rJOLl m. T- , WJM^ ra :»* gfi"^^'».V^» JIMKt j-' THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE 1 THE Seven (km Mm archies OF THE ANCIENT EASTERN WORLD ou THB mSTOKY, GEOGRAPHY, AND ANnQUlTIKS OF CHALD^A. ASSYRIA BABYLON, MEDIA, PERSIA, PARTHIA. AND 8AS8ANIAN OR NEW PERSIAN EMPIRE BY GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A. CAMDEN FKOFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTOBY IN THE UNIVEKSITY OF OXFORD ^^ IN THREE VOLUMES— VOLUME I. MUl) 3ilap8 Birb lllusttntioufl NEW YORK JOHN W. LOYELL COMPANY 150 Worth Street, corner Mission Place PREFACE TO FIVE GREAT MONARCHIES. The history of Antiquity requires from time to time to be re- written. Historical knowledge continually extends, in part from the advance of critical science, which teaches us little by little the true value of ancient authors, but also, and more es- pecially, from the new discoveries which the enterprise of travellers and the patient toil of students are continually bringing to hght, whereby the stock of our infomiation as to the condition of the ancient world receives constant augmen- tation. The extremest scepticism cannot deny that recent re- searches in Mesopotamia and the adjacent countries have re- covered a series of "monuments" belonging to very early times, capable of throwing considerable light on the Antiquities of the nations which produced them. The author of these vol- umes beheves that, together with these remains, the languages of the ancient nations have been to a large extent recovered, and that a vast mass of written historical matter of a very high value is thereby added to the materials at the Historian's disposal. This is, clearly, not the place where so difficult and complicated a subject can be properly argued. The author is himself content with the judgment of " experts," and be- lieves it would be as difficult to impose a fabricated language on Professor Lassen of Bonn and Professor Max Miiller of Ox- ford, as to pahn off a fictitious for a reiil anunal form on Pro- fessor Owen of London. The best linguists in Europe have ac- cepted the decipherment of the cuneiform inscriptions as a thing actually accomplished. Until some good linguist, hav ing carefully examined into the matter, declares liimself of ;i contrary opinion, the author cannot think that any serious doubt rests on the subject. ^ The present volumes aim at accomplishing for the Five Na- • Some writers allow that the Persian cuneiform iuscriptions have been succe.ss- fully deciphered and interpreted, but appear to doubt the interpi-etation of the Assyrian records. (See Edinburcjh RevifJC for July, 1S(W, Art HI., p. 108.) Are they aware that the Persian inscriptions ai-e accompanied in almost every instance by an Assyrian transcript, and that .\s,syrian interpretation thus follows upon Per Bian, without involving any additional " i,'uess-worl£ " f iv PREFACE. tions of which they treat what Movers and Kenrick have ac- comphshed for Phoenicia, or (still more exactly) what Wilkinson has accomplished for Ancient Egypt. Assuming the interpre- tation of the historical inscriptions as, in general, sufficiently ascertained, and the various ancient remains as assigned on suf- ficient grounds to certain peoples and epochs, they seek to unite with our previous knowledge of the five nations, whether de- rived from Biblical or classical sources, the new information obtained from modern discovery. They address themselves in a great measure to the eye ; and it is hoped that even those who doubt the certainty of the linguistic discoveries in which the author believes, will admit the advantage of illustrating the life of the ancient peoples by representations of their pro- ductions. Unfortunately, the materials of this kind which re- cent explorations have brought to light are very unequally spread among the several nations of which it is proposed to treat, and even where they are most copious, fall short of the abundance of Egypt. Still in every case there is some illustra- tion possible ; and in one — Assyria — both the " Arts" and the "Manners" of the people admit of being illustrated very largely from the remains still extant.^ The Author is bound to express his obligations to the follow- ing writers, from whose published works he has drawn freely : MM. Botta and Flandin, Mr. Layard, Mr. James Fergusson, Mr. Loftus, Mr. Cullimore, and Mr. Birch. He is glad to take this occasion of acknowledging himself also greatly beholden to the constant help of his brother, Sir Hem-y Rawlinson, and to the liberality of Mr. Vaux, of the British Museum. The lat- ter gentleman kindly placed at his disposal, for the purposes of the present work, the entire series of unpublished drawings made by the artists who accompanied Mr. Loftus in the last Mesopotamian Expedition, besides securing him undisturbed access to the Museum sculptures, thus enabling him to enrich the present volume with a large niunber of most interesting Illustrations never previously given to the public. In the sub- joined list these illustrations are carefully distinguished fi-om such as, in one shape or another, have appeared previously. Oxford, September, 1862. * See Cliapters VI. and VII. of the Second Monarcliy. PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. In preparing for the press, after an interval of seven years, a second edition of this work, the author has found it unneces- sary to make, excepting in two chapters, any important or ex- tensive alterations. The exceptions are the chapters on the History and Chronology of Chalda^a and Assyria. So much fresh light has been thrown on these two subjects by additional discoveries, made partly by Sir Henry Rawlinson, partly by his assistant, Mr. George Smith, through the laborious study of fragmentary inscriptions now in the British Museum, that many pages of the two chapters in question required to be written afresh, and the Chronological Schemes required, in the one case a complete, and in the other a partial, revision. In mak- ing this revision, both of the Chronology and the History, the author has received the most valuable assistance both from the published papers and from the private communications of Mr. Smith — an assistance for which he desires to make in this place the Avarmest and most hearty acknowledgment. He is also beholden to a recent Eastern traveller, Mr. A. D. Berring- ton, for some valuable notes on the physical geography and productions of Mesopotamia, which have been embodied in the accounts given of those subjects. A few corrections have like- wise lioen made of errors pointed out by anonymous critics. Substantially, however, the work continues such as it was on its first appearance, the author having found tliat time only deepened his conviction of the reality of cuneiform decipher- ment, and of the authenticity of the history obtained by means of it. OiroRD, Novewiber, 1870. PREFACE TO THE SIXTH MONARCHY. The following work is intended, in part, as a continuation of the ancient History of the East, akeady treated by the Au- thor at some length in his " Five Great Monarchies"; but it is also, and more expressly, intended as a supplement to the ancient History of the West, as that history is ordinarily pi-e- sented to moderns under its two recognized divisions of "Histories of Greece " and " Histories of Rome." Especially, it seemed to the writer that the picture of the world during the Roman period, commonly put before students in "Histories of Rome," was defective, not to say false, in its omission to recognize the real position of Parthia during the three most interesting centuries of that period, as a counter- poise to the power of Rome, a second figure in the picture not much inferior to the first, a rival state dividing with Rome the attention of mankind and the sovereignty of the known earth. "Writers of Roman history have been too much in the habit of representing the later Repubhc and early Empire as, practi- cally, a Universal Monarchy, a Power unchecked, imbalanced, having no other Umits than those of the civilized world, en- grossing consequently the whole attention of all thinking men, and free to act exactly as it pleased without any regard to opinion beyond its own borders. One of the most popular' en- larges on the idea — an idea quite inconsistent with the fact — that for the man who provoked the hostUity of the ruler of Rome there was no refuge upon the whole face of the earth but some wUd and barbarous region, where refinement was unknown, and Ufe would not have been worth having. To the present writer the truth seems to be that Rome never was in the posi- tion supposed — that from first to last, from the time of Pompey's Eastern Conquests to the Fall of the Empire, there was always in the world a Second Power, civilized or semi-civilized, which in a true sense balanced Rome,' acted as a counterpoise and a check, had to be consulted or considered, held a place in all yiii PREFACE. men's thoughts, and finally furnished a not intolerable refuge to such as had provoked Kome's master beyond forgiveness. This Power for nearly three centuries (B.C. 64— A. D. 225) was Parthia, after which it was Persia under the Sassanian kings. In the hope of gradually vindicating to Parthia her true place in the Avorld's history, the Author has in his "Manual of Ancient History " (published by the Delegates of the Clarendon Press) i^laced the Parthians alongside of the Romans, and treated of their liistory at a moderate length. But it has seemed to him that something more was requisite. He could not expect that students would be able to give Parthia her proper place in their thoughts unless her history were collected and put forth in a readable form with some fulness. He has, therefore, employed most of his leisiire during the last two years in writing the present Avork, which he commends to students of the later Greek and Roman periods as supplemental to the modern Greek and Roman histories in which those periods are commonly studied. The Parthian Chronology depends very much upon coins. In preparing this portion of his work the Author has been greatly indebted to aid kindly rendered him by M. R. Stuart Poole and Mr. Gardiner of the British Museum. The repre- sentations of coins in the work have been, with one exception, taken by the Author from the originals in the National Collec- tion. For the illustrations of Parthian architecture and art he is indebted to the published works of Mr. Ains worth, Mr, Ross, the late Mr. Loftus, and MM. Flandin and Coste, He feels also bound to express his obligations to the late Mr. Lindsay, the numismatic portion of whose work on Parthia' he has found of much service. Canterbury, December, 1872. PREFACE TO SEVENTH MONARCHY. Tins work completes the Ancient History of the East, to vvlii(.-h the author has devoted his main attention during the last eighteen years. It is a sequel to his "Parthians," pub- lished in 1873 ; and carries down the History of Western Asia from the third century of our era to the middle of the seventh. So far as the present writer is aware, no European author has previously treated this period from the Oriental stand-point, in any work aspiring to be more than a mere sketch or out- line. Very many such sketches have been published; but they have been scanty in the extreme, and the greater num- ber of thom have been based on the authority of a single class of writers. It has been the present author's aim to combine the various classes of authorities which are now accessible to the historical student, and to give their due weight to each of them. The labors of M. C. Miiller, of the Abbe Gregoire Kabaragy Garabed, and of M. J. St. Martin have opened to us the stores of ancient Armenian litem tiu-e, which were pre- viously a sealed volume to all but a small class of students. The early Arab historians have been translated or analyzed by Kosegarten, Zotenberg, M. Jules Mohl, and others. The coinage of the Sassanians has been elaborately— almost ex- hfUistively— treated by Mordtmann and Thomas. Mr. Fergus- son has applied his acute and practised powers to the elucida- tion of the Sassanian architecture. By combining the results thus obtained with the old sources of information — the clas- sical, especially the Bj-'zantine writers- it has become possible to compose a history of the Sassanian Empire which is at once consecutive, and not absolutely meagi'e. How the author has performed his task, he must leave it to the ]niblic to judge ; he will only ventin-e to say that he has spared no labor, but has gone carefully through the entire series of the Byzantine writers who treat of the time, besides availing himself of the various modern works to which reference has been made X PREFACE. above. If he has been sometimes obliged to draw conclusions from his authorities other than those drawn by Gibbon, and has deemed it right, in the interests of historic truth, to ex- press occasionally his dissent from that writer's views, he must not be thought blind to the many and gi-eat excellencies which render the "Decline and Fall" one of the best, if not the best, of our histories. The mistakes of a writer less emi- nent and less popular might have been left unnoticed without ill results. Those of an historian generally regarded as an authority from whom there is no appeal could not be so lightly treated. The author begs to acknowledge his great obligations, espe- cially, to the following living writers: M. Patkanian, M. Jules Mohl, Dr. Haug, Herr Spiegel, Herr Windischmann, Herr Mordtmann, Canon Tristram, Mr. James Fergusson, and Mr, E. Thomas. He is also largely beholden to the works of M, Texier and of MM. Flandin and Coste for the illustrations, which he has been able to give, of Sassanian sculpture and architecture. The photogi-aphic illustrations of the newly- discovered palace at Mashita are due to the liberality of Mr. R. C. Johnson (the amateur artist who accompanied Canon Tristram in his exploration of the "Land of Moab"), who, with Canon Tristram's kind consent, has allowed them to appear in the present volume. The numismatic illustrations are chiefly derived from Longperier ; but one or two have been borrowed from other sources. For his frontispiece the author is in- debted to his brother, Sir Henry RawHnson, who has per- mitted it to be taken from an original drawing in his posses- sion, which he believed to be a truthful representation of the great Sassanian building. Cakterbury: December 1875. CONTEXTS OT VOL. I. » ■ < THE FIEST MONARCHY. C H A L D ^ A. CHAPTER I. PAGE General View of the Country 1 CHAPTER 11. T'LIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS 18 CHAPTER III. T'he People 28 CHAPTER IV. Language and Writing 41 CHAPTER V. Arts and Sciences 48 CHAPTER VI. Manners and Customs 6T CHAPTER VII. Religion 70 CHAPTER VIII. History and Cdronology 07 iv CONTENTS OF VOL, I. THE SECOND MONAKCHY. ASSYRIA. CHAPTER I. PAGE Desckiption of the Country 120 CHAPTER II. Climate and Productions 139 CHAPTER III. The People 151 CHAPTER IV. The Capital 158 CHAPTER Y. Language and Writing 167 CHAPTER YI. Architecture and other Arts 178 CHAPTER YII. Manners and Customs 241 CHAPTER YIII. Religion 341 CHAPTER IX. Chronology and History 367 Appendix A 508 " B 613 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS-VOL. I. Map of Mesopotamia and Adjacent Regions To face title. Map of Media At the end. PLATE 1. Plan of Mugheir ruins (after Taylor) 1 2. Ruius of Waika (Erech) (after Loftus) 2 3. Akkerkiif (ufUT Ker Porter) 3 4. Hammau (after Loftus) 3 5. Tel-Ede (ditto) 4 6. Palms (after Oppert) 4 7. Chaldajan reeds, from an Assyrian sculpture (after Layard) 5 8. Wild sow and pigs, from Koyun jik (Layard) 6 9. Ethiopians (after Prichard) 6 10. Cuneiform inscriptions (drawn by the Author, from bricks in the British Museum) 6, 7 11. Chaldaiun tablet (after Laj-ard) 7 12. Signet-cylinder (after Ker Porter) 7 13. Bowariyeli (after Loftus) 8 14. Mugheir Temple (ditto) 8 15. Ground plan of ditto (ditto) 9 16. Mugheir Temple, restored (by the Author) 9 17. Terra-cotta cone, actual .size (after Loftus) 9 18. Plan and wall of building patterned with cones (after Loftus) 10 19. Oround-plan of chambers excavated at Abu-Shahrein (after Taylor) 10 20. Brick vault at Mugheir (ditto) 11 21. Chaldfi'ftn dish-cover tombs (ditto) 11. 12 22. Clialdican jar-cofflu (ditto) IS 23. Section of drain (ditto) 13 24. Chaldican va.ses of the first period (drawn by the Author from vases in the British Museum) 13 25. Chalda;an vases, drinking-vessels, and amphora of the second period (ditto) 18 26. Chalda;an lamps of the second period (ditto) 13 27. Seal-cylinder on metal axis (drawn and partly restored by the Author). ... 14 28. Signet-cylinder of King Urukh (after Ker Porter) 14 29. Flint knives (drawn by the Author from the originals in the British Museum) 14 30. Stone hammer, hatchet, adze, and nail (chiefly after Taylor) 15 31. Chaldsean bronze spear and arrow-heads (drawn by the Author from the originals in the British Museum) 15 82. Bronze implements (ditto) 16 33. Flint imiilemeut (after Taylor) 16 34. Ear-rings (drawn by the Author from the originals io the British Museum). 16 86. Leaden pipe and jar (ditto) 17 xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PLATB 36. Bronze baiiples (ditto) 17 37. Senkareh table of squares 18 38. Costunie.s of Chalflseans from the cylinders (after CuUimore and Rich) 19 39. SeiTaent symbol (after CuUimore) 19 40. Flaming Sword (ditto) 19 41. Figure of Nin, the Fish-God (Layard) 19 42. Nin's emblem, the Man- Bull (ditto) 19 43. Fish symbols (after CuUimore) 19 44. Bel-Merodach (ditto) 19 45. Nergal's emblem, the Man-Lion (Layard) 20 46. 47. Clay images of Ishtar (after CuUimore and Layard) 21 48. Nebo (drawn by the Author from a statue in the British Museum) 21 49. Signet of Kurri-galzu, King of Babylon (drawn by the author from an im- pression in the possession of Sir H. Rawlinson) 21 50. The Khabour, from near Arban, looking north (after Layard) 22 51. Koukab (ditto) 22 52. Lake of Khatouniyeh (ditto) 23 53. Colossal lion, near Seruj (after Chesney) . . 23 54. Plan of the ruins of Nimrud (Calah) (reduced by the Author from Captain Jones's survey) 24 55. Great mound of Nimrud or Oalah (after Layard) 24 56. Hand-swipe, Koyunjik (ditto) 25 57. Assyrian lion, from Nimrud (ditto) 25 58. Ibex, or wild goat, from Nimrud (ditto) 25 59. Wild ass (after Ker Porter) 26 60. Leopard, from Nimrud (aft«r Layard) 26 61. Wild ass, f lom Koyunjik (from an unpublished drawing by Mr. Boutcher in the British Museum) 26 62. Gazelle, from Nimrud (after Layard) 27 63. Stag and hind, from Koyunjik (from an unpublished drawing by Mr. Bout- cher in the British Museimi ) 27 64. Fallow deer, from Koyunjik (after Layard) 27 65. Hare and eagles, from Nimrud (ditto) 28 66. Hai-e, from Khorsabad i after Botta) 28 67. Chase of wild ox, from Nimrud (after Layard) 28 68. Vulture, from Nimrud (ditto) 28 69. Vulture feeding on corpse, Koyunjik (ditto) 28 70. Ostrich, from a cylinder (after CuUimore) 29 71. Ostrich, from Nimrud (after Layard) 29 72. Partridges, from Khorsabad (after Botta) 29 73. Unknown birds, Khorsabad (ditto) 29 74. Assyrian garden and fish-pond, Koyunjik (after Layard) 29 75. Bactrian or two-humped camel, from Nimrud (ditto) 30 76. Mesopotamia!! sheep (ditto) 30 77. Loading a camel, Koyunjik (ditto) 30 78. Head of an Assyrian horse, Koyunjik (ditto) 30 79. Assyrian horse, from Nimrud (ditto) 31 80. Mule ridden by two women, Koyunjik (after Layard) 31 81. Loaded mule, Koyvmjik (ditto) 32 82. Cart drawn by mules, Koyunjik (ditto) 32 83. Dog modelled in clay, from the palace of Asshur-bani-pal, Koyimjik, (drawn by the Author from the original in the British Museum) 32 84. Dog in relief, on a clay tablet (after Layard) 33 85. Assyrian duck, Nimrud (ditto) 33 86. Assyrians, Nimrud (ditto) 33 87. Mesopotamian captives, from an Eg.yptian monument (Wilkinson) 34 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XV PLATE 88. Limbs of Assyrians, from the sculptures (after Layard) 34 89. Capture of a city, Nimrud (ditto) 35 90. Captives of Sargon, Khorsabad (after Botta) 35 91. Captive women in a cart, Nimrud (Layard) 36 92. Ruins of Nineveh (reduced by the Author from Captain Jones's survey) .... 36 93. Khosr-Su and mound of Nebbi- Yunus (after Layard) 37 94. Gate in the north wall, Nineveh (ditto) 37 95. Outer defences of Nineveh, in their present condition (ditto) 38 96. Assyrian cylinder (after Birch) 89 97. Assyrian seals (after Layard) 39 98. Assyrian clay tablets (ditto) 40 99. Black obelisk, from Nimrud (after Birch) 40 100. Terrace-wall at Khorsabad (after Botta) 41 101. Pavement-slab, from the Northern Palace, Koyunjik (Fergu-sson) 41 102. Mound of Khorsabad (ditto) 42 103 Plan of the Palace of Sargon, Khorsabad (ditto) 42 104. Hall of Esar-haddon's Palace, Nimrud (ditto) 43 105. Plan of the Palace of Sargon, Khorsabad (ditto) 44 106. Remains of I'ropylaeum, or outer gateway.JKhorsabad (Layard) 43 107. King and attendants, Khorsabad (after Botta) 43 108. Plan of palace gateway (ditto) 45 109. King punishing prisoners, Khorsabad (ditto) 45 110. North-West Court of Sargon's Palace at Khorsabad, restored (after Fer- gus.son) 46 111. Sargon in his war-chariot, Khorsabad (after Botta) 45 112. Cornice of temple, Khorsabad (Ferg^usson) 45 113. Armenian louvre (after Botta) 47 114. Armenian buildings, from Koyunjik (Layard) 47 115. Interior of an Assyrian palace, restored (ditto) 48 116. Assyrian castle on Nimrud obelisk (drawn by the Author from the original in the British Museum) 47 117. Assyrian altar, from a bas-relief, Khorsabad (after Botta) 47 118. Assyrian temple, Khorsabad (ditto) 49 119. Assyrian temple, from Lord Aberdeen's black stone (after Fergusson) 49 120. Assyrian temple, Nimrud (drawn by the Author from the original in the British Museum) 49 121. Assyrian temple. North Palace, Koyunjik (ditto) : 49 122. Circular pillar-base, Koyunjik (after La_yard) 51 123. Ba.sement portion of an Assyrian temple. North Palace, Koyunjik (drawn by the Aut hor from the original in the British Museum) 50 124. Porch of the Cathedral, Trent (from an original sketch made by the Author) 51 125. Tower of a temple, Koyunjik (after Layard) 52 126. Tower of ditto, restored (by the .Vuthor) 52 127. Tower of great temple at Nimrud (after Layard) 52 128. Basement of temple-tower, Nimrud, north and west sides (ditto) 54 129. Ground-plan of Nimrud Tower (ditto) 54 130. Ground-plans of temples, Nimrud (ditto) 54 131. Entrance to smaller temple. Nimrud (ditto) 55 132. Assyrian village, Koyunjik (ditto) 56 13.3. Village near Aleppo (ditto) 56 134. Assyrian battlemented wall (ditto) 57 135. Masonry and section of platform wall, Khorsabad (after Botta) 67 136. Masonry of town-wall, Khorsabad (ditto) 57 137. Ma.sonry of tower or moat, Khorsabad (ditto) 58 138. Arched drain, North-West Palace, Nimrud (after Layard) 59 XVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 139. Arched drain, South-East Palace, Nimrud (ditto) 68 140. False arch (Greek) • 59 141. Assyrian patterns, Nimrud (Layard) 60 142. Ditto (ditto) 60 143. Bases and capitals of pillars (chiefly drawn by the Author from bas-reliefs in the British Museum) 61 144. Ornamental doorway, North Palace, Koyunjik (from an unpublished draw- ing'by Mr. Boutcher in the British Museum) 62 145. Water transport of stone for building, Koyunjik (after Layard) C2 146. Assyrian statue from Kileh-Sherghat (ditto) 63 147. Statue of Sardanapalus I., from Nimrud (ditto) 63 148. Clay statuettes of the god Nebo (after Botta) 63 149. Clay statuette of the Fish-God (drawn by the Author from the original in the British Museum) 64 150. Clay statuette from Khorsabad (after Botto) 64 151. Lion hunt, from Nimrud (after Layard) 64 152. Assyrian seizing a wiid bull, Nimrud (ditto) 65 153. Hawk- headed figure and sphinx, Nimrud (ditto) 65 154. Death of a wild bull, Nimrud (ditto) 65 155. King killing a lion, Nimrud (ditto) 66 156. Trees from Nimrud (ditto) 66 157. Trees from Koyunjik (ditto) 66 158. Groom and horses, Khorsabad (ditto) 67 159.160. Assyrian oxen, Koyunjik (ditto) 67 161. Assyrian goat and sheep, Koyunjik (dittos 68 162. Vine trained on a fir, from the North Palace, Koyunjik (drawn by the Author from a bas-relief in the British Museum) 68 163. Lilies, from the North Palace, Koyunjik (ditto) 69 164. Death of two wild asses, from the North Palace, Koyunjik (from an impub- lished drawing by Mr. Boutcher in the British Museum) 69 165. Lion about to spring, from the North Palace, Koyunjik (ditto) 69 166. Woimded wild ass seized by hounds, from the North Palace, Koyimjik (ditto) 70 167. Wounded lion about to fall, from the North Palace, Koytmjik (from an im- published drawing by Mr. Boutcher, in the British Museum) 70 168. W^ounded lion biting a chariot- wheel, from the North Palace, Koyunjik (ditto) 71 169. King shooting a lion on the spring, from the North Palace, Koyunjik (ditto) 72 170 Lion-hunt in a river, from the North Palace, Koyunjik (ditto) 73 171. Bronze lion, from Nimrud (after Layard) 74 172. Fragments of bronze ornaments of the throne, from Nimrud (ditto) 74 173. Bronze casting, from the throne, Nimrud (ditto) 74 174. Feet of tripods in bronze and iron (ditto) 75 175. Bronze bull's head, from the throne (ditto) 75 176. Bronze head, part of throne, showing bitumen inside (ditto) 75 177. End of a sword-sheath, from the N. W. Palace, Nimrud (ditto) 75 178. Stool or chair, Khorsabad (after Botta) 75 179. Engraved scarab in centre of cup, from the N. W. Palace, Nimrud (Layard) 76 180. Egyptian head-dresses on bronze dishes, from Nimrud (ditto) 76 181. Ear-rings from Nimrud and Khorsabad (ditto) , 76 182. Bronze cubes inlaid %vith gold, original size (ditto) 76 183. Egyptian scarab (from Wilkinson) 76 184. Fragment of ivory panel, from Nimrod (after Layard) 77 185. Fragment of a lion in ivory, Nimrud (ditto) 77 186. Figures and cartouche with hieroglyphics, on an ivory panel, from the N. W. Palace, Nimrud (ditto) 78 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XV ii PLATK 187. Fragment of a stag in ivory, Nimrud (ditto) 77 188. Royal attendant, Nimrud (ditto) 77 189. Arcade woric, on enamelled brick, Nimrud (ditto) 79 190. Human figure, on enamelled brick, from Nimrud (ditto) 79 191. Ram's head, on enamelled brick, from Nimrud (ditto) 79 192. King and attendants, on enamelled brick, from Nimrud (ditto) 80 19.3 Impression of ancient Assyrian cylinder, in serpentine (ditto) 79 191. Assyrian seals (ditto) 81 19.5. Assyrian cylinder, with Fish-God (ditto) 81 196. Royal cylinder of Sennacherib (ditto) 81 197. Assyrian vases, amphorae, etc. (after Birch) 80 198. F'unereal urn. from Khorsabad (after Botta) 81 199. Nestorian and Arab workmen, with jar discovered at Nimrud (Layard) 82 200. Lustral ewer, from a bas relief, Khorsabad (after Botta) 81 201. Wine vase, from a bas-relief, Khorsabad (ditto) 81 202. Assj'rian clay-lamp, (after Layard and Birch) 82 20.3. Amphora, with twisted arms, Nimrud (Birch) 83 204. Assyrian glass bottles and bowl (after Layard) 83 205. Glass vase, bearing the name of Sargon, from Nimrud (ditto) 83 20C. Fragments of hollow tubes, in gla.ss, from Koyunjik (ditto) 83 207. Ordinarj- A.ssyrian tables, from the bas-reliefs (by the Author) 84 208, 209. Assyrian tables, from bas-reliefs. Koyunjik (ditto) 84 210. Table, ornamented w ith ram's heads. Koyunjik (after Layard) 84 211. Ornamented table, Khorsabad (ditto) 84 212. Three-legged table, Koyunjik (ditto) 84 213. Sennacherib on his throne, Koj-unjik (ditto) 84 214. Arm-chair or throne, Khorsabad (after Botta) 85 21,5. Assyrian ornamented seat, Khorsabad (ditto) 85 216. Assyrian couch, from a bas-relief, Koyunjik (by the Author) 85 217. Assyrian footstools, Koyunjik (ditto) 85 218. Stands for jars (Layard) 85 219. Royal embroidered dresses, Nimrud (ditto) 86 220. Embroidery on a royal dress, Nimrud (ditto) 86 221. Circular breast ornament on a royal robe, Nimrud (ditto) 87 222. Assyrians moving a human-headed bull, partly restored from a bas-relief at Koyunjik (ditto) 88 223. Laborer eraployeeriod, Nimrud (from the original in the Briti.sh Museum) 92 2.36. As.syrian war-chariot of the later period, Koyunjik (ditto) 92 237. As.syrian chariot of the transition period, Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 92 238. Assyrian chariot of the early period, Nimrud (from the original in the British Museum) 93 xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 239. Chariot-horse protected by clothing, Koyunjik (ditto) 93 240. Head of a chariot-horse, showing collar with bells attached, Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 93 241. Bronze bit, Nimrud (from the original in the British Museum) 94 242. Bits of chariot-horses, from the sculptures, Nimrud and Koyimjik (ditto)... 94 243. Driviug-whips of Assyrian charioteers, -from the sculptures (ditto) 94 244. Mode of tying horses' tails, Koyunjik (ditto) 94 245. Mounted spearmen of the time of Sargon, Khorsabad (after Botta) 95 24t). Greave or laced boot of a hor.seman, Khorsabad (ditto) 95 247. Cavalry soldiers of ihe time of Sennacherib, Koyunjik (after Layard) 96 248. Horse archer of the latest period, Koyunjik from the original in the British Museum) 95 249. Ordinary sandal of the first period, Nimrud (ditto) 96 250. Convex shield of the first period, Nimrud (after Layard) 96 251. Foot spearmen of the first period, with wicker shield, Nimrud (from the original in the British Museum) 96 252. Foot archer with attendant, first period, Nimrud (ditto) 96 253. Foot archer of the Ughtest equipment, time of Sargon, Khorsabad (after Botta) 96 254. Foot archer of the intermediate equipment, with attendant, time of Sargon, Khorsabad (after Botta) 97 255. Foot archer of the heavy equipment, with attendant, time of Sargon, Khorsabad (ditto) 97 256. Foot spearman of the time of Sargon, Khorsabad (ditto) 97 257. Shield and greave of a spearman. Khorsabad (ditto) 97 258. Spear, with weight at the lower end, Khorsabad (ditto) 98 259. Sling, Koyunjik (from the original in the British Museum) 98 260. Foot archer of the heavy equipment, with attendant, time of Sennacherib, Koyunjik (ditto) 98 261. Foot archers of the second class, time of Sennacherib, Koyunjik (ditto) 98 262. Belts and head-dress of a foot archer of the third class, time of Sennacherib, Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 98 263. Mode of carrying the quiver, time of Sennacherib, Koyunjik (from the original in the British Museum) 99 264. Foot archers of the lightest equipment, time of Sennacherib, Koyunjik (ditto) 99 965. Foot spearman of the time of Sennacherib, Koyunjik (after Layard) 99 266. Wicker shields, time of Sennacherib, Koyunjik (from the originals in the British Museum) 99 267. Metal shield of the latest period, Koyunjik (ditto) 100 268. Slinger, time of Asshm--bani-pal, Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 100 269. Pointed helmet, with curtain of scales, Nimrud (after Layard) 100 270. Iron helmet, from Koyunjik, now in the British Museum (by the Author)... 100 271. Assyrian crested helmets, from the bas-reliefs, Khorsabad and Koyunjik (from the originals in the British Museum) 100 272. Scale, Egyptian (after Sir G. Wilkinson) 101 273. Arrangement of scales in Assyrian scale-armom" of the second j)eriod, Khorsabad (after Botta) 101 274. Sleeve of a coat of mail— scale-armor of the first period, Nimrud (from the original in the British Museum) 101 275. Assyrian gerrha. or large wicker shields (ditto) 101 276. Soldier undermining a wall, sheltered by gerrhon. Koyunjik (ditto) 101 277. Round shields or targes, patterned, Khorsabad (after Botta) 104 278. Convex shields with teeth, Nimrud (from the originals in the British Museum) 102 279. Egyptian convex shield, worn on back (after Sir G. Wilkinson) 102 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xix PLATB 280. Assyrian ditto, Koyun jik (from the original in the British Museum) 102 281. Assyrian convex shield, resembling the Greek, Koyunjik (ditto) 103 282. Quiver, with arrows and javelin, Niinrud (ditto) 103 283. Ornamented end of. bow, Khorsabad (after Botta) 103 284. Stringing the bow, Koyunjik (from the original in the British MuBeum) 103 285. Assyrian curved bow (.ditto) 104 286. Assyrian angiilar bow, Khorsabad (after Botta) 104 287. Mode of carrying the bow in a bow-case, Koyunjik (from the original in the British Museum) 104 288. Peculiar unxle of carrying the quiver, Koyunjik (ditto) 104 289. Quiver, with rich ornamentation, Nimrud (after Layard) 104 290. Quivers of the ordinary character, Koyunjik (from the originals in the British MuseuHi) 1(M 291. Quiver with projecting rod, Kliorsabad (after Botta) 105 292. Assyrian covered quivers, Koyunjik (from the originals in the British Museum) 10.5 293. Bronze arrow-heads, Nimrud and Koyunjik (ditto) lO.") 294. Flint arrow-head, Nimrud (ditto) 10.5 295. Assyrian arrow (ditto) 105 29ti. Mode of drawing the bow, Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 106 297. Guard wc>rn by an archer, Koyunjik iditto) 100 298. Bronze spear-head. Nimrud (fiom the original in the British Museum) 106 299. Spear-heads (from the Sculptures) 106 300. Ornamented ends of spear-shafts, Nimrud (after Layard ) 106 301. Ornamented handle of short sword, Khorsabad (after Botta) 107 302. Sheathed sword, Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 107 303. Ornamented handle of longer sword, Nimrud (from the original in the British Museum) 107 304. Assyrian curved sword, Khorsabad (after Botta) 107 305. Head of royal mace, Khorsabad (ditto) , 108 306. Maces, from the Sculptures lOS 307. As.syrian battle-axes, Koyunjik (from the originals in the British Museum). 108 308. Scythian battle-axe (after Texier) 107 300. Ornamented handles of daggers, Nuurud (after Layard) 1(C 310. Handle of dagger, with chain, Nimrud (ditto) 107 311. Sheathsof daggers, Nimrud (ditto) 108 312. Assyrian standard, Khorsal)ad (after Botta) 10ft 313. Soldier swimming a river, Koyunjik (after Layard) 108 314. Royal tent, Koyunjik (from the original in the British Museum) 109 315. Ordinary tent, Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 109 316. Interior of tent, Koyunjik ulitto) 109 317. King walking in a mountainous country, chariot following, supported by men, Koyunjik (from an obelisk in the British Museum, after Boutcher), 109 318. Fortified place belonging to an enemy of the Assyrians, Nimrud (after Layard) 109 319. Gateway of castle. Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 110 320. Battering-rams, Khorsabad and Koyunjik (partly after Botta) 110 321. Assyrian balista:, Nimnid (after La}'ard) Ill .322. Crowbar, and mining the wall, Koyunjik (ditto) 110 323. Implement used in the destruction of cities, Khorsabad (after Botta) 112 324. Soldiers destroying date-pahns. Koyunjik (after Layard) Ill 325. Soldier carrying off spoil from a temple, Khorsabad (after Botta) Ill 326. Scribes taking account of the spoil, Khorsabad (ditto) Ill 827. Mace-bearer, with attendant, executing a prisoner, Koyunjik (from the original in the British^Iuseum) Ill 828. Swordsman decapitating a prisoner, Eoyxinjik (ditto) 113 XX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FLITB 839. Female captives, with children, Koyunjik (after Layard) 112 330. Chasuble or outer garment of the king (chiefly after Botta) 112 331. King in his robes, Khorsabad (after Botta) 112 332. Tiaras of the later and earlier Periods, Koyunjik and.Nimrud (Layard and Boutcher) 113 333. Fillet worn by the king, Nimrud (after Layard) 113 334. Royal sandals, times of Sargon and Asshur-izir-pal (from the originals in the British Museum) 113 335. Royal shoe, time of Sennacherib, Koyunjik (ditto) 113 336. Royal necklace, Nimrud (ditto) 113 337. Royal collar, Nimrud (ditto) 113 338. Royal armlets, Khorsabad (after Botta) 114 339. Royal bracelets, Khorsabad and Koyunjik (after Botta and Boutcher) 114 340. Royal ear-rings, Nimrud (from the originals in the British Museum) 114 341. Early king in his war-costume, Nimrud (ditto) 214 342. King, queen, and attendants, Koyunjik (ditto) 115 343. Enlarged figure of the queen, Koyunjik (ditto) 115 344. Royal parasols, Nimrud and Koyunjik (ditto) 116 345. Heads of eunuchs, Nimrud (ditto) 115 346. The chief eimuch, Nimrud (ditto) 116 347. Head-dress of the vizier, Khorsabad (after Botta) 116 348. Costumes of the vizier, times of Sennacherib and Asshur-izir-pal, Nimrud and Koyunjik (from the originals in the British Museum) 117 349. Tribute-bearers presented by the chief eunuch, Nimrud obelisk (ditto) 117 350. Fans or fly -flappers, Nimrud and Koyunjik (ditto) 118 851. King killing a lion, Nimrud (after Layard) 118 352. King, with attendants, spearing a lion, Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 118 353. King, with attendant, stabbing a lion, Koyunjik (ditto) 119 .354. Lion let out of trap, Koyvmjik (ditto) 119 355. Hound held in leash, Koyunjik (from the original in the British Museum)... 119 356. Wounded lioness, Koyunjik (ditto) 120 357. Fight of lion and bull, Nimrud (after Layard) 120 358. King hunting the wild bull, Nimrud (ditto) 120 359. King pouring libation over four dead hons, Koyunjik (from the original in the British Museum) 120 360. Hound chasing a wild ass colt, Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 121 361. Dead wild ass, Koyunjik (ditto) 121 362. Hounds pulling down a wild ass, Koyunjik (ditto) ^ 121 S63. Wild ass taken with a rope, Koyunjik (from the original in the British Museum) 121 364. Hound chasing a doe, Koyim jik (after Boutcher) 122 365. Hunted stag taking the water, Koyunjik (ditto) 122 S66. Net spread to take deer, Koyunjik (from the original in the British Museum) 123 867. Portion of net showing the arrangement of the meshes and the pegs, Ko- yunjik (ditto) 123 368. Hunted ibex, flying at full speed. Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 123 369. Ibex transfixed with arrow— falling (ditto) 123 870. Sportsman carrying a gazelle, Khorsabad (from the original in the British Museum) 124 371 . Sportsman shooting, Khorsabad (after Botta) 124 372. Greyhound and hare, Nimrud (from a bronze bowl in the British Museum). 124 373. Nets, pegs, and balls of string, Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 134 374. Man fishing, Nimrud (after Layard) 125 375. Man fishing, Koyxmjik (ditto) 125 376. Man fishing, seated on skin, Koyunjik (from the original in the British Museimi) 126 LI8T OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xxi PLATB 377. Bear Btandinp, Nimrud (from a bronze bowl in the British Museum) VM 378. Ancient Assjrian harp and harper, Nimrud (from the originals in the British Museum) 126 379. Later Assyrian harps and harpers, Kojrun jik (ditto) 127 380. Triangular lyre. Koyunjik (ditto) 126 381. Lyre with tea strings, Khonsabad (after Botta) 127 382. Lyres with tive and seven strings, Koyunjik (from the originals in the British Mu.seum) 128 383. Guitar or tainboura, Koyunjik (ditto) 128 384. Player on the double pipe. Koyunjik (ditto)... 128 385. Tambourine player and other musicians, Koyxin jik (ditto) 129 386. Eunuch playing on the cymbals, Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 130 387. Assyrian tubbuls, or drums, Koyunjik (from the originals in the British Museumi. 129 388. Musician playing the dulcimer, Kojiinjik (ditto) lau 389. Roman trumpet (Column of Trajan) 130 390. Assyrian ditto, Koyunjik (after Layard) 130 391. Portion of an Assyrian trumpet (from the original in the British Museum).. 130 392. Captives playing on lyres, Koyunjik (ditto) 131 39-3. Lyre on a Hebrew coin (ditto) 132 394. Band of twenty-six musicians, Koyunjik (ditto) 132 895. Time-keepers, Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 132 89tJ. Assyrian coracle, Nimrud (from the original in the British Museum) ISi 897. Common oar, time of Sennacherib, Koyunjik (ditto) 133 395. Steering oar, time of Asshur-izir-pal, Nimrud (ditto) 133 399. Early long boat, Nimrud (ditto) 133 400. Later long boat, Khorsabad (after Botta) 133 401. PhcBuician bireme, Koyunjik (after Layard) 133 402. Oar kept in place by pegs, Koyunjik (from the original in the British Museum) 133 403. Chart of the district about Nimrud, showing the course of the ancient canal and conduit (after the survey of Captain Jones) 134 404. As.S3rian drill-plough (from Lord Aberdeen's black stone, after Fergusson. 134 405. Modem Turkish plough (after Sir C. Fellows) 134 406. Modern Arab plough (after C. Niebuhr) 1*1 407. Ornamental belt or girdle, Koj'unjik (from the original in the British Museum) 1.35 408. Ornamental cross-belt, Kliorsabad (after Botta) 135 409. Armlets of .Assyrian grandees, Khorsabad (ditto) iSS 410. Head dres.ses of various officials, Koyunjik (from the orig^inals in the British Museum) 135 411. Curious mode of arranging the hair, Koyunjik (from the originals in the British Museum) 1.85 412. Female seated (from an ivory in the British Museum) 135 413. Females gathering grapes (from some ivory fragments in the British Museum) 136 414. Necklace of flat glass beads (from the original in the British Museum) 136 415. Metal mirror (ditto) 136 416. Combs in iron and lapis lazuli (from the original in the British Museum) 137 417. Assyrian joints of meat (from the Sculptures) 1,37 418. Killing the sheep, Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 137 419. Cooking meat in caldron, Koyunjik (after I>ayard) 137 420. Frying, Nimrud (from the original in the British Museum) 137 421. Assyrian fruits (from the Monuments) 137 422. Drinking scene, Khorsabad (after Botta) 138 423. Ornamental wine-cup, Khorsabad (ditto) 138 xxu LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PLATB 424. Attendant bringinp flowers to a banquet, Koyunjik (after Layard) 138 425. Socket of hiufre. Ninirud (ditto) 138 426. Assyrians seated on stools, Koyunjik (from the original in the British Museum) 139 427. Making the bed, Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 139 428. Domestic utensils (from the Sculptures) 139 439. Dish handles, Nimrud (after Layard) 139 430. Bronze ladle, Ninirud (in the British Museum) 133 431. Hanging garden, Koyunjik (after Layard) 139 433. Assyrians drawing a hand-cart, Koyunjik (ditto) 139 433. Assyrian implements (from the Monuments) 140 434. Assyrian close carriage or litter, Koyunjik (from an obelisk in the British Museum, after Boutcher) 140 435. Groom feeding horses, Koyunjik (after Layard) 140 436. Groom currycombing a horse, Nimrud (from the original in the British Museum) 140 437. Emblems of Asshur (after Lajard) 141 438. Emblems of the principal gods (from an obelisk in the British Museum) — 141 439. Curious emblem of Asshur, from the signet-cyUnder of Sennacherib (after Layard) ' 141 ' 440. Simplest forms of the Sacred Tree, Nimrud (from the originals in the British Museum) 141 441. Sacred Tree— final and most elaborate type, Nimrud (from the original in the British Museum) 143 442. The Moon-god, from a cj-linder (after Lajard) 142 443. Emblems of the sun and moon, from the cylinders 142 444. The god of the atmosphere, from a cylinder (after Lajard) 142 445. Winged figure in horned cap, Nimrud (from the original in the British Museum) 143 446. The sacred basket, Khorsabad (after Botta) 142 447. The hawk-headed genhis, Khorsabad (ditto) 143 448. Evil genii contending, Koyunjik (after Boutcher) 143 449. Sacrificial scene, from an obelisk found at Nimrud (ditto) 144 450. Triangular altar, Khonsabad (after Botta) 143 451. Portable altar in an Assyrian camp, with priests offering, Khorsabad (ditto) 143 4.53. Worshipper bringing an offering, from a cylinder (after Lajard) 144 453. Figure of Tiglath-Pileser I. (from an original drawing by Mr. John Taylor). 144 454. Plan of the palace of Asshur-izir-pal (after Fergusson) 145 455. Stele of Asshur-izir-pal witli an altar in front, Nimrud (from the original in the British Museum) 145 4.56. Israelites bringing tribute to Shalmaneser II., Nimrud (ditto). 146 457. Assyrian sphinx, time of Asshur-bani-pal (after Layard) 146 458 Scythian soldiers, from a vase found in a Scythian tomb 146 LIST OF AUTHORS AND EDITIONS QUOTED IN THE NOTES. ABrLPHARAGiTJS. Chronicon Syriacum, ed. J. Bruno, Lipsia?, 1780, Agathaiifjeliis, Historia Repni Tiridatis, in C. Mullen's Fragm. Hist. Gr. vol. v., Parisiis. 1S70. Agathias, in the Corpus Script. Hist. Byz. of B. G. Niebuhr, Bonnje. 1838. Ammiauus Marcellinus, ed. Gronovius, Lugd. Bat.. 1693. Analecta Grajca, ed. Benedict., Lute- tise Parisiorum, 1688. Annales de I'lnstitut Arcli6ologique, Paris, 1828. &c. Anonrnms (coiitinuator of Dio Cassius), in tne Fragm. Hist. 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Lectures on Daniel the Pro- phet, Oxford, 1869 (3rd edition). Rawlinson. G.. Five Ancient Oriental Monai-chies. 2nd ed., London, 1871. — , Sixth Oriental .Monarchy, Loudon, 1873. -. Translation of Herodotus,.with Notes, 2nd ed., Lon Adhem, wliicli imitcs its waters balf way between Samarali and Baghdad ; and the Diyaleh (ancient 8" THE FIRS1 MONARCHY [en. i. Gyndes), which is received between Baghdad and the ruins of Ctesiphon. By the influx of these streams the Tigris continues to grow in depth and strength as it nears the sea, and becomes at last ( as we have seen) a greater river than the Euphrates, which shrinks during the latter part of its course, and is reduced to a volume very inferior to that which it once boasted. The Eu- phrates at its junction with the Khabour, 700 miles above Kur- nah, is 400 yards wide and 18 feet deep ; at Irzah or Werdi, 75 miles lowef down, it is 350 yards wide and of the same depth ; at Hadiseh, 140 miles below Werdi, it is 300 yards wide, and still of the same depth ; at Hit, 50 miles below Hadiseh, its width has increased to 350 yards, but its depth has diminished to 16 feet ; at Felujiah, 75 miles from Hit, the depth is 20 feet, but the width has diminished to 250 yards. From this point the contraction is very rapid and striking. The Saklawiyeh canal is given out upon the left, and some way further down the Hindiyeh branches off upon the right, each carrying, when the Euphrates is full, a large body of water. The consequence is that at Hillah, 90 miles below Felujiah, the stream is no more than 200 yards wide and 15 feet deep ; at Diwaniyeh, 65 miles further down, it is only 160 yards wide ; and at Lamlun, 20 miles below Diwaniyeh, it is reduced to 120 yards wide, with a depth of no more than 12 feet ! Soon after, however, it begins to recover itself. The water, which left it by the Hindiyeh, returns to it upon the one side, while the Shat-el-Hie and nu- merous other branch streams from the Tigris flow in upon the other; but still the Euphrates never recovers itself entirely, nor even approaches in its later course to the standard of its earlier greatness. The channel from Kurnah to El Khitr Avas found by Colonel Chesney to have an average width of only 200 yards, and a depth of about 18 or 19 feet,^^ which implies a body of water far inferior to that carried between the junction with the Khabour and Hit. More recently, the decline of the stream in its latter course has been found to be even greater. Neglect of the banks has allowed the river to spread itself more and more widely over the land ; and it is said that, except in the flood time, very little of the Euphrates water reaches the sea. 8^ Nor is this an unprecedented or very unusual state of things. Fi-om the circumstance (probably) that it has been formed by the deposits of streams flowing from the east as well as from the north, the lower Mesopotamian plain slopes not only to the south, but to the west.^^ Tlie Euphrates, which has @ Scale of l/tn/t. Plan of Mugheir Ruins. n II H H. sens yanls round. a a n. Platforro on whiili tlie houM a ii buUt A. HotiM cleared. 6. r.ivomoiit at wljo of platfonn a, \i feet l>:law turlace. %] Tomb mountl wcro m:wlo br Mr. Uifti Points at itliich excavalions ///■/ Ctiiiiparatively ojwn apace of Tory low momuU, Plate II. Vol. .€/'«»> ^v^-. Hcale or ifards. Ruins of \Vaika.(Ercch). A. IVjw.irlycb. U. \Vuswa3. C. rarlliiau ruin. U. Edifice of ciiiii'3. en. I.] THE FLOOD SEASONS. Q low banks, is hence at all times inclined to leave its bed, and to flow off to the right,** where large tracts are below its ordinary level. Over these it spreads itself, forming the well-known "Chaldsean marshes,"^ which absorb the chief proportion of the water that flows into them, and in which the "great river" seems at various times to have wholly, or almost wholly, lost itself.*^ No such misfortune can befall the Tigris, which runs in a deep bed, and seldom varies its channel, offering a strong contrast to the sister stream.^ Frequent allusion has been made, in the course of this de- scription of the Tigris and Euphrates, to the fact of their hav- ing each a flood season. Herodotus is scarcely correct when he says that in Babylonia "the river does not, as in Egypt, overflow the corn-lands of its own accord, but is spread over them by the help of engines. " ^ Both the Tigris and Euphrates rise many feet each spring, and overflow their banks in various places. The rise is caused by the melting of the snows in the mountain regions from which the two rivers and their afiluents spring. As the Tigris drains the southern, and the Euphrates the northern side of the same mountain range, the flood of the former stream is earlier and briefer than that of the latter. The Tigris commonly begins to rise early in March, and reaches its greatest height in the first or second week of May, after which it rapidly declmes, and returns to its natural level by the middle of June. The Euphrates first swells about the middle of March, and is not in full flood till quite the end of May or the beginning of June ; it then continues high for above a month, and does not sink much till the middle of July, after which it gradually falls till September. Tlie country inundated by the Tigris is chiefly that on its lower course, between the 32d and 31st parallels, the territory of the Beni Lam Arabs. The territory which the Euphrates floods is far more extensive. As high up as its junction with the Khabour, that stream is described as, in the month of April, " spreading over the sur- rounding country like a sea. " ^ From Hit downwards, it inun- dates both its banks, more especially the country above Bagh- dad (to which it is carried by the Saklawiyeh canal), the tract west of the Birs Nimrud and extending thence by way of Nedjif to Samava, and the territory of the Affej Arabs, between the rivers above and below the 32d parallel. Its flood is, however, very irregular, owing to the nature of its banks, and the gen- eral inclination of the plain, whereof mention was made above.** If care is taken, the inundation may be pretty equally distrib- 10 THE FIRST MONARCHY. [CH. I. uted on either side of the stream ; but if the river banks are neglected, it is sure to flow mainly to the west, rendering the whole country on that side the river a swamp, and leaving the territory on the left bank almost without water. This state of things may be traced historically from the age of Alexander to the present day, and has probably prevailed more or less since the time when Chaldaea received its first inhabitants. The floods of the Tigris and Euphrates combine with the or- dinary action of their streams upon their banks to produce a constant variation in their courses, which in a long period of time might amount to something very considerable. It is im- possible to say, with respect to any portion of the alluvial plain, that it may not at some former period have been the bed of one or the other river. Still it would seem that, on the whole, a law of compensation prevails, with the result that the general position of the streams in the valley is not very differ- ent now from what it was 4000 years ago. Certainly between the present condition of things and that in the time of Alexan- der, or even of Herodotus, no great difference can be pointed out, except in the region immediately adjoining on the gulf, where the alluvium has grown, and the streams, which were formerly separate, have united their waters. The Euphrates still flows by Hit (Is) and through Babylon ; *° the Tigris passes near Opis,*^ and at Baghdad runs at the foot of an embankment made to confine it by Nebuchadnezzar.*- The changes traceable are less in the main courses than in the branch streams, which perpetually vary, being sometimes left dry within a few years of the time that they have been navigable channels.*^ The most important variations of this kind are on the side of Arabia. Here the desert is always ready to encroach ; and the limits of Chaldaea itself depend upon the distance from the main river, to which some branch stream conveys the Euphra- tes water. In the most flourishing times of the country, a wide and deep channel, branching off near Hit, at the very commence- ment of the alluvium, has skirted the Arabian rock and gravel for a distance of several hundred miles, and has entered the Persian Gulf by a mouth of its owoi.** In this way the extent of Chaldsea has been at times largely increased, a vast tract being rendered cultivable, which is otherwise either swamp or desert. * Such are the chief points of interest connected with the two great Mesopotamian rivers. These form, as has been already observed, the only marked and striking characteristics of the CH. I.] DIVISION OF THE COUNTRY. H country, which, except for them, and for one further feature, which now requires notice, would b(^ ahsojutdy luivaried and uniform. On the Arabian side of the Euphiates, oO miles south of the ruins of Babylon, and 25 or 30 miles from the river, is a fresh-water lake of very considerable dimensions —the Bahr-i Nedjif, the " Assyrium stagnum " of Justin.*^ This is a natural basin, 40 miles long, and from 10 to 20 miles broad, enclosed ",n three sides by sandstone cliffs, varying from 20 to 200 feet in height, and shut in on the fourth side — the north-east — by a rocky ridge, which intervenes between the valley wf the Eu- phrates and this inland sea. The cliffs are water-worn, present- ing distinct indications of more than one level at which the Ava- ter has rested in former times. *^ At the season of the inundation this lake is liable to be confounded with the extensive floods and marshes which extend continuously from the country west of the Birs Ninn-ud to Samava. But at other times the distinction between the Bahr and the marshes is very evident, the former remaining when the latter disappear altogether, andnotdunin- ishing very greatly in size even m the driest season. The wa ter of the lake is fresh and sweet, so long as it communicates with the Euphrates ; when the conmiunication is cut off it becomes very unpalatable, and those who dwell in the vicinity are no longer able to drink it. This result is attributed to the con- nection of the lake with rocks of the gypsiferous series.*^ It is obvious that the only natural divisions of Chalda?a proper are those made by the river-courses. The principal tract must always have been that which intervenes between the two streams. This was anciently a district some 300 miles in length, varying from 20 to 100 miles in breadth, and perhaps averag- ing 50 miles, which must thus have contained an area of about 15,000 sfjuare miles. The tract between the Euphrates and Arabia was at all times smaller than this, and in the most flourishing period of Chaldsea must have fallen short of 10,000 square miles. We have no evidence that the natural division of Chalda^a here indicated was ever employed in ancient times for political purposes. The division which aj>i5ears to have been so em- ployed was one into north(^rn and southern Chalda^a, the first extending from Hit to a little below Babylon, the second from Niffer to the shores of the Pei-sian Gulf. In each of these dis- tricts we have a sort of tetrarchy, or special pre-eminence of four cities, such as appears to be indicated by the words — " The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, 12 THE FIRST MONAllCIIY. [cu. I. and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."^® The southern tetrarchy is composed of the four cities, Ur or Hur, Huruk, Nipur, and Larsa or Larancha. which are probably icientilied with the Scriptural " Ur of the Chaldees," Erech, Calneh, and EUasar.*" The northern consists of Babel or Babylon, Borsippa, Cutha, and Sippara, of which all except Borsippa are nientioned in Scripture. ^'^ Besides these cities the country contained many others, as Chihuad, Dur-Kurri-galzu, Ihi or Ahava, Rubesi, Duran, Tel-IIumba, etc. It is not possible at present to locate with acciu-acy all these places. We may, however, in the more important instances, fix either certainly, or with a very high degree of probability, their position. Hur or Ur, the most important of the early capitals, was situated on the Euphrates, probably at no great distance from its mouth. It was probably the chief commercial emporium in the early times ; as in the bilingvial vocabularies its ships are mentioned in connection with those of Ethiopia. ^^ The name is found to have attached to the extensive ruins (now about six miles from the river, on its right bank, and nearly opposite its junction with the Shat-el-Hie) which are known by the name of Mugheir, or " the bitumened. " ^'^ [PI. I.] Here on a dead fiat, broken only by a few sand-hills, are traces of a considerable town, consisting chiefly of a series of low mounds, disposed in an oval shape, the largest diameter of which runs from north to south, and measures somewhat more than half a mile. The chief building is a temple, hereafter to be more particularly described, which is a very conspicuous object even at a consid arable distance, its greatest height above the plain being about seventy feet.^^ It is built in a very rude fashion, of large bricks, cemented with bitumen, whence the name by which the Ai'abs designate the ruins. About thirty miles from Hur, in a north- westerly- direction, and on the other side of the Euphrates, from which it is distant eight or nine miles, are the iniins of a town, called in the in- scriptions Larrak, or Larsa, in which some of the best Oriental- ists have recognized at once the Biblical Ellasar,** the Larauchse of Berosus,^^ and the Larissa of Apollodorus, where the king held his court who sent Memnon to the siege of Troy.*^ Tlie identification is perhaps doubtful ; but, at any rate, we have here the remains of a second Chalda'an capital, dating from the very earliest times. The ruins, which bear iioav the name of Senkereh or Sinkara, consist of a low circular platform, about four and a half miles in circumference, rising gradually Vol. I. F,g. 1, Plate IIJ' Akkerkuf. Hamnuun. Vol. I. lel-Ede. Fig 2 Palms. CH. 1.1 CHIEF CITIES. 13 from the level of the plain to a central mound, the highest point of which attains an elevation of seventy feet above the plain itself, and is distinctly visible from a distance of fifteen miles.*' The material used consists of the ordinary sun-dried and baked bricks ; and the basement platforms bear the inscrip- tions of the same king who appears to have oeen the original founder of the chief buildings at Ur or Mugheir. Fifteen miles from Larsa, in a direction a little north of west, and on the same side of the river, are iiiins considerably more extensive than those of either Ur or Larea, to which the na- tives apply the name of Warka, which is no dovibt a corrup- tion of the original appellation. [PI. II. ] The Erech, or Orech,*^ of the Hebrews, which appears as Huruk in the cuneiform geo- graphical lists, became known to the Greeks as Orchoe ; *^ and this appellation, probably continuing in use to the time of the Arab conquest, was then corrupted into Urka or Warka, in wiiich shape the name given by Nimrod still attaches to the second of his cities. The ruins stand in lat. 31° 19', long. 45° 40', about four miles from the nearest bend of the Euphrates, on its left or east bank. Tliey form an irregular circle, nearly six miles in circumference, which is defined by the traces of an earthen rampart, in some places forty feet high. A vast mass of undulating mounds, intersected by innumerable channels and ravines, extends almost entirely across the circular space, in a direction, which is nearly north and south, abutting at either end upon the rampart. East and west of this mass is a comparatively open space, where the mounds are scattered and infrequent; while outside the rampart are not only a num- ber of detached hillocks marking the site of ancient buildmgs, but in one direction — towards the ciist — the city may be traced continuously by means of ruined edifices, mounds, ajid pot- tery, fully three mUes beyond the rampart into the desert. The greatest height of the ruins is about 100 feet ; their con- struction is veiy nide and primitive, the date of some build- ings being evidently as early as that of the most ancient struct- ures of either Mugheir or Senkereh.'^' Sixty miles to tlie north-west of these ruins, still on the left oi- eastern bank of the Euplirates, but at the distance of thirty miles from its present course, are tlie renxains of another city, the only Chaldcean ruins which can dispute, with those al- ready described, the pahn of anticjuity. They consist of a num- ber of separate and distinct he '^m vr. ,v ^ ft '"^^k -Mil: ^- ^ ■- li f^-.'.. ^:, Chaldjcan Kecds (from a slab of Sennacherib). Plate VI. Fig 1. Vol Wild-sow and pigs, from Koyunjik. Fig. 2. Ethiopians (after Pricliard). Fie. 3. jffflaM'i''-'" iillll!!'ffi .VI 13,*?!^?''^^:^ ^ ^l^wmm\m \ WIS I^Mi: f':< "'^ f^M acaw^ cir. I.] BOEDER COUNTRIES. 17 the desert becomes more stony, its surface being strewn with numerous blocks of black granite, from which it derives its appellation of Hejerra.'^ No permanent streams water this region ; occasional " wadys " or torrent-courses, only full after heavy rains, are f< )und ; but the scattered inhabitants depend for water chiefly on their wells, which are deep and numerous, but yield only a scanty supply of a brackish and unp.-^latable fluid. No settled population can at any time have found sub- sistence in this region, which produces only a few dates, and in places a poor and unsucculent herbage. Sandstorms are frequent, and at times the baleful simoon sweeps across the entire tract, destroying with its pestilential breath both men and animals.'^ Towards the north Chaldaea adjoined upon Assyria. From the foot of that moderately lofty range already described,'* which the Greeks call Masius, and the modern Tui*ks know as Jebel Tin- and Karajah Dngh, extends, for above 300 miles, a plain of low elevation, slightly imdulating in places, and crossed about its centre by an important limestone ridge, known as the Siujar hills, which have a direction nearly east and west, beginning about Mosul, and terminating a little below Rakkah. This track differs from the Chaldcean lowland, by being at once less flat and more elevated. Geologically it is of secondary formation, while Chaldnea proper is tertiary or post- tertiary. It is fairly watered towards the north, but below the Sinjar is only very scantily supplied. In modern times it is for nine months in the year a desert, but anciently it was well inhabited, means having apparently been found to bring the whole into cultivation. As a complete account of this entire region must be given in another part of the present volume, this outline (it is thought) may suffice for our present purpose. I^astward of Chaldaea, separated from it by the Tigris, which in its lower course is a stream of more body than the Euphrates, was the country known to the Jews as Elam,**** to the early Greeks as Cissia,*^ and to the later Greeks as Susis or Susiana.'^'' This territory comprised a portion of the mountain country which separates Mesopotamia from Persia ; but it was chiefly composed of the broad and i-ich flats intervening between the mountains and tlie Tigris, along the courses of the Kerkhah, Kuran, and Jerahi rivers. It was a rich and fertile tract, re- sembling Chaldaea in its general character, with the exception that the vicinity of the mountains lent it freshness, giving it cooler streams, more frequent rains, and pleasanter breezes. 2 18 THE FIRST MONARCHY. [cH. ii. Capable of maintaining with ease a dense population, it was likely, in the early times, to be a powerful rival to the Mesopo- tamian kingdom, over which we shall find that in fact it some- times exercised supremacy. On the south Chaldsea had no neighbor. Here a spacious sea, with few shoals, land-locked, and therefore protected from the violent storms of the Indian Ocean, invited to commerce, offering a ready communication with India and Ceylon, as well as with Arabia Felix, Ethiopia, and Egypt. It is perhaps to this circumstance of her geographical position, as much as to any other, that ancient Chaldaea owes her superiority over her neighbors, and her right to be regarded as one of the five great monarchies of the ancient world. Commanding at once the sea, which reaches here deep into the land, and the great rivers by means of which the commodities of the land were most conveniently brought down to the sea, she lay in the highway of trade, and could scarcely fail to profit by her position. There is sufficient reason to believe that Ur, the first capital, was a great maritime emporium ; and if so, it can scarcely be doubted that to commerce and trade, at the least in part, the early development of Chaldaean greatness was owing. CHAPTER II. CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. " Ager totius Asite fertilissimus."— Plin. H. 2V. vi. 26. Lower Mesopotamia, or Chaldaea, which lies in the same latitude with Central China, the Punjab, Palestine, Marocco, Georgia, Texas, and Central California, has a climate the warmth of which is at least equal to that of any of those regions. Even in the more northern part of the country, the district about Baghdad, the thermometer often rises during the summer to 120° of Fahrenheit in the shade ; i and the in- habitants are forced to retreat to their serdabs or cellai-s,"^ where they remain during the day, in an atmosphere which, by the entire exclusion of the sun's rays, is reduced to about 100°. Lower down the valley, at Zobair, Busrah, and Mohanim- rah, the summer temperature is still higher ; * and, owing to the moisture of the atmosphere, consequent on the vicinity of CH. n.] CLIMATE AND TEMPERATURE. 19 the sea, the heat is of that pecuHarly oppressive character which prevails on the sea-coast of Hindustan, in Ceylon, in the West Indian Islands, at New Orleans, and in other places whose situation is similar. The vital powei-s languish under this oppression, which produces in the European a lassitude of body and a prostration of niind that wholly unfit him for active du- ties. On the Asiatic, however, these influences seem to have little effect. The Cha'b Arabs, who at present inhabit the re- gion, are a tall and warlike race, strong-limbed, and muscular ; * they appear to enjoy the clunate, and are as active, as healthy, and as long-lived as any tribe of their nation. But if man by long residence becomes thoroughly inured to the intense heat of these regions, it is otherwise with the animal creation. Camels sicken, and birds are so distressed by the high tempera- ture that they sit in the date-trees about Baghdad, with their mouths open, panting for fresh air.^ The evils proceeding from a burning temperature are aug- mented in places under the influence of winds, which, arising suddenly, fill the air with an impaljiable s'pt .and Ethiopia with the country at the head of the l*er8ian Gulf. Memnon, King of Ethiopia, according to Hesiod-'^ and Pindar,** in regarded by ^schylus as the son of a Cissian wonian,^ and by Herodotus and others as the founder of Suwi.** He leads an amiy of combined Susianians and Ethiopians to the assistance of Priam, his father's brother, and, after greatly distinguishing himself, perishes in one of the battles before Troy.'^ At the same time he is claimed as one of their monarchs by the Ethiopians upon the Nile,*^ and identified by the Egyptians with their king, Amunoph III.,** whose statue became known as "the vocal Memnon." Sometimes his expe- dition is supposed to have started from the African Ethiopia, and to have proceeded by way of Egypt to its destination.^ There were palaces, called " Memnonia," and supposed to have been built by him, both in Egypt and at Susa ; ^ and there was a tribe, called Memnones, near Meroe.^ Memnon thus unites the Eastern and the Western Ethiopians; and the less we regard him as an historical personage, the more must we view him as personifying the ethnic identity of the two races. The ordinary genealogies containing the name of Belus point in the same direction, and serve more definitely to connect the Babylonians with the Cushites of the Nile. Pherecydes, who is an earlier writer than Herodotus, makes Agenor, the son of Neptune, marry Damno, the daughter of Belus, and have issue Phoenix, Isaea, and Melia, of whom Melia marries Danaus, and Isaea .^gypti^s.^" ApoUodorus, the disciple of Eratosthenes, expresses the connection thus : — "Neptune took to wife Libya (or Africa), and had issue Belus and Agenor. Belus married Anchinoe, daughter of Nile, who gave birth to ^g5T)tus, Danaus, Cepheus, and Phineus. Agenor married Telephassa, and had issue Europa, Cadmus, Phoenix, and Cilix."^ Eupo- iemus, who professes to record the Babylonian tradition on the subject, tells us that the first Belus, w-hom he identifies with Saturn, had two sons, Belus and Canaan. Canaan begat the progenitor of the Phoenicians (Phoenix?), who had two sons. Chum and Mestraim, the ancestors respectively of the Ethiopi- ans and the Egyptians.** Charax of Pergamus spoke of ^gyptus as the son of Belus. « John of Antioch agrees with Apollo- doiiis, but makes certain additions. According to him. Neptune and I.ybia had three children, Agenor. Belus, and Enyalius or Mars. Belus married Sida. and had issue -3 Tcn-a cotta cone. Actual size. Fig 2. Muglicir Toiiiplo loolurcJ. Plate X Vol. I. Fig. 1. Enf7ul Ftft. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8. Half-columns, patterned with coloured cones. 6, 7. Flat wall, projecting in front (rfthe half-columns. ^^^^^^^^- p: Z 2 .-' ■i|IIMB|„, _£ \ft> /S' zoyard* Ground-plan of clumbers excavated at Abu-Shahrein. 1st person. 2d pei-son. 3d person. ki-nut-ta ki-zii-ta ki-ni-ta (with me) (with thee) (with him) ki-mi-ta ki-zu-nhii-ta ki-7iini-ta (with us) (with you) (with them) CH. IV.] LANGUAGE OF THE CHALDEANS. 43 The accusative case in nouns is marked by a postposition, ku, as in Hindustani. The plural of pronouns and substantives is formed sometimes by i-eduplication. Thus n'i is "him," while nini is "them;" and Chanaan, Yavnan, Libnan seem to be plural forms from CJuia, Yavan and Liban. A curious anomaly occurs in the declension of pronouns.* When accompanied by the preposition hita, "with," there is a tmesis of the preposition, and the pronouns are placed between its first and second syllable; e.g. ni, "him" — ki-ni-ta, "with him." This takes place in every number and person, as the following scheme will show : — Sing. Plur. N. B. — The formation of the second person plural deserves attention. The word zu-nini is, clearly, composed of the two elements, zu, "thee," and nini. "them" — so that instead of having a word for "you," the Chaldaeans employed for it the periphrasis "thee-them" ! There is, I believe, no known lan- guage which presents a parallel anomaly. Such are the chief known features of this interesting but diffi- cult form of speech. A specimen may now be given of the mode in which it was written. Among the earliests of the monimients hitherto discovered are a set of bricks bearing the following cuneiform inscription [PI. VI., Fig. 3] : — This inscription is explained to mean: — "Beltis, his lady, has caused Urukh (?), the pious chief, King of Hur, and King of the land (?) of the Akkad, to build a temple to her." In the same locality where it occurs,^ bricks are also found bearing evidently the same inscription, but written in a different man- ner. Instead of the wedge and arrow-head beijtig the elements of the writing, the whole is formed by straight Imes of almost imiform thickness, and the impression seems to have been made by a single stamp. [PI. VII., Fig. 1.] This mode of writing, which has been called without much reason " the hieratic," " and of which we have but a small num- ber of instances, has confirmed a conjecture, originally suggested by the early cuneiform writing itself, that the characters were at first the pictures of objects. In some cases the pictorial rep- resentation is very plain and palpable. For instance, the "de- terminative " of a god — the sign, that is, which marks that the 44 THE FIRST MONARCUr. [en. rv. name of a god is about to follow, in this early rectilinear -writ- ing is ^> { <^ '-, an eight-rayed star. The archaic cuneiform keeps closely to this type, merely changing the lines into wedges, thus r^|r'_ , while the later cuneiform first unites the oblique wedges in one >>^ . and then omits them as unnecessary, re- taining only the perpendicular and the horizontal ones ^^^T . Again, the character representing the Avord "hand" is, in the rectilinear writing ^i^ , in the archaic cuneiform in the later cuneiform - f' | . The five lines (afterwards re- duced to four) clearly represent the thiunb and the four fingers. So the character ordinarily representing " a house ■' ^ ^ 7 is evidently formed from the original | 1 . the ground-plan of a house; and that denoting " the sun" ^Y , comes from ^ , through "f^^. and ^>I , the original ^ being the best representation that straight lines could give of the sun. In the case of ^•a, "a gate," we have not the original design; but we may see posts, bars, and hinges in*^ Y. the ordi- nary character.* Another curious example of the pictorial origin of the letters en. iv.i WRITING OF THE CHALDEANS. 45 is furnished by tjie character ^-fy^ f , which is the French line, the feminine of " one." This character may be traced up through several known forms to an original picture, which is thus given on a Koyunjik tablet- F- It has been con jecturedthat the object here represented is "a sarcophagus."^ But the true account seems to be that it is a double-toothed comb, a toilet article peculiar to women, and therefore one which might well be taken to express " a woman," or more generally thi^ feminine gender. It is worth notice that the emblem is the very one still in use among the Liu'S, in the moimtains over- hanging Babylonia.*^ And it is further remarkable that the ])h(nietic power of the character here spoken of is it (or yat) — the ordinary Semitic feminine ending. The original writing, it would therefore seem, was a picture- writing as rude as that of the Mexicans. Objects were them- selves represented, but coarsely and grotesquely — and, which is especially remarkable, without any curved lines. This would seem to indicate that the system gi'ew up where a hard ma- terial, probably stone, was alone used. The cuneiform writing arose when clay took the place of stone as a material. A small tool with a square or triangular point,^ impressed, by a series of distinct touches, the outline of the old pictured objects on the soft clay of tablets and bricks. In course of time sunplifi- cations took place. The less important wedges were omitted. One stroke took the place of two, or sometimes of three. In this way the old form of objects became, in all but a few cases, very indistinct; Avhile generally it was lost altogether. Originally each character had, it would seem, the phonetic 1 tower of the name borne by the object which it rei)resented. Hni, as this name was diffennit in the languages of the different tribes inhabiting the country, the same character came often to iuive several distinct phonetic values. For instance, the char- acter ^^1 , representing ' ' a house, " had the phonetic values of e, bit, and nicil, because those were the words expressive of " a house," among the Hamitic, Semitic, and Arian populations respectively. Again, characters did not always retain their original phonetic powers, but abbreviated them. Thus the char- acter which originally stood for Assur, "Assyria," came to 40 THE FIRST MONAIiCnr. [cii. iv. have the sound of as, that denoting Ml, ' ' a lord, " had in addition tlu' sound of hi, and 80 on. Under these circumstances it is {xlniost impossible to feel any certainty in regard to the phonetic representation of a single line of these old inscriptions. The meaning of each word may be well known ; but the articulate sounds which were in the old times attached to them may be matter almost of conjecture. The Chaldaean characters are of three kinds — letters proper, monograms, and determinatives. With regard to the letters proper, there is nothing particular to remark, except that they have almost always a syllabic force. The monograms represent in a brief way, by a wedge or a group of wedges, an entire word, often of two or three syllables, as Nebo, Babil, Merodach, etc. The determinatives mark that the word which they accompany is a word of a certain class, as a god, a man, a comitry, a town, etc. These last, it is probable, were not soimded at all when the word was read. They served, in some degree, the purpose of our capital letters, in the middle of sentences, but gave more exact notice of the nature of the coming word. Curiously enough, they are retained sometimes, where the word which they accompany has merely its phonetic power, as (generally) when the names of gods form a part of the names of monarchs. It has been noticed already that the chief material on which the ancient Chaldaeans wrote was moist clay, in the two forms of tablets and bricks. On bricks are found only royal inscrip- tions, having reference to the building in which the bricks were used, conunonly designating its purpose, and giving the name and titles of the monarch who erected it.* The inscription does not occupy the whole brick, but a square or rectangular space towards its centre. It is in some cases stamped, in some impressed with a tool. The writing — as in all cuneiform in- scriptions, excepting those upon seals — is from left to right, and the lines are carefully separated from one another. Some specimens have been already given. ^ The tablets of the Chaldaeans are among the most remarkable of their remains, and will probably one day throw great addi- tional light on the manners and customs, the religion, and even, perhaps, the science and learning, of the people. They are small pieces of clay,^"' somewhat rudely shaped into a form resembling a pillow, and tliickly inscribed with cuneiform char- acters, which are sometimes accompanied by impressions of the cylindrical seals so conunon in the museums of Europe. The CH. IV.] WRITING ON SEALS. 47 seals are rolled across the body of the document, as in the ac- companying figure. [PI. VII., Fig. 2.] Except where these im- y)ressions occur, the clay is commonly covered on both sides with minute writing. What is most curious, however, is that the documents thus duly attested have in general been envel- oped, after they were baked, in a cover of moist clay, upon which their contents have been again inscribed, so as to present externally a duplicate of the writing within ; and the tablet in its cover has then been baked afresh. That this was the proc- ess employed is evident from the fact that the imier side of the envelope bears a cast, in relief, of the inscription beneath it. Probably the object in view was greater security — that if the external cover became illegible, or was tampered with, there might be a means of provmg beyond a doubt what the dociuneut actually contained. The tablets in question have in a considerable number of cases been deciphered ; they are for the most part deeds, contracts, or engagements, entered into by private persons and preserved among the archives of families. Besides their writings on clay, the Chaldaeans were in the habit, from very early tunes, of engraving inscriptions on gems. The signet cylinder of a very ancient king exhibits that archaic formation of letters which has been already noted as appearing upon some of the earlie.st bricks. [PI. VII., Fig. 3.] That it belongs to the same period is evident, not only from the resemblance of the literal tj'pe," but from the fact that the same king's name appears upon both. This signet inscription — so far as it has been hitherio deciphered — is read as follows : —"The signet of Urukh, the pious chief, king of Ur, .... High-Priest (?) of ... . Niffer." Another similar relic, be- longing to a son of this monarch, has the inscription, " To the manifestation of Nergal, king of Bit-Zida, of Zurgulla, for the saving of the life of llgi, the powerful liero, the king of Ur, . . . . , son of Urukh May his name be preserved."" A third signet, which belongs to a later king in the series, beara the following legend : " sin, the powerful chief, the king of Ur, the king of the Kiprat-arbat (or four races) his seal." The cylinders, however, of this period are more usually without inscriptions, being often plain, i* and often engraved with figures, but without a legend. 48 THE FIRST MONARCET. [en. v. CHAPTER V. ARTS AND SCIENCES. "Chaldael cognitione astronim sollertiaqne ingeniorum antecellunt." Cic. de Div. i. 41 . Among the arts which the'first Ethiopic settlers on the shores of the Persian Gulf either brought with them from their former homes, or very early invented in their new abode, must xm- doubtedly have been the two whereby they were especially characterized in the time of their greatest power — architecture and agriculture. Chaldaea is not a country disposing men to nomadic habits. The productive powers of the soil would at once obtrude themselves on the notice of the new comers, and would tempt to cultivation and permanency of residence. If the immigrants came by sea, and settled first in the tract im- mediately bordering upon the gulf, as seems to have been the notion of Berosus,^ their earliest abodes may have been of that simple character which can even now be witnessed in the Aff ej and Montefik marshes — that is to say, reed cabins, supported by the tall stems of the growing plants bent into arches, and walled with mats composed of flags or sedge. '^ Houses of this description last for forty or fifty years. ^ and would satisfy the ideas of a primitive race. When greater permanency began to be required, palm-beams might take the place of the reed supports, and wattles plastered with mud that of the rush mats; in this way habitations would soon be produced quite equal to those in which the bulk of mankind reside, even at the present day. In process of time, however, a fresh want would be felt. Ar- chitecture, as has been well observed, has its origin, not in nat- ure only, but in religion.* The common worship of God re- quires temples ; and it is soon desired to give to these sacred edifices a gi'andeur, a dignity, and a permanency correspond- ing to the nature of the Being worshipped in them. Hence in most countries recourse is had to stone, as the material of great- est strength and durability ; and by its means buildings are raised which seem almost to reach the heaven whereof they witness. In Babylonia, as it has been already observed,^ this material was entirely wanting. Nowhere within the limits of Vol Fig. 1. Plate XI. -i — ;.^L_ Brick vault at Mugheir. Fig. 2. ^■3S^ Vol. I Chalilscan clisu-cover throbs. a. Sun-dried brick under head. h. Copper bowl. e. Pieces of bamboo. /. Jars and utensils for food and water. c. Small cjlindcr of meteoric Btone; re- made of baked clay ; remains of date-atones lu mains of thread going round arm-bone. the Bhallow dish. d. Pieces of.cylindiical meteoric stona. I Fig. 2. Chala:i}an jar-coffin. Fie. 3. Settiou of drain. CH. v.] ARTS AND SCIENCES. 49 the alluvium was a quarry to be found ; and though at no very great distance, on the Ai-abian border, a coarse sandstone might have been obtained, yet in primitive times, before many canala were made, the difficulty of transporting this weighty sub- stance across the soft and oozy soil of the plain would necessa- rily have prevented its adoption generally, or, indeed, any- where, except in the immediate vicinity of the rocky region. Accordingly we find that stone was never adopted in Babylonia as a building material, except to an extremely small extent ; and that the natives were forced, in its default, to seek for the grand edifices, which they desu'ed to build, a different substance. The earliest traditions,*^ and the existing remains of the earliest buildings, alike uiform us that the material adopted was brick. An excellent clay is readily procurable in aU parts of the allu- vium ; and this, when merely exposed to the intense heat of an Eastern sun for a sufficient period, or stUl more when kiln- dried, constitutes a very tolerable substitute for the stone em- ployed by most nations. The baked bricks, even of the earliest times, are still sound and hard ; while the sun-dried bricks, though they have often crumbled to dust or blended together in one solid earthen mass, yet sometimes retain theii- shape and t)riginal character ahnost imchanged, and offer a stubborn re- sistance to the excavator.'' In the most ancient of the Chal- d;ean edifices we occasionally find, as in the Bowariyeh loiin at Warka,^ the entire structure composed of the inferior material; but the more ordinary practice is to construct the mass of the building in this way, and then to cover it completely with a facing of burnt brick, which sometimes extends to as much as ten feet in thickness. The burnt brick was thus made to pro- tect the unburnt from the influence of the weather, while labor and fuel were greatly ecc^nomized by the employment to so large an extent of the natural substance. The size and color ot I be bricks vary. The general shape is square, or nearly so, while the thickness is, to modern ideas, disproportionately small ; it is not, however, so small as in the bricks of the Ro- mans. The earhest of the baked bricks hitherto discovered in Chalda?a are llX inches square, and 2}^ inches thick, ^ while the Roman are often 15 inches square, and only an inch and a quar- ter thick. 1" The baked bricks of later date are of larger size than the earlier; they are commonly about 13 inches square, with a thickness of three inches." The best quality of baked brick is of a yellowish-white tint, and very much resembles our Stovu'bridg*! or i'ln'. brick; another kmd, extremely bard b'.'\ 4 fiO THE FIRST MONARCHY. [cu. v. brittle, is of a blackish blue ; a third, the coarsest of all, is slack- dried, and of a pale red. The earliest baked bricks are of this last color. ^2 The sun-dried bricks have even more variety of size than the baked ones. They are sometimes as large as 16 inches square and seven mches thick, sometimes as small as six inches square by two thick. ^^ Occasionally, though not very often, bricks are found differing altogether in shape from those above described, being formed for special purposes. Of this kind are the triangular bricks used at the corners of walls, in- tended to give greater regularity to the angles than would otherwise be attained ; " and the wedge-shaped bricks, formed to be employed in arches, which were known and used by this primitive people. ^^ The modes of applymg these materials to building purposes were various. Sometimes the crude and the burnt brick were used in alternate layers, each layer being several feet in thick- ness ; ^" more commonly the crude brick was used (as already noticed) for the internal parts of the building, and a facing of burnt brick protected the whole from the w^eather. Occasion- ally the mass of an edifice Avas composed entii-ely of crude brick ; but in such cases special precautions had to be taken to secure the stability of this comparatively frail material. In the first place, at intervals of four or five feet, a thick layer of reed matting was interposed along the whole extent of the building, w^hich appears to have been intended to protect the earthy mass from disintegration, by its protection beyond the rest of the external surface. The readers of Herodotus are fa- miliar with this feature, which (according to him) occurred in the massive walls whereby Babylon was surrounded." If this was really the case, we may conclude that those w^ alls were not composed of burnt brick, as he imagined, but of the sun-dried material. Reeds were never employed in buildings composed of burnt brick, being useless in such cases ; w^here their impres- sion is found, as not unfrequently happens, on bricks of this kind, the brick has been laid ujjon reed matting when in a soft state, and afterwards submitted to the action of fire. In edifices of crude brick, the reeds were no doubt of great service, and have enabled some buildings of the kind to endure to the present day. They are very strikingly conspicuous where they occur, since they stripe the w'hole building with continuous horizontal lines, having at a distance somewhat the effect of the.courses of dark marble in an Italian structure of the Byzan- tine period. en. V.J ABCHITECTURE. 51 Another characteristic of the edifices in which crude brick is thus largely employed, is the addition externally of solid and massive buttresses of the burnt material. These buttresses have sometimes a very considerable projection ; they are broad, but not high, extending less than half way up the walls against which they are placed. Two kinds of cement are used in the early stioictures. One is a coarse clay or mud, which is sometimes mixed with chopped straw; the other is bitumen. This last is of an excellent (quality, and the bricks which it unites adhere often so firmly together that they can with difficulty be separated.^** As a gen- eral rule, in the early buildings, the crude brick is laid in mud, while the bitumen is used to cement together the burnt bricks. These general remarks will receive their best illustration from a detailed description of the principal early edifices which re- cent researches in Lower Mesopotamia have revealed to us. These are for the most part temples ; but in one or two cases the edifice explored is thought to have been a residence, so that the domestic architecture of the period may be regarded as known to us. at least in some degree. The temples most care- fully examined hitherto are those at Warka, Mugheir, and Abu- Shahrein, the first of which was explored by Mr. Loftus in 1854, the second by Mr. Taylor in the same year, and the third by the same traveller in 1855. The Warka ruin is called by the natives Bowariyeh, which signifies "reed mats," in allusion to a peculiarity, already no- ticed, in its constiiiction. [PI. VIII., Fig. 1.] It is at once the most central and the loftiest ruin in the place. At first sight it appears to hav e been a cone or pyramitl ; but further examination l^roves that it was in reality a tower, 200 feet square at the base, built in two stories, the lower story being comjDOsed entirely of sun-dried bricks laid in mud, and protected at intervals of four or five feet by layers of reeds, while the upper one was composed of the same material, faced with burnt brick. Of tlie upper stage very little remains; and this little is of a later date than the infe- rior story, which bears marks of a very high antiquity. The sun- dried bricks Avhei'eof the lower story is composed, are " rudely moulded of very incoherent earth, mixed with fragments of pot- tery and fresh-water shells," and vary in size andsliape, being sometimes square, seven inches each way ; sometimes oblong, nine inches by seven, and from three to three and a half inches thick. ^® The whole present height of the building is estimated at 100 feet above the level of the plain. Its summit, except 52 THE FIRST MONARCHY. [cu. v. where some slight remains of the second story constitute an in- terruption, is " perfectly flat," and probably continues very muc'li in the condition in which it was when the lower stage was first built. This stage, being built of crude brick, w^as necessa- rily weak ; it is therefore supported by four massive buttresses of baked brick, each placed exactly in the centre of one of the sides, and cai-ried to about one-third of the height. Each buttress is nineteen feet high, six feet one inch wide, and seven and a half feet in depth ; and each is divided down the middle by a receding Sfjace, one foot nine inches in width. All the biicks composing the buttresses are inscribed, and are very firmly cemented together with bitumen, in thick layers. The buttresses were entu'ely hidden under the mass of rubbish which had fallen from the building, chiefly from the upper story, and only became apparent when Mr. Loftus made his excavations. ^"^ It is impossible to reconstruct the Bowariyeh ruin from the facts and measurements hitherto suppUed to us ; even the height of the first story is at present imcertain ; '^^ and we have no means of so much as conjecturing the height of the second. The exact emplacement of the second upon the first is also doubtful, while the original mode of access is undiscovered ; and thus the plan of the buildmg is in many respects still defective. "We only know that it was a square ; that it had two stories at the least ; and that its entire height above the plain considerably exceeded 100 feet. The temple at Mugheir has been more accurately examined. [PI. YIII., Fig. 2.] On a mound or platform of some size, raised about twenty feet above the level of the plain, there stands a rectangular edifice, con- sisting at present of tw^o stories, both of them ruined in i^arts, and buried to a considerable extent in piles of rubbish com- posed of their debris. The angles of the building exactly face the four cardinal points."^ It is not a square, but a parallelo- gi-am, having two longer and two shorter sides. [PI. IX. , Fig. 1.] The longer sides front to the north-east and south-west respectively, and measure 198 feet; while the shorter sides, w^hich face the north-w^est and south-east, measure 133 feet. The present height of the basement story is 27 feet ; but, allow- ing for the concealment of the lower part by the rubbish, and the destruction of the upper part by the hand of time, we may presume that the original height was little, if at all, short of 40 feet. The interior of this story is built of crude or sun-dried bricks of small size, laid in bitumen ; but it is faced through- on. v.] ARCHITECTURE. 53 out with a wail, ten feet in thickness, composed of red kiln- dried bricks, Hkewise cemented with bitumen. This external wall is at once strengthened and diversified to the eye by a number of shallow buttresses or pilasters in the same material ; of these there are nine, including the corner ones, on the longer, and six on the shorter sides. The width of the buttresses is eight feet, and their projection a little more than a foot. The walls and buttresses alike slope inwards at an angle of nine degrees. On the north-eastern side of the building there is a staircase nine feet wide, with sides or balustrades three feet wide, which leads up from the platform to the top of the first story. It has also been conjectured that there was a second or grand staircase on the south-east face, equal in width to the second story of the building, and thus occupying nearly the whole breadth of the structure on that side.^ A number of narrow slits or air-holes are carried through the building from side to side ; they penetrate alike the walls and buttresses, and must have tended to preserve the dryness of the structure. The second story is, like the first, a parallelogram, and not of very different proportions.'^* Its longer sides measure 119 feet, and its shorter ones 75 feet at the base. Its emplacement upon the first story is exact as respects the angles, but not central as regards the four sides. While it is removed from the south-eastern edge a distance of 47 feet, from the north- western it is distant only 30 feet. From the two remaining sides its distance is apparently about 28 feet. The present height of the second story, including the loibbish upon its top, is 19 feet ; but we may reasonably suppose that the original height was much greater. The material of which its iiuier structure is composed, seems to be cliiefly (or wln)llyj partially- burnt brick, of a light red color, laid in a cement composed of lime and ashes. This central mass is faced with kiln-dried bricks of large size and excellent quality, also laid, except on the north-west face,-^ in lime mortar. No buttresses and no staircase are traceable on this story ; though it is possible that on the south-east side the gi*and staircase may have run the whole height of both stories. According to information received by Mr. Taylor from the Arabs of the vicinity,*' there existed, less than half a century ago, some remains of a third story, on the summit of the rubbish which now crowns the second. This building is de* scribed as a room or chamber, and was probably the actual shrine of the god in whose honor the whole structure was 54 THE FIRST MONARCUr. [cii. v. erected. Mr. Taylor discovered a number of bricks or tiles glazed witb a blue enamel, and also a immber of large coi>per nails, at such a height in the rubbish which covers up much of the second story, that he thinks they could only have come from this upper chamber. The analogy of later Babylo- nian buildings, as of the Birs-Nimrud and the temple of Belus at Babylon,^ confirms this view, and makes it probable that the early Chaldaean temple was a building in three stages, of which the first and second were solid masses of brickwork, ascended by steps on the outside, while the tliird was a small house or chamber highly ornamented, containing the image and shrine of the god. [PI. IX., Fig. 2.] In conclusion, it must be observed that only the lower story of the Mugheir temple exhibits the workmanship of the old or Chaldaean period. Clay cylinders found in the upper story in- form us that in its present condition this story is the work of Nabonidus, the last of the Babylonian kings ; and most of its bricks bear his stamp. Some, however, have the stamp of the same monarch who built the lower story ; '^ and this is sufficient to show that the two stories are a part of the original design, and therefore that the idea of building in stages belongs to the firet kingdom and to primitive times. There is no evidence to prove whether the original edifice had, or had not, a third story ; since the chamber seen by the Arabs was no doubt a late Babylonian work. The thii-d story of the accompanying sketch must therefore be regarded as conjectural. It is not necessary for our present purpose to detain the reader with a minute description of the ancient temple at Abu- Shahrein. The general character of this building seems to have very closely resembled that of the Mugheir temple. Its angles fronted the cardinal points; it had two stories, and an orna- mented chamber at the top ; it was faced with burnt brick, and strengthened by buttresses; and in most other respects fol- lowed the type of the Mugheir edifice.^ Its only very notable peculiarities are the partial use of stone in the construction, and the occurrence of a species of pillar, very curiously com- posed. The artificial platform on which the temple stands is made of beaten clay, cased with a massive wall of sandstone and limestone, in some places twenty feet thick. There is also a stone, or rather marble, staii-case which leads up from the platform to the summit of the first story, composed of small polished blocks, twenty -two inches long, thirteen broad, and four and a half thick. The bed of the staircase is made of sun- cu. v.] ARCHITECTURE. 65 dried brick, and the marble was fastened to this substratum by copper bolts, some portion of which was found by Mr. Taylor still adhering to the blocks.*' At the foot of the staircase there appear to have stood two columns, one on either side of it. The construction of these columns is very singular. A circu- lar nucleus composed of sandstone slabs and small cylindrical pieces of marble disposed in alternate layers, was coated ex- ternally with coarse lime, mixed with small stones and peb- bles, until by means of many successive layers the pillar had attained the desired bulk and thickness. Thus the stone and marble were entirely concealed under a thick coating of plas- ter ; and a smoothness was given to the outer surface which it would have otherwise been difficult to obtain. The date of the Abu-Shahrein temple is thought to be con- siderably later than that of the other buildings above described f^ and the pillars would seem to be a refinement on the simplicity of the earlier times. The use of stone is to be accounted for, not so much by the advance of architectural science, as by the near vicinity of the Arabian hills, from which that material could be readily derived.^- It is evident, that if the Chaldeean temples were of the char- acter and construction which we have gathered from their remains, they could have possessed no great architectural beauty, though they may not have lacked a certain grandeur. In the dead level of Babylonia, an elevation even of 100 or 150 feet must have been impressive ; ^ and the plain massiveness of the structm-es no doubt added to their grand effect on the beholder. But there was singularly little in the buildings, architecturally viewed, to please the eye or gratify the sense of beauty. No edifices in the world — not even the Pyramids — are more deficient in external ornament. The buttresses and the air-holes, which alone break the flat uniformity of the walls, are intended simply for utility, and can scarcely be said to be much embellislunent. If any efforts were made to delight by the ordinary resources of ornamental art, it seems clear that such efforts did not extend to the whole edifice, but were confined to the shrine itself — the actual abode of the god —the chamber which crowned the whole, and was alone, strictly sjK'aking, " the temple. " *• Even here there is no rear son to believe that the building had externally much beauty. No fragments of architraves or capitals, no sculptured orna- nients of any kind, have been found among the heaps of rub- bish in which Chalda?an monuments are three-parts buried. r,(; 77//'; FIltST MONARCnT. \v.n. V. Tlic ornaments which have been actually discovered, are such as suggest the idea of internal rather than external decoration ; and they render it probable that such decoration, was, at least in some cases, extremely rich. The copper nails and blue en- amelled tiles found high up in the Mugheir mound, have been already noticed.*^ At Abu-Shahrein the gi-ound about the basement of the second story was covered with small pieces of agate, alabaster, and marble, finely cut and polished, from half an inch to two inches long, and half an inch (or somewhat less) in breadth, each with a hole drilled through its back, contain- ing often a fragment of a copper bolt. It was strewn less thickly with small plates of pure gold, and with a number of gold-headed or gilt-headed nails, ^ used apparently to attach the gold plates to the internal plaster or wood-work. These fragments seem to attest the high ornamentation of the shrine in this instance, which we have no reason to regard as singular or in any way exceptional. The Chaldaean remains which throw light upon the domestic architectiu-e of the people are few and scanty. A small house was disinterred by Mr. Taylor at Mugheir, and the plan of some chambers was made out at Abu-Shahrein ; but these are hith- erto the only specimens which can be confidently assigned to the Chaldsean period. The house stood on a platform of sun- dried bricks, paved on the top with burnt bricks. It was built in the form of a cross, but with a good deal of irregularity, every wall being somewhat longer or shorter than the others. Tlie material used in its construction was burnt brick, the outer layer imbedded in bitumen, and the remainder in a cem- ent of mud. Externally the house was ornamented with perpendicular stepped recesses,^' while internally the bricks had often a thin coating of gypsum or enamel, upon wliich characters were inscribed. The floors of the chambers were paved with burnt brick, laid in bitumen. Two of the door- ways were arched, the arch extending through the whole tliicknoss of the walls; it was semicii'cular, and was con- structed with bricks made wedge-shaped for the purpose. A good deal of charred date-wood was foimd in the house, prob- ably the remains of raftei-s which had supported the roof.'^ The chambers at Abu-Shahrein were of sun-dried brick, with an internal covering of fine plaster, ornamented with paint In one the ornamentation consisted of a series of red, black, and white bands, three inches in breadth; in another was represented, but very rudely, the figure of a man holding a Plate XIII. Chaldxan vases, drinking-Tessels, and amphora of the second period. ("li:il.l;t;\ti l.imiis of the soooti'l pfii' k. Plate XIV. Seal cylinder on metal axis. Vol. Fig. 2 Signet-cyLnder of King tJnikh, Fig. 3 . , No.l andNo.2. Back view of flint knives. No. 3. SideyiewofNo.J, cii. v.] AECUITECTUBE.— BURIAL-PLACES. 57 bird on his wrist, with a smaller figure near him, in red paint. ^ The favorite external ornamentation for houses seems to have been by means of colored cones in terra cotta, which were imbedded in moist mud or plaster, and arranged into a variety of patterns.^ [PI. IX., Fig. 3.] But little can be said as to the plan on which houses were built. [PI. X.,Fig. 2.] The walls were generally of vast thickness, the chambers long and nai'row, with tlie outer doors opening directly into them. The rooms ordinarily led into one another, passages being rarely found. Scpiared recesses, sometimes stepped or dentatod, were common in the rooms; and in the ar- rangement of these something of sjTrunetry is observable, as they frequently correspond to or face each other. The roofs were probably either flat — beams of palm-wood being stretched aci-oss from wall to wall*^ — or else arched with brick.*'- No in- dication of windows has been foinid as yet ; but still it is thought that the chambers were lighted by them,'''' only they were jilaced high, near the ceiling or roof, and thus do not aj)pear in the existing niins, which consists merely of the lower portion of walls, seldom exceeding the height of seven or eight feet. The doorways, both outer and inner, are towards the sides rather than in the centre of the apartments — a feature conmion to Chaldeean with Assyrian buildings. Next to their edifices, the most remarkable of the remains which the Chalda^ans have left to after-ages, are their burial- places. While ancient tombs are of very rare occurrence in Assyria and Upper Babylonia, Chalda?a Proper abounds with them. It has been conjectured, with some show of reason, that the Assyrians, in the time of their power, may have made the sacred land of Chalda?a the general depository of their dead,*' nuich in the same way as the Persians even noAv use Kerbela and Nedjif or Meshecl Ali as special cemetery cities, to which tliousands of corpses arebi'ought annually.*^ At any rate, the quantity of human relics accumulated upon certain Chalda?an sites is enormous, and seems to be quite beyond what the mere population of the surroiuiding district could furnish. At Warka, for instance, excepting the triangular space between the three principal ruins, the whole remainder of the platform, the whole space within the walls, and an unknoA\Ti extent of desert beyond them, are everywhere filled with human bones and sepulchres.**' In places coflins are piled upon coffins, cer- tainly to the depth of 30, probal)ly to the depth of 60 feet; and for miles on every side of the ruins the traveller walks upon a 58 THE FIRST MONARCHY. [ch. v. soil teeming with the rehcs of ancient, and now probably ex- tinct, races. Sometimes these relics manifestly belong to a number of distinct and widely separate eras; but there are places where it is otherwise. However we may account for it — and no account has been yet given which is altogether satis- factory — it seems clear, from the comparative homogeneousness of the remams in some places, that they belong to a single race, and if not to a single period, at any rate to only two, or, at the most, three distinct periods, so that it is no longer veiy difficult to distinguish the more ancient from the later relics." Such is the character of the remains at Mugheir, which are thought to contain nothing of later date than the close of the Babylonian period, B.C. 538;'*^ and such is, stOl more remarkably, the char- acter of the ruins at Abu-Shahrein and Tel-el-Lahm, which seem to be entirely, or almost entirely, Chaldaean. In the following account of the coffins and mode of burial employed by the early Chaldseans, examples will be drawn from tlaese places only ; smce otherwise we should be liable to confound together the productions of very different ages and peoples. The tombs to which an archaic character most certainly at- taches are of three kinds — ^brick vaults, clay coffins shaped like a dish-cover, and coffins in the same material, formed of two large jars placed mouth to mouth, and cemented together with bitumen. The brick vaults are found chiefly at Mugheir. [PI. XI., Fig. 1.] They are seven feet long, three feet seven inches broad, and five feet high, composed of sun-dried bricks imbed- ded in mud, and exhibit a very remarkable form and construc- tion of the arch. The side walls of the vaults slope outwards as they ascend ; and the arch is formed, like those in Egyptian buildings and Scythian tombs, ^^ by each successive layer of bricks, from the point where the arch begins, a little overlap- ping the last, till the two sides of the roof are brought so near together that the aperture may be closed by a single brick. The floor of the vaults was paved with brick similar to that used for the roof and sides ; on this floor was commonlj- spread a matting of reeds, and the body was laid upon the matting. It was commonly turned on its left side, the right arm falling towards the left, and the fingers resting on the edge of a copper bowl, usually placed on the palm of the left hand. The head was pillowed on a single sun-dried brick. Various articles of orna- ment and use were interred with each body, which will be more particularly described hereafter. Food seems often to have been placed in the tombs, and jare or other drinking vessels are CH. v./ TOMBS AND COFFINS. 59 universal. The brick v£„ults appear to have been family sepul- chres ; they have often received three or four bodies, and in one case a single vault contained eleven skeletons.**^ The clay coffins, shaped like a dish-cover, are among the most curious of the sepulchral remains of antiquity. [PI. XI., Fig. 2; XII., Fig. 1.] On a platform of sun-dried brick is laid a mat exactly similar to those in common use among the Ai-abs of the country at the present day ; and hereon lies the skeleton disposed as in the brick vaults, and surroimded by utensils and ornaments. Mat, skeleton, and utensils are then concealed by a huge cover in burnt clay, formed of d, single piece, which is commonly seven feet long, two or three feet high, and two feet and a half broad at the bottom. It is rarely that modern potters produce articles of half the size. Externally the covers have com- monly some slight ornament, such as rims and shallow inden- tations, cis represented in the sketch (No. 1). Internally they are plain. Not more than two skeletons have ever been found under a smgle cover ; and in these cases they were the skeletons of a male and a female. Children were interred separately, under covers about half the size of those for adults. Tombs of this kind commonly occur at some considerable depth. None were discovered at Mugheir nearer the sm-face than seven or eight feet." The third kind of tomb, common both at Mugheir and at Tel- el-Lalun,^'- is almost as eccentric as the preceding. Two large open-mouthed jars (a and 6), shaped like the largest of the water-jars at present in use at Baghdad, are taken, and the body is disposed inside them with the usual accompaniments of dishes, vases, and ornaments. [PI. XII., Fig. 2.] The jars aver- age from two and a half feet to three feet in depth, and have a diameter of about two feet ; so that they would readily con- tain a full-sized corpse if it was slightly bent at the knees. Sometimes the two jars are of equal size, and are simply united at their mouths by a layer of bitumen {d(l) ; but more commonly one is slightly larger than the other, and the smaller mouth is inserted into the larger one for a depth of three or four inches, while a coating of bJtmnen is still applied externally at the juncture. In each coffin there is an aii*-hole at one extremity (c) to allow the escape of the gases generated during decomposi- tion. Besides the coffins themselves, some other curious features are found in the burial-places. The dead are commonly buried, not underneath the natural surface of the groimd, but in ex (30 THE FIRST MONARCHY. [CH. V. tensive artificial mounds, each mound containing a vast num- ber of coffins. The coffins are arranged side by side, often in several layers ; and occasionally strips of masonry, crossing each other at right angles, separate the sets of coffins from their neighbors. The surface of the mounds is sometimes paved with brick ; and a similar pavement often separates the layers of coffins one from another. But the most remarkable featiu-e in the tomb-mounds is their system of drainage. Long shafts of baked clay extend from the surface of the mound to its base, composed of a succession of rings two feet in diame- ter, and about a foot and a half in breadth, joined together by thin layers of bitumen. [PI. XII., Fig. 3.] To give the rings additional strength, the sides have a slight concave curve and, still further to resist external pressure, the shafts are filled from bottom to top with a loose mass of broken pottery. At the top the shaft contracts rapidly by means of a ring of a pe- culiar shape, and above this ring are a series of perforated bricks leading up to the top of the mound, the surface of which is so arranged as to conduct the rain-water into these orifices. For the still more effectual drainage of the mound, the top-piece of the shaft mimediately below the perforated bricks, and also the first rings, are full of small holes to admit any stray moist- ure ; and besides this, for the space of a foot every way, tlie shafts are surrounded with broken pottery, so that the real diameter of each drain is as much as four feet.^'^ By these ar- rangements the piles have been kept perfectlj^ dry ; and the consequence is the preservation, to the present day, not only of the utensils and ornaments placed in the tombs, but of the very skeletons themselves, which are seen perfect on opening a tomb, though they generally crumble to dust at the first touch. ^* The skill of the Chaldseans as potters has received consider- able illustration in the foregoing pages. No ordinary inge- nuity was needed to model and bake the large vases, and still larger covers, which were the ordinary receptacles of the Chaldaean dead. The rings and top-pieces of the drainage- shafts also exhibit much skiD and kno^vledge of principles. Hitherto, however, the reader has not been brought into con- tact with any specimens of Chaldaean fictile art which can be regarded as exhibiting elegance of form, or, indeed, any sense of beauty as distinguished from utility. Such specimens are, in fact, somewhat scarce, but they are not w^hoUy wanting. Among the vases and drinking vessels Avith which the Chaldaean .II. V.J VASES.— BAS-RELIEFS.— .SEAL CYLINDERS. gj tombs abound, while the majority are characterized by a cer- tain rudeness both of shape and material,^ we occasionaUy meet with specimens of a higher character, which would not shrink from a comparison with the ordinary productions of Greek fictile art. A number of these are represented in the second figure [PI. XIII., Fig. 2], which exhibits several forms not hitherto published — some taken from drawings by Mr. Churchill, the artist who accompanied Mr. Loftus on his first joiu'ney ; others drawn for the present work from vases now in the British Museum. It is evident that, while the vases of the first group are roughly moulded by the hand, the vases and lamps of the second have been carefully shaped by the aid of the potter's wheel. These last are formed of a far finer clay than the early speci- mens, and have sometimes a shght glaze upon them, wliich adds much to their beauty. In a few instances the works of the Chaldseans in this material belong to mimetic art, of which they are rude but interesting specimens. Some of the primitive gi'aves at Senkareh yielded tablets of baked clay, on which were rep- resented, in low relief, sometimes single figures of men. some- times groups, sometimes men in combination with animals. A scene in which a lion is disturbed in its feast off a bullock, by a man armed with a club and a mace or hatchet, possesses remarkable spirit, and, w^ere it not for the strange drawing ol the lion's unlifted leg, might be regarded as a very credit-able performance.^ In another, a lion is represented devouring a prostrate human being ; while a third exhibits a pugilistic en- counter after the most approved fashion of modern England. '^' It is perhaps uncertain whether these tablets belong to the Chaldaean or to the Babylonian period, but on the whole their rudeness and simplicity favor the earlier rather than the later date. The only other works having anything of an artistic charac- ter, that can be distinctly assigned to the pi'imitive period, are a certain number of engraved cylinders, some of which are very curious. [PI. XIV., Fig. 1.] It is clearly established that the cylinders in question, which are generally of serpentine, mete- oric stone, jasper, chalcedony, or other similar substance, were tlie seals or signets of their possessors, who impressed them upon the moist clay which formed the ordinary material for writing. ^^ They are round, or neai-ly so,^^and measure from half an inch to three inches in length ; ordinaiily they are about one-tliird of 62 'i'lli^ FIRST MONARCHY. [on. v. their lenp^th in diameter. A hole is bored through the stone from end to end, so that it could be worn upon a string ; and cyhndei's are found in some of the earliest tombs which have been worn round the wrist in this way.«'* In early times they may have been impressed by the hand ; but afterwards it was common to place them upon a bronze or copper axis attached to a handle, by means of which they were rolled across the clay from one end to the other. <^^ The cylinders are frequently unengraved, and this is most commonly their condition in the ijrimitive tombs; but there is some very curious evi- dence, from which it appears that the art of engraving them was really known and practised (though doubtless in rare in- stances) at a very early date. The signet cylinder of the mon- arch who founded the most ancient of the buildings at Mugheir, Warka, Senkareh, and Niffer, and who thus stands at the head of the moniunental kings, was in the possession of Sir R. Porter ; and though it is now lost, an engraving made from it is pre- served in his " Travels. '"^^ [PI. XIV., Fig. 2.] The signet cylin- der of this monarch's son has been recently recovered, and is now in the British Museum. We are entitled to conclude from the data thus in our possession that the art of cylinder- engraving had, even at this early period, made considerable progress. The letters of the inscriptions, which give the names of the kings and their titles, are indeed somewhat rudely formed, as they are on the stamped bricks of the period ; ^^ but the figures have been as well cut, and as flowingly traced, as those of a later date. It was thought possible that the artist employed by Sir R. Porter had given a flattering representation of his original, but the newly recovered relic, known as the " cylinder of Ilgi," bears upon it figures of quite as great excel- lence ; and we are thus led to the conclusion that both mechan- ical and artistic skill had reached a very surprising degree of excellence at the most remote period to which the Chaldaean records carry us back. It increases the surprise which we naturally feel at the dis- covery of these relics to reflect upon the rudeness of the imple- ments with which such results would seem to have been accom- plished. In the primitive Chaldaean ruins, the implements which have been discovered are either in stone or bronze. Iron in the early times is seemingly unknown, and when it first appeal's is wrought into ornaments for the person.^* Knives of flint or chert [PI. XIV., Fig. 3], stone hatchets, hammers, adzes, and nails, are common in the most ancient mounds, which con* en. v.] WEAPONS.— METALLURGY. 68 tain also a number of clay models, the centres, as it is thought,** of moulds into which molten bronze was run, and also occasion- ally the bronze instruments themselves, as (in addition to spear- heads and arrow-heads) hammers, adzes, hatchets, knives, and sickles. It will be seen by the engraved representations that these instruments are one and all of a rude and coarse char- acter. [Pis. XV., XYI.J The flint and stone knives, axes, and hammers, which abound in all the true Chalda>an mounds, are somewhat more advanced uideed than those very primi- tive implements which have been found in a drift ; but they are of a workmanship at least as unskilled as that of the ordi- nary stone celts of Western and Northern Europe, which till the discoveries of M. Perthes were regarded as the most an- cient human remains in our quarter of the globe. They indi- cate some practical knowledge^ of the cleavage of silicious rocks, but they show no power of producing even such fini.sh as the celts frequently exhibit. In one case only has a flint in- strimient been discovered perfectly regular in form, and pre- senting a sharp angular exactness. The instrument, which is figured [PI. XVI., Fig. 2J, is a cort of long parallelogram, round at the back, and with a deep impression down its face. Its use is uncertain ; but, according to a reasonable conjecture, it may have been designed for impressing characters upon the moist clay of tablets and cylinders — a purpose for which it is said to be excellently fitted.^ The metfillurgy of the Chaldaeans, though indicative of a higher state of civilization and a greater knowledge of the use- ful arts than their stone weapons, is still of a somewhat rude character, and indicates a nation but just emerging out of an almost barbaric simplicity. Metal seems to be scarce, and not many kinds are found. There is no silver, zinc, or platinum ; but only gold, copper, tin, lead, and iron. Gold i.s found in beads, ear-rings, and other ornaments,'*' which are in some in- stances of a fashion that is not inelegant.''* [PI. XVI., Fig. 3.] Copper occure pure, but is more often hardened by means of an aUoy of tin, whereby it becomes bronze, and is rendered suitable for implements and weapons.'*'* Lead is rare, occurring only in a very few specimens, as in one jar or bottle, and in what seems to be a portion of a pipe, brouglit by Mr. Loftus from Mugheir. [PL XVII., Fig. 1.] Iron, as already observed, is extremely uncommon ; and when it occurs, is chiefly used for the rings and bangles which seem to have been among the favorite adornments of the people. Bronze is, howe^'er, even 64 THE FIRST MONARCHY. [cu. v. for these, the more common miaterial. [PI. XVII., Fig. 2.] It is sometimes wrought into thin and elegant shapes, tapering tfj a point at either extremity ; sometimes the form into which it is cast is coarse and massive, resembhng a sohd bar twisted into a rude circle. For all ordinary jjurposes of utility it is the common metal used. A bronze or copper bowl is found in al- most every tomb ; bronze bolts remain in the pieces of marble used for tesselating ; "'" bronze rings sometimes strengthen the cones used for ornamenting walls ; '^ bronze weapons and in- struments are, as we have seen, common, and in the same ma- terial have been found chains, nails, toe and finger rings, arm- lets, bracelets, and fish-hooks. No long or detailed account can be given of the textile fabrics of the ancient Chaldaeans ; but there is reason to believe that this was a branch of industiy in which they particularly ex- celled. We know that as early as the time of Joshua a Baby- lonian garment had been imported into Palestine, and was of so rare a beauty as to attract the covetous regards of Achan, m common with certain large masses of the precious metals.'^ The very ancient cylinder figured above^^ must belong to a time at least five or six centuries earlier ; upon it we observe flounced and fringed garments, delicately striped, and indicative appar- ently of an advanced state of textile manufacture. Recent researches do not throw much light on this subject. The frail materials of which human apparel is composed can only under p(;culiar circiunstances resist the destructive power of thirty or forty centuries ; and consequently Ave have but few traces of the actual fabrics in use among the primitive people. Pieces of linen are said to have been found attaching to some of the slieletons in the tombs ;'* and the sun-dried brick which supports the head is sometimes covered with the remains of a ' ' tasselled cushion of tapestry ; " "^ but otherwise we are without direct evidence either as to the material in use, or as to the character of the fabric. In later times Babj'lon was especially celebrated for its robes and its carpets. '"^ Such evidence as we have wovdd seem to make it probable that both manufactures had attained to considerable excellence m Chaldeean times. The only sciences in which the early Chaldaeans can at present be proved to have excelled are the cognate ones of arithmetic and astronomy. On the broad and monotonous plains of Lower Mesopotamia, where the earth has little upon it to suggest thought or please by variety, the ' ' variegated heaven," ever changing with the hours and with the seasons, Plate XV. I. Stona hammer. 3. Stone hatctaeL 3. Stone adze. 4. Stone nalL Chaldsan spear .and arrow heads. Plate XVI Fig. 1. Vol. I. Bronze Implements. 1. Kxaie 2. Hatcliet. 3. H;ininier. 4. AcUe. 5. Sickle. M-ai- i-ivJ? Fig. 3. Ear-lings. CH. v.] ASTRONOMY. g5 would early attract attention, while the clear sky, dry atmos- phere, and level horizon would afford facilities for observations. 80 soon as the idea of them suggested itself to the minds of the inhabitants. The ' ' Chaldaean learning " of a later age "' appears to have been originated, in all its branches, by the primitive people ; in whose language it continued to be written even in Semitic times. We are informed by Simplicius that Callisthenes, who accom- panied Alexander to Babylon, sent to Aristotle from that capi- tal a series of astronomical observations, which he had found preserved there, extending back to a period of 1903 years from Alexander's conquest of the city."" Epigenes related that these observations were recorded upon tablets of baked clay,™ which is quite in accordance with all that we know of the literary habits of the people. They must have extended, according to Simplicius, as far back as B.C. 2234, and would therefore seem to have been commenced and carried on for many centuries by the primitive Chaldsean people. We have no means of de- termining their exact nature or value, as none of them have been preserved to us : no doubt they were at first extremely simple ; but we have every reason to conclude that they were of a real and substantial character. There is nothing fancifid, or (so to speak) astrological, in the early astronomy of the Baby- lonians. Their careful emplacement of their chief buildings,*'' which were probably used from the earliest times for astro- nomical purposes,**^ their invention of dilferent kinds of dials, *''^ and their division of the day into those hours which we still use,®* are all solid, though not perhaps very brilliant, achieve- ments. It was only in later times that the Chaldaeans were fairly taxed with imposture and charlatanism ; in early ages they seem to have really deserved the eulogy bestowed on them by Cicero.®'* It may have been the astronomical knowledge of the Chal- da^ans which gave them the confidence to adventure on im- portant voyages. Scripture tells us" of the later people, that " their cry was in the ships; " "^ and the early inscriptions not only make frequent mention of the "ships of Ur," but by con- necting these vessels with those of Ethiopia ^"^ seem to unply that they were navigated to considerable distances. Unfortu- nately we possess no materials from which to form any idea either of the make and character of the Chaldsean vessels, or of the nature of the trade in which they wei"e employed. We may perhaps assume that at first they were either canoes 5 60 TIIK FIliST MONARCHT. [en, V. hollowed out of a palm-trunk, or reed fabrics made water-tight by a coating of bitumen. The Chaldee trading operations lay, no doubt, chiefly in the Persian Gulf;" but it is quite possible that even in very early times they were not confined to this sheltered basin. The^old, which was so lavishly used in deco- ration,*"* could only have been obtained in the necessary quan- tities from Africa or India ; and it is therefore probable that one, if not both, of these countries was visited by the Chaldsean traders. A-stronomical investigations could not be conducted without a fair proficiency in the science of numbers. It would be reason- able to conclude, from the admitted character of the Chaldseans as astronomers, that they were familiar with most arithmetical processes, even had we no evidence upon the subject. Evidence, however, to a certain extent, does exist. On a tablet found at Senkareh, and belonging probably to an early period, a table of squares is given, correctly calculated from one to sixty. ^® The system of notation, which is here used, is very curious. Bero- sus*^ informs us that, in their computations of time, the Chal- dseans employed an alternate sexagesimal and decimal notation, reckoning the years by the soss, the ner, and the sar — the soss being a term of 60 years, the ner one of 600, and the sar one of 3600 (or 60 sosses). It appears from the Senkareh monument, that they occasionally pursued the same practice in mere nu- merical calculations, as w^ill be evident from the illustration. [PI. XVIII., Figs. 1, 2.] In Arabic numerals this table may be expressed as follows : — Soss. Units. Soss. Units. 43 21 = = 512 52 16 = = r,& 45 4 = = 522 54 9 = -- 572 46 49 = = 532 56 4 = = 582 48 36 = = 542 58 1 = = 592 50 25 = = P52 60 = = 602 The calculation is in every case correct ; and the notation is by means of two signs — the simple wedge y , and the arrow- head -^ ; the wedge representing the unit, the soss (60), and the sar (3600), while the arrowhead expresses the decades of each series, or the numbers 10 and 600.^^ The notation is Qvmibrous, I Vol Plate XVII Fig. > Lcad<>n pipe and jar. Fig. 2. Bronze bangles. Plate XVIII Vol. I F'E- KxTnATT from Sr.NKARF.it Tadle of Soi'arf,s F,g 2 ^ « trr <«. rrf yyj «. Y nr -5P ^/rr <« TYT XJ « M1 T -:h=:>V<cun)). Plate XXII. Vol I. Fig. 1. Tlie Kliabour, fiom near Arban, lookiug uoitn. Fig 2. Koukab. CH. VII. 1 HE A, OR HO A. 79 to the mystic animal, half man, half fish, which came up from the Persian Gulf to teach astronomy and letters to the first settlers on the Euphrates and Tigris.'*' It is p(M"liaps contained also in the word Ijy which Berosus designates this same creat- ure — Oannes (Bavi'w)''' — which may be explained as Hoa-ana, or ' ' the god Hoa. " There are no means of strictly determining the precise meaning of the word in Babylonian ; but it is jjcr- haps allowable to connect it, provisionally, with tlie Arabic Hiya, which is at once " life " and "a serpent," since, accord- ing to the best authority, ''there are very strong grounds for connecting Hea or Iloa with the serpent of Scripture and the Paradisaical traditions of the tree of knowledge and the tree of life." »» Hoa occupies, in the first Triad, the position which in the cla.ssical mythology is filled by Poseidon or Neptime, and in some respects he corresponds to him. He is "the lord of the earth," just as Neptune is yai^oxog ; he is " the king of rivei*s; " and he comes from the sea to teach the Babylonians; but he is never called "the lord of the sea." That title belongs to Nin or Ninip. Hoa is "the lord of the abyss," or of "the great deep," which does not seem to be the sea, but something dis- tinct from it. His most important titles are tliose which invest him with the character, so prominently brought out in Oe and Oannes,''^ of the god of science and knowledge. He is " the in- telligent guide," or, according to another interpretation, " the intelligent ^s/t,"*" " the teacher of mankind," " the lord of un- derstanding. " One of his emblems is the * ' wedge " or ' ' arrow- head," the essential element of cuneiform writing, which seems to be assigned to him as the inventor, or at least the patron, of the Chaldaean alphabet." Another is the serpent, which occu- pies so conspicuous a place among the symbols of the gods on the black stones recording benefactions, and which sometimes appears upon the cylinders. [PI. XIX., Fig. 3.] This symbol, here as elsewhere, is emblematic of superhuman knowledge — a record of the primeval belief that the serpent was more sub- tle than any beast of the field. " *'- The stellar name of Hoa was Kinmuit ; and it is suspected that in this aspect he was identi- fied with the constellation Draco, which is perhaps the Kiinah (HD'a) of Scripture.^'' Besides his chief character of "god of knowledge," Hoa is also "god of life." a capacity in which the serpent woidd again fitly syml)olize him.-"* He was likewise "god of glory," and "god of giving," bemg, as Berosus said, the great giver of good gifts to man." 80 THE FIRST MONAIiCUY. [on. vn. The monuments do not contain much evidence of the early- worship of Hoa. His name appears on a very ancient stone tablet brought from Mugheir (Ur) ; but otherwise his claim to be accounted one of the primeval gods must rest on the testi- mony of Berosus and Helladius, who represent him as known to the first settlers. He seems to have been the tutelary god of Is or Hit, which Isidore of Charax calls Aeipolis,**^ CAetVoA^f), or " Hea's city ; " but there is no evidence that this was a very ancient place. The Assyrian kings built him temples at Asshur and Calah. Hoa had a wife Dav-Kina, of whom a few words will be said presently. Their most celebrated son was Merodach or Bel-Merodach, the Belus of Babylonian times. As Kimmut, Hoa was also the father of Nebo, whose functions bear a gen- eral resemblance to his own. DAV-KINA. Dav-Kina, the wife of Hoa, is clearly the Dauke or Davke (AavKti) of Damascius,*' w^ho was the wife of Aiis and mother of Belus (Bel-Merodach). Her name is thought to signify "the chief lady."*^ She has no distinctive titles or important posi- tion in the Pantheon, but, like Anata, takes her husband s epithets with a mere distinction of gender. SIN, or HURKI. The first god of the second Triad is Sin, or Hurki, the moon- deity. It is in condescension to Greek notions that Berosus inverts the true Chaldsean order, and places the sim before the moon in his enumeration of the heavenly bodies.*'-' Chal- dsean mythology gives a very decided preference to the lesser liuninary, perhaps because the nights are more pleasant than the days in hot countries. With respect to the names of the god, we may observe that Sin, the Assyrian or Semitic term, is a word of quite imcertain etjTnology, Avhieh, however, is found applied to the moon in many Semitic languages ; ^^ while Hurki, which is the Chaldsean or Hamitic name, is probably from a root cognate to the Hebrew 'Ur, "iij?, '' vigilare," av hence is derived the term sometimes used to signify " an angel "^^ — '/?*, Tp, " a watcher." The titles of Hurki are usually somewhat vague. He is "the chief," "the powerful,"' "the lord of the spirits,'" "he CH. vn.] SIN, OR UURKI. 81 who dwells in the great heavens;" or, hyperbolically, "the chief of the gods of heaven and earth," "the king of the gods," and even " the god of the gods." Sometimes, however, his titles are more definite and particular: as, firstly, when they belong to him in respect of his being the celestial lumi- nary — e.g., "the bright," "the shining," "the lord of the month ;" and, secondly, when they represent him as presiding over buildings and ar(;hitecture, which the Chalda'ans appear to have placed under his special superintendence. In this connection he is called "the supporting architect," "the strengthener of fortifications," and, more generally, " the lord of building" (Bel-zuna).*- Bricks, the Chalda?an building ma- terial, were of course under his protection; and the sign which designates them is also the sign of the month over which he was considered to exert particular care.^^ His ordi- nary symbol is the crescent or new moon, which is commonly represented as large, but of extreme thinness ^V Jj ; though not without a certain variety in the forms v;;^^ (f J\. The most curious and the most purely conventional represen- tations are a linear semicircle, \ /, and an imitation of this semicircle formed by three s'traight lines " \ /. The il- luminated part of the moon's disk is always turned directly towards the horizon, a position but rarely seen in nature. The chief Chaldaean temple to the moon-god was at Ur or Hur (Mugheir), a city which probably derived its name from him,*^^ and which was under liis special protection. He had nlso shrines at Bal)ylon and Borsippa, and likewise at Calah and Dur-Sargina (Khorsabad). Few deities nj^pear to liave been worshipped with such constancy by the Chalda'an kiii^s. His great temple at Ur was begim by Urukh, and fiuislu'd by his son Ilgi — the two most ancient of all the monarchs. Later in the series we find him in such honor that every king's name during some centuries compi-ise the name of the moon- god in it. On the restoration of the Chaldciean power he is again in high repute. Nebuchadnezzar mentions him with i-»>- spect; and Nabonidus, the last native monart-h. restoivs his U g2 THE FIRST MONAliCnr. [en. vn. shrine at Ur, and accumulates upon him the most high-soimd- ing titles.^ The moon-god is called, in more than one inscription, the eldest son of Bel-Nimrod. He had a wife (the moon-goddess i whose title was " the great lady," and who is frequently asso- ciated with him in the lists. She and her husband were con- jointly the tutelary deities of Ur or Hur; and a particular portion of the great temple there was dedicated to her honor especially. Her "ark "or " tabernacle, " which was separate from that of her husband, was probably, as well as his, de- posited in this sanctuary. It bore the title of "the lesser light," while his was called, emphatically, " the light," SAN, or SANSI. San, or Sansi, the sun-god, was the second member of the second Triad. The main element of this name is probably connected with the root shani, »jar, which is in Arabic, and perhaps in Hebrew, " bright. "^^ Hence we may perhaps com- pare our own word "sun" with the Chaldaean "San;" for " sun" is most likely connected etymologically Avith " sheen " and "shine." Shamas or Shemesh, a'DK', the Semitic title of the god, is altogether separate and distinct, signifying, as it does, the ministering office of the sun,^^ and not the brilliancy of his light. A trace of the Hamitic name appears in the well- known city Bethsain,''^ whose appellation is declared by Eu- gesippus to signif}^ " domus Sohs," "the house of the sun."*" The titles applied to the sun-god have not often much direct reference to his physical powers or attributes. He is called indeed, in some places, "the lord of fire," "the light of the gods," " the ruler of the day," and " he who illumines the ex- panse of heaven and earth." But commonly he is either spoken of in a more general way, as "the regent of all things," "the establisher of heaven and earth;" or, if special functions are assigned to him, they are connected with his supposed "motive" power, as inspiring warlike thoughts in the minds of the kings, directing and favorably influencing their expedi- tions ; or again, as helping them to discharge any of the other active duties of royalty. San is ' ' the supreme ruler who casts a favorable eye on expeditions," " the vanquisher of the king's enemies," " the breaker-up of opposition." He " casts his mo- tive influence" over the monarchs, and causes them to "as- eenible their chariots and warriors " — he goes forth with their CH. VII. 1 SAN.—AI. 33 armies, and enables them to extend their dominions — he chases their enemies before them, causes opposition to cease, and brings them back with victory to their own countries. Be- sides this, he helps them to sway the sceptre of power, and to rule over their subjects with authority. It seems that, from observing the manifest agency of the material sun in stimu- lating all the functions of nature, the Chaldseans came to the conclusion that the svm-god exerted a similar influence on the minds of men, and was the gi'eat motive agent in human history. The chief seats of the sun-god's worship in Chaldaea appear to have been the two famous cities of Larsa (Ellasar?) and Sip- para. The great temple of the Sun, called Bit-Parra,*^! at the former place, was erected by Urukh, repaired by more than one of the later Chalda'an monarchs, and completely restored by Nebuchadnezzar. At Sippara, the worship of the sun-god was so predominant, that Abydenus, probably following Bero- sus, calls the town Heliopolis.®'^ There can be little doubt that the Adrammelecli, or " Fire-king," *^^ whose worship the Seph- arvites (or people of Sippara) introduced into Samaria," was this deity. Sippara is called Tsijxir sha Shamas, " Sippara of the Sun," in various inscriptions, and possessed a temple of the god which was repaired and adorned by many of the an- cient Chalda>an kings, as well as by Nebuchadnezzai' and Na- bonidus. The general prevalence of San's worship is indicated most clearly by the cylinders. Few comparatively of those which have any divine symbol upon them are without his. The sym- bol is either a simple circle ( \ a quartered disk O' a four-rayed orb of a more elaborate character San or Sansi had a wife, Ai, Gula, or Animit, of whom it now follows to speak. AI, GULA, or AN UNIT. Ai, Gula, or x\nunit, was the female power of the sun, and was commonly associated with San in temples and invocations. Her names are of imcertain significaticju, except the second, Gula, which undoubtedly means "great," being so translated in the vocabularipa '^ it ip ^usn^^cted that the three terms may g4 TRE FIRST MONARCnY. [en. vil. have been attached respectively to the "rising," the "cuhni- natinp:,' and the "setting sun,'"^ since they do not appear to interchange; Avhile the name Gula is distinctly stated in one inscription to belong to the "great " goddess, "the wife of the meridian Sun." It is perhaps an objection to this view, that the male Sun, who is decidedly the superior deity, does not appear to be manifested in Chaldsea under any such threefold representation . •*' As a substantive deity, distinct from her husband, Gula's characteristics are that she presides over life and over fecun- dity. It is not quite clear whether these offices belong to her alone, or whether she is associated in each of them with a sis- ter goddess. There is a "Mistress of Life," who must be re- garded as the special dispenser of that blessing ; and there is a " Mistress of the Gods," who is expressly said to "preside over births." Concerning these two personages we cannot at pres- ent determine whether they are really distinct deities, or whether they are not rather aspects of Gula, sufficiently marked to be represented in the temples by distinct idols. ®^ Gula was worshipped in close combination with her husband, both at Larsa and Sippara. Her name appears in the inscrip- tions connected with both places; and she is probably the " Anammelech, " whom the Sepharvites honored in conjunction with Adrammelech, the " Fire-Eang." ®® In later times she had also temples independent of her husband, at Babj^lon and Bor- sippa, as well as at Calah Asshur. The emblem now commonly regarded as symbohzing Gula is the eight-rayed disk or orb, which frequently accompanies the orb with four rays in the Babylonian representations. In lieu of a disk, we have sometimes an eight-rayed star and even occasionally a star with six rays only ^^=- • It is curious that the eight-rayed star became at an early period the universal emblem of divinity : but perhaps we can only conclude from this the stellar origin of the worship generally, and not any special pre-eminence or priority of Anunit over other deities. CH. VII.] VUL, OR IV A. VOL, or IV A. 85 The third member of the second Triad is the god of the at- mosphere, whose name it has been proposed to render phonet- ically in a great variety of ways.™ Until a general agreement shall be established, it is thought best to retain a name with which readers are familiar; and the form Vtil w^ill therefore be used in these volumes. Were Iva the correct articulation, we might regard the term as simply the old Hamitic name for " the air," and illustrate it by the Arabic heva \^ which has still that meaning. The importance of Vul in the Chaldaean mythology, and his strong positive character, contrast remarkably with the weak and shadowy features of Uranus, or ^ther, in the classical system. Vul indeed corresponds in great measure with the classical Zeus or Jupiter, being, like him, the real "Prince of the power of the air," the lord of the whirlwind and the tem- pest, and the wielder of the thunderbolt. His standard titles are " the minister of heaven and earth," " the Lord of the air," " he who makes the tempest to rage." He is regarded as the destroyer of crops, the rooter-up of trees, the scatterer of the harvest. Famine, scarcity, and even their consequence, pes- tilence, are assigned to him. He is said to have in his hand a "flaming sword," with which he effects his works of destruc- tion; and this "flaming sword," which probably represents lightning, becomes liis emblem upon the tablets and cylinders, where it is figured as a double or triple bolt." [PI. XIX. , Fig. 4.] Vul again, as the god of the atmosphere, gives the rain ; and hence he is "the careful and beneficent chief," "the giver of abundance," "the lord of fecundity." In this capacity he is naturally chosen to preside over canals, the great fertilizers of Babylonia ; and we find among his titles " the lord of canals," and "the establisher of works of irrigation." There is not much evidence of the worship of Vul in Chal- daea during the early tunes. That he must have been known appears from the fact of his name forming an element in the name of Shamas-Vul, son of Ismi-dagon, who ruled over Chal- dsea about B.C. 1850.'- It is also certain that this Shamas-Vul set up his worship at Asshur (Kileh-Sherghat) in Assyria, as- sociating him there with his father Ana, and building to them conjointly a gi-eat temple."' Further than this we have no proof that he was an object of worship in the time of the first monarchy ; though in the time of Assyrian preponderance, as 86 THE F1H8T MONARCHY. [cii. vii. well as in that of the later Babylonian Empire, there were few godH more venerated. Vul is sometimes associated with a goddess, Shala or Tala, who is probably the Salambo or Salambas of the lexicogra- phers.''^ The meaning of her name is uncertain ; "' and her epi- thets are for the most part obscure. Her ordinary title is sar- rat or sharrat, "queen," the feminine of the common word sar, which means " Chief," "King," or "Sovereign." BAR, NIN, or NINIP. If we are right in regarding the five gods who stand next to the Triad formed of the Moon, the Sun, and the Atmosphere, as representatives of the five planets visible to the naked eye, the god Nin, or Ninip, should be Saturn. His names. Bar and Nin, are respectively a Semitic and a Hamitic term signifying "lord" or "master." Nin-ip, his full Hamitic appellation, signifies "Nin, byname," or "he whose name is Nin;" and similarly, his full Semitic appellation seems to have been Bar- shem, " Bar, by name," or "he whose name is Bar " — a term which is not indeed found in the inscriptions, but which appears to have been well known to the early Syrians and Armenians,'*' and which was probably the origin of the title Barsemii, borne by the kings of Hatra {Hadhr near Kileh-Sherghat) in Eoman times." In character and attributes the classical god whom Nin most closely resembles is, however, not Saturn, but Hercules. An indication of this connection is perhaps contained in the Hero- dotean genealogy, which makes Hercules an ancestor of Ninus.'^ Many classical traditions, we must remember, identified Her- cules with Saturn ; '^ and it seems certain that in the East at any rate this identification was common.^'' Nin, in the inscrip- tions, is the god of strength and courage. He is ' ' the lord of the brave," "the champion," " the warrior who subdues foes," " he who strengthens the heart of his followers; " and again, "the destroyer of enemies," "the reducer of the disobedient," " the exterminator of rebels," " he whose sword is good." In many respects he bears a close resemblance to Nergal or Mars. Like him. he is a god of battle and of the chase, presiding over the king's expeditions, whether for war or hunting, and giving success in both alike. At the same time he has qualities which seem wholly unconnected with any that have been hitherto mentioned. He is the true ' ' Fish-God " of Berosus,*^ and is fig- Vol. t . >, ill ,. .ii^ Plate. XXI Fig. 2. Colossal lion, near Scruj. Plate XXIV. Vol Fie. 1. vv\ i Plan of -the Ruins at Nimnid (Calah). Fie. 2. Great Mound of Nimrud or Calah (after Layard)^ I CH. vii.] BAR.—BELMERODACH. g'i ured as such in the sculptures. [PI, XIX., Fig. 5.] In this point of view he is called " the god of the sea," "he who dwells in the sea," and again, somewhat curiously, " the opener of aque- ducts." Besides these epithets, he has many of a more gen- eral character, as " the powerful chief," " the supreme," "the first of the gods," " the favorite of the gods," " the chief of the spirits," and the like. Again, he has a set of epithets which seem to point to his stellar character, very difficult to recon- cile with the notion that, as a celestial luminary, he was Saturn. We find him called "the light of heaven and earth," " he who, like the sun, the light of the gods, irradiates the nations." These phrases appear to point to the Moon, or to some very brilliant star, and are scarcely reconcilable with the notion that he was the dark and distant Saturn. Nin's emblem in Assyria is the Man-bull, the impersonation of strength and power. [PI. XIX., Fig. 6.] He guards the pal- aces of the Assyrian kings, Avho reckon him their tutelary god, and give his name to their capital city. We may conjecture that in Babylonia his emblem was the sacred fish, which is often seen under different forms upon the cylinders. [PI. XIX., Fig. 7.] The mommients furnish no evidence of the early worship of Nin in Chaldaea. We may perhaps gather the fact from Bero- sus' account of the Fish-God as an early object of veneration in that region, ^^ as well as from the Hamitic etymology of tho name by which he was ordinarily known even in Assyria.^ There he was always one of the most important deities. His temple at Nineveh was very famous, and is noticed by Tacitus in his " Annals; "** and he had likewise two temples at Calah (Nimi'ud), both of them buildings of some pretension. It has been already mentioned *^ that Nin was the son of Bel- Nimrod, and that Beltis was both his wife and his mother. These relationships are well established, since they are repeat- edly asserted. One tablet, however, inverts the genealogy, and makes Bel-Nimrod the son of Nin, instead of his father. The contradiction pei'haps springs from the double charact4.>r of this divinity, who, as Saturn, is the father, but, as Hercules, the son of Jupiter. BEL-MERODACH. Bel-Merodach is, beyond all doubt, the planet Jupiter, which is still called Bel by the Menda?ans. The name Merodach is of uncertain etymology and meaning. It h;m bren compared witb py TlIK FIRST MONARCHY. [cii. vii. the Poi-Bian Mardah,^ the diminutive of mard, "a man,'' and •with the Arabic Min'ich,^'' which is the name of the planet Mars. But, as there is every reason to believe that the term belongs to the Hamitic Babylonian, it is in vain to have recourse to Arian or Semitic tongues for its derivation. Most likely the word is a descriptive epithet, originally attached to the name Bel, in the same way as Nipru, but ultimately usurping its place and coming to be regarded as the proper name of the deity. It is doubtful whether any phonetic representative of Merodach has been found on the monuments ; if so, the pro- nunciation should, apparently, be Amardak, whence we might derive the Amordacia {'AfiopSaicla) of Ptolemy. ^^ The titles and attributes of Merodach are of more than usual Vagueness. In the most ancient monuments which mention him, he seems to be called " the old man of the gods,"^^ and "the judge;" he also certainly has the gates, which in early times were the seats of justice, under his special protection. Thus he would seem to be the god of justice and judgment — an idea which may have given rise to the Hebrew name of the planet Jupiter, viz. sedek, pny, "justitia." Bel-Merodach was worshipped in the early Chaldeean kingdom, as appears from the Tel-Sif r tablets. He was probably from a very remote time the tutelary god of the city of Babylon ; ^ and hence, as that city grew into imiDortance, the worship of Merodach became more prominent. The Assyrian monarchs always especially as- sociate Babylon with this god ; and in the later Babylonian em- pire he becomes by far the chief object of worship. It is his temple which Herodotus describes so elaborately,^^ and his image, which, according to the Apocryphal Daniel, the Baby- lonians worshijjped with so much devotion. ^'^ Nebuchadnezzar calls him ' ' the king of the heavens and the earth, " ' ' the great lord," "the senior of the gods," "the most ancient," " the sup- porter of sovereignty," "the layer-up of treasures," etc., and ascribes to him all his glory and success. We have no means of determining which among the em- blems of the gods is to be assigned to Bel-Merodach ; nor is there any sculj^tured form w^hich can be certainly attached to him. According to Diodorus, the great statue of Bel-Merodach at Babylon was a figure " standing and loalking.^"^^ Such a form appears more often than any other upon the cylinders of the Babylonians ; and it is perhaps allowable to conjecture that it may represent this favorite deity. [PI. XIX., Fig. 8.] CH. vn.] ZIR-BANIT.—NERGAL. S>Q ZIR-BANIT. Bel-Merodach has a wife, with whom he is commonly asso- ciated, called Zir-banit. She had a temple at Babylon, proba- bly attached to hei* husband s, and is perhaps the Babylonian Juno (Hera) of Diodorus.