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Subsequent discoveries amongst the ruins of Nineveh, and the progress made in the interpretation of the cuneiform inscriptions, have enabled the Author to add to the text, and have led him to modify some of the views which were expressed in his original work. For the convenience of his readers he has added to the account of his visit to the Yezidis, or Devil-Worshippers, the narrative of subaciuent visits to that curious sect. He has thus brought together all the information which he has been able to collect concerning them.' — Pre/ace lo the present Edition. Nineveh and Babylon A NARRATIVE OF A SECOND EXPEDITION TO ASSYRIA During the Years 1849, 1850, & 1S51 BY THE RIGHT HON. SIR AUSTEN HENRY LAYARD G.C.B. D.C.L. &c gibribgcb bg tijt ^utbor from bis ITargcr Mork NEW EDITION ^F/Tff NUMEROUS IVOODCUTS LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET The right of translation is reserved LONDON : PRINTHD I!V SrOTTlS'.VOODE AND CO., NEW-STRETT SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT STKEET PREFACE. This volume contains an abridgment of the narrative my second expedition to Assyria and Babylonia, publishe in 1853, under the title of 'Nineveh and Babylon.' i have described, in the Introduction, the principal discoveries on the site of Nineveh made after my return to England in the spring of 185 1. Further researches amongst the ruins after my departure from Assyria, and the contents of the cuneiform inscriptions as deciphered by English and French scholars, have added to our knowledge of the history, the language, and the arts of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians, but they have not led me to modify, to any material extent, the views put forward in my original work. I have noticed in the follow- ing pages the most important results of the interpretation of the Assyrian inscriptions. London : October 1867. r?noon|(3 CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. PACK Excavations continued after my retiirn to England in l?5l — Success of Mr. H. RassanCs exploratio7is — Description of the new sculp- tures — Their removal to England — Future researches must be of a differetit nature — Investigations of the arrow-headed characters — M. Grotefends researches — M. Lassen, f. Martin, Barnoiif, and others — Investigations of Sir H. Raivlinson — Dr. Hinchs — his great learning — his death — ill-requital of his labours — Researches of M. Oppert, Mr. Fox Talbot, and Mr. Norris — The Royal Asiatic Society — Their plan for testing the accuracy of the various decipherments of the cu7ieiform inscriptions — Testif?tonies of Sir G. Wilkinson, Pj-ofessor Wilson, and others, as to the correctness of these renderings — The French Academy — Reward of M. Oppert by the French Gover7iment — Assyrian chronology — Sir H. Rawlin- soni's theory respectittg the ancient capital of Assyria — The inscrip- tions furnish but little information, yet sufficient to prove the great advancement of the Assyriatts in the arts and sciences of a civilised nation ........... xix CHAPTER 7. Renewal of excavations in Assyria — Return to Mosul — Discoveries at Kouyu7ijik — Visit to Ni7/iroud — Excavatio7is /« the Mound — Mr. H. Rassa7n. — Sculptures represe7iti7tg tra7tsport of winged bulls discovered at Kouytmjik — Fresh sculptures — Discovery of gateway — High AIou7id at Ni7}iroud explored . • . . i CHAPTER II Discovery of the grand e7itrance to Se7inacherib''s palace — The i7tscrip- tio7is C07ttai7ti7tg the an7ials of his reign — Accou7it of his war with Hezekiah — Sculptures represe7iti7tg siege of Lachish — fewish cap- tives — Discovery of arched vault at Ni/uroud — of pai7ite^i bricks — Attack of the Tai on village of Ni77iroud — Discovery of cha77ibe>- C07itai7ii7ig bro7ize bo'wls, glass, a7id other relics , , . .40 xii CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. TAGS Visit to the winged Horn by night— The bitumen springs— Removal of the winged lions to the river — Loss and recovery of lion — Visit to Bavian — Description of rock sculptures — Inscriptions — Sculptures at Kouyunjik « • ^7 CHAPTER IV. P)-eparatio7:s for a journey to the Kliabour — Sheikh Suttum — His rediff— Departure from Mosul — First encampment — Abou Kha- meera — A storm — Tel Ermah — A stranger — Tel Jemal — A sun' set in the desert — A Jebour atcampment — The Belled Sinjar — The Sinjar hill — The dress of the Yezidis — The Shomal — Return to the Belled — A snake-charmer — Jourjtey continued in the desert — Risk- wan — Encampmmt of the Boraij — Dress of Arab women — Rath- aiyah — Hawking — A deputation from the Yezidis — The Khabour — Arrival at Arban 80 CHAPTER V. Encampment on the Kliabour — Sheikh Suttum — Mohammed Emin — Discovery of winged bulls — of Assyrian relics — of lions — of htinuin figure — of various objects of antiquity — The Chebar of the Captivity — Our tents — Bread of the Arabs — Their food — Their knowledge of medicine — The Dcloid, or Dromedary — Adla — A storm — Animals on the Khabour — Visit to Moghamis . .116 CHAPTER VI. Leave Arban — The banks of the Kliabour — Artificial mounds — Mijwell — 77/1? cadi of the Bedouins — The ' thar,^ or blood revenge — Caution of Arabs — A natural cavern — An extinct volcano — The confiuaits of the ICJiabour — Suleiman Agha — Encampment at Um-Jerjeh — Mohammed Emin leaves us — Visit to the Milli Kurds — Arab love-making — The Dakheel — Bedouin poets atid poetry — Leave the Khabour — Arab sagacity — The Hoi — Khatou- niyah — Return of Suttum — Ferhan — Sinjar villages — Eski Mosul — Departure of Suttum . . . . . , . .139 CHAPTER VII. Discoveries at Kouyunjik — Procession of figures bearing fruit and game — Locusts — Led horses — An Assyrian campaign — Dagon, or the fish-god — The chambers of records — Inscribed clay tablets — Return to Nimroud — Effects of the food — Discoveries — Small temple under high mound — The Evil Spirit — Fish-god — Fine bas- relief of the king — Great inscribed monolith — Cedar beams — Second temple. 163 COXTENTS. xiii CHAPTER VIII. PAGE The summer — Encampment at Koityuttjik — Mode of life — Depar- ture for the mountains — A!ira — Rock-tablets at Gimdnk — District of Zibari — Narnet Agha — District of Shirwan — of Bara- dost — of Gherdi—of Shemdifia — Moiisa Bey — Nestor ian bishop — Convent of Mar Hananisho — District and plain of Ghaour — Dizza — An Albanian friend — Bash-Kalah — Izzet Pasha — A fcwish encampment — High mountain pass — Mahmaudiyah — First view of Wan. . . . . . . . .184 CHAPTER IX. Mehemet Pasha — Description of Wan — Its history — Improvement in its condition — The Armenian bishop — The cuneiform inscrip- tions — Tht caves of Kliorkhor — The Meher Kapousi — A tradition — The Bairam — An Armenian school — Amikh — Tlie cojtvent of Yedi Klissia — Leave Wan — The Armenian patriarch — The island of Akhtat?iar — A7t Armenian church — History of the convetit — Pass into Mukics — The district of Mukus — of Shattak — of Nourdooz — A Nestoj-ian village — Encampments — Mount Ararat — Mar Shamoun — Jtda-Merik — Valley of Diz — Pass into Jelu — Nestorian district of Jelu — An ancient church — The bishop — District. of Baz — of Tkhoma — Return to Mosul. . . . 205 CHAPTER X. Discoveries at Kouyunjik during the summer — Description of the sculptures — Capture of cities on a great river — Alabaster pavement — Conquest of tribes inhabiting a marsh — Their wealth — Cham- bers with sculptures belonging to a new king — Conquest of the people of Susiana — Portrait of the king — His guards and attendaftts — The city of Shushan — Captive prrince — Musicians — Captives put to the torture — Att inclined passage — Two small chambers — Colos- sal figures. .......... 238 CHAPTER XI. Departure for Babylon — The Awai — Descent of the river — Tekrit — The plain of Dura — The Naharwan — Samarrah — Kadesia — Palm groves — Kathimain — Approach to Baghdad — The City — Arrival — Modern Baghdad — Departure for Baiylon — Abde Pasha's camp — Approach to Babylon — The ruins — Arrival at Hillah — The chiefs of Hill ah — Present of lions — Description of the town — The ruins of Babylon — The walls — 'Visit to the Birs A^im- iv CONTENTS. PAGE fond — Description of the ruin — Viru} from it — Excavations and disccweries in the Mound of Babel— in the MujelibS or Kasr — The tree AthelJ — Excavations in the ruin of Amran — Bowls, with in- scriptions in I/ebrruj and Syriac characters — The Jews of Baby- lonia 260 CHAPTER XII. State of the ruins of Babylon — Cause of the disappearance of build- ings — Nature of original edifices — Babylonian bricks — The history of Babylon — Its commerce — Canals and rivers — The arts — En- graved gems — Eall of the city — The mounds of El Hymer — of Anana — Ruins in Southern Mesopotamia — Departure from Hillah — Sand-hills — Villages in the fezirah — Sheikh Karboul — Ruins — First view of Niffer — The marshes — Arab boats — Arrive at Souk-El- Afaij — Sheikh Agab — Tord»i of the Afaij — Descrip- tion of the ruins of Niffer — Excavations in the mounds — Dis- covery of coffins — of various relics — Mr. Loftus' discoveries at Wurka — The Arab tribes — Wild beasts — Lions — Ctisioms of the Afaij — Leave the marshes — Return to Baghdad — A mirage . . 294 CHAPTER XIII. Departure from BagMad — fourney through Mesopotamia — Early Arab remains — The Median wall — Tekrit — Horses stolen — Instance of Bedouin honesty — Excavations at Kalah Sherghat — Reach Mosul — Discoveries during absence — New chambers at Kouyunjik — Description of bas-reliefs — Extent of the ruins explored — Bases of pillars — Small objects — Absence of Assyrian tombs — Assyrian relics — Remains beneath the tomb of Jonah — Discoveries at Shereef Khan — at Nimroud — Engraved cylinders . , . 329 CHAPTER XIV. Results of the discoveries to chronology and history — Names of earliest Ass)'rian kings — Annals of Tiglath Pileser I. — The period of his reign — The dynasty of the Nimroud kings — Sardanapalus I. — His successor — Mention of Jehu, king of Israel — Annals of Tiglath Pileser II. — Mention of Menahem — Afinals of Sargon — of Sen- nacherib — of Esar-haddon — of his son and gra7idson — Nature of Assyrian records — Political condition of Assyria — Religion — Extent of Nineveh — Assyrian architecture — Sennacherib'' s palace at Kouyunjik — The palaces at Nitnroud — Fortifications of Nim- roud, Khorsabad, and Kouyunjik — Conclusion , , , 'SSI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Pa.lace of Sennacherib at Kouyunjik, restored . . Frontispiece Hound held in Leash ........ xxiii Lion let out of Trap ......... xxiv Wounded Lioness ......... xxv Lion seizing Chariot Wheel ....... xxv King transfixing Lion with his Spear ...... xxvi King in close Combat with a Lion ... ... xxvi Wild Ass captured by Hounds ....... xxvii Wounded Wild Ass seized and pulled down by Hounds . . xxvii King hunting Lions ......... xxviii Wild Ass captured with Lasso ....... xxix Gazelle pursued by Huntsmen ....... xxix Wounded Gazelle ......... xxix King pouring Libation over Dead Lions ..... xxx Sardanapalus and his Queen seated at a Banquet . . . xxxi Statue of the God Nebo . . xxxii Palace of Sennacherib. — Plan I. ...... 4 Underground Excavations at Kouyunjik ..... 6 Head-dress of Captives employed by Assyrians in moving Bull. (Kouyunjik.) -19 Cart with Ropes and Workmen carrying Saws, Picks and Shovels, for moving colossal Bull. (Kouyunjik.) . , . .21 Workmen carrying Ropes, Saws, and other Implements for mo- ving Bull. (Kouyunjik.) ....... 21 Stag. (Kouyunjik.) 23 Wild Sow and Young, amongst Reeds. (Kouyunjik.) . . 23 King superintending Removal of colossal Bull. (Kouyunjik. ) . 25 Village with conical Roofs, near Aleppo ..... 26 Assyrians placing a human -headed Bull. (Kouyunjik.) . . 27 Plan of Northern Gateway to Inclosure of Kouyunjik . . 32 Square Tower and small Temples. Mound of Nimroud. — Plan II. 34 Tunnel along Eastern Basement Wall of Tower. (Nimroud.) . 35 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. (Kouyunjik. Western Face of Basement of Tower. (Nimroud. ) Northern Face of Basement of Tower. (Nimroud.) , Tower on a Mound. (From a Bas-relief, Kouyunjik.) Remains of Fa9ade and Grand Entrance of the Palace of Senna cherib. (Kouyunjik.) . Existing Remains at Khorsabad, showing original state of Grand Entrance at Kouyunjik Bulls with historical Inscriptions of Sennacherib, Sennacherib on his Throne before Lachish Jewish Captives from Lachish. (Kouyunjik.) . Bronze Socket of the Palace Gate. (Nimroud.) Vaulted Drain beneath South-east Palace. (Nimroud. ) Vaulted Drain beneath the North-west Palace at Nimroud Excavated Chamber in which the Bronzes were discovered (Nimroud.) ....... Bronze Bells found in a Cauldron. (Nimroud.) Handles of Bronze Dishes, from Nimroud Bronze Vessels, taken from the Interior of a Cauldron Bronze Wine Strainer .... Bronze Dish, from Nimroud Bronze Cup, 6| in. diameter, and 1 1 in. deep Bronze Shields from Nimroud . Bronze Cube inlaid with Gold. (Original Size Fallen Rock-Sculptures. (Bavian.) . Assyrian Fountain. (Bavian.) . A Captive. (Kouyunjik.) Bas-relief from Kouyunjik, representing fortified City, with a Boat and Raft, and a Canal Bas-relief representing a River, and Gardens watered (Kouyunjik.) ...... Sheikh Suttum ...... Our First Encampment in the Desert Interior of a Yezidi House at Bukra, in the Sinjar A Group of Yezidis ...... Arab Nose Ring and Bracelet of Silver Suttum, with his Wife, on his Dromedary A trained Falcon Artificial Mounds on the Khabour Sheikh Mohammed Emin Winged Bull discovered at Arban Lion discovered at Arban Bas-relief discovered at Arban . Arab Women grinding Corn with a Dough, and baking the Bread Saddling a Deloul or Dromedary Hand-mill, roll River by Canals PAGE 36 36 39 41 43 46 49 51 52 53 54 57 58 60 60, 61 61 61 61 63 64 72 73 76 ng out llie 77 78 85 87 96 99 107 109 115 117 119 121 123 124 128 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Volcanic Cone of Koukab 143 The Tent of the Milli Chief ....•., 147 Women of the Milli Tribe ....... 149 Town and Lake of Kliatouniyah . . . . . .157 Arab Camels . . . . . . . . . .159 Attendants carrying Pomegianates and Locusts. (Kouyunjik.) . 164 The King in his Chariot passing through a Stream in a Valley. (Kouyunjik.) 167 Assyrian Cylinder, with Dagon, or the Fish -god . . ,16? Cylinder, with Assyrian Records . . . . . .169 Clay Tablet with Cylinder impressed. (From Kouyunjik. ) . 170 Inscribed Tablet, with Inscription at one end in Cursive Cha- racters . . . . . . . . . .171 Piece of Clay with Impressions of Seals . . , . .172 Impression of a Seal on Clay . . . . . . . 1 72 Back of the same Seal, showing the Marks of the String and the Fingers 172 Impressions of the Signets of the Kings of Assyria and Egypt. (Original Size,) 173 Part of Cartouche of Sabaco, enlarged from the Impression of his Signet 173 Royal Cylinder of Sennacherib 1 74 Entrance to Small Temple. (Nimroud.) 176 Fish -god at Entrance to small Temple. (Nimroud.) . . 177 Effigy of King .178 Entrance to a small Temple dedicated to Beltis. (Nimroud.) . 181 Statue of King from Temple. (Nimroud.) .... 182 Landing Place with Ferryboats on tlie Tigris at Mosul . .184 A Kurd 190 The Castle of Mahmoudiyah 202 The Town and Rock of Wan ....... 207 Tombs in the Rock at Wan ....... 209 Kurds of Wan ......... 212 A Nestorian Family ........ 224 Arabs and Nestorians moving a Slab at Kouyunjik . . . 239 Assyrian Warriors in a Cart, captured from the Elamites. (Kou- yunjik.) 246 Singers coming out to meet the Conquerors. (Kouyunjik.) . 252 Musicians coming out to meet the Conquerors. (Kouyunjik.) . 253 Assyrians flaying their Prisoners alive, and carrying away Heads of the Slain. (Kouyunjik.) .... ... 254 Assyrians torturing their Captives. (Kouyunjik.) . . . 256 Colossal Figures at an Entrance. (Kouyunjik.) . . .257 Cases containing Sculptures ready for Embarkation . . . 258 A Kellek, or Raft of Skins, on the Tigris .... 261 a xvm LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Plan of Part of the Ruins of Babylon on the Eastern Bank of the Euphrates ........ The Birs Nhnroud, or Tower of Babel of early Travellers Eastern Face of the Birs Nimroud with proposed Restoration Mound of Babel : Ruins of Babylon Ruins of Babylon. (From R ich.) The Mujelibe, or Kasr Babylonian Brick ...... Fragment from the Mujelibe. (Babylon.) Inscribed Earthen Bowls, from Babylon Terracotta Tablet from Babylon, representing a Dog Babylonian Cylinder in Sienite. (Size of the Original Engraved Gem from Babylon , Cylinder in the British Museum Heads of Arab Delouls Lid of Glazed Coffin Glazed Coffins from Babylonia, in the British Museum Terracotta Model of a Body in a Coffin Throne-room, Teheran Loading a Camel. (Kouyunjik.) Captives in a Cart. (Kouyunjik.) Captives resting .... Battle in a Marsh in Southern Mesopotamia. (Kouyunjik Assyrians cutting down the Palm Trees belonging to a captured City. (Kouyunjik.) Assyrian Pedestal, from Kouyunjik . Cylinder in green Jasper . Ancient Assyrian Cylinder, in Serpentine Assyrian Cylinders, in Serpentine Babylonian Cylinders, in Agate, Porcelain, Iron Haematite, and Jasper ..... Cylinders, with Semitic Characters Persian Cylinders, in Red Cornelian, Chalcedony, Rock C and Onyx ........ Bas-relief, representing Pul, or Tiglath Pileser. (Nimroud The Great Hall of Sardanapalus' Palace, restored . To face Court of Sargon's Palace at Khorsabad, restored after Fergusson Exterior of a Building. (From a Bas-relief at Kouyunjik.) Plan of the Mound of Nimroud . Mound of Nimroud ...... Plan of Mound and Inclosure of Nimroud . Plan of Mound and Inclosure of Kou)'unjik Ornament on Top of Walls. (Kouyunjik.) Double Ditch and Walls of Inclosure of Kouyimjik Last View of Mosul ..... 274 278 280 283 286 287 289 291 302 304 304 305 312 320 321 321 327 333 334 334 336 33!^ 340 343 344 345 346, 347 348 rystal, ) . 349 359 383 380 384 389 39(5 393 395 396 398 402 INTRODUCTION. After the termination of the expedition described in this volume and my return to England in the spring of 1 85 1, the excavations at Kouyunjik were continued on a limited scale by Mr. Christian Rassam, the British Vice- consul at Mosul, their general direction having been con- fided by the Trustees of the British Museum to Sir Henry Rawlinson, then H.M. Consul General, and the Pohtical Agent of the East India Company at Baghdad. Sir Henry visited the ruins in the early part of 1852. The excavations were chiefly carried on amongst the ruins of the palace of Sennacherib in the south-west corner of the mound of Kou3ainjik, and at Shereef Khan, an ancient Assyrian site to the north of Nineveh. The sculptures discovered at Kouyunjik formed for the most part a continuation of the bas-reliefs previously un- covered, representing various wars of the Assyrians. In that part of Sennacherib's palace, in which his grandson had caused to be executed the bas-reliefs representing the con- quest of Elam or Susiana, discovered previously to my depar- ture,* were found a number of clay tablets and fragments of cylinders of the same material, which form an important * See Chap. x. Drawings of the sculptures discovered by Sir H. Rawlinson and Mr. C. Rassam were made by Mr. Hodder, and are now in the British Museum. a 2 XX INTRODUCTION. addition to the large collection of similar records sent by me to this country. At Shereef Khan, the ruins which I had discovered proved to be the remains of a palace built, according to Sir H. Rawlinson, by a younger brotlier of Esar-haddon, and of a temple dedicated to the Assyrian Neptune. No sculptures were found amongst them, but several inscriptions of interest were obtained from them, and a beautiful cylinder in chalcedony, bearing the name of a king of a dynasty tributary to Assyria, and ruling on the river Khabour. The French Consul at Mosul, M. Place, also commenced excavations in the mound of Kouyunjik after my return to Europe. The only discovery of any interest which he made was that of an inscribed tablet bearing the name of Sarda- napalus, the builder of the north-west palace at Nimroud, and apparently stating that that monarch erected a temple at Kouyunjik. If such be the case, other remains of the same period may still exist in some part of the mound hitherto unexplored, and it would be proved that, long anterior to Sennacherib, an Assyrian city stood on this site. In the mound of Nebbi Yunus, a pair of winged, human- headed bulls were accidentally discovered by an inhabitant of the village, who was digging the foundations of his house. The Turkish authorities took possession of them, and carried on excavations for a short time, uncovering sculptured slabs and inscriptions. But these excavations were soon abandoned, as the mound is covered with the buildings surrounding the so-called tomb of Jonah and the burial-ground depend- ing upon it, which could not, without giving offence to the people of Mosul, be disturbed. Sufficient, however, was discovered to lead to the belief that the mound covers the ruins of palaces of great interest and importance, richly adorned with sculpture, and built by three different kings — the grandson of the builder of the centre palace at Nimroud, Sennacherib, and Esar-haddon. INTRODUCTION. xxi Mr. Vice-consul Rassam removed and packed for trans- port to England a collection of bas-reliefs which I had dis- covered in the palace of Sennacherib, but, unfortunately, the raft on which they were sent to Baghdad was plundered on the way by the Arabs, and the sculptures were destroyed. Parliament having voted a grant of money for further researches in Assyria, Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, who had been my companion during my two expeditions, and to whose zeal, ability, and influence over the Arabs I had been so much indebted for their success, was requested by the Trustees of the British Museum to superintend the excava- tions. He had accompanied me to England, from whence he returned to Mosul, and was again amongst the ruins in the month of October, 1852, A general direction over the expedition was confided to Sir Henry Rawlinson. Mr. Hormuzd Rassam's excavations proved highly suc- cessful, and to them we owe many discoveries of great interest and value. On his arrival at Mosul he placed workmen at Kouyunjik and Nimroud, and proceeded himself to the great mound of Kalah Sherghat, where, from the fragments dug up during previous explorations, ruins of great antiquity and importance might be presumed to exist. But the palaces, or temples, which may once have stood there, had been so completely destroyed, that, with the exception of the remains of a colossal human-headed bull and lion in black basalt (a material apparently very generally employed by the Assyrians at this place), and a few fragments of alabaster slabs, no traces of buildings were discovered. Mr. Hormuzd Rassam was, however, fortunate enough to find two cylinders, which, with the cylinder previously obtained by me from the same ruins, enable us to complete the annals of one of the earliest Assyrian kings of whom we have any detailed records. His name, if the cuneiform characters composing it be correctly interpreted, is Tiglath Pileser (cor- responding with that of the later monarch mentioned in the xxii INTRODUCTION. Bible), and he appears to have reigned between 1200 and 1 1 00 years B.C. At Kouyunjik Mr. H. Rassam discovered the entire obeUsk in Avhite limestone, and the upper part of a second, now in the British Museum. These highly important monu- ments are of the same shape as the black obelisk obtained from the centre palace at Nimroud," and are covered with an inscription containing annals of the founder of the north- west palace at Nimroud, and a series of small bas-reliefs representing his exploits in war, and captives, or tributaries with their offerings brought into his presence. At the beginning of 1854 Mr. H. Rassam commenced excavations in the northern part of the mound of Kouyunjik. He was fortunate enough to discover, deep below the sur- face, the remains of a palace built by the grandson of Senna- cherib, and son of Esar-haddon. His name, according to Sir Henry Rawlinson, is to be read Asshur-bani-pal ; to Dr. Hincks, Asshur-idanna-bal ; to M. Oppert, Assur-iddanna- palla. He was one of the last of the Assyrian kings, pro- bably the last but one ; and there are grounds for conjecturing that he can be identified with the Sardanapalus of the Greek and Roman legends. The inscriptions and sculptures be- longing to his reign which have been preserved, prove that he was a great conqueror, and equally renowned for his feats in war and in the chase. They are for the most part in excellent condition, not having been exposed to fire like those in the palace of Sennacherib. Of the building itself the remains of some halls and chambers were unco- vered, and probably a considerable part of it yet remains to be explored. The most important bas-reliefs discovered by Mr. H. Rassam, and sent to this country, are those representing hunting scenes, in which the king takes the principal part, now placed in tlie Assyrian collection in the basement floor * Nineveh and its Remains, p. 244. INTRODUCTION. XXUl of the British Museum. For extreme deUcacy and minute- ness of execution, and for remarkable truth to nature and vigour of treatment in the delineation of animals, they are equal if not superior to any other sculptures brought from Assyria. In that which constitutes the highest quality of art, in variety of detail and ornament, in attempts at compo- sition, in severity of style, and purity of outline, they are inferior to the earliest Assyrian monuments with which we Hound held in Leash. are acquainted — those from the north-west palace at Nim- roud. They bear, indeed, the same relation to them as the later Egyptian monuments do to cne earlier. In these bas-reliefs Asshur-bani-pal is seen hunting the lion, sometimes engaged in close combat with the animal, and in pursuing the wild ass, the stag, and the gazelle. As usual in the sculptures adorning the walls of the Assyrian palaces of the later period, the sculptor has endeavoured to portray all the incidents of the events which he is recording. We have first the preparation for the chase. Huntsmen are XXIV INTRODUCTION. seen leading the dogs or hounds in leashes, and men and mules are laden with the nets, ropes, and gins which were used in the capture of deer, gazelles, and wild asses. The king appears to be represented as hunting in the parks or preserves attached to the royal palaces, which were stocked with wild animals, as well as in the open country. Lions, kept in cages, are turned loose for him to kill. The cage was drawn, probably by oxen, to the spot where the beast was to be set free. A box on the top of it protects a Lion let out of Trap. huntsman or attendant who, by raising a trap, opens the door from whence the lion issues. The wary motions of the animal on leaving the cage are admirably portrayed in the sculptures. The king is seen hunting from his chariot, on horseback, and on foot. When in his chariot he is accompanied by the charioteer and two armed warriors. In some bas-reliefs he is seen transfixing a lion with arrows, and dead and dying lions lie scattered around him. The various attitudes INTRODUCTION. XXY of the beasts, whether wounded or in the last struggle, or stretched lifeless on the ground, are portrayed with singular vigour and truth to nature. Wounded Lioness. Sometimes the lion is represented as springing upon the chariot, when the king receives the animal upon his spear, Lion seizing Chariot Wheel. or transfixes it with a short sword, whilst his attendant war- riors pierce it with their spears. In one bas-relief a wounded lion is seen seizing the wheel of the king's chariot, which, in its rage and agony, it is endeavoiuring to crush with its xxvi INTRODUCTION. powerful jaws. The representation of the animal is full of life and artistic energy. King transfixing Lion with his Spoa.r. King in close Combat with a Lion. When the king is represented on horseback, he is attended by a horseman leading a second horse for his use. In some INTRODUCTION. xxvii bas-reliefs the king is seen engaged on foot in close combat with the lion, and transfixing it with a spear or an arrow. Attendants standing behind are ready to supply him with fresh weapons, which they carry in their hands. He is sometimes attended and protected by a warrior who holds a shield before him. An interesting series of bas-reliefs represents the chase of Wild Ass captured by Hounds. the wild ass, an animal still found in the Mesopotamian desert It is pursued by the king on horseback. He is Wounded Wild Ass seized and pulled down by Hounds. anned with bow and arrows, and followed by mounted at- tendants, who carry spare arrows and lead a second horse. The wild ass, when wounded, is represented as being pulled down by large and powerful hounds, apparently of the mastiff breed. The struggle between it and the dogs is portrayed with great spirit. In one bas-relief the animal is represented as having been INTRODUCTION. INTRODUCTION, XXIX Wild Ass captured with Lasso. caught by a kind of lasso, with which the huntsmen lead it away. luj '<^r Gazelle pursued by Huntsmen. Wounded Gazelle. The gazelles are also pursued by the king, armed with bow and arrows. They are portrayed (and always with the INTRODUCTION. same spirit and truth to nature) in every variety of attitude — endeavouring to escape, falling transfixed by arrows, and lying wounded and dead upon the ground. The deer are represented as driven into enclosures formed by nets, and tlien shot down with arrows. A series of bas-reliefs repre- sents the return of the hunts- men from the chase. They are seen bearing dead lions and birds, probably partridges. The slaughtered animals appear to have been placed before the king, who in one of the bas-reliefs is seen pouring a libation over them before an altar, attended by his fan and armour-bearers and by musi- cians who celebrate his ex- ploits, accompanying their song on a kind of dulcimer. Amongst the sculptures from the north-west palace of Kou- yunjik which do not represent hunting scenes, the most re- markable is a highly finished and admirably preserved bas- relief, in which the king is seen lying on a couch or bed, beneath an arbour formed by vines, apparently at a ban- quet, as he is raising a cup in his right hand, and near him is a table on which are probably some viands. By his side, seated on a raised chair, richly attired and attended by two fan-bearers, is a woman, probably his queen. This is the only instance with which we are yet acquainted of an Assyrian lady of rank being represented in a bas-relief. INTRODUCTION. This sculpture, and one or two others from the same series now in the British Museum, especially a warrior on a horse at full speed, are carved with the sharpness, preci- sion, and delicacy of a Greek gem. They are singulariy fine examples of the perfec- tion to which the Assy- , rians had attained in the technical part of the art of sculpture. At Nimroud Mr. Hormuzd Rassam's re- searches were chiefly confined to the ruins of the south-east palace. He found that the building which I had partly explored had been erected over the remains of a more ancient edi- fice. Amongst the earlier ruins, which were at a considerable depth be- neath the soil, were no chambers with sculp- tured walls, but bas- reliefs brought from the centre palace, and seve- { ral detached objects of j great interest were ob- tained from them. A large tablet, or stele, similar in form to the one obtained from the temple in the north-west corner of the mound,* was found in situ. It contained the effigy of a king (believed to be the grandson of Sardanapalus), and an inscrip- * Seep. 17S. INTRODUCTION. tion recording the an- nals of his reign. It is now in the British Mu- seum. In another part of the building, sup- posed to be a temple dedicated to Nebo by a king, whose name, according to Sir Henry Rawlinson, is to be read Iva-lush, or Yama-Zala-Khus; or, according to M. Op- pert, Hou-likhous, and who reigned about 800 B.C., were discovered two de- tached statues of the god, very rudely carved. On them is an inscription, which, according to Sir Henry Rawlin- son, states that they were offered to Nebo by an officer who go- verned certain places in the Assyrian em- pire for the life of the king (Iva-lush), and of his wife Sammu- ramit, that the god might lengthen the Statue of the God Nebo. king's life, prolong his days, increase his years, and give peace to his house INTRODUCTION. xxxiii and people, and victory to his armies,* This ' Sammu- ramit' has been identified, probably upon very slender grounds, with the Semiramis of classic story; and the group of cuneiform characters, supposed to represent her name upon these statues, has enabled Mr. Rawlinson to fix her place in history, to dispose of classic fables, and to show in a proper light her story, her character, her descent, and her true connection with the Assyrian monarchy.f The two statues are now in the r^ational collection. Whilst Mr. Hormuzd Rassam was carrying on the ex- cavations near Mosul, the late Mr. Loftus, accompanied by Mr. Boutcher, an artist sent to the East by Messrs. Dicken- son of Bond Street, had been engaged by the subscribers to the ' Assyrian Excavation Fund ' to continue the examina- tion of the mounds in Southern Mesopotamia and Baby- lonia, which he had commenced when attached to the mission of Sir Fenwick Williams of Kars, the British Com- missioner for the determination of the boundaries between Turkey and Persia. To Mr. Loftus' skill and energy we owe many valuable discoveries in those ruins, the most important being the inscribed bricks and tablets containing the names of kings who are believed to have belonged to a dynasty that reigned at a very remote period — probably between 1900 and 1800 b.c. — in lower Chaldasa. Mr. H. Rassam having left Mosul for England early in the spring of 1854, the subscribers to the Assyrian Excavation Fund determined to continue the excavations at Kouyunjik and Nimroud, and Mr. Loftus was directed to proceed to Mosul. Mr. Vice-consul Rassam was at the same time requested by the Trustees of the British Museum to superintend the removal * Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. p. 382, note. + She was ' a Babylonian princess, the last descendant of a long line of kings, whom the Assyrian monarch wedded, to confirm through her his title to the southern provinces.' Instead of the heroine of the ' uncivilised ancients, ' she was ' a very prosaic and commonplace princess,' like 'Atossa, or Elizabeth of York' ('Ancient Monarchies,' ii. 384, 385) ! b xxxiv INTRODUCTION. and transport to England of the sculptures discovered by his brother, and to continue the excavations at Kouyunjik on a very reduced scale, chiefly for the purpose of re- taining possession of the ground. Mr. Loftus discovered some new chambers in the palace of Asshur-bani-pal, on the northern side of the Kouyunjik mound, and found other bas-reliefs representing hunting scenes, which complete the series now in the British Museum. Very spirited and accurate drawings of these and other sculptures were made by Mr. Boutcher. Excavations on a limited scale were carried on by Mr. Loftus at Nimroud — chiefly amongst the ruins of the centre palace, of the upper chambers connected with it, and of the earlier edifices beneath the south-east palace, but no dis- coveries of importance were made in them. Mr. Loftus returned to Europe in 1854, and from that time no further excavations have been carried on by British agents amongst the Assyrian ruins. M. Place, the French Consul at Mosul, continued for a short period the explo- ration of the mounds of Khorsabad. No new sculptures were obtained from them ; but a careful examination of the ruins, and the discovery of a variety of architectural details, have enabled him to restore many external features of the Assyrian palaces, and to settle several interesting questions of construction which had previously been unde- termined. He also found a large inscribed clay cylinder and various tablets, several in gold, of the time of Sargon, the founder of the Khorsabad palace, whose annals by their assistance can now be almost entirely restored. There yet remains much to be done before it can be said that the Assyrian ruins have been fully and satisfactorily explored, and that we possess all the materials which they are likely to afford for the investigation of Assyrian history. As yet owing to a variety of circumstances — to the limited means at the disposal of those who have been engaged in INTRODUCTION. xxxv these researches, to the want of that knowledge which has since been partly furnished by a careful examination of the inscriptions, and by a comparison of the monuments now collected together, and to the condition of the country in which the ruins are situated — those extensive and systematic excavations which are absolutely necessary before we can determine the exact period and nature of the numerous ruins existing in Assyria, and before we can deal with confi- dence with the materials at our disposal, have yet to be carried on. For instance, there are now reasons for conjec- turing that the mound of Kouyunjik covers the remains of edifices erected by some of the earliest Assyrian kings. As yet, with the exception of the obelisk in white stone, and of the solitary detached tablet of the time of Sardanapalus (about 900 B.C.) found by M. Place, no remains earlier than the palace of Sennacherib have been discovered there. It would appear from the inscriptions, that palaces or temples were built at Nimroud at least two or three hun- dred years before the foundation of the north-west palace, the most ancient edifice yet explored in that mound. Ac- cording to Sir Henry Rawlinson, Kalah Sherghat represents the prinjitive Assyrian capital, founded many centuries before Nineveh. With the exception of the cylinders of Tiglath Pileser the First (about 1130 B.C.) and one or two bricks in- scribed with doubtful royal names, no remains which can with confidence be ascribed to an earlier period than the son of Sardanapalus, the builder of the north-west palace at Nim- roud (about 050 B.C.), have been discovered in that mound. That other extensive edifices with sculptured walls will be dis- covered in unexplored Assyrian mounds I do not anticipate ; but the remains of bas-reliefs of an earlier date than any- thing we yet possess, and, what is even more important, inscriptions belonging to the times of the earlier kings — to those who, there is reason to believe, reigned in Assyria more than twenty centuries before the Christian era — may still b2 xxxvi INTRODUCTION. be buried below the soil, and are probably far beneath the foundations of the edifices hitherto explored. It is evident that the arts and manufactures did not spring at once into existence at the time of the erection of the north-west palace at Nimroud, where we find them already at the highest per- fection they appear to have at any time attained in Assyria. They were probably brought to that perfection by many successive ages of slow, perhaps almost imperceptible, deve- lopment, unless, indeed, the Ass}Tians borrowed them whole- sale from elsewhere, of which we have no evidence whatever. So far from this being the case, Assyrian art appears to have been original, and peculiar to the people who inhabited the northern part of Mesopotamia. Nothing has hitherto been discovered in Babylonia which would warrant us in asserting that the Assyrians derived their sculpture or their archi- tecture from that country. The contrary, indeed, would appear to be the case. It is more probable that Babylonia owed these arts to Assyria. As regards the alphabet and literature of the Assyrians, however, this may not have been the case ; but as yet we have no proof that they derived them from Babylonia, or any other country. The researches to be hereafter made amongst the Assy- rian ruins must be of a very different nature to those hitherto carried on. The explorer can no longer hope for that rich harvest of sculptures and inscribed monuments which has rewarded those who first discovered the Assyrian palaces, although there is probably still much left to be gleaned. All that we can expect is, that by patient toil and a most careful and systematic examination of all the principal mounds, we may be able to determine their relative antiquity, to add to the large collection of inscriptions already brought together for the elucidation of Assyrian history and philology, and to obtain materials for the restoration of the architecture of the Assyrians. To accomplish this will be a matter of immense labour and expense, as the vast mounds of earth INTRODUCTION. xxxvii which cover the Assyrian ruins will have to be explored to their very foundations, and tunnels or trenches carried through them in every direction ; for it is impossible to con- jecture what may yet remain beneath the edifices hitherto ex- plored at Nimroud, Kouyunjik, and elsewhere. In addition, these edifices themselves should be still further examined, not with the view alone of collecting sculptures and other objects of art, however great their interest, but of obtaining a complete plan of them, and of ascertaining all the archi- tectural features and details that may still remain. This has been hitherto only partially attempted in one Assyrian ruin — that of Khorsabad, at the expense of the French Go- vernment. It is very probable that many years may elapse before such a systematic examination of the Assyrian ruins will be made. But until these mounds are explored in the manner I have indicated, it cannot be said that we have obtained the materials which are necessary to enable us to restore the history and to illustrate the arts and manners of the ancient Assyrians. That a vast deal — far more than the most sanguine explorer could have anticipated — has been done during the last itw years is indisputable. Although our knowledge is far from complete, yet the sculptures and inscriptions have enabled us to put together a part of the skeleton of Assyrian histor}', and to illustrate to a certain extent the manners, arts, sciences, and literature of the Assyrian people. So much unreason- able incredulity still exists as to the extent to which this has been eff"ected through the interpretation of the cuneiform inscriptions, and the evidence upon which that interpretation rests has been so summarily rejected by English writers of great and deserved authority,* that a short account of the * Sir George Lewis, who was one of liie most incredulous of these writers, and who was wont to quiz, with his ready and kindly wit, the cuneiform decipherer, as well as the Egyptologer, admitted to me shortly before his deatli, that he had never seriously investigated the principles xxxviii INTRODUCTION. history of cuneiform decipherment may be interesting to some of my readers, and may tend to remove those erro- neous impressions which exist on the subject. The investigation of the arrow-headed character is by no means a new study. It was first seriously attempted in the year 1802, by Grotefend, a learned German scholar. At that time the only materials accessible for this purpose, with the exception of the well-known inscribed bricks from the ruins of Babylon, were the inscriptions carved on rocks and on the remains of edifices at Persepolis and Hamadan (Ecbatana), and near other ancient sites in Persia. Copies of these inscriptions, more or less accurate, had been brought to Europe by various travellers from the time of Tavernier and Chardin. Fortunately, although short, they afforded the most important materials for break- ing ground and taking the first step in the interpretation of the cuneiform character. They are trilingual— that is to say, that the same inscription is repeated three times in a different language and in a different character; but, unfor- tunately, unlike the trilingual inscription on the celebrated Rosetta stone, which furnishes a key for the decipherment of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, neither the languages nor the and the evidence upon wliich the interpretation of the arrow-headed in- scriptions rested. Lord Macaulay rejected the interpretations with un- disguised contempt, and other classical scholars of scarcely less authority have contributed to form the unfavourable opinion upon the subject which prevails in England. I attribute this, in a great measure, to the fact that those who have been hitherto engaged in the work of decipher- ing the cuneifonn inscriptions have not placed befoi-e the public, in a popular and elementary form, a history of their discoveries, and of the process which has led to them ; showing how, step by step, the results have been arrived at, and explaining the contradictions and discrepancies which exist in the interpretation of names, &c., as well as those which are inevitable in the first attempts to interpret an unknown character and language. Supposed discoveries have also been announced with too much confidence, and after\vards abandoned or ignored without sufficient ex- planation, whilst theories, more ingenious than sound, have been put forward to reconcile apparent discrepancies between the contents of the inscriptions and accepted biblical and profane history. INTRODUCTION. xxxix a ^ i£ 15 ^— K^^ A>— NJ^ >— N< ^ ^*i== i^ 1^ "f S i- 1^ i^ ^ _ *^ ^ ^ ^ I *r iui jir ^^K ---^^ A l^K. Y^^ i:44 c. ii ii ^ '^r V "^ A i^ ii 1 « Jsr- ^-::- ^A^^l ^ 1£ ^r IE iE ^ ^ i4 } i ^ _ ^ - ^ X *^^-^^^ J_ rit S£ ^ I^ ^ * '^ 111 ^ "' ^ ^ * ^ -- ,^ T^ it= -^ »r £= ir. >i -<3 W C^ SP- iL n i5= >^ A A A >— AAAA >— >^ 'iOttaToo isHM 'NKnioo oKooas 'Nimioo aaioL xl INTRODUCTION. characters were previously known to us. The trilingual in- scriptions of Persia are generally divided into three parallel columns, or arranged in three distinct tablets, each contain- ing the same inscription expressed in a different language, and in a different modification of the cuneiform character — the letters and signs in each column being formed by the same elementary wedges arranged in different combinations or groups. That the inscriptions are the same is evident from the fact of the recurrence of the same groups of letters, or words, in each column or tablet, at the same regular in- tervals. I give a copy, in the preceding page, of one of these trilingual tablets from Persepolis, in order that my readers may understand their nature, and the process by which they were deciphered. It will be perceived that the combination of wedges forming a letter or sign differs in each column. The most simple combination, and that which usually takes the place of honour in the first column of tliese tablets, is only found on monuments of the Persian period, and the language of the inscriptions is allied to the ancient Sanscrit. This is called the Persian cuneiform character. The characters in the second or centre column are commonly called the Median, or, more correctly, the Touranian or Scythic, be- cause they are believed to express a Touranian or Tatar lan- guage, one of the three great families of languages spoken by the subjects of the ancient Persian kings. The inscrip- tions of the third column are in a character and language nearly identical with those of the monuments of Nineveh and Babylon. They have been consequently termed the Assyrian and the Babylonian, or sometimes the Assyro- Babylonian.* It will be further observed that in the first, or Persian column, a single oblique arrow-head or wedge constantly * It is to be observed that there is a slight difference between the Babylonian and Assyrian characters ; but the difference is only graphical, like that between roman and italic type. INTRODUCTION. xli recurs. It first occurred to the German scholars, Tychsen and Munter, that this sign might mark the division of words. This conjecture was confirmed by the recurrence of the same group of letters forming a word, sometimes with ter- minal variations which might indicate case endings, marked off, as it were, by these single oblique wedges. Instances of this will be perceived in the first and second lines of the inscription which I have given, A comparison of a number of inscriptions led to the further discovery, that whilst the greater number of words or groups of signs in each were generally the same, certain groups had disappeared, and other groups which had before appeared in another part of the inscription, had taken their place. These again were suc- ceeded by a new group. This circumstance led Grotefend to conjecture that these signs so changing position represented proper names of persons in the relation of father and son, and that when a new king had ascended the throne his name appeared in the place of his predecessor. The name of the grandfather would then disappear altogether, and be replaced by that of the father. For instance, if in one inscription Darius was called the son of Hystaspes, in a second carved after his death Xerxes would be called son of Darius, the name of Darius taking the place of that of Hystaspes, which would no longer be found in the inscription. This ingenious conjecture led to the discovery of the clue to the decipherment of the inscriptions. Grotefend assumed that these groups of letters or signs were the names of these very Persian kings. Supposing such to be the case, and ad- mitting that the ancient Persian forms of these names varied considerably from those handed down to us by the Greeks, yet he felt convinced that the value of certain letters in them must be the same. By various tentative processes he satis- fied himself that he had hit upon the right names, and that he had determined the proper value of some, if not of all, the letters composing them. This enabled him to verify the xlii INTRODUCTION. conjecture, based upon historical evidence, that the language of the inscription was an Indo-Germanic dialect, spoken in Persia at the time of the Macedonian conquest, and allied to the Zend or Sanscrit, and consequently in a certain degree to the modem Persian.* Proceeding always in the same tentative way, Grotefend next attempted a translation of some of the inscriptions, and the results of his investigations, and an analysis of his method of interpretation, were given in an appendix to Heeren's work on the principal nations of antiquity, which was pubhshed in i8i5.t Lassen, Rask, Burnouf, and other eminent Sanscrit and Oriental scholars, applied themselves to the examination of Grotefend's system and of his interpretations, bringing to bear upon the inquiry a profounder knowledge of the ancient Indo-Germanic tongues than he claimed to possess, though scarcely more skill and ingenuity as decipherers. Through their labours, what had been at first the result of happy con- jecture was reduced to a certain t}^ It was proved that Grotefend had been mistaken in the value he had assigned to several letters, but that he had been right in his method of interpretation, and in his conjectures as to the names of the kings contained in the inscriptions which he had examined. The short trilingual inscription which I have given con- tains the name of Xerxes, and may be translated thus : KHSHIYARSHA KHSHAYATHIYA WAZAR- Xerxes the king great, -KA KHSHAYATHIYA KHSHAYATHIYA- The king of kings ; * The Persian names preserved by the Greek and Roman writers leave no doubt whatever that tlie language spoken by the ancient Per- sians was of this character. + Historical Researches into the Politics, &c., of the Principal Nations of Antiquity, vol. ii. English edition of 1833. Oxford. IXTRODUCTIOX. xliii -NAM DARYAVAHUSH KH5HAYATH- Of Darius the king, -lYAHYA PUTRA HAKHAMAXISHIYA. The son, the Achaemenid. Hitherto the materials for the investigation of the cuneiform character had been comparatively limited. The inscriptions copied by travellers in Persia were short, rarely consisting of more than ten or twelve lines, and they were for the most part of nearly the same import. A trilingual inscription of great length was known to exist on the rock of Behistun, near Kermanshah, on the western frontiers of Persia; but it was in a position inaccessible to the ordinar)^ traveller, and too high to admit of its being copied from below. Sir Henr}' Rawlinson was the first to obtain an imperfect transcript of it by the aid of a powerful telescope in the year 1835; but it was not until 1844 that, assisted by Captain Jones, and other gentlemen attached to tlie mis- sion at Baghdad, he was able to reach the tablets, and to make copies and paper casts of the inscriptions. Like those of Persepolis and Hamadan, they consist of the same record, repeated three times in the three languages spoken by the three great races under the dominion of the Persian kings, and written in different modifications of the cuneiform character. The Persian column contains no less than 406 lines. The apphcation to this great inscription of the key furnished by the short records previously deciphered by Grotefend and other investigators, completely corroborated the soundness of their system of interpretation. The Be- histun tablets were found to contain a narrative of the prin- cipal events of the reign of Darius, the son of Hystaspes, which, in many respects, coincide with those recorded by the Greek historians. The effigy of the king himself is sculptured on the rock. Behind him stand his attendants, and in front are nine captive kings or chiefs, one of whom lies prostrate at his feet. Above each figure are short xliv IXTRODUCTION. trilingual inscriptions, recording the name of the person re- presented. By the aid of the Behistun inscription, which has furnished the most ample and reliable materials we yet possess for the investigation of the cuneiform character, Sir Henr}'- Rawlinson has been able to add largely to the results obtained by Grote- fend, Lassen, Bumouf, and others, from the scanty records in their possession. He pubhshed the text of the Persian column, with a complete translation of it, in the 'Journal' of tlie Royal Asiatic Society for 1846. This translation has been subjected to the most rigorous examination and criti- cism by Sanscrit scholars; and those who have taken the trouble to acquaint themselves with the subject, and are competent to fomi an opinion upon it, do not hesitate to admit that the interpretation of the Persian cuneiform is placed beyond a doubt. The Persian column of the trilingual inscription having thus been deciphered, a key was aftbrded to the interpre- tation of the two other inscriptions, supposing always that their contents were the same, and that the language was one which either still existed, or was allied to one still spoken or written. That the contents of the three inscriptions were the same was evident from the corresponding recur- rence of certain groups in each column. But the Assyro- Babylonian inscriptions offered far greater difficulties than the Persian. The letters or signs used in the Persian were limited in number, not exceeding thirty-six; and, as Ave have seen, each word was separated, and marked by an oblique wedge. In the Ass\Tian inscription there was no division between tlie words, the letters and signs seemed not only to be unlimited in number, but to be used in the most arbitrary manner. As, however, the inscriptions contained names of persons, countries, cities, &c.,* many of which could * A list, in the three cuneiform characters, of the various satrapies in- cluded within the dominions of the King of Persia, had previously been INTRODUCTION. xlv be identified with those preserved in classical or biblical literature, the value of many letters could be determined with sufficient confidence ; and thus a clue was afforded to a few words of constant recurrence, and proof afforded that the language of the Assyro-Babylonian inscriptions, as might have been expected, was a Semitic dialect, allied to the Chaldee, Hebrew, Arab, and other cognate languages, either still existing, or of which written remains have been preserved. Whilst European scholars were thus occupied in decipher- ing the trilingual tablets, the discoveries at Nimroud, Khor- sabad and Kouyunjik, and amongst other Assyrian ruins, furnished a vast number of inscriptions which A\'ill afford materials for years to come for the study of the cuneiform character. During the excavations in Assyria I was too much occupied to be able to devote much time to the decipherment of the inscriptions ; but whilst copying them, I was able to compare them and to classify to a certain extent the various signs and letters which they contain. One fact soon be- came evident to me, that the Assyrians, unlike the Per- sians, rarely, if ever, divided a word at the end of a line, preferring to finish it by cutting letters on the sculpture itself, or on tlie side or even back of a slab. As the ' Standard inscription ' of the north-west palace of Nimroud, containing the names, titles, and part of the annals of the founder of the edifice, was repeated upon almost every slab discovered in the ruins, and in every variety of space, some- times only one or two letters forming a line, I was able, by a careful comparison of the endings, to determine and mark off almost every word in the inscription. I soon also found, by the relative position of certain groups, the signs or letters marking the names of the kings, their titles, and the names of their fathers, and, in many instances, of their grandfathers. discovered at Persepolis, and had enabled Burnouf and Lassen to deter- mine the value of several letters of the Persian cuneiform alphabet. xlvi INTRODUCTION. On ray return to England from my first expedition I edited, for the Trustees of the British Museum, a volume containing transcripts of inscriptions from Nimroud, Kou- yunjik, Kalah Sherghat, and other Assyrian ruins. Their publication, and that of the cuneiform inscriptions dis- covered by M. Botta at Khorsabad, afforded fresh mate- rials for investigation, and several eminent scholars took up the subject : amongst whom were the late Dr. Hincks,* Mr. Norris, Mr. Fox Talbot, and M. Oppert. Sir Henry Raw- linson, in 1850, announced that he had succeeded in reading the inscription on the black obelisk discovered in the centre palace at Nimroud, and shortly after communicated his version of its contents at a meeting of the members of the Royal Institution. On my return to England in 1851, after my second expedition, I spent some time with Dr. Hincks * By the death of Dr. Hincks we have lost one of the ablest and most successful investigators of the cuneiform inscriptions. To profound scholarship in the Semitic tongues, and to the most extensive literary and scientific acquirements, he added a wonderful ingenuity, acuteness, and sagacity, and a singularly retentive memory, which peculiarly fitted him for a decipherer. His power of dealing with the most complicated and difficult cipher was exhibited at a very early age. After making many discoveries in Egyptology, he applied his great talents to the investigation of the cuneiform inscriptions, and with marvellous success, when it is remembered that he was the incumbent of a small living in Ireland, far from any public library, without the books and materials necessary for the prosecution of his studies, and so circumscribed in means that at one time he was, I believe, obliged to dispose of a part of his library. In any other country but England, a man of such attain- ments, and so eminently calculated to confer honour upon the nation to which he belonged, would have received some reward, or would have been placed in a position of independence, to enable him to pursue his studies. But, in spite of numerous representations to government by one or two of his friends in his behalf, and of the European reputation which he had established for himself by his discoveries, he was allowed to remain at Killyleagh with a decreasing income, and without any ]5ublic recognition whatever of his literary and scientific acquirements. He died there at the commencement of this year. It is not detracting from the deserved reputation of Sir II. Rawlinson to say, that we owe to Dr. Hincks some of the most important discoveries in cuneiform literature, the present advanced state of our knowledge of the subject, and more especially the progixss that has been made in placing upon firm ground the grammatical construction of the Assyrian language. INTRODUCTION. xlvii in Ireland in examining the cuneiform inscriptions which I had brought from Assyria and Armenia, and I am indebted to him for the translation of those inscriptions which I published in the work of which this book is an abridg- ment. Dr. Hincks had already deciphered the names of Sargon, Sennacherib, and Esar-haddon, and had thus proved that which I had been led to conjecture from a comparison of the monuments and from other evidence, that the palaces at Kouyunjik and Khorsabad, and in the south-west corner of the mound of Nimroud, owed their foundation to those kings. He also determined the Assyrian numerals from the Wan in- scriptions. He had previously (in June, 1846) discovered the names of Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon on the well-known Babylonian bricks from the ruins near Hillah. On August 23, 1851, Sir Henry Rawlinson announced in the 'Athenaeum' that he had found in the inscriptions from Kouyunjik notices of the reign of Sennacherib, ' which placed beyond the reach of dispute his historic identity ; ' and he gave a recapitula- tion of the principal events recorded on the monuments, including the war with Hezekiah and the siege and capture of Lachish. Constant additions were made to our knowledge of the contents of the cuneiform inscriptions in communications from Dr. Hincks, Sir H. Rawlinson, Mr. Fox Talbot, and Mr. Norris, to the 'Journals ' of the Royal Asiatic Society, to the 'Transactions' of the Royal Irish Academy, to the 'Athe- naeum,' and to other literary and scientific periodicals. But scholars in this country, whose learning was limited to the classics, were little inclined to accept these interpretations, and were rather disposed to reject them altogether as inge- nious fictions. In the year 1857 Sir H. Rawlinson had su- perintended for the Trustees of the British Museum the pub- lication of a transcript of the inscription upon the clay cy- linders discovered at Kalah Sherghat. A copy of this inscrip- tion had been sent to Mr. Fox Talbot before its publication, xlviii INTRODUCTION. and before Sir H. Rawlinson had placed before the public any account of its contents. In March, Mr. Fox Talbot forwarded a sealed packet to the late Professor Wilson, then President of the Royal Asiatic Society, enclosing his trans- lation of the inscription, with a request that it might not be opened until Sir Henry Rawlinson, with whom he had had no communication on the subject, had published the trans- lation of the same inscription which he had announced — adding his opinion, that ' all candid inquirers must acknow- ledge, that if any special agi-eement should appear between such independent versions, it must indicate that they have truth for their basis.' The Council of the Royal Asiatic Society considered that this was a favourable occasion for testing the general ac- curacy of the interpretation of the cuneiform writing, and they requested not only Sir Henry Rawlinson, but Dr. Hincks and M. Oppert also, to furnish them with transla- tions of the same inscription, under sealed covers, and with- out any previous communication with each other. A com- mittee of gentlemen of the highest literary attainments, and of entirely independent opinions upon such matters, includ- ing Dr. Milman (the Dean of St. Paul's), Dr. Whewell, Sir Gardner Wilkinson, Mr. Grote, the Rev. Mr. Cureton, and Professor Wilson, were named to open the packets, and to examine and report upon the translations. Mr. Cureton, Dr. Whewell, and Professor Wilson were absent when the packets were opened ; but the other three members of the committee, after having carefully examined and compared their contents, reported their opinions to the Council of the Asiatic Society. Dr. Milman and Mr. Grote certified that ' the coincidences bet^veen the translations, both as to the general sense and verbal rendering, were ver}^ remarkable. In most parts there was a strong correspondence in the meaning assigned, and occasionally a curious identity of expression as to particular words. When the versions differed very materially, each INTRODUCTION. xlix translator had, in many cases, marked the passage as one of doubtful or unascertained signification. In the interpretation of numbers there was throughout a singular correspondence.' Sir Gardner Wilkinson, in a separate report, expressed him- self somewhat more strongly in favour of the decipherers, and declared that 'the resemblance (very often exactly the same, word for word) was so great, as to render it unreason- able to suppose that the interpretation could be arbitrary, or based on uncertain grounds.' Professor Wilson declares in his report to the Society that, ' upon the whole, the result of this experiment — than which a fairer test could scarcely be desired — may be considered as establishing almost de- finitively the correctness of the valuation of the characters of these inscriptions.'* Since the period of the publication of the translations of this inscription, much has been added to our knowledge of the cuneiform character. Other scholars have entered into the field of investigation, and many remarkable instances of independent evidence confirming the general accuracy of the interpretation of the inscription could be cited. I may mention the short trilingual inscriptions containing the name of Artaxerxes, in the three forms of cuneiform writing, the Persian, Touranian, and Babylonian, accompanied by an Egyptian cartouche with the same royal name, upon an alabaster vase in the treasury of St. Mark's at Venice, of which, singularly enough, a duplicate was discovered by Mr. Newton amongst the ruins of the mausoleum at Halicarnassus. These inscriptions furnish a test of the accuracy of the de- cipherment of both the cuneiform character and the hiero- glyphics. The first Hterary and scientific body in the world, the French Academy, has publicly recognised the progress made, * Inscription of Tiglath Pileser I., king of Assyria, B.C. 1150, as translated by Sir H. Rawlinson, Fox Talbot, Esq., Dr. Hincks, and Dr. Oppert. Published by the Royal Asiatic Society, 1857. C I INTRODUCTION. the accuracy of the principles upon which the decipher- ment of the cuneiform inscriptions is based, and the impor- tance of the results already obtained, by recommending Dr. Oppert to the French government for the great prize of 20,000 francs, conferred periodically upon the author who has ren- dered the greatest service to literature or science. In England, however, the same doubts and misgivings still prevail with regard to the interpretation of the arrow-headed character, and the writer of a recent article in a leading periodical cri- ticises with the utmost severity the labours of the decipherer, and seems to reject altogether the additions to our knowledge of the history and language of the Assyrians, which the in- scriptions are believed to afford.* But the critic in this case had no special knowledge of the subject, and he somewhat unfairly keeps out of view the evidence that can be ad- duced in support of the system of interpretation which has now been accepted by so many distinguished scholars, and the explanations which can be afforded of contradictions and inconsistencies that undoubtedly occur in the versions given at different times by the same decipherer of the same inscrip- tion. For instance, the fact that the same proper name has been rendered in various ways, and that no certainty exists with regard to the value of the signs and letters composing it, although put forward as a conclusive argument against the progress alleged to have been made in the interpretation of the cuneiform character, admitsof a satisfactory explanation. The names of places and persons, and especially those of Assyrian and Babylonian kings, are frequently composed of the name of a god,t usually represented by one sign, of which we do not know the phonetic reading, and the sound or value of which, consequently, must be more or less a matter of conjecture. * See 'Edinburgh Review' for January, 1867 (No. 255), article on ' Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies. ' t The names of foreign kings, which are not Assyrian, are written phonetically, and are consequently deciphered with more certainty. INTRODUCTION. \\ In some instances the equivalent of this sign in letters has been ascertained, and then the name of which it forms a part can be determined with confidence, as for example that of Sennacherib. But it must be admitted that, owing to the fact I have mentioned, the reading of many of the royal names which occur in the Assyrian inscriptions is more or less doubtful, and must be received with caution. This, how- ever, does not prove that they are not royal names, or that their places in the Assyrian dynastic lists cannot be fixed with accuracy.* A more weighty argument is furnished to the adverse critic by the attempts which, it appears to me, have been somewhat injudiciously made to reconcile the contents of the inscriptions with the very vague and doubtful notices of ancient Assyria contained in the fragments of ancient writers, most of which are of little or no authority, and to the tendency which some interpreters of the inscriptions have shown to build up theories altogether opposed to autheni-ic history, upon the slightest possible foundation. An instance of this is furnished by the author of a learned work in which all the available information with regard to Babylonia and Assyria has been collected together with much industr}' — ' The History of the Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World.' A primitive empire of Chaldaea is called into existence, and the history, arts, manners, and religion of an iinaginary people described, upon no better foundation than a few bricks dug out of Babylonian mounds and believed * I have not thought it necessary to point out in the text the various reasons why the interpretation of the cuneiform character is hable to so much uncertainty, as far as the hteral reading, though not always of the meaning, of words is concerned. As for instance, the fact that the number of the characters seems to be almost unlimited, and that some only of them are phonetic, the remainder being syllabic and ideographic. The exact value of many of these signs has however been satisfactorily determined by the aid of the very curious and important lists of signs with their equivalents in letters, discovered amongst the clay tablets in the British Aluseum. lU INTRODUCTION. to bear royal names which cannot be said to have been yet satisfactorily deciphered, and some pottery and other re- maiJ^s of doubtful antiquity. Although very great progress has undoubtedly been made in the interpretation of the cu- neiform inscriptions, the time is not yet come for the his- torian to accept their presumed contents as authentic and well-estabhshed materials for the reconstruction of a histor}' of the ancient Assyrian empire, mixing with them tlie scat- tered and semi-fabulous notices of ancient authors of no authority. Any such attempt must inevitably expose its author to severe criticism, and must rather tend to throw a doubt upon, than to establish, the soundness of the prin- ciples upon which the decipherment of the cuneiform inscrip- tions has been carried on. The study of the writing and language of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians is still too much in its infancy to warrant the acceptance, without questioning, of the literal interpretation of any one considerable inscription. As yet the number of scholars who have seriously and independently turned their attention to the decipherment of the cuneiform character is very limited. An immense mass of materials for the investigation has been accumulated in the British Mu- seum, in the collection of clay tablets and of the monuments brought from Assyria and Babylonia. These materials will gradually be made accessible to foreign scholars through their publication by the Trustees, under the able editorship of Sir Henry Rawhnson. A most important aid to the stu- dent will be furnished by a dictionary, or vocabulary of all known Assyrian words, now in the course of compilation by that eminent and most industrious scholar, Mr. Edwin Norris. What is now principally required is the independent examination of the inscriptions by learned Orientalists of different countries. As yet little has been done in Germany, and yet the accurate and penetrating intellect and patient analysis of the German scholar are peculiarly fitted far INTRODUCTION. liii investigations of this nature. I have little doubt that, in a few years, such progress will have been made in our know- ledge of the contents of the inscriptions, and in our acquaint- ance with the comparative dates of the monuments, that we shall be able to restore much of the history of the ancient Assyrian empire, and to obtain a considerable insight into the religion, arts, sciences, literature, and political institu- tions of its people. Some doubts exist as to the dates which are assigned to the various Assyrian monuments and inscriptions that have been discovered ; and it has been asked, upon what evidence we are able to restore Assyrian chronology. Al- though we may not be able to assign a place with confi- dence to any event, such as the accession of a king to the throne, in our system of chronology, yet the inscriptions have furnished the means for ascertaining with certainty the year of his reign in which any event of importance occurred. It would appear that each Assyrian year was known by the name of a highpriest or some great dignitary, as the Athe- nian year was connected with the name of an Archon ; the first year of a king's reign being frequently identified with the royal name itself. Fragments of clay tablets containing lists of these ' eponyms,' as they are termed, have been discovered amongst the collections in the British Museum. Although as yet a complete list has not been restored, a sufficient number of names has already been found to enable us to fix the relative dates of most of the events mentioned in the annals of the later Assyrian kings, as those annals are usually marked, year by year, by the name of the eponym.* These kings filled the Assyrian throne at a time when we approach authentic history, and the epoch of their reigns can be determined with some degree of certainty from sources independent of the Assyrian monuments and inscriptions. * This important discovery was announced by Sir H. Rawlinson, in the 'Athenaeum ' for May 31 and July 19, 1862. liv INTRODUCTION. Although, therefore, it may be impossible as yet to ascertain tlie very year before Christ of any particular event, we can get near enough to it for all useful purposes.* The dates of the accession of the very early kings, and of the principal events of their reigns, have been doubtfully determined by references to them in the inscriptions themselves. But when we en- deavour to deal with them we tread upon very uncertain ground. As yet it cannot be asserted that they can be fixed otherwise than approximately. It would seem, however, that the Assyrians kept a very accurate computation of time, and future discoveries may enable us to restore a great part of Assyrian chronology. Sir Henry Rawlinson has put forward a theory, that the ancient capital of Assyria was a city called Asshur, of which the great mound of Kalah Sherghat marks the site, and that Nineveh was a comparatively recent capital to which the seat of government was only transferred about seven centuries B.C., and whose foundation does not date beyond the loth or latlr century. But it appears to me that this view cannot be supported by sufficient evidence. It is un- doubtedly opposed to sacred and profane history, and to the testimony atforded by Egyptian monuments, on which the name of Nineveh is found as far back as the 15 th century B.C., whilst no mention of such a city as Asshur occurs.f It has been remarked that, after all, the contents of the Assyrian inscriptions, admitting them to have been deci- phered, have afforded us no useful information, and have added but httle to our knowledge of the ancient world, as they only contain a dry record of the wars and conquests of * If the discover)' of the notice of an eclipse of the sun upon an Assyrian tablet be confirmed, we should then be able to determine with complete certainty the date of the principal events mentioned in the Assyrian annals. + The Rev. G. Rawlinson ('Ancient Monarchies,' vol. ii. p. 303) gets over the d.fficulty of the mention of Nineveh in Genesis by suggest- ing that the nth and 12th verses of the loth chapter 'were possibly an addition made by Ezra on the return from the captivity.' INTRODUCTION. Iv eastern tyrants, and of a barbarous people. What, it might be asked, should we know of the Greeks if only their monumental records had been preserved to us ? Fortunately, however, the Assyrian inscriptions contain more than mere royal annals; and although we cannot ascertain the intellec- tual advancement which the Assyrian people may have made, as we have no written literature belonging to them, such as happily has been preserved to us from ancient Greece, yet we have in the vast collection of inscriptions on marble and baked clay, dug up from the ruins of Nineveh and Ba- bylon, and in the monuments themselves, ample materials to prove that the Assyrians had made great progress in those arts and sciences which distinguish a civilised people. The discoveries in Assyria and Babylonia have enabled us to reach one of the remotest sources of that mighty stream of human progress which has developed, through Greece and Rome, into our present civilisation. It is in this that their great interest and importance consist. NINEVEH AND BABYLON. CHAPTER I. Reneival of excavations in Assyria — Return to Mosul — Discoveries at Kouyunjik — Visit to Nimrotid — Excavations in the Mound — Mr. H. Rassam — Sculptures represejiting transport of winged bulls discovci-ed at Kouyunjik — Fresh sculptures — Discovery of gateway — High Alound at Nimroud explored. In the summer of 1849 I had returned to my post at Con- stantinople as an attache to her Majesty's Embassy. The general interest expressed in England at the result of the discoveries on the site of Nineveh, during my first expedition to Assyria, induced the Trustees of the British Museum to continue the excavations, and, having obtained a grant of money for that purpose from the Government, they requested me to undertake their direction. I cheerfully consented to return to Mosul, and to carry on further researches amongst the Assyrian ruins. My preparations having been soon com- pleted, I left the Turkish capital at the end of August. I was accompanied by Mr. F. Cooper, an artist sent out by the Trustees to make drawings of such objects as might be dis- covered ; by Dr. Sandwith, an English physician on a visit to the East ; and by my faithful friend and former companion, Mr. Hormuzd Rassam. Cawal Yusuf, a priest and chief of the sect of the Yezidis, availed himself of my escort to return to his native mountains. He was the bearer of a Firman, which he had obtained through the mediation of Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, releasing his people from various B 2 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. unjust and oppressive burdens and laws to which they had previously been subject. I chose for our route to Mosul the little-known districts of Eastern Armenia, and the Kurdish mountains between the lake of Wan and Jezirah. I was thus able to follow and de- termine the track of the ten thousand Greeks in their memo- rable retreat under Xenophon, to trace the head waters of the Tigris, and to visit the two important Turkish towns of Erzeroom and Bitlis. We travelled through a highly inter- esting and picturesque country without accident, although not without risk from Kurdish and Arab marauders, and at the end of September I again found myself in the Assyrian plains.* The first stage of my journey homewards, on leaving Mosul two years before, had been at the Chaldajan village of Tel Kef It was the last on my return. As we rode wearily towards the village, on a hot and sultry afternoon at the end of Sep- tember, I left the high road ^vith Hormuzd to quench my thirst at some Arab tents. As we drew near, we were greeted with exclamations of joy, and were soon in the midst of a crowd of men and women, kissing our knees, and giving us other marks of welcome. They were Arabs of the Jebour tribe, Avho had been foniierly employed in the excavations. They eagerly enquired whether we were again going to dig for old stones, and hearing that such was the object of my journey, they at once set about striking their tents, to be ready to join us at Mosul or Nimroud. As we neared Tel Kef we found groups of my old super- intendents and workmen by the road side. There were fat Toma, Mansour, Behnan, and Hannah, joyful at meeting me once more, and at the prospect of fresh sei-vice. In the vil- lage were Mr. Rassam (the English vice-consul) and Khodja Toma, his dragoman, who had made ready the feast for us at the house of the Chaldcean bishop. Next morning, as we rode the last three hours of our journey, we met fresh groups of old friends : — Merjan, with my groom holding the stin-up * .\ full nan-ative of my journey wall be found in the first three chap- ters of my larger edition of ' Nineveh and Babylon.' I.] VISIT TO KOUYUNJIK. 3 ready for me to mount, the noble animal looking as beautiful, as fresh, and as sleek as when I last saw him, although two long years had passed ; former servants, Awad and the Sheikhs of the Jebours, even the very greyhounds who had been brought up under my roof Then as we ascend an eminence midway, vvalls, towers, minarets, and domes rise boldly from the margin of the broad river, cheating us into the belief, too soon to be dispelled, that Mosul is still a not unworthy representative of the great Nineveh. As we draw near, the long line of loft)^ mounds, the only remains of mighty bulwarks and spacious gates, detach themselves from the low undulating hills : now the vast mound of Kouyunjik overtops the surrounding heaps ; then above it peers the white cone of the tomb of the prophet Jonah ; many other well-remembered spots follow in rapid succession; but we cannot linger. Hastening over the creaking bridge of boats, v>-e force our way through the crowded bazars, and alight at the house I had left t^vo years ago. Old servants take their places as a matter of course, and, uninvited, pursue their regular occupations as if they had never been interrupted. Indeed it seemed as if we had but returned from a summers ride ; two years had passed away like a dream. On the morning after our arrival in Mosul, I rode at sun- rise to Kouyunjik. On my return to Europe in 1847, '^'^^■ Ross had continued the excavations in the palace of Senna cherib, where I had left off, and had uncovered several inter- esting bas-reliefs. That gentleman had, to my great regret, left Mosul. Since his departure the excavations had been placed under the charge of Mr. Rassam, who was directed by the Trustees of the British Museum to employ a small num- ber of men, rather to retain possession of the spot, and to prevent interference on the part of others, than to carry on extensive operations. Toma Shishman, or 'the Fat,' was still the overseer of the workmen, and accompanied me on my first vi-it to the ruins. But little change had taken place in the great mound since I had last seen it. It was yellow and bare, as it always is at this time of the year. Heaps of earth marked the site of former excavations, the chambers first discovered having B 2 4 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. been again completely buried with rubbish. Of the sculp- tured walls laid bare two years before no traces now remained. -](, B|^^gs§vr3 ^ ^^ a F? uiv 5=; Plan I. — Palace of Sennacherib. The trenches dug under Mr. Ross's directions, in the south- ern corner, opposite the town of Mosul, were still open. The two chambers he had explored formed part of the great 1.] UNDERGROUND EXCAVATIONS. 5 palace standing on this angle of the mound, already partly explored.* The bas-reliefs, however, were much defaced. They recorded the conquest by Sennacherib of a nation inhabiting the banks of a river. The captive women were distinguished by long embroidered robes fringed with tassels. The walls of the castles had a peculiar wedge-shaped orna- ment, and stood on the bank of a river or marsh, indicated by canes or reeds, and in a district producing the palm tree. The Assyrians having captured the strong places by escalade, were carrying the inhabitants into captivity, and driving away cattle, camels, and carts drawn by oxen. Some of the men bore large baskets of osier work, and the women vases or cauldrons. The king, standing in his chariot, attended by his warriors, and preceded by an eunuch registering the number of prisoners and the amount of the spoil, received the captive chiefs. We may conjecture, from the marsh or river and the palm trees, that the conquered people inhabited some district in southern Mesopotamia. They were, prob- ably, one of the numerous tribes who lived in the marshes formed by the Euphrates and Tigris, and whose subjec- tion is recorded in the inscriptions of Sennacherib. In the southern wall of this chamber was a doorway formed by plain, upright slabs of close-grained magnesian lime- stone, almost as hard as flint ; between them were two small, crouching lions, in the usual alabaster. This entrance led into a further room, of which only a small part had been explored. t The walls were panelled with unsculptured slabs of the same compact limestone. The sculptured remains hitherto discovered in the mound of Kouyimjik had been reached by digging down to them from the surface. The accumulation of rubbish was, however, so considerable in this part of the ruins, frequently exceeding thirty feet, that the workmen, to avoid the labour of clearing it away, began to tunnel along the buried walls, sinking shafts at intervals to admit light and air. The underground pas- sages were narrow, and were propped up when necessary either by leaving columns of soil, as in mines, or by wooden * No. LI. Plan I. + No. Liii. Plan I. NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. beams. These long galleries, dimly lighted, and lined with the remains of ancient art — the wild Arabs and Nestorians wandering through their intricacies, or working in their dark recesses — were singularly picturesque. Toma Shishman had removed the workmen from the UiKkrgroiind Excavations at Kouyunjik. southern corner of the mound, where the sculptures were much injured, and had opened tunnels in a part of the build- ing previously e.xplored, commencing where I had left off in 1847.