the formula, are preceded either by |J | 
 or by yj alone. On comparing the Persian trilin- 
 gual inscriptions, it is found that in the Babylonian 
 column, the names of the kings, as well as all proper 
 names, are preceded by a simple perpendicular wedge 
 ( y ) ; and further, that |J replaces the " son of" of 
 the Persian. We have, therefore, in the inscriptions 
 given above, three names in direct descent, the last 
 being the builder or founder of an edifice, and his 
 name occurring on every stone and nearly every 
 brick in it. It will also be perceived that in the in- 
 scription from the second palace, the position of two 
 of the names occurring in the first are changed, 
 and that the other no longer appears. The son in 
 fact becomes the father, and the father the grand- 
 father ; Avhilst the last in the list, or the builder of the 
 new edifice, is a name not found in the first series. 
 
 On a pavement slab in the upper chambers, to the 
 south of the north-west palace f, we have a further list 
 of names of considerable importance ; for not only do 
 
 * I have placed this formula within brackets. 
 
 f See page 16. of this vol. This slab is on its way to the British 
 Museum. 
 
 o 2
 
 196 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 four appear in genealogical series, thus confirming 
 our first conjecture, but two new names are added. 
 
 S- T < *1 >-* ( &- tTTI 4- 
 I ^ - ..... ) ff T ^It <T- f 4-1T- ( ..... 
 I V -V*.-) T? T f <T ET 4- f - 
 T -V *r fit 
 
 We have thus six generations, three kings the third, 
 the fourth, and the sixth, having been founders of 
 buildings at Nimroud. 
 
 There can be little doubt that the names are those 
 of kings. In the first place, the groups following 
 them can be shown, by referring to the trilingual 
 inscriptions, to be royal titles ; and secondly, the in- 
 terpretation of the legends on the Babylonian bricks, 
 and analogous discoveries in Egypt, prove that it was 
 customary to impress the name of the king upon the 
 materials used in public edifices. Besides, a name of 
 such common and general occurrence can hardly be 
 that of a private individual. 
 
 In the inscription on the slab opposite wall &, in 
 the south-west palace J, we have a new name ac- 
 
 * >->-XIT and > are interchangeable characters. 
 f The other names (^ A y *~4^ and T^T >|-) occur after *^*- y 
 ^u. YI in this inscription, but are not placed, as far as I can ascertain, 
 
 in genealogical series. A further knowledge of the character is necessary 
 before it can be determined how they are used. 
 \ See p. 33. of this vol.
 
 CHAP. I.] ASSYRIAN GENEALOGIES. 197 
 
 companied by royal titles, | Tj!| |J 
 l:iJf?f * ; and I think I can distinguish that of the 
 father, if not that of the grandfather also, of the 
 monarch. The inscription, however, from the in- 
 juries the slab has sustained, requires a more careful 
 examination than I have yet been able to give it. 
 There can be no doubt that it was brought from else- 
 where, with other materials used in the construction 
 of the building in which it was found. It did not 
 belong to either the palace in the north-west, or in 
 the centre of the mound; for not only is the name 
 new, but the peculiar arrangement of the wedges in 
 the characters, point to a different and more recent 
 period than that of the erection of those edifices. 
 
 Behind the bulls and lions in the south-west palace, 
 as well as on baked bricks from the same building, 
 we have the following highly important genealogical 
 series. 
 
 si- T ~V A- - ( ET- tfflf 4- 
 
 V -) T? T K.T ( I A - A 
 
 appears to be equivalent to ^. This character evidently 
 means " King." 
 
 f There appears to be a name in the body of this inscription between 
 the first and second in the genealogical series in the text, viz. Y ! 
 >->4- Y<, accompanied, I think, by a royal title, which certainly seems 
 to belong to the list ; it may have been that of a brother, or of one not 
 in the line of descent, but still succeeding to the throne ; if so, we should 
 have in this inscription the names of four monarchs following one 
 another. 
 
 o 3
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS EEMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 The first name is identical with that of the king 
 who founded the earliest palace at Nimroud, but 
 those of his father and grandfather do not occur else- 
 where in the ruins. The name of the father is, 
 however, found on the bricks, and in the inscriptions 
 from Kouyunjik, and that of the grandfather on the 
 monuments of Khorsabad.* We are consequently 
 
 * The name of the Khorsabad king is also written ^ 
 for the name of the Kouyunjik king we have the following variation 
 f >->+- >-T I -V >-TT) that is to say, that whilst the name, as given 
 
 in the text, is inscribed on the backs of the slabs, and over the head of 
 the king in the sculptures, as well as on all the bricks I have yet dis- 
 covered in the ruins opposite Mosul, it occurs in the above form at the 
 commencement of the inscriptions on the front of the bulls (being 
 written, as in the text, on the back). The inference, therefore, 
 naturally is, that the name is the same, or that it may be a title or a 
 praenomen. The well-known laxity of the Assyrian writing admits either 
 supposition. There are other variations, but not so essential, in the 
 orthography of the name. I am aware that Dr. Hincks (on the In- 
 scriptions of Van, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society) denies that the 
 two names found on the bricks and slabs from Khorsabad are iden- 
 tical ; believing one (that found at Nimroud, in the short inscription 
 from the south-west palace) to be the name of a king who may have 
 partially built the Khorsabad edifice, and the other to be that of a suc- 
 cessor of even the last king mentioned at Nimroud. He reads the first 
 Nishar, and identifies the others with Sennacherib, Essarhaddon, and 
 Chinilidan. Between the last two kings, according to the astronomical 
 canon, there must have been a lapse of more than sixty years. If 
 Dr. Hincks's view, therefore, be correct, we have an additional argument 
 in favour of the antiquity of the earliest palace at Nimroud. But I 
 may observe, that there are very strong grounds for suspecting the 
 identity of the two names occurring on the monuments of Khorsabad. 
 It will be remembered that on the alabaster vases discovered in the ruins 
 of Nimroud both occur; and if the Nimroud edifices were finally buried 
 whilst the last palace was building as I have shown there are good 
 reasons for suspecting no doubt will any longer remain as to their 
 identity. Dr. Hincks infers, from the names of the father and son oc- 
 curring in the Khorsabad inscriptions, that the building could not have 
 been completed, although founded, by the father; but that it was cus- 
 tomary also to insert the name of the son, is shown by the existence of 
 the name, even accompanied by a royal title, of the son of the founder of
 
 CUAP. L] ASSYRIAN GENEALOGIES. 199 
 
 able to fix the comparative period of both these 
 buildings, with reference to the most recent palace at 
 Nimroud. And this direct proof afforded by the 
 genealogy is confirmed by the identity of style in the 
 sculptures, and in the form of the letters used in the 
 inscriptions from the three buildings so much so, 
 that long before the discovery of the ruins of Kouy- 
 unjik, and those in the south-west palace of Nimroud, 
 I conjectured, from the examination of mere frag- 
 ments from them, that they belonged to the same 
 period as Khorsabad. 
 
 We have thus, in the foregoing inscriptions, the 
 names of ten, if not twelve, kings ; the first six in 
 genealogical series, the seventh standing by itself, 
 and the last three again showing a direct descent, 
 but unconnected with any of the previous. I have 
 already mentioned the tablet in the tunnel of Ne- 
 goub, which was unfortunately destroyed before I 
 was able to obtain an accurate copy of the inscription 
 upon it.* On examining, after my return to Eng- 
 land, the fragment that the little light in the place 
 permitted me to transcribe, and which before ap- 
 peared to be almost unintelligible, I find a genea- 
 logical list, and I think I recognise the names of 
 the Kouyunjik king, of the founder of Khorsabad, 
 and of his father f, and perhaps even his grand- 
 
 the earliest palace of Nimroud, in some of the inscriptions from that 
 building. If the two names are not those of the same persons, we must 
 add them to our royal list. 
 
 * See Vol. I. p. 81. 
 
 f It is worthy of observation that the name of the father of the builder 
 of Khorsabad has not yet been found in any inscription from that 
 building. 
 
 o 4
 
 200 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 father. But the ends of the lines have been de- 
 stroyed, and the series is consequently interrupted. 
 The two additional names are ^y (?) >-%% (?) 
 * (?) M ( V) (line interrupted), and |{ f ff 
 
 B-IT *=tT ( ^ ^v) * The forms f the cha - 
 
 racters are those of the late Assyrian period. 
 
 Although the evidence afforded by the two addi- 
 tional names in this inscription is entitled to consi- 
 derable weight, I will not dwell upon it. Placing 
 only one name between each of the kings in the three 
 distinct series given above, and supposing these kings 
 to have succeeded one another, we have eight gene- 
 rations between the founder of the first edifice and 
 the last, or in all ten. If we allow, as is usual, thirty 
 years to a generation, we have a lapse of 300 years. 
 The first palace could not, therefore, have been 
 founded later than about 900 years before Christ. 
 
 But there are several circumstances which seem to 
 prove, that a very long interval elapsed between the 
 construction of the palaces in the north and centre of 
 the mound, and that at the south-west corner. The 
 latter is chiefly built, as I have had frequent occasion 
 to remark, of slabs taken from the others; but there 
 are, at the same time, sculptures and inscriptions in 
 
 * The whole fragment will be given in the collection of Assyrian 
 inscriptions, published by the Trustees of the British Museum. I may 
 observe, that since writing the above, I have received a letter from 
 Major Rawlinson, to whom I sent a copy of the fragment, and that he 
 is inclined to doubt the identification of the names with those of the 
 Khorsabad and Kouyunjik kings, and to believe that this is a distinct 
 royal series ; if so, we have still more important evidence of the anti- 
 quity of the earliest edifice of Nimroud.
 
 CHAP. I.J DISTINCTIONS OF STYLE. 201 
 
 this edifice evidently coming from some ruin not yet 
 discovered, and differing in many respects from those 
 known to exist in any other building at Nimroud. 
 These edifices appear, from, the frequent repetition 
 of the figures of the gods, to have been either 
 temples, or, as there is reason to believe was the 
 case in Egypt, royal residences combined with those 
 of the gods. It may, therefore, reasonably be con- 
 jectured that a considerable period elapsed before a 
 monarch pulled down the sacred buildings of kings of 
 his own race and faith, to raise out of the materials 
 a new habitation for himself or his divinities. A 
 contrary supposition would be opposed to all we 
 know of the religious feelings and prejudices of the 
 ancients. The buildings destroyed must either have 
 belonged to so remote a period, that not only all 
 remembrance of those who erected them had passed 
 away, which was not likely to have been the case in 
 Assyria, as the written character was still preserved, 
 or a new religion had been introduced with a new 
 dynasty. 
 
 That a new race, with new forms of worship, had 
 succeeded to the original inhabitants of the country ; 
 or, what is more probable, that a new dynasty had 
 taken the place of the old, seems to be shown by the 
 monuments themselves. There are remarkable dif- 
 ferences between the sculptures from the earliest 
 palace of Nimroud, and those from Khorsabad. The 
 costumes change ; the forms of the chariots, the 
 trappings of the horses, the helmets and armour of 
 the warriors are no longer the same. The mode of
 
 202 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CiiAr. I. 
 
 treatment of the subjects, the nature of the sculpture, 
 and the forms of the characters used in the inscrip- 
 tions, vary essentially. At Khorsabad, and Kouyunjik 
 we find no traces of the religious emblems so frequent 
 in the sculptures of the north-west palace of Nimroud. 
 The emblem of the great divinity, the winged figure 
 within the circle, has never been found at Khorsabad, 
 Kouyunjik, or in the latest palaces of Mmroud. 
 From the frequent representations of the fire-altar in 
 the bas-reliefs from those ruins, and on cylinders 
 evidently of the same period, there is reason to be- 
 lieve that a fire-worship had succeeded to the purer 
 forms of Saba3anism. The language, too, of the 
 earliest inscriptions, appears to vary essentially from 
 that used in the latest. Major Rawlinson is of opinion 
 that, whilst the language spoken by the builders of 
 the most ancient Assyrian monuments was far re- 
 moved from the Chaldee of a known historic period, 
 that of the inscriptions of Khorsabad approaches very 
 closely to the Babylonian dialect ; which again is 
 nearly allied to the Chaldee of sacred literature, and 
 of the Sadr of the Saba3ans. Indeed it may be fore- 
 seen, that the reading of the early Nirnroud in- 
 scriptions will be a task of no easy accomplishment, 
 and will be best arrived at by a prior knowledge of 
 the contents of those of Khorsabad. 
 
 All these facts lead to the belief that the palaces 
 at Khorsabad and Kouyunjik, and in the south-west 
 corner of the mound of Nimroud, were built by a later 
 race or dynasty of kings. It is not indeed impossible, 
 but on the contrary there are circumstances to lead
 
 CHAP. I.] COMPARISON OF DATES. 203 
 
 to the conjecture, that the edifices in one part of the 
 mound of Nimroud were already in ruins, and buried 
 under ground, before those in another part were 
 founded. The flooring, or foundations, of the south- 
 west palace is on a level with the tops of the walls of 
 the north-west, and of the centre palaces. It is not pro- 
 bable that an edifice should have been erected adjoin- 
 ing the ruins of a more ancient, and so much above 
 it, that the artificial mound must have been carried 
 up to the level of the roof of the ruined building. It 
 would moreover appear, from a peculiar depression in 
 the mound, that when the slabs of the northern wall of 
 the great hall (B, in plan 3.) were carried away for 
 the construction of the south-west palace, excavations 
 were made to reach them. It may be mentioned as 
 a curious fact to corroborate this supposition, that 
 two of the slabs * had fallen back from their places, 
 not into the room, but into the place where the wall 
 of sun-dried bricks, of which they had originally 
 formed the casing, ought to have been ; so that this 
 wall must have been removed. On examining the 
 ruins carefully, it appeared to me as if the builders 
 of the most recent palace, having found a suitable 
 position for an edifice on the artificial elevation at 
 Nimroud, and discovering that remains were buried 
 in it, enlarged the mound by adding to it on the 
 south side. Having raised this new platform to the 
 height of the ruins, covered, as they then were, with 
 earth, they built upon it, digging, for their materials, 
 into the old palaces. And it may be remarked, as 
 
 * Nos. 27. and 28. ch. B, plan 3.
 
 204 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 almost conclusive evidence that the palaces of dif- 
 ferent periods were not standing at the same time, 
 that whilst the most recent building at Nimroud 
 had been completely destroyed by fire, the north-west 
 and centre palaces had not been exposed to a confla- 
 gration, nor are there any traces of smoke, or of the 
 action of fire, in any part of these buildings. It 
 will be remembered that Khorsabad, Kouyunjik, and 
 the south-western palace of Nimroud, all edifices of 
 the same period, owe their destruction to the same 
 cause. It would appear, therefore, that the monu- 
 ments of the latter dynasty were destroyed at a 
 different time, and altogether in a different manner 
 from those of the first, which must have been con- 
 cealed to escape the same fate. These are important 
 facts in our inquiry, and may be connected with the 
 assertion of Diodorus, that on the taking of Nineveh 
 by the Medes, under Arbaces, the city was destroyed ; 
 or with the usual historical account of the death of 
 Sardanapalus, about 876 or 868 years before Christ.* 
 The north-west palace, if already in ruins or buried, 
 must have been partly uncovered, perhaps excavated 
 for materials, in the time of the Khorsabad king; 
 because there was in one of the chambers, as I have 
 
 * There is much confusion with regard to the dates of these events, which 
 Clinton (Fasti Hellenic!, vol. i.) has endeavoured to clear up. By some 
 the destruction of Nineveh and the revolt of the Medes are looked upon 
 as distinct events, which have been confounded. But the city may have 
 been twice destroyed ; or rather, once merely depopulated, and its prin- 
 cipal buildings overthrown, and then subsequently, at a much later 
 period, burnt to the ground ; this is consistent with the change of dynasty 
 which is presumed to have taken place on the first occasion, and the utter 
 extinction of the Assyrian empire, which followed on the second.
 
 CHAP. I.] THE CARTOUCHES. 205 
 
 already mentioned *, an inscription commencing 
 with his name, cut above the usual standard inscrip- 
 tion. It has every appearance of having been placed 
 there to commemorate the re-opening, discovery, or 
 re-occupation of the building. Moreover, the vases 
 bearing the name of this king, and found in the 
 rubbish above the chambers, must be of the same 
 period. The ivory ornaments I conjecture to be 
 cotemporaneous with the vases, and so also most of 
 the small objects found in the edifice. And if this 
 fact be established, we may obtain important chrono- 
 logical data ; for if the name in the cartouche could 
 be satisfactorily deciphered, and identified with that 
 of any Egyptian king, or with that of any Assyrian 
 king whose place in history can be determined, we 
 should be able at once to decide the period of the 
 reign of the Khorsabad king, and of his successors. 
 
 As the name cannot yet be determined, Mr. Birch, 
 in a memoir read before the Royal Society of Lite- 
 rature, has endeavoured to fix the age of the ivories 
 by " their artistic style, by philological peculiarities, 
 and by the political relations between Egypt and 
 Assyria."! He well observes, that the style is not 
 purely Egyptian, although it shows very close imita- 
 tion of Egyptian workmanship, and this must strike 
 any one who examines these fragments. The solar 
 disc and plumes surmounting the cartouche, appear 
 to have been first used in the time of the 18th dynasty, 
 
 * P. 11. of this volume. 
 
 f For engravings from the ivories, see my work on the Monuments of 
 Nineveh.
 
 206 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 in the reign of Thotlimes III., and are found above 
 the names of kings as late as the Persian occupation 
 of Egypt. The head attire of the king bears some 
 resemblance to that of Amenophis III. at Karnak, and 
 the kheppr, or helmet, also appears at the commence- 
 ment of the 18th dynast} 7 ; the absence of peaked 
 sandals, and the masses of locks of side hair, may 
 possibly have been the fashion of the 22nd dynasty. 
 
 As to the evidence afforded by the philological con- 
 struction, and the employment of certain letters, all 
 the symbols, except one, appear to have been in use 
 from the earliest period in Egypt; the exceptional 
 symbol, the u, was introduced generally in the time 
 of the 18th dynasty. Mr. Birch concludes, that the 
 time of the 22nd dynasty would well suit the car- 
 touche, if stress may be laid upon certain philological 
 peculiarities. 
 
 We have next the evidence of political intercourse 
 between the two countries, as showing at what period 
 it is likely that by trade or otherwise, articles of Egyp- 
 tian manufacture may have been carried into Assyria, 
 or Egyptian workmen may have sought employment 
 in the Assyrian cities. It has already been shown 
 that from the commencement of the 18th dynasty a 
 close intercourse had already commenced, chiefly, it 
 would appear, by conquest ; as the monuments of that 
 period frequently allude to the subjugation of the 
 countries on the borders of the Euphrates. * But it 
 
 * See Mr. Birch's paper on the statistical tablet of Karnak, and on 
 the hieroglyphics! inscriptions on the obelisk at Constantinople of the 
 reign of Thothmes III. (Transactions of the Royal Society of Litera- 
 ture, new series.)
 
 CHAP. I.] THE CARTOUCHES. 207 
 
 is about the time of the 21st dynasty of Tanite Mngs, 
 that the relations between the two countries seem to 
 have been most fully established, and that more than 
 a common connection had sprung up between them. 
 Mr. Birch has discovered, and pointed out, the re- 
 markable evidence afforded by the names of male and 
 female members of this, and the following dynasty, 
 which are evidently of Semitic, and even of Assyrian 
 origin. Those of many of the kings of the 22nd, or 
 Bubastite, dynasty, are the most remarkable instances. 
 We have Sheshank, his sons Shapud and Osorchon, 
 Nimrot, the son of Osorchon II., Takilutha or Takel- 
 lothis, Nimrot, the son of Takellothis II., and the 
 names of queens, Lekamat or Rekamat *, Karmain or 
 Kalmirn, daughter of the Prince Nimroud and Tatepor. 
 The two first, Sheshank and Shapud, and the names 
 of the queens, Mr. Birch shows, are not referable to 
 Egyptian roots, but follow the analogy of Assyrian 
 names. Osorchon he identifies with the Assyrian 
 Sargon f, Nimrot with Mmrod, and Takilutha with 
 Tiglath ; a word which enters into the composition of 
 the name of the Assyrian monarch, Tiglath Pileser. 
 
 It is highly probable, therefore, that at this period, 
 the reign of the 22nd dynasty, very intimate relations 
 existed between Egypt and the countries to the north- 
 
 * Mr. Birch conjectures that this name may be derived from the 
 Hebrew " Rikamut," an embroidered garment ; " a Semitic word, which, 
 considering the renown of the Assyrian looms, might have been conferred 
 on an Assyrian female." 
 
 f In Isaiah (ch. xx. v. 1.), Sennacherib appears to be so called ; but 
 it has been conjectured that Essarhaddon, who is called Sarchedon in the 
 book of Tobit, is meant.
 
 208 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 east of it. Solomon had married a daughter of an 
 Egyptian monarch *, and Jeroboam fled to the court 
 of King Shishak. f The same alliances, therefore, 
 may have been formed between the most powerful 
 monarchs of the time those of Assyria and Egypt. 
 The two countries appear then to have been at 
 peace, and in friendly communication ; for we have 
 no notice in the Bible of wars between the Assyrians 
 and Egyptians at this period, nor does Naharaina 
 appear amongst the numerous conquests of Shishak. 
 As their battle-ground would probably have been 
 some part of Syria, and the troops of one of the two 
 nations would have marched through the Jewish ter- 
 ritories, some record of the event would have been 
 preserved by the sacred writers. The monuments of 
 this dynasty do not contain any notice of triumphs 
 and conquests to the east of the Euphrates. During 
 this period of intimate alliance, the Assyrian mon- 
 archs may have adopted Egyptian names or preno- 
 mens, or may have employed Egyptian artists to 
 record their names and titles in the sacred characters 
 of Egypt. It is is even possible that this connection 
 may account for the appearance of Egyptian names 
 in the lists of Assyrian kings. J 
 
 Thus the evidence afforded by the artistic style 
 of the cartouches, and by their philological pecu- 
 liarities, as well as by the principal period of po- 
 
 * About 1014, B. c. 1 Kings, c. iii. v. 1. 
 
 f 1 Kings, c. xi. v. 40., and, according to some versions of the Septu- 
 agint, he married a relation (the Syncellus says a sister) of the Egyptian 
 monarch. (Boekh. Manetho, s. 315.) 
 
 J As for instance, Sethos and Horus.
 
 CHAP. I.] NAME IN CARTOUCHE. 209 
 
 litical and commercial intercourse between the two 
 people, appears to coincide, and points to the 22nd 
 dynasty, or 980 B. c., as the most probable period 
 of the ivories. At the same time it must be observed 
 that there is no argument against their being at- 
 tributed to the 18th dynasty. 
 
 Mr. Birch reads the name upon the entire cartouche, 
 Aubnu-ra, or Auvnu-ra *, which, if a mere Egyptian 
 word, Avould mean the shining sun. He observes, 
 " There is no especial deity of the Egyptian pantheon 
 called Ubnu ; yet, as this word is constructed in the 
 same manner as the names of Egyptian deities, it 
 may be that of an Assyrian deity, translated or tran- 
 scribed into hieroglyphics. The name of Cannes, the 
 Chaldasan God, half man, half fish, is the nearest 
 approximation to it of the Assyrian names that have 
 reached us There is another hypothesis appli- 
 cable to this cartouche : that it represents the name 
 of an Assyrian king transcribed into hieroglyphics. 
 In order to identify it, if possible, with such a 
 name, I have collated it carefully with the lists of 
 names of Assyrian monarchs which have reached us, 
 from Eusebius, the Syncellus, Moses of Chorene, and 
 other chronographists of a later period." But he has 
 been unable to identify it with any authentic name 
 in those lists. " The name," Mr. Birch concludes, 
 " is not philologically composed like the name of a 
 king; and if it is supposed to be a prasnomen, 
 
 * There are six symbols, or hieroglyphics : the reed A, the cord or 
 boat-head U, the leg B, water N, the duckling U, the sun's disk and the 
 determinative bar. 
 
 VOL. II. P
 
 210 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 which the Assyrian monarch might have assumed 
 in imitation of his Egyptian cotemporaries, there 
 is scarcely one in the whole Egyptian series con- 
 structed in the same manner ; for in these the disk 
 of the sun is universally placed first. It is much 
 more probable that it is a praBnoinen, than a name ; 
 in which case the fragment of the other name, in the 
 second cartouche, might be the name of the monarch." 
 
 Unfortunately only half the panel containing this 
 second cartouche has been preserved. Three symbols, 
 reading NTA, or NATH, as the end of some Assyrian 
 name, alone remain. On a fragment of ivory, not 
 belonging to either of the cartouches, are two hiero- 
 glyphics, a duckling and the water-line, which ^Ir. 
 Birch reads UN, and conjectures to be part of the 
 name of an Assyrian deity. 
 
 In conclusion, Mr. Birch admits that the names of 
 two Egyptian kings correspond, in a remarkable de- 
 gree, with those in the Nimroud cartouches the one 
 being Ra-ubn, the shining sun, and the word ubn 
 forming part of the other. But the following objec- 
 tions to their identity occur to him, viz. : " that the 
 monarchs of this dynasty are anterior to the 18th, and 
 were ephemeral rulers, whose reigns varied from a few 
 months to only four years, showing either an epoch of 
 political confusion, or a series of reigns improperly 
 recorded. Now the Nimroud cartouche can hardly 
 be referred to so early a period, although the Hykshos 
 invasion is considered by some to be represented 
 by this part of the canon. These kings cannot be 
 connected with the shepherds. There is one period
 
 CHAP. I.] THE GODDESS KEN. 211 
 
 which cannot be omitted in the consideration of 
 these Assyrian cartouches that of the worship of 
 the A ten, or sun's disk, introduced during the 18th 
 dynasty ; but there is no internal evidence that the 
 kings of this dynasty were Assyrians." May not 
 this very confusion indicate a foreign conquest one 
 of the Assyrian occupations of Egypt hinted at by 
 Chaldee and Greek authors ? And is it not a re- 
 markable coincidence, that we have continual repre- 
 sentations of the disk of the sun, as an object of 
 worship, on the earliest monuments of Nineveh ? 
 
 The attempt to connect the names of many Egyp- 
 tian and Assyrian divinities has already been fre- 
 quently made.* I will only allude to one, whose 
 Assyrian origin is generally admitted, and whose ap- 
 pearance on the monuments of Egypt affords im- 
 portant evidence in an inquiry into the date of the 
 Assyrian edifices. I mean the goddess Ken f , the 
 Astarte, Astaroth, Mylitta, and Alitta of the Assy- 
 rians, Syrians, and Arabs. J This divinity appears to 
 have been introduced into the Egyptian pantheon in 
 the time of the 18th dynasty, or at the commence- 
 ment of the close connection between Assyria and 
 Egypt. On comparing a representation of the god- 
 
 * For instance, the goddess Athor or Athyr. Dr. Hincks, I believe, 
 reads the same name, as that of the presiding divinity, on the monu- 
 ments of Assyria. Mr. Birch admits, in his observations on the car- 
 touches, that the introduction of the Assyrian gods, Baal and Astarta, 
 of Renpu or Reseph, of Ken, and Anata or Anaitis, can be traced to the 
 18 19 dynasty, and is coeval with the epoch of the great conquests of 
 Egypt in central Asia. 
 
 f This is probably the Kiun of the prophet Amos. (Ch. v. ver. 26.) 
 j According to M. Fresnel (Journal Asiatique, iv e serie, t. v. p. 211.) 
 the goddess Athtor is mentioned in the Himyaritic inscriptions. 
 
 p 2
 
 212 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. I. 
 
 dess in the rock sculptures of Malthaiyah, with an 
 Egyptian bas-relief in the British Museum, it will 
 be seen that the mode of treating the subject is 
 nearly the same. In both we have a female standing 
 on a lion. The Egyptian figure holds two snakes and 
 a flower, the stalks of which are twisted into the form 
 of a ring; the Assyrian carries a ring alone. The 
 flower resembles that borne by the winged figures in 
 the palace of Khorsabad, and is not found in the edi- 
 fices of the first Assyrian period where the flowers in 
 the hands of similar figures are of a different shape.* 
 In the Egyptian bas-relief, of which I give a 
 woodcut, the goddess is naked ; but she is some- 
 times found clothed, as in Assyria. In the earliest 
 
 THE EGYPTIAN GODDESS KEN. 
 From a tablet in the British Museum. 
 
 ASSYRIAN DEITY (? THE A3TAETE OF 
 THE ASSYRIANS AND THE KEN OF 
 THE EGYPTIANS). 
 
 From a rock tablet at Malthaiyob, near 
 Mosul. 
 
 * This will be perceived at once by comparing the engravings in (he 
 French work on the monuments of Khorsabad, with those from the sculp- 
 tures of Nimroud in my large work. As it will be shown hereafter, this 
 lotus-shaped flower was evidently introduced into Assyria during the
 
 CHAP. I.] EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS IN ASSYRIA. 213 
 
 palace of Nimroud, I discovered two representations 
 of the same divinity, both differing entirely from 
 those of the rock sculptures of Malthaiyah. The 
 figure was not placed upon a lion ; but the posture 
 clearly pointed out the peculiar form of worship over 
 which the goddess presided, the lower part of the 
 person being obviously exposed. The Egyptian Ken 
 appears, therefore, to be connected with the second, 
 and not the first, mode of representation which pre- 
 vailed in Assyria.* 
 
 But if the Egyptians borrowed from the Assyrians, 
 the emblems of Egypt were also carried to the east- 
 ward; and, it would appear, about the same time. 
 The monuments of the second Assyrian period are 
 characterised by more than one Egyptian peculiarity. 
 The crux ansata, the tau or sign of life, is found on 
 the sculptures of Khorsabadf, on the ivories from 
 
 time of, or immediately preceding the time of, the builders of Khorsabad. 
 There are other representations in the British Museum of this Egyptian 
 form of the Assyrian goddess. On a fragment (Egyptian Room, No. 308.) 
 she is seen worshipped by Harnesses II. On a tablet at Turin she is called 
 Atsh, or Adesh, the name of the chief city of the Khitas, a Mesopotamian 
 people attacked by the Ramessids. (Prisse. Mon. PI. xxxvii.) She 
 usually appears in a triad with Renpu and Khem, or Chamno, also deities 
 of Semitic extraction. 
 
 * Since writing the above I have found, in M. Lajard's great work on 
 the worship of Venus (plate 28), the engraving of an Assyrian cylinder, 
 on which this goddess is represented naked, and in the same posture as 
 on the Egyptian monuments. The two, in fact, are nearly identical. 
 From the dress of the accompanying figures (one of which carries a 
 hatchet), I have little hesitation in ascribing this cylinder to the later 
 Assyrian period. 
 
 f Botta's letters in the Journal Asiatique for 1843. I am aware of the 
 ingenious arguments of M. Lajard (Observations sur 1'Origine et la Sig- 
 nification du Synibole appele la Croix Ansee, Paris, 1847), to derive the 
 crux ansata from the Assyrian symbol of the divinity, the winged figure 
 within the circle ; but Egyptian antiquaries reject the connection alto- 
 
 p 3
 
 214 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 Nimroud, which, as I have shown, are of the same 
 age, carried too by an Assyrian king, and on cylin- 
 ders evidently of the later Assyrian period.* At 
 Kouyunjik the lotus was introduced as an architec- 
 tural ornament upon pavement slabs, between the 
 bulls forming the entrances, and apparently on cor- 
 nices, fragments of which were found in the rub- 
 bish at the foot of the mound. In the latest palace 
 at Nimroud, were the crouching sphinxes with the 
 beardless human head f ; we have also the vases 
 of Egyptian form, inscribed with the name of the 
 Khorsabad king. About the same time were probably 
 introduced the scarabaBi, engraved with Assyrian 
 emblems and characters, not unfrequently found in 
 Assyrian ruins. J It is probable also that the singular 
 grotesque head carved in a yellow silex, placed by 
 me in the British Museum, and discovered in the 
 mound of Nebbi Yunus, near Kouyunjik, is of the 
 
 gether, not even deeming it worthy of a serious investigation. Without 
 venturing to offer an observation on the subject, I may perhaps be 
 allowed to suggest that the monuments already discovered, and hereafter 
 to be discovered in Assyria, may throw new light upon many subjects 
 connected with Egypt, and may perhaps tend to shake many received 
 opinions. 
 
 * Their comparative date can be shown beyond a doubt, I think, by 
 a comparison with the monuments of Khorsabad. 
 
 | It is doubtful whether this sphinx be male, or female, in the Assyrian 
 monuments. I am inclined to think the latter. (See a representation of 
 the figure, Vol. I. p. 348.) It is well known that the Egyptian sphinx is 
 always male. 
 
 J There are several such scaraba;i in the collection of the British 
 Museum. That the obelisk was common to the two nations, at a very 
 early period, is proved by the one in black marble, discovered at Nim- 
 roud ; and by the mention of the great obelisk said to have been erected 
 by Semiramis at Babylon. Theophrastus (de Lapidibus, c. xliv.) also 
 speaks of an obelisk of emerald, four cubits high and three broad, pre- 
 sented by a king of Babylon to a king of Egypf.
 
 CHAP. I.] EGYPTIAN NAMES. 215 
 
 same period ; and an imitation of the head of the 
 Egyptian deity, which some believe to represent 
 death.* 
 
 Before leaving the subject of the connection be- 
 tween Egypt and Assyria, it may not be out of place 
 to allude to the insertion of names, apparently of 
 Egyptian origin, in the lists of Assyrian kings. In 
 the dynastic list of the Syncellus, for instance, we 
 have a Sethos ; and Pliny mentions an Assyrian king 
 called Horus.f It is difficult to say how these lists 
 were drawn up ; but it is not impossible that there 
 may have been some traditionary evidence at least to 
 support them, and that this appearance of Egyptian 
 names may point to a closer connection with Egypt 
 than history has recorded. If, in the dynasties of 
 Egypt, whose authenticity is admitted, we find As- 
 syrian names, why should we altogether reject Egyp- 
 tian names, merely because they are Egyptian, when 
 they occur in the dynasties of Assyria ? J 
 
 * Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, plate 41. vol. iv. This head has an 
 inscription in cuneiform letters on the crown and back ; it might other- 
 wise be mistaken for a Mexican relic. Mr. Birch suggests that, as a 
 similar head is frequently represented on Egyptian monuments, on vases 
 brought as tribute by an Asiatic people ; and is, moreover, found on the 
 Phoenician coins of Abusus, as that of the deity, it may be the Semitic 
 Baal, or Typhon. 
 
 f Lib. vi. c. 30. This may be the Thurus of Cedrenus, who, according 
 to a tradition, erected the first stela or pillar in Assyria. (Selden, Proleg. 
 de Dis Syris, c. 3.) 
 
 J The continual confusion in sacred and profane authors between the 
 Kushites, or Ethiopians of Asia and Africa, is worthy of remark. We 
 have a Memnon commanding the armies of the Assyrian king at the siege 
 of Troy, coming from Susa, and followed by the Kushites, or inhabitants 
 of Susiana (Khuzistan). Although Virgil, falling into the common error 
 of supposing Memuon to have been an African, calls him black (.ZEneid, 
 1. iii.) Eustathius (in Dionys. Perieg. v. 248.), and Triclinius, the scholiast 
 
 p 4
 
 216 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 The various statements of ancient authors, as to 
 the epoch of Ninus, remain to be considered. Ac- 
 cording to the fragments of Ctesias, preserved by 
 Diodorus Siculus, there were thirty-three kings from 
 the accession of that monarch to the fall of the em- 
 pire, whose reigns occupied 1306 years, and ended 
 876 B. c. Diodorus himself acquiesces in this date, 
 and Ctesias is followed by many writers, amongst 
 them Strabo and Abydenus. Castor brings the 
 empire down to 843 before Christ; and he reckons 
 1280 years from the first Ninus, to a second who 
 succeeded Sardanapalus. According to Eusebius, 
 1240 years elapsed between Ninus and Sardanapa- 
 lus, during which time reigned thirty-six Assyrian 
 kings, fixing the fall of the empire at 819 B. c. The 
 Syncellus places that event 826 years B. c., after 
 the duration of the empire for 1460 years.* The 
 fall of Nineveh mentioned by these authors occurred, 
 therefore, much earlier than the destruction of the 
 city recorded in Scripture, which must be attributed 
 to the joint expedition of Cyaxares and Nabopo- 
 lassar; undertaken, as it has been shown, about 
 606 B. c. The event alluded to by Ctesias and his 
 followers may refer to the revolt of the Medes, and 
 not to the final overthrow of the Assyrian empire. 
 
 of Pindar, sny, that both he and his brother were white, although those 
 whom they commanded were black. The birth of Memnon from Tithon 
 and Aurora, according to the Greek mythology, evidently points to his 
 eastern origin. Both Suidas and Pausanias (in. Phocid.) state that he 
 came from Susa. According to some, Tithon, his father, was the brother 
 of Priam. 
 
 * I follow Clinton's Fasti Hellenici in these dates (vol. i. p. 263.). In 
 the chronology of ancient authors, we find the extraordinary discrepancy 
 of 1535 years between the various dates assigned to Semirainis.
 
 CHAP. I.] TWO ASSYRIAN DYNASTIES. 217 
 
 Some violent political convulsion probably took place 
 when Arbaces enabled the Medes to assert their in- 
 dependence the reigning Assyrian dynasty may 
 have been changed, and the old Assyrian empire 
 really brought to an end.* 
 
 Clinton, after a careful examination of the state- 
 ments of the Greek writers, and after comparing 
 them with the Scriptures, thus fixes the dates of the 
 principal events of Assyrian history : 
 
 (NinUS, B.C. 2182.) Years. B.C. 
 
 Assyrian monarchy 1306 years 
 
 before the Empire 675 1912 
 
 During the Empire, 24 Kings - 526 1237 
 (Sardanapalus, B.C. 876.) 
 
 After the Empire, 6 Kings - 105 711 
 
 1306 
 Capture of Nineveh - 606 f 
 
 There are indeed sufficient grounds for the con- 
 jecture that there were two, if not more, distinct As- 
 syrian dynasties the first commencing with Ninus, 
 and ending with a Sardanapalus of history ; and 
 the second, including the kings mentioned in the 
 
 * Polyhistor distinctly alludes to this change of dynasty ; and the names 
 of the latter Assyrian kings, as recorded in the Bible, evidently differ 
 materially in their construction from those of the earlier monarchs ; so 
 much, indeed, that they appear to belong to a distinct race. According 
 to Bion and Polyhistor, the Dercelades, or descendants of Semiramis, 
 were dethroned by Beletaras, about the nineteenth in direct succession 
 from Ninus. 
 
 f See an elaborate Essay, in the Memoires of the Academic des In- 
 scriptions (vol. vii. of the abridged ed.), by M. Freret, on Assyrian 
 Chronology, in which all the authorities are carefully collected. His 
 results agree nearly with those of Clinton.
 
 218 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 Scriptures, and ending with Saracus, Ninus II., or 
 the king, under whatever name he was known, in 
 whose reign Nineveh was finally destroyed by the 
 combined armies of Persia and Babylon. In history 
 we have apparently twice recorded the destruction of 
 the Assyrian capital ; and two monarchs, first Sarda- 
 napalus, and then Saracus, are declared to have 
 burnt themselves in their palaces * rather than fall 
 into the hands of their enemies, f 
 
 To the tombs, in the earth covering the remains 
 of the north-west, centre, and south-east edifices at 
 Nimroud, I cannot at present assign any date ; and, 
 until the vases, and other objects, found in them are 
 examined in England, I would hesitate to found an 
 argument upon their presence. They undoubtedly 
 prove that, at a very early period, the ruins were 
 completely buried, and the contents of the mounds 
 unknown. | The cartouches, ivory ornaments, and 
 other objects, found still lower in the ruins, are 
 sufficient to mark the period of the destruction of 
 
 * Saracus, according to Abydenus, in a palace called Evorita, which 
 Major Rawlinson conjectures (Behistun Inscription deciphered, Jour- 
 nal of the Royal Asiatic Society) to be represented by the ruins of 
 Khorsabad. 
 
 f According to Herodotus (lib.i. c. 176.), the people of Xanthus, rather 
 than submit to the arms of Cyrus, burnt themselves and their wives. The 
 same thing occurred in this city when besieged by Alexander and 
 Brutus. (Appian. de Bello Civili.) The anecdote is also related by 
 Plutarch. 
 
 J It is probable that when Strabo (lib. xvi.) describes the vast mounds 
 of earth erected by Semiramis, containing subterraneous passages or 
 communications, tanks for water and staircases of stone, he alludes to 
 these very Assyrian ruins, a part of the contents of which might casually 
 have been exposed by the falling in of earth, or when the winter rains 
 formed ravines down their sides.
 
 CHAP. I.] 
 
 THE TOMBS AT NIMROUD. 
 
 219 
 
 the building. I will only allude to the resemblance 
 between the vases, necklaces, and ornaments from 
 the sepulchres of Nimroud, and those discovered in 
 Egyptian tombs. The small crouching lion in lapis 
 
 i of Pottery found in the Tombs above tlie R 
 
 lazuli, a sitting figure of the same material, the 
 beads, the forms of the vases, are all purely Egyp- 
 tian, f Had they been placed in the hands of any 
 antiquary, not acquainted with the circumstances of 
 their discovery, he would not. I am convinced, have 
 hesitated to assign to them an Egyptian origin. Two 
 or three purely Assyrian cylinders were also dis- 
 covered in the tombs. Who the people were that 
 buried their dead above the Assyrian palaces, I 
 
 * This sketch was made from some Egyptian pottery in the British 
 Museum, as I have no drawings of that found in the Nimroud tombs. 
 The shapes, however, are identical. 
 
 f All these small objects will be deposited in the British Museum.
 
 220 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 cannot venture at present to decide. They were not 
 Christians, nor did they profess the Magian doc- 
 trines as taught in the time of the Sassanian kings. 
 The inhabitants of ancient Assyria, neither during 
 the supremacy of the Parthian Arsacida3, of the 
 Romans, or of the Greeks, maintained that close 
 connection with Egypt which would have led to 
 such general use of Egyptian symbols, or objects of 
 Egyptian manufacture. Nor is the mode of burial 
 Egyptian ; it more nearly resembles that adopted by 
 the early Persians. Cyrus and Darius were buried 
 in sarcophagi, or troughs ; Darius in one of Egyptian 
 alabaster.* From the fact that tombs were found 
 in all the most ancient ruins of Assyria, over the 
 north-west, centre, and south-east edifices at Mm- 
 roud, at Kalah Sherghat, and Baasheikha, and not at 
 Khorsabad, Kouyunjik, or over the south-west palace 
 at Nimroud, it might be conjectured that they be- 
 longed to an intermediate people or race, who occu- 
 pied Assyria after the building of the most ancient 
 palaces, and before the foundation of the most recent. 
 The close connection between Assyria and Egypt, 
 during the time of the 18th, and four subsequent 
 Egyptian dynasties, is naturally called to our recol- 
 lection. But in the present state of our knowledge, 
 it would be too hazardous to assign so remote an an- 
 
 * The alabaster TrusXos, or tub, in which Darius was buried, is men- 
 tioned by Theophrastus. The Assyrians, like the early Persians, may 
 have buried their dead entire, and preserved the bodies in honey or 
 wax. (Herod, lib. i.e. 140. Arian, deBello Alex. Theoph. de hnpid. 
 c. xv.) According to Julian, when Xerxes opened the tomb of Belli*, ho 
 found the body in a coffin fdled, nearly to the brim, with oil.
 
 CHAP. I.] ANTIQUITY OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE. 221 
 
 tiquity to these remains ; for by doing so we must, 
 of course, assume, that the ruins beneath are even 
 some centuries more ancient. I will, however, at- 
 tempt, to show, that there is nothing inconsistent with 
 either history or tradition in the supposition, that 
 these buried edifices belong to a very early period. 
 I will not lay any stress upon the contents of the 
 tombs ; they may have been brought from elsewhere ; 
 and it is not impossible that they may belong to the 
 time of the first Persian occupation, or perhaps even 
 to the second ; although the absence of coins and 
 gems of that period is opposed to this supposition.* 
 
 It may, I think, be proved, from the facts which 
 I have stated, that a very considerable period elapsed 
 between the construction of the earliest and latest 
 palaces, discovered at Nimroud. On the most mo- 
 derate calculation, we may assign a date of 1100 
 or 1200 years before Christ, to the erection of the 
 most ancient ; but the probability is, that it is much 
 more ancient. As I have already observed, there 
 is nothing in history, either sacred or profane, or 
 in the traditions handed down to us, against attri- 
 buting the highest antiquity to the Assyrian em- 
 pire. In the land of Shinar, in the country watered 
 by the Tigris and Euphrates, the Scripture places 
 the earliest habitations of the human race. Whether 
 we look upon that statement as the result of divine 
 
 * It may be observed that remains of the Greek occupation of Assyria 
 are not unfrequently found. At Nimroud a small female figure in terra 
 cotta, evidently of that period, was discovered in the rubbish on the edge 
 of the south-east corner of the mound.
 
 222 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I 
 
 inspiration, or whether we consider it as the re- 
 cord of a tradition, or an historical fact received by 
 the Hebrew legislator from elsewhere, still we have 
 the evidence that at the very earliest period, the be- 
 lief was generally current, both amongst Egyptians 
 and Jews, that the first settlements were in Assyria ; 
 and that from Chaldaea, civilisation, and the arts and 
 sciences were spread over the world.* Abraham 
 and his family, above 1900 years before Christ, mi- 
 grated from a land already thickly inhabited, and 
 possessing great cities. According to Josephus, the 
 four confederate kings, who marched in the time of 
 the patriarch against the people of Sodom, and the 
 neighbouring cities, were under a king of Assyria, 
 whose empire extended over all Asia, f Most of the 
 early Greek authors, and those who have followed 
 them, recognising a tradition which appears to have 
 been generally prevalent, agree in assigning to the 
 first kings of Nineveh the remotest antiquity; and 
 in this they are confirmed by the Armenian historians. 
 
 * Berosus (or Berossos) mentions the first settlement of the human 
 race in Chaldaea. The testimony of this author is entitled to some re- 
 spect, as he was a Babylonian, living in the time of Alexander. As a 
 priest of Belus he may be supposed to have been well acquainted with 
 the records contained in the temple, and to have been versed in the learn- 
 ing for which those of his order were so distinguished. In his time the 
 walls were probably still covered with the paintings representing the 
 ancient deeds of the people. We know from the Scriptures how care- 
 fully public records were kept in Babylon ; even those of the Assyrian 
 empire existing after the Persian occupation. (Ezra, c. iv.) The tra- 
 ditions or history, preserved by Berosus, may therefore be presumed to 
 have been generally current in his time, amongst the Babylonians. Moses 
 of Chorene calls him a most learned Chaldaean : " Vir Chaldaicus omnis 
 doctrinae peritissimus." 
 
 T Antiq. Jud. 1. i. c. 9.
 
 CHAP. I.] ANTIQUITY OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE. 223 
 
 Their united testimony even tends to identify or to 
 confound Ninus, the first king, with Nimrod him- 
 self, or with one of the immediate descendants of the 
 scriptural Noah. * Herodotus, who is quoted to dis- 
 prove the antiquity of Ninus, merely states that the 
 Assyrians had been in possession of Upper Asia for a 
 period of 520 years, when the Medes first revolted 
 and established their independence, f If we place 
 this event about B. c. 710, and assume that Herodotus 
 alludes to the founding of Nineveh, when he fixes the 
 date of 520 years to the Assyrian domination in Upper 
 Asia, then we must conclude that the Ninus who 
 
 * Particularly that of Berosus. Airrbv Nlvov rbv NffywQ ot 'Aatn/pict 
 irpoffrjyoptvffav. (A poll. Fragmenta, 69., ed. Muller.) To limit the foun- 
 dation of the Assyrian empire to 900 B. c., because Pul, the first As- 
 syrian king mentioned in Scripture, can be proved to have lived 
 about that time, as the authors of the Ancient Universal History and 
 others have done, is, I conceive, quite inconsistent, not only with all his- 
 torical and traditionary evidence, but with that afforded by the Bible 
 itself. Before the time of Pul, the Jews having no intimate dealings with 
 Assyria, may not have been affected by events occurring in that country : 
 this would be sufficient to account for there being no earlier mention of 
 it, and would seem to confirm the supposition that Herodotus dates, not 
 from the foundation of the Assyrian empire, but from its spreading over 
 Asia. The fragments which have been handed down to us of Armenian 
 history, through the native early Christian historians who possessed mate- 
 rials now lost, equally tend to fix the date of the reign of Ninus at the 
 time usually assigned to it by the Greek authors. His cotemporary on 
 the Armenian throne was Aram, whose son Araeus was slain by Semi- 
 ramis. St. Martin, probably after a careful examination of Armenian and 
 Greek history, placed the reign of Semiramis from 1997 to 1957, B.C. 
 (Biog. Universel de Michaud, art. Sanchoniathon.) " Primus omnium 
 Ninus Rex Assyriorum, veterem, et quasi avitum gentibus morem nova 
 imperii cupiditate mutavit. Hie primus intulit bella finitimis," &c. (Just. 
 Li. e.1.) 
 
 f Herod, lib. i. c. 95. Thallus, as quoted by Theophilus of Antiocb, 
 places Belus 322 years before the siege of Troy, thus appearing to agree 
 with Herodotus.
 
 224 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 gave his name to the city did not flourish earlier than 
 the 13th century before Christ.* But the meaning of 
 the historian is doubtful ; for he appears to reckon, 
 not from the first establishment of a monarchy in 
 Assyria, but from the time that the Assyrians were 
 sufficiently powerful to extend their empire over 
 other parts of Asia. I may mention as a curious 
 fact, first called to my attention by Major Rawlin- 
 son, but which, it must be admitted, requires further 
 corroboration, that whilst, in the inscriptions from 
 the earliest edifices at Nimroud, Assyria alone is 
 included in the dominions of the king, in those 
 from Khorsabad and subsequent edifices, Babylonia, 
 Armenia, and other countries are enumerated. 
 
 But if the inscriptions of Egypt are correctly 
 interpreted, we have distinct evidence that Nineveh 
 was standing long before the period assigned to its 
 foundation, on the supposed evidence of Herodotus. 
 The name is found in the celebrated statistical tablet 
 of Karnak. Mr. Birch, in his observations on that 
 tablet f, observes : " The word Nen-i-iu has been re- 
 cognised as the celebrated Nineveh on the Tigris, by 
 Champollion. The identification of this name is not 
 perfectly satisfactory ; for as it commences the line, it 
 is possible that it may be the termination of the name 
 of some fort or place. As it stands, it coincides with 
 this city, while the return of the king southwards, 
 
 * Or if the Median revolt took place in 876 B. c., or in 819 according 
 to Moses of Chorene, then in the 14th century. 
 
 t Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, voL ii. p. 29. new 
 series.
 
 CHAP. I.] ANTIQUITY OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE. 225 
 
 towards Naharaina *, quite concurs with its position." 
 It may be further mentioned, in support of the reading, 
 that in the same tablet we have the name of Babylon, 
 which has not been found in any other Egyptian in- 
 scription. If this name, therefore, be that of Nineveh, 
 it occurs on a monument of the reign of Thothmes III., 
 about 1490 years before Christ ; and the arguments, 
 founded upon the apparent testimony of Herodotus, 
 at once fall to the ground. f 
 
 There is no reason why we should not assign to 
 Assyria the same remote antiquity we claim for 
 Egypt. The monuments of Egypt prove that she 
 did not stand alone in civilisation and power. At 
 the earliest period we find her contending with 
 enemies, already nearly, if not fully, as powerful as 
 herself; and amongst the spoil from Asia, and the 
 articles of tribute brought by subdued nations from 
 the north-east, are vases as elegant in shape, stuffs 
 as rich in texture, and chariots as well adapted to 
 war as her own. It is not improbable that she her- 
 self was indebted to the nations of Western Asia for 
 the introduction of arts in which they excelled, and 
 that many things in common use were brought 
 from the banks of the Tigris. In fact, to reject the 
 notion of the existence of an independent kingdom 
 in Assyria, at the very earliest period, would be 
 
 * This name is evidently identical with the Neharajim of the Scrip- 
 tures in Syriac, Nahrim; it is a pure Semitic word, signifying the 
 country between the two rivers, the Mesopotamia of the Greeks, the 
 Jezirah, or island, of the Arabs. 
 
 f If there be no interpolation in the book of Genesis, we have mention 
 of Nineveh at least 1500 years B. c. 
 
 VOL. II. Q
 
 226 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 almost to question whether the country were inha- 
 bited ; which would be directly in opposition to the 
 united testimony of Scripture and tradition. A doubt 
 may be entertained as to the dynasties, and extent of 
 the empire, but not as to its existence. That it was 
 not peopled by mere wandering tribes, appears to be 
 proved by the frequent mention of expeditions against 
 Naharaina (Mesopotamia), on the earliest monuments 
 of Egypt, and the nature of the spoil brought from 
 the country. Fourteen hundred years before Christ, 
 Chushan-rishathaim, a king of Mesopotamia *, subdued 
 the Israelites. Other kings were established in the 
 surrounding countries ; all perhaps tributaries to the 
 Assyrians. But Naharaina appears to have been the 
 extent of the Egyptian conquests, the Egyptian kings 
 being frequently declared to have put up the tablets 
 of the boundaries of their empire in that country. 
 That the Assyrian kingdom may not have been known 
 much beyond its limits until the time of its greatest 
 prosperity, when it had extended its rule over the 
 greater part of Asia, is highly probable ; and this 
 would account for the silence of the Jewish writers, 
 and for the absence of its name in most ancient 
 Egyptian inscriptions. 
 
 With our present limited knowledge of the Assy- 
 
 * Judges, iii. 8. : and, 1450 years before Christ, Balaam, prophesy- 
 ing of the Kenites, describes the power of the Assyrians. (Numbers, xxiv. 
 22.) The Arioch, king of El-Assar, mentioned in Genesis (xiv. 1.), 
 has been conjectured to be a king of Assyria ; the name bearing some 
 resemblance to Arius, the son, or Aralius, the grandson, of Ninyas. 
 (Lenglet du Fresnoy, Methode, &c. vol. i. p. 258.) According to Ma- 
 netho, Salathis, the first shepherd king, fortified the eastern provinces of 
 Egypt against the Assyrians.
 
 CHAP. I.] TROY UNDER ASSYRIA. 227 
 
 rian character, it would be hazardous to attempt the 
 identification of the names in the Greek and Arme- 
 nian lists of kings, with those in the Assyrian inscrip- 
 tions ; nor would I venture upon an experiment so 
 often tried, as that of constructing a system of chro- 
 nology upon these dynastic lists. I will only allude 
 to the assertion of many writers of antiquity, that 
 Troy was an Assyrian dependency. Memnon appears 
 at the siege of that city, with the 20,000 men, and 200 
 chariots, sent by the Assyrian king to the assistance 
 of the Trojans. This king, according to Ctesias, Euse- 
 bius, and the commentators, was Teutames ; whom 
 Diodorus makes the 20th, Eusebius the 26th, and 
 Ctesias the 25th in direct descent from Ninus. Their 
 evidence again leads back to the earlier date for the 
 foundation of Nineveh, to about 2100 years before 
 Christ. According to Plato, Troy was within the 
 dominions of the king of Assyria.* Eusebius, 
 quoting from the works of ancient authors, mentions 
 its dependency upon that monarch. On the autho- 
 rity of Cephalion, he even relates the terms in which 
 Priam applied to his Assyrian suzerain for assist- 
 ance, f 
 
 * De Legibus, lib. iii. He may, as it has been conjectured, have fol- 
 lowed Ctesias, who declares that Ninus conquered, amongst other coun- 
 tries, Phrygia, Lydia, and the Troad. (Diodorus Siculus, lib. ii.) 
 According to Herodotus, Agron, the first king of Lydia, was the son 
 of Ninus, and reigned 505 years before Candaules ; and, however little 
 worthy of credit this assertion may be, it proves at least that, in his time, 
 there was still a tradition of the ancient dominion of the Assyrians in 
 Asia Minor. 
 
 f Diod. Sic. 1. ii. c. 22. Cephalion says that Priam applied to the 
 Assyrian king in these terms : " Militari vi in regions tua a Graecis ir- 
 ruentibus appetitus sum, belloque certatuin est varia fortuna. Nunc 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 An attempt to prove that the earliest palace of 
 Nimroud was founded by the Ninus who gave his 
 name to the Assyrian capital, might not be altogether 
 unsupported by plausible arguments. I hesitate at 
 present to decide upon Major Rawlinson's identi- 
 fication of the name which occurs in the inscriptions, 
 with that of the Ninus of history; although any 
 suggestion coming from such an authority must be 
 entitled to the greatest respect. This name, it will 
 be remembered, is ^^-^ j^- |J. 
 
 When the ruins at Nimroud were first discovered, 
 I conjectured, from the frequent recurrence of these 
 characters both on the sculptures and on the bricks, 
 that they must represent the name of the king. I 
 submitted them to Major Rawlinson, and he was led 
 to believe, from a nearly similar word corresponding 
 in the Babylonian column of the trilingual inscrip- 
 tions, to the name of Assyria in the Persian, that in 
 the inscriptions of Nimroud the country also was 
 meant, and that they began, " I the king of Assyria," 
 or with some such formula. When the genealogical 
 series commencing the inscriptions was determined, 
 it became evident that this was a name, and it was 
 not unnatural to connect it with the Asshur of 
 Genesis.* Subsequently I found, from a comparison 
 
 vero et filius meus Hector extinctus erat, et aliorura multa proles ac 
 strenua. Copiarum igitur valido sub duce nobis suppetias mitte." 
 (Euseb. ex Interp. Armen. a Mai, p. 41.) Dares Phrygius also mentions 
 the auxiliaries sent to Priam under Perses and Memnon. 
 
 * Chap. x. ver. 11. " Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded 
 Nineveh;" although the approved reading is " the Assyrian," as given 
 in the margin.
 
 CHAP. 1.] NAME OF NINUS. 229 
 
 of numerous inscriptions, that the word was written 
 indifferently 
 
 ' - A- T? 
 
 the first and last of the three letters being resolvable 
 into the same letter. The power of > is from inde- 
 pendent sources conjectured to be that of an n, and 
 ^- appears to have nearly the same phonetic 
 power, f 
 
 * This character is sometimes replaced by *"?jp~ As to the use of 
 all these characters indifferently in this word, there cannot be a doubt. 
 Dr. Hincks is convinced that >->- ^ is either the name, or an abbrevia- 
 
 tion of the name, of Athur, the country of Assyria. It is possible that 
 Nineveh, or Athur, may be indiscriminately used in speaking of the 
 country. Dr. Hincks appears to admit that >->-^LT also stands for the 
 
 city of which the historical name is Nineveh. 
 
 t Dr. Hincks has conjectured that when a letter for a consonant and 
 a vowel sound combined is used, the letter expressing the pure consonant 
 may also be added : this might account for the presence of three cha- 
 racters having the power of n in this word. The substitution of one 
 character for another, as in the name given in the text, is one of the most 
 difficult questions in the investigation of the Assyrian writing. That 
 the letters, thus frequently found interchanging, are not always pure 
 variants, that is, having the same phonetic value, may be shown from 
 
 the example in the text, Y having, there can be little doubt, the value 
 
 of a. Letters, partly syllabic, i. c. having a vowel sound united with 
 a consonant, appear to be interchangeable with pure consonants, or to 
 be replaced by two distinct signs ; but hitherto no rule to regulate any 
 such interchanges has been discovered. They are so frequent, and nu- 
 merous, that an entire inscription might almost be written in two dis- 
 tinct ways. 
 
 3
 
 230 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 The ruins themselves furnish additional evidence 
 in support of assigning this building to the Ninus 
 to whom tradition, at least, attributes the foundation 
 of the Assyrian capital, and from whom the city took 
 its name. It may be mentioned, in the first place, 
 that the north-west edifice at Nimroud, built by 
 >-*-^ ^- Yy, is the most ancient hitherto dis- 
 covered in Assyria ; and as all the great ruins on the 
 site of Nineveh have now been partially explored, 
 it may be presumed that no earlier building of this 
 nature exists. 2dly, According to Castor, the last 
 Assyrian king, or one of the last, of the second dy- 
 nasty, perhaps the Saracus of Abydenus, was called 
 Ninus II.* It will be remembered, that the names of 
 the builders of the most ancient and recent edifices 
 discovered in Assyria, are identical ; and from the 
 appearance of the south-western building of Nimroud, 
 there is every reason to believe that it was destroyed 
 before completed. It may, consequently, be conjec- 
 tured to have been the last of the Assyrian palaces. 
 3rdly, Diodorus Siculus states, that in the palace of 
 Ninus or Semiramis, at Babylon, were represented 
 various hunting scenes, in which the queen was seen 
 throwing a javelin at a panther, and Ninus as trans- 
 fixing a lion with a lance. It is remarkable that 
 whilst at Khorsabad and Kouyunjik such representa- 
 tions have not been discovered,, they abound in the 
 
 * This second Ninus is also mentioned in the Excerpta Chronologica 
 Euseb. npud Seal. See authorities collected in notes top. 265., Appen- 
 dix, vol. i., of Clinton's Fasti Hellenici.
 
 CHAP. I.] NINUS. 231 
 
 earliest palace at Nimroud ; not only forming separate 
 bas-reliefs, but being constantly introduced into the 
 embroideries on the robes of the principal figures. 
 4thly, Ctesias, and several writers, speak of the Bac- 
 trian, and Indian expedition of Ninus and Semiramis. 
 The obelisk discovered at Nimroud belongs to the 
 period of the earliest palace, having, it appears, been 
 erected by the son of the founder of that building ; 
 upon it are represented the Bactrian camel, the ele- 
 phant, and the rhinoceros, all animals from India and 
 central Asia, brought as tribute by a conquered people 
 to the king. 
 
 Even if his father and grandfather were called in 
 the inscriptions " kings of Nineveh," Ninus himself 
 may still have founded and given his name to the 
 city.* Eusebius, after Abydenus, names six kings as 
 the predecessors of this Ninus f ; although by giving 
 the name of Nineveh to the capital, he evidently 
 assigns its foundation to him. This king may have 
 been the first to build monuments, such as those 
 recently discovered ; or, he may have first used 
 inscriptions and sculptures for monumental records ; 
 or, as Moses of Chorene states, Ninus may have 
 displaced a more ancient dynasty, and, jealous of 
 its glory, and wishing to appear to posterity as 
 the founder of the race, and the origin of its arts 
 
 * Dr. Hincks, as it has been mentioned, reads the title of these early 
 kings, " King of Assyria." 
 
 f They are Belus, Babius, Anebus, Arbelus, Chaalus, and Arbelus. I 
 believe Major Rawlinson is satisfied with the reading of Arbel and Aneb, 
 for the father and grandfather of the king in the inscriptions. 
 
 ft 4
 
 232 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 and civilisation, may have destroyed all the monu- 
 ments of his predecessors.* This statement of the 
 Armenian historian, from the advanced state of art 
 shown in the most ancient edifices of Assyria, is not 
 altogether unworthy of credit. 
 