*** The essential element of her name seems to be Zir, which is an old Hamitic root of uncertain meaning, while the accompanying banit is a descriptive epi- thet, which may be rendered by "genetrix." Zir-banit was probably the goddess whose worship the Babylonian settlers car- ried to Samaria, and who is called Succoth-benoth in Script- ure.^^ NERGAL. Nergal, the planet Mars, whose name was continued to a late date, under the form of Nerig in the astronomical system of the Mendseans, is a god whose character and attributes are tolerably clear and definite. His name is evidently com- poimded of the two Hamitic roots nir, "a man," and gula, "great;" so that he is " the great man, "or " the great hero." He is the special god of war and of hunting, more particularly of the latter. His titles are "the king of battle," " the cham- pion of the gods," "the storm ruler," "the strong begetter, " ' ' the tutelar god of Babylonia, " and ' ' the god of the chase. " He is usually coupled with Nin, who likewise presides over bat- tles and over hunting ; but while Nin is at least his equal in the former sphere, Nergal has a decided pre-eminence in the latter. We have no distinct evidence that Nergal was worshipped in the primitive times. He is first mentioned by some of the early Assyrian kings,^" who regard him as their ancestor. It has, however, been conjectured that, like Bil-Nipru, he rep- resented the deified hero, Nimrod,^' who may have been wor- shipped in different parts of Chalda'a imder different titles. The city peculiarly dedicated to Nergal was Cutha or Tig- gaba, which is constantly called his city in the inscriptions. He was worshipped also at Tarbisa, near Nineveh, but in Tig- gaba he was said to " live," and his shrine there was one of great celebrity. Hence "the men of Cuth," Avhen transported to Samaria by the Assyrians, naturally enough " made Nergal their god," carrying his worship with them into their new country."** It is probable that Nergal's symbol was the Man Lion. [PI 90 TUE FIRST MONARCHY. [ch. vii. XX. I Nir is sometimes used in the inscriptions in the meaning of '• lion ; " and the Semitic name for the god himself is "Aria " —the ordinary term for the king of beasts both in Hebrew and in Syriac. Perhaps we have hei-e the true derivation of the Greek name for the god of war, Ares ("Afm),^ which has long puzzled classical scholars. The lion would symbolize both the fighting and the hunting propensities of the god, for he not only engages in coinbats upon occasions, but often chases his prey and runs it down like a hunter. Again, if Nergal is the Man- Lion, his association in the buildings with the Man-Bull would be exactly parallel with the conjunction, which we so con- stantly find, between him and Nin in the inscriptions. Nergal had a wife, called Laz, of whom, however, nothing is known beyond her name. It is uncertain which among the emblems of the gods appertains to him. ISHTAR, or NANA. Ishtar, or Nana, is the planetary Venus, and in general feat- ures corresponds with the classical goddess. Her name Ishtar is that by which she was known in Assyria ; and the same term prevailed with slight modifications among the Semitic races generally. The Phoenician form was Astarte, the He- brew Ashtoreth ; i°" the later Mendsean form was Ashtar. In Babylonia the goddess was known as Nana, which seems to be the Nausea of the second book of Maccabees, ^°^ and the Nani of the modern Syrians. ^°'^ No satisfactory account can at present be given of the etymology of either name ; for the proposal to comiect Ishtar with the Greek aarljp (Zend sfarann, Sanscrit tara, English star, Latin stella), though it has great names in its favor, i"'^ is not worthy of much attention. Ishtar's aphrodisiac character, though it can scarcely be doubted, does not appear very clearly in the inscriptions. She is "the goddess who rejoices mankind," and her most com- mon epithet is " Asurah,'* "the fortunate," or "the happy, "i"* But otherwise her epithets are vague and general, insomuch that she is often scarcely distinguishable from Beltis. She is called "the mistress of heaven and earth," "the great goddess," " the queen of all the gods; " and again " the goddess of war and battle," "the queen of victory," "she who arranges bat- tles," and "she who defends from attacks." She is also rep- resented in the inscriptions of one king as the goddess of the chase. ^"^ Ctt. VII.] ISHTAR.—NEBO. 91 The worship of Ishtar was wide-spread, and her shrines were numerous. She is often called "the queen of Babylon," and must certainly have had a temple in that city.^* She had also temples at Asshur (Kileh-Sherghat), at Arbela, and at Nineveh. It may be suspected that her symbol Avas the naked female form, which is not uncommon upon the cylinders. [PI. XXI., Figs. 1, 2. J She may also be repi-esented by the nide images in baked clay so common throughout the Mesopota- mian ruins, which are generally regarded as images of My- litta.io^ Ishtar is sometimes coupled Avith Nebo in siich a way as to suggest the notipresents the planet Mercury. [PI. XXI., Fig. 3.] His name is the same, or nearly so, both in Babylonian and Assyrian ; ^''^ and we may perhajis assign it a Semitic derivation, from the root uihixth, X33, "to prophesy." It is his special function to preside over knowledge and learning. He is called "the god who possesses intelligence," "he who hears from afar," "he who teaches," or "he who teaches and instructs." In this point of view, he of coui'se appi'oximates to Hoa, whose son he is called in some inscriptions, and to whom he bears a general resemblance. Like Hoa, he is symbolized by the sim- ple wcMlge or arrowhead,"" the primary and essential element of euneiforju writing, to mark his joint presidency with that God over writing and literature. At the same time Nebo has, like so many of the Chalda?an gods, a number of general titles, implying divine power, which, if they had belonged to him only, would have seemed to prove him the supreme deity. He is " the Lord of lords, who has no equal in power," "the supreme chief," "the sustainer," "the supporter," " the ever ready," " the guardian over the heavens and the earth," " the lord of the constellations," "the holder of the sceptre of power," "he who grants to kings the sceptre of royalty for the governance of their people." It is chiefly by his omission from many lists, and his humble place when ho is mentioned to* 92 T/ZJS: FinsT MOKARCHr. [en. vn. gether with the really great gods, that we know he was myth- ologically a deity of no very great eminence. Tbtre is nothing to prove the early worship of Neho. His name does not appear as an element in any royal appellation belonging to the Chaldaean series. Nor is there any reference to him in the records of the primeval times. Still, as he is probably of Babylonian rather than Assyrian origin,"' and as an Assyrian king is named after him in the twelfth century B.c.,"'^ we may assvnne that he was not unknown to the primi- tive people of Chaldaea, though at present their remains have furnished us with no mention of him. In later ages the chief seat of his worship was Borsippa, where the great and famous temple, known at present as the Birs-Nimrud, was dedicated to his honor. He had also a shrine at Calah (Nimrud ) , whence were procured the statues representing him which are now in the British Museum. He was in special favor with the kings of the great Babylonian empire, who were mostly named after him, and viewed him as presiding over their house. His sym- bol has not yet been recognized. The wife of Nebo, as already observed, was Varamit or Ur- mit — a word which perhaps means " exalted, " from the root on, "to be lifted up." No special attributes are ascribed to this goddess, who merely accompanies her husband in most of the places where he is mentioned by name. Such, then, seem to have been the chief gods worshipped by the early Chaldaeans. It would be an endless as well as an unprofitable task to give an account of the inferior deities. Their name is " Legion; " and they are, for the most part, too vague and shadowy for effective description. A vast number are merely local ; and it may be suspected that where this is the case the great gods of the Pantheon come before us repeat- edly, disguised under rustic titles. We have, moreover, no clue at present to this labyrinth, on which, even with greater knowledge, it would perhaps be best for us to forbear to enter ; since there is no reason to expect that we should obtain any really valuable results from its exploration. A few words, however, may be added upon the subject of the Chaldaean cosmogony. Although the only knowledge that we possess on this point is derived from Berosus, and therefore we cannot be sure that we have really the belief of the ancient people, yet, judging from internal evidence of character, we may safely pronounce Berosus' account not only archaic, but in its groundwork and essence a primeval tradition, more an- r II. vu.] COSMOGONY. 93 ciciit probably than niu«t of the gods whom we have been con- sidering. 'in the begmning," says this ancient legend, "all was ilarkness and water, and therein were generated monstrous aninuds of strange and peculiar forms. There were men with two wings, and some even with four, and with two faces; and )thers with two heads, a man's and a woman's on one body ; and there were men with the heads and horns of goats, and men with hoofs like horses, and some with the upper parts of a man joined to the lower parts of a horse, like centaurs ; and tliere were bidls with human heads, dogs with four bodies and with fishes' tails, men and horses with dogs' heads, creatm-es Avith the heads and bodies of horses, but with the tails of fish, and other animals mixing the forms of various beasts. Moreover lliore were monstrous fish and reptiles and serpents, and di- vers other creatiu-es, which had borrowed something from each other's shai:)es ; of all which the likenesses are still pre- served in the temple of Belus. A Avoman ruleth them all, by name Omorka, Avhich is in Chaldee Thalatth, and in Greek Thalassa (or "the sea"). Then Belus appeared, and split the woman in twain; and of the one half of her he made the lieaven, and of the other half the earth ; and the beasts that were in her he caused to perish. And he split the darkness, and di- vided the heaven and the earth asunder, and put the world in order; and the animals that could not bear the light perished. Belus, upon this, seeing that the earth was desolate, yet teem- ing with prt)ductive power, commanded one of the gods to cut off his head,"'' and to mix the blood Av^hich floA\'ed forth Avith earth, and form men thercAvith, and beasts that could bear the light. So man Avas made, and Avas intelligent, being a par- taker of the divine wisdom."* LikeAvise Belus made the stars, and the sim and moon, and the five planets. It has been generally seen that this cosmogony bears a re- markable resemblance to the history of Creation contained in the opening chapters of the book of Genesis. Some haA'e gone so far as to argue that the Mosaic account Avas deri\'ed from it."^ Othei-s, Avho reject this notion, suggest that a certain "old Chaldee tradition " Avas "the basis of them both.""^ If Ave drop out the Avord "Chaldee" from this statement, it may be regarded as fairly expressing the' truth. The Babylonian le- gend embodies a primeA'al tradition, common to all mankind, of which an inspired author has gi\'en us the true groundAvork in the first and second chapters of Genesis, What is espo- 0-1 THE FIRHT MONAECHY. |. ii. vn. cially remarkable is the fidelity, comparatively speaking, with which tlio Babyloniiiii Ifgeiirl reports the facts. While the whole tone and sj)irit of the two accounts,"^ and even the point of view from which they are taken, differ.^^^ the general outline of the nai-rative in each is neai'ly the same. In both we have the earth at first "without form and void," and "darkness upon the face of the deep." In both the first step taken towards creation is the separation of the mixed mass, and the formation of the heavens and the earth as the consequence of such separation. In both we have light mentioned before the * creation of the sun and moon ; in both we have the existence of animals before man ; and in both we have a divine element infused into man at his birth, and his formation ' ' from the dust of the ground." The only points in which the narratives can be said to be at variance are points of order. The Baby- lonians apparently made the formation of man and of the animals which at present inhabit the earth simultaneous, and placed the creation of the sun, moon, and planets after, instead of before, that of men and animals. In other respects the Babylonian narrative either adds to the Mosaic account, as in its descriiDtion of the monsters and their destruction, or clothes in mythic language, that could never have been understood literally, the truth which in Scripture is put forth with severe simplicity. The cleaving of the woman Thalatth in twain, and the beheading of Belus, are embellishments of this latter char- acter ; they are plainly and evidently mythological ; nor can we suppose them to have been at any time regarded as facts. The existence of the monsters, on the other hand, may well have been an actual belief. All men are prone to believe in such marvels; and it is quite possible, as Niebuhr supposes,"^ that some discoveries of the remains of mammoths and other monstrous forms embedded in the crust of the earth, may have given definiteness and prominency to the Chaldsean no- tions on this subject. Besides their correct notions on the subject of creation, the primitive Chalda?ans seem also to have been aware of the gen- eral destruction'of mankind, on account of their wickedness,^ : by a Flood ; and of the rebellious attempt which Avas made | soon after the Flood to concentrate themselves in one place, I instead of obeying the command to " replenish the earth " i-^— an attempt which was thwarted by means of the confusion of their speech. The Chaldsean legends embodying these primi- tive traditions were as follows : — Vol. I. Plate. XXV. Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Assyrian Lion, Ircm NimruJ. Fi?. 3. Ibex, or TV'ilJ Goat, from Nininul. CH. VII.] TBADirroN OF TIIK FLOOD. 9f^ '* God appeared to Xisuthnis (N*ah) in a dream, and warned him that on the fifteenth day of the month Da^sins. mankind would be destroyed by a dehige. He bado liim bury in Sip- para, the City of the Sun, the extant writings, first and last, and build a ship, and enter therein with bis family and his close friends ; and furnish it with meat and drink ; and place on board winged fowl, and four-footed beasts of the earth ; and when all was ready, set sail. Xisuthrus asked ' Whiflier he was to sail ? ' and was told, ' To the gods, with a prayer that it might fare well with mankind.' Then Xisuthrus was not dis- obedient to the vision, but built a shiji five furlongs (^3125 feet) in lengtli, and two furlongs (1250 feet) in breadth; and col- lected all that had been conmianded him, and put liis wife and children and close friends on board. The flood came ; and as soon as it ceased, Xisuthrus let loose some birds, which, find- ing neither food nor a place where they could rest, came back to the ark. After some days he again sent out the birds, ^•^ which again returned to the ark, but with feet covered with mud. Sent out a third time, the birds returned no more, and Xisuthrus knew that land had reappearc^l : so he removed some of the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold ! the vessel had grounded on a mountain. Then Xisuthrus went forth with his wife and his daughter, and his pilot, ^^ and fell down and worshijjped the earth, ^-* and built an altar, and of- fered sacrifice to the gods ; after which he disappeaj-ed from sight, together with those who had accompanied him. They who had remained in the ark and not gone forth with Xisu- thrus, now left it and searched for him, and sliouted out his name ; but Xisuthrus was not seen any more. Only his voice answered them out of the air, saying, ' Worship God ; for be- cause I worshipped God, am I gone to dwell with the gods; and they who were with me have shared the same honor. ' And he bade them return to Babylon, and recover the Avritings buried at Sippara, and make them known among men; and he told them that the land in which they then were was Armenia. So they, when i\\oy had heard all, saci-ificod to the gods and went their way on foot to Babylon, and, having reached it, re- covered the buried writings fmm Sippara, and built many cities and temples, and I'cstored Babylon. Some portion of the ark still continues in Armenia, in the Gordiaean (Kurdish) Mountains ; and persons scrape off the bitumen from it to bring away, and this they use as a remedy to avert misfort- unes.''''* 96 THE FIRST MONARCHY. [en. vii. "The earth was still of one language, when the primitive men, who were pi'oud of their strength and stature, and de- spised the gods as thcii- inferiors, erected a tower of vast height, in order that they might mount to heaven. And the tower was now near to heaven, when the gods (or God) caused the winds to blow and overturned the structure upon the men, and made them speak with divers tongues ; wherefore the city was called Babylon. '"«» Here again we have a harmony with Scripture of the most remarkable kind — a harmony not confined to the main facts, but reaching even to the minuter points, and one which is al- together most curious and interesting. The Babylonians have not only, in common with the great majority of nations, handed down from age to age the general tradition of the Flood, but they are acquainted with most of the particulars of the occurrence. They know of the divine warning to a single man,^-^ the direction to construct a huge ship or ark,''^ the com- mand to take into it a chosen few of mankind only, ^^ and to devote the chief space to winged fowl and four-footed beasts of the earth. 1*^ They are aware of the tentative sending out of birds from lt,i^i and of their returning twice, ^•^■- but when sent out a tliird time returning no more.^^ They know of the egress from the ark by removal of some of its covering,^** and of the altar built and the sacrifice offered immediately after wards. ^^ They know that the ark rested in Armenia ; ^*' that those Avho escaped by means of it, or their descendants, journeyed to- wards Babylon ; i^' that there a tower was begun, but not com- pleted, the building being stopped by divine interposition and 3 miraculous confusion of tongues.''** As before, they are not content with the plain truth, but must amplify and embelhsh it. The size of the ark is exaggei-ated to an absurdity, ^^ and its proportions are misreprese*ited in such a way as to outrage all the principles of naval architecture.^*^ The translation of Xisuthrus, his wife, his daughter, and his pilot — a reminis- cence possibly of the translation of Enoch — is unfitly as well as falsely introduced just after they have been miraculously saved from destruction. The stoi-y of the Tower is given with less departure from the actual truth. The building is. how- ever, absurdly represented as an actual attempt to scale heaven ; "^ and a storm of wind is somewhat unnecessarily in- troduced to destroy the Tower, which from the Scripture nar- rative seems to have been left standing. It is also especially to be noticed that m the Chaldsean legends the whole mterest is cu. VIII. I HISTORY AND CHRONOLOGY. 97 made narrow and local. The Flood appeare as a circumstance in the history of Babylonia ; and the jiriestly traditionists, who have put the k'gend into shape, arc chiefly au.xious to make the event redcjinid to the glory of tlieir saei-ed books, which they boast to have been the special objects of divine care, and represent as a legacy from the antediluvian ages. The genei-al interests of mankind are nothing to the Chalda\an priests, who see in the story of the Tower simply a local etymology, and in the Deluge an event which made the Babylonians the sole pS 2().")2 2(M)4 " IV. of 4!) Clial(br,an " . 4.-)S 2(M)4 l.J4() V. of U Aral.ian •• . 24.-) i.-.4(; l:!01 VI. of 4.-) ? '> . ryn\ i;;oi 775 Rcijfn of Pnl (Clialdican kinr;) . . 'JS 77;") 747 Dynasty VII. of l;; ? kint^'s . 122 747 (i2.T " Vlli. of 0" Babylonian " . 87 (Vih 538 This scheme, in which there is nothing conjectural except the length of the reign of Pul, receives very remarkable con- firmation from the Assyrian monuments. These inform us, first, that there was a conquest of Babylon by a Susianian monarch 1635 vers before the capture of Susa by Asshiu'-bani- pal, the son of Esarhaddon ; ^ and, secondly, that there was a second conquest by an Assyrian monarch GOO years before the occupation of Babylon by Esarhaddon's father, Sennacherib. .Now Sennachei-ib's occupation of Babylon was in B.o. 702; and 600 years before this brings us to B.C. 1.302, within a year of the date which the scheme assigns to the accession of the sev- enth dynasty. Susa was taken by Asshur-bani-pal probably in B.C. 651; and 1635 years before this is B.C. 2286, or the ex- act year marked in the scheme for the accession of the second (Median) dynasty. This double coincidence can scarcely be accidental ; and we may conclude, therefore, that we have in the above table at any rate a near approach to the scheme of Babylonian chronology as received among both the Babylo- nians and Assyrians in the seventh century before ovu* ei'a. Whether the chronology is Avholly trustAvorthy is another (piestiun. The evidence both of the classical writers'' and of the monuments is to the, effect that exact chronology wjis a subject to which the Babylonians and Assyrians jiaid great at- tention. The " Canon of Ptolemy," which contained an exact Babylonian computation of time from B.C. 747 to B.C. 331, is gen- erally allowed to be a most authentic docunient,and one on which we may place complete reliance. ^'^ The "A.ssyrian Canon," which gives the years of the Assj'rian monarcbs from B.C. 911 to B.C. 660, appears to be equally trustworthy. How much 100 '^^ ^^^^o^-^S^f^IKST MONARCHY. [cu. viii. further exact riotatl^tt '^^ilt Back, it is impossible to say. All that we know is, first, that the later Assyrian raonarchs be- lieved tluiy had means of fixing the exact date of events in their own history and in that of Babylon up to a time distant from theii- own as mvich us sixteen or seventeen hundred years ; and secondly, that the chronology which result from their state- ments and those of Berosus is moderate, probably, and in har- mony with all the knowledge which we obtain of the East from other sources. It is proposed therefore, in the present volumes, to accept the general scheme of Berosus as, in all probability, not seriously in error ; and to arrange the Chaldsean, Assyrian, and Babylonian history on the framework which it furnishes. Chaldajan history may therefore be regarded as opening upon us at a time anterior, at any rate by a century or two,^^ to B.C. 2286. It was then that Nimrod, the son or descendant of Cush, set up a kingdom in Lower Mesopotamia, which at- tracted the attention of surrounding nations. The people, whom he led, came probably by sea ; at any rate, their earliest settlements were on the coast; and Ur or Hur, on the right bank of the Euphrates, at a very short distance from its em- bouchure, was the primitive capital. The "mighty hunter" rapidly spread his dominion inland, subduing or expelling the various tribes by which the country was previously occupied. His kingdom extended northwards, at least as far as Babylon, which (as well as Erech or Huruk, Accad, and Calneh) was first founded by this monarch. ^^ Further historical details of his reign are wanting ; but the strength of his character and the greatness of his achievements are remarkably indicated by a variety of testimonies, which place him among the fore- most men of the Old World, and guarantee him a never-end- ing remembrance. At least as early as the time of Moses his name had passed into a proverb. He w^as known as 'the mighty hunter before the Lord " ^^ — an expression which had probably a double meaning, implying at once skill and bravery in the pursuit and destruction of wild beasts, and also a gen- ius for war and success In his aggressions upon men. In his own nation he seems to have been deified, and to have contin- ued down to the latest times one of the leading objects of wor- ship, under the title of Bihi-Nipru or Bel-Nimrod," which may be translated "the god of the chase," or "the great hunter." One of his capitals, Cahieh, which was regarded as his special city, appears afterwards to have been known by his name (probably as being the chief seat of his worship in the early cii. VIII.] NIMIiOD'S SUCCESSORS. 101 times) ; and this name it still retains, slightly comipted. In the modern Niffer we may recognize the Talmudical Nopher, and the Assyrian Nipur which is Nipru, witli a mere metath- esis of the two final letters. The fame of Nimrod has always been rife in the country of his domination. Arab writers re- cord a number of remarkable traditions, in which he plays a conspicuous part ; ^^ and there is little doubt but that it is in honor of his apotheosis that the constellation Orion bears in Arabian astronomy the title of El Jabbar, or " the giant. " ^^ Even at the present day his name lives in the mouth of the people inhabiting Chaldaea and the adjacent regions, whose memory of ancient lieroes is almost confined to three — Nim- rod, Solomon, and Alexander. Wherever a moimd of ashes is to be seen in Babylonia or the adjoining countries, the local traditions attach to it the name of Nimrud or Nimrod ; " and the most striking ruins now existing in the Mesojiotamian valley, whether in its upper or its lower portion, are made in this Avay monuments of his glory, i^ ()f the immediate successors of Nimrod we have no account that even the most lenient criticism can view as historical. It apj)ears that his conquest was followed rapidly by a Semitic emigration from the country — an emigration which took a northerly direction. The Assyrians withdrew from Babj-lonia, which they still always regarded as their parent land, and, occupying the upper or non-alluvial portion of the Mesopota- mian plain, commenced the building of great cities in a tract upon the middle Tigi-is.^^ The Phoenicians removed from the sliores of the Persian Gulf, and, journeying towards the north- west, formed settlements upon the coast of Canaan,'^ where they became a rich and prosperous people. The family of Abraham, and pr(il)al)ly other Aramaean families, ascended the Euphrates,'^' withdrawing from a yoke which was oppressive, or at any rate impleasant. Abundant room was thus made for the Cushite immigrants, who rapidly established their pre- ponderance over the whole of the southern region. As war ceased to be the necessary daily occupation of the newcomers, civilization and the arts of life began to appear. The reign of the " Hunter " was followed, after no lung time, by that of the "Builder." A momunentnl king, whose name is read doubt- fully as Urkham'" ov Urukh, belongs almost certainly to this early dynasty, and may be placed next in succession, tliough at what interval we cannot say, to Nimrod. He is beyond question the earliest Chalda^an monnrch of wliomany reniaina 102 2^'^^ FIRST MONARCHY. [cu. viiL have been obtained in the country. Not only are his bricks found in a lower position than any others, at the very founda- tions of buildings, but they are of a rude and coarse make, and the inscriptions upon them contrast most remarkably, in the simphcity of the style of writing used and in their general ar- chaic type, with the elaborate and often complicated symbols of the later monarchs.-^ The style of Urukh's buildings is also prunltive and simple in the extreme ; his bricks are of many sizes, and ill fitted together ; '^ he belongs to a tune when even the baking of bricks seems to have been comparatively rare, for sometimes he employs only the sun-dried material ; ^ and he Is altogether unacquainted with the use of Hme mortar, for which his substitute is moist mud, or else bitumen. There can oe little doubt that he stands at the head of the present series of monumental kings, another of whom probably reigned as early as b. c. 2286. As he was succeeded by a son, whose reign seems to have been of the average length, we must place his accession at least as early as B.C. 2326. Possibly it may have fallen a century earlier. It is as a builder of gigantic works that Urukh is chiefly known to us. The basement platforms of his temples are of an enormous size ; and though they cannot seriously be com- pared with the Egyptian pyramids, yet indicate the employ- ment for many years of a vast amount of human labor in a very unproductive sort of industry. The Bowariyeh mound at Warka is 200 feet square, and about 100 feet high.* Its cubic contents, as originally built, can have been little, if at all, under 3,000,000 feet; and above 30,000,000 of bricks must have been used in its construction. Constructions of a similar character, and not very different in their dimensions, are proved by the bricks composing them to have been raised by the same monarch at Ur, Calneh or Nipur, and Larancha or Larsa, which is perhaps Ellasar.^^ It is evident, from the size and number of these works, that their erector had the com- mand of a vast amount of "naked human strength," and did not scruple to employ that strength in constructions fi'om which no material benefit was derivable, but which were prob- ably designed chiefly to extend his own fame and perpetuate his glory. We may gather from this that he was either an oppressor of his people, like some of the Pyramid Kings in Egypt,'^* or else a conqueror, who thus employed thenumei'ous captives carried off in his expeditions. Perhaps the latter is the more probable supposition ; for the buildei*s of the great .11. vm.] URUKU'S GliEAT BUILDINGS. 103 fabrics in Babylonia and Chaldeea do not seem to have left be- hind them any character of oppressiveness, such as attaches commonly to those monarchs who have ground down their own people by servile labor. The great buildings of Urukh appear to have been all de- signed for temples. They are carefully placed with their an- gles facing the cardinal points,'* and are dedicated to the Sun, the Moon, to Belus (Bel-Nimrod), or to Beltis. The temple at Mugheir was built in honor of the Moon-god, Sin or Hurki, who was the tutelary deity of the city. The Warka temple was dedicated to Beltis. At Calneh or Nipur, Urukh erected two temples, one to Beltis and one to Belus. At Larsa or Ella- ear the object of his worship was the Sun-god, San or Sansi. He would thus seem to have been no special devotee of a single god, but to have divided out his favors very fairly among the chief personages of the Pantheon. It has been observed that both the inscriptions of this king, and his architecture, are of a rude and primitive type. Still in neither case do we seem to be brought to the earliest dawn of civilization or of art. The writing of Urukh has passed out of the first or hieroglyphic stage, and entered the second oi transition one, when pictures are no longer attempted, but the lines or wedges follow rouglily the old outline of the objects. ** in his architecture, again, though there is much that is rude and simple, there is also a good deal which indicates knowl- edge and experience. The use of the buttress is understood ; and the buttress is varied according to the material. ^^ The importance of slojiing the walls of buildings inwards to resist interior pressure is thoroughly recognized. ^^ Drains are intro- duced to carry off moisture, which must otherwise have been very destructive to buildings composed mainly, or entirely, of crude brick. It is evident that the builders whom the king employs, though they do not possess much genius, have still such a knowledge of the most important pi'inciples of their art as is only obtained gradually by a good deal of practice. In- deed, the very fact of the continued existence of their works at the distance of forty centuries is sufficient evidence that they possessed a considerable amount of architectural skill and knowledge. We are further, perhaps, justified in concluding, from the careful emplacement of Urukh's temples, that the science of astronomy was already cultivated in his reign, and was re- garded as having a certain connection with rehgion. We have 104 THE FIRST MONARCHY. [ch. viii. •seen that the early worship of the Chaldaeans was to a great extent astral^ — a fact which naturally made the heavenly bodies special objects of attention. If the series of observa- tions which Callisthenes sent to Aristotle, dating from B.C. 2234, was in reality a record, and not a mere calculation back- wards of the dates at which certain celestial phenomena must have taken place, astronomical studies must have been pretty well advanced at a period not long subsequent to Urukh. Nor must we omit to notice, if we Avould estimate aright the condition of Chaldaean art under this king, the indications fur- nished by his signet-cylinder. So far as we can judge from the representation, which is all that we possess of this relic, the drawing on the cylinder was as good and the engraving as Avell executed as any work of the kind, either of the Assyrian or of the later Babylonian period. Apart from the inscription this work of art has nothing about it that is rude or primitive. The elaboration of the dresses and headgear of the figures has been already noticed. ^^ It is also worthy of remark, that the principal figure sits on an ornamental throne or chair, of par- tictdarly tasteful construction, two legs of which appear to have been modelled after those of the bull or ox. We may conclude, without much danger of mistake, that in the time of the monarch who owned this seal, dresses of delicate fabric and elaborate pattern, and fvirniture of a recherche and elegant shape, w^ere in use among the people over whom he exercised dominion. The chief capital city of Urukh appears to have been Ur. He calls himself " King of Ur and Kingi-Accad; " and it is at Ur that he raises his principal buildings. Ur, too, has fur- nished the great bulk of his inscriptions. Babylon was not yet a place of much importance, though it was probably built by Nimrod. The second city of the Empire was Huruk or Erech: other places of importance were Larsa (Ellasar?) and Nipur or Calneh. Urukh appears to have been succeeded in the kingdom by a son, whose name it is proposed to read as Elgi or Ilgi. Of this prince our knowledge is somewhat scanty. Bricks bearing his name have been found at Ur (Mugheir) and at Tel Eid, near Erech, or Warka ; and his signet-cylinder has been recovered, and is now in the British Museum. We learn from inscrip- tions of Nabonidus that he completed some of the buildmgs at Ur, which had been left unfinished by his father: while his own bricks inform us that he built or repaired two of the prin- cir. viii.] SUSIANIAN SUPREMACT. 105 cipal temples at Erech. On his signet-cylinder he takes the . title of "King of Ur." After the death of Ilgi, Chaldsean histoiy is for a time a blank. It would seem, however, that wliile the Cushites were establishing themselves in the alluvial plain towards the mouths of the two great rivers, there was growing up a rival power, Turanian, or Ario-Turanian,**^ in the neighboring tract at the foot of the Zagros mountain-chain. One of the most an- cient, perhaps the most ancient, of all the Asiatic cities, was Susa, the Elamitic capital, which formed the centre of a nation- ality that endured from the twenty-third century B.C. to the time of Darius Hystaspis (B.C. 520) when it sank finally under the Persians.*^ A king of Elam, whose court was held at Susa, led, in the year B.C. 2286 (or a little earlier"'), an expedition against the cities of Chalda^a, succeeded in carrying all before him, ravaged the country, took the towns, plundered the tem- ples, and bore off into his own country, as the most striking evidence of victory, the images of the deities Avhich the Baby- lonians especially reverenced."^ This king's name, which was Kudur-Nakhimta, is thought to be the exact equivalent of one whicli has a world-wide celebrity, to wit, Zoroaster.*^ Now, according to Polyhistor *'^ (who here certainly repeats Berosus), Zoroaster was the first of those eight Median kings who com- posed the second dynasty in Chakkca, and occupied the throne from about B.C. 2286 to 2052. The Medes are represented by him as capturing Babylon at this time, and imposing them- selves as rulers upon the coimtry. Eight kings reigned in space of 234 (or 224) years, after which we hear no more of Medes, the sovereignty being (as it would seem) recovered by the natives. The coincidences of the conquest, the date, the for- eign sovereignty and the name Zoroaster, tend to identify the Median dynasty of Berosus with a pei'iod of Susianian suprem- acy,*! which the moniunents show to have been established it Chalda^a at a date not long subsequent to the reigns of Urukh and Ilgi, and to have lasted for a considerable period. There are five monarchs known to us wlio may be assigned to this dynasty. The first is the Kudur-Nakhunta above named, who conquered Babylonia and established his influence there, but continued to hold his court at Susa, governing his conquest probably by means of a viceroy or tributary king. Next to him, at no great interval, may be placed Kudur-Laga- mer, the Chedor-laomer of Scripture*'- wlio held a similar posi- tion to Kudur-Nakhunta, reigning himself in Elam, while his 106 THE FIRST MONARCHY. [cir. viiL vassals, Amraphel, Arioch, and Tidal (or TurgaP') held the goveriimonts rospoctfully of Shinar (or Upper Babylonia), El- lasar (Lower Babylonia or Chaldasa), and the Goini or the no- madic races. Possessing thus an authority over the whole of the alluvial plain, and being able to collect together a formida- ble army, Kudur-Lagamer resolved on a expedition up the Eu- phrates, with the object of extending his dominion to the Med- iterranean Sea and to the borders of Egypt. At first his en- deavors were successful. Together with his confederate kings, he marched as far as Palestine, where he was opposed by the native princes, Bera, king of Sodom, Birsha, king of Gomor- rah, Shinab, king of Admah, Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela or Zoar." A gi-eat battle was fought between the two confederated armies in the vale of Siddim towards the lower end of the Dead Sea.*^ The invaders were victorious; and for twelve years Bera and his allies were content to own themselves subjects of the Elamitic king, whom they " served " for that period.**' In the thirteenth year they rebelled: a gen- eral rising of the western nations seems to have taken place ; *^ and in order to maintain his conquest it was necessary for the conqueror to make a fresh effort. Once more the four eastern kings entered Syria, and, after various successes against minor powers, engaged a second time in the valley of Siddim with their old antagonists, whom they defeated with great slaugh- ter ; after which they plundered the chief cities belonging to them.^8 jt -vvag on this occasion that Lot. the nephew of Abra- ham, was taken prisoner. Laden with booty of various kinds,, and encumbered with a number of captives, male and female,** the conquering army set ovit upon its march home, and had reached the neighborhood of Damascus, when it was attacked and defeated by Abraham, who with a small band ventured under cover of night to fall upon the retreating host, which he routed and pursued to some distance.^ The actual slaughter can scarcely have been great ; but the prisoners and the booty taken had to be surrendered ; the prestige of victory was lost ; and the result appears to have been that the Mesopotamian mon- arch relinquished his projects, and, contenting himself with the fame acquired by svich distant expeditions, made no further attempt to carry his empire beyond the Euphrates.^^ The other three kings who may be assigned to the Elamitic dynasty are a father, son, and grandson, whose names appear upon the native monuments of Chaldsea in a position which is thought to imply that they w^ere posterior to the kings Urukh i Plate XXVII Gazelle, froiu Nimrud. Fi§ 2. Fallow Deer, IVom Koyunjik. Stag and Hind, fi-nin Koyunjik. Plate XXVIII Fig Hare and Eagles, from Nimrud. Fig. 3 Chase of Wild Ox, from Nimrud, Fie. 4. Vulture, i'rom Nimrud. Harejfrom Khorsabad. Vulture feeding on Corpse (Koyunjik). CH. vm.J END OF ELAMITIC DYNASTY. 107 and Ilgi, but of greater antiquity than any other monarchs who have left memorials in the country. Their names are read as Sinti-shil-khak, Kudur-Mabuk, and Ai-id-Sin, Of Sinti-shil- khak nothing is known beyond the name.'^ Kudur-Mabuk is said in the inscriptions of his son to have ' ' enlarged the domin- ions of the city of Ur ; " and on his own bricks he bears the ti- tle of Apda Martu, which probably means ' ' Conqueror of the West."^ We may presume therefore that he was a warlike prince, like Kudur-Nakhunta and Kudur-Lagamer ; and that, like the latter of these two kings, he made war in the direc- tion of Syria, though he may not have carried Ms arms so far as his great predecessor. He and his son both held their court at Ur,w and, though of foreign origin, maintained the Chaldsean religion unchanged, making additions to the ancient temples, and worshipping the Chaldaean gods under the old titles. The circumstances which brought the Elamitic dynasty to a close, and restored the Chaldaean throne to a line of native princes, and unrecorded by any historian ; nor have the monu- ments hitherto thrown any light upon them. If we may trust the numbers of the Armenian Eusebius,^^ the dynasty which succeeded, ab. b,o. 2052, to the Susianian (or Median), though it counted eleven kings, bore rule for the short space of forty- eight years only. This would seem to imply either a state of great internal disturbance, or a time during which viceroys, removable at pleasure and often removed, governed the coun- try under some foreign suzerain.^ In either case, the third dynasty of Berosus may be said to mark a transition period be- tween the time of foreign subjection and that of the recovery by the native Chaldseans of complete independence. To the fourth Berosian dynasty, which held the throne for 458 years, from about B.C. 2004 to B.C. 1546, the monuments enable us to assign some eight or ten monarchs, whose inscrip- tions are characterized by a general resemblance, ajid by a character intermediate between the extreme rudeness of the more ancient and the comparative elegance and neatness of the later legends. Of these kings one of the earliest was a certain Ismi-dagon, the date of whose reign we are able to fix with a near approach to exactness. Sennacherib, in a rock inscription at Bavian, relates that in his tenth year (which was B.C. 692) he recovered from Babylon certain unages of the gods which had been carried thither by Merodach-iddtu-okhi, King of Babylon, after his defeat of Tiglath-Pileser, King of Assyria, 418 ysars previously. And the same Tiglath Pileser 108 THE FIRST MONARCHY. |(.ir. via. relates that he rebuilt a temple in Assyria, which had been taken down 60 years before, after it had lasted 641 years from its fijimdation by Shamas-Vul, sun of Ismi-dagon." It results from tliose numbers that Ismi-dagon was king as early as B.C. 1850, or. probably a little earlier. '^^ The monuments furnish little information concerning Ismi- dagon beyond the evidence which they afford of the extension of this king's dominion into the upper part of the Mesopotamian valley, and especially into the country known in later times as Assyria. The fact that Shamas-Vul, the son of Ismi-dagon, built a temple at Kileh-Sherghat, implies necessarily that the Chaldaeans at this time bore sway in the upper region. Sha- mas-Vul appears to have been, not the eldest, but the second son of the monarch, and must be viewed as ruling over As- syria in the capacity of viceroy, either for his father or his brother. Such evidence as we jjossess of the condition of As- syria about this period seems to show that it was weak and insignificant, administered ordinarDy by Babylonian satraps or governors, whose office was one of no great rank or dignity. ^a In Chaldsea, Ismi-dagon was succeeded by a son, whose name is read, somewhat doubtfully, as Gunguna or.Gurgima.^ This prince is known to us especially as the builder of the great public cemeteries which now form the most conspicuous objects among the ruins of Mugheir, and the construction of which is so remarkable. "^^ Ismi-dagon and his son must have occupied the Chald^ean throne during most of the latter half of the nine- teenth century before our era — from about B.C. 1850 to B.C. 1800. Hitherto there has been no great difficulty in determining the order of the monumental kings, from the position of their bricks in the principal Chaldsean ruins and the general charac- ter of their inscriptions. But the relative place occupied in the series by the later monarchs is rendered very doubtful by their records being scattered and unconnected, while their styles of inscription vary but slightly. It is most unfortmiate that no writer has left us a list corresponding in Babylonian history Avith that which Manetho put on record for Egyptian ; since we are thus compelled to arrange our names in an order which rests on little more than conjecture. ^^ The monumental king who is thought to have approached the nearest to Gurguna is Naram-Sin, of whom a record has been discovered at Babylon, <^ and who is mentioned in a late inscription ^ as the builder, in conjunction with his father, of a, i CH. vin.] NARAM-SIN.—ZUE-SIN. IO9 temple at the city of Agana. His date is probably about B.C. 1750. The seat of his court may be conjectured to have been Babylon, which had by this time risen into metropolitan conse- quence. It is evident that, as time went on, the tendency was to remove the seat of government and empire to a greater distance from the sea. The early monarchs reign at Ur (Mug- heir), and leave no traces of themselves further north than Niffer. Sin-Shada holds his court at Erech (Warka), twenty- five miles above Mugheir ; while Naram-Sin is connected with the still more northern city of Babylon. We shall find a simi- lar tendency in Assyria, as it rose into power. In both cases we may regard the fact as indicative of a gradual spread of em- pire towards the north, and of the advance of civilization and settled government in that direction. A king, who disputes the palm of antiquity Avith Naram-Sin, has left various records at Erech or Warka, "^ which appears to have been his capital city. It is proposed to call him Sin- Shada.*^ He constructed , or rather re-built, the upper terrace of the Bowariyeh ruin, or great temple, which Urukh raised at Warka to Beltis ; and his bricks are found in the doorway of another large ruin (the Wufiwas) at the same place ; it is be- lieved, however, that in this latter building they are not in situ, but have been transferred fi'om some earlier edifice.®^ His reign fell probably in the latter part of the 18th, century B.C. Several monarchs of the Sin series — i.e, monarchs into whose names the word Sin, the name of the Moon-god, enters as an element — now present themselves. The most important of them has been called Zur-Sin. This king erected some build- ings at Mugheir ; but he is best known as the founder of the very curious town whose ruins bear at the present day the name of Abu-Shahrein. A description of the principal buildings at this site has been already given.^ They exhibit certain im- provements on the architecture of the earlier times, and appear to have been very richly ornamented, at least in parts. At the same time they contain among their debris remarkable jiroofs of the small advance whicli liad as yet been made in some of the simplest arts. Flint knives and other implements, stone hatchets, chisels, and nails, are al>undaiit in the ruins ; and though the use of metal is not imknown, it seems to have been comparatively rare. When a metal is found, it is either gold or bronze, no trace of iron (exeept in ornaments of the person) appearing in any of the Chalda?an remains. Zur-Sin, Rim-Sin, '*' IIQ THE FIRST MONARCnr. [cir. vm. and three or four other monarchs of the Sm series, whose names are imperfect or uncertain, may be assigned to the pe- riod included between B.C. 1700 and B.C. 1546. Another monarch, and the only other monumental name that we can assign to Berosus's fourth dynasty, is a certain Nur-Vul, who appears by the Chalda.^an sale-tablets to have been the immediate predecessor of Rim-Sin, the last king of the Sin series. Nur-Vul has left no buildings or inscriptions; and we seem to see in the absence of all important monuments at this time a period of depression, such as commonly in the history of nations precedes and prepares the .way for a new dynasty or a conquest. The remaining monumental kings belong almost certainly to the fifth, or Arabian, dynasty of Berosus, to which he assigns the period of 245 years — from about B.C. 1546 to B.C. 1300. That the list comprises as many as fifteen names, whereas Berosus speaks of nine Arabian kings only, need not surprise us, since it is not improbable that Berosus may have omitted kings who reigned for less than a year."^ To arrange the fif- teen monarchs '^ in chronological order is, unfortunately, im- possible. Only three of them have left monuments. The names of the others are found on linguistic and other tablets, in a connection which rarely enables us to determine anything with respect to their relative priority or posteriority.'^^ We can, however, definitely place seven names, two at the begin- ning and five toward the end of the series, thus leaving only eight whose position in the list is undetermined. The series commences with a great kmg, named Khammu- rabi, who was probably the founder of the dynasty, the ' ' Arab " chief who, taking advantage of the weakness and depression of Chaldsea under the latter monarchs of the fourth dynasty, by intrigue or conquest established his dominion over the country, and left the crown to his descendants. Khaimnu- rabi is especially remarkable as having been the first (so far as appears) of the Babylonian monarchs to conceive the notion of carrying out a system of artificial irrigation in his dominions, by means of a canal derived from one of the gi-eat rivers. The Nahar-Khavimu-rabi ("River of Khammu-rabi"), whereof he boasts in one of his inscriptions, '^^ Ava's no doubt, as he states, "a blessing to the Babylonians" — it "changed desert plains into well-watered fields ; it spread around fertility an abund- ance" — it brought a whole district, previously barren, into cultivation, and it set an exaniple, which the best of the later CH. vni.l ABABIAIf DYNASTY. HX monarchs followed, of a mode whereby the productiveness of the country might be increased to an almost inconceivable ex- tent. Khammu-rabi was also distinguished as a builder. He re- paired the great temple of the Sun at Senkereh,"^ and con- structed for himself a new palace at Kalwadha, or Chilmad, not far from the modern Baghdad."'' His inscriptions have been found at Babylon, at Zerghul, and at Tel-Sif r ; and it is thought probable that he made Babylon his ordinary place of residence. His reign probably covered the space from about b. o. 1546 to B.C. 1520, when he left his crown to his son, Samsu-iluna. Of this monarch our notices are exceedingly scanty. We know him only from the Tel-Sifr clay tablets, several of which are dated by the years of his reign. He held the crown probably from about B.C. 1520 to B.C. 1500. About sixty or seventy years after this we come upon a group of names, belonging ahnost certainly to this same dy- nasty, which possess a peculiar interest, inasmuch as they serve to comiect the closing period of the First, or Chaldaean, with the opening portion of the Second, or Assyrian, Mon- archy. A succession of five Babylonian monarchs is men- tioned on an Assyrian tablet, the object of wliich is to record the synchronous history of the two covmtries.'® These mon- archs are contemporary with independent Assyrian princes, and have relations toward them which are sometimes peaceful, sometimes warlike. Kara-in-das, the first of the five, is on terms of friendship with Asshur-bel-nisi-su, king of Assyria, and concludes with him a treaty of alliance. This treaty is renewed between his successor, Purna-puriyas, and Buzur- Asshur, the successor of Asshur-bel-nisi-su on the throne of Assyria. Not long afterwards a third Assyrian monarch, Assliui'-upallit, obtains the crown, and Purna-puriyas not only continues on the old terms of amity with him, but draws the ties which unite the two royal families closer by marrying Asshur-upallit's daughter. The issue of this marriage is a prince named Kara-khar-das, who on the death of Purna-puri- yas ascends the throne of Babylon. But now a revolution oc- curs. A certain Nazi-bugas rises in revolt, puts Kara-khar-das to death, and succeeds in making himself king. Hereupon Asshur-upallit takes up arms, invades Babylonia, deseats and kills Nazi-bugas, and plac«»s uj)on the throne a brother of the murdered Kara-khar-das, a yovmger son of Purna-puriyas, by name Kurri-galzu, or Durri-galzu. These events may be as- 112 THE FIRST MONARCHY. [en. viii f3igned with much probability to the period between B.C. 1440 and B.C. 1380." Of the five consecutive monarchs presented to our notice in this interesting document, two are known to us by their own inscriptions. Memorials of Purna-puriyas and Kurri-galzu, very similar in their general character, have been found in various parts of Chaldaea. Those of Purna-puriyas come from Senkereh,''* the ancient Larsa, and consist of bricks, showing that he repaired the great temple of the Sun at that city— which was originally built by Urukh. Kurri-galzu's memori als comprise bricks from Mugheir (Ur) and Akkerkuf,"^ to-, gether with his signet-seal, which was found at Baghdad in the year ISGO.^o [PI. XXI., Fig. 4.] It also appears by an in- scription of Nabonidus ^^ that he repaired a temple at the city of Agana, and left an inscription there. But the chief fame of Kurri-galzu arises from his having been the founder of an important city. The remarkable re- mains at Akkerkuf, of which an account has been given in a former chapter, ^^ mark the site of a town of his erection. It is conjectured with some reason that this place is the Dur- Kurri-galzu of the later Assyrian inscriptions — a place of so much consequence in the time of Sargon that he calls it " the key of the country." The remaining monarchs, who are on strong grounds of prob- ability, etymological and other, assigned to this dynasty are Saga-raktij'^as,*^ the founder of a Temple of the male and fe- male Sun at Sippara,^* Ammidi-kaga, Simbar-sikhu, Kharbi- sikhu, Ulam-puriyas, Nazi-urdas, Mili-sikhu, and Kara-kharbi. Nothing is known at present of the position which any of these monarchs held in the dynasty, or of their relationship to the kings previously mentioned, or to each other. Most of them are known to us simply from their occurrence in a biling ual list of kings, together with Khammu-rabi, Kiu-ri-galzu, and Purna-puriyas. The list in question appears not to be chron- ological.^'' Modern research has thus supplied us with memorials (or at any rate with the names) of some thirty kings, who ruled in the country properly termed Chaldaea at a very remote date. Their antiquity is evidenced by the character of their build- ings and of their inscriptions, which are unmistakably rude and archaic. It is further indicated by the fact that they are the builders of certainly the most ancient edifices whereof the country contains any trace. The probable connection of two CH. VllI.J TABLE O^ CUALDjEAN KINGS. 113 Kings of Chald^a. Dynasty. I. (ChaUlfeaul II. (Elaniite) III. IV. (ChaklcnDau) V. (Arab) B.C. to B.C. 228(5 2286 2052 Kings. Events, etc. Ximvod 20.32 2004 20041546 I.J46 1301 1300 Uriikh .... Ilgi (sou), » « « « Kudur-Xakhunta (Zuroastor). Kudur-Lagamer Sinti-sliil-khak. Kudur-Mabuk (son] Arid-Sill (sou). * * * * * * * * * * * « Ismi-dagon. . . , Gurguna (sou) . , Narain-8iu. Bilat**at (a queeu), yin-Sliada (sou). * * * * Zui'-Sin. Nur-Yul. . . . Rim-Sin . . . . Khammu-rabi Samsii-iluua (son) » » » » Kara-in-das. . . Purna-puriyas Kara-lhar-das (son) Nazi liiigas. . . .[ Knni-galzu (brother] of Kara-kliar-das) 1 » ♦ » » « « « » ' Founds the Empire. Builds numerous temples. Conquers Chalda^a, B.C. 2286. ( Contemporary with Ab- } raham. Makes two expe- ( ditions into Syria. Wars in Syria. Reigns from about b.c 1850 to is;5(». His brother, Shamas-Vul, rules iu Assyi'ia. 1 Reigns from about b.c. ; 1.586 to l.")6t). i Reigns from about b.c 1.566 to 1.54ti. Reigns from about b.c 1.546 to l.")20. Reigns from about b.c, 1520 to 1500. ( Contemporary with As- < shur-bel-nisi-su, ab. B.C. ( 1440. { Contemporary with Buz- ( ur-Asshur, B.C. 1420-1400 [Contemporary with As- shur-iipallit,' B.C. 1400- 1380. ) Chaldaea conquered by I Tiglathi-Xin. 114 ^^-^^ FIB8T MONABCHY. [ch. viil of them ^* with the only king known previously from good au- thority to have reigned in the country during the primitive ages confirms the conclusion drawn from the appearance of the remains themselves ; which is further strengthened by the monumental dates assigned to two ^' of them, which place them respectively in the twenty-third and the nineteenth century before our era. That the kings belong to one series, and (speaking broadly) to one time, is evidenced by the similarity of the titles which they use, by their uninterrupted worship of the same gods, and by the general resemblance of the lan- guage and mode of writing which they employ.**^ That the time to which they belong is anterior to the rise of Assyria to greatness appears from the synchronism of the later monarchs of the Chaldsean with the earliest of the Assyrian list, as well as from the fact that the names borne by the Babylonian kings after Assyria became the leading power in the country are not only different, but of a different type. If it be objected that the number of thirty kings is insufficient for the space over which they have in our scheme been spread, we may an- swer that it has never been supposed by any one that the twenty-nine or thirty kings, of whom distinct mention has been made in the foregoing account, are a complete list of all the Chaldaean sovereigns. On the contrary, it is plain that they are a very incomplete list, like that .which Herodotus gives of the kings of Egypt, or that which the later Romans possessed of their early monarchs. The monuments them- selves present indications of several other names of kings, be- longing evidently to the same series,®^ which are too obscure or too illegible for transliteration. And there may, of course, have been many others of whom no traces remain, or of Avhom none have been as yet found. On the other hand, it may be observed, that the number of the early Chaldeean kings re- ported by Polyhistor ^'^ is preposterous. If sixty-eight con- secutive monarchs held the Chaldsean throne between B.C. 2286 and B.C. 1546, they must have reigned on an average, less than eleven years apiece. Nay, if fortj^-nine ruled between B.C. 2004 and B.C. 1546, covering a space of little more than four centuries and a half — which is what Berosus is made to assert — these later monarchs cannot even have reigned so long as ten years each, an average which may be pronounced quite impossible in a settled monarchy such as the ChaldEean. The probability would seem to be that Berosus has been misre- ported, his numbers having suffered corruption during their Vol. I Fig. Plate XXIX. J^v^i' ?±d Assyrian G:\ideii ;iii(l Kisli-priml (Koyiiiijik"). Plate. XXX. Vol. I Fig. 1. Bactrian, or two-humped Camel, from Nimrud. Fig 2. Mesopotamian Sheep (after Layard) Loading a Camel (Koj-unjik). Head of an Assyrian Horse, Koyuuiik (after Luyurd). CH. vm.] GENERAL RESULTS. 115 passage through so many hands,^^ and being in this instance quite untrustworthy. We may conjecture that the actual number of reigns which he intended to allow his fourth dy- nasty was nineteen, ^^ or at the utmost twenty-nine, the former of which numbers would give the conmion average of twenty- four years, while the latter would produce the less usual but still possible one of sixteen years. The monarchy which we have had under review is one, no doubt, rather curious from its antiquity than illustrious from its great names, or admirable for the extent of its dominions. Less ancient than the Egyptian, it claims the advantage of priority over every 'empire or kingdom which has grown up upon the soil of Asia. The Arian, Turanian, and even the Semitic tribes, appear to have been in the nomadic condition, when the Cushite settlers in Lower Babylonia betook them- selves to agriculture, erected temples, built cities, and estab- lished a strong and settled government. The leaven w^hich was to spread by degrees through the Asiatic peoples was first deposited on the shores of the Persian Gulf at the mouth of the " Great River; "^* and hence civiUzation, science, letters, art, extended themselves northward, and eastward, and westward. Assyria, Media, Semitic Babylonia, Persia, as they derived from Chaldoea the character of their writing,"^ so were they indebted to the same country for their general notions of gov- ernment and administration, for their architecture, their decorative art, and still more for their science and literature. Each people no doubt modified in some measure the boon re- ceived, adding more or less of its own to the common inheri- tance. But Chalda^a stands forth as the great parent and original inventress of Asiatic civilization, without any rival that can reasonably dispute her claims. The great men of the Empire are Nimrod, Urukh, and Che- dor-laomer. Nimrod, the founder, has the testimony of Script- lu-e that he was "a mighty one in the earth ;"®^ "a mighty hunter;"** the eetablisher of a " kingdom," when kingdoms had scarcely begun to be known ; the builder of four great and fa- naous cities, "Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar,"^^ or Mesopotamia. To hun belong the merit of selecting a site peculiarly fitted for the development of a great power in the early ages of the world, ^* and of binding men together into a conmumity which events proved to pos- sess within it the elements of prosperity and permanence. Whether he had, Indeed, the rebellious and apostate character 116 THE FIRST MONARCHY. [cii. vni. which numerous traditions, Jewish, Arabian, and Armenian,'^ assign to him ; whether he was in reahty concerned in the building of the tower related in the eleventh chapter of the Book of Genesis,^"" we have no means of positively detei-mining. The language of Scripture with regard to Nimrod is laudatory rather than the contrary ; ^"^ and it would seem to have been from a misapprehension of the nexus of the Mosaic narrative that the traditions above mentioned originated. ^^^ Nirarod, " the mighty hunter before the Lord,'" had not in the days of Moses that ill reputation which attached to him in later ages, when he was regarded as the great Titan or Giant, who made war upon the gods, and who was at once the builder of the tower, and the persecutor Avho forced Abraham to quit his orig- inal country. It is at least doubtful whether we ought to allow any weight at all to the additions and embellishments with which later writers, so much wiser than Moses, have overlaid the simplicity of his narrative. Urukh, whose fame may possibly have reached the Romans,™ was the great Chaldeean architect. To liim belongs, apparently, the conception of the Babylonian temple, with its rectangular base, carefully placed so as to present its angles to the four cardinal points, its receding stages, its buttresses, its drains, its sloped walls, its external staircases for ascent, and its orna- mental shrine crowning the whole. At any rate, if he was not the first to conceive and erect such structures, he set the exam- ple of building them on such a scale and with such solidity as to secure their long continuance, and i-ender them well-nigh imperishable. There is no appearance in all Chaldaea, so far as it has been explored, of any building which can be even probably assigned to a date anterior to Urukh. The attempted tower was no doubt earlier ; and it may have been a building of the same type , ^"^ but there is no reason to believe that any remnant, or indeed any trace, of this primitive edifice, has continued to exist to our day. The structures of the most archaic character throughout Chaldsea are, one and all, the work of King Urukh, who was not content to adorn his metro- politan city only with one of the new edifices, but added a sim- ilar ornament to each of the great cities within his empire. ^''^ The great builder was followed shortly by the great con- queror. Kudur-Lagamer, the Elamitic prince, who, more than twenty centuries before our era, having extended his dominion over Babylonia and the adjoining regions, marched an army a. distance of 1200 miles ^°^ from the shores of the Persian Gulf en. viii.] THE GREAT CONQUEROR. 117 to the Dead Sea, and held Palestine and Syria in subjection for twelve years, thus effecting conquests which were not again made from the same quarter till the time of Nebuchadnezzar, fifteen or sixteen hundred years afterward, has a good claim to be regarded as one of the most remarkable personages in the world's history — being, as he is, the forerunner and proto- type of all those great Oriental conquerors who from time to time have built up vast empires in Asia out of heterogeneous materials, which have in a longer or a shorter space success- ively crumbled to decay. At a time when the kings of Egypt had never ventured beyond their borders, unless it were for a foray in Ethiopia,^*'" and when in Asia no monarch had held dominion over more than a few petty tribes, and a few him- dred miles of territory, he conceived the magnificent notion of binding into one the manifold nations inhabiting the vast tract which lies between the Zagros mountain-range and the Medi- terranean. Lord by inheritance (as we may presume) of Elam and Chaldsea or Babylonia, he was not content with these ample tracts, but, coveting more, proceeded boldly on a career of conquest up the Euphrates valley, and through Syria, into Palestine. Successful here, he governed for twelve years do- minions extending near a thousand miles from east to west, and from north to south probably not much short of five hun- dred. It was true that he was not able to hold this large ex- tent of territory ; but the attempt and the success temporarily attending it are memorable circumstances, and were probably long held in remembrance through Western Asia, where they served as a stimulus and incentive to the ambition of later monarchs. These, then, are the great men of the Chaldaean empire. Its extent, as we have seen, varied greatly at different periods. Under the kings of the first dynasty— to which Urukh and Ilgi belonged— it was probably confined to the, alluvium, which seems then to have been not more than 300 miles in length along the course of the rivei'S,!'^^ and which is about 70 or 80 miles in breadth from the Tigris to the Arabian desert. In the course of the second dynasty it received a vast increase, being carried in one direction to the Elamitic mountains, and in another to the Mediterranean, by the conquest of Kudur-Nak- himta and Chedor-laomer. On the defeat of the latter prince it again contracted, though to what extent we have no means of determining. It is probable that Elam or Susiana, and not unlikely that the Euphrates valley, for a considerable distance 118 THE FIRST MONARCHY. [cii. viil above Hit, formed parts of the Chaldaean Empire after the loss of Syria and Palestine. Assyria occupied a similar position, at any rate from the time of Ismi-dagon, whose son built a temple at Kileh-Sherghat or Asshur. There is reason to think that the subjection of Assyria continued to the very end of the dynasty, and that this region, whose capital was at Kileh- Sherghat, was administered by viceroys deriving their author- ity from Chaldaean monarchs.^*^^ These monarchs, as has been observed,"" gradually removed their capital more and more northwards; by which it would appear as if their empire tended to progress in that direction. The different dynasties which ruled in Chaldaea prior to the establishment of Assyrian influence, whether Chaldaean, Susia- nian, or Arabian, seem to have been of kindred race; and, whether they established themselves by conquest, or in a more peaceful manner, to have made little, if any, change in the language, religion, or customs of the Empire. The so-called Arab kings, if they are really (as we have supposed), Khammu- rabi and his successors, show themselves by their names and their inscriptions to be as thoroughly proto-Chaldsean as Urukh or Ilgi. But with the commencement of the Assyrian period the case is altered. From the time of Tiglathi-Nin (about B.C. 1300), the Assyrian conqueror who effected the subjugation of Babylon, a strong Semitizing influence made itself felt in the lower country — the monarchs cease to have Turanian or Cushite and bear instead thoroughly Assyrian names ; inscriptions, when they occur, are in the Assyrian language and character. The entire people seems by degrees to have been Assyrianized, or at any rate Semitized— assiinilated, that is, to the stock of nations to which the Jews, the northern Arabs, the Aramaeans or Syrians, the Phoenicians, and the Assyrians belong. Their language fell into disuse, and grew to be a learned tongue, studied by the priests and the literati; their Cushite character was lost, and they became, as a people, scarcely distmguisha- ble from the Assyrians."^ After six centuries and a half of submission and insignificance, the Chaldaeans, however, began to revive and recover themselves — they renewed the struggle for national independence, and in the year B.C. 625 succeeded in establishing a second kingdom, which will be treated of in a later volume as the fourth or Babylonian Monai'chy. Even when this monarchy met its death at the hands of Cyinis the Great, the nationality of the Chaldaeans was not swept away. We find them recognized imder the Persians, "^ and even un- Vol. I. Plate XXXI. Assyrian Horso, from Nimrud. Fig. 2. Mule liJdcn by two women (Koyunjik). Vol Loaded Mule (Koyunjik). Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Dog modelled in clay, from the palace of Asshur-bani-pal, Ko3-unjik. en. VI n.] FALL OF THE EMPIRE. 119 der the Parthians,"* as a distinct people. When at last they cease to have a separate national existence, their name remains ; and it is in memory of the successful cultivation of their favor- ite science by the people of Nimrod from his time to that of Alexander, that the professors of astronomical and astrolog- ical learning under the Roman Emperors receive, from the poets and historians of the time, the appellation of " Chal- daeans.""* THE SECOND MONARCHY. ASSYRIA. CHAPTER I. DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY, •' TpLTTjuopiT) 7 'AaavoiJ} X^PV t^ dvvd/iet r^c a?.?.?!^ 'Aff/)7f ."— Hehod. i. 198. THE site of the second — or great Assyrian — monarchy was the upi^er portion of the Mesopotamian valley. The cities which successively formed its capitals lay, all of them, upon the middle Tigris ; and the heart of the country was a district on either side that river, enclosed within the thirty-fifth and thirty-seventh parallels. By degrees these limits were en- larged ; and the term Assyria came to be used, in a loose and vague way, of a vast and ill-defined tract extending on all sides from this central region. Herodotus ^ considered the whole of Babylonia to be a mere district of Assyria. Pliny ^ reckoned to it all Mesopotamia. Strabo ^ gave it, besides these regions, a great portion of Mount Zagros (the modem Kurdi- stan), and all Syria as far as Cilicia, Judsea, and Phoenicia. If, leaving the conventional, which is thus vague and unsat- isfactory, we seek to find certain natural limits which we may regard as the proper boundaries of the country, in two directions we seem to perceive an almost unmistakable line of demarca- tion. On the east the high mountain-chain of Zagros, jienetra ble only in one or two places, forms a barrier of the most marked character, and is beyond a doubt the natural limit for which we are lookmg. On the south a less striking, but not less clearly defined, line — formed by the abutment of the upper and slightly elevated plain on the alluvium of the lower valley* — separates Assyria from Babylonia, which is best re* garded as a distinct country. In the two remaining directions, there is more doubt as to the most proper limit. Northwards, CH. I.] GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 121 we may either view Mount Masius as the natural boundary, or the course of the Tigris from Diarbokr to Til, or even per- haps the Armenian mountain-chain north of this portion of the Tigris, from whence that rivei- receives its early tributa- ries.^ Westward, we might confine Assyria to the country watered by the affluents of the Tigris, « or extend it so as to in- clude the Khabour and its tributaries, or finally venture to carry it across the whole of Mesopotamia, and make it be bounded by the Euphrates. On the whole it is thought that m both the doubted cases the wider limits are historically the truer ones. Assyrian remains cover the entire country be- tween the Tigris and the Khabour, and are frequent on both banks of the latter stream, giving unmistakable indications of a long occupation of that region by the great [Mesopotamian people. The inscriptions show that even a wider tract was in process of time absorbed by the conquerors ; and if we are to draw a line between the country actually taken into Assyria, and that which was merely conquered and held in subjection, we can select no better boundary than the Euphrates west- ward, and northward the snowy mountain-chain known to the ancients as Mons Niphates. If Assyria be allowed the extent which is here assigned tc her, she will be a country, not only very much larger than Chaldsea or Babylonia, but positively of considerable dimen- sions. Eeachmg on the north to the thirty-eighth and on the south to the thirty-fourth parallel, she had a length diagonally from Diarbekr to the alluvimn of 350 miles, and a breadth be- tween the Euphrates and Moimt Zagros varying from about 300 to 170 miles. Her area was probably not less than 75,000 square miles, which is more than double that of Portugal, and not much below that of Great Britain. She would thus from her mere size be calculated to play an important in history ; and the more so, as during the period of her greatness scarcely any nation with which she came m contact possessed nearly so extensive a territory. Within the limits here assigned to Assyria, the face of the country is tolerably varied. Possessing, on the whole, per- haps, a predominant character of flatness, the territory still includes some impoi-tant nmges of hills, while on the two sides it abuts upon lofty mountain-chains. Towards the north and east it is provided by nature with an ample supply of water, rills everywhere flowing fn^m the Armenian and Kurd- ish ranges, which soon collect into rapid and abimdant rivers. 122 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [cii. i. The central, southern, and western regions are, however, less bountifully supplied; for though the Euphrates washes the whole western and south-western frontier, it spreads fer- tility only along its banks; and though Mount Masius sends down upon the Mesopotamian plain a considerable number of streams, they form in the space of 200 miles between Balis and Mosul but two rivers, leaving thus large tracts to languish for want of the precious fluid. Tlie vicinity of the Arabian and Syrian deserts is likewise felt in these regions, which, left to themselves, tend to acquire the desert character, and have occasionally been regarded as actual parts of Arabia.'' The chief natural division of the country is that made by the Tigris, which, having a course nearly from north to south, between Til and Saniarah, separates Assyria into a western and an eastern district. Of these two, the eastern or that upon the left bank of the Tigris, although considerably the smaller, has always been the more important region. Comparatively nar- row at first, it broadens as the course of the river is descended, till it attains about the thirty-fifth parallel a width of 130 or 140 miles. It consists chiefly of a series of rich and produc- tive plains, lying along the courses of the various tributaries which flow from Mount Zagros into the Tigris, and often of a semi-alluvial character. These pLains are not, however, con- tinuous. Detached ranges of hills, with a general direction parallel to the Zagros chain, intersect the flat rich country, separating the plains from one another, and supplying small streams * and brooks in addition to the various rivers, which, rising within or beyond the great mountain barriers, traverse the plains on their way to the Tigris. The hills themselves — known now as the Jebel Maklub, the Ain-es-sufra, the Kara- chok, etc. — are for the most part bare and sterile. In form they are hogbacked, and viewed from a distance have a smooth and even outline ; but on a nearer approach they are found to be rocky and rugged. Their limestone sides are fm-rowed by innumberable ravines, and have a dry and parched appear- ance, being even in spii'ing generally naked and ^v-ithout vege- tation. The sterility is most marked on the western flank, which faces the hot rays of the afternoon sun ; the eastern slope is occasionally robed with a scanty covering of dwarf oak or stunted bi-ushwood.^ In the fat soil of the plains the rivers commonly run deep and concealed from view,^*^ imless in the spring and the early summer, when through the rains and the melting of the snows in thtJ mountains they are greatly cir i.l RIVERS OF EASTERN ASSYRIA. 123 swollen, and run bank full, or even overflow the level coun- try- The most important of these rivers are the following :— the Kurnib or Eastern Khabour, which joins the Tigi'is in lat. 37° 12' ; the Greater Zab (Zab Ala), which washes the ruins of Niin- nid, and enters the main stream almost exactly in lat. 36"^ ; the Lesser Zab (Zab Asfal), which effects its jimction about lat. 35° 15'; the Adhem, which is received a little below Samarah, about lat. 34° ; and the Diyaleh, which now joins below Bagh- dad, but from whicli branches have sometimes entered the Ti- gris a very little below the mouth of the Adhem. Of these streams the most northern, the Khabour, nuis chiefly m an an- tra versed country —the district between Julamerik and the Ti- gris. It rises a little west of Julamerik in one of the highest mountain districts of Kurdistan, and runs with a general south- westerly course to its junction with another large branch, which reaches it from the district inuuediately west of Ama- diyeh ; it then flows due west, or a little north of west, to Zakko, and, bending to the north after passing that place, flows once more in a south-westerly du-ection until it reaches the Tigris. The direct distance from its source to its embouchure is about SO mUes ; but that distance is more than doubled by its wind- ings. It is a stream of considerable size, broad and rapid ; at many seasons not fordable at all, and always forded with difii- culty." The Greater Zab is the most important of all the tributaries of the Tigris. It I'ises near Konia, in the district of Karasu, about lat. 38° 20', long. 44° 30', a little Avest of the watershed which divides the basins of Lakes Van and L^rumiyeh. Its general course for the first 150 miles is S.S.W., after which for 25 or 30 miles it runs almost due south through the country of the Tiyari. Near Amadiyeh it makes a sudden turn, and flows S.E. or S.S.E. to its junction with the Rowandiz branch ; ^^ whence, finaUy, it resumes its old direction, and runs south- west past the Nimrud ruins into the Tigris. Its entire course, exclusive of small windings, is above 350 miles, and of these nearly 100 are across th(3 plain coimtry, which it enters soon after receiving the Rowandiz stream. Like the Khabour, it is fordable at certain i)la<"('S and dui-ing the summer season; bui even thvn the water reaches above the bellies of horses. ^'^ It is 20 yards wide a little above its junction with the main steam." On fiecoimt of its strength and rapidity the Arabs sometimes call it the "Mad River." ^* 124 THE SECOND MONARCH r. fcH. i. The Lesser Zab has its principal S(jurce near Legwin,^'' about twenty miles south of Lake Urumiyeh, in lat. 36° 40', long. 46° 25'. The source is to the east of the great Zagros chain ; and it might have been supposed that the waters would neces- sarily flow northward or eastward, towards Lake Urumiyeh, or towards the Caspian. But the Legwin river, called even at its source the Zei or Zab, flows from the first westward, as if determined to pierce the mountain barrier. Failing, however, to find an opening where it meets the range, the Little Zab turns south and even south-east along its base, till about 25 or 30 miles from its sovu'ce it suddenly resumes its original direc- tion, enters the mountains in lat. 36° 20', and forces its way through the numerous parallel ranges, flowing generally to the S.S.W., till it debouches upon the plain near Arbela, after which it runs S.W. and S.W. by S. to the Tigris. Its course among the mountains is from 80 to 90 miles, exclusive of small windings ; and it runs more than 100 miles through the plain. Its ordinary width, just above its confluence with the Tigris, is 25 feet." The Diyaleh, which lies mostly within the limits that have been here assigned to Assyria, is formed by the confluence of two principal streams, known respectively as the Holwan, and the Shii'wan, river. Of these, the Shirwan seems to be the ma-in branch. This stream rises from the most eastern and highest of the Zagros ranges, in lat. 34° 45', long. 47° 40' nearly. It flows at first west, and then north-west, parallel to the chain, but on entering the plain of Shahrizur, where tributaries join it from the north-east and the north-west, the Shirwan changes its course and begins to run south of west, a direction whiclx it pursues till it enters the low country, about lat. 35° 5', near Semi ram. Thence to the Tigris it has a course which in direct dis- tance is 150 miles, and 200 if we include only mam wmdings.^* The whole course cannot be less than 380 miles, which is about the length of the Great Zab river. The width attained before the confluence with the Tigris is 60 yards, ^^ or three times the width of the Greater, and seven times that of the Lesser Zab. On the opposite side of the Tigris, the traveller comes upon a reg'ion far less favored by nature than that of which Ave have been lately speaking. Western Assyria has but a scanty supply of water ; and unless the labor of man is skilfully ap- plied to compensate this natural deficiency, the greater part of the region tends to be, for ten months out of the twelve, a desert. The general character of the country- is level, but not CH. I.J lilVERH OF WESTEBN ASSYRIA. 125 alluvial. A line of mountains, rocky and precipitous, but of no great elevation, stretches across the northern part of the region, running nearly due east and west, and extending from the Euphrates at Rum-kaleh to Til and Chelek upon the Tigris. Below this, a vast slightly undulating plain extends from the northern mountains to the Babylonian alluvium, only inter- rupted about midway by a range of low limestone hills called the Sinjar, which leaving the Tigi-is near Mosul runs nearly from east to west across central Mesopotamia, and strikes the Euphrates half-way between Rakkeh and Kerkesiyeh, nearly in long. 40°. The northern mountain region, called by Strabo "Mons Masius," and by the Arabs the Karajah Dagh towards the west, and towards the east the Jebel Tur, is on the whole a tolerably fertile country. 20 It contains a good deal of rocky land ; but has abundant springs, and in many parts is well wooded. Towards the west it is rather hilly than moinitain- ous ; •^^ but towards the east it rLses considerably, and the cone above Mardin is both lofty and striking.- The waters flowing from the range consist, on the north, of a small number of brooks, which after a short course fall into the Tigris; on the south, of more numerous and more copious streams, which gradually unite, and eventually form two rather important rivers. These rivers are the Belik, known anciently as the Bilecha,^^ and the Western Khabour, called Habor in Scripture, and by the classical writere Aborrhas or Chaboras.-" [PI. XXII., Fig. 1.] The Belik rises among the hiUs east of Orfa, about long. 39°, lat. 37° 10'. Its course is at first somewhat east of south ; but it soon sweeps round, and, passing by the city of Harrau — the Haran of Scripture and the classical Carrhse'-^^ — proceeds nearly due south to its junction, a few miles beloAv Riikkah, with the Euphrates. It is a small stream throughout its whole course, 2* which may be reckoned at 100 or 120 miles. The Khabour is a much more considerable river. It collects the waters which flow soutliAvard from at least two-thirds of the Mons Masius,'" and has, besides, an important source, which the Arabs regard as the true " head of the spring,"'^ derived apparently from a spur of the Sinjar range. This stream, which rises about lat. 36° 40', long. 40°, flows a little south of east to its junction near Koukab with the Jerujer or river Nisi- bis, which comes down from Mons Masius with a course not much west of south. Both of these branches are formed by 126 ^^-^' SECOND MONARCUr. [en. L the union of a number of streams. Neither of them is fordable for some distance above their junction ; and below it, they con- stitute a river of such magnitude as to be navigable for a con- siderable distance by steamers.-^ The course of the Khabour below Koukab is tortuous;*^ but its general direction is S.S.W. The entire length of the stream is certainly not less than 200 miles. The country between the "Mons Masius" and the Sin jar range is an undulating plain, from 60 to 70 miles in width, al- most as devoid of geographical features as the alluvium of Babylonia. From a height the whole appears to be a dead level : *^ but the traveller finds, on descending, that the surface, hke that of the American prairies and the Eoman Campagna, really rises and falls in a manner which offers a decided con- trast to the alluvial flats nearer the sea. Great portions of the tract are very deficient in water. Only small streams descend fi'om the. Sinjar range, and these are soon absorbed by the thirsty soil ; so that except in the immediate vicinity of the hills north and south, and along the courses of the Khabour, the Belik, and their affluents, there is httle natural fertility, and cultivation is difficult. The soil too is often gypsiferous, and its salt and nitrous exudations destroy vegetation ; ^- while at the same time the streams and springs are from the same cause for the most part brackish and unpalatable.^ Volcanic action probably did not cease in the region very much, if at all, before the historical period. Fragments of basalt in many places strew the plain ; and near the confluence of the two chief branches of the Khabour, not only are old craters of vol- canoes distinctly visible, but a cone still rises from the centre of one, precisely like the cones in the craters of Etna and Vesuvius, composed entirely of loose lava, scoriae, and ashes, and rising to the height of 300 feet. The name of this remark- able hill, which is Koukab, is even thought to imply that the volcano may have been active within the time to which the traditions of the country extend.** [PI. XXII., Fig. 2.] Sheets of water are so rare in this region that the small lake of Khatouniyeh seems to deserve especial description. This lake is situated near the point where the Sinjar changes its character, and from a high rocky range subsides into low broken hills. It is of oblong shape, with its greater axis pointing nearly due east and west, in length about four miles, and in its greatest breadth somewhat less than three. ^ [PI. XXIII., Fig. 1.] The banks are low and parts marshy, more especially CH. I.] SIN JAB RANGE. 127 on the side towards the Khabour, which is not more than ten miles distant.*® In the middle of the lake is a hilly peninsula, joined to the mainland by a narrow causeway, and beyond it a small island covered with trees. The lake abounds with fish and waterfowl; and its water, though brackish, is regarded as remarkably wholesome both for man and beast. The Sinjar range, which divides Western Assj'ria into two plains, a northern and a southern, is a solitary lunestone ridge, rising up abruptly from the flat country, which it coimuands to a vast distance on both sides. The limestone of which it is composed is white, soft, and f ossiliferous ; it detaches itself in enormous flakes from the momitain-sides, which are sometimes broken into a succession of gigantic steps, while occasionally they present the colunmar appearance of basalt.^' The flanks of the Sinjar are seamed with innumerable ravines, and from these small brooks issue, which are soon dispersed by irrigation, or absorbed in the thirsty plains.^ The sides of the mountain are capable of being cidtivated by means of terraces, and pro- duce fair crops of corn and excellent fruit ; the top is often wooded with fruit trees or forest-trees.^ Geogi'aphically, the Sinjar may be regarded as the continuation of that range of hills which shuts in the Tigris on the west, from Tekrit nearly to Mosul, and then leaving the river strikes across the plain in a direction almost from east to west as far as the toAvn of Suajar. Here the mountains change their course and bend to the south- west, till having passed the little lake described above, they somewhat suddenly subside," sinking from a high ridge into low undulating hills, which pa.ss to the south of the lake, and then disappear in the plain altogether. According to some, the Sinjar here terminates ; but perhaps it is best to regard it as rising again in the Abd-el-aziz hills,*i which, intervening between the Khabour and the Eui)hrat(;s. run ^n in the same south-west direction from Arban to Zelabi. If this be accepted as the true course of the Sinjar, we must view it as throwing out two important spurs. One of these is near its eastern extremity, and nms to the south-east, dividing the plain of Zerga from the great central level. Like the main chain, it is of limestone; and, though low, has several remarkable i)eaks which serve as landmarks from a vast distance. The Arabs call it Kebritiyeh, or "the Sulphur range," from a suljihurous spring wliJch rises at its foot.*- The other spur is thrown out near the western extremity, and runs towards the north-west, parallel to the course of the upper Khabour, which rises from 128 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [ch. v. its flank at Ras-el-Ain.*^ The name of Abd-el-aziz is applied to this spur, as well as to the continuation of the Sinjar between Arban and Halebi. It is broken into innumerable valleys and ravines/^ abounding with wild animals, and is scantily wooded with dwarf oak. Streams of water abound in it. South of the Sinjar range, the country resumes the same level appearance which characterizes it between the Sinjar and the lions Masius. A low limestone ridge skirts the Tigi-is valley from Mosid to Tekrit,*'' and near the Euphrates the coimtry is sometimes slightly hilly ; ^'^ but generally the eye travels over a vast slightly undidating level, unbroken by eminences, and supporting but a scanty vegetation. The description of Xeno- phon a little exaggerates the flatness, but is otherwise faithfid enough: — "In these parts the country was a plain through- out, as smooth as the sea, and full of wormwood ; if any other shrub or reed grcAv there, it had a sweet aromatic smell ; but there was not a tree in the whole region. " *^ Water is still more scarce than in the plains north of the Sinjar. The brooks descending from that range are so weak that they generally lose themselves in the plain before they have run many miles. In one case only do ihey seem sufficiently strong to form a river. The Tharthar. which flows by the ruins of El Hadhr, is at that place a considerable stream, not indeed very wide but so deep that horses have to swim across it.*^ Its course above El Hadhr has not been traced ; but the most probable conjecture seems to be that it is a continuation of the Sinjar river, which rises about the middle of the range, in long.' 41° 50', and flows south-east through the desert. The Tharthar appears at one time to have reached the Tigris near Tekrit,*^ but it now ends m a marsh or lake to the south-west of that city.^^ The political geography of Assyria need not occupy much of our attention. There is no native evidence that in the time of the great monarchy the country was formally divided into districts, to w^hich any particular names were attached, or which w^ere regarded as politically separate from one another ; nor do such divisions appear in the classical writers until the time of the later geographers, Strabo, Dionysius, and Ptolemy. If it were not that mention is made in the Old Testament of certain districts within the region which has been here termed Assj'ria, we should have no proof that in the early tunes any divisions at all had been recognized. The names, however, of Padan-Aram, Aram-Naharaim, Gozan, Halah, and (perhaps) Plate XXXIV. Vol. Fig. 1. Mesopotamian Captives, from an Egyptian monument. Fig, 2. Limbs of Assyrians (from the sculptures). en. 1.] POLITICAL GEOGUAPllY. 129 Huzzab, designate in Scripture particular portions of the Assyrian territory ; and as ihese portions appear to correspond in some degree with the divisions of the classical geographers, we are led to suspect that these writers may in many, if not in most cases, have followed ancient and native traditions or authorities. The principal divisions of the classical geographers will therefore be noticed briefly, so far at least as they are intelligible. According to Strabo,^' the district within which Nineveh stood was called Aturia, which seems to be the word Assyria slightly coniipted, as we know that it habitually was by the Persians.'- The neighboring plain country he divides into four regions — Doloniene, Calachene, Chazene, and Adiabene. Of Dolomene, which Strabo mentions but m one place, and which is wholly omitted by other authors, no account can be given. ^ Calachene, which is perhaps the Calacine of Ptolemy,"* must be the tract about Calah (Ninnoid), or the country inmiediately north of the Upper Zab river. Chazene, like Dolomene, is a tei'm which cannot be explained.'^ Adiabene, on the contrary, is a well-known geographical expression.^ It is the country of the Zab or Diab rivers,'^ and either includes the whole of Eastern Assyria between the mountains and the Tigris,*^ or more strictly is applied to the region between the Upper and Lower Zab,^^ which consists of tAvo large plains separated from each other by the Karachok hills. In this way Arbelitis, the plain between the Karachok and Zagros, would fall within Adiabene, but it is sometimes made a distinct region,*' in which case Adiabene must be restricted to the flat between the two Zabs, the Tigris, and the Karachok. Chalonitis and Apollo- niatis, which Strabo seems to place between these nortliern plains and Susiana,'^' must be regarded as dividing between them the country south of the Lesser Zab, Apolloniatis (so called frcjiu its Greek capital, Ai^ollonia) lying along the Tigris. and Chalonitis along the mountains from the pass of Derbend to Gilan.''- Chalonitis seems to have taken its name from a capital city called Chala,"^ which lay on the great route con- necting Babylon with the stjuthern Ecbatana, and in later times was known as Holwan." Below Apolloniatis,"'' and (like that distri(;t) skirting the Tigris, was Sittacene, (so named from its capital, Sittace,*^) which is commonly reckoned to Assyria,"^ but seems more properly regarded as Susianian ter- ritory. Such are the chief divisions of Assyria east of the Tigris. 9 130 r^^^ SECOND MONARCHY. [ch. l West of the Tigris, the name Mesopotamia is commonly used, like the Aram-Naharaim of the liebrews, for the whole coun- try between the two great rivers. Here are again several dis- tricts, of which little is known, as Acabene, Tigene, and An- cobaritis.«8 Towards the north, along the flanks of Mons Ma- sius from Nisibis to the Euphrates, Strabo seems to place the Mygdonians, and to regard the country as Mygdonia.^^ Below Mygdonia, towards the west, he puts Anthemusia, which he extends as far as the Khabour river.™ The region soiith of the Khabour and the Sinjar he seems to regard as inhabited en- tirely by Arabs.'* Ptolemy has, in lieu of the Mygdonia of Strabo, a district which he calls Gauzanitis -^ and this name is on good grounds identified with the Gozan"^ of Scripture, — the true original probably of the "Mygdonia" of the Greeks.''* Gozan appears to represent the whole of the upper country from which the longer affluents of the Khabour spring ; while Halah, which is coupled with it in Scripture,"^ and which Ptol- emy calls Chalcitis, and makes border on Gauzanitis, may des- ignate the tract upon the main stream, as it comes down from Ras-el-Ain.'® The region about the upper sources of the Belik has no special designation in Strabo, but in Scripture it seems to be called Padan-Aram," a name which has been explained as " the flat Syria," or " the country stretching out from the foot of the hills. " "^ In the later Roman times it was known as Osrhoene ; '''^ bvit this name was scarcely in use before the time of the Antonines. The true heart of Assyria was the country close along the Tigris, from lat. 35° to 36° 30'. Within these limits were the four great cities, marked by the mounds at Khorsabad, Mosul, Nimrud, and Kileh-Sherghat, besides a multitude of places of inferior consequence. It has been generally supposed that the left bank of the river was more properly Assj-ria than the right ; ^^ and the idea is so far correct, as that the left bank was in truth of prmiary value and importance, ^^ whence it naturally happened that three out of the four capitals were built on that side of the stream. StiU the very fact that one early capital was on the right bank is enough to show that both shores of Che stream were alike occupied by tne race from the first : and this conclusion is abundantly confirmed by other indications throughout the region. Assyrian ruins, the remains of con- siderable towns, strew the whole country between the Tigris and Khabour, both north and south of the Sinjar range. ^•^ On the banks of the Lower Khabour are the remains of a royal cir. I.] ASSYRIAN RUINS. 131 palace,^'' besides many other traces of the tract through which it runs having been permanently occupied by the Assyrian people.^* Mounds, probably Assyrian, are known to exist along the course of the Khabour's great western affluent ; ^ and even near Seruj, in the country between Harran and the Eu- phrates some evidence has been found not only of conquest but of occupation.^* Remains are perhaps more frequent on the op- posite side of the Tigris ; at any rate they are more striking and more important. Bavian, Khorsabad, Shereef-Khan, Neb- bi-Yimus, Koyunjik, and Nimrud, which have furnished by far the most valuable and interesting of the Assyrian monu- ments, all lie east of the Tigris ; while on the west two places only have yielded relics worthy to be compared with these, Arban and Kileh-Sherghat. It is curious that in Assyria, as in early Chaldsea, there is a special pre-eminence of four cities. An indication of this might seem to be contained in Genesis, where Asshur is said to have "builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen ; " *^ but on the whole it is more probable that we have here a mistranslation (which is corrected for us in the margin^^), and that three cities only are ascribed by Moses to the great patriarch. In the flourishing period of the empire, however, we actually find four capitals, of which the native names seem to have been Ninua, Calah, Asshur, and Bit-Sar- gina, or Dur-Sargina (the city of Sargon) — all olaces of first- rate consequence. Besides these principal cities, which were the sole seats of government, Assyria contained a vast number of large towns, few of which it is possible to name, but so nu- merous that they cover the whole face of the coimtry with tht;ir ruins.*^ Among them were Tarbisa, Arbil, Arapkha, and Khazeh, in the tract between the Tigi-is and Mount Zagros; Haran, Tel-Apni, Razappa (Rezeph), and Amida, towards the north-west frontier; Nazibina (Nisibis), on the axstem branch of the Khabour; Sirki (Circcsium), at the confluence of the Khabour with the Euphi'ates ; Anat, on the Euphrates, some way below this junction; Tahiti, Magarisi, Sidikan, Katni, Beth- Khalupi,etc., in the district south of the Smjar, between the lower course of the Khabour and the Tigris. He^-e, again, as in the case of Chaldtea,^' it is impossible at present to locate with accuracy all the cities. We must once more confine ourselves to the most important, and seek to determine, either abso- lutely or with a certain vagueness, their several positions. It admits of no reasonable doubt that the r nirm opposite Mo- 132 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [ch. i. sul are those of Nineveh. The name of Nineveh is read on the bricks ; and a uniform tradition, reaching from the Arab conquest to comparatively recent times, ^^ attaches to the mounds themselves the same title. They are the most exten- sive ruins in Assyria ; and their geographical position suits perfectly all the notices of the geographers and historians with respect to the great Assyrian capital. ^'^ As a subsequent chap- ter will be devoted to a description of this famous city,^^ it is enough in this place to observe that it was situated on the left or east bank of the Tigris, in lat. 3G° 21', at the point where a considerable brook, the Khosr-su, falls into the main stream. On its west flank flowed the broad and rapid Tigris, the ' ' ar- row-sti'eam, " as we may translate the word ; ^* while north, east, and south, expanded the vast undulating plain which inter- venes between the river and the Zagros mountain-range. Mid- way in this plain, at the distance of from 15 to 18 miles from the city, stood boldly up the Jabel Maklub and Ain Sufra hills, calcareous ridges rising nearly 2000 f eet^^ above the level of the Tigris, and forming by far the most prominent objects in the natural landscape. ^"^ Inside the Ain Sufra, and parallel to it, ran the small stream of the Gomel, or Ghazir, like a ditch skirting a wall, an additional defence in that quarter. On the south-east and south, distant about fifteen miles, was the strong and impetuous current of the Upper Zab, completing the natural defences of the position, which was excellently chosen to be the site of a great capital. South of Nineveh, at the distance of about twenty miles by the direct route and thirty by the course of the Tigris,^" stood the second city of the empire, Calah, the site of which is marked by the extensive ruins at Nimrud.^* [PI. XXIV. , Fig. 1. ] Broadly, this place may be said to have been built at the con- fluence of the Tigris with the Upper Zab ; but in strictness it was on the Tigris only, the Zab flowing five or six miles further to the south, ^^ and entering the Tigris at least nine miles below the Nimrud ruins. ^oo These ruins at present occupy an area somewhat short of a thousand English acres, ^"^ which is little more than one-half of the area of the ruins of Nineveh ; but it is thought i\\QX the place was in ancient times considerably larger, and that the united action of the Tigris and some win- ter streams has swept away no small portion of the ruins. ^ '^ They form at present an irregular quadrangle, the sides of which face the four cardinal points. On the north and east the rampart may still be distinctly traced. It was flanked CH. I.] CALAH, NOW NIMRUD. I33 with towers along its whole course,^"' and pierced at uncei*tain intervals by gates, but was nowhere of very great strength or dimensions. On the south side it must have been especially weak, for there it has disappeared alt()K<'th('r. Here, however, it seems probable that the Tigris and tli<' 8hor Derreh stream, to which the present obliteration of the wall may be ascribed, formed in ancient times a sufficient protection. Towards the west, it seems to be certain that the Tigris (which is now a mile off) anciently flowed close to the city.'^^ On this side, directly facing the river, and extending along it a distance of GOO yards. ^'''^ or more than a third of a mile, was the royal quarter, or portion of the city occupied by the palaces of the kings. It consisted of a raised platform, forty feet above the level of the plain, composed in some parts of rubbish, in others of regular layers of sun-dried bricks, and cased on every side with solid stone masonry, containing an area of sixty English acres, and in shape almost a regular rectangle, 560 yards long, and from 350 to 450 broad. ^°^ The platform was protected at its edges by a parapet, and is thought to have been ascended in various ]ilaces by wide staircases, or inclined ways, leading up from the plain. 1"^ The greater part of its area is occupied by the re- mains of palaces constructed by various native kings, of which a more particular account will be given in the chapter on the architecture and other arts of the Assyrians. ^'^* It contains also the ruins of two smaU temples, and abuts at its north- western angle on the most singular structure which has as yet been discovered among the remains of theJAssyrian cities. This is the famous tower or pyramid which looms so conspicuously over the Assyrian plains, and which has always attracted the special notice of the traveller. i'^» fPl. XXIV., Fig. 2.] An ex- act description of this remarkable edifice will be given here- after. It appears from the inscriptions on its bricks to have been commenced by one of the earjy kings, and completed by an- other. Its internal structure has led to the supposition that it was designed to be a place of burial for one or other of these inonarchs. Another conjecture is, that it was a watch-tower ; "' but this seems very unlikely, since no trace of any mode by which it could bo ascended has been discovered. Forty miles below Calah, on the opposite bank of the Tigris, ivas a third great city, the native name of which api^eai-s to have been Asshur. This place is represented by the ruins at KHeh-Sherghat, which are scarcely inferior in extent to those 134 TUE SECOND MONARCHY. [ch. l at Nimrud or Calah."^ It will not be necessary to describe minutely this site, as in general character it closely resembles the other ruins of Assyria. Long lines of low mounds mark the position of the old walls, and show that the shape of the city was quadrangular. The chief object is a large square mound or platform, two miles and a half in circumference, and in places a hundred feet above the level of the plain, composed in part of sun-dried bricks, in part of natural eminences, and exhibiting occasionally remains of a casing of hewn stone, which may once have encircled the whole structure. About midway on the north side of the platform, and close upon its edge, is a high cone or pyramid. The rest of the platform is covered with the remains of walls and with heaps of rubbish, but does not show much trace of important buildings. This city has been supposed to represent the Biblical Resen ; but the description of that place as lying " between Nineveh and Calah" seems to render the identification worse than uncertain. The ruins at KUeh-Sherghat are the last of any extent tow- ards the south, possessing a decidedly Assyrian character. To complete our survey, therefore, of the chief Assyrian towns, we must return northwards, and, passing Nineveh, di- rect our attention to the magnificent ruins on the small stream of the Khosrsu, which have made the Arab village of Khorsa- bad one of the best known names in Oriental topography. About nine mUes from the north-east angle of the wall of Nin- eveh, in a direction a very little east of north, stands the rviin known as Khorsabad, from a small village which formerly oc- cupied its summit "^ — the scene of the labors of M. Botta, who was the first to disentomb from among the mounds of Mesopo- tamia the relics of an Assyrian palace. The enclosure at Khorsabad is nearly square in shape, each side being about 2000 yards long."* No part of it is very lofty, but the walls are on every side well marked. Their angles point towards the cardinal points, or nearly so; and the walls themselves consequently face the north-east, the north-west, the south- west, and the south-east. Towards the middle of the north- west wall, and projecting considerably beyond it, was a raised platform of the usual character ; and here stood the great pal- ace, which is thought to have been open to the plain, and on that side quite undefended."* Four miles only from Khorsacld, in a direction a little west of north, are the ruins of a smaller Assyrian city, whose na- tive name appears to have been Tarbisa, situated not far from Vol. Plate XXXV, Fig. 1. Capture of a City (Nimnid). Fig. 2. Captives of Sorgon (Khoraabad), Pl-ate XXXVI. Vol. I Fig- Captive women in a cart (Nimrud). F[ff. 2. Kuius of Nineveh. 1. Palace of Seiinacherib. 2. Supposed Tomb of Jonab. CH. I.] CITIES OF UNCERTAIN SITE. 135 the modern village of Sherif-khan. Here was a palace, built by Esarhaddon for one of his sons, as well as several tem- ples and other edifices. In the opposite direction at the dis- tance of about twenty miles, is Kereniles, an Assyrian ruin, whose name cannot yet be rendered j^honetically."^ West of this site, and about half-way between the ruins of Nineveh and Nmirud or Calah, is Selaniiyah, a village of some size, the walls of which are thought to be of Assyrian cunstruction.^^° We may conjcK-ture that this place was the Resen, or Dase,"^ of Holy Scripture, which is said to have been a large city, in- terposed between Nineveli and Calah."" In the .same latitude, but considerably further to the east, Avas tlie famous city of Arabil or Arbil,i'* known to the Greeks as Arbela, and to this day retaining its ancient appellation. These were the princi- pal towns, whose positions can be fixed, belonging to Assyria Proper, or the tract in the immediate vicinity of Nineveh. Besides these places, the inscriptions mention a large num- ber of cities which we cannot definitely connect Avith any par- ticular site. Such are Zaban and Zadu, beyond the Lower Zab, probably sonunvhere in the vicinity of Kerkuk; Kurban, Tidu (?), Napulu, Kapa, in Adiabene; Arapkha and Kliaparkhu, the former of which names recalls the Arrapachitis of Ptol- emy, ^'^Mn the district about Arbela; Huraklm, Sallat (?), Dur- Tila, Dariga, Lupdu, and many others, concerning whose sit- uations it is not even possible to make any reasonable conject- ure. The whole country between the Tigris and the moun- tains was evidently studded thickly with towns, as it is at the present day with ruins ;'-' but until a minute and searching examination of the entire region has taken place, it is idle to attempt an assignment to particular localities of these compar atively obscure names. In Western Assyria, or the tract on the right bank of the Tigris, while there is reason to believe that population was as d(;nse, and that cities were as numerou's, as on the opposite side of the river, i^- even fewer sites can be determinately fixed, owing to the early decay of pf)pulation in those i)arts, which seem to have fallen into their i)resent dessert condition shortly after the destruction of the Assj^'ian euii>ire by the conquering Medes. Besides Asslnu*, which is fixed to the ruins at Kileh- Shcrghat, we can only locate with certainty some half-dozen places. These are Nazibina, which is the modern Nisibin, the Nisibis of the Greeks; Amidi, which is Amida or Diarbekr; Haran,'-^' which retains its iiain(> uiichangc(l; Sirki, wliicli is 13G TUE SECOND MONARCHY. [en. i. the Greek Circesium,'^* now Kerkesiyeh; Anat, now Anah, on an island in the Euphrates ; and Sidikan, now Arban, on the Lower Khabour. The other known towns of this region, whose exact position is more or less uncertain, are the follow- ing: — Tavnusir, which is perhaps Dunisir, near Mardin; Gu- zana, or Gozan,i-» in the vicinity of Nisibin; Eazappa, or Re- zeph, probably not far from Harran; Tel-Apni, about Orfah or Ras-el-Ain ; Tahiti and Magarisi, on the Jerujer, or river of Nisibin; Katni and Beth-Khalupi, on the Lower Khabour; Tsupri and Nakarabani, on the Euphrates, between its junc- tion with the Khabour and Anah; and Khuzirina, in the mountains near the source of the Tigris. Besides these, the inscriptions contain a mention of some scores of towns wholly obscure, concerning which we cannot even determine whether they lay west or east of the Tigris. Such are the chief geographical features of Assyria. It re- mains to notice briefly the countries by which it was bordered. ~To the east lay the mountain region of Zagros, inhabited principally, during the earlier times of the Emi:)ire, by the Zinu-i, and afterwards occupied by the Medes, and known as a portion of Media. This region is one of great strength, and at the same time of much productiveness and fertihty. Com- posed of a large number of parallel ridges, Zagros contains, besides rocky and snow-clad summits, a multitude of fertile valleys, watered by the great affluents of the Tigris or theu' tributaries, and capable of producing rich crops with very lit- tle cultivation. The sides of the liills are in most parts clothed with forests of walnut, oak, ash, plane, and sycamore, while mulberries, olives, and other fruit-trees abound; in many places the pasturage is excellent ; and thus, notwithstanding its mountainous character, the tract will bear a large popula- tion. ^^ Its defensive strength is immense, equalling that of Switzerland before military roads were constructed across the High Alps. The few passes by which it can be traversed seem, according to the graphic phraseology of the ancients, to be carried up ladders •^-' they surmount six or seven successive ridges, often reaching the elevation of 10,000 feet,i^and are only open during seven months of the year. Nature appears to have intended Zagros as a seven fold wall for the protection of the fertile Mesopotamian lowland from the marauding tribes inhabiting the bare plateau of Iran, North of Assyria lays a country very similar to the Zagros region. Armenia, like Kurdistan, consists, for the most part, CH. 1.] BOltDEliING COUNTRIES. 137 of a number of parallel mountain ranges, ^^ ^vith deep valleys between them, watered by great rivers or their affluents. Its highest peaks, like those of Zagros, ascend considerably above the snow -line. ''^^ It has the same abundance of wood, es- pecially in the more northern parts ; and though its valleys are scarcely so fertile, or its products so abundant and varied, it is still a country where a nmnerous population may find subsistence. The most strikmg contrast which it offers to the Zagros region is in the direction of its moimtain ranges. The Zagros ridges run from north-west to south-east, like the prin- cipal mountains of Italy, Greece, Arabia, Hindustan, and Ce- chin China ; those of Armenia have a course from a little north of ejist to a little south of west, like the Spanish Sierras, the Swiss and Tyrolese Alps, the Southern Carpathians, the Greater Balkan, the Cilician Taurus, the Cyprian Olympus, and the Thian Chan. Thus the axes of the two chains are nearly at right angles to one another, the triangular basin of Vau occurring at the point of contact, and softening the ab- ruptness of the transition. Again, whereas the Zagi'os moun- tains present their gradual slope to the Mesopotamian lowland, and rise in higher and higher ridges as they recede from it, the mountains of Armenia ascend at once to their full height from the le\^el of the Tigris, and the ridges then gradually de- cline towards the Engine. It foUoAvs from this last contrast, that, while Zagros invites the inhabitants of the Mesopotamian plain to penetrate its recesses, which are at first readily acces- sible, and only grow wild and savage towards the interior, the Armenian mountains repel by presenting their greatest diffi- cidties and most barren aspect at once, seeming, with their rocky sides and snow-clad sununits, to form an almost insur- mountable obstacle to an invading host. Assyrian history beai-s traces of this difference; for while the mountain region to the east is gradually subdued and occupied by the people of the plain, that on the north continues to the last in a state of hostility and semi-independence. West of Assyria (according to the extent which has here been given to it), the border countries Avere, toAvards the south, Arabia, and toAvards the north, Syria. A desert region, simi- lar to that Avhich bounds Chaldaea in this direction, extends along the Euphrates as far north as the 36th parallel, approach- ing commonly Avithin a A-ery short distance of the riA-er. This lias been at all times the country of the A\-andering Arabs. It is traversed in places by rocky ridges of a Ioav elevation, and ];jp TJ/K SPX'OND MONARCHY. [CH. l intercepted by occasional inidy.s; bnt otherwise it is a contin- uous gravelly or sandy plain,"' incapable of sustaining a set- tled population. Between the desert and the river intervenes conuuonly a narrow strip of fertile territory, which in As- syrian tinu^s was held by the Tsukhi or Shuhites, and the Aramaeans or Syrians. North of the 36th parallel, the general elevation of the country west of the Euphrates rises. There is an alternation of bare undulating hills and dry plains, pro- ducing wormwood and other aromatic plants. ^^^ Permanent rivers are found, which either terminate in salt lakes or run into the Euphrates. In places the land is tolerably f ertUe, and produces good crops of gi-ain, besides mulberries, pears, figs, pomegranates, olives, vines, and pistachio-nuts. ^^^ Here dwelt, in the time of the Assyrian Empire, the Khatti, or Hittites, whose cliief city, Carchemish, appears to have occupied the site of Hierapolis, now Bambuk. In a military point of view, the tract is very much less strong than either Armenia or Kurdistan, and presents but slight difficulties to invading armies. The tract south of Assyria was Chaldsea, of which a descrip- tion has been given in an earlier portion of this volume. ^^' Naturally it was at once the weakest of the border countries, and the one possessing the greatest attractions to a conqueror. Nature had indeed left it whoUy without defence ; and though art was probably soon called in to remedy this defect, yet it could not but continue the most open to attack of the various regions by which Assyria was surrounded. Syria was de- fended by the Euphrates — at all times a strong barrier ; Ara- bia, not only by this great stream, but by her arid sands and burning climate ; Armenia and Kiu'distan had the protection of their lofty mountain ranges. Chaldsea was naturally with- out either land or water barrier ; and the mounds and dykes whereby she strove to supply her wants were at the best poor substitutes for Nature's bulwarks. Here again geographical features will be found to have had an important bearing on the course of history, the close connection of the two coun- tries, in almost every age, resulting from their physical con- formation. Plate XXXVII ^:^0K'::. in ''ig. 3. Khosr-Su and Hound of Kebbi-Yunus. — f-e "I'^-ti^M^ ^ "^ Gato in the North Wall, Nineveh. Plate XXXVIII. Vol I. cu. II.1 PRESENT CLIMATE. 139 CHAPTER II. CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. " Assyria, celebritate et magnitudine, et multifornii feracitate ditissima."— Amm. Marc, xxiii. 6. In describing the climate and productions of Assyria, it will be necessary to divide it into segions, since the country is so large, and the physical geography so varied, that a single de- scription Avould necessarily be both incomplete and untrue. Eastern Assyria has a climate of its own, the result of its po- sition at the foot of Zagros. In Western Assyria we may dis- tinguish three climates, that of the upper or mountainous country extending from Bir to Til and Jezireh, that of the middle region on either side of the Sinjar range, and that of the lower region inunediately bordering on Babylonia. The climatic differences depend in part on latitude ; but probably ill a greater degree on differences of elevation, distance or vi- cinity of mountains, and the like. Eastern Assyria, from its vicinity to the high and snow-clad I'ange of Zagros, has a climate at once cooler and moister than Assyria west of the Tigris. The summer heats are tempered by breezes from the adjacent mountains, and, though trying to the constitution of an European, are far less oppressive than the torrid blasts which prevail on the other side of the river. ^ A good deal of rain falls in the winter, and even in the spring; while, after the rains are past, there is frequently an abundant dew,'^ which sup]jorts vegetation and helps to give coolness to the air. The winters are moderately severe.* In the most southern part of Assyria, from lat. 34° to 35° 30', the climate scarcely differs from that of Babylonia, which has been already described.* The same burning summei'S, and the same chilly but not really cold winters, prevail in both districts ; and the time and character of the rainy season is alike in each. The summers are perhaps a little less hot, and the winters a little colder than in the more southern and allu- vial region; but the difference is inconsiderable, and has never been accurately nK-asured. In the central jiart ol Wwtern Assyria, on either sidi^ of the [Sinjar range, the climate is decidedly cooler than in the region 140 'J^^J^ SECOND MONARCHY. [cii. ii. adjoining Babylonia. In summer, though the heat is great, especially from noon to sunset,^ yet the nights are rarely op- pressive, and the mornings enjoyable. The spring-time in this region is absolutely delicious ; " the autumn is pleasimt ; and the Avinter, though cold and accompanied by a good deal of rain and snow,^ is rarely prolonged and never intensely rigor- ous. Storms of thunder and lightning are frequent ^ especially in spring, and they are often of extraordinary violence : hail- stones fall of the size of pigeon's eggs ; ^ the lightning is incessant ; and the wind rages with fury. The force of the tempest is, however, soon exhausted ; in a few hours' time it has passed away, and the sky is once more cloudless ; a delightful calm and freshness pervade the air, producing mingled sensations of pleasure and repose.^'' The mountain tract, which terminates Western Assyria to the north, has a climate very much more rigorous than the centi'al region. The elevation of this district is considerable, ^i and the near vicinity of the great mountain coimtry of Ai*me- nia, with its eternal snows and winters during half the year, tends greatly to lower the temjierature, which in the winter descends to eight or ten degrees below zero.^^ Much snow then falls, which usually Hes for some weeks; the spring is wet and storniy, but the summer and the autumn are fine ; and in the western portion of the region about Harranaud Orfah, the summer heat isgi-eat. The climate is here an " extreme " one, to use an expression of Humboldt's — the range of the ther- mometer being even greater than it is in Chaldsea, reaching nearly (or perhaps occasionally exceeding) 120 degrees. ^^ Such is the present climate of Assyria, west and east of the Tigris. There is no reason to believe that it was very different in ancient times. If irrigation was then more common and cultivation more widely extended, the temperature Avoidd no donbt have been somewhat lower and the air more moist. Biit neither on physical nor on historical grounds can it be argued, that the diflference thus produced was more than slight. The chief causes of the remarkable heat of Mesopotamia — so much exceeding that of many countries under the same parallels of latitude — are its near vicinity to the Arabian and Syrian des- erts, and its Avant of trees, those great refrigerators. " While the first of these causes would be wholly untouched by culti- vation, the second would be affected in but a small degree. The only tree which is known to have been anciently culti- "^rated in Mesopotamia is the date-pabn ; and as this ceases tf cir. II.] FERTILITY OF ASSYRIA. 141 beai- fruit ^^ about lat. 35°, its gi-eater cultivation could have prevailed only in a very small poi-tion of the country, and so would laave affected the general clunate but little. Historically, too, we find, among the earliest notices which have any cli- matic bearing, indications that the temijerature and the con- sequent condition of the country were anciently very nearly what they now are. Xonoph(jn speaks of the barrenness of the tract between the Khaliour and Babylonia, and the entire absence of forage, in as strong terms as could be used at the present day.^" Arrian, following his excellent authorities, notes that Alexander, after crossing the Euphrates, kept close to the hills, ''because the heat there was not ho scorching as it was lower down, and because he could then procure green food for his horses." *' The animals too which Xenophon found in the country are either such as now inhabit it,^^ or where not such, they are the denizens of hotter rather than colder cli- mates and countries. ^^ The fertility of Assyria is a favorite thenae with the ancient writers.-" Owing to the indefiniteness of their geographical terminology', it is however uncertain, in many cases, whether the praise which they bestow upon Assyria Ls really intended for the country here called by that name, or whether it does not rather apply to the alluvial tract, already described, which is more properly termed Chaldsea or Babylonia. Naturally Babylonia is very much more fertile than the greater part of Assyria, which being elevated above the courses of the rivers, and possessing a saline and gypsiferous soil, tends, in the ab- sence of a sufficient water supply, to become a bare and arid desert. Trees are scanty in both regions except ahjiig the river courses ; but in Assj'ria, even grass fails after the first burst of spring ; and the plains, which for a few weeks have been carpeted with the tenderest verdure and thickly strewn with the brightest and loveliest flowers,2i become, as the sum- mer advances, yellow, parched, and almost herbless. Few things are more remarkable than the striking difference between the appearance of the same tract in Assyria at differ- ent seasons of the year. What at one time is a garden, glow- ing with brilliant hues and heavy with luxuriant pasture, on which the most numerous flocks can scarcely make any sensi- ble impression, at another is an absolute waste, frightful and oppressive from its sterility.'" If we seek the cause of this curious contrast, we shall find it in the productive qualities of the soil, wherever there is suffi- 142 ^T^-S SECOND MONARCUY. [cji. ii. cient moisture to allow of their displaying themselves, com- bined witli the fact, already noticed, that the actual supply (.f water is deficient. Speaking generally, we may say with truth, as was said by Herodotus more than two thousand years ago— that " but little rain falls in Assyria,"--' and. if water is to be supplied in ade(|uat(^ quantity to the tliirsty soil, it must be derived from the rivers. In most parts of Assyria there are occasional rains during the winter, and, in ordinary years, frequent showers in early spring. The dependence of the present inhabitants both for pasture and for grain is on these. There is scarcely any irrigation; -* and though the soil is so productive that wherever the land is cultivated, good crops are commonly obtained by means of the spring rains, while elsewhere nature at once spontaneously robes herself in verdure of the richest kind, yet no sooner does summer arrive than barrenness is spread over the scene ; the crops ripen and are gathered in ; "the grass withereth, the flower fadeth;"^ the delicate herbage of the plains shrinks back and disappears ; aU around turns to a uniform dull straw-color ; nothing con tinues to live but what is coarse, dry, and sapless ; and so the land, which was lately an Eden, becomes a desert. Far different would be the aspect of the region were a due use made of that abundant water supply— actually most lavish in the summer time, owing to the melting of the snows *— which nature has provided in the two great Mesopotamian rivers and their tributaries. So rapid is the fall of the two main streams in their upper course, that by channels derived from them, with the help perhaps of dams thrown across them at certain intervals, the water might be led to almost any i)art of the intervening country, and a supply kept up during the whole year. Or, even without works of this magnitude, by hydraulic machines of a very simple construction, tlie life- giving fluid might be raised from the great streams and their affluents in sufficient quantity to maintain a broad belt on either side of the river-courses in perpetual verdure. Anciently, we know that recourse was had to both of these systems. In the tract between the Tigris and the Upper Zab, which is the only part of Assyria that has been minutely examined, are dis- tinct remains of at least one Assyrian canal, wherein much in- genuity and hydraulic skill is exhibited, the woi"k Ixung car- I'ied through the more elevated ground by timnelUng. and the canal led for eight miles contrary to the natiu-al coui-se of every stream in the district.'^' Sluices and dams, cut sometimes Vol. I Plate. XXXIX. 'g- 1. Assyrian Cylinder. Fig.2 Aasyriau Seals (after Layard). Plate. XL FI2 1 A&syiiiin Clay TaliletN. CH. u.] ANCIENT PRODUCTS OF ASSYRIA. 143 in the solid rock, regulated the supply of the fluid at different seasons, and enabled the natives to make the most economical application of the great fertilizer. The use of the hand-swipe was also certainly known, since it is mentioned by Herodotus,* and even represented upon the sculptures. [PI. XXV., Fig. 1.] Very probably other more elaborate machines were likewise employed, unless the general prevalency of canals superseded their necessity. It is certain that over -wide districts, now dependent for productive power wholly on the spring rains, and consequently quite incapable of sustaining a settled popu- lation, there must have been maintained in Assyrian times some effective water-system, whereby regions that at present with difficulty fin-nish a few months' subsistence to the wan- dering Arab tribes, Avere enabled to supply to scores of popu- lous cities sufficient food for their consumption.-" We have not much accoimt of the products of As.syria Proper in early times. Its dates were of small repute, being greatly inferior to those of Babylon.*^ It grew a few olives in places, ^^ and some spicy shrubs,'^- which cannot be identified with any certamty. Its cereal crops were good, and may per- haps be regarded as included in the conuiiendations bestow^ed by Herodotus** and Strabo'" on the grain of the Mesopotamian region. The country was particularly deficient in trees, large ti-acts growing nothing but wormwood and similar low shrubs,*^ while othere were absolutely without either tree or bush.86 The only products of Assyria which acquired such note as to be called by its name w^ere its silk"^ and its citron trees. The silk, according to Pliny, was the produce of a large kind of silkworm not found elsewhere.'^ The citron trees ob- tained a very great celebrity. Not only were they admired for their perpetual fruitage, and their delicious odor ; ** but it was believed that the fruit which they bore was an unfailing remedy against poisons.*^ Numerous attempts were made to naturahze the tree in other countries ; hut up to the time when Pliny wrote, every such attempt had failed, and the citron was still confined to Assyria, Persia, and Media." It is not to be iniagined that the vegetable products of As- syi-ia wei-e confined within the narrow compa.ss which the ancient notices might seem to indicate. Those notices arc cas- ual, and it is evident that they are incomplete; nor will a just notion be obtained of tlie real character of the region, unless we take into account such of the present products as may be rea.sonably supposed to be indigenous. Now, setting aside a 144 THE SE(J<).\/) Mi).\Ai;('in\ [cu. n. few plants ot siK^ciiil iiiiportaucc to man, the cultivation of wliifli may hav(3 boon intnxluced, such as tobacco, rice, Indian corn, aiul cotton, we may fairly say that Assyria has no exot- ics, and that the trees, shrubs, and vegetables now found within her limits are the same in all probability as grew there an- ciently. In order to complete our survey, we may therefore proceed to inquire what are the chief vegetable products of the region at tlie i)resent time. In the south the date-palm grows weU as far as Anah on the Euphrates and Tekiit on the Tigris. Above that latitude it languishes, and ceases to give fruit altogether about the junc- tion of the Khabour with the one stream and the Lesser Zab with the other.*- The unproductive tree, however, which the Assyrians used for building purposes, ''^ will grow and attain a considerable size to the very edge of the mountains.** Of other timber trees the principal are the sycamore and the Oriental plane, which are common in the north ; the oak, which abounds about Mardin*" (where it yields gall-nuts and the rare pi'oduct manna), and which is also found in the Sinjar and Abd-el-Aziz ranges ; ^e the silver poplar, which often fringes the banks of the streams ; *" the sumac, which is found on the Upper Eu- phrates ; ■'^ and the walnut, which grows in the Jebel Tur, and is not uncommon between the foot of Zagi'os and the outlying ranges of hills. *^ Of fruit-trees the most important are the orange, lemon, pomegranate, apricot, olive, vine, fig, mulberry, and pistachio-nut. The pistachio-nut grows wild in the north- ern mountains, especially between Orfah and Diarbekr.^'' The fig is cultivated with much care in the Sinjar.^^ The vine is also grown in that region,^"- but bears better on the skirts of the hills above Orfah and Mardin.^'^ Pomegranates fiourish in various parts of the country. Oranges and lemons belong to its more southern pai'ts, where it verges on Babylonia.^ The olive clothes the fianks of Zagros in places. ^^ Besides these rarer fruits, Assyria has chestnuts, pears, apples, plums, cherries, wild and cultivated, quinces, apricots, melons and filberts. The commonest shrubs are a kind of wormwood — the aiysin- thium of Xonophon — which gi'ows over much of the plain ex- tending south of the Khabour ^"^ — and the tamarisk. Green myrtles, and oleanders A\ith their rosy blossoms, clothe the banks of some of the smaller streams between the Tigris and Moimt Zagros ; ^~ and a shrub of frequent occurrence is the liquorice plant. ^^ Of edible vegetables there is great abund- ance. Truffles 59 and capers «! grow wild; while peas, beans, CH. 11.] MANNA.— MINERALS. 145 onions, spinach, cucumbers, and lentils are cultivated success- fully." The carobiCeratoniaSiltqiia) must also be mentioned as among the rarer products of this region."- It was noticed above that manna is gathered in Assyria from the dwarf oak. It is abundant in Zagros. and is found also in the woods about Mardin, and again between Orfah and Diar- bekr. According to Mr. Rich, it is not confined to the dwarf oak, or even to trees and shrubs, but is deposited also on sand, rocks, and stone.'^'' It is most plentiful in wet seasons, and es- pecially after fogs ; "^ in dry seasons it fails almost totally. The natives collect it in spring and autumn. The best and purest is that taken from the ground ; but by far the greater (piantity is obtained from the trees, by placing cloths under them and shaking the branches. The natives use it as food botli in its natural state and manufactured into a kind of paste. It soon corrupts; and in order to fit it for exportation, or even for the storeroom of the native housewife, it has to undergo the proc- ess of boiling."^ When thus prepared, it is a gentle purgative ; but, in its natural state and when fresh, it may be eaten in large quantities without any unpleasant consequences.'* Assyria is far better supplied with minerals tlian Babylonia. Stone of a good quality, either limestone, sandstone, or conglom- erate, is always at hand; while a tolerable clay is also to be found in most places. If a more durable material is required, basaltic rock may be obtained from the Mons Masius — a sub- stance almost as hard as granite."'' On the left bank of the Tigris a soft gray alabaster abounds which is easily cut into slabs, and forms an excellent material for the sculptor.^ The noigh])oring mountains of Kurdistan contain marbles of many different (pialities; and these could be procured without nuich diffic^ulty by means of the rivers. From the same (juarter it was easy to obtain the most useful metals. Iron, cop])er, and lead are found in great abundance in the T'.yari Mountains within a short distance of Nineveh,"^ where they crop out upon the surface, so that they cannot fail to be noticed. Lead and copper are also obtainable from the neighborhood of Diarbekr."' The Kurdish Mountains may have supj/lied other metals. They still produce silver and antimony;"' and it is possible that they may anciently have furnished gold and tin. As theii- mineral riclies have never been explored by scientific jiei'sons, it is very probable that they may contain many other metals besides those which they are at ]iresent known to yield. "- Among the mineral products of Assyi-ia, l»itinneji, 7ia]ihtha, 10 146 '^'^^^' HKiJOND MONARCHY. [cil. ll. petroleum, sulphur, alum, and salt have also to be reckoned. The bitumen pits of Kerkuk, in the country between the Lesser Zab and the Adhem, are scarcely less celebrated than those of Hit ; '* and there are some abundant springs of the same char- acter close to Nimrud, in the bod of the Shor Derreh torrent."* The Assyrian palaces furnish sufficient evidence that the springs were productive in old times ; for the employment of bitumen as a cement, though not so frequent as in Babylonia, is yet occasionally found in themJ^ With the bitumen are al- ways procured both naphtha and petroleum ; "^ while at Ker- kuk there is an abundance of sulphur also." Salt is obtained from springs in the Kerkuk country ; "^ and is also formed in certain small lakes lying between the Sin jar and Babylonia.'^ Alum is plentiful in the hills about Kifri.^"^ The most remarkable wild animals of Assyria are the follow- ing : the lion, the leopard, the lynx, the wild-cat, the hyaena, the wild ass, the bear, the deer, the gazelle, the ibex, the wild sheep, the wild boar, the jackal, the wolf, the fox, the beaver, the jerboa, the porcupine, the badger, and the hare. The As- syrian lion is of the maneless kind, and in general habits re- sembles the lion of Babylonia. The animal is comparatively rare in the eastern districts, being seldom found on the banks of the Tigris above Baghdad, and never above Kileh-Sherghat.^^ On the Euphrates it has been seen as high as Bir ; and it is fre- quent on the banks of the Khabour, and in the Sinjar.^- It has occasionally that remarkable peculiarity — so commonly repre- sented on the sculptures — a short horny claw at the extremity of the tail in the middle of the ordinary tuft of hair.'^^ Tlie ibex or wild goat — also a favorite subject with the Assyrian sculptors — is frequent in Kurdistan, and moreover abounds on the highest ridges of the Abd-el-Aziz and the Sinjar, where it is approached Avith difficulty by the hunter.*** The gazelle, wild boar, wolf, jackal, fox, badger, porcupine, and hare are com- mon in the plains, and confined to no particular locality. The jerboa is abundant near the Khabour.'*^ Bears and deer are found on the skirts of the Kurdish hills. The leopard, hyaena, lynx, and beaver are comparatively rare. The last named ani- mal, very uncommon in Southern Asia, was at one time found in large numbers on the Khabour; but in consequence of the value set upon its musk bag, it has been hunted almost to ex- termination, and is now very seldoni seen. The Khabour bea- vers are said to be a different species from the American. Their tail is not large and broad, but sharp and pointed ; nor Plate. XLI 10 20 30 Terrace Wall at Khorsabad, 60 feet. Fl^ 2. '^^^J^ (&MMSMMM Pavemont-slab, (Vom tTic Northern Palace, Koyunjik. Plate XLll. Vol.- 1. F'iL- I. Lower Ti:naco. Upper Tenace. Fiff. 2. pm^sig^^Si^''^. B "'W.'iiw.iii'S'' Plan of the Palace of Sargon, KliOrsabad (after Fergusson) en. u.] WILD ANIMALS. 147 do they build houses, or construct dams across the stream, but live in the banks, making themselves large chambers above the ordinary level of the floods, which are entered by holes be- neath the water-line.** The rarest of all the animals which are still found in Assyria is the wild ass (Eqmis hemioniis). Till the present generation of travellers, it was believed to have disappeared altogether from the region, and to have " retired into the steppes of Mon- golia and the deserts of Persia." " But a better acquaintance with the country between the rivers has shown that wild asses, though uncommon, still inhabit the tract where they were seen by Xenophon.^" [PI. XXVI., Fig. 1.] They are delicately made, in color varying from a grayish-white in winter to a bright bay, approaching to pink, in the summer-time; they are said to be remarkably swift. It is impossible to take them when full grown ; but the Arabs often capture the foals, and bring them up with milk in their tents. They then become very playful and docile ; but it is found difficult to keep them alive ; and they have never, apparently, been domesticated. The Arabs usually kill them and eat their flesh. ^^ It is probable that all these animals, and some others, inhab- ited Assyria during the time of the Empire. Lions of two kinds, with and without manes, abound in the sculptures, the former, which do not now exist in Assyria, being the more common. [PI. XXV., Fig. 2.] They are represented with a skill and a truth which shows the Assyrian sculptor to have been familiar not only with their forms and prcQiortions, but with their natural mode of life, their haunts, and habits. The leopard is far less often depicted, but appears sometimes in the ornamentation of utensils,*' and is frequently mentioned in the inscriptions. The wild ass is a favorite subject with the sculp- tors of the late Empire, and is represented with great spirit, though not with complete accuracy. [PI. XXVI., Fig. 3.] The ears are too sh(jrt, the head is too fine, the legs are not fine enough, and the form altogether approaches too nearly to the type of the horse. The deer, the gazelle, and the ibex all occur frequently ; and thougli th(i forms are to some extent conven- tional, they are not wanting in .'^jiirit. |P1. XXVII. J Deer are apparently of two kinds. Tbat which is most conunonly foimd appeal's to represent tlie gray deer, whicli is the only species existing at pi-escnt witbin the confines of Assyria."' The otlier sort is moi'e dchcate in shape, nnd spotted, seeming to represent the fallow deer, which is wot now known in As- 148 THE SECOND MONARCnr. ten. it. Syria or tlio adjacent countries. It sometimes appears wild, lying among the reeds; sometimes tame, in the arms of a l)i-icst or of a winged figure. There is no representation in the sculptures of the wild boar; but a wild sow and pigs are given in one bus-relief,"- sufficiently indicating the Assyrian acquaint- ance with this animal. Hares are often depicted, and with much truth ; generally they are carried in the hands of men, but sometimes they are being devoured by vultures or eagles.®^ [PI. XXVIII., Figs. 1, 2.] No representations have been found of bears, wild cats, hyaenas, wolves, jackals, wild sheep, foxes, beavei's, jerboas, porcupines, or badgers. There is reason to believe that two other animals, which have now altogether disappeared from the country, inhabited at least some parts of Assyria during its flourishing period. One of these is the wild buU — often represented on the bas-reUefs as a beast of chase, and perhaps mentioned as such in the in- scriptions.^* This animal, which is sometimes depicted as en- gaged in a contest with the lion,^^ must have been of vast strength and boldness. It is often hunted by the king, and appears to have been considered nearly as noble an object of pursuit as the lion. "We may presume, from the practice in the adjoining country, Palestine, ^ that the flesh was eateiv as food. The other animal, once indigenous, but which has now dis- appeared, was called by the Assyrians the mithin, and is thought to have been the tiger. Tigers are not now found nearer to Assyria than the country south of the Caspian, Ghi- lan, and Mazanderan ; but as there is no conceivable reason why they should not inhabit Mesopotamia,^' and as the mithin is constantly joined with the lion, as if it were a beast of the same kind, and of nearly equal strength and courage, we may fairly conjecture that the tiger is the animal intended. If this seem too bold a theoiy, we must regard the mithin as the larger leopard,"^ an animal of considerable strength and feroc- ity, which, as well as the hunting leopard, is still found in the country."^ [PI. XXVI., Fig. 2.] The birds at present frequenting Assyria are chiefly the fol- lowing : the bustard (which is of two kinds — the great and the middle-sized), the egret, the crane, the stork, the pelican, the Hamingo, the red partridge, the black partridge or francolin, the parrot, the Seleucian thrush {Turclus Seleucus) , the vult- ure, the falcon or hunting-hawk, the owl, the wild swan, the bramin goose, the ordinary wild goose, the wild duck, the teal, oil. II.] Bliws. 249 the tern, the sand-grouse, the turtle dove, the nightingale, the jay, the plover, and the snipe. ^'" There is also a large kite or eagle, called "agab," or "the butcher," by the Arabs, which is greatly dreaded by fowlers, aa it will attack and kill the falcon no less than other bii-ds. We have little information as to which of these birds fre- quented the country in ancient times. The Assyrian artists are not happy in theii- delineation of the feathered tribe ; and though several forms of bu-ds are represented upon the sculpt- ures of Sargon and elsewhere, there are but three which any writer has ventured to identify— the vulture, the ostrich, and the partridge. The \ailture is commonly represented flying ui the air, m attendance upon the march and the battle — some- times devouring, as he flies, the entrails of one of Assyria's enemies. Occasionally he appears upon the battle-field, perched upon the bodies of the slain, and pecking at their eyes or their vitals. ^1 [PI. XXVIII., Fig. 4.] The ostrich, which we know from Xenophon to have been a former inhabitant of the country on the left bank of the Euphrates, ^""^ but which has now re- treated into the wilds of Arabia, occurs frequently upon cylin- ders, dresses, and utensils ; sometimes stalking along appar- ently unconcerned; sometimes hastening at full speed, as if pursued by the hunter, and, agreeably to the description of Xenophon, using its wing for a sail. ^"'^ [PI. XXIX., Figs. 1, 2.] The partridge is still more common than either of these. He is evidently sought as food. We find him carried in the hand of sportsmen returning from the chase, or see him flying above their heads as they beat the coverts, ^''^ or finally observe him pierced by a successful shot, and in the act of falling a prey to his pursuers. i^» [PI. XXIX., Fig. 3.] The other birds represented upon the sculptures, though occasionally possessing some marked pecuharities of fonii or habit, have not yet been identified "s\nth any known species. [PI. XXIX. , Fig. 2. ] They are commonly represented as haunt- ing the fir- woods, and often as perched upon the trees. ^"^ One appears, in a sculpture of Sargon's, in the act of climbing the stem of a tree, like the nut-hatch or the woodpecker, i"' Another has a tail like a pheasant, but in other respects cannot be said to resemble that bird. The ai-tist does not appear to aim at tinith in these delineations, and it probably w^ould be a waste of mgenuity to conjecture which species of bird he intended. We have no direct evidence that bustards inhabited Mesa ;I50 THE ^E(J()M I) MONARCHY. [cH. n. l»otJuni.'i ill AHsyriaii tinu!H; but im they have certainly been abundant in tluit region from the time of Xenophon '"*' to our own, there can be httle doubt that they existed in some parts of Assyria during the Empire. Considering their size, their pecuhar apjjearance, and the delicacy of their flesh, it is re- mai-kable that the Assyrian remains furnish no trace of them. Perhai)S, as they are extremely shy, they may have been com- paratively rare in the country when the population was nu- merous, and when the greater portion of the tract between the rivers wa.s brought under cultivation. The fish most plentiful in Assyria are the same as in Baby- lonia,!'" namely, barbel and carp. They abound not only in the Tigi-is and Euphrates, but also in the lake of Khutaniyeh, and often grow to a great size."" Trout are found in the streams which run down from Zagros ;"^ and there may be many other sorts which have not yet been observed. The sculptures represent all the waters, whether river, pond, or marsh, as full of fish ; but the forms are for the most part too conventional to admit of identification. [PI. XXIX., Fig. 3.] The domestic animals now found in Assyria are camels, horses, asses, mules, sheep, goats, oxen, cows, and dogs. The camels are of three colors — white, yellow, and dark brown or black. "■^ They ai'e probably all of the same species, though commonly distinguished into camels proper, and delouls or dromedaries, the latter differing from the others as the English race-horse from the cart-horse. The Bactrian or two-humped camel, though known to the ancient Assyrians,"^ is not now found in the country. [PI. XXX., Fig. 1.] The horses are numerous, and of the best Arab blood. Small in stature, but of exquisite synmietry and Avonderful powers of endurance, they are highly prized throughout the East,"* and constitute the chief wealth of the wandering tribes who occupy the gi'eater portion of Mesopotamia. The sheep and goats are also of good breeds, and produce w-ool of an excellent quality. "^ [PI. XXX., Fig. 2.] The coavs and oxen cannot be commended."^ The dogs kept are chiefly gray hounds,"" which are used to course the hare and the gazelle. It is probable that in ancient times the animals domesticated by the Assyrians were not very different from these. The camel appears upon the monuments both as a beast of burden and also as Tidden in war, but only by the enemies of the Assyrians. [PI. XXX., Fig. 3.] The horse is used both for draught and for ridijig, but seems never degraded to igno])le ll.iU ut" Eiai-liaJduu's I'iJace, Nimrud. (Scale of 10ft. to an inch.) Platr XLIV Vol I . ai. III.] DOMESTIC ANIMALS.— THE PEOPLE. IQ\ purposes."^ His breed is good, though he is not so finely or dehcately made as the modern Arab. The head is small and well shaped, the nostrils large and high, the neck arched, but somewhat thick, the body compact, the loins strong, the legs moderately slender and smewy. [PI. XXX., Fig. 4; PI. XXXI., Fig. 1.] The ass is not found ; but the mule appears, sometimes ridden by women, sometimes used as a beast of burden, sometimes employed in drawing a cart. [PI. XXXI., Fig. 3; PI. XXXII., Figs. 1, 2.] Cows, oxen, sheep, and goats are fre- quent ; but they are foreign rather than Assyrian, since they occur only among the spoil taken from conquered countries. The dog is frecjuent on the later sculptures ; and has been foimd modelled in clay, and also represented in relief on a clay tablet. [PI. XXXII., Fig. 3; PI. XXXIII., Fig. 1.] Their character is that of a large mastiff or hoimd, and there is abundant evidence that they were employed in hunting."* If the Assyrians domesticated any bird, it woidd seem to have been the duck. Models of the duck are common, and seem generally to have been used for weights. ^^' [PI. XXXIII. , Fig. 2.] Tlie bird is ordinarily represented with its head turned upon its back, the attitude of the domestic duck when asleep. The Assyrians seem to have had artificial ponds or stews, which are always represented as full of fish, but the forms are conventional, as has been already observed. ^-^ Con- sidering the size to which the carp and barbel actually gi-ow at the present day, the ancient representations are smaller than might have been expected. CHAPTER m. THE PEOPLE. "The Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, fair of branches, and with a shadowlnj? shroud, and of hif:rh stature; and his top was anionj? the tliick liimjjhs Nor was any tree in the garden of Hod lilce unto liini in his beauty."