* I descended into the underground passages by an in- clined way, through which the workmen issued with the rubbish * Ko. VI. Plan I. p. 4. 1.] NEIV CHAMBERS DISCOVERED. 7 dug out from the ruins. At the bottom I found myself before a wall forming the southern side of the great hall, discovered, though only partly explored, during my former researches.'' The sculptured slabs faintly seen through the gloom, although almost reduced to lime by the fire which had destroyed the palace, were still fairly preserved. They had been entirely covered with figures, varying from three inches to one foot in height, carefully finished, and designed ■with great spirit. In this series of bas-reliefs the history of an Assyrian con- quest was more fully portrayed than in any other yet dis- covered, from the going out of the monarch to battle to his triumphal return after victory. Sennacherib, accompanied by his chariots and horsemen, was seen passing through a moun- tainous and wooded district and entering the high country. The mountains, valleys, and streams, the vines and dwarf oaks, indicated a region north of Assyria, either Annenia, Media, or Kurdistan, countries we know to have been invaded by this monarch. His troops, cavalry and infantry, were represented in close combat with the enemy, pursuing them over hills and through valleys, beside streams, and in the midst of vineyards. The vanquished turned to ask for quarter ; or, wounded, fell under the feet of the advancing horses, raising their hands im- ploringly to ward off the impending death-blow. The triumph followed. The king standing in his chariot, beneath the royal parasol, attended by long lines of dismounted warriors leading richly caparisoned horses, and by foot soldiers vari- ously anned and accoutred, was receiving the captives and spoil taken from the conquered people. First approached the spearmen throwing the heads of the slain into heaps before the officers appointed to number them. Then came other soldiers, leading, and urging onwards with staves, the pri- soners — men chained together, or bound singly in fetters, and women, some on foot, carrying their children on their shoulders, or leading them by the hand, others riding on mules. Asses, mules, and flocks of sheep, fomied the spoil. The dress of the men consisted of a short tunic ; that of the women, of a shirt falling to the ankles, and cut low in front of the neck.t * No. VI. Plan I. p. 4. + Two plates from these spirited sculptures are given in the 2nd series 8 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. In the side of the hall or court sculptured with these bas- reliefs was a wide portal, formed by a pair of colossal human- headed bulls. They had suffered, like all those previously discovered, from the fire, and the upper part — the wings and human head — had been completely destroyed. The lower half had, however, escaped, and the inscriptions were con- sequently nearly entire. By the side of each bull were two small figures, one above the other. They had long hair, falling in large and massive curls on their shoulders, wore short tunics descending to the knee, and held in one hand a pole topped by a kind of cone, and raised the other in act of adoration.* At right angles -with the slabs bearing these sculptures were colossal figures carrying the oft-repeated cone and basket. In this entrance a well, cut through the large pavement slab between the bulls, was afterwards discovered. It con- tained fragments of pottery, human bones, and some pieces of calcined sculptured alabaster, evidently detached from the bas-reliefs on the walls. Like many other wells discovered during the excavations, it had probably been sunk by those who had built on the mound above the Assyrian ruins. A small doorway to the right of the portal formed by the winged bulls, led into a further chamber,t in which an en- trance had been found into another room,;}: whose walls had been completely uncovered. The dimensions of this third room were 26 feet by 23, and it had but one door, flanked on either side by two colossal figures,, whose lower extremi- ties alone remained, the upper part of the slabs having been destroyed: one appeared to have been eagle-headed, with the body of a man, and the other a monster, with human head and the feet of a lion. The bas-reliefs represented the siege of a castle standing on an artificial mound, and surrounded by houses. The besieged defended themselves on the walls and turrets with bows, spears, and stones. As- of the ' Monuments of Nineveh,' Plates 37, 38. They represent the battle, and part of the triumph. * One such figure has been placed in the British Museum, and see 2nd series of the 'Monuments of Nineveh,' Plate 6. t No. XIII. Plan I. p. 4. + No. xiv. same Plan. I.] DESCRIPTION OF THE SCULPTURES. 9 Syrian spearmen, slingers, and bowmen had already gained the housetops. Male and female captives had been taken and heads cut ofif — the victorious warriors, according to cus- tom and probably to claim a reward,* bringing them to the registrars. The led horses and body-guard of the king were still preserved, but the figure of the monarch himself had been destroyed. The country was indicated by wooded mountains, vines, and various trees, and a river. The dress of the male prisoners consisted either of a long robe falling to the ankles, or of a tunic reaching to the knees, over which was an outer garment, apparently made of the skins of animals, and they wore greaves laced up in front. The women were clothed in a robe descending to the feet, with an outer fringed garment thrown over the shoulders ; a kind of hood or veil covered the back of the head, and fell over the neck. Above the castle was the fragment of an inscrip- tion in two lines, containing the name of the city, of which unfortunately the first character is wanting, and which can- not, therefore, be satisfactorily determined. We may infer, however, from the nature of the country represented, that it stood in a mountainous district to the north of Assyria.t In this chamber, as in others afterwards explored, some of the slabs (those adjoining the entrance) had been purposely defaced, every vestige of sculpture having been carefully re- moved by a sharp instrument. Returning to the great hall, I found that a third entrance had been discovered, opening to the west. It had been guarded by six colossal figures, three on each side. The upper part of all of them had been destroyed. They had been eagle-headed and lion-headed monsters. This doorway led into a narrow passage, only one side of which had been excavated ;% on it was represented the siege of a walled city, divided into two parts by a river. One-half of the place had been captured by the Assyrians, who had * It is still the custom in Persia, and was so until lately in Turkey, for soldiers to bring the heads of the slain to their officers after a battle, for the purpose of claiming a reward. + Such parts of the bas-reliefs as could be moved are now in the British Museum ; see also 2nd series of the ' Monuments of Nineveh, ' Plate 39. X No. XII. Plan I. p. 4. ro NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. gained possession of the towers and battlements; the other, on the opposite bank of the stream, was still defended by slingers and bowmen. Against its walls had been thrown banks or mounds, built of stones, bricks, and branches of trees. The battering-rams, covered with skins or hides, had been rolled up these inclined ways, and had already made a breach in the fortifications. Archers and spearmen were hurrying to the assault, whilst others were driving off the captives, and carrjdng away their gods or idols. I'he dress of the male prisoners consisted of a plain under-shirt, an upper garment falling below the knees, divided in the front and buttoned at the neck, and laced greaves. Their hair and beards were shorter and less elaborately curled than those of the Assyrians. The women were distinguished by high rounded turbans, ornamented with plaits or folds. A veil fell from the back of this headdress over their shoulders.* No inscription remained to record the name of the vanquished nation. The opposite side of this narrow chamber, or passage, was shortly afterwards uncovered. The bas-reliefs on its walls represented Sennacherib in his chariot, preceded and fol- lowed by his warriors. The only remarkable feature in the sculptures was the highly decorated trappings of the horses, whose bits were in the form of a horse at full speed. Such were the discoveries that had been made during my absence. There could be no doubt whatever that all the chambers hitherto excavated belonged to one great edifice, built by one and the same king. I have already shown how the bas-reliefs of Kouyunjik differed from those of the older palaces of Nimroud, but closely resembled those of Khor- sabad in the general treatment, in the costumes of the Assy- rian warriors, as well as of the nations with whom they warred, and in the character of the ornaments, inscriptions, and de- tails.t Those newly uncovered were, in all these respects, like the bas-reliefs found before my departure, and upon which I * Such is the costume of the women in ships in a bas-relief discovered during my former researches (see 'Monuments of Nineveh,' Plate 71), which, there is reason to believe, represents the capture of Tyre or Sidon. t See ' Nineveh and its Remains,' chap. xiii. I.] SCULPTURES AT KOUYUNJIK. u had ventured to form an opinion as to tlie respective antiquity and origin of the various ruins hitherto explored in Assyria. The bas-reHefs of Nimroud, the reader may remember, were divided into two bands or friezes by inscriptions ; the sub- ject being frequently confined to one tablet, or slab, and arranged with some attempt at composition, so as to form a separate picture. At Kouyunjik the four walls of a chamber were generally occupied by one series of sculptures, repre- senting a consecutive histoiy, uninterrupted by inscriptions, or by the divisions in the alabaster panelhng. Figures, smaller in size than those of Nimroud, covered from top to bottom the face of slabs eight or nine feet high, and some- times of equal breadth. The sculptor could thus introduce more action, and far more detail, into his subject. He aimed even at conveying, by rude representations of trees, valleys, mountains, and rivers, a general idea of the natural features of the country in which the events recorded took place. Thus a chamber generally contained the whole story of one campaign, from the going out of the king to his triumphal return. We are thus able to identify, in many instances, the sculptured re- cords witli the descriptive accounts contained in the great in- scriptions carved upon the bulls, at the various entrances to the palace, which relate the principal events of the reign of the king. At Kouyunjik there were probably {t\^ bas-reliefs, particularly those containing representations of castles and cities, that were not accompanied by a short epigraph, or label, giving the name of the conquered king and country, and even the names of the principal prisoners, especially if royal personages. Unfortunately these inscriptions having been usually placed on the upper part of the slabs, which has very rarely escaped destruction, but few of them remain. I lost no time in making arrangements for continuing the excavations. Toma Shishman was placed over Kouyunjik ; Mansour, Behnan (the marble cutter), and Hannah (the car- penter), again entered my service. Ali Rahal, a sheikh of the Jebours, who, hearing of my return, had hastened to Mosul, was sent to the desert to collect such of my old work- men from his tribe as were inclined to re-enter my service. 12 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. He was appointed ' sheikh of the mound,' and duly invested with the customary robe of honour on the occasion. The accumulation of soil above the ruins was so great, that I determined to continue the tunnelling, removing only as much earth as was necessary to show the sculptured walls. The rubbish was carried away through shafts sunk at intervals for this purpose, and to admit light and air, and was raised in baskets by rude wooden pulleys. Many of the Nestorians formerly in my service as diggers, having heard of my expected return, had left their mountains and had joined me a day or two after my arrival. There were Jebours enough in the immediate neighbourhood of the to\\Ti to make up four or five gangs of workmen, and I placed parties at once in the galleries already opened, and also in different parts of Kouyunjik not previously explored, and at a high mound in the north-west walls, forming one side of the great inclosure opposite Mosul — a ruin which I had only partially examined during my previous visit. After a short visit to the Yezidi shrine at Sheikh Adi, I was again at Mosul on the 1 2th October. By this time all my preparations were completed. The Jebours had pitched their tents over the excavations at Kouyunjik. About one hundred workmen, divided into twelve or fourteen parties, were employed at the mound. The Arabs, as before, re- moved the earth and rubbish, whilst the more difficult labour with the pick was left entirely to the hardy Nestorian moun- taineers. My old friend, Yakoub, the Rais of Asheetha, made his appearance one morning, declaring that things were going on ill in the mountains ; and that, although the head of a village, he hoped to spend the winter more profitably and more pleasantly in my service than at home. He was accordingly named superintendent of the Nestorian workmen, for whom I built mud huts near the foot of the mound. The work having been thus began at Kouyimjik, I rode with Hormuzd to Nimroud for the first time on the i8th of October. It seemed but yesterday that we had followed the same track. We stopped at each village, and found in each old acquaintances ready to welcome us. From the crest of the hill half way, the first view of Nimroud opened upon I.] IMPROVED STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 13 us; the great mound, on which I had gazed so often from this spot, and with which so many happy recollections were bound up, rising boldly above the Jaif, the river winding through the plain, the distant wreaths of smoke marking the villages of Naifa and Nimroud. At Selamiyah we sought the house of the Kiayah, where I had passed the first winter whilst excavating at Nimroud ; but it was now a house of mourning. The good old man had died two days before, and the wails of the women, telling of a death within, met our ears as we approached the hovel. Turning from the scene of woe, we galloped over the plain, and reached Nim- roud as the sun went down. Saleh Shahir, with the elders of the village, was there to receive us. I dismounted at my old house, which was still standing, though somewhat in ruins, for it had been the habitation of the Kiayah during my absence. To avoid the vermin swarming in the rooms, my tent was pitched in the courtyard, and I dwelt entirely in it. The village had still, comparatively speaking, a flourishing appearance, and had not diminished in size since my last visit. The tanzitnat, or reformed system of local adminis- tration, had been introduced into the pashalic of Mosul, and although many of its regulations were evaded, and arbitrary acts were still occasionally committed, yet on the whole a marked improvement had taken place in the dealings of the authorities with the subjects of the Sultan. The great cause of complaint was the want of security. The troops under the command of the Pasha were not sufficient in number to keep the Bedouins in check, and there was scarcely a villas:e in the low country which had not suffered more or less from their depredations. Nimroud was particularly exposed to their incursions, and the inhabitants lived in continual agi- tation and alarm. The evening was spent with the principal people of the village, talking with them of their prospects, taxes, harvests, and the military conscription, now the great theme of dis- content in Southern Turkey, where it had been newly in- troduced. By sunrise next morning I was amongst the ruins. The 14 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. mound had undergone no change. There it rose from the plain, the same sun-burnt yellow heap that it had stood for twenty centuries. The earth and rubbish, which had been heaped over the excavated chambers and sculptured slabs, liad settled, and had left uncovered, in sinking, the upper part of several bas-reliefs. A few colossal heads of winged figures rose calmly above the level of the soil, and with two pairs of winged bulls, which had not been reburied on ac- count of their mutilated condition, was all that remained above ground of tlie north-west palace, that great storehouse of Assyrian history and art. Since my departure the surface of the mound had again been furrowed by the plough, and ample crops had this year rewarded the labours of the hus- bandman. The ruins of the south-west palace were still un- covered. The Arabs had respected the few bas-reliefs which btood against the crumbling walls, and Saleh Shahir pointed to them as a proof of the watchfulness of his people during my long absence. Collecting together my old excavators from the Shemutti and Jehesh (the Arab tribes which inhabit Nimroud and Naifa), and from the tents of a few Jebours, I placed work- men in different parts of the mound. The north-west palace had not been fully explored. I consequently directed a party of workmen to resume the excavations where they had been formerly abandoned.* New trenches were also opened in the ruins of the centre palace, where, as yet, no sculptures had been discovered in their original position against the walls. The high conical mound at the north-west corner of Nimroud had not been examined. With the exception of a shaft, about forty feet deep, sunk nearly in its centre, and passing through a solid mass of sundried bricks, no opening had been made into this singular ruin. I now ordered a tunnel to be carried into its base on the western face, and on a level with the conglomerate rock upon which it rests. Whilst riding among the ruins giving directions to the workmen, we had not escaped the watchful eyes of the Abou- Salman Arabs, whose tents were scattered over the Jaif Not * To the south of Chamber X. PLin II. p. 42, 'Nineveh and its Remains. ' 1.] VISIT OF SIR H. RAWLINSON. 15 having heard of my visit, and perceiving horsemen wander- ing over the mound, they took us for Bedouin marauders, and mounting their mares, salhed forth to reconnoitre. See- ing Arabs galloping over the plain I rode down to meet them, and soon found myself in the embrace of Schloss, the nephew of Sheikh Abd-ur-Rahman. We turned together to the tents of the chief, still pitched on the old encamping ground. The men, instead of fighting with Bedouins, now gathered round us in the niuzeef*, and a sheep was slain to celebrate my re- turn. The Sheikh himself was absent, having been thrown into prison by the Pasha for refusing to pay some newly-im- posed taxes. I was able to announce his release, at my in- tercession, to his wife, who received me as his guest. As I ascended the mound next morning I perceived a group of travellers on its summit, their horses picketed in the stubble. Ere I could learn what strangers had thus wandered to this remote region, my hand was seized by the faithful Bairakdar. Beneath, in an excavated chamber, wrapped in his travelling cloak, was Rawlinson deep in sleep, wearied by a long and harassing night's ride. For the first time we met in the Assyrian ruins, and besides the greet- ings of old friendship there was much to be seen together, and much to be talked over. The fatigues of the journey had, however, brought on fever, and we were soon compelled, after visiting the principal excavations, to take refuge from the heat of the sun in the mud huts of the village. The at- tack increasing in the evening, it was deemed prudent to ride into Mosul at once, and we mounted our horses in the middle of the night. Three days afterwards he continued his journey to Constantinople. I had now nearly all my old adherents and workmen about me. The Bairakdar, who had hastened to join m.e as soon as he had heard of my return, was named principal cawass, and had the general management of my household. One Latiff Agha, like the Bairakdar, a native of Scio, carried off as a slave after the massacre, and brought up as a Mussulman, was appointed an overseer over the workmen. He had been * The /niizeef is that part of an Arab tent in which guests are received. i6 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. strongly recommended to me by the British consul at Kai- seriyah, and fully justified in my service by his honesty and fidelity the good report I had received of him. During the months of October and November my time was spent between Kouyunjik and Nimroud, and the exca- vations were carried on at both places without interruption, Mr. Cooper was occupied in drawing the bas-reliefs dis- covered at Kouyunjik — living in Mosul, and riding over daily to the ruins. To Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, who usually accompanied me in my journeys, were confided, as before, the general superintendence of the operations, the payment of the workmen, the settlement of disputes, and various other offices, which only one, -as well acquainted as himself with the Arabs and men of various tribes and sects employed in the works, and exercising so much personal influence over them, could undertake. To his unwearied exertions, and his faithful and punctual discharge of all the duties imposed upon him, to his inexhaustible good humour, combined with necessary firmness, to his complete knowledge of the Arab character, and the attachment ^vith which even the wildest of those with whom we were brought in contact regarded him, the Trustees of the British Museum owe not only much of the success of these researches, but the economy with which I was enabled to carry them through. Without him it would have been impossible to accomplish half what has been done with the means placed at my disposal. The Kouyunjik workmen received their weekly pay in the subterranean galleries, some convenient space where several passages met being chosen for the purpose ; those of Nim- roud generally in the village. A scene of wild confusion ensued on pay-days, from which an inexperienced observer might have argued a sad want of order and method. This was, however, but the way of doing business usual in the country. When there was a difference of opinion, he who cried the loudest gained the day, and after a desperate struggle of voices matters relapsed into their usual state, every one being perfectly satisfied. Screaming and gesticula- tion with Easterns by no means signify ill-will, or even serious disagreement. Without them, except of course amongst the I.] CHAMBERS DESCRIBED. 17 Turks, who are staid and dignified to a proverb, the most ordinary transactions cannot be carried on. Sometimes the Arabs employed at Kouyunjik would cross the river to Mosul to receive their pay. They would then walk through the town in martial array, brandishing their weapons and chant- ing their war cries in chorus, to the alarm of the authorities and the inhabitants, who generally concluded that the place had been invaded by the Bedouins. It was Mr. HoiTnuzd Rassam's task to keep in check these wild spirits. By the end of November several entire chambers had been excavated at Kouyunjik, and many bas-reliefs of great in- terest had been discovered. The four sides of the court,* part of which has already been described, had now been explored.f In the centre of each side was a grand entrance, guarded by colossal human-headed bulls. | This court was 124 feet in length by 90 feet in breadth, the longest sides being those to the north and south. It appears to have formed a centre, around which the principal chambers in this part of the palace were grouped. Its walls had been com- pletely covered with the most elaborate and highly finished sculptures. Unfortunately all the bas-reliefs, as well as the colossal figures at the entrances, had suffered more or less from the fire which had destroyed the edifice. The narrow passage leading from the great hall at tlie south-west corner had been completely explored. Its sculp- tures have already been described. § It opened into a cham- ber 24 feet by 19, from which branched two other passages. || The one to the west was entered by a wide doorway, in which stood two plain spherical stones about three feet high, having * I have called this part of the palace, in the larger edition of this work, ' a hall ; ' it was more probably a court entirely open to the sky, like the courts of modern Mosul houses. + No. VI. Plan I. p. 4. It will be borne in mind that it was necessary to carry tunnels round the chambers, and along the walls, leaving the centre buried in earth and rubbish, a very laborious and tedious operation with no other means at command than those afforded by the country. + All these entrances were foiTned in the same way as that in the south-eastern side, described p. 8, namely, by a pair of human-headed bulls, flanked on each side by a winged giant, and two smaller figiues one above the other. § P. 9. II Nos. XLViii. and XLli. Plan I. p. 4. C 7c i8 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. the appearance of the bases of columns, although no traces of the columns themselves could be found. This was the entrance into a broad and spacious gallery, about 218 feet long and 25 wide.* A tunnel at its western end, cut through the solid wall, as there was no doorway on this side of the gallery, led into the chambers excavated by Mr. Ross,t thus connecting them with the rest of the building. I have already described the bas-reliefs on tlie southern side of the great hall, representing the conquest of a moun- tainous country. % The same subject was continued on the western wall, without much variety in the details. But on the northern, the sculptures differed from any others yet dis- covered, and were of great interest. They represented the moving of the great human-headed bulls to their places in the palaces. The whole gallery, to the west of the great hall, had been occupied by one continuous series, representing the different processes adopted by the Assyrians in moving and placing ^•arious objects used in their buildings, and especially the human-headed bulls, from the first transport of the huge stone in the rough from the quarr}^, to the raising of these gigantic sculptures in the gateways of the palace. In the great hall the same subjects were repeated, and other details introduced. A huge block of stone (probably of the alabaster used in the Assyrian edifices), somewhat elongated in form so as to resemble an obelisk in the rough, § was lying on a low flat- Dottomed boat floating on a river. It had probably been towed down the Tigris from some distant quarry, and was to be landed near the site of the intended palace, to be carved by the sculptor into the form of a colossal bull. It exceeded the boat considerably in length, projecting beyond both the head and stern, and was held by upright beams fastened to the sides of the vessel, and kept firm in their places by * No. XLix. Plan I. p. 4. t Nos. Li. and Lll. same Plan. * P. 7. I assume the building to be due north and south, although it is not so. It faces nearly north-east and south-west. § It is just possible that this object really represents an obelisk ; but I think it more probable, for several reasons, that it is a block in the rough from the quarry, to be sculptured into the form of a winged bull. I.] HEAD-DRESS OF CAPTIVES. 19 wooden wedges. Two cables were passed through holes cut in the stone itself, and a third was tied to a strong pin pro- jecting from the head of the boat. Each cable was held by a large body of men, who pulled by means of small ropes fastened to it and passed round their shoulders. Some of these trackers walked in the water, others on dry land. The number altogether represented must have been nearly 300, about 100 to each cable, and they appeared to be di- vided into distinct bands, each distinguished by a peculiar costume. Some wore a kind of embroidered tur- ban, through which their long hair was gathered behind ; the heads of others were encircled by a fringed shawl, whose ends hung over the ears and neck, leaving the Head-dress of Captives employed by Assyrians in ' . o moving Bull. (Kouyunjik.) hair to fall in long curls upon the shoulders. Many were represented naked, but the greater number were dressed in short chequered tunics, with a long fringe attached to the girdle. They were urged on by taskmasters armed with swords and staves. The boat was also pushed by men wading in the stream. An overseer, who regulated the whole proceedings, was seated astride on the fore-part of the stone. His hands were stretched out in the act of giving commands. As the upper part of all the bas-reliefs had unfortunately been destroyed, it cannot be as- certained what figures were represented above the trackers ; probably Assyrian warriors drawn up in martial array, or may be the king himself in his chariot, accompanied by his body- guard, and presiding over the operations." The huge stone having been landed, and carved by the Assyrian sculptor into the form of a colossal human-headed bull, was to be moved from the bank of the river to the site it was meant to occupy in the palace. This process was re- * For the details of these interesting bas-reliefs, I must refer my readers to Plates 10 and 11, in the second series of the ' Afonuments of Nineveh. ' 20 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. presented on the walls of the great hall. From these bas- reliefs, as well as from discoveries to be hereafter mentioned, it is evident that the Assyrians sculptured these gigantic figures before moving them to their places, leaving only the details and the finishing touches to be put in ; the smaller sculptures appear to have been executed after the slabs had been placed. In one bas-relief the colossal bull was seen resting horizon- tally on a sledge similar in form to the boat containing the rough block from the quarry. It faced the spectator, and the human head rested on the fore part of the sledge, which was curved upwards and strengthened by a thick beam, ap- parently running completely through from side to side. The upper part, or deck, was otherwise nearly flat ; the keel, being slightly curved throughout. Props, probably of wood, were placed under different parts of the sculpture to secure an equal pressure. The sledge was dragged by cables, and helped onwards by levers. The cables were four in number ; two fastened to strong projecting pins in front, and two to similar pins behind. They were pulled by small ropes pass- ing over the shoulders of the men. The workmen were distinguished by various costumes, to show that they were captives from different conquered nations, and were urged on by task-masters. The sledge moved over rollers, which, as soon as left behind, were brought again to the front by parties of men, who were under the control of overseers armed with staves. Although these rollers materially facili- tated the motion, it would be almost impossible, when passing over rough ground, or if the rollers were jammed, to give the first impetus to so heavy a body by mere force applied to the cables. The Assyrians, therefore, lifted, and consequently eased, the hinder part of the sledge with huge levers of wood, and in order to obtain the necessary ful- crum they carried with them during the operations wedges of different sizes. Kneeling workmen were represented using these levers and wedges. The levers were worked by ropes, and on a detached fragment, discovered in the long gallery, men were seen seated astride upon them to ■idd by their weight to the force applied. !•] MOVING THE BULLS. On the bull were four persons, probably the superintend- ing officers. The first was kneeling, and appeared to be clapping his hands, probably beating tnne, to regulate the Cart with Ropes and Workmen carrying Saws, Picks and Shovels, for moving colossal Bull iKouyunjik. j motions of the workmen, who unless they applied their strength at one and the same moment would be unable to move so large a weight. Behind him stood a second officer Workmen carrying Ropes, Saws, and other Implements for moving Bull. (Kouyunjik ) with outstretched arm, evidently giving the word of command. The next held to his mouth an object resembling the modem i2 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. speaking-trumpet. In no bas-relief hitherto discovered does a similar object occur as an instrument of music. The fourth ofificer, also standing, carried a mace, and was probably sta- tioned behind to give directions to those who worked the levers. The sledge bearing the sculpture was followed by men witn coils of ropes and various implements, and drawing carts laden with cables and beams. Even the landscape was not neglected ; and the country in which these operations took place was indicated by trees, and a river. In the river were seen men swimming on skins ; and boats and rafts, resem- bling those still in use in Assyria, impelled by oars with wedge- shaped blades. The same subject was represented in other bas-reliefs, with even fuller details. The bull was placed in tlie same manner on a sledge, which was also moved by cables and levers. It was accompanied by workmen with saws, hatchets, pickaxes, shovels, ropes, and props, and by carts carrying cables and beams. Upon the bull itself were three officers directing the operations, one holding the speaking tnampet in his hands ; and in front walked four other overseers. Above the sledge and the workmen were rows of trees, and a river on which were circular boats resembling in shape the ' kufas,' now used on the lower part of the Tigris, and probably, like them, built of reeds and ozier twigs, covered with square pieces of hide.* They were heavily laden with the beams and im- plements required for moving and placing the bulls. They appeared to have been near the sledge when dragged along the bank of the river, and were impelled by four oars. Near the boats, astride on inflated skins in the water, were fisher- men angling with hook and line.f On a fallen slab, forming part of the same series, was re- presented the king standing in a richly-decorated chariot, the pole of which, curved upwards at the end, and orna- mented with the head of a horse, was raised by two eunuchs. From the peculiar form of this chariot and the absence of a * Such appear to have been the boats described by Herodotus (lib. i. c. 194). The modern 'kufa' is covered with bitumen. + This bas-relief is now in the British Museum, and see Plate 12, 2nd series of ' Monuments of Nineveh.' I-] MOVING THE BULLS. yoke, it would seem to have been a kind of movable throne drawn by men and not by horses.* Behind the monarch, who holds in one hand a kind of flower, or ornament in the shape of a pine cone, stood two other eunuchs, one raising a parasol to shade him from the sun, the other fanning him. He appeared to have been superintending the transport of one of the colossal sculptures, and his chariot was preceded and followed byhis body- guard armed with maces. In die upper part of the stag (Kouyunjik ) slab was a jungle of high reeds, or canes, in which were seen a wild sow with its young, and a stag and two hinds.t Wild Sow and Young, amongst Reeds. (Kouyunjik.) The next series of bas-reliefs represented workmen build- ing the artificial platforms on which the palaces were erected, * A throne on wheels, with a yoke, carried by two eunuchs, is repre- sented in a bas-relief at Khorsabad. Botta, Plate 17. + See Plate 12, 2nd series of ' Monuments of Nineveh. 24 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I. and moving to their summit the colossal bulls.'^ The king, attended by his guards, and seated in his chariot drawn by- eunuchs, with an attendant raising the parasol above his head, superintended the operations. Above him were low liills covered with various trees, amongst which could be distinguished by their fixiit the vine, the fig, and the pome- granate. At the bottom of the slab was represented either a river divided into two branches and forming an island, as the Tigris does to this day opposite Kouyunjik, or the con- fluence of that stream and the Khauser, which once probably took place at the very foot of the mound. On the banks were seen men raising water by a simple machine, still gene- rally used for irrigation in the East, as well as in Southern Europe — a pole, balanced on a shaft of masonry, with a stone at one end and a bucket at the other. The building of the artificial mound was then represented.t Men, apparently engaged in making bricks, were crouching round the clay pit. These brickmakers were between two mounds, on which were gangs of workmen, carrying up large stones and baskets filled with bricks, earth, and rub- bish, and returning for fresh materials. They appeared to be captives and malefactors, for many of them were in chains, some singly, others bound together by an iron rod attached to rings in their girdles. The fet ters eithier confined the legs, and were supported by a bar fastened to the waist, or consisted of simple shackles round the ankles. The workmen wore a short tunic, and a conical cap somewhat resembling the Phrygian bonnet, with the top turned backwards. Each gang was attended by task-masters armed with staves. The mound, having been thus built, partly with regular layers of sundried bricks and partly with mere heaped-up earth and mbbish,| the next step was to drag to its summit * See Plates 14 and 15, and series of ' Monuments of Nineveh.' + Part of this bas-relief is in the British Museum. The whole series occupied about twenty-five slabs in the N.E. walls of the great hall. Unfortunately some of the slabs had been entirely destroyed. X Subsequent excavations at Kouyunjik and Nimroud fully verified this fact. 26 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I. the colossal figures prepared for the palace. As some of the largest of these sculptures were full twenty feet square, and must have weighed between forty and fifty tons, this was no easy task when the only mechanical powers possessed by the Asspians appear to have been the roller and the lever. A sledge was used similar to that already described, and drawn in the same way. In the bas-relief representing the operation, four officers were seen on the bull, the first appa- rently clapping his hands to make the drawers keep time, the second using the speaking trumpet, the third directing the men who had the care of the rollers, and the fourth kneeling down behind to give orders to those who worked the lever. Two of the groups were preceded by overseers, who turned back to encourage the workmen in their exertions ; and in front of the royal chariot, on the edge of the mound, knelt an officer, probably the chief superintendent, looking towards the king to receive orders direct from him. Behind the monarch were carts bearing the cables, wedges, and implements required in moving the sculpture. A long beam or lever was slung by ropes from the shoulders of three men, and one of the great wedges was carried in the same way. In the upper compartment of this slab was a stream issuing from the foot of hills wooded \\\\h ^dnes, fig-trees, Village with conical Roofs, near Aleppo. and pomegranates. Beneath stood a town or village, the houses of which had domes and high conical roofs, probabl}' built of mud, as in parts of Northern S\Tia. This interesting series was completed by a bas-relief, show- ing, it would seem, the final placing of the colossal bull 28 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. The figure no longer lay on its side on the sledge, but was held upright by men with ropes and forked wooden props. It was kept in its erect position by beams, held together by cross bars and wedges* and was further supported by blocks of stone or wood. On the sledge, in front of the bull, stood an officer giving directions with outstretched hands to the workmen. Cables, ropes, rollers, and levers were used by the workmen. Unfortunately the upper part of all the slabs had been destroyed, and much of the subject was conse- quently wanting. Thus was represented with remarkable fidelity and spirit, the several processes employed to place these colossi where they still stand — from the transport down the river of the rough block to the final removal of the sculptured figure to the palace. When moving the winged bulls and lions now in the British Museum from the ruins to the banks of the Tigris, I used almost the same means as the ancient Assy- rians, employing, however, a cart instead of a sledge. No traces whatever, not^vithstanding the most careful search, have yet been found of the quarries from whence the builders of the Assyrian palaces obtained their large slabs of alabaster. They were probably not far from Nineveh, as strata of this material abound in Assyria. We learn from short inscriptions cut upon the slabs that the king represented as superintending the construction of the mounds, and the placing of the colossal bulls, is Sennacherib, and that the sculptures record the building at Nineveh by that monarch of his great palace and its adjacent temples. The inscriptions on the winged bulls at Kouyunjik describe the manner in which the edifice itself was erected, its general plan, and the various materials employed in decorating the halls, chambers, and roofs. t * It may be remarked, that precisely the same framework was used in the British Museum for moving and placing the great sculptures. + In a fragment of an epigraph upon one of the slabs mention ap- pears to be made of wood ' brought from Mount Lebanon and taken up (to the top of the mound) from the Tigris.' This may refer to cedar- wood, of which beams have been found in the ruins of Nineveh. We thus find tliat the Assyrians brought tliis precious wood from Lebanon, I.] CAPTURE OF A CITY. 29 That captives from foreign countries were employed in the gi-eat pubhc works undertaken by the Assyrian kings, maybe inferred from the variety of costume represented in the bas- vehefs, and from tlie fetters on the legs of some of the work- men. The Jews themselves, after their captivity, may have been thus condemned to labour, as their forefathers had been in Egypt, in erecting the monuments of their conquerors; and we may, perhaps, recognise them amongst the workmen portrayed in the sculptures. I have mentioned that the long gallery containing the bas- reliefs representing the moving of the great stone, led out of a chamber whose walls had been completely uncovered.* The sculptures upon them were partly preserved, and re- corded the conquest of a city standing on a broad river, in the midst of mountains and forests. The Assyrians appear to have entered the enemy's country by a valley, to have forded the stream frequently, and to have continued during their march along its banks. Warriors on foot led their horses, and dragged chariots over precipitous rocks. On each side of the river were wooded hills, with small streams flowing amongst vineyards. As they drew near to the city, the Assyrians cut down the woods to clear the approaches. Amongst the branches of a tree exceeding the others in size, and standing immediately beneath the walls, were birds and two nests containing their young. The sculptor probably introduced these accessories to denote the season of the year. The river appeared to flow through or behind the city. Long low walls and equidistant towers, surmounted by cornices and angular battlements, stood on one side of the stream. Within the walls were large square buildings, curiously orna- mented, and whose windows, immediately beneath the roof, were flanked by small pillars with capitals having the Ionic volute. The doors, except the entrance to the castle which was arched, were square, and, in some instances, surmounted by a plain cornice. Part of the city seemed to consist of a as did Solomon for the choicest wood-work of the Temple and of his own palaces. * No. XLViil. Plan I. p. 4. See ' Monmiients of Nineveh,' 2nd series, Plate Aft. 30 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. number of detached forts and houses, some of which had open balustrades to admit the hght. Flames issued from the dwellings, and on the towers were men apparently cutting down trees growing within the walls, Assyrian warriors, marching in a long line, carried away the spoil from the burn- ing city. Some were laden with arms ; others with furniture, such as chairs, stools, couches, and tables of various forms. The last bas-relief of the series represented the king seated within a fortified camp, on a throne of elaborate workman- ship. He was receiving the captives, who wore long robes falling to their ankles. Unfortunately no inscription re- mained by which we might identify the conquered people. It is probable, from the nature of the country represented, that they inhabited some district in the western part of Asia Minor, or in Armenia, in which direction Sennacherib more than once carried his victorious arms. Excavations had been resumed in a lofty mound in the north-west line of walls forming the square inclosure in which stands Kouyunjik. It was apparently the remains of a gate leading into this quarter of the city, and part of a building, with fragments of two colossal winged figures, liad already been discovered in it. By the end of Novem- ber the whole had been explored, and the results were of considerable interest. As the mound rises nearly fifty feet above the plain, I was obliged to tunnel along the walls of the building within it, through a compact mass of rub- bish, consisting almost entirely of loose bricks. Following the rows of low limestone slabs, from the south side of the mound, and passing through two halls or chambers, we came at length to the opposite side of the gateway. It faced the open country, and was foraied by a pair of majestic human-headed winged bulls, fourteen feet in length, still en- tire, though cracked and injured by fire. They were similar in form to those of Khorsabad and Kouyunjik, wearing the lofty head-dress, richly ornamented with rosettes, and sur- mounted by a crest of feathers. Behind them were colossal winged figures of the same height, bearing the pine cone and basket. Their faces were in full, and the relief was high and bold. More knowledge of art was shown in the outline of l.J UNFINISHED SCULPTURES. 31 the limbs and in the dehneation of the muscles, than in any sculpture I have seen of this period. The naked leg and foot were designed with a spirit and truthfulness not un- worthy of a Greek artist.* It is, however, remarkable that the four figures were unfinished, none of the details having been put in. They stood as if the sculptors had been inter- rupted by some public calamity, and had left their work incomplete. Perhaps the murder of Sennacherib by his sons, as he worshipped in the house of Nisroch his god, put a sudden stop to the great undertakings he had commenced in the beginning of his reign. The sculptures to the left, on entering from the open country, were in a far more unfinished state than those on the opposite side. The hair and beard were but roughly marked out, square bosses being left for carving the elaborate curls. The horned cap of the human-headed bull was, as yet, unornamented, and the wings merely outlined. The limbs and features were hard and angular, still requiring to be rounded off, and to have expression given to them by the finishing touches of the artist. The other two figures were more perfect. The curls of the beard and hair (except on one side of the head of the giant) and the ornaments of the head-dress had been completed. The limbs of the winged deity and the body and legs of the bull had been sufiiciently finished to give a bold and majestic character to the figures, which might have been rather lessened than improved by the addition of details. The wings of the giant were merely in outline. The sculptor had begun to mark out the feathers in those of the bull, but had been interrupted after finishing one row and com.mencing a second.t No inscription had yet been carved on either sculpture. The entrance formed by these colossal bulls was fourteen * The bulls and winged figures resembled in form those from Khor- sabad, now in the gi-eat hall at the British Museum, but exceeded them in the beauty of the sculpture and in grandeur, as well as in presei-vation. As nearly similar figures had thus already been sent to England, I did not think it advisable to remove them. + See Plate 3, of the 2nd series of the 'Monuments of Nineveh.' The giant is correctly represented in its unfinished -Ktate in this plate, but tlie artist by mistake has filled up the details in the wings of the bulk. 32 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. feet and a quarter wide. It was paved with large slabs of limestone, on which could be seen the grooves worn by the wheels of the chariots, which in the days of the Assyrians had passed through the city gates. The sculptures were buried in a mass of brick and earth, mingled with charcoal and charred wood. They were lighted from above by a deep shaft sunk from the top of the mound. It would be difficult to describe the effect produced by these solemn and -H Itv^^^S^ii-i^^ Plan of Northern Gateway to Inclosiire of Kouyunjik. majestic figures, dimly visible amidst the gloom, when, after winding through the dark, underground passages, you sud- denly came into their presence. Between them Sennacherib with his hosts had gone forth in all his might and glory to the conquest of distant lands, and had returned rich with spoils and captives, amongst whom may have been the hand- maidens and youths of Israel. Through them, too, the As- syrian monarch had entered his capital in shame, after his fatal defeat. Then the lofty walls, now but long lines of I.J CITY GATE OF NINEVEH. 33 low, wave-like mounds', had stretched far to the right and to the left — a basement of stone supporting a curtain of solid brick masonry, crowned with battlements and studded with frowning towers. This entrance may have been arched like the castle gates represented in the bas-reliefs, and the mass of burnt bricks around the sculptures may be the remains of the vault. A high tower evidently rose above this gate, which formed the principal northern access to this quarter of Nineveh. Behind the colossal figures, and between the outer and inner face of the gateway, were two chambers, nearly 70 feet in length by 23 in breadth. Of that part of the en- trance which was within the city walls, only the fragments of winged figures, discovered during my previous researches, now remained.* It is probable, however, that a second pair of human-headed bulls once stood there. They may have been 'the figures of animals,' described to Mr. Rich as having been casually uncovered in this mound, and which were broken up nearly fifty years ago to furnish materials for the repair of a bridge.t The city gate thus consisted of two distinct chambers and three doors, two flanked by human-headed bulls, and a third between them simply panelled with low limestone slabs like the chambers. Its original height, including the tower, must have been full one hundred feet. Most of the baked bricks found amongst the rubbish bore the name of Sennacherib. A similar gateway, but without any re- mains of sculptured figures, and panelled with plain alabaster slabs, was subsequently discovered in the inner line of walls forming the eastern side of the quadrangle, where the road to Baashiekhah and Baazani leaves the ruins. At Nimroud discoveries of considerable importance were made in the high conical mound at the north-west corner. Desirous of fully exploring that remarkable ruin, I had em- ployed nearly all the workmen in opening a tunnel into its western base. After penetrating for no less than eighty-four feet through a compact mass of rubbish, cornposed of loose * See 'Nineveh and its Remains,' p. 104. + See Rich's ' Residence in Kurdistan and Nineveh,' vol. ii. p. 39. D 34 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. gravel, earth, burnt bricks, and fragments of stone, the ex- cavators came to a wall of solid stone masonry. The man- 1. Vaulted chamber or tomb. 2. Excavated tunnel. 3. Basement stone wall. 4. Brick outside wall. 5. Mass of sun-dried bricks. 6. Artificial platform or mound. 7. Earth mixed with a few fragments ui bricks. 8. Earth mixed with fragments of brick, stone, and bones. Q. Line of deposit of broken brick. 10. The line of pebble deposit. 11. Cuttini;. 12. Loose gravel. 13. Natural conglomerate. 14. Temple B, of Plan. 15. Level of Nimrod mound. I-J DISCOVERY OF TOIVEK. 35 i:ier in which tliis structure had been buried is so curious, that [ have given a section of the different strata through which the tunnel passed.* I have already observed that the edifice covered by this high mound was originally built upon the natural rock — a mass of hard conglomerate rising about Tunnel along Eastern Basement Wall ol lower. (Nimroud.) fifteen feet above the plain, and washed in days of yore by the waters of the Tigris. The tunnel was carried for thirty- four feet on a level with this rock, which appears to have been covered by a kind of flooring of sun-dried bricks, probably forming a platform in front of the building. It * See section of conical mound, Plan II. p. 34. D 2 £Err!-:i: Chap. I.] TOMB OF SARDANAPALUS. 37 was buried to the distance of thirty feet from the wall, by baked bricks broken and entire, and by fragments of stone, remains of the superstructure once resting upon the base- ment of still existing stone masonry. This mass of rubbish .was about thirty feet high, and in it were found bones ap- parently human, and a yellow earthen jar rudely coloured with simple black designs.* The rest of this part of the mound consisted of earth, through which ran two thin lines of extraneous deposit, one of pebbles^ the other of fragments of brick and pottery. I carried tunnels along the basement wall, hoping to reach an entrance, but it was found to consist of solid masonry, extending nearly the whole length of the mound. Its height was twenty feet, which exactly coincides with that assigned by Xenophon to the stone basement of the wall of Larissa, as he calls the city of which Nimroud marks the site.t It was finished at the top by an ornamental batdement in gra- dines, similar to those represented on castles in the sculptures. These gradines had fallen, and some were discovered in the rubbish. The stones in this structure were bevelled and carefully fitted together, though not united with mortar. In the face of the wall were eight recesses. The northern side of the basement was of the same height as, and resembled in its masonry, the western. It had a semicircular projection in the centre, sixteen feet in diame- ter, on the east side of which were two recesses, and on the west four. That part of the basement against which the great artificial mound or platform abutted, and which was consequently concealed by it, that is, the eastern and south- ern sides, was of simple stone masonry without recesses or ornament. The upper part of the edifice, resting on the stone substructure, consisted of compact masonry of burnt bricks, which were mostly inscribed with the name of the founder of the centre palace (the son of Sardanapalus), the inscription being in many instances turned outwards. It was thus evident that the high conical mound is the ruin of a square tower, and not of a pyramid, as had previously * These relics may have belonged to tombs made in the mound after the edifice had fallen into ruins. t Anab. lib. iii. c. 4. 38 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. been conjectured ; and it may be the touib of Sardanapaliis, which, according to the Greek geographers, stood at the entrance of the city of Nineveh. Subsecjuent discoveries proved that a king supposed to bear this name raised the stone substru( ture, although his son may liave completed the building. It was, of course, natural to conjecture that some traces of the chamber in which the royal remains were deposited, were to be found in the ruin, and I deter- mined to examine it as fully as I was able. After searching in vain for a sepulchral chamber at the base of the mound, I opened a tunnel on a level with the top of the stone basement wall, which was also the level of the platform of the north-west palace. The workmen soon came to a narrow gallery, about loo feet long, 12 feet high, and 6 feet broad, blocked up at the two ends. It was vaul- ted -with sun-dried bricks, a further proof of the us-e of the arch at a very early period, and the vault had in one or two places fallen in.* No remains whatever were found in it — neither fragments of sculpture nor inscription. There were evident signs that this chamber had been broken into at some remote period, and the remains which it may have contained, perhaps the embalmed body of the king, with vessels of precious metals and other objects of value buried with it, had been, no doubt, then carried away. I explored, with feelings of great disappointment, the empty chamber, and then opened other tunnels, without further results, in the upper parts of the mound. They only ex- posed a compact and solid mass of sun-dried brick masonry. I much doubt, for many reasons, whether any sepulchral chamber exists in the rock beneath the foundations of the tower, though, of course, it is not impossible that such may be the case. As the r.iin is 140 feet high, the building could scarcely have been much less than 200, whilst the immense mass of rubbish surrounding and covering the base shows that it * The walls, as well as the vault, were of sun-dried bricki. It is curious that between one row of bricks was a layer of reeds, as in tht- Babylonian ruins ; the only instance of this mode of construction yet met with in Assyria. I.] TOWER IN BAS-RELIEF, 39 might have been considerably higher. It is probable that its original shape was that of a square tower, formed by a series of stages or platforms, on the top of which may have been placed an altar with the sacred fire. A bas-relief with the representation of a tower of this precise shape, with recesses in the basement, and built upon an artificial mound, was subsequently discovered at Kouyunjik. It is not a little curious that a door, with a kind of portcullis, is seen in this Tower on a Mound sculpture, on the level of the top of the basement wall, exactly where the entrance to the vaulted gallery, which I have conjectured to be the sepulchral chamber, may be supposed to have been placed. A river washes the foot of the mound, as the Tigris formerly washed that of Nimroud. Can this bas-relief represent the very tower the remains of which I have been describing, and with which it appears to correspond so nearly in form % 40 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. II. CHAPTER II. Discovery of the grand entrance to Sennacherib^ s palace — The inscriptions containing the anttals of his reign — Acconni of his war with Hezekiah — Sculptures representing siege of Lachish — feunsh captives — Discovery of arched vault at Nimroud — Of painted bricks — Attack of the Tai on village of Nimroud — Discovery of chamber containing bronze bowls, glass, and other relics. During the month of December, several discoveries of the greatest interest and importance were made, both at Kou- yunjik and Nimroud. I will first describe the results of the excavations in the ruins opposite Mosul. Shortly before my departure for Europe in 1 848, the fore- part of a human-headed bull of colossal dimensions had been uncovered on the east side of the Kouyunjik Palace.* This sculpture then appeared to form one side of an entrance or doorway. The excavations had, however, been abandoned before any attempt could be made to ascertain the fact. On my return, a tunnel, nearly 100 feet in length, was opened at right angles to the winged bull, but without coming upon any other remains but a pavement of square limestone slabs, which continued as far as the excavation was carried. On uncovering the bull which was still partly buried in the rubbish, it was found that adjoining it were other sculptures, and that it formed part of an exterior facade. The upper half of the next slab had been destroyed, upon the lower was part of the figure of the Assyrian Hercules strangling the lion, similar to that discovered between the bulls in the pro- pylaea of Khorsabad, and now in the Louvre. The hinder part of the lion was still preserved. The legs, feet, and drapery of the god were in the boldest relief, and designed with great truth and vigour. Beyond this figure, in the san>e line, was a second bull. Then came a wide portal, guarded * Plan I. Chamber II, p. 4. 42 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. II. by a pair of winged bulls, twenty feet long, and probably, when entire, more than twenty feet high, and two gigantic winged figures in low relief.* Flanking them were two smaller figures, one above the other. Beyond this entrance the fa9ade was continued by a group similar to that on the opposite side, by a smaller entrance into the palace, and by a wall of sculp- tured slabs ; then all traces of building and sculpture ceased near the edge of a water-worn ravine. Thus, part of the facade of the south-east side of the palace, forming apparently the grand entrance to the edifice, had been discovered. Ten colossal bulls, with six human figures of gigantic proportions, altogether i8o feet in length, were here grouped together. f Although the bas-reliefs to the right of the entrance had apparently been purposely destroyed with a sharp instrument, enough remained to allow me to trace their subject. They had represented the conquest of a district, probably part of Babylonia, watered by a broad river and wooded with palms, spearmen on foot in combat with Assyrian horsemen, castles besieged, long lines of prisoners, and beasts of burden carr}ang away the spoil. Amongst various animals brought as tribute to the con- querors, could be distinguished a lion led by a chain. There were no remains whatever of the superstructure which once rose above the colossi, guarding this magnificent entrance. Although the upper part of the winged bulls was destroyed, fortunately the lower part, and, consequently, the inscriptions, had been more or less preserv^ed. To this fact we owe the recovery of some of the most precious records of the ancient world. On the two great bulls forming the centre entrance, was one continuous inscription, injured in parts, but still so far preserved as to be legible almost throughout. It contained 152 lines. On the four bulls of the fagade were two inscrip- * Grand entrance, S.E. side, Plan I. p. 4. These figures were those of winged priests, or deities, carrying the fir-cone and basket. + The frontispiece to this volume will convey to the reader some idea of this magnificent facade when entire. This restoration, for which I am mainly indebted to Mr. Ferguson, has been made with a careful re- gard to the exact proportions. 44 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. tions, one inscription being carried over each pair, and the two being precisely of the same import. These two different inscriptions complete the annals of six years of the reign of Sennacherib, and contain numerous particulars connected with the religion of the Assyrians, their gods, their temples, and the erection of their palaces. We gather from them that, in the third year of his reign, Sennacherib turned his arms against Merodach-Baladan, king of Babylon, whom he en- tirely defeated, capturing his cities and a large amount of spoil. The fourth year appears to have been chiefly taken up with expeditions against the inhabitants of the mountain- ous regions to the north and east of Assyria. In the fifth he crossed the Euphrates into Syria, the inhabitants of which country are called by their familiar Biblical name of Hittites. He first took possession of Phoenicia, which was abandoned by its King Luliya (the Eululseus of the Greeks). He then restored to his throne Padiya, or Padi, king of Ekron, and a tributary of Assyria, who had been deposed by his subjects and given over to Hezekiah, king of Jerusalem. The king of Ethiopia and Egypt sent a powerful army to the assistance of the people of Ekron, but it was entirely defeated by Senna- cherib, who afterwards marched against Hezekiah, probably to punish him for having imprisoned Padiyah. The inscrip- tions record this expedition, according to the translation of the late Dr. Hincks, in the foUouang terms : — ' Hezekiah, king of Judah, who had not submitted to my authority, forty-six of his principal cities, and fortresses and villages depending upon them, of which I took no account, I captured and carried away their spoil. I shut tip (?) himself within Jerusalem, his capital city. The fortified towns, and the rest of his towns, which I spoiled, I severed from his country, and gave to the kings of Ascalon, Ekron. and Gaza, so as to make his country small. In addition to the former tribute imposed upon their countries, I added a tribute, the nature of which I fixed.' The next passage is somewhat illegible, but the substance of it appears to be, that he took from Hezekiah the treasure he had collected in Jerusalem, 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, the treasures of his palace, besides his sons and his daughters, and his male and female servants or slaves, II.] ANNALS OF SENNACHERIB. 45 and brought them all to Nineveh.* The city itself, however, he does not pretend to have taken. There can be no doubt that the campaign against the cities of Palestine, recorded in the inscriptions of Senna- cherib in his palace, is that described in the Old Testament ; and it is of great interest, therefore, to compare the two accounts, which will be found to agree in the principal in- cidents mentioned to a very remarkable extent. In the Second Book of Kingst it is said — ' Now, in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiahj did Sennacherib, king of Assyria, come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. And Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent to the king of Asssyria, to Lachish, saying, I have offended : return from me : that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king's house. At that time did Heze- kiah cut off \the gold froiri\ the doors of the temple of the Lord, and \^froni\ the pillars which Hezekiah, king of Judah, had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.' The coincidence of the amount paid in gold by Hezekiah * The translation of this passage by Sir H. Rawlinson varies in some particulars from that given in the text : it is as follows : — ' Because He- zekiah, king of Judah, would not submit to my yoke, I came up against him, and by force of arms, and by the might of my power, I took forty- six of his fenced cities ; and of the smaller towns which were scattered about I took and plundered a countless number. And from these places I captured and carried off as spoil 200, 1 50 people, old and young, male and female, together with horses and mares, asses and camels, oxen and sheep, a countless multitude. And Hezekiah himself I shut up in Jeru- salem, his capital city, like a bird in a cage, building towers round the city to hem him in, and raising banks of earth against the gates, so as to prevent escape Then upon this Hezekiah there fell the fear of the power of my arms, and he sent out to me the chiefs and the elders of Jerusalem with 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, and divers treasures, a rich and immense booty All these things were brought to me at Nineveh, the seat of my government, Hezekiah haviiij]^ sent them by way of tribute, and as a token of his submission to my power. (Rawlinson's 'Ancient Monarchies,' vol. ii. p. 435.) + Chap, xviii. + There is a chronological discrepancy in this date which I shall not attempt to explain. Dr. Hincks proposed to read ' twenty-fifth ' year for the ' fourteenth. ' 46 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap to Sennacherib in the Assyrian and Jewish records, is cer- tainly very curious. The discrepancy between the amount of silver may perhaps be attributed to the fact, that the Assy- rian account included the silver ornaments stripped from the temple, as well as the metal in bars or rings which formed the currency of the Jews. Having thus compelled Hezekiah to consent to the pay- ment of what was probably a yearly tribute, Sennacherib re- turned to Nineveh* and in the following year made another successful expedition into Babylonia and Chaldaea. In the i I (Kuuyui.j. sixth year of the records on the luills, he conquered a country to the north of Assyria, probably Armenia, or some part of Asia Minor; and, in the last year mentioned in these annals, he invaded Elam or Susiana, and some tribes probably living on the Persinn Gulf, as, according to the inscriptions, he was compelled, in order to reach them, to construct a fleet * Sennacherib ap])cars to have undertaken a second expedition against Hezekiah, when he was defeated by tlic Ec^yptians ; but tiiis camjjaign is not alUided to in the inscriptions on tlie bulls. II.] SIEGE OF LACHISH. 47 of ships, and to man them with mariners from Tyre, Sidon, and Yavati (conjectured to be some island in the Mediter- ranean). Such are the principal historical facts recorded in the in- scriptions carved by Sennacherib on the great commemo- rative bulls which he placed in his palace at Nineveh.* As, unfortunately, the upper parts of nearly all the slabs at Kouyunjik have been destroyed, the short inscriptions or epigraphs which were usually placed above the bas-reliefs, and which indicated the events, persons, or places portrayed by the sculptor, were wanting. We are thus unable to iden- tify the greater part of the sculptures with the events recorded in the inscriptions on the bulls. However, one chamber was discovered, in which some of the slabs were almost entire, though cracked and otherwise injured by fire, and the epigraph explaining the sculptures was complete, t These bas-reliefs represent the siege and capture by the Assyrians of a city evidently of great extent and importance. It ap- pears to have been defended by double walls, with battle- ments and towers, and by fortified outworks. The country around it was hilly and wooded, producing the fig and the vine. The whole power of the great king seems to have been called forth to take this stronghold. In no other sculptures are so many armed warriors seen drawn up in array before a besieged city. In the first rank are the kneeling archers, those in the second are bending forward, whilst those in the third discharge their arrows standing upright, and are mingled with spearmen and slingers, the whole forming a compact and organised phalanx. The reserve consists of large bodies of horsemen and charioteers. Against the fortifications have been thrown up as many as ten banks or mounts, built of stones, bricks, earth, and branches of trees, and seven bat- tering-rams have already been rolled up to the walls. Tlie besieged defend themselves with great determination. Spear- * Many other of the principal events of this reign, extending over six- teen years, are found recorded on clay cylinders and tablets preserved in the British Museum. They have been translated by those who have deciphered the cuneiform character, and the substance of them will be found in Rawlinson's ' Ancient Monarchies, ' vol. ii. chap. ix. t No. xxxvi. Plan I. p. 4. 48 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. men, archers, and slingers throng the battlements and towers, showering arrows, javeUns, stones, and blazing torches upon their assailants. On the battering-rams are bo\vmen, dis- charging their arrows, and men with large ladles, pouring water upon the flaming brands, which, hurled from above, threatened to destroy the engines. Ladders, probably used for escalade, are falling from the walls upon the soldiers who mount the inclined ways to the assault. Part of the city has, however, been taken. Beneath its walls are seen Assyrian warriors impaling their prisoners, and from the gateway of an advanced tower, or fort, issues a procession of captives, reaching to the presence of Sennacherib himself, who, gor- geously arrayed, receives them seated on his throne. Amongst the spoil are furniture, arms, shields, chariots, vases of metal of various forms, camels, carts drawn by oxen, and laden with women and children, and many objects the nature of which cannot be determined. The vanquished people are distin- guished from the conquerors by their dress. Those who defend the battlements wear a pointed helmet, differing from that of the Assyrian warriors in having a fringed lappet falling over the ears. Some of the captives have a kind of turban with one end hanging down to the shoulder, not unlike that worn by the modern Arabs of the Hedjaz. Others have no head- dress, and short hair and beards. Their garments consist either of a robe reaching to the ankles, or of a tunic scarcely faUing lower than the thigh, and confined at the waist by a girdle. The latter appears to be the dress of the fighting-men. The women wear long shirts, with an outer garment thrown, like the veil of modern Eastern ladies, over the back of the head and falling to the feet Several prisoners are already in the hands of the torturers. Two are stretched naked on the ground to be flayed alive, others are being slain by the sword before the throne of the king. The haughty monarch is receiving the chiefs of the conquered nation, who crouch and kneel humbly before him. They are brought into the royal presence by the Tartan or general of the Assyrian forces, probably the Rabshakeh, or chief cup-bearer, himself,* followed by his principal officers. • Isaiah, cli. xxxvi. II.] SIEGE OF LACHISH. -19 He is clothed in embroidered robes, and wears on his head a fillet adorned with rosettes and long tasseled bands. The throne of the king stands upon an elevated platform. Its arms and sides are supported by three rows of figures one above the other. The wood is richly carved, or encased in embossed metal, and the legs end in pine-shaped ornaments, probably of bronze. Over the high back is thrown an embroidered cloth, doubtless of some rare and beautiful material. The royal feet rest upon a high footstool of elegant form, fashioned like the throne, and cased with em- bossed metal, the legs end- ing in lion's paws, Behind the king are two attendant eunuchs raising fans above his head, and holding em- broidered napkins. The monarch himself is attired in long loose robes richly ornamented, and edged with tassels and fringes. In his right hand he raises two arrows, and his left rests upon a bow; ..•, J -L i_i J Sennacherib on his Throne before Lachish. an attitude, probably, de- noting triumph over his enemies, and in which he is usually portrayed when receiving prisoners after a victory. Behind the king is the royal tent; * and beneath him are his led horses, and an attendant on foot carrying the para- sol, the emblem of royalty. His two chariots, with their charioteers, are waiting for him. One has a peculiar semi- * Above it is an inscription, to the effect, that it is ' the imt (?) of Sen- nacherib, king of Assyria.' 50 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. circular ornament of considerable size, rising from the pole between the horses, and spreading over their heads. It may originally have contained the figure of a deity, or some mythic symbol. Two quivers, holding a bow, a hatchet, and arrows, are fixed to the side of the chariot. The trap- pings of the horses are richly decorated. On the last bas-relief* is the ground-plan of a castle, or of a fortified camp containing tents and houses. Within the walls is seen a fire-altar with two beardless priests, wear- ing high conical caps, standing before it. In front of the altar, on which burned the sacred flame, is a table bearing various sacrificial objects, and beyond it two sacred chariots, probably such as accompanied the Persian kings in their wars.f The horses have been taken out, and the yokes rest upon stands. Each chariot carries a lofty pole surmounted by a globe, and long tassels or streamers. Above the head of the king is an inscription, which may be translated, 'Sennacherib, the mighty king, king of the country of Assyria, sitting on the throne of judgment, before (or at the entrance of) the city of Lachish (Lakhisha). I give permission for its slaughter.' This highly interesting series of bas-reliefs, which has now been placed in a lower chamber in the British Museum, consequently represents the siege and capture of Lachish, as described in the Second Book of Kings, and in the inscrip- tions on the human-headed bulls. Sennacherib himself is seen seated on his throne and receiving the submission of the inhabitants of the city, whilst he had sent his generals to demand the payment of tribute from Hezekiah.;}: The defenders of the castle walls and the prisoners tortured and crouching at the conqueror's feet are Jews, and the sculptor has evidently endeavoured to indicate the peculiar physi- ognomy of the race, and the dress of the people. The value of this discovery can scarcely be overrated. ^Vliilst we have thus the representation of an event recorded * For detailed drawings of these bas-reliefs, see 2nd series of the ' Monuments of Nineveh,' Plates 20 to 24. + Xenophon, Cyrop. Ivii. c. 3. Quintus Curtius, liii. c. 3. :J: 2 Kings xviii. 14 ; Isaiah xxxvi, 2. From 2 Kings xix. 8 and Isaiah xxx%ai. 8, we may infer that the city of Lachish soon yielded to the arms of Sennacherib. II.] JEWISH CAPTIVES FROM LACHISH. 51 in the Old Testament, of which consequently these bas- rehefs furnish a most interesting and important illustration, they serve to a certain extent to test the accuracy of the in- terpretation of the cuneiform inscriptions, and to remove any doubt that might still exist as to the identification of the King, who built the palace on the mound of Kouyunjik, with the Sennacherib of Scripture. Had these bas-reliefs been the only remains dug up from the ruins of Nineveh, the labour of the explorer would have been amply re- warded, and the sum expended by the nation on the ex- cavations more than justified. They furnish, together with Jewish Captives from Lachish. {Kou5runjik.) the inscriptions which they illustrate, and which are also now deposited in the national collection, the most valuable cotemporary historical record possessed by any museum in the world. They may be said to be the actual manuscript, caused to be written or carved by the principal actor in the events which it relates. Who would have believed it pro- bable or possible, before these discoveries were made, that beneath the heap of earth and rubbish which marked the site of Nineveh, there would be found the history of the wars between Hezekiah and Sennacherib, written at the very time when they took place by Sennacherib himself, and con- 52 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. firming even in minute details the Biblical record? He who would have ventured to predict such a discovery would have been treated as a dreamer or an impostor. Had it been known that such a monument really existed, what sum would liave been considered too great for the precious record ? The gigantic human-headed lions, first discovered in the north-west palace at Nimroud* were still standing in their original position. Having been careftiUy covered up with earth previous to my departure in 1848, they had been pre- served fi-om exposure to the effects of the weather, and to wanton injury from the Arabs. The Trustees of the British Museum wishing to add these fine sculptures to the national collection, I was directed to remove them entire. A road through the ruins, for their transport to the edge of the mound, was in the first place necessary, and it was com- menced early in December. They would thus be ready for embarkation as soon as the waters of the river were suffi- ciently high to bear a raft so heavily laden, over the rapids and shallows between Nimroud and Baghdad. "WTiilst cut- ting the road I found some carved fragments of ivory si- milar to those already placed in the British Museum; and two massive sockets in bronze, in which turned the hinges of a gate of the palace. No remains of the door- posts, or other parts of the gate, were disco- vered, and it is uncer- tain whether these rings were fixed in stone or wood. In the south-eastern corner of the mound tunnels carried beneath _ , the ruined edifice, which Bronze Socket of the Palace Gate. (Nimroud.) . - , , IS of the seventh cen- tury B.C., showed the remains of an earlier building. f A * Nineveh and its Remains, p. 52. + This building was afterwards explored by Mr. I.oflus, and would appear to have been founded, according to some inscriptions discovere*! amongst the niins, by 'I'ii^lalh Pileser. II.] ASSYRIAN ARCH. S3 vaulted drain, about five feet in width, was also discovered. The arch was turned with large kiln-burnt bricks, and rested upon side walls of the same material. The bricks being square, and not expressly made for vaulting, a space was left above the centre of the arch, which was filled up by bricks laid longitudhially. Other examples were not wanting in the ruins to prove Vaulted Drain beneath South-east Palace. (Nimroud.) that the Assyrians were well acquainted at an early period with the true principle of the arch. The earth falling away from the sides of the deep trench opened in the north-west palace for the removal of the bull and lion during the former excavations, left uncovered the entrance to a vaulted drain or 54 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. passage built of sun-dried bricks. Beneath was a small water-course, inclosed by square slabs of alabaster.* A third arch was found beneath the ruins of the south-east edifice almost at the very foot of the mound. In the south-east corner of the quadrangle, formed by the low mounds marking the wails once surrounding this quarter ^m^j^^-''" ^-^ '^z. Vaulted Drain beneath the North-west Palace at Niniroud. Of the city of Nineveh, or the park attached to the royal resi- dence, the level of the soil is considerably higher than in any other part of the inclosed space. This sudden inequality evidently indicates the site of some ancient edifice. Con- * This drain was beneath chaml^ers S and T of the noilh-wesl palace. (See Plan II. 'Nineveh and its Remains,' p. 42.) II.] ATTACK ON NIMROUD. 55 nected with it, rising abruptly, and almost perpendicularly, from the plain, and forming one of the corners of the walls, is a lofty, irregular mound, known to the Arabs by the name of the Tel (mound) of Athur, the Lieutenant of Nimrod.* Several tunnels and trenches opened in it showed nothing but earth, unmingled with bricks or fragments of stone. Re- mains of walls and a pavement of baked bricks were, how- ever, discovered at the foot of the high mound. The bricks had evidently been taken from some other building, for upon them were traces of coloured figures and patterns, of the same character and style as those on the sculptured walls of the palaces. Their painted faces were placed downwards, as if purposely to conceal them, and tlie designs upon them were in most instances injured or destroyed. A few frag- ments were collected, and are now in the British Museum. The colours have faded, but were probably once as bright as the enamels of Khorsabad. The outlines are white, on a pale blue or olive green ground. The only other colour used is a dull yellow, t All these fragments probably belong to the same subject, the conquest of some distant nation by the Assyrians. They may have been taken from the same building as the detached bas-reliefs in the south-west palace, and may consequently be attributed to the same king.