 In conclusion, it may appear from the preceding 
 remarks 
 
 1st. That there are buildings in Assyria which so 
 far differ in their sculptures, in their mythological 
 and sacred symbols, and in the character and language 
 of their inscriptions, as to lead to the inference that 
 there were at least two distinct periods of Assyrian 
 history. We may moreover conclude, that either the 
 people inhabiting the country at those distinct periods 
 were of different races, or of different branches of 
 the same race ; or that by intermixture with foreign- 
 ers, perhaps Egyptians, great changes had taken 
 place in their language, religion, and customs, be- 
 tween the building of the first palace of Nimroud, and 
 that of the edifices at Khorsabad and Kouyunjik. 
 
 2nd. That the names of the kings on the monu- 
 ments, show a lapse even of some centuries, between 
 the foundation of the most ancient and most recent 
 of these edifices. 
 
 * Moses ChorenensU, lib. i. c. 13. "Item et alias ejus rei rationes 
 aflert, utique Ninum superbia inflatum, suaeque gloriae cupidissimum, 
 cum se unum sumniae potestatis et fortitudinis ac bonitatis fontem atque 
 originem haberi vellet, complures libros et historias antiquas rerum ubi- 
 cunque egregie gestarum jussisse concremari ; et de se tantum suisque 
 temporibus conscribi." The same is recorded of Nabonasser when he 
 ascended the throne at Babylon.
 
 CHAP. I.] CONCLUSIONS. 233 
 
 3rd. That from the symbols introduced into the 
 sculptures of the second Assyrian period, and from 
 the Egyptian character of the small objects found 
 in the earth, above the ruins of the buildings of 
 the oldest period, there was a close connection with 
 Egypt, either by conquest or friendly intercourse, 
 between the time of the erection of the earliest and 
 latest palaces ; and that the monuments of Egypt, 
 the names of kings in certain Egyptian dynasties, 
 the ivories from Nimroud, the introduction of se- 
 veral Assyrian divinities into the Egyptian pantheon, 
 and other evidence, point to the 14th century as 
 the probable time of the commencement, and the 
 9th as the period of the termination, of that inter- 
 course. * 
 
 4th. That the earlier palaces of Nimroud were 
 already in ruins, and buried before the foundation of 
 the later ; and that it is probable they may have been 
 thus destroyed about the time of the 14th Egyptian 
 dynasty. 
 
 5th. That the existence of two distinct dynasties 
 in Assyria, and the foundation, about two thousand 
 years before Christ, of an Assyrian monarchy, may 
 be inferred from the testimony of the most ancient 
 authors ; and is in accordance with the evidence of 
 Scripture, and of Egyptian monuments. 
 
 I cannot pretend to draw any positive conclusions 
 
 * I do not, of course, include the Assyrian conquests of Egypt, by kings 
 of the latter dynasty, which are proved by positive historical evidence, 
 and the effects of which are well known and traceable.
 
 234 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. I. 
 
 from the data that I have attempted to bring to- 
 gether. It has been my object to place before the 
 reader the facts which have been afforded by the 
 examination of the ruins facts, which, it must be 
 admitted, will go far towards enabling us ultimately 
 to form some opinion as to the comparative, if not 
 the positive, date of these newly discovered monu- 
 ments. I trust that I have at least succeeded in 
 showing, that there are grounds for admitting the 
 possibility of the very early origin of some of these 
 edifices ; and that there is nothing in the discoveries 
 hitherto made inconsistent with the early date which 
 the dynastic lists, and the statements of ancient 
 authors, would assign to the foundation of Nineveh. 
 The subject is new, and has not yet been illustrated 
 by the remains of the people themselves. The vast 
 ruins of Egypt its written and sculptured records 
 have enabled the antiquarian to enlarge, and rectify, 
 the notices preserved to us through the Greeks and 
 Romans ; but hitherto Assyria has furnished no such 
 materials. Their very absence has compelled us to 
 neglect a branch of inquiry, replete with interest as 
 connected with Biblical study, and with the history 
 of the human race. Further researches will probably 
 lead to the discovery of additional monuments and 
 inscriptions, adding to the great mass of materials 
 which in the last three years has been placed in our 
 possession. It would scarcely be reasonable or con- 
 sistent, after what has already been done, to discard 
 all evidence of the antiquity of the Assyrian empire,
 
 CHAP. I.] CONCLUSIONS. 235 
 
 because there are discrepancies in the statements of 
 such authors as Ctesias, Eusebius, and the Syncellus ; 
 and at the same time to found arguments against 
 that antiquity upon an isolated and doubtful passage 
 in Herodotus, or upon the absence of the mention of 
 an early Assyrian king in the Scriptures.
 
 236 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [<JnAi>. II. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 SEMITIC ORIGIN OP THE ASSYRIANS. IDENTIFICATION OF THE 
 
 SITE OF NINEVEH. DIMENSIONS OF THE CITT. ARCHITEC- 
 TURE OF THE ASSYRIANS. THEIR FIRST CITIES. BUILDING 
 
 MATERIALS. SUN-DRIED BRICKS. ALABASTER PAINTED WALLS. 
 
 THE ROOF AND CEILING. KNOWLEDGE OF VAULTING AND THE 
 ARCH. PAVEMENT AND DRAINS. DESCRIPTION OF AN AS- 
 SYRIAN PALACE THE SCULPTURED AND PICTORIAL RECORDS. 
 
 THE NATURE OF THE BUILDINGS DISCOVERED IN ASSYRIA. 
 EXTERIOR ARCHITECTURE. PRIVATE HOUSES. ABSENCE OF 
 THE COLUMN. WALLS OF THE CITIES. THEIR TOWERS AND 
 GATEWAYS. 
 
 IT has been assumed in the previous chapter that the 
 language of the Assyrian inscriptions is a Semitic, 
 or Syro- Arabian, dialect ; but the question of what 
 race the Assyrians were, may still be considered by 
 some as open to doubt. It may be questioned, per- 
 haps, whether we have sufficient knowledge of the 
 inscriptions to decide, with certainty, the language of 
 their contents. There are, however, as it has been 
 shown, good grounds for believing that it is closely 
 allied to the Chaldee ; or, to use a term which has 
 become familiar, that it is a branch of the Semitic. 
 Such, it is generally admitted, is the language of the 
 Babylonian column of the Persian trilingual inscrip- 
 tions ; which, it can be shown, contains the same 
 formula? as the inscriptions of Assyria. For in- 
 stance, the personal pronoun as used before the 
 proper name of the king at Persepolis, is found pre-
 
 CHAP. II.] LANGUAGE OF THE ASSYRIANS. 237 
 
 cisely in the same position at Nimroud.* We are 
 aware, moreover, that the names of the Assyrian 
 gods, as Baal, or Belus (the supreme deity amongst 
 all the Semitic races), Nisroch, and Mylitta (known 
 by a nearly similar name to the Arabians) f, of 
 members of the family of the king, such as Adra- 
 meleck (son of Sennacherib), and of many of the 
 principal officers of state mentioned in Scripture, 
 such as Rab-saris, the chief of the eunuchs, and Rab- 
 shakeh, the chief of the cup-bearers, were purely 
 Semitic. J The language spoken by Abraham when 
 he left Mesopotamia closely resembled the Hebrew ; 
 and his own name was Semitic. Moreover, a dia- 
 lect of the same tongue is still spoken by the Chal- 
 daeans of Kurdistan; who, there is good reason to sup- 
 pose, are the descendants of the ancient Assyrians.|| 
 
 * Thus y J^y y >-t^f ^ If . " I " (the name of the 
 
 king). If, as Dr. Hincks conceives, the language of the Van inscriptions 
 is an Indo-European dialect, then the Assyro-Babylonian form of arrow- 
 headed character would not be limited to any particular branch of lan- 
 guages such as the Semitic. 
 
 f Viz. Alitta, Herod, lib. i. c. 131. 
 
 { It is, however, possible that these may be mere Hebrew translations 
 of Assyrian titles. An argument has been founded on the 26th verse 
 of the 18th chapter of 2nd Kings. Eliakim says to the officers of the 
 Assyrian king " Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian lan- 
 guage ; for we understand it." From this passage it has been inferred 
 that the language of the Assyrians was similar to that which prevailed in 
 Syria, and consequently a Semitic dialect. 
 
 The name of Mesopotamia on the Egyptian monuments is Naharaina, 
 f. e. the country between the two rivers. This is not only a pure Semitic 
 word, but has a Semitic plural form. We may infer, therefore, that the 
 people inhabiting that district, at least, were of Semitic origin. The 
 Hebrew name of Mesopotamia was Aram Naharaim. 
 
 || The question of the origin of the Chaldseans, the Casdim of Scrip- 
 ture, has been the subject of much discussion of late years. I confess
 
 238 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 There is something, at the same time, if I may so 
 express myself, peculiarly Semitic in the genius and 
 taste of the Assyrians, as displayed by their monu- 
 ments. This is undoubtedly a mere conjecture ; but 
 the peculiar characteristics of the three great races 
 which have, at different periods, held dominion over 
 the East, cannot fail to strike every reflecting tra- 
 veller. The distinctions between them are so marked, 
 and are so fully illustrated even to this day, that they 
 appear to be more than accidental to be consequent 
 upon certain laws, and to be traceable to certain 
 
 that after carefully examining the arguments in favour of their Scythic 
 and Indo-European descent, I see no reason to doubt the old opinion, 
 that they were a Semitic or Syro- Arabian people. The German philo- 
 logists were the first to question their Semitic origin. Michaelis made 
 them Scyths ; Schloezer, Sclavonians. According to Dicasarchus, a dis- 
 ciple of Aristotle, and a philosopher of great reputation, they were first 
 called Cephenes from Cepheus, and afterwards Chaldaeans from Chaldaeus, 
 an Assyrian king, fourteenth in succession from Ninus ; this Chaldaeus 
 built Babylon near the Euphrates, and placed the Chaldaeans in it. (Ste- 
 phanus, Diet. Hist. Geog.) This appears to confirm the passage in Isaiah, 
 which has chiefly given rise to the question as to the origin of the 
 Chaldees. " Behold the land of the Chaldaeans ; this people was not, till 
 the Assyrian founded it for them that dwelt in the wilderness : they set up 
 the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof." (Ch. xxiii. v. 13.) 
 The use of the term Chaldaean, like that of Assyrian, was very vague. It 
 appears to have been applied at different periods to the entire country 
 watered by the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, south of the mountainous 
 regions of Armenia, to only a part of it, to a race, and ultimately to a 
 class of the priesthood. That the Chaldees were at a very early period 
 settled in cities, we learn from Genesis (ch. xi. v. 31.), for Abraham came 
 from Ur of the Chaldees ; but the position of Ur, whether to the north 
 or south of Nineveh, whether Edessa (the modern Orfah) or Orchoe, or 
 any other city whose geographical position can be conjectured, is still a 
 disputed question, which is not likely to be soon, if ever, settled. It is 
 right to observe, however, that the name may be a gloss of a later version 
 of Genesis, a substitution, after the captivity, for the name of some obso- 
 lete city. The passage i n Judith (chap. v. ver. 6. & 7.), in which the 
 Jews are spoken of as descendants of the Chaldajans, is remarkable.
 
 CHAP.H.] DISTINCTIONS IN RACES. 239 
 
 physical causes. In the first place, there is the She- 
 mite, whether Hebrew, Arab, or Syrian, with his 
 brilliant imagination, his ready conception, and his 
 repugnance to any restraint, that may affect the 
 liberty of his person or of his intellect. He conceives 
 naturally beautiful forms, whether they be embodied 
 in his words or in his works ; his poetry is distin- 
 guished by them, and they are shown even in the 
 shape of his domestic utensils. This race possesses, 
 in the highest degree, what we call imagination. The 
 poor and ignorant Arab, whether of the desert or 
 town, moulds with clay the jars for his daily wants, 
 in a form which may be traced in the most elegant 
 vases of Greece or Rome ; and, what is no less re- 
 markable, identical with that represented on monu- 
 ments, raised by his ancestors, 3000 years before. 
 If he speaks, he shows a ready eloquence ; his words 
 are glowing and apposite; his descriptions true, yet 
 brilliant ; his similes just, yet most fanciful. These 
 high qualities seem to be innate in him ; he takes no 
 pains to cultivate, or to improve them : he knows 
 nothing of reducing them to any rule, or measuring 
 them by any standard. As it is with him, so it has 
 been from time unknown with those who went before 
 him : there has been little change no progress. 
 
 Look, on the other hand, at the so-called Indo- 
 European races at the Greek and Roman. They 
 will adopt from others the most beautiful forms : it 
 is doubtful whether they have invented any of them- 
 selves. But they seek the cause of that beauty ; they 
 reduce it to rules by analysis and reasoning ; they
 
 240 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 add or take away improve that which they have 
 borrowed, or so change it in the process to which it 
 is subjected, that it is no longer recognised as the 
 same thing. That which appeared to be natural to 
 the one, would seem to be the result of profound 
 thought and inquiry in the other. Let the untaught 
 man of this race model a vase, or address his fellows, 
 he produces the rudest and most barbarous forms ; 
 or, whilst speaking roughly and without ease, makes 
 use of the grossest images. 
 
 We have next the Mongolian, whether Scyth, 
 Turk, or Tatar without imagination, or strong rea- 
 soning powers intrepid in danger, steady in pur- 
 pose, overcoming all opposition, despising his fellows, 
 a great conqueror. Such has been his character as 
 long as history has recorded his name : he appears 
 to have been made to command and to oppress. We 
 find him in the infancy of the human race, as well 
 as at later periods, descending from his far distant 
 mountains, emerging from the great deserts in central 
 Asia, and overrunning the most wealthy, the most 
 mighty, or the most civilised of nations. He exer- 
 cises power as his peculiar privilege and right. The 
 solitary Turkish governor rules over a whole pro- 
 vince, whose inhabitants, whilst they hate him as an 
 intruder and a barbarian, tremble at his nod. It is 
 innate in his children the boy of seven has all the 
 dignity and self-confidence in rule, which character- 
 ises the man. The Mongolian must give way before 
 the civilisation of Europe, with its inventions and 
 resources; but who can tell whether the time may 
 not come when he may again tread upon the other
 
 CHAP. II.] DISTINCTIONS IN RACES. 241 
 
 races, as he has done, at intervals, from the remotest 
 ages ? But observe the absence of all those intel- 
 lectual qualities which have marked the Shemite and 
 the Indo-European. If the Mongolian nations were 
 to be swept from the face of the earth, they would 
 leave scarcely a monument to record their former 
 existence : they have had no literature, no laws, no 
 art to which their name has attached. If they have 
 raised edifices, they have servilely followed those who 
 Avent before them, or those whom they conquered. 
 They have depopulated, not peopled. Whether it be 
 the Scythic invasion recorded by Herodotus, or the 
 march of Timourleng, we have the same traces of 
 blood, the same desert left behind ; but no great 
 monument, no great work. 
 
 These may be but theories ; yet the evidence af- 
 forded to this day, by the comparative state of the 
 three races, is scarcely to be rejected. In no part of 
 the world is the contrast, between the peculiar qua- 
 lities of each, more strikingly illustrated than in the 
 East, where the three are brought into immediate 
 contact ; forming, indeed mixed up together, yet still 
 separate in blood, the population of the land. The 
 facts are too palpable to escape the most casual 
 observer ; they are daily brought to the notice of 
 those who dwell amongst the people ; and whilst the 
 Arab, the Greek, and the Turk, are to be at once 
 recognised by their features, they are no less dis- 
 tinctly marked by their characters and dealings.* 
 
 * Dr. Pritchard, in his valuable and learned " Researches into the Physi- 
 cal History of Mankind," has pointed out the peculiar characteristics- of 
 
 VOL. II. R
 
 242 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 But, to return from this digression, let us inquire 
 whether the site of Nineveh is satisfactorily identi- 
 fied. That it was built on the eastern banks of the 
 Tigris, there can be no doubt. Although Ctesias, 
 and some who follow him, place it on the Eu- 
 phrates, the united testimony of Scripture, of an- 
 cient geographers, and of tradition, most fully proves 
 that that author, or an inaccurate transcriber or 
 commentator of his text, has fallen into an error.* 
 Strabo says that the city stood between the Tigris 
 and the Lycus, or Great Zab, near the junction of 
 these rivers ; and Ptolemy places it on the Lycus. 
 This evidence alone is sufficient to fix its true posi- 
 tion, and to identify the ruins of Nimroud. 
 
 The tradition, placing the tomb of the prophet 
 Jonah on the left bank of the river opposite Mosul, 
 
 one of these great branches of the human race. " The Syro- Arabian 
 nations," he observes, " are amongst the races of men who display the 
 most perfect physical organisation. A well-known modern writer, who 
 has had extensive opportunities of research into the anatomical and other 
 corporeal characters of various nations, has maintained that the bodily 
 fabric belonging to the Syro- Arabian tribes, manifests even a more per- 
 fect development in the organic structure, subservient to the mental 
 faculties, than that which is found in other branches of the human family. 
 It is certain that the intellectual powers of the Syro- Arabian people have, 
 in all ages, equalled the highest standard of the human faculties." (Vol. 
 iv. p. 548.) And again : " It is remarkable that the three great systems 
 of theism which have divided the civilised world, came forth from nations 
 of Shemite origin, among whom arose the priests or prophets of all those 
 nations, who hold the unity of God." (Vol. iv. p. 549.) If this be true of 
 the Syro-Arabian or Shemite races, we may, without inconsistency, seek 
 for similar characteristics in the other branches of the human family ; and 
 I believe that a careful examination of the subject will show, that the his- 
 tory and condition of the three great races, justify the remarks in the text. 
 * Herodotus, 1. i c. 193. and 1. ii. c. 150.; Pliny, lib. xvi. c. 13.; 
 Strabo, 1. xvi.; Ammianus Marcell. 1. xxiii. c. 20.
 
 CbAP. II.] SIZE OF NINEVEH. 243 
 
 has led to the identification of the space comprised 
 within the quadrangular mass of mounds, containing 
 Kouyunjik and Xebbi Yunus, with the site of ancient 
 Xineveh. These ruins, however, taken by themselves, 
 occupy much too small a space to be those of a city, 
 even larger, according to Strabo, than Babylon.* Its 
 dimensions, as given by Diodorus Siculus, were 150 
 stadia on the two longest sides of the quadrangle, 
 and 90 on the opposite, the square being 480 stadia, 
 or about 60 f miles. In the book of Jonah, it is 
 called " an exceeding great city of three days' jour- 
 ney >"t tne number of inhabitants, who did not know 
 their right hand from their left, being six score thou- 
 sand. I will not stop to inquire to what class of 
 persons this number applied ; whether to children, 
 to those ignorant of right and wrong, or to the 
 whole population. It is evident that the city was 
 one of very considerable extent, and could not have 
 been comprised in the space occupied by the ruins 
 opposite Mosul, scarcely five miles in circumference. 
 The dimensions of an eastern city do not bear the 
 same proportion to its population, as those of an Eu- 
 ropean city. A place as extensive as London, or Paris, 
 might not contain one third of the number of inhabit- 
 ants of either. The custom, prevalent from the earliest 
 period in the East, of secluding women in apartments 
 
 * Strabo, lib. xvi. 
 
 f Or, according to some computations, 74 miles. 
 
 J Chap. iii. ver. 3. 
 
 The numbers of Jonah have frequently been referred to children, 
 who are computed to form one fifth of the population ; thus giving six 
 hundred thousand inhabitants for the city. 
 
 B 2
 
 244 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CiiAP. IT. 
 
 removed from those of the men *, renders a separate 
 house for each family almost indispensable. It was 
 probably as rare, in the time of the Assyrian mo- 
 narchy, to find more than one family residing under 
 one roof, unless composed of persons very intimately 
 related, such as father and son, as it is at present 
 in a Turkish city. Moreover, gardens and arable 
 land were enclosed by the city walls. According 
 to Diodorus and Quintus Curtius, there was space 
 enough within the precincts of Babylon to cultivate 
 corn for the sustenance of the whole population, in 
 case of siege, besides gardens and orchards.f From 
 the expression of Jonah, that there was much cattle 
 within the walls J, it may be inferred that there was 
 also pasture for them. Many cities of the East, such 
 as Damascus and Isphahan, are thus built; the 
 amount of their population being greatly dispropor- 
 tionate to the site they occupy, if computed according 
 to the rules applied to European cities. It is most 
 probable that Nineveh and Babylon resembled them 
 in this respect. 
 
 The ruins hitherto examined have shown, that 
 
 * We learn from the book of Esther that such was the custom amongst 
 the early Persians, although the intercourse between women and men was 
 much less circumscribed than after the spread of Mohammedanism. 
 Ladies were even admitted to public banquets, and received strangers 
 in their own apartments, whilst they resided habitually in a kind of 
 harem, separate from the dwellings of the men. 
 
 f Diod. Sic. lib. ii. c. 9. Quintus Curtius, v. cap. 1. : "Ac ne totam 
 quidem urbcm tectis occupaverunt ; per xc. stadia habitatur : nee omnia 
 continua sunt : credo quia tutius visum est, plurimis locis spargi ; cetera 
 scrunt coluntque, ut, si externa vis ingruat, obsessis alimenta, ex i 
 urbis, solo subministrentur." 
 
 } Chap. iv. ver. 11.
 
 Cii vi>. II.] SIZE OF NINEVEH. 245 
 
 there are remains of buildings of various epochs, on 
 the banks of the Tigris, near its junction with the 
 Zab ; and that many years, or even centuries, must 
 have elapsed between the construction of the earliest 
 and the latest. That the ruins at Nimroud were 
 within the precincts of Nineveh, if they do not alone 
 mark its site, appears to be proved by Strabo, and by 
 Ptolemy's statement that the city was on the Lycus, 
 corroborated by the tradition preserved by the ear- 
 liest Arab geographers. Yakut, and others mention 
 the ruins of Athur, near Selamiyah, which gave the 
 name of Assyria to the province ; and Ibn Said ex- 
 pressly states, that they were those of the city of the 
 Assyrian kings who destroyed Jerusalem. * They are 
 still called, as it has been shown, both Athur and 
 Nimroud. The evidence afforded by the examina- 
 tion of all the known ruins of Assyria, further iden- 
 tifies Nimroud with Nineveh. It would appear from 
 existing monuments f, that the city was originally 
 
 * Yakut, in bis geographical work called the Moejem el Buldan, says, 
 under the head of " Athur," " Mosul, before it received its present name, 
 was called Athur, or sometimes Akur, with a kaf. It is said that this 
 was anciently the name of el Jezireh (Mesopotamia), the province being 
 so called from a city, of which the ruins are now to be seen naar the gate 
 of Selamiyah, a small town, about eight farsakhs east of Mosul ; God, 
 however, knows the truth." The same notice of the ruined city of 
 Athur, or Akur, occurs under the head of " Selamiyah." Abulfcda says, 
 " To the south of Mosul, the lesser (?) Zab flows into the Tigris, near the 
 ruined city of Athur." In Reinaud's edition (vol. i. p. 289. note 11.) 
 there is the following extract from Ibn Said: "The city of Athur, 
 which is in ruins, is mentioned in the Taurat (Old Testament). There 
 dwelt the Assyrian kings who destroyed Jerusalem." I am indebted 
 for these notices to Major Rawlinson. 
 
 t See previous chapter as to the identification of the names and ge- 
 nealoies of kins.
 
 246 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 founded on the site now occupied by these mounds. 
 From its immediate vicinity to the place of junction 
 of two large rivers, the Tigris and the Zab, no better 
 position could have been chosen. It is probable 
 that the great edifice, in the north-west corner of 
 the principal mound, was the temple or palace, or 
 the two combined ; the smaller houses were scattered 
 around it. over the face of the country. To the palace 
 was attached a park, or paradise as it was called, in 
 which was preserved game of various kinds for the 
 diversion of the king. This enclosure, formed by 
 walls and towers, may perhaps still be traced in the 
 line of low mounds branching out from the principal 
 ruin. Future monarchs added to the first building, 
 and the centre palace arose by its side. As the popu- 
 lation increased with the duration and prosperity of 
 the empire, and by the forced immigration of con- 
 quered nations, the dimensions of the city increased 
 also. A king founding a new dynasty, or anxious 
 to perpetuate his fame by the erection of a new 
 building, may have chosen a distant site. The city, 
 gradually spreading, may at length have embraced 
 such additional palaces. This appears to have been 
 the case with Nineveh. Nimroud represents the ori- 
 ginal site of the city. To the first palace the son of 
 its founder added a second, of which we have the 
 ruins in the centre of the mound. He also built the 
 edifice now covered by the great mound of Ba- 
 asheikha, as the inscriptions on the bricks from that 
 place prove. He founded, at the same time, a new 
 city at Kalah Sherghat. A subsequent monarch again
 
 CHAP. II.] SIZE OF NINEVEH. 247 
 
 added to the palaces at Nimroud, and recorded the 
 event on the pavement slabs, in the upper chambers 
 of the western face of the mound. At a much later 
 period, when the older palaces were already in ruins, 
 edifices were erected on the sites now marked by the 
 mounds of Khorsabad, and Karamles. The son of 
 their founder built the great palace at Kouyunjik, 
 which must have exceeded those of his predeces- 
 sors in extent and magnificence. His son was en- 
 gaged in raising one more edifice at Ximroud ; the 
 previous palaces, as it has been shown, having been 
 long before deserted or destroyed, when some great 
 event, perhaps the fall of the empire and destruction 
 of the capital, prevented its completion. 
 
 The city had now attained the dimensions assigned 
 to it by the book of Jonah, and by Diodorus Siculus. 
 If we take the four great mounds of Nimroud, Kouy- 
 unjik, Khorsabad, and Karamles, as the corners of a 
 square, it will be found that its four sides correspond 
 pretty accurately with the 480 stadia or 60 miles of 
 the geographer, which make the three days' journey 
 of the prophet.* Within this space there are many 
 large mounds, including the principal ruins in As- 
 
 * From the northern extremity of Kouyunjik to Nimroud, is about 
 eighteen miles ; the distance from Nimroud to Karamles, about twelve ; 
 the opposite sides of the square the same : these measurements correspond 
 accurately with the elongated quadrangle of Diodorus. Twenty miles is 
 the day's journey of the East, and we have consequently the three days' 
 journey of Jonah for the circumference of the city. The agreement of 
 these measurements is remarkable. Within this space was fought the 
 great battle between Heraclius and Rhazates (A. D. 627). " The city, and 
 even the ruins of the city, had long since disappeared : the vacant space 
 afforded a spacious field for the operations of the two armies." (Gibbon, 
 Decline and Fall, ch. xlvi.) 
 
 n 4
 
 248 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 syria, such as Karakush, Baasheikha, Baazani, Hus- 
 seini, Tel-Yara, &c., &c. ; and the face of the country 
 is strewed with the remains of pottery, bricks, and 
 other fragments. 
 
 The space between the great public edifices was 
 probably occupied by private houses, standing in the 
 midst of gardens, and built at distances from one 
 another; or forming streets which enclosed gardens 
 of considerable extent, and even arable land. The 
 absence of the remains of such buildings may easily 
 be accounted for. They were constructed almost 
 entirely of sun-dried bricks, and, like the houses now 
 built in the country, soon disappeared altogether 
 when once abandoned, and allowed to fall into decay. 
 The largest palaces would probably have remained 
 undiscovered, had there not been the slabs of ala- 
 baster to show the walls. There is, however, sufficient 
 to indicate, that buildings were once spread over the 
 space above described ; for, besides the vast number 
 of small mounds everywhere visible, scarcely a hus- 
 bandman drives his plough over the soil, without 
 exposing the vestiges of former habitations. Each 
 quarter of the city may have had its distinct name ; 
 hence the palace of Evorita, where Saracus destroyed 
 himself, and the Mespila and Larissa of Xenophon, 
 applied respectively to the ruins at Kouyunjik and 
 Nimroud.* 
 
 * I have already shown that the account given by Xenophon of L:.: 
 as well as the dist mce between it and Mespila, agree in all respects with 
 the ruins of Nimroud, and their distance from Kouyunjik. (Vol. I. p. 4.) 
 The circuit of the walls of Larissa, two parasangs, also nearly coincides 
 with the extent of the quadrangle at Nimroud
 
 CuAP.IL] ASSYRIAN ARCHITECTURE. 249 
 
 Existing ruins thus show, that Nineveh acquired 
 its greatest extent in the time of the kings of the 
 second dynasty ; that is to say, of the kings mentioned 
 in Scripture. It was then that Jonah visited it, and 
 that reports of its size and magnificence were carried 
 to the west, and gave rise to the traditions from 
 which the Greek authors mainly derived the informa- 
 tion handed down to us. 
 
 I know of no other way, than that suggested, to 
 identify all the ruins described in the previous pages 
 with Nineveh ; unless, indeed, we suppose that there 
 was more than one city of the same name ; and that, 
 like Babylon, it was rebuilt on a new site, after having 
 been once destroyed.* In this case Nimroud, and 
 Kouyunjik may represent cities of different periods, 
 but of the same name ; for, as I have shown, the 
 palace of Kouyunjik must have been built long after 
 the foundation of the Nineveh, of well-authenticated 
 history. The position of Khorsabad, its distance from 
 the river, and its size, preclude the idea that it marks 
 alone the site of a large city. As the last palace at 
 Nimroud must have been founded, whilst those at 
 Kouyunjik and Khorsabad were standing, it is most 
 probable that the city at that time embraced the 
 remains of the old town, although the earlier build- 
 ings may have been destroyed. 
 
 Having thus pointed out the evidence as to the 
 site and extent of Nineveh, it may not be uninter- 
 esting to inquire how it was built, and what know- 
 
 * The attempt to identify Larissa and Nimroud with Resen, will, I 
 presume, be now renounced.
 
 250 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 ledge the Assyrians possessed of the science of archi- 
 tecture. 
 
 The architecture of a people must naturally de- 
 pend upon the materials afforded by the country, 
 and upon the objects of their buildings. The de- 
 scriptions, already casually given in the course of 
 this work of the ruined edifices of ancient Assyria, 
 are sufficient to show that they differ, in many 
 respects, from those of any other nation with which 
 we are acquainted. Had the Assyrians, so fertile 
 in invention, so skilful in the arts, and so ambi- 
 tious of great works, dwelt in a country as rich in 
 stone and costly granites and marbles as Egypt or 
 India, it can scarcely be doubted that they would 
 have equalled, if not excelled, the inhabitants of those 
 countries in the magnitude of their pyramids, and in 
 the magnificence and symmetry of their rock temples 
 and palaces. But their principal settlements were in 
 the alluvial plains watered by the Tigris and Eu- 
 phrates. On the banks of those great rivers, which 
 spread fertility through the land, and afford the 
 means of easy and expeditious intercourse between 
 distant provinces, they founded their first cities. On 
 all sides they had vast plains, unbroken by a single 
 eminence until they, approached the foot of the Arme- 
 nian hills. 
 
 The earliest habitations, constructed when little 
 progress had been made in the art of building, were 
 probably but one story in height. In this respect the 
 dwelling of the ruler scarcely differed from the 
 meanest hut. It soon became necessary, however,
 
 CHAP. H.] ASSYRIAN ARCHITECTURE, 251 
 
 that the temples of the gods, and the palaces of the 
 kings, depositories at the same time of the national 
 records, should be rendered more conspicuous than 
 the humble edifices by which they were surrounded. 
 The means of defence also required that the castle, 
 the place of refuge for the inhabitants in times of 
 danger, or the permanent residence of the garrison, 
 should be raised above the city, and should be built 
 so as to afford the best means of resistance to an 
 enemy. As there were no natural eminences in the 
 country, the inhabitants were compelled to construct 
 artificial mounds. Hence the origin of those vast, 
 solid, structures which have defied the hand of time ; 
 and, with their grass-covered summits and furrowed 
 sides, rise like natural hills in the Assyrian plains.* 
 
 Let us picture to ourselves the migration of one 
 of the primitive families of the human race, seek- 
 ing for some spot favourable to a permanent set- 
 tlement, where water abounded, and where the land, 
 already productive without cultivation, promised an 
 ample return to the labour of the husbandman. They 
 may have followed him who went out of the land of 
 Shinar, to found new habitations in the north f ; or 
 they may have descended from the mountains of Ar- 
 menia ; whence came, according to the Chaldaean 
 historian, the builders of the cities of Assyria. J It 
 
 * The custom of erecting an artificial platform, and building an edifice 
 on the summit, existed amongst the Mexicans, although they inhabited a 
 hilly country. 
 
 f Genesis, x. 11. 
 
 J Xithurus and his followers. Berosus, apud Euseb. The similarity 
 between the history of this Chaldaean hero and tnat of the Noah of Scrip- 
 ture is very singular.
 
 252 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 was not until they reached the banks of the great 
 rivers, if they came from the high lands, or only 
 whilst they followed their courses, if they journeyed 
 from the south, that they could find a supply of 
 water adequate to the permanent wants of a large com- 
 munity. The plain, bounded to the west and south by 
 the Tigris and Zab, from its fertility, and from the 
 ready means of irrigation afforded by two noble 
 streams, may have been first chosen as a resting 
 place ; and there were laid the foundations of a city, 
 destined to be the capital of the eastern world. 
 
 The materials for building were at hand, and 
 in their preparation required neither much labour 
 nor ingenuity. The soil, an alluvial deposit, was rich 
 and tenacious. The builders moistened it with water, 
 and, adding a little chopped straw that it might be 
 more firmly bound together, they formed it into 
 squares, which, when dried by the heat of the sun, 
 served them as bricks. In that climate the process 
 required but two or three days. Such were the 
 earliest building materials; and they are used to this 
 day almost exclusively in the same country. This 
 mode of brick- making is described by Sanchoniathon*; 
 
 * According to Sanchoniathon (Cory's Fragments), the people of Tyre 
 invented the art of brick-making, and of building huts. " Hypouranius," 
 he says, " invented in Tyre the making of huts of reeds and rushes, and 
 the papyri. After the generation of Ilypouranius were Agreus and 
 Hsilieus, inventors of the arts of hunting and of fishing. After them came 
 two brothers ; one of them, Chrysor or Hyphaestus, was the first who 
 sailed in boats ; his brother invented the way of making walls with bricks. 
 From this generation were born two youths, one called Technites, and 
 the other Genius Autochthon. They discovered the method of mingling 
 stubble with the loam of the bricks, and drying them in the sun ; they also 
 invented tilin."
 
 CH\I>. II. J ASSYRIAN ARCHITECTURE. 253 
 
 and we have an allusion to it in Exodus * ; for the 
 Egyptians, to harass their Jewish captives, withheld 
 the straw without which their bricks could not pre- 
 serve their form and consistency. 
 
 Huts for the people were speedily raised, the 
 branches and boughs of trees from the banks of the 
 river serving for a roof. 
 
 They now sought to build a place of refuge in case 
 of attack, or an habitation for their leader, or a temple 
 to their gods. It was first necessary to form an 
 eminence, that the building might rise above the plain 
 and might be seen from afar. This eminence was not 
 hastily made by heaping up earth, but regularly and 
 systematically built with sun-dried bricks. Thus a 
 platform, thirty or forty feet high, was formed ; and 
 upon it they erected the royal, or sacred edifice, f 
 
 Sun-dried bricks were still the principal, but could 
 not in this instance, for various reasons, be the only 
 materials employed. The earliest edifices of this 
 nature appear to have been at the same time public 
 monuments, in which were preserved the records or 
 archives of the nation, carved on stone. In them 
 were represented in sculpture the exploits of the 
 
 * Chap. v. 
 
 f Such is the custom still existing amongst the inhabitants of As- 
 syria. When some families of a nomad tribe wish to settle in a village, 
 they choose an ancient mound ; it being no longer necessary to form a 
 new plsitform, for the old abound in the plains. On its summit they 
 erect a rude castle, and the huts are built at the foot. This course ap- 
 pears to have been followed since the Arab invasion, and perhaps long 
 previous, during the Persian occupation. There are few ancient mounds 
 containing Assyrian ruins which have not served for the sites of castles, 
 cities, or villages built by Persians or Arabs. Such are Arbela, Tel Afer, 
 Nebbi Yunus, &c. &c.
 
 254 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 kings, or the forms of the divinities ; whilst the his- 
 tory of the people, and invocations to their gods, were 
 also inscribed in written characters upon the walls. 
 
 It was necessary, therefore, to use some material 
 upon which figures and inscriptions could be carved. 
 The plains of Mesopotamia, as well as the low lands 
 between the Tigris and the hill-country, abound in a 
 kind of coarse alabaster or gypsum. Large masses of 
 it everywhere protrude in low ridges from the alluvial 
 soil, or are exposed in the gullies formed by winter 
 torrents. It is easily worked, and its colour and 
 transparent appearance are agreeable to the eye. 
 Whilst offering few difficulties to the sculptor, it was 
 an ornament to the edifices in which it was placed. 
 This alabaster therefore, cut into large slabs, was 
 used in the public buildings. 
 
 The walls of the chambers, from five to fifteen feet 
 thick, were first constructed of sun-dried bricks. The 
 alabaster slabs were used as panels. They were 
 placed upright against the walls, care being first 
 taken to cut on the back of each an inscription re- 
 cording the name, title, and descent of the king un- 
 dertaking the work. They were kept in their places 
 and held together by iron, copper, or wooden cramps 
 and plugs. The cramps were in the form of double 
 dovetails, and fitted into corresponding grooves in two 
 adjoining slabs.* The corners of the chambers were 
 
 * Every slab has this groove of a dovetail shape on the edges ; but 
 there were besides three round holes at equal distances between them. 
 I am unable to account for their use whether to receive plugs which 
 were in some way connected with the superstructure, or rods of metal
 
 CHAP. II.] ASSYRIAN ARCHITECTURE. 255 
 
 generally formed by one angular stone ; arid all the 
 walls were either at right angles, or parallel to each 
 other. 
 
 The slabs having been fixed against the walls, the 
 subjects to be represented upon them were designed 
 and sculptured, and the inscriptions carved. That 
 the Assyrian artist worked after the slabs had been 
 fixed, appears to be proved beyond a doubt, by figures 
 and other parts of the bas-reliefs being frequently 
 finished on the adjoining slab ; and by slabs yet un- 
 sculptured being found, placed in one of the buildings 
 at Nimroud.* 
 
 The principal entrances to the chambers were, it 
 has been seen, formed by gigantic winged bulls and 
 lions with human heads. The smaller doorways 
 were guarded by colossal figures of divinities, or 
 priests. No remains of doors or gates were dis- 
 covered, nor of hinges ; but it is probable that the 
 entrances were provided with them. The priests of 
 Babylon " made fast their temples with doors, with 
 locks and bars, lest their gods be spoiled by rob- 
 bers," f and the gates of brass of Babylon are con- 
 
 which may have extended through the wall to the slab in the adjoining 
 chamber. Only one of the dovetails (of iron) remained in its place. 
 These cramps appear to have been used (according to Diodorus Siculus) 
 at Babylon ; the stones of the bridge, said to have been built by Semi- 
 ramis, being united by them. Herodotus (lib. i. c. 186.) also states that 
 the stones of the bridge built over the Euphrates by Nitocris were joined 
 by iron and lead. Similar cramps made of lead and wood, inscribed with 
 the name of the king, are found in Egyptian buildings as early as the 
 xvni xix dynasty. 
 
 * This mode of sculpturing the stone after placing it appears to have 
 been generally the custom in Egypt and India. 
 
 f Epistle of Jeremy. Baruch, vi. 18.
 
 256 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAIN'S. [CHAP. H. 
 
 tinually mentioned by ancient authors. On all the 
 slabs forming entrances, in the oldest palace of Nim- 
 roud, were marks of a black fluid, resembling blood, 
 which appeared to have been daubed on the stone. 
 I have not been able to ascertain the nature of this 
 fluid ; but its appearance cannot fail to call to mind 
 the Jewish ceremony, of placing the blood of the 
 sacrifice on the lintel of the doorway. Under the 
 pavement slabs, at the entrances, were deposited 
 small figures of the gods, probably as a protection to 
 the building.* Sometimes, as in the early edifices, 
 tablets containing the name and title of the king, 
 as a record of the time of the erection of the 
 building, were buried in the walls, or under the 
 pavement. 
 
 The slabs used as a panelling to the walls of un- 
 baked brick, rarely exceeded twelve feet in height ; 
 and in the earliest palace of Nimroud were generally 
 little more than nine ; whilst the human-headed lions 
 arid bulls, forming the doorways, vary from ten to 
 sixteen. Even these colossal figures did not com- 
 plete the height of the room ; the wall being carried 
 
 * It has already been mentioned, that these small figures in unbaked 
 clay, were found beneath the pavement in all the entrances at Khorsabad. 
 They were only discovered at Nimroud in the most recent palace, in the 
 south-west corner of the mound. See p. 37. of this volume. M. Botta 
 conjectures that the copper lion, discovered at Khorsabad between the 
 bulls forming the entrance, was chained to the large sculptures by a chain 
 of copper or bronze, fastened to the ring on the back of the animal. But 
 the size of the smallest of those found at Nimroud (Vol. I. p. 128.) seems 
 to preclude this supposition. It is remarkable, however, that almost 
 every slab forming an entrance has a hole in the centre, as if intended 
 for a rinj or bolt.
 
 CHAP. II.] THE ROOF. 257 
 
 some feet above them. This upper wall was built 
 either of baked bricks, richly coloured, or of sun- 
 dried bricks covered by a thin coat of plaster, on 
 which were painted various ornaments. It could 
 generally be distinguished in the ruins. The plaster 
 which had fallen, was frequently preserved in the 
 rubbish, arid when first found the colours upon it 
 had lost little of their original freshness and bril- 
 liancy. It is to these upper walls that the complete 
 covering up of the building, and the consequent pre- 
 servation of the sculptures, may be attributed ; for 
 when once the edifice was deserted they fell in, and 
 the unbaked bricks, again becoming earth, encased 
 the whole ruin. The principal palace at Nimroud 
 must have been buried in this manner, for the sculp- 
 tures could not have been preserved as they were, 
 had they been covered by a gradual accumulation of 
 the soil. In this building I found several chambers 
 without the panelling of alabaster slabs. The entire 
 wall had been plastered and painted, and processions 
 of figures were still to be traced. Many such walls 
 exist to the east and south of the same edifice, and 
 in the upper chambers.* 
 
 The roof was probably formed by beams, supported 
 entirely by the walls ; smaller beams, planks, or 
 branches of trees, were laid across them, and the 
 whole was plastered on the outside with mud. Such 
 are the roofs in modern Arab cities of Assyria, It 
 has been suggested that an arch or vault was thrown 
 
 * Plan 4. p. 14. of this volume. 
 VOL. II. S
 
 258 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 from wall to wall. Had this been the case, the re- 
 mains of the vault, which must have been con- 
 structed of baked bricks or of stone, would have 
 been found in the ruins, and would have partly 
 filled up the chambers. No such remains were 
 discovered.* The narrowness of the chambers in 
 all the Assyrian edifices, with the exception of one 
 hall (Y, plan 3.) at Nimroud, is very remarkable. 
 That hall may have been entirely open to the sky ; 
 and, as it did not contain sculptures, it is not im- 
 probable that it was so ; but it can scarcely be con- 
 ceived that the other chambers were thus exposed to 
 the atmosphere, and their inmates left unprotected 
 from the heat of the summer sun, or from the rains 
 of winter. The great narrowness of all the rooms, 
 when compared with their length, appears to prove 
 that the Assyrians had no means of constructing a 
 roof requiring other support than that afforded by 
 the side walls. The most elaborately ornamented 
 hall at Nimroud, although above 160 feet in length, 
 was only 35 feet broad. The same disparity is ap- 
 parent in the edifice at Kouyunjik.f It can scarcely 
 be doubted that there was some reason for making 
 the rooms so narrow ; otherwise proportions better 
 suited to the magnificence of the decorations, the im- 
 posing nature of the colossal sculptures forming the 
 
 * M. Flandin (Voyage Archeologique a Ninive, in the Revue des Deux 
 Mondes) states that he found sufficiently large masses of kiln-burnt bricks 
 in the chambers at Khorsabad, to warrant the supposition that the roof 
 had been vaulted with them. But I am inclined to doubt this having 
 been the case ; and I believe M. Botta to be of my opinion. 
 
 t Some of the chambers at Kouyunjik were about 45 feet wide.
 
 CHAP. TL] ROOFS OF PALACES. 259 
 
 entrances, and the length of the chambers, would 
 have been chosen. But still, without some such arti- 
 ficial means of support as are adopted in modern 
 architecture, it may be questioned whether beams 
 could span 45, or even 35 feet. It is possible that 
 the Assyrians were acquainted with the principle 
 of the king-post of modern roofing, although in the 
 sculptures the houses are represented with flat roofs : 
 otherwise we must presume that wooden pillars or 
 posts were employed ; but there were no indica- 
 tions whatever of them in the ruins. Beams, sup- 
 ported by opposite walls, may have met in the centre 
 of the ceiling. This may account for the great 
 thickness of some of the partitions. Or in the 
 larger halls a projecting ledge, sufficiently wide to 
 afford shelter and shade, may have been carried 
 round the sides, leaving the centre exposed to the 
 air. Remains of beams were everywhere found at 
 Nimroud, particularly under fallen slabs. The wood 
 appeared to be entire, but when touched it crumbled 
 into dust. It was only amongst the ruins in the 
 south-west corner of the mound, that any was dis- 
 covered in a sound state. 
 
 The only trees within the limits of Assyria suffi- 
 ciently large to furnish beams to span a room 30 or 40 
 feet wide, are the palm and the poplar : their trunks 
 still form the roofs of houses of Mesopotamia. Both 
 easily decay, and will not bear exposure ; it is not 
 surprising, therefore, that beams made of them should 
 have entirely disappeared after the lapse of 2,500 years. 
 
 The poplar now used at Mosul is floated down 
 
 s 2
 
 260 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. IT. 
 
 the Ehabour and Tigris from the Kurdish hills * ; it 
 is of considerable length, and occasionally serves for 
 the roofs of chambers nearly as wide as those of the 
 Assyrian palaces. 
 
 It has been seen that the principle of the arch was 
 known to the Assyrians f, a small vaulted chamber 
 of baked bricks having been found at Nimroud ; but 
 there are no traces of an arch or vault used on a 
 large scale. 
 
 If daylight were admitted into the Assyrian palaces, 
 it could only have entered from the roof. There are 
 no communications between the inner rooms except 
 by the doorways, consequently they could only receive 
 light from above. Even in the chambers next to the 
 outer walls, there are no traces of windows. J It may 
 be conjectured, therefore, that there were square open- 
 ings or skylights in the ceilings, which may have been 
 closed during winter rains by canvass, or some such 
 
 * Vol. I. p. 167. 
 
 j- Arched gateways are continually represented in the bas-reliefs. Ac- 
 cording to Diodorus Siculus, the tunnel under the Euphrates at Babylon, 
 attributed to Semiramis, was also vaulted. Indeed, if such a work ever 
 existed, it may be presumed that it was so constructed. It was cased on 
 both sides, that is, the bricks were covered, with bitumen ; the walls were 
 four cubits thick. The width of the passage was 15 feet; and the walla 
 were 12 feet high to the spring of the vault. The rooms in the temple 
 of Belus were, according to some, arched and supported by columns. The 
 arch first appears in Egypt about the time of the commencement of the 
 eighteenth dynasty (Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol. ii. p. 117.), or 
 when, as it has been shown, there existed a close connection between 
 Egypt and Assyria. 
 
 | It is possible that some of the chambers, particularly if devoted to 
 religious purposes, were only lighted by torches, or by fires fed by bitu- 
 men or naphtha. This custom appears to be alluded to in the Epistle of 
 Jeremy. " Their faces are blackened through the smoke that cometh out 
 of the temple." (Baruch, vi. 21.) But no traces of smoke or fire were 
 found on the sculptures and walls of the earliest palace of Nimroud.
 
 CHAP. IT.] THE PAVEMENT. 261 
 
 material. The drains, leading from almost every 
 chamber, would seem to show that water might occa- 
 sionally have entered from above, and that apertures 
 were required to carry it off. This mode of lighting 
 rooms was adopted in Egypt ; but, I believe, at a much 
 later period than that of the erection of the Nimroud 
 edifices. No other can have existed in the palaces 
 of Assyria, unless, indeed, torches and lamps were 
 used ; a supposition scarcely in accordance with the 
 elaborate nature of the sculptures, and the brilliancy 
 of the coloured ornaments ; which, without the light 
 of day, would have lost half their effect. 
 
 The pavement of the chambers was formed either 
 of alabaster slabs, covered with inscriptions recording 
 the name and genealogy of the king, and probably 
 the chief events of his reign, or of kiln-burnt bricks, 
 each also bearing a short inscription. The alabaster 
 slabs were placed upon a thin coating of bitumen 
 spread over the bottom of the chamber, even under 
 the upright slabs forming its sides. The bricks 
 were laid in two tiers, one above the other ; a thin 
 layer of sand being placed between them, as well 
 as under the bottom tier. These strata of bitumen 
 and sand may have been intended to exclude damp; 
 although the buildings, from their position, could 
 scarcely have been exposed to it. Between the lions 
 and bulls forming the entrances, was generally placed 
 one large slab, bearing an inscription. 
 
 I have already alluded * to the existence of a drain 
 beneath almost every chamber in the older palace of 
 
 * P. 79. of this volume, 
 s 3
 
 262 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. U. 
 
 Nimroud. These were connected with the floor by a 
 circular pipe of baked clay, leading from a hole, 
 generally cut through one of the pavement slabs, in 
 a corner of the room. They joined one large drain, 
 running under the great hall (Y, in plan 3.), and from 
 thence into the river, which originally flowed at the 
 foot of the mound. 
 
 The interior of the Assyrian palace must have 
 been as magnificent as imposing.* I have led the 
 reader through its ruins, and he may judge of the 
 impression its halls were calculated to make upon the 
 stranger who, in the days of old, entered for the first 
 time the abode of the Assyrian kings. He was ushered 
 in through the portal guarded by the colossal lions 
 or bulls of white alabaster.f In the first hall he 
 found himself surrounded by the sculptured records 
 of the empire. Battles, sieges, triumphs, the ex- 
 ploits of the chace, the ceremonies of religion, were 
 portrayed on the walls, sculptured in alabaster, and 
 painted in gorgeous colours. Under each picture 
 were engraved, in characters filled up with bright 
 copper, inscriptions describing the scenes represented. 
 Above the sculptures were painted other events 
 the king, attended by his eunuchs and warriors, re- 
 ceiving his prisoners, entering into alliances with 
 
 * According to Moses of Cliorene (lib. i.), the palaces in Armenia at 
 the earliest period were built by Assyrian workmen, who had already at- 
 tained to great skill in architecture. The Armenians thus looked tra- 
 ditionally to Assyria for the origin of some of their arts. 
 
 f In the palace of Scylas in the city of the Borysthenitn?, against which 
 Bacchus hurled his thunder-bolt, were placed sphinxes and gryplionx oj 
 white marble. (Herod, lib. iv. c. 79.)
 
 CiiAr.n.] AN ASSYRIAN PALACE. 263 
 
 other monarchs, or performing some sacred duty. 
 These representations were enclosed in coloured bor- 
 ders, of elaborate and elegant design. The em- 
 blematic tree, winged bulls, and monstrous animals 
 were conspicuous amongst the ornaments. At the 
 upper end of the hall was the colossal figure of the 
 kino; i n adoration before the supreme deity, or receiv- 
 ing from his eunuch the holy cup. He was attended 
 by warriors bearing his arms, and by the priests or 
 presiding divinities. His robes, and those of his fol- 
 lowers, were adorned with groups of figures, animals, 
 and flowers, all painted with brilliant colours. 
 
 The stranger trod upon alabaster slabs, each bear- 
 ing an inscription, recording the titles, genealogy, and 
 achievements of the great king. Several doorways, 
 formed by gigantic winged lions or bulls, or by the 
 figures of guardian deities, led into other apartments, 
 which again opened into more distant halls. In each 
 were new sculptures. On the walls of some were pro- 
 cessions of colossal figures armed men and eunuchs 
 following the king, warriors laden with spoil, leading 
 prisoners, or bearing presents and offerings to the 
 gods. On the walls of others were portrayed the 
 winged priests, or presiding divinities, standing be- 
 fore the sacred trees. 
 
 The ceilings above him were divided into square 
 compartments, painted with flowers, or with the 
 figures of animals. Some were inlaid with ivory, 
 each compartment being surrounded by elegant bor- 
 ders and mouldings. The beams, as well as the 
 sides of the chambers, may have been gilded, or 
 
 s 4
 
 264 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 even plated, with gold arid silver; and the rarest 
 woods, in which the cedar was conspicuous, were 
 used for the wood- work.* Square openings in the 
 ceilings of the chambers admitted the light of day. 
 
 * Sun-dried bricks, with the remains of gilding, were discovered at Nim- 
 roud. Herodotus states that the battlements of the innermost walls of 
 the royal palace of Ecbatana, the ornaments of which were most pro- 
 bably imitated from the edifices of Assyria, were plated with silver and 
 gold (lib. i. c. 98.) ; and the use of gold in the decorations of the palaces 
 of the East is frequently mentioned in ancient authors. Even the roofs 
 of the palace at Ecbatana are said to have been covered with silver tiles. 
 The gold, silver, ivory, and precious woods in the roofs of the palaces of 
 Babylon, attributed to Semiramis, are frequently mentioned by ancient 
 writers. Thus, in the Periegesis of Dionysius, v. 1005 1008. 
 
 " TTpdg t voroVj BaCiAtiv tfpij TroXig" ijv pd rt Traaav 
 rti-)(faiv dppayiiaai St/fi'/on/uif iari(pdrio<nv' 
 avrap itr a.Kpoir6\t}i ptyav topov iivuro B// 
 < r r/S' tXupdvTi Kcti upfvp<[j ctOKt'iaaaa. 
 
 Translated by Priscian, v. 950953. 
 
 " Ad partes Austri Babylon : quam mccnibus olim 
 Mirandis posuit firmisque Semiramis urbem ; 
 Cujus in arce domum splendentem fecerat auro, 
 Quam simul argentum varie decoravit eburque." 
 
 And by Rufus Festus Avienus (Orbis Descriptio, v. 1196 1201.) 
 
 " Qua sunt flabra Noti, Babylon subducitur arce 
 Procera in nubes : hanc prisca Semiramis urbem 
 Vallavit muris quos non absumere flammae 
 Non areis penetrarc queat ; stat maxima Beli 
 Aula quoque argento, domus Indo dente nitescit, 
 Aurum tecta operit ; sola late contegit aurum." 
 
 Zephaniah (xi. 14.) alludes to the "cedar work" of the roof; and 
 in Jeremiah (xxii. 14.) chambers "ceiled with cedar and painted with 
 vermilion" are mentioned. It is probable that the ceilings were only 
 panelled or wainscotted with this precious wood. (1 Kings, vi. 15., 
 vii. 3.) The ceilings of Egyptian tombs and houses were like those de- 
 scribed in the text. (Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol. ii. p. 125.) 
 The ivory ornaments found in some of the chambers at Nimroud may 
 possibly have belonged to the ceiling.
 
 CHAP. II.] OBJECTS OF THE SCULPTURES. 265 
 
 i 
 
 A pleasing shadow was thrown over the sculptured 
 walls, and gave a majestic expression to the human 
 features of the colossal forms which guarded the 
 entrances. Through these apertures was seen the 
 bright blue of an eastern sky, enclosed in a frame 
 on which were painted, in vivid colours, the winged 
 circle, in the midst of elegant ornaments, and the 
 graceful forms of ideal animals.* 
 
 These edifices, as it has been shown, were great 
 national monuments, upon the walls of which were 
 represented in sculpture, or inscribed in alphabetic 
 characters, the chronicles of the empire. He who 
 entered them might thus read the history, and learn 
 the glory and triumphs of the nation. They served, 
 at the same time, to bring continually to the remem- 
 brance of those who assembled within them on festive 
 occasions, or for the celebration of religious cere- 
 monies, the deeds of their ancestors, and the power 
 and majesty of their gods. 
 
 It would appear that the events recorded in the 
 buildings hitherto examined, apply only to the kings 
 who founded them. Thus, in the earliest palace of 
 Nimroud, we find one name constantly repeated ; 
 the same at Kouyunjik and Khorsabad. In some 
 
 * I have endeavoured, with the assistance of Mr. Owen Jones, to give, 
 in my work on the Monuments of Nineveh, a representation of a chamber 
 or hall as it originally appeared. I have restored the details from frag- 
 ments found during the excavations, and from parts of the building still 
 standing. There is full authority for all except the ceiling, which must 
 remain a subject of conjecture. The window or opening in it has been 
 placed immediately above the winged lions, to bring it into the plate ; but 
 it is probable that it was in the centre of the hall. The larger chambers 
 may have had more than one such opening.
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 edifices, as at Kouyunjik, each chamber is reserved 
 for some particular historical incident ; thus, on the 
 walls of one, we find the conquest of a people residing 
 on the banks of two rivers, clothed with groves of 
 palms, the trees and rivers being repeated in almost 
 every bas-relief. On those of a second is represented 
 a country watered by one river, and thickly wooded 
 with the oak or some other tree. In the bas-reliefs 
 of a third we have lofty mountains, their summits 
 covered with firs, and their sides with oaks and vines. 
 In every chamber the scene appears to be different. 
 
 It was customary in the later Assyrian monuments 
 to write, over the sculptured representation of a cap- 
 tured city, its name, always preceded by a determin- 
 ative letter or sign.* Short inscriptions were also 
 generally placed above the head of the king in the 
 palace at Kouyunjik, preceded by some words appa- 
 rently signifying " this is," and followed by others 
 giving his name and title. The whole legend pro- 
 bably ran, " This is such an one (the name), the 
 king of the country of Assyria." At Khorsabad 
 similar short inscriptions are frequently found above 
 less important figures, or upon their robes; a practice 
 which, it has been seen, prevailed afterwards amongst 
 the Persians, f I may observe, that in the earliest 
 
 * Tliis sign, which I have given, in note, p. 192., appears to be the first 
 letter of a word signifying city or castle, or to be a monogram for the 
 word. Dr. Ilincks traces in it a rude representation of a rampart and 
 parapet, (On the Inscriptions of Van, p. 29.) 
 
 f On the great rock-tablet of Behislun we have not only the name and 
 genealogy of Darius written over his heaO, but also the name and country 
 of the prisoners placed above each.
 
 CHAP. H.] CHARACTER OF THE KING. 267 
 
 palace of Nimroud, such descriptive notices have never 
 been found introduced into the bas-reliefs. 
 
 Were these magnificent mansions palaces or temples ? 
 or, whilst the king combined the character of a tem- 
 poral ruler with that of a high-priest or type of the 
 religion of the people, did his residence unite the 
 palace, the temple, and a national monument raised 
 to perpetuate the triumphs and conquests of the na- 
 tion ? These are questions which cannot yet be satis- 
 factorily answered. We can only judge by analogy. 
 The religious character of the king is evident from 
 a very casual examination of the sculptures. The 
 priests or presiding deities (whichever the winged 
 figures so frequently found on the Assyrian monu- 
 ments may be) are represented as waiting upon, or 
 ministering to, him ; above his head are the emblems 
 of the divinity the winged figure within the circle, 
 the sun, the moon, and the planets. As in Egypt, 
 he may have been regarded as the representative, 
 on earth, of the deity ; receiving his power directly 
 from the gods, and the organ of communication 
 between them and his subjects.* All the edifices 
 hitherto discovered in Assyria, have precisely the 
 same character ; so that we have most probably the 
 palace and temple combined ; for in them the deeds of 
 the king, and of the nation, are united with reli- 
 gious symbols, and with the statues of the gods. 
 
 Of the exterior architecture of these edifices, no 
 
 * Diodorus Siculus, lib. i. c. 90., and Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, 
 vol. i. p. 245., and vol. ii. p. 67.
 
 268 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 traces remain. I examined as carefully as I was 
 able the sides of the great mound at Ximroud, and 
 of other ruins in Assyria ; but there were no frag- 
 ments of sculptured blocks, cornices, columns, or 
 other architectural ornaments, to afford any clue 
 to the nature of the fa9ade. It is probable that 
 as the building was raised on a lofty platform, and 
 was conspicuous from all parts of the surrounding 
 country, its exterior walls were either cased with 
 sculptured slabs or painted. This mode of decor- 
 ating public buildings appears to have prevailed in 
 Assyria. On the outside of the principal palace of 
 Babylon, built by Semiramis, were painted, on bricks, 
 men and animals; even on the towers were hunting 
 scenes, in which were distinguished Semiramis her- 
 self on horseback, throwing a javelin at a panther, 
 and Ninus slaying a lion with his lance.* The walls 
 of Ecbatana, according to Herodotus f, were also 
 painted in different colours. The largest of these 
 walls (there were seven round the city) was white, 
 the next was black, the third purple, the fourth blue, 
 the fifth orange. The two inner walls were differ- 
 ently ornamented, one having its battlements plated 
 with silver, the other with gold.J At Khorsabad a 
 series of alabaster slabs, on which were represented 
 gigantic figures bearing tribute, appeared to M. Botta 
 
 * Diodorus Siculus, lib. ii. 
 
 t Lib. i. c. 98. 
 
 J These colours, with the number seven of the walls, have evidently 
 .illusion to the planets, and their courses. (Herod. 1. 1. c. 98.) Seven 
 disks are frequently represented as accompanying the sun, moon, and 
 other religious emblems at Nimroud.
 
 CHAP. II.] EXTERIOR WALLS. 269 
 
 to be an outer wall, as there were no remains of 
 building beyond it. It is possible that the sculptures 
 on the edge of the ravine in the north-west palace 
 of Nimroud, also apparently captives bearing tribute, 
 may have formed part of the north fa9ade of the 
 building, opening upon a flight of steps, or upon a 
 road leading from the river to the great hall.* 
 
 We may conjecture, therefore, that the outer walls, 
 like the inner, were cased with sculptured slabs below, 
 and painted with figures of animals and other devices 
 above ; and thus ornamented, in the clear atmosphere 
 of Assyria, their appearance would be far from 
 unpleasing to the eye. They were probably pro- 
 tected by a projecting roof; and, in a dry climate, 
 they would not quickly suffer injury from mere ex- 
 posure to the air. The total disappearance of the 
 alabaster slabs, may be easily accounted for by their 
 position. They would probably have remained out- 
 side the building, when the interior was buried ; or 
 they may have fallen to the foot of the mound, where 
 they soon perished, or where they may perhaps still 
 exist under the accumulated rubbish.f 
 
 * D and E, plan 3., and see Vol. I. p. 125. 
 
 f The thickness of both the outer walls and the walls forming par- 
 titions between the chambers, may have contributed greatly to exclude 
 the heat and to keep the chambers cool. It was Mr. Longworth's impres- 
 sion, on examining the ruins, that there never had been any exterior 
 architecture, but that all the chambers had been, as it were, subterranean, 
 resembling the serdabs, or summer apartments, of Mosul and Baghdad. 
 But such a supposition does not appear to me consistent with the mag- 
 nificent entrances, and with the elevated position of the building. Had 
 tinderground apartments been contemplated, an artificial platform would 
 scarcely have been raised to receive them.
 
