nx^Yi . " r’. •.» « - . V . • Jv / v//, i Xt. f^t i m ^ \ ;,>>Cfi".> IP';' « , >.V 7 ■ * .^'’:tv DISCOVERIES IN NINEVEH AND BABYLON. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/discoveriesinrui00laya_0 hw3feM Siilgsviffi ^JORTH-EASTER FACADE AND GRAND ENTRANCE OF SENNACHERIB'S PALACE (KOUYUNJIK) Rescored from a. Sketch J Fergusson , Esq"' Joba AH»oar> ?trett.l85?. DISCOVERIES IN THE RUINS OF NINEVEH AND BABYLON; WITH TRAVELS IN ARMENIA, KURDISTAN AND THE DESERT: BEINQ THE RESULT OF A SECOND EXPEDITION UNDCBTAKEN FOR THE TliUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. BY AUSTEN II. LAYAHD, M.B. AUTHOR OF ■' NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS." " For thou hast made of a city an heap : of a defenced city a ruin : a palace of strangers to be no city . it shall never be built." — Isaiah, xxv. 2 . WITH MAPS, PLANS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1853. The Author reserves to himself the rnjht of authorising a Translation of this Work. Works bj/ the same Author. A SECOND SERIES OF THE IMONUiMENTS OF NINEVEH, illustrating Mk. Lavard’s Second Expedition to Assyria, from Drawings made on llie spot, chiefly relating to the Wars and Exploits of Sennacherib. 70 Plates Folio, 10/. 10s. {Jliis Day.) Lately ruhlished, NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS ; a Narrative of a First Expedition to Nineveh ; with an Account of the Chaldean Christians of Kur- distan, and the Yezidis, or Devil-worshippers ; and an Enquiry into the Manners and Arts of the Ancient Assyrians. Fifth Edition, With numerous Plates. 2vols 8vo., 36s. THE MONUMENTS OF NINEVEH, illustrating Mu. Latard’s First Expedition to Assyria, from Drawings made on the spot. 100 Plates. Folio, 10/. 10s. A POPULAR ACCOUNT OF NINEVEH. Arranged by Mr. Layard for general circulation. Wth Thousatid. Woodcuts. Post 8vo., 5s. TO THE RIQHT HONORABLE THE EARL GRANVILLE 91)is Solmm is iitMcattl), IN ADJIIBATION OF HIS PUBLIC CIIARACTEE, AND AS A GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MANY ACTS OF PERSONAL FRIENDSHIP. PREFACE. Many unavoidable delays have prevented the earlier pub- lication of this volume. I can no longer appeal, as in the preface of my former work, to the indulgence of my readers on the score of complete literary inexperience; but I can express heartfelt gratitude for the kind and generous reception given, both by the press and the j)ublic, to my first labors. I will merely add, that the following pages were written at different periods, and amidst nu- merous interruptions but little favorable to literary occu- pations. This must be my apology, to a certain extent, for the many defects they contain. Since the publication of my first work on the discoveries at Nineveh much progress has been made in deciphering the cuneiform character, and the contents of many highly interesting and important inscriptions have been given to the public. For these additions to our knowledge we are mainly indebted to the sagacity and learning of two English scholars, Col. Rawlinson and the Rev. Dr. Hincks. In making use of the results of their researches, I have not omitted to own the sources from which my information has been derived. I trust, also, that I have in no in- A 4 Vlll PREFACE. stance availed myself of the labors of other writers, or of the help of friends, without due acknowledgments. I have endeavored to assign to every one his proper share in the discoveries recorded in these pages. I am aware that several distinguished French scholars, amongst whom I may mention my friends, M. Botta and M. de Saulcy, have contributed to the successful decipher- ing of the Assyrian inscriptions. Unfortunately I have been unable to consult the published results of their inves- tigations. If, therefore, I should have overlooked in any instance their claims to prior discovery, I have to express my regret for an error arising from ignorance, and not from any unworthy national prejudice. Doubts appear to be still entertained by many eminent critics as to the progress actually made in deciphering the cuneiform writing. These doubts may have been con- firmed by too hasty theories and conclusions, which, on subsequent investigation, their authors have been the first to withdraw. But the unbiassed inquirer can scarcely now reject the evidence which can be brought forward to confirm the general accuracy of the interpretations of the inscriptions. Had they rested upon a single word, or an isolated paragraph, their soundness might reasonably have been questioned ; when, however, several independent in- vestigators have arrived at the same results, and have not only detected numerous names of persons, nations, and cities in historical and geographical series, but have found them mentioned in proper connection Avith events recorded by sacred and profane Avriters, scarcely any stronger PREFACE. IX evidence could be desired. The reader, I would fain hope, will come to this conclusion when I treat of the con- tents of the various records discovered in the Assyrian palaces. I have endeavored to introduce into these pages as many illustrations from the sculptures as my limits would admit. I have been obliged to include the larger and more elaborate drawings of the bas-reliefs in a folio volume, which will form a second series of the Monuments of Nineveh, and will be published at the same time as the present work. I trust it may not be inferred from any remark I have been induced to make in the following pages, that I have any grounds of personal complaint against the Trustees of the British Museum. From them I have ex- perienced uniform courtesy and kindness, which I take this opportunity of acknowledging with gratitude ; but I cannot, at the same time, forbear expressing a wish, felt in common with myself by many who have the advancement of national education, knowledge, and taste sincerely at heart, that that great establishment, so eminently calcu- lated to promote this important end, should be speedily placed upon a new and more efficient basis. To Mr. Thomas Ellis, who has enabled me to add to my work translations of inscriptions on Babylonian bowls, now for the first time, through his sagacity, deciphered ; to those who have assisted me in my labors, and especially to m}^ friend and companion, Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, to the Rev. Dr. Hincks, to the Rev. X PREFACE, S. C. Malan, who has kindly allowed me the use of his masterly sketches, to Mr. Fergus son, Mr. Scharf, and to Mr. Hawkins, Mr. Birch, Mr. Vaux, and the other officers of the British Museum, I beg to express my grateful thanks and acknowledgments. London, January, 185.“?. Ivory Ornament, from Nimroud. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. The Trustees of the British Museum resume Excavations at Nineveh. — De- parture from Constantinople. — Description of our Party. — Cawal Yusuf. — Roads from Trebizond to Erzeroom. — Description of the Country. — Varzahan and Armenian Churches. — Erzeroom. — Reshid Pasha. — The Dudjook Tribes. — Shahan Bey. — Turkish Reform. — Journey through Armenia. — An Armenian Bishop. — The Lakes of Shailu and Nazik. — The Lake of \Yan ..... Page 1 CHAP. II. The Lake of Wan. — Akhlat. — Tatar Tombs. — Ancient Remains. — A Dervish. — A Friend. — The Mudir. — Armenian Remains. — An Ar- menian Convent and Bishop. — Journey to Bitlis. — Nimroud Dagh. — Bitlis. — Journey to Kherzan. — Yezidi Village - - - 23 CHAP. III. Reception by the Yezidis — Village of Guzelder. — Triumphal March to Redwan. — Redwan. — Armenian Church. — Mirza Agha. — The Melek Taous, or Brazen Bird. — Tilleh. — Valley of the Tigris. — Bas-reliefs. — Journey to Dereboun — to Semil. — Abde Agba. — Journey to Mosul. — The Yezidi Chiefs. — Arrival at Mosul. — Xenophon’s March from the Zab to the Black Sea - - - - - - 42 CHAP. IV. State of the Excavations on my Return to Mosul. — Discoveries at Kou- yunjik. — Tunnels in the Mound. — Bas-reliefs representing Assyrian Conquests. — A Well. — Siege of a City. — Nature of Sculptures at Kou- yunjik. — Arrangements for Renewal of Excavations. — Description of Mound. — Kiamil Pasha. — Visit to Sheikh Adi. — Yezidi Ceremonies. — Sheikh Jindi. — Yezidi Meeting. — Dress of the Women. — Bavian. — - Ceremony of the Kaidi. — Sacred Poem of the Yezidi. — Their Doctrines. — Jerraiyah. — Return to Mosul - - - - 6G Xll CONTENTS. CHAP. V. Renewal of Excavations at Kouyunjik. — First Visit to Nimroud. — State of Ruins. — Renew Excavations in Mound. — The Abou Salman Arabs. — Visit of Colonel Rawlinson. — Latiff Agba. — Mr. H. Rassam. — The Jebour Workmen at Kouyunjik. — Discoveries at Kouyunjik. — Sculp- tures representing moving of great Stones and Winged Bulls. — Methods adopted. — Similar Subject on Egyptian Monument. — Epigraphs on Bas-reliefs of moving Bulls. — Sculptures representing invasion of Moun- tainous Country, and Sack of City. - — Discovery of Gateway. — Excavation in high Conical Mound at Nimroud. — Discovery of Wall of Stone. — Feast to the Yezidis at Mosul. — Visit to Khorsabad. — Discovery of Slab. — State of the Ruins. — Futhliyah. — Baazani. — Baasheikhah Page 96 CHAP. VI. Discovery of Grand Entrance to the Palace of Kouyunjik — of the Name of Sennacherib in the Inscriptions. — The Records of that King in the In- scriptions on the Bulls. — An abridged Translation of them. — Name of Hezekiah. — Account of Sennacherib’s Wars with the Jews. — Dr. Hincks and Col. Rawlinson. — The Names of Sargon and Shalmaneser. — Dis- covery of Sculptures at Kouyunjik, representing the Siege of Lachish. — Description of the Sculptures. — Discovery of Clay Seals — of Signets of Egyptian and Assyrian Kings. — Cartouche of Sabaco. — Name of Essar- haddon. — Confirmation of Historical Records of the Bible. — Royal Cylinder of Sennacherib - - - - 135 CHAP. VII. Road opened for Removal of Winged Lions. — Discovery of Vaulted Drain — of other Arches — of Painted Bricks. — Attack of the Tai on the Village of Nimroud. — Visit to the Howar. — Description of the Encamp- ment of the Tai. — The Plain of Shomamok. — Sheikh Faras. — Wali Bey. — Return to Nimroud . . . _ - 162 CHAP. VIII. Contents of newly-discovered Chamber. — A Well. — Large Copper Cal- drons. — Bells, Rings, and otherObjects in Metal. — Tripods. — Caldrons and large Vessels. — Bronze Bowls, Cups, and Dishes. — Description of the Embossings upon them. — Arms and Armour. — Shields. — Iron In- struments. — Ivory Remains. — Bronze Cubes inlaid with Gold. — Glass Bowls. — Lens. — The Royal Throne - - - - 176 CHAP. IX. Visit to the Winged Lions by Night. — The Bitumen Springs. — Removal of the Winged Lions to the River. — Floods at Nimroud — Loss and CONTENTS. xm Recovery of Lion. — Yezidi Marriage Festival. — Baazani. — Visit to Bavian. — Site of the Battle of Arbela. — Description of Rock-Sculptures. — Inscriptions. — The Shabbaks ... - Page 201 CHAP. X. Visit to Kalab Sherghat prevented. — Visit to Shoinamok. — Keshaf. — The Howar. — • A Bedouin. — His Mission. — Descent of Arab Horses. — Their Pedigree. — Ruins of Mokhamour. — The Mound of the Kasr. — Plain of Shomarnok. — The Gla or Kalab. — Xenophon and the Ten Thousand. — A ^Volf. — Return to Nimroud and Mosul. — Discoveries at Kouyunjik. — Description of the Bas-reliefs - - . 218 CHAP. XI. Preparations for a Journey to the Khabour. — Sculptures discovered there. — Sheikh Suttum. — His RedifF. — Departure from Mosul. — First En- campment. — Abou Khameera. — A Storm. — Tel Ermah. — A Stranger. — Tel Jemal. — The Chief of Tel Afer. — A Sunset in the Desert. — A Jebour Encampment. — The Belled Sinjar. — The Sinjar Hill. — Mir- kan. — Bukra. — The Dress of the Yezidis. — The Shomal. — Ossofa. — Aldina. — Return to the Belled. — A Snake-Charmer. — Journey con- tinued in the Desert. — Rishwan. — Encampment of the Boraij. — Dress of Arab Women. — Rathaiyah. — Hawking. — A Dejmtation from the Yezidis. — Arab Encampments. — The Khabour. — Mohammed Emin.- — Arrival at Arban - - - - 234 CHAP. XII. Arban. — Our Encampment. — Suttum and Mohammed Emin. — 'Winged Bulls discovered. — Excavations commenced. — Their Results. — Dis- covery of Small Objects — of Second Pair of Winged Bulls — of Lion — of Chinese Bottle — of Vase — of Egyptian Scarabs — of Tombs. — The Scene of the Captivity . - - _ . 272 CHAP. XIII. Residence at Arban. — Mohammed Emin’s Tent. — The Agaydat. — Our Tents. — Bread-baking. — Food of the Bedouins. — Thin Bread. — The Produce of their Flocks. — Diseases amongst them. — Their Remedies. — The Deloul or Dromedary. — Bedouin Warfare. — Suttum’s First M’ife. — A Storm. — Turtles. — Lions. — A Bedouin Robber. — Beavers. — Ride to Ledjmiyat. — A plundering Expedition. — Loss of a Hawk. — Ruins of Shemshani. — A Tradition. — Jebours strike their Tents. — Return to Arban. — Visit to Moghamis - - - = 285 CHAP. XIV. Leave Arban. — The Banks of the Khabour. — Artificial Mounds. — Mij- well. — The Cadi of the Bedouins. — The Thar or Blood-Revenge. XIV CONTENTS. Caution of Arabs. — A natural Cavern. — An extinct Volcano. — The Confluents of tlie Khabour. — Bedouin Marks. — Suleiman Agba. — En- campment at Um-Jerjeli. — The Turkish Irregular Cavalry. — Mound of Mijdel. — Ruins on the Khabour. — Mohammed Emin leaves us. — Visit to Kurdish Tents and Harem. — The Milli Kurds. — The Family of Rishwan. — Arab Love-making. — The Dakheel. — Bedouin Poets and Poetry. — Turkish Cavalry Horses - - - - Page 303 CHAP. XV. Departure from the Khabour. — Arab Sagacity. — The Hoi. — The Lake of Khatouniyah. — Return of Suttum. — Encampment of the Shammar. — Arab Horses — their Breeds — their Value — their Speed. — Sheikh Ferhan. — Yezidi Villages. — Falcons — An Alarm. — Ahou Maria. — Eski Mosul. . — Arrival at Mosul. — Return of Suttum to the Desert - - 322 CHAP. XVI. Discoveries at Kouyunjik. — Procession of Figures bearing Fruit and Game. — Locusts. — Led Horses. — An Assyrian Campaign. — Dagon, or the Fish-God. — T he Chambers of Records. — Inscribed Clay Tablets. — Return to Nimroud. — Effects of the Flood. — Discoveries. — Small Temple under high Mound. — The Evil Spirit. — Fish-God. — Fine Bas-relief of the King. — Extracts from the Inscription. — Great inscribed Monolith. — Extracts from the Inscription. — Cedar Beams. — Small Objects. — — Second Temple. — Marble Figure and other Objects - - 337 CHAP. XVII. The Summer. — Encampment at Kouyunjik. — Visitors. — Mode of Life. — Departure for the Mountains. — Akra. — Rock-Tablets at Gunduk. — Dis- trict of Zibari. — Namet Agha. — District of Shirwan — of Baradost — of Gherdi — of Shemdina. — Mousa Bey. — Nestorian Bishop. — Con- vent of Mar Hananisho. — District and Plain of Ghaour. — Dizza. — An Albanian Friend. — Bash-Kalah. — Izzet Pasha. — A .lewish Encamp- ment. - — High Mountain Pass. — Mahmoudiyah. — First View of M'an 363 CHAP. XVIII. Mehemet Pasha. — Description of Wan. — Its History. — Improvement in its Condition. — The Armenian Bishop. — The Cuneiform Inscriptions. — The Caves of Khorklior. — T'he Meher Kapousi. — A Tradition. — Ob- servations on the Inscriptions. — Table of Kings mentioned in them. — The Bairam. — An Armenian School. — The American Missions. — Protestant Movement in Turkey. — Amikh. — The Convent of Yedi Klissia 389 CHAP. XIX. Leave AVan. — The Armenian Patriarch. — Tlie Island of Akhtamar. — An Armenian Church. — History of the Convent. — Pass into Mukus. — Tlie CONTENTS. XV District of Mukus — of Shattak — of Nourdooz. — A Nestoiian Village. — Encampments. — Mount Ararat. — Mar Sliainoun. — J ulamerik. — Valley of Diz. — Pass into Jelu. — Nestorian District of Jelu. — An ancient Church. — The Bishop. — District of Baz — of Tkhoma. — Peturn to Mosul ------ _ Page 411 CHAP. XX. Discoveries at Kouyunjik during the Summer. — Description of the Sculp- tures. — Capture of Cities on a great River. — Pomp of Assyrian King. — Passage of a River. — Alabaster Pavement. — Conquest of Tribes inhabit- ing a Marsb. — Their Wealth. — Chambers with Sculptures belonging to anew King. — Description of the Sculptures. — Conquest of the People of Susiana. — Portrait of the King. — His Guards and Attendants. — The City of Shushan. — Captive Prince. — Musicians. — Captives put to the Torture. — Artistic Character of the Sculptures. — An Inclined Pas- sage. — Two small Chambers. — Colossal Figures. — More Sculptures 437 CHAP. XXI. Preparations for leaving Nineveh. — Departure for Babylon. — The Awai. — Descent of the River. — Tekrit. — The State of the Rivers of Mesopo- tamia. — Commerce upon them. — Turkish Roads. — The Plain of Dura. — The Naharwan. — Sainarrah. — Kadesia. — Palm Groves. — Kathimain. — Approach to Baghdad. — The Citj. — Arrival. — Dr. Ross. — A British Steamer. — Modern Baghdad. — Tel Mohammed. — Departure for Ba- bylon. — A Persian Prince. — Abde Pasha’s Camp. — Eastern Falconry. — Hawking the Gazelle. — Approach to Babylon. — The Ruins. — Arrival at Hillah ------- 464 CHAP. XXII. The Chiefs of Hillah. — Present of Lions. — 'Phe Son of the Governor. — Description of the Town. — Zaiil. — I'he Ruins of Babylon. — Changes in the Course of the Euphrates. — The AV^alls. — Visit to the Birs Nim- roud. — Description of the Ruin. — View from it. — Excavations anil Dis- coveries in the Mound of Babel. — In the Mujelibe or Kasr. — The Tree Atbele. — Excavations in the Ruin of Amran. — Bowls, with Inscriptions in Hebrew and Syriac Characters. — Translations of the Inscriptions. — The Jews of Babylonia ------ 486 CHAP. XXIII. State of the Ruins of Babylon. — Cause of the Disappearance of Buildings. — Nature of original Edifices. — Babylonian Bricks. — The History of Babylon. — Its Fall. — Its remarkable Position. — Commerce. — Canals and Roads. — Skill of Babylonians in the Arts. — Engraved Gems. — Cor- ruption of Manners, and consequent Fall of the City. — The Mecca Pil- grimage. — Sheikh I bn Reshid. — 'I'he Gebel Shammar. — Tribes of Southern Mesopotamia. — The Mounds of El Hymer — of Anana - .527 XVI CONTENTS. CHAP, XXIV, Ruins in Southern Mesopotamia. — Departure from Ilillah. — Sand-Hills. — Villages in the Jezireh. — Sheikh Karboul. — Ruins. — First View of NifFer. — The Marshes. — Arab Boats. — Arrive at Souk-el- A faij. — Sheikh Agah. — Town of the Afaij. — Description of the Ruins of Niffer. • — Excavations in the Mounds. — Discovery of Coffins — of va- rious Relics. — Mr. Loftus’ Discoveries at Wurka. — The Arab Tribes. — AVild Beasts. — Lions. — Customs of the Afaij. — Leave the Marshes. — Return to Baghdad. — A Mirage . - _ Page 544- CHAP. XXV. Preparations for Departure. — Sahiman. — Plunder of his Camels. — Leave Baghdad. — Journey through Mesopotamia. — Early Arab Remains. — The Median AVall. — Tekrit. — Horses stolen. — Instances of Bedouin Honesty. — Excavations at Kalah Sherghat. — Reach Mosul. — Dis- coveries during Absence. — New Chambers at Kouyunjik. — Description of Bas-reliefs. — Extent of the Ruins explored. — Bases of Pillars. — Small Objects. — Roman Coins struck at Nineveh. — Hoard of Denarii. — Greek Relics. — Absence of Assyrian Tombs. — Fragment with Egyptian Characters. — Assyrian Relics. — Remains beneath the Tomb of Jonah. — — Discoveries at Shereef-Khan — at Nimroud. — Names of new Kings. — Assyrian AVeights. — Engraved Cylinders _ - . 574 . CHAP. XXVI. Results of the Discoveries to Chronology and History. — Names of Assyrian Kings in the Inscriptions. — A Date fixed. — The Name of Jehu. — The Obelisk King. — The earlier Kings. — Sardanapalus. — His Successors. — Pul, or Tiglath-Pileser. — Sargon. — Sennacherib. — Essarhaddon. — The last Assyrian Kings. — Tables of proper Names in the Cuneiform Cha- racter. — Antiquity of Nineveh — Of the Name of Assyria. — Illustrations of Scripture. — State of Judaea and Assyria compared. — Political Con- dition of the Empire. — Assyrian Colonies. — Prosperity of the Country. — Religion. — Extent of Nineveh. — Assyrian Architecture — Com- ]>ared with Jewish. — Palace of Kouyunjik restored. — Platform at Nimroud restored. — The Assyrian fortified Inclosures. — Description of Kouyunjik. — Conclusion - - - - - 6 l 1 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Maps and Plates. N.E. Facade and Entrance to Sennacherib’s Palace^ restored Plan I. of excavated Chambers, Kouyunjik Excavations, Kouyunjik - - - . Egyptians moving a Colossus from the Quarries Plan II. of Square Tower and Small Temple Mound of Arban on the Khabour _ . . Encampment on the Khabour - - - _ Lake and Island, Khatouniyah - - . . Entrance passage, Kouyunjik - . . . Fish-God, Kouyunjik . - - - - Archive Chamber, Kouyunjik . - - - Entrance to Temple, Nimroud - - - - Inscriptions on Bronze Lion-weights, from Nimroud Plan III. Platform and Palaces, Nimroud Map of Assyria, &c. General Map of Mesopotamia - Frontispiece to face page 6? „ 101 „ 115 „ 123 „ 273 „ 311 „ 324 „ 340 „ 343 „ 345 „ 35 1 „ 601 „ 653 at the end I Food -cuts. Page Ruined Mosque and Minarets (Erzeroom) - - . . i Ancient Armenian Church at Varzahan . ... 'j Threshing the Corn in Armenia - - - - - 18 Section of Wheel of Armenian Cart - - - - 21 Armenian Plough, near Akhlat - - - - - 22 Early Mussulman Tomb at Akhlat - - - - 23 Turbeh, or Tomb, of Sultan Baiandour, at Akhlat - - - 25 Yezidi AVomen - - - . . . . 4 .] Kurdish Women at a Spring - - - - -42 xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, The Melek Taous, or Copper Bird of the Yezidis _ - - Sculptured Tablet at Fynyk . . - . - Rock-Sculptures near Jezireh . . . . _ Mosul from the North Subterranean Excavations at Kouyunjik - -- Castle near a River or Marsh (Kouyunjik) - - - - Valley and Tomb of Sheikh Adi _ - - - - Sheikh Nasr, High Priest of the Yezidis . - - - Yezidi Dance at Sheikh Adi . . - _ - Yezidi Cawals Mound of Nimroud Head-dress of Captives employed by Assyrians in moving Bull (Kou- yunjik) - Workmen carrying Ropes, Saws, and other Implements for moving Bull (Kouyunjik) Stag (Kouyunjik) Wild Sow and Young, amongst Reeds (Kouyunjik) - King superintending Removal of Colossal Bull (Kouyunjik) Village with conical Roofs, near Aleppo - . - - Assyrians placing a human-headed Bull (partly restored from a Bas- relief at Kouyunjik) Plan of Northern Entrance to Inclosure of Kouyunjik Tunnel along Eastern Basement Wall (Nimroud) . - - Tunnel along Western Basement IVall (Nimroud) - - - Western Face of Basement of Tower (Nimroud) - - - Northern Face of Basement of Tower (Nimroud) . - - Elevation of Stylobate of Temple ----- Section of Stylobate of Temple - - - - - Cart with Ropes, and Workmen carrying Saws, Picks, and Shovels, for moving Colossal Bull (Kouyunjik) - . - - Bulls with historical Inscriptions of Sennacherib (Kouyunjik) Remains of Grand Entrance of the Palace of Sennacherib (Kouyunjik) Existing Remains at Khorsabad, showing original State of Grand Entrance at Kouyunjik Sennacherib on his Throne before Lachish - - - - Jewish Captives from Lachish (Kouyunjik) - - - - Impression of a Seal on Clay - - - - - Back of the same Seal, showing the Marks of the String and the Fingers Assyrian Seals - - - - - - . Phoenician Seals ....... Egyptian Seals Impressions of the Signets of the Kings of Assyria and Egypt (Ori- ginal Size) ....... Part of Cartouche of Sabaco, enlarged from the Impression of his Signet Royal Cylinder of Sennacherib - - - - - Piece of Clay with Impressions of Seals - - - - Page 48 54 55 0'5 66 ()8 80 82 87 95 96 105 108 108 109 in 112 1 18 122 124 124 127 127 181 181 184 185 137 137 150 152 154 154 155 155 156 156 156 160 161 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xlx Page Vaulted Drain beneath the North-west Palace at Nimroud - - l6’2 Bronze Socket of the Palace Gate (Nimroud) - - - I6'3 Vaulted Drain beneath South-east Palace (Nimroud) - - l64 Perfect Arch beneath South-east Edifice (Nimroud) - - l65 Arab Tent - - - - - - -175 Excavated Chamber in which the Bronzes were discovered (^Nimroud) - 17f) Bronze Bells found in a Caldron (Nimroud) - - - 177 Horse Trappings from a Bas-relief at Kouyunjik, showing probable Use of Ivory Studs and Metal Rosettes - - - - 178 Feet of Tripods in Bronze and Iron . . - . 178 Bronze Ornaments - - - - - -179 Bronze Object 179 Bronze Hock - - - - - -179 Ivory and Mother of Pearl Studs (Nimroud) - - - 179 Feet of Tripods in Bronze and Iron . . - . lyg Bronze Vessels taken from the Interior of a Caldron - - - 181 Bronze Head of a Mace - - - - - -181 Bronze Handle of a Dish or Vase - - - - -181 Bronze M^ine Strainer - - - - - -181 Bronze Dish, from Nimroud - - - - - 183 Bronze Dish, from Nimroud - - - - - 184 Handles of Bronze Dishes, from Nimroud - - - - 186 Bronze Cup, in. diameter, and If in. deep - - - 186 Engraved Scarab in Centre of same Cup - - - - 186 Embossed Figures on the Bronze Pedestal of a Figure from Polledrara, in the British Museum - - - - - -189 Embossed Figure on the Bronze Pedestal of a Figure from Polledrara - I89 Bronze Pedestal of Figure from Polledrara - - - - I90 Bronze Cup, from Nimroud . . . . . 190 Bronze Shields, from Nimroud - - - - - 193 An Iron Pick, from Nimroud - - - - - 19^ Half of a double-handled Saw, from Nimroud - - - 195 Part of Ivory Sceptre - - - - - - 195 Bronze Cubes inlaid with Gold (Original Size) - - - 196 Glass and Alabaster Vases bearing the Name of Sargon, from Nimroud 197 Fragments of Bronze Ornaments of the Throne (Nimroud) - - I98 Bronze Bull’s Head from Throne - - - - - 199 Bronze Head, part of Throne, showing Bitumen inside - - 199 Bronze Binding of Joints of Throne - - - - 199 Bronze Casing, from the Throne (Nimroud) - - - 200 A Group of Yezidis - - - - - -201 Rock-Sculpture (Bavian) - - - - - -210 Sacred Symbols or Royal Tablets (Bavian) - - - - 211 Fallen Rock-Sculptures (Bavian) - - - - -214 Assyrian Fountain (Bavian) - - - - -215 Hussein Bey, the Chief of the Yezidis, and his Brother - - 217 U/ 2 XX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Page The Author’s House at Nimroud - ~ - - - 218 A Captive (of the Tokkari?) Kouyunjik - - - - 230 Bas-relief from Kouyunjik, representing a fortified City, a River with a Boat and Raft, and a Canal - - ' ■ - 231 Bas-relief representing a River, and Gardens watered by Canals (Kou- yunjik) 232 Awad, Sheikh of the Jehesh . - - - - 233 Our first Encampment in the Desert ... - 234- Sheikh Suttum ------- 239 Roman Coin of Gordian and Tranquillina, struck at Singara, (British Museum) ------- 250 Interior of a Yezidi House at Bukra, in the Sinjar - - - 252 Arab Nose Ring and Bracelet of Silver - - - - 262 Suttum, with his Wife, on his Dromedary - - . - 271 Sheikh Mohammed Emin ------ 272 Front View of AVinged Bull at Arban - - - - 276 Lion discovered at Arban ------ 278 Bas-relief discovered at Arban ----- 279 Chinese Bottle discovered at Arban ----- 279 Figure in Pottery from Mosul ----- 280 Egyptian Scarab from Arban ----- 280 Scarabs discovered at Arban - - - - - 281 Scarabs discovered at Arban ----- 282 AVinged Bull discovered at Arban ----- 284* Arab AVomen grinding Corn with a Handmill, rolling out the Dough, and baking the Bread ------ 285 Saddling a Deloul, or Dromedary ----- 302 Kurdish AA^omen _----- 303 The Tent of the Milli Chief - - - - - 321 Volcanic Cone of Koukab ------ 322 Arab Camels ------- 336 An Entrance to the Great Hall of the North-west Palace (Nimroud) - 337 Attendants carrying Pomegranates and Locusts (Kouyunjik) - - 339 The King in his Chariot passing through a Stream in a Valley (Kou- yunjik) ------- 341 Assyrian Cylinder, %vith Dagon, or the Fish-god - - - 343 Fish-god on Gems in the British Mnseum - - - - 343 Inscribed Tablet impressed with Seals - - - - 346 Inscribed Tablet, with Inscription at one End in Cursive (Characters - 346 Flntrance to small Temple (Nimroud) - - - - 349 Fish-god at Entrance to small Temple (Nimroud) - - - 350 Fragment in Blue Clay (Nimroud) ----- 357 Eye in Black Marble and Ivory (Nimroud) - - _ 357 Box in Chalcedony (Nimroud) ----- 358 Box in Porcelain ? (Nimroud) - - . - * 358 Fragment in Porcelain ? (Nimroud) . - . - 338 MST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xxi Page Entrance to a small Temple (Nimrond) . - - . 3()0 Statue of King, from Temple (Nimroud) - - - - 3()i Head in Gypsum, from small Temple (Nimroud) . - - 3Q2 Ivory Head from small Temple (Nimroud) - - - - 362 Landing Place with Ferryboats on the Tigris at Mosul - - 363 Rock-Sculptures near the Village of Gunduk ... 359 The Castle of Mahmoudiyah . . _ . . 338 Kurds of M^an ------- 389 Tlie Town and Rock of Wan ----- 393 Interior of a Tomb in ihe Rock (M^an) - - - - 395’ Ground Plan of the same Tomb - - - _ - 395’ Kurd of the Neighbourhood of Wan - - - - 410 A Nestorian Family employed in the Excavations at Kouyunjik - 411 Summer Sleeping- Place in the Hills - . - - 435 Arabs and Nestorians moving a Slab at Kouyunjik - - - 437 Metal Vessel or Casket (Kouyunjik) - - - - 444 Assyrian M^arriors in a Cart captured from the Elamites (Kouyunjik) 447 Musicians and Singers coming out to meet the Conquerors (Kouyunjik) 455 Assyrians flaying their Prisoners alive, and carrying away Heads of the Slain (Kouyunjik) ------ 457 Assyrians torturing their Captives (Kouyunjik) - - - 453 Wall of ascending Passage in the Palace of Kouyunjik - - 46l Colossal Figures at an Entrance (Kouyunjik) - - - 452 Tunic of Colossal Figures on opposite Sculpture - - - 4()2 Cases containing Sculptures ready for Embarkation - - 46’3 A Kellek or Raft on the Tigris ----- 4(14 Bronze Ball from Tel Mohammed ----- 477 Figures of Assyrian Venus in baked Clay - - - - 477 A Hooded Falcon (Chark) on its Stand - . - - 485 The Mujelibe or Kasr (from Rich) - . - - 48(j Plan of Part of tbe Ruins of Babylon on the Eastern Bank of the Euphrates ------- 490 Eastern Face of the Birs Nimroud, with proposed Restoration - 497 Bottle of Ribbed Glass, from the Mound of Babcd - - - 5Q3 Glass Bottles from the Mound of Babel - - . 503 Glazed Earthenware Vessel, from the Mound of Babel - - 503 Jug of Soapstone, from the Mound of Babel - - - - 504 Fragment from tbe Mujelibe (Babylon) - - - - 508 Earthen Jars found in Babylonian Ruins - - - _ 509 No. 1. An Earthen inscribed Bowl, from Babylon - - - 513 No. 3. An Earthen inscribed Bowl, from Babylon - - - 517 Bowl No. 5. - -- -- -- 520 Bowl No. 6. - - - - - - - 52 1 Inscribed Earthen Bowls from Babylon - - - . 536 Terracotta Tablet from Babylon, representing an Indian Dog - - 527 Babylonian Cylinder in Sienite ----- 333 xxii LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS. Page Engraved Gem from Babylon _ _ - . . 533 Cylinder in the British Museum - 539 Heads of Arab Delouls 543 Arab Man and Woman 544 Lid of glazed Coffin - - - - - - - 558 Glazed Coffins from Babylonia ----- 553 Terracotta Model of a Body in a Coffin - . - - 560 Ram in baked Clay, from Niffer ----- 5tJ2 Engraved Pebble ------- 5G2 Fragments of engraved Shells from Wurka - - - - 563 Inscribed Object in Clay, from Wurka - - - - 564 Arab Sheep ------- 573 Nestorian and Arab Workmen, with Jar discovered at Nimroud - 574 Loading a Camel (Kouyunjik) - - - - - 582 Captives resting (Kouyunjik) ----- 533 Captives in a Cart (Kouyunjik) ----- 533 A Battle in a Marsh in Southern Mesopotamia (Kouyunjik) - - 585 Chariot with circular Shield attached (Kouyunjik) - - - 53^ Assyrians cutting down the Palm Trees belonging to a captured City (Kouyunjik) ------- 533 Assyrian Pedestal, from Kouyunjik ----- 5 go Coin of Trajan, struck at Nineveh ----- 5^1 Coin of Maximinus, struck at Nineveh - - - - 591 Fragment of stamped Pottery, from Kouyunjik, probably of the Persian Period - - - - - - - 5,91 Greek or Roman Relics, from Kouyunjik - - - - 5^3 Fragment of Dish, with Inscriptions in Hieroglyphs, from Kouyunjik - 594 Stone Vessel, from Kouyunjik ----- 5^5 Handle of Marble Dish, from Kouyunjik - - - - Copper Instrument, from Kouyunjik - - - - 5^'^' Fragments of hollow Tubes in Glass, from Kouyunjik - - 597 Gold Ear-ring, with Pearls, from Kouyunjik - - - Terracotta Vessel, from Kouyunjik ----- 50)7 Moulds for Gold and Silver Ear-rings, from Nimroud - - 597 Moulds for Gold and Silver Ear-rings, from Kouyunjik and Nimroud - 597 Egyptian weighing Rings of Metal with Weights in the form of a seated Lion ------- (]Q 2 Cylinders in green Jasper ------ Qo 2 Ancient Assyrian Cylinder, in Serpentine - - - - ()03 Assyrian Cylinders, in Serpentine ----- ()04 Assyrian Cylinder, in Agate ----- ()04 Assyrian Cylinder, in Porcelain or Quartz - - - - 604 Babylonian Cylinders, in Iron Hematite, and Jasper - - - (jo 5 Babylonian Cylinder, in green Jasper . - - - (^Qg Babylonian Cylinder in Jasper ----- f )06 Cylinders, with Semetic Characters ----- ()06 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xxiii Page Persian Cylinders, in red Cornelian, in Chalcedony, in Rock Crystal, and in Onyx ... .... Qq'j Clay Tablet with Cylinder, impressed, from Kouyunjik - - 609 Part of Colossal Head, from Kouyunjik - - - - ClO Tomb of the Prophet Jonah, and the River Khauser - - - 6 II Bas-relief representing Pul, or Tiglath-Pileser (Nimroud) - - 619 Captives from Padan-Aram, Assyria, and Carchemish, of the Time of Amenophis III. - - - - - - 628 Exterior of a Palace, from a Bas-relief at Kouyunjik- - - 647 'I'hrone Room, Teheran 649 Plan of the Inclosure VTalls and Ditches at Kouyunjik - - 658 Double Ditch and Walls of Inclosure of Kouyunjik - - - 66 I Last View of Mosul gfj 4 Ivory Ornament from Nimroud. ERE AT A. Page 92. line 13. dele comma after “ cawals ” „ 114. „ 8. insert “ is” before “ consequently ” „ 132. „ 27. for “ twenty-two” read “two ” „ 133. „ 4. for “ are ” read “ is ” „ 140. „ 1. “or rather High Priest” to be in brackets. „ 143. „ 18. after ” Egyptians ” insert “ and ” „ 145. „ 35 for “ I threw down, burni:)g Assurnadtmmi ; my son I placed ” read ” I threw down, and burnt ? Assurnadi’mmt, my sou, I placed ” „ 172. „ 16. del. “of Kurdistan ” „ 196. note t. insert “ and ” before “ have ” „ 215. line 2. for “ scraped” read “scarped ” „ 267. M 30. for“Tiayri”read“Tiyari” „ 283. note * for “ Serong” read “ Seroug ” „ 311. line 5. del. “ partition ” „ 311. „ 6. for “ similar ” read “ smaller ” „ 318. note + line 1. insert “of” after “year” „ 327. 1 , * for “ Koheylch ” read “ Koheyleh ” „ 368. line 3. from bottom, for “ cure ” read “ cave ” „ 372. „ 9. for “ gives ” read “ give ” „ 384. note * for “ Chorcno ” read “ Chorene,” and for “ Armenia” read “ Armenie ” By accident the titles to plates facing page 340. and page 345. have been interchanged in part of the impression of this work. NINEVEH AND BABYLON Ruined Mosque and Minaie.s (Er^eroom). CHAPTER I. the trustees of the BRITISH MUSEUM RESUME EXCAVATIONS AT NINEVEH. DEPARTURE FROM CONSTANTINOPLE. DESCRIPTION OF OUR PARTY. CAWAL YUSUF. ROADS FROM TREBIZOND TO ERZEROOM. DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. VARZAHAN AND ARMENIAN CHURCHES. ERZEROOM. — RESHID PASHA. THE DUDJOOK TRIBES. SHAHAN BEY. TURKISH REFORM. — JOURNEY THROUGH ARMENIA. AN ARMENIAN BISHOP. THE LAKES OF SHAILU AND NAZIK. THE LAKE OF AVAN. After a few months’ residence In England during the year 1848, to I’ecrult a constitution worn by long exj>osnre to the extremes B 2 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I. of fin Eastern climate, I received orders to proceed to my post at Her Majesty’s Embassy in Turkey. The Trustees of the British Museum did not, at that time, contemplate further excavations on the site of ancient Nineveh. Ill health and limited time had prevented me from placing before the public, previous to my return to the East, the results of my first researches with the illus- trations of the monuments and copies of the inscriptions recovered from the ruins of Assyria. They were not published until some time after my departure, and did not consecjuently receive that careful superintendence and revision necessary to works of this nature. It was at Constantinople that I first learnt the general interest felt in England in the discoveries, and that they had been universally received as fresh illustrations of Scripture and prophecy, as well as of ancient history sacred and profane. And let me here, at the very outset, gratefully acknowledge that generous spirit of English criticism which overlooks the incapacity and shortcomings of the laborer when his object is worthy of praise, and that object is sought with sincerity and singleness of purpose. The gratitude, which I deeply felt for encouragement rarely equalled, could be best shown by cheerfully consenting, without hesitation, to the request made to me by the Trustees of the British Museum, urged by public opinion, to undertake the superintend- ence of a second expedition into Assyria. Being asked to furnish a plan of operations, I stated what appeared to me to be the course best calculated to produce interesting and important results, and to enable us to obtain the most accurate information on the ancient history, language, and arts, not only of Assyria, but of its sister kingdom, Babylonia. Perhaps my plan was too vast and general to admit of performance or warrant adoption. I was merely directed to return to the site of Nineveh, and to continue the researches commenced amongst its ruins. Arrangements were hastily, and of course Inadequately, made in England. The assistance of a competent artist was most de- sirable, to portray with fidelity those monuments which injury and decay had rendered unfit for removal. Mr. F. Cooper was selected by the Trustees of the British Museum to accompany the expedition in this capacity. Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, already well known to many of my readers for the share he had taken in my first discoveries, quitted England with him. They both joined me at Constantinople. Dr. Sandwith, an English physician on a visit to the East, was induced to form one of our party. One Abd-el-Messiah, a Catholic Syrian of Mardin, an active and Chap. L] CAWAL YUSUF. 3 trustwortliy servant during my former residence in Assyria, was fortunately at this time in the capital, and again entered my service : my other attendants were INIohammed Agha, a cawass, and an Armenian named Sei'kis. The faithful Bairakdar, who had so well served me during my previous journey, had accompanied the English commission for the settlement of the boundaries between Turkey and Persia; with the understanding, however, that he was to meet me at Mosul, in case I should return. Cawal Yusuf, the head of the Preachers of the Yezidis, with four chiefs of the districts in the neighbourhood of Diar- bekir, who had been for some months in Constantinople, completed my party. After my departure from Mosul, in 1847, the military conscrip- tion, enforced amongst the Mussulman inhabitants of the Pashalic, was extended to the Yezidis, who, with the Christians, had been previously exempted from its operation on the general law sanc- tioned by the Koran, and hitherto acted upon by most Mohamme- dan nations, that none but true believers can serve in the armies of the state. On the ground that being of no recognised infidel sect, they must necessarily be included, like the Druses and Ansyri of Mount Lebanon, amongst Mussulmans, the Government had recently endeavoured to raise recruits for the regular troops amongst the Yezidis. The new regulations had been carried out with great severity, and had given rise to many acts of cruelty and oppression on the part of the local authorities. Besides the feeling common to all Easterns against compulsory service in the army, the Yezidis had other I’easons for opposing the orders of the Government. They could not become nizam, or disciplined soldiers, without openly violating the rites and observances enjoined by their faith. The bath, to which Turkish soldiers are compelled weekly to resort, is a pollution to them, when taken in common with Mussulmans; the blue color, and certain portions of the Turkish uniform are absolutely prohibited by their law ; and they cannot eat several articles of food included in the rations distributed to the troops. The recruiting officers refused to listen to these objections, en- forcing their orders with extreme and unnecessary severity. The Yezidis, always ready to suffer for their faith, resisted, and many died under the tortures inflicted upon them. They were, moreover, still exposed to the oppression and illegal exactions of the local governors. Their children were still lawful objects of public sale, and, notwithstanding the introduction of the re- 4 KINEVEH AKD BABYLOX. [Chap. I. formed system of government into the provinces, the parents were subject to persecution, and even to death, on account of their religion. In this state of things, Hussein Bey and Sheikh Nasr, the chiefs of the whole community, hearing that I was at Con- stantinople, determined to send a deputation to lay their griev- ances before the Sultan, hoping that through my assistance they could obtain access to some of the Ministers of State. Cawal Yusuf and his companions were selected for the mission ; and money was raised by subscriptions from the sect to meet the ex- penses of their journey. After encountering many difficulties and dangers, they reached the capital and found out my abode. I lost no time in present- ing them to Sir Stratford Canning, who, ever ready to exert his powerful influence in the cause of humanity, at once brought their wrongs to the notice of the Porte. Through his kindly Intercession a firman, or imperial order, was granted to the Ye- zldis, which freed them from all Illegal impositions, forbade the sale of their children as slaves, secured to them tlie full enjoy- ment of their religion, and placed them on the same footing as other sects of the empire. It was further promised that arrange- ments should be made to release them from such military regula- tions as rendered their service in the army Incompatible wdth the strict observance of their religious duties. So often can influence, well acquired and well directed, be exercised in the great cause of humanity, without distinction of persons or of creeds ! This is but one of the many instances in which Sir Stratford Canning has added to the best renown of the British name. Caw'al Yusuf, having fulfilled his mission, eagerly accepted my pi’oposal to return with me to Mosul. His companions had yet to obtain certain documents from the Porte, and were to remain at Constantinople until their business should be completed. The Cawal still retained the dress of his sect and office. His dark face and regular and expressive features w'ere shaded by a black tui'ban, and a striped aba of coarse texture was thrown loosely over a robe of red silk. Our arrangements were complete by the 28th of August (1849), and on that day we left the Bosphorus by an English steamer bound for Trebizond. The size of my party and its consequent incumbrances rendering a caravan journey absolutely necessary, I determined to avoid the usual tracks, and to cross eastern Armenia and Kurdistan, both on account of the novelty of part of the country in a geographical point of view, and its political Chap. I.] TURKISH ROADS. 