| During the greater part of the month of December I resided at Nimroud. One morning, I was disturbed by the reports of firearms, mingled with the shouts of men and the shrieks of women. Issuing immediately from the house, I found the open space behind it a scene of wild excitement and confusion. Horsemen, galloping in all directions and sing- ing their war song, were driving before them with their long spears the cattle and sheep of the inhabitants of the village. The men were firing at the invaders ; the women, armed with tent poles and pitchforks, and filling the air with their * ' Out of that land went forth Asshur, and budded Nineveh.' (Gen. X. II.) + For facsimiles of these coloured fragments, see 2nd series of ' Monu- ments of Nineveh,' Plates 53, 54, 55. + That is, as will be hereafter shown, to Tiglath Pileser. S6 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. shrill screams, were trying to rescue the animals. The horse- men of the Arab tribe of Tai had taken advantage of a thick- mist hanging over the Jaif, to cross the Zab early in the morning, and to fall upon us before we were aware of their approach. No time was to be lost to prevent bloodshed, and all its disagreeable consequences. My horse was soon ready, and I rode towards the one who appeared to be the chief of the attacking party. Although his features were concealed by the keffieh closely drawn over the lower part of his face, after the Bedouin fashion in war, he had been recognised as Saleh, the brother of the Howar, the Sheikh of the Tai. He saluted me as I drew near, and we rode along side by side, whilst his followers were driving before them the cattle of the \\\- lagers. Directing Hormuzd to keep back the Shemutti, I asked the chief to restore the plundered property. For- tunately, hitherto, only one man of the attacking Arabs had been seriously wounded. The expedition was chiefly directed against the Jebours, who some days before liad carried off a large number of the camels of the Tai. I promised to do my best to recover them. At length Saleh, for my sake, as he said, consented to restore all that had been taken, and the inhabitants of Nimroud were called upon to claim each his own property. As we approached the ruins, for the discus- sion had been carried on as we rode from the village, my Jebour workmen, who had by this time heard of the affray, were preparing to meet the enemy. Some had ascended to the top of the high conical mound, where they had collected stones and bricks ready to hurl against the Tai should they attempt to follow them. Others advanced towards us, stripped to their waists, brandishing their swords and short spears in defiance, and shouting their war-cry. It was with difficulty that, with the assistance of Hormuzd, I was able to check this display of valour, and prevent them from renewing the engagement. The men and women of the village were still following the retreating horsemen, clamouring for various articles, such as cloaks and handkerchiefs, not yet restored. In the midst of the crowd of wranglers, a hare suddenly sprang from her form and darted over the plain. My grey- hounds, who had followed me from tlie house, immediately II.] HARE HUNT. 57 pursued her. This was too much for the Arabs ; their love of the chase overcame even their propensity for appropriating other people's property ; cattle, cloaks, swords, and kcffiehs were abandoned to their respective claimants, and the whole band of marauders joined wildly in the pursuit. Before we had reached the game we were far distant from Nimroud. I seized the opportunity to conclude the truce, and Saleh with his followers rode slowly back towards the ford of the Zab Excavated Chamber in which the Bronzes were discovered. (Nimroud.) to seek his brother's tents. I promised to visit the Howar in two or three days, and we parted with mutual assurances of friendship. Two days after the attack upon Nimroud, I paid my pro- mised visit to the Howar. During my absence a new chamber had been discovered in the north-west palace.* Its walls were * It was parallel to, and to the south of, the chamber marked AA, in the plan of the north-west palace. (Nineveh and its Remains, p. 42.) 58 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. of sun-dried brick, panelled round the bottom with iarge burnt bricks, about three feet high. They were coated with bitu- men, and, like those forming the pavement, were inscribed with the name and usual titles of the royal founder of the building. In one corner was a well, the circular mouth of which was formed by brickwork. Its sides were also bricked down to the conglomerate rock, and holes had been left at regular intervals for descent. When first discovered it was filled with earth. The workmen emptied it until they came, at the depth of nearly sixty feet, to brackish water.* The first objects found in this chamber were two plain copper cauldrons, about 2\ feet in diameter and 3 feet deep, resting upon a stand of brickwork, with their mouths closed Bronze Bells found in a Cauldron. (Nimroud.) by large tiles. Near them was a copper jar, which fell to pieces almost as soon as uncoverecj. In the cauldrons were a number of small bronze bells t with iron tongues, and va- rious small copper ornaments, some suspended to wires. ^^'ith them were a quantity of tapering bronze rods, bent into a hook, and ending in a kind of lip. Beneath were several bronze cups and dishes, which I succeeded in re- moving entire. Scattered in the earth, amongst these objects, were several hundred studs and buttons in mother of pearl and ivor}', with many small rosettes in metal. * Few wells in tlic plains bordering on the Tigris yield sweet water, t The cauldrons contained about eighty bells. Tliey are now in the British Museum with the other objects found in this chamber. II.] OBJECTS IN BRONZE. 59 All the objects contained in these cauldrons, with the ex- ception of the cups and dishes, were probably ornaments of horse and chariot furniture. The horses of the Assyrian cavalry, as well as those harnessed to chariots, are continu- ally represented in the sculptures with bells round their necks, and in the Bible we find allusion to such ornaments.* Beneath the cauldrons were heaped lions' and bulls' feet of bronze ; and the remains of iron rings and bars, probably parts of tripods, or stands, for supporting vessels and bowls ; t which, as the iron had rusted away, had fallen to pieces, leaving such parts entire as were in the more durable metal. Two other cauldrons, found further within the chamber, contained, besides several plates and dishes, four crown shaped bronze ornaments, perhaps belonging to a throne or couch ; two long ornamented bands of copper, rounded at both ends, apparently belts, such as were worn by warriors in armour;:}: a gi^otesque head in bronze, probably the top of a mace ; a metal wne strainer of elegant shape ; various metal vessels of peculiar form, and a bronze ornament, pro- bably the handle of a dish or vase. Eight more cauldrons and jars were found in other parts of the chamber. One contained ashes and bones, the rest were empty. Some of the larger vessels were crushed almost flat, probably by the falling in of the roof. With the cauldrons were discovered two circular metal vessels, nearly six feet in diameter, and about two feet deep, which I can only compare with the brazen sea that stood in the temjjle of Solomon. § Behind the cauldrons was a heap of curious and interesting objects. In one place were piled, one above the other, bronze cups, bowls, and dishes of various sizes and shapes. * Zech. xiv. 20. + Tripod-stands, consisting of a circular ring raised upon feet, to hold jars and vases, are frequently represented in the bas-reliefs. (See par- ticularly Botta's large work, Plate 141.) The rings were of iron, bound in some places with copper, and the feet of iron cased in bronze. + Resembling those of the eunuch waniors in Plate 28 of the ist series of the ' Monuments of Nineveh.' § 2 Chron. iv. 2. The dimensions, however, of tins vessel were far greater. It is singular that, in some of the bas-reliefs, large metal caul- drons supported on brazen oxen, like those in Solomon's temple, are represented. 6o NL\EVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. Handles of Bronze Di?hes, from Nimroud. Bronze Vessels taken from the Interior of a Cauldron. II.] BRONZE VESSELS. 6i The upper vessels liaving been most exposed to damp, tlie metal had been eaten away by rust, and was crumbling into fragments, or into a green powder. As they were cleared away, more perfect specimens were taken out, until, near the pavement of the chamber, some were found almost entire. Bronze Dish, from Nimroud. Bronze Cup, 6i in. diameter, and if in. deep. Although a green crj^stalline deposit, arising from the de- composition of the metal, encrusted all the vessels, I could distinguish upon many of them traces of embossed and engraved ornaments. They have since been carefully and skilfully cleaned by the late Mr. Doubleday, of the British Museum, and the very beautiful and elaborate designs upon them brought to light* * Engraving.s of the most interesting of these vessels will be found in the 2nd series of my ' Monuments of Nineveh.' 62 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap The bronze objects thus discovered may be classed under four heads — dishes with handles, plates, deep bowls, and cups. Some are plain, others have a simple rosette, scarab, or star in the centre, and many are most elaborately orna- mented with the figures of men and animals, and with ele- gant designs, either embossed or incised. The inside, and not the outside, of these vessels is ornamented. The em- bossed figures have been raised in the metal by a blunt instrument.* Even those ornaments which are not embossed but incised, appear to have been formed by a similar process, except that the punch was applied on the inside. The tool of the graver has been sparingly used.f About 150 bronze vessels discovered in this chamber are now in the British Museum. The metal of the dishes, bowls, and rings contain one part of tin to ten of copper, being exactly the relative proportions of the best ancient and mo- dern bronze. The bells, however, have fourteen per cent, of tin, showing that the Assyrians were well aware of the effect produced by changing the proportions of the metals. These two facts show the advance made by them in the metallur- gic art. The tin was probably obtained from Phoenicia, whose vessels, it has been conjectured, brought this metal from the coasts of Cornwall; and consequently that used in the bronzes in the British Museum may actually have been ex- ported, nearly three thousand years ago, from the British Isles ! The embossed and engraved vessels from Nimroud afford many interesting illustrations of the progress made by the ancients in metallurgy. From the Egyptian character of the designs, and especially of the drapeiy of the figures, in several of the specimens, it may be inferred that some of them were not Assyrian, but had been brought from a foreign people. As in the ivories, however, the workmanship, subjects, and * The embossing appears to have been pioduced by a process still practised by silversmiths. The metal was laid upon a bed of mixed clay and bitumen, and then punched from the outside. t For a full description of the bronzes and other objects found in this chamber, see the unabridged edition of my 'Nineveh and Babylon,' chap. viii. II.] ASSYRIAN ARMS. 63 mode of treatment are more Assyrian than Egyptian, and seem to show that the artist either copied from Egyptian models, or was a native of a country, perhaps Phoenicia, under the influence of Egypt. Bronze Shields from Nimroud. Around the vessels I have described were heaped arms, remains of armour, iron instruments, glass bowls, and various objects in ivory and bronze. The arms consisted of swords, daggers, shields, and the heads of spears and arrows, which being chiefly of iron fell to pieces almost as soon as exposed 64 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. to the air. A few specimens have alone been preserved. The shields stood upright, one against the other, supported by a square piece of brick work, and were so much decayed that only two could be sent to England. They are of bronze, and circular, the rim bending inwards, and forming a groove round the edge. The handles are of iron, and fastened by six bosses or nails, the heads of which form an ornament on the outer face of the shield.* The diameter of the largest and most perfect is 2 feet 6 inches. The armour consisted of parts of breast plates (?) and of other fragments, embossed with figures and ornaments. Amongst the iron instruments were the head of a pick, a double-handled saw (about 3 feet 6 inches in length), several objects resembling the heads of sledge-hammers, and a large blunt spear-head, such as we find from the sculptures were used during sieges to force stones from the walls of besieged cities.f The most interesting of the ivoiy relics were, a carved staff, perhaps a royal sceptre, part of which has been pre- served; and several entire elephants' tusks, the largest being about 2 feet 5 inches long. Amongst the smaller objects were several figures and rosettes, and four oval bosses, with the nails of copper still remaining, by which they were fastened to wood or some other material. Amongst various small objects in bronze were two cubes, each having on one face the figure of a scarab with outstretched wings, inlaid in gold ; very interesting specimens of i;ro,ue Cube inlaid with Gold. (Original Si^.o.) ^^.^jj^^ ^^j J^robably amongst the earliest known of an art carried in modern times to great perfection in the East. * Such may have been the 'bosses of tlie bucklers' mentioned in Job, XV. 26. t Monuments of Nineveh, 1st series, Plate 66. II.] THE ROYAL THRONE. 6s Two entire glass bowls, with fragments of others, were also fomid in this chamber;"' the glass is covered with pearly scales, which, on being removed, leave prismatic opal-like colours of the greatest brilliancy, showing, under different lights, the most varied and beautiful tints. This is a well known effect of age, arising from the decomposition of cer- tain component parts of the glass. These bowls are prob- ably of the same period as the small bottle found in the ruins of the north-west palace during the previous excavations, and now in the British Museum. t With the glass bowls was discovered a rock-crystal lens, with opposite convex and plane faces. Its properties could scarcely have been unknown to the Assyrians, and we have consequently the earliest specimen of a magnifying and burn- ing glass. The extreme minuteness of some of the inscrip- tions on the clay tablets, and of the engravings on the gems discovered in the Assyrian ruins, must lead to the conviction that the Assyrians possessed a magnifying power.| It was found under fragments of blue opaque glass, apparently the enamel of some object in ivory or wood, which had perished. In the further corner of the chamber stood the royal throne. Although it was impossible, from its complete state of decay, to move it entire, I was able to ascertain that it resembled in shape the chair of state of the king, as seen in the sculp- tures of Kouyunjik and Khorsabad, and particularly that represented in the bas-relief of Sennacherib before the city of Lachish.§ With the exception of the legs, which appear to have been partly of ivory, it was of wood, cased or overlaid with bronze. 1 1 The metal was elaborately engraved and em- bossed with symbolical figures and ornaments, like those em- * The larger, 5 inches in diameter, and 2| inches deep ; the other, 4 inches in diameter, and 2\ deep. + See ' Nineveh and its Remains ' (abridged), p. 242. + For a description of this lens, by Sir David Brewster, see un- abridged edition of 'Nineveh and Babylon,' note, p. 197. § See p. 49. II This is a highly interesting illustration of the work in Solomon's palaces. The earhest use of metal amongst the Greeks appears also to have been as a casing to wooden objects. The throne of Solomon was of ivory overlaid with gold, (i Kings, x. 18.) 66 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. broidered on the robes of the early Nimroud king, such as winged deities strugghng with griffins, mythic animals, the sacred tree, and the winged lion and bull. In front of the throne was the footstool, also of wood overlaid with em- bossed metal, and adorned with the heads of bulls. The feet ended in lion's paws and pine cones, like those of the tlirone. The metal fragments sent to England have been skilfully put together, so that the Assyrian king's throne upon which Sennacherib himself sat, and the footstool which he used, ma;,- now be seen in the British Museum. A rod with loose rings, to which was once hung an embroidered curtain, appears to have belonged to the back of the chair, or to a framework raised above or behind it. Near the throne, and leaning against the mouth of the well, was a circular band of bronze, 2 feet, 4 inches in di- ameter, studded with nails. It appears to have been the metal casing of a wheel, or of some object of wood. Such, with an alabaster jar, and a few other objects in metal, were the relics found in the newly-opened room. This accidental discovery, after the examination I had made of the building during my former excavations, proves that other treasures may still exist in the mound of Nimroud, and increases my regret that means were not at my command to remove the rubbish fiom the centre of the other chambers in the palace. III.] MOVING THE LIONS. 67 CHAPTER III. Visit to the winged lions by night — The bitumen springs — Removal of the winged lions to the river — Loss and recovery of lio7t — Visit to Bavian — Description of rock sctdptures — Inscriptions — Sculptures at Kou- yunjik. By the 28th of January, the colossal lions fomning the portal to the great hall in the north-west palace of Nimroud were ready to be dragged to the river-bank. The walls and their sculptured panelling had been removed from around them, and they stood isolated in the midst of the ruins. I rode one calm cloudless night to the mound, to look on them for the last time before they were taken from their old resting- places. The moon was at her full, and as I drew nigh to the edge of the deep trench in which they stood, her soft light was creeping over the stern features of the human heads, and driving before it the dark shadows which still clothed the lion forms. One by one the limbs of the gigantic sphinxes emerged from the gloom, until the monsters were unveiled before me. I shall never forget that night, or the emotions which those venerable figures caused within me. A few hours more and they were to stand no longer where they had stood for ages, unscathed amidst the wTeck of man and his works. It seemed almost sacrilege to tear them from their old haunts to make them a mere wonder-stock to the busy crowd of a new world. They were better suited to the desolation around them ; for they had guarded the palace in its glory, and it was for them to watch over it in its ruin. Sheikh Abd-ur- Rahman, who had ridden with me to the mound, was troubled with no such reflections. He gazed listlessly at the grim images, wondered at the folly of the Franks, thought the night cold, and turned his mare towards his tents. I scarcely heeded his 68 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [CHAP. going, but stood speechless in the deserted portal, until the shadows again began to creep over its hoary guardians. Beyond the ruined palaces a scene scarcely less solemn awaited me. I had sent a party of Jebours to the bitumen springs, outside the walls to the east of the inclosure. The Arabs having liglited a small fire with brushwood awaited my coming to throw the burning sticks upon the pitchy pools. A thick heavy smoke rolled upwards in curling volumes, hiding the light of the moon, and spreading wide over the sky. Tongues of flame and jets of gas, driven from the burning pit, shot through the murky canopy. As the fire brightened, a thousand fantastic forms of light played amidst the smoke. To break the cindered crust, and to bring fresh slime to the surface, the Arabs threw large stones into the springs; a new volume of fire then burst forth, throwing a deep red glare upon the figures and upon the landscape. The Jebours danced round the burning pools, like demons in some midnight orgie, shouting their war-cry, and brandishing their glittering arms. In an hour the bitumen was exhausted for the time,* the dense smoke gradually died away, and the pale light of the moon again shone over the black slime pits. The colossal lions were moved by still simpler and ruder means than those adopted on my first expedition. They were tilted over upon loose earth heaped behind them. They were then lowered upon the cart by gradually removing the soil. A road paved with flat stones had been made to the edge of the mound, and the sculptures were, without difti- culty, dragged from the trenches. Beneath the lions, embedded in earth and bitumen, were a few bones, which, on exposure to the air, fell to dust before I could ascertain whether they were human or not. The sculptures rested simply upon the platform of sun-dried bricks without any other substructure, a mere layer of bitu- men, about an inch thick, having been placed under the plinth. Owing to recent heavy rains, which had left in many places deep swamps, we experienced much difiiculty in dragging the • In a few hours the pits are sufficiently filled lo take fire again. L III.] MOVING THE LIONS. 69 cart over the plain to the river side. Three days were spent in transporting each Hon. The men of Naifa and Nimroud again came to our help, and the Abou-Salman horsemen, with Sheikh Abd-ur-Rahman at their head, encouraged us by their presence. The unwieldy mass was propelled from behind by enormous levers of poplar wood ; and in the cos- tumes of those who worked, as well as in the means adopted to move the colossal sculptures, except that we used awheeled cart instead of a sledge, the procession closely resembled that which in days of yore moved the same great figures to the palace, and which had been so graphically represented on the walls of Kouyunjik.* As they had been brought so were they taken away. It was necessary to humour and excite the Arabs to induce them to persevere in the arduous work of dragging the cart tlirough the deep soft soil into which it continually sank. At one time, after many vain efforts to move the buried wheels, it was unanimously declared that Mr. Cooper, the artist, brought ill luck, and no one would work until he retired. The cumbrous machine crept onwards for a few more yards, but again all exertions were fruitless. Then the Frank lady would bring good fortune if she sat on the sculpture. The wheels rolled heavily along, but were soon clogged once more in the yielding soil. An evil eye surely lurked among the workmen or the bystanders. Search was quickly made, and a man having been detected upon whom this curse had alighted, he was ignominiously driven away with shouts and execrations. This impediment having been removed, the cart drew nearer to the village, but soon again came to a standstill. All the Sheikhs were now summarily degraded from their rank and honours, and a weakly ragged boy having been dressed up in tawdry kerchiefs, and invested with a cloak, was pronounced by Hormuzd to be the only fit chief for such puny men. The cart moved forwards, until the ropes gave way, under the new excitement caused by this reflection upon the character of the Arabs. When that had subsided, and the presence of the youthful Sheikh no longer encouraged See woodcut, p. 25. ^o NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. his subjects, he was as summarily deposed as he had been elected, and a greybeard of ninety was raised to the dignity in his stead. He had his turn ; then the most unpopular of the Sheikhs were compelled to He down on the ground, as if the groaning wheels were to pass over them, like the car of Juggernaut over its votaries. With yells, shrieks, and wild antics the cart was drawn within a few inches of the prostrate men. As a last resource I seized a rope myself, and with shouts of defiance between the different tribes, who were divided into separate parties and pulled against each other, and amidst the deafening tahlel of the women, the lion was at length fairly brought to the water's edge. It was not until the month of April, after I had left Mosul on my journey to the Khabour, that the floods caused by the melting of the snows in the mountains of Kurdistan enabled me to send these sculptures by rafts to Baghdad. After receiving the necessary repairs they floated onwards to Busrah. The waters of the Tigris throughout its course had risen far above their usual level. The embankments, long neglected by the Turkish government, had given way, and the river, bursting from its bed, spread itself over the surrounding country in vast lakes and marshes. One of the rafts, notwithstanding the exertions of the raftmen, aided by the crew of a boat that accompanied them, was left in the middle of a swamp, about a mile from the stream. The other raft fortunately escaped, and reached Busrah without accident. For some time the stranded raft was given up for lost. But Captain Jones, the commander of the British flotiUa on the Mesopotamian rivers, with his usual skill and intrepidity, took a steamer over the ruined embankment, and into the unex- plored morass. After great exertion, under a burning sun in the middle of summer, he succeeded in conveying the sculpture to its destination. During a hasty visit in the autumn to the remarkable rock- sculptures of Bavian, I had been unable to make drawings, or to copy the inscriptions. The winged lions having been re- moved from the Nimroud mound, I found time to revisit these important monuments. Our road thither from Mosul ran across the rocky range of the Gebel Makloub. The IIL] SCULPTURES AT BAVIAN. ji ascent was difficult and precipitous, scarcely practicable for heavily laden beasts. On the eastern side, the hills sink gradually into a broad plain. The small Kurdish hamlet of Bavian is situated at the foot of the next and higher limestone range. The sculptures are carved on the face of the rock, near the entrance to a narrow ravine, from whence issues a brawling mountain torrent, called the Gomel, one of the confluents of the Ghazir, the Bumadus of the Greeks, upon the banks of which was fought the great battle of Arbela. They consist of a number of tablets cut on the smoothed face of the cliff. The principal one is twenty-eight feet high, and contains two Assyrian deities standing on mythic ani- mals, with two kings, one on each side, apparently in- the act of adoration. It would seem that these two royal figures represent one and the same monarch, and the inscriptions identify him with Sennacherib. This colossal bas-relief has not only suffered from the effect of time, but has been further defaced by the entrances to tombs excavated in the rock. I succeeded in entering these tombs, having been lowered from above by ropes, but found them empty. They had, no doubt, been rifled at a remote period. In a second tablet is represented an Assyrian horseman, of colossal proportions, riding at full speed with couched lance. In front of him stands Sennacherib, behind him an Assyrian deity, and above a row of gods standing on ani- mals. On other parts of the cliff are eleven smaller tablets in arched recesses, each containing a figure of Sennacherib. Across three of them are inscriptions in the cuneiform character, and of precisely the same import They appear to record certain extensive works for irrigation undertaken by that monarch, and his expedition against Merodach Baladan, and the capture and plunder of Babylon, mentioned in the records on the bulls at Nineveh. A very remark- able passage, if rightly interpreted, states that Sennacherib brought back to Assyria certain images of the gods which had been carried away 418 years before by a king of Meso potamia. If this be the true interpretation, it shows that at that remote period the Assyrians kept an exact compu- tation of time. Sennacherib declares that, on his return 72 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. from Babylon, he had caused these tablets to be carved in the rock. Beneath the sculptured tablets, and in the bed of the Gomel, are two enormous fragments of rock, which have fallen from the overhanging cliff into the torrent below. The pent-up waters eddy round them in deep and dangerous whirlpools, and when swollen by the winter rains sweep com- Fallen Rock-SculiJtvires. (Bavian.) pletely over them.* They still bear the remains of sculpture. One has been broken by the fall into two pieces. On it is the Assyrian Hercules strangling the lion between two winged human-headed bulls, back to back, as at the grand entrances of the palaces of Kouyunjik and Khorsabad. * It was at this spot that Mr. Pell, the youthful artist sent out by the Trustees of the British Museum, was unfortunately drowned when l)ath- ing, in the month of July, 1^51, shortly after my departure from Mosul. III.] SCULPTURES AT B AVIAN. 73 Above this group is the king, worshipping between two deities, who stand on mythic animals with the heads of eagles, the bodies and fore feet of lions, and hind legs armed with the talons of a bird of prey. Near the entrance to the ravine the face of the cliff has been scarped for some yards to the level of the bed of the Assyrian Fountain. (Bavian.) torrent. A party of Kurds were hired to excavate at this spot, as well as in other parts of the narrow valley. Remains and foundations of buildings in hewn stone were discovered. Higher up the gorge, on removing the earth, I found a series of basins cut in the rock, and descending in steps to the stream. The water had originally been led from one to the other through small conduits, the lowest of which was orna- 74 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. mented at its mouth with two rampant lions in relief. These outlets \vere choked up, but we cleared them, and by pouring water into the upper basin restored the fountain as it had been in the time of the Assyrians. From the nature and number of the monuments at Bavian, it would seem that this ravine was a sacred spot, devoted to religious ceremonies and to national sacrifices. When the buildings, whose remains still exist, were used for these pur- poses, the waters must have been pent up between quays or embankments. They now occasionally spread over the bottom of the valley, leaving no pathw-ay at the foot of the lofty cliffs. The remains of a well-built raised causeway of stone, leading to Bavian from Nineveh, may still be traced across the plain to the east of the Gebel Makloub. The place, from its picturesque beauty and its cool refresh- ing shade even in the hottest days of summer, is a grateful re- treat, well suited to devotion and to holy rites. The brawl- ing stream almost fills the bed of the narrow ravine with its clear and limpid waters. The beetling cliffs rise abruptly on each side, and above them tower the wooded declivities of the Kurdish liills. As the valley oj>ens into the plain, the sides of the limestone mountains are broken into a series of distinct strata, and resemble a vast flight of steps leading up to the high lands of central Asia. The banks of the torrent are clothed with shrubs and dwarf trees, amongst which are the green myrtle and the gay oleander, bending under the weight of its rosy blossoms. I remained two days at Bavian to copy the inscriptions, and to explore the Ass}Tian remains. During my absence, several new chambers had been opened at Kouyunjik. The western portal of the great hall, whose four sides were now completely uncovered,* led into a long narrow chamber (eighty-two feet by twenty-six), the walls of which had unfortunately been almost entirely destroyed. t On such fragments, however, as remained were traces of the usual subjects, — battles and victories. There was nothing remarkable in the dresses of the captives, or in the details, * No. VI. Plan I. p. 4. t No. ix. same Plan. III.] BAS-RELIEFS DESCRIBED. 75 to give any clue to the conquered people, whose country was represented by wooded mountains and a broad river. In the chamber beyond* a few slabs were still standing in their original places. In length this room was the same as that parallel to it, but in breadth it was only eighteen feet. The bas-reliefs represented the siege and sack of one of the many cities taken by Sennacherib, and the transfer of the captives to some distant province of Assyria. The prisoners were dressed in garments falling to the calves of their legs, and the women wore a kind of turban. Although the country was mountainous, its inhabitants used the camel as a beast of burden, and in the sculptures it was represented laden with the spoil. The Assyrians, as was their custom, carried away in triumph the images of the gods of the conquered nation, which were placed on poles and borne in procession on men's shoulders. ' Hath any god of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria % ' exclaimed the Assyrian general to the Jews. ' Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad % where are the gods of Sepharvaim % 't They had been carried away with the captives, and the very idols that were represented in this bas-relief may have been amongst those to which Rabshakeh made this boasting allu- sion. The captured gods were three, a human figure Avith outstretched arms, a lion-headed man carrying a long staff in one hand, and an image enclosed by a square frame. Within a fortified camp, defended by towers and battlements, the priests were offering up the sacrifices usual upon a victory ; the pontiff was distinguished by a high conical cap, and, as is always the case in the Assyrian sculptures, was beardless. By his side stood an assistant. Before the altar, on which were some sacrificial utensils, was the sacred chariot, with its elaborate yoke. On a raised band, across the centre of the castle, were inscribed the name and titles of Sennacherib. :|: On the northern side of the great hall the portal formed by the winged bulls, and the two smaller doorways guarded by colossal winged figures, led into a chamber one hundred * No. X. Plan. I. p. 4. + Isaiah, xxxvi, 18, 19. X Plate 50, 2d series of ' Monuments of Nineveh.' 76 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. feet by twenty-four, which opened into a further room of somewhat smaller dimensions.* In tlie first were a few slabs, representing some warlike expedition of the Assyrian king, and, as usual, the triumphant issue of the campaign. The monarch, in his chariot, and surrounded by his body-guard, was seen receiving the captives and the spoil in a hilly country, whilst his warriors were dragging their horses up a steep mountain near a fortified town, driving their chariots along the banks of a river, and slaying with the spear the flying enemy.f The bas-reliefs of the second chamber had recorded the wars of the Assyrians with a maritime people, represented in other sculptures, and who may probably be identified with some nation on the Phoenician coast. Their galleys, rowed by double banks of oarsmen, and the high conical head-dress of their women, have already been described. :|: On the best preserv^ed slab was the interior of a fortified camp, amidst mountains. "Within the walls were tents whose owners were engaged in various domestic occupa- tions, cooking in pots placed on stones over the fire, receiving the blood of a slaughtered sheep in a jar, and making ready the couches. Warriors were seated before a table, with their shields hung to the tent-pole above them. A Captive. (Kouyunjik.] * Nos. VII. and viii. Plan I. p. 4. + Plate 29, of 2iid series of 'Monuments of Nineveh.' X Nineveh and its Remains, chap. xiii. III.] BAS-RELIEFS DESCRIBED. 77 In the southern part of the palace a chamber had been opened, in which several bas-reliefs of considerable interest had been discovered.'- Its principal entrance, facing the west, was formed by a pair of colossal human-headed lions, carved in coarse limestone, so much injured that even the inscriptions on the lower part of them were nearly illegible. Unfortunately the bas-reliefs were equally mutilated, four Bas-relief from Kouyunjik, representing fortified City, a River with a Boat and Raft, and a Canal. slabs only retaining any traces of sculpture. One of them represented Assyrian warriors leading captives, wearing a head-dress of high feathers, fonning a kind of tiara like that of an Indian chief, and a robe confined at the waist by an ornamented girdle. Some of them carried an object re- sembling a torch. * No. XXII. Plan I. p. 4. 'mvi ''■'• -^'^rj Chap. III.] BAS-RELIEFS DESCRIBED. 79 On a second slab, preserved in this chamber, was repre- sented a double-walled city with arched gateways, and in- clined approaches leading to them from the outer walls. Within were warriors with horses ; outside the fortifications was a narrow stream or canal, planted on both sides with trees, and flowing into a broad river, on which were large boats, holding several persons, and a raft of skins, bearing a man fishing, and two others seated before a pot or cauldron. Along the banks, and apparently washed by the stream, was a wall \vith equidistant towers and battlements. On another part of the same river were men ferrying horses across the river in boats, whilst others were swimming over on inflated skins. The water swarmed with fish and crabs. Gardens and orchards, with various kinds of trees, appeared to be watered by canals similar to those which once spread ferti- lity over the plains of Babylonia, and of which the choked- up beds still remain. A man, suspended by a rope, was being lowered into the water. Upon the comer of a slab, almost destroyed, was a hanging -garden, supported upon columns, whose capitals were not unlike those of the Corin- thian order. This representation of ornamental gardens was highly curious. It is much to be regretted that only frag- ments of these interesting bas-reliefs have been preserved. 8o NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. CHAPTER IV. Preparations for a journey to the Khabotir — Sheikh Suttum — His rediff- — Departure from Mosul — First mcampment — Aboti Khameera — A storm — Tel Ermah — A strange?'— Tel Jemal — A sunset in the desa-t — A Jebour encampmait — The Belled Sinjar — The Siiijar hill — TJte dress of the Yezidis — The Shomal — Return to the Belled — A snake- charmer — fourttey cojitinzied iti the desei-t — Rishwan — Eficavipmatt of the Boraij — Dress of Arab wofnen — Rathaiyah — Hawking — A deputation from the Yezidis — The Khabour — Arrival at Arban. I HAD long Avished to visit the banks of the Khabour. This river, the Chaboras of the Greek geographers, and the Habor, or Chebar, of the Samaritan captivity*, rises in the north of Mesopotamia, and flowing to the west of the Sinjar hill, falls into the Euphrates near the site of the ancient city of Carche- mishf or Circesium, still knowTi to the Bedouins by the name of Carkeseea. As it winds through the midst of the desert, and its rich pastures are the resort of wandering tribes of Arabs, it is always difficult of access to the traveller. It was examined, for a short distance from its mouth, by the expe- dition under Colonel Chesney ; but the general course of the river was imperfectly known, and several geographical ques- tions of interest connected with it were undetermined pre- vious to my visit. With the Bedouins, who were occasionally my guests at Mosul or Nimroud, as well as with the Jebours, whose en- camping gi-ounds were originally on its banks, the Khabour was a constant theme of exaggerated praise. The richness of its pastures, the beauty of its flowers, its jungles teeming with game of all kinds, and the leafy thickness of its trees yielding an agreeable shade during the hottest days of sum- • 2 Kings, xviii. il ; Kzck. i. i. f 2 Cliron. xxxv. 20. IV.] JOURNEY TO THE KHABOUR. Si mer, formed a terrestrial paradise to which the wandering Arab eagerly turned his steps when he could lead his flocks thither in safety. Ruins, too, as an additional attraction, were declared to abound on its banks, and formed the prin- cipal inducement for me to undertake a long and somewhat hazardous journey. During the winter my old friend Moham- med Emin, Sheikh of one of the principal branches of the Jebour tribe, had pitched his tents on the river. Arabs from his encampment would occasionally wander to Mosul. They generally bore an invitation from their chief, urging me to visit him when the spring rendered a march through the de- sert both easy and pleasant. But when a note arrived from the Sheikh, announcing that two colossal idols, similar to those of Nimroud, had suddenly appeared in a mound by the river side, I hesitated no longer, and determined to start at once for the Khabour. As the Shammar Bedouins were scattered over the desert between Mosul and the Khabour, and their horsemen con- tinually scoured the plains in search of plunder, it was neces- sary that we should be protected and accompanied by an influential chief of the tribe. I accordingly sent to Suttum, a Sheikh of the Boraij, one of the principal branches of the Shammar, whose tents were at that time pitched between the river and the ruins of El Hather. Suttum was well known to me, and had already given proofs of his trustworthiness and intelligence on more than one similar occasion. He lost no time in obeying the summons. Arrangements were soon made with him. He agreed to furnish camels for our bag- gage, and to remain with me himself until he had seen my caravan in safety again within the gates of Mosul. He re- turned to the desert to fetch the camels, and to make other preparations for our journey, promising to be with me in a few days. Punctual to his appointment. Sheikh Suttum brought his camels to Mosul on the 19th of March. He was accom- panied by Khoraif, his rcdiff, as the person who sits on the dromedary* behind the owner is called by the Bedouins. * I use the word 'dromedary' for a swift riding camel, the Deloul of the Arabs, and Hcjin of the Turks : it is so appUed generally, although incorrectly, by Europeans in the East. G 82 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. In the two great noniade tribes of the Shamraar and Aneyza, the word ' rediff ' frequently infers a more intimate connec- tion than mere companionship on a camel. It is custom- ary with them for a warrior to swear a kind of brotherhood with a person not only not related to him by blood, but frequently even of a different tribe. Two men connected by this tie are inseparable. They go together to war, they live in the same tent, and are allowed to see each other's wives. They become, indeed, more than brothers. Khoraif was of the tribe of the Aneyza, who have a deadly feud with the Shammar. Having left his own kith and kin on account of some petty quarrel, he had joined their enemies, and had become the rediff of Suttum, dwelling under his canvass, ac- companying him in his expeditions, and riding with him on his deloul. Although he had deserted his tribe, Klioraif had not renounced all connection with his kindred, nor had he been cut off by them. Being thus allied to two powerful clans, he was able to render equal services to any of his old or new friends, who might fall into each other's hands. It is on this account that a wamor generally chooses his rediff from a tribe with which he is at enmity, for if taken in war he would then be dakheel, that is, protected, by the family, or rather particular sept, of his companion. On the other hand, should one of the rediff's friends become the prisoner of the sept into which his kinsman has been adopted, he would be under its protection, and could not be molested. Thus Khoraif would have been an important ad- dition to our party had we fallen in, during our journey, with Aneyza Arabs, against whom, of course, Suttum could not protect us. On warlike expeditions the rediff generally leads the mare which is to be ridden by his companion in the fight. When in face of the enemy he is left in charge of the drome- dary, and takes part in the battle from its back. He rides, when travelling, on the naked back of th=^ animal, clinging to the hinder part of the saddle, liis legs crouched up almost to his chin — a very uncomfortable position for one not accus- tomed from childhood to a hard seat and a rough motion. As our desert trip would probably last for more than two months, during which time we should meet with no villages, IV.] DEPARTURE FROM MOSUL. 83 or permanent settlements, we were obliged to take with us supplies of all kinds, both for ourselves and the workmen ; consequently flour, rice, burghoul (prepared wheat, to be used as a substitute for rice), and biscuits, formed a large portion of our baggage. Two enormous boxes held various luxuries, such as sugar, coffee, tea, and spices, with robes of silk and cotton, and red and yellow boots, presents for the various chiefs whom we might meet in the desert. Baskets, tools for excavating, tents, and working utensils, formed the rest of our baggage. I knew that I should have no difficulty in finding work- men when once in Mohammed Emin's encampment. As, however, it was my intention to explore any ruins of import- ance that we might see on our way, I chose about fifty of my best Arab excavators, and twelve Tiyari, or JN estorians, to ac- company us. They were to follow on foot, but one or two extra camels were provided in case any were unable from fatigue to keep up with the caravan. The camels were driven into the small Mussulman burial-ground, adjoining my house in Mosul. The whole morning was spent in dividing and arranging the loads, always the most difiicult part of the pre- parations for a journey in the East. The pack-saddles of the Bedouins, mere bags of rough canvass stuffed with straw, were ill-adapted to carry anything but sacks of wheat and flour. As soon as a load was adjusted, it was sure to slip over the tail, or to turn over on one side. When this diffi- culty was overcome, the animals would suddenly kneel and shake off their burdens. Their owners were equally hard to please : this camel was galled, another vicious, a third weak. Suttum and Khoraif exerted themselves to the utmost, and the inhabitants of the quarter, together with stray passers-by, joined in the proceedings, adding to the din and confusion, and of course considerably to our difficulties. At length, as the muezzin called to midday prayer, the last camel issued from the Sinjar gate. A place of general rendezvous had been appointed outside the walls, that our party might be collected together for a proper start, and that those who were good Mussulmans might go through their prayers before com- mencing a perilous journey. 84 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. When we had all assembled, our party had swollen into a little army. The Doctor, Mr. Cooper, and Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, of course, accompanied me. Mr. and Mrs. Rolland with their servants had joined our expedition. My Yezidi fellow-traveller from Constantinople, Cawal Yusuf, with three companions^ was to escort me to the Sinjar, and to accom- pany us in our tour through that district. Several Jebour families, whose tribe was encamped at Abou-Psera, near the mouth of the Khabour, seized this opportunity to join their friends, taking with them their tents and cattle. Thirteen or fourteen Bedouins had charge of the camels, so that, with the workmen and servants, our caravan consisted of nearly one hundred well-armed men ; a force sufficient to defy almost any hostile part}^ wth which we were likely to fall in during our journey. We had about five and twenty camels, and as many horses, some of which were led. As it was spring time and the pastures were good, it was not necessary to carry much provender for our animals. Suttum, with his rediff, rode on a light fleet dromedary, which had been taken in a plundering expedition from the Aneyza. Its name was Dhwaila. Its high and picturesque saddle was profusely ornamented with brass bosses and nails ; over the seat was thrown the Baghdad double bags adorned with long tassels and fringes of many-coloured wools, so much coveted by the Bedouin. The Sheikh had the general direc- tion and superintendence of our march. The Mesopotamian desert had been his home from his birth, and he knew every spring and pasture. He was of the Saadi, one of the most illustrious families of the Shammar*, and he possessed great personal influence in the tribe. His intelligence was of a very high order, and he was as well knowTi for his skill in Bedouin intrigue, as for his courage and daring in war. In person he was of middle height, of spare habit, but well made, and of noble and dignified carriage; although a musket wound in the thigh, from which the ball had not been extracted, gave * An Arab tribe is divided into septs, and each se]it is composed of certain families. Thus Suttum was a Shammar, of tlic branch called the Boraij, and of the family of Saadi, besides being a member of a pe- culiar division of the great tribe called the Khorusseh. IV.] SHEIKH SUTTUM. 85 him a slight lameness in his gait. His features were regular and well-proportioned, and of that delicate character so fre- quently found amongst the nomades of the desert. A restless and sparkling eye of the deepest black seemed to scan and Sheikh Suttum. penetrate everything within its ken. His dark hair was platted into many long tails ; his beard, like that of the Arabs in ge- neral, was scanty. He wore the usual Arab shirt, and over it a cloak of blue cloth trimmed with red silk and lined with fur, a present from some pasha as he pretended, but more 86 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. [jrobably a part of some great man's wardrobe that had been appropriated without its owner's consent. A coloured ker- chief, or keffieh, was thrown loosely over his head, and con- fmed above the temples by a rope of twisted camel's hair. At his side hung a scimitar, an antique horse-pistol was held by a rope, tied as a girdle round his waist, and a long spear, tufted with black ostrich feathers, and ornamented with scarlet streamers, rested on his shoulder. He was the very picture of a true Bedouin Sheikh, and his liveliness, his wit, and his singular powers of conversation, which made him the most agreeable of companions, did not belie his race. As we wound slowly over the low rocky hills to the west of the town of Mosul, in a long straggling line, our caravan had a strange and motley appearance ; Europeans, Turks, Bedouins, town-Arabs, Tiyari, and Yezidis, adding, by dif- ference of costume and a profusion of bright colours, to the general picturesqueness and gaiety of the scene. The Tigris, from its entrance into the low country at the foot of the Kurdish mountains near Jezirah, to the ruined to\vn of Tekrit, is separated from the Mesopotamian plains by a range of low limestone hills. We rode over this undu- lating ground for about an hour and a half, and then de- scended into the plain of Zerga, encamping for the night near the ruins of a small village, with a falling castle, called Sahaghi, about twelve miles from Mosul. The place had been left by its inhabitants, like all others on the desert side of the town, on account of the depredations of the Bedouins. There is now scarcely one permanent settlement on the banks of the Tigris from Jezirah to the immediate vicinity of Bagh- dad, with the exception of Mosul and Tekrit. One of the most fertile countries in the world, watered by a river navi- gable for nearly six hundred miles, has been turned into a desert and a wilderness, by continued misgovernment, op- pression, and neglect. Our tents were pitched near a pool of rain water, wliich, although muddy and scant, sufficed for our wants. There are no springs in tliis part of the plain, and the Bedouins are entirely dependent upon such temporary supplies. The re- mains of ancient villages show, however, that water is not IV.] ENCAMPMENT IN THE DESERT. 87 concealed far beneath the surface, and that wells once yielded all that was required for irrigation and human consumption. The loads had not yet been fairly divided amongst the camels, and the sun had risen above the horizon, before the Bedouins had arranged them to their satisfaction, and were ready to depart. The plain of Zerga was carpeted with ten- der grass, scarcely yet forward enough to afford pasture for our animals. Scattered here and there were tulips of a bright scarlet hue, the earliest flower of the spring. Our first Encampment in the Desert. A ride of three hours and a quarter brought us to a second line of limestone hills, the continuation of the Tel Afer and Sinjar range, dividing the small plain of Zerga from the true Mesopotamian desert. From a peak which I ascended to take bearings, the vast level country, stretching to the Eu- phrates, lay like a map beneath me, dotted with mounds, but otherwise unbroken by a single eminence. The nearest and 88 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. most remarkable group of ruins was called Abou Khameera and consisted of a lofty, conical mound surrounded by a square inclosure, or ridge of earth, marking, as at Kouyunjik and Nimroud, the remains of ancient walls. From the foot of the hill on which I stood there issued a small rivulet, winding amongst rushes, and losiVig itself in the plain. This running water had drawn together the black tents of the Je- hesh, a half sedentary tribe of Arabs, who cultivate the lands around the ruined village of Abou Maria. Their flocks gra- zing on the plain, and the shepherds who watched them, were the only living objects in that boundless expanse. As the caravan issued from the defile leading from the hills into the plain, the Arabs brought out bowls of sour milk and fresh water, inviting us to spend the night in their encamp- ment. Eight or ten of my workmen, under a Christian su- perintendent, had been for some days excavating in the Assyrian ruins of Abou Khameera. I therefore ordered the tents to be pitched near the reedy stream, and galloped to the mounds, which were rather more than a mile distant. A broad and lofty mound shows the traces of several dis- tinct platforms or terraces rising one above the other. It is almost perpendicular on its four sides, except where, on the south-eastern, there appears to have been an inchned ascent, or a flight of steps, leading to the summit, and it stands nearly in the centre of an inclosure of earthen walls forming a re- gular quadrangle about 660 paces square. The workmen had opened deep trenches and tunnels in several parts of the i:irincipal ruin, and had found walls of sun-dried brick, un- sculptured alabaster slabs, and some circular stone sockets for the hinges of gates, similar to those discovered at Nim- roud. The baked bricks and the pieces of gypsum and pottery scattered amongst the rubbish bore no inscriptions; nor could I, after the most careful search, find the smallest fragment of sculpture. One of those furious and sudden storms, which frequently sweep over the plains of Mesopotamia during the spring season, burst over us in the night. Whilst incessant light- nings broke the gloom, a raging wind almost drowned the deep roll of the thunder. The united strength of the Arabs IV.] TEL ERMAH. 89 could scarcely hold the flcipping canvass of the tents. Rain descended in torrents, sparing us no place of shelter. To- wards dawn the hurricane had passed away, leaving a still and cloudless sky. When the sun rose from the broad ex- panse of the desert, as out of the sea, a most delightful calm and freshness pervaded the air. During the day's journey we trod on a carpet of the bright- est verdure, mingled with gaudy flowers. Men and animals rejoiced equally in these luxuriant pastures, and leaving the line of march strayed over the meadows. On all sides of us rose Assyrian mounds, now covered with soft herbage. I rode with Suttum from ruin to ruin, examining each, but find- ing no other remains than fragments of pottery and baked bricks. The Bedouin chief had names for them all, but they were mere Arab names, derived generally from some local peculiarity; the more ancient had been long lost. From his childhood his father's tents had been pitched amongst them nearly every year ; when in the spring the tribe journeyed towards the banks of the Khabour, and again when in autumn they re-sought their winter camping-grounds around Babylon. These lofty mounds, seen from a great distance, are the best of landmarks in a vast plain, and guide the Bedouin in his Avanderings. Tel Ermah, ' the mound of the spears,' had been visible from our tents, rising far above the surrounding ruins. As it was a little out of the direct line of march, Suttum mounted one of our led horses, and leaving Khoraif to protect the caravan, rode with me to the spot. The mound is precisely similar in character to Abou Khameera and Mokhamour, and, like them, stands within a quadrangle of earthen walls. On its south-eastern side a ravine marks the remains of the ascent to the several terraces of the building. The principal ruin has assumed a conical form, like the high mound at Nimroud, and from the same cause. It was, I presume, originally square. Within the inclosure are traces of ancient dwellings, but I was unable to find any inscribed fragments of stone or brick. Whilst I was examining the ruins, Suttum, from the highest mound, had been scanning the plain with his eagle eye. At go NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. length it rested upon a distant moving object. Although with a telescope I could scarcely distinguish that to which he pointed, the Sheikh saw that it was a rider on a drome- dary. He now, therefore, began to watch the stranger with that eager curiosity and suspicion always shown by a Bedouin when the solitude of the desert is broken by a human being of whose condition and business he is ignorant. Suttum soon satisfied himself as to the character of the solitary wan- derer. He declared him to be a messenger from his own tribe, who had been sent to lead us to his father's tents. Mounting his horse, he galloped towards him. The Arab soon perceived the approaching horseman, and then com- menced on both sides a series of manoeuvres practised by those who meet in the desert, and are as yet distrustful of each other. I marked them from the ruin as they cautiously approached, now halting, now drawing nigh, and then pre- tending to ride away in an opposite direction. At length, recognising one another, they met, and, having first dismoun- ted to embrace, came together towards me. As Suttum had conjectured, a messenger had been sent to him from his father's tribe. The Boraij were now moving towards the north in search of the spring pastures, and their tents would be pitched in three or four days beneath the Sinjar hill. Suttum at once understood the order of their march, and made arrangements to meet them accordingly. Leaving the ruins of Tel Ermah, we found the caravan halting near some wells of sweet water, called Marzib. From this spot the old castle of Tel Afar, standing boldly on an eminence about ten miles distant, was plainly visible. Con- tinuing our march we reached, towards evening, a group of mounds known as Tel Jemal, and pitched our tents in the midst of them on a green lawn, enamelled with flowers, that furnished a carpet unequalled in softness of texture, or in richness of colour, by the looms of Cashmere. A sluggish stream, called by the Arabs El Abra, and by the Turcomans of Tel Afer, Kharala, crept through the ruins. The tents had scarcely been raised when a party of horse- men were seen coming towards us. As they api)roached our IV.] OZAIR AGHA AND HIS TURCOMANS. 91 encampment they played the Jerid with their long spears, galloping to and fro on their well-trained mares. They were the principal inhabitants of Tel Afer with Ozair Agha, their chief, who brought us a present of lambs, flour, and fresh vegetables. The Agha rode on a light chestnut mare of beautiful proportions and rare breed. His dress, as well as that of his followers, was singularly picturesque. His people are Turcomans, a solitary colony in the midst of the desert ; and although their connection with the Bedouins has taught them the tongue and the habits of the wandering tribes, yet they still wear the turban of many folds, and the gay flowing robes of their ancestors. They allow their hair to grow long, and to fall in curls on their shoulders. As the evening crept on, I watched from the highest mound the sun as it gradually sank in unclouded splendour below the sea-like expanse before me. On all sides, as far as the eye could reach, rose the grass-covered heaps marking the sites of ancient habitations. The great tide of civilisation had long since ebbed, leaving these scattered wrecks on the soli- tary shore. Are those waters to flow again, bearing back the seeds of knowledge and of wealth that they have wafted to the West % We wanderers were seeking what they had left behind, as children gather up the coloured shells on the de- serted sands. At my feet there was a busy scene, making more lonely the unbroken solitude which reigned in the vast plain around, where the only moving thing were the shadows of the lofty mounds as they lengthened before the declining sun. Above three years before, when, watching the approach of night from the old castle of Tel Afer, I had counted nearly one hundred ruins, now, when in the midst of them, no less than double that number were seen from Tel Jemal. Our tents crowning the lip of a natural amphitheatre bright with flowers, Ozair Agha and his Turcomans seated on the green- sward in earnest talk with the Arab chief, the horses picketed in the long grass, the Bedouins driving home their camels for their night's rest, the servants and grooms busied with their various labours ; such was the foreground of a picture of per- fect calm and stillness. In the distance was the long range 92 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. of the Sinjar hills, furrowed with countless ravines, each marked by a dark purple shadow, gradually melting into the evening haze. We had a long day's march before us to the village of Sin- jar. The wilderness appeared still more beautiful than it had done the day before. The recent storm had given new life to a vegetation which, concealed beneath a crust of ap- parently unfruitful earth, only waits for a spring shower to burst, as if by enchantment, through the thirsty soil. Here and there grew patches of a shrub-like plant with an edible root, having a sharp pungent taste like mustard, eaten raw and much relished by the Bedouins. Among them lurked game of various kind. Troops of gazelles sprang from the low cover, and bounded over the plain. The greyhounds coursed hares ; the horsemen followed a wild boar of enor- mous size, and nearly white from age ; and the Doctor, who was the sportsman of the party, shot a bustard, with a beauti- ful speckled plumage, and a ruff of long feathers round its neck. This bird was larger than the common small bustard, but apparently of the same species. Other bustards, the great and the middle-sized (the Houbron and Houbara of the Arabs*), and the lesser, besides many birds of the plover kind t, rose from these tufts, which seemed to afford food and shelter to a variety of living creatures. We scanned the ho- rizon in vain for the wild ass, which is but thinly scattered over the plains. The Arabs found many eggs of the Hou- bara. They were laid in the grass without any regular nest, the bird sim|)ly making a form somewhat like that of a hare, and sitting very close, frequently not rising until it was nearly trodden under foot. One or two eggs of the great bustard were also brought to me during the day. We still wandered amongst innumerable mounds. The largest I examined were called Hathail and Usgah. They resembled those of Abou Khameera and Tel Ermah, with * The Houbron is the Otis tarda, or great bustard; tlie Houbara, the Otis Houbara. I believe that more than one species of the lesser bus- tard (Otis tetrax) is found in the Mesopotamian plains. t The most abundant was a large grey plover, called by the Bedouins 'Smoug.' IV.] EXHILARATION OF THE ARABS. 93 the remains of terraces, the ascent to them being on the south-eastern side, and the inclosure of earthen walls. We rode in a direct line to the Belled Sinjar, the residence of the governor of the district. There was no beaten track, and the camels wandered along as they listed, cropping as they went the young grass. The horsemen and footmen, too, scattered themselves over the plain in search of game. Suttum rode from group to group on his swift deloul, urging them to keep together, as the Aneyza gazous* occasionally swept this part of the desert. But to little purpose ; the feel- ing of liberty and independence wliich these boundless mea- dows produced was too complete and too pleasing to be controlled by any fear of danger, or by the Sheikh's prudent counsel. All shared in the exhilarating effects of the air and scene. Hormuzd would occasionally place himself at the head of the Jebours, and chant their war songs, improvising words suited to the occasion. The men answered in chorus, dancing as they went, brandishing their weapons, and raising their bright-coloured kerchiefs, as flags, on the end of their spears. The more sedate Bedouins smiled in contempt at these noisy effusions of joy, only worthy of tribes who have touched the plough; but they indulged in no less keen, though more suppressed, emotions of delight. Even the Nestorians caught the general enthusiasm, and sung their mountain songs as they walked along. As we drew near to the foot of the hills we found a large encampment, formed partly by Jebours belonging to Sheikh Abd-ul-Azeez, and partly by a Sinjar tribe called Mendka, under a chief known as the ' Effendi,' who enjoys consider- able influence in this district. I dismounted at a short dis- tance, to avoid a breach of good manners, as to refuse to eat bread, or to spend the night, after alighting near a tent, would be thought a grave slight upon its owner. It was with difficulty that I resisted the entreaties of the Eff"endi to partake of his hospitality. We did not reach the Belled Sinjar until after the sun had gone down, the caravan having been ten hours in unceasing march. The tents were • A plundering party, the cJiappou of the Persian tribes. 94 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. pitched on a small plot of ground, watered by numerous rills, and in the centre of the ruins. Although almost a swamp, it was the only spot free from stones and rubbish. In front of the tent door rose a leaning minaret, part of a mosque, and other ruins of Arab edifices. To the right Avas an old wall with a falling archway, from beneath which gushed a most abundant stream of clear sweet water, still filling the ancient fountains and reservoirs of the city. My tent was soon filled with the people of the Belled, and they remained in animated discussion until the night was far spent. The ruins amongst which we had encamped are those of the town of Sinjar, the capital of an Arab principality in the time of the Caliphs. Its princes frequently asserted their independence, coined money, and ruled from the Khabour and Euphrates to the neighbourhood of Mosul. The pro- vince was included within the dominions of the celebrated Saleh-ed-din (the Saladin of the Crusades), and was more than once visited by him. Wishing to visit the villages of the S/iomal, or northern side of the mountain, and at the same time to put an end, if possible, to the bloodshed between their inhabitants, and to induce them to submit to the governor, I quitted the Belled in the afternoon of the following day, accompanied by Cawal Yusuf, leaving the tents, baggage, and workmen under the charge of the Bairakdar. We followed a precipitous path- way along the hill-side to Mirkan, the village destroyed by Tahyar Pasha on my first visit to the Sinjar. * This part ot the mountain is coated with thin strata of a white fossiliferous limestone, which detach themselves in enormous flakes, and fall into the ravines, leaving an endless variety of singular forms in the rocks above. In some places the declivities are broken into stupendous flights of steps, in others they have the columnar appearance of basalt. This limestone produces scarcely a blade of vegetation, and its milk-white colour, throwing back the intense glare of the sun's rays, is both painful and hurtful to the eyes. * NinevL-h and its Remains, p. 214, 215. IV.] VILLAGES OF THE SIN JAR. 95 Mirkan was in open rebellion, and had refused to pay taxes and to receive the officer of the Pasha of Mosul. I was, at first, somewhat doubtful of our reception. Esau, the chief, came out, however, to meet me, and led us to his house. We were soon surrounded by the principal men of the village. They were also at war with the tribes of the 'Shomal.' A few days before they had fought with the loss of several men on both sides. Seconded by Cawal Yusuf, I endeavoured to make them feel that peace and union amongst themselves was not only essential to their own welfare, but to that of the Yezidis of Kurdistan and Armenia, who had, at length, re- ceived a promise of protection from the Turkish government. After a lengthened discussion the chief consented to accom- pany me to the neighbouring village of Bukra, with whose inhabitants his people had been for some time at war. There are two pathways from Mirkan to the Shomal, one winding through narrow valleys, the other crossing the shoul- der of the mountain. I chose the latter, as it enabled me to obtain an extensive view of the surrounding countr}^, and to take bearings of many points of interest. The slopes around the villages are most industriously and carefully cultivated. Earth, collected with great labour, is spread over terraces, supported by walls of loose stones, .as on the declivities of Mount Lebanon. These stages, rising one above the other, are planted with fig-trees, between which is occasionally raised a scanty crop of wheat or barley. The neatness of these terraced plots conveys a very favourable impression of the industry of the Yezidis. Near the crest of the hill we passed a white conical build- ing, shaded by a grove of trees. It was the tomb of the father of Murad, one of Yusuf 's companions, a Cawal of note, who had died of the plague near the spot some years before. The walls were hung with the horns of sheep, slain in sacri- fice, by occasional pilgrims. I had little anticipated the beauty and extent of the view which opened round us on the top of the pass. The Sinjar hill is a solitary ridge rising abruptly in the midst of the de- sert ; from its summit, therefore, the eye ranges on one side over the vast level wilderness stretching to the Euphrates, 95 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. and on the other over the plain bounded by the Tigris and the lofty mountains of Kurdistan. Nisibin and Mardin were both visible in the distance. I could distinguish the hills of Baadri and Rhcikh Adi, and many well-known peaks of the Kurdish Ali)S. lichind the lower ranges, each distinctly marked by its sharjj, serrated outline, were the snow-covered IV.] THE YEZIDIS OF THE SINJAR. 97 heights of Tiyari and Bohtan. Whilst to the south of the Sinjar artificial mounds appeared to abound, to the north I could distinguish but few such remains. We dismounted tc gaze upon this truly magnificent scene lighted up by the set- ting sun. I have rarely seen any prospect more impressive than these boundless plains viewed from a considerable ele- vation. Besides the idea of vastness they convey, the light and shade of passing clouds flitting over the face of the land, and the shadows as they lengthen towards the close of day, produce constantly changing effects of singular variety and beauty.* It was night before we reached Bukra, where we were wel- comed with great hospitality. The best house in the village had been made ready for us, and was scrupulously neat and clean, as the houses of the Yezidis usually are. It was curi- ously built, being divided into three principal rooms, opening one into the other. They were separated by a wall about six feet high, upon which were placed wooden pillars supporting the ceiling. The roof rested on trunks of trees, raised on rude stone pedestals at regular intervals in the centre cham- ber, which was open on one side to the air, like a Persian Iwan. The sides of the rooms were honeycombed with small recesses like pigeon-holes, tastefully arranged. The whole was plastered with the whitest plaster, fancy designs in bright red being introduced here and there, and giving the interior of the house a very quaint and original appearance. The elders of Bukra came to me after we had dined, and seated themselves respectfully and decorously round the room. They were not averse to the reconciliation I pro- posed, received the hostile chiefs without hesitation, and promised to accompany me on the morrow to the adjoining village of Ossofa, with which they were also at war. In the morning we visited several houses in the village. They were all built on the same plan, and were equally neat and clean. The women received us without concealing their * The traveller who has looked down from Mardin, for the first time, upon the plains of Mesopotamia, can never forget the impression which that singular scene must have made upon him. The view from the Sinjar hill is far more beautiful and varied. H 98 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap, faces, which are, however, far from pleasing, their features being irregular, and their complexion sallow. Those who are married dress entirely in white, with a white kerchief under their chins, and another over their heads held by the agal, or woollen cord, of the Bedouins. The girls wear white shirts and drawers, but over them coloured zaboims, or long silk dresses, open in front, and confined at the waist by a girdle ornamented with pieces of silver. They twist gay kerchiefs round their heads, and adorn themselves with coins, and glass and amber beads, when their parents are able to pro- cure them. But the Yezidis of the Sinjar are now very poor, and nearly all the trinkets of the women have long since fallen into the hands of the Turkish soldiery, or have been sold to pay taxes and arbitrary fines. The men have a dark complexion, black and piercing eyes, and frequently a fierce and forbidding countenance. They are of small stature, but have well-proportioned limbs strongly knit together, and are muscular, active, and capable of bearing great fatigue. Their dress consists of a shirt, loose trowsers and cloak, all white, and a black turban, from beneath which their hair falls in ringlets. Their long rifles are rarely out of their hands, and they carry pistols in their girdle, a sword at their side, and a row of cartouche cases, generally made of cut reeds, on their breast. These additions to their costume, and their swarthy features, give them a peculiar look of ferocity, which, accord- ing to some, is not belied by their characters. The Yezidis are, by one of their religious laws, forbidden to wear the common Eastern shirt open in front, and this article of their dress is always closed up to the neck. This is a distinctive mark of the sect by which its members may be recognised at a glance. The language of the people of Sinjar is Kurdish, and few speak Arabic. According to their traditions they are the descendants of a colony from the north of Syria, which settled in Mesopotamia at a comparatively recent period, but I could obtain no positive information on the subject. It is probable, however, that they did not mi- grate to their present seats before the fall of the Arab princi- pality, and the invasion of Timourleng, towards the end of the fourteenth century. IV.] YEZIDI VILLAGES. 99 The north side of the mountain is thickly inhabited, and well cultivated as far as the scanty soil will permit. Scarcely three-quarters of a mile to the west of Bukxa is the village of Naksi, the interval between the two being occupied by ter- races planted -with fig-trees. We did not stop there, although the inhabitants came out to meet us, but rode on to Ossofa, or Usifa, only separated from Naksi by a rocky valley. The people of this village were at war with their neighbours, and as this was one of the prmcipal seats of rebellion and discon- tent, I was anxious to have an interview with its chief. A Group of Yezidis. The position of Ossofa is very picturesque. ' It stands on the edge of a deep ravine ; behind it are lofty crags and nar- row gorges, whose sides are filled with natural caverns. On overhanging rocks, towering above the village, are two ziarehs, or holy places, of the Yezidis, distinguished from afar by their white fluted spires. Pulo, the chief, met us at the head of the principal inha- bitants, and led me to his house, where a large assembly was soon collected to discuss the principal object of my visit loo NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap, The chiefs of Mirkan and Bukra were induced to make offers of peace, which were accepted, and, after much discussion, the terms of an amicable arrangement were agreed to and ratified by general consent. Sheep were slain to celebrate the event. The meat, after the Yezidi fashion, Avas boiled with onions and a kind of parched pea, and after^vards served up, like porridge, in large wooden bowls. The mess is not unsavoury, and is the principal dish of the Sinjar. Dried figs, strung in rows and made up into grotesque figures, were brought to us as presents. After the political questions had been settled, the young men adjourned to an open spot out- side the village to practise with their rifles. They proved excellent shots, seldom missing the very centre of the mark. The villages of Bouran (now deserted), Gundi-Gayli, Kushna, and Aldina, follow to the west of Ossofa, scarcely half a mile intervening between each. They are grouped together on the mountain side, which, above and below them, is divided into terraces and planted with fig-trees. The loose stones are most carefully removed from every plot of earth, however small, and built up into walls ; on the higher slopes are a few vineyards. We passed the night at Aldina. Below the village is a remarkable ziareh, inclosed by a wall of cyclopean dimensions. In the plain beneath, in the midst of a grove of trees, is the tomb of Cawal Hussein, the father of Cawal Yusuf, who died in the Sinjar during one of his periodical visitations. He was a priest of sanctity and influence, and his grave is still visited as a place of pilgrimage. Sacrifices of sheep are made there, but they are merely in remembrance of the deceased, and have no particular religious meaning attached to them. The flesh is distributed amongst the poor, and a sum of money is fre- (j^uently added. Approving the ceremony as one tending to promote charity and kindly feeling, I gave a sheep to be sacrificed at the tomb of the Cawal, and one of my fellow travellers added a second, the carcases being afterwards divided among the needy. All the villages we had passed during our short day's journey stand high on the mountain side, where they have been built for security against the Bedouins, and command IV.] YEZIDI SNAKE-CHARMER. |oi extensive views of the plain, the snowy range of Kurdistan fonning a magnificent back-ground. The springs, rising in the hill, are either entirely absorbed in irrigation, or are soon lost in the thirsty plain beneath. Parallel to the Sinjar range is a long narrow valley, scarcely half a mile in width, formed by a bold ridge of white limestone rocks, so friable that the plain for some distance is covered with their frag- ments. I returned to the Belled by a direct and precipitous pass, and we were nearly two hours in reaching the summit. We then found ourselves on a broad green platform thickly wooded with dwarf oak. I was surprised to see snow still lying in the sheltered nooks. On both sides of us stretched the great Mesopotamian plains. To the south, glittering in the sun, was a small salt lake about fifteen miles distant from the Sinjar, called by the Arabs, Munaif From it the Bedouins, when in their northern pastures, obtain their sup- plies of salt. We descended to the Belled through a narrow valley thick with oak and various shrubs. Game appeared to abound. A Yezidi, who had accompanied us from Aldina, shot three wild boars, and we put up several coveys of the large red partridge. The ibex is also found amongst the rocks. We were nearly five hours in crossing the mountain. Suttum and his Bedouin companions, whom he had fetched from his father's tents during my absence, were waiting for us, but were not anxious to start before the following morn- ing. A Yezidi snake-charmer, with his son, a boy of seven or eight years old, came to my tents in the afternoon, and exhibited his tricks in the midst of a circle of astonished beholders. He first pulled from a bag a number of snakes knotted together, which the bystanders declared to be of the most venomous kind. The child took the reptiles fearlessly from his father, and placing them in his bosom allowed them to twine themselves round his neck and arms. The Bedouins gazed in mute wonder at these proceedings, but when the Sheikh, feigning rage against one of the snakes which had drawn blood from his son, seized it, and biting off its head with his teeth threw the writhing body amongst them, they I02 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. could no longer restrain their horror and indignation. They uttered loud curses on the infidel snake-charmer and his kindred to the remotest generations. Suttum did not regain his composure during the whole evening, frequently relapsing into profound thought, then suddenly breaking out in a fresh curse upon the Sheikh, who, he declared, had a very close and unholy connection with the evil one. Many days passed before he had completely got over the horror the poor Yezidi's feats had caused him. Suttum had changed his deloul for a white mare of great beauty, named Athaiba. She was of the race of Kohaila, of exquisite symmetry, in temper docile as a lamb, yet with an eye of fire, and of a proud and noble carriage when excited in vvar or in the chase. His saddle was the simple stuffed pad generally used by the Bedouins, without stirrups. A halter alone served to guide the gentle animal. Suttum had brought with him several of the principal members of his family, all of whom were mounted on high-bred mares. One youth rode a bay filly, for which, I was assured, one hundred camels had been offered. We followed a pathway over the broken ground at the foot of the Sinjar, crossing deep watercourses worn by the small streams, which lose themselves in the desert. The villages, as on the opposite slope, or ' Shomal,' are high up on the hill-side. The first we passed was Gabara, inhabited by Yezidis and Mussulmans. Its chief, Rufifo, with a party of horsemen, came to us, and intreated me to show him how to open a spring called Soulak, which, he said, had suddenly been choked up, leaving the village almost without water. Unfortunately, being ignorant of the arts for which he gave me credit, I was unable to afford him any help. We encamped, after a short ride, upon a pleasant stream beneath the village of Jedaila. We remained here a whole day in order to visit Suttum's tribe, which was now migrating towards the Sinjar. Early in the morning a vast crowd of moving objects could be faintly perceived on the horizon. These were the camels and sheep of the I5oraij, followed by the usual crowd of men, women, children, and beasts of burden. We watched them IV.] RISHWAN, CHIEF OF THE BORAIJ. 103 as they scattered themselves over the plain, and gradually settled in different pastures. By midday the encampment had been formed and all the stragglers collected. We could scarcely distinguish the black tents, and their site was only marked by curling -vvreaths of white smoke. In the afternoon Suttum's father, Rishwan, came to us, accompanied by several Sheikhs of the Boraij. He rode on a white deloul, celebrated for her beauty and swiftness. His saddle and the neck of the animal were profusely adorned with woollen tassels of many colours, glass beads, and small shells, after the manner of the Arabs of Nejd. The well- trained dromedary having knelt at the door of my tent, the old man alighted, and throwing his anns around my neck kissed me on both shoulders. He was tall, and of noble carriage. His beard was white with age, but his form was still erect and his footsteps firm. Rishwan was one of the bravest warriors of the Shammar. He had come, when a child, with his father from the original seat of the tribe in northern Arabia. As the leader of a large branch of the Boraij he had taken a prominent part in the wars of the tribe, and the young men still sought him to head their distant forays. But he had long renounced the toils of the gazou, and left his three sons, of whom Suttum was the second, to maintain the honour of the Saadi. He was a noble specimen of the true Bedouin, both in character and appearance. With the skill and daring of the Arab warrior he united the hospitality, generosity, and good faith of a hero of Arab romance. He spoke in the rich dialect of the desert tongue, with the eloquence peculiar to his race. He sat with me during the greater part of the afternoon, and having eaten bread returned to his tent. The Yezidi chiefs of Kerraniyah or Sekkiniyah (the village is known by both names) came to our encampment soon after Rishwan's arrival. As they had a feud with the Be- douins, I took advantage of their visit to effect a reconcilia- tion, both parties swearing on my hospitality to abstain from plundering one another hereafter. Being anxious to reach the end of our journey I declined Suttum's invitation to sleep in his tent, but sending the caravan I04 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. to the place appointed for our night's encampment, I made a detour to visit his father, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. R., the Doctor, Mr. C, and Hormuzd. Although the Boraij were above six miles from the small rivulet of Jedaila, they were obliged to send to it for water.