 270 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [Cii.ir. II. 
 
 On the western face of the mound of Ximroud, at 
 the foot, I discovered many large square stones, which 
 probably cased the lower part of the building, or 
 rather of the mound itself. Xenophon, describing 
 the ruins, says that the lower part of the walls was 
 of stone to the height of 20 feet ; the upper being of 
 brick.* The stones he saw were merely the casing, 
 the interior or body of the walls being built of sun- 
 dried bricks. 
 
 Although there were houses in Assyria of two 
 and three stories in height, as at Babylon f, and as 
 represented in the sculptures of Kouyunjik J, yet it 
 does not appear probable that the great buildings 
 just described, had more than a ground floor. If 
 there had been upper rooms, traces of them would 
 still be found, as is shown by the discovery of the 
 chambers on the western face of the mound. Had 
 they fallen in, some remains of them would have 
 been left in the lower rooms. 
 
 The houses, and towers represented in some of the 
 later sculptures, have windows and doors ornamented 
 with cornices. We have no means of ascertaining 
 the forms of the chambers, nor of learning any par- 
 ticulars concerning their internal economy and ar- 
 rangement. No private houses, either of Assyria 
 Proper or Babylonia, have been preserved. The 
 
 * Anab. lib. iii. c. iv. s. 7. 
 
 t Herod, lib. i. c. 180. 
 
 J At Nimroud, although there were towers represented in the bas- 
 reliefs, with windows evidently belonging to the upper stories, yet there 
 were no houses of two stories. 
 
 See p. 14. of this volume.
 
 CHAF. II.] 
 
 TENTS WITHIN WALLS. 
 
 271 
 
 complete disappearance of private dwellings, as it has 
 been shown, is mainly to be attributed to the perish- 
 able materials of which they were constructed. The 
 mud-built walls returned to dust as soon as ex- 
 posed, without occasional repair, to the effects of 
 the weather to rain, the heat of the sun, or hot 
 winds. The traveller in Assyria may still observe 
 the rapid decay of such edifices. He may search in 
 vain for the site of a once flourishing village a few 
 years after it has been abandoned. 
 
 It would appear from the Assyrian sculptures that 
 tents were in common use, even within the walls of a 
 city. There are frequent representations of enclo- 
 sures, formed by regular ramparts and fortifications, 
 partly occupied by such habitations, in which are 
 seen men, and articles of furniture, couches, chairs, 
 and tables. 
 
 A EOC..r. (Kouyutyik.) 
 
 THE INTERIOR OF A TENT. (KouyunJik.) 
 
 * This house appears to resemble the model of an Egyptian dwelling 
 in the British Museum. (See also Sir Gardner Wilkinson's Ancient 
 Egyptians, vol. ii. woodcuts 98 and 99.) From a bas-relief discovered in 
 the centre of the mound at Nimroud, it would appear that the upper 
 part was sometimes formed of canvass.
 
 272 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 In the tent represented in the woodcut, jars ap- 
 pear to be suspended to the poles, to cool the water 
 within. Such is now the practice in the East. It 
 is still not an uncommon custom, in the countries 
 included in ancient Assyria and Babylonia, for wan- 
 dering tribes to encamp at certain seasons of the 
 year within the walls of cities. In Baghdad, Mosul, 
 and the neighbouring towns, the tents of Arabs and 
 Kurds are frequently seen amongst the houses ; and 
 such it would appear was the case in Assyria in the 
 earliest ages. Abraham, and Lot, resided in tents in 
 the midst of cities. Lot had his house in Sodom, as 
 well as his tents. We find continual mention of per- 
 sons having tents, and living within walls at the 
 same time.* In the districts around Mosul, the in- 
 habitants of a village frequently leave their houses 
 during the spring, and seek a more salubrious air for 
 themselves, and pasture for their flocks, on the hills 
 or plains. I have frequently alluded to this custom 
 in the previous volume. 
 
 The absence of the column, amongst the ruins of 
 Assyria, is remarkable. It would appear that the 
 Assyrians did not employ this useful architectural 
 ornament ; indispensable, indeed, in the construction 
 of the roofs of halls exceeding certain propor- 
 tions. That they could not have been unacquainted 
 with it is proved by pillars being represented, sup- 
 
 * These tents were probably made of black goat-hair, like those of the 
 modern Arabs " I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, 
 as the tents of Kedar" (Cant. i. 5.) and were not the gay white pa- 
 vilions which are usually seen in modern Biblical illustrations.
 
 CHAP. TL] 
 
 THE PHOTO-IONIC. 
 
 273 
 
 porting a pavilion or tent, in the older sculptures 
 of Ximroud. They were probably of wood, appear 
 to have been painted, and were surmounted by a 
 pine or fir cone, that religious symbol so constantly 
 recurring in the Assyrian monuments.* But the 
 first indication of the use of columns in buildings, 
 is to be found in the sculptures of Khorsabad. In 
 a bas-relief from that ruin, a temple, fishing pavilion, 
 or some building of the kind, is seen standing on 
 the margin, or actually in the midst of, a lake or 
 
 A Temple or Fishing Pavilion supported by Proto-Ionie Columas, and standing 
 in a River or a rtiflcial Lake. (Khorsabad.) 
 
 * An engraving from a bas-relief, showing such columns, will be in- 
 cluded in my work on the Monuments of Nineveh ; and the bas-relief 
 itself will be placed in the British Museum. 
 
 VOL. II. T
 
 274 NINEVEH AND ITS KEMAINS. [CHAP. H. 
 
 river. The fa9ade is embellished by two columns, the 
 capitals of which so closely resemble the Ionic, that 
 we can scarcely hesitate to recognise in them the 
 prototype of that order.* 
 
 In a bas-relief at Kouyunjik, the entrance to a 
 castle was flanked by two similar columns. The city 
 represented, appeared to belong to a maritime people 
 inhabiting the shores of the Mediterranean, and may 
 perhaps be identified (as it will hereafter be shown) 
 with Tyre or Sidon. We have therefore the Ionic 
 column on monuments of the eighth, or seventh, cen- 
 tury before Christ. 
 
 It is remarkable that the column, which appears 
 thus to have been known to the Assyrians, was not 
 used generally in their buildings. That it was not, 
 unless merely of wood, appears to be proved by the ab- 
 sence of all remains of shafts and capitals ; and in 
 Eastern ruins these are the last things to disappear. 
 The narrowness of the chambers, also, as I have ob- 
 served, must be attributed to the want of means of 
 supporting a ceiling, exceeding in width the span 
 of an ordinary poplar or palm beam. It is possible 
 that a conventional architecture, invested, as in 
 Egypt, with a religious character, was introduced 
 before the knowledge of the column. Hence, at a 
 
 * On an ivory tablet from Nimroud, the capitals of pillars, supporting 
 a kind of frame enclosing a head, also nearly resemble the Ionic ; but 
 less so than those given in the woodcut. They have, however, the egg 
 and tongue ornament under the helices. The lower part of the pine 
 or fir cone, surmounting the columns of wood described in the previous 
 page, has also much the appearance of the volute of the Ionic.
 
 CHAP. II.] THE WALLS OF NINEVEH. 275 
 
 subsequent period, when this useful ornament was 
 otherwise in common use, it was not admitted into 
 sacred buildings. But. as far as I am aware, no re- 
 mains of the column, which cannot be distinctly re- 
 ferred to a period subsequent to the Greek occupation, 
 have yet been found in Assyria.* 
 
 The walls of the Assyrian cities, as we learn from 
 the united testimony of ancient authors, were of ex- 
 traordinary size and height. Their dimensions, as 
 given by Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, have every 
 appearance of great exaggeration ; but, from the re- 
 mains which still exist, it is highly probable that 
 they exceeded in thickness any modern walls. The 
 materials were generally bricks of clay, dried in the 
 sun. The inhabitants could thus raise their defences 
 rapidly, without either great toil, or the cost and 
 labour of transport from distant places. As the earth 
 was removed to make the bricks, a ditch was formed 
 round the walls ; at least such, we are informed, was 
 the case at Babvlon. Sometimes the walls were con- 
 
 J 
 
 structed of these bricks alone. They were even then 
 probably of sufficient strength to resist a siege. 
 Frequently, however, this earthen rampart was cased 
 with stones or slabs, carefully squared and adjusted ; 
 so that those who were unacquainted with the mode 
 in which the walls were built, believed them to be 
 entirely of stone. Sometimes the lower part only 
 may have been cased with stone, the upper being 
 
 Nor have any been found, I believe, amongst the ruins of Babylon. 
 
 T 2
 
 276 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 entirely of brick ; as, according to Xenophon, were the 
 walls of Mespila and Larissa. * 
 
 According to Diodorus Siculus the walls of Nineveh 
 were one hundred feet high, and so broad that three 
 chariots might be driven abreast upon them. They 
 were furnished with fifteen hundred towers, each two 
 hundred feet in height. Those of Babylon, according 
 to Herodotus, were two hundred cubits (or about three 
 hundred feet) high, and fifty cubits (or about seventy- 
 five feet) thick.f In the Book of Judith the walls of 
 
 * Cyrop. lib. iii. The lower part of the walls of Mespila, according to 
 Xenophon, was fifty feet high, and as many broad, and the upper one hun- 
 dred high. The plinth was of a polished stone full of shells the lime- 
 stone still abounding in the country. The base of the walls is frequently 
 the common river conglomerate. There are no remains at Kouyunjik to 
 show that any part of the wall was of solid stone ; yet there can scarcely 
 be a doubt that Mespila is represented by the ruins opposite Mosul. Nor 
 does the circuit of six parasangs, mentioned by Xenophon, agree with 
 the present dimensions, which do not amount to as many miles. Some 
 allowance must be made for a little exaggeration. 
 
 f The walls of Babylon formed one of the standard fables of the an- 
 cients. According to some they were of brass. The Greek scholiast, 
 upon the passage in the Periegesis of Dionysius (quoted p. 262.), says : 
 " To the south (of the Matieni) lies the great city of Babylon, which 
 Semiramis crowned with unbreakable, brazen or strong, walls ; for the 
 wall is said to be brazen, for it was on every side flanked by the river." 
 Eustathius, commenting on the same passage of Dionysius, observes : 
 " In the south of Mesopotamia is Babylon, the Persian metropolis, a 
 sacred city surrounded with a brazen wall according to some, and with a 
 river flowing round it ; all of which, he says, Semiramis crowned with un- 
 breakable walls. Where some, forsooth, as it has been said, have narrated 
 that the wall was of brass, and have put forth many other marvels about 
 it, besides those above explained," &c. " Some say that when Ninus, king 
 of (As-)Syria founded Nineveh, his wife, in order to surpass her husband, 
 built Babylon in the plain with baked bricks, asphalt, and hewn stones three 
 cubits broad and six long. Its perimeter was 355 stadia ; the walls were 
 forty cubits high and thirty broad, so that chariots could pass one another, 
 and were flanked with gates with lofty towers. And she made brazen doors 
 of a great height." According to Josephus, who quotes Berosus, Nebu-
 
 CHAP. II.] THE WALLS OF NINEVEH. 277 
 
 Ecbatana are stated to have been seventy cubits in 
 height, and fifty broad, or corresponding in thickness 
 with those of Babylon. They were built of hewn 
 stones, six cubits long and three broad ; and the gates, 
 " for the going forth of the mighty armies (of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar) and for the setting in array of the foot- 
 men," were severity cubits high and forty wide. * 
 
 Of these enormous structures, allowing for exagge- 
 ration, and inaccuracy, in the statements of the Greek 
 historians f , there are still certain traces. They do 
 not, however, enclose the space attributed to either 
 Babylon or Nineveh, but form quadrangular enclosures 
 of more moderate dimensions, which appear to have 
 been attached to the royal dwellings, or were perhaps 
 intended as places of refuge in case of siege. Such are 
 the remains of Nimroud, Kouyunjik, and Khorsabad ; 
 and those on the left bank of the river Euphrates, 
 near Hillah, the site of the Babylon of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar. These walls are now marked by consecutive 
 mounds, having the appearance of ramparts of earth 
 hastily thrown up. On examination, however, they 
 are found to be regularly constructed of unbaked 
 
 chadnezzar built three walls round the interior, and three round the ex- 
 terior of Babylon, or probably three round the new, and three round the 
 old city. Within these walls were the celebrated hanging gardens. He 
 built also high walks of stone, with all manner of trees upon them, to give 
 the appearance of a mountain ; besides which he made a paradise, which 
 was called the hanging garden, to please his wife, who, coming from 
 Media, loved a mountainous country. (Against Apion, book i.) 
 
 * Chap. i. v. 14. 
 
 f The walls of Nineveh were built, according to Eustathius, in eight 
 years by 140,000 men. Those of Babylon in fifteen. (Berosus, Frag.) 
 According to Quintus Curtius, a stadium was finished each day. (lib. v. 
 c.26.) 
 
 T 3
 
 278 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. II. 
 
 bricks. In height they have, of course, greatly de- 
 creased, and are still gradually decreasing, but the 
 breadth of their base proves their former magnitude; 
 and that they were of great strength, and able to resist 
 the engines of war then in use, we learn from the fact 
 that Nineveh sustained a siege for nearly three years 
 in the time of Sardanapalus, and could only be taken 
 by the combined armies of the Persians and Baby- 
 lonians -when the river had overflowed its bed, and 
 had carried away a part of the wall. According to 
 Xenophon, Larissa was captured during the con- 
 sternation of the inhabitants caused by an eclipse of 
 the sun. 
 
 At certain distances in the walls there were gates, 
 sometimes flanked, as at Kouyunjik, by towers adorned 
 with sculptures, and sometimes formed by gigantic 
 figures, such as the winged bulls and lions. An en- 
 trance of this kind has recently been by chance exposed 
 to view, in the mounds forming the quadrangle at 
 Khorsabad. The lofty pyramidical structures, which 
 still exist at Nimroud, Kalah Sherghat, and Khorsa- 
 bad, may have been used, as it has been already ob- 
 served, as watch-towers. In the edifices of Nineveh, 
 bitumen and reeds were not employed to cement the 
 layers of bricks, as at Babylon ; although both materials 
 are to be found in abundance in the immediate vicinity 
 of the city.* The Assyrians appear to have made 
 much less use of bricks baked in the furnace than the 
 Babylonians; no masses of brickwork, such as are 
 
 * Rich, however, mentions stones cemented with bitumen, as having 
 been found in on excavation amongst the ruins opposite Mosul.
 
 CHAP. H.] THE WALLS OF NINEVEH. 279 
 
 everywhere found in Babylonia Proper, existing to 
 the north of that province. Common clay moistened 
 with water, and mixed with a little stubble, formed, 
 as it does to this day, the mortar used in buildings. 
 But, however simple the materials, they have success- 
 fully resisted the ravages of time, and still mark 
 the stupendous nature of the Assyrian structures. 
 
 T 4
 
 280 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [Cinr. IIL 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 THE ARTS AMONGST THE ASSYRIANS. THEIR ORIGIN. CON- 
 NECTION BETWEEN ASSYRIAN AND GREEK ART. THE ASSYRIAN 
 
 ORIGIN OF PERSIAN ART. ITS PASSAGE INTO ASIA MINOR. 
 
 THE LYCIAN SCULPTURES. VARIOUS GREEK ORNAMENTS AND 
 
 FORMS BORROWED FROM ASSYRIA. TASTE OF ASSYRIANS DIS- 
 PLAYED IN EMBROIDERIES, ARMS, AND PERSONAL ORNAMENTS 
 
 IN DOMESTIC FURNITURE IN VESSELS OF GOLD AND SILVER. 
 
 PAINTINGS. EZEKIEL'S DESCRIPTION OF PAINTED BAS-RE- 
 LIEFS. COLOURS USED BY THE ASSYRIANS. THEIR DYES. 
 
 MATERIALS FOR SCULPTURE. ALABASTER OR MOSUL MARBLE. 
 
 LLMESTONE AND BASALT KNOWLEDGE OF MECHANICS. 
 
 THE PULLEY. MODE OF TRANSPORT OF BLOCKS OF STONE. 
 
 THE remarks in the foregoing chapter, on the archi- 
 tecture of the Assyrians, naturally lead to the con- 
 sideration of the state of the arts in general amongst 
 
 o o 
 
 them. It is impossible to examine the monuments 
 of Assyria without being convinced, that the people 
 who raised them had acquired a skill in sculpture 
 and painting, and a knowledge of design and even 
 composition, indicating an advanced state of civilisa- 
 tion. It is very remarkable, that the most ancient 
 ruins show this knowledge in the greatest perfection, 
 attained by the Assyrians. The bas-relief represent- 
 ing the lion-hunt, now in the British Museum, is a 
 good illustration of the earliest school of Assyrian 
 art yet known. It far exceeds the sculptures of 
 Khorsabad, Kouyunjik, or the later palaces of Nim-
 
 CHAP III.] ASSYRIAN SCULPTURE. 281 
 
 roud, in the vigour of the treatment, the elegance 
 of the forms, and in what the French aptly term 
 " mouvement." At the same time it is eminently 
 distinguished from them by the evident attempt at 
 composition, by the artistical arrangement of the 
 groups. The sculptors who worked at Khorsabad, and 
 Kouyunjik, had perhaps acquired more skill in hand- 
 ling their tools. Their work is frequently superior 
 to that of the earlier artist, in delicacy of execution 
 in the details of the features, for instance and in 
 the boldness of the relief; but the slightest acquaint- 
 ance with Assyrian monuments will show, that they 
 were greatly inferior to their ancestors in the higher 
 branches of art in the treatment of a subject, and 
 in beauty and variety of form. This decline of art, 
 after suddenly attaining its greatest perfection in 
 its earliest stage, is a fact presented by almost 
 every people, ancient and modern, with which we 
 are acquainted. In Egypt, the most ancient monu- 
 ments display the purest forms, and the most ele- 
 gant decorations. A rapid retrogression, after a 
 certain period, is most apparent, and serves to in- 
 dicate approximatively the epoch of most of her 
 remains. In the history of Greek, and Roman art, 
 this sudden rise and rapid fall are equally apparent. 
 Even changes in royal dynasties have had an in- 
 fluence upon art ; as a glance at monuments of 
 that part of the East of which we are specially treat- 
 ing will show. Thus the sculpture of Persia, as that 
 of Assyria, was in its best state at the time of the 
 earliest monarchs, and gradually declined until the
 
 282 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. III. 
 
 fall of the empire. After the Greek invasion, it re- 
 vived under the first kings of the Arsacid branch ; 
 Greek taste still exercising an influence over the 
 Iranian provinces. How rapidly art degenerated to 
 the most barbarous forms, the medals and monuments 
 of the later Arsacids abundantly prove. When the 
 Sassanians restored the old Persian monarchy, and 
 endeavoured to restore the ancient religion and 
 sacred ceremonies of the empire, art again appears to 
 have received a momentary impulse. The coins, gems, 
 and rock sculptures of the first kings of this dynasty, 
 are distinguished by considerable elegance, and spirit 
 of design, and beauty of form. But the decay was as 
 rapid under them, as it had been under their pre- 
 decessors. Even before the Khosraws raised the glory 
 and power of the empire to its highest pitch, art was 
 fast degenerating. By the time of Yezdigird, it had 
 become even more rude, and barbarous, than in the 
 last days of the Arsacids. 
 
 This decline in art, may be accounted for by sup- 
 posing that, in the infancy of a people, or after the 
 occurrence of any great event, having a very decided 
 influence upon their manners, their religion, or their 
 political state, nature was the chief, if not the only, 
 object of study. When a certain proficiency had been 
 attained, and no violent changes took place to shake 
 the established order of things, the artist, instead of 
 endeavouring to imitate that which he saw in nature, 
 received as correct delineations the works of his pre- 
 decessors, and made them his types and his models. 
 In some countries, as in Egypt, religion may have
 
 CHAP. III.] ASSYRIAN ART. 283 
 
 contributed to this result. Whilst the imagination, 
 as well as the hand, was fettered by prejudices, and 
 even by laws, or whilst indolence or ignorance led 
 to the mere servile copying of what had been done 
 before, it may easily be conceived how rapidly a de- 
 viation from correctness of form would take place. 
 As each copied the errors of those who preceded 
 him, and added to them himself, it is not wonderful 
 if, ere long, the whole became one great error. It is 
 to be feared, that this prescriptive love of imitation 
 has exercised no less influence on modern art, than 
 it did upon the arts of the ancients. 
 
 As the earliest specimens of Assyrian art which 
 we possess are the best, it is natural to conclude 
 that either there are other monuments still undis- 
 covered, which would tend to show a gradual pro- 
 gression, or that such monuments did once exist, but 
 have long since perished ; otherwise it must be in- 
 ferred, that those who raised the Assyrian edifice, 
 derived their knowledge directly from another peo- 
 ple, or merely imitated what they had seen in a 
 foreign land. Some are inclined to look upon the 
 style, and character of these early sculptures, as 
 purely Egyptian. But there is such a disparity in the 
 mode of treatment, and in the execution, that the 
 Egyptian origin of Assyrian art appears to me, to be 
 a question open to considerable doubt. That which 
 they have in common would mark the first efforts 
 of any people, of a certain intellectual order, to 
 imitate nature. The want of relative proportions 
 in the figures, and the ignorance of perspective
 
 284 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. III. 
 
 the full eye in the side face, and the warriors fight- 
 ing, and the bodies of the dead scattered above, or 
 below the principal figures, are as characteristic 
 of all early productions of art, as they are of the 
 rude attempts at delineation of children. It is only 
 in the later monuments of Nineveh, that we find evi- 
 dent and direct traces of Egyptian influence ; as in the 
 sitting sphinxes and ivories of Nirnroud, and in the 
 lotus-shaped ornaments of Khorsabad and Kouyunjik ; 
 perhaps also in the custom which then prevailed of 
 inserting the name of the king, or of the castle upon, 
 or immediately above, their sculptured representations. 
 Neither the ornaments of the earliest palace of Nim- 
 roud, nor the costumes, nor the elaborate nature of 
 the embroideries upon the robes, with the groups 
 of human figures and animals, nor the mythological 
 symbols, are of an Egyptian character ; they show a 
 very different taste and style. 
 
 The principal distinction between Assyrian, and 
 Egyptian art appears to be, that in the one, conven- 
 tional forms were much more strictly adhered to 
 than in the other. The angular mode of treatment 
 so conspicuous in Egyptian monuments, even in the 
 delineation of every object, is not perceivable in those 
 of Assyria. Had the arts of the two countries been 
 derived from the same source or had one been 
 imitated from the other they would surely have 
 displayed the same striking peculiarity. The Assy- 
 rians, less fettered, sought to imitate nature more 
 closely, however rude and unsuccessful their attempts 
 may have been ; and this is proved by the constant
 
 CHAP. III.] ASSYRIAN INFLUENCE IN ASIA MINOR. 285 
 
 endeavour to show the muscles, veins, and anatomical 
 proportions of the human figure. 
 
 We must not lose sight of the assertion of Moses of 
 Chorene, derived no doubt from ancient traditions, 
 if not from direct historical evidence, that when 
 Ninus founded the Assyrian empire, a people far ad- 
 vanced in civilisation, and in the knowledge of the 
 arts and sciences, whose works the conquerors endea- 
 voured to destroy, were already in possession of the 
 country.* Who that people may have been, we can- 
 not now even conjecture. The same mystery hangs 
 over the origin of the arts in Egypt, and in Assyria. 
 They may have been derived, before the introduction 
 of any conventional forms, from a common source 
 from a people whose very name, and the proofs of 
 whose former existence, may have perished even be- 
 fore tradition begins. 
 
 The monuments of Assyria furnish us with very 
 important data, as to the origin of many branches of 
 art, subsequently brought to the highest perfection in 
 Asia Minor, and Greece. I conceive the Assyrian 
 influence on Asia Minor to have been twofold. In 
 the first place, direct, during the time of the greatest 
 prosperity of the Assyrian monarchy or empire, 
 when, as it has been shown, the power of its kings 
 extended over that country ; in the second, indirect, 
 through Persia, after the destruction of Nineveh. 
 Of the influence exercised upon the arts of western 
 Asia, during the early occupation of the Assyrians, 
 
 * Before the foundation of Nineveh, Ninus, according to a tradition 
 preserved by Stephen of Byzantium, resided in a city called Telane.
 
 286 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CiiAr. III. 
 
 few traces have hitherto been discovered, unless 
 the remarkable monuments on the site of ancient 
 Pteria or Pterium belong to this period.* The evi- 
 dent connection between the divinities, and sacred 
 emblems worshipped in various parts of Asia Minor, 
 and those of Assyria, will be hereafter particularly 
 pointed out. The Assyrian origin of these monu- 
 ments, and of these religious symbols, once ad- 
 mitted, we shall have no difficulty in recognising the 
 influence of Assyria on the arts and customs of Asia 
 Minor. The antiquities of that country prior to a 
 well-known period, the Persian occupation, have been 
 but little investigated. Few remains of an earlier 
 epoch have yet been discovered. That such remains 
 do exist, perhaps buried under ground, I have little 
 doubt. It is most probable that when we have ad- 
 ditional materials for inquiry, we shall be still 
 more convinced of this Assyrian influence, pointed 
 out by Herodotus, when he declares the founder of 
 the kingdom of Lydia to have been a descendant of 
 Ninus, and by other authors who mention the Syrian, 
 or Assyrian descent of many nations of Asia Minor.f 
 
 * Texier, L'Asie Mineure, pi. 75. 79. There appears to be now little 
 doubt that the celebrated rock-tablet on the road from Ephesus to 
 Phocaca, and between Sardis and Smyrna, described by Herodotus, and 
 attributed by him to Sesostris (lib. ii. c. 106.), was not an Egyptian, but 
 an Assyrian monument. It was the Chevalier Lepsius, I believe, who 
 first questioned the Egyptian origin of that at Nyinphi. 
 
 f There are reasons for conjecturing that Pterium, itself, was not 
 unconnected with Assyria, According to Stephen of Byzantium, the same 
 name was given to the Acropolis of Babylon (in voce \\rkpiov). The 
 inhabitants of Cappadocia were Leuco-Syrians, or white Syrians. Ac- 
 cording to several ancient geographers, the city of Mulita in that pro-
 
 CHAP. Ill] ASSYRIAN INFLUENCE IN ASIA MINOR. 287 
 
 But the second, or indirect, period of this influence, 
 is very fully and completely illustrated by the monu- 
 ments of Asia Minor, of the time of the Persian 
 domination. The known connection between these 
 monuments, and the archaic forms of Greek art, 
 renders this part of the inquiry both important and 
 interesting. The Xanthian marbles, acquired for this 
 country by Sir Charles Fellows, and now in the 
 British Museum, are remarkable illustrations of the 
 threefold connection between Assyria and Persia, 
 Persia and Asia Minor, and Asia Minor and Greece. 
 Were those marbles properly arranged, and placed 
 in chronological order, they would afford a most use- 
 ful lesson ; arid would enable even a superficial ob- 
 
 vince was founded by Semiramis ; as also Comana, on the Sarus, and 
 Zela, in Pontus. (Pliny, vi. 3. ; Strabo, xii. 385. and 389.) Thyatira, on 
 the Lycus, in Mysia, was also originally named Semiramis. We have 
 a people called Chaldasans, mentioned by Xenophon and Strabo, as found 
 near the Black Sea. Apollonius Rhodius (lib. ii. c. 965.) and Strabo 
 speak of the Assyrians on the Halys, and Dionysius (Perieg. 772.) as 
 inhabiting the north of Asia Minor. According to Stephen of Byzan- 
 tium, Ninus founded a city, called after him Ninoe (afterwards Aphro- 
 desias or Megalopolis), on the frontiers of Lydia and Caria ; the same city 
 is mentioned by Suidas. There was another city of the same name in 
 the district of Commagena in Syria. The building of Tarsus, and Anchiale, 
 by Sardanapalus, must also be borne in mind ; and the curious tradition, 
 preserved by Eusebius from Abydenus, that Sennacherib built a temple 
 at Athens, placing brass monuments in it, on which were inscribed 
 his deeds. (Eusebius, Chron. book i. c. 9.) The same author points out 
 another close connection between Assyria and Asia Minor, and Greece, 
 when he states that Axerdis, having killed his brother Adrameles, pur- 
 sued his army as far as Byzantium. In the army of Axerdis, was 
 Pythagoras, who was acquiring the wisdom of the Chaldees. When Sar- 
 danapalus was besieged by the allied army of the Medes, Babylonians, 
 and Bactrians, he sent his three sons and two daughters, with large trea- 
 sures of gold and silver, to Cottus, governor of Paphlagonia, who had re- 
 mained faithful to him.
 
 288 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. III. 
 
 server to trace the gradual progress of art, from its 
 primitive rudeness to the most classic conceptions 
 of the Greek sculptor. Not that he would find 
 either style, the pure Assyrian or the Greek, in its 
 greatest perfection ; but he would be able to see how 
 a closer imitation of nature, a gradual refinement 
 of taste, and additional study, had converted the hard 
 and rigid lines of the Assyrians, into the flowing 
 draperies, and classic forms of the highest order of 
 art.* 
 
 I have termed this second period that of indirect 
 influence, because the arts did not then penetrate 
 directly into Asia Minor from Assyria ; but were con- 
 veyed thither through the Persians. The Assyrian 
 empire had already existed for centuries, and had 
 exercised the supreme power over Asia, before it was 
 disputed by the kingdoms of Persia and Media, 
 united under one monarch. The Persians were pro- 
 bably a rude people, possessing neither a literature 
 nor arts of their own, but deriving what they had from 
 their civilised neighbours.f We have no earlier 
 
 * It is hoped that some chronological system will be adopted in the 
 arrangement of all the works of art in the British Museum ; for no col- 
 lection in Europe, whatever may be its completeness in any particular 
 department, has a more full and comprehensive series of monuments, 
 giving the whole history of art, in its earliest stage, its most classic 
 period, and its decline from the most ancient period of Egypt and 
 Assyria, to the time of the transfer of the seat of the Roman Empire to 
 Constantinople. A series so arranged would be invaluable; not only 
 as affording the means of studying the history of art, but as giving no 
 ordinary insight into the history of the human race. 
 
 f This would appear from the statements both of Herodotus and 
 Xenophon.
 
 CHAP. III.] SCULPTURES OF PERSEPOLIS. 289 
 
 specimen of Persian writing than the inscription con- 
 taining the name of Cyrus, on the ruins supposed to 
 be those of his tomb, at Murghaub ; nor any earlier 
 remains of Persian art than the buildings and sculp- 
 tures of Persepolis, and other monuments to be at- 
 tributed beyond a question to the kings of the Achse- 
 menian dynasty. It has already been shown that the 
 writing of the Persians was imitated from the As- 
 syrians, and it can as easily be proved that their 
 sculptures were derived from the same source. The 
 monuments of Persepolis establish this beyond a 
 doubt.* They exhibit precisely the same mode of 
 treatment, the same forms, the same peculiarities in 
 the arrangement of the bas-reliefs against the walls, 
 the same entrances formed by gigantic winged ani- 
 mals with human heads, and, finally, the same reli- 
 gious emblems. Had this identity been displayed in 
 one instance alone, we might have attributed it to 
 chance, or to mere casual intercourse ; but when it 
 pervades the whole system, we can scarcely doubt 
 that one was a close copy, an imitation, of the other. 
 That the peculiar characteristics of the Persepolitan 
 sculptures were derived from the monuments of the 
 second Assyrian dynasty that is, from those of the 
 latest Assyrian period can be proved by the simi- 
 larity of shape in the ornaments, and in the cos- 
 tume of many of the figures. Thus, the head-dress 
 of the winged monsters forming the portals is lofty, 
 
 * See particularly the works of Sir R. K. Porter, of Flandin and Coste, 
 and of Texier. 
 
 VOL. II. U
 
 290 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. HE. 
 
 squared, and richly ornamented at the top, resem- 
 bling those of Khorsabad and Kouyunjik, and differ- 
 ing from the round, unornamented cap of the older 
 figures at Nimroud.* 
 
 HEAD OF WINGED BOLL. HEAD OP WINGED MONSTER . 
 
 (Khoraatiad and Kouyunjik.) (Persepolia.) 
 
 The processions of warriors, captives, and tribute- 
 bearers at Persepolis, are in every respect similar to 
 those on the walls of Nimroud and Khorsabad ; we 
 have the same mode of treatment in the figures, 
 the same way of portraying the eyes and hair. The 
 Persian artist introduced folds into the draperies ; 
 but, with this exception, he certainly did not improve 
 upon his Assyrian model. On the contrary, his work 
 
 * For the rounded cap of the most ancient Assyrian monuments, see 
 the woodcuts of the colossal winged lion and bull in the first volume. 
 In Alexander's ; ' Travels from India to England," pi. ix., there is an 
 engraving of a bas-relief of a winged lion discovered at Persepolis, which 
 even more closely resembles the Assyrian than the larger figures in the 
 works of Ker Porter, and Flandin and Coste.
 
 CHAP. III.] ASSYRIAN ART IN ASIA MINOR. 291 
 
 is greatly inferior to it in the general arrangement 
 of the groups, and in the elegance of the details. 
 
 From whence the Persians obtained the column, 
 and other architectural ornaments used at Persepolis, 
 it may be more difficult to determine. We have seen 
 that the column was not unknown to the later As- 
 syrians, although it does not appear to have been 
 employed in the construction of their palaces. The 
 Persians, therefore, may have partly derived their 
 knowledge from them, and partly, perhaps princi- 
 pally, from the Egyptians ; whom, before the found- 
 ation of Persepolis, they had already conquered. It 
 will be observed that the capitals of their columns 
 frequently assume the shape of Assyrian religious 
 types, the bull for instance; whilst other portions 
 of them nearly resemble in the form of their orna- 
 ments, though not in their proportions, those of 
 Egypt. 
 
 The Persians introduced into Asia Minor the arts, 
 and religion, which they received from the Assyrians. 
 Thus the Harpy Tomb, and the monument usually 
 attributed to Harpagus at Xanthus, and other still 
 earlier remains, show all the peculiarities of the 
 sculpture of Persepolis, and at the same time that 
 gradual progress in the mode of treatment the 
 introduction of action and sentiment, and a know- 
 ledge of anatomy which marks the distinction be- 
 tween Asiatic and Greek art. Whilst there was a 
 manifest improvement in the disposition of the dra- 
 peries, and in the delineation of the human form, 
 we still remark, even in the latest works of the Per- 
 
 u 2
 
 292 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. III. 
 
 slan period in Asia Minor, the absence of all attempt 
 to impart sentiment to the features, or even to give 
 more than the side view of the human face. 
 
 There is one monument, however, from Xanthus, 
 which particularly deserves notice, from its connection 
 with Persian and Assyrian art and religious emblems. 
 I allude to the fragment of 
 a tomb in the British Mu- 
 seum, on which is represented 
 a figure struggling with, and 
 piercing, a rampant lion. 
 
 The sculpture is so pecu- 
 liarly Assyrian in its treat- 
 ment, identical representa- 
 tions being found on the 
 
 FRAGMENT OP A LYCI&N MONUMENT, 
 
 monuments and cylinders of IN THE BBJTI3H MUSEUM. 
 Assyria, that there can be no doubt as to its origin. 
 The combat with the lion was either a pure religious 
 type, or a symbol of the power and wisdom of the 
 king, which, first devised by the Assyrians, was after- 
 wards used by the Persians, and is everywhere to 
 be found on their monuments. 
 
 I add another illustration a bas-relief from the 
 Harpy Tomb, conjectured to represent the three 
 Graces between Juno and Venus. The forms of the 
 chairs and the general treatment is Assyrian. The 
 calf sucking the cow, originally an Assyrian emblem, 
 occurs on an altar in a bas-relief discovered at Khorsa- 
 bad, and is found among the ivories from Nimroud.* 
 
 * I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Scharf for the two woodcuts 
 from Lycian monuments.
 
 CHAP. III.] ASSYRIAN ART IN ASIA MINOR. 
 
 293 
 
 BAK.KELIEF FKOM A MONUMENT FROM XA.NTHDS. IN THE BKIT1SH MDSEOM. 
 
 The connection between art as introduced by the 
 Persians into Asia Minor, and the sculpture and 
 architecture of Greece, is out of the scope of this 
 volume. The subject has been more than once suc- 
 cessfully treated. It is, I believe, now generally 
 admitted, how much, in the early stage of art, the 
 Greeks were indebted to their intercourse with that 
 country. However, the Greek sculptor was not a 
 mere imitator, as the Persian had been : adopting 
 that which was most beautiful in the works of others, 
 he made it his own, and by a gradual process of 
 development produced, ere long, those severe and 
 graceful forms, which were the foundation of the 
 most noble monuments of human genius.* 
 
 * The resemblance between several archaic sculptures, particularly one 
 representing a warrior holding a spear, discovered five or six years ago 
 (I believe) at Athens, and similar figures at Persepolis, is very remark- 
 able. There is an engraving of this warrior in an Archaeological 
 Journal (Ephemeris Archaiologiche) published in the Greek capital. 
 (See also the Revur Archeologi'iue for 1844, pi. 1. p. 49.) 
 
 u 3
 
 294 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. III. 
 
 ASSYRIAN ORNAMEXT. (Niraroud.) 
 
 GHESK EO.NSY3UCKL3 ORNAMENT. 
 
 It has already been mentioned that many archi- 
 tectural ornaments, known to the Assyrians, passed 
 from them, directly or indirectly, into Greece. The 
 Ionic column has been cited 
 as an instance. We have, 
 moreover, in the earliest 
 monuments of Nineveh, that 
 graceful ornament, com- 
 monly called the honey- 
 suckle, which was so exten- 
 sively used in Greece, and 
 is to this day more gene- 
 rally employed than any 
 other moulding. In Assyria, 
 as I have pointed out, it 
 was invested with sacred 
 properties, and was either 
 a symbol or an object of 
 worship. 
 
 That the similarity be- 
 tween the Assyrian and Greek ornament is not acci- 
 dental, seems to be proved, beyond a question, by the 
 alternation of the lotus or tulip, whichever this flower 
 may be, with the honeysuckle; by the number of 
 leaves or petals of the flower, and by their proceeding 
 in both from a semicircle, supported by two tendrils 
 or scrolls.* The same ornament occurs, even in 
 India, on a lath erected by Asoka at Allahabad 
 
 GREEK HONEYSUCKLE ORNAMENT. 
 
 * I have given in my work on the Monuments of Nineveh, several 
 specimens of this ornament, one from a painting on the walls of the 
 north-west palace.
 
 CHAP. III.] 
 
 ASSYRIAN ORNAMENTS. 
 
 295 
 
 (about B. c. 250); but whether introduced by the 
 Greeks which, from the date of the erection of the 
 monument, shortly after the Macedonian invasion, is 
 not improbable or whether derived directly from 
 another source, I cannot venture to decide.* 
 
 ON A LATH AT ALLAHABAD. 
 
 That the Assyrians possessed a highly refined taste 
 can hardly be questioned, when we find them invent- 
 ing an ornament which the Greeks afterwards, with 
 few additions and improvements, so generally adopted 
 in their most classic monuments. Others, no less 
 beautiful, continually occur in the most ancient bas- 
 reliefs of Nimroud. The sacred bull, with expanded 
 wings, and the wild goat, are introduced kneeling 
 
 ORNAMENT. (N.W. Palace, Nimroud.) 
 
 * I am indebted to Mr. Fergusaon, the author of the beautiful work 
 on the Temples of India, for a sketch of this ornament. 
 
 u 4
 
 296 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS KEMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. III. 
 
 ORNAMENT. (N.W. Palace, Nimriud.) 
 
 before the mystic flower which is the principal feature 
 
 in the border just described. The same animals are 
 
 occasionally represented supporting disks, or flowers 
 
 and rosettes. A bird, or human 
 
 figure, frequently takes the place of 
 
 the bull and goat ; and the simple 
 
 flower becomes a tree, bearing many 
 
 flowers of the same shape. This 
 
 tree, evidently a sacred symbol, is 
 
 elaborately and tastefully formed ; 
 
 and is one of the most conspicuous 
 
 ornaments of Assyrian sculpture. 
 
 The flowers at the ends of the 
 branches are frequently replaced in 
 later Assyrian monuments, and on 
 cylinders, by the fir or pine cone, 
 and sometimes by a fruit or orna- 
 ment resembling the pomegranate.* 
 
 The guilloche, or intertwining bands, continually 
 
 * Such perhaps was " the net-work with pomegranates," one of the 
 principal ornaments in the temple of Solomon. (1 Kings, vii. 41, 42.) 
 The pomegranate was worked on the garments of Aaron. (Exodus, 
 xxviii. 33, 34.) It was evidently a sacred symbol, and was connected 
 with the god Rimmon. A deity, supposed by Achilles Tatius (lib. iii.) 
 to be Zeus or Jupiter, was represented in a temple at Pelusium holding a 
 pomegranate in his hand. 
 
 OKNAMSNT. 
 (N.W. Palace. Nimroud.)
 
 CHAP. III.] 
 
 ASSYRIAN ORNAMENTS. 
 
 297 
 
 found on Greek monu- 
 ments, and still in com- 
 mon use, was also well 
 known to the Assy- 
 rians, and was one of 
 their most favourite or- 
 naments. It -was em- 
 broidered on their robes, 
 embossed on their arms 
 and chariots, and painted 
 on their walls.* 
 
 This purity, and ele- 
 gance of taste, was equally 
 displayed in the garments, 
 arms, furniture, and trap- 
 pings of the Assyrians. 
 
 The robes of the king 
 were most elaborately 
 embroidered. The part 
 covering his breast was 
 generally adorned, not 
 only with flowers and scroll-work, but with groups of 
 figures, animals, and even hunting and battle scenes. f 
 In other parts of his dress similar designs were in- 
 troduced ; and rows of tassels or fringes were carried 
 round the borders. The ear-rings, necklaces, armlets, 
 
 * See the sword-sheath, on the following page, and the chariot con- 
 taining warriors in woodcut facing p. 355. 
 
 f Details from these embroidered robes will be given in my work on 
 the Monuments of Nineveh. These designs can scarcely have been 
 engraved upon a breast-plate of metal, as the sculptor has made no dis- 
 tinction between the upper and lower part of the king's dress. They 
 may represent the linen breast-plates, worn by the Assyrians in the 
 army of Xerxes. (Herod. 1. vii. c. 63.) 
 
 SACKED TREE. (X. W. Palace, Nimroud.)
 
 298 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. UI. 
 
 FAR-RING. 
 (N.W , 
 Nimroud.) 
 
 and bracelets were all of the most elegant forms. The 
 clasps, and ends of the bracelets were fre- 
 quently in the shape of the heads of rams 
 and bulls, resembling our modern jewellery. 
 The ear-rings have generally on the later 
 monuments, particularly in the bas-reliefs 
 of Khorsabad, the form of a cross. 
 
 In their arms, the Assyrians rivalled even 
 the Greeks in elegance of design. The hilt 
 of the sword was fre- 
 quently ornament- 
 ed with four lions' 
 heads ; two, with 
 part of the neck and 
 shoulders, made the 
 cross-bar or defence, 
 and two more with 
 extended jaws were 
 introduced into the 
 handle. The end of 
 the sheath was formed by two entire lions, clasped 
 
 ASSYRIAN EAR-RINOS. (Khoreabad.) 
 
 HILT OP A SWORD. 
 (K-horeabad.) 
 
 Nn OF A 3WORD SI3EATB. 
 (N.W. Palace, Nimroud.)
 
 CHAP, in.] 
 
 ASSYRIAN ARMS. 
 
 299 
 
 together, their heads turned outwards, and their 
 mouths open. Sometimes the whole of the sheath 
 was engraved, or embossed, with groups of human 
 figures, animals, and flowers. 
 
 The handles of the daggers 
 were no less highly orna- 
 mented, being sometimes in 
 the form of the head of a horse, 
 bull, or ram. The sheath fre- 
 quently terminated in the head 
 of a bird, to which a tassel was 
 suspended. The part of the 
 bow to which the string was 
 attached, was in the shape of 
 an eagle's head. The quiver 
 was richly decorated with groups of figures, and fan- 
 ciful designs. 
 
 Ornaments, in the form of the heads of animals, 
 chiefly the lion, bull, and ram, were very generally 
 introduced even in parts of the chariot, the harness 
 of the horses, and domestic furniture. In this respect 
 the Assyrians resembled the Egyptians. 
 
 Their tables, thrones, and couches were made both 
 of metal and wood, and probably inlaid with ivory. 
 We learn from Herodotus, that those in the temple 
 of Belus at Babylon, were of solid gold.* The chair 
 represented on the earliest monuments is without 
 a back, the legs are tastefully carved, and the seat is 
 adorned with the heads of rams. The cushion ap- 
 
 HANDLES OF THREE DAGGERS 
 
 CARRIED IN THE GIRDLE. 
 
 (N.W Palace, Kimioud.) 
 
 * The couch, or bedstead, as our version has it, of Og, king of Basan, 
 was of iron. (Deut. iii. 11.)
 
 300 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. III. 
 
 pears to have been made of some rich stuff, em- 
 broidered or painted. The legs were strengthened 
 by a cross-bar, and frequently ended in the feet of 
 a lion, or the hoofs of a bull, either of gold, silver, 
 or bronze.* On the monuments of Khorsabad, and 
 
 A THRONE OR STOOL. (N. W. Palace. Kiraroud.) 
 
 * The bed of Solomon was of the wood of Lebanon ; the posts were of 
 silver, the bottom of gold, and the curtains of purple. (Song of Solouion, 
 iii. J), 10.) Chairs and couches, adorned with feet of silver, and other 
 metals, were looked upon as a great object of luxury in Persia ; from 
 thence they were probably introduced into Asia Minor, and Greece. 
 Artaxerxes presented Entimos Gortyna, who had gone to him from 
 Greece, with " a couch having silver feet, and with all the furniture that 
 appertained to it, and with a dome-shaped tent, or curtain, worked with 
 flowers, and a silver seat and gilded dome ; and with cups, bottles, and 
 other things of gold inlaid with jewels and of silver." (Athena3us, lib. ii. 
 c. 48.) In fact, this was a complete bed, probably something like the modern 
 French bed and its furniture, accompanied by such objects as were re- 
 quired for the toilette. The court of the garden of the palace of 
 Ahasuerus, when he feasted the people in Shushan the palace, was fitted 
 up " with white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine 
 linen and purple, to silver rings and pillars of marble : the couches were 
 of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and 
 black marble (or mosaic)." (Esther, i. 6.) The feet of the couch, on 
 which the body of Cyrus was placed in his tomb, were of solid gold. 
 (Arrian, vi. 29.) The couches and tables found by Pausanias in the tents
 
 CHAP. III.] 
 
 ASSYRIAN FURNITURE. 
 
 301 
 
 in the rock-tablets of Malthaiyah, we find repre- 
 sentations of chairs supported by animals, and by hu- 
 man figures, sometimes prisoners, like the Caryatids 
 of the Greeks. In this they resembled the arm-chairs 
 of Egypt, but appear to have been more massive. 
 
 A STOOL. (Khorsabad.) 
 
 AN AR1T-CHAIR. (Khorsabad.) 
 
 This mode of ornamenting the throne of the king 
 was adopted by the Persians, and is continually seen 
 in the sculptures of Persepolis. The lion was both 
 an ornament and support, in the throne of Solomon. 
 " And there were stays (or arms) on either side on 
 the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the 
 stays (or arms). And twelve lions stood there, on 
 the one side and on the other upon the six steps." * 
 
 of Mardonius, were of gold and silver. They had belonged to Xerxes. 
 (Herod, 1. ix. c. 82.) Couches wreathed with ivory and silver, and the 
 beds variegated or inlaid with gold, silver, and ivory, are mentioned by 
 Homer. (Od. xix. 55, 56. and xxiii. 199.) 
 * 1 Kings, x. 19, 20.
 
 302 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. ILL 
 
 This description corresponds with the Assyrian chairs, 
 the arms of which are frequently supported by the 
 figures of animals.* 
 
 The forms of the furniture represented in the bas- 
 reliefs of the later period, as at Khorsabad, display 
 less taste and elegance than those of the earlier 
 monuments. The chairs have generally more than 
 one cross-bar, and are somewhat heavy and ill-pro- 
 portioned, the feet resting upon large inverted cones, 
 
 A COUCH OR TABLE. (Khorsabad.) 
 
 resembling pine-apples. The seats were high, the 
 feet of those who sat upon 
 them being raised consider- 
 ably above the ground ; a 
 footstool was consequently 
 necessary. On the earliest 
 Assyrian monuments the shape 
 of the footstool is very beautiful ; like the chair, it 
 was ornamented with the paws of lions, or the hoofs 
 ofbulls.f 
 
 * In the Lycian sculptures we have examples of similar supports to 
 the chairs. The fashion was probably introduced into Asia Minor by the 
 Persians, who originally borrowed it from the Assyrians. 
 
 f The footstool of Solomon's throne was of gold. (2 Chron. ix. 18.) 
 
 FOOTSTOOL SUPPORTED BY 
 
 LION'S PAWS. 
 (N.W. Palace, Nimroud.)
 
 CHAP. III.] 
 
 ASSYRIAN FURNITURE. 
 
 303 
 
 The tables and chairs were frequently shaped like 
 our camp stools, and may have been made to close : 
 they were also generally terminated by the feet of 
 animals. 
 
 A TABLE. 
 (N.W. Taluco, Nimroud.) 
 
 ALTARS, OR 8TANT53 FOR JARS. 
 (N.W. Palace, Nimroud.) 
 
 The drinking cups, and vessels, used on festive occa- 
 sions were probably of gold, like those 
 of Solomon*, or of silver. When Aha- 
 suerus feasted all the people, both great 
 and small, for seven days in Shushan 
 the palace, wine was given to them in 
 vessels of gold, each one differing from 
 the other.f The drinking vases of the 
 Assyrians were frequently wrought into 
 the shape of the head and neck of an 
 animal such as a lion or a bull, and 
 resembled those afterwards in use 
 amongst the Greeks, and found in the 
 tombs of Etruria. 
 
 COP WITH HANDLE 
 (Khorsabad.) 
 
 * 1 Kings, x. 21.: "And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were 
 of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were 
 of pure gold : none were of silver ; it was nothing accounted of in the 
 days of Solomon." 
 
 f Esther, i. 7.
 
 304 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. III. 
 
 DEINK1NG COP. 
 (Khorsabad.) 
 
 None of the vases discovered at 
 Nimroud are, perhaps, purely Assyrian. 
 Those of alabaster and glass, from the 
 north-west palace, bearing the name 
 of the Khorsabad king, closely resem- 
 ble the Egyptian, as do the earthen 
 jars from the tombs.* In the bas-re- 
 liefs, however, we have occasional re- 
 presentations of vases; some carried 
 by attendants, who appear to be wait- 
 ing at feasts, and others borne by cap- 
 tives, as objects of tribute. In shape 
 they are not wanting in beauty, bearing 
 some resemblance to Greek pottery, 
 of a period succeeding the ruder ar- 
 chaic. 
 
 The square basket, or utensil, so frequently repre- 
 sented in the Assyrian sculptures, as carried by the 
 winged figures, is generally very elaborately de- 
 corated. In the early bas-reliefs of Nimroud, a 
 group of figures is often introduced upon it, and the 
 margin is richly adorned with the honeysuckle orna- 
 ment, or with the intertwining bands. The corners 
 
 VASF. FROM A BAS- 
 RELIEF. 
 (Khorsabad.) f 
 
 * Mr. Birch suggests that the alabaster vases were brought from 
 Egypt. Amongst the Asiatic nations who bring tribute to Thothmes III. 
 are the Kheva, who offer vases of gold and silver, somewhat similar to 
 those described in the text. (Hoskins's Ethiopia ; Wilkinson's Ancient 
 Egyptians, vol. i. pi. iv. First Series.) 
 
 f Note the similarity in shape between this vase, which was evidently 
 used in some religious ceremony connected with the worship of the later 
 Assyrians, and the vases in an Egyptian bas-relief from Alabastron, of 
 the king and his family worshipping the sun. (Wilkinson's Ancient 
 Egyptians, Second Series, vol. ii. plate 30.)
 
 CHAP. III.] ASSYKIAN ORNAMENTS. 305 
 
 to which the handle is attached, are frequently 
 in the form of eagles. In the sculptures of Khors- 
 abad, this square utensil is made to 
 represent a basket or wicker-work; 
 but in the early sculptures it appears 
 to be of metal. 
 
 The arms, domestic furniture, uten- 
 sils, personal ornaments, and details 
 I have described, show a very refined 
 and cultivated taste. In this re- Ba8ket rVe88e lcarried 
 
 by Winged Figures. 
 (Khorsabad.) 
 
 spect, the most ancient Assyrian monu- 
 ments with which we are acquainted, greatly exceed 
 the later. Many forms had been preserved, as in 
 the swords, bracelets, and armlets ; but they had evi- 
 dently degenerated, and are more coarsely designed 
 in the sculptures. This is also evident in the em- 
 broideries of the robes, and in the details of the 
 chariots. We see the same love of elaborate and 
 profuse decoration, but not that elegance and va- 
 riety, so conspicuous in the ornaments of the first 
 period. The kneeling bull or wild goat, the grace- 
 ful flower, and the groups of men and animals 
 skilfully combined, are succeeded by a profusion of 
 rosettes, circles, and squares, covering the whole 
 surface of the dress, or the sides of the chariots. 
 Although there is a certain richness of appearance, 
 yet the classic forms, if the term may be used, of the 
 earlier artists, are wanting. 
 
 It is remarkable that the later Assyrians, whilst 
 retaining ancient forms in their arms, should have 
 discontinued their use in the embroideries of their 
 
 VOL. ir. x
 
 306 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. m. 
 
 robes ; no longer introducing the groups of figures, 
 which previously formed so elegant and important 
 an ornament. This can scarcely be ascribed to a 
 mere modification of taste. As all these groups 
 have evident reference to myths, and sacred sub- 
 jects, their omission appears to confirm the con- 
 jecture that an essential change had taken place in 
 the religious system, as well as in the manners, of 
 the Assyrians, between the construction of the ear- 
 liest and latest monuments. 
 
 The bas-reliefs and sculptures of the Assyrians, 
 except, probably, those in black marble and basalt, 
 were either partly or entirely painted. I could 
 not ascertain whether the ground, as well as the 
 figures, had been coloured ; but M. Flandin states* 
 that he could trace on the bas-reliefs of Khorsabad 
 a tint of yellow ochre on all parts not otherwise 
 painted. It is not improbable that such was the 
 case, particularly in the Khorsabad and Kouyunjik 
 palaces, as a similar practice existed in Egypt. 
 There were fewer remains of colour at Nimroud, 
 than in the ruins explored by M. Botta. I could 
 distinguish them on the hair, beard, and eyes, on 
 the sandals and bows, on the tongues of the eagle- 
 headed figures, and very faintly on a garland round 
 the head of a winged priest, and on the represent- 
 ation of fire in the bas-relief of a siege. These traces 
 being only found on certain parts of the human face, 
 and on particular objects, almost lead to the con- 
 
 * In his " Voyage Archeologique & Ninive," in the Revue des Deux 
 Mondes.
 
 CHAP. III.] ASSYRIAN PAINTINGS. 307 
 
 jecture that the earliest Assyrian sculptures were 
 but partially coloured. At Khorsabad the remains 
 of paint were far more general, being found on the 
 draperies, the mitre of the king, the flowers carried 
 by the winged figures, the harness of the horses, the 
 chariots, and the trees. In the bas-reliefs represent- 
 ing a siege, the flames issuing from the houses, and 
 the torches carried by the assailants, were invariably 
 coloured red. 
 
 The passage in Ezekiel, describing the interior of 
 the Assyrian palaces, so completely corresponds with, 
 and illustrates, the monuments of Nimroud and 
 Khorsabad, that it deserves particular notice in this 
 place. The prophet, in typifying the corruptions 
 which had crept into the religious system of the 
 Jews, and the idolatrous practices borrowed from 
 nations with whom they had been brought into con- 
 tact, thus illustrates the influence of the Assyrians. 
 " She saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images 
 of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion, girded 
 with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire 
 upon their heads, all of them princes to look to, after 
 the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land 
 of their nativity." * Ezekiel, it will be remembered, 
 
 * Ch. xxiii. v. 14. and 15. This description of the Assyrian sculp- 
 tures is very remarkable. The literal translation of the passage is : 
 " She saw men of sculptured (or painted) workmanship upon the wall, 
 likenesses of the Chaldaeans, pictured (or sculptured) in shashar; 
 girded with girdles on their loins, with coloured flowing head-dresses 
 upon their heads, with the aspect of princes all of them, the like- 
 ness of the sons of Babel-Chaldaea, the land of their nativity." The 
 words in Italics are not in the text. Shashar occurs also in Jeremiah, 
 xxii. 14., where it is rendered in our version " vermilion." Gesenius 
 
 x 2
 
 308 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. III. 
 
 prophesied on the banks of the Chebar, a river which, 
 whether it can be identified with the Khabour of the 
 Arabs (the Chaboras of the Greeks), flowing through 
 the plains of Mesopotamia, and falling into the 
 
 translates it " red color, red ochre, rubrica ; " the Vulgate " sinopis," 
 i. e. rubrica sinopensis, which was the most celebrated (Plin. Hist. Nat. 
 xxxv. 5. 13. ) ; the Septuagint /i/Xroc, which in Homer is rubrica. All 
 the commentators, the Septuagint, and the Syrian and Chaldee versions, 
 give to Shashar the meaning of a colour. The Rabbis make it " cinnabar," 
 
 which is near to vermilion. There is an Arabic root .Li (Shazar), from 
 
 which Shuzret, redness of the eyes, and Eshzer, ruddy of appearance, 
 seem to be derived. The root itself, however, as a verb, does not include 
 the idea of redness ; but has, amongst other analogous meanings, that of 
 " twisting a rope," and that of " piercing a man," from which the idea of 
 sculpturing might be derived. It means also " to raise " and " be raised," 
 and might be applied to bas-relief work. This agrees with the original 
 meaning of the Hebrew ppn (hakek), to cut, to engrave, to sculpture ; 
 perhaps an onomatope, like our word " to hack." But in Jeremiah, xxxii. 
 14. there is " daubed with s-hashar:" here it would appear to mean a 
 paint, unless a painted bas-relief is intended. And the hieroglyphic word 
 for red is " tesher," the t and sh being interchangeable. The word 'rVHD 
 (serouhe) means any thing, especially of woven stuffor leather, which hangs 
 over; and appears in the text to denote a head-dress falling down behind, 
 like that of many of the figures in the bas-reliefs. The word rendered 
 coloured (tebouleem), appears to be a passive participle of 7313, " to 
 immerse," or " to dye ; " but then there is no noun for head-dress itself, 
 and this word would appear to designate it. If it be a noun, its meaning 
 may be inferred from the JEthiopic root 773t3n (titbelal), " to wrap," 
 or " wind around," and " flowing turbans upon their heads " would be 
 the proper translation. In the various versions we have Septuagint, 
 Codex Rom. irapnGairmi ; the Codex Alex. Theodoret., Arab. Vers. and 
 the Syriac Vers. ofOrigen's Hexapla, rtdpai /3a7rrat; the Vulgate, " tiaras 
 tinctas;'' the Syriac version, " crowned with winding head-dresses;" the 
 Chaldee version, " they took their helmets down ; " Symmachus, Syriac 
 from the Hexapla, " veil ;" Theodotion, Syr. from the Hexapla, " cidares 
 inclinatse." It will be observed that all the non- Semitic translators take 
 the word " tebouleem" for coloured, according to the obvious meaning of 
 the word in Hebrew ; while the Semitic translators depart from the 
 Hebrew meaning, and incline to the .Ethiopic, " to wind around," or 
 neglect the word altogether.
 
 CHAP. III.] COLOURS. 309 
 
 Euphrates near Karkeraish (Circesium), or with an- 
 other of the same name rising in the mountains of 
 Kurdistan, and joining the Tigris above Mosul, was 
 certainly in the immediate vicinity of Nineveh. In 
 the passage quoted, the prophet is referring to a 
 period previous to the final destruction of the As- 
 syrian capital, an event which he most probably 
 witnessed, as the date usually assigned to his pro- 
 phecies is 593 before Christ, only thirteen years after 
 the Medo-Babylonian conquest. There can scarcely 
 be a doubt that he had seen the objects which he 
 describes the figures sculptured upon the wall, and 
 painted. The prevalence of a red colour, shown by 
 the Khorsabad remains, and the elaborate and highly 
 ornamented head-dress of the Khorsabad and Kouy- 
 unjik kings, are evidently indicated. The evidence 
 thus aiforded of the existence of these monuments 
 before the fall of Nineveh, taken in connection with 
 the prophet's subsequent description of the complete 
 overthrow and destruction of the city*, is a con- 
 vincing proof, were any required, that the edifices 
 described in the previous pages must be referred to 
 a period preceding the Persian invasion. 
 
 The only colours first used in Assyria, like those 
 employed by all nations to give effect to their ear- 
 liest efforts, both in sculpture and architecture, were 
 probably blue, red, yellow, black, and white. The 
 tints formed by their combinations may have been 
 adopted at a later period. There is even reason to 
 doubt whether the green on the walls of some of the 
 
 * Ch. xxxi. 
 x 3
 
 310 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. HI. 
 
 older monuments of Nimroud, was not a decomposed 
 blue. However, upon bricks from the north-west 
 palace, there are apparently shades of colours, pro- 
 bably produced by an intermixture of two or more 
 pigments : we have thus a purple, a violet, a rich 
 brown, &c. On the sculptures I have only found 
 black, white, red, and blue ; and these colours alone 
 were used in the painted ornaments of the upper 
 chambers at Nimroud. At Khorsabad, green and 
 yellow continually occurred on the bas-reliefs; at 
 Kouyunjik, there were no traces whatever of colour. 
 
 Sir Gardner Wilkinson * has given an analysis of 
 the colours of the Egyptians, by which it would ap- 
 pear that the blue is a pulverised blue glass, made 
 by vitrifying the oxides of copper and iron with sand 
 and soda. The bright blue of the Assyrian monu- 
 ments appears to be a purer oxide of copper; and 
 its resemblance to an ore of that mineral, found in 
 very minute crystals in an ancient mine in Kurdistan, 
 has already been mentioned, f The Egyptian green 
 was a mixture of a yellow ochre with the vitreous 
 blue ; and I conjecture that the green of the later 
 monuments of Assyria, was formed by a similar ad- 
 mixture of ochre with the blue oxide of copper. 
 
 * Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. p. 301. 
 
 f Vol. I. p. 223. Amongst the objects of tribute mentioned in the 
 statistical tablet of Karnak, as having been brought from Babel, or 
 Babylon, are ingots of a substance, the nature of which appears to be 
 doubtful, but which Mr. Birch seems inclined to believe represents some 
 ore producing a blue colour ; perhaps the copper ore described in my visit 
 to the Tiyari mountains. (Loc. e#.) It is mentioned on the Egyptian 
 monuments as also coming from Saenkar (Sinjar) and from the Ruten.
 