— Ezek. rxxi. 3 and 8. The ethnic character of the ancient Assyrians, like that of the Chalda*ans, was in former times a matter of controversy. When nothing was known of the original language of the peo- ple beyond the names of certain kings, princes, and generals, believed to have belonged to the race, it was difficult to arrive at any determinate conclusion on the subject. The ingenuity ][f,2 THE SECOND MONAltailY. leu. iii, of otymolop:ists displayed itself in suggesting derivations for the words in to the Phoeni- cians, the Syrians, and other minor Semitic races. It is evident, even from the mannered and conventional sculptures of Egypt, that the physiognomy was regarded as characteristic of the western Asiatic races. Three captives on the monuments of Amenophis III.," represented as belonghig to the Pa tana (peo- ple of Bashan?), the Asuru (Assyrians), and the Karukaniishi (people of Carchemish), present to us the same style of face, only slightly modified by Egyptian ideas. [PI. XXXIV., Fig. 1.] While in face the Assyrians appear thus to have borne a most close resemblance to the Jews, in shape and make they are perhaps moi'e nearly represented by their descendants, the Chaldaeans of Kurdistan. While the Oriental Jew has a spare form and a weak muscular development, the Assyrian, like the modern Chalda\an,"^ is robust, broad-shouldered, and large- limbed. Nowhere have we a race represented to us monu- mentally of a stronger or more muscular type than the ancient Assyi'ian. The great brawny limbs are too large for beauty; but they indicate a physical power which we may well believe to have belonged to this nation — the Romans of Asia — the resolute and sturdy people which succeeded in imposing its yokeu\>oii all its neighbors. [PI. XXXIV., Fig. 2.] J 54 TllK SECOND MONARCHY. [m. ui, II from physical wo proofed to mental characteristics, we seem again to have in the Jewish (character the best and closest analogy to the Assyrian. In the first place, there is obser\'able in each a strong and marked prominency of the religious prin- ciple. Inscriptions of Assyrian kings begin and end, almost with(wt exception, with praises, invocations, and prayers to the principal obje(^ts of their adoration. All the monarch's snccesses, all his conquests and victories, and even his good fortune in the chase," are ascribed continually to the protection and favor of guardian deities. Wherever he goes, he takes care to "set vip the emblems of Asshur," or of "the great gods ; " and forces the vanquished to do them homage. The choicest of the spoil is dedicated as a thank-offering in the temples. The temples themselves are adorned, repaired, beautified, enlarged, increased in number, by almost every monarch. The kings worship them in person,^'^ and offer sacrifices. ^^ They embellish their palaces, not only with representations of their own victories and hunting expeditions, but also with I'eligious figures — the emblems of some of the principal deities," and with scenes in which are portrayed acts of adoration. Their signets, and indeed those of the Assyrians generally, ^^ have a religious character. In every way religion seems to hold a marked and prominent place in the thoughts of the people, who fight more for the honor of their gods than even of their king, and aim at extending their belief as much as their dominion. Again, combined with this prominency of the religious prin- ciple, is a sensuousness — such as we observe in Judaism con- tinually struggling against a higher and purer element — but which in this less favored branch of the Semitic family reigns uncontrolled, and gives to ics religion a gross, material, and even voluptuous character. The ideal and the spiritual find little favor with this practical people, which, not content with symbols, mvist have gods of wood and stone whereto to pray, and which in its complicated mythological system, its priestly hierarchy, its gorgeous ceremonial, and finally in its lasciv- ious ceremonies, i'5 is a coimterpart to that Egypt, from which the Jew was privileged to make his escape. The Assyrians are characterized in Scripture as "a fierce people."^" Their victories seem to have been owing to their combining individual bravery and hardihood with a skill and proficiency in the arts of war not possessed by their more un- civilized neighbors. This bravery and hardihood were kept en. III.] SPIBIT IN WAB. 155 up, partly (like that of the Romans) by their perpetual wars, partly by the training afforded to their manly qualities by the pursuit and destruction of wild animals. The lion — the king of beasts — abounded in their country, ^^ together with many other dangerous and ferocious animals. Unlike the ordinary Asiatic, who trembles before the great beasts of prey and avoids a collision by flight if possible, ^'^ the ancient Assyrian sought out the strongest and fiercest of the animals, provoked them to the encounter, and engaged with them in hand-to- hand combats. The spirit of Nimrod, the ' ' mighty hunter be- fore the Lord," not only animated his own people, but spread on froni them to their northern neighbors ; and, as far as we can judge by the monuments, prevailed even more in Assyria than in Chalda?a itself. The favorite objects of chase with the Assyrians seem "to have been the lion and the wild bull, both beasts of vast strength and courage, which could not be at- tacked without great danger to the bold assailant. No doubt the courage of the Assyrians was tinged with fe- rocity. The nation was " a mighty and a strong one, which, as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, cast down to the earth with the hand.'"^*^ Its capital might well deserve to be called "a bloody city," or " a city of bloods. "^^ Few conquering races have been tender-hearted, or much inclined to spare ; and undoubt- edly carnage, ruin, and desolation followed upon the track of an Assyrian army, and raised feelings of fear and hatred among their adversaries. But we have no reason to believe that the nation was especially bloodthirsty or unfeeling. The nuitilation of the slain — not by way of insult, but in proof of their slayer's prowess ^^ — was indeed practised among them; but otherwise there is little indication of any barbarous, much less of any really cruel, usages. The Assyrian hstens to the enemy who asks for quarter; ^he pre fere making prisoners to slaying; he is very terrible in the battle and the assault, but afterwards he forgives, and spares. Of course in some cases he makes exceptions. When a town has rebelled and been subdu- ed, he impales some of the most guilty [PI. XXXV., Fig 1];'^ and in two or three instances prisoners are represented'^ as led before the king by a rope fastened to a ring which passes through the under lip, while now and then one appears in the act of being flayed with a knife.'^ [PI. XXXV., Fig. 2.] But, generally, captives are either released, or else transferred, with- out unnecessary suffering,'^ from their own country to some 156 y^^^ smCOND MONARCnT. ten. nL other portion of the empire. There seems even to be some- thing of real tenderness in the treatment of captured women, who are never manacled, and are often allowed to ride on mules, ■'^ or in carts. [PI. XXXVI., Fig. 1.] The worst feature in the character of the Assyrians was their treachery. " Woe to thee that spoilest, though thou wast not spoiled, and dealest treacherously, though they dealt not treacherously with thee I " is the deiuaiciation of the evangelical prophet.^^ And in the same spirit the author of *' The Burthen of Nineveh " declares that city to be " full of lies and robbery "'^ — or, more correctly, full of lying and vio- lence." ^ Falsehood and treachery are commonly regarded as the vices of the weak, who are driven to defend themselves against superior strength by the weapon of cunning ; but they are perhaps qiiite as often employed by the strong as furnish- ing short cuts to success, and even where the moral standard is low, as being in themselves creditable. ^^ It certainly was not necessity which made the Assyrians covenant-breakers ; it seems to have been in part the wantonness of power — because they "despised the cities and regarded no man ; " 3- perhaps it was in part also their imperfect moral perception, which may have failed to draw the proper distinction between craft and cleverness. Another unpleasant feature in the Assyrian character — but one at which we can feel no surprise — was their pride. This is the quality which draws forth the sternest denunciations of Scripture, and is expressly declared to have called down the Divine judgments upon the race.^ Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Zepha- niah alike dwell upon it.^ It pervades the inscrij^tions. Without being so rampant or offensive as the pride of some Orientals — as, for instance, the Chinese — it is of a marked and decided color : the Assyrian feels himself infinitely superior to all the nations with whom he is brought into contact ; he alone enjoys the favor of the gods ; He alone is either truly wise or truly valiant ; the armies of his enemies are driven like chaflt before him ; he sweeps them away, like heaps of stubble ; either they fear to fight, or they are at once defeated ; he carries his victorious arms just as far as it pleases him, and never under any circumstances admits that he has suffered a reverse. The only merit that he allows to foreigners is some skQl in the mechanical and mimetic arts, and his acknowledgment of this is tacit rather than express, being chiefly known from the recorded fact that he employs foreign artists to ornament his edifices. cii. in.] LUXURY AND HENHU0USNEH8. 157 According t(j the notions which th(3 Greeks derived from Ctesias,^ and passed on to the Romans, and through them to the niodei-ns generally, the greatest defect in the Assyrian character— tlu> besetting sin of their leading men — was luxuri- ousness of living and sensuality. From Ninyas to Sardanapalus — from the commencement to the close of the Empire— a line of voluptuaries, according to Ctesias and his followers, held possession of the throne; and the principle was established from the first, that happiness consisted in freedom from all cares or troubles, and unchecked indulgence in every species of sensual pleasure.*^ This account, intrinsically suspicious, is now directly contradicted by the authentic records which we possess of the warlike character and manly pursuits of so many of the kings. It probably, however, contains a germ of truth. In a flourishing kingdom like Assyria, luxury must have gradually advanced ; and when the empire fell under the combined attack of its two most powerful neighbors, no doubt it had lost much of its pristine vigor. The mommients lend some sujiport to the view that luxury was among the causes Avhich produced the fall of Assyria; although it may be ques- tioned whether, even to the last, the predominant spirit was not warlike and manly, or even fierce and violent. Among the many denunciations of Assyria in Scripture, there is only one which can even be thought to point to luxury as a cause of her doAvnfall ; and that is a passage of very doubtful inter- pretation.^^ In general it is her violence, her treachery, and her pride that are denounced. When Nineveh repented in the time of Jonah, it was by each man " turning from his evil way and from the violence which was in their hands. "^* When Nahum announces the final destruction, it is on "the bloody city, full of lies and robbery.'''' ^ In the emblematic language of prophecy, the lion is taken as the fittest among animals to symbolize Assyria, even at this late period of her history.*' She is still "the lion that did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lioness, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin. " The favorite national emblem, if it may bo so called," is accepted as the tnie type of the people ; and blood, ravin, and robbery are their characteristics in the mind of the Hebrew prophet. In mental power the Assyrians certainly deserve to be con- sidered as among the foremost of the Asiatic races. They had not perhaps so much originality as the Chalda:>ans, from whom they appear to have derived the gi'eater part of their 153 TIIK SICCOM) MONAHCiiir. [( ii. xv. civilization; but in nmny respects it is clear that they sur. jmihwhI ilicir iiistnictors, and introduced improvements which gave a ^I'^'-'itly increased vakie and ahiiost a new character to arts priivionsly discovered. The genius of the people will best be Keen from the accounts hereafter to be given of their language, their arts, and their system of government. If it must be allowed that these have all a certain smack of rude- ness and primitive simplicity, still they are advances upon aught that had previously existed — not only in Mesopotamia —but in the world. Fully to appreciate the Assyrians, we should compare them with the much-lauded Egyptians, who in all important points are very decidedly their inferiors. The spirit and progressive character of their art offers the strongest contrast to the stiff, lifeless, and unchanging con- ventionalism of the dwellers on the Nile. Their language and alphabet are confessedly in advance of the Egyptian.*'^ Their religion is more earnest and less degraded. In courage and military genius their superiority is very striking; for the EgjT^tians are essentially an un warlike people. The one point of advantage to which Egypt may fairly lay claim is the grandeur and durability of her architecture. The Assyrian palaces, magnificent as they undoubtedly were, must yield the palm to the vast structures of Egyptian Tliebes.*^ No nation, not even Rome, has equalled Egypt in the size and solemn grandeur of its buildings. But, except in this one respect, the great African kingdom must be regarded as inferior to her Asiatic rival — which was indeed ' ' a cedar in Lebanon, exalted above all the trees of the field — fair in greatness and in the length of his branches — so that all the trees that were in the garden of God envied him, and not one was like unto him in his beauty. " ^* CHAPTER IV. THE CAPITAL. " Fuit et Ninus, imposita Tigri, ad solis occasum spectans, quondam clarissima." —Pun. H. N. vi. 13. The site of the great capital of Assyria had generally been regarded as fixed with sufficient certainty to the tract imme- diately opposite Mosul, alike by local tradition and by the statements of ancient writers, ^ when the discovery by modern travellers of architectural remains of great magnificence at Vol., Fig. 1. n- . iHm w Plate XLV. fM Pfe 'King [.imibhiiig rn.soncr.s KLor.-^at.;uI. Ciruice of Tornple, Kl.. Plate XLVI cu. IV.] THE CAPITAL. 159 some considerable distance from this position, threw a doubt upon the generally received belief, and made the true situation of the ancient Nineveh once more a matter of controvei'sy. When the noble sculptures and vast palaces of Nimrud were first uncovered, it was natural to suppose that they marked the real site ; for it seemed unlikely that any mere provincial city should have been adorned by a long series of monarchs with buildings at once on so grand a scale and so richly orna- mented. A passage of Strabo, and another of Ptolemy,- were thought to lend confirmation to this theory, which placed the Assyrian capital nearly at the junction of the Upper Zab with tlie Tigris ; and for awhile the old opinion was displaced, and the name of Nineveh was attached very generally in this country to the ruins at Nimrud. Shortly afterwards a rival claimant started up in the regions further to the north. Excavations carried on at the village of Khorsabad showed that a magnificent palace and a consider- able town had existed in Assyrian times at that site. In spite of the obvious objection that the Khorsabad ruins lay at the distance of fifteen miles from the Tigris, which according to every writer of weight ^ anciently washed the walls of Nineveh, it was assumed by the excavator that the discovery of the capital had been reserved for himself, and the splendid work representing the Khorsabad bas-reUefs and inscriptions, which was published in France under the title of "Moniunent de Niuive," caused the reception of M. Botta's theory in many parts of the Continent. After awhile an attempt was made to reconcile the rival claims by a theory, the grandeur of which gained it acceptance, d«^spito its improbability. It was suggested that the various ruins, whicli had hitherto disputed the name, were in fact aU included within the circuit of the ancient Nineveh ; which was described as a rectangle, or oblong squai-e, eighteen miles long and twelve broad. The remains of Khorsabad, Koyunjik, Nimrud, and Keremles marked the four cornere of this vast quadrangle,* which contained an area of 216 square miles — about ten times that of London ! In confirmation of this view was urged, first, the description in Diodorus,*^ derived probably from Ctesias, whicli corresponded (it was said) botli with the proportions and Avith the actual distances ; and next, the state- ments contained in the book of Jonah," which (it was argued) iin])hed a city of some such dimensions. The parallel of Babylon, according to the descriptii-in(ipally in use among the people 170 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [en. v. for literary purposes, namely, stone and moist clay. The monarchs used the former most commonly, though sometimes they condescended for some special object to the coarser and more fragile material. Private persons in their business trans- actions, literary and scientific men in their compositions, em- ployed the latter, on which it was possible to write rapidly with a triangular instrument, and which was no doubt far cheaper than the slabs of fine stone, which were preferred for the'royal inscriptions. The clay documents, when wanted for instruction or as evidence, were carefully baked ; and thus it is that they have come down to us, despite their fragility, often in as legible a condition, with the letters as clear and sharp, as any legend on marble, stone, or metal that we pos- sess belonging to Greek or even to Roman times. The best clay, skilfully baked, is a material quite as enduring as either stone or metal," resisting many influences better than either of those materials. It may still be asked, did not the Assyrians use other mate- rials also? Did they not write with ink of some kind on paper, or leather, or parchment? It is certain that the Egyptians had invented a kiad of thick paper many centviries before the Assyrian power arose ;^- and it is further certain that the later Assyrian kings had a good deal of intercourse with Egypt. Under such circumstances, can we suppose that they did not import paper from that country ? Again, the Persians, we are told, used parchment for their public records. ^^ Are not the Assyrians a much more ingenious people, likely to have done the same, at any rate to some extent? There is no direct evi- dence by which these questions can be determinately answered. No document on any of the materials suggested has been found. No ancient author states that the Assyrians or the Babylonians used them." Had it not been for one piece of in- direct evidence, it would have seemed nearly certain that they were not employed bj^ the Mesopotamian races. In some of the royal palaces, however, small lumps of fine clay have been found, bearing the impressions of seals, and exhibiting traces of the string by which they were attached to docu- ments, while the documents themselves, being of a different material, have perished. ^^ It seems probable that in these in- stances some substance like paper or parchment was used ; and thus we are led to the conclusion that, while clay was the most common, and stone an ordinary writing material among en. v.] ASSYRIAN CBAttACTEUS. YTl the Assyrians, some third substance, probably Egyptian paper, was also known, and was used occasionally, though somewhat rarely, for public documents. We may now proceed to consider the style and nature of the Assyrian writing. Derived evidently from the Chaldaean, it is far less archaic in type, presenting no pictorial representa- tions of objects, and but a few characters where the pictorial representations can be traced. It is in no case wholly recti- linear; and indeed preserves the straight line only in a very few characters, as inlfr . Y for "house, "If . Y for "gate," ^ for "temple, altar," and 4 _P^ for " fish," all which are in the later inscriptions superseded by simpler forms. The wedge may thus be said to be almost the sole element of the writing — the wedge, however, under a great variety of forms — sometimes greatly elongated, as thus ^ , sometimes contracted to a triangle >- , sometimes broadened out ^ , sometimes doubled in such a way as to form an ai-ro w- < head # , and placed in every direction — horizontal, perpen- dicular, and diagonal. The number of characters is very great. Sir H. Rawlinson, in the year 1851, published a list of 246, or, including variants, 366 characters, as occurring in the inscriptions known to him.^^ M. Oppert, in 1858, gave 318 forms as those "most in use."" Of course it is at once evident that this alphabet can- not represent elementary sounds. The Assyrian characters do, in fact, correspond, not to letters, according to our iX)tion of letters, but to syllables. These syllables are either mere vowel sounds, such as we represent by our vowels and diphthongs, or such sounds accompanied by one or two conso- nants. The vowels arc not very numerous. The Assyrians recognize three only as fundmnental— a, i, and u. Besides these they ;I72 THE SECOnit MONARCBY. [ch. v. have the diphthongs ai, nearly equivalent to e, and aw, nearly equivalent to o." The vowels i and u have also the powers, respectively, of y and v. The consonant sounds recognized in the language are sixteen in number. Tliey are the labial, guttural, and dental tenue.% p, k, t; the labial, guttural, and dental mediae, b, g, d; the gut- tural and dental aspirates kh (= Heb. n) and th (^ Greek 9) ; the liquids Z, m,^^ n, r; and the sibilants, s, sh {= Heb. K>), ts {— Heb. y). and z. The system here is nearly that of the He- brews, from which it differs only by the absence of the simi)le aspirate n, ^"^ of the guttural ;r, and of the aspirated 3 ijph). It has no sound which the Hebrew has not. From these sounds, combined with the simple vowels, comes the Assyrian syllabarium, to which, and not to the consonants themselves, the chai*acters were assigned. In the first place, each consonant being capable of two combinations with each simple vowel, could give birth naturally to six simple sylla- bles, each of which would be in the Assyrian system repre- sented by a character. Six characters, for instance, entirely different from one another, represented pa, pi, pu, ap. ip, uj); six others, ka, ki, ku, ak, ik, uk; six others again, ta, ti, tu, at, it, ut. If this rule were carried out in every case, the sixteen con- sonant sounds would, it is evident, produce ninety-six char- acters, the actual number, however, formed in this way, is only seventy-five, since there are seven of the consonants which only combine with the vowels in one way. Thus we have ba, bi, bu, but not ab, ib, ub; ga, gi, gu. but not ag. ig.iig ; and so on. The sounds regarded as capable of only one com- bination are the viedice, b, g, d ; the aspirates kh, th ; and the sibOants ts and z. Such is the first and simplest syllabarimn : but the Assyrian system does not stop here. It proceeds to combine with each simple vowel sound two consonants, one preceding the vowel and the other folloAving it. If this plan were followed out to the utmost possible extent, the result would be an addition to the syllabarium of seven hundred and sixty-eight sounds, each having its proper character, which would raise the num- ber of characters to between eight and nine hundred! For- tunately for the student, phonetic laws and other causes have intervened to check this extreme luxuriance ; and the combi- nations of this kind which are known to exist, instead of amounting to the full limit of seven hundred and sixty-eight, cii. v.] ASSYRIAN CHARACTERS. 173 are under one hundred and fifty. The known Assyrian alpha- bet is, however, in this way raised from eighty, or, induding variants, one hundred, to between two hundred and forty and two hundred and fifty characters. Further, there is another kind of character quite different from these, which Orientahsts have called "determinatives." Certain classes of words have a sign prefixed or suffixed to them, most commonly the former, by which their general character is indicated. The names of gods, of men, of cities, of tribes, of wild animals, of domestic animals, of metals, of montlis, of the points of the compass, and of dignities, are thus accompanied. The sign prefixed or suffixed may have origi- nally represented a word; but when used in the way here spoken of, it is believed that it was not sounded, but served simply to indicate to the reader the sort of word which was placed before him. Thus a single perpendicular wedge, T . indicates that the next word will be the name of a man ; such a wedge, preceded by two horizontal ones, )^^H^ » tells us to expect the appellative of a god ; while other more complicated combinations are used in the remaining instances. There are about ten or twelve characters of this description. Finally, there are a certain number of characters which have been called ' ' ideographs, " or " monograms. " Most of the gods, and various cities and countries, are represented by a group of wedges, which is thought not to have a real phonetic force, but to be a conventional sign for an idea, much as the Arabic numerals, 1, 2, 3, etc. , are non-phonetic signs represent- ing the ideas, one, two, three, etc. The known charactera of this description are between twenty and thirty. The kno%vn Assyrian characters are thus brought up nearly to three hundred ! There still remain a considerable number which are either wholly unknown, or of which the meaning is known, while the phonetic value cannot at present be deter- mined. M. Oppert's Catalogue contains fourteen of the former and fifty-nine of the latter class. It has alri^idy been observed that the monumental evidence accords with the traditional belief in regard to the character of the Assyrian language, which is unmistakably Semitic. Not only does the vocabulary present constant analogies to other Semitic dialects, but the phonetic laws and the grammatical 174 THE SECOND MONAUCHY. [en. r. forms are equally of this type. At the same time the language has peculiarities of its own, which separate it from its kindred tongues, and constitute it a distinct form of Semitic speech, not a mere variety of any known form. It is neither Hebrew, nor Arabic, nor Phoenician, nor Chaldee, nor Syriac, but a sister tongue to these, having some analogies with all of them, and others, more or fewer, with each. On the whole, its closest relationship seems to be with the Hebrew, and its greatest di- vergence from the Aramaic or Syriac, with which it was yet, locally, in immediate connection. To attempt anything like a full illustration of these state- ments in the present place would be manifestly unfitting. It would be to quit the province of the historian and archaeolo- gist, in order to enter upon that of the comparative philologer or the grammarian. At the same time a certain amount of illustration seems necessary, in order to show that the state- ments above made are not mere theories, but have a substan- tial basis. The Semitic character of the vocabulary will probably ^be felt to be sufficiently established by the following lists : — NOUNS SUBSTANTIVE. Abu, "a father." Compare Heb. l<, '3N ; Arabic abou. Ummu, " a mother." Comp. Heb. DX, and Arabic um. Akhu, " a brother." Comp. Heb. PIX, ^nx. Pal or bal, " ason." Comp. Syriac bar, and perhaps Heb. t3. llu, " God." Comp. Heb. Sx, Hl'Sx ; Arabic Allah. Sa^-ru, "a king." Comp. Heb. "Xff. Malik, " a prince." Comp. Heb. !j7D, and Arabic malik. Bilu, " a lord." Comp. Heb. S^S. Nisu, " a man." Comp. Heb. l^^JX, " a mortal," and Chald. QP\&3, " women." Dayan, "a judge." Comp. Heb. pi, from pi, judicare. Sumu, "a name." Comp. Heb. DB'. Samt, "heaven." Comp. Heb. D'DK', " the heavens." Irt-iit, " the earth." Comp. Heb. y^. Shamas, "the sim." Comp. Heb. Ji'Dt!^. Tfetn. " the moon." Comp. Syriac sin. Marrat. or varrat, " the sea." Comp. Arabic bahr, " a lake " (?). Or may tho root be ID, " bitter " ? Comp. Lat. mare, a-manit. iVa/iar, "a river." Comp. Heb. Tl J, and Arabic naAr. Yumu, " day." Comp. Heb. DV. Vol. I. Plate XLIX. No. III.— Aiisymn Temple, from Lord Aberdoen'a Ho. V. K-ynxa temple (Noilh Valtet. Kojunj.k). CH. v.] THE rOCABULABY SEMITIC. 175 Hamu, " the world." Conip. Heb. D7l]f. 'Jr," a city." Comp. Heb. TX. fiit, " a house." Comp. Heb. n'3. Bab, "agate." Comp. Cbald. nj33, and Arabic bab. Z,t«a»i, "a tongue," or "language." Comp. Heb. pK*7 ; Chald.W*?. Asar, "a place." Comp. Chald. "MMi. Mitu, "death." Comp. Heb. mO. Susu, "a horse." Comp. Heb. DID. ADJECTIVES. Rabu, "great." Comp. Heb. 31; whence the well-kno%m Rabbi (X3T), •• t great one, a doctor." Tabit, "good." Comp. Chald. 30. and Heb. 31t3. Bashu, "bad." Comp. Heb. t^OD, "a ba.se one, ' from 10)2. " to beashamed.' Madut, "many." Comp. Heb. 1XD. '"exceedingly." Bvk, " far, wide." Comp. Heb. pim. NUMERALS. [The forms marked with an asteiisk are conjectural.] Ishtin, " one " (masc.) Comp. Heb. "'ni,''V, in "WlC^m^, "eleven." Ikhit, " one " (fem.) Comp. Heb. r\nX. iSianai, "two " (masc.) Comp. Heb. D'Jl?, 'JB'. Shalshat, "three" (masc.) Comp. Heb. HW/V. iihiltish, " three " (fem.) Comp. Heb. Iff'lW. Arbat, "tour" (masc.) Comp. Heb. ni*3"*(. Arba, "four" (fem.) Comp. Heb. 2f3nN. JCTuxnwAaf, "five" (masc.) Comp. Heb. U^OT}. Khamvih, "Ave "(fem.) Comp. Heb. {SfDH. Shnshnt. " six " (masc.) Comp. Heb. HU'lt'. Shash, "six" (fem.) Comp. Heb. K'K'. Shibit, "seven" (masc.) Comp. Heb. ny3t7. Shibi, "seven" (fem.) Comp. Heb. X31:'. ShartDuit,* "eight" (masc.) Comi). Heb. WDIff. Tuhit* " nine " (masc.) Comp. Heb. Hy^'jl. Tiihi* " nine " (fem . ) Comp . Hel > . "W^ . Igrit, " ten " (masc.) Comp. Heb. H'^ii'X Isri, " ten " (fem.) Comp. Heb. "^VTH. Israi, "twenty." Comp. Heb D'ltyX Skilashai, "thirty." Comp. Heb. D'Vntt. 170 Tim SECONT) MONABCHY. fcH. y. Irba'ai, " forty." Comp. Hcb. D'X3"1X. IDiamshai, ''titty." Comp. Ilel). D'K'DTI. Shishai, "sixty." Comp. Heb. D'E't^. Shibai, "seventy." Comp. Heb. CWt^. /S?iam»iat,* " eighty. " Comp. Heb. D'JOSy. Tishat, " ninety." Comp. Heb. D'^tyH. Mai, or Mi, " a himdred." Comp. Heb. PIND. PRONOUNS. [The forms marked with an asterisk are conjecturaLl Anaku."!." Heb. 'DJX. Atta, " thou " (masc.) Heb. HDX. Atti,* " thou " (fern.) Heb. fW. SAm, "he." Heb. Wn. 57it, "she." Heb. NTl. ^anafc/im(?), "we." Heb. IJnJX. Attun,* "ye " (masc.) Heb. UPiH. Attin,* "ye " (fem.) Heb. |r\N. Sliunut, or Shun, " they " (maac.) Heb. PIDri) DH. Shinat, or Shm, "they " (fem.) Heb. lUn, Tl. Ml, "who, which." Heb. HD. Ullu, "that." Heb. DSx, "these." VERBS. Alak, " to go." Heb. pPI. £aAAor, "to collect." Comp. Heb. "IHS, '"toseleo*." Bana, " to create, to build." Heb. 1133. Dana, "to give," in Niphal, nadan. Heb. jflj. Z)m, "to judge." Heb. TT. i)ufc, "tokill." Comp. Heb. pDl, "to beat small; " ^11, "to pound or bruisa." chaid. nn. 'i7)ir, "to pass, cross." Heb. 132f. 'Ilxusli, " to make." Comp. Chakl. 13^. 'Im/i., " to ask, pray." Comp. Heb. nl£'^^<, "request, desire." JVafsar, "to guard." Heb. *1XJ. Naza, " to leap." Heb. HIJ. Nazal, " to flow, sink, descend." Heb. n2. Pafcad, "to entrust." Heb. Ip3. Saga, " to grow, become great." Heb. Hilff. CH. v.] THE GRAMMAR ALSO SEMITIC. I77 STiofain, "todweU." Heb. ptS*. Shatar, "to write." Comp. Chald. K\2V, "a written contract." Tsabat, "to hold, possess." Comp. Heb. fU3f, "abundle;" Arab, tsabat, "to hold tight; " Chald. nriJy, " tongs." ADVERBS, CONJUNCTIONS, ETC. :;, "and." Heb. [PI. XLV., Fig. 3. | We may caU it. for dis- tinction's sake, "the Hall of Punishment." 188 T^'^^ SECOND MONARCHY. [ch. vi. The second hall (V. in the plan) ran parallel with the first, but did not extend along its whole length. It measured from end to end about 86 feet, and from side to side 21 feet 6 inches. Two doorways led into it from the first chamber, and two others led from it into two large apartments. One communi- cated with a lateral hall (marked VI. in the plan), the other with the third haU of the suite which is here the special object of our attention. This third hall (II. in the plan) was of the same length as the first, but was less wide by about three feet. It opened by three doorways upon a square court, which has been called " the Temple Court,'' from a building on one side of it which will be described presently. The sculptures of the second and third halls represented in a double row, separated by an inscribed space about two feet in width, chiefly the wars of the monarch, his battles, sieges, reception of captives and of spoil, etc. The monarch himself appeared at least four times standing in his chariot, thrice in calm procession, and once shooting his arrows against liis ene- mies. [PI. XLV., Fig. 2.] Besides these, the upper sculptures on one side exhibited sacred ceremonies. Placed at right angles to this primary suite of three halls were two others, one (IV. in the plan) ^^ of dimensions little, if at all, inferior to those of the largest (No. VIII), the other (VI. in the plan)^- nearly of the same length, but as narrow as the narrowest of the three (No. V.). Of these two lateral halls the former communicated directly with No. VIII. , and also by a narrow passage room (III. in the plan) with No. II. The other had dii-ect conmumication both with No. II. and No. V., but none with No. VIII. With this hall (No. VI. ) three smaller chambers were connected (Nos. IX., XI., and XII.); with the other lateral haU, two only (Nos. III. and VII.). One chamber attached to this block of buildings (I. in the plan) opened only on the Temple Court. It has been suggested that it contained a staircase ; ^^ but of this there is no evidence. The Temple Court — a square of 180 feet— was occupied by buildings on three sides, and open on one only — thtit to the north-west. Tlie state apartments closed it. in on the north- east, the temple on the south-west ; on the south-east it was bounded by the range of buildings called " Priests' Rooms "' in the plan, chambers of less pretension than almost anj^ that have been excavated. The principal facade here was that of the state apartments, on the north-east. On this, as on the opposite side of the palace, were three portals ; but the two fronts were Cii. VI. I THE TEMPLE COURT. 189 not of equal magnificence. On the side of the Temple Court a single pair of bulls, facing the spectator, guarded the middle portals; the side portals exhibited only figures of genii, while the spaces between the portals were occupied, not with bulls, but merely with a series of human figiu-es, resembling those in the first or outer court, of which a representation has been already given. Two peculiarities marked the south-east faqade. In the first place, it lay in a perfectly straight line, unbroken by any projection, whicli is very unusual in Assyrian architect- ure.. In the second place, as if to compensate for this monotony in its facial line, it was pierced by no fewer than five doorways, all of considerable width, and two of them garnished with bulls, of namely, the second and the fourth. The bulls of the second gateway were of the larger, those of the fourth were of the smaller size ; they stood in the usual manner, a little withdrawn within the gateways and looking towards the spectator. Of the curious building which closed in the court on the third or south-west side, which is believed to have been a temple,** the remains are unfortunately very slight. It stood so near the edge of the terrace that the greater part of it has fallen into the plain. Less than half of the ground-plan is left, and only a few feet of the elevation. The building may originally have been a square, or it may have been an oblong, as represented in the plan. It was approached from the court by a flight of stone steps, probably six in number, of which four remain in place. This flight of steps was placed directly opposite to the central door of the south-west palace fagade. From the level of the court to that of the top of the steps, a height of about six feet, a solid platform of criuh; brick was raised as a basis for tlie temple; and this was faced, probably throughout its wholi^ extent, with a solid wall of hard black basalt, ornamented with a cornice in gray Hmestone. of which the accompanying figures are representations. [PI. XLV. , Fig. 4. ] Above this the external work has disaj)peared. Internally, two chambers may be traced, floored with a mixture of stones and chalk ; and round one of these are some fragments of bas-reliefs, representing sacred subjects, cut on the same black basalt as that by which the platform is cased, and sufiicient to show that the same style of ornamentation prevailed here as in the palace. The principal doorway on the north-west side of the Temple Court communicated, by a passage, with another and similar doorway {d on the plan), which opened into a fourth court, the fiioallest and least ornamented of those on the upper platform. 190 THE SKCONJJ MONARijnr. [cn. vi. The mass of building whereof this court occupied the centre, is believed to have constituted the hdreein or jjrivate apartments of the monarch.^'' It adjoined the state apartments at its north- ern angle, but had no direct communication with them. To enter it from them the visitof had either to cross the Temple Court and proceed by the passage above indicated, or else to go round by the great entrance (X in the plan) and obtain admission by the grand portals on the south-west side of the outer court. These latter portals, it is to be observed, are so placed as to com- mand no view into the Hareem Court, though it is opposite to them. The passages by which they gave entrance into that court must have formed some such angles as those marked by the dotted lines in the plan, the result being that visitors, while passing through the outer court, would be unable to catch any sight of what was going on in the Hareem Court, even if the great doors happened to be open. Those admitted so far into the palace as the Temple Court were more favored or less feared. The doorway (d) on the south-east side of the Hareem Court is exactly opposite the chief doorway on the north-west side of the Temple Court, and there can be no reasonable doubt that a straight passage connected the two. It is uncertain whether the Hareem Court was surrounded by buildings on every side, or open towards the 'south-west. M. Botta believed that it was open ; ^ and the analogy of the other courts would seem to make this probable. It is to be regretted, however, that this portion of the great Khorsabad ruin stiU remains so incompletely examined. Consisting of the private apartments, it is naturally less rich in sculptures than other parts; and hence it has been comparatively neglected. The labor would, nevertheless, be well employed which should be devoted to this part of the ruin, as it would give us (what we do not now possess) the complete ground-plan of an Assyrian palace. It is earnestly to be hoped that future excavators will direct their efforts to this easily attainable and interesting object. The ground-plans of the palaces, and some sixteen feet of their elevations, are all that fire and time have left us of these remarkable monuments. The total destruction of the upper portion of every palatial building in Assyria, combined with the want of any representation of the royal residences upon the bas-reliefs, reduces us to mere conjecture with respect to their height, to the mode in which they were roofed and lighted, and even to the question whether they had or had not an upper story. On these subjects various views have been put forward c'U. VI.] ARGUMENTS FOR AN UPPER STORY. 191 by persons entitled to consideration ; and to these it is proposed now to direct the reader's attention. In the first place, then, had they an upper story? Mr. Layard and Mr. Fergusson decide this question in the affirmative. Mr. Layard even goes so far as to say that the fact is one which '" can no longer be doubted." 3' He rests this conclusion on two gi-ounds — first, on a belief that "upper chambers" are men- tioned in the Inscriptions, and, secondly, on the discovery by huuself, in Sennacherib's palace at Koyunjik, of what seemed to be an inclined way, by which he supposes that the ascent was made to an upper story. The former of these two argu- ments must be set aside as wholly uncertain. The interpreta- tion of the architectural inscriptions of the Assyrians is a mat- ter of far too much doubt at present to serve as a groundwork upon which theories can properly be raised as to the plan of their buildings. With regard to the inclined passage, it Ls to be observed that it did not appear to what it led. It may have conducted to a gaUery looking into one of the great halls, or to an external balcony overhanging an outer court; or it may have been the ascent to the top of a tower, whence a look-out was kept up and down the river. Is it not more likely that this ascent should have been made for some exceptional pur- pose, than that it should be the only specimen left of the or- dinary mode by which one half of a palace was rendered acces- sible? It is to be remembered that no remains of a staircase, whether of stone or of wood have been found in any of the pal- aces, and that there is no other instance in any of them even of an inclined passiige.^a Those who think the palaces had second stories, believe these stories to have been reached by staircases of wood, placed in various parts of the buildings, which were totally destroyed by the conflagrations in which the palaces perished. But it is at least remarkal)le that no signs have been found in any exi.sting walls of rests for the ends of beams, or of anything implying staircases. Hence M. Botta, the most care- ful and the most scientific of recent excavators, came to a very positive conclusion that the Khorsabad buildings had had no second story,** a conclusion which it woidd not, perhaps, be very bold to extend to Assyrian edifices generally. It has been urged by Mr. Fergusson that there must have been an upper story, because otherwise all the advantage of the commanding positi(^n of the palaces, perched on their lofty platforms, woidd have been lost.*' The platform at Khoi*sabad was protected, in the only places where its edge has been laid 192 THE SECOND MONARVUY. [cii. vl bare, by a stone wall or parapet six feet in height. Such a par- apet continued along the whole of the platform would effectu- ally have shut out all prospect of the open country, both from the platform itself and also from the gateways of the palace, which are on the same level. Nor could there well be any view at all from the ground chambers, which had no windows, at any rate within fifteen feet of the floor. To enjoy a view of anything but the dead wall skirting the mound, it was neces- sary (Mr. Fergusson thinks) to mount to a second story, which he ingeniously jilaces, not over the ground rooms, but on the top of the outer and party walls, whose structure is so massive that their area falls (he observes) but little short of the area of the ground-rooms themselves.*^ This reasoning is sufficiently answered, in the first place, by obsei'ving that we know not whether the Assyrians appreci- ated the advantage of a view, or raised their palace platforms for any such object. They may have constructed them for se- curity only, or for greater dignitj' and greater seclusion. They may have looked chiefly for comfort, and have reared them in order to receive the benefit of every breeze, and at the same time to be above the elevation to which gnats and mosquitoes commonly rise.*'- Or there may be a fallacy in concluding, from the very slight data furnished by the excavations of M. Botta,*^ that a palace platform was, in any case, skirted along its whole length, by a six-foot parapet. Nothing is more prob- able than that in places the Khorsabad parapet may have been very much loAver than this ; and elsewhere it is not even ascer- tained that any parapet at all edged the platform. On the whole we seem to have no right to conclude, merely on account of the small portions of parapet wall uncovered by M. Botta, that an upper story was a necessity to the palaces. If the As- syrians valued a view, they may easily have made their para- pets low in places : if they cared so little for it as to shut it out from all their halls and terraces, they may not improbably have dispensed with the advantage altogether. The two questions of the roofing and lighting of the Assyrian palaces are so closely connected together that they Avill most conveniently be treated in combination. The first conjecture published on the subject of roofing was that of M. Flandin. who suggested that the chambers generally — the great halls, at any rate — had been ceiled with a brick vault. He thought that the complete filling up of the apartments to the height of fifteen or twenty feet was thus best explaiued ; and he believed Vol. Plate LI 1 1 LH h '■' ' '-\l\ a I Plate LIV. Fig. 1. Vol. »iC^ i No. I. A. Outer court. 6. I^Iain entmnoe, guarded by winged lions. c. Fronaos or vestibule d. Passage leading from Testibule into temple. €. Cell of temple. /. Shrine, paved with a single Btone. <7 g. Tiiests' apartments. A. Second entrance to temple. m No. II. A. Outer court. b. Main entrance, guarded by liona winjcd). c. Cell of temple. d. Shrine, paved with a single Btone. c. Small closet (vestry ?) /. Priests, apartment. ■ (mt Ground-plans of Temples, Nimrud (after Layard). Fig. 2 f / j/mm /„ m// - m f-M VAULTED C4LLERY Ground-plan of Kimrud Tower. CH. vi.l BOOFING OF PALACES. I93 that there were traces of the fallen vaulting in the debris with which the apartments were fiUed. His conjecture was com- bated, soon after he put it forth, by M. Botta,*^ who gave it as his opinion — first, that the walls of the chambers, notwith- standing their great thickness, would have been unable, con- sidering their material, to sustain the weight, and (still more to beai') the lateral thrust, of a vaulted roof; and, secondly, that such a roof, if it had existed at all, must have been made of baked brick or stone — crude brick being too weak for the purpose — and when it fell must have left ample traces of itself within the apartments, whereas, in none of them, though he searched, could he find any such traces. On this latter point M. Botta and M. Flandin — both eye-witnesses — were at vari- ance. M. Flandin believed that he nad seen such traces, not only in numerous broken fragments of burnt brick strewn through all the chambers, but in occasional masses of brick- work contained in some of them — actual portions, as he thought, of the original vaulting. M. Botta, however, observed — first, that the quantity of baked brick within the chambers was quite insufficient for a vaulted roof; and, secondly, that the position of the masses of brickwork noticed by M. Flandin was always towards the sides, never towards the centres of the apartments ; a clear proof that they had fallen from the upper part of the walls above the sculptures, and not from a ceiling covering the whole room. He further observed that the quan- tity of charred wood and charcoal witliin the chambers, and the calcined appearance of all the slabs, were phenomena incompatible with any other theory than that of the destruc- tion of the palace by the conflagration of a roof mainly of wood."^ To these argiunenta of M. Botta may be added another from the improbability of the Assyrians being sufficiently advanced in architectural science to be able to construct an arch of the width necessary to cover some of the chambers. The prin- ciple of the arch was, indeed, as will be hereafter shown,'"* well known to the Assyrians; but hitherto we possess no proof that they Avere capal)le of applying it on a large scale. The widest arch which has been ftjuud in any of tlic buildings is tliat of the Khorsabad town-gate vmcovered by M. IMace.^" which spans a space of (at most) fourteen or fifteen feet. But the great halls of the Assyrian palaces have a width of twenty-five, thirty, and even forty feet. It is at any rate uncertain whc'ther the constructive skill of their architects could have grappled suc- 13 194 THE SECOND MONARCHV. ten. vi. cessfuUy with the difficulty of throwing a vault over so wide an interval as even the least of these. M. Botta, after objecting, certainly with great force, to the theory of M. Flandin, proceeded to suggest a theory of his own. After carefully reviewing all the circumstances, he gave it as his opinion that the Khorsabad building had been roofed throughout with a fiat, earth-covered roofing of wood. He ob- served that some of the buildings on the bas-reliefs had flat roofs, that flat roofs are still the fashion of the country, and that the debris within the chambers were exactly such as a roof of that kind would be hkely, if destroyed by fire, to have produced.*^ He further noticed that on the floors of the cham- bers, in various parts of the palace, there had been discovered stone rollers closely resembling those still in use at Mosul and Baghdad, for keeping close-pressed and hard the earthen sur- face of such roofs ; which rollers had, in all probability, been applied to the same use by the Assyrians, and, being kept on the roofs, had fallen through during the conflagra tion.« The first difficulty which presented itself here was one of those regarded as most fatal to the vaulting theory, namely, the width of the chambers. Where flat timber roofs prevail in the East, their span seems never to exceed t wenty -five feet. ^^ The ordinary chambers in the Assyrian palaces might, un- doubtedly, therefore, have been roofed in this way, by a series of horizontal beams laid across them from side to side, with the ends resting uj^on the tops of the side walls. But the great halls seemed too "vvide to have borne such a roofing without supports. Accordingly, M. Botta suggested that in the greater apartments a single or a double row of pillars ran down the middle, reaching to the roof and sustaining it.°^ His theory was afterwards warmly embraced by Mr. Fergusson, who en deavored to point out the exact position of the pillars in the three great halls of Sargon at Khorsabad." It seems, however. a strong and almost a fatal objection to this theory, that no bases of pfllars have been found within the apartments, nor anj^ marks on the brick floors of such bases or of the pressure of the pillars. M. Botta states that he made a careful search for bases, or for marks of piUars, on the pavement of the north- east hall (No VIII.) at Khorsabad, but that he entirely failed to discover any.^ This negative evidence is the more notice- able as stone pillar-bases have been found in wide doorAvays, where they would have been less necessary than in the cham CH. VI.] LIGHTING OF PALACES. jgg bers, as pillars in doorways could have had but little weight to sustain. M. Botta and Mr. Fergusson, who both suppose that in an Assyrian palace the entire edifice was roofed in, and only the courts left open to the sky, suggest two very different modes by which the buildings may have been Hghted. M. Botta brings hght in from the roof by means of wooden louvres, such as are still employed for the purpose in Armenia and parts of India," whereof he gives the representation which is repro- duced. [PL XL VII., Fig. 1.] Mr. Fergusson introduces light from the sides, by supposing that the roof did not rest directly on the walls, but on rows of wooden piUars placed along the edge of the walls both internally towards the apartments and externally towards the outer air. The only ground for this sup- position, which is of a very startling character, seems to be the occurrence in a single bas-relief, representing a city in Armenia, of what is regarded as a similar arrangement. But it must be noted that the lower portion of the building, represented oppo- site, bears no resemblance at all to the same part of an Assy- rian palace, since in it perpendicular lines prevail, whereas, in the Assyrian palaces, the lower lines were almost wholly hori- zontal ; and that it is not even ertain that tlie iipper portion, where the pillars occur, is an arrangement for admitting light, since it may be merely an ornamentation. The difficulties attaching to every theory of roofing and lighting which places the whole of an Assyrian palace under covert, has led some to suggest that the system actually adopted in the larger apartments was that Jn/pathral one which is generally believed to have prevailed in the Greek tem- ples,^ and which Avas imdoubtedly followed in the ordinary Roman house. Mr. La yard was the first to put forward the view that the larger halls, at any rate, were uncovered, a pro- jecting ledge, sufficiently wide to afford shelter and shade, be- ing carried round the four sides of the apartment, while the centre remained open to the sky.** The objections taken to this view are — first, that far too much heat and light would thereby have been admitted into the palace; secondly, that in the rainy season far too much rain would have come in for comfort ; and. thirdly, that the pavement of the halls, being mere sun-dried brick, would, under such circinnstances, have been tiu'ned into mud." If these objections are not removed, they would be, at any rate, greatly lessened by supposing the roofing to have extended to two-tlurda or three-fourths of the ]96 '''^'^ SECOND MONARCnY. [ch. vr, apartment, and the opening to have been comparatively nar- row. We may also suppose that on very bright and on very rainy days carpets or other awnings -were stretched across the opening, which furnished a tolerable defence against the weather. On the whole, our choice seems to lie— so far as the great halls are concerned — between this theory of the mode in which they were roofed and lighted, and a supposition from which archaeologists have hitherto shrunk, namely, that they were actually spanned from side to side by beams. If we remember that the Assyrians did not content themselves with the woods produced in their own country, but habitually cut timber in the forests of distant regions, as, for instance, of Amanus, Hermon, and Lebanon, which they conveyed to Nineveh, we shall per- haps not think it impossible that they may have been able to accomplish the feat of roofing in this simple fashion even chambers of thirteen or fourteen yards in width. Mr. Layard observes that rooms of almost equal width with the Assyrian halls are to this day covered in with beams laid horizontally from side to side in many parts of Mesopotamia, although the only timber used is that furnished by the indigenous palms and poplars. 5* May not more have been accomplished in this way by the Assyrian architects, who had at their disposal the lofty firs and cedars of the above-mentioned regions ? If the halls were roofed in this way, they may have been lighted by louvres; ^^ or the upper portion of the. walls, which is now destroyed, may have been pierced by Avindows, Avhich are of frequent occurrence, and seem generally to be some- what high placed, in the representations of buildings upon the sculptures. [PI. XL VII., Fig. 3.] It might have been expected that the difficulties with respect to Assyrian roofing and lighting which have necessitated this long discussion, would have received illustration, or even so- lution, from the forms of buildings which occur so frequently on the bas-reliefs. But this is not found to be the actual result. The forms are rarely Assyrian, since they occur commonly in the sculptures which represent the foreign campaigns of the kings ; and they have the appearance of being to a great ex- tent conventional, being nearly the same, whatever coimtry is the object of attack. In the few cases where there is ground for regarding the building as native and not foreign, it is never palatial, but belongs either to sacred or to domestic architect- ure. Thus the monimiental representations of Assyrian build* cir. VI.] ASSYRIAN TEMPLES. 197 ings which harve come down to us, throw little or no light on the cun8truction of their palaces. As, however, they have an interest of their own, and will serve to illustrate in some degree the domestic and sacred architecture of the people, some of the most remarkable of them will be here introduced. The representation No. I. is from a slab at Khorsabad. [PI. XL VII., Fig. 4.] It is placed on the summit of a hill, and is re- garded by M. B(jtta as an altar. No. II. is from the same slab. [PI. XLIX., Fig. 1.] It stands at the foot of the hill crowned by No. I. It has been called a " fishing pavilion;'"''' but it is most probably a small temple, since it bears a good deal of resemblance to other representations which are un- doubted temples, as (particularly) to No. V. No. III., which is from Lord Aberdeen's black stone, is certainly a tem- ple, since it is accompanied by a priest, a sacred tree, and an ox for sacrifice.*^' [PI. XLIX., Fig. 2.] The representation No. IV. is also thought to be a temple. [PI. XLIX., Fig. 3.] It is of earlier date than any of the others, being taken from a slab belonging to the North-west Palace at Nimrud, and is re- markable in many ways. First, the want of synmietry is cu- rious, and unusual. Irregular as are the palaces of the Assyr- ian kings, there is for the most part no want of regularity in their sacred buildings. The two specimens here adduced (No. II. and No. III.) are proof of this; and such remains of actual temples as exist are in accordance with the sculptures in this particular. The right-hand aisle in No. IV., having nothing corres])()ndent to it on the other side, is thus an anomaly in Assyrian architecture. The patterning of the pillars with chev- rons is also remarkable; and their capitals are altogether mii(iuo.62 No. V. is a temple of a more elaborate character, [PI. XLIX., Fig. 4.] It is from the sculptures of Asshur-bani- pal, the son of Esar-haddon, and possesses several features of great intei'est. The body of the temple is a columnar structure, exhibiting at either corner a broad pilaster surmounted by a capital composed of two sets of volutes placed one over the other. Between the two pilastei'S are two pillars resting upon very extraordinai-y romided bases, and crowned by ca])itals not unlike th(^ Corinthian. We might have supposed the bases mere figments of the scidptor, but for an independent evidence of the actual employment by the Assyrians of roimded pillar- bases. Mr. Layard discovered at Koyunjik a set of " circular pedestals," whereof he gives the representation which is fig- ured. fPl. LL, Fig. 1.] They appeared to form part of a double 198 THE SEVONI) MONARClir. [ch. vi. line of similar objects, extending from the edge of the platform to an entrance of the palace, and probably (as Mr. Layard sug- gests) supported the wooden pillars of a covered way by which the palace was approached on this side. Above the pillars the temple (No. V.) exhibits a heavy cornice or entablature pro- jecting considerably, and finished at the top with a row of gradines. (Compare No. II.) At one side of this main build- ing is a small chapel or oratory, also finished with gradines, against the wall of which is a representation of a king, stand- ing in a species of frame arched at the top. A road leads straight up to this royal tablet, and in this road within a little distance of the king stands an altar. The temple occupies the top of a mound, which is covered with trees of two different kinds, and watered by rivulets. On the right is a " hanging garden," artificially elevated to the level of the temple by means of masonry supported on an arcade, the arch here used being not the round arch but a pointed one. No. VI. (PI. L.) is unfortunately very imperfect, the entire upper portion hav- ing been lost. Even, however, in its present mutilated state it represents by far the most magnificent building that has yet been found upon the bas-reliefs. The fagade, as it now stands, exhibits four broad pilasters and four pillars, alternating in pairs, excepting that, as in the smaller temples, pilasters occupy both corners. In two cases, the base of the pilaster is carved into the figure of a winged bull, closely resembling the bulls which commonly guarded the outer gates of palaces. In the other two the base is plain — a piece of negligence, probably, on the part of the artist. The four pillars all exhibit a rounded base, nearly though not quite similar to that of the pillars in No. V. ; and this rounded base in every case rests upon the back of a walking lion. We might perhaps have imagined that this was a mere fancifid or mythological device of the artist s. on a par with the representations at Bavian. where figures, sup- posed to be Assyrian deities, stand upon the backs of animals resembling dogs. *^^ But one of M. Place's architectural discov- eries seems to make it possible, or even probable, that a i-eal feature in Assyrian building is here represented. M. Place found the arch of the town gateway which he exhumed at Khor- sabad to spring from the backs of the two buUs which guarded it on either side.®* Thus the lions at the base of the pillars may be real architectural forms, as well as the winged bulls which support the pilasters. The lion was undoubtedly a sa- cred animal, emblematic of divine power, and specially as- CH. VI.] TEMPLE TOWERS OR ZIGGURATS. 199 signed to Nergal, the Assyrian Mars, the god at once of war and of hunting. His introduction on the exteriors of build- ings was common in Asia Minor; but no other example occurs of his being made to support a i)illar, excepting in the so-called Byzantine architecture of Northern Italy. No. VII. a (PI. LII., Fig. 1) introduces us to another kind of Assyrian temple, or perhaps it should rather be said to another feature of Assyrian temples — conunou to thoiu Avith Babylonian — the tower or zigyurxit. This appears to have been always built in stages, which probably varied in number — never, how- ever, so far as appears, exceeding seven. The sculptured ex- ample before us, which is from a bas-relief found at Koyunjik, distinctly exhibits four stages, of which the topmost, owing to the destruction of the upper portion of the tablet, is imperfect. It is not unlikely that in this instance there was above the fourth a fifth stage, consisting of a shrine like that which at Babylon crowned the great temple of Belus.'^^ The complete elevation would then have been nearly as in No. VII. b. [PI. XLI., Fig. 3.] The following features are worth of remark in this temple. The basement story is panelled with indented rectangular re- cesses, as was the case at Nimrud ^ [PI. LIII. ] and at the Birs f the remainder are plain, as are most of the stages in the Birs temple. Up to the second of these squared recesses on either side there rims what seems to be a road or path, which sweeps away down the hill whereon the temple stands in a bold curve, each path closely matching the other. The whole building is perfectly symmetrical, except that the panelling is not quite uniform in width nor arranged quite regularly. On the second stage, exactly in the middle, there is evidently a doorway, and on either side of it a shallow buttress or pilaster. In the cen- tre of the third story, exactly over the doorway of the second, is a squared niche. In front of the temple, but not exactly opposite its centre, may be seen the propybea, consisting of a sqiiared doorway placed under a battlemented wall, between two towers also battlemented. It is curious that the paths do not lead to the propyloea, but seem to curve round the hill. R(>mAins of ziijifuratft similar to this have been discovered at Khorsabad, at Nimrud, and at Kileh-Sherghat. The conical mound at Khorsabad explored by M. Place was foinid to contain a tower in seven stagers ; ''** that of Nimrud, which is so striking an object from the plain,'*' and which wa.s carefully examined by Mr. Layard. presented no positive proof of more than a 200 TEE SECOND MONARCHY. [en. vr. Binglo fltago ; but from its conical shape, and from the general analogy of such towers, it is believed to have had several stages. [PI. LII., P'ig. 2.] Mr. Layard makes their number five, and crowns the fifth with a circular tower terminating in a heavy cornice ; ™ but for this last there is no authority at all, and the actual number of the stages is wholly uncertain. The base of this ziggurat was a square, 167 feet 6 inches each way, composed of a solid mass of sun-dried brick, faced at bottom to the height of twenty feet with a wall of hewn stones, more than eight feet and a half in thickness. The outer stones were bevelled at the edges, and on the two most conspicuous sides the wall was ornamented with a series of shallow recesses arranged without very much attention to regularity. The other two sides, one of which abutted on and was concealed by the palace mound, while the other faced towards the city, were perfectly plain. At the top of the stone masonry was a row of gradines, such as are often represented in the sculptm*es as crowning an edifice.'^ Above the stone masonry the tower was continued at nearly the same width, the casing of stone being simply replaced by one of burnt bi'ick of inferior thick- ness. It is supposed that the upper stages were constructed in the same way. As the actual present height of the ruin is 140 feet, and the upper stages have so entirely crumbled away, it can scarcely be supposed that the original height fell much short of 200 feet.'^ The most curious of the discoveries made during the exami- nation of this building, was the existence in its interior of a species of chamber or gallery, the true object of which still re- mains wholly unexplained. This gallery was 100 feet long. 12 feet high, and no more than 6 feet broad. It was arched or vaulted at top, both the side walls and the vaulting being of sun-dried brick. [PI. LIV., Fig. 2.] Its position was exactly half-way between the tower's northern and southern faces, and with these it ran parallel, its height in the tower being such that its floor was exactly on a level with the top of the stone masonry, which again was level with the terrace or platform whereupon the Nimrud palaces stood. There was no trace of any way by which the gallery was intended to be entered ; its walls showed no signs of inscription, sculpture, or other orna- ment; and absolutely nothing was found in it. Mr. Layard, prepossessed with an opinion derived from several confused notices in the classical writers, "^ believed the tower to be a sepulchral monun\ont, and the gallery to be the tomb in which -V^a>'" <'' Vol. I. \\ ^^^'^' "ft.0^^ Plate LV. Plate LVI, Vol. Fig 1. II Assyrian Village (KoyuDJik.) Fig. 5. \ illagL ntar Aleppo Rafter Layard) cu. VI.] GROUND PLANS OF TEMPLES. 201 •was originally deposited "the embalmed body of the king.""* To account for the complete disappearance, not only of the body, but of all the ornaments and vessels found conunonly in the Mesopotamian tombs, he suggested that the gfillery had been rifled in tunes long anterior to his visit ; and he thought that he found traces, both internally and externally, of the tunnel by which it had been entered. But certainly, if this long and narrow vault was intended to receive a b(jdy, it is most extraordinarily shaped for the purpose. What other sepulchral chamber is there anywhere of so enormous a length? Without pretending to say what the real object of the gallery was,'^ we may feel tolerably sure that it was not a tomb. The building which contained it was a temple tower, and it Ls not likely that the religious feelings of the Assyrians would have allowed the application of a religious edifice to so utilitarian a purpose. Besides the ziggurat or tower, which may commonly have been surmounted by a chapel or shrine, an Assj-rian temple had always a number of basement chambers, in one of which was the principal shrine of the god. [PI. LIV., Fig. 1.] This was a square or slightly oblong recess at the end of an oblong apartment, raised somewhat above its level; it was paved (sometimes, if not always) with a single slab, the weight of which must occasionally have been as much as thirty tons.''^ One or two small closets opened out from the shrine, in which it is likely that the priests kept the sacerdotal garments and the sacrificial utensils."^ Sometimes the cell of the temple or chamber into which the shrine opened was reached tlirough another apartment, corresponding to the Greek jironaos. In such a case, care seems to have been taken so to arrange the outer and inner doorways of the vestibule that persons passing by the outer doorway should not be able to catch a sight of the shrine.'^ Where there was no vestibule, the entrance into the cell or body of the temple seems to have been placed at the side, instead of at the end, probably with the same object."'' Besides these main parts of a temple, a certain number of chambers are always found, which appear to have been priests' apartments. The ornamentation of temples, t(j judge by the few speci- mens which remain, was very similar to that of palaces. The great gateways were guarded by (-olossal bulls ( ?) or lions (see PI. LV.), accompanied by the usual Siicred figures, and some- times covered with inscriptions. 'I'he entrances and some per 202 THE SECOND MONAIKJIIY. [ch. vi. tions of the chambers wore ornamented with the customary sculptured slabs, representing here none but religious subjects. No great proportion of the interior, however, was covered in this way, the walls being in general only plastered and then painted with figures or patterns. Externally, enamelled bricks were used as a decoration wherever sculptured slabs did not hide the crude brick. so Much the same doubts and diflBculties beset the subjects of the roofing and lighting of the temples as those which have been discussed already in connection with the palaces. Though the span of the temple -chambers is less than that of the great palace halls, still it is considerable, sometimes exceeding thirty feet. SI No effort seems made to keep the temple-chambers narrow, for their width is sometimes as much as two-thirds of their length. Perhaps, therefore, they were hypgethral, like the temples of the Greeks. All that seems to be certain is that what roofing they had was of wood,^'' which at Nimrud was cedar, brought probably from the mountains of Syria. Of the domestic architecture of the Assj^rians we possess absolutely no specimen. Excavation has been hitherto con- fined to the most elevated portions of the mounds which mark the sites of cities, where it was likely that remains of the great- est interest would be found. Palaces, temples, and the great gates which gave entrance to towns, have in this way seen the light ; but the humbler buildings, the ordinary dwellings of the people, remain buried beneath the soil, unexplored and even unsought for. In this entire default of any actual speci- men of an ordinary Assyrian house, we naturally turn to the sculptured representations which are so abundant and repre- sent so many different sorts of scenes. Even here, however, we obtain but httle light. The bulk of the slabs exhibit the wars of the kings in foreign countries, and thus place before us foreign rather than Assyrian architecture. The processional slabs, which are another large class, contain rarely any build- ing at all, and, where they furnish one, exhibit to us a temple rather than a house. The hunting scenes, representing wilds far from the dweUings of man, afford us, as might be expected, no help. Assyrian buildings, other than temples, are thus most rarely placed before us. In one case, indeed, we have an Assyrian city, which a foreign enemy is passing ; but the only edifices represented are the walls and towers of the exte rior, and the temple (No. VT., PI. L.) whose columns rest upon lions. In one other we seem to have an unfortified Assyiian en. VI.] FORTIFIED ENCEINTES. 203 village ; ^ and from this single specimen we are forced to form our ideas of the ordinary character of Assyrian houses. It is obsei-^'able here, in the first place, that the houses have no windows, and are, therefore, probably Hghted from the roof; next, that the roofs are very curious, since, although flat in some instances, they consist more often either of hemispher- ical domes, such as are still so common in the East, or of steep and high cones, such as are but seldom seen anywhere. Mr. Layard finds a parallel for these last in certain villages of Northern Syria, where all the houses have conical roofs, built of mud, which present a very singular appearance.'** [PI. LVI. , Fig. 2.] Both the domes and the cones uf the Assyrian examj)le have evidently an ojiening at the top, which maj' have ad- mitted as much light into the houses as was thought necessary. The doors are of two kinds, square at the top, and arched ; they are placed commonly towards the sides of the houses. The houses themselves seem to stand separate, though in close juxtaposition. The only other buildings of the Assyrians which appear to re(iuire some notice are the fortified enceintes of their towns. The siniplest of these consisted of a single battlemented wall, carried in lines nearly or quite straight along the four sides of the place, pierced with gates, and guarded at the angles, at the gates, and at intervals along the curtain with projecting towers, raised not very much higher than the walls, and (ap- parently) square in shape. [PI. LVII. , Fig 1 . ] In the sculptures we sometimes find the battlemented wall repeate dtwice or thrice in lines placed one above the other, the intention being to represent the defence of a city by two or three walls, such as we have seen existed on one side of Nineveh.'** The walls were often, if not always, guarded by moats. In- ternally they were, in every case, constructed of crude brick ; while externally it was conunon to face them with hewn stone, either from top to bottom, or at any rate tO a certain height. At Khorsabad tlu^ stone revetement of one portion at least of the wall was comi)lete; at Ninirud (Calah) and at Nineveh it- self, it was i)artial, being carried at the former of tln)se places only to the height of twenty feet.*"^ The masonry at Khoi-sa- bad was of three kinds. That of the palace mound, which formed a poi'tion oi the outer defence, was composed entirely of blocks of stone, square-hewn and of great size, the length of the blocks varying from two to three yards, while the widtli was one yard, and the height from five to six feet, [PI. LVII., 204 THE SECOND MONARCUY. [cii. vi. Fig. 2. ] The masonry was laid somewhat curiously. The blocks (A A) were placed alternately long-wise and end-wise against the crude brick (B), so as not merely to lie against it, but to penetrate it with their ends in many places.**" [PI. LVII., Fig. 2. J Care was also taken to make the angles especially strong, as will be seen by the accompanying section. The rest of the defences at Khorsabad were of an inferior character. The wall of the town had a Avidth of about forty- five feet, and its basement, to the hciglit of three feet, was constructed of stone; but the blocks wei-e neither so large, nor were they hewn with the same care, as those of the palace platform. [PI. LVII., Fig. 3.] The angles, indeed, were of squared stone ; but even there the blocks measured no more than three feet in length and a foot in height ; the rest of the masonry consisted of small polygonal stones, merely smoothed on their outer face, and roughly fitting together in a manner recalling the Cyclopian walls of Greece and Italy. *^ They were not united by any cement. Above the stone basement was a massive structure of crude brick, without any facing either of burnt brick or of stone. The third kind of masonry at Khorsabad Avas found outside the main wall, and may have formed either part of the lining of the moat or a portion of a tower, which may have projected in advance of the wall at this point. [PI. LVIII., Fig. 1.] It was entirely of stone. The lowest course Avas formed of small and very irregular polygonal blocks roughly fitted together ; above this came two courses of carefully squared stones more than a foot long, but less than six inches in AAidth, Avhich were placed end-AAase, one over the other, care being taken that the joints of the upper tier should never coincide exactly AAath those of the loAver. Above these was a third course of hcAA'^n stones, somcAvhat smaller than the others, Avhich were laid in the ordinary manner. Here the construction, as discoA^ered, terminated ; but it Avas evident, from the debris of hcAAai stones at the foot of the AA-all. that originally the courses had been continued to a much greater height. ^^ In this description of the buildings raised hy the AssjTians it has been noticed more than once that they Avere not igno- rant of the use of the arch.^' The old notion that the round arch was a discovery of the Roman, and the pointed of the Gothic architecture, has gradually faded away AA'ith our ever- increasing knoAA^ledge of the actual state of the ancient world ; '^ and antiquarians Avere not, perhaps, very much surprised to Vol. I. F,g Plate. LVII ptA t££3 :± E-^ (T\ yi^f^ fl£ Assyrian baltlemcnteU wall. Fig. 2. .c I / •III >..;» V^.^:^ «ij ^ 3;?i^i .,;, 'f&iiiSrZ; Masonry o£ Platform Wall, Kborsabad. Section of same Fig,3.. MaMinry el" town-\vr\ll (Khorsabml"' Plate LVII fif/ 1. Masonry of Tower or Moat (Khoisabad). r>4 r Aiclicd Drain, South-East' P.ilace, JNunrua (after Layard). en. VI.] CONSTRUCTION OF THE AllCU. gOS learn, by the discoveries of Mr. Layard, that the Assyrians knew and used both kinds of arch in their constructions. Some interest, however, will probably be felt to attach to the two questions, how they foiined their arches, and to what uses they applied them. All the Assyrian arches hitherto discovered are of brick. The round arches are both of the crude and of the kihi-dried material, and are formed, in each case, of brick made expressly for v;uilting, slightly convex at top and slightly concave at bottom, with one broader and one narrower end. The arches are of the simplest kind, being exactly semicircular, and ris- ing from plain perpendicular jambs. The greatest width which any such arch has been hitherto found to span is about fifteen feet.^'-' The only pointed arch actually discovered is of burnt brick. Tlie bricks are of the ordinary shape, and not intended for vaulting. They are laid side by side up to a certain point, being bent into a slight arch by the interposition between tliem of thin wedges of mortar. The two sides of the arcli having been in this way carried up to a point where the lower extrem- ities of the two innermost bricks nearly touched, while a considerable space remained between their upper extremities instead of a key-stone, or a key-brick fitting the aperture, ordi- nary bricks were placed in it longitudinally, and so the space was filled in."^^ Another mode of constructing a pointed arch seems to be in- tended in a bas-relief, whereof a representation has been al- ready given.** The masonry of the arcade in No. V. (PI. XLIX. , Fig. 4) runs (it will be seen) in horizontal lines up to the very edge of the arch, thus suggesting a construction conamon in many of tlie early Greek arches, where the stones are so cut away that an arched opening is formed, though the real construc- tive principle of the arch has no place in such specimens.^^ With regard to the uses whereto the Assyrians applied the arch, it would certainly seem, from the evidence which we possess, that they neither employed it as a gi'eat decorative f(!ature, nor yet as a main ])rinciple of construction. So far as ap]>ears, their chief use of it was for doorways and gateways. Not only are the town gates of Khorsabad found to ha\'e been arched over, but in the representations of edifices, whether na- tive or foreign, upon the biis-reliefs, the arch for doors is com- moner than the sqtiare top. It is most probaole that the great palace gateways were thus covered in, while it is certain that 206 'J^iiE SECOND MONARCHY. [cir. vl some of the interior doorways in palaces had rounded tops.'-"' Besides this use of the arch for doors and gates, the Assyrians are known to have employed it for drains, aqueducts, and nar- row chambers or galleries. [PI. LVIII., Fig. 2; LIX.. Fig. 1.; It has been suggostc^d that the Assyrians ap])lic'd the two kinds of arches to different purposes, ' ' thereby showing more science and discrimination than we do in our architectural works; "that " they used the pointed arch for underground work, where they feared great superincumbent pressure on the apex, and the round arch above ground, where that was not to be dreaded. " ^^ [PI. LIX. , Fig. 2.] But this ingenious theory is ely borne out by the facts. The round arch is employed : (-ground in two instances at Nimrud,^^ besides occurring e basement story of the great tower, ^^ A\here the superin- •ent weight must have been enormous. And the pointed • ' is used above ground for the aqueduct and hanging gar- ; n the bas-rehef (see PI. XLIX., Fig. 4), where the pres- though considerable, would not have been very extraor- y. It would seem, therefore, to be doubtful whether the •ians were really guided by any constmctive principle in tneir preference of one form of the arch over the other. In describing generally the construction of the palaces and other chief buildings of the Assyrians, it has been necessary occasionally to refer to their ornamentation ; but the subject is far from exhausted, and will now claim, for a short space, our special attention. Beyond a doubt the chief adornment, both of palaces and temples, consisted of the colossal bulls and lions guarding the great gateways, together with the sculptured slabs wherewith the walls, both internal and external, were or- dinarily covered to the height of twelve or sometimes even of fifteen feet. These slabs and carved figiu-es will necessarily be considered in connection with Assyrian sculptin-e, of which they form the most important part. It will, therefore, only be noted at present that the extent of wall covered with the slabs was, in the Khorsabad palace, at least 4000 feet.''- or nearly four-fifths of a mile, while in each of the Koyunjik palaces the sculptures extended to considerably more than that distance. The ornamentation of the walls above the slabs, both inter- nally and externally, was by means of bricks painted on the exposed side and covered with an enamel. The colors are for the most part somewhat pale, but occasionally they possess some brilliancy. [PI. LX., Fig. 1.] Predominant among the tints are a pale blue, an olive green, and a dull yellow. "While CH. VI. j BASES AND CAPITALS OF COLUMNS. 2()7 is also largely used ; brown and black are not infrequent ; red is comparatively rure.^ ' The subjects represented are either such scenes as occur upon the sculptured slabs, or else mere paltei-us, —scrolls, honeysu<-kles, chevrons, gradines, guilloclies, etc. In the scenes some attempt seems to be made at rej)resenting objects in their natural colors. The size of the figures is small; and it is difficult to imagine that any great effect could have been produced on the beliolder by such minute drawings jtlaced at such a height from tlie gi-oimd. Prol)ably the most elft'ctive ornamentation of this kind wjus by means of patterns, which are often graceful and striking. [PI. LX., Fig. 2. | It has been observed that, so far as the evidence at present goes, the use of the column in Assyrian architecture would seem to have been v<'ry rare indeed.^''- In palaces we have no grounds for thinking that they were employed at all excepting in cei'tain of the interior doorways, which, being of unusual breadth, seem to have been divided into three distinct ])ortals by means of two pillars placed towards the sides of the open- i,^g 103 rpj^g bases of these pillars were of stone, and have been found in situ ; their shafts and capitals had disappeared, and can only be supplied by conjecture. In the temples, as we have seen, the use of the column was more frequent. Its di- mensions greatly varied. Ordinarily it was too short and thick for beauty, 1''* while occasionally it had the opposite defect, be- ing too tall and slender. ^''^ Its base was sometimes quite plain, sometimes diversified by "a few mouldings, sometimes curiously and rather clumsily rounded (as in No. II., PI. LXI., Fig. 1). The shaft was occasionally patterned. i<^ The capital, in one instance (No. I., PL LXI., Fig. 3), approaclies to the Corin- thian; in another (No. II.) it reminds us of the Ionic; but the volutes are double, and the upper ones are surmounted by an awkward-looking abacus. A third (No. III., PI. LXI., Fig. 2) is very peculiar, and to some extent explains the origin of the second. It consists of two pairs of ibex horns, placed one over the other. With this may be compared another (No. IV.), the most remarkable of all, where we have first a single pair of ibex horns, and then, at the summit, a complete figure of an ibex very graphically portrayed. The beauty of Assyrian patterning has been already, not iced. Patterned work is found not only on the enamelled bricks, but on stone pavement slabs, aiid around arched doorways leading from one chamber to another, where the patterns are carved with great care and delicacy upon the alabaster. Tlic accom- 208 27/J^; SECOND MONAIit'IlY. [cii. vi. panying specimen of a doorway, which is taken from an un' published drawing by Mr. Boutcher, is very rich and elegant, though it exhibits none but the very commonest of the Assy- rian nntteras. fPl. LXII., Fig. 1.] A cai-ving of a more elabo- i-at<3 t>j>' •• u(i <":i'! presenting even greater delicacy of work- manship hn-- oeoM given in an earlier portion of this chapter ^'''' .i.inple of a patterned pavement slab. Sla})s of this beeji f ■ and in many of the palaces, and well deserve '.-... a;; .on .', -. xlern designers. When tne architecture of the Assyrians is compared with that of other nations possessing about the same degree of civ- ilization, the impression that it leaves is perhaps somewhat dis- appointing. Vast labor and skill, exquisite finish, the most ex- traordinary elaboration, were bestowed on edifices so essen- tially fragile and perishable that no care could have preserved them for many centuries. Sun-dried brick, a material but lit- tle superior to the natural clay of which it was composed, con- stituted everywhere the actual fabric, which was then covered thinly and just screened from view by a facing, seldom more than a few inches in depth, of a more enduring and handsomer substance. The tendency of the platform mounds, as soon as formed, must have been to settle down, to bulge at the sides and become uneven at the top, to burst their stone or brick facings and precipitate them into the ditch below, at the same time disarranging and breaking up the brick pavements which covered their surface. The weight of the buildings raised upon the mounds must have tended to hasten these catastrophes, while the imsteadiness of their foundations and the character of their composition must have soon had the effect of throwing the buildings themselves into disorder, of loosening the slabs from the walls, causing the enamelled bricks to start from their places, the colossal bulls and lions to lean over, and the roofs to become shattered and fall in. The fact that the earlier pal- aces were to a great extent dismantled by the later kings is perhaps to be attributed, not so much to a barbarous resolve that they would destroy the memorials of a former and a hostile dynasty, as to the circumstance that the more ancient build- ings had fallen into decay an,d ceased to be habitable. The rapid succession of palaces, the fact that, at any rate from Sargon downwards, each monarch raises a residence, or resi- dences, for himself, is yet more indicative of the rapid deteri- oration and dilapidation (so to speak) of the great edifices, probably a palace began to show unmistakable symptoms of en. VI. i PEEFEBENCE OF BlilCK TO STONE. 209 decay and to become an unpleasant residence at the end of some twenty-five or thirty years from the date of its comple- tion; effective repairs were, by the very nature of the case, almost impossible ; and it was at once easier and more to the credit <^f the monarch that he should raise a fresh platform and build himself a fresh dwelhng than that he should devote his efforts to keeping in a comfortable condition the crumbhng habitation of his predecessor. It is sur]iiising that, imder these circumstances, a new style of architecture did not arise. The Assyrians were not, like the Babylonians, conipelled by the nature of the country in which they lived to use brick as their chief building material. M. Botta expresses his astonishment at the preference of brick to stone exhibitad, when theneigh- >)oi-hood aboinids in rocky hills capable of fiu-nishing an inex- liaustiblc su])i)ly of the better material. ^'^* The limestone range of the .Tehel Maklub is but a few miles distant, and many out- lying rocky elevations might have been worked with still greater facility. Even at Nineveh itself, and at Calah or Nim- rud, though the hills were ftirther removed, stone Avas. in real- ity, plentiful. The cliffs a little above Kojiinjik are composed of a "hard sandstone,"'"® and a jiart of the moat of the tOAvn is carried through "compact silicious conglomerate.""" The town is, in fact, situated on "a spur of rocic " thrown off from the .Tebel Maklub,"' which terminates at the edge of the ravine wherel)y Nineveh was protected on the south. Calah, too, wasbuiJt on a number of " rocky imdulations," "'^and its west- ern wall skirts the edge of "conglomerate " cliffs, which have been sccjrped by the hand of man."^ A very tolerable stone was thus procurable on the actual sites of these anfient cities; and if a better material had been want<^d, it might have been obtained in any quantity, and of whatever quality was desired, from the Zngros range and its outlying rocky barriers. Trans- ])ort could scarcely have caused nuich difficulty, as the blocks might have been brought from the q\iarries where they were hewn to the sites selected for the cities by watei'-carriage, — a mode of transjiort well known to the Assyrians, as is made evident to us by the bas-reliefs. (See PL LXII., Fig. 2.) If the best possible building material was thus plentiful in Assyria, and its conveyance thus easy to manage, to what are we to a.scribe the decided preference shown for so infcM'ior a snl)stance as brick ? No consi(lei-al>]e difliculty can have been experienced in quarrying the stone of the coimtry, which is 14 210 THE SECOND MONARCHT. [en. vi, seldom very hard, and which was, in fact, cut by the Assyri- ans, whenever they had any sufficient motive for removing or making use of it."* One answer only can be reasonably given to the question. The Assyrians had learnt a certain style of architecture in the alluvial Babylonia, and having brought it with them into a country far less fitted for it, maintained it from habit, notwithstanding its unsuitableness. "^ In some few respects, indeed, they made a slight change. The abundance of stone in the country induced them to substitute it in several places whereiin Babylonia it was necessary to use burnt brick, as in the facings of platforms and of temples, in dams across streams, in pavements sometimes, and universally in the or- namentation of the lower portions of palace and temple walls. But otherwise they remained faithful to their architectural traditions, and raised in the comparatively hilly Assyria the exact type of building which nature and necessity had led them to invent and use in the flat and stoneless alluvium where they had had their primitive abode. As platforms were required both for security and for comfort in the lower region, they re- tained them, instead of choosing natural elevations in the upper one. As clay was the only possible material in the one place, clay was still employed, notwithstanding the abundance of stone, in the other. Being devoid of any great inventive genius, the Assyrians found it easier to maintain and slightly modify a system with which they had been familiar in their original covmtry than to devise a new one more adapted to the land of their adoption. Next to the architecture of the Assyrians, their mimetic art seems to deserve attention. Though the representations in the works of Layard and Botta, combined with the presence of so many specunens in the great national museums of London and Paris, have produced a general familiarity with the subject, still, as a connected view of it in its several stages and branches is up to the present time a desideratum in our literature,"" it may not be superfluous here to attempt a brief account of the different classes into which their productions in this kind of art fall, and the different eras and styles under which they naturally range themselves. Assyrian mimetic art consists of statues, bas-reliefs, metal- castings, carvings in ivory, statuettes in clay, enamellings on brick, and intaglios on stones and gems. Assyrian statues are comparatively rare, and, when they occur, are among the least satisfactory of this people's produc- Vol F.e. 1. Plate LIX Archwl Drain, Korth-West Palace, Niinrud (afUr Layard). Figr 2. -..-"fill I'.iLi; arrh (^(Jiceli.) v.. I. I. A.ssynan Patterns (Nimrvid). Fig. 2 iaaans hith- erto discovered of Assyrian sculpture." ^'-"^ [PI. LXIV., P'ig. 3.] The composition is at once simple and effective. The king forms the principal object, nearly in the centre of the picture, and by the superior height of his conical head-dress, and the position of the two arrows which he holds in the hand that di-aws tlie bow-string, dominates over the entire composition. As he turns round to shoot down at the lion which assails hun from behind, his bo In regard to human forms, no great advance marks this pe- riod. A larger variety in their attitudes is indeeed to be traced, and a ga-cater energy and life appears in most of the figures ; but there is still much the same heaviness of outline, the same over-nuiscularity, and the same general clumsiness and want of grace. Animal forms show a much more considerable im- provement. Horses are excellently portrayed, the attitudes being varied, and the heads espciaUy delineated Avith great spirit. Mules and camels are well expressed,"^ but have scarcely the vigor of the horses. Horned cattle, as oxen, both with and without humps, goats, and sheep are very skil- fully treated, being represented with much character, in natural yet varied attitudes, and often admirably grouped. The composition during this period is more complicated and more ambitious than during the preceding one ; but it may be questioned whether it is so effective. No single scene of the time can compare for grandeur with the lion-hunt above de- scribed.^*^ The battles and sieges are spirited, but want tmity ; the hunting scenes are comparatively tame ; '^^^ the representa- tions of the transport of colossal bulls possess more interest than artistic merit. On the other hand, the manipulation is decidedly superior; the relief is higher, the outline is more flowing, the finish of the features more delicate. What is lost in grandeur of composition is, on the whole, more than made up by variety, naturalness, improved handling, and higher finish. The highest perfection of Assyrian art is in the third period, which extends from B.C. 667 to about B.C. 640. It synchi-onizes with, the reign of Asshur-bani-pal, the son of Esarhaddon, who appears to have been contemporary with Gyges in Lydia,i« and with Psammetichus in Egj^t. The characteristics of the time are a less conventional type in the vegetable forms, a wonderful freedom, spirit, and variety in the forms of animals, extreme minuteness and finish in the human figures, and a del- icacy in the handling considerably beyond that of even the second or middle period. The sources illustrative of this stage cir. VI.] VEGETABLE ANh ANIMAL f DBMS. 0)7 of the art consist of the plates in Mr. Layard's " Second Series of Monuments," from pi. 45 to 49, the originals of these in the British ^Museum, the noble series of slabs obtained hx ^Ir. Lof- tus from the northern palace of Koyimjik, and of the drawings made from them "^ and from other slabs, which were in a more damaged condition, by Mr. Boutcher, who accompanied Mr. Loftus in the capacity of artist. Vegetable forms are, on the whole, somewliat rare. The artists ha\'(' rcliiKiuishcd the design of representing scenes with perfect truthfulness, and have recurred as a general rule to the plain backgroimds of the first period. This is particidarly the case in the hunting scenes, which are seldom accompanied by any landscape whatsoever. In processional and military scenes landscape is introduced, but sparingly; the forms, for the most part, resembling those of the second period."* Now and then, however, in such scenes the landscape has been made tlie object of special attention, becoming the prominent part, while the Innnnn figures are accessories. It is here that an advnnce in art is particidarly discernible. In one set of slabs a gai'den sr^eins to be re]iresented. Vines are trained upon trees, which maybe either firs or cypresses, winding elegantly around their steuis, and on either side letting fall their pendent branches laden with fruit. [PL LXVIII., Fig. 2.] Leaves, branches, and tendrils are delineated with equal truth and finish, a most pleasing and graceful effect being thereby pro- duced. Irj-egularly among the trees occur groups of lilies, some in bud, some in full blow, all natural, graceful, and spirited. fPl. LXIX., Fig. 1.] It is difficult to do justice to the animal delineation of this period, without reproducing before the eye of the reader the entire series of reliefs and drawings which belong to it. It is the infinite variety in the attitudes, even more than the truth and naturalness of any particular specimens, that impresses us as we contemplate the series. Lions, wild asses, dogs, deer, wild goats, horses, are represented in profusion ; and we scarcely find a single form Avhich is repeated. Some specimens have been ah-eady given, as the hunted stag and hind (PI. XXVII.) and the start l.^d wild a.ss (PI. XX\a.). Others will occur among tlie illustrations of the next chapter. For the present it may suffice to draw attention to the spirit of the two fall- ing asses in the illustration PI. LXIX., Fig. 3, and of the crouching lion in the ilhist ration PI. LXIX., Fig. 2; to the lifelike force of both ass and hounds in the representation 218 THE SECOND MONAltCnr. [cu. vl PI. LXX., Fig. 1, and here particularly to the bold draw- ing of one of the dogs' heads in full, instead of in profile— a novelty now first occurring in the bas-reliefs. As in- stances of still bolder attempts at unusual attitudes, and at the same time of a certain amount of foreshortening, two fur- ther illustrations are appended. Tlae sorely wounded lion in the first (PI. LXX., Fig. 2) turns his head piteously towards the cruel shaft, while he totters to his fall, his limbs failing him, and his eyes beginning to close. Tlio more sliglitly-stricken king of beasts in the second (PI. LXXI.), urged to fury by the smart of his wound, rushes at the chariot whence the shaft was sped, and in his mad agony springs ui:)on a wheel, clutches it with his two fore-paws, and fi-antically grinds it between his teeth. Assyrian art, so far as is yet known, has no finer speci- men of animal drawing than this head, which may challenge comparison with anything of the kind that either classic or modern art has produced. As a specimen at once of animal vigor and of the delicacy and finish of the workmanship in the human forms of the time, a bas-relief of the king receiving the spring of a lion, and shooting an arrow into his mouth, while a second hon ad- vances at a rapid pace a little behind the first, may be adduced. (See PI. LXXII.) The boldness of the composition, which rep- resents the first lion actually in mid-air, is remarkable ; the drawing of the brute's fore-paws, expanded to seize his intended prey, is lifelike and very spirited, while the head is massive and full of vigor. There is something noble in the calmness of the monarch contrasted with the comparative eagerness of the attendant, who stretches forward with shield and spear to protect his master from destruction, if the arrow fails. The head of the king is, unfortunately, injured ; but the re- mainder of the figure is perfect ; and here, in the elaborate or- namentation of the whole dress, we have an example of the careful finish of the time— a finish which is so light and deli- cate that it does not interfere with the general effect, being scarcely visible at a few yards' distance. The faults Avhich still remain in this best period of AssjTian art are heaviness and stiffness of outline in the human forms ; a want of expression in the faces, and of variety and animation in the attitudes ; and an almost complete disregard of perspec- tive. If the worst of these faults are anywhere overcome, it would seem to be in the land lion-hunt, from which the noble head represented below is taken ; i*'' and in the river-hunt of Cir. VI.] COLOR AV PLIED TO STATUxiRY. 219 the same beast, found on a slab too much injured to be re- moved, of which a representation is j^iven. [PI. LXXIII.] From what appears to ha\'e remained of the four figures towards the prow of the boat, we may conclude that there was a good deal of animation here. The drawing must certainly have been less stiff than usual; and if there is not much variety in the attitudes of the three si>earmen in front, at any rate those atti- tudes contrast well, both wijh the stillness of the unengaged attendants in the I'ear. and with the animated but very differ- ent attitude of tlie king. Before the subji-ct of Assyrian sculpture is dismissed, it is necessciry to touch the question whether the Assyrians applied color to statuary, and, if so, in what way and to what extent. Did they, like the Egyptians,"^ cover the whole surface of the stone with a layer of stucco, and then paint the sculptured ])arts with strong colors— red, blue, yellow, white, and black? ( )r (lid they, like the Greeks,"^ ly paint to certain portions of their sculptures only, as the hair, eyes, beard and draperies? Or, finally, did they sinijjly leave the stone in its natural condition, like the Italians and the modern sculptore gen- erally? The present appearance of the sculptiu-es is most in accord- ance with the last of these three theories, or at any rate with that tlu'(^ry very slightly modified by the second. The slabs now offer only the faintest and most occasional traces of color. The evidence, however, of the original explorers is distinct, that at tlie time of discovery these traces were very much more abundant. Mr. Liiyard observed color at Nimrud on the hair, beard, and eyes of the figin-es, on the sandals and the bows, on the tongues of the eagh^-headed mythological emblems, on a garland round the head of a winged priest (?), and on the repre- sentation of fire in the bas-relief of a siege. '"^ At Khorsabad, MM. Botta and Flandin found paint on the fringes of draperies, on filli'ts, on the mitre of the king, on the flowers carried by the winged figm-es, on bows and spearshafts, on the harness of the horses, on the chariots, on the sandals, on the birds, and sometimes on the trees. '^* The torches used to fire cities, and the flames of the cities themselves, were invariably colored red. M. Flandin also believed that he could detect, in some instances, a faint trace of yellow ochre on the flesh and on the background of bas-reliefs, whence he concluded that this tint wjvs spread over every part not otherwise colored. ^''■- It is evident, therefore, that the theory of an absence of 220 TUE HKCONh MONAHCHY. [ch. VI. color, or of a very rare use of it, must be set aside. Indeed, as it is certain that the upper portions of the palace walls, both inside and outside, were patterned with colored bricks, cover- ing the whole space above the slabs, it must be allowed to be extremely improbable that at a particular line color would suddenly and totally cease. The laws of decorative hannony forbid such abrupt transitions; and to these laws all nations with any taste instinctively anc\ unwittingly confonn. The Assyrian reliefs were therefoi-e, we may be sure, to some ex- tent colored. The real question is, to what extent — in the Egyptian or in the classical style ? In Mr. Layard's first series of ' ' Monuments^" a preference was expressed for w^hat may be called the Egyptian theory. In the Frontispiece of that work, and in the second Plate, containing the restoration of a palace interior, the entire bas-reliefs were represented as strongly colored. A jet-black was assigned to the hail' and beards of men and of all human-headed figures, to the manes and tails of horses, to vultures, eagle-heads, and the like ; a coarse red-brown to winged lions, to human flesh, to horses' bodies, and to various ornaments ; a deep yellow to common lions, to chariot wheels, quivers, fringes, belts, sandals, and other portions of huinan apparel ; w^hite to robes, helmets, shields, tunics, towns, trees, etc. ; and a duU blue to some of the feathers of winged lions and genii, and to large portions of the ground from which the sculptures stood out. This conception of Assyrian coloring, framed confessedly on the assmnption of a close analogy between the ornamentation of Assyria and that of Egypt, 1^^ was at once accepted by the unlearned, and naturally, enough was adopted by most of those who sought to popularize the new knowledge among their countrymen. Hence the strange travesties of Assyrian art which have been seen in so-called ' ' Assyrian Courts, " where all the delicacy of the real scidpture has disappeared, and the spectator has been revolted by grim figures of bulls and lions, from which a thick layer of coarse paint has taken away aU dignity, and by reliefs which, from the same cause, have lost all spirit and refine- ment. It is sufiicient objection to the theory here treated of, that it has no solid basis of fact to rest upon. Color has only been found on portions of the bas-reliefs, as on the hair and beards of men, on head-ornaments, to a small extent on draperies, on the harness of horses, on sandals, weapons, birds, flowei*s, and the like. Neither the flesh of men. nor the bodies of animals. cii. VI.] COLORING OF THE BAS-UELIEFS. 221 nor the draperies generally, nor the l)nckgrounds Cexeept per- haps at KliorsabaiP*'), i>i-es<'nt the slighti'st appearance of having been tonclied l)yi)aint. It is inconceivable that, if these portions of the sculptures were universally or even ordi- narily colored, the color should have so entirely disappeared in every instance. It is moreover inconceivable that the sculpt- or, if he knew his woik was about to be concealed beneath a coating of ]>aint. sliould have cared to give it the delicate elabo- ration which is found at any rate in the later examples. \\\ leads to the conclusion that in Assyrian as in classical sculpt- ure, color was sparingly applied, being confined to such i)arts as the hair, eyes,"find beards of men, to the fringes of dresses, to horse trap^nngs, and other accessory parts of the reiiresen- tations. In this way the lower part of the wall was made to harmonize sufficiently Avith the upper portion, which was wholly colored, but chiefly with pale hues. At the same time a greater distinctness was given to the scenes represented upon the sculptured slabs, the color being judiciously applied to disentangle human from animal figures, dress from flesh, or human figures from one another. The colors actually found upon the bas-reliefs are four only — red, blue, black, and white. ^^^ The red is a good bright tint, far exceeding in brilliancy that of Egypt. On the sculptures of Khorsabad it approaches to vermilion, while on those of Nimrud it inclines to a crimson or a lake tint.^*^ It is found al- ternating with the natural stone on the royal parasol and mitre; '" with blue on the crests of helmets,!^^ the trappings of horses,'^** on flowers, ^"^ sandals, ^*^^ and on fillets ; '•''^ and besides, it occurs, unaccompanied by any other color, on the stems and bi-anches of trees, ^'"'^ on the claws of birds, ^*^ the shafts of spears and arrows, ^''^ on bows,^®* belts, ^'>' fillets, ^"^8 quivers, ^"^^ maces,™ reins, '"^ sandals, i"'- flowers, ^'^ and the fringe of dresses."* It is uncertain whence the coloring matter was de- rived; perhaps the substance used was the suboxide of copper, with which the Assyrians are known to have colored theii' red glass. i"5 The blue of the Assyrian monuments is an oxide of cop- per,"^ sometimes containing also a trace of lead."^ Besides occurring in combination with red in the cases already men- tioned, it was emjiloyed to color the foliage of trees, ^'^ the plu- mage of birds,"-' the heads of arrows, '^'^ and sometimes quiv- ers, "*' and sandals. '^'^ White occurs very rarely indeed upon the sculptures. k\ 222 THE SECOND MON A RVIIY. [( ii. vi. Khorsiibad it was not found at all; at Nimrud it was confined to the inn('r])artof the eye on either side of the pupil,"''' and in this position it occurred only on the coloswil lions and bulls, and a very few other figures. On bricks and pottery it was frequent, and their it is found to have been derived from tin ;>»* but it is uncertain whether the white of the sculptures was not derived from a commoner material. ^*^ Black is applied in the sculptures chiefly to the hair, beards, and eyebrows of men.i^'^ It was also used to color the eyeballs not only of men, but also of the colossal lions and bulls. ^" Sometimes, when the eyeball was thus marked, aline of black was further carried round the inner edge of both the upper and the lower eyelid. i^* In one place black bars have been in- troduced to ornament an antelope's horns. ^^^ Qn the older sculptures black was also the common color for sandals, which however were then edged with red.^^" The composition of the black is uncertain. Browns upon the enamelled bricks are found to have been derived from iron ; ^^^ but Mr. Layard be- lieves the black upon the sculptures to have been, like the Egyptian, a bone black mixed with a little -gum. ^^2 The ornamental metallurgy of the Assyrians deserves atten- tion next to their sculpture. It is of three kinds, consisting, in the first place, of entire figures, or parts of figures, cast in a solid shape ; secondly, of castings in a low relief ; and thirdly, of embossed work wrought mainly with the hammer, but fin- ished by a sparing use of the gi-aving-tool. The solid castings are comparatively rare, and represented none but animal forms. Lions, which seem to have been used as weights, occur most frequently, i'^ [PI. LXXIV., Fig. 1.] None are of any great size ; nor have we any evidence that the Assyrians could cast large masses of metal. They seem to have used castings, not (as the Greeks and the moderns) for the greater works of art, but only for the smaller. The forms of the few casts which have come down to us are good, and are free from the narrowness which characterizes the representa- tions in stone. ^** Castings in a low relief formed the ornamentation of thrones [PI. LXXIV.. Figs. 2, 3], stools, ^^^ ^n^ sometimes probably of chariots. ^^^ They consisted of animal and human figures, winged deities, grifiins, and the like. The castings were chiefly in open-work, and were attached to the furniture which they ornamented by means of small nails. They have no peculiar merit, being merely repetitions of the forms with which we Vol. I. Plate. LXI. Fig. 1. ^ No. II. No. IV. Ibex rapital. Fig. 3. No. 111. Plate LXII. F,e. 1. Vol I. I^_^ Ornamental doorway (North Palace, Koyunjik). Fig 2. Water-transport of stone for Imildins (Koyunjik). CH. VI.] EMBOSSED WORE. 223 are familiar from their occurrence on embroidered dresses and on the cyhnders. The embossed work of the Assyrians is the most curious and the most artistic portion of tlieir metalhu'gy. Sometimes it consisted of mere heads and feet of animals, hamnu'red into shape upon a model composed of clay mixed with bitumen. [PI. LXXV., Figs. 1, 2.] Sometimes it extended to entire fig- ures, as (probably) in the case of the lions clasping each other, so common at the ends of sword-sheaths (see PI. LXXV., Fig. 3), the human figures which ornament the sides of chairs or stools, and the hke.i" [PL LXXV., Fig. 3. J Occa.sionally it was of a l('ss soHd but at the same time of a more elaborate character. Ill a i)alace inhabited by Sargon at Nimrud, and in close jux- taposition with a monmnent certainly of his time,^^* were dis- covered by Mr. Layard a number of dishes, i)lates, and bowls, embossed with great taste and skill, which are among the most elegant specimens of Assyrian art discovered during the recent researches. Upon these were reijresented sometimes hunting scenes, sometimes combats between griffins and lions, or be- tween men and lions, sometimes landscapes with ti-ees and figin-es of animals, sometunes mere roAvs of animals following one another. One or two representations from these bowLs have been already given. ^'^ They usually contain a star or scarab in the centre, beyond which is a series of bands or bor- dex's, patterned most commonly with figin-es. [PI. LXXVI., F'ig 1 . ] It is impossible to give an adequate idea of the delicacy and spirit of the drawings, or of the variety and elegance of the other patterns, in a work of moderate dimensions like the pres- ent. Mr. Layard, in his Second Series of " Monuments," has done justice to the subject by pictorial representation,-"' while in his " Nineveh and Babj'lon " he has described the more im- portant of the vessels separately.'^'" The curious student will do well to consult these two works, after which he may exam- ine with advantage the originals in the British Museum. One of the most remarkable featiu'es observable in this whole series of monuments, is its S(Mni-Kgyptian character. The oc- currence of the scarab has been just noticed. It appears on the bowls frequently, as do sphinxes of an Egyptian type; while sometinu^s heads and head-dresses purely Egyjitian are found, as in PI. LXXVI., Fig. 2,'^^'^ which are well-known forms, and have nothing Assyrian about them ; and in one or two instances we meet with hieroglyphics, "■*"* the nu} sjTiibol of life), the ibis, etc. These facts may seem i I in one ^ nuk (or ^l - at first V 224 THE SECOND MONARCUY. [en. vi. sight to raise a gi'eat question— namely, whether, after all, the art of the Assyrians was really of home growth, or was not rather imported from the Egyptians, either directly or by way of Phoenicia. Such a view has been sometimes taken ; but the most cursory study of the Assyrian remains in chronological order, is sufficient to disprove the theory, since it will at once show that the earliest specimens of Assyrian art are the most un-Egyptian in character. No doubt there are certain analo- gies even here, as the preference for the profile, the stiffness and formality, the ignorance or disregard of perspective, and the hke ; but the analogies are exactly such as would be toler- ably sure to occur in the early efforts of any two races not very dissimilar to one another, while the little resemblances which alone prove connection, are entirely wanting. The.se do not appear until we come to monuments wliich belong to the time of Sargon, when direct- connection between Egypt and Assyria seems to have begun, and Egyptian captives are known to have been transported into Mesopotamia in large numbers.'^'* It has been suggested that the entire series of Ninu'ud vessels is Phoenician, and that they were either carried off as spoil from Tyre and other Phoenician towns, or else Avere the work- manship of Phoenician captives removed into Assyria from their own country. The Sidonians and their kindred were, it is remarked, the most renowned workers in metal of the an- cient world, and their intermediate position between Egypt and Assyria may, it is suggested, have been the cause of the existence ainong them of a mixed art, half Assyrian, half Egyptian.-'^s The theory is plausible; but upon the whole it seems more consonant with all the facts - * to regard the series in question as in reality Assyrian, modified from the ordinary style by an influence derived from Egypt. Either Egj^tian artificers — captives probably — may have wrought the bowls after Assyrian models, and have accidentally vai-ied the com- mon forms, more or less, in the direction which was natural to them from old habits ; or Assyrian artificers, acquainted with the art of Egypt, and anxious to improve their own from it, may have consciously adopted certain details from the rival country. The workmanship, subjects, and mode of treatment, are all, it is granted, "more Assyrian than Egyptian,"*'" the Assyrian character being decidedly more marked than in the case of the ivories which will be presently considered ; yet even in that case the legitimate conclusions seems to be thnt tlie specimens are to be regarded as native Assyrian, Vol Fig 3. Plate LXIII Statue of SruJaiiapalus I (from Nimrud). Afisyrian St.itue (Kiljh-Shergliat). Fig. 2 Vol. I. Clay Statuette of the Fish-god. Clay Statuette from KhorsabaJ (after Botta). Fig. 3. Lion-hunt, from Nimrud. en. A'l.] METALS USED.— IVORIES. 225 but as produced abnormally, under a strong foreign influ- ence. The usual material of the Assyrian ornamental metallurgy is bronze, composed of one part of tin to ten of copper ^^^ which are exactly the proportions considered to be best by the Greeks and Romans, and still in ordinary use at the present day. In some instances, where more than common strength was retpiired, as in tlie legs of tripods and tables, the bronze was ingeniously cast (jver an inner structure of iron.-''-' This ]>ractice was unknown to modern metallurgists until the dis- covery of the Assyrian specimens, from which it has been suc- cessfully imitated.-^'' We may presume that, besides bronze, the Assyrians used, to a certain extent, silver and gold as materials for ornamental metal-work. The earrings, bracelets, and armlets Avorn by the kings and the great officers of state were probably of the more valuahl*' metal, while the similar ornaments Avorn by those of minor rank may have been of silver. [PI. LXXVI., Fig. 3. J One solitary specimen only of either class has been found ;-^^ but Mr. Layard discovered several moulds, with tasteful designs for earrings, both at Nimrud and at Kojain- jik;-^^ and the sculptures show that both in these and the other persomd ornaments a good deal of artistic excellence was ex- hibited. The earrings are frequent in the form of a cross, and are sometimes delicately chased. The armlets and bracelets generally terminate in the heads of rams or bulls, Avhich seem to have been rendered with spirit and taste. By one or two instances it appears that the Assyrians knew how to inlay one metal with another. [PI. LXXVI., Fig. 5.] Tlie specimens discovered are scarcely of an artistic character, being merely winged scarabau outlined in gold on a bronze ground.213 |^pi. LXXVI., Fig. 4.] The work, however, is deli- cate, and the form very much more true to nature than that Avhich prevailed in Egypt. The ivories f)f the Assyrians are inferior both to their metal castings and to their bas-reliefs. They consist almost entirely of a single sei'ies, discovered by Mr. Layard in a chamber of the Nortli-West Palace at Nimrud. in tlu^ near vicinity of slabs on whicli was engraved the name of Sargon.'-^* The most re- markable point connected with them is the thoroughly Egyp- tian character of the greater number, Avhich at first sight have almost th(^ appearance of being importations from the valley of the Nile. Egyptian profiles, head-dresses, fashions of dress* 1.7 226 THE SECOND MONAliVIIY. [cii. vi. ing the hair, ornaments, attitudes, meet us at every turn; while sometimes we find the representations of Egyptian gods, and in two cases hieroglyphics within cartouches. (See PI. LXXVIII.) A few specimens only are of a distinctly Assyrian type, as a fragment of a panel, figured by Mr. Layard •^'^ (PI. LXXVII., Fig. 1), and one or two others, in which the guil- loche border appears. ^^" These carvings are usually mere low reliefs, occupying small panels or tablets, which were mor- tised or glued to the woodwork of furniture. They were sometimes inlaid in parts with blue grass, or with blue and green pastes let into the ivory, and at the same time deco- rated with gilding. Now and then the relief is tolerably high, and presents fragments of forms which seem to have had some artistic merit. The best of these is the fore part of a lion walking among reeds (p. 373), which presents analogies with the early art of Asia Minor. [PI. LXXVII., Fig. 3.] One or two stags' heads have likewise been found, designed and wrought with much spirit and delicacy. [PI. LXXVII., Fig. 3.] It is remarked that several of the specimens show not only a con- siderable acquaintance with art, but also an intimate knowl- edge of the method of working in ivory. -i" One head of a lion was " of singular beauty," but unfortunately it fell to pieces at the very moment of discovery. It is possible that some of the objects here described may be actual specimens of Egyptian art, sent to Sargon as tribute or presents, or else carried off as plunder in his Egyptian expe- dition. The appearance, however, which even the most Egyp- tian of them present, on a close examination, is rather that of Assyrian works imitated from Egyptian models than of gen- uine Egyptian j^roductions. For instance, in the tablet figured on the page opposite, where we see hieroglyphics within a cartouche, the onk or symbol of life,^^* the solar disk, the double ostrich-plume, the long hair-dress called namms, and the tarn or hukupha sceptre"^^^— all unmistakable Egyptian features — we observe a style of drapery which is quite un- known in Egypt, while in several respects it is Assyrian, or at least Mesopotamian. It is scanty, like that of all Assyrian robed figures; striped, like the draperies of the Chaldseans and Babylonians ; fringed with a broad fringe elaborately colored, as Assyrian fringes are known to have been ; -- and it has large hanging sleeves also fringed, a fashion which appears once or twice upon the Nimrud sculptures. ~i [PI. LXXVII., Fig. 4.] But If this specimen, notwithstanding its numerous en. VI.] ENAMELLED BRICKS. 227 and striking Egyptian features, is rightly regarded as Meso- jiotamian, it would seem to fcjllow that the rest of the series must still more decidedly he assigned to native genius. The enamelled bricks of the Assyrians are among the most interesting remains of their art. It is from these bricks alone tliat we are able to judge at all fully of their knowledge and ideas with respect to color; and it Ls from them also chiefly that an analysis has been made of the cr)loring materials em- ]»loyed by the Assyrian artists. The bricks may be divided into two classes— those which are merely patterned, and those which contain designs representing men and animals. The patterned bricks have nothing about them which is very re- markable. They present the usual guilloches, rosettes, bands, scrolls, etc., such as are found in the painted chambers and in the ornaments on dresses, varied with geometrical figures, as circles, hexagons, octagons, and the like ; and sometimes with a sort of arcade-work, which is curious, if not very beauti- ful.'^- [PI. LXXIX., Fig. 1.] The colors chiefly iised in the patterns are pale green, pale yellow, dark brown, and white. Now and then an intense blue and a bright red occur, generally together ; --^ but these positive hues are rare, and the taste of the Assyrians seems to have led them to prefer, for their pat- terned walls, pale and dull hues. The same preference ap- pears, even more strikingly, in the bricks on which designs are represented. There the tints almost exclusively used are pale yellow, pale greenish blue, olive-green, white, and a brownish Idack. It is suggested that the colors have faded, *^ but of this there is no evidence. The Assyrians, when they used the primitive hues, seem, except in the case of red, to have employed subdued tints of them, and red they appear to liave introduced very sparingly?''^ Olive-green they affected for gi'ounds, and they occasionally used other half-tints. A pale orange and a delicate lilac or pale pm-ple were found at Khorsabad,"' while brown (as already observed) is far more common on the bricks than black. Thus the general tone of their coloring is (piiet, not to say sombre. There is no striving ixftor brilliant effects. The Assj-rian artist seeks to plea.se by the elegance of his forms and the harmony of his hues, not to startle by a display of bright and strongly-contrasted ct»loi*6. The tints used in a single composition vary from three to five, Avhich latter number they seem never to exceed. The following are the combinations of five hues which occur: brown, green, blue, dark yellow, and pale yellow ; '^ orange, 228 ^'1'^'^ SECOND MONARCHY. [cji. VL lilac, white, yellow, and olive-green. ^^s Combinations of four hues are much more common: e.g., red, white, yellow, and black; "9 deep yellow, brown-black, white, and pale yellow ;23« lilac, yellow, white, and green ; '^^ yellow, blue, white, and brown;''*" and yellow, blue, w^hite, and olive-green. ^^^ Some- times the tints are as few as three, the ground in these cases being generally of a hue used also in the figures. Thus we have yellow, blue, and white on a blue ground,"^''* and again the same colors on a yellow ground. ^'^ We have also the simple combinations of white and yellow on a blue ground,^ and of white and yellow on an olive-green ground. 23" In every case there is a great harmony in the coloring. We find no harsh contrasts. Either the tones are all subdued, or if any are intense and positive, then all (or almost all) are so. Intense red occurs in two fragments of patterned bricks f oimd by Mr. Layard.-^^ \% ig balanced by intense blue, and accom- panied in each case by a full brown and a clear white, while in one case '^^ it is further accompanied by a pale green, which has a very good effect. A similar red appears on a design fig- ured by M. Botta."^*" Its accompaniments are white, black, and full yelloAv. Where lilac occurs, it is balanced by its comple- mentary color, yellow,-" or by yellow and orange,-*- and fur- ther accompanied by white. It is noticeable also that bright hues are not placed one against the other, but are separated by narrow bands of white, or brown and white. This use of white gives a great delicacy and refinement to the coloring, which is saved by it, even where the hues are the strongest, from being coarse or vulgar. The drawing of the designs resembles that of the sculptures except that the figures are generally slimmer and less muscu- lar. The chief peculiarity is the strength of the outline, which is almost always colored differently from the object drawn, either white, black, yellow, or brown. Generally it is of a uniform thickness (as in No. I. , PI. LXXIX. , Fig. 2) ; sometimes, though rarely, it has that variety which characterizes good drawing (as in No. II., PI. LXXIX., Fig. 2). Occasionally there is a curious combination of the two styles, as in the specimen (PI. LXXX., Fig. 1) — the most interesting yet discovered — where the dresses of the two main figures are coarsely outlined in yellow, while t^e remainder of the design is very lightly sketched in a brownish black. The size of the designs varies considerably. Ordinarily the figures are small. ea«h briok containing several ; but sometimes en. VI.] COLORING. 229 a scale has been adopted of such a size that portions of the same figure must have been on different bricks. A foot and leg brought by Mr. Layard from Nimrud must have belonged to a man a foot high ;-*^ while part of a human face discovered in the same locality is said to indicate, for the form to which it belonged, a height of three feet.'"* Such a size as this is, however, very unusual. It is scarcely necessary to state that the designs on the bricks are entirely destitute of chiaroscuro. The browns and blacks, like the blues, yellows, and reds, are simply used to express local color. They are employed for hair, eyes, eye- brows, and sometimes for bows and sandals. The other colors are applied as follows : yellow is used for flesh, for shafts of weapons, for horse-trappings, sometimes for horses, for char- iots, cups, earrings, bracelets, fringes, for wing-feathere, occa- sionally for helmets, and almost always for the hoofs of horses; blue is used for shields, for horses, for some parts of horse- trappings, annor, and dresses, for fish, and for feathers; white is employed for the inner part of the eye, for the linen shirts worn by men, for the marking on fish and feathere, for horses, for buildings,-^^ for patterns on dresses, for rams' heads, and for portions of the tiara of the king. Olive-green seems to occur only as a ground ; red only in some parts of the royal tiara, orange and lilac only in the wings of winged mon.sters.'^ It is doubtful how far we may trust the colors on the bricks as accurately or approximately resembling the real local hues. In some cases the intention evidently is to be true to nature, as in the eyes and hair of men, in the representations of flesh, fish, shields, bows, buildings, etc. The yellow of horses may represent cream-color, and the blue may stand for gray, as distinct from white, which seems to liave been correctly ren- dered.'^" The scarlet and white ( »f the king's tiara is likely to be true. When, however, we find eyeballs and eyebrows white, while the inner part of the eye is yellow, -■'Hhe blade of swords yellow, 2^9 and horses' hoofs blue,^' we seem to have proof that, sometimes at any rate, local color was intentionally neglected, the artist limiting himself to certain hues, and being therefore obliged to render some objects luitruly. Thus we must not conclude from the colors of dresses and horse-trappings on the bricks— which are three only, yellow, blue, and white — that the Assyrians used no tether hues than these, even for the robes of their kings. -^' It is far more probable that they eiiijiloyed a variety of tints in their apparel, but did not g30 THE SECOND MONARCHY. fen. VL • attempt to render that variety on the ordinary painted bricks. ^^ The pigments used by the Assyrians seem to have derived their tints entirely from minerals. The oi)aque white is found to be oxide of tin ; the yellow is the antimcjniate of lead, or Naples yellow, with a slight admixture of tin; the blue is oxide of copper, without any cobalt ; the green is also from copper ; the brown is from iron ; and the red is a suboxide of copper. ^^ The bricks were slightly baked before being painted; they were then taken from the kiln, painted and enamelled on one side only, the flux and glazes used being composed of silicate of soda aided by oxide of lead ; ^^ thus pre- pared, they were again submitted to the action of fh-e, care being taken to place the painted side upwards, 2»5 and having been thoroughly baked were then ready for use. The Assyrian intaglios on stones and gems are commonly of a rude description; but occasionally they exhibit a good deal of delicacy, and sometimes even of grace. They are cut upon serpentine, jasjDer, chalcedony, cornelian, agate, sienite, quartz, loadstone, amazon-stone, and lapis-lazuli.-^ The usual form of the stone is cylindrical ; the sides, however, being either shghtly convex or slightly concave, most frequently the latter. [PI. LXXIX., Fig. 3.] The cylinder is always perforated in the direction of its axis. Besides tliis ordinary form, a few gems shaped like the Greek — that is, either round or oval — have been found : and numerous impressions from such gems on sealing-clay show that they must have been tolerably com- mon."^" The subjects which occur are mostly the same as those on the sculptures — warriors pursuing their foes, hunters in full chase, the king slaying a lion, winged bulls before the sacred tree, acts of worship and other rehgious or mythologi- cal scenes. [PI. LXXXI., Fig. 1.] There appears to have been a gradual improvement in the workmanship from the earliest period to the time of Sennacherib, when the art culminates. A cylinder found in the ruins of Sennacherib's palace at Koyun- jik, which is believed with reason to have been his signet, ^^ is scarcely surpassed in delicacy of execution by any intagho of the Greeks. [PI. LXXXI., Fig. 1.] The design has a good deal of the usual stiffness, though even here something may be said for the ibex or wild-goat which stands upon the lotus flower to the left ; but the special excellence of the gem is in the fineness and minuteness of its execution. The intaglio is not very deeii; but all the details are beautifully shai-p and CH. VI.] BRICKS. 231 distinct, while they are on so small a scale that it requires a magnifying glass to distinguish them. The material of the cylinder is translucent green felspar, or amazon-stone, one of the hardest substances known to the lapidary. ^'^ The fictile art of the Assyrians in its higher branches, as employed for directly artistic purposes, has been already con- sidered ; but a few pages may be now devoted to the humbler divisions of the subject, where the useful preponderates over the ornamental. The pottery of Assyria bears a general resemblance in shape, form, and use to that of Egypt ; but still it has certain specific differences. According to Mr. Birch, it is, generally speaking, "finer in its paste, brighter in its color, employed in thinner masses, and for purposes not known in Egypt. " -*^ Abundant and excellent clay is furnished by the valley of the Tigris, more especially by those parts of it which are subject to the annual inundation. The chief employment of this material by the Assyrians was for bricks, which were either simply dried in the sun, or exposed to the action of fire in a kiln. In this latter case they seem to have been uniformly slack-baked ; they are light for their size, and are of a pale-red color. '^^ The clay of which the bricks were composed was mixed with stubble or vegetable fibre, for the purpose of holding it together — a practice common to the Assyrians with the Egyptians-*^- and the Babylonians.'^^ This fibre still appears in the sun-di-ied bricks, but has been destroyed by the heat of the kiln in the case of the baked bricks, leaving behind it, however, in the clay traces of the stalks or stems. The size and shape of the bricks vary. They are most commonly scjuare, or nearly so ; but occasionally the shape more resembles that of the ancient Egyptian and modern English brick, -"'^ the width being about half the length, and the thickness half or two-thirds of the width. The greatest size to which the square bricks attain is a length and width of about two feet.-"*^^ From this maximmu they descend by manifcjld gradations to a miniminn of one foot. The ob- long bricks are smaller; they seldom nuich excecnl a foot in length, and in width vary from six to seven and a half inches.** Whatever the shape and size of the bricks, their thickness is nearly uniform, the thinnest being as much as three inches in thickness, and the thickest not more than four inches or four and a half. Each brick was made in a wooden frame or mould. '^^ Most of the baked bricks were inscribed, not how- ever like the Chaldsean,-^* the Egyptian,-*® and the Babylo- 232 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [ru. vl nian,^™ with an inscription in a small square or oval depression near the centre of one of the broad faces, but with one which either covered the whole of one such face, or else ran along the edge. It is uncertain whether the inscription was stamped upon the bricks by a single impression, or whether it was inscribed by the potter with a triangular style. Mr. Birch thinks the former was the means used, ' ' as the trouble of writing upon each brick would have been endless. "^'^ Mr. Layard, however, is of a different opinion. '^^ In speaking of the Assyrian writing, some mention has been made of the terra cotta cylinders and tablets, which in Assyria replaced the parchment and papyrus of other nations, being the most ordinary writing material in use through the coun- ^j.y 278 rpjjg pux'ity and fineness of the material thus employed is very remarkable, as well as its strength, of which advantage was taken to make the cylinders holloAv, and thus at once to render them cheaper and more portable. The terra cotta of the cylinders and tablets is sometimes unglazed ; sometimes the natural surface has been covered with a " vitreous sili- cious glaze or white coating." 2"* The color varies, being some- times a bright polished brown, sometimes a pale yellow, some times pink, and sometimes a very dark tint, nearly black. ^'' The most usual color however for cylinders is pale yellow, and for tablets light red, or pink. There is no doubt that in both these cases the characters were impressed separately by the* hand, a small metal style of rod being used for the purpose. Terra cotta vessels, glazed and unglazed, were in common use among the Assyrians, for drinking and other domestic pur poses. They comprised vases, lamps, jugs, amphorae, saucers, jars, etc. [PI. LXXX., Fig. 2. J The material of the vessels L« fine, though generally rather yellow in tone.-"^ The shapes pre sent no great novelty, being for the most part such as are found both in the old Chaldaean tombs, ^" and in ordinary Ro- man sepulchres.-"* Among the most elegant are the funereal ( ?) virns discovered by M. Botta at Khorsabad, which are egg- shaped, with a small opening at top, a short and very scanty pedestal, and two raised rings, one rather delicately chased, by way of ornament. [PL LXXXI., Fig. 2.] Another graceful form is that of the large jars uncovered at Ninu'ud (see PI. LXXXII., Fig. 1), of which Mr. Layard gives a repre- sentation.-"* Still more tasteful are some of the exampleE which occur upon the bas-reliefs, and seemingly represent earthern vases. Among these may be particularized a lustraJ Vol. Fie 1 Plate LXV ' Assyrian seizing a Wild Bull (NimUdj. Uawk-hcaded Figure and Sphmx (Nimru' Fig. 3 Death of a Wild Bull (Nimru J). Plate LXVI. Vol. I .liiijg killinj; a Ijoa (Ximiudj. cu. VI.] GLASS WAKE. 233 ewer resting in a stand supported by bulls' feet, which appears in front of a temple at Khorsabad ^ (PI . LXXXI. , Fig. 3) , and a wine vase (see PI. LXXXI., Fig. 4j of ample dimensions, which is found in a banquet scene at the same place. ^^ Some of the lamps are also graceful enough, and seem to be the pro- totypes out of which were developed the more elaborate pro- ductions of the Greeks. [PI. LXXXII., Fig. 2.] Others are more simple, being without ornament of any kind, and nearly resembling a modern tea-pot (see No., IV. PI. LXXXII., Fig. 2). The glazed pottery is, for the most part, tastefully coloi-ed. An amphora, with twisted arms, found at Ninirud (see PI. LXXXIIL, Fig. 1) is of two colors, a warm yellow, and a cold bluish green. The green predominates in the upper, the yel- low in the under portion ; but there is a certain amount of blending or mottling in the inid-region, which has a very pleas- ant effect. A similarly mottled character is presented by two other amphorae from the same place, where the general hue is a yellow which vai'ies in intensity, and the mottling is with a violet blue. In some cases the colors are not blended, but sharply defined by lines, as in a curious spouted cup figured by Mr. Layard, and in several fragmentary specimens. ^^ Painted patterns are not uncommon upon the glazed pottery, though upon the unglazed they are scarcely ever found. The most usual colors are blue, yellow, and white ; brown, purple, and lilac have been met with occasionally. These colors are thought to be derived chiefly from metallic oxides, over which was laid as a glazing a vitreous silicated substance. ^^ On the whole, porcelain of tliis fine kind is rare in the Assyrian re- mains, and must be regarded as a material that was precious and used by few. Assyrian glass is among the most beautiful of the objects which have been exhumed. M. Botta compared it to certain fabrics of Venice and Bohemia,^^ into which a number of dif- ferent colors are artificially introduced. But a careful analy- sis has shown that the lovely prismatic hues which delight us in the Assyrian specimens, varying under different lights with all the delicacy and brilliancy of the opal, are due, not to art, but to the wonder- workmg hand of time, which, as it destroys the fabric, compassionately invests it with additional grace and beauty. Assyrian glass was either transparent or stained with a single uniform color.'-^s It was composed, in the usual way, by a mixture of sand or silex with alkalis, and, like the Egyptian,'^ appears to have been fii-st rudely fashioned into 234 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [en. vi. shape by the blowpipe. It was then more carefully shaped, and, where neces.sary, hollowed out by a turning machine, the marks of which are sometimes still visible.^' The principal specimens which have been discovered are small bottles and bowls, the former not more than three or four inches high, the latter from four to five inches in diameter. [PI. LXXXIII., Fig. 4.] The vessels are occasionally inscribed with the name of a king, as is the case in tlie famous vase of Sargon, found by Mr. Layard at Nimrud, which is here figured. [PI. LXXXIII., Fig. 2.] This is the earliest known specimen of transparent glass, which is not found in Egypt until the time of the Psammetichi. The Assyrians used also opaque glass, which they colored, sometimes red, with the suboxide of cop- per, sometimes white, sometimes of other hues. They seem not to have been able to form masses of glass of any consider- able size ; and thus the employment of the material must have been limited to a few ornamental, rather than useful, purposes. A curious specimen is that of a pipe or tube, honey-combed externally, which Mr. Layard exhumed at Koyunjik, and of which the cut (PI. LXXXIII., Fig. 1) is a rough representa- tion. An object found at Nimrud, in close connection with several glass vessels, 2^* is of a character sufiiciently similar to render its introduction in this place not inappropriate. This is a lens composed of rock crystal, about an inch and a half in diameter, and nearly an inch thick, having one plain and one convex sur- face, and somewhat rudely shaped and polished, which, how- ever, gives a tolerably distinct focus at the distance of 4i inches from the plane side, and which may have been used either as a magnifying glass or to concentrate the rays of the sun. The form is slightly oval, the longest diameter being one and six- tenths inch, the shortest one and four-tenths inch. The thick- ness is not uniform, biit greater on one side than on the other. The plane surface is ill-polished and scratched, the convex one, not polished on a concave spherical disk, but fashioned on a lapidary's wheel, or by some method equally rude.'^^^ As a burning-glass the lens has no great power ; but it magnifies fairly, and may have been of great use to those who inscribed, or to those who sought to decipher, the royal memoirs.^ It is the only object of the kind that has been found among the remains of antiquity, though it cannot be doubted that lenses were known and were used as burning-glasses by the Greeks, ^i Some examples have been already given illustrating the cii. VI.] Assyrian furniture. 235 tasteful ornamentation of Assyrian furniture. It consisted, so far as we know, of tables, chairs, couches, high stools, foot- stools, and stands with shelves to hold the articles needed for domestic purposes. As the objects themselves have in aU cases ceased to exist, lea^'ing behind them only a few frag- ments, it is necessary to have recourse to the bas-reliefs for such notices as may be thence derived of their consti-uction and character. In these representations the most ordinary form of table is one in which the principal of our camp-stools seems to be adopted, the legs crossing each other as in the illus- trations (PI. LXXXI V. ). Only two legs are represented, but we nuist undoubtedly regard these two as concealing two others per dynasty, cavah*y appears to have been but little used. Tiglath-Pileser I. in the whole of his long Inscription has not a single mention of them, thougli he speaks of his chariots continually. In the sculptures of Asshur-izir pal, the father of the Black-Obelisk king, while 250 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [en. vii. chariots abound, horsemen occur only in rare instances. Aft- erwards, under Sargon and Sennacherib, we notice a great change in this respect. The chariot comes to be almost con- fined to the king, Avhile horsemen are frequent in the battle scenes. In the first period the horses' trappings consisted of a head- stall, a collar, and one or more strings of beads. The head- stall was somewhat heavy, closely resembling that of the chariot-horses of the time, representations of which have boon already given. ''^ It had the same heavy axe-shaped bit, tli' same arrangement of straps, and nearly the same ornamenta- tion. The only marked difference was the omission of the crest or plume, with its occasional accompaniment of streamers. The collar was very peculiar. It consisted of a broad flap, probably of leather, shaped almost like a half -moon, which was placed on the neck about half way between the ears and the withers, and thence depended over the breast, where it was broadened out and ornamented by large drooping tassels. Occasionally the collar was plain,''* but more often it was elab- orately patterned. Sometimes pomegranates hung from it, alternating with the tassels.^ The cavalry soldiers of this period ride without any saddle.*^ Their legs and feet are bare, and their seat is very remarkable. Instead of allowing their legs to hang naturally down the horses' sides, they draw them up till their knees are on a level with their chargers' backs, the object (apparently) being to obtain a firm seat by pressing the base of the horse's neck be- tween the two knees. The naked legs seem to indicate that it was found necessary to obtain the fullest and freest play of the muscles to escape the inconveniences of a fall. The chief weapon of the cavalry at this time is the bow. Sword and shield indeed are worn, but in no instance do we see them used. Cavalry soldiers are either archers or mere attendants who are without weapons of offence. One of these latter accompanies each horse-archer in battle, for the purpose of holding and guiding his steed while he discharges his arrows. The attendant wears a skull cap and a plain tunic, the archer has an embroidered tunic, a belt to which his sword is attached, and one of the ordinary pointed helmets. In the second period the cavalry consists in part of archers, in part of spearmen. Unarmed attendants are no longer •found, both spearmen and archers appearing to be able to manage their own horses. Saddles have now come into < II. VII.] ASSYRIAN CAVALRY. 251 common use : they consist of a simple cloth, or flap of leather,- which is either cut square, or shaped somewhat like the saddle-cloths of our own cavalry.^' A single girth beneath the belly is their ordinary fastening; but sometimes they are further secured by means of a strap or band passed round the breast, and a few instances occur of a second strap passed round the quarters. The breast-strap is generally of a highly ornamented character. The head-stall of this period is not unlike the earlier one, from which it differs chiefly in having a crest, and also a forehead ornament composed of a number of small bosses. It has likewise commonly a strap across the nose, but none under the cheek-bones. It is often richly orna- mented, particularly with rosettes, bells, and tassels.''^ The old pendent collar is I'eplaced by one encircling the neck about halfway up, or is sometimes dispensed with altogether. Where it occurs, it is generally of unifonn width, and is orna- mented with rosettes or tassels.' No conjectm'e has been formed of any use which either form of collar could serve ; and the probability is that they were intended solely for orna- ment. A great change is observable in the sculptures of the second period with respect to the dress of the riders. [PI. XCV., Fig. 1.] The cavalry soldier is now completely clotlied,"^ with the ex- coption of his two anns, which are bare from a httle below the shoulder. He wears most commonly a tunic which fits him closely about the body, but below the waist expands into a loose kilt or petticoat, very much longer behind than in front, which is sometimes patterned, and always terminates in a fringe. Rf)\md his waist he has a broad belt; and another, of inferior widtli, from which a sword hangs, passes over his left shoulder.™ His legs are encased in a close-fitting pantaloon or trouser, over which he wears a laced boot or greave, which gen- erally reaches nearly to the knee, though sometimes it only covers about half the calf. [PI. XCV., Fig. 2.] This costume, Avhicli is first found in the time of Sargon, and continues to the reign of Asshur-bani-pal, Esarhaddon s son, may probably be regarded as the regular cavalry uniform under the mon archs of the Lower Empire. In Sennacherib's reign there is found in conjimction with it another costume, which is un- known to the earlier sculptures. This consists of a dress closely fitting the whole body, composed apparently of a coat of mail, leather or felt breeches, and a high greave or jack-boot. [PI. XCVI., Fig. l.J The wearei-s of this costume are spearmen 252 '^'^-^ SECOND MONAlifMY. fcii. vil. or archers indifferently. The former carry a long weapon, which has generally a rather small head, and is grasped low down the shaft. The bow of the latter is either round-arched or angular, and seems to be not more than four feet in length ; the arrows measure less than three feet, and are slung in a quiver at the archer's back. Both spearmen and archers com- monly carry swords, which are hung on the left side, in a diagonal, and sometimes nearly in a horizontal position. In some few cases the spearman is also an archer, and carries his bow on his right arm, apparently as a reserve in case he should break or lose his spear. '''^ The seat of the horseman is far more graceful in the second than in the first period ; his limbs appear to move freely, and his mastery over his horse is such that he needs no attendant. The spearman holds the bridle in his left hand; the archer boldly lays it upon the neck of his steed, who is trained either to continue his charge, or tb stand firm while a steady aim is taken. [PI. XCV., Fig. 3.] In the sculptures of the son and successor of Esarhaddon, the horses of the cavalry carry not unfrequently, in addition to the ordinary saddle or pad, a large cloth nearly similar to that worn sometimes by chariot-horses, of which a represen- tation has been already given. '^^ It is cut square with two drooping lappets, and covers the greater part of the body. Occasionally it is united to a sort of breastplate which pro- tects the neck, descending about halfway down the chest. The material may be supposed to have been thick felt or leather, either of which would have been a considerable pro- tection against weapons. While the cavalry and the chariots were regarded as the most important portions of the military force, and were the favorite services with the rich and powerful, there is still abundant reason to believe that Assyrian armies^ like most others," consisted mainly of foot. Ctesias gives Ninus 1.700.000 footmen to 210,000 horsemen, and 10,000 chariots.'* Xenophon contrasts the multitude of the Assyrian infantry Avith the compai'atively scanty numbers of the other two services."'^ Herodotus makes the Assyrians serve in the army of Xerxes on foot only.'^ The author of the book of Judith assigns to Holofernes an infantry force ten times as numerous as his cav- alry.'''' The Assyrian monuments entirely bear out the general truth involved in all these assertions, showing us, as they do, at least ten Assyrian warriors on foot for each one mounted cm vii.] THE INFANTRY. ' 253 on horseback, and at least a hundred for each one who rides in a chariot. However terrible to the foes of the Assyrians may have been the shock of their chariots and the impetuosity of their horsemen, it was probably to the solidity of the in- fantry, ^^ to their valor, equipment, and discipline, that the empire was mainly indebted for its long series of victo- ries. In the time of the earliest sculptures, all the Assyrian foot- soldiers seem to have worn nearly the same costume. This consisted of a short tunic, not quite reaching to the knees, con- fined round the waist by a broad belt, fringed, and generally opening in front, together with a pointed helmet, probably of metal. The arms, legs, neck, and even the feet, were ordina- rily bare, although these last had sometimes the protection of a very simple sandal. [PI. XCVI., Fig. 2.] Sword.smen used a small straight sword or dagger wliich they wore at their left side in an ornamented sheath, and a shield which was either convex and probably of metal, or oblong-square and composed of wickerwork." [PL XCVI., Fig. 2.] Spearmen had shields of a similar shape and construction, and carried in their right hands a short pike or javelin, certainly not exceed- ing five feet in length. [PI. XCVI., Fig. 4.] Sometimes, but not always, they carried, besides the pike, a short sword. Archers had rounded bows about four feet in length, and arrows a little more than three feet long. Their quivers, which were often highly ornamented, hung at their backs, either over the right or over the left shoulder. [PI. XCVI., Fig. 4.] They had swords suspended at their left sides by a cross-belt, and often carried maces, probably of bronze or iron, which bore a rosette or other ornament at one end, and a ring or strap at the other. The tunics of archers were sometimes elaborately embroidered ; ^^ and on the Avhole they seem to have been regarded as the flower of the foot-soldiery. Gener- ally they are represented in pairs, th(; two being in most cases armed and equipped alike ; but, occasionally, one of the pair acts as guard while the other takes his aim. In this case both kneel on one knee, and the guard, advancing his long wicker shield, protects both himself and his conirade from missiles, while he has at the same time his sword drawn to repel all hand-to-hand assailants. [PL XCVII., Fig. 1.] In the early part of the second period, which synchronizes with the reign of Sargon, the difference in the costumes of the foot-soldiers becomes much more marked. The Assyrian 254 THE SECOND MONARCTir. [cir. vu. infantry now consists of two great classes, archers and spear- men. ^^ The archers are cither Hght-armed or heavy-armed, and of the latter there are tAvo clearly distinct varieties. The light-armed have no helmet, but wear on their heads a mere fillet or band, which is either plain or patterned. [PI. XCVI., Fig. 3.] Except for a cross-belt which supports the quiver, they are wholly naked to the middle. Their only garment is a tunic of the scantiest dimensions, beginning at the waist, roimd which it is fastened by a broad belt or girdle, and de- scending little more than half-way down the thigh. In its make it sometimes closely resembles the tunic of the first period, 82 but more often it has the peculiar pendent ornament which has been compared to the Scotch phillibeg,^^ and which will be here given that name. It is often patterned with squares and gradines. The light-armed archer has iLsually bare feet ; occasionally, however, he wears the slight sandal of this period, which is little more than a cap for the heel held in place by two or three strings passed across the instep. There is nothing remarkable in his arms, which resemble those of the preceding period ; but it may be observed that, while shooting, he frequently holds two arrows in his right hand besides that which is upon the string. He shoots either kneeling or standing, generally the latter. His ordinary po- sition is in the van of battle, though sometimes a portion of the heavy -armed troops precede him.