* As we rode towards their tents we passed their camels and sheep slowly wan- dering towards the stream. The camels, spreading far and wide over the plain, were divided according to their colours ; some herds being entirely white, some yellow, and others brown or black. Each animal bore the well-known mark of the tribe branded on his side. The Arabs, who drove them, were mounted on dromedaries carrying the capacious roinuis, or buckets made of bullock skins, in which water is brought to the encampment for domestic purposes. A Bedouin warrior, armed with his long tufted spear, and urging his fleet deloul, occasionally passed rapidly by us leading his high-bred mare to water, followed by her colt gambolling unrestrained over the greensward. In the throng we met Sahiman, the elder brother of Suttum. He was riding on a bay horse, whose fame had spread far and wide amongst the tribes, and whose exploits were a constant theme of praise and wonder with the Shammar. It was of the race of Obeyan Sherakh, a breed now almost extinct, and perhaps more highly prized than any other of the desert. Near the encampment of the Boraij was a group of mounds resembling in every respect those I have already described. The Bedouins call them Abou-Khaima. Their similarity of form, — a centre mound divided into a series of terraces, ascended by an inclined way or steps, and sur- rounded by equilateral walls, — would lead to the conjecture that these mounds are the remains of fire temples, or vast altars, destined for the worship of the heavenly bodies. It will be seen hereafter that the well-known ruin of the Birs Nimroud, on or near the site of ancient Babylon, is very nearly the same in shape. * In the spring months, when the pastures are good, the sheep and camels of the Bedouins require but little water, and the tents are seldom pitched near a well or stream ; frequently as much as half a day's jour- ney distant. IV.] TENTS OF RISHWAN. 105 The Bedouins who accompanied us galloped to and fro, engaging in mimic war with their long quivering spears, until we reached the encampment of the Boraij. The tents were scattered far and wide over the plain ; for so they are pitched during this season of the year when the pastures are abundant, and no immediate danger is apprehended from hostile tribes. At other times they are ranged in parallel lines close together, the Sheikh always occupying the fore- most place, facing the side from which the guest, as well as the enemy, is expected, that he may be the first to exercise hospitality, and the first to meet the foe. This position, however, varies in winter, when the tent must be closed com- pletely on one side, according to the direction of the wind, so that when the wind changes, the whole camp suddenly, as it were, turns round, the last tent becoming the foremost. It is thought unmannerly to approach by the back, to step over tent-ropes, or to ride towards the women's compartment, which is almost always on the right. During warm weather the whole canvass is raised on poles to allow the air to cir- culate freely, a curtain being used in the morning and evening to ward off the rays of the sun. The Bedouin can tell at once, when drawing near to an encampment, the tent of the Sheikh. It is generally distinguished by its size, and frequently by the spears stuck in the ground in front of it If the stranger be not advancing directly towards it, and wishes to be the guest of the chief, he goes out of his way, that on approaching he may ride at once to it without passing any other, as it is considered uncourteous and almost an insult to go by a man's tent without stopping and eating his bread. The owner of a tent has even the right to claim any one as his guest who passes in front of it on entering an encampment. Rishwan, Suttum, Mijwell his younger biother, and the elders of the tribe, were standing before the tent ready to receive us. All the old carpets and coverlets of the family, and ragged enough they were, had been spread out for their guests. As we seated ourselves two sheep were slain before us for the feast ; a ceremony it would not have been con- sidered sufficiently hospitable to perform previous to our io6 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. arrival, as it might have been doubtful whether the animals had been slain wholly for us. The chief men of the encamp- ment collected round us, crouching in a wide circle on the grass. We talked of Arab politics and Arab war, ghazous, and Aneyza mares stolen or carried off in battle by the Shammar. Huge wooden platters, heavy with the steaming messes of rice and boiled meat, were soon brought in and placed on the ground before us. Immense lumps of fresh butter were then heaped upon them, and allowed to melt, the chief occasionally mixing and kneading the whole up together with his hands. When the dishes had cooled * the venerable Rishwan stood up in the centre of the tent, and called in a loud voice upon each person by name and in his turn to come to the feast. We fared first wath a few of the principal Sheikhs. The most influential men were next summoned, each however resisting the honour, and allowing himself to be dragged by Suttum and Mijwell to his place. The children, as is usual, were admitted last, and woimd up the entertainment by a general scramble for the fragments and the bones. Neither Rishwan nor his sons would eat of the repast they had prepared, the laws of hospitality requiring that it should be left entirely to their guests. After we had eaten, I accompanied Mrs. R. to the harem, where we found assembled the wives and daughters of Rishwan, of his sons, and of the elders of the tribe, who had met together to see the Frank lady. Amongst them were several of considerable beauty. The wife of Sahiman, the eldest of the three brothers, was most distinguished for her good looks. They were all dressed in the usual long blue shirt, and striped or black abba, with a black head- kerchief, or keffieh, confined round the temple by a band * It is considered exceedingly inhospitable amongst the Shammar to place a hot dish before guests, as they are obliged to eat quickly out of consideration for others, who are awaiting their turn, which they cannot do, unless the mess be cool, without burning their mouths, or wasting half their time picking out the colder bits. On one occasion, Ferhan, the great chief of the Shammar, and a large number of horsemen having alighted at my tent, I prepared a dinner for them. The Sheikh was after- wards heard to say that the Bey's feast was sumptuous, but that he had not treated his guests with proper hospitality, as the dishes were so hot nobody could eat his fill. IV.] BEDOUIN LADIES. 107 of spun camel's wool. Massive rings of silver, adorned with gems and coral, hung from their noses, * and bracelets in the . same metal, and also set with precious stones, en- circled their wrists and ankles. Some wore neck- laces of coins, coarse amber, agate, cornelian beads and cylinders, mostly Assyrian relics picked up amongst ruins after rain. These or- naments were confined to the unmarried girls, and to the youngest and prettiest wives, who on waxing old are ob- liged to transfer them to a more favoured suc- cessor. When Bedouin ladies leave their tents, or are on a march, they sometimes wear a black kerchief over the lower part of the face, showing only their sparkling eyes. Like the men they also use the keffieh, or head -kerchief, to cover their features. Their complexion is of a dark rich olive. Their eyes are large, almond-shaped, expressive, and of extraordi- nary brilliancy and fire. They suffer their black and luxu- riant hair to fall in clusters of curls. Their carriage in youth is erect and graceful. They are able to bear much fatigue, and show great courage and spirit in moments of difficulty and danger. But their beauty is only the companion of ex- treme youth. With few exceptions, soon after twenty, and the birth of one or two children, they rapidly change into the most hideous of old hags, the lightning-like brightness of the eye alone surviving the general wreck. When young, the daughters and wives of the chiefs are well cared for ; they * These are 'the rings and nose jewels,' which Isaiah (iii. 21.) de- scribes as worn by the Jewish women. It is curious that no representa- tion of them has hitherto been found in the Assyrian sculptures. Arab Nose Ring and Bracelet of Silver. io8 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. move with the tribe in the covered camel-saddle, shaded by carpets from the rays of the sun. Daughters are looked upon in the desert* as a source of strength and advantage, from the alliances they enable the father to make with powerful and influential chiefs, being frequently the means of healing feuds which have existed for many years. The children of Rishwan's family were naked, and, of course, dirty. Before we left the encampment Suttum led before me as a present a handsome grey colt, which was as usual returned with a request to take care of it until it was required, the polite way of declining a gift of this nature. Suttum having saddled his deloul was ready to accompany us on my journey. As he was to be for some time absent from his tents, he asked my leave to take his wife with him, and I willingly consented. Rathaiyah was the sister of Sut- tam el Meekh, chief of the powerful tribe of the Abde, one of the principal divisions of the Shammar. Although no longer young she still retained much of her early beauty. There was more than the usual Bedouin fire in her large black eyes, and her hair fell in many ringlets on her shoul- ders. Her temper was haughty and imperious, and she evidently held more sway over Suttum than he liked to ac- knowledge, or was quite consistent with his character as a warrior. He had married her from motives of policy, as cementing an useful alliance with a powerful tribe. She soon carried matters with a high hand, for poor Suttum had been compelled, almost immediately after his marriage, to send back a young and beautiful wife to her father's tent. This I)rior claimant upon his affections was now on the Khabour with her tribe, and it was probably on this account that Ra- thaiyah, knowing the direction he was about to take, was so anxious to accompany her husband. She rode on the drome- dary behind her lord, a comfortable seat having been made for her with a rug and a coverlet. The Sheikh carried his hawk, Hattab, on his wrist, guiding the deloul by a short hooked stick held in 'the right hand. Klioraif, his redifif, rode • Amongst the inhabitants of towns, a daughter is considered a kind of flaw in the family, and the death of a girl, too frequently purposely brought about, is rarely a cause of grief. IV.] SUTTUM AND HIS WIFE. 109 on this occasion a second dromedary named Sheiala, with a Shammar Bedouin. The true Sinjar mountain ends about nine miles from Je- daila, the high ridge suddenly subsiding into low broken hills. From all parts of the plain it is a very beautiful object. Its limestone rocks, wooded here and there with dwarf oak, are of a rich golden colour; and the numberless ravines which Suttum, v/ith his Wife^ on his Dromedary. furrow its sides, form ribs of deep purple shadow. The west- tern part of the Sinjar is inhabited by the Yezidi tribe of Kherraniyah. We rode over the plain in a line parallel to the mountain, and about seven or eight miles from it. To- wards nightfall we skirted a ridge of very low hills rising to our left. They are called Alouvi and Yusuf Beg. no NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. The desert abounded in the houbara, or middle-sized bus- tard, the bird usually hawked by the Arabs, and esteemed by them a great delicacy. Hattab, the falcon, had been princi- pally trained to this game, and sat on the raised wrist of Sut- tum, scanning the plain with his piercing eye. He' saw the crouching quarry long before we could distinguish it, and spreading his wings struggled to release himself from the tresses. Once free he made one straight, steady swoop to- wards the bustard, which rose to meet the coming foe, but was soon borne down in his sharp talons. A combat ensued, which was ended by a horseman riding up, substituting the lure for the game, and hooding the hawk, which was again placed on his master's wrist. Thus we rode joyously over the plain, night setting in be- fore we could see the tents. No sound except the mourn- ful note of the small desert-owl, which has often misled the weary wanderer,* broke the deep silence, nor could we distinguish the distant fires usually marking the site of an en- campment. Suttum, however, well knew where the Bedouins would halt, and about an hour after dark we heard the well- known voice of Dervish, and others of my workmen, who, anxious at our delay, had come out to seek us. The tents stood near a muddy pool of salt water, thick with loathsome living things and camels' dung. The Arabs call the place Om-el-Dhiban, ' the mother of flies,' ^om the insects which swarm around it, and madden by their sting the camels and horses that drink at the stagnant water. Our encampment was full of Yezidis of the Kherraniyah tribe, who had ridden from the tents to see me, bringing pre- sents of sheep, flour, and figs. They were at war, both with the Bedouins and the inhabitants of the northern side of the mountain. My large tent was soon crowded with guests. They squatted down on the ground in double ranks. For the last time I spoke on the advantage of peace and union amongst themselves, and I exacted from then-j a solemn pro- mise that they would meet the assembled tribes at the next great festival in the valley of Sheikh Adi, referring their dif- * Its note resembles the cry of tlic camcl-drlver, when leading the herds home at night. IV.] KHERRANIYAH YEZIDIS. m ferences in future to the decision of Hussein Bey, Sheikh Nasr, and the Cawals, instead of appeahng to arms. I also reconciled them with the Bedouins, Suttum entering into an engagement for his tribe, and both parties agreeing to abstain from lifting each other's flocks when they should again meet in the pastures at the foot of the hills. The inhabitants of the Sinjar are too powerful and independent to pay kowce*, or black mail, to the Shammar, who, indeed, stand in much awe of their Yezidi enemies. They frequently raise their an- nual revenues, and enrich themselves almost entirely at the expense of the Arabs. They watch their opportunity, when the tribes are migrating in the spring and autumn, and fall- ing by night on their encampments, plunder their tents and drive off their cattle. Returning to the hills, they can def> in their fastnesses the revenge of the Bedouins. The Yezidis returned to their encampment late at night, but about a hundred of their horsemen were again with me before the tents were struck in the morning. They promised to fulfil the engagements entered into on the previous even- ing, and accompanied me for some miles on our day's journey. Cawal Yusuf returned with them on his way back to Mosul. After leaving Om-el-Dhiban we entered an undulating country crossed by deep ravines, worn by the winter tor- rents. Veins of Mosul marble, the alabaster used by the Assyrian sculptors, occasionally appeared above the soil, interrupting the carpet of flowers spread over the face of the country. We drew near to the low hills into which the Sinjar subsides to the west. They are called Jeraiba, are well wooded with the ilex and dwarf oak, and abound in springs, near which the Shammar Bedouins encamp during the summer. Skirting them we found a beaten path, the first we had seen since entering the desert, leading to the * Literally, ' strength-money : ' the small tribes, who wander in the desert, and who inhabit the villages upon its edge, arc obliged to place themselves under the protection of some powerful tribe to avoid being utterly destroyed. Each great division of the Shammar receives a pre- sent of money, sheep, camels, corn, or barley, from some tribe or another for this protection, which is always respected by the other branches of the tribe. Should another branch of the Shammar plunder, or injure, tribes thus paying kowee, their protectors are bound to make good, or revenge, their losses. 112 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. Jebour encampments on the Khabour, and we followed it for the rest of the day. It seemed irksome after wandering, as we had listed, over the boundless untrodden plain, to be again confined to the narrow track of the footsteps of man. However, the Bedouins declared that this pathway led to the best water, and we had committed ourselves to their guidance. Four hours' ride brought us to a scanty spring; half an hour beyond we passed a second ; and in five and a half hours pitched the tents, for the rest of the day, near a small stream. All these springs are called Maalaga, and, rising in the gypsum or Mosul marble, have a brackish and disagreeable taste. The Bedouins declare that, although un- palatable, they are exceedingly wholesome, and that even their mares fatten on the waters of Jeraiba. Near our tents were the ruins of an ancient village sur- rounded by a wall. The spring once issued from the midst of them, but its source had been choked by rubbish, which, as some hours of daylight still remained, Hormuzd employed the Jebours and Nestorians in removing. Before sunset the supply and quality of the water had much improved. Suttum, who could not remain idle, wandered over the plain on his deloul with his hawk in search of game, and returned in the evening with a bag of bustards. He came to me before nightfall, somewhat downcast in look, as if a heavy weight were on his mind. At length, after various circumlocutions, he said that his wife would not sleep under the white tent which I had lent her, such luxuries being, she declared, only worthy of city ladies, and altogether unbecoming the wife and daughter of a Bedouin. ' So determined is she,' said Suttum, ' in the matter, that, Billah ! she deserted my bed last night and slept on the grass in the open air ; and now she swears she will leave me and return on foot to her kindred, unless I save her from the indignity of sleeping under a white tent.' It was inconvenient to humour the fancies of the Arab lady, but as she was inexorable, I gave her a black Arab tent, used by the servants for a kitchen. Under this sheet of goat-hair canvass, open on all sides to the air, she said she could breathe freely, and feel again that she was a Bedouin. IV.] THE HAMOUD BEDOUINS. 113 As the sun went down we could distinguish, in the extreme distance, a black line marking the wooded banks of the Khabour, beyond which rose the dark hills of Abd-ul-Azeez. Columns of thin curling smoke showed that there were encampments of Bedouins between us and the river, but we could neither see their tents nor their cattle. The plains to the south of our encampment were bounded by a range of low hills, called Rhoua and Haweeza. We crossed, during the following day, a beautiful plain covered with sweet smelling flowers and aromatic herbs, and abounding in gazelles, hares, and bustards. We reached in about two hours the encampments, whose smoke we had seen during the preceding evening. They belonged to Bedouins of the Hamoud branch of the Shammar. The tents were pitched closely together in groups, as if the owners feared danger. We alighted at some distance from them to avoid entering them as guests. The chiefs soon came out to us, bringing camels' milk and bread. From them we learnt that they had lately plundered, on the high road between Mosul and Mardin, a caravan conveying, amongst other valuable loads, a large amount of government treasure. The Turkish authorities had called upon Ferhan, as responsible chief of the Shammar, to restore the money, threatening, in case of refusal, an expedition against the whole tribe. The Hamoud, unwilling to part with their booty, and fearing lest the rest of the Shammar might com- pel them to do so in order to avoid a war, were now re- treating towards the north, and, being strong in horsemen, had openly defied Ferhan. They had been joined by many families from the Assaiyah, who had crossed the Euphrates, and united with the Aneyza on account of a blood feud with the Nejm. The Hamoud are notorious for treachery and cruelty, and certainly the looks of those who gathered round us, many of them grotesquely attired in the plundered gar- ments of the slaughtered Turkish soldiery, did not belie their reputation. They fingered every article of dress we had on, to learn its texture and value. Leaving their encampments, we rode through vast herds of camels and flocks of slieep belonging to the tribe, and at I 114 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [CHAP, length came in sight of the river. The Khabour flows through the richest pastures and meadows. Its banks were now covered with flowers of every hue, and its windings through the green plain were like the coils of a mighty ser- pent. I never beheld a more lovely scene. An uncon- trollable emotion of joy seized all our party when they saw the end of their journey before them. The horsemen urged their horses to full speed ; the Jebours dancing in a circle, raised their coloured kerchiefs on their spears, and shouted their war cry, Hormuzd leading the chorus ; the Nestorians sang their mountain songs and fired their muskets in the air. Trees in full leaf lined the water's edge. From amongst them issued a body of mounted Arabs. As they drew nigh we recognised at their head Mohammed Emin, the Jebour Sheikh, and his sons, who had come out from their tents to welcome us. We dismounted to embrace, and to exchange the usual salutations, and then rode onwards, through a mass of flowers, reaching high above the horses' knees, and such as I had never before seen, even in the most fertile parts of the Mesopotamian wilderness. The tents of the chief were pitched under the ruins of Arban, and on the right or northern bank of the river, which was not at this time fordable. As we drew near to them, after a ride of nearly two hours, IMohammed Emin pointed in triumph to the sculptures, which were the principal object of my visit. They stood a little above the water's edge, at the base of a mound of considerable size. We had passed several tels and the banks of ancient canals, showing that we were still amidst the remains of former civilisation. Flocks of sheep and herds of camels were spread over the meadows on both sides of the river. They belonged to the Jebours, and to a part of the Boraij tribe under Moghamis, a distin- guished Arab warrior, and the uncle of Suttum. Buffaloes and cattle tended by the Sherabbeen and Buggara, small clans pasturing under the protection of Mohammed Emin, stood lazily in the long grass, or sought refuge in the stream from the flies and noonday heat. At length we stopped opposite to the encampment of the Jebour Sheikli, but it was too late to cross the river, some IV.] FIRST NIGHT ON THE KHABOUR. 115 time being required to make ready the rafts. We raised our tents, therefore, for the night on the southern bank. They were soon filled by a mot- ley group of Boraij, Ha- moud, Assaiyah, and Jebour Arabs. Moghamis himself came shortly after our arri- val, bringing me as a pre- sent a well-trained hawk and some bustards, the fmits of his morning's sport. The falcon was duly placed on his stand in the centre of the spacious tent, and remained during the rest of my sojourn in the East a member of my establish- ment. A Sheikh of the Hamoud also brought me a wild-ass colt, scarcely two months old, which had been caught whilst following its dam, and had been since fed upon camel's milk.* Indeed, nearly all those who came to my tent had some offering, either sheep, milk, curds, or butter ; even the Arab boys had caught for us the graceful jerboa, which burrows in vast numbers on the banks of the river. Suitable presents were made in return. Dinner was cooked for all our guests, and we celebrated our first night on the Khabour by general festivities. A trained Falcon. * The Arabs of Mesopotamia frequently capture this beautiful animal when young, and generally kill it at once for food. It is almost impos- sible to take it when full grown. The colt mentioned in the text died before we returned to Mosul. A second, after living eight or nine months, also died ; and a third met with the same fate. I was desirous of sending a live specimen to England, but failed in all my attempts to rear one. They became very playful and docile. That which I had at Mosul fol- lowed like a dog. n6 XINEVEH AXD BABYLON. [Chap. CHAPTER V. Encampment on the Khaboiir — Sheikh Sitttiim — Mohammed Emin — Discovery of winged bulls — of Assyrian relics — of lions — of human figui'e — of various objects of antiquity — The Chebar of the Captivity — Our tents — Bread of the Arabs — Their food — Their knowledge of medicine — The Deloul, or Dromedary — Adla — A storm — Animals on the Khabour — Visit to Moghamis. On the morning after our arrival in front of the encampment of Sheikh Mohammed Emin we crossed the KJiabour on a small raft, and pitched our tents on its right, or northern bank. I found the ruins to consist of a large artificial mound of irregular shape, washed, and indeed partly carried away by the river, which was gradually undermining the per- pendicular clifif left by the falling earth. The Jebours were encamped to the west of it. I chose for our tents a recess, like an amphitheatre, facing the stream. We were tiius sur- rounded and protected on all sides. Behind us and to the east rose the mound, and to the west were the family and de- pendents of Mohammed Emin. In the desert, beyond the ruins, were scattered far and wide the tents of the Jebours, and of several Arab tribes who had placed themselves under their protection. From the top of the mound the eje ranged over a level country bright with flowers, and spotted with black tents, and innumerable flocks of sheep and camels. During our stay at Arban the colour of these great plains was undergoing a continual change. After being for some days of a golden yellow, a new family of flowers would spring up, and it would turn almost in a night to a bright scarlet, which would again as suddenly give way to the deepest blue. Then the meadows would be mottled with various hues, or would put on the emerald green of the most luxuriant of pastures. The glowing descriptions I had so frequently re- ceived from the Bedouins of the beauty and fertility of the v.] ENCAMPMENT ON THE KHABOUR. U7 banks of the Khabour were more than reaHsed. The Arabs boast that its meadows bear three crops of grass during the year, and the wandering tribes look ujjon its wooded banks and constant greensward as a paradise during the summer months, where man can enjoy a cool shade, and beast can find fresh and tender herbs, whilst all around is yellow, parched, and sapless. In the extreme distance, to the east of us, rose a solitary Art.f.c.„l M. .1 tl.^ KliaLo^. conical elevation, called by the Arabs, Koukab. In front, to the south, was the beautiful hill of the Sinjar, ever var}dng in colour and in outline as the declining sun left fresh shadows on its furrowed sides. Behind us, and not far dis- tant, was the low, wooded range of Abd-ul-Azeez. Artificial mounds, smaller in size than Arban, rose here and there above the thin belt of trees and shrubs skirting the river bank. I had brought with me a tent large enough to hold full ii8 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. two hundred persons, and intended as a 'museef,' or place of reception, always open to the wayfarer and the Arab visi- tor; for the first duty of a traveller wishing to mix with true Bedouins, and to gain an influence over them, is the exercise of hospitality. This great pavilion was pitched in the centre of my encampment, with its entrance facing the river. To the right were the tents of the Cawass and servants ; one fitted up expressly for the Doctor to receive patients, of whom there was no lack at all times, and the black Arab tent of Rathaiyah, who would not mix -with the Jebours. To the left were those of my fellow travellers, and about 200 yards beyond, near the excavations, my o\\ti private tent, to which I retired during the day, when wishing to be un- disturbed, and to which the Arabs were not admitted. In it, also, we usually breakfasted and dined, except when there were any Arab guests of distinction with whom it was neces- sary to eat bread. In front of our encampment, and betAveen it and the river, was a small lawn, on which were picketed our horses. Suttum and jNIohammed Emin usually eat with us, and soon became perfectly reconciled to knives and forks, and the other restraints of civilised life. Suttum's tact and intelligence were indeed remarkable. Nothing escaped his hawk-like eye. A few hours had enabled him to form a cor- rect estimate of the character of each one of the party, and he had detected peculiarities which might have escaped the notice of the most observant European. The most polished Turk would have been scarcely less at home in the society of ladies, and during the whole of our journey he never committed a breach of good manners. As a companion he was delightful, — full of anecdote, of unclouded spirits, acquainted with the history of every Bedouin tribe, their politics and their wars, and intimate with every part of the desert, its productions and its inhabitants. Many happy hours I spent with him, seated, after the sun went down, on a mound overlooking the great plain and the winding river, listening to the rich flow of his graceful Bedouin dialect, to his eloquent stories of Arab life, and to his animated de- scriptions of forays, wars, and single combats. Mohammed Emin the Sheikh of the Jebours, was a good v.] MOHAMMED EM IN. 119 natured portly Arab, in intelligence greatly inferior to vSuttum, and wanting many of the qualities of the pure Bedouin. During our intercourse I had every reason to be satisfied with his hospitality and the cordial aid he afforded me. His chief fault was a habit of begging for everything. Always Sheikh Mohammed Emin. willing to give he was equally ready to receive. In this re- spect, however, all Arabs are alike ; and, when the habit is understood, it is no longer a source of inconvenience, as on a refusal no offence is taken. The Jebour chief was a com- plete patriarch in his tribe, having no less than sixteen chil- 120 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. dren, of whom six sons were horsemen and the owners of mares. The youngest, a boy of four years old, named Sultan, was his favourite. His usual costume consisted simply of a red Turkish skull cap, or fez. He scarcely ever left his father, who always brought the child with him when he came to our tent. He was as handsome and dirty as the best of Arab children. His mother, who had recently died, was the beau- tiful sister of Abd'rubbou. I chanced to be her brother's guest when the news of her death was brought to him. An Arab of the tribe, weary and wayworn, entered the tent and seated himself without giving the usual salutation ; all present knew that he had come from the Khabour and from distant friends. His silence argued evil tidings. By an indirect remark, immediately understood, he told his errand to one who sat next him, and who in turn whispered it to Sheikh Ibrahim, the chiefs uncle. The old man said aloud, with a sigh, ' It is the will and mercy of God ; she is not dead but released ! ' Abd'rubbou at once understood of whom he spake. He arose and went forth, and the wailing of the mother and of the women soon issued from the inner re- cesses of the tent. We were for a day or two objects of curiosity to the Arabs who assembled in crowds around our tents. Having never before seen an European, it was natural that they should hasten to examine the strangers. They soon, however, be- came used to us, and things went on as usual. It is a cir- cumstance well worthy of mention, and most strongly in favour of the natural integrity of the Arab when his guests are concerned, that during the whole of our journey and our residence on the Khabour, although we lived in open tents, and property of all kinds was scattered about, we had not to complain of a single loss from theft. My first care, after crossing to Arban, was to examine the sculptures described by the Arabs. The river having gra- dually worn away the mound had, during the recent floods, left uncovered a pair of winged human-headed bulls, some six feet above the water's edge, and full fifty beneath the level of the ruin. Only the forepart of these figures had been exposed to view, and Mohammed Emin would not al- v.] DISCOVERIES AT ARBAN. \2t low any of the soil to be removed before my arrival. The earth was soon cleared away, and I found them to be of a coarse limestone, not exceeding 5J feet in height by 4^ in length. Between them was a pavement slab of the same material. They resembled in general form the well-known Winged Bull discovered at Arban. winged bulls of Nineveh, but in the style of art they differed considerably from them. The outline and treatment was bold and angular, with an archaic feeling conveying the im- pression of great antiquity. The human features were un- fortunately much injured, but such parts as remained were 122 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. sufficient to show that the countenance had a pecuhar cha- racter, differing from the usual Assyrian type. The sockets of the eyes were deeply sunk, probably to receive the white and the ball of the eye in ivory or glass. The nose was flat and large, and the lips thick like those of a negro. Human ears were attached to the head, and bull's ears to the horned cap, which was low and square at the top. The wings were small, and had not the majestic spread of those of the bulls that adorned the palaces of Nineveh. Upon the slab was a short inscription in Assyrian cuneiform characters.* The great accumulation of eartli above these sculptures proves that, since the destruction of the edifice in which they stood, other habitations had been raised upon its ruins. Arban, indeed, is mentioned by the Arab geographers as a flourishing city, in a singularly fertile district of the Khabour. Part of a minaret, whose walls were cased with coloured tiles, and ornamented with cufic inscriptions in relief, like that of the Sinjar, and the foundations of buildings, are still seen on the mound ; and at its foot, on the western side, are the re- mains of a bridge which once spanned the stream. But the river has changed its course. The piers, adorned mth ele- gantly shaped arabesque characters, are now on the dry land. Tunnels were opened behind the bulls, and in various parts of the ruins on the same level. Trenches were also dug into the surface of the mound. Behind the bulls were found various Assyrian relics ; amongst them a copper bell, like those from Nimroud, and fragments of bricks with arrow-headed characters painted yellow with white outlines, upon a pale green ground. In other parts of the mound were discovered glass and pottery, some Assyrian, others of a more doubtful character. Several fragments of earthen- ware, ornamented with flowers and scroll-work, and highly * This inscription contains a name which Sir Henry Rawlinson reads, ' Mushis-Bar,' and l^elieves to be that of a sacerdotal tributary of Assyria, belonging to a family which founded the city of Sidil^an, of which Arban marks the site. The name of this personage, with those of his father and grandfatlier, has been found on a cylinder from Slieriff Khan, now in the British Museum. The grandfatlier paid tribute to Sardana- fwlus, the Nimroud king. The date of the monuments at Arban would be about 820 B.C. according to .Sir II. Rawlinson. v.] DISCOVERIES AT ARE AN. 123 glazed, had assumed the brilliant and varied iridescence of ancient glass. * It was natural to conclude, from the usual architectural arrangement of Assyrian edifices, that the two bulls described stood at an entrance to a hall or chamber. We searched in Lion discovered at Arban. vain for the remains of walls, although digging for three days to the right and left of the sculptures, a work of considerable difficulty in consequence of the immense heap of superin- cumbent earth. I then directed a tunnel to be carried towards the centre of the mound, hoping to find a corre- sponding doorway opposite. I was not disappointed. On * These relics are now in the British Museum. 124 NIXEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. the fifth day a similar pair of winged bulls were discovered. They were of the same size, and inscribed with the same characters. A part of one having been originally broken off, either in carving the sculpture or in moving it, a fresh piece of stone had been carefully fitted into its place. I also dug to the right and left of these sculptures for remains of walls, but without success, and then resumed the tunneUing to- wards the centre of the mound. In a few days a lion, with extended jaws, sculptured in the same coarse limestone, and in the same bold archaic style as the bulls, was dis- covered. It had five legs, and the tail had the claw the In the I the have side at the end, as in Nineveh bas - reliefs, height it was nearly same as the bulls, searched in vain for one which must Bas-relief discovered at Arban, formed the opposite of the doorway. With the exception of these sculptures, no remains of building were found in this part of the mound. In another tunnel, opened at some distance from the bulls, half of a human figure in relief was dis- covered.* The face was in full. One hand grasped a sword or dagger ; the other held some object to the breast. The hair and beard were long and flowing, and ornamented with a profusion of curls as in the Assyrian bas-reliefs. The head-dress appeared to consist of a kind of circular helmet, ending in a sharp point. The treatment and style marked the sculpture to be of the same period as the bull and lion. Such were the sculptures discovered in the mound of Arban. * The height of this fragment was 5 fi. Sin. v.] DISCOVERIES AT ARE AN. 125 Amongst smaller objects of different periods were some of considerable interest, jars, vases, funeral urns, highly-glazed pottery, fragments of glass, a large copper ring, apparently Assyrian ; an ornament in earthenware, resembling the pine- cone of the Assyrian sculptures; a bull's head in terracotta; fragments of painted bricks, probably of the same period ; a small bottle with Chinese characters, of doubtful date; and several Egyptian scarabtei. It is singular that engraved stones and scarabs bearing Eg}^ptian devices, and in some instances even royal cartouches, should have been found on the banks of the Khabour. Similar objects were subse- quently dug up at Nimroud, and were brought to me by the Arabs from various ruins in Assyria.* They are mostly of the time of the i8th Egyptian dynasty, or of the 15th century before Christ ; a period when, as we learn from Egyptian monuments, there was a close connection between Assyria and Egj-pt. Several tombs were also found in the ruins, consisting principally of sarcophagi of earthenware, like those existing above the Assyrian palaces near Mosul. Some, however, were formed by two large earthen jars, like the common Eastern vessel for holding oil, laid horizontally, and joined mouth to mouth. These terracotta coffins appear to be of the same period as those found in all the great ruins on the banks of the rivers of Mesopotamia, and are not Assyrian. They contained human remains turned to dust, with the exception of the skull and a few of the larger bones, and generally three or four urns of highly glazed blue pottery. + Fewer remains and objects of antiquity were discovered in the mounds on the Khabour than I had anticipated. They were sufficient, however, to prove that the ruins are of the same character as those on the banks of the Tigris. A deep interest, at the same time, attaches to the site they occupy. To the Chebar, or Khabour, were transported by the Assyrian king, after the destruction of Samaria, the cap- tive children of Israel, and on its banks ' the heavens were * A description of the most important of the Egy]5tian scarabs dis- covered at Arban will be found in the larger edition of this work, p. 281. t Most of the small objects described in the text are now in the British Museum. 126 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. opened ' to Ezekiel, and ' he saw visions of God,' and spake his prophecies to his brother exiles.* Around Arban may have been pitched the tents of the sorrowing Jews, as those of the Arabs were during my visit. To the same pastures they led their sheep, and they drank of the same waters. Then the banks of the river were covered with to^vns and villages, and a palace-temple still stood on the mound, re- flected in the transparent stream. We have, however, but one name connected with the Khabour recorded in Scripture, that of Tel-Abib, ' the mound of Abib, or, of the heaps of ears of corn.'f but whether it applies to a town, or to one of those artificial mounds, such as still abound, and are still called ' tels,' is a matter of doubt. I sought in vain for some trace of the word amongst the names now given by the wandering Arab to the various ruins on the Khabour and its confluents. We know that Jews still lingered in the cities of the Kha- bour until long after the Arab invasion ; and we may perhaps recognise in the Jewish communities of Ras-al-Ain, at the sources of the river, and of Carkeseea, or Carchemish, at its confluence with the Euphrates, visited and described by Benjamin of Tudela in the latter end of the twelfth century of the Christian sera, the descendants of the captive Israelites. But the hand of time has long since swept even this rem- nant away, with the busy crowds which once thronged the banks of the river. From its mouth to its source, from Car- chemish to Ras-al-Ain, there is now no single permanent human habitation on the Khabour. t Its rich meadows and * 2 Kings, xvii. 6, Ezek. i. i. In the Hebrew text the name of this river is spelt in two different waj's. In Kings we liave KJiabour, answering exactly to the Chaboras of the Greeks and Romans, and the Idiabour of the Arabs. In Ezekiel it is written Kebar. There is no reason, however, to doubt that the same river is meant. + Ezekiel, iii. 15. 'Then I came to tliem of the captivity at Td-Abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar.' To the west of Arban and on the Khabour there are many artificial mounds. The principal wliicli I visited were Tel Hamer, Shedadi, Ledjmiyat, P'edghami, and Shcmshani. Remains of the early Arab occupation, such as ruined castles, bridges, &c., are also frequent. X Since my visit to the Khabour, the Turkish Government has placed H colony of Circassians at Ras-al-Ain, and has built a small town there. v.] ENCAMPMENT ON THE KHABOUR. 127 its deserted ruins are alike become the encamping places of the wandering Arab. During the time we dwelt at Arban, we were the guests and under the protection of Mohammed Emin, the Sheikh of the Jebouis. On the day we crossed the river, he celebrated our arrival by a feast after the Arab fashion, to which the notables of the tribe were invited. Sheep, as usual, were boiled and served up piecemeal in large wooden bowls, with a mass of butter and bread soaked in the gravy. The chief's tent was spacious, though poorly furnished. It was the general resort of those who chanced to wander, either on business or for pleasure to the Khabour, and was, conse- quently, never without a goodly array of guests; from a company of Shammar horsemen out on a foray to the soli- tary Bedouin who was seeking to become a warrior in his tribe, by first stealing a mare from some hostile encamp- ment. My own large tent was no less a place of resort than that of Mohammed Emin, and as we were objects of curiosity. Bedouins from all parts flocked to see us. With some of them I was already acquainted, having either received them as my guests at Mosul, or met them during excursions in the desert. They generally passed one night \vith us, and then returned to their own tents. A sheep was always slain for them, and boiled with rice, or prepared wheat, in the Arab way: if there were not strangers enough to consume the whole, the rest was given to the workmen or to the needy, as it is considered derogatory to the character of a truly hospi- table man to keep meat until the following day, or to serve it up a second time when cold. Even the poorest Bedouin who kills a sheep, invites all his friends and neighbours to the repast, and if there be still any remnants, distributes them amongst the poor and the hungry, although he should himself want on the morrow. We had brought a supply of flour with us, and the Jebours had a little wheat raised on the banks of the river. The wandering Arabs have no other means of grinding their corn than by handmills, which they carry with them wherever they go. They are always worked by the women, for it is 128 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. considered unwortliy of a man to engage in any domestic occupation. These handmills are simply two circular flat stones, gene- rally about eighteen inches in diameter, the upper turning loosely upon a wooden pivot, and moved quickly round by a wooden handle. The grain is passed through the hole of the pivot, and the flour is collected in a cloth spread under the mill. It is then mixed with water, kneaded in a wooden bowl, and pressed by the hand into round balls ready for baking. During these processes, the women are usually seated on the bare ground: hence, in Isaiah,* is the daughter Arab Women grinding Corn with a Hand-mill, rolling out the Dough, and baking the Bread. of Babylon told to sit in the dust and on the ground, and ' to take the millstones to grind meal.' The tribes, who are always moving from place to place, bake their bread on a slightly convex iron plate, called a sadj., moderately heated over a low fire of brushwood or camels' dung. The lumps of dough are rolled, on a wooden platter, into thin cakes, a foot or more in diameter, and laid l)y means of the roller upon the iron. They are baked in a * Chap, xlvii. I, 2. v.] MAKING AND BAKING OF BREAD. 129 very short time, and should be eaten hot. * The Kurds, whose flour is far whiter and more carefully prepared than that of the Arabs, roll the dough into larger cakes, scarcely thicker than a sheet of paper. When carefully baked by the same process, it becomes crisp, and is exceedingly agreeable to the taste. The Arab tribes that remain for many days in one place, make rude ovens by digging a hole in the ground about three feet deep, shaping it like a reversed funnel, and plastering it with mud. They heat it by burning brushwood within, and then stick the lumps of dough, pressed into small cakes about half an inch thick, to the sides with the hand. The bread is ready in two or three minutes. When horsemen go on an expedition, they either carry with them the thin bread first described, or a bag of flour, which, when they come to water, they moisten and knead on their cloaks, and then bake by covering the balls of dough with hot ashes. All Arab bread is unleavened. If a Bedouin tribe be moving in great haste before an enemy, the women sometimes prepare bread whilst riding on camels. The fire is then lighted in an earthen vessel. One woman kneads the flour, a second rolls out the dough, and a third bakes, boys or women on foot passing the materials, as required, from one to the other. The fuel used by the Arabs consists chiefly of dwarf shrubs, growing in the desert, of dry grass, and of camels' dung- They frequently carry bags of the latter with thetn when in summer they march over veiy arid tracts. On the banks of the great rivers of Mesopotamia, the tamarisk and other trees furnish them with abundant firewood. They are entirely de- pendent for their supplies of wheat upon the villages on the borders of the desert, or on the sedentary Arabs, who, whilst living in tents, cultivate the soil. Sometimes a tribe is for- tunate enough to plunder a caravan laden with corn, or to * Such was probably the process of making bread mentioned in 2 Sam. xiii. 8, 9. ' So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house ; and he was laid down. And she took flour and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and did bake the cakes. And slie took a pan and poured them out before him. ' It will be observed that the bread was made at once, without leaven ; such also was probably the bread that Abraham com- manded Sarah to make for the three angels. (Gen. xviii. 6. ) K I30 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. sack the granaries of a village; they have then enough to satisfy their wants for some months. But the Bedouins usually draw near to the to^^Tls and cultivated districts soon after the harvest, to lay in their stock of grain. A party of men and women, chosen by their companions, then take with them money, or objects for sale or exchange, and drive the camels to the villages, where they load them and then return to their tents. Latterly a new and extensive trade has been opened with the Bedouins for sheep's wool, much prized for its superior quality in European markets. As the time for shearing is soon after the harvest, the Arabs have ready means of obtaining their supplies, as well as of making a little money, and buying finery and arms. Nearly the whole revenue of an Arab Sheikh, whatever it may be. is laid out in com, rice, and other provisions. The quantity of food consumed in the tents of some of the great chiefs of the Bedouins is very considerable. Almost every traveller who passes the encampment eats bread with the Sheikh, and there are generally many guests dwelling under his canvass. In times of difficulty or scarcity, moreover, the whole tribe frequently expects to be fed by him ; and he con- siders himself bound, even under such circumstances, by the duties of hospitality, to give all that he has to the needy. The extraordinary generosity displayed on such occasions by their chiefs forms some of the most favourite stories of the Arabs. The common Bedouin can rarely get meat. His food consists almost exclusively of wheaten bread with truffles, Avhich are found in great abundance during the spring, a few wild herbs, such as asparagus, onions, and garlic, fresh butter, curds, and sour milk. But, at certain seasons, even these luxuries cannot be obtained ; for months together he often eats bread alone The Sheiklis usually slay a sheep every day, of which their guests, a itv^ of their relatives, and their immediate adherents partake. The women prepare the food, and always eat after the men, who rarely leave them much wherewith to satisfy their hunger. The dish usually placed before a guest in the tent of a Bedouin chief is a mess of boiled meat, sometimes mixed v.] DOMESTIC LIFE OF THE BEDOUINS. 131 with onions, upon which a lump of fresh butter is placed and allowed to melt. The broad tail of the Mesopotamian sheep is used for grease when there is no butter. Sometimes cakes of bread are laid under the meat, and the entertainer tearing up the thin loaves into small pieces, soaks them in the gravy with his hands. The Aneyza make very savoury dishes of chopped meat and bread mixed with sour curds, over which, when the huge platter is placed before the guest, is poured a flood of melted butter. Roasted meat is very rarely seen in a Bedouin tent. Rice is only eaten by the Sheikhs, except amongst the tribes who encamp in the marshes of Southern Mesopotamia, where rice of an inferior quality is very largely cultivated. There it is boiled with meat and made into pillaus. The Bedouins do not make cheese. The milk of their sheep and goats is shaken into butter or turned into curds : it is rarely drank fresh, new milk being thought very un- wholesome, as by experience I soon found it to be, in the desert. I have frequently had occasion to describe the pro- cess of making butter by shaking the milk in skins. This is also an employment confined to the women, and one of a very laborious nature. The curds, or ' leben,' are formed by boiling the milk, and then putting some of the curds made on the previous day into it, and allowing it to stand. When the sheep no longer give milk, some curds are dried, to be kept for leaven. Leben is tliick and acid, but very agreeable and grateful to the taste in a hot climate. The sour milk, or sheneena, an universal beverage amongst the Arabs, is either butter-milk pure and diluted, or curds mixed with water. Camel's milk is drank fresh. It is pleasant to the taste, rich, and exceedingly nourishing. It is given in large quantities to the horses. The Shammar and Aneyza Bedouins have no cows nor oxen, those animals being looked upon as the peculiar property of tribes who have forgotten their independence, and degraded themselves by the culti- vation of land. The sheep are milked at dawn, or even before daybreak, and again in the evening on their return from the pastures. The milk is immediately turned into leben, or boiled to be shaken into butter. Amongst the 132 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. Bedouins and Jebours it is considered derogatory to the character of a man to milk a cow or a sheep, but not to milk a camel. The Sheikhs occasionally obtain dates from the cities. They are either eaten dry with bread and leben, or fried in butter, a very favourite dish of the Bedouin. To this spare and simple diet the Bedouins owe their free- dom from sickness, and their extraordinary power of bearing fatigue. Diseases are rare amongst them ; and the epidemics, which rage in the cities, seldom reach their tents. The cho- lera, which visited Mosul and Baghdad with fearful severity, has not yet struck the Bedouins, and they have frequently escaped the plague, when the settlements on the borders of the desert have been nearly depopulated by it. The small pox, however, occasionally makes great havoc amongst them, vaccination being still unknown to the Shammar, and inter- mittent fever prevails in the autumn, particularly when the tribes encamp near the marshes in Southern Mesopotamia. Rheumatism is not uncommon, and is treated, like most local complaints, with the actual cautery, a red hot iron being applied very freely to the part affected. Another cure for rheumatism consists in killing a sheep and placing the patient in the hot reeking skin. Ophthalmia is com- mon in the desert as well as in all other parts of the East, and may be attributed as much to dirt and neglect as to any other cause. The Bedouins are acquainted with few medicines. The desert yields some valuable simples, which are, however, rarely used. Dr. Sandwith hearing from Suttum that the Arabs had no opiates, asked what they did with one who could not sleep. "Do!" answered the Sheikh, "why, we make use of him, and set him to watch the camels." If a Bedouin be ill, or have received a wound, he sometimes conies to the nearest town to consult the barbers, who are frequently not unskilful surgeons. Hadjir, one of the great chiefs of the Shammar, having been struck by a musket ball which lodged beneath the shoulder-blade, visited the Pasha of Mosul to obtain the aid of the European surgeons at- tached to the Turkish troops. They declared an operation to be impossible, and refused to undertake it. The Sheikh v.] AfV DELOUL SAHAIMA. 133 applied to a barber, who in his shop, in the open bazaar, quietly cut down to the ball, and taking it out brought it to the Pasha in a plate, to claim a reward for his skill. It is true that the European surgeons in the service of the Porte are not very eminent in their profession. The Bedouins set broken limbs by means of rude splints. The women suffer little in labour, which often takes place during a march, or when they are far from the encampment watering the flocks or collecting fuel. They allow their chil- dren to remain at the breast until they are nearly two and even three years old, and, consequently, have rarely many offspring. Soon after our arrival at the Khabour I bought a deloul, or dromedary, as more convenient than a horse for making excursions in the desert. Her name was Sahaima, and she belonged to Moghamis, the uncle of Suttum, having been Saddling a DelouI, or Dromedary. taken by him from the Aneyza ; she was well trained, and swift and easy in her paces. The best delouls come from Nedjd and the Gebel Shammar. They are small and lightly made, the difference between them and a common camel 134 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. being as great as that between a high-bred Arab mare and an Enghsh cart-horse. Their powers of endurance are very great* The deloul is much prized, and the race is carefully- preserved. The Arabs breed from them once in two years, and are very particular in the choice of the male. An ordi- nary animal can work for twenty years. Suttum assured me that they could travel in the spring as many as six days with- out water. Their colour is generally light brown and white, darker colours and black are more uncommon. Their pace is a light trot kept up for many hours together without fatigue ; they can increase it to an unwieldy gallop, a speed they cannot long maintain. A good deloul is Avorth at the most lo/., the common price is about 5/. The grass around Arban having been eaten by the flocks, the Jebours struck their tents at dawn on the 4th of April, and wandered down the Khabour in search of fresh pastures. The Boraij, too, moved further inland from the river. During the whole morning the desert around the ruins was a busy scene ; sheep, camels, cattle, beasts of burden, men, women, and children being scattered far and wide over the plain. By midday the crowd had disappeared, and the meadows, which a itw hours before had been teeming with living things, were now again left lonely and bare. I know no feeling more melancholy than that caused by the sudden breaking up of a large tribe, and by the sight of the spent fires and rubbish-heaps of a recent encampment ; the silence and so- litude which have suddenly succeeded to the busy scene of an Arab community. Mohammed Emin alone, with a few Sherabeen Arabs, remained to protect us. Soon after our arrival at the Khabour, Adla, Suttum's first wife, came to us with her child. After the Sheikh's marriage * Burckhardt ('Notes on the Bedouins,' &c. p. 262.) mentions as the best authenticated instance of the wonderful speed and endurance of a deloul which had come to his knowledge, a journey for a wager, of 1 15 miles in eleven hours, including twenty minutes in crossing the Nile twice in a ferry-boat. As that traveller, however, justly remarks, it is by the ease witli which they can carry their rider during an uninternipted journey of several days and nights at a kind of easy amble of five, or five and a half miles, an hour, that they are unequalled by any other animal. v.] SUTTUM'S WIVES. 135 with Rathaiyah, she had been driven from her husband's tent by the imperious temper of his new bride, and had returned to Moghamis her father. Her eldest sister was the wife of Suttum's eldest brother, Sahiman, and her youngest, Maizi, was betrothed to Suttum's youngest brother, Mijwell. The three were remarkable for their beauty ; their dark eyes had the true Bedouin fire, and their long black hair fell in clusters on their shoulders. Their cousins, the three brothers, had claimed them as their brides according to Bedouin law." Adla now sought to be reconciled through me to her hus- band. Rathaiyah, the new wife, whose beauty was already on the wane, dreaded her young rival's share in the affections of her lord, over whom she had established more influence than a lady might be supposed to exercise over her spouse amongst independent Arabs. The Sheikh was afraid to meet Adla, until, after much negotiation, Hormuzd acting as am- bassador, the proud Rathaiyah consented to receive her in her tent. Then the injured lady refused to accept these terms, and the matter was only finished by Hormuzd taking her by the arm and dragging her by force over the grass to her rival. There all the outward fomis of perfect reconcilia- tion were satisfactorily gone through, although Suttum evi- dently saw that there was a different reception in store foi himself when there were no European eye-witnesses. Such are the trials of married life in the desert ! I may here mention that polygamy is very common amongt the Bedouins. It is considered disgraceful for a man to accept money for his daughter, according to the custom in towns and amongst the cultivating tribes ; and a girl cannot be forced against her will to marry a man unless he be her cousin, and legally entitled to demand her hand. On the 6th of April we witnessed a remarkable electrical phenomenon. During the day heavy clouds had been hang- ing on the horizon, foreboding one of those furious storms which at this time of the year occasionally visit the desert. Late in the afternoon these clouds had gathered into one vast circle, which moved slowly round like an enormous * Amongst the Bedouins a man has a right to demand his cousin in marriage, and she cannot refuse him. 136 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. wheel, presenting one of the most extraordinary and awful appearances I ever saw. From its sides leaped, without ceasing, forked flames of lightning. Clouds springing up from all sides of the heavens, were dragged hurriedly into the vortex, which advanced gradually towards us, and threat- ened soon to break over our encampment. Fortunately, however, we only felt the very edge of the storm, — a deluge of rain and hail of the size of pigeon's eggs. The great rolling cloud, attracted by the Sinjar hill, soon passed away, leaving in undiminished splendour the setting sun. On the 8th of April, the Mogdessi, one of my servants, caught a turtle in the river measuring three feet in length. The Arabs have many stories of the voracity of these ani- mals, which attain, I am assured, to even a larger size, and Suttum declared that a man had been pulled under water and devoured by one, probably an Arab exaggeration. A Bedouin, who had been attacked by a lion whilst rest- ing, about five hours lower down on the banks of the river, came to our encampment. He had escaped with the loss of his mare. Lions are not uncommon in the jungles of the Khabour, and the Bedouins and Jebours frequently find their cubs in the spring season. The waters of the river had been rising rapidly since the recent storm, and had now spread over the meadows. We moved our tents on the i ith April, and the Arabs took refuge on the mound, which stood like an island in the midst of the flood. The Jebours killed four beavers, and brought three of their young to us alive. They had been driven from their holes by the swollen stream. Mohammed Emin eagerly accepted the musk bags, which are much valued as 7najou?is by the Turks, and, consecjuently, fetch a large price in the towns. The Arabs eat the flesh, and it was cooked for us, but proved coarse and tough. The young we kept for some days on milk, but they eventually died. Their cry resembled that of a newborn infant. The Khabour beavers appeared to me to differ in several respects from the American. The tail, instead of being large and broad, was short and pointed. They do not build huts, but burrow in the banks, taking care v.] THE DESERT AND ITS DELIGHTS. 137 to make the entrance to their holes below the surface of the stream to avoid detection, and the chambers above, out of reach of ordinary floods. Beavers were formerly found in large numbers on the Khabour, but in consequence of the value attached to the musk bag, they have been hunted almost to extermination by the Arabs. On April i8th we visited the tents of Moghamis and his tribe ; they were pitched about five miles from the river. The face of the desert was as burnished gold. Its last change was to flowers of the brightest yellow hue,* and the whole plain was dressed with them. Suttum rioted in the luxuriant herbage and scented air. I never saw him so exhilarated. ' What kef (delight) has God given us equal to this % ' he continually exclaimed, as his mare waded through the flowers. ' It is the only thing worth living for. Ya Bej ! what do the dwellers in cities know of true happiness, they have never seen grass nor flowers 1 May God have pity on them ! ' The tents were scattered far and wide over the plain. The mares wandered loose in the midst of them, cropping the rich grass. We were most hospitably received by Moghamis, who wore a shirt of chain armour. Such luxuries, in the way of a ragged carpet and an old coverlet, as his tent could afford, had been spread for Mrs. R., whose reputation had extended far and wide amongst the Arabs, and who was looked upon as a wonder, but always treated with the great- est consideration and respect. The wild Bedouin would bring a present of camel's milk or truffles, and the boys caught jerboas and other small animals for the Frank lady. During the whole of our journey she was never exposed to annoyance, although wearing, with the exception of the red Turkish cap and an Arab cloak, the European dress. After we had enjoyed all the luxuries of an Arab feast, * I have already mentioned the changes in the colours of the desert. Almost in as many days white had succeeded to a pale straw colour, red to white, blue to red, lilac to blue, and now the face of the countiy was as described in the text. 138 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. visited the women's compartments, where most of the ladies of the tribe had assembled to greet us, examined the ' che- tab,' or camel saddle, used by the wives of the chiefs, and inquired into various details of the harem, we returned as we came, through the flowers and long grass, to our tents at Arban. VL] BANKS OF THE KHABOUR. »39 CHAPTER VI. Leave Arban — The banks oj the Khabour — Artificial mounds — Mijwell — The cadi of the Bedouins — The ' thar,^ or blood reve}ige — Caution of A7-abs — A natural cavern — An extinct volcano — The confluaits of the Khabour — Suleiman Agha — Encampment at Um-Jerjeh — Mo- hammed Emin leaves us — Visit to the Milli Kurds — Arab love-making — The Dakheel — Bedouin poets and poetry — Leave the Khabour — Arab sagacity — The Hoi — KJiatouniyah — Return of Suttum — Ferhan — Sinjar villages— ^-Eski Mosul — Departure of Suttum. The hot weather was rapidly drawing near. The discoveries in the mound of Arban, and the ruins near the river, were not of sufficient importance to induce me to remain much longer on the Khabour. I wished, however, to explore the stream, as far as I was able, towards its principal source, and to visit Suleiman Agha, the Turkish commander, who was now encamped on its banks. He had urged me to bring Mohammed Emin with me, pledging himself to place no restraint whatever on the perfect liberty of the Arab chief. With such a guarantee, I ventured to invite the Sheikh to accompany me. After much hesitation, arising from a very natural fear of treachery, he consented to do so. On the 19th of April we crossed the Khabour, and en- camped for the night on its southern bank. On the following morning we commenced our journey to the eastward. Mo- hammed Emin was still in doubt as to whether he should go with me or not ; but at last, after more than once turning back, he took a desperate resolution, and pushed his mare boldly forward. His children commended him, with tears, to my protection, and then left our caravan for their tents. We rode from bend to bend of the river, without following its tortuous course. Its banks are belted with poplars, 140 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [CHAP. tamarisks, and brushwood, the retreat of wild boars, franco- lins, and other game, and studded with artificial mounds, the remains of ancient settlements. This deserted, though rich and fertile, district must, at one time, have been the seat of a dense population. It is only under such a govern- ment as that of Turkey that it could remain a wilderness. After a short day's journey of four hours and a half we raised our tents for the night amongst luxuriant herbage, which afforded abundant pasture for our horses and camels. The spot was called Nahab. The river, divided into two branches by a string of small wooded islands, is fordable except during the freshes. Near our encampment was a large mound named Mehlaibiyah, and in the stream I ob- served fragments of stone m.asonry, probably the remains of ancient dams for irrigation. Next morning Suttum returned to his tents with Rathaiyah, leaving us under the care of his younger brother, Mijwell. After I had visited the Turkish commander, whom he did not appear over anxious to meet, he was to join us in the desert, and accompany me to Mosul. Mijwell was even of a more amiable disposition than his brother ; was less given to diplomacy, and troubled himself little with the politics of the tribes. A pleasant smile lighted up his features, and a fund of quaint and original humour made him at all times an agreeable companion. Although he could neither read nor write, he was one of the cadis or judges of the Shammar, an office hereditary in the family of the Saadi. Disputes of all kinds are referred to these recognised judges. Their de- crees are obeyed with readiness, and the other members of the tribe are rarely called upon to enforce them. They ad- minister rude justice ; and, although pretending to follow the words of the Prophet, are rather guided by ancient cus- tom than by the law of the Koran, which binds the rest of the Mohammedan world. The most common source of Htiga- tion is, of course, stolen property. They receive for their decrees, payment in money or in kind; and he who gains the suit has to pay the fee. Amongst the Shammar, if the dispute relates to a deloul, the cadi gets two gazees, about eight shillings; if to a mare, a deloul; if to a man, a mare. VI.] THE THAR, OR BLOOD REVENGE. 141 Various ordeals, such as licking a red-hot iron, are in use, to prove a man's innocence. If the accused's tongue is burnt, no doubt exists as to his guilt. One of the most remarkable laws in force amongst the wandering Arabs, and one probably of the highest antiquity, is the law of blood, called the Thar, prescribing the degrees of consanguinity within which it is lawful to revenge a mur- der or homicide. Although a law, rendering a man respon- sible for blood shed by any one related to him within the fifth degree, may appear to members of a civilised community one of extraordinary rigour, and involving manifest injustice, it must nevertheless be admitted, that no power vested in any one individual, and no punishment however severe, could tend more to the maintenance of order and the pre- vention of bloodshed amongst the wild tribes of the desert. As Burckhardt has justly remarked, ' this salutary institution has contributed in a greater degi^ee than any other circum- stance, to prevent the warlike tribes of Arabia from extermi- nating one another.' If a man commit a murder or accidental homicide, the cadi endeavours to prevail upon the family of the victim to accept a compensation for the blood in money or in kind, the amount being regulated according to custom in different tribes. Should the offer of ' blood-money ' be refused, the 'Thar' comes into operation, and any person within the 'khomse,' or the fifth degree of blood of the homicide, may be legally killed by any one within the same degree of con- sanguinity to the victim. This law is enforced between tribes remote from each other, as well as between families, and to the blood re- venge may be attributed many of the bitter feuds which exist amongst the Arab clans. It affects, in many respects, their social condition, and has a marked influence upon their habits, and even upon their manners. Thus an Arab will never tell his name, especially if it be an uncommon one, to a stranger, nor mention that of his father, or of his tribe, if his own name be ascertained, lest there should be Thar between them. Even children are taught to observe this custom, that they may not fall victims to the blood revenge. 142 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. Hence the suspicion with which a Bedouin regards a stran- ger, and his caution in disclosing anything relating to the movements, or dwelling-place, of his friends. In most en- campments are found refugees, sometimes whole families, who have left their tribe on account of a homicide for which tliey are amenable. In case, after a murder, persons within tire ' Thar ' take to flight, three days and four hours are by immemorial custom allowed to the fugitives before they can be pursued. Frequently they never return to their friends, but remain with those who give them protection, and become incorporated into the tribe by which they are adopted. Fre- quently the homicide himself will wander from tent to tent over the desert, or even rove through the towns and villages on its borders, with a chain round his neck and in rags, begging contributions from the charitable to enable him to pay the apportioned blood-money. I have frequently met such unfortunate persons who have spent years in collecting a small sum. Leaving the caravan to pursue the direct road, I struck across the country to the hill of Koukab, accompanied by Mohammed Emin and Mijwell. This remarkable cone, rising in the midst of the plain, had been visible from our furthest point on the Khabour. As we drew near to it, the plain was covered with angular fragments of black basalt, and crossed by dykes of the same volcanic rock, Mohammed Emin led us first to the mouth of a cave in a rocky ravine not far from the foot of the hill. It was so choked with stones that we could scarcely squeeze ourselves through the opening, but it became wider, and led to a de- scending passage, the bottom of which was lost in the gloom. We advanced cautiously, but not without setting in motion an avalanche of loose stones, which, increasing as it rolled onwards, by its loud noise disturbed swarms of bats that hung to the sides and ceiling of the cavern. Flying towards the light, these noisome beasts almost compelled us to re- treat. They clung to our clothes, and our hands could scarcely prevent them settling on our faces. The rustling of their wings was like the noise of a great wind, and an abom- inable stench arose from the recesses of the cave. At length VI.] VOLCANO OF KOUKAB. 143 they settled again to their daily sleep, and we were able to go forward. After descending some fifty feet, we found ourselves on the margin of a pond of fresh water. The pitchy darkness prevented our ascertaming its size, which could not have been very great. The cave is frequently a place of refuge for the wandering Arabs, and the Bedouins encamp near it in summer to drink the cool water of this natural reser\'oir. Mohammed Emin told me that, in the previous year, he had found a hon in it, who, on being disturbed, merely rushed out and fled across the plain. Volcanic Cone of Koukab. Leaving the cavern and issuing from the ravine, we came to the edge of a wide crater, in the centre of which rose the remarkable cone of Koukab. To the left of us was a second crater, whose lips were formed by the jagged edges of ba- saltic rocks, and in the plain around were several others smaller in size. They were all evidently the remains of an extinct volcano, which had been active within a compara- tively recent geological period, even perhaps widiin the time 144 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. of history or tradition, as the name of the mound, Koukab, means in Arabic a star and a jet of flame. I ascended the cone, which is about 300 feet high, and composed entirely of loose lava, scoria, and ashes, thus re- sembling the cone rising in the crater of Vesuvius. It is steep and difficult of ascent, except on one side, where the summit is easily reached even by horses. Within, for it is hollow, it resembles an enormous funnel, broken away at one edge, as if a stream of molten lava had bufst through it. Anemonies and poppies, of the brighest scarlet hue, covered its side; although the dry lava and loose ashes scarcely seemed to have collected sufficient soil to nourish their roots. It would be difficult to describe the richness and brilliancy of this mass of flowers, the cone from a distance having the appearance of a huge inverted cup of burnished copper, over which poured streams of blood. From the summit of Koukab I gazed upon a scene as varied as extensive. Beneath me the two principal branches of the Khabour united their waters. I could trace them for many miles by the dark line of their wooded banks, as they wound through the golden plains. To the left, or the west, was the true Khabour, the Chaboras of the ancients; a name it bears from its source at Ras-al-Ain {i. e. the head of the spring). The second stream, that to the east, is called by the Arabs the Jerujer (a name, as uttered by the Bedouins, equally difficult to pronounce and to write), and is the an- cient Mygdonius, flowing through Nisibin. The lake of Khatouniyah was just visible, backed by the solitary hill of the Sinjar. The Kurdish mountains bounded the view to the east. In the plain, and on the banks of the rivers, rose many artificial mounds ; whilst, in the extreme distance to the north, could be distinguished the flocks and black tents of a large wandering tribe. They were those of the Chichi and Milli Kurds, encamped with the Turkish commander, Suleiman Agha. On some fragments of basaltic rock projecting from the summit of the cone, were numerous rudely-cut signs, the devices of the Shammar, carved there on the visit of diff"er- ent Sheikhs. Each tribe, and, indeed, each subdivision and VI.] TOPAL SULEIMAN AGHA. 145 family, has its peculiar mark, to be placed upon its property and burnt upon its camels. In little recesses, carefully shel- tered by heaped-up stones, were hung miniature cradles, like those commonly suspended to the poles of a Bedouin tent. They had been placed there as ex-votos by Shammar women who wished to become mothers. After I had examined the second large crater, we rode to- wards the Jerujer, on whose banks the caravan was to await us. The plain was still covered with innumerable fragments of basalt embedded in scarlet poppies. We found our com- panions near the junction of the rivers, where a raft had been constructed to enable us to cross the smaller stream. We had scarcely crossed the river before a large body of horsemen were seen approaching us. As they drew nigh I recognised in the Turkish commander an old friend, ' the Topal,' or lame, Suleiman Agha, as he was generally called in the country. He had been Kiayah, or lieutenant-governor, to the celebrated Injeh Bairakdar Mohammed Pasha, and, like his former master, possessed considerable intelligence, energy, and activity. From his long connection with the tribes of the desert, his knowledge of their manners, and his skill in detecting and devising treacheries and strata- gems, he was generally chosen to lead expeditions against the Arabs. He was now endeavouring to recover the govern- ment treasure plundered by the Hamoud Bedouins. He was surrounded by Hyta-Bashis, or commanders of irregular cavalry, glittering with gold and silver-mounted arms, and rich in embroidered jackets and silken robes, by Aghas of the Chichi and Milli Kurds, and by several Arab chiefs. About five hundred horsemen, preceded by their small kettle-drums, crowded behind him. His tents were about six miles distant ; and, after exchanging the usual salutations, we turned towards them. Many fair speeches could scarcely calm the fears of the timid Jebour Sheikh. Mijwell, on the other hand, rode boldly along, casting con- temptuous glances at the irregular cavalr)', as they galloped to and fro in mimic combat. The delta, formed by the two streams, was covered with tents. We wended our way through crowds of sheep, horses, L 146 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. cattle, and camels. The Chichi and Milli Kurds, who en- camp during the spring at the foot of the mountains of Mar- din, had now sought, under the protection of the Turkish soldiery, the rich pastures of the Khabour. Suleiman Agha lived under the spacious canvas of the Chichi chief The tents of the Kurdish tribes are remark- able for their size and the richness of their carpets and fur- niture. They are often divided into as many as four or five distinct compartments, by screens of light cane or reeds, bound together with many-coloured woollen threads, disposed in elegant patterns and devices. Carpets hung above these screens complete the divisions. In that set aside for the women a smaller partition encloses a kind of private room for the head of the family and his wives. The rest of the harem is filled with piles of carpets, cushions, domestic fur- niture, cooking utensils, skins for making butter, and all the necessaries of a wandering life. Here the handmaidens pre- pare the dinner for their master and his guests. In the tents of the great chiefs there is a separate compartment for the servants, and one for the mares and colts. I sat a short time with Suleiman Agha, drank coffee, smoked, and then adjourned to my own tents, which had been pitched upon the banks of the river opposite a well- wooded island, and near a ledge of rocks forming one of those beautiful falls of water so frequent in this part of the Khabour. Around us were the pavilions of the Hytas, those of the chiefs marked by their scarlet standards. At a short distance from the stream the tents of the Kurds were pitched in parallel lines forming regular streets, and not scattered, like those of the Bedouins, without order over the plain. Between us and them were picketed the horses of the ca- valry, and as far as the eye could reach beyond, grazed the innumerable flocks and herds of the assembled tribes. We were encamped near the foot of a large artificial Tel called Umjerjeh ; and on the opposite side of the Khabour were other mounds of the same name. My Jebour workmen be- gan at once to excavate in these ruins. Two days after my arrival Mohammed Emin left us. Su- leiman Agha had already invested him with a robe of honour, VI.] VISIT TO MOUSA ACHA. '47 and had prevailed upon him to join with Ferhan in taking measures for the recovery of the plundered treasure. The scarlet cloak and civil treatment had conciliated the Jebour chief, and when he parted with the Turkish commander in my tent there was an unusual display of mutual compliments and pledges of eternal friendship. Mijwell looked on with indignant contempt, swearing between his teeth that all Jebours were but degenerate, ploughing Arabs, and cursm^ the whole order of temtninahs.''' We were detained at Umjerjeh several days by the severe illness of Mr. Hormuzd Rassam. I took the opportunity to visit the tents of the Milli, whose chief, Mousa Aglia, had The Tent of the Milli Chief. invited us to a feast. On our way thither we passed several encampments of the tribes of Chichi, Sherrabeen, and Harb, the men and women running out and pressing us to stop and eat bread. The spacious tent of Mousa Agha was divided by * The form of salutation used l)y the Turks, consisting of raising llie hand from tlie breast, or sometimes from the ground, to the forehead. L 2 148 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. partitions of reeds tastefully interwoven with coloured wool. The coolest part of the salamlik had been prepared for our reception, and was spread with fine carpets and silken cushions. The men of the tribe, amongst whom were many- tall and handsome youths, were dressed in clean and becom- ing garments. They assembled in great numbers, but left the top of the tent entirely to us, seating themselves, or standing at the sides and bottom, which was wide enough to admit twenty-four men crouched together in a row. The chief and his brothers, followed by their sei-vants bearing trays loaded with cups, presented the coffee to their guests. After some conversation we went to the harem, and were received by his mother, a venerable lady, with long silvery locks and a dignified countenance and demeanour. Her dress was of the purest white and scrupulously clean. She was almost the only comely old woman I had seen amongst Eastern tribes. The wives and daughters of the chiefs, with a crowd of women, were collected in the tent. Amongst them were many distinguished by their handsome features. They had not the rich olive complexion or graceful carriage of the Bedouin girls, nor their piercing eyes and long black eyelashes. Their beauty was more European, some having even light hair and blue eyes. It was evident, at a glance, that they were of a different race from the wandering tribes of the desert. The principal ladies led us into the private compartment, divided by coloured screens from the rest of the tent. It was furnished with more than usual luxury. The cushions were of the choicest silk, and the carpets (in the jnianufacture of which the Milli excel) of the finest fabric. Sweetmeats and coffee had been prepared for us, and the women did not ob- ject to partake of them at the same time. Mousa Agha's mother described the various marriage ceremonies of the tribe. Our account of similar matters in Europe excited great amusement amongst the ladies. The Milli girls are highly prized by the Kurds. Twenty purses, nearly loo/., we were boastingly told, had been given for one of unusual attractions. The chief pointed out one of his own wives who liad cost him that sum. Other members of the same VI.] TATOOING OF KURDISH WOMEN. 