 CHAP. III.] COLOURS. 311 
 
 The Assyrian red exceeds in brilliancy that of 
 Egypt, which was merely an earthy bole. It nearly 
 approaches to vermilion on the sculptures of Khorsa- 
 bad, and has a bright crimson or lake tint on those 
 of Nimroud. 
 
 The black and yellow may have resembled in their 
 composition the pigments of the Egyptians ; the first 
 a bone black, mixed with a little gum, and the second 
 an iron ochre. The white may have been obtained, 
 as it is to this day, by burning the alabaster or 
 common gypsum. 
 
 But although earthy and metallic substances were 
 used by the Assyrians, it is not improbable that 
 vegetable colours were also known to them ; they 
 may even have been employed in painting their 
 sculptures. Indeed their use may account for the 
 absence of traces of colour upon many parts of the 
 bas-reliefs of Nimroud ; the vegetable colours being 
 liable to rapid decomposition on exposure either to 
 damp or air. Dyes of the finest quality, particularly 
 reds and greens, which even European ingenuity 
 has been unable to equal, are obtained by the in- 
 habitants of Kurdistan from flowers and herbs, 
 growing abundantly in their mountains.* The art 
 of extracting them is not a recent discovery, but 
 has been known for ages to people living in the 
 same country ; as we learn from the frequent men- 
 tion of Babylonian and Parthian dyes by ancient 
 authors. The carpets of Kurdistan and Persia are 
 
 * It is possible that the brilliant dyes of Kurdistan and parts of Persia 
 may, to some extent, be attributed to the peculiar quality of the water. 
 
 x 4
 
 312 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [C HAP. TIL 
 
 still unrivalled, not only for the beauty of their 
 texture, but for the brilliancy of their hues. From 
 the ornaments on the dresses of the figures in the 
 Assyrian sculptures, we may conclude that similar 
 colours were extensively used, either in dying the 
 garments themselves, or the threads with which the 
 material was wove. 
 
 Some bricks from Nimroud appear to have been 
 enamelled, the colours having been laid on very 
 thickly when in a liquid state, and then exposed to 
 the action of fire. Diodorus Siculus probably refers 
 to this process, when he states that the figures of 
 men and animals, on the walls of the palace of 
 Semiramis at Babylon, were painted on bricks be- 
 fore they were placed in the furnace.* 
 
 Although limited in the number of their colours, 
 the Assyrians displayed considerable taste and skill 
 in their arrangement. The contrasts are tastefully 
 preserved, and the combinations generally agreeable 
 to the eye. f The use of a strong black outline 
 
 * Diodorus Siculus, lib. ii. c. 20. Bricks so enamelled, obtained from 
 the earliest palace at Nimroud, are included in the collection of Assyrian 
 antiquities, on their way to the British Museum. 
 
 t Several specimens of Assyrian coloured ornaments will be given in 
 my work on the Monuments of Nineveh. The following were the parts 
 of bas-reliefs on which colours were found at Nimroud and Khorsabad. 
 I give the respective colours. The hair, beard, eyebrows, eye-lids, and 
 eye-balls, black ; the inner part of the eye, white ; the king's mitre, 
 principally red ; the crests of helmets, blue and red ; the heads of ar- 
 rows, blue ; the bows, red ; the handles of maces, red ; the harness of 
 horses, blue and red ; sandals in oldest monuments, black, edged with 
 red; in those of Khorsabad, striped blue and red; the rosettes in the 
 garlands of winged figures, red ; trees at Khorsabad a blueish green ; 
 tlowers carried by the winged figures, green, with red flowers occa- 
 sionally ; fire, always red. It is probable that some of the red tints
 
 CHAP. III.] PAINTED SCULPTURES. 313 
 
 is a peculiar feature in Assyrian, as in Egyptian 
 painting. Black also frequently combines with white 
 alone, and alternates with other colours. 
 
 On the walls of chambers at Nimroud, I could trace 
 figures painted in mere black outline upon a blue 
 ground ; it is, however, possible, that other colours 
 originally employed had faded. 
 
 It is uncertain whether the Assyrians, like the 
 Egyptians, used different colours to denote races, 
 sexes, and the orders of priesthood. No trace of 
 paint, except on the eyes and hair, has yet been 
 found on the human body in Assyrian sculpture ; 
 unless the features of the captives leading monkeys, 
 discovered at Nimroud, were painted black, which is 
 very doubtful.* 
 
 On the colossal lions and bulls forming the en- 
 trances, colour only remained in the eyes, the pupils 
 having been painted black, and the rest filled with 
 a thick white pigment. 
 
 Of the materials used by the Assyrians in the con- 
 struction of their palaces, it has already been shown 
 that a limestone or alabaster was the most common, and 
 served to case or panel the chambers. It abounds in 
 the country, and being very soft is easily quarried 
 and sculptured. It is still extensively employed in 
 the country, chiefly cut, as in the time of the Assy- 
 rians, into slabs, and forming in that state a casing 
 to walls of sun-dried or baked bricks. The modern 
 
 which remain were originally laid on to receive gilding. The tops of all 
 the slabs, that part upon which it may be presumed the upper wall of sun- 
 dried bricks rested, were painted red. 
 * Vol. I. p. 126.
 
 314 NINEVEH AND ITS KEMAINS. [CHAP. III. 
 
 slabs, however, are much smaller than those found 
 in the ruins, rarely exceeding four or five feet in 
 length, by two or three in breadth, and being only 
 a few inches thick. Thus shaped, they are exported 
 to Baghdad, where they are used for the pavement 
 of halls, and for fountains, and reservoirs, in the in- 
 terior of houses. When first taken from the quarry, 
 this alabaster is of a greyish white ; but on exposure 
 it soon changes, growing darker, and ultimately be- 
 coming a deep grey, the colour of the slabs now in 
 the British Museum. It is extremely fragile, easily 
 decomposes, and wears away, if subjected to the 
 action of water, or even to damp. Several slabs 
 from Nimroud have retained the outline of the mat- 
 ting in which they were packed, water having pene- 
 trated into the cases. The back of the bas-relief of 
 the eagle-headed figure in the Museum is an instance ; 
 on examination it will be seen that it is not the 
 result of pressure, but the outline of the matting has 
 been produced by the percolation of water, through 
 the fissures between the rushes. The material being 
 so very perishable, it will be a matter of surprise that 
 the sculptures should be so well preserved, even in 
 their minutest details. This can only be attributed 
 to their having been suddenly buried, before ex- 
 posure, and to the great accumulation of earth over 
 them, by which they were preserved completely from 
 damp in a country naturally dry. 
 
 On exposure to fire, this alabaster becomes of a 
 milky whiteness, as in the ruins of .Khorsabad, 
 Kouyunjik, and the south-west corner of Nimroud.
 
 CHAI-. III.] MATERIALS FOR SCULPTURE. 315 
 
 The outline of the sculptures becomes, at the same 
 time, sharper and more defined. They have con- 
 sequently a more pleasing appearance, than in the 
 grey slabs of the unburnt edifices ; but they crack 
 into numberless pieces, which fall off in flakes, so that 
 it is impossible to move, and even frequently to pre- 
 serve them. The sculptures from Khorsabad in the 
 British Museum show this appearance, and are easily 
 distinguished by it from those of Nimroud. 
 
 The builders of the most ancient edifices at Nim- 
 roud also used a bright yellow limestone ; a pair of 
 human-headed bulls in the north-west palace are of 
 this material.* Another pair of similar gigantic 
 figures once stood in the centre palace ; only frag- 
 ments of them were discovered. This yellow lime- 
 stone must have been brought from some distance, 
 probably from the Kurdish hills ; but I am unable 
 to determine the locality of the quarries. During 
 my journey in the mountains, I observed a stone 
 resembling it in the neighbourhood of Amadiyah, 
 but none nearer Mosul. 
 
 All the winged bulls and lions in the south-west 
 palace were sculptured out of a coarse grey lime- 
 stone. f The limestone used for the casing of the outer 
 walls was harder and more compact, and was pro- 
 bably that fossiliferous stone described by Xenophon, 
 as forming the lower part of the wall of Mespila.J 
 
 * Entrance to chamber B, plan 3. The detached head in the British 
 Museum is a specimen. 
 
 f A detached human head of this limestone, from the south-west 
 palace, will also be placed in the British Museum. 
 
 J Xenophon, Anabasis, 1. iii. ch 3.
 
 316 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. III. 
 
 A duck, carved in a fine-grained white marble, was 
 discovered in the rubbish covering the north-west 
 palace ; but no other specimen of this material was 
 found in the ruins. The obelisk is of black marble. 
 Vases of a pure translucent alabaster were used by 
 the Assyrians ; but there is reason to believe that 
 they were brought from elsewhere; probably, as it 
 has been conjectured, from Egypt. 
 
 The sitting figure from Kalah Sherghat, and frag- 
 ments of sculpture from the same ruins, are of 
 black basalt. This appears to have been the mate- 
 rial most generally employed in Assyria, and Ba- 
 bylonia, for public monuments, when alabaster and 
 limestone were not to be obtained : in the absence 
 of granite it may, indeed, have been preferred to any 
 other stone, as being more durable. It abounds in 
 the Kurdish hills, particularly in the neighbourhood 
 of Jezirah (the ancient Bezabde) ; and in that part 
 of the Taurus through which the Tigris, and Eu- 
 phrates, find a narrow and sudden outlet into the 
 plains of Assyria. It is highly probable that the 
 great obelisk, brought, according to a tradition, by 
 Semiramis, from the mountains of Armenia, was of 
 this material. Several figures, and fragments of sculp- 
 ture in it, have been at different times discovered in 
 Babylonian ruins. The country, for many miles 
 round Babylon, is a recent alluvium, and no stone 
 fit for building purposes could be reached without 
 excavating to a very considerable depth ; consequently, 
 whilst employing generally, baked and sun-dried 
 bricks in the construction of their edifices, the inha-
 
 CHAP. III.] MECHANICAL CONTRIVANCES. 317 
 
 bitimts were compelled to obtain from afar, such 
 materials as were better calculated for the preserva- 
 tion of public records, and as would enable the artist 
 to erect large and durable monuments. The black 
 basalt of Armenia was best suited to this purpose, 
 and could without difficulty be floated down the Eu- 
 phrates and Tigris on rafts made of skins. Nearly 
 all the monuments hitherto discovered in Babylonia 
 are of this material. 
 
 Whether the Assyrians were acquainted with any 
 mechanical contrivances which enabled them to bring 
 by land, from great distances, the enormous masses 
 of stone employed in their public monuments, cannot 
 with any certainty be determined. That they were 
 acquainted with the pulley at a very early period is 
 evident, from its representation in the bas-relief of 
 part of which I have given a sketch *, and which was 
 originally in the most ancient palace of Nimroud. 
 A bucket, descending into a well, is raised by a rope 
 passing over a pulley, revolving on an iron or wooden 
 pin, and precisely similar in form to those now in 
 common use.f 
 
 Amongst the sculptures at Khorsabad was, I be- 
 lieve, a bas-relief representing the moving of a block 
 of stone, placed on a cart drawn by men.J Once 
 
 * Page 31. of this volume. 
 
 f The pulley was also known to the Egyptians. One, in the Museum 
 of Leyden, is described by Sir Gardner Wilkinson, as having the sides of 
 athul, or tamarisk wood, the roller of fir, and the rope of leef, or fibres of 
 the date tree. 
 
 J This bas-relief, if amongst the collection brought by M. Flandin 
 from Khorsabad, has not yet been published in M. Botta's work. I have 
 some recollection of having seen a drawing of it in M. Flandin's portfolio.
 
 318 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP III. 
 
 in the plains, with the assistance of rollers and levers, 
 no great difficulty would have been experienced in 
 moving any of the stones hitherto discovered in the 
 ruins ; particularly as they were not sculptured until 
 they were placed in the edifices, and in the position 
 which they were intended to occupy ; little care was 
 therefore required in their transport. That the an- 
 cients, however, possessed mechanical means for 
 moving large masses is evident, from the enormous 
 blocks used in the monuments of Egypt, and from the 
 stones forming the basement of the temple of Baalbec ; 
 built, as it is well known, many centuries before the 
 superstructure. Although the mere physical power 
 of large bodies of men, of which the Assyrians, like the 
 Egyptians, had probably an almost unlimited com- 
 mand, went a great way in the transport of these 
 stupendous masses, yet we cannot believe that they 
 relied upon it alone. There are grounds for conjec- 
 turing, that they were acquainted with mechanical 
 contrivances which are either unknown to us, or are 
 looked upon as modern inventions. I do not mean 
 to join, from this remark, in the oft-repeated theme of 
 the inferiority of the moderns to the ancients, than 
 which nothing can be more unfounded : all that it is 
 necessary to admit is, that those who preceded us by 
 many centuries, were not deficient in ingenuity and 
 reflection ; and that experience and study had made 
 them familiar with many things, of which we would 
 boast ourselves the inventors.
 
 CHAP. IV.] DRESS OF THE KING. 319 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 COSTUME OF THE ASSYRIAN KINGS. THEIR ARMS. THE EUNUCHS. 
 
 THEIR DRESS. THE HISTORY OP PARSONDES. OFFICERS OF 
 
 STATE. THE WARRIORS. THEIR ARMOUR THEIR COSTUME. 
 
 SPEARMEN. ARCHERS. HELMETS. ARMS. SLINGERS. 
 
 SHIELDS. REGULAR TROOPS. CHARIOTS. HARNESS AND CA- 
 PARISON OF THE HORSES. CAVALRY. HORSES. 
 
 THE Assyrians were celebrated, at a very early period, 
 for the magnificence and luxury of their apparel. 
 " The Assyrian garments " became almost a proverb, 
 and having first been borrowed by the Persians, 
 descended, at a later time, even to the Romans. 
 These robes, as portrayed in the sculptures, confirm 
 the traditions of their beauty and costliness. The 
 dress of the king consisted of a long flowing garment, 
 descending to the ankles *, elaborately embroidered, 
 and edged with fringes and tassels. It was confined 
 at the waist by a girdle, to which were attached 
 cords with large tassels, falling down almost to the 
 feet. Over this robe a second, nearly of the same 
 length, but open in front, appears to have been 
 thrown. It was also embroidered, and edged with 
 
 * The Assyrians were not ignorant of the dignity, and majesty, which 
 flowing garments added to the figure. 
 
 "Pedes vestis defluxit ad iinos, 
 Et vera incessu patuit Dea." 
 
 VIRG. 2En. 1. i.
 
 320 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 tassels.* On his head he wore a high mitre or tiara 
 of peculiar shape, reserved for the monarch alone. 
 It is impossible, from its representation in the sculp- 
 tures, to determine the nature of the material of 
 which it was made. As it was frequently adorned 
 with flowers and other ornaments, was worn in the 
 temple as well as in battle, and seems to have been 
 folded or arranged in bands, it may have been of 
 linen, wool, or silk. Only one band passed round 
 the head-dress of the earliest monuments ; at a later 
 period two or more were introduced, and the mitre 
 itself was higher and more richly ornamented. These 
 peculiarities mark, distinctly, the respective ages of 
 sculptures, in which the figure of the king occurs.f 
 
 BEAD-DEF.SS OF THE KING. HEAD-DRESS OF THE KINO. 
 
 (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) (Kouyunjik.) 
 
 * Such was probably the dress of the Babylonians as described by 
 Herodotus. " Their clothing is of this kind : they have two vests, one of 
 linen which falls to the feet, another over this, which is made of wool : a 
 white sash confines the whole." (Lib. i. c. 195.) 
 
 f The Persian monarchs wore a peculiar kind of head-dress, called 
 cidaris; it somewhat resembled the French cap of liberty, or the Phry- 
 gian head-dress. According to the lexicographers, only the king was 
 privileged to wear the top erect ; this was probably in imitation of the 
 Assyrian peak. The cidaris of Darius was blue and white, or purple and 
 white. (Quint. Curt. 1. iii. c. 3. and 1. vi. c. 6.)
 
 CHAP. IV.] DRESS OF THE KING. 321 
 
 This mitre was surmounted by a small point or 
 cone. In the most ancient sculptures, the ends of 
 the band hang down the back, and are ornamented 
 with embroideries and fringes. A kind of hood is 
 sometimes represented as falling over the shoulders, 
 and two long ribbons or lappets descend almost to 
 the ankles. 
 
 Nothing remains in the bas-reliefs to indicate the 
 materials of the robes. Like those worn at a subse- 
 quent period by the Babylonians, one may have been 
 of linen, and the other of wool ; or they may have 
 been of cotton, or even of silk, which was an article 
 of produce at a very early period in Assyria. They 
 were richly embroidered and dyed. The designs upon 
 them were most elaborate,* consisting of figures of 
 men and animals, flowers, and various devices. The 
 part of the dress most richly ornamented was gene- 
 rally that which covered the breast, although groups 
 of men and animals were introduced elsewhere. The 
 art of embroidering figures in wool, was afterwards 
 practised with great success by the Persians. The 
 Medes had previously adopted the flowing robes of 
 the Assyrians, so celebrated for their beauty, that 
 their invention was attributed to Semiramis.* 
 
 * Diodorus Sic. 1. ii., and Ctesias. 
 
 "Et Syriae gentes, et laxo Persia aiuictu, 
 Vestibus ipsa suis haerens." MANIJ.IIJS, 1. iv. v. 7. 
 
 The extraordinary combinations of animal forms on these woofs are 
 mentioned, Philostrat. Imag. ii. 32. and ii. 5. ; and Euripides, Ion, v. 1176. 
 Miiller, Handbuck, s. 287. 
 
 The finest Persian tunic of the time of Darius was white and purple. 
 (Quint. Curt. 1. iii. c. 3.) This was the SJpaTrif, Uipffiicof ^n-wv, /itao- 
 
 VOL. II. Y
 
 322 NINEVEH AND ITS EEMAINS. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 The neck, and the arms from a little above the 
 elbow, were bare. More than one necklace of elegant 
 form, was generally suspended round the neck. The 
 arms were encircled by armlets, and the wrists by 
 bracelets, all equally remarkable for the taste and 
 beauty of the design and workmanship.* The 
 clasps were in the shape of the heads of lions arid 
 other animals ; and in the centre of the bracelets 
 were stars or rosettes, which were probably inlaid 
 with precious stones. Ear-rings of many kinds 
 were worn ; those in the form of a cross appear to 
 have been most prevalent during the latter Assyrian 
 period, f 
 
 In the shape and workmanship of their arms the 
 Assyrians displayed, as it has been seen, considerable 
 
 XtvKOf, of Hesychius and Pollux. We have a close imitation of the As- 
 syrian garment in the Olympic stole as described by Apuleius (Metam. 
 1. xi.) : " Et humeris dependebat, pone tergum, talorum tenus, pretiosa 
 chlamyda. Quaqua tamen viseres, colore vario circumnotatis Snsignibar 
 animalibus. Hinc dracones Indici ; inde gryphes Hyperborei : quos in 
 speciem pinnatae alitis, general mundus alter. Hanc Olympiadem stolam 
 sacrati nuncupant." 
 
 * Astyages wore a purple coat and rich habit, necklaces around his neck, 
 and bracelets on his arms. Being pleased with the replies of Cyrus, his 
 grandson, when first introduced to him, he presented him with similar 
 articles of dress. (Xenophon, Cyrop. lib. i. c. 3.) The golden ear-rings, 
 peculiar to the Ishmaelites, the ornaments, collars, and purple raiment 
 of the kings of Midian, are mentioned in Judges, viii. 26. The de- 
 scription given by Quintus Curtius (lib. iii. c. 3.) of the dress of Darius, 
 of his embroidered robes, golden girdle, and sword adorned with jewels, 
 agrees well with the sculptured representation of the Assyrian king. 
 *' Cultus regis inter omnia luxuria notabatur : purpureaj tunicas medium 
 albo intextum erat : pallam auro distinctam aurei accipitres, velut rostris 
 inter se corruerent, adornabant, et zona aurea muliebriter cinctus acinacein 
 suspenderat, cui ex gemma erat vagina. Cidarim Persae regium capitis 
 vocabant insigne ; hoc cserulea fascia albo distincta circumilat." 
 
 t See page 298.
 
 CHAP. IV.] ARMS. 323 
 
 taste and skill. The king, even in time of peace, 
 appears always to have carried a sword and two 
 daggers. He is sometimes represented leaning, 
 during the celebration of religious ceremonies, upon 
 a bow, and holding two arrows in one hand. When 
 returning from war, he also frequently raises the two 
 arrows; and this action appears to indicate triumph 
 over his enemies. When not engaged in battle, he is 
 usually portrayed at Khorsabad, and sometimes at 
 Nimroud, with a long staff or wand in his right hand, 
 the other resting on the hilt of his sword. 
 
 The king appears to have thrown off the outer 
 robe during the chase, and in battle ; the under 
 garment was then confined at the waist by a broad 
 girdle. A small apron, or square piece of linen, 
 fell down one side of the dress over the loins, and 
 was probably attached to the girdle ; it was richly 
 embroidered, and edged with fringes and tassels. 
 When in battle his arms were the bow and the sword ; 
 in the sculptures he is seen using both. In a bas- 
 relief of the later period, discovered at Nimroud, 
 he is standing over a prostrate captive with a spear 
 in his hand ; but in no other instance, as far as I 
 am aware, has he been found with that weapon. 
 
 The sandals worn by the king, and by his prin- 
 cipal officers, were formed of a sole either of wood 
 or thick leather ; to which was attached an upper 
 case covering the heel and side of the foot, but leav- 
 ing exposed the instep and toes. It was fastened by 
 bands attached to loops, and carried twice over the 
 instep. They crossed on the top of the foot, and 
 
 T 2
 
 324 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. IV. 
 
 were passed round the great toe, and between it and 
 the adjoining toe. In the sculptures, a red colour 
 could generally be traced on the heel; the body of 
 the sandal was painted black, and edged with red ; 
 the bands were black. 
 
 A SANDAL. (N.W. Palace, Nimroud.) 
 
 The sandal represented at Khorsabad, and in sculp- 
 tures of the same period, is altogether of a different 
 shape. It appears to have consisted of a simple lea- 
 ther covering for the heel, held by three strings 
 passing over the instep. It was painted in the bas- 
 reliefs, in alternate stripes of red and blue.* 
 
 A SANDAL. (Khoraabad.) 
 
 The attendants upon the king, both in time of 
 peace and war, were chiefly eunuchs ; and that these 
 
 * The sandals of the enemies of the Assyrians, differ from those of the 
 Assyrians themselves. Sometimes a simple band, probably attached to 
 a sole, passes over the instep and round the heel. Other sandals appear 
 to resemble shoes, with a sole and upper rim united by cross-bars, between 
 vrhich the foot was left exposed. (Sec lithograph facing p. 336. Vol. I.)
 
 CHAP. IV.] THE EUNUCHS. 325 
 
 persons rose to the highest rank, and were not mere 
 servants, we learn from the Rabsaris, or chief of the 
 eunuchs, being mentioned amongst the principal offi- 
 cers of Sennacherib.* In the sculptures eunuchs are 
 represented as commanding in war f ; fighting both 
 in chariots and on horseback ; and receiving the pri- 
 soners, and the heads of the slain after battle. They 
 were also employed as scribes, and are seen writing 
 down the number of the heads, and the amount of the 
 spoil, obtained from the enemy. They were even 
 accustomed to officiate in religious ceremonies. J 
 They appear, indeed, to have occupied the same im- 
 portant posts, and to have exercised the same in- 
 fluence in the Assyrian court, as they have since 
 done in the East; where they have not only con- 
 tinually filled the highest offices of state, but have 
 even attained to sovereign power. It is to Assyria 
 that tradition assigns the origin of the barbarous 
 practice of mutilation, and it is upon a female that 
 the odium of its introduction rests. || 
 
 * 2 Kings, xviii. 17., and of Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah, xxxix. 3. In 
 Daniel, i. 3. we have mention of the prince of the eunuchs. So many 
 of the principal offices about the court were held by these persons, that 
 their name came at last to be confounded with that of the great officers 
 of state (compare 1 Samuel, viii. 15., 1 Kings, xxii. 9., and 2 Kings, 
 xxiv. 12.), and chamberlains and courtiers (2 Kings, ix. 32.). Potiphar 
 is called a " saris" or eunuch. That eunuchs were also an object of trade, 
 and were brought, as at this day, from the centre of Africa, we learn 
 from Jeremiah, xxxviii. 7. 
 
 f An eunuch set over the men of war is mentioned in 2 Kings, xxv. 19. 
 
 J See woodcuts in Chapter VII. 
 
 As Agha Mohammed Khan of Persia. 
 
 || Marcellinus, 1. xiv. c. 6., and Claudian in Eutrop. 1. 5. v. 339. et seq. 
 
 "Seu prima Semiramis astu 
 Assyriis mentita virurn, ne vocis aeutiu 
 r 3
 
 326 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 The countenance of the eunuchs is strongly con- 
 trasted in the sculptures with that of the man ; and 
 the rounded form, the bloated cheek, and double 
 beardless chin, at once mark them, and distinguish 
 them from females. Their dress consisted of a long 
 tunic descending to the ankles, resembling the 
 king's in shape, and in the richness and elegance 
 of its embroideries. It was confined at the waist 
 by a girdle edged with fringes ; and a band, similarly 
 adorned, passed over the shoulders. They wore no 
 upper robe like that of the king. Their ear-rings, 
 armlets, bracelets, and necklaces were similar in 
 form to those of the monarch. In battle they were 
 armed with the bow ; and in peace, as well as in war, 
 generally carried a sword and daggers. When re- 
 presented as attending upon the king, they usually 
 bear a quiver, bow, and mace; all probably for his 
 use. At other times they raise a parasol or fan over 
 his head, or present him with the sacred cup ; on 
 which occasion they are frequently unarmed.* 
 
 The umbrella or parasol, that emblem of royalty 
 so universally adopted by Eastern nations, was gene- 
 rally carried over the king in time of peace, and 
 sometimes even in war. In shape it resembled, very 
 closely, those now in common use ; but it is always 
 
 Mollities, levesve genae se prodere possent, 
 Hos sibi conjunxit similes ; seu Farthica ferro 
 Luxuries nasci vetuit lanuginis urabram ; 
 Servatosque diu puerili flore, cocgit 
 Arte retardatam Veneri servire juventani." 
 
 * The cup-bearer appears to have been one of the principal officers 
 in the Assyrian court. See 2 Kings, xviii., where the Rab shukeh, or 
 chief of the cup-bearers, is sent to induce the Jews to surrender.
 
 CHAP. IV.] THE UMBRELLA. 327 
 
 seen open in the sculptures. It was edged with 
 tassels, and was usually ornamented at the top by a 
 flower or some other ornament. On the later bas- 
 reliefs, a long piece of embroidered linen or silk, fall- 
 ing from one side like a curtain, appears to skreen 
 the king completely from the sun. The parasol was 
 reserved exclusively for the monarch, and is never 
 represented as borne over any other person. 
 
 The vizir or prime minister, the principal officers 
 and attendants of the king, were clothed in robes 
 resembling those of the eunuchs. They were armed 
 with swords and daggers, and also wore necklaces, 
 bracelets, and ear-rings. A fillet or band, either 
 plain or richly ornamented, frequently confined their 
 hair, and encircled their temples. The eunuch is 
 occasionally represented with this head-dress. The 
 ends of this band were allowed to fall down the back. 
 
 The Assyrians paid particular attention to the 
 adorning of their persons. Besides wearing the nu- 
 merous ornaments described, they most carefully and 
 elaborately platted their hair and beards. The hair 
 was parted over the forehead, and fell from behind 
 the ears on the shoulders, in a large bunch of 
 ringlets. The beard was allowed to grow to its 
 full length ; and, descending low on the breast, was 
 divided into two or three rows of curls. The mus- 
 tache was also carefully trimmed, and curled at the 
 ends. The hair, as well as the beard, appears to 
 have been dyed, as is still the custom in Persia ; but 
 it has been doubted whether the hair, represented in 
 the sculptures, was natural or artificial. The Egyp- 
 
 T 4
 
 328 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 tians were accustomed to wear large wigs, elaborately 
 platted and adorned ; and even false beards were not 
 unknown. The Persians, also, at a later period, 
 adopted this artificial coiffure * ; but we have no 
 evidence of its having been in use in Assyria. On 
 the contrary, according to Herodotus, the Baby- 
 lonians wore their hair long.f The great regularity 
 of the curls in the sculptures, would certainly lead to 
 the impression that part of the hair, at least, was 
 false ; but we can scarcely suppose that the warriors, 
 as well as the king, and all the principal officers of 
 state, wore false beards : the sculptured beards being 
 equally elaborate and studied in the arrangement. 
 The treatment, however, of the hair in the bas-reliefs 
 may be purely conventional. Most Eastern people 
 have been celebrated for the length, and beauty of 
 their hair ; and if the Assyrians were as well provided 
 with it, as the inhabitants of Persia were, in the days 
 of Darius, or as they now are, they would have had 
 little occasion for a wig. 
 
 The eyebrows were dyed black. Some substance 
 resembling the kohl, or surma, used in the East to 
 blacken the lids, and to give additional lustre to the 
 eyes, was also employed ; and we may conjecture that 
 the complexion was improved, and colour added to 
 the cheek, by paints and cosmetics. On the sculp- 
 tures, traces of thick black and white pigments are 
 always visible on the eyes, eyebrows, and hair ; and 
 these parts of the bas-reliefs appear to have been 
 more carefully painted than any others. 
 
 * Xenophon, lil>. i. e. 3. f Lib. i. c. 195.
 
 CHAP. IV.] HISTORY OF PARSONDES. 329 
 
 Nicolaus of Damascus has preserved so faithful, 
 and entertaining an account of the manners of the 
 Babylonians, that I cannot resist the temptation of 
 cjuoting it, as illustrative of the Assyrian sculptures 
 in many respects. From whence this author obtained 
 the following anecdote, it would now probably be 
 impossible to ascertain ; although it is evident, from its 
 curious and accurate details, that it was borrowed from 
 some ancient writer, who had himself witnessed the 
 customs and fashions which he describes. The story 
 is thus related : "In the reign of ArtaBus, the king 
 of the Medes, and one of the successors of Sardana- 
 palus, the king of the Assyrians, there was amongst 
 the Medes one Parsondes, a man renowned for his 
 courage and strength, and greatly esteemed by the 
 king on account of his good sense and the beauty of 
 his person. He particularly excelled in the chase 
 and in battle, whether he fought on foot, from his 
 chariot, or on horseback. Now this Parsondes ob- 
 served that Nanarus (the governor or tributary king) 
 of Babylon, was very careful in his personal attire, 
 and wore ear-rings, and shaved himself carefully, and 
 was effeminate and unwarlike, and he disliked him 
 exceedingly ; so he asked Arta3us, the king, to deprive 
 Nanarus of his government, and to bestow it on him- 
 self. But Artaeus, having bound himself by the 
 compact entered into by Arbaces, was loth to act 
 unjustly towards the Babylonian, and gave no answer 
 to Parsondes. The matter, however, reached the ears 
 of Nanarus, who promised great rewards to any one 
 of his sutlers who would catch his enemy. 
 
 " It happened one day that Parsondes, when hunt-
 
 330 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 ing, went far from the king to a plain near Babylon. 
 Sending his servants into a neighbouring wood, that 
 they might drive cut, by their shoutings, the wild 
 beasts, he remained outside to take the game. Whilst 
 chasing a wild ass he separated himself from his 
 attendants, and came to a part of the Babylonian 
 territories, where the sutlers were preparing markets 
 for Nanarus. Being thirsty, he asked of them to 
 drink ; and they, delighted to have this opportunity 
 of seizing him, gave him that which he required, 
 took his horse, and bade him refresh himself. They 
 then placed a sumptuous feast before him, served him 
 with very sweet wine mixed with a certain intoxica- 
 ting drug, and brought beautiful women to keep 
 him company ; so that, at length, overcome by the 
 wine, he fell fast asleep. The sutlers then took him, 
 and brought him bound to Nanarus. 
 
 " When Parsoiides had recovered from the effects 
 of the wine, Nanarus upbraided him for his conduct. 
 
 * Why,' said he, * did you, who have never suffered 
 any wrong at my hands, call me a man-woman 
 (androgyne), and ask my government of Arteeus, as 
 if I were of no account, although of noble birth ? 
 Many thanks to him that he did not grant your re- 
 quest.' Parsondes, nothing abashed, replied, ' Because 
 I thought myself more worthy of the honour ; for I 
 am more manly, and more useful to the king than 
 you, who are shaven, and have your eyes underlined 
 with stibium, and your face painted with white lead.' 
 
 * Are you not ashamed, then,' said Nanarus, ' being 
 such as you describe yourself to be, to have been
 
 CHAP. IV.] HISTORY OF PARSONDES. 331 
 
 so overcome by your stomach and passions, that 
 you should have fallen into the hands of one so 
 greatly inferior to yourself ? But I will quickly make 
 you softer and fairer than any woman.' And he 
 swore by Belus and by Mylitta for such is the 
 name which the Babylonians give to their Yenus ; 
 then, beckoning to an eunuch, ' Lead off,' cried he, 
 * this fellow. Shave, and rub with a pumice-stone, the 
 whole of his body except his head. Bathe him twice 
 a-day, and anoint him. Let him underline his eyes, 
 and plait his hair as women do. Let him learn to 
 sing and to play on the harp, and to accompany it 
 with his voice, that he may be amongst the female 
 musicians, with whom he shall pass his time, having a 
 smooth skin, and wearing the same garments as they 
 do.' The eunuch did as he was commanded, and kept 
 Parsondes in the shade, washing him twice every 
 day, and polishing him with a pumice-stone, and 
 making him pass his time in the same way as the 
 women, so that he became very shortly fair, tender, 
 and woman-like, singing and playing even better than 
 any of the female musicians. 
 
 " The king, Artasus, having offered a reward, and 
 searched in vain for his favourite, at last concluded 
 that he had been devoured by wild beasts whilst 
 hunting. 
 
 " Parsondes, having passed seven years in this mode 
 of life at Babylon, induced an eunuch, who had been 
 severely flogged and insultingly treated by Nanarus, 
 to run away and inform Artaeus of what had hap- 
 pened to him. Artceus immediately sent an envoy
 
 332 NINEVEH AXD ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 to demand the liberation of his former favourite. 
 But Nanarus, frightened, declared that he had never 
 seen Parsondes since he had disappeared. Artseus, 
 however, sent a second ambassador, much greater in 
 rank and more powerful than the previous one, and 
 threatened, by letter, to put to death the Babylonian, 
 unless he delivered up his captive. Nanarus, being 
 now greatly alarmed, promised to give up the man, 
 and moreover apologised to the ambassador, de- 
 claring, that he was sure the king would see that he 
 had justly treated one, who had endeavoured to ruin 
 him in the king's favour. He then entertained 
 the ambassador with a great feast, during which 
 entered, to the number of one hundred and fifty, 
 the female players, amongst whom was Parsondes. 
 Some sang, and others played on the flute ; but 
 the Mede excelled them all both in skill and beauty, 
 so that when the feast was over, and Nanarus asked 
 the ambassador which of the women he thought 
 superior to the rest in beauty and accomplishments, 
 he pointed without hesitation to Parsondes. Nanarus, 
 clapping his hands, laughed a long time, and then 
 said, ' Do you wish to take her with you ? ' * Cer- 
 tainly,' replied the ambassador. ' But I will not give 
 her to you,' said Nanarus. ' Why, then, did you ask 
 me ?' exclaimed the other. ' This,' said Nanarus, after 
 a little hesitation, ' is Parsondes, for whom you have 
 come.' And the ambassador disbelieving him, he 
 swore to the truth of what he had said. 
 
 " On the following day the Babylonian placed Par- 
 sondes in a waggon, and sent him away with the
 
 CHAP. IV.] HISTORY OF PARSONDES. 333 
 
 ambassador to Artams, who was at Susa. But the 
 king did not recognise him, and was a long time 
 before he would believe that so valiant a man could 
 become a woman. 
 
 " Parsondes exacted a promise from Artasus, that 
 he would revenge him upon Nanarus. And when 
 the king came to Babylon, he gave Nanarus ten days 
 to do what was right ; but the Babylonian, alarmed, 
 fled to Mitraphernes, the chief of the eunuchs, and 
 promised him for himself ten talents of gold, and ten 
 gold cups, and two hundred of silver, and one hun- 
 dred talents of silver money, and several suits of 
 clothes ; and for the king, one hundred talents of 
 gold, and a hundred gold cups, and three hundred 
 of silver, and one thousand talents of silver money, 
 and numerous dresses and other fine gifts, if he 
 would save his life and keep him in the government 
 of Babylon. The eunuch, who was held in great 
 estimation by the king, succeeded ; but Parsondes 
 waited his opportunity, and afterwards, finding an 
 occasion, took his revenge both on Nanarus and the 
 eunuch." * 
 
 There are many customs mentioned in this nar- 
 
 * Fragments of Nicolaus of Damascus, in the Prodromes Hellenikes 
 Bibliothekes, 8vo. Paris, 1805, p. 229. I am indebted to Mr. Birch for 
 this free version of the anecdote. That the effeminate customs described 
 by Nicolaus .existed amongst the kings and nobles of the Assyrian en.- 
 pire, is confirmed by all the ancient historians. Sardanapalus, according 
 to Athenseus, when first seen by Arbaces, was adorned and dressed like 
 a woman, his chin was shaved, and his skin was rubbed smooth with the 
 pumice-stone. His flesh was as white as milk, and his eyes and eyebrows 
 were painted black. (Athen. lib. xii.) Astyages, too, according to Xeno- 
 phon (Cyrop. lib. i. c. 3.), had his eyes and face painted, and wore false 
 hair.
 
 334 NINEVEH AND ITS EEMAINS. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 rative which, it is evident, from the sculptures of 
 Nimroud, existed amongst the Assyrians, such as those 
 of painting the eyes and face, and platting the hair. 
 The anecdote, too, is quite in accordance with Eastern 
 manners ; and if there be any truth in it, we may 
 conclude that, in their mode of transacting public 
 business, as well as in their domestic life, the Assy- 
 rians did not differ greatly from the Persians and 
 Turks of modern times. We have the eunuch holding 
 the highest offices of the state, and possessing great 
 influence over the monarch. Through him political 
 intrigues were carried on, and he was as disposed to 
 accept a bribe, both on his own account and on that 
 of his master, as those who still hold the same posi- 
 tion in Eastern courts. It was through the influence 
 of the chief eunuch, that Arbaces succeeded in seeing 
 Sardanapalus, and being a witness to that effeminacy 
 of dress and manner, which encouraged the Mede to 
 rebel against the Assyrians.* 
 
 When in the presence of the king, the eunuch and 
 principal officers of state, were in the highest degree 
 respectful in their demeanour. They stood before him 
 with their hands crossed in front an attitude still 
 assumed in the East, by an inferior in the presence 
 of his master. It is interesting thus to trace the 
 observance of the same customs, during so many 
 centuries, f The vizir is also frequently represented 
 elevating his right hand an action apparently de- 
 
 * Athenacus, lib. xii. 
 
 t We find (Tobit, i. 22.) that, even in the days of Esarhaddon, a 
 Jew was the principal banker, steward, and keeper of the accounts of the 
 palace ; as he is still in the East, where not outwitted by the Armenian.
 
 CHAP. IV.] RESPECT FOR ROYALTY. 335 
 
 noting an oatli or homage. Dependants are seen in 
 the same posture, on monuments of the Acha3menian, 
 and Sassanian dynasties. 
 
 We know from the story of Esther, how sacred the 
 person of the king was considered, it being death 
 for even the queen to venture before him unbidden.* 
 Deioces permitted no one to see him, except certain 
 privileged persons ; and it was unlawful for any one 
 to laugh or spit in his presence, f 
 
 The costume of the warriors differed according to 
 their rank and the nature of the service they had 
 to perform. J Those who fought in chariots, and held 
 the shield for the defence of the king, are generally 
 seen in coats of scale armour, which descend either 
 to the knees or to the ankles. A large number of 
 the scales were discovered in the earliest palace of 
 Nimroud. They were generally of iron, slightly 
 embossed or raised in the centre ; and some were 
 inlaid with copper. They were probably fastened 
 to a shirt of felt, or coarse linen. || Such is the 
 
 * Esther, iv. 11. 
 
 f Herod, lib. i. ch. 99. So the passage must be understood, for it says 
 that no man was admitted into the king's presence; and yet he was 
 consulted through messengers, who, we must presume, were forbidden to 
 laugh and spit before him. 
 
 J Jeremiah thus describes the dresses of the warriors. " Order ye the 
 buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. Harness the horses ; and 
 get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets ; furbish the 
 spears, and put on the brigandines (or coats of mail)." (Ch. xlvi. v. 3, 4.) 
 
 In chamber I, plan 3, where also the helmets and various other iron 
 and copper fragments were found. Some interesting scale armour, in- 
 scribed with the name of Shishak I., is in the collection of Dr. Abbot at 
 Cairo. (Prisse Monum.) 
 
 || The plates of steel, resembling the scales of fishes, are described 
 by Herodotus as worn by the Persian warriors. (Lib. vii. c. 61.)
 
 336 NINEVEH AND ITS KEMAIXS. [CuAP. IV. 
 
 armour always represented in the most ancient sculp- 
 tures. At a later period other kinds were used ; the 
 scales were larger, and appear to have been fastened 
 to bands of iron or copper. The armour was fre- 
 quently embossed with groups of figures, and fanciful 
 ornaments ; but there is no reason to believe, that the 
 rich designs on the breasts of the kings were on metal.* 
 
 The warriors were frequently dressed in an em- 
 broidered tunic, which was probably made of felt or 
 leather, sufficiently thick to resist the weapons then 
 in use. On the sculptures of Kouyunjik they are 
 generally seen in this attire. Their arms were bare 
 from above the elbow, and their legs from the knees 
 downwards, except when they wore shirts of mail 
 which descended to the ankles. They had sandals 
 on their feet. The warriors on the later Assyrian 
 monuments, particularly on those of Khorsabad, are 
 distinguished by a peculiar ornament, somewhat re- 
 sembling the Highland phillibeg. It appears to be 
 fastened to the girdle, and falls below the short tunic. 
 
 In the sculptures of Kouyunjik and of monuments 
 of the same period, the dress of the soldiers appears 
 to vary, according to the manner in which they 
 are armed. Those with spear and shield wear 
 pointed or crested helmets, and plain or embroidered 
 tunics, confined at the waist by a broad girdle. A 
 
 * They may have been the " linen cuirasses " mentioned by Herodotus 
 (lib. vii. c. 63.) as worn by the Assyrians in the army of Xerxes. 
 M. Lajard has published in his work on the worship of Mithra (plate 
 47.) a piece of armour similar in shape to that found at Nimroud, and 
 which has every appearance of being Assyrian. It is embossed with 
 groups of figures and Assyrian symbols.
 
 CHAP. IV.] DRESSES OF THE WARRIORS. 
 
 337 
 
 A *** 
 
 kind of cross-belt passes over the shoulders, and 
 
 is ornamented in the centre 
 
 of the breast by a circular disk, 
 
 probably of metal. The slingers 
 
 are attired in the embroidered 
 
 tunic, which I conjecture to be 
 
 of felt or leather ; and wear a 
 
 pointed helmet, with metal lap- 
 
 pets falling over the ears. Both 
 
 the spearmen and slingers have 
 
 greaves, which appear to have 
 
 been laced in front. * 
 
 The archers are dressed in 
 very short embroidered tunics, 
 which scarcely cover half the 
 thigh, the rest of the leg being left completely bare. 
 They are chiefly distinguished from 
 other warriors by the absence of the hel- 
 met. A simple band round the temples 
 confines the hair, which is drawn up in 
 a bunch behind. 
 
 It is probable that these various cos- 
 tumes indicate people of different coun- 
 tries, auxiliaries in the Assyrian armies, 
 who used the weapons most familiar to 
 them, and formed different corps or divisions, f 
 
 * They were perhaps of leather, or, like the boots of the Boeotians, of 
 wood, or even of brass, as the greaves of Goliah. (1 Samuel, xvii. 6.) 
 The whole of the giant's armour, his helmet, his coat of mail, and hia 
 shield, were of the same metal. 
 
 [ According to Diodorus Siculus (1. ii.) it was customary for the nations 
 tributary to the Assyrians to send, yearly, bodies of troops to serve either 
 
 VOL. II. Z 
 
 O reave or Gaiter 
 
 s-orn by Warriors. 
 
 (iLhorsabad.)
 
 338 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. IV. 
 
 Thus in the army of Xerxes, were 
 marshalled men of many nations ; 
 each armed according to the fashion 
 of his country, and fighting in 
 his own peculiar way. We may, 
 perhaps, trace in the Assyrian 
 sculptures, several of the costumes 
 described by the Greek historian, 
 as worn by those who formed the 
 vast army of the Persian king. 
 
 In the shape of their helmets 
 the Assyrians displayed consider- 
 able taste. We trace in them, indeed, many well- 
 known forms afterwards adopted by the Greeks.* 
 
 N ARCHER. (Xouyuujik.) 
 
 HELMETS. (Centre Palace, Nimroud.) 
 
 The pointed helmet in the bas-reliefs, from the 
 earliest palace of Nimroud, appears to have been the 
 
 in war, or as garrisons. They were encamped outside the gates of 
 Nineveh. The Assyrian king had thus, always a considerable standing 
 army at his disposal. 
 
 * The invention of the crested helmet, as well as of the ornamented 
 shield, is attributed by Herodotus (lib. i. c. 171.) to the Carians, but it is 
 more probable that they received both indirectly from the Assyrians.
 
 CHAP. IV.] DRESSES OF THE HELMETS. 339 
 
 most ancient, and in the most general use ; it is, 
 indeed, characteristic of the Assyrian warrior. Several 
 were discovered in the ruins : they were of iron ; and 
 the rings which ornament the lower part, and end in 
 a semicircle in front, were inlaid with copper.* 
 
 These pointed helmets were sometimes furnished 
 with lappets or flaps covered with metal scales, con- 
 cealing the ears, the back of the head, the chin, and 
 the neck, and falling over the shoulders ; the whole 
 head-dress having then very much the appearance 
 of the early Norman casque. At a later period, a 
 metal lappet merely protected the ears and side of 
 the face, and was attached to the outer rim of the 
 helmet, f 
 
 Circular iron caps, fitting closely to the head, were 
 also in use at an early period. The 
 horseman who leads the horse of the 
 warrior, in a bas-relief from the most 
 ancient palace at Nimroud J, is repre- 0JZ 
 sented with this head-dress ; and in 
 a sculpture from the centre ruins, it CIRCULAR HELMET 
 
 . i -1 (Centre Palace. Nimroud.) 
 
 is worn by archers. 
 
 The helmets of the later monuments of Nimroud, 
 and of those of Khorsabad and Kouyunjik, are fre- 
 quently surmounted by a curved crest, or by a kind 
 of plume. They show considerable variety, and 
 even elegance, in their forms. The simple curved 
 crest, resembling that of the Greek helmet, appears, 
 
 * Herodotus says that the Assyrian helmets were of brass. Loc, cit. 
 f See woodcuts on opposite page, and on page 337. 
 J See woodcut, page 357.
 
 340 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 from the sculptures, to have been peculiar to some 
 nation conquered by the Assyrians ; but fragments of 
 
 Assyrian Warriors fighting with the Enemy. An Eagle is carrying away the Entrails 
 of the Slain. (Centre Pa'.ace, Nimroud.) 
 
 helmets of this shape were found, in the excavations, 
 in the same chamber as the pointed casques. 
 
 The conical helmet of the Assyrians, appears to 
 have been worn even to the latest period. It has 
 been conjectured that this head-dress connects them 
 with the Scythians, who, according to Herodotus, 
 had high-pointed caps.* In the rock- sculptures of 
 
 * The Sacae, who are a Scythian nation, had caps which terminated in 
 a point, and wore loose trowsers. (Lib. vii. c. 64.) The latter article of 
 dress is certainly not represented in the Assyrian sculptures.
 
 CHAP. IV.] ARMS OF THE ASSYRIANS. 341 
 
 Bisutun, the Scythian prisoner is represented with a 
 lofty conical head-dress ; which differs, however, in 
 shape from the Assyrian helmet. It is slightly curved 
 at the top, and was probably, therefore, made of felt, 
 or some pliable material, and not of metal ; and this 
 may also be inferred from the expression of Hero- 
 dotus, " that the caps, although corning to a point, 
 stood erect." 
 
 The arms of the early Assyrians were the spear, 
 the bow, the sword, and the dagger.* The sling is 
 not represented in the most ancient monuments as 
 an Assyrian weapon, although used by a conquered 
 nation : it was, perhaps, introduced at a later period. 
 The bows were of two kinds ; one long and slightly 
 curved, the other short and almost angular : the two 
 appear to have been carried at the same time, by 
 those who fought in chariots. 
 
 The arrows were probably made of reeds, and were 
 kept in a quiver slung over the back. The king, 
 however, and the great officers of state, were followed 
 by attendants, who carried the quivers, and supplied 
 their masters with arrows. The bow was drawn to 
 the cheek, or to the ear, as by the Saxons, and not to 
 the breast, after the fashion of the Greeks. The 
 barbs were of iron and copper, several of both mate- 
 rials "having been found in the ruins. When in battle, 
 it was customary for the archer to hold two arrows 
 in reserve, in his right hand ; they were placed be- 
 tween the fingers, and did not interfere with the 
 
 * The Assyrians in the army of Xerxes carried shields, spears, daggers, 
 and wooden clu'>s knotted with iron. (Herod, loc. tit.) 
 
 z 3
 
 342 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 motion of the arm, whilst drawing the bow. When 
 marching he usually carried the larger bow over his 
 shoulders, having first passed his head through it. 
 The bow of the king was borne by an attendant. The 
 smaller bows were frequently placed in the quiver, 
 particularly by those who fought in chariots. A 
 leather, or linen, guard was fastened by straps to the 
 inside of the left arm, to protect it when the arrow 
 was discharged. The swords were worn on the left 
 side, and suspended by belts passing over the 
 shoulders, or round the middle ; some were short and 
 others long. I have already alluded to the beauty of 
 the ornaments on the hilt and sheath. 
 
 The dagger appears to have been carried by all, 
 both in time of peace and war ; even the priests and 
 divinities are represented with them.* They were 
 worn indifferently on the left and right side, or per- 
 haps on both at the same time. Generally two, or 
 sometimes three, were inserted into one sheath, 
 which was passed through the girdle. The handles, 
 as I have already mentioned, were most elaborately 
 adorned, and were frequently in the shape of the 
 head of a ram, bull, or horse, being made of ivory or 
 rare stones.f A small chain was sometimes fastened 
 
 * This is still the custom in Persia. In that country no dress, except 
 that of persons specially devoted to religious duties, is complete without 
 a dagger with a jewelled or ivory handle. The dagger was probably used 
 by the Assyrians not only as a weapon, but, like the fia\uipa of the 
 Greeks, for carving the dinner. Cf. .(Elian, ii. 17., for the story of Ochus, 
 who was watched by the magi when he ate his first dinner, and his cutting 
 a loaf and laying a slice of meat on it. 
 
 f Several dagger-handles of ivory, carved in the shape of the fore- 
 part of bulls, and other animals, were found in the tomb of an ivory- 
 worker at Memphis.
 
 CHAP. IV.] ARMS OF THE ASSYRIANS. 343 
 
 to the hilt, or to the sheath, probably to retain it in 
 its place.* A dagger, resembling in form those of the 
 sculptures, was found amongst the ruins of Nirnroud : 
 it is of copper. The handle is hollowed, either to 
 receive precious stones, ivory, or enamel. 
 
 The spear of the Assyrian footman was short, 
 scarcely exceeding the height of a man ; that of the 
 horseman appears to have been considerably longer. 
 The iron head of a spear from Nimroud, has been 
 placed in the British Museum. The shaft was pro- 
 bably of some strong wood ; and did not consist of a 
 reed, like that of the modern Arab lance. The large 
 club pointed with iron, mentioned by Herodotus 
 amongst the weapons carried by the Assyrians, is not 
 represented in the sculptures ; unless, indeed, the 
 description of the historian applies to the mace, a 
 weapon in very general use amongst them, and fre- 
 quently seen in the bas-reliefs. This weapon con- 
 sisted of a short handle, probably of wood, to which 
 was fixed a head, evidently of metal, in the shape of 
 a flower, rosette, lion, or bull. To the end of the 
 handle was attached a thong, apparently of leather, 
 through which the hand was passed. I have not found 
 any representation of warriors using the hatchet, ex- 
 cept when cutting down trees, to clear the country 
 preparatory to a siege. It is, however, generally 
 seen amongst the weapons of those who fought in 
 chariots, and was carried in the quiver, with the 
 arrows and short angular bow. f 
 
 In the bas-reliefs of Kouyunjik, slingers are fre- 
 
 * See woodcut, page 299. f See woodcut facing p. 350. 
 
 z 4
 
 344 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. IV. 
 
 quently represented amongst the 
 Assyrian troops. The sling ap- 
 pears to have consisted of a 
 doubled rope, with a thong, 
 probably of leather, to receive 
 the stone ; it was swung round 
 the head. The slinger held a 
 second stone in his left hand, and 
 at his feet is generally seen a 
 heap of pebbles ready for use.* 
 
 The javelin is frequently in- 
 cluded amongst the weapons of 
 the Assyrian charioteers ; but the warriors are not 
 represented as using it in battle. It was carried in 
 the quiver amongst the arrows. 
 
 The shields of the Assyrians were of various forms, 
 and materials. In the more ancient bas-reliefs a 
 circular buckler, either of hide or metal, perhaps 
 in some instances of gold and silver f, is most fre- 
 quently introduced. It was held by a handle fixed 
 to the centre. Light oblong shields of wicker-work, 
 carried in a similar manner, are also found in the 
 early sculptures ; but those of a circular form appear 
 to have been generally used by the charioteers. 
 
 Suspended to the backs of the chariots, and car- 
 
 * That the Persian slingers were exceedingly expert, used very large 
 stones, and could annoy their enemies whilst out of the reach of their 
 darts or arrows, we learn from several passages in Xenophon. (See par- 
 ticularly Anabasis, lib. Hi. c. 3.) 
 
 f King Solomon made three hundred shields of beaten gold ; three 
 pounds of gold to each shield. (1 Kings, x. 17.) The servants of Hadad- 
 ezer, king of Zobah, carried shields of gold. (2 Samuel, viii. 7.) The 
 shield of Goliah was of brass
 
 CHAP. IV.] 
 
 ARMS OF THE ASSYRIANS. 
 
 345 
 
 ried by warriors, are frequently seen shields in the 
 shape of a crescent, narrow, and curved outwards at 
 the extremities. The face is ornamented by a row of 
 angular bosses, or teeth, in the centre of which is the 
 head of a lion. 
 
 In the sculptures of Khorsabad, the round shield 
 is often highly ornamented. It 
 resembles, both in shape and in the 
 devices upon it, the bucklers now 
 carried by the Kurds arid Arabs, 
 which are made of the hide of the 
 hippopotamus. In the bas-reliefs 
 of Kouyunjik, some warriors bear 
 oval shields, very convex, and suf- 
 ficiently large to cover the greater 
 part of the body. The centre 
 and outer rim were decorated 
 with bosses. 
 
 The shield used in a siege con- 
 cealed the whole person of the war- 
 rior, and completely defended him from the arrows of 
 the enemy. It was made either of wicker-work, or 
 of hides. It was furnished at the top with a curved 
 point, or a square projection, like a roof, at right 
 angles to the body of the shield ; which may have 
 served to defend the heads of the combatants against 
 missiles, discharged from the walls and towers of a 
 castle. Such were probably the shields used by the 
 Persian archers at the battle of Platea.* 
 
 * Herod, lib. ix. c. 61. The expression of the Greek historian, that 
 the Persians made a fence of their osier shields, has perplexed the com-
 
 346 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [C HAP. IV. 
 
 The archers, whether on foot or in chariots, were 
 accompanied by shield-bearers, whose office it was to 
 protect them from the shafts of the enemy. Some- 
 times one shield covered two archers. The shield- 
 bearer was usually provided with a sword, which 
 he held ready drawn for defence. The king was 
 always attended in his wars by this officer ; and 
 even in peace, one of his eunuchs usually carried 
 a circular shield for his use.* This shield-bearer 
 was probably a person of rank, as in Egypt. On 
 some monuments of the later Assyrian period, he 
 is represented carrying two shields, one in each 
 hand.f 
 
 Some of the circular bucklers appear to have been 
 made of small pieces of wood or leather, carefully 
 united. J The handles attached to the small circular 
 shields may have been of leather ; but those belong- 
 
 mentators, who conjecture that the archers formed a rampart of bucklers, 
 from behind which they discharged their arrows. But the sculptures of 
 Nimroud, and Kouyunjik, completely illustrate the passage; a shield 
 covering the whole person being held by a second warrior. The shields 
 of the Persians were of osier covered with skins. 
 
 * Teucer, when discharging his arrows against Hector, was protected 
 by the shield of Ajax. 
 
 " And last, young Teucer with his bended bow 
 Secure behind the Telamonian shield, 
 The skilful archer wide surveyed the field." 
 
 Iliad, b. viii. 1. 319. 
 And again 
 
 " Thus Ajax guards his brother in the field, 
 Moves as he moves, and turns the shining shield." 1. 327. 
 
 Goliah had one " bearing his shield, who went before him." (1 Samuel, 
 xvii. 7.) 
 
 f See woodcut, p. 372. 
 j See woodcut, p. 337.
 
 CIIAP. IV.] ASSYRIAN ARMIES. 347 
 
 ing to the larger, which were supported entirely by 
 them, must have been of wood or metal.* 
 
 Standards were carried by the charioteers. In 
 the sculptures they have only two devices; one a 
 figure (probably that of the divinity) standing on a 
 bull and drawing a bow; the other, two bulls run- 
 ning in opposite directions, f These figures are en- 
 closed in a circle, and fixed to the end of a long 
 staff, ornamented with streamers and tassels. The 
 standards seem to have been partly supported by a 
 rest in front of the chariot, and a long rod or rope 
 connected them with the extremity of the pole. In a 
 bas-relief from Khorsabad, this rod is attached to the 
 top of the standard. J 
 
 The Assyrians, like the Egyptians, appear to have 
 had organised and disciplined troops. In the sculp- 
 tures of Kouyunjik, we not only find long lines of 
 warriors on foot, divided into companies, each dis- 
 tinguished by their dress or their arms ; but also 
 horsemen and chariots marshalled in array. In 
 
 * According to Herodotus (lib. i. c. 171.) the Carians invented the 
 handle of the shield ; held before their time by a thong of leather sus- 
 pended from the neck. The bucklers used during the Trojan war had 
 wooden handles. (Iliad, viii. 193.) 
 
 f Mr. Birch suggests that these may resemble the symbols of war and 
 peace, which were attached to the yoke of Darius's chariot. 
 
 J Standards, somewhat similar to those represented in the Assyrian bas- 
 reliefs, were in use in Egypt. Some sacred animal, or emblem, was also 
 generally placed upon them. Standards, and banners, are mentioned on 
 several occasions in the Bible. (Jer. iv. 21.; Song of Solomon, vi. 4.) 
 
 Uzziah " had a host of fighting men, who went out to war by 
 bunds." (2 Chron. xxvi. 11.) Josephus (1. ix. c 10.) describes how 
 these men were divided into companies, and were armed, each man with 
 a sword, shield, breast-plate of brass, bow and sling; the weapons carried 
 by the warriors of the Assyrian sculptures.
 
 348 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. IV. 
 
 one chamber of these ruins, the walls were covered 
 with small figures of armed men, marching in file. 
 In the same edifice were representations of archers 
 defended by shields, and drawn up in line before 
 the walls of a besieged city. In front of them were 
 rows of spearmen, the first rank kneeling, and the 
 second stooping, to enable the archers behind to dis- 
 charge their arrows. The group thus formed bears 
 some resemblance to the phalanx of the Greeks, and 
 to the squares of modern infantry. 
 
 Warriors forming a Phalanx before the Wai. a of a besieged City. (Kouyurtfik.) 
 
 A great part of the strength of the Assyrian armies 
 consisted in chariots and horsemen, to which we have 
 frequent allusion in the inspired writings.* The cha- 
 
 * The chariots and horses of Naharaina (Mesopotamia) are mentioned 
 in an Egyptian monument of the earliest kings of the 18th dynasty : an 
 officer of Thothmes I. " captured for him, in the land of Naharaina, twenly- 
 one hands, a horse, and a chariot." (Birch's Memoir on the Statistical 
 Tablet of Karnak, p. 8.) The Elamites, amongst the tributaries of the 
 Assyrians, were celebrated for their chariots carrying archers. (Isaiah, 
 xxii. 6.) Chariot cities, or cities for the support of warriors fighting
 
 CHAP. IV.] ASSYRIAN CHARIOTS. 349 
 
 riots appear to have been used by the king, and the 
 highest officers of state, who are never seen in battle 
 on horseback ; or, except in sieges, on foot.* They 
 contained, either two, or three persons. The king was 
 always accompanied by two attendants the warrior 
 protecting him with a shield (who was replaced during 
 peace, by the eunuch bearing the parasol), and the 
 charioteer. The principal warriors were also fre- 
 quently attended by their shield-bearer, though some- 
 times the driver alone is with them. 
 
 The chariot was used during a siege, as well as 
 in open battle. The king, and his warriors are fre- 
 quently represented, as fighting with the enemy 
 beneath the walls of a castle; or as having dis- 
 mounted from their cars, to discharge their arrows 
 against the besieged. In the latter case, grooms on 
 foot held the horses. When the king in his chariot 
 formed part of a triumphal procession, armed men 
 led the horses. The chariot was also preceded, and 
 followed by men on foot. 
 
 The Assyrian chariot was probably made of 
 wood.f It appears to have been open behind ; but, 
 
 in chariots, are frequently mentioned in the Bible. (2 Chron. i. 14., and 
 viii. 6.) Solomon had 1400 chariots, the Syrians 700 (2 Samuel, x. 18.), 
 the Philistines 30,000 (1 Samuel, xiii. 5.). 
 
 * Amongst the ancient Indians the king, and men of rank generally, 
 combated in chariots ; very rarely, and only at a latter period, on horseback. 
 In the Assyrian sculptures, only war-chariots have hitherto been dis- 
 covered ; we have no representation of the magnificent carriages which, 
 under the name of armamaxae, were used by the ancient Persians in 
 processions, and for their women. 
 
 f Chariots of iron are mentioned in Judges (i. 1 9. and iv. 3.). The 
 car from the Egyptian tomb, now at Florence, was made of birch-wood 
 and ivory.
 