5 interest as having only recently been brought under the immediate control of the Turkish government. We disembarked at Trebizond on the 31st, and on the follow- ing day commenced our land journey. The country between this port and Erzeroom has been frequently traversed and de- scribed. Through it pass the caravan routes connecting Persia with the Black Sea, the great lines of intercourse and com- merce betvveen Europe and central Asia. The roads usually frequented are three in number. The summer, or upper, road is the shortest, but is most precipitous, and, crossing very lofty mountains, is closed after the snows commence ; it is called Tchdirler, from its fine upland pastures, on which the horses are usually fed when caravans take this route. The middle road has few advantages over the upper, and is rarely followed by merchants, who prefer the lower, although making a considerable detour by Gumish Khaneh, or the Silver Mines. The three unite at the town of Baiburt, midway between the sea and Erzeroom. Although an active and daily increasing trade is carried on by these roads, no means whatever have until recently been taken to improve them. They consist of mere mountain tracks, deep in mud or dust according to the season of the year. The bridges, built when the erection and repair of public works were imposed upon the local governors, and deemed a sacred duty by the semi-independent hereditary families, who ruled in the provinces as Pashas or Dereh- Beys, have been long permitted to fall into decay, and commerce is frequently stopped for days by the swollen torrent or fordless stream. This has been one of the many evil results of the system of centralisation so vigorously commenced by Sultan Mahmoud, and so steadily carried out during the present i*elgn. The local governors, receiving a fixed salary, and rarely permitted to remain above a few months in one office, take no interest whatever in the prosperity of the districts placed under their care. The funds assigned by the Porte for public Avorks, small and totally inade- quate, are squandered away or purloined long before any part can be applied to the objects in vicAv. Since my visit to Trebizond a road for carts has been com- menced, Avhich is to lead from that port to the Persian frontiers ; but it Aviil, probably, like other undertakings of the kind, be abandoned long before completed, or if ever completed Avill be permitted at once to fall to ruin from the Avant of common repair. And yet the Persian trade is one of the chief sources of revenue of the Turkish empire, and unless conveniences are afforded for its 6 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I. prosecution, will speedily pass into other hands. The southern shores of the Black Sea, twelve years ago rarely visited by a foreign vessel, are now coasted by steamers belonging to three comjianles, wdiich touch nearly weekly at the principal ports ; and there is com- merce and traffic enough for more. The establishment of steam communication between the ports and the capital has given an activity previously unknown to Internal trade, and has brought the inhabitants of distant provinces of the empire into a contact with the capital, highly favorable to the extension of civilisation, and to the enforcement of the legitimate authority of the government. The want of proper harbours is a considerable drawback in the navigation of a sea so unstable and dangerous as the Euxine. Trebizond has a mere roadstead, and from its position is otherwise little calculated for a great commercial port, which, like many other places, it has become rather from its hereditary claims as the representative of a city once famous, than from any local advantages. The only harbour on the southern coast is that of Batoun, nor is there any retreat for vessels on the Circassian shores. This place is therefore probably destined to become the emporium of trade, both from its safe and spacious port, and from the facility it affords of Internal communication with Persia, Georgia, and Armenia. From it the Turkish government might have been in- duced to construct the road since commenced at Trebizond, had not a political Influence always hostile to any real improvement in the Ottoman empire opposed it with that pertinacity which is generally sure to command success. At the back of Trebizond, as indeed along the whole of this singularly bold and beautiful coast, the mountains rise in lofty peaks, and are wooded with trees of enormous growth and ad- mirable quality, furnishing an unlimited supply of timber for commerce or w^ar. Innumerable streams force their way to the sea through deep and rocky ravines. The more sheltered spots are occupied by villages and hamlets, chiefly Inhabited by a hardy and industrious race of Greeks. In spring the choicest flowers perfume the air, and luxuriant creepei's clothe the limbs of gigantic trees. In summer the richest pastures enamel the uplands, and the inhabitants of the coasts drive their flocks and hei’ds to the higher regions of the hills. The forests, nourished by the exhalations and rains engendered by a large expanse of water, form a belt, from thirty to fifty miles in breadth, along the Black Sea. Beyond, the dense woods cease, as do also the rugged Chap. I.] ARMENIAN CHURCHES, / ravine and rocky peak. They are succeeded by still higher moun- tains, mostly rounded in their forms, some topped with eternal snow, barren of wood and even of vegetation, except during the summer, when they are covered with Alpine flowers and herbs. The villages in the valleys are inhabited by Turks, Lazes (Mussul- mans), and Armenians ; the soil is fertile, and produces much corn. Our journey to Erzeroom was performed without incident. A heavy and uninterrupted rain for two days tried the patience and temper of those who for the first time encountered the difficulties and incidents of Eastern travel. The only place of any interest, passed during our ride, was a small Armenian village, the remains of a larger, with the ruins of three early Christian churches, or Ancient Armenian Churcb at Varzahan. baptisteries. These I’emarkable buildings, of which many ex- amples exist, belong to an order of architecture peculiar to the 8 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I. most eastern districts of Asia Minor and to the ruins of ancient Ar- menian cities *, on the borders of Turkey and Persia. The one, of which I have given a sketch, Is an octagon, and may have been a baptistery. The interior walls are still covered with the remains of elaborate frescoes representing scripture events and national saints. The colors are vivid, and the forms, though rude, not inelegant or incorrect, resembling those of the frescoes of the Lower Empire still seen in the celebrated Byzantine church at Treblzond, and in the chapels of the convents of Mount Athos. The knotted capitals of the thin tapering columns grouped toge- ther, the peculiar arrangement of the stones over the doorway, supporting each other by a zigzag, and the decorations In general, call to mind the European Gothic of the middle ages. These churches date probably before the twelfth century : but there are no inscriptions, or other clue, to fix their precise epoch, and the various styles and modifications of the architecture have not been hitherto sufficiently studied to enable us to determine with accuracy the time to which any peculiar ornaments or forms may belong. Yet there are many interesting questions connected with this Armenian architecture which well deserve elucidation. From it was probably derived much that passed into the Gothic, whilst the Tatar conquerors of Asia Minor adopted it, as will be hereafter seen, for their mausoleums and places of worship. It is peculiarly elegant both in its decorations, its proportions, and the general arrangement of the masses, and might with advantage be studied by the modern architect. Indeed, Asia Minor contains a mine of similar materials unexplored and almost unknown. The churches of Varzahan, according to the information I re- ceived from an aged inhabitant of the village, had been destroyed some fifty years before by the Lazes. The oldest people of the place remembered the time when divine worship was still performed within their walls. We reached Erzeroom on the 8th, and were most hospitably received by the British consul, Mr. Brant, a gentleman who has long, well, and honorably sustained our influence in this part of Turkey, and who was the first to opien an important field for our commerce in Asia Minor. With him I visited the comraander-in- chlef of the Turkish forces in Anatolia, who had recently returned * Particularly of Ani. Mons. Texier is, I believe, the only traveller who has attempted to give elaborate plans, elevations, drawings, and restorations of these interesting edifices. Chap. I.] THE DUDJOOK TPHEES. 9 from a successful expedition against the wild mountain tribes of central Armenia. Keshid Pasha, known as the “ Guzlu^ or “ the Wearer of Spectacles,” enjoyed the advantages of an European education, and had already distinguished himself in the military career. With a knowledge of the French language he united a taste for European literature, whieh, during his numerous expe- ditions into districts unknown to western travellers, had led him to examine their geographical features, and to make inquiries into the manners and religion of their inhabitants. His last exploit had been the subjugation of the tribes Inhabiting the Dudjook Moun- tains, to the south-west of Erzeroom, long in open rebellion against the Sultan. The account he gave me of the country and its occu- pants, much excited a curiosity which the limited time at my com- mand did not enable me to gratify. According to the Pasha, the tribes are idolatrous, worshipping venerable oaks, great trees, huge solitary rocks, and other grand features of nature. He was inclined to atti’ibute to them mysterious and abominable rites. This calumny, the resource of ignorance and intolerance, from which even primitive Christianity did not escape, has generally been spread in the East against those whose tenets are unknown or carefully concealed, and who, in Turkey, are included under the general term, indicating their supposed obscene ceremonies, of Cheragh-sonderan, or “ Extinguishers of Lights,” They have a chief priest, who is, at the same time, a kind of political head of the sect. He had recently been taken prisoner, sent to Constan- tinople, and from thence exiled to som.e town on the Danube. They speak a Kurdish dialect, though the various septs into which they are divided have Arabic names, apparently showing a south- ern origin. Of their history and early migrations, however, the Pasha could learn nothing. The direct road between Trebizond and Mesopotamia once passed through their districts, and the ruins of spacious and well-built khans are still seen at regular intervals on the remains of the old causeway. But from a remote period, the country had been closed against the strongest caravans, and no traveller would venture into the power of tribes notorious for their cruelty and lawlessness. The Pasha spoke of re-opening the road, rebuilding caravanserais, and restoring trade to its ancient channel — good intentions, not wanting amongst Turks of his class, and which, if carried out, might restore a country rich in natural resources to more than its ancient prosperity. The account he gave me is not perhaps to be strictly relied on, but a district hitherto inaccessible 10 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I. may possibly contain the remains of ancient races, monuments of antiquity, and natural productions of sufficient importance to merit the attention of the traveller in Asia Minor. The city of Erzeroom is rapidly declining in importance, and is almost solely supported by the Persian transit trade. It would be nearly deserted if that traffic were to be thrown into a new channel by the construction of the direct road from Batoun to the Persian frontiers. It contains no buildings of any interest, with the exception of a few ruins of those monuments of early Mussul- man domination, the elaborately ornamented portico and minaret faced with glazed tiles of rich yet harmonious coloring, and the conical mausoleum, peculiar to most cities of early date in Asia Minor. The modern Turkish edifices, dignified with the names of palaces and barracks, are meeting the fate of neglected mud. Their crumbling walls can scarcely shelter their inmates in a climate almost unequalled in the habitable globe for the rigor of its winters. The districts of Armenia and Kurdistan, through which lay our road from Erzeroom to Mosul, are sufficiently unknown and Interesting to merit more than a casual mention. The map will show that our route by the lake of Wan, Bitlis, and Jezlrah was nearly a direct one. It had been but recently opened to caravans. The haunts of the last of the Kurdish rebels were on the shores of this lake. After the fall of the most powerful of their chiefs, Beder Khan Bey, they had one by one been subdued and carried away into captivity. Only a few months had, however, elapsed since the Beys of Bitlis, who had longest resisted the Turkish arms, had been captured. With them rebellion was extinguished for the time in Kurdistan. Our caravan consisted of my own party, with the addition of a muleteer and his two assistants, natives of Bitlis, who furnished me with seventeen horses and mules from Erzeroom to Mosul. The first day’s ride, as is customary in the East, where friends accompany the traveller far beyond the city gates, and where the preparations for a journey are so numerous that eveiything cannot well be remembered, scarcely exceeded nine miles. We rested for the night in the village of Gull, whose owner, one Shahan Bey, had been apprised of my intended visit. He had rendered his newly- built house as comfortable as his means would permit for our accommodation, and, after providing us with an excellent supper, passed the evening with me. Descended from an ancient family of Dereh-Beys he had inherited the hospitality and polished man- Chap. I.] TURKISH REFORM. 11 ners of a class now almost extinct, and of which a short account may not be uninteresting. The Turkish conquerors, after the overthrow of tlie Greek empire, parcelled out their newly acquired dominions into military fiefs. These tenures varied subsequently in size from the vast possessions of the great families, with their hosts of retainers, such as the Kara Osmans of Magnesia, the Pasvan Oglus, and others, to the small spahiliks of Turkey in Europe, whose owners were obliged to perform personal military service when called upon by the state. Between them, of middle rank, were the Dereh-Beys, literally the “ Lords of the Valley,” who resided in their fortified castles, or villages, and scarcely owned more than a nominal allegiance to the Sultan, although generally ready to accompany him in a great national war against the infidels, or In expeditions against too powerful and usurping subjects. Sultan Mahmoud, a man of undoubted genius and of vast views for the consolidation and centralisation of his empire, aimed not only at the extirpation of all those great families, which, either by hereditary right or by local Influence, had assumed a kind of independence ; but of all the smaller Dereh-Beys and Spahis. This gigantic scheme, which changed the whole system of tenure and local administration, Avhether political or financial, he nearly carried out, partly by force of arms and partly by treachery. Sultan Abd-ul-Mejid, freed from the difficulties and embarrassments with which an unfortunate war with Russia and successful rebellions In Albania and Egypt had surrounded his father, has completed what Mahmoud commenced. Kot only have the few remaining Dereh-Beys been destroyed or re- moved one by one, but even military tenure has been entirely abo- lished by arbitrary enactments, which have given no compensation to the owners, and have destroj^ed the only hereditary nobility in the empire. Opinions may differ as to the wisdom of the coui’se pursued, and as to its probable results. Whilst greater personal se- curity has been undoubtedly established throughout the Ottoman dominions, whilst the subjects of the Sultan are, theoretically at least, no longer exposed to the tyranny of local chiefs, but are go- verned by the moi’e equitable and tolerant laws of the empii-e ; his throne has lost the support of a race bred to military life, undisci- plined it is true, but brave and devoted, always ready to join the holy standard w’hen unfurled against the enemies of the nation and its religion, a race who carried the Turkish arms into the heart of Europe, and w’ere the terror of Christendom. Whether a regular army, disciplined as far as possible after the fashion of Europe, 12 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I. will supply the place of the old Turkish irregular cavalry and infiintry, remains to be seen, and, for reasons which it is scarcely necessary to enter into, may fairly be doubted. With the old system the spirit which supported it is fast dying away, and it may be questioned whether, in Mussulman Turkey, discipline can ever compensate for its loss. The country has certainly not yet recovered from the change. During the former state of things, with all the acts of tyranny and oppression which absolute power engendered, tliere was more happiness among the people, and more prosperity in the land. The hereditary chiefs looked upon their Christian subjects as so much property to be Improved and protected, like the soil itself. They were a source of revenue ; consequently heavy taxes which Impeded labor, and drove the la- borer from the land, were from Interest rarely imposed upon them. The Government left the enforcement of order to the local chiefs ; all the tribute received from them was so much clear jjain to the treasury, because no collectors were needed to raise it, nor troops to enforce its payment. The revenues of the empire were equal to great wars, and there was neither public debt nor embarrassment. Now that the system of centralisation has been fully carried out, the revenues are more than absorbed in the measures necessary to collect them, and the officers of government, having no interest whatever in the districts over which they are placed, neglect all that may tend to the prosperity and well-being of their inhabitants. It may be objected in extenuation that it is scarcely fair to judge of the working of a system so suddenly introduced, and that Turkey is merely in a transition state ; the principle it has adopted, what- ever its abuse, being fundamentally correct. One thing is certain, that Turkey must, sooner or later, have gone through this change. It is customary to regard these old Turkish lords as inexorable tyrants — robber chiefs who lived on the plunder of travellers and of their subjects. That there were many who answered to this desci’lptlon cannot be denied : but they were, I believe, exceptions. Amongst them were some rich in virtues and high and noble feeling. It has been frequently my lot to find a representative of this nearly extinct class in some remote and almost unknown spot in Asia !Minor or Albania. I have been received with affec- tionate warmth at the end of a day’s journey by a venerable Bey or Agha in his spacious mansion, now fast crumbling to ruin, but still bright with the remains of rich, yet tasteful, oriental deco- ration ; his long beard, white as snow, fiilling low on his breast ; his many- folded turban shadowing his benevolent yet manly Chap. L] SIIAIIAN BEY. 1.3 countenance, and his limbs enveloped in the noble garments rejected by the new generation ; his hall open to all comers, the guest neither asked from whence he came or whither he was going, dipping his hands with him in the same dish ; his servants, standing with reverence before him, rather his children than his servants; his revenues spent in raising fountains* on the w'ayside for the weary traveller, or in building caravanserais on the dreary plain ; not only professing but practising all the duties and virtues enjoined by the Koran, which are Christian duties and virtues too; in his manners, his appearance, his hospitality, and his faithful- ness a perfect model for a Christian gentleman. The race is fast passing away, and I feel grateful in being able to testify, with a few others, to its existence once, against prejudice, intolerance, and so called reform. But to return to our host at Guli. Shahan Bey, although not an old man, was a very favorable specimen of the class I have described. He was truly, in the noble and expressive phraseology of the East, an “ Ojiak Zadeh,” “ a child of the hearth,” a gentle- man born. His family had originally migrated from Daghistan, and his father, a pasha, had distinguished himself in the wars with Russia. He entertained me with animated accounts of feuds between his ancestors and the neighbouring chiefs, when without their armed retainers neither could venture beyond their imme- diate territories, contrasting, with good sense and a fair knowledge of his subject, the former with the actual state of the country. On the following morning, when I bade him adieu, he would not allow me to reward either himself or his servants, for hospitality extended to so large a company. He rode with me for some distance on my route, with his greyhounds and followers, and then returned to his villao-e. O From Guli we crossed a high range of mountains, running nearly east and west, by a pass called All-Baba,, or Ala-Baba, en- joying from the summit an extensive view of the plain of Pasvin, once one of the most thickly peopled and best cultivated districts in Armenia. The Christian inhabitants were partly induced by promises of land and protection, and partly compelled by force, to accompany the Russian army into Georgia after the end * The most unobservant and hasty traveller in Turkey would soon become acquainted with this fact, could he read the modest and pious inscription, carved in relief on a small marble tablet of the purest white, adorning almost every half-ruined fountain at which he stops to refresh himself by the wayside. 14 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I. of the last war with Turkey. By similar means that part of the Pashalie of Erzeroom adjoining the Russian territories was almost stripped of its most industrious Armenian population. To the south of us rose the snow-capped mountains of the Bln-Ghiul, or the “ Thousand Lakes,” in which the Araxes and several con- fluents of the Euphrates have their source. We descended from the pass into undulating and barren downs. The villages, thinly scattered over the low hills, were deserted by their inhabitants, who, at this season of the year, pitch their tents and seek pasture for their flocks in the uplands. We encamped for the niglit near one of these villages, called Gundi-Miran, or, in Turkish, Bey-Kiui, which has the same meaning, “the village of the chief.” A man who remained to watch the crops of corn and barley went to the tents, and brought us such provisions as we required. The inhabitants of this district are Kurds, and are still divided into tribes. The owners of Gundi-Miran, and the surrounding villages, are the Ziraklu (the armour-wearers), who came originally from the neighbourhood of Diarbekir. Within a few months of our visit they were in open rebellion against the government, and the country had been closed against travellers and caravans. Next day we continued our journey amongst undulating hills, abounding in flocks of the great and lesser bustard. Innmerable sheep-walks branched from the beaten path, a sign that villages were near ; but, like those we had passed the day before, they had been deserted for the yilahs, or summer pastures. These villages are still such as they wei’e when Xenophon traversed Armenia. “ Their houses,” says he, “ were under ground ; the mouth resembling that of a well, but spacious below : there was an entrance dug for the cattle, but the inhabitants descended by ladders. In these houses were goats, sheep, cows, and fowls with their young.” * The low hovels, mere holes in the hill-side, and the common refuge of man, poultry, and cattle, cannot be seen from any distance, and they are purposely built away from the road to escape the unwelcome visits of travelling government officers and marching troops. It is not un- common for a traveller to receive the first intimation of his approach to a village by finding his horse’s fore feet down a chimney, and himself taking his 2^1ace unexpeetedly in the family eii’cle through the roof. Numerous small streams wind among the valleys, mark- ing by meandering lines of perpetual green their course to the Arras, * Anabasis, lib. iv. c. 5. Chap. I.] THE SUBHAN DAGH. 15 or Araxes. We crossed that river about midday by a ford not more than three feet deep, but the bed of the stream is wide, and after rains, and during the spring, is completely filled by an im- passible torrent. On its southern bank we found a caravan re- posing, the horses and mules feeding in the long grass, the travellers sleeping in the shade of their piled up bales of goods. Amongst the merchants we recognised several natives of Mosul who trade with Erzeroom, changing dates and coarse Mosul fabrics for a fine linen made at Riza, — a small place on the Black Sea, near Treblzond, — and much worn by the wealthy and by women. During the afternoon we crossed the western spur of the Tlektab IMountains, a high and bold range with three well defined peaks, which had been visible from the summit of the Ala-Baba pass. From the crest we had the first view of Subhan, or Sipan, Dagh *, a magnificent conical peak, covered with eternal snow, and rising abruptly from the plain to the north of Lake Wan. It is a con- spicuous and beautiful object from every part of the surrounding country. We descended into the wide and fertile plain of Hinnis. The town was just visible in the distance, but we left it to the right, and halted for the night in the large Armenian village of Kosli, after a ride of more than nine hours. I was received at the guest-house t with great hospitality by one Misrab Agha, a Turk, * Sipan is a Kurdish corruption of Subhan, i. e. Praise. The mountain is so called, because a tradition asserts that whilst No.ah was carried to and fro by the waters of the deluge, the ark struck against its peak, and the patriarch, alarmed by the shock, exclaimed “ Subhanu-Dah,” “ Praise be to God ! ” It has also been conjectured that the name is derived from “ Surp,” an Armenian word meaning “ holy.” It has only been ascended once, as far as I am aware, by Europeans. IVIi-. Brant, the British consul of Erzeroom, accompanied by Lieut. Glascott and Dr. Dickson, reached the summit on the 1st of September, 1838, after experiencing considerable fatigue and inconvenience from some pecu- liarity in the atmosphere (not, it would appear, the result of any very con- siderable elevation). They found within the cone a small lake, apparently filling the hollow of a crater ; and scoria and lava, met with in abundance during the ascent, indicated the exi.stence, at some remote period, of a volcano. Unfortunately, the barometers with which the party were provided, were out of order, and Mr. Brant has only been able to estimate the height of the mountain by approximation, at 10,000 feet, which I believe to be under the mark. (See Mr. Brant’s highly interesting memoir in the tenth volume of the Journal of the Boyal Geographical Society, p. 49.) f Almost every village in Turkey, not on a high road, and not provided with a caravanserai or khan, contains a house reserved exclusively for the enter- tainment of guests, in which travellers are not only lodged, but fed, gratuitously. It is maintained by the joint contribution of the villagers, or sometimes by the charitable bequests of individuals, and is under the care either of the chief of 16 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I. to whom the village formerly belonged as Spahilik or military tenure, and who, deprived of his hereditary rights, had now farmed its revenues. He hurried with a long stick among the low houses, and heaps of dried dung, piled up in every open space for winter fuel, collecting fowls, curds, bread, and barley, abusing at the same time the tanzimat, which compelled such exalted travellers as ourselves, he said, “ to pay for the provisions we condescended to accept.” The Inhabitants were not, however, backward in furnish- ing us with all we wanted, and the flourish of Misrab Agha’s stick was only the remains of an old habit. I invited him to supper with me, an invitation he gladly accepted, having himself contri- buted a tender lamb roasted whole towards our entertainment. The inhabitants of Kosli could scarcely be distinguished either by their dress or by their general appearance from the Kurds. They seemed prosperous and were on the best terms with the Mussulman farmer of their tithes. This village, with others in the district, had been nearly deserted after the Russian war, the in- habitants migrating into Georgia. Several families had recently returned, but having finished their harvest were desirous of recross- ing the frontier, probably a manoeuvre to avoid the payment of cer- tain dues and taxes. Of this IMisrab Agha was fully aware. “ The ill-mannered fellows,” exclaimed he, “ having filled their bellies with good things, and taken away the fat of the land, want to go back to the Muscovites ; but they deceive themselves, they must now sit where they are.” The emigrants did not indeed sj)eak very favourably of the condition of those who had settled in Russia. Many wish to return to their old villages in Turkey, where they can enjoy far greater liberty and independence. This was subsequently confirmed to me by others who had come back to their native settlements. The Russian government, however, by a strict military surveillance along the Georgian frontiers, prevents as far as possible this desertion. Kosli stands at the foot of the hills forming the southern boundary of the plain of Hinnis, through which flows a branch of the IMurad Su, or Lower Euphrates. We forded this river near the ruins of a bridge at Kara Kupri. The plain is generally well cultivated, the principal produce being corn and hemp, The vil- lages, which are thickly scattered over it, have the appearance of the village, or of a person expressly named for the purpose, and called the Oda- Bashi, the chief of the guest-room. Since the introduction of the tanzimat (re- formed system), this custom is rapidly falling into disuse in most parts of Turkey frequented by European travellers. Chap. L] A THRESHING-FLOOR. 17 extreme wretchedness, and, with their low houses and heaps of dried manure piled upon the roofs and in the open spaces around, look more like gigantic dunghills than human habitations. The Kurds and Armenian Christians, both hardy and industrious races, are pretty equally divided in numbers, and live sociably in the same filth and misery. The extreme severity of the winter, — the snow lying deep on the ground for some months, ^ — prevents the cultiva- tion of fruit trees, and the complete absence of wood gives the country a desolate aspect. Bustards, cranes, and waterfowl of various kinds abound. We left the plain of Hinnls by a pass through the mountain range of Zernak. In the valleys we found clusters of black tents belonging to the nomad Kurds, and the hill-sides were covered with their flocks. The summit of a high peak overhang- ing the road is occupied by the ruins of a castle formerly held by Kurdish chiefs, who levied black-mail on travellers, and carried their depredations into the plains. On reaching the top of the pass we had an uninterrupted view of the Subhan Dagh. From the village of Karagol, where we halted for the night. It rose abruptly before us. This magnificent peak, with the rugged moun- tains of Kurdistan, the river Euphrates winding through the plain, the peasants driving the oxen over the corn on the threshing- floor, and the groups of Kurdish horsemen with their long spears and flowing garments, formed one of those scenes of Eastern travel which leave an indelible impression on the imagination, and bring back in after years indescribable feelings of pleasure and repose. The threshing-floor, which added so much to the beauty and interest of the picture at Karagol, had been seen in all the villages we had passed during our day’s journey. The abundant harvest had been gathered in, and the corn was now to be threshed and stored for the winter. The process adopted is simple, and nearly such as it was in patriarchal times. The children either drive horses round and round over the heaps, or standing upon a sledge stuck full of sharp flints on the under part, are drawn by oxen over the scattered sheaves. Such were “ the threshin^-sledo-es O O armed with teeth” mentioned by Isaiah. In no instance are the animals muzzled — “ thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn;” but they linger to pick iqi a scanty mouthful as they are u^ged on by the boys and young girls, to whom the duties of the threshing-floor are chiefly assigned. The grain is winnowed by the men and women, who throw the corn and straw C 18 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I. together Into the air with a wooden shovel, leaving the wind to carry away the chaff whilst the seed falls to the ground. The wheat Is then raked Into heaps and left on the threshing-floor Threshing the Corn in Armenia. until the tithe-gatherer has taken his portion. The straw Is stored for the winter, as provender for the cattle.* The Kurdish Inhabitants of this plain are chiefly of the tribe of Manianll, once very powerful, and mustering nearly 2000 horse- men for war, according to the Information I received from one of their petty chiefs who lodged with us for the night in the guest- house of Karagol. After the Russian war, part of the tribe was included in the ceded territory. Their chief resides at Malaskert. * These processes of threshing and winnowing appear to have been used from the earliest time in Asia. Isaiah alludes to it when addressing the Jews (xxviii. 27, 28. See Translation by the Rev. John Jones) : — “ The dill is not threshed with the tlu-eshing sledge. Nor is the wheel of the wain made to roll over the cummin. Bread corn is threshed : But not for ever will he continue thus to thresh it ; Though he driveth along the wheels of his wain, And his horses, he will not bruise it to dust.” “ The oxen and the young asses, that till the ground Shall eat clean provender. Which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan.” (xxx. 24.) “ Behold, I have made thee a new sharp threshing wain (sledge) armed with pointed teeth." (xli. 15.) “ Thou shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away.” (xli. 16.) Chap. I.] A KURDISH VILLAGE. 19 We crossed the principal branch of the Euphrates soon after leavine: Karagol. Althouo;h the river is fordable at this time of year, during the spring it is nearly a mile in breadth, overflowing its banks, and converting the entire plain into one great marsh. We had now to pick our way through a swamp, scaring, as we advanced, myriads of wild-fowl. I have rarely seen game in such abundance and such variety in one spot ; the water swarmed with geese, duck, and teal, the marshy ground witli herons and snipe, and the stubble with bustards and cranes. After the rains the lower road is impassable, and caravans are obliged to make a con- siderable circuit along the foot of the hills. We were not sorry to escape the fever-breeding swamp and mud of the plain, and to enter a line of low hills, separating us from the lake of Gula Shailu. I stopped for a few minutes at an Armenian monastery, situated on a small platform overlooking the plain. The bishop was at his breakfast, his fare frugal and episcopal enough, consisting of nothing more than boiled beans and sour milk. He insisted that I should partake of his repast, and I did so, in a small room scarcely large enough to admit the round tray containing the dishes, into which I dipped my hand with him and his chaplain. I found him profoundly ignorant, like the rest of his class, grumbling about taxes, and abusing the Turkish go- vernment. All I could learn of the church -was that it contained the body of a much venerated saint, who had lived about the time of St. Gregory the Illuminator, and that it was the resort of the afflicted and diseased who trusted to their faith, rather than to medicine, for relief. The whole establishment belongs to the large Armenian village of Kop, Avhich could be faintly distinguished in the plain below. The Kurds had plundered the convent of its books and its finery, but the church remained pretty well as it had been some fifteen centuries ago. After a pleasant ride of five hours we reached a deep clear lake, embedded in the mountains, two or three pelicans, “ swan and sha- dow double,” and myriads of water-fowl, lazily floating on its blue waters. Piron, the village where we halted for the night, stands at the further end of the Gula Shailu, and is inhabited by Kurds of the tribe of Hasananlu, and by Armenians, all living in good fel- lowship amidst the dirt and wretchedness of their eternal dung- heaps. Ophthalmia had made sad havoc amongst them, and the doctor was soon surrounded by a crowd of the blind and diseased clamoring for relief. The villagers said that a Persian, professing to be a Hakim, had passed through the place some time before, and had 20 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I. offered to cure all bad eyes on payment of a certain sum in ad- vance. These terms being agreed to, he gave his patients a powder which left the sore eyes as they were, and destroyed the good ones. He then went his way : “ And with the money in his pocket too,” added a ferocious-looking Kurd, whose appearance certainly threw considerable doubt on the assertion ; “ but what can one do in these days of accursed Tanzimat (reform) ? ” The district we had now entered formerly belonged to Sheriff Bey, the rebellious chief of Moush, but, since his capture last year, had been made miri, or government property. Although all the IMohammedan inhabitants of this part of Kurdistan are Kurds, those alone are called so who live in tents ; those who reside in villages are known simply as “Mussulman.” The lake of Shailu is separated from the larger lake of Nazik, by a range of low hills about six miles in breadth. We reached the small village of Khers, built on its western extremity, in about two hours and a half, and found the chief, surrounded by the principal inhabitants, seated on a raised platform near a well- built stone house. He assured me, stroking a beard of spot- less Avhite to confirm his words, that he was above ninety years of age, and had never seen an European before the day of my visit. Half blind, he peered at me through his blear eyes until he had fully satisfied his curiosity ; then spoke contemptuously of the Franks, and abiiscd the Tanzimat, which he declared had destroyed all Mussulman spirit, had turned true believers into infidels, and had brought his own tribe to ruin, meaning, of course, that they could no longer prey upon their neighbours. His son, more of a courtier, and probably thinking that something might be gained by praising the present state of things, spoke less unfa- vourably of reform, though, I doubt not, entertaining equal aver- sion to it in his heart. The old gentleman, notwithstanding his rough exterior, was hospitable after his fashion, and would not suffer us to depart until we had eaten of every delicacy the village could afford. Our path lay along the banks of the lake. The people of Khers declare that the Kazik Gul only contains fish during the spring of the year, and then but of the one kind caught in the lake of Wan. I was unable to account for this fact, repeated by the peasants whom we met on our road, until reaching the eastern end of the lake I found that a communication existed between it and that of W an, by a deep ravine, through which the waters, swollen during the rains and by the melting of the snows in spring, dis- Chap, I.] ARMENIAN PLOUGH. 21 charge themselves near Akhlat.* At this season there was only- water enough in the ravine to show the difference of level. In spring the fish seek the creeks and fresh-water streams to spawn, and at that time alone are captured by the inhabitants of the shores of the lake of Wan. During the rest of the year, they leave the shallows and are secure from the nets of the fishermen. f The only fish known is of the size and appearance of a herring. It is caught during the season in such abundance that it forms, when dried and salted, provision for the rest of the year, and a consider- able article of exportation. I was informed, however, by a Christian, that a large fish, probably of the barbel kind, was found in the Nazik Gul, whose waters, unlike those of Wan, are fresh and sweet. Leaving the Nazik Gul we entered an undulating country traversed by very deep ravines, mere channels cut into the sand- stone by mountain torrents. The villages are built at the bottom of these gulleys, amidst fruit trees and gardens, sheltered by per- pendicular rocks and watered by running streams. They are undiscovered until the traveller reaches the very edge of the pre- cipice, when a pleasant and cheerful scene opens suddenly beneath his feet. He would have believed the upper country a mere desert had he not spied here and there in the distance a peasant slowly driving his plough through the rich soil. The inha- bitants of this district are more industrious and ingenious than their neighbours. They carry the produce of their harvest not on the backs of animals, as in most parts of Asia Minor, but in carts entirely made of wood, no iron being used even in the wheels, which are ingeniously built of walnut, oak, and kara agatch (literally, black tree — ? thorn), the stronger woods being used for rough spokes let into the nave. The plough also differs from that In general use in Asia. To the share are attached two parallel boards, about four feet long and a foot broad, which separate the soil and leave a deep Section of Wheel of Attnenlan Car*. Refilled furrOW. * The Shailu lake has, I was informed, a similar communication with the ^lurad Su. Both lakes are wrongly placed in the Prussian and other maps, and their outlets unnoticed. t Yakuti, in his geographical work, the “ Moajem el Buldan,” mentions this disappearance of the fish, which are only to be seen, he says, during three months of the year. He adds, however, frogs and shellfish. 22 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I, We rode for two or three hours on these uplands, until, suddenly- reaching the edge of a ravine, a beautiful prospect of lake, wood- land, and mountain, opened before us. Armenian Plough, near Akblat. CHAP. II. THE LAKE OF WAN. — AKHLAT. TATAR TOMBS. ANCIENT REMAINS. — A DERVISH. — .A FRIEND. — THE MUDIR. — ARMENIAN REMAINS. — AN ARMENIAN CONVENT AND BISHOP. JOURNEY TO BITLIS. NIMROUD DAGH. — BITLIS. JOURNEY TO KHERZAN. YEZIDI VILLAGE. The first view the traveller obtains of the Lake of Wan, on de- scending towards it from the hills above Akhlat, is singularly beau- tiful. This great inland sea, of the deepest blue, is bounded to the east by ranges of serrated snow-capped mountains, peering one above the other, and springing here and there into the highest peaks of Tlyari and Kurdistan ; beneath them lies the sacred island of Akhtamar, just visible in the distance, like a dark shadow on the water. At the further end rises the one sublime cone of the Subhan, and along tlie lower part of the eastern shores stretches the Niraroud Dagh, varied in shape, and rich in local traditions. c 4 24 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. II. At our feet, as we drew nigh to the lake, were the gardens ot the ancient city of Akhlat, leaning minarets and pointed mauso- leums peeping above the trees. We rode through vast burying- grounds, a perfect forest of upright stones seven or eight feet high of the richest red colour, most delicately and tastefully carved with arabesque ornaments and inscriptions in the massive character of the early Mussulman age. In the midst of them rose here and there a conical turbeh * of beautiful shape, covered with exquisite tracery. The monuments of the dead still stand, and have become the monuments of a city. Itself long crumbled into dust. Amidst orchards and gardens are scattered here and there low houses rudely built out of the remains of the earlier habitations, and fragments of cornice and sculpture are piled up into walls around the cultivated plots. Leaving the servants to pitch the tents on a lawn near one of the finest of the old Mussulman tombs, and in a grove of lofty trees, beneath whose spreading branches we could catch distant views of the lake, I walked through the ruins. Emero:ing from the wardens and crossing a part of the great buiying-ground, I came upon a well-preserved mausoleum of the same deep red stone, now glow- ing in the rays of the sun ; its conical roof rested on columns and arches, and on a kuhleh, or place to direct the face in prayer, deco- rated with all the richness, yet elegance, of Eastern taste. The cor- nice supporting the roof was formed by many bands of ornament, each equally graceful though differing one from the other. The columns stood on a base rising about nine feet from the ground, the ujiper part of which was adorned with panels, each varying in shape, and containing many-angled recesses, decorated with different patterns, and the lower part projected at an angle with the rest of the building. In this basement was the chamber ; the mortal remains of its royal occupant had long ago been torn away and thrown to the dust. Around the turbeh were scattered richly carved head and foot stones, marking the graves of less noble men; and the whole was enclosed by a grove of lofty trees, the dark-blue lake glittering beyond. Whilst the scene was worthy of the pencil of a Turner, each detail in the building was a study for an architect. Tradition names the tomb that of Sultan Balandour f, one of the chiefs of the great Tatar tribes, who crossed the frontiers of Persia in the fifteenth century. The * Tlie small building which sometimes covers a Mohammedan tomb is so called. f A sultan of the Ak-Kouyunlu, or White-sheep Tatars, from whom the tribe derived their name of Baiandouri, 26 NINEVEH AND BABYLON, [Chap. II. building still resisting decay is now used as a storehouse for grain and straw by a degenerate race, utterly unmindful of the glories of their ancestors. Near this turbeh were others, less well pre- served, but equally remarkable for elegant and varied decoration, their conical roofs fretted with delicate tracei’y, carved in relief on the red stone. They belong, according to local tradition, to Sultans of the Ak-Kouyunlu and Kara-Kouyunlu Tatars, the well-known tribes of the White and Black Sheep. Beyond the turbeh of Sultan Baiandour, through a deep ravine such as I have ali’eady described, runs a brawling stream, crossed by an old bridge ; orchards and gardens make the bottom of the narrow valley, and the cultivated ledges as seen from above, a bed of foliage. Tlie lofty perpendicular rocks rising on both sides are literally honeycombed with entrances to artificial caves, — ancient tombs, or dwelling-places. On a high isolated mass of sandstone stand the walls and towers of a castle, the remains of the ancient city of Khelath, celebrated in Armenian history, and one of the seats of Armenian power. I ascended to the crumbling ruins, and examined the excavations in the rocks. The latter are now used as habitations, and as stables for herds and flocks. The spacious entrances of some are filled up with stones for protection and comfort, a small opening being left for a door- way. Before them, on the ledges overlooking the ravine, stood here and there groups of as noble a race as I have anywhere seen, tall, brawny men, handsome women, and beautiful children. They were Kurds, dressed in the flowing and richly-colored robes of their tribe. I talked with them and found them courteous, in- telligent, and communicative. INIany of the tombs are approached by flights of steps, also cut in the rock. An entrance, generally square, unless subsequently widened, and either perfectly plain or decorated with a simple cornice, opens into a spacious chamber, which frequently leads into others on the same level, or by narrow flights of steps into upper rooms. There are no traces of the means by which these entrances were closed : they probably were so by stones, turning on rude hinges, or rolling on rollers.