149 establishment had deserved a less extravagant investiture of money. The prettiest girls were called before us, and the old lady appraised each, amidst the loud laughter of their companions, who no doubt rejoiced to see their friends valued at their true worth. They were all tatooed on the arms, and on other parts of the body, but less so than the Bedouin ladies. The operation is performed by Arab women, who wander from tent to tent for the purpose. Several were present, and wished to give us an immediate proof of their skill upon ourselves. We declined, however. It is usually Women of the Milli Tribe, done at the age of six or seven : the punctures are made by a needle, and the blue colour is produced by a mixture of gunpowder and indigo rubbed into the wounds. The pro- cess is tedious and painful, as the designs are frequently most elaborate, covering the whole body. The Kurdish ladies do not, like the Mussulman women of the towns, con- ceal their faces ; nor do they object to mingle, or even eat, with the men. During my stay at Umjerjeh I invited the harem of the Chichi chief, and their friends, to a feast in my ISO NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. tent — an invitation they accepted with every sign of satis- faction. We had an excellent dinner in the salamlik, varied by many savoury dishes and delicacies sent from the harem : such as truffles, dressed in different ways, several preparations of milk and cream, honey, curds, &c. After we had retired, the other guests were called to the feast by relays. The chief, however, always remained seated before the dishes, eating a little with all, and leaving his brothers to summon those who were invited, such being the custom amongst these Kurds. Mijwell, during our visit, had been seated in a corner, his eyes wandering from the tent and its furniture to the horses and mares picketed without, and to the flocks pasturing around. He cast, every now and then, significant glances towards me, which said plainly enough, ' All this ought to belong to the Bedouins. These people and their property were made iox ghazous.' As we rode away I accused him of evil intentions. ' Billah, ya Bej ! ' said he, ' there is, indeed, enough to make a man's heart grow white with envy ; but I have now eaten his bread under your shadow, and should even his stick, wherewith he drives his camel, fall into my hand, I would send it to him.' He entertained me, as we returned home, with an account of his domestic affairs. Al- tliough already married to one wife, and betrothed to Maizi, whom he would soon be able to claim, he was projecting a third marriage. His heart had been stolen byan unseen dam- sel, whose beauties and virtues had been the theme of some wandering Arab rhymers, and she was of the Fedhan Aneyza, the mortal enemies of the Shammar. Her father was the Sheikh of the tribe, and his tents were on the other side of the Euphrates. The difficulties and dangers of the courtship served only to excite still more the ardent mind of the Be- douin. His romantic imagination had pictured a perfection of loveliness ; his whole thoughts were now occupied in de- vising the means of possessing this treasure.* He had al- ready apprised the girl of his love by a trusty messenger, one of her own tribe, living with the Shammar. His con- * Burckhardt remarks that ' Bedouins are, perhaps, the only people of the East that can be entitled true lovers.' (Notes on Bedouins, p. 155.) VI.] MI J WELL'S MATRLVI0NL4L PROJECT. 151 fidant had extolled the graces, prowess, and wealth of the young Sheikh, with all the eloquence of a Bedouin poet, and had elicited a favourable reply. More than one interchange of sentiments had, by such means, since passed between them. The damsel had, at last, promised him her hand, if he could claim her in her own tent. Mijwell had now planned a scheme which he was eager to put into execution. Waiting until the Fedhan were so encamped that he could approach them without being previously seen, he would mount his de- loul, and leading his best mare, ride to the tent of the girl's father. Bread would, of course, be laid before him, and having eaten he would be the guest, and under the protection, of the Sheikh. On the following morning he would present his mare, describing her race and qualities, to his host, and ask his daughter ; offering, at the same time, to add any other gift that might be thought worthy of her. The father, who would probably not be ignorant of what had passed between the lovers, would at once consent to their union, and give back the mare to his future son-in-law. The marriage would shortly afterwards be solemnised, and an alliance would thus be formed between the two tribes. Such was Mijwell's plan, and it was one not unfrequently adopted by Bedouins under similar circumstances. A Bedouin will never ask money or value in kind for his daughter, as fathers do amongst the sedentary tribes and in towns, where girls are literally sold to their husbands, but he will consult her wishes, and she may, as she thinks fit, ac- cept or reject a suitor, so long as he be not her cousin. Presents are frequently made by the lover to the damsel herself before marriage, but rarely to the parents. I talked with Mijwell about the peculiar customs of the Arab tribes. None are more religiously respected by the true Bedouin than those regulating the mutual relations of the protected and protector, called the Dakheel. A violation of Dakheel would be considered a disgrace not only upon the individual but upon his family, and even upon his tribe, which never could be wiped out. No greater insult can be offered to a man, or to his clan, than to say that he has broken the Dakheel. A disregard of this sacred obligation 152 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. is the first symptom of degeneracy in an Arab tribe ; and when once it exists, the treachery and vices of the Turk rapidly succeed to the honesty and fidehty of the true Arab character. The relations between the Dakheel and the Dakhal (or the protector and protected), arise from a variety of circumstances, the principal of which are, eating a man's bread and salt, and claiming his protection by doing certain acts, or repeating a certain formula of words. Amongst the Shammar, if a man can seize the end of a string or thread, the other end of which is held by his enemy, he immediately becomes his Dakheel.'"' If he touch the canvas of a tent, or can even throw his mace towards it, he is the Dakheel of its owner. If he can spit upon a man, or touch any article be- longing to him with his teeth, he is Dakhal, unless, of course, in case of theft, it be the person who caught him. A woman can protect any number of persons, or even of tents. If a horseman ride into a tent, he and his horse are Dakhal. A stranger who has eaten with a Shammar, can give Dakheel to his enemy; for instance, I could protect an Aneyza, though there is blood between his tribe and the Shammar. According to Mijwell, any person, by previously calling out 'Nuffa' (I renounce), may reject an application for Dakheel. The Shammar never plunder a caravan within sight of their encampment, for as long as a stranger can see their tents they consider him their Dakhal. If a man who has eaten bread and slept in a tent, steal his host's horse, he is dishonoured, and his tribe also, unless they send back the stolen animal. Should the horse die, the thief himself should be delivered up, to be treated as the owner of the stolen property thinks fit. If two enemies meet and exchange the * For the very singular customs as to the confinement and liberation of a hai-amy, or robber, and of the relation between a rabat and his rabid, or the captor and the captive, see Burckhardt's ' Notes on the Bedouins,' p. 89. I can bear witness to the truth and accuracy of his account, having, during my early wanderings amongst the Bedouins, wit- nessed nearly everything he describes. The English reader caa have no correct idea of the habits and manners of the tribes of the desert, habits and manners probably dating from the remotest antiquity, and conse- quently of the highest interest, without reading the truthful descriptions of this admirable traveller. VI.] DAKHEEL AXD DAKHAL. 153 ' Salam okikian ' (Peace be with you) even by mistake, there is peace between them, and they will not fight. It is dis- graceful to rob a woman of her clothes; and if a female be found amongst a party of plundered Arabs, even the enemy of her tribe will give her a horse to ride back to her tents. If a man be pursued by an enemy, or even be on the ground, he can save his life by calling out ' Dakheel,' unless there be blood between them. It would be considered cowardly and unworthy of a Shammar to deprive an enemy of his camel or horse where he could neither reach water nor an encamp- ment. When Bedouins meet persons in the midst of the desert, they will frequently take them within a certain dis- tance of tents, and, first pointing out their site, then rob them of their property. An Arab who has given his protection to another, whether fonnally, or by an act which confers the privilege of Dak- heel, is bound to protect his Dakhal under all circumstances, even to the risk of his own property and life. I could relate many instances of the greatest sacrifices having been made by individuals, and even of whole tribes having been involved in war with powerful enemies by whom they have been almost utterly destroyed, in defence of this most sacred obligation. Even the Turkish rulers respect a law to which they may one day owe their safety, and more than one haughty Pasha of Baghdad has found refuge and protection in the tent of a poor Arab Sheikh, whom, during the days of his prosperity, he had subjected to every injury and wrong, and yet who would then defy the government itself, and risk his very life, rather than surrender his guest. The essence of Arab virtue is a respect for the laws of hospitality, of which the Dakheel in all its various forms is but a part. Amongst the Bedouins who watched our camels was one Saoud, a poet of renown amongst the tribes. With the ex- ception of a few ballads that he had formerly composed in honour of Sofuk, and other celebrated Shammar Sheikhs, he chiefly recited extemporary stanzas on passing events, or on persons who were present. He would sit in my tent of an evening, and sing his verses in a wild, though plaintive, strain, to the great delight of the assembled guests, and par- 154 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. ticularly of Mijwell, who, like a true Bedouin, was easily affected by poetry, especially with such as might touch his own passion for the unknown lady. The Arab chief would sway his body to and fro, keeping time with the measure, sobbing aloud as the poet sang the death of his companions in war, breaking out into loud laughter when the burden of the ditty was a satire upon his friends, and making extraordi- nary noises and grimaces to show his feelings, more like a drunken man than a sober Bedouin. But when the bard im- provised an amatory ditty, the young chiefs excitement was almost beyond control. The other Bedouins were scarcely less moved by these rude measures, which have the same kind of effect on the wild tribes of the Persian mountains. Such verses, chanted by their self-taught poets, or by the girls of their encampment, will drive warriors to the combat, fearless of death, or prove an ample reward on their return from the dangers of the ghazou or the fight. The excitement thev produce exceeds that of the grape. He who would under- stand the influence of the Homeric ballads in the heroic ages, should witness the effect which similar compositions have upon the wild nomades of the East. Amongst the Kurds and Lours I have not met with bards who chanted extemporary verses. Episodes from the great historical epics of Persia, and odes from their favourite poets, are recited during war or in the tents of their chiefs. But the art of improvising seems innate in the Bedouin. Although his metre and mode of recitation are rude to European ears, his rich and sonorous language lends itself to this species of poetry, whilst his exuberant imagination furnishes him with endless beautiful and appropriate allegories. The wars be- tween the tribes, their g/iazoiis, and their struggles with the Turks, are inexhaustible themes for verse, and in an Arab tent there is little else to aftbrd excitement or amusement. The Bedouins have no books; even a Koran is seldom seen amongst them : it is equally rare to find a wandering Arab who can read. They have no written literature, and their traditional history consists of little more than the tales of a few storytellers, who wander from encampment to encamp- ment, and earn their bread by chanting verses to the mono- VI.] ARAB CUSTOMS. 155 tonous tones of a one-stringed fiddle made of a gourd covered with sheep-skin. The extemporary odes which Saoud sung before us were chiefly in praise of those present, or a good-natured satire upon some of our party. We left the encampment of Suleiman Agha on the agth of April, on our return to Mosul. We again visited the remark- able volcanic cone of Koukab. As we drew near to it, Mijvvell detected, in the loose soil, the footprints of two men, which he immediately pronounced to be those of Shammar thieves returning from the Kurdish encampments. The saga- city of the Bedouin in determining from such marks, whether of man or beast, and, from similar indications, the tribe, time of passing, and business, of those who may have left them, with many other particulars, is well known. In this respect he resembles the American Indian, though the circumstances differ under which the two are called upon to exercise this peculiar faculty. The one seeks or avoids his enemy in vast plains, which, for three-fourths of the year, are without any vegetation; the other tracks his prey through thick woods and high grass. This quickness of perception is the result of continual observation and of caution encouraged from earliest youth. When the warriors of a tribe are engaged in distant forays or in war, their tents and flocks are frequently left to the care of a mere child. He must receive strangers, amongst whom may be those having claims of blood upon his family, and must guard against marauders, who may be lurking about the encampment. Every unknown sign and mark must be examined and accounted for. If he should see the track of a horseman he must ask himself why one so near the dwellings did not stop to eat bread or drink water 1 was he a spy; one of a party meditating an attack, or a tra- veller, who did not know the site of the tents 1 When did he pass 1 From whence did he come 1 Whilst the child in a civilised country is still under the care of its nurse, the Bedouin boy is compelled to exercise his highest faculties, and on his prudence and sagacity may sometimes depend the safety of his tribe. The expert Bedouin can draw conclusions from the foot- 156 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. prints and dung of animals that would excite the astonish- ment of an European. He will tell whether the camel was loaded or unloaded, whether recently fed or suffering from hunger, whether fiitigued or fresh, the time when it passed by, whether the owner was a man of the desert or the town, whether a friend or foe, and sometimes even the name of his tribe. I have frequently been cautioned by my Bedouin companions, not to dismount from my dromedary, that my footsteps might not be recognised as those of a stranger; and my deloul has even been led by my guide to prevent those who might cross our path detecting that it was ridden by one not thoroughly accustomed to the management of the animal. We encamped for the night near the mound of Thenenir, and resumed our journey on the following morning. Bidding farewell to the pleasant banks of the Khabour, we struck into the desert in the direction of the Sinjar. Extensive strata of the gypsum, or alabaster, used in the Assyrian edi- fices, formed for some miles the surface of the plain. We soon approached a dense mass of reeds and rank herbage, covering a swamp called the Hoi, which extends from the Lake of Khatouniyah to within a short distance of the Khabour. This jungle is the hiding-place of many kinds of wild beasts : lions lurk in it, and in the thick cover the Bedouins find their cubs. As we drew near to the first spring that feeds the marsh, about eight miles from Thenenir, we saw a leopard stealing from the high grass. When pur- sued, the animal turned and entered the thickets before the horseman could approach it. When we reached the head spring of the Hoi, the Jebours fired the jungle, and the flames soon spread far and wide. Long after we had left the marsh we could hear the crackling of the burning reeds, and until nightfall the sky was darkened by thick volumes of smoke. After a six hours' ride we found ourselves upon the margin of a small lake, whose quiet surface reflected the deep blue of the cloudless sky. To the south of it rose a line of low undulating hills, and to the east the furrowed mountain of the Sinjar. On all other sides was the desert, in which this solitary sheet of water lay like a mirage. In the midst of the lake was a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a narrow causeway, and beyond it a small island. On the former were VI.] KHATOUNIYAH AND ITS LAKE. 157 the ruins of a town, whose falling walls and towers were doubled in the clear waters. It would be difficult to imagine a scene more calm, more fair, or more unlooked for in the midst of a wilderness. It was like fairy-land. - ^T-STT-JT^fi-SiSii^ Town and Lake of Khatouniyah. The small town of Khatouniyah was, until recently, inha- bited by a tribe of Arabs, but had been deserted on account of a feud, arising out of the rival pretensions of two chiefs. The lake may be about six miles in circumference. The water, although brackish, like nearly all the springs in this part of the desert, is not only drinkable, but, according to the Bedouins, exceedingly wholesome for man and beast. It abounds in fish, some of which are said to be of very con- siderable size. As we approached, the Bairakdar seeing something struggling in a shallow rode to it, and captured a kind of barbel, weighing above twenty pounds. Waterfowl and waders, of various kinds, congregate on the shores. The stately crane and tlie graceful egret, with its snow-white 158 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. plumage and feathery crest, stand lazily on its margin : and thousands of ducks and teal eddy on its surface round the unwieldy pelican. Our tents were pitched on the very water's edge. At sun- set a few clouds which lingered in the western sky were touched with the golden rays of the setting sun. The glowing tints of the heavens, and the clear blue shadows of the Sinjar hills, mirrored in the motionless lake, imparted a calm to the scene which well matched the solitude around. We had scarcely resumed our march in the morning when we spied Suttum and Khoraif coming towards us, and urging their fleet mares to the top of their speed. A Jebour, leaving our encampment at Umjerjeh, when Hormuzd was danger- ously ill, had spread a report in the desert that he was ac- tually dead. To give additional authenticity to his tale he had minutely described the process by which my companion's body had been first salted, and then sent to Frankistan (Europe) in a box on a camel. Suttum, as we met, showed the most lively signs of grief; but when he saw the dead man him- self restored to life, his joy and his embraces knew no bounds. We rode over a low undulating country, at the foot of the Sinjar hills, eveiy dell and ravine being a bed of flowers. About five miles from Khatouniyah we passed a small reedy stream, called Suffeyra, on which the Boraij (Suttum's tribe) had been encamped on the previous day. They had now moved further into the plain, and we stopped at their water- ing-place, a brackish rivulet called Sayhel, their tents being about three miles distant from us in the desert. We pitched on a rising ground immediately above the stream. Beneath us was the golden plain, swarming with moving objects. The Khorusseh, and all the tribes under Ferhan, had now congre- gated to the north of the Sinjar previous to their summer migration to the pastures of the Khabour. Tlieir mares, camels, and sheep came to Sayhel for water, and during the whole day there was one endless line of animals passing to and fro before our encampment. I sat watching them from my tent. As each mare and horse stopped to drink at the troubled stream, Suttum named its owner and its breed, and described its exploits. The mares were generally followed VI.] VISIT OF FERHAN. 159 by two or three colts, who are suffered, even in their third year, to run loose after their dams, and to gambol unre- strained over the plain. It is to their perfect freedom whilst young that the horses of the desert owe their speed and the suppleness of their limbs. In the evening, as I was seated before my tent, I observed a large party of horsemen and riders on delouls approaching our encampment. They stopped at the entrance of the large paviUon reserved for guests, and picketing their mares, and ^^V»"^^ Ai lb Cam-"ls turning loose their dromedaries adorned with gay trappings, seated themselves on the carpets. The chiefs were our old friends, Mohammed Emin and Ferhan, the great Shammar Sheikh. We cordially embraced after the Bedouin fashion. I had not seen Ferhan since the treacherous murder of his father by Nejib Pasha of Baghdad,* to which he alluded * Kineveh and its Remains, p. 78. i6o NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. with touching expressions of grief, bewailing his own incom- petency to fill Sofuk's place, and to govern the divided tribe. He was now on his way with the Jebour Sheikh to re- cover, if possible, the government treasure, plundered by the Hamoud, for which, as head of the Shammar, he was held responsible by the Porte. After they had eaten of the feast we were able to prepare for them, they departed about sun- set for the tents of the Jebours. On the 4th of May we made a short day's journey of five hours to a beautiful stream issuing from the Sinjar hill, be- neath the village of Khersa. Leaving the plain, which was speckled as far as the eye could reach with the flocks and tents of the Bedouins, we skirted the very foot of the Sinjar range. Khersa had been deserted by its inhabitants, who had rebuilt their village higher up on the side of the hill. Next day we made but little progress, encamping near a spring under the village of Aldina, whose chief, Murad, had now returned from his captivity. Grateful for my intercession in his behalf, he brought us sheep and other provisions, and met us with his people as we entered the valley. The Mute- sellim was in his village collecting the revenues, but the in- habitants of Nogray had refused to contribute the share assigned to them, or to receive the governor. He begged me to visit the rebellious Yezidis, and the whole day was spent in devising schemes for a general peace. At length the chiefs consented to accompany me to Aldina, and, after some reduction in the salian, to pay the taxes. We rode on the following day for about an hour along the foot of the Sinjar hill, which suddenly subsides into a low undulating country. The narrow valleys and ravines were blood-red with gigantic poppies. The Bedouins adorned the camels and horses with the scarlet flowers, and twisted them into their own head-dresses and long garments. Even the Tiyari dressed themselves up in the gaudy trappings of na- ture, and as we journeyed chanting an Arab war-song, we re- sembled the return of a festive procession from some sacrifice of old. During our weary marches under a burning sun, it required some such episodes to keep up the drooping spirits of the men, who toiled on foot by our sides. Poetry and VI.] SUTTUM'S COMPLAINTS. i6i flowers are the wine and spirits of the Arab; a couplet is equal to a bottle, and a rose to a dram, without the evil effects of either. Would that in more civilised climes the sources of excitement were equally harmless ! About nine miles from our last encamping place we crossed a stream of sweet water named Aththenir, and stopped soon after for the day in the bosom of the hills, near some reedy ponds, called Fukka, formed by several springs. As this was a well-known place of rendezvous for the Bedouins when out on the ghazou, Suttum displayed more than usual caution in choosing the place for our tents, ascending with Khoraif a neighbouring peak to survey the country and scan the plain below. In the afternoon the camels had wandered from the en- campment in search of grass, and we were reposing in the shade of our tents, when we were roused by the cry that a large body of men were to be seen in the distance. The Bedouins immediately sought to drive back their beasts. Suttum unplatting his long hair, and shaking it in hideous disorder over his head and face, and baring his arms to the shoulder, leapt with his quivering spear into the saddle. Having first placed the camp in the best posture of defence I was able, I rode out with him to reconnoitre. But our alann was soon quieted. The supposed enemy proved to be a party of poor Yezidis, who, taking advantage of our cara- van, were going to Mosul to seek employment during the summer. In the evening Suttum inveighed bitterly against the habit of some travellers of continually taking notes before strangers. I endeavoured to explain the object and to remove his fears. ' It is all very well,' said the Sheikh, ' and I can understand, and am wiUing to believe, all you tell me. But supposing the Turks, or any body else, should hereafter come against us, there are many fooUsh and suspicious men in the tribe, and I have enemies, who would say that I had brought them, for I have shown you everything. You know what would be the consequences to me of such a report. As for you, you are in this place to-day, and a hundred days' journey off to-morrow, but I am always here. There is not a plot of grass nor a M i62 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. spring that that man (alluding to one of our party) does not write down.' Suttum's complaints were not unreasonable, and travellers cannot be too cautious in this respect, when amongst independent tribes, for even if they do not bring difficulties upon themselves, they may do so upon others. We had a seven hours' ride on the delouls, leaving the caravan to follow, to the large ruin of Abou Maria. My workmen had excavated for some time in these remarkable mounds, and had discovered chambers and several enormous slabs of Mosul marble, but no remains whatever of sculpture. They had, however, dug out several bricks bearing the name of Sardanapalus, the founder of the north-west palace at Nim- roud. A short ride of three hours brought us to Eski (old) Mosul, on the banks of the Tigris. According to tradition this is the original site of the city. There are mounds, and the remains of walls, which are probably Assyrian. Mosul was still nine caravan hours distant, and we encamped the next night at Hamaydat, where many of our friends came out to meet us. On the loth of May we were again within the walls of the to-wn, our desert trip having been accom- plished without any mishap or accident whatever. Suttum left us two days after for his tents, fearing lest he should be too late to join the warriors of the Khorusseh, who had planned a grand ghazoii into Nedjd. They were to be away for thirty days, and expected to bring back a great spoil of mares, dromedaries, and camels. As for three days they would meet with no wells, they could only ride their delouls, each animal carrying a spearman and a musketeer, with their skins of water and a scanty stock of provisions. They ge- nerally contrive to return from these expeditions with con- siderable booty. Suttum urged me to accompany them; but I had long renounced such evil habits, and other occupations kept me in Mosul. Finding that I was not to be persuaded, and that the time was at length come for us to part, he em- braced me, crammed the presents we had made to himself and his wives into his saddle-bags, and, mounting his deloul, rode off with Mijwell towards the desert. VII.] DISCOVERIES AT KOUYUNJIK. 163 CHAPTER VII. Discoveries at Kouyunjik — Procession of figures hearing fruit and game — Locusts — Led horses — An Assyrian campaign — Dagon, or the fish- zod — T/ie chambers of records — Inscribed clay tablets — Return to Nim- roud — Effects of the food — Discoveries — Small temple under high mound — The Evil Spirit — Fish-god — Fine bas-relief of the king — Great inscribed mottolith — Cedar beams — Second temple. During my absence in the desert, the excavations at Kouyunjik had been actively carried on under the superin- tendence of Toma Shishman. I hastened to the ruins, crossing in a rude ferry-boat the river, now swollen by the spring rains to more than double its usual size.* The earth had been completely removed from the sides ot the long gallery, on the walls of which were sculptured the transport of the large stone and of the winged bulls.t An outlet was discovered near its western end, opening into a narrow descending passage; an entrance, it would appear, into the palace from the river side. % Its length was ninety- six feet, its breadth not more than thirteen. The walls were panelled with sculptured slabs about six feet high. § Those to the right, in descending, represented a procession of ser- vants carrying fruit, flowers, game, and supplies for a banquet, preceded by mace-bearers. The first servant bore an object which I should identify with the pineapple, unless there were every reason to believe that the Assyrians were unacquainted with that fruit. The leaves sprouting from the top proved that it was not the cone of a pine or fir tree. The attendants who followed carried clusters of ripe dates and flat baskets of osier-work, filled with pomegranates, • The flood nearly reached the mounds of Kouyunjik and Nebbi Yunus. + No. XLix. Plan I. p. 4. % No. LI. same Plan. § The figures were about 4^ feet in height. M 2 Attendants carrying Pomegranates and Locusts. (Kouyunjik.) Chap. VII.] GROOMS LEADING HORSES. 165 apples, and bunches of grapes. They raised in one hand boughs to drive away the flies. Then came men bearing hares, partridges, and dried locusts fastened on rods. The locust has ever been an article of food in the East, and is still sold in the markets of many towns in Arabia. The locust-bearers were followed by a man with strings of pomegranates ; then came, two by two, attendants carrying on their shoulders low tables, such as are still used in the East at feasts, loaded with baskets of cakes and fruits of various kinds. The procession was finished by a long line of servants bearing vases full of flowers. These figures were dressed in a short tunic, confined at the waist by a shawl or girdle. They wore no head-gear, their hair falling in curls on their shoulders. On the opposite walls of the passage were fourteen horses without trappings, each led by a groom holding a halter twisted round the lower jaw. The animals and men were designed with considerable truth and spirit. The procession was marshalled by a staff-bearer, or chamberlain. The grooms wore a short tunic and an embroidered belt, and to this was attached that ornament of fur, or coloured fringe, peculiar to the costumes of the warriors of the later Assyrian period.* This passage may have led to the banqueting hall, where royal feasts were held, and was therefore adorned with appropriate subjects. At its western end the gallery turned abruptly to the north, its walls being there built of solid stone-masonry. I lost all further traces of it, as the workmen were unable, at that time, to carry on the tunnel beneath a mass of earth and rubbish about forty feet high. I did not, consequently, ascertain its western outlet. We had, however, nearly reached the edge of the mound ; and as there was no space left for a chamber of any size beyond, this passage may have opened on a flight of steps, or on an incline leading from the river, and forming a private entrance or postern into the palace. The workmen had returned to the chamber already de- * Specimens of the led horses, and of the figures bearing locusts, are now in the British Museum. See Plates 7, 8, and 9 of the 2nd series of the 'Monuments of Nineveh' for the entire series. i66 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. VII. scribed as containing bas-reliefs representing the sack of a city in the mountains, and as opening into the broad gallery on whose walls were depictured the various processes em- ployed by the Assyrians in moving their colossal figures.* From this chamber branched to the south a narrow passage, t whose sculptured panels had been purposely destroyed. It led into a great hall or court, which the workmen did not then explore. % They continued for a few feet along its western side, and then turning through a doonvay, discovered a cham- ber, from which again, always following the line of wall, they entered a spacious apartment,§ completely surrounded -with bas-reliefs, representing one continuous subject. The As- syrian army was seen fording a broad stream amidst wooded mountains. Rivulets flowed from the hills to the river, irri- gating in their course vineyards and orchards. The king in his chariot was followed by warriors on foot and on horses richly caparisoned, by led horses wth even gayer trappings, and by men bearing on their shoulders his second chariot, which had a yoke ornamented with bosses and carvings. He was preceded by his army, the variously accoutred spearmen and the bo-\vmen forming separate regiments or divisions. After crossing the river they attacked the enemy's strong- holds, which they captured, putting to death or carrying into captivity their inhabitants. Unfortunately, the bas-reliefs describing the general result of the campaign, and probably the taking of the principal city, had been destroyed. The captives wore a kind of turban wrapped in several folds round the head, and a short tunic confined at the waist by a broad belt. From the nature of the country it may be con- jectured that the sculptures represented the invasion and conquest of some part of Armenia, and the river may perhaps be identified with the Euphrates, near whose head waters, as we learn from the inscriptions, Sennacherib waged one of his most important wars. * No. XLViii. Plan I. p. 4. + No. XLII. same Plan ; 72 feet long, and 11 broad. § No. XIX. same Plan. X Nos. xxix. and xxxvill. same Plan. 1 68 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. On the north side of the chamber were two doorways lead- ing into separate apartments. Each entrance was formed by two colossal bas-reliefs of the fish-god. These figures com- bine the human shape with that of the fish. The head of the fish forms a kind of mitre for the head of the man, whilst its scaly back and fan like tail fall behind, leaving the human limbs and feet exposed. They wear a fringed tunic, and bear the two sacred emblems, the basket and the cone. The god Dagon of the Philistines and of the inhabitants of the Phoenician coast appears to have been worshipped under nearly tlie same form. When the ark of the Lord - ■-,.^..,^ ^ — ~—( j~7/~f J — was brought into the \[V C^ I " ^{ ^^fs great temple of the ^tS^ ft ^T/M..A ^ ^^lol -t Ashdod, and the statue fell a se- cond time, ' the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold ; only the Assyrian Cylinder, with Dagon, or the Fish-god. fi^/iy part of DagOn was left to him.' * His worship appears to have extended over Syria, as well as Mesopotamia and Chaldaea. He had many temples, as we learn from the Bible, in the country of the Philistines, and it was under the ruins of one of them that Sampson buried the people of Gaza who had ' gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice.' t The first doorway, guarded by the fish-gods, led into two small chambers opening into each other, and once panelled with bas-reliefs, the greater part of which had been destroyed.:^ On a few fragments, still standing against the walls, could be traced a city on a sea whose waters were covered with galleys. I shall call these chambers ' the chambers of re- cords,' for they appear to have contained the decrees of the Assyrian kings and the archives of the empire. The historical records and public documents of the Assy- * I Sam. V. 6. X No.s. XL. and xi.i. Plan I. p. 4. t Judges, xvi. 23. VII.] CHAMBERS OF RECORDS. 169 rians were kept on tablets and cylinders of baked clay. Many specimens have been brought to this country. On a large hexagonal cylinder presented by me to the British Museum are the chronicles of Esarhaddon : on a similar cylin der discovered in the mound o) Nebbi Yunus, are eight years oi the annals of Sennacherib : on z barrel-shaped cylinder, known as Bellino's, we have part of the records of the same king; and other cylinders have been found with the annals of earlier and later monarchs. The importance of such relics will be readily un derstood. They present, in s small compass, an abridgment. or recapitulation, of the inscrip- tions on the great monuments and palace walls, giving in a chronological series the events of each monarch's reign. The writing is so minute, and the letters are so close one to another, that it requires considerable experience to separate and transcribe them. The chambers I am describing appear to have been a de- pository for such documents. To the height of a foot or more from the floor they were entirely filled with them ; some entire, but the greater part broken into fragments. They were of different sizes ; the largest tablets were flat, and measured about g inches by 6|- inches ; the smaller were slightly convex, and some were not more than an inch long, with but one or two lines of writing. The cuneiform characters on most of them were singularly sharp and well- defined, but so minute in some instances as to be almost il- legible without a magnifying glass. They had been impressed by an instrument on the moist clay, which had been after- Cylinder with Assyrian Records. l^o NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap, wards baked. These documents appear to be of various kinds, principally historical records of wars, and distant expeditions undertaken by the Assyrians; royal decrees Clay Tablet wuli ( v lin.i' r iiiii I. (I'rom Kouyunjik. ) Stamped with the king's name ; lists of the gods, and pro- bably a register of offerings made in their temples ; prayers ; tables of the value of certain cuneiform letters, expressed by different al])habetical signs ; trilingual and bilingual voca- bularies of the Assyrian and of an ancient language once VII.] INSCRIBED CLAY TABLETS. 171 spoken in the country ; grammatical phrases ; calendars ; lists of sacred days ; astronomical calculations ; lists of animals, birds, and various objects, &c. &c. Many are sealed with seals, and prove to be legal contracts or conveyances of land. Others bear rolled im- pressions of engraved cylinders. On some tablets are found Phoe- nician, or cursive Assyrian cha- racters and other signs. The adjoining chambers con- tained similar relics, but in far smaller numbers. Many cases were filled with these tablets, which are deposited in the British Museum. We cannot overrate their value. They furnish us v/ith materials for the complete deci- pherment of the cuneiform cha- racter, for restoring the language and history of Assyria, and for in- quiring into the customs, sciences, and, it may perhaps even be added, literature of its people. The documents that have thus been discovered at Nineveh probably exceed all that have yet been afforded by the monuments of Egypt. But years must elapse before the innumerable fragments can be put together, and the inscriptions transcribed. A considerable number have already been published by the Trustees of the British Museum.* Together with these tablets were discovered a number of pieces of fine clay, bearing the impressions of seals, which had evidently been attached, like modem official seals of wax, to documents written on leather, papyrus, or parch- Inscribed Tablet, with Inscription at one end in Cursive Characters. * A selection from the inscriptions on these cylinders and tablets is now in course of pubHcation by the Trustees of the British Museum. Two volumes have aheady appeared, edited by Sir H. Rawlinson and Mr. Norris. 172 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap, ment. The documents themselves had perished. In the clay seals may still be seen the holes for the string, or strijjs of skin, by which the seal was fastened to them. In some Piece of Clay with Impressions of Seals. Pu^*^ Impression of a Seal on Clay. Back of the same Seal, showing the Marks of the String and the Fingers. instances the very ashes remained, and the marks of the thuml) and finger which had been used to mould the clay, can still be traced. VII.] DISCOVERY OF ROYAL SEALS. ^73 The greater part of these seals are Assyrian, but amongst them are some bearing Egyptian, Phoenician, and other symbols and characters. Sometimes several impressions of the same seal are found on one piece of clay. The Assyrian devices are of various kinds, the most common is that of a king slaying a lion with his sword or dagger. This would appear to be a royal signet. It is frequently surrounded by an inscription, or by an ornamental border. But the most important and remarkable discovery was that of a piece of clay bearing the impression of two royal signets, one Assyrian, the other Egyptian. The Egyptian represents the king slaying his enemies. The name, written in hieroglyphics and enclosed in the usual royal cartouche, is that of Sabaco the Second, the Ethiopian, of the twenty- fifth Egyptian dynasty. This king reigned in Egypt at the end of the seventh century B.C., about the time when Senna- cherib ascended the Assyrian throne. He was, it is believed, the So, mentioned in the second book of Kings (xvii. 4) as Impressions of the Signets of the Kings of Assyria and Egypt. (Original Size.) Part of Cartouche of Sabaco, enlarge, from the Impression of his Signet. having received ambassadors from Hoshea, king of Israel, who, by entering into a league with the Egyptians, called down the vengeance of Shalmaneser, whose tributary he was, which led to the first great captivity of the people of Samaria. Shalmaneser was the immediate predecessor of Sennacherib, and Tirakah, the Egyptian king, who was defeated by the '74 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. Assyrians near Lachish, was the immediate successor of Sabaco. We may conjecture that these seals were attached to a treaty of peace concluded between the Assyrian and Egyptian kings, and deposited in the royal archives at Nineveh; and that the document itself, probably written on papyrus or parchment, has perished. This singular proof of the alliance between the two monarchs is still preserved with the remains of the state documents of the Assyrian empire ; furnishing one of the most remarkable instances of corroborative evidence on record, whether we regard it as verifying the general accuracy of the interpretation of the cuneiform inscriptions, or as an illustration of Scripture history.* The signet cylinder of Sennacherib himself was afterwards discovered at the foot of the great bulls forming an entrance to his palace, and is now in the British Museum. It is engraved with won- derful minuteness and delicacy, on a cylinder of translucent green fel- spar, called amazon stone. The king stands in front of the sacred tree, bearing acorns in- stead of flowers. Above is the winged emblem of Ashur, here represented as a triad with three heads, a very remarkable and interesting mode of portraying the supreme deity. The second entrance formed by the fish-gods opened into a small chamber, whose sides had been panelled with bas- reliefs representing the siege of a castle, in a country wooded with fir trees, amongst which were long lines of warriors on foot, on horseback, and in chariots.f But there were no re- mains of inscription, and no peculiarity of costume to identify the conquered people. A few days after my return to Mosul, I floated down the * These seals, and others found at Kou>iinjik,are in the British Museum. t No. XXXIX. Plan I. p. 4. Royal Cylinder of Sennacherib. VII.] DISCOVERY OF A SMALL TEMPLE. 175 river on a raft to Nimroud. The flood, which had spread over the plain during my absence in the desert, had destroyed a part of the village. The mud walls of my house were falling in, and the rooms with their furniture were deep in mud and silt. The stables and outhouses had becorhe a heap of ruins, and the enclosure wall with Ibrahim Agha's loopholes had completely disappeared. The centre of the plain of Nimroud was now a large lake, and the cultivated fields were overspread with slime. The Shemutti gathered round me as I arrived, and told me of crops destroyed, and of houses swept away. The workmen had not been idle during my absence, and discoveries of considerable interest and importance had been made in the high mound on the level of the artificial plat- form. The first trenches had been opened in the side of the ravine between the ruins of the tower and those of the north-west palace. A pavement of large square bricks, bearing the usual superscription of the early Nimroud king, was soon uncovered. It led to a wall of sun-dried bricks, coated with plaster, which proved to be part of a small temple built by Sardanapalus, the founder of the north-west palace, and dedicated to the Assyrian Hercules, whose name is read Mir or Bar. I have already mentioned '•■ that a superstructure of bricks rested upon the stone basement-wall of the tower, at the north-west corner of the mound. It was against the eastern and southern faces of this superstructure that the newly dis- covered temple abutted. Four of its chambers were explored, chiefly by means of tunnels carried through the enormous mass of earth and rubbish in which the ruins were buried. The great entrances were to the east. The principal portal t was formed by two colossal human headed lions, sixteen feet and a half high and fifteen feet long. They were flanked by three small winged figures, one above the other, divided by an ornamental cornice, and between them was an inscribed pavement slab of alabaster. In front of each was a square stone, apparently the pedestal of an altar, and the walls on both sides were adorned with enamelled bricks. * Page 37. + Entrance i, B, Plan II. p. 34. VII.] COLOSSAL HUMAN FIGURES. 177 About thirty feet to the right of this gateway was a second,* formed by two singular figures. One was that of a monster, whose head, of fanciful and hideous form, had long pointed ears and extended jaws, amaed with huge teeth. Its body was covered with feathers, its fore-feet were those of a lion, its hind legs ended in the talons of an eagle, and it had spreading wings and the tail of a bird. Behind this strange image was a winged man, whose dress consisted of an upper garment with a skirt of skin or fur, an under robe fringed with tassels, and the sacred horned hat. A long sword was suspended from his shoulders by an embossed belt ; sandals, arm- lets, and bracelets, completed his attire, f He hurled an object resembling the thunderbolt of the Greek Jove against the monster, who turned furiously towards him. This group appears to represent the bad spirit driven out by a good deity. On the slabs at right an- gles to these sculptures, forming the outer part of the entrance, were two colossal human figures, without wings, wearing garlands on their heads, and bearing branches ending in three flowers. Within the temple, at right angles to the entrance, were sculptured fish-gods, some- what differing in form from Fish-God at Entrance to small Temple. (Nimroud.) those at Kouyunjik. The * Entrance 2, B, Plan II. p. 34. + Plate 5, of 2nd series of the ' Monuments of Nineveh. N 178 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. fish's head formed part of the three-homed cap usually worn by the winged figures. The tail only reached a little below the waist of the man, who was dressed in a tunic and long furred robe.* At this entrance to the temple stood a tablet with the figure of Sardanapalus, the founder of the north-west palace, in high relief, carved out of a solid block of limestone, which had been cut into the shape of an arched frame, resembling the rock tablets of Bavian and the Nahr-el-Kelb. The monarch wore his sacrificial robes, and carried the sacred mace in his left hand. Round his neck were hung the four sacred symbols, the crescent, the star or sun, the trident, and the cross. His waist was encir- cled by the knotted cord, and in his gir- dle were three dag- gers. Above his head were other mythic symbols of Assyrian worship, the winged globe, the crescent, the star, the bident, and the homed cap. The entire slab, 8 ft. 8. in. high, by 4 ft. 6 in. broad, and i ft. 3 in. thick, was covered, on all sides, except where the sculpture intervened, with an inscription, in small arrow-headed characters. Itwas fixed on a plain square pedestal and stood isolated from the building. In front of it was an altar of stone, supported on lions' feet, very much re- sembling in shape the tri])od of the Greeks.t * Specimens of all these figures are now in the British Museum. + The figure and altar are now in the British Museum. The inscrip- Effigy of King. VII.] INSCRIPTIONS ON THE MONOLITH. 179 The lion entrance led into a chamber 46 ft. by 19 ft. Its walls of sundried bricks were coated with plaster, on which the remains of figures and ornaments in colour could still be traced.* Nearly opposite to the entrance was a door- way f panelled with slabs sculptured with winged figures carrying maces. Flanking it on the four sides were priests wearing garlands. The inner door opened into a chamber 47 ft. by 31 ft., J ending in a recess paved with one enormous alabaster slab, no less than 21 ft. by 16 ft. 7 in., and i ft. i in. thick. This monolith had been broken into several pieces, probably by the falling in of the roof, and had in several places been re- duced to lime by fire. The whole of its surface, as well as the side facing the chamber, was occupied by one inscription, 325 lines in length, divided into two parallel columns, and carved with the gi^eatest care. The back of the slab, resting on a solid mass of sundried bricks, was also covered with cunei- form writing, occupying three columns. It is difficult to un- derstand why so much labour should have been thrown away upon an inscription which was not seen. Still more curious is the fact, that whilst this inscription contained all the histo- rical details of that on the upper side, the records of two or three more years were added. It is possible that the builders of the temple had determined that if their enemies should deface their annals, there should still remain another record, inaccessible and unknown, which would presei^ve the history of their greatness and glory unto all time. The inscriptions on the monolith are, for the most part, similar to that on the tablet with the figure of the king dis- covered at the entrance to the temple. They record the cam- paigns and victories of Sardanapalus, chiefly in the mountain- ous country to the east and north-west of Assyria, and in Syria and Mount Lebanon. The order of his marches is described with great geographical minuteness. Some" few names of cities, such as T)Te, Sidon, and one or two others on the tion contains the usual genealogical list of royal names, an invocation to various gods, and an account of the wars and conquests of the king. * Chamber a. Plan II. p. 34. + Entrance 3, b, same Plan, + Chamber b, same Plan. N 2 i8o NIXEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. VII. Phoenician coast, may be identified, but the greater number of jilaces mentioned are unknown to us. Sardanapalus boasts tliat he carried his arms further than any of his predecessors. In addition to the records of his wars, the inscription appears to contain an account of the building of his great palace at Nimroud (Calah), a city founded by one of his forefathers, which will probably prove highly interesting and valuable when it can be satisfactorily deciphered. Opening into the recess paved with the inscribed stone was a small closet, 13 feet by 3, which may have been used to keep the sacrificial utensils and the garments of the priests. The entrance formed by the good spirit driving out the evil principle led into a chamber* connected by separate door ways with the two rooms last described. The walls were simply plastered. Standing one day on the mound, I smelt the sweet smell of burning cedar. The Arab workmen, excavating in the small temple, had dug out a beam, and, the weather being cold, had made a fire with it to warm themselves. The wood was cedar; probably one of the very beams mentioned in the inscriptions as having been brought from the forests of Lebanon by Sardanapalus. After a lapse of nearly three thousand years, it had retained its original fragrance. Many other such beams were discovered.f The whole superstruc- ture, as well as the roof and floor of the building, like those of the temple and palace of Solomon, may have been of this precious material. About one hundred feet to the east of the building last described, and on the very edge of the artificial platform, I discovered a second temple, apparently dedicated to the Assyrian goddess, Beltis. Its principal entrance faced the south, and was on the same level as the north-west palace. This gateway was formed by two colossal lions with extended jaws, gathered-up lips and nostrils, and flowing manes. The heads, though to a certain extent conventional in form, were designed with that vigour and spirit so remarkably displayed by the Assyrian sculptor in the delineation of animals. The * Chamber c. Plan IT. p. 34. \ Scvcial specimens are now in the British Museum. l82 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. limbs conveyed the idea of strength and power, the veins and muscles were accurately portrayed, and the outline of the body was not deficient in truth. But the forepart of the animal, which was in full, was narrow and cramped, and un- equal in dignity to the side. In the general treatment the sculpture resembles the archaic monuments of Greece, and it is on this account peculiarly interesting. In it, indeed, we may perhaps trace those con- ventional forms from which the Greek artist first derived his ideal lion.* This gateway, about eight feet wide, was ])ave(l with one slab, on which was a part of the usual inscri])tion containing the annals of Sardanapalus. The height of the hons was about 8 feet, and their length thirteen. An inscription was carved across them. In front of them, in the corners formed by walls projecting at right angles with the entrance, were two altars, hollow at the top, and ornamented with gradines resembling the battlements of a castle, f The exterior walls appeared to have been adorned with enamelled bricks, many of which still remained. Statue of King from Temple. (Nimroud.; * Plate 2, 2ntl series of ' Monuments of Xineveli.' One of these lions is now in tiie British Museum. + An altar nearly similar in shape is seen on the top of a hill, in a bas-relief at Khorsabad, Botta, plate l6. VII.] FIGURE OF THE KING. 183 The lion portal led into a chamber 57 feet by 25.* At one end was a recess similar to that in the opposite temple, and also paved with one great alabaster slab, 19 J ft. by 12 ft., inscribed on both sides. The inscriptions were nearly the same as those on both monoliths. Above the great inscribed slab was found an interesting figure of the king, attired as high priest in his sacrificial robes, 3 feet 4 inches high, and cut in a hard, compact lirae- stone.t In his right hand he held an instrument resembling a sickle, and in his left the sacred mace. On his breast was an inscription with his name and titles, and describing him as the conqueror from the river Tigris to Mount Leba- non and the Great Sea. * C, Plan II. p. 34. + Now in the British Museum. NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. CHAPTER VIII. The mmmer— Encampment at Koiiynnjik—Mode of life — Departure for the inoiintains—Akra — Rock-tablets at Gimdnk — District of Zi- hari — Namet Agha — District of Shirwan-^of Baradost — of Gherdi —of Shemdina—Moiisa Bey — Nestorian bishop — Convent of Mar Hananisho — District and plain of Ghaotir — Dizza—An Albanian frimd — Bash-Kalah — Izzet Pasha — A Jewish aicanipment — High mountain pass — Malwioudiyah — First vitW of Wan. The difficulties and delay in crossing the Tigris, now swollen by the melting of the mountain snows, induced me to pitch Landing Place with Ferryboats on the Tigris at Mosul. my tents on the mound of Kouyunjik, and to reside there with all my party, instead of daily passing to and fro in the rude ferry-boats to the ruins. VIII.] ENCAMPMENT AT KOUYUNJIK. 185 During the day, when not otherwise occupied, I made drawings of the bas-rehefs discovered. I went below into the subterranean passages soon after the sun had risen, and remained there, without again seeking the open air, until it was far down in the western horizon. The temperature in the dark tunnels was cool and agreeable, nearly twenty de- grees of Fahrenheit lower than that in the shade above ; but I found it unwholesome, the sudden change and consequent chill bringing on attacks of ague. After the sun had set we dined outside the tents, and after- wards rechned on our carpets to enjoy the cool balmy air of an Eastern night. The broad silver river wound through the plain, the great ruin cast its dark shadows in the moonlight, the lights of 'the lodges in the gardens of cucumbers'* flickered at our feet, and the deep silence was only broken by the sharp report of a rifle fired by the watchful guards to frighten away the wild boars that lurked in the melon beds. Around us were the tents of the Jebour workmen; their chiefs and the overseers generally sat with us to talk over the topics of the day until the night was far spent. We slept under the open sky, making our beds in the field. July had set in, and we were now in ' the eye of the sum- mer.' My companions had been unable to resist its heat. One by one we dropped off with fever. Mr. Hormuzd Ras- sam and myself struggled on the longest, but at length we also gave way. Fortunately our ague attacks did not coincide. We were prostrate alternate days, and were, therefore, able to take charge alternately of the works. By the nth of July I had sent to Busrah the first collection of sculptures from Kouyunjik, and on tliat day, in the middle of the hot stage of fever, and half delirious, I left Mosul for the moun- tains. There were still parts of central Kurdistan unvisited by the European traveller. The districts belonging to the Zibari Kurds, between Rahwandiz and the Nestorian valleys, had but recently made a tardy and partial submission to the Porte, and, still unoccupied by Turkish troops, acknowledged * Isaiah, i. 8. These temporary huts are raised in the gardens and plantations of melons, cucumbers, and other fruit, by the men who watch day and night to protect them against thieves and wild animals. i86 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. only their own hereditary chiefs. The tribes inhabiting them are renowned for their lawlessness. I deteraiined, therefore, to visit these districts on my way to Wan, to devote some days to the examination of the ruins and cuneiform inscriptions in and near that city, and then to return to Mosul through the unexplored uplands to the south of the lake of Wan, and by such of the Nestorian valleys as I had not seen during my former journey in the mountains. I should thus spend the hottest part of the summer in the cool regions of Kurdistan, and be again at Nineveh by Sep- tember, when the heats begin to dechne. Few European travellers can brave the perpendicular rays of an Assyrian sun. Even the well-seasoned Arab seeks the shade during the day, and journeys by night. As we had no motive for neglecting the usual precautions, we struck our tents late in the afternoon, and got upon our horses at the foot of the mound of Kouyunjik as the sun went down. Five hours' ride over the plain brought us to the small Turcoman village of Bir Hillan (the well of stone), which stands on the south-eastern spur of the Makloub hills. After two hours' rest we continued our journey, and crossed this spur before morning dawned. The Gebel Makloub is here divided into two distinct ranges by a deep valley. The southern ridge, rocky and furrowed like the northern, is called the Gebel Ain-es-sufra (the hill of the yellow spring), from a discoloured fountain in one of its ravines, a place of pilgrimage of the Yezidis. We descended into a broad plain, stretching from it to the first Kurdish range, and soon found ourselves on the banks of the Gliazir, here a clear sparkling stream clothed with tall oleanders, now bend- ing under their rosy blossoms. We sought the shade of some spreading walnut-trees, during the heat of the day, near the small Kurdish village of Kaimawa. We were again on our way in the afternoon. Instead of striking for the mountains by the direct path across the plain of Navkur, we rode along tlie foot of a range of low hills, fonning its western boundary, to the large Kurdish village of Bardaresh. Having rested for a few hours, we descended in the middle of the night iiUo a plain receiving the drainage VI I r.] THE TOWN OF AKRA. 187 of the surrounding highlands, and during the rainy season almost impassable from mud. In the summer the broad fis- sures and deep crevices, formed by the heat of the sun, ren- der it scarcely less difficult to beasts of burden. Scattered over it are many flourishing villages, inhabited almost entirely by Kurds. Artificial mounds, the remains of ancient civili- sation, but of small size when compared with the great ruins of Assyria, rise amongst the hovels of the Kurdish peasants. After we had crossed the parched and burning plain we entered a valley in the Kurdish hills, watered by a stream called Melik or Gherasin. We had to climb over much broken ground — rocky ridge and ravine — before reaching the slope of the mountain covered with the gardens and orchards of Akra. We tarried for a moment at a cool spring rising in a natural grotto, and collected into two large basins. As such places usually are, it was, if not a sacred, a genial spot to the Mussulmans, and they had chosen a small open terrace near for a burial-ground. Saints abound amongst the Kurds, as amongst all ignorant people, and there are few grave-yards without a large supply of their tombs : that near the fountain of Akra appeared to be particularly fa- voured, and the place of mourning was made gay by the many-coloured remnants of old garments, which flutterec like streamers from the tall head-stones.* Although Akra stands on the mountain-side, it is still within the region of the great heats, and the inhabitants pass the summer-nights beneath the sky. During this season they leave their dwellings, and encamp in the gardens. The town contains nearly six hundred families, and the whole district about three hundred villages and hamlets, furnishing a con- siderable part of the revenues of the pashalic of Mosul. Some days elapsed before my companions, who were suf- fering from fever, were able to journey. I took advantage of the delay to visit two rock tablets near the village of * The custom of placing ex-voto offerings on or near the tomb of a holy person — generally pieces torn from the garments — prevails throughout the East. Frequently the branches of a neighbouring tree, and the iron grating of the windows of the resting-place of a saint, are completely covered with such relics. iS8 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. Gunduk. They have been carved at the mouth of a spa- cious natural cavern, whose roof is fretted with stalactites, and down whose sides trickles cool clear water, and hang dank ferns and creeping plants. It is called Guppa d'Mar Yohanna, or the cave of St. John, and near it is an ancient Nestorian church dedicated to Saint Audishio. The bas- reliefs are Assyrian. The upper represents a man slaying a wild goat with a spear. In the lower, as far as I could dis- tinguish the sculpture, which is high on the rock and much injured, are two women facing each other, and seated on stools. Each holds a child above a kind of basin or circular vessel, as if in the act of baptizing it. Behind the seated female to the left, a figure bears a third child, and is followed by a woman. On the opposite side is a group of three per- sons, apparently sacrificing an animal. There are no traces of inscriptions on or near the tablets. On the 17th July my companions were able to move to the higher mountains. We all longed for a cooler climate, and we rejoiced as at sunrise we left our garden. The town, through which we passed, contains a few well-built stone houses, rising one above the other on the hill side, a mosque, a batli, and a ruined castle ; and was formerly the stronghold of an independent chief, who enjoyed the title of pasha, and boasted, like his relation of Amadiyah, a descent from the Abbasside caliphs. The last, Mohammed Seyyid Pasha, has long been a kind of political prisoner at Mosul. A precipitous and difficult path leads up the mountain. From the summit of the pass, the eye wanders over the plains of Navkur and Sheikhan, the broken hill country around Arbil, and the windings of the Zab and the Ghazir. On the opposite side is a deep valley dividing the Akra hills from a second and loftier range. We now entered the region of dwarf oaks, and stopped, after a short day's journey, at the Kurdish hamlet of Hashtgah, surrounded by gigantic trees and watered by numerous streams. Through the valley ran a broad clear stream, one of the confluents of the Zab. We rode along its banks for nearly an hour, and then struck into a narrow gorge thickly wooded with oak. Another stony and precipitous pass was between VIII.] NAMET AGHA. 189 us and the principal district of Zibari. From its summit the main stream of the Zab is seen winding through a rich valley, beyond which rise the more central and loftier mountains of Kurdistan, with their snowy peaks. Descending into the low country we rode by the village of Birikapra, the residence of Mustafa Agha, the former head of the Zibari tribes. The present chief, Namet Agha, dwells at Heren, about two miles beyond. He had lately been at Mosul to receive from the Pasha his cloak of investiture, and during his visit had been my guest. His abilities and acquirements were above the ordinary Kurdish standard, which indeed is low enough ; for, as the Arab proverb declares, ' Be the Kurd a Kurd or a prophet, he will still be a bear.' He spoke Persian with fluency, and was not ignorant of Arabic. As he was well acquainted with the geography of Kurdistan, I learnt from him many interesting particulars relating to the less-known districts of the mountains. The Kurds belong to a sect of Mussulmans notoriously strict in the observance of their religious duties. The Agha had feasted all night, and was now sleeping through his daily fast. He was stretched on a rich carpet beneath a cluster of trees, and near a reservoir of water, outside the walls of his small mud castle. A thin white cloak, embroidered with silk and golden threads, was thrown over him, and whilst one attendant fanned his head, a second gently kneaded his naked feet. I begged that he should not be disturbed, and we proceeded to settle ourselves for the day under the trees. The unusual stir, however, soon awoke the chief. He wel- comed me with friendly warmth ; and, although forbidden to eat himself, he did not leave his guests uncared for. The breakfast brought to us from his harem comprised a variety of sweetmeats and savoury dishes, which did credit to the skill of the Kurdish ladies. There are about fifty Catholic Chaldaean families, recent converts from Nestorianism, in Heren. They have a church, and had no cause to complain of their Kurdish masters, especially during the government of the present chief. Namet Agha placed me under the protection of his cousin, 'Mullah Agha, who was ordered to escort me to the borders 190 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. of the pashalic of Hakkiari, now occupied by the Turkish troops. Our guide was a tall, sinewy mountaineer, dressed in the many-coloured loose garments, and huge red and black turban folded round the high conical felt cap, which give a peculiar and ungainly appearance to the inhabitants of cen- tral Kurdistan. He was accompanied by three attendants, A Kurd. and all were on foot, the precipitous and rocky pathways of the mountains being scavcely practicable for horses, which are rarely kept but by the chiefs. They carried their long rifles across their shoulders, and enormous daggers in their girdles. We left Heren early on the morning of the 19th, and soon reaching the Zab rode for two hours along its banks, to a spot where a small raft had been made ready for us to cross the stream. Many villages were scattered through the valley on both sides of the river, and the soil is not ill cultivated. We passed the night in Rizan, near the ferry. We now entered the tract which has probably been fol- lowed for ages by llie mountain clans in their periodical VIII.] KURDISH DISTRICTS. 191 migrations. Besides the sedentary population of these dis- tricts, there are certain nomade Kurdish tribes called Kochers, who subsist entirely by their flocks. As they do not engage in agriculture, but rely upon the rich pastures of Assyria, they change their encamping grounds according to the season of the year, gradually ascending from the plains watered by the Tigris and Zab towards the highest peaks in summer, and returning to the low country as the winter draws nigh. They are notorious thieves and robbers, and during their annual migrations commit serious depredations upon the settled inhabitants of the districts on their way, and more especially upon the Christians. As they possess vast flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, their track has in most places the appearance of a beaten road. The country to the east of the Zab is broken into a number of parallel ranges of wooded hills, divided by narrow ravines. Small villages are scattered here and there on the mountain sides, in the midst of terraces cultivated with wheat and planted with fruit trees. The scenery occasionally assumes a character of beauty and gi-andeur, as the deep green valleys open beneath the traveller's feet, and the lofty snow-capped peaks of Rahwandiz rise majestically in the clear blue sky. Our first night's encampment, after leaving the Zab, was near the small hamlet of Bani. Crossing a high ridge, we left the district of Zibari, and entered that of Shirwan, whose chief, Miran Bey, came out to meet us at the head of his armed retainers. He led us to the large village of Bersiyah, situ- ated beneath a bold and lofty peak called Piran. A feast had been prepared for us, and we rested under a walnut-tree. Through the valley beneath ran a considerable confluent of the Zab, dividing the districts of Shirwan and Gherdi. During the afternoon, we rode for three hours along this stream, through open valleys and narrow gorges, until we reached Harouni, in the district of Baradost. Most of the villages in these mountains have small mud forts, with four or six towers, — the places of refuge and defence of the numerous petty chiefs during their frequent broils and blood-feuds. We met a few Jewish families who wander from village to village. The men are pedlars and goldsmiths, and are not un- 192 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. welcome guests, even in the intolerant families of the Kurds, as they make and refashion the ornaments of the ladies. On one of the many ])eaks towering above Harouni, is the large village of Khan-i-resh, with its orchards and gardens, the residence of the chief of the district of Baradost. We reached it by a very rapid ascent, and were received by the Mir, Fezullah Bey, in a spacious chamber, supported by wooden pillars, and completely open on the side facing the valley, over which it commanded an extensive and beautiful prospect. The turban of the chief, a Cashmere shawl striped red and white, vied in size with the largest headgear we had seen in Kurdistan. His robes were of silk richly embroi- dered, and his dark eyes were rendered more lustrous by a profuse besmearing of kohl over the eyelids. He was sur- rounded by a crowd of well-armed and well-dressed attend- ants, and received us as if he had been the petty sovereign of the hills. Although he had condescended for the last two years to contribute some eight purses (35/.) towards the Turkish revenues, he still boasted an entire independence, and submitted with evident ill-will to the control of the Agha of Zibari, under whom his tribes had been placed by the Pasha of Mosul.* He received Mullah Agha, however, with civility, and read the letters of introduction from Namet Agha, of which I was the bearer. Like most of the mountain chiefs, he spoke Persian, the language used in Kurdistan for all writ- ten communications, and in books, except the Koran and a few pious works, which are in Arabic. The Kurdish dialects are mere corruptions of the Persian, and are not, with rare exceptions, employed in writing. The Mir pressed me to pass the night with him as his guest; but, after partaking of his breakfast, I continued my journey, and reached, by sunset, the small turreted strong- hold of B'eygishni. The next morning we crossed one of the shoulders of the lofty peak of Ser-i-Resh, into the valley of Chappata.t It * It was this chief, or one of his dependants, I believe, who plundered and was about to murfler two American missionaries, who attempted to cross the mountains the year after my visit. t Or Chapnaia, in Clialdxan. VIII.] lAHYA BEY, THE MIR OF RUA. 193 was necessary to visit the Mir of Gherdi, through whose territories we were now travelHng, and whose protection we consequently required. He was away from his castle. After having rested and eaten bread there, we left the bold upland upon which the village stands, and entered a wild and nar- row gorge. A very steep pathway led us to the summit of the northern shoulder of the Ser-i-Resh, from whence we gazed over a sea of mountain ranges, whose higher peaks were white with eternal snow. As we wound down a rugged track on the opposite side of the pass, we came upon a party of gaily dressed Kurds, crouching in a circle round a bubbling spring. They were lahya Bey, the Mir, and his people, who had come from Rua to meet me. The chief, after the usual exchange of civilities, insisted upon returning to that village with us, and mounted his fine white mare, whose tail was dyed bright red with henna to match his own capacious scarlet trowsers. I could scarcely refuse his offer of hospitality, although our day's journey was thereby much shortened, and we rode to- gether down the mountain until, turning into a valley, we found the chief's carpets spread beneath the trees, with the repast that he had prepared for us. We had now left the naked hills which skirt the Assyrian plains, and had entered the wooded districts of Kurdistan, On the following day we journeyed through a valley thick with walnuts and other large trees, and followed the windings of one of the principal confluents of the Zab. We crossed it, backwards and forwards, by wicker suspension bridges, until we ascended, through a forest of orchards watered by innu- merable streamlets, to Nera, the village of Mousa Bey, the chief of Shemdeena. The solitude of the place was only broken by a few boys who were bathing in a brawling stream. The chief himself anti the inhabitants were still slumbering after their night's ob- servance of the Ramazan. We pitched our tents near some springs on an open lawn, and waited the return of an aged servant who had been disturbed by the noise of our caravan, and had undertaken to announce our arrival to his master. We had evidently to deal with a man of civilisation and luxury, for the old Kurd shortly returned followed by nu- 194 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. merous attendants, bearing sherbets and various Persian deli- cacies, in china bowls. Mousa Bey himself came to us in the afternoon, and his manners and conversation confirmed the impression that his breakfast had produced. Intercourse with Persia, beyond whose frontiers his own tribe some- times wandered, had taught him the manners and language of his neighbours. He was somewhat proud of his acquire- ments; and when he found that he could exhibit them before the crowd of armed followers that respectfully surrounded him, by talking to me in a learned tongue, a bond of friend- ship was immediately established between us. He told me that he was descended from one of the most ancient of Kur- dish families, whose records for many hundred years still exist ; and he boasted that Sheikh Tahar, the great saint, had deemed him the only chief worthy, from his independ- ence of the infidel government of the Sultan, to receive so holy a personage as himself after the downfall of Beder Khan Bey. This Sheikh Tahar, who as the main instigator of many atrocious massacres of the Christians, and especially of the Nestorians, ought to have been pursued into the uttermost parts of the mountains by the Turkish troops, and hanged as a public example, was now suffering from fever. He sent to me for medicine ; but as his sanctity would not permit him to see, face to face, an unbelieving Frank, and as he wished to have a remedy without going through the usual form of an interview with the doctor, I declined giving him any help. In Nera are many Jewish families, Avho make a livelihood by weaving the coloured woollen stuffs worn by the Kurds. The Bishop of Shemisden (or Shemdeena), hearing of my ar- rival, sent one of his brothers to meet me. He came to us in the evening, and inveighed against the fanaticism and tyranny of the Bey, who, he declared, had driven many Christians from their villages into Persia. We rose early on the following day, and left Nera long before the population was stirring, by a very steep pathway, winding over the face of a precipice, and completely over- hanging the village. Reaching the top of the pass we came upon a natural carj^et of Alpine flowers of every hue, spread over the eastern declivity of the mountain, and cooled and VIII.] MAR IS HO, BISHOP OF SHEMISDEN. 195 moistened by the snows and glaciers which fringed the deep basin. The valley at our feet was the Nestorian district of Shemisden, thickly set with Christian villages, the first of which, Bedewi, we reached, after passing a few cultivated patches cleared from the forest of oaks. The inhabitants who flocked out to see us were miserably poor, the children starved and naked, the men and women scarcely half-covered with rags. Leaving the caravan to proceed to our night's resting-place, I turned down the valley to visit the bishop at Mar Hananisho. A ride of three-quarters of an hour brought us to the epis- copal residence. Mar Isho, the bishop, met me at some dis- tance from it. He was shabbily dressed, and not of prepos- sessing appearance ; but he appeared to be good-natured, and to have a fair stock of common sense. After we had ex- changed the common salutations, seated on a bank of wild thyme, he led the way to the porch of the church. Ragged carpets and felts had been spread in the dark vestibule, in the midst of sacks of corn, bourghoul, and other provisions for the bishop's establishment. Various rude agricultural in- struments, and spinning-wheels, almost filled up the rest of the room; for these primitive Christians rely on the sanctity of their places of worship for the protection of their temporal stores. The church itself was entered by a low doorway, through which a man of moderate size could scarcely squeeze himself, and was even darker than the anteroom. It is an ancient building, and the bishop knew nothing of the date of its foundation. Although service is occasionally performed, the communion is not administered in it. One or two tattered parchment folios, whose title-pages were unfortunately want- ing, but which were evidently of an early period, were heaped up in a corner with a few modem manuscripts on paper, the prey of mildew and insects. The title of the bishop is ' Me- tropolitan of Roustak,' a name of which I could not learn the origin. His jurisdiction extends over many Nestorian villages, chiefly in the valley of Shemisden. Half of this dis- trict is within the Persian territories, and from the convent we could see the frontier dominions of the Shah. It is in the 196 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. high road of the periodical migrations of the great tribe of Herki, who pass hke a locust-cloud twice a year over the set- tlements of the unfortunate Christians, driving before them the flocks, spoiling the granaries, and carrying away even the miserable furniture of the hovels. It is in vain that the suf- ferers carry their complaints to their Kurdish master; he takes from them double the lawful taxes and tithes. The Turkish government has in this part of the mountains no power, if it had the inclination, to protect its Christian subjects. After we had partaken of the frugal breakfast of milk, honey, and fruit prepared for us by the bishop, we turned again into the high road to Bash-Kalah. We had another pass to cross before descending into the valley of Harouna, where our caravan had encamped for the night. On the mountain top were several Nestorian families crouching, half naked, for shelter beneath a projecting rock. They seized the bridles of our horses as we rode by, beseeching us to help them to recover their little property, which, but a itw hours before, had been swept away by a party of Herki Kurds. I could do nothing for these poor people, who seemed in the last stage of misery. On the other side of the valley we spied the black tents of the robbers, and their vast flocks of sheep and herds of horses roving over the green pastures. Their encampments were scattered over the uplands even to the borders of the snow, and to the feet of the bare perpendi- cular peaks forming the highest crests of the mountains. We were not certain what our own fate might be, were we to fall ir with a band of these notorious marauders. From the summit of the pass we looked down into two deep and well-wooded valleys, hemmed in by mountains of singularly picturesque form. We descended into the more northern valley, and passing the miserable Nestorian hamlet of Sourasor, and the ruined church and deserted Christian village of Tellana, reached our tents about sunset. They were pitched near Harouna, whose Nestorian inhabitants were too poor to furnish us with even the common coarse black bread of barley. A low ridge separated us from the district of Ghaour or VIII.] CLIMATE OF KURDISTAN. 197 Ghiaver, a remarkable plain of considerable extent; the basin, it would seem, of some ancient lake, and now a vast morass, receiving the drainage of the great mountains which surround it. To the west it is bounded by a perfect wall of rock, from which spring the lofty snow-clad peaks of Jelu, the highest of central Kurdistan. To the east, a line of hills forms the frontier limits of Turkey and Persia. We had now quitted the semi-independent Kurdish valleys, and had en- tered the newly created province of Hakkiari, governed by a Pasha, who resides at Bash-Kalah. The plain of Ghaour is, however, exposed to the depredations of the Herki Kurds, who, when pursued by the Turkish troops, seek a secure retreat in their rocky fastnesses, beyond the limits of the pashalic. The district contains many villages, inhabited by a hardy and industrious race of Nestorian Christians, and is a Nestorian bishopric. We were obliged to follow a track over the low hills skirting the plains in order to avoid the marsh. On its very edge we passed several Kurdish villages, the houses being mere holes in the earth, almost hidden by heaps of dry dung collected for fuel. The snow lies deep in this elevated re- gion during more than half the year, and all communication is cut off with the rest of the world, except to the adventu- rous footman who dares brave the dangers of the mountam storm. During the summer the moist earth brings forth an abundance of flowers, and the plain was now chequered with many-coloured patches. Here and there were small fields of grain, which had just time to ripen between the snows of the long winters. The husbandman with his rude plough, drawn sometimes by ten buffaloes, was even now preparing the heavy soil for the seed. The cold is too great for the culti- vation of barley, of fruits, and even of most vegetables, and there is not a solitary tree in the plain. The supplies of the inhabitants are chiefly derived from Persia. A ride of six hours and a-half brought us to the large vil- lage of Dizza, the chief place of the district, and the residence of a Turkish Mudir, or petty governor. This office was filled by one Adel Bey, the brother of Izzet, the Pasha of the province. A small force of regular and irregular troops 198 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. was quartered, with him, on the inhabitants, and he had two guns to awe the Kurds of the neighbourhood. Soon after my arrival I called on him. Seated near him on the divan I found my old friend Ismail Agha of Tepelin, who had shown me hospitality three years before in the ruined castle of Amadiyah."" He Avas now in command of the Albanian troops forming part of the garrison. A change had come over him since we last met. The jacket and amis which had once glittered with gold, were now greasy and dull. His face was as worn as his garments. After a cordial greeting he made me a long speech on his fortunes, and on that of Albanian irregulars in general. ' Ah ! Bey,' said he, ' the power and wealth of the Osmanlis is at an end. The Sultan has no longer any authority. The accursed Tanzimat (Re- form) has been the ruin of all good men. Why, see Bey, I am obliged to live upon my pay ; I cannot eat from the trea- sury, nor can I squeeze a piastre — what do I say, a piastre ? not a miserable half-starved fowl, out of the villagers, even though they be Christians. Forsooth they must talk to me about reform, and ask for money ! The Albanian's occupa- tion is gone. Even Tafil-Eousi (a celebrated Albanian con- dottiere) smokes his pipe, and becomes fat like a Turk. It is the will of God. I have foresworn raki, I believe in the Koran, and I keep Ramazan.' The night was exceedingly cold. The change from the heat of the plains to the cool nights of the mountains had made havoc amongst our party. Nearly all of us were laid up with fever. I could not, however, delay, and on the fol- lowing morning our sickly caravan was again toiling over the hills. We had now entered the Armenian districts. The Christian inhabitants of Dizza are of that race and faith. From the elevated plain of Ghaour a series of valleys leads to Bash-Kalah, and the stream which winds through them joins the head-waters of the Zab. We encamped for the night at the Kurdish village of Perauniss. Next day, near the village of Charderrah (the four valleys), we passed some ponds of muddy water, bubbling with gaseous • Nineveh and its Remains, p. 122. VIII.] SCE.YE OF SCHULZ'S MURDER. 