^* He has no shield, and is not protected by an attendant, ^^ thus running more risk than any of the rest of the army. The more simply equipped of the heavy archers are clothed in a coat of mail, which reaches from their neck to their mid- dle, and partially covers the arms. Below this they wear a fringed tunic reaching to the knees, and confined at the waist by a broad belt of the ordinary character. Their feet have in most instances the protection of a sandal, and they wear on their heads the common or pointed helmet. They usually dis- charge their arrows kneeling on the left knee, with the right foot advanced before them. During this operation they are protected by an attendant, who is sometimes dressed like them- selves, sometimes merely clad in a tunic, without a coat of mail. Like them, he wears a pointed helmet ; and while in one hand he carries a spear, with the other he holds forward a shield, which is either of a round form— apparently, of metal embossed with figures ^^ — or oblong-square in shape, and evi- dently made of wickerwork. Archers of this class are the Vol.. li Plate LXXI. en. vii.] THE INFANTRY. 255 least common, and scarcely ever occur unless in combination with some of the class which has the heaviest equipment. The principal characteristic of the third or most heavily- armed class of archers is the long robe, richly fringed, which descends nearly to their feet, thus completely protecting all the lower part of their person. [PI. XCVll., Fig. 2. J Above this they wear a coat of mail exactly resembling that of archers of the intermediate class, which is sometimes crossed by a belt ornamented with crossbars. Their head is covered by the usual pointed helmet, and their feet are always, or nearly al- ways, protected by sandaLs. They are occasionally represented witliout either sword or quiver,*^" but more usually they have a short sword at their left side, which appears to have been passed through their coat uf mail, between the armor plates, and in a few instances they have also quivers at their backs.^ Where these are lacking, they generally either carry two ex- tra arrows in their right hand,'*'* or have the same number borne for them by an attendant.^' They are never seen unat- tended : sometimes they have one, sometimes two attendants,^^ wlio accompany them, and guard them from attack. One of these almost always bears the long wicker shield, called by the Greeks yippov,^- which he rests firmly upon the ground in front of himself and comrade. The other, where there is a second, stands a little in the rear, and guards the archer's head with a round shield or targe. Both attendants are dressed in a short tunic, a pliillibeg, a belt, and a pointed helmet. Gen- erally they wear also a coat of mail and sandals, like those of the archer. They carry swords at their left sides, and the principal attendant, except when he bears the archer's arrows, guards him from attack by holding in advance a short spear. The archei"s of this class never kneel. Vjut always discliarge their arrows standing. They seem to be regarded as the most important of the foot-soldiers, their services being more par- ticularly valuable in the siege of fortified places. The spearmen of this period are scarcely better armed than the second or intermediate class of archers. Except in very rare instances they have no coat of mail, and their tunic, which is eitlier plain or covered with small squares, barely reac'hes to the knee. The most noticeable point about them is their helmet, wliich is never the common pointed or conical one, but is always surmounted by a crest of one kind or an- other."' [PI. XCVII., Fig. 3.] A further very frequent peculiar- ity is the arrangement of their cross-belts, which meet on the 256 '^'^^^' SECOND MONARCHY. [en. vri. back and breast, and are ornamented at the points of junction with a circular disk, probably of metal. The shield of the spearman is also circular, and is formed — generally, if not al- ways — of wickerwork, with (occasionally) a central boss of wood or metal. [PI. XCVII., Fig. 4.] In most cases their legs are wholly bare ; but sometimes they have sandals, while in one or two instances^* they wear a low boot or greave laced in front, and resembling that of the cavalry.^^ [PI. XCVII., Fig. 4.] The spear with which they are armed varies in length, from about four to six feet. [PI. XCVIII., Fig. 1,] It is grasped near the lower extremity, at which a weight was sometimes at- tached, in order the better to preserve the balance. Besides this weapon they have the ordinary short sword. The spear- men play an important part in the Assyrian wars, particularly at sieges, where they always form the strength of the storm- ing party. Some important changes seem to have been made under Sen- nacherib in the equipment and organization of the infantry force. These consisted chiefly in the establishment of a greater number of distinct corps differently armed, and in an improved eqviipment of the more important of them. Sen- nacherib appears to have been the first to institute a corps of slingers, who at any rate make their earliest appearance in his sculptures. They were a kind of soldier well-known to the Egyptians ; ^ and Sennacherib's acquaintance with the Egyp- tian warfare may have led to their introduction among the troops of Assyria. The slinger in most countries where his services were employed was lightly clad, and reckoned almost as a supernumerary. It is remarkable that in Assyria he is, at first, completely armed according to Assyrian ideas of com- pleteness, having a helmet, a coat of mail to the waist, a tunic to the knees, a close-fitting trouser, and a short boot or greave. The weapon which distinguishes him appears to have consisted of two pieces of rope or string,^' attached to a short leathern strap which received the stone. [PI. XCVIII., Fig. 4.] Previous to making his throw, the slinger seems to have whirled the weapon round his head two or three times, in order to obtain an increased impetus— a practice which was also known to the Egyptians and the Romans. ^^ With regard to ammunition, it does not clearly appear how the Assyrian slinger was supplied. He has no bag like the Hebrew slinger, ^^ no sinus hke the Roman. 1°" Frequently we see him simply provided with a single extra stone, which he en. VII.] THE INFANTRY. 257 carries in his left hand. Sometimes, besides this reserve, he has a small heap of stones at his feet ; but whether he has collected them from the field, or has brought them with him and deposited them where they lie, is not apparent. Sennacherib's archers fall into four classes, two of which may be called heavy-armed and two light-armed. None of them exactly resemble the archers of Sargon. The most heavily equipped wears a tunic, a coat of mail reaching to the waist, a pointed helmet, a close-fitting trouser, and a short boot or greave. [PI. XCVIII., Fig. 5.] He is accompanied by an at- tendant (or sometimes by two attendants ^''^) similarly attired, and fights behind a large wicker shield or gerrhon. A modi- fication of this costume is worn by the second class, the arch- ers of which have bare legs, a tunic which seems to open at the side, and a phillibeg. They fight without the protection of a shield, generally in pairs, who shoot together. [PI. XCVIII., Fig. 3.] The better equipped of the light-armed archers of this period have a costume which is very striking. Their head-dress con- sists of a broad fillet, elaborately patterned, from which there often depends on either side of the head a large lappet, also richly ornamented, generally of an oblong-square shape, and terminating in a fringe. [PI. XCVIII., Fig. 2.] Below this they wear a closely fitting tunic, as short as that worn by the light- armed archers of Sargon,*'''- sometimes patterned, like that, with squares and gradines, sometimes absolutely plain. The upper part of this tunic is crossed by two belts of very un- usual breadth, which pass respectively over the right and the left shoulder. Thei'c is also a third broad belt round the waist ; and both this and the ti-ansverse belts are adorned with ele- gant patterns. The phillibeg depends from the girdle, and is seen in its full extent, hanging either in front or on the right side. The anns are naked from the .shoulder, and the legs from considerably above the knee, the feet alone being protected by a scanty sandal.*'^ The ordinary short sword is worn at the side, and a quiver is carried at the back; the latter is sometimes kept in place by means of a horizontal strap which passes over it and round the body. [PI. XCIX., Fig. 2.] The archers of the lightest equipment wear nothing but a fillet, with or without lappets, upon the head, and a striped tunic,*'* longer behind than in front, which extends from the neck to the knees, and is confined at the wai.st by a girdle. [PI. XCIX., Fig. 1.] Their arms, legs, and feet are bare, they 17 258 ^^^ SECOND MONARCHY. [cB. viL have seldom any sword, and their quiver seems to be sus- pended only by a single horizontal strap, like that represented in PI. XCIX., Fig. 2. They do not appear very often upon the monuments : when seen, they are interspersed among arch- ers and soldiers of other classes. Sennacherib's foot spearmen are of two classes only. The better armed have pointed helmets, with lappets protecting the ears, a coat of mail descending to the waist and also covering nil the upper part of the arms, a tunic opening at the side, a phillibeg, close-fitting trousers, and greaves of the ordinary character. [PI. XCIX., Fig. 3.] They carry a large convex shield, apparently of metal, which covers them almost from head to foot, and a spear somewhat less than their own height ^^^ Commonly they have a short sword at their right side. Their shield is often ornamented wath rows of bosses towards the centre and around the edge. It is ordinarily carried in front .^** but when the warrior is merely upon the march, he often bears it slung at his back, as in the accompanying representa- tion. There is reason to suspect that the spearmen of this de- scription constituted the royal body-guard. They are compar- atively few in nimiber, and are usually seen in close proximity to the monarch, or in positions which imply trust, as in the care of prisoners and of the spoil. They never make the at- tacks in sieges, and are rarely observed to be engaged in bat- tle. Where several of them are seen together, it is almost al- ways in attendance upon the king whom they constantly pre- cede upon his journeys. ^''^ The inferior spearmen of Sennacherib are armed nearly like those of Sargon.^°^ They have crested helmets, plain tunics confined at the waist by a broad girdle, cross-belts ornamented with circular disks where they meet in the centre of the breast, and, most commonly, round wicker shields. The chief points wherein they differ from Sargon's spearmen are the following: they usually (though not universally) wear trousers and greaves; they have sleeves to their tunics, which descend nearly to the elbow ; and they carry sometimes, instead of the round shield, a long convex one arched at the top. [PI. XCIX. , Fig. 4.] Where they have not this defence, but the far com- moner targe, it is always of larger dimensions than the targe of Sargon, and is generally surrounded by a rim. [PI. XCIX., Fig. 4. ] Sometimes it appears to be of metal ; but more often it is of wickerwork, either of the plain construction common in Sargon's time, or of one considerably more elaborate. Plate LXXIV Vol. I. Fig. 3. Fragments of bronze omaments of the throne from Kimnid. Bronze casting, fiom tlie throne, Nimrud. fir. vri.] THE INFANTRY. 259 Among the foot soldiers of Sennacherib we seem tc find a corps of pioneers. ^'^ They wear the same dress as the better equipped of the spearmen, but carry in their hands, instead of ' a spear, a doubled-headed axe or hatchet, wherewith they clear the groiuid for the passage and movements of the army. They work in pairs, one pulling at the tree by its branches while the other attacks the stem with his weapon. After Sennacherib's tune we find but few alterations in the equipment of the foot soldiers. Esiirhaddon has left us no sculptures, and in those of his son and successor, Asshur-bani- jjal, the costumes of Semiacherib are for the most part repro- duced almost exactly. The chief difference is that there are not at this time quite so many varieties of equipment, both archers and spearmen being alike divided into two classes only, light-armed and heavy-armed. The light-armed archers corre- spond to Sennacherib's bowmen of the third class."'' They have the fillet, the plain tunic, the cross-belts, the broad girdle, and th(^ phillibeg. They differ only in having no lappets over the ears and no sandals. The heavy-armed archers resemble the first class "^ of Sennacherib exactly, except that they are not seen shooting from behind the gerrhon. In the case of the sjiearmen, the only novelty consists in the shields. The spearmen of the heavier equipment, though sometimes they carry the old convex oval shield, more often have one which is made straight at the bottom, and rounded only at top. [PI. C. , Fig. 1. ] The spearmen of the lighter equip- ment have likewise commonly a shield of this shape, but it is of wicker-work instead of metal, like tliat borne occasionally by the light-armed spearmen of Sennacherib. "- Besides spearmen and archers, we see among the foot soldiers of Asshur-bani-pal, slingers, mace-bearers, and men armed with battle-axes. For the slingers Sennacherib's heavy equip- ment "^ has been discarded ; and they wear notliing but a plain tunic, with a girdle and cross-belts. [PI. C, Fig. 2.] The mace- bearers and men with axes have the exact dress of Asshur-bani- pal's hcuvy-armed spearmen, and may possibly be spearmen who have bi'oken or lost their weajions. It makes, however, against this view, that they have no shields, Avhich spearmen always carry. Perhaps, therefore, we must conclude that towards the close of the empire, besides spearmen, slingers, and archers, there were distinct corps of mace-bearers "* and axe- bearers. The arms used by the Assyrians have been mentioned, and 260 THE SECOND MONARCHY. (( ii. vii. to a certain extent described, in the foregoing remarks upon the various classes of their soldiers. Some further details may, however, be now added on their character and on the variety observable in them. The common Assyrian pointed helmet has been sufficiently described already, and has received abundant illustration botli in the present and in former chapters. It was at first regarded as Scythic in character ; but Mr. Layard long ago observed "^ that the resemblance which it bears to the Scythian cap is too slight to prove any connection. That cap appears, whether we foilow the foreign or the native representations of it."® to have been of felt, whereas the Assyrian pointed helmet was made of metal ; it was much taller than the Assyrian head-dress, and it was less upright. [PI. C, Fig. 3. J The pointed helmet admitted of but few varieties. In its simplest form it was a plain conical casque, with one or two rings round the base, and generally with a half -disk in front directly over the forehead. [PI. C , Fig. 4. ] Sometimes, how- ever, there was appended to it a falling curtain covered with metal scales, whereby the chin, neck, ears, and back of the head were protected. More often it had, in lieu of this effect- vial but cumbrous guard, a mere laj^pet or cheek -piece, consist- ing of a plate of metal, attached to the rim, which descended over the ears in the form of a half-oval or semicircle. If we may judge by the remains actually found, tne chief material of the helmet was iron ; "^ copper was used only for the rings and the half-disk in front, which were inlaid into the harder metal. As if to compensate themselves for the uniformity to which they submitted in this instance, the Assyrians indulged in a variety of crested helmets. [PI. C, Fig. 5.] We cannot posi- tively say that they invented the crest ; "* but they certainly- dealt with it in the free spirit which is usually seen where a custom is of home growth and not a foreign importation. They used either a plain metal crest, or one surmounted by tufts of hair ; and they either simply curved the crest forwards over the front of the helmet, or extended it and carried it back- wards also. In this latter case they generally made the curve a complete semicircle, while occasionaiiy they were content with a smaU segment, less even than a quarter of a circle. ^^^ They also varied considerably the shape of the lappet over the ear, and the depth of the helmet behind and before the lappet. Assyrian coats of mail were of three sizes, and of two dif- CH. vn.J COATS OF MAIL. 261 ferent constructions. In the earlier times they were -worn long, descending either to the feet or to the knees ; and at this period they seem to have been composed simply of successive rows of similar iron scales sewn on to a shirt of linen or felt. [PI. CI., Fig. 1.] Under the later monarchs the coat of mail reached no lower than the waist, and it was composed of alter- nate bands of dissimilar arrangement and perhaps of different material. Mr. Layard suggests that at this time the scales, which were larger than before, were "fastened to bands of iron or copper. " ^'^ But it is perhaps more probable that scales of the old character alternated in rows with scales of a new shape and smaller dimensions. [PI. CI., Fig. 2.] The old scales were oblong, squared at one end and rounded at the other, very much resembling the Egjq)tian. They were from two to three inches, or more, in length, and were placed side by side, so that their greater length corresponded with the height of the wearer. The new scales seem to have been not more than an inch long ; they appear to have been pointed at one end, and to have been laid horizontally, each a little overlapping its fellow. '-1 It was probably found that this construction, while possessing quite as much strength as the other, was more favorable to facility of movement. Remains of armor belonging to the second period have been discovered in the Assyrian ruins. ^-^ The scales are frequently embossed over their whole surface with groups of figures and fanciful ornaments. The small scales of the first period have no such elaborate ornamentation, being simply embossed in the centre with a single straight line, which is of coj)per inlaid into the iron.^^ The Assyrian coat of mail, like the Egyptian, '-^ had com- monly a short sleeve, extending about half way down to the elbow. [PI. CI., Fig. 3.] This was either composed of scales K(^t similarly to those of the rest of the cuirass,'^ or of two, three, or more rows placed at right angles to the others. The greater part of the arm was left without any protection. A remarkable variety existed in the form and construction of the Assyrian sliiclds. The most imposing kind is that wliich has been termed the gcrrhou, from its apparent resemblance to the Persian shield mentioned under tliat name by Herodo- tus.'^ [PI. CI., Fig. 4.] This was a structm-e in wickerwork, which equalled or exceeded the warrior in height, and which was broad enough to give shelter to two or even tliree men. In shape it was either an oblong sqiiare, or such a square with 262 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [en. vn. a projection at top, which stood out at right angles to the body of the shield ; or, lastly, and most usually, it curved inwards from a certain height, gradually narrowing at the same time, and finally ending in a point. Of course a shield of this vast size, even although formed of a light material, was too heavy to be very readily carried upon the arm. The plan adopted was to rest it upon the ground, on which it was generally held steady by a warrior armed with .sword or spear, while his com- rade, whose weapon was the bow, discharged his arrows from behind its shelter. Its proper place was in sieges, where the roof -like structure at the top was especially useful in warding off the stones and other missiles which the besieged threw down upon their assailants. We sometimes see it employed by single soldiers, who lean the point against the wall ^'^' of the place, and, ensconcing themselves beneath the penthou.se thus improvised, proceed to carry on the most critical operations of the siege in almost complete security. Modifications of this shield, reducing it to a smaller and more portable size, were common in the earlier times, when among the shields most usually borne we find one of wicker- work oblong-square in shape, and either perfectly flat, oi- else curving slightly inwards both at top and at bottom. ^-^ This shield was commonly about half the height of a man, or a lit- tle more ; it was often used as a protection for two,^-*^' but must have been scanty for that purpose. Round shields were commoner in Assyria than any others. They were used by most of those Avho fought in chariots, by the early monarchs' personal attendants, by the cross-belted spearmen, and by many of the spearmen who guarded archers. In the most ancient times they seem to have been universally made of solid metal, and consequently they were small, per- haps not often exceeding two feet, or two feet and a half, in diameter. ^^"^ They were managed by means of a very simple handle, placed in the middle of the shield at the back, and fas- tened to it by studs or nails, which was not passed over the arm but grasped by the hand.'*^ The rim was bent inwards, so as to form a deep groove all round the edge. The material of which these shields were composed was in some cases cer- tainlj^ bronze ; ^^'^ in others it may have been iron ; in a few silver, or even gold.^^^ Some metal shields were perfectly plain ; others exhibited a number of concentric rings ; ^^* others again were inlaid or embossed with tasteful and elaborate patterns, CH. vii.] SHIELDS. —OFFENSIVE ARMS. 263 Among the later Assyrians the round metal shield seems to have been almost entirely disused, its place being supT^Hed by a wicker buckler of the same shape, with a rim round the edge made of solid wood or of metal, and sometimes with a boss in the centre. ^^ [PI. CII., Fig. 1.] The weight ot .he metal shield must have been considerable ; and this both limited their size and made it difficult to move them with rapidity. With the change of material we perceive a decided increase of magnitude, the diameter of the wicker buckler being often fully half the warrior's height, or not much short ot three feet. Convex shields, generally of an oblong form, were also in common use during the later period, and one kind is found in the very earliest sculptures. This is of small dimensions and of a clumsy make.^^ Its curve is slight, and it is generally ornamented with a perpendicular row of spikes or teeth, in the centre of which we often see the head of a lion. [PI. CII., Fig. 2.] The convex shields of later date were very much larger than these. [PI. CIII., Fig. 3.] They were sometimes square at bot- tom and rounded at top, in which case they were either made of wickerwork, or (apparently) of metal. ^^" These latter had gen- erally a boss in the centre, and both this and the edge of the shield were often ornamented with a row of rosettes or rings. Shields of this shape were from four to five feet in height, and protected the warrior from the head to the knee. On a march they were often worn upon the back, like the convex shield of the Egyptians, which they greatly resembled. The more ordinary convex shield was of an oval form, like the convex shield of the Greeks, ^-^^ but larger, and with a more prominent centre. | PI. CIII. , Fig. 1. ] In its greater diameter it must often have exceeded five feet, though no doubt sometimes it was smaller. It was generally ornamented with narrow bands round the edge and round the boss at the centre, the space between the bands being frequently patterned with rings or otherwise. Like the otlier form of convex shield, it could be slung at the back,'"" and was so carried on marches, on crossing rivers,'*^ and other similar occasions. The offensive arms certainly used by the AssjTians were the bow, the spear, tlie sword, the mace, the sling, the axe or hatchet, and the dagger. They may also have occasionally made use of the javelin, which is sometimes seen among the MTowy of n uui ver. But the actual employment of this weapon 264 ^^-E' SECOND MONARCHY. [en. vn. in war has not yet been found upon the bas-reliefs. If faith- fully represented, it must have been very short,— scarcely, if at all, exceeding three feet.^" [PL CIII., Fig. 2. J Assyrian bows were of two kinds, curved and angular. Compared with the Egyptian,"'^ and with the bows used by the archers of the middle ages, they were short, the -greatest length of the strung bow being about four feet. They seem to have been made of a single piece of wood, which in the angu- lar bow was nearly of the same thickness throughout, but in the curved one tapered gradually towards the two extremities. At either end was a small knob or button, in the later times often carved into the representation of a duck's head. [PI. CIII. , Fig. 3.] Close above this was a notch or groove, whereby the string was held in place. The mode of stringing was one still frequently practised in the East. The bowman stooped, and placing his right knee against the middle of the bow on its in- ner side, pressed it downwards, at the same time drawing the two ends of the bow uj^wards with his two hands. [PI. CIII., Fig. 4. ] A comrade stood by, and, when the ends were brought suificiently near, slipped the string over the knob into the groove, where it necessarily remained. The bend of the bow, thus strung, was slight. When fuU drawn, however, it took the shape of a half-moon, which shows that it must have pos- sessed great elasticity. [PI. CIV., Fig. 4.] The bow was known to be full drawn when the head of the arrow touched the arch- er's left hand. The Assyrian angular bow was of smaller size than the curved one. It was not often carried unless as a reserve by those who also possessed the larger and better weapon. [PL CIV., Fig. 5.] Bows were but seldom unstrung. When not in use, they were carried strung, the archer either holding them by the middle with his left hand, or putting his arm through them, and letting them rest upon his shoulders, ^^ or finally cariying them at his back in a bow-case. [PL CIV., Fig. l.J The bow- case was a portion of the quiver, as frequently with the Greeks,!** and held only the lower half of the bow, the upper portion projecting from it. Quivers were carried by foot and horse archers at their backs, in a diagonal position, so that the arrows could readily be drawn from them over the right shoulder. They were com- monly shmg in this position by a strap of their 0"mi, attached to two rings, one near the top and the other near the bottom CH. VII.] QUIVERS. 265 of the quiver, which the archer slipped over his left arm and his head. Sometimes, however, this strap seems to have been wanting, and the quiver was either thrust through one of the cross-belts, or attached by a strap which passed horizontally round the body a httle above the girdle."-' [PL CIV., Fig. 2.] The archers who rode in chariots carried their quivers at the chariot's side, in the manner which has been alrcadj' described and illustrated.^^ The ornamentation of quivers was generally elaborate. [PI. CIV., Fig. D.] Rosettes and bands constituted theu" most usual adornment ; but sometimes these gave place to designs of a more artistic character, as wild bulls, gi'ilfins, and othor mythic figures. Several examples of a rich type have been already given in the representations of chariots,"'' but none exhibit this pecuharity. One further spscimen of a chariot quiver is therefore appended, which as among the most taste- ful hitherto discovered. [PI. CIV., Fig. 3.] The quivers of the foot and horse archers were less richly adorned than those of the bowmen who rode in chariots, but still they were in almost every case more or less patterned. The rosette and the band here too constituted the chief re- source of the artist, who, however, often introduced with good effect other well-known ornaments, as the guilloche, the boss and cross, the zigzag, etc. Sometimes the quiver had an ornamented rod attached to it, which projected beyond the arrows and terminated in a pome- granate blossom or other similar carving. [PI, CV., Fig. 1]. To this rod was attached the rings which received the quiver strap, a triple tassel hanging from them at the point of attach- ment. The strap was probably of leather, and appears to have been twisted or plaited. It is uncertain whether the material of the quivers was wood or metal. As, however, no remains of quivers have been dis- covered in any of the ruins, while helmets, shields, daggers, spear-heads, and arrow-heads have been found in tolerable abundance, we may perhaps assimie that they were of the more fragile substance, which would account for their de- struction. In this case their ornamentation may have been either by carving or painting,'"* the bosses and rosettes being perhaps in some cases of metal, mother-of-pt>arl, or ivory. Ornaments of this kind were discovered by hundreds at Nim- rud in a chamber which contained arms of many descrip- tions."^ Quivers have in some cases a curious rounded head, 26Q TUE SECOND MONARCHY. [cu. viL which seems to have been a lid or cap used for covering the ar- rows. ^^ They have also, occasionally, instead of this, a kind of bag ^^^ at their top, which falls backwards, and is orna- mented with tassels. [PI. CV., Fig. 2.] Both these construc- tions, however, are exceptional, a very large majority of the quivers being open, and having the feathered ends of the ar- rows projecting from them. There is nothing remarkable in the Assyrian arrows except their perfect finish and completeness in all that constitutes the excellence of such a weapon. The shaft was thin and straight, and was probably of reed, or of some hght and tough wood.^^^ The head was of metal, ^^ either of bronze or iron, and was generally diamond-shaped, like a miniature spear-head. [PL CV. , Fig. 4. ] It was flatfish, and for greater strength had com- monly a strongly raised line down the centre. The lower end was hollowed, and the shaft was inserted into it. The notch- ing and feathering of the shaft were carefully attended to. It is doubtful whether three feathers were used, as by ourselves and by the Egyptians, ^^^ or two only, as by many nations. The fact that we never see more than two feathers upon the monuments cannot be considered decisive, since the Assyrian artists, from their small knowledge of perspective, would have been unable to represent aU three feathers. So far as we can judge from the representations, it would seem that the feath- ers were glued to the wood exactly as they are with ourselves. The notch was somewhat large, projecting beyond the line of the shaft — a construction rendered necessary by the thickness of the bowstring, which was seldom less than of the arrow it- self. [PI. CV., Fig. 5.] The mode of drawing the bow was peculiar. It was drawn neither to the ear, nor to the breast, but to the shoulder. In the older sculptures the hand that draws it is represented in a curiously cramped and unnatural position, ^^ which can scarcely be supposed to be true to nature. But in the later bas-reliefs greater accuracy seems to have been attained, and there we probably see the exact mode in which the shooting was actually managed. The arrow was taken below the feathei-s by the thvimb and forefinger of the right hand, the forefinger bent down upon it in the way represented in the accompanj-ing illustration, and the notch being then placed upon the string, the arrow was drawn backwards by the thumb and forefinger only, the remaining three fingers taking no part in the opera- tion. [PI. CVI. , Fig. 1. ] The bow was grasped by the left hand CH. vn.] SPEAES.— SWORDS. 267 between the fingers and the muscle of the thumb, the thumb itself being raised, and the arrow made to pass between it and the bow, by which it was kept in place and pres'ented from slipping. The arrow was then drawn till the cold metal head touched the forefinger of the left hand, upon wliich the right hand quitted its hold, and the shaft sped on its way. To save the left arm from being bruised or cut by the bowstring, a guard, often simply yet ettectively ornamented, was placed upon it, at one end passing roimd the thumb and at the other round the arm a little above the elbow. [PI. CVI., Fig. 2.] The Assyrians had two kinds of spears, one a comparatively short weapon, \'arying from five to six feet in length, with which they armoil a i)ortion of their foot soldiers, the other a weapon nine r brought very close to the Avails in order to be effective— a position Avhich gaA'e the besiegcMl an op])ortunity of assailing it by fire. Perliaps it Avas tliis liability which cau.sed the infrecpient use of th(^ engine in <[U('.stion, Avhirli is rare upon the earlier, and absent from the later, sciUptures. 976 ^^^ SECOND MONARCHY. [en. vii. The third mode of attack employed by the Assyrians in their sieges of fortified places was the mine. While the en- gines were in full play, and the troops drawn up around the place assailed the defenders of the walls with their slings and bows, warriors, singly, or in twos and threes, advanced stealthily to the foot of the ramparts, and either with their swords and the points of their spears, or with implements bet- ter suited for the purpose, such as crowbars and pickaxeg, at- tacked the foundations of the walls, endeavoring to remove the stones one by one, and so to force an entrance. While thus employed, the assailant commonly either held his shield above him as a protection, or was guarded by the shield of a comrade f^^ or, finally, if he carried the curved gerrhon, leant it against the wall, and then placed himself under its shel- ^gj. 209 [^pi ox., Fig. 2.] Sometimes, however, he dispensed with the protection of a shield altogether, and, trusting to his helmet and coat of mail, which covered him at all vital points, pursued his labor without paying any attention to the weapons aimed at him by the enemy. ^'^ Occasionally the efforts of the besiegers were directed against the gates, which they endeavored to break open with axes, or to set on fire by an application of the torch. From this latter circumstance we may gather that the gates were ordinarily of wood, not, like those of Babylon-" and Veii,^^^ of brass. In the hot climate of Southern Asia wood becomes so dry by exposure to the sun that the most solid doors may readily be ignited and consumed. ^^^ When at last the city or castle was by some of these means reduced, and the garrison consented to surrender itself, the work of demolition, already begun, was completed. Generally the place was set on fire ; sometimes workmen provided with pickaxes and other tools mounted upon the ramparts and towers, hurled down the battlements, broke breaches in the walls, or even levelled the whole building. [PI. CXII., Fig. 1.] Vengeance was further taken by the destruction of the valua- ble trees in the vicinity, more especially the highly prized date-palms, which were cut with hatchets half through their stems at the distance of about two feet from the ground, and then pulled or pushed down. [PL CXI., Fig. 2.] Other trees were either treated similarly, or denuded of their branches.-" Occasionally the destruction was of a less wanton and venge- ful character. Timber-trees were cut down for transport to Assyi'ia, where they were used in the construction of the royal cir. vii.J TREATMENT OF CAPTURED CITIES. 277 palaces ; ^i^ and fruit-trees were occasionally taken up by the roots, removed carefully, and planted in the gardens and or- chards of the conquerors. ■•^^" Meanwhile there was a general plundering of the captured place. The temples were entered, and the images of the gods, together with the sacred vessels, which were often of gold and silver, -^^ were seized and canied off in triumph.-i8 [PI. CXI. , Fig. 4.] This was not mere cupidity. It was regarded as of the utmost importance to show that the gods of the Assyrians were superior to those of other coun- tries, who were powerless to protect either their votaries or even themselves from the irresistible might of the servants of Asshur. The ordinary practice was to convey the images of the foreign gods from the temples of the captured places to Assyria, and there to offer them at the shrines of the princi- pal Assyrian deities.-^' Hence the special force of the proud question, '"Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?"-^ Where are they but carried captive to Assyria, prisonei*s and slaves in the temples of those deities whose power they vent- ured to resist? The houses of the city were also commonly plundered, and everything of value in them was carried off. Long files of men, each bearing some article of furniture out of the gate of a captured to^vn, are frequent upon the bas-rehefs, where we likewise often observe in the train of a returning army carts laden with household stuff of every kind, alternating with long strings of captives. All the spoil seems to have been first brought by the individual plunderers to one place, where it was carefully sorted and counted in the presence and under the superintendence of royal scribes, who took an exact in- ventory of the whole before it was carried away by its cap- tors. [PI. CXI., Fig. 3.] Scales were used to determine the weight of articles made of the precious metals,--^ which might otherwise have been subjected to clipping. We may conclude from these practices that a certain proportion of the value of all private spoil was either due to the royal treasury, or reciuired to be paid to the gods in acknowledgment of their aid and protection. Besides the private spoil, there was a portion which was from the first set apart exclusively for the monarch. This consisted especially of the public treasure of the captured city, the gold and silver, whether in bullion, plate, or oi'uaments, from the palace of its ])rince, and the idols, and probably the other vtiluables, from the temples. 278 '^f'^'^ SECOND MONARCHY. fcn. viL Tho inhabitants of a captured place were usually treated with more or less of severity. Those regarded as most re- sponsil)le for the resistance or the rebellion were seized; generally their hands Avere manacled either before them or behind their backs, while sometimes fetters were attached to their feet,'^-^ and even rings passed through their lips,^ and in this abject guise they were brought into the presence of the Assyrian king. Seated on his throne in his fortified camp without the place, and surrounded by his attendants, he re- ceived them one by one, and instantly pronounced their doom. On some he proudly placed his foot,--" some he pardoned, a few he ordered for execution, many he sentenced to be torn from their homes and caiTied into slavery. Various modes of execution seem to have been employed in the case of condemned captives. One of them was empalement. This has always been, and still remains, a common mode of punishment in the East ; but the manner of empaling which the Assyrians adopted was peculiar. They pointed a stake at one end, and, having fixed the other end firmly into the ground, placed their criminal with the pit of his stomach upon the point, and made it enter his body just below the breastbone. ^^^ This method of empaling must have destroyed life tolerably soon, and have thus been a far less cruel punishment than the crucifixion of the Romans. We do not observe it very often in the Assyrian sculptures, nor do we ever see it applied to more than a few individuals.-'^ It was probably reserved for those who were considered the worst criminals.^-" Another very common mode of executing captives was by beating in their skulls with a mace. In this case the victim commonly knelt ; his two hands were placed before him upon a block or cushion ; behind him stood two executioners, one of whom held him by a cord round the neck, while the other, seizing his back hair in one hand, struck him a furious blow upon the head with a mace which he held in the other. -^ 'Fl. CXI., Fig. 5.] It must have been rarely, if ever, that a second blow was needed. Decapitation was less frequently practised. The expresaon, indeed, "I cut off their heads," is common in the Inscrip- tions ; '■^ but in most instances it evidently refers to the prac- tice, already noticed, ^^ of collecting the heads of those who had fallen in battle. Still there are instances, both in the In- scriptions -^i and in the sculptures.'^- of what appears to have been a formal execution of captives by beheading;. In these Fi-agment ot a lion ia ivory (Nimrud). Fig. 4,. Fig. 2 fragment of a sing io ivoiy (MmrudJ, Koj-al attendant (Koyanjik). CH. VII.] TREATMENT OF PRISONmiS. 279 cases the criminal," it would seem, stood upright, or beinlin,!; a little forwards, and the executioner, taking him by a lock of hair with his left hand, struck his head from his shoulders with a short sword, which he held in his right. [PI. CXII., Fig. 5. J It is uncertain whether a punishment even more barbarous than these was not occasionally resorted to. In two or three bas-reliefs executioners are represented in the act of flaying prisoners with a knife. The bodies are extended upon the ground or against a wall, to which they are fastened by means of four pegs attached by strings or thongs to the two wrists and the two ankles. The executioner leans over the victim, and with his knife detaches the skin from the flesh. ^" One would trust that this operation was not performed until life M'as extinct. We know that it was the practice of the Per- sians,-" and even of the barbarous Scythians, ■'^^ to flay the corpses, and not the living f onns, of criminals and of enemies ; we may hope, therefore, that the Assyrians removed the skin from the dead, to use it as a trophy or as a warning,-*' and did not inflict so cruel a torture on the living. Sometimes the punishment awarded to a prisoner was muti- lation instead of death. Cutting off the ears close to the head, blinding the eyes with burning-irons, cutting off the nose, and plucking out the tongue by the roots, have been in all ages favorite Oriental punishments.'^^ We have distinct evi- dence that some at least of these cruelties were practised by the Assyrians. Asshur-izir-j)al tells us in his great Inscription that he often cut off the noses and the ears of prisoners ; while a slab of Asshur-bani-pal, the son of Esarhaddon, shows a captive in the hands of the torturers, one of whom holds his head firm and fast, while another thrusts his hand mto his mouth for the purpose of tearing out the tongue. '^^ The captives carried away by the conquerors consisted of men, women, and children. The men were formed into bands, under the conduct of officers, who urged them forward on their way by blows, with small regard to their sufferings. Com- monly they were conveyed to the capital, where they were employed by the monarchs in the lower or higher departments of labor, according to their capacities. The skilled workmen were in request to assist in the ornamentation of sliriiK^s apd palaces, while the great mass of the unskilled were made use of to (piarry and drag stone, to raise mounds, make bricks, and the like.'-'-"' Sometimes, instead of being thus emi)loyed in task-work in or near the capital, the cai)tives were simply 280 THE SECOND MONAIKJUY. [<;ii, vii. settled in new regions, where it was thought that they would maintain the Assyrian power against native malcontents. ^^J Thus l^sarhaddon planted Babylonians, Susanchites, Deha- vitos, Elamites, and others in Samaria, -^i while Sargon settled his Samaritan captives in Gauzanitis and in ' ' the cities of the Medes."242 The women and children carried ojffi by the conquerors were treated wath more tenderness than the men. [PI. CXII., Fig. 2.] Sometimes on foot, but often mounted on mules,'^' or seated in carts drawn by bullocks or asses,^** they followed in the train of their new masters, not always perhaps unwill- ing to exchange the monotony of domestic life at home for the excitement of a new and unknown condition in a fresh country. We seldom see them exhibiting any signs of grief. The women and children are together, and the mothers lavish on their little ones the usual caresses and kind offices, taking them in their laps, giving them the breast, carrying them upon their shoulders, or else leading them by the hand. At intervals they were allowed to stop and rest ; and it was not even the practice to deprive them of such portion of their household stuff as they might have contrived to secure before quitting their homes. This they commonly bore in a bag or sack, which was either held in the hand or thrown over one shoulder. When they reached Assyria, it would seem that they were commonly assigned as wives to the soldiers of the Assyrian army.-^^ Together with their captives, the Assyrians carried off vast quantities of the domesticated animals, such as oxen, sheep, goats, horses, asses, camels, and mules. The nmnbers men- tioned in the Inscriptions are sometimes almost incredible. Sennacherib, for instance, says that in one foray he bore off from the tribes on the Euphrates "7200 horses and mares, 5230 camels, 11,000 mules, 120,000 oxen, and 800,000 sheep" I^^^ Other kings omit particulars, but speak of the captured ani- mals which they led away as being ' ' too numerous to be counted," or "countless as the stars of heaven. "2« The As- syrian sculptors are limited by the nature of their art to com- paratively small numbers, but they show us horses, camels, and mules in the train of a returmng army,^*^ together with groups of the other animals,-*^ indicative of the vast flocks and herds continually mentioned in the Inscriptions. Occasionally the monarchs were not content with bringing home domesticated animals only, but took the trouble to en. vii.] PURSUIT BY WATER. 281 transport from distant regions into Assyria wild beasts of various kinds. Tiglath-Pileser I. informs us in general terms that, besides carrying off the droves of the horses, catt^le, and asses that he obtained from the subjugated countries, he "took away and drove off the herds of the wild goats and the ibexes, the wild sheep and the wild cattle;""'^' and another monarch mentions that in one expedition he carried off from the middle Euphrates a drove of forty wild cattle, and also a flock of twenty ostriches. '-^^ The object seems to have been to stock A.ssyria with a variety and an abundance of animals of chase. The foes of the Assyi-ians would sometimes, when hard pressed, desert the dry land, and betake themselves to the marshes, or cross the sea to islands where they trusted that they might be secure from attack. Not unfrequently they obtained their object by such a retreat, for the Assyrians were not a maritime people. Sometimes, however, they were pur- sued. The Assyrians would penetrate into the marshes by means of reed boats, probably not very different from the terradas at present in use among the Arabs of the Mesopota- mian marsh districts. ^^ Such boats are represented upon the bas-reliefs as capable of holding fi*om three to five armed men.'^ On these the Assyrian foot-soldiers would embark, taking with them a single boatman to each boat, who pro- pelled the vessel much as a Venetian gondolier propels his gondola, i.e., with a single long oar or paddle, which he pushed from him standing at the stern. They would then in these boats attack the vessels of the enemy, which are alwaj's rep- resented as smaller than theirs, run them down or board them, kUl their crews or force them into the water, or perhaps allow them to surrender. Meanwhile, the Assyrian cavalry was stationed round the marsh among the tall reeds which thickly clothed its edge, ready to seize or slay such of the fugitives ixs might escape from the foot. When the refuge sought was an island, if it lay near the shore, the Assyrians would sometimes employ the natives of the adjacent coast to tran.sport beams of wood and other ma- terials by means of their boats, in order to form a sort of bridge or mole reaching from the mainland to the isle whereto their foes had fled.*'^ Such a design was entertained, or at least professed, by Xerxes after the destruction of his fleet in the battle of Salamis,-'^ and it was successfully executed by Alexander the Great, who took in this way tlie new or island 282 'i'l't'^ SECOND MONARCHY. [en. viL Tyre.^ From a series of reliefs discovered at Khorsabad we may conclude that more than two hundred years before the earlier of these two occasions, the Assyrians had conceived the idea, and even s;icceeded in carrying out the plan,^^' of re- ducing islands near the coast by moles. Under the Chaldijeans, whose "cry was in their ships," ^* the Assyrians seem very rarely to have adventured themselves upon the deep. If their enemies fled to islands which could not be reached by moles, or to lands across the sea, in almost every instance they escaped. Such escapes are represented iijion the sculptures, 2^' where we see the Assyrians taking a maritime town at one end, while at the other the natives are embarking their women and children, and putting to sea, without any pursuit being made after them. In none of the bas-reliefs do we observe any sea-going vessels with Assyrians on board ; and history tells us of but two or three expeditions by sea in which they took part. One of these was an expedi- tion by Sennacherib against the coast of the Persian GuK, to which his Chaldeean enemies had fled. On this occasion he brought shipwrights from Phoenicia to Assyria, and made them build him ships there, which were then launched upon the Tigris, and conveyed down to the sea. With a fleet thus con- structed, and probably manned, by Phoenicians, Semiacherib crossed to the opposite coast, defeated the refugees, and em- barking his prisoners on board, returned in triumph to the mainland. 2^° Another expedition was that of Shalmaneser IV. against the island Tyre.^^ Assyrians are said to have been personally engaged in it ; but here again we are told that they embarked in ships furnished to them by the Phoenicians, and manned chiefly by Phoenician sailors. When a country was regarded as subjugated, the Assyrian monarch commonly marked the establishment of his sover- eignty by erecting a memorial in some conspicuous or import- ant situation within the territory conquered, as an enduring sign of his having taken possession. These memorials were either engraved on the natural rock or on solid blocks of stone cut into the form of a broad low stele. They contained a figure of the king, usually enclosed in an arched frame ; and an inscription, of greater or less length, setting forth his name, his titles, and sonae of his exploits. More than thirty such memorials are mentioned in the extant Inscriptions, and the researches of recent times have recovered some ten or twelve of them.*- They uniformly represent the king in his sacer- CH.vn.] KING' S ORDINARY COSTUME. 283 dotal robes, with the sacred collar round liis neck, and the emblems of the gods above his head, raising the right hand in the act of adoration, as if he were giving thanks to Asshiir and his guardian deities on account of his successes. It is now time to pass from the military customs of the As- syrians to a considerati(^n of their habits and usages in time of peace, so far as tliey are made known to us either by his- torical records or by the i)ictrominence, and it is consequently with him that wo most njitiu'iillj^ com- mence the present portion of our inquiry. The ordinary dress of the monarch in time of peace was a long flowing robe, reaching to the ankles, elaborately patterned and fringed, over which was worn, first, a broad belt, and then a species of open mantle, or chasuble,- very curiously contrived. |P1. CXIL, Fig. 3.] This consisted mainly of two large flaps, both of which were commonly rounded, though sometimes one of them was square at bottom.*'' These fell over the robe in front and behind, leaving the sides open, and so exposing the under dress to view. The two flaps must have been se^vn to- gether at the places mai-ked with the dotted lines a b and c cl,'^* the .space from a to c being left open, and the mantle passed by that means over tlie head. At d g there was conunonly a short sleeve {h), which covered the upper part of the left arm, but the right arm was left free, the mantle falling on either side of it. Somi'timos. besides the flaps, the mantle seems to have had two pointed wings attached to the shoulders (a/ 6 and c e h in the illustration), wliich were made to fall over in front. Occasionally there was woni above the cha.suble a broad diagonal belt ornamented with a deep fringe, and some- 284 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [en. vii. times there depended at the back of the dress a species of large hood. 266 The special royal head-dress was a tall mitre or tiara, which at first took the shape of the head, but rose above it to a cer- tain height in a gracefully curved line, when it was covered in with a top, flat, like that of a hat, but having a projection tow- ards the centre, which rose up into a sort of apex, or peak, not however pointed, but either rounded or squared off. The tiara was generally ornamented with a succession of Ijands, between which were commonly patterns more or less elabo- rate. Ordinarily the lowest band, instead of running parallel with the others, rose with a gentle curve towards the front, allowing room for a large rosette over the forehead, and for other similar ornaments. If we may trust the representations on the enamelled bricks, supported as they are to some extent by the tinted reliefs, we may say that the tiara was of three colors, red, yellow, and white. '^^ The red and white alter- nated in broad bands ; the ornaments upon them were yellow, being probably either embroidered on the material of the head- dress in threads of gold, or composed of thin gold jilates which may have been sown on. The general material of the tiara is likely to have been cloth or felt ; it can scarcely have been m.etal, if the deep crimson tint of the bricks and the reliefs is true. [PI. CXII,. Fig. 4.] In the early sculptures the tiara is more depressed than in the later, and it is also less richly ornamented. It has seldom more than two bands, viz. , a narrow one at top, and at bot- tom a broader curved onfe, rising towards the front. To this last are attached two long strings or lappets, which fall be- hind the monarch's back to a level with his elbow. [PI. CXIII., Fig. 1.] Another head-dress which the monarch sometimes wore was a sort of band or fillet. This was either elevated in front and ornamented with a single rosette, like the lowest band of the tiara, or else of uniform width and patterned along its whole course. ^^ In either case there depended from it, on each side of the back hair, a long ribbon or streamer, fringed at the end, and sometimes ornamented with a delicate pattern. [PI. CXIII., Fig. 2.] The monarch's feet were protected by sandals or shoes. In the early sculptures sandals only appear in use, shoes being n akno-\\Ti ^^s (as it would seem) until the time of Sennacherib. The sandals worn were of two kinds. The simplest sort had a CH. vii.] KING'S ORDINARY COSTUME. 285 very thin sole and a small cap for the heel, made apparently of a number of strips of leather '^^ sewn together. It was held in place by a loop over the great-toe, attached to the fore part of the sole, and b}- a string which was laced backwards and forwards across the instep, and then tied in a bow. [PI. CXIII. , Fig. 4.] The other kind of sandal had a very different sort of sole ; it was of considerable thickness, especially at the heel, from which it gradually tapered to the toe. Attached to this was an upper leather which protected the heel and the whole of the side of the foot, but left the toes and the instep exposed. A loop fastened to the sole'^™ received the great-toe, and at tlie point where the loop was inserted two straps were also made fast, wliich were then carried on either side the great- toe to the top of the foot, where they crossed each other, and, passing twice through rings attached to the edge of the u]">per leather, were finally fastened, probably by a buckle, at the top of the instep. (PI. CXIII., Fig. 6.] The shoe worn by the later kings was of a coarse and clumsy make, very much rounded at the toe, patterned with rosettes, crescents, and the like, and (apparently) laced in front. In this respect it differed fit-om the shoe of the queen, which will be represented presently, ^'i and also from the shoes worn by the tribute-bearers. [PI. CXIII., Fig. 5.1 The accessory portions of the royal costume were chiefly belts, necklaces, armlets, bracelets, and earrings. Besides the belt round the waist, in which two or three highly ornamented daggci's were frequently thrust, and the broad fringed cross- belt, of which mention was made above, -"■^ the Assyrian mon- arch wore a narrow cross-belt passing across his right shoulder, from which his sword hung at his left side. This belt was sometimes patterned with rosettes. It was worn over the front flap of the chasuble, but under the back flap, and was crossed at right angles by the broad fringed belt, which was passed over the right arm and head so as to fall across the left shoulder. The royal necklaces were of two kinds. Some consisted merely of one or more strings of long lozongo-shnpod beads slightly chased, and connected by small links, ribbed perpen- dicularly. [PI. CXIII., Fig. 7.] The other kind was a band or collar, perhaps of gold, on which were hung a niunber of sa- cred emblems : as the crescent or emblem of the Moon-God, Sin; the four-rayed disk, the emblem of the Sun-God, Shamas; 2S() I'lll'^ SJ'JCONI) MONARCHY. fcii. vii. tli(^ six i-.iycil t)r eight-rayed disk, the emblem of Gula, the Smi-tTixldcss; the horned cap, perhaps the emblem of the king's guardian genius; and the double or triple bolt, which was the emblem of Vul, the god of the atmospliere. This sa- cred collar was a part of the kings civil and not merely of his sacerdt)tal dress ; as appears fi-om the fact that it was some- times worn when the king was merely receiving prisoners. '-'^^ in. CXIIL, Fig. 8. J The monarch wore a variety of armlets. The most common was a plain bar of a single twist, the ends of which slightly overlapped each other. A more elegant kind was similar to tliis, except that the bar terminated in animal heads carefully wrought, among which the heads of rams, horses, and ducks were the most coimiion. A third sort has the appearance of being composed of a number of long strings or wires, confined at intervals of less than an inch by cross bands at right angles to the wires. This sort was carried round the arm twice, and even then its ends overlapped considerably. It is probable tliat all the armlets were of metal, and that the appearance of the last was given to it by the workman in imitation of an earlier and ruder ai'inlet of worsted or leather. [PI. CXIV., Fig. 1.] The bracelets of the king, like his armlets, were sometimes mere bars of metal, quite plain and without ornament. More often, however, they were ribbed and adorned with a large rosette at the centre. Sometimes, instead of one simple rosette, we see three double rosettes, between which project small points, shaped like the head of a spear. Occasionally these double rosettes appear to be set on the surface of a broad bar, which is chased so as to represent brickwork. In no case can we see how the bracelets were fastened ; perhaps they were elastic, and were sUpped over the hand.^"* [PI. CXIV., Fig. 3.1 Specimens of royal earrings have been already given in an earlier chapter of this volume.-"^ The most ordinary form in the more ancient times was a long drop, which was sometimes delicately chased. ^"^ Another common kind was an incom- plete Maltese cross, one arm of the four being left out because it would have interfered with the ear. [PI. CXIV., Fig. 2.] In later times there Avas a good deal of variety in the details ; but the drop and the cross were always favorite features. When the monarch went out to the hunt or to the battle, he laid aside such ornaments as enciunbered him, reserving how cir. vii.] SACERDOTAL COSTUME. 287 ever his earrings, bracelets, and armlets, and then, stripping off his upper dress or chasuble, appeared in the under robe which has been already described.-'^' This robe was confined at the waist by a broad cincture or girdle, outside of which was worn a narrowish belt wherein daggers were often thrust. In early times this cincture seems to have been fastened by a ribbon with long streaming ends, which are very conspicuous in the Ninu'ud sculptures. At the same period the monarch often wore, when he hunted or w^ent out to battle, a garment which might have been called an apron, if it had not been worn behind instead of in front. This was generally patterned and fringed very richly, besides being ornamented with one or more long pendent tassels. [PI. CXIV., Fig. 4.] The sacerdotal dress of the king, or that which he commonly wore when engaged in the rites of his religion, differed con- siderably from his ordinary costume. His inner garment, in •leed, seems to have been the usual long gown with a fringe descending to the ankles; but this was almost entirely con- cealed uncler an ample outer robe, which was closely wrapped round the form and kept in place by a girdle. A deep fringe, arranged in two rows, one above the other, and carried round the robe in curved sweeps at an angle with the horizontal line, is the most striking feature of this dress, which is also re- markable for the manner in which it confines and conceals the left arm, while the right is left free and exposed to view. A representation of a king thus apparelled will be found in an earlier part of this work,'^'" taken from a statue now in the British Museum. It is peculiar in having the head uncovered, and in the form of the implement borne in the riglit hand. It is also incomplete as a representation, from the fact that aU the front of the breast is occupied by an inscription. Other examples-'** show that the tiara was commonly worn as a part of tlie sacerdotal costume ; that the sacred collar ■^ adonied the breast, necklaces the neck, and bracelets the two arms; while in the belt, Avhicli was generally to some extent knotted, were borne two or three daggers. The mace seems to have been a necessary appendage to the costume, and was always grasped just below its head by the left hand. We have but one representation of an Assyrian (pieen. Despite the Avell-known stories of Semiramis and her manifold exi)loits, it would seem that the Assyrians secluded their fe- males with as ri^id and watchful a jealou.sy as modern Turks or Persians. The care taken with respect to the direction of 288 ^^^^ SECOND MONARCnT. [cii. vii. the passages in the royal hareem has been noticed already, ^si It is quite in accordance with the spirit thus indicated, and with the general tenor of Oriental habits, that neither in in- scriptions '^'^ nor in sculptured representations do the Assyrians allow their women to make more than a most rare and occa- sional appearance. Fortunately for us, their jealousy was sometimes relaxed to a certain extent ; and in one scene, re- covered from the de6r/s of an Assyrian palace -'*^ we are enabled to contemplate at once the domestic life of the monarch and the attire and even the features of his consort. It appears that in the private apartments, while the king, like the Romans and the modern Orientals, reclined upon a couch leaning his weight partly upon his left elbow, ^^^ and hav- ing his right arm free and disposable, her majesty the queen sat in a chair of state by the couch's side, near its foot, and facing her lord. [PI. CX V. , Fig. 1. ] Two eunuchs provided with large fans were in attendance upon the monarch, and the same nmnber waited upon the queen, standing behind her chair. Her majesty, w^hose hair was arranged nearly like that of her royal consort, wore upon her head a band or fillet having something of the appearance of a crown of towers, such as encircles the brow of Cybele on Greek coins and stat- ues. Her dress was a long-sleeved gown reaching from the neck to the feet, flounced and trimmed at the bottom in an elab- orate way, and elsewhere patterned with rosettes, over which she wore a fringed tunic or frock descending half-way between the knees and the feet. [PI. CXV., Fig. 3.] In addition to these two garments, she wore upon her back and shoulders a light cloak or cape, patterned (like the rest of her dress) with ro- settes and edged with a deep fringe. Her feet were encased in shoes of a clumsy make, also patterned. Her ornaments, be- sides the crown upon her head, were earrings, a necklace, and bracelets. Her hair was cushioned, and adorned with a dra- pery which hung over the back. Her feet rested on a hand-' some footstool, also cushioned. On the slab from which this description is taken the royal pair seem to be retreshing themselves with wine. Each sup- ports on the thiunb and fingers of the right hand a saucer or shallow drinking-cup, probably of some precious metal, which they raise to their lips simultaneously, as if they Avere pledg- ing one another. The scene of the entertainment is the palace garden; for trees grow on either side of the main figures, while over their heads a vine hangs its festoons and its rich Vol. I. Fig. 1. ] Plate LXXIX. Arcade work, on euamtflleJ biick (KimruH). No. I. Human figure, on enamelled brick (from Nimiud). Pig. 3 No. II. Ram's head, on enamelled brick (fiom Nimrud). ""lO^^'^'^^'^^-a/rtr'^^ Imprps.sion of mcient As.syrinii cyliniler. in serpentine. Plate LXXX F,g. 1. Vol. I. King and attendants, on enamelled brick ^from Nimrud). Fig. 2. Assyrian vases, amphors, &c. (after Birch). CH. vii.) THE ROYAL ATTENDANTS. 289 clusters. By the side of the royal couch, and in front of the queen, is a table covered with a table-cloth, on which are a small box or casket, a species of shallow bowl which may have held incense or perfiune of some kind, and a third article fre- ;irs, in one bas-relief, alone in front of the king; in another, he stands on the right hand of the Vizier, level with him, facing the king as he drinks; in a third, he receives pris- oners after a battle; while in another part of the same sculpt- ure he is in the king's camp preparing tlie table for his mas- ter's supper. There is always a good deal of ornamentation about his dress, which otherwise nearly resembles that of the inf(!rior royal attendants, consisting of a long fringed gown or robe, a girdle fringed or plain, a cross-belt generally fringed, and the scarf alrea(l;\' drscribed. His head and feet are gener- ally bare, though sometimes the latter are protected by san- dals.-*^'' He is found only updii the sculptures of the early period. Among the officers Avho have free access to the royal person, there is one who stands out with such naarked i)rominence from the rest that he has been properly recognized as the Grand Vizier or prime-minister^* — at once the chief counsellor of the monarch, and the man whose special business it was to signify and execute his will. The dress of the Grand Vizier is more rich than that of any other person except the mon- arch ; -"■'^ and there are certain portions of his apparel which he and the king have alone the privilege of wearing. These are, principally, the tasselled apron and the fringed band depend- ing from the fillet, the former of which is found in the early period only,-* while the latter belongs to no particular time, but throughout the whole series of sculptures is the distinctive mark of royal or quasi-royal authority. To these two may be added the long ribbon or scarf, with double streamers at the ends, wliich deju'iided from, and perhaps fasteniHl. the belt ^^ — a royal oi'uament worn also by the Vizier in at least one rep- resentation. -»« [PL CXVI., Fig. 3.] The chief garment of the Vizier is always a long fringed ro!)e, reaching from the neck to the feet. This is generally trimmed with embroidery at the top, round the sleeves, and round the bottom. It is either seen to be confined by a broad belt round the waist, or else is covered from the waist to the knees by two falls of a heavy and deep fringe. In this latter case, a broad cross-belt is worn over the left shoidder. and the upper fall of fringe hangs from the cross-belt. A fillet is worn upon the head, whieh is often highly ornamented. "'*' The feet are sometimes bare, but more often are protected by sandals, 292 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [en. vii. or (as in the accompanying representation) by embroidered shoes. p]arrings adorn the ears ; bracelets, sometimes accom- panied by armlets, the arms. A sword is generally worn at the left side. The Vizier is ordinarily represented in one of two attitudes. Eitlicr he stands with his two hands joined in front of him, the right baud in the left, and the fingers not clasped, but left loose— the ordinary attitude of passive and respectfid atten- tion, in which officers who carry nothing await the orders of the king, — or he has the right arm raised, the elboAv b('nt, and the right hand brought to a level with his mouth, while the left hand rests upon the hilt of the sword worn at his left side. [PI. CXVII., Fig. 1.] In this latter case it may be presumed that we have the attitude of conversation, as in the former we have that of attentive hstening. When the Vizier assumes this energetic posture he is commonly either introducing pris- oners or bringing in spoU to the king. When he is quiescent, he stands before the throne to receive the king's orders, or witnesses the ceremony with which it was usual to conclude a successful hunting expedition. The pre-eminent rank and dignity of this oflBcer is shown, not only by his participation in the insignia of royal authority,*^ but also and very clearly by the fact that, when he is present, no one ever intervenes between him and the king. He has the undisputed right of precedence, so that he is evidently the first subject of the crown. He, and he alone, is seen addressing the monarch. He does not always accompany the king on his military expeditions ; but when he attends them, he still maintains his position,*'^ having a dignity greater than that of any general, and so taking the entire dii-ection of the prisoners and of the spoil. The royal fan-bearers were two in number. They were iiavariably eunuchs. Their ordinary position was behind the monarch, on whom they attended alike m the retirement of private life and in religious and civil ceremonies. On some occasions, however, one of the two was privileged to leave his station behind the king's chair or throne, and, advancmg in front, to perf omi certain functions before the face of his master. He handed his master the sacred cup, and waited to receive it back,*^'^ at the same time diligently discharging the ordinary duties of his office by keeping up a current of air and chasing away those plagues of the East — the flies. The fan-bearer thus privileged wears always the long tasselled scarf, which seems Vol Fig. I Assyrian Assyrian cylinder, with the Fish-God. Royal cylinder of Sennacherib. Fig. 3. Plato LXXXI. Fig 2. Funereal urn, from Khoi-sabad. Fig. 4 'o. lY. Assyrian clay-lamps. en. VII.] COURT CEREMONIAL. 293 to have been a badge of office, and may not improbably mark him for the chief Eunuch. *^^ In the absence of the Vizier, or sometimes in subordination to him,*'* he introduced the tribute- bearers to the king;, reading out their names and titles from a scroll or tablet which he held in his left hand. (PI. CXVII., Fig. 2.] The fan carried by these attendants seems in most instances to have been made of feathers. It had a shortish handle, which was generally more or less ornamented, and frequently termi- nated in the head of a ram or other animal. [PI. CXVIII., Fig. 1.] The feathers w^ere sometimes of great length, and bent gracefully by their own weight, as they were pointed slantingly towards the monarch. Occasionally a comparatively short fan was used, and the feathers were replaced by a sort of brush, which may have been made of horse-hair, or possibly of some vegetable fibre.*'® The other attendants on the monarch require no special notice. With regard to their number, however, it may be observed that, although the sculptures generally do not repre- sent them as very nimierous, there is reason to believe that they amounted to several hundreds. The enormous size of the palaces can scarcely be otherwise accounted for : and in one sculpture of an exceptional character, where the artist seems to have aimed at representing his subject in full, we can count above seventy attendants present with the monarch at one time.*'*' Of these less than one-half are eunuchs; and these wear the long robe with the fringed belt and cross-belt. The other attendants wear in many cases the same costume; some- times, however, they are dressed in a tunic and greaves, like the soldiers.**" There can be no doubt that the court ceremonial of the Assyrians was stately and imposing. The monarch seems indeed not to have affected that privacy and seclusion which forms a predominant feature of the ceremonial observed in most Oriental monarchies.*'* He showed himself very freely to his subjects on many occasions. He superintended in person the accomplishment of his great .works.*'® In war and in the chase he rode in an open chariot, never using a litter, though litters were not unknown to the Assyrians. In his expeditions he would often descend from liis cliariot, and march or fight on foot like the meanest of liis subjects. But though thus familiar- izing tlie multitude with his features and appearance, he was far from allowing familiarity of address. Both in peace and 204 'J'JIt: SKVOND MONARCHY. [cii. vn. war he was attended by various officers of state, and no one had speech of hun except through them. It would even seem as if two persons only were entitled to open a conversation with him — the Vizier and the Chief Eunuch. When he received them, he generally placed himself upon his throne, sitting, while thoy stood to address him. It is strongly indicative of the haughty jji'ide of these sovereigns that they carried with them in their distant expeditions the cumbrous thrones*"^ whereon they were wont to sit when they dispensed justice or received homage. On these thrones they sat, in or near their fortified camps, when the battle or the siege was ended, and thus sitting they received in state the spoil and the prisoners. Behind them on such occasions were the two fan-bearer'^, while near at hand were guards, scribes, grooms, and other attend- ants. In their palace halls undoubtedly the ceremonial used was stricter, grander, and more imposing. The sculptures, however, furnish no direct evidence on this point, for there is nothing to mark the scene of the great processional pieces. In the pseudo-history of Ctesias, the Assyrian kings were represented as voluptuaries of the extremest kind, who passed their whole lives withia the palace, in the company of their concubines and theii" eunuchs, indulging themselves in perpetual ease, pleasure, and luxury.^" We have already seen how the warlike character of so many monarchs gives the lie to these statements, so far as they tax the Assyrian kings with sloth and idleness.^^^ It remains to examine the charge of over-addiction to sensual delights, especially to those of the lowest and grossest description. Now it is at least remarkable that, so far as we have any real evidence, the Assyrian kings appear as monog- amists. In the inscription on the god Nebo, the artist dedi- cates his statue "to his lord Vol-lush (?) and his lady, Sam- muramit.-'^^^ In the solitary sculptured representation of the private life of the king,^" he is seen in the company of one female only. Even in the very narrative of Ctesias, Ninus has but one wife, Semiramis f^'^ and Sardanapalus, notwithstanding his many concubines, has but five children, three sons and two daughters. ^^^ It is not intended to press these arguments to an extreme, or to assume, on the strength of them, that the Assyr- ian monarchs were really faithful to one woman. They may have had- -nay, it is probable that they had — a certain number of concubines; but there is really not the least ground for believing that they carried concubinage to an excess, or ovei-- stepped in this respect the practice of the best Eastern sover- cii. VII.] LION-HUNTING. 295 eigns. At any rate they were not the voluptuaries which Ctesias represented them. A considerable portion of their lives was passed in the toils and dangers of war; and their peaceful hours, instead of being devoted to sloth and luxury in the retirement of the palace, were chiefly employed, as we shall presently see, in active and manly exercises in the field, which involved much exertion and no small personal peril. The favorite occupation of the king in peace was the chase of the lion. In the early times he usually started on a hunt- ing expedition in his chariot, dressed as when he went out to war, and attended by his charioteer, some swordsmen, and a groom holding a led horse. He carried a bow and arrows, a sword, one or two daggers, and a spear, which last stood in a rest made for it at the back of the chariot.^" Two quivers, each containing an axe and an abundant supply of arrows, hung from the chariot transversely across its right side, while a shield armed with teeth was suspended behind. When a lion was found, the king pursued it in his chariot, let- ting fly his arrows as he went, and especially seeking to pierce the animal about the heart and head. Sometimes he transfixed the beast with three or four shafts before it suc- cumbed. Occasionally the lion attacked him in his chariot, and was met with spear and shield, ^'^ or with a fresh arrow, according to the exigencies of the moment, or the monarch's preference for one or the other weapon. On rare occasions the monarch descended to the ground, and fought on foot. He would then engage the lion in close combat with no other weapon but a short sword, which he strove to plunge, and often plunged, into his heart. [PI. CXVIH., Fig. 2.] In the later time, though the chariot was stiU employed to some extent in the lion-hunts, it appears to have been far more usual for the king to enjoy the sport on foot. He carried a straight sword, which seems to have been a formidable weapon; it was strong, very broad, and two feet or a little more in length. Two attendants waited closely upon the monarch, one of whom carried a bow and arrows, while tlie other was commonly provided with one or two spears. From these attendants the king took the bow or spear at pleasure, usually commencing the attack with his arrows, and finally despatching the spent animal with sword or spear, as he deemed best. Sometimes, but not very often, the spearman in attendance carried also a shield, and held both spear and shield in advance of his master to protect him from the 200 ^''^^' SECOND MONARCUr. fen. vii. nnimars spring.^'® Generally the monarch faced the clanger with no such protection, and received the brute on his sword, or thrust him through with his pike. [PI. CXVIII., Fig. 3; PI. CXIX., Fig. l.J Perhaps the sculptures exaggerate the danger which he affronted at such moments; but we can hardly suppose tbat there was not a good deal of peril in- curred in these hand-to-hand contests. ^'^ Two modes of hunting the king of beasts were followed at this time. Either he was sought in his native haunts, which were then, as now, the reedy coverts by the side of the canals and great streams ; or he was procured beforehand, conveyed to the hunting-ground, and there turned out before the hunters. In the former case the monarch took the field ac- companied by his huntsmen and beaters on horse and foot, these last often holding dogs in leash, which, apparently, were used only to discover and arouse the game, but were not slipped at it when started. No doubt the hunt was sometimes entirely on the land, the monarch accompanying his beaters along one or other of the two banks of a canal or stream. But a different plan is known to have been adopted on some occasions. Disposing his beaters to the right and left upon both banks, the monarch with a small band of attendants would take ship, and, while his huntsmen sought to start the game on either side, he would have himself rowed along so as Just to keep pace with them, and w^ould find his sport in at- tacking such lions as took the water. The monarch's place on these occasions was the middle of the boat. Before him and behind him were guards armed with spears, who were thus ready to protect their master, whether the beast attacked him in front or rear. The monarch used a round bow, like that commonly carried in war, and auned either at the heart or at the head. The spearmen presented their weapons at the same time, while the sides of the boat were also sufficiently high above the water to afford a considerable protection against the animal's spring. An attendant imme- diately behind the monarch held additional arrows ready for him ; and after piercing the noble brute with three or four of these weapons, the monarch had commonly the satisfaction of seeing him sink down and expire. The carcass was then taken from the water, the fore and hind legs were lashed together with string, and the beast was susj^ended from the hinder part of the boat, where he hung over the water just out of the sweep of the oars.*»i cii. vii.] LION-HUNTING. 297 At other times, when it was felt that the natural chase of the- animal might ?fford little or no sport, the Assyrians (as above stated) called art to their assistance, and, having ob- tained a supply of lions from a distance, brought them in traps or cages to the hunting-gi'ound, and there turned them out before the monarch. The walls of the cage was made of thick spars of wood, with interstices between them, through which the lion could both see and be seen : probably the top was entirely covered Avith boards, and upon these was raised a sort of low hut or sentry-box, just large enough to contain a man, who, when the proper moment arrived, peeped forth from his concealment and cautiously raised the front of the trap, which was a kind of drop-door working in a gi-oove. [PI. CXIX., Fig. 2.] The trap being thus opened, the lion stole out, looking somewhat ashamed of his confinement, but doubtless anxious to vent his si^leen on the first convenient object. The king, prepared for his attack, saluted him, as he left his cage, with an arrow, and, as he advanced, with others, which some- times stretched him dead upon the plain, sometimes merely disabled him, while now and then they only goaded him to fury. In this case he would spring at the royal chariot, clutch some part of it, and in his agony grind it between his teeth, ^^z or endeavor to reach the inmates of the car from behind. ^-^ If the king had descended from the car to the plain, the infuriated beast might make his spring at the royal person, in which case it must have requii'ed a stout heart to stand unmoved, and aim a fresh arrow at a vital part while the creature was in mid-air, especially if (as we sometimes see represented) a second lion was following close upon the first, and would have to be received within a few seconds.*^^ It would seem that the lions on some occasions were not to be goaded into making an attack, but simply endeavored to escape by flight. To pre- vent this, troops Avere drawn up in a double line of spearmen and archers round tlie sj^acci within which the lions were let loose, the large shields of the front or spearman line forming a sort of wall, and the spears a chevaux de frise, through which it was almost impossible for the beasts to break. In front of th(^ soldiers, attendants held hounds in leashes, which either by their baying and struggling frightened the animals back, or perhap.K assisttvl to despatch them.*'^ [PI. CXIX., Fig. 8.) The king mcanwliilc plied his bow, and covered the plain with carcasses, often striking a single beast with five or six shafts. 298 I'^E SECOND MONARCHY. [en. vii. Tlie number of lions destroyed at these royal battues is very surprising. In one representation^^ no fewer than eighteen are seen upon the field, of which eleven are dead and five se- riously wounded. The introduction of trapped beasts would seem to imply that the game, which under the earlier mon- archs had been exceedingly abundant, ^^^ failed comparatively imder the later ones, who therefore imported it from a dis- tance. It is evident, however, that this scarcity was not al- lowed to curtail the royal amusement. To gratify the mon- arch, hunters sought remote and savage districts, where the beast was still plentifvd, and, trapping their prey, conveyed it many hundreds of miles to yield a momentary pleasure to the royal sportsman. It is instructive to contrast with the boldness shown in the lion-hunts of this remote period the feelings and conduct of the present inhabitants of the region. The Arabs, by whom it is in the main possessed, are a warlike race, accustomed from infancy to arms and inured to combat. ' ' Their hand is against every man, and every man's hand is against them. " Yet they tremble if a lion is but known to be near,^-^ and can only with the utmost difficulty be persuaded by an Euro- pean to take any part in the chase of so dangerous an ani- mal.3^^ The lioness, no less than the lion, appears as a beast of chase upon the sculptures. It seems that in modern times she is quite as much feared as her consort. Indeed, when she has laid up cubs, she is even thought to be actually the more dan- gerous of the two.3*> [PL CXX., Fig. 1.] Next to the chase of the Hon and lioness, the early Assyrian monarchs delighted in that of the wild bull. It is not quite certain what exact species of animal is sought to be expressed by the representations upon the sculptures ; but on the whole it is perhaps most probable that the Aurochs or European bison {Bos tiriis of naturalists) is the beast intended. ^^^ At any rate it was an animal of such strength and courage that, according to the Assyrian belief, it ventured to contend with the hon. [PI. CXX., Fig. 2.] The Assyrian monarchs chased the wild buU in their chariots without dogs, but with the assistance of horsemen, who turned the animals when they fled, and brought them witliin the monarch's reach. ^- [PI. CXX.. Fig. 3.] The king then aimed his arrows at them, and the attend- ant horsemen, who were provided with bows, seem to have been permitted to do the same. The bull seldom fell imtil he cH. vn.! BULL-tiUNTlNG. 299 had received a number of wouuds ; and we sometimes see as many as five arrows still fixed in the body of one that has succumbed.*^ It would seem that the bull, when pushed, Avould, like the lion, make a rush at the king's chariot, in which case the monarch seized him by one of the horns and gave him the coiqy de grdce with his sword. The special zest with Avhich this animal was pursued^ may have arisen in part from its scarcit}'. The Aurochs is wild and shy ; it dishkes the neighborhood of man, and has retired before him till it is now found only in the forests of Lithuania, Carpathia, and the Caucasus. It seems nearly certain that, in the time of the later kings, the species of wild cattle previously hunted, whatever it was, had disappeared from Assyria alto- gether; at least this is the only probable account that can be given of its non-occurrence in the later sculptures, more espe- cially in those of Asshur-bani-pal, the son of Esar-haddon, which seem intended to i-epresent the chase under every aspect known at the time. We might therefore presume it to have been, even in the earlj^ period, already a somewhat rare ani- mal. And so we find in the Inscriptions that the animal, or animals, Avhich appear to represent wild cattle,*'^ were only met with in outlying districts of the empire — on the borders of Syria and in the country about Harran: and then in such small numbers **^ as to imply that even there they Avero not very abundant. When the chase of the nobler animals — the lion and the wild bull — had been conducted to a successful issue, the hunters re- turned in a grand procession to the capital, carrying with them as trophies of their prowess the bodies of the slain. These were borne aloft on the shoulders of men, three or four being required to carry each b^ast. Ha\ang been brought to an appointed spot, they were arranged side by side upon the ground, the heads of all pointing the same way ; and the mon- arch, attended by scvci-al of his principal officers, as the Vizier, the Chief Eunuch, the fan -bearers, the bow and mace bearers, and also by a number of musicians, came to the place, and sol- emnly poured a libation over the prostrate forms, first how- ever (as it would seem) raising the cup to his own lips.'**^ It is probable that this ceremony had to some extent a religious character. The Assyrian monarchs commonly ascribe the suc- cess of their himting expeditions to the gods Nin (or Ninip) and Nergal ; *** and we may well understand that a triumpliant re- turn would be accompanied by a thank-offering to the great J^OO THE SECOND MONARCHY. |cn. viL protectors under whose auspices success had been achieved. [PI. CXX., Fig. 4.] Besides the wild bull and the lion, the Assyrians are known to have hunted the following animals : the onager or wild ass, the stag, the ibex or wild goat, the gazelle, and the hare. The chase of the wild ass was conducted in various w^ays. The animal was most commonly pursued with dogs. The large and powerful hounds of the Assyrians, of which a certain use was made even in the chase of the lion,*"® have been al- ready noticed ; but it may be desirable in this place to give a fuller account of them. They were of a type approaching to that of ova- mastiff, being smooth haired, strong limbed, with a somewhat heavy head and neck, small pointed but drooping ears, 340 and a long tail, which was bushy and a little inclined to curl. They seem to have been very broad across the chest, and altogether better developed as to their fore than as to their hind parts, though even their hind legs were tolerably strong and sinewy. They must have been exceedingly bold, if they really faced the hunted lion ; and their pace must have been considerable, if they were found of service in chasing the wild ass. The hunters are represented as finding the wild asses in herds, among which are seen a certain number of foals. The king and his chief attendants pursue the game on horseback, armed with bows and arrows, and discharging their arrows as they go. Hounds also — not now held in leash, but free— join in the hunt, pressing on the game, and generally singling out some one individual from the herd, either a young colt or sometimes a full-grown animal. [PI. CXXI., Fig. 1. ] The horsemen occasionally brought down the asses with their shafts. [PI. CXXL, Fig. 2.] When theu- archery failed of suc- cess, the chase depended on the hounds, which are represented as running even the full-grown animal to a stand, and then worrying him till the hunters came up to give the last blow. Considering the speed of the full-grown wild ass, which is now regarded as almost impossible to take,^^ we may perhaps con- clude that the animals thus run doAvn by the hounds were such as the hunters had previously wounded;^'- for it can scarcelj' be supposed that such heavily -made dogs as the As- syrian could really have caught an un wounded and fuU-grown wild ass. [PI. CXXI., Fig. 3.] Instead of shooting the wild ass, or hunting him to the death with hounds, an endeavor was sometimes made to take him Vol I Fig. 1 Amphora, with twiatcd arms (Nimmd). Fl^ 2 Plate LXXXII Fig. 3. Fragments of liollow Tiilics, in Glass, from Koyvinjik (after Layard). Glass vaso, bearing the name of Saigon, fiom Kinirud. Fig. 4. Assviinn 'jl.i'-s Imttlt'S nrul bo Plate LXXXIV Fif/. Vol. I. No. 11. No. lU. Ordinary Assyrian Tables, from tbc bas-rclicfs. Fia. 2. No. I No. II Assyrian tables, from bas-reliefs (Kovi-njik). 7 No. III. Table, ornamented with rams' heads (Koyunjik.) ^ Sennacherib on his throne (Koyuiyik). Fig. No. IV. Ornamented t.ible (Khorsabad). Tliree-legged table (Koyunjik). cii. VII.] ^^-BSJiR-mrNTING. 3OX alive. [PI. CXXI., Fig. 4. J A species of noose seems to have been made by means of two ropes interlaced, which were passed — how, we cannot say — round the neck of the animal, and held him in such a way that all his struggles to release himself were vain. This mode of capture recalls the use of the lasso by the South Americans, and the employment of nooses by various nations, not merely in hunting, but in war- fare.^' It is doubtful, however, if the Assyrian practice ap- proached at all closely to any of these. The noose, if it may lie so called, was of a very peculiar kind. It was not formed by means of a slip-knot at the end of a single cord, but resulted from the interlacing of two ropes one with the other. There is great difficulty in underetanding how the ropes were got into their position. Certainly no single throw could have placed them round the neck of the animal in the manner rep- resented, nor could the capture have been effected, according to all appearance, by a single hunter. Two persons, at least, must have been required to combine their efforts — one before and one behind the creature which it was designed to capture. Deer, which have always abounded in Assyria,*" were either hunted wath dogs, or driven by beaters into nets, or sometimes shot with arrows by sportsmen. The illustration (PI. CXXII., Fig. 1) represents a dog in chase of a hind, and shows that the hounds which the Assyrians used for this purpose were of the same breed as those employed in the hunt of the lion and of the wild ass.^^ i^ pi CXXII., Fig. 2, we have a stricken stag, which may, perhaps, have been also hard pressed by hounds, in the act of leaping from rocky gi-ound into water. It is interesting to find this habit of the stag, with Avhich the modern English sportsman is so familiar, not merely existing in Assyria, but noticed by Assyrian sculptors, at the distance ftf more than twenty-five centuries from our own time. When deer were to be taken by nets, the sportsman began by setting in an upright position, with the help of numerous poles and pegs, a long, low net, like the dlKTvov of the Greeks.8^« [PI. CXXII., Fig. 1.] This was carried round in a curved line of considerable length, so as to enclose an ample space on every side excepting one, which was left open for the deer to enter. The meshes of the net were large and not very Regular. They were carefully secured by knots at all the an- gles. The net was bordered both at top and at bottom by a rope of much greater strength and thickness than that which formed the network ; and this was fastened to the gnmnd at ;}02 THE SECOND MONARCUT. [ch. va tho two extremities by pegs of superior size. [PI. CXXIII., Fig. 2. ] The general height of the net was about that of a man, but the two ends were sloped gently to the ground. Beaters, probably accompanied by dogs, roused the game in the coverts, which was then driven by shouts and barkings towards the place where the net was set. If it once entered within the two extremities of the net (a 6, PI. CXXIII., Fig. 1), its destruction was certain; for the beaters, following on its traces, occupied the space by which it had entered, and the net itself was not sufficiently visible for the deer to rise at it and clear it by a leap. In ttie chase of the ibex or wild goat, horsemen were em- ployed to discover the animals, which were generally found in herds, and to drive them towards the sportsman, who waited in ambush until the game appeared within bowshot.**^ [PI. CXXIII., Fig. 3.] An arrow was then let fly at the nearest or the choicest animal, which often fell at the first discharge. [PI. CXXIII., Fig. 4.] The sport was tame compared with many other kinds, and was probably not much affected by the higher orders. The chase of the gazelle is not shown on the sculptures. In modern times they are taken by the grayhound and the falcon, separately or in conjunction, the two being often trained to hunt together.**^ They are somewhat difficult to run down with dogs only, except inimediately after they have drunk water in hot weather. ^^^ That the Assyrians sometimes cap- tured them, appears by a hunting scene which Mr. Layard discovered at Khorsabad, w^here an attendant is represented carrying a gazelle on his shoulders, and holding a hare in his right hand.-^o [PI. CXXIV., Fig. 1.] As gazelles are veiy abundant both in the Sinjar country and in the district be- tween the Tigris and the Zagros range, ^^^ we may suppose that the Assyrians sometunes came upon them unawares, and transfixed them with their arrows before they could make their escape. They may also have taken them in nets, as they were accustomed to take deer;^^ but we have no evi- dence that they did so. The hare is seen very commonly in the hands of those who attend upon the huntsmen. ^^^ It is always represented as very small in proportion to the size of the men, whence we may perhaps conclude that the full-grown animal was less esteemed than the leveret. As the huntsmen in these repre- sentations have neither nets nor dogs, but seem to obtain their en. VII.] HUNTING SMALL GAME. 303 game solely by the boAV, we must presume that they were expert enough to strike the hare as it ran. There is no difficulty in making such a supposition as this, since the Assyrians have left us an evidence of their skill as marksmen which inii)lies even greater dexterity. The game which they principally sought in the districts where they occasionally killed the hare and the gazelle seems to have been the partridge ; and this game they had to bring down when u])()n the wing. We see the sportsmen in the sculptures aiming their arrows at the birds as they mount into the air (PI. CXXIV., Fig. 2), and in one instance we observe one of the birds in the ^ct of falling to the ground, transfixed by a well aimed shaft. *^ Such skill is not uncommon among sav- age hunting tribes, whose existence depends on the dexterity with which they employ their Aveapons; but it is rarely that a people which has passed out of this stage, and hunts for sport rather than subsistence, retains its old expertness. Hunting the hare with dogs was probably not very common, as it is only in a single instance that the Assyrian remains exhibit a trace of it. On one of the bronze dLshes discovered by Mr. Layard at Nimrud may be seen "^ a series of alternate dogs and hares, which shows that coursing was not unknown to the Assyrians. [PI. CXXIV., Fig. 3.1 The dog is of a kind not seen elsewhere in the remains of Assj^rian art. The head bears a resemblance to that of the wolf ; but the form gener- ally is that of a coarse grayhound, the legs and neck long, the body slim, and the tail curved at the end; offering thus a strong contrast to the ordinary Assyrian hound, which has been already represented more than once.*** Nets may sometimes have been employed for the capture of small game, such as hares and rabbits, since we occasionally see beaters or other attendants carrying upon poles, Avhich they hold over their shoulders, nets of dimensions far too small for them to have been used in the deer-hunts, with balls of string and pegs wherewith to extend them. [PL CXXIV., Fig. 4.] The nets in this case are squared at the ends, and seem to have been about eight or nine feet long, and less than a foot in height. They have large meshes, and, like the deer nets, are bordered both at top and bottom with a strong cord, to which the net-work is attached. Like the classical hv66ia, they were probablj^ placed across the nms of the animals, which, being baffled by them and turned from their accus- tomed tracks, would grow bewildered, and fall an easy prey 304 TUE SECOND MONARCUY. [cu. VIL to the hunters. Or, possibly, several of them may have been joined together, and a considerable space may then have been enclosed, within wnich the game may have been driven by the beaters. The cnase of these three weak and timid ani- mals, the gazelle, the hare, and the partridge, was not regarded as worthy fo the monarch. When the king is represented as present, he takes no part in it, but merely drives in his chariot through the woods where the sportsmen are amusing them- selves.^" Persons, however, of a good position, as appears from their dress and the number of their attendants, indulged in the sport, more especially eunuchs, who were probably those of the royal household. It is not unlikely that the special object was to supply the royal table with game.^^ The Assyrians do not seem to have had much skill as fisher- men. They were unacquainted with the rod, and fished by means of a simple line thrown into the water, one end of which was held in the hand. [PI. CXXV., Figs. 1, 2.] No float was used, and the bait must consequently have sunk to the bottom, unless prevented from so doing by the force of the stream. This method of fishing was likewise known and practised in Egypt,^ where, however, it was far more common to angle with a rod. 360 Though Assyrian fish-hooks have not been found, there can be no doubt that that invention was one with which they were acquainted, as were both the Egyptians ^^ and the early Chaldseans.^*^- Fishing was carried on both m rivers and in stews or ponds. The angler sometimes stood or squatted upon the bank; at other times, not content with commanding the mere edge of the water, he plunged in, and is seen mid-stream, astride upon an inflated skin, quietly pursuing his avocation. [PI. CXXVI. , Fig. 1.] Occasionally he improved his position by mounting upon a raft, and, seated at the stern, with his back to the rower, threw out his line and drew the fish from the water. •'^•^ Now and then the fisherman was provided with a plaited basket, made of rushes or flags, which was fastened round his neck with a string, and hung at his back, ready to receive the produce of his exertions. It does not appear that angling was practised by the Assyr- ians in the way that the monuments show it to have been practised in Egypt, as an amusement of the rich. 3*^* The fish- ermen are always poorly clothed, and seem to have belonged to the class which worked for its living. It is remarkable that we do not anywhere in the sculptures see nets used for fish- CH. VII.] MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 395 iag ; but perhaps we ought not to conclude from this that they were never so employed in Assy ria.*^^ The Assyrian sculptors represented only occasionally the scenes of common everyday life ; and we are seldom justified in drawing a negative con- clusion as to the peaceful habits of the peojjle on any point from the mere fact that the bas-reliefs contain no positive evidence on the subject. A few other animals were probably, but not certainly , chased by the Assyrians, as especially the ostrich and the bear. The gigantic bird, which remauied in Mesopotamia as late as the time of Xenophon,'*'''^ was well known to the Assyrian artists, who could scarcely have represented it with so much suc- cess,*^' unless its habits had been described by hunters. *^^ The bear is much less frequent upon the remains than the ostrich ; but its occurrence and the truthfulness of its delineation where it occurs, indicate a familiarity which may no doubt be due to other causes, but is probably traceable to the intimate knowl- edge acquired by those who hunted it. [PI. CXXVI., Fig. 2.] Of the other amusements and occupations of the Assyrians our knowledge is comparatively scanty ; but some pages may be here devoted to their music, their navigation, their com- merce, and their agricidture. On the first and second of these a good deal of light is thrown by the monuments, Avhile some interesting facts with respect to the third and fourth may be gathered both from this source and also from ancient writers. That the Babylonians, the neighbors of the Assyrians, and, in a certain sense, the inheritors of their empire, had a pas- sion for music, and delighted in a great variety of musical instrumt'uts, has long been known and admitted. The re- peated mention by Daniel, in his tliird chapter, of the " cor- net, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music ■' 383— or, at any rate, of a number of instruments for which those terms were once thought the best English equiva- lents— has familiarized us with the fact that in Babylonia, as early as the sixth century B.C., musical instruments of many different kinds wei-e in use. It is also apparent from the book of Psalms, that a variety of instruments were employed by the Jews.^"^ And we know that in Egypt as many as thirteen or fourteen different kinds were common.^'' In xissyria, if there was not so much variety as this, there were at any rate eight or nine quite different sorts, some stringed, some wind, some merely instruments of percussion. In the early sculpt- ures, indeed, only two or three musical instruments are repre- 20 306 ^^^^ SECOND MONARCHY. [en. vii. sented. One is a kind of harp, held between the left arm and the side, and played with one hand by means of a quill or plectrum. [PI. CXXVI., Fig. 3.] Another is a lyre, played by the hand ; while a third is apparently a cymbal. But in the later times we see — besides these instruments— a hai^j of a different make play edwith both hands, two or three kinds of lyre, the double pipe, the guitar or cithern, the tambourine, a nameless instrument, and more than one kind of drum. The harp of the early ages was a triangular instrument, con- sisting of a horizonial board which seems to have been about three feet in length, an upright bar inserted into one end of the board, commonly surmounted by an imitation of the human hand, and a number of strings which crossed diagonally from the board to the bar, and, liassing through the latter, hung down some way, terminating in tassels of no great size. The strings were eight, nine, or ten in number, and (apparently) were made fast to the board, but could be tightened or relaxed by means of a row of pegs inserted into the upright bar, round which the strings were probably wound. No difference is ap- parent in the thickness of the strings ; and it would seem there- fore that variety of tone was produced solely by difference of length. It is thought that this instrument must have been suspended round the player's neck.-^"'- It was carried at the left side, and was played (as already observed) with a quUl or vlectrum held in the right hand, while the left hand seems to have been employed in pressing the strings so as to modify the tone, or stop the vibrations, of the notes. The performers on this kind of harp, and indeed all other Assyrian musicians, are universally represented as standing while they play. The harp of later times was constructed, held, and played differently. It was still triangular,'''^ or nearly so; but the frame now consisted of a rounded and evidently hollow ^"* sounding-board, to which the strings were attached with the help of pegs, and a plain bar whereto they were made fast be- low, and from which their ends depended Like a fringe. The number of strings was greater than in the earlier harp, being sometimes as many as seventeen. The instrument was carried in such a way that the strings were perpendicular and the bar horizontal, while the sounding-board projected forwards at an angle above the player's head. It was played by the naked hand, without aplecfnnn ; and both hands seem to have found their employment in pulling the strings. [PI. CXXVII., Fig. 1.] Three varieties of the lyre are seen in the Assyrian sculpt- Vol. I. Fi2 1 Plate LXXXV. Fig- 5- Stands for jai-s. Arm-chair or Throno (KhorsabaJ). Fig. 2. Fig. 3- Assyrian couch, from a bas-relief, Koyunjik. Assyrian ornamented Seat (Khoraabad), Fig. 4- ^^<^ M ^^M. f^^^^-t No. L No. II. No. 1!:. Assyrian Footstoolfl (Koyunjik). Plate LXXXVI. VoL.f. Eoj-il embroidered dresses (Nimrud). F,g. 2. £iubroide:j oa s ropi dj-ess (ICimrud^ cii. VII.] MUSICAL INSTIiUMENTS. 307 iires. One of them is triangular, or nearly so, and has only four strings, which, being carried from one side of the triangle to the other, parallel to the base, are necessarily of very un- equal length. Its frame is apparently of wood, very simple, and entirely devoid of ornament. This sort of lyre has been found only in the latest sculptures. "'S [PI. CXXVI., Fig. 4. J Another variety nearly resembles in its general shape the lyre of the Egyptians. ^''^ It has a large square bottom or sound- ing-board,^" which is held, like the Egyptian, under the left elbow, two straight arms only slightly diverging, and a plain cross-bar at top. The number of strings visible in the least im- perfect representation is eight; but judging by the width of the instrument, we may fairly assume that the full complement was nine or ten. The strings run from the cross-bar to the sounding-board, and must have been of a uniform length. This lyre was played by both hands, and for greater security was attached by a band passing round the player's neck. [PI. CXXVII., Fig. 2.] The third sort of lyre was larger than either of the others, and considerably more elaborate. It had probably a sounding- board at bottom, like the lyre just described, though this, be- ing carried under the left elbow, is concealed in the represen- tations. Hence there branched out two curved arms, more or less ornamented, which were of very unequal length; and these were joined together by a cross-bar, also curved, and pro- jecting considerably l)eyond the end of the longer of the two arms. Owing to the inequality of the arms, the cross-bar sloped at an angle to the base, and the strings, which passed from the one to the other, consequently differed in length. The number of the strings in this Ij-re seems to have been either five or seven. [PI. CXXVIIL. Figs. 2, 3.] The Assyrian guitar is remarkable for the small size of the hollow body or sounding-board, and the great proportionate length of the neck or handle. There is nothing to show what was the numlier of the strings, nor whether they were stretched by pegs and elevated by means of a bridge. Both hands seem to be employed in playing the instrument, which is held across the chest in a sloping direction, and was probably kept in place by a ribbon or strap passed round the neck.^'* [PI. CXXVIIL, Fig. 1.] It is curious that in the Assyrian remains, while the double pipe is common, we find no instance at all either of the flute or of the single pipe. All three were employed in Egypt, and 308 1^^^ SECOND MONARCHY. [en. viL occur on the monuments of that country frequently ; ^'^ and though among the Greeks and Romans the double pipe was more common than the single one, yet the single pipe was well known, and its employment was not unusual. The Greeks regarded the pipe as altogether Asiatic, and ascribed its invention to Marsyas the Phrygian, '^° or to Olympus, his disciple. 8^1 We may conclude from this that they at any rate learnt the invention from Asia ; and in their decided prefer- ence of the double over the single pipe we may not improbably have a trace of the influence which Assyria exercised over Asiatic, and thus even over Greek, music. [PI. CXXVIII., Fig. 1] The Assyrian double pipe was short, probably not exceeding ten or twelve inches in length. ^®^ It is uncertain whether it was really a single instrument consisting of tAvo tubes united by a common mouthpiece, or whether it was not composed of two quite separate pipes, as was the case with the double pipes of the Greeks and Romans. The two pipes constituting a pair seem in Assyria to have been always of the same length, not, like the Roman " right " and "left pipes," of unequal length, and so of different pitches. ^83 They were held and played, like the classical one, with either hand of the performer. There can be little doubt that they were in reality quite straight, though sometimes they have been awkwardly represented as crooked by the artist. The tambourine of the AssjTian was round, like that in common use at the present day ; not square, like the ordinary Egyptian. ^^^ It seems to have consisted simply of a skin stretched on a circular frame, and to have been destitute alto- gether of the metal rings or balls which produce the jingling sound of the modern instrument. It was held at bottom by the left hand in a perpendicular position, and was struck at the side with the fingers of the right. [PI. CXXIX., Fig. 1.] Assyrian cymbals closely resembled those in conunon use throughout the East at the present day.^* They consisted of two hemispheres of metal, probably of bronze, rimning off to a point, which was elongated into a bar or handle. The player grasped a cymbal in each hand, and either clashed them together horizontally, or else, holding one cupwise in his left, brought the other down upon it perpendicularly with his right. [PL CXXX., Fig. 1.] Two drums are represented on the Assyrian sculptures. cir. VII.] MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 309 One is a small instrument resembling the hibbul, now frequently used by Eastern dancing-girls.^^** The other is of larger size, like the tubbul at top, but descending gradually in the shape of an inverted cone, and terminating almost in a point at bottom. Both were carried in front, against the stomach of the jjlayer — attached, apparently, to his girdle; and both were played in the same way, namely, with the fingers of the open hands on the top.»" [PI. CXXX., Fig. 2.] A few instruments carried by musicians are of an anomalous appearance, and do not admit of identification with any known species. One, which is borne by a musician in a processional scene belonging to the time of Semiacherib, resembles in shape a bag turned upside-down. By the manner in which it is held, we may conjecture that it was a sort of rattle — a hollow square box of wood or metal, containing stones or other hard substances which produced a jingling noise when shaken. But the purpose of the semicircular bow which hangs from the box is difficult to explain, unless we suppose that it was merely a handle by which to carry the instrument when not in use. Rattles of different kinds are found among the mus- ical instruments of Egypt ;*^^ and one of them consists of a box with a long handle attached to it. The jingling noise produced by such instruments may have corresponded to the sound now emitted by the side-rings of the tambourine. Another curious-looking instrument occurs in a processional scene of the time of Asshur-bani-pal, which has been com- pared to the modem santour, a sort of dulcimer. *^^ It con- sisted (apparently) of a number of strings, certainly not fewer than ten, stretched over a hollow case or sounding-board. The musician seems to have struck the strings with a small bar or hammer held in his right hand, while at the same time he made some use of his left hand in pressing them so as to produce the right note. It is clear that this instrument must have been suspended round the neck, though the Assyrian artist has omitted to represent the belt which kept it in place. [PI. CXXIX., Fig. 2. J In addition to all these various instruments, it is possible that the Assyrians may have made use of a sort of horn. An object is represented on a slab of Sennacherib's which is cer- tainly either a horn or a spealcing-trumpet. It is carried by one of the supervisors of the works in a scene representing the conveyance of a colossal bull to its destination. In shape it no doubt resembles the modern speaking-trumpet, but it ia 310 2'H^ SECOND MONARCHY. [en. vn. almost equally near to the tiiba or military trumpet of the Greeks and Romans. This will appear sufficiently on a comparison of the two representations, one of which is taken from Mr. Layard's representation of Sennacherib's slab, ^ while the other is from a sculpture on the column of Trajan. As we have no mention of the speaking-trumpet in any ancient writer, as the shape of the object under consider- ation is that of a known ancient instrument of music, and as an ordinary horn would have been of great use in giving signals to workmen engaged as the laborers are upon the sculpture, it seems best to regard the object in question as such a horn — an instrument of great power, but of little com- pass — more suitable therefore for signal-giving than for con- certs, ^^i [PI. CXXX., Fig. 3.] Passing now from the instruments of the Assyrians to the general features and character of their music, we may ob- serve, in the first place, that while it is fair to suppose them acquainted with each form of the triple symphony, ^'^ there is only evidence that they knew of two forms out of the three — viz., the harmony of instruments, and that of instruments and voices in combination. Of these two they seem greatly to have preferred the concert of mstruments without voices ; in- deed, one instance alone shows that they were not wholly ignorant of the more complex harmony. ^^^ Even this leaves it doubtful whether they themselves practised it; for the smgers and musicians represented as uniting theii* efforts are not Assyrians, but Susianians, who come out to greet their con- querors, and do honor to the new sovereign who has been im- posed on them, with singing, playing, and dancing. Assyrian bands were variously composed. The simplest consisted of two harpers. A band of this limited nmnber seems to have been an established part of the rehgious cere- monial on the return of the monarch from the chase, when a libation was poured over the dead game. The instrument in use on these occasions was the antique harp, which was played, not with the hand, but with the plectrum. A similar band appears on one occasion in a triumphal return fi'oni a military expedition belonging to the time of Sennacherib.*^^ [PI. CXXI.] In several instances we find bands of three musicians. In one case all three play the lyre. The musicians here are cer- tainly captives, whom the Assyrians have borne off from their own country. It has been thought that then- physiognomy is CH. vn.] MUSICIANS. 311 Jewish,^ and that the lyre which they bear m their hands may represent that " kind of harp "' which the cliildren of the later captivity hung up upon the willows when they wept by the rivers of Babylon. *-'*^ There are no sufficient grounds, how- ever, for this identification. The lyre may be pronounced foreign, since it is unlike any other specimen; but its orna- mentation with an animal head is sufficient to show that it is not Jewish.'^'' And the Jewish kinnor was rather a harp than a lyre, and had certainly more than four strings.^ Still, the employment of captives as musicians is interesting, though we cannot say that the captives are Jews. It shows us that the Assyrians, hke the later Babylonians,^ were in the habit of "requiring" music from their prisoners, who, when trans- ported into a " strange land," had to entertain their masters with their native melodies. Another band of three exhibits to us a hai-per, a player on the lyre, and a player on the double pipe.*^ A third shows a harper, a player on the lyre, and a musician whose instrument is uncertain. In this latter case it is quite possible that there may originally have been more musicians than three, for the sculpture is imperfect, terminating in the middle of a figure.*"^ Bands of four performers are about as common as bands of three. On an obehsk belonging to the time of Asshur-izir-pal we see a band composed of two cymbal-players and two per- formers on the lyre. A slab of Sennacherib's exhibits four harpers arranged in two pairs, all playing with the plectrum on the antique harp.*^'^ Another of the same date, which is in- complete, shows us a tambourine-player, a cymbal-i^layer, a player on the nondescript instrument which has been called a sort of rattle, and another whose instrument cannot be dis- tinguished. In a sculpture of a later period, which is repre- sented above,^'^ we see a band of four, composed of a tam- bourine-player, two players on two different sorts of lyrea, and a cymbal-player. It is not often that we find representations of bands contain- ing more than four performers. On the sculptures hitherto discovered there seem to be only three instances where this number was exceeded. A bas-relief of Sennacherib's showed five players, of whom two had tambourines ; two, harps of the antique pattern ; and one, cymbals.^"* Another, belonging to the time of his grandson, exhibited a band of seven, three of whom played upon harps of the later fashion, two on the double pipe, one on the guitar tind one on the long di-um with 312 TUB SECOND MONARCHY. [en. viL the conical bottom,*"^ Finally, we have the remarkable scene represented in the illustration, a work of the same date, where no fewer than twenty-six performers are seen uniting their efforts. Of these, eleven are i)layers on instruments, while the remaining fifteen are vocalists. The instruments consist of seven harps, two double pipes, a small drum or tubbul, and the curious instrument which has been compared to the modem santour. The players are all men, six out of the eleven being eunuchs. The singers consist of six women and nine children of various ages, the latter of whom seem to accompany their singing, as the Hebrews and Egyptians sometimes did,*°^ with clapping of the hands. Three out of the first four musicians are represented with one leg raised, as if dancing to the meas- ure. *o'' [PI. CXXXII., Fig. 1.] Bands in Assyria had sometimes, though not always, time- keejiers or leaders, Avho took the direction of the performance. These were commonly eunuchs, as indeed were the greater number of the musicians. They held in one hand a double rod or wand, with which most probably they made their sig- nals, and stood side by side facing the performers. [PI. CXXXII., Fig. 2.] The Assyrians seem to have employed music chiefly for fes- tive and religious purposes. The favorite instrimient in the religious ceremonies was the antique harp, which continued in use as a sacred instrument from the earliest to the latest times. ^"^^ On festive occasions the lyre was preferred, or a mixed band with a variety of instruments. In the quiet of domestic life the monarch and his sultana were entertained with concerted music played by a large niunber of performers ; while in processions and pageants, whether of a civil or of a mihtary character, bands were also very generally employed, consisting of two, three, four, five, or possibly more,*^^ musi- cians. Cymbals, the tambourine, and the instrument which has been above regarded as a sort of rattle, were peculiar to these processional occasions : the harp, the lyre, and the double pipe had likewise a place in them. In actual war, it would appear that music was employed very sparingly, if at all, by the Assyrians. No musicians are ever represented in the battle-scenes ; nor are the troops ac- companied by any when upon the march. Musicians are only seen conjoined with troops in one or two marching processions, apparently of a trimnphal character. It may consequently be doubted whether the Assyrian armies, when they went out on CH. VII.] NAVIGATION. 313 their expeditions, were attended, like the Egyptian and Ro- man armies, ■*''' by mihtary bands. Possibly, the musicians in the processional scenes alluded to belong to the coiu-t rather than to the camp, and merely take part as civilians in a pag- eant, wherein a share is also assigned to the soldiery. In proceeding, as already proposed,*" to speak of the navi- gation of the Assyrians, it must be at once premised that it is not as mariners, but only as fresh-water stiilors, that they coine within the category of navigators at all. Originally an iiiland people, they had no power, in the earlier ages of their history, to engage in any but the secondary and inferior kind of navigation ; and it would seem that, by the time when they succeeded in opening to themselves through their conquests a Avay to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, their habits had become so fixed in this respect that they no longer ad- mitted of change. There is satisfactory evidence which shows that they left the navigation of the two seas at the two extrem- ities of their empire to the subject nations — the Phoenicians and the Babylonians,"'^ contenting themselves with the profits without sharing the dangers of marine voyages, while their own attention was concentrated upon their two great rivers — the Tigris and the Euphrates, which formed the natural line of communication between the seas in question. The navigation of these streams was important to the Assyrians in two ways. In the first place it was a military necessity that they should be able, readilij and icithouf delay, to effect the passage of both of them, and also of their tribu- taries, which were frequently too deep to be forded."^ Now from very early times it was probably found tolerabl}' easy to pass an army over a great river by swimming, more espe- cially with the aid of inllatcd skins, which would be soon em- plo^d for the purpose. But the materiel of the army — the provisions, the chariots, and the siege machines — was not so readily transported, and indeed could only be conveyed across deep rivers by means of bridges, rafts, or boats. On tlu? great streams of the Tigris and Euphrates, with their enormous spring floods, no bridge, in the ordinary sense of the word, is possible."* Bridges of boats are still the only ones that exist on either river below the point at which they issue from the gorges of the mountains."'' And these would be comparatively late inventions, long subsequent to the employment of single ferry boats. Probably the earliest contrivance for transporting the chariots, the stores, and the engines across a river was a raft, ;n4 1"^^^ SECOND MONARCHY. [ai. vn. composed hastily of the trees and bushes growing in the neighborhood of the stream, and rendered capable of sustain- ing a considerable weight by the attachment to it of 'a number of inflated skins. A representation of such a raft, taken from a slab of Sennacherib, has been already given.*^^ Rafts of this kind are still largely employed in the navigation of the Meso- potamian streams, *i' and, being extremely simple in their construction, may reasonably be supposed to have been em- ployed by the Assyrians from the very foundation of their empire. To these rafts would naturally have succeeded boats of one kind or another. As early as the time of Tiglath-Pileser I. (ab. B.C. 1120) we find a mention of boats as employed in the passage of the Euphrates."* These would probably be of the kind described by Herodotus,"^ and represented on one of the most ancient bas-rehefs — round structures like the Welsh coracles, made of wickerwork and covered with skins, smeared over with a coating of bitumen. Boats of this con- struction were made of a considerable size. The one repre- 'sented contains a chariot, and is navigated by two men. [PI. CXXXIII., Fig. 1.] In the later sculptures the number of navigators is raised to four, and the boats carry a heavy load of stone or other material.*"-^ The mode of propulsion is curious and very unusual. The rowers sit at the stem and stern, facing each other, and while those at the stem pull, those at the stern must have pushed, as Herodotus tells us that they did.*-^ The make of the oars is also sin- gular. In the earliest sculptures they are short poles, ter- minating in a head, shaped like a small axe or hammer ;-'^ in the later, below this axe-like appendage, they have a sort of curved blade, which is, however, not solid, but perforated, so as to form a mere framework, which seems to require fiUing up. [PI. CXXXIII., Fig. 3.] Beside these round boats, which correspond closely with the " kiifas in use upon the Tigris and Euphrates at the present day,^^ the Assyrians employed for the passage of rivers, even in very early times, a vessel of a more scientific construction. The early bas-reliefs exhibit to us, together with the knfa, a second and much larger vessel, manned with a crew of seven men — a helmsman and six rowers, three upon either side *'^ — and capable of conveying across a broad stream two chariots at a time,*^ or a chariot and two or three passengers. This vessel appears to have been made of planks. It was long, and Vol. I. Plate LXXXVII. Gieiilar breaft oituuneut on > royal robe (Kinmul). en. VII.] BOATS. 3I5 comparatively narrow. It had a flattish bottom, and was rounded off towards the stem and stern, much as boats are rounded off towards the bows at the present day. It did not possess either mast or sail, but was propelled wholly by oars, wliich were of the same shape as those used anciently by the rowers in the round boats. In the steersman's hand is seen an oar of a different kind. It is much longer than the rowing oars, and terminates in an oval blade, which would have given it considerable power in the water. [PI. CXXXIII. , Fig. 4.] The helmsman steered with both hands ; and it seems that his oar was lashed to an upright post near the stern of the vessel. ^■^ It is evident that before armies could look habitually to being transported across the Mesopotamian streams, wherever they might happen to strike them in their expeditioiLS, by boats of these two kinds, either ferries must have been estab- lished at convenient intervals upon them, or traffic along their courses by means of boats must have been pretty regu- lar. An Assyrian array did not carry its boats with it, as a modern army does its pontoons. Boats were commonly foimd in sufficient numbers on the streams themselves when an army needed them, and were impressed, or hii-ed, to convey the troops across. And thus we see that the actual navigation of the streams had another object besides the military one of transport from bank to bank. Rivers are Nature's roads ; and we may be sure that the country had not been long settled before a Avater communication began to be established between towns upon the river-courses, and com- modities began to be transported by means of them. The very position of the chief towns upon the banks of the streams was probably connected with this sort of transport, the rivers furnishing the means by which large quantities of building material could be conveniently concentrated at a given spot, and by wliich supplies could afterwards be regu- larly rei'eived from a distance. We see in the Assyi'ian scvilptures the conveyance of stones, planks, etc. , along the rivers,^-' as well as the passage of chariots, horses,^-'' and persons across them. Rafts and round boats were most com- monly used for this piu-pose. When a mass of unusual size, ;i means of ropes, which were fiistened 316 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [cu. vit oithor to the boat itself or to its burden, [PI. CXXXIIL, Fig. 2.] During the later period of the monarchy various improve- ments took place in Assyrian boat-building. The Phrx-nician and Cyprian expeditions of the later kings made the Assyrians well acquainted with the ships of first-rate nautical nations; and they seem to have immediately profited by this acquaint- ance, in order to improve the appearance and the quality of their own river boats. The clumsy and inelegant long-boat of the earlier times was replaced, even for ordinary traffic, by a light and graceful fabric, which was evidently a copy from Phoenician models. Modifications, which would seem trifling if described, changed the whole character of the vessels, in which light and gracefid curves took the place of straight lines and angles only just rounded off. The stem and stem Avere raised high above the body of the boat, and were shaped like fishes' tails or carved into the heads of animals. ^^ [PI. CXXXIII., Fig. 2.] Oars, shaped nearly like modern ones, came into vogue, and the rowers were placed so as all to look one way, and to pull instead of pushing with their oars. Finally, the principle of the bireme was adopted, and river- galleys were constructed of such a size that they had to be manned by thirty rowers, who sat in two tiers one above the other at the sides of the galley, while the centre part, which seems to have been decked, was occupied by eight or ten other persons. ''^i In galleys of this kind the naval architecture of the Assyr- ians seems to have culminated. They never, so far as appears, adopted for their boats the inventions with Avhich their inter- course with Phoenicia had rendered them perfectly faniiliar.^32 of masts, and sails. This is probably to be explained from the extreme rapidity of the Mesopotamian rivers, on which sail- ing boats are still uncommon. The unfailing strength of row- ers was needed in order to meet and stem the force of tlie ciu*- rents ; and this strength being provided in abundance, it was not thought necessary to husband it or eke it out by the addi- tion of a second motive power. Again, the boats, being in- tended only for peaceful purposes, were unprovided with beaks, another invention well known to the Ass3'rians, and frequently introduced into their sculptures in the representa- tions of Phoenician vessels. [PI. CXXXIII., Fig. 5.] In the Assj-rian biremes the oars of the lower tier were worked through holes in the vessel's sides. ^'^ This arrange en. vii.J COMMERCE. 317 ment would of course at once supply a fulcrum and keep the oars in their places. But it is not so easj" to see how the oar of a common row-boat, or the uppermost tier of a bireme, ob- tained their purchase on the vessel, and were prevented from slipping along its side. Assyrian vessels had no rowlocks, and in general the oars are represented as simply rested with- out any support on the upper edge of the bulwark. But this can scarcely have been the real practice ; and one or two rep resentations, where a support is provided, may be fairly re- garded as showing what the practice actually Avas. In the figure of a kiifa, or round boat, already given, ^^ it will be seen that one oar is worked by means of a thong, like the Tpoirbq or Tpo7T(jTijp of the Greeks, which is attached to a ring in the bul- wark. In another bas-relief, *^^ several of the oars of similar boats are represented as kept in place by means of two pegs fixed into the top of the bulwark and inclined at an angle to one another. [PI. CXXXIIL, Fig. 6.] Probably one or other of these two methods of steadying the oar was in reaUty adopted in every instance. With regard to Assyrian commerce, it must at the outset be remarked that direct notices in ancient writers of any real authority are scanty in the extreme. The prophet Nahiun says indeed, in a broad and general way, of Nineveh, ' ' Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven ; " ** and Ezekiel tells us, more particularly, that Assyrian mer- chants, along with others, traded with Tyre ''in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel."*^" But, except these two, there seem to be no notices of Assyrian trade in any contemporary or (/uots^'-contemporary author. Herodo- tus, writing nearly two hundred years after the empire had come to an end, mentions casually that " Assyrian wares " had in very ancient times been conveyed by the Phoenicians to Greece, and there sold to the inhabitants.*^ He speaks also of a river traffic in his own day between Armenia and Babylon along the course of the Euphrates,*-^ a fact which in- directly throws light upon the habits of earlier ages. Diodo- rus, following Ctesias, declares that a number of cities were established from very ancient times on the banks of both the Tigris and the Euphrates, to serve as marts of trade to the merchants who imported into Assyria the commodities of Media and Para;tacene.^*^ Among the most important of these marts, as we learn from Strabo, were Tiphsach or Thapsacus on the Euphrates, and Opis upon the Tigris.-'" 313 THE SECOND MONABCUT. [cu. VIL It is from notices thus scanty, partial, and incidental, eked out by probability, and further helped by a certain number of important facts with respect to the commodities actually used in the country, whereof evidence has been furnished to us by the recent discoveries, that we have to form our estimate of the ancient commerce of the Assyrians. The Inscriptions throw little or no light upon the subject. They record the march of armies against foreign enemies, and their triumphant return laden with plunder and tribute, sometimes showing incidentally what products of a country were most in request among the Assyrians; but they contain no accounts of the journeys of merchants, or of the commodities which entered or quitted the country in the common course of trade. The favorable situation of Assyria for trade has often at- tracted remark. **2 Lying on the middle courses of two great navigable streams, it was readily approached by water both from the north-west and from the south-east. The communi- cation between the Mediterranean and the Southern or Indian Ocean naturally — almost necessarily — followed this route. If Europe wanted the wares and products of India, or if India required the commodities of Europe, by far the shortest and easiest course was the line from the eastern Mediterranean across Northern Syria, and thence by one or other of the two great streams to the innermost recess of the Persian Gulf. The route by the Nile, the canal of Neco, and the Red Sea, was decidedly inferior, more especially on account of the danger- ous navigation of that sea, but also because it was circuitous, and involved a voyage in the open ocean of at least twice the length of the other. **^ Again, Assyria lay almost necessarily on the line of land communication between the north-east and the south-west. The lofty Armenian mountain-chains — Niphates and the other parallel ranges — towards the north, and the great Arabian Desert towards the south, offered difficulties to companies of land-traders which they were unwilling to face, and naturally led them to select routes intermediate between these two ob- stacles, which could not faU to pass through some part or other of the Mesopotamian region. The established lines of land trade between Assyria and her neighbors were probably very numerous, but the most impor- tant must have been some five or six. One almost certainly led from the Urumiyeh basin over the KeJi-shin pass (lat. 37^, long. 45° nearly), descending on Rowandiz, and thence follow- cu. vii.] LINES OF LAND TRAFFIC. 319 ing the course of the Greater Zab to Herir, whence it crossed the plain to Nineveh. At the summit of the Keli-shin pass is a pillar of dark blue stone, six feet in height, two in breadth, and one in depth, let into a basement block of the same mate- rial, and covered with a cuneiform inscrijition in the Scythic character.*^'' At a short distance to the westward on the same route is another similar pillar."-' The date of the inscriptious falls within the most flourishing time of the Assyrian empire,**' and their erection is a strong argiunent in favor of the use of this route (which is one of the very few possible modes of crossing the Zagros range) in the time when that empii*e was in full vigor. Another line of land traffic probably passed over the same mountain-range considerably fiu'ther to the south. It united Assyria with Media, leading from the Northern Ecbatana (Takht-i-Suleimanj by the Banneh pass*^^ to Suleimaniyeh, and thence by Kerkuk and Altun-Kiupri to Arbela and Nineveh. Tliere may have been also a route up the valley of the Lesser Zab, by Koi-Sinjah and over the great Kandil range into Laji- han. There are said to be Assj^-ian remains near Koi-Sinjah,*** at a place called the Bihisht and Jehennen ("the Heaven and Hell ") of Ninn-ud, but no account has been given of them by any European traveller. Westward there were probably two chief lines of trade with Syria and the adjacent countries. One passed along the foot of the Sin jar range by Sidikan {Arhan) on the Khabour toTiph- sach (or Thapsacus) on the Euphrates, where it crossed the Great River. Thence it bent southwards, and, passing through Tadmor, was directed upon Pha-nicia most likely by way of Damascus.**^ Another tO(jk a more northern line by the Mons Masius to Harran and Seru j, crossing the Euphratt-s at Bir, and thence conununicating both with Upper Syria and with Asia ]\Iinor. The former of these two routes is marked as a line of traffic by the foreign objects discovered in such abundance at Arban,*^' by the name Tiphsach, which means "passage,"*^' and by the admitted object of Solomon in building Tadmor.*^-' The other rests on less direct evidence ; but there are indica- tions of it in the trade of Harran with Tyre which is men- tioned by Ezekiel,*^^ and in the Assyrian remains near Seruj,*^* which is on the route from Harran to the Bir ford way. Towards the north, probably, the route most used was that which is thoiight by many to be the line followed by Xeno- phon,*^ first up the valley of the Tigris to Til or Tilleli. and then ;^2() 2'y/-fi; SECOND MONAIWHY. [cji. vii, along the Bitlis Chai to the lake of Van and the adjacent coun- try. Another route may have led from Nineveh to Nisibis, thence tlu-ough the Jebel Tur to Diarbekr, and from Diarbekr up the Western Tigris to Arghana, Kharput, Malatiyeh, and Asia Minor. Assyrian remains have been foimd at various points along this latter line/^" while the former is almost cer- tain to have connected the Assyrian with the Armenian capi- tal. «7 Armenian productions would, however, reach Nineveh and the other great central cities mainly by the Tigris, down which they could easily have been floated from Tilleh, or even from Diarbekr. Similarly, Babylonian and Susianian productions, together with the commodities which either or both of those countries imported by sea, Avould find their way into Assyria up the courses of the two streams, which were navigated by vessels capable of stemming the force of the current, at least as high as Opis and Thapsacus.^^ We may now proceed to inquire what were the commodities which Assyria, either certainly or probably, imported by these various lines of land and water communication. Those of which we seem to have some indication in the existing remains are gold, tin, ivory, lead, stones of various kinds, cedar-wood, pearls, and engraved seals. Many articles in gold have been recovered at the various Assyrian sites where excavations have been made ; and indi- cations have been found of the employment of this precious metal in the ornamentation of palaces and of furniture.*^^ The actual quantity discovered has, indeed, been small ; but this may be accounted for without calling in question the reahty of that extraordinary wealth in the precious metals which is ascribed by all antiquity to Assyria.*'^'' This wealth no doubt flowed in, to a considerable extent, from the plunder of con- quered nations and the tribute paid by dependent monarchs. But the quantity obtained in this way would hardly have sufficed to maintain the luxury of the court and at the same time to accumulate, so that when Nineveh was taken there was " none end " of the store.*" It has been suggested*^- that "mines of gold were probably once worked within the Assyr- ian dominions," although no gold is now known to be produced any^vhere within her limits. But perhaps it is more probable that, like Judaea ^"^^ and Phoenicia,**^* she obtained her gold in a great measure from commerce, taking it either from the Phoenicians, who derived it both from Arabia ^° and from the Vol. Plate LXXXIX Assyrian war-chaviot (Koyunjik) Attachment of lopc to sleilf^c, on wliidi tlie bull was placed lor tiansport (Koyunjik). Fig. I Labourer employed in drawing a colossal bull (Koyunjik). Part of a bas-relief, showint; a pulley and a wariior cutting a bucket from the rope, (after LnjarJJ. Plate XC. ■ Vol. I. No. II. Chaiiot-wheel of the middle penod. Ko. III. Chariot-wheel of the latest period. Ornamented Ends of Chariot-poles (Nimrwd and Koyunjiky cu. vu.] IMPORTS. 321 West African coast,*^ or else from the Babylonians, who may have imported it by sea from India. ***^ Tin, which has not been found in a pure state in the remains of the Assyrians, but which enters regiilarly as an element into their bronze, where it forms from one-tenth to one-seventh of the mass,*^^ was also, probably, an importation. Tin is a comparatively rare metal. Abundant enough in certain places, it is not diffused at all widely over the earth's surface. Neither Assyria itself nor any of the neighboring countries are known to have ever produced this mineral. Phoenicia certainly im- ported it, directly or indirectly, from Cornwall and the ScLUy Isles, which therefore became first known in ancient geogra- phy as the Cassiterides or ' ' Tin Islands. " *«* It is a reasonable supposition that the tin wherewith the Assyrians hardened their bronze was obtained by their merchants from the Phoeni- cians *''^ in exchange for textile fabrics and (it may be) other commodities. If so, we may believe that in many instances the produce of our own tin mines which left our shores more than twenty-five centuries ago, has, after twice travelling a distance of many thousand miles, returned to seek a final rest in its native country. Ivory was used by the Assyrians extensively in their furni- ture,*"^ and was probably supplied by them to the Phoenicians and the Greeks. It was no doubt sometimes brought to them by subject nations as tribute;''"^ but this source of supply is not sufficient to account, at once, for the consumption in As- syria itself, and for the exports from Assyria to foreign coun- tries.*'^ A regular trade for ivory seems to have been carried on from very early times between India and Dedan (Bahreinf) in the Persian Gulf.*"* The "travelling conlpanies of the Dedanim,"*'^ who conveyed this precious merchandise from their own country to Phoenicia, passed probably along the course of the Euphrates, and left a portion of their Avares in tlie marts upon that stream, which may have been thence con- veyed to the great Assyrian cities. Or the same people may have traded directly witli Assyria by the route of the Tigris. Again, it is quite conceivable — indeed, it is probable — that there was a land ti'affic between Assyria and Western India by the way of Cabul, Herat, the Caspian Gates, and Media. Of this route we have a trace in the land animals engraved upon the well-knoAvn Black Obelisk, where the combination of the small-eared or Indian elephant and the rhinoceros with the two-humped Bactrian camel,*"" sufficiently marks the line 21 ',^22 '^^^^ SECOND MONARCHY. [en. vil by which the productions of India, occasionally at any rate, reached Assyria, The animals themselves were, we may be sure, very rarely transported. Indeed, it is not till the very close of the Persian empire that we find elephants possessed — and even then in scanty numbers— by the western Asiatic monarchs.*" But the more portable products of the Indus region, elephants' tusks, gold, and perhaps shawls and mus- lins, are likely to have passed to the west by this route wuth far greater frequency. The Assyrians w^ere connoisseurs in hard stones and gems, which they seem to have imported from all quarters. The lapis lazuli, which is found frequently among the remains as the material of seals, combs, rings, jars, and other small ob- jects, probably came from Bactria or the adjacent regions, whence alone it is procurable at the present day.^'^ The cor nelian used for cylinders may have come from Babylonia, which, according to Pliny, *"^ furnished it of the best qiiality in the more ancient times. The agates or onyxes may have been imported from Susiana, w^here they were found in the bed of the Choaspes {Kerkhah), or they may possibly have been brought from India. ^^ Other varieties are likely to have been furnished by Ai'menia, which is rich in stones ; and hence too was probably obtained the shaviir, or emery-stone,*^^ by means of which the Assyrians were enabled to engrave all the other hard substances known to them. That cedar-wood was imported into Assyria is suflBciently indicated by the fact that, although no cedars grew in the country, the beams in the palaces w-ere frequently of this ma- terial.*82 it may not, however, have been exactly an article of commerce, since the kings appear to have cut it after their successful expeditions into Syria, and to have carried it off from Lebanon and Amanus as part of the plunder of the country-. ^"^^ Pearls, which have been found in Assyrian earrings,*** must have been procured from the Persian Gulf, one of the few places frequented by the shell-fish which produces them. The pearl fisheries in these parts were pointed out to Nearchus, the admiral of Alexander,*^ and had no doubt been made to yield their treasures to the natives of the coasts and islands from a remote antiquity. The familiarity of the author of the book of Job with pearls *^^ is to be ascribed to the ancient trade in them throughout the regions adjoining the Gulf, which could not fail to bring them at an early date to the knowledge of the Hebrews, CH. VTi.] IMPORTS.— EXPORTS. 323 Engraved stones, generally in the shape of scarabs, seem to have been largely imported from Egypt into Assyria, where they were probably used either as amulets or as seals. They have been found in the greatest plenty at Arban **' on the lower Khabour, the ancient Sidikan or Shadikanni, which Hes nearly at the extreme west of the Assyrian territory; but many specimens have likewise been obtained from Nineveh and other of the central Assyrian cities.*** If we were to indulge in conjecture, we might add to this list of Assyrian importations at least an equal number of com- modities which, though they have not been found in the an- cient remains, may be fairly regarded, on grounds of proba- bility, as objects of trade between Assyria and her neighbors. Frankincense, which was burnt in such lavish profusion in the great temple at Babylon,**^ was probably offered in consid- erable quantities upon Assyrian altars, and coidd only have been obtained from Arabia.*'-*^ Cinnamon, which was used by the Jews from the time of the Exodus, *^^ and which was early imported into Greece by the Phoenicians,*'^- who received it from the Arabians, *^^ can scarcely have been unkno^vn in As- syria when the Hebrews were familiar with it. This precious spice must have reached the Arabians from Ceylon or Mala- bar, the most accessible of the countries producing it.*** Mus- lins, shawls, and other tissues are likely to have come by the same route as the cinnamon; and these may possibly have been among the ' ' blue clothes and broidered work and rich apparel " which the merchants of Asshur carried to Tyre in ' ' chests, bound with cords and made of cedar-wood. " **" Dyes, such as the Indian lacca,**' raw cotton, ebony and other woods, may have come by the same line of trade; while horses and mules are likely to have been imported from Armenia,*^" and slaves from the country between Armenia and the Halys River.«8 If from the imports of Assyria we pass to her exports, we leave a region of imcertain light to enter upon one of almost total darkness. That the "wares of Assyria" were among the commodities which the Phoenicians imported into Greece at a very early period, we have the testimony of Herodotus;*^ but he leaves us whollj' without information as to the nature of the wares themselves. No other classical writer of real au' thority touches the subject ; and any conclusions that we may form upon it must be derived from one of two sources, either general probability, or the single passage in a sacred author 324 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [cii. vir. which gives us a certain amount of authentic information.*^ From the passage in question, which has been already quoted at length, ^"1 we learn that the chief of the Assyrian exports to Phoenicia were textile fabrics, apparently of great value, since they were most carefully packed in chests of cedar- wood se- cured by cords. These fabrics may have been ' ' blue cloaks, " ^''^ or "embroidery,"*^ or " rich dresses " of any kind, ^^ for all these are mentioned by Ezekiel ; but we cannot say definitely which Assyria traded in, since the merchants of various other countries are joined in the passage with hers. Judging by the monuments, we should conclude that at least a portion of the embroidered work was from her looms and workshops ; for, as has been already shown, the embroidery of the Assyrians was of the most delicate and elaborate description.^'^'' She is also likely to have traded in rich apparel of all kinds, both such as she manufactured at home, and such as she imported from the far East by the lines of traffic which have been pointed out. Some of her own fabrics may possibly have been of silk, which in Roman times was a principal Assyrian export. ^^ Whether she exported her other peculiar productions, her transparent and colored glass, her exquisite metal bowls, plates, and dishes, her beautifully carved ivories, Ave cannot say. They have not hitherto been found in any place beyond her dominion,*' so that it would rather seem that she pro- duced them only for home consmnption. Some ancient no- tices appear to imply a belief on the part of the Greeks and Eomans that she produced and exported various spices. Horace speaks of Assyrian nard,*^'^^ Virgil of Assyrian amo- mum,^^ Tibullus of Assyrian odors generally. ^^'^ ^schylus has an allusion of the same kind in his Agamemnon. ^^^ Euri- pides^^- and Theocritus, ^^^ who mention respectively Syrian myrrh and Syrian frankincense, probably use the word " Syr- ian" for "Assyrian."^" The belief thus implied is not, how- ever, borne out by inquiry. Neither the spikenard (Nardo- stachys Jatamansi), nor the amomum {Amomum Cardamo- mu7n), nor the myrrh tree (Balsamodendron Myrrha), nor the frankincense tree (Bosxvellia thurifera), nor any otker actual spice,^i5 is produced within the limits of Assyria, which must always have imported its own spices from abroad, and can only have supplied them to other countries as a carrier. In this capacity she may very probably, even in the time of her early greatness, have conveyed on to the coast of Syria the spicy products of Arabia and India, and thus have created an cii. vxi.] AGRICULTURE. 325 impression, which afterwards remained as a tradition, that she was a great spice-producer as well as a spice-seller. In the same way, as a carrier, Assyria may have exported many other commodities. She may have traded with the Phoenicians, not only in her own products, but in the goods which she received from the south and east, from Bactria, India, and the Persian Gulf, — such as lapis lazuli, pearls, cin- namon, muslins, shawls, ivory, ebony, cotton. On the other hand, she may have conveyed to India, or at least to Babylon, the productions which the Phoenicians brouglit to Tyre and Sidon from the various countries bordering upon the Mediter- ranean Sea and even the Atlantic Ocean. — as tin, hides, pot- tery, oil, wine, linen. On this point, however, we have at present no evidence at all ; and as it is not the proper office of a historian to indulge at any length in mere conjecture, the consideration of the commercial dealings of the Assyrians may be here brought to a close. On the agriculture of the Assyrians a very few remarks will be offered. It has been already explained that the extent of cultivation depended entirely on the conveyance of water, ^i"* There is good reason to believe that the Assyrians found a way to spread water over almost the whole of their territory. Either by the system of kandts or subterranean aqueducts, which has prevailed in the East from very early times, *'^ or by an elaborate network of canals, the fertilizing fluid was con- veyed to nearly every part of Mesopotamia, which shows by its innumerable mounds, in regions which are now deserts, how large a population it was made to sustain imder the wise management of the great Assyrians monarchs.