* Excavated in the walls, or some- * Tombs, with entrances closed by stones, ingeniously made to roll back into a groove, still exist in many parts of the East. We learn from both the Old and New Testament, that such tombs were in common use in Palestine, as well as in other countries of Asia. The stone was “ rolled away from the sepulchre” in which Christ was laid ; which we may gather from the conte.xt was a chamber cut into the rock, and intended to receive many bodies, although it had not Chap. II.] RUINS OF AKHLAT. 27 times sunk into the floor, are recesses or troughs, in which once lay the bodies of the dead, whilst In small niches. In the sides of the chambers, were placed lamps and sacrificial objects. Tombs In every respect similar are found throughout the mountains of As- syria and Persia, as far south as Shiraz ; but I have never met with them in such abundance as at Akhlat. Their contents were long ago the spoil of conquerors, and the ancient chambers of the dead have been for centuries the abodes of the living. Leaving the valley and winding through a forest of fruit trees, here and there Interspersed with a few pi’imitive dwellings, I came to the old Turkish castle, standing on the very edge of the lake. It is a pure Ottoman edifice, less ancient than the turbehs, or the old walls towering above the ravine. Inscriptions over the gateways state that it was partly built by Sultan Selim, and partly by Sultan Suleiman, and over the northern entrance occurs the date of 975 of the Hejira. The ivalls and towers are still standing, and need but slight repair to be again rendered capable of defence. They inclose a fort, and about 200 houses, with two mosques and baths, fast falling into decay, and only tenanted by a few miserable families, who, too poor or too idle to build anew, linger amongst the ruins. In the fort, separated from the dwell- ing places by a high thick wall and a ponderous iron-bound gate now hanging half broken away from its rusty hinges, there dwelt, until very recently, a notorious Kurdish freebooter, of the name of Mehemet Bey, who, secure in this stronghold, ravaged the sur- rounding country, and sorely vexed its Christian inhabitants. He fled on the approach of the Turkish troops, after their successful expedition against Nur-Ullah Bey, and is supposed to be wandering in the mountains of southern Kurdistan- After the capture of Beder Khan Bey, Osman Pasha, the com- mander-in-chief of the Turkish army, a man of enterprise and liberal views, formed a plan for restoring to Akhlat its ancient prosperity, by making it the capital of the north-eastern pro- vinces of the Turkish empire. He proposed, by grants of land, to induce the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages to remove to the town, and by peculiar privileges to draw to the new settlement the artizans of Wan, Bltlis, Moush, and even Erzeroom. Its po- been used before. Such, also, was the tomb of Lazarus. Raphael, who is singularly correct in delineating Eastern habits and costumes in his scriptural pieces, has thus portrayed the tomb of the Saviour in a sketch in the Oxford Collection. 28 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. II. sitlon on the borders of a vast lake is favourable to traffic, and its air is considered very salubrious. From its vicinity to the Persian and Russian frontiers it might become of considerable Importance as a military depot. Osman Pasha was about to construct a palace, a bazar, and barracks, and to repair the walls of the old castle, when death put an end to his schemes. In Turkey a man in power, from principle, never carries out the plans, or finishes the buildings of his predecessor ; and Akhlat, one of the most beautiful spots that the Imagination can picture, will probably long remain a heap of ruins. Scarcely a sail flutters on the water. The only commei’ce is carried on by a few miserable vessels, which venture in the finest weather to leave the little harbour of Wan to search for wood and corn on the southern shores of the lake. The ancient city of Khelath was the capital of the Armenian province of Peznouni. It came under the Mohammedan power as early as the ninth century, but was conquered by the Greeks of the Lower Empire at the end of the tenth. The Seljuks took it from them, and it then again became a Mussulman principality. It was long a place of contention for the early Arab and Tatar conquerors. Shah Armen* reduced it towards the end of the twelfth century. It was besieged, without result, by the cele- brated Saleh-cd-dln, and was finally captured by his nephew, the son of Melek Adel, in A. D. 1207. The sun was setting as I returned to the tents. The whole scene was lighted up with its golden tints, and Claude never composed a subject more beautiful than was here furnished by nature herself. I was seated outside my tent gazing listlessly on the scene, when I was roused by a well-remembered cry, but one which I had not heard for years. I turned about and saw stand- ino; before me a Persian Dervish, clothed in the fawn-colored gazelle skin, and wearing the conical red cap, edged with fur, and embroidered in black braid with verses from the Koran and invo- cations to Ali, the patron of his sect. He was no less surprised than I had been at his greeting, when I gave him the answer peculiar to men of his order. He was my devoted friend and ser- vant from that moment, and sent his boy to fetch a dish of pears, for which he actually refused a present ten times their value. He * Shall Armen, i. e. King of Armenia, was a title assumed by a dynasty reigning at Akhlat, founded by Sokman Kothby, a slave of the Seljuk prince, Kothbedin Ismail, who established an independent principality at Akhlat in A.D. 1100, which lasted eighty years. Chap. II.] RUINS OP AKHLAT. 29 declared that I was one of his craft, and was fairly puzzled to make out where I had picked u]) my knowledge of his mystery and phraseology. But he was not my first Dervish friend; I had had many adventures in company with such as he. Whilst we were seated chatting in the soft moonlight, Hormuzd was suddenly embraced by a young man resplendent with silk and gold embroidery and armed to the teeth. He was a chief from the disti’ict of Mosul and well known to us. Hearing of our arrival he had hastened from his village at some distance to welcome us, and to endeavour to persuade me to move the encampment and partake of his hospitality. Failing, of course, in prevailing upon me to change my quarters for the night, he sent his servant to his wife, who was a lady of Mosul, and formerly a friend of my companion’s, for a sheep. We found ourselves thus unexpectedly amongst friends. Our circle was further increased by Christians and Mus- sulmans of Akhlat, and the night was far spent before we retired to rest. In the morning, soon after sunrise, I renewed my wanderings amongst the ruins, first calling upon the Mudir, or governor, who received me seated under his own fig-tree. He was an old grey- beard, a native of the place, and of a straightforward, honest bearing. 1 had to listen to the usual complaints of poverty and over-taxation, although, after all, the village, with its extensive gardens, only con- tributed yearly ten purses, or less than forty-five pounds, to the public revenue. This sum seems small enough, but without trade, and distant from any high road, there was not a para of ready money, according to the Mudir, in the place. The governor’s cottage stood near the northern edge of Akhlat, and a little beyond it the road again emerged into that forest of richly-carved tombs which surrounds the place, like a broad belt — the accumulated remains of successive generations. The triumph of the dead over the living is perhaps only thus seen in the East. In England, where we grudge our dead their last resting places, the habitations of the living encroach on the burial-ground; in the East it is the 2 ;rave-''’ard which drives before it the cottao'e % O and the mansion. The massive headstones still stand erect lontr after the dwelling-places of even the descendants of those who placed them there have passed away. Several handsome turbehs, resembling in their general form those I had already visited, though differing from them in their elegant and elaborate details, were scattered amongst the more humble tombs. O 30 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. II. From the IMudir’s house I rode to the more ancient part of the city and to the rock tombs. The ravine, at no great distance from whei’e it joins the lake, is divided into two branches, each watered by an abundant stream. I followed them both for four or five miles, ascending by the one, then crossing the upland which divides them, and descending by the other. Both aflTord innumerable pleasant prospects, — the water breaking in frequent cascades over the rocky bottom, beneatli thick clusters of gigantic chesnuts and elms, the excavated cliffs forming bold frames to the pictures. I entered many of the rock-tombs, and found all of tliem to be of the same character, though varying in size. The doors of some have been enlarged, to render the interior more convenient as dwelling- places, and there are but few which have not been blackened by ^ the smoke of the fires of many centuries. The present population of the ravine, small and scanty enough, resides almost entirely in these caves. Amongst the tombs there are galleries and passages [ in the cliffs without apparent use, and flights of steps, cut out of the rock, which seem to lead nowhere. I searched and inquired in vain for Inscriptions and remains of sculpture, and yet the place is of undoubted antiquity, and in the immediate vicinity of cotem- poi’ary sites where cuneiform inscriptions do exist. During my wanderings I entered an Armenian church and con- vent standing on a ledge of rock overhanging the stream, about four miles up the southern ravine. The convent was tenanted by a bishop and two priests. They dwelt in a small low room, scarcely lighted by a hole carefully blocked up with a sheet of oiled paper to shut out the cold ; dark, musty, and damp, a very parish clerk in England would have shuddered at the sight of such a residence. Their bed, a cai'pet worn to threads, spread on the rotten boards ; their diet, the coarsest sandy bread and a little sour curds, with beans and mangy meat for a jubilee. A miserable old woman sat in a kind of vault under the staircase preparing their food, and passing her days in pushing to and fro with her skinny hands the goat’s skin containing the milk to be shaken into butter. She was the housekeeper and handmaiden of the episcopal establish- ment. The church was somewhat higher, though even darker than the dwelling-room, and was partly used to store a heap of mouldy corn and some primitive agricultural implements. The whole was well and strongly built, and had the evident marks of antiquity. The bishop showed me a rude cross carved on a rock outside the convent, which, he declared, had been cut by one of the disciples of the Saviour himself. It is, at any rate, considered a relic of very Chap. II.] AN ARMENIAN CONVENT. 31 great sanctity, and is an object of pilgrimage for the surrounding Christian population. Near the spot are several tombs of former bishops, the head and foot stones of the same deep mellow red stone, and as elaborately carved as those of the old Tatar chiefs near the lake, although dilfering from them somewhat in the style of their ornaments ; the cross, and the bold, square, ancient Armenian character being used instead of the flowery scroll-work and elongated letters of the early Mussulman conquei’oi’s. The bishop, notwithstanding his poverty, was, on the whole, better informed than others of his order I had met in the provinces. He had visited the capital, had even studied there, and possessed a few books, amongst which, fortunately for himself, and I hope for his conOTegatlon, he was not ashamed to include several of the very useful works issued by the American missionary press, and by that praisewortliy religious society, the Mekhitarists of Venice. The older books and MSS. of the church, together with its little store of plate, its hangings, and its finery, were gone. The last rummage was made by Mehemet Bey, the Kurdish free- booter of the castle on the lake, who, having been expelled from his sti’onghold by the exasperated inhabitants of Akhlat, took refuge in the Armenian convent, and defended it for nearly a year against his assailants, living of coiu'se, the Avhile, uj)on the scanty stores of the priests, and carrying off, when he had no longer need of the position, the little property he had pulled out of every nook and corner. The tyranny of this chief had driven nearly the whole Chi'istian population from Akhlat. About twenty families only remained, and they Avere huddled toge- ther in the rock tombs, and on the ledges immediately opposite the convent. They are not allowed to possess the gardens and orchai’ds near the lake, Avhich are looked upon as the peculiar property of the ancient Mussulman inhabitants, to be enjoyed by their orthodox descendants, Avho employ neither care nor labor in keeping them up, trusting to a rich soil and a favorable climate for their annual fruits. I Avas again struck during my ride with the beauty of the children, Avho assembled round me. Issuing, like true Troglodytes, from their rocky dAvelllng-places. Near the end of the ravine, on the edge of a precipice clothed Avith creepers. Is a half-fallen tur- beh, of elegant proportions and rich in architectural detail. It overhangs the transparent stream, AvhIch, struggling doAvn its rocky bed, is crossed by a ruined bridge ; a scene calling to mind the well-knoAvn vieAV of Tivoli. Beyond, and nearer to the lake, are 32 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. II. other turbehsj all of which I examined, endeavoring to retain some slight record of their peculiar ornaments. The natives of the place followed me as I wandered about and found names for the ancient chiefs in whose honor the mausoleums had been erected. Amongst them were Iskendei’, Hassan, and Haroun, the Padishas, or sultans, of the Tatar tribes.* On my return to our encampment the tents were struck, and the caravan had already began its march. Time would not permit me to delay, and with a deep longing to linger on this favored spot I slowly followed the road leading along the margin of the lake to Bltlls. I have seldom seen a fairer scene, one richer in natural beauties. The artist and the lover of nature may equally find at Akhlat objects of study and delight. The architect, or the tra- veller, interested in the history of that graceful and highly original branch of art, which attained its full perfection under the Arab rulers of Egypt and Spain, should extend his journey to the re- mains of ancient Armenian cities, far from high roads and mostly unexplored. He would then trace how that arehitecture, deriv- ing its name from Byzantium, had taken the same development in the East as it did in the West, and how its subsequent com- bination with the elaborate decoration, the varied outline, and tasteful coloring of Persia had produced the style termed Sara- cenic, Arabic, and Moresque. He would discover almost daily, de- tails, ornaments, and forms, recalling to his mind the various orders of architecture, which, at an early period, succeeded to each other in AVestern Europe and in Englandf; modifications of style for which we are mainly indebted to the East during its close union with the * Iskender, the son of Kara Yusuf, second sultan of the Tatar dynasty of the Black Sheep, began to reign a. d. 1421, and was murdered by his son, Shah Kobad. Hassan, commonly called Usun, or the Long, the first sultan of the Baiaudouri, or White Sheep, Tatars, succeeded to the throne a.d. 1467. Neither of these sult.ins, however, appear to have died at Akhlat. I have been unable to find the name of Haroun amongst the sultans of these Tatar dynasties. It is possible that the turbehs may be more ancient than the period assigned to them by the inhabitants of Akhlat, and that they may belong to some of the earlier Mussulman concpierors. •f The sketch, not very accurate unfortunately in its details, of the ruined Armenian church at Varzahan (p. 7.), will sufficiently show my meaning, and point out the connection indicated in the text. I would also refer toM.Texier’s folio work on Armenia and Persia, for many examples of Armenian churches, illustrating the transition between the Byzantine and what we may undoubtedly term Gothic. It would be of considerable importance to study the remains of churches still scat tered over Armenia, and of which no accurate plans or draw- ings have been published. Chap. II.] ARMENIAN ARCHITECTURE. 33 West by the bond of Christianity. The Crusaders, too, brought back into Christendom, on their return from Asia, a taste for that rich and harmonious union of color and architecture which had already been so successfully introduced by the Arabs into the coun- tries they had conquered. This connection between Eastern and Western architecture is one well worthy of study, and cannot be better illustrated than by the early Christian ruins of Armenia, and those of the Arsacian and Sassanian periods still existing in Persia. As yet it has been almost entirely overlooked, nor are there any plans or drawings of even the best known Byzantine, or rather Armenian, remains in Asia Minor, upon which sufficient reliance can be placed to admit of the analogies between the styles being fully proved. The union of early Christian and Persian art and architecture produced a style too little known and studied, yet affording combinations of beauty and grandeur, of extreme delicacy of detail and of boldness of outline, worthy of the highest order of intellect.* Our road skirted the foot of theNimroud Dagh, which stretches from Aklilat to the soutliern extremity of the lake. We crossed several dykes of lava and scoria, and wide mud-torrents now dry, the outpourings of a volcano long since extinct, but the crater of which may probably still be traced in a small lake said to exist on the very summit of the mountain. There are several villages, chiefly inhabited by Christians, built on the water’s edge, or in the ravines worn by the streams descending from the hills. Our road gradually led away from the lake. With Cawal Yusuf and my companions I left the caravan far behind. The night came on, and we were shrouded in darkness. We sought in vain for the village which was to afford us a resting-])lace, and soon lost our uncertain track. The Cawal took the o^iportunity of relating tales collected during former journeys on this spot, of robber Kurds and murdered travellers, which did not tend to remove the anxiety felt by some of my party. At length, after wandering to * The Arabs, a wild and uncultivated people, probably derived their first notions of architecture on the conquest of the Persian provinces. The pecu- liar and highly tasteful style of the Persians, of which traces may still be seen in the remains of the celebrated palace of Chosroes, at Ctesiphon, and in other ruins of southern Persia and Khuzistan, united with the Byzantine churches and palaces of Syria, produced the Saracenic. Already some such modifica- tion had, I am convinced, taken place in Armenia by a similar process, the Persian and Imperial power being continually brought into contact in that kingdom. I cannot dwell longer upon this subject, which well merits inves- tigation. D 34 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. II. and fro for al.ove an hour, we heard the distant jingle of the ca- ravan bells. We rode in the direction of the welcome sound, and soon found ourselves at the Armenian village of Keswak, stand- ing in a small liay, and sheltered by a rocky promontory jutting boldly into the lake. Next morning w^e rode along the margin of the lake, still crossing the spurs of the Nimroud Dagh, furrowed by numerous streams of lava and mud. In one of the deep gulleys, opening from the mountain to the water’s edge, are a number of isolated masses of sandstone, worn into fantastic shapes by the winter torrents, which sweep down from the hills. The people of the country call them “ the Camels of Nimrod.” Tradition says that the rebellious patri.arch endeavoring to build an Inaccessible castle, strong enough to defy both God and man, the Almighty, to punish his arrogance, turned the workmen as they were working into stone. The rocks on the border of the lake are the camels, who with their burdens were petrified into a perpetual memorial of the Divine vengeance. Tlie unfinished walls of the castle are still to be seen on the top of the mountain ; and the surrounding country, the seat of a prlmajval race, abounds in similar traditions. We left the southern end of the lake, near the Armenian village of Tadwan, once a place of some importance, and con- taining a caravanserai, mosques, and baths built by Khosrew Pasha in the sixteenth century. Entering an undulating country we soon gazed for the last time on the deep blue expanse of water, and on the lofty peaks of the Hakkiarl mountains. Tlie small trickling streams, now running towards the south, and a gradual descent showed that Ave had crossed the Avater-shed of central Asia, and had reached the valleys of Assyria. Here and there the ruins of a fine old khan, its dark recesses, vaulted niches, and spacious stalls, blackened with the smoke of centuries, served to mark one of the great hlghAvays, leading in the days of Turkish prosperity from central Armenia to Baghdad. We had crossed this road in the plain of Hinnis. It runs from Erzeroom to Moush and thence to Bitlis, leaving to the east the Nimroud Dagh, Avhlch separates it from the lake of Wan. Commerce has deserted it for very many years, and its bridges and caravanserais have long fallen into decay ; Avhen, Avlth the restoration of order and tranquillity to this part of Turkey, trade shall revive, it may become once more an important thoroughfare, uniting the northern and southern pro- vinces of the empire. We soon entered a rugged ravine Avorn by the mountain rills, collected into a large stream. This Avas one of the many Chap. II.] TOWN OF BITLIS. 35 head-waters of the Tigris. It was flowing tumultuously to our own bourne, and, as we gazed upon the troubled waters, they seemed to carry us nearer to our journey’s end. The ravine was at first wild and rocky; cultivated spots next appeared, scattered in the dry bed of the torrent ; then a few gigantic trees ; gardens and orchards followed, and at length the narrow valley opened on the Ions: strasfsrlins: town of Bitlis. The governor had provided quarters for us in a large house belonsfins: to an Armenian, who had been tailor to Beder Khan Bey. From the terrace before the gate we looked down upon the bazars built in the bottom of a deep gulley in the centre of tlie town. On an isolated rock opposite to us rose a frowning castle, and, on the top of a lofty barren hill, the fortified dwelling of Sheriff Bey, the rebel chief, who had for years held Bitlis and the surrounding country in subjection, defying the authority and the arms of the Sultan. Here and there on the mountain sides were little sunny landscapes, gardens, poplar trees, and low white houses surrounded by trellised vines. ]\Iy party was now, for the first time during the journey, visited with that curse of Eastern travel, fever and ague. The doctor was pi’ostrate, and having then no experience of the mahuB', at once had dreams of typhus and malignant fever. A day’s rest was necessary, and our jaded horses needed it as well as we, for there were bad mountain roads and long marches before us. I had a further object in remaining. Three near relations of Cawal Yusuf returning from their annual visitation to the Yezidi tribes in Georgia and northern Armenia, had been murdered two years before, near Bitlis, at the instigation of the Kurdish Bey. The money collected by the Cawals for the benefit of the sect and its priesthood, together with their personal effects, had been taken by Sheriff Bey, and I was desirous of aiding Cawal Yusuf in their recover}% Reshld Pasha had given me an official order for their restoration out of the property of the late chief, and it rested with me to see it enforced. I called early in the morning on the mudlr or governor, one of the household of old Essad Pasha, who was at that time "overnor-o-eneral of Kurdistan, includino- Bitlis, Moush, and the surrounding country, and resided at Diarbekir. He gave me the assistance I required for the recovery of the property of the murdered Cawals, and spoke in great contempt of the Kurds now that they had been subdued, treating like dogs those who stood humbly before him. The Turks, however, had but I’ecently dared to assume this haughty tone. Long after the 36 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. II. fall of Beder Khan Bey, the chiefs of Hakkiari, Wan, Moush, and Bitlis had maintained their independence, and Sheriff Bey had only been sent that spring to the capital to pass the rest of his days in exile with the author of the Nestorlan massacre. The governor ordered cawasses to accompany me through the town. I had been told that ancient inscriptions existed in the castle, or on the rock, but I searched in vain for them : those pointed out to me were early Mohammedan. Bitlis contains many picturesque remains of mosques, baths, and bridges, and was once a place of considerable size and importance. It is built in the v'ery bottom of a deep valley, and on the sides of ravines, worn by small tributaries of the Tigris. The best houses stand high upon the declivities, and are of stone, ornamented with large arched windows, trellis work, and porticoes ; many of them being surrounded by groves of trees. The bazars are in the lowest parts of the town, and low, ill-built, and dirty. They are generally much crowded, as in them is carried on the chief trade of this part of Kurdistan. The export trade is chiefly supplied by the pro- duce of the mountains ; galls, honey, wax, wool, and carpets and stuffs, woven and dyed in the tents. The dyes of Kurdistan, and particularly those from the districts around Bitlis, Sert, and Jezireh, are celebrated for their brilliancy. They are made from herbs gathered in the mountains, and from indigo, yellow berries, and other materials, imported into the country. The colors usually worn by both men and women are a deep dull red and a bright yellow, mingled with black, a marked taste for these tints, to the exclusion of almost every other, being a peculiar characteristic of the Kurdish race from Bayazld to Suleimaniyah. The carpets are of a rich soft texture, the patterns dis{)laylng considerable elegance and taste : they are much esteemed in Turkey. There was a fair show of Manchester goods and coarse English cutlery in the shops. The sale of arms, onee extensively carried on, had been prohibited. The trade is chieffy in the hands of merchants from Mosul and Erze- room, who come to Bitlis for galls, at present almost the only article of export from Kurdistan to the European markets. This pi’oduce of the oak was formerly monopolised by Beder Khan Bey, and other powerful Kurdish chiefs, but the inhabitants are now per- mitted to gather them without restriction, each village having its share in the woods. The wool of the mountains is coarse, and scarcely fit for export to Europe; and the “ teftik,” a fine under- hair of the goat, although useful and valuable, is not collected in sufficient quantity for commerce. There is a race of sheep in Kur- Chap. II.] TOWN OF BITLIS. 37 distan producing a long silken wool, like that of Angora, but It is not common, and the fleeces being much prized as saddle and other ornaments by the natives, are expensive. There are, no doubt, many productions of the mountains, besides valuable minerals, which appear to abound, that would become lucrative objects of commerce were tranquillity fully restored, and trade encouraged. The slaughter-houses, the resort of crowds of mangy dogs, are near the bazars, on the banks of the stream, and the effluvia arising fx’om them is most offensive. Having examined the town I visited the Armenian bishop, who dwells in a large convent in one of the ravines branching off from the main valley. On my way I passed several hot springs, some gurgling up in the very bed of the torrent. The bishop was maudlin, old, and decrepit ; he cried over his own personal woes, and over those of his community, abused the Turks, and the American missionaries, whispering confidentially in my ear as if the Kurds were at his door. He insisted in the most endearing terms, and occasionally throwing his arms round my neck, that I should drink a couple of glasses of fiery rakl, although it was still early morning, pledging me himself in each glass. He showed me his church, an ancient building, well hung with miser- able daubs of saints and miracles. On the whole, whatever may have been their condition under the Kurdish chiefs, the Christians of Bitlls at the time of my visit had no very great grounds of com- plaint. I found them well inclined and exceedingly courteous, those who had shops in the bazar rising as I passed. The town contains about seven hundred Armenian and forty Jacobite families (the former have four churches), but no Nestorians, although formerly a part of the Christian population was of that seet. There are three roads from Bltlis to Jezireh; two over the mountains through Serf, generally frequented by caravans, but very difficult and precipitous ; a third more circuitous, and wind- ing through the valleys of the eastern branch of the Tigris. I chose the last, as it enabled me to visit the Yezidi villages of the district of Kherzan. We left Bltlis on the 20th. Soon issuing from the gardens of the town we found ourselves amidst a forest of oaks of various descriptions.* It was one of those deep, narrow, and rocky valleys abounding in Kurdistan; the * In the appendix will be found a note, with which I have been kindly fa- vored by Dr. Lindley, upon the new and remarkable oaks found in these moun- tains, and now for the first time grown in this country from acorns sent home by me 38 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. II. foaming torrent clashing through it, to be crossed and re-crossed, to the great discomfort of the laden mules, almost at every hundred yards, and from the want of bridges generally impassable during the spring and after rains. In autumn and winter the declivities are covered with the black tents of the Kochers, or wandering Kurds, who move in summer to the higher jiastures. The tribes inhabiting the valley are the Selokeen, the Hamki, and the Babosi, by whom the relatives of Cawal Yusuf were murdered. There are no villages near the road-side. They stand in deep ravines branching out from the main valley, either perched on pre- cipitous and almost inaccessible ledges of rock, or hid in the re- cesses of the forest. Several bridges and spacious khans, whose ruins still attest the ancient commei’ce and intercourse carried on through these mountains, are attributed, like all other public works in the country, to Sultan Murad during his memorable expedition against Baghdad (a.d. 1638). About five miles from Bitlis the road is carried by a tunnel, about twenty feet in length, through a mass of calcareous rock, projecting like a huge rib from the mountain’s side. The mineral stream, which in the lapse of ages has formed this deposit, is still at work, projecting great stalactites from its sides, and threatening to close ere long the tunnel itself. There is no in- scription to record by whom and at what jieriod this passage was cut. It is, of course, assigned to Sultan Murad, but is probably of a far earlier period. There are many such in the mountains * ; and the remains of a causeway, evidently of gi’eat antiquity, in many places cut out of the solid rock, are traceable in the valley. We pitched our tents for the night near a ruined and deserted khan. We continued during the following day in the same ravine, crossing by ancient bridges the stream which was gi’adually gather- ing strength as it advanced towards the low country. About noon we passed a large Kurdish village called Goeena, belonging to Sheikh Kassim, one of those religious fanatics who are the curse of Kurdistan. He was notorious for his hatred of the Yezidis, on whose districts he had committed numerous depre- dations, murdering those who came within his reach. His last ex- pedition had not proved successful ; he was repulsed with the loss of many of his followers. We encamped in the afternoon on the * See Col. Shell’s Memoir in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. viii. p. 81. Chap. II.] VALLEY OF BITLIS. 39 bank of the torrent, near a cluster of Kurdish tents, concealed from view by the brushwood and high reeds. The owners were poor but hospitable, bringing us a lamb, yahgourt, and milk. Late in the evening a party of horsemen rode to our encampment. They were a young Kurdish chief, with his retainers, carrying off a girl with whom he had fallen in love, — not an uncommon occurrence in Kurdistan. They dismounted, eat bread, and then hastened on their journey to escape pursuit. Starting next morning soon after dawn we rode for two hours along the banks of the stream, and then, turning from the val- ley, entei’ed a country of low undulating hills. Here we left the Bitlis stream, which is joined about six hours beyond, near a village named Kitchki, by the river of Sert, another great feeder of the Tigris. This district abounds in saline springs and wells, whose waters, led into pans and allowed to evaporate, deposit much salt, which is collected and forms a considei’able article of export even to the neighbourhood of Mosid. We halted for a few minutes in the village of Omais- el-Koran, belono'ino; to one of the innumerable saints of the Kurdish moun- tains. The Sheikh himself was on his terrace superintending the repair of his house, gratuitously undertaken by the neighbouring villagers, who came eagerly to engage in a good and pious work. Whilst the chief enjoys the full advantages of a holy chai’acter the place itself is a Ziorah, or place of pilgrimage, and a visit to it is considered by the ignorant Kurds almost as meritorious as a journey to Mecca ; such pilgrimages being usually accompanied by an offering in money, or in kind, are not discouraged by the Sheikh. Leaving a small plain, we ascended a low range of hills by a precipitous pathway, and halted on the summit at a Kurdish village named Khokhi. It was filled with Bashi-Bozuks, or Irregular troops, collecting the revenue, and there was such a general confusion, quarrelling of men and screaming of women, that we could scarcely get bread to eat. Yet the officer assured * me that the whole sum to be raised amounted to no more than seventy piastres (about thirteen shillings). The poverty of the village must indeed have been extreme, or the bad will of the inhabitants outrageous. It was evening before Ave descended into the plain country of the district of Kherzan. The Yezldl village of Hamki had been visible for some time from the heights, and Ave turned towards it. As the sun Avas fast sinking, the peasants Avere leaving the thresh- ing-floor, and gathering together their implements of husbandry. 40 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. II. They saw the large company of horsemen drawing nigh, and took us for irregular troops, — the terror of an Eastern village. Cawal Yusuf, concealing all but his eyes with the Arab kefieh, which he then wore, rode into the midst of them, and demanded in a preremptory voice provisions and quarters for the night. The poor creatures huddled together, unwilling to grant, yet fearing to refuse. The Cawal having enjoyed their alarm for a moment, threw his kerchief from his face, exclaiming, “ O evil ones ! will you refuse bread to your priest, and turn him hungry from your door?” There was surely then no unwillingness to receive us. Casting aside their shovels and forks, the men threw themselves upon the Cawal, each struggling to kiss his hand. A boy ran to the village to spread the news, and from it soon issued women, children, and old men, to welc.ome us. A few words sufficed to explain from whence we came, and what we required. Every one was our servant. Horses were unloaded, tents pitched, lambs brought, before we had time to look around. There was a general rejoicing, and the poor Yezidls seemed scarcely able to satiate themselves with looking on their priest ; for a report had gone abroad, and had been industriously encouraged by the Mussidmans, who had heard of the departure of the deputation for Constantinople, that Yusuf and his com- panions had been put to death by the Sultan, and that not only the petition of the Yezidis had been rejected, but that fresh tor- ments were in store for them. For eight months they had received no news of the Cawal, and this long silence had confirmed their fears ; but “ he was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found ; ” and they made merry with all that the village could afford. Yusuf was soon seatetl in the midst of a circle of the elders. He told his whole history, with such details and illustrations as an Eastern alone can introduce, to bring every fact vividly before his listeners. Nothing was omitted: his arrival at Constantinople, his reception by me, his introduction to the ambassador, his inter- view with the great ministers of state, the firman of future pro- tection for the Yezidis, prospects of peace and happiness for the tribe, our dejiarture from the capital, the nature of steam-boats, the tossing of the waves, the pains of sea-sickness, and our journey to Kherzan. Not the smallest particular was forgotten ; every person and event were described with equal minuteness ; almost the very number of pipes he had smoked and coffees he had drunk was given. He was continually interrupted by exclamations of Chap. II.] A YEZIDI VILLAGE. 41 gratitude and wonder ; and, when he had finished, it was my turn to be the object of unbounded welcomes and salutations. As the Cawal sat on the ground, with his noble features and flowing robes, surrounded by the elders of the village, eager listeners to every word which dropped from their priest, and look- ing towards him with looks of profound veneration, the picture brought vividly to my mind many scenes described in the sacred volumes. Let the painter who would throw off the convention- alities of the age, who would feel as well as portray the incidents of Holy Writ, wander in the East, and mix, not as the ordinary traveller, but as a student of men and of nature, with its people. He will daily meet with customs which he will otherwise be at a loss to understand, and be brought face to face with those who have retained with little change the manners, language, and dress of a patriai'chal race. Tezidi Women Kurdish Women at a Spring CHAP. III. RECEPTION BY THE YEZIDIS. VILE.AGE OF GUZELDER. — TRIUMPHAL MARCH TO REDWAN. REDWAN. ARMENIAN CHURCH. MIRZA AGIIA. THE MELEK TAOUS, OR BRAZEN BIRD. TILLEH. VALLEY OF THE TIGRIS. BAS RELIEFS. JOURNEY TO BEREBOUN TO SEMIL. — ABDE AGHA. JOURNEY TO MOSUL. THE YEZIDI CHIEFS. — ARRIVAL AT MOSUL. XENOPHOn’s MARCH FROM THE ZAB TO THE BLACK SEA. I WAS awoke on the following morning by the tread of horses and the noise of many voices. The good people of Hamki having sent messengers in the night to the surrounding villages to spread the news of our arrival, a large body of Yezidis on horse and on foot had already assembled, although it was not yet dawn, to greet us and to escort us on our journey. They were dressed in their gayest garments, and had adorned their turbans with flowers and green leaves. Their chief was Akko, a warrior well known in the Yezldl wars, still active and daring, although his beard had long turned grey. The head of the village of Guzelder, with the prin- cipal inhabitants, had come to Invite me to eat bread in his house, and we followed him. As we rode along we were joined by parties Chap. III.] EECEPTION OF YEZIDIS 43 of horsemen and footmen, each man kissing my hand as he arrived, the horsemen alighting for that purpose. Before we reached Gu- zelder the procession had swollen to many hundreds. The men had assembled at some distance from the village, the women and children, dressed in their holiday attire, and carrying boughs of trees, congregated on the housetops. As I approached sheep were brought into the road and slain before my horse’s feet, and as we entered the yard of Akko’s house, the women and men joined in the loud and piercing “ tahlel.” The chief’s family were assembled at his door, and his wife and mother insisted upon helping me to dis- mount. We entered a spacious room completely ojien to the air on one side, and distinguished by that extreme neatness and clean- liness peculiar to the Yezidis. Many-colored carpets were spread over the floor, and the principal elders took their seats with me. Soon after our arrival several Fakirs*, in their dark coarse dresses and red and black turbans, came to us from the neighbour- ing villages. One of them wore round his neck a chain, as a sign that he had renounced the vanities of the world, and had devoted himself to the service of God and his fellow-creatures. Other chiefs and horsemen also flocked in, and were invited to join in the feast, Avhlch was not, however, served up until Cawal Yusuf had related his whole histoi'y once more, without omitting a single detail. After we had eaten of stuffed lambs, pillaws, and savory dishes and most luscious grapes, the produce of the district, our entertainer placed a present of home-made carpets at my feet, and we rose to depart. The horsemen, the Fakirs, and the prlnci- ])al inhabitants of Guzelder on foot accompanied me. At a short distance from the village we were met by another large body of Yezidis, and by many Jacobites, headed by one Namo, who, by the variety of his arms, the richness of his dress, a figured Indian silk robe, with a cloak of precious fur, and his tastefully decorated Ai'ab mare, might rather have been taken for a Kurdish bey than the head of a Christian village. A bishop and sevei’al priests were with him. Two hours’ ride, with this great company, the horse- men galloping to and fro, the footmen discharging their firearms, brought us to the large village of Koshana. The whole of the po- pulation, mostly dressed in pure white, and wearing leaves and flowers in their turbans, had turned out to meet us ; women stood on the road-side with jars of fresh water and bowls of sour milk, whilst others with the children were assembled on the housetops * The lowest order of the Yezidi priesthood. 44 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. III. making the talilel. Resisting an invitation to alight and eat bread, and having merely stopped to exchange salutations with those as- sembled, I continued on the road to liedwan, our party swollen by a fresh accession of followers from the village. Ere long we were met by three Cawals on their periodical visitation to the district. They were nearly related to Cawal Yusuf, and old friends of my own. With them, amongst others, were several young Mussulmans, who appeared to be on the best terms with their Yezidi friends,, but had probably ridden ont with them to show their gay dresses and admirable horsemanship. As we passed through the defile leading into the plain of Redwan, we had the appearance of a triumphal procession, but as we approached the small town a still more enthusiastic reception awaited us. First came a large body of horsemen, collected from the place itself, and the neighbouring villages. They were followed by Yezidis on foot, carrying flowers and branches of trees, and preceded by musicians playing on the tubbul and zernal.* Next were the Armenian community headed by their clergy, and then the Jacobite and other Christian sects, also with their respective priests; the women and children lined the entrance to the place and thronged the housetops. I alishted amidst the din of music and the “ tahlel” at the house of Nazi, the chief of the whole Yezidi district, two sheep being slain before me as I took my feet from the stirrups. Nazi’s house was soon filled with the chiefs, the principal visi- tors, and the inhabitants of Redwan. Again had Cawal Yusuf to describe all that had occurred at Constantinople, and to confirm the good tidings of an imperial firman giving the Yezidis equal rights with Mussulmans, a complete toleration of their religion, and relief from the much dreaded laws of the conscription. At length breakfast was brought and devoured. It was then agreed that Nazi’s house was likely to be too crowded during the day to permit me to enjoy comfort or quiet, and with a due regard to the duties of hospitality, it was suggested that I should take up my quarters in the Armenian church, dining in the evening with the chiefs to witness the festivities. The change was Indeed grateful to me, and I found at length a little repose and leisure to reflect upon the gratifying scene to which I had that day been witness. I have, perhaps, been too minute in the account of my reception at Redwan, but I record * A large drum beaten at both ends, and a kind of oboe or pipe. Chap. III.] TOAVN OF KEDWAN. 