199 exhalations of a sulphurous smell, and reached in the after- noon Antiss, inhabited by Armenians and Nestorians. The branch of the Zab, which we had seen gradually- swollen by small mountain rills, had become a considerable stream. We forded it near the ruins of a fine bridge, appa- rently of early Turkish masonry, and beneath an old deserted castle called KaHanon. We now entered the valley of this great confluent of the Tigris, its principal source being but p. few miles to the north of us, near the frontiers of Persia. The land is so heavy, that the rude plough of the country requires frequently as many as eight pairs of oxen. The Armenian ploughmen sit on the yokes, and whilst guiding or urging the beasts with a long iron-pointed goad, chant a monotonous ditty, to which the animals appear so well accustomed, that when the driver ceases from his dirge, they also stop from their labours. A dell near our path was pointed out to me as the spot where the unfortunate traveller Schulz was murdered by Nur- Ullah Bey, the Kurdish chief of Hakkiari.* Turning up a narrow valley towards the high mountains, we suddenly came in sight of the castle of Bash-Kalah, one of the ancient strongholds of Kurdistan. Its position is remarkably piC' turesque. It stands on a lofty rock, jutting out from the mountains which rise in a perpendicular wall behind it. At its foot are grouped the houses of a village. We were met on the outskirts of the village by the Muhrdar, or seal-bearer, of the Pasha, with an escort of cawasses. He led us to a convenient spot for our tents, near a spring, and * I subsequently met in the Nestorian district of Baz, a Christian, who was in the service of Nur-Ullah Bey at the time of the murder, and was employed to bury the body. According to him, Schulz, who passed by the name of Yohanan, was taken by the guides, furnished him by a Per- sian prince, to Nur-Ullah Bey, instead of to Mar Shamoun, whom he intended to visit. He was described in a letter sent to the Kurdish chief as a dangerous man, who was spying out the country ; an impression which was confirmed by his habit of making notes continually and openly. He remained ten days with the Bey, and then continued his journey ac- companied by Kurdish guards, who killed him by their master's orders beside a stream called Av Spiresa, near the castle of Pisa, close to Bash- Kalah. Two of his Christian servants were murdered with him ; his two Persian attendants were taken to Nur Ullah Bey, and also put to death. 200 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [CHAP. shortly after brought provisions for ourselves and horses, sent by the governor, who, it being early in the afternoon, was still in bed after his night's vigils. It was not until long after dark that I visited Izzet Pasha. I found him encamped at a considerable elevation in a rocky ravine, which we reached, guided by cawasses carrying huge glass lanterns, by a very precipitous and difficult track. A small rivulet had been dammed up in front of his tents, and formed a re- servoir which mirrored the red light of a number of torches. Bash-Kalah was formerly the dwelling-place of Nur-Ullah Bey. He joined Beder Khan Bey in the great massacres of the Nestorians, and for many years sorely vexed those Chris- tians who were within his rule. After a long resistance to the troops of the Sultan, he was captured about two years before ray visit, and banished for life to the island of Candia. On resuming our journey, after a day's rest, we took a direct though difficult track to Wan, only open in the middle of summer. Following a small stream, we entered a ravine leading into the very heart of the mountains. Three hours' ride, always rapidly ascending along the banks of the rivulet, brought us to a large encampment. The flocks had been driven down from the higher pastures, and were gathered together to be milked before the black tents. The women were crouching round their sheep. Their long hair was platted in tresses ending in tassels mingled with gold coins. From a high turban of gay colours, also adorned with coins, a thin white veil fell over their shoulders, and their flowing garments were of bright silk. The children ran to and fro with wooden bowls, and a girl standing near sang a plaintive air, beating the measure on a tambourine. The features of the women and of the men, who came out of their tents as we rode up, as well as the tongue in which they addressed one another, showed at once that they were not Kurds. They were Jews, shepherds and wanderers, of the stock, may be, of those who, with their high priest Hyrcanus, were carried away captive from Jerusalem by Tigranes in the second century of our era, and placed in the city and neigh- bourhood of Wan. Their descendants, two hundred years VIII.] SCENERY OF UPPER KURDISTAN. 201 after, were already so numerous that Shapour (Sapores) II. destroyed no less than 10,000 families in Wan alone.* We encamped near the Jewish nomades, and I visited their tents, but could learn nothing of their history. They fed their flocks, as their fathers had done before them, in these hills, and paid taxes to the governor of Bash-Kalah. There are many other families, keepers of sheep like them- selves, scattered over the mountains. We had now reached the higher regions of Kurdistan. Next morning we soon left the narrow flowery valley and the brawHng stream, and entered an undulating upland covered with deep snow, more than ten thousand feet above the level of the sea. On all sides of us were towering peaks, and to the west a perfect sea of mountains, including the lofty ranges of Hakkiari and Bohtan. Far away to the north was the azure basin of Lake Wan, and beyond it rose the solitary white cone of the Subhan Dagh. A light wind drove a few fleecy clouds across the sunny landscape, now veiling some distant hill, now hiding in shadow the deep valleys. A covey of large birds sailed with a rapid swoop, and with the whist- ling sound peculiar to the partridge kind, from an opposite height, and alighted within a few yards of me. They were the Kabk-i-dereh, or the Our-kaklik, as they are called by the Turks ; a gigantic partridge, almost the size of a small turkey, only found in the highest regions of Armenia and Kurdistan. Descending rapidly, and passing, near the foot of the mountain, one or two miserable, half-deserted Kurdish ham- lets, we entered a long narrow ravine, shut in by perpendi- cular cliffs of sandstone and conglomerate. This outlet of the mountain streams opens into the valley of Mahmoudiyah, in the centre of which rises an isolated rock crowned by the picturesque castle of Kosh-Ab. We pitched our tents on a green lawn, near the bank of the foaming stream which sweeps round the foot of the cas- tellated rock. Soon after our arrival a Kurdish Bey, of ve- nerable appearance, a descendant of the hereditary chiefs of * Moses of Chorene, 1. ii. c. 19. St. Martin, 'Mem. surl'Armenie,' vol. i. p. 139. NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. Mahmoudiyah, called upon me. He had once been the owner of the castle, but had been driven from it by an ad- venturer of some celebrity in this part of Kurdistan. This marauder had recently been captured by the Turks, who had seized his property, but had not restored it to its rightful owner. The village, once a town, whose ruined mosques, baths, and bridges still remain, was named Mahmoudiyah, after a certain Mahmoud Bey, who was of the noble Kurdish family claiming lineal descent from the Abbasside caliphs. The Castle of Mahmoudiy.ih. of which the Bey of Jezirah, or Bohtan, is the acknowledged head. The castle, built in the fifteenth century, is called Nerin, or more generally Kosh-Ab, ' the sweet water,' from the pure stream flowing beneath it. We rose early next morning, and went up to the castle. As it was still Ramazan, the small garrison of regular troops and undisciplined Albanians had feasted during the night and were now slcc]nng. We knocked at the iron-bound gate for VIII.] LAKE AND CITY OF WAN. 203 some time without arousing the slumberers. At length a slip-shod sentinel, who appeared to have been fast asleep at his post, drew back the rusty bolts. He would not, however, admit us, until he had received orders from the officer in command, who, with much good-nature, slipt on a thread- bare uniform, turned out the scarcely-awakened guard, and received us with military honours. The castle is falling into ruins, though its towers still rise boldly from the edge of the precipice, overhanging at a giddy height the valley below. In them, open to the cool breezes of the mountain, are the dwelling-rooms of the old Kurdish chiefs, adorned with tasteful lattice-work, and with painted panellings and gilded cornices. They were tenanted by the Turkish troops, whose bright arms and highly-polished kitchen utensils hung on the gaudy walls. A few long brass guns richly embossed, the work of the early Turkish conquerors of Kurdistan, lie, upset from their carriages, on the crumbling battlements. After drinking coffee and smoking pipes with the captain of the guard, we walked down the narrow pathway leading to the valley, and, mountingour horses, joined the caravan, which had preceded us on the road to Wan. We stopped, after a ride of about fourteen miles, at the Armenian village of Hindostan, situated in a rich but thinly peopled valley called Kliawassan. On the following morn- ing we crossed this valley to Nourtchouk, at the outskirts of which I was met by the priest at the head of the inhabitants. A range of low hills now separated us from the plain and lake of Wan. We soon reached their crest, and a landscape of surpassing beauty was before us. At our feet, intensely blue and sparkling in the rays of the sun, was the inland sea, with the sublime peak of the Subhan Dagh, mirrored in its transparent waters. The city, with its castle-crowned rock and its embattled walls and towers, lay embowered in or- chards and gardens. To our right a rugged snow-capped mountain opened midway into an amphitheatre, in which, amidst lofty trees, stood the Armenian convent of Yedi Klissia (the seven churches). To the west of the lake was the Nimroud Dagh, and the highlands nourishing the sources of the great rivers of Mesopotamia, The hills fonning the 204 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. foreground of our picture were carpeted with the brightest flowers, over which wandered the flocks, whilst the gaily dressed shepherds gathered around us as we halted to con- template the enchanting scene. We now descended rapidly towards Wan, and as we issued into the plain, a party of horsemen galloped towards us. I soon recognised amongst them my friend Mr. Bowen;* with him were the Cawass-Bashi and a troop of irregular cavalry, sent out by the Pasha to escort me into the city. Nor did the governor's kindness end with this display of welcome. After winding for nearly an hour through orchards and gar- dens, whose trees were bending under the weight of fruit, and then through the narrow and crowded streets, we were led to his serai or palace, which, such as it was, had been made ready for our use, and where his treasurer was waiting to receive us. N otwithstanding the fast, an abundant break- fast of various meats and sweet messes, cooked after the Turkish fashion, had been prepared for us, and we soon found repose upon a spacious divan, surrounded by all the luxuries of Eastern hfe. * The Rev. Mr. Bowen, who died Bishop of Sierra Leone. IX.] DESCRIPTION OF WAN, 205 CHAPTER IX. Mehemet Pasha — Description of Wan — Its history — hnprovement in its condition — The Armaiian bishop — The cimeiform inscriptions — Tht caves of KJiorkhor — The Aleher Kapousi — A tradition — The B air am — An Armenian school — Amikh — The convoit of Yedi Klissia — Leave Watt — The Armenian patriarch — The island of Akhtamar — An Ar- menian church — History of the cotivent^—Pass into Mukiis — The district ofMukits — Of Shattak — Of Nourdooz — A Nestorian village — Encamp- ments — Mount Ararat — Mar Shat?iotm — fula-Merik — Valley of Diz — Pass itito Jelu — Nestorian district of Jelu — An ancient church — The bishop — District of Baz — Of Tkhoma — Return to Mosul. Mehemet Pasha was living during the fast of Ramazan in a kiosk in one of the gardens outside the city walls. We had scarcely eaten, before he came himself to welcome me to Wan. He was the son of the last Bostandji-Bashi of Constantinople, and having been brought up from a child in the imperial palace, was a man of pleasing and dignified manners, and of considerable information. His rule was mild and conciU- ating, and he possessed those qualities so rare in a Turkish governor, yet so indispensable to the civilisation and well- being of the empire, — a strict honesty in the administration of the revenues of his province, and a sense of justice be- yond the reach of bribes. From Christians and Kurds we had received, during our journey through his pashalic, the highest testimony to his tolerance and integrity. I remained a week at Wan, chiefly engaged in copying cuneiform inscriptions, and in examining its numerous re- markable monuments of antiquity. The city is of very ancient date. It stands on the borders of a large and beau- tiful lake, a site eminently suited to a prosperous community. The lofty mountains bordering the inland sea to the east, here recede, in the form of an amphitheatre, leaving a rich 2o6 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IX. plain five or six miles in breadth, in the midst of which rises an isolated, calcareous rock. To the summit of this natural stronghold there is no approach, except on the western side, where a gradual but narrow ascent is defended by walls and bastions. From the earliest ages it has consequently been the acropolis of the city, and no position could have been stronger before the discovery of the engines of modern war- fare. The fortifications and castle, of a comparatively recent date, are now in ruins, and are scarcely defensible, with their few rusty guns, against the attacks of the neighbouring Kurds. The modern town of Wan stands at the foot, and to the south of, the isolated rock. Its streets and bazaars are small, narrow, and dirty, but its houses are not ill built. It is surrounded by fruitful gardens and orchards, irrigated by artificial rivulets derived from the streams rising in the Yedi Klissia mountains. It may contain between twelve and fif teen thousand inhabitants. According to Armenian histoiy, the Assyrian queen Semi- ramis founded the city, which, after her, was originally named Schamiramjerd. Here, in the delicious gardens which she had planted in the fertile plain, and which she had watered with a thousand rills, she sought refuge from the intolerable heats of a Mesopotamian summer, returning again, on the approach of winter, to her palaces at Nineveh. The first city having fallen to decay, it is said to have been rebuilt, shortly before the invasion of Alexander the Great, by an Armenian king named Wan, after whom it was subsequently called. It appears to have been again aban- doned, for we find that it was once more raised from its foundations in the second centurj' B.C. by Vagharschag, the first king of the Arsacian dynasty of Armenia, who made it the strongest city in the kingdom. In the eleventh century it was ceded by the royal family of the Ardzrounis to the Greek emperors, from whom it was taken by the Seljuk Turks. It fell, in 1392, into the hands of Timourlane, who, according to his custom, gave the inhabitants over to the sword. Even in his day, the great monuments of solid stone, raised by the Assyrian queen, were still sliown to the stranger. 2o8 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap, The city had been seized, sometime previous to my visit, by a rebel Kurdish chief, Khan Mahmoud, who massacred the Turkish garrison, inflicted large fines upon the Christians, and grievously oppressed the dependent villages. After the troops of the Sultan had made many vain attempts to recover the place, it finally yielded two years before my journey. Under the mild rule of Mehemet Pasha it was rapidly rising to pros- perity. The protection he had given to the Armenians had encouraged that enterprising and industrious people to en- large their commerce, and to build warehouses for trade. Two handsome khans, with bazaars attached, were nearly finished. Shops for the sale of European articles of clothing and of luxury had been opened ; and, what was of still more impor- tance, several native schools had already been established. These improvements were chiefly due to one Sharan, an Armenian merchant, and a man of liberal and enlightened views, who had seconded with energy and liberality the de- sire of the Pasha to ameliorate the social condition of the Christian population. Shortly after my arrival, the Armenian bishop called upon me. He was dressed in the peculiar costume of his order, — long black robes and a capacious black hood almost con- cealing his head, — and was accompanied by the priests and principal laymen of his diocese. On his breast he wore the rich diamond crescent and star of the Turkish order of merit, of which he was justly proud. It had been asked for him of the Sultan by the Pasha, as an encouragement to the Christians, and as a proof of the spirit of tolerance which animated the government. If such principles were fully carried out in Turkey, there would be good hope for the empire. The inscriptions of Wan are of two distinct periods, though all in the cuneiform writing. The most ancient aie in a character identical with that on the oldest monuments of Assyria. The only one not entirely in this Assyrian cha- racter is on the southern face of the rock, inaccessible, but easily legible, on account of the size and distinctness of its letters, by a glass from below. It is a trilingual tablet carved by Xerxes, the son of Darius, very nearly word for word the IX.] ROCK TOMBS AND INSCRIPTIONS. 209 same as those of the same king at Ilamadan (Ecbatana) and PersepoHs. The most important inscriptions at Wan are on the southern face of the isolated rock, round the entrance to a set of excavated chambers, probably once serving as tombs, Tombs in the Rock at Wan. which, unlike the artificial caves at Bavian and Malthaiyah, may be referred to the same period as the inscriptions. They appear to record the victories and deeds of a king, and it is highly probable that they were placed over royal sepulchres. They are contained in eight parallel columns, and divided into above 300 lines and thirteen consecutive paragraphs. The letters are large and admirably carved, and the writing is divided by horizontal lines. They are defective in many places, partly from natural decay, but mainly from wilful in- jury: the obliterated characters may to a great extent be restored by a comparison of the several inscriptions which contain corresponding passages. The remaining inscriptions are on the northern face of the rock. They are five in number. The longest and most important contains twenty-nine lines, and is on the side wall to the left on entering an artificial vaulted recess. It has been partly destroyed by a rude cross cut by the Armenians across the tablet. The cave is called the ' Khazana Kapousi,' or the treasure gate, and is held to be a sacred spot by Christians and Mussulmans. Beneath it, according to tra- p 2IO NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. dition, an iron gate, guarded by genii armed with swords of flame, closes the entrance to a vast hall filled with all man- ner of riches. The magic words that can alone open this portal are contained in the inscription, which is guarded at night by a serpent, who retires at break of day into a hole near the cave. An inscription of seventeen lines is carved at the entrance to a second chamber, and on tablets cut in the rock are three more, each of nineteen lines, word for word alike, but with orthographical variations in the royal name. The Pasha had kindly placed the ' Mimar Bashi,' or archi- tect in chief of the town, an intelligent and honest Arme- nian, named Nikoos, under my orders during my researches at Wan. I also found in the place a half-crazy Cawass, who had been all the way to Constantinople to obtain a firman for leave to dig for treasure beneath the inscribed tablets. The imperial document had been granted, with a clause, however, that a share of the riches discovered should be paid into the Sultan's treasury. His search had hitherto been vain, although his purse had been emptied ; but he knew all the old stones and inscriptions in the neighbourhood. With the aid of these two men I carried on excavations for a short time at the foot of the northern face of the rock, with- out other results than clearing away the earth from one or two half-buried tablets, and laying bare the artificially smoothed rock. About a mile and a half to the east of the town, near a small village in the gardens, is a recess in the rock contain- ing a long cuneiform inscription. It is called Meher Kapousi, which, according to the people of Wan, means the Shepherd's Gate, from a tradition that a shepherd, having fallen asleep beneath it, was told in a dream the magic word that opened the portal. He awoke and straightway tried the talisman. The stone doors flew apart, disclosing to his wondering eyes a vast hall filled with inexhaustible treasures ; but as he en- tered they shut again behind him. He filled with gold the bag in which, as he tended his flocks, he earned his daily food. After repeating the magic summons, he was permitted to issue into the open air. But he had left his crook, and IX.] FESTIVITIES OF BAIRAM. 211 must reiurn for it. The doors were once more unclosed at his bidding. After securing his crook, he sought to retrace his steps, but had forgotten the tahsman. His faithful dog waited outside until nightfall. As its master did not come back, it took up the bag of gold, and, carrying it to the shepherd's wife, led her to the gates of the cave. She could hear the cries of her husband, and they are heard to this day, but none can give him help. The inscription of the Meher Kapousi originally consisted of ninety-five lines, comprising the same record twice re- peated. Only about sixty are now legible. Near the Shepherd's Gate the rocks are excavated into a vast number of caves. In some places long flights of steps lead nowhere, but finish abruptly in the face of the perpen- dicular precipice; in others the cliff is scarped to a great height without any apparent object. A singular shaft, with stairs, leading into a cavern, is called Zimzim. It is difficult to account for the use and origin of these singular excava- tions ; their height from the plain and their inaccessible posi- tion almost preclude the idea of their having been quarries. All these cuneifomi inscriptions, together with a few frag- ments of inscribed stones in the churches of Wan, belong to a dynasty which appears to have reigned in Armenia from about the middle of the eighth century b.c. to the end of the seventh. Six royal names of this dynasty are found in them. The language of two of the inscriptions is Assyrian, the remainder are in a dialect which is believed to be of Turanian or Tatar origin.* At sunrise, on the 8th August, the roaring of cannon, echoed by the lofty rock, announced the end of Ramazan, and the beginning of the periodical festivities of the Bairam. Early in the morning the Pasha, glittering with gold and jewels, and surrounded by the members of his household, the offi- cers of the garrison, and the gaily-dressed chiefs of the irre- gular troops, rode in procession through the streets of the town. As it is customary, he received in the palace the visits * A further account of the inscriptions at Wan will be found in the unabridged edition of my ' Nineveh and Babylon.' P 2 212 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. of the cadi, the mollahs,and tlie principal Mussulman inhabit- ants of Wan, as well as of the bishop, clergy, and elders of the Armenian church. The population, rejoicing at their re- lease from a fast almost intolerable in summer, decked them- Kurds of Wan. selves in holiday garments, and made merry in the houses and highways. The sounds of music and revelry issued from the coffee-houses and places of public resort. The children repaired to swings, merry-go-rounds, and stalls of sweetmeats, which had been raised in the open spaces within the walls. The Christians add this feast to their own festivals, already too numerous,* and. like their Mussulman neighbours, pay visits of compliment and ceremony. Their women, who are said to be handsome, but are even more rigidly concealed than the Mohammedan ladies, crept through the streets in their long white veils. I called in the evening on the bishop, and next morning, * The Mussulmans have only two great annual feasts in which labour gives way to rejoicings and festivities; the Christians of all sects have little else but fasts and festivals throughout the year. A lazy Christian will add to his own holidays the Friday of the Mohammedans and the Saturday of the Jew>. IX.] ARMENIAN SCHOOLS AT WAN. 213 at his invitation, visited the principal schools. Five have been established since the fall of the Kurdish Beys, and the enjoyment of comparative protection by the Christian popu- lation. Only one had been opened within the walls; the rest were in the gardens, which are thickly inhabited by Arme- nians, and form extensive suburbs to Wan. The school in the town was held in a spacious building newly erected, and at that time scarcely finished. More than two hundred chil- dren of all ages were assembled. They went through their exercises and devotions at the sound of a bell with great order and precision, alternately standing and squatting on their hams on small cushions placed in rows across the hall. An outer room held basins and towels for washing, and the cloaks and shoes taken off on entering. Books were scarce. There were not more than a score in the whole school. The first class, which had made some progress, had a few elemen- tary works on astronomy and history, published by the Arme- nian press at Constantinople and Smyrna, but only one copy of each. The boys, at my request, sang and chanted their prayers, and repeated their simple lessons. Such schools, imperfect though they be, are proofs of a great and increasing improvement in the Christian commu- nities of Turkey.'"' A change of considerable importance, and ■which, it is to be hoped, may lead to the most beneficial results, is now taking place in the Armenian Church. It is undoubtedly to be attributed to the judicious, earnest, and zealous exertions of the American missionaries ; their establishments, scattered over nearly the whole Turkish em- pire, have awakened amongst the Christians, and especially amongst the Armenians, a spirit of inquiry and a desire for the reform of abuses, and for mental culture, which must ulti- mately tend to raise their political, as well as their social, position. * The desire of a large number of the Armenians to improve their insti- tutions, and to adopt the manners of Europe, is a highly interesting, and indeed important, fact. I was amused, after having contributed a trifle to the funds of the school, at having presented to me a neatly printed and ornamented receipt, with the amount of my donation duly filled up in the blank space left for the purpose, the document being signed by the head of the school. 214 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. Schools in oiDposition to the American establishments have been opened in the capital, and in most of the large towns of Asia Minor, by the Armenians themselves; and elementary and theological works, of a far more liberal character than any hitherto published in Turkey, have been printed by Armenian printing-presses in Constantinople and Smyrna, or introduced into the country from the well-known Mechi- tarist convent at Venice. This is another, though an in- direct, result of their labours, which the American mission- aries may justly contemplate with satisfaction. I left Wan on the loth August, for the village of Amikh, where, according to my Armenian guide, Nikoos, an inscrip- tion was engraved on the rocks. We struck into a fine un- dulating corn country, abounding in Christian villages. The soil is well cultivated, though by dint of much labour. Eight, or even ten, pairs of oxen are frequently yoked to a plough, which differs from that seen in any other part of Turkey; and having two wheels, one larger than the other, more resembles those in common use in England. The landscape was richly tinted by large plots of bright yellow thistles, cultivated for the oil expressed from the seeds, to be used by the Armenians durmg their numerous fasts. We reached at sunset a deep bay hemmed in by gardens and orchards, and sheltered from the wind by an amphitheatre of low rocky hills. I pitched my tent about a mile from the village, near a transparent spring, in a small glade shelving to the water's edge, and embowered in white roses. Early next morning I sought the inscriptions, which I had been assured were graven on the rocks near an old castle, standing on a bold projecting promontory above the lake. After climbing up a dangerous precipice by the help of tvvo or three poles, in which large nails had been inserted to afford a footing, I reached a small natural cavern. A few crosses and ancient Armenian letters were rudely cut near its entrance. There was nothing else, and I had to return as I best could, disappointed, as many a traveller has been, under similar circumstances, before me. From Amikh I rode across the country to the monastery of Yedi Klissia, whose gardens on the side of the lofty moun- IX.] CONVENT OF YEDI KLISSIA. 215 tain of Wurrak are visible from most parts of the plain. I stopped for an hour at the church of Kormawor before as- cending to the convent. An aged priest, with beard white as snow, and wearing a melon-shaped cap, and long black robes, was the guardian of the place. He led me into an ar- cade surrounding the inner court of the building. Seeing that I was a Frank, he guessed at once that I was searching for inscriptions, and pointed to a circular stone, the base of a wooden column. It bore three imperfect lines of cuneiform writing, part of an inscription belonging to one of the Wan kings. A second inscription on a black stone, and several fragments with the same royal name, were built into the walls. Eight hours' ride brought me to the large Armenian con- vent of Yedi Klissia, or the seven churches, built of substantial stone masonry, and enclosing a spacious courtyard planted with trees. It has more the appearance of a caravanserai than that of a place of religious retreat, and is beautifully situated near the mouth of a wooded ravine, halfway up a bold mountain, which ends in snowy peaks. Spread beneath it is the blue lake and smiling plain, and the city, with its bold castellated rock, and its turreted walls half hid in gar- dens and orchards. The church, a substantial modem edifice, stands within the courtyard. Its walls are covered with pictures as primi- tive in design as in execution. There is a victorious St. George blowing out the brains of a formidable dragon with a bright brass blunderbuss, and saints, attired m the traditionary garments of Europe, perfonning extravagant miracles. The intelligence of the good priest at the head of the convent was pretty well on a par with his illustrated church history. He was a specimen of the Armenian clergy of Asia Minor. As he described each subject to me, he spoke of the Nestorians as heretics, because they were allowed, by the canons of their church, to marry their mothers and grandmothers ; of the Protestants as freemasons or atheists ; and of the great nations of Europe as the Portuguese, the Inglese, the Mus- covs, and the Abbash (Abyssinians). I found two short cuneiform inscriptions ; one on a stone amongst the ruins of the old church, the other built into the 2i6 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [CHAP. walls of the new. They contain the name and titles of a king. Sickness having overcome both Dr. Sandwith and Mr. Cooper, they left me at Yedi Klissia, and returned to Europe. In the afternoon of the 12th August I left the gates of the convent with Mr. Hormuzd Rassam. Once more I was alone with my faithful friend, and we trod together the winding pathway which led down the mountain side. We had both been suffering from fever, but we still had strength to meet its attacks, and to bear cheerfully, now unhindered, the difficulties and anxieties of our wandering life. We made a short journey of three and a half hours to the pleasant village of Artamit or Adremit, and encamped be- neath its fruit trees in a garden near the lake. Our path on the following day led through a hilly district, sometimes edging a deep bay, then again winding over a rocky promon- tory. We crossed by a bridge the large stream which we had seen at Mahmoudiyah, and which here discharges itself into the lake. The feast of St. George had been celebrated (luring the previous day at the church of Narek, and we passed, as we rode along, merry groups of Armenians returning from their pilgrimage. The women, seated with their children on the backs of mules and asses, and no longer fearing the glances of haughty Kurds, had lifted their veils from their ruddy faces. They were dressed in scarlet cloaks, which half concealed their festive robes. To their plaited hair was attached a square black pad of silk hung with tas- sels, and sometimes with coins. Most of the men carried umbrellas to protect themselves from the rays of the sun. In the midst of them, surrounded by a crowd of adherents, was the Patriarch of Akhtamar, once the head of the Armenian Church, but now only recognised by a small section of Christians living in the province of Wan. He rode a mule, and was dressed in long black robes, with a silken cowl hanging over his head. Several youthful priests, some car- rying silver-headed wands, followed close behind him. He was on his way to the city, and I thus lost the opportunity of seeing him at his residence on the sacred island. IX.] CONVENT OF AKHTAMAR. 217 On the shores of the lake were several encampments of gipsies ; the men to be distinguished by their swarthy coun- tenances, the women and children by their taste for begging. We passed through Vastan, in the eleventh century the residence of the royal Armenian family of Ardzrouni, but now a mere village. Not far from it we found the convent boat on the beach. Four sturdy monks were about to row it back to the island of Akhtamar. As they offered to take me with them, I left the caravan, and, with Mr. Rassam and the Bairakdar, was soon gliding over the calm surface of the lake. In the absence of the Patriarch we were received at the convent by an intelligent and courteous monk named Kirikor. His hair, as well as his beard, had never known the scissors, and fell in long luxuriant curls over his shoulders. It was of jetty black, for he was still a young man, although he had already passed twenty years of a monastic life. He led us through an arched doorway into the spacious courtyard of the convent, and thence into an upper room furnished with comfortable divans for the reception of guests. Tea was brought to us after the Persian fashion, and afterwards a more substantial breakfast, in which the dried fish of the lake formed the principal dish. The church, which is within the convent walls, is built of a fine red sandstone. Like other religious edifices of the same period and of the same nation, it is in the form of a cross, with a small hexagonal tower, ending in a conical roof, rising above the centre. The first monastery was founded by a Prince Theodore in a.d. 653 ; and the church is attributed to the Armenian king Kakhik, of the family of Ardzrouni, who reigned in the tenth century; but the island appears from a very remote date to have contained a castle of the Armenian kings. The entrance and vestibule of the church are of a different style from the rest of the building, being a bad imitation of modern Italian architecture. They were added about one hundred years ago by a patriarch, whose tomb is in the courtyard. The interior is simple. A few rude pictures of saints and miracles adorn the walls, and a gilded throne for the Patriarch stands near the altar. The exterior, however, is elaborately ornamented with friezes and 2i8 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. broad bands of sculptured figures and scroll work, the upper part being almost covered with bas-reliefs, giving to the whole building a very striking and original appearance. The conical roof of the tower, rising over the centre of the cross, rests upon a frieze of hares, foxes, and other animals. Above arched windows are bands of rich foliage, and beneath them, at the base of the tower, a row of small vaulted recesses. The roof of the transept is supported by human heads. Be- neath is a frieze, quite Assyrian in its character, consisting of lions springing upon stags, and figures of wild goats, hares, and deer. Under the projecting roof of the aisle is another frieze, formed of bunches of grapes mingled -with grotesque forms of men, animals, and birds. Next is a row of heads, projecting in high relief from the wall. They are succeeded by bas-reliefs representing Scripture stories from the Old and New Testaments, divided into separate subjects by medallions with images of Armenian saints. An elaborate border of scroll work completes the exterior decoration about half way up the building. The human form is rudely portrayed in these sculptures ; but the general design is far from inelegant, and the ornaments are rich and appropriate. I know of no similar specimen of Armenian architecture, and I regret that time would not allow me to make detailed drawings of the edifice. In a grave-yard outside the church are several most elabo- rately carved tombstones belonging to the early Armenian patriarchs. That of Zachariah, who died in the fourteenth century, and who was for one year patriarch at Echmiadsin, and for nine years at Akhtamar, is especially worthy of notice for the richness and elegance of its ornaments. In the por- tico is a circular black stone, like a millstone, with short cuneiform inscriptions, containing a royal name, on the two flat sides. A library of manuscripts, said to have been once preserved in the convent, no longer exists. The patriarchate of Akhtamar, or Aghthamar, was founded in 1 1 13 by an archbishop of the island, who declared himself independent of the universal Patriarch, residing at Ech- miadsin. Its jurisdiction does not extend far beyond the immediate neighbourhood of Wan, and the ecclesiastic who IX.] PASS OF MUKUS. 219 fills the office is generally even more ignorant than other dignitaries of the Armenian Church. The convent and church are built on a small rocky island about five miles firom the shore. On an adjacent islet are the ruined Avails of a castle partly under water. Intercourse with the main land is carried on by the one crank boat, which, whenever the weather permits, goes backwards and forwards daily for such provisions as are required by the inmates of the monastery. Late in the afternoon, accompanied by the monk Kirikor, I was rowed to the farm and garden belonging to the con- vent, near the village of Ashayansk. A few monks live there, and tend the property of the convent, supplying the Patriarch with the produce of the dairy and orchards. They received us very hospitably. Kirikor rode with me on the following morning as far as the large Armenian village of Narek, in which there is a church dedicated to St. George, much fre- quented by pilgrims from Wan and the surroundmg country. We had now left the lake, and our track led up a deep ravine, which gradually became more narrow as we drew nigh to the high mountains that separated us from the unexplored districts of Mukus and Bohtan. We passed a large Annenian village named PagAvantz, near which, on the summit of a precipitous rock, stands the ruined castle of Khan Mahmoud, the rebel chief He was the eldest of seven brothers, all of whom governed under him different districts on the borders of the lake, and sorely oppressed the Christian inhabitants. Five were captured by the Turks, and are in banishment. On both sides of the ravine were villages and ruined castles. Numerous streams from the hill-sides irrigated plots of cultivated ground. Ere long we entered a rocky barren tract, patched here and there with fragrant Alpine flowers. After climbing up a steep declivity of loose stones like the moraine of a Swiss glacier, and dragging our horses with much difficulty after us, we found ourselves amidst eternal snow, over which we toiled for nearly two hours, until we reached the crest of the mountain, and looked down into the deep valley of Mukus. This is considered one of the highest passes in Kurdistan, and one of the most difficult for 220 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. beasts of burden. The flocks of the nomade Kurds of Bohran were feeding in the gullies. The descent was even more rapid and precipitous than the ascent, and we could scarcely prevent our weary horses from rolling down into the ravine Avith the stones which we put into motion at every step. At the foot of the pass is a small xArmenian church called Khorous Khssia, or 'the church of the cock,' because a black cock is said to warn the traveller when the snowdrifts hide the mountain tracts. There was no other pathway down the rocky ravine than the dry bed of the torrent. As we approached the widening valleys the springs began to collect together and to form a considerable stream, through which we had to wade as we best could. A track followed by the shepherds in their pe- riodical migrations to the uplands, had been carried here and there over the foaming water by trunks of trees. But these simple bridges had been washed away during a recent storm. Leaving the laden horses to find their way over the stones and through the torrent, I rode onwards with Hormuzd. We passed soon after a deep natural cavern, from which burst, white with foam and struggling through a bed of pink flowers, a most abundant spring. This was one of the principal sources of the eastern branch of the Tigris, here called the river of Mukus, which, according to an Armenian tradition, only issued from the rock about five hundred years ago. A ride of eight hours brought us to the large scattered village of Mukus, the principal place of the district of the same name. We were met, as we drew near, by the Mudir or governor, an active bustling Turk, who had already chosen, with the usual taste of an Eastern, the prettiest spot, a lawn on the banks of the river, for our tents, and had collected provi- sions for ourselves and our horses. The good Pasha of Wan had sent to the different chiefs on our way, and had ordered preparations to be everywhere made for our reception. The Tigris is here a deep stream, and is crossed by a stone bridge. The houses are built without order, on the slopes of the moun- tain, each family choosing some open place more free from stones than the usual rocky declivities to cultivate a small IX.] DISTRICT OF MUKUS. 221 plot of ground. The place may contain altogether about two thousand inhabitants. The district of Mukus, anciently Mogkh, and one of the provinces of the Armenian kingdom, had only lately been brought under the authority of the Sultan. Like the rest of this part of Kurdistan, it had long maintained its independ- ence under hereditary chiefs, the last of whom, Abdal Bey, after several times defeating the Turkish troops sent against him, was at length captured as he was flying into Persia. The Mudir showed the greatest anxiety for our welfare during the night, continually visiting our tents to see that the Albanians he had placed as guards over our property did not sleep, as the village swarmed with Bohtan thieves. The principal Armenians of Mukus and their priests knew of no ruins or inscriptions in the district, and I found them even more ignorant than their fellow-countrymen of the dis- tricts around Wan, whose stupidity has passed into a Turkish proverb. Long subjection to the Kurds and a constant in- tercourse with Mussulmans, have led them to adopt their inanners and dress ; their religion, at the same time, consists of mere outward profession, and the punctual performance of a few ceremonies and fasts. We left Mukus early in the afternoon, accompanied by the Mudir. The path following the course of the river leads to Sert, Jezirah, and the Assyrian plains. We soon turned from it, and entered a valley running eastwards. On the moun- tain-sides were many villages, buried, like those of Tiyari, in orchards and gi-oves of walnut trees. We forced our way tlirough thickets and through matted climbing plants, the track being continually lost in rivulets or in watercourses for irrigation. The valley soon narrowed into a wild gorge. The ravine ended at length in the gardens of Aurenj. We chose amongst them a sheltered nook for our night's resting- place. Next day we crossed a high mountain ridge covered in some places with snow, separating the district of Mukus from that of Shattak. Its northern and western slopes are the summer pastures of the Miran Kurds, whose flocks were still feeding on the green lawns and in the flowery glens. On the oppo- 222 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. site side of the pass we found an encainprnent of Hartushi Kurds, under one Omar Agha, a noble old chieftain, who welcomed us with unbounded hospitality, and set before me every luxury that he possessed. I could scarcely resist his entreaties that we should pass the night under his tent. I had honoured it, he declared, by entering into it. All that it contained, his children, his wives, and his flocks, were, upon his head, no longer his but my property. I had no wish to profit by his generosity, and at length we parted. Resuming our journey we descended by a precipitous pathway into a deep valley. A broad stream, another arm of the eastern Tigris, wound through it ; its glittering waters had been just visible amidst the gardens of Shattak, from the mountain-top. Here again the Mudir had been apprised of our coming, and was ready to receive us. He had collected provisions for ourselves and horses in an open space on the river bank. Shattak is a small town, rather than a village. It is chiefly inhabited by Armenians, an industrious and hardy race, cul- tivating the sides of the mountains, on which are built their villages, and weaving in considerable quantities the gay- coloured woollen stuffs so much esteemed by the Kurds. In nearly every house was a loom, and the rattle of the shuttle was heard at almost every door. The large and flou- rishing Armenian communities inhabiting the valleys be- tween lake Wan and the district of Jezirah, appear to be unknowTi to modem geographers, and are unnoticed in our best maps. The difficulties and dangers of the road have hitherto deterred travellers from entering their mountains. The existence of this people in the very heart of Kurdistan might, if taken advantage of by the Porte, be the means of establishing an important trade, and of quieting and civil- ising a country but recently brought under its rule. The mountains produce galls, wool (some of which has the same silky texture as that of Angora), the small under-wool of the goat called tcftik (a valuable article of export), and minerals. In the bazaar at Shattak I saw a few English prints, and other European wares, brought for sale from Wan. The priests and principal Armenians of the place came to me soon after my arrival, and I learnt from them that efforts IX.] DISTRICT OF SHATTAK 223 had already been made to improve the condition of the Chris- tian community, now that the oppressive rule of the Kurdish hereditary chiefs had been succeeded by the more tolerant government of the Sultan. A school had been opened, chiefly by the help of Sheran, the active and liberal Armenian banker of Wan. The to\vn itself is called by the Armenians Tauk, by the Kurds Shokh, and when spoken of together with the nume- rous villages that surround it, Shattak. It stands near the junction of two considerable streams, forming one of the head-waters of the eastern Tigris, and uniting with the Bohtan-Su. The largest comes from the district of Albagh. These streams, as well as that of Mukus, abound in trout of the most delicious flavour. The entire district contains fifty villages and numerous mezras or hamlets. The revenues are about the same as those of Mukus. A few Mussulmans live on the right bank of the stream opposite Shokh, round the ruins of an old castle, medresseh (college), and mosque, all apparently at one time handsome and well-built edifices. We left Shokh on the 17th August, by a bridge crossing the principal stream. After a long and difficult ascent we came to a broad green platform called Tagu, the pastures of the people of Shattak, and now covered with their tents and flocks. This high ground overlooked the deep valleys, through which wound the two streams, and on whose sides were many smiling gardens and villages. We stopped at an encampment of Miran Kurds, a large and wealthy tribe, pasturing their flocks far and wide over the mountains and ravines of Shattak and Nourdooz. Their chief had died five days before. We had passed on the road his son, a boy co- vered with embroidery and gold, and surrounded by armed servants. He was on his way to Wan to receive a cloak of investiture from the Pasha, who had recognised him as lord of the clan. Crossing a high mountain pass, on which the snow still hngered, we descended into a deep valley like that of Shat- tak, chiefly cultivated by Armenians. We crossed a small stream, and ascended on the opposite side to Ashkaun, in the district of Nourdooz. The inhabitants were outside the 224 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. village, near a clear spring, washing and shearing their sheep. Our ride on the following day was over upland pastures of great richness, and through narrow valleys watered by nu- merous streams. Here and there were villages inhabited by Kurds and Armenians. We were now approaching the Nes- torian districts. The first man of the tribe we met was an aged buftalo-keeper, who, in answer to a question in Kurdish, spoke to me in the Chaldee dialect of the mountains. Hormuzd and my servants rejoiced at the prospect of leaving the Armenian settlements, whose inhabitants, they declared, were for stu- pidity worse than Kurds, and for rapacity worse than Jews. Chiighiri was the first Nestorian village on our way. The men. wth their handsome wives and healthful children, came A Nestorian Family. out to meet us. We continued our journey to Merwanen, which we found deserted by its inhabitants for the Zomas, or summer j)astures. The Kiayah, or chief, however, with one or two of his peoi)lc, had ridden down to examine the state of the crops, and turning his horse he led us up the steep pathway IX.] NESTORIANS OF MERIVANEN. 225 to his tents. They were huddled up in a httle rocky nook, high on the mountain, and in the midst of snow. Unhke the Kurds, the Nestorians do not shift their encampments, but remain on one spot during the whole time they are in the Zomas. They thus live for some months in the midst of the dung of animals and filth of all kinds, whilst vermin abounds as plentifully as in their wretched villages. The cattle and flocks are kept during the night in folds, formed by a circular wall four or five feet high, built of loose stones. The dwell- ings, indeed, consist of little more than such rude inclosures, with coarse black goat-hair canvas stretched over them. As the nights are cold, and protection from the high winds is necessary in these lofty regions, a shallow pit is dug in the centre of the hut, in which the family crouches for warmth when not engaged in out-door occupations. Although poor and needy, the people of Merwanen were not less hospitable than other Nestorians I had met with. They brought us as the sun went do-\\ai smoking messes of millet boiled in sour milk and mixed with mountain herbs. The Nestorian Christians of these Kurdish districts dress like their Mussulman neighbours, and can scarcely be dis- tinguished from them. They still go armed, and are less ex- posed to oppression than the suffering tribes of Tiyari. The Kiayah and a party of musketeers escorted us next day to a large encampment of Hartushi Kurds, near the outlet of a green valley, watered by many streams, forming the most easterly sources of the Tigris. Abd-ur-Rahman, the chief, was absent from his tents collecting the annual taxes of the tribe. In his absence we were received under his capacious goat- hair tent by a conceited mollah, who, being the spiritual adviser of its master, considered himself also the joint owner of his personal property. He did the honours, as if we were his guests, in a very patronising fashion. A scene of activity rarely witnessed in a Kurdish community reigned around. The banks of a small stream running through the midst of the camp were crowded with sheep : some being washed in the pure water, others being under the scissors of the shearers. Groups of boys and women were already beating and press- ing the newly cut wool into felt, a manufacture of the Har- Q 226 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. tushi Kurds much prized for its close yet soft texture. In the tents girls were seated before the long warps stretched over the green-sward for the woof of their beautiful carpets. I was not unknown to these mountaineers, who wander during the winter in the plains to the east of the Tigris, below Jezirah, and frequently come into Mosul to trade. A group of chiefs, gaily dressed in the striped cloth of Boh tan, soon collected round us. The wives of Abd-ur-Rahman Agha did not suffer their husband's good name for hospitality to be forfeited. Although Hormuzd and myself were the only par- takers of the feast, a primitive table-cloth formed of the skins of the wild goat was spread before us, and covered with a great pile of the white and delicate mountain bread. The mountain rising above us was the boundary between the pashalics of Wan and Hakkiari, and is the watershed of the Tigris and Zab. On the opposite side the streams uniting their waters flow towards the latter river. The first district we entered was that of Lewen, inhabited chiefly by Nestorians. The whole population with their flocks had de- serted their villages for the Zomas. We ascended to the encampment of the people of Billi, a wretched assemblage of dirty hovels, half tent and half cabin, built of stones and black canvas. Behind it towered, amidst eternal snows, a bold and majestic peak, called Karnessa-ou-Daoleh. Round the base of this mountain, over loose stones and sharp rocks, and throygh ravines deep in snow, we dragged our weary horses next day. After a fatiguing and indeed dangerous ride, we found ourselves on a snowy platform variegated with Alpine plants. The tiny streams which trickled through the ice were edged with forget-me-nots of the tenderest blue, and with many well- remembered English flowers. I climbed up a solitary rock to take bearings of the principal peaks around us. A sight as magnificent as unexpected awaited me. Far to the north, and higii above the dark mountain ranges which spread like a troubled sea beneath my feet, rose one solitary cone of unspotted white sparkling in the rays of the sun. Its form could not be mistaken ; at was Mount Ararat. My Nestorian guide knew no more of this stately mountain, to him a kind IX.] RECEPTION BY MAR SHAMOUN. 227 of mythic land far beyond the reach of human travel, than that it was within the territories of the Muscovites, and that the Christians called it Bashut-tamahamda. From this point alone was it visible, although nearly 150 miles distant, and we saw it no more during our journey. We descended rapidly by a difficult track, passing here and there encampments of Kurds and the tents and flocks of the people of Julamerik. To the green pastures succeeded the region of cultivated fields, and we seemed to approach more settled habitations. We suddenly spied an aged man with long robes, black turban, and a white beard which fell almost to his girdle ; he was following a precipitous pathway, and was mounted on a tall and sturdy mule. A few lusty mountaineers, in the striped dress and conical felt cap of the Nestorians, walked by his side and supported him on the animal, which with difficulty scrambled over the loose stones. We at once recognised the features of Mar Shamoun, the Patriarch of the Nestorians, or, as he proudly terms himself, ' of the Chaldseans of the East.' He had not known of our coming, and he shed tears of joy as he embraced us. Koch- hannes, his residence, was not far distant, and he turned back with us to the village. Since I had seen him misfortune and grief, more than age, had worn deep furrows in his brow, and had turned his hair and beard to silvery grey. We had last met at Mosul, the day previous to his escape from con- finement into Persia. Since that time he had been wander- ing on the confines of the two border countries, but had now sought repose once more in the old seat of the patri- archs of the mountain tribes. We soon reached his dwelling. It was solidly built of hewn stone, and stood on the very edge of a precipice overhang- ing a ravine, through which wound a branch of the Zab. A dark vaulted passage led us into a room, scarcely better lighted by a small window closed by a greased sheet of coarse paper. The tattered remains of a felt carpet, spread in a corner, was the whole of its furniture. The garments of the Patriarch were hardly less worn and ragged. Even the miserable allowance of 300 piastres (about 2/. \os.), which the Porte had promised to pay him monthly on his 2 228 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. return to the mountains was long in airears, and he was supported entirely by the contributions of his faithful but poverty-stricken flock. Kochhanes was, moreover, still a heap of ruins. At the time of the massacre Mar Shamoun scarcely saved himself by a precipitous flight before the ferocious Kurds of Beder Khan Bey entered the village and slew those who still lingered in it, and were from age or in- firmities unable to escape. My tents were pitched on a lawn near Mar Shamoun's dwelling, Near to us was a small church, built about 150 years ago, on an isolated rock. The only entrance to it is by a low door, high up from the ground, and reached by a ladder. The interior consists of a yard in which service is perfomied during summer, and an inner chamber for Avinter. Mar Shamoun officiated every evening about sun- set in the open air, reading the whole service himself, dressed in his usual robes. A few persons from the ruined village attended, and formed his congregation. We remained a day with the Patriarch, and then took the road to Julamerik, three caravan hours distant from Koch- hannes. Its castle, strongly built and defended by towers and bastions, is picturesquely situated upon a bold rock, overlooking the valley of the Zab. The town and bazaars are below it. They were almost deserted, their inhabitants, as is the custom of the country, living in tents with their flocks amid the summer pastures on the mountains. Near Julamerik we met many poor Nestorians flying, with their wives and children, they knew not whither, from the oppression of the Turkish governors. The direct road by Tiyari to Mosul is carried along the river Zab, through ravines scarcely practicable to beasts of burden. It issues into the lower valleys near the \'illage of Lizan. Intead, however, of descending the stream, Ave turned to the north, in order to cross it higher up by a bridge leading into Diz. I had not yet visited this Nestorian dis- trict. Mar Shamoun, as well as the people of Julamerik, declared that the mountain pathways could not be followed by our baggage mules ; but a man of Taal offering to show us a track open to horsemen, we placed ourselves under his IX.] ACCIDENT TO A BAGGAGE MULE. 229 guidance. On the banks of the Zab, I found the remains of an ancient road, cut in many places in the soHd rock. From the greatness of the work, I am inchned to attribute it to the Assyrians. At length, after many falls, and more than once turning back from the polished rocks, across which our track was carried, we found ourselves before a wncker suspension bridge. This primitive structure had been almost washed away by recent floods, and now hung from the tottering piers by a slender rope of twisted osiers. It seemed scarcely able to bear the weight of a man. But some Nestorians, who, see- ing us from the opposite side of the river, had come to our help, undertook to carry our baggage across, and then to lead the horses over one by one. After some delay this danger- ous passage was effected without accident, and we entered the valley of Diz. But there was another stream between us and the first Nestorian village. We had to ford an im- petuous torrent boiling and foaming over smooth rocks, and reaching above our saddle-girths. One of the baggage mules lost its footing. The eddying waters hurried it along and soon hurled it into the midst of the Zab. The animal having, at length, relieved itself from its burden, swam to the bank. Unfortunately it bore my trunks ; my notes and inscriptions, the fRiits of my labours at Wan, together with the little pro- perty I possessed, were carried far away by the stream. After the men from the village had long searched in vain, the lost load was found about midnight, stopped by a rock some miles down the river. We passed the night in the miserable village of Rabban Audishio. Only two families dwelt in it ; the other inhabit- ants had been slain in the massacre. On the opposite side of the valley, but high in the mountains, was the village of Seramus. The pathway to it being precipitous, and inac- cessible even to mules, we turned to Madis, the residence of the Melek, or chief, of the district of Diz. We crossed the stream by a rude bridge consisting of two poles, resting on opposite rocks. The Melek was abroad collecting the taxes, which he had been summoned to pay to the governor of Julamerik. The villages of Diz, like those of the Nes- 230 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. torian valleys in general, stand in the midst of orchards and cultivated terraces. They were laid waste, and the houses burnt, during the first massacre. Diz was the first Christian district attacked by Beder Khan Bey. The inhabitants made a long and determined resistance, but were at length overpowered by numbers. Those who fell into the hands of the Kurdish chieftain were put to death without mercy, none being spared, as in Tiyari, for slaves. The trees were cut down, and the villages reduced to their present state of misery and desolation. They might slowly have recovered had not the Turks, by an unjust and oppressive system of government and taxation, checked all the efforts of these poor but industrious people to cultivate their lands, and re- build their ruined dwellings. We continued our journey through a deep and narrow valley hemmed in by high mountains and by perpendicular cliffs. The Melek met us on the road near the village of Cherichereh, or KHssa. The old man turning back with me, I dismounted and sat with him beneath a walnut tree. He had little to tell but the usual tale of misery and distress. The Turkish governor had called upon the district to pay about 150/., a small sum certainly, but more than he could collect by seizing the little property of the inhabitants. Even the seed for their next harvest had been taken from them, as well as the very millet with which they made their coarse bread. The valley produces nothing but a little rice, garas (a kind of millet), and barley, a few walnut and apple trees and hemp. Scarcely any wheat is raised, and the taxes levied on mills almost prevent its being ground into flour. Leaving the Melek to pursue his tax-gathering, we rode through a magnificent valley, now narrowing into a wild gorge walled with precipitous cliffs, then opening into an amphitheatre of rocks encircling a village embedded in trees. At length it was abruptly closed by the towering peaks and precipices of the Jelu mountain. At its foot is the village of Khouresin, where we encamped for the night. The inhabitants were, for the most part, in the summer pastures. The next morning, after with difficulty dragging our weary IX.] PASS OF JELU. 231 beasts up a steep and dangerous mountain track, we found the Nestorian families with their flocks at the very base of those chffs of naked rock, which, rising far above the sur- rounding mountains of Hakkiari, form the peak of Jelu, and are visible even from Mosul. On all sides of them was snow ; but the small recess in which they had built their miserable hovels of loose stones, mud, and dried grass, was carpeted with Alpine herbs and flowers. These poor people were in extreme wretchedness and want ; even their clothing had been taken for taxes. We were still separated from the valley of Jelu by a shoulder jutting from the lofty Soppa-Durek mountain. Be- fore reaching this rocky ridge we had to cross a broad tract of deep snow, over which we had much difficulty in dragging our heavily-laden mules. When on the crest of the pass we found ourselves surrounded on all sides by rugged peaks, the highest being that known as the Toura Jelu, of which we had scarcely lost sight from the day we had left Mosul. It is probably the highest mountain in central Kurdistan, and may be about 15,000 feet. On its precipitous sides the snow cannot rest; but around it are eternal glaciers. These mountains abound in bears, leopards, wolves, cha- mois, wild goats, and sheep, of which I was assured there are three distinct varieties. The large yellow partridge, as well as the red-legged, are also found in great numbers. From the top of the pass we looked down into a deep abyss. The flocks of the Jelu villagers had worn a small pathway in its almost perpendicular sides during their pe- riodical migrations to and from the Zomas ; but frequently it was only marked by a polished line across flat, slippery rocks of enormous breadth, or by a faint streak over the loose stones. Down this terrible descent we had to drag our jaded horses, leaving our track marked in blood. I have had some experience in bad mountain passes, but I do not remember to have seen any much worse than that leading into Jelu. After numerous accidents and great labour we left a rocky gully, and found ourselves on a slope ending, at a dizzy depth, in a torrent scarcely visible from our path. The yielding soil ofl'ered even a more difficult footing for our 232 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. beasts than the pohshed rocks. One of our mules soon fell, and rolled over and over with an avalanche of stones for two or three hundred feet. We fully expected to find the animal dashed to pieces ; but breaking away from the broad pack-saddle, it contrived to check its rapid course and to re- gain its legs. Its load, however, was hurled into the valley, and we watched it as it bounded from rock to rock, until it Avas lost to sight in the depths below. We continued our journey, and it was an hour or two before the active moun- taineers succeeded in recovering it. The wild mountain ravine was now changed for the smiling valley of Jelu. Villages, embowered in trees, filled every nook and sheltered place. We descended to Zerin or Ze- rayni, the principal settlement, and the residence of the Melek. To our left were two other villages, Alzan and Meedee. As my large caravan descended the hill-side, the inhabit- ants of Zerin took us for Turks, and we lacked that hospitable reception which two or three years before would have awaited a stranger in these Christian communities. Wherever the Osmanli has placed his foot, he has bred fear and distrust. His visit has ever been one of oppression and rapine. The scarlet cap, and the well-known garb of a Turkish irregular, are the signals for a general panic. The women hide in the innermost recesses to save themselves from insult; the men slink into their houses, and offer a vain protest against the seizure of their property. In many parts of Turkey the new system and the better discipline of the army have placed a check upon these scenes of injustice and violence, and the villager may hope to get some, if not adequate, pay for the supplies he furnishes to those who quarter themselves upon him. But in the Nestorian valleys the old habits were still in vigour, and the appearance of a stranger caused a general hiding and dismay. When, at last, we had satisfied the trembling people of Zerin that we were not Mussulmans, they insisted upon our being Americans, of whom they had, at that moment, for certain religious reasons, almost as great a distrust. At length they made out that I was the consul of IMosul, and the Melek arriving at this crisis we were re- IX.] THE NESTORIANS OF JELU. 233 ceived with due hospitality. Our baggage was carried to the roof of a house, and provisions were brought to us without delay. Although, during his expedition into Tiyari, Beder Khan Bey had seized the flocks of the people of Jelu, and had compelled them, moreover, to pay large contributions in money and in kind, he had not been able to enter their deep and well-guarded valleys. The blackened walls, the roofless houses, the plundered church, and the neglected vineyards, which marked in other parts of the mountains the once flou- rishing villages of the Nestorian tribes, did not disfigure the smiling district of Jelu. Its inhabitants, too, still maintained to a certain extent the appearance of their fonner prosperity, notwithstanding the rapacity and injustice of their new masters. Both men and women were gaily dressed in the many-coloured garments usually worn by their Mussulman neighbours. The Nestorians of Jelu have no trade to add to their wealth. Shut out from all intercourse with the rest of the world, during six months of the year, by the deep snows of the lofty mountains that surround them, it is only in summer that they are able to exchange a few loads of fruit and a little honey and wax in the districts about Amadiyah for such sup- plies of corn as may serve for their immediate wants. Many of the men, however, wander during the winter into Asia Minor, and even into Syria and Palestine, following the trade of basket-making, in which they are very expert. Thus they save money, and are able in the summer to cultivate the land around their villages. There was only one priest in Zerin, and there appeared to be in Jelu less of that earnest religious feehng so peculiar to the Nestorians than in any other Tiyari district I had visited. The travels of the men, and their intercourse with the rest of the Christian world, have not improved their morals, their habits, or their faith. The district of Jelu is under a bishop whose spiritual juris- diction also extends over Baz. He resides at Martha d'Umra (the village of the church), separated by a bold rocky ridge from Zerin. It was Sunday as we descended through or- chards, by a precipitous pathway, to his dwelling. The 234 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [ChaP. bishop was away. He had gone lower dowTi the valley to celebrate divine service for a distant congregation. The inhabitants of the village were gathered round the church in their holiday attire, and received us kindly and hospitably. From a belfry issued the silvery tones of a bell, which echoed through the valley, and gave an inexpressible chami to the scene. It is not often that such sounds break upon the tra- veller's ear in the far East, to awaken a thousand pleasant thoughts of home, and to recall to memory many a happy hour. This church is said to be the oldest in the Nestorian mountains, and is a plain, substantial, square building, with a very small entrance. To me it was peculiarly interesting, as having been the only one that had escaped the ravages of the Kurds, and as containing, therefore, its ancient furniture and ornaments. Botli the church and the dark vestibule were so thickly hung with relics of the most singular and motley description, that the ceiling was completely concealed by them. Amongst the objects which first attracted my attention were numerous China bowls and jars of elegant form and richly coloured, but black with the dust of ages. They were suspended, like the other relics, by cords from the roof. I was assured that they had been there from time out of mind, and had been brought from the distant empire of Cathay by those early missionaries of the Chaldrean Church, who bore the tidings of the gospel to the shores of the Yellow Sea. If such were really the case, some of them might date so far back as the sixth or seventh centuries, when the Nestorian Church flourished in China, and its missions were spread over the whole of central Asia. The villagers would not, in the absence of their bishop, allow me to move any of these sacred relics. The sister of the Patri- arch, they said, had endeavoured to wash one some years before, and it had been broken. Hung with the China vases was the strangest collection of objects that could well be imagined : innumerable bells, of all forms and sizes, many probably Chinese, suspended in long lines from one side to the other of the church, making a loud and discordant jingle when set in motion ; porcelain birds and animals, grotesque IX.] A NESTORIAN BISHOP. 235 figures in bronze, remains of glass chandeliers, two or three pairs of old bullion epaulets, and a variety of other things, all brought at various periods by adventurous inhabitants of the village, who had wandered into distant lands, and had returned to their homes with some evidence of their travels to place in their native church. The walls were dressed with silks of every colour and texture, and with common Manchester prints. Notwithstanding the undoubted anti- quity of the church, and its escape from plunder, I searched in vain for ancient manuscripts. We followed the valley to the village of Nara, where the bishop was resting after his morning duties. A young man of lofty stature and handsome countenance, dressed in the red-striped loose garments of the Kurds, and only distin- guished by a turban of black silk from those around him, came out to meet us. A less episcopal figure could scarcely be imagined ; but, although he seemed some Kurdish hunter or warrior, he gave us his benediction as he drew near. We seated ourselves together beneath the shade of a gigantic tree ; and whilst the good people of the village were preparing a simple repast of yaghourt and garas, we discussed the affairs of the church and the political condition of the tribe. A broad and rapid torrent crossed by a bridge, and a steep mountain wooded with oak, over which we climbed by a rugged pathway, separate the districts of Jelu and Baz. The first village we came to was Shouwa, but we rested for the night at Martha Akhtayiah,* adjoining Ergub, the furthest limits of my journey to the Nestorian districts in 1846. We were at once recognised by the villagers. The men and women crowded round us, vieing with each other in offers of hospitality. We alighted at the clean and spacious house of the Melek, who was, however, away at the time of our arrival. The inhabitants had been shamefully ill-used and over-taxed by the Turkish authorities, and were driven to a state of de- spair. I had, as usual, to listen to sad tales of misery and misfortune, without having it in my power to offer either con- solation or relief * /. e. The lower village, corrupted into Makhtaiyah. 236 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. We were now in the track I had followed during my former visit to the mountains.* Crossing the precipitous pass to the west of Baz, which, since my first visit, had been the scene of one of the bloodiest episodes of the Nestorian massacre, we entered the long narrow ravine leading into the valley of Tkhoma. We stopped at Gunduktha, where, four years before, I had taken leave of the good priest Bodaca, who had been amongst the first victims of the fury of the Kurdish invaders. The Priest, the Rais, and the principal inhabitants, came to us as we stopped in the churchyard. But they were no longer the gaily dressed and well-armed men who had welcomed me on my first journey. Their gar- ments were tattered and worn, and their countenances haggard and wan. The church, too, was in ruins ; around were the charred remains of the burnt cottages, and the neg- lected orchards overgrown with weeds. A body of Turkish troops had lately visited the village, and had destroyed the little that had been restored since the Kurdish invasion. The same taxes had been collected three times, and even four times, over. The relations of those who had ran away to escape from these exactions had been compelled to pay for the fugitives. The chief had been thrown, with his arms tied behind his back, on a heap of burning straw, and com- pelled to disclose where a little money that had been saved by the villagers had been buried. The priest had been torn from the altar, and beaten before his congregation. Men showed me the marks of torture on their body, and of iron fetters round their limbs. For the sake of wringing a few piastres from this poverty-stricken people, all these deeds of violence had been committed by officers sent by the Porte to protect the Christian subjects of the Sultan, whom they pretended to have released from the misrule of the Kurdish chiefs. The smiling villages described in the account of my previous journey were now a heap of ruins. From four of them alone 770 persons had been slain. Beder Khan Bey had driven off, according to the returns made by the Meleks, * Nineveh and its Remains, p. 157. IX.] RETURN TO MOSUL. 237 24,000 sheep, 300 mules, and 10,000 head of cattle ; and the confederate chiefs had each taken a proportionate share of the property of the Christians. No flocks were left by which they might raise money wherewith to pay the taxes now levied upon them, and even the beasts of burden, which could have carried to the markets of more wealthy districts the produce of their valley, had been taken away. We remained a night in Tkhoma to see the Meleks who came to us from Tkhoma Gowaia. On the following morn- ing, it being the Feast of the Virgin, the people assembled for prayers — a crowd of miserable, half naked men, women, and children. Leaving the valley, we crossed the high mountain inclosing Tkhoma to the south, and passed through Pinianish into Chaal, a district inhabited by Mussulmans, and Avhich had consequently not suffered from the ravages of the Kurdish chiefs. It presented, with its still flourishing villages surrounded by gardens and vineyards, a vivid con- trast to the unfortunate Christian valley we had just left. A rapid descent through a rocky gorge brought us to the Zab, over which there were still the remains of a bridge, con- sisting of two poles fastened together by osier bands placed across the stone piers. It almost required the steady foot and practised head of a mountaineer to cross the roaring stream by this perilous structure. The horses and mules were, with much trouble and delay, driven into the river, and after buffeting with the whirlpools and eddies reached, almost ex- hausted, the opposite bank. We now entered the valley of Benvari, and, crossing the pass of Amadiyah, took the road to Mosul, through a country I had already more than once visited. Leaving the caravan and our jaded horses, I hastened onwards with Hormuzd, and travelling through the night reached Mosul in the afternoon of the 30th of August, after an absence of seven weeks. 238 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. CHAPTER X. Discoveries at Koiiyunjik duritig the summer — Description of the sculp- tures — Capture of cities on a great river — Alabaster pavement — Con- quest of tribes inhabiting a marsh — Their wealth — Chambers with sculptures belonging to a new king — Conquest of the people of Susiana — Portrait of the king — His guards and attendants — The city of Shushan — Captive p}'ince — Musicians — Captives put to the torture — An inclined passage — Two stnall chambers — Colossal figures. Whilst I had been absent in the mountains the excavations had been continued at Kouyunjik, notwithstanding the sum- mer heats. A great hall, or rather open court, connected by a passage with the chamber in which was represented the moving of the winged bulls,* had been fully explored. It was not quite square; the longest sides, those from west to east, being rather more than 140 feet, and the others 126 feet. It had four grand entrances, formed by colossal human-headed bulls, one on each side.t The sculptures panelling the western wall were for the most part still entire. They recorded a campaign and a vic- tory, in a country traversed by a great river, filled Avith crabs and fish of various kinds, and lined with date-bearing palms.:}: On one side of the stream was the king in his chariot, sur- rounded by his bodyguard and followed by his led horses. On the opposite bank the Assyrian army laid siege to a de- * No. XIX. Plan I. p. 4. + It is to be observed that neither of these entrances are exactly in the middle of the sides of the hall. Those opposite to each other, how- ever, correspond. X From the size of the river, it may be conjectured that it represents the Euphrates in Babylonia. No fragment of inscription remains by which this conquered country might be identified. X. DISCOVERIES DURING THE SUMMER. 239 tached fort, forming an outwork to a city surrounded by high battlemented walls, and defended by lofty towers rising one above the other. Five square gateways opened upon a small Arabs and Nestorians moving a Slab at Kouyunjik. Stream or canal. The city walls seemed deserted by the in- habitants, but the fort was defended by archers. Drawn up before it were warriors variously armed, and cavalry dis- charging their arrows without dismounting from their horses. A kneeling Assyrian, protecting himself by a broad wicker shield, was forcing the stones from the lower part of the for- tifications with an instrument probably of iron. Assyrian warriors were bringing human heads to the regis- trars, to show tlie numbers of the slain. The spoil, consist- 24.0 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. ing of furniture, arms, and vessels of elegant form, was being registered by the scribes, to be divided amongst the victorious troops. The captive women with their children were seen riding in carts drawn by oxen. The dress of the male pri- soners consisted of a short tunic encircled at the waist by a broad belt, that of the women of an inner shirt and an outer fringed robe falling to the ankles. The hair of both was con- fined by a simple band or fillet round the temples. Next came the siege and capture of a city standing on the opposite bank of the same great river, and surrounded by a ditch edged with lofty reeds. The Assyrian footmen and cavalry had already crossed this dike, and were closely press- ing the besieged, who, no longer seeking to defend them- selves, were asking for quarter. A warrior, covering himself with his large circular shield, Avas attempting to set fire to one of the gates with a torch. Part of the city had already been taken, and the conquerors were driving away captives and cattle. Carts drawn by oxen were laden with furniture and large metal vessels. On the other side of the river Sennacherib in his gorgeous war chariot, and surrounded by, his guards, received the captives, the heads of the slain, and the spoil. It is remarkable that this was one of the few figures of the king which had escaped mutilation by those who overthrew the Assyrian empire, burned its palaces, and levelled its cities with the dust.* The captives, bearing skins probably containing water and flour to nourish them during a long and distressing march, were fettered in pairs, and urged onwards by their guards. Some of the women were on foot, others with their children on mules and in carts drawn by oxen. Mothers were repre- sented holding the water-skins for their young ones to quench, their thirst, whilst in some instances fathers had placed their weary children on their shoulders, for they were marching during the heat of a Mesopotamian summer, as the sculptor had shown by introducing large clusters of dates on the palms. Thus were driven the inhabitants of Samaria through the desert to Halah and Habor, by the river of Gozan and * This bas-relief is now in the British Museum. X.] DESCRIPTION OF THE SCULPTURES. 241 the cities of the Medes,* and we may see in these bas-reHefs a picture of the hardships and sufferings to which the captive people of Israel were exposed when their cities fell into the hands of the Assyrian king, and their inhabitants were sent to colonise the distant provinces of his empire.f On the south side of the court, the sculptures on parts of four slabs only had been preserved, They graphically de- picted the passage of the river by the great king. His led horses had been partly stripped of their costly furniture, and the grooms were taking them to the water's edge. One horse had already been detached from the royal chariot, and a groom was removing the yoke from the second. A chario- teer still held the reins, and an eunuch raised a parasol above the monarch's head. Men were making ready skins to form a raft for the king to cross the stream. Some carried such as had already been inflated, others were blowing up those that were still empty, and tying up the orifice after they had been filled. The bas-relief represented a scene that may still be daily witnessed on the banks of the Tigris. Many warriors, supporting their spears and heavy shields on their backs by cords, had already commenced crossing the stream on skins, and horses led by their grooms were swim- ming to the opposite bank.