^i* Huge dams seem to have been thrown across the Tigris in various places, one of which (the Awai) still remains,^!' seriously impeding the navigation. It is formed of large masses of squared stones, united together by cramps of iron. Such artificial barriers were intended, not(as Strabo believed ^^') for the protection 6f the towns upon the river from a hostile fleet, but to raise the level of the stream, in order that its water might flow oft' into canals on one bank or the other, whence they could be spread by means of minor channels over large tracts of territoi-y. The canals themselves have in most cases been gradually tilled up. In one instance, however, owing either to the peculiar nature of the soil or to some unexplained cause, we are still able to trace the course of an Assyrian work of this class and to observe the manner and principles of its construction. 326 2'i/A' 8EC0NI). MONARCHY. [ch. vil In the tract of land lying between the lower course of the Great Zab River and the Tigris, in which was situated the im- portant town of Calah (now Nimrud), a tract which is partly alluvial, but more generally of secondary formation, hard gravel, sandstone, or conglomerate, are the remains of a canal undoubtedly Assyrian, ^'^^ which was carried for a distance of more than five-and-twenty miles from a point on the Khazr or Ghazr 8u, a tributary of the Zab, to the south-eastern corner of the Nimrud ruins. [PI. CXXXIV., Fig. 1.] Originally the canal seems to have been derived from the Zab itself, the water of which was drawn off, on its northern bank, through a short tun- nel — the modern Negoub— and then conducted along a cutting, first by the side of the Zab, and afterwards in a tortuous course across the undulating plain, into the ravine formed by the Shor-Derreh torrent. The Zab, when this part of the work was constructed, ran deep along its northern bank, and, send- ing a portion of its waters into the tunnel, maintained a con- stant stream in the canal. But after awhile the river aban- doned its north bank for the opposite shore; and, water ceas- ing to flow through the Negoub tunnel, it became necessary to obtain it in some other way. Accordingly the canal was ex- tended northwards, partly by cutting and partly by tunnel- ling, to the Ghazr Su at about two miles above its mouth, and a permanent supply was thenceforth obtained from that stream. 5-- The work may have been intended in part to supply Calah with mountain- water ; s^^^ j^^^^ ^j^g remains of dams and sluices along its course &-* sufficiently show that it was a canal for irrigation also. From it water was probably derived to fertilize the whole triangle lying south of Nimrud between the two streams, a tract containing nearly thirtj^ square miles of territory, mostly very fertile, and with careful cultivation well capable of supporting the almost metropolitan city on which it abutted. *In Assyria it must have been seldom that the Babj'lonian system of irrigation could have been found applicable, and the water simply derived from the rivers by side-cuts, leading it off from the natural channel. ^-^ There is but little of Assyria which is flat and alluvial ; the land generally undulates, and most of it stands at a considerable height above the various streams. The water therefore requires to be raised from the level of the rivers to that of the lands before it can be spread over them, and for this piu-pose hydraulic machinery of one kind or another is requisite. In cases where the kandt or cir. vir.l AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 327 subterranean conduit was employed, the Assyrians probably (like the ancient and the modern Persians ^^^) sank wells at intervals, and raised the water from them by means of a bucket and rope, the latter working over a puUey.^-"^ Where they could obtain a bank of a convenient height overhanging a river, they made use of the hand-swipe,'''" and with its aid lifted the water into a tank or reservoir, whence they could distribute it over their fields. In some instances, it would seem, they brought water to the tops of hills by means of aque- ducts, and then, constructhig a number of small channels, let the fluid trickle down them among their trees and crops.^'^ They may have occasionally, like the modern Arabs,*^ em- ployed the labor of an animal to raise the fluid ; but the mon- uments do not furnish us with any evidence of their use of this method. Neither do we find any trace of water-wheels, such as are employed upon the Orontes and other swift rivei-s, whereby a stream can itself be made to raise water from the land along its banks. ^^ According to Herodotus, the kinds of grain cultivated in Assyria in his time were wheat, barley, sesame, and millet. ^^ As these still constitute at the present day the principal agricultural products of the countiy,'^''^ we may conclude that they were in all probability the chief species cultivated under the Empire. The plough used, if we may judge by the single representation of it which has come down to us,^ was of a rude and primitive construction — a construction, however, which will bear comparison with that of the implements to this day in use through modern Turkey and Persia.*^ Of other agricultural implements we have no specimens at all, unless the square instrument with a small circle or wheel at each cor- ner, which appears on the same monument as the plough, may be regarded as intended for some farming purpose. [PI, CXXXIV., Fig. 2.] Besides grain, it seems certain that the Assyrians cultivated the vine. The vine will grow well in many parts of Assyria ; ^ and the momuneiits repi-esent vines, with a great deal of truth, not merely as growing in the countries to which the Assyrians made their expeditions, but as cultivated along the sides of the rivers near Nineveh,'"''' and in the gardens belonging to the palaces of the kuigs.^** In the former case they appear to grow without any supi)Oi't, and are seen in orchards intarel, and mantles, and wimples, and crisping-pins," their "glasses, and fine linen, and hoods, and veils," their "sweet smells, and girdles, and well-set hair, and stoma 332 TU^ SECOND MONAIWUY. [cii. vil chers,"^ we maybe sure that in Assyria too these various re- finements, or others similar to them, wore in use, and conse- quently that the art of the toilet was tolerably well advanced under the second great Asiatic Empire. That the monuments contain little evidence on the point need not cause any surprise ; since it is the natural consequence of the spirit of jealous re- serve common to the Oriental nations, which makes them rarely either represent women in their mimetic art or speak of them in their public documents.^'' If various kinds of gi-ain were cultivated in Assyria, such as wheat, barley, sesame, and millet,^^* we may assume that the food of the inhabitants, like that of other agricultural nations, consisted in part of bread. Sesame was no doubt used, as it is at the present day, principally for making oil ; ^"^ while wheat, barley, and millet were employed for food, and were made into cakes or loaves. The grain used, whatever it was, would be ground between two stones, ^^^ according to the universal Oriental practice even at the present day.^'^ It would then be moistened with water, kneaded in a dish or bowl, and either rolled into thin cakes, or pressed by the hand into smalls balls or loaves.^'^ Bread and cakes made in this way still form the chief food of the Arabs of these parts, who retain tlie habits of antiquity. Wheaten bread is generally eaten by preference ; ^"^ but the poorer sort are compelled to be content with the coarse millet,^'* or durra, flour, which is made into cakes, and then eaten with milk, butter, oil, or the fat of animals. Dates, the principal support of the inhabitants of Chaldsea, or Babylonia, both in ancient and in modern times, ^'^ were no doubt also an article of food in Assyria, though scarcely to any great extent. The date-palm does not bear well above the alluvium, and such fruit as it produces in the ujjper country is very little esteemed.^"'' Olives were certainly cultivated un- der the Empire,^" and the oil extracted from them was in great request. Honey was abundant, and wine plentiful. Sennacherib called his land ' ' a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey ; " ^'^ and the products here enumerated were probably those which formed the chief sustenance of the bulk of the people. Meat, which is never eaten to any great extent in the East,^'^ was probably beyond the means of most persons. Soldiers, however, upon an expedition were able to obtain this dainty at the expense of others; and accordingly we jfini that on such occasions they freely indulged in it, We rn. vn.J FOOD OF TlIF PEOPLE. 333 see them, after their victories, killing and cutting up sheep and oxen,^^' and then roasting the joints, which are not unlike our own, on the embers of a wood-fire.'''*^ [PI. CXXXVII., Fig. 2.] In the representations of entrenched camps we are shown the mode in which animals wore prepared for the roj-al diimer. They wen; placed upon their backs on a high table, with their heads hanging over its edge ; one man held thorn steady in this position, while another, taking hold of the neck, cut the throat a little below the chin.'^^'' The blood dripped into a bowl or basin placed beneath the head on the ground. [PI. CXXXVII., Fig. 3.] The animal was then no doubt, paunched, after which it was placed — either whole, or in joints — in a huge pot or caldron, and, a fire being lighted underneath, it was boiled to such a point as suited the taste of the king. [PI. CXXXVII., Fig. 5.] While the boiling pro- gressed, some portions were perhaps fried on the fire below. I PI. CXXXVII., Fig. 5. 1 Mutton appears to have been the favorite meat in the camp. At the court there would be a supply of venison, antelope's flesh, hares, partridges, and other game, varied perhaps occasionally with such delicacies as the flesh of the wild ox and the onager. Fish must have been an article of food in Assyria, or the monuments would not have presented us with so many in- stances of fishermen. ^^'^ Locusts were also eaten, and were accounted a delicacy, as is proved by their occurrence among the choice dainties of a banquet, which the royal attendants are represented in one bas-relief as bringing into the palace of the king.'""* Fruits, as was natural in so hot a climate, were highly prized ; among those of most repute were pomegran- ates, grapes, citrons,^"'' and, apparently, pineapples.^" |P1. CXXXVII., Fig. 4.] There is reason to believe that the Assyrians drank wine very freely. The vine was cultivated extensively, in the neighborhood of Nineveh and elsewhere ; ''*' and though there is no doubt tliat grapes wore eaten,, both raw and dried, still the main purpose of the vineyards was un(|uestionably the production of wine. Assyria was " a land of corn and wine," empliatically and before all else.^'*^ Great banquets seem to hi^ve beini frequent at the court,'''*" as at the courts of Babylon and Persia,^"' in which drinking was practised on a large scale. The Nin(?vitos gonorally are reproached as drunkards by Nahum.^^i In tlio bancpiet-scenes of the sculptures, it is drinking and not eating that is represented. Attendants dip 334 ^fl"^ SECOND MONAliCHY. [cir. vu. the wine-cups into, a huge bowl or vase, which stands on the ground and reaches as high as a man's chest ^^- and caiTy them full of liquor to the guests, who straightway fall to a carouse. [PI. CXXXVIII., Fig. 1.] The arrangement of the banquets is curious. Tlie guests, who are in one instance some forty or fifty in nvnnber,^-'^ in stead of being received at a common table, are divided int'. messes of four, who sit together, two and two, facing eacli other, each mess having its own table and its own attendant. The guests are all clothed in the long tasselled gown, over which they wear the deeply fringed belt and cross-belt. They have sandals on their feet, and on their arms armlets and bracelets. They sit on high stools, from which their legs dangle ; but in no case have they footstools, which would aj)- parently have been a great convenience. Most of the guests are bearded men, but intermixed with them we see a few eunuchs.^** Every guest holds in his right hand a wine-cup of a most elegant shape, the loAver part modelled into the form of a lion's head, from which the cup itself rises in a graceful cui-ve. [PI. CXXXVIII., Fig. 2.] They all raise their cups to a level with their heads, and look as if they were either pledging each other, or else one and all drinking the same toast. Both the stools and the tables are handsome, and tastefully, though not very richly, ornamented. Each table is overspread with a table-cloth, which hangs down on either side opposite the guests, but does not cover the ends of the table, which are thus fully exposed to view. In their general make the tables exactly resemble that used in a banquet- scene by a king of a later date,**^ but their ornamentation is much less elaborate. On each of them appears to have been placed the enigmatical article of which mention has been already made as a strange object generally accompanying the king.^*^ Alongside of it we see in most instances a sort of rude crescent. ^^' These objects have probably, both of them, a sacred import, the crescent being the emblem of Sin, the Moon-God, ^^* while the nameless article had some unknown religious use or meaning. In the great banqueting scene at Khorsabad, from which the above description is chiefly taken, it is shown that the Assyr- ians, like the Egyptians and the Greeks m the heroic tunes, ^ had the entertainment of music at theu- grand feasts and drink- ing bouts. At one end of the long series of figures represent ing guests and attendants was a band of performers, at least cii. vii.l FLOWERS.— ASSYRIAN DWELLINGS. 335 three in number, two of whom certainly played upon the lyre.®"" The lyres were ten-stringed, of a square shape, and hung round the player's neck by a string or ribbon. The Assyrians also resembled the Greeks and Romans ^^ in introducing flowers into their feasts. We have no evidence that they wore garlands, or crowned themselves with chaplets of flowers, or scattered roses over their rooms ; but still they appreciated the delightful adornment which tlowei"s furnish. In the long train of attendance represented at Koyimjik as bringing the materials of a banquet into the palace of the king, a considerable luimber bear vases of flowers. [PI. CXXXVIII. , Fig. 3. J These were probably placed on stands, like those which are often seen supj^orting jars,**^- and dispersed about the apartment in which the feast was held, but not put upon the tables. We have no knoAvledge of the ordinary houses of the Assyr- ians other than that which we derive from the single repre- sentation which the sculptures furnish of a village certainly Assyrian.6j3 n appears from this specimen that the houses were small, isolated from one another, and either flat-roofed, or else covered in with a dome or a high cone. They had no windows, but must have been lighted from the top, where, in some of the roofs, an aperture is discernible. The doorway was generally placed towards one end of the house; it was sometimes arched, but more often square-headed. The dooi"S in Assyrian houses were either single, as com- monly with ourselves, or folding (fores or irdva'), as with the Greeks and Romans, and with the modern French and Italians. Folding-doors were the most connnon in palaces. ^^* They were not hung upon hinges, like modern doors, but, like those of the classical nations, "^^ turned upon pivots. At Khorsabad the pavement slabs in the doorways showed everywhere the holes in which these pivots had worked, while in no instance did the wall at the side present any trace of the insertion of a hinge. «<*« Hinges, however, in the proper sense of the term, were not unknown to the Assyrians ; for two massive bronze sockets foimd at Nimrud, which weigh(>d more than six poimds each, and had a diamotor of about five inches,*^" must have been designed to receive tlie hinges of a door or gate, hung exactly as gates are now himg among ourselves. [PL CXXXVIII., Fig. 4.] The folding-doors were fastened by bolts, which were shot into the pavement at the point where the two doors met ; but in the case of single doors a lock seems to have been 336 27iii; tiECOND MONABC'UY. [en. vil. used, which was placed about four feet from the ground, and projected from the door itself, so that a recess had to be made in the wall behind the door to receive the lock when the door stood opeu.'''^* The bolt of the lock was of an oblong square shape and was shot into the wall against which the door closed. '^^^ The ordinary character of Assyrian furniture did not greatly differ from the furniture of modern times. That of the poorer classes was for the most part extremely plain, consisting prob- abl}^ of such tables, couches, and low stools as we see in the rep- resentations which are so frequent, of the interiors of soldieis' tents. "^^"^ In these the tables are generally of the cross-legged kind ; the couches follow the pattern given in a previous page of this volume, ^^^ except that the legs do not end m pine-shaped ornaments ; and the stools are either square blocks, or merely cut en chevron.^^'^ There are no chairs. The low stools evidently form the ordinary seats of the people, on which they sit to converse or to rest themselves. [PI. CXXXIX., Fig. 1.] The couches seem to have been the beds whereon the soldiers slept, and it may be doubted if the Assyrians knew of any other. [PI. CXXXIX., Fig. 2.] In the case of the monarch we have seen that the bedding consisted of a mattress, a large round pilloAv or cushion, and a coverlet ; '^^^ but in these simple couches of the poor we observe onlj^ a mattress, the upper part of which is slightly raised and fitted' into the curvature of the arm, so as to make a substitute for a pillow. [PI. CXXXIX., Fig. 2.] Perhaps, however, the day-laborer may have enjoj^ed on a couch of this smiple character slumbers sounder and more refreshing than Sardanapalus amid his comparative luxury. The household utensils seen in combination with these simple articles of furniture are few and somewhat rudely shaped. A jug with a long neck, an angular handle, and a pointed bot- tom, is common : it usually hangs from a nail or hook inserted into the tent-pole. Vases and bowls of a simple form occur, but are less fre(iuent. The men are seen with knives in their hands, and appeal* sometimes to be preparing food for their meals ; **^* but the form of the knife is marked xery indistinctly. Some of the household articles represented have a strange and unusual appearance. One is a, sort of short ladder, but with semicircular projections at the bottom, the use of which is not apparent ; anc^ther may be a board at which some game was played ;'^^° while a third is quite inexplicable. [PL CXXXIX., B^ig. 3.] . From actual discoveries of the utensUs themselves, we know en. vit] the " hanging gardens." 337 that the Assyrians used dishes of stone, alabaster, and bronze. They had also bronze cups, bowls, and plates, often elaborately patterned.''^® The dishes had coininonly a handle at the side, either fixed or movable, by which, when not in use, they coiUd be carried or hung on pegs. [PI. CXXXIX.,Fig. 6. J Chaldrons of bronze were also conunon : they varied from five feet to eighteen inches in height, and from two feet and a half to six feet in diameter.''" Jngs, fimnels, ladles, and jars have been found in the same metal; one of the funnels is shaped nearly like a modem wine-strainer. "» [Pl. CXXXIX., Fig. 4.] The Assyrians made use of bronze bells with iron tongues, "^ and, to render the sound of these more pleasing, they in- creased the proportion of the tin to the copper, rai.sing it from ton to fourteen per cent. The bells were always of small size, never (so far as appears) exceeding three inches and a quarter in height and two inches and a quarter in diameter. It is uncertain whether they were used, as modem bells, to sum- mon attendants, or only attached, as we see them on the sculpt- in-es, ''^^ to the collars and headstalls of horses. Some houses, but probably not very many, had gardens at- tached to them. The Assyrian taste in gardening was like that of the French. Trees of a similar character, or tall trees alternating with short ones, were planted in straight rows at an equal distance from one another, while straight paths and walks, meeting each other at right angles, traversed the grounds.^'-^ Water was abundantly supplied by means of ca- nals drawn off from a neighboring river, or was brought by an aqueduct from a distance.*'-^ A national taste of a peculiar kind, artificial and extravagant to a degree, caused the Assyrians to add to the cultivation of the natural ground the monstrous invention of "Hanging Gardens:" an invention introduced into Babylonia at a comi)aratively late date, but known in Assyria as early as the time of Sennacherib.'^'^ A "hanging garden" was sometimes combined with an aque duct, the banks of the stream which the aqueduct bore being planted with trees of different kinds.''-^ At other times it oc- cupied the roof of a building. ])robably raised for the purpose, and was supported upon a number of pillara. [PI. CXXXIX., Fig. 5.1 The employments of the Assyrians, which receive some il- lustration fi'om the monuments, arc. ix'sides war and hunting — subjects already discussed at length — chiefly building, boat ing, and agriculture. Of agricultural laborers, there occur 22 338 THE SECOND MOlSfABCHY. [cm. vil two or three only, introduced by the artists into a slab of Sen- nacherib's which represents the transport of a winged bull.^^t They are dressed in the ordinary short tunic and belt, and are employed in drawing water from a river by the help of hand- swipes for the purpose of irrigating their lands. "^'^ Boatmen are far more common. They are seen employed in the con- veyance of masses of stone, ^^^ and of other materials for build- ing,''® ferrying men and horses across a river, "'^ guiding their boat while a fisherman plies his craft from it,''*^ assisting soldiers to pursue the enemy, ''^^ and the like. They wear the short tunic and belt, and sometimes have their hair encircled with a fillet. Of laborers, employed in work connected with building, the examples are numerous. In the long series of slabs representing the construction of some of Sennacherib's great works, ^^^ although the bulk of those employed as labor- ers appear to be foreign captives, there are a certain number of the duties — duties less purely mechanical than the otl»ers — which are devolved on Assyrians. Assyrians load the hand- carts, and sometimes even draw them (PI. CXXXIX., Fig. 7), convey the implements — pickaxes, saws, shovels, hatchets, beams, forks, coils of rope — place the rollers, arrange the lever and work it, keep the carved masses of stone steady as they are moved along to their proper places, urge on the gangs of forced laborers with sticks, and finally direct the whole of the pro- ceedings by signals, which they give with their voice or with a long horn. Thus, however ample the command of naked human strength enjoyed by the Assyrian king, who had always at his absolute disposal the labor of many thousand captives, still there was in every great work much which could only be intrusted to Assyrians, w4io appear to have been employed largely in the grand constructions of their monarchs. The implements of labor have a considerable resemblance to those in present use among ourselves. The saws were two- handed; but as the handle was in the same Ime with the blade, instead of being set at right angles to it. they must have been somewhat awkward to use. The shovels were heart-shaped, like those which Sir C. Fellows noticed in Asia Minor.'53s The pickaxes had a single instead of a double head, wdiile the hatchets were double-headed, though here probably the second head was a mere knob intended to increase the force of the blow. [PI. CXL., Fig. 1.] The hand-cai-ts were small and of very simple construction : they were made open Plate XCIV Vol. I. Di'iving-whips of AssyrLan charioteers, from the Sculptures. CH. VII.] VEUICLES, 339 in front and behind, but had a slight framework at the sides. They had a pole rising a httle in front, and were generally drawn by two men. The wheels were commonly four-spoked. When the load had been placed on the cart, it seems to have been in general secured by two bands or ropes, which were pa.ssed over it diagonally, so as to cross each other at the top. Carts drawn by animals were no doubt used in the country ; but they are not found except in the scenes representing the trimnphant returns of armies, where it is more probable that the vehicles are foreign than Assyrian. They have poles — not shafts — and are drawn by two animals, either oxen, mules, or asses. The wheels have generally a large number of spokes— sometimes as many as eleven. Representations of these carts will be found in early pages. "^34 The Assyrians appear to have made occasional use of covered carriages. Several vehicles of this kind are repre- sented on an obelisk in the British Museiun. They have a high and clumsy body, which shows no window, and is placed on four disproportionately low wheels, which raise it only about a foot from the gi'ound. In front of this body is a small driving-place, enclosed in trelliswork, inside which the coach- man stands to drive. Each of these vehicles is drawn by two horses. It is probable that they were used to convey the ladies of the court ; and they were therefore carefully closed, in order that no curious glance of passers-by might rest upon the charming inmates. [PI. CXL., Fig. 3.] The carpentwn, in which the Roman matrons rode at the great public festivals, was similarly closed, both in front and beliind, as is evident from the representations which we have of it on medals and tombs. Except in the case of these covered veliicles, and of the chariots used in war and hunting, horses (as already ob- served^**) were not employed for draught. The Assyrians ap- pear to have regarded them as too noble for this purpose, unless where the monarch and those near to him were con- cerned, for whose needs nothing was too precious. On the military expeditions the horses were carefully fed and tended. Portable mangers were taken with the army for their conven- ience; and their food, which was probably barley, was brought to tliem by gi'ooms in sieves or shallow boxes, whence no doubt it wjis transferred to the mangers. (PI. CXL., Fig. 2.] They ai)pear to liave been allowed to go loose in the camp, without being cither hcjbbled or picketed. Care was tiiken^^f 340 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [en. vn to keep their coats clean and glossy by the use of the curry- comb, which was probably of iron.*'" [PI. CXL., Fig. 4.] Halters of two kinds were employed. Sometimes they con- sisted of a. mere simple noose, which was placed in the horse's mouth, and then drawn tight round the chin.''** More often (as in the illustration^ the rope was attached to a headstall, not unlike that of an ordinary bridle, but simpler, and proba- bly of a cheaper material. Leading reins, fastened to the bit of an ordinary bridle, were also common.*'*^ Such are the principal points connected with the peaceful customs of the Assyrians, on which the monuments recently discovered throw a tolerable amount of light. Much still re- mains in obscurity. It is not possible as yet, without di-awing largely on the imagination, to portray in any completeness the private life even of the Assyrian nobles, much less that of the common people. All that can be done is to gather up the frag- ments which time has spared ; to arrange them in something like order, and present them faithfully to the general reader, who, it is hoped, will feel a certain degree of interest in them severally, as matters of archaeology, and who will probably further find that he obtains from them in combination a fair no- tion of the general character and condition of the race, of its min- gled barbarism and civilization, knowledge and ignorance, art and rudeness, luxury and simplicity of habits. The novelist and even the essayist may commendably eke out the scantiness of facts by a free indulgence in the wide field of supposition and conjecture; but the historian is not entitled to stray into this enchanted ground. He must be content to remain within the tame and narrow circle of established fact. Where his materials are abundant, he is entitled to draw graphic sketches of the general condition of the people; but where they are scanty, as in the present mstance, he must be content to forego such pleasant pictures, in which the coloring and the filling-up would necessarily be derived, not from authentic data, but from his own fancy. CH. VIII. I AN.srniAN GODS.—AISSUUR. 34X CHAPTER Vin. REUGION. " The graven image, and the molten image."— Nahum i. 14. The religion of the AssjTians so nearly resembled — at least in its external aspect, in which alone we can contemplate it — the religion of the primitive Chalda>ans, that it will be mmeces- sary, after the full treatment which that subject received in an earlier portion of this work,^ to do much more than notice in the present place certain peculiarities by which it would ap- pear that the cult of Assyria was distinguished from that of the neighboring and closely connected coiuitry. "With the ex- ception that the first god in the Babylonian Pantheon was re- placed by a distinct and thoroughly national deity in the Pan- theon of Assyria, and that certain deities whose position was prominent in the one occupied a subordinate position in the other, the two religious systems may be pronounced, not simi- lar merely but identical. Each of them, without any real monotheism,'- commences with the same pre-eminence of a sin- gle deity, wjiich is followed by the same gi'oupings of identically the same divinities ; ^ and after that, by a multitudinous polythe- ism, which is chiefly of a local character. Each country, so far as we can see, has nearly the same worship — temples, al- tars, and ceremonies of the same type — the same religious em- blems — the same ideas. The only difference here is, that in Assyria ampler evidence exists of what was material in the re- ligious system, more abundant representations of the objects and modes of worship; so that it will be possible to give, by means of illustrations, a more graphic portraiture of the ex- ternals of the religion of the Assyrians than the scantiness of the remains permitted in the case of the primitive Chaldctans. At the head of the Assyrian Pantheon stood the "great god," Asshur. His usual titles are "the gi*eat Lord," "the King of all the Gods," " he who rules supreme over the Gods." * Some- times he is called "the Father of the Gods." though that is a title which is more properly assigned to Belus.^ His place is always first in invocations. He is regarded throughout all the Assyrian inscriptions as the especial tutelary deity both of the kings and of the country. He places the monarchs upon their 343 THE SECOND MONAliCUr. [en. viil. throne, firmly establishes them in the government, lengthens the years of their reigns, preserves their power, protects their forts and armies, makes their name celebrated, and the like. To him they look to give them victory over their enemies, to grant them all the wishes of their heart, and to allow them to be succeeded on their thrones by their sons and their sons' sons, to a remote posterity. Their usual phrase when speak- ing of him is " Asshur, my lord." They represent themselves as passing their lives in his service. It is to spread his worship that they carry on their wars. They fight, ravage, destroy in his name. Finally, when they subdue a country, they are careful to "set up the emblems of Asshur," and teach the peo- ple his laws and his worship. The tutelage of Asshur over Assyria is strongly marked by the identity of his name with that of the country, which in the original is complete.*^ It is also indicated by the curious fact that, unlike the other gods, Asshur had no notorious temple or shrine in any particular city of Assyria, a sign that his wor- ship was spread equally throughout the whole land, and not to any extent localized. As the national deity, he had given name to the original capital ; '^ but even at Asshur {Kileh-Sherghat) it may be doubted whether there was any building which was specially his.^ Therefore it is a reasonable conjecture^ that all the shrines throughout Assyria were open to his worehip, to whatever minor god they might happen to be dedicated. In the inscriptions the Assyrians are constantly described as " the servants of Asshur," and their enemies as " the enemies of Asshur. " The Assyrian religion is ' ' the worship of Asshur. " No similar phrases are used with respect to any of the other gods of the Pantheon. We can scarcely doubt that originally the god Asshur was the great progenitor of the race, Asshur, the son of Shem,^" deified. It was not long, however, before this notion was lost, and Asshur came to be viewed simply as a celestial being — the first and highest of all the divine agents who ruled over heaven and earth. It is indicative of the (comparatively speaking) elevated character of Assyrian polytheism that this exalted and awful deity continued from first to last the main object of worship, and was not superseded in the thoughts of men by the lower and more intelligible di\inities, such as Shamas and Sin, the Sun and Moon, Nergal the God of War, Nin the God of Hunting, or Vul the wielder of the thunderbolt." The favorite emblem under which the Assyrians appear to Plate. XCVI Vol. I. Cav.-diy soldici-s of the time of Sennachelib. .Fig. 2.\ (ji Ffg. 3. Ordinary Sandal of the first period Convex Shield of the first period (Nimrud) Foot archers of the lightest equip ■ ment, (Time of Saigon.) Fig. '>. Foot Spe.arman of the first period, with wicker shield (Nimrud). Foot Archer, -with Attendant — first period (Ximrud). cu. VIII.] EMBLEMS OF ASSUUE. 343 have represented Asshur in their works of art was the winged circle or globe, from which a figure in a horned cap is frequently seen to issue, sometimes simply holding a bow (Fig. I.), some- times shooting his arrows against the Assyrians' enemies (Fig II.). This emblem has been variously explained ;i^ but the most probable conjecture would seem to be that the circle typifies eternity, while the wings express omnipresence, and the human figure symbolizes wisdom or intelligence. The emblem appears under many varieties. Sometimes the figure which issues from it has no bow, and is represented as simply extending the right hand (Fig. III.); occasionally both hands are extended, and the left holds a ring or chaplet (Fig. IV.). [PL CXLI., Fig. 1.] In one instance we see a very remarkable variation : for the complete hmnan figure is substituted a mere pair of hands, which seem to come from behind the winged disk, the right open and exhibiting the palm, the left closed and holding a bow.^* [PI. CXLI., Fig. 2.] In a large munber of cases all sign of a person is dispensed with," the winged circle appearing alone, with the disk either plain or ornamented. On the other hand, there are one or two instances where the emblem exhibits three human heads instead of one — the central figure having on either side of it, a head, which seems to rest upon the feathers of the wing.i* [PI. CXLI., Fig. 3.] It is the opinion of some critics, based upon this form of the emblem, that the supreme deity of the Assyrians, whom the •winged circle seems always to represent, was in reality a triune god.i" Now certainly the triple human form is very remark- able, and lends a color to this conjecture ; but, as there is abso- lutely nothing, either in the statements of ancient writers, or in the Assyrian inscriptions, so far as they have been deci- phered, to confirm the supposition, it can hardly be accepted as the true explanation of the phenomenon. The doctrine of the Trinity, scarcely apprehended with any distinctness even by the ancient Jews, does not appear to have been one of those which primeval revelation made known throughout the heathen Avorld. It is a fanciful mj^sticism which finds a Trinity in the Eicton, Cneph. and Phtha of the Egyptians, the Oronia.sdes, Mithras, and Arimanius of the Persians, and the Monas, Logos, and Psyche of Pythagoras and Plato. ^' There are alu'udant Triads in ancient mythology, but no real Trinity. The case of Asshur is, however, one of simple unity. He is not even regu- larly included in any Triad. It is possible, however, that the triple figure .shows him to us in temporary combination with 344 THE SECOND MONAliCUY. [cji. via. two other gods, who may be exceptionally represented in this way rather than by their usual emblems. Or the three heads may be merely an exaggeration of that principle of repetition which gives rise so often to a double rejjresentation of a king or a god,^^ and which is seen at Bavian in the threefold repeti- tion of another sacred emblem, the horned cap. It is observable that in the sculptures the winged circle is seldom found except in immediate connection with the monarch.^'' The great King wears it embroidered upon his robes,'^'' carries it engraved upon his cylinder, '^^ represents it above his head in the rock-tablets on which he carves his image,-- stands or kneels in adoration before it,^ fights under its shadow,^ under its protection returns victorious,^ places it conspicuously in the scenes where he himself is represented on his obelisks. 2*5 And in these various representations he makes the emblem in a great measure conform to the circumstances in which he himself is engaged at the time. Where he is fighting, Asshur too has his arrow on the string, and points it against the king's adversaries. Where he is returning from victory, with the disused bow in the left hand and the right hand outstretched and elevated, Asshur takes the same attitude. In peaceful scenes the bow disappears altogether. If the king worships, the god holds out his hand to aid ; if he is engaged in secular arts, the divine presence is thought to be sufficiently marked by the circle and wings without the human figure. An emblem found in such frequent connection with the symbol of Asshur as to warrant the belief that it was attached in a special way to his worship, is the sacred or symbolical tree. Like the winged circle, this emblem has various forms. The simplest consists of a short pillar springing from a single pair of rams' horns, and surmounted by a capital composed of two pairs of rams' horns separated by one, two, or three hori- zontal bands ; above which there is, first, a scroll resembling that which commonly surmounts the winged circle, and then a flower, very much like the "honeysuckle ornament" of the Greeks.^ More advanced specimens show the pillar elongated with a capital in the middle in addition to the capital at the top, while the blossom above the upper capital, and generally the stem likewise, throw out a number of similar smaller blossoms, which are sometimes replaced by fir-cones or pome- granates. [PI. CXLI., Fig. 4.] Where the tree is most elabo- rately portrayed, we see, besides the stem and the blossoms, a complicated network of branches, which after interlacing with CH. viii.] THE SACRED TREE. 345 one another form a sort of arch surrounding the tree itself as with a frame. [PI. CXLII., Fig.l.] It is a subject of curious speculation, whether this sacred tree does not stand connected with the Asherah of the Phoeni cians, which was certainly not a " grove, " in the sense in which we commonly understand that word. The Asherah which the Jews adopted from the idolatrous nations with whom they came in contact, was an artificial structure, originally of wood,28 but in the later times probably of metal;^ capable of being "set "in the temple at Jerusalem by one king,^^ and "brought out" by another." It was a structure for which "hangings" could be made,'^ to cover and protect it, Avhile at the same time it was so far like a tree that it could be prop- erly said to be "cut down," rather than " broken" or other- wise demolished.'^ The name itself seems to imply something which stood straight up ; ** and the conjecture is reasonable that its essential element was " the straight stem of a tree,"^^ though whether the idea connected with the emblem was of the same nature with that which underlay the phallic rites of the Greeks ^ is (to say the least) extremely uncertain. We have no distinct evidence that the Assyrian sacred tree was a real tangible object: it may have been, as Mr. Layard sup- poses, "' a mere type. But it is perhaps on the whole more likely to have been an actual object ; ^ in which case we can not but suspect that it stood in the Assyrian system in much the same position as the Asherah in the Phoenician, being closely connected with the worship of the supreme god,^ and having certainly a symbolic character, though of what exact kind it may not be easy to determine. An analogy has been suggested between this Assyrian em- blem and the Scriptural " tree of life," which is thought to be variously reflected in the nniltiform mythology of the East.*' Are not such speculations somewhat over-fanciful? There is perhaps, in the emblem itself, which combines the horns of the ram — an animal noted for procreative power — with the image of a fruit or flower-producing tree, ground for suppos- ing that some allusion is intended to the prolific or generative energy in nature ; but more than this can scarcely be said without venturing upon more speculation. The time will perhaps ere long arrive when, by the interpretation of the mythological tablets of the Assyrians, their real notions on this and other kindred subjects may become known to us. Till then, it is best to remain content with such facis as are 346 '^H^ SECOND MONARCHY. [cH. vm. ascertainable, without seeking to penetrate mysteries at which we can but guess, and where, even if we guess aright, we cannot know that we do so. The gods worshipped in Assyria in the next degree to Asshur appear to have been, in the early times, Anu and Vul ; in the later, Bel, Sin, Shamas, Vul, Nin or Ninip, and Nergal. Gula, Ishtar, and Beltis were favorite goddesses. Hoa, Nebo, and Merodach, though occasional objects of worship, more especially under the later empire, were in far less repute in Assyria than in Babylonia; and the two last-named may almost be said to have been introduced into the former country from the latter during the historical period. ^^ For the special characteristics of these various gods — com- mon objects of worship to the Assyrians and the Babylonians from a very remote epoch — the reader is referred to the first part of this volume, where their several attributes and their position in the Chaldaean Pantheon have been noted." The general resemblance of the two religious systems is such, that ahnost everything which has been stated with respect to the gods of the First Empire may be taken us applying equally to those of the Second ; and the reader is requested to make this application in all cases, except where some shade of difference, more or less strongly marked, shall be pointed out. In the following pages, without repeating what has been said in the fii-st part of this volume, some account will be given of the worship of the principal gods in Assyria and of the chief temples dedicated to their service. ANU. The worship of Anu seems to have been introduced into Assyria from Babylonia during the times of Chaldaean suprem- acy which preceded the establishment of the independent Assyrian kingdom. Shamas-Vul, the son of Ismi-Dagon, king of Chaldaea, built a temple to Anu and Vul at Asshur, which was then the Assyrian capital, about B.C. 1820. An inscription of Tiglath-Pileser I. states that this temple lasted for 621 years, when, having fallen into decay, it was taken down by Asshur- dayan, his own great-grandfather.*^ Its site remained vacant for sixty years. Then Tiglath-Pileser I., in the begin- ning of his reign, rebuilt the temple more magnificently than before;" and from that time it seems to have remained among the principal shrines in Assyria. It was from a tradi- tion connected with this ancient temple of Shamas-Vul, that CH. vni.) ANU.—BIL, OR BEL. 347 Asshur in later times acquired the name of Tclane, or "the Mound of Anu," which it bears in Stephen.*^ Ann's place among the " Great Gods" of Assyria is not so well marked as that of many other divinities. His name does not occur as an element in the names of kings or of other important personages. He is omitted altogether from many solemn invocations.^^ It is doubtful whether he is one of the gods whose emblems were worn by the king and inscribed upon the rock- tablets.^' But, on the other hand, where he occurs in lists, he is invariably placed directly after Asshur ; ** and he is often coupled with that deity in a way which is strongly indicative of his exalted character. Tiglath-Pileser I. , though omitting liim from his opening invocation, speaks of him in the latter part of his great Inscription, as his lord and protector in the next place to Asshur. Asshur-izir-pal uses expressions as if he were Ann's special votary, calling himself " him who honors Anu," or " him who honors Anu and Dagan."*^ His son, the Black-Obelisk king, assigns him the second place in the invocation of thirteen gods with which he begins his record.*' The kings of the Lower Dynasty do not generally hold him in much repute ; Sargon, however, is an exception, perhaps because his own name closely resembled that of a god mentioned as one of Ann's sons.^i Sargon not unfrequently glorifies Anu, coupling him with Bel or Bil, the second god of the first Triad. He even made Anu the tute- lary god of one of the gates of his new city, Bit-Sargina (Khorsabad), joining him in this capacity with the goddess Ishtar. Anu had but few temples in Assyria. He seems to have had none at either Nineveh or Calah, and none of any importance in all Assyria, except that at Asshur. There is, however, r(\ason, to believe that he was occasionally honored with a shrine in a temple dedicated to another deity. ^^ BIL, or BEL. The classical writers represent Bel as especially a Babylonian god, and scarcely mention his worship by the Assyrians;'^ but the monuments sliow that the true Bel (called in tlio first part of this vohnne Bel-Nimrod) was worsliipjicd at least as mucli in tlie northern as in the southern eoimtry. Indeed, as early as the time of Tiglatli-Pileser I., the Assyrians, as a nation, were especially entitled by their monarchs ' ' the people of Belus ; " " 348 ^^^^ SECOND MONARCHY. (en. vnr. and the same periphrasis was in nsc during the period of the Lower Empire.^'' According to some authorities, a particular quarter of the city of Nineveh was denominated "the city of Belus; "*^ which would imply that it was in a peculiar way un- der his protection. The word Bel does not occur very fre- quently as an element in royal names ; it was borne, however, by at least three early Assyrian kings; ^' and there is evidence that in later times it entered as an element into the names of leading personages, with almost as much frequency as Asshur.^* The high rank of Bel in Assyria is very strongly marked. In the invocations his place is either the third or the sec<)nd. The former is his proper position, but occasionally Anu is omitted, and the name of Bel folloAvs immediately on that of Asshur.^^ In one or two places he is made third, notwithstand- ing that Anu is omitted, Shamas, the Sun-god, being advanced over his head ; ^ but this is very unusual. The worship of Bel in the earliest Assyrian times is marked by the royal names of Bel-sumili-kapi and Bel-lush, borne by two of the most ancient kings. ®i He had a temple at Asshur in conjunction with II or Ea, which must have been of great antiquity, for by the time of Tiglath-Pileser I. (B.C. 1130) it had fallen to decay and required a complete restoration, which it received from that monarch.^^ He had another temple at Calah; besides which he had four "arks" or "tabernacles," the emplacement of which is uncertain.^' Among the latter kings, Sargon especially paid him honor. Besides coupling him with Anu in his royal titles, he dedicated to him — in con- junction with Beltis, his wife — one of the gates of his city, and in many passages he ascribes his royal authority to the favor of Bel and Merodach.^* He also calls Bel, in the dedication of the eastern gate at Khorsabad, ' ' the establisher of the founda- tions of his city."®^ It may be suspected that the homed cap, which was no doubt a general emblem of divinity, was also in an especial way the symbol of this god. Esarhaddon states that he set up over "the image of his majesty the emblems of Asshur, the Sun, Bel, Nin, and Ishtar." ^ The other kings always include Bel among the chief objects of their worship. We should thus expect to find his emblem among those which the kings spe- cially affected ; and as all the other common emblems are as- signed to distinct gods with tolerable certainty, the horned cap alone remainmg doubtful, the most reasonable conjecture seems to be that it was Bel's symbol, e^ cii. vm.] HEA, on 110 A. 349 It has been assumed in some quartere that the Bel of the Assyrians was identical with the Phoenician Dagon.<^ A word which reads Da-gan is found in the native lists of divinities, and in one place the explanation attached seems to show that the term was among the titles of Bel.*^^ But this verbal resem- Mance between the name Dagon and one of Bel's titles is prob- ably a mere accident, and affords no ground for c\ssmning any connection between the two gods, who have nothing in com- mon one with the other. The Bel of the Assyrians was cer- tainly not their Fish-god ; nor had his epithet Da-gan any real connection with the word dag, n, "a fish." To speak of " Bel-Dagon" is thus to mislead the ordinary reader, who nat- urally supposes from tlie term that he is to identify the great god Belus, the second deity of the first Triad, with the fish forms upon the sculptures. HEA, or HOA. Hea, or Hoa, the third god of the first Triad, was not a prom- inent object of worship in Assyria. Asshur-izir-pal mentions him as having allotted to the four thousand deities of heaven and earth the senses of hearing, seeing, and understanding; and then, stating that the four thousand deities had trans- ferred all these senses to himself, proceeds to take Hoa's titles, and, as it were, to identify himself with the god.™ His son, Shalmaneser II., the Black-Obelisk king, gives Hoa his proper place in his opening invocation, mentioning him between Bel and Sin. Sargon puts one of the gates of his new city under Hoa's care, joining him with Bilat Hi — "the mistress of the gods " — who is, perhaps, the Sun-goddess, Gula. Sennacherib, after a successful expedition across a portion of the Persian Gidf, offers sacrifice to Hoa on the seashore, presenting him witli a golden boat, a golden fish, and a golden coffer. But these are exceptional instances; and on the whole it is evident that in Assyria Hoa was not a favorite god. The seipent, which is his emblem, though found on the black stones re- cording benefactions, and frequent on the Babylonian cylin- der-seals, is not adopted by the Assyrian kings among the di- vine symbols which they wear, or among those which they inscribe above their effigies. The word Hoa does not enter as an element into Assyrian names. The kings rarely invoke him. So far as we can tell, he had but two temples in Assy ria, one at Asshur (Kileh-Sherghatj and the other at Calah :^nO '^V//<; SECOND MONAlitllY. [en. viii. (Nimrud). l*erh;ips the devotion of the Assyrians to Nin— the tutelary god of their kings and of their capital— who in so many respects resembled Hoa,''^ caused the worskip of Hoa to decline and that of Nin gradually to supersede it. MYLITTA, or BELTIS. Beltis. the "Great Mother," the feminine counterpart of Bel, ranked in Assyria next to the Triad consisting of Anu, Bel, and Hoa. She is generally mentioned in close connection with Bel, her husband, in the Assyrian records. She appears to have been regarded in Assyria as especially "the queen of fertility," or " fecundity, " and so as "the queen of the lands," '- thus resembling the Greek Demeter, who, hke Beltis, was known as " the Great Mother." Sargon placed one of his gates under the protection of Beltis in conjunction with her husband, Bel; and Asshur-bani-pal, his great-grandson, re- paired and rededicated to her a temple at Nineveh, which stood on the gi'eat mound of Koyunjik.'s She had another temple at Asshur, and probably a third at Calah."* She seems to have been really known as Beltis in Assyria, and as Myhtta (Mulita) in Babylonia, though we should naturally have gathered the reverse from the extant classical notices."^ SIN, or THE MOON. Sin, the Moon-god, ranked next to Beltis in Assyrian my- thology, and his place is thus either fifth or sixth in the full lists, according as Beltis is, or is not, inserted. His worship in the time of the early empire appears from the invocation of Tiglath-Pileser I. , where he occurs in the third place, between Bel and Shamas.'« [PI. CXLII., Fig. 2.] His emblem, the cres- cent, was worn by Asshur -izir-pal,'" and is found wherever di- vine symbols are inscribed over their efiigies by the Ass}Tian kings. There is no sign which is more frequent on the cylinder-seals, whether Babylonian or Assyrian."^ and it would thus seem that Sin was among the most popular of Assyria's deities. His name occurs sometimes, though not so frequently as some others, in the appellations of important personages, as e. g. in that of Sennacherib, which is explained to mean " Sin multiplies brethren." Sargon, who thus named one of his sons, appears to have been specially attached to the worship of Sin, to whom, in conjunction with Shamas, he Plate'XCVII. Foot Arch Archer of the Inlermeaiate equip- p^^ ^^^^^^ ^f ^j^^ ^ equipment, with ment. ^iih AttcmUnl. (l.m. of attendant. (Time of Saigon.) Siirgon.) ^ ^ ■' Fig. 4 Fig. 3. G reave of a spcarmaD (EhonaW). Foot Spearman of the time of Sargon ^Khorsabad). Shield of a spearroon (Khorsabad). Plate XCVIII. Fig 1. Vol. 0=j^ Spear, with weight at the lower end (Khorsabad). Fig. 3. Foot Arcncrs of the second class. (Time of Bcnnacheiib.) ''•g-4. Sling (Koyiinjik). Foot Archef of the Heavy Equipment, JJelts and head-dr(^s of a foot archer of the •with Attendant. (Time of Sennacherib.) third class. (Time of Sennacheiib.) en. VIII.] Siy, THE MOON-GOB.— SIIAMA8. 351 built a temple at Khorsabad,"^ and to whom he assigned the second place among the tutelary deities of his cit}'.*^ The Assyrian monarchs appear to have had a ciu-ious be- lief in the special antiquity of the Moon-god. When they wished to mark a very remote period, they u.sed the expres- sion "from the origin of the god Sin."" This is perhaps a trace of the ancient connection of Assyria with Babylonia, where the earliest capital, Ur, was under the Moon-god's pro- tection, and the most primeval temple was dedicated to his honor. *- Only two temples are known to have been erected to Sin in Assyria. One is that already mentioned as dedicated by Sargon at Bit-Sargina (Khorsabad) to the Sun and ^loon in conjunction. The other was at Calah, and in that Sin had no associate. SHAMAS. Shamas, the Sun-god, though in rank inferior to Sin, seems to have been a still more favorite and more universal object of worship. From many passages we should have gathered that lie was second only to Asshur in the estimation of the Assyr- ian monarchs, who sometimes actually place him above Bel in their lists. ^* His emblem, the four-rayed orb, is worn by the king upon his neck,** and seen more commonly than almost any other upon the cylinder-seals. It is even in some instances united with that of Asshur, the central circle of As- shur's emblem being marked by the fourfold rays of Shanicis.** The worship of Shamas was ancient in Assyria. Tiglath- Pileser I. not only names him in his invocation, but represents himself as ruling especially under his auspices.^*^ Asslun-izir- pal mentions Asshur and Shamas as the tutelary deities under Avhose influence he carried on his various wars." His son, the Black-Obelisk king, assigns to Shamas his proper place among the gods whose favor he invokes at the commencement of his long Inscription.*** The kings of the Lower Empire were even more devoted to him than their predecessors. Sar- gon dedicated to him the north gate of his citj, in conjunction with Vul, the god of the air, built a temple to him at Khorsa- bad in conjunction with Sin, and assigned him the third place among the tutelary deities of his new town. *^ Sennacherib and Esarhaddon mention his name next to Asshur's in pas.s;iges where they enumerate the gods whom they regard as their chief i)rotectors. 852 "^^^ SECOND MONARCHY. [( ii. viii. Excepting at Khorsabad, where he had a temple (as above mentioned) in conjunction with Sin, Shamas does not appear to have had any special buildings dedicated to his honor.*' His images are, however, often noticed in the lists of idols, and it is probable therefore that he received worship in temples dedicated to other deities. His emblem is generally found conjoined with that of the moon, the two being placed side by side, or the one directly under the other. [PI. CXLII., Fig. 3.] VUL, or IVA. This god, whose name is still so uncertain,'^ was known in Assyria 'from times anterior to the independence, a temple having been raised in his sole honor at Asshur,^^ the original Assyrian capital, by Shamas- Vul, the son of the Chaldanm king Ismi-Dagon, besides the temple (already mentioned)** which the same monarch dedicated to him in conjunction with Anu. These buildings having fallen to iniin by the time of Tiglath-Pileser I. , were by him rebuilt from their base ; and Vul, who was worshipped in both, appears to have been regarded by that monarch as one of his special " guardian deities.'"'** In the Black-Obelisk invocation Vul holds the place intermediate between Sin and Shamas, and on the same monument is recorded the fact that the king who erected it held, on one occasion, a festival to Vul in conjunction with Asshur.^^ Sargon names Vul in the fourth place among the tutelary deities of his city,*^ and dedicates to him the north gate in conjunction with the Sun-god, Shamas.^' Sennacherib speaks of hurling thunder on his enemies like Vul,^» and other kings use similar expressions.^^ The term Vul was frequently employed as an element in royal and other names ; ^'^ and the emblem which seems to have symbolized him — the double or triple bolt ^"^i— appears constantly among those worn by the kings, '"'•^ and engraved above their heads on the rock-tablets. ^"» [PI. CXLII, Fig. 4.] Vul had a temple at Calah i^* besides the two temples in which he received worship at Asshur. It was dedicated to him in conjunction with the goddess Shala, who appears to have been regarded as his wife. It is not quite certain whether we can recognize any repre- sentations of Vul in the Assyrian remains. Perhaps the figure with four wings and a horned cap,i''^ who wields a thunderbolt in either hand, and attacks therewith the monster, half lion. cii. viii.J GULA.—NINIP, OH NIN. 353 half eagle, whicli is known to us fi-om the Nimrod sculptures, may be inteudeii for lliis deity. If so, it will be reasonable also to recognize him in the figure with ui)lifted foot, sometimes perched uj^on an ox, and bearing, like the other, one or two thunderbolts, which occasionally occm-s upon the cylinders.^''* It is uncertain, however, whether tht; former of these figures is not one of the many different representiitions of Nin, the Assyrian Hercules ; and, should that prove the true explana tion in the one case, no very great confidence could be felt in the suggested identification in the other. GULA. Gula, the Sun-goddess, does not occupy a very high position among the deities of Assyria. Her emblem, indeed, the eight- rayed disk, is borne, together with her husband's, by the Assyrian monarchs,^'" and is inscribed on the rock-tablets, on the stones recording benefactions, and on the cylinder-seals, with remarkable frequenc3^ But her name occurs rarely in tlie inscriptions, and, where it is found, appears low down in the lists. In the Black-Obelisk invocation, out of thirteen deities named, she is the twelfth.'"* Elsewhere she scarcely apjjears, imless in inscriptions of a purely religious character. Perhaps she was commonly regarded as so much one with her husband that a separate and distinct mention of her seemed not to be requisite. Gula is known to have had at least two temples in AssjTia. One of these was at Asshur, where she was worshipped in combination with ten other deities, of whom one only, Ishtar, was of high rank.''^^ The other was at Calah, where her hus- band had also a temple."" She is perhaps to be identified with Bilat-Ili, "the mistress of the gods," to whom Sargon dedi- cated one of his gates in conjunction with Hoa.*" NINIP, or NIN. Among the gods* of th(^ second order, there is none whom the Assyrians worshipped witli more devotion than Nin, or Ninip. In traditions which are pi'obably ancient, the race of their kings was derived from him,"- and after him was called the mighty city which ultimately became their capital. As early as the thirteenth century B.C. the name of Nin w;is used as an element in royal appellations ;ii* and the fii-st king who has left us an historical inscription regarded himself as being in 23 354 TUB SECOND MONARCHY. [en. vill. an especial way under Nin's guardianship. Tiglath-Pileser I. is " the ilhistrious prince whom Asshur and Nin have exalted to the utmost wishes of his heart." "* He speaks of Nin some- times singly, sometimes in conjunction with Asshur, as his "guardian deity." "^ Nin and Nergal make his weapons sharp for him, and under Nin's auspices the fiercest beasts of the field fall beneath them.^^" Asshur-izir-pal built him a magnifi- cent temple at Nimrud (Calah)."^ Shamas-Vul, the grandson of this king, dedicated to him the obelisk which he set up at that place in conunemoration of his victories. "** Sargon placed his newly-built city in part under his protection, ^^^ and spe- cially invoked him to guard his magnificent palace. ^'-^^ The or- namentation of that edifice indicated in a very striking way the reverence of the builder for this god, whose symbol, the winged bull,i2i gv;arded all its main gateways, and who seems to have been actually represented by the figure strangling a lion, so conspicuous on the Hareem portal facing the great court. 122 ]S]-Qj. (ji(j Sargon regard Nin as his protector only in peace. He ascribed to his influence the successful issue of his wars ; and it is probably to indicate the belief which he enter- tained on this point that he occasionally placed Nin's emblems on the sculptures representing his expeditions. ^'^ Sennacherib, the son and successor of Sargon, appears to have had much the same feelings towards Nin as his father, since in his buildings he gave the same prominence to the winged bull and to the figure strangling the lion ; placing the former at almost all his door ways, and giving the latter a conspicuous position on the grand fagade of his chief palace. i^* Esarhaddon relates that he con- tinued in the woi'ship of Nin, setting up his emblem over his own royal effigy, together with those of Asshur, Shamas, Bel, and Ishtar.^^ It appears at first sight as if, notwithstanding the general prominency of Nin in the Assyrian religious system, there was one respect in which he stood below a considerable number of the gods. We seldom find his name used openly as an element in the royal appellations. In the list of kings three only will be found with names into which the term Nin enters, i-"*^ But there is reason to believe that, in the case of this god, it was usual to speak of him under a periphrasis ; ^^^ and this peri- phrasis entered into names in lieu of the god's proper designa- tion. Five kings (if this be admitted) may be regarded as named after him, which is as large a number as we find named after any god but Vul and Asshur. CH. vni.] MERODACH.—NERGAL. 355 The principal temples known to have been dedicated to Nin in Assyria were at Calah, the modern Nimriul. There the vast structure at the north-western angle of the great mound, including the pyramidical eminence which is the most strik- ing feature of the ruins, was a temple dedicated to the honor of Nin by Asshur-izir-pal, the builder of the North-West Palace. We can have little doubt that this building represents the " busta Nini " of the clasical writers, tlie ])lace where Ninus (Nin or Nin-ip), who was regarded by the Greeks as the hero-founder of the natiitn, w as interred and specially wor- shipped. Nin liad also a second temple in this town, which bore the name of Bit-kura (or Beth-kura), as the other one did of Bit-zira (or Beth-zira).^'-^ It seems to have been from the fane of Beth-zira tliat Nin had the title Pal-zira, which forms a substitute for Nin, as already noticed,^ in one of the royal names. MERODACH. Most of the early kings of Assyria mention Merodach in their opening invocations, and we sometimes find an allusion in their inscrij)tions, which seems to imply that he was viewed as it god of great power. >*' But he is decidedly not a favorite objeo* of worship in Assyria until a comparatively recent periou. Vul-lush III. indeed claims to have been the first to give him a prominent place in the Assyrian Pantheon ; i^i and it may be conjectured that the Babylonian expeditions of this monarch furnished the mipulse which led to a modification in this re- spect of the Assyrian religious system. The later kings, Sar- gon and liis successors, maintain the worship introduced by Vul-lush. Sargon habitually regards his power as conferred upon him by the combined favor of Merodach and Asshur,'** while P^sarhaddon sculptures Merodach's emblem, together with that of Asshur, over the images of foreign gods brought to him by a suppliant prince.'** No temple to Merodach, is, however, known to have e.^sted in Assyria, even under the later kings. His name, however, was not infrequently used as an element ui the appellations of Assyrians. '** NERGAL. Among the Minor gods, Nergal is one whom the Assyrians seem to have regarded with extraordinary reverence. He '♦'as the divine ancestor froin whom tlie monarchs loved to 356 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [cm. viil boast that they derived their descent — the line being traceable, according to Sargon, througli three hundred and fifty genera- tions.'*' They symbolized him by the winged lion with a hu- man head,''*" or possibly sometimes by the mere natural lion ; '*" and it was to mark their confident dependence on his pro- tection that they made his emblems so conspicuous in their I)alaces. Nin and Nergal — the gods of war and hunting, the occupations in which the Assyrian monarchs passed thf;ir lives — were tutelary divinities of the race, the life, and the homes of the kings, who associate the two equally in their in- scriptions and their sculptures, Nergal, though thus honored by the frequent mention of his name and erection of his emblem, did not (so far as appears) often receive the tribute of a temple. Sennacherib dedicated one to him at Tarbisi (now Sherif-khan), near Khorsabad ; ^^ and he may have had another at Calah (Nimrud), of which he is said to have been one of the " resident gods." ^^ But gener- ally it would seem tliat the Assyrians were content to pay him honor in other ways ^'^ without constructing special buildings devoted exclusively to his worship. ISHTAR. Ishtar was very generally worshipped by the Assyrian mon- archs, who called her " then- lady," and sometimes in their in- vocations coupled her with the supreme god Asshur.'*^ She had a very ancient temple at Asshur, the primeval capital, which Tiglath-Pileser I. repaired and beautified.'*-^ Asshur- izir-pal built her a second temple at Nineveh, ^^^ and she had a third at Arbela, which Asshur-bani-pal states that he re- stored.'** Sargon placed under her protection, conjointly with Anu, the western gate of his city ; and his son, Sennacherib, seems to have viewed Asshur and Ishtar as the special guar- dians of his progeny."^ Asshur-bani-pal, the great hunting king, was a devotee of the goddess, whom he regarded as pre- siding over his special diversion, the chase. What is most remarkable in the Assyrian worship of Ishtar is the local character assigned to her. The Ishtar of Nineveh is distinguished from the Ishtar of Arbela, and both from the Ishtar of Babylon, separate addresses being made to them in one and the same invocation. i**' It would appear that in this case there was, more decidedly than in any other, an identifi- cation of the divinity with her idols, from which resulted the multiplication of one goddess into many. CH. VIII. 1 NEBO. 357 The name of Ishtar appears to have been rarely used in Assyria in royal or other appellations. It is difficult to account for this fact, which is the more remarkable, since in Phoenicia Astarte, which corresponds closely to Ishtar, Is found repeat- edly as an element in the royal titles. '^^ NEBO. Nebo must have been acknowledged as a god by the Assyr- ians from very ancient times, for his name occurs as an ele- ment in a royal appellation as early as the twelfth century B.C."** He seems, however, to have been very little worshipped till the time of Vul-lush III., who first brought him promi- nently forward in the Pantheon of Assyria after an expedition which he conducted into Babylonia, where Nebo had always been in high favor. Vul-lush set up two statues to Nebo at Calah "^ and probably built him the temple there which was known as Bit-Saggil, or Beth-Saggil, from whence the god de- rived one of his appellations, i^ He did not receive much honor from Sargon; but both Sennacherib and Esarliaddou held him in considerable reverence, the latter even placing him above Merodach in an important invocation. ^^^ Asshur-bani- pal also paid him considerable respect, mentioning him and his Avife Warmita, as the deities under whose auspices he un- dertook certain literary labors. 1^2 It is curious that Nebo, though he may thus almost be called a late importation into Assyria, became inider the Later Dy- nasty (apparently) one of most popular of the gods. In the latter portion of the list of Eponyms obtained from the cele- brated "Canon," we find Nebo an element in the names as frequently as any other god excepting Asshur. Regarding this as a test of popularity we should say that A.sshur held the first place; but that liis supremacy Avas closely contested by Bel and Nebo, who were held in nearly equal rejiute, both be- ing far in advance of any other deity. Besides these princii)al gods, the Assj'rians acknowledged and worshipped a vast number of minor divinities, of whom, liowever, some few on]}- apjiear to deserve speciiil mention. It may be noticed in the first place, as a remarkable feature of this people's mythological system, that each important god was closely associated with a goddess, who is commonly called his wife, but who yet does not take rank in the Pantlieoii al all in accordance with the dignity of her husband.'^' yuuie of 358 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [cii. vili. these goddesses have been already mentioned, as Beltis, the feminine counterpart of Bel; Giila, the Sun-goddess, the wife of Shamas ; and Ishtar, who is sometimes represented as tlie wife of Nebo.'^* To the same class belong Sheruha, the wif(> of Asshur ; Anata or Anuta, the wife of Anu ; Dav-Kina, th( • wife of Hea or Hoa ; Shala, the wife of Vul or Iva ; Zir-banit, the wife of Merodach ; and Laz, the wife of Nergal. Nin, the Assyrian Hercules, and Sin, the Moon-god, have also wives, whose proper names are unknown, but who are entitled re- spectively " the Queen of the Land " and " the great Lady." ^^ Nebo's wife, according to most of the Inscriptions, is Warmita ; but occasionally, as above remarked, ^^^ this name is replaced by that of Ishtar. A tabular view of the gods and goddesses, thus far, will probably be found of use by the reader towards obtaining a clear conception of the Assyrian Pantheon : — Table of the Cliief Assykian Deities, arranged in their proper order. Gods. Correspondent Goddesses. Chief Seat of Worship (if any). Asslmr . Sheruha. Anu . . Bel . . . Noa. . . Anuta Beltis Dav-Kina Asshur (Kileh-Sherj^^hat). Asshur, Calah (Ximrud), Asshur, Calah. Sin . . . Shamas . Vul . . . " The Great Lady " . . Gula Shala Calah, Bit-Sargma (Khor- sabad). Bit-Sargina. Asshur, Calah. Nin . . . Merodacli Nergal. "The Queen of theLand," Zir-Banit. Laz Calah, Nineveh. Tarbisi (Sherif-Khan). Calali. Nebo . . Warmita (Ishtar?) . . It appeal's to have been the general Assyrian practice to unite together in the same worship, under the same roof, the female and the male prmciple.i'^^ The female deities had in fact, for the most part, an unsubstantial chai-acter ; they were Ordinarily the mere reflex miage of the male, and consequently could not stand alone, but required the support of the stronger sex to give them something of substance and reality. This w^as the general rule ; but at the same time it was not without certain exceptions. Ishtar appears almost always as an ind(»- pendent and unattached divinity ;i^ while Beltis and Gula are cii. VIII.] MINOR DIVINITIES.— GENU. 359 presented to us in colors as strong and a form as distinct as their husbands, Bel and Shamas. Again, there are minor god- desses, such as Telita, the goddess of the great marshes near Babylon,'"^ who stand alone, imaccompanied by any male. The minor male divinities are also, it would seem, very gener- ally without female counterparts. ^'^ Of these minor male divinities the most noticeable are Martu, a son of Anu, who is called "the minister of the deep," and seems to correspond to the Greek Erebus ; "^^ Sargana, another son of Anu, from whom Sargon is thought by some to have de- rived his name ; ^*''- Idak, god of the Tigris ; Supulat, lord of the Euphrates ;""' and II or Ra, who seems to be the Babylonian chief god transferred to Assyria, and there placed in a humble position. ^"^ Besides these, cuneiform scholars recognize in the Inscriptions some scores of divine names, of more or less doubtful etymology, some of which are thought to designate distinct gods, while others may be names of deities known familiarly to us under a different appellation, i^s Into this branch of the subject it is not proposed to enter in the present work, which addx-esses itself to the general reader. It is probable that, besides gods, the Assyrians acknowl- edged the existence of a number of genii, some of whom they regarded as powers of good, others as powers of evil. The winged figure wearing the horned cap, which is so constantly represented as attending upon the monarch when he is em- ployed in any sacred function,^*^ would seem to be his tutelary genius — a benignant spirit who watches over him, and pro tects him from the spirits of darkness. This figure commonl> bears in the right hand either a pomegranate or a pine-cone, while the left is eitlier free or else supports a sort of plaited bag or basket. [PI. CXLII., Fig. 6.] Where the pine-cone is car- ried, it is invariably pointed towai'ds the monarch, as if it were tlie means of communication between the protector and tlu> ])rotected, the instrument by which grace and power passed from the genius to the mortal whom he had undertaken to guard. Why the pine-cone was chosen for this purpose it is difficult to form a conjecture. Perhaps it had originally be- come a sacred emblem merely as a symbol of productiveness, '•'^ after which it was made to subserve a furtlier ])in"i)ose, with- out miich regard to its old symbolical meaning. The sacred basket, held in the left hand, is of still more dubi- ous interpretation. It is an object of great elegance, always elaborately and sometimes very tastefuUy ornamented. ^"8 Pos- 360 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [ch. viil sibly it may represent the receptacle in which the divine gifts are stored, and from which they can be taken by the genius at his discretion, to be bestowed upon the mortal under his care. Another good genius would seem to be represented by the hawk-headed figure, which is likewise found in attendance upon the monarch, attentively watching his proceedings. This figure has been called that of a god, and has been sui> posed to represent the Nisroch of Holy Scripture ; ^^^ but tln' only ground for such an identification is the conjectural deri- vation of Nisroch from a root tiisr, which in some Semitic lan- guages signifies a "hawk" or "falcon." As w/sr, however, has not been found with any such meaning in Assyrian, and as the word " Nisroch " noAvhere appears ia the Inscriptions, i"" it must be regarded as in the highest degree doubtful whether there is any real connection between the hawk-headed figure and the god in whose temple Sennacherib was assassinated. [PI. CXLII. , Fig. 5. ] The various readings of the Septuagint version ^"^ make it extremely uncertain what was the name act- ually written in the original Hebrew text. Nisroch, which is utterly unlike anj^ divine name hitherto foimd in the Assyrian records, is most probable a corruption. At any rate there are no sufficient grounds for identifying the god mentioned, Avhat- ever the true reading of his name may be, with the hawk- headed figure, which has the appearance of an attendant gen- ius rather than that of a god, and which was certainly not in- cluded among the main deities of Assyria. ^'^ Eepresentations of evil genii are comparatively infrequent ; but we can scarcely be mistaken in regarding as either an evU genius, or a representation of the evil principle, the monster- half lion, half eagle— which in the Nimrud sculptures ^'-^ re- treats from the attacks of a god, probably Yul,^'^ who assails him with thunderbolts. [PL CXLIH., Fig. 1.] Again, in the case of certain gi'otesque statuettes found at Khorsabad, one of which has akeady been represented, ^'^ where a hiiman figure has the head of a lion with the ears of an ass, the most natural explanation seems to be that an evil genius is intended. In another instance, where we see two monsters with heads like the statuette just mentioned, placed on hmnan bodies, the legs of which terminate in eagles' claws— both of them armed with daggers and maces, and engaged in a struggle with one an- other 1'^— we seem to have a symbolical representation of the tendency of evil to turn upon itself, and reduce itself to fee- bleness by internal qiiarrel and disorder, i"" A considerable CH. vm.] MODE OF WORSHIP. 361 number of instances occur in which a human figure, with the head of a hawk or eagle, threatens a winged human-headed lion— the emblem of Nergal— with a strap or mace.i"^ In these we may have a spirit of evil assailing a god, or possibly one god opposing another— the hawk-headed god or genius driving Nergal (i.e., War) beyond the Assyrian borders. If we pass from the objects to the mode of worship in As- syria, we must notice at the outset the strongly idolatrous char- acter of the religion. Not only were images of the gods wor- shipped set up, as a matter of course, in every temple dedi- cated to their honor, but the gods were sometimes so identified with their images as to be midtiplied in popular estimation when they had several famous temples, in each of which was a famous image. Thus we hear of the Ishtar of Arbela, the Ishtar of Nineveh, and the Ishtar of Babylon, and find these goddesses invoked separately, as distinct divinities, by one and the same king in one and the same Inscription, i^^ In other cases, without this multiplication, we observe expressions which imply a similar identification of the actual god with the mere image. Tiglath-Pileser I. boasts that he has set Anu and Vul {i.e. , their images) up in their places. ^^^ He identifies repeat- edly the images which he carries off from foreign countries with the gods of those countries. ^^^ In a similar spirit Senna- cherib asks, by the mouth of Rabshakeh, ''Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvauii, Hena, and Ivah ? " ^^- — and again unable to rise to the concep tion of a purely spiritual deity, supposes that, because Heze- kiah has destroyed all the images throughout Judaea, ^*^ he has left his people without any divine protection. i** The carrying off of the idols from conquei-ed countries, which we find uni- versally practised, was not perhaps intended as a mere sign of the power of the conqueror, and of the superiority of his gods to those of his enemies ; it was probably designed fur- ther to weaken those enemies by depriving them of their celes- tial protectors ; and it may even have been viewed as strength- ening the coniiuoror by multiplying his divine guardians. It was certainly usual to remove the images in a reverential manner ; ^^^ and it was the custom to deposit them in some of the principal temples of Assyria.'^'' We may presimie that there lay at the root of this practice a real belief in the super- natural power of the images themselves, and a notion that, with the possession of the images, this power likewise changed sides and passed over fi-om the conquered to the conquerors j}(52 TUE SECOND MONARCHY. fen. viii. Assyrian idols were in stone, baked clay, or metal. Some images of Nebo and of Ishtar have been obtained from the niins. Those of Nebo are standing figures, of a larger size than the human, though not greatly exceeding it. They have been much injured by time, and it is difficult to pronounce decid- edly on their original workmanship ; but, judging by what ap- pears, it would seem to have been of a ruder and coarser char- acter than that of the slabs or of the royal statues. The Nebo images are heavy, formal, inexpressive, and not over well- proportioned ; but they are not wanting in a certain quiet dig- nity which impresses the beholder. ^^^ They are unfortunately disfigured, like so many of the lions and bulls, by several lines of cuneiform writing inscribed round their bodies; but this artistic defect is pardoned by the antiquarian, who learns from the inscribed lines the fact that the statues represent Nebo, and the time and circumstances of their dedication. Clay idols are very frequent. They are generally in a good material, and are of various sizes, yet never approaching to the full stature of humanity. Generally they are mere stat- uettes, less than a foot in height. Specimens have been se- lected for representation in the preceding volume, from which a general idea of their character is obtainable. ^^^ They are, like the stone idols, formal and inexpressive in style, while they are even ruder and coarser than those figures in workmanship. We must regard them as intended chiefly for private use among the mass of the population, ^'^ while we must view the stone idols as the objects of public worship in the shrines and temples. Idols in metal have not hitherto appeared among the objects recovered from the Assyrian cities. We may conclude, how- ever, from the passage of Nahum prefixed to this chapter, i^^ as well as from general probabihty, that they wei-e known and used by the Assyrians, who seem to have even admitted them — no less than stone statues — into their temples. The ordinary metal used was no doubt bronze ; but in Assyria, as in Baby- lonia, i^i silver, and perhaps in some few instances gold, may have been employed for idols, in cases where they were in- tended as proofs to the world at lai-ge of the wealth and mag- nificence of a monarch. The Assyrians worshipped their gods chiefiy with sacrifices and offerings, Tiglath-Pileser I. relates that he offered sacri- fice to Anu and Vul on completing the i-epairs of their tem- ple, i** Asshur-izir-pal says that he sacrificed to the gods after til. viii.J SACRIFICES. 363 embarking on the Mediterranean.*"' Vul-lush IV. sacrificed to Bel-Merodach, Nebo, and Nergal, in their respective high seats at Babylon, Borsippa, and Cutha.'** Sennacherib offered sacrifices to Hoa on the sea-shore after an expedition in the Persian Gulf.*'-*'' Esarhaddon " slew great and costly sacri- fices " at Nineveh upon completing his great palace in that cap- ital.*^ Sacrifice was clearly regarded as a duty by the kings generally, and was the ordinary mode by which they propi- tiated the favor of the national deities. With respect to the mode of sacrifice we have only a small amount of information, derived from a very few bas-reliefs. These imite in representing the bull as the special sacrificial animal. *^^ In one *^* we simply see a bull brought up to a temple by the king; but in another,*"" which is more elaborate, we seem to have the whole of a sacrificial scene fairly, if not exactly, brought before us. [PI. CXLIV., Fig. 1.] Towards the front of the temple, where the god, recognizable by his horned cap, appears seated upon a throne, with an attendant priest, who is beardless, paying adoration to him, advances a procession consisting of the king and six priests, one of whom carries a cup, while the other five are employed about the animal. The king pours a libation over a large bowl, fixed in a stand, immediately in front of a tall fire-altar, from which flames are rising. Close behind this stands the priest with a cup, from which we may suppose that the monarch will pour a second libation. Next we observe a bearded priest directly in front of the bull, checking the advance of the animal, which is not to be ofl:ered till the libation is over. The bull is also held by a pair of priests, who walk behind him and restrain him with a rope attached to one of his fore-legs a little above the hoof. Another pair of priests, following closely on the footsteps of the first pair, completes the procession : the four seem, from the position of their heads and arms, to be engaged in a solemn chant. It is probable, from the flame upon the altar,'^'" that there is to be some bui-ningof the sacrifice; while it is evident, from the altar being of such a small size, that onlj^ certain parts of the animal can be consiuned upon it. We ]nay conclude therefore that the Assyrian sacrifices reseml>Ied those of the classical nations,*^* consisting not of whole bin-nt offerings, but of a selection of choice parts, regarded as spe- cially pleasing to the gods, which were placed upon the altar and burnt, while the remainder of the victim was consumed by priest or people. j}04 TUE SECOND MONARCH r. [en. viii. Assyrian altars were of various shapes and sizes. One type was square, and of no great height ; it had its top ornamented witli gradines, below which the sides were either plain or fluted. ^'^^ Another which Avas also of moderate height, was triangular, but with a circular top, consisting of a single flat stone, perfectly plain, except that it was sometimes inscribed round the edge.^oa [Pl. CXLIII., Fig. 2.] A third type is that represented in the sacrificial scene. [PI. CXLIV. ] This is a sort of portable stand — narrow, but of considerable height, reaching nearly to a man's chin. Altars of this kind seem to have been carried about by the Assyrians in their expeditions : we see them occasionally in the entrenched camps, ■*^* and observe priests oflBciating at them in their dress of office. [PI. CXLIII., Fig. 3.] Besides their sacrifices of animals, the Assyrian kings were accustomed to deposit in the temples of their gods, as thank- offerings, many precious products fi'om the countries Avhich they overran in their expeditions. Stones and marbles of various kinds, rare metals, and images of foreign deities, are particularly mentioned ; ^^^ but it would seem to be most prob- able that some portion of aU the more valuable articles was thus dedicated. Silver and gold were certainly used largely in the adornment of the temples, which are sometimes said to have been made "as splendid as the sun," by reason of the profuse employment upon them of these precious met- als.2^« It is difficult to determine how the ordinary worship of the gods was conducted. The sculptures are for the most part monuments erected by kings ; and when these have a religious character, they represent the performance by the kings of their own religious duties, from which little can be concluded as to the religious observances of the people. The kings seem to have united the priestly with the regal character ; and in the religious scenes representing their acts of woi'ship, no priest ever intervenes between them and the god, or appears to assume any but a very subordinate position. The king him- self stands and worships in close proximity to the holy tree ; with his own hand he pours libations ; and it is not unlikely that he was entitled with his own arm to sacrifice victims. '^^ But we can scarcely suppose that the people had these privi- leges. Sacerdotal ideas have prevailed in almost all Oriental monarchies, and it is notorious that they had a strong hold upon the neighboring and nearly connected kingdom of Baby- Vol I. Fig. 1 Plate XCIX. Foot Arcliera of the lightest equip- ment. (Time of Sennacherib.) Fig. 2. Mode. of carrying the Quiver. (Time of Sennacherib.) Fig. 4 Fig. 3. Foot ipearmau of the time of SenDacherib. i Wicker shield of spearmen. (Time of Sennacheiib.) Fig. 5 Wicker shield * large. (Tirao of SeDDacberib.) CH. Villi FESTIVALS AND FASTS. 3(J5 Ion. The Assyrians generally, it is probable, approached the gods through their priests; and it would seem to be these priests who are represented upon the cj^linders as introducing worshippers to the gods, dressed themselves in long robes, and with a curious mitre upon their heads. The worshipper sel- dom comes empty-handed. He carries commonly in his arms an antelope or young goat,^* which we may presume to be an offering intended to propitiate the deity. [PI. CXLIV., Fig. 2.] It is remarkable that the priests in the sculptures are gener- ally, if not invariably, beardless.®^ It is scarcely probable that they were eunuchs, since mutilation is in the East always regarded as a species of degradation. Perhaps they merely shaved the beard for greater cleanliness, like the priests of the Egyptians ; ^^'^ and possibly it was a custom only obligatory on the upper grades of the priesthood. 2" We have no evidence of the establishment of set festivals in Assyria. Apparently the monarchs decided, of their OAvn will, when a feast should be held to any god ; ^^^ and, proclamation bemg made, the feast was held accordingly. Vast niniibers, especially of the chief men, were assembled on such occasions ; nimierous sacrifices were offered, and the festivities lasted for several days. A considerable proportion of the worshippers were accommodated in the royal palace, to which the temple was ordinarily a mere adjunct, being fed at the king s cost, and lodged in the halls and other apartments.^^^ The Assyrians made occasionallj' a religious use of fasting. The evidence on this point is confined to the Book of Jonah, 2" which, however, distinctly shows both the fact and the nature t»f the usage. When a fast was proclaimed, the king, the no- bles, and the people exchanged their ordinary apparel for sackcloth, sprinkled ashes upon their heads, and abstained alike from food and drink until the fast was over. The ani- mals also that were within the walls of the city where the fast was commanded, had sackcloth placed upon them;'-'^ and the same abstinence was enforced upon them as was enjoined on tlie inhabitants. Ordinary business was suspended, and the wliole population united in prayer to Asshur, the supreme god, whose pardon they entreated, and whose favor they sought to propitiate. These proceedings were not merely formal. On the occasion mentioned in the book of Jonah, the repentance of the Ninevites seems to have been sincere. " God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way ; and God repented 306 r//^ SECOND MONARCHY. fcir. viii. of the evil that he had said that he would do \into them : and he did it not. "216 The religious sentiment appears, on the whole, to have been strong and deep-seated among the Assyrians. Although relig- ion had not the prominence in Assyria which it possessed in Egypt, or even in Greece— although the temple was subordi- nated to the palace, 2" and the most imposing of the repre- sentations of the gods 21^ were degraded to mere architectural ornaments — yet the Assyrians appear to have been really, nay, even earnestly, religious. Their religion, it must be ad- mitted, was of a sensuous character. They not only practised image-worship, but believed in the actual power of the idols to give protection or work mischief ; nor could they rise to the conception of a purely spiritual and immaterial deity. Their ordinary worship was less one of prayer than one by means of sacrifices and offerings. They could, however, we know, in the time of trouble, utter sincere prayers ; and we are bound therefore to credit them with an honest purpose in respect of the many solemn addresses and invocations which occur both in their public and their private documents. The numerous mythological tablets ^^^ testify to the large amount of attention which was paid to religious subjects by the learned ; while the general character of their names, and the practice of inscribing sacred figures and emblems upon their signets, which was almost universal, seem to indicate a spirit of piety on the part of the mass of the people. The sensuous cast of the religion naturally led to a pompous ceremonial, a fondness for processional display, and the use of magnificent vestments. These last are represented with great minuteness in the Ninxrud sculptures.^ The dresses of those engaged in sacred functions seem to have been elaborately embroidered, for the most part with religious figures and em- blems, such as the winged circle, the pine-cone, the pomegran- ate, the sacred tree, the hiunan-headed lion, and the like. Armlets, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings were worn by the officiating priests, Avhose heads were either encircled with a richly-ornamented fillet,^i or covered with a mitre or high cap of imposing appearance. ^'-^ Musicians had a place in the processions, and accompanied the religious ceremonies with playing or chanting, or, in some instances, possibly with both. It is remarkable that the religious emblems of the Assyrians are almost always free from that character of grossness which, CH. IX.] RELIGIOUS SENSUALISM.— CHRONOLOOT. S67 in the classical works of art, so often offends modern delicacy. The sculptured remains present us with no representations at all parallel to the phallic emblems of the Greeks. Still we are perhaps not entitled to conclude, from this comparative purity, that the Assyrian religion was really exempt from that worst feature of idolatrous systems — a licensed religious sensualism. According to Herodotus the Babylonian worship of Beltis was disgraced by a practice which even he, heathen as he was, re- garded as " most shameful. " ^ Women were required once in their lives to repair to the temple of this goddess, and there offer themselves to the embrace of the first man who desired their company. In the Apocryphal Book of Baruch we find a clear allusion to the same custom, '^-^ so that there can be httle doubt of its having really obtained in Babylonia ; but if so, it would seem to follow, almost as a matter of course, that the worship of the same identical goddess in the adjoining country included a similar usage*. It may be to this practice that the prophet Nahiim alludes, where he denounces Nineveh as a "well-favored harlot," the multitude of whose harlotries was notorious.*^ Such then was the general character of the Assyrian religion. We have no means of determining whether the cosmogony of the Chaldseans formed any part of the Assyrian system, or was confined to the lower country. No ancient writer tells us anything of the Assyrian notions on this subject, nor has the decipherment of the monuments thrown as yet any light upon it. It would be idle therefore to prolong the present chapter by speculating upon a matter concerning which we have at present no authentic data. CHAPTER IX. CHRONOLOGY AND HISTORY. Td na^aia rotavra evpov, ;\;aA£7rd bvra kovtI e^z/f TtKjiijpc(f) 7r' does she treat as an equal with the great Southern Empire — not only is her royal house deemed worthy of fur- nishing wives to its princes — but when dynastic troubles arise there, she exercises a predominant influence over the fortunes of the contending parties, and secures victory to the side whose cause she espouses. Jealous as all nations are of foreign inter- ])Osition in their affairs, we may be sure that Babylonia would not have succumbed on this occasion to Assyria's influence, had not her weight been such that, added to one side in a civil struggle, it produced a preponderance which defied resistance. After this one short lift,"'' the curtain again drops over the history of Assyria for a space of about sixty years, dm-ing ^vhicll our records tell us nothing but the mere names of the kings. It appears from the bricks of Kileh-Sherghat that Asshur-upallit was succeeded upon the throne by his son,^ Bel-lush, or Bellikhus (Belochus?), who was in his turn fol- lowed by his son, Pudil, his grandson,, Vul-lush, and his great- grandson, Shalmaneser, the first of the name. Of Bel-lush, Pudil, and Vul-lush I., we know only that they raised or re- paired important buildings in their city of Asshur (now Kileh- Sherghat), which in their time, and for some centuries later, was the capital of the monarchy. This place was not very favorably situated, being on th« right bank of the Tigris, which is a far less fertile region than 378 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [ch. ix. the left, and not being naturally a place of any great strength. The Assyrian territory did not at this time, it is probable, ex- tend very far to the north : at any rate, no need was as yet felt for a second city higher up the Tigris valley, much less for a transfer of the seat of government in that direction. Calah was certainly, and Nineveh probably, not yet built ; ^^ but still the kingdom had obtained a name among the nations ; the term Assyria was applied geographically to the whole valley of the middle Tigris ; ^ and a prophetic eye could see in the hitherto quiescent power the nation fated to send expeditions into Palestine, and to bear off its inhabitants into captiv- ity.57 Shalmaneser I. (alb. B.C. 1320) is chiefly known in Assyrian history as the founder of Calah (Nimrud),^^ the second, appar- ently, of those great cities which the Assyrian monarchs de- lighted to build and embellish. This foundation would of it- self be sufficient to imply the gro%\"th of Assyria in his time towards the north, and would also mark its full establishment as the dominant power on the left as weU as the right bank of the Tigris. Calah was very advantageously situated in a re- gion of great fertility and of much natural strength, being pro- tected on one side by the Tigris, and on the other by the Shor- Derreh torrent, while the Greater Zab further defended it at the distance of a few miles on the south and south-east, and the Khazr or Ghazr-Su on the north-east. ^^ Its settlement must have secured to the Assyrians the undisturbed possession of the fruitful and important district betAveen the Tigi-is and the mountains, the Aturia or Assyria Proper of later times, ** which ultimately became the great metropolitan region in which almost all the chief towns were situated. It is quite in accordance with this erection of a sort of second capital, further to the north than the old one, to find, as we do, by the inscriptions of Asshur-izir-pal, that Shalmaneser under- took expeditions against the tribes on the upper Tigris, and even founded cities in those parts, which he colonized with settlers brought from a distance. We do not know what the exact bounds of Assyria towards the north were before his time, but there can be no doubt that he advanced them ; and he is thus entitled to the distinction of being the first known Assyrian conqueror. With Tiglathi-Nin, the son and successor of Shalmaneser I. , the spirit of conquest displaj'ed itself in a more signal and striking manner. The probable date of this monarch has al- CH. IX.] TIGLATHI.—NIN I. 379 ready been shown to synchronize closely with the time as- signed by Berosus to the commencement of his sixth Baby- lonian dynasty, and by Herodotus to the beginning of his "Assyrian Empire."" Now Tiglathi-Nin appears in the In- scriptions as the prince who first aspired to transfer to Assyria the supremacy hitherto exercised, or at any rate claimed, by Babylon. He made war upon the southern kingrlom, and with such success that he felt himself entitled to claim its con- quest, and to inscribe upon his signet-seal the proud title of "Conqueror of Babylonia.'"'- Thi& signet-seal, left by ->im (as is probable) at Babylon, and recovered about six hiuidred years later by Sennacherib, shows to us that he reigned fur some time in person at the southern capital,*^^ where it would seem that he afterwards established an Assyrian dynasty — a branch perhaps of his own family. This is probably the exact event of which Berosus spoke as occurrmg 526 years before Phul or Pul, and which Herodotus regarded as marking the commencement of the Assyrian "Empire." We must not, hoAvever, suppose that Babylonia was from this time really subject continuously to the Court of Nineveh. The subjection may have been maintained for a little less than a century ; Init about that time we find evidence that the yoke of Assyria had been shaken off, and that the Babylonian monarchs, who have Semitic names, and are probably Assyrians by descent, had become hostile to the Ninevite kings, and were engaged in frequent wars with them.''* No real permanent subjection of the Lower country to the Upj>er was effected till the time of Sargon; and even imder the Sargonid dynasty revolts were frequent ; nor wci-e the Babylonians reconciled to the Assyrian sway till Esarhaddon united the tAvo crowns in his own person, and reigned alternately at the two capitals. Still, it is proba- ble that, from the time of Tiglathi-Nin, the Upper country was recognized as the superior of the two : it had shown its might by a conquest and the imposition of a dynasty — proofs of power which were far from counterV)alanced by a few re- taliatory raids adventured upon under favorable circum- stances by the Babylonian princes. Its influence wi\s there- fore felt, even while its yoke was refused ; and the Semitizing of the ChaldcPans, commenced under Tiglathi-Nin, continued during the whole time of Assyrian preponderance ; no effect- \ial Turanian reaction ever set in; the Babylonian rulers, whether submissive to Assyria or engaged in hostihties against her, have equally Semitic names; and it does not appear that 55 Khabour, and Euphrates, among which the most important were Sidikan (now Arban), Sirki, and Anat (now Anah). From Anat, apparently his frontier-town in this CH. IX.] ASSHUR-IZIR-PArS CAMPAIGNS. 399 direction, he invaded the c(jiintry of the T.sukhi (Shuhites), capt- ured their city Tsur,*"^ and forced them, notwithstanding the assistance which they received from their neiglibors the Baby- lonians,^^^ to surrender themselves. He then entered Chaldii'a, and chastised the Chalda?ans, after which he returned in triumph to his own country. His seventh campaign was also against the Shuhites. Re- leased from the immediate pressure of his arms, they had re- belled, and had even ventured to invade the A.ssyrian Empire. The Laki, whose territory adjoined that of the Shubitcs tow- ards the north and east, assisted them. The combined army which the allies were able to bring into the field amounted probably to 20,000 men,^^^ including a large number of warriors who fought in chariots. Asshur-izir-pal first attacked the cities on tlu> left bank of the Euphrates, which liad felt his iniglit on the former occasion; and, having reduced these and punished their rebellion with great severity, '^^ he cros.sed the river on rafts, and fought a battle with the main army of the enemy. In this engagement he was completely victorious, defeating the Tsukhi and their allies with great slaughter, and di-iving their routed forces headlong into the Euphrates, where great numbers perished by drowning. Six thousand five hundred of the rebels fell in the battle ; and the entire country on the right bank of the river, which had escaped in- vasion in the former campaign, was ravaged furiously Avith fii-e and sword by the incensed monarch. The cities and cas- tles were burnt, the males put to the sword, the women, chil- dren, and cattle carried off. Two kings of the Laki are men- tioned, of whom one escaped, while the other was made pris- oner, and conveyed to Assyria by the conqueror. A rate, of tribute was then imposed on the land considerably in advance of that to which it had previously been liable. Besides this, to strengthen his hold on the country, the conqueror built two new cities, one on either bank of the Euphrates, naming tlie city on the left bank after himself, and that on the right bank after the god Asshur. Both of these places were no doubt left well garrisoned with Assyrian soldiers, on wliom the conqueror could place entire reliance. Asshur-izir-pal's eighth campaign was nearly in the same quarter; but its exact scene lay. apparently, somewhat higber up the Euphrates. Hazihi, the king of the Laki, who escaped capture in the preceding expedition, had owed his safety to the refuge given him by the people of Beth-Adina. Asshur- 400 \ ^/■^I'Miy^XlGONKi'iO/fARailY. [ch. ix. izir-pal, who seems to have regarded their conduct on this oc- casion as an insult to himself, and was resolved to punish their presumption, made his eighth expedition solely against this bold but weak people. Unable to meet his forces in the field, they shut themselves up in their chief city, Kabrabi (?), which was immediately besieged, and soon taken and burnt by the Assyrians. The country of Beth-Adina, which lay on the left or east bank of the Euphrates, in the vicinity of the modern Balis, was overrun and added to the empire. ^"^^ Two thousand five hundred prisoners were carried off and settled at Calah. The most interesting of Asshur-izir-pal's campaigns is the ninth, which was against Syria. Marching across Upper Mesopotamia, and receiving various tributes upon his way, the Assyrian monarch passed the Euphrates on rafts, and, en- tering the city of Carchemish, received the submission of San- gara, the Hittite prince, who ruled in that town, and of vari- ous other chiefs, ' ' who came reverently and kissed his scep- tre. " He then ' ' gave command to advance towards Lebanon. " Entering the territory of the Patena,^®^ who adjoined upon the northern Hittites, and held the country about Antioch and Aleppo, he occupied the capital, Kinalua, which -was between the Abri (or Afrin) and the Orontes ; alarmed the rebel king, Lubarna, so that he submitted, and consented to pay a tribute; and then, crossing the Orontes and destroying certain cities of the Patena, passed along the northern flank of Lebanon, and reached the Mediterranean. Here he erected altars and offered sacrifices to the gods, after -which he received the submission of the principal Phoenician states, among which Tyi-e, Sidon, Byblus, and Aradus may be distinctly recognized. He then proceeded inland, and visited the mountain range of Amanus, where he cut timber, set up a sculptured memorial, and of- fered sacrifice. After this he returned to Assyria, carrying with him, besides other plunder, a quantity of wooden beams, probably cedar, which he carefully conveyed to Nineveh, to be used in his public buildings. The tenth campaign of Asshur-izir-pal, and the last which is recorded, w^as in the region of the Upper Tigris. The geo- graphical details here are difficult to follow. We can only say that, as usual, the Assyrian monarch claims to have over- powered all resistance, to have defeated armies, burnt cities, and carried otf vast numbers of prisoners. The " royal city " of the monarch chiefly attacked jWas Amidi, now Diarbekr, en. IX.] ms LOVE OF THE CHASE. 401 which sufficiently marks the main locaUty of the expedi- tion. ^^'^ While engaged in these important wars, which were all in- cluded within his first six years, Asshur-izir-pal, like his great predecessor, Tiglath-Pileser, occasionally so far unbent as to indulge in the recreation of hunting. He interrupts the account of his military achievements to recoi'd. for the benefit of posterity, that on one occasion he slew fifty large wild bidls on the left bank of the Euphrates, and captured eight of the same animals; while, on another, he killed twenty ostriches (?), and took captive the same number. We may conclude, from the example of Tiglath-Pileser,**^ and from otlier inscrip- tions of Asshur-izir-pal himself, that the captured animals were conveyed to Assyria either as curiosities, or, more prob- ably, as objects of chase. Asshur izir-pal's sculptures show that the piu'suit of the wild bull was one of his favorite occu- pations : 1*^ and as the animals were scarce in Assyria, he may have found it expedient to import them. Asshur-izir-pal appears, however, to have possessed a men- agerie park in the neighborhood of Nineveh, in which were maintained a variety of strange and curious animals. Ani- mals called pngrti^s orpagcits — perhaps elephants — were received as tribute from the Phoenicians during his reign, on at least one occasion, and placed in this enclosure, where (he tells us) they throve and bred. So well was his taste for such curiosi- ties known, that even neighboring sovereigns sought to grat- ify it; and the king of Egypt, a Pharaoh probably of the twenty-second dynasty, sent him a present of strange animals when he was in Southern Sj'ria, as a compliment likely to be appreciated. His love of the chase, which he no doubt in- dulged to some extent at home, found in Syria, and in the country on the Upper Tigris, its amplest and mo.st varied ex- ercise. In an obelisk inscription, designed especialh' to com- memorate a great hunting expedition into these regions, he tells us that, besides antelopes of all sorts, which he took and sent to Asshur, he captured and destroj'cd the following ani- mals: — lions, wild sheep, red deer, fallow-deer, wild goats or ibexes, leopards large and small, bears, wolves, jackals, wild boars, ostriches, foxes, hyoenas, wild asses, and a few kinds which have not been identified."^ From another inscrijjtion we learn that, in the coin-se of another expedition, which seems to have been in the Me.iopotamian desert, be destroyed 360 large lions, 257 large wild cattle, and tliirty butfuloes, 20 402 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [en. ix. while he took and sent to Calah fifteen full-grown lions, fifty young lions, some leopards, several pairs of wild buffaloes and wild cattle, together with ostriches, wolves, red deer, bears, cheetas, and hyaenas. ^^6 Thus in his peaceful hours he was still actively employed, and in the chase of many dangerous beasts was able to exercise the same qualities of courage, cool- ness, and skill in the use of weapons which procured him in his wars such frequent and such great successes. Thus distinguished, both as a hunter and as a Avarrior, Asshur-izir-pal, nevertheless, excelled his predecessors most remarkably in the grandeur of his public buildings and the free use which he made of the mimetic and other arts in their ornamentation. The constructions of the earlier kings at Asshur (or Kileh-Sherghat), whatever merit they may have had, were beyond a doubt far inferior to those which, from the time of Asshur-izir-pal, were raised in rapid succession at Calah, Nineveh, and Beth-Sargina by that monarch and his successors upon the throne. The mounds of Kileh-Sherghat have yielded no bas-reliefs, nor do they show any traces of buildings on the scale of those which, at Nimrud, Kojimjik, and Khorsabad, provoke the admiration of the traveller. The great palace of Asshur-izir-pal was at Calah, which he first raised from a provincial town to be the metropolis of the em- pire. [PI. CXLV., Fig. 1.] It was a building 360 feet long by 300 broad, consisting of seven or eight large halls, and a far greater number of small chambers, grouped round a central court 130 feet long and nearly 100 wide. The longest of the halls, which faced towards the north, and was the first room entered by one who approached from the town, was in length 154 and in breadth 33 feet. The others varied between a size little short of this, and a length of 65 with a breadth of less than 20 feet. The chambers were generally square, or nearly so, and in their greatest dimensions rarelj^ exceeded ten yards. The whole palace was raised upon a lofty platform, made of sun-burnt brick, but externally cased on every side Avitli hewn stone. There were two grand facades, one facing the north, on which side there was an ascent to the platform from the town; and the other facing the Tigris, ^'^" which anciently flowed at the foot of the platform towards the west. On the northern front two or three gateways,^*® flanked with and- ro-sphinxes,^*^^ gave direct access to the principal hall or audi- ence chamber, a noble apartment, but too narroAv for its length, lined throughout with sculptured slabs representing the vari- iiii^'"" ^"^ Plate CXI. Soldier, destroying Date-palma (Koyui.jik). ^""^ "^t^ulTZlly "" '^" Soldier carrying oU' Spoil from a Temple (Kborsabad). Fig 5 JIace-bearer, with attendant, exe- Uting a prisoner (Koyunjik). Plate CXI I Female Captives, \With Children fKoyunjik). r ImplGment vised iri the destruction of cities (Kborsabad). Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Chasuble, or Outer Garment of the King. Fig. 5. King ID his robes. S^V'o^dBman Decapitating a' Prisoner (koyunjik). cu. IX. 1 Assuun-izin-pAL' s palacs. 403 oil! actions of the king, and containing at the upper or eastern end a raised stone platform cut into steps, wliich, it is probable, was intended to support at a proper elevation the carved throne of the monarch.*™ A grand portal in the southern wall of the chamber, guarded on either side by winged hiunan- hcaded bulls in yellow limestone, conducted into a second hall considerably smaller than the first, and having less variety of ornament, '"* which communicated with the central court by a handsome gateway towards the south ; and, towards the east, was connected with a third hall, one of the most remarkable in the palace. This chamber was a better-proportioned room tlian most, being about ninety feet long by twenty -six wide; it ran along the eastern side of the great court, with which it com- municated by two gateways, and, internally, it was adorned with sculptin-es of a more finished and elaborate character than any other room in the building.*"^ Behind this ea.stem hall was anotlier opening into it, of somewhat greater length, but only twenty feet wide ; and this led to five small chambers, which here bounded the palace. South of the Great Court were, again, two halls conunumcating witli each other; but thej' were of inferior size to those on the north and west, and were far less richly ornamented. It is conjectured that there were also two or three halls on the west side of the court between it and the river ; '"^ but of this there was no very clear evidence, and it may be doubted whether the court towards the west was not, at least partially, open to the river. Almost every hall had one or two small chambers attached to it, Avhich wore most usually at the ends of the halls, and con- nected with tliem by large doorways. Such was the general plan of the palace of Asshur-izir-pal. Its great halls, so narrow for their length, were probably roofed with beams stretching across them from side to side, and lighted by small louvres in their roofs after the manner alreadj- described elsewhere.*"'* Its square chambers may have been domed,*"'' and perhaps were not lighted at all, or only by lamps and torches. They were generally without orna- mentation. '""^ Tlic grand halls, on the contrary, and some of the narrower chambers, were decorated on every side, first with sculptures to the height of nine or ten feet, and then with (Miamelled bric^ks, or patterns painted in fresco, to the height, probably, of seven or eight feet more. The entire height of the rooms was thus from sixteen to seventeen op eighteen feet. 404 THE SECOND MONARCnr. [cii. ix. The character of Asshur-izir-pal's sculptures has been suffi- ciently described in an earlier chapter."^ They have great spirit, boldness, and force ; occasionally they show real merit in th(> design ; but they are clumsy in the drawing and some- what coarse in the execution. What chiefly surprises us in regard to them is the suddenness with which the art they manifest appears to have sprung up, without going through the usual stages of rudeness and imperfection. Setting aside one mutilated statue, of very poor execution, ^^^ and a single rock tablet, 1^^ we have no specimens remaining of Assyrian mimetic art more ancient than this monarch. ^^"^ That art almost seems to start in Assyria, like Minerva from the head of Jove, full-grown. Asshur-izir-pal had undoubtedly some constructions of former monarchs to copy from, both in his palatial and in his sacred edifices ; the old palaces and temples at Kileh-Sherghat must have had a certain grandeur ; and in his architecture this monarch may have merely amplified and improved upon the models left him by his predecessors ; but his ornamentation, so far as appears, was his own. The mounds of Kileh-Sherghat have yielded bricks in abundance, but not a single fragment of a sculptured slab.^*^ We cannot prove that ornamental bas-reliefs did not exist before the time of Asshur-izir-pal ; indeed the rock tablets which earlier mon- archs set up were sculptures of this character; but to Asshur- izir-pal seems at any rate to belong the merit of having first adopted bas-reliefs on an extensive scale as an architectural ornament, and of having employed them so as to represent by their means all the public life of the monarch. The other arts employed by this king in the adornment of his buildings were those of enamelling bricks and painting in fi-esco upon a plaster. Both involve considerable skill in the preparation of colors, and the former especially implies much dexterity in the management of several very delicate proc- esses. ^^^ The sculptures of Asshur-izir-pal, besides proving directly the high condition of mimetic art in Assyria at this time, fur- nish indirect evidence of the wonderful progress which had been made in various important manufactures. The metal- lurgy which produced the swords, sword-sheaths, daggers, earrings, necklaces, armlets, and bracelets of this period, ^^s must have been of a very advanced description. The coach- buildmg which constructed the chariots, the saddlery which made the harness of the horses, the embroidery which ornac t;nrix.] ASSnUR-IZIR-PAL'S TEMPLES. 405 "mented the robes, ^^* must, similarly, have been of a superior character. The evidence of the sculptures alone is quite suffi- cient to show that, in the time of Asshur-izir-pal, the Assyr- ians were already a great and luxurious people, that most of the useful arts not only existed among them, but were culti- vated to a high pitch, and that in dress, furniture, jewelry, etc., they were not very much behind the moderns. Besides the magnificent palace which he built at Calah, As- shur-izir-pal is known also to have erected a certain number of temples. The most important of these have been already de- scribed. ^^^ They stood at the north-western corner of the Nimrud platform, and consisted of two edifices, one exactly at the angle, comprising the higher tower or ziggurat,^*"' wliich stood out as a sort of corner buttress from the great mound, and a shrine with chambers at the tower's base ; the other, a little further to the east, consisting of a shrine and chambers without a tower. These temples were richly ornamented both within and withovit; and in front of the larger one was an erection which seems to show that the Assyrian monarchs, either during their lifetime, or at any rate after their decease, received divine honors from their subjects. On a plain square pedestal about two feet in height was raised a solid block of limestone cut into the shape of an arched frame, and within this frame was carved the monarch in his sacerdotal dress, and with the -sacred collar round his neck, while the five principal divine emblems were represented above his head.^" In front of this figure, marking (apparently) the object of its erection, ^^^ was a triangular altar with a circular top, very nmch resembling the tripod of the Greeks.'* Here we may presume were laid the offerings with which the credulous and the servile propitiated the new god, — many a gift, not improba. bly, being intercepted on its way to the deity of the temple. [PI. CXLV., Fig. 2.] Another temple built by this monarch was one dedicated to Beltis at Nineveh. It was perhaps for the ornamentation of this edifice that he cut " great trees " in i^nanus and else- where during his Syrian expedition, and had them conveyed across Mesopotamia to Assyria. It is expressly stated that these beams were carried, not to Calah, where Asshur-izir-paJ usually resided, but to Nineveh. A remarkable work, probably erected by this monarch, and set up as a memorial of his reign at the same city, is an obe- lisk in white stone, now in the British Museum. On this 406 'J-JJ^J^ tiECOND MONARCHY, fen. i«- monument, which was covorod on all its four sides with sculptures and inscriptions, now nearly obliterated, Asshur- izir-pal commemorated his wars and hunting exploits in various countries. The obelisk is a monolith, about twelve or thirteen feet high, and two feet broad at the base.i*' It tapers slightly, and, like the Black Obelisk erected by this monarch's son,^^^ is crowned at the summit by three steps or gradines. This thoroughly Assyrian ornamentation ^*- seems to show that the idea of the obelisk was not derived from Egypt, where the pyramidical apex was universally used, being regarded as es- sential to this class of ornaments, i^'^ If we must seek a foreign origin for the invention, we may perhaps find it in the pillars {(jTTj'Aai or KLovEg) which the Phoenicians employed, as orna- ments or memorials, from a remote antiquity, ^9* objects possi- bly seen by the monarch who took tribute from Tyre, Sidon, Aradus, Byblus, and most of the maritime Syrian cities. 19° Another most important work of this great monarch was the tunnel and canal already described at length, ^^ by which at a vast expenditure of money and labor he brought the water of the Greater Zab to Calah. Asshur-izir-pal mentions this great work as his in his annals ; and he was likewise com- memorated as its author in the tablet set uj) in the timnel by Sennacherib, when, two centuries later, he repaired it and brought it once more into use. It is evident that Asshur-izir-pal, though he adorned and beautified both the old capital, Asshur, and the now rising city of Nineveh, regarded the town of Calah with more favor than any other, making it the ordinary residence of his court, and bestowing on it his chief care and attention. It would seem that the Assyrian dominion had by this time spread so far to the north that the situation of Asshur (or KHeh-Sher- ghat) was no longer sufficiently central for the capital. The seat of government was consequently moved fortj^ miles fur- ther up the river. At the same time it was transferred from the west bank to the east, and placed in the fertile region of Adiabene,^^^ near the junction of the Greater Zab with the Tigris. Here, in a strong and healthy position, on a low spur from the Jebel Maklub, protected on either side by a deep river, the new capital grew to gi-eatness. Palace after palace rose on its lofty platform, rich with carved woodwork, gilding, painting, sculpture, and enamel, each aiming to outshine its predecessors; while stone lions, sphinxes, obehsks, shrines. cu. IX.] SUALMANESER II. 407 and temple-towers embellished the scene, breaking its monoto- nous sameness by variety. The lofty ziggnraf attached to the temple of Nin or Hercules, dominating over the whole, gave unity to the vast mass of palatial and sacred edifices. The Tigris, skirting the entire western base of the mound, glassed the whole in its waves, and, doubling the apparent lieight, rendered less observable the chief weakness of the architect- ure. When the setting sun lighted up the view with the gor- geous hues seen only under an eastern sky, Calah must have seemed to the traveller who beheld it for the first time like a vision from fairy-land. After reigning gloriously for twenty-five years,from B.C. 883 to B.C. 858, this great prince— "the conqueror" (as he styles himself), " from the upper passage of the Tigris to Lebanon and the Great Sea, avIio has reduced imder his authority all countries from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same"'^^ — died, probably at no very advanced age,^^ and left his throne to his son, who bore the name of Shalmanesei*. Shalmaneser II., the son of Asshur-izir-pal, who may proba- bly have been trained to arms under his father, seems to have inherited to the full his military spirit, and to have warred with at least as much success against his neighbors. His reign Wcis extended to the unusual length of thirty-five years,'-" dur- ing which time he conducted in person no fewer than twenty- three military expeditions, besides entrusting three or four others to a favorite general. It would be a wearisome ta.sk to follow out in detail these numerous and generally uninteresting campaigns, where invasion, battle, llight, siege, submission, and triumphant return succeeded one another with monoto- nous uniformity. The style of the court historians of Assyria does not improve as time goes on. Nothing can well be more dry and commonjilace than the historical literature of this period, *'i which recalls the early efforts of the Greeks in thi.s department,*^- and exhibits a decided inferiority to the eompo- sitions of Stowe and Holinshed. The historiographer of Tig- lath-Pileser I.,'-'*' between two and three centuries earlier, is much superior, as a writer, to those of the period to which we are come, who eschew all graces of style, contenting them- selves with the curtest and dryest of phrases, and with sen- tences modelled on a single unvarying type. Instead, therefore, of following in the direct ti'ack of tlie an- nalist whom Shalmaneser employ e(l to record his exploits, and proceeding to analyze his accomit of tlie twenty-seven cam- 408 THE .SJ^COJ^n MOiY Alien r. [cu.ix. paigns belonging to this reign, I shall simply present the reader with the general result in a few words, and then draw his spe- cial attention to a few of the expeditions which are of more than common importance. It appears, then, that Shalmaneser, during the first twenty- seven years of his reign, led in person twenty -three expedi- tions into the territories of his neighbors, attacking in tlie course of these inroads, besides petty tribes, the following na- tions and countries : — Babylonia, Chaldsea, Media, the Zimri, Armenia, Upper Mesopotamia, the country about the head- streams of the Tigris, the Hittites, the Patena, the Tibareni, the Hamathites, and the Syrians of Damascus. He took trib- ute during the same time from the Phoenician cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblus, from the Tsukhi or Shuhites, from the peo- ple of Muzr, from the Bartsu or Partsu, who are almost cer- tainly the Persians, and from the Israelites. He thus trav- ersed in person the entire country between the Persian Gulf on the south and Mount Niphates upon the north, and between the Zagros range (or perhaps the Persian desert) eastward, and, Avestward, the shores of the Mediterranean. Over the whole of this region he made his power felt, and even beyond it the nations feared him and gladly placed themselves under his protection. During the later years of his reign, when he was becoming less fit for warlike toils, he seems in general to have deputed the command of his armies to a subject in whom he had great confidence, a noble named Dayan-Asshur. This chief, who held an important office as early as Shalmaneser's fifth year, 2^^ was in his twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, thirti- eth, and thirty -first employed as commander-in-chief, and sent out, at the head of the main army of Assyria, to conduct cam- paigns against the Armenians, against the revolted Patena, and against the inhabitants of the modern Kurdistan. It is uncertain whether the king himself took any part in the cam- paigns of these years. In the native record the first and third persons are continually interchanged,^^ some of the actions related being ascribed to the monarch and others to the gen- eral ; but on the whole the impression left by the narrative is that the king, in the spirit of a well-known legal maxim, ^ as- sumes as his own the acts which he has accomplished through, his representative. In his twenty-ninth year, however, Shal maneser seems to have led an expedition in person into Khirki (the Niphates country), where he " overturned, beat to pieces, and consumed with fire the towns, swept the country with his en. IX.] CAMPAIGNS OF SIIALMAyEHER II. 409 troops, and impressed on the inhabitants the fear of his pres- ence." The campaigns of Shalmaneser which have the greatest in- terest are those of hLs sixth, eighth, ninth, eleventh, four- teenth, eighteenth, and twenty-first year.s. Two of these were directed against Babylonia, three against Ben-hadad of Damascus, and two against Khazail (Hazael) of Damas- cus. In his eighth year Shalmaneser took advantage of a civ^il war in Babylonia between King Merodach-sum-adin and a younger brother, Merodach-bel-usati (?j, whose power was about evenly balanced, to interfere in the affairs of that coun- try, and under pretence of helping the legitimate monarch, to make himself master of several towns. In the following year he was still more fortunate. Having engaged, defeated, jftid slain the pretender to the Babylonian crown, he marched on to Babylon itself, where he was probably welcomed as a deliverer, and from thence proceeded into Chaldsea, or the tract upon the coast, which was at this time independent of Babylon, and forced its kings to become his tributaries. ' ' The power of his army," he tells us, "struck terror as far as the sea." The wars of Shalmaneser in Southern Syria commenced as early as his ninth year. He had succeeded to a dominion in Northern Syria which extended over the Patena, and probably over most of the northern Hittites ; "^^ and this made his terri- tories conterminous with those of the Phoenicians, the Hama- thites, the southern Hittites, and perhaps the Syrians of Da- mascus. *^^ At any rate the last named people felt themselves threatened by the growing power on or near their borders, and, convinced that they would soon be attacked, prepared for resistance by entering into a close league with their neigh- bors. The king of Damascus, who was the great Ben-hadad, Tsakhulena, king of Hamath, Ahab, king of Israel, the kings of the southern Hittites, those of the Phosnician cities on the coast, and others, formed an alliance, and, uniting tbeir forces,2^'9 went out boldly to meet Shalmaneser, offering him battle. Despite, however, of this confidence, or perhaps in consequence of it, the allies suffered a defeat. Twenty thou- sand men fell in the battle. Many chariots and much of the material of war were captured by the Assyrians. But still no conquest was eff(K'ted. Slialmaneser does not assort that lie either received siibiiiission or impoKod a tribute; and the fact that he did not venture to renew the war fur five years seems 410 THE /SECOND MONARCHY. (on. ix. to show that the resistance which he had encountered made him h(?sitate about continuing the struggle. Five years, however, having elapsed, and the power of Assyria being increased by her successes in Lower Mesopota- mia,2w Shalmaneser, in the eleventh year of his reign, advanced a second time against Hamath and the southern Hittites. En- tering their territories unexpectedly, he was at first unop- posed, and succeeded in taking a large number of their towns. But the troops of Ben-hadad soon appeared in the field. Phoenicia, apparently, stood aloof, and Hamath was occupied with her own difficulties; but Ben-hadad, having joined the Hittites, again gave Shalmaneser battle; and though that monarch, as usual, claims the victory, it is evident that he gained no important advantage by his success. He had once more to return to his own land without having extended his sway, and this time (as it would seem) without even any trophies of conquest. Three years later, he made another desperate effort. Col- lecting his people " in multitudes that were not to be counted," he crossed the Euphrates with above a hundred thousand nien.2u Marching southwards, he soon encountered a large army of the allies. Damascenes, Hamathites, Hittites, and per- haps Phoenicians, 2^'^ the first-named still commanded by the undaunted Ben-hadad. This time the success of the Assyr- ians is beyond dispute. Not only were the allies put to flight, not only did they lose most of their chariots and implements of war, but they appear to have lost hope, and, formally or tacitly, to have forthwith dissolved their confederacy. The Hittites and Hamathites probably submitted to the conqueror ; the Phoenicians withdrew 'to their own towns, and Damascus was left without allies, to defend herself as she best might, when the tide of conquest should once more flow in this direc- tion. In the fourth year the flow of the tide came. Shalmaneser, once more advancing southward, found the Syrians of Damas- cus strongly posted in the fastnesses of the Anti-Lebanon. Since his last invasion they had changed their ruler. The brave and experienced Ben-hadad had perished by the treach- ery of an ambitious subject. '^^^ and his assassin, the infamous Hazael, held the throne. Left to his own resources by the dis- solution of the old league, this monarch had exerted himself to the utmost in order to repel the attack which he knew was impending. He had collected a very large army, including en. IX.] SUBMISSION OF THE CITIES. 411 above eleven hundred chariots, and, determined to leave nothing to chance, had carefully taken up a very strong po- sition in the mountain range which separated his territory from the neighboring kingdom of Hamath, or valley of C«le- Syria. Here he was attacked by Shalmaneser, and com- jjletely defeated, with the loss of 16,(i(JU of his troops, 1121 of his chariots, a quantity of his war material, and his camp. This blow apparently prostrated hmi; and when, three yeare later, Shalmaneser invaded his territory, Hazael brought no army into the field, but let his towns, one after another, be taken and plundered by the Assyrian.'-" It was probably upon this last occasion, when the spirit of Damascus was cowed, and the Phoenician cities, trembling at the thought of their own rashness in having assisted Ha- zael and Bcn-hadad, hastened to make their submission and to resume the rank of Assyrian tributaries, that the soverei'Ti of another Syrian country, taking warning from the fate of his neiglibors, determined to anticipate the subjection which he could not avoid, and, making a virtue of necessity, to place himself under the Assyrian yoke. Jehu, "son of Omri," as he is termed in the Inscription — i.e., successor and sup- posed descendant of the great Omri who built Samaria -^^ — sent as tribute to Shalnianeser a quantity of gold and silver in bulUon, together ^s'ith a number of manufactured articles in the more precious of the two metals. In the sculptures which represent the Israelitish ambassadors presenting this tribute to the gi-eat king.'-^'' these articles appear carried in the hands, or on the shoulders, of the envoi's, but they are in general too indistinctly traced for us to pronounce with any confidence upon their charjlcter. [PI. CXLVI., Fig. 1.] Shalmaneser had the same taste as liis father for architect- ure and the other arts. He completed the zigguraf of the Great Temple of Nin at Calah, which his father had left un- finished, and not content with the palace of that monarch, built for himself a new and (probably) more magnificent resi- dence on the same lofty platform, at the distance of about 150 yards."^" This edifice was found by Mr. Layard iu so ruined a condition, through the violence which it had suffered, appar- ently at the hands of Esarhaddon,'-"* that it was impossible eithertotraceits j)Iaii or to form a clear notion of its ornamen- tation.-** Two gigantic winged bulls, partly destroyed, served to show that the grand portals of the chainl)ers were similar in character and design to those of the eaHi<'r monarch, while 412 I'JJJ^ SECONT) MONAliCIIY. [ch. ix. from a number of sculptured fragments it was sufficiently- plain that the walls had been adorned with bas-reliefs of the style used in Asshur-izir-pal's edifice. The only difference observable was in the size and subjects of the sculptures, which seemed to have been on a grander scale and more gen- erally mythological than those of the North- West palace. '■^^' The monument of Shahnaneser which has attracted most attention in this country is an obelisk in black marljle, similar in shape and general arrangement to that of Asshur-izir-pal, already described, but of a handsomer and better material. This work of art was discovered in a prostrate position under the debris which covered up Shalmaneser's palace. It con- tained bas-rehefs in twenty compartments, five on each of its four sides ; the space above, between, and below them being covered with cuneiform writing, sharply inscribed in a minute character. The whole was in most excellent preservation.'^^ The bas-reliefs represent the monarch, accompanied by his vizier and other chief officers, receiving the tribute of five nations, whose envoys are ushered into the royal presence by officers of the court, and prostrate themselves at the Great King's feet ere they present their offerings. The gifts brought are, in part, objects carried in the hand — gold, silver, copper in bars and cubes, goblets, elephants' tusks, tissues, and the like — in part, animals such as horses, camels, monkeys and balloons of different kinds, stags, lions, wild bulls, antelopes, and — strangest of all — the rhinoceros and the elephant. One of the nations, as already mentioned, '^^ is that of the Israelites. The others are, first, the people of Kirzan, a country border- ing on Armenia, ^^ who present gold, silver, copper, horses, and camels, and fill the four highest compartments '^-^ with a train of nine envoys ; secondly, the Muzri, or people of Muzr, a country nearly in the same quarter, ^-^ who are represented in the four central compartments, with six envoys conducting various wild animals ; thirdly, the Tsukhi, or Shuhites, from the Euphrates, to whom belong the four compartments below the Muzri, which are filled by a train of thirteen envoys, bringing two lions, a stag, and various precious articles, among which bars of metal, elephants' tusks, and shawls or tissues are conspicuoiis ; and lastly, the Patena, from the Orontes, who fill three of the lowest compartments with a ti'ainof twelve envoys beai-ing gifts like those of the Israelites. Besides this interesting monument, there are very few re- mains of art which can be ascribed to Shalmaneser's time en. IX.] REBELLION OF ASSUUR-DANIN-PAL. 413 with any confidence.**^ The sculptures found on the site of his palace belonged to a later monarch,'"^ who restored and embellished it. His own bas-reliefs were torn from their places by Esarhaddon, and by him defaced and used as mate- rials in the construction of a new palace. We are thus left almost without materials for judging of the progress made by art during Shalmaneser's reign. Architecture, it may be con- jectured, was modified to a certain extent, precious woods be- ing employed more frequently and mox-e largely than before ; a fact of which we seem to have an indication in the frcxjuent expeditions made by Shalmaneser into Syria, for the single purpose of cutting timber in its forests.-'^ Sculpture, to judge from the obelisk, made no advance. The same formality, the same heaviness of outline, the same rigid adherence to the profile in all rei)resontations both of man and beast, character- ize the reliefs of both reigns equally, so far as we have any means of judging. Shalm.uieser seems to have held his court ordinarily at Calah, where he built his palace and set up his obelisk ; but sometimes he would reside for a time at Nineveh or at Asshur.--^ He does not appear to have built any important edifice at either of these two cities, but at the latter he left a monument which possesses some interest. This is the stone statue, now in a mutilated condition, representing a king seated, which was found by Mr. Laj^ard at Kileh-Shei-ghat, and of which some notice has already been taken. -^^ Its pro- portions are better than those of the small statue of the mon- arch's father, standing in his sacrificial dress, which was found at Nimrud ; -"^ and it is superior to that work of art, in being of the size of life; but either its execution was origi- nally very rude, or it must have suffered grievouslj- by ex- posure, for it is now Avholly rough and impolished. The later years of Shalmaneser appear to have been troubled by a dangerous rebellion.-'''^ The infirmities of age were prob- ably creeping upon liim. He had ceased to go out with his armies; and had handed over a portion of his authority to the favorite general who wa.s entrusted with the command of his forces year after year. 2*' The favor thus shown may have provoked jealousy and even alarm. It may have been thought that the legitimate successor was imperilled by the exaltation of a subject whose position would enable him to in gratiate himself with the troops, and who might be expected, on the death of his patron, to make an effort to place tho 414 'i'"^ SECOND MONARCHY. [cu. ix. crown on his OAvn hoad. Fears of this kind may very proba- bly have so worked on the mind of the heir apparent as to de- termine liim not to await his fathers demise, but rather to raise the standard of revolt during his lifetime, and to en- deavor, by an unexpected coup-de-main, to anticipate and ruin his rival. Or, possibly, Asshvu--danin-pal, the eldest son of Shalmaneser, like too many royal youths, may have been'im- patient of the long life of his father, and have conceived the guilty desire, with which our fourth Henry is said to have taxed his first-born, a ' ' hunger for the empty chair " of which the aged monarch, -^^ still held possession. At any rate, what- ever may have been the motive that urged him on. it is cer- tain that Asshur-danin-pal rebelled against his sire's authority, and, raising the standard of revolt, succeeded in carrying with him a great part of the kingdom. At Asshur, the old metropolis, which may have hoped to lure back the Court by its subservience, at Arbela in the Zab region, at Amidi on the Upper Tigris, at Tel-Apni near the site of Orfa, and at more than twenty other fortified places, Asshur-danin-pal was pro- claimed king, and accepted by the inhabitants for their sov- ereign. Shalmaneser must have felt himself in imminent peril of losing his crown. Under these circumstances he called to his assistance his second son Shamas-Vul, and plac- ing him at the head of such of his troops as remained firm to their allegiance, invested him with full power to act as he thought best in the existing emergency. Shamas-Vul at once took the field, attacked and reduced the rebellious cities one after another, and in a little time completely crushed the re- volt and re-established peace throughout the empire. Asshur- danin-pal, the arch conspirator, was probably put to death ; his life was justly forfeit; and neither Shamas-Vul nor his father is likely to have been withheld by any inconvenient tenderness from punishing treason in a near relative, as they would have punished it in any other person. The suppressor of the revolt became the heir of the kingdom; and when, shortly afterwards,-^ Shalmaneser died, the piety or prudence of his faithful son was rewarded by the rich inheritance of the Assyrian Empire. Shalmaneser reigned, in all, thirty-five years, from B.C. 858 ^o B.C. 823. His successor, Shamas-Vul, held the throne for thirteen years, from B.C. 823 to B.C. 810. Before entering upon the consideration of this latter monarch's reign, it will be well to cast your eyes once more over the Assyrian Empire, Vol Ficr; 1. Plate CXIl!. Tkra of the later period 'Kovunjik). Fie. 2. Tiara of the earlier periud f\imrud). Fig. 3. Royal sandal (time of Saigon). Fie. 4 Royal Shoe (time of Bcnnacbtrib). Fig. 6. Royal sanilal (time of Sardaoapalus I.). Koyal necklace (NimruJ). Fig. 7 Jtoyal cullai- (Nimiuil). Plate CXIV F'le 1. Vol I. Royal- Armlets CKhorsabad). Fig. 2. Fig. 4 Early King in his War-coatumo (Nimrud). Boyal Earrings {Nimrud) F,e 3. Royal Bracelets (Kiorsabad and Koyunjik). Royal Bracelet (Khorsabad). CH. IX.] EXTENT OF ASSYRIAN DOMINION. 415 such as it has now become, and over the nations with which its growth had brought it into contact. Considerable changes had occurred since the time of Tiglath-Pileser I., the Assyrian boundaries having been advanced in several directions, while either this progress, or the movements of races beyond the frontier, had brought into view many new and some very im- portant nations. The chief advance which the " Terminus " of the Assyrians had made was towards the west and the north-west. Instead of tlieir dominion in this quarter being boimded by the Euplirates, they had established their authority over the whole of Upper Syria, over Pha'nicia, Hamath, and Samaria, or the kingdom of the Israelites. These countries were not indeed reduced to the form of provinces; on the contrary, they still retained their own laws, administration, and native princes ; but they were henceforth really subject to Assyria, acknowledging her suzerainty', paying her an annual tribute, and giving a free passage to her armies through their territo- ries. The limit of the Assyrian Empire towards the west was consequentlj' at this time the Mediterranean, from tlio Gulf of Iskanderun to Cape Carmel, or perhaps we shoidd say to Joppa.'^' Their north-western boundary Avas the range of Taurus next beyond Amanus, the tract between the two belonging to the Tibareni (Tubal), who had submitted to become tributaries.'-"' Northwards, little if any progress had been made. The chain of Niphates — "the high groinuls over tlie affluents of the Tigris and Euphrates " — where Shalma- neser set up "an image of his majesty,"-^ seems still to be the furthest limit. In other words. Armenia is micoiKiuered.**' the strength of the region and the valor of its inhabitants still protecting it from the Assyrian arms. Towards the east some territory seems to have been gained, more especially in the central Zagros region, the district between the I^wer Zab and Holwan, which at this period bore the name of Hupuska;'"^ but the tribes north and south of this tract wen* still for the most part unsubdued.'-" The southern frontier may be regarded as wholly unchanged; for although Shalmaneaer warred in Babylonia, and even took tribute on one occasion from the petty kings of the Chald.Tpan towns, he seems to have made no permanent impression in this qtiarter. The Tsukhi or Shuhites are still the most southern of his subjects.'-" The principal changes which time and cona or Edomi. On the north and east he received tokens of submission from the Nai'ri, the Minni, the Medes, and the Partsu, or Persians. On the south, he exercised a power, which seems like that of a sovereign, in Babylonia; where homage was paid him by the Chaldaeans, and where, in the great cities of Babylon, Borsippa, and Cutha (or Tiggaba), he was allowed to offer sacrifice to the gods Bel, Nebo, and Ner- gal.^ There is, further, some reason to suspect that, before quitting Babylonia, he established one of his sons jis vicei'oy over the coimtry; since he seems to style himself in one place "the king to whose son Asshur, the chief of the gods, has granted the kingdom of Babylon." It thus appears that by the time of Vul-lush III., or early in the eighth century B.C., Assyria had with one hand grasped Babylonia, while with the other she had laid hold of Philistia and Edom. She thus touched the Persian Gulf on the one side, while on the other she was brought into contact with Egypt. At the same time she had received the submission of at least some portion of the gi*eat nation of the !Medes, who were n(»w probably moving southwards from Azerbijan and gradually occupying the territory which was regarded as Media Proper by the Greeks and Romans. She held S(»uthem Armenia, from Lake Van to the sources of the Tigris; she possessed all Upper Syria, including Commagene and Amanus; she had tributaries even on the further side of that mountain range ; she bore sway over the whole Syrian coast from Issus to Gaza; her authoritj^ was acknowledged, probai)ly. by all the tribes and kingdoms between the coast and tlu' desert, "•"** certainly by the Pha?nicians. the Hamathites, the Palena. the Hittites, the Syrians of Damascus, the ])eoi>Ie of Israel, and the Idumaeans, or i)e(>])le of Edom. On the «'a.st she had re- duced almost all the valleys of Zagros, and liad tributaries in the great upland on the eastern side of the range. On the 420 27/jE; second monarchy. [ch. IX. south, if she had not absorbed Babylonia, she had at least made her influence paramoinit there. The full height of her greatness was not indeed attained till a century later; but already the " tall cedar " was "exalted above all the trees of the field; his boughs were multiplied; his branches had be- come long; and under his shadow dwelt great nations. "2« Not much is known of Vul-lush III. as a builder, or as a patron of art. He calls himself the " restorer of noble build- ings which had gone to decay," an expression which would seem to imply that he aimed rather at maintaining former ed- ifices in repair than at constructing new ones. He seems, however, to have built some chambers on the mound of Nim- rud, between the north-western and the south-Avestern pal- aces, and also to have had a palace at Nineveh on the mound now called Nebbi Yunus. The Nimrud chambers were of small size and poorly ornamented ; they contained no sculpt- ures ; the walls were plastered and then painted in fresco with a variety of paterns.^® They may have been merely guard- rooms, since they appear to have formed a portion of a high tower. -^^ The palace at Nebbi Yunus was probably a more important work; but the superstitious regard of the natives for the supposed tomb of Jonah has hitherto frustrated all attempts made by Europeans to explore that mass of ruins. ^8 Among all the monuments recovered by recent researches, the only works of art assignable to the reign of Vul-lush are two rude statues of the god Nebo, almost exactly resembling one another. 26^ From the representation of one of them, given on a former page of this volume,"^*^" the reader will see that the figures in question have scarcely any artistic merit. The head is disproportionately large, the features, so far as they can be traced, are coarse and heavy, the arms and hands are poorly modelled, and the lower part is more hke a pillar than the figure of a man. We cannot suppose that Assyrian art was incapable, under the third A"ul-lush, of a higher flight than these statues indicate; we must therefore regard them as conventional forms, reproduced from old models, which the artist was bound to follow. It M^ould seem, indeed, that while in the representation of animals and of men of inferior rank, Assyrian artists were untrammelled by precedent, and might aim at the highest possible perfection, in religious subjects, and in the representation of kings and nobles, thej were lijnited, by law or custom, to certain ancient forms and CH.ix.] SCULPTURES OF VUL-LUSn in. 421 modes of expression, which we find repeated from the earliest to the latest times with monotonous uniformity. If these statues, however, are valueless as works of art, they have yet a peculiar interest for the historian, as containing tho only mention which the disentombed remains have furnished of one of the most celebrated names of antiquity — a namo which for many ages vindicated to itself a leading place, not only in the history of Assyria, but in that of the world. '^^ To the Greeks and Romans Semiramis was the foremost of women, the greatest queen who had ever held a sceptre, the most ex- traordinary conqueror that the East had ever produced. Beautiful as Helen or Cleopatra, brave as Tomyris, lustful as Messalina, she had tlie virtues and vices of a man rather than a woman, and performed deeds scarcely inferior to those of Cyrus or Alexander the Great. It is an ungrateful task to dispel illusions, more especially such as are at once harmless and venerable for their antiquity ; but truth recpiires the his- torian to obliterate from the pages of the past this well-known unage, and to substitute in its place a very dull and prosaic figure — a Semiramis no longer decked with the prismatic hues of fancy, but clothed instead in the sober garments of fact. The Nebo idols are dedicated, by the Assyrian officer whr III., Asshur-dayan III., and A.s.shur- lush. But these names are so wliully unlike the name of PiU 424 THE SECOND MONARCnY. [en. ix. that no one of them can possibly be regarded as its equivalent, or even as the original from which it was corrupted. Thus the Assyrian records do not merely omit Pul, but exclude him ; and we have to inquire how this can be accounted for, and who the Biblical Pul is, if he is not a regular and recognized Assyr- ian monarch. Various explanations of the diflBculty have been suggested. Some would regard Pul as a general of Tiglath-Pileser (or of some earlier Assyrian king), mistaken by the Jews for the act- ual monarch. Others would identify him with Tiglath-Pileser himself. ^"^ But perhaps the most probable supposition is, that he was a pretender to the Assyrian crown, never acknowl- edged at Nineveh, but established in the western (and south- ern ™) provinces so firmly, that he could venture to conduct an expedition into Lower Sj^ria, and to claim there the fealty of Assyria's vassals. Or possibly he may have been a Babylonian monarch, who in the troublous times that had now evidently come upon the northern empire, possessed himself of the Eu- phrates valley, and thence descended upon Syria and Pales- tine. Berosus, it must be remembered, represented Pul as a Chaldoean king ; -^° and the name itself, which is wholly ahen to the ordinary Assyrian type,^i has at least one counterpart among known Babylonian names. ^^^ The time of Pul's invasion may be fixed by combining the Assyrian and the Hebrew chronologies within very narrow limits. Tiglath-Pileser relates that he took tribute from Me- nahem in a w^ar which lasted from his fourth to his eighth year, or from b.c. 742 to B.C. 738. As Menahem only reigned ten years, the earhest date that can be assigned to PuFs expe- dition will be B.C. 752,'^'^ while the latest possible date will be B.C. 746, the year before the accession of Tiglath-Pileser. In any case the expedition falls Avithin the eight years assigned by the Assyrian Canon to the reign of Asshur-lush, Tiglath- Pileser's immediate predecessor. It is remarkable that into this interval falls also the famous era of Nabonassar,-^* which must have marked some important change, dynastic or other, at Babylon. The nature of this change will be considered more at length in the Babylonian section. At present it is sufficient to observe that, in the de- clining condition of Assyria under the kings who followed Vul-lush in., there was naturally a growth of power and m- dependence among the border countries. Babylon, repenting of the submission which she had made either to Yul-lush III. en. IX.] DECLINE OF MILITARY SPIRIT. 