 350 NINEVEH AND ITS KEMAINS. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 unlike those commonly used by the Egyptians, to 
 have been completely panelled at the sides. It varied 
 considerably in form, at different periods. As repre- 
 sented on the earliest monuments, it is low with the 
 upper part rounded. To each side were fixed, as 
 in Egypt, two quivers, containing arrows, a small 
 crooked bow, a javelin, and a hatchet or battle- 
 axe. The pole was sustained by a forked rod, fast- 
 ened to the forepart of the chariot, which was also 
 connected with the end of the pole by a singular 
 contrivance. Neither the use, nor the material of 
 this part of the chariot, can be determined from the 
 sculptures. Its size precludes the idea of metal, or 
 even of solid wood ; and I can only conjecture that 
 it was a light wooden frame-work, covered with linen 
 or silk, and intended as an ornament. It was elabo- 
 rately painted or embroidered, and was generally 
 divided into three compartments, containing sacred 
 emblems such as the sun, moon, seven stars, and 
 the horned-cap. Although the yoke was for two 
 horses, three were generally harnessed to the chariot.* 
 There is no indication of traces, nor can it be ascer- 
 tained from the sculptures how the third horse was 
 attached. It was probably intended to supply the 
 place of a killed horse, and did not draw.f In a 
 bas-relief representing the passage of a river J, a cha- 
 
 * In tins respect the most ancient Assyrian chariot differed from the 
 Egyptian, to which only two horses were harnessed. 
 
 f As amongst the Greeks in the time of Homer. This third horse 
 was called irapwpof. 
 
 J See woodcut, p. 381.
 
 CHAP. IV.] ASSYRIAN CHARIOTS. 351 
 
 riot is seen in a boat, and consequently without the 
 horses. We can thus judge of the form of the pole 
 and yoke, but not of the precise mode of their use, 
 nor of the material of which they were made. 
 
 The wheels had six spokes, and the felloes con- 
 sisted of four pieces. They appear to have been 
 thicker and more solid, and the whole chariot, indeed, 
 to have been heavier than that of the Egyptians. At 
 the end of the pole, which was curved outwards, was 
 generally the head of a bull, ram, or some other 
 animal, probably, as among the Greeks, in metal. 
 Sometimes a semicircular metal plate or crest, orna- 
 mented with the figure of the winged bull, or with 
 some other religious emblem, was attached to the end 
 of the pole, and rose above the backs of the horses. 
 
 Behind the chariot was suspended a shield, with 
 teeth or bosses like that described ; and a spear was 
 placed upright in a rest, which was usually in the 
 shape of a human head. 
 
 The warriors stood upright in the chariot, which 
 does not seem to have been furnished with seats. 
 
 At a later period the Assyrian chariot * appears 
 to have undergone a considerable change, both in 
 form and size. The large ornamented frame-work, 
 stretching from the forepart to the end of the pole, 
 was replaced by a thin rod, or by a rope or leather 
 thong, knotted in the centre or near one end. The 
 horses were also differently harnessed. The pole ter- 
 minated no longer in the head of an animal, and the 
 
 * See woodcut opposite p. 137.
 
 352 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 yoke, as far as we can judge by the sculptures, was al- 
 together of another shape. The later Assyrian chariot, 
 moreover, like the Egyptian and Persian, was always 
 drawn by two horses, and not by three.* It was 
 also much higher, and larger, than that of the more 
 ancient sculptures, the wheel alone being almost of 
 the height of a man. The upper part was not 
 rounded, but square, with a projection in front, which 
 may have been a case to receive arrows ; as quivers 
 were not attached to the sides as represented in the 
 oldest Nimroud bas-reliefs. The panels of the cha- 
 riot were carved, and adorned with rosettes and 
 tassels. The wheel had eight, and not six, spokes ; 
 and was apparently strengthened by four pieces of 
 metal, which bound the felloes. The whole chariot 
 closely resembled that of the Persepolitan sculptures, 
 and of the great Mosaic from Pompeii in the Museum 
 of Naples, the subject of which is conjectured to be 
 one of the battles between Alexander and Darius. 
 
 The later chariots were often completely covered 
 with ornaments; those represented on the earlier 
 monuments had a very elegant moulding, or border, 
 round the sides. They were probably inlaid with 
 gold, silver, and precious woods, and also painted. f 
 
 * From a passage in Zechariah (vi. 2.) it would appear that the chariot- 
 horses were sometimes paired according to their colours. The chariot 
 of Darius on the cylinders, and on the silver daric, as well as in the 
 Persepolitan sculptures, is drawn by two horses. 
 
 f Such were the chariots obtained by the Egyptians from Naharaina 
 (Mesopotamia), fifteen centuries before Christ. In the Statistical Tablet of 
 Karnak are mentioned " thirty chariots worked with gold and silver, with 
 painted poles," as brought from that country, and chariots similarly 
 adorned with paintings, from the Ruten-nu, a neighbouring people.
 
 ClIAP. IV.] 
 
 HORSE FURNITURE. 
 
 353 
 
 In a bas-relief at Khorsabad, a figure of the king 
 drawing a bow was placed as a device on a chariot 
 panel. 
 
 Chariots armed with scythes are not seen in the 
 Assyrian sculptures, although mentioned by Ctesias 
 as being in the army of Ninus. 
 
 As chariots were in such general use, we may pre- 
 sume that the Assyrians had formed roads, not only 
 over the plains, but through the mountainous pro- 
 vinces of their dominions. Indeed, in the sculptures 
 of Kouyunjik, both chariots and horsemen are seen 
 crossing high mountains. 
 
 The harness and trappings of the horses were 
 
 GROOM LEADING HORSES.* (From a Fragment discovered at Xhorsabad, anj now la 
 tLe British iluseuui.) 
 
 * It must be remarked that these horses may belong, not to the As- 
 syrians, but to a conquered nation. Mr. Birch observes that the people 
 leading them have the same head-dress and garments as the Ruten of a 
 tomb at Thebes. 
 
 VOL. n. 
 
 A A
 
 354 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 extremely rich and elegant. Plumes waved over 
 their heads, or fanciful crests rose gracefully in an 
 arch above the ears, and descended in front to the 
 nostrils. To these ornaments were sometimes ap- 
 pended long ribands or streamers, which floated on 
 the wind. Large tassels of wool or silk, dyed many 
 colours, fell on the forehead, and were attached to 
 many parts of the harness. The bridle generally 
 consisted of a head-stall, a strap divided into three 
 parts connected with the bit, and straps over the 
 forehead, under the cheeks, and behind the ears. All 
 these details were elaborately ornamented. In the 
 earlier sculptures we find the figures of winged bulls, 
 and other symbolical devices, on parts of the head- 
 furniture ; in the later, rosettes are more commonly 
 introduced, frequently producing a very pleasing 
 appearance. 
 
 It is probable that the bit, as well as many orna- 
 ments of the bridle and trappings, were of gold and 
 other precious materials.* 
 
 The bit of the earlier Assyrians was in the form of 
 a double wedge or dovetail, and appears to have acted 
 more like a curb than a snaffle. The rein was at- 
 tached to the centre, and the bit probably worked as 
 a lever. At a later period the form of the bit was 
 altered, and the rein was fastened nearer the end, to 
 add to its power. 
 
 Round the necks of the horses were hung tassels, 
 
 * The horses ridden by Astyages and Cyrus had bridles of gold. 
 Xenoph. Cyrop. lib. i. c. 3. Compare 1 Esdras, iii. 6., where the chariots 
 with bridles of gold of the Persians arc mentioned.
 
 CHAP. IV.] HORSE FURNITURE. 355 
 
 rosettes, and engraved beads. Three straps, richly 
 embroidered, passing under the forepart of the belly, 
 kept the harness and chariot-pole in their places. A 
 breast-band, adorned with tassels, was also supported 
 by these straps. To the yoke was suspended a very 
 elegant ornament, formed by the head of an animal, 
 and a circle, in which was sometimes introduced a 
 winged bull, a star, or some other sacred device. It 
 fell on the shoulder of the animal, and to it were 
 attached three clusters of tassels. 
 
 Embroidered clothes, or trappings, were frequently 
 thrown over the backs of the chariot-horses, and al- 
 most covered the body *, from the ears to the tail. 
 They were kept in their place by straps passing 
 round the breast, the rump, and the belly. 
 
 The chariot-horses of the later Assyrian period 
 differed entirely in their trappings and harness from 
 those of the earlier. High plumes, generally three 
 in number, and rising one above the other, waved 
 over their heads. Frequently an arched crest, and 
 clusters of tassels, were placed between their ears. 
 Similar tassels fell over their foreheads, and hung 
 round their necks. The harness attached to the 
 yoke, was more profusely ornamented with rosettes 
 and fringes, than that of the earlier Assyrian chariots ; 
 but the ornaments showed less variety and taste. 
 
 The manes were either allowed to fall loosely on 
 the neck, were platted, or were cut short and stood 
 erect. In the earlier sculptures, the tails of the 
 
 * " Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots." 
 (Ezekiel, xxvii. 20.) 
 
 A A 2
 
 356 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 horses are simply bound in the centre with ribands ; 
 in the later, the end is platted, as is now the fashion 
 in Persia and Turkey, and tied up in a bunch.* 
 
 Each horse appears to have been guided by two 
 reins, and the charioteer held three in each hand 
 when driving three horses. He also carried a whip, 
 which, like the Egyptian, consisted of a simple thong, 
 attached to a loop at the end of a short handle. In 
 the later Assyrian sculptures this thong is frequently 
 divided into two or three lashes, the handle of the 
 whip terminating in the head of a bull or lion. 
 
 The horsemen formed a no less important part of 
 the Assyrian army than the charioteers.f Horsemen 
 are seen in the most ancient sculptures of NimroudJ; 
 and I have already mentioned, that disciplined bodies 
 of cavalry were represented in the bas-reliefs of 
 Kouyunjik. We learn from the book of Judith that 
 Holofernes had 12,000 archers on horseback. The 
 king himself is never represented on horseback, al- 
 though a horse richly caparisoned, apparently for his 
 use perhaps to enable him to fly, should his chariot- 
 
 * Tliis later fashion appears to have been adopted by the Persians, 
 and is represented in the Persepolitan sculptures. (Sir R. Kerr Porter, 
 PI. 41. 48, 49, and 50.) Compare also the chariot and horses on the darics, 
 and on the early tombs from Xanthus. 
 
 f " Assyrians clothed in blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable 
 young men, horsemen riding upon horses." (Ezekiel, xxiii. 6.) 
 
 J It is singular, as observes Sir Gardner Wilkinson (Ancient Egyp- 
 tians, vol. i. p. 288.), that horsemen are nowhere represented on the 
 monuments of Egypt, although there can be no doubt, from numerous 
 passages in the sacred writings, that cavalry formed an important part of 
 the Egyptian armies. 
 
 Judith, ii. 15. Soloman had 12,000 horsemen. (1 Kings, x. 26.)
 
 CHAP. IV.] 
 
 HORSEMEN. 
 
 357 
 
 horses be killed is frequently seen led by a warrior 
 and following his chariot. 
 
 In the earliest sculptures the horses, except such 
 as are led behind the king's chariot, are unprovided 
 with clothes or saddles. The rider is seated on the 
 naked back of the animal. At a later period, how- 
 ever, a kind of pad appears to have been introduced ; 
 and in a sculpture at Kouyunjik was represented a 
 high saddle not unlike that now in use in the East. 
 
 The horsemen were armed with bows, or with 
 long spears.* They wore short tunics and their legs 
 and feet were bare. When riding without pads or 
 saddles, they sat with their knees almost on a level 
 
 HORSEliEN ONE DRAWING THE BOW, THE OTHER HOLDING THE REINS OF 
 BOTH HORSES. (N.W. Palace, Nimroud.) 
 
 * " The horsemen lifteth up both the bright sword and glittering spear." 
 (Nahuui, iii. 3.) 
 
 A A 3
 
 358 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. IV 
 
 with the horse's back. After the introduction of 
 saddles, their limbs appear to have been more free, 
 and they wore greaves or boots, but were unpro- 
 vided with stirrups. 
 
 When an archer on horseback was in battle, his 
 horse was held and guided by a second horseman, 
 who rode by his side. He was then able to discharge 
 his arrows freely. On the monuments of Khorsabad 
 and Kouyunjik, the cavalry are usually armed with 
 the spear. When using this weapon they did not 
 require a second horseman to hold the reins. 
 
 The riding-horses are less richly and profusely 
 adorned than those in harness, the horsemen being 
 probably of inferior rank to those who fought in 
 chariots. The head-stall was surmounted by an 
 arched crest, and round the neck was an embroidered 
 collar, ending in a rich tassel or bell.* 
 
 HEAD-DRESS OF A RIDING HORSE. 
 
 * See woodcut, p. 28., where a boll appears to be suspended round 
 the neck of a horse. Bells for horses' necks are mentioned in Zechariah, 
 sir. 20.
 
 CIIAP. IV. J HORSES. 359 
 
 The horses of the Assyrians, as far as we can judge 
 from the sculptures, were well formed and apparently 
 of noble blood. It has been doubted whether the 
 breed for which Mesopotamia and the neighbouring 
 deserts of Arabia are now celebrated, existed in the 
 same vast plains at a remote period ; or whether it 
 was introduced shortly before the Mohammedan con- 
 quest. Although we have no mention in the sacred 
 writings of a trade actually carried on in horses with 
 Assyria, as with Egypt, yet it may be inferred from 
 several passages that it did exist.* Horses, it will be 
 remembered, were offered to the Jews, by the general 
 of the Assyrian king, as an acceptable present f; 
 and in the statistical tablet of Karnak they are men- 
 tioned amongst the objects of tribute brought by the 
 people of Naharaina (Mesopotamia) and the neigh- 
 bouring countries to the Egyptians. We may judge, 
 therefore, that the Assyrian horses were celebrated at 
 a very early period. The Egyptians, indeed, appear to 
 have been chiefly indebted to the countries watered by 
 the Tigris and Euphrates for their horses, no repre- 
 sentation of this animal occurring, I believe, on Egyp- 
 
 * 1 Kings, x. 28, 29. 
 
 f 2 Kings, xviii. 23. " Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to 
 my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, 
 if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them." It may be inferred 
 from this passage, that cavalry was not extensively used by the Jews. 
 The horses alluded to in the 3rd verse of the 14th chapter of Hosea, are 
 probably to be taken in connection with Assyria, mentioned in the pre- 
 vious part of the verse. " Asshur shall not save us ; we will not ride upon 
 horses." It is remarkable that there is no mention in the Bible of Arab 
 horses, afterwards so celebrated. The Arabs in the army of Xerxes were 
 mounted on camels, and were placed in the rear, because, says Hero- 
 dotus, the camels frightened the horses (lib. vii. c. 87.). 
 
 A A 4
 
 360 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. IV. 
 
 tian monuments earlier than the eighteenth dynasty.* 
 However that may be, no one can look at the horses 
 of the early Assyrian sculptures without being con- 
 vinced that they were drawn from the finest models. f 
 The head is small and well- shaped, the nostrils large 
 and high, the neck arched, the body long, and the legs 
 slender and sinewy. " Their horses are swifter than the 
 leopards, and more fierce than the evening wolves," 
 exclaims the prophet, of the horses of the Chalda?ans. J 
 That the Assyrians faithfully portrayed animals is 
 shown by the lions, bulls, goats, and stags so fre- 
 quently introduced into their bas-reliefs ; it is highly 
 probable, therefore, that they carefully copied the forms 
 of their horses, and showed the points for which they 
 were most distinguished. It is not unlikely that the 
 plains watered by the Tigris and Euphrates, producing 
 during the winter and spring the richest pasturage, 
 were at the earliest period as celebrated as they are 
 now for the rearing of horses ; particularly when so 
 large a supply must have been required for the, 
 cavalry and chariots of the Assyrian armies. At a 
 later period, indeed, we find the plains of Babylonia 
 furnishing horses to the Persians, both for the private 
 use of the king and for his troops. It may, there- 
 fore, be conjectured that they were of the most 
 noble and celebrated breeds ; for the Persians, being 
 masters of the greater part of Asia and of Egypt, 
 
 * Birch's Statistical Tablet of Karnak, p. 32. 
 
 f The magnificent description of the war-horse in Job (ch. xxxix.), 
 shows that horses of the noblest breed were, at a very early period, not 
 only known in Syria, but used in battle. 
 
 | Habbakuk, i. 8.

 
 CHAP. IV.] HORSES. 361 
 
 could have obtained horses, had they found better, 
 from elsewhere.* According to Herodotus, the stud 
 maintained by the Babylonians for the Persian mon- 
 arch included 800 stallions and 16,000 mares.f It 
 may have been derived by the Persians from those 
 whom they conquered ; and it is not improbable that 
 the Assyrians themselves supplied their cavalry from 
 similar studs kept up near Babylon, or in other 
 parts of the Mesopotamian plains. Amongst the ob- 
 jects of tribute brought by the Ruten-nu to the 
 Egyptians, in the time of Thothmes III., are par- 
 ticularly mentioned brood-mares J ; and this people, 
 it will be shown, are supposed to have inhabited As- 
 syria Proper, or some country immediately adjacent. 
 
 * According to Xenophon (Cyrop. lib. i. c. 3.) it was very difficult to 
 breed horses in Persia Proper; and it was a rare thing to see a horse in the 
 country, which was too mountainous for riding. This must apply only to 
 the most western and northern provinces ; but even this part of Persia 
 now produces a very good horse, probably originally bred from the 
 Turcoman and Arab. The site of the Nisaean plains, so celebrated for 
 their horses, has not yet been satisfactorily determined. Major Rawlinson 
 believes them to have been somewhere in the mountains of Luristan. 
 (Notes on a March through Susiana: Journal of the Geographical 
 Society.) 
 
 f Lib. i. c. 192. 
 
 J Birch's Memoir on the Statistical Tablet of Karnak, p. 44.
 
 362 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 MILITARY SYSTEM OF THE ASSYRIANS. MAGNITUDE OF THEIH 
 ARMIES. THEIR POMP. SIEGES. THE BATTERING-RAM AND 
 
 OTHER ENGINES OF WAR. MODE OF DEFENCE. SCALING THE 
 
 WALLS. SACK OF A CITY. TREATMENT OF THE CAPTIVES 
 
 AND OF THE CITY. KNOWLEDGE OF SHIP-BUILDING. EARLIEST 
 
 VESSELS. LATER VESSELS, AS REPRESENTED AT KIIORSABAD 
 AND KOUYUNJIK. ENEMIES OF THE ASSYRIANS DISTIN- 
 GUISHED BY THEIR DRESS. ARMENIANS AND PARTIIIANS OH 
 
 PERSIANS. CAPTIVES AND TRIBUTE FROM INDIA. THE ARABS. 
 
 THE JEWS. THE BABYLONIANS. THE PH<ENICIANS. NOR- 
 THERN NATIONS. IDENTIFICATION OF ENEMIES OF THE AS- 
 SYRIANS WITH THOSE OF THE EGYPTIANS. 
 
 As the Assyrians possessed disciplined and or- 
 ganised troops, it is probable that they were also 
 acquainted, to a certain extent, with military tactics, 
 and that their battles were fought upon some kind 
 of system. We know that such was the case with 
 the Egyptians ; and their monuments show that 
 amongst their enemies, also, there were nations not 
 unacquainted with the military science. They had 
 bodies of troops in reserve ; they advanced and re- 
 treated in rank, and performed various manoeuvres. 
 Although, in the Assyrian sculptures, we have no 
 attempt at an actual representation of the general 
 plan of a battle, as in some Egyptian bas-reliefs, 
 yet, from the order in which the soldiers are drawn
 
 CHAP. V.] POMP OF THE KINGS 363 
 
 up before the castle walls, and from the phalanx 
 which they then appear to form, it seems highly 
 probable that similar means were adopted to resist 
 the assaults of the enemy in the open field. 
 
 The king himself, attended by his vizir, his eu- 
 nuchs, and principal officers of state, was present in 
 battle, and not only commanded, but took an active 
 part in the affray. Even Sardanapalus, when called 
 upon to place himself at the head of his armies to 
 meet the invading Medes, showed a courage equal 
 to the occasion, and repulsed his enemies. Like the 
 Persian monarchs who succeeded him in the dominion 
 of Asia, the Assyrian king was accompanied to the 
 war, however distant its seat might be, by his wives, 
 his concubines, and his children, and by an enormous 
 retinue of servants. Even his nobles were similarly 
 attended. Their couches were of gold and silver, 
 and the hangings of the richest materials. Vessels 
 of the same precious metals were used at their tables ; 
 their tents were made of the most costly stuffs, and 
 were even adorned with precious stones.* They 
 were also accompanied by musicians, who are repre- 
 
 * The canopy or tent of Holofernes was of purple, gold, and emeralds, 
 and precious stones ; and every man had gold and silver (vessels) out of 
 the king's house. Judith, x. 24. This book contains an interesting ac- 
 count of the luxurious manner of living of the great Assyrian warriors, 
 confirming what has been said in the text, and showing that the Persians 
 were, in this respect, as almost in every other, imitators of the Assyrians. 
 Herodotus (lib. ix. c. 82. and 83.) describes the equipage, furnished with 
 gold and silver, and with various coloured hangings, and the gold and 
 silver couches and tables, found in the tents of Mardonius after the defeat 
 of the Persian army. They had been left by Xerxes when he fled from 
 Greece.
 
 364 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 sented in the sculptures as walking before the war- 
 riors, on their triumphant return from battle. 
 
 The army was followed by a crowd of sutlers, 
 servants, and grooms ; who, whilst adding to its 
 bulk, acted as an impediment upon its movements, 
 and carried ruin and desolation into the countries 
 through which it passed. This multitude could 
 not ever depend entirely for supplies upon the in- 
 habitants, whom they unmercifully pillaged; but 
 provisions in great abundance, as well as live stock, 
 were carried with them. Holofernes, in marching 
 from Nineveh with his army, took with him " camels 
 and asses for their carriage, a very great number, 
 and sheep, and oxen, and goats without number for 
 their provision ; and plenty of victuals for every 
 man." 
 
 Quintus Curtius f thus describes the march of a 
 Persian army: The signal was given from the tent 
 of the king, on the top of which, so as to be seen 
 by all, was placed an image of the sun, in crystal. 
 The holy fire was borne on altars of silver, sur- 
 rounded by the priests chanting their sacred hymns. 
 They were followed by three hundred and sixty-five 
 youths, according to the number of the days in the 
 year, dressed in purple garments. The chariot, dedi- 
 cated to the supreme deity (Jovi), or to the sun, was 
 drawn by snow-white horses, led by grooms wearing 
 white garments, and carrying golden wands. The 
 
 * Judith, ii. 17. 
 
 f- Lib. iii. c. 3. ; and compare Herodotus's description of the army of 
 Xerxes, 1. vii. c. 61.
 
 CHAP. V.] THE PERSIAN ARMY. 3()5 
 
 horse especially consecrated to the sun was chosen 
 from its size.* It was followed by ten chariots, em- 
 bossed with gold and silver, and by the cavalry of 
 twelve nations, dressed in their various costumes, 
 and carrying their peculiar arms. Then came the 
 Persian immortals, ten thousand in number, adorned 
 with golden chains, and wearing robes embroidered 
 with gold, with long-sleeved tunics, all glittering with 
 precious stones. At a short interval fifteen thousand 
 nobles, who bore the honourable title of relations of 
 the king, walked in garments which, in magnificence 
 and luxury, more resembled those of women than of 
 men. The doryphori (a chosen company of spear- 
 men) preceded the chariot in which the king him- 
 self sat, high above the surrounding multitude. On 
 either side of this chariot were the effigies of the gods 
 in gold and silver. The yoke was inlaid with the 
 rarest jewels. From it projected two golden figures of 
 Ninusf and Belus, each a cubit in length. A golden 
 eagle with outspread wings was placed between them. 
 The king was distinguished, from all those who sur- 
 rounded him, by the magnificence of his robes, and by 
 the cidaris, or mitre, upon his head. By his side walked 
 two hundred of the most noble of his relations. Ten 
 
 * That the custom of dedicating chariots and horses to the sun pre- 
 vailed in Asia long before the Persian domination, we learn from the 
 passage in 2 Kings, xxiii. 11., where Josiah is described as taking away 
 the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering 
 in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech, the 
 chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burning the chariots of the 
 sun with fire. 
 
 f Some MSS. have " War and Peace." Ninus was an emendation first 
 suggested by Scaliger.
 
 366 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 thousand warriors, bearing spears, whose staffs were 
 of silver and heads of gold, followed the royal cha- 
 riot. The king's led horses, forty in number, and 
 thirty thousand footmen, concluded the procession. 
 At the distance of one stadium, followed the mother 
 and wife of the king, in chariots. A crowd of 
 women, the handmaidens and ladies of the queens, 
 accompanied them on horseback. Fifteen cars, called 
 armamaxa?, carried the children of the king, their 
 tutors and nurses, and the eunuchs. The king's three 
 hundred and sixty concubines, who accompanied him, 
 were adorned with royal splendour. Six hundred 
 mules, and three hundred camels bore the royal trea- 
 sury, guarded by the archers. The friends and re- 
 lations of the ladies were mingled with a crowd of 
 cooks, and servants of all kinds. The procession was 
 closed by the light -armed troops. 
 
 The armies were provided with the engines, and 
 materials necessary for the siege of the cities they 
 might meet with, in their expedition. If any natural 
 obstructions impeded the approach to a castle, such 
 as a forest or a river, they were, if possible, removed. 
 Rivers were turned out of their courses if they im- 
 peded the operations of the army * ; and warriors are 
 frequently represented in the sculptures, cutting down 
 trees which surround a hostile city. 
 
 The first step, on attacking a hostile city, was 
 probably to advance the battering-ram. If the castle 
 was built, as in the plains of Assyria and Babylonia, 
 
 * In the Stratagcmata of Frontinus (1. iii. c. 7. s. 5.) Semiramis, like 
 Cyrus, b said to have taken Babylon by turning off the river.
 
 CHAP. V.] THE BATTERING-RAM. 367 
 
 upon an artificial eminence, an inclined plane, reaching 
 to the summit of the mound, was formed of earth, 
 stones, or trees, and the besiegers were then able to 
 bring their engines to the foot of the walls. This road 
 was not unfrequently covered with bricks, forming a 
 kind of paved way, up which the ponderous machines 
 could be drawn without much difficulty. 
 
 This mode of reaching the walls of a city is fre- 
 quently alluded to by the prophets, and is described 
 by Isaiah : " Thus saith the Lord concerning the 
 king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, 
 nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with 
 shields, nor cast a bank against it." Similar ap- 
 proaches were used by the Egyptians.! They not 
 only enabled the besiegers to push their battering- 
 rams up to the castle, but at the same time to esca- 
 lade the walls, the summit of which might other- 
 wise have been beyond the reach of their ladders. 
 
 The battering-rams were of several kinds. Some 
 were joined to moveable towers which held warriors 
 and armed men. The whole then formed one great 
 temporary building, the top of which is represented 
 in the sculptures as on a level with the walls, and 
 even turrets, of the besieged city. In some bas-reliefs 
 the battering-ram is without wheels ; it was then 
 
 * Chap, xxxvii. 33.; and compare 2 Kings, xix. 32.; Jeremiah, xxxii. 
 24., and xxxiii. 4. The shields mentioned by the prophet were probably 
 the large kind made of wicker-work, represented in the Nimroud sculp- 
 tures, and used exclusively for a siege ; those carried by the warriors in 
 battle being smaller, and generally round. 
 
 t Ezekiel, xvii. 17. " Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army 
 and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and 
 building forts, to cut off many persons."
 
 368 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. V. 
 
 perhaps constructed on the spot, and was not in- 
 tended to be moved. The moveable tower was pro- 
 
 BATTEE1NG-EAM WITH MOVEAELE TOWER CONTAINING WARUIOK3. 
 (N.W. Palace, Nimroud.) 
 
 bably sometimes unprovided with the ram ; but I 
 have not met with it so represented in the sculptures. 
 When Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, besieged 
 Jerusalem, he " built forts against it round about."* 
 These forts or towers, if stationary, were solidly con- 
 structed of wood ; if moveable, they consisted of a 
 light frame covered with wicker-work. The Jews 
 were forbidden to cut down and employ, for this pur- 
 
 * Jeremiah, lii. 4.
 
 CHAP. V.] 
 
 MOVEABLE TOWERS. 
 
 369 
 
 pose, trees which afforded sustenance to man. " Only 
 the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees 
 for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down : 
 and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that 
 maketh war with thee until it be subdued." * 
 
 When the machine containing the battering-ram 
 was a simple frame-work, and did not form an 
 
 Eaa-relief representing Warriors before a besieged City. A Pattering-ram drawn up to the 
 Walls, and Captives impaled. (Centie lalace, Kimroud.) 
 
 artificial tower, a cloth or some kind of drapery, 
 edged with fringes, and otherwise ornamented, ap- 
 pears to have been occasionally thrown over it. 
 
 VOL. n. 
 
 * Deuteronomy, xx. 19, 20. 
 B B
 
 370 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 Sometimes it may have been covered with hides. It 
 moved either on four, or on six wheels, and was 
 provided with one ram or with two. The mode of 
 working the rams cannot be determined from the As- 
 syrian sculptures. It may be presumed, from the re- 
 presentations in the bas-reliefs, that they were partly 
 suspended by a rope fastened to the outside of the 
 machine, and that men directed and impelled them 
 from within. Such was the plan adopted by the 
 Egyptians, in whose paintings the warriors, working 
 the ram, may be seen through the frame.* 
 
 Sometimes this engine was ornamented by a carved 
 or painted figure of the presiding divinity, kneeling 
 on one knee and drawing a bow.f 
 
 The artificial tower was usually occupied by two 
 warriors ; one discharged his arrows against the be- 
 sieged, whom he was able from his lofty position to 
 harass more effectually than if he had been below ; 
 the other held up a shield for his companion's de- 
 fence. Warriors are not unfrequently represented as 
 stepping from the machine to the battlements. 
 
 Ezekiel alludes to all these modes of attack. " Lay 
 siege against it," he exclaims, speaking of the city of 
 Jerusalem, " and build a fort against it, and cast a 
 mount against it ; set the camp also against it, and 
 set battering-rams against it round about." J 
 
 Archers on the walls hurled stones from slings, 
 
 * Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol i. plate, p. 360. 
 f This device is seen on a battering-ram in a bas-relief, engraved in 
 my " Monuments of Nineveh." 
 J Ch. iv. ver. 2.
 
 CHAP. V.J MINES. 371 
 
 and discharged their arrows against the warriors in 
 the artificial towers ; whilst the rest of the besieged 
 were no less active in endeavouring to frustrate the 
 attempts of the assailants to make breaches in their 
 walls. By dropping a doubled chain or rope from the 
 battlements, they caught the ram, and could either 
 destroy its eificacy altogether, or break the force of 
 its blows. Those below, however, by placing hooks 
 over the engine, and throwing their whole weight 
 upon them, struggled to retain it in its place.* 
 
 The besieged, if unable to displace the battering- 
 ram, sought to destroy it by fire, and threw lighted 
 torches, or fire-brands, upon it. But water was 
 poured upon the flames, through pipes attached to 
 the artificial tower. 
 
 Other engines and instruments of war were em- 
 ployed by the besiegers. With a kind of catapult, 
 apparently consisting of a light wooden frame covered 
 with canvass or hides, they threw large stones and 
 darts against the besieged, who, in their turn, en- 
 deavoured to set fire to it by torches. A long staff 
 with an iron head, resembling a spear, was used to 
 force the stones out of the walls. Mines were also 
 opened, and the assailants sought to enter the castle 
 through concealed passages. f Those who worked at 
 them or advanced to the attack were perhaps pro- 
 
 * Uzziah made large machines for battering walls, and instruments to 
 cast stones, and grappling irons, and other instruments. (2 Chron. xxvi. 
 15., and Josephus, lib. ix. c. 10.) 
 
 f All these modes of attack and defence are represented in the bas- 
 relief before alluded to. 
 
 n B 2
 
 372 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. V. 
 
 WARRIORS FORCIHO STONES OUT OF THE LOWER PART OP THE WALL OF A 
 BESIEGED CITY. (S.W. I'aJace. Nimroud.) 
 
 tected by the testudo, as represented in the Egyptian 
 paintings ; but this defence is not seen in the As- 
 syrian sculptures. 
 
 Attempts were made to set fire to the gates of the 
 city by placing torches against them *, or to break 
 them open with axes. 
 
 Mounting to the assault by ladders was constantly 
 practised, and appears to have been the most general 
 mode of attacking a castle ; for ladders are found on 
 those bas-reliefs, in which neither the battering-ram 
 nor other engines are int reduced. f They reached to 
 
 * " Abimelech went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with 
 fire." (Judges, ix. 52.) 
 
 | Scaling ladders appear in Egyptian sculptures as early as the nine- 
 teenth dynasty. Ramses III. is seen taking a city by their means, at 
 Medinat Habou.
 
 To face page 372. Vol. II. 
 
 A CITY TAKEX BY AS3A"LT, AND THE INHABITANTS LEP AWAY CAPTIVE. 
 (Kouyunjik.)
 
 CHAP V.] DEFENCE OF THE WALLS. 373 
 
 the top of the battlements, and several persons could 
 ascend them at the same time. Whilst warriors, 
 armed with the sword and spear, scaled the walls, 
 archers posted at the foot of the ladders kept the 
 enemy in check, and drove them from the walls. 
 
 The troops of the besieging army were ranged 
 in ranks below. The king was frequently present 
 during the attack. Descending from his chariot, 
 which remained stationary at a short distance behind 
 him, he discharged his arrows against the enemy. 
 He was attended by his shield-bearer, and eunuchs, 
 one of whom generally held over him the emblem of 
 royalty, the umbrella, whilst the others bore his arms. 
 He is sometimes represented in his chariot, superin- 
 tending the operations, or repulsing a sally. War- 
 riors of high rank likewise came in chariots, accom- 
 panied by their shield-bearers and charioteers.* The 
 vizir and the chief of the eunuchs are frequently seen 
 in the midst of the combatants. 
 
 The besieging warriors were protected, as I have 
 already mentioned, by large shields of wicker-work, 
 sometimes covered with hides, which concealed the 
 entire person. Three men frequently formed a 
 group ; one held the shield, a second drew the bow, 
 and a third stood ready with a sword to defend the 
 archer and shield-bearer, in case the enemy should 
 sally from the castle. 
 
 The besieged manned the battlements with archers 
 and slingers, who discharged their missiles against the 
 
 * " The choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen 
 shall set themselves in array at the gate." (Isaiah, xxii. 7.) 
 
 B B 3
 
 374 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 assailants. Large stones and hot water were also 
 thrown upon those below.* 
 
 When the battering-ram had made a breach, and 
 the assault had commenced, the women appeared 
 upon the walls ; and, tearing their hair or stretching 
 out their hands, entreated for mercy. The men are 
 not unfrequently represented as joining in asking for 
 quarter. When the assailants were once masters of 
 the place, an indiscriminate slaughter appears to have 
 succeeded, and the city was generally given over to 
 the flames. In the bas-reliefs warriors are seen deca- 
 pitating the conquered, and plunging swords or dag- 
 gers into their hearts, holding them by the hair of 
 their heads. The prisoners were either impaled and 
 subjected to horrible torments, or carried away as 
 slaves. The manner of impaling adopted by the As- 
 syrians, appears to have differed from that still in use 
 in the East. A stake was driven into the body im- 
 mediately under the ribs, f In a bas-relief discovered 
 at Khorsabad, a man was represented flaying a pri- 
 soner with a semicircular knife. J 
 
 The women, children, and cattle were led away 
 by the conquerors; and that it was frequently the 
 custom of the Assyrians to remove the whole popu- 
 lation of the conquered country to some distant part 
 of their dominions, and to replace it by colonies 
 of their own, we learn from the treatment of the 
 
 * A woman from the battlement of Thebez cast a millstone upon 
 Abimelech's bead, and brake it. (Judges, ix. 53.) 
 
 f See woodcut, p. 369. When Darius took Babylon he impaled 3000 
 prisoners. (Herod, iii. 159.) 
 
 J The Scythians scalped and flayed their enemies, and used their skins 
 as horse-trappings. (Herod, iv. 64.)
 
 CHAP. V.] CAPTIVES. 375 
 
 people of Samaria.* Eunuchs and scribes were ap- 
 pointed to take an inventory of the spoil. They 
 appear to have stood near the gates, and wrote down 
 with a pen, probably upon rolls of leather, the num- 
 ber of prisoners, sheep, and oxen, and the amount of 
 the booty, which issued from the city. The women 
 were sometimes taken away in bullock-carts, and are 
 usually seen in the bas-reliefs bearing a part of their 
 property with them either a vase or a sack, perhaps 
 filled with household stuff. They were sometimes 
 accompanied by their children, and are generally re- 
 presented as tearing their hair, throwing dust upon 
 their heads, and bewailing their lot. 
 
 After the city had been taken, a throne for the 
 king appears to have been placed in some con- 
 spicuous spot, within the walls. He is represented 
 in the sculptures as sitting upon it, attended by 
 his eunuchs and principal officers, and receiving 
 the prisoners brought bound into his presence. The 
 chiefs prostrate themselves before him, whilst he 
 places his foot upon their necks, as Joshua com- 
 manded the captains of Israel to put their feet 
 upon the necks of the captive kings. f This custom 
 
 * 2 Kings, xvii. 24. According to Josephus (lib. ix. c. 12.), Tig- 
 lath-pileser having taken Damascus, removed all the inhabitants, and 
 peopled the city with his own subjects. So, also, when Nebuchadnezzar 
 took Jerusalem, he carried away all the people captive, and " burned the 
 king's house and the houses of the people with fire, and brake down the 
 walls." (Jeremiah, xxxix. 8 and 9.) 
 
 f " And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto 
 Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the 
 captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your 
 feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their 
 
 B n 4
 
 376 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. V. 
 
 long prevailed in the East. In the rock-sculpture 
 of Behistun, Darius is seen with his foot upon the 
 neck of Gomates, the rebellious Magian, who declared 
 himself to be Bartius, the son of Cyrus.* When 
 inferior prisoners were captured, their hands were 
 tied behind, or their arms and feet were bound by 
 iron manacles, f 
 
 MANACLES FOR THE FEET 
 (Kliors.ibad anJ Kouyunjik.) 
 
 MANACLES FOR THE HANDS 
 (Khorsabad and Kouyurjlik.) 
 
 They were urged onwards by blows from the 
 spears, or swords, of the warriors to whom they were 
 intrusted. In a bas-relief from Khorsabad, captives 
 are led before the king by a rope fastened to rings 
 passed through the lip and nose. J 
 
 In the sculptures of Khorsabad, and Kouyunjik, cap- 
 feet upon the necks of them." (Joshua, x. 24.) To make " a footstool of 
 thine enemies " is the common biblical expression for triumph. 
 
 * Major Rawlinson's Memoir on the Inscription at Behistun. (Journal 
 of the Royal Asiatic Society.) 
 
 f " To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of 
 iron." (Psalm cxlix. 8.) These fetters were sometimes made of brass. 
 " They put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, 
 and took him to Babylon." (2 Kings, xxv. 7.) Samson was also bound 
 with fetters of brass. (Judges, xvi. 21.) 
 
 J This sculpture illustrates the passage in 2 Kings, xix. 28. " I will 
 put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips." The king is repre- 
 sented in a bas-relief as holding a rope fastened to a ring through the 
 lips of a prisoner, one of whose eyes he appears to be piercing with his 
 spear.
 
 CHAI-. V.] 
 
 THE SACK OF A CITY. 
 
 377 
 
 tives are seen bringing small models of their cities to 
 the victorious king, as a token of their subjection. 
 Similar models are borne in triumphal processions. 
 
 The heads of the slain were generally collected, 
 and brought either to the king or to an officer, who 
 took account of their number.* This mode of 
 reckoning the loss of the enemy was long resorted to 
 in the East. 
 
 As soon as the soldiers entered the captured city, 
 they began to plunder, and then hurried away with 
 the spoil. They led off the horses, carried forth on 
 their shoulders furniture, 
 and vessels of gold, silver, 
 and other metals ; and made 
 prisoners of the inhabitants, 
 who, probably, became the 
 property of those who seized 
 them. 
 
 The Assyrian warriors are 
 seen in the sculptures bear- 
 ing away in triumph the 
 idols of the conquered na- 
 tions, or breaking them into 
 pieces, weighing them in scales, and dividing the 
 fragments.! Thus Hosea prophesied that the calf, 
 
 * See woodcut, p. 184. When Aliab's seventy sons were killed, their 
 heads were cut off, and brought in baskets to Jezreel. They were after- 
 wards laid " in two heaps at the entering in of the gate." (2 Kings, x. 8.) 
 The Egyptians generally counted by hands. 
 
 f In a bas-relief from Khorsabad. " Babylon is taken, Bel is con- 
 founded, Merodach is broken in pieces ; her idols are confounded, her 
 images are broken in pieces." (Jeremiah, 1. 2.) Compare Isaiah, xxi. 9. 
 
 7 
 
 A PAIR OF SCALES FOR WEIGHING 
 i'HjS SPOIL (Khorsaljad.)
 
 378 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 the idol of Samaria, should be carried away by the 
 Assyrians.* 
 
 When the city had been sacked, it was usually 
 given up to the flames, and utterly destroyed. The 
 surrounding country was also laid waste, f If it had 
 been a capital a place of strength and renown 
 it was seldom rebuilt on the same spot ; which was 
 avoided, as unfortunate, by those who survived the 
 catastrophe and returned to the ruins. 
 
 Ezekiel, in prophesying the destruction of Tyre 
 by Nebuchadrezzar, has faithfully recorded the events 
 of a siege, and the treatment of the conquered people. 
 His description illustrates the bas-reliefs of Nim- 
 roud : 
 
 " Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I will bring 
 upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a 
 king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with 
 chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and 
 much people. He shall slay with the sword thy 
 daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort 
 against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift 
 up the buckler against thee. And he shall set en- 
 gines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he 
 
 * Ch. x. ver. 6. And Jeremiah declares that the Babylonians shall 
 kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of the Egyptians, " and burn them, 
 and carry them away captive " (Ch. xliii. ver. 12.) In a bas-relief from 
 the centre palace of Nimroud, the Assyrian warriors were represented 
 carrying away the image of a bird. 
 
 f When Ilolofernes took Damascus " he went into the plain in the 
 time of wheat harvest, and burnt up all the fields, and destroyed the 
 flocks and herds ; also he spoiled the cities, and utterly wasted the coun- 
 tries, and smote all the young men with the edge of the sword." (Judith, 
 ii. 27.)
 
 CHAP.V.] SHIPS. 379 
 
 shall break down thy towers. By reason of the 
 abundance of his horses, their dust shall cover thee : 
 thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, 
 and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall 
 enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein 
 is made a breach. With the hoofs of his horses shall 
 he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy 
 people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall 
 go down to the ground. And they shall make a spoil 
 of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise : 
 and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy 
 thy pleasant houses : and they shall lay thy stones, 
 and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the 
 water."* 
 
 Although the Assyrians were properly an inland 
 people, yet their conquests and expeditions, particu- 
 larly at a later period, brought them into contact 
 with maritime nations. We consequently find, on 
 the monuments of Khorsabad and Kouyunjik, fre- 
 quent representations of naval engagements and 
 operations on the sea-coast. In the most ancient 
 palace of Nimroud, only bas-reliefs with a river have 
 been discovered ; they furnish us, however, with the 
 forms of vessels, evidently of Assyrian construction 
 all those in the sculptures of Khorsabad and Kouy- 
 unjik belonging probably to allies or to the enemy. 
 It may be presumed that the rivers navigated by the 
 early Assyrians, and represented in their bas-reliefs, 
 were the Tigris, Euphrates, and Khabour. 
 
 * Ch. xxvi. ver. 712.
 
 380 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 Herodotus thus describes the Babylonian vessels 
 of a later period : " The boats used by those who 
 come to the city (Babylon) are of a circular form, 
 and made of skins. They are constructed in Armenia, 
 in the parts above Assyria. The ribs of the vessels 
 are formed of willow boughs and branches, and 
 covered externally with skins. They are round like 
 a shield, there being no distinction between the head 
 and stern. They line the bottoms of their boats with 
 reeds (or straw), and, taking on board merchandise, 
 principally palm wine (or rather spirits extracted 
 from the date), float down the stream. The boats 
 have two oars, one man to each : one pulls to him, 
 the other pushes from him. These vessels are of 
 different dimensions ; some of them are so large that 
 they bear freight to the value of 5000 talents. The 
 smaller have one ass on board ; the larger, several. 
 On their arrival at Babylon the boatmen dispose 
 of their goods, and also offer for sale the ribs and 
 the reeds (or straw). They then load their asses 
 with the skins, and return with them to Armenia, 
 where they construct new vessels." * 
 
 I was, at one time, inclined to believe that the de- 
 scription of Herodotus applied to the rafts still con- 
 structed on the rivers of Mesopotamia, and used, it 
 will be remembered, for the conveyance of the sculp- 
 tures from Nimroud to Busrah. f The materials 
 of which they are made are precisely those men- 
 tioned by the Greek historian, and they are still 
 
 * Lib. i. c. 19i. t See p. 96. of this volume.
 
 CHAP. V.] 
 
 snirs. 
 
 381 
 
 disposed of, at Baghdad, in the same way as they 
 were in his day at Babylon. But the boats which 
 excited the wonder of Herodotus seem to have been 
 more solidly built, and were capable of bearing ani- 
 mals, to which purpose the rafts" now in use could 
 not be applied. They were probably more like the 
 circular vessels now used at Baghdad, built of boughs, 
 and sometimes covered with skins, over which bitu- 
 men is smeared, to render the whole waterproof. 
 The boats commonly employed for the conveyance 
 of goods and animals, on the lower part of the Tigris 
 and Euphrates, and for ferries on all parts of those 
 rivers, are constructed of planks of poplar wood, 
 rudely joined together by iron nails or wooden pins, 
 and coated with bitumen. 
 
 In a bas-relief from the most ancient palace of 
 Nimroud, two kinds of boats are introduced. The 
 larger vessel contains the king in his chariot, with 
 his attendants and eunuchs. It is both impelled by 
 oars, and is towed by men. The smaller resembles 
 that described by Herodotus. The head does not 
 differ in form from the stern, and two men sit face 
 to face at the oars. 
 
 A EOAT CAF.P.TIKG \ CHARIOT AND iJF.N' FLO AT: NO ON INFLATED SKINS.
 
 382 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 In this bas-relief are also represented men sup- 
 porting themselves upon inflated skins, a manner 
 of crossing rivers still generally practised in Meso- 
 potamia. 
 
 The larger boats were steered by a long oar ; to 
 the end of which was fastened a square or oval board. 
 This oar was held in its place by a rope, fastened to a 
 wooden piri at the stern. By this contrivance, the 
 steersman had considerable control over the vessel, 
 and could impel it, or turn the head at pleasure. 
 This mode of steering, and propelling boats, still 
 prevails on the Mesopotamian rivers. 
 
 It may be presumed, that the Assyrians soon ac- 
 quired a more intimate acquaintance with the art of 
 ship-building, than is displayed by these rude ves- 
 sels; although they may not have put their know- 
 ledge in practice on the rivers. A tradition has even 
 assigned the invention of ships to Semiramis.* In a 
 bas-relief, from the centre palace of Nimroud, vessels 
 were represented with a mast, and with a carved 
 prow and stern, both ornamented with the head of 
 an animal or bird, probably in metal.f They were 
 also impelled by oars; and from the relative size 
 between them and the figures, they do not appear 
 to have been larger than the rude boats of the 
 earlier monuments. The mast was retained in its 
 position by two ropes. The oars were long, and the 
 
 * Pliny, lib. vii. 417. That the Chaldees were skilful ship-builders, 
 " and exulted in their ships," we learn from Isaiah, xliii. 14. 
 
 ( See woodcut, p 395. In this ornament at the prow and stern they 
 resemble some of the Egyptian war-galleys, and those of the Greeks and 
 Romans.
 
 CHAP.V.] 
 
 SHIPS. 
 
 383 
 
 blade projected at an angle with the handle. They 
 were probably used like paddles, which they re- 
 semble, indeed, in form. Although these ships were 
 near a castle, from the fish and marine monsters in 
 the water, it would appear that the sea, and not a 
 river, was represented. 
 
 The vessels of the Khorsabad sculptures, show 
 a considerable advance in the knowledge of ship- 
 building. That they did not belong to the Assy- 
 rians, but to some allied nation, appears to be indi- 
 cated by the peculiar costume of the figures in them.* 
 The form of the vessel is not inelegant : it is that of 
 a sea monster the prow being in the shape of the 
 
 A SHIP. ( Kiorsatad.) 
 
 * Small boats similarly constructed are, however, introduced inlo a 
 bas-relief, which appears to represent a scene on an Assyrian* river or lake. 
 (See woodcut, p. 273.)
 
 384 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 head of a horse, and the stern in that of the tail of a 
 fish. Several men stand at the oars. The mast, sup- 
 ported by two ropes, appears to be surmounted by a 
 box, or what is technically called a crow's nest ; which, 
 in the galleys of the Egyptians, frequently held an 
 archer. 
 
 From the nature of the animals and fish swarming 
 in the water round the vessels, the Khorsabad bas- 
 reliefs evidently represent an event on the sea, and 
 not on a river. A castle stands on the shore, 
 and the ships are employed in bringing planks, and 
 beams of wood, to form an artificial approach, by 
 which the besiegers may reach the walls. Some of 
 these planks are dragged, at the stern of the ves- 
 sels, by ropes ; others are on deck. In the sea is 
 seen a figure with the human form to the waist, 
 and with the tail of a fish. The horned cap con- 
 nects it with the sacred emblems of the Assyrian 
 sculptures, and we may, probably, recognise in it 
 Cannes, or the ChakUean sea god.* 
 
 But it was in the sculptures of Kouyunjik, that 
 vessels were found represented in the greatest per- 
 fection. From their position, in the bas-reliefs, with 
 reference to the besieging army, it would appear 
 that they did not belong to the Assyrians themselves ; 
 but to a people with whom they were at war, and 
 whom they appear to have conquered. That the 
 event recorded occurred on the sea, and not on a 
 river, was shown by the nature of the fish and 
 
 * A sea-piece, such as that described in the text, is amongst the As- 
 syrian bas-reliefs in the Louvre.
 
 CHAP. V.] SHIPS. 385 
 
 marine animals ; such as the star or jelly fish, and 
 a kind of shark, introduced into the sculpture. 
 A castle stood on the shore ; and the inhabitants, 
 attacked on the land side, were deserting their city, 
 and taking refuge in their vessels. 
 
 The larger galleys of these bas-reliefs were of pe- 
 culiar form, and may, I think, be identified with the 
 vessels used to a comparatively late period, by the in- 
 habitants of the great maritime cities of the Syrian 
 coast by the people of Tyre and Sidon. Their 
 height out of the water, when compared with the 
 depth of keel, was very considerable. The forepart 
 rose perpendicularly from a low sharp prow, which 
 resembled a plough -share, and being of iron or some 
 other metal, may have been intended, like that of the 
 Roman galley, to sink or disable the enemy's ships. 
 The stern was curved from the keel, and rose high 
 above the upper deck. There were two tiers of rowers ; 
 but whether they were divided by a deck, or merely 
 sat upon benches placed at different elevations in the 
 hold, does not appear from the sculptures. Above 
 the rowers was a deck, on which stood the armed men. 
 These vessels had only one mast, to the top of which 
 was attached a very long yard, held by ropes. In 
 the sculptures, the sails were represented as furled. 
 The number of rowers in the bas-reliefs was generally 
 eight on a side. Only the heads of the upper tier of 
 men were visible ; the lower tier was completely con- 
 cealed, the oars passing through small apertures, or 
 port-holes, in the sides of the vessel. 
 
 These galleys nearly resemble in form the vessels 
 
 VOL. II. C C
 
 386 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS KEMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. V. 
 
 represented on certain coins of ancient date ; which, 
 although not yet satisfactorily classed, evidently be- 
 long to the period of the Persian supremacy in Asia. 
 This may be inferred by their having on one side 
 
 SHIP. (Kouyuojik.) 
 
 the effigy of the king in his chariot, attended by his 
 charioteer, as found on darics and on cylinders un- 
 doubtedly Persian. 
 
 COIN of uncertain Origin, conjectured to belong to a City on tlie Syrian Coastduring the 
 Persian Occupation 
 
 These coins, which are rare, have been discovered 
 both in Babylonia and on the coasts of Cilicia and 
 Syria*, and were probably struck by the cities on 
 
 * Those in the British Museum, from the collection of Mr. Rich, were 
 principally found in the bed of the Euphrates, near Babylon ; but, as tlicy
 
 CHAP. V.] SHIPS. 387 
 
 the shores of the Mediterranean during their sub- 
 jection to Persia. There are many peculiarities in 
 the figures, groups, and inscriptions upon them, 
 to connect them with other coins of the same class, 
 generally known as " the uncertain of Cilicia ; " all 
 of which may perhaps be assigned to cities of PhcB- 
 nician origin, either in Asia Minor, Syria, or Cyprus.* 
 The mere fact of these coins having been occasion- 
 ally found on the banks of the Euphrates, is not 
 sufficient to prove that they were coined in Babylon, 
 of which city we have no ancient money. 
 
 The galleys, both on these coins and in the Kouy- 
 unjik bas-reliefs, are further identified with the 
 vessels of the Syrian coasts, by the coins of Sidon 
 of a later period, which bear on one side a galley 
 
 were accompanied by other coins of a much later (I think of the Arsacid 
 or Sassanian) period, they must have been deposited there long after 
 the fall of the first Persian empire, and consequently long subsequent to 
 the time of their coinage. 
 
 * Almost all ancient cities of Asia Minor and the adjacent islands, whose 
 names commenced with " Cor," stood upon the sea-coast. This word 
 may, therefore, have some reference to their position, and may point to 
 a Phoenician origin. It may, perhaps, be connected with the Hebrew 
 
 . s^- s- 
 
 H"ID, " to dig" and the Arabic ,L>. or ( _ , the mouth of a river, and 
 
 bay of the sea, still used on the Arabian coast ; for instance, the mouths 
 of the Euphrates and Karoon are known as the Khor-mousa, the Khor- 
 bamishere, &c. In Pontus were Cor-alla, Cor-dyla, Cot-yora ; in Paph- 
 lagonia, Car-usa, Car-ambes ; in Cyprus, Core and Cor-ineum ; in Cilicia, 
 Cor-ycus, Cor-acesium ; in Crete, the promontory and city of Cor-ycus ; 
 in Ionia, Cor-ycus ; the Cor-icumlittus and Cor-ydalla in Lycia ; in 
 llhodes, Cor-ymbia and Cor-dylusa; in Messenia, Cor-yphasium. The 
 sense of cavern, also included in the word, will well suit Cor-ycus in 
 Cilicia, and the celebrated cave of the same name in Phocis. The de- 
 rivation of "iin "a hole," or ma, " to dig," may indicate an artificial har- 
 bour, and an early Phoenician settlement. 
 
 c c 2
 
 388 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. V. 
 
 a a 
 
 similarly constructed, and on the other the head of 
 an Assyrian goddess. 
 
 The castles of the maritime people, whose conquest 
 is recorded by the Kouyunjik bas-reliefs, are distin- 
 guished by the shields hung round the walls. This 
 peculiarity appears to illustrate a passage in Ezekiel 
 concerning Tyre : " The men of Arvad with thine 
 army were upon the walls round about, and the Gam- 
 madims were in thy towers : they hanged their shields 
 upon thy watts round about" * We have no other 
 allusion to this custom in holy writ ; and its par- 
 ticular mention in con- 
 nection with Tyre, may 
 perhaps be considered a 
 further proof in favour of 
 the identification of the 
 event, recorded by the 
 
 fMllrvhirP5 With fl <51PfrP Castle of a Maritime People, probably tbo 
 
 bCUlptUreS, Wll d Siege Tynans. (KouyutOik.) 
 
 arid capture of that city. 
 
 Around the sides of the vessels were also sus- 
 pended the shields of the warriors; and a similar 
 custom appears to have prevailed amongst other 
 nations in the infancy of the art of ship-building.f 
 
 The Tyrian vessels were constructed of the most 
 costly materials. The sails were of " fine linen with 
 embroidered work from Egypt ; " and the ornaments 
 were of " blue and purple from the isles of Elisha." 
 The benches were of ivory, and, it will be remarked, 
 were made by Assyrian workmen, of whose skill we 
 
 * Ezekiel, xxvii. 1 1. 
 
 f On the sides of the upper deck of the Chinese junks are suspended 
 the shields and arms of the crew.
 
 CHAP. V.] 
 
 SHIPS. 
 
 389 
 
 have full proof in the beautiful carvings from Nim- 
 roud. The oars were of the wood of the oaks of 
 Bashan, the planks of fir-trees from the mountain 
 of Senir, and the masts of cedar of Lebanon. The 
 people of Zidon and Arvad were employed as ma- 
 riners, and the management and sailing of the ship 
 were confided to the pilots of Tyre, who, through 
 long experience, were well versed in the art of navi- 
 gation, and were consequently looked upon as " the 
 wise men " in a city of sailors and merchants.* In 
 these vessels the Phoenicians coasted along the shores 
 of the Mediterranean, and carried on an active com- 
 merce with very distant nations ; establishing their 
 colonies, and diffusing far and wide their civilisation, 
 their arts, and their language. 
 
 Besides the vessel I have described, a smaller is 
 represented in the same bas-reliefs. It has also a 
 double tier of rowers ; but the head and stern are 
 
 A GALLEY. (Kouyunjik.) 
 
 * The 27th chapter of Ezekiel contains a complete description of the 
 vessels of the Tyrians, and is a most important and interesting record 
 of the commercial intercourse of the nations of antiquity. 
 
 c c 3
 
 390 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. LCiiAr. V. 
 
 differently constructed from those of the larger 
 galley, both being of the same shape, and not to be 
 distinguished. They rise high above the water, and 
 are flat at the top, with a beak projecting outwards. 
 This vessel had no mast, and was impelled entirely 
 by oars. On the upper deck. are seen warriors armed 
 with spears, and women. 
 
 It is impossible to determine, from the sculptures, 
 the size of the vessels ; as the relative proportions 
 between them, and the figures they contain, are not 
 preserved. It is most probable that the four rowers 
 in each tier are merely a conventional number ; and 
 we cannot, therefore, conjecture the length of the ship 
 from them. 
 
 No representations of naval engagements, as on 
 the monuments of Egypt, have yet been discovered 
 in the Assyrian sculptures. It is most probable that, 
 not being a maritime people, the Assyrians made use 
 of the fleets of their allies in their expeditions by sea ; 
 as the Persians did afterwards, furnishing warriors 
 to man the ships. 
 
 The bas-reliefs hitherto discovered in Assyria, 
 principally record the wars and triumphs of the As- 
 syrians, and represent their achievements in battle. 
 Their enemies, therefore, are frequently portrayed in 
 them. On the earlier monuments the conquered are 
 marked by two distinct costumes. In the series of 
 sculptures, forming the southern side of the great hall 
 in the north-west palace*, they are principally distin- 
 guished by the absence of helmets and armour. A 
 
 * Hall B, plan 3.
 
 CHAP. V.] ENEMIES OF THE ASSYKIANS. 391 
 
 simple fillet, or band, binds their temples, and in no 
 instance have they any other head-dress. Their long 
 hair, and beards, are less carefully and elaborately 
 arranged than those of the Assyrians ; but this dis- 
 tinction may be attributed to the malice of the 
 sculptor, who appears to have wilfully disfigured 
 the pictures of the enemies of his nation, or at least 
 to have bestowed less care upon them than upon 
 those of his own people. They wore short tunics, 
 descending to the knee. Their sandals were peculiar, 
 formed apparently by a number of straps, or cross- 
 bars, from the instep to the sole of the foot. They 
 used the same arms as the Assyrians, with the ad- 
 dition of the sling a weapon which is not seen in 
 the hands of the conquerors in the most ancient bas- 
 reliefs. The women were clothed in long embroidered 
 robes descending to the ankles, fitting tight over the 
 breasts (which are indicated in the sculptures), and 
 confined at the waist by a girdle. Their hair fell 
 loosely over their shoulders. The conquered have no 
 very marked peculiarity in the form of their features, 
 to distinguish them from the Assyrians ; and, if their 
 race or nation was indicated, it was, probably, as on 
 the monuments of Egypt, by colour, which has com- 
 pletely disappeared. There is nothing in the bas- 
 reliefs to show the region they inhabited. They pos- 
 sessed walled cities, some standing on a river ; and 
 their country was apparently wooded, as trees are 
 generally represented in the sculptures. It may be 
 presumed that they were not far behind their con- 
 querors in civilisation ; for they were acquainted with 
 
 c c 4
 
 392 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 the use of the pulley ; and, it may be inferred from 
 their castle-gates, with the principle of the arch ; and 
 they possessed chariots drawn by horses nearly as 
 richly caparisoned as those of the Assyrians. Their 
 chariot-wheels had eight, or even twelve spokes, dif- 
 fering in this respect from those of the conquerors. 
 On a bas-relief, representing the captives brought 
 before the king, we find amongst vases and bowls of 
 elegant shapes objects resembling elephants' tusks, 
 bundles of precious wood, and shawls ; this would 
 appear to connect the people described with some 
 Asiatic nation far to the east of Assyria. 
 
 The other conquered people, represented in the 
 earliest sculptures of Ximroud, are chiefly distin- 
 guished by their conical caps ; not pointed, like the 
 Assyrian helmet, but rounded at the top, and ap- 
 parently made of felt, or bands of linen. They wore 
 high boots reaching half way up the calf of the leg, 
 and turned up at the toes, like those still in use in 
 Persia and Turkey ; and were dressed either in short 
 tunics, scarcely covering the knee, or in robes de- 
 scending to the ankles. Their hair, although long, 
 was not curled, but w r as gathered into a bunch be- 
 hind ; the end being either tucked under the cap, or 
 confined by a band passing round the temples. On 
 the northern side of the great hall of the north-west 
 palace, were discovered two bas-reliefs *, representing 
 the siege of a city belonging to this people, and 
 standing on the banks of a river. Beneath the walls 
 
 * Nos. 27. and 28. hall B, plan 3. No. 27. will be placed in the British 
 Museum.
 
 CHAP. V.] 
 
 ENEMIES OF THE ASSYRIANS. 
 
 393 
 
 the armies of the two nations are seen in battle the 
 Assyrians in chariots, their enemies chiefly on horses. 
 One of the horsemen is flying, and turns back, whilst 
 
 
 ING AN AREOW. (N.W. Palace, Nimroud.) 
 
 his horse is at full speed, to discharge an arrow 
 against his pursuers, like the Parthians of old.* 
 
 And 
 
 Fidentemque fuga Parthum, versisque sagittis." 
 
 VIRG. Georg. 3. 
 
 " Versis animosun) equis 
 
 Parthum." HOR. Carm. lib. i. ode. xix. 
 
 Justin (lib. xli. c. 2.) describes this mode of combating as peculiar to 
 the Parthians, and very dangerous to those incautiously engaging in their 
 pursuit. That the same custom existed at a very early period amongst 
 the Persians, we learu from Xenophon. (Anabasis, book iii. ch. 3.)
 