45 with pleasure this instance of a sincere and spontaneous display of gratitude on the part of a much maligned and oppressed race. To those, unfortunately too many, who believe that Easterns can only be managed by violence and swayed by fear, let this record be a proof that there are high and generous feelings which may not only be relied and acted upon without interfering with their authority, or compromising their dignity, but with every hope of lavlncf the foundation of real attachment and mutual esteem. The church stands on the slope of a mound, on the summit of which are the ruins of a castle belonging to the former chiefs of Redwan. It was built expressly for the Christians of the Arme- nian sect by Mirza Agha, the last semi-independent Yezldi chief, a pleasing example of toleration and liberality well worthy of imitation by more civilised men. The building is peculiar and primitive in its construction ; one side of the courtyard is occu- pied by stables for the cattle of the priests ; above them is a low room with a dead wall on three sides and a row of arches on the fourth. On the opposite side of the court is an iwan, or large vaulted chamber, completely open on one side to the air; in its centre, supported on four columns, is a gaudily painted box containing a picture of the Virgin ; a few miserable daubs of saints are pasted on the walls. This is the church, when in sum- mer the heat prevents the use of a closed room. It can only be divided from the yard by a curtain of figured cotton print, drawn across when unbelievers enter the building; a low doorway to the left leads into a dark inner church, in which pictures of the Virgin and saints can faintly be distinguished by the light of a few pro- pitiatory lamps struggling with the gloom. Service was performed in the open iwan during the afternoon, the congregation kneeling uncovered in the yard. The priests of the different communities called upon me as soon as I was ready to receive their visits. The most intelligent amongst them was a Roman Catholic Chaldajan, a good-humoured, tolerant fellow, who with a very small congregation of his own did not bear any ill will to his neighbours. With the principal Yezidi chiefs, too, I had a long and interesting conversation on the state of their people and on their prospects. Nazi is descended from the ancient hereditary lords of Red wan. The last of them was Mirza Agha, his uncle, whose history and end were those of many of the former independent chieftains of Turkey. When the celebrated Reshld Pasha had subdued northern Kurdistan and 46 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. III. was marching to the south, Mirza Agha, dreading the approach of the army, submitted to the Sultan, and agreed to receive a Turkish governor in his castle. The officer chosen for the post was one Emin Agha. He had not been long in Redwan before he carried away by force the beautiful wife of the Yezidi chief. Mirza Agha, instead of appealing to arms, went to Reshid Pasha, and feigning that the woman was a slave and not his wife, protested that Emin Agha might come back without fear to his govern- ment. The Turk did return, but he and his followers were no sooner in the power of the chief than they fell victims to his revenge. Reshid Pasha then marched against Redwan, but being called away against the rebel Bey of Rahwanduz, was unable to subdue the district. After the successful termination of the expedition against the Kurdish bey, Mirza Agha again made an unqualified submission, was received into favour, and appointed governor over his own people. On the death of Reshid Pasha he was invited to the quarters of the new Turkish commander, and treacherously murdered during his visit. His former wife, who, according to the laws of the sect, could not be received again into the community, had been placed in the harem of the murderer ; she died on hearing the fate of her Yezidi husband. The body of Mirza Agha was brought by some faithful attendants to his native place, and lies under a neat turbeh on the banks of the stream to the west of the town. Nazi, his nephew, was his suc- cessor, but long oppression has reduced him to poverty ; the old castle has been deserted, and is fast falling to ruin, whilst its owner occupies a mud hovel like the meanest of his followers. Redwan is called a town, because it has a bazar, and is the chief place of a considerable district. It may contain about eight hundred rudely-built huts, and stands on a large stream, which joins the Diarbekir branch of the Tigris, about five or six miles below. The inhabitants are Yezldis, with the exception of about one hundred Armenian, and forty or fifty Jacobite and Chaldaean families. A Turkish Mudir, or petty governor, generally resides in the place, but was absent at the time of my visit. The sounds of rejoicing had been heard during the whole after- noon ; raki had circulated freely, and there were few houses which had not slain a lamb to celebrate the day. After we had dined, the dances commenced in the com’tyard of Nazi’s house, and were kept up during the greater part of the night, the moon shedding its pale light on the white robes of the Yezidi dancers. Chap. III.] MELEK TAOUS. 47 But as the sun was setting we were visited by one of those sudden storms or whirlwinds which frequently riot over the plains of Mesopotamia and through the valleys of Assyria. Although it lasted scarcely more than half an hour, it tore down in its fury tents and more solid dwellings, and swept from the housetops the beds and carpets already spread for the night’s repose. After its passage, the air seemed even more calm than it had been be- fore, and those who had been driven to take shelter from its violence within the walls resumed their occupations and their dances. We slept in the long room opening on the courtyard, and were awoke long before daybreak by the jingling of small bells and the mumbling of priests. It was Sunday, and the Armenians com- mence their church services betimes. I gazed half dozing, and without rising from my bed, upon the ceremonies, the bowing, rais- ing of crosses, and shaking of bells, which continued for above three hours, until priests and congregation must have been well nigh exhausted. The people, as during the previous afternoon’s service, stood and knelt uncovered in the courtyard. The Cawals, who are sent yearly by Hussein Bey and Sheikh Kasr to instruct the Yezldls in their faith, and to collect the contributions forming the revenues of the great chief, and of the tomb of Sheikh Adi, were now in Redwan. The same Cawals do not take the same rounds every year. The Yezldls are parcelled out into four divisions for the purpose of these annual visitations, those of the Slnjar, of Kherzan, of the pashallc of Aleppo, and of the villages in northern Armenia, and within the Russian frontiers. The Yezidis of the Mosul districts have the Cawals always amongst them. I was aware that on the occa- sion of these journeys the priests carry with them the celebrated IMelek Taous, or brazen peacock, as a warrant for their mis- sion. A favourable opportunity now offered itself to see this mysterious figure, and I asked Cawal Yusuf to gratify my curi- osity. He at once acceded to my request, and the Cawals and elders offering no objection, I was conducted early in the morning into a dark inner room in Nazi’s house. It was some time before my eyes had become sufficiently accustomed to the dim light to distinguish an object, from which a large red coverlet had been raised on my entry. The Cawals drew near with every sign of respect, bowing and kissing the corner of the cloth on which it was placed. A stand of bright copper or brass, in shape like the candlesticks generally used in Mosul and Baghdad, was surmounted by the rude image 48 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. III. of a bird in the same metal, and more like an Indian or Mexican idol than a cock or peacock. Its peculiar workmanship indicated some antiquity, but I could see no traces of inscription upon it. Before it stood a copper bowl to receive contributions, and a bag to contain the bird and stand, which takes to pieces when carried from place to place. There are four such Images, one for each district visited by the Cawals. The Yezidis declare that, notwith- standing the frequent wars and massacres to which the sect has been exposed, and the plunder and murder of the priests during their journeys, no Melek Taous has ever fallen into the hands of the Mussulmans. Cawal Yusuf, once crossing the desert on a mission to the Sinjar, and seeing a body of Bedouin horsemen in the distance, buried the Melek Taous. Having been robbed The Melek Taoue, or Copper Bird ^ikI then left by the Arabs, lio dug it up and carried it in safety to its destination. Mr. Hormuzd Rassam was alone permitted to visit the image with me. As I have elsewhere observed*, it is not looked upon as an idol, but as a symbol or banner, as Sheikh Nasr termed it, of the house of Hussein Bey. Having breakfasted at Nazi’s house we left Redwan, followed by a large company of Yezidis, whom I had great difficulty in persuading to turn back about three or four miles from the town. My party was increased by a very handsome black and tan grey- hound with long silky hair, a present from old Akko, the Yezidl chief, who declared that he loved him as his child. The affec- tion was amply returned. No delicacies or caresses would induce Touar, for such was the dog’s name, to leave his master. He laid himself down and allowed one of the servants to drag him by a rope over the rough ground, philosophically giving tongue to his com- plaints in a low howl. This greyhound, a fine specimen of a noble breed, much prized by the Kurds and Persians, became, from his highly original character and complete independence, a great fa- vourite with us. He soon forgot his old masters, and formed an equal attachment for his new. Another dog, a shepherd cur, had * Nineveh and its Remains, vol. i. p. 298. Chap. III.] xenopuon’s KETREAT. 49 accompanied our caravan the whole way from Trebizond. He joined us without invitation^ and probably finding the living to his taste, and the exercise conducive to health, remained with us, acknowledging the hospitality shown him by keeping watch over the horses by night. Cawal Yusuf, and the Yezidi chiefs, had sent messengers even to Hussein Bey to apprise him of our coming. As they travelled along they scattered the news through the country, and I was re- ceived outside every village by its inhabitants. At Kunduk, two hours from Redwan, we found a second breakfast prepared for us, and Avere obliged to alight. Below this place the Red wan stream joins the Diarbekir branch of the Tigris, the two forming a broad river. Near are the remains of Husn Kaifa, and of other ancient cities, Avhich I Avas unable to visit. AYe had scarcely left Kunduk Avhen we Avere met by a party of Christians, Avith the Kiayah of the village of Aoudi at their head. I Avas again obliged to stop, eat bread, and receive an offering of home-made carpets, of which Ave had noAV Avell nigh received a mule-load as presents. The inhabitants of the district Avere suffering much from oppression and illegal taxation. The Kiayah, Avith some horsemen, accompanied us to Tllleh, Avhere the united Avaters of Bitlis, Sort, and the upper districts of Bohtan, join the Avestern branch of the Tigris. The two streams are about equal in size, and at this time of the year both ford- able in certain places. AVe crossed the loAver, or eastern, Avhich Ave found Avide and exceedingly rapid, the Avater, hoAvever, not reach- ino; above the saddle-o'irths. The villaofers raised the lufifjage, and supported the horses against the current, Avhich rushing over loose and slippery stones, affording an uncertain footing, threatened to sweep the animals down the stream. Our travelling companion, the dog from Trebizond, having made several vain attempts to brave the I'apids, quietly retired, thinking our company not Avorth any further risk. Touar, more fortunate, Avas carried over in the arms of a servant. The spot at Avhich Ave crossed was one of peculiar interest. It was here that the Ten Thousand in their memorable retreat foi’ded this river, called, by Xenophon, the Centritis. The Greeks having fought their Avay over the lofty mountains of the Carduchians, found their further progress toAvards Armenia arrested by a rapid stream. The ford Avas deep, and its passage disputed by a formi- dable force of Armenians, Mygdonians, and Chaldaeans, draAvn up on an eminence 300 or 400 feet from the river. In this sti’ait E 50 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. III. Xenophon dreamt that he was in ehains, and that suddenly his fetters burst asunder of tlieir own accord. His dream was fulfilled w’hen two youths casually found a more practicable ford, by which the army, after a skilful stratagem on the part of their com- mander, safely reached the opposite bank.* The village of Tilleh belongs to Ilassan Agha, a Kurdish chief, who lives in a small mud fort. He maintained, during the time of Beder Khan Bey, a sort of independence, sorely oppressing Chris- tians and Yezidis. Unfortunately the Turks, with their usual want of foresight and justice, had enabled him to continue in his evil ways by selling him the revenues and tithes of the district, and naming him its governor. He came out and invited me into his castle, pressing me to pass the night with him, and regaling us with pipes and coffee. It was near Tilleh that the Sultan’s troops, assisted by the Yezidis, completely defeated Khan Mahmoud, Avho was marching with the tribes of lYan and Hakkiari to the help of Beder Khan Bey. The sun had set before our baggage had been crossed, and we sought, by the light of the moon, the difficult track along the Tigris, where the river forces its way to the low country of Assyria, through a long, narrow, and deep gorge. Huge rocks rose per- pendlculai’ly on either side, broken into many fantastic shapes, and throwing their dark shadows over the water. In some places they scarcely left room for the river to pursue its course ; and then a footpath, hardly wide enough to admit the loaded mules, was carried along a mere ledge ovei’hanging the gurgling stream. The gradual deepening of this outlet during countless centu- ries is strikingly shown by the ledges which jutt out like a suc- cession of cornices from the sides of the cliffs. The last ledge left by the retiring waters formed our pathway. The geological history of the Tigris, and, consequently, of the low country, at its entry into the plain, is strikingly Illustrated by this rocky ra- vine. In winter this drainer of the springs and snows of the high- lands of Armenia and Kurdistan is swollen into a most impetuous torrent, whose level is often full thirty feet above the summer average of the river. We found no village until we reached Chellek. The place had been deserted by its Inhabitants for the Yilaks, or mountain pas- tures. On the opposite side of the river (in tlie district of Asheeti) danced the lights of a second village, also called Chellek, but dis- * Anab. book iv. c. 3. Chap. III.] THE VILLAGE OF FUNDUK. 51 tlngulshecl from tlie one on the eastern bank by the addition of “ Ali Rummo,” the name of a petty Kurdish chief, who owns a mud fort there. After some search we found a solitary Kurd, who had been left to watch the small patches of cultivation belonging to the villagers. Taking us for Turkish soldiers, he had hidden himself on our arri- val. He offered to walk to the tents, and returned after midnight with pi’ovisions for ourselves and barley for our horses. For three hours durinsj the followino; mornina; we followed the bold and majestic ravine of the Tigris, scenes rivalling each other in grandeur and beauty opening at every turn. Leaving the river, where it makes a sudden bend to the northward, we com- menced a steep ascent, and in an hour and a half reached the Christian village of Khouara. We rested durino- the heat of tlie day under the grateful shade of a grove of trees, and in the afternoon continued our journey, ascending again as soon as we had left the village, towards the crest of a mountain, from whence, according to Cawal Yusuf, we were to behold all the world ; and certainly, when we reached the summit, there was about as much of the world before us as could well be taken in at one ken. We stood on the brink of the great platform of Central Asia. Beneath us were the vast plains of -Mesopotamia, lost in the hazy distance, the undulating land between them and the Tau- rus confounded, from so great a height, with the plains them- selves ; the hills of the Sinjar and of Zakko, like ridges on an embossed map ; the Tigris and the Khabour, winding through the low country to their place of junction at Dereboun ; to the right, facing the setting sun, and catching its last rays, the high cone ofMardln; behind, a confused mass of peaks, some snow-capped, all rugged and broken, of the lofty mountains of Bohtan and Malataiyah ; between them and the northern range of Taurus, the deep ravine of the river and the valley of Redwan, I watched the shadows as they lengthened over the plain, melting one by one into the general gloom, and then descended to the large Kurdish village of Funduk, whose inhabitants, during the rule of Beder Khan Bey, were notorious amongst even the savage tribes of Bohtan for their hatred and insolence to Christians. Although we had now nothing to fear, I preferred seeking another spot for our night’s halt, and we passed through the nar- row streets as the families were settlino- themselves on the house- tops for their night’s rest. We had ridden about half a mile when we heard a confused murmur in the village, and saw several Kurds 52 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. III. running towards us at the top of their speed. Mr. C., had been fairly frightened into a state of des{)air by the youngest of our party, who entered with mischievous minuteness into the details of the innumerable robberies and murders, authentic and otherwise, committed by the people of Funduk. He now made up his mind that his last hour was come, but gallantly px’epared his double-barrelled pistols. Neither Cawal Yusuf nor myself could exactly make out what was in store for us, until the foremost of the runners, seizing my bridle, declared that the Kiayah, or chief, would not allow me to proceed without partaking of his hospitality ; that it was worse than an insult to pass his house without eating bread and sleeping under his roof. Other Kurds soon came up with us, using friendly violence to turn my horse, and swearing that the chief, although suffering from severe illness, would come out him- self unless I consented to retrace my steps. It was useless to per- sist in a refusal after such a display of hospitality, and notwith- standing the protests of my companion, Avho believed that we were rushing into the jaws of destruction, I rode back to the village. Kesoul Kiayah, although laboring under a fit of ague, was standing at his door to receive me, surrounded by as ferocious a set of friends as one could well desire to be in company with. “ He had entertained,” he exclaimed, as he saluted me, “ Osman Pasha and Ali Pasha, and it would be a disgrace ujion his house if the Bey passed without eating bread in it.” In the meanwhile a sheep had been slain, and comfortable carpets and cushions spread on the housetop. His greeting of Yusuf, although he knew him to be a Yezidi, was so warm and evidently sincere, that I was at a loss to account for it, until the Cawal explained to me that when Khan Mahmoud and Beder Khan Bey’s troops were defeated near Tilleh, the Kiayah of Funduk fell into the hands of the men of Redwan, who were about to inflict sum- mary justice upon him by pitching him into the river. He was rescued by our friend Akko, who concealed him in his house until he could return to Kurdistan in safety. To show his gratitude he has since condescended to bestow on the Yezidi chief the title of father, and to receive with a hearty welcome such travellers of the sect as may pass through his village. The Kurds of F unduk wear the Bohtan dress in its full j)erfection, a turban nearly three feet in diameter, shalwars or trowsers of enormous width, loose embroi- dered jackets, and shirt sleeves sweeping the ground ; all being striped deep dull red and black, except the under-linen and one ker- chief tied diagonally across the turban, which is generally of bright Chap. III.] KURDISH HOSPITALITY. 53 yellow. They are armed, too, to the teeth, and as they crouched round the fires on the housetops, their savage countenances peering through the gloom, my London companion, unused to such scenes, might well have fancied himself in a den of thieves. The Kiayah, notwithstanding his bad reputation, was exact in all the duties of hospitality ; the supper was abundant, the coffee flowed perpetually, and he satisfied my curiosity ujion many points of revenue, internal administration, tribe-history, and local curiosities. We passed the night on the roof without any adventure, and resumed our journey before dawn on the following morning, to the great relief of Mr. C., who rejoiced to feel himself well out of the hands of such dangerous hosts. Crossing a mountain wooded ivith dwarf oaks, by a very difficult pathway, carried along and over rocks containing many excavated tombs, we descended to Fynyk, a village on the Tigris supposed to occupy the site of an ancient town (Phoenica). * We rested during the heat of the day in one of the pleasant gardens with which the village is surrounded. At its entrance was a group of girls and an old Kurd baking liread in a hole in the ground, plastered with clay. “ Have you any bread?” we asked. — “No, by the Prophet!” “Any butter- milk?” — “ No, by my faith !” “ Any fruit?” — “ No, by Allah ! ” — the trees were groaning under the weight of figs, pomegranates, pears, and grapes. He then asked a string of questions in his turn: “Whence do you come?” — “From afar!” “What is your business ?” — “ What God commands!” “ Whither are you going?” — “ As God wills!” The old gentleman, having thus satisfied himself as to our character and intentions, although our answers were undoubtedly vague enough, and might have been elsewhere considered evasive, left us without saying a word more, but soon after came back bearing a large bowl of curds, and a basket filled ivith the finest fruit. Placing these dainties before O me, he ordered the girls to bake bread, which they speedily did, bringing us the hot cakes as they drew them from their primitive oven. * It was at the foot of this steep descent that Xenophon was compelled to turn off, as caravans still are, from the river, and to brave the difficulties of a mountain pass, defended by the warlike Carduchi or Kurds. The Khodian, who offered to construct a bridge with the inflated skins of sheep, goats, oxen, and asses, anchoring them with stones, and covering them with fascines and earth, had perhaps taken his idea from the rafts which were then used for the navi- gation of the Tigris, as they are to this day. As there was a large body of the enemy on the opposite side, ready to dispute the passage, the Greeks were unable to avail themselves of his ingenious suggestion. 54 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. III. After wc had breakfasted, some Kurds who had gathered round us, offered to take me to a rock, sculptured, they said, with unknown Frank figui-es. We rode up a narrow and shady ravine, through wliich leapt a brawling torrent, watering fruit trees and melon beds. The rocks on both sides were honeycombed with tombs. The bas-relief is somewhat above the line of cultivation, and is sui- rounded by excavated chambers. It consists of two figures, dressed in loose vests and trowsers, one apparently resting his hand on the shoulder of the other. There are the remains of an inscription, but too mucli weather-worn to be copied with any accuracy. The costume of the figures, and the forms of the characters, as far as they can be distinguished, prove that the tab- let belongs to the Parthian period. It closely resembles monuments of the same epoch existing in the mountains of Persia.* Most of the those of Akhlat, contain three troughs one on each side. and a third facing the Kciilpiured Tablet at Fynyk surrounding tombs, like or niches for the dead, entrance. We quitted Fynyk in the afternoon. Accompanied by Cawal Yusuf and Mr. C., I left the caravan to examine some rock- sculptures, in a valley leading from Jezireh to Derghileh, the former stronghold of Bedcr Khan Bey. The sculptures are about two miles from the high road, near a small fort built by Mir Saif- ed-din Jmd now occupied by a garrison of Arnaouts. There are two tablets, one above the other ; the upper contains a warrior on horseback, the lower a single figure. Although no traces of in- * Particularly those wliich I discovered near Shimbor, in the mountains of Susiana. (Journal of Geog. Soc. vol. xvi. p. 84.) t ]\Iir Saif-ed-din was the hereditary chief of Bohtan, in whose name Beder Khan Bey exercised his authority. His son, Asdenshir (a corruption of Ardeshir) Bey, is now under surveillance amongst the Turks. So well aware was Beder Khan Bey of the necessity of keeping up the idea amongst the Kurds, that his jjower was delegated to him by the Mir, that he signed most of his public documents with that chief’s seal, although he confined him a close prisoner until his death. Chap. III.] ROCK SCULPTURES. 55 scription remain, the bas-reliefs may confidently be assigned to the same period as that at Fynyk. Beneath them is a long cutting, and tunnel in the rock, probably an ancient watercourse for irriga- tion, to record the construction of which the tablets may have been sculptured. On our return we passed a solitary Turkish officer, followed by his servant, winding up the gorge on his way to Der- ghileh, where one Ali Pasha was stationed with a detachment of troops ; a proof of the change which had taken place in the country Rock Sculpture near Je/ireb. Bock Sculptui*e near Jezireh. since my last visit, when Beder Khan Bey was still powerful, and no Turk would have ventured into that wild valley. We found the caravan at Mansouriyah, where they had es- tablished themselves for the night. This is one of the very few Nestorian Chaldajan villages of the plains which has not gone over to the Roman Catholic faith. It contains a church, and supports a priest. The inhabitants complained much of oppression, and, unfortunately, chiefly from brother Christians formerly of their own creed. I was much struck with the intelligence and beauty of the children ; one boy, scarcely twelve years of age, was already a 56 KIXEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. III. shamaslia, or deacon, and could read with ease the Scriptures and the commentaries. We left IMansouriyah at four in the morning, passing Jezireh about dawn, its towers and walls just visible through the haze on the opposite bank of the Tigris. Shortly after we were unexpectedly met by a number of Yezidi horsemen, who, having heard of our ap- proach from the messengers sent to Hussein Bey, had ridden through the night from Dereboun to escort us. They were mounted on strong, well-bred Arab mares, and armed with long lances tipped with ostrich-feathers. We learnt from them that the country was in a very disturbed state, on account of the incursions of the Desert Arabs ; but as a strong party was waiting to accomj)any us to Semil, I determined upon taking the shorter, though more danger- ous and less frequented, road by Dereboun. This road, impracti- cable to caravans except when the river Khabour is fordable, winds round the spur of the Zakko hills, and thus avoids a difficult and precipitous pass. We stopped to breakfast at the large Catholic Chaldasan village of Tiekhtan, one of the many settlements of the same sect scattered over the singularly fertile plain of Zakko. The Yezidi Kochers, or Nomades, had begun to descend from the moun- tain pastures, and their black tents and huts of boughs and dried grass were scattered amongst the villages. We forded the Khabour, Avhere it is divided into several branches, and not far from its junc- tion with the Tigris. The water in no part reached much above the horses’ bellies, and the stream was far less rapid than that of the eastern Tigris, at Tilleh. Dereboun is a large TYzidi village stand- ing on the western spur of the Zakko range. Numerous springs burst from the surrounding rocks, and irrigate extensive rice- grounds. Below is the large Christian village of Feshapoor, where there is a ferry across the Tigris. We ivere most hospitably entertained by the Yezidi chief, one of the horsemen who had met us near Jezireh. We mounted our horses as the moon rose, and resumed our journey, accompanied by a strong escort, which left us when we Avere Avithln five or six miles of Semil. It Avas late in the forenoon before Ave reached our halting-place, after a dreary and fatiguing ride. We Avere noAV fairly in the Assyrian plains; the heat was in- tense — that heavy heat, Avlilch seems to paralyse all nature, causing the very air itself to vibrate. The high artificial mound of the Yezidi village, croAvned by a modern mud-built castle, had been visible in the distance long before Ave reached it, miraged into double its real size, and into an imposing group of towers and Chap. III.] VILLAGE OF SEMIL. 57 fortifications. Almost overcome with weariness, we toiled up to it, and found its owner, Abde Agha, the Yezidi chieftain, seated in the gate, a vaulted entrance with deep recesses on both sides, used as places of assembly for business during the day*, and as places of rest for guests during the night. He was of a tall, commanding figure, with the deepest and most powerful voice I ever heard. We arrived earlier tlian he had expected, our forced march from Dereboun having saved us some hours, and he apologised for not having ridden out to meet us. His reception was most hospitable ; the lamb was slain and the feast prepared. But, in the midst of our greetings, a man appeared breathless before him. The Bedouins had attacked the neighbouring district and village of Pashai, belonging to Abde Agha’s tribe. No time was lost in idle preparations. The messenger had scarcely delivered his message, and answered a few necessary inquiries, before the high bred mare was led out ready saddled from the harem ; her owner leapt on her back, and followed by a small body of horse- men, his immediate dependants, galloped off in the direction of the Tigris. Wearied by my long night’s march I retreated to a cool dark chamber in the castle, unmindful of the bloody business on which its owner had sallied forth. Abde Agha did not return that day, but his wife well performed all the duties of hospitality in his stead. Messengers occasionally came running from the scene of the fight with the latest news, mostly, as in such cases, greatly exaggerated, to the alarm of those who remained in the castle. But the chief himself did not appear until near dawn the following morning, as we were preparing to renew our journey. He had not been idle during his absence, and his adherents concurred in stating that he had killed five Arabs Avith his own hand. His brother, however, had received a danger- ous wound, and one of his relations had been slain. He advised us to make the best of our way to Tel Eskoff, before the Arabs were either repulsed, or had succeeded in taking Pashai. He could not furnish us with an escort, as every man capable of bearing * The custom of assembling and transacting business in the gate is con- tinually referred to in the Bible. See 2 Sam. xix. 8., where king David is represented as sitting in the gate; comp. 2 Chron. xviii. 9., and Dan. ii. 49. The gates of Jewish houses were probably similar to that described in the text. Such entrances are also found in Persia. Frequently in the gates of cities, as at Mosul, these recesses are used as shops for the sale of wheat and barley, bread and grocery. Elisha prophesies that a measure of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 2 Kings, vii. 1. and 18. 58 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. III. arms was wanted to defend tlie district against the Bedouins, who were now swarming over the river to support their companions. Taking a hasty leave of us, and changing his tired mare, he rushed again to the fight. AVe rode off in the direction of the hills, taking an upper road, less likely to be occupied by the Arabs. About three miles from Semil we saw a horseman closely pursued by a Bedouin, who was fast coming up with him, but on observing us turned back, and soon disappeared in the distance. The fugitive was a Mosuleean Spahi, with broken spear, and speechless with terror. AVhen he had sufficiently recovered himself to speak, he declared that the Bedouins had defeated the Yezidis, and were sju’eading over the country. Although not putting much faith in the information, I urged on the caravan, and took such precautions as wex'e necessary. Suddenly a large body of horsemen appeared on a rising ground to the east of us. AVe could scarcely expect Arabs from that quarter ; hoxvever, all our party made ready for an attack. Cawal Yusuf and myself, being the best mounted, rode towards them to reconnoitre. Then one or two horsemen advanced warily from the opposite party. AVe neared each other. Yusuf spied the well-known black turban, dashed forward with a shout of joy, and in a moment we were surrounded, and in the embrace of friends. Hussein Bey and Sheikh Nasr, with the Cawals and V^ezidi elders, had ridden nearly forty miles through the night to meet and escort me, if needful, to Mosul ! Their delight at seeing us knew no bounds ; nor was I less touched by a display of grati- tude and good feeling, equally unexpected and sincere. They rode with us as far as Tel EskofF, where the danger from the Arabs ceased, and then turned their hardy mares, still fresh after their long journey, towards Sheikhan. I was now once more with old friends. AVe had spent the first day of our journey, on leaving Mosul two years ago, in the house of Toma, the Christian Kiayali of Tel EskofF ; we now eat bread with him the last on our return. In the afternoon, as we rode towards Tel Kef, I left the high road with Hormuzd to drink water at some Arab tents. As we approached we were greeted with exclamations of joy, and were soon in the midst of a crowd of men and women, kissing our knees, and exhibiting other tokens of welcome. They were Jebours, who had been employed in the excavations. Hearing that we were again going to dig after old stones, they at once set about striking their tents to join us at Mosul or Nimroud. As we neared Tel Kef we found groups of my old superintend- ents and workmen by the road side. There Avere fat Toma, Chap. III.] A HAPPY MEETING. 59 Mansour, Behnan, and Hannah, joyful at meeting me once more, and at the prospect of fresh service. In the village we found Mr. Rassain (the vice-consul) and Khodja Toma, his dragoman, who had made ready the feast for us at the house of the Chaldaean bishop. Next morning, as we rode the three last hours of our journey, we met fresh groups of familiar faces : — Merjan, with my old groom holding the stirrup ready for me to mount, the noble animal looking as beautiful, as fresh, and as sleek as when I last saw him, although two long years had passed ; former servants, Awad and the Sheikhs of the Jebours, even the very greyhounds Avho had been brought up under ray roof. Then as we ascend an eminence midway, walls, towers, minarets, and domes rise boldly from the margin of the broad river, cheating us into the belief, too soon to be dispelled, that Mosul is still a not unworthy representa- tive of the great Nineveh. As we draw near, the long line of lofty mounds, the only remains of mighty bulwarks and spacious gates, detach themselves from the low undulating hills : now the vast mound of Kouyunjik overtops the surrounding heaps ; then above it peers the white cone of the tomb of the prophet Jonah ; many other well-remembered spots follow in rapid succession ; but we cannot linger. Hastening over the creaking bridge of boats, we force our way through the crowded bazars, and alight at the house I had left two years ago. Old servants take their places as a matter of course, and, uninvited, pursue their regular occupations as if they had never been interrupted. Indeed it seemed as if we had but returned from a summer’s ride ; two years had passed away like a dream. I may in this place add a few words on part of the route pur- sued by Xenophon and the Ten Thousand during their memo- rable retreat, the identification of which had been one of my principal objects during our journey. I have, in the course of my narrative, already pointed out one or two spots signalled by re- markable events on their march. I must first state my conviction that the parasang, like its repre- sentative the modern farsang or farsakh of Persia, was not a measure of distance very accurately determined, but rather indi- cated a certain amount of time employed in traversing a given space. Travellers are well aware that the Persian farsakh varies considerably according to the nature of the country, and the usual modes of conveyance adopted by its inhabitants. In the plains of Khorassan and central Persia, where mules and horses are chiefly used by cai’avans, it is equal to about four miles, whilst in the GO NINEVEU AND BABYLON. [Chap. III. mountainous regions of Western Persia, where the roads are diffi- cult and precipitous, and in hlesopotamia and Arabia, where camels are the common beasts of burden, it scarcely amounts to three. The farsakh and the hour are almost invariably used as expressing the same distance. That Xenophon reckoned by the common mode of computation of the country is evident by his employing, almost always, the Persian “ parasang ” instead of the Greek stadium ; and that the parasang was the same as the modern hour, we find by the distance between Larissa (Nimroud) and Mesj)ila (Kouyunjik) being given as six parasangs, corresponding ex- actly with the number of hours assigned by the present inhabit- ants of the countiy, and by the authorities of the Turkish post, to the same road. The six hours in this instance are equal to about eighteen English miles. The ford, by which the Greeks crossed the Great Zab (Zabates) may, I think, be accurately determined. It is still the principal ford in this part of the river, and must, from the nature of the bed of the stream, have been so from the earliest periods. It is about twenty-five miles from the confluence of the Zab and Tigris.* A march of twenty-five stadia, or nearly three miles, in the direction of Larissa, would have brought them to the Ghazir, or Bumadus ; and this stream was, I have little doubt, the deep valley formed by the torrent where hllthridates, venturing to attack the re- ti'eating army, was signally defeated.! This action took place eight stadia beyond the valley ; the Persian commander having neglected to intercept the Greeks when endeavoring to cross the difficult ravine, in which they would most probably have been entangled. A short march of three pai’asangs, or hour’s brought them to Larissa, the modern Nimroud. The Greeks could not have crossed the Zab above the spot I have indicated, as the bed of the river is deep, and confined within high I’ocky banks. They might have done so heloio the junction of the Ghazir, and a ravine worn by winter rains may correspond with the valley mentioned by Xenophon, but I think the Ghazir far more likely to have been the torrent bed viewed with so much * Mr. Ainsworth would take the Greeks up to the modern ferry, where there could never have been a ford, and which would have been some miles out of their route. (Travels in the Track of the Ten Thousand.) t Anab. book iii. ch. 4. I Xenophon merely says that they marched the rest of the day. After the action, they could scarcely have advanced more than three parasangs, or nine miles. Chap. III.] XENOrilON’S RETREAT. 61 jvlarm by the Greek commancler, and the passage of which Mlth- ridates might have disputed with some prospect of success.* That Larissa and Mespila are represented hy the ruins of Nimroud and Kouyunjik no one can reasonably doubt. Xeno- phon’s description corresponds most accurately with the ruins and with the distance between them. From Mespila the Greeks marched four parasangs and probably halted near the modern village of Batnai, between Tel Kef and Tel Eskof, an ancient site exactly four hours, by the usual cara- van road, from Kouyunjik. Many ancient mounds around Batnai mark the remains of those villages, from which, after having re- pulsed the Persian forces under Tissaph.ernes and Orontas, the Greeks obtained an abundant supply of provisions. Instead of fording the Khabour near its junction with the Tigris, and thus avoiding the hills, they crossed them by a precipitous pass to the site of the modern Zakko. They reached this range in four days, traversing it on the fifth, probably by the modern caravan road. The distance from Batnai to Zakko, according to the Turkish post, is twenty hours. This would give between four and live hours, or parasangs, a day for the march of the Greeks, the distance they usually performed. They were probably much retarded during the last day, by having to fight their way over three distinct moun- tain ridges. It is remarkable that Xenojthon does not mention the Khabour, although he must have crossed that river either by a ford or by a bridge t before reaching the plain. Yet the stream is broad and rapid, and the fords at all times deep. Nor does he allude to the Hazel, a confluent of the Khabour, to which he came during his first day’s march, after leaving Zakko. These omissions prove that he does not give an accurate itinerary of his route. Four days’ march, the first of only sixty stadia, or about seven miles J, brought the Greeks to the high mountains of Kurdistan, which, meeting the Tigris, shut out all further advance except by difficult and precipitous passes, already occupied by the Persians. * In Cliapter X. will be found some further remarks on this subject ; many reasons, based upon personal experience, may be adduced for the probability of Xenophon’s preferring the upper ford. f lie probably took the more difficult road over the pass, and not that round the spur, in order to cross the Khabour by a bridge or ferry. It must be re- membered that it was winter, and that the rivers were consequently swollen. J This halt, after so short a day’s march, may have been occasioned by the Hazel. The distance corresponds with sufficient accuracy. 62 KINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. III. Xenophon, having dislodged the enemy from the first ridge, returned to the main body of the army, which had remained in the plain. This must have been near Fynyk, where the very foot of the Kurdish mountains is first washed by the river. The spot agrees accurately with Xenojfiion’s description, as it does with the distance. “ The Greeks,” says he, “ came to a place where the river Tigris is, both from its depth and breadth, absolutely im- passable; no road ajipeared, the craggy mountains of the Car- duchians hanging over the river.” The offer of the Rhodian to cross the army on inflated skins, bound together to form a bridge, having been rejected, on account of the strong force assembled on the opposite side to dispute the passage, the Greeks marched back to the villages. The Persian prisoners informed Xenophon that four roads branched off from this spot : one to the south, by which the Greeks had retreated from Babylonia ; the second east- wards, to Susa and Ecbatana, by the plain of Zakko, the modern Amadiyah, Sulelmaniyah, and the foot of the groat I'ange of Zagros; a third to the west, crossing the Tigris, near Jezireh, and thence through Orfa, Aintab, Tarsus, and the Cilician gates to Lydia and Ionia ; and a fourth across the mountains of the Carduchians, or Kurdistan. The tribes Infesting this foui’th road were represented to Xenophon as notorious for their courage and warlike habits. They only held intercourse with the inha- bitants of the low country, when they were at peace with the governor residing in the plain, and such has been iireclsely the case w’ith their descendants to this day. This route Avas, however, preferred, as it led into Ai'inenia, a country from which they might choose their own road to the sea, and which abounded in villages and the necessaries of life. The Greeks appear to have folloAved the route taken by Sultan Murad in his expedition against Baghdad, and, recently, by part of the Turkish forces sent against Beder Khan Bey ; in fact, the great natural highway from the remotest period between east- ern Armenia and Assyria. Beyond the Carduchian mountains there were, according to the prisoners, two roads into Armenia, one crossing the head waters of the principal branch of the Tigris, the other going round them ; that is, leaving them to the left. These are the roads to this day followed by caravans, one crossing the plains of Kherzan to Diarbeklr, and thence, by well-known mountain-passes to Kharput, the other passing through Bitlis. Xenophon chose the latter. The villages in the valleys and recesses of the mountains are still found around F unduk ; and, on Chap. III.] Xenophon’s retreat. 