425 or to his father, Shamas-Vul II. , once more vindicated her right to freedom, and resumed the position of a separate and hostile monarchy. Samaria, Damascus, Judaea, ceased to pay- tribute. Enterprising kings, like Jeroboam II. and Menahem, taking advantage of Assyria's weakness, did not content themselves with merely throwing off her j'oke, but proceeded to enlarge their dominions at the expense of her feudatories.'** Judging of the unknown from the known, we may assume that on the north and east there were similar defections to those on the west and south — that the tribes of Armenia and of the Zagros range rose in revolt, and that the Assyrian boundaries were thus contracted in every quai'ter.^ At the same time, within the limits of what was regarded as the settled Empire, revolts began to occur. In the reign of Asshur-dayan III. (B.a 771-753), no fewer than three important insurrections are recorded — one at a city called Libzu, another at Arapkha, the chief town of Arrapachitis, and a third at Gozan, the chief city of Gauzanitis or Mygdonia. Attempts were made to suppress these revolts ; but it may be doubted whether they were successful. The military spirit had de- clined ; the monarchs had ceased to lead out their armies reg- ularly year by year, pi-eferring to pass their time in inglorious ease at their rich and luxurious capitals. Asshur-dayan III., during nine years of his eighteen, remained at home, under- taking no warlike enterprise. Asshur-lush, his successor, dis- played even less of military vigor. During the eight years of his reign he took the field twice only, passing six years in complete inaction. At the end of this time, Calah, the second city in the kingdom, revolted ; and the revolution was brought about which ushered in the splendid period of the Lower Em- pire. It was probably during the continuance of the time of de- pression,'^^' when an unwaHike monarch was living in inglor- ious ease amid the luxuries and refinements of Nineveh, and the people, sunk in repose, gave themselves up to vicious in- dulgences more hateful in the eye of God than even the pride and cruelty which they Avere wont to exhibit in war, that the great capital was suddenly startled by a voice of warning in the streets — a voice which sounded everywhere, through cor- ridor, and lane, and s(iuare, bazaar and caravan.sci-ai. one shrill monotonous cry — " Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. " '^^^ A strange wild man, clothed in a rough gar- ment of skin,^^'' moving from place to place, announced to the 426 THE SECOND MONARCUY. [en. ix. inhabitants their doom. None knew who he was or whence ho had come; none had ever beheld him before; pale, hag- gard, travel-stained, he moved before them like a visitant from another sphere ; and his lips still framed the fearful words — "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." Had the cry fallen on them in the prosperous time, when each year brought its tale of victories, and every nation upon their borders trembled at the approach of their arms, it would prob- ably have been heard with apathy or ridicule, and would have failed to move the heart of the nation. But coming, as it did, when their glory had declined; when their enemies, having been alloAved a breathing space, had taken courage and were acting on the offensive in many quarters ; when it was thus perhaps quite within the range of probability that some one of their niunerous foes might shortly appear in arms before the place, it struck them with fear and consternation. The alarm communicated itself from the city to the palace; and his trembling attendants "came and told the king of Nineveh," who was seated on his royal throne in the great audience- chamber, surrounded by all the pomp and magnificence of his court. No sooner did he hear, than the heart of the king was touched, Kke that of his people; and he "arose from his throne, and laid aside his robe from him, and covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. ""^^ Hastily summoning his nobles, he had a decree framed, and "caused it to be pro- claimed and published through Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything ; let them not feed, nor drink water : but let man and beast '^^ be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God : yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. "-"^^ Then the fast was proclaimed, and the people of Nineveh, fearful of God's wrath, put on sackcloth ' ' from the greatest of them even to the least of them.""^^ The joy and merriment, the revelry and feasting of that great city were changed into mourning and lamentation; the sins that had provoked the anger of the Most High ceased ; the people humbled them- selves; they " turned from their evil way," ^* and by a repent- ance, which, if not deep and enduring, was still real and un- feigned, they appeased for the present the Divine wrath. Vainly the prophet sat without the city, on its eastern side, under his booth woven of boughs.^ watching, waiting, hoping (apparently) that the doom which he had announced would Vol. Plate CXVII F.g I. Costume of the Vizier. (Time of Sennacherib.) Costume of the Vizier. (Time of Asshur-icUnni-paL) Fig 2. I'li^iiers presented by the Chief Eunuch (Nirarud obelUk). Plate. CXVIII. Fnns or ffy-flappen (Nimnid anJ KoyunjikJ Fig. 2. King, with atteudants, speai'ing a lion (Koyunjik). CH. Tx.l TIGLATH-PILESER 11. 427 come, in spite of the people's i-epentance. God was more mer- ciful than man. He had pity on the ''great city," with its " six score thousand persons that could not discern between their right hand and their left,"'^ and, sparing the penitents, left their town to stand unharmed for more than another century. The circumstances under which Tiglath-Pileser II. ascended the throne in the year B.C. 745 are unknown to us. No confi- dence can be placed in the statement of Bion -"^^ and Poly his- tor,298 which seems to have been intended to refer to this mon- arch, whom they called Beletaras— a corruption perhaps of the latter half of the name'-"^ — that he was, previously to his eleva- tion to the royal dignity, a mere vine-dresser, whose occupa- tion was to keep in order the gardens of the king. Similar tales of the low origin of self-raised and usurping monarchs are too common in the East, and are too often contradicted by the facts, when they become known to us,*-*'^ for much credit to at- tach to the story told by these late writers, the earlier of whom must have written five or six hundred years after Tiglath-Pi- leser's time.*^^ We might, however, conclude, without much chance of mistake, from such a story being told, that the king intended acquired the throne irregularly ; that either he was not of the blood royal, or that, being so, he was at any rate not the legitimate heir. And the conclusion at which we- should thus arrive is confirmed by the monarch's inscriptions ; for though he speaks repeatedly of "the kings his fathers," and even calls the royal buildings at Calah " the palaces of his fathers," j'et he never mentions his actual father's name in any record that has come down to us. Such a silence is so contrary to the ordinary practice of Assyrian monarchs, who glory in their descent and parade it on every possible occasion, that, where it occurs, we are justified in concluding the mon- arch to have been an usurper, deriving his title to the cro\\m, not from his ancestry or from any law of succession, but from a successful revolution, iuAvhich lie played the principal part. It matters little that such a monarch, when he is settled upon the throne, claims, in a vague and general way, connection with the kings of former times. The claim may often have a basis of trutli ; for in monarchies where polj-gamy prevails, and the kings have ninnerous daughters to dispose of, almost all the nobility can boast that they are of the bhjod royal. Where the claim is in no sense true, it will still be made ; for it flatters the vanity of the monarch, and there is no one to gainsay it. 428 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [en. ix. Only in such cases we are sure to find a prudent vagueness— an assertion of the fact of the connection, expressed in gen- eral terms, without any specification of the particulars on which the supposed fact rests. On obtaining the crown — whatever the circumstances under which he obtained it— Tiglath-Pileser immediately proceeded to attempt the restoration of the Empire by engaging in a series of wars, now upon one, now upon another frontier, seeking by his unwearied activity and energy to recover the losses suffered through the weakness of his predecessors, and to compensate for their laches by a vigorous discharge of all the duties of the kingly office. The order of these wars, which formerly it was impossible to determine, is now fixed by means of the Assyrian Canon, and we may follow the course of the expeditions conducted by Tiglath-Pileser II. with as much confidence and certainty as those of Tiglath-Pileser I. , Asshur- izir-pal, or the second Shalmaneser. It is scarcely necessary, however, to detain the reader by going through the entire series. The interest of Tiglath-Pileser's military operations at- taches especially to his campaigns in Babylonia and in Syria, where he is brought into contact with persons otherwise known to us. His other wars are comparatively unimportant. Under these circumstances it is proposed to consider in detail only the Babylonian and Syrian expeditions, and to dismiss the others with a few general remarks on the results which were accomplished by them. Tiglath-Pileser's expeditions against Babylon were in his first and in his fifteenth years, B.C. 745 and 731. No sooner did he find himself settled upon the throne, than he levied an army, and marched against Southern Mesopotamia, ^^■■^ which appears to have been in a divided and unsettled condition. According to the Canon of Ptolemy, Nabonassar then ruled in Babylon. Tiglath-Pileser's annals confuse the accounts of his two campaigns; but the general impression which we gather from them is that, even in B.C. 745, the country was divided up into a number of small principalities, the sea-coast being under the dominion of Merodach-Baladan, who held his court in liis father's city of Bit-Yakin ; ^^s wliile in the upper region there were a number of petty princes, apparently in- dependent, among whom may be recognized names which seem to occur later in Ptolemy's list,*^* among the kings of Babylon to whom he assigns short reigns in the interval between Nabo- nassar and Mardocempalus (Merodach-Baladan) . Tiglath-Pilo' cu. IX.] WAliS OF TWLATII-PILESER II. 429 ser attacked and defeated several of these princes, taking the towns of Kux-Galzu (now Akkerkuf), and Sippara or Sephar- vaim, together Avith many other places of less consequence in the lower portion of the country, after which he received the submission of Merodach-Baladan, who acknowledged hmi for suzerain, and consented to pay an amiual tribute. Tiglath- Pileser upon this assumed the title of " King of Babylon " (B.C. 721)), and ollcred sacrifice to the Babylonian gods in all the principal cities. *^^ The first Syrian war of Tiglath-PUeser was undertaken iu his third year (B.C. 743), and lasted from that year to his eighth. In the course of it he reduced to subjection Damascus, which had regained its independence,'** and was under the government of Eezin ; Samaria, where Menahem, the adver- sary of Pul, was still reigning ; Tyre, which was under a mon- arch bearing the famihar name of Hiram ; *" Hamath, Gebal, and the Arabs bordering upon EgjT)t, who were ruled by a queen ^"^ called Khabiba. He likewise met and defeated a vast army under Azariah (or Uzziah), king of Judiih, but did not succeed in inducing him to make his submission. It would appccU- by this that Tiglath-Pileser at this time penetrated deep into Palestine, probably to a point which no AssjTian king but Vul-lush III. had reached previously. But it would seem, at the same time, that his conquests were very incom- plete ; they did not include Judaea or Phdistia, Idumsea, or the tribes of the Hauran ; and they left untouched the greater num- ber of the Phoinician cities. It causes us, therefore, no sur- prise to find that in a short time, B.C. 734, he renewed his efforts in this (piarter, commencing by an attack on Samaria, where P(}kah was now king, and taking "Ijon, and Abel-beth- maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, and carrying them captive to Assyria,"*^" thus "lightly afflicting the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,"'*"' or the more northern portion of the Holy Land, about Lake Merom, and from that to the Sea of GeniK^stireth. This attack was followed shortly (B.C. 733) by the most im- portant of Tiglath-Pileser's Syrian wars. It appears that the common danger, which had formerly united the Hittites, Hamathites, and Damascenes in a close alliance,^" now ciiused a league to be formed between Damascus and Samaria, the sovereigns of which — Pekah and Rezin — made an attempt to add Judaja to their confederation, by declaring war against 430 ^'^^^' SECOND MONARCHY. [cu. ix. Ahaz, attacking his territory, and threatening to substitute in his place as king of Jerusalem a creature of their own, "the son of Tabeal. " ^i-' Hard pressed by his enemies, Ahaz applied to Assyria, offering to become Tiglath-Pileser's "servant" — i.e., his vassal and tributary— if he would send troops to his assist- ance, and save him from the impending danger, ^i^ Tiglath- Pileser was not slow to obey this call. Entering Syria at the head of an army, he fell first upon Eezin, who was defeated, and fled to Damascus, where Tiglath-Pileser besieged him for two years, at the end of which time he was taken and slain.^" Next he attacked Pekah, entering his country on the north- east, where it bordei-ed upon the Damascene territory, and overrunning the whole of the Trans- Jordamc provinces, to- gether (apparently) with some portion of the Cis-Jordanic re- gion. The tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half -tribe of Manasseh, who had possessed the country between the Jordan and the desert from the tune of Moses, were seized and carried away captive by the conqueror, who placed them in Upper Mesopotamia, on the affluents of the Bilikh and the Khabour, ^^^ from about Harran to Nisibis.^^*^ Some cities situated on the right bank of the Jordan, in the territory of Issachar, but be- longmg to Manasseh, were at the same time seized and occu- pied. Among these, Megiddo in the great plain of Esdraelon, . and Dur or Dor upon the coast, ^^'^ some way below Tyre, were the most important. Dur was even thought of suffi- cient consequence to receive an Assyrian governor at the same time with the other prin(Jipal cities of Southern Syria. ^^^ After thus chastising Samaria, Tiglath-Pileser appears to have passed on to the south, where he reduced the Philistines and the Arab tribes, who inhabited the Sinaitic desert as far as the borders of Egypt. Over these last he set, in lieu of their native queen, an Assyrian governor. He then returned towards Damascus, where he held a court, and mvited the neighboring states and tribes to send in their submission. The states and tribes responded to his invitation. Tiglath-Pileser, before quitting Syria, received submission and tribute not only from Ahaz, king of Judah,^^^ but also fromMifenna,^-*^ king of Tyre ; Pekah, king of Samaria ; Khanun, king of Gaza ; and Mitinti, king of Ascalon ; from the Moabites, the Ammonitesi, the people of Arvad or Aradus, and the Idumaeans, He thus completely re-established the power of Assyria in this quarter, ^^i once more recovering to the Empire the entire tract betwecD cu.ix.] BUILDINGS OF TIGLATH-PILESER II. 431 the coast and the desert from Mount Amanus on the north to the Red Sea and the confines of Egypt. One further expedition was led or sent by Tiglath-Pileser into Syria, probably in his last year. Disturbances having oc- curred from the revolt of Mit'enna of Tyre and the murder of Pekah of Israel by Hoshea, an Assyrian army marched west- ward, in B.C. 728, to put them down. The Tyrian monarch at once submitted; and Hoshea, having entered into negotia- tions, agreed to receive investiture into his kingdom at the hands of the Assyrians, and to hold it as an Assyrian terri- tory. On these terms peace was re-established, and the army of Tiglath-Pileser retired and recrossed the Eui)hrates. Besides conducting these various campaigns, Tiglath-Pileser employed himself in the construction of some important works at Calah, which was his usual and favorite residence. He re- paired and adorned the palace ot Shalmaneser H., in the centre of the Nimrud mound; and he built a new edifice at the south-eastern corner of the platform, which seems to have been the most magnificent of his erections. Unfortunately, in neither case were his works allowed to remain as he left them. The sculptures with which he adorned Shalmaneser's palace were violently torn from their places by Esar-haddon, and, after barbarous ill-usage,^-- were applied to the embellish- ment of his own residence by that monarch. The palace which he built at the south-eastern corner of the Nimrud mound was first ruined by some invader, and then built upon by the last Assyrian king. Thus the monuments of Tiglath- Pileser II. come to us in a defaced and unsatisfactory condi- tion, rendering it difficult for us to do full justice either to his architectural conceptions or to his taste in ornamentation. We can see, however, by the ground plan of the building which Mr. Lof tus uncovered beneath the ruins of Mr. Layards south-east palace,^-'' that the great edifice of Tiglath-Pileser was on a scale of grandeur little inferior to that of the ancient l)alaces, and on a plan veiy nearly similar. The same ar- rangement of courts and halls and clianibcrs, the siime ab- sence of curved lines or angles other than right angles, the same narrowness of rooms in comparison with their length, which have been noted in the earlier buildings,**^ prevailed also in those of this king. With regard to the sculptures with which, after the example of the former monarchs, he orna- mented their walls, we can only say they seem to have been characterized by simphcity of treatment — the ab.sence of alj 432 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [ch. ix. ornamentation, except fringes, from the drosses, the total omission of backgrounds, and (with few exceptions) the hmita- tion of the markings to the mere outhnes of forms. The drawing is rather freer and more spirited than that of the sculptures of Asshur-izir-pal ; animal forms, as camels, oxen, sheep, and goats, are more largely introduced, and there is somewhat less formality in the handling. ■^-'^ But the change is in no re- spect very decided, or such as to indicate an era in the prog- ress of art. Tiglath-Pileser appears, by the Assyrian Canon, to have had a reign of eighteen years. He ascended the throne in B.C. 7-45, and was succeeded in B.C. 727 by Shalmaneser, the fouilh monarch who had borne that appellation. It is uncertain whether Shalmaneser IV. was related to Tiglath-Pileser or not. As, however, there is no trace of the succession having been irregular or disputed, it is most proba- ble that he was his son. He ascended the throne in b. c. 727, and ceased to reign in B.C. 722, thus holding the royal power for less than six years. It was probably very soon after his accession, that, suspecting the fidelity of Sama- ria, he "came up" against Hoshea, king of Israel, and, threatening him with condign punishment, so terrified him that he made immediate submission.*-'^ The arrears of tribute were rendered, and the homage due from a vas- sal to his lord was paid; and Shalmaneser either returned into his own country or turned his attention to other en- terprises.^"^' But shortly afterwards he learnt that Hoshea, in spite of his submission and engagements, was again contem- plating defection; and, conscious of his own weakness, was endeavoring to obtain a promise of support from an enterprise ing monarch who ruled in the neighboring country of Egypt.*-* The Assyrian conquests in this quarter had long been tending to bring them into collision with the great power of Eastern Africa, which had once held,*^ and always coveted,'^* the dominion of Syria. Hitherto such relations as they had had with the Egyptians appear to have been friendly. The weak and unwarlike Pharaohs who about this tune bore sway in Egypt had sought the favor of the neighboring Asiatic power by demanding Assyrian princesses in marriage and affecting Assyrian names for their offspring. *^^ But recently an impor- tant change had occvuTcd.'^'^ A brave Ethiopian prince had descended the valley of the Nile at the head of a swarthy host, had defeated the Egyptian levies, had driven the reigning CH. IX.] WARS OF SUALMANESER IV. 433 monarch into the marshes of the Delta, or put him to a cruel death, '^'^ and had established his own dominion firmly, at any rate over the uj)per country. Shebek the First bore sway in Memphis in lieu of the blind Bocchoris ; *'* and Hoshea, seeing in this bold and enterprising king the natural foe of the Assyr- ians,*^ and therefore his own natm-al ally and fi-iend, "sent messengers " with proposals, which appear to have been ac- cepted : for on their return Hoshea revolted openly, withheld his tribute, and declared himself independent. Shahnaneser, upon this, came up against Samaria for the second time, de- termined now to punish his vassal's pei^fidy with due wverity. Apparently, he was unresisted ; at any rate, Hoshea fell into his power, and was seized, bound, and shut up in prison. A year or two later ^^ Shalmaneser made his third and last expedi- tion into Syria. Wliat was the provocation given him, we are not told; but this time, he "came up throughout all the Zavid,"**' and, being met with resistance, he laid formal siege to the capital. The siege commenced in Shahnaneser's fourth year, B.C. 7:^4, and was protracted to his sixth, either by the efforts of the Egyptians, or by the stubborn resistance of the inhabitants. At last, in B.C. 722, the town surrendered, or was taken by storm ; *^ but before this consummation had been reached, Shahnaneser's reign would seem to have come to an end in conse(]uence of a successful revolution. While he was conducting those operations against Samaria, either in person or by means of his generals, Shalmaneser ap- pears to have been also engaged in hostilities with the Pha.'ni- cian towns. Like Samaria, they had revolted at the death of Tiglath-Pileser ; and Shalmaneser, consequently, marched into Pha'uicia at the beginning of his reign, probably in his first year, overran the entire country,839 and forced all the cities to resume their position of dependence. The island Tyre, how- ever, shortly afterwards shook ofl' the yoke. Hereupon »Shal- nvaneser "returned "^^ into these parts, and collecting a fleet from Sidon, PakB-Tyrus, and Akko, the three most important of the Phoenician towns after Tyre, proceeded to the attack of the revolted place. His vessels were sixty in number, and were manned by eight hundred Pluenician rowers, co-operat- ing wi probably, a smaller number of imskilled Assyrians.*'* Against this fleet the Tyriana, confiding in their maritime skill, sent out a forco of twelve vessels only, which proved, however, qnito (vjual to the occasion ; for the assailants were dispersed ami drivf^n off, with tlu> loss of .*»0() prisoners. 28 434 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [vm. ix. Shalmaneser, upon this defeat, retired, and gave up all active operations, contenting himself with leaving a body of troops on the mainland, over against the city, to cut off the Tyrians from the supphes of water which they were in the habit of drawing from the river Litany, and from certain aqueducts which conducted the precious fluid from springs in the moun- tains. The Tyrians, it is said, held out against this pressure for five years, satisfying their thirst with rain water, which they collected in reservoirs. Whether they then submitted, or whether the attempt to subdue them was given up, is un- certain, since the quotation from Menander, which is our sole authority for this passage of history, here breaks off abruptly. ^*2 The short reign of Shalmaneser TV, was, it is evident, suffi- ciently occupied by the two enterprises of which accounts have now been given — the complete subjugation of Samaria, and the attempt to reduce the island Tyre. Indeed, it is prob- able that neither enterprise had been conducted when a dynastic revolution, caused by the ambition of a subject, brought the unhappy monarch's reign to an untimely end. The conquest of Samaria is claimed by Sargon as an event of his first year ; and the resistance of the Tyrians, if it really continued during the full space assigned to it by Menander, must have extended beyond the term of Shalmaneser's reign, into the first or second year of his successor. ^^ It was proba- bly the prolonged absence of the Assyrian monarch from his capital, caused by the obstinacy of the two cities which he was attacking, that encouraged a rival to come forward and seize the throne ; just as in the Persian history we shall find the prolonged absence of Cambyses in Egypt produce a revolu- tion and change of dynasty at Susa. In the East, where the monarch is not merely the chief but the sole power in the state, the moving spring whose action must be continually exerted to prevent the machinery of government from standing still, it is always dangerous for the reigning prince to be long away from his metropolis. The Orientals do not use the language of mere unmeaning compUment when they compare their sovereigns with the sun,''*^ and speak of them as imparting light and life to the country and people over which they rule. In the king's absence all languishes ; the course of justice is suspended; public works are stopped: the expenditure of the Court, on which the prosperitj' of the capital mainly de- pends, being withdrawn, trade stagnates, the highest branches Vol. I. Plate. CXI X. Xion let out of tnp (Kojiugik). l— Plate CXX Fight of lion and Bull (Nimrud). King pouring Libation over four Dead Lions (Koyunjik). CH. IX. I HE VOLT OF SARGON. 435 suffering most; artists are left without employment; work- men are discharged ; wages fall ; every industry is more or less deranged, and those engaged in it suffer accordingly ; nor is there any hope of a return of prosperity until the king comes home. Under these circumstances a general discontent pre- vails ; and the people, anxious for better times, are ready to welcome any pretender who will come forward, and, on any pretext whatev^er, declare the throne vacant, and' claim to be its proper occupant. If Shalmaneser continued to direct in person the siege of Samaria during the three years of its continuance, we cannot be surprised that the patience of the Ninevitcs was exhausted, and that in the third year they ac- cepted the rule of the usurper who boldly proclaimed himself king. What right the new monarch put forward, what position he liad previously held, what special circumstances, beyond the mere absence of the rightful king, facilitated his attempts, are matters on which the monuments throw no light, and on which we must therefore be content to be ignorant. All that we can see is, that either personal merit or official rank and position must have enabled him to estabhsh himself; for he certainly did not derive any assistance from his birth, which must have been mediocre, if not actually obscure. It is the custom of the Babylonian and Assyrian kings to glory in their ancestry, and when the father has occupied a decently high position, the son decLares his sire's name and rank at the conunencement of each inscription ; *^5 b^t Sargon never, in any record, names his father, nor makes the slightest allusion to his birth and descent, unless it be in vague phrases, wherein he calls the former kings of Assyria, and even those of Babjionia, • his ancestors.**^ Such expressions seem to be mere words of course, having no historical value : and it would be a mistake even to conclude from them that the new king intended seriously to claim the connection of kindred with the raonarchs of former times. It has been thought, indeed, that Sargon, histead of cloaking his usurpation uiuler some decent plea of right, took a pride in Itoldly avowing it. The name Sargon has been supposed to be one which he adopted as his royal title at the time of his estab- lishment upon the throne, intending by the adoption to make it generally known that he had acquired the crown, not by birth or just claim, but by his own will and the consent of the people. Sargon, or Sar-gina, as the native name is read,"" means "the firm " or " well-established king, " and (it has been 436 r^^ SECOND MONARCHY. [cu. ix. argued) ' ' shows the usurper. " ^** The name is certainly unhke the general run of Assyria royal titles ; ^^ but still, as it is one which is found to have been previously boi-ne by at least one private person in Assyria,^''" it is perhaps best to suppose that it was the monarch's real original appellation, and noi assumed when he came to the throne ; in which case no argument can be founded upon it. Military success is the best means of confirming a doubtful title to the leadership of a warlike nation. No sooner, therefore, was Sargon accepted by the Ninevites as king than he com- menced a series of expeditions, which at once furnished employ- ment to unquiet spirits, and gave the prestige of military glory to his own name. He warred successively in Susiana, in Syria, on the borders of Egypt, in the tract beyond Amanus, in Meli- tene and southern Armenia, in Kurdistan, in Media, and in Babylonia. During the first fifteen years of his reign, the space which his annals cover, -^^^ he kept his subjects employed in a continual series of important expeditions, never giving himself, nor allowing them, a single year of repose. Immediately upon his accession he marched into Susiana, where he defeated Hum- banigas, the Elamitic king, and Merodach-Baladan, the old ad- versary of Tiglath-Pileser, who had revolted and established himself as king over Babylonia. Neither monarch was, however, reduced to subjection, though an important victory Avas gained, and many captives taken, who were transported into the coun- try of the Hittites. In the same year, B.C. 722, he received the submission of Samaria, which surrendered, probably, to his generals, after it had been besieged two full years. He pun- ished the city by depriving it of the qualified independence which it had enjoyed hitherto, appointing instead of a native king an Assyrian officer to be its governor, and further carry- ing oft" as slaves 27,280 of the inhabitants. On the remainder, however, he contented himself with re-imposing the rate of tribute to which the tov/n had been liable before its revolt.^^ The next year, B.C. 721, he was forced to march in person into Syria in order to meet and qviell a dangerous revolt. Yahu- bid (or Ilu-bid), king of Hamath — a usurjDer, like Sargon him- self — had rebelled, and had persuaded the cities of Arpad. Zimira,^"^ Damascus, and Samaria to cast in their lot with his, and to form a confederacy, by which it was imagined that an effectual resistance might be offered to the Assyrian arms. Not content merely to stand on the defensive in their several towns, the allies took the field ; and a battle was fought at Kar- CH. IX.] WARS OF SARGON. 437 kar or Gargar (perhaps one of the many Aroers*^ ), where the superiority of the Assyrian troops was once more proved, and Sargon gained a complete victory over his enemies. Yahu-bid himself was taken and beheaded ; and the chiefs of the revolt in the other towns were also put to death. Having thus crushed the rebellion and re-established tran- quillity throughout Syria, Sargon turned his ai-ms towards the extreme south, and attacked Gaza, which was a dependency of Egypt. The exact condition of Egypt at this time is open to some doubt. According to Manetho's numbers, the twenty-fifth or Ethiopian dynasty had not yet begun to reign. ^^ Bocchoris the Saite occupied the throne, a humane but weak prince, of a contemptible presence, and perhaps afflicted with blindness.^ No doubt such a prince would tempt the attack of a powerful neighbor ; and, so far, probability might seem to be in favor of the Manethonian dates. But, on the other hand, it must be remembered that Egypt had lately taken an aggi-essive attitude, incompatible with a time of weakness ; she had intermeddled between the Assyrian crown and its vassals, by entering into a league with Hoshea ; and she had extended her dominion over a portion of Philistia,*'" thereby provoking a collision with the Great Power of the East. Again, it is worthy of note that the name of the Pharaoh who had dealings with Hoshea, if it does not seem at first sight very closely to resemble the Egyp- tian Shebek, is, at any rate, a possible representative of that word,*^* while no etymological skill can force it into agreement with any other name in this portion of the Egyptian lists. Further, it is to be remarked that at this point of the Assyrian annals, a Shebek appears in them,*'^ holding a position of gi'eat authoi-ity in Egypt, though not dignified with the title of king. These facts fm-nish strong grounds for believing that the Mane- thonian chronology, which can be proved to be in many points incorrect, *^'^ has placed the accession of the Ethiopians some- what too late, and that that event occurred really as early as B.C. 725 or B.C. 730. At the same time, it must be allowed that all difficulty is not removed by this supposition. The Shebek {Sibahe or Sibaki) of the Assyrian record bears an inferior title, and not that of king.*^* He is also, apparently, contemporary with another authority in Egypt, who is recognized by Sargon as the time "Pharaoh," or native ruler. "'^ Further, it is not till eight or nine years later that any mention is made of Ethiopia as hav- ing an authority over Egypt, or as in any way brought into 438 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [cii. ix. contact with Sargon. The proper conclusion from these facts seems to be that the Ethiopians established themselves grad- ually ; that in B.C. 720, Shebek or Sabaco, though master of a portion of Egypt, had not assumed the royal title, which was still borne by a native prince of little power — Bocchoris, or Scthos— who held his court somewhere in the Delta; and that it was not till about the year B.C. 712 that this shadowy king- dom passed away, that the Ethiopian rule was extended over the whole of Egypt, and that Sabaco assumed the fvdl rank of an independent monarch. If this be the true solution of the difficulty which has here presented itself, we must conclude that the first actual collision between the powers of Egypt and Assyria took place at a time very unfavorable to the former. Egypt was, in fact, divided against itself, the fertile tract of the Delta being under one king, the long valley of the Nile under another. If war was not actually going on, jealousy and suspicion, at any rate, must have held the two sovereigns apart ; and the Assyrian monarch, coming at such a time of intestine feud, must have found it comparatively easy to gain a triumph in this quarter. The armies of the two great powers met at the city of Rapikh, which seems to be the Raphia of the Greeks and Romans,*'^ and consequently the modern Refah — a position upon the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, about half-way between Gaza and the Wady-el-Arish, or "River of Egypt." Here the forces of the Philistines, under Khanun, king of Gaza, and those of Shebek, the Tar-dan (or perhaps the Sultan ^'^*) of Egypt, had effected a junction, and awaited the approach of the invader. Sargon, having arrived, immediately engaged the allied army, and succeeded in defeating it completely, capturing Khanun, and forcing Shebek to seek safety in flight. Khanun was deprived of his crown and carried off to Assja-ia by the conqueror.^ Such was the result of the first combat between the two great powers of Asia and Africa. It was an omen of the future, though it was scarcely a fair trial of strength. The battle of Raphia foreshadowed truly enough the position which Egypt would hold among the nations from the time that she ceased to be isolated, and was forced to enter into the struggle for pre- eminence, and even for existence, "with the great kingdoms of the neighboring continent. With rare and brief exceptions, Egypt has from the time of Sargon succumbed to the superior might of whatever power has been dominant in Western Asia, owning it for lord, and submitting, with a good or bad graces Plate CXXI. Dead wild ass (Koyaojik). Fig I rrr^ Hound chuiug a wild us colt (Kojanjik). Fig. 3 Wild Asa takeu with a P.ope (Koyunjik) Plate CXXI Vol. I. Hound chasing; a doe (Kojunjik). Fig. 2. Hunted Stag taking the Water (Koyunjik). cii. IX.] WARS OF SARGON. 439 to a position involving a greater or less degree of dependence. Tributary to the later Assyrian princes, and again, probably, to Nebuchmlnt'zzai', she had scarcely recovered her independence when she fell under the dominion of Persia. Never successful, notwithstanding all her struggles, in thoroughly shaking off this hated yoke, she did but exchange her Persian for Greek masters, Avhen the empire of Cyrus perished. Since then, Greeks, Romans, Saracens, and Turks have, each in their turn, been masters of the Egyptian race, which has paid the usual penalty of precocity in the early exhaustion of its powers. After the victories of Aroer and Raphia, the Assyrian mon- arch appears to have been engaged for some years in wars of comparatively slight interest towards the north and the north- east. It was not till B.C. 715, five j'ears after his first fight with the Egyptians, that he again made an expedition towards the south-west, and so came once more into contact with nations to whose fortunes we are not wholly indifferent. His chief efforts on this occasion were dii'ected against the peninsula of Arabia. The wandering tribes of the desert, tempted by the weak condition to which the Assyrian conquest had reduced Samai'ia, made raids, it appears, into the territory at their pleasure, and carried off plunder. Sargon detennined to chas- tise these predatory bands, and made an expedition into the interior, whei-e "he subdued the uncultivated plains of the re- mote Arabia, which had never before given tribute to Assyria," and brought under subjection the Thamudites,*^" and several other Arab tribes, carrying off a certain number and settling them in Samaria itself, which thenceforth contained an Arab element in its population.*^' Such an effect was produced on the surrounding nations by the success of this inroad, that their princes hastened to propitiate Sargon's favor by sending em- bassies, and excepting the position of Assyrian tributaries. The reigning Pharaoh, whoever he may have been, It-hamar, king of the Saboeans, and Tsamsi,*^^ queen of the Arabs, thus humbled themselves, sending pi-esents,*'" and i>robably entering into engagements which bound them for the future. Four years later (B.C. 711) Sargon led a third expedition into these parts, regarding it as important to punish the misconduct of the peoj^k' of Aslidod. Ashdod had i)ri »l)ably submitted after the battle of Ra])hia, and had been allowed to retain its native prince, Azuri. This prince, after awhile, revolted, withheld his tribute, and proceeded to foment rebellion against Assyria 440 ^^-E? SECOND MONARCHY. [cii. ix. among the neighboring monarchs ; whereupon Sargon deposed him, and made his brother Akhimit king in his place. The people of Ashdod, however, rejected the authority of Akhimit, and chose a certain Yaman, or Yavan, to rule over them, who strengthened himself by alliances with the other Philistine cities, with Judaea, and with Edom. Immediately upon learn- ing this, Sargon assembled his army, and proceeded to Ashdod to punish the rebels ; but, before his arrival, Yaman had fled away, and " escaped to the dependencies of Egypt, which " (it is said) "were under the rule of Ethiopia. "2™ Ashdod itself, tnisting in the strength from which it derived its name,^"^ re- sisted^ but Sargon laid siege to it and in a little time forced it to surrender. ^'-^ Yaman fled to Egypt, but his wife and chil- dren were captured and, together with the bulk of the inhabit- ants, were transported into Assyria, while their place was supplied by a number of persons who had been made prisoners in Sargon's eastern wars. An Assyrian governor was set over the town. The submission of Ethiopia followed. Ashdod, like Samaria, had probably been encouraged to revolt by promises of foreign aid. Sargon's old antagonist, Shebek, had recently brought the whole of Egypt under his authoi'ity, and perhaps thought the time had come when he might venture once more to meas- ure his strength against the Assyrians. But Sargon's rapid movements and easy capture of the strong Ashdod terrified him, and produced a change of his intentions. Instead of marching into Philistia and fighting a battle, he sent a suppli- ant embassy, surrendered Yaman, and deprecated Sargon's wrath. ^" ^ The Assyrian monarch boasts that the king of Meroe, who dwelt in the desert, and had never sent ambassadors to any of the kings his predecessors, was led by the fear of his majesty to direct his steps towards Assyria and humbly bow down before him. At the opposite extremity of his empire, Sargon soon after- wards gained victories which were of equal or greater impor- tance. Having completely reduced Syria, humiliated Egypt, and struck terror into the tribes of the north and east, he determined on a great expedition against Babylon. Merodach- Baladan had now been twelve years in quiet possession of the kingdom.^"* He had established his court at Babylon, and, suspecting that the ambition of Sargon would lead him to at- tempt the conquest of the south he had made preparations for resistance by entering into close alliance with the Susianians CJi. IX.] WABS OF SARGON. 441 under Sutruk-Nakhunta on the one hand, and witli the Aramaean tribes above Babylonia on the other. Still, when Sargon advanced against him, instead of giving him battle, or even awaiting him behind the walls of tlie capital, he at once took to flight.^'* Leaving garrisons in the more importiint of the inland towns, and committing their defence to his generals, he himself hastened down to his own city of Beth -Yak in, '^^ which Avas on the Euphrates, near its mouth, and, sunmioning the Aramaeans to his assistance, 3"' prepared for a vigorous re- sistance in the immediate vicinity of his native place. Post- ing himself in the plain in front of the city, and protecting his front and left flank with a deep ditch, which he filled with water from the Euphrates, he awaited the advance of Sargon, who soon appeared at the head of his troops, and lost no time in beginning the attack. We cannot follow with any precision the exact operations of the battle, but it appears tliat Sargon fell upon the Babylonian troops, defeated them, and drove them into their own dyke, in which many of them were drowned, at the same time separating theni from their allies, who, on seeing the disaster, took to flight, and succeeded in making their escape. Merodach-Baladan, abandoning his camp, threw himself Avith the poor remains of his army into Beth-Yakin, which Sargon then besieged and took. The Baby- lonian monarch fell into the hands of his rival, who plundered his palace and burnt his city, but generously spared his life. He was not, however, allowed to retain his kingdom, the government of which was assumed by Sargon himself, who is the Arceanus of Ptolemy's Canon. ^'^ The submission of Balnlonia was followed by the reduction of the Aramaeans, and the conquest of at least a portion of Susiana. To the Susianian territory Sargon transported the Commukha from the Upper Tigris, placing the mixed popu- lation under a governor, whom he made dependent on the viceroy of Babylon. ^"^ The Assyrian dominion was thus fimily established on the shores of the Persian Gulf. The power of Babylon was broken. Henceforth the Assyrian rule is maintained ovt-r the whole of Chaldaea and Babylonia, with few and brief interruptions, to the'close of the Emiiire. The reluctant victim struggles in his captor's grasp, and now and then for a short space shakes it off; but only to be seized again with a fiercer gripe, until at length his struggles cease, and he resigns himself to a fate V'hich he has come to regard as inevitable. During the last 442 TnH SECOND MONARCH r. [( ii. ix. fifty years of the Empire, from B.C. 680 to B.C. 625, the province of Babylon was almost as tranquil as any other. The pride of Sargon received at this time a gratification which he is not able to conceal, in the homage which was paid to him by sovereigns who had only heard of his fame, and who were safe from the attacks of his armies. While he held his court at Babylon, in the year B.C. 708 or 707, he gave au- dience to two embassies from two opposite quarters, both sent by islanders dwelling (as he expresses it) ' ' in the middle of the seas " that washed the outer skirts of his dominions. '''^o Upir, king of Asmun, who ruled over an island in the Persian Gulf, — Khareg, perhaps, or Bahrein, — sent messengers, who bore to the Great King the tribute of the far East. Seven Cyprian monarchs, chiefs of a country Avhich lay ' ' at the distance of seven days from the coast, in the sea of the setting sun," offered him by their envoys the treasures of the West.^*^ The very act of bringing presents implied submission ; and the Cypriots not only thus admitted his suzerainty, but consented to receive at his hands and to bear back to their coimtry a more evident token of subjection. This was an effigy of the Great King carved in the usual form, and accompanied with an inscription recording his name and titles, which was set up at Idalium, nearly in the centre of the island, and made known to the Cypriots the form and appearance of the sovereign whom it was not likely that they would ever see.^^^ The expeditions of Sargon to the north and north-east had resiilts less splendid than those which he undertook to the south-west and the south ; but it may be doubted whether they did not more severely try his military skill and the valor of his soldiers. The mountain tribes of Zagros, Taurus, and Xi- phates, — Medes, Armenians, Tibareni, Moschi, etc., — were prob- ably far braver men and far better soldiers than the levies of Egypt, Susiana, and Babylon. Experience, moreover, had by this time taught the tribes the wisdom of uniting against the common foe, and we find Ambris the Tibarenian m alliance with Mita the Moschian, and Urza the Armenian, when he ventures to revolt against Sargon. The submission of the northern tribes was with difficulty obtained by a long and fierce struggle, which — so far as one belligerent was concerned — terminated in a compromise. Ambris was deposed, ^^ and his country placed under an Assyrian governor ; Mita ^^ con- sented, after many years of resistance, to pay a tribute ; Urza was defeated, and committed suicide, but the general pacifica' (•ji. IX.] W'AiiS OF sAn<;oy. 443 tion of the noi-th was not effected until a treaty was made with the king of Van, and his good-will purchased by the cession to hin> of a considerable tract of country which the Assyrians had previously taken from Urza.^**^ On the side of Media the resistance offered to the arms of Sargon seems to have been slighter, and he was consequently able to obtain a far more complete success. Having rapidly overrun the country, he seized a number of the towns and "annexed them to Assyria, " '*^'^ or, in other words, reduced a great portion of Media into the form of a province. He also built in one part of the country a number of fortified posts. He then imposed a tribute on the natives, consisting entu-ely of horses, which were perhaps requii-ed to be of the famous Nisa>an breed. s*^ After liis fourteenth year, B.C. 708, Sargon ceased to lead out his troops in person, employing instead the services of his gen- erals. In the year B.C. 7U7 a disputed succession gave hun an opportunity of interference in Illib, a small country bordering on Susiana. Nibi, one of the two pretenders to the throne, had applied for aid to Sutruk-Nakhunta, king of Elam, who iield his court at Susa,^^^ and had received the promise of his favor and protection. Upon this, the other claimant, who was named Ispabara, made application to Sargon, and was readily received into alliance. Sargon sent to his assistance "seven captains with seven armies," who engaged the troops of Sutruk- Nakhunta, defeated them, and established Ispabara on the throne. '^^^ In the following year, however, Sutruk-Nakhunta recovered his laurels, invading Assyria in his turn, and capt- uring cities which he added to the kingdom of Susiana. In all his wars Sargon largely employed the system of whole- sale deportation. The Israelites were removed from Samaria, and planted partly in Gozan or Mygdonia, and partly in the cities recently taken from the Medes.^ Hamath and Damas- cus were peopled with captives from xirmenia and other re- gions of the north, A portion of the Tibareni were carried captive to Assyria, and Assyrians were established in the Ti- barenian country. Vast numbers of the inhabitants of the Za- gros range were also transported to Assyria; Babylonians, Cuthaeans, Sepharvites, Arabians, and others, were placed in Samaria; men from the extreme east (perhaps Media) in Ash- dod. The Coniinuklia wore removed from tlie extreme north to Susiana; and Chakhf ans were brought from the extreme south to supply their place. Everywhere Sargon ' changed 444 THE SECOND MONARCH F. [cii. ix. the abodes" of his subjects,'^^ his aim being, as it would seem, to weaken the stronger races by dispersion, and to destroy the spirit of the weaker ones by severing at a blow all the links which attach a patriotic people to the country it has long in- habited. The practice had not been unknown to previous monarchs,^^- but it had never been employed by any so gener- ally or on so grand a scale as it was by this king. From this sketch of Sargon's wars, we may now proceed to a brief consideration of his great works. The magnificent pal- ace which he erected at Khorsabad was by far the most impor- tant of his constructions. Compared with the later, and even with the earlier buildings of a similar kind erected by other kings, it was not remarkable for its size. But its ornamenta- tion was unsurpassed by that of any Assyrian edifice, with the single exception of the great palace of Asshur-bani-pal at Koyunjik. Covered with sculptures, both internally and ex- ternally, generally in two lines, one over the other, and, alaove this, adorned with enamelled bricks, arranged in elegant and tasteful patterns; approached by noble flights of steps and through splendid propylsea ; having the advantage, moreover, of standing by itself, and of not being interfered with by any other edifice, it had peculiar beauties of its own, and may be pronounced in many respects the most interesting of the Assyr- ian buildings. United to this palace was a town enclosed by strong walls, which formed a square two thousand yards each way. Allowing fifty square yards to each individual, this space Avould have been capable of accommodating 80,000 persons. The town, like the palace, seems to have been entii-ely built by Sargon, who imposed on it his own name, an appellation which it retained beyond the time of the Arab conquest. "^^ It is not easy to understand the exact object of Sargon in building himself this new residence. Dur-Sargina was not the Windsor or Versailles of Assyria — a place to which the sover- eign could retire for country air and amusements from the bustle and heat of the metropolis. It was, as we have said, a town, and a town of considerable size, being very little less than half as large as Nineveh itself. It is true that it possessed the advantage of a nearer vicinity to the mountains than Nin eveh ; and had Sargon been, like several of his predecessors, " a mighty hunter," we might have supposed that the greater facility of obtaining sport in the woods and valleys of the Za- gros chain formed the attraction which led him to prefer the region where he built his town to the banks of the Tigris. CH. IX.] PROGRESS OF ART UNDER SARGON. 445 But all the evidence that we possess seems to show that thi? monarch was destitute of any love for the chase : *'^ and seem- ingly we must attribute his change of abode either to mere ca- price, or to a desire to be near the mountains for the sake of cooler water, purer air, and more varied scenery. It is no doubt true, as M. Oppert observes, '^^^ that the royal palace at Nineveh was at this time in a ruinous state ; but it could not have been more difficult or more expensive to repair it than to construct a new palace, a new mound, and a new town, en a fresh site. Previously to the construction of the Khorsabad palace, Sar gon resided at Caleb. ^^ He there repaired and renovated the great palace of Asshur-izir-pal, which had been allowed to fall to decay. *^' At Nineveh he repaired the walls of the town, which were ruined in many places, and built a temple to Nebo and Merodach; while in Babylonia he improved the condition of the embankments, by Avhich the distribution of the waters was directed and controlled. ^"^ He appears to have been to a certain extent a patron of science, since a large number of the Assyrian scientific tablets are proved by the dates upon them to have been written in his day.^'^ The progress of mimetic art under Sargon is not striking but there are indications of an advance in several branches o industry, and of an improved taste in design and in ornamen- tation. Transparent glass seems now to have been first broughl into use,*°<^ and intaglios to have been first cut upon hard stones.**'^ The furniture of the period is greatly superior in de- sign to any previously represented,*'- and the modelling oi sword-hilts, maces, armlets, and other ornaments is peculiarly good.**^ The enamelling of bricks was carried under Sargon to its greatest perfection ; and the shape of vases, goblets, and boats shows a marked improvement upon the M'orks of former times. *'^* The advance in animal foi-ms, traceable in the sculpt- ures of Tiglath-Pileser II., continues: and the drawing of horses' heads, in particular, leaves littl*' to desire.'*'^'' After reigning gloriously over Assyria for s(>ventoen years, and for the last five of them over BaVjvlonia also. Sargon died, leaving his crown to the most celebrated of all the Assyi'ian monarchs, his son Sennacherib, who began to reign B.C. 705. The long notices which we possess of this monarch in the books of the Old Testament, his intimate connection with the Jews, the fact that he was the object of a pretei-natiu'al exhibition of the Divine displeasure, and the remarkable circumstance tha^ 44G Tl/I<: SKC'ONI) MONAJiCl/V. [cii. IX. this miraculous interposition appears under a thin disguise in the records of the Greeks, have always attached an interest to his name which the kings of this remote period and distant region very rarely awaken. It has also happened, curiously enough, that the recent Mesopotamian researches have tended to give to Sennachei'ib a special prominence over other Assyr- ian monarchs, more particularly in this country, our great excavator having devoted his chief efforts to the disinterment of a palace of this king's construction, which has supplied to our National Collection almost one-half of its treasures. The result is, that while the other sovereigns who bore sway in Assyria are generally either wholly unknown, or float before the mind's eye as dim and shadowy forms, Sennacherib stands out to our api^rehension as a living and breathing man, the impersonation of all that pride and gi'eatness which we assign to the Ninevite kings, the hving embodiment of Assyrian haughtiness, Assyrian violence, and Assyrian power. The task of setting forth the life and actions of this prince, which the course of the history now imposes on its compiler, if increased in interest, is augmented also in difficulty, by the grandeur of the ideal figure which has possession of men's minds. The reign of Sennacherib lasted twenty-four years, from b. c. 705 to B.C. 681. The materials which we possess for his his- tory consist of a record written in his fifteenth ^^"^ year, describ- ing his military expeditions and his buildings up to that time; *"' of the Scriptural notices to which reference has already been made;*^^ of some fragments of Polyhistor pre- served by Eusebius ; ^'^^ and of the well-known passage of Herodotus which contains a mention of his name.*^^ From these documents we shall be able to make out in some detail the chief actions of the earlier portion of his reign, but they fail to supply any account of his later years, unless we may assign to that portion of his life some facts mentioned by Polyhistor, to which there is no allusion in the native records. It seems probable that troubles both abroad and at home greeted the new reign. The Canon of Ptolemy shows a two years' interregmun at Babylon (from B.C. 704 to B.C. 702) exactly coinciding ^^^ with the first two years of Sennacherib. This would imply a revolt of Babylon from Assyria soon after his accession, and either a period of anarchy or a rapid succes- sion of pretenders, none of whom held the throne for so long a time as a twelvemonth.*^ Polyhistor gives us certain details, Plate CXXIV. Vol I. Sportsman can-ying a g;izelle (Khorsabad). Fig. i. Sportsm.in shooiing (Khorsabad). Grejliouuil and Hare, from a bronze bowl (Nimrud). Fit' 4, Nets, pegs, and balls of string (KoyuDJik). CH. IX.] SENNACHERIB. 447 from which we gather that there were at least three monarchs in the interval left blank by the Canon '•^^ — first, a brother of Sennacherib, whose name is not given; secondly, a certain Hagisa, who wore the crown only a month ; and, thirdly, Me- rodach-Baladan, Avho had escaped from captivity, and, having murdered Hagisa, resumed the throne of which Sargon had deprived him six or seven years befoi-e."^ Sennacherib must apparently have been so much engaged with his domestic affairs that he could not devote his attention to these Baby- lonian matters till the second year after his accession. *^^ In B.C. 703 he descended on the lower country and engag-'d the troops of Merodach-Baladan, which consisted in part of native Babylonians, in part of Susianians, sent to his assistance by the king of Elam.''^*' Over this army Sennacherib gained a complete victory near the city of Kis, after which he took Babylon, and overran the whole of Chalda^a, plundering (according to liis own accoimt) seventy-six large towns and 420 villages.^'' Merodach-Baladan once more made his escape, flying probabl.y to Susiana, whei'e we afterwards find his sons living as i-efugees."*^** Sennacherib, before quitting Babylon, appointed as tributary king an Assyrian named Belipni, who seems to be the Belibus of Ptolemy s Canon, and the Elibus of Polyhistor.^^^ On his return from Babylonia he invaded and ravaged the territory of the Aramapan tribes on the middle Eu])h rates— the Tumuna, Ruhua, Gambulu, Khindaru, and rukudu-*-" (Pekod?), theNabatu or Nabathfeans, the Hagaranu or Hagarenes,^'-'^ and others, carrying into captivity more than 200,000 of the inhabitants, besides great numbers of horses, camels, asses, oxen, and sheep. ''^ In the following year, B.C. 702, Sennacherib made war on the tribes in Zagros, forcing Ispabani, whom Sargon had estab- lished in power,*-^ to fly from his country, and concjuering many cities and districts, whicli he attached to Assyria, and placed under the government of Assyrian officers.*-* The most important of all the exi)editions contained in Sen- naclierib's records is that of his fourth year, B.C. 701, in which he attacked Luliya king of Sidon, and made his first expedi- tion against Hezekiah king of Judah. Invading Syria with a great host, he made Phtenicia the first object of his attack. There Luliya — who seems to be the Elula'us of Menander,*'* though certainly not the Elula^us of Ptolemy's Canon. '•'^ — had evidently raised the standard of revolt, probably during the early years of Sennacherib, when domestic troubles seem to 448 TUE BECOND MONARCHY. [cu. ix. have occupied his attention. Luliya had, apparently, estab lislied his dominion over the greater part of Phoenicia, being lord not only of Sidon, or, as it is expressed in the inscription, of Sidon the greater and Sidon the less, but also of Tyre, Ecdippa, Akko, Sarepta, and other cities. However, he did not venture to await Sennacherib's attack, but, as soon as he found the expedition was directed against himself, he took to Higlit, quitting the continent and retiring to an island in the middle of the sea — perhaps the island Tyre, or more probably Cyprus. Sennacherib did not attempt any pursuit, but was content to receive the subinission of the various cities over which Luliya had rided, and to establish in his place, as tribu- tary monarch, a prince named Tubal. He then received the tributes of the other petty monarchs of these parts, among whom are mentioned Abdilihat king of Arvad, Hurus-milki king of Byblus, Mitinti king of Ashdod,"^ Puduel king of Beth-Ammon, a king of Moab, a king of Edom, and (according to some writers *-^^) a " Menahem king of Samaria." After this Sennacherib marched southwards to Ascalon, where the king, Sidka, resisted him, but was captured, together with his city, his wife, his children, his brothers, and the other membei'S of his family. Here again a fresh prince was established in power, while the rebel monarch was kept a prisoner and trans- ported into Assyria. Four towns dependent upon Ascalon, viz., Hazor, Joppa, Beneberak, and Beth-Dagon,*^ were soon afterwards taken and plundered. Sehnacherib now pressed on against Egypt. The Philistine city of Ekron had not only revolted from Assyria, expelling its king, Padi, who was opposed to the rebellion, but had en- tered into negotiations with Ethiopia and Egyi:»t, and had ob- tained a promise of support from them. The king of Ethiopia was probably the second Shebek (or Sabaco) who is called Sevechus by Manetho, and is said to have reigned either twelve or fourteen years. *^ The condition of Egypt at the time was peculiar. The Ethiopian monarch seems to have exercised the real sovereign power; but native princes were established under him who were allowed the title of king, and exercised a real though delegated authority over their several cities and districts. ^^^ On the call of Ekron both princes and sovereign had hastened to its assistance, bringing with them an army consisting of chariots, horsemen, and archers, so numerous that Sennacherib calls it " a host that could not be numbered. " The second great battle"'''- between the Assyrians and the Vol. I Plate. CXXV No. I. — Man FishinK (Nimrud). Fitr 2. No. II. Man fishing (Koyunjik) Bear standing, liom a bronze bowl (Nimrud) Fig- 4 Ancient Assyrian Harp and Harper (Nimrud). Triangular Lyre (Koyunjik). Fig. 1 Main Fishing, seated on Skin (Koyunjik). en. ix.f WAIi WITU UEZEKlAn. 449 Egyptians took place near a place called Altaku, which is no doubt the Eltekeh of the Jews,"^ a small town in the vicinity of Ekron. Again the might of Africa yielded to that of Asia. The Egyptians and Ethiopians were defeated with great slaughter. Many chariots, with their drivers, both Egyptian and Ethiopian, fell into the hands of the conqueror, who also took alive several "sons " of the principal Egyptian monarch. ^^* The immediate fruit of the victory was the fall of Altaku, which was followed by the capture of Tamna, a neighboring town.*^ Sennacherib then " went on " to Ekron, which made no resistance, but opened its gates to the victor. The princes and chiefs who had been concerned in the revolt he took alive and slew, exposing their bodies on stakes round the whole circuit of the city walls. Great numbers of inferior persons who were regarded as guilty of rebellion, were sold as slaves. Padi, the expelled king, the friend to Assyria, was brought back, reinstated in his sovereignty, and required to pay a small tribute as a token of dependence.*'* The restoration of Padi involved a war with Hezekiah, king of Judah. When the Ekronites determined to get rid of a king whose Assyrian proclivities were distastefid to them, in- stead of putting him to death, they arrested him, loaded him with chains, and sent him to Hezekiah for safe keeping.*'^' By accepting this charge the Jewish monarch made himself a partner in their revolt ; and it was in part to punish this com- plicity, in part to compel him to give up Padi, that Senna- cherib, when he had sufficiently chastised the Ekronite rebels, proceeded to invade JudjBa. Then it was — in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, according to the present Hebrew text ^'^ — that " Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the fenced cities of Judah and took them. And Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me; that Avliich thou puttest on me Avill I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah, king of Judah, three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that Avas- foimd in the house of the Lord, and in the trea.su res of the king's house. At that time did Hezekiah cut off |the gold from] the doors of the house of the Lord, and (from) the pillars which Hezekiah, king of Judah, had overlaid, and gave it to the king of A.ssyria. " '•■'** Such is the brief account of this expedition and its conse- quences which is given us by the author of the Second Book 29 450 '^^^ SECOND MONARCHY. [en. ix. of Kings, who writes from a religious point of view, and is chiefiy concerned at the desecration of holy things to which the imminent peril of his city and people forced the Jewish monarch to submit. It is interesting to compare with this ac- count the narrative of Sennacherib himself, who records the features of the expedition most important in his eyes, the number of the towns taken and of the prisoners carried into captivity, the measures employed to compel submission, and the nature and amount of the spoil which he took with him to Nineveh. "Because Hezekiah, king of Judah," says the Assyrian monarch,**^ " 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 strong 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 car- ried off as spoil 200,150 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 Jerusalem, his capital city, like a bird in a cage, build- ing 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 thirty talents of gold and eight hundred talents of silver, and di- vers treasures, a rich and immense booty. . . . All these things were brought to me at Nineveh, the seat of my government, Hezekiah having sent them by way of tribute, and as a token of his submission to my power." It appears then that Sennacherib, after punishing the people of Ekron, broke up from before that city, and entering Judsea proceeded towards Jerusalem, spreading his army over a wide space, and capturing on his way a vast number of small towns and villages,**^ whose inhabitants he enslaved and car- ried off to the number of 200,000."'^ Having reached Jerusa- lem, he commenced the siege in the usual way, erecting towers around the city, from which stones and arrows were dis- charged against the defenders of the fortifications, and " cast- ing banks " against the walls and gates. *^^ Jerusalem seems to have been at this time very imperfectly fortified. The " breaches of the city of David "' had recently been " many ; "' and the inhabitants had hastily pulled down the houses in the vicinity of the wall to fortify it."* It was felt that the holy CH. IX.] SURRENDER OF JERUSALEM. 451 place was in the greatest danger. "We may learn from the conduct of the people, as described by one of themselves, what were the feelings generally of the cities threatened with de- struction by the Assyrian armies. Jerusalem was at first "full of stirs and tumult; " the people rushed to the housetops to see if they were indeed invested, and beheld "the choicest valleys full of chariots, and the horsemen set in array at the gates." "^ Then came "a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity "—a day of " breaking down the walls and of crying to the mountains."*^ Amidst this general alarm and mourning there were, however, found some whom a wild despair made reckless, and drove to a ghastly and ill- timed merriment. When God by His judgments gave an evident "call to weeping, and to mourning, and to bfxldness. and to girding with sackcloth — behold joy and gladness, slay- ing oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine — 'Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die.""^^" Hez- ekiah after a time came to the conclusion that resistance would be vain, and offered to surrender upon terms, an offer which Sennacherib, seemg the great strength of the place, and perhaps distressed for water,^^^ readily granted. It was agreed that Hezekiah should undertake the paj-ment of an annual tribute, to consist of thirty talents of gold and three hundred talents of silver, and that he should further yield up the chief treasures of the place as a " present " to the Great King. Hezekiah, in order to obtain at once a sufficient supply of gold, was forced to strip the walls and pillars of the Temple, which were overlaid in parts with this precious metal. *^^ He yielded up all the silver from the royal treasury and from the treasurj" of the Temple ; and this amounted to five hundred talents more than the fixed rate of tribute. In addition to these sacrifices, the Jewish monarch was required to surrender Padi, his Ekronite prisoner, and was mulcted in certain por- tions of his dominions, which were attached by the conqueror to the territories of neighboring kings.**' Sennacherib, after this triumph, returned to Nineveh, but did not remain long in repose. The course of events sununoned him in the ensuing j-ear — B.C. 700 — to Babylonia, where Mero- dach-Baladan, assisted by a certain Susub, a ChakUvan prince, was again in arms against his authority. Sennacherib first defeated Susub, and then, directing his march upc^n Beth- Yakin, forced Merodach-Baladan once more to quit the country and betake himself to one of the islands of the Persian Gulf, 452 THE SECOND MONARCnY. [cii. ix. abandoning to Sennacherib's mercy his brothers and his other partisans.^^i It would appear that the Babylonian viceroy Beli- bus, who three years previously had been set over the country by Sennacherib, was either actively implicated in this revolt, or was regarded as having contributed towards it by a neglect of proper precautions. Sennacherib, on his return from the sea-coast, superseded him, placing upon the throne his own eldest son, Asshur-inadi-su, who appears to be the Asordanes of Polyhistor,'**- and the Aparanadius or Assaranadius *^^ of Ptol- emy's Canon. The remaining events of Sennacherib's reign may be arranged in chronological order without much difficulty, but few of them can be dated with exactness. We lose at tliis point the invaluable aid of Ptoleiny 's Canon, which contains no notice of any event recorded in Sennacherib's inscriptions of later date than the appointment of Assaranadius. It is probable*^ that in the year B.C. 699 Sennacherib con- ducted his second expedition into Palestine. Hezekiah, after his enforced submission two years earlier, had entered into negotiations with the Egyptians, *^^ and looking to receive un- portant succors from this quarter, had again thrown off his allegiance. Sennacherib, understanding that the real enemy whom he had to fear on his south-western frontier was not Judaea, but Egypt, marched his army through Palestine — prob- ably by the coast route — and without stopping to chastise Jerusalem, pressed southwards to Libnah and Lachish, **^ which were at the extreme verge of the Holy Land, and were probably at this time subject to Egypt. He first commenced the siege of Lachish ' ' with all his power ; " *^' and while engaged in this operation, finding that Hezekiah was not alarmed by his proximity, and did not send in his submission, he detached a body of troops ^^ from his main force, and sent it under a Tartan or general, supported by two high officers of the court — the Rabshakeh or Chief Cupbearer, and the Eab-saris or Chief Eunuch — to summon the rebellious city to surrender. Heze- kiah was willing to treat, and sent out to the Assyrian camp, which was pitched just outside the walls, three high officials of his own to open negotiations. But the Assyrian envoys had not come to debate or even to offer terms, but to require the unconditional submission of both king and people. The Rabshakeh or cupbearer, who was familiar with the HebreAv language, *^^ took the word and delivered his message in insult- ing phrase, laughing at the simplicity which could trust m en. IX.] SECOND SYRIAN EXPEDITION. 453 Egypt, and the superstitious folly which could expect a divine deliverance, and defying Hezekiah to produce so many as two thousand trained soldiers capable of serving as cavalry. When requested to use a foreign rather than the native dialect, lest the people who were upon the walls should hear, the bold envoy, with an entire disregard of diplomatic fornLS, raised liis voice and made a direct appeal to the popular fears and hopes thinking to produce a tmnultuary surrender of the place, or at least an outbreak of which his troops might have taken advantage. His expectations, however, were disappointed; the people made no response to his appeal, but listened in pro- found silence; and the ambassadors, finding that they coiUd obtain nothing from the fears of either king or people, and I'c- garding the force that they had brought with them as insuffi- cient for a siege, returned to their master with the inteUi- gence of their ill-success.*" The Assyrian monarch had either taken Lachish or raised its siege, and was gone on to Libnah, where the envoys found him. On receiving their report, he determined to make stdl another effort to overcome Hezekiah's obstinacy ; and accordingly he despatched fresh messengers with a letter to the Jewish king, in which he was reminded of the fate of various other kingdoms and peoples which had re- sisted the Assyrians, and once more urged to submit himself. ^"^i It was this letter — perhaps a royal autograph — Avliich Heze- kiah took into the temple and there ' ' spread it before the Lord," praying God to "bow down his ear and hear" — to ' ' open his eyes and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib, which had sent to reproach the living God."^*^'- Upon this Isaiah was commissioned to declare to his afflicted sovereign that the kings of Assyria were mere instruments in God's hands to destroy such nations as He pleased, and that none of Sennacherib's threats against Jerusalem should be accom- ])lished. God, Is<\iah told him, would "i)ut his hook in Senna- cherib's nose, and his bridle in his lips, and turn him back by the way by which he came. " The Lord liad said, concerning the king of Assyria, "He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city. For I will defend this city, to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.'"«» Meanwhile it is probable that Sennacherib, having received the submission of Libnah, had advanced upon Egypt. It was 454 TUB SECOND MONARCHY. [ch. ix. important to crush an Egyptian army which had been collected against him by a certain Sethos, one of the many native princes who at this time ruled in the Lower country, ^*^^ before the great Ethiopian monarch Tehrak or Tirhakah, who was known to be on his march,**^^ should effect a junction with the troops of this minor potentate. Sethos, with his army, was at Pelusium ; "^ and Sennacherib, advancing to attack him, had arrived within sight of the Egyptian host, and pitched his camp over against the camp of the enemy, just at the time *" when Hezekiah re- ceived his letter and made the prayer to which Isaiah was in- structed to respond. The two hosts lay down at night in their respective stations, the Egyptians and their king fidl of anx- ious alarm, Sennacherib and his Assyrians proudly confident, intending on the morrow to advance to the combat and repeat the lesson taught at Eaphia and Altaku.*^^ But no morrow was to break on the great mass of those who took their rest in the tents of the Assyrians. The divine fiat had gone forth. In the night, as they slept, destruction f eU upon them. ' ' The angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand ; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses." A miracle, hke the destruction of the first-bom,*®^ had been wrought, but this time on the enemies of the Egyptians, who naturally ascribed their deliverance to the interposition of their own gods ; *'° and seeing the enemy in confusion and retreat, pressed hastily after him, distressed his flying columns, and cut off his.stragglers.*"i The Assyrian king returned home to Nineveh, shorn of his glory, with the shattered remains of his great host, and cast that proud capital into a state of despair and grief, which the genius of an ^schylus might have re- joiced to depict,*^^ but which no less powerful pen could ade- quately portray. It is difficult to say how soon Assyria recovered from this terrible blow. The annals of Sennacherib, as might have been expected, omit it altogether, and represent the Assyrian mon- arch as engaged in a continuous series of successful campaigns, which seem to extend uninterruptedly from his third to his tenth year.*"^ It is possible that while the Assyrian expedition was in progress, imder the eye of Sennacherib himself, a suc- cessful war was being conducted by one of his generals in the mountains of Ai'menia, and that Sennacherib was thus en- abled, without absolutely falsifying histoiy, to parade as his own certain victories gained by this leader in the very year of en. IX.] HESULTS of dENNACUERIIi' 8 DEFEAT: 455 his own reverse. It is even conceivable that the power of Assyria was not so injured by the loss of a single great army, as to make it necessary tor her to stop even for one yem* in the course of her aggressive warfare; and thus the expeditions of Sennacherib may form an uninterrupted series, the eight cam- paigns which are assigned to him occupying eight consecutive years. But on the other hand it is quite as probable that there are gaps in the history, some years having been omitted alto- gether. The Taylor Cylinder records but eight campaigns, yet it was certainly written as late as Sennacherib's fifteenth year.*"* It contains no notice of any events in Sennacherib's firet or second year; and it may consequently make other omissions covering equal or larger intervals. Thus the de- struction of the Assyrian army at Pelusium may have been followed by a pause of some years' duration in the usual aggres- sive expeditions ; and it may very probably have encouraged the Babylonians in the attempt to shake off the Assyrian yoke, which they certainly made towards the middle of Sen- nacherib's reign. But while it appears to be probable that consequences of some importance followed on the Pelusiac calamity, it is toler- ably certain that no such tremendous results flowed from it as Bomo writers have imagined. The murder of the disgraced Sennacherib ' ' within fifty-five days " of his return to Nine- veh,*'" seems to be an invention of the Alexandrian Jew who wrote the Book of Tobit. The total destruction of the empire in consequence of the blow, is an exaggeration of Josephus,*"^ rashly credited by some moderns.*" Sennacherib did not die till B.C. 681, seventeen years after his misfortune;*'^ and the Empire suffered so little that we find Esar-haddon, a few years later, in fidl possession of all the territory that any king before him had ever held, niling from Babylonia to Egypt, or (as he himself expresses it) " from the rising up of the sun to the go- ing down of the same."*'* Even Sennacherib himself was not prevented by his calamity from undertaking important wars during the latter part of his reign. We shall seo shortly that he recovered Babylon, chastised Susiana, and invaded Cilicia, in the course of tlio seventeen years which intervened between his flight from Pelusium and his decease. Moreover, thero is evidence that ho employed himself during this part of his reign in the consolidation of the Western provinces, which first appear about his twelfth year as integral portions of the Empire, furnishing e])onyins in their turn,*"" and thus taking 456 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [cir. rx. equal rank with the ancient provinces of Assyria Proper, Adiabene, and Mesopotamia. The fifth campaign of Sennacherib, according to his own annals, was partly in a mountainous country which he calls Nipur or Nibur — probably the most northern portion of the Zagros range '*^^ where it abuts on Ararat. He there took a number of small towns, after which he proceeded westward and contended with a certain Maniya king of Dayan, which was a part of Taurus bordering on Cilicia.*'*'^ He boasts that he pene- trated further into this region than any king before him ; and the boast is confirmed by the fact that the geographical names which appear are almost entirely new to us.***-^ The expedition was a plundering raid, not an attempt at conquest. Sen- nacherib ravaged the country, burnt the towns, and carried away with him all the valuables, the flocks and herds, and the inhabitants. After this it appears that for at least three years he was en- gaged in a fierce struggle with the combined Babylonians and Susianians. The troubles recommenced by an attempt of the Chaldaeans of Beth-Yakin to withdraw themselves from the Assyrian territory, and to transfer their allegiance to the Ely- meean king. Carrying with them their gods and their treas- ures, they embarked in their ships, and crossing ' ' the Great Sea of the Rising Sun " — i.e., the Persian Gulf — landed on the Elamitic coast, where they were kindly received and allowed to take up their abode. Such voluntary removals are not un- common in the East ; *^* and they constantly give rise to com- plaints and reclamations, which not unfrequently terminate in an appeal to the arbitrament of the sword. Sennacherib does not inform us whether he made any attempt to recover his lost subjects by diplomatic rei^resentations at the court of Susa. If he did, they were unsuccessful ; and in order to ob- tain redress, he was compelled to resort to force, and to un- dertake an expedition into the Elamitic territory. It is re- markable that he determined to make his invasion by sea. Their frequent wars on the Syrian coasts had by this time fa- miliarized the Assyrians with the idea, if not with the prac- tice, of navigation ; and as their suzeraintj^ over Phoenicia placed at their disposal a large body of skilled shipwrights, and a number of the best sailors in the woi-ld, it was natural that they should resolve to employ naval as well as military force to advance their dominion. We have seen that, as early as the time of Shalmaneser, the Assyrians ventured theni' Vol. I. Plate CXXVII. L)r,. uiib t.-.i seniles iKborMliiuJ: en. ix.] WAE WITH SUSIANA. 457 selves in ships, and, in conjunction with the Phoenicians of the mainland, engaged the vessels of the Island Tyre."^ It is probable that the precedent thus set was followed by later kings, juid that both Sargon and Sennacherib had had the per- manent, or occasional, services of a fleet on the Mediterranean. But there was a wide difference between such an emi)loyment of the navies belonging to their subjects on the sea to which they were accustomed, and the transfer to the opposite ex- tremity of the empire of the naval strength hitherto confined to the Mediterraneiin. This thought — certainly not an obvious one— seems to have first occurred to Sennacherib. He con- ceived the idea of having a navy on both the seas that washed his dominions; and, possessing on his western coast only an adequate supply of skilled shipwrights and sailors,^** he re- solved on trans] )orting from his western to his eastern shores such a body of Pha'nicians as Avould enable him to accomplish his purpose. The shipwrights of Tyre and Sidon were carried across Mesopotamia to the Tigris, where they constructed for the Assyrian monarch a fleet of ships like their own galleys,**' which descended the river to its mouth, and astonished the populations bordering on the Persian Gulf with a .spectacle never before seen m those waters. Though the Chalda^ans had for centuries navigated this inland sea, and may have oc- casionally ventured beyond its limits, yet neither as sailors nor as ship-builders Avas their skill to comixire with that of the Phoenicians. The masts and sails, the double tiers of oai*s, the sharp beaks of the Phoenician ships, were (it is probable) novelties to the nations of these parts, who saw now, for the first time, a fleet debouche from the Tigris, with which their own vessels were (piite incapable of contending. When his fleet was ready Sennacherib i)ut to sea, and crossed in liis Pha?nician shij^s from the mouth of tlie Tigris to the ti'act occui)ied by the emigrant Chalda-ans, where he landed and destroycxl the newly-built city, captured the in- habitants, ravaged the neighborhood, and burnt a number of Susiaiiian towns, finally re-embarking with his captives — Chalda'an and Susianian — whom he transported across the gulf to the Chalda'an coast, and then took with him into Assyria. This winkle expedition seems to have taken the Susianians by sui-])rise. They had probably expected an inva- sion by land, and had collected tlieir I'oi-ees towards the north- western fi-oiitier, so that wlien the ti'oops (;f Semiacherib landed far in theii* rear, there were no forces in the neighbor- 458 TUE SISCONIJ MONARCHY. [CH. ix. hood to resist thorn. However, the departure of the Assyrians on an expedition regarded as extremely perilous, was the sig- nal for a general revolt of the Babylonians, who once more set up a native king in the person of Susub,^^^ and collected an army with which they made ready to give the Assyrians battle on their return. Perhaps they cherished the hope that the fleet which had tempted the dangers of an unknown sea would be seen no more, or expected that, at the best, it would bring back the shattered remnants of a defeated army. If so, they were disappointed. The Assyrian troops landed on their coast flushed with success, and finding the Babylonians in revolt, proceeded to chastise them ; defeated their forces in a great battle; captured their king, Susub; and when the Susianians came, somewhat tardily, to their succor, attacked and routed their army. A vast number of prisoners, and among them Susub hunself , were carried off by the victors and conveyed to Nineveh.*^* Shortly after this successful campaign, possibly in the very next year, Sennacherib resolved to break the power of Susiana by a great expedition directed solely against that country. The Susianians had, as already related,*®^ been strong enough in the reign of Sargon to deprive Assyria of a portion of her territory; and Kudur-Nakhunta,*^^ the Elymsean king, still held two cities, Beth-Kahiri and Raza, which were regarded by Sennacherib as a part of his paternal inheritance. The first object of the war was the recovery of these two towns, which were taken without any difficulty and reattached to the Assyrian Empire. *^^ Sennacherib then pressed on into the heart of Susiana, taking and destroying thirty-four large cities, whose names he mentions, together with a still greater number of villages, all of which he gave to the flames. Wast- ing and destroying in this way he drew near to Vadakat or Badaca,*^^ the second city of the kingdom, where Kudur-Nak- hunta had for the time fixed his residence. The Elamitic king, hearing of his rapid approach, took fright, and, hastily quitting Badaca, fled away to a city called Khidala, at the foot of the mountains, where alone he could feel himself in safety. Sennacherib then advanced to Badaca, besieged it, and took it by assault; after which affairs seem to have required his presence at Nineveh, and, leaving his conquest incomplete, he returned home with a large booty. A third camjiaign in these parts, the most important of all, followed. Susub, the Chaldsean prince whom Sennacherib en. ix.l BEVOLT OF THE BABYLONIANS. 459 had carried off to Assyria, in the year of his naval expedi- tion,^^* escaped from liis ccjnfinenient, and, returning to Baby- lon, was once more hailed as king by the inhabitants. Aware of his inability to maintain himself on the throne against the will of the Assyrians, unless he were a.ssisted by the arms of a p The only other expedition which can be assigned, on im- portant evidence, to the reign of Sennacherib, is one against Cilieia. in which he is Said to have been opposed by Greeks.*^' According to Al>ydenus. a Gi-eek fleet guarded the CiUcian shore, wliich tlie ves.sels of Sennacherib engaged and de- feated, Folyhistor seems to say that the Greeks also suffered 460 TUE SECOND MONAltCUY. [cii. ix a defeat by land in Cilicia itself, after which Sennacherib took possession of the country, and built Tarsus there on the model of Babylon. '''^^ The prominence here given to Greeks by Greek writers is undoubtedly remarkable, and it throws a certain amount of suspicion over the whole story. Still, as the Greek element in Cyprus was certainly important at this time,^'''^ and as the occupation of Cilicitx by the Assyrians may have ap- peared to the Cyprian Greeks fo endanger their independence, it is conceivable that they lent some assistance to the natives of the country, who were a hardy race, fond of freedom, and never very easily brought into subjection.^*^^ The admission of a double defeat makes it evident that the tale is not the in- v^ention of Greek national vanity. Abydenus and Polyhistor probably derive it from Berosus, who must also have made the statement that Tarsus was now founded by Sennacherib, and constructed after the pattern of Babylon. The occupation of newly conquered countries, by the establishment in them of large cities in which foreign colonists were placed by the conquerors, was a practice commenced by Sargon,^* which his son is not unlikely to have followed. Tarsus was always re- garded by the Greeks as an Assyrian town;^'° and although they gave different accounts of the time of its foundation, their disagreement in this respect does not invalidate their evidence as to the main fact itself, which is mtrinsically prob- able. The evidence of Polyhistor and Abydenus as to the date of the foundation, representing, as it must, the testimony of Berosus upon the point, is to be preferred ; and we may accept it as a fact, beyond all reasonable doubt, that the native city of St. Paul derived, if not its origin, yet, at any rate, its later splendor and magnificence, from the antagonist of Heze- kiah.506 That this Cilician war occurred late in the reign of Sen- nacherib, appears to follow from the absence of any account of it from his general annals.^-'' These, it is probable, extend no further than his sixteenth year, B.C. 689, thus leaving blank his last eight years, from B.C. 689 to 681. The defeat of the Greeks, the occupation of Cilicia, and the foun'ding of Tarsus, may well have fallen into this interval. To the same tune may have belonged Sennacherib's conquest of Edom.*^* There is reason to suspect that these successes of Sennache- rib on the western limits of his empire were more than coun- terbalanced by a contemporaneous loss at the extreme south- east, The Canon of Ptolemy marks the year b,c. 688 as the Vol. k. Plate CXXIX, Plate. CXXX. No. Ill, Portion of an Assyrian Trumpet Fig. 3. Eunuch playing on the cymbals (Koyunjik). Musician playing the dulcimtr (Koyunjik). en. ix.l PROWESS OF SENNACITEHIB. 461 first of an interregnum at Babylon which continues from that date till the accession of Esar-haddon in B.C. 680. Interregna in this document — iiv ajiaciD.evla, as they are termed — indicate periods of extreme distui'bance, -vvhen pretender succeeded to pretender, or when the country was split up into a number of petty kingdoms. The Assyrian yoke, in either case, must have been rejected; and Babylonia must have succeeded at this time in maintaining, for the space of eight years, a sepa- rate and independent existence, albeit troubled and precarious. The fact that she continued free so long, while she again succumbed at the very commencement of the reign of Esfvr- haddon, may lead us to suspect that she owed this sj)ell of lib- erty to the increasing years of the Assyrian monarcli, who, a.s the infirmities of age crept upon him, felt a disinclination towards distant expeditions. The military glory of Sennacherib was thus in some degi'ee tarnished ; first, by the terrible disaster Avhich befell his host on the borders of Egypt; and, secondlj-, by his failure to maintain the authority which, in the earlier part of his reign, he had established over Babylon. Still, notwithstanding these misfortunes, he must be pronounced one of the most successful of Assyria's Avarrior kings, and altogether one of the greatest princes that ever sat on the Assyrian throne. His victories of Eltekeh and Klialuli seem to have been among the most important battles that Assyria ever gained. By the one Egypt and Ethiopia, by the other Susiana and Babylon, were taught that, even united, they were no match for the Assyrian hosts. Sennacherib thus wholesomely impressed his most formidable enemies with the dread of his arms, while at the same time he enlarged, in various directions, the limits of his dominions. He warred in regions to wliich no Cxxrlier Assyrian monarch had ever penetrated; and he adoptt^-d modes of warfare on which none of them had i)reviously vent- lu-ed. His defeat of a Greek fleet in the Eastern ^lediterra- nean, and his employment of Pho'nicians in the Persian Gulf, show an enterprise and versatility which we observe in few Orientals. His selection of Tarsus for the site of a great city indicates a keen nrp])reciation of the merits of a ItK-ality.'^" If he wjis proud, liaughty, and self-confident, beyond all former Assyrian kings,*'" it would soem t at the mouth of the Nahr-el-Kelb, and a cylinder of his son's, add some important information with respect to the latter part of his reign. '•^^ One or two notices in the Old Testament connect him with the history of llie Jews."" And Abydeiuis, besides the passage already quoted, has an allusion to some df hi.K foreign conquests. '^^" Such are the chief materials from which the modern incpiirer luis to reconstruct the history i>f this great king.''"* 468 ^^^ SECOND MONARCnr. Icii. ix. It appears that the first expedition of Esar-haddon was into Phoenicia. ^^^ Abdi-Milkut king of Sidon, and Sundu-arra king of the adjoining part of Lebanon, had formed an alhanoe and revolted from the Assyrians, probably during the troubles which ensued on Sennacherib's death. Esar-haddon attacked Sidon first, and soon took the city ; but Abdi-Milkut made his escape to an island— Aradus or Cyprus — where, perhaps, he thought himself secure. Esar-haddon, however, determined on pursuit. He traversed the sea " like a fish, " ^^ and made Abdi-Mdkut ^^^ prisoner ; after which he turned his arms against Sandu-arra, attacked him in the fastnesses of his mountains, defeated his troops, and possessed himself of his person. The rebellion of the two captive kings was punished by their oxt cution ; the walls of Sidon were dosbioyod ; its inhabitants, and those of the whole tract of coast in the neighborhood, were carried off into Assyria, and thence scattered among the prov- inces ; a new town was built, which was named after Esar- haddon, and was intended to take the place of Sidon as the chief city of these parts ; and colonists were brought from Chaldsea and Susiana to occupy the new capital and the ad- joining region. An Assyrian governor was appointed to ad- minister the conquered province. ^^^ Esar-haddon's next camj^aign seems to have been in Arme- nia. He took a city called Arza * *, which, he says, was in the neighborhood of Muzr,^^ and carried off the inhabitants, to- gether with a mmiber of mountain animals, placing the former in a position "beyond the eastern gate of Nineveh." At the same time he received the submission of Tiuspa the Cimme- rian.^ His third campaign was in Cilicia and the adjoining regions. The Cilicians, whom Sennacherib had so recently subdued,*^ re-asserted their independence at his death, and allied them- selves with the Tibareni, or people of Tubal, who possessed the high mountain tract about the junction of Amanus and Tau- rus. Esar-haddon inflicted a defeat on the Cilicians, and then invaded the mountain region, where he took twenty-ons towns and a larger number of villages, all of which he plundered and burnt. The inhabitants he carried away captive, as usual? but he made no attempt to hold the ravaged districts by means of new cities or fresh colonists, s* This expedition was followed by one or two petty wars in the north-west and the north-east f''^ after which Esar-haddon, probably about his sixth year, b.c. 675, made an expedition CB.ix.] n'AliS OF ESAli-llAlJlJON. 4(39 into Chald''^l> MONARCHY. [CH. ix. It is thought, Ironi tho combination of these names,'*** and from the general description of the region — of its remoteness and of the way in which it was reached — that it was probably the district of Arabia beyond Nedjif whicn lies along the Jebel Shammer, and corresponds closely with the modern Arab kingdom of Hira. Esar-haddou boasts that he marched into the middle of the territory, that he slew eight of its sovereigns, and carried into Assyria their gods, their treasures, and their subjects ; and that, though Laile escaped him, he too lost his gods, which were seized and conveyed to Nineveh. Then Laile, like the Idumeean monarch above mentioned, felt it nec- essary to humble himself. He went in person to the Assyrian capital, prostrated hunself before the royal footstool, and en- treated tor the restoration of his gods; w^hich Esar-haddon consented to give back, but solely on the condition that Laile became thenceforth one of his tributaries.'^^ If this expedition was reaUy carried into the quarter here supposed, Esar-haddon performed a feat never paralleled in history, excepting by Augustus ^^ and Nushii'van.*^^ He led an army across the deserts which everywhere guard Arabia on the land side, and penetrated to the more fertile tracts be- yond them, a region of settled inhabitants and of cities. He there took and spoiled several towns ; and he returned to his own country without suffering disaster. Considering the physical perils of the desert itself, and the warlike character of its inliabitants, whom no conqueror has ever really sub- dued, this was a most remarkable success. The dangers of the simoom may have been exaggerated, and the total aridity of the northern region may have been overstated by many writers ; ^'"^ but the difficulty of carrying water and provisions for a large army, and the peril of a plunge into the wilderness with a small one, can scarcely be stated in too strong terms, and have proved sufficient to deter most Eastern conquerors from even the thoughts of an Arabian expedition. Alexander would, perhaps, had he hved, have attempted an invasion from the side of the Persian Gulf ; °'^ and Trajan actually succeeded in bringing under the Eoman yoke an outlying portion of the country — the district between Damascus and the Ked Sea; but Arabia has been deeply penetrated thrice only in the history of the world ; and Esar-haddon is the sole monarch who ever ventured to conduct in person such an attack. From the arid regions of the great peninsula Esar-haddon proceeded, probably in another year, to the invasion of the Vo!, I. ,g 4. fitf. 3 Steering Oar. (Time of AssLur-izir-p Plate CXXXIII. p- 2 Common Oar. (Time of Sennacherib.) 'InD No. I. Early Long-boat (Nimrud). No. II. Later Long-boat (Khorsabad). F\e. 1. Fig. 6. Oar kept in place br pegs (Koyunjik). 1 Plate CXXXIV Vol. en. ix.J EUALi-ilADDON'S CONQUEST OF EGYPT. 471 marsh-country on the Euphrates, where the Arama?an tribe of the GanibuUi ^'^ had their habitations, dwelhuf? (he tells us) "hke fish, in the midst uf the \vatei*s' "•'■•' — doubtless much after the fashion of the modern Khuzeyl and Affej Ai-abs,''* the latter of whom inhabit nearly the same tract. The sheikh of this tribe had revolted ; but on the approach of the Assyrians he submitted himself, bringing in person the arrears of his tribute and a present of buffaloes (0,^'^ whereby he sought to proi)itiate the wrath of his suzerain. Esar-haddon states that he forgave him; that he strengthened his capital with fresh works, placed a garrison in it, and made it a stronghold to protect the ter- ritory against the attacks of the Susianians. The hist expedition mentioned on the cylinder, which seems not to have been conducted by the king in pei'son, was agaiiLSt the country of Bikni, or Bikan, one of the more remote regions of Media — perhaps Azerbijan.*'*^ No Assyrian monarch before Esar-haddon had ever invaded this region. It was imder the government of a number of chiefs — the Arian character of whose names is unmistakable^" — each of whom ruled over his own town and the adjacent district. Esar-haddon seized two of the chiefs and carried them off to Assyria, whereupon several others made their submission, consenting to pay a tribute and to divide their authority with Assyrian officers.*"^ It is probable that these various expeditions occupied Esar- haddon from B.C. 681, the year of his accession, to B.C. G71, when it is likely that they were recorded on the existing cylinder. The expeditions ai'e ten in number, directed against countries remote from one another; and each may well have occupied an entire year. There would thus remain only three more years of the king's reign, after the termination of the chief native record, during which his history has to be learnt from other sources. Into this space falls, almost certainly, the gi-eatest of Esar-haddon's exploits— the conquest of Eg>-pt ; and, probably, one of the most interesting episodes of Ids reign — the punishment and pardon of Manivsseh. With the consideration of these two events the military history of his reign will terminate. The conquest of Egypt by Esar-haddon, though concealed from Herodotus, and not known even to Diodoi'us, was no secret to the more learned Greeks, who probably found an account of the expedition in the great work of Bi-rosus.*^"" All that we know of its circumstances is derived from an imperfect tran- script of the Nalir-el-K<'lb t-iblet, and a short notice in the 473 ^'//^ SECOND MONARCHY. [« ii. ix. annals of Esar-haddons son and successor, Asshur-bani-jjal, who finds it necessary to make an allusion to tlie former doings of his father in Egypt, in order to render intelligible the state of affairs when he himself invades the country. According to these notices, it would appear that Esar-haddon, having entered Egypt with a large army, probably in B.C. 670, gained a great battle over the forces of Tirhakah in the lower country, and took Memphis, the city where the Ethiopian held his court, after which he proceeded southwards, and conquered the whole of the Nile valley as far as the southern boundary of the Theban district. Thebes itself was taken ;^*^ and TirhaK.ah retreated into Ethiopia. Esar-haddon thus became masxer of all Egypt, at least as far as Thebes or Diospolis, the No or No-Amon of Scripture. ^1 He then broke up the country into twenty govern- ments, appointing in each town a ruler who bore the title of king, but placing all the others to a cerb.iin extent under the authority of the prince who reigned at Memphis. This w^aa Neco, the father of Psammetichus (Psamatik I.) — a native Egyptian of whom we have some mention both in Herodotus ^* and in the fragments of Manetho.-'S^ The remaining rulers were likewise, for the most part, native Egyptians ; though in two or three instances the governments appear to have been committed to Assyrian officers. ^'^ Esar-haddon, having made these arrangements, and having set up his tablet at the mouth of the Nahr-el-Kelb side by side with that of Rameses II., returned to his own country, and proceeded to introduce spliinxes into the ornamentation of his palaces, ^'^^ while, at the same time, he attached to his former titles an additional clause, in which he declared himself to be " king of the kings of Egypt, and conqueror of Ethiopia. " ^^ The revolt of Manasseh king of Judah may have happened shortly before or shortly after the conquest of Egypt. It was not regarded as of sufficient importance to call for the personal intervention of the Assyrian monarch. The ' ' captains of the host of the king of Assyria " were entrusted with the task of Manasseh's subjection ; and, proceeding into Judaea, they "took him, and bound him with chains, and carried him to Baby. Ion, " 587 where Esar-haddon had built himself a palace, and often held his court. ^* The Great King at first treated his prisoner severely ; and the " affliction " which he thus suffered is said to lave broken his pride and caxised him to humble himself before Grod,"^^ and to repent ot all the cruelties and idolatries which had brought this judgment upon him. Then God ''was en- en. IX.] CLOSE OF ESAJi-IIADDON'S REIGN. 473 treated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him back again to Jerusalem into his kingdc^n."^ The crime of defection was overlooked by the Assyrian monarch;^' Manas- seh Avas pardoned, and sent back to Jerusalem ; where he was allowed to resume the reins of govei-miient, but on the con- dition, if we may judge by the usual practice of the Assyrians in such cases, of paj^ing an increa.sed tribute.**' It may have been in connection with this restoration of Manasseh to his throne — an act of doubtful policy fi-om nn Assyrian point of view — that Esar-haddon determined on a project by which the hold of Assyria upon Palestine was con- siderably strengthened. Sargon, as has been already ob- served, °^* when he removed the Israelites from Siimaria, sup- plied their place by colonists from Babylon, Cutha, Sippara, Ava, Hamath,*^ and Arabia;'''-'^ thus planting a foreign gar- rison in the region which would be likely to preserve its fidelity. Esar-haddon resolved to strengthen this element. He gathered men^'* from Babylon, Orchoe, Susa, Elymais, Persia, and other neighboring regions, and entrusting them to an officer of high rank— "the great and noble Asnapper " — had them conveyed to Palestine and settled over the whole country, Avhich until this time must have been somewhat thinly i)oopl('d."^^ The resttjra- tion of Manasseh, and the augmentation of tliis foreign element in Palestine, are thus portions, but comiterbalancing portions, of one scheme — a scheme, the sole object of which was the pacification of the empire by whatever means, gentle or severe, seemed best calculated to effect the purpose. The last years of Esar-haddon were, to some extent, clouded with disaster. Reappears to have fallen ill in b.c. 6(51); and the knoAvledge of this fact at once produced revolution in Egj-pt. Tirhakah issued from his Ethiopian fastnesses, descended the vaJey of the Nile, expelled the kings set up by Esiir-haddon, and re-established his authority over the whole coiuitry. Eso We are thus reduced to judge of the sculptures of Esar-haddon by the reports of those who saw them ere they fell to pieces, and by one or two drawings, while we have to form ovir conception of his buildings from a half-explored fragment of a half-finished palace, which was moreover destroyed by fire before completion. The palace of Esar-haddon at Calah was built at the south- western corner of the Nimrud mound, abutting towards the west on the Tigris, and towards the south on the valley formed by the Shor-Derreh torrent. It faced northwards, and was en- tered on this side from the open space of the platform, through a portal guarded by two winged bulls of the ordinary charac- ter. The visitor on entering found himself in a large court, 280 feet by 100, "^'^ bounded on the north side by a mere wall, but on the other three sides surrounded by buildings. The main building was opposite to him, and was entered from the court by two portals, one directly facing the great northern gate of the court, and the other a little to the left hand, the former guarded by colossal bulls, the latter merely reveted with slabs. These portals both led into the same room — the room already described in an earlier page of this work ^'■- — which was designed on the most magnificent scale of all the Assyrian apartments, but was so broken up through the inability of the architect to roof in a wide space without abundant support, that, practically, it formed rather a suite of four moderate- sized chambers than a single grand hall. The plan of this apartment will be seen by referring to Plate XLIII., Fig. 2. View3d as a single apartment, the room was 165 feet in length by 62 feet in width, and thus contained an area of en. IX. I ESAE-n ADDON'S PALACE AT VALAH. 475 10,231) square feet, a space nearly half as largo apain aa that covered by the greatest of the halls of Sennacherib, which was 7200 feet. Viewed as a suite of chambers, the rooms niaj' be described as two long and narrow halls running i)arallel toon«' another, and communicating by a grand doorway in the mid- dle, with two smaller chambers jjlaced at the two ends, running at right angles to the i^rincipal ones. The small chambers were 62 feet long, and respectively 19 feet and 215 feet wide; the larger ones were 110 feet long, with a width respectively of 20 feet and 28 feet.^^ The inner of the two long parallel cham- bers communicated by a grand doorway, guarded by sphinxes and colossal lions, either with a small court or with a large chamber extending to the southern edge of the mound ; and the two end rooms communicated with smaller apartments in the same direction.*^"* The buildings to the right and left of the great court seem to have been entirely separate from those at its southern end : to the left they were wholly unexamined ; on the right some explorations were conducted which gave the usual result of several long narrow apartments, with perhajis one or two passages. The extent of the palace westward, southward, and eastward is uncertain : eastward it wa.s imex- l>lored ; southward and w^estward the moimd had been eaten into by the Tigi-is and the Shor-Dej'reh torrent.""" The walls of Esar-haddons palace were composed, in the usual way, of sun-dried bricks, reveted witli slabs (W alabaster. Instead, however, of quarrying fresh alabaster slabs for the purpose, the king preferred to make use of those which were already on the summit of the mound, covering the walls of the north-western and central palaces, which, no doubt, had fallen into decay. His workmen tore down these s<'ulj)tiu"ed monu- ments from their original position, and transferring tliein to the site of the new palace, arranged them .so ;xs to cover the freshly-raised walls, generally placing the carved side against the crude brick, and leaving the back ex]iosed to receive fresh sculptures, but sometimes exposing the old seulptin-e, which, however, in such cases, it was probably intended to remove by the chisel.""" This process was still going on, when either Esjvr- haddon died and the works were stojiped, or the palace was destroyed by fire. Scarcely any of the new sculptui-es had been executed. The only excei)tions Avere th(> bulls anpen(lent. but whicb Asshur-bani-pal pow attached to his own empire, and placed under an Assjt ian governor. A war of some duration folh^wed with Elam, or Pusiana, the flames of which at one time extended over almost tbe whole empire. This war was caused by a transfer of allegiance."'* Certain tribes, pressed by a famine, had pa.ssed from Susiana into the territories of Asshur-liani-pal, and were allowed to settle there; but when, the famine being over, they wished to 480 TUE SECOND MONARCH V. [cir. ix. return to their former country, Asshur-bani-pal would not consent to their withdrawal. Urtaki, the Susianian king, took umbrage at this refusal, and, determining to revenge himself, commenced hostilities by an invasion of Babylonia. Belu- bagar, king of the important Aramaean tribe of the Gam- bulu,"'^^ assisted him; and Saiil-Mugina, in alarm, sent to his brother for protection. An Assyrian army was dispatched to his aid, before which Urtaki fled. He was, however, pursued, caught and defeated. With some difficulty he escaped and returned to Susa, where within a year he died, without having made any fresh effort to injure or annoy his antagonist. His death was a signal for a domestic revolution which proved very advantageous to the Assyrians. Urtaki had di'iven liis elder brother, Ununan-aldas, from the throne,*^'' and, passing over the rights of his sons, had assumed the supreme authority. At his death, his younger brother, Temin- Umman, seized the crown, disregarding not only the rights of the sons of Umman-aldas, but likewise those of the sons of Urtaki. 631 As the pretensions of those princes were dangerous, Temin-Umman endeavored to seize their persons with the intention of putting them to death ; but they, havmg timely warning of their danger, fled ; and, escaping to Nineveh with their relations and adherents, put themselves under the pro- tection of Asshur-bani-pal. It thus happened that in the expedition which now followed, Asshur-bani-pal had a party which favored him in Elam itself. Temin-Umman, however, aware of this internal weakness, made great efforts to com- pensate for it by the number of his foreign allies. Two descendants of Merodach-Baladan, who had principalities upon the coast of the Persian Gulf, two mountain chiefs, one of them a blood-connection of the Assyrian cro^vn, two sons of Belu-bagar, sheikh of the Gambulu, and several other inferior chieftains, are mentioned as bringing their troops to his assistance, and fighting in his cause against the Assyrians. All, however, was in vain. Asshur-bani-pal defeated the allies in several engagements, and finally took Temin-Ununan pris- oner, executed him, and exposed his head over one of the gates of Nineveh. He then divided Elam between two of the sons of Urtaki, Umman-ibi and Tammarit, establishing the former in Susa, and the latter at a town called Khidal in Eastern Susiana.''^^ Great severities were exercised upon the various princes and nobles who had been captured. A son of Temin-Uiimian was executed with his father. Several grand- Cir. IX.] ELAMITIC WAR OF ASSIIUi:-BA\I-PAL. 4^1 sons of Merodach-Baladan suffered mutilation. A Chaldjean prince and one of the chieftains of the Ganibuhi liad their tongues torn out by the roots. Another of the Ganibuhi cliiefs was decapitated. Two of the Temin-Uninian's principal officers were chained and flayed. Palaya, a gi-andson of Merodach-Baladan, was mutilated. Asshur-bani-pal evidently hoped to strike terror into his enemies by these cruel, and now unusual, punishments, which, being inflicted for the most part upon royal personages, must have made a profound im- pression on the king-reverencing Asiatics. Tlfe impression made was, however, one of horror rather than of alarm. Scarcely had the Assyrians returned to Nine- veh, when fresh troubles broke out. Saiil-Mugina, du5con- tented with his position, which was one of complete depend- ence upon his brother, rebelled, and, declaring himself king of Bdbylon in his own right, sought and obtained a number of important allies among his neighbors. Umman-ibi, though he had received his crown from Asshur-bani-pal, joined him, seduced by a gift of treasure from the various Babylonian temples. Vaiteha, a powerful Arabian prince, and Nebo-bel- sumi, a surviving grandson of Merodach-Baladan, came into the confederacy; and Saiil-Mugina had fair groimds for ex- pecting that he would be able to maintain his independence. But civil discord — the c\irse of Elam at this period — once more showed itself, and blighted all these fair prospects. Tamma- rit, the brother of Umman-ibi, finding that the latter had sent the flower of his army into Babylonia, marched against him, defeated and sIcav him, and became king of all Elam. Main- taining, however, the policy of his brother, he entered into alliance with Saiil-Mugina, and proceeded to put himself at the head of the Elaniitic contingent, which was serving in Babylonia. Here a just Nemesis overtook him. Taking advantage of his absence, a certain Indabibi'-" (or Inda- bigas), a mountain-chief from the fastnesses of LurisUxn, rai.si'd a revolt in Elam, and succeeded in seating himself upon the throne. The army in Babylonia declining to maintain the cause of Tammarit, he wa« forced to fly and (.'onceal liinLself, while the Elamitic troops returned home. Sjiiil-Mugina that' lost the most important of his allies at the moment of his greatest danger; for his brother liad at length inarched against him at the head of an innnense army, and wa.s overrunning his northern ])rovince8. Without the Elamites it was impos- sible for Babylon to contend with Assyria in the open field, 31 482 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [cii. ix. All that Saiil-Mugina could do was to defend his towns, which Asshur-bani-pal besieged and took, one after another. The rebel fell into his brother's hands, and suffered a punishment more terrible than any that the relentless conqueror had as yet inflicted on his captured enemies. Others had been mutilated, or beheaded ; Saiil-Mugina was burnt. The tie of blood, which was held to have aggravated the guilt of his rebeUion, was not allowed to be pleaded in mitigation of his sentence. A pause of some years' duration now occurred. The rela tions between Assyria and Susiana were unfriendly, but not actually hostile. Inda-bibi had given refuge to Nebo-bel-Bumi at the time of Saiil-Mugina's discomfiture, and Asshur-bani-pal repeatedly but vainly demanded the surrender of the refugee. He did not, however, attempt to enforce his demand by an appeal to arms ; and Inda-bibi might have retained his king- dom in peace, had not domestic troubles arisen to distm-b him. He was conspired against by the commander of his archers, a second Umman-aldas, who killed him and occupied his throne. Many pretenders, at the same time, arose in different parts of the country; and Asshur-bani-pal, learning how Elam was distracted, determined on a fresh effort to conquer it. He renewed his demand for the surrender of Nebo-bel-sumi, who would have been given up had he not committed suicide. Not content with this success, he (ab. B.C. 645) invaded Elam, besieged and took Bit-Imbi, which had been strongly fortified, and drove Umman-aldas out of the plain coimtry into the mountains. Susa and Badaca, together with twenty-four othei cities, fell into his power ; and Western Elam being thus at his disposal, he placed it under the government of Tammarit, who, after his flight from Babylonia, had become a refugee at the Assyrian court. Umman-aldas retained the sovereignty of Eastern Elam. But it was not long before fresh changes occurred. Tamma- rit, finding himself little more than a puppet-king in the hands of the Assyrians, formed a plot to massacre all the foreign troops left to garrison this country, and so to make himself an independent monarch. His intentions, however, were dis- covered, and the plot failed. The Assyrians seized him, put hun in bonds, and sent Mm to Nineveh. Western Elam passed under purely miUtary rule, and suffered, it is probable, extreme severities. Under these circumstances, Umman-aldas took heart, and made ready, in the fastnesses to which he had fled, for another and a final effort. Having levied a vast CH. ix.| OTHER WARS OF ASSHUR-BANI-PAL. 4,C3 army, he, in the spring of the next year, made himself ouce more master of Bit-Imbi, and, establishing himself there, pre- pared to resist the Assyrians. Their forces shortly appeared; and, unable to hold the place against their assaults, Unuuan- aldas evacuated it with his troops, and fouglit a retreating iight all the way back to Susa, holding the various strong towns and rivers'^' m succession. Gallant, however, as was liis resistance, it proved ineffectual. The lines of defence which he chose Avere forced, one after another; and finally both Susa and Badaca were taken, and the country once moi-e lay at Asshur-bani-pal's mercy. All the towns made their submission. Asshur-bani-pal, burning with anger at tlieir revolt, plundered the capital of its treasures,''^ and gave the other cities up to be spoiled by his soldiers for the space of a month and twenty-three days. He then formally abolished Susianian independence, and attached the country as a province to the Assyrian empire. Thus ended the Susianian ■war,'^ after it had lasted, with brief interruptions, for the space of (probably) twelve years. The full occupation given to the Assyi'ian arms by this long struggle encouraged revolt in other quai'ters. It was probably about the time when Asshur-bani-j>al was engaged in the thick of the contest with Umman-ibi and Saiil-Mugina that Psammetichus declared himself independent in Egyjit, and commenced a war against the prince;^ who remained faith- ful to their Assyrian suzerain. Gyges, too, in the far north- west, took the opportunity to break Avith the formidable power with which he had recently thought it prudent to curry favor, and sent aid to the Egyptian rebel, which rendered him effective service.^' Egypt freed herself from the Assyi-iau yoke, and entered on the prosperous period which is known as that of the twenty-sixth (Saite) dynasty. Gyges wtis less fortunate. Assailed shortly by a terrible enemy,*^ which swept with resistless force over his whole land, he lost his life in the struggle. Assyria was well and quickly avenged ; and Ardj's, the new monarch, hastened to resume the deferential attitude toward Asshur-bani-pal which his father had unwisely relinquished. Asshur-bani-pal's next important warw^as against the Arabs. Some of the desert tribes had, as already mentioned, lent assistance to Saiil-Mugina dui-ing his revolt against his suze- rain, and it was to punish this audacity that Asshur-l)aiii-pal undertook his expedition. His principal enemy was a citain 484 !rif^ SECOND MONARCHY. [c::. ix. Vaiteha, who had for aUies Natun, or Nathan, king of the Nabathseans, and Ammu-ladin, king of Kedar. Th,^ fighting seems to have extended along the whole country bordering the Euphrates valley from the Persian Gulf to Syria, "^^^ and thence southwards by Damascus to Petra. Petra itself, Muhab Cor Moab), Hudumimukrab (Edom), Zaharri (perhaps Zo'it), and several other cities were taken by the Assyrians. The final battle was fought at a place called Khukhuruna, in he moim- tains near Damascus, where the Arabians were defeated with gi-eat slaughter, and the two chiefs who had led the Arab contingent to the assistance of Saiil-Mugina were made prisoners by the Assyrians. Asshur-bani-pal had them con- ducted to Nineveh, and there publicly executed. The annals of Asshur-bani-pal here terminate.''*'' They exliibit him to us as a warrior more enterprising and more powerful than any of his predecessors, and as one who enlarged in almost every direction the previous limits of the empire. In Egypt he completed the work which his father Esar-haddon had begun, and established the Assyrian domin- ion for some years, not only at Sais and at Memphis, but at Thebes. In Asia Minor he carried the Assyrian arms far beyond any former king, conquering large tracts wliich had never before been invaded, and extending the reputation of his greatness to the extreme western limits of the continent. Against his northern neighbors he contended with unusual success, and towards the close of his reign he reckoned, not only the Minni, but the Urarda, or true Armenians, among his tributaries.'^^ Towards the south, he added to the empire the great country of Susiana, never subdued until his reign ; and on the west, he signally chastised if he did not actually conquer, the Arabs. To his military ardor Asshur-bani-pal added a passionate addiction to the pleasure of the chase. Lion-hunting was his especial delight. Sometimes along the banks of reedy streams, sometimes borne mid-channel in his pleasure galley, he sought the king of beasts in his native haunts, roused him by means of hounds and beaters from his lair, and despatched him with his unerring arrows.^*- Sometimes he enjoyed the sport in his own park of paradise. Large and fierce beasts, brought from a distance, were placed in traps about the grounds,"^ and on his approach were set free fi-om their confinement, while he drove among them in his chariot, letting fly his shafts at each with a strong and steady hand, which rarely failed to attaio rn. IX.] TASTE FOR LITERATURE. 48.-) the mark it aimed at. Aided only by two or three attendants armed with spears, he would encounter the terrific spring of the bolder beasts, who rushed frantically at the royal marks- man and endeavored to tear him from the chariot-board. Sometimes he would even voluntarily quit this vanUxge-ground, and, engaging with the brutes on the same levt-l, without the protection of armor, in his everyday dress, with a mere fillet upon his head, he would dare a close combat, and smite them with sword or spear through the heart."* When the supply of lions fell short, or when he was satiated with this kind of sport, Asshur-bani-pal would vary his occu- pation, and content himself with game of an inferior descrip- tion. Wild bulls were probably no longer found in Assyria or the adjacent countries,"^ so that he was precluded from the sport which, next to the chase of the lion, occupied and de- lighted the eai'lier monarchs. He could indulge, however, freely m the chase of the wild ass — still to this day a habitant of the Mesopotamian region ; '^•^ and he would hunt the stag, the hind, and the ibex or wild goat. In these tamer kinds of sport he seems, however, to have indulged only occiusionally ^as a light relaxation scarcely worthy of a great king. Asshur-bani-pal is the only one of the Assyrian monarchs to whom we can ascribe a real taste for learning and literature. The other kings were content to leave behind tliem some rec- ords of the events of their reijrns, inscribed on cylinders, .slabs, bulls, or lions, and a few dedicatory inscriptions, addresses to the gods whom they especially worshipped. Asshur-bani-pal's literary tastes were far more varied — indeed they were all-eni- bracing. It seems to have been under his dii*ection that the vast collection of clay tablets — a sort of Royal Library — was made at Nineveh, from which the British Museum has derived perhaps the most valuable of its treasures. Comparative vo- cabularies, lists of deities and their epithets, chronologicjU lists of kings and eponyms, records of astronomical observa- tions, grammars, histories, scientific works of various kinds, seems to have been composed in the reign, *^' and probably at the bidding, of this prince, who devoted to their preservation certain chambers in tlie ]>alace of his grandfather, wh(^re they were found by Mr. Layard. The clay tablets on which they were inscribed lay here in such multitudes— in some instances entire, but more commonly broken into fragments — that they filled the chambers to flw luiglit of a foot or more from tlie jflQOj.048 ^jj. i^ayard obser\es with justice tliat "the docu- 48G THE SECOND MONAROUT, [ch. ix. ments thus discovered at Nineveh probably exceed [in amount of writing] all that has yet been afforded by the monuments of Egypt." ''•'^ They have yielded of late years some most in- teresting results,**^ and will probably long continue to be a mine of almost inexhaustible wealth to the cuneiform scholar. As a builder, Asshur-bani-pal aspired to rival, if not even to excel, the greatest of the monarchs who had preceded him. His palace was built on the mound of Koyunjik, within a few hundred yards of the magnificent erection of his grandfather, with which he was evidently not afraid to challenge compari- son. It was built on a plan unlike any adopted by former kings. The main building consisted of three arms branching from a common centre, and thus in its general shape resem- bled a gigantic T- The central point was reached by a long ascending gallery Uned with sculptures, which led from a gateway, with rooms attached, at a comer of the great court, first a distance of 190 feet in a direction parallel to the top bar of the T, and then a distance of 80 feet in a direction at right angles to this, which broughf it down exactly to the central point whence the arms branched. The entire building was thus a sort of cross, with one long ann projecting from the top towards the left or west. The principal apartments were in the lower limb of the cross. Here was a grand hall, running nearly the whole length of the limb, at least 145 feet long by 28^ feet broad, opening towards the east on a great court, paved chiefly with the exquisite patterned slabs of which a specimen has already been given, •'^i and conununi- cating towards the west with a number of smaller rooms, and through them with a second court, which looked towards the south-west and the south. The next largest apartment was in the right or eastern arm of the cross. It was a hall 108 feet long by 24 feet wide, divided by a broad doorway in which were two pillar-bases, into a square antechamber of 24 feet each way, and an inner apartment about 80 feet in length. Neither of the two arms of the cross was completely explored ; and it is uncertain whether they extended to the ex- treme edge of the eastern and western courts, thus dividing each of them into two ; or whether they only reached into the courts a certain distance. Assuming the latter view as the more probable, the two courts would have measured respect- ively 310 and 330 feet from the north-west to the south-east, while they must have been from 230 to 250 feet in the opposite CH. DC] ASSnUR-BANI-PAV S PALACE. 487 direction. From the comparative privacy of the buildings,®^ and from the character of the sculptures,*^^ it appears probable that the left or western arm of the cross formed the hareem of the monarch. The most remarkable feature in the great palace of /Lsshur- bani-pal was the beauty and elaborate character of the orna- mentation. The courts were paved with large slabs elegantly patterned. The doorways had sometimes arched ttjps beauti- fully adorned with rosettes, lotuses, etc.*^ The chamlx'rs and passages were throughout Uned with alabaster slabs, bearing reliefs designed with wonderful spirit, and executed with the most extraordinary minuteness and delicacy. It was here that were found all those exquisite himtin,'^' scenes which have fur- nished its most interesting illustrations to the present history. '■'"'i Here, too, were the representations of the private life of the monarch, of the trees and flowers of the palace garden, «*«' of the royal galley with its two banks of oars,^*' of the hbation over four dead lions, "^ of the temple with pillars sui)p()i-ted on lions,"^ and of various bands of musicians, some of wbich have been already given.*^' Combined with these peaceful scenes and others of a similar character, as particularly a long train, with game, nets, and dogs, returning from the chase, which formed the adornment of a portion of the ascending passage, were a number of views of sieges and battles, repi'esenting the wars of the monarch in Susiana and elsewhere. Reliefs of a character very similar to these last were found by Mr. Layard in certain chambers of the palace of Sennacherib, which had received their ornamentation from Asshur-bani-pal.'^' They were remarkable for the unusual number and small size of tht' figures, for the variety and spirit Ol the attitudes, and for the careful finish of all the little details of the scenes represented upon them. Deficient in grouping, and altogether dest'tute ol any artistic unity, they yet give probably the best representa- tion that has come do^vn to us of the confiised melee of an Assyr- ian battle, showing us at one view, as they do, all the various phases of the flight and pursuit, the capture and treatment of the prisoners, the gathering of the spoil, and the cutting off the heads of the slain. These reliefs form now a portion of our National Collection. A good idea may be fornied of them from Mr. Layard's Second Series of Moiuunents, where they form the subject of five elaborate engravings.'^'^ Besides his own great palace at Koyunjik, and his additions to the palace of his grandfather at the siuiie i)lace, .\sslnn- 4S8 ^'^^ SECOND MONARCHY. [cH. ix. / bani-pal certainly constructed some building, or buildings, at Nebbi Yunus, where slabs inscribed with his name and an account of his wars have been found. '^** If we may regard him as the real monarch whom the Greeks generally intended by their Sardanapalus, we may say that, according to some classical authors, he was the builder of the city of Tarsus in Cilicia, and likewise of the neighboring city of Anchialus;*^ though writers of more authority tells us that Tarsus, at any rate, was built by Sennacherib. ^^^ It seems further to have been very generally believed by the Greeks that the tomb of Sardanapalus was in this neighborhood. C6« They describe it as a monument of some height, crowned by a statue of the mon- arch, who appeared to be in the act of snapping his fingers. On the stone base was an inscription in Assyrian characters, of which they believed the sense to run as follows: — " Sarda- napalus, son of Anacyndaraxes, built Tarsus and Anchialus in one day. Do thou, O stranger, eat, and drink, and amuse thyself ; for all the rest of human hfe is not worth so much as this'''' — "this" meaning the sound which the king was sup- posed to be making with his fingers. It appears iDrobabie that there was some figure of this kind, with an Assyrian inscription below it, near Anchialus ; but, as we can scarcely suppose that the Greeks could read the cuneiform writing, the presumed translation of the inscription would seem to be valueless. In- deed, the very different versions of the legend Avhich are given by different writers '^'^^ sufficiently indicate that they had no real knowledge of its purport. We may conjecture that the mon- ument was in reality a stele containing the king in an arched frame, with the right hand raised above the left, which is the ordinary attitude, '^'^^ and an inscription below commemorating the occasion of its erection. Whether it was really set up by this king or by one of his predecessors,^^ we cannot say. The Greeks, who seem to have known more of Asshur-bani-pal than of any other Assyrian monarch, in consequence of his war in Asia Minor and his relations with Gyges and Ardys, are not unlikely to have given his name to any Assyrian mon- ument which they found in these parts, whether in the local tradition it was regarded as his work or no. Such, then, are the traditions of the Greeks with respect to this monarch. The stories told by Ctesias of a king, to whom he gives the same name, and repeated from him by later writers, '''''' are probably not intended to have any reference to Asshur-bani-pal. the son of Esar-haddon.**'^ but rather refer to Plate. CXXXVII. Iron comb. (British Museum). Fig. 2 ' Fragment of comb in lapis lazuli. (British Museum). Assyrian Fruits. ^F^olu the Monuments.) Fig. 4 V ]) Assyrian joints. 1. Shoulder. 2. Loin. 3. Lee. ig. 3 Kiying (Nimrud.) -ia\ ^ ■A^\. Killing tlio sheep (Koyuiijik). Cooking mejit in cnldroii (Koyunjilt). en. IX.] PEOPUETW DESCRIPTION OF ASSYRIA. 489 his successor, the last king. Even Ctesias could scarcely have ventured to depict to his countrymen tlu* great Aashur- bani-pal, the vancjuisher of Tirhakah, the subduer (jf the tribes beyond the Taurus, the powerful and warhke monarch whose friend shij) was courted by the rich and prosperous Gyges, king of Lydia,«"'^ as a mere v(jhiptuary, who never put his foot outside the palace gates, but dwelt in the seraglio, dt>ing woman's work, and often dressed as a woman. The charac- ter of Asshur-bani-pal stands really in the strongest contrast to the description— be it a portrait, or be it a mere sketch from fancy— which Ctesias gives of his Sardanapalus. Aiisluir- bani-pal wuf; beyond a doubt one of Assyria's greatest kings. He subdued Egypt and Susiana-, he held quiet possession of the kingdom of Babylon;*"'' he carried his arms deep into Ai-menia ; lie led his troops across the Taurus, and subdued the barbarous tribes of Asia Minor. When he was not en- gaged in important wars, he chiefly occupied himself in the chase of the lion, and in the construction and ornamcntatiiin of temples"* and palaces. His glory was well known to the Greeks. He was no doubt one of the "two kings called S;ir- danapakis," celebrated by Hellanicus ; *'" he must have been "the Avarlike Sardanapalus" of Callisthenes ; •''* Herodotus spoke of his great Avealth ; '^'' and Aristophanes used his name as a by-word for magnificence. °'* In his reign the Assyrian dominions reached their gi*eatest extent, Assyrian art culmi nated, and the empire seemed likely to extend itself over the whole of the East. It was then, indeed, that Assyria most completely answered the description of the Prophet — "The Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs. The waters made him great; the deep set him up on high with her rivers running about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the fiela, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches be- came long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth. All the fowls of the heaven made their nests in hw boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field 6ring t'ortn their young, and imder his shadow dwelt (ill great nations. Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the lengtb of his branches; or "ir root was by great wateix. The ceilai-sin the garuen of jrod coma not hule him; the lir trees were not like his boughs; .d '^^he chestuat-trees were not like hi« branches; 490 ''"^'^ SJ^COND MONARCni. [CH. ix. nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.'' '^'''^ In one respect, however, Assyria, it is to be feared, had made but little advance beyond the spirit of a comparatively barbar- ous time. The " lion" still " tore in pieces for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin. "^'^ Advancing civilization, more abundant literature, unproved art, had not softened the tempers of the Assyrians, nor rendered them more tender and compas- sionate in their treatment of captured enemies. Sennacherib and Esar-haddon show, indeed, in this respect, some superior- ity to former kings. They frequently spared their prisoners, even when rebels,^" and seem seldom to have had recourse to extreme punishments. But Asshur-bani-pal reverted to the antique system ^s^ of executions, mutilations, and tortures. We see on his bas-reliefs the unresisting enemy thrust through with the spear, the tongue torn from the mouth of the captive accused of blasphemy, the rebel king beheaded on the field of battle, and the prisoner brought to execution with the head of a friend or brother hung round his neck.^^^ We see the scourg- ers preceding the king as his regular attendants, with their whips passed through their girdles ; ^^* we behold the operation of flaying performed either upon living or dead men ; ''^ we observe those who are about to be executed first struck on the face by the executioner's fist.^^*^ Altogether we seem to have evidence, not of mere severity, which may sometimes be a necessary or even a merciful policy, but of a barbarous cruelty, such as could not fail to harden and brutalize ahke those who witnessed and those who inflicted it. Nineveh, it is plain, still deserved the epithet of "a bloody city," or "a city of bloods.'"^" Asshur-bani-pal was harsh, vindictive, unsparing, careless of human suffering — nay, glorying in hLs shame, he not merely practised cruelties, but handed the record of them down to posterity by representing them in all their horrors upon his palace walls. It has been generally supposed ^^® that Asshur-bani-pal died about B. c. 648 or 647, in which case he would have continued to the end of his life a prosperous and mighty king. But re- cent discoveries render it probable that his reign was extended to a much greater length — that, in fact, he is to be identified with the Cinneladanus of Ptolemy's Canon, who held the throne of Babylon from B.C. 647 to 626. «*^ If this be so, we must place in the later years of the reign of Asshur-bani-pal OH. IX.] DECLINE OF ASSYRIA'S POWER. 4f I'l-esh immigrants from the far East. Discarding the old .system of separate government and village autonomy, tlicy had joined together and placed theni.selves imder a single monarch; and about the year b.g. 634, when Asshur-bani-pal had been king for thirty-four years, they felt themselves suf- ficiently strong to undertake an expedition against Nineveh. Tlieir first attack, however, failed utterly. Phraortes, or whoever may have been the real leader of the invading army, was completely defeated by the Assyrians; his forces were cut to pieces, and he himself was among the slain. *^** Still, the very fact that the Medes could now take the offensive and at- tack Assyria was novel and alarming; it showed a new condi- tion of things in these parts, and foreboded no gvere blow dealt him ; but the aged Assyrian monarch appears to have been content with repelling his foe, and made no effort to re- taliate. Cyaxares, the successor of the slain Median king, effected at his leisure such arrangements as he thought neces- sary before repi>ating his predecessor's attempt.'^^' When they were completed — perhaps in B.C. 632 — he led his troops into Assyria, defeated the Assyrian forces in the field, and, follow ing up his advantage, appeared before Nineveh and closely invested the town. Nin(na'h would perhaps have fallen in this year; but suddenly and unexpectedly a strange event recalled the Median monarch to his own t-ountry, where a danger threatened him previously unknown in Western Asia. When at tbe ])resent day we take a general survey of the world's past history, we set^ that, by a species of faUdity — by a law, that is, whose workings we cannot trace — there issue 492 '^'^^^^ HECONU MONARCHY. [cH. ix. from time to time out of the frozen bosom of the North vast hordes of uncouth savages — brave, hungry, countless — who swarm into the fairer southern regions determinedly, irre- sistibly ; like locusts winging their flight into a green land. How such multitudes come to be propagated in countries where life is with difficulty sustained, we do not know ; why the impulse suddenly seizes them to quit their old haunts and move steadily in a given direction, we cannot say : but we see that the phenomenon is one of constant recurrence, and we therefore now scarcely regard it as being curious or strange at all. In Asia, Cimmerians, Scythians, Parthians, Mongols, Turks; in Europe, Gauls, Goths, Huns, Avars, Vandals, Bur- gundians, Lombards, Bulgarians, have successively illustrated the law, and made us familiar with its operation. But there was a time in history before the law had come into force ; a,nd its very existence must have been then unsuspected. Even since it began to operate, it has so often undergone prolonged suspension, that the wisest may be excused if, under such circumstances, they cease to bear it in mind, and are as much startled when a fresh illustration of it occurs, as if the like had never happened before. Probably there is seldom an oc- casion of its coming into play which does not take men more or less by surprise, and rivet their attention by its seeming strangeness and real unexpectedness. If Western Asia had ever, in the remote ages before the Assyrian monarchy was estabhshed, been subject to invasions of this character — which is not improbable ^^"^ — at any rate so long a period had elapsed since the latest of them, that in the reigns of Asshur-pani-pal and Cyaxares they were wholly for- gotten and the South reposed in happy unconsciousness of a danger which might at any time have burst upon it, had the Providence which governs the world so willed. The Asiatic steppes had long teemed with a nomadic population, of a Avar- like temper, and but slightly attached to its homes, which ignorance of its own strength and of the weakness and wealth of its neighbors had alone prevented from troubling the great empires of the South. Geographic difficulties had at once prolonged the period of ignorance, and acted as obstructions, if ever the idea arose of pushing exploring parties into the southern regions ; the Caucasus, the Caspian, the sandy deserts of Khiva and Kharesm, and the great central Asiatic moun- tain-chains, forming barriers which naturally restrained the northern hordes from progressing in this direction. But a Fig 6 Plate CXXXIX. Assyri.iiis drawing a handcart (Koyvinjik). Plate CXL Vol. 10^ n /«^^ /I cii. IX.] C'lIAHACTERISTICS OF THE SCYTHS. 493 time had now arrived when these causes were no longer to operate ; the Hne of demarcation which had so long separated North and South was to be crossed ; the flood-gates were to be opened, and the stream of northern emigration was to pour itself in a resistless torrent over the fair and fertile regions from which it had hitherto been barred out. Perhaps popula- tion had increased beyond all former precedent; perhai)s a spirit of enterprise had arisen; possibly some slight accident — the exploi-ation of a hunter hard pressed for food, the chat- tering tongue of a mercliant, the invitation of a traitor "^^ may have dispelled the ignorance of earlier times, and l)rought to the knowledge of the hardy North the fact that beyond the mountains and the seas, which they had always regarded as the extreme limit of the world, there lay a rich jirey inviting the coming of the spoiler. The couilition of the noi'thern barbarians, less than two hunded to drink his blood. He then cut off the head, which he exhibited to his king in order to obtain his share of the spoil ; after which ho stripped the scalp from the skull and hung it on his bridle- rein as a trophy. Sometimes he flayed his dead enemy's right arm and hand, and used the skin as a covering for his quiver. The upper jxtrtion of the skull he commonly made int^:) a drinking-cup.'"- The greatcn- part of eacli day he spent on Uorseback, in attendance on the huge herds of cattle which ho 494 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [<;ii. ix. pastured. His favorite weapon was the bow, which he used as he rode, shooting his arrows with great precision."''* He generally carried, besides his bow and arrows, a short spear or javelin, and sometimes bore also a short sword or a battle- axe.'"* [PI. CXLVI., Fig. 3.] The nation of the Scythians comprised within it a number of distinct tribes.™ At the head of all was a royal tribe, corre- sponding to the ' ' Golden Horde " of the Mongols, which was braver and more numerous than any other, and regarded all the remaining tribes in the light of slaves. To this belonged the families of the kings, who ruled by hereditary right, and seem to have exercised a very considerable authority.''''^ We often hear of several kings as bearing rule at the same time ; but there is generally some indication of disparity, from which we gather that — in times of danger at any rate — the supreme power was really always lodged in the hands of a single man. The religion of the Scythians was remarkable, and partook of the barbarity which characterized most of their customs. They worshipped the Sun and Moon, Fire, Air, Earth, Water, and a god whom Herodotus calls Hercules. ''°'' But their prin- cipal religious observance was the worship of the naked sword. The country was parcelled out into districts, and in every dis- trict was a huge pile of brushwood, serving as a temple to the neighborhood, at the top of which was planted an antique sword or scimitar. ™8 On a stated day in each year solemn sacrifices, human and animal, were offered at these shrines ; and the warm blood of the victims was carried up from below and poured upon the weapon. The human victims — prisoners taken in war — were hewn to pieces at the foot of the mound, and their limbs wildly tossed on high by the votaries, who then retired, leaving the bloody fragments where they chanced to fall. The Scythians seem to have had no priest caste ; but they believed in divination ; and the diviners formed a dis- tinct class which possessed important powers. They were sent for whenever the king was ill, to declare the cause of his illness, Avhich they usually attributed to the fact that an indi- vidual, whom they named, had sworn falsely by the Royal Hearth. Those accused in this way, if found guilty by several bodies of diviners, were beheaded for the offence, and their original accusers received their property. ''"s j^ must have been important to keep on good terms with persons who wielded such a power as this. Such were the most striking customs of the Scythians cii. IX. 1 Tin: s('YTl!lAS>< ISVADi: MEDIA. 49^ people, or at any rate of the Scythians of Herodotus, who were the (loniiiiant race over a larpe porticjn of the Steppe countryj*" Coarse and repulsive in tlieir ajipearance, fierce in tlieir tem- pers, savage in their habits, nut individually very brave, but powerful by their numbers, and by a mode of warfare which was difficult to meet, and in which long use had given them great expertness, they were an enemy who might well strike alarm even into a nation so strong and warlike as the Medes. Pouring through the passes of the Caucasus — whence coming or what intending none knew"" — hoi'de after horde of Scythi- ans blackened the rich plains of the South. On they came, as before observed, like a flight of locusts, countless, irresisti- ble — swarming into Iberia and Upper Media — finding the land before them a garden, and leaving it behind them a howling wilderness. Neither age nor sex would be spared. The in- habitants of the open coimtry and of the villages, if they did not make their escape to high mountain tops or other strong- holds, would be ruthlessly massacred by the invaders, or at best, forced to become their slaves.'^'^ The crops would be consumed, the herds swept off or destroyed, the villages and homesteads burnt, the whole country made a scene of desola- tion. Their ravages would resemble those of the Huns when they poured into Italy,"" or of the Bulgarians when they over- ran the fairest provinces of the Byzantine Empire."* In most instances the strongly fortified towns would resist them, unless they had patience to sit down before their walls and by a prolonged blockade to starve them into submission. Some- times, before things reached this point, they might consent to receive a tribute and to retire. At other times, convinced that by perseverance they would reap a rich reward, they may have remained till the besieged city fell, when there must have ensued an indescribable scene of havoc, rapine, and bloodshed. According to the broad expression of Herodotus, the Scythians were masters of the whole of Western Asia from the Caucasus to the bordere of Egypt for the space of twenty-eight years.""' This statement is doubtless an exagger- ation; but still it would seem to be certain that the great invasion of which he speaks was not confined to Media, but extended to the adjacent coimti'ies of Armenia and As.syria, whence it spread to Syria and Palestine. The hordes probably swarmed down from Media through the Zagros passes into the richest portion of Assyria, the flat country between the moun- tain's and the Tigris. Many of the old cities, rich with thr 49G THE SECOND MONARCHY. [en. ix. accumulated stores of ages, were besieged, and perhaps taken, and their palaces wantonly burnt, by the barbarous invaders. The tide then swept on. Wandering from district to district, plundering everywhere, settling nowhere, the clouds of horse passed over Mesopotamia, the force of the invasion becoming weaker as it spread itself, until in Syria it reached its term through the policy of the Egyptian king, Psammetichus. This monarch, who was engaged in the siege of Ashdod,'^'^ no sooner heard of the approach of a great Scythian host, which threatened to overrun Egypt, and had advanced as far as Ascalon, than he sent ambassadors to their leader and pre- vailed on him by rich gifts to abstain from his enterprise. ''^^ From this time the power of the invaders seems to have de- clined. Their strength could not but suffer by the long series of battles, sieges, and skirmishes in which they were engaged year after year against enemies in nowise contemptible; it would likewise deteriorate through their excesses ; ™ and it may even have received some injury from intestine quarrels. After awhile, the nations whom they had overrun, whose armies they had defeated, and whose cities they had given to the flames, began to recover themselves. Cyaxares, it is probable, commenced an aggressive war against such of the invaders as had remained within the limits of his dominions, and soon drove them beyond his borders. ''^^ Other kings may have followed his example. In a little while — long, probably, before the twenty-eight years of Herodotus had expired — the Scythian power was completely broken. Many bands may have retvirned across the Caucasus into the Steppe country. Others submitted, and took service under the native rulers of Asia.