| On the south side of the court a centre portal flanked by winged bulls, and two small entrances, formed by gigantic figures, opened into a long chamber, § whose sculptured walls had been burnt to lime. On the calcined slabs, however, could still be traced Assyrian warriors mounting by ladders to the assault of cities, battering-rams, long lines of archers, slingers, and spearmen, a sea Avith double-banked galleys, and a fortified camp, containing pavilions and tents, in which were men engaged in various domestic occupations. The * 2 Kings, xvii. 6. -l" See 2nd series of the ' Monuments of Nineveh,' Plates 42 and 43, for drawings of some of the bas-reliefs described in the text. % Plate 41 of 2nd series of the 'Monuments of Nineveh.' These interesting bas-reliefs were unfortunately on the raft, which, after my return to Europe, was plundered by the Arabs on its passage to Baghdad, and were consequently lost. § No. XXIV. Plan I., 98 by 27 feet. R 242 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. king, as usual, superintended the operations from his chariot. At both ends of the chamber, doors, guarded by colossal figures, led into smaller apartments, in which the bas-reliefs had been almost entirely destroyed.* Facing the great por- tal was a corresponding, but still wider, entrance, formed by a pair of human-headed lions. Between them was an enor- mous alabaster pavement slab, sculptured in relief, with an elegant design, consisting of a border of alternate tulips or lotus flowers and cones, enclosing similar ornaments arranged in squares and surrounded by rosettes.f On either side of this grand portal were doors, guarded by colossal figures, amongst which was the fish-god. On the walls of the chamber into which these three en- trances led, X a few fragments, with part of a procession of captives and warriors, only remained. We were now upon the very brink of the southern side of the mound, and had consequently reached the furthest chamber in this part of the palace. There were no traces of an exterior wall. Returning to the great hall we found an entrance formed by colossal figures leading into a long narrow chamber, § about 70 feet by 12, whose walls had partly escaped the general wreck. It appeared to be the remains of an entrance into the palace, like that on the western face, or a gallery leading to the outer terrace, which probably surrounded the building. On its walls were sculptured the conquest of some of those tribes which have inhabited, from the remotest ])eriod, the vast marshes formed by the Euphrates and Tigris in soutliern Babylonia. In these bas-reliefs the swamps with the jungles of lofty reeds, the narrow passages cut through them like streets, and the shallow stagnant water abounding in fish, such as are still seen in the marshes in Southern Mesopotamia, || were faithfully, though rudely, porti'ayed. Men and women, seated on rafts, were hiding themselves in the thick brakes, whilst the Assyrian warriors followed the fugitives in light boats of * Nos. XXV. and xxvi. Plan I. p. 4. + Plate 56, 2nd series of the ' Monuments of Nineveh.' X No. xxvil. Plan I. § No. xxviii. same Plan. (j See chapter xii. X.] CONQUEST OF MARSH TRIBES. 243 wicker work, such as are used to this day. Some had over- taken and were killing their enemies. Others were returning to the banks with captives, and with the heads of the slain. In the water were the bodies of the dead already food for the fishes. The fighting men of the conquered tribes were armed with bows, and wore short tunics; the women had long fringed robes ; the hair of both was confined round the temples by a fillet. Although the people represented in these bas-reliefs dwelt in the swampy districts of Chalda:a, unless, indeed, they had only taken refuge in them to escape the vengeance of the Assyrian king, they appear to have been as rich, if not richer, than any others conquered by Sennacherib. With the ex- ception of three slabs and part of a fourth, containing the battle in the marsh, the entire walls of the chamber were sculptured with the captives and spoil brought by the victo- rious troops to their king. Unfortunately the image of Sen- nacherib himself in his chariot, which, to judge from a frag- ment or two found in the rubbish, must have exceeded all others in the palace, in the finish and richness of the details, had been entirely destroyed. Women and children on foot, on asses, and in carts drawn by oxen, waggons laden with furniture, cauldrons and vessels in metal, oxen, mules, camels, sheep and goats, vases and jars of the most elegant forms, spears, swords, and shields, curiously carved couches, chairs, and tables, were included in the booty with which the As- syrian conquerors returned in triumph to Nineveh. The country through which they passed abounded in the date- bearing palm. The Assyrian warriors, hungry after their long march, were represented before a fire roasting the Hmbs of a sheep.* Returning to the great hall, from which this gallery led, I found on its western side three other entrances, correspond- ing with those on the southern, the centre formed by a pair of winged bulls in a fossiliferous limestone.f They led into * Drawings from this highly interesting series of bas-reliefs, which so fiilly illustrate the wars of the Assyrians, will be found in the 2nd series of n:iy work on the ' Monuments of Nineveh,' Plates 25, 26, and 35. + No. xxix. Plan I. p. 4. R 2 244 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. a chamber 58 feet by 34, panelled with unsculptured slabs of the same material. Three similar doorways opened into a parallel chamber of the same length, though rather narrower.* Its walls had been ornamented with carved ala- baster slabs, of which a few fragments remained. A forti- fied camp, containing the usual pavilions and tents ; priests sacrificing a sheep before a fire altar ; a castle on the sea- shore; double-banked galleys hung round with shields; and long lines of captives (the women wearing hoods fitting close over their heads, and falling to their feet behind; the men, turbans of several folds, such as are frequently repre- sented at Khorsabad); were amongst the bas-reliefs still preserved. Three doorways on the western side of this chamber, si- milar to those on the eastern, led into as many distinct rooms, unconnected with each other. There were thus three magnificent portals, one behind the other, each formed by winged bulls facing the same way, and all looking towards the great hall or court, the largest bulls, those in front, being above 18 feet high, and the smallest, those leading into the inner chamber, about i2.t It would be difiicult to conceive any interior architectural arrangement more imposing than this triple group of gigantic forms as seen in perspective by those who stood in the centi-e of the court, dimly lighted from above, and harmoniously coloured or overlaid, like the cherubims in the temple of Solomon, with gold. At the southern ends of the two parallel chambers just described were entrances opening into a room, 82 feet by 24, whose walls were of the same unsculptured limestone. :j: From it a portal, formed by winged lions in the same mate- rial, led into an apartment 76 feet by 26, standing on the edge of the mound, and consequently one of the last on this side of the palace. § Only six slabs, neither of them entire, remained against its walls. These slabs, like the bulls, were of a limestone abounding in fossils, probably * No. xxxiv. Plan I. p. 4. About 29 feet wide. t These were entrances to Chambers, No. xxix. and No. xxxvi. same Plan. + No. XXX. same Plan. § No. xxxiii. same Plan. X.] DESCRIPTION OF THE SCULPTURES. 245 ' the polished stone, full of shells,' noticed by Zenophon in the plinth of the walls of Mespila,* and were covered from top to bottom with small figures, most elaborately carved, and designed with great spirit. Although bearing a general resemblance to the bas-reliefs of Kouyunjik, there was suffi- cient in the style of art and in the details to show that they were not of exactly the same period. Fortunately several epigraphs still remained over the principal groups, and enable us to determine the name of the monarch who caused these sculptures to be carved, and to identify the events and inci- dents they portray. The three slabs to the right of the winged lions on enter- ing were occupied by a highly curious representation of a battle. The Assyrians, having besieged and captured some great city, appeared to be pursuing the flying enemy. On the first slab was part of a mound, on which a castle was probably built. Down the side of this artificial elevation ran the defeated warriors, no longer attempting defence, but giving themselves up to despair. One was plucking out his beard, a common action amongst Easterns to denote grief; some were tearing their hair, and others turning round to ask for quarter from their pursuers. On the sides of the mound lay the dead and dying, and the bows and quivers of the slain. A wounded mule was falling to the ground, whilst his rider, pierced by an arrow, raised his hands to implore for mercy. An Assyrian soldier, or ally, distinguished by a low round cap, and a kind of belt or shawl twisted round his breast, was dragging a body towards him, probably with the intention of cutting off the head. Beneath the mound a horseman was piercing with his spear a flying enemy, and two warriors in a car drawn by a mule, were hastening from the battlefield. The remainder of the subject was divided by horizon- tal parallel lines, into six parts ; of which, however, only three were entire. In the lowest compartment, archers and spearmen, some on horses, were represented in close com- bat with the enemy, whose armies, like those of the Assyrians, * Anab. c. iii. lib. 4. :46 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. were composed of footmen and cavalry. The battle-field was strewn with the slain, and }/ with their scattered arms; but, as usual, the sculp- tor, to flatter the vanity of his countrymen, had not portrayed a single Assyrian either dead or wounded. In the se- cond frieze the enemy- were seen fighting in carts drawn by mules. In the next compart- ment were Assyrian war- riors bearing the heads of the slain, and leaving the field of battle in a cart captured from the foe. Above this group was an epigraph, unfortunately much mutilated, which recorded the slaughter of a king, who appears, from other inscriptions on the same sculptures, to have reigned over Elam or Susiana. Behind the cart with the Assyrian warriors was the tent of the re- gistrar, to which had been led a captive chief and his two attendants. Within was collected a heap of human heads, and warriors were bring- ing more of these bloody trophies to the appointed scribes. In another part of the battle was seen the chariot X.] CONQUEST OF SUSIANA. 24.7 of one of the princes of the Elamites. Four spirited horses, wounded by arrows, were plunging and rearing, and the chief and his charioteer were faUing from the overturned chariot. Beneath was an Assyrian warrior holding his horse by the bridle, and advancing towards a fallen enemy, who, turning towards his conqueror, placed one hand upon his throat, a gesture either of entreaty, or to indicate his ap- proaching fate. He appears, from an inscription above his head, to have been a general of the Susianian king. Around these groups, Assyrians, armed with battle-axes and maces, were slaying the unresisting foe. In this part of the bas-relief were two short epigraphs, which are believed to state that the slaughtered warriors were sons of the king of Elam. These princes were distinguished by a peculiar round cap, to which was attached a long feather falling down the back, a head-dress subsequently worn by Persian kings. They were clothed in embroidered and fringed robes, and their chariots were drawn by four horses. Crows and vultures were represented feasting upon the slain. Adjoining the field of battle was a broad river, into which the Ass}Tians were driving the retreating enemy : it was filled with the dead bodies of men and horses, and with bows and quivers. Above the battle scenes were the con- querors torturing, and leading into captivity their prisoners. They were divided into three rows, but parts of two only had been preserved. Some of the captives, with their hands ma- nacled in iron fetters, knelt over an object which might be a chafing-dish with hot coals, or a vessel to receive their blood. One of the torturers held his victim by a collar round his neck; whilst a second, seizing the unfortunate prisoner by the hair, was about to strike him with an iron-headed mace. The epigraphs declare that the war recorded by these sculptures was undertaken by an Assyrian king, whose image was represented on a slab not yet described, against the people of Elam or Susiana. It is of considerable importance thus to identify the conquered people, and to be able to as- certain the costume, the arms, and the mode of warfare of a nation well known in ancient history. The Elamites, we find from these bas-reliefs, used even in war, besides chariots, 248 NINEVEH AND BABYLON [Chap. a kind of cart drawn by mules, and consisting of a flat stage raised upon lofty wheels, which had as many as twelve and even sixteen spokes. The largest of these cars could hold five or six persons, and they were adorned with a fringed or embroidered cloth or cushion. The smallest, it would ap- pear, contained only one warrior and the charioteer, who sat on a kind of raised seat. Such carts are probably alluded to by the prophet Ezekiel when he speaks of ' the chariots, waggons, and wheels,' belonging to ' the Babylonians, and all the Chaldceans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assy- rians, who should come up against Jerusalem.* The harness of the mules consisted of a simple band round the chest, hung with rosettes and tassels, probably of coloured wool. They were guided either by reins, or by a long rod held by the charioteer in his right hand. Mules were also, it would seem, ridden by this people in battle, and were then caparisoned like horses.f The dress of the fighting men consisted chiefly of a tunic, or single shirt, falling to the knee, and bound at the waist by a narrow girdle. Some of them had round their shoulders a kind of band knotted in front. This appears to have been a contrivance to support the quiver suspended at the back. Their hair was long, and was confined by a fillet, tied behind the head in a kind of bow. The captive chief and his attendants in the tent wore robes falling to the knee in front, and to the ankles behind. Those who fought on foot were armed with the bow, but the cavalry used the spear. The archers carried at their backs quivers of peculiar form, and ornamented at the sides and on the top with rosettes. I have already described the peculiar dress of the princes j it was completed by high boots or greaves laced up in front, and probably of yellow leather. Amongst the captives were men clothed in fringed robes * Ezek. xxiii. 23, 24. + Susiana is still celebrated for its mules. These animals were evi- dently much esteemed by the.ancients. They %vere even used by kings. When David sent for Solomon to be anointed king over Israel he caused him to ride on his mule, (i Kings, i. 33.) They were also noted for their swiftness and endurance (2 Sam. xiii. 2), were used for posts (Esther, viii. 10), and were amongst objects of tribute and spoil, as we see them represented in the sculptures, (i Kings, x. 25, 2 Chron. ix. 24.) X.] GUARDS OF THE KING. 249 and a short under-tunic : tliese were probably the lords of the land. The women wore their hair in curls, falling on their shoulders, and bound above the temples by a band or fillet. Some had one long ringlet on each side of the face. Their children were either naked or clothed in simple shirts. The Assyrian troops were divided into cavalry and foot. The horsemen carried the bow and spear, and wore coats of mail, high greaves, and the usual pointed helmet. Their horses were covered with clothes, and even, it would seem, with a kind of leather armour, reaching from the head to the tail, to protect them from the arrows of the enemy. It con- sisted of several separate pieces fastened together by buttons or loops. Over it was thrown an ornamental saddle-cloth or leopard's skin, upon which the rider sat. Under the neck of the horse was hung a bell or a tassel. Between its ears was an arched crest, and the different parts of the harness were richly embroidered and ornamented with rosettes. The costumes of the footmen varied according to their arms. The archers, probably auxiliaries from different tribes in alliance with the Assyrians, were dressed in very short tunics. A broad belt, ^vith the fringed ornament peculiar to the later Assyrian period, encircled their waist, and over their shoul- ders they wore a cross belt, of chequered cloth, to support the quiver. Their hair, confined by a plain fillet, was rolled up behind in one large curl. All the spearmen had the pointed helmet ; but some wore coats of mail and metal greaves, and others a simple tunic, without any covering to their legs. Their shields protected nearly the whole person, and were rounded at the top and straight at the bottom. Some appear to have been faced with small square pieces of leather, others to have been made entirely of metal, with embossed edges. For the first time we see in these bas-reliefs, the Assyrians using the battle-axe and the mace. The three slabs on the opposite side were better preserved than those I have just described. They formed part of the same subject, which had evidently been carried round the four walls of the chamber. They represented the triumph of the Assyrian king, and, like the battle scenes, were divided by horizontal lines into several bands. The monarch stood •iio NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. in his chariot, surrounded by his bodyguard. Unfortunately his face, with those of the charioteer and the eunuch bear- ing the parasol, had been purposely defaced. The royal robes were profusely adorned with rosettes and fringes ; the attendant eunuch was dressed in a chequered garment re- sembling a Scotch plaid. The chariot was most elaborately decorated. The body was carved with an elegant pattern of intersecting circles and rosettes, and edged by a tasteful border. In a circular panel was a kneeling figure drawing a bow, probably the protecting deity of the Ass)Tian king. In the fore part was a case to receive the arrows and bow. The chariot was more lofty than that seen in earlier AssjTian sculp- tures. The wheels were unusually large, and had eight spokes, encircled by an ornamental border. The harness of the horses consisted of a band under the chest, with rosettes and tassels, a cluster of large tassels hanging over the shoulder from the yoke, an embroidered or ivory-studded breast-band, and head- pieces similarly adorned. Two lofty plumes rose between their ears. In front of the chariot were two warriors or guards in em- broidered robes and greaves. Their long hair was bound by a fillet, whose tasseled ends fell loose behind. They were preceded by two remarkable figures, both eunuchs, and pro- bably intended for portraits of some well-known officers of the royal household. One was old and corpulent : his fore- head high and ample ; his nose curved and small, and his chin round and double. The Avrinkles of the brow, the shaggy eyebrows, and the bloated cheeks, with the stubble beard peculiar to beings of his class, were very faithfully repre- sented. His short hair was tied with a fillet. His compa- nion was younger, and had not the same marked features. He carried before him a square object resembling a closed box or book, perhaps a clay tablet containing some decree or register, such as were discovered in the ruins. Both wore long plain shirts, and round their waists a simple cord, in which was fixed a whip, probably a sign of their office. Above this remarkable group was an inscription in eight lines, fortunately almost entire. From it we learn that the king, whose deeds were thus recorded, was the son of Esar- X.] CITY OF SHUSH AN. 2$! haddon, and the grandson of Sennacherib, and that the conquered people represented in the sculptures were the Elamites, or inhabitants of the ancient Susiana. His name has been read *Asshur-bani-pal;' and there is reason to believe that he is no other than the Sardanapalus whose history has been partly handed down to us by the Greek and Roman his- torians.* Above the royal chariot was a row of trees, and beneath a procession of mace-bearers and led horses, richly capari- soned. A lower compartment contained a curious ground- plan of a city, probably the capital of the country — Susa, or Shushan the palace, mentioned in the book of Daniel. It was surrounded by a wall, with equidistant towers and gate- ways. The houses were flat-roofed, and some had one tower or upper chamber, and others two. They had no exterior windows, and their doors were square ; thus, in general form, closely resembling the common dwellings of the ancient Egyptians, of which a model found in a tomb is preserved in the British Museum. Nor were they unlike the meaner houses of the modern town of Shushter, the representative of ancient Susa. Unfortunately, part of the slab containing the city had been destroyed, and the representations of many of the more important edifices were probably wanting. Outside the walls were groves of palms and other trees, and a kind of suburb of houses scattered amongst the gardens as around Baghdad. On the river bank stood two forts with towers, one raised on an artificial mound. Near the large river, at the bottom of the slab, was either a pond in the midst of palm trees, or the source of a rivulet which fell into the main stream. The adjoining slab was divided into eight bands, and the next into seven. On both were represented the Assyrian army returning from its victorious campaign, and bringing to the king the captives and the spoil. The prisoners were being cruelly tortured in his presence. The eunuch general, or Tartan, led a chief or prince of the conquered people, grasping his captive by the wrist, and raising in one hand * It is probable that there were several Assyrian kings whose names could be converted into the Greek Sardanapalus. We have seen that the royal founder of the north-west palace at Nimroud was one of them. 252 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. a long and massy spear. At his back was hung a quiver and bow, and an embossed belt encircled his mailed vest. The prisoner wore a simple robe falling to his ankles, and a knotted fillet round his head. Above him was an inscription unfortunately much mutilated, but apparently stating that he was a son of the king of the Elamites. In this inscription the name of the capital is written ' Shushan,' as in the Bible. Before the captive prince were gathered those who had surrendered to the Assyrian general, for they still carried their arms. Some of them knelt, some bowed to the ground, and others, stretched at full length, rubbed their heads in the dust — signs of grief and submission still practised in the East. They were followed by a led horse, and by a cart drawn by a mule. Another Tartan of the Assyrian anny, holding his war-horse and carrying his spear, also received the homage of the conquered Susianians. The Assyrian generals were welcomed by men and women, dancing, sing- ing, and playing on instruments of music. Thus, 'when <^ Singers coming out to meet the Conquerors. (Kouyunjik.) David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistines, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music' * We find from various passages in the Scriptures, that the instruments of music chiefly used on such triumphant occasions were the harp (one with ten strings) the tabor, and the pipe,+ precisely * I Sam. xviii. 6. + Isaiah, v. I2. In Daniel, iii. 5, according to the received transla- tion, the ' cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer,' are men- X.] MUSICIANS AND SINGERS. ^S3 those represented in the bas-reUefs. First came five men ; three carried harps of many strings, which tliey struck with both hands, dancing at the same time to the measure ; a fourth played on the double-pipes, such as are seen on the monuments of Egypt,* and were used by the Greeks and Romans, The fifth carried an instru- ment not unlike the modern santour of the East, consist- ing of a number of strings stretched over a sounding board. The strings, pressed with the fingers of the left hand to produce the notes, were struck with a small wand or hammer held in the right. The men were followed by six female mu- sicians, four playing on harps, one on the double- pipes, and the sixth on a kind of drum beaten with both hands, resembling the tabbul still used by Eastern dancing girls. The musicians were ac- companied by women and boys and girls, singing and clapping their hands to the measure. The women wore various head-dresses. Some tioned ; hut it is scarcely possible to determine what the instruments really were : they probably resembled those represented in the bas-rehefs described in the text. The instrument of ten strings mentioned in Psalm xxxiii. 2, xlii. 3, and cxliv. 9, may have been the harp of the sculptures, and the psaltery the smaller stringed instrument. * Wilkinson's 'Ancient Egyptians,' vol. ii. p. 232 — 234, &c. 254 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. had their hair in long ringlets, some platted or braided, and others confined in a net.* One held her hands to her throat, as the Arab and Persian women still do when they make those shrill and vibrating sounds peculiar to the vocal music of the East The whole scene, indeed, was curiously illus- trative of modern Eastern customs. Behind the two Assyrian generals were cavalry, chariots, led horses, and armed warriors. > 7 1^'^'^ ^ Assyrians flaying their Prisoners alive, and carrj'ing away Heads of the Slain. (Kouyunjik.) A long line of warriors, some bearing maces, bows, spears, and shields, and others crossing their hands before them in the common Eastern attitude of respect, were the attendants and bodyguard of the king, and were represented of different heights, being probably picked men formed into companies or regiments according to their size and strength. They walked in front of a row of trees. Above the Assyrian warriors were captives being tortured, who differed in costume from the Susianian fighting-men represented in the adjoining bas-reliefs. They were distin- guished by the smallness of their stature, and by a very * The modem fashion appears, therefore, to be but a revival of a very ancient one. Isaiah inchirles 'the caps of network' amongst the va- rious articles of dress of the Jewish women (cli. iii. v. 8, Rev. Mr. Jones's version). X.] CAPTIVES PUT TO THE TORTURE. 255 marked Jewish countenance — a sharp hooked nose, short bushy beard, and long narrow eyes. Could they have be- longed to the Hebrew tribes who were carried away from Samaria and Jerusalem, and placed by Shalmaneser, Senna- cherib, or Esarhaddon, in the distant regions of Elam, and who, having become powerful in their new settlements, had revolted against their Assyrian rulers, and were once again subdued % They wore a kind of conical cap, with tails or ribands, an inner garment reaching a little below the knee, a fringed robe falling down the back to the ankles, and boots turned up at the toes and laced in front. Some in iron fetters were being led before the king, for judgment or par- don. Others had been condemned to the torture, and were already in the hands of the executioners. Two were fastened naked at full length on the ground, and were being flayed alive. Other unfortunate victims were undergoing no less horrible punishments. The brains of one were being beaten out with an iron mace, whilst an officer held him by the beard. A torturer was wrenching the tongue out of the mouth of another who had been pinioned to the ground. The bleed- ing heads of the slain were tied round the necks of the living, who seemed reseiTed for still more barbarous tortures.* The only spoil represented in these bas-reliefs as carried away by the Assyrians consisted of horses and bundles of precious woods. At the top of each slab was a line of war- riors drawn up in array, and at the bottom a broad river filled with those killed in the fight, and horses, mules, chariots, carts, bows, and quivers, f Although these bas-reliefs were car\'ed, as shown by the inscriptions upon them, by a later king, the chamber itself, like the rest of the edifice, was built by Sennacherib, and on the back of each slab were inscribed his name and usual titles. The inscriptions behind the winged lions at the en- trance also contained his name. The slabs round the room * A short inscription above the torturers appears to declare that the victims having spoken blasphemies against Ashur, the great god of the Assyrians, their tongues had been pulled out. + These six bas-reliefs are now in the British Museum. Drawings of them are given in the 2nd series of my ' Monuments of Nineveh,' Plates 45 to 49- 256 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. appear, therefore, to have been originally plain, as in the adjoining chambers, and to have been subsequently sculp- tured by order of the son and successor of Esarhaddon. These bas-re- liefs prove that many changes had taken place in the arts and dress of the people of As- syria between the reign of Senna- cherib and that of his grandson. The later sculp- tures are princi- pally distinguished by their minute finish, the sharp- ness of the outline, and the very cor- rect delineation of animals. We now approach the pe- riod of the fall of the Ass}Tian em- pire and of the rise of the kingdoms of Babylon and Persia. The arts passed from Assy- ria to the sister na- tions, and thence to Ionia and Greece. There is much in the bas- reliefs I have just described to re- mind us of tlie early works of the Greeks executed imme- diately after the Persian war. X.] DESCRIPTION OF THE CHAMBERS. 257 The chamber containing these sculptures had an entrance opening upon the edge of the mound. Of tliis doorway there only remained, on each side, a block of plain limestone, which may, however, have been the base of a sphinx or other figure. The outer walls to which it led'^' had been panelled with the usual alabaster slabs. Upon them were bas-reliefs of a campaign in a country already represented in another part of the paiace,t and distinguished by a deep valley watered by a river, vineyards, and wooded mountains. It is doubtful whether these walls belonged to a chamber, or formed part of the southern face of the palace, as they were on the very brink of the platform. At right angles to them, to the west, a pair of winged bulls opened upon an- other wall, of which there were scarcely any remains, and midway between the two entrances was a deep doorway,^ flanked on both sides by four colossal mythic figures, amongst which were the fish-god and the deity with the lion's head and eagle's feet. It led to an ascend- ing passage, between nine and ten feet wide, and forty-four feet in length, paved with hard lime or plaster about an inch and a half thick, the walls of which were built of the finest sun- dried bricks, admirably fitted together. Three rows of square projec- tions, each formed by two bricks, were carried along both sides of this passage. Here and there were circular holes purposely cut into the brickwork. These projections may have supported shelves on which the archives and other public documents were de- Colossal Figures at au Entrance. (Kouyunjik.) * No. LX. Plan I. + In No. XXXVI I r. same Plan. % Entrance b. No. LX. S See page 166. 2s8 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. posited, for it was in this passage that were discovered the detached seals described in a former chapter. This incHned way probably led to the upper chambers of the palace, or to the galleries which may have been carried round the principal chambers and halls. I have only to describe two more rooms discovered in this part of the ruins during the summer. * They opened into the chamber parallel with that containing the sculptured records of the son of Esarhaddon. The entrances to both were formed by two pairs of colossal figures in bold relief, each 's:.~- Cases containing Sculptures ready for Embarkation. pair consisting of a man wearing the homed cap surmounted by a ileur-de-lis, and a lion-headed and eagle-footed human figure raising a dagger in one hand, and holding a mace in the other. The bas-reliefs on the walls recorded a cam- paign against a nation dwelling amidst a wooded and moun- tainous country, and in strongly fortified cities, which the Assyrians took by assault, with battering rams and scaling ladders, carrying away a vast amount of spoil and captives, * No. XX.XI., 2O by 14 feet, and Xo. .xx.vii., 22 by 20 feet. X.] EMBARKING THE SCULPTURES. 2,-9 The prisoners had short bushy hair and beards, and wore an inner garment reaching to the knee, an outer cloak of skins or fur, and gaiters laced in front. The robes of the women were short; their hair hung low down their backs, and was then gathered up into one large curl.* I was engaged until the middle of October in moving and packing bas-reliefs from Kouyunjik ; a task demanding much time and labour, as the slabs, split into fragments by the fire, had to be taken to pieces, and then arranged and num- bered, with a view to their future restoration. Nearly a hundred cases containing these remains were at length dragged to the river side, to await the construction of the rafts by which they were to be forwarded to Busrah, where a vessel was shortly expected to transport them to England. * Plates 19 and 31 of the ' Monuments of Nineveh,' 2nd series. S2 26o NINEVEH AND BABYLON [Chap CHAPTER XL Departure for Babylon — The Awai — Descent of the river — Tekrit — The plain of Dura — The Naharwan — Samarrah — Kadesia — Palm groves — Kathiinain — Approach to Baghdad — The city — Arrival — Modern Baghdad — Departure for Babylon — Abde Pasha's camp — App>roach to Babylon — The ruins — Arrival at Hillah — The chiefs of Hillah — Present of lions — Dacription of the town — The rtttns of Babylon — The Tvalls — Visit to the Birs Nimroud — Description of the ruin — Vins) from it — Excavations and discoveries in the Mound of Babel — In the Miijelibe or Kasr — The tree Athele — Excavations in the ruin of Amran — Babuls, with itiscriptions in Hebrew and Syriac characters — The Jeii's of Babylonia. The winter was now drawing near, and the season was favourable for examining the remains of ancient cities in Babylonia. As the operations at Nimroud were suspended, I determined to employ fewer men at Kouyunjik, and to de- vote myself, during the cold weather, to researches amongst the great mounds of Southern Mesopotamia. I selected about thirty of the most skilful Arabs who had been em- ployed at Nineveh, to accompany me. Having entrusted Toma Shisman with the superintendence of the excavations, I quitted Mosul on the i8th of October, accompanied by Hormuzd Rassam and Mr. Romaine, an English traveller, on his way to India. There were cases enough containing sculptures from Kouyunjik to load a raft of considerable size. My Jebours, armed with guns, went with them for defence, as the banks of the Tigris were swarm- ing with Bedouins, who had nearly interrupted all intercourse both by the river and high road between Mosul and Bagh- dad. I occupied a smaller rait. We stopped for the first night beneath the mound of Ham- mum Ali. On the following morning we crossed the foaming rapids of the Awai, or great dam. During the previous three XL] DEPARTURE FOR BABYLON. 261 years the river had gained much ground to the eastward, washing away the alluvial soil of the plain, and gradually seeking its ancient bed at the foot of the mound. The stone- work which, on my first visit to Nimroud, was only just visible in the high bank,"' now stood, like a tower, almost in A Kellek, or Raft of Skins, on the Tigris. the centre of the Tigris, dividing the impetuous stream into two roaring cataracts. Solid masonry beneath the level of the river connected this isolated mass with the opposite bank. I endeavoured to trace it inland, but after digging for some days without coming to the end, I relinquished the attempt. The result of this experiment shows that the Awai may possibly be the remains of a wall now covered by the deposits of tlie river, and not an ancient dam. It would have required time and labour to trace its course, and to determine its original object, deeply buried as it is beneath the soil. The navigation of tlie Tigris as far as Kalah Sherghat was so insecure, that I deemed it prudent, in order to avoid a collision with the Arabs, to engage a Bedouin chief, named Awaythe, a Sheikh of the Fedagha Shammar, to accompany us. Placing one of his sons on his mare, and ordering him to follow us along the banks of the river, he stepped upon * Nineveli and its Remains, p. 5. 262 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. my raft, where he spent his time in giving us accounts of wars and ghazous, smoking his pipe and pounding coffee. We reached Tekrit in three days without accident or ad- venture. Bedouin tents and moving swarms of men and camels were occasionally seen on the river banks, but under the protection of our Sheikh we met with no hindrance. Tekrit is almost the only permanent settlement of any im- portance between Mosul and Baghdad. It is now a small town, but was once a place of some size and strength. The remains of an ancient castle crown a high sandstone rock rising from the river, and amidst crumbling hovels are seen the ruins of mosques, baths, and well-built houses, and that labyrinth of tombs which invariably marks the site of an ancient Mohammedan city. Tekrit is chiefly famous as the birthplace of Saleh-ed-din, better known to the English reader as Saladin, the hero of the Crusades, and the magnanimous enemy of our Richard Coeur-de-Lion. His father, Ayub, a chief of a Kurdish tribe of Rahwandiz, was governor of its castle for the Seljukian monarchs of Persia. Tekrit is now inhabited by a few Arabs, who carry on, as raftsmen, the traffic of the river between Mosul and Baghdad. Between this place and Baghdad, although the country is now almost a desert, there is much to interest the traveller who, for the first time, floats down a river winding through the great alluvial plains of Chaldaea. Leaving Tekrit, we first pass a small whitewashed Mussulman tomb, rising on the left or eastern bank of the Tigris, in a plain that still bears the name of Dura. It was here, as some believe, * that Nebu- chadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits and breadth six cubits, and called to- gether the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces to its dedication, and that cer- tain Jews would not serve his gods, nor fall doAvn and wor- ship the golden image that he had set up.'"' It is now a wilderness, with here and there a shapeless mound, the re- mains of some ancient habitation. It was here also that, * Daniel, iii. XL] CANAL OF THE NAHARWAN. 263 after the death of the Emperor Juhan, his successor Jovian concluded a disgraceful peace with the Persian king Sapores (Shapour), and saved the Roman army by yielding to the enemy the five great provinces to the east of the Tigris. It was here, too, that he crossed the river, a broad and deep stream, and commenced his disastrous retreat through Mesopotamia. Not far below, and on the same side of the river, the great canal of the Naharwan, the wonder of Arab geographers, robbed the Tigris of a large portion of its waters. Its innu- merable arms once spread fertility over many districts, rich in villages and gardens. Lofty banks, all that remain of this mighty work, may still be traced, stretching, like natural hills, far across the plains, here crossed by the remains of a richly- decorated bridge, there losing themselves amidst a confused heap of mounds, marking the site of some ancient city. Below the Naharwan, ruins, walls, and dwellings, built chiefly of large pebbles, united by a strong cement, a mode of con- struction peculiar to the Sassanian and early Arab periods, stand on the alluvial cliffs. They are called Eski, or old, Baghdad. On the opposite side of the Tigris, another mass of falling masonry, named Ashek, crowns a projecting ridge. A tower, about two hundred feet high, now rises above the eastern bank of the river. An ascending way winds round it on the outside like the spiral of a screw, reminding the tra- veller of the common ideal pictures of the Tower of Babel. It marks the site of the ancient city of Samarrah, where the Roman army under Jovian rested after marching and fight- ing a long summer's day.* It subsequently became the capital of Motassem Billah, the eighth caliph of the Abbasside dynasty. A half ruined mosque is now a place of pilgrimage to jNIussulmans of the Sheeah sect, for it is said to cover the tombs of the last Imaums of the race of Ali, and to be the hiding-place of the twelfth prophet, Mehdi, who is to appear at the second coming of Christ. The modern town, inha- bited by Arabs, consists of a few falHng houses surrounded by a mud wall, and defended by bastions and towers. * Gibbon's ' Decline and Fall, ' chap. xxiv. 264 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. On both sides of the river, as the raft is carried gently along by the now sluggish current, the traveller sees huge masses of brick work jutting out from the falling banks, or overhanging the precipice of earth which hems in the stream. Here and there are walls of the solid masonry of the Sassa- nian period, and cupolas fretted with the elegant tracery of early Arab architecture. These are the remains of the palaces and castles of the last Persian kings and of the first Caliphs. The place is still called Gadesia or Kadesia, and near it was fought that great battle between the fire-worshippers of Persia and the followers of Mahomet, which gave to the new nation, issuing from the wilds of Arabia, the dominion of the Eastern world." Remains of an earlier period are not wanting. A huge mound on the west bank of the river, within sight of Samar- rah, is kno\srn to the Arabs as the Sidd-ul-Nimroud, the wall or rampart of Nimroud. By some it is believed to be part of the Median wall which, in the days of old, guarded Ba- bylon against invasion from the north. A it^s heaps of earth on an angle formed by the junction of the Naharwan and another great canal derived from the Tigris, may represent the ancient Chaldsean city of Opis. The current becomes more gentle at every broad reach, until the raft scarcely glides past the low banks. The water has lost its clearness and its juirity; tinged by the rich alluvial soil it has turned to a pale yellow colour. The river at length widens into a noble stream. Pelicans of snowy plumage and coloured wildfowl float lazily on the waters, and white herons stand motionless on the margin. A dark line now bounds the southern horizon. It gradually breaks into vast groves of the feathery palm. The loud creaking of watervvheels dis- turbs the silence wliich has hitherto reigned over the deserted waters, and groups of half-naked Arabs gather together on the banks to gaze on the travellers. \Ve are now amidst the date groves. If it be autumn, clusters of golden fruit hang beneath the fan-like leaves ; if si)ring, the odour of orange blossoms fills the air. The coo- * Gibbon's ' Decline and Fall,' chap. li. XI.] APPROACH TO BAGHDAD. 265 ing of the doves that flutter amongst the branches begets a pleasing melancholy, and a feeling of listlessness and repose. The raft creeps round a projecting bank, and two gilded domes and four stately minarets, all glittering in the rays of an eastern sun, suddenly rise high above the dense bed of palms. They are of the mosque of Kathimain, which covers the tombs of two of the Imaums or saints of the Sheeah sect. The low banks swarm with Arabs, — men, women, and naked children. Mud hovels screened by yellow mats, and groaning watenvheels worked by the patient ox, are seen beneath the palms. The Tigris becomes wider and wider, and the stream is almost motionless. Circular boats, of reeds coated with bitumen, skim over the water. Horsemen, and riders on white asses,* hurry along the river side. Turks in flowing robes and broad turbans, Persians in high black caps and close-fitting tunics, the Bokhara pilgrim in his white ' head-dress and wayworn garments, the Bedouin chief in his tasselled keftieh and striped aba, Baghdad ladies with their scarlet and white draperies fretted with threads of gold, and their black horsehair veils, concealing even their wanton eyes, Persian women wrapped in their unsightly garments, and Arab girls in their simple blue shirts, are all mingled toge- ther in one motley crowd, and flow in a busy stream without ceasing, from the gates of the western suburb of Baghdad to the sacred precincts of Kathimain. A pine-shaped cone of snowy whiteness rises to the right; near it are one or two drooping palms, that seem fast falling to decay, like the building over which they can no longer throw their shade. This is the tomb of Zobeide, the lovely queen of Haroun-al-Reshid, a name that raises many a pleasant association, and recalls to memory a thousand romantic dreams of early youth. A mosque cut in two, a singular object, next appears on the eastern bank. The river has gradually undermined and * The white ass of Baghdad is much esteemed in the East. Some are of considerable size, and fancifully dyed with henna, their tails and ears bright red, and their bodies spotted, like an heraldic talbot, with the same colour, they bear the chief priests and the men of the law, as they appear to have done from the earliest times. (Judges, v. 10.) 266 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap carried away the other part, leaving the innermost recesses of its dome, of which exactly half remains, its places of prayer, and its chapel-like chambers open to the air. Co- loured cupolas and minarets rise on all sides above the palms, until the trees are succeeded by a long line of mud- built houses. We pass the palace of the governor, an edifice of mean materials and proportions. At its windows the Pasha himself and the various officers of his household may be seen reclining on their divans, amidst wreaths of smoke. A crazy bridge of boats crosses the stream, and appears to bar all further progress. At length the chains are loosened, two or three of the rude vessels are withdrawn, and the rafts glide gently through. A few minutes more, and we are anchored beneath the spreading folds of the British flag, opposite a handsome building, not crumbling into ruins like its neighbours, but kept in repair with European neatness. A small iron steamer floats motionless before it. We have arrived at the dwelling of the English Consul-general and poUtical agent of the East India Company at Baghdad. It was early in the morning of the 26th October that I landed at the well-remembered quay of the British residency. In the absence of Colonel (now Sir Henry) Rawlinson, then in England, his political duties had been confided to Captain Kemball, who received me with great kindness. I acknow- ledge with gratitude the hospitality and effective assistance I invariably experienced from him during my sojourn at Bagh- dad, and my researches in Babylonia. Baghdad, with its long vaulted bazaars rich with the pro- duce and merchandise of every clime, its mixed population of Turks, Arabs, Persians, Indians, and men of all Eastern nations, its palm groves and gardens, its painted palaces and unsightly hovels, its present misery and its former magnifi- cence, have been so frequently described, that I will not detain the reader with any minute account of this celebrated city. Tyranny, disease, and inundations have brought it very low. Nearly half of the space enclosed within its walls is now covered by heaps of ruins, and the population is daily decreasing, without the hope of change. During my resi- dence in Baghdad no one could go far beyond the gates XI.] MODERN BAGHDAD. 267 without the risk of falling into the hands of wandering Arabs, who prowled unchecked over the plains, keeping the city itself almost in a continual state of siege. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, the importance of its position is so great, that Baghdad must at all times command a considerable trade. It is a link between the East and the West ; it is the storehouse from which the tribes of the desert obtain their clothing and their food ; and it is the key to the holy places annually sought by thousands upon thousands of Persian pilgrims of the Sheeah sect. It is remarkable that, with the exception of the ruins of an ancient college, and of some other buildings, there is scarcely a trace to be found in Baghdad of that magnificent city, 'the Abode of Peace,' on which the Caliphs lavished every resource of Eastern wealth and taste. The stranger will now seek in vain for the palaces and gardens of Haroun-al-Reshid, and the universities and mosques of Al Mamoun. Even the veiy names of those great princes, the glory of Islam, are almost forgotten, or are only heard in the coffee-house, where the Arab storyteller relates his fanci- ful tale. The only remains of the Babylonian period hitherto dis* covered within the city walls are the ruins of an enormous drain or subterranean passage, built of large square bricks bearing the name of Nebuchadnezzar. A lofty pile of sun- dried bricks, intermixed with layers of reeds, called Akker- Kuf, rises in the midst of a marsh to the west of the Tigris, about four or five miles from the city gates. During my visit to Baghdad it was not easy to reach this ruin on account of the swamp, and as it is merely a solid mass of mud masonry, excavations in it would scarcely have led to results of any interest* It was not until the 5th of December that I was able to leave Baghdad. I had been struggling with my old enemy, intermittent fever, and the surrounding country was still in the hands of the Arabs, two reasons for remaining within * There is, I believe, some doubt as to whether Akker-Kuf is a pure Babylonian ruin. 268 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. the gates. At length Abde Pasha, the governor of the pro- vince, placed himself at the head of his troops, and marched against the rebellious tribes. Before going to Babylon I de- termined to visit him, and to make acquaintance with several Sheikhs of the southern tribes friendly to the Turkish govern- ment who were in his camp. The marshes fonned by the Saklawiyah, a great canal de- rived from the Euphrates, had reached almost to the very walls of tlie western suburb of Baghdad, interrupting commu- nication by land, and spreading disease through the city. To get into the highway to Hillah, we were obliged to make a circuit of some miles, fording ditches, wading through v/ater and deep mud, and crossing wide streams by crazy bridges of boats. We had been nearly three hours on horseback before we rode through the vaulted gateway of the Khan-i- Zad, the first habitable caravanserai on the road. The plains between Khan-i-Zad and the Euphrates are covered with a perfect network of ancient canals and water- courses ; but ' a drought is upon the waters of Babylon, and they were dried.'* Their lofty embankments, stretching on every side in long lines until they are lost in the hazy distance, or magnified by the mirage into mountains, still defy the hand of time, and seem rather the work of nature than of man. The face of the country, too, is dotted with mounds and shapeless heaps, the remains of ancient towns and villages. A long ride of ten hours through this scene of solitude and desolation brought us to the tents of the Pasha of Baghdad, pitched on the western bank of the Euphrates, below the village of Musseiyib, and on the inlet of the Hindiyah canal. A bridge of boats had been placed across the river to connect the camp of the governor with Baghdad. As we approached we heard the loud hum of human voices ; but the whole encampment was concealed by dense clouds of dust. Once over the bridge we found ourselves in the midst of a crowd of Turkish soldiers, Arabs and workmen of every kind hurrying to and fro in wild dis- order ; some bearing earth and mud in baskets, or in their * Jeremiah, 1. 38. XL] MOUND OF BABEL. 269 cloaks, others bending under the weight of bundles of brush- wood, mats, and ropes. Women and girls were mingled with the men, and as they laboured they chanted in a monotonous tone verses on the Pasha and their chiefs, improvised for the occasion. This busy throng was building up the dam which was to shut out the waters of the Euphrates from the canal, dry the marshes, and bring the rebellious tribes to obedience. Before leaving the camp I obtained letters to the principal chiefs of the southern tribes from the Pasha as w^ell as from Wadi, the Sheikh of the Zobeide, and other influential Sheikhs. The town of Hillah was about eighteen miles from the Turkish tents further down the Euphrates. We were obliged to take the longest road by the eastern bank of the river, as the Arabs infested the country to the west. Between Musseiyib and the ruins of Babylon the country abounds in dry canals and ancient mounds. A few villages, surrounded by palm groves, stand on the banks of the Eu- phrates and on the channels, which still cany the waters of the river into the heart of Mesopotamia. After riding about four hours we perceived a huge hill to the south. As we drew nearer its flat table-like top and perpendicular sides, rising abruptly from an alluvial plain, showed that it was the work of man, and not a natural elevation. At length we could plainly distinguish around it great embankments, the remains of walls and canals. Gradually, as the caravan slowly advanced, the ruin assumed a definite shape. It was the mound of Babel. This is the first great ruin seen on approaching ancient Babylon from the north. Beyond it long lines of palms hem in the Euphrates, which now winds through the midst of the ancient city. To the vast mound of Babel succeed long un- dulating heaps of earth, bricks, and pottery. A solitary mass of brick-work, rising from the summit of the largest mound, marks the remains known to the Arabs as the 'Mujelibe,' or the 'overturned.''' Other shapeless heaps of rubbish cover for many an acre the face of the land. The lofty banks of ancient canals fret * This is the Kasr of Rich and subsequent travellers. 270 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. the country like natural ridges of hills. Some have long been choked with sand ] others still carry the waters of the river to distant villages and palm groves. On all sides, frag- ments of glass, marble, pottery, and inscribed brick are mingled with that peculiar nitrous and blanched soil, which, bred from the remains of ancient habitations, checks or de- stroys vegetation, and renders the site of Babylon a naked and hideous waste. Owls start from the scanty thickets, and the foul jackal skulks through the furrows. Truly ' the glory of kingdoms and the beauty of the Chaldee's excellency is as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Wild beasts of the desert lie there ; and their houses are full of doleful creatures ; and owls dwell there, and satyrs dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in her pleasant palaces, for her day has come.'* A itw black tents and flocks of sheep and camels were scattered over the yellow plain. They belonged chiefly to the Zobeide, an ancient tribe, renowned in the history of the conquering Arabs under their first caliphs, and now pas- turing their flocks in the wilds of Babylonia. f From Amran, the last of the great mounds, a broad and well-trodden track winds through thick groves of palms. About an hour's ride beneath pleasant shade brings the traveller to the faUing gateway of the town of Hillah. A mean bazaar crowded with Arabs, camels, and asses, leads to a bridge of boats across the Euphrates. The principal part of the town, containing the fort and the residence of the governor, is on the oppo- site side of the river. We turned off, however, to the left, as our quarters had been made ready on the western bank. A party of irregular troops sent out to meet me, conducted my caravan to a spacious house standing on the very edge of the stream, and belonging to one of the principal families of the place. It had once contained rich furniture, and handsomely * Isaiah, xiii. 19-22, and compare Jeremiah, 1. 39 : ' therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the island shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein.' A large grey owl is found in great numbers, frequently in flocks of nearly a hundred, in the low shrubs among the ruins of Babylon. t From this tribe was the celebrated lady of Haroun-al-Reshid, 'the Zobeide,' as she was called from her origin. XL] ARRIVAL AT HILLAH. 271 decorated rooms in the Persian style, but was now fast fall- ing into utter ruin. The cold wind whistled through the rotten wooden panels of the windows, for there was no glass, and the crumbling ceiling and floor threatened to give way to- gether. In this frail dwelling we prepared to pass a part of our winter in Babylonia. My first care on arriving at Hillah was to establish friendly relations with the principal inhabitants of the town as well as with the Turkish officer in command of the small garrison that guarded its mud fort. Osman Pasha, the general, re- ceived me with courtesy and kindness, and during the remain- der of my stay gave me all the help I could require. On my first visit he presented me with two lions. One was nearly of full size, and was well known in the bazaars and thorough- fares of Hillah, through which he was allowed to wander unrestrained. The inhabitants could accuse him of no other objectionable habit than that of taking possession of the stalls of the butchers, who, on his approach, made a hasty retreat, leaving him in undisturbed possession of their stores, until he had satisfied his hunger and deemed it time to depart. He would also wait the coming of the kuffas, or wicker boats, of the fishermen, and, driving away their owners, would help himself to a kind of large barbel, for which he appeared to have a decided relish. For these acts of de- predation the beast was perhaps less to be blamed than the Pasha, who rather encouraged a mode of obtaining daily ra- tions, which, although of questionable honesty, relieved him from butchers' bills. When no longer hungry he would stretch himself in the sun, and allow the Arab boys to take such liberties with him as in their mischief they might de- vise. He was taller and larger than a St. Bernard dog, and, like the Hon generally found on the banks of the rivers of Mesopotamia, was without the dark and shaggy mane of the African species.* The other lion was but a cub, and had recently been found by an Arab in the Hindiyah marshes. * I have, however, seen lions on the river Kaioon, with a long black mane. The inhabitants of the country make a distinction between them and the common maneless lion ; the former are Kafir, or infidels, the Others Mussulmans. By a proper remonstrance, and at the same times 2 72 N IN EVE If AND BABYLON. [Chap. Unfortunately it fell ill of the mange, to which the animal when confined is very liable, and soon after died. The other was too old to be sent to England by land, and I was thus unable to procure specimens for this country of the Baby- lonian lion, which had not then, I believe, been seen alive in Europe. The Mudir, or governor of Hillah, was Shabib Agha, the head of one of the principal famihes of the town. He claimed a kind of hereditary right to this office. He was aged and infirm, suffering from asthma, and little able to manage public affairs, which were chiefly confided to his youngest and favourite son, a boy of about twelve years old. It was with this child that, in common with the inhabitants of Hillah, I transacted business. He received and paid visits with wonderful dignity and decorum. His notes and his inquiries after my health and wants were couched in the most eloquent and suitable terms. He showed a warm and affectionate interest in my welfare, and in the success of my undertakings, which was quite touching. Every morning he crossed the river with a crowd of secretaries, slaves, and attendants, to ascertain, by personal inspection, whether I needed any help. His salutations were expressed with the greatest gravity. ' We trust that it has pleased God to pre- serve your Excellency's health. Our town is yours as well as our house. Our harem begs your Excellency's acceptance of sour milk and francolins. May we show that we are your slaves, by ordering the irregular troops to accompany you on your ride ; your person is more precious to us than our eyes ; and there are evil men, enemies of our Lord the Sultan, abroad in the desert,' and so on. He then gave me his usual report on the political state of the country, and related the successes of the Pasha or of the rebels ; I am afraid his symjiathies were more with the latter than with the legitimate power. At the same time he issued orders for rations to be collected for the troops, dictated letters to be sent to the Turkish authorities, summoned levies from the Arab tribes, and settled disjnites amongst the inhabitants of the town, pronouncing the iirofession of failh, a true believer may induce the one to spare his life, but the unbelieving lion is inexorable. XL] THE YOUTHFUL GOVERNOR. 273 occasionally diverting himself with a peep into a kaleido- scope, in which he took great delight, and which I afterwards presented to hina. He was a noble boy, with black sparkling eyes, and a bright olive complexion. He wore the long silken robes of a town Arab, with the fringed kefifieh or striped head-kerchief of the Bedouin falling over his shoulders. On the whole, he made as good and active a governor as I have often met with in an Eastern town, and was an instance of that precocity which is frequently seen in Eastern children. A cordial friendship was soon established between us, and during my stay at Hillah, Azeez Agha, for such was his name, was my constant guest. From the principal people of Hillah, as well as from Shabib Agha (the father of Azeez), I received every help. The day after my arrival they sent me presents of francolins, gazelles, and other game, and during my stay were unremitting in their attentions. Hillah, like most towns in this part of Turkey, is peopled by Arabs once belonging to different tribes, but now forgetting their clanships in a sedentary life. They maintain, however, a friendly intercourse with the Bedouins and with the wild inhabitants of the marshes, being always ready to unite with them in attempting to throw off their allegiance to the Sultan. As several families divide the au- thority and have their private feuds, which lead to constant broils and bloodshed, the town, thus weakened, falls an easy prey to the Turks, when regular troops are sent against it. At the time of my visit, its inhabitants were anxiously awaiting the result of the expedition of Abde Pasha against the rebellious tribes. Their allegiance to the Turkish gover- nor and the consequent payment of taxes depended upon its success. If the Pasha were beaten they would declare openly in favour of the Arabs, with whom, it was suspected, they were already in communication. The Hindiyah marshes are within sight of the town, and the Kazail (the tribe that dwells in them) ravaged the country to its gates. I was conse- quently unable to do more than visit the celebrated ruin of the Birs Nimroud. To excavate in it in the then disturbed state of the country was impossible. Hillah may contain about eight or nine thousand inhabit- T 74 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. ants. A {Q.vi half-ruined mosques and public baths are its principal buildings. Its bazaar supplies the Bedouins with articles of clothing, arms, dates, coffee, and com, and con- tains a few common Manchester goods and English cutlery and hardware. The Euphrates flows through the town, and is about two hundred yards wide and fifteen feet deep; a noble stream, with a gentle current, admirably fitted for steam navigation. The houses, chiefly built of bricks taken from the ruins of ancient Babylon, are small and mean. Around the town, and above and below it for some miles, are groves of palm trees, forming a broad belt on both sides of the river. In the plain beyond them a few ^:^' canals bear water to plots cultivated with wheat, barley, and rice. The ruins of Ba- bylon have been so frequently described, that I prefer giving a general sketch of them to entering into accurate details of measurements and distances ; at the same time referring my reader to the ac- companying plan, which will enable liim to understand the position of the principal mounds. The road from Baghdad to Hillah crosses, near the village of Mohawill. a wide and deej) canal. On its southern bank Plan of Part of the Ruins of Babylon on the Eastern I'ank of the Euphrates. XL] MOUNDS NEAR BABEL. 275 is a line of eartlien ramparts, which are generally believed to be the most northern remains of the ancient city of Babylon. From their summit the traveller scans a bound- less plain, through which winds the Euphrates, with its dark belt of evergreen palms. Rising in the distance, high above all surrounding objects, is the one square mound, in form and size more like a natural hill than the work of men's hands. This is the first great ruin to the east of the river, and the Arab names it ' Babel.' The traveller, before reaching this ruin, still about four miles distant, follows a beaten track winding amidst low mounds, and crossing the embankments of canals long since dry. Some have here traced the lines of the streets, and the divisions between the inhabited quarters of ancient Babylon. They believe them to correspond with the descriptions of ancient authors, who declare that the city was divided into a number of equal squares by parallel thoroughfares. But no traces whatever have been discovered of that great wall of earth rising, according to Herodotus, to the height of two hundred royal cubits, and no less than fifty cubits broad; nor of the ditch that encompassed it. The mounds seem to be scattered without order, and to be gradually lost in the vast plains to the eastward. But southward of Babel, for the distance of nearly three miles, there is almost an uninterrupted line of mounds, the ruins of vast edifices, collected together as in the heart of a great city. They are inclosed by earthen ramparts, the remains of a line of walls which, leaving the foot of Babel, stretch inland about two miles and a half from the present bed of the Euphrates, and then turning nearly at right angles are continued to the eastern bank of the river."' It is evident that the space inclosed within this continuous rampart could not have contained the whole of that mighty city, whose magnificence and extent were the wonder of the ancient world. The walls of Babylon, according to Herodo- tus, measured 120 stadia on each side, and formed a perfect * The plan in the text gives a correct idea of the position of the prin- cipal ruins. Very elaborate and careful surveys of the site of Babylon have been made by Captain Jone-^. T 2 276 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap square of 480 stadia, or nearly sixty miles. Several later writers have repeated his statement. Strabo and Diodorus Siculus have, however, reduced the circuit of the city to 385 and 360 stadia ; and such, according to Clitarchus, were its dimensions, when it yielded to Alexander. It is difficult to explain the total absence of all traces of the external wall and ditch so fully and minutely described by Herodotus and other ancient writers, and, according to their concurrent accounts, of such enormous dimensions. If a vast line of fortifications, with its gates, and equidistant towers, all of stupendous height and thickness, did once exist, it is scarcely to be believed that no part whatever of them should now remain. Darius and other conquerors are said to have pulled down and destroyed these defences ; but it is surely impossible that any human labour could have obliterated their very traces, had they been of stone or brick. But Herodotus states that, in the midst of each division of the city, there was a circular space surrounded by a lofty wall : one contained the royal palace ; the other, the temple of Belus. There can. be little difficulty in admitting that the mounds within the earthen rampart on the eastern bank of the river might represent the first of these fortified inclosures, which we know to have been on that side of the Euphrates. It is not impossible, as Rich has suggested, that the Birs Nimroud, around which — as it will be seen — there are still the traces of a regular wall, may be the remains of the temple of Belus, unless the ruins of it have been entirely obliterated by the changes which have taken place in the course of the river. It may be inferred, I think, from the descriptions of Hero- dotus and Diodorus Siculus,*' that Babylon was built on the same general plan as Nineveh. More than one fortified in- closure, fonned by lofty walls and towers, and containing the royal palaces and the temples with their numerous de- l)cndent buildings, courtyards, and gardens, rose in different quarters of the city. They were so built and guarded as to be able to resist an enemy and stand a protracted siege. * Diodorus Siculus particularly describes, after Ctesias, the two fortified palaces (1. ii. c. 8). XI.] THE BIRS NIMROUD. 277 Around them were the common dwellings of the people, with their palm groves, their orchards, and their small plots of corn-land. If the exterior fortifications were mere ramparts of mud and brushwood, such as are still raised round modern East- em cities, they would, when once neglected, have fallen to dust, and have left no traces behind. I confess that I can see no other way of accounting for their entire disappearance. I will now describe the results of my researches amongst the ruins near Hillah. Parties of workmen were placed at once on the two most important mounds, the Babel of the Arabs (the Mujelibe of Rich) and the Mujelibe (the Kasr of the same traveller). I was compelled, as I have stated, to abandon my plan of excavating in the Birs Nimroud. This great pile of masonry is about six miles to the south-west of Hillah. It stands on the very edge of the vast marsh formed by the waters of the Hindiyah canal, and by the periodical floods of the Euphrates. The plain between it and the town is, in times of quiet, under cultivation, and is irrigated by a canal derived from the Euphrates near the village of Anana. This year, however, in consequence of the rebellion of the tribes of Al Khazail and Al Maidan, who inhabit the mo- rasses, the land had been left unsown. Shortly after my arrival at Hillah I visited the Birs, accompanied by one Sheikh Zaid, and a party of well-armed Agayls. The Birs Nimroud, ' the palace of Nimrod ' of the Arabs, and ' the prison of Nebuchadnezzar ' of the Jews ; by old travellers believed to be the very ruins of the tower of Babel ; by some, again, supposed to represent the temple of Belus, the wonder of the ancient world ; and, by others, to mark the site of Borsippa, a city celebrated as the highplace of the Chalda^an worship, is a vast heap of bricks, slag, and broken pottery. The dry nitrous earth of the parched plain, driven before the furious south wind, has thrown over the huge mass a thin covering of soil in which no herb or green thing can find nourishment or take root. It rises to the height of 153 feet, and has on its summit a compact mass of brick- work, 37 feet high by 28 broad. Neither the original form nor object of the edifice, of which it is the ruin, had, previous 278 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. to my visit, been determined. On one side of it, beneath the crowning masonry, He huge fragments torn from the pile itself. The calcined and vitreous surface of the bricks fused into rock-like masses, show that their fall may have been caused by lightni'.'g ; and, as the ruin is rent almost from top to bottom, The r.irs Nimroud, or Tower of Babel of early Travelleis. early Christian tra\-ellers, as well as some of more recent date, have not hesitated to recognise in them proofs of that divine vengeance, which, according to tradition, arrested by 'iw^ from heaven the imjjious attempt of the first descendants of Noah. Even the Jews, it would appear, at one time identified the XI.] THE BIRS NIMROUD. 279 Birs Nimroud with the Tower of Babel. Benjamin of Tu- dela, who saw it in the twelfth century, gives the following curious account of the ruin. ' The tower built by the dis- persed generation is four miles from Hillah. It is constructed of bricks, called Al-ajur (the word still used by the Arabs for kiln-burnt bricks) ; the base measures two miles, the breadth 240 yards, and the height about 100 canna. A spiral pas- sage, built into the tower (from ten to ten yards), leads up to the summit, from which there is a prospect of twenty miles, the country being one wide plain, and quite level. The heavenly fire which struck the tower, split it to its very foundation.' * No traces whatever now remain of the spiral passage spoken of by the Jewish traveller. Whatever may have been the original edifice, of which the Birs Nimroud is the ruin, or whoever its founder, it is certain that as yet no remains have been discovered there more ancient than of the time of Nebuchadnezzar. Every inscribed brick taken from it — and there are thousands and tens of thousands — bear the name of this king. It must, however, be remembered, that this fact is no proof that he actually founded the building. He may have merely added to, or rebuilt, an earlier edifice. It is not impossible that, at some future time, more ancient remains may be discovered at the Birs. The ruins are divided into two distinct parts, undoubtedly the remains of two different buildings. A wall, the remains of which are marked by mounds of earth, appears to have inclosed both of them. To the west of the high mound, topped by the tower-like pile of masonry, is a second, which is larger but lower, and in shape more like the ruins on the eastern bank of the Euphrates. It is traversed by ravines and watercourses, and strewed over it are the usual fragments of stone, brick, and pottery. Upon its summit are two small Mohammedan chapels, one of which, the Arabs declare, is built over the spot where Nimrod cast the patriarch Abra- ham into the fiery furnace, according to the common Eastern tradition. Travellers, as far as I am aware, have hitherto failed in * Asher's Transl. p. 107. 28o NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. suggesting any satisfactory restoration of the Birs. It is generally represented, without sufficient accuracy, as a mere shapeless mass. But it examined from the summit of the adjoining mound, its outline would at once strike any one acciuainted with the ruins to the west of Mosul, described in a former part of this work.* The similarity between them will be recognised, and it will be seen that they are all the remains of edifices built upon very nearly, if not precisely, the same plan. It will be perceived that the mound rises abmptly from the plain on one face, the western, and falls to its le- vel by a series of gradations on the opposite side. The brick- work, still visi- Eastern F.-ice of the Birs Nimroud with proposed Restoration, i i • ^'Wa. Inwpr parts of the mound, as well as in the upper, shows the sides of several distinct stages or terraces. I believe the isolated mass of masonry to be the remains of one of the highest terraces, if not the highest, and the whole edifice to have consisted, on the eastern or south-eastern side, of a series of stages rising one above the other, and, on the western or north-western, of one solid perpendicular wall. The annexed sketch shows how far the proposed restoration suits with the actual fonn of the ruin ; but it must be borne in mind that the number and size of the terraces is merely conjectural.f It is probable that the ascents from terrace to terrace con- sisted of broad flights of steps, or of inclined ways, carried up the centre of each stage. A step may still be traced * Chap. IV. p]i. 88, 89. + Sir II. Kawlinson, who subsequently made some excavations in the Birs Nimroud, believes it 10 be the ruin of a temple of Nebo, erected by Nebuchadnezzar at Borsippa, and built in seven stages, representing the seven planetary sijjieres, each stage being distinguished by a typical colour. In the foundations at two of the angles he found clay cylinders with annals of Nebuchadnezzar. XL] TOMB OF EZEKIEL. 281 around the foot of the ruin, probably part of the basement or first platform, and as the whole is surrounded by the re- mains of a quadrangular inclosure, it is in every respect like those in the desert to the west of Mosul. Around the Birs are heaps of rubbish marking the sites of ancient buildings. The edifice, of which this remarkable ruin is the remains, was built of kiln-burnt bricks. Fragments of stone, marble, and basalt, scattered amongst the rubbish, show that it was adorned with other materials. The cement is of so tenacious a quality, that it is almost impossible to detach one brick from the mass entire. The ruin is a specimen of the per- fection of Babylonian masonry. From the summit of the Birs Nimroud I gazed over a vast marsh, for Babylon is made ' a possession for the bittern and pools of water.'* In the midst of the swamps could be faintly distinguished the mat huts of the Kazail, forming vil- lages on the small islands. TJie green morass was spotted with herds of black buffalos. The Arab settlements showed the activity of a hive of bees. Light boats were skimming to and fro over the shallow water, whilst men and women urged onwards their flocks and laden cattle. The booming of the cannon of the Turkish army, directed against the fort of Hawaina, resounded in the distance ; and the inhabitants of the marsh were already hurrying with their property to safer retreats, in anticipation of the fall of {heir stronghold. To the south-west, in the extreme distance, rose the palm trees of Kifil, casting their scanty shade over a small dome, covering the tomb of Ezekiel. To this spot annually flock in crowds, as their forefathers have done for centuries, the Jews of Baghdad, Hillah, and other cities of Chaldaea, the descend- ants of the captives of Jerusalem, who still linger in the land of their exile. Although tradition alone may place in the neighbourhood of Babylon the tomb of the prophet, yet from a very early period the spot appears to have been sought in pilrimage by the pious Hebrew. I visited the edifice some years ago. It is now but a plain building, despoiled of the ornaments and manuscripts which it once appears to have * Isaiah, xiv. 23. 282 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. contained. The description given by Benjamin of Tudela of this place is so curious, that I cannot forbear transcribing it. ' On the banks of the Euphrates stands the synagogue of the prophet Ezekiel, who rests in peace. The place of the synagogue is fronted by sixty towers, the room between every two of which is also occupied by a synagogue ; in the court of the largest stands the ark, and behind it is the sepulchre of Ezekiel, the son of Busi, the Cohen. This monument is covered by a large cupola, and the building is very handsome ; it was erected by Jeconiah, king of Judah, and the 35,000 Jews who went along with him, when Evil Merodach released him from the prison, which was situated between the river Chaboras and another river. The name of Jeconiah, and of all those who came with him, are in- scribed on the wall, the king's name first, that of Ezekiel last. ' This place is considered holy unto the present day, and is one of those to which people resort from remote countries in order to pray, particularly at the season of the new year and atonement day. Great rejoicings take place there about this time, which are attended even by the Prince of the Captivity and the presidents of the Colleges of Baghdad, llie assembly is so large, that their temporary abodes cover twenty miles of open ground, and attracts many Arabian merchants, who keep a market or fair. ' On the day of atonement, the proper lesson of the day is read from a very large manuscript Pentateuch of Ezekiel's own handwriting. ' A lamp burns night and day on the sepulchre of the pro- phet, and has always been kept burning since the day that he lighted it himself; and the oil and wicks are renewed as often as necessary. A large house belonging to the sanctu- ary contains a very numerous collection of books, some of them as ancient as the second, some even coeval with the first temple, it being customary that whoever dies childless bequeaths his books to the sanctuary. Even in time of war neither Jew nor Mohammedan ventures to despoil and pro- fanate the sepulchre of Ezekiel.'* * Asher's tr.inslation. On tlie Tigris, near its junction with the Eu- plirates, is the traditionary tomb of Ezra. The Jews, from the eared in the distance. We ascended the mound, and prepared to defend ourselves from this elevated position. But either the Arabs did not perceive us, or were bent upon some warlike expedition which did not admit of delay, for they passed onwards, and left us to continue our journey. Zibbliyah rises from a heap of rubbish in the centre of the desert, and consists of a solid mass of large, crumbling, sundried bricks, between the courses of which, at intervals, are layers of reeds as in many pure Babylonian buildings. It is apparently the remains of a tower. I could find no fragnjents of inscribed bricks or potter}^ We saw no huraaa habitation until long after nightfall, when we reached the small Arab hamlet of Bashayi. It was surro).'.nded, for defence, by a low mud wall, and some time was spent in a parley and explanation before the timid in- habitants would open their gates. I could hardly remain in my saddle until we were admitted within the inclosure. I tottered into a wretched hovel, thick with smoke, and sank down exhausted, after a ride of fourteen hours and a fort- night's abstinence from food. My poor Jebour workmen being on foot had been unable to keep up with the caravan during our forced march. They did not reach the village until daybreak, and then in a very sorry plight, for they were stripj^ed to the skin. They had approached, in search of water, the tents of some Arabs, and tailing in with a plundering party had been robbed of everything and left naked in the desert. In the morning I had scarcely strength to mount my horse. But with the caravan I made another forced march in the beaten track to Baghdad, and reached the khan of Iskanderiyah at nightfall. I quitted the khan with the Eairakdar before dawni to ranter into Baghdad. As the sun rose from the sea-like plain, the great ruin of Ctesiphon appeared above the eastern horizon. The remains of this famous palace of the Persian XII.] PALACE OF CTESIPHON. 327 kings have often been described. A vaulted hall, exceeding 150 feet in depth and about 106 feet high, forms the centre of the building. It is completely open at one end to the air, but on both sides of it are wings, divided into several floors, each containing dwelling apartments. Such is the Throne-room, Teheran. plan of most modern Persian houses, in which a great Iwan, or open hall for summer resuience, is flanked by sleeping and other rooms, in two or three stories. The exterior of the palace of Ctesiphon is ornamented with pilasters, cor- nices, and arches of brickwork, now fast falling to decay, but probably once covered Avith fine plaster, or partly cased with stone. The architecture is peculiar to the time of the Parthian and Sassanian dynasties, being a mixture of Western and Eastern forms and decoration, resulting from the long connection between the Persian and Roman empires. This ruin, with a few mounds and heaps of rubbish scat- tered around it. is all that now remains of the capital of the Parthian empire. On the opposite bank of the Tigris long j28 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. lines of earthen ramparts, forming a quadrangle, and en- closing the usual signs of former habitations, mark the site of the city built by Seleucus after the fall of Babylon. I did not visit Ctesiphon on this occasion ; the river sepa- rated me from the ruins, and I only mention them in this place to describe a remarkable effect of mirage which I wit- nessed as I rode towards Baghdad. As the quivering sun rose in unclouded splendour, the palace was transformed into a vast arcade of arches resting upon columns and masses of masonry. Gradually this arcade was, as it were, com- pressed hke the slides of a telescope, but the building gained in height what it lost in length, and one arch slowly appeared above the other, until the ruin assumed the shape of a tower reaching to the sky, and pierced from the base to the sum- mit by innumerable arches. In a few minutes this strange edifice began to melt away into air, and I saw a magnified, though perfect image of the palace; but upon it was its exact counterpart upside down. Other equally singular changes succeeded until the sun was high in the heavens, and the ruin at length disappeared in the distance. The small bushes of camel-thorn scattered over the desert were during this time turned into forest trees, and a transparent lake imaged in its counterfeit waters the varying forms of the edifice. Although I have seen many extraordinary effects of mirage during my wanderings in the East, I scarcely remem- ber to have witnessed one more striking or more beautiful than that near the ruins of Ctesiphon.'