63 their first day’s march over the Carduchian hills, the Greeks probably reached the neighbourhood of this village. There now remained about ten parasangs to the plain through which flows the eastern branch of the Tigris ; but the country was difficult, and at this time of the year (nearly midwinter)*, the lower road along the river was impassable. The Greeks had, therefore, to force their way over a series of difficult passes, all stoutly defended by warlike tribes. They were consequently four days in reaching the Centritls, or eastern Tigris, the united waters of the rivers of BItlis, Sert, and Bohtan. The stream was rapid, the water reach- ing to the breast, and the ford, owing to the unevenness of the bottom and the loose, slippery stones, exceedingly difficult ; such, it will be remembered, we found to be the case near Tilleh. The opposite banks were, moreover, defended by the combined forces of the Armenians, Mygdonians, and Chaldteans. It was impossible to cross the river at this spot in the face of the enemy. At length a ford was discovered higher up, and Xenophon, by skilful strategy, effected the passage. This must have been at a short distance from Tilleh, as the river, narrowed between rocky banks, is no longer fordable higher up. The Greeks came upon the Centritis soon after leaving the Carduchian mountains. The direct and most practicable road would now have been along the river banks to Bitlisf, but owing to the frequent incursions of the Carduchi, the villages in that direction had been abandoned, and the Greeks were compelled to turn to the westward, to find provisions and habitations. Still there was no road into Ar- menia, particularly at this time of year, for an army encum- bered with baggage, except that through the Bitlls valley. The * It is a matter of surprise that Cyrus should have chosen the very middle of summer for his expedition into Babylonia, and still more wonderful that the Greeks, unused to the intense heats of Mesopotamia, and encumbered with their heavy arms and armour, should have been able to brave the climate. No Turkish or Persian commander would in these days venture to undertake a campaign against the Arabs in this season of the year ; for, besides the heat, the want of water would be almost an insurmountable obstacle. During their retreat, the Greeks had to encounter all the rigor of an Armenian winter ; so that, during the few months they were under arms, they went through the most trying extremes of climate. The expedition of Alexander was also under- taken in the middle of summer. It must, however, be borne in mind, that Me- sopotamia was j)robably then thickly peopled and well cultivated, and that canals and wells of water must have abounded. f That by Sert passes over very precipitous mountains, and is only now taken by caravans, because it is more secure than the other, and leads through a town in which there is some trade. 64 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. III. remains of an ancient causeway are even now to be traced, and this probably has always been the great thoroughfare between western Armenia and the Assyrian plains. Xenophon consequently made nearly the same detour a's I had made on ray journey from Constantinople. Six marches, of five parasangs each, brought them to the small river Teleboas. I am convinced tliat this river cannot be identified with the Kara Su, which would be at least between forty and fifty parasangs, or from eight to ten days’ march, from Tilleh, supposing Xenophon to have made the smallest possible deviation to the west. I believe the Teleboas to have been the river of Bitlis.* After crossing the low country of Kherzan, well described by Xenophon as “ a jilain varied by hills of an easy ascent,” the Greeks must neces- sarily have turned slightly to the eastward to reach the Bitlis valley, as inaccessible mountains stopped all further progress. My caravan was thirty-three hours in journeying from Bitlis to Tilleh, corre- sponding exactly with the six days’ march of the Greeks. They probably came to the river somewhat below the site of the modern town, where it well deserves the epithet of “ beautiful.” It may have then had, as at this day, many villages near its banks. It will be observed that Xenophon says that they came to, not that they crossed, the Teleboas. From this river they reached the Euphrates in six marches, making, as usual, five parasangs each day ; in all, thirty parasangs, or hours. Now from the Kara Su to the Euphrates, even suppos- ing the Greeks to have gone far to the eastward out of the direct route on the plain of Malaskert, there would scarcely be twenty parasangs, whex’eas the high road from Bitlis to Northern Armenia would lead in exactly thirty hours, or six mai’ches, to the Euphrates, which it crosses near Karaghal. I believe, therefore, that, after issuing from the valley of Bitlis, Xenophon turned to the westward, leaving the lake of Wan a little to the right, though com2fietely concealed from him by a range of low hills.f Skirting the western foot of the Nimroud Dagh range, he passed through a plain thickly inhabited, abounding in well-jirovisioned villages, and crossed here and there by ranges of hills. This country still tal- lies 2>recisely with Xenophon’s description. * It must be borne in mind that the river of Bitlis joins the Sert Su before it falls into the main branch of the Tigris at Tilleh, and might therefore, under a different name, have appeared another river to Xenophon. f Had he seen this large inland sea, he would probably have mentioned it. Chap. III.] UNCERTAINTY OF XENOPHON’S NARRATIVE. 65 We have not, I conceive, sufficient data in Xenophon’s narrative to identify with any degree of certainty his route after crossing the Euphrates. We know that about twenty parasangs from that river the Greeks encamped near a hot spring, and this spring might be recognised in one of the many which abound in the country. It is most probable that the Greeks took the road still used by caravans through the plains of Hinnis and Hassan-Kalah, as offering the fewest difficulties. But what rivers are we to identify with the Phasis and Harpasus, the distance between the Euphrates and Phasis being seventy parasangs, and between the Phasis and Harpasus ninety-five, and the Harj>asus being the larger of the two rivers? I cannot admit that the Greeks turned to the west, and passed near the site of the modern Erzeroom. There are no rivers in that direction to answer the description of Xenophon. Moreover, the Greeks came to the high mountain, and beheld the sea for the first time, at the distance of thirty-two parasangs from Trebizond. Had they taken either of the three modern roads from Erzeroom to the coast, and there are no others, they must have seen the Euxine in the immediate vicinity of Trebizond, certainly not more than six or eight parasangs from that city. I am on the whole inclined to be- lieve, that either the Greeks took a very tortuous course after leaving tlie Euphrates, making daily but little actual progress towards the great end of their arduous journey, the sea coast, or that there is a considerable error in the amount of parasangs given by Xeno- phon ; that the Harpasus must be the Tcherouk, and the Phasis either the Araxes or the Kur*; and that jMount Theches, the holy mountain from which the Greeks beheld the sea, was between Batoun and Trebizond, the army having followed the valley of the Tcheroidv, but leaving it before reaching the site of the modern port on the Black Sea. * In no way, however, would a direct line of march between these two rivers, nor between any other two rivers which can possibly answer to his description, tally with the distances given by Xenophon. Mosul, from the North. F Subterranean Excavations at Kouyunjik, CHAP. IV. STATE OF THE EXCAVATIONS ON MY RETURN TO MOSUL. — DISCOVERIES AT KOU- TUNJIK. TUNNELS IN THE MOUND. BAS-RELIEFS REPRESENTING ASSYRIAN CONQUESTS. A WELL. SIEGE OF A CITY. NATURE OF SCULPTURES AT KOUYUNJIK. — ARRANGEMENTS FOR RENEWAL OF EXCAVATIONS. DESCRIPTION OF MOUND. — KIAMIL PASHA. VISIT TO SHEIKH ADI. YEZIDI CEREMONIES. SHEIKH JINDI. YEZIDI MEETING. DRESS OF THE WOMEN. — BAVIAN. CEREMONY OF THE KAIDI, SACRED POEM OF THE YEZIDI. — THEIR DOC- TRINES. JERRAIYAH. RETURN TO MOSUL. On the morning after our arrival in Mosul, I rode at sunrise to Kouyunjik. The reader may remember that, on my return to Europe in 1847, J\Ir. Ross had continued the researches in that EXCAVATED CHAMBERS KdlTINJIK ?S.Alf>l ruf, .Mlll•^•|)llF KunraiiK Chap. IV.] STATE OF EXCAVATIONS AT MOSUL. 67 mound, and had uncovered several Interesting bas-reliefs, which I have already described from his own account of his discoveries.* That gentleman had, to my great regret, left Mosul. Since his departure the excavations had been placed under the charge of Mr. Rassam, the English vice-consul, who was directed by the Trustees of the British Museum to employ a small number of men, rather to retain possession of the spot, and to prevent interference on the part of others, than to carry on extensive operations. Toma Shishman, or “the Fat,” was still the overseer of the workmen, and accompanied me on my first visit to the ruins. But little change had taken place in the great mound since I had last seen it. It w'as yellow and bare, as it always is at this time of the year. Heaps of earth marked the site of former exca- vations, the chambers first discovered having been again completely buried with rubbish. Of the sculptured walls laid bare two years before no traces now remained. The trenches dug under Mr. Ross’s directions, in the southern corner, opposite the town of Mosul, were still open. It was evident at a glance that the chambers he had entered did not, as he had been led to suppose, belong to a second palace. They formed part of the same great edifice once standing on this angle of the mound, and already partly explored. The style of the bas-reliefs, and of the inscrip- tions, marked them at once as of the same epoch as those previously discovered. They belonged to the same king, and also recorded his wars and his triumphs. The same great fire, too, which had raged in the rest of the building, turning the sculptured panelling to lime, defacing the ancient records, and reducing the edifice to a heap of ashes and rubbish, had done its work here. But four or five feet remained of the bas-reliefs once covering the walls of sun-dried bricks to the height of eight or nine, and even these fragments were generally too much defaced to admit of minute description. The walls of two chambers had been laid bare. In onef, the lower part of a long series of sculptures was still partly preserved, but the upper had been completely destroyed, the very alabaster itself having disappeared. The bas-reliefs recorded the subjection by the Assyrian king of a nation Inhabiting the banks of a river. The captive women are distinguished by long embroidered robes fringed with tassels, and the castles have a peculiar wedge-shaped * See Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 139. t No. LI. Plan I. 68 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IV. ornament on the walls. The towns probably stood In the midst of marshes, as they appear to be surrounded by canes or reeds, as well as by groves of palm trees. The Assyrians having captured the strong places by escalade, carried the inhabitants into captivity, and drove away cattle, camels, and carts drawn by oxen. Some of the men bear large baskets of osier work, and the women vases or cauldrons. The king, standing in his chariot, attended by his warriors, and preceded by an eunuch registering the number of prisoners and the amount of the spoil, receives the conquered chiefs. Not a vestige of inscription remains to record the name of the vanquished people ; but we may conjecture, from the river and the palm trees, that they inhabited some district in southern Meso- potamia. They were, probably, one of the numerous Arab tribes who lived in the marshes formed by the Euphrates and Tigris, and took advantage, as their descendants do to this day, of their almost inaccessible position in the midst of vast swamps to be in continual rebellion against the supreme government. Many of these tribes, it will hereafter be seen, are mentioned amongst the southern con- quests of the king who built the palace. In the southern wall of this chamber was a doorway formed by plain, upright slabs of a close-grained magnesian limestone, almost as hard as flint ; between them were two small, crouching lions, in the usual Chap. IV.] SCULPTURES DISCOVERED. 69 alabaster. This entrance led into a further room, of which only a small part had been explored.* The walls were panelled with unsculptured slabs of the same compact limestone. The sculptured remains hitherto discovered in the mound of Kouyunjik had been reached by digging down to them from the surface, and then removing the rubbish. After the departure of Mr. Ross, the accumulation of earth above the ruins had become so considerable, frequently exceeding thirty feet, that the work- men, to avoid the labor of clearing it away, began to tunnel along the walls, sinking shafts at intervals to admit light and air. The hardness of the soil, mixed with pottery, bricks, and remains of buildings raised at various times over the buried ruins of the Assyrian palace, rendered this process easy and safe with ordinary care and precaution. The subterraneous passages were narrow, and were propped up when necessary either by leaving columns of earth, as in mines, or by wooden beams. These long galleries, dimly lighted, lined with the remains of ancient art, broken urns projecting from the crumbling sides, and the wild Arab and hardy Nestorian wandering through their intricacies, or working in their dark recesses, were singularly picturesque. Toma Shishman had removed the workmen from the southern corner of the mound, where the sculptures were much injured, and had opened tunnels in a part of the building previously ex- plored, commencing where I had left off on my departure from jMosul.f I descended into the vaulted passages by an inclined way, through which the workmen issued from beneath to throw away the rubbish dug out from the ruins. At the bottom I found myself before a wall forming the southern side of the great Hall, discovered, though only partly explored, during my former re- searches. I The sculptures, faintly seen through the gloom, were still well enough preserved to give a complete history of tlie subject represented, although, with the rest of the bas-reliefs of Kouyunjik, the fire had nearly turned them to lime, and had cracked them into a thousand pieces. The faces of the ' slabs had been entirely covered with figures, varying from three inches * No. LIII. Plan I. f At No. VI. same plan. ' The chambers marked with letters in the Plan of Kouyunjik in the 2d vol. of “ Nineveh and its Remains,” are distinguished, for convenience of general reference, by numbers in Plan I. of this work, which in- cludes all those excavated during the first expedition, as well as those discovered during the second : the letters are, however, also inserted. I No. VI. Plan I. 70 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IV. to one foot in height, carefully finished, and designed with great spirit. In this series of bas-reliefs the history of an Assyrian conquest was more fully portrayed than in any other yet discovered, from the going out of the monarch to battle, to his triumphal return after a complete victory. The first part of the subject has already been described In my former work.* The king, accompanied by his chariots and horsemen, and leaving his capital in the As- syrian plains, passed through a mountainous and wooded district, f He does not a[>pear to have been delayed by the siege of many towns or castles, but to have carried the war at once into the high country. His troops, cavalry and Infantry, are represented in close combat with their enemies, pursuing them over hills and through valleys, beside streams, and in the midst of vineyards. The Assyrian horsemen are armed with the spear and the bow, using both weapons whilst at full speed : their opponents seem to be all archers. The vanquished turn to ask for quarter ; or, wounded, fall under the feet of the advancing horses, raising their hands im- ploringly to ward off the impending deathblow. The triumph fol- low's. The king standing in his chariot, beneath the royal parasol, followed by long lines of dismounted warriors leading richly capa- risoned horses, and by foot soldiers variously armed and accoutred, is receiving the captives and spoil taken from the conquered people. First ap2>roach the victorious warriors, throwing the heads of the slain into heaps before the registering officers. They are followed by others leading, and urging onw’ards with staves, the prisoners — men chained together, or bound singly in fetters, and women, some on foot, carrying their children on their shoulders, and leading them by the hand, others riding on mules. The procession is finished by asses, mules, and flocks of sheep. As on the bas-reliefs uncovered by Mr. Ross, there is unfortunately no inscription by which the name of the conquered people can be determined. We are left to conjecture the site of the country they inhabited from its natural features, rudely portrayed in the bas-reliefs, or from notices that may hereafter — on a better ac- quaintance with the cuneiform character — be found in the great inscriptions on the bulls containing the history of the wars of the * Nineveli and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 134. f The long lines of variously armed troops, described in my former work (vol. ii. p. 134.) as covering several slabs from top to bottom, form the army of the king marching to this campaign. Monuments of Nineveh, Plate 81. Chap. IV.] SCULPTURES DESCRIBED. 71 Assyrian king. The mountains, valleys, and streams, the vines and dwarf oaks, probably indicate a region north of Assyria, in Armenia, Media, or Kurdistan, countries we know to have been invaded by the royal builder of the palace. The dress of the men consists of a short tunic ; that of the women, of a shirt falling to the ankles, and cut low in.front of the neck.* In the side of the hall sculptured with these bas-reliefs was a wide portal, formed by a pair of gigantic human-headed bulls.f They had suffered, like all those previously discovered, from the fire, and the upper part, the wings and human head, had been completely destroyed. The lower half had, however, escaped, and the inscrip- tions were consequently nearly entire. Joined to the forepart of the bulls were four small figures, two on each side, and one above the other. They had long hair, falling in large and massive curls on their shoulders, wore short tunics descending to the knee, and held a pole topped by a kind of cone in one hand, raising the other as in act of adoration. f At right angles with the slabs bearing these sculptures were colossal figures carrying the oft-repeated cone and basket. In this entrance a well, cut through the large pavement slab between the bulls, was afterwards discovered. It contained broken pottery, not one vase having been taken out whole, apparently human remains, and some fragments of calcined sculptured alabaster, evidently detached from the bas-reliefs on the walls. It is doubt- ful whether this well was sunk after the Assyrian ruins had been buried, or whether it had been from the earliest times a place of deposit for the dead. The remains of bas-reliefs found in it, at a considerable depth, show that it must have been filled up after the destruction of the Assyrian palace ; and, as no such wells exist in similar entrances, I am inclined to believe that, like many others discovered during the excavations, it had been made by those who built on the mound above the ancient ruins. When • sinking the shaft they probably met with the pavement slab, and cut through it. It appears to have been afterwards choked by the falling in of the rubbish through which it had been * Two plates from these spirited sculptures are given in the 2d series of the Monuments of Nineveh, Plates 37 . 38 . They represent the battle, and part of the triumph. t Entrance k. No. VI. Plan I. J One such figure has been placed in the British Museum, and see 2d series of the Monuments of Nineveh, Plate 6. 72 NIXEVEII AXD BABYLON. [Chap. IV. carried, and hence the fragments of sculptured alabaster mixed with the broken pottery. Being unable to support its crumbling sides, I was obliged to abandon the attempt after digging to the depth of about fifteen feet. A small doorway to the right of the portal formed by the winged bulls, led into a further chamber*, in which an entrance had been found into a third room f, whose walls had been com- pletely uncovered. Its dimensions were 26 feet by 23, and it had but this one outlet, flanked on either side by two colossal figures, whose lower extremities alone remained, the upper part of the slabs having been destroyed : one appeared to have been eagle-headed, with the body of a man, and the other a monster, with human head and the feet of a lion. The bas-reliefs round the chamber represented the siege of a castle standing on an arti- ficial mound, surrounded at its base by houses. The besieged defended themselves on the walls and turrets with bows, spears, and stones. The Assyrian army was composed of spearmen, slingers, and bowmen, some of whom had already gained the housetops. ]\Iale and female captives had been taken and heads cut off; the victorious warriors according to custom, and pro- bably to claim a reward | , bringing them to the registrars. The led horses and body-guard of the king was still preserved, but that part of the bas-relief containing the monarch himself, pro- bably standing in his chariot, had been destroyed. In the back ground were wooded mountains ; vines and other trees formed a distinct band in the middle of the slabs ; and a river ran at the foot of the mound. The dress of the male prisoners consisted either of a long robe falling to the ankles, or of a tunic reaching to the knees, over which was thrown an outer garment, apparently made of the skins of animals, and they woi’e greaves laced up in front. The women were clothed in a robe descending to the feet, with an outer fringed garment thrown over the shoulders; a kind of hood or veil covered the back of the head, and fell over . the neck. Above the castle was the fragment of an inscription in two lines, containing the name of the city, of which unfor- tunately the first character is wanting. It reads : “ The city of . . . alamino I attacked and captured ; I carried away Its spoil.” No * No. XIII. Plan I. f No. XIV. same plan. J It is still the custom in Persia, and was so until lately in Turkey, for soldiers to bring the heads of the slain to their officers after a battle, and to claim a small pecuniary reward. Chap. IV.J SCULPTURES DESCRIBED. 73 name, however, corresponding with it has yet been found In the royal annals, and we can only infer, from the nature of the country represented, that the place was in a mountainous district to the north of Assyria.* * * § It is remarkable that in this chamber, as in others afterwards explored, some of the slabs (those adjoining the entrance) had been purposely defaced, every vestige of sculji- ture having been carefully removed by a sharp instrument. Returning to the great hall, I found that a third outlet had been discovered, opening, however, to the west. This entrance had been guarded by six colossal figures, three on each side. The upper part of all of them had been destroyed. They ajipear to have been eagle-headed and lion-headed monsters.f This doorway led into a narrow passage, one side of which had alone been excavated ; on it was represented the siege of a walled city, divided into two parts by a river. One half of the place had been captured by the Assyrians, who had gained possession of the towers and battlements, but that on the opposite bank of the stream was still defended by slingers and bowmen. Against its walls had been thrown banks or mounds, built of stones, bricks, and branches of trees. | The battering-rams, covered with skins or hides looped together, had been rolled up these inclined ways, and had already made a breach in the fortifications. Archers and spearmen were hurrying to the assault, whilst others were driving off the caj)tives, and carrying away the idols of the enemy. The dress of the male prisoners consisted of a plain under shirt, an upper garment falling below the knees, divided in the front and buttoned at the neck, and laced greaves. Their hair and beards were shorter and less elaborately curled than those of the Assyrians. The women were distinguished by high rounded turbans, ornamented with plaits or folds. A veil fell from the back of this headdress over the shoulders. § No inscription re- mained to record the name of the vanquished nation. Their castles stood in a wooded and mountainous country, and their * As much of the bas-reliefs as could be moved is now in the British IMuseum ; see also 2d series of the Monuments of Nineveh, Plate 39. t Entrance i. No. VI. Plan I. J For an account of these mounds represented in the Assyrian sculptures, and the manner in which they illustrate various passages in Scripture, see my Nine- veh and its Remains, vol ii. p. 367. and note. § Such is the costume of the women in ships in a bas-relief discovered during my former researches (see Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 129. and Monu- ments of Nineveh, Plate 71.), and which, I have conjectured, may represent the capture of Tyre or Sidon. 74 KINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IV. peculiar costume, and the river passing through the centre of their chief city, may lielp hereafter lo identify them. The opposite side of this narrow chamber, or passage, was shortly afterwards uncovered. The bas-reliefs on its walls re- presented the king in his chariot, preceded and followed by his warriors. The only remarkable feature in the sculptures was the highly decorated trappings of the horses, whose bits were in the form of a horse at full speed. Such were the discoveries that had been made during my absence. There could be no doubt whatever that all the chambers hitherto excavated belonged to one great edifice, built by one and the same king. I have already shown how the bas-reliefs of Kouyunjik differed from those of the older palaces of Nimroud, but closely resembled those of Khorsabad in the general treat- ment, in the costumes of the Assyrian warriors, as well as of the nations with whom they warred, and in the character of the ornaments, inscriptions, and details. Those newly uncovered were, in all these respects, like the bas-reliefs found before my departure, and upon which I had ventured to form an opinion as to the respective antiquity and origin of the various ruins hitherto explored in Assyria. The bas-reliefs of Nimroud, the reader may remember, were divided into two bands or friezes by inscriptions ; the subject being frequently confined to one tablet, or slab, and arranged with some attempt at composition, so as to form a sepa- rate picture. At Kouyunjik the four walls of a chamber were generally occupied by one series of sculptures, representing a con- secutive history, uninterrupted by inscriptions, or by the divisions in the alabaster panelling. Figures, smaller in size than those of Nimroud, covered from top to bottom the face of slabs, eight or nine feet high, and sometimes of equal breadth. The sculptor could thus introduce more action, and far more detail, into his picture. He aimed even at conveying, by rude representations of trees, valleys, mountains, and rivers, a general idea of the natural features of the country in which the events recorded took place. A chamber thus generally contained the whole story of a particular war, from the going out of the king to his triumphal return. These pictures, including a kind of plan of the campaign, add considerably to the interest of the monuments, and allow us to restore much of the history of the period. They will probably also enable us to Identify the sculptured records with the descriptive accounts contained in the Chap. IV. I BAS-RELIEFS OF KOUYUNJIK. 75 great inscriptions carved upon the bulls, at the various entrances to the palace, and embracing a general chronicle of the reign of the king. At Kouyunjik there were probably few bas-reliefs, par- ticularly those containing representations of castles and cities, that were not accompanied by a short epigraph or label, giving the name of the conquered king and country, and even the names of the principal prisoners, especially if royal personages. Unfortunately these inscriptions having been usually placed on the upper part of the slabs, which has very rarely escaped destruction, but few of them remain. These remarks should be borne in mind to enable the reader to understand the descriptions of the excavated cham- bers at Kouyunjik, which will be given in the following pages in the order that they were discovered. I lost no time in making arrangements for continuing the exca- vations with as much activity as the funds granted to the Trustees of the British Museum would permit. Toma Shishman was jdaced over Kouyunjik ; Mansour, Behnan (the marble cutter), and Hannah (the carpenter), again entered my service. Ali Bahai, a sheikh of the Jebours, who, hearing of my return, had hastened to Mosul, was sent to the desert to collect such of my old workmen from his tribe as were inclined to re-enter my service. He was ap- pointed “ sheikh of the mound,” and duly invested with the cus- tomary robe of honor on the occasion. The accumulation of soil above the ruins was so great, that I determined to continue the tunnelling, removing only as much earth as was necessary to show the sculptured walls. But to facilitate the labor of the workmen, and to avoid the necessity of their leaving the tunnels to empty their baskets, I made a number of rude triangles and wooden pulleys, by which the excavated rubbish could be raised by ropes through the shafts, sunk at intervals for this purpose, as well as to admit light and air. One or two passages then sufficed for the workmen to descend into the subterranean galleries. jMany of the Kestorians formerly in my service as diggers, having also heard of my intended return, had left their mountains, and had joined me a day or two after my arrival. There Avere Jebours enough in the immediate neighbourhood of the town to make up four or five gangs of excavators, and I placed parties at once in the galleries already opened, in different parts of Kou- yunjik not previously explored, and at a high mound in the north- west walls, forming one side of the great inclosure opposite V6 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IV. Mosul — a ruin which I had only partially examined during my previous visit.* During the spring of this year Colonel Williams, the British commissioner for the settlement of the disputed boundaries between Turkey and Persia, had visited Mosul on his way to Baghdad, and had kindly permitted Lieutenant Glascott, R.N., the engineer of the commission, to make a careful survey of Kouyunjik. His plan, into which the excavations subsequently made have been in- troduced, will show the position of the 2 “>fihice and the general form of the mound. f The shape of this great ruin is very irre- gular ; nearly squai’e at the S.W. corner, it narrows almost to a point at the N. E. The palace occupies the southern angle. At the opposite, or northern, extremity are the remains of the village of Kouyunjik, from which the mound takes its name.| From this spot a steep road leads to the plain, forming the only access to the summit of the mound for loaded animals or carts. Nearly midway between the ruined village and the excavations is a small whitewashed Mussulman tomb, surmounted by a dome, belonging to some sheikh, or holy man, whose memory and name have long passed away. A little beyond it, to the south-west, the level of the mound rises above that of any other part ; in consequence probably of the ruins of ancient buildings, belonging to a period preceding the Arab conquest, though still erected over the older Assyrian edifices. Beyond it, to the north, the level is considerably below that part of the mound which covers the remains of the excavated palace. To the south of the tomb the platform suddenly sinks, leaving a semi- circular ridge, resembling an amphitheatre. There are ravines on all sides of Kouyunjik, except that facing the Tigris. If not entirely worn by the winter rains, they have, undoubt- edly, been deepened and increased by them. They are strewed with fragments of pottery, bricks, and sometimes stone and burnt alabaster, whilst the falling earth frequently discloses in their sides vast masses of solid brick masonry, which fall in when undermined by the rains. Through these ravines are carried the steep and narrow pathways leading to the top of the mound. -As they reach far into the ruins, frequently laying bare * See Nineveh and its Remains, vol. i. p. 144., for a description of the dis- coveries previously made in this mound. f See General Plan of the mound of Kouyunjik, in corner of Plan I. J “ The little sheep.” Kouyunjik is, however, generally known to the Arabs by the name of Armousheeyah. Chap. IV.] KIAMIL PASUA. 77 the very foundations of the artificial platform of earth on which the edifices were erected, they afford the best places to commence ex- perimental tunnels. The Khauser winds round the eastern base of Kouyunjik, and leaving it near the angle occupied by the ruins of the palace, runs in a direct line to the Tigris. Although a small and sluggish stream, it has worn for itself a deep bed, and is only fordable near the mound immediately below the southern corner, where the direct road from Mosul crosses it, and at the northern extremity where a flour mill is turned by its waters. After rain it becomes an impetuous torrent, overflowing its banks, and carrying all before it. It then rises very suddenly, and as suddenly subsides. The Tigris now flows about half a mile from the mound, but once undoubtedly washed its base. Between them is a rich alluvium deposited by the river during its gradual retreat; it is always under cultivation, and is divided into corn fields, and melon and cucumber beds.* In this plain stands the small modern village of Kouyunjik, removed for convenience from its ancient site on the summit of the mound. Round the foot of the platform are thickly scattei’ed fragments of pottery, brick, and stone, fallen from the ruins above. In Mosul I had to call upon the governor, and renew my ac- quaintance with the principal inhabitants, whose good will was in some way necessary to the pleasant, if not successful, 2)rosecution of my labors. Kiamil Pasha had been lately named to the jjashalic. He was the sixth or seventh pasha who had been appointed since I had left, for it is one of the banes of Turkish administration that, as soon as an officer becomes acquainted with the country he is sent to govern, and obtains any influence over its inhabitants, he is recalled to make room for a new ruler. Kiamil had been ambas- sador at Berlin, and had visited several European courts. His manners were eminently courteous and polished ; his Intelligence, * Tlie river Tigris flows in this part of its course, am] until it reaches Saiinar- rah, on the conflnes of Babylonia, through a valley varying from one to two miles in width, bounded on both sides by low limestone and conglomerate hills. Its bed has been undergoing a continual and regular change. When it reaches the hills on one side, it is thrown back by this barrier, and creeps grftdually to the opposite side, leaving a rich alluvial soil (quickly covered with jungle. This process it has been repeating, backwards and forwards, for countless ages, and will continue to repeat as long as it drains the gi-eat highlands of Armenia. At Nimroud it is now gradually returning to the base of the mound, which it deserted some three thousand years ago ; but centuries must elapse be- fore it can work its way that far. 78 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IV. and, what is of far more importance in a Turkish governor, his integrity, were acknowledged. His principal defects were great Inactivity and indolence, and an unfortunate irritability of temper, leading him to do foolish and mischievous things, of which he ge- nerally soon found cause to repent. He offered a very favorable contrast to the Pasha who received me on my visit to Mosul in 1847, and who, by the way, notwithstanding a decree of the supreme council condemning him to death for his numerous misdeeds, but not carried into execution in consequence of the misdirected humanity of the Sultan, had been recently appointed to a comfor- table pashallc in Asia Minor, far from consuls and other trouble- some checks upon his tyranny and extortion. Our right to ex- cavate was now too well established to admit of question, and my visit to the Pasha was rather one of friendship than of duty. I had known him at the capital, where he held a high post in the council of state, and at Belgrade, when governor there during troublous times. Soon after my arrival, my old friends Sheikh Abd-ur-rahman, of the Abou Salman, and Abd-rubbou, chief of the Jebours, rode into the town to see me. The former complained bitterly of poverty : his claims upon Mohammed Pasha, although recognised by the government, had not been paid, and by the new system of local administration introduced into the pashalic since my departure, his old pasture grounds near Nimroud had been taken from his tribe, and made “miri,” or public property. The Jebours, under Abd-rubbou, were encamping in the desert to the south of Mosul. He offered to accompany me to Kalah Sherghat, or to any other ruin I might wish to examine, and a silk robe cemented our former friendship. I had scarcely settled myself in the town, when Cawal Yusuf came in from Baadri, with a party of Yezldl Cawals, to invite me, on the part of Hussein Bey and Sheikh Nasr, to the annual festival at Sheikh Adi. The Invitation was too earnest to be refused, nor was I sorry to have this occasion of meeting the principal chiefs of the sect assembled together, of explaining to them what had oc- curred at Constantinople, and of offering them a few words of advice a^to their future conduct. The Jebour workmen, too, had not yet moved their tents to Nimroud or Mosul, and the excava- tions had consequently not been actively resumed. I was accompanied in this visit by my own party, with the ad- dition of Mr, Rassam, the vice-consul, and his dragoman. We rode the first day to Baadri, and were met on the road by Hussein Bey Chap. IV.] SHEIKH ADI REVISITED. 79 and a large company of Yezidi horsemen. Sheikh Nasr had already gone to the tomb, to make ready for the ceremonies. The young chief entertained us for the night, and on the following morning, an hour after sunrise, we left the village for Sheikh Adi. At some distance from the sacred valley we were met by Sheikh Nasr, Pir Sino, the Cawals, the priests, and the chiefs. They conducted us to the same building in the sacred grove that I had occupied on my former visit. The Cawals assembled around us and welcomed our coming on their tambourines and flutes ; and soon about us was formed one of those singularly beautiful and picturesque groups which I have attempted to describe in my pre- vious account of the Yezidi festival.* The Yezidis had assembled in less numbers this year than when I had last met them in the valley. Only a few of tlie best armed of the people of the Sinjar had ventured to face the dangers of the road now occupied by the Bedouins. Abde Agha and his ad- herents were fully occupied in defending their villages against the Arab marauders, who, although repulsed after we quitted Semil, were still hanging about the district, bent upon revenge. The Kochers, and the tribes of Dereboun, were kept away by the same fears. The inhabitants of Kherzan and Redwan were harrassed by the conscription. Even the people of Baasheikhah and Baazani had been so much vexed by a recent visit from the Pasha that they had no heart for festivities. His Excellency not fostering feelings of the most friendly nature towards Namlk Pasha, the new com- mander-in-chief of Arabia, who was passing through Mosul on his way to the head-quarters of the army at Baghdad, and unwilling to entertain him, was suddenly taken ill and retired for the benefit of his health to Baasheikhah. On the morning after his arrival he complained that the asses by their braying during the night had allowed him no rest ; and the asses were accordingly peremptorily banished from the village. The dawn of the next day was an- nounced, to the great discomfort of his Excellency, who had no interest in the matter, by the cocks ; and the irregular troops who formed his body-guard were immediately incited to a general slaughter of the race. The third night his sleep was disturbed by the crying of the children, who, with their mothecs, were at once locked up, for the rest of his sojourn, in the cellars. On the fourth he was awoke at daybreak by the cb.irping of sparrows. Nineveh and its Remains, vol. i. ch. ix. Valley and Toml? of Sheikh Adi Chap. IV.] SHEIKH JINDI. 81 and every gun in the village was ordered to be brought out to wage a war of extermination against them. But on the fifth morning his rest was sorely broken by the flies, and the enraged Pasha insisted upon their instant destruction. The Kiayah, who, as chief of the village, had the task of carrying out the Governor’s orders, now threw himself at his Excellency’s feet, exclaiming, “ Your Highness has seen that all the animals here, praise be to God, obey our Lord the Sultan ; the infidel flies alone are rebel- lious to his authority. I am a man of low degree and small power, and can do nothing against them ; it now behoves a great Vizir like your Highness to enforce the commands of our Lord and Master.” The Pasha, who relished a joke, forgave the flies, but left the village. I have already so fully described the general nature of the an- nual festival at Sheikh Adi, and the appearance of the valley on that occasion, that I shall confine myself to an account of such ceremonies as I was now permitted to witness for the first time. About an hour after sunset, Cawal Yusuf summoned Hormuzd and myself, who were alone allowed to be present, to the inner yard, or sanctuary, of the Temple. We were placed in a room from the windows of which we could see all that took place in the court. The Cawals, Sheikhs, Fakirs, and principal chiefs were already assembled. In the centre of the court was an iron lamp, with four burners — a simple dish with four lips for the wicks, supported on a sharp iron rod driven into the ground. Near it stood a Fakir, holding in one hand a lighted torch, and in the other a large vessel of oil, from which he, from time to time, re- plenished the lamp, loudly invoking Sheikh Adi. The Cawals stood against the wall on one side of the court, and commenced a slow chant, some playing on the flute, others on the tambourine, and accompanying the measure with their voices. The Sheikhs and chiefs now formed a procession, walking two by two. At their head was Sheikh JIndi. He wore a tall shaggy black cap, the hair of which hung far over the upper part of his face. A long robe, striped with horizontal stripes of black and dark red, fell to his feet. A countenance more severe, and yet more im- posing, than that of Sheikh Jindi could not well be pictured by the most fanciful imagination. A bear’d, black as jet, waved low on his breast ; his dark piercing eyes glittered through ragged eye- brows, like burning coals through the bars of a grate. The color G 82 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IV. robes were fill of the jiurest white. As they walked slowly round, sometimes stopping, then resuming their measured step, they chanted prayers in glory and honor of the Deity. The Cawals of his face was of the deepest brown, his teeth white as snow, and his features, though stern beyond measure, singularly noble and well formed. It was a by-word with us that Sheikh Jindi had never been seen to smile. To look at him was to feel that a laugh could not be born in liim. As he moved, with a slow and solemn step, the flickering lamp deepening the shadows of his solemn and rugged countenance, it would have been impi ssible to conceive a being more eminently fitted to take the lead in cere- monies consecrated to the evil one. lie is the Peesk-namaz, “ the leader of prayer,” to the YezidI sect. Behind him were two vene- rable sheikhs. They Avere followed by Hussein Bey and Sheikh Nasr, and the other chiefs and Sheikhs came after. Their long Sheikh Kasr. High Priest of the Tezidis. Chap. IV.] AN ASSEMBLY OF YEZIDIS. 