^^ Great numbers were slain; and except in a province of Armenia which henceforward became known as Sacasene, '^ and perhaps in one Syrian town, which we find called Scyth- opolis,''*^ the invaders left no trace of their brief but terrible inroad. If we have been right in supposing that the Scythian attack fell with as much severity on the Assja-ians as on any other Asiatic people, Ave can scarcely be in error if we ascribe to this cause the rapid and sudden decline of the empire at this period. The country had been ravaged and depopulated, the provinces had been plundei'ed, many of the great towns had been taken and sacked, the palaces of the old kings had been burnt, "-^ and all the gold and silver that was not hid away had been carried off. Assyria, when the Scj^thians quitted her, was but the Vol. I. I'iL'. I. Emblems of Asshur faflcr Lnjard). Fig. II. Plate CXLI. Fig. in. .6 Fig. rv. Fig. 1. PIJ3 Curious emblem of Asshur. (Fiom the signet cylinder of Sennacherib.) Emblems of the principal gods. (From an obelisk in the British Museum.") Fig. 4. Simplest forms of the Sncicd Troi- (Nimriid). Plate CXLII, M Fig- 2. F.ie b Vol Emblems of the sun and moon (from cylinders). The Moon-god (from a cylinder). Fig. 4. The god of the at- mosjihere (from a cylinder). Sacred Tree — final and most elaborate type. (Nimrud.) r.g. 6. The hawk-eyed genius . (Khorsabad). Winged figure in homed cap (Nimrud). The sacrea basset (Khorsabad). en. IX.] ACCESSION OF SAIiACUS. 497 shadow of her former self. Weak and exhausted, she seemed to invite a permanent conqueror. If her hmits had nut nuich shrunk, if the provinces still acknowledged her authority, it was from habit rather than from fear, or because they t TXVADE ASSYRIA. 499 rocky hills, and running up in places into mountain-chains, had p;()';al)ly' suffered much less from the ravages of the Sc ytl: Jian the Assyrians in their comparatively defenceless plains. Of all the nations exposed to the scourge of the inva- sion they were evidently the fii-st to recover thomsolves,^ partly from the local causes here noticed, partly perhaps from their inherent vigor and strength. If Herodotus's date for the original inroad of the Scythians is coi-rei.-t,'** not many yeai-s can have elapsed before the tide of war turned, and the Medes began to make head against their as- sailants, recovering possession of most parts of their country, and expelling or overpowering the hordes at whose insolent domination they had chafed from the first hour of the inva- sion. It was probably as early as B.C. 627, five years after the Scyths crossed the Caucasus, according to Herodotus, that Cyaxares, having sufficiently re-estiiblished his power in Media, began once more to aspire after foreign conquests. Ca.sting his eyes around upon the neighboiing countries, he became aware of the exhaustion of Assyria, and perceived that she was not likely to offer an effectual resistiince to a sud- den and vigorous attack. He therefore collected a large army and invaded Assyria from the east, while it would seem that the Siisianians, with whom he had perhaps made an alliance, attacked her from the south.'** To meet this double danger, Saracus, the Assyrian king, de- termined on dividing his forces; and. while he entnisted a portion of them to a general, Nabopolassar, who had orders to proceed to Babylon and engage the enemy advancing from the sea, he himself with the remainder made ready to receive the Medes. In. idea this Avas probably a judicious disposition of the troops at his disposal ; it was politic to prevent a junction of the two assailing i)owers, and, as the greater danger was that which threatened fr(»m the Medes. it was well for the king to reserve him.self with the bulk of his forces to meet this enemy. But the most prudent arrangements may be discon- certed by the treachery of those who are entrusted with their execution ; and so it w.-is in the present instance. Tlie faithless Nabopolassar saw in liis sovereign's diffii-ulty his own oppor- tunity; and, instead of marching against Assyria's enemies, as his duty required him. he secretly negotiatcnl an arranRe- meiit with Cyaxares, agi-eed to become his ally against the As- syrians ami obtained th(> Median king's daughter . -is a bride for Nel)iicha most distant portions of the empire changed inhabitants, and no sooner did a people become troublesome from its patriotism and love of independence, than it was w<>akened by (lis])ersion. and its spirit sulxlui'd by a severance of all its local asso<'iations. Thus relH'liion 'vas in some mcjisure kept down, and the posi- 504 THE SECOND MONARCnY. [cu. ix. tion of the central or sovereign state was rendered so far more secure ; but this comparative security was gained by a great sacrifice of strength, and when foreign invasion came, the subject kingdoms, weakened at once and alienated by the treatment which they had received, were found to have neither the will nor the power to give any effectual aid to their enslaver.'"'* Such, in its broad and general outlines, was the empire of the Assyrians. It embodied the earliest, simplest, and most crude conception which the human mind forms of a widely extended dominion. It was a "kingdom-empire," like the empires of Solomon, of Nebuchadnezzar, of Chedor-laomer,"*'^ and proba- bly of Cyaxares, and it the best specimen of its class, being the largest, the longest in duration, and the best known of all such governments that has existed. It exhibits in a marked way both the strength and weakness of this class of monarchies — their strength in the extraordinary magnificence, grandeur, wealth, and refinement of the capital ; their weakness in the impoverishment, the exhaustion, and the consequent disaffec- tion of the subject states. Ever falling to pieces, it was per- petually reconstructed by the genius and prowess of a long suc- cession of warrior princes, seconded by the skill and bravery of the people. Fortunate in possessing for a long time no very powerful neighbor,''^ it found little difficulty in extending it- self throughout regions divided and subdivided among hun- dreds of petty chiefs,'" incapable of union, and singly quite unable to contend with the forces of a large and populous country. Frequently endangered by revolts, yet always tri- umphing over them, it maintained itself for five centuries, gradually advancing its influence, and was only overthrown after a fierce struggle by a new kingdom "^^ formed upon its borders, which, taking advantage of a time of exhaustion, and leagued with the most powerful of the subject states, was enabled to accomplish the destruction of the long-dominant people. In the curt and dry records of the Assyrian monarchs, while tihe broad outhnes of the government are well marked, it is difficult to distinguish those nicer shades of system and treat- ment which no doubt existed, and in which the empire of the Assyrians differed probably from others of the same type. One or two such points, however, may perhaps be made out. In the first place, though religious uniformity is certainly not the law of the empire, jat a rehgious character appears in en. IX.] CIVILIZATION OF THE ASSTRIANS. 505 many of the warsj*^^ and attempts at any rato seem to be made to diffuse everywhere a knowledge and roco^^nition of tho gods of Assyria. Nothing is more universal than the practice of setting up in the subject countries " the la^\^ of As.shur *' or " altars to the Great Gods." In some instances not only altars but temples are erected, and priests are left to superintend the worship and secure its being properly conducted. Tlie history of Judaea is, however, enough to show that the continuance of the national worship was at lea.st tolerated, though some for- mal acknowledgment of the presiding deities of Assyria on the part of the subject nations may not improbably have been re- quired in most cases.'™ Secondly, there is an indication that in certain coimtries immediately bordering on Assyria endeavors were made from time to time to centralize and consolidate the empire, by sub- stituting, on fit occasions, for the native chiefs, A.ssyrian of- ficers as governors. The persons appointed are of t wo chisses — " collectors " and " trea.surers." Their special busines.s is. of course, as their names imply, to gather in the tribute' due to the Great King, and secure its safe transmission to the capital; but they seem to have been, at least in some instimces, en- trusted with the civil government of their respective dis- tricts.'"' It does not appear that this system was ever ex- tended very far, Lebanon on the west, and Mount Zagros on the ea-st, may be regarded as the extreme limits of the central- ized Assyria. Armenia, Media, Babylonia, Susiana, most ot Phoenicia,"^ Palestine, Philistia, retained to the last theii native monarchs ; and thus Assyria, despite the feature here noticed, kept upon the whole her character of a "kingdom- empire." The civilization of the Assyrians is a large subject, on which former chapters of this work have, it is hoped, thrown sonift light, and upon which only a very few remarks will be here of- fered by way of recapitulation. Deriving originally letters and the elements of learning from Babylonia, the Assyrians appear to have been content with the knowledge thus obtained, and neither in literature nor in science to have progres.sed much beyond their instnictors. The heavy incubus of a d(>ad lan- guage "'' lay upon all those who desired to devote themselves to scientific pursuits; and, owing to this, knowledge tended tr arts,"* as well as a refined taste. Among them are some which anticijKite inventions believed till lately to have been modern. Transparent glass 508 TnE sEcoxD MoYAncnr. [appenbixa. (which, however, was known also in ancient Egypt) is one of these ; ™ but the most remarkable of all is the lens "^ discov- ered at Nimrud, of the use of which as a magnifying agent there is abundant proof."* If it be borne in mind, in addition to all this, that the buildings of the Assyrians show them to have been well acquainted with the principle of the arch, that they constructed tunnels, aqueducts, and drains, that they knew the use of the pulley, the lever, and the roller, that they understood the arts of inlaying, enamelling, and overlaying with metals, and that they cut gems with the greatest skill and finish, it will be apparent that their civilization equalled that of almost any ancient country, and that it did not fall im- measurably behind the boasted achievements of the moderns. With much that was barbaric still attaching to them, with a rude and inartificial government, savage passions, a debasing religion, and a general tendency to materialism, they were, towards the close of their empire, in all the ordinary arts and appliances of life, very nearly on a par with ourselves ; and thus their history furnishes a warning — which the records of na- tions constantly repeat — that the greatest material prosperity may co-exist with the decline — and herald the downfall — of a kingdom APPENDIX. OF THE MEANINGS OF THE ASSYEIAN ROTAL NAMES. The names of the Assyrians, like those of the Hebrews, seem to have been invariably significant. Each name is a sentence, fully or elliptically expressed, and consists consequently of at least two elements. This number is frequently — indeed, com- monly — increased to three, which are usually a noun in the nominative case, a verb active agreeing with it, and a noun in the objective or accusative case governed by the verb. The genius of the language requires that in names of this kind the nominative case should invariably be placed first ; but there is no fixed rule as to the order of the two other words ; the APPENDIX A.] MEANINGS OF ROYAL NAMES. 509 verb may be either preceded or followed by the nceiisjitive. The number of elements in an Assyrian name amounts m rare cases to four, a maximum reached by some Hebrew names, as Maher-shalal-hash-baz. ' Only one or two of the royal names comes under this category. No Assyrian name exceeds the number of four elements.'' An example of the simplest form of name is Ssir-gon, or Sar- gina, " the established king," i.e. " (I am) the estixblishcd king." The roots are Sar, or in the full nominative, san-u, the com- mon word for "king" (compare Heb. "47, nx', etc.), and kin (or gin),^ "to establish," a root akin to the Ilcbn-w p^. A name equally simple is Buzur-Asshur, which means either "Asshur is astronghdld,'" or "Asshur is a tvvasnro \" bnzitrhG- ing the Assyrian equivalent of the Hebrew nxj, which has this double signification. (See Gesen. "Lex." p. 155.) A third uamo of the same simple form is Saiil-mugina (i^immughes), which probably means " Saiil (is) the establisher, " mugina being the participial form of the same verb which occurs in isir-gina or Sargon.* There is another common form of Assyrian name consisting of two elements, the latter of which is the name of a god, while the former is either shamas or shavisi (Heb. c'Oiyi. the conmion word for "servant," or else a term significative i>l worship, adoration, reverence, or the like. Of the former kind, there is but one royal name, viz., Shamas- Vul, " the servant of Vul," a name exactly resembling in its fonnation the Pha'uician Abdistartus, the Hebrew Obadiah, Abdiel, etc., and the Arabic Abdallah.^ Of the latter kuid are the two royal names, Tig- lathi-Nin and Mutaggil-Nebo. Tiglathi-Nin is from fighit or fiklat, "adoration, reverence" (comp. Chald. Sdh, "tt) trust in"), and Nin or Ninip, the Assyrian Hercules. The meaning is " Adoratio (sit) Herculi "— " Let worship (be given to) Her- cules." Mutaggil-Nebo is "confiding in" or " woi-shipping Nebo" — inutnggil being from the same root as tiglat, but the participle, instead of the abstract substantive. A name very similar in its construction is that of the Caliph Motawakkil Billah.8 With these names compounded of two eleuK^nts it will bo convenient to place one which is compoundecl of three, viz. , Tiglath-Pileser, or Tighif-pal-zira. This name ha.s exactly the same meaning as Tiglathi-Xin— " Be worship given to Her- cides; " the only difference l)eing that Nin or HercuU^s is bore designated by a favorite epithet, Pal-zirn, instead of by any 510 THE SECOND MONABVIIY. [appendix a. of his proper names. In Pal-zira, the first element is un- doubtedly paZ, "a son ; " the other element is obscure ; ^ all that we know of it is that Nin was called " the son of Zira,^'' appar- ently because he had a temple at Calah which was called Bit- Zira, or " the house of Zira.'" ^ M. Oppert believes Zira to be " the Zodiac ; " » but there seem to be no grounds for this iden- tification. Names of the common threefold type are Asshur-iddin-akhi, Asshur-izir-pal,^" Sin-akhi-irib (Sennacherib), Asshur-akh-id- dina (Esar-haddon), and Asshur-bani-pal. Asshur-idden-akhi is "Asshur has given brothers," t£Zdi>i being the third person singular of nadan, "to give" (comp. Heb. jDJ), and akhi being the plural of aJchu, "a brother" (comp. Heb. 'nx). Asshur-izir- pal is " Asshur protects (my) son," izi7' (for hizir) being derived from a root corresponding to the Hebrew "i]f j, " to protect, " and pal being (as already explained ") the Assyrian equivalent for the Hebrew p and the Syriac bar, "a son." The meaning of Sin-akhi-irib (Sennacherib) is "Sin (the Moon) has multi- plied brethren," irib being from raba (Heb. n:]")), "to augment, multiply." Asshur-akh-iddina is "Asshur has given a brother," from roots already explained; and Asshur-bani-pal is "Asshur has formed a son," from Asshur, bani, and pal; 6an2^ being the participle of bana, "to fonn, make" (comp. Heb. n33). Other tri-elemental names are Asshur-ris-ilim, Bel-kudur uzur, Asshur-bil-kala, Nin-pala-zira, and Bel-sumili-kapi. Asshur-ris-ilim either signifies "Asshur (is) the head of the gods," from Asshur, ris, which is equivalent to Heb. 2'Jn, "head," and ilim, the plural of il or el, " god; " or perhaps it may mean "Asshur (is) high-headed," from Asshur, i^is, and elani, "high," ris-eZtm being equivalent to the sir-buland of the modern Persians. ^^ Bel-kudur-uzur means "Bel protects my seed," or "Bel protects the youth," as will be explained in the next voliune under Nebuchadnezzar. Asshur-bil-kala means probably "Asshur (is) lord altogether," from Asshur, hil, "a lord" (Heb. '7M), and Jcala, "wholly;" a form con- nected with the Hebrew S3 or hD "all," Nin-pala-zira is of course ' ' Nin (Hercules) is the son of Zira, " as already explained under Tiglath-Fileser. ^-^ Bel-sumili-kapi is conjectured to be "Bel of the left hand,"" or "Bel (is) left handed," from Bel, sumilu, an equivalent of Sxaty, "the left," and kajni (=D), "a hand." Only two Assyrian names appear to be compounded of Vol. I. F15 1. Plate CXLIb Fig. 2. Evil genii contending (Kojunjik). ''ie- 3. Portable nllar in an Anj-rlan camp, with pi'iuta olTering (Khonabatl). Triangular alLii (IChorsabad). Plate CXLIV. Fig. 2 Vol. Worshipper bringing an offering (from a cylinder). Fig. 3. • ma* w» ' miiyi i p" Figure of Tiglath-Pileser I. ( From « rock tablet near Korkhar.) APfMNDix A.] MEANINGS OF ROYAL NAMES. dj four elements.'^ These are the first and h^^t of our list, Asshur-bil-nisi-su, and the king commonly called Asshur-emid- ilin, whose complete name was (it is thought ) Asshur-emid- ili-kin, or possibly Asshur-kinat ili kain. The la«t king's name* is thought to mean " Asshur is the establishcr of the power of the gods"— the second element, which Ls sometimes written iw emid (conip. "mx), sometimes as nirik, being translated in a vocabulary by kinat, "power," while the hust element (which is omitted on the monarch's bricks) is of coui-se from kin (the equivalent of p3), Avhich has been explained under S;u-gon. The name of the other monarch presents no difli<'ulty. Asshur- bil-nisi-su means " Asshur (is) the lord of his ]ie()ple." from hil or hilu, "lord," nis, "a man" (comp. Heb. iff)2H\. and .•>•«, "his" (= Heb. 1). To these names of monarchs may be added one or two names oftprinces, which are mentioned in the records of the Assyrians, or elsewhere; as Asshur-danin-pal, the eldest son of the great Shalmaneser, and Adrammelech and Sharezer, sons of Sen- nacherib. Asshur-danin-pal seems to be " Asshur strengthens a son," from Asshur, pal, and daiiin, which has the force of "strengthening" in Assyrian.'" Adrammelech hius been explained as decus regis, "the king's glory;"*" but it would be more consonant with the prepositional character of the names generally to translate it "the king (is) glorious," from adir ("nx or TIN), "great, glorious," and Dielek (f)^), "a king." Or Adranunelech may be from ediru (comp. n~3f), a connnon Assyrian word meaning " the arranger " and melek, and may signify "the king arranges," or "the king is the arranger." '" Sharezer, if that be the true reading, woidd seem to be " the king protects," from sar or sni-ru, "a king" (;i8 in Sargon), and a form, izir, from nazar or natsar,^^ "to guard, protect." The Armenian equivalent, however, for this name, San-asar, may be the proper fonn ; and this would apparently be "The Moon (Sin) protects." Nothing is more remarkable in this entire catalogue of names than their pred(Mninantly religious charact-er. Of the thirty-nine kings and princes which the Assyrian lists fiu'nish, the names of no fewer than thirty -one contAK VIEW OK TllK NAMKS ASSMiNKK TO THE A88TRIAN AT DIFFKKENT TIMK.S AND «Y DIFFEUKNT WKITEKH. Sir H. liiiwlinson in IH(;0. G. Smith in 1«T0. Dr. Hincks. M. Oppert In I8C9.a Ik'l sniiiili-kapi y I<4-l kat-inusHii. .\ssliur-l)ilii nisi sii Asur tx-l iiwi-«u. l!n/nr-Assliin- HusurAKur As.sluir-iipallit .\.sur ulMillat. U.-1-lush Itilii-nirari ( ';) I<al-(iM&r. Assliur-(laha-il As.>o MutaKKil-^^aMu. Mutakki'l-Nul)U. Asshur-ris-iliin Assliur-ris-elini .\snrri.si.si. Tik'lath-l'ili-.serl. Tukiilti-pal-zara I. Assliuj--liil-kala Tiklat-pal-isri I. Tiiklat-hatial-OHar I. Assliui'-baiii-pal 1. Asur-iddaiina-iiabal Sanisi-Vul I. A.ssluir-ral)U-ainar Assliur inuzur Assliur-adan-alchi Assliiir-iiMin-aklii Asur-iddin-nklie. Assliur-(laii-il Assliiir-1. Kraii(;ois I This name is composed of tliree elements, all of wliidi an' doubtful. Tlie first In the j,'od of the atmosiiliere, who has lK*en called Vul, Iva, Yav, Yiun, Yein. Ao, Hin. and U or IIu. The second element luus been read as /iA7i, znUi, anil rrim; the third tm (jiih, kliii.^, and ixilliir. Hoth of them are mo.st uncei-tniii. <• < )r Shalnia-ris. Tliis name wius orijrinally thoujrht to be dilTerent from that of tlir l?lack-(.)belisk kiiifj, but is now rej^arded as a meii- variant, and a.s equivalent to th«* Scriptural Shalmaneser. The last element is the saim- wonl as the name of tlie As- syrian Hercules, who has l«'en called Bar, Nin or Ninlp. and I'ssiir. and who possibly bore all these appellations. Sir II. liawlinson oriKinally calletl this kiuK Temenltur. ("Commentary, ' p. 2"~'. ) «' Or Nin-j>ala-zir«. (Itawlinson"s " Hermlotus," 1st eilitlon.) t' The middle eli'inent of this name was thought to n'pn-s»-nt the root "to jflve," and to have the pi>wer of iililht or idutitii; but a variant n-ailin^ in the n»c«"ntly dis- covered Canon emjiloys the phonetic complement of ir, thus showinjf that the n>ot must be tlw one ordinarily repre.Hent<'d by the character, namely ^2fJ, "to protect," which will form iiazir in'tlie Henoiii, and izir (for I'liiiri in thi' third |)erm>n of iJie aorist. f < )ri{?inally Dr. Hincks called this monarch Assliur-<«A7ibaI. (I.Ayar(l'H "Nin. and l?ab." p. til5.) Mr. Fo.x Talbot still prefers this n-udint?. ( " AtiienR'um," No. 1M3U, p. I-JI).) tt This, of course, is foUowhiK the Hebrew literatiou. The Assyrian in n»afina. i The Assyrian names of Sennm-herib Knd Euor-hoddon, aocordinc to Mr. O, aml^ ^ wuru Sin aklii-irba and ^Vti^uir-akh idclinu. NOTES TO TIIR FIRST MONARCHY. CHAPTER I. * Iliiinboldt, " Asjjects of Nature," vol. i. pp. 77, 78, K. T. '•' Even the title of Shiiiar. the earhest known name of the ^t■^cil>ll (lien. xi. 2), may l)e no exceotion: for it is perhaps derived from the Hebrew ^3'^>, "two," and (ir or 7iahr (llel). inj'- "" '^ river." Tlie form nr belonpi to llie early Scythie or CiLsfiite Babylonian, antl is found in the Ar-inal- char of PUnyC'H. N."vi. ati), and the Ar- maeles of Abydenus — terms used to desig- nate the Ntihr-malrha iKoyal River) of other authors. (See the " Fragmenta Hi.s- toricorum Gra'corum," vol. iv. pi). )!Ki, *<4.) ^ Ilerodotus. ii. ."). Sir (ianlner Wilkin son observes that Herodotus is mistaken in this iiisfanee. The Nile never emptied itself into a Kulf. but from the fii-st laid its deposits on Kroimd already rai.sed above the level of the Jh'diterraiuan. (See the author's " Herodotus," vol. ii. p. ti, not«? *.) * Loftus's " UhakUua and busiana," p. 282. * See Strabo, xvi. 1, § 0; Pliny, "H. N." vi. 28; Itolemy, v. 20; Beros. ap. Syncell. )p. 28, 20. " See text, ]>p. 10, 11, etc. ' Ross came to the end of the alluvium and the eommeueement of the secondary formations in lat. :il°, long. 44°. ("Journal of Geoi,'raiiliii-al Society," vol. ix. j). ■)4l. ii. p. 47:J, when- the whole area of Eumppaa (Jreece, including Tln-ssiily, Acaniania, -■Etolia, Knixi-a, and the 'other littoral islands, is shown to lie 22,2:il miles. i''S.-e text. p. 2. '^ (icn. ii. II. marginal rendering. '< See the remark of .Mela:— " (>cci- dentem ix-tit. ni Taurus obstet. iu ntwtra uiaria Venturas." ("De Sit. (»rb." iii. K.) " In one part of its cours*-. vi/., from Kut-el-Amarah at the mouth of the Sliat- el-Hie to Ilitssun Kiian's fort, M niiles lower down the stream, the direction of the Tigris is even north of ea.st. '« From El Khitr to Serut the din-ct dis- tance is KM nules, from Senit to Kumah 110. and from Kurnah to El Khitr II.'). " Chcsnev, "Euphrates ExiM-" lbi(l. vol. i. p. 44. >" Ibid. p. I.'i. It only attain.s this width, ' however, ui the sea.son of the flooils. (}en- erally it is at Diarbekr about 100 or 120 yards wide. '•'" I..oftus, " C'halda>a and Rusiana," p. 3. 2' C'hesney, "Euphrates Exjiedilion," vol. i. p. '-ii; eomiKire I.Ayard. "Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. eh. xiii. p. !»2. ■■''' The Kuj>lirm a want of suftl<-ient IM)wer. (" Nineveh and its Iii'nuiiiLs,"voLL ch. V. p. i:«».) •snev, vol. i. pp. 5S-57. •>* Ibid, p." 02. " Strab. xi. 12, S 4; S 1 «. S '-'. ''tc. '" I.jiyanl, " Nineveh and Hubylon," cli. XV. i». 22. ('omi>are eh. xi. pp. 2lil». 270. ^' Xenophoii, " Analiosis,' iv. .'I. $ 1. "" Ijivard. " Nineveh and Rabvlon," oh. iii. ]). I'.i. The Bitlis fhai at Til. jast aln.ve the ixiint of continence, was found bj- ."Mr. iJiyanl to 1h» "alxiut e<|ual in siz«< to the "uniteil Myafan-kin anil l)iarlH-kr rivers. '" I>ofttis, "ChaKhpa ami Susiana," jv ."JUS; ".loum. of (ieograph. S. {*.'». "' •' EupluTites ElxpediUun," vol. i. pp. .v.t. 00. " Ijiyanl, " Nineveh and Babylon," ch. •vi. I). 47.'>; I.,oftiw, " t'haldiea and Siisl- ana.' p. 4.'>. •» Hi'cn'n's stat4>mi'nt. which isdinvtlv the ri-vcjid'of thisf Aituktic Nat ions," voL 510 THE FIRST MONARCHY. [cu. I. ii. p. 131, E. T.), Is at onco false anfl sclf- oontradictory. Tlio " deej) l)e(l "and" bold shores "of the TIkhs are the eoiise(|ueiice of the hiijhcr level of tht^ pliiiii in its vicin- ity. The fall of the Tifrris is niucli Ki'«'titer than that of the Kujlhrates in its lower course, and the stream cuts deeper into the alliiviuni, on the principle of water findint; its own level. S3 Loftus, p. 44. S"" Arrian, "Exped. Alex." vii. 21, 22; Strab. xvi. 1, ;■§ 11, 12. The " lacus (!hal- daici " of Pliny (" Hist. Nat." vi. 27) refer rather to tlu^ marshes on the Lower llffris. '^ Arrian, "Exped. Alex." vii. 7; Phn. "Hi.st. Nat." 1. s. c. '" Arriau, vii. 21. 3' Herod, i. 19.3. 58 Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 297. ^^ See text, page 9. " Herod, i. 179, 180. 4> Ibid. i. 189; Xen. "Anab." ii. 4, §25. The site of Opis is probably marked by the ruins at Khafaji. (See the remarks of Sir H. Rawlin.son in the author's " Herod- otus," vol. i. p. .326, note *.) ■•^ Sir H. Rawlinson, " Commentary on the Ciuieifomi Inscriptions of Assyria and Babylonia," p. 77, note. •" Loftus, " Chaldaea and Susiana," p. 112. Some rather considerable changes m the bed of the Tigi-is are thought to be traceable a Uttle below Samarah. (See "Journal of Geograpliical Society," vol. ix. p. 472.) ** Shapur Dholactuf , in the fourth cen- tarj of our era, either cut or reopened this canal. He is said to have mtended it as a defence against the Arabs. In Arabian geography it is known as Khandak Sabur, or " Shapur's ditch." The present name is Kerreh t>aideh. *^ Justin, xviii. 3, § 2. '" Loftus, p. 50. "' Ibid. 1. s. c. <** Gen. X. 10. The sacred historian per- haps fm-ther represents the Assyrians as adopting the Babylonian mmiber on their emigration to the more northern regions: — "Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Reho- both, and Calah, and Resen." (Gen. x. 11, 12.) *'> In three out of these four cases, the similarity of the name forms a sufficient ground for the identification. In the rourth case the chief groimd of identifica- tion is a statement in the Talmud that Nopher was the site of the Calneh of Niru- rod. ^'' Sippara is the Scriptiwal Sepharvaim. The Hebrew tenn has a dual ending, be- cause tliere were two Sipparas, one on either side oc the river. ^' Sir H. Rawlin.son, in the "Journal of the Geographical Society," vol. xxvii. p. 185. 6»Mr. Taylor in the "Journal of the Asiatic Society," vol. xv. p. 200. Sir H. Rawlinson prefers the derivation of Um- qir, " the moJher of bitumen," "^ Loftus, " Chaldsea and Susiana," p. 128. '•' Gen. xiv. 1. <•' Beros. ap. Syncell., " Chronographia," p. 39. f'" ApoUod. " Bibliotheca," ii. 4, § 4. '''' Loftus, p. :M4. '" The LXX tran.slators expreas the He- brew -pi^ by 'Opix- '» Strab. xvi. 1, § G; PUjI, v. 20, p. 137. See also Pliny, "Hist. Nat." vi. 27. «" Loftus, pp. 102-170. "' Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," ch. xxi V. p. .551 . Boats smeared with bitumen, and snnilar to those stUl in use in Lower Mesopotamia, are .said to be occasionally found, beneath the soil, in this ravine. "'^ LoftiLs, p. 101. "8 In the early Scji^liic or Cu.shite Baby- lonian the name of the city is repre-sented by the same characters as are used for the god Belus, though of course with a differ- ent determinative ; and it thus seems high- ly probable that we have the vernacular pronunciation of the name in the Bi'/.pTf of Ptolemy, which he joins with ftapaira and Aiyova precisely as the in.scriptions are joined Borsip, Nipur, and Cutha, or Tiggaba. Nipur is given in the tjiUngual tablets as the Semitic translation of the Scythic Bilu. »'» See note *' of this chapter. «' Gen. x. 10. "' Lsaiah x. 9. «' Rich, " Second Memoir on Babylon," p. 32; Heeren, "Asiatic Nations," vol. iL p. 172; Ker Porter, "Travels," vol. ii. p. 379. See also Oppert's map, entitled "Babylon Antiqua," in his " Expedition scientifique en M6sopotamie," Paris, Gide, ia58. «8 Berosus, " Fr." 14; Strab. xvi. 1, § 7; Ju.stin, xti. 13; Steph. Byz. ad voc. "8 Rich, " First Memoir." p. 34, note. ""> Layard, " Nuie%'eh and Babylon," p. 569. Mr. Loftus suggests that the remains here are of a later date. (" Chalda?a and Susiana," p. 85.) Sir H. Rawhnson regards the exi.sting buDdings at Akkerkuf and Hammam as also of the Parthian age, though occupjing the sites of earlier Chakifean cities. '> Hammam is thought to be the Gulaba of the cuneiform inscriptions (Loftus, p. 113); but this identification is miceitain. '^ See Eraser's "Mesopotamia and As- syria," pp. 150-155; Ainsworth's "Re- searches in Mesopotamia," p. 127 and p. 177; Ross and Lynch, in " Journal of Geo- graphical Society," vol. ix. pp. 443, et seq.; Loftus. " (i'haldaea and Susiana.'' passim; and "Journal of Geographical Society," vol. xxvi. pp. 13-3-144. '3 This district has been visited by Mr. Taylor, but its marshy character makes it veiy difficult to explore at all completely. '■•Loftus, "Ohaldaia and Susiana,'' p. 251 '6 Ibid. p. 435. " See text, p. 3. CII. II.] THE FinsT MOSARCIIY. M7 " See the ' ' Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society," vol. xv. p. 404. ■"> See the elder N'ieliuJir'.s " Description de r Arabie," pp. 7, 8. '" See text, p. 7. "» Dan. viii. -i. "' ^lischylus, "PersBB," l!J3; Herodotus, V. 53. f» Strabo, xv. 3, § 12. CHM'TER n. > Loftus, " Chalila.'a and Suslana," p. 9. ■•' Che-sney, " Em)hrates Expedition,"' vol. i. p. 10(i. 3 Loftus, p. a80. This jtraveller found tlie temperature at Moluiinnu-ali, in June, JHoO. to rise often to l'.i4° of Fahrenheit in tlie shade. ■• Ibid. p. afC). ' LoftiLs, p. !t, note. "Ibid. p. "J-ll; l.ayard, "Nineveh and Babylon,'' p. .MO. ' Loftu.s, pp. 81, 82. *" I^yard, "Nineveh and Babj-Ion," 1. r. c. ; Loftus, " Clialdiea and Susiana," p. 7.3; Fraser, "Travels," vol. ii. pp. 37 and 47. » Mr. Loftus tells us that he has seen this effect of the cold. '" Sir H. Rawlinson, in the author's " Herodotus, ■■ vol. i. |). ;3.'3I, note "; Rich, " P"'ii'st Memoir," p. 13: Chesney, "Eu- jilirates Expedition," vol. i. pp. 38, 3'J, and UI,tl3. >' Humboldt. " Aspects of Nature," vol. i. p. IH. Sec, for the fact, I>;iyard, " Nin- eveh and liabvlon." p. 549; Loftus, p. 113. ''^ llerodotu.s, i. 1!)3. '3 Theophra.st. " Hist. Plant." viii. 7. ''• Strabo, xvi. 1, § 14. Compare Xen. " Anab." ii. 3, S§11-10- 's PUny. " lli.st. Nat." xviii. 17. '" Herodotus, iii. ifci. If we set aside the Indian gold tribute, this was one-ninth of tlie whole trilnitt^ of the empire. " Herodotus, i. 193. Tliis proportion ai)i)ears exces.sive. Perhaps Babylonia leally supplied one-third of the grain wliich the court consumeil. '^ Ibid. 1. s. c. " Xen. "Anab." ii. 4, § 2i. ''" Ibiil. § 18. C'ompare Ain.sworth, "R<>- treal of the Ten Tliou.siuid,"' op. 105-114. He ref^ards the district inbMided as lliat between tlie Shat-Eidha and the bend of the Tiuris, in kit. 31°. I should place it lower down, below Baghdad, near the ruins of Ctesiolioii. " Rich, "First Memoir." p. 12. '^'^ Loftus, "Clialda-a and Susiatia," p. 14. " Chesney, " Euphrates ExiMjdition," vol. ii. 1). WW. 5« Loftus, 1. s. c. "' Berosus, Kr. 1. "« See t<'Xt, 1). 31. "' That of Theophrastus, the profe-Ksc*! naturalist. See U*xt, p. 31, and note " of tiiis chapter. ■'" -(ieograi)!!. Journ." vol. ix. p. 37. ComiiareNiebulir. " |iesi'ii|.Uon .IwfWra- bie.'p. 134. '» Humboldt, " A«pect« of Nature," vol. ii. p. M, E. T. " Xen. "Anab." 11. 3, ( 15; PhiUjstnit. "Vit. Apollon. Tyan." i. 31. " Loflua, "Clialdjea and Susiana, " p. 25. »» Strabo, xvl. 1, { 14. »> B)id. •« Xen. "Anab." I. b. c. "The peas- antry in Babylonia now principally sub- sist ou dates pre.s.setl lnt Theophnust. "Hist. Plant." U. 7, p. «•«; Pliii. "H. N."xiii. 4. *' Loftus, " Chaldtija and Susiana," p. 137 and \). 377 ; .Mnswortli, " Travels In the Track of the Ten Thouisand, " p. 105. *■' Henxl. i. 193. *' Anim. Marc. xjtJv. 3; Zosim. iii. pp. l7:i-9. ** Sir H. Rawlin.'^on, in the "Journal of the Geographical Society," vol. xxrii. p. 18<1. " Theophrast. " Hist. Plant." 11. 2; p. <« Ibid. ii. 7; p. C4. <' Ibid. p. 07. <" Berosus, Fr. 1, § 2; Herrxl. I. 193. <" Rich, " First Memoir. " p. 3IJ; Heeren, "Asiatic Nations," vol. ii. p. 1.58; Ainu- worth, " Researches in Assyria, Baby- lonia, and Chalda'a," p. 135. '" .Vinsworth, " Researches," p. 129; Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon,' p. 5.'>3. Mr. Loftus says " 12 or 14 feet." (" Chal- do^a and Sasiana," p. 105.) " I.Avard, pp. 5'i}-531. " Ibid. p. 938. " Xeiiophonstate-s that niill.'^tonwi were Ruppliol to Babvlon from a pla^-o which he calls Pyla' (FVlnjiahr) on the middle Euphrates. (" Anab." i. 5, )i 5.) '1 Rich, "First Memoir," i>. tB. " Thotiunes HI. bniught liitumen from Hit to Egypt about n.c. 1 too. (S*-.- Sir U. Wilkiiisoifs " Historical Notici- of Kgj-pt " in the authors " HeriHJotim," vol. i|. p. .'l»i<).) Herixlotus mentions Hit lut the great place for bitumen, nlxmt ii.c. 4.'i0 i Henxl. I. 179). Isidore of Chamx takes notice of its bitumen-springs, almut ii.c. l.'i>. Shortly aftenvunU It* name was made to include ii notice of Uio bitumen: and thus it is call>- " Languages of the Seat of War," pp. 24, 25 (first edition). « Gen. X. 8-10. * "As. Nat." 1. s. c. " The portions of the Old Testament wiitten in the so-called dial dee are Ezra, iv. 8 to vi. 18, and vii. 12-26; Daniel, ii. 4 to vii. 28 ; and Jeremiah, x. 10. There is also a Chaldee gloss in Genesis, xxxi. 47. " Bunsen, "Philosophy of Universal History," pp. 193 and 201; Miiller, "Lan- guages," etc., 1. s. c. "Seech, iv. pp. 41^7. " Herod, i. 177. •♦ Ibid. ch. 106. »« Ibid. ch. 7. »« Ibid. vi. .53. »' Ibid. i. 56. »« Ibid. iii. 16. " Euseb. " Chron. Can." L 4 and 5; pp. 17-21; ed. Mai. 2° Diod. Sic. ii. 1, § 7. «■ Plin. "H .\." vi. 26. ''^ Hen Ml. vii di. "Horn. "Od."i. 23, 24— Aldionac, Tol dixOa dedaiarai laxaroi dvSpuVj Oi /lEv 6v(Jo/i£vov "Tirepiovoc, ol & avi6- vTog. ^* Strab. i. 2, § 25. " Ibid. § 26. '" Ibid. §§ 26-31. 2'Hesiod. "Theogon." 9R4 : " Mf/ivoi-a Xa'AKOKOfwctTijv kiOi6mjv jiaaiTi^a." ''" Pind. "Nein." iii. 62, 63. 2» Ap. Strab. xv. 3, § 2. 3" Herod, v. 54. Compare Strab, 1. 8. c. ; Diod. Sic. ii. 22, ^ 3. 3' Diod. Sic. 1. s. c; Paasan. x. 31, § 2; Cephalion ap. Euseb. " Chron. Can." i. 15, §5- ^■i Diod. Sic. ii. 22. § 4. 3' Easeb. " Clu-on. Can." ii. p. 278; Sya- celliLS, "Chronograph." p. 1.51, C. Com- pare Strab. xvii. ], § -12; and Phn. " H. N." V. 9. 5'' Demetrius ap. Athen. "Deipnosoph." XV. p. 680, A. 36 Herod, v. .53; Strab. xv. 3, § 2, xiai. 1, § 42; Diod. Sic. 1. s. c. ; Plin. " H. N." 1. s. c. 38 Alex. Polyhist. Fr. Ill; Plin. " H. N." vi. .30. 3' Pherecyd. Fr. 40. ^^ ApoUodor. " Bibliothec." ii. § 4. 3' See the Fragments of Polyliistor in Miiller's "Fr. Hist. Graec." vol. iii. p. 212; Fr. 3. ••" Charax ap. Steph. Byz. s. v. Alyv- TTTOf. *i Johanu. Antiochen. Fr. 6, § 15. " Herod, iii. 94; vii. 70. 43 Euseb. " Chron. Can." ii. p. 278. ** Hesiod, 1. s. c: ApoUod. iii. 12, § 4. ■»6 Mos. Choren. "Geograph." {)p. 363-5. 4" Mos. Choren. " Hist. Armen. ' i. 6; pp. 19, 20. 4' Ibid. i. 4; p. 12. 48 " Jom-nal of Asiatic Society," vol. xv. p. 233. « Ibid. p. 230. 50 " And Cush begat Nimrod," Gen. x. 8. Baron Bunsen says in one work, "Nimrod is called a Cushite, which means a man of the land of Cush" ("Pliilos. of Univ. Hist." vol. i. p. 191), and proceeds to argue that he was only a Cushite " geographi- cally," becaiLse he, or the people repre- sented by him, sojourned for some tune in Ethiopia. In another ("Egypt's Place," etc. vol. iv. p. 412), he admits that this view contradicts Gen. x. 8, and allows that" the eompUer of our present Book of Genesis " must have meant to derive Nimrod by de- scent from Ham; but this "compiler" was, he thinks, deceived by the resem- blance of t;;i3 to u*0 ^'iiurod was not an Ethiopian, but a Cossian or Coss- a^an; i.e. (he says) a Turanian who con- quered Babylon "from the mountain coun- try east of Mesopotamia. Of course, if we are at liberty to regard the "com piler " of Genesis as " mi.^t iken ' v. iieii f'll. IV.] THE FIliST MONAlii JiV. 51'J ever his statements conflict with our the- ories, while at the saine time we ignf)re linguistic facts, we may s|iectilate upon ancient history and etlmuKraphy much at our pleasure. " Sir H. Rawlinson, in the author's "Herodotus," vol. i. p. 44:i. 63 "The Bible tneiitions l>ut one Kush, ^Ethiopia; an Asiatii' Kush f.xisis only in the imagination of the intcrprfters, and is thechild of their di'spair." Hiiiiscn, "I'hi- losoiiliy of Univ. Hist." vol. i. ii. Mil. Hee on tiie other liand Sir if. Rawiinson's ar- ticle in the ".Journal of the Asiatic Soci- ety," vol. XV. art. ii.; and conn^are esi)e- cially Ezek. xxxviii. 5. '3 Herod, vii. 70. »< See Prichard's " Physical Hist, of Mankind," vol. ii. p. 44. *' Loftus, " Chaldaja and Susiana." p. 302. *" See the Cylinders, passim ; and com- pare Herod, i. 195. " Skeletons have been found in abun- dance, but they have undergone no sci- entific examination. 's Ps. Ixxviii. ,51; cv. 23. 27; cvi. 22. Egypt is called Clwmi in the native in- scriptions. " See the Essay of Sir H. Rawlin.son, in the author's ''Herodotus," vol. i. p. 442, not,f (1st edition). •" See an ICssay by the same writer in the fourth \olnme of the same work, pp. 250-2.-)t list cilition). "' Cliecloi- laomer, by his leadership of the Klaniitcs or Su.sianians, should he a Cuslutc ; Tiilal, king of nations, i.e. of the wandering tribes, should be a Scyth, or Turanian; Arioch recalls the term " Arian," while Amraphel Is a name cast in a Semitic mould, hee a note by Sir H. Rawlinson in the first volume of the au- thor's ■' Herodotus," vol. i. E.ssaj^ vi. § 21, note ' (second edition). «'^ Bero.sus, Fr. i. SS T), 6, 11, etc. •' Oesenius, "Comment, in Ksaiam," xxiii. 13, and "(icschichte der Hebr. Sprache," pi). 63, lU; Hceien, ".\siatic Nations," vol. ii. p. 117; Niebuhr. "Lect- ures on Ancient History," vol. i . vol. I 20, 21H: Kitto, "Biblical CvclopuMiia," vol. i. p. 408, etc. Mr. Viiiix i-i)ict. of Antiq- uities,"' vol. i. p. (101 1 with good rea.son questions tlie common anite prepositions, both having the same mean- mg, and the i)hra,se is merely pleonastic. There is no reason to believe that lei ajid t(i have separately the meaning of "with."! '- The Virieks in question were found at Warka, the ancient Huruk or Erech. (See Loftus, "Chaldaui and Susiana," p. l(iU.) ' See Oppei-fs " Kx|"«'dilion scientLHque en M(^.sopotamie," torn. ii. p. (52. * It has been con ji-i-luivil that the Ideo- graph for " king," whii-h stamls as the first chara<'ter in the (ii-st and st-^-ond con>- partments of the sei'oml t-ojunui in the In- scrijition given above (I'l. VI., Fig. 3i, is derived from a iiule drawing of a b*^-, the Egyptian emblem of Sovereignty. (See Mc''nant, " Hriques de Habyloiie," p. 20.) ' ( >ppert, tom. ii. p. (Kl. " See the "Journal of the ({eographical Society." vol. ix. p. ."iK, where. ins(H-aking of tJie devices on the tonibs of the Lurs, Sir H. Rawlinson not<'s "the oint, made in ivorj', apparently foremployment in cune- iform writing, have bwn found at Rjiby- loii. (See ( Ippert, tom. ii. p. fii.) " .See t«'Xt, jiage 43, where the transla- tion of an in.scription is given. Other translations of the brick legends h«'|ong- ing to the same king atv tiie following:— 1. On a brick from Mufihrir (Un: — "Crukb. king of I'r, is he who has built the temple of the MiHmOod." 2. On a brii'k from the same:- "The Moon-(.io build the enceinte uf Ur." 3. On a brick from the same:— "The Moon-(ioV did not send any of the skulls, when tliiis liardened, to England, as their cxaiiiiMatiiin would have been important towaids determining the ethnic charactir of tlie race. '* The vases represented in the first of the cuts (PI. Xlll., Fig. 1 1, are in a coarse clay, mixed with elierhap's, whether these clay models are not ratherthe representative- of real weajions and implemeiiis. buried in their stead by relatives too poor to pari with the originals. "" '.louiiial of Asiatic Society," vol. xv. p. 411. «' .\s fillets for the lieafl. (Ibid. p. 273.) "»> These earrings are given as Clial da'an, because they were found at NilTer among remains thought to be jHU'ely CJ'ai- dsean. At the sain* time It must t)e al- lowe See the small woodeut on p. M. " See PI. IX., Fig. 3, where a reprwten- tation of this uKnle of urnamentiug wulU is given; and for the iLse of bronze ringti, see " Journal of the Asiatic Sd to, but rarely quoted. Simplicius arguej* that the earlier (ireek writers on ii-stron- omy have less value tlian the lat<-rones: — 6ia TO fjtfKu rdf ini Ka'/.?.iaOh-ov^ « \iaj3v?.(Jvoc Ke/ilklaag irapuTijpr/aeif CKptKtadai ela ri/v 'E?.}M6a, roii Aptaro- Ti?x)vr Toi'To tniaKfy^paiTO^ aiVu" aarcvag 6it/yeiTai 6 Uopipipioc ;fiftUK°K " Chal- dwa and Susiana." p. 2."> years. Compare with thlH notation that of the Mexicans (Pn-Kcott. " History of theC-iminest of Mexii'o." vol. i. p. 1(1), where, besides the unit, the only innnbers which hail distinct signs were 20, 400, and 8000. CHilTEF V ' Se«' text, pp. .57-(K1. ' Mr. Loftus nmk<-s thin oomjianiu»^ " Chaldii'a and Snsiana." p. 2.%i i. For .'Mi'.resentalioiiK of the costume see I/oftuSi 522 THE FIRST MONARCHY. [CH. VII. S). 257, 258, 260; and Rich ("Second emoir," pi. iii. flg. 13). * See Loftus, '' Chaldaea and Susiana," p. 2.58. * " Asiatic Journal," vol. xv. p. 271. * Loftus, p. 2.")8. C'om])are the central standing tig\u-e in the cylinder of which a representation is given. (See PI. XIV., Fig. 2.) * See the same cylinder, where two of the three standing figures wear the mitre in que.stion. ' Taylor in the "Journal of the Asiatic Society," vol. xv. p. 272. * At least this is the position which the signet cylinder always occupies in the tombs. ("Asiatic Journal," vol. xv. p. 271.) » Ibid. p. 415. '" See tlie sitting figure in the cylinder (PI. XIV., Fig. 2); and compare "As. Joum." vol. XV. p. 273. " See text, pp. 22-24. '2 Herod, iv. 71 (Author's Translation, vol. iii. pp. 61-63). 13 Ibid. i. 200. ^* Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," ch. X3dv. p. 567. 16 "Journal of the Asiatic Society," vol. XV. p. 272, note'. "See the "Fragmenta Hist. Graec." vol. ii. p. 496; Fr. 1, § 2. 17 (jejj, X. 9. 18 See text, ch. ii. p. 26. 1' See Loftus, " Chaldaeaand Susiana," p. 258. 2" Ibid. ch. XX. p. 259. "1 For representations of spearheads, see Pis. XV. and XVI. *^ "Journal of Asiatic Society," vol. xv. p. 272. not« 2. ^"3 See Wilkinson, " Ancient EgyptiaiLS," 1st Series, vol. ii. p. 21 ; vol. iii. p. .55: and compare Sophocl. "Antiq." 347, where the invention of nets is united with that of ships, agriculture, and language. " See text. p. 56. 2* " Journal of the Asiatic Society," vol. XV. p. 264. 26 -'Fragm. Hist. Grfec." 1. s. c. The "Red Sea" of Berosus, Uke that of He- rodotus, is not our Red Sea, but the sea which wa.shes the south of Asia including both the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. (See Herod i. 1. : Author's Transla- tion, vol. i. p. 153, note ^.) CHAPTER Vn. 1 It appears from Eusebius (" Chron. Can." pars i. c. ii. ) and SynceUus ( " Chron- ograph." vol. i. pp. .TO-.53) that Berosus at any rate gave tliis turn to the Babylonian mythology. What is commonly reportIr. Fox Talbot renders.it by Yem: >I. Oppert by Ao or Hii; Dr. Hiiicks by Iv or Iva; m.. Lenormant by Bin. * These schemes themselves were prob- ably not genealogical at first. In their genealogical shape they were an arrange- ment given after awhile to separate and independent deities recognized in differ- ent places by distinct communities, or even by distinct races. (See Bun.sen"s "Egypt," vol. iv. p. 66, B. Engl. Transl.) ' See Diod. Sic. ii. 30, § 3. where, how- ever, there is a corrupt reading, the word 'Il?.ov being most absurdly I'eplaced by 'H/iou. » See his fragments in Miiller's " Fragm. Hist. Graec." vol. iii. pp. 567 and 571; Fr. 2, S 14, and Fr. 5. " Loc. sup. cit. 'TA(z Tov vnb ruv 'YjAAt/vuv Kp6vov 6i>ofia^6/iei>ov kqXo- VGIV 'R?.ov. 1° Kpdvog Tohntv, bv ol ^oiviKeg ^B.?.ov irpoaayopeiiovai, 8a(7t?.£vuv r^f x^pag, Kai varepov fiera rf/v tov 3iov reAcirr^i' eJf Tuv TOV Kpovov aaTepa KaOiepudeigy K.T.X. This, however, professes to be Phoenician and not Babylonian mjrthol- ogy. 11 Fr. 1, § 3, and Fr. 6. Annedotus {'Avvrjduroc) is (perhaps) "given by Ana, " or " given by God. " Cannes is prob- ably Hoa-ana; or " the god Hoa." 12 Fr. 5. Anobret ('At'w/Jper) slgnifu-- " beloved by Ana." 13 Damasc. " De Prineip " 123. 1* Hesiod. " Theogon." 4.55-457; Apollod. " BibUothec." i. 1, §§5, 6. 15 A single wedge T which according to Chalda9an numeration represents the number 60 (see text. p. 66), is emblematic of the god Ana on the notation tablets: and, as would be expected from this fact . Ana is one of the phonetic powers of J en. vn.] THE FIRST MONARCHY. ^23 Another of its powers is Dis; and hence the conclusion is drawn that DLs was probably another luiino of Ana. (See the Essay of Sir H. Rawlinson in the author's " Herodotus," vol. i. p. .OiW.) '« Cf. Steph. Byz. ad voc. Te?.6v7i. Te?.dvT}, n67uq apxaiOTarTj "Lvpiaq (i- e. 'Aa(Tvpidg) ^v ^Kei NZfOf npd r^f Hivov '^ See note *', ch. iv. '8 CJen. X. 10. The identification of Niffer with Calneh rests on the authoritj- of the Talmud isee text, pp. 11, 12). '" See text. pp. H.V80. 20 .. Frasni. Hist. Gr." vol. iii. p. 566. 2' Bunsen"s "'Egypt," vol. i. p. 3TH, E. T. ; Wilkinson in the author's "Herod- otus,"' vol. ii. p. Ufl.!. 52 'De Princip." Ii5. 23 Bit or liilu is " lord " in the Assyrian and the Semitic Babylonian: Enu is the corresponding Cashite or Hainitic term. 2^ The .Jupiter Bchis woi-sliippcd in the great temi)le at Babylon seems certjlinly Xa) have been Merodach, who likewise represents the planet Jupiter. (See text, p. 87.) 2* As by Abydenus (cf. Eui-eb. •• Chron. Can." i. Vi. p. 36. and Mos. Choren. i. 4, p. 13), by Stephen (ad voc. B«,ivAwi), and, perhaps we may say. by Herodotus (i. 7). Compare also "Thallus (Fr. 2) and Mos. Choren. (i. 6, and 9>, who absolutely iden- tifies Belus with Kirarod. s» Abyden. Fr. 8. a' Gen. x. 10. '" These walLs were known re.spectively asHw Iiujiir-Bilu-Ninru. and thu Nimiti- Bilit-Xipnt. (Sir H. Rawlinson in the author's "Herodotus," vol. i. p. 596, and vol. ii. p. .""jSC.) " Gen. X. 10. so See text, pp. 100. 101. 3' Hence the Mylitta oAAo nepiaabv evpedyvat. <<• Berosus and Helladias both agree in re- garding Hoa i^Qr) or 'i2flin';7f) as the Fish- God : but from the inscriptions it appears that the Fish-God was really Nin or Mnip. (See text, p. 86.) ■•• So Berosus, 1. s. c. " Gen. iii. 1. ■•3 Job ix. 9; xxxviii. 31; Amos v. 8. There seem to be no grounds for our translating Kimah as " the Pleiades." It is not even a plural. ■'■' It is not perhaps altogether clear icfty the serpent has been so frequently re- garded a-s an emblem of life. Some say, because serjjents are long-lived; others, because the animal readily formed a cir- cle, and a circle was the symbol of eter- nity. But. whatever the reason, the fact cannot be doubted. *^ Se<' the pas.sage citwl at full length in note 3». Accimlingto .\ssyrian notions, Hoa did not confine his presents to men. Cue of the kings of .\s.syria says:— "The senses of seeing, hearing, and under- standing, which Hoa allotted to the whole 4 gods of heaven and earth, they in the fulness of their hearts granted to me.'' •" Mans. Parth. p. 5. <' "De Princip.'^ 1. 8. c. Tov 6i 'kov Kal Aal'KT/g viov yeviaOai Tdv BijT.ov. *" Sir H. RawUn.son in the author's "Herodotus," vol. i. p. 601. note ». Mo- vers and Bunscn derive SavKtj from the Heb. 'r\r\. " lundcre," and interpret it "strife," comparing the Syriac daukat. (Si'e Bunsens "Egypt," vol. iv. pp. 155. l."")*). ) «" Beros. Fr. 1. §0. "> .s'/)i is iLsed for Uie moon in Mendapan and Svriac at the present day. It is the name given to the Moon-(iod in St. James of Seruj's list of tlie idols of Harran; and 524 THE FIRST MONARCHY. [CII. VII. it was the term used for Monday by the Saha-ans as late as the ninth century. I-' As in Daniel iv. 13, 17, and in the Syriac litiirKy. 'S2 The term znna may i)erhaps be con- nected with the Heb. p'form.' Zunanis common in Assyrian for "building." '2 Sin is e-xpressly called " the god of the month Sivan of happy name;" and it may be siispeete(i that his name is a mere i'ontract ion of Sivan. The sign used for the nil iiitli Sivan is also the sign which represents •'bricks." " These forms are taken chiefly from the engravings of cylinders published by the late Mr. Cullimbre. ^^ It is not uncommon for the second syllable in an Assyrian or Babylonian god's name to be dropped as unimportant. We have both Asshur and .4s, both Sansi and Sent, both Nhiip and JS'in, etc. Thus we might expect to find both Hur and Hurki. It is not perhaps a proof of the connection— but still it is an argument in favor of it^to find that when Ur changed its name toCamarina (Eupolem. ap. Alex. Poly hist. Fr. 3). the new ajipellation was a derivative from another word (Kamur, Arab.) signifying " the moon." (Sir H. Rawiinson in' the author's " Herodotus," vol. i. p. 610.) 5« Nabonidus calls him "the chief of the gods of heaven and earth, the king of the gods, god of gods, he who dwells in the great heavens," etc. s' In Hebrew shani, ijjy^ is usually translated "scarlet," but some learned Jews suggest that the true meaning is •bright. (See Newman's "Hebrew Lexi- con " ad voc. and compare Gesenius.) *•* From ]^Q\ff " ministrare." (See Bux- torf ad voc.) 59 Josh. x\-ii. 11 : Judg. i. 27: 1 Sam. xxxi. 10, etc. The Hebrt'w form is T} Herod, i. 181-183. Compare Diod. Sic. ii.9. «2 Apoc. Dan. xiv. 2. »3 Uiod. Sic. ii. 9, § .5: To fiev Tov Atbg ayakfia tarijKvg f/v Kal 6cai3E fiijKdg. *•* Ibid. ii. 9, § 6. »* Succoth, "tents," is probably a mis- translation of Zir, or Zirat, which was confouniled with znrat, a word having that meaning. »« As Tiglath-Pileser I., about B.C. 1100, and .\sshur-izir-pal. about D.r. 8.50. "' Sir II. Rawlinson. in the author's " Herodotu.*," vol. i. p. 6.3'i. I"* ,s«^e 2 Kings xvii. W. »» Tlie Sabicans of Harran, who used generally tlie Babvlonian appellations of the gods. api)li('il tlie iiaine of Ans to the third day of the week — the '" dies Martis" of the Romans. (Chwolsohn, " S.sabier und Ssabisiuus," vol. ii. p. 22.) '""2 Kings xi. ."> an•>' 2Mac. i. 13-1.5. '»5 The name of Xnni is given by the Syrian lexicographer Bar-Bahlul as one of the fifteen titles applied to the planet Venus by tlie Arabs. The word is also found further ea.st, as in Affghani.stan, where many iilai-es are called Hibi .\orariIy into her place." (See the author's " Herodotus," viil. i. p. 6:57.) 109 Tiie Babylonian form is AVio/m, the As.syrian Xabu. The word forms the initial element in Nabona,ssar, Nabopo- lassar, Nebuchadiiezz;ir, Nabonidas or Lab.\metus. Xebiizaradan, and possibly ui Laborosoarcliod. ""In the great temple of Xebo at Bor- sippa there is an interior chamber, which seems Uj have been a chapel or oraUiry, all the bricks of which are found to he stamped— in additiijn to the ordinary leg- end of N'ebiicliadnezz;ir— with the figure of a wedge or arrow-head. It is probably with reference to this symbol that Nebo received the name of Tir. whii-h is at once "an arrow." and the name of the planet Mercur\- in ancient Persian. '" \Vheii Nebo first appears in Assyria, it is as a foreign god, whose worship is brought thither from Babylonia. His wor- ship Wcos never common hi the more nortlu-ni country. "* This is the monarch whose name Is read a.s .\f)ita is a confusion nere in Poly- histor both as reported by Eiisebiiis ("Cliron. Can." i. 2, jip. 11, 12) and by Syncelliis ("Chronograph." vol. i. p. .53), whigh can wjarcely have belonged to his 520 THE FIliST MONARCHY. |CU. VIII. authority', Berosna. Belus is first made to cut ofT his own head, and " the other gods " are siiid to have mixed liis bk(od with earth and formed man; but afterwards the account contained in the text is jfiven. It seems to me that the first account is an interpolation in the legend. "< I have placed this phrase a little out of its order. It occui-s in the passage. which appears to me interjuilalt-d, and which is perhaps rather an explanation wliich Berosus gave of tfie legeiul than part of the legend itself. However, Bero- sus has no doubt here explained the leg- end rightly. I's So Niebuhr says ("Lectures on An- cient History," vol. i. p. 16, E. T.), but ■without mentioning to what writere he alludes. "« Bunsen, " Egj^pt's Place in Universal History," vol. iv. p. 365, E. T. '" The C'haldee narrative is extrava- gant and grotesque ; the Mosaical is mirac- ulous, as a true account of creation must be; but it is without unnecessai-y raars'els, and its tone is sublime and solemn. 'i** In Genesis the point of view Ls the divine—"/" ihe beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the watei-s." In the Chaldee legend the point of view is the physical and mundane. God being only brought in after awhile as taking a certain part in creation. 1'^ "Lectures on Ancient History," vol. i. p. 17. E. T. 120 This is not expre-ssly stated in the legend; but the di\'ine warning to Xisu- thrus, and the stress laid by Xisuthrus in his last words on the worsliip of God, seem to implv such a beUef . '21 Gen. Lx. 1. 122 So in Syncellus (" Chronograph." p. 54); but in the Armenian Eusebius we read " other birds " (" Chron. Can." i. 3, p. 15). 123 The Armenian translator turns the pilot (KViiepvT/TT/v) into the "architect of the ship." M. Bunsen follows him ("Egypt," etc., vol. iv. p. 371). 124 This is plainly stated both in the Greek and in the Armenian. M. Bunsen has. "threw himself upon the earth and prayed " (1. s. c). 12^ I have inverted the order of this clause and the preceding one, to keep the connection more clear. 1211 Two separate versions of this legend have descended to us. They came re- spectively from Abydenus and Poly- histor. We have the words of the au- thors in Euseb. "Prfep. Ev." ix. 14, 1.5. and Syncell. " Chronograph." vol. i. p. 81. We have also a translation of their words in the Armenian Eusebius ("Chron. Can." /. 4 and 8). 12- Gen. vi. 13. 128 lb. 14-16. i2« lb. verse 18. ISO lb. verse 20. '" lb. viii. 7. <*2 Hj. 9_ii. "3 Gen. viii. 12. i»< lb. ver.se 13; "Noah removed the covering of the ark. and looked, and, be- hold, the face of the eartli was dry." i"> lb. viii. 20. " And Noah Imilded an altar unto the Lord, and UutV. of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt ofTering upon the altar." i3« lb. verse 8: "And the ark rested . . . upon the mountains of Ararat." Ararat is the usual word for Armenia in the Assyrian inscriptions. 13' lb. xi. 2. '3« lb. 4-9. i3» The ark is made more than half a mite long, whereas it was really only 300 cubits, wliich is at the utmost 600 feet, or less than an eighth of a mile. I''" According to some writers, the prin- ciples of naval architecture were not con- cerned in the building of the ark, since (as thev sayi "it was net a ship, but a house' (Kitto's "Biblical Cyclopsedia," vol. i. p. 212). But would "a floating house." not shaped shipwise, have been safe amid the winds and currents of so terrible a crisis'? The Chaldseans, despite the absiu-d proportions that they assign it. term the ark " a ship," and give it ''a pilot." i"" The expression in Gen. xi. 4, " a tower wliose top may reach unto heaven," is a mere common form of Oriental hy- perbole, applied to any great height. (See Dent i. 28, where the spies are said to have brought back word that the cities qf the Canaanities were great, and "walled up to heaven.") But in the Chaldee version of the story we are told that the men built the tower " in order that they mic'ht mount to heaven" (oTTWf e/f Tov OLpavbv ava:3(Jci). "2 Baron Bunsen obsenes with reason — " The general contrast between the Bib- lical and the Chaldee version is very great. What a purely special local char- acter, legendary and fabulous, without ideas, does it display in every point which it does not hold in common "with the He- brew ! " (" Egypt's Place," vol. iv. p. 374, E. T.) CHAPTER Vm. 1 Simplicius relates (" Comment, in Aris- tot. de Cselo."' ii. p. 123) that Callisthenes, the friend of Alexander, sent to Aristotle from Babylon a series of stellar observa- tions made in that cit\-, which reached back 1903 years before the conquest of the place by Alexander, (e.g. 331 -j- 19a3 = B.C. -i-m.) Philo-BybUus. accord- ing to Stephen (ad voc. Ba3v?,uvh made Babylon to have been built 1002 years before Semiramis. whom he considered contemporary with, or a httle anterior t-o, the Trojan War. ("Fragm. Hist. Graec." vol. iii. p. 563.^ We do not know his date for this last event, but supposing it to be that of the Parian Chronicle. B.C. 1218, we should have b.c. 2220 for the building of the city, according to him. Again, Berosus and Critodemus are said CH. VIII,] THE FIRST MOXARCHY. n27 by Pliny (" H. N." vii. M") to havo declared tliat t!io Babylonians liatl recorded their stellar observatiuns upon bricks for 4H0 years before tlie era of PhoroneiLS. At least the i)assa;;e may be so understood. (See the " Journal of Asiatic Soeietv," vol. XV. p. A.'-J.) Now the date of I'hor.^iieas, according to Clinton ("F. H." vol. i. p. ]3!t), is B.C. 1753; and B.C. 1753 + 4S0 gives B.C. •■i£ii. - 'file most authentic account seems to be that which lCnsel)ius coj)ieil fiom I'oly- liistor {'• Clironica,'" i. 1). S\iicellus is far less tf> be trusted, on accoiuit of his elabo- rate systematizing. ■' Tliis \iew is taken by Mr. William I'almer in hLs Appendix on " Babyloni- an and Assj-rian Antiquities." (See his "Egyptian Chronicles, vol. ii. pp. 'J4*', 943.) < Manetho assigns 24,9i'> years to the reigns of Gods, Demigods, and JIanes, who ruled Egypt before Alene.s— the first his- torical king. (See " Fragm. HLst. Gr." vol. ii. p. ^2H.) '' KusebiiLs and .losephus. '■ The 4.S years of the third dynasty ai"e not in the text of the .Vruienian" Easebius, but in the margin only. The text of the same authority assigiLs •■i-.ii years taborosoar'ehod), be- cause he reigned less tlian a full year. " 0. Smith in •• Zeitschrift fiir Aegyp- ti.sche Sprache,"' November, 1868. " Herod, i. 95; Ari.stot. " De Caelo," ii. 12. S 3; Simplic. "Comment, ad Aristot. de Caelo,'" ii. p. 123. ■" Mr. Bosiinquet is almost the only chronologer who still disputes the accu- racy of this document. (Sec his " .Messiah the Pi-iuce," Appcmlix, pp. 4.V>-S, 2d edi- tion.) '" Syncellus gave 225 years to the first Chaldfiean dynasty in Babylonia; but it is dirtlcult to say on what basis he went. He admitted seven kin;,'s, to whom he gave the names of Eve<-hius, Chomiusl)e- lus, Porus, Nechubiis, Nabius, Onibalhis, and Zinzenis. Tlie.se names do not much encourage us t<3 view the list as historical. Three of them belong to the hitc Baby- lonian ijcriod. One only (Choma.shelds, perhaps Shanias-Beli has at all the air of a name of tlus early time. '■■' Gen. X. 10. '3 Gen. X. 0: " He was a mighty hunt<^r before the Lord; wherefore it is sniil. Even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter be- fore the Lord." '■• The Greek forms, Nf,,'?pu(T and Nf- 0pio6, serve to connect Xiimi with Ti^^j. The native root is thought to l)e napnr. " to pursue," or " t-ause to Hee." (See the author's " Herodotus," vol. i. p. .597.) '* Yacut de<'lares that Nimro mer. (See Odyss. xi. .572-575.) " " Journ. of Asiatic Soc." vol. xv. n. 230. ' '« The great temple of Borsippa Ls kn.>wu as the Bim-i-XiiniKd; and the simpln name Nimrud is given to probably thu most striking heap of i-uins in the aucient As.svria. '"Gen. X. 11, 12. ^0 Her«xl. i. 1; vii. 89; Strab. xvi. 3, 6 4- Justin., x\-iii. 3, § 2; Pliu. " H. N " iv 'ii- Di.>nys. Per. 1. 90tJ. »' Gen. xi. 31. 2' This conjectural reading of the nam« has led to a further conjecture, viz., that in this monumental sovereign we have the real ori^'iiial of the " Orclianuis " of OWd, whom he reijresents a.s the seventh sue- (!e.s.sor of Behis in the govei-nmeiit of Baby. Ion (" Metaph." iv. 212-13). But the pho- netic value of the monograms, in wliich the names of the early Chaldieaii king? are written, is so wholly inicertain that it seems best to abstain from s|)eculatioiis which may have their basis struck from under theui at any moment. '-3 See Sir H. Riiwlinson's remarks in the author's " Hei-odotus," vol. i. p. 425; and compare text, pp. 45, 43. ^< " Jom-nal of Asiatic Society," vol. xv. pp. 2()l-2(>i; Loftus, "Chalda»a and Susi- ana," p. 168. ^^ As in the Bowariyeh ruin at Warkji (Loftus, p. 107). '"' See text. pp. 51, 53. ^' See PI. VT.. Fig. 3. and PI. VH.. Fig. 1. " Compan» the slight butlres.ses, only 13 inches thick, sujjnoi-ting tlie Mugheir t<'mple. which has a racing of burnt brick to the roject seven feet and a h.ilf from the central nia.ss. (Jyiftus, iip. 1-JS, 129, and p. 1(J9.) ^■' Lriod in the worlds history, the difTerences between the great families of human .speech w<'iv but very iwrtially (levelo|>ed. Ijinguaire wa.s alttV- jrether in an agglutinate, rather than In an inrtected. state. The intricacies of Arian— even the le.s.ser intricacies of Se- mitic grammar— had not been inTent. .30), be connected with thi.'< exploit? It could scarcely have been groumled on the mere fact that he had for steward a- native of that city. (Gen. xv. 2.) 5' The expression in verse 17 of the Au- thoiized Version, "the sliiughter of Che- dor-laomer, and of the kings which were with him." is over strong. ' The Hebrew- phrase fi2)nD '^'^^ ""' riiean more than "defeat " or " overthrow." ^- It is not, perhaps, quite certain that Sinti-shil-khak was a Chaldajan monarch. His name appears only in the inscriptions of his son, Kudm'-Mabuk, where he is not given the title of king. ^'^ Murfu certainly means either "the West" generaUy, or Syria in particular, wliich was the most 'western country known to the early Babylonians. Apda is perhaps connected with the Hebrew root -^jj^ which in the Hipiiil has the serLse of " destroy " or " ravage." *4 The inscriptions of Kudar-Mabuk and Arid-Sin have been found onl.v at Mugheir, the ancient Ur. (See "British Mus. Se- ries," vol. i. PI. 2, No. iii., and PI. 5 No. xvi.) *= It is true that the number 48 occurs only in the margin of the Armenian MS. But the inserter of that number must have had it before him in some copy of Eusebius ; for he could not have conject- ured it from the nimiber of the kings. ^" Compare the rapid succession m t)ie seventh dynastv. v.hich is given (partially) in the Canon of Ptolemy, more fuUy in the fragments of Berosus and PolyhLstor. ^" See the author's " Herodotus," vol. i. Essay vi. p. -133. note '. ** if Semiaclierib's 10th year is B.C. 692, Tiglath-Pileser's defeat must have been in b.c. 1110. pis restoration of the temple was certainly earlier, for it was at the very beginning of his reign — say B.C. 1120. Add the sixty years during which the building had been in ruins and the 641 during which it had stood, and we have B.C. 1821 for the building of the orig- inal temple by Shamas-Vul. The date of his father's accession should be at least 30 years earUer — or b.c. 1851. ^" Three or four tablets of Babylonian satraps have been discovered at Kileh- Shergliat. The litles assumed are said to "belong to the most humble class of dignities." (Sir H. Rawlinson, in the au- thor's "Herodotus,'' vol. i. p. 448, note'.) CU. VIII.l THE FIRST MONARCHY. 529 •" For inscriptions of Gurgiina, see "British Miisfum Series," vol. i. PI. 2, No. ri. Some iI'hiIjI lias been entertaiueil as •.o whether this prinee was the son or tlie framlson of Isini-dagon, but on the whole Cie verdict of cuneifurin sc-hohii-s lias Deen in favor of the iuteroi-etation of IJK'se inscriptions which makes him the ;.i>n. »' See text, pp. 5&-fil. "- Berosus gave no doubt the complete list: but his names have not been irre- sei'ved to US. The brief ChaKla3an ILst in Syncellas (p. 100) probably came from iiim: but the names .seem to have be- ioiij^edto the first or mythical dynasty. One might have hoped "to obtain some lielp from Ctesias's .Assyrian list, as it went back at least as far as B.C. ii^-i, when Assyria was a mere jirovince of the Chalilwan Empire. But it presents every ajipeai-aiice ot an absolute forgery, being rompf)sed of Ariau, Seiiiitic, Egyptian, and Greek app-UatioiLs. with a sprinkling I if terms borrowed IVom ge«>graphy. " ■• Brit. Mus. S.'ries," vol. i. PI. 3. No. 7. "< The fact is recorded by Nabonidus— the I^lbynetiis of nerodiit"us--on the fa- mous Mugheir cvhnder. {" Brit. Mus. Se- ries," vol. i. I'l. till: col. i, 1. ao.) " Brit. .Alus. Series." v.)I. i. PI. 3. No. 8. '•" Sin-Shada .seems to have immediately su*.(;eeded a cnieen. He calls liimseLf ■ son of Bilat**at,"' which is certainly a ieiuale name. "' Loftus, •' Clialdipa and Susiana,'" ch. xvi. p. IKl. "* See te.xf. pp. .Vt. 5."). •'" Rim-Sin has left a very fine inscrip- tion on a small blaek tablet, found ut Miiglieir. (" Brit. Mus. Series,'' vol. i. PI. ;). No. 10. ) '" As Ptolem.v iliil in his Canon. " Some wrltei-s have exaggerated the number of the names to twenty-four or !v\cnt.v-tive. (See Opjiert, "E.xpedition scientitiiiue en Meso])otamie," vol. i. p. ;JI(i: and conipai-e L«*normant, ".Manuel d'Histoire antieune de ITJrient," vol. ii. pp. ii, 32.) But lliis is by misuntlersland- mg a tabjet f>n which nine of them occur. M. Lenormant obtains //i/r/ec/i succes.soi"s to Khannnu-rabi tp. -ii) by not seeing that the tablet is bilingual, and comiting in five Iranslittioiis of names wliich he h;is already '•eckoned. !\1. Oppert does not fall into tnis error, but undulv enlarges his royal ii^i oy counting twelve names from the obvei-si.' of the tablet wliich there is no grouiid for regarding as royal names at all. '• Eight ro.\al names ff>llow Khammu- r.abi on the tablet above mentioned (see last Mote>. It mijiht have been supposed that tliev would o<.-cur in chronological order, ftut. in fact, Khammu-rabi"s sui"- ce.ssor, his .son. Sanisu-iluna, is omitt*"d; and Kurri-uulzu, tiic sf>n of Puma-pnrivas. who was tlie third king after hLs father, is put in the (ifth place before liim. The order of the names cannot, tlierefore, be cJironoloKicul. ' 34 '* This inscription is on a white stone in the Museiun of the Louvre. It lias been publLshed with a conunent by M. Menant < " IiLscrijitioas de Hanunourabi, roi de Babylone," Paris. IfHi-'Ji, and lias also been traiLslfctetl by M. < >j)i«-rt in the " Exijedi- tion," vol. i. "pi». 2tJi'. vtx. M. Lenormant a-ssumes without reason (" .Manuel," vol. ii. p. 31) the identity of the yahr-Khnin- mu-riibi with the Sahr-Mulcha of Nebu- chadnezzar. '■• See "Brit^ Mus. Series," vol. i. Pk 4, No. XV. : laser. 2 (translated by M. Oj)- pert, "ExpMition," vol. i. p. "a67); and compare Uie cylinder of Nabonidus. ("Brit. M. Series." vol. i. PI. b9, col. ii. 1.1.) " " Brit. M. Series," vol. i. PI. 4, No. xv, Ins. 3. '« Ibid. vol. ii. p. ^5. " The jiosition of the kings. A.s.shiu'-l>el- nisi-su, Buzur-^Vsshur, and Asshur-uiiallit, in the A.s.syrian li.st. has been definitely fl.xed by Mr. G. Smith's di.scoverj- in 1809 of an inscription of Pudiel. ui which ho states that As-shnr-upallil was hLs grand- father. We have thus now a continuous sueee- of .Scripture. (See text, pp. 100, 107.) "' Kuclur-Nakliunta and Lsmi-dogon. (See text,j>. lOK.) "■ Sir II. Rawlin.son says:—" K\\ the kings whose monuments are found in an- cient Chaldtva n.sed tiie siime language and the same form of writinp: they pro fe.s.--ed the sj\me religion, innabitetl the same citie.s, aiul follnweroud and fierce, and of iiLsa- tiable ambition, engaged in perpetual wars with his neighbors. ("Hist. Annen." L (}-10. >«» Gen. xi. 1-9. "" Nimrod is called "a mighty one in the earth," and " a mighty hunter before the Lord." Many commentators have ob.served that the phrase in italics is almost always iised in a gof)d sense, im- plying the countenance and favor of God, and his blessing on the work which is said to have been done " before " him, or "in his sight." '02 Commentators seem generally to have supposed that the building, or at- tempt to build, described in Gen. xi. 1-9, is the building of Babel ascribed to Nim- rod in tJen. x. 10. But this cannot be so; for in Gen. xi. we are told. " they left off to build the city." The truth .seems to be that the tenth chapter is parenthetical, and the author m ch. xi. takes up the nar- rative from ch. is., going back to a time not long after the Deluge. i"3 If. that is, the Orchamus of Ovid, is really to be connected with the word now read" as Urukh. i"< See the article on the " Tower f)f Ba- bel " in Smith's " Dictionary of the Bible," vol. i. pp. 15.S -ICO. ■»= See text, p. 102. i°« The march w ould necessarily be along the Euphrates to the latitude (nearlv) of Aleppo, and then down Syria to the" Dead Sea. This is 1 -'UO miles. The (hrect distance by the dc^^ert is not more than 800 miles: but the desert cannot be cros.sed bv an army. '0^ See the " Historical Essav " of Sir G. ■SV'iUdnson, ia the author's "Herodotus," vol. ii. pp. .S41-:B.51. 10* Compare ch. i. p. 3. 109 See uote^" of this chapter. no See text. p. 109. 111 Hence Herodotus always regards the Babylonians as Assyiiaus. and Babylonia as a" district of AssVria. (See i. 100, 178, 188, 192, etc.; iii. 92 and 155.) 112 Herod, vii. 63. 113 Strab. xvi. 1. § 6; Plin. " H. N." vi. 28. iKJuv. "Sat." vi. 5.52; x. 94; Tacit. "Ann." ii. 27; iii 22; vi. 20, etc.: Sueton. "Vit. ■Vitell."14; "'Vit. Domit." 14. NOTES TO THE SECOND MONARCHY. CHAPTER I. ' Herod, i. 106, 192 ; iii. 92. 'Am Ba(i- v7uvoq 6i Knl ri/g ?.oi7ryg 'Aacn'plrig. spiin. "Hist. Nat." vi. 26. "Mesopo- tamia tota Assyrioi-uin fuit.'' ' Strabo says: "The Assyrians adjoin on Pei-sia and Susiana; for "by tlii.s name they call ]^al>yl()nia. and a va.st tract of the surrouiuiintccuiintrv. inchidin^ Aturia (wliicli eiintains Xincveli) nnd Aiinlionias, and tlie KlyiiKPans. and thr I'ara-tacffi. and the district abimt .Momit Zaf^Tos called Chalonitis. and tlif plain tracts near Nin- eveh— Doloaienr'. and C'alachent^. and Cha- zon6, and Adiabene— and the Jlesopo- tamian nations about the Oonhieans. and tlie Mygdoniaiis alioiit Nisibis, as far as the pdssjitce of the Euphrates, and a great part of the ccanitry beyond the Euphrates (which is in po.s.session of the Arabs), and the people now called by waj' of distinc- tion Syrians, reaching to C'ilicia, and Phublished account which I have been able to tind is that of the elder Nie- buhr. (See his " Vovage en Arable," pp. :J00-;i3^1.) Some careful MS. notes have been kindly placed at niv disposal by Mr. A. D. Berrington, who liiis traversed it. On the general fertility of the regi^-\*ti: Chesney, "Eu- phrates Expeclition." vol. i. p. U>7. '^'^ Niebuhr. p. 317; Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. .51. '■"^ Isid." Char. p. 3. '^* Aborrhas bv Strabo (xvi. i. § 27) and Prooopiiis ("Bel. Pers." ii. 5^: Chaboras (Xa,itJ/)af ) by Pliny txxx. 3), and l>U)lemy ( V.18). Other forms of the word are Aburas ('Ajiriipar^ Isid. Char. p. 5), and Abora ('Afiutpa, Zosim. iii. 12). ■•** Plin. " H. N." V. 24: Dio Cass, xxxvii. 5; Strab. xvi. 1, « 23. etc. '•'* Chesney, "Euplu-ates Exjjedition," vol. i. p. AH. 2' AiiLsworth. " Travels in the Track of the Ten Thousand," p. 79. note '. a^-Riis. el Ain."' (Niebuhr, p. 316; Layard. p. 3(X: Ainsworth, p. 75.) ^" AiiLswoiih, I. s. c. '" Ijuard. p. 301. " Ibili. p. .51. " Ibi.l. 1.. :i21. "Ibid, pp. 212, 32.5. »< Ilfid. p. 3W. Koukab is said to signify "a jet of lii-e or flame." "* See .Mr. Layard's maps at the end of his "Nineveh and Babvlon." For a gen- eral description of the lake, compare the same work, p. 321, with C. Niebuhr's " Voy- age en Arabie," p. 316. " A long swamp, called the Hoi, ex. 532 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [CH. tends from the lake to within a short dis- Uince of tlie l evf/v. *8 " Joiu-nal of Geographical Society," vol. ix. p. 45.5. ^1* Chesney, p. 50. s" Ibid. p. 51; Layard, "Niiievek. and its Remains," vol. 1. p. 315, note. 51 Strab. x^^. 1. § 1. 52 The form Aturia ('Aroiyw'a) is used hkewise by Arrian (" Exp. Al." iii. V), and by Stephen (ad voc. Na'Of ). DioCassius writes Atyria ('Arvpia), and asserts that the r was always used for the g "by the barbarians" (Iv. 28). It was certainly so used by the Persians (see the " Behistui'i In- scription," passim); but the Assyrians themselves, like the Jews and the Greeks, seem to have employed the f . 53 Dolomen6 is ingeniously connected by Mons. C. MiiEer with the Dolba of Arrian. (Ft. 11. See the "Fragment. Hist. Gr." v^ol. iii. p. 588.) It is clear that the ethnic Ao/L;3;;('iy (Steph. Byz. ad voc.) wovild easily pass into Ao?.ofi?}V7/. Dolba, according to Arrian, was a city in Adia- ben6. 54 Ptol. vi. 1. As Ptolemy, however, places Calacine above Adiaben^, he may possibly uitend it for Chalonitis. '5 Chazent> was indeed mentioned by Arrian in his " Parthica; " and if we pos- sessed that work, we should ]irobably not find much difficulty in locating it. " But the fragment in Stephen (ad voc. XaJf//r-y) tells us nothing of its exact position Stephen himself is clearly wrong in placing it on the Eri.nlirates. Arrian probably included it in the tei-ritory of Doiha, whii-li was with him a riart of Adiabeiif-. (See al)Ove, note ^, aiiu compai'e the fragment of Arrian: 'EvravTritiT '0'/[iiai\tiK- Ao/- (iia vel AoA.iaifi ku'i to. ne^ia rf/c Xa(rfvf/c aarpaiveiaq inl jiijKiCTov aTTOTe-a/ieva. ) 5" See Strab. xvi. 1, J 1 and § 19; PUn. "H.N." v. 12, vi. 13; Ptol. vi. 1; Arrian, Fr. 11-13; Pomp. Mel. i. 11; Solin. 48; Ainm. Marc, xxiii. 20, etc. 5' So Ammianus explains the name— " Nos autem id diciinus. f|Uod in his tenns amnes sunt duo peri)etui, (juos et transivi- nius. Diabas et Adiabas, juncti navahbus pontibiLs; ideoque inteliigi Adiabenam cognominatam, ut a tiuniinibus maxiniis yEgyptus, et India, itidemque Hiberia et Baetica." (xxiii. (J.) 5» PUny seems to give to Adiaben6 this extended significatibn, when he says.— " Adiabenen Tigris et montium sinus" cin- gimt. At laeva ejus regio Medormn est.' ("H. N." vi. 9; compare ch. vi. 26.) 5" Amm. Marc. 1. s. c. «" As by Ptolemv (" Geograph." vi. 1). «i Strab. XV. 3, ^ 12; xvi.l, § 1. '^^ The position of Chalonitis is pretty exactly indicated by Strabo, Polybias, and Isidore of Charax. Strabo calls it r;}i irepi TO Zaypov opoc Xa/Mvlriv (xvi. ], § 1). Polybius connects it with the same mountain range (v. 54, § 7). Isidore dis- tinctly i^laces it between ApoUoniatis and Media ("Mans. Parth." p. 5). See also Dionys. Perieg. i. 1015, and Plin. "H. N." vi. 27. "3 Isid. " Mans. Parth." 1. s. c. Tacitus probably intends the same city by hLs " Halus " (" Ann." vi. 41). which he couples with Artemita. It does not appear to have been identical either with the 4 Halah of the Book of Kings, or with the ' Calah of (jenesis. ^* The ruuis of Holwan were visited by Sir H. Rawlinson in the year 1836. For an account of them, and for a notice of the importance of Holwan in Mahometan times, see the " Journal of the Geograpli- ieal Soc." vol. ix. pp. 35-10. «5 Strabo identifies Sittacen^ with Apol- loniatis (xv. 3, § 12); but from I*tolemy (\-i. 1) and other geographers we gather that Sittacene was fm-thei- dovm the river. ^^ Sittace was first noticed by Hecatfeus (Fr. 184). It was visited by Xenophon ("Anab." ii. 4, § 13). Strabo omits all mention of it. We have notices of it in Pliny ("H. N." vi. 27), and Stephen (ad voc. ■^^ITTaKT)). •5' Strab. xvi. 1, § l,te passim; Ptol! vi. 1. "' Ptol. V. 18. «« Strab. xvi. 1, § 1. and § 23. "" Ibid. § 27. Anthemusia derived its name from a city Anthemus. (Steph. Byz.K or Anthennisias (Tacit. Isid.). built by the Macedonians between the Eu- p'lirates and the B«lik. CII. I-J THE SECOND MONARCHY. 033 " Rtrab. xvi. 1, § 20. Compare Plin. "H. N." V. 24. " ptol. V. 18. " ~' Kings xvii. 6; xviii. 11; xix. 12; 1 Chroii. V. 2f(; Is. xxxvii. 12. The identifi- cation (loos not (k'i)end upon the mere re- semhlanL-c of iiaiiit-; but upon tliat, com- i hined with th<- luciition of the Habor (or KhabdUiv as tlie rivi-r of (iozan, and tlie imphfd vicinity of < Iozan to Haran (Har- ran) and Ilalah (Chalcitisi. 1* See thi-ailiil<- on "(iozan "'in Smith s "Bibheal Dii-tionaiy," vol. i. p. 72(5. The i;iitial tn (D) in tin- word Mygdonia is prob- al)Iy a mere adjectival or participial pre- fix; while the d represents the bemitic z (T), according to an ordinary phonetic variation. "• 2 Kmgs xvii. 6; xviii. 11; 1 Chron. v. 26. '* One of the moiuids on this stream is still called Gla, or Kalah, by the Arabs. (See Layards •• Nineveh and Babylon," p. 312, note.) ^, " Gen. XXV. 20; xxviii. 2-7, etc. The name is only used in (iciiesis. ■"* Stanley, " Sinai and I'alestine," p. 128, note 1. It 'is curious, liowever, that both rhrates, towards Aleppo, there is a tribe called the Patenn. Probably, however, both coincidences are accidental. '" DioC'ass. xl. l!l; Ixviii. 18, etc. Aman, Fr. 2; Herodiun, iii. 'J, etc. "I Ptolemy tiounds Assyria by the Tigris (" Geograpli." vi. 1). Pliny identities Adia- ben6 with .\ss\Tia (" H. N." v. 12). If the Huzzab of Niihum is really "the Zab re- gion" (Sniiiirs •• liibli(;al Dictionary,'' sub voc), that inoplii't would make the same Identiflcalion. When Strabo (xvi. 1, § 1> and Aniui i-Kxi). Alex." iii. 7) place Aturia on the left bank of the Tigris only, they indicate a similar feeling. »i See te.xt, p. 122. »» They are less numerous north of the Sinjar. (See Layard, " Nineveh and Halj- ylon," p. 25;^.) Still there are a certain number of ancient mcjunds in the more nortlkeni plain. (Ibid. pp. ;«1, S^i; anil compare " Nineveh and its Remains," vol. M At Arban. (" Nineveh and Babjdon," pp. 27.5, 27tJ.) »< Ibid. pp. 207-300. *"> Ibid. p. 312, and note. »>« The coloss;d lions at this place, 12 feet long and 7 feet 3 incbes liigh. are umnis- Uikalily Assyrian, and nnist haVebi'Jonged to son'ie large builchng. (See Chesney. " Euphrates lOxpediti " vol. i. pp. lit, ll.''!, whence t!ie representiltion [PI. XaIII., Fig. 2| is taken.) " Gen. X. 11, 12. "s In tlie margin we have T^' Wm translated " the streets of the city, ' which is far better than the textual rendering. Had r'liobcillt been tlie name of a place, the term 'jV would scarcely liave been added. *" Layard, " Nmeveh and its Remains, vol. i. p. 3U; " Nineveh and Babylon," pp. 245, 240, 312, 313, etc. ; "Journal of Asiatic Society," vol. XV. pp. 30:i, ,M. "" See text, p. 12. »' The early Arabian geographers and liistorians mentioned the fort-s of Xinawi U > tlie east and of JIosul to the west of the Tigris. (" An. Soc. Joum." vol. xii. p. 418, note ■•.) To prove the continuity of the tradition, it woultl be neces-sarj- to quote all travellers, f rf«m Benjamin of Tudela to Mr. Layard, who disputes its value, but does nut deny it. "•■'See Herod, i. 1!)3; Strab. xvi. 1, §3; Ptol. vi. 1; Plin. vi. 13. § lli; Anun. Marc, xviil. 7; Eustath. ml Dionys. Perieg. 991. v3 f^j; text ch. iv. »■' So Strabo, xi. 14, §8; PUn. " H. N." vi. 27; Q. Ctu-t. iv. 9. § Iti, etc. There are, however, some difficulties attaching t^j this etymology. It is Arian. not Semitic — ti'/ra, as an aiTow, ' standing con- neck-d with the Sanscrit tij. " to shai-pen," Armenian teg, "a javelin, ' Pei-sian tigh, "a blade," and tir. "an arrow." Yet it was used by the Jews, luidei- the slightly corruj)ted form of Dekt-l I vm) as early as Mo.ses (.Gen. ii. 14), and by tiic .v.ssj-rians about B.C. 1000. ("Journal of .\s. Soc." vol. xiv. p. xcv.) It Ls conjectuivd that there was a n » >t dik in ancient Babylonian, of cognate origin with the San.sorit tij. from which the forms Ikktl, DigUi, or Dit/lnth were derived. "■^ Capt. Jones, m the "Journal of tlie As. Soc." vol. XV. p. 2ttU. f« Ibid. p. 298. "' So Colonel Chesney (" Euphrates Ex- pedition," vol. i. p. 21.) »" Sir H. Rawlinson and Dr. Huicks agree in reailing the ancient name of this city as Calah. At the same tune it is not to he denied tliat there ai-e dlfticulties in the identilicatioii. 1. Nunnul being only 20 miles from Nineveh, it is difllcult to find room for Kisen. a "givatcity " ((Jen. X. 12) between them, not to mention that there are no imiiortant i-uiiis in this posi- tion. 2. Calah. moreover, if it gave name ti> Ptolemy's Calacine, should be away from the Viver, for by placing Calacm6 'ibove Adiaben^'', he almost certainly meant further from the river. »» "Journal of As. Soc." vol. xv. p. 8-12. .Vt the same time it must be admitted that water from the Zab wius conductp. 312. 31.3. '"' See Ml-. Layaid's " Plan " in liis " Nu»- ^4 THE SECOND MONARCUT. [CH. II. eveh and Babylon," opp. p. G55. For the present st, which is reduced from Captain F. Jones s "Survey." "» The platform is not quite regulafr, being broader towards the south than towards the north, as will be seen in the plan. "" Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 654. '"« See text, chap. vi. 1"* Xenophon describes Calah, which he calls LarLssa (compare the Lachisa, HDp?, of the Samaritan Pentateuch), as "a vast deserted city, formerly inhabited by the Medes; it was," he says, " siuTounded by a wall 25 feet broad, 100 feet high, and nearly seven mOes in circumference, bxiilt of baked brick, with a stone basement to the height of 20 f eet . ' ' He then observes : ' ' Hap avTyv rip tt6?uv f/v nvpafiig ?uOivr/, TO /i£v £vpog n?J-dpov, to de vipog di'o TrAe^pwv." ("Anab." iii. 4, §9.) Ctesias, with his iLsual exaggeration, made the width nme stades, and the height eight stades, or nearly a mile: He placed the pyramid at Nineveh, and on the Eu- phrates! (See Diod. Sic. ii. 7, § 1.) The imposing effect of the structure even now is witnessed to by Mr. Layard (" Nineveh and its Remains," vol. i. p. 4); Colonel Rich ('■ Kiu-distan," vol. ii. p. 132): Colonel Chesney (" Euphrates Expedition," vol. i. p. 21); and Captain Jones ("As. Soc. Jour- nal," vol. XV. pp. 348, 349). 1'° This is the opinion of Captain Jones ("As. Soc. JoiUTial." vol. xv. p. 349). m See Layard. "Nineveh and its Re- mains," vol. i. p. 5. and vol. ii. p. 44. >i*M. Botta purchased and removed this village before he made Ins great exca- vations. (" Letters from Nineveh," p. 57, note.) "^ See Captain Jones's " Survey," sheet ' vol. i pp. vol. ii. pp. vol. ii. pp. 1" Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 657. "* The name is formed of two elements, the first meaning city, wliich woiUd be Dur or Beth. The second element is the name of a god otherwise imknowni to us ; and this, being a mere monogram, cannot be represented phonetically. 1" " Journal of Asiatic Society," vol. xv. pp. a51 and 374. "' The LXX. Interpreters have Aatyt; in the place of the Hebrew m-^_ The Tar- giuHS substitute the wholly different name of Tel-Assar (iDX'Vn). "8 Gen. X. 12. 1" Ai-bil is etymologically "the city of the four gods; " but it is not known which are the deities iutenaed. Tiiis place is first mentioned in the reign of Shamas- Vul, the son of the Black-Obelisk king, about B.f. 850. 1*9 " Geograph." vi. 1. Arapkha would be etymological'y " the four fish." a nams not very intelligible. It was certainly to the east of tlie Tigris, and probably not far from Arbela. '*' "Journal of A,siatic Soc." vol. xv. p 304. '^". La.vard " Nineveh and its Remains," voj. i.'p. 315; " Nineveh and Babylon," pj). '" The name of Haran has not. I be- heve, been found in the As.syrian inscrip- tions; but it is mentioned in Kings and Chi-onicles as an Assyrian city. (2 Kings xix. 12; 1 Clu-on. v. 26.) 124 See Mr. Fox Talbot 's "Assyrian Texts Translated," p. 31. '2^ See 2 Kings. 1. s. c. i2« See Rich's "Kurdistan." 48-192: Ker Porter, "Travels.' 137-219: Ainsworth, " Travels. 183-326: Lajard, "Nineveh ,Tnd its Re- mains," vol. i. pp. 153-235: "Nineveh and Babylon," pp. 367-384, and 416-436; "Jour- nal of Geogiaphical Society," vol. tx. pp. 2(>-56, etc. ; Eraser, " Travels in Kurdis- tan." vol. i. pp. 89-195: vol. ii. pp. 179-2(4. "2" Diod. Sic. xlx. 21, § 2. Compare Kinneir, "Persian Empii-e. " p. 74: and see also Ainsworth"s "Researches," pp. 224, 225. * ^ "8 Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 430; "Journal of Geographical Society," vol. xvi. p. 49. 12" Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," pp. 6, 7. Compare Strab. xi. 12. § 4. I'o Chesney, "Euplirates Expedition," vol. i. p. 69: Layard. 1. s. c. "1 Niebulir, "Description de I'Arabie," p. 2. 132 Ainsworth, " Travels in the Track of the Ten Thousand," p. 67; Pocock. "De- scription of the East," vol. ii. pp. 150-172. 133 Amsworth, "Travels and Research- es," vol. i. pp. 305-358: Pocock, "Descrii> tion," etc., vol. ii. p. 155. isi See text, pp. 2-10. CHAPTER n. ' " Journal of Asiatic Society," vol. xv. p. 399. Eastem Assyiia is not. however, entirely free from the "torrid bla.sts," wliich are the curse of the.se coimtries. Mr. Layard experienced at Kovunjik " the sherghis. or burning winds from the south, which occasionally sv,-ept over the coimtry, driving in theu-^ sliort-Hved fm-y everythuig before them." (" Nineveh and Babylon," p. 364.) 2 " Journal of Asiatic Society," 1. s. c. 3 Ainsworth's "Assyria," p.'^. * See text, pp. 18-20. s Chesnev, "Euphrates Expedition," vol. i. p. 106. « See ISlr. Layard's accoimt of his visit to the Sinjar and the Khaboiu- in 1850 (" Nineveh and Babylon," pp. 234-336; of. particularly pp. 216, 269, 273, and 324.) " Chesne.v, 1. s. c. 8 Layard " Nineveh and its Remains.'^ vol. i. p. 124, vol. ii. p. 54: "Nineveh and Babylon," pp. ^12, 243. and 294, 295; Rich's " Kui'distan," vol. i. p. 10. CH. 11.] THE SECOND MONARCHY. 535 • Laj-ard, " Nineveli and Babylon," p. 294; Jones. "Journal of Asiatic Society," vol. XV. p. .'JfjO. "> Layar.l. ibid. p. 343. " .Mr. Ain.sworth estiniate.s the average elevation at thirteen hundred feet (" As- syria," p. 20). "^ Chtfenev, " Euphrates Expedition," vol. i. p. 107". '^ Colonel Chesney says: "The heat in summer is UO" under a tent." (" Euphra- tes Expedition," 1. s. c.) Mr. Ain.sworth says the thermometer reaches 115° in the shade (p. 31 ). ^* Himiboldt mentions three ways in which trees cool the air, viz., by cooling shade, b\- e\ai)oration, and by radiation. "Forests," he say.s, ■"protect the ground from the direct rays ot the siui. evaponile tiuid.s elaborated by the trees themselves. and cool the strata of air in immediate contact with them by the radiation of heat from their ajipeiidicular organs or leaves." ("Aspects of Nature," vol. i. p. 127, E. T.) 1* Chesney, "Euphrates Expedition," vol. i. p. 10(5. '« Xen. " Anab." i. 5, § 5.— Or yap 7/v XofjTo^, oi'fJe d/.?.o (Uv^pov oi'dev, a??.a ijj//.r/ 7/v anaaa rj jfwpa. " Arrian, " Exp. Alex." ill. 7. '** As bustards, antelopes, and wild asses. '» As the o.strich. It is curioas that Heeren should regard the wild ass as gone from >Ii-sopotamia, and the ostrich as still ocelli ling. ("As. Nat." vol. i. pp. 132, I.'W. E. T. ) His statement exactly in- verts the trutli. "Herod- i. 193; Strab. xvi. 1, § 14; Dionys. I'erieg. !»il2-999; PUn. " H. N." vi. 'ifi: Aium. .Marc, xxiii. tJ. etc. '•" This peculiarity did not escape Dio- nysius, a native of Charax, on the Persian Gulf (Plin. " H. N." vi. 27), who speaks feelingly of the "flowery pastures" {vDfiovq eldi-Hmc;) of Mesopoianiia (1. 1000), Mr. Layard con.stantly alhules to the wonderful beauty of the spring ll> iwers in the country at the foot of the Siiijar. ("Nineveh anil Baliylon," )>p. 2tvs, ^73. :W1, etc.) Mr. Rich notices the s;ime fealuri's in the country near Kerkiik(" Kurdistan." vol. i. p. 47). Caittain .Jones remarks simi- larly of the tract in the vicinity of Nim- 1-11(1. (".Journal of ^V-siatic Society," vol. XV. pi). ;172, 373.) '" Layani, " Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 70. ^3 Herod, i. 193. 'H y,} rwv 'Aamipiuv viTni fibv o?.iyu. ^* Layard, ut supra, p. C9. "» Isaiah xl. 7. »• See text, p. 9. '" See the accoimt of the.se works given by Cai)tain Jones in the "Journal of the Asiatic Society." vol. xv. pp. 310, 311. Compare Layard, " Nineveh and its Ke- mains," vol. i. pp. 80, 81. »' Herodotus calls it Ke?.(Jviiov (i. 193j. »• See Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 341. '" Pluiy speaks of the A.ssjTian dates sa used chiefly for fattening j)igs and other animaLs. ("• Hist. Nat." xiii. 4. sub tin.) »' As in Chalonitls. i Plin. " H. N." vi. 27.) »■•' Strab. xvi. 1, jj 24, sub fin,; Xen. " Anab." i. 5, § 1. '■'^ Hero-ria. ' (• Nmeveh and its kemains," vol. "ii. p. 423.) '■>* Strab. xvi. 1, S 14. ="* Xen. "jVnab. • i. o. S 1. '"' Ibid. i. !j, i .'). See the passage quoted at length in note '. iiage 213. 3' Pliny sjjeaks of" Assyrian silk " as a proper dress for women. (" Ass3Tia ta- men bombvce adhuc feminis cedimus." — "H. N." xj. 2:1) =» I\M. xi. 22. '"Ibid. xii. 3. "Odore praecelht folio- rum quoque, «iui tnuisit in ve^ites unA conditas arcetque animaliuni noxia. Ar- bor ipsa oiiiuibus horis iximifera est, aliis cadentibus, aliis mature.scentibus, aUi* yerd subna.scentibus." ■"•Ibid. 1. s. c. " Mains As.syria, qiiam alii Medicam vocant, veneni.s" me4, iryi.) N'iebuhr speaks of the Sin jar flgs as in ^reat re<|uest — " fort recher- ch^'s." (" \ oyage en Arable," p. 815.) '^ Layard, I. s. c. The vine is also cul- tivated at Bavian (Berrington) and near Kerkuk (Rich, " Kurdistan," vol. i. p. 60). '3 Pocock, vol. ii. p. l.'iS; Niebuhr, p. 318. The vine was at one tinu» cultivated a,s low down as the commencement of the alluviimi. See "Anun. Mar." xxiv. 3 and ti. '< lAyard, p. 472; Loftas, "Chaldasft and Susiana, p. 6; Rich, "Kurdistan," vol. i. p. 20, 536 THE SECOND MONARCUY. [en. iL *» Layard, " Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 4Ji3; "Nin. and Bab." pp. 123, i;«. '* Ainsworth, " Travels in the Track of the Ten Thousand," p. 70. Womiwood abounds also near Jumeila, in the Kerkiik district (Kicli. " Kurdistan." vol. i. p. 41). *' Layard, '• Nin. and Bab." pp. 'iHj and 360. ** Chesney, 1. s. c. 68 Layard, p. 315. •" Chesney, 1. s. c. «' See for most of the.se the account of Colonel Chesney (1. s. c). Lentils are mentioned by Niebuhi- (" Voyage en Ara- ble," p. 29.5); cucumbers by Mr. Layard ('• Nin. and Bab." p. 224). "^ Chesney, 1. s. c. "3 Rich, "Kurdistan." vol. i. p. 143. Compare Chesney, "Euphrates Exp." vol. i. p. 123. ^* Chesney, 1. s. c. Compare Niebuhr, "Description de I'Arabie,' p. 138. *^ Chesney, p. 124. »« Niebuhi-, p. 129. *' Layard, '"^Nin. and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 316. "« Ibid. pp. 313, 314. This is the mate- rial universally employed for the bas- reliefs. «» Ibid. vol. i. p. 223; vol. ii. p. 415. '" Chesney, vol. i. p. 108. " Layard, "Nin. and its Remains," vol. ii. pp. 417-419. "- Mr. Rich observed traces of iron in more places than one. (''Kurdistan," vol. i. pp. 176 and 222.) "3 See Niebuhr's "Voyage en Arable," p. 27.5; Ker Porter, " Travels," vol. ii. pp. 440-442: Rich, '• Kurdistan," vol. i. p. 31; " Firi-t Jlemoir on Babylon," p. 63. '■i Layard, "Nin. and Bab." p. 202; Jones, "Journal of Asiatic Society," vol. XV. p. 371. The position of the chief springs is marked in the plan. PI. XXTV^., Fig. 1. There are other naphtha springs near Kifri. (Rich, "Kurdistan," vol. i. p. 29.) 's In his first work Mr. Layard doubted the use of bitumen as a cement in As- syria (" Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. pp. 278, 279); but subsequently he found some traces of itsemploymentC' Nin. and Bab." p. 203, etc.). M. Botta represents the use of it as common both at Klior- sabad and Koyunjik (" Letters from Nin- eveh," p. 43). '« See text. p. 25. " Ker Porter. '-Travels." vol. ii. p. 441. '* Rich, "Km-distan-." vol. i. p. 27. ■"* Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 256. *» Rich, p. 29. *' Layai-d, " Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 48. "- Piid. 1. s. c, note. For its frequency in old times, see " Amm. Marc." xviii. 7. *3 Layard, pp. 428, 429. *^Layard, " Nineveh and its Remains," p. 431. Compare "Nin. and Bab."" pp. 256 and 312. •** Layard, " Nin. and Bab." p. 271. 8" Ibid. pp. 296, 297. Beavers are also found in the Zohab river, a tributary of the Diyaleh. "' Heeren's " Asiatic Nations," vol. i. p. 132. E. T. '1' <*" " Anab." i. 5, § 2. Xenophon sp«aks of them as numeroas in his day. He calls them "the most conmion animal " fc^r some distance below the Khabour. »» Layard. "Nin. and its Remains." vol. i. pp. 323, 324: "Nin. and Bab." p. 270; Ainsworth, "Travels," p. 77. "o See PI. XXVI., Fig. 1. *" The deer which tlie army of Julian found in such numbers on the left bank of the Euphrates, a Uttle above Anah. were probably of this .species. ("Amm. Marc." xxiv. 1.) »2 See PI. VI., Fig. 1. Both this and the representation on PI. XXVIl. of a fallow- deer belong to the decorations of Sen- nacherib"s i)alace at Koyunjik. They are given by Mr. Layard m his " Second Se- ries " of the ''Monuments of Nineveh," PI. 12. " The representation PI. XXVIII. is on one of the beautiful bronze plates or dishes which were brought by Mr. Layard from Nimrud, and are now in the British Museum. The dish is represented in the "Monuments of Nineveh," second se- ries, PL 62. " See the " Inscription of Tiglath-Pile- ser I.," pp. 54, 55, where both Sir. H. Rawhnson and Dr. Hincks imderstand the wild bull to be intended. Dr. Hincks reads the word used as Rim, which would clearly be identical with the Hebrew DX^, or D'1, translated in our version " imicorn," and sometimes thought to be an antelope, but understood by Gesenius to designate "the wild buffalo." (See liis " Lexicon " in voc.) »* Layard, " Monuments of Nineveh," first series. Pis. 46 and 48. »• Deut. xiv. 5. " Diodorus speaks of "Babylonian ti- gers" as among the animals indigenous in Arabia (ii. 50. § 2). »8 This animal is now called the nimr. The smaller or hunting-leopard (now called fo.had) is the nimr of the Assyr- ians, an animal of which the inscriptions make frequent mention. ""Sir H. Rawlinson brought a speci- men of the larger leopard, which he had tamed, from Baghdad to England, and presented it to the Clifton Zoological Gar- dens. Many visitors will remember Fa- had, who died in the Gai-dens in 1858 or 1859. 100 -jTjg authorities for this hst are Mr. Berrington, Mr. Layard. and Colonel Chesney. (See the '""Euph. Expedition." vol. i. pp. 107, 108; and "Nineveh and Babylon,"' passim.) 101 See especially the "Monuments of Nineveh," second series. Pi. 46. '"2 "Anab," 1. s. c. •"* Tatgirrepv^iv, apaca, ixnrep iaTi, Xpufiivrj. " Anab." i. 5, § 3. rn. III.] THE SECOND MONARCHY. 637 i»< 'Monuments of Nineveh," second series, PI. 3-!. '"* Bottii, "Monumens de Ninive," vol. ii. PI 111. i»«Il)kl. PI. KWto 11;J. '»' Ibid. PI. 110 "0" •■ Anab." 1. -s. c. x" St-e U'.xt, p. -T. ""Chesiify, •• EuphraU-.s Exp." vol. i. p. 1(W; Layard, "Nin. and Babylon," p. '" Rich, " Kurilistan," vol. i. p. 143. "" Lajard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. !it». "* The Bactrian camel is, I believe, only re|)resiMited on tlie famous BIa<'k Obelisk, where it appears among the presents sent to the king from foreign cotmtries. "< The young colts fetch prices vary intr from t'3il to i'l.'iO. A thousand pounds is no uncommon price for a well-known lu.ii'e. Mr. Layard mentions a ca.se wliere a Shi'ikh refused for a favorite mare no le.ss a sum than KVXO. (" Nin. and Bab." p..Jjr.) "■'■ C'hesney, "Euphrates Expedition." vol. i. p. 108. "" Ibid. 1. a. c. "' Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. am. ""The hoi-se draws chariots, and not carts. He is never used as a beast of burden. "" Dogs are constantly repre,sente. Vi. E. T.: Grote, " Hist, of Greece." vol. iii. p. 403; Bun- son, " E;s.say on Ethnology " (1R17). p. 20. " Niebuhr went so far as to iilentifv the As.syrians with the Svriaiis; but here he fell into a mistake. The Aramaeans were probably as distinct from the .•V.s.syrians as any other .'Semitic race. Niebuhr was misled by the Greek fancy that the nnnirs "A.s.syrian" and "Syrian," were really identical. (See Herod, vii. ty?.> But these Dam*s had, in truth, an entirely distinct origin. Syria (more properly Tst/ria^ wa.s the name given by the Greeks to the country about 7Viphy of His- tory." vol. iii. pi), lifi ^'lO; .Ma.^ .MUUer, "Languages of the .S.'at of War,"D. a.'), 2d ed. ; Oppert, " Eltinens ingitur vel fingitur aliud pripter varias bestiannuj caj. "^ See text. ch. viii. " IsaiaJi xxxiii. l!t. I" " Inter anmdineta Mcsopotamiae flu- minum et f ruteta kMines vagantur in it u- 7neri." " Amm. Jlarc." xviu. 7. Tiglath Pileser I. claims to have slain in all 800 lions. (" IiLscriptions, ' ' etc. , p. .50. i '" Loftus, " Cnaldaia and Susiana," pp. 201,202. ■■"' I.saiah xxviii. 2. " Nahum iii. 1: "Woe to the bloody city,"— or, as the margin gives it. "Woe to the city of bloods! " OT '10 D'Ol). ^^ Probably a i-eward was given for heads, as ha.s often been the fasliion with Orientals. Sometimes st'ribes an? reprij- sented as taking necoimt of them. tSeo Lavar 1, " Nin. and its Itemains," vol. ii. p. 184. ■" .")Ir. I.«yard has. I think, expressed him.self too .sti-ongly when he siivs that on the capture of a'town "an imhscrimi- nate slaughter aijpeai-s to have succeeded; and that the pinsonei-s were either eni- jMiled or carrie Ibid. vol. ii. PI- 120; Layard, "Mf>iiu- ments of Nineveh," Second Series. I'l. 17. Is it qnite certain that these iiiifortiuiatcs are alive? The Persians and Scylliiaiis Konu'tinies flayed men aft«r deatli, hi or- der to make use of their skins C' Herod. ' iv. M; v.a.'j). »» Cai)tives are occasionally represented as urged onwards V)y blows, like tired cat- tle; and they are sometimes heavily fet- tered. But in each case tht) usage is ex- cej)tional. " See illustration. 28 Isaiah xxxiii. 1. !!» Nahum iii. 1. „ ^ „ - 3" Mr. Vance Smith renders, full or treachery and violence; " which is prolia- bly the real meaning. But the word used is WT\2, " mendacium," not 1J3, "perfldia." 31 See Thucyd. ii. 83. 82 Isaiah xxxiii. 8: "He hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man." 33 Ezek. xxxi. 10, 11: '■'■Because thou hast hfteil up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thicK boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; I have therefore deUvered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal witli 1 im: I have driven liim out for his wickedness. 3« Isaiah x. 7-14, xxxvu. 34-:i8; Ezek. xxxi. 10; Zeph. ii. 1.5. 36 Some idea of notable luxuriousness attaching to the Assyrians is, jierhaps, earlier than Ctesias. (See Aristoph. "Aves," 9.58, ed. Bothe.) Did it come from the 'Aaavpioi /ioyoi of Herodotus? 36 See Died. Sic. ii. 21. § 2. 3' Nahum iii. 4: " Because of the multi- tude of the whoredoms of the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her wlioredoms, and families through her witchcrafts. Be- hold, I am against thee, saith the Lord." Idolatry is probably the "whoredom" here intended. 38 Jonah iii. 8. 39 Nahiun iii. 1. 40 Ibid. u. 11-13. 41 The frequent occurrence of the lion on the monuments, either in the natural form or with a liuman head, seems to justify these expressions. It must be ad- mitted, however, that the standards bear a different emblem. See text, ch. vii. *2 See Bunsen's "Philosophy of His- tory," vol. iii. p. 192; '"Egypt," Tol. iv. pp. 144, 638, etc. 43 Denon says of Thebes, with equal force and truth: — On est fatigue d'ecrire, on est fatigu6 de lire, on est epourante de la pensSe d'une telle conception; on ne pent croire, meme apres Tavoir vu. ii la r6alit6 de I'existence de tant de construc- tions r^unies sur im meme point, a leii:s dimensions, a la Constance obstLn^e qu"a exig^e leur fabrication, aux d6penses iu- calculables de tant de sumptuosite." ("Egyple," vol. ii. p. 2siti.) ** Ezek. xxxi. 3-9. CHAPTER rv. ' The local tradition is strikingly marked by the Mahometan belief that on the smaller of the two mounds ojiposite Mo- sul is "the tomb of Jonah;"' whence the name h'ebbi- Yunus. The most unportant of the ancient authorities is Xenophon (" Anab," iii. 4, §S 10-12). " See Layard"s " Nuieveh and its Re- mains," vol. ii. p. 242. Neither passage is correctly represented by Mr. Layard. Ptolemy distinctly places Nineveh — not on the Lycus, as Mr. Layard says — but on the Tigris (" Geograph. vi. l);"and Stra- bo, though he does not actually do the same, certainly does not anywhere say that it was " near the junction of the two rivers." " He says that the LyciLs divided Atviria from Arbelitis, and that Nuieveh was situated in the middle of the former district (x^^. 1, § 3). 3 Herod, i. 193: Nic. Dam. Fr. 9; Ar- rian, "Hist. Ind." 42; Plin. "H. N." vi. 13; Eustath. and Dionj;s. Perieg. 988; etc. It is perhaps by a sUp of the pen that Diodorus places Kineveh on the Euphra- tes (ii. 3). 4 See Layard's " Nineveh and its Re- mains," vol. ii. p. 247. ° Diodorus (1. s. c.) made Nineveh an olilong square 140 stades (18J miles) long, and 90 stades (llj miles) broad. Nimrud is eighteen miles from Koyunjik, and about twelve from Keremles. (Layard, L s. c.) 6 Ch. iii. ver. 3, and ch. iv. ver. 11. ' Book i. ch. 178. * Gen. X. 11, 12. We must understand the expression "a great city" as quali- fied ))y the circumstauees under which it is used — a great city according to the size of cities in the primeval times. The city in question may probably have occupied the site of the ruins at Selamiyeh * Strab. x\-i. 1, § 1; Arrian, "Exp. Alex." iii. 7; Plin. " H. N." v. 12. 10 See text, p. 129. 11 See the carefid surveys of Capt. Jones, published by the Royal Asiatic So- ciety. ("Journal," vol. xv.l 12" See the plans of the ruins at Nimrud and Koyunjik (PI. XXIV.. Fig. 1, and PL XXX\'I.,Fig. 2). Koyunjik, according to the hypothesis, would occupy the north- west angle of the town, and its southern and eastern sides would thus be within the town; but the chief defences are those on the east. 13 Diod. Sic. ii. 3. 14 It has been remarked that " the writer of the book of Jonah nowhere identifies himself with the prophet." (Vance Smith, "• Prophecies on Nineveh." p. i52.) "On the contrary, he rather carefully keeps himself distinct, speaking of Jonah always in the third person, and i)o^ .suggesting, by a single irord or impli- cation, that he ever thought of being re- cu. v.| THE SECOND MONAliCHY. r)39 garilefl as, at the same time, both writer and suljject of the narrative."' All this is undoubtedly true, but it does not estab lish the nej^fative. '5 The position of the book in the He- l)re\v Canon, between Amos and Micah. shows tliat its date was regarded as fall- iuK between Uzziali (B.c 8UH) and Ileze- kiah (B.C. 097). Nineveh was not de- stroyed till, at any rate, B.C. ftiO. '" .Jonah iii. 3. I' Ibid, iv 11. "* See the "Journal of the Asiatic Soci- .ty." vol. XV. p. :ttii, note '■'. '" C'apt. Jones notes that from the N. W. angle of the eity to the centre of the Koyiinjik mound, from that to the centre of the Nebbi-Yunus mound, .and from the centre of tlu» Ni-bhi-Yunus inunnd to the S. W. angle of tlie city, arc exactly ei. 2» Layard, " Nuieveh and Babylon." p. fifiO. "The remains still existing of the.se fortifications almost eonfhnn the state- ment of Diodorns .Siculus, that the walls were a hinuhvil feet high," etc. 2" " Anab." iii. 4. § 10. The excavations have not yet teste}idrov. " -^.nab." iii. 4, § 10. Mr. Ainsworth remarks that this fos.siliferous stone is the conmion building material at IMosul, but " does not occur far to the north or to the south, being succeeded bv wastes of gy]jsum." ("Travels in tlie Track of the Ten Tliou sand." p. 110.) 2" Layard, " Nin. and Bab." p. R'jfi. 3" Ibid. note. 3' Herod, i. 179. 32 Layard, " Nin. and Bab." pp. 120-123. 3' "Journal of A.siatic Society, " vol. xv. p. 322. 3< Layard, " Nin. and Bab." d. dOO, note. »» See the plan PI. XXXVI., W. 2; and comp. the "Jom-n. of Asiatic Society," vol. .XV. p. 323. CHAPTER V. ' Oen. X. 21-2.5. » See Herod, vii. 68, and 140; JFjich. "Pers,"86; Xen. "Cyrop." v. 4, §.51, etc.; Scylax, "Peripl." p. HO; Dionys. Perieg. 772; Strab. xvi. 1. §2, Arrian, Fr 4S; Phn. "H. N." V. 12; Mela, i. 11, for the confu- sion of .\.ss>rians with the Syrians. For the close cormection and almost identifi- cation of the Jiabylonians with the A.s.syr- ians, s<.-e Herod. 1. 100, 17H; iii. tfci; Strab. 1. s. c. ; etc. 3 Prichard, " Physical History of Man- kind." Vol. iv. 1) .OOK. ■• Occasionally the .slabs have been pur- posely defaced and rendered illegible, probably bv kings of another dvna.sty. ' Birch, ''^Ancient Pottery," p. 144. " See "First Monarchy,'" ch. iv. pp. 46, 47, and ch. v. pp. 01, 02. ' Lavard, "Nineveh and Babylon,"' p 604, note. " Ibid. p. 315. ' .See the translation by Dr. Hincks in the Dublin University Magazine for Oc- tobei", IKVi. i» " Journ. of Asiatic Soc." vol xii. p. 441. " Birch, " Ancient Pottery." vol. i. p. S. '2 Wilkiason, in the author's "Herod- otius,"" vol. ii. p. tan. § .33. " Diod. Sic. ii. ;i2. As Diofloru-s' .<;ole authority here is the luitrustworthy Cte- sias. no great dependence can be placed on his statement. '■• This is not a mere negative argtiment, since statements of the nature of the ma- terial used do (n-cur, and accord with the monumental facts. •ts. Epigene-s, for in- the Babylonians record ing their astronomical observations uwin baked tili-s ("coctilibus laterculis," Plin. '■ H. N."" vii. .")<)), and the historiaiLs of .\lex- ander mentioned a .stone inscription of Sardanapalus(.\rr. "Exp. Al."" ii. .5; Strab. xiv. a, § it). The eastern tradition that Seth wrote the history and wisdom of an- tediluvian times on biu-nt and unbunit brick (Layard, "Nin. and Bab." p. 347. note) has a similar l»earing. '* Layard, p. 154; Botla', " Letters from Nineveh,"' p. 27. '* "Journal of Asiatic Society," vol xiv. " "Expedition scientifique en Mtfsopo tamie," tom. ii. liviv i. Appendice; Cata logue des signes les plus tisites., pp. 107- 1-.U ' " The vowels must be soimded a-s in Italian, A as a in '"va-st"— E as a in " face "—I a.s e in " me "— O as o in "host"— U as » in " nie foimd in those Hebrew nouns which adopt the feminine terminatiorv for their plurals, as 3N " a father." ni3K " fathers." But in Assyrian, the niascu- 540 TUE SECOND MONABCUY. [en. VT. line plural Uirniination -id is not identical with tlic feniiuine, which is -ft or at. ■■'■■' " fildniens, etc." pur M. Jules Opijert. Paris, Impriuierie Iniperiale, 1860. CHAPTER VI. » Gen. X. 12. 2 Mos. Choren. i. l.'j. 3 Diod. Sic. ii. 3 and .5. ■> The plan is borrowed, by permission, from >rr. IVrgusson's excellent work, " The Palaces of Nint'veh and I'ersepolis Restored." Mr. FerKUSSon remarks tluit. this feature of alternate pru.jection and indentation is found also in the Persepoli- tan platform (see p. •i'^V.)). 6 See the. plan. I'l. XXIV. 6 See PI. XXXVI. ' Mr. Layard calls tiiis court a "hall" ("Nineveh and Babykm," p. t!.54); but no one can compare his plan of Esar-had- don's Ximriid palace (No. 3, opp. p. 05.5) with 3Ir. Bdtta's plans of Khorsabad, and his own plans f Koyunjik, without see- ing at once that the great space is really an inner court. * See the woodcut on PI. XLI. ° As much as four feet of tlie wall has sometimes been found standing (Fergus- son's " Palaces," p. 2(37). 1" See the specimens of enamelled bricks in BIr. Layard's " Monuments of Nine^•eh," l.st series. Plates 84 to 86. '■ "Handbook of Arcliitecture," vol. i. p. 176. 12 See the plan of Sargon's palace at Kliorsabad, PI. XLIL, Fig. 3. " See tlie jilan of the Nimrud platform in Layard's " Nineveh and Babylon," opp. p. 6.').''>. According to it, all tlie palaces on the platform would have theii- walls parallel to one another and to the sides of the platform; but Captain Jones's sur- vey shows that the platform itself is ir- regular, so that Mr. Layard's representa- tion ajipeai-s to be inexact. 1' The walls of the palace excavated by BIr. Loftus are not parallel with those of the edifice exhumed by Mr. Layard. 15 Compare the observations of M. Bot- ta, "Monument de Ninive," vol. v. p. 64. 16 See Fergusson's " Palaces," pp. 234, 23.5 " See text, p. 134. 18 The Kliosr-Su, which nms on this side of the Khorsabad ruins, often over- flows its banks, and pom-s its waters against the palace moimd. The gaps north and south of the mound may have been caused bv its violence. " See PI. XLI. 20 These p.^rtals were discovered by M, Place, M. Botta's successor at Mosul. I cannot find that any representations of them have been published. 21 The widest Assyrian arch actually discovered is carried across a space of about 1.5 feet (see text. p. 193). -2 Mr. Fergusson argues for the exist- ence of a chamlier and a second gateway, from the analogy of the Persepolitan ruins ("Palaces of Nineveh," p. 246); bul this analogy cannot be depentled on. as Fergusson's " Handbook of Archi- tecture," vol. i. p. 172. 2< See PI. X. •it, FergiLsson, " Handbook," I. s. c. 2" Botta, "Monimient de Ninive," vol. v. p. 48. « Ibid. p. 69. 2** " Palaces of Nineveh," p. 259. 2" Ibid. p. 201. 3" In owf ca.se the monarch is in the act of driving a spear or javelin into the head of a caijtive with one hand, while with the other ho holds hun by a thong at- tached to a ring passed through his un- der lip. In another ca.se an executioner flays a captive (or criminal) who is fast- ened to a wall. 31 This hall opened on the north-west- ern terrace, and stood so near its edge that two of its sides have fallen. Inter- nally it was adorned with a single row of sculptures, representing the king receiv- ing prisoners. 22 The sculptures here were all peace- able. The king occurred three times, with the sacred flower in his left hand, receiving presents or tributes. 33 Fergusson's "Palaces," p. 263. '•• Botta. " Monument de Ninive," vol. V. p. .53: Fergusson. " Palaces of Nine- veh," p. 202; Layard, " Nineveh and Baby- lon,'' p. 130. 25 Fergusson, " Palaces of Nineveh," p. 9.54; Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 646. 3" " Monument de Ninive," vol. v. p. 42; and compare the plan, vol. i. PI. 6. 2' " Nineveh and Babylon." p. 6.50. 3* The inclined passage of As.shur-bani- pal's palace at Koyunjik was not in the palace, but led from the level of the city up to it. S9 " Monument de Ninive," vol. v. p. 62. *'> " Palaces of Nineveh," p. 27.5. 41 Ibid. '12 That tliis was one of the objects helil in ^iew by the Babylonians when they erected their Temple jtlatforms. is con- jectured bv M. Fresnel. ( ■■ Joui-nal Asiat- ique," Juin 1853. pp. 528-.531.) ^3 The parapet wall was observed at most in two places. (See the shaded parts, marked a a on the plan, PL XLIL, Fig. 2.) ••■1 " Monument de Ninive," vol. v. pp. 65-67. « Ibid. p. 68. <« See text, pp. 201-206. *' " Journal Asiatique," Rapport de M. Mohl pour Aout 1853, p. 150: Fergusson, " Handbook of Architecture," p. 173. 4* "Monument de Ninive," vol. v. pp. 71, 72. « Ibid. p. 72. 50 Fergusson, "Palaces of Nineveh," p 276. °i "Monument." etc.. vol. v. p. 69. 52 "Palaces of Nineveh," p. 262; "Hand- book of Architectiu'e." p. 171. *' " Monument de Ninive," p. 70. Com en. VI.] THE SECOND MONARCUY. 641 pare Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," pp G49, G50. It must further be noted, as tlirowinf^ considerable (if)ubt on the whole spirit of Mr. FerRUssons Assyrian restora- tions, that their essence consists in givlnj^ a thoroughly columnar character, botli internally and externally, to Assyrian buildings, whereas one of the most re- markat)le features in the remains is the almost entire absence of the column. A glance at the restoration already given from Mr. Fergusson, or at that, by the same ingenious gentleman, which forms the frontispiece to ;Mr. Layard's " Nine- veh and Babylon," will show the striking difference, and (as it seems to me) the want of harmony in his restorations be- tween the basement story of a palace, which is all that we can reconstruct with any r'ertaintv. and the entire re- mainder of the edifice. Mr. Fergusson supports his view that the column was realV thus prominent in Assyrian build- ings by the analogy of Susa anil Per- sepolis; but the columnar edifices at those places are on an entirely different plan from tliat of an Assyrian palace. Those buildings had no solid walls at all (Loftus, "Chalda^a and Susiana," pp. 374, 37.")), but lay entirely open to the air; they were mere groves of pillars support- ing a Hat roof— convenient summer resi- dences. The evidence of the remains seems to be that there was a strong con- trast between Assyrian and Persian arch- itecture, the latter depending almost wholly on the colinnn, and elaborating it as much as possible; the former scarcely allowing the cohmin at all, and leaving it almost in its primitive condition of a mere post. (See PI. XLIX., Fig. 4.) '< Fergusson, " Palaces of Nmeveh," p. 209. '» Mr. Fergusson di.sallows the hypse- tliral S3'stem even here (" True Principles of Beauty," p. 'i^\)\ but later writers do not seem converted by his arguments. (See the article on Temph'.m and Smith's " Dictionary of (treek and Roman Antiq- uities," p. ilO."), 2d edition; an. !MJ, vtu.) It is round likewi.se in Cappadocia. (See Van Lenneps "Travels in Little Known Parts of Asia Minor." vol. ii. p. MS.) '*" Journal Asiatique." Aout IKW, p. LW; Ferguiison, " Handbook of Architect- ure," vol. i. p. 173. <"* Herixl. 1. 181. «" See the illu.stration PI. LIII. •' '• Joimial of the A.siatic Society," vol. xvii. p. 13. «i fergusson, " Handbook of .Vrchitect- ure," p. 172. I have been unable to ob- tain any detailed account of tliis building. «" See text. ]). 1.3:3. '» " Nineveh and Babylon."' plan opp. p. 12:J; "Monuments of "Nineveh. " 2d se- ries, frontispiece. (See PI. LU., Fig. 2.) " See PI. XLIX., Fig. 4. '■■' Layard. "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 120; coiup. Diod. Sic. ii. 7. '3 Xenoiihon and Ctesias both noticetl this remarkable edifice. ( "Anab." iii. 4, SO. I Xenoplion calls it a "pyramid,'* but shows that it morere.^embled a tower by saying that its height (aH)ft.) was dinible its width at the base, which he es- timates at liM) ft. He gives no account of the purj)ose for whirli it wa.~: itilended. Ctesias, who enormously exaggerates its size, making it li> stadia wide and sl.idia (more than a mile!) high, was the first to give it a sepulchral eliai-acter. He said that it was built by Seniiranu's over the body of her husband. Niiius. He placed it, however, if we may believe Diodorus (ii. 7). at Nineveh, an(l upon the F"uj)hra- tes; Next to these writers, Amyntas, one of the historians of .\lexander, no- ticed the edifice. He called it the tomb of Sardanapalus; and. like Cter^ias, jilaeed it at Nineveh (ap. Athen. "Ueipn." xii. 4, tj 11). Ovid no doubt intended the same building by bis " busta Nini," which however, according to him, lay in the vicinity of Babylon ('MeUi- morph." iv. 88). '■• •• Nineveh and Babylon," p. 128. " It may perhaps have had a religious bearing; and similar galleries ma^- jjer- haps exist under all temple-towers. '» The single slab whieli filled the re- cess (/■ in ground-plan No. I., PI. LIV., Fig. 1) in the greater of the two Ninuii(i temples, was 21 It. long, pi ft. 7 in. broad, and 1 ft. I in. thick. It contained thus 37.5 cubic feet of stfine, and iiuist have weighed nearly, if not <|uite, 30 tons. (See Ijiyard's "" Nineveh and Babylon," p. a'i2.) " Ibid. p. 3.'-.7. "* Note the jiosition of the doorways, 6 and (/ in ground )>lan No. I. '» See grounil plan No. II. (PI. LH'., Fig. 1) entrance /). "" Layard, " Nineveh anil Babylon," p. «' The chamber marked <■ in ground 542 THE SECJOND MONARCHY. [en. VI. plan No. I. (PI. LIV.) was 47 ft. Ion;? hy 'M ft. wide. (Layard, " Niueveh and Bab- jlon,'" p. 35;».) '■■' Ibid. p. S.'iir. *' Layard," Monuments of Nineveh," PI. 17. A portion of this village is represent- ed in PI. LVI., Fig. 1. •** Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 112. The representation is of a village in the neighborhood of xVleppo. [Pi. LVI., Fig. 2.] "5 See text, pp. 165, 166. ** Supra, ch. iv. note "' S'^M. Bottasays: "Cette muraille 6tait cnnstruite en blocs de pierre calcairetr^s- dure, venant des montagn&s voisines: ces blocs ont la forme de paralIeloi)ipMes rectangles d'uiie coupe r6guli(>re, et sont disposes par assises, de maniere a pre- senter alternativement au dehors leur face la plus large et une de leurs extr^mi- t^s; c'est-a-dire que tous etant poses de champ, I'lui tapisse le massif, puis im et quelquefois deux autres continuent I'as- sise par leurs extr^^mites, la meme alter- native se r6p6tant dans toute la longueur de celle ci. II en r6sulte qu' etant tous de m6me longueur, ceux qui prfesentent une extremity au dehors depasseiit &. Tinte- rieiu- la ligne des autres, et s'enca.strent dans le massif de briques. Cette disposi- tion avait pour but de lier solidement Tamas terreux interieur au revetement ext^rieur." (" Monument de Ninive," vol. v. p. 31.) •^8 M. Botta makes thLs comparison. (" Monvmient de Ninive," 1. s. c.) His rep- resentation, however, dift'ers in two main points from the ordinary Cyclopian style: 1, tlie horizontal course seems to^ be maintained throughout; and 2, tlie stones do not fit into each other at all closely or with any exactness. *" Botta, '' Monument de Ninive," vol. v. p. 31. »« See text, pp. 193, 197, 198, etc. "' The earliest arches seem to be those of Egypt, which momit at least to the loth century before our era. (Wilkinson, "An- cient Egyptians," 1st series, iii. p. 317: P'alkener, "Dasdalus," App. p. 2aS.) The Babyloman arches mentioned above (p. ■W) camiot be much later than B.C. 1.300. The earUest known Assyrian arches would belong to about the 9th century b.c. "2 Fergusson, " Handbook of Architect- ure," vol. i. p. 173. "3 Layard. " Nin. and Bab." p. 163. " See PI. XLIX. °* See Smith's " Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities," p. 12.5, 2d edi- tion: and Mr. Falkener's "Daedalus," App. E. 288. Compare the representation PI. IX., Fig. 2. "See PI. LXII., Fig. 1. " Fergusson, " Handbook of Architect- ure," p. 253. '* Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," pp. 162 and 165. »» See text, p. 200. '""Fergusson, "Palace* ©f Nineveh," p. 265. >"» See Botta's " Monument de Ninive,^' vol. ii. Plates ].55and 1.56; Lavard's " Mon- uments of Nincjveh," 1st senes, Plat(!s K4. 86, and 87: ^d series. Plates ;ii, TA. and hTt '"••'Supra, note ''3. Mr. Fox Talbot supposes that iie has found a mention of coluiiiiiH in a df.'.scription given of one of hi.s palaces by Sennacherib. (" A.s.syr- ian Texts Translated." p. «.) But the techni" See chanter ix. There is reason to beheve that the Easebian date for Gvgess (B.C. 698 to B.C. 003) is more cornvt than the Herotlotean— B.C. 731 to n.c. Of*!. '■** These drawings, which ar*- in the British .^Iu.seum, having l>een taken when the slabs wen- freshly exhumetl. often preserve features which have di.xjiiijjeared during the tran.si>ort of the originals and tlicir preparation for exhibjiiun. By the kindne.ss of M. Vaux. the free u.se of the drawings has been allowed to the author of the present work. '"See the illustration (No. V.) PI. XLIX., which belongs to this time; an3, etc. Compare the general statement, vol. v. p. 17X. •'■•'.See his "Voyage arch<^ologique & Ninive " in the Ktruc dci Ik-iuc ilundc^ for .lulv. I'M.-), p. UR). "3 ■■ Monuii!i-nts of Nineveh," 1st Se- ries. De.stTiption of the Plates, p. 1. '*• The ojiinion of .^I. Klandin. that an ochre tint i-over-ed the flesh and the back- grounds at Khorsiibad. set-ms to have been derived from a partiriilar instance, where, according lo M. Hotl;i. the color- ing was accidental, and dated from a time subs<>i)uent to the ruin of the palace ("Mi>nument de Ninive." vol. v. p. ITlb. '""1)11 the scul|>turr's I have only found black, white, red. and blue," says Mr, Layard (" Nim-vi-h and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 3111): "anil these colors alone were iLs<'d in the painted ornaments of the upp'r chambeiN at Nimrud. At Khorsabad, tjrven a" Ilsid. Plate 53. J "2 Ibid. Plate 81. I's iiiifi. Plates 74 and 75. 1" Ibid. Plate 03. 1" See Dr. Percy's note in Mr. Layard's " Nineveh and BatDylon." p. 072. ^'^ Layard, " Nineveh and ils Remains," vol. ii. p. 310; Birch, ■ Ancient Pottery," vol. i. p. 127. I"' Ibid. p. 149. '" Botta, " Monument," Plates 110, 113, and 1 14. '"s- Ibid. Plates 110 and 114. "» Ibid. Plate 61. 1" Ibid. Plate 62. 1S2 Ibid. Plate 14. "3 Layard, " Nineveh and its Remains," vol ii. p. 312, note. 18* Birch, "Ancient Pottery," vol. i. p. ' *5 Mr. Layard con jectm-es that it was obtained, as it is in the coimtry to this day, by burning the alaliaster or gypsum. ("Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 311.) 1^" Ibid. p. 312. For instances, see Lay- ai-d's "Monmnents," 1st Series, Plate 92; Botta, " Monument," Plates 12 and 43. 187 "Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 313. ' -" " Monuments of Nineveh," 1st Series, Plate 92. 1"" Botta, "Monument," Plate 43. 190 " Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 312, note. 191 Birch, 1. s. c. 192 "Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 311. i"3 Mr. Layard discovered sixteen of these lions m one place. ("' Nineveh and its Remains," vol. i. p. 128.) They had all rings affixed to their backs, which seemed to show the jwrpose for which they were intended. The largest of these hous was about a foot in length. ^'■>^ See text. p. 210. 1'* See Layard's " Nineveh and its Re- mains," vol. ii. p. 301; Botta, "Monu- ment," Plate 19. '"« Botta, J'late 17. It is uncertain whether the ornaments in this ca.se, and in tli(jse referred to in the last note, were cast or embr>ssed, since we have only the renresentation.s, not the originals theni- selv(!S. The tliron(; oijiaments. however, were actually found (Layard " Nin. and Bab." PI). 198-300). They were castings in brfinze. '" Here again we cannot be certain whetlier the sculi)tures represent em- bossed work or castings. In delicate fa1>- rics, like sword-sheaths, the former seems mure probable. '"" Layard, " Nin. and Bab." p. 190. I-" Supra, Pis. XXVI. and XXVn. 20" Plates 57 to 07. The drawings by Mr. Prentice, now in the British Museum, are .still more beautiful than the.se plates, since they show the wonderful coloring of the Iironzes at the time of their arrival. 201 Pages lSo-190. 202 Mr. Layard calls No. I. a head of Athor (" Nin. and Bab." p. 187); butthere are no sufficient grounds for the identifi- cation. The head resembles the ordinary mimmiy type. The head-dress No. II. is the well-kuown double crown, worn by both kings and gods, representing the sovereignty over both the Upper and the Lower country. (Wilkinson, "Ancient Egjiytians," vol. iii. p. 3.54.) 2"3 i^aj-ard, "Monuments," 2d Series, Plate 01, b; "Nin. and Bab." p. 187. On the ank or onk, see Wilkinson, vol. v. p. 28;3. 204 Isaiah xx. 4. 205 Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 192. 2o« It is urged that Phcenician char- acters appear on one of the plates (ibid, p. 188), that the scarab which occurs on so many of them (supra, PI. LXXVL, Fig. 1) is " more of a Phcenician than an Egyptian form " (ib. p. 186), and that some silver bowls of the same character, found in Cyj^rus, are almost cei-tainly Phcenician (ib. p. 192, note). But these last may well be Assyrian, since some Assyrian remains have certainly been brought from the island; and the other points are too doubtful and too minute to set against the strong Assyrian char- acter of tlie gi'eat bulk of the ornaments and figures. ■207 " xineveh and Babylon," p. 192. 208 Ibid. p. 191. 2"9 Ibid. p. 178. 210 Ibid. p. 191. note. 211 Mr. Layard found a gold earring adorned with pearls, together with a num- ber of purely Assyrian reUcs, at Kovimjik (■■ Nineveh and Babylon," p. 595). He has figured it. p. 597. 21= Ibid. pp. 595, 596. 213 Ibid. p. 196. 214 '• Nineveh and its Remains." vol. il pp. 8-10 and p. 205. For other discoveries of ivory objects, see " Nineveh and Baby- lon, " pp. 179, 195, and 362, CH. VI.] THE tiEVOyi) MOyAIirilY 545 "» " Jlonumcits," 1st Series, Plate 89, flg. 8. 2»« Ibid. Plate M. figs. 17 and 22. "1' " Nineveh nnd its Remains,"' vol. ii. p. 10. «'» See above. PI. LXXVI. The symbol occurs at the foot of the chairs. °'* See Mr. J >rch"s description in Mr. layard's " Xin'^veh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 11, note. s^" See text, \ 221. ^^^ Layard, ' Monuments of Nineveh," 1st Series. Plff' e G2. Tlie lianKiiiK sleeve is, however, V om only on one arm. ^"^ See Mr. Layard's " Monuments," 1st Series. Plate i 84. 80, and 87. 233 Ibid. P ate Ki. flss. i» and 12. 22* '• Ninf .eji and Babylon." p. 1G6. *-* Tliero isf a curious contrast between the bricks and the sculptures in tliis re- spect. In the sculptun-s there is no yel- low, but abundance of red. It is a rea- sonable conjecture of Mr. Layard's. that in theije "sojui- of tlie red tints which re- main were oritciiially laid on to receive gilding." ("Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 313, note.) 'i^* " Monument de Ninive," Plate 1.").';. figs. .3, ."5. and 0. Mr. Layard says he found gurple and violet on some of the Nimrud ricks (•■ Nineveh and its Remains," vol. lii. p. 310>; but he does not represent these ••olors. ^"3' Layard, "Monuments," 1st Series, ?late 81, fig. 2. '2" Botta, " Monument de Ninive," Plate 15.5, fig. 3, "» Ibid. fig. 2. •30 Layard. " Monuments," 2d Series, Plate .5;")." hg. G. 23' Botta. "Momunent de Ninive," Plate 1.5.5, figs. 5 and 9. ''32 Layard, "Monuments," 2d Series, Plate .53, fig. 6. »»3 Ibid. PlaU- .5:^, figs. 3 and 4; Plate W, figs. 12, 13, and 14. 234 Ibid. Plate 53, figs. 2 and 5; and Plate 54, fig. '.). "5 Ibid. Plate .53. fig. 1. 234 Ibid. Plate .>J, fig. 7. 23' Ibid. Plate 51, fig. 8. 23« Ibid. 1st Series, PI. 84, figs. 9 and 12. 23» Fig. 9. 2''o " Monument de Ninive," vol. ii. Plate 155, fig. 2. 2*1 n)id. figs. 5 and 9. 2" Ibid. fig. 3. 2-' 3 Birch. '■ Ancient Pottery," vol. I. p. 127. The fragment is flgurei. BotUi's fi-iigmeut (figured Plate 1.55. fig. 2) is a unique .siH-.-inu-n. Had it contained the robes of tin- king as well as his head-tlre-ss, we should probably liave learnt the real hues of the royal gar- ments. 2'3 Birch, "Ancient Potterv." vol. ii p. 12H; Lavard, "Nineveh and babylon," p. IWi. note. ■■'»4 Biix-h. 1. s. c. ; Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. (!7i. 2i6 xijjs is pvidenctxl by the bricks them- selves, where we can often se«» tliat the melted enamel has nm over and trickled down the sides. (See Birch, "Ancient Potterv." vol. i. p. 128.) 25» King's " Ancient Gems." pp. 127-1'29; Layard's "Nineveh and Babvlou," pp. 2" See Mr. Lavard's " Mommienta of Nineveh," 2tl St-ries. Plate G'.i. Nos. I to :ii. ■iio l^vanl. •• Nin^-veh and Babvlon,"p. 160; King. " Ancient Gen).s. " p. 129. 2'» King, Introduction, p. xxxvi. 2«<' "Ancient Pottery," vol. i. p 105. 2" Ibid. p. 108. 2''2 Wilkinson, in the author's " ITerod- otu-s." vol. ii. p. 215; Birch. "Ancient Pot;- tery." vol. i. pp. 12. 13. Hence the com- piaints of the Israelites when tlu-v re- ceived " no straw for their bricks " (£x. v. 7-18). 2«s Birch, p. 1.32. 2M Ibid. p. 13, and p. 109. 2«s Twentv-two inches, according to Mr. Birch (n. 109 ». 2'"' The longest are 14} inches. (Se« "Ancient Pottery," \o\. i. p. 1055.) 2"' Ibid. p. 107. ■j(^» i>ii-eh. " Ancient Potterj'," vol. i. pp. 1.5-l.S; WilkiiLS4)n. " Ancient" Egyjiiians," 1st Serie.s. vol. ii. p. 97. 2'" Birch, p. 131; LayartI, "Nineveh and its Remain.s," vol. ii. p. 187. 2'i Birch, p. 10!». 2' 2 ijiyard. 1. 8. c. 2' 3 See text, 1G7-170. 2'* Birch, "Ancient Pottery," voL i. p. 11.3. 2" Ibid. p. 11.5. «'« Ibid. p. 120. 2" Supra. PI. XIII. 2'» Birch, p. 121. 2'!' •• Nin. and Bab." p. 574. 3«o gj.^ Botta's •■ Monument de Ninive," vol. ii. Plates 141 and 1G2. 2"' Ibid. vol. ii. Plato 70; and se* vol. ▼. p. 191. 2"- See I.Ayard's " MonumentB," Ist So ries, Phite S5. 2»3 Birch, "Ancient Pottery." vol. 1. p. WW. 546 THE SECOND MONARCHY. ICH. VK. 284 " Monument de Ninive," vol. v. p. 173. ■iKb jYn elaViorate accoimt of tho nroee.ss wlierel)y the Assyrian glass has bf'coun-! l)artially (Jecoinpo.st'd, and of the ellects produced by the decomjjosition, will he found in Mr. Layard's "Isinevehand Bab- ylon,'' Appendix, j)p. C74-()T6, contributed to that \\()rk bj- Su- David Brewster. 288 WilkiiLSon, " Ancient Egyptians," 1st Series, vol. iii. pp. 88, 89. *•*' Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 197. 386 Ibid. ''8« See the description furnished to IVIr. Layard by Sir David Bi-ewstor. ("Nin- eveh and Babvlou,"' p. 197, note.) ""See text," p. 1C8. i""! Tliis is evident from Aristophanes ("Nub." 746-749), where Strepsiades pro- poses to obliterate his debts from the waxen tablets on wliich they are inscribed by means of " that transparent stone wherewith fires are lighted." l-ijij Xidov TTjv Siaoavf/^ a(p' rjq to Trvp aizTovat. ) Compare also Theoplirast. " De Igne," 73. ^"2 Botta, "Monument de Ninive," vol. i. Plate 17. s''3 Ibid. Plate 18. ^^* In the series from which this repre- sentation is taken the flgvires appear seated in such a way as would imply that the actual seat was" level with the dotted line a b. 295 Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 199 " 288 Ibid. p. 198. 29' Wilkinson, " Ancient Egyi^tians," 1st Series, vol. ii. p. 201. 2i"* See PI. LXXXIV., Fig. 3. 299 The Greek and Roman ideas on the subject of the Assyrian dress were prob- ably derived from "Ctesias, at least mainly. He seems to have ascribed to Sardana- palus, and even to Semu'amis, garments of great magnificence and of deheate fabric. (See Diod. Sic. ii. 6, § 6, 33, § 1, and 27, § 3.) But he did not, so far as we know, dis- tinctly speak of these garments as em- broidered. It remained for the latter Roman poets to determine that the color of the robes was purple, and that their ornamentation was the work of the needle. "Perfusam murice vestem Assyria signatur 0011." Claudian, xliv. 86, 87. These rare Assvi-ian garments were said to have been adopted' by the Medes, and aftei-wards by the Persians. (Diod. Sic. ii. *■ § 6.) They were probably of silk, which was produced largely in AssjTia (Phn. "H. N." xi. 22), whence it was "car- ried to Rome and worn both by men and women (ib. xi. 23). »<"> Ezek. xxvii. 23. 34: " Haran and Canneh and Eden, the merchants of Sheba. Asshnr. and C'hilmad, were thy merchants. These were thy merchants in all sorts of tilings, in blue clothes, and broidered work (nDpl), and in chtets of rich apparel, bound with cords and made of cedar, among thy merchandise." »"» As in Pis. XLIU., XLV., LXXXIV., etc., of this volume. ^"2 See I'l. LXIV., Fig. 3. 30' See Layard, "Monuments," 1st Se- nes, Plate 77; 2d Series, Plate 42. The i ouiLssion Ttuiy be from mere carelessness 1 in the artist. 3"' The mythological tablets are alwa^-- in the Akkad ar old Chalda-an languaj.'. and m very few instances are fumisli..; even with a glo.ss or ex(jlanation in A^sx r ian. (See Sir H. Rawhnson's Es.sjiy •■ i i: the Religion of the Babylonians and'Ass^ r ians," in the author's "Herodotus, " vV.!. i. p. .585, note 2.) ^"s This series is excellently representei I in Mr. Layard's "Monuments," 2d Series Plates 10 to 17. sf" Mr. Layard first imagined that t)«- contrary was the case (" Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 318); but his Koyunjik discoveries convmced him of his" error ("Nineveh and Babylon," pp. 10.5. 106). SO' The nineteenth centmy could make no improvement upon this. jttr. Layard tells us that "precisely the same frame- work was used for moving the great sculptures now in the British Museum." ("Nineveh and Babylon." p. 112. note.) 30S xhe " banks ""of Scripture (2 Kings xrx. .32; Is. xxvii. 53). ='"' See Mr. Layard's "Monuments," 2d Series, Plates 18 and 21. 310 xhe great stones of which the pyra- mids were built were certainly raised from the alluvial plain to the rocky platform on which they stand in this way. (Herod, ii. 124: compare ■WiUdnson in the author's "Herodotus," vol. ii. p. 200. note*.) Dio- dorus declares that the pjTamids them- selves were built by the help of mounds (i. 62. § 6). This, however, is improbable. ^" It is the most reasonable supposition that the cros.s-stones at Stonehenge. and the crondech stones so common in Ireland, were placed in the positions where we now find them by means of inclined planes afterwards cleared away. 3'2 See the representa"tion. PI. XXV. 313 It must be remembered that the As- syrians cut not merelv the softer mate- rials, as senientine and alabaster, but tlie gems known technically as " hard stones " — agate, ja.sper. quart'z. sienite, amaz<>n stone, and the Uke, (See King's " Ancient Gems." p. 127.) 31^ See the summary on this subject in the author's "Herodotus," vol. i. ; Essay vii. § 42. CHAPTER YU. ' Gen. xli. 43: Ex. xiv. 7-28: 2 K. xviii. 24: Jer. xlvi. 9: etc. Compare Wilkin- son. " Ancient Egyptians.'' lat Series, vol. i. pp. 335 et seq. ^ Hom. " E." iii. 20; iv. 366, etc. Hes. "Scut. Here.'' 306-809; jEsch. "Sept- c. Th." 138, 191, etc. CII. VII.] THE SECOND MONARCHY. 547 ' Josh, srvii. 18; Judg. i. 19 and iv. 3. * 2 Sam. X. 18; 2 K. vi. 14, 15. « 1 Sam. viii. 11, li; 1 K. iv. 26; x. 20; xvi. 9; xxii. .54, etc. "Herod, vii. 40; ^seh. "Pers." 86; Xen. "Anab." i. 8, § 10; Arr. "."Exp. Ale.x." ii. 11; iii. 11. .' CiTs. •• De Bell. Gall." iv. 3S. 8Tai-it. •• Agric." § 13, and $ :V>. * As the Philistines (1 Saiu. xiii. 5), the Hittites (1 K. x. 29; 2 K. vii. 6), the Su.si- anian.s or Elamites (Is. xxii. 6) the Lyd- ians uEsoli. " Pers." 45-48), the wild Af- rican tril)es! near Cyrene (Herod, iv. 189; vii. 86), and the Indians of the l^njab region (ibid.; and Arrian, "Exp. Alex." V. 15). '" Layard, " Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. .319. " Wilkinson, " Ancient Egyptians," 1st Series, vol. i. p. 313. In the Greek ami Roman ehariot.s, on the contrary, the axletree was placed about midway in the body. ''•'See the representations of entire chariots given in PI. XCU. '3 This was the case also with the Greek chariots. The chariots of the Lydians according to .Kschylns (" I'ei-s." 45^7), had two and even three poles (Sij/pvua re Kal Tpippvfia rt'/u). jn the .Vs.s'yrian sculpture.-; there isoni- representation of what seems U) l)e a cliuriot with two poles'Layard. "" M>inuirients(jf Nineveh," 2d Series, PI. 24 1; but perhaps the inten- tion w!vs to rei)re.sent tiro chariots, one partially copcealin'^ tlie other. '^ '^tiptuoi, or citifMffiopoi, "ropebear- ers," from net pa, "a cord or rope." (See Soph. " Electr." 722; Eurip. " Iph. A." 223; "Here. F." 440; Schol. ad Aristoph. "Nub." 1302; Isid. " Grig." xviii. i'i, etc ; and compare the article on CrRars, in Smith's " Dictionary of (ireek and Ro- man Anti(iuities." p. .379, 2d edition.) " Layard. " Nineveh and its lieiuains," vol. ii. p. iW. •• Generally the yoke is exliibited with great cle^arness, being drawn in full, at right angles to the pole, or nearly so, despite the laws of pei>ii)ective. Some- times, however, as in Sennacherib's char- iot isee PI. XC'II.. Fif^. 2i, we find in the place wliere we should e.vpect the yoke a mere circle marked out upon the pole, which represi'nts probably one end of the yoke, or [wssibly the hole through which it pas-sed. " See the pole ending in a horse'shead PI. XC; and compare that to which ref- erence is made in last note. " Botta, " Monunjent de Ninive," vol. 7. p. no. "Co Compare tlie representation of Sar- gon's Chariot. PI. XL,V. *" Botta, " Jlonument de Ninive," vol. ii. PI. 92. "'"Dictionary of Antiquities," vol.1, pp. 101, 379, etc. »» See Mr. I^ayard's "Monuments," Ist Series, PI. ii. '• Tlie earlier belong to the time of Asshur-izir-pal. ato. a.r. 900; the later to the times of Sargon, Semiacherib, and Asshur-bani-pal (.E-sarhaddon's son), about B.C. 720-060. Sometimes, but very rarely, a chariot of the old type is met with in the second iteriod. (See Lavard, "Monuments of Nineveh," 2d Series, PI. 24.) "••Wilkinson's " Ancient Egyptians," Is* Series, vol. i. p. .345. "' Smith's "Dictionary of Antiquities," pp. .378, 379, 2d ed. '"See No. I. (PI. XCII.. Fig. 1), and compai-e PI. LXIV. Eacli quivt-r held also a small axe or hatchet. The ar- rangement of the quivers resembles that usual in Egypt (.'VV'ilkinson, vol. i. p. 346). "' Layard, " Nineveh and its Remains,"' vol. ii. p. .3')0. Another conjecture is that the ornament in question is really a Hap of leather, which extended horizoti- Uitly from the horses' shoulders to tlie chariot-rim, and served the purpose of the modem splash-lniard. The artists, unskilled inpersj>ective. would be obUged to substitute the per|>endicular for the horizontal position. "" See La.vard, " Monuments," Ist Se- ries, Pis. 14, 22, and 27. "» Layard. " Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. .3.52. The feathers of the arrows are sometimes distinctlv visible. (See PI. XCU.) '" K the white oI)elisk from Koyimjik now in the British Museum is rightly as- cribed to A.sshur-izir-pal, the father of the Black-(11)elLsk king, it wouhi api>ear that the change from the older to the la- ter chariot began in his time. The vehi- cles on that monument are of a transit iitn character. Tbev have the thin bar wi'h the loop, and nave in most instances wheels with eight spokes; l>ut their pro- portions are like tho.se of the early ctiai^ lots, and thev have the two tran.sverse quivers. [PI." XCII., Fig. .3,] s' See Pis. XC. and XCIII. 3' Rosettes in ivorj-. mother of pearl, and bronze, which may have belonged to the harne.ss of horses, were found in great abundance bv Mr. Ijiyard at Nimrud (" Nineveh and Babykin," \t. 177). "See the repn'.sentation which forms the ornamental hea»l of a chariot-pole on PI. XC. 3* This is especially the case in tlie scidpttires of the earlv p«'rio the rows of ta.s.sels amoimt to sei-en (Layard, "Monuments," 2<1 Series, PI. 42.) "See text, p. 221. " S«H? Mr. Jjivanl's " Monuments," 1st Series, PI. 21^; or his " Nineveh and its R»'mains." vol. ii. o])p. p. Xii). '» Mr. Ijiyard sjx'aks of i\\TxH' strajis, one of which " pas-s*-!) round the bn'ast " ("Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. .V>5): but thi? brejuststnip to whicli he al- ludes has no connec-tion with the clothi-s, and occurs equally on unclothed horiKA 548 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [cu. VJI. of tho early period. (Seethe representa- tion on PI. \{'1II., Fip. ].) ■'"' The tliinl .stru]) liciv is on the back, just ;ibnii«uatively im- common, but they will he seen in M. Kot- ta's work, Pis. .'y>,"()0, andli,"}; pi>.ssibly also in PI. 99. " Herod, vs.. 62; Xen. " Anab." i. 8, § 9. Sometimes the yrppov is straight, some- times it cm-ves backwards towards the U>V). (See PI. C'l.. FiK. .'■>.) '• On the variety in the crests of the Assyrian helmets, see PI. C, Fip. 5. •♦'Botta, "Monument," vol. ii. Pis. 90 and 9.3. "See PI. XCVI., Fig. 1. »• See Wilkinson's " Ancient Egyrv tians," 1st Series, vol. i. p. 316. .\ slintrer Ls represented anK>nK the enemies of the Assyrians in one of the earliest sculptures. (Layard, " Jlonuments," 1st Series, PI. 29.) »' Sometimes the twi.st of the string is very clearly discernible, as represente bare. (I>ayard, "Monmnents," 2^^ tjje rep)re,sentation in Mr. Xjlv- ard's " Nineveh and its Remains,"' vol. u. p,. :il5. ' '"' See Layard, "Monuments." 1st Se- ries, Pis. ?2and SO; 2d Series, Pis. 29, 42, and 4."1. io8,seePl. XCVII., Fig. 3. ""• See Layard's "Monuments," 1st Se- ries. PI. 76. ""See PI. XCA'in., Fig. 3. '" SeePl. XCVIII., Fig.5. "" A representation of tliis sliield is given on PI. XCIX., Fig. 4. "3 See PI. XCVIII. ' ' ♦ Accoriling t< > Herodotus, tlie Assjr- ians in the army of Xerxes "carried lances, daggers, and u-oodeii clubs hnotted with iron " ('p6-a?.a ^'v7.uv TCTv'/.uuiva aiSi/pu. Herod, vii. 63). It is possible that tiiis mav be a sort of i>eriplirii.sis for maces, whicn were not in u.se among the (j reeks of his day. 116 •• Nineveh and its Remains," vol. il. p. 341. no For foreign representations, see the author's " Herodotus," vol. iv. p. iXk and for a native one, see the same work, vol. iii. I). 69. "^ "Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. I). ."W9. In later timt>s. if we may Indieve Her'Mlotiis, the material of the AK.syriiui helmets was briplize. (Heroen common in Ureeoe in liis" own age, which was probably the 9th century B.C. We cannot prove tliat they 550 TUE SECOND MONARCHY. [en. VII. were known to the Assyrians much be- fore B.C. 700. "" See PI. CI., Fig. 5. which is taken from the Khorsahad sculptnres. ''•"' See " Nineveh and its Keniains," vol. ii. p. aw. '•^' See PI. XCVII., Fig. 1. '2^ Layard, " Nineveli and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 330, and note. '^^ Ibid. vol. i. p. 340; and vol. ii. p. 33.5. 124 Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," 1st Series, vol. i. p. ;i31. In the Egyptian corselet tlie plates of the sleeves wi^re not set at right angles to those of the body. ''•''' As in the representation given in PI. XCVII. i2« Herod, vii. 61 ; ix. 61 and 99. Com- pare Xen. " Inst. Cyr." i. 2, § 9, etc. I" See illustration, PI. CI., Fig. 5. Tlie Egyjitians supported their large shields with a crutch sometiines. (Wilkiiisdii. in the author's "Herodotus," v<»l, iv. pp. HO, 81.) We liave no evidence tliat the Assyr- ians did the same. 128 See Pis. XCVI. and XCVII. 1*0 Layard, " Monuments," 1st Series, Pis. 17, 19, 20. 130 The bronze shields foimd by Mr. Layard at Nimrud, one of which is repre- sented in his " Nineveh and Babylon " (p. 193), had a diameter of 23 feet. If we may trust the scidptures, a smaller size was more common. 131 See PI. XCIX., Fig. 4. The Greeks passed their arm through the liar at the centre of the shield, and g)-asped a leath ern thong near the rim with their hand. (See the author's "Herodotus," vol. i. p. 306.) '32 Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 194. 133 Shields of gold were taken from the servants of Hadadozer, king of Zobah (2 Sam. viii. 7), by David. Solomon made 800 such shields (1 Kings x. 17). Croesus dedicated a golden shield at the temple of A-mphiaraiis (Herod, i. 53). i3*SeePl. XCI. 135 j?or representations of roimd wicker bucklers, see Pis. XCVII. and XCIX. i>6 j^ representation of this shield in its simplest form is given in PI. XCVI., Fig. 4. 137 See Pis. XCIX. and C. 136 For a representation of the Greek shield, see Smith's " Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities," ad voc. Clipeus. 139 See PI. XCIX. 1*" Layard, "Mommients of Nineveh," 2d Series, PI. 41. Compare PI. CVUI., Fig. 3. I'll The Roman pilum, which is com- monly called a javeUn, exceeded six feet. The Greek ■yp6a(j)0(; or dart, was nearly four feet. 1^- See Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," 1st Series, vol. i. pp. 304, .30.5. 1*3 Mr. Layard says tliat the warrior carried the bow upon his shouldei-s, "hav- ing first passed his head through it." l"Nin, and its Remains," vol. ij. p. 342.) Tliis may have been the case sometimes, but generally both ends of the bow are seen on tljc same side of the head. !•" Si'i- " Dictionary of Greek and Ro man Anti()uities," p. 126, 2d edition. 1" .See PI. XCIX. ■■"See PI. XCn. i« See Pis. XCII. and XCIII. K" In th(! Khorsabad s<;uli)tures the quivers not mifrequently sliowed traces of paint. The color was sometimes red, sometimes blue. (See text, p. 221.) 1" Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 177. is» The lid was probably attached to the back of the quiver liy a hinge, and was made so that it could stand open. The Assyrian artists generally represent it in this nosition. The quiver, of which it was the top, must also have been round. I'l Possibly this bag may be the upper part of a bow-case attfiched to tlie quiver, which, being made of a flexible material, fell back when the bow was removed. Such a construction was common in EgjTst, (Wilkinson, " Ancient Egyptians," 1st Series, vol. i. pp. 345-:i47.) 1*2 Mr. Layard^s conjecture that the nu- merous iron rods which he discovered at Nimrud were " shafts of arrows " (" Nine- veh and Babylon," p. 194) does not seem to me very happy. The buraishing of arro\\'s mentioned in Scripture almost certainly alludes to the points. There in no evidence that such clumsy and incon- venient things as metal shafts were ever used by anj- nation. 1^3 A few stone arrow-heads have been found in the Assyrian ruins. [1^1- CV., Fig. 3.] They are pear-shaped and of fine flint, chipped into form. The metal ar- row-heads are in a few instances barbed. 1" Wilkinson, vol. i. p. 309. 1" See PI. XCVI. 1^" See Pis. XCV. and XCVI. "7 Both bronze and iron spear-heads were found at Nimrud. (Layard, " Nin. and Bab." p. 194. 168 See the illustration, PI. XCVm. 15* Representations of the Persian aci- naces will be given in a future volume. The reader may likewise consult the au- thor's "Herodotus," vol. iv. pp. 52, .53. 1'" Botta, "Monument de Ninive," vol. ii. PI. 99. "1 Mr. Layard says ("Nineveh and its Remains,'" vol. ii. p. 298) that the swords had often a cross-bar made of two lions' heads, ^rtth part of the neck and shoul- ders. But a careful examination of the mommients, or even of Mr. Layard's own drawings, wiU, I think, convince any one that the ornament in question is part of the sheath. It is never seen on a drawn sword. "= See Layard's "Mommients," 2d Se- ries, PL 46. i«3 gee FeUows' " Lycia," p. 75, and PI. 35, Figs. 4 and 5. A two-headed axe is likewise represented in some very eai'.y sculjitures, supposed to be Scythic, found by M. Texier in Cappadocia, CII. VI I. f THE SECOND MONARCHY. 551 *** I distitif^ish between the (laRfCHrand the short sword. Tlie place of tlie former is on the riff ht side; and it is worn inva- riably in the girdle. Tlie j)laee of tlie la^ ter is by the left hiij, and it haii)^ almost always from a cross-l>elt. When Mr. Layard says that " the dairj^er aiJi>ears to have been carried bii nil, both in time of peace and war" ("Nincveli :ind its Re- mains/" vol. ii. p. :ii:i), he must he under- stood a-s not makinj? this (listinction. The only place, so far as 1 know, where a subject carries a dagger, is on the slab represented by Mr. Layard in his 1st Series of " Mommients," PI. :£5, where it is, borne by one of the royal attendants. In PI. 31, the hunter who bears two dag- gers in his girdle is undoubteilly tlie mon- arch himself. '»* See Mr. Layard's " Monuments," l.st Series, PI. 14. Compare " Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 347. 188 •' Monuments," 1st Series, Pis. 14 and •" Herod, i. 103: UpuTog eUxcae Kara TeAea t ovq iv tiJ 'Aaiij, Kal TvpuToq diira^e X'^P'^i EKaarovq elvat, roi'f re ut- Xfio6povg Kal rovg 'nrTreag, Kal Toi%, TO^CHpopovg' npb tov de ava/il^ rjv irdvra o/xolug avaT£(^vpniva. i«8 Layard, '• Monuments of Nineveh," let Series, Pis. HO and 81. »«» Ibid, --'d Series, Pis. IfT and 38. "0 Ibid. 1st Serii's. PI. 09. '" Ibid. a *'" See the rei)resentation, PI. LXII. "•"Judith ii. 17: "And betook cnmris and asses for their carriages, a verj- great number, and sheep, and o.xen, and goats, without number, for tlieir provision. I nave given elsewhere my reasons (" Herodotus," vol. i. n. ^ITi, note *, 1st edition) for regarding tJie book of Judith as a post .\lexandrine work, and there- fore as no H'al nuthnrity on Assyrian his- tory or customs. But the writer had a good acquaintance with Oriental man- ner in general, which are and always have b.en ivmarkablv wid.-sprea); aa it is by the ( "almueks at the present day. It is one of the simplest of manufa^-turea, and would reatlily take the rounding form which is so remarkable in the roof* of the As.syrian tents. "3 Tlie.se are often representems to be intended in tlm bas-relief of which Mr. Ijuanl has given a rei>resentation in his '• Slonumeiits of Nineveh,"" 1st Series, PI. HI. According to the rendering of Sir H. Rawlinsou, Tighith-Pileser I. calls himself " the ojjen- er of the roads of the countries." ("In- sciiiition,"" p. ;j(), ji i.\.) '"'The i)robabilities of the ca.se alone would justif.y these conclusions, which are further supported by the Inscriptions (' Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser I." p. 30, J viii.; "Journal of Asiatli; .Society," vol. x\\. pn. 139. 1 K1. etc.). and by at least one bas-relief (.see PI. CIX.. Fig. 2l. "•Layard, "."Moinmn-iit.s."" 1st Seri<>«, PI. (i.'i. ".Mr. Fox Tulbot su|>pos<-s [lalan- quinstobe mcntioiiiHl more than once in an inscription of S»'nnacherib (" .Journal of Asiatic Society." vol. xi.\. pp. I.'j2, I.VJ, ITl. etc.); but Sir II. Kawlin.son does not allow this translation. ""' S«H? U'Xt, p. l."-l '""Layard, " Sloniiments," 3d Series, PI. 46. '""See particularly I.Ayard's "Monu- ments," l.st S«-ries. PI. 70. '"" Sometimes a tent was set apart for tlie jiiirpose, and the heads were piled in one corner of it. (l.,ayard, ".Monuments,"' .'<1 S,'ri.-s, I'l. f..) '■■" .Mr. Ijivarii n-gards this ornamenta- tion lus produced by a sii.siienslou from the liattlemeiits of the shields of the jfnr- ri.son, and suggests that it illustrnti-s the pi>.s.sjige in Kzekiel with ri-s|H-ct to Tyn-: • The men of Arvad with thine army wer^ r)b2 THE SECOND MONARCH V. [Cli. VII. upon thy walls round about, and the Gaminadiuis were in thy towers; they hamjed tlwir ahieldsupoH thy wa Unround nhoift.'' ("Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. ;iH8.) '»'' Layard, "Monuments," 2d Series, PI. 21. "3 Ibid. !»■« AsNos.I.,U.,and III.,P1. CX., Fig. 3. ""s As No. IV., PI. ex.. Fig. 3. "' See Mr. Layard's " Monuments," 1st Series, PI. 19. 1" Ibid. PI. 17. 198 Ibid. PI. 19. "" In tlie bas-reliefs rei)resented by Mr. Layard in his 2d Scries of "^loiiuments," PI. 21, wliere an ciioriuous nunil)er of torches are seen in tlie air, every batter- ing-ram is thus protected. A man, shel- tered under the franie\\ork of tlie ram, holds the pole which supports the cur- tain. (See the ram. No. II., PI. CX., Fig. 3. May not the irpoKaA viifKira of the Pla- taeans have been curtains of this descrip- tion? They were made of "skins and rawhides " (Thucyd. ii. 75). 200 Instead of chains, the Greeks used nooses I l^puxoi) made of rope probably, for this piu-pose. (See Thucyd. ii. 76, where dveiiAuv seems to mean " drew up- wards," and compare Livy xxxvi. 23, and Dio Cassius, 1080, 11.) 2"' Jer. vi. 6, xxxii. 24, xxxiii. 4, etc. 202 Ezek. xvii. 17. ="3 2 Kings xix. 32; Is. xxxvii. a3. The Jews themselves were acquainted with tliis mode of siege as early as the time of David. (2 Sam. xx. 15.) 2f« Thucyd. ii. 76. 2»' See PI. CXI., Fig. 1, and compare Mr. Layard's " Monimients," 2d Series, PL 18. So Thucydides speaks of the Pelo- ponnesian mound as composed of earth, stones, and wood. ('E(p6poi>v de vTifiv kg avTo Koi. Tiidovg aal yijv, Thucyd. ii. 75.) 206 The term "catapult" was properly appUed to the engine which threw darts; that which threw .stones was called bn lista. ^c' According to DiodoriLs, balistccwere chiefly used to break down the battle- ments which crowned the walls and the towers. (Diod. Sic. xvii. 42, 45; xx. 48, 88.) "OS Layard, "Monuments of Nineveh," 1st Series, PI. 66. 2»9 See PI. CI. ^lo Layard, " Moniunents," 1st Series. PI. 19. 211 Herod, i. 179; Diod. Sic. ii. 8, § 7. 212 Plutarch, " Vit. Camill." 12. 213 In tlie Affghan war one of the gates of the city of Caiidahar was ignited from the outside by tiie AfFghanees, and was entirely consmued in less than an hour. 2i< See Mr. Layard's " Monuments," 2d Series, PI. 40. 216 Fox Talbot, "Assyrian Texts," pp. 8, 17, etc. SI" So at least Sir Henry Rawlinson im- derstands a passage in the Tiglath-Pileser Inscription, coL vii. 11. 17-27, pp. 58-60. 21' "Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser 1." p. 28. 21" Layard, "Monuments," Ist Series PI. 65; 2d Series, PI. 30, et<;. 21 " "Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser I." p. 40; " Assyrian Texts," p. 17. 220 2 Kings xviii. ;i4. 221 See Mr. Layard's "Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 377, and comj)are a representation on Uie broken bla<;k (obe- lisk of Asshm--izir-pal, now in the British Museum. 222 See Mr. Layard's "Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 376. 223 See PI. XXXV., where a representa- tion of captives thus treated is given. 224 For a representation of this practice see Mr. Layard's "Monuments," 1st Se- ries, PI. 82. The Persian monarchs treat- ed captives in the .same way, as we see by the rock sculpture at Behistmi. The prac- tice has always prevailed in the East. See Josh. X. 24; Ps. viii. 6; ex. 1; Lament, iii. 34, etc. 226 For a representation, see PI. XXXV. 226 One king, the great Asshur-izir-pal, seems to have employed emjialement on a large scale. (See his long lascription, " Briti.sh Maseum Series," Pis. 17 to 26.) 227 " AssjTian Texts," p. 28. 228 Another mode of executing with the mace is repre.sented in Mr. Layard's " Nin- eveh and Babylon," p. 458. 229 See the " Inscription of Tiglath-Pi- leser I." pp. 24 and ,50; " Assyrian Texts," pp. 11, .30, etc. 230 See text, pp. 272, 273. 231 " Assyrian Texts," 1. s. c. 232 See particularly the slab in the Brit- ish Museum, entitled " Execution of the King of Su-siana." 233 Eor a representation see Mr. Lay- ard's " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 457. 234 Herod, v. 25: ^lad/ivz/v I3aac?^vc KajLipi'ar/g,(T(j>a^ag aiz s6ei pe rrdaav Tijv avdpunijUfv. And again, a Uttle fur- ther on: Tov diroKTEivag anedeipe^ "flay- ed after he had slain." 235 Herod, iv. QA: no27oi 61 avdpuv ex6po)v raf de^iag X^P^C v e k p uv e ovT uv aTrodEipavTeg, avrolai ow^i KalvTvrpaQ ruv fpaperpiuv Troisvvrai. 236 The Scythians used the skins of theii' enemies as trophies. When Cam- byses had Sisamnes flayed, it was to cover with his skin the seat of justice, on which his son had succeeded liim, and so to de- ter the son from imitating the corruption of his father. 237 See Herod, iii. 69, 154; vii. 18; Xen. " Anab." i. 9, § 13; Amm. Marc, xxvii. 12; Procop. "De Bell. Pers." i. 11; Jerem. xxxix. 7, etc.; and compare Brisson, "De Regn. Pers." ii. pp. 334, 335. 23 » The whole slab is engraved by 5Ir. Layard in his " Monuments," 2<:i Series, PI. 47. A portion of it is also given in his ■' Nineveh and Babylon," p. 4.58. 239 See " Tiglath-Pileser Inscription,* au. \^I.] THE SECOND MONARCHY. 553 col. vi. I. 85; "Assyrian Texts," gp. 2, 7, etc. 2<« Ibid. p. 4. "" Ezra IV. 2 and 9. 3" 2 Kings xviii. 11. *" See PI. XXXII. 2*« See Pi. XXXII., and PI. XXXVI., Fig. "■"* " Assyrian Text.s," p. 19 and note. '■'" See the author's " Herodotus," vol. i. p. 493, note i. 5<7 "As.syrian Texts," p. 11; "Tiglath- Pileser Inscription," p. 44, etc. "'"' Layani, " Monuments," 1st Series, P1.S. 61, 74, 7,i; 'M S.Ti.-s. I'l.s. :«, .^1, etc. S4i) por repivscnUitidiis of such groups, see PLs. LXVII. nnd LXVllI. 