 394 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 The bas-reliefs in the outer chambers, to the north 
 of the great hall *, represent the same people. In 
 those sculptures, it will be remembered, the captives 
 bring monkeys, amongst other objects of tribute. 
 The tribute-bearers on the obelisk, also, appear to be- 
 long to this nation ; for they are similarly attired, 
 and also bring monkeys. Other animals led by 
 them, such as the elephant, rhinoceros, and Bactrian 
 camel, evidently show that they came from some 
 country far to the east of Assyria either from 
 India itself or from its confines ; and we are naturally 
 led to conjecture, that the monument was erected 
 to celebrate the Indian expedition of one of the early 
 Assyrian monarchs the Ninus, Semiramis, or Nin- 
 yas of history. The other tribute appears to be ele- 
 phants' tusks, shawls, precious woods, a kind of fruit 
 or plant, and vessels probably of gold and silver. 
 The inscription may record the conquest of many 
 countries ; and more nations than one may be repre- 
 sented by the figures bearing these various objects, 
 
 The unplaced bas-reliefs, discovered together near 
 the great bulls in the centre of the mound, do not ap- 
 parently celebrate the subjection of the same countries 
 as the obelisk. This fact seems to me an additional 
 reason for believing them to be of a later period than 
 that monument, and than the bulls, on which the 
 
 It is still the favourite mode of fighting of that people. It is called the 
 Kaikaj. The Bakhtiyari, and other mountain tribes, are particularly 
 skilful in it, and will hit a small mark, turning back and discharging their 
 rifles whilst their horses are at full speed. 
 * Chambers D and E, plan 3.
 
 CHAP. V.] 
 
 ENEMIES OF THE ASSYRIANS. 
 
 395 
 
 name of the son of the builder of the north-west 
 palace occurs. They record the subjugation of several 
 nations. In some were represented warriors on fleet 
 camels, fleeing from the Assyrians. Women, also 
 mounted on camels, were seen escaping from their 
 enemies.* The head-dress of the men was a simple 
 fillet passing round the temples, the hair being 
 either confined by it, or sometimes allowed to fall 
 loose on the shoulders. They wore short tunics or 
 aprons from the waist to the knee, the rest of the 
 body being left naked. The women were clothed in 
 robes descending to the ankles, and their hair was long. 
 This people appears to have possessed large flocks of 
 
 A WALLS O CITY STANDING ON A KiVER OR ON THIS SKA. 
 (Centre Palace, Nimroud.) 
 
 * The saddles of the caintls appeal- to have consisted of a square pad 
 or seat, placed upon the hump.
 
 396 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 camels, sheep, goats, and horned cattle, and to have 
 inhabited a country producing the palm-tree. As 
 they used camels in war, we may conjecture that 
 they were Arabs living either in the south of Meso- 
 potamia, or in a part of the Arabian Peninsula. * 
 
 Another conquered people represented in these bas- 
 reliefs dwelt in fortified cities, which stood on the 
 banks of a river, and had palms within and without 
 the walls. The men wore their hair loose, and were 
 mostly armed with bows. After their cities had been 
 captured, the women were taken away in square carts, 
 drawn by oxen. These carts had wheels with eight 
 spokes. From the palm-trees represented in the bas- 
 reliefs, this people may have inhabited some part of 
 Babylonia. 
 
 CAPTIVE WOMEN IN A CARr DRAWN BY OXN. (.Centre Palace, Nimroud.) 
 
 A third nation, whose subjugation is recorded, had 
 cities or castles built on the tops of mountains. They 
 wore helmets ornamented with a curved crest, and 
 were armed with spears and bows. 
 
 A fourth possessed walled cities surrounded by lofty 
 ramparts, and wore caps apparently formed of bands 
 
 * The Arabs, mounted on camels, formed a part of the great army of 
 Xerxes, and the camel-riding Shasu (Arabs) are frequently mentioned in 
 the monumental inscriptions of Egypt.
 
 CHAP.V.] ENEMIES OF THE ASSYRIANS. 397 
 
 of linen, and resembling the Phrygian cap reversed. 
 They were armed with spears and bows. The women 
 are distinguished by hoods covering the head, and 
 falling over the shoulders. In one bas-relief the cap- 
 tive king, or chief, of this people is seen brought before 
 the king, who is placing the end of a spear, or wand, 
 on the head of his prostrate foe in token of triumph. 
 
 In two bas-reliefs built into the walls of the south- 
 west palace, but not originally belonging to that 
 building, were represented the victories of the Assy- 
 rians over warriors, who wore a helmet with a curved 
 crest, resembling in shape that in early use amongst 
 the Greeks.* 
 
 The subjugation of several nations was recorded on 
 the Avails of Khorsabad. The captives, and tribute- 
 bearers, were generally distinguished by skull-caps or 
 turbans, fitting closely to the head, and apparently 
 made of folds of linen, or some similar material. It 
 has been conjectured that they are Jews ; but, un- 
 less the inscriptions furnish some evidence of the 
 fact, there is nothing, I think, sufficiently marked, 
 either in the physiognomy or the dress, to identify 
 them with that people.f Several heads from these 
 bas-reliefs are now in the British Museum. The 
 features may certainly be distinguished from those 
 of the Assyrians, particularly in the shape of the 
 nose, which is very hooked ; but this is a peculiarity 
 
 * See woodcut, p. 28. of this volume. 
 
 f It has been suggested that one of the names written over the be- 
 sieged city in a Khorsabad bas-relief is that of Ashdod, or Azotus, 
 against which Sargon, king of Assyria, sent Tartan. (Isaiah, xx.)
 
 398 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CiiAr. V. 
 
 common to several eastern races, and not confined to 
 the Jew. The hair and beard are less elaborately 
 curled; but, as it has already been observed, they 
 may have been left unfinished by the sculptor, to 
 mark the distinction between the conquerors and the 
 conquered. 
 
 The head-dress of another vanquished people con- 
 sists of a hood, which completely covers the head, 
 conceals the hair, and falls over the shoulders, re- 
 sembling that of the women in some of the bas-reliefs 
 from the centre of the mound at Nimroud. 
 
 Men dressed in skins were represented amongst the 
 conquered nations at Khorsabad. The only Asiatic 
 people thus clothed, according to Herodotus, in the 
 army of Xerxes, were the Caspians and the Pactyes, 
 who wore goat-skins. Some of the skins in the Khors- 
 abad sculptures appear to be those of leopards ; if so, 
 the wearers may be identified with an African nation.* 
 
 Monsieur Flandin conjectures, that negroes are in- 
 cluded amongst the conquered people of the Khorsabad 
 bas-reliefs. In a drawing he has given to a prisoner 
 the well-known negro features, and the short woolly 
 hair. But the only bas-relief in which he believes 
 the negro to occur is very much injured ; and a little 
 too much imagination may have been resorted to in 
 its restoration. 
 
 * They may, however, be the skins of spotted gazelles. The skins may 
 indicate, as on the Egyptian monuments, a division of the human race. 
 The Egyptians ethnographically divided mankind into four branches : 
 1. The Rut, themselves; 2. the Naamu, or Nations, the Semitics ; 3. 
 the Nahsi, or Negroes ; and 4. the Tamahu, or Northerns, who are dis- 
 tinguished by the ostrich-feathers on their heads, and by tunics of goat- 
 skins.
 
 CHAP. V.] 
 
 ENEMIES OF THE ASSYRIANS. 
 
 399 
 
 The tribute brought by the subject nations por- 
 trayed in the Khorsabad sculptures consists chiefly 
 of vases and bowls, ear-rings, bracelets, and other 
 ornaments, all probably made of the precious metals. 
 The conquerors, after the sacking of a city, carry 
 away couches, tables, and chariots. The chariots 
 differ from those of the Assyrians in the form of the 
 yoke, (which is very distinctly represented in a bas- 
 relief,) in the pole, in the four-spoked wheel, and 
 in having an angular projection at the back. 
 
 CHARIOT CARRIED AWAY BY THE ASSYRIANS, AMON33T OTH3E SPOIL, 
 FROM A CAPTURED CITY. (Kiorsabad.} 
 
 At Kouyunjik, as I have already had occasion to 
 observe, the conquest of a different people appears to 
 have been recorded on the walls of each chamber. It 
 was during the reign of one of the kings to whom I 
 would attribute the foundation of this magnificent 
 edifice, either of Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, or Shalma- 
 neser, that the bounds of the empire were enlarged to 
 an unexampled extent. Almost the whole of western
 
 400 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CiiAp. V. 
 
 Asia was overrun by the Assyrians ; and their vic- 
 torious armies, having subdued Syria and Judaea, and 
 carried away captive their monarchs and their in- 
 habitants, penetrated through Egypt into Ethiopia 
 and Lybia. Records of these conquests still exist in 
 Syria, in Cyprus, and in various parts of Asia Minor.* 
 I have pointed out on what grounds we may iden- 
 tify with the Tyrians, or with the Phoenicians in- 
 habiting the Syrian coasts, the maritime people re- 
 presented in the sculptures. History has recorded 
 the conquest of Tyre by Shalmaneser f ; and the 
 tablet at the Nahr-el-Kelb, near Beyrout, bears, I 
 conjecture, either his name or that of a monarch of 
 the same dynasty. The Kouyunjik bas-reliefs may, 
 
 * I discovered the name of the Kouyunjik king on the rock-tablet at 
 the mouth of the Nahr- el-Kelb (the Lycus), near Beyrout, of which a cast, 
 taken by Mr. Bonomi, is in the British Museum. It is curious that, in a 1 >as- 
 relief found at Khorsabad, a niche, containing a figure precisely similar to 
 that at the Nahr-el-Kelb, was represented on the walls of a castle. I have 
 not been able to examine, or to obtain an accurate description, of the 
 Assyrian monument recently discovered in Cyprus, and now at Berlin. 
 I am inclined, however, to believe that it is of the same period as the 
 Syrian bas-reliefs. 
 
 f Josephus (lib. ix. c. 14.) states that Shalmaneser warred against 
 Tyre when Elulaeus was king. According to Menander, as quoted by 
 the Jewish historian, the Assyrian monarch subdued the whole of Phoe- 
 nicia. The Tyrians having revolted, Shalmaneser attacked them with 
 sixty vessels and eight hundred rowers, furnished by the inhabitants of 
 the other maritime cities. The Tyrians, however, engaged this large 
 fleet with only twelve galleys, completely dispersed it, and took five hun- 
 dred men prisoners. The Assyrians then invested the city for five years, 
 cutting oflfthe communication of the inhabitants with the rivers and wells 
 which furnished them with fresh water. Eusebius, quoting from Abyde- 
 nus, states that Sennacherib defeated the Greek fleet on the Cilician coast. 
 The whole passage is curious, as connecting Sennacherib with a Sarda- 
 napalus of history, and attributing to him the building of Tarsus, in the 
 form of Babylon, with the Cydnus running through the centre.
 
 CHAP. V.J ENEMIES OF THE ASSYRIANS. 401 
 
 therefore, portray this event. In them the con- 
 quered people are distinguished by the absence of 
 both head-dress and helmet, the hair falling loosely 
 on the shoulders. The women have high turbans 
 or mitres, to the back of which a veil appears to have 
 been attached. 
 
 Amongst other conquered people were represented 
 the inhabitants of a city, which stood between two 
 rivers, and in the midst of groves of palm-trees. 
 They may have been the Babylonians, and the bas- 
 reliefs may have recorded the reconquest of that city 
 after one of those rebellions, alluded to in history, 
 in which it had thrown off the Assyrian yoke.* 
 Another subdued nation had castles built on lofty 
 mountains, and in the midst of forests. Some cities 
 captured by the Assyrians, at this period, were built 
 on the banks of rivers, in the midst of vineyards, 
 and on mountains clothed with firs or pines. The 
 fir, which does not grow, as far as I am aware, in 
 the mountains of Kurdistan, seems to indicate a 
 country far to the north of Assyria Proper. 
 
 On the walls of one chamber the Assyrian warriors 
 were represented taking by assault, a city built 
 amongst mountains, and surrounded by forests and 
 rocks. The walls were defended by men armed with 
 spears and bows, and carrying small square shields, f 
 They were clothed in short tunics, descending to the 
 knee, and confined at the waist by a girdle. Their 
 
 * Under Merodach Baladan, for instance, 
 f See woodcut facing p. 372. 
 
 VOL. II. D D
 
 402 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. V. 
 
 hair was gathered in a bunch at the back of the head, 
 or was cut short. The women wore long robes, orna- 
 mented with fringes. Their hair^Vas either con- 
 fined by a fillet passing round the temples, or was 
 completely concealed by a hood, which covered the 
 head and lower part of the face, and fell over the 
 shoulders. When driven away captive by the Assy- 
 rians, they carried their children with them*, and 
 bore in their hands vases, bowls, and skins filled with 
 water or provisions. 
 
 In the sculptures of Kouyunjik, sheep, goats, and 
 horned cattle were frequently included amongst the 
 spoil taken from the conquered nations. From a 
 burning city, containing large 
 buildings several stories in 
 height, the Assyrian warriors 
 were represented hurrying 
 away with vases, chariots, 
 couches, beds, horses fully 
 caparisoned, and various other 
 objects, the nature of which 
 I could not determine, as the 
 bas-reliefs had been greatly 
 injured. Women riding upon 
 mules, and mules laden with 
 
 bOOty, Were alsO introduced Knemie* of the Assyrians discharging their 
 ' Arrows behind them. (Kouyurjik.) 
 
 into a procession of captives. 
 
 Such being the conquered nations, as represented 
 
 * The younger children were represented seated on the mother's 
 shoulder, and held by the leg.
 
 CHAP. V.] ENEMIES OF THE ASSYRIANS. 403 
 
 in the Nineveh sculptures, it may not be uninterest- 
 ing to inquire whether the Assyrians themselves, or 
 their enemies, can be identified with any of the races 
 portrayed on the Egyptian monuments. 
 
 Some of the vanquished people in the most ancient 
 bas-reliefs of Nimroud resemble, in the fillet round 
 their heads ending in a tassel, in their general cos- 
 tume, and in their arms, the Sharu of the Egyptian 
 paintings. That people, indeed, in the form of 
 their features and in their dress, have some resem- 
 blance to the Assyrians themselves, with whom Sir 
 Gardner Wilkinson is inclined to identify them. * 
 They could not, however, have been the Assyrians 
 portrayed on the most ancient monuments of Nim- 
 roud. The high pointed helmet or cap, with lappets 
 protecting the ears, the ear-rings and other orna- 
 ments in the form of a cross, and the cross-belt 
 over the breast, are all peculiarities of costume mark- 
 ing the sculptures of Khorsabad and Kouyunjik, but 
 never seen in the earlier sculptures. The Sharu 
 were, moreover, armed with falchions, and short 
 swords of a peculiar shape, which I have not met 
 with in the Assyrian bas-reliefs. 
 
 The Khita, or Sheta, of the Egyptian inscriptions 
 were an Asiatic people, wearing a large cap and a 
 long loose robe with open sleeves, and capes covering 
 the shoulders. They are sometimes represented with 
 oblong or square shields. They fought both on foot 
 and in chariots, which carried three persons, like 
 
 Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. p. 375. 
 2
 
 404 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 those of Assyria, and they lived in walled cities. * 
 Mr. Birch identifies them with the Chaldaeans ; and 
 that they inhabited a country near Assyria Proper 
 may be inferred, by their being generally named 
 with Naharaina and Singara. f They resemble a 
 people whose conquest by the Assyrians is recorded 
 in the bas-reliefs of Khorsabad and Kouyunjik J, 
 and who, like the Khita, inhabited castles, carried 
 square or oblong shields, and wore hoods over their 
 heads. 
 
 The Shairutana of the Egyptian monuments have 
 many peculiarities in common with the Assyrians 
 of the most recent bas-reliefs of Nimroud ; but the 
 helmet, ornamented with horns and surmounted by 
 a crest, consisting of a ball on a small shaft, is not 
 Assyrian. They carried a round shield, a long spear, 
 a javelin, and a pointed sword ; and wore a short 
 dress, over which was a coat of mail, or a cuirass of 
 broad metal plates overlying each other, adapted to 
 the form of the body, and secured at the waist by a 
 girdle. They allowed their beards to grow, and had 
 large ear-rings. Their features were distinguished 
 by a prominent aquiline nose, and their complexion 
 was lighter than that of the Egyptians. The Tok- 
 kari, or Takaru, also, bear some resemblance to a 
 people represented in the Assyrian sculptures, both 
 
 * Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. p. 383. 
 
 f Menander, as quoted by Josephus (lib. ix. c. 14.), mentions the con- 
 quest of a nation called the Kitttei by Elulaeus, king of Tyre. They 
 must have been a maritime people, for the Tyrians are said to have sailed 
 against them. 
 
 J See woodcut facing p. 372. 
 
 Sir Gardner Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. p. 365.
 
 CHAP.V.] ENEMIES OF THE ASSYRIANS. 405 
 
 in their arms and dress, and in the shape of the 
 carts drawn by oxen.* 
 
 Mr. Birch is inclined to identify the Ruten-nu, or 
 Lodan-nu, of the statistical tablet of Karnak with the 
 Cappadocians, or Leuco-Syrians, inhabiting the coun- 
 try to the north and south of the Taurus; who, 
 he conjectures, are also represented at Khorsabad. 
 Their physical characteristics in the Egyptian sculp- 
 tures are a light complexion, brown or red hair, 
 and blue eyes ; and they bring horses, chariots, rare 
 woods, ivory, gloves, a bear, and gold and silver 
 vases, with the head of Baal. They wore tight 
 dresses, apparently of wool, fastened in front with a 
 buckle, and carried objects like long gloves, f That 
 the Ruten inhabited a country adjoining the Assy- 
 rians may be inferred, from their being mentioned 
 in geographical lists between Naharaina (Mesopo- 
 tamia), and Singara (Sinjar). Amongst the spoil 
 represented as brought from a conquered city at 
 Khorsabad, is the chariot closely resembling, in its 
 yoke and four-spoked wheels, that seen at Thebes 
 amongst the objects of tribute of this people. J 
 
 It is singular that the name of Assyria cannot be 
 satisfactorily identified as that of a conquered nation 
 on any Egyptian monument. With the exception 
 
 * See woodcut, p. 396. 
 
 f Memoir on the Statistical Tablet of Karnak, p. 17. 
 
 J Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol. i. p. 377. ; and see woodcut of 
 chariot, p. 399. 
 
 At Medinat Haboo there appears to be, amongst other names of 
 conquered Asiatic nations, " Atur," which Mr. Birch connects with Ataru, 
 Aturia ; but the reading is, I believe, doubtful. (Memoir on the Statis- 
 tical Tablet of Karnak, p. 24.) 
 
 3
 
 406 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 of the statistical tablet of Karnak, in which, as it 
 has been seen, Nineveh appears to be mentioned*, 
 there is no record of any expedition undertaken by 
 the Egyptians beyond Mesopotamia into Assyria 
 Proper. Naharaina, and the Euphrates, appear to 
 have been the boundaries of their conquests. As- 
 syria may have been at that period too powerful to 
 invite invasion ; or a campaign against it, proving 
 unsuccessful, may not have been recorded. Thus 
 among the people beyond Syria, subdued by the 
 Egyptians, are almost always mentioned the inhabit- 
 ants of Naharaina and Singara, and the Khita, and 
 the Ruten ; and, unless either of them can be iden- 
 tified with the Assyrians, we must conclude that 
 the Sinjar formed the limits of the Egyptian expe- 
 ditions in this part of Asia. The Ruten and the 
 Khita may, perhaps, be identified with some of the* 
 nations with whom the Assyrians themselves were at 
 war ; but in the Egyptian sculptures we do not find 
 those peculiarities in the costume, and in the forms 
 of the chariots, and horse-furniture, which would 
 satisfactorily connect the people represented with 
 the inhabitants of Nineveh. It can scarcely be 
 doubted that had the Assyrian warriors of the 
 early Nimroud bas-reliefs been amongst the Egyp- 
 tian captives, these distinctions would have been 
 carefully portrayed. Nor, it will be remembered, 
 does the name of Babel, or Babylon, more than 
 once occur in the great statistical tablet of Karnak ; 
 whilst Singara and Naharaina are continually in- 
 
 * See page 224.
 
 CHAP. V.j ENEMIES OF THE ASSYRIANS. 407 
 
 eluded amongst the conquered nations. Neither is 
 there any mention of the great cities situated be- 
 tween Nineveh and Babylon, and in Susiana, nor 
 of the rivers flowing into the Tigris after its passage 
 through the Taurus. These facts appear to prove 
 that the Egyptians had not, at an early period, car- 
 ried their conquests into Assyria Proper, Babylonia, 
 or Chalda?a, although there are strong grounds for 
 suspecting that they were not unacquainted with 
 the inhabitants of those countries, but that, on the 
 contrary, they had felt the influence which the As- 
 syrians exercised over Asia.* 
 
 * I am indebted to Mr. Birch for the following note with regard to the 
 various people mentioned in the text. " Different opinions exist as to 
 whom the Sharu or Kharu are to be referred. They cannot be Assyrians, 
 for in one of the hieratic papyri (Select Papyri, Ixxxiv. 1. 11.), the 
 , writer states, ' thou hast a galley going to the Sharu,' which would 
 apparently refer to a galley coasting along the Mediterranean, probably 
 for the sake of wine, which in another papyrus is especially alluded to as 
 their product. (Select Papyri, pi. xcvii. 1. 1.) The earliest mention of 
 them is in the statistical tablet of Karnak, in the reign of Thothmes III., 
 when they supplied Egypt with bows. (Birch, Gallery, p. 88192., and 
 Statistical Tablet.) They are the Syri or Syrians. Osburn (Ancient 
 Egypt, p. 57.) supposes the name to be Tyre, "IV, Tsur, which is nearly the 
 same. According to Dr. Hincks (An Attempt to ascertain the Letters of 
 the Hieroglyphic Alphabet, p. 15.) it is Khelbon, Xa\v(3wv, or Aleppo. 
 The necklaces and ear-rings are probably in the shape of the goddess 
 Astarte, or Ashtaroth. The name is distinct from Tyre, written in 
 hieroglyphics ' Turu,' and from Khaleb, written with very different sym- 
 bols. From their maritime position they were probably Syrians in general. 
 The Khita were probably a Mesopotamian people. They have been con- 
 jectured to be the Scythians (Champollion, Lettres Ecrites, p. 151. 
 501.), the Shethites or Moabites (Osburn, Ancient Egypt, p. 136.), the 
 I littites (cf. Bunsen, /Egyptens Stelle, Buch i. S. 480.), and the Cuthasans 
 of Mesopotamia (Birch, Gallery, p. 89.). For the reasons for supposing 
 them to be the Cuthamns, Casdim, or Chaldaeans, see the Statistical 
 Tablet of Karnak, p. 22 and 23. The Shairutana are always described 
 as a maritime people, as ' the Shairutana of the Sea.' (Champ. Mon. 
 
 D 4
 
 408 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. V. 
 
 Egyp. pi. ccciii. No. 1.) They appear at the time of the nineteenth 
 dynasty as allies or enemies of the Pulusatu, or Philistines. They have 
 been conjectured to be the Sidonians (Osburn, Anc. Egypt, p. 108.); and 
 the helmet has been supposed to be surmounted by the disk and crescent 
 of Astarte. All this is, however, doubtful, and another way of writing 
 Sidon (not to object to the introduction of r), occurs in the historic 
 papyri. Did the ' Great Lake,' or ' Sea,' refer to the Caspian ? The 
 people called by Sir Gardner Wilkinson Takaru, are of the same race as 
 the Philistines. There is some difficulty about the reading of this name, 
 whether Fikaru, or Takaru, or Takalu. They have been conjectured to 
 be the Philistine people of Ekron. (Osburn, Anc. Egypt, p. ]40.) The 
 people of Naharaina are once represented in the monuments of Egypt, 
 in a tomb at Gournah. Their heads are bound with a simple fillet ; 
 they are dressed in ample garments, and have long beards, resembling 
 the other Semitic races. Their tribute is gold and silver vases. The 
 tomb is of the age of Thothmes IV., and either represents an event of 
 that, or of the preceding, reign. (Chump. Monum. tome ii. pi. clx.) 
 Atur is the Egyptian word for ' river ; ' it suggests that Aturia and 
 Assyria meant the 'land of the river.' The name of Assuar in the 
 Select Papyri, as a country conquered by the Egyptians (PI. Ivii. 1. 6. ; 
 Hincks's Attempt, p. 46.), is not certainly identified with Assyria."
 
 CHAP. VI ] PKIVATE LIFE OF THE ASSYRIANS. 409 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 PRIVATE LIFE OF THE ASSYRIANS. PUBLIC FESTIVALS. MUSIC. 
 
 MANUFACTURES. EMBROIDERIES AND CARPETS. METALS. 
 
 GOLD AND SILVER IRON AND COPPER. IVORY. GLASS. 
 
 AGRICULTURE. DOMESTIC ANIMALS. WILD ANIMALS. THE 
 
 LION. THE WILD BULL. THE IBEX. HUNTING. PARKS OR 
 
 PARADISES. WILD ANIMALS BROUGHT AS TRIBUTE. THE 
 
 BACTR1AN CAMEL, ELEPHANT, AND RHINOCEROS. MONKEYS AND 
 
 APES. BIRDS. FISH. TREES. 
 
 THE monuments hitherto discovered in Assyria, furnish 
 us with few details illustrating the private life and 
 domestic economy of those who raised them. The 
 bas-reliefs are mostly public records of conquests, tri- 
 umphs, and great religious ceremonies. As they were 
 placed in palaces and temples, they could, of course, 
 but refer to national events ; no others being worthy 
 of so conspicuous a position. If any memorial of the 
 private life of an individual were preserved, or if his 
 peculiar profession or trade were indicated, it must 
 have been in his own dwelling or in his tomb, as in 
 Egypt. Hitherto only the public buildings of Assy- 
 ria have been discovered, and we have consequently 
 only the public records. If the interiors of houses 
 and the occupations of their inmates, are represented 
 in the bas-reliefs, they are casually introduced, to 
 illustrate or to convey more fully the meaning of 
 the general subject. Thus within the walls of castles 
 belonging to the Assyrians, or captured by them,
 
 410 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VI. 
 
 are seen buildings and tents. The inhabitants are 
 slaying sheep, and engaged in domestic occupations, 
 seated and conversing together, feeding their horses, 
 and preparing their couches. But these details are 
 all made subservient to the main action, which is 
 the siege or triumph.* 
 
 With such scanty materials at our command, we 
 can scarcely venture to form any conjecture as to 
 the manners and private life of the Assyrians. The 
 subject must be deferred until further discoveries 
 have supplied us with additional information. 
 
 From casual notices in the Bible and in ancient 
 history, we learn that the Assyrians, as well as those 
 who succeeded them in the empire of Asia, were fond 
 of public entertainments and festivities, and that they 
 displayed on such occasions the greatest luxury and 
 magnificence. The Assyrian king, called Xabucho- 
 donosor in the book of Judith, on returning from his 
 victorious expedition against Arphaxad, feasted with 
 his whole army for one hundred and twenty days. 
 The same is related by the Greek authors of Sarda- 
 napalus, after his great victory over the combined 
 armies ot the Medes. The book of Esther describes 
 the splendour of the festivals given by the Baby- 
 lonian king. The princes and nobles of his vast 
 dominions were feasted for one hundred and eighty 
 days; and for one week all the people of Susa as- 
 
 * In the Assyrian sculptures attendants are frequently introduced 
 carrying vessels and skins, probably containing provisions. It may be 
 observed that the skins are tied precisely as at this day the two ex- 
 tremities being fastened by the opposite ends of one string.
 
 CHAP. VI.] ASSYRIAN FESTIVITIES. 411 
 
 sembled in the gardens of his palace, and were served 
 in vessels of gold. The richest tapestries adorned 
 the halls and tents, and the most costly couches were 
 prepared for the guests.* Wine was served in abun- 
 dance, and women, including even the wives and con- 
 cubines of the monarch, were frequently present to 
 add to the magnificence of the scene. According to 
 Quintus Curtius, not only did hired female per- 
 formers exhibit on these occasions, but the wives and 
 daughters of the nobles, forgetting their modesty, 
 danced before the guests, divesting themselves even 
 of their garments, f Wine was drunk immoderately. 
 When Babylon was taken by the Persians, the in- 
 habitants were celebrating one of their great festivals, 
 and even the guards were intoxicated. J The Baby- 
 lonian king, ignorant of the approaching fate of his 
 capital, and surrounded by one thousand of his 
 princes and nobles, and by his wives and concubines, 
 drank out of the golden vessels that had been carried 
 away from the Jewish temple. On the walls of the 
 palace at Khorsabad was a bas-relief representing a 
 public feast, probably in celebration of a victory. 
 Men were seen seated on high chairs with drinking- 
 cups in their hands ; whilst attendants were bringing 
 in bowls, goblets, and various fruits and viands, for 
 
 * Esther, i. ; Daniel, v. 
 
 f That it was subsequently the custom of the Persians to introduce 
 their wives and concubines at their public banquets, is shown by the 
 anecdote of Amyntas and the Persian ambassadors, related by Herodotus. 
 (Lib. v. c. 18.) 
 
 J Xenophon, Cyrop. vii. 5.; Herod. 1. i. c. 101. 
 
 Daniel, v. 2.
 
 412 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VI. 
 
 the banquet. At Mmroud part of a similar bas- 
 relief was discovered. 
 
 Music was not wanting on these occasions. It is 
 probable that the Assyrians, like the Egyptians, had 
 various musical instruments: only one kind, how- 
 ever, is represented in the sculptures. It is in the 
 shape of a triangle, is held between the left arm and 
 the side, and appears to have been suspended from 
 the neck. The strings, nine or ten in number, are 
 stretched between a flat board and an upright bar, 
 through which they pass. Tassels are appended to 
 the ends of the strings, and the bar itself is generally 
 surmounted by a small hand, probably of metal or 
 ivory. The instrument was struck with a plectrum 
 held in the right hand : the left appears to have been 
 used either to pull the strings, or to produce notes 
 by pressure. Like the Egyptian harp, it had no 
 cross-piece between the upright bar and the flat board 
 or base ; it is difficult, therefore, to understand how 
 the strings could have been sufficiently tightened to 
 produce notes.* 
 
 In describing the dress of the Assyrians, I have 
 had occasion to allude to their skill in the manu- 
 facture of linen and woollen stuffs, which were dyed, 
 and embroidered not only with a variety of beau- 
 
 * There is a representation of this musical instrument in the bas-relief 
 of the king standing over the crouching lion, now in the British Museum. 
 There are also several examples of it in my "Monuments of Nineveh." 
 The god which Mr. Birch now conjectures to be Baal (Gallery, fig. 80.), 
 is represented at Talmis playing on a triangular lyre. (Rosellini, M.C., 
 Teste, torn. iii. p. 19. tav. ann.)
 
 CHAP. VI.] MANUFACTURES. 413 
 
 tiful ornaments, but with groups of human figures 
 and animals. Of all Asiatic nations, the Babylonians 
 were most noted for the weaving of cloth of divers 
 colours. In these stuffs gold threads were intro- 
 duced into the woof of many hues. * Amongst those 
 who traded in " blue clothes and embroidered work " 
 with Tyre, were the merchants of Asshur or As- 
 syria f ; and that the garments of Babylon were 
 brought into Syria, and greatly esteemed at a very 
 early period, we learn from their being classed 
 amongst the most precious articles of spoil, even 
 with gold, in the time of Joshua. J They formed, 
 perhaps, " the dyed attire and embroidered work " 
 so frequently mentioned in the Scriptures as the 
 garments of princes, and the most costly gifts of 
 kings. The ornaments and figures upon them may 
 either have been dyed, worked in the loom, or em- 
 broidered with the needle, like " the prey of divers 
 colours of needle-work, of divers colours of needle- 
 work on both sides." 
 
 The cotton manufactures of Babylon were as re- 
 markable for brilliancy of colour as fineness of tex- 
 ture, and Pliny attributes the invention of cotton weav- 
 ing to Semiramis. || The silken robes of Assyria were 
 equally esteemed. The looms of Babylon maintained 
 
 * Pliny, viii. 48. -f Ezekiel, xxvii. 24. 
 
 J Joshua, vii. 21. Achan confesses to Joshua that "when he saw 
 among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels 
 of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, he coveted, and 
 took them." 
 
 Judges, v. 30. || C. vii. p. 417.
 
 414 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VI. 
 
 their celebrity long after the fall of the Assyrian 
 empire even to the time of the Roman supremacy.* 
 
 The carpets of Babylon were no less prized than 
 her other manufactures. Like the Assyrian robes, 
 they appear to have been embroidered with figures of 
 animals and flowers. A purple carpet covered the 
 tomb of Cyrus ; and on the bed upon which the body 
 was placed, were Babylonian garments, carpets, and 
 purple drapery. f 
 
 These manufactures probably formed one of the 
 principal branches of trade of " this land of traffic and 
 city of merchants." J The Babylonians and Assy- 
 rians carried on a considerable commerce with India ; 
 and the costly produce of that peninsula was conveyed 
 through the Babylonian territories to the most dis- 
 tant regions of Syria, from whence it was diffused 
 over western Europe and Asia Minor. 
 
 * According to Plutarch, Cato, receiving as a legacy a Babylonish gar- 
 ment, sold it, because too costly for a citizen to wear. Arech, on the 
 Euphrates, was long celebrated for its looms. Some Babylonian curtains 
 and draperies were sold, according to Pliny, for nearly 70001. 
 
 f Arrian, vi. 29. The carpets of Babylon, worked with wonderful 
 animals, are described by Athenaeus, v. p. 197. From Persia they passed 
 into Greece. (2Eschyl. Agam. 1. 898, 899. 913. 925.; Aristophanes, 
 Ranae, 1. 935. ; Aristot. Phys. Ausc. iv. ; Menander, apud. Athen. xi. 
 p. 484. 500.) The Parthians appear to have preserved the art of these 
 manufactures (Pliny, 1. viii. c. 73.), for which the modern Persians and 
 the inhabitants of the "Kurdish mountains are still eminently distin- 
 guished. 
 
 J Ezekiel, xvii. 4. 
 
 Heeren has fully and ably described the nature and extent of the 
 commerce of the Babylonians in his Essays on the Policy and Commerce 
 of the Ancients. The commercial route from India to Syria was first to 
 the Sabsei and Dedan on the southern and eastern coast of Arabia. 
 (Isaiah, Ix. 6. ; Ezekiel, xxvii. 15. and 20.) It then passed through the
 
 CHAP. VI.] METALS. 415 
 
 The Assyrians were no less celebrated for their 
 skill in working metals than for their embroideries.* 
 Their mountains furnished a variety of minerals 
 
 / 
 
 silver, iron, copper, and lead, and perhaps even gold. 
 Iron, the most useful of all metals, was the one 
 which most abounded, and which could be most easily 
 procured, as soon as the process of extracting it from 
 the ore was known. I have observed that it is 
 found in great quantities scattered on the sides of 
 mountains, three or four days' journey from Mosul, f 
 Amongst the objects of tribute enumerated in the 
 statistical tablet of Karnak, iron is mentioned as 
 brought to the Egyptians almost exclusively by the 
 inhabitants either of Assyria Proper, or of the coun- 
 tries immediately adjacent by the Tahai, the Ruten- 
 nu, and the Asi. It was generally exported in the 
 form of bricks or pigs, but also occasionally in the 
 ore. The same nations, particularly the Tahai, offered 
 gold, silver, tin(?), copper, brass, lead, and anti- 
 mony (?). These metals were not only brought in 
 the rough state, or, if gold and silver, in rings, but 
 even manufactured into vases of beautiful form. Mr. 
 Birch remarks : " The silver vases of the Tahai 
 are a remarkable tribute, as they show an excellence 
 
 Gerrhsei. (Diod. iii. 41. ; Strabo, xv.) North of the Dedan, the route lay 
 through Thema (Isaiah, xxi. 14.; Job, vi. 19.; Jeremiah, xxv. 23., xlix. 
 7, 8. ; Ezekiel, xxv. 13.) ; from thence to the land of Kedar. (Isaiah, Ix. 7.) 
 
 * It was the custom of the Babylonians, as we learn from Jeremiah, 
 xxiv. 1., to carry away the smiths and carpenters of a conquered nation. 
 It is probable, therefore, that whilst the Assyrians themselves were skil- 
 ful in various arts, they had also collected together during their con- 
 quests expert workmen from all parts of Asia. 
 
 t Vol. I. p. 223.
 
 416 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VI 
 
 in working metals among these people ; indeed, the 
 art of toreutic work in Asia influenced so largely 
 even the Greek world at a later period, as to rival 
 and gradually supersede the fictile painted vases of 
 the Greeks." * And he then mentions " the offer- 
 ings of vases of gold and silver, with handles, and 
 feet, and covers in the shape of animals, such as the 
 bull and gazelle (or ? wild goat), kneeling Asiatics, 
 the heads of lions, goats, and even of the god Baal." 
 All these are pure Assyrian emblems. The vase in 
 the form of a lion's head, probably similar to that 
 represented in the sculptures of Khorsabad f , is par- 
 ticularly alluded to amongst the offerings of the 
 Tahai. The tribute obtained by the Egyptians from 
 Naharaina, or Mesopotamia, consisted of vases of gold, 
 silver, and copper, and precious stones ; and vases 
 of gold, silver, and brass were the presents brought 
 by the prince of northern Syria to David. J 
 
 Gold is not now, I believe, known to exist in the 
 mountains of Kurdistan. As, both according to 
 sacred and profane authors, it was collected in such 
 extraordinary quantities in Nineveh and Babylon, 
 and as it is generally included in the Egyptian in- 
 scriptions amongst metals brought from that part of 
 Asia, it is to be presumed that mines of it were once 
 worked within the Assyrian dominions. It was 
 
 * Observations on the Statistical Tablet of Karnak, p. 33. 
 
 t See woodcut, p. 303. 
 
 j 2 Samuel, viii. 10., and 1 Chron. xviii. 10. 
 
 Sardanapalus is said to have placed one hundred and fifty golden 
 beds, and as many tables of the same metal, on his funeral pile, besides 
 gold and silver vases and ornaments in enormous quantities, and purple
 
 CHAP. VI.] METALS. 417 
 
 used by the Assyrians, as I have already mentioned, 
 in their architectural ornaments, bricks and tiles of 
 gold and silver being even placed in the exterior 
 walls of their palaces.* That they were at a very 
 early period acquainted with the art of gilding is 
 proved by the remains of very thin gold leaf, found 
 not only on the ivories and on bricks, but even 
 under the great throne or altar in the north-west 
 palace, where it must have been deposited during 
 the building of the edifice, f 
 
 Silver is found in the mountains of Kurdistan, and 
 mines of it are still worked by the Turkish govern- 
 ment near the frontiers of ancient Assyria, and in 
 Armenia. It is very probable that others exist in a 
 country whose mineral riches have not been explored. 
 
 and many coloured raiments. (Athenaeus, lib. xii.) When Nineveh was 
 taken, it contained, according to some absurd traditions, 25,000,000,000/. 
 sterling in gold ! The spoiler might well have exclaimed, " Take ye 
 the gold, take ye the silver the riches of Nineveh are inexhaustible 
 her vases and precious furniture are infinite." (Nahum, ii. 9.) That 
 this precious metal, however, was most plentiful, we can scarcely doubt. 
 The statue of solid gold raised by Nebuchadnezzar in the plain of Dura 
 was threescore cubits high, and six cubits broad. (Daniel, iii. 1.) 
 Herodotus and Diodorus describe the statues of this metal in the temple 
 of Belus, at Babylon. The base of the table, the seat of the throne, and 
 an altar on which sacrifices were offered, were all of the purest gold. 
 Xerxes carried away the golden statue of the god, twelve cubits in height, 
 which his father Darius had not ventured to seize. (Herod. 1. i. c. 183.) 
 According to Diodorus, the value of the gold taken from the temple of 
 Bolus alone by Xerxes amounted to above 7350 Attic talents, or 
 21,000,000^. sterling money ! 
 
 * Thus the walls of Ecbatana were partly plated with gold and silver, 
 (Herod. 1. i. c. 98.) 
 
 f Gold and silver " spread into plates " are mentioned in Jeremiah 
 amongst the objects of trade brought from Uphaz and Tarshish (ch. x. ver. 
 9.) ; and Solomon's throne was partly overlaid with gold ; as was also the 
 inside of his temple. (1 Kings, vi. 22. and x. 18.) 
 
 VOL. II. E E
 
 418 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CiiAP. VI. 
 
 Although the precious metals were known at a 
 very early period, even Abraham, a dweller in tents, 
 being rich in gold and silver *, no coins have been 
 discovered amongst Assyrian ruins, nor Is there any- 
 thing in the sculptures to show that the Assyrians 
 were acquainted with money, as in Egypt. Metals 
 in their rough state, or in bars or rings, may have 
 been passed by weight, or, if precious, in ring-ingots, 
 or as gold dust, in exchange for merchandise, and 
 in other transactions, but not as stamped coins or 
 tokens, f It is remarkable, that no coin has yet 
 been discovered in Egyptian ruins. J 
 
 Copper mines, worked at a very remote period, 
 probably by the Assyrians themselves, still exist in 
 the mountains within the confines of Assyria. This 
 metal appears to have been extensively used by the 
 Assyrians, both for ornaments, and in the construc- 
 tion of weapons and tools. It was inlaid into their 
 iron helmets, and formed part of their armour. 
 Daggers and the heads of arrows were frequently 
 made of it, mixed, it would appear, with a certain 
 quantity of iron, and hardened, as in Egypt, by an 
 alloy of tin. The tools of the sculptor were probably 
 
 * Genesis, xiii. 2. 
 
 f The money mentioned in the Bible is always passed by weight. 
 (Genesis, xliii. 21.) 
 
 J The earliest mention in authentic history of a coin current in the 
 Persinn dominions is in Herod, lib. iv. c. 166. ; the same author declaring 
 (lib. i. c. 94.) that the Lydians were the first people who coined money. 
 It was issued by Darius Hystaspes, and called after him " the Daric." 
 It was long afterwards celebrated for its purity, and gave its name to all 
 gold pieces subsequently coined in Persia, even by kings of the Macedo- 
 nian race. 
 
 Vol. I. p. 223.
 
 CHAP. VI.] METALS. 419 
 
 of some such combination ; but as the Egyptians 
 appear to have been acquainted, at a very early 
 period, with steel, and to have used it, as well as 
 bronze, in sculpturing stone, marble, and granite, it 
 may be inferred that the Assyrians were not igno- 
 rant of this useful form of iron. The soft limestone 
 of their monuments would not, however, like the 
 granite of Egypt, require a very highly tempered 
 instrument. But the black basalt is hard, offering 
 considerable resistance to the tools of the sculptor; 
 and we find that the Assyrian statues in this mate- 
 rial are less carefully finished than the bas-reliefs 
 of alabaster. 
 
 Antimony is, I believe, found in the Kurdish moun- 
 tains; but I am not aware of the existence of tin 
 in any part of Assyria. Still the Assyrians and the 
 adjoining nations must have obtained this metal from 
 their own dominions, or from some country to the 
 east of them, as it is mentioned amongst the objects 
 of tribute brought to the Egyptians from that part 
 of Asia. It would scarcely have been procured, 
 merely for the purpose of an offering, from the Phoe- 
 nicians, who were so much nearer Egypt. 
 
 The Assyrians were equally skilled in working and 
 casting metals. Amongst the copper figures from 
 Ximroud, I must particularly mention the lions in 
 solid metal found under the fallen bull in the great 
 hall, which are of great beauty, almost rivalling the 
 bronzes of Greece; and three hollow lions' paws, 
 which apparently formed the feet of a throne or 
 couch. 
 
 E E 2
 
 420 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VI. 
 
 I have already had occasion to speak of their dex- 
 terity in carving ivory, and have described the 
 beautiful ornaments in that material discovered at 
 Nimroud. Although the elephant was not an in- 
 habitant of Assyria, but was probably brought from 
 India, its tusks appear to have been an article of 
 trade between the Assyrians and the nations to the 
 westward. The workmen, too, of Assyria were 
 employed by foreign nations as carvers in ivory ; 
 and we find the company of the Ashurites or As- 
 syrians, making the benches of that material in the 
 Tyrian galleys.* The Assyrians had already ex- 
 tensively used it in the construction of their palaces ; 
 and it was from them, perhaps, that the Jews adopted 
 it in the decoration of their palaces and.fiSrniture.f 
 The human head and limbs carved in ivory, dis- 
 covered at Nimroud, probably belonged to an entire 
 figure, the body of which may have been of wood 
 or metal, like the Chryselephantine statues of the 
 Greeks, which were of wood inlaid with gold and 
 ivory. The Assyrians were acquainted with the art 
 of inlaying. Blue opaque glass and other substances 
 
 * Ezckiel, xxvii. 6. It is possible that some tribe, and not the 
 Assyrians, is meant. Mr. Birch conjectures that the Phoenicians, who 
 appear to have supplied the Greeks with ivory ornaments at a very early 
 period, may have chiefly derived the elephant's tusk from an indirect 
 communication with India and Bactria through Assyria. 
 
 j- Ahab had an ivory house. (1 Kings, xxii. 39.) Ivory palaces are 
 mentioned in Psalm xlv. 8. And compare Amos, iii. 15. Solomon made 
 a thrcne of ivory. (1 Kings, x. 18.) Beds of ivory are spoken of in 
 Amos (vi. 4.). Mr. Birch has collected, in his Memoir on the Nimroud 
 Ivories (Trans, of R. Soc. of Lit., New Series), various instances of the 
 early use of ivory amongst the Assyrians, Egyptians, and Greeks.
 
 CHAP. VI. J AGRICULTURE. 421 
 
 of various colours are let into the ivory tablets from 
 Ximroud. 
 
 They had also acquired the art of making glass.* 
 Several small bottles or vases of elegant shape, 
 in this material, were found at Nimroud and Kouy- 
 tinjik. One bears the name of the Khorsabad king ; 
 and to none of the specimens discovered can we with 
 certainty attribute a higher antiquity than the time 
 of that monarch ; although some fragments in the 
 shape of a dagger from a hall of the most ancient 
 palace of Nimroud may possibly be more ancient. 
 The gems and cylinders still frequently found in 
 ruins prove that the Assyrians were very skilful in 
 engraving on stone. Many of their seals are most 
 delicately and minutely ornamented with various 
 sacred devices and with the forms of animals. Those 
 of the Babylonians are mentioned by Herodotus, 
 who also describes the heads of the walking-sticks 
 in the shape of an apple, a rose, a lily, or an eagle, f 
 These ornaments were probably carved in ivory or in 
 precious stones. 
 
 Herodotus alludes to the extreme fertility of As- 
 syria, and to its rich harvests of corn, the seed pro- 
 ducing, according to his account, two or three hundred- 
 fold. The blades of wheat and barley grew to full 
 four fingers in breadth ; and, such was the general 
 richness of Babylonia, that it supplied the Persian 
 king and his vast army with subsistence for four 
 months in the year, whilst the rest of the Persian 
 
 * Pliny attributes the invention of glass to the Phoenicians, 
 f L. i c. 195. 
 
 K K 3
 
 422 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [Cn.\r. VI. 
 
 dominions furnished provisions for the other eight.* 
 This, it must be remembered, was when the country 
 had lost its independence, and had been reduced to 
 a mere province. I have already described the mode 
 of irrigation by artificial canals derived from the 
 Tigris and Euphrates, intersecting the whole of the 
 lower part of Mesopotamia, and the country in the 
 neighbourhood of the rivers in the upper, f The 
 Assyrians also used machines for raising water from 
 the river, or from the canals, when it could not be 
 led into the fields through common conduits. They 
 were generally obliged to have recourse to this ar- 
 tificial mode of irrigation, as the banks of the rivers, 
 and consequently those of the canals, were high above 
 the level of the water, except during the spring. 
 At that season of the year the streams, swollen by 
 the melting of the snows in the Armenian hills, or 
 by violent rains, overflowed their beds. 
 
 The only representation of an agricultural instru- 
 ment yet found in Assyria or Babylonia is that of a 
 plough, on a black stone from the ruins opposite 
 Mosul. J From the form of the arrow-headed cha- 
 racters in the inscription, this appears to be a Baby- 
 lonian relic. The plough somewhat resembles in 
 shape that now in common use. On the same tablet 
 is an altar or low building, before which stands a 
 priest, apparently performing some religious cere- 
 mony ; near him are the sacred tree, a bull, n heap 
 of corn or a hill, a palm-tree, and a square instru- 
 
 * Herod. 1. i. c. 192. f Vo1 - L . P- 353 
 
 J Now in the possession of the Earl of Aberdeen.
 
 CHAP. VI.] PRODUCE OF THE SOIL. 
 
 ment with a small circle or wheel at each corner, 
 the nature of which I am unable to determine. 
 
 Sesame, millet, and corn, formed anciently, as 
 they still do, the principal agricultural produce of 
 Assyria. Herodotus, who had visited this fruitful 
 country, says that he dares not mention the height 
 to which the sesame and millet grew.* The only 
 oil used in the country, according to the historian, 
 was extracted from sesame ; and such is now the 
 case, although the olive tree is cultivated at the foot 
 of the Kurdish hills. 
 
 The palm-tree, whilst growing in the greatest abund- 
 ance within the ancient limits of the Assyrian empire, 
 does not now produce fruit further north than the 
 junction of the Lesser Zab with the Tigris. It is not, 
 indeed, found on the banks of the latter river more 
 than sixty miles above Baghdad ; but this is chiefly 
 owing to the absence of cultivation and settled habita- 
 tions. It is raised inland as far north as the small 
 town of Taza Kunnali, which takes its name, " the 
 place of fresh dates," from the ripe fruit being there 
 first met with on the road from Constantinople. A 
 line drawn due west from this place to the Mediter- 
 ranean would, I think, give the limits of the growth 
 of the fruit-producing palm. The unproductive tree 
 will grow and will attain a considerable size much 
 further north, even on the southern coast of Asia 
 Minor, and in the south of Italy and Dalmatia. That 
 the fruit was exported in large quantities from the 
 
 * Lib. i. c. 193. 
 
 K E 4
 
 424 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CiiAi-. VI. 
 
 Babylonian plains, as it now is, as an article of com- 
 merce, may be inferred from palm-wine, or spirits 
 extracted from the date, being mentioned by Hero- 
 dotus as the principal cargo brought by rafts to 
 Babylon from Armenia. We find, also, what is pro- 
 bably palm-wine included in the statistical table of 
 Karnak amongst the tribute offered to the Egyptians 
 by the Tahai. 
 
 As lofty mountains rise abruptly from the plains, 
 opposite degrees of temperature mark the climate of 
 Assyria. The soil being naturally rich, its produce 
 is consequently as varied as plentiful. The plains 
 watered by the rivers are parched by a heat almost 
 rivalling that of the torrid zone. Aromatic herbs, 
 yielding perfumes celebrated by the poets, indigo, 
 opium, and the sugar-cane *, besides corn and grain 
 of various kinds, and cotton and flax in abundance, 
 were raised in this region. In the cooler temperature 
 of the hills, the mulberry afforded sustenance to the 
 silk- worm f , and many kinds of fruit-trees flourished 
 in the valleys. When Herodotus says that the Assy- 
 rians did not cultivate the vine, the olive, or the fig, 
 he must allude to the inhabitants of the plains. The 
 vine is represented in the sculptures ; and that the 
 Assyrians not only enjoyed the various luxuries which 
 those trees afford, but possessed the trees themselves, 
 
 * Indigo and opium are still cultivated to the south of Baghdad. The 
 sugar-canes, which, in the time of the Persian kings, covered the banks of 
 the rivers of Susiana, have now disappeared ; and this plant is no longer 
 cultivated to any extent to the east of the Euphrates. 
 
 f Pliny particularly mentions silk amongst the produce of Assyria. 
 (Lib. ii. c. 25.)
 
 CHAP. VI.] DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 425 
 
 we learn from their own general, Rabshakeh, who 
 described his country to the Jews as a " land of corn 
 and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of 
 olive-oil and of honey." * Amongst the objects of 
 tribute brought to the Egyptians from the Tahai, 
 and from Naharaina, are corn, bread, palm-wine, 
 wine, honey, incense, and conserve of dates. f 
 
 The domestic animals of the ancient Assyrians 
 were probably such as are still found in the country. 
 On the monuments are seen sheep, goats, oxen, horses, 
 mules, and camels. In a bas-relief from the centre of 
 the Nimroud mound, there appeared to be the figure 
 of a dog standing near a tent ; but the sculpture was 
 much injured. I have not found any other represent- 
 ation of this useful domestic animal, although hunting 
 scenes were portrayed on the walls of Khorsabad ; 
 and we learn from Herodotus J that during the 
 Persian occupation, the number of Indian dogs kept 
 in the province of Babylon for the use of the governor 
 was so great, that four cities were exempted from 
 taxes for maintaining them. Neither is the ass re- 
 presented in the sculptures ; although Herodotus 
 mentions it amongst the domestic animals of the 
 country, and Xenophon amongst the wild. The 
 
 * 2 Kings, xviii. 32. 
 
 f In the hieratic papyri (Select Papyri, pi. xcvi. 15.), a drink called 
 nekfitaru or nekftar, a word which resembles the celebrated nectar, is 
 said to come from Saenkar, or Sinjar ; it is mentioned with other liquids 
 or cosmetics from the Arusa, the Khita, the Amaur, the Tachisa, and 
 Nalmraina 
 
 J Lib. i. c. 192. The dog is occasionally represented on cylinders. 
 
 Chariots drawn by asses are mentioned in Isaiah (xxi. 7.).
 
 426 NINEVEH AND ITS KEMAINS. [CHAP. VI. 
 
 mules of the Kouyunjik bas-reliefs appear to belong 
 to a conquered people ; in a procession of captives, 
 women are seen riding on them, and they carry the 
 spoil. They are correctly delineated, and may at 
 once be distinguished from the horse. 
 
 The sheep represented in the bas-reliefs are of two 
 kinds. One has a large broad tail, and is still found 
 in the country. The tail of the other is smaller. As 
 they are amongst the spoil, and consequently be- 
 longed to the enemies of the Assyrians, they may be 
 the sheep of Arabia which excited the wonder of 
 Herodotus. " One," says he, " has a large tail, not 
 less than three cubits in length, which, if suffered to 
 trail, would ulcerate. The shepherds, therefore, 
 make little carts to support it. The other has a tail 
 nearly a cubit in breadth." * 
 
 The goats have long spiral horns. The oxen are 
 evidently of two kinds, one distinguished by horns 
 curved towards the back of the head, the other having 
 horns projecting in front. It is possible that this 
 distinction marks the buffalo and common ox. Of the 
 Assyrian horses I have already had occasion to speak. 
 Although the form of the camel is somewhat ex- 
 aggerated, the character of the animal is faithfully 
 portrayed. On the obelisk is the two-humped or 
 Bactrian camel ; but it evidently came from afar, and 
 was not a native of Assyria Proper. The one-humped 
 camel, as it has been seen, was ridden, even in war, by 
 
 * Lib. iii. c. 113. This broad tail is the 1"P7X mentioned in Leviticus, 
 iii. 9., vii. 3. &c., translated "the rump" in our version. The sheep is 
 the ovis laticaudia, Linn. (Gesenius, Heb. Diet.)
 
 CHAP. VI.] THE LION. 427 
 
 a people conquered by the Assyrians ; and as a 
 woman is represented mounted upon one, it may be 
 conjectured that it was commonly used as a beast of 
 burden. When brought as tribute, collars and orna- 
 ments, probably of dyed wool, were hung round its 
 neck.* When mounted, it appears to have been 
 guided by a simple halter or head-stall, passing round 
 the centre of the head, like that of the modern Arab.f 
 
 The wild animals represented in the sculptures 
 are either natives of Assyria, or of foreign countries. 
 Amongst the former we have the lion, the wild bull, 
 the stag, the gazelle, the ibex, and the hare. 
 
 The lion, as I have observed J, is now rarely found 
 on the banks of the Tigris as far north as Mosul, or 
 even above Baghdad. That it was originally an in^ 
 habitant of the country, there can be no doubt. 
 From the earliest period it was considered the noblest 
 of game, and was included amongst the wild beasts 
 
 * The chains and ornaments, like those worn on the camels' necks, are 
 mentioned in Judges, viii. 21. and 26. 
 
 f That camels formed a principal part of the flocks of the people 
 anciently inhabiting Assyria and Chalda2a, we have ample proof in the 
 Bible (Genesis, xxiv. 19.) ; they were possessed by Abraham (Genesis xii. 
 16.), and by Jacob (Genesis, xxx. 43.) ; they wereused as beasts of burden 
 (Genesis, xxxi. 34., and 1 Samuel, xxx. 17.) ; also, as to this day, by couriers 
 and for posts (Esther, viii. 10. and 14.). This fleet dromedary was not a 
 distinct animal, but probably a camel specially trained, as the hejin of the 
 modern Arabs. I have travelled on those used in the Arabian desert, and 
 their speed and powers of endurance are both equally surprising. Hero- 
 dotus mentions that the camels used by a certain tribe of Indians were as 
 swift as horses. (Lib. iii. v. 102.) That camels were even sometimes 
 harnessed in chariots may, perhaps, be inferred from Isaiah, xxi. 7. The 
 earliest mention of the camel in Egyptian monuments is in the time of 
 the nineteenth dynasty. It is not represented on any monument hitherto 
 discovered. 
 
 { P. 48.
 
 428 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VI. 
 
 preserved in the paradises, or parks, attached to 
 the royal palaces. On the monuments of Nineveh, 
 the triumphs of the king over this formidable animal 
 are deemed no less worthy of record than his victories 
 over his enemies. History and tradition, too, have 
 celebrated the prowess of Ninus and Semiramis in 
 their encounters with the lion ; and paintings, repre- 
 senting these feats, adorned the palaces of Babylon. 
 The Assyrian sculptor evidently delighted in such 
 subjects, in which, indeed, his skill could be eminently 
 displayed. He had carefully studied the animal, and 
 whilst he excelled in the delineation of its form, he 
 portrayed its action and expression with wonderful 
 spirit, faithfully preserving the character of the animal, 
 when springing with fury upon its assailant, or dying, 
 pierced with arrows, at his feet.* 
 
 The lion of the sculptures is furnished with a long 
 and bushy mane. It has been doubted whether the 
 animal which still inhabits the country has this noble 
 appendage; but I have seen more than one on the 
 banks of the Karoon provided with it. There is a 
 peculiarity in the Asiatic lion which has not escaped 
 the notice of the sculptor the claw at the extremity 
 of the tail. This claw was not unknown to ancient 
 naturalists. The first mention of it is found, I be- 
 lieve, in the Commentary of Didymus of Alexandria 
 on the Iliad. In modern times its existence was 
 
 * The skill of the Assyrian sculptor in'delincating the lion, is particu- 
 larly shown in the bas relief in the British Museum. The lion is not 
 represented in the Assyrian, as in the Egyptian, sculptures, tamed and 
 following the king, or trained to the chase.
 
 CHAP. VI.] THE WILD BULL. 429 
 
 denied, and has only been established within a few 
 years. It is still, I believe, considered to be a mere 
 casual excrescence, and is not met with in all speci- 
 mens of the animal.* 
 
 The wild bull, from its frequent representation 
 in the bas-reliefs, appears to have been considered 
 scarcely less formidable and noble game than the 
 lion. The king is frequently seen contending with 
 it, and warriors pursue it both on horseback and 
 on foot. In the embroideries on the garments of 
 the principal figures it is introduced, both in hunt- 
 ing scenes and in groups, which appear to have 
 a mythic or symbolical meaning. I was at one 
 time inclined to think that the bull of the sculp- 
 tures might represent the unicorn or raim so often 
 alluded to in the Scriptures, as an animal renowned 
 for its strength and ferocity, and typical of power 
 and might, f But the unicorn of the Scriptures 
 is now, I believe, generally identified with a large 
 and fierce antelope, or oryx, inhabiting Arabia and 
 Egypt. Professor Migliarini of Florence informs me 
 that the word raim itself occurs in hieroglyphics 
 over a figure of this antelope, in an Egyptian sculp- 
 ture ; and he conjectures that the Jews derived a 
 knowledge of the animal, as well as its name, from 
 
 * Proceedings of the Council of the Zoological Society for 1832, p. 146. 
 Captain W. Smee, in a paper on the Maueless Lion of Guzerat (Trans, 
 of the Zool. Soc. vol. i. p. 169.) observes, " in this tuft (of the tail) 
 there existed, subsequently to its arrival in England, in the oldest of my 
 lions, a short horny claw or nail, similar in form to, but somewhat larger 
 in size, than the one described by Mr. Woods." 
 
 f Gesenius (Lex. in voce) gives the signification of wild buffalo to 
 the DN1, the monoceros, rhinoceros, and unicornis of the Septuagint.
 
 430 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VI. 
 
 the Egyptians. The bull of the bas-reliefs of Niiu- 
 roud is evidently a Avild animal, which inhabited 
 Mesopotamia or Assyria. Its form is too faithfully 
 delineated to permit of the supposition that it is an 
 antelope. It is distinguished from the domestic ox 
 by a number of small marks covering the body, and 
 probably intended to denote long and shaggy hair. 
 It is represented with one horn, as the horses have 
 frequently only two legs or one ear, because the As- 
 syrian sculptor did not attempt to give both in a side 
 view of the animal. 
 
 As mention is also made in the Bible of the wild 
 ox *, it is probable that at some ancient period this 
 animal was an inhabitant of Assyria, or of the ad- 
 jacent countries, although it has long since become 
 extinct. Had it been found in the plains of Mesopo- 
 tamia in the time of Xenophon, he would probably 
 have described it when speaking of the animals of 
 that province. As it is only seen in the oldest monu- 
 ments of Nirnroud, and not in those of Khorsabad or 
 Kouyunjik, it is possible that, when the country be- 
 came more thickly peopled in the latter period of the 
 Assyrian empire, the wild ox disappeared. 
 
 On the walls of Khorsabad was represented a 
 hunting scene, in which hares and partridges were 
 introduced as objects of the chase. Both still abound 
 in the country. 
 
 * Deut. xiv. 5. The wild ox is included amongst the animals whose 
 flesh may be eaten by the Jews ; and the " wild bull in a net " is also 
 alluded to in Isaiah, li. 20. The Hebrew word is rendered " wild bull " in 
 the Targums, and " oryx" (op'{) in the Vulgate ; some, however, brlirvu 
 the animal meant, to be a kind of antelope. (Gesenius, Lex. in voce.)
 
 CHAP. VI.] THE CHASE. 431 
 
 The ibex, or wild goat, is an inhabitant of the 
 mountains of Kurdistan.* The stag is found in 
 the forests, and the plains are covered with innumer- 
 able flocks of gazelles. More than one species of wild 
 sheep, only recently known to European naturalists, 
 haunt the higher ranges of the Assyrian mountains. 
 Several of these animals are portrayed in the sculp- 
 tures. The ibex was evidently a sacred animal, 
 as it is carried by the winged figures, and is fre- 
 quently introduced as an ornament. f A stag, also 
 borne by a winged priest or divinity, was spotted 
 like the fallow deer of our parks. 
 