*' I had but just strength left me to reach the gates of Bagh- dad. Once in the city, under the friendly care of Dr. Hyslop, I soon recovered my health, and was ready to start on fresh adventures. * I witnessed another very remarkable effect of mirage in the early spring of 1840, when riding one morning over the plains near Bir, on the Euphrates. Suddenly, as if by enchantment, a magnificent city, standing on the borders of a lake, rose before me. Palaces, domes, towers, and the spires of Gothic cathedrals were reflected in the blue waters. The deception was so complete, the appearance so real, that I could scarcely believe that some mighty capital had not been by magic transported into the desert. There was scarcely a stone or a bush to account for this singular phenomenon. XIII] DEPARTURE FROM BAGHDAD. 329 CHAPTER XIII. Departure from Baghdad — yonrney through Mesopotamia — Early Arab remains — Thi Median wall — Tekrit— Horses stolen — Instance of Be- douin honesty — Excavations at Kalah Sherghat — Reach Mosul — Disco- veries during absence — New chambers at Kouyunjik — Description of bas-reliefs — Extent of the ruins explored — Bases of pillars — Small objects — Absence of Assyrian tombs — Assyrian relics — Remains beiteatk the tomb of Jonah — Discoveries at Shereef-Rhan — at Nunroud — Engraved cylinders. There was no hope of improvement in the state of the country round Baghdad, I therefore determined to return to Mosul. On the 27th of February, bidding adieu to my friends, I crossed the Tigris by the crazy bridge of boats, and took the crowded road to Kathimain. There I passed the night beneath the hospitable roof of the Nawab of Oude. At daybreak on the following morning, under the guidance of Sahiman, the brother of Suttum, who had agreed to escort me to Mosul, and accompanied by Hormuzd, the Jebours, and my servants, I left the sacred suburb, and followed a beaten track leading to the desert. In order to avoid the windings of the river, we struck across the barren plain. The low houses of Kathimain soon disappeared from our sight, but for some miles we watched the gilded domes and minarets of the tombs of the Imaums, rising above the dark belt of palms, antl glittering in the rays of the morning sun. At last they too vanished, and I had looked for the last time upon Baghdad. We were now in as complete a wilderness as if we had been wandering in the midst of Arabia, and not within a few miles of a great city. Not a living creature broke the solitude. Here and there we saw the sites of for- mer encampments, but the Arabs had long since left them, either to move further into the desert, or to seek security 330 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chaf, from an enemy amongst the date groves on the banks of the river. We travelled with speed over the plain, and in four hours and a half passed the ruins of a large caravanserai, called Taniiiyah. After a ride of nine hours we found ourselves in the midst of the palm trees of a village called Summaichah, formerly a town of some importance, and still watered by the Dujail, a wide and deep canal of the time of the Caliphs, derived from the Tigris. The inhabitants seeing horsemen in the distance armed themselves hastily, anticipating an attack. They met us at some distance from their dwellings, firing their guns, brandishing their naked scimitars, and shouting their war-ciy. Finding that we were travellers and friends they escorted us to the house of their Sheikh, Hashem, who immediately slew a sheep, and made other preparations for our entertainment. The plain on all sides is intersected by the remains of in- numerable canals and watercourses, derived from the Tigris and the Dujail. Their lofty banks narrow the view, and it was only as we passed over them, after quitting Summaichah, that we saw the distant palm groves of the large village of Belled. Scouts had been stationed on the higher mounds, far and near, to give notice to the nihabitants of the approach of Bedouins, that the flocks might be driven within the walls. They had quickly spread the alarm when they saw us drawing near, and a body of armed men appeared in the distance ready to meet the supposed robbers. We left them and their village to the right, and passed through the ruins of an Arab town of the time of the Caliphs. Beyond it we crossed the Dujail, by a falling bridge of four large arches, with a small arch between each. The beauty of the masonrj', the ornamental inscriptions, and rich tracery of this ruin, showed that it was of the best period of Arab architecture. To the north of the Dujail we wound through a perfect maze of ancient canals now dry. It required the practised eye of the Bedouin to follow the sand-covered track. About eight miles beyond the bridge the embankments suddenly ceased. A high rampart of earth then stretched as far as the eye could see, to the right and to the left. At certain di5- XIII.] JOURNEY THROUGH MESOPOTAMIA. 331 tances were mounds, forming square inclosures, like ruined outworks. A few hundred yards in advance was a second rampart, much lower and narrower than the first. We had reached what some believe to be the famous Median wall^ one of the many wonders of Babylonia, built by the Babylo- nians across Mesopotamia, from river to river, to guard their wealthy city and thickly peopled provinces against invasion from the north. Beyond the Median wall we entered upon undulating gra- velly downs, furrowed by deep ravines, and occasionally rising into low hills. With the rich alluvial soil of Babylonia, we had left the boundaries of the ancient province. The banks of the Tigris are here, in general, too high, and the face of the country too unequal, to admit of artificial irriga- tion being carried far inland by watercourses derived from the river. The spiral tower, the dome, and the minarets of Samarrah i*t length appeared above the eastern horizon. After nine hours and a half's journey we encamped for the night on the Tigris opposite to the town. As the sun went down we watched the women who, on the other side of the r:^-er, came to fetch their evening supplies of water, and gracefully bearing their pitchers on their heads returned to the gates. But on our bank the solitude was- only broken by a lonely hyaena coming to drink at the stream, and the hungry jackals that prowled round our tents. The ruins of an early Arab town, called Ashik, stood on a hill in the distance, and near our camping place were the deserted walls of a more recent settlement. On the third day of our journey another ride of nine hours and a half, along the banks of the Tigris, brought us to Tek- rit, whose inhabitants bear a notoriously bad character. Next day our halting-place, after crossing for seven hours and a half the same undulating gravelly downs, was near the ruins of a fine old khan, called Karnaineh, once standing on the bank of the river, but now nearly a mile from it. Next morning we struck inland, in order to avoid the precipitous hills of Makhoul, at whose feet sweeps the Tigris. Our tract led through a perfect wilderness. We found no 332 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. water, nor saw any moving thing. When after a long ride of about eleven hours we reached some brackish springs, called Belaliss, the complete soHtude lulled us into a feeling of secu- rity, and we all slept without keeping the accustomed watch. I was awoke in the middle of the night by an unusal noise close to my tent. I immediately gave the alarm, but it was too late. Two of our horses had been stolen, and in the darkness we could not pursue the thieves. Sahiman broke out in reproaches of himself as the cause of our mishap, and wandered about until dawn in search of some clue to the authors of the theft. At length he tracked them, declared unhesitatingly that they were of the Shammar, pointed out from marks almost imperceptible to any eye but to that of a Bedouin, that they were four in number, had left their delouls at some distance from our tents, and had already journeyed far before they had been drawn by our fires to the encamp- ment These indications were enough. He swore an oath that he would follow and bring back our stolen horses wherever they might be, for it was a shame upon him and his tribe that, whilst under his protection in the desert, we had lost any thing belonging to us. And he reHgiouslykept his oath. When we parted at the end of our journey, he began at once to trace the animals. After six weeks' search, during which he went as far as Ana on the Euphrates, where one had been sold to an Arab of the town, he brought them to Mosul. I was away at the time, but he left them with Mr. Rassam, and returned to the desert without asking a reward for perform- ing an act of duty imperative on a Bedouin. Such instances of honesty and good faith are not uncommon amongst the wandering Arabs, as I can bear witness from personal expe- rience. Mr. Rassam had, at my request, sent a party of Jebours to excavate at Kalah Sherghat. The springs of Belaliss are separated from the shoulder of the Gebel Makhoul, which overhangs these ruins, by a wild rocky valley, called Wadi Jehannem, the Valley of Hell. We crossed it and the hills in about three hours and a half, and came suddenly upon the workmen, who, of course, took us for Bedouin plun- derers, and prepared to defend themselves. They had opened XIII.] DISCOVERIES DURING MY ABSENCE. 3,33 trenches in various parts of the great mound, but had made no discoveries of any importance, and I am inchned to doubt whether an edifice panelled with sculptured slabs ever existed on the platform. Fragments of a winged bull in the alabas- ter of the Nineveh palaces, part of a statue in black stone with a few cuneiform characters, pieces of an inscribed tablet of copper, and the fragments of a large inscribed cylinder in baked clay, were, it is true, found in the ruins ; but these remains were scarcely sufficient to warrant the continuation of the excavations on a spot so difficult of access, and ex- posed to so much risk from the Bedouins. We encamped in the jungle to the north of the ruins, and galloped the following day into Mosul. I will now describe the sculptures uncovered whilst I was at Baghdad and after my return to Mosul, previous to my departure for England. To the north of the great centre hall or court* at Kouyun- jik, four new chambers had been discovered.f The first was 96 feet by 23. On its walls were represented the return of an Assyrian army from war, with their spoil of captives and cattle. The prisoners were distinguished by a cap turned back at the top, not unlike the Phrygian bonnet reversed, short tunics, and a broad belt. The women had long curls falling over their shoulders, and were clothed in fringed robes. The fighting - men of the conquered tribe wore a simple fillet round their short hair ; a tunic, fall- ing in front to the knee, and behind to the calf of the leg; a wavy girdle, and a cross-belt round their breasts, ending in two large tassels. At their backs they carried a quiver topped by a circular ornament. The captives bore ingots of gold, or Loading^ a Camel. (Kouyunjik.) * No XIX. Plan I. p. 4. + No. XLiii. same Plan. 334 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. some other metal. Their beasts of burden were laden with the same objects. A kneeling camel, receiving its load, was designed with considerable truth and spirit. One man puts his foot on the neck of the animal to prevent it from rising, Captives in a Cart. (Kouyunjik.) as is still the custom. The camel saddle nearly resembled that still used by the Arabs. The women rode on mules, and in carts drawn by these animals and sometimes by men. Asses and waggons bore cauldrons and sacks, probably con- taining corn. One bas-relief represented captives resting ; two unharnessed mules stood eating their barley in front of Captives resting. (Kouynnjik.) the loaded cart ; a woman seated on a stone held her child •ui)on her knees, whilst her husband drank water from a cup. This chamber opened at one end into a small room,* 23 feet by 13. On its walls were represented captives * No. XLiv. Plan I. p. 4. XIII.] NEW CHAMBERS AT KOUYUNJIK. 335 dressed in short tunics witli skins falling from their shoul- ders, boots laced up in front, and cross-bands round their legs ; they had short, bushy hair and beards. In the outer chamber two doorways opposite the grand entrances into the great court, led into a parallel apartment, 62 feet by 16 feet.* On its walls were represented the con- quest of the same people. There were long lines of prison- ers ; some in carts, others on foot. The fighting men, armed with bows and quivers, were made to bear part of the spoil. In the costumes of the warriors and captives, and in the forms of the waggons and war-carts, these bas-reliefs bore a striking resemblance to the sculptures of the son of Esarhad- don, described in a previous chapter.t It may, therefore, be inferred that the conquest of the same nation was celebrated in both, and that on these walls we have recorded the suc- cessful wars of Sennacherib in the country of Susiana or Elam.+ This chamber, like the one parallel to it, led at one end into a small room 17 feet square.§ On its walls, the campaign recorded in the adjoinmg chamber had been continued. The bas-reliefs still preserved represented the king in his chariot feceiving the captives; musicians playing on harps before him ; mountains aiid forests, and a castle. These rooms completed the discoveries on tlie southern side of the palace. On the northern side of the same edifice and on the river-face of the platform, one wall of a third great hall or court had been uncovered ; tlie other walls had not been excavated at the time of my departure from Mosul. From the very ruinous state of this part of the building, and from the small accumulation of earth above the level of the foun- dations, it is doubtful whether any sculptures now exist in it. In the wall still standing were three entrances, || the centre formed by winged lions, and the others by fish gods. Of the bas-reliefs only fragments remained. On some were re- presented the conquest of a tribe dwelling in the marshes of * No. XLVI. same Plan. \ See chapter x. X See Plates 33 and 34, of the 2nd series of the ' Monuments of Nine- veh' for drawings of several of the bas-reliels in the two chambers. § No. XLVII. PJan I. p. 4. || No. LXiv. Plan L 336 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. Southern Mesopotamia. The Assyrians pursued their ene- mies in wicker l)oats, such as I have described in my account of the Afaij Arabs ; and, On the islands formed by the small .'" 'v;ams flowing througin the morass, were Assyrian warriors \^=iZ-c '>S: ^ '^^H. h;j :\j^ -m 7/ ^z: ^y-^' / v_ Battle in a Marsh in Southern Mesopotrunia. (Kouyunjik. ) on horseback. It will be seen by the accompanying wood- cut how closely the country reseml)led tliat now inhabited by the Afaij tribes. The captive women wore long robes fringed XIII.] DESCRIPTION OF THE BAS-RELIEFS, in and embroidered. The palm-tree flourished on the dry land outside the swamps.* On the same side of the court was represented the conquest of a people clothed in long garments, the women wearing turbans, with veils falling to their feet. The Assyrians had plundered their temples, and were seen carrying away their idols.f ' Of a truth. Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their countries, and have cast their gods into the fire ; for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone ; therefore they have destroyed them.':}: The three entrances led into one chamber, 86 feet by 24. § On its calcined walls were only the faint traces of bas-reliefs. I could distinguish a line of chariots in a ravine between mountains, warriors thromng logs on a great burning pile of wood, castles on the tops of hills, Assyrians carrying away spoil, amongst which was a royal umbrella, and the king on his throne receiving his army on their return from battle with the captives and booty. The walls of a small room || open- ing into the northern end of this chamber had almost entirely disappeared. The fragments found in the rubbish showed that they had also been covered with sculptures. Opposite to and corresponding with the three entrances into the court were three other doorways leading into a pa- rallel chamber of somewhat smaller dimensions.^ Parts of four slabs were the only sculptures sufficiently well preserved to be drawn : they represented the siege of a great city, whose many-towered walls were defended by slingers, archers, and spearmen. The king himself in his chariot was present at the attack. Around him were his warriors and his led- horses. Three more chambers were discovered in this part of the * See also Plate 27 of the 2nd series of the 'Monuments of Nineveh.' + Plate 30 of the 2nd series of the ' Monuments of Nineveh. ' X Isaiah, xxxvii. 18, 19. § No. Lxv. Plan I. p. 4. II No. Lxvi. same Plan, 26 feet by 19. il No. Lxvil. same Plan. Its length was about 82 feet, and its breadth 16. 338 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap, building. They were on the very edge of the river-face of the mound. The walls of the outer room'"' had been almost entirely destroyed. An entrance, formed by colossal winged figures, led from it into a second chamber, about 24 feet square, in which the sculptures were still partly preserved. Amongst the bas-reliefs was another battle in a marsh. The Assyrian warriors were seen fighting in boats, and bringing their captives to the shore, one of the vessels being towed by Assyrians cutting down the P.ilm Trees belonging to a captured City. (Kouyunjik.) a man swimming on an inflated skin.+ Sennacherib himself, in his chariot, in the midst of a grove of palm-trees, received the prisoners, and the heads of the slain. The third chamber,;}: entered from that last described through a doorway guarded by colossal eagle-footed figures, contained the sculptured records of the conquest of part of Babylonia, or of some other district to the south of it. Long lines of chariots, horsemen, and warriors, divided into com- • No. LXXI. Plan I. p. 4. t No. Lxx. same Plan. X No. 1.XI.X. Plan I. About 23 feet by 19. XIII.] EXTENT OF THE RUINS. 339 panics according to their arms and their costumes, accom- panied the king. The Assyrians cut down the palm-trees within and without the walls of the captured cities. Men beating drums, such as are still seen in the same country, and women clapping their hands in cadence to their song, came out to greet the conquerors. Beneath the walls was represented a great cauldron, which appears to have been supported upon oxen ; perhaps a vessel resembling the brazen sea of the temple of Solomon.* Such were the discoveries in the ruined palace of Senna- cherib at the time of my departure for Europe. In this magnificent edifice I had opened no less than seventy-one halls, chambers, and passages, whose walls, almost without an exception, had been panelled with slabs of sculptured alabaster recording the wars, the triumphs, and the other great deeds of the Assyrian king. By a rough calculation, about 9,880 feet, or nearly two miles, of bas-reliefs, with twenty- seven portals, formed by colossal winged bulls and lion- sphinxes, had been uncovered in that part alone of the build- ing explored during my researches. The greatest length of the excavations was about 720 feet, the greatest breadth about 600 feet.f The pavement of the chambers was from 20 to 35 feet below the surface of the mound. Deep trenches and tunnels were opened, and experimental shafts sunk in various parts of the mound of Kouyunjik. Enormous walls and foundations of brick masonry, fragments of sculptured and unsculptured alabaster, inscribed bricks, numerous small objects, and various other remains, were discovered. To the north of the ruins of Sennacherib's palace, on the same level, and resting upon a pavement of limestone slabs, were found four circular pedestals. They appeared to form part of a double line of similar objects, extending from the edge of the platform to an entrance to * I Kings, vii. 23-25. The brazen sea of Solomon stood upon twelve oxen, three facing each cardinal point. It must be borne in mind that the Assyrian sculptor frequently represented only one figure to signify many, and that more than one ox probably supported the vessel por- trayed in this bas-relief. + These measurements merely include that part of the palace actually excavated. 34° NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. the palace, and may have supported the wooden columns of a covered way, or have served as bases to an avenue of statues. The earth not having been sufficiently cleared away around them, I was unable to ascertain whether there was more than a double row. They were amongst the very few Assyrian Pedestal, from Kouyunjik, architectural remains dug out at Nineveh. The ornament upon them is not inelegant, and is somewhat Saracenic in its character. It is remarkable that, notwithstanding the most careful search in all parts of the country round Mosul, I have been .unable to find one undoubted Assyrian tomb, nor can I con- jecture how or where the people of Nineveh buried their dead.* The sepulchral chambers in the hills, so frequently described in these pages, are unquestionably of a compara- * The tomhs discovered above the ruins, as I have already stated, are probably Roman or Parthian. Mr. Kassam found in one of them, after my departure, a thin mask of gold, which had been moulded upon the features of the deceased, and a t^old coin of the Emperor Maximinus. Mr. Loftus discovered a lunili rudely constructed of stone, seventeen feet beneath the foundations of the south-east palace at Nimroud. It con- tained the remains of three human bodies, a copper hatchet, a knife blade, and a spear head. These objects are in the British Museum. It is very doubtful whetiier iliey are Assyrian. XIII.] TOMB OF JONAH. 341 lively late period. The rocky gullies outside and between the inclosure walls of Kouyunjik have been examined over and over again with the greatest care for traces of tombs, but in vain. In the numerous isolated conical mounds scattered over the face of the country, I have detected nothing to show that they were places of sepulture. The only Assyrian sepulchre hitherto discovered is probably the vaulted cham- ber in the high mound of Nimroud, which may have once contained the remains of the royal builder of the north-west palace. Did the Assyrians, like the fire-worshippers of Persia, expose their dead till nought remained but the bleached bones ; or did they burn them and then scatter their ashes to the winds % Not a clue is given to their customs in this matter by any bas-relief or monument hitherto discovered. The Assyrians, unlike the Egyptians, appear to have avoided all allusions to their dead and to their funeral rites. I had long been desirous of making some experiments in the mound on which stands the so-called tomb of the pro- phet Jonah, and which forms part of the great group of ruins opposite Mosul. But the sanctity of the place prevented any attempt to excavate openly, and it was necessary to carry on my researches without exciting the suspicion of the Mus- sulman inhabitants of the neighbourhood. A village has risen round the mosque containing the tomb. The rest of the mound is occupied by a burying-ground, thickly set with Mussulman gravestones. True behevers from the surrounding country bring their dead to this sacred spot, and to disturb a grave on Nebbi Yunus would have caused a tumult which might have led to no agreeable re- sults. The pretended tomb is in a dark inner room. None but Mussulmans should be admitted within the holy precincts, but I have more than once visited the shrine, with the sanc- tion of my good friend. Mullah Sultan, a guardian of the mosque. A square plaster or wooden sarcophagus, covered by a green cloth embroidered with sentences from the Koran, stands in the centre of an apartment spread with a common European carpet. A few ostrich eggs and coloured tassels, such as are seen in similar Mohammedan buildings, hang from the ceiling. A small grated window looks into the hall. 342 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. where the true believers assemble for prayer. It is needless to repeat that the tradition which places the tomb on this spot is a mere fable.* The village of Nebbi Yunus is inhabited by Turcomans. Hearing that the owner of a house wished to make under- ground apartments for summer, I offered to dig them for him, on condition that I should have all the relics and sculp- tures discovered during the excavations. By these means I was able to examine a small part of the mound. After a few days' labour, the workmen came to the walls of a chamber panelled with inscribed, but unsculptured, alabas- ter slabs. The inscriptions upon them contained the name, titles, and genealogy of Esar-haddon, hke those on the bulls of the south-west palace at Nimroud. Several bricks and fragments of stone bore the same inscription. No remains of an earlier period were then discovered. After my return to England, a pair of colossal human-headed bulls, and two figures of the Assyrian Hercules slaying the lion, similar to those in the Louvre, were uncovered. Three miles to the north of the inclosure of Kouyunjik, and on the bank of the Tigris, is a village called Shereef Khan. Near it are several mounds. The largest, though much inferior in size to the great ruins of Assyria, is dis- tinguished, like those of Nimroud and Khorsabad, by a conical elevation at one corner. Near it are the remains of a canal, which once led water from the Tigris into a rich al- luvial plain. These embankments might be mistaken for a wall or rampart. I carried on, for some time, excavations in this mound, and discoveries of interest were made in it. At a small depth beneath the surflice of the soil were the remains of a building, and a broad flight of alabaster steps. The walls of the chambers were of sundried bricks, but several slabs of alabaster and painted and inscribed bricks were found in the ruins. The inscriptions upon the bricks contain the names of Sargon and Sennacherib. From two inscribed limestone * Benjamin of Tudela places the tomb of Jonah at Ain Japhata, to the south of Babylon. XIII.] ENGRAVED CYLINDERS. 343 slabs, also found in the ruins, we learn that a palace was erected on the spot by Esar-haddon for his son.* At Nimroud the excavations had been almost suspended. A few Arabs, still working in the centre of the mound, had found the remains of sculptured walls, forming part of the edifice previously discovered there. The lower half of seve- ral colossal figures, amongst them winged men struggling with lions and mythic animals, had been preserved. Some small objects of interest were discovered in different parts of the ruins, and some additional rooms were explored in the north-west and south-east palaces. In none of them, however, were there sculptures or even inscriptions, except such as were impressed on bricks; nor was there anything new in their construction to require particular description or additional plans. The south-east edifice appears to have been a building of considerable extent. Several rooms were opened to the north of those previously examined. The bricks found of the palace prove that it was partly built by the grandson of Esar-haddon, one of the last of the As- syrian kings. Excavations were subsequently carried on amongst its ruins by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam and Mr. Loftus. The remains of more than one building were discovered beneath its foundations; and it would appear that several kings, amongst whom was Pul, had erected palaces on this site. Several very interesting monuments, amongst them two figures carved in lime- stone, with an inscription containing a name which Sir Henry Rawlinson inter- prets as that of Queen Semiramis, were found there. Amongst the smaller relics discovered in Assyrian and Babylonian ruins, the most interesting are probably the en- graved cylinders or gems, of which a large collection was brought by me to England. ^^''"'^''^ '" ^'■"" ^^^ They vary in length from a quarter of an inch to about two inches, and are either quite circular, or barrel-shaped, or * Sir Henry Rawlinson and Mr. Hormuzd Rassam afterwards carried on some excavations in the mound of Shereef Khan ; but no discoveries •344 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. slightly curved inwards like that represented in the accom- panying woodcut. They are usually of lapis-lazuli, rock- crystal, cornelian, amethyst, chalcedony, agate, onyx, jasper, quartz, serpentine, sienite, oriental alabaster, green felspar, and hematite. The workmanship varies in dilTerent speci- mens, that of some being distinguished by considerable sharpness and delicacy, and that of others being so coarse as scarcely to enable us to recognise the objects engraved upon them. The subjects are generally either religious or histori- cal, usually the former, and on many are short inscriptions in the cuneiform character, sometimes containing a royal name, or that of a private individual. These cylinders be- long to several distinct periods. The most ancient with which I am acquainted are those of the time of the kings who built the oldest edifices hitherto discovered at Nineveh. From the similarity of the subjects, and. of the style of art Ancient Assyrian Cylinder, in Serpentine. between them and the sculptures in the north-west palace at Nimroud, I have ventured to assign others collected by me to the same period. Nearly all the cylinders of this class are of any great importance, except fragments of inscriptions, and an inter- esting signet cylinder, were made in it. The ruins appear to be those of a temple dedicated to the god Nergal, and the Assyrian name of the place seems to read TarbisL XIII.] ENGRAVED CYLINDERS. 345- cut in serpentine, and the designs upon them are generally- rude and coarsely engraved. The subjects are usually the king in his chariot* discharging his arrows against a lion or wild bull, warriors in battle, the monarch or priests in adora- tion before the emblem of the deity, the eagle-headed god, winged bulls and lions, and other mythic animals, accom- panied by the common Assyrian symbols, the sun, the moon, the seven stars, the winged globe, the sacred tree, and the wedge or cuneatic element. An unique specimen, apparently of this period, represents a man armed with a spear, standing Assyrian Cylinders, in Serpentine. in the midst of thirty-two human heads, probably the seal of a successful warrior. Upon another are a turtle, a bird, and a human figure. The next in order of date are those of the time of Sargon and his successors. To this period belong the cylinder with the fish-god, and that which I believe to be the signet of Sennacherib himself, described in a previous part of this work.* A very fine specimen, cut in agate, represents an Assyrian goddess, perhaps Astarte, or the Moon, with ten stars, and with a dog seated before her. In front of her is the moon's crescent, and a priest in an attitude of adora- tion. A tree and a rampant goat, both common Assyrian symbols, complete the group. On other cylinders of the same age we find the gods represented under various forms, the king and priests worshipping before them, altars and * Ante, p. 1 74. One cylinder bears his name. 346 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. the usual mythic emblems. On a small cylinder in white porcelain or quartz is engraved a cow of the Indian breed suckling a calf, an Assyrian emblem, which occurs amongst the ivory carvings discovered at Nimroud.* Assyrian Cylinder, in Agate. Assyrian Cylinder, in Porcelain or Quartz. The pure Babylonian cylinders are more commonly found in European collections than the Assyrian. They are usually engraved with sacred figures, accompanied by a short in- scription in the Babylonian cuneiform character, containing the names of the owner of the seal and of the divinity, under whose particular protection he had probably placed In Iron Haematite. Babylonian Cylinders. In Jasper. himself. They are usually cut in a red iron ore or hsema- tite, which appears to have been a favourite material for such objects. Many specimens, however, are in agate, jasper, and other hard substances. Amongst the most interesting cylinders of this kind obtained by me is one in spotted sien- * A simQar group is seen in a bas-relief at Khorsabad. Botta, pi. 141. XIII. ENGRAVED CYLINDERS. 347 ite, and one in green jasper, remarkable for the depth of the intagUo and spirit of the design, representing the Assyrian Hercules contending with a buffalo, and a horned human Babylonian Cylinder, in green Jasper. figure, with the extremities of a bull, fighting with a Hon. Between the two groups is an antelope with long spiral horns, an animal not found at this day in Mesopotamia. A class of cylinders of very rude workmanship, and generally in haematite, are probably of the latest Babylonian period. Upon them are usually found the figures of various deities, and especially of Venus, some- times represented with the waters of life flowing from her breasts. Amongst the most curious is one in jasper, en- graved with a man seated in a car of peculiar construction drawn by four horses of him are seven human heads and two birds. A few cylinders and gems, Assyrian in character, are in- scribed with Semetic letters, resembling the Phoenician and cursive Babylonian. They are rare, and have chiefly been found, I believe, in ruins on the banks of the Euphrates to the north of Babylon, near Hit and Ana. I would attribute them, therefore, to the Semetic population which inhabited Babylonian Cylinder, in Jasper. in front 348 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. the districts on the eastern borders of the Syrian desert They appear to belong to various periods, from the time of the lower Ass>Tian dynasty to that of the Persian occupation Cylinders, with Semetic Characters. of Babylonia. To the first period I assign a cylinder in the British Museum, representing two figures, half man half bull, raising the winged emblem of the deity over the sacred tree. On one side of them is a priest carr^-ing a goat, such as is seen in the Khorsabad sculptures, and on the other a man in the act of worship. Of the Persian epoch an interesting example exists in the same collection. On it is engraved the king contending with a winged human-headed bull and a griffin beneath the image of the god Omiuzd. The first word of the inscription is pure Hebrew, □nH? Katham, 'the seal,' and then follow the names of a man and of his father. Persian cylinders frequently bear an inscription in the cu- neiform character peculiar to the monuments of the Achse- menian dynasty. The most interesting specimen of this class is a well-known gem of green chalcedony in the British Museum, on which is engraved king Darius in his chariot, ■with his name and that of his father. This was probably a royal signet. Another, in the same collection, bears the name of one Arsaces, wlio appears to have been a cham- berlain, or to have held some other office in the Persian court. The device represents the god Typhon (?) * full- faced, holding a lotus flower in each hand beneath the sym- * Represented as on Egyptian monuments. XIII.] ENGRAVED CYLINDERS. ^349 bol of the supreme deity supported by two priests. A very fine cylinder in rock crystal, brought by me to this country, and now also in the British Museum, has the god Ormuzd represented as at Persepolis, raised by two winged bulls with In red Cornelian, In Chalcedony. In Rock Crj'Stal. Persian Cylinders. In Onyx. human heads, above an oval, containing the image of a king. The engraving on this gem is remarkable for its delicacy and minuteness. Persian cylinders are recognised at once by the draperies of the figures, gathered up into folds, as in the sculptures of the Achaemenian dynasty, a peculiarity never found on pure Assyrian or Babylonian monuments ; by the crown of the king; by the form of the supreme deity, or Onnuzd, and by the monstrous animals, resembling the sculptures on the walls of Persepolis. Although gems and precious stones of the Arsacian and Sassanian dynasties of Persia, engraved with subjects and mythical figures precisely similar to those 3SO NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [CHAP. on Assyrian and Babylonian relics, are by no means uncom- mon ; yet no cylinders, as far as I am aware, have hitherto been found of those periods. Seals in this form do not ap- pear to have been used after the fall of the Achaemenian power. It is evident from the specimens above described, that these cylinders were seals or signets to be impressed on clay and other materials on which public and private documents were written. Herodotus states that the Babylonians were accustomed to have their signets constantly with them, as a modern Eastern always carries his seal,* The manner in which they were used is shown in the engraving of an in- scribed terracotta tablet from Kouyunjik.f The seal was rolled on the moist clay, at the same time as the letters were impressed.:}: The tablet was then placed in the furnace and baked. All these cylinders have been pierced, and one specimen, found by my workmen in a mound in the desert near the Sinjar, still retained its copper setting. They revolved upon a metal axis like a garden rolling-stone. Such then were the objects of sculpture and the smaller relics found at Nimroud and Kouyunjik. I will now endea- vour to convey to the reader, in conclusion, a general idea of the results of the excavations, as far as they may tend to increase our acquaintance with the history of Assyria, and to illustrate the religion, the arts, and the manners of her inhabitants. * Lib. i. c. 195. As a written signature is of no value, except in particular cases, in the East, and as all documents to be valid must be sealed with seals bearing the names of the parties to them, the engraved signet is of great importance, and the trade of an engi-aver one of con- siderable responsibility. The punishment for forging seals is very severe, and there are many regulations enforced for securing their authenticity. + Ante, p. 170, 171. X Compare Job, xxxviii. 14. ' It is turned as clay to the seal.' XI V.J RESULTS OF THE DISCOVEKIES. 351 CHAPTER XIV. Hesulfs of the discoveries to chronology and history — Natnes of earliest Assyrian kings — Annals of Tiglath Pileser I. — The period of his reign — The dynasty of the Nimrond kings — Sardanapalus I. — His successor — Mentiott of fehu, king of Israel — Annals of Tiglath Pileser II. — Mentioti of Menahein — Annals of Sargon — of Smnacherib — of Esar- haddon — of his son and grandson — Nature of Assyrian records — Political condition of Assyria — Religion — Extent of Nineveh — Assyrian architecture — Sennacherib'' s palace at Kouyimjik — The palaces at Nim- roiid — Fortifications of Nitnroud, KJiorsabad, and Kouyunjik — Coti- elusion. Since the first discovery of the ruins on the site of the great city of Nineveh, a mass of information, scarcely to be over- rated for its importance and interest, has been added to our previous knowledge of the early civilisation, history, and com- parative geography of the, countries watered by the Tigris and Euphrates, and of those which were once included with- in the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. Wlien in 1849 I published the narrative of my first expedition to Assyria, the inscriptions recovered from the remains of the buried palaces were still a sealed book ; for although attempts had been made to interpret some of them, those attempts were rather founded upon ingenious conjectures than upon any well-established philological basis. Since that time great progress has been made in the decipherment of the cunei- form character, and the general contents of the Assyrian and Babylonian inscriptions can now be ascertained with some certainty, although we may not be able to give the exact meaning of a large number of words and passages, or to render the true sound of each sign or letter. This remark- able result we owe to the labours of four English scholars, the late Dr, Hincks, Sir Henry Rawlinson, Mr, Fox Talbot, 353 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. and Mr, Norris, and of the French orientaUsts, M. Oppert and M. Menant.* This work would not be complete were I not to give a general sketch of the results of their investi- gations as well as of my own researches, confining myself, however, to the history of Assyria, f The earliest kings of which any mention has yet been discovered in the cuneiform inscriptions are supposed to have reigned in Assyria from about 1650 to 1550 B.C. Their names, the reading of which is extremely doubtful,| are found together on the fragment of a clay tablet, now in the British Museum, containing, it is believed, portions of a synchronous history of Assyria and Babylonia, but admitted to belong to a period nearly one thousand years later than the date assigned to those kings themselves. They appear to have had family aUiances with the kings of Babylon, and to have also been at war with them. But the theories as to the time of their reign, and as to the part they are supposed to have played in Assyrian history, appear to me to rest upon the most slender foundations. No monuments, remains, or inscrip- tions have yet been discovered in Assyria, which can be as- signed to them, or to the time in which they are believed to have lived; and the earliest mention of a royal name which corresponds with one of the three borne by these primitive kings is found in a tablet belonging, it is conjectured, to the nth century B.C. One other name, which has been conjecturally assigned to this early period, exists on a fragment of a tablet containing a genealogical list.§ We then come to the names of six kings, who appear to have followed in direct succession from father to son, and who are supposed to have reigned be- * A short account of the history of cuneiform decipherment will be found in the introduction to this volume. + For a complete resume of the results of the labours of the Assyrian decipherers, seethe Rev. G. Rawlinson's 'Ancient Monarchies,' chap. ix. vol. ii., which contains, it is presumed, the last views of his brother, Sir H. Rawlinson, on the subject of Assyrian history and chronology, as derived from the inscriptions. % Sir H. Rawlinson calls them Asshur-bel-nisr, Nuzur-Asshur, and Asshur-Vatila. § Sir II. Rawlinson reads the name ' Eel-sumili-Kapi : M. Oppert, Bel-kat-irassu. XIV.] NAMES OF EARLIEST KINGS. 353 tween 1350 and 1230 B.C. These names are found on in- scribed bricks from Kalah Sherghat, on tablets containing genealogical lists, and in inscriptions belonging to kings of a much later date. To the fourth king of this dynasty, whose name is believed to correspond with the bibHcal Shalman- eser, although he reigned some centuries before that monarch, Sir H. Rawlinson attributes the foundation of Calah, which is supposed to be the name of the city marked by the rains of Nimroud. He appears to have been a warlike ruler, to have conquered distant provinces, and to have built new cities. His son, whose name is read by Sir H. Rawlinson, Tiglathi-Nisr, or Tiglath-Ussur, and, by M. Oppert, Tuklat- pal-assar, corresponding with that of the biblical Tiklath Pileser, calls himself ' Conqueror of Babylon.' Of these six kings no monument has been discovered in Ass}Tia. After an interval, to which no royal name yet discovered can be assigned, we find another list of six kings in direct succession. They are believed to belong to a new dynasty which established itself on the Assyrian throne. Their names are found on clay tablets and cylinders, and one of them, Tiglath Pileser U., has left a sculptured monu- ment, consisting of his effigy and an inscription, in a cavern, from which issues one of the sources of the eastern branch of the Tigris.* The date of this king's reign, if the cunei- form inscriptions are rightly interpreted, may be approxi- mately if not accurately fixed, and enables us for the first time to tread with some certainty the treacherous ground of Assyrian chronology. Sennacherib, in one of the inscrip- tions discovered at Bavian,t declares that he recovered from Babylon certain images of the gods, which had been captured 418 years previously by a king of that city from Tiglath Pileser. As the Bavian tablets are supposed to have been carved by Sennacherib in the loth year of his reign, or about B.C. 694, if a correct computation of time were kept • This tablet was discovered by Mr. John Taylor, H. M. consul at Diarbekr. His attention had been directed to it by Sir H. Rawlinson, who had found mention of it in an inscription of Sardanapalus, the founder of the north-west palace at Nimroud ; an important proof of the general accuracy of the interpretation of the cuneiform character. + See ante, p. 71. A A 354 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. by the Assyrians, and there is every reason to believe, from the various chronological tables that have been preserved to us, that such was the case, Tiglath Pileser must have been on the throne about the year 1112 B.C. This king is also the first of whose reign we have any de- tailed annals. They are presei^ved on three clay cylinders discovered at Kalah Sherghat, and on some fragments of tablets, and are those mentioned in the introduction to this volume, as having been submitted to the independent de- cipherment of the four principal interpreters of the cunei- form character. He appears, from these records, to have carried his arms into the mountainous countries to the north and west of Assyria, to have conquered and rendered tribu- tary to Assyria several nations between the river Euphrates and the Mediterranean Sea, and to have successfully invaded Babylonia. In his annals he also celebrates his prowess as a hunter, and describes the number of lions, wild bulls, and other savage animals which he slew; and records the build- ing and repair of various temples to the gods,* giving details as to their mode of construction and of the materials used, which can only be translated conjecturally. Of the son of Tiglath Pileser t we have no records, and there is apparently the lapse of more than a century and a half during which, with the exception of the names of two kings, supposed to have lived about this time,} we have no . materials whatever for Assyrian history. About 930 b.c. a king ascended the throne, who transmitted it in direct descent through six generations. Amongst his descendants and suc- cessors were the two great Assyrian conquerors, who built the north-west and centre palaces at Nimroud. The names of the kings of this dynasty and the proof of their descent are found in an important canon, inscribed on a clay tablet, and in tlie inscriptions on slabs of alabaster and stone, and on bricks discovered in various ruins in Assyria. Of the first * One of tliese temples is said, in an inscription, to have been founded 641 years before by a king of Assyria, or highpriest of Asshur, wh» would consequently have reigned between 1800 and 1700 B.C. + His name is read Asshur-bel-kala. X The names are read Asshur-mazur and Asshur-iddin-akhi (Rawlia- soo). XIV.] SARDANAPALUS L 355 three we have no monuments nor records ;* of the fourth we have the fullest annals. His name has been read variously as Asshur-idanni-pal and Asshur-.izzar-pa] by Sir H. Rawliuson, Asshur-yuzhur-bal by Dr. Hincks, Asshur-akh-bal by Mr. Fox Talbot, and Assur-idanna-palla by M. Oppert; and it has been identified, as I have before stated, with that of Sarda- napalus, which is evidently a Greek corruption or form of an Assyrian word. He is believed to have reigned twenty-five years, and, by some, to have been one of the kings of this name mentioned in classic history. In the course of this work the great palaces and temples which he built, and the elaborate inscriptions which he set up to commemorate his wars and the extent of his empire, have been fully described. It is difficult to say how far his conquests were carried to the north and east of Assyria, as we cannot identify, with any certainty, the names of the nu- merous countries, districts, and cities which occur in the inscriptions ; but it is probable that he penetrated far into Media, Armenia, and Asia Minor. He seems to have re- duced the whole of northern Mesopotamia under his sway, and to have crossed the Euphrates into Syria, receiving tri- bute from, if not actually capturing, the cities of the Phoeni- cian coast of the Mediterranean. He was no less great in the chase than in war; and he has recorded in his inscriptions, and has celebrated on the sculptured walls of his palace, his contests with lions, wild bulls, and other animals.f It would furtherappear from the inscriptions, that he constructed parks or preserves at Nineveh, in which wild beasts were kept, * Their names, according to Sir H. Rawlinson, were Asshur-danan-il, Iva-lush (or Vul-lush or Yama-zala-khush), andTiglathi-Nin (or Tiglathi- Ninip, or Tiglath-Ussur) ; according to M. Oppert, Assur-idil-il, Hu- likh-Khus, and Tulclat-pal-asar. Dr. Hincks reads the third name ' Shimish-bar.' The last two names occur with that of Assbur-idanni-pal (Sardanapalus) on the bricks and slabs from the north-west palace at Nimroud. + According to Sir Henry Rawlinson, amongst these animals were wild sheep, red deer, fallow deer, wild goats or ibexes, leopards, bears, wolves, jackals, wild boars, foxes, hyaenas, wild asses, ostriches, &c. The list of them is found on the obelisk of white limestone discovered by Mr. H. Rassam, and now in the British Museum. A A 2 356 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. probably for the chase ; amongst them the elephant is sup- posed to be mentioned. Sardanapalus I. was succeeded by his son, whose name is read Shalmaneser by Sir H. Rawlinson, and Divanu-Bara by Dr. Hincks. Of this king we have the fullest records, inscribed on the black obelisk, on the winged bulls discovered in the centre palace at Nimroud, and on various monuments and tablets from different Assyrian ruins. He seems to have reigned for thirty-five years, and to have commanded in person no less than twenty-three military expeditions. The countries which he reduced, and from which he enforced the payment of tribute, appear to have included the whole of Chaldaea and Babylonia down to the Persian Gulf, Syria, Phoenicia, northern Mesopotamia, parts of Asia Minor and Armenia, of Media, and even, it is believed, of Persia. TTie nature of the objects brought to him by his tributaries show the extent of his dominions.* Two of his campaigns were directed against Khazail (Hazael), king of Damascus,+ and amongst his tributaries is mentioned ' Jehu, the son of Khumri ' (Omri). This monarch was not, as we know, the son, although one of the successors of Omri ; but the term ' son of ' was no doubt used in those days, as it still is in the East, to denote close connection between two persons, either by descent or succession. Thus we find in Scripture the same person called ' the son of Nimshi ' and ' the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi.' J The capital city of Jehu is called Samaria, and this name appears to be interchange- able in die inscriptions with Beth-Omri, or the house of Omri, so called, according to a common Eastern custom, after its founder. § This fact, the discovery of which we owe to the late Dr. Hincks, furnishes a striking proof of the cor- rectness of the interpretation of the cuneiform character. Mr. George Smith., whilst calendaring the Assyrian tablets • See 'Nineveh and its Remains,' p. 245. They include the ele- phant and rliinoceros. + I Kins^s, xix. 15 X Comp.ire i Kings, xx. 16 and 2 Kings, ix. 2. § Omri ' bought the hill Samaria of Shamar, for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built after Siianiar, owner of the hill, Samaria.' (l Kings, xvi. 24.) XIV.] SHALMANESER AND HIS SON. 357 in the British Museum, has recently found a short inscription, in which it is stated that Shalmaneser received Jehu's tribute in the eighteenth year of his reign, which enables us to fix •the date of this event at about 840 B.C.* Shalmaneser's son, whose name has been read by Sir H. Rawlinson as Shamash-Vul, Shamsi-Yama, and Shamas-Iva, hy Dr. Hincks as Shamsi-Yav, and by M. Oppert as Samsi- Hu, is supposed to have reigned fourteen years. He raised a stele, or arched tablet, similar to that of Sardanapalus, at Nimroud. It bears his image and an inscription, in a some- what complicated form of cuneiform writing, containing the annals of the first four years of his reign.t He warred with the country to the north and west of Assyria and with Baby- lonia, whose king he totally defeated, apparently reducing his country to the position of a dependency on the Assyrian empire. Of the son and successor of this kingij: we have one or two detached slabs § and two statues with dedicatory inscriptions to Nebo, found at Nimroud ; and his name oc- curs on a brick from the mound of Nebbi Yunus. He appears to have captured the city of Damascus, to have ex- acted the usual tribute from Tyre, Sidon, and the cities on the Phcenician coast, and from Khumri (Samaria), Palestine, .and Edom (written ' Hudum ' in the cuneiform character). The Medes and Persians were also subject to him, and he may have reigned over Babylon.]] His wife seems to have borne a name which corresponds with that of the classical Semiramis,1[ with whom, according to some, she is to be iden- * AtlienjEum forSept. 29, 1866. The passage runs thus : — 'In myeigh- teenth year, the sixteenth time, the river Euphrates I crossed. Hazael of Syria put confidence in his army to oppose me : his numerous soldiers he gathered together ; Sanirusitsi (?) in the mountains of Lebanon he made his stronghold. With him I fought, and defeated him. 16,000 of his wanioi-s were slain. I took his spoil, 1131 chariots, 470 horsemen, and his camp, which he abandoned, and fled away. At that time, the tribute of Yahua (Jehu), the son of Khumri, I received,' \ This stele is now in the British Museum, % Iva-lush, or Ku-hkh-khus, IV. § Nineveh and its Remains, p. 273. II Mr. Fox Talbot (Journal of the Asiatic Society, vol. xix. p. 182). il ' Sammuramit,' see Introduction, 358 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIV, tified. He was the builder of the upper chambers at Nim- roud, described in the narrative of my first expedition.* From a brick bearing his name, found in the mound of Nebbi Yunus, he appears to have raised a palace or temple there, but no remains of that building have as yet been discovered. Tliree kings are mentioned in the fragments of the canon discovered at Kouyunjik as reigning after Iva-lush IV., of whom no annals nor monuments have been preserved.f The next monarch of whom we have any sculptured records and buildings was Tiglath-Pileser, the third king of that name, who is known to us as having carried into captivity a part of the Jewish tribes. J He reigned, according to the Assyrian canon, eighteen years. He added to Shalmaneser's palace in the centre of the mound, and built a new palace for him- self at its north-eastern corner. Botli buildings appear to have been destroyed by Esar-haddon, who used the materials for the construction of his own dwelling-place, of which the remains were discovered in the south-west corner of the Nim- roud Mound. Above the ruins of Tiglath Pileser's palace in the south-east corner, which appears to have been an edifice of some magnificence, one of his successors, a hundred years afterwards, erected a new royal residence. A large number of bas-reliefs, taken from their original places, some heaped up ready for removal, others built into the walls of the south- west palace, were discovered at Nimroud.§ On one of them, representing war-chariots following the king, is an in- scription in which Dr. Hincks detected the name of Mena- hem, king of Israel, who is mentioned amongst other princes paying tribute to Tiglath Pileser in tlie eighth year of his reign. |! • Nineveh and its Remains, p. 272. + Their names, acconling to Sir H. Rawlinson, were Shalman-ussur (the 3rd), Asshur-danin-il (the 2nd), and Asshur-zala-Khus. % I Chron. v. 26, 2 Kin«(s, xv. 29. Of the name of Pul. king of Assyria, who is mcntionetl in Chronicles and in 2 Kings (.xv. 19, 29), as having carried away thejews, no trace has hitherto been found in the cnnei- form inscriptions. This fact has led to the conjecture that he was identical with Tiglath Pileser. The arguments for and against this identifi»ation are stated in Rawlinson's 'Ancient Monarchies,' vol. ii. 386-389. § See 'Nineveh and its Remains,' p. 275. Ij This very important and interesting discovery was first announced by Dr. Hincks in the 'Athenaeum' for January 3, 1852. 36o NINEVEH AND BAB\j^Ui^. [Chap. Unfortunately the fragmentary state of the monuments and bas-reliefs of this king prevents the restoration, in a complete shape, of his annals. He appears, in the first year of his reign, to have carried his arms into Babylonia and Chaldsea, where he received the submission of a king bearing the familiar biblical name of Merodach Baladan.* It cannot be ascertained clearly from the inscriptions, in what year of his reign he undertook his expedition into Syria and Palestine. It has been conjectured th^t it was in the fourth. He sub- dued Samaria (in which Menahem reigned), Damascus, Tyre (whose king bore the name of Hiram), and, apparently, some of the Arab tribes inhabiting Arabia Petraea and the Sinaitic peninsula, who were ruled by a queen. His cam- paign against Pekah, king of Israel, described in the Second Book of Kings, t during which he captured several Jewish cities, and carried their inhabitants into captivity, probably took place some years later, but no distinct mention of it has yet been found in the inscriptions. From the various fragments found at Nimroud, some scattered notices of the further campaigns of this king in Syria and Palestine may be recovered, i but they cannot as yet be placed in chronological order. Several names of places and persons, familiar to us from their mention in Scripture, may be detected in them, such as Rezin ( ? ), Pekah (?), Magidu (Megiddo), Duru (Dor), and Yahu- Khazi ( ] ), king of Judah, beHeved to be Ahaz. He also warred against the countries to the north of Assyria. The mention in the inscriptions of the wars of Tiglath Pileser with the Jews enables us to fix the date of his reign at about 744 to 726 b.c. Tiglath Pileser is supposed to have been succeeded by Shalmaneser, who warred against Hosea, king of Israel, and captured Samaria, § but no mention of him has yet been * 2 Kings, XX. 12 (where he is called ^^^rt'af/^-Baladan), i Isaiah, xxxix. I. + Ch. XV. 29. X In the 'Athenaeum' of August 22, 1863 (No. 1869, p. 245), will be found some valuable notices of the reign of this king, of Sargon, and of other Assyrian monarcbs, by Sir H. Rawlinson. § 2 Kings, xvii. XIV.] ANNALS OF S ARC ON. 361 found in the Assyrian inscriptions. It has consequently been suggested, either that he was an usurper, of whom the traces have been destroyed, or that he was identical with Sargon.* The next king of whom we have monuments and contem- porary annals was Sar-kin, or Sargin, the Sargon of Scripture, the builder of the palace at Khorsabad, discovered by M. Botta, and the sculptures from which form the principal part of the Assyrian collection now in the Louvre. This king is beUeved to have been an usurper, and to have founded a new dynasty, as no mention is made in the inscriptions, according to the usual custom of the Assyrians, of his father. The Khorsabad monuments, and the various tablets on gold, silver, and other materials, and the clay cylinders discovered in the ruins, furnish us with fifteen or sixteen years of the annals of his reign. His first campaign was against the Susianians, or Elamites. He then turned his arms against Samaria, subdued the city, over which he placed an Assyrian governor, and carried away 27,280 (or 24,000) of the inhabit- ants as captives into Assyria. He next overthrew and put to death a king of Hamath, named Yahu-bid, or Ilu-bid (?). Having conquered Syria and Palestine, he appears to have marched to the borders of Egypt, where he encountered the united armies of the Philistines and of an Egyptian prince, whose name is read 'Shebek' (Sabaco?), and whose title appears to be 'Sultan' of Egypt. He defeated them^ capturing the king of Gaza. His next great campaign was against the tribes of Arabia, during which he penetrated into a part of that country which had not before been subdued by the Assyrian kings, and carried away some of its inhabitants to Nineveh. The result of this successful expedition appears to have been the submission of a Pharaoh (king of Egypt), of Ithamar (?) king of the Sabseans, and of Tsamsi {%) queen of the Arabs, who sent tribute and presents to Sargon, amongst which were gold, horses, and camels. Parts of Syria must have revolted a second time against his rule, for we find Sargon, three years after his successful * The Rev. G. Rawlinson, 'Ancient Monarchies,' vol. ii. p. 401. 362 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap campaign against Arabia, besieging and capturing Ashdod* He thence marched against Egypt, whose king, Shebek, ap- pears to have aided the king of Ashdod. If the inscriptions are rightly interpreted, not only did this monarch send an embassy to Assyria, but even the king of Meroe, or Ethiopia, who had never before submitted to an Assyrian ruler, hum- bled himself before Sargon. Successful wars against Susiana and Babylonia followed. Merodach Baladan, the king of the latter country, was de- feated, and carried captive to Nineveh, and his palace plun- dered and capital burnt. At Babylon, Sargon received em- bassies from a country 'in the middle of the sea of the rising sun,' supposed to be some island in the Persian Gulf, of whom the kings of Assyria had never before even heard the name ; and, on his return to Nineveh, from seven kings of the island of Cyprus, which is described as being ' at the distance of seven days from the coast in the sea of the setting sun.' Striking evidence of the correctness of the interpre- tation of the cuneiform inscriptions is furnished by the actual discovery of a stele with the effigy of Sargon, and an inscription containing his name and titles, on the site of the ancient Idalium in Cyprus, t Whether Sargon himself ever visited the island, or whether its inhabitants consented to erect this stele as a proof of their submission to the king of Assyria, does not appear from the inscriptions. Sargon did not confine his expeditions to the countries to the south and west of Assyria : he also subdued many nations and tribes to the north and east, in the mountainous countries of Asia Minor, Armenia, Media, and Persia. Full details of his wars in those regions, and of the various kingdoms, pro- vinces, and cities which were included in his vast dominions, are contained in the inscriptions, but with one or two excep- tions the identification of the geographical names is more than doubtful. * This was probably the campaign alluded to in Isaiah (xx. l), where alone, in the Old Testament, Sargon is mentioned by name. + This highly interesting and important monument is now in the museum at Berlin. It is similar in shape to the stele of Sardanapalus, discovered at Nimroud. See ante, p. 178. XIV.] ANNALS OF SENNACHERIB. 363 The principal edifice erected by Sargon was his palace at Khorsabad, the ruins of which bore his name even long after the Arab occupation of Assyria.* He rebuilt, according to the inscriptions, the walls of Nineveh, and erected in the city a temple to Nebo ; and we learn from an inscription carved on the walls of a chamber in Sardanapalus's palace at Nim- roud, t that he added to and repaired that building. % He also declares that he restored the great sanctuaries of Sip- para, Nipours, Babylon, and Borsippa. Sargon was succeeded by his son Sennacherib, wliose name in the Assyrian inscriptions is to be read, according to Sir H. Rawlinson, Sin-akhi-erba ; according to Dr. Hincks, Tsin-a skhirib ; and, according to M. Oppert, Sin-akh-arib. I have described, in the preceding pages, the magnificent monuments which he raised, and have given a short ac- count of the principal events of his reign, as contained in his annals. § He built from its foundations the splendid palace at Kouyunjik, and the walls and gates of the great in- closure in which that edifice stood. According to the inscrip- tions he restored the ancient dwelling-place of the Assyrian kings at Nineveh, supposed to have stood on the mound of Nebbi Yunus. He erected a temple, dedicated to Nergal, at Tarbisi (Shereef Khan), of which the ruins have been discovered; II constructed canals, aqueducts, embankments, and other great public works ; and, according to the Bavian tablets, brought supplies of drinking water in pipes to Nine- veh. His records contain a full account of the mode of construction of his palaces, the materials employed, from whence they were brought, and the various nations, captives taken during his wars, employed in the work. We have abundant materials for the history of Sennacherib in the * Yakuti, the Arab geographer, calls the place Saroun, or Saraghoun. See ' Nineveh and its Remains,' p. 113. "t* See 'Nineveh and its Remains,' p. 271. This inscription contains the name of Judxa (lahouda). X The annals of Sargon have been translated at full length by M. Oppert : ' Les Inscriptions Assyriennes des Sargonides et les Pastes de Ninive,' first published in 'Annals de Philosophic Chretienne,' vol. vi. 5th series. § Chap, ii. II See ante, p. 342. 364 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. inscriptions on the walls of his palace, on detached slabs, on cylinders and tablets of clay, and on the monuments carved by him on the rocks at Bavian, at the mouth of the Nahr el Kelb in Syria, and in other parts of his vast dominions. He appears to have reigned about 24 years (from 704 to 680 B.C.), and was succeeded by his son Esar-haddon. The name of this king is written in the cuneiform character, Asshur-akh-iddina, or Asshur-akh-idin. The principal mate- rials for the history of his reign are found on two clay cyhnders, now in the British Museum, the inscriptions on which con- tain the description of nine of his campaigns. His first war appears to have been against the cities of Phoenicia, and he crossed the sea to Cyprus, where he captured the king of Sidon who had fled thither. He destroyed the cities of the coast, and brought their inhabitants captives to Assyria. Like his predecessors, he carried his arms into Cilicia, and the mountainous country to the north and north-west of Assyria ; and it is believed that the name of a tribe which he conquered can be identified with the Cimmerians, who would thus appear for the first time in history. Successful expedi- tions into Chald^ea, Babylonia, and Edom occupied a con- siderable part of his reign; and he appears to have even crossed the desert, and to have led an army in person into the almost inaccessible regions of Arabia. Esar-haddon, in the annals of his son, is described as the conqueror of Egypt and Ethiopia, where Tirhakah then reigned, and he adds the title of ' King of the kings of Egypt, and conqueror of Ethiopia,' to those usually borne by the Assyrian monarchs; but of his campaigns in those countries, and of his wars against Manasseh, king of Judah, whom he captured and carried in chains to Babylon,* no mention has yet been found in any inscription. Esar-haddon's annals appear to give a full account of the various palaces and temples which he built, and of the materials, including pre- cious metals and woods, which he employed in their con- struction; but we are not yet sufficiently acquainted with the reading and meaning of the architectural and other * 2 Chron. xxxiii. XIV.] ESAR-HADDON, SON AND GRANDSON. 365 technical terms used in the Assyrian inscriptions to be able to translate these descriptions satisfactorily. We know that the south-west palace at Nimroud was built by him out of materials taken from edifices raised by former kings ; and that the ruins of one of his palaces exist in the mound of Nebbi Yunus and at Shereef Khan. He also appears td have erected a royal residence at Babylon, of which no traces have hitherto been found. Esar-haddon was succeeded, apparently after a reign of about thirteen years, by his son, Asshur-bani-pal, whose con- quests appear to identify him with that Sardanapalus, the son of Anacyndaraxes, whose tomb at Tarsus and its inscription have been so frequently described and commented upon by ancient classic writers.* Of the principal events of his reign we have abundant illustrations in the sculptures and inscrip- tions from the palace which he built at Kouyunjik, and the ruins of which were discovered after my departure from Mosul by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam. He appears to have re- duced to the condition of A5;syrian provinces almost the whole of Egypt and Ethiopia, and to have carried off from those countries a vast treasure by way of booty. The name of Gyges, king of Lydia, is believed to have been found in his inscriptions, as also an account of his wars with the Cimmerians, who, according to Herodotus, invaded Lydia about this time. His campaigns in Susiana, or Elam, are re- corded in the sculptures which he placed in the Palace of Sen- nacherib at Kouyunjik, and which have been described in a former part of this volume. f Like the early Nimroud king, who bore a name very similar, he was a great hunter, and his * Several versions have been given of this celebrated inscription. The one generally received is the following : — ' Sardanapalus, son of Anacyndaraxes, built Tarsus and Anchiale in one day. Do thou, O stranger, eat and drink, and amuse thyself; for all the rest of human life is not worth so much as this ' — the king being represented in the act of snapping his fingers. Mr. Rawlinson (' Ancient Monarchies,' vol. ii. p. 501) has conjectured, and I am inclined to agree with him, that the tomb was really a stele, containing the usual effigy of the king in an arched frame, similar to that found at Nimroud (see p. 1 78) ; and that the raised hand suggested the idea that he was represented as snapping his fingers. + See chap. x. 366 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. exploits in the chase, especially against the lion, were cele- brated in elaborate and spirited bas-reliefs on the walls of his palace. Of his reign we have a vast collection of clay tab- lets, containing inscriptions of great interest, importance, and variety, discovered in the chamber of records and elsewhere at Kou}ainjik.* The son and successor of Asshur-bani-pal is the last Assy- rian king of whom we find any mention amongst the remains discovered at Nineveh ; and there is every reason to believe that with him ended the Assyrian empire, and the very exist- ence of its great capital. We have no sculptures nor records that can be attributed to his reign, and his name only oc- curs on bricks discovered in the ruins of the south-east palace, which he appears to have rebuilt. It is believed to read Asshur-emid-ilin, or Asshur-kinat-ill-kain, according to Sir H. Rawlinson; or Asshur-idil-il, according to M. Oppert; and he had two predecessors of the same name.t He may per- haps be identified with the Saracus of the Greeks, or with that Sardanapalus whose inglorious reign terminated (b.c. 606) with the capture and destruction of Nineveh by the Medes, and his own self-immolation amidst the flames of his burning palace.:}: As I have thus given a general sketch of the contents of the inscriptions discovered in the Assyrian ruins, it may not be out of place to make a its^ observations upon the nature of the Assyrian records, and their importance to the study of Scripture and profane history. In the first place, the c^re with which the events of each king's reign were chro- nicled is worthy of remark. They were usually written, as we have seen, in the form of regular annals ; and in some cases, as on the great monoliths at Nimroud, the royal pro- gress during a campaign appears to be described almost • See chap. vii. + According to M. Opi)ert, there were seven Assyrian kings who bor€ names corresponding with the Greek Sardanapalus. The last of the name reigned from B.C. 625 to 606. X In one of the inscri])tions of Sargon he is supposed to declare that ' about 350 kings reigned before him in Assyria.' (Oppert, ' Inscriptions dcs Sargonidcs, p. 37.) As it has been seen, the names of only 29 have been found in the inscriptions. XIV.] NATURE OF ASSYRIAN RECORDS. 367 day by day. They are, in some respects, not unlike the his- toricaJ books of the Jews. There is, however, this marked difference between them, that whilst the Assyrian records are nothing but a dry narrative, or rather register, of military campaigns, spoliations, and cruelties, events of little import- ance but to those immediately concerned in them, the his- torical books of the Old Testament, apart from the deeds of war and blood which they chronicle, contain the most in- teresting of private episodes, and the most sublime of moral lessons. It may, however, be objected, that these Assyrian inscriptions being merely records of national events, such as at this day might be placed upon public monuments, did not admit of any irrelevant reflections, or of the details and inci- dents of private life ; but that the Hebrew books being more strictly a connected and written history, the author could draw his own inferences, and point out to his readers the moral of his story. The Assyrians, it may be added, might have had similar volumes, which have long since perished. This conjecture is partly confirmed by the discovery of more private documents, such as the clay cylinders and tablets described in the preceding pages. The monuments of Nineveh, as well as the testimony of history, tend to prove that the Assyrian monarch was a thorough Eastern despot, unchecked by popular opinion, and having complete power over the lives and property of his subjects — rather adored as a god than feared as a man, and yet himself claiming his authority and the absolute obedience of his people in virtue of his reverence for the national deities and the national religion. It was only when the gods themselves seemed to interpose that any check was placed upon the royal pride and lust ; and it is probable that when Jonah entered Nineveh crying to the people to repent, the king, believing him to be a special minister from the supreme deity of the nation, ' arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.'* * It was not necessary to the effect of his preaching that Jonah should be of the religion of the people of Nineveh. I have known a Christian priest frighten a whole Mussulman town to tents and repent- ance by publicly proclaiming that he had received a divine mission ta announce a coming earthquake or plague. 368 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Char The Hebrew state, on the contrary, was, to a certain extent, a limited monarchy. The Jewish kings were amenable to, and even guided by, the opinion of their subjects. The prophets boldly upbraided and threatened them ; their warn- ings and menaces were usually received with respect and fear. ' Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken,' ex- claimed Hezekiah to Isaiah, when the prophet reproved him for his pride, and foretold the captivity of his sons and the destruction of his kingdom;* a prophecy which none would have dared utter in the presence of the Assyrian king, ex- cept, as it would appear by the story of Jonah, he were a stranger. It can scarcely, therefore, be expected that any history other than bare chronicles of the victories and triumphs of the kings, omitting all allusion to their reverses and defeats, could be found on the public monuments of Assyria. It is remarkable that the Assyrian records should, on the whole, be so free from the exaggerated forms of expression, and the magniloquent royal titles, which are found in Egyptian documents of the same nature, and even in those of modern Eastern sovereigns. Internal evidence proves their truthful- ness so far as they go. We are further led to place confidence in them by the very minuteness with which they even give the amount of the spoil ; the registrars, ' the scribes of the host,' as they are called in the Bible ;t being constantly seen in the bas-reliefs, writing down the various objects brought to them by the victorious warriors, — the heads of the slain, the prisoners, tlie cattle, the sheep, ij: the furniture, and the vessels of metal. The next reflection arising from an examination of the Assyrian records relates to the political condition and con- stitution of the em]jire, which appear to have been of a very peculiar nature. The king, we may infer,, exercised but little * 2 Kings, XX. 19. +2 Kings, xxv. 19. :!: Driving away the cattle and sheep of a conquered people, and ac- counting them amongst the principal spoil, has ever been the custom of Eastern nations who have not altogether renounced a nomadic life, and whose chief wealth conseriucntly consists in these animals. When Asa defeated the Ethiojjians, ' he carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem. ' (2 Chron. xiv. 15.) XIV.] EXTENT OF ASSYRIAN EMPIRE. 369 direct authority beyond the districts in the immediate neigh- bourhood of Nineveh, although he was constantly carrying his arms into the surrounding countries. The Assyrian dominions, as far as we can yet learn from the inscriptions, did not at any time extend much further than the central provinces of Asia Minor and Armenia to the north, not reaching to the Black Sea, though probably to the Caspian. To the east they occasionally included Media and the western provinces of Persia ; to the south, Susiana, Baby- lonia, and the northern part of Arabia. To the west the Assyrians may have penetrated into Lycia, and perhaps Lydia; and Syria and Palestine were considered within the territories of the great king ; Egypt and Meroe (Ethiopia) were the farthest limits reached by the Assyrian armies. According to Greek authors, however, a much greater extent must be assigned to Assyrian influence, if not to the Assy- rian empire ; and we may hereafter find that such was in fact the case. lam here merely referring to the evidence afforded by actual records as far as they may be assumed to have been deciphered. The empire appears to have consisted of a number of tributary states, whose kings were so far independent that they were only bound to furnish troops to their supreme lord in time of war, and to pay him yearly a certain tribute. Hence we find successive Assyrian kings fighting with exactly the same nations and tribes, some of which were scarcely more than four or five days' march from the gates of Nineveh. On the occasion of every change at the capital, these tributary states seem to have striven to throw off the Assyrian yoke, and to have begun by refusing to pay their customary tribute. A new campaign was conse- quently necessary to bring them to obedience. We learn from the inscriptions, that when a city or kingdom was thus subdued, however near it might have been to Nineveh, when not actually forming a part of the imperial district, a new ruler was appointed to it with the title of ' King,' written in the same cuneiform characters on the monuments 370 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. as when applied to the head of the empire.* Hence, too, the Assyrian armies, Uke those of Xerxes described by Hero- dotus,t were made up of various nations, retaining their own costumes, arms, and modes of warfare. The Jewish tribes, as it had long been suspected by biblical scholars, can now be -proved to have been tributaries to the Assyrian king, from a very early period, indeed long before the time inferred by any passage in Scripture. Whenever an expedition against the kings of Judah or Israel is mentioned in the Assyrian records, it is stated to have been undertaken on the ground that they had not paid their customary tribute.:}: The pohtical state of the Jewish kingdom under Solomon appears to have been very nearly the same as that of the Assyrian empire. The scriptural account of the power of the Hebrew king resembles, almost word for word, some of the paragraphs in the great inscriptions at Nimroud. ' Solomon reigned over the kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt : they brought presents and served Solomon all the days of his life He had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tipsah even unto the Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river.'§ The political condition of Assyria can only be compared in modern times with that of India, when the peninsula was divided into numerous distinct sovereignties under a nomi- nal dependence on the emperor of Delhi as the head of the * This fact illustrates the passage in Isaiah (x. 8, 9), ' For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings? Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad ? Is not Samaria as Damascus ? ' + Lib. vii. X The same thing may, indeed, be inferred from several passages in Chronicles and Kings. See particularly 2 Kings, xvi. 7, xvi.i. 4. In the cuneiform inscriptions, Judsea is called ' lahouda,' and Israel ' Beth Khumri,' or House of Omri, a name also given to Samaria, the capital. § I Kings, iv. 21 and 24. '// 194 Sheneena, or sour milk, of the Arabs, 131 Shereef-Khan, discoveries at, 344 Shields, bronze, 63. 'Bosses of the bucklers,' 64 Shirwan, visit to the district of, 191 Shokh, Armenian town of, 223 Shomal, visit to the villages of the, 94 Shushan, city of, in the sculptures, 251 Sieges, on bas-reliefs, 8, 9, 29, 47, 239, 240, 338 Singers meeting the returning con- querors, 252 Sinjar, Belled, visited, 93, 160. Ruins of the town of, 94. Vil- lages of the, 94, 95. View from the Sinjar hill, 95 Small-pox among the Arabs, 132 Snake-charmer, a Yezidi, loi Soulak, the dried-up spring, I02 Sourasor, Nestorian village of, 196 Sow, wild, in bas-relief, 23 Stag, in bas-relief, 23 • Storms in Mesopotamia, 88, 135 Subhan Dagh, 203 Suffeyra river, 158 Suleiman Agha, visit to, 139, 145 413 INDEX. SUL WUR Sulphur springs near Charderrah, 198 Summaichah, village of, 330 Summer in Mesopotamia, 185 Susiana, conquest of the people of, 238 Suttum, Sheikh of the Boraij Arabs, 81, 84. His rediff, 81. His deloul, 84. Messenger from his father, 92. His white mare, 102. His wife, 108, 112, 118. His tact and intelligence, 118. His wives, 134, 135. His de- light in the desert, 137. His complaints, 161 Syria, expedition of Sennacherib against, 44 Syriac inscriptions on earthenware bowls, 290 "P ABLETS, inscribed clay, 170- 173 Tahar, the Kurdish Sheikh, 194 Tahlel of the Arab women, 70 Tai Arabs, their attack on Nim- roud, 56. Visit to the Howar of the, 57 Tanzimat, the, 13 Tartan, or general of the Assyrian forces, 48, 251 Tekrit, town of, 262, 331 Tel Abib, 126 Tel Athur, 55 Tel Ermah, 89 Tel Jemal, 92 Tel Kef, village of, 2 Tel Umjerjeh, 146 Tellana, Nestorian village of, 196 Temminah, the, of the Turks, 147 Temple, discovery of a small, at Nimroud, 175, 176. And of a second there, 180 Terraces, cultivated, of the Sinjar, 95 Thar, or Arab law of blood- revenge, 141 Throne, the, of Sennacherib, 49. Discovery of the royal throne, 65 Tiglath Pilcser I., building of, at Nimroud, 52. Annals of, 353 Tiglath Pileser H., annals of, 358 Tigris, some ofthe principal sources of the Eastern branches of the, 220, 222. Descent of the river, 261. The river near Baghdad, 264 Tin used by the Assyrians, 62 Tkhoma, ravages of the Kurds and Turks in, 236 Tkhoma Gowaia, visit to, 237 Tombs in the rock at Wan, 209. Absence of Assyrian tombs, 340 Tower, discovery of, at Nmu-oud, 35. On a bas-relief, 39. A tower Uke the pictures of the Tower of Babel, 263 Truffles in the desert, 130 Turks, their oppression of the Christian communities of Asia, 232, 236 Turtle, a, caught, 136 T TSGAH, mound of, 92 "^yASTAN, Armenian town of, ^ 217 Vineyards of Bouran, 100 Volcano of Koukab, 143 TXTAN, visit to the lake and city ' ' of, 203. Jewish families re- siding near, 200. Description of the city of, 205. Ancient in- scriptions at, 208. Tombs in the rock at, 209. Armenian schools at, 213 Warriors, Assyrian, 239 Warriors, Jewish, dress of, 48 Wine-strainer found, 59, 61 Women, Yezidi, 98. Boraij, 107. Arab, grinding com, 128. Do- mestic life of the Arab women, 133. Women of the Milli Kurds, 148-150. Of the Zibari Kurds, 189. And of Armenia, 216 Wurka, vast numbers of coffins at, 322 INDEX. 413 XER VERXES, inscription of, at -^^ Wan, 208 "V/'AKOUB, rais of Asheetha, 12 ■^ Yavan, 47 Yedi Klissia, Armenian convent of, 203. Visit to, 215 Yezidis, their industry, 95. And cleanliness, 97. Their houses, 97. Women of the, 98. Dress of the people, 98. Group of, 99. A snake-charmer, loi. Peace concluded between the Yezidis and Bedouins, 97, 100, III ZOB Yohanna, Guppa d'Mar, \\ Yusuf Beg hiUs, 109 VAB river, 188, 189, 190. Valley ^ of the, 199 Zachariah, patriarch of Armenia, tomb of, 218 Zerga, plain of, 86, 87 Zerin, Nestorian village of, 232 Ziarehs of the Yezidis, 99, loo Zibari, district of, 189 Zibbliyah, mound of, 322 Zimzim, cavern of, near Wan, 2H Zobeide, tomb of, 265. Her tribe, 270 LONDON : PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE AND PARLIAMENT STREET r»> ,T ' V ' n ^\ ^.Z > ^ "^ < ^-' - ^Jb- ^ ' ^..' . ;v ^ University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. RFC' I V- JANl.. ..M DEC 18 1983 OCT 01 m^ Ml. APR 1 5 ••■ * .•' , i V ' *v f r i ' ;-^ '^ '• '"" J '^" ' '-*. •* J, f ^ ' ' xlS b'* ■'T * '"^a '«i.' - '-^1 1 , i "' '> *:\ ft.*' \ • . , < % |. ^ • ' * '^ J [> > i - '-fefi {" -^ "'>*. 1^*1? \y ^i ^.^-| V /; r-' 1 ' '-■•'■'; > . ' ' 'i V* i^T' \t v . . .',' .•: r^- ! V .^'' . .'^^ ''. ^;v 4 "' ''\ "'^ N .' .^ ' s> ! . V ^v'Vi u:< : ^^i^ t^. r^ " . 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