300 -'Inscription," p. .58. *" " Assyrian Texts," p. 2.5. •i62 pyp a descrii)tiijn of these terradd-i, see Mr. Luyard's " Xineveli and Babylon," p. .5.)2, and compare Loftu.s, " Chaldtea and Su.siana," p. 92. The larger tcrra- das are of teak, but the smaller "consist of a very narrow framework of rushes covered with bitumen." These last st^'ui to be the exact counterpart of the boats represi'iitod in the sculptures. (See >lr. Layard's " Monuments," 2d Series, I'ls. 25, 27, and 28. ) '•''^ Layard, ibid. 1. s. c. ^^* Botta, " Monument de Ninive," vol. i. Pis. 31 to a5. ■^^* Herod, viii. p. 97; Ctes. " Exc. Pers." §20; Strab. ix. 1, § 13. 2611 Arrian, "Exp. Alex." ii. 1. ss' Unless they had been successful, they would not, we may be sure, have made the construction of the mole the subject of a set of bas-reUefs. 25« Isaiah xliii. 14. 269 Sec the description in Mr. Layard's " Monuments," 1st Series, p. l(i, and com- pare " Nineveh and its Reniain.s," vol. ii. p. :i^. 2(11) " joiu-nal of the Asiatic Society," vol. xix. p. 1.>1. '•"" Menauder ap. Joseph. "Ant. Jud." ix. 11, § 2. It has been thought tiuil Sar- gon attacked Cyprus. (Oppert, "Inscrip- tions des Sargonides," p. 19.) But his monument found at Idalium does not prove tliat he carried his arms there. By the inscription it appeai-s that the tablet was carved at liahi/lon, and conveyed thence to Cypnis by Cyprian envoys. '^''•' To tliis class beloiig the rock sculpt- ures, five or six in mnnber. at the Nahr- el-Kelb. There is another of th(> same character at Bavian, a third at Ki;il, on the main Tigris stream above Diai-bekr, and there are twf) others at the sourci's of the eastei-n TIgr-is, or river of Supnat. Two block memorials have been found at Ktu-kli, 20 miles Ijelow Oiarbekr, record- ing the exploits of Asshiir-izii--jial, and hLs son, Shalmaueser II. They were dis- covereil by Mr. John Taylor in IWi-,*, and are now in" the British :\Iiis«Mim. The Egil and Supnat tablets were also discovered by Mr. Taylor. »•» Layard, "Monuments," 1st Series, PI. 31. The Sfiuared flap is always tliat which is worn lx,-hind. "* The ai'cotint and the representation of this complicate! I garment are taken mainly from the work of M. Botta (" Mon- innent de Ninive." vol. v. p. KJi. But the author ha.s slightly m<>*li(leL Botta's theory and his illastration. a»6 See Mr. Layard's •' Nineveh and its Reniain.s," vol. u. onp. p. 7. *'• See Botta's " Monioment," vol. i. PL 12, and vol. ii. Pl. 155. »»' See PI. CXIX. *•" Sh(M*s were not absolutely unknown to the A.s.syrians, even in the earliest jx- riod, since tJiey are represent«'iire the llgun' in an arched fnime repn'senti-d in the .sivine author's "Nineveh and Babylon," opp. I., .'ill. 2"o ).\„. a re|ire.scntatlou of tl»e sacretl collar. s«-«' PI. CXIH., Fig. 8. s^' .S'* Horat. Od. I. xxviii. 8: " Et cubifo remanete pr esse." See also Sat. I. iv. 30. The Roman fashion ha.s been thus de- scriljed (and the description would evi- dently suit the Assyrians jast as well): " They lay with the upper part of the body resting on the left arm. the head a Lttle raisfil, the back supported by cush- ions, and the limbs stretched out at fidl length, or a little bent." (Lipsius, "An- tiq. Lect." iii.) 286 See Pis. XLII. and XLIII. M. Botta supposes that both fringes were attached to the cross-belt (" Monument de Ninive," vol. V. p. 80); but in that case the lower of the two would scarcely have termi- nated, as it docs, horizontally. *«» See Mr. Layards "Monuments," 1st Series, PI. ,5. 287 Compare Pis. CX\n.-CXIX. S8B This point will be considered In the chapter on the Religion of the Assjnians. 28» See Smith's " Bibhcal Dictionary," vol. i. p. 590. 2»ij This is Mr. Layard's view. (" Nine- veh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 32.5.) 2*' See especially the slabs of Asshur- bani-pal (Layard, " Monuments," 2d Se- ries, Pis. 47 to 49), where less than half the royal attendants are eunuchs. 2^*2 iJ'rom the time of Sennacherib down- wards the king's quiver-bearer and mace- bearer, two attendants veiy close to his person, cease to be eunuchs. The last chief eunuch recorded as holding the ofBce of eponym belongs to the reign of Tiglath-Pilesef II. ^^3 See PI. CXVn. 2*4 Layard's " Nineveh and its Re- mains," vol. ii. p. 327. M. Botta suggests that this prominent officer is "un Mage"' ("Monmuent," vol. v. p. 8G); but he ap- pears in scenes which nave no reUgious character. 295 Sometimes, where the king and the vizier appear together, the robe of the vizier is even richer in its ornamentation than that of the monarch. (See Layard, " Monuments," 1st Series, PL 23.) 2»8 Layard, "Monuments," 1st Series, Pis. 12 and 23. There is one bas-rehef where the tasselled apron is worn, not only by the Vizier, but also by the (L'liief Eunuch and other principal attendants. See PI. CX\'II., Fig. 2. 2" See PI. CXIV., and compare the il- lustration PL CXVI., Fig. 2. 288 Layard, '•Monimients," 1st Series, PI. 12. 2" See PL CX\a. s"" Ibid. s"' See Mr. Layard's "Monimients," 1st Series, Pis. 63 and 77: 2d Series. PL 23. S02 " Monimients." 1st Series, PL 12. 3»3 See PL CXVI. 3»4 See the Black Obelisk, First Side ("Monmnents of Nineveh," 1st Series. PL 53), where the king is faced by the ^nzier in the topmost compartment, and imme- diately below by this official represented as in PL CXVII. 306 fjie Jong brush-fan belongs to the earlier, the long feather fan to the later period. (See Pis. CXV. and CXX.) SOB " Monuments of Nineveh," 2d Series, Pis. 47 to 49. ^"^ Still they do not seem to be soldiers. They cari-y neither spears, shields, nor bows, and they stand with the hands joined— an attitude peculiar to the royal attendants. 3oe Herodotus ascribed the invention of this practice to Deioces, his first >Iedian king (i. 99). Diodorus Ijelieved that it had prevailed in A.ssyria at a much ear- lier date (ii. 21). But in this he was cer- tainly mistaken. On its general jjreva- lence in the East, see Brisson " De. Reg. Pers. Princ." i. p. 2:J: and compare Gib- bon, "Decline and Fall," ch. xiii. (vol. ii. p. 9.5, Smith's edition). 309 Layard, " Monuments of Nineveh," 2d Series, Pis. 12 and 1.5. 310 por representations of these thrones see Pis. LXXIV.. LXXXV. Sargon's throne is represented as carried by two attendants on his triumphant return from an expedition. (Botta, " Monument de Ninive." vol. i. PL 18.) Sennacherib sits on his throne to receive captives out^ side the walls of a town supposed to be Lachish. (Layard, "Nineveh and Baby- lon," pp. 150-1.52.) Instances of kings sitting on their thrones inside their forti- fied camps will be found in Mr. Layard's " Monuments," 1st Series, Pis. 63 and 77. 31' Diod. Sic. ii. 21. 23. 312 See text, pp. 269-282. 313 See the author's "Herodotus," vol. i. p. 382, note 2, id ed. 314 See PL CXV. M. Lenormant ap- peal's to have mistaken the eunuchs who are in attendance, playing on iu.struments or fanning the king, for the other mem- bers of his hareem ("Manuel," voL ii. p 122). 31* Diod. Sic. ii. 4, §1; 7, §1. 3i''r>id. ii. 26. §8. 31- See PL LXTV'., Fig. 3. 318 See PL LXV. 319 See the illastration, PL LXXH. 320 In an itLscription appended to one of his sculptures, Asshur-bani-pal says, " I, Asshur-'oani-pal. king of the nations, king of Assyria, in my great courage fighting on foot with a lion, terrible for his size, seized hmi by the ear. and in the name of Asshiu- and Ishtar, Goddess of War. witli the spear that was in my hand 1 termin- ated his Ufe." (Fox Talbot in "Journal of the Asiatic Society," vol. xix. p. 272.) 321 See PL LXXni. 322 See the illustration. PL LXXI. 323 Such attempts are common both in the earlier and the later sculptures. (See Pis. LXn'. andLXVI.) 324 As in the slab of Asshur-bani-pal, from which the representation is taken, PL LXXII. 325 Xo instance, however, is found of a hounii engaged with a hon. 32« See the Great Lion Himt of Asshi» CM. VII.] THE SECOND MONARCHT. 655 bani-pal in the basement room, British Museum. 32' Tiglath-Pileser I. relates that in his varioiLs jom^neys he killed 800 lions. (" In- scription," p. .56.) '2" See text, ja. 20; compare Ix>ftiLs. " Chaldaea and Susiaua," pp. 243, 244. etc. ^'^^ Loftus, p. 201. Mr. Ijiyard. how- ever, relates that the Maidan Ai-abs have a plan on the sti-en^h of which they venture to attack lions, even singly. " X man, haviuj? bound his ri^bt ann with strips of tamarisk, and holilinjj in his '■ hand a strong piece of the same wood. ! about a foot or morf in length, hardened i in the fire and sharpened at both ends. 1 will advance boldly into the aiilinals lair, j When till' lion springs ujion him. he forces the wodd into the aiiiniarsextcndiMl jaws, whiidl will then l)e held oix-n whilst he can despatch the a-stonishcil beast at his j leisure with the pistol which he holds in his left hand." ('•Nineveh and Baby- lon." p. .507.) 330 Loftus. pp. 2.59-2C2. S31 The Aunwhs is still foimd in the Cauca.sua. Its four parts are covered by a sort of frizzled wool or hair, which " forms a beard or small mane upon the tlu'oat." ("Encycl. Brit." ad voc. Mam- malia, vol. xiv. p. 215). Such a mane is often represented upon the sculiitures. (Layard, "Monuments," 1st Series, IMs. 32, 46, etc.) Its horns are nlaced low. and are verv thick. Its .shoulders are hea\T and of'great depth. In height it mea.s- ures six feet at the shoulder, and is be- tween ten and eleven feet in length from the no.se to the insei-ticjii of the tail. All these eliaract«^ristics seem to me to agree well with the sculptured bulls of the As- syriiius, which are far less hke the wild buffalo (A"(w huhalus). 332 See Mr. Layard's " Monuments," 1st Series, Fl. 4M, figl 0. 333 Ibid. PI. 11. 334 The pni-suit of the wild bull is rep- resented with more frequency and m greatei- detail upon the earlv sculptures than even that of the lion. In the Nim- rud series we see the bull pui"sued bv chariots, hursi'inen. and footmen, both seiiaratelyand logctber. Weob.serve him prancirig'anioiig ret-ds. reiiosing, fighting with the lion, ehargiiig thi' king's chariot, wounded and falling, fallfii. and lastly la ill out in state for the linal religioiLS eereiiiony. No such elaborate series illus- trates the eha,se of the rival animal. (See Mr. Layard's " Moinnnents." 1st Series, Pis. 11, 12, ;«. 4.3, 44. 45. Ki. 4H. and 4!).) 335 Xhcre are two animals mentioned in the Tiglath-Pileser Inseripfion which have bi'cn thought to represi-nt wild cat- tle. These are hunti'd ri-speelivcly in the Hittite country, i.e. Northern Syria, and in the neighliorhocMl of Harraii. ("In icnption. p ari.son of the pas.sagi's m wliich it occurs, almotit certainly to 'mean an aminal of the ox kind. (See esix'cially Is. xxxiv. 17, where it is joined with the domestic bull, and Job xxxix. J>-12. where the t|uefitions de- rive their force fn im an implied compari- son with that animal.) ssK Four "Kims " oidy are mentioned as slain. (.)f the other animal ten were slain and fom* taken. (»f lions on the same expedition Tiglath-l'ileser slew a hiniilred and twenty. 33' This appears" from the sculpture rei)resented by Mr. I>ayard in his " Mon- lunent.s," 1st Series. PI." 12. where the cer- emonv is perfonned over a bull. 33" ftee text, pp. M and 89. 33» See text, pp. 2<.te erected at plea.siu^e. (See PI. XXXII., No. I.) 3<' I.,jiyard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 270. note". 3" Yet it must Ije confessed that in the repi-esentations no trace of a wound is to be si-en. 3'3 See Herod, vii. 86, and the author's note, ad loc. vol. iv. p. 75. Comjiare Pau- san. i. 21, §8; Suidas ad voc. crfv/Mi, and Sir O. Wilkinson's " Ancient EgyiJ'''^'i8»" 1st Series, vol. iii. p. 15. 3<« See PI. XXVII.; and compare JjiY- ard's " Nineveh and its Remains," vol. iL p. 4:51. 3<5 S«>e PLs. CXIX. and CXXI. 3411 i.-,,r rejircseiitations of the AIktvov see Dr. Smith's " Dictionarj- of Greek and Roman Antiiiuitles," p. 989, 2d ey the Kgyptians. (Wilkin.son. ".Vneient Egyp- tians," 1st Series, vol. iii. pp. l-7.> '*' On the slab from \Uiich the ibexes n'pn'senled in the illustration are taken, the king and an attendant are seen croiii'hing as the lu-nl ajinroaches, in such a way as to make it evident that the intention was to represent them as lying in ambu.sh. i '<" S<'e Mr. Ijwanrs " Nineveh and Babvlon." pp. 48II1.S.3. '*" Ibi.l. p. 4.82. note. "0 " Monuments of Nineveh," M Geriea, 556 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [cu. Vll. 130, PI. 83. The slab itself is in Uk; Brili.sh Museum. 361 "Nineveh and Babylon," pp, 26S, etc. 3"'^ See PI. CXXUI. 3"3 Botta, "Monument de Ninive " vol. ii. Pis. lOH, 110, and 111; Layard, "Monu- ments," -iiA Series, PI. 32. The hare is al- ways carried by the hind legs, exactly as we carry it. See the representation, PI. XXVIII., Figs. 1, 2. 3" Botta,, PI. 111. This bird has been already figured. (See PI. XXIX.) 3s» The dish is iu the British Museum. A representation of it is given by Mr. Layard m his "Monuments," 2d Series, PI. 64. 366 See Pis. CXIX., CXXI., CXXII. 3" Botta, Pis. 108 to 114. These sculpt- ures were all in one room, and form a se- ries from wliich two slabs only are miss- ing. 358 Hares and partridges were among the dehcacies with wliicli Sennacherib's servants were in the habit of fiu-nisliing his table, as we may gatlier from the pro- cession of attendants represented at Ko- yimjik in the inclined passage. (See Lay- ard, "Monuments," 2d Series, PI. 9, and compare " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 338.) 359 Wilkinson, " Ancient Egyptians," 1st Series, vol. iii. p. 53, PI. 343. 380 Ibid. pp. 52-54. 381 Ibid. p. 54. 362 See text, p. 04. 363 See the woodcut in Mr. Layard's "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 231. 364 Wilkinson, p. 52. PI. 341. Compare his remarks, pp. 58 and .54. 366 The use of nets for fishing seems to have been a very early mvention. So- phocles joins it with ship-building, plough- ing, trap-making, and horse-breaking ("Antiq." 347). Solomon certainly knew of the practice (Eccl. ix. 12), as did Homer (" Odyss." xxii. 384-386). It was of great antiquity In Egypt. 366 Xen. "Anab."i. 5, §2. S67 See PI. XXIX. 368 The chase of the ostrich seems to be mentioned in tlie inscriptions of Asshm-- izir-pal. See text, ch. ix. 369 Verses 5, 7, 10. and 15. 3'o See especiaUy Psalm cl., where the trumpet, psaltery, harp, timbrel, pipe (./), organ (?), and cymbal are aU mentioned together. Compare Ps. xxxiii. 2; xcii. 3; xcviii. 5, 6, etc. 3" Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," 1st Series, vol. ii. pp. 2.5:^-327. The instm- ments enmuerated are the darahooka drum, cymbals, cvlindrical maces, the tnimpet, the long'drimi, the harp, the lyre, the guitar, the tlute, the single and double pipe, the tambourine, and the sis- triun. "2 Layard, ' ' Nineveh and its Remains,' vol. ii. p. 412. The conjecture is probable, though no means of suspension are seen on the sculptiu-es. 3' 3 The Egyptians had a triangular hai-p (WTiiMnson, p. 280), which is not unlike the As,syrian. And St. Jerome says that the Hebrew harp (lUS) resembled the Greek delta, which is an argimient that it also was of this shape. s''* The board is commonly pierced with two or jnore holes, like the sounding- board of a guitar. 37 The aljovt- representation Ls from a slab discovficd liy Mr. Loftus in the pal- ace of Asshiir hiini-pal, the son of Esar- haddon. It i.s the only instance (if a tri- angular lyre in tlie sculptures, unless the lyres of the so-called Jeirish captives in the British Museum are intended to be triangular, wliich is uncertain. See PI. CXXI. 3' 6 Wilkinson, vol. ii. p. 291. Woodcut No. 217. 3" In some of the classical l3Tes the two arms were joined at the base, and thertMvas no tortoise or other sounding- board below them. (Bianchini, " De trib- gen. instiiunent."Tab. iv.) 37« Huch a strap Ls occasionally seen in the Eg;\])tiaii representations. (Wilkin- son, p. 3U2, Woodcut No. 323.) 3'» Wilkinson, pp. 307-312; and com- pare pp. 232-237. 3**'' Athen. " Deipnosoph." iv. 25. 381 Plutarch. " De Musica," p. 1135, F. 3S2 The Egyi'tian pipes seem to have varied from seven to fifteen or eighteen inches. (Wilkinson, p. 308.) The classi- cal were probably even longer. In Phoe- nicia a very shoit pipe was used, which was called gingrus. (Athen. "Deipn." iv. p. 174, F.) 3»3 See PUny, "H. N." xvi. 36. 38-1 Wilkinson, pp. 235, 340, and 329. 386 They are probably identical with the "high-sounding cymbals" ('/X/llf H^fl'in) of Scripture. The ' ' loud cymbals " " {HT^O •h-ii-i) were merely castanets. 3"*6 Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 5,>4. 387 por representations of these dnuns, see PL CXXX., Fig. 2. 388 Wilkinson, vol. ii. pp. 2.38. -322-327, etc. 389 Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 4.54. 390 See "Monuments of Nineveh," 2d Series, PI. 15. The original slab is in the British JIuseum, but in so bad a condi- tion that the tnmipet is now scarcely vis- ible. 3»i Tlie trumpet was employed by the Greeks and Romans, and also by the Jews, chieflv for signals. (See •■ Diet, of Gr. and Rom.'Antiq." ad voc. TUBA; and " BibU- cal Dictionary," ad voc. CORNET.) ss^ See Rollin, "Ancient History," vol. ii. p. 2.54. 3S3 See "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 455. It may perhaps be thought that the scene where the king is represented as poiuing a libation over four dead Uons (see PL CXX., Fig. 4) furnishes a second instance of the combination of vocal ^vith instru- mental music. But a comparison of that scene with parallel representations on a CII. VII.] THE SECOND MONARCHY. 557 larger scale in the Nimrud series eon- vini;e8 nie that it is merely by a neglect ijf tlie artist that tlie two musiciaus are given only one harp. 3v* Layard, '• Monuments of Nineveh," 1st Scries, PI. 73. "»' The authorities at our National Col- lection at one time entitled the l)a.s-relief In question "Jeinsfc cajHives playing on lyres." "« Ps. cx-X-Yvii. 1, 2. s»' It is urll knosvn tliat the Jews re- gard tiiti second com- mandment as forbid- ding all arti.stio repre- venUilion of natural ' ibjects. ^'•"' The autliorities varj- between ten strings and forty -sev- en. (Smith's •■ biblical " vol. i. p. T.JW.) Heljrew coins, •epreseut lyres with as few strings as thrtc. s" Ps. c.v.xxvii. .3, 4. ■""' I am acijuainted with this sculpture only through one of Mr. Boutcher's nd- niirable drawings in the BritLsh Maseum Collection. <"' This is also the ease in a sculpture where two musii-ians jjlay the lyre, and a third had probably the same instrument. (See Botta, "Monument de Nhiive," vol. i. PI. 07.) *»» Both this and the obeli.sk sculpture are now in the BritLsh Mu.seum. '"» See PI. CXXIX.. {•'ig. 1. ■•<" This sculpture is also known to us only through Mr. Boutcher"s representa- tion of it. <"'' A portion of this l)a.s-relief, contain- ing two musicians only, is e.xhibitere actually on the relief as discovered at lea,st five other musicians. <»'' Ps. xlvii. 1: Herod, ii. 60; Wilkin.son, ".Vncient Egyptians," 1st Serie.s, vol. ii. p. ;i,'(!. <»' Si-e the representations, Pis. CXXVTI. and CXXX. •"'"See "Monuments of Nineveh," 1st Series, Pis. 12 and 17, and compare PI. CXX., Fig. 4. *"* The fnigmentary character of the sculptures renders it oft«'n doubtful whether the ai-tual numlier of the [wr- fonuei-s may not have considerably ex- ceeded the number at jiresent visible. <■» Wilkinson, vol. ii. pp. -W. -^'A; Liv. i. 13; Sueton. "Vit. Jul." S 'i'i\ Anim. Marc. xxiv. 4; etc. <" Supra, PI. CXX\^. <'■•' The evidence is not merely nega- tive. It is positivelv stiitt^l by Herodotus that in the time of the Assyrian a.scend- ancy the carrying trmle of the ea.st<*rn Mediterranean wfis in the hands of the Phoenicians (Herod, i. 1 1: and I.saiah (xliii. 14) implies that the Chaldienns of iiis time retained the trade of the Persian UuIC 4IS Herod, t. 52; and see text, pp. VO, 414 If ,.ven the Araxes (Aras) might be truly said in Virgil's time to "abhor a bridge" ("jKintem indiguatiLs Araxes," Virg. ",-En, " viii. 72Hi. much more would the.se two mightiest slreauLS of Western Asia have in the early ages defied tlie art of bridge-building. *" The lowest bridge over the Tigris is that of iJiarlx'kr, a stone structure of ten arches; the lowest on Uie Euphrates. Ls, 1 believe, that at Eiihin. Mr. Berriiigttm, a recent traveller in the East, informs mu that there is a ruined bridge, which onc« cros.se Sfi' PI. LX.\II1. for a r»>presentation of sm-h a biretne. ■"- Masts and sails will 1m« founil in repre.setitations of Pluenician vj-ss*'!* il-ayard, ".Monuments," l.st S»'rles, PI. 71)." which l>elong to the time of Sen- nacherib. Ma.sts without s-iils ap|iear in the sculptures of Sargnn. i Bottu, " Mon- ument,' vol. i. PK 31 to.T>.) «" See the repnajcntaliou, PI. LXXIH 558 TUE SECOND MONARCHY. [CJI. VII. "< Supra, PI. CXXXIII. <35 Lavard, "Monuments," 3d RHries, Pis. 1;:, i.3. The entire lj;is-r.-lief , of whieli IMr. Layard lias represcnt.il parts, may be se»'U in the British Museiun. •"" .N'aliuni iii. 10. *'■>'' Ezek. xxvii. iJ3, 34: " Haran and Can- neh and Eden, the merchants of .Sheha, Asslinr, and C'hilmad, were thy mer- ehaiits. These were thy merchants in all sivrls of thintcs |or, e,xcellent thinffs], in blue clothes [or, foldingsj, and broid- ered W(jrk, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, amongthy merchandise."' InEzek. xxvii. G, the As.shurites {D"^\ffi<~ r\2) are .said to liave made the Tyrians "benches of ivory;" but it is doubtful if the Assyr- ians are intended. (Compare Gen. xxv. 3). "« Herod, i. 1. «9 Ibid. i. 194. (Compare 185.) **o Diod. Sic. u. 11. 441 Strab. xvi. 3, § 4, and 1, § 9. ■"■•^ Heeren, " Asiatic Nations," vol. ii. pp. 19-1-198. E. T.; Layard, "Nineveh and its Remain.s,"' vol. ii. p. 414; Vance Smith, " Prophecies relating to Nineveh," pp. 62, 03. ■"43 The distance from the Straits of Bab- el-3Iandeb to the western mouth of the In- dus is more than double that from the Has MiLsendom to the same point. The one is 800. the other 1800 miles. ^^^ See the "Journal of the Geograph- ical Society." vol. x. p. 21. "s Ibid. p. 22. 441 About B.C. TOO. The inscriptions are in the early Scythic Armenian, and be- long to a king called Minua, who reigned at Van towards the end of the eighth century b.c. •*■"' This pass is the lowest and easie.st in the whole chain, and would therefore al- most certainly have come mto use at a very early date. ■'■''* This statement is made on the author- ity of Sir H. Rawltnson. 4'"' See the article on Dajiascus in Dr. Smith's "Bib. Diet.." vol. i. p. 383. ■>5» Layard, " Nin. and Bab.,' pp. 280-282. *^^ Tiphsach is formed from nD3, "to pass over" (whence our word "Pas- chal "), by the addition of the prosthetic H. 452 That Solomon built Tadmor for com- mercial purposes ha.s been generally seen and allowed, (cf. Ewald, " Ge.schichted ; VoLkes Israel," vol. iii. p. 344, 2d ed.. Kitto, "Bibhcal Cyclopaedia," vol. ii. p. 816; Mihnan, "History of the Jews," vol. i. p. 266.) <" Ezek. xxvii. 23. 4" See text, p. 131. 455 Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 49, and Map; Ainsworth's " Travels in the Track," etc., pp. 141-171. Mr. Ainsworth, however, takes the Ten Thousand along the route from Serf to Mush, leaving tlie Van Lake considerably to the east. 458 Chiefly by Mr. Consul Taylor, whose discoveries" in this region will be again noticed in the Historical chapter. 4" There were perhaps two other northern routes intermediate between these: one leading uj) the Sujmat or river of Sophene— the easti'm branch of the true Tigris, and crossing the Euphrates at Paluu, where there is an inscription in the Scythic Armenian; and the other, described by Procopias ("De ..Ediflc." ii. 1 1, which cros.sed the moimtains between Rcdwun and Manh. 4"' Strab. xvi. 1, § 9, and 3, § 3. 45» La.>-ard, " Nineveh and its Remains," vol. i. pp. :w, i:J4; vol. ii. pp. 263, 304; "Nin- eveh and Babylon," p. 6o2. 4«" Diod. Sic. u. 27, 2H; Athen. "Deipn." xii. 37; Phceiiix Coloph. ap. Athen. xii. 4(J; Plin. "H. N." xxxiu. 15; Nahum ii. 9, etc. 4 81 The whole passage in Nahum runs thus: "Take ye the spoil of silver, take the .spoil of fjiAd: for there is none end of the store, the abundance of every precious thing.'' 482 Layard, "Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 4)6. 483 1 Kings ix. 28, x. 11: Job xxii. 24. 484 Ezek. xxvii. 22. 485 The " merchants of Sheba " who " oc- cupied "' in the fairs of Tyre with "chief of aU spices, and with all precious stones and gold " (Ezek. I.e.), were imdoubtedly Arabiau.s — i.e.. Sabseans of Yemen. (Heer- en, "Asiatic Nations," vol. ii. p. 98, E. T.: Poole in Smith's "Bibhcal Dictionary," vol. i. p. 94, ad voc. Arabia.) 488 Through the Carthaginians, their colonists, who v^ere the actual traders in this quarter. (See Herod, iv. 196.) 487 See text. p. 65. 4«8 g^.y tjiy results of Dr. Percy's analysis of Assyrian Ijronzes in Mr. Layard's " Nin- eveh and Babylon," Appendix, pp. 670- 672. 488 Compare Herod, iii. 115; Posidon. Fr. 48; Polyb. in. 57, % 3; Diod. Sic. v. 22 and .38; Strab. iu. p. 197: Plin. " H. N." iv. 22; Timaeusap. Plin. iv. 16; Pomp. Mel. iii. 6; Solin. 26. According to Diodorus and Strabo, the Phoenicians likewise obtained tin from Spain. 4'"" Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 191. 4'i See text, pp. 22.5-226. The clas.sical writers were acquainted ■with tliis fact. Dionysius Periegetes says that Semiramis built a temple to Belus, Xpvao), 7/6' k'/.t^avTt, koX ap}-vp(f) acK7]~ ' caaa. — (1. 1008.) And Festus Avienus declares of the same building, " Domus Indo dente nitescit." — G- 931.) 472 See Sir H. Rawlinson's " Commen- tary on the (?imeifonu Inscriptions of Babylonia and Assyria," p. 48. 4'3 On this subject see Mr. Birch's "Memoir" in the "Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature," New Series, vol. in. p. 174. 474 See Heeren, " Asiatic Nations," vol CH. VII.] THE SECOND MONAIWIIY. 559 ii. p. 415, E. T. ; Poole in Smith's " Biblical Dictionary," ad voc. Dedan. ••■"> Isaiah xxi. 13. Comp. Ezek. xxvii. 15. <'« See tlie illu.stration, supra, PI. XXX. ■"' Darius Codomauuus liad but flfleen elephants at Arbela. (Arrian, "Exp. Alex." iii. 8.) 478 The best niiiit>s are tIio.se near Fj-za- bad, east of Balkh, on the ui)ijer Jihun River (Fraser's " Kliorasan," pp. 105, lOCi. The other localities where the stone is foiUKl are the region about Lake Baikal, and some parts ol' Tliibet and China. (See Eneycl. Britann. ad voe. Mineralogy.) <'» Plin. " H. N." xxxvii. 7. **''' According to Ctesiius, the onyxes u.scd for Seals by the Babylonians and Assyrians were chieHy derived front In- dia. (Ctes. '■ Ind." § 5.) DionysiusPerie- getea speaks of agates as abundant in the bed of the Choaspes ("Perieg." 11. 1075- 1077). ^x' See Tlieophrast. " De Lapid." p. 397; Phn. "H. N." xxxvi. 7 and ii. Tliat the Xaxian stone of the Greeks and Romans was emery is proved by Mr. King ("An- cient (ienis," p. 173), who believes it to have been first used by, and to have de- rived its name of "enierv," from the As- syrians. 'File Semitic shamir or sh'inir (TOiiM became the Greek OfjI'pig, Latin sinyrix or sm iris, lUxUau smeriglio, French csmcril, or emeril, and our "emery." It seems to be certain that the Assyrian gems could not have been engraved with- out emery. 4«2 See text. p. 196. Compare Laj-ard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 357. *>'3 See text, p. 270. <*■' Layard, Nin. and Bab.," p. 595. 4«5 Arrian, "ludica," p. 174. 4N0 " Xo mention shall be made of coral or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies " (Job, xxvili. 18). •"" Layard, " Nin. and Bab." pp. 281, 282. <«» Ibid. p. 280. <8» Herod, i. 183. *»» Herod, iii. 107: 'Ei; Jf ralry [r»; ^fiaj-ili^ ?.ifiauT6^ eari /nohvy Xwpwt' -(imuv (pvdfievog. Virg. "Gcorp." ii. 117: " Solis est thurea virga SabaMs." "• Ex. XXX. 23. "2 Herod, iii. 111. <"» Ibid. «"< Herodotus thought that cinnamon was a product of Arabia (iii. 107). But in this he was probably mistaken. (See Pliny, " H. N."xii. 19.) " No true cinnamon seems to grow nearer Eurojx' than Ceylon and Malabar. <"•'> Kzek. xx^'ii. -M. The conjecture is made by Vincent (" Periplus," vol. i. p. 02). "" See Heeren ("Asiatic Nations," vol. ii. p. 208. E. T.) <"' Ezekicl tells us that Armenia (Togar- mah) traded with Pluenicia in "horses. horseuM-n, and mules"— or, more cor- rectly, in "carriage-horses, ridlug-horscs. audmuli's" (Hitzig, "Comment." ad voc.). In such articles Assyria would b« likely to be at leiwt as good a customer an PtKenicia. ■'»■" Tuljal and Meshech (the TibarenJ and Moschii '" trade«l the iHTsonsof men '' in the market of Tyre (Ez. xxvii. 13). Their position In A.s.syrian times wa« be- tween Armenia and the ilaiys. <»» HeriMl. i. 1: <1x)^)7j«, 'Aatrifiui. '»<• Ezek. xxvii. 2i. ■». "" .Si^ above, note*''. '"■J Neither the "clothes" of the Au thorized Vei"sion, which is the n-nderinij in the text, nor the "foldings" of UK margin, set-ms to give the true meaning. frulom (DwJ) is from D/J, "tt> wrap together," and nieaiLS "tiial in which a man wrajts him.self," "a cloak." Boxtorf translates by "pallium." ("Lex." ad voc.) "•= Kikmuh (nOp'l) is the word used, from Dp^, " to euibroiUer." '"< The rare woi-d D'01'T3 is explained by R. Salomon a.s "a gtiicral name for l)eautiful garnuMits in .\rabic." So Kim- chi. i.'^ee Buxtorf ad V(X'.) .'■0.^ See text. l)p. 2:17, 2:18. i»« I'liny. • H. N." xi. 22 and 2:}. '"" The "silver howls found in Cypnisare no exception, for CjT)rus nnistlx* re- garded tis within the" donn'nious of As- syria. (See note '•""' of ch. vi.) • 6oh Hor. "Od. ■ ii. 11, lt>: " Assyriftque nardo." ''"o Virg. "Ecl."iv. 25: " Assyrimn vulg6 nascetur amomuiu." «>»Tibull. "Eleg."i. .3. 7: "Non soror, Assyrios citierl quoB dedat odores." »>> .T.schyl. "Agam." 1. 1285: Or 'Ei'pioi' ay/.i'urtfia duuaaiv A^yt/f. »>" Eurip. "Bacch." I. lU: Hvpiag hjJdvov Kairvdf. »'» Theocr. "Idyll." xv. 114: ^vpiu) ^i ftifHJ xpvaFi' a?.u(i(WTpa. »n On the diffen-nt iwe of the tennu "Syrian " and " Assvrian "by theCSn-eks, we" the author's " itennlotiis," vol. Iv. p. 51. 2d eilition. "■'■Tin-re an> many spicy shnihs and plants in Assyria, such as those notice*! I>y Xeno|ihoii ("Anab." i. 5, $ I); but, I believe, noni' of the plants which produce the spices of conunen-e. (.-v-e Mr. AillS- worth's " Res4'arches in .\.s.syria," etc., p. .31.) .Stmlxi. however, it tnust lK'admitte«l, distinctly a.s.sert.s that niiininutii was pro- duced in .Mesopotjimia I'rojHT (xvl. p. KXKI). *'" S<>f t<>.xt, pp. Ml. 112. *" Heroilofus indicat4>s some knowl- euge of the system when he relates Uiat beo THE SECOND MONARCUY. [cji. vu Cambyscs' army, in its passage across the desert helwi'i'ii Syria and E^il^t, was in part stii)|ilii'il with water by means of pipes (liiived from a distant river whieii conducted tlie fluid into c-isterns (iii. '.),i. Polybius says that the plan was widely adopted by the Persians in the time of their empire (x. :iH, § 3). Stralw says that the pipes and reservoirs {(Ti'fuyyec ^"'^ vSfjda) of Western Asia were popularly ascribetl to Semiramis (xiv. 1, § 2). '''" Layard, " Nineveh and its Remains," vol. i. p. 314; "Nin. and Bab." pp. 341-346. *" Layard, " Nineveh and its Remains," vol. 1. p. 8. In his " Nineveh and Baby- lon," Mr. Layard throws some doubt upon the real "purpose of this work, which he inclines to I'egard as the wall of a town, ratlier than a dam for pui'poses of irriga- tion (p. 4C6). But Captain Jones thinks the work was certainly a "great dam "' (" Journal of the As. Soc." vol. xv. p. :i4;3. ) 620 strab. xvi. 1, § 9. This seems to have been the conjecture of the Greeks who accompanied Alexander. They found the dams impede their own ships, and could not see that they sei-ved any other purpose, since the irrigation system had gone to ruin as the Persian empire de- clined. (See Arrian, "Exp. Alex." vii. 7.) 621 The Assyrian inscription foimd by Mr. Layard in the tunnel at Negoub, of which he copied a portion imperfectly before its destruction (" Nineveh and its Remains," vol. i. p. 80), sufficiently proves this. 623 See the " Journal of the Asiatic Soci- ety," vol. XV. pp. 310, 311. 623 Captain Jones regards this as its sole object ("Asiatic Society's Journal." 1. s. c); but Mr. Layard is probably right in his view that irrigation was at least one purpose which the canal was intended to subseiTe (" Nineveh and its Remains,"vol. i. p. 81). Several canals for irrigation seem to have been made by Sennacherib (" Nineveh and Babylon," p. 212). 62-f These are " ingeniously f oiTued from the original rock left standing in the cen- tre." (Jones, ut supra.) 626 Irrigation of this simple kind is ap- plicable to parts of Eastern Assyria, be- tween the Tigris and the mountains. ( See Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 224.) 526 jpoT the ancient practice see Polyb. 1. s. c. ; for the modern compare Malcolm, "History of Persia," vol. i. p. 14; Ches- ney, "Euphrates Expedition," vol. ii. p. 657. 62' See the representation on PI. LXXXIX. 628 See Layard's " Monuments," 2d Se- ries, PI. 1.5; and compare text. p. 142. 629 An instance of this mode of irriga- tion appears on a slab of the Lower Em- pire, part of which is represented on PI. XLIX. 630 Layard, "Nineveh and its Remains," vol. i. pp. .3.53, 3.54. 6'» Stanley, "Sinai and Palestine," p. 40O Abulf eda says that the Orontes ac- (jinred its name of El Asi, "the rebel." from its refusal to water the lands unless compfll<-d by water-wheels ("Tabl. S^t." pp. 14!l. 1.50. ed Kcihler;. The wheels upon the Rlionc below Ueneva will be familiar to most readers. 632 Herod, i. laS. 633 Layard, " Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 42;j. 634 Mr. La3ard calls this plough Baby- lonian rather than Assyrian (ib. p. 422). But the black stone on which it is engraved is a monimient of Esarhaddoii. 63-'i See Fellows's "Asia Minor," p. 71: and compare his "Lycia," p. 174. See also C. Niebuhr's " De.scription de PAra- bie," opp. p. I^'i. The chief point in which the Assyrian plou>,'h, as above repre- sented, differ from the ordinary moclels, is in the existence of an ajiparatiLs ( a fc > for drilling the seed. It is evident that the bowl a was filled with grain, which ran down the pipe 6, and entered the ground immediately after the plough- share, at the point c. 635 See note 62 of ch. ii. To the places there mentioned, I may add the vicinity of Bavian on the authority of the MS. notes communicated to me by "Mr. Berrington. 637 Lavard, " Monuments," 2d Series, Pis. 14, 15. and 17. 63« See PI. LX\'m., Fig. 2. '3a See the representation given on PL CXV. 640 See, for uistanee, the fishermen, Pis. CXXV. and CXXVI. 6'" Layard, " Jlonuments," 2d Series, PI. 17; "Nineveh and Babylon," pp. 108 and 134. 642 For specimens of earrings, see PI. LXXVI. 6''3 This robe closely resembled the im- der garment of the baonarch. See text, p. 287. 6'>'' Botta, "Monument de Ninive," vol. ii. PLs. Ill to 114; Lavard, "Monuments," 2d Series, PI. 32. 6^6 Botta. Pis. 12 and 14. 6« Ibid. Pis. 60 to 06, 110. s-" Layard, " Monimients," 2d Series, PI. 32; Botta. Pis. 108. 109. and 111. 64- See PI. CXXXV. Two in.stances of this remarkable cap oi'our in the British Museum sculptiu-es. Both are from Sen- nacherib's palace at Kormijik. 6« See the Ulustratioii, PI. CXXVIU. 560 Botta, vol. i. PI. 67. See PI. CXX^^I.. Fig. 2. 661 Lavard. 2d Series, Pis. 24 and 50. 652 Ibid. 1st Series. PI. 30. 663 This curious head-dress occurs on a slab from the palace of iVsshur-bani-pal at KojT.mjik, which is now in the British Mu- seum. 664 Mr. Layard has a representation of this figure: "Monuments," 2d Series, PL 6. 666 Laj-ard, "Monuments." 1st Series, PI. 65. '6« See the iUustration, PL CXH. 66" Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 595. en. VII. ] THE SECOND MONARCHY. 661 »*« See PI. CXXXVT. *'* See Wilkinson's " Ancient E^ryp- tians," 1st Series, vol. iii. pp. r^sTy. .'>8, fiK. 1 1 1. ^'•^ Wilkiason, 1st Series, vol. iii. p. 380. "2 See text, p. 4.5. '"3 See text, p. 2ii. '** .iVs the Pei-sians (Plin. " H. N." xiii. 1 1, the Egyptians t Juv. xv. .50), the Par- tliiixns (Plin. " II. N." xiii. 2), the Syrians (.\then. "Deipn." xii. :15; Hor. ii. 7, 1. 8), and the Jews (Eccl. ix. 8; Luke vii. 4as.sage are thi-oughout correctly translated. Indeed the ' margin shows liow doubtful many of them are. But tliere is no reason to question tliat they all represent dilTerent articles of tbedi'ess or toilet of wo)neii. 5"" See text. p. 288. '«'' See note 3' of ch. ii., and text, p. .327. SOS Niebuhi', " Voyage en Ai-ahie," p. 2tt."); Layard. "Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 423. For the ancient practice, compare Herod, i. 193, and Strao. xvi. 1, §14. 6">"Come down, sit in the du.st, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit vn the ground. . . . Take the "inillstone.s, and grind meal." (Is, xlvii. 1, 2.) *'' Layard, "Niii. anil Bab." pp. 285- 287: Nieouhr, "Description de I'Arabie," p. 45, etc. *"2 I doubt whether theiv is ahv repre- sentation of breatl in the si-ulptures. Tlie circular object on tlie table in the banquet-scene (PI. ("XXXVIII.) might rep- re.sent a loaf, but it is moiv probably a siicred emblem. The Arab practice, which probably corresponds with the most ancient inode cif preparing broad, is JUS given in the tex-t. See Lavarfl, I. s. (•., and compare the article on Iiread, in Dr. Smith's " Bibli<"al Dictionary." "3 l^ivard, p. 2S'.). '''•' Niebuhr, "Description, eto.," p. 45; I.jiyard, " Nineveh anil its Remains, vol. i. p. .3I». »'* See U'xt. p. 68. ""Plin. "II. N." xiii. 4. *" 2 Kings xviii. 32. " .V land of oil olive." When Herrnlotus tlenii-s the cul- tivation of the olive ill his day (i. Iii3), as also that of the fiic and (he grai>»\ he mu.st refer to the low alluvial coim(ry, which is more properly liabylonin than Assyria. ""*■ 2 Kings. 1. s. c. •" " On mange pen de viande dans les I>ays cbaud.s, oil on lci> croit malsaioeti." '60 (Niebuhr, p. 46.) " The common Bedouin can rarely get meat." (Layard, "Nln. and Bab. •'^ p. 289.) "■"layard, "Monuments," 1st Series, Pis. 75 and 70; 2it. and is still sold in the markets of mum- towns in Arabia." He quot**: Buivkhardt ("Notes on the Bedouins," p. 2i;9) with re.sjject to the way they are pre|>ared. A recent traveller, who ta.ste«l them fried, obs<'ryes that they are "like what one would suppjs*' fried shrimi»s." and " by no means i)a"PUn. "H. N."xii. 3. 6e« The represenUition Ls so exact that I can scarcely doubt the pineapple being intended. Mr. Layard expresses himself on the point with some hesitation. (" Nin. and Bab." p. .3:J8.) 5"' See text. p. .327. "*" 2 Kings xviii. ;t2. «'» Diod. Sic. ii. 20; Botta. "Monu- ment." PLs. 51 to 67, and 1(>7 to 114. '""Dan. v. 1; Esther i. 3; Ilerod. ix. 110. *»' Nahum i. 10. " While they are drunk- en as tlnnikards, they shall be devoured, as stubble fully dry." *" This vas«; Ls represented PI. LXXXI., Fig. 4. ^'^ Forty guests weiv still to Ik- traceti at the time of M. Botta's dLscoverii s, while many slabs weiv even then so in- jured that their subject could not be made out. Along the line of wall occu- pied by the banqueting scene, there was ample room for twenty more gue.'<(s. '"* In M. Flandin's drawings this dcnw not appear; but 31. Botta is confldent that it was so in the sculpluri's them- selves (" Monument," vol. v. p. 131 1. *" Sei- the repres»'ntation, PL CXV. '»• Se«" text. p. 2S9. '" M. Bt)tia sjx-aks as if the objects Imd Ix'en dilTerent on the dilTen'nt tnbli-s ("Monument," vol. v. p. 131); but M. Flandin's lirawings show scarcely any variety. The condition of the slabs was vi-ry liail, and the objects on the tables eould scarcely ever be ilistincfly made out. ""* See text, p. HI, and PI. CXLH.. Hg. 3. "• For the Kgjptiaii practice, se.- Wil- kinson's "Ancient Egyptijins," J.>.t Seritw, vol. ii. p. 222; for that of the Greeks, compare Horn. "Od." i. 1.50-15.5; Atlien ■■ Deipn." xiv. 6, etc. """ One of thesj' has been aln>ndv rejv res^>nt^^l. se mnde out. There was room for two op three more p^Tfomiers. (Botta, PI. "7 ^ •«■« Athen. " Deipn." xv. 10; Hor. " i - 1 562 THE SECOND MONABCUY. [C'il. VI J 1. lii. 19, 1. 22, i. 87, 1. 15, Ov. "Fast." v. 337, «»« See Pis. LXXXII. and XCV. "<" See PI. LVL, where this village is represented. «"* See Botta, " Monument de Ninive," vols. i. and ii. passim. ""* " Diet, of Greek and Roman Antiqui- ties," ad voc. Cardo. ""s Botta, vol. V. p. 45. <"" Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 163. «»« Botta, "Monument," vol. ii. PI. 136; and vol. V. p. 48. ""s Ibid. vol. ii. I'l. 1^3. " " See PI. CIX. Further examples will be found in Mr. Layard's "Monuments," 1st Series, PI. 77; 2d Series, Pis. ^, .36, and .50; and in M. Botta's "Monument," PI. 146. <"i See PI. LXXXV. «'2 See the footstool, PI. LXXXV. «"3Seetext, p. 289. ^i* Layard, "Monuments," 1st Series, PI. 77; 2'd Series, Pis. 24 and 36. *'6 Compare the EK^Ttian boards, as represented in the aiUhor's "Herodotus," vol. ii. pp. 276, 277, 2d ed. «i« See PI. LXXVI. SI' Layard, " Kineveh and Babylon," pp. 177-18t). "i-* D)id. p. 181. 'i" Ibid. p. 177. Compare also pp. 191 and 671. 620 See PI. XCIII. 62' See the representation of a garden, PI. XXIX. 622 Compare PI. LI., Fig. 1. ^23 Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," pp. 232. "2:33. 624 See PI. LI., Fig. 1. 625 Layard, " Monumenrts," 2d Sei'ies, PI. 15. 626 A representation of a laborer thus employed, taken from the slab in ques- tion, has been already given, PI. XXV. 62' See PI. LXTT. 62» Layard, "Monuments," 2d Series, PI. 12. 629 " Nin. and Bab." p. 232. 63" Ibid. p. 231. ' 631 " Monimients," 2d Series. PI. 27. 632 Ibid. Pis. 10 to 17. •53 " Joiu-nal written during an Excur- sion in Asia Minor," p. 72. 631 See Pis. XXXII. and XXXVI. 635 See note "*, eh. ii. '36 See Layard, " Monuments," 1st Se- ries, PI. 63; 2d Series, Pis. 24 and 36. 63' No currycomb has been foimd : but an iron comb, brought from Koyunjik, is now in the British Museum. (See PI. cxxx^^I.) 63' La.yard, "Monuments," 2d Series, Pis. 7 arid 47. 63S' Ibid. Pis 19, 24, 29, etc. CHAPTER \Tn. ' See eh. vii. pp. 70-97. - Though II or Ra in Chaldaea, and As- «hur in Assyria, were respectively chief ^ui.%, they were in no sense sole god«. Not only are the other deities viewed aa really distinct beings, but they are in many cases .self-originated, andf always supreme in their several spheres. ^ See text, p. 72. * See Sir II. Rawlinson's Essay in the author's " Herodotas," vol. i. p. 482, 2d edition. 5 Ibid. pp. 491, 492. 6 The god, the country, the town As- shur, and " anA.ssjTnan," are all represent- ed by the same term, which is written both ^-.«/iMr and As-xhur. The"detenni- native " prefixed to the term (see text, p. 173) tells us wliich meaning is intended. ' See text. p. \m. * Sir H. Rawlinson, in the author's "Herodotus" (vol. i. p. 483), inclines to allow that the great fane at Kileh-Sher- ghat was a temple of Asshur ; but the deity whose name appears upon the bricks is entitled Ashit. " Sir H. Rawlinson, 1. s. c. loCien. X. 22. 11 In the woi-ship of Egypt we may trace such a gradual descent arid deterioration, from Anum, the hidden god, to Phtha, the demiurgus, thence to Ra. the Sun- God, from him to Isis and Osiris, deities of the thii-d order, and finally to Apis and Serapis, mere dajmons. 12 M. Lajard is of opinion that the foun- dation of the winged circle is a bird, which he pronounces to be a dove, and to typify the Assyrian Venus. To this he supposes were afterwards added the cir- cle as an emblem of etei-nity, and the hu- man figiu-e, whiclwhe regards as an im- age of Baal or Bel. 13 See PI. CXLI. This emblem is taken from a mutOated obeUsk found at Koyun- jilc. " See Lavard's " Monimients of Nine- veh, " 1st Series. P]s. 6. .39, and 5^; 2d Se- ries, Pis.- 4 and 69; and compare above, PI. LXXXVn. 15 See the cylinder of Sennacherib (su- pra, PI. LXXXL); and compare a cylinder engraved ui M. Lajard's "Culte de Mi- thra," PL xxxii. No. 3. 16 La,yard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 160; Lajard, "Culte de Mithra,"'Exi)lica- tiou des planches, p. 2. 1' So Cudworth ("Intellectual System of the Universe," ch. iv. § 16, et seq".) and others. Mosheim, in liis Latin translation of Cudworth's great work, ably combats his views on tliis subject. 18 Layard, "Monuments,' Pis. 6, 25, 39, etc. " The occiurence of the emblem of As- shm- without the king in the ivory repre- senting women gathering grapes is re- markable. Probably the ivory formed part of the ornamentation of a royal throne or cabinet. There are cylinders, however, apparently not royal, on which the emblem occurs. (Cullimore, Nos. 145, 154, 155, 158, 160, 162; Lajard, Pis. xiii. 2; xvi. 2; xvii, 5, 8, etc.) 2" Layard, "Monimients," 1st Series, PI. 6. CU. VIII, I THE SECOND MONARCHY. 563 " Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 160; supra, PI. LXXXI., Fig. 1. " As at the Nalir-el-Kelb (Lajard, "Cidte de Mithra." H. i. No. 39 k at Ba- vian (Layard, " Niiieveh and Babylon," p. ail), etc. *3 Lavard, " Monuments," 1st Series, Pis. »;. ■>->. and 39. i* Ibid. PI. 13. »5 Ilml. n. 21. 2" Ibid. PI. .")3. Com])ar<> the rejtresen- tation (st-e I'l. CXLl.j wliich head.s an- other rin;il lance. which Mr. Layard notes (■■ Niiievi-h and its Remains," vol. ii. p. •i'M) is eeilainly very curicius; bnt it does not tell us anj-thinV' of tin- origin or meaning <>f the svmbol. The (ireeks j)robably adopted tlie ornamt-nt a.s ele- gant, without carinjf to uiidiT.stand it. I sijs|ii'ct that the so-ealled •• llower " wa.s ill i-nality a repre.sentati'in of the liead of a pahn-tree, witli tlie form of which, as piirtraj-ed on the earliest sculptures (Lay- ard. "'Monimieuts," PI. 53), it nearly agrees. ""* Judges vi. 20. "Take the second bullock, and offer a burnt siicriflce with the voDd of tlie grove {Asherali) which thou Shalt cut downi." 2" Aci-Drdiiig to the account in the Sec- ond Book rif Kinjrs, Josiah "burnt the grove at tlie lirook Kiilmu. e. '** It is found witli objects whicli are all certainly material, .as on Lfird Alierdeen's Black Stone, where a real siicrillcial scene appt^ars to l>e repre-senti-d. ^^ The groves in Scripture are clos<'ly connected witli the worship of Baal, su- preme God of the Phienicians. tSee .Judges iii. T; 1 Kings xviii. 19; 2 Kings xvii. K), etc.) ■"• I.Ayard, "Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 472. *' Merodach and Nt-ho aiv not abso- lutely unknown to the earlier kings, since they nif invokfil upon the Black Olielisk as the oitrhtli and the eleventh gods. But it is only willi \ iil-hish III. lab. B.C. SOO) that they tKX'om** prominent. This king takes sjiecial cix'dit U> himself for having first prominently placed Mero. dach in the Panuieon of Assj-rla. {See Sir H. Rawlinsons Essay in tlie autiior'8 "IlercHlotus," vol. i. p. 51«, 2d edition.) " Ch. vii. pp. 70-!»7. <' " Inscription of Tiglatb-Pileser I.," S 5, p. »)2. " Ibid. pp. tM-66. " Steph. byz. ad voc. TeMvr;. VJde su- pra. First Monarchy, ch. vii. not«"i«. <« As from that of Tiglath-Pile>.er I. at thp commencement of his great Inscrip- tion (see text. p. :i52). <' Esarhaddon omits him from the list of gmls whose embli-ms he nlacwi over his image (" As.syriaii Texts, p. 12). If the homed cap is rightly ascriU-.l to Bel (see text. p. 31^1, then- will be no emblem for Ann. siru-e the othi-rs may t)e as- signee! with certaint}- to Asshur.Sin, Sha- mas, Vid, and (iiila, <" As in till' Black Obelisk Inscription, where he preceiles Bel. Compare "In- scription or Tiglatli-Pileser I.," pp. 40, (58, etc. <» See Sir H. RawUn.<;on's Essay In the author's "Herodotus," vol. I. p.'4**7, 2d edition. '"' See the Thtlilin L'li ivrrtity Magazine forOctolier, 1R5.3, p. 420. " Sir II. Rawlinson reads the name of one of Ann's sons as Sjirgana. (See the author's " HerodoUis." vol. i. p. 488.) *- " Inscription of Tiglath-Ioleser I.," p. 40. " Herodotus seems to regard Belus as an exclusively Babylonian go. Dionvsius Perie- gft'es (1. 1007). Claudian ("De" laude Stil- ich." i. 02). and others. Acconling to man v he was the founder and first king of Babylon (Q. Curt. v. 1, J 24; EiLst^itli. ad. Dion. Per. I.s. c. etc.). which sonie ri'- gartUni as built by his son (Steph. Byz. ad voc. liofiv'/.dn). Some considm'd' that the great temple of Belus at Babylon was his tomb (Stnib. xvi. p. lOtO; "compare -Elian. "Hist. Var." xiii. 3). His wor- ship by the A.s.syrians is. however, admit- ted by Pliiiv ("II. N." xxxvii. .VS and ,V<), Noiinus I" Dionys." xviii. 14). and a few otiiers. Tlie ground of the difference thus made by the classical writers is prol>- ablv the confusion Ix-tween the first B«'l and the second Bel— Bel-MeriHlai-h— tlie great seat of whose worship was Baby- lon. '* "Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser I." pp. 30 and 02. »* See Sir H. Rawlinson's " Essay," p. 491. " Sargon sjx'aks of the .IVt kings who from remote anti<|Uity niled ovt- r Assyria and pnrsuinl after" (V.f.. gov«'me
  • eople of Bilu-Nipni (Bel)." '" Fox Talbot, "Assyrian Text*," p. 6, note ». " S«v text. p. 372 '" In the li.st of Ejumtjmx contained in the famous .\8s>Tian Canon I find, during 3ti0 years, twenty -six In whose names Bei 564 THE SECOND MONABCnY. [CII. VIII. is an element, to thirty-two who have names conpounded with Asshur. " As in the invocation of TiKlatli-Pile- ser I. (" Inscription," etc. p. IK). "" As by Sennacherib ("Journal of Asi- atic Society," vol. xix. p. ](>3) and Esar- haddon ("Assyrian Texts," p. 16). «' See text. p. ■■i'ii. «* " Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser I.," pp. 56-58. "'See Sir H. Rawlinson's "Essay," p. 495J. ^^ Oppert, " Expedition scientifique en Mesopotamie," vol. ii. p. 337. "' Sir H. Rawlinson, I. s. c. *' "Assyrian Texts." p. 16. °' It is possible that the homed cap symbolized Ann, Bel, and Hoa equally; and the three caps at Bavian (Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 211) may rep- resent the entire Triad. "« Oppert, " Exi^edition scientifique," vol. ii. pp. 88, 2G3, iiW, etc. «" Sir H. Rawhnson, "Essay," p. 487. ■"• Ibid. pp. 494, 495. Compare, First Monarchy, ch. vii. note^*. " See text, p. &G. '2 See Sir H. Eawlinson's "Essay," p. 496. '•^ Ibid. p. 497. A vast number of in- scribed slabs have been brought from this edifice. It was originally erected by As- shm--izir-pal. '■* It is doubtful whether the Calah tem- ple was dedicated to Beltis or to Ishtar, as the epithets used would apply to either goddess. '^ Herodotus, in two places (i. 131 and 199>. gives Mylitta as the Assi/rian name of the goddess, while Hesychius calls Belthes (Br/Z^f) the Babylonian Jimo or Venus, and Abydenus makes Nebu- chadnezzar speak of " Queen Beltis " (;/ BnarAFia Btj'/.ti^, Fr. 9). Nicolas of Damascus, however, gives ]\Iolis as the Babylonian term ('"Fr. Hist. Gr." to', iii. p. 361, note 16). The fact seems to be that Mulita was Hamitic-C'halda?an. Bilta Semitic Assyrian. Mulita was. however, known to the Assyrians, who derived their religion from the southern comitry, and Bilta was adopted by the (later; Baby- lonians, who were Semitized from As- syria. '« "Inscription," etc., p. 18. " Layard, " Monuments," 1st Series, PI. 25. '8 The form is always a crescent, with the varieties represented on p. 81 : some- times, however, tlie god himself is repre- sented as issuing from the crescent. " Oppert. " Expedition Scientifique," vol. ii. p. 330. 80 Ibid. p. 343. *' Sargon speaks of the Cyprians as " a nation of whom from the remotest times, from the orir/in of the God Sin, the kings my fathers, who ruled over Assyria and Babylonia, had never heard rtien- tion." (See Sir H. Rawlinson's "Essay," p. 507.) ■ I "2 See text, pp. 81, 82. "' "As. Soc. .Journal," vol. xix. p. ](V3; " Assyrian Texts," p. l(j. "* Layard. " Monuments," Ist Series, PI. 82: 2<1 Series, PI. 4. "^ See PI. LXXXVII., and compare Lay- ard, ■• Monuments," Ist Series, PI. 6, where the repre.seutation is more accurately given. "« "Inscription," etc., p. 20. *' See Sir H. Rawhnson "s "Essay," n, 501. •'' ^ *"• Dublin Univ. Mag. for Oct. 18&3, p, 420. * *» Oppert, "Expedition," etc., pp. 330, *" See Sir H. Rawlinson's "Essay," p, 802. ^ "' See First Monarchy, ch. vii. note *. "2 " Inscription of tiglath-Pileser I.,' p. 66. "3 See text, p. 346. '^ See "Inscription." etc., p. 30, where Vul is called " my guardian God." Ninip, however, occurs more frequently in that character. (See text, p. 3.>4.) ^5 Dublin Univ. Magazine for Oct. 1853, p. 426. Vul is often joined with As- shur in invocations, more especially where a curse is invoked on those who" injure the royal in.scriptions. (See the " Tiglath- Pileser Inscription," p. 73. and compare the still eariier inscription im Tiglathi- Nin's signet-seal. Second Monarchy, ch. ix.) "« Oppert, "Expedition Scientifique," vol. ii. p. 344. *' Sir H. Rawlinson's "Essay," p. 499. "* "Journal of As. Society,'" vol. xix. p. 103. "^ They " rush on the enemy Uke the wliirlwind of Vul," or "sweep "a country as with the whirlwind of Vul." Vul is " he who causes the tempest to rage over hostile lands," in the Tiglath-Pileser in scription. "»' As in Vul-lush, Shamas-Vul, etc. In the Assyrian Canon ten of the Epo- nyms have names in which Vul is an ele- ment. I"' See PI. XIX. "2 See PI. CXin. '"3 As at Bavian (Layard. " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 211). '"* Sir H. Rawlinson, "Essay," p. 500. '"* Layard, " Monuments," 2d Series, PI. 5. '"« Layard, PI. xxvii. No. 5; Cullimore. PI. 21, No. 107. ""Layard, "Monuments," 1st Series, PI. 82; 2d Series. PI. 4. ">'' Dublin Univ. Mag. p. 420. •"8 Sir H. Rawlinson's "Essay," p. 504, note 8. "" Ibid. 1. s. c. '" Ibid. p. 494; and on the pre.sumed identification of Gula with Bilat-IU see pp. .503, .504. "2 The Ninus of the Greeks can be no other than the Nin or Ninip of the In- scriptions. Herodotus probably (i. 7). Ctesias certainly (Diod. Sic. ii. 1-21), de- en. vrii.] THE SECOND MONARCHY. 565 rived the kings of the Upper Dynasty from N'inus. "3 See text, p. 378. ''■• •• Inscription,"' p. 60. i'5 Ibid. pp. M-aO. >'« Ibid. t. s. c. "' This is the edifice described by Mr. Layard (" Nineveh and Babylon," pp. 12:}- 129 and :i4H-;jo7). "' Sir H. Raw'linson in the author's "Herodotus," vol. i. pp. 513, 513, 2d edi- tion. "9 Oppert, "Expedition Scientifique,"' Tol. ii. p. 8-14. >*<> Ibid. pp. *«, 3ai. HI ggy pl. XIX. ""2 See PI. XLlil. For representations of the many modifications which this fig- ure underwent, see .Mons. F. Lajard's work, "Culte do Mithni," Pis. l.xxiv. to oil. ; and on the general subuvjt of the Assyrian Hercules, see JI. Riioul Ro- chette's memoir in the "Memoires de I'Institut." vol. xvii. i" Botta, "Monument," PK 33 to *4. The emblems given are, 1, the winged bull (PI. :«); 2, the winged Itull with a human head (PI. 3-2): antf 3, the hunian- he^wlcd fish (PLs. 3,' au furnish an element of a name. B.v no .^.ssyrian sovereign wa.s he thus honored. In Uie ca.xe of the EponjTiis, only about one out of thirty lias a name compounded with Nergal. '♦' See the Insc-rijiiion of Sennacherib in the "Asiatic Society's Journal," voL xix. p. 170. '<■' ' In.scription of Tiglath-Pileser I.," pp. 40. 41. '" Sir H. Rawlinson, "Essay," p. Titi. '" Ibid. 1. s. c. '*' Sennacherib speaks of Asshur and Ishtar as aboutto "call the kings hissons to tlieir sovereignty over A.ssvria." and begs Asshur and Ishtiir to "liejir tlieir f ravers." ( " Journal of Asiatic Society," 8. c.) ><' As in that of Esarhaddon ( " Assyrian Texts," p. lOi and in that of Sennaolierib (" As. Soc. Journal," vol. xix. p. 1U3). Compare the in.scription on the slab brought from tlie Negtib tunnel. '■" As in the names ;\>itartiLs. Abdastar- tiLS, iJeheasuirtus. and (Jerastartus. (Menand. Eplies. iYs. 1 and 2.) In M. Opix-rt's list of Eponyms only five out of mon^ than 210 have names in which Ish- tar is an fliTuent. i^" See text, p. 381. '" The two are, as nearly as possible, fac similes, and are now in the British Mu- seum. "" Nebo was called Pal-BitSaggil. as Ninip was called Pal ZinHaee text p. :i55; compare Sir H. Rawlinson "Kssay," p. rrH). '*' "Assyrian Texts,'' p. 10. '°2 Sir H. Riiwlin.son. " Ivs-say," I. s. c. "3 a«><. Sir H. Rawlinson's ''E.s.>»ay" in the author's ••HeriMiotu.s.' vol. i. p. 48.4, note". While B.-ltis. tlie wife <>t B.'l. and (Jula, the wife of Sluima.s. are deities of high rank am' imi)ortanee, Sheniha. the wife of Asshur, and .VniitJi, the wife of Ann, occupv a verv insigniticant position. "■* See text. pp.'-'iV). .'IVl. and .'J.'W. '" Sir H. Ruwiin.son's " E.ssay," pp. 606 and 513. '" Se«' text p. 3,57. '" See Sir II. Rawlin.son's " Essay," S 9, note *, p. 'Ai. '"^ It is only in Babylonia, ami even there during but one n-ign (that of Nebu- chatlnezzan, that Ishtar appears as tlio wife of .Nebo. (S«v t«'Xt, p. 91.) K\so- where she is s<>ivinite and indejM>ndent, atlache" Ibid. p. 526. "■' Tiglath-Pileser I. repairs a temple of II or Ra at Asshur about b.c. 11.50. ("Inscription," pp. 56-58.) Otherwise we scarcely hear of the worship of Ra out of Babylonia. ^"^ See Sir H. Rawlinson's " Essay," p. "« Layard, " Moninnents," 1st Series, Pis. 6, 25, 36; Botta, "Monument," Pis. 27 and 28. 1" See text. p. 345. 'S8 The basket is often ornamented ■with winged figures in adoration before the sacred tree, and themselves holding baskets. (See Layard, "Monuments," First Series, Pis. 34 and 36.) "' Layard, "Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 459. I'o M. Oppert, it is true, reads a certain monogram as "Nisruk," and recognizes in the god whom it designates— Hea or Hoa— the Nisroch of Holy Scripture. But sounder scholars regard his reading as a very wOd and rash conjecture. "' In Is. xxxvii. 38, the MSS. give either 'Aaapax or Naffapd^-. In 2 Kings xix. 37, the greater part of the MSS. have Me(Topd;jf. "^ The deities proper are not repre- sented as in attendance on the monarch. This is an office too low for them. Occa- sionally, as in the case of Asshur, they from heaven guard and assist the king. But even this is exceptional. Ordinarily they stand, or sit, in solemn state to re- ceive offerings and worship. 173 ^ representation on a large scale is given by Mr. Layard, "Monuments," 2d Series, PI. 5. '"'' See text, p. 352. '" See PI. LXIV. i'« See PI. CXLIII. This scene was rep- resented in the great palace of Asshur- bani-pal at Koyunjik. The sculptiu-e is in the British Museum. "' This tendency is weU illustrated by Plato in the first Book of liis Republic, §23. '"* Layard, "Momunents," 1st Series, Pis. 45, 1 ; 48, 3; 49, 4; compare above, PI. LXV., Fig. 2. '^'"Assyrian Texts," p. 10; "Journal of As. Society," vol. xix. p. 163. •80 "Inscription," pp. 66 and 70. >8J "Inscription." pp. 28, 30, 40, 50, etc. '82 2 Kings xviii. 31. Sennacherib means to say— "^Vliere are their gods now? [i.e., their idolsj Are they not captive in Assyi-ia?" See text, p. 277. "" Piid. verse 4. >«^ Ibid. ver. 22. '8^ See the various representations of the removal of gwls in Mr. Layard's works. C'M"mi"ients," l.st Series, I'ls. 65 and 07 A; 2"" See Pis. XXI., LXIII. and LXIV. ""* Clay idols were also deposited in holes below the pavement of palaces, which (it may Ije supjjosed) were thu.s placed under their protection. (See M. Bottas "Monuraent-de Ninive," vol. v. p. 41.) ^ ""Nahum i. 14: "And the Lord hath given a connnandment concerning thee (Nineveh), that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut of? the graven image and "the molten image." 1" Dan. iii. 1; Herod, i. 1^3: Diod. Sic. ii. 9, etc. Compare Sir H. Rawhnson's "Essay" in the author's "Herodotus," vol. i. p. 517, note ". "2 "Inscription," pp. 68-70. "3 "Assyrian Texts," p. 28. "4 Su- H. Rawlinson's "Essay," p. 516. 195 Ibid. p. 495. i"" " Assyrian Texts," p. 18. i*'' That sheep and goats were also used for sacrifice we learn from the inscrip- tions. ("Assyrian Texts," pp. 3, 4.) There is one representation of a ram, or wild-goat, being led to the altar (Layard, "Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. p. 469). "8 This is on Lord Aberdeen's Black Stone, a monument of the reign of Esar- haddon. A representation of it will be foimd in Mr. Fergusson's "Palaces of Nineveh Restored," p. 298. "" This scene is represented on a muti- lated obelisk belonging to the time of As- shin--izir-pal, wliich is now in the British Jluseum. The sculptures on this curious monument are still unpublished. """ Altars of the shape here represented ai-e always crowned with flames, which generally take a conical shape, but art here made to spread into a number of tongues. At Knorsabad the flames on such altars were painte^l red. (Botta, " Monmiient de Ninive," PI. 140.) 2"' See Smith's "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities," sub.'voc. sacri- FICIUM. 202 See Pis. XLVn. and XLIX. 203 An altar of this shape was found by M. Botta at Khorsabad. r'Monirment."'' PI. 157.) Another nearly similar was dis- covered by Mr. Layard at Nunrud (" Mon uments." 2d Series, PI. 4), and is now in the British Museum. 204 Botta. PI. 146; Layard. 2d Series, PI 24. '"5 " Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser I.," pp. 30, 38, 66. etc. -'"> " Assyrian Texts," p. 10. 2"" The langs often say that theT sacri ClI. IX.] THE SECOND MONAncnr. r)67 flced. (" Tiglath-PUeser Inscription," pp. 6tiaiid68; "Assj-rian Texts," p. 18, etc.) But we cannot conclude from this with any certainty tliat it was with tlieir own iiaud tliey slew the victims. (Compare 1 K. viii. 63.) Still they may have done so. «»» Lajard, "Culte de Mithra," Pis. xxxvii. No. 7; xxxviii. Nos. d, 3, 0; xxxix. No. 7, etc. ^o" See Layard, "Monuments," 3d Se- ries, Pis. 34 and 50; Botta, "Monument," PI. 14(5. If the tij^ure carryiufr an ante- lope, and having on the head a hij^hly or- namented fillet (Botta, 1*1. 43.) is a priest, and if that cliaracter Ijelongs to the at- tendants in the sacrificial scene repre- sented on PI. CXLIV., we must consider that the beard was worn at least by some grades of the priesthood. •■"0 Herod, iii. 3?. 2" Observe tliat in the sacrificial scene (PI. CXLIV.) the priest who approaches close to the god is l)ear(Ile,s.s; anil that in the camp scene (Layard. "Monuments," 3<1 Series, PI. 'M) the priest in a tall cap Ls shaven, while the other, who has no such dignified head-dress, wears a beard. !»'' "As-syrian Te.\ts," pp. 11 and 18. Compare the Black-ObeUsk Inscription, p. 43(5. *'3 See the account given by Esarhad- don of his gi'eat festival (" Assyrian Texts," p. 18). 2n Jonah iii. 5-9. 2'* There is a remarkable parallel to tliLs in a Persian practice mentioned by Herodotus (ix. 34). In the mo(n-ninK for Masistius, a Uttle before the battle of Platjea, the Pei-sian troops not only shaved off their own hair, but similarly di-'-'figured their horses and their beasts of bunlen. •■"« Jonah iii. 10. ■"' See PI. XLI. ^'8 The winged bulls and lion.s, which respi-.-tively syndiolize Niu and Nergal. i"" See text, p. 3;W. ^^0 See Mr. Layard's " Monuments," Ist Series, Pis. 5, (5. 8, !t, etc. 2»' Botta, " .Monument," PL 43. ^•" See Pi. CXXXV. «23 Herod, i. l!»!t. Alaxiarog roivrdpui: '"* Baruch vi. 43. " The women also with cords about them, sitting in the ways, burn bran for ijerfmne; but if any of them, drawn by some that i)as.seth by, lie with him, she ivproaches her fellow, that she was not thought as worthy as herself, nor her cord broken." ''•'^ Nalnnn iii. 4. It is, however, mon* likely that the allusion is to the idolatrous i)racti<'es of the Ninevites. (See Second Monarchy, ch. iii. note ".) Cn.M'TER IX. ' See particularlv the long Esaayn of ftie Abbe Sevin and of Kreret in the " M6- moires de TAcademie des In.si s>.-»'m to Imve luul l3»J«i in their copies. (See Agath. ii. •£}. p. 130; Syncell. p. .Yitt, C. Compare Augustlu. "Civ. iJ.'xviii. 31.) ' See (iiblK>n's " Decline and Fall," ch. XXV. (vol. iv. pp. 3.">1, ■3.V3. Smith's edition.) * .See text, p. 1 Vi. * From B.C. iVJ to a.o. 33»5. (See Heeren's " Manual of Ancient llustory." pp. 2Sld-3(U. E. T.) * From B.C. .WJ to B.C. 331, the date of the battle of Arljela. ' Herod, i. i:*i. * From B.C. tJ3.") to B.C. SJS. (See the Historical Chajiter of the " Fourth Mon- archy.") * Mo. (See the author's " HtModotius, ' Intniduc- tion, ch. i. p. 37, 3d ey Asshur-inadi-su— PUjlemy's Aparana- dius or Assaranadius. Add to this that in no case has the date of a king's reign on any tablet been found to exceed the niunber of years which Ptolemy allows him. 3* See Appendix A. "On the record of an eclipse in the Assyrian Canon." 3« Polyhistor gave the succession of the latter Babijl(ii)ia)i kinfjs as follows: Sen- nacherib, his son. (i.e., Esarhaddon), Sam- mughes, (Saiil-iinigina), Sardanapalus, his brother (Asshur-bani-pal), Nabopolas.sar, Nebuchadnezzar, etc. The reign of »Sar- danapalus lasted (he said) 21 years. (Ap. Euseb. "Chr. Can." Pars Ima. v. §§ 2, 3.) 3' Gen. X. 10 and 11. The true meaning of the Hebrew has been doubted, and our translators have placed in llie margin as an alternative version, " He (i.e.. Nimnxl) went out into Assyria, and builded Nine- veh," etc. But the real meaning of "Uti'X Njr" Ninn I'lNH D would seem to be ahnost certainly that given in the text. So the Septuagint renders ' E/c TTJg yf/r iK.dv7]q t^ff/Sev Aaao'vp, and the Syriac and Vulgate versions agree. (Compare Rosenmiiller, "Schol. in Gienes."p. 215.) 38 See text, p. 210. 3" Piid. p. 171. 40 Ibid. p. 341. •*! Tiglath-Pileser calls Shamas-Vul and his father " high-priests of the god As- shur" ("Inscription." p. 02), but says nothing of the name of the city at the tinie when the temple was erected. « See text, p. 108. 43 It is miportant to bear in mind that on the mutilated Synchronistic tablet the names of As-shur-bel-nisi-su, etc., occur half-way doini the tiist coliunn ; which makes it probable that ten or a dozen names of Assyrian kings pi-eceded them. 44 On the prevalence of this system in the East, see the author's " Herodotus," vol. i. p. 405; vol. ii. p. 467; and vol. iii. p. 149: 2d edition. 4^ See the account of this emigration in in M. Honmiaire de Hell's "Travels in the Steppes of the Caspian Sea," pp. 227-235. 49 Gen. xi. 31. 4' On the Phoenician emigration see Kendrick's " Phrenicia." pp. 46-48; and compare the author's "' Herodotus," vol. iv. pp. 196-202. 2d edition. " See the Essay of Sir H. Rawlinson if CH. IX.] THE SECOND MONARCUY rm Che author's " Herodotus," vol. i. p. 366, note'. ** As the tablet is nuitilat«»d at both ex- tremities, its 6a.tA' is uncertain: but it can- not anyhow be earlier than the time of Shalmaneser 11., to whose wars it alludes. Most probablv it belongs to the tiuie of Esarhaddon or Assliui--bani-pal. so As.shur-b<'l-ni>-'i-s'i is s;iid to have made a treaty with a Babylonian king other- wise unknown, whose name is read doubt- fully a.s Kara-in-das. Buzur-Asshur. his successor, made a treaty with Tmua- purivas. SI See text, p. 111. " Ibid. 63 Asshiu--uiiallit is also mentioned on a Ubletof TiKKitli-l'ileser Las having re- paired a temple built by Shamas-Vul, which was again repaired at a later date by Shalmaneser I. 5< Tlie regular succession of these early Assyrian monarchs has been discoverer! since the first edition of this work was published. A brick of Pudil's, on wliich he si)eaks of his father. Bel-lu.sh, and /ii.s yrmidftitltfi; An:iliiir-i(ii(illit. ha.'^ enabled us detinitely to connect the first gioup of three Assyrian monarchs with the second group of five. ss It may be objected that the.se cities are mentioned as already built in the time of Mose.s (Gen. X. 11), who probably lived in the fifteenth centurv n.c. To this it may be replied, iji the (u^t place, that the date of Mo.ses is very unen>iy(t.'i (or Babylonia). Whoever injm-es my device (?) or name, mav Asshur and Vul destroy hLs name and country." ,, , «3 Hence, on the genealogical tablet he is called •' king of Sumirand Akkad " {i.e.. of Babylonia I. a title not given U) any of the other kings. " See text. pp. 381, 392. 3ft3, etc. «» The chief of these are, 1, the Babylo- nian and Assyrian synchronistic tabl.-t. which gives the names of B»'l-kiidur- uzur and Nln-pala-zira. and again those of A.sshur-ris-iliin. Tiglalh I'ileser. and A.s- Bhlir-bil-kala. inajiparent succession: and. 2, an inscription on a mutilate"loschi) are said to hav .-• npi.-.l Iho countries of AIzi and I'nrukliuz. and stopiH'd their payment of tribute to A*- svna fifty ynm iH-foii- the coiiinielice- liient ^>i tiglath-l'iles,-r's reign (ibid. p.22). Thisevent mii.s/r.; fo. ./'/liive fal- len into the time either of .\- -or of l;isson.Mutaggil-NelH.. ly it belonged to the reign ol : •■' "Inscription of Tiglallil'iltwr, I'.tJi. •» Ibi.l. p. tiO. "> Ibid. "Sir II. Rawlin.son. in the "Athennv um •• for Aug. 22, ItWJ (No. IttOU, p. itH, note'). '■•' Judges iv. 4. "This dociunent exists on two dupli- cate cylinders in the British MiLst-uiu, which "an.1 botli nearly complete. The Museum also contains fragments of sev- eral other cylinders which ljpi>ert wen» funiished simultaneously with a lithogniphe.1 copy of the iiis<.ri|>- tii>n, wliich was then iin|iublislii*d: and these gentlemen, working inde|)endeiitly, produced translations, more or lessinm- plete. of the diM-ument. The tninslations were publishetl in jiarallel columns by Mr. I'arker. of the Stniiid. under t lit* title of ■ Inscription of Tiglalli-I'iles»'r I.. King of A.s.sviTa, B.I-. U.V). London, J. W. I'arker, ISTif." A iMTUsal of this work would probablv remove any incredulity wliich may still exi.st in any (inarter on the suljject of As- syrian decilihermeiit. " '•* The British Museum contains anollier inscription of Tiglatlil'iles.T I., but it is in an exceedin:_'ly ItJid coiiditii'ii. and ha.s not U'cii publishiil. It is written on tbre«> sides of the broken top nf an olM-lisk. and st-^Miis to have contained an account of the monarcirs buildings, his hunting ex- ploits, and some of his iiim|>aigiLS, iiiDiith h;/ iiKiiith. He mentions as moiian-hs who liave pieci-ded him. and wlioeie build- ings he reiwii-s, Irlm-Viil, .\.s.shur-idilin- akiu, VulliLsli, Tiglathi-Nin, A-sshur- davan. and .Vsshurrisilini. '» The date of Knitostheiies for tlio I>o- riaii invasion of tht- I'eloiH.iiiieso was b.c IKM. ThiieyiIi(l<'S. apimn-ntly. wouM have plac«Hl it seventy or eighty years ear lier. (Thiic. v. 112.) '" " In.scription, " etc., pp. 18-30. " Ibid, pp.20 21. '» Ps. cxx. .•>: FjEok. xxvil. 13: xxxU. 2rt: xxxvili. v'; xxxix, 1, etc. They an- con 570 TUB SECOND MONARCHY. [CH. stantly coupled in the Inscriptions with the Tuplai. just as Meshech is coupled with Tubal in Scriptui'e, and tin- Moschi with the Tibareni in Herodotus (iii. W: vii. 78). '» From the Inscription of Tiglath-Pile- ser we can only say that these regions formed a portion of the mountain coun- try in the vicinity of the Upper Tigi-is. In later times the main seat of the M(js- chian power was the Taurus range iriuiie- diately to the west of the Euphrates. Here was their great city, Mazaca (Jo- seph., "Ant. Jud." i. G; IVIos. Chor. "Ilis. Annen." i. 13), the Caisaraea Mazaca of the Roman Empire. Hence they seem to have been driven northwards by the Cap- padocians, and in the time of HerodotLus they occupy a small tract upon the Eux- ine. (See the author's '' Herodotus," vol. iv. pp. 179-181.) ^" See Second Monarchy, ch. ix. note '^. 81 This is one of the very few geographic names in the early Assyrian records which seems to have a classical equivalent. It must not, however, lie supposed that the locality of the tribe was tlie same in Tig- lath-Pileser's time as in the days of Strabo and Pliny. Tiglath-Pileser's Qmnmukh or Commukha appear to occupy the niountain region extending from the Eu- phrates at Sumeisat to beyond the Tigris at Diarbekr. 8= " Inscription," etc., pp. 23-30. 83 Ibid. p. 34. f< Paid. pp. 30-33. 85 Ibid. pp. 33-34. 8« Ibid. pp. 34-56. 8' These Urimiians (Hurumaya) were perhaps of the same race with a tribe of • the same name who dwelt near and prob- ably gave name to Lake Urumiyeh. The name of the Kaskians recalls that of a primitive Italic people, the Casci. (See Niebuhr, " Roman History," vol. i. p. 78, E. T.) 88 The chariots of the Hittites are more than once mentioned in Scripture. (See 1 K. X. 29 and 3 K. vii. 6.) 89 Inscription," p. 38. *<• The fact that the countiy occupied by the Nairi is, in part, that which the Jews knew as Aram-Naharaim, would seem to be a mere accidental coincidence. Nciiri is a. pm'ely ethnic title; JS'aharaim is from "inj, "a river," and Aram-Na- haraim is " Syria of the two rivers," i.e., Mesopotamia. (See text, p. 2.) The Xa- harciyn of the Egyptian monimients may, however, be the Naii-i country." '1 This is the district which afterwards became Commagene. It is a labyrinth of momitains. t-nisted spurs from Amanus. '2 "Inscription," p. 42. »3 Ibid. p. 44. "•* This identification is made i^artly on etymological and partly on geographdcal grounds. (See the author's article on Sm^HiTB in Dr. Smith's " BibUcal Diction- ary," vol. iii. p. 1298. 95 Circesiimi is identified by Mr. Fox Talbot with the Assyiian Si'rki, which was apparently in this position. (" Assyr- ian Texts," p. 31.) "" See " HibUcal Dictionary," vol. i. p. 278. In the Syriac version of the Old Testament, (,'ai'cliernish is translated, or raUur ii-placi-il. by Mabog. "' '• IiLscription," p. 4'i. »« So Mr. lox lalbot ("Inscription," p. 48). »" "Inscription," etc., pp. 48-52. ""> See Second Monarch j', ch. vii. note 335 "" "Inscription." pp. 52-&4. i»=Ibid. pp. 4-56. '"3 Ibid. pp. .56-60. 104 xije most important points of the statement have been quoted in the earlier portion of tlus chapter, but as the reader may wish to see the entire pas.sage as it .stands in the original document, it is here appended: — " Tiglath-Pileser, the illustrious prince, whom Asshur and Xin have e.xafted to the utmost wishes of his heart : who has pursued after the enemies of Asshur, and has subjugated all the earth — " The son of As.shur-ris-ilim, the power- ful king, the subduer of relielhous coun- tries, he who has reduced all the ac- cursed ( ?)^ " The grandson of 3Iutaggil-Nebo, whom • Asshm\ the Great Lord, aided according to the wishes of hLs heart, and established in strength in the government of Assyria — " The glorioas offspring of Asshur-day- an, who held the sceptre of dominion, and ruled over the people of Bel ; who in all the works of his hands and the deeds of his life placed his reliance on the great gods, and thus obtained a long and pros- perous life — " The beloved child of Xin-pala-zira, the king who organized the country of As- syria, who purged his territories of the \vicked, anrl established the troops of As- svria in authoritv.'" ("Inscription," pp. 60-62. 105 '• Inscription," pp. 04-66. >»« PM. p. 66. >»7 Ibid. pp. 64-72. 108 Ibid. p. 73. 109 See text. pp. 1.53-154. ^^^ E.g., even when bent on glorifying Himself, the monarch is stiU " the illus- trious chief, who, under the ainpices of the Sun God, rules over the people of Bell " ("Inscription." p. 20), and "whose ser- vants Asshur has appointed to the gov- ernment of the four regions" (ibid.); if his enemies fly, " the fear o^ Assliur has overwhelmed "them " (pp 28. 36. etc.); if they refuse tribute, they " witlihold the offerings due to Asshur" (p. 34); if the the kmg himself feels mclmed to make an expedition against a country, "his lord, Asshur invites him" to proceed thither (pp. ;i4, 42, 48); if he collects an armv, 'Asshur has committed the troops to his hand"" (p. 32i. "When a comitry not previously subject to Assyi-ia is attacked, it is because the people "" do not acknou-'i. edge Asshur '" (p. 38); when its plunder is CU. IX.] THE HJCCOND MONARCHY. carried off it is to adorn and enrich the temples of Assliur and the other j^ods (p. 40); wlien it yields, tlie first tiiiii;? Ls to " attuck it to th irumhtii of Assliur " (pp 38, 40, etc). Tlie liiiiK hunts " under tlie aaspices of Nin and Ner{,'al " (p. 54), or of " Nni and Assliiir" (p rW); he put.s his tablets under the pnit<-<'tion of Ann uni.1 Vul (p. 08); he ascrilx's the lonu life of one ancestor to his eminent piety ip. G;!); and the pro.sperity of another U) tlie protfotiun which Asslnir vouchsjifed him (p. tiOi. The name of Asshnr oeeurs in the iiusorip- tion nearly forty times, or almost once m each paraf^rapli. The snn-;;od, .Sliamas, the deities Ann, Vnl, and liel, are men- j tionefl repeati-lly. AeknowledK-ment Ls I also made of Sin, tlie iiiunii-j^Dii. of Nin, Nerval, Ishtar, Ileitis, :\lartii. and II f>rlta. And all this is in an uiseriptiou which is not diMlicatorv, hut historical! "1 Ap. Diod. Sic. ii. 19. 'i^xiie Mosehi, the people of fomma- gen6. the Nairi, the Araimwins, the peo- ple of Muzr, and the Uoinani. "3 As the Kaski and Unimi, trihes of the Hittites, the people of Adavjis, Tsar- avas, Itsua, Daria, Muraddan, Klianui- rabbi; Miltis, or Melitene, Dayan, etc. ""''Inscription of Tiglatli-Pileser I.," p. 53. lis Gen. X. 9. ii" See text, p. 38(5. 1'^ "Inscription," p. CO. lis The existence of " ^reat fortified cities throu;^overnnieiitof the'"oi(»i/r//o///(e/oi(c j regions." What the four regions wore i we can only conjecture. Verliaps they I were, 1, the country east of the Tigris; "i, , that between the Tigi'is anil the Khabour; 3, that between the Khabour and the i Euphrate.s; and. 4, the mountaiu region upon the uiipor Tigris north of the Jleao- potamian jdain. 120 See te.\t, p. 128 I'^fi Ibid. p. 11. '«2 liiid. p. 131. 1"' /.('., the more westerly ranges. When the monarch cro.sses the Lower Zab, he is immediately in a hostile coun- try. (" Inscription," p. 3S.) "m Six thousand are enslaved on one occasion ("Inscription," p. 2-1;) four thousand on anotlier (p. .32). They are not reserved by the monarch for his own use, but are " given over fora spoil to the peoiile of Assyria." '"* Only two nations, the Mosehi and the Coinani, have armies of such strength an this. (" Iiiscriptietween England and Scotland, the actual size nol being very different. Halivlonia, how- ever, wius probably more tln'ckly [M-opled than .Vfvsyria; so "that the disproportion of the two populatioiLS would not be so great. i^»See text, p. .•JHl. '" It was a hi-ling of tliis kind which induced the Israelites to send and fetch the ark of the covenant to their cainp when they were contending with the I'hilistines (1 Sam. iv. 4). and which ma^le the Spartans always fake with them to battle one or both o"f two images o«r rath- er symbolsi of the Tyndarids, Castor ancl Pollux (Herod, v. 7.")). So wlien the Hu^o- tians asked aid from the Egiiietan.s, tlu«e liust sent the:ii certiiin iniag<*s of the -Eacido' (Herol. v. HOi; and the United Greeks set so high a value on the pres- ence of these same imagt>s that they wnt exjire'Nsly to fetch them when they were about to enga;«'e the Persian rtt>et at Sala- niis (llerod. viii. M and K3). Coiii^mii-o Strab, viii. p. .ViS, and Macrob. " Sat." i Jl. ■32 The chief authority for this war is the " S.nichronLslic Tabli-t " aln>ady fre- quently quoted. The capture of the ima • ges is not mentioned on that t^iblet, but is taken from a rock inscription of Sen- nacherib's at Havian near Khoi-sjibad. The idols are .said to have been cajitured at the city of //.-A-o/ni, which Ls thought to have been near Tekrit. ia3 ']'|„. illustration is made from a very rough drawing sent tbelisk king, in his great In- .scription; and if wius mainly in coii.s*- quence of this mention that Mr. .lohn Taylor, Uing reqnesttil by Sir H. \of- tus at Koyunjik. ainl now in the Uritish Mus«nini, bears a flery Inwription, alniost illetfible, fruin which it appvura t* 572 THE SECOND MONARCUY. [cu. IX. have been set up by Asshur-bil-kala, the son of Tifijlath-l'ilcser 1. and f^i-andson of Assliiu'-ris-ilim. (See note "" below.) '3" Aecording to the orchiiary Hiblica chronology, yaiil's accession fell aljout the year B.C. 1090. Samuel's judgeship which immediately preceded this, is placed between b.o. 11'M and li.c. 1090. (See 01intf>n, " ¥. H." vol. i. p. 3;i0, and compare Palmer, "Egyptian Cnronicles," vol. ii. p. U9'.).) The As.syrian chronologj' tends lo lower tliese dates by the space of about foi'ty ycai's. 'S' IVtliiii-, where Balaam lived, was on the Ivtt Ijank of the Euphrates, m Ai-arn- Naharaiiii oi' Mesopotamia. (Deut. xxui. 4; compare Nmn. xxii. 5 and xxiii. 7.) '''"' 1 Sam. xiii. and xiv. i=>9 The true character of the Jewish kingdom of David and Solomon as one of the Great Oriental Empu-es, on a par with C'haldasa and Assyria, and only less celebrated than the others from the acci- dent of its being short-lived, has rarely been seized by historians. Milman indeed parallels the architectural glories of Solo mon with those of the " older monarchs of Egypt and Assyria" (" History of the Jews," vol. i. p. aoi, 1st edition), and Ewald has one or two similar expressions; but neither writer appears to recognize the real greatness of the Hebrew king- dom. It remained for Dean Stanley, «-ith his greater power of realizing the past, to see that David, upon the completion of his conquests, "became a king on the sea If of the great Oriental Sovereigns of Egypt and Persia," founding " an impe- rial dominion," and placing nimself "on a level with the great potentates of the world," as, for instance, " Kame-ses or t!yrus." (Stanley in Smith's " Bibl. Diet." art. David, vol. i. p. 408.) '■"' The single name of Asshm--mazur. which has been assigned to this period (see text, p. 37;J), is recovered from an in- scription of Shalmaneser II., the Black- Obelisk kmg, who speaks of cei-tain cit- ies on the riglit bank of tlie Euphrates as having been taken from Asshur-.^hizur by the Aramaeans, who had defeated him in l)attle. "' The "Syrians that were beyond the river," who came to the assistance of the Ammonites m their war with David (3 Sam. X. 16), may possibly liav(^ been sub- .iects or rather tributaries of Assyria (and in this sense is perhaps to be understood Ps. Ixxxiii. 8); but the Assyrian empire itself ewlently took no part in the strug- gle. The Assyrian monarchs at this time seem to have claimed no sovereignty be- yond tlie Kuplu-ates. while David and Solomon w«re content to push their con- iiuests up to that river. 1^'^ Perhaps the true cause of Ass.vria's weakness at this time was that her star now paled before that of Babylon. The story told by Macrobius ("Sat." i. 23) of romniunications between an Egyptian 1 niLT. Senemnr. or Senepos. and a certain J)eleboras, or Deboras, whom he caUs an As.syrian monarch, belongs prohablv to this period. Deboras was most likefy a Baljylonian, since he was lord of the Mesopotamian Helifjpohs, wliich was Tsipar, or Sippara. It is susjaected that he may be the Tsibir who, accoi'ding to Asshur-izir-pal destroyed a city named Atlil, on the coiiHnes of A.ssyria. At an.\- rate the very existenceof coiniiiiiiiii-atiniis between Babylon and Egyj)! would inipl.\ that A.s.syria was not at the time the gniit Mesopot^imian power. '■■^ This relationship is established by the great inscription of Asshur-izir-pal. ("liiitish Mus(!um Series," Pis. 17 to 26.) 114 There is some reason to beUeve that Vul-lush II. was a monarch of energy and character. The fact that several copies of the Canon commence with his reign, shows that it constituted a sort of era. The mention, too, of this Vul-lush by the third khig of the name among his picked ancestors is indicative of his reputation as a great monarch. '■•^ Asshur-izir-pal, it will be observed, does not call this Tiglathi-Ntn his father: and it Ls therefore possible that the f c inner Tiglathi-Nin may be intended (see text, p. 379). But as Tiglathi-Nin is mentioned after Tiglath-Pileser, it would rather seem that he was a later monarch. 1^^ It has been supposed that the Numi of this passage are the same as those of many later inscriptions, and represent the Sasianians or Elamites. (See Mr. Lav- ard's "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 35^.) But the entire series of geographical names disjjroves this, and fixes the local- ity of the campaign to north-western Kurdistan and soutliern Armenia. The terms Nimii and Elami, meaning simply "mountaineers " (compare Heb. /]?. Tln'^. and the like), would naturally be applied to many quite distinct tribes. 147 The name of Kurkh is given by the natives to some imjiortant ruins on the right bank of the Tigris, about twenty miles below Diarbekr. " These ruins cover a raised platform, six miles in circiun- ference, crowned towards the south-east corner by a lofty mound, about 180 feet high. Some important As.syrian remains have been foimd on the site, which are now in the British IMuseimi. Kurkh is probably the Carcathiocerta of the classi- cal writers. (Strab. xi. p. 700; Phn. " H. N." vi. 9.) It is believed to be the same city as Tuskha of the Assyi-ian inscrip- tions. ^''*' See above, note ^'. '*^ Circesium, according to Mr. Fox Talbot. ( " Assvrian Texts." p . 31.) i=" See text. p. 136. '51 The only parallel to this severity which the Inscriptions offer is furnished by Asshur-izir-pal himself in his accoiuit of an expedition undertaken in the next year, where, on taking a revolted city (Tela), he tells us, " their men. young and old. I took prisoners. Of some I cut otf the feet and hands; of others I cut off the CH. IX.] rilE SECOND MONARCHY. 573 noses, ears, and lips; of the young men's oars I made a heap; of the old men's heads I built a iniiiaret. I expused their heads as a trophy in front nt their city The male children and the female childn.-n I burnt in the Haines. The city I destroy- ed, and consunii'd, and burnt with fire." ("Inscription," col. i. ad ftn.) 152 The TsupnatorTsupna is now callwl the Tsebcneh — a sUpht corruption of the original appellation. It is probably the native term from which the Oreeks and Romans formed the name Sophen*^, whereby they desijrnated tlio entire n-- ^on between the Moiis Masius and the Upper Euphrates. (See Strab. xi. p. TIW; Plin. "H. N." vi. '^; D. Cass, xxxvi. Wj; Pint. "Vit. LucuU.' c. 34; Procop. '-De. M(l." iii. 2, etc.) Mr. John Taylor has recently explored this region, and finds that the Tsupnat has an undcrt^rnnnd course of a considerable kn{;Ili through a cavern, which si^ms to be the fact ex- aggerated by Pliny (1. s. c.) Lnt<5 a passage or the Tigris nmlerneath Mount Taurus. The Arab geograjiher, Yaeut, gives an account far nearer the trutli. making the Tigris flow from a dark cave near IlilUi- ras (*I/'.Ai'p•). wliich Ls an Arian equivalent of the Semitic Edisa: foredus in Arabic is the same as (juru in Persian, meaning "wolf or hyauia." t'omnare the name Ai«of given Uj the Zab, whi(;h had almost the same meaning. (Heb. "^ This river, the Hennas of the .iVra- bians, appeai-s in Asshur-izir-pal's in- iscriptlons under the nanu' of Kharnu'.ih. '^" Tsur, Tyre, may perliaps be oogiiatii to the Hebrew "V^, the original mean- ing of which is "a rock." The initial sibilant is however rather D than 2f . "■' The Babylonian monareli of the time was Nebo-bal-adan. He was not directly attoi-ked by Asshur-i/irpal ; and hence there is no mention of the war on the synchronistic tabU-t. "" The S(.;ribe has accidentally written the number as "(iCKX)," insteiKl of " 10.- 000 or aO.tXX)." Immediately afterwards he states that 6.500 of these WXJO were slain in the battle! "» A.sshur-izir-pal says that he " made a desert" of the banks of the Kluiboiir. Thirty of the chief prisoners were im- paled OQ stakes. '«" It inav be conjectured that the peo- ple of Beth- Adina are ''the cliildren of Eden," of whom we Ivave mention in Kings (2 K. xix. Vi\ and Isaiah (xxxvil. !»'», and who in Sennaelierib's time inlial>- ited a city called Tel-A.s.shur. Tlie indi- cations of locality meniiniiiol in these passjiges, and also tliose furnished by E/ek. xxvii. 25, suit well with the vicinity of Balis. Tel-.Vsshur may jK^ssibly be the city built by .V.sshur-izir-pal, and named after the god Asshur at the close of liis seventh cam])aign. "" Mr. Fox Talbot compares this name with that of the city of Batna' vLsiti^d by Julian. ("As-svrian Texts," p. .32. • Sir H. Ivinvhnson lias siiggest»>a of the (ireeks ami R- of Bekr "isu- pers«Kled tluit of .\mida in the .seventh century. DiarlK'kr is, however, still known as .-iHiid or Kara Amid to tlie Turks and Armenians. '"See te.xt. p. 3H2. "* See text. pp. 298 et iteq. '"See a pa|>er publishen of the writer. "" This in.sc-riiition is on the altar found at Nimrud in front of this king's sculpt- ured efllgy. (See text. p. MX>.\ '"" Tliis, at le.ist. is the opinion of Mr. Layard ("Nineveh and Babylon," i>. tiVJ), who has even ventunvl. with the help of Mr. Fergus.soii, to nvonstnu't the river facade. (" Monuments." 2d S«Ti(.s. PI. 1.1 '""Only two wi-re iincoveivd by Mr. Layard: "but he U-lieves that there "was ii thiicl betwtvn them, as at Koyiiniik and Khorsiibiul. ("Nin. and Bab." 1. s. c. Com|>.'ire text, jij). IS? it xfif.) '"»• This term is inten(le<| to express the winged lions which have the form of a man ilmrn to tlf inii.it. (Ijiyaril, " Mon- uments," 1st S^'ries, PI. 12.1 "0 I.ayard, " Nineveh and Its Remains." vol. i. p. 3S:j; "Monuments," Ist Series, p. 8. '" This hall was about 100 fe«'t long by 25 broail. All the slabs except one wens oriiaiiieiitiMl with eolossjil eaglt«-heade«l figures iu iMiirs, faring one (uiother. and s^'jMirated by the sjicn>uii. figured by Mr. Ijivard in the 1st S»'riesof his " Mohiiments." PI. .'>. and now iu the British Museum. All 674 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [en. IX. the flf^iires in the chamber," says Mr. Layard, " are coIokkuI, and are remarka- ble for tlic can I'lil finisli of thescnlptui'es and elaliciriilc nature of the ornaments." (" Nincvfli and itsKi'iiiahls," vol. i. p. SD.'J.) "^ See the plan of the Nimi-ud ruins in Mr. Layard's "Nineveh and Babylon," opp. p. 'O.').'). "■i See text, p. 19.5. "8 Like the rooms in ordinary Assyrian houses. 176 Their walls had the usual covering of alabaster slabs, but these slabs \v«re inscribed oidy. and not scidptured. '" See text, pp. 21,'i et seq. "^ A mutUated female statue, brought from Koyunjik, and now in the cellars of the British Museum, is inscribed with the name of Asshur-bil-kala, son of Tiglath- Pileser, and is the earhest Assyrian sculpture which has been brought to Eu- rope. The figure wants the head, the two arms from the elbows, and the front part of the feet. It is in a coarse stone, and appears to have been very rudely carved. The size is a little below that of life. The proportions are bad, the length of the body between the arms and the legs being much too short. There are appearances from which it is concluded that the statue had been made to sub- sen'e the purposes of a fountain. 1" The tablet of Tiglath-Pileser I., of which a representation has been ah'eady given (see PI. CXLIV., Fig. 3). '"" Some signet-cylinders of Assyrian workmansliip may be earlier. But their date is uncertain. '81 Layard, " Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. pp. 58-60; "Nineveh and Baby- Ion," p. 581. Small bits of basalt, frag- ments probably of an obelisk, a inide statue and some portions of a winged bull, are all the works of art which Kileh-Sherghat has yielded. The Statue is later than the time of Asshur-izir-pal. i"2 See test, pp. 239 et seq. 18S For representations, see Pis. LXXVI. and CV. '8* See text, p. 237; and compare Layard, " Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. pp. 321 and 412-414. 1**^ See text, pp. 199 et seq. 188 This tower, however, was partly the work of Asshur-izir-pars son and suc- cessor, Shalmaneser II. "7 A stele of the same king, closely re- sembling this, but of a ruder character, has been recently brought to England, from Kurkh, near Diarbekr, and added to the National Collection. • 18" The custom of placing an altar di- rectly in front of a sculptured representa- tion of the king appears also in one of the bas-reliefs of Asshiu'-bani-pal, where there is an arched frame very like this of Asshiu"-izu"-pal, apparently set up against a temple, with an altar at a little distance, placed in a pathway leading directly to the royal image. (See PI. XLIX.) isB Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 351. ""Two feet, that is, on the broader face : on the narrower one the width is less than 14 inches. '"■ See PI. XL., where this monument Is repi'esented. IU2 For its constant use in Assyria see Pis. XXXVI., XLI., XLVII., XLlX., LI., etc. '"' Amm. Marc. xvii. 4; Plin. "H. N." J xxxvi. 14. ■ "^ See Kenrick's "Phoenicia," p. 56; . and compare Eupolemus in Polyhi.stor's Fragments ("Fr. Hist. Gr." vol. iii. p. a28), Menander (Fr. 1), and Herodotus (li. 41). 196 Fragments of two other obelisks, one certainly, the other probably, erected by this iiiDiiaich. were discovered at Ko- yun.jik by ;\Ir. Loftus, and are also in tlie Britisli Musfiim. One was in white stone, and had sculjitures on one side only, being chiefly covered with an inscription commemorating in two colunms, fii-st. certain lumting exploits in Syria, and secondly, the repairs of the city of As- .shur. This had two gradines at the top, and was two feet wide on its broader, and sixteen inches on its naiTowei- face. The titlier. obelisk was in black basalt^ and had sculptures on eveiy side, represent- J ing the king receiving tribute-bearers. | It nuist have been larger than any other ^ work of this kind which has been found in Assyria ; for its width at top was two feet eight inches on the broader, and nearly two feet on the narrower face, which would imply a height of from fif- teen to twenty feet. It is uncertain whether this obehsk tenninated in gra- dines. i^** See text, pp. 326 et seq. 18' Adiabenfi is properly the country between the Upper and Lower Zab, but it is not unusual to extend the term to the whole Zab region. i'8 See Mr. Layai'd's " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 361. 15^ As his father reigned only six, and his grandfather only twenty years, As- siiur-izir-pal is not likely to nave been much more than twenty or twenty-five years old when he came to the throne. ^o" No other Assyrian king except As- shur-bani-pal is known to have reigned so long. The nearest approacli to a reign of this length among the earlier mon- archs is made by Vul-lush III.. Shalmaue- ser's grandson, wlio reigns 29 years. At Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar reigiis 43 years ; but no other monarch in Ptolemy's list much exceeds 20 years. 2"' Take, for instance, the following passage from the Annals of Asshurizir- pal:— " On the Sixth day of the month Su from the city Tahiti I departed. By the side of the fiver Kharmesh I marched. In the city Magarisi I halted. From the city Magarisi I departed. At the banks of the river Kliabour I arrived. In the city Shadikanni I halted. The tribute of the city Shadikanni I received— silver, CH. IX.] THE SECOND MONARCHY. 575 gold, iron, bars of Conner, sheep, and goats. From the city Snadikunni I de- parted. In the city Katni I lialted," etc., etc. Or the follonins from the Annals of Shalmaneser II., w-iuch is a very ordinary specimen : — "In my 2.5th year I cro.ssed the Eu- phrates tiiroui,'h di'cn wiitcr. I ri-cfived the tribute of all tin- kiiitrs nf tin- Kli.itti. I passed over .Mount Khaiiiana. mid went do\vn to tlie towns of Kati of t'awin. I attacked and captured 'liinur, his strong- hold. I slew his fitchtinjr men and carried away his spoil. I overthrew, beat to pieces, and consumed with fire towns without number. On my return I chose Mum, a stroMKhold of Arami. the son of Ashaltsi, to be one of my frontier cities." *°' See the author's "Herodotus," vol. i. p. 117. note ', 'M edition. io3 .See text, pn. :i.s2-:WH. '•"•^ In the tilth year of Shalmaneser, Dayan-Asshur was" Kpon>in, lus appears both from the As.syrian Canon and the Inscription on the' Hlaek Obelisk. The fourth place after the kiiiK was at this time ordinarily held by an officer called the Tukid, i)robably tlie Vizier, or Prime Minister. 200 The subjoined pas.sage will show the curious intermbcture of persons: — "In my :^)tli year, while I was waiting in Calah", I sent out in haste Dayan-As- shur, the peneral-in-chief of my whole army, at the head of my army. He crossed the Zab, and ari-ived among the towns of Hupuska. / received the f riinite of Datan, the Hupuskan. / departed from the towns of Unimskans. J/f ar- rived at the towns of ;\lagdubj, the Mada- khirian. / received tribute, //(-departed from the towns of the Mailakliii-iaiis, and arrived among the towns of Udaki the Mannian. Udaki fled to save his life. 1 pursued him," etc. 206 " Quod facit per alium, facit per se." -"' San'.;ara, king of C'archemi.sh, and Liibarna, king of the I'atena, had sub- mitted to jVsshiu'-izir-pal. (See text, p. 400.) !"»> This is doubtful. The southern Hit- tites may have entirely separated the Dama.scus territory from that now pos- sessed by Assyria. ""'•' The allied force is estimated by the As.syrian inoiiarch at ■i'JW charioLs. KKXI camels, anil 7?.'.>iKi men. Of tlies*- Hen- hadad tnrnislied •JO.OOOmenand TJiH) chari- ots, Ailonibiud of Sizaiia ^o.iKMI men and .30 chariots. .\hab of .le/.reel lO.iNK) men and dXHi chariots. Tsjiklinlena of Hamath 10,000 men and 700 chariots, and the king of Egypt llHM) men. The camels were furnished by Oindibua (Djendibi the Ara- bian. ■•'"' See text, p. 409. '" He estimates his troops at 102,000. ("Black-Obelisk Inscription. ' p. A-£i.\ "'•' The Hittites and the I'hcenicians an- probably both includee PI. XL. It is on a somewhat smaller scale than that of Asshiirizir-iMil, U-ing only al«>ut seven fi>et high, when-^is that is inon' than twelve, and twenty-two inches wide on the broad faci', when-as that is two feet. Its proportions make it more solid-looking and less ta|H-rtliantho earlii-r monument. ajj stf text, p. 411. '•' Kii7.iin seems to Ih> the coimtry on the soutliern slop-s i-{ Mount Niphateti, ■letween the Bitlis and Myafan-kin rivers. It retains its name almost iinehangetl to the pry-.seiit day. fSt-e Ijiyard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 37, whereit isealleTlao 576 THE SECOND MONARCHY, [en. IX, oljclisk, we must begin at the top with tlie four topmost coiiipartinents, which we must t One impoitant exception, however, nmst be noticed- the submission of the Muzri, the chief i>eople of north-we.stern Kui-distan. By this the Assyrian Emjjire was considerably extended to the north- east. 2*2 In the selection of the five nations whose tributes are conunemorated by the sculptures on the Black Obelisk, there is an evident intention to exhibit the extent of the Empire. The Patena and Isra- elites mark the boiuids on the north- west and south-west, the Muzri those on the north-east. The extreme north is marked by the people of Kirzan, the extreme south by the Tsiikhi. 2*3 This teiTii may possibly correspond to the Hebrew OMJ, Goim — the singular, wliich is Que (Co6), answering to 'U, Go'i. 244 The Bartsu at this time inhabit south- eastern Armenia. By Seimacherib's time they had descended to a more south- erly position. In fact, were then in, or very near, Persia Proper. 2" See Jerem. xxv. 25. 2''« This term is the Assyrian representa- tion of the Biblical Ararat (tOTlN) and is probably the t)riginal of the 'A/.ap66ioi of Herodotus (iii. 94; vii. 79). 2*' This inscription has been engraved in the " British Museimi Series," vol. i. Pis. 29 to 31 ; in which a transcript of the in- scription in the ordinary character has been also pubUshed (ibid. Pis. 32 to 34). 2<8 See tex-t. pp. 413 et seq. 2 49 The first Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, attacked Assyiia by this route in his first expedition. (See text. pp. 381. 3S2.) It was also followed by Asshur-izir-pal and Shalmaneser II. in their Babylonian wars. In the time of Herodotus it seems to have been the ordinary line by which trav- ellers reached Babylon. (SeeHerod. v. 52, and conipare the author's " OutUne of the Life of Herodotus" in his "Herodotus," vol. i. p. 9, note '.) 250 Sir H. Rawlinson regards the Daban as probably the Babylonian Upiier Zab (or Nil), whicli left the Euphrates at Babylon and joined the Tigris at the site of Apa- mea, near the commencement of the Shat el-Hie. 251 One copy of the Assyrian Canon con tains brief notices of Shamas-Vurs expe ditions during his last six yeai-s. From tliis document (■' Brit. Mus. Series." vol. ii PI. 52) it appeiirs that he was engaged in rnilitary expeditions year after year until en. IX.] THE SECOND MONARCHY. rm B.C. 810, when he died. The most impor- tant of these were against Chalda;a and Babylonia in his 11th and \•M^ yeai-s. Tlie reduction of Babylonia was proiiably ef- fected by these campaigns (b.c. Kia and 812). 262 See PI. CXLV., Fig. 2. 2*3 \n abstract of tliis Inscription of Vul- lush III. was published by Sir H. Rawlin- Bon in the year 1850, and will be foimd in the " Athenpeuin," No. ItTti. More re- cently, Mr. Fox Talbot has translated the Inscription word for word. (See the "Jour- nal of the Asiatic Society," vol. xix. i)p. 18a-lH(i. ) The oriRinal has been published in the " British Museum Series, ' vol. PI. 35, No. I. . . u . ^i* It is an intere.stnip question at what time exactly .ludjea fii-sl ;u-knowl.'dj,'cd the suzerainty of the .Assyrians. Tlio K'H- eral supposition liasltccri that the submis- sion of Ahaz to TiKlath-l'iJ.scr 11. (about B.C. raO) was the ht-KinniiiLC of the subjec- tion (see 2 K. xvi. 7); but a inMice in the 14th chapter of the Secniid Uuok of Kings appears to imply a muclusuli.i- acknowl- edgement of As-syriau sovereignty. It is said there that "as soon as the Icim/dom wcui confirmed in Amaziah's hand, he slew the servants who had slain the king his father." Now this is tlie very expres- sion used of Jlenahem, king > >f Israel, hi ch. XV. I'.t. whei-e the"<'()ntirnuilii)n" intended is evi, 0. 2"> The patterns were in fair taste. They consisted chietly of winged bulls, zigzags, arrangements of sciiiares and circles, arul the like. Mr. I.Ayard calls lliem "elabo- rate and graceful in design." (" Nineveh and its Ki-mains," vol. ii. p. 15.) 2" ii,i,i. J,. HI. 268 The Turks themselves at one timeex- cavated to some extent inthe Nebbi Yumis mound, and diseovered buildings and rel- ics of Vul-lush III., of Sennacherib, and of Esar-haddon. ■iOK yii- H. Rawlin.son, who discovere Nebo by Vul-lush III., which adjoined tlieS.K. palace at Nimrud, found with them six others. Of the.se four were colos,sal, while two resembled those in the Museum. The colossal statues were destitute of any in- scription. ■"» PI. XXI., Fig. 3. 2«i The inscription on the statues shows that they weiv offered to Nebo bv an of- ficer, who was governor of Calah, Kha- mida(.\madiveh), and thiee other places, for the life of Vul-lush and of hus wife 27 Sanmmrann't, that the God might length en the king's life, prolong his days, in- crea.sti his years, and give peace l« his hou.se and jieople, and victory to liis armies. '•'''2 .See the Inscription in the "British Museum .Series," vol. i. PL 35, No. II. 2" See p. 287. 2«< Herod. 1. 18J. 2"' This date is obtainey adopting the estimate of three generations t< > a century, which was famiUar to MeriNlotiis (ii. 1-12», and counting six generations betwwn Semiramis and I..abynetiLS (the Kupj»oKes«> reign commenced B.C. .5.V>. according to the Canon of I'tol- emy. The ilate tlius i(rodnced. Sic. ii. I, where Senuramis is made the daughter of the Syrian gixl- (less Derceto; and ii. 20, where she is sai«l to have tm-neon the Scriptural numl«'rs i»;i/y. As .Menaheiii reigned 10 veai-s, Pekahiah 2 years, and I'ekah •-II. if Pill's ex|H-dition had fallen In Meiiahem's first year, and TiglalhPile- s«-r"s in Pekah's "last, they would have Ix-eii si'paralttl at the iitniost l)y a siwico of 32 yeai-s. We shall hereafter show rea.son.s for thinking that in fa»'t they wito st'|i!trated by no longer mi interval than 18 or 2>i vears.' 2'<> tieti the AtheiUBum for Au)f. 'M, 1808 n78 THE SECOND MONAJiC'UY. [cii. IX. (No. 1869, p. 2ir>): The chief arfoiinents i'or tlie identity' are, 1. The fact that Scripture iiicntions I'ul's takiiiK trihiit,e from iVh'nahcni, hutsaysnothiiiK<>f trihiilc beiiiK tak-eu fnnii liiiu by Ti;^lath-l'ili'scr, wliile the Assyrian UKiiuiiMciits iiiciitinn tliatTit^lath-Pileser took trjhutf from liim, hut say nothing of Piil. ^J. Tlic improba- bility (y) tliat two consecutive kinj^sof As- syria could have pushed flieir concjuests to the distant land of .Juda/a during tlie short reign of Menaheni. .3. The way in wliich Pill and Tiglatli-Pileser are coupled togetlier in 2 Ciir(jn. v. 2(J, as if they were one and the same individual (?), or at any rate were actuig together; and, 4. The fact that in the Syriac and Arabic versions of this passage one name only is given in- stead of the two. To ine these arguments do not appear to be of much weight. I think that neither the writer of Chronicles nor the writer of Kings could possibly have expressed themselves as they have if they regarded PiU and Tiglath-Pileser as the same person. ^'* See the next note. ^s" See Eu-seb. " Chron. Can." Pars Ima, c. iv. " Post hos ait extitisse Chaldceorum regem, cui nomen Phulus erat." Eusebius makes the quotation from Polyhistor; but Polyhistor's authority beyond a doubt was Berosus. Pul therefore must have figured in the Babylonian annals, either as a na- tive king, or as an Assyrian who had borne sway over Chaldaja. 2*1 Assyrian names are almost always compomids, consisting of two. three, or more elements. It is difflcult to make two elements out of Pul. There is, however, it must be granted, an Assyrian Eponym in the Canon, whose name is not very far from Pul, being Palaya, or PaUuya (="my son"). The same name was borne by a grandson of Merodach-Bala- dan. Mr. G. Smith, moreover, informs me that he has found Pulu as the name of an ordinary Assyrian on a tablet. 2S2 The " Porus " of Ptolemy's Canon is a name closely resembling the " Phulus " of Polyliistor. The one would be in He- brew 113, the other is 7-12. 2B3 According to Ussher (see the margi- nal dates in our Bibles) Menahem reigned from B.C. 771 to B.C. 761, or twenty years earlier than this. Clinton lowers the dates by two years (" F. H." vol. i. p. 32.5). Nme more may be deducted by omitting the imaginary " interregnum "between Pekah and Hoshea, wliich is contradicted by 2 K. XV. 30. The discrepancy, therefore, be- tween the Assyrian Canon and the He- brew numbers at this point does not ex- ceed ten years. i'8'i B.C. 747. The near synclironism of Tiglatli-Pileser's accession (e.g. 745) with this date is remarkable, resulting as it does simply from the numbers m the Assyrian tfenon, without any artifice or manipula- tion w^hatsoever. 2S6 See 2 Kings xiv. 25-28; xv. 16. 288 ffjiis general defection and depres- sion is .stated s<;inevvliat over-strongly by Herodotus (i. 'J5, %). '•'"■' The ilat<- of Jonah's i)reachingt<^) the Nim-vjli's has been unich disputed. Jt ha« been pku cd as eaily asHt^l (.see our Bibles), or from that to b.c. K4i) (brake i. wlilih would tla-ow it into a most llourisliing . ' Syrian period, the reign of Shalnian. II. Others have obs<;r-ved that it mas well belong to the luller part of the reigu of .Jeroboam II. (Bailey), which would be about B.C. 7H<», according U> the ordinary chronology, or about B.C. 760-750, accord- - inp to tlie views of the present writer. '] ^*"* Jonah iii. 4. ^*° This was the prophetic dress. (Se^' 2 Kings i. 8, and Zecii. xiii. 4. ) ^'-'c Jonah iii. C. 2^' On the custom of putting beasts in naouniing, see above, ch. viii. note *'*. 2»2 Jonah iii. 7, 8. 2*^ Ibid, vei-se 5. ^S'* Ibid, verse 10. 2"^ Ibid. iv. 5. ="" Ibid, verse 11. On the meaning of the phrase see vol. i. pp. 161, 162. 2" "Fr. Hist. Gr." vol. iv. p. 351. 2»» Ibid. vol. iii. p. 210. 2"'' The native form is Pal-tsh-a,or Palli- tsir (Oppert), whence Beletar, by a change of the initial fenuin into the media, and a hardening of the dental sibilant. 2"" Compare the stories of Gj'ges, Cyrus, Amasis, etc. Gyges, the herdsman of Plato ("Rep." ii. 3). and the guardsman of Herodotus (i- 8). appears in the narrative of Nicolaus Damasceiius. who probably follows the native historian Xanthus, as a member of the noblest house in the king- dom next to that of the monarch (Nic. Dam. Fr. 49). Cyrus, son (according to Herodotus, i. 107)' of an ordinary Persian noble, declares himself to have "been the son of a "powerful king." (See the au- thor's " Herodotus," vol. i. p. 200, note •, 2d edit.) There are good groimds for be- lieving that the low birth of Amasis is hkewise a fiction. (Ibid. vol. ii. p. 222, note '.) 301 Bion's date is uncertain, but it prob- ably was not much before B.C. 200. (See the remarks of C. Miiller in the " Fr. Hist. Gr." vol. iv. p. 347.) 302 xhis fact is stated on a mutilated tablet belonging to Tiglath-Pileser's reign. 303 Merodach-Baladan is called "" the son of Yakin" in the Assyrian Inscriptions. His capital, Bit-Yakiii. liad apparently been built 1 jy, and "named after, his father. (Compare Bit-Omri(/.e., Samaria >. Bit-Sar- gina, etc. It has been suggested that Yakin may be intended by Jiigteus. if that be the true reading, in Ptolemy's Canon. When Merodach-Baladan is called " the son of Baladan " in 2 Kings xx. 12, and Is. xxxix. 1, the reference is probably to a grandfather or other ancestor. SIX As jSxtduia. who would seem to be Nadius: and Zakiru, who may possibly be Cliinziinis. 305 Babylon, Borsippa, Nipur, Cutha, Erech, K3s. and Dilmim. Compare the CU. IX.] THE SECOND MONARCHY, conduct of Vul-lush III. (see text, p. 41!»). 3o« See text, p. 419. 3"" Besides the great Hiram, the friend of Solomon, there Ls a Tvrian king of the name mentioned Ijy >fenan(k'r a.s con- temporary witli C.vru.s(Fr. 2j; and another occiii-s in Her<)dotu.s (vii. 98), who must have been contemporary with Darius Hy- Staspis. s""< The Arabs of the tract bordering on Egypt seem to have been reguhirly g(jv- emed by (lue-ens. Three such are men- tioned in the Inscriptions. As tlifsc Arabs were near neiglibors of the Saba-ans, it Ls suggested tliat the queen of Shcba came from their country, which was in the neighborhood of Sinai. (See "Transac- tions of the Royal Society of Literature,"' vol. vii. New Series, p. 14.) s»» i Kings XV. lii). 3'" Isaiah ix. 1. This war is slightly al- luded to in the inscriptioiLs of Tiglalh-lPile- ser; but no details are given. 3' I See text, p. 409. 3'2 I.sa. vii. 1-6. Comp. 2 Kings xvi. .5. 3'3 2 Kijigs xvi. 7. '1^ 2 Kings xvi. 9. There is an imper- fect notice of the defeat and death nf Rezin in a mutilated iu.scriptiou now in the British Mu.seum. 3>* 2 Chron. v. 2artially destroye»l, in order to reduce the size iif the .stone and make it Ht into a given place in Knar- haddon's wall. (See Ijiyard, " Monu- ments," 1st Series," p. 14. »" 32= This plan is exhibiteil in the baiie- ment storv of the British Mu-seum. 32< See text. pp. 1«1-1H:J. 326 Per representations of Tiglath-Pile« ser"s sculptures, .see Mr. l^yard's " Monu- ments." 1st Serii-s, Plates. .')7 to 07; and conii)are Pis. XXXV., XXXVI., LXXVIL, and LXXIX. 3-" 2 Kings xvii. 3. " Against him came up Slialmaneser. king of As-syria; and Iloshea btH;anie his .servant and gave him presents." or " r»'ndered him tribute" (marginal rendering). 32' It was proljably now that Shalnia- neser made his general attack ujjon Photamia. (See Wilkinstin in the author's " Hen id- otu.s," vol. ii. pp. .'ifi-.'Jitt and p. .'Ill ; and comjjare Sir H. Kawlin.son's "Illus- trations of Kgyptian HLstory," nublLsheil in the "Transactions of the Koyal So- ciety of Literatun'," vol. vii. New Seri«'S.) 330 The inva.sions of Shishak iSheshonk) and Z<'rnh (Osorkoni show that the Idea of annexing Syria continued even during a iM'rifKl of comiwirative dep^'^ S*-*' text. p. VXt. 333 If we wen* i>bliget Sjilinou 22 or 21 years only Ix'fore Tirliakah, B.C. 712 or 714. Hut the .\pis uttltr ha^-w shown that Manethos numU'rs are not t.i Ix- tru-ileil; an ii i . T-Hi. ■J" .Manetho stnii-.! tlint B. ^^■i According to Herodotus, the native king wlioni Saljaco superseded (called by him Anysis) was blind. Diodorus calls Bocchoris ri.'i au/unri navrtAuq evKaTa(pf)6- VTjTov, but does not si>ecify any particular infirmity. (Diod. Sic. i. 65, § 1.) 336 That the So, or rather Seveh (N1D), of 2 Kings xvii. 4, represents the Egj-j)- tian name Shebek is the general opinion of comi]U'ulat. and probal>ly to TiKlath-Pileser 11. (p. 4;30). The exti-iision of Ejjyptian influence over the country is perhap.s glanced at in the propliesy of Isaiah,— "In that day shall five cities in the land of EkvjiI si>eak the lantrua^e of Canaan." The "■ five cities " of tlie Philis- tines were Ashiloil. (iaza, Ascalon. (iath, and Ekron. (Sec Josh. xiii. 3; and 1 Sam. ^'«»'See above, note ''*. 36» See Oppert, " Ins<'riptions des Sar- gonides, p. Si; and conipai-e Sir H. Kaw- unson in the " Athenanini." No. IHdO. p. •^47, note''": and Dr. Hicks in the same journal. No. ISTH. j). 'A\. 300 Manetho a.s.signed to Neco six j-ears only, wherea.s it is certain that he reigned sixteen. He inter]>osed three kings, whose reigns covereil a space of twenty- one years, between Tirhalcah and Psam- nietichus, whereas the monuments show that Psammetichus followed Tirhakah immediately, .\gain, he gave Tirhakah eighteen years, whereas the monuments give him tweutv-six. His niunl)ers may have tjeen falsified; l)ut certainlv, (w thvy come to us, no dependence can be nlaced on them. (See M. de Roughs "Notice sommaire des Monuments ^^•gyptiens du Musfie du Louvre." Paris. 1s.Yi,) '•> The title borne bv Slieltek Ls read as Tnr-danu by Sir H. towlinson, and ex- plained a-s honorific, signifying " the high in rank.." M. Oppert reads it as i.'t/-f((;i, and compares the Hebrew shilton {^)(CnVf), "power." and the Arabic Sullon. In either ca.se the title Ls a subordinate one, occurring in an Assyrian list of ofBcers after that of Tartan. 3«2 That Shebek the Tar-dan or Sil-tan is not the Pharaoh who gave the tribute is evident from the great L'hamlx'r In- scription of Kliorsaljad, where the two names stn of Itiiphia is well marked in I'olybius. who places it tetween Klii- nocoliira and (iaza (v. .so. ji :i). It was tlie scene of a great lx\ttle l>etween Ptolemy Philopator antl Antiocluis the Great, u.c. 217. Pliny calls it Raphea. (" H. N." v. i:3.) '■^** See above, note '"'. 3«s •'Inscriptions des Sargonides," p. .3(>. 3"" The Thanmdites are a well-known Arabian trilH-. belonging anciently to the central portion of the peninsula. Tliey occupied seats to the south of Arabia Petrsea in the name of Ptolemy. ("Oeo- graph." vi. 7.) 3«' Compare Nehem. ii. 19, and iv. «. s"" Tsamsi api)eai-s to have been the suc- ces.sor of Khabiha (see text, p. I'-tt). ^o" These presents were g'«ld. spices i ?). horses, and camels. The Egy pt ian h< >i-ses were much prized, and were carefully preserved by Sargon in tlie royal stables at Nineveh. •"> M. OpixTt understands tlie pas.s;ige somewhat diffen»ntl.v. He translat<-s, " Yamaii apprit de li«ih I'aiipnK-hed'- ni"n exjK-ilitiou; il s'eiif uit uu Ut7(i dertgyple, tlu cole de Mcrot'." (" Inficriptiuns des Sargonides," p. 27.) »" The name A.shdod (HntW) is proba- blj- derived from the root Ht?, "strong," which appears in ''^Kf ami ^^2^. She- deed Ls " strong " in Arabic. ^•■•' It is jH-rhaps this eajdun' of AKlidoeaks -" In the year that Tartan came mito Ashdod (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent liimi, and fiiught aguiiLst Ashdixl, and took it; at the siime timesjfake the I>>rd by Isaioli," etc. (XX. 1, 'i). For it L< iH»s.sible tliat Sar- gf)n mav claim as hLs own act what was really etYected by a general. But perliaiw it is most probal)le that the capture by the Tartan or general was the earlier one, when Azm-i's revolt was put down, and Akhimit was made king in his place. "3 See Mr. G. Smith's |WiJer in the " Zeit-schrif t fiir aegjpt. Sprache " for IStiK, p. 107. ^'* "Inscriiitionsdes Sai-gonides." p. 28, It Ls this statement, joini-d with the fact that the exiH.-ditioM tinik place in Sargon"s 12th year, that enables as definitely ti> fix the acce.ssion of Sargi m to ii.c. 7i.'- 1 , which is the first year of Merotlach-iJaUidan (Mardoceuipalus) in the Canon of Ptol- emy. 3" Sargon seems by .skilful movementB to have inten>osed liLs army lH>twe»'n Me- nxlacli-Haladan and Sutruk-Nakliunta, and even to have threatenetl to cut <3fT Me- roilach-baladan from the sea. Hence, ])robablj-, his hasty evacuation of hLs cap- ital. (See Mr. U." Smith's pajier in tne "Zeitschrift.'p. ICJ.) 3"« See above, note ">'. 3" The trilx's summoned were the Ganv- hulu, the Bukudu. or Piikitdn (i)erhap8 the Pekixl of the Jewish pniphets, Jer. I. ■21: feek. xxiii. 'Si), the Tamrina, the h'ikhikliu, and the Khindari. who all ap- pear among the .•Vnima'aiLs plunderail by Seiiuiicherib. (Sei-te.vt. p. 44..) TheUani- biilu or tiumbulu were known U> the .\ni_b gi.-ograpliers and historians as Junlndii. They place the Junbuld in the Leiiilun mai-sh (ILstrict. 3"» I have hitherti doubted Uiis identifi- cation sini-e the initial S of an As.syrian name is nowhere el.s«' replaced by a mere l.r.athing. Hut the di.scover>- that Sar- gon tn, and the subsequent stat«'iiieiit that Cvpriis. «li iiiin il."> miles distant f'ntiii th'- : of the Phu'iiieiaii cixust, wh> >yh' sail from the slion-." kuIII.i, ut i\ nuirk the ignorance of the As.syrians where nautical matters are concerned. Saryua 582 TiiK >sK(j(jMi) M<>j\Ai:(:jir. [CU. IX. calls Cypnis " a country of which none of the kiiiKs of Ass.yria or Hab^ionia liad ever lii'iinl tho name." ("Inscrii)tion.s," etc., p. 31.) 3"! Tlie tribute of Upir is not stated. That of tlie (lyprians consisted of gol take no part in the sjpovt. (See text, p. 304.) 31/6 " Inscriptions des Sargonides," p. 31, note '. 3"" This must have l)een his principal residence, as the KlK)rsabad palace wa« not finished till his fifteenth year. 3"' " Inscriptions des Sargonides," p. 35. ="'« Ibid. 399 " Zeitschrift fur aegypt. Sprache " for 1869, p. 110. ^9" At any rate the earliest knorvn spec- imens belong to this reign. (See text, p. 234.) 491 King, "Antique Gems," p. 127. ■""^ See the representations on Plates LXXXIV. and LXXXV. "3 See Pis. CVir and CXIV. 404 See Pis. XLIX., LXXXII., CXXXHI., and CXXXVIII. "s See PI. LX\TI. 49« This docmnent is known as " the Taylor Cylinder." It is dated in the Eponymy of Bel-em ur-ani, who appears in the Assyrian Canon as the Eponym of Seunacherilj s fifteenth year, B.C. 691, and again of his twentieth year, b.c. 686. An abstract of the most inipoitant portion of this inscription was given by Sir II. Raw- linson so long ago as 18.52, in "his " Outlines of Assyrian History," while detailed trans- kitions have been since published by Jlr. rV)x Talbot (" Joum. As. Soc." vol." xix. pp. 135-181), and M. Oppert (" Inscriptions des Sargonides," pp. 41-53). •107 There is a second document called ■'the Belltno Cvhnder," which was writ- ten in Sennacherib's fomth year, and contains his first two campaigiLs. together with an accomit of his earlj- buildings at Nineveh. In general it agrees closely with the Taylor C'3iinder; but it adds some few facts, as the appointment of Belipni. Mr. Fox Talbot translated it in liis ■■ Assyrian Texts," pp. 1-9. •""s 2 Kings xviii. 13-37; Isa. xxxvi. and XXXV ii. 4 99 Euseb. "Chron. Can." Pars 1 ma, c. iv. V. Eusebius has also preserved a pas- sage of Abydenus in which Sennacherib is mentioned (ib. c. ix. § 1 ) : but it con- tains little of any value that is not also mentioned by Polyhistor. •"i" Herod, ii. 141. 41' The Assyrians and Babylonians eomited as their "first year," not the actual year of their accession, but the year following. Thus if Sennacherib as- cended the throne b.c. 705, his "first year " would be B.C. 704. 4'- It is an admitted feature of Ptole- my's Canon that it takes no notice of kings who reigned less than a year. 4 13 The following is Polyhistor's state- ment as reported by Eusebius: " Post- Huam regno defunctus est Senecheribi frater, et post Hagisae in Babyionios ClI. IX.] THE SECOND MONARCIIT. 683 dominationem, qui quidem nondum ex- plet<> trigesiino ini|)f rii die a Marudacho Baldane iJiU*reiii| iliis est, Marudaohiw ipse Baldaues tyrumiidi'iii iiivasit meiisious sex; doiioc euiii sustulit vir qiiidain no- mine Elibus, qui et in ivKnuiii successil." ('•Chron. Can." Pars liua, v. § 1.) <" See text, p. 441. ■"* Itwasfoniicrly concluded from Sen- nacherib's cylinders that liis first Baby- lonian expedition was in his lii'st and his Syrian expedition in his tliird year. Hut neither the Bellino nor the Taylor Cylin- der is, strictly sijeakint;, in the form of annalK. The Babylonian was his lirst campaign, the Syrian his third. But two years seem to have passi'd Ijefore ho en- gaged in foreign e.xiieditions. It is confiriiialory of this view, which follows from the chronoloj^v of tlie As- syrian Canon compared willi the Canon of Ptolemy, to lind tlial the Hrllino Cylin- der, written in Sennaclicrib's fourth 3-ear. gives, not foiu* campaigns, but two only— those of B.C. 70.'J and b.c. 7(y. <'" Tlus king was jjrobably the Sutnik- Nakhunta who had warred with Sargon. (See text, p. 4^.}.) *" "As. Soc, .Journ." vol. xix. p. 137. *>8 See text, p. 4ti9. ■"» In Elibus the El Ls perhaps 7X, " god," used for Bel, the particular gotl. or po.ssi- bly Elibus is a mere corruptil all assisted Mero- dach - Baladan against Sargon. (See above, note =*".) "' Compare 1 Chr. v. 10, IH-iJ; Ps. Lcxxiii. 0. The Hagarenes are jx-rhaps the Agrwi of Strabo 'xvi. p. 1091), Pliny (" H. N." vi. '-ii), and o Wrs. <^* " A.s. Hoc. Journ. ' vol. xix. p. 1:J8. "3 See text, p. +W. *^* "A.s. Soc. .Journ.' vol. xix. pp. Vi'.)- 143; " Inscrip. des Sargonides," pp. 42, 4-'i. <■" An. Joseph. " .Vnl Jud." ix. 14. ■«2" This identity is i viintivirovl by Mr. Bosanquet. C Fall of Nineveh," p. 40; "Me&siah the Prince," jv 3H.5.) <" This name ai)i>cun« as that of a Phil- istine king in the inscrij')tioiLs of Tiglath- Pileser U. (See text, p. f'JO.) ■•'•"< M. OpiMTt is, I bebi've, of this opin- ion. Mr. Fo.x Talbot s(ijiin bi tween I..}-iI(la and Joppa. These seem to 1m" the fou cities now taken by Sennacherib. 1^0 Euseb. "Clu'on. Can." Pars Ima. c XX.; African, ap. ByucelL "Chrono- graph," p. IKl, C. *" We sluill luive fuller evidence of thu* conliniuition of this practice imd'T the A.s.synan kings when tli- . miiM- tei-s of Kgyj,!. iS.fte.\t. 111.) It is slightly indicated b> ; . 'hy of Herodotus (ii. 1 J7). *'*' The first gn-at Ijattle was ttiat of R/inhia. (S«-e text, p. 438.) "3 s.ti Josh. xix. 44, where Eltekeh (npn7X) is mentioned next t^) Eknm. It was a city of the I>-vit4-s i.h «h. xix. SJ). *'^* Perhaps not real ••w.n^.' but rather "servant.s.' Couipan- the double use of TTiiiv in (ireek. "^ Tanma is no doubt Tlifnmatlia (nnjOn), the Ou/iia of Uie Alexandrian ctKlex, which is menlionwl in JoHhua(zlz. 43) immediatciv l^-fore Ekron. Thta Im l)robably not the Tinuiatli or Tiniiiatha of Samson's exiiloits. *J^* ••.\s. S The traiLslati. f Sir H. Kawlinson, which has aln'a followi-d. It ogn^'s in all es.s<-ntial iN>int.s with the traiLslalioim i>f l>r. llincKs il..avanl, " Nineveli and Hal ly Ion." pp. in. 141), 51. Opix-rt (" In- scriptions des Sargonidet*," i>p. Vt. HJ», and .Mr. Fox TallKif, (" Joiuni. of .As. Soe." vol. xix. jm. 147 141tl. *«' It is iM-rhuiiK this ilesolation of the leiTitor>- t«) which I.saiah alludcM in litH 2llh ihaiiler: • Behold, the I>.nl maketh the eurtli empty, and maketh it waste, and lunieth it ufiside down, and xattereUi abroad all the nihabitants tlien-of The liuid shall Ih> utterly einiitieit iiiid ut- terly siMiiled, for the iLoril liiith Kjioken this wtinl. The earth nioiinieth and t'adetli away, the wurld laiib,'ni.slieth and fadetli away: the tiaughty |ieop|e of the earthilo languish. The eorth aUo Is de- llled umler the jnhabitant.s then-of; U'- •ail.se thev have tnin.sgn>SNeliis a secret, sudden takim; away of life during; sleep, by direct Divine in- terposition. <'» HercKl. ii. 141, ad fin. <" Ibid. "« See the "Persas." 8!«-ia')5. *''3 Sennacherib, however, does not sjieak of years, but of campaigns. (" In my fii-st campaign," "In my second cam- piifrn," and the like.) M. ()i)i>ert tran.s- lates more correctly than Mr. l^ox Tallx>t. ■"* This is i)roveil by the name of the Eponym. The date may be later, for the same person, or a person of the .same name, was Eponym tl ve years afterwards, in Sennacherib's tweutietli year. *'"' Tobit i. 21. <'« " Ant. Jud." X. 2. 'Ev tovto) t-. where it abutted on ('ili<-iu tuid the couii- iry of the Tibareul (.Tubal). I *** Davan is not now; btit Uzza, Its cap- ital, and its strongholds, Anara and Lp- ixi am ni'w names. Mr. Fox Tallxit con- jectures that .Vii/ira Ls "the celebrattxl Aomiis, Ix-siegiil niiuiy ages aflerwanU by Ale.xaniler the c. jiiur." Vol. xix. p. l.VJ. I Hut Aomas was in IJactria, far Ix-yond the utmost limit to which the .iV-ssyrian arms ever penetrated eastwaril. *"* l"omi)are the n-moval of the S<"yths from .Media to Lyilia in the reign See text. p. 44.3. <"' Kudrn'-Nakhunta was the son of Su- tnik-Nakhunta, the antagonist of Sarj»on (see text, p. 442». Pricks of Ku>lur-Nak- hunta, bi'ought from Susa. are in the A.s- syrian ("ollei-tion of the Pritish Mu.s«'uui. <»* " Inscriidinns des Sargonides," p. 4H. <»' Badaca is plae text. p. l-Vt. <»& So Mr. Fox Tall>ot understands the pa.s.sage ("As, Ssim<>rilachus in the follow- ing year. Tliesj- are the 1.3ih and 14th years 4>f S«>nnacherih. The omLsslon of Susub from the Canon may Ih> ncctiuntt-d for bv til.- |ii. .bible fact that neither <>f histw.. I forafnll y.-ar. That lu> WH- IS ipr>ivi'«l by a "con tnu't ' Kritish MuHcumdatcii hi his rei^'ti. 586 THE SECOND MONAltCUY. ICH. IX «oo Polyhist. ap. Euseb. " Chron. Can." Pars liria, c. v.: — "Is igitur (/.e., S(^iui- cheribus) Babylonioruin potitus, liliiiin siiiini Asordanein eis regein inipoiiehat, ipse autt'in in Assyriam reditum niatu- raliat. Mox qumu ail ejus aures rumor «'sset perlatus, Gra^cos in Ciliciain coactis copiis belluni traiistulisse, ros protiiiiis aggressiis est, pr(i'li(M|uc iiiito, niultis suoruiu ainissis, hostts nihilomiinis pio- fligavit: suanique imagim^ni, ut esset victoriaB moiiuiiu'ntiiin, en loco erectain reliquit; cui Cliaklaieis litteris res a se gestas insculpi mandavit ad menioriain temponim seinpiteniani. Tarsum quo( pie urbeni ab eo struetaiii ait ad Babylonis exemplar, eidemque nomen inditum Thar- sin." Abyden. ap. eund. c. ix. : — "His temporibus quintus denique et vigesinuis rex fuit Senacheribus, qui Babylonein sil)i subdidit, et in Cilicii maris litore classern Grsecorum pi'ofligatum disjecit. Hie etiani tenipluin Atheiiiensium ( !) sti-uxit. ^rea quoque signa facienda curavit, in qiiibus sua racinol-a traditur inscripsisse. Tarsum denique ea forma, qua Babylon utitur, condidit, ita ut media Tarso Cydnus amnis transiret, prorsus ut Babylonem dividit Arazanes." s"' It is not certain that this means more than the emplacement of the town on both sides of the Cydnus, so that the stream ran through it. (See the paraUel passage in Abydenus.) 6"2 See below, note sis. 5"3 CiUcia remained independent at the time of the formation of the Lydian Em- pire (Herod, i. 28). It had its owti kings, and enjoyed a certain amoimt of inde- pendence under the Persians (ibid. vii. 98; .^schyl. "Pers." 338-330; Xen. "Anab." i. 2, § 25). s»4 See text, p. 443. 505 The GreeKS generally ascribed the fomidation of Tarsus to Sardanapalus, the best known of the Assyrian monarchs. (See Hellan. Fr. 158; Apollodor. Fr. 69; Strab. xiv. p. 968; Arrian. "Exp. Alex."' ii. 5; Athenaeus, " Deipn," xii. 7; Eustath. ad Dionys. Per. 873.) ^oo If the Tarsliish of Gen. x. 4, which is joined with Kittim (Cyprus), Rodanim (Rhodes), and Elishah (MoUs, Elis) is al- lowed to be Tarsus (Joseph. " Ant. Jud." i. 6), the original foundation of the city must have preceded the time of Semia- cherib. 6<" In the epitome of Sennacherib's wars» inscribed upon the Koyimjik bulls, there is a statement that he "triumphantly sub- due span with single beams the wide space of fortv-one or forty-two feet. (See text, p. 196.) '2" Backgrounds occur hut very rarely in the reliefs of As.shur-izir-pal (Layard, "Monuments." 1st Series. Pis. 15, 16, and 331. They are employed more largely by Sargoh (Botta. "Monument." Pis. 31 to 35, and lOS to 114U but even then they continue the exception. With Sennache- rib they become the rule, and at the same time they increase greatly in elaboration. ^^' For a representation see Layard, "Monuments," 2d Series, Pis. 8 and 9; compare "Nineveh and Babylon," ppt 338-340. '"5 Layard, " Moniunents," 2d Series, Pis. 10 to 17. *" See PI. LXXXVm. CH. IX.] THE HECOND MONARCtTT. n87 ^^* "A&syrian Texts," p. 7; "As. Soc. Journ." vol. .xi.\. p. KiO. s2!i " A.ssyrian Texts," 1. s. c. '2« mid. p. 8. *»' The Rieat K&te of Nineveh, de- scribed in the first nart nechariimim) lllii ejus Adrauimelus ci Saniusani.s iibi iiiterfcce- runt, ad jios coiifugere." *" Mos. Chor. 1. B. c. '** •• iJritish MaseUMi Series." Pis. 4.5 In 47. Both copies iif the cylinder are im- perfect; but together they Mipplv a verj' tolerable text. M. < )piM'rt ha** trinislated the second in his " InHcriplionH dej» Sar- gonides," pp. .53 00. "** See Sir H. Kawlins-pii's "llhixtra- tions of Egyptian History and < 'hrtitiologj' from the Ciineiforiii IiiM-riptions," p. 23. "<• 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11; F.zm iv. 2. '*' .\bvdeii. ap. Eu.seh. 1. s. c. ".'Kgyp- tuni pnvten-a iwrtestpie interiores SyrWB aciiuireliat A.xerdis." '*" There is u se<-ond cylinder inscri|>- tioii Iwlonicing to the reign of Esar-liml- don, which would be of great imiMirtancu if it were complcie. It is publishee found to differ s«ime- wliat from that preferred by .Mr. . :ti5 .-tWi, the most imiiortant difTereiice Ix-ing that Mr. .Smith places the Babylonian •'>c|)eke of Ksar haddoii as hav- ing" ailded to the eiupiiv " th(> more in- land parts of Syria." (See above, note 6t7 I "3 M. Oppert undei-stands Egypt hen» (" Inscriptions des .Sargonides." p. .51). an al.so dcH>s .Mr. (J. Smith ( .Y. Hrit. Hrvieir, p. '■W.h: but Sir H. liawlinson has shown Hint the ^JlsteI•n Mu/.r must Ihi meant. (■■ Illiistnitions," etc., p. 21.1 "•* TliLs is the first mention of Cim- merians in the .\s.syrian InscriptioiiM. HeriHlotns places the great CimnieriiUi invasion of .\sia in the n-ign of Anlys the Lvdian. which, acconling to liini, wa.s friini ii.c. (Wi i.i in-. (i;{7. The name of Tiiispa is ciiriou.slv near to Teb»i>en. who must have been king of Pentia alMiiit this time. »" See text, J). 4.50. *" " Inscri|itioiis des Sjirgonldes, " pp. .M. .V5; " AsHvrian Texts," pp. II. 12. '" The s<-ene of the Ih-st of tln-s*" » .ir« was Northern Syria; the s< Arrian, "Exped. Alex." Tii. 19, »ub fia. *" See above, note *'''', and compare pp. 447and4.')9. *'^ " In.scriptions des Sargonides," p. 56. »'* On the Khuzeyl. see Loftu.s, " Cha\- dsea and Susiana, ' pp. ;iH-40; on the Aflfej, see the same work, pp. 91-93, and Layard, "Nineveh and Babj-lon," pp. 551-555. Compare also the present worK, p. 25. "^ Cattle of some kind or other are certainly mentioned. The marsh region is the special resort of the buffalo. (Lay- ard, p. 5.">j.) '''" The -bijnn or -bir/an of Azerbijan may possibly represent the y^/A-au of the inscrijjtions. Azerbijan can scarcelj- In?, as commonly supposed, a corruption of Atropateng. ^" E.fj.y Sitirparna or Sitraphemes Epama or Ophemes, Ramatiya or lia- mates, and Zanasaua or Zanasanes. 6'8 " Inscriptions des Sargonides," p. 57. 6" See the pas.sage of Abydenus auove quoted, note =■". Abydenus, it is almost certain, drew from Berosus. ^^'^ It is either to tliLs capture or to a subsequent one vmder Esar-haddon's son that the prophet Xahum alludes when tlireatening Nineveh— "Art thou better than populous No, that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about it; whose rampart was the flood (D') and her wall from the Hood? Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite. Put and Lubim were thy helpers. Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity; her young chil- dren also were clashed in pieces at liie top of all the streets: and they ca,st lots for her honorable men; and all her gi-eat men were bound in chains." (Ch. iii. 8-10.) 5'" On the question of identity see Mr. Stuart Poole's article in Smith's " Bib- lical Dietionaiy,". vol. ii. p. 576. In the As.syrian inscription Thebes is called "Nia." 682 Herod, ii. 1.52. 683 Manetho ap. Euseb. " Chron. Can. " Pars Ima, c. xx. p. 10. **■' See Sir H. Rawlinson's paper in the " Transactions of the Royal Society of Litei'ature," New Series, vol. vii. p. 136 et seq. Compare G. Smith in the "Zeit- sehrift fiir aegyptische Sprache " for 1S68. p. 94, and the X. Brit. Review for July, 1870, pp. ;334, .335. 580 See te.xt. p. 475; Layard, "Nineveh and its Remains," vol. i. p. :M8. 686 This title, which does not appear on the cylmders, is found on the back of the slabs* at the entrance of the S. W. palace at Nimrud, where the sphinxes occur; on a bronze lion dug up at Nebbi Yunus; and on the slabs of the palace which Esar- haddon built at Sherif Khan. ^''' 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11. 688 It is this circmiistance that serves to fix the captivity of Manasseh to the reign of Esar-haddon. Otherwise it might as well have fallen into the reign of his son. CH. IX.] TEE SECOND MONARCHY. tm »*» 2 Chron. xxxiii. 12. »»" Ibid, vei-se i;i '"' It lias Ijcen siipfMssed that Manasfteh may have Ix-eu reh'iusf d liy Esar-haddon's successor, as Je^loiachill was hy Nelm chadnezzar's. (Ewald, "Geschiclito d Volkes Israel," vol. iii. p. C7H.) And tliLs '" "tf. But it is a conjecture. is certainly possible. s"''' See te.vt. pp. 398, 399, etc. "3 See text, p. 4^1 6»* See 2 KiuKS xvii. 'H. S'S See text. J). 439. *»« It hiis bi-en usually supposc wliioli n>ference is made in Ezra iv. 2, 9, is the .same us tlmt whereof an account is K'ven in 2 Kin^s xvii. 24. But a comparison of the places named will show that the two coloniza- tions are quite distinct. Sar^on brou>;ht his colonists from Hamath in Code-Syria, and from four cities in Babylonia- Baby- lon itself, Uutha. Sii)i)ara. and Ava or Ivah. Esarluiddon liroufrht his mainly from SiLsiana and the countries still fur- ther to the east. They were Susianian.s, Eljtnaeans, Persians (X-O^SX), Dai (Nim), etc. Those of Esar-haddon's colonists who were fm-nishe«l by Baby- lonia came from Bahj-lon and Erech, or Orchoe. The Dinaites (X'J'T) were probably from Ikiyun, a counti-y often mentioned in the Inscriptions, which must have adjoined on Cilicia. The Tar- jK-lites and the Apharsathchites are still unrecojjnized. *"' When wild beasts nmltiply in a country, we ma.y Ik' sure that its himian occupants are diminishing;. The danger from lions, of which the first co'onists complaine''" Layard, " Nineveh and its Kemain.s," vol. ii. p. W. «o» Ibid. vol. i. p. »)9. «<" Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 654. "oa See text, p. ISl. ""' Mr. Fergu.s.son seems to be of opin- ion that the divisions which broke up this Krand room into four parts would not have ^eatlj- interfen-d with the jjen- eral effect. His account of the apart- ment is as follows:— "Its jjencral dimension.'* an' 1o<)k of Arehitec-tur>'," \ ; 77.) '"* The e.\cavationM w. ; 'oni- plete. Mr. I^yurd s|>«'aks in ..iie place as if he had uncovere. 317, 376; vol. U. PI>. 2.'-.. 26. •"'" Ibipert, " luscriptioas des Sargonides," p. .W.) "" .Mr. I^iyard made stealtbilv a singli« slight excavation in the .Ni-blii YuniLS mound (" Nineveh and Babylon," j). .V.IK), which pHKluced a few fragments Iwaring the name of Esiijhaddon. The Turkrt afterwards excavat«"f stone The ••Inbin- scription published in the i> - •• > ■>•-•, m^ Series. PLs. 43 and J4. wii mi this iNilaet*. A bronze 1 . .-nd was obtained from th' i .; : lUloa jialaoc. 590 THE SECOND MONARCUY, [en. IX. •*' By Mr. Layard (" Nineveh and Baby- lon," 1. H. c), and afterwards by Sir H. Kawlinsoii. «>" See text, p. 473. *" See "British Museum Series," PI. 8. No. U., 1. 11. ""« Ap. Euseb. " Chron. Can." Pars Ima, c. V. § a. "Sub Ezwhia eniin Seneccheri- inus regnavit, uti I'olyhistdr iiinuit, annis octodeciin; post Urdamane is called "son of the wife of Taniu." It is conjectured that Tirha- kah had married the widow of Sabaco II. •'■'^ Lepsius, Kfinigsbiich, Taf. xlix. No. 6(31. A stele, however, of another king, whose name is read as Nut-amun-mi or Rut-ainun-mi, is in such clo.se agreement with the record of Asshiu--baui-pal as to raise a strong suspicion that he, rather than Rud-Amun, is the monarch with whom As,shur-l)am-pal contended. (See the parallel drawn out by Dr. Haigh in the " Zeitsclu-ift fiir aegyptLsche Sprache," January, 186!), pp. 3, 4.) "23 The Egj-ptians regarded the reign of Psanunetichus as commencing imme- diately upon the termination of the reign of Tirhakah. (Sir G. Wilkinson, in the author's "Herodotus," vol. ii. p. 320, 2d edition.) The Apis stete give for the year of Psammetichus's accession B.C. (504. Asshur-bani-pal's second Egyptian ex- pe. 287, 2d edition.) But iii this he differed from other writers. (See Dionys. Hal. "En. ad Cn. Pomp" c. 3; Eu.seb. " Chron. Can." Pars 2nda, p. 325: Hiero- nym. p. 107.) The reigns of the Lydian kings in Herodotus are improbably long. •2' The invasion of Lydia by the Cim- merians, which Herodotas assigns to the reign of Ardys, is thus proved to liave really occurred in the time of his prede- cessor. «^' See text. p. 456, and compare the narrative of Herodotus, i. 73. «29 See text, pp. 441, 447, 458, 471, etc. ^3° Umman-aldas was subsequently put to death by command of Lrtaki, and with the consent of Temin-Umman. '31 It may assist the reader towards a clearer comprehension of the nanative in the text to exhibit the genealogical tree of the Susianian royal family at this time, so far as it is known to us. A king, perhaps Umman-minan (supra, p. 459). Umman-aldas. I Urtaki. Temin-Umman. Ill I I III Kuduru. Paru. Umman-ibi. Umman-appa. Tammarit. Undasi. Fah6, etc. Tammarit. I I Umman-aldas. Paritu. «32 Khidal or Khaidala (Oppert, Fox Talbot) is mentioned also in the annals of Sennacherib. It was the place to which Kudur-Nakhunta tied from Bada- ca. (See text, p. 458.) "33 Inda-bibi appears to have belonged to the Susianian royal family, and to have held his crown as a sort of appan- age or fief. 634 Among the rivers, the Eulaeus (Hu- lai) is distinctly mentioned as that on which Susa was situated. S35 Among these are particularized eighteen images of gods and goddesses, thirty-two statues of former Susianian kings, statues of Kudur-Nakliunta, Tam- marit, etc. *3» In a later passage of the annals there is a further mention of Umman- aldas, who appeai-s to have been capt- ured and sent as a prisoner to Nineveh. •" There can be little doubt that the "lonians and Carians," who gave the victory to Psammetichus ("Herod." ii. 1.52). represent the aid which Gyges sent from Asia Minor. '3» It is a reasonable conjecture that this enemy was the Cimmerians (Lenor- mant, "Manuel," tom. ii. p. 117): and that the invasion which Herodotus places in the reign of Ardys li. 15) fell really in that of his father. But it is highly im- probable that the invasion took place (as M. Lenormant thinks) at the call of the Assyrians. "3"' A lake is mentioned, which appar- ently was the Sea of Ned j if. (See text, p. ll.) 640 The only additional facts mentioned are the reception of tribute from Husuva, a city on the Syrian coast, the capture of Umman-aldas, and the submission of Be- lat-Duri, king of the Armenians (Urarda). •*i See the preceding note. CU, IX.] TUB SECOND MONARCHY. 591 •" See text, p. !*)7. Asahur-bani-pal's love of sport appears further by the fig- ures of liis favoritt' hounds, whidi lie had made iu clay, painted, and inscril>ef more an- cient docunii'iits, since a blank is con- stantly left where the <>ri(;inal was de- fective, and a gloss entered, " wanting." There are a large ninnl«-r of religious docmnents, prayers, invocations, etc.. to- gether with not a few juridical treatLstjs (tlie fines, cy., ti) l)e levied for certain so- cial offences); and finally, there are the entire contents of a Rt-gisiry office— deeds i See PI. XLI.. Fig. 2. •*^ So far as apix^aretl, only one door- way led from the re-st of the palace to tliese western rooms. «63 Here was the representation of the royal garden, with vines, lilies, and flow- ers of different kinds (se«' I'l. XJ..VIII.. Fig. 2, and PI. LXI.K., Fig. 1), among which miLsicians and toiue lions were walking. •" See PI. LXn., Fig. 1. •" See PI. CXV. •" See I'ls. r..XVIII. and L.XIX. «"' See PI. L.XXIII. «»» See PI. LII. "ix See PI. L. The Uvniile (No. V.. PI. -XLIX.. Fig. 4) also belongs to this mon- ««" See Pis. CXXIX. and CXXXII. •»' I.jiyard, "Nineveh and Babylon," pp. 446-4.'-,9. «" " Monuments," Second Series, Pis. 4.5 to 4!). "3 '■ Nineveh and Babylon." p. -459. «'* Or Anchiale. (.See Arrian. " Exp. Alex." ii. 5: Apullod. Fr. «»; Hellanic. Fr, 1.58; Schol. ad Aristoph. "Av." 11)21, etc.) «" See text, p. 400. •" See, besides the authors ouoted above, note "*, Strab. xiv. p. 9M, and Atben. " Deipn." xiL 7, p. 530, B. *" Clearchus said that the (jincrliitiMn waa .simply, " Saniana|>aluK, s. , cyndaraxf-s, built Tarsas aii in one day— yet nnw he is ■;. i Athen. 1. s. cj. .\ristobiilus ga\e the iii- Kcrijition in the fonii ipioted al)uve (Strab. 1. K. c; Athen. I. s. o. L^ter writers enlarged upon the theme of this la.st version, and turned it into six or s«'veii liexamet«T lines (.Strab 1 h c; I»io.- «ii,i see in the arcliit«>ctural emblem on the coins of TarsiLS a repnta-ntation of the monument in <|uestion. (S^- ■" " I lioehette's Memoir in the " M rinstitut," torn. x^-ii.» That ■ pears to me to t>«» the temiile oi a ;_•. «i. ""As DiiHloriLS Siculus (ii. 2:1-27); Cephalion (ap. Euseb. " t'hron. Can." Pars Ima, c. xv.i: JiLstin, i. 3; Mos. Chor. " Hist. Armen." i. au; Nic. Damasc. Fr. 8; Clearcli. .Sol. Fr. 5; Duris Sam. t>. 14; eU-. " ' In one |x)int only clot's the character of Asshur-bani-jMil. as revealeal de-i cureci to him.self a niultituail to send to Ninev^ '■ • „,,ii his tribute, one or mon- ^ters. Thes«' princes.s«'S InN-an ' liLs hdreem. (See Mr. ti. .Si,,,,,, - minle iu the y. liritish Hcview July, IwTii, p, »M.) 344.) '" On the wealth and power of Oygw*, s«'e Herod, i. 14; and com|>ar<' Arist. " Khet." iii. 17; Plutanh, ii. p. ITU, C •"The short n-volt of s-"'^> \ (see text, p. 481), whieh wa- ende.- Uxt. pp iJ«. 4.W, 471. and 4?.». •'* The gn-ni .VHsliuriziriMl (b.c. Mftl- K59) was appariMitly tlie niotit cruel uf ail the Aasyrian kinifH. (Set) above, auto 593 THE SECOND MONARCHY, [CH. IX. "".) Asshur-bani-pal 'does not exactly revive liis practices; but he acts in his spirit. «»' Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon,"' pp. 4.')7 and 4^^. ""'' Layard, " Monuments," Sid Series, PI. 49; compare " Nineveh and Babylon,'' p. 452. (i«6 " Monuments," PI. 47. 686 " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 4.'58; " Monuments," PI. 48. •"" Nahum iii. 1. 688 Lenormant, " Manual," vol. ii. n. 114. «8» Asshur-bani-pal distinctly states that when he conquered Babylon, and put Saiil-MuKina to death (see text, p. 4H1 ), lie ascended the Babylonian throne liimselt'. Nmnerous tablets exist, dated by his reg- nal years at Babylon. The eponyms as- signable to his reign are, at the lowest computation, twenty-six or twenty-seven. Add to this that tlie king of Babylon, who followed Samniughes (Saiil-Mugina), is distinctly stated by Polyhistor to have been his brother (ap. Euseb. " Chron. Can." i. 5, § 2), and to have reigned at Babylon 21 years; and the conclusion seems inevitable that Asshur-bani-pal is Cimieladanus, however different the names, and that his entire reign was one of 42 years, fi'om B.C. 668 to B.C. 626. *'" 'E;ri ToiTowf 6f] aTparevanfievog 6 <^pa6pTi]q avrog re 6ie(pdapr/, Kal 6 crpa- Tog a'urov 6 noXMg. (Herod, i. 102.) «" Herod, i. ia3. «»2 See text, p. 37. 8«3 Compare the stories as to the first invasion of Italy by the Gauls. (Niebuhr's "Roman History," vol. ii. p. 510, E. T.) "«•> Hippocrat. De aere, aqua, et locis, C. vi. p. 558. 6" Herod, iv. 75. Ov yap df) TMvvrai vdari Tonapdirav to cufia. 698 Ibid. ch. T3. "s' It seems to have been only the women who made use of this latter sub- stitute. (Ibid. ch. 75.) «*« ' Afia^dliioior (pspeoiKoi. (See Herod, iv. 46; Hes. Frs. 121 and 222, ed GottUng; Hippocrat. De aere, aqua, etc., § 44; iEschyl- "P- V." 734-736; etc.) 699 Herodotus describes these tents (i. 73) as composed of woollen felts arranged aroimd three bent sticks inclined towards one another, ^schylus calls them TrAe/c- rag areyag perhaps regarding the cover- ing as composed of mats rather than felts. (See the author's " Herodotus," vol. iii. p. 54, note ■», 2d edition.) ""• T?^aKTO(pdyoi 'nT-mniolyoi (Horn. II. xiii. 6, 7; Hes. Fr. 122; Herod, iv. 2; Calli- mach. "Hymn, ad Dian." 1. 252; Nic. Da- masc. Fr. 123; etc.). '"1 Herod, iv. 61. So too the modem Calmucks. (See De Hells "Travels in the Steppes," p. 244. E. T.) 'O" Heix)d. iv. 64, 65. "">* Herod, iv. 46. Compare Machyl, "P. V." 1.736. '»« Herod, iv. 70. '06 Ibid. chs. 17-20. "" Ibid. ch. 81. 70' Ibid. ch. 59. 'o« Ibid. ch. 62. 709 Herod, iv. 68, 69. "0 The Scythians Proper of Herodotus and Hippocrates extencled from the Uan- ulie and the Carpathians on the one side, to the Tanais or Don upon the other. The Sauromata;, a race at lea.st half- Scythic (Herod, iv. IIO-IIV), then succeed- ed, and held the country from the Tanais Uj the Wolga. Beyond this were the Mas- sagetse, Scythian in dress and customs (ib. i. 215), reaching down to the Jaxartes on the east side of the Caspian. In the same neighborhood were the Asiatic Scyths or Sacae, who seem to have bor- dered upon the Bactrians. 711 The opinion of Herodotus that they entered Asia m pursuit of the Cimme- rians is childish, and may safely be set aside. (See the author's "Herodotus," vol. i. p. 301, 2d edition; compare Mr. Grote's "History of Greece," vol. ii. p. 431, 2d edition.) The two movements may, however, have been in some degree connected, both resulting from some great disturbance among the races peo- pUng the Steppe region. 712 On the employment of slaves by the Scythians, see Herod, iv. 1^. 713 Gibbon, " Dechne and Fall," vol. iv. pp. 239-245, Smith's edition. 71* Ibid. vol. V. pp. 170-172. 716 Herod, i. 106; iv. 1, etc. 716 Ibid. ii. 157. 717 Ibid. i. 105. 7i«The tale connecting the Enarees with the SjTian Venus and the sack of Ascalon (ibid.) seems to glance at this source of weakness. 719 Herod, i. 106; iv. 4. 720 Ibid. i. 73. 721 The Sacassani or Sacesinee were first mentioned by the historians of Alexander (Arrian, "Exp. Al." iii. 8). Their coun- try, Sacasene. is regarded as a part of Ai'menia by Strabo (xi. p. 767), Eustathius (ad Dionys. Per. 1. 750), and others. It lay towards the north-east, near Albania and Iberia. (Plin. "H. N." vi. 10; Arrian, 1. s. c.) 722 The earhest mention of Scythopolis is probably that in the LXX. version of Judges (i. 27), where it is identified with Beth-shean or Beth-shan. The first pro- fane writer who mentions it is Polybius (v. 70. § 4). No writer states how it obtained the name, until we come down to Syncel- lus (ab. A.D. 800), who connects the change with tills invasion. 723 The palaces at Calah (Nimrud) vmst, I think, have been burnt before the last king commenced the S.E. edifice. Those of Nineveh may have escaped till the capture by the Medes. 72* Abjden. ap. Euseb. " Chron. Can." i. 9. en. IX.] THE SECOND MONARCHY. cm "i^See "British Museum Series," PL viii. No. ."5. ''^'' Abyden. ap. Eu.seb. "Chron. Can." Pars Ima, c. ix.: " Post quern (i.e., Sarda- iia|jalluni) Saracus iiiiix^ritabat Assyriis: qui tiuideni certior factus tunnanini vul>fi coUecticianiin qua; i\ inari aiiliriuo Hasaliis-sorum niili- tiae ducem Bal)yloiii'm niittfbat. S«*>ui- aaf>o^)aTpar>/ydg vno XapaKov tov Xa?Aia- iuv (iamXfo)^ (yraXelg Kara tov airrov 'ZapciKOv e'lg Nivov eTviarparevei ' ov rifv e(po6(n> moriOdq 6 2rt^a«of, iavrhru avv Tolg (iaai'keioiq kvt-xprjat-v, kol ri/v apx'P' XaMhiGW Kal Bajiv?.(jvo(; irapfkajiev 6 avToq l^alionoMaapog. " Chronograph." p. 210, B. '!" Ap. eund. c. v. § 2. Polyhistor here makes Saiiiniughes succeeded by his brother after a reign of 21 years; and tlien gives this " brotlier " a reign of the same duratJDn. After him he places Na- bopolas.sar, to whom he a.s.signs 20 years. In the next section there is an omission (as the text now stands) either of this " brother " or of Nabopolassar— probably of the latter. ■"" As especially in Susiana (see text, p. 490). '»» Layard, " Nineveh and its Remains," vol. ii. pp. :i8, 39; "Nineveh and Baby- lon," p. ttV). '3» See Mr. Lavard's plan (" Nineveh and its lieniains, p. 39). "' AbydetuLS, 1. s. c. "» Herod, i. 10«i; iv. 4. 'S3 I di> nut regard this date a.s possess- ing much value, since the Median chron- ology of Herodotus is nurely artificial. (See RawliiLson's " HeriHiotiis," vul. i. pp. 310- 3 12.) I incline to V)elieve that the Scythian inva-^ion took place earlier than Herodotus allows, and tliat eight or ten years intervened lietween the first ajv pearance of the Scytlis in Meuru litv spoiideret Ainuliiam e flliabus AsdahaKis unam." "• See besides A •. his- tor, Tobit xiv. l.'x .■ ,..w ever are wrongh i . ••ph. "Ant. Jud." X. .V"S I. "' .\byden. ap. EiL>; Syncell. "Chrono- grajih." p. 210, B. ''" The self-immolation of Saracus has a iwirallel in the conduct of the IsraeliUsh king, /iuiri, who, " when he saw that the city wius taken, went mto the mlace of the king's hoiLse, and hiinil fhr Iciiuj'a house uver /urn, and ilinl " (I Kings xvi. 18); and again in that of the Persian gov- em. In ttie llr--i .ngiige- ment the A.s.syrians were viclt»rioiLs, and the attacking anny had t<^ (Iv to tlie mountaiiLs (/agrosi. A seconil and a third attempt met with no l)ftter succ<«s.s. The fortune of war first changtvl on the arrival <>f a contingent from Ha<--tria, who joined the iis.sjiilaiit.'* in a night attack <>n tlie ^V-'isyrian camit. which was coinplet*"- ly succe.ssful. Tlie A.s.syrian munareli sought the shelter of his capital, leaving his arm^v imder the comiiuuid of his brother-in-law Sahemenes. Sala-menes was soon (lefeatef the city wall; ujxm which the king, whom an oracle had l<>ld to fear nothing till the river Invame his enemy, despain'd. ami making a funeral pile of all his richest furnitun", burnt binvudf with his concubines and his eiiauclw in his palace. The Meiles and their allien then entered the town on the side which the fln, ami after itlundeP' ing it. destroveo- e.s.sjiry. from an Essay " < >n tb"(')tron>>|tT- gv aiid Hi.slory of flu- ' " i Empln-." which he pui. his " Herodotus." lie ! vears of additional stui had changed none of In if he wrote a new "Sun. men-lv n-iM'at In " ' n-- had alreaily writi il of can-. I'mler flu and having n'/usoii to tMn»..- inin ill.- oiesent work Gi read iii quarteni to wluuli Ium vist- 594 THE SECOND MONARCHY. [en. IX. Bion of TlerodotuR never penetrated, he has thoii^lit tlmt a reptilHication of his former remarks would be open to no valid objection. '■" See text, p. 381 . '" See text, p. 4»4. '<2 The homage of the Lydian kings, Gyges and Ardys, to Asshur-bani-pal scarcely constitutes a real subjection of Lyilia to Assyria. '" 1 Kings iv. 21. Compare ver. 24; and for the complete organization of the empire, see ch. x., where it appears that the kings " brought every man liis ijres- ent, a rate year by year" (ver. 2.')); and that the amount of the annual revenue from all sources was (>06 talents of gold (ver. 14). See also 2 Chron. ix. 13-28, and Ps. lxxii.8-11. '^^ Our own, for instance, and the Aus- trian. 748 There are several cases of this kmd in the Inscriptions. ("Journal of the Asiatic Society," vol. xix. p, 145; "In- scriptions des Sargonides," p. 5G, etc.) Perhaps the visit of Ahaz to Tiglath- Pileser (2 Kings xvi. 10) was of this char- '"Cf. Ps. Ixxii. 11: "All kings shall fall down before him." This is said pri- marily of Solomon. The usual expres- sion in the Inscriptions is that the subject kmgs " kissed the sceptre " of the Assyr- ian monarchs. '^f' See 2 Kings xvii. 4, and the Inscrip- tions passim. '■"• Josiah perhaps perished in the per- formance of this duty (2 Kings xxiii. 29; 2 Chron. xxv. 20-23.) 7 50 In giBnie empires of this type, the subject states have an additional obhga- tion — that of furnishing contingents to swell the annies of the dominant power. But there is no clear evidence of the As- syrians having raised troops in this way. The testimony of the book of Judith is worthless; and perhaps the circumstance that Nebuchodonosor is made to collect his anny from all quarters (as the Per- sians were wont to do) may be added to the proofs elsewhere adduced (see the author's " Herodotus," vol. i. p. 19.5, 2d ed.) of the lateness of its composition. We do not find, either in Scripture or in the Inscriptions, any proof of the Assyr- ian armies being "composed of others than the dominant race. Mr. Vance Smith assumes the contrary ("Prophe- cies," etc.. pp. 92, 183, 201); "but the only passage which is important among all those explained by him in this sense (Isa. xxii. ti) is somewhat doubtfully referred to an attack on Jerusalem by the Assyr- ians. Perhaps it is the taking of Jeru- salem by Nebuchadnezzar which forms the subject of the prophetic vision, as Babylon has been the main figure in the preceding chapter. The negative of course cannot be proved; Ijut tliere seem to be no groimds for concluding that "the varioiw subject races were incorpo- rated into tb9 Assyrian army." An As- syrian army, it .should be remembered, does not onhiiarily exceed one, or at most two, hiiniln-d 'thousand men. "' This is ail expression not uncommon in file Insciipti'ins. We may gather from a passage in SeriiKl are carrietl off in vast num- bers, anil become the wives of the sol- diery. TiKlath-Pilescr II. is the first kin^ who practises dejiortation on a large scale. ""By Sargon (see text, p. 443;. '«» 2 kings xvii. 6. '"^ 2 Kings xvii. 24; ann .\.s.syria which appear to have Iwcn in any degree centrah/.ed. But even in Babylonia there are constantly found cities which have in- dependent kings, and ( 'lialila-a was always under a number of cliicftains. '"■' In the inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser I. and Asslmri/.ir-pal, eru-h city of Jlt-.so- potamia and Syria seems t<) have its king. Twelve kings (if the Ilittites, twenty-four kings of tlie Tiltaieni t 'I'lihrih. and twenty- seven kings of the I'iirtsu. are mentioned by Sluilmaneser II. The I'luenician and I'liilisline cities are always separate and independeMt. In Media and Bikan, dur- ing the reign of Esar-liaildon, every town lias its chief. Armenia is [(erhaps lessdi- videonym in ii.c. t>!h!. Tiie general continuance, however, of native kings in these parts is strongly marked by the list of 22 subject monan-hs in an inscription of Esar-ha|H'ar to have bee!) in the Ilandtic dialect of the I'roto-Chalda'ans. It was not till the time of Asshur-bani-pal that traiLslations were made to anv great extent. "< (Quarterly tivv.. No. clxvii., pp. 150, 151. T"- See te.vt. p|). 222 325. "''Sect4-xt. J.. 2*1. '" !iayai-d. " Nineveh and Babylon," p J»7. 'TB Long before the dtaeot*ry of th« Nimnid lens it hae in pxxl Tura- nian '• SjiUl I'stabltshes me," the Kyllable mu tteing a .si>|>anite element, somelimeu eal .seems to In- the true name of the king who was formerly callear (as in Bar-Jesus, Bar-Jonas, etc.) was easy. '■■' Sir H. Rawlbtson. in Athma-uiu, No. l(' S«N> text, p. .''lO'.t. '« Sir II liawliii.stxi. in Alhrnarum, No. l.StKI, p. "JW. note". " In the list of K|>onyms, kIx name»« out of nearly '^j*) are c«>m"|)ose(l «)f four ele- ments. '• Dtmin is Benoni of a n>ot |n con- stantly tis«Hl in A.s.syrian in tli •• IxMngsIroiiK" or "• streiigtln i ril (/(Olllll, "tlu' JH.Werful ki:. standard expression in all Itie '"> o if scriplions. The root has not, I IM-Ileve. any repn-.sj'ntatlve in other S<>miUc tun guages. " opiH-rl, " Kxp^dition solentiflque en Mesopiitamle." vol, ii. p. .'155. '" Sir H BawliiLS«