 The frequent representation of hunting scenes in 
 the Assyrian sculptures is a proof of the high estima- 
 tion in which the chase was held by the people. A 
 conqueror and the founder of an empire was, at the 
 same time, a great hunter. His courage, wisdom, 
 and dexterity were as much shown in encounters 
 with wild beasts as in martial exploits; he rendered 
 equal services to his subjects whether he cleared 
 the country of wild beasts or repulsed an enemy. 
 The scriptural Nimrod, who laid the foundation 
 of the Assyrian empire, was " a mighty hunter 
 before the Lord;" and the Ninus of history and 
 tradition, the builder of Nineveh, and the greatest 
 of the Assyrian kings, was as renowned for his en- 
 counters with the lion and leopard, as for his tri- 
 
 * It is possible that the animal I have assumed to be the ibex is 
 sometimes the gazelle. 
 
 t See p. 296. of this volume.
 
 43*2 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VI. 
 
 umphs over warlike nations. We have seen that 
 the Babylonians, as well as the Assyrians, orna- 
 mented the walls of their temples and palaces with 
 pictures and sculptures representing the chase ; and 
 that similar subjects were introduced, even in the 
 embroideries on their garments.* The Assyrians 
 were probably also the inventors of the parks, or 
 paradises, which were afterwards maintained with 
 so much sumptuousness by the Persian kings, of the 
 Acluemenian and Sassanian dynasties, f In these 
 spacious preserves various kinds of wild animals were 
 continually kept for the diversion of the king, and 
 for those who were privileged to join with him in 
 the chase. They contained lions, tigers, wild boars, 
 antelopes, and many varieties of birds. As amongst 
 the Persians, the Assyrian youths were probably 
 trained to hunting at an early age. Xenophon gives 
 an interesting account of the hunting expeditions of 
 the Persians in the time of Cyrus. The king was ac- 
 companied by half his guard, each man being fur- 
 nished with a bow, quiver, sword, shield, and two 
 javelins armed, indeed, as if he were going to war. 
 That such was also the practice amongst the Assy- 
 rians is shown by the Nimroud bas-reliefs, in which 
 
 * Ammianus Marcell. lib. xxvi. c. 6. ; Diod. Siculus, lib. ii. ; Athen. 
 lib. xii. c. 9. % . 
 
 f Xenopbon, Cyr. lib. i. c. 3.; Quint. Curt, lib.vii. andviii. These para- 
 dises were stocked, not only with game of every kind, but with various 
 trees, shrubs, and plants ; and were watered by numerous artificial streams. 
 The Persian word has passed into various languages, and is used for the 
 first abode of man before his fall, as well as for the state of eternal hap- 
 piness.
 
 CHAP. VI.] 
 
 THE CAMEL. 
 
 433 
 
 the king is always represented as accompanied in the 
 chase by warriors fully equipped ; hunting being, as 
 Xenophon declares, the truest method of practising 
 all such things as relate to war. * 
 
 On the obelisk, as I have already mentioned, are 
 representations of several animals, evidently brought 
 from distant countries, and presented to the As- 
 syrian king as objects of tribute. The presence of 
 the two-humped camel proves that they came from 
 the East, and not from Africa. This animal is a 
 native of Bactria, or of the great steppes inhabited 
 by the Tatar tribes. It is unknown to the Arabs, 
 and is rarely seen to the west of Persia, except 
 amongst a few isolated families of Turcomans, who 
 now reside in the north of Syria, and who pro- 
 bably brought this beast of burden from the north- 
 east, when they first emigrated. 
 
 BACTRIAN OK TWO-HUMPED CAMELS. (Obelisk, Nimroud.) 
 
 The small ears of the elephant, on the same obelisk, 
 show that the animal is of the Indian, and not the 
 African species, f 
 
 * Cyrop. lib. i. c. 2. t Elephas Indicus. 
 
 VOL. II. F F
 
 434 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. VI. 
 
 On Egyptian monuments, the elephant is seen, 
 amongst other animals, brought as tribute by an 
 Asiatic, though not an Indian, people.* It was pro- 
 bably obtained by them from the eastward ; for 
 there is no record of the elephant being indigenous 
 
 Elephant, the Our 
 
 Outan ('). the Houuuman or small Indian Monkey 
 (Obelisk, Nimroud.) 
 
 in any part of Asia west of the Indus. Although 
 it appeared in the Persian armies, and might even 
 have been pastured long previously in the rich plains 
 of Mesopotamia, it originally came from the Indian 
 dominions of the great king. Had it been used in 
 war by the Assyrians, it would doubtless have been 
 so represented in the sculptures, f 
 
 The presence of the rhinoceros on the obelisk fur- 
 ther points to the Indian origin of the accompanying 
 animals. It is in several respects incorrectly de- 
 lineated, the sculptor having given it hoofs, a mane 
 
 * Sir Gardner Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, vol. v. p. 176.; vol. i. 
 pi. 5v. 
 
 f The elephant has not been found represented as a beast of bunk-n 
 on the monuments of Egypt. The only African nation who appear to 
 have used it in their wars were the Carthaginians.
 
 CHAP. VI.] 
 
 THE RHINOCEROS. 
 
 435 
 
 on the neck, and long hair, which appears to have 
 been artificially curled like that of the sacred bull. 
 Still the general form of the animal, and the shape 
 and position of the horn, clearly identify it with 
 the Indian rhinoceros.* Specimens of this animal 
 were probably rare in Assyria, and the sculptor 
 may have drawn it from recollection or only from 
 the description of those who had seen it. This is the 
 earliest representation of the rhinoceros with which 
 we are acquainted. 
 
 The Bull the Rhinoceros, and the Chikara or large Indian Antelope (?). 
 (Obelisk, Nimroud.) 
 
 The two animals accompanying the rhinoceros are 
 probably an Indian bull, and a kind of antelope. 
 The bull has a r collar, ornamented with tassels, round 
 its neck, and may have been a sacred animal. The 
 antelope, from its size and the shape of its horns, 
 may perhaps be identified with the Indian chikara f ; 
 although the thickness of the limbs rather denotes 
 a species of wild goat. 
 
 * Rhinoceros unicornis. 
 
 f Antelope Bennettii. I had once conjectured it to be the nylgau of 
 the Indian peninsula. 
 
 F F 2
 
 436 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. 
 
 [CHAP. VI. 
 
 The sculptor has evidently indicated, by certain 
 peculiarities, four distinct species of monkeys or apes. 
 Immediately behind the elephant is a man leading 
 a large monkey without a tail, which, if from In- 
 dia, can only be identified with the ourari outan, no 
 other monkey found in that country being so distin- 
 guished.* A man follows with two smaller monkeys, 
 one raising itself on its hind legs, the other sitting on 
 the shoulders of its keeper. These may be the hou- 
 numan f , a monkey regarded with some degree of 
 religious veneration by the Indians, and frequently 
 domesticated by them. They appear to be of the 
 
 The Bruli or great Indian Monkey C), and the Wanderoo or Maned Ape (?). 
 (Obelisk, Nimroud.) 
 
 same species as those represented in the large bas- 
 relief from the north-west palace of Nimroud J, which 
 are covered with small spots, probably to denote long 
 hair. 
 
 * The only other monkey without a tail, is, I believe, the chimpanzee 
 of Africa. 
 
 f Simia Entellus. 
 
 { Vol. I. p. 126. An engraving of this bas-relief is included in my 
 " Monuments of Nineveh."
 
 CHAP. VI] MONKEYS. 437 
 
 In a separate group are two monkeys or apes, whose 
 strength and ferocity are indicated by thick chains 
 passed round their bodies, and held by keepers. The 
 first raises a fore-paw to its mouth ; and wears a 
 necklace of beads. It may be the bruh *, the largest 
 of the Indian monkey tribe ; and it is not altogether 
 unlike that animal in shape. In the bas-relief it is 
 even larger than the man ; but the sculptor probably 
 exaggerated its size. The other monkey is distin- 
 guished from the rest by a hood or mane rising above 
 the head and falling over the shoulders. This pecu- 
 liarity may identify it with the wanderoo, or maned 
 ape of India, f 
 
 The only birds represented on the Assyrian monu- 
 ments hitherto discovered, are the eagle or vulture, 
 the ostrich and the partridge, and a few smaller birds 
 at Khorsabad, whose forms are too conventional to 
 permit of any conjecture as to their species. 
 
 The vulture or eagle for the bird is rarely de- 
 lineated with sufficient accuracy to enable us to 
 decide which is continually seen over the heads of 
 the conquerors in battle, and in triumphal proces- 
 sions, and was probably considered typical of vic- 
 tory. It is also represented feeding on the bodies 
 of the slain, and flying away with the entrails. J 
 
 The ostrich was only found as an ornament on the 
 robes of figures in the most ancient edifice at 
 Nimroud. As it is accompanied by the emblema- 
 tical flower, and is frequently introduced on Baby- 
 
 * Simia Nemestrinus. f Simla Silenus. 
 
 I See woodcut, p. 340. 
 
 F F 3
 
 438 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VI. 
 
 Ionian and Assyrian cylinders, we may infer that it 
 was a sacred bird. 
 
 In sea and river scenes fish and shells are intro- 
 duced, but the forms appear to be conventional; 
 there are no distinctions to mark any particular spe- 
 cies. * In the rivers are seen crabs, eels or water- 
 snakes, and small turtles. When the sculptor wished 
 to indicate the sea, he made these fish larger, and 
 added others, which are only inhabitants of salt 
 water, such as the star-fish. A kind of crocodile is 
 also represented in the sea-pieces.f 
 
 With the exception of the vine, palm, and fir, the 
 trees of the Assyrian bas-reliefs are conventional in 
 their forms. The sculptor introduced them merely 
 to show the nature of the country in which the events 
 recorded took place. In general, the Assyrian artist 
 appears to have been far less minute and exact in 
 delineating secondary objects than the Egyptian, who 
 as carefully preserved the character of the details, as 
 he did that of the principal figures in his subject. 
 
 * See woodcuts, p. 273. and 395. 
 
 t In the hieratic papyri certain fish are mentioned as brought from the 
 Puharuta, or Euphrates, to Egypt (Select Papyri, pi. Lxxv. 1. 7.), and 
 another fish, or fishy substance, called " Rura," as coming from the land 
 of the great waters, Mesopotamia. (Ibid. xcvi. 1. 7.) In the same papyrus 
 (Ibid, xcviii. 1. 8.) are mentioned horses (htar) and fine cattle from the 
 Saenkar, or Sinjar.
 
 CHAP. VII.] RELIGION OF THE ASSYRIANS. 439 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 RELIGION OF THE ASSYRIANS. DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN EARLIEST 
 AND LATEST PERIODS. SAB.EANISM AND WORSHIP OF THE 
 HEAVENLY BODIES. IDENTITY OF ASSYRIAN AND PERSIAN SYS- 
 TEMS OF FIRE-WORSHIP. THE CHALDJEANS. RELIGIOUS EM- 
 BLEMS IN THE SCULPTURES. THE WINGED FIGURE IN THE 
 CIRCLE. BAAL OR BELUS. HERA, VENUS, OR ASTARTE. 
 
 RHEA. NISROCH OR EAGLE-HEADED GOD. THE GRYPHON. 
 
 WINGED BULLS AND LIONS. THE SPHINX. MYTHOLOGICAL 
 
 FIGURES. SYMBOLIC FIGURES OF EZEKIEL. OANNES OR 
 
 THE MAN-FISH. FIRE-WORSHIP. THE MAGI. FLOWERS AND 
 
 SACRED EMBLEMS. INFLUENCE OF RELIGION ON PUBLIC AND 
 
 PRIVATE LIFE. MODE OF BURIAL. TOMB OF NINUS. DEATH 
 
 AND TOMB OF SARDANAPALUS. CONCLUSION. 
 
 A GENERAL inquiry into the nature of the worship 
 of the Assyrians would be beyond the scope of 
 these volumes. I will merely point out how far 
 their religious system is illustrated by the newly 
 discovered monuments, and what information, when 
 better understood, they are likely to furnish on the 
 subject. As I have more than once had occasion to 
 observe, a marked distinction may be traced between 
 the religion of the earliest and latest Assyrians. It 
 is probable that corruptions gradually crept into their 
 theology. Originally it was a pure Sabasanism, in 
 which the heavenly bodies were worshipped as mere 
 types of the power and attributes of the supreme 
 deity. Of the great antiquity of this primitive wor- 
 ship, there is abundant evidence ; and that it origin- 
 
 F F 4
 
 440 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 ated amongst the inhabitants of the Assyrian plains, 
 we have the united testimony of sacred and profane 
 history. It obtained the epithet of perfect, and was 
 believed to be the most ancient religious svstem, 
 
 f 
 
 having preceded even that of the Egyptians.* 
 
 * " vEgyptiis vero antiquores esse magos Aristoteles auctor est in primo 
 de philosophia libro." (Theopomp. Frag. ) lamblichus de Myst. p. 3. 
 ed. Gale, t;^7 ovv ra piv 'Affffvplutv TraTfia (in some MSS. wpwra) foy/tara 
 Trap.-ifiitffofjLiv ffoi IIITU aXijdtiaf TI}V yvw/x;r'. The identity of many of the 
 Assyrian doctrines with those of Egypt, is alluded to by Porphyry and 
 Clemens. (See Gale, ibid. p. 185.) I am indebted to Mr. Birch for the 
 following observations on this subject. 
 
 " There can be no doubt of the Sabaeanism of the Chaldees, and appa- 
 rently of the early Assyrians, whose pantheon, from its fusion of human 
 and animal forms, resembles the Egyptian and Hindhu. The relation of 
 religion with astronomy is, however, more striking in Assyria than in 
 Egypt ; the system of the latter country being solar, while the Assyrian 
 worship was rather astral. On the Babylonian cylinders and monuments, 
 the sun and moon constantly occur, and often seven stars arranged more 
 in the manner of the Pleiads than of the Great Bear, but probably the 
 latter. Zodiacal signs are frequently placed in the area along with the 
 sun, moon, and seven stars, and show unequivocally that the Greeks 
 derived their notions and arrangements of the Zodiac from the Chaldees : 
 thus, I. a fish (Cullimore, on Cyl. Nos. 19. 28. 88. 113.) stands for pisces ; 
 II. the extraordinary combination, Capricorn (Ibid. 29, 30. 32.), on 
 cylinders bearing, in the lapidary Babylonian cuneiforms, the name of 
 Nebuchadnezzar; III. a woman, Virgo (Ibid. 50. 94. 117. 91.) ; IV. the 
 two men, Gemini (Ibid. 65. 70. 94.) with Capricorn (Ibid. 71.); VI. the 
 bull, Taurus (Ibid. 91. 92. 106. 156.) ; VII. the archer, Sagittarius 
 (Ibid. 107.). Other signs appear to be, IX. a man, probably Aquarius 
 (Ibid. 51. 95. 66. 112.) ; X. an uncertain and ill-defined animal, perhaps 
 a dog (Ibid. 51, 52, 53. 57.\ XL a goat (Ibid. 107. 136. 95. 93. 112, 
 113.); XII. a lion, Leo (Ibid. 91. 94.). I do not pretend to explain every 
 symbol on these cylinders, but all those which I have selected, are placed 
 in the area, are not essential to the general subject, and are of smaller 
 proportions than the principal figures, which may also have an astro- 
 nomical import. The identity of Nimrod and the constellation Orion, is 
 not to be rejected ; and Nimrod may be one of the divinities standing on 
 a dog with eight stars behind him (Ibid. 157.). Another god with four 
 wings, each terminating in a star (Ibid. 153.), is apparently a constel- 
 lation, as also the god seated on a throne with eight stars all round him.
 
 CHAP. VII.] RELIGION OF THE ASSYRIANS. 441 
 
 On the earliest monuments we have no traces of 
 fire-worship, which was a corruption of the purer 
 form of Sabasanisrn ; but in the bas-reliefs of Khors- 
 abad and Kouyunjik, as well as on a multitude of 
 cylinders of the same age, we have abundant proofs 
 of its subsequent prevalence in Assyria. Although 
 we may not, at present, possess sufficient materials 
 to illustrate the most ancient Saba^anism of the As- 
 syrians, we may, I think, pretty confidently judge 
 of the nature of the worship of a later period. The 
 symbols and religious ceremonies represented at 
 Khorsabad and Kouyunjik, and on the cylinders, are 
 identical with those of the ancient monuments of 
 Persia ; at the same time, the sculptures of Perse- 
 polis, in their mythic character, resemble in every 
 respect those of the Assyrians. We have the same 
 types and groups to embody ideas of the divinity and 
 to convey sacred subjects. When the close connec- 
 tion, in early ages, between religion and art is borne 
 in mind, it will be at once conceded, that a nation 
 like the Persian would not borrow mere forms without 
 attaching to them their original signification.* If 
 even this were not, as a general rule, the case, there 
 is still at Persepolis sufficient to prove that the re- 
 ligious symbols of the Persians were adopted from the 
 Assyrians. The form of supreme deity (the winged 
 
 (Ibid. 153.) " The strange animal forms on the Babylonian relic called 
 the " Caillou de Michaud," have apparently some reference to the zodiacal 
 signs : amongst them is the scorpion. 
 
 * The connection, as exhibited by art, between Assyria and Persia, 
 illustrated in a previous chapter, is sufficient, I think, to prove the origin 
 of the symbols and myths of the Persians.
 
 442 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 figure within the circle), and the typos of wisdom and 
 power, are precisely similar on the monuments of 
 both people. Moreover, the testimony of Herodotus 
 leads to the same conclusion : " The Persians adore," 
 says he, " the sun, the moon, earth, fire, water, and 
 the winds, which may be termed their original di- 
 vinities. In after times, from the example of the 
 Assyrians and Arabians, they added Urania (\ r enus) 
 to the number." From this expression it may be 
 inferred that the worship of Venus was added by both 
 nations to a system identically the same.* 
 
 The identity of the Assyrian and Persian systems 
 appears also to be pointed out by the uncertainty 
 which exists as to the birth-place and epoch of 
 Zoroaster. According to the best authorities, he was 
 a Chaldaean, who introduced his doctrines into Persia 
 and central Asia.f The Persians themselves may 
 
 * These facts show that it is unnecessary, with Heeren and other Ger- 
 man writers, to seek for the origin of the monsters of Persepolis in Bactria 
 and central Asia. It has long been a favourite speculation in Germany 
 to trace the source of all religious systems to the great table-land of the 
 Asiatic continent, from whence, according to this theory, it spread into the 
 lower country, to the Persians, and their neighbours. But when Persia 
 was a mere province, and long before her name is found amongst the civi- 
 lised nations of antiquity, the religious system of the Assyrians was not 
 only perfected, but was falling into decay. The Assyrian empire had 
 ceased to exist before its myths and symbols were transferred, with its 
 arts, to the walls of Persepolis. 
 
 f The country of Zoroaster, the time of his birth, the nature of his 
 doctrines, and the authenticity of those attributed to him, are amongst the 
 many disputed questions of ancient history. We must presume that there 
 were two persons, if not more, of the same name, if we wish to reconcile 
 the conflicting accounts. According to some, Zoroaster was a king of Bac- 
 tria in the time of Xinus and Semiramis. Ceplialion and Moses of Chorene 
 assert that he was born on the same day as Semiramis. Pliny places
 
 CHAP. VII.] THE CHALDEANS. 443 
 
 have recognised the Assyrian source of their religion 
 when they declared Perseus, the founder of their race, 
 to have been an Assyrian. * 
 
 The origin of the Chaldean theology has ever been 
 a favourite theme of the poet and philosopher. The 
 Assyrian plains, uninterrupted by a single eminence, 
 and rarely shadowed by a passing cloud, were looked 
 upon as a fit place for the birth of a system which 
 recognised the heavenly bodies as types of the su- 
 preme power, and invested them with supernatural 
 influences. The wonderful regularity of their pe- 
 riodical movements, their splendour, and even their 
 effects upon the physical world, must have been 
 apparent to the Chalda3an shepherd long before they 
 became the study of the philosopher and the priest. 
 Whilst he watched his sheep by night, he marked the 
 stars as they rose above the horizon, and learned to 
 distinguish one from another, and to invest the most 
 remarkable groups with distinct forms. If the at- 
 tributes of the Deity were to be typified, if the 
 
 his birth many thousand years before that of Moses ; whilst others would 
 fain bring the time of his ministry down to the reign of Darius Hystaspes. 
 According to Suidas he was a Chaldaean. That the fire-worship did not 
 originate with any Zoroaster may perhaps be inferred from the concur- 
 rent testimony of ancient authors. According to a fragment of Apol- 
 lonius (69. ed. Muller), Ninus taught the Assyrians to worship fire : and 
 so Marcellinus (1. 23.), " Cujus scientiae seculis priscis multa ex Chal- 
 daeorum arcanis Bactrianus addidit Zoroastris." 
 
 * Herodotus, 1. vi. c. 54. Some traditions made this Perseus a great 
 astronomer, who instructed men in the knowledge of the stars. Utp<rtve 
 6 HXioc, Perseus is the sun, says the scholiast in Lycophr. v. 18. Ac- 
 cording to some, he married Astarte, the daughter of Belus. All these 
 traditions point to his Assyrian origin.
 
 444 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 limited intellect of man required palpable symbols 
 to convey ideas which he could not understand in 
 the abstract, more appropriate objects could not have 
 been chosen than those bright luminaries whose mo- 
 tions and influences were enveloped in mystery, al- 
 though they themselves were constantly present. 
 The transition from this adoration to a national 
 system of astronomy is natural ; and it is not sur- 
 prising that the Chaldeans, being the first to invest 
 the heavenly bodies with sacred properties, should 
 have been also the first to cultivate the sublimest 
 sciences.* The periodical movements of the heavenly 
 
 * "Principle Assyrii, propter planitiem magnitudinemque regionum 
 quos incolebant, cum coelum ex omni parte patens et apertum intuerentur, 
 trajectiones motusque stellarum observaverunt." (Cicero de Divin. 1. i.) 
 The greatest of our modern poets has thus beautifully conveyed the sen- 
 timent and philosophy of this Chaldaean star-worship : 
 
 " Chaldaean shepherds, ranging trackless fields, 
 Beneath the concave of unclouded skies 
 Spread like a sea, in boundless solitude, 
 Looked on the polar star, as on a guide 
 And guardian of their course, that never closed 
 His stedfast eye. The planetary Five 
 With a submissive reverence they beheld ; 
 Watched, from the centre of their sleeping flocks 
 Those radiant Mercuries, that seemed to move, 
 Carrying through ether, in perpetual round, 
 Decrees and resolutions of the Gods ; 
 And, by their aspects, signifying works 
 Of dim futurity, to Man revealed. 
 
 The imaginative faculty was lord 
 Of observations natural : and, thus 
 Led on, those shepherds made report of stars 
 In set rotation passing to and fro, 
 Between the orbs of our apparent sphere 
 And its invisible counterpart, adorned
 
 CHAP. VII.] THE CHALDEANS. 445 
 
 bodies were ascertained by constant observations, ori- 
 ginating probably in religious duties ; their causes 
 were investigated, and in process of time their motions 
 were calculated and predicted. At a very early 
 period the Assyrian priests were able to fix the date 
 of events by celestial phenomena, and to connect the 
 public records with them. When Alexander entered 
 Babylon, he is said to have been presented with the 
 archives of the empire, verified by astronomical cal- 
 culations, which extended over a period of many cen- 
 turies * ; and Cailisthenes was able to send to his 
 relation and friend, Aristotle, the celestial observa- 
 tions of 1900 years. f We may reasonably suspect 
 that many accounts of the astronomical skill of the 
 Chaldeans are greatly exaggerated ; but as Nabo- 
 nasser did fix a period, by a well-authenticated as- 
 tronomical observation, 745 B. c., it may be inferred 
 that long before his time the priests had acquired 
 
 With answering constellations, under earth, 
 Removed from all approach of living sight 
 But present to the dead ; who, so they deemed, 
 Like those celestial messengers, beheld 
 All accidents, and judges were of all." 
 
 The Chaldasans maintained their pre-eminence as astronomers until the 
 complete extinction of the Perso-Babylonian empire. They instructed 
 Thales and Pythagoras in the most flourishing period of Greece, and 
 Eudoxus and Aristotle as Babylon fell ; Ptolemy in the second century 
 of the Christian era, still had recourse to their calculations. (See some 
 valuable observations in Grote's History of Greece, vol. iii. c. 19.) 
 
 * According to a foolish tradition 470,000 years. (Diod. Sic. 1. ii., and 
 Cicero de Divin. 1. ii.) It is scarcely necessary to allude to the exagger- 
 ated statements of various ancient authors as to the period comprised in 
 the celestial observations of the Chaldeans. 
 
 f Simplicius, Aristot. de Ccelo, p. 123.
 
 446 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CiiAP. VII. 
 
 sufficient knowledge of the science to predict and 
 determine celestial phenomena. 
 
 I will now proceed to point out the religious types 
 and emblems which are found on Assyrian monu- 
 ments. Representations of the heavenly bodies, as 
 sacred symbols, are of constant occurrence in the 
 most ancient sculptures. In the bas-reliefs we find 
 figures of the sun, moon, and stars, suspended round 
 
 the neck of the king when 
 engaged in the perform- 
 ance of religious ceremo- 
 
 blems suspended round the Neck of nieS ' ThCS6 
 
 the Zing. (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) 1 1 11 
 
 accompanied by a small 
 
 model of the horned cap worn by winged figures, and 
 by a trident or bident. * 
 
 I have not found these symbols on the monuments 
 of Kouyunjik and Khorsabad, but they occur on a 
 bas-relief of a doubtful period, built into the walls of 
 the south-west palace of Nimroud.f In the oldest 
 
 * It is very remarkable that, with the exception of the horned cap, these 
 are precisely the symbols found on the sacred monuments of India ; which, 
 accompanied as they are by the sacred bull, might be mistaken for 
 Assyrian. The sun, moon, and trident of Siva raised on columns adorn 
 the entrances to temples (such as that of Bangalore, of which an engraving 
 is given in Daniel's India). This identity might easily lead to a digression, 
 which would scarcely suit the limits of this work. 
 
 f According to Mr. Ross's account of the rock-tablets of Bavian (note, 
 p. 143.), they appear to be represented in those bas-reliefs. The sun, 
 moon, and stars are common emblems on cylinders of all epochs. They 
 were adopted by the Persians, are found on coins and gems of the Sassa- 
 nian period, passed from the Persians to the Arabs, and are still preserved 
 in the insignia of the Turks. The numerous symbols and figures which 
 occur on Assyrian and Babylonian cylinders, evidently refer to a mytho- 
 logical system ; but a particular notice of them would lead me into a 
 dissertation unsuited to the limits of these volumes.
 
 CHAP. VII.] SACRED SYMBOLS. 447 
 
 edifice they are constantly introduced as ornaments, 
 particularly on the chariots. They are frequently 
 accompanied by seven disks, which probably represent 
 the seven great heavenly bodies, that mysterious 
 number so prevalent in the SabaBan system, or per- 
 haps the Pleiads, like which they are grouped.* 
 
 It will be observed that in the earliest sculptures 
 of Nimroud, the king is only seen in adoration before 
 one symbol of the deity the figure with the wings 
 and tail of a bird enclosed in a circle, resembling the 
 Ormuzd of the Persian monuments. Although there 
 are eagle-headed figures, and other mythic forms, 
 yet in no case do they appear to be objects of 
 worship. The king is generally standing or kneeling 
 beneath this figure in the circle, his hand raised in 
 sign of prayer or adoration, f The sacred tree is 
 before him, but only, it may be presumed, as a type. 
 The same symbol is also seen above him when in 
 battle, and during his triumphal return. It is never 
 represented above any person of inferior rank, but 
 appears to watch especially over the monarch, who 
 was probably typical of the nation. When over the 
 
 * See note p. 298. Vol. I. The seven stars are mentioned in Amos, v. 
 8., and in Job, ix. 9., xxxviii. 31., where they are translated in our version 
 the Pleiads. The Pleiads are, however, only six in number ; the seven 
 stars are more probably Arcturus. 
 
 f Two kings are frequently represented kneeling or standing beneath 
 the winged figure ; but whether the two are representations of the same 
 monarch, or whether they show the father and son associated in the 
 government, or two friendly monarchs concluding a treaty, I cannot 
 determine. The two figures are identical in every respect, and I am in- 
 clined to think that but one monarch is intended.
 
 448 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 king in battle, 
 it shoots, against 
 the enemies of 
 the Assyrians, 
 an arrow, which 
 has a head in 
 the shape of a 
 trident. If it 
 presides over a 
 triumph, its ac- 
 tion resembles 
 that of the king, 
 the right hand 
 being elevated, 
 and the left 
 holding the un- 
 bent bow ; if 
 over a religious 
 ceremony, it car- 
 ries a ring, or 
 raises the extended right hand. This emblem does 
 not always preserve the form of the winged figure in 
 the circle, but sometimes assumes that of a winged 
 globe, wheel, or disk, either plain, or ornamented with 
 leaves like a flower. In this shape, its resemblance 
 to the winged globe of Egypt cannot be overlooked.* 
 
 * This is one of the representations most intimately connected with 
 Egypt, resembling the symbol found on the cornices of tablets as early 
 as the twelfth dynasty. In Egypt it was the sun, with the wings of a 
 scarab ; a red solar disk, and two pendent uraei. It is called the " Hut " 
 (the name of the Coptic Atfoo, or Edfoo, Apollinopqlis magna). M. 
 Lajard, as I have already observed, endeavours to derive the Egyp- 
 
 EMBLEM8 OF THE DEITY. (N.W. Palace. Kimroud.)
 
 CHAP. VII] DEITY IN THE CIRCLE. 449 
 
 This well-known symbol constantly occurs on the 
 walls of Persepolis, and on Per- 
 sian monuments of the Acha3- 
 menian dynasty, as that of the 
 supreme divinity. It is also seen 
 in the bas-reliefs of Pterium, and 
 furnishes additional evidence in 
 support of the Assyrian or Persian origin of those 
 rock-sculptures, and of the Assyrian influence on 
 Asia Minor.* 
 
 We may conclude from the prominent position 
 al \vays given to this figure in the Nimroud sculp- 
 tures, and from its occurrence on Persian monuments 
 as the representation of Ormuzd, that it was also 
 the type of the supreme deity amongst the Assyrians. 
 It will require a more thorough knowledge of the 
 contents of the inscriptions than we at present pos- 
 sess, to determine the name by which the divinity 
 was known. It may be conjectured, however, that 
 it was Baal, or some modification of a name which 
 was that of the great god amongst nearly all nations 
 speaking cognate dialects of the Semitic or Syro- 
 
 tian from the Assyrian emblem. (Observations sur la Croix Ansee, Mem. 
 de 1'Acad. vol. xvii.) Whether the winged figure in the circle, or the 
 winged globe, or simply the sun, was the original form, I will not attempt 
 to conjecture. According to M. Lajard, this symbol is formed by a circle 
 or crown, to denote time without bounds, or eternity, encircling the 
 image of Baal, with the wings and tail of a dove, to show the association 
 of Mylitta, the Assyrian Venus thus presenting a complete triad. 
 
 * See page 286. Mr. Scharf is also inclined to trace in the oval form 
 of the harpies of the Xanthian monument some connection with the 
 winged globe, which, from the Persian origin of those figure?, is not 
 unlikely. (Observations on the Peculiarities of Sculptures seen on the 
 Monuments of ancient Lycia, by G. Scharf, Junior, p. 12.) 
 
 VOL. II. G G
 
 450 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 Arabian language.* According to a custom existing 
 from time immemorial in the East, the name of the 
 supreme deity was introduced into the names of men. 
 This custom prevailed from the banks of the Tigris 
 to the Phoenician colonies beyond the pillars of 
 Hercules ; and we recognise in the Sardanapalus of 
 the Assyrians, and the Hannibal of the Carthaginians, 
 the identity of the origin of the religious system of 
 two nations, as widely distinct in the time of their 
 existence, as in their geographical position. To the 
 Jews the same name was familiar, and was applied 
 very generally to the gods of the surrounding nations. 
 Even under its various orthographical modifications, 
 there can be no dimculty in detecting it. 
 
 From this Baal came the Belus of the Greeks, who 
 was confounded with their own Zeus, or Jupiter. 
 But whether he was really the father of the founder 
 of the empire, or was himself its founder, as some 
 have asserted, and then came to be considered, after 
 the fashion of the Greek theology, its principal deity, 
 there may be good reason to doubt, f 
 
 * As the supreme deity he came to be identified with the sun, the 
 greatest divine manifestation in the Sabsean system. Hence much 
 mythological confusion between Belus and Apollo, and the representation 
 of the two with the same attributes. Thus the Phoenicians, according to 
 Sanchoniathon " stretched their hands towards the sun ; for him they 
 thought the only Lord of Heaven ; calling him Beelsamin, which in Phoa- 
 nician is Lord of Heaven, but in the Greek, Zeus." (Cory's Fragments.) 
 " Lingua punica Bal Deus dicitur, apud Assyrios autem Bel dicitur 
 quadam sacrorum ratione Saturnus et Sol." (Servius on ./Eneid, i. 733.) 
 
 f According to Castor, Belus was king of the Assyrians, and, after 
 his death, was esteemed a god. (Cory's Fragments, p. 65.) It is singular 
 to find the Persians subsequently carrying as their principal religious em- 
 blems the figures of Belus and Ninus. (See p. 365.) They were either 
 looked upon as divinities, or, as some have conjectured, represented the 
 dominion of the Persian king over the Assyrian and Babylonian empires.
 
 CHAP.VU.] BABYLONIAN DEITIES. 451 
 
 The descriptions handed down to us of the contents 
 of the Babylonian temples are highly interesting, as 
 illustrative of the monuments recently discovered. 
 According to Diodorus Siculus, the three deities 
 worshipped in the great temple at Babylon, were 
 Belus (or Jupiter), Hera, and Rhea, whose statues 
 were of beaten gold. Belus was represented upright, 
 in the act of walking. His statue, weighing 1000 
 Babylonian talents, was forty feet in height. Rhea, 
 seated on a chair of gold, had two lions at the sides 
 of her knees, and near her were large silver serpents. 
 Hera stood erect, holding in her right hand a serpent 
 by the head, and in her left a sceptre ornamented 
 with precious stones. Before these deities was a 
 table of silver, and on it were placed three golden 
 cups, one for each deity. 
 
 In a bas-relief, probably of the later Assyrian 
 period, and discovered in the ruins of the south-west 
 palace at Nimroud, we have a procession of warriors 
 carrying on their shoulders four images. It is doubt- 
 ful whether they are the idols of a conquered people 
 borne in triumph by the conquerors, or whether the 
 sculpture commemorates the celebration of some re- 
 ligious ceremony, during which the statues of the gods 
 were carried in procession by the people, like those of 
 the Virgin and saints in Roman Catholic countries. 
 
 The Roman author may have substituted these names for others. It 
 has been mentioned that "Nini" is an emendation by Scaliger, the 
 MSS. having " Pacis." Belus was confounded with Mars. " After 
 Ninus reigned Thyrras, whom they named Mars. He was very mighty 
 and warlike, and the Assyrians placed him amongst the gods, naming him 
 Belus, or Mars, the god of battles." (Arch, of John of Antioch, in 
 Cramer, Anecdota Grseca, voL ii. p. 386.) 
 
 G G 2
 
 452 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 It may record an expedition against the revolted 
 Babylonians, whose divinities, as described by Dio- 
 dorus, can, perhaps, be identified with the figures in 
 the bas-relief; but, as nearly the same forms are 
 found on the rock-tablets of Malthalyah pure As- 
 syrian monuments it is more probable that they 
 are Assyrian. The gods of the two cities, Nineveh 
 and Babylon, were, there can be little doubt, nearly 
 the same. 
 
 The first deity mentioned by Diodorus is Jupiter, 
 the Belus, or Baal, of the Babylonians.* He is seen, 
 he says, in the act of walking. The commentators 
 have objected to this description, that the chief of the 
 gods would scarcely have been represented otherwise 
 than seated on his throne. The bas-relief, however, 
 confirms the statement of the geographer; for the 
 god is represented with one leg in advance, as if in 
 the act of walking. That it is the figure of Baal, or 
 the great divinity of the Babylonians, may be inferred 
 from the passage in the Epistle of Jeremy. f " Now 
 shall ye see, in Babylon," says the prophet, " gods 
 of silver, and of gold, and of wood, borne upon 
 shoulders. J And he that cannot put to death one 
 
 * Berosus in Alex. Polyhistor, apud Euseb. Chron. lib. i. c. 2. 
 
 f This epistle is supposed to have been written by the Prophet Jere- 
 miah to the Jews when they were carried captive to Babylon. lie in- 
 tended it as a warning against the idolatry of the Babylonians, whose gods 
 he describes, that his countrymen might be aware of the impositions prac- 
 tised upon the worshippers of those idols, and might avoid falling into 
 similar errors. That the Jews looked upon the letter as genuine, is shown 
 by the reference to it in 2 Mace. xi. 2, 3. 
 
 J Compare Isaiah, xlvi. 6, 7. " They lavish gold out of the bag, and 
 weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith ; and he maketh it a 
 god : they fall down, yea, they worship. They bear him upon the shoulder, 
 they carry him, and set him in his place."
 
 CHAP. VII.] EPISTLE OF JEREMY. 453 
 
 that offendeth him holdeth a sceptre, as though he 
 were a judge of the country. He hath also in his 
 right hand a dagger and an axe." He is thus seen 
 in the bas-relief; and the introduction of the axe 
 could scarcely have been accidental. The sculpture,' 
 therefore, appears to corroborate the authenticity of, 
 and to illustrate the epistle. 
 
 The same document furnishes us with several in- 
 teresting details as to the nature of the Babylonian 
 idols. We learn that they were frequently made of 
 wood and laid over with gold, and that parts of them 
 were polished by the workmen. Crowns were made 
 for their heads ; they were decked in garments, and 
 covered with purple raiment * ; and fires or lamps 
 were kept burning before them. 
 
 This account appears to confirm the assertion of 
 Diodorus, that the statues in the Babylonian temples 
 were made of beaten gold, or that they were gilded 
 so as to have that appearance. Nor must the propor- 
 tions assigned to them by the geographer be deemed 
 exaggerated, if we remember that the image of gold 
 set up by Nebuchadnezzar in the plain of Dura, was 
 threescore cubits in height, and six cubits in breadth !f 
 
 The figure in the bas-relief has horns on its head ; 
 and would consequently appear to be connected with 
 the divinity wearing the horned cap, so frequently 
 
 * Compare Jeremiah, x. 9. " Silver spread into plates is brought from 
 Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the 
 hands of the founder : blue and purple is their clothing : they are all the 
 work of cunning men." These idols at Babylon were of gold, silver, 
 brass, iron, wood and stone. (Daniel, v. 4.) 
 
 f Daniel, iii. 1. 
 
 G G 3
 
 454 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 represented in the Assyrian sculptures : but they 
 have nothing else in common. On the older monu- 
 ments, indeed, we have no figure which corresponds 
 with any description of Belus furnished by the Greeks. 
 The bas-relief just described may belong to the pe- 
 riod when the older forms were corrupted, and when 
 a more gross idolatry had succeeded to purer Sa- 
 baianism.* 
 
 We have little difficulty in identifying Hera, the 
 second deity mentioned by Diodorus, with Astarta, 
 Mylitta, or Venus ; whose worship, according to the 
 united testimony of scripture and of ancient authors, 
 formed so prominent a part of the religious system of 
 all the Semitic nations, and particularly the Assy- 
 rians, f She held a serpent in one hand ; and so she 
 is represented in the Egyptian tablet. J In the bas- 
 relief of the procession of the gods, it is not im- 
 possible that the object in the hand of the sitting 
 figure, which has been defaced, may also have been 
 a serpent. An inquiry into the origin and nature 
 of this divinity, and of the emblems under which 
 she was represented, would lead to a digression 
 urisuited to the object and limits of these volumes. 
 We have proofs of the prevalence of her far- extend- 
 ing worship on the earliest monuments with which 
 we are acquainted ; a female winged figure, partly 
 
 * Selden (de Dis Syriis, cap. i. p. 123.) has collected the authorities 
 on the Semitic Baal or Bel, connecting him with the Zeus of the Greeks, 
 the Jupiter of the Romans, and Apollo and the Sun. 
 
 f Plutarch (in Vit. Crass.) and Julius Firmicus Maternus (de Errore 
 Trof. Relig. iv. p. 12. ed. Milliter) identify Hera with tire Assyrian Venus. 
 
 J See p. 212.
 
 CIIAP. VII.] WORSHIP OF VENUS. 455 
 
 naked, and undoubtedly representing the divinity 
 presiding over generation, being, as I have already 
 mentioned *, introduced into the embroideries of 
 robes in the most ancient palace at Nimroud. But, 
 whilst there can be no question as to the object of 
 this figure, it is remarkable that in no part of the 
 ruins have any traces been discovered of that pecu- 
 liar emblem which frequently occurs on cylinders of 
 Assyria, and which was typical of the worship of 
 Venus amongst most Asiatic nations. Indeed, the 
 absence of unseemly symbols on the Assyrian monu- 
 ments is worthy of remark, and shows a considerable 
 purity of taste and feeling : even the two figures to 
 which I have alluded would escape notice except 
 on a minute examination. That this worship, even 
 under its most degrading forms, did exist, can scarcely 
 be doubted. Tradition has traced its introduction 
 to Semiramis that is, to the very earliest period. 
 We have no evidence, however, of the corruption 
 of morals, which might naturally be expected to 
 accompany it ; nor do the monuments hitherto dis- 
 covered present any proof of the existence in Assyria, 
 of that infamous law which, according to Herodotus, 
 marked the rites of the goddess at Babylon, f 
 
 * See p. 213. 
 
 f The 43rd verse of the Epistle of Jeremy is a singular confirmation 
 of the existence of a practice which, notwithstanding the charges of cre- 
 dulity frequently brought against Herodotus for relating it, appears un- 
 doubtedly to have prevailed at Babylon. Similar practices amongst certain 
 tribes still inhabiting the East is a further corroboration. We find that 
 it also prevailed amongst several nations of Asia Minor of Semitic de- 
 scent ; for instance, the Lydians and Cappadocians, and the Armenians, 
 who evidently owed its introduction to the Assyrians. (Herod. 1. 93. ; 
 Strabo, xi. 16. and xii. 36.) 
 
 'G G 4
 
 456 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 She was " the Queen of Heaven," frequently al- 
 luded to in the sacred volumes. * Diodorus mentions 
 the vases which were placed on tables before the 
 divinities in the Babylonian temple ; the prophet de- 
 scribes the drink offerings to her ; and in the sculp- 
 tures, the king is constantly represented with a cup 
 in one hand, in the act of performing some religious 
 ceremony. The planet, which bore her name, was 
 sacred to her ; and in the Assyrian sculptures, a 
 star is placed upon her head. She was called Beltis, 
 because she was the female form of the great divinity, 
 or Baal ; the two, there is reason to conjecture, 
 having been originally but one, and androgyne, f Her 
 worship penetrated from Assyria into Asia Minor, 
 where its Assyrian origin was recognised. J In the 
 rock-tablets of Pterium she is represented, as in 
 those of Assyria, standing erect on a lion , and 
 crowned with a tower, or mural coronet ; which, we 
 learn from Lucian, was peculiar to the Semitic figure 
 of the goddess. || This may have been a modification 
 
 * Jeremiah, vii. 18., xliv. 17, &c. 
 
 f Hesychius, voce B/jXrjjf ; Megasthenes, apud Abydenum ; Euseb. 
 Praepar. Evang. ix. 41. ; Plut. in Vita Crassi. The Persian Mithra was 
 also originally androgyne. 
 
 J For the worship of Anaitis, or the Assyrian Venus, in Armenia, we 
 have the authority of Strabo, Geog. 1. xi. ; Pliny, Hist. Nat. 1. iv. c. 20.; 
 Dion Cassius, 1. xxxvi. c. 32 36. A district of that country was called 
 the Anaitic region. 
 
 Texier, Description de 1'Asie Mineure, vol. i. part i. pi. 78. 
 
 || In the Syrian temple of Hierapolis she was represented standing on 
 a lion, crowned with a tower, and having a cestus or zone round her 
 waist (De Dea Syria, 31, 32.) Mylitta (Astarta), with her feet on the 
 lion, is also mentioned. Macrob. Saturn, i. 23. May she be connected 
 with the " El Maozem," the deity presiding over bulwarks and fortresses, 
 the " god of forces," of Daniel, xi. 38. ?
 
 To face page 456. Vol.11. 
 
 HERA, OR THE ASSYRIAN VENUS. (From a Rock-Tablet near the ancient Plenum.)
 
 CHAP. VII.] RHEA. 457 
 
 of the high cap of the Assyrian bas-reliefs. To the 
 Shemites she was known under the names of As- 
 tarte*, Ashtaroth, Mylitta, and Alitta, according to 
 the various dialects of the nations amongst which 
 her worship prevailed. 
 
 The goddess Rhea, with her lions and serpents, as 
 described by Diodorus, may perhaps be recognised 
 both in the rock-sculptures of Malthaiyah, and in the 
 bas-relief from Nimroud.f In these sculptures she is 
 seen, like Astarte and other divinities, with a star 
 upon her head.J This shows a connection with some 
 system in which the heavenly bodies formed a prin- 
 cipal feature ; but the representation in a human 
 
 * It has been conjectured that this name was derived from the word 
 " star " in the primitive Indo-European languages, from whence, it is 
 well known, came the Persian female name Satara, the daughter of 
 Darius, and that of the biblical Esther. David Kimchi, a Hebrew com- 
 mentator, derives the name of Ashtaroth from a word signifying an 
 egg, a curious coincidence with the tradition of Aphrodite and Semi- 
 rainis. (Selden, De Dis Syriis, c. 2.) In a fragment of Sanchoniathon, 
 Astarte, travelling about the habitable world, is said to have found a star 
 falling through the air, which she took up, and consecrated in the holy 
 island Tyre ; hence the Phoenicians said that Astarte was Aphrodite. 
 (Cory's Fragments.) According to a tradition resembling the Orphic 
 legends, Aphrodite was born of an egg, which fell out of heaven into the 
 Euphrates, and was incubated by two pigeons. (Hygin. fab. 197., Schol. 
 ad Geron. 233.) Also Ampelius (1. 2.) says " Dicitur et in Euphrate 
 fluvio ovum piscis in ora fluminis columbas assedisse dies plurimos, et 
 exclusisse deam benignam et misericordiam hominibus ad bonam vitam : " 
 connecting the fables of Semiramis and Derceto. 
 
 f This divinity was probably the O^op^Ka or OpopKa of Berosus (apud 
 Alex. Polyhistor ; Euseb. Chron. 1. i. c. 11.), the Thalath (GAar0) 
 of the Chaldees. She was particularly honoured by the Trojans and 
 Phrygians, who may have received her worship from the Assyrians. 
 (Strabo, 1. x.) 
 
 J This custom of placing the figure of a star upon the heads of idols 
 is probably alluded to by the prophet. " The star of your god, which ye 
 made to yourselves." (Amos, v. 26.)
 
 458 NINEVEH AND ITS KEMAINS. [CHAP. Vlf. 
 
 form of the celestial bodies, themselves originally 
 but a type, was a corruption which appears to have 
 crept at a later period into the mythology of Assyria ; 
 for in the more ancient bas-reliefs figures with caps 
 surmounted by stars do not occur, and the sun, 
 moon, and planets stand alone. 
 
 On the earliest Assyrian monuments, one of the 
 most prominent sacred types is the eagle-headed, or 
 vulture-headed, human figure.* Not only is it found 
 in colossal proportions on the walls, or guarding the 
 portals of the chambers, but it is also constantly 
 represented amongst the groups on the embroidered 
 robes. When thus introduced, it is generally seen 
 contending with other mythic animals, such as the 
 human-headed lion or bull; and in these contests 
 it appears to be always the conqueror. It may, 
 hence, be inferred that it was a type of the supreme 
 deity, or of one of his principal attributes, f A frag- 
 ment of the Zoroastrian oracles preserved by Euse- 
 bius, declares that " God is he that has the head 
 of a hawk. He is the first, indestructible, eternal, 
 unbegotten, indivisible, dissimilar ; the dispenser of 
 all good ; incorruptible ; the best of the good, the 
 wisest of the wise : he is the father of equity and 
 justice, self-taught, physical and perfect, and wise, 
 and the only inventor of the sacred philosophy." J 
 
 * See woodcut facing p. 64. Vol. I. 
 
 f Numerous instances will be found in my " Monuments of Nineveh." 
 It is possible that these various forms represent different attributes of one 
 and the same deity, and that the victory of the eagle-headed figure over 
 the lion, or bull, may denote the superiority of intellect over mere phy- 
 sical strength. 
 
 \ Eusebius, Praep. Evang. lib. i. c. 10. ; Cory's Fragments, p. 239.
 
 CHAP. VII.] 
 
 NISROCH. 459 
 
 This figure may also be identified with the god Xis- 
 roch*, in whose temple Sennacherib was slain by his 
 sons ; for the word Nisr signifies, in all the Semitic 
 lano-uao-es, an eagle.f Sometimes the head of this 
 
 O O ' O I 
 
 bird is added to the body of a lion. Under this 
 form of the Egyptian hieraco-sphinx it is the con- 
 queror in combats with other symbolical figures, and 
 is frequently represented as striking down a gazelle 
 or wild goat It also closely resembles the gryphon 
 of the Greek mythology, 
 avowedly an eastern sym- 
 bol, and connected with 
 Apollo, or with the sun, of 
 which the Assyrian form 
 was probably an emblem. 
 It may now be inferred, 
 that the Greeks derived GETFHON - OW.*IP^* 
 their mythical figure from the Assyrians.! 
 
 * 2 Kings, xix. 37. Josephus (Antiq. Jud. 1. x. c. 1.) calls this image 
 Arascus ; Isaiah, Asarak ; the Septuagint, Mtaopa^, 
 
 f The form of this deity was conjectured to be that of an eagle, long 
 before the discovery of the Assyrian sculpture. (And. Beyeri ad Job. 
 Seldeni de Dis Syris Syntag. addit. p. 325.) 
 
 J Apollon himself was called Gryphenias. I hesitate to attempt, at 
 present, the identification, with the images of the Assyrian sculptures, of 
 any other of the Assyrian deities mentioned in the Bible such as Nebo 
 and Mcrodach, who, from their frequent introduction into the names of 
 monarchs, appear to hold a high rank in the Assyrian Pantheon, or to be 
 different appellations of the supreme deity ; Sesach or Saah, whose festival 
 was celebrated at Babylon by a kind of Saturnalia, in which the order of 
 society, as at Rome, was for a period reversed ; Succoth Benoth, some- 
 times identified with Astarte or Mylitta ; Nergal, conjectured, according 
 to the presumed Semitic or Indo-European origin of the name, to have 
 reference to a fire worship, or to that of the sun under the form of a cock ; 
 and Adramelech and Anamalech, gods apparently of Assyrian origin. 
 Of Khiun, I have already spoken (p. 212.). Remphan does not occur in
 
 460 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 The winged human-headed lions and bulls, those 
 magnificent forms which guarded the portals of the 
 Assyrian temples, next deserve notice. Not only are 
 they found as separate sculptures, but, like the 
 eagle-headed figures, are constantly introduced into 
 the groups embroidered on the robes. It is worthy 
 of observation, that, whenever they are represented, 
 either in contest with the man, or with the eagle- 
 headed figure, they appear to be vanquished. Such 
 is also the case on cylinders. Frequently a human 
 figure is seen suspending them in the air by the 
 hind legs, or striking them with a mace. I have 
 already ventured to suggest the idea which these 
 singular forms were intended to convey the union 
 of the greatest intellectual and physical powers ; but 
 certainly their position with reference to other sym- 
 bolical figures, would point to an inferiority in the 
 celestial hierarchy. Although the andro-sphinx of 
 the Egyptians was the type of the monarch, we can 
 scarcely believe it to have been so amongst the Assy- 
 rians ; for in the sculptures we find even the eagle- 
 headed figure, the vanquisher of the human-headed 
 lion and bull, ministering to the king. Whether the 
 sphinx originated with the Assyrians, or the Egyp- 
 tians, may now become a question of some interest. 
 It may not. perhaps, be out of place to remark that 
 it was first introduced into Egypt in the time of 
 
 the Assyrian sculptures in his Egyptian form, unless the Priapean figure 
 on the vase discovered at Nimroud (Vol. I. p. 128.) has reference to his 
 worship. As to all the Assyrian and Syrian deities, see Selden, de Dis 
 Syria.
 
 CHAP. VII. J EMBLEMATICAL FIGURES. 461 
 
 the eighteenth dynasty ; when so many Assyrian 
 peculiarities suddenly appear on Egyptian monu- 
 ments, that we are involuntarily led to infer some 
 close and intimate connection between the two coun- 
 tries.* The sphinx, as an architectural ornament, 
 occupies nearly the same position in the edifices of 
 Assyria and Egypt, being placed at the entrances 
 to temples and palaces. 
 
 The winged bull with the human head is evidently 
 a pure Assyrian type. Its position in the religious 
 system seems to be identical with that of the andro- 
 sphinx ; and in the mythic groups, as well as in archi- 
 tecture, they both occupy the same place. Power was 
 probably typified indiscriminately by the body of the 
 lion and the bull. 
 
 Various other emblematical forms and types are 
 found in the Assyrian sculp- 
 tures such as the winged 
 horse, so closely resembling the 
 Pegasus of the Greeks, that we 
 can scarcely doubt the identityf , 
 the wild goat, the ostrich, the 
 dragon with the eagle's head, 
 and the human figure with the 
 
 WINGED HORSE. 
 Of a liOn. <S.W. Pita*-. Nimroud.) 
 
 * Mr. Birch (on the Nimroud Ivories) mentions that Thothmes III. is 
 represented as a winged sphinx on a scarabasus in the British Museum ; 
 and it would appear that this is the first appearance of the sphinx as an 
 Egyptian type. He also alludes to a painting of the Queen Mu-t-shem-t 
 of the twentieth dynasty as a winged sphinx. 
 
 f Note, in connection with this winged horse, the Assyrian origin of 
 Perseus, see p. 443.
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 EAGLE.HEADED FIGURE. (S.W. Palace, Nimroud.) 
 
 To all these images some mythic meaning was un- 
 doubtedly attached.* They were emblematical, repre- 
 
 * The lynges, or sacred birds, belonged to the Babylonian, and pro- 
 bably to the Assyrian religion. They were a kind of demons, who exer- 
 
 WARR1OR8 CARRYING A BIRD. (Centre Palace, Nimroud.
 
 CHAP. VII.] 
 
 EMBLEMATICAL FIGURES. 
 
 463 
 
 LION-HEADED FIGURE. (S.W. Palace, Nimroud.) 
 
 senting either the attributes of the Deity, or certain 
 physical phenomena in nature. But I cannot venture, 
 
 cised a peculiar influence over mankind, resembling the ferouher of the 
 Zoroastrian system. (Ignasius, de Insomn. p. 134. ed. Patav. Schol. Ni- 
 ceph.) The oracles attributed to Zoroaster describe them as powers 
 animated by God. 
 
 tfoovp.ivai li'yytc irarpoQfv vo'eovoi Kai avrai' 
 Eov\ai aipOiyKTOiffi Kivovntvai ware voijirai. 
 
 (The intelligible lynges themselves understand from the Father ; 
 By ineffable counsels being moved so as to understand.) 
 
 (Zoroaster, Oracul. Magn. ad Calcem Oracul. Sybill. Ed. Gall. p. 80., and 
 Cory's Fragments, p. 250.) Their images made of gold were in the palace 
 of the king of Babylon, according to Philostratus. (Lib. 5. c. 25. and lib. 
 vi. c. 2.) They were connected with magic. (Selden, de Dis Syriis, p. 39.) 
 It is possible that the bird borne by warriors, in a bas-relief from the 
 ruins of the centre palace, may represent the lynges. This figure may, 
 however, resemble the golden eagle carried before the Persian mo- 
 narchs. (Xenophon, Cyrop. 1. vii. , Anab. 1. ix. ; Quintus Curtius, 1. 
 Hi. c. 3.)
 
 464 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 at present, to conjecture the signification of any of 
 them ; nor am I able to determine the character of the 
 winged human figures which so frequently occur on 
 the walls of Assyrian buildings. They may be the 
 representations of presiding deities, or genii ; or of 
 priests who, during the celebration of sacred cere- 
 monies, assumed that which was believed to be the 
 outward form of the divinities. In two instances 
 they were portrayed as females. Sometimes they bear 
 animals or plants, either for sacrifice or as types. As 
 they are frequently seen in an act of adoration before 
 the king (whom they generally accompany), or before 
 the mystic tree, their divine character may be ques- 
 tioned. They may perhaps be identified with the 
 good spirits, or Amshaspands, of the later Persian 
 theology. 
 
 The resemblance between the symbolical figures I 
 have described, and those seen by Ezekiel in his vision, 
 can scarcely fail to strike the reader. As the prophet 
 had beheld the Assyrian palaces, with their mysterious 
 images and gorgeous decorations, it is highly proba- 
 ble that, when seeking to typify certain divine attri- 
 butes, and to describe the divine glory, he chose forms 
 that were not only familiar to him, but to the people 
 whom he addressed captives like himself in the land 
 of Assyria. Those who Avere uncorrupted by even 
 the outward forms of idolatry, sought for images to 
 convey the idea of the Supreme God. Ezekiel saw in 
 his vision the likeness of four living creatures, which 
 had four faces, four wings, and the hands of a man 
 under their wings on their four sides. Their faces
 
 CHAP. VII.] EMBLEMATICAL FIGURES. 465 
 
 were those of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. By 
 them was a wheel, the appearance of which " was as 
 it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel." * It will 
 be observed that the four forms chosen by Ezekiel to 
 illustrate his description the man, the lion, the bull, 
 and the -eagle, are precisely those which are con- 
 stantly found on Assyrian monuments as religious 
 types. The " wheel within wheel," mentioned in 
 connection with the emblematical figures, may refer 
 to the winged circle, or wheel, representing at Nim- 
 roud the supreme deity, f These coincidences are 
 too marked not to deserve notice ; and do cer- 
 tainly lead to the inference, that the symbols chosen 
 by the prophet were derived from the Assyrian 
 sculptures. J 
 
 The symbolical figures of the Assyrians, as we 
 might expect from the evident identity of the two 
 nations, were placed, at a very early period, in the 
 sacred edifices of the Babylonians. In the temple of 
 Belus, according to Berosus , there were sculptured 
 representations of men with two wings, and others 
 with four, some having two faces, others the legs and 
 horns of goats, or the hoofs of horses; there were 
 bulls also with the heads of men, and horses with the 
 heads of dogs. || 
 
 * Ezekiel, i. 16. f See woodcuts, page 448. 
 
 J The lion with the wings of an eagle is also introduced as a type of 
 strength and power by the prophets, who were intimate with the contents 
 of the Assyrian and Babylonian temples. Compare Daniel, vii. 4. 
 
 Apud. Euseb. ed. Aucher, vol. i. p. 23. 
 
 || " Behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and 
 all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the walls round 
 about." (Ezekiel, viii. 10.) 
 
 VOL. II. II TI
 
 466 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. TIT. 
 
 I must not omit to allude to the tradition pre- 
 served by Berosus, which appears to attribute to a 
 foreign nation, arriving by sea, the introduction, at 
 some remote period, of civilisation and certain arts 
 into Babylonia. According to the historian, there 
 appeared out of the Erythra3an, or Persian, Gulf, an 
 animal endowed with reason, called Oannes. Its body 
 was like that of a fish : but under the head of the 
 fish was that of a man, and added to its tail were 
 women's feet. Its voice, too, was human, and it spoke 
 an articulate language. During the day it instructed 
 the Chaldeans in letters and in all arts and sciences, 
 teaching them to build temples ; but at night it 
 plunged again into the sea. Five such monsters ap- 
 peared at different epochs in Babylonia, and were 
 called " Annedoti." The first was named the 
 Musarus Oannes, and the last Odacon. Their im- 
 ages, he adds, were preserved in Chaldaea even to 
 his day. f 
 
 In a bas-relief from Khorsabad 
 representing a naval engagement, 
 or the siege of a city on the sea- 
 coast, we have the god nearly as 
 described by Berosus. To the body 
 of a man as far as the waist, is 
 joined the tail of a fish. The 
 
 THE FI3H - GOD 
 
 * t. e. " coming out of," or " proceeding from." 
 
 f This fragment of Berosus is preserved by Apollodorus. (See Cory's 
 Fragments, p. 30.) Such may have been the dragon of the Apocryphal 
 book of Bel and the Dragon.
 
 CHAP. VII.] 
 
 FIRE-WORSHIP. 
 
 467 
 
 three-horned cap, surmounted by the flower in the 
 form of a fleur-de-lis, as worn by the winged figures 
 of the bas-reliefs, marks the sacred character. The 
 right hand is raised as in the representations of the 
 winged deity in the circle. This figure is in the sea 
 amongst fish and marine animals.* 
 
 On Assyrian cylinders and gems, 
 the same symbolical figure is very 
 frequently found, even more closely 
 resembling in form the description 
 of Berosus. f 
 
 It may be inferred that the 
 worship of fire, a corruption of 
 Saba3anism, originated, or gene- 
 rally prevailed in Assyria, about AN 
 
 ALTAR, resembling that of 
 
 .. /, 1'IT o the Sassauian Coins. (Khorsabad.) 
 
 the time of the building of the 
 
 Khorsabad and Kouyunjik edifices. There are no 
 
 traces of it on earlier known monuments. From the 
 
 * This fish-worship extended to Syria, and appears to have been more 
 prevalent in that country than in Assyria. The Dagon of the Philistines 
 of Ashdod, evidently resembled the figure on the Assyrian sculptures 
 and cylinders. When it fell before the ark, " the head and both the 
 palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold ; only the fishy part of 
 Dagon was left to him." (1 Samuel, v. 4. See the marginal reading, 
 which is to be preferred to our version.) The same idol is mentioned in 
 Judges, xvi. The meaning of the word in Hebrew is " a fish." Although 
 this image, like that of the Assyrians, appears to have been originally 
 male ; at a later period, it became female in Syria, as we learn from 
 Lucian (de Dea Syria), and Diodorus Siculus, who describes the idol at 
 Ascalon with the face of a woman and body of a fish. (Lib. ii.) An 
 icthyolatry, connected with Derceto or Atergates, was perhaps confounded 
 with the worship of Dagon. See the authorities on the subject collected 
 in Selden, de Dis Syris, c. 3. de Dagone. 
 
 f Numerous instances are given in Lajard's large work on the Wor- 
 ship of Venus. 
 
 H H 2
 
 468 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 forms of the altars in the sculptures, and from the 
 symbols accompanying them, we may conjecture that 
 the Persians adopted, not only their system, but their 
 ceremonies, almost entirely from the Assyrians.* The 
 fire-altar represented on Persian coins, even as late 
 as the time of the Sassanian dynasty, was found in 
 a bas-relief at Khorsabad. 
 