83 accompanied the chant with their flutes, beating at intervals the tambourines. Round the burning lamp, and within the circle formed by the procession, danced the Fakirs in their black dresses, with solemn pace timed to the music, raising and swinging to and fro their arms after the fashion of Eastern dancers, and jilacing them- selves in attitudes not less decorous than elegant. To hymns in praise of the Deity succeeded others in honor of Melek Isa and Sheikh Adi. The chants passed into quicker strains, the tam- bourines were beaten more frequently, the Fakirs became more active in their motions, and the women made the loud tahlel, the ceremonies ending with that extraordinary scene of noise and ex- citement that I have attempted to describe in relating my first visit. When the prayers were ended, those who marched in pro- cession kissed, as they passed by, the right side of the doorway leading into the temple, where a serpent is figured on the wall ; but not, as I was assured, the image itself, which has no typical or other meaning, according to Sheikh Nasr and Cawal Yusuf. Hussein Bey then placing himself on the step at this entrance, received the homage of the Sheikhs and elders, each touching the hand of the young chief with his own, and raising it to his lips. All present, afterwards, gave one another the kiss of peace. The ceremonies having thus been brought to a close, Hussein Bey and Slieikh Nasr came to me, and led me into the inner court. Carpets had been spread at the doorway of the temple for myself and the two chiefs ; the Sheikhs, Cawals, and principal people of the sect, seated themselves, or rather crouched, against the walls. By the light of a lamp, dimly breaking the gloom within the temple, I could see Sheikh Jindi unrobing. During the prayers, jjriests were stationed at the doorway, and none were allowed to enter except a few women and girls : the wives and daughters of sheikhs and cawals had free access to the building, and appeared to join in the ceremonies. The Vice-Consul and Khodja Toma were now admitted, and took their places with us at the upper end of the court. Cawal Yusuf was then called upon to give a full account of the result of his mission to Constantinople, which he did with the same detail, and almost in the same words, that he had used so frequently during our journey. After he had concluded, I endeavored to point out to the chiefs that by the new con- cessions made to them, liberty of conscience and the enjoyment of property were, if not completely secured, at least fully re- G 2 84 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IV. cognised as their right, and that the great burdens to which the Yezidis had long been exposed were abolished. Their children could no longer be taken as slaves, and the Sultan had even ordered the liberation of those who were already in bondage.* Henceforward none Avould suffer torture or death for tlieir reli- gion’s sake. Whatever their objections to the conscription and military service, it was but reasonable that, as subjects of the Sul- tan, and as exempt from the capitation tax j>aid by Christians, they should be placed under the same laws as Mussulmans, and should serve the state. Such practices and food as were repugnant to them, the Grand Vizir had promised should not be forced upon those who were enrolled in the regular army. For the first time the Yezidis had been in direct communication with the Sultan’s ministers, and had been formally recognised as one of the sects of the empire. They were to justify the good inten- tions of the Porte towards them by proving themselves loyal and faithful subjects. But, above all, they were to eschew internal quarrels, and to maintain peace and unity among the tribes, by which means alone they could defy their enemies. Their industry had already raised them above their Mohammedan and Christian neigh- bours, and now that additional protection was extended to them they might fairly hope to be wealthy and prosperous. It was finally agreed that letters of thanks, sealed by all the chiefs of the Yezidis, should be sent to the Grand Vizir, Reshid Pasha, for the reception given to the Yezidi de2iutatIon, and to Sir Stratford Canning for his generous intercession In their behalf. The ju’ivate and domestic affairs of the sect were then dis- cussed, and various reforms projjosed. The mode of contracting marriages required some change. The large sums of money de- manded by parents for their daughters had been the cause that many girls remained unmarried, a state of things rarely found in Eastern countries, and the source of loud conqjlaints amongst the younger members of the community. Rassam suggested that the price paid to the father should be reduced, or he should encourage elo^iements, and give the fugitives the benefit of his * During my subsequent residence in Mosul, I was able, with the assist- ance of Mr. llassam, the vice-consul, who always exerted himself zealously and most disinterestedly in the cause of humanity, to take from the very harem of the Cadi, a Yezidi girl, who had been torn from her parents some time before, and had been compelled to embrace the Mohammedan religion. Such an un- usual proceeding had a great effect in the town. Chap. IV.] FESTIVITIES AT SHEIKH ADI. 85 protection. The proposed alternative caused much merriment ; but one of the old Sheikhs of Baazani at once consented to take 300 piasters (about 21. 10s.) for his daughter, instead of 3000, which he had previously asked. This led to several betrothals on the spot, amidst much mirth and great applause on the part of such young Cawals as were anxious to get married. It was nearly midnight before the assembly broke up. We then went into the outer court, where dances were kept up until late in the morning, by the light of torches ; all the young men and women joining in the Debka. Soon after sunrise on the following morning the Sheikhs and Cawals olfered up a short prayer in the court of the temple, but without any of the ceremonies of the previous evening. Some prayed in the sanctuary, frequently kissing the threshold and holy })laces within the building. When they had ended they took the green cloth covering from the tomb of Sheikh Adi, and, followed by the Cawals 2 >laying on their tambourines and flutes, walked with it round the outer court. The jieojde flocked about them, and reverently carried the corner of the drapery to their li^is, making afterwards a small offering of money. After the cover had been again thrown over the tomb, the chiefs and priests seated themselves round the inner court. The Fakirs and Sheikhs especially devoted to the service of the sanc- tuary, who are called Kotcheks, now issued from the kitchens of the temple bearing large platters of smoking harisa*, which they jilaced on the ground. The comjiany collected in hungry groups round the messes, and whilst they were eating, the Kotcheks standing by called ujion them continually in a loud voice to jiar- take of the hospitality of Sheikh Adi. After the empty plates had been removed, a collection was made towards the supjiort of the tem^ile and tomb of the saint. It is also customary for all families who come to the annual festival to send some dish as an * A mixture of bruised wheat, chopped meat, milk and curds, boiled into a thick pulpy mass, over which melted butter is poured. It is a favorite dish in Syria and Mesopotamia, and is cooked by families on great festivals, or on certain days of the year, in consequence of vows made during sickness or in travel. On these occasions it is sent round to friends, and distributed amongst the poor. The wealthy sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar, and it is then agreeable to the taste, and palatable enough. It is sold early in the morning in the bazars of many Eastern towns. 86 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IV. offering to Sheikh Nasr. He merely tastes these contributions to show his acceptance of them, and they are then shared by the servants of the sanctuary. These ceremonies occupied us until nearly mid-day ; we then sat by the fountain in the valley, and the men and women danced before us, the boys climbing into the trees and hanging on the boughs to see the dancers. Sugar, dates, and raisins u ere afterwards scrambled amongst the children. The men soon took part in the amusement. A party of Kurds, bringing grapes from the mountains to sell at the festival, were maliciously pointed out as good objects for a joke. The hint was no sooner given than they, their donkeys, and their grapes, were all rolled into one heaj) under a mountain of human beings. The Kurds, who were armed, resisted manfully ; and, ignorant of our intentions, might have revenged themselves on their assailants, but were soon restored to good humour when they found that they were to receive ample compensation for their losses and jjei'sonal in- juries. A fat hahhul, a peddling dealer in nuts, raisins, and dates from Mosul, was then thrown with all his stores into a pond, and was well-nigh drowned by the crowd of boys who dived into the reservoir on the chance of sharing in the contents of his panniers. The young chief mingled heartily in the sport, stripping off his gay robes and inciting the people to mischief. There was general laughing in the valley, and the Yezidis will long remember these days of simple merriment and happiness. In the afternoon the wives and daughters of the chiefs and Cawals called upon me. The families of the Cawals, evidently descended from the same stock, are remarkable for the beauty both of the men and women, all of whom are strikingly like one another. Their complexion is, perhaps, too dark, but their features are regular and admirably formed. The dresses of the girls were elegant, and as rich as the material they could obtain would allow. Some wove flowers into their hair, others encircled their black turbans with a single wreath of myrtle, a simple and elegant ornament. They all woi-e many strings of coins, amber, coral, agate, and glass beads round their necks, and some had the black skull cap completely covered with gold and silver money. A kind of apron of grey or yellowish check, like a Scotch plaid, tied over one shoulder, and falling in front over the silk dress, is a peculiar feature in the costume of the Yezidi girls, and of some Christians from the same district. Unmarried women have the Yezidi Dance at Sh.eikb Adi 88 NIXEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IV. neck bare, the married conceal it with a Avhite kercliief, which passes under the chin, and is tied on tlie top of the head. The brightest colors are worn by the girls, but the matrons are usually clothed in plain white. The females of the Cawal families always ■wear black turbans and skull caps. Cawal Yusuf, to show how the Frank ladies he had seen at Constantinople were honored by their husbands, made his young wife walk arm in arm with him before us, to the great amusement of the bystanders. At night the same religious ceremonies were repeated in the temple, and I was allowed to sleep in the room overlooking the inner court from whence I had witnessed them on the previous evening. After all had retired to rest, the Yezidi Mullah recited, in a low chanting tone, a religious history, or discourse, consisting of the adventures and teachin'ru flvpfueiei/i Fitful fnejeed h »M fniqmtnAt of Vriei:. -rtcnt a/id hone* . 0 Lint of dtptvil ot'brth fti trieJe HI Ifiiti f*ne vt ptUde dtfutd fJ. C UHUUf. /ii Lfi'JV. fintl ti tS.Vuturat con/f(ptiiemte i*. litnple If of pUm li iti'tt ct' \i/nn‘d mound. hfUcKi. ^^ctiou of Miniua uicl : Elf*v handled saw (about 3 feet 6 inches In length), several objects re- sembling the heads of sledge-hammers, and a large blunt sjjear- Half of a Doable-liandled Saw, from N.mroud. head, such as we find from the Sculptures were used during sieges to force stones from the walls of besieged cities.* The most interesting of the ivory relics were, a carved staff, perhaps a royal sceptre, part of which has been preserved, although in the last stage of decay ; and several entire elephants’ tusks, the largest being about 2 feet 5 Inches long. Amongst the smaller objects were several figures and rosettes, and four oval bosses, with the nails of copper still remaining, by which they were fastened to wood or some other material. The ivory could with difficulty be detached from the earth in which it was imbedded. It fell to small fragments, and even to dust, almost as soon as exposed to the aii’. Such specimens as have been bi'ought to tins country have been I’estored, and further decay checked by the same ingenious process that was applied to the ivory carvings first placed in the British Museum. Parts only of the elephants’ tusks have been preserved. AYe find from the bas-reliefs in the north-west palace of Nimroud t, and on Part of Ivory Sceptre i t i / l • • l i the obelisk (where captives or tribute-bearers are seen carrying tusks), that this produce of the far East was brought at an early period in considerable quantities to Assyria. I have described elsewhere J the frequent use of ivory for the adornment of ancient Eastern palaces and temples, as well as for * Monuments of Nineveh, 1st series. Plate 66. All these relics are in the British ISIuseum. I Id. Plate 24., where elephants’ tusks are represented above the captives as part of the spoil. t Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 420. o 2 19S NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. VIII. thrones and furniture. Ezekiel includes “horns of ivory ” amongst the objects brought to Tyre from Dedan, and the Assyrians may have obtained their supplies from the same country, which some believe to have been in the Persian Gulf. * Bronze Cubes inlaid with Gold. (Original Size.) Amongst various small objects in bronze were two cubes, each having on one face the figure of a scarab with outstretched wings, inlaid in gold f ; very interesting specimens, and probably amongst the earliest known, of an art carried in modern times to great perfection in the East. Two entire glass bowls, with fragments of others, were also found in this chamber|; the glass, like all that from the ruins, is covered with pearly scales, which, on being removed, leave pris- matic opal-like colors of the greatest brilliancy, showing, under different lights, the most varied and beautiful tints. This is a well known effect of age, arising from the decomposition of certain component parts of the glass. These bowls are probably of the same period as the small bottle found in the ruins of the north- west palace during the previous excavations, and now in the British Museum. On this highly interesting relic is the name of Sargon, with his title of king of Assyria, in cuneiform cha- racters, and the figure of a lion. We are, therefore, able to fix its date to the latter part of the seventh century B. c. It is, con- sequently, the most ancient known specimen of transparent glass, none from Egypt being, it is believed, earlier than the time of the Psamettici (the end of the sixth or beginning of the fifth * Ezek. xxvii. 15. Ivory was amongst the objects brought to Solomon by the navy of Tharshish (I Kings x. 22.). ■f They weigh respectively 8’264 oz. and 5 '299 oz., have the appearance of weights. ^ The larger, 5 inches in diameter, and 2f inches deep ; the other, 4 inches in diameter, and 2 ^ deep. Chap. VlIJ-l OBJECTS OF GLASS. 197 century B. C.). Opaque colored glass was, however, manufactured at a much earlier period, and some exists of the fifteenth century, B. c. The Sargon vase was blown in one solid piece, and then shaped and hollowed out by a turning-machine, of which the marks Glass and Alabaster Vas?s bearing tlie name of Sargon. frcm Nimroud. are still plainly visible. With it were found, it will be remem- bered, two larger vases in white alabaster, inscribed with the name of the same king. They were all probably used for holding some ointment or cosmetic.* With the glass bowls Avas discovered a rock-crystal lens, with opposite convex and plane faces. Its properties coidd scarcely have been unknown to the Assyrians, and we have consequently the earliest specimen of a magnifying and burning-glass. f It * The height of the glass vase is 85 inches ; of the alabaster, 7 inches. In an appendix will be found some notes by Sir D. Brewster, on the remarkable nature of the process of decomposition in the glass from Nineveh. f I am indebted to Sir David Brewster, who examined the lens, for the following note : — “ This lens is plano-eonvex, and of a slightly oval form, its length being l-j% inch, and its breadth 1 -j*^ inch. It is about ^%ths of an inch thick, and a little thicker at one side than the other. Its plane surface is pretty even, though ill polished and scratehed. Its convex surface has not been ground, or polished, on a spherical concave disc, but has been fashioned on a lapidary’s wheel, or by some method equally rude. The eonvex side is tolerably well polished, and though uneven from the mode in which it has been ground, it gives a tolerably distinct focus, at the distance of 4^ inches from the plane side. There are about twelve cavities in the lens, that have been opened during the process of grinding it : these cavities, doubtlesfs. o 3 198 KINEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. VIII It was buried beneath a heap of fragments of beautiful blue opaque glass, apparently the enamel of some object in ivory or wood, which had perished. In the further corner of the chamber, to the left hand, stood the royal throne. Although it was utterly imj)Ossible, from the complete state of decay of the materials, to preserve any part of it entire, I was able,' by carefully removing the earth, to ascertain that it resembled in shape the chair of state of the king, as seen in the sculptures of Kouyunjik and Khorsabad, and par- ticularly that represented in the bas-relief already described, of Sennacherib receiving the captives and spoil, after the conquest of the city of Lachish.* With the exception of the legs, which appear to have been partly of ivory, it was of wood, cased or overlaid with bronze, as the throne of Solomon was of ivory. Fragments of Bronze Ornaments of tlie Throne (Nimroud i overlaid with gold.f The metal was most elaborately engraved and embossed with symbolical figures and ornaments, like those contained either naphtha, or the same fluid which is discovered in lopazt quartz, and other minerals. As the lens does not show the polarised rays at great obliquities, its plane surface must be greatly inclined to the axis of the hexagonal prism of qu.artz from which it must have been taken. It is obvious, from the shape and rude cutting of the lens, that it could not have been intended as an ornament ; we are entitled, therefore, to consider it as intended to be used as a lens, either for magnifying, or for concentrating the rays of the sun, which it does, however, very imperfectly.” * See p. 150. ■f 1 Kings, X. 18. This is a highly interesting illustration of the work in Solomon’s palaces. The earliest use of metal amongst the Greeks appears also to have been as a casing to wooden objects. Chap. VIII.] THE ROYAL THRONE 199 embroidered on the robes of the early jSTimroud king, such as winged deities struggling with griffins, mythic animals, men be- fore the sacred tree, and the winged lion and bull. As the wood- work over which the bronze was fastened by means of small nails of the same material, had rotted away, the throne fell to pieces, but the metal casing Avas partly preserved. Numerous fragments of it are now in the British Museum, including the joints of tlie arms, and legs ; the rams’ or bulls’ heads, which adorned the end of the arms (some still retaining the clay and bitumen Bronze Boll s Head from TBrone. Bronze Head, part of Throne, showing bitumen inside. with the impression of the carving, showing the substance upon which the embossing had been hammered out), and the orna- mental scroll-work of the cross-bars, in the form of the Ionic volute. The legs were adorned with lion’s paws resting on a pine- shaped ornament, like the thrones of the later Assyrian sculptures*, and stood on a bronze base. A rod with loose ring's, to which was once hung; embroidered drap ry, or some rich stuff, appears to have belonged to the back of the chair, or to a frame-work raised above or behind it, though not I think, as conjectured, to a curtain con- cealing the monarch from those who approached him.t In front of the throne was the foot-stool, also of wood overlaid with embossed metal, and adorned with the heads of ram or bulls. The feet ended in lion’s paws and pine cones, like those of the * I succeeded, after mucli trouble, in moving and packing two of these legs ; but they appear to have since fallen to pieces. f That Eastern monarchs were, however, accustomed to conceal themselves by some such contrivances from their subjects, we know from the history of Deioces. (Herod, i. 99.) It has been even conjectured that the Hebrew word for a throne infers a veiled seat. The Assyrian kings, if we may judge from the bas-reliefs, were more accessible, and mingled more freely with their subjects. Bronze Binding of Jointa of i broue. 200 NIXEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. VIII. throne. The two pieces of furniture may have been placed together in a temple as an offering to the gods, as JNIidas placed his throne in the temple of Delphi.* The ornaments on them were so purely Assyrian, that there can be little doubt of their having been ex- pressly made for the Assyrian king, and not having been the spoil of some foreign nation, Near the throne, and leaning against the mouth of the well, was a circular band of bronze, 2 feet, 4 inches in diameter, studded with nails. It appears to have been the metal casing of a wheel, or of some object of wood. Such, with an alabaster jar f, and a few other objects in metal, were the relics found in the newly-opened room. After the examination I had made of the building during my former excava- tions, this accidental discovery proves that other treasures may still exist in the mound of Nimroud, and Increases my regxet that means wei'e not at my command to remove the rubbish from the centre of the other chambers in the palace. * Herod, i. 14. I need scarcely remind the reader of the frequent mention, in ancient historians, of thrones and couches ornamented with metal legs in the shape of the feet of animals. f After my departure from Assyria, a similar alabaster jar was discovered in an adjoining chamber. Colonel Rawlinson states that the remains of preserves were found in it, and hence conjectures that the room in which the bronze objects described in this chapter were found, was a kitchen. There is nothing, however, to show that this was the case, even if the contents of the jar are such as Colonel llawlinson supposes them to be. It is much more probable, that it was a repository for the royal arms and sacrificial vessels. Bronze Casting, from ths Throne ;Nimroud) A Group of Yezidis. CHAP. IX. VISIT TO THE WINGED LIONS BY NIGHT. — THE BITUMEN SPRINGS. REMOVAL OF THE WINGED LIONS TO THE RIVER. FLOODS AT NIMROUD LOSS AND RECOVERY OF LION. YEZIDI MARRIAGE FESTIVAL. — BAAZANI. VISIT TO BAA^IAN. SITE OF THE BATTLE OF ARBELA. DESCRIPTION OF ROCK- SCULI’TURES. INSCRIPTIONS. THE SHABBAKS. By the 28 th of January, tlie colossal lions forming the portal to the great hall in the north-west palace of Nimroud were ready to be dragged to the river-bank. The walls and their sculptured panelling had been removed from both sides of them, and they stood isolated in the midst of the ruins. We rode one calm cloud- less night to the mound, to look on them for the last time before they were taken from their old resting-places. The moon was at her full, and as we drew nigh to the edge of the deep wall of earth rising around them, her soft light was creeping over the stern features of the human heads, and driving before it the dark shadows which still clothed the lion forms. One by one the limbs 202 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IN. of the gigantic sphinxes emerged from the gloom, until the mon- sters were unveiled before us. I shall never forget that night, or the emotions which those venerable figures caused within me. A few hours more and they were to stand no longer where they had stood unscathed amidst the wreck of man and his works for ages. It seemed almost sacrilege to tear them from their old haunts to make them a mere wonder-stock to the busy crowd of a new world. They were better suited to the desolation around them ; for they had guarded the palace in its glory, and it w'as for them to watch over it in its ruin. Sheikh Abd-ur-Rahman, who had ridden with us to the mound, was troubled with no such reflections. lie gazed listlessly at the grim images, wondered at the folly of the Franks, thought the night cold, and turned his mare towards his tents. We scarcely heeded his going, but stood speechless in the deserted portal, until the shadows again began to creep over its hoary guardians. Beyond the ruined palaces a scene scarcely less solemn awaited us. I had sent a party of Jebours to the bitumen springs, out- side the walls to the east of the inclosure. The Arabs having lighted a small fire with brushwood awaited our coming to throw the burning sticks upon the pitchy pools. A thick heavy smoke, such as rose from the jar on the seashore when the fisherman had broken the seal of Solomon, rolled upwards in curling volumes, hiding the light of the moon, and spx’eading wide over the sky. Tongues of flame and jets of gas, driven from the burning pit, shot through the murky canopy. As the fire brightened, a thousand fantastic forms of light played amidst the smoke. To break the cindered crust, and to bring fresh slime to the surface, the Arabs threw large stones into the springs ; a new volume of fire then burst forth, throwing a deep red glare upon the figures and upon the landscape. The Jebours danced round the burning pools, like demons in some midnight orgie, shouting their war-cry, and bran- dishing their glittering arms. In an hour the bitumen was ex- hausted for the time*, the dense smoke gradually died away, and the pale light of the moon again shone over the black slime pits. The colossal lions were moved by still simpler and ruder means than those adopted on my first expedition. They were tilted over upon loose earth heaped behind them, their too rapid descent being checked by a hawser, which was afterwards replaced by props of wood and stone. They were then lowered, by levers and * In a few hours the pits are suffieiently filled to take fire again. Chap. IX.] JIOVING THE LIONS. 203 jackscrews, upon the cart brought under them. A road paved with flat stones had been made to the edge of the mound, and the sculpture was, without difficulty, dragged from the trenches. Beneath the Hons, embedded in earth and bitumen, were a few bones, which, on exposure to the air, fell to dust before I could ascertain whether they were human or not. The sculptures rested simply upon the platform of sun-dried bricks without any other sub-structure, a mere layer of bitumen, about an inch thick, having been placed under the plinth. Owing to recent heavy rains, which had left In many places deep swamps, we experienced much difficulty in dragging the cart over the plain to the river side. Three days were spent in transport- ino; each lion. The men of Naifa and Nimroud again came to our help, and the Abou-Salman horsemen, with Sheikh Abd-ur- Rahinan at their head, encouraged us by their presence. The unwieldly mass was propelled from behind by enormous levers of poplar wood ; and in the costumes of those who woi-ked, as well as in the means adopted to move the colossal sculptures, except that ■we used a wheeled cart Instead of a sledge, the procession closely resembled that which in days of yore transported the same great figures, and which we see so graphically represented on the walls of Kouyunjik.* As they had been brought so were they taken away. It was necessary to humor and excite the Arabs to induce them to persevere in the arduous work of dragging the cart through the deep soft soil Into which it continually sank. At one time, after many vain efforts to move the buried wheels, it was unanimously declared that ]\Ir. Cooper, the artist, brought ill luck, and no one would work until he retired. The cumbrous maebine crept on- wards for a few more yards, but again all exertions were fruitless. Then the Frank lady would bring good fortune if she sat on the sculpture. The wheels rolled heavily along, but were soon clogged once more in the yielding soil. An evil eye surely lurked among the workmen or the bystanders. Search was quickly made, and one having been detected upon whom this curse had alighted, he was ignominiously driven away with shouts and execrations. This im- pediment having been removed, the cart drew nearer to the village, but soon again came to a standstill. All the Sheikhs were now summarily degi’aded from their rank and honors, and a welik ragged boy having been dressed up in tawdry kerchiefs, and invested with * See woodcut, p. Ill, 20-1 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [ClIAP. IX. a cloak, was pronounced by Honnuzd to be the only fit chief for such iiuny men. The cart moved forwards, until the ropes gave way, under the new excitement caused by this reflection upon the character of the Arabs. When that had subsided, and the presence of the youthful Sheikh no longer encouraged his subjects, he was as summarily deposed as he had been elected, and a greybeard of ninety was raised to the dignity in his stead. He had his tui’n ; then the most unpopular of the Slieikhs were compelled to lie down on the ground, that the groaning wheels might pass over them, like the car of Juggernaut over its votaries. With yells, shrieks, and wild antics the cart was drawn within a few inches of the prostrate men. As a last resource I seized a rope myself, and with shouts of defiance between the different tribes, who were divided into separate parties and pulled against each other, and amidst the deafening tahlel of the women, the lion was at length fairly brought to the water’s edge. The winter rains had not yet swelled the waters of the river so as to enable a raft bearing a very heavy cargo to float with safety to Baghdad. It was not until the month of April, after I had left Mosul on my journey to the Khabour, that the floods, from the melting of the snows in the higher mountains of Kurdistan, swept down the valley of the Tigris. I was consequently obliged to confide the task of embarking tbe sculptures to Behnan, my prin- cipal overseer, a Mosuleean stonecutter of considerable skill and experience, Mr. Vice-consul Rassam kindly undertaking to super- intend the operation. Owing to extraordinary storms in the hills, the river rose suddenly and with unexampled rapidity. Mr. and Mrs. Rassam were at the time at Nimroud, and the raftmen had prepared the rafts to receive the Hons. It was with difficulty that they escaped before the flood, from my house in the village to the top of the ruins. The Jaif was one vast sea, and a furious wind drove the waves against the foot of the mound. Tlie Arabs had never seen a similar inundation, and before they could escape to the high land many persons were overwhelmed in the waters. Ayhen the flood had subsided, the lions on the river bank, though covered with mud and silt, were found uninjured. They were speedily placed on the rafts prepared for them, but unfortunately during the operation one of them, which had previously been cracked nearly across, separated into two parts. Both sculptures were doomed to misfortune. Some person, uncovering the other during the night, broke the nose. I was unable to discover the Chap. IX.] A TEZIDI MARRIAGE. 205 author of this wanton mischief. He was probably a stranger, who had some feud with the Arabs working in the excavations.* The rafts reached Baghdad in safety. After receiving the neces- sary repairs they floated onwards to Busrah. The waters of the Tigris throughout its course had risen far above their usual level. The embankments, long neglected by the Turkish government, had given way, and the river, bursting from its bed, spread itself over the surrounding country in vast lakes and marshes. One of the rafts was dragged into a vortex Avhich swept through a sluiee newly opened in the crumbling bank. Notwithstanding the exertions of the raftmen, aided by the crew of a boat that accompanied them, it was carried far into the intei'ior, and left in the middle of a swamp, about a mile from the stream. The other raft fortunately escaped, and reached Busrah without accident. For some time the stranded raft was given up for lost. Fortu- nately it bore the broken lion, or its recovery had probably been impossible. Captain Jones, with his usual skill and intrepidity, took his steamer over the ruined embankment, and Into the unex- plored morass. After great exertion, under a burning sun in the midst of summer, he succeeded in placing the two parts of the sculpture on large bo'Jlts, provided for the purpose, and in conveying them to their destination. f During my hasty visit in the autumn to Bavian, I had been unable either to examine the rock-tablets with sufficient care, or to copy the inscriptions. The lions having been moved, I seized the first leisure moment to return to those remarkable monuments. Cawal Yusuf having invited me to the marriage of his niece at Baashiekhah, we left Nimroud early in the morning for that village, striking across the country through Tel Yakoub, Karakosh (a large village inhabited by Catholic Chaldteans, and having several churches), and Bartolli. We were met at some distance from Baashiekhah by the Cawal, followed by the principal inhabitants on horseback, and by a large concourse of people on foot, accompa- nied by music, and by children bringing lambs as offerings. It was already the second day of the marriage. On the previous day the parties had entered into the contract before the usual * Both sculptures have, however, been completely restored in the British Museum. t These accidents, and even still more the carelessness afterwards shown in bringing them to this country, have much injured these fine specimens of Assyrian sculpture, which now stand in a great hall of the British Museum. 206 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IX. witnesses, amidst rejoicings and dances. After our arrival, the bride was led to the house of the bridegroom, surrounded by the inhabitants, dressed in their gayest robes, and by the Cawals play- ing on their instruments of music. She was covered from head to foot by a thick veil, and was kept behind a curtain in the corner of a darkened room. Here she remained until the guests had feasted three days, after which the bridegroom was allowed to approach her. The courtyard of the house was filled with dancers, and during the day and the greater part of the night nothing was heard but the loud signs of rejoicing of the women, and the noise of the drum and the pipe. On the third day the bridegroom was sought early in the morn- ing, and led in triumph by his friends from house to house, re- ceiving at each a trifling present. He was then placed within a circle of dancers, and the guests and bystanders, wetting small coins, stuck them on his forehead.* The money was collected as it fell, in an open kerchief held by his companions under his chin. After this ceremony a party of young men, who had attached themselves to the bridegroom, rushed into the crowd, and carry- ing off the most wealthy of the guests locked them up in a dark room until they consented to pay a ransom for their release. This violence and restraint were cheerfully submitted to, and the money thus collected was added to the dowry of the newly married couple. There was feasting during the rest of the day, with rakl- drlnking and music, and the usual accompaniments of an Eastern wedding. Leaving the revellers I rode to Baazani with Cawal Yusuf, Sheikh Jindi (the stern leader of the religious ceremonies at Sheikh Adi), and a few Yezidl notables, to examine the rocky valleys be- hind the village. I once more searched in vain for some traces of ancient quarries from whence the Assyrians might have obtained the slabs used in their buildings. At the entrance of one of the deep ravines, which runs into the Gebel Makloub, a clear spring gushes from a grotto in the hill-side. Tradition says that this is the cave of the Seven Sleepers and their Dog, and the Yezldis have made the sjiot a ziareh, or place of pllgrimage.t * This custom of sticking coins to the forehead of a bridegroom is common to several races of the East, amongst others to the Turcomans, who inhabit the villages round Mosul. t No tradition is more generally current in the East than the well known Chap. IX.] THE RIVER GOMEL. 207 In the sides of the same ravine are numerous excavated sepul- cliral chambers, with recesses or troughs in them for the receji- tion of the dead, such as I have so frequently had occasion to describe. Our road from Baasliiekhah to Bavian lay across the rocky range of the Gebel Makloub. We found it difficult and precipitous, on the western face and scarcely practicable to laden beasts ; on the eastern, it sank gradually into a broad plain. We passed the vil- lage of Giri Mohammed Araba, built near an artificial mound of considerable size. Similar mounds are scattered here and there over the flat country, and under almost every one is a Kurdish or Arab hamlet. A ride of seven hours brought us to the foot of the higher lime- stone range, and to the mouth of the ravine containing the rock- sculptures. Bavian is a mere Kurdish hamlet of five or six miserable huts on the left bank of the Ghazir. We stopped at the larger village of Khinnis ; the two being scarcely half a mile apart the place is usually called “ Khinnis-Bavian.” The Arab population ceases Avith the plains, the villages in the hills being inhabited by Kurds, and included in the district of Missouri. Ad- joining Khinnis is the Yezidi district of Sheikhan. The rock -sculptures of Bavian are the most important that have yet been discovered in Assyria.* They are carved in relief on the side of a narrow, rocky ravine, on the right bank of the Gomel, a brawling mountain torrent issuing from the Missouri hills, and one of the principal feeders of the small river Ghazir, the ancient Bumadus. The Gomel or Gomela may, perhaps, be traced in the ancient name of Gaugamelaf, celebrated for that great victory Avhich gave to the INIacedonian conqueror the dominion of the Eastern world, story of the Seven Sleepers and their Dog. There is scarcely a district Avithout the original cave in which the youths were concealed during their miraculous slumber. * They were first visited by the late M. Rouet, French consul at Mosul. In my Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 142. note, will be found a short description of the sculptures by my friend Mr. Ross. These are the rock- tablets w'hich have been recently described in the French papers, as a new discovery by M. Place, and as containing a series of portraits of the Assyrian kings ! f In some MSS. of Quintus Curtius, the Bumadus or Ghazir is called the “ Bumelus” which would not be far from the modern name of the upper branch of the river. It will, of course, be remembered, that Gaugamela, ac- cording to ancient historians, signifies “ a camel,” as derived probably from Gemel, the Semitic word for that animal. 208 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IX. Although the battlefield was called after Arbela, a neighbouring city, we know that the river Zab intervened between them, and that the battle was fought near the village of Gaugamela, on the banks of the Bumadus or Ghazir, the Gomela of the Kurds. It is remarkable that tradition has not jireserved any record of the pre- cise scene of an event which so materially affected the destinies of the East. The history of this great battle is unknown to the present inhabitants of the country ; nor does any local name, ex- cept perhaps that which I have pointed out, serve to connect it with these plains. The village, which once stood near the mound of Nimroud, was, indeed, said to have been called Dariousha, after the Persian monarch, who slept there on the night preceding the defeat that deprived him of his empire.* Some have fancied a similarity between the name of Gaugamela and that of the modern village of Karamless. The battlefield was probably in the neigh- bourhood of Tel Aswad, or between it and the junction of the Ghazir with the Zab, on the direct line of march to the fords of that river. We had undoubtedly ci'ossed the very spot during our ride to Bavlan. The whole of the country between the Mak- loub range and the Tigris is equally well suited to the operations of mighty armies, but from the scanty topograjihical details given by the historians of Alexander we are unable to identify the exact place of his victory. It is curious that hitherto no remains or re- lics have been turned up by the plough which would serve to mark the precise site of so great a battle as that of Arbela. The principal rock -tablet at Bavlan contains four figures, sculp- tured In relief upon the smoothed face of a limestone cliff, rising perpendicularly from the bed of the torrent. They are inclosed by a kind of frame 28 feet high by 30 feet wide, and are protected by an overhanging cornice from the water which trickles down the face of the precipice. Two deities, facing each other, are re- presented, as they frequently are on monuments and relics of the same period, standing on mythic animals resembling dogs. They wear the high square head-dress, with horns uniting in front, pecu- liar to the human-headed bulls of the later Assyrian palaees. One holds in the left hand a kind of staff surmounted by the sacred tree. To the centre of this staff is attached a ring encircling a figure, * I never heard any similar tradition from the people of the country. According to the Shemutti, who inhabit the new village the name was Dara- wish, i. e. the place of Dervishes. It belonged to Turcomans, who mostly died of the plague, the remainder migrating to Selamiyah. Chap. IX.] SCULPTURES AT BAVIAN. 209 probably that of the king. The other hand is stretched forth to- wards the opposite god, who carries a similar staff, and grasps in the right hand an object which is too much injured to be ac- curately described.* These two figures may represent but one and the same great tutelary deity of the Assyrians, as the two kings who stand in act of adoration before them are undoubtedly but one and the same king. The monai’ch, thus doubly portrayed, is behind the god. He raises one hand, and holds in the other the sacred mace, ending in a ball. His dress resembles that of the builder of the Kouyunjik palace, Sennacherib, with whom the inscriptions I shall presently describe, identify him. The peak pi'ojectlng from the conical royal tiara is longer and more pointed than usual. The ornaments of the costumes of the four figures are rich and elaborate. The sword-scabbards end in lions, and the earrings are peculiarly elegant in design. Resting on the cornice above the sculptures, and facing the ravine, are the remains of two crouching sphinxes, probably similar in form to those at the grand entrance to the south-west palace of Nimroud.f Behind them is a narrow recess or platform in the rock. This bas-relief has suffered greatly from the effects of the at- mosphere, and in many parts the details can no longer be dis- tinguished. But they have been still more Injured by those who occupied the country after the fall of the Assyrian empire. Strangers, having no reverence for the records or sacred monu- ments of those who went before them, excavated in the ready- scarped rocks the*sepulchral chambers of their dead.J In this great * See Monuments of Nineveh, 2nd series, Plate 31. for an illustration of these roek-sculptures. t Nineveh and its Remains, vol. i. p. .349. J It is evident that these tombs are not of the Assyrian epoch, supposing even the Assyrians to have placed their dead in chambers excavated in the rocks. I have never met with rock-tombs which could be referred with any certainty to that period. In a bas-relief discovered at Khorsabad one writer (Bonomi, Nineveh and its Palaces, p. 196.) detects the representation of such excavations in a rock on which stands a castle ; but I believe that houses are meant, as in a similar subject from Kouyunjik (see 2nd Series of Monuments of Nineveh, Plate 39.). It is evident that these supposed rock-tombs cannot indicate the sepulchres of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which are of a very different period, nor, as the same writer has inferred, the city of Jerusalem. The Jews, as well as other nations of antifpiity, were, however, accustomed to make such rock-chambers for their dead, as we learn from Isaiah, xxii. 16. “ What hast thou here ? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock ? ” P 210 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IX. tablet there are four such tombs. Two have been cut between the figures of the god, and have spared the sculptures. Tlie others have destroyed the head of one king and a part of the robes of the opposite figure. The entrances to the two largest were once ornamented with columns, which have been broken away. Round the walls of these excavated chambers are the usual troughs for the bodies of the dead. I entered the tombs by means of a rope lowered from above by a party of Kurds. They were empty, their contents having, of course, been long before carried away, or destroyed. To the left of this great bas-relief, and nearer the mouth of the ravine, is a second tablet containing a horseman at full speed, and the re- mains of other figures. Both horse and rider, are of colossal proportions, and remarkable for the spirit of the outline. The warrior wears the Assy- rian pointed helmet, and couches a long ponder- ous spear, as in the act of charging the enemy. Before him is a colossal figure of the king, and behind him a deity with the horned cap ; above his head a row of smaller figures of gods standing on animals of various forms, as in the rock-sculptures of IMalthaiyah. This fine bas-relief has, unfortunately, suffered even more than the other monuments from the effects of the atmosphere, and would easily escape notice without an acquaintance with its position. Scattered over the cliff, on each side of the principal bas- reliefs, are eleven small tablets, some easily accessible, otliers so high up on the face of tlie precipice, that they are scarcely seen from below. One is on a level with the bed of the stream, and was, indeed, almost covered by the mud deposit of the floods. Each arched recess, for they are cut into the rock, contains a figure of the king, as at the Nahr-el-Kelb, near Beyrout In Syria*, * I examined the remarkable tablets at the Nahr-el-Kelb, on my return to Europe in 1851. They were sculf)tured, as I stated in my first work, by Sennacherib, the king of the Eavian monuments. The only inscription partly Chap. IX.] IXSCRIPTIOXS AT B AVI AN. 211 5 feet 6 Inches high. Above his head are the sacred symbols, arranged in four distinct groups. The first group consists of tliree tiaras, like those worn by the gods and human-headed bulls, and of a kind of altar on which stands a staff ending in the head of a ram ; the second of a crescent and of the winged disk, or globe ; the third of a pedestal, on which are a trident and three staffs, one topped by a cone, another without ornament, and the last ending in two bulls’ heads turned in opposite directions ; and the fourth of a Maltese cross (? symbolical of the sun) and the seven stars. Some of these symbols have reference, it would seem, to the astral Sacred Sym'bols or Royal TalDlets (Bavian). worship of the As.syrians ; whilst others, probably, represent in- struments used during sacrifices, or sacred ceremonies. Across three of these royal tablets are inscriptions. One can be reached from the foot of the cliff, the others, being on the higher scul[)tures, cannot be seen from below. They are all more or less injured, but being very nearly, word for word, the same, they can to some extent be restored. I was lowered by ropes to those on the face of the precipice, which are not otherwise accessible. Standing on a ledge scarcely six inches wide, overlooking a giddy depth, and In a constrained and painful position, I had some diffi- culty in copying them. The stupidity and clumsiness, moreover, of the Kurds, who had never aided in such proceedings before, rendered my attempts to reach the sculptures somewhat dangerous. preserved is unfortunately so much injured as to have hitherto defied trans- cription. The tablets are seven in number, and, as it is well known, are cut upon a rock near the mouth of the Nahr-el-Kelb river, adjoining three Egyptian inscriptions and bas-reliefs with the name of Raineses. 212 KINEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. IX. The inscriptions, the longest of which contains sixty-tlu’ee lines, are in many respects of considerable importance, and have been partly translated by Dr. Ilincks. They commence with an invo- cation to Ashur and the great deities of Assyria, the names of only eleven of whom are legible, although probably tlie whole thirteen are enumerated, as on the monuments from Nimroud. Then follow the name and titles of Sennacherib, Next there is an account of various great works for irrigation undertaken by this king. From eighteen districts, or villages, he declares he dug eighteen canals to the Ussur or Khiisur (?), in which he collected their waters, lie also dug a canal, from the borders of the town or district of Kisri to Nineveh, and brought these waters through it ; he called it the canal of Sennacherib. No traces now remain, as far as I know, of such a canal, unless the bed of the Khauser (Ussur?) was deepened by this king, and other small streams of the surround- ing country led into it. Then the Ussur may mean the great ditch defending the inclosure of Kouyunjlk to the east, through which the Khauser now flows. If such be the case, the canal, fed by the united sti'eams, may have been Intended for defence as well as for irrigation. Or else it may have been mainly derived from the Gomel or Ghazir, here called Ussur (?), and carried to some other part of the great city. We can then understand why the execution of this work was recorded on the rock-tablets near the source of the river. However, this part of the inscription has not yet been sa- tisfactorily interpreted, and may hereafter be found to contain de- tails which may help to identify the site of these artificial water- courses. A long obscure passage precedes a very detailed account of the expedition to Babylon and Kar-Duniyas against INIerodach-baladan, recorded under the first year of the annals on the Kouyunjik bulls.* After mentioning some canals which he had made in the south of Assyria, Sennacherib speaks of the arm)" whicli defended the workmen being attacked by the king of Elam and the king of Babylon, witli many kings of the hills and the plains who were their allies. lie defeated them in the neighbourhood of Khalul (site undetermined). IMany of the great people of the king of Elam and the son of the king of Kar-Duniyas were either killed or taken prisoners, while the kings themselves fled to their respective countries. Sennacherib then mentions his advance to Babylon, his conquest and plunder of it, and concludes with saying, that he brouglit back from that city the Images of the gods which had * See p. 140. Chap. IX.] SCULPTURES AT BAVIAX. 213 been taken by Merodach-adakhe (?), the king of Mesopotamia, from Assyria 418 years before, and put them in their places. A name ini[)erfectly deciphered is given as that of the king of Assjn-ia of that day. Dr. HIncks would read it Shimishti-Pal-Bithkira, but admits that the last element in particular is very doubtful. The same name is found in the inscriptions of Ximroud, as that of a predecessor of the builder of the north-west palace, as also in an inscription of the time of Tiglath Pilesar or Pul. In this place the earlier king is probably intended. Sennacherib, after his vic- tory, appears to have transported the inhabitants of Babylon to Arakhti (? the river Araxes), but the whole passage is doubtful, owing to some important words being destroyed in the three inscriptions. After his return from this expedition “at the mouth (?) of the river he had dug he set up six tablets, and beside them he put up the full leiKjtli (?) images of the great gods.” Now, the importance of this inscription, presuming it to be cor- rectly interpreted, will at once be perceived, for it proves almost beyond a doubt, that at that remote period the Assyrians kept an exact computation of time. We may consequently hope tliat sooner or later chronological tables may be discovered, which will furnish us with minute and accurate information as to the precise epoch of the occurrence of various important events in As.sy- rian history. It is, indeed, remarkable that Sennacherib should mark so exactly the year of the carrying away of the Assyrian gods. This very date enables us, as will hereafter be seen, to re- store much of the chronology, and to place, almost with certainty, in the dynastic lists, a king whose position was before unknown. We find also that the greater part, if not the whole, of the rock-sculpl ures were executed either at the end of the first, or at the beginning of the seeond, year of the reign of Sennacherib. As he particulai'ly describes six tablets, it is probable that the others were added at some future period, and after some fresh vic- tory. The mention, too, of the transportation of the inhabitants of Babylon to so remote a locality as the Araxes is highly inter esting, and, if the translation of the passage may be relied on, we may perhaps trace in these colonies the origin of those Chalda^an tribes which Xenophon and Strabo describe as still, in their time, inhabiting the same region. When the whole Inscription is re- stored we shall probably obtain many other important details which are wanting in the annals of Kouyunjik, and in the records of the same period. 214 NIXEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. IX. Beneath the sculptured tablets, and in the bed of the Gomel, are two enormous fragments of rock, which appear to have been Fallen Rock-Sculptures tBavian) torn from the overhanging cliff, and to have been hurled by some mighty convulsion of nature into the torrent below. The pent up waters eddy round them in deep and dangerous whirl^iools, and when swollen by the winter rains sweej) completely over them.* They still bear the remains of sculpture. One has been broken by the fall into two pieces. On them is the As- syrian Hercules strangling the lion between two winged human- headed bulls, back to back, as at the grand entrances of the l)alaces of Kouyunjik and Khorsabad.f Above this group is the king, worshipping between two deities, who stand on mythic ani- mals, having the heads of eagles, the bodies and fore feet of Hons, and hind legs armed with the talons of a bird of prey. The height of the whole sculpture is 24 feet, that of the winged bull 8 ft. 6 in. * It was at this spot that Mr. Bell, the youthful artist sent out by the Trus- tees of the British Museum, was unfortunately drowned when bathing, in the month of July, 1851, shortly after my departure from Mosul, t See woodcut, p. 138. Chap. IX.] SCULPTURES AT BAVIAN. 215 Near the entrance to the ravine the face of the cliff has been scraped for some yards to the level of the bed of the torrent. A party of Kurds were hired to excavate at this spot, as well as In other parts of the narrow valley. Kemains and foundations of buildings In well-hewn stone were discovered under the thick mud deposited by the Gomel when swollen by rains. Higher up the o'oro'e, on I’emovin" the earth, I found a series of basins cut in the rock, and descending in steps to the stream. The water had origi- nally been led from one to the other through small conduits, the lowest of which was ornamented at its mouth with two rampant lions in relief. These outlets were choked up, but we cleared them, and by pouring water into the upper basin restored the fountain as it had been in the time of the Assyrians. From the nature and number of the monuments at Bavian, it ivould seem that this ravine was a sacred spot, devoted to religious ceremonies and to national sacrifices. When the buildings, whose remains still exist, were used for these purposes, the waters must have been pent up between quays or embankments. They noAV 216 NIXEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. IX. occasionally spread over the bottom of the valley, leaving no path- way at the foot of the lofty cliffs. The remains of a well-built raised causeway of stone, leading to Bavian from the city of Nine- veh, may still be traced across the plain to the east of the Gebel Makloub. The place, from its picturesque beauty and its cool refreshing shade even in the hottest day of summer, is a grateful retreat, well suited to devotion and to holy rites. The brawling stream almost fills the bed of the narrow ravine with its clear and limpid waters. The beetling cliffs rise abruptly on each side, and above them tower the wooded declivities of the Kurdish hills. As the valley opens into the plain, the sides of the limestone mountains are broken into a series of distinct strata, and resemble a vast flight of steps lead- ing up to the high lands of central Asia. The banks of the tor- rent are clothed with shrubs and dwarf trees, amongst which are the green myrtle and the gay oleander, bending under the weight of its I’osy blossoms. I remained two days at Bavian to copy the Inscriptions, and to explore the Assyrian remains. Hannah the overseer, with a party of jvoor Nestorians, who, driven by want from the district, of Tkhoma, chanced to pass through the valley, was left to clear away the earth from the lower monuments, and to excavate amongst the ruins. No remains were discovered; and after work- ing for a few days without I’esults, they came to jMosuI. Wishing to visit the Yezidi chiefs, I took the road to Ain Sifni, passing through two large Kurdish villages, Atrush and Om-es-sukr, and leaving the entrance to the valley of Sheikh Adi to the right. The district to the north-west of Khinnis is partly inhabited by a tribe professing peculiar religious tenets, and known by the name of Shabbak. Although strange and mysterious rites are, as usual, attrilmted to them, I suspect that they are simply the descendants of Kurds, who emigrated at some distant period from the Per- sian slopes of the mountains, and who still profess Sheeite doc- tnnes. They may, however, be tainted with Ali-Blahism.* Their chief, with whom I was acquainted, resides near Mosul. * A creed professed by several tribes in Kurdistan and Louristan, and by some of the inliabitants of the northern part of the Lebanon range in Syria. It consists mainly in the belief, that there have been successive incarnations of the Deity, the principal having been in the person of Ali, the celebr.Hted son-in-law of the prophet Mohammed. The name usually given them, Ali-Illahi, means “ believers that Ali is God.” Various abominable rites have been attributed to them, as to the Yezidis, Ansyris, and all sects whose doctrines are not known to the surrounding IMussulmau or Christian population. Chap. IX.] RETURN TO MOSUL. 217 We passed the night in the village of Esseeyah, where Sheikh Kasr had recently built a dwelling-house. I occupied the same room with the Sheikh, Hussein Bey, and a large body of Yezidi Cawals, and was lulled to sleep by an interminable tale, about the prophet ISIohammed and a stork, which, when we had all lain down to rest, a Yezidi priest related with the same soporific effect upon the whole party. On the following day I hunted gazelles with Hussein Bey, and was his guest for the night at Baadri, returning next mornino; to Mosul. O The Author’s House at Kimroud. CHAP. X. VISIT TO KALAH SHERGIIAT PREVENTED. — VISIT TO SHOMAMOK. — KESHAF. — THE HOWAR. A BEDOUIN UIS MISSION. DESCENT OF ARAB HORSES. THEIR PEDIGREE. RUINS OF MOKHAMOUR. — THE MOUND OF THE KASR. PLAIN OF SHOMAMOK. — THE GLA OR KALAH. XENOPHON AND THE TEN THOUSAND. A WOLF. RETURN TO NIMROUD AND MOSUL. — DISCOVERIES AT KOUYUNJIK. DESCRIPTIOM OF THE BAS-RELIEFS. The mound of Kalah Slierghat having been veiy imperfectly examined during my former residence in Assyria*, I had made arrangements to return to the ruins. All my preparations were complete by the 22nd of February, and I floated down the Tigris on a raft laden with provisions and tools necessary for at least a month’s residence and work in the desert. I had expected to find IMohammed Seyyid, one of my Jebour Sheikhs, with a party of the Ajel, liis own particular tribe, ready to accompany me. The Bedouins, how'ever, were moving to the north, and their horsemen had already been seen in the neiglibourhood of Kalah Slierghat. Nothing would consequently Induce the Ajel, who were not on the best terms with the Shammar Arabs, to leave their tents, and, after much useless discussion, I was obliged to give up the journey. Awad, with a party of Jeliesh, had been for nearly six weeks * Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. chap. 12. Chap. X.] TEXTS OF THE HOWAR. 210 exploring the mounds in the plan of Shomamok, the country of the Tai Arabs, and had sent to tell me that he had found remains of buildings, vases, and inscribed bricks. I determined, therefore, to make use of the stores collected for the Kalah Sherghat expedi- tion by spending a few days in inspecting his excavations, and in carefully examining those ruins which I had only hastily visited on my previous journey. I accordingly started from Nimroud on the 2nd of INIarch, accompanied by Hormuzd, the doctor, and Mi*. Eolland. We descended the Tigris to its junction with the Zab, whose waters, swollen by the melting of the snows in the Kurdish mountains, were no longer fordable. Near the confluence of the streams, and on the southern bank of the Zab, is the lofty mound of Keshaf. This artificial platform of earth and unbaked bricks rests upon a limestone rock, projecting abruptly from the soil. Its summit is crowned by a stone wall, with an arched gateway facing the south — the remains of a deserted fort, commanding the two rivei’s. It was garrisoned a few years ago by an officer and a company of irregular troops from Baghdad, who were able from this stronghold to check the Inroads of the Bedouins, as well as of the Tai and other tribes, who plundered the Mosul villages. Since it has been abandoned, the country has again been exposed to the incursions of these marauders, who now cross the rivers unmolested, and lay waste the cultivated districts. I could find no relics of an early date, nor did subsequent excavations lead to their discovery. The mound is, nevertheless, most probably of Assyrian origin. From the remotest period the importance of the position, at the confluence of two great rivers, must have led to the erection of a castle on this spot. The tents of the Howar were about five miles from Keshaf. Since my last visit, he had received his cloak of investiture as Sheikh from the Pasha of Kerkouk*, and was once more the acknowledged chief of the Tai. Faras had, however, with- drawn from his rival, and, followed by his own adherents, had moved to the banks of the Lesser Zab. The Shammar Be- * The great pashalic of Baghdad, formerly one of the most important and wealthy in the Turkish empire, and the first in rank, had recently been divided into several distinct governments. It once extended from Diarbekr to the Persian Gulf, and was first curtailed about fifteen years ago, when Diarbekr and Mosul were placed under independent pachas. Lately it has been reduced to the districts surrounding the city, with the Arab tribes who encamp in the neighbourhood ; Kerkouk, Suleimaniyah, and Busrah being formed into separate governments. In this new division the Tai were included within the pashalic of Kerkouk. 220 KINEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. X. tlouins, encouraged by tlie division in the tribe, bad, only three days before our visit, crossed the Tigris and fallen suddenly upon the Kochers, or Kurdish wanderers, of the Ilerki clans. These noniades descend annually from the highest mountain regions to winter in the rich meadows of Shomamok. They pay a small tribute to the Tai for permission to pasture their flocks, and for protection against the desert Arabs. The Howar was conse- quently bound to defend them, and had sent Saleh, with his horsemen, to meet the Shammar. They had been beaten, and had lost forty of their finest mares. The Kurds appear to have little coui’age when attacked by the Bedouins in the plains, although they can oppose the rifle to the simple spear. A large number of them had been slain, and several thousand of their sheep and cattle had been driven across the Tigris. We found the Howar much cast down and vexed by his recent misfortunes. The chiefs of the tribe were with him, in gloomy consultation over their losses. A Bedouin, wrapped in his ragged cloak, was seated listlessly in the tent. He had been my guest the previous evening at Nimroud, and had announced himself on a mission from the Shammar to the Tai, to learn the breed of the mares which had been taken in the late conflict. His mes- sage might appear, to those ignorant of the customs of the Arabs, one of insult and defiance. But he was on a common errand, and although there was blood between the tribes, his person was as sacred as that of an ambassador in any civilised community. Whenever a horse falls into the hands of an Arab, his first thought is how to ascertain its descent. If the owner be dismounted in battle, or if he be even about to receive his deatli-blow from the spear of his enemy, he will frequently exclaim, “ O Fellan ! (such a one) the mare that fate has given to you, is of noble blood. She is of the breed of Saklawiyah and her dam is ridden by Awaith, a sheikh of the Fedhan” (or as the case may be). Nor will a lie come from the mouth of a Bedouin as to the race of his mare. He is proud of her noble qualities, and will testify to them as he dies. After a battle or a foray, the tribes who have taken horses from the enemy will send an envoy to ask their breed, and a person so chosen passes from tent to tent unharmed, hearing from each man, as he eats his bread, the descent and qualities of the animal he may have lost. Amongst men who attach the highest value to the pure blood of their horses, and who have no written pedigree, for amongst the Bedouins documents of this kind do not exist, such cus- Chap. X.] EUINS OF MOKHAMOUK. 221 toms are necessary. The descent of a horse is preserved by tradition, and the birth of a colt is an event known to the whole tribe. If a townsman or stranger buy a horse, and is desirous of having written evidence of its race, the seller, with his friends, will come to the nearest town to testify before a person spe- cially qualified to take the evidence, called “ the cadi of the horses,” who makes out a written pedigree, accompanied by various prayers and formularies from the Koran used on such occasions, and then affixes to it his seal. It would be considered disgraceful to the character of a true Bedouin to give false testimony on such an occasion, and his word is usually received with implicit confidence. The morning following our arrival at the tents of the Howar was ushered in by a heavy rain. I thought this a good oppor- tunity of visiting the ruins of Mokhamour, as the Bedouins rarely leave their tents on plundering expeditions in wet weather. None of the Tai, however, would accompany me. They still dreaded the Shammar, and the Howar loudly protested against the rash- ness of venturing alone into the plains so recently overrun by the enemy. Awad professed to know the road, and accompanied by Hormuzd and Mr. R., I struck across the low hills under his guidance. These ruins, of which I had so frequently received exaggerated descriptions from the Arabs, are in the deserted district between the Karachok range and the river Tigris. The plains in which they are situated are celebrated for the richness of their pastures, and are sought in spring by the Tai and the Kurdish Kochers. Even as early as the time of our visit the face of the country is usually covered with their flocks and herds. But the dread of the Sham- mar had now scared them from the banks of the river, and they had migrated to the inland meadows, further removed from the forays of the Bedouins. From the tents of Howar, on the low un- dulating hills forming the northern spur of the Karachok, to Mokhamour, a distance of some fifteen miles, we did not see a sino;le human bein^. We kept as much as possible in the broken country at the foot of the mountain to escape observation. The wooded banks of the Tigris and the white dome of the tomb of Sultan Abdallah were faintly visible in the distance, and a few artificial mounds rose in the plains. The pastures were already fit for the flocks, and lux- uriant grass furnished food for our horses amidst the ruins. The principal mound of Mokhamour is of considerable height. 222 NIXEVEII AXD BABYLON'. [Chap. X and ends In a cone. It is apparently the remains of a platform built of earth and sun-dried bricks, originally divided into several distinct stages or terraces. On one side are the traces of an in- clined ascent, or of a flight of steps, once leading to the summit. It stands in the centre of a quadrangle of lower mounds, about 480 paces square. I could find no remains of masonry, nor any fragments of inscribed bricks, pottexy, or sculptui’ed alabastei’. The ruins ai'e near the southern spur of Karachok, where that mountain, after falling suddenly into low broken hills, again I’ises into a solitaiy ridge, called Blsixiai’, stretching to the Lesser Zab, Mokhamour being between the two I'ivers. These detached lime- stone ridges, running parallel to the great range of Kurdistan, such as the Makloub, Sinjar, Karachok, and Hamrin, are a pe- culiar feature in the geological structure of the countiy lying between the ancient jxrovince of Cilicia and the Pei’sian Gulf. Ilog-backed in form, they have an even and smooth outline when viewed from a distance, but are I'eally rocky and rugged. Their sides are broken into innumei’able ravines, pi'oducing a variety of pui’ple shadows, ever changing and contrasting with the rich golden tint of the limestone, and I’endering these solitaiy hills, when seen from the plain, objects of great intei’est and beauty.* They are, for the most part, but scantily wooded with a dwarf oak, and that only on the eastern slope ; their rocky sides are generally, even In spring, naked and bai'e of all vegetation. Few springs of fresh water being found In them, they are but thinly inhabited. In the spring months, when the I’ain has supplied natural I’eservoirs in the ravines, a few wandei’ing Kuixlish tribes pitch their tents in the most sheltered spots. Having examined the ruins, taken bearings of the principal land- marks, and allowed our horses to refresh themselves in the high gi’ass, I returned to the encampment of the Tai. As we rode back we spied in the desert tlu’ee horses, which had been probably left by the Bedouins in their retreat, and were now quietly grazing in the pastui’cs. After many vain efforts we suc- ceeded in driving them befoi'e us, and on our ai’rival at the * I take this opportunity of mentioning, with the praise it most fully deserves as a work of art, the Panorama of Nimroud, painted and exhibited by Mr. Bur- ford, in which the Karachok and Makloub are introduced. The tints produced by the setting sun on those hills are most faithfully portrayed, and the whole scene, considering the materials from which the artist worked, is a proof of his skill as a painter, and of his feeling for Eastern scenery. Chap. X.] RUINS OF SHOMAMOK. 22 3 tents I ]:)resented them in due form to the Howar, who was re- warded, by this unexpected addition to his stud, for the alarm he declared he had felt for our safety during our absence. A ride of three hours next morning, across the spurs of the Karachok, brought us to the ruins of Abou-Jerdeh, near which we had found the tents of Faras on our last visit. The mound is of con- siderable size, and on its summit are traces of foundations in stone masonry ; but I could find no remains to connect it with the Assyrian period. The eastern base is washed by a small stream coming: from the Koi’dereh. We breakfasted with our old host Wall Beg, and then con- tinued our journey to one of the principal artificial mounds of Shomamok, called the “ Kasr,” or palace. The pastures were covered with the flocks of the Arabs, the Kochers, and the DIs- dayi Kurds. A broad and deep valley, or rather gully, worn by a sluggish stream in the alluvial soil, crosses the ^ilain. The stranger is not aware of its existence until he finds himself actually on the brink of the lofty precipices which hem it in on both sides. Then a long, narrow meadow of the brightest emerald green, studded with flocks and tents, opens beneath his feet. We crossed this valley, called the Kordereh, and encamped for the night at the foot of the Kasr, on the banks of a rivulet called As-surayji, which joins the Kordereh below Abou-Jerdeh, near a village named “ Salam Aleik,” or “ Peace be with you.” The mound is both large and lofty, and Is surrounded by the remains of an earthen embankment. It is divided almost into two distinct equal parts by a ravine or watercourse, wdiere an ascent probably once led from the plain to the edifice on the summit of the platform. Above the ruins of the ancient buildings stood a modern fort, generally garrisoned by troops belonging to the Mutesellim of Arbil. It was afterwards inhabited by some families of the Jehesh tribe, who were driven away by the ex- actions of the chiefs of the Tal. Awad had opened several deep trenches and tunnels in the mound, and had discovered chambers, some with walls of plain sundried bricks, others panelled round the lower part with slabs of reddish limestone, about or 4 feet high. He had also found inscribed bricks, with Inscriptions de- claring that Sennacherib had here built a city, or rather palace, for the name of which, written if — I cannot suggest a reading. I observed a thin deposit, or layer, of pebbles and rubble above the remains of the Assyrian building, and about eight feet beneath 224 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. X. the surface, as at Kouyunjik. It may probably have been the floor- ing or foundation of some ediflce of a more recent date raised above the buried palaces. I could discover no traces whatever of ala- baster in the ruins, although the material is common in the neigh- bourhood, nor could I find the smallest fragment of sculptured stone which might encourage a further search after bas-reliefs or inscriptions. From the summit of the Kasr of Shoniamok I took bearings of twenty-five considerable mounds, the remains of ancient As- syrian population * ; the largest being in the direction of the Lesser Zab. Over the ])lain* too, were thickly scattered villages, surrounded by cultivated fields, and belonging to a tribe of Kurds called DIsdayi, who move with their flocks and tents to the pastures during spring, and return to their huts In the summer to gather in the harvest and to till the soil. 'Wishing to examine several ruins in the neighbourhood I left our tents early on the following morning, and rode to the mound of Abd-ul-Azeez, about eight or nine miles distant, and on the road between Baghdad and Arbil. The latter town, with its castle perched upon a lofty artificial mound, all that remains of the ancient city of Arbela, which gave its name to one of the greatest battles the woild ever saw, was visible during the greater part of our day’s ride. The plain abounds In villages and canals for irrigation, supplied by the As-Surayji. When the land is too high to be watered by the usual open conduits, the villagers cut subterranean passages like the Persian Kaiiduks, which are fre- quently at a considei’able depth under ground, and are open to the air at certain regular distances by shafts sunk from above. The soil thus irrigated produces cotton, rice, tobacco, millet, melons, cucumbers, and a few vegetables. The jurisdiction of the Tai Sheikh ends at the Kasr; the villages beyond are under the immediate control of the governor of Arbil, to whom they pay their taxes. The inhabitants complained loudly of oppression, and appeared to be an active, industrious race. Upon the banks of the Lesser Zab, below Altun Kupri (or Guntera, the “ Bridge,” as the Arabs call the place), encamp the Arab tribe of Abou- Ilamdan, renowned for the beauty of its women. The mounds I examined, and particularly that of Abd-ul-Azeez, abound in sepulchral urns and in pottery, apparently not Assyrian. * The names of the principal are Tel-el-Baronr, Abbas, Kadreeyah, Abd-ul- Azeez, Baghurtha, Elias Tiippeh, Tarkheena, and Doghan. Chap. X.] KUINS OF SnOMAMOK. 225 The most remarkable sj 30 t ia the district of Shomamok is the Gla (an Arab corruption of Kalah), or the Castle, about two miles distant from the Kasr. It is a natural elevation, left by the stream of the Kordereh, which has worn a deep channel in the soil, and dividing itself at this place into two branches forms an island, whose summit, but little increased by artificial means, is, therefore, nearly on a level with the top of the opposite pre- cipices. The valley may be in some places about a mile wide, in others only four or five hundred yards. The Gla is consequently a natural stronghold, above one hundred feet high, furnished on all sides with outworks, resembling the artificial embankments of a modern citadel. A few isolated mounds near it have the appear- ance of detached forts, and nature seems to have formed a com- plete system of fortification. I have rarely seen a more curious place. There are no remains of modern habitations on the summit of the Gla, which can only be ascended without difficulty from one side. Awad excavated by my directions in the mound, and dis- covered traces of Assyrian buildings, and several inscribed bricks, bearing the name of Sennacherib, and of a castle or palace, -which, like that on the bricks from the Kasr, I am unable to interpret. It is highly probable that a natural stronghold, so difficult of access, almost impregnable before the use of artillery, should have been chosen at a very early period for the site of a castle. Even at this day it might become a position of some im- portance, especially as a check upon the Arabs and Kurds, who occasionally lay waste these rich districts. Numerous valleys, worn by the torrents, descending from the Karachok hills, open into the Koi’dereh. They have all the same character, deep gul- leys, I’arely more than half a mile in width, confined between lofty perpendicular banks, and watered during summer by small sluggish rivulets. These sheltered spots furnish the best pastures, and are frequented by the Disdayi Kurds, whose flocks were already scat- tered far and wide over their green meadows. From the Gla I crossed the plain to the mound of Abou Sheetha, in which Awad had excavated for some time without making any discovery of interest. Near this ruin, pei’haps at its very foot, must have taken place an event Avhich led to one of the most celebrated ej^isodes of ancient history. Here were treache- rously seized Clearchus, Proxenus, Menon, Agias, and Socrates; and Xenojdion, elected to the command of the Greek auxiliaries, commenced the ever-memorable retreat of the Ten Thousand. The Q 226 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. X. camp of Tissaphernes, dappled with its many-colored tents, and glittering with golden arms and silken standards, the gorgeous dis- play of Persian pomp, probably stood on the Kordereh, between Abou-Sheetha and the Kasr. The Greeks having taken the lower road, to the west of the Karachok range, through a plain even then as now a desert *, turned to the east, and crossed the spur of the mountain, where we had recently seen the tents of the Howar, in order to reach the fords of the Zab. I have already pointed out the probability of their having forded that river above the junction of the Ghazir |, and to this day the ford to the east of Abou-Sheetha is the best, and, that usually frequented by the Arabs. Still not openly molested by the Persians, the Greeks halted for three days on the banks of the stream, and Cleai'chus, to put an end to the jealousies which had broken out between the two armies, sought an interview with the Persian chief. The crafty Eastern, knowing no policy but that to which the descendants of his race are still true, inveigled the Greek commanders Into his power, and having seized them sent them in chains to the Persian monarch. He then put to death many of their bravest companions and soldiers, who had accompanied their chiefs. The effect which this perfidious act had on the Greek troops, surrounded by powerful enemies, wander- ing in the midst of an unknown and hostile country, betrayed by those they had come so far to serve, and separated from their na- tive land by impassable rivei’s, waterless deserts, and inaccessible mountains, without even a guide to direct their steps, is touchingly described by the great leader and historian of their retreat : “Few ate anything that evening, few made fires, and many that night never came to their quarters, but laid themselves down, every man in the place where he happened to be, unable to sleep through sorrow and longing for their country, their parents, their wives, and children, whom they never expected to see again.” But there was one in the army who was equal to the difficulties which en- * Anab. b. ii. c. 4. It is remarkable that Xenophon does not mention the Lesser Zab, which he crossed near its junction with the Tigris. The Greeks must have followed the road indicated in the text, and not that to the east of the Karachok, now the highway between the two rivers, as Xenophon particularly mentions that the Tigris was on his left, and that he saw, at the end of the first day’s journey, on its opposite bank, a considerable city named Caena;, which must be identified with Kalah-Sherghat, as there are no other ruins to mark the site of a large place, and no open ground below it upon which one could have stood. The distance of twenty parasangs, or five days’ journey, agrees very accurately with this route. f See p. 61. Chap. X.] XENOniON’S KETREAT. 227 compassed them, and who had resolved to encourage his hopeless countrymen to make one great effort for their liberty and their lives. Before the break of day, Xenophon had formed his plans. Dressed in the most beautiful armour he could find, “ for he thought if the gods granted him victory these ornaments would become a conqueror, and if he were to die they would decorate his fall,” he harangued the desponding Greeks, and showed them how alone they could again see their homes. His eloquence and courage gave them new life. Having made their vows to the eternal gods, and singing paeans, they burnt their carriages, tents, and superfluous baggage, and prepared for the last great struggle. The sun must have risen in burning splendor over the parched and yellow plains of Shomamok, for it was early in the autumn. The world has rarely seen a more glorious sight than was witnessed on the banks of the Zab on that memorable morning. The Ten Thousand, having eaten, were permitted by the enemy, who were probably unjj repared for this earnest resistance, to ford the river. Beaching the opposite bank they commenced that series of marches, directed with a skill and energy unequalled, which led them through difficulties almost insurmountable to their native shores. Near Abou-Sheetha, too, Darius, a fugitive, urged his flying horses through the Zab, followed by the scattered remnants of an army which numbered m its ranks men of almost every race and clime of Asia. A few hours after, the Macedonian [)lunged into the ford in pursuit of the fallen monarch, at the head of those in- vincible legions which he was to lead, without almost a second check, to the banks of the Indus. The plains which stretch from the Zab below Abou-Sheetha have since been more than once the battlefield of Europe and Asia. I gazed with deep interest upon the scene of such great events — a plain, where nothing remains to tell of the vast armies which once moved across it, of European valour, or of Eastern magni- ficence. We had expected to find a raft ready for us near Abou-Sheetha. The raftmen, however, having chosen a more convenient place nearer Negoub, we had to follow the windings of the river for some miles, crossing the mouth of the Kordereh, which joins it five or six miles below Abou-Sheetha. Whilst riding through the jungle a wolf rose before me from its lair, and ran towards the plain. Following the animal, I wounded it with one barrel of my 2^istol, and was about to discharge the second, when my horse slipt on some w'et straw left by a recent encamjiment, Q 2 228 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. X. and we fell together upon the wolf. It struggled and freed itself, leaving me besmeared with its blood. The cock of the pistol fortunately broke in going off whilst the muzzle was close to my head, and I escaped without other injury than a bruised hand, the complete use of which I did not recover for some months. On my return to Nimroud, I remained there a few days to give directions to the overseers for continuing the work during a pro- longed absence which I meditated in the desert. On a level with the north-west palace, and on the south side of the high pyramidal mound, some chambers, ornamented with sculptures, had already been discovered, and it was chiefly in this j>art of the ruins that the excavations were now carried on ; but I will defer an account of the remarkable monuments existing there until I can desci’ibe the entire building from which the earth was removed during our trip to the Khabour. At Kouyunjik several new chambers had been opened. The western portal of the great hall, whose four sides were now com- pletely uncovered*, led into a long narrow chamber (eighty-two feet by twenty-six), the walls of which had unfortunately been almost entirely destroyed.! On such fragments, however, as re- mained were traces of the usual subjects, — battles and victories. There was nothing remarkable in the dresses of the captives, or in the details, to give any clue to the conquered people, whose coun- try was simply represented by wooded mountains and a broad river. In the chamber beyond J a few slabs were still standing in their original places. In length this room was the same as that parallel to it, but in bi’eadth it was only eighteen feet. The bas-reliefs re- presented the siege and sack of one of the many cities taken by the great king, and the transfer of its captives to some distant province of Assyria. The prisoners were dressed in garments falling to the calves of their legs, and the women wore a kind of turban. Al- though the country was mountainous, its inhabitants used the camel as a beast of burden, and in the sculptures it was represented laden with the spoil. The Assyrians, as was their custom, carried away in triumph the images of the gods of the conquered nation, which were placed on poles and borne in procession on men’s shoulders. “ Hath any god of the nations delivered bis land out of the hand of the king of Assyria ?” exclaimed the Assyrian general to the Jews. “ Where are the Gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of * No. vi. Plan 1, f No, ix. Same Plan. J No. x. Same Plan. Chap. X.] BAS-EELIEFS DESCRIBED. 229 Sepliarvaiin ? ” * * * § They had been carried away with the captives, and the very idols that were represented in this bas-relief may be amongst those to which Rabshakeh made this boasting allusion. The captured gods were three, a human figure with outstretched arms, a lion-headed man carrying a long staff in one hand, and an image inclosed by a square frame. Within a fortified camp, defended by towers and battlements, the priests were offering up the sacri- fices usual upon a victory ; the pontiff was distinguished by a liigli conical cap, and, as is always the case in the Assyrian sculptures, was beardless. By his side stood an assistant. Before the altar, on which were some sacrificial utensils, was the sacred chariot, with its elaborate yoke. On a raised band, across the centre of the castle, was inscribed the name and titles of Sennacherib. f On the northern side of the great hall the portal formed by the Avlnged bulls, and the two smaller doorways guarded by colossal winged figures, led into a chamber one hundred feet by twenty-four, which opened into a further room of somewhat smaller dimen- sions. J In the first, a few slabs were still standing, to show that on the walls had been represented some warlike expedition of the Assyrian king, and, as usual, the triumphant issue of the cam- paign. The monarch, in his chariot, and surrounded by his body- guards, was seen receiving the captives and the spoil in a hilly country, whilst his warriors were dragging their horses up a steep mountain near a fortified town, driving their chariots along the banks of a river, and slaying with the spear the flying enemy. § The bas-reliefs, which had once ornamented the second cham- ber, had been still more completely destroyed. A few fragments proved that they had recorded the wars of the Assyrians with a maritime people, whose overthrow was represented on more than one sculptured wall in the palace, and who may probably be identified with some nation on the Phoenician coast conquered by Senna- cherib, and mentioned in his great inscriptions. Their galleys, rowed by double banks of oarsmen, and the high conical head- dress of their women, have already been described, j] On the best preserved slab was the interior of a fortified camp, amidst mountains. Within the walls were tents whose owners were en- * Isaiah, xxxvi. 18, 19. t Plate 50. 2d series of Monuments of Nineveh. I Nos. vii. and viii. Plan 1. § Plate 29. of 2d series of Monuments of Nineveh. II Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 128. 230 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. X. gaged in various domestic occupations, cooking In pots placed on stones over the fire, receiving the blood of a slaughtered sheep in a jar, and making ready the couches. Warriors were seated before a table, with their shields hung to the tent-pole above them. This bas-relief may confirm what I have elsewhere stated, that the Assyrians were accustomed to dwell in tents within the walls of their cities, as a portion of the inhabitants of many Eastern towns still do ; though it is more probable that, in this sculpture, a forti- fied camp is intended by the turretted ground-plan.* To the south of the palace, but part of the same great building, though somewhat removed from the new excavations, and adjoining those formerly carried on, an additional chamber had been opened, in which several bas-reliefs of considerable interest had been discovered. f Its principal entrance, facing the west, was formed by a pair of colossal human- headed lions, carved in coarse lime- stone, so much injured that even the inscriptions on the lower part of them were nearly Illegible. Unfortunately the bas-reliefs were equally mutilated, four slabs only retaining any traces of sculpture. One of them represented Assyrian warriors leading captives, who differed in costume from any other conquered people hitherto found on the walls of the palaces. Their head-dress consisted of high feathers, forming a kind of tiai’a like that of an Indian chief, and they wore a robe confined at the waist, by an ornamented girdle. Some of them carried an object re- sembling a torch. Amongst the ene- mies of the Egyptians represented on their monuments is a tribe A captive (of the Tokkari v) Kouyanjik. similarly attii'ed. Tlielr name has been read Tokkarl, and they have been identified with an Asiatic * Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 243. It was first suggested by a recent writer on Nineveh, and, I think, for good reasons, that these ground-plans of fortifications in the bas-reliefs represent a fortified camp, and not a city. (“ Assyria, her Manners and Customs, &c.,” p. 327., by Mr. Goss, — a work the general accuracy of which I take the opportunity of acknowledging). t No. xxii. Plan 1. Some of the slabs had been originally sculptured on Chap. X.] TUB TOKKARI. 