 In a sculpture from the same ruins two eunuchs 
 are seen standing before an 
 altar, performing some re- 
 ligious ceremony. They 
 bear the square basket, 
 or utensil, carried by the 
 winged figures of the older 
 bas-reliefs. 
 
 That the cone on the high 
 stand, or altar, represents 
 fire, appears to be shown by its having been painted 
 red. 
 
 From the ruins of Kouyunjik we have a still more 
 curious representation of similar ceremonies. Two 
 eunuchs are standing before an altar upon which is 
 the sacred fire. Two serpents appear to be attached 
 to poles, and a bearded figure is leading a wild goat 
 to the sacrifice, f 
 
 * This identity between the religious systems of the Assyrians and 
 Persians, affords as good an argument in favour of the Assyrian, as the 
 Persian, origin of several of the nations of Asia Minor, the Cappadocians, 
 for instance. 
 
 f On a very ancient bas-relief accompanied by a cuneiform inscription 
 discovered by me in Susiana, a similar figure is seen leading a wild goat 
 to an altar. 
 
 FIRE-ALTAR. (Kborsabad.)
 
 CHAP. VII.] 
 
 FIRE-WORSHIP. 
 
 469 
 
 FJt.E-AL.TAB AND SACRIFICE. (Kouyoujik.) 
 
 On cylinders, evidently of the same period, the em- 
 blems and ceremonies of the Assyrian fire- worship so 
 closely resemble those of the Persians, that, until the 
 discovery of the Kouyunjik sculptures, I was inclined 
 to attribute these relics to a time long posterior to 
 the fall of the Assyrian empire. 
 
 Amongst the ruins of Khorsabad were discovered 
 two circular altars, which are so much like the 
 Greek tripod, that they may be cited as an additional 
 proof of the Assyrian origin of many forms and reli- 
 gious types, afterwards prevalent in Asia Minor and 
 Greece. The altar is supported by three lion's paws. 
 Round the upper part is an inscription, in cuneiform 
 characters, containing the name of the Khorsabad 
 
 king.* 
 
 One of these altars is now in the Louvre. 
 H 11 3
 
 470 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VJI. 
 
 ALTAR, OR TRIPOD. (From Khoraabad.) 
 
 The presence of eunuchs at religious ceremonies, 
 not only as assistants, but apparently as principal 
 actors, is worthy of observation. In the symbolical 
 groups embroidered on robes, the eunuch is even 
 frequently seen invested with outward attributes of 
 a sacred character. It is possible that youths are 
 meant ; or that the priests, forming an exception to 
 the general rule, shaved their beards. However, as 
 far as I can judge, the Assyrians never portrayed a 
 male figure without a beard ; and the attendants, or 
 priests, at the fire-altars cannot be distinguished, 
 either by their features or their dress, from the 
 eunuchs of the bas-reliefs. That the Babylonians had 
 an order of priesthood, not only resembling the Magi 
 of the Persians, but even bearing the same name, 
 we learn from the title of one of the principal officers 
 of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon.* He was 
 
 * Jeremiah, xxxix. 3.
 
 CHAP. VII.] SACRED EMBLEMS. 471 
 
 the Rab Mag, or chief of the magians ; another proof 
 of the Assyrian origin of the Persian system. 
 
 The sacred emblems carried by the priests, are 
 principally the fruit, or cone, of the pine, various 
 flowers with three or five blossoms, and the square 
 utensil; which, as I have already remarked, appears 
 to have been of embossed or engraved metal, or of 
 metal carved to represent wicker-work, or sometimes 
 actually of wicker-work. M. Lajard, in an elaborate 
 essay, has shown the connection between the cone 
 of the cypress, and the worship of Venus in the 
 religious systems of the East * ; but I hesitate to 
 identify the object held by the winged figures of 
 the Assyrian monuments, with the fruit of that 
 tree, or to assign any emblematical meaning to 
 its shape. It has been suggested that, from its in- 
 flammable nature, the fir-cone being an apt emblem 
 of fire, whilst the square vessel held the holy 
 water, the two were introduced into sculptures as 
 typical of the sacred elements. However this may be, 
 it is evident from their constant occurrence on As- 
 syrian monuments, that they were very important 
 objects in religious ceremonies.f Any attempt to 
 explain their use, or their typical meaning, can, at 
 present, be little better than an ingenious speculation. 
 
 The flowers on the earlier monuments are either 
 
 * Nouvelles Annales de 1'Institut Archeologique, vol. xix. 
 
 f It will be remembered that Bacchus brought his thyrsus, surmounted 
 by the pine or fir cone, from the East, when he returned from his Indian 
 expedition. The fan too, as frequently seen in the Assyrian sculptures, 
 was introduced in the ceremonies connected with his worship and became 
 a sacred emblem. I am inclined to assign an Assyrian origin to both. 
 
 H n 4
 
 472 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 circular with five or more petals, or resemble the 
 Greek honeysuckle.* From the constant introduction 
 of the tree ornamented with them, into groups repre- 
 senting the performance of religious ceremonies, there 
 cannot be a doubt that they were symbolical and were 
 invested with a sacred character. The sacred tree, 
 or tree of life, so universally recognised in Eastern 
 systems of theology, is called to mind, and we are 
 naturally led to refer the traditions connected with 
 it to a common origin, f On the later Assyrian 
 monuments, as it has already been observed, the lotus 
 frequently takes the place of the honeysuckle, both 
 as a sacred emblem carried by the winged figures, 
 and as an ornament in architecture and in embroi- 
 deries. 1 have attributed this change to a close con- 
 nection with Egypt. 
 
 When the king is represented in the sculptures as 
 engaged in the performance of some religious cere- 
 mony before the sacred tree, or beneath the image 
 of the deity, he appears to be peculiarly attired. 
 His waist is encircled by a kind of knotted zone, the 
 ends of which fall down almost to his feet. Such 
 was probably the girdle with which the Persian dis- 
 
 * See woodcuts, page 294. 
 
 f We have the tree of life of Genesis, and the sacred tree of the Hindhus, 
 with its accompanying figures a group almost identical with the illus- 
 trations of the fall in our old Bibles. The Zoroastrian Homa, or sacred 
 tree, was preserved by the Persians, almost as represented on the Assyrian 
 monuments, until the Arab invasion. M. Lajard (Recherches sur la Culte 
 du Cypres, in the Nouvelles Annales de 1' Institut Archeologique, vol.xix.) 
 has collected all the authorities on the probable connection of this object 
 with the worship of Venus, and of its introduction from Assyria into 
 Asia Minor, Persia, and central Asia on one side, and into Arabia on the 
 other.
 
 CHAP. VII.] INFLUENCE OF RELIGION. 473 
 
 ciples of Zoroaster were invested on their initiation. 
 He holds in one hand a mace, formed by a handle 
 terminating in a globe or disk. A similar object is 
 frequently carried by winged figures. It is some- 
 times replaced by a kind of bident, which appears to 
 be connected by a wavy line with the figure of the 
 divinity above. * Suspended round the king's neck 
 are the sacred emblems, the sun, moon, star, horned 
 cap, and trident, f 
 
 The intimate connection between the public and 
 private life of the Assyrians and their religion, is 
 abundantly proved by the sculptures described in the 
 previous pages. As amongst most ancient Eastern 
 nations, not only all public and social duties, but even 
 the commonest forms and customs, appear to have 
 been more or less influenced by religion, or to have been 
 looked upon as typical. The residence of the king, as 
 I have observed, was probably at the same time the 
 temple J, and that he himself was either supposed to be 
 invested with divine attributes, or was looked upon as 
 a type of the Supreme Deity, is shown by the sculp- 
 tures. The winged figures, even that with the head 
 of the eagle, minister to him. All his acts, whether in 
 
 * Representations of these objects will be found in my " Monuments 
 of Nineveh." 
 
 f See woodcut, page 446. 
 
 { The scholiast on the Periegesis of Dionysius already quoted (note, 
 p. 264.), observes, with reference to the dedication of a great house 
 to Belus by Semiramis, " She dedicated upon the Acropolis a great 
 house to Belus, that is to the king (for this Belus is Jupiter or the son of 
 Jupiter, the king according to the Jews) ; instead of saying she dedicated 
 or founded a great temple, and beautified and decorated it with gold and 
 silver and ivory ; for the expression placed and prepared a palace is 
 convenable to a king."
 
 474 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 war or peace, appear to have been connected with the 
 national religion, and were believed to be under the 
 special protection and superintendence of the deity. 
 When he is represented in battle, the winged figure 
 in the circle hovers above his head, bends the bow 
 against his enemies, or assumes his attitude of 
 triumph. His contests with the lion and other for- 
 midable animals, not only show his prowess and skill, 
 but typify, at the same time, his superior strength 
 and wisdom. Whether he has overcome his enemies 
 or the wild beasts, he pours out a libation from the 
 sacred cup, attended by his courtiers, and by the 
 winged figures. The embroideries upon his robes, 
 and upon those of his attendants, have all mythic 
 meanings. Even his weapons, bracelets, and armlets 
 are adorned with the forms of sacred animals, the lion, 
 bull, or duck. In architectural decorations, the same 
 religious influence is evident. The fir, or pine cone, and 
 the honeysuckle, are constantly repeated. They form 
 friezes, the capitals of columns, and the fringes of 
 hangings.* Chairs, tables, and couches, are adorned 
 with the heads and feet of the bull, the lion, and the 
 ram, all sacred animals.f Even on chariots and on 
 
 * Note the Ionic form of the capital of the Assyrian pillars already 
 alluded to (p. 274.), and the sacred character of the Greek Ionic column, 
 which was exclusively used for funereal purposes. A column of this 
 order stands alone in the centre of the pediment of a tomb at Telmissus. 
 
 f The bull has always held a prominent place in the religious systems 
 of Asia. The sacred bull of the Assyrians, the Apis of the Egyptians, and 
 the bull Nandi of the Ilindhus are evidently identical types. The golden 
 calf of the Israelites will not be forgotten, and for the use of the figure of 
 the bull as a sacred ornament by the Jews, the brazen sea in the temple 
 of Solomon may be cited. (1 Kings, vii. 25.; 2 Chron. iv. 4, 5 ; and Jere-
 
 CHAP. VII.] MODE OF BURIAL. 475 
 
 the trappings of horses, the Assyrians introduced 
 their religious emblems. This singular connection 
 between religion, and the duties and events of life 
 whether public or private, so remarkably illustrated 
 by the monuments of the Assyrians and Egpytians, 
 and by the Jewish law, is well worthy of philosophical 
 inquiry. But the subject does not enter into the scope 
 of these volumes. 
 
 It only remains for me to say a few words on the 
 mode of burial of the Assyrians. As I have already 
 observed, no tombs which can with certainty be at- 
 tributed to that people, have yet been discovered. 
 We may conjecture, as the analogies between the two 
 nations are in other respects so evident, that the 
 Persians imitated the Assyrians, in their funereal cere- 
 monies. The body may have been enclosed in a 
 coffin filled with honey, wax, or oil ; and this may also 
 be inferred from the anecdote related by .Julian as to 
 the body of Belus.* Traditions have been preserved 
 relating to the tombs of the two most celebrated 
 Assyrian kings IX'inus and Sardanapalus ; but they 
 are so confused and vague, that even the precise 
 place of sepulture of those monarchs cannot be de- 
 
 miah, Hi. 20.) That in Assyria Baal, or the Supreme Deity, was wor- 
 shipped under the form of a bull or heifer may be inferred from Tobit, 
 i. 5. " Now all the tribes which together revolted, and the house of my 
 father Xaphthali sacrificed unto the heifer Baal ;" but the reading is 
 doubtful. 
 
 * See note, p. 220. Rich discovered a skeleton in a square wooden box 
 or coffin amongst the ruins of Babylon. Under the head was a round 
 pebble, on the outside of the coffin a brass bird, and in the inside an orna- 
 ment of the same material, which had probably been suspended to some 
 part of the corpse. But from the position of the coffin, it is doubtful 
 whether it was of the pure Babylonian epoch.
 
 476 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 termined. According to some the tomb of Ninus was 
 at Babylon, where, it will be remembered, Ovid 
 places the " Busta Nini ; " according to others, at 
 Nineveh. Ctesias relates that when her husband died, 
 Semiramis buried his body in the palace, and raised 
 over it a huge tumulus or pyramid of earth, which 
 was visible from afar, and was still standing after 
 the destruction of the city and the fall of the em- 
 pire. * From the ambiguous expression of the Greek 
 author it might be inferred, that the palace itself 
 was actually buried. The extraordinary preserva- 
 tion of the sculptures at Nimroud, and the existence 
 of the pyramid, almost induced me at one time to 
 believe that the building had been purposely co- 
 vered up ; and that the part of the mound enclosing 
 the north-west edifice was actually the monument de- 
 scribed by Ctesias. Nor can this conjecture be rejected 
 on account of its mere absurdity, when we remember 
 the extraordinary works of those ancient nations, 
 which more or less resembled the Assyrians in their 
 customs, and in their political condition. An ancient 
 tradition declares that Ninus neither died, nor was 
 buried, in Assyria ; but that, having been dethroned 
 by Semiramis, he fled into Crete, f Semiramis herself 
 is said by some to have been changed into a dove, 
 
 * Diod. Sic. 1. ii. Although Ctesias, as usual, has placed Nineveh on 
 the Euphrates, the destruction of the city by the Medes identifies it with 
 the city on the Tigris, and, at the same time, may connect the tumulus 
 he describes with the Nimroud mound. 
 
 f Moses Chor. c. xiv. Quippe vir ejus (Semiramis) Ninus, non ut 
 fertur, mortuus in Nineves regia ab ea sepultus erat, sed ubi impudicitiam 
 ejus ac mores flagitiosos perspecit, relicto regno, in Cretam confugit.
 
 CHAP. VII.] SARDANAPALUS. 477 
 
 and to have been honoured with an apotheosis; whilst 
 according to others she burnt herself at Babylon, on 
 account of the death of a favourite horse*, an in- 
 scription recording her conquests and great works 
 being placed over her tomb, f 
 
 The same doubt exists as to the burial-place of 
 Sardanapalus. Some have placed his tomb at An- 
 chiale, in Cilicia, where it was said to have been 
 seen by Alexander ; others at Tarsus ; others, again, 
 at Nineveh. According to Amynthus J, at the gate 
 of the Assyrian capital was a high artificial terrace 
 or tumulus, which was the tomb of the monarch, and 
 bore an inscription to that effect, in Chaldean letters. 
 During the siege of Nineveh engines of war, brought 
 against the besieged, were placed upon it. But if 
 this were the tomb of the Sardanapalus of history, 
 who burnt himself, with his wealth and concubines, 
 and after whose death the Assyrian dynasty and capi- 
 tal were totally destroyed, it may be asked how it 
 could have been thus raised in the most conspicuous 
 part of the city ? It is most probable that the high 
 terrace described by Amynthus was the pyramid or 
 mound of Nimroud, and the tomb of a much earlier 
 monarch. The epitaph inscribed upon the tomb of 
 Sardanapalus " Sardanapalus, the son of Anacyn- 
 daraxos, built Anchiale and Tarsus in one day : eat, 
 
 * Pliny Hist. Nat. 1. viii. c. 42. " Semiramisin Babylonia equo ainisso 
 in pyram se conjecit." Mr. Birch suggests to rne that the true reading 
 may be " regno amisso." 
 
 f Polyaenus (vii. c. 25.) gives the inscription, which, however, may be 
 looked upon as fabulous. 
 
 J Srafyoi. 1. 3.
 
 478 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 drink, and lust ; the rest is nothing " has been 
 quoted for ages, and its authenticity is generally ad- 
 mitted. Yet some versions of the same inscription 
 would give a more favourable view of the character 
 of the monarch: although the sentiment, according 
 to those who pretend to have seen the monument, 
 was sufficiently illustrated by a statue, representing 
 the king snapping his fingers in contempt, or in the 
 attitude of a dancer.* 
 
 The manner of the death of Sardanapalus is no 
 less doubtful than the site of his tomb. The As- 
 syrian king, upon the funeral pile, surrounded by 
 
 * Various versions of this celebrated epitaph have been handed down 
 to us. Athenaeus gives three (lib. viii.); one by the poet Cherillus, in seven 
 hexameter verses, from the works of Chrysippus ; a second, by the poet 
 Phoenix, of Colophon, containing fourteen verses, with a preamble of 
 eleven ; and a third from Amynthus, all in the same sense. Note that 
 Sardanapalus is called Ninus in one of these versions. According to 
 Clearchus, a disciple of Aristotle, the epitaph was merely " Sardanapalus, 
 the son of Anacyndaraxos, built the cities of Tarsus and Anchiale in one 
 day. He is now dead." Thus inferring the vanity of human power and 
 greatness. The concluding words in the text, which convey the con- 
 demnatory sentiment, were added. (Essai sur 1'Histoire, &c. des Assyriens 
 de Ninive, by Freret, in the Memoires of the Academie Royale des In- 
 scriptions, &c. from 1718 to 1725.) With regard to the form of the tomb 
 itself, as represented on the imperial coins of Anchiale, it may be pre- 
 sumed that it is merely conjectural, or that it was derived from an ancient 
 monument restored at a later period. Still there is something^ssyrian 
 both in the design and in the figures placed upon it. It consisted of a 
 kind of pyramid, surmounted by an eagle, having in front an Assyrian 
 god, holding a cone, and trampling on a sphinx. Two winged figures 
 stood on the wall, or peribole, surrounding the pyramid. A massive ruin 
 of stone and brick-work consisting of a square base, surrounded by a 
 wall of great thickness in the midst of the modern town of Tarsus, has 
 been by some identified with the tomb of Sardanapalus. This ruin was 
 opened in one or two places some years ago by the French consul, but 
 without results of any interest. The whole appears to be a solid mass of 
 masonry, and was probably only the lower part of a monument, perhaps 
 originally cased with marble.
 
 CHAP. VII.] SARDANAPALUS. 479 
 
 his wives, his concubines, and his treasures of gold 
 and silver, gazing from the flaming heap on the 
 great city, once impregnable, and now to become 
 the prey of the conquering Mede, has long been a 
 favourite theme of the poet, the historian, and the 
 moralist. Some, however, pretend that the monarch, 
 driven from his throne, and the victim of luxury 
 and debauch, wandered into a distant part of his 
 former dominions, and died of premature old age.* 
 Others, again, as it has been seen, place his tomb at 
 Anchiale, with an inscription only becoming one who 
 had died a monarch. Modern critics, at a loss to re- 
 concile these anomalies regarding Ninus, Semiramis, 
 and Sardanapalus, have been compelled to assume 
 that there were two or more monarchs of each name ; 
 whose deeds and the period of whose existence have 
 been confounded by ancient historian s.f 
 
 * Athenaeus, lib. xii. And yet he gives, at the same time, a full 
 account of his death on the funeral pile, which was burning for fifteen 
 days every one, excepting an eunuch who was within the palace, be- 
 lieving that the king was offering up a great sacrifice. 
 
 J" " Sardanapalus " may have been a title ; or sardan, a title or name, 
 and pul, great; as frequently conjectured. Atossa bore the name of 
 Semiramis (Euseb. Chrcn.), and many of her works were attributed to 
 the ear^jtr queen. The arguments of Bryant (Mythology, vol. ii. p. 
 100.) to prove that the name of Semiramis attached to a tribe or nation, 
 typified, according to a very common Eastern custom, by an individual, 
 are ingenious. A Semiramis of history was invested with a semi-sacred 
 character. She was the daughter of a Syrian goddess, half fish, and a 
 young man of the country. Being exposed at her birth, she was brought 
 up by birds, and was ultimately transformed into a dove. From her 
 mother, the Syrians worshipped the fish, and from her own apotheosis the 
 dove became a sacred symbol amongst the Assyrians ; whilst her name 
 was supposed to denote that bird. Fabulous and legendary as these 
 accounts are, they appear to have had an origin in Assyrian rites only 
 understood by the initiated, and whose mythic meaning had perished alto-
 
 480 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 But if an impenetrable mystery surrounds the lives 
 of kings who were connected with the greatest revolu- 
 tions and political changes in Asia, how can we hope 
 to determine the precise mode and place of their 
 burial ? If this obscurity hangs over the deeds of 
 the three greatest characters in Assyrian history, 
 how fruitless would be an endeavour to frame a 
 narrative of any minor events, from the materials 
 hitherto accessible ! Although the ancients were 
 unable to discover the records of more than thirty 
 generations of kings, we cannot concur in their 
 sweeping assertion that the lives of those monarchs 
 were passed in inglorious sloth, and that their reigns 
 were unmarked by a single achievement worthy of 
 notice. These writers contradict themselves when 
 they speak of the Assyrian power extending from 
 India to the Hellespont, and the name of Assyria 
 applying to a region stretching from the confines 
 of Pontus to the borders of Egypt. History may 
 
 gether before they were described. The dove appears to have been an 
 Assyrian emblem. Yet we have no representation of it in the sculptures, 
 unless it be the bird carried by the warriors, which I have been inclined 
 to identify with the lynges. (Note, p. 462.) Mr. Birch has pointed out, 
 in his Memoir on the Nimroud Cartouches (p. 160 ), the coincidence of 
 the name of the first husband of Semiramis, Onnes, with that of the Chal- 
 dsean sea god, Cannes. The legendary accounts of the queen go far to 
 connect her with Astarte and Venus. A scholiast, on the Periegesis of 
 Dionysius, makes her the same as the goddess Artemis or Dispoina. 
 Note also the Assyrian and Syrian origin of Adonis, and the legends 
 connected with him. The authorities on the worship of Astarte and 
 Derceto are collected by Selden (de Dis Syris, c. 3.)- With regard to 
 the historical Semiramis, the confusion as to the time of her existence, 
 her deeds, and her connection with Ninus, is equally inexplicable. She is 
 declared to be the wife, daughter, and even the mother, or step-mother, 
 of that monarch. (Cramer, Anecdota Grteca, vol. ii. p. 170.)
 
 CHAP. VII.] CONCLUSION. 
 
 have failed to chronicle the deeds of a nation which 
 could maintain its sway over the largest portion of 
 the then civilised world, and traditions, in which 
 their remembrance was preserved, may have perished 
 before history was ready to receive them; but the 
 records of the people themselves have remained, 
 and are now before us. From them we may hope 
 to fill up a part of a great blank in the history 
 of the world. The attempt to do so cannot be al- 
 together uninteresting or unimportant. It is of 
 Assyria we treat, a name familiar to us as the seat 
 of the earliest settlements of the human race, and as 
 the birthplace of the first patriarchs. How far the 
 civilisation and worship of its inhabitants may have 
 affected a religious system, which still maintains an 
 influence over nearly one half of the human race, we 
 are not yet, probably, fully aware ; nor could I, at 
 present, venture to inquire. A more palpable in- 
 fluence exercised over Asia Minor, and even Greece, 
 has been casually, though imperfectly, pointed out 
 in these volumes.* I might further enlarge on the 
 diffusion of the arts and religion of the Assyrians, 
 either directly or through their allies, over the dis- 
 tant regions of Egypt and Libya. Engaging theories, 
 not devoid of plausibility, might be advanced, and at 
 any rate an extended and impartial inquiry might 
 convince us, that the influence of Assyria was more 
 extensive than a mere superficial examination might 
 lead us to suspect. But such subjects are at pre- 
 
 * " In the time of the twelve patriarchs was Ilesiod, who translated 
 Assyrian writings into Greek." (Anecd. Graeca, Cramer, vol. ii. p. 389.) 
 VOL. II. I I
 
 482 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. [CHAP. VII. 
 
 sent out of my province. I shall be well satisfied, 
 and my literary labours, as well as those of a more 
 active nature, will be amply rewarded, if I have 
 succeeded in an attempt to add a page to the history 
 of mankind, by restoring a part of the lost annals 
 of Assyria.
 
 INDEX, 
 
 A. 
 
 Abd"rnliboti, sheikh of the Jebour, i. 
 
 11. 47. 
 
 Abd-ul- Summit Hey, i. 167. 170. 
 Abtf-ur-rahman, sheikh of the Abou 
 
 Salman, i. 56. 1*21. ; ii. 84. 
 Abou- Salman Arabs, encampment of, 
 
 i. 56 
 
 Abou-Mnriii, village of, i. 311. 
 Abraham and Nimrod, story of, i. 23. 
 Abydenus, his list of Assyrian kings, 
 
 ii. 231. 
 
 Acacius, archbishop of Stleucia, i. 242. 
 Agron, king of Lydia, son of Ninus, 
 
 ii. 227. 
 Ahmed Pasha, name on slab at Nim- 
 
 rond, i. 28. 
 Alabaster, vases of, discovered, i. 341. 
 
 Tablets of, i. 115. Used in build- 
 ings, ii. 254. 313. 
 
 Al Hather, visit to ruins of, i. 82. 109. 
 Al Kosh, village of, i. 232. Tomb of 
 
 Nahum at, 233. 
 Altars, Assyrian, ii. 467. The tripod, 
 
 469. 
 
 Amadiyah, the town of, i. 157. 
 American missions to the Chaldaeans, 
 
 i. 267. 
 
 Amsha, the wife of Sofuk, i. 100. 
 Animals embroidered on robes, ii. 321. 
 
 and iint:-. 
 
 Antelope on obelisk, ii, 435. 
 Antimony found in Assyria, ii. 419. 
 Apollo confounded with Belus, ii. note, 
 
 450. 
 
 Apollo called Gryphenias, ii. 459. note. 
 Arabs Family, i. 22. Life-charms of, 
 
 79. Repast, 87. Beauty, 101. 
 
 Dances, 119. Workmen, 3:50. 
 
 Women, 358. Mode of life, 36O. 
 
 Protect the Chaldeans, 246. En- 
 campment of, ii. 53. 
 
 Arch known to Assyrians, i. 167. ; ii. 
 260. 
 
 Archers, Assyrian, their dress, ii. S37. 
 
 Architecture, Assyrian, ii. 250. No re- 
 mains of exterior, 'J67. 
 
 Aristotle, works of, translated by Chal- 
 deans, i. 248. 
 
 Armenia, rock tablets of, ii, 178. 
 
 Armour, Assyrian, discovered at Nim- 
 roud, i. 340. In sculptures, ii. 335. 
 
 Arms of king, ii. 323. Of warriors, 
 344. 
 
 Army, description of Persian, ii. 364. 
 Of Assyrian, 364. 
 
 Artaxerxes, ii. 300. note. 
 
 Arts, state of, amongst Assyrians, ii. 
 280. 
 
 Asheetha, village of, i. 173. Church 
 at, 180. 
 
 Asia Minor, influence of Assyria on, 
 ii. 285. Assyrian descent of nations 
 of, 286. note. 
 
 Asoka, ornament on monument of, ii. 
 294. 
 
 Ass not represented on Assyrian mo- 
 numents, ii. 425. 
 
 Asses, wild, i. 3 '23. and note. 
 
 Assyria, nature of ruins of, i. 6. An- 
 cient population of, 38. Origin of 
 Christianity in, 241. Writing of, 
 ii. 164. 178. Antiquity of, 22'2. 
 Language and race of inhabitants, 
 236. Fertility of, 421. Name of, 
 on Egyptian monuments, 405. 
 
 Astarte, or Venus, her worship, ii. 211. 
 455. 
 
 Astronomy, science of, amongst the 
 Chaldees, ii. 444. 
 
 Astyages, king, his dress, ii. note, 322. 
 
 Alhur, name of Assyrian deity, ii. 211. 
 Name in inscription, 228., and note, 
 229. Ruins of Nimroud so called, 
 ii. 245. and note 
 
 i i 2
 
 484 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Aubnura, name in cartouche from Nim- 
 roud, ii. 209. 
 
 B. 
 
 Baal, the Assyrian deity, ii. 237. 449. 
 
 Babylon, true site of, ii. 174. Obelisk 
 at, note, 174. 214. Cuneiform 
 writing of, 1 72. Description of, 
 264. note. Walls of, 276. 
 
 Bacchus, Assyrian origin of his thyrsus, 
 
 ii. 471. 
 
 Basalt, figures in, not painted, ii. 306. 
 Used in monuments, 316. 
 
 Basheikhah, fragments of sculpture dis- 
 covered at, i. 52. 
 
 Bas-reliefs, first discovery of, i. 40. 
 Sent to Baghdad, 364. 370. 
 
 Battering-ram in sculptures, i. 129. 
 336.; ii. 26. The Assyrian, 366. 
 370. 
 
 Bavian, rock-tablets at, i. 231.; ii. 
 note, 142. 
 
 Baz, district of, i. 210. 
 
 Be-Alatha, village of, i. 215. 
 
 Bebozi, Chalda?an village of, i. 154. 
 
 Beder Khan Bey, i. note, 173. Ba- 
 nished to Catulia, 239. 
 
 Behistun, inscription at, deciphered, ii. 
 161. 
 
 Belled Sinjar, ruins at, i. 321. 
 
 Belus, the temple of, vaulted rooms in, 
 ii. 26O. note. Idols in the temple, 
 465. Statue of, at Babylon, 45 1 . 
 
 Berosus, his Chaldaean history, ii. 222. 
 note. 
 
 Birch, Mr., his description of the ivory 
 ornaments, ii. note, 10. His remarks 
 on ivories, 205. 211. 
 
 Birijai, village of, i. 198. 
 
 Birds in Assyrian sculptures, ii. 437. 
 
 Bit of horses, ii. 3M. 
 
 Bitumen under pavement, i. 29. Em- 
 ployed as cement, ii. 278. 
 
 Blue, Assyrian, ii. S1O. 
 
 Botta, M., his excavations, ii. 9. 16. 
 
 Bows, Assyrian, ii. 299. 341. 
 
 Bracelets, Assyrian, i. 136. Worn by 
 king, ii. 322. 
 
 Breastplates, Assyrian, ii. 297. 
 
 Bricks, inscriptions on, ii. 185. 187 
 
 Invention of, 252. Painted, 312. 
 Hull, human-headed, discovery of, i 
 47. Removal of, ii. SI. On Assy- 
 ryian ornaments, 295. A sacrec 
 
 type, 461 . 474. note. The wild, 429. 
 On obelisk, 435. 
 
 Burial, mode of, amongst Assyrians, 
 ii. 475. 
 
 C. 
 
 Cadi, the, of Mosul, i. 31. 
 Caillou, de Michaud, ii. ISO. 
 Camel in Assyrian sculptures, ii. 427. 
 Bactrian, on obelisk, 43:3. 
 
 Canning, Sir Stratford, undertakes ex- 
 cavations, i. 16. 130. 3'J5. 
 
 Carpets, Assyrian and Babylonian, ii. 
 
 414. 
 Cart represented in a bas-relief, ii. 396. 
 
 Castor, his Assyrian chronology, ii. 
 216. 
 
 Cavalry in Assyrian armies, ii. 356. 
 
 Ceiling of Assyrian chambers, how 
 formed, ii. 259. 263, 264. note. 
 
 Chaldteans of Kurdistan, origin of, i. 
 240. Extent of their early missions, 
 243. Learning of, 247. Their pa- 
 triarch, 256. Their doctrines, 260. 
 Their language, 266. 
 
 Chald&ans, ancient, of Babylonia, their 
 language and origin, ii. 237. Their 
 religion, 443. Their astronomy, 
 445. 
 
 Chairs in Assyrian bas-reliefs, ii. 299. 
 
 Charcoal found in ruins, i. SO. 
 
 Chariots, Assyrian, ii. 349. 
 
 Chase, the, ii. 431. 
 
 Chebar, a river of Assyria, ii. 308. 
 
 China, Chaldaan missions in, i 243. 
 
 Cidaris of the Persian kings, ii. 32O. 
 
 Circle, winged emblem of the divinity, 
 ii. 448. 
 
 Clinton, his Assyrian chronology, ii. 
 161. 217. 
 
 Coins not known to Assyrians ii- 418. 
 
 Colours, used by Assyrians on walls, i. 
 130. On sculptures, ii. 3O6. 309. 
 Their nature, 310. 
 
 Column, the, not known to Assyrians, 
 ii. 272. Ionic origin of, 274. At 
 Persepolis, 291. 
 
 Copper ornaments discovered at Nim- 
 roud, i. 1 15. Mines of, in the Ti- 
 yari mountains 223. Discovery of 
 vessels in, ii. 11. Extensive use of, 
 by Assyrians, 418. 
 
 Cor, found in names on coast of Asia 
 Minor, ii. note, 387. 
 
 Corn produced in Assyria, ii. 421.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 485 
 
 Cotton manufactured in Assyria, ii. 
 
 11:5. 
 Crux ansata, in Assyrian monuments, 
 
 ii. 213. 
 Cuneiform writing, nature of, ii. 164. 
 
 167. 173. Origin of, 179. 
 Cups, Assyrian forms of, ii. 303. 
 Cup-bearer, office of, ii. 326. 
 Cursive writing of Assyrians, ii. 164, 
 
 166. 
 
 Cylinders, inscriptions on, ii, 186. 
 Cyrus, the tomb of, ii. 289. 
 
 D. 
 
 Daggers, Assyrian forms of, ii. 299. 
 
 Always carried by Assyrians, 342. 
 Dngoii, the fish-god, ii. note, 267. 
 Dam across Tigris at Nimroud, L 8. 
 Daniel, tomb of, i. 252. 
 Daotid Agha, i. 38. 
 Dariui, his dress, ii. note, 322. 
 Darics, first Persian coins, ii. 418. 
 Duthan, an Arab, i. 105. 
 Desert, the, i. 85. 
 
 Devil, Yezidis' respect for the, i. 297. 
 Diodorus Sicu'us, his Assyrian chrono- 
 logy, ii. 216. His description of 
 
 Babylon, 451. 
 
 Dicorce amongst Arabs, i. 354. 
 Dog on Assyrian monuments, ii. 425. 
 Dohuh, village of, i. 229. 
 Dove, the, an Assyrian emblem, ii. note, 
 
 480. 
 Drain in Assyrian edifice, i. 133. ; ii. 
 
 79. 261. 
 Ducks, in baked clay, discovered, i. 115. 
 
 In marble, ii. 316. 
 Dyes, Assyrian, ii. 311. For the hair, 
 
 328. Art of dyeing, 414. 
 
 E. 
 
 Eagles represented in sculptures, i. 366.; 
 
 ii. 437. Symbol of triumph, ii. 437. 
 E-tgle-heudcd figure, discovery of, i. 
 
 64. ; ii. 459. 
 Ear-rings, Assyrian, ii. 298. Worn by 
 
 king, 322. 
 
 Ecbiitanii, walls of, ii. 276. 
 Edesta, school of, i. 'J-12. 
 Egyptian symbols at Nimroud, i. 30. 
 
 Connection with Assyria, ii. 206. 
 
 Names on monuments identified with 
 
 enemies of the Assyrians, 407. 
 
 Elephant, its tusks represented in sculp- 
 tures, i. 129. On obelisk, ii. 433. 
 Not used by Egyptians, 434. note. 
 
 Embroideries, Assyrian, on robus, ii. 
 413. 
 
 Enamelling on bricks, ii. 312. 
 
 Enemies of the Assyrians, ii. 39O. 
 
 Ergub, village of, i. 211. 
 
 Essad Pasha, ii. 3. 
 
 Ethiopians, or Kushites, ii. 215. note. 
 
 Eunuchs, their offices in Assyrian 
 court, ii. 324. Officiate in religious 
 ceremonies, 470. 
 
 Eusebius, his Assyrian chronology, ii. 
 216. 
 
 Ecorita, palace of, ii. 218. note, 248. 
 
 Excavating, mode of, ii. 119. 
 
 Ezekiel, his description of the Assyrian 
 palaces, ii. 307. Of the fall of Nine- 
 veh, 309. Vision of, illustrated, 464. 
 
 F. 
 
 Fan in worship of Bacchus of Assyrian 
 origin, ii. 471. 
 
 Female divinities in Assyrian sculptures, 
 ii. 464. 
 
 Ferhan, son of Sofak, i. 92. 
 
 Festivals, public, magnificence of, ii. 41 1. 
 
 Fir-cone, the, a sacred emblem, ii. 471. 
 
 Fire-worship of Assyrians, ii. 467. 
 Origin of, 442. note. 
 
 Fish represented in Assyrian sculp- 
 tures, i. 40. ; ii. 438. Worship of 
 amongst Assyrians, 467. 
 
 Flowers, sacred, of Assyrians, ii. 296. 
 471. 
 
 Footstools, ii. 302. 
 
 Furniture, ii. 299. 
 
 G. 
 
 Galleys in Assyrian bas-reliefs, ii. 384. 
 
 Garments, Assyrian, ii. 319. 
 
 Gates to Assyrian edifices, ii. 355. 
 
 Gems, engraving on, ii. 421. 
 
 Gilding, art of, known to Assyrians, ii. 
 417. 
 
 Girdle, sacred, worn by king, ii. 472. 
 
 Glass, manufacture of, ii. 421. 
 
 Globe, winged, an Assyrian emblem, ii. 
 448. 
 
 Goat, on ornaments, ii. 296. On bas- 
 reliefs, 426. The wild, 431. 
 
 Gods, Assyrian, connected with Egyp- 
 
 i i 3
 
 486 
 
 tian, ii. 211. Carried in procession, 
 
 451. 
 Gold, use of, in architecture, ii. 264. and 
 
 note. Abundance of, in Assyria, 
 
 416. 
 Gold-leaf discovered, i. 3O. Under 
 
 altar, 134. 
 
 Grant, Dr., i. 179. note. 
 Gryphon, the, an Assyrian emblem, ii. 
 
 459. 
 Gitittoche, the, an Assyrian ornament, ii. 
 
 296. 
 
 H. 
 
 Jfadtledeen Arabs, i. 85. 
 
 Hair, mode of dressing the, ii. 327. 
 
 Halicarnassus, sculptures from, i. 17 
 
 note. 
 
 Hammum Ali, village of, i. 4. 
 Harness, Assyrian, ii. 299. 353. 
 Harpy tomb from Xanthus, ii. 292. 
 Hatchet carried by Assyrian warriors, 
 
 ii. 343. 
 Helmets in bas-reliefs, i. 4O. With 
 
 curved crest, 61. Discovery of, at 
 
 Nimroud, 34O. Various forms of, ii. 
 
 338. Material of, 4 1 8. 
 Hera, her statue at Babylon, ii. 451. 
 
 The Assyrian Venus, 454. 
 Hindis, Dr., on cuneiform character, ii. 
 
 198. 
 Honeysuckle ornament of Assyrian 
 
 origin, ii. 294. 
 
 Horus an Assyrian king, ii 215. 
 Horses, furniture of, ii. 355. 358. In 
 
 chariots, 356. Breed of, in Assyria, 
 
 359. Dedicated to the sun, 365. 
 
 Winged and sacred emblem, 461. 
 Horsemen in Assyrian armies, ii. S56. 
 Houses of Baghdad and Mosul, i. 143. 
 
 Assyrian, ii. 270. 
 
 Human remains, discovery of, ii. 14. 
 Hunting favoured by Assyrians, ii. 431. 
 Hussein Dey, the chief of the Yezidis, i. 
 
 272. 
 Hi/las or irregular cavalry, i. 38. 
 
 I. 
 
 Ibex. See Wild Goat. 
 
 Ilinthim Agha, i. 96. 217. 
 
 Idttlx in hiis-ieliefs, ii. 451. Made of 
 
 gold and precious metals, 453. 
 Impalement of prisoners, ii. 374. 
 
 Indo-European races, their character- 
 istics, ii. 239. 
 
 Inlaying, art of, known to Assyrians, ii. 
 420. 
 
 Inscriptions at Nimroud, i. 41. Im- 
 portance of, ii. 164. 
 
 Ionic column, Assyrian origin of, ii. 
 274. Order sacred, 474. note. 
 
 Iron discovered at Nimroud, i. 340. 
 Mines of, in Kurdistan, 223. Used 
 by Assyrians, ii. 425. 
 
 Irrigation, mode of, in Assyria, i. 353. 
 ii. 422. 
 
 Ismail Pasha, of Mosul, i. 49. Of 
 Amadiyah, 160. 
 
 Ismail Agha, i. 163. 
 
 leory ornaments, discovery of, i. 29. 
 Description of, ii. 9. Date of, 205. 
 211. Carving in, 420. 
 
 lynges, or sacred birds, ii. 4G2. note. 
 
 J. 
 
 Jebour Arabs, i. 72. 
 
 Jeraiyah, mound of, i. 33. 
 
 Jeremy, epistle of, ii. 452. 
 
 Jews, their office in Assyrian court, ii. 
 334. note. Not represented in Assy- 
 rian bas-reliefs, ii. 397. 
 
 Jonah, tomb of, ii. 242. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kalah Shcrghnt, ruins of, i. 4. Visit 
 to, ii. 45. Discoveries at, 51. 
 
 Kaloni, village of, i. 152. 
 
 Karamles, ruins at, i. 52. 
 
 Kasha Bortuca, i. 205. 
 
 Kasha Kami, i. 183. 
 
 Kasha Auraham, i. 222. 
 
 Kcl-i-Shin, inscription at, ii. 183. 
 
 Ken, the Assyriart Venus, ii. 212. 
 
 Khauser, the, a stream near Kouyun- 
 jik, ii. 118. 
 
 Kkita, the, of Egyptian monuments, ii. 
 403. 
 
 Khorsabud, M. Botta's discovery of, i. 
 11. Visit to, 148. Name of king 
 on monuments of, ii. 198. 
 
 Khouara mountain, i. 214. 
 
 Kings, the, in sculptures, i. 60. 129. 
 337. Names of Assyrian, ii. 16. 
 193. 199. In Egyptian dynasties, 
 207. Their names on monuments, 
 265. Robes of Assyrian, 297. Pre- 
 sent in battle, 36"3. During siege,
 
 INDEX. 
 
 487 
 
 373. During religious ceremonies, 
 472. Their sacred character, 473. 
 
 Kiyara, the, or bitumen pits, ii. 46. 
 
 Kouyuujik, first excavations at, i. 9. 
 131. Sculptures of, 144. Excava- 
 tions at, ii. 118. Description of 
 ruins, 121. 124. Interesting relic 
 discovered by Mr. Ross, 14O. Name 
 of king on monuments of, 123. 198. 
 Part of Nineveh, 249. 
 
 Kurdish chief, i. 73. Women, 97. Ac- 
 tivity of. 19O. 
 
 Kuremi, village of, i. 227. 
 
 Ki/s/ti/i's, the, or Ethiopians, ii. 215. 
 
 Kuiset el Ximroud, an Arabic work, 
 i. 24. 
 
 Ladders used in sieges, ii. 372. 
 
 Ladies, Shammar, description of, i. 
 104. 
 
 Larissa identified with Nimroud, i. 4. ; 
 ii. 1 60. note. 
 
 Leather, writings on, ii. 186. 
 
 Letters, invention of, ii. 165. 
 
 Limestone used in Assyrian buildings, 
 i. 313. Bulls in yellow, 315. 
 
 Lion, crouching, in basalt, i. 47. 
 "Winged, discovered, 65. In copper, 
 discovered, 128. King hunting, in 
 bas-relief, 129. Found in Mesopo- 
 tamia, ii. 48. Removal of winged, 
 91. Human-headed, 132. 46O. Fi- 
 gure of, in Assyrian orna-nents, 301. 
 In bas-reliefs, 427. Human figure, 
 with head of, 453. 
 
 Liznn, village of, i. 188. Massacre at, 
 189. 
 
 Longwortk, Mr., his account of Nim- 
 roud, i. 368. His conjectures as to 
 exterior architecture, 269. note. 
 
 Lotus introduced as an ornament, ii. 
 472. 
 
 I.ifilians, Assyrian descent of, ii. 227. 
 286. 
 
 M. 
 
 Mace carried by Assyrian warriors, ii. 
 
 343. 
 
 Machines used in sieges, ii. 371. 
 Mni/i amongst Assyrians, ii. 470. 
 Mnl'ihiir. historians of, i. 258. 
 Malta Times, letters on Khorsabad in, 
 
 i. 15. 
 
 Mnltftiilyaft, rock-sculptures at, i. 230. 
 
 Manacles, iron, on prisoners, ii. :;"(>'. 
 
 Marble, white and black, in Assyrian 
 edifices, ii. 316. 
 
 Mar-Elias, monastery of, i. 84. 
 
 Manufactures, Assyrian, ii. 412. 
 
 Mars confounded with Belus, ii. 451. 
 note. 
 
 Mar Shanwnn, patriarch of the Chal- 
 ihrans, i. 147. note, 23G. 
 
 Marth d'Kasra, village of, i. 217. 
 
 Mechanics, knowledge of, amongst As- 
 syrians, ii. 317. 
 
 Median, cuneiform writing so called, 
 ii. 167. 170. 
 
 Mediterranean, Assyrian empire ex- 
 tended to, ii. 144. 
 
 Mdtk Ismail, death of, i. 220. 
 
 Mcmnon, confusion respecting, ii. 215. 
 note. Present at seige of Troy, 227. 
 
 Meru, Chalda-an metropolitan at, i. 
 253. 
 
 Mesopotamia, the spring in, i. 77- The 
 Naharaina of the Egyptians, ii. 
 225. note. 
 
 Mcspila identified with Kouyunjik, ii. 
 248. 276. note. Walls of, 276. 315. 
 
 Metals, Assyrians skilled in working in, 
 ii. 415. 417. 
 
 Metropolitans, list of Chaldxan, i. 255. 
 
 Military pomp of Assyrians, ii. 363. 
 
 Mirkan, Yezidi village of, i. 315. 
 
 Miniyanish, village of, i. 187. 
 
 Missionaries, American, i. 268. 
 
 Missouri, Kurdish tribes of, i. 152. 
 
 Mohammed, pasha of Mosul, i. 19. 31. 
 Disgrace of, 49. 
 
 Mohammed Agha, i. 328. 
 
 Mohammed, the prophet, borrows from 
 the Chaldaeans, i. 245. His treaty 
 with them, 246. and note. 
 
 Money not known to Assyrians, ii. 418. 
 
 Mongolian, characteristics of the race, 
 ii. 24O. 
 
 Monkeys represented in bas-reliefs, i. 
 126. On obelisks, ii. 437. 
 
 Moon, the, an Assyrian emblem, ii. 446. 
 
 Moses of Chorene, his account of Ninus, 
 ii. 232. note. 
 
 Mosul, arrival at, i. 18. Bridge of boats 
 at, 76. 
 
 Mule, the, in Assyrian bas-reliefs, ii. 
 426. 
 
 Mullah Ali, a Kurdish chief, i. 74. 
 
 Museum, British, undertakes excava- 
 tions, i. 326. Arrangement of sculp- 
 tures in, ii. 288. note.
 
 488 
 
 INDKX. 
 
 Musical instruments, ii. 412. 
 Musicians represented in bas-reliefs, i. 
 
 334. 
 Mutesellim, a Kurdish chief, i 207. 
 
 N. 
 
 Naharaina, or Mesopotamia, ii. 225. 
 237. note. 
 
 Nahar-el- Kdb, Assyrian bas-relief at, 
 ii. 144. 182. 40O.' note. 
 
 Nahum, tomb of, i. 233. 
 
 Naifa, village of, i. 26. 
 
 Names written over persons or objects 
 in bas-reliefs, ii. 266. 
 
 Nasr, Shiekh, i. 280. His letter to the 
 Yezidis of Sinjar, 307. 
 
 Nebbi Yunus, ruins in the mound of, 
 ii. 116. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar, his name on Baby- 
 lonian remains, ii. 173. 176. 
 
 Necklace worn by Assyrians, ii. 322. 
 
 Negovb, tunnel of and inscription at, 
 i. 81. Names of kings in inscrip- 
 tion from, ii. 199. 
 
 Negroes, doubtful whether represented 
 in Assyrian bas-reliefs, ii. 398. 
 
 Nehtar from Assyria, ii. 425. note. 
 
 Nejris, shiekh of the Shammar, i. 94. 
 111. His murder, 113. 
 
 Nestorius, his history, i. 241. 
 
 Nei,torians, massacre of, i. 179. Origin 
 of their name, 259. Their doctrines, 
 260. See Chaldaeans. 
 
 Nicolaus of Damascus, story of Par- 
 sondes, ii. 329. 
 
 Niffer, ruins at, represent ancient Ba- 
 bylon, ii. 173. Name on bricks from, 
 177. 
 
 Nimrod, story of, i. 8. 23. Supposed 
 discovery of, 65. 
 
 Nimroiul, first sight of, i. 4. Revisited, 
 7. First discoveries at, 26. Dis- 
 covery of north-west palace, 64. 
 Build house at, 329. Daily occupa- 
 tions at, 363. Departure from, ii. 
 117. Inscriptions from, 194. 197. 
 
 Nineveh, date of destruction of, ii. 161. 
 2O4. Named in the Karnak tablet, 
 224. True site of, 242. Extent of, 
 243. 
 
 Ninux confounded with Noah and Nim- 
 rod, iL 223. First king of Assyria 
 according to some, 223. and note. 
 Name of in inscriptions, 228. May 
 have overthrown an earlier dynasty, 
 
 285. Introduced fire-worship, 442. 
 
 note. His death and tomb, 475. 
 Ninus the Second, ii. 230. 
 Ninyas, the son of Xinus, ii. 192. 
 .V/.vrocA, the eagle-headed god, ii. 459. 
 Nitocris, her buildings at 13al>ylon, ii. 
 
 176. 
 
 Xnmeruls, Assyrian, ii. 165. note. 
 Ay//)/if, Assyrian rock-sculpture at, 
 
 ii. 286. 
 
 O. 
 
 Oannes, the fish-god, ii. 209. 466. 
 
 Obelisk, discovery of, i. 345. Inscrip- 
 tion on, ii. 192. Description of ani- 
 mals on, 443. An obelisk at Baby- 
 lon, 174. 214. note 
 
 Oil of sesame used by Assyrians, ii. 
 4^3. 
 
 Onnes, the first husband of Semiramis, 
 ii. 480. note. 
 
 Ormuzd, the Persian symbol of, ii. 
 449. 
 
 Ornaments, Assyrian, of a late period, 
 ii. 305. 
 
 Ostrich, a sacred bird, ii. 437. 
 
 Ourmeli, subashi of, i. 225. 
 
 P. 
 
 Paint, on sculptures, i. 64. On walls 
 
 of chambers, ii. 12. On bricks, 13. 
 
 On bas-relief, 307. 
 Palace, description of an Assyrian, ii. 
 
 262. Also temples, 267. 
 Palm-tree the, in bas-reliefs, ii. 137. 
 
 396. 401. Grown in Assyria, 423. 
 
 Wine made of the fruit, 424. 
 Palov, inscription at, ii. 1 72. 
 Papyrus used in Assyria, ii. 185. 
 Paradises, or parks, of Assvrians, ii. 
 
 432. 
 
 Parsondes, history of, ii. 329. 
 Parthianx, mode of discharging their 
 
 arrows, ii. 393. 
 
 Patriarch, the Chaldaean, i. 266. 
 Pavement of bricks, i. 116. Of the 
 
 chambers of Assyrian palaces, ii. 261. 
 Pegasus, the, an Assyrian emblem, ii. 
 
 461. 
 Persepolis, Assyrian origin of sculptures 
 
 of, ii. 289. Of religious emblems at, 
 
 441. 
 Persia, cuneiform writing of, ii. 17O
 
 INDEX. 
 
 489 
 
 Names of kings of, on vases, 161. 
 
 note. Influence of in Asia Minor, 
 
 287. 
 Perseus, his Assyrian origin, ii. 443. 
 
 note. 
 
 Phalanx, known to Assyrians, ii. 348. 
 Pillars, inscriptions on, ii. 18:*. 
 Pine-cone, the, a sacred emblem, ii. 470. 
 I'll ititlx, the, on Assyrian monuments, 
 
 ii. 447. 
 
 Plout/h, the, used in Assyria, ii. 422. 
 Poly hi star, his Assyrian chronology, ii. 
 
 217. 
 
 Pottery, in tombs at Nimroud, ii. 219. 
 /Vi.vfrr John, i. 249. His letter to the 
 
 Greek emperor, 250. 
 Pomrgranate, the, a sacred emblem, ii. 
 
 296. 
 
 Priam, dependent on the king of As- 
 syria, ii. 227. 
 Prisoners, treatment of by Assyrians, 
 
 ii. 374. 
 Pritchard, Dr., his observation on the 
 
 Syro- Arabian races, ii. 241. note. 
 Pterium, rock sculptures at, ii. 286. 
 
 Winged circle at, 449. 
 Pul, king of Assyria, ii. 223. note. 
 Pulley, represented in bas-relief, ii. 3 1 . 
 
 317. 
 
 Quintv.t Curtiiis, his description of a 
 
 Persian army, i. 364. 
 Quiver of the Assyrians, ii. 299. 
 
 R. 
 
 Rabban Hormuzd, convent of, i. 234. 
 Rafts, how constructed, ii. 96. 
 Koala, district of, i. 194. 
 Itiissni/i, Mr., vice-consul at Mosul, i. 
 
 21. 174. Mr. Hormuzd, 54. 
 Rawlinson, Major, resident at Baghdad, 
 
 i. 50. His classification of cuneiform 
 
 writing, ii. 171. 
 Record*, mode of keeping in ancient 
 
 Assyria, ii. 185. 
 Religion of the Assyrians, ii. 439. Con- 
 nected with their public and private 
 
 life, 473. 
 Rftea, her statue at Babylon, ii. 451 
 
 Her worship, 457. 
 Rhinoceros, on obelisk, ii. 434. 
 River, army crossing a, i. 336. 
 
 Robes of the Assyrians, embroideries on 
 ii. 297. Materials of, 3L'l. Magni- 
 ficence of, 413. 
 
 Rome, church of, persecutes the Nes- 
 torians, i. 258. 
 
 Roof of Assyrian edifices, how formed, 
 ii. 2.57. 264. note. 
 
 Ross, Mr., i. 22. note. Carries on ex- 
 cavations at Kouyunjik, ii. 137. 139. 
 His account of Bavian, 142. 
 
 Ruten-nu, the, of the Egyptian monu- 
 ments, who, ii. 405. 
 
 Sabeeanism of the Assyrians, ii. 439. 
 
 Saddles not represented in early bas- 
 reliefs, ii. 357. 
 
 Saint, a Kurdish, i. 227. 
 
 Sandals of the Assyrians, ii. 324. 
 
 Saracus, the last king of Assyria, ii. 
 218. 
 
 Sarcophagus, discovery of, i. 35 1 . 
 
 Sardanapalus, his effeminacy, ii. 333. 
 note. His death and tomb, 476, 477. 
 More than one king of the name, 
 479. and note. 
 
 Scribes, represented in bas-reliefs, ii. 
 184. 
 
 Sculptures, method of removing, i. 140. 
 Subjects recorded by, ii. 21. Skill 
 of the Assyrians in the art of sculp- 
 ture, 280. 
 
 Scythians, their language in the cunei- 
 form writing, ii. 167. note. Their 
 occupation of Assyria, 162. Charac- 
 teristics of the race, 240. 
 
 Seals, Assyrian, ii. 421. 
 
 Se-gan-foo, inscription of, i. 243, 244. 
 note. 
 
 Selamiyah, village of, i. 36. 
 Semiramis, account of her edifices, fabu- 
 lous, ii. 176. Ruins attributed to 
 her, 218. note. Invention of ship- 
 building attributed to her, 382. In- 
 troduces worship of Venus, 455. 
 Her death and tomb, 476. More 
 than one of the name, 479. note. 
 Semitic races, their characteristics, ii. 
 
 238. 
 
 Sethos, an Assyrian king, ii. 215. 
 Seyyid, visit to a, ii. 51. 
 Shairetana, the, of Egyptian monu- 
 ments, ii. 404. 
 
 Shammar, the, Arabs, description of, L 
 89.
 
 490 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Sharu, the, of Egyptian monuments, ii. 
 403. 
 
 Shawls represented in sculptures, i. 1 29. 
 
 Sheeas, the, peculiar doctrines of, i. 76. 
 note. 
 
 Sheep represented in Assyrian bas- 
 reliefs, ii. 426. 
 
 Shetah, the, of the Egyptian monu- 
 ments, ii. 405. 
 
 Shiekh Adi, tomb of, i. 151. 
 
 Shiekh Nasr. See Nasr. 
 
 Shiekh Shems, sanctuary of, i. 288. 
 
 Shiekh, seizure of an Arab, i. 366. 
 
 Shields of the Assyrians, ii. 344. Hung 
 on walls and ships, 388. 
 
 Ships in sculptures i. 128. 379. 384. 
 Of Tyre, 386. S88. 
 
 Siege represented in bas-relief, i. 41. 
 336. Description of a, ii. 378. 
 
 Silver used in roofs, ii. 264. Abundant 
 in Assyria, 417. 
 
 Sinjar, visit to, i. 309. Ruined town 
 of, 321. 
 
 Skins, mode of crossing river on, i. 
 128. ; ii. 382. Men dressed in, ii. 
 398. 
 
 Sltibs sculptured after placed, ii. 163. 
 
 Slingers, Assyrian, ii. 337. 344. 
 
 Sofuk. shiekh of the Shammar, visit to, 
 i. 91. His history, 93. His domestic 
 establishment, 100. His mare, 105. 
 His death, 114. 
 
 Soil, fertility of, in Assyria, ii. 69. 
 
 Spears, Assyrian, ii. 343. 
 
 Sphinx discovered, i. 347. The As- 
 syrian, ii. 216. 46O. On architec- 
 tural ornaments in palaces, 262. and 
 note. 
 
 Stamp used to impress inscriptions, ii. 
 187. 
 
 Standards, Assyrian, ii. 347. 
 
 Stars, worship of, 44O. note, 443, 444. 
 457. 
 
 Steel, probably known to Assyrians, 
 ii. 419. 
 
 Stone,. inscriptions on, ii. 188. 
 
 Storms, violence of, i. 124. 
 
 Sugar-cane formerly cultivated in As- 
 syria, ii. 424. 
 
 Sun, Yezidi veneration for, i. 289. 300. 
 An Assyrian emblem, ii. 446. Same 
 as Baal, 450. note. 
 
 Swimming, mode of, in Assyria, i. 128. 
 
 Swords, Assyrian, ii. 298. 
 
 Symbols suspended round neck of king, 
 i. 134.; ii. 446. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tables, Assyrian, ii. 303. 
 Tablets on rocks, ii. 182. 
 Tahyar Pasha, i. 121. Visit from, 141. 
 
 His death, ii. 1. 
 Tamerlane persecutes the Chaldxans, 
 
 i. 257. 
 Tatars, Nestorian mission to the, i. 
 
 248. 253. 
 
 Tearus, Darius's column on the, ii. 183. 
 Tel Afer, town of, i. 312. 
 Tel Kef, village of, i. 237. 
 Temples, the residence of the king, ii. 
 
 267. 473. 
 
 Tents in bas-reliefs, ii. 271. In com- 
 mon use amongst Assyrians, 272. 
 
 Magnificence of Assyrian, 363. 
 Teutames, king of Assyria, sends aid to 
 
 Troy, ii. 227. 
 Throne of Assyrian king, i. 135. ; ii. 
 
 301. 
 
 Thurus, king of Assyria, ii. 215. note. 
 Thyrsus of Bacchus of Assyrian origin, 
 
 ii. 471. 
 
 Tiara worn by Assyrian king, ii. 3'20. 
 Tiles, inscription on, ii. 185. 
 Tin not found in Assyria, ii. 419. 
 Tiyari, departure for the, i. 147. Dress 
 
 of, 1 94. Employed in the excavations, 
 
 362. 
 Tkhoma, district of, i. 203. Massacre 
 
 of inhabitants of, 238. 
 Tokuri, the, of Egyptian monuments, 
 
 ii. 404. 
 Tombs, discovery of, ii. 17. Assyrian, 
 
 not discovered, 154. At Nitnroud, 
 
 220. Of Persian kings, 220. 
 Tools of copper, ii. 418. 
 Towers, Assyrian, ii. 270. Artificial, 
 
 used in sieges, 370. 
 Tree, the sacred, ii. 296. In Assyrian 
 
 sculptures, 438. Of life, 472. 
 Tribute brought by conquered nations, 
 
 ii. 399. 
 Tripod discovered at Khorsabad, L 
 
 149.; ii. 469. 
 Troops, disciplined, of the Assyrians, 
 
 ii. 327. 
 
 Trey, an Assyrian dependency, ii. 227. 
 Tunnel under the Euphrates attributed 
 
 to Semi ram is, ii. 260. note. 
 Type, cuneiform, ii. 193. 
 Tyre, Assyrian conquest of, ii. 144. 400.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 491 
 
 u. 
 
 U/nlirc/la carried over king, ii 133. 
 
 326. 
 
 Unicorn, the, ii. 429. 
 Ur of the Chaldees, its site, ii. 237. note. 
 
 V. 
 
 Variants in cuneiform inscriptions, ii. 
 1 90. 229. note. 
 
 Vase.s in glass and alabaster discovered 
 at Nimroud, i. 341. From tombs at 
 Nimroud, ii. 219. Assyrian, 304. 
 41G. 
 
 Vindt known to the Assyrians, ii. 260. 
 
 Venus, the worship of in Assyria, ii. 
 455. 
 
 Vessel, square, carried by winged fi- 
 gures, ii. 471. 
 
 Vine, the, grows in Assyria, ii. 424. 
 
 Vizir, dress of, ii. 327. 
 
 Vizirial letter, arrival of, i. 1 30. 
 
 Vulture, the, represented in Assyrian 
 sculptures, ii. 437. 
 
 W. 
 
 Walls of Assyrian palaces, ii. 268. Of 
 Nineveh and Babylon, 270. 275. 
 276. note. 
 
 Warriors, costume of Assyrian, ii. 335. 
 
 Wedge, the, a sacred emblem, ii. 181. 
 
 Wigs worn by the Assyrians and Per- 
 sians, ii. 328. 
 
 Wilkinson, Sir Gardner, his work on 
 Egypt, ii. 154. note. 
 
 Windows not found in Assyrian build- 
 ings, ii. 260. 
 
 Wine drunk at public festivals, ii. 411. 
 
 Wine-skins in bas-reliefs, i. 55. 
 
 Women represented in bas-reliefs, i. 
 337. Present at public festivals, ii. 
 244. 411. 
 
 Wood, beam of, discovered, ii. 37. 
 
 X. 
 
 Xanthus, people of, burn their city, ii. 
 218. note. Marble from, 287. Their 
 Assyrian character, 291. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yahoub Nais, i. 181. 
 
 Yezidis, visit to, i. 269. Persecution 
 of the, 276. Their dances, 284. 
 Their music, 292. Their doctrines, 
 296. Origin of their name, 299. 
 Their reverence for the sun, 288. 
 300. Their names, 302. Orders 
 of the priesthood, 302. Their lan- 
 guage, 304. See Sinjar. 
 
 Zab, wicker bridge across the, i. 191. 
 Zaweetha, village of, i. 1 82. 
 Zodiac, signs of, on Assyrian monu- 
 ments, ii. 44O. and note. 
 Zoroaster, ii. 442. note. 
 
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