231 nation. We have seen that in the inscriptions on the bulls, the Tokkari are mentioned amongst the people conquered by Sennachei-ib *, and it is highly probable that the captives in the Bas-relief from Kouyanjik, represeatiug fortified City, a Eiver with a Boat and Baft, and a Canal, bas-reliefs I am describing belonged to them. Unfortunately no epigraph, or vestige of an inscription, remained on the sculptures themselves, to enable us to identify thein.f On a second slab, preserved in this chamber, was represented a double-walled city with arched gateways, and inclined approaches leading to them from the outer walls. Within were warriors with horses ; outside the fortifications was a narrow stream or canal, planted on both sides with trees, and flowing into a broad river, on which were large boats, holding several persons, and a raft of skins, the face now turned to the wall of sundried bricks, but they had not, I think, been brought from any other building. The style of sculpture was similar to that on the walls of Kouyunjik, and it is most probable that some error having been made in the bas-relief, it was destroyed, and the opposite face carved afresh. * See p. 146. f Plate 44. 2d series of Monuments of Nineveh. Q 4 I 232 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Ch..p. X, Chap. X.] ASSYRIAN BAS-RELIEFS. 233 bearing a man fishing, and two others seated before a pot or caldron. Along the banks, and apparently washed by the stream, was a wall with equidistant towers and battlements. On another part of the same river were men ferrying horses across the river in boats, whilst others were swimming over on inflated skins. The water swarmed with fish and crabs. Gardens and orchards, with various kinds of trees, appeared to be watered by canals similar to those which once spread fertility over the plains of Babylonia, and of which the choked-up beds still remain. A man, suspended by a rope, was being lowered into the 'water. Upon the corner of a slab almost destroyed, was a hanging garden, supported upon columns, whose capitals were not unlike those of the Corinthian order. This repre- sentation of ornamental gardens was highly curious. It is much to be regretted that the bas-reliefs had sustained too much injury to be restored or removed. Awad, Sheikh of the Jehesb. Our first Encampment in the Deseit. CHAP. XL PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY TO THE KHABOUR. — SCULPTURES DISCOVERED THERE. SHEIKH SUTTUM. IIIS REDIFF. — DEPARTURE FROM MOSUL. FIRST ENCAMPMENT. ABOU KHAMEERA. A STORM. TEL ERMAH. A STRANGER. TEL JEMAL. THE CHIEF OF TEL AFER. — A SUNSET IN THE DESERT. A JEBOUR ENCAMPMENT. THE BELLED SINJAR. THE SINJAR HILL, MIRKAN. — BUKRA. THE DRESS OF THE YEZIDIS. — THE SHOMAL. 03S0FA. ALDINA. — RETURN TO THE BELLED. A SNAKE-CHARMER. JOURNEY CONTINUED IN THE DESERT. RISIIWAN. ENCAMPMENT OF THE BORAIJ. DRESS OF ARAB WOMEN. — RATHAIYAH. — HAWKING. A DEPUTA- TION FROM THE YEZIDIS. — ARAB ENCAMPMENTS. THE KHABOUR. MOHAM- MED EMIN. — ARRIVAL AT ARBAN, I HAD long wished to visit the hanks of the Khahour. This river, the Chaboras of the Greek geograpliers, and the Habor, or Chebar, of the Samaritan captivity *, rises in the north of Mesopotamia, and flowing to the west of the Sinjar hill, falls into the Euphrates near the site of the ancient city of Carchemish f or Circesium, still known to the Bedouins by the name of Carkeseea. As it winds through the midst of the desert, and its rich pastures are * 2 Kings, xviii. 11. Ezek. i. 1 t 2 Chron. xxxv. 20. Chap. XI.] JOURNEY TO THE DESERT. 235 the resort of wandering tribes of Arabs, it is always difficult of access to the traveller. It was examined, for a short distance from its mouth, by the expedition under Colonel Chesney ; but the general course of the river was imperfectly known, and several geograj)hical questions of interest connected with it were unde- termined previous to my visit. With the Bedouins, who were occasionally my guests at Mosul or Nimroud, as well as with the Jebours, whose encamping grounds were originally on its banks, the Khabour was a constant theme of exaggerated praise. The richness of its pastures, the beauty of its flowers, its jungles teeming with game of all kinds, and the leafy thickness of its trees yielding an agreeable shade during the hottest days of summer, formed a terrestrial paradise to which the wandering Arab eagerly turned his steps when he could lead his flocks thither in safety. Ruins, too, as an ad- ditional attraction, were declared to abound on its banks and formed the principal inducement for me to undertake a long and somewhat hazardous journey. I was anxious to determine how far the influence of Assyrian art and manners extended, and whether monuments of the same period as those discovered at Nineveh existed so far to the west of the Tigris. During the winter my old friend Mohammed Emin, Sheikh of one of the principal branches of the Jebour tribe, had pitched his tents on the river. Arabs from his encampment would occasionally wander to Mosul. They generally bore an Invitation from their chief, urging me to visit him when the spring rendered a march through the desert both easy and pleasant. But when a note arrived from the Sheikh, announcing that two colossal idols, similar to those of Nimroud, had suddenly appeared in a mound by the river side, I hesitated no longer, and determined to start at once for the Khabour. To avoid, however, any disappointment, I sent one of my own workmen to examine the pretended sculptures. As he confirmed, on his return, the account I had received, I lost no time in making preparations for the journey. As the Shammar Bedouins were scattered over the desert be- tween Mosul and the Khabour, and their horsemen continually scoured the plains in search of plunder, it was necessary that we should be protected and accompanied by an influential chief of the tribe. I accordingly sent to Suttum, a Sheikh of the Boraij, one of the principal branches of the Shammar, whose tents were at that time pitched between the river and the ruins of El Hather. Suttum was well known to me, and had already given proofs of 236 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XI. his trustworthiness and intelligence on more than one similar occasion. lie lost no time in obeying the summons. Arrange- ments were soon made with him. He agreed to furnish camels for our baggage, and to remain with me himself until he had seen my caravan in safety again within the gates of Mosul. He re- turned to the desert to fetch the camels, and to make other preparations for our journey, promising to be with me in a few days. Punctual to his appointment. Sheikh Suttum brought his camels to Mosul on the 19th of March. He was accompanied by Kho- raif, his rediff, as the person who sits on the dromedary * behind the principal rider is called by the Bedouins. Amongst the two great nomade tribes of the Shanuuar and Aneyza, the word “reditf” frequently infers a more intimate connection than a mere com- panionship on a camel. It is customary with them for a warrior to swear a kind of brotherhood with a person not only not related to him by blood, but frequently even of a different ti’ibe. Two men connected by this tie are inseparable. They go together to war, they live in the same tent, and are allowed to see each other’s wives. They become, indeed, more than brothers. Khoraif was of the tribe of the Aneyza, who have a deadly feud with the Shammar. Having left his own kith and kin on account of some petty quarrel, he had joined their enemies, and had become the rediff of Suttum, dwelling under his canvass, accompanying him in his expeditions, and riding with him on his deloul. Although he had deserted his tribe, Klioraif had not renounced all connection with his kindred, nor had he been cut off by them. Being thus allied to two powerful clans, he was able to render equal services to any of his old or new friends, who might fall into each other’s hands. It is on this account that a warrior generally chooses his rediff from a warlike tribe with which he is at enmity, for if taken in war, he would then be dakheel, that is, protected, by the family, or rather particular sept, of his companion. On the other hand, should one of the rediflPs friends become the pi’isoner of the sub-tribe into which his kinsman has been adopted, he would be under its protection, aud could not be molested. Thus Khoraif would have been an Important addition to our party, had we fallen * I use the word “ dromedary ” for a swift riding camel, the Deloul of the Arabs, and Hejin of the Turks : it is so applied generally, although incorrectly by Europeans in the East. Chap, xr.] DEPARTURE FOR THE DESERT. 237 in, during our journey, with Aneyza Arabs, against whom, of course, Suttuin could not protect us. On warlike expeditions the rediflf generally leads the mare which is to be ridden by his companion in the fight. When in face of the enemy he is left in charge of the dromedary, and takes part in the battle from its back. He rides, when ti’avelling, on the naked back of the animal, clinging to the hinder part of the saddle, his legs crouched up almost to his chin — a very uncomfortable position for one not accustomed from childhood to a hard seat and a rough motion. As our desert trip would probably last for more than two months, during which time we should meet with no villages, or permanent settlements, we w’ere obliged to take with us supplies of all kinds, both for ourselves and the workmen; consequently, flour, rice, burghoul (prepared wheat, to be used as a substitute for rice), and biscuits, formed a large portion of our baggage. Two enormous boxes, each half a camel-load, were under the parti- cular protection of Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, wdth whom they became a kind of hobby, notwithstanding my repeated protests against their size and inconvenience. They held various luxuries, such as sugar, coffee, tea, and spices, Avith robes of silk and cotton, and red and yellow boots, presents for the various chiefs whom we might meet in the desert. Baskets, tools for excavating, tents, and working utensils, formed the rest of our baggage. I knew that I should have no difficulty in finding workmen when once in Mohammed Emin’s encampment. As, however, it was my intention to explore any ruins of importance that we might see on our way, I chose about fifty of my best Arab ex- cavators, and twelve Tiyari, or Nestorians, to accompany us. They were to follow on foot, but one or two extra camels were provided in case any were unable from fatigue to keep up with the caravan. The camels were driven into the small Mussulman burial-ground, adjoining my house in Mosul. The whole morn- ing was spent in dividing and arranging the loads, always the most difficult part of the preparations for a journey in the East. The pack-saddles of the Bedouins, mere bags of rough canvass stuffed with straw, were ill adapted to carry anything but sacks of wheat and flour. As soon as a load was adjusted, it was sure to slip over the tail, or to turn over on one side. When this difficulty was overcome, the animals would suddenly kneel and shake off their burdens. Their owners were equally hard to please : this camel was galled, another vicious, a third weak. 238 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XI. Suttum and Khoraif exerted themselves to the utmost, and the inliabitants of the quarter, together ivitli stray passei’s--by, joined in tlie proceedings, adding to the din and confusion, and of course considerably to our difficulties. At length, as the muezzin called to midday prayer, the last camel issued from the Slnjar gate. A place of general rendezvous had been appointed outside the walls, that our party might be collected together for a proper start, and that those who were good Mussulmans might go through their prayers before commencing a perilous journey. I did not leave the town until nearly an hour and a half after the caravan, to give time for the loads to be finally adjusted, and the line of march to be formed. When we had all assembled outside the Sinjar gate, our party had swollen into a little army. The Doctor, Mr. Cooper, and Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, of course, accompanied me. Mr. and Mrs. Holland with their servants had joined our expedition. My Yezidi fellow-traveller from Constan- tinople, Cawal Yusuf, with three companions, was to escort me to the Sinjar, and to accompany us in our tour through that district. Several Jebour families, whose tribe was encamped at Abou- Psera, near the mouth of the Khabour, seized this opportunity to join their friends, taking with them their tents and cattle. Thirteen or fourteen Bedouins had charge of the camels, so that, with the workmen and servants, our caravan consisted of nearly one hundred well-armed men ; a force sufficient to defy almost any hostile party with which we were likely to fall in during our journey. We had about five and twenty cauiels, and as many horses, some of which were led. As it was spring time and the pastures were good, it was not necessary to carry much provender for our animals. Hussein Bey, the Yezidi chief, and many of our friends, as it is customary in the East, rode with us during part of our first stage; and my excellent friend, the Rev. IMr. Ford, an American missionary, then resident in Mosul, passed the first even- ing under our tents in the desert. Suttum, with his redlff, rode a light fleet dromedary, which had been taken in a plundering expedition from the Aneyza. Its name was Dhwaila. Its high and plctui’esque saddle was profusely ornamented with brass bosses and nails ; over the seat was thrown the Baghdad double bags adorned with long tassels and fringes of many-colored wools, so much coveted by the Bedouin. The Sheikh had the general direction and superintendence of our march. The Mesopotamian desert had been his home from his birth, and he knew every spring and pasture. He was of the Saadi, one of the Chap. XI.] SHEIKH SUTTUM. 239 most illustrious families of the Shammar*, and he possessed great personal influence in the tribe. Ills intelligence was of a very high order, and he was as well known for his skill in Bedouin intrigue, as for his courage and daring in war. In person he was of middle Sbeikb Sutlum height, of spare habit, but well made, and of noble and dignified carriage ; although a musket wound in the thigh, from which the ball had not been extracted, gave him a slight lameness in his gait. His features were regular and well-proportioned, and of that delicate character so frequently found amongst the nomades of the desert. * An Arab tribe is divided into septs, and each sept is composed of certain families. Thus Suttum was a Shammar, of the branch called the Boraij, and of the family of Saadi, besides being a member of a peculiar division of the great tribe called the Khorusseh. 240 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XI. A restless and sparkling eye of the deepest black spoke the inner man, and seemed to scan and penetrate everything within its ken. His dark hair was {flatted into many long tails ; his beard, like that of the Arabs in general, was scanty. He wore the usual Arab shirt, and over it a cloak of blue cloth, trimmed with red silk and lined with fur, a present from some Pasha as he pretended, but more probably a part of some great man’s wardrobe that had been appropriated without its owner’s consent. A colored kerchief, or keffieh, was thrown loosely over his head, and confined above the temples by a rope of twisted camel’s hair. At his side hung a scimitar, an antique horse-pistol was held by a rope tied as a girdle round his waist, and a long spear, tufted with black ostrich feathers, and ornamented with scarlet streamers, rested on his shoulder. He was the very picture of a true Bedouin Sheikh, and his liveliness, his wit, and his singular powers of conversation, which made him the most agreeable of companions, did not belie his race.* The rest of my pai'ty, with the exception of the workmen, who were on foot, or who contrived to find places on the loads, and spare camels, were on horseback. The Bairakdar had the general man - agement of the caravan, superintending, with untiring zeal and activity, the loading and unloading of the animals, the pitching of the tents, and the night watches, which are highly necessary in the desert. As we wound slowly over the low rocky hills to the west of the town of Mosul, in a long straggling line, our caravan had a strange and motley appearance ; Europeans, Turks, Bedouins, town- Arabs, Tiyari, and Yezidis, were mingled in singular confusion ; each adding, by difference of costume and a profusion of bright colors, to the general picturesqueness and gaiety of the scene. The Tigris, from its entrance into the low country at the foot of the Kurdish mountains near J ezireh, to the ruined town of Tekrit, is separated from the Mesopotamian plains by a range of low lime- * Burckhardt, the English traveller best acquainted with the Bedouin cha- racter, and admirably correct in describing it, makes the following remarks : “ With all their faults, the Bedouins are one of the noblest nations with which I ever had an opportunity of becoming acquainted. . . . The sociable character of a Bedouin, when there is no question of profit or interest, may be described as truly amiable. His cheerfulness, wit, softness of temper, good-nature, and sagacity, which enable him to make shrewd remarks on all subjects, render him a pleasing, and often a valuable, companion. His equality of temper is never ruffled by fatigue or suffering.” (Notes on the Bedouins, pp. 203. 208.) Un- fortunately, since Burckhardt's time, closer intercourse with the Turks and with Europeans, has much tended to destroy many good features in the Arab character. Chap. XI.] ENCAMP AT SAHAGHI. 241 stone hills. We rode over this undulating ground for about an hour and a half, and then descended into the plain of Zerga, encamping for the night near the ruins of a small village, with a falling Kasr, called Sahaghi, about twelve miles from INIosul. The place had been left by its inhabitants, like all others on the desert side of the town, on account of the depredations of the Bedouins. There is now scarcely one permanent settlement on the banks of the Tigris from Jezireh to the immediate vicinity of Baghdad, with the exception of Mosul and Tekrit. One of the most fertile countries in the world, watered by a river navigable for nearly six hundred miles, has been turned into a desert and a wilderness, by continued misgovernment, oppression, and neglect. Our tents were pitched near a pool of rain water, which, al- though muddy and scant, sufficed for our wants. There are no springs in this part of the plain, and the Bedouins are entirely dependent upon such temporary supplies. The remains of ancient villages show, however, that water is not concealed far beneath the surface, and that wells once yielded all that was required for irrigation and human consumption. The loads had not yet been fairly divided amongst the camels, and the sun had risen above the horizon, before the Bedouins had arranged them to their satisfaction, and were ready to depart. The plain of Zerga was carpeted Avith tender grass, scarcely yet forward enough to afford pasture for our animals. Scattered here and there were tulips of a bright scarlet hue, the earliest flower of the spring. A ride of three hours and a quarter brought us to a second line of limestone hills, the continuation of the Tel Afer and Sinjar range, dividing the small plain of Zerga from the true INIesopo- tamian desert. From a peak which I ascended to take bearings, the vast level country, stretching to the Euphrates, lay like a map beneath me, dotted with mounds, but otherwise unbroken by a single eminence. The nearest and most remarkable group of ruins was called Abou Khameera, and consisted of a lofty, conical mound surrounded by a square inclosure, or ridge of earth, marking, as at Kouyunjik and Nimroud, the remains of ancient walls. From the foot of the hill on which I stood there issued a small rivulet, windincf amongst rushes, and losing itself in the plain. This running water had drawn together the black tents of the Jehesh, a half sedentary tribe of Arabs, who cultivate the lands around the ruined villaroached our encamp- ment they played tlie Jerid with their long spears, galloping to and fro on their well-trained mares. They were the principal in- habitants of Tel Afer with Ozair Agha, their chief, who brought us a present of lambs, flour, and fresh vegetables. The Agha rode on a light chestnut mare of beautiful proportions and rare breed. His dress, as well as that of his followers, was singularly pic- turesque. His people are Turcomans, a solitary colony in the midst of the desert ; and although their connection with the Be- douins has taught them the tongue and the habits of the wandering tribes, yet they still wear the turban of many folds, and the gay flowing robes of their ancestors. They allow their hair to grow long, and to fall in curls on their shoulders. Ozair Agha was an old friend, who had more than once found re- fuge in my house from government oppression. He now souglit my advice and protection, for he was accused of having been i)i’ivy to some recent foray of the Bedouins, and was summoned to IMosul to answer the charge, of which, however, he declared himself com- pletely innocent. I urged him to obey the summons without delay, to avoid the suspicion of rebellion against the government. I gave him, at the same time, letters to the authorities. As the evening crept on, I watched from the highest mound the sun as it gradually sank in unclouded splendor below the sea- like expanse before me. On all sides, as far as the eye could reach, rose the grass-covered heaps marking the site of ancient habitations. The great tide of civilisation had long since ebbed, leaving these scattered wrecks on the solitary shore. Are those waters to flow again, bearing back the seeds of knowledge and of wealth that they have wafted to the West? We wanderers were seeking what they had left behind, as children gather up the colored shells on the deserted sands. At my feet there was a busy scene, making more lonely the unbroken solitude which reigned in the vast plain around, where the only thing having life or mo- tion were the shadows of the lofty mounds as they lengthened be- fore the declining sun. Above three years before, when, watching the approach of night from the old castle of Tel Afer, I had counted nearly one hundred ruins *, now, when in the midst of them, no Nineveh and its Remains, vol. i. p. 315. 246 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap XI. less than double that number were seen from Tel Jemal. Our tents crowning the lip of a natural amphitheatre bright with flo wers, Ozair Agha and his Turcomans seated on the greensward in earnest talk witli the Arab cliief, the horses picketed in the long grass, the Bedouins driving home their camels for the night’s rest, the servants and grooms busied with their various labors ; such was the foregi’ound to a picture of perfect calm and stillness. In the distance was the long range of the Slnjar hills, furrowed with countless ravines, each marked by a dark purple shadow, gradually melting into the evening haze. We had a long day’s march before us to the village of Sinjar. The w'ilderness appeared still more beautiful than it had done the day before. The recent storm had given new life to a vegetation which, concealed beneath a crust of apparently unfruitful earth, only waits for a spring shower to burst, as if by enchantment, through the thirsty soil. Here and there grew patches of a shrub- like plant with an edible root, having a sharp pungent taste like mustard, eaten raw and much relished by the Bedouins. Among them lurked game of various kinds. Troops of gazelles sprang fi’oni the low cover, and bounded over the plain. The greyhounds coursed hares ; the horsemen followed a wild boar of enormous size, and nearly white from age ; and the Doctor, who was the sports- man of the party, shot a bustard, with a beautiful speckled plumage, and a ruff of long feathers round its neck. This bird was larger than the common small bustard, but apparently of the same species. Other bustai’ds, the great and the middle-sized (the Iloubron and Houbara of the Ai'abs*), and the lesser, besides many birds of the plover kindf, rose from these tufts, which seemed to afford food and shelter to a variety of living creatures. We scanned the horizon in vain for the wild ass, which is but thinly scattered over the plains. The Arabs found many eggs of the middle bustard. They were laid in the grass without any regular nest, the bird simply making a form somewhat like that of a hare, and sitting very close, frequently not rising until it was nearly trodden under foot. One or two eggs of the great bustard wei’e also brought to me during the day. We still wandered amongst innumerable mounds. The largest I * Tlie llcmbron is the Otis tarda, or great bustard ; the Houbara, the Otis Houbara. I believe tliat more than one species of the lesser bustard (Otis tetrax) is found in the IMesopotaniian plains. t The most abundant was a large grey plover, called by the Bedouins “ Smoug.” Chap. XI.] THE BELLED SINJAE. 247 examined were called Hathall and Usgali. They resembled those of Abou-Khameerah and Tel Ermah, with the remains of terraces, the ascent to them being on the south-eastern side, and the in- closure of earthen walls. We rode in a direct line to the Belled Sinjar, the residence of the governor of the district. There was no beaten track, and the camels wandered along as they listed, cropping as they went the young grass. The horsemen and footmen, too, scattei’ed them- selves over the search of game. Suttum rode from group to group on his swift deloul, urging them to keep together, as the Aneyza gazous* occasionally swept this part of the desert. But to little purpose ; the feeling of liberty and indejiendence which these boundless meadows j^i’oduced was too complete and too pleasing to be controlled by any fear of danger, or by the Sheikh’s jirudent counsel. All shared in the exhilarating effects of the air and scene. Hormuzd would occasionally ^ilace himself at the head of the Jebours, and chant their war songs, improvising words suited to the occasion. The men answered in chorus, dan- cing as they went, brandishing their weapons, and raising their bright-colored kerchiefs, as flags, on the end of their s^iears. The more sedate Bedouins smiled in contem{)t at these noisy effusions of joy, only worthy of tribes who have touched the ])lough ; but they indulged in no less keen, though more sup^iressed, emotions of delight. Even the Tiyari caught the general enthusiasm, and sung their mountain songs as they walked along. As we drew near to the foot of the hills we found a large encampment, formed partly by Jebours belonging to Sheikh Abd- ul-Azeez, and partly by a Sinjar tribe called Mendka, under a chief known as the “ Effendi,” who enjoys considerable influence in this district. His tent is frequently a jilfice of refuge for Bedouin chiefs and others, who have fled from successful rivals, or from the Turkish authorities. His grandfather, a Yezidi in creed, embraced Mohammedanism from political motives. The conversion was not consequently very sincere, and his descendants are still suspected of a leaning to the faith of their forefathers. This double character is one of the jirincipal causes of the Effendl’s influence. His tribe, which inhabits the Belled and adjoining villages on the south side of the mountain, consists almost entirely of Yezldls. The chief himself resides during the winter and * A plundering party, the chappou of the Persian tribes. 248 XIXEVEII AXD BABYLOX. [Chap. XI. spring in tents, ami the rest of the year in a village named Soulak. The Yezidis of the Sinjar are divided into ten distinct tribes, the Ileska, Mendka, Iloubaba, Meridian, Biikra, Beit-Khaled, Ainera, A1 Dakhi, Semoki, and Kerani. I dismounted at a short distance from the encampment, to avoid a breach of good manners, as to refuse to eat bread, or to spend the night, after alighting near a tent, would be thought a grave slight upon its owner. The caravan continued its journey towards the village. I was soon surrounded by the principal people of the camp ; amongst them was one of my old workmen, Khuther, who now cultivated a small plot of ground in the desert. It was with difficulty that I resisted the entreaties of the Effendi to partake of his hospitality. We did not reach the Belled until after the sun had gone down, the caravan having been ten hours in unceasing march. The tents were pitched on a small plot of ground, watered by numerous rills, and in the centre of the ruins. Although almost a swamp, it was the only spot free from stones and rubbish. In front of the tent door rose a leaning minaret, part of a mosque, and other ruins of Arab edi- fices. To the right was an old w'all with a falling archway, from beneath which gushed a most abundant stream of clear sweet water, still I'etained for a moment in the stone basins once the fountains and reservoirs of the city. I had scarcely entered my tent when the governor of the dis- trict, who resides in a small modern castle built on the hill-side, came to see me. lie was a Turkish officer belonging to the household of Kiamil Pasha, and complained bitterly of his soli- tude, of the difficulties of collecting the taxes, and of dealing with the Bedouins who haunted the plains. The villages on the northern side of the mountain were not only in open rebellion to his authority, but fighting one with the other ; all, however, being quite of one mind in refusing to contribute to the public revenues. He was almost shut up within the walls of his wretched fort, in company with a garrison of a score of half-starved Albanians. This state of things was chiefly owing to the misconduct of his predecessor, who, when the inhabitants of the Sinjar were quiet and obedient, had treacherously seized two of their principal chiefs, IMahmoud and Murad, and had carried them in chains to Mosul, where they had been thrown into prison. A deputation having been sent to obtain their release, I had been able to intercede with Kiamil Pasha in their behalf, and now bore to their followers the welcome news of their speedy return to their homes. Chap. XI.] RUINS OF THE BELLED SINJAR. 249 The tent was soon filled with the people of the Belled, and they remained in animated discussion until the night was far S2)ent. Early on the following morning, I returned the visit of the go- vernor, and, from the tower of the small castle, took bearings of the })rincipal objects in the plain. The three remarkable j)eaks rising- in the low range of Kebriteeyah, behind Abou Khameera, were still visible in the extreme distance, and enabled me to fix with some accuracy the ^losition of many ruins. They would be useful landmarks in a survey of this part of the desert. About four or five miles distant from the Belled, which, like the fort, is built on the hill side, is another large grouji of mounds, resembling that of Abou Khameera, called by the Bedouins sim^ily the “ Hosh,” the courtyard or inclosure. The ruins of the ancient town, known to the Arabs as “ El Belled,” or the city, are divided into two distinct jiarts by a range of rocky hills, which, however, are cleft in the centre by the bed of a torrent, forming a narrow ravine between them. This ravine is crossed by a strong well-built wall, defended by a dry ditch cut into the solid rock. An archway admits the torrent into the southern part of the city, which appears to have contained the {principal edi- fices. The northern half is within the valley, and is surrounded by ruined fortifications. I could find no traces of remains of any period earlier than the Mohammedan, unless the dry ditch excavated in the rock be more ancient ; nor could I obtain any relics, or coins, from the inhabitants of the modern village. The ruins are, undoubtedly, those of the town of Sinjar, the capital of an Arab jn’incipality in the time of the Caliphs. Its jninces frequently asserted their indejiendence, coined money, and ruled from the Khabour and Euphrates to the neighbourhood of Mosul. The province ivas in- cluded within the dominions of the celebrated Saleh-ed-din (the Saladin of the Crusades), and was more than once visited by him. The ruins of Sinjar are also believed to represent the Singaraof the Romans. On coins struck under the Emperor Grordian, and bearing his effigy with that of the empress Tranquillina, this city is represented by a female wearing a mural crown surmounted by a centaur, seated on a hill with a river at her feet (?).* Ac- * There were also coins of Alexander Severus, struck in Singara. It is to be remarked that, in consequence of considerable discrepancies in the accounts of ancient geographers, several authors have been inclined to believe that there were two cities of the same name ; one, according to Ptolemy, on the Tigris, the other under the mountain. It was long a place of contention between the Ho- mans and Parthians. 250 NIXEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. XI. cording to the Arab geographers, the Sinjar was celebrated for Its palms. This tree Is no longer found there, nor does It bear fruit, I believe, anywhere to the north of Tekrit In Mesopotamia. Roman Coin of Gordian and TranquIUina. struck at Singara (British Mueeumb Wishing to visit the villages of the Shoinal, or nortliern side of the mountain, and at the same time to put an end, If possible, to the bloodshed between their inhabitants, and to induce them to submit to the governor, I quitted the Belled In the afternoon, accompanied l)y Cawal Yusuf and his Yezidi companions, Mr. and INIrs. 11., the Doctor, and INIr. Cooper. The tents, baggage, and workmen were left under the charge of the Balrakdar. Suttum o went to his tribe to make further arrangements for our journey to the Khabour. We followed a precipitous pathway along the hill- side to INIIrkan, the village destroyed by Tahyar Pasha on my first visit to the Sinjar.* This ])art of the mountain is coated with thin strata of a white fossiliferous limestone, which detach them- selves In enormous flakes, and fall into the valleys and ravines, leaving an endless variety of singular forms In the rocks above. In some places the declivities are broken into stupendous flights of steps, in others they have the columnar appearance of basalt. This limestone produces scarcely a blade of vegetation, and its milk-white color, throwing back the intense glare of the sun’s rays, is both painful and hurtful to the sight. INIirkan was in open rebellion, and had refused both to pay taxes and to receive the officer of the Pasha of Mosul. I was, at first, somewhat doubtful of our reception. Esau, the chief, came out, however, to meet me, and led us to his house. IVe were soon surrounded by the principal men of the village. They were also * Nineveli and its Remains, vol. i. p. 317. Chap. XI.] VILLAGES OF THE SIN.JAR. 251 at war with the tribes of the “ Shoinal.” A few clays before they had foiiglit with the loss of several men on both sides. Seconded by Cawal Yusuf, I endeavored to make them feel tliat peace and union amongst themselves was not only essential to their own welfare, but to that of the Yezidis of Kurdistan and Armenia, who had, at length, received a promise of ]u’otection from the Turkish government, and who would suffer for their misdeeds. After a lengthened discussion the chief consented to accompany me to the neighbouring village of Bukra, with whose inhabitants his people had been for some time at war. INIirkan had been partly rebuilt since its destruction three years before ; but the ruins and charred timbers of houses still occupied much of Its former site. We crossed the entrance to the ravine filled with caverns into which the Yezidis had taken refuge, when they made the successful defence I have elsewhere described. There are two pathways from Mirkan to the “ Shomal,” one winding through narrow valleys, the other crossing the shoulder of the mountain. I chose the latter, as it enabled me to obtain an extensive view of the surrounding country, and to take bearings of many jioints of interest. The slopes around the villages are most Industriously and carefully cultivated. Earth, collected with great labor, is sj)read over terraces, supported by ivalls of loose stones, as on the declivities of Mount Lebanon. These stages, rising one above the other, are planted with fig-trees, between which is occasionally raised a scanty crop of wheat or barley. The neatness of these terraced plots conveys a very favorable im- pression of the industry of the Yezidis. Near the crest of the hill we passed a white conical building, shaded by a grove of trees. It was the tomb of the father of Murad, one of Yusuf’s companions, a Cawal of note, who had died near the spot of the plague some years before. The walls were hung with the horns of sheep, slain in sacrifice, by occasional pilgrims. I had little anticipated the beauty and extent of the view which opened round us on the top of the pass. The Sinjar hill is a solitary ridge rising abruptly in the midst of the desert ; from its summit, therefore, the eye ranges on one side over the vast level wilderness stretching to the Euphrates, and on the other over the })laln bounded by the Tigris and the lofty mountains of Kurdistan. Kisibin and Mardin were both visible in the distance. I could distinguish the hills of Baadri and Sheikh Adi, and many well- known peaks of the Kurdish Alps. Behind the lower ranges. 252 NIXEVEII AND BABYLOX. [ClIAP. XI. each distinctly marked hy its sharp, serrated outline, ■were the snow-covered heights of Tiyari and Bohtan. AVhilst to the south of the Sinjar artificial mounds appeared to abound, to the north I could distinguish but few such remains. We dismounted to gaze upon this truly magnificent scene lighted up by the setting sun, I have rarely seen any jB’ospect more impressive than these boundless plains viewed from a considerable elevation. Besides the idea of vastness they convey, the light and shade of passing •• Interior of a Tezidi House at Bukra, in th.e Siojar. clouds flitting over the face of the land, and the shadows as they lengthen towards the close of day, produce constantly changing effects of singular variety and beauty.* It was night before we reached Bukra, where we were wel- comed with great hospitality. The best house in the village had * The traveller who has lookefl down from Mardin, for the first time, upon the plains of Mesopotamia, can never forget the impression which that singular scene must have made upon him. The view from the Sinjar hill is far moi’e beautiful and varied. Chap. XI.] RECEPTION AT BUKRA. 253 been mnde ready for us, and was scrupulously neat and clean, as the houses of the Yezidis usually are. It was curiously built, being divided into tliree principal rooms, opening one into the other. They were separated by a wall about six feet high, upon which were placed wooden pillars supporting the ceiling. The roof rested on trunks of trees, raised on rude stone pedestals at regular intervals in the centre chamber, which was open on one side to the air, like a Persian Iwan. The sides of the rooms were honeycombed with small recesses like pigeon-holes, tastefully ar- ranged. The whole was plastered with the whitest plaster, fiincy designs in bright red being introduced here and there, and giving the interior of the house a very original appearance. The elders of Bukra came to me after we had dined, and seated themselves respectfully and decorously round the room. They were not averse to the reconciliation I proposed, received the hostile chief without hesitation, and promised to accompany me on the morrow to the adjoining village of Ossofa, with which they were also at war. Amongst those who had followed us was an active and intelligent youth, one of the defenders of the caverns when the Turkish troops under Tahyar Pasha attacked Mirhan. He related with great spirit and zest the particulars of the affair, and assured me that he had killed several men with his own gun. He was then but a boy, and it was the first time he had seen war. His fiither, he said, placed a rifle in his hand, and pointing to a soldier who was scaling the rocks exclaimed, “ Now, show me whether thou art a man, and worthy of me. Shoot that enemy of our faith, or I will shoot you !” He fired, and the assailant rolled back into the ravine. In tlie morning we visited several houses in the village. They were all built on the same plan, and were equally neat and clean. The women received us without concealing their faces, which are, however, far from pleasing, their features being irre- gular, and their complexion sallow. Those who are married dress entirely in white, with a white kerchief under their chins, and another over their heads held by the agal, or woollen cord, of the Bedouins. The girls wear white shirts and drawers, but over them colored zahouns, or long silk dresses, open in front, and confined at the waist by a girdle ornamented with pieces of silver. They twist gay kerchiefs round their heads, and adorn themselves with coins, and glass and amber beads, when their parents are able to prociu'e them. But the Yezidis of the Sinjar are now very poor, and nearly all the trinkets of the women have long since 254 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [ClIAP. XI. fallen into the hands of the Turkish soldiery, or have been sold to pay taxes and arbitrary fines. Tlie men have a dark complexion, black and piercing eyes, and frequently a fierce and forbidding countenance. They are of small stature, but have well proportioned limbs strongly knit together, and are muscular, active, and capable of bearing great fatigue. Their dress consists of a shirt, loose trowsers and cloak, all white, and a black turban, from beneath Avhich their hair falls in ringlets. Their long rifles are rarely out of their hands, and they carry jiistols in their girdle, a sword at their side, and a row of cartouche cases, generally made of cut reeds, on their breast. These additions to their costume, and their swarthy features, give them a peculiar look of ferocity, which, according to some, is not belied by their characters. The Yezidis are, by one of their religious laws, forbidden to Avear the common Eastern shirt open in front, and this article of their dress is always closed up to the neck. This is a distinctive mark of the sect by which its members may be recognised at a glance. The language of the people of Sinjar is Kurdish, and few speak Arabic. According to tbeir traditions they are the de- scendants of a colony from the north of Syria, which settled in INlesopotamia at a comparatively recent period, but I could obtain no positive information on the subject. It is probable, however, that they did not migrate to their present seats before the fall of the Arab principality, and the invasion of Timourleng, to- Avards the end of the fourteenth century. The north side of the mountain is thickly inhabited, and Avell- cultivated as far as the scanty soil Avill permit. Scarcely three quarters of a mile to the Avest of Bukra is the village of Naksi, the interval betAveen the tAvo being occupied by terraces planted Avith fig-trees. We did not stop, although the inhabitants came out to meet us, but rode on to Ossofa, or Usifa, only separated from Naksi by a rocky valley. The people of this village Avere at war Avith their neighbours, and as this Avas one of the principal seats of rebellion and discontent, I Avas anxious to have an inter- vicAV Avlth its chief. The position of Ossofa is very picturesque. It stands on the edge of a deep ravine ; behind it are lofty crags and narrow gorges, Avhose sides are filled Avlth natural caverns. On over- hanging rocks, toAverlng above the vlllnge, aie two ziarehs, or holy places, of the Yezidis, distinguished from afar by their Avhlte fluted spires. Pulo, the chief, met us at the head of the principal inhabitants Chap. XI.] TOMB OF CAWAL HUSSEIX. 255 and led me to his house where a large assembly was soon col- lected to discuss the principal object of my visit. The chiefs of Mirkan and Bukra were induced to make offers of peace, which were accepted, and after much discussion the terms of an amicable arrangement were agreed to and ratified l>y general con- sent. Sheep were slain to celebrate the event. The meat, after the Yezidi fashion, was boiled in onions, and a kind of parched pea, and afterwards served up, like porridge, in large wooden bowls. The mess is not unsavoury, and is the principal dish of the Slnjar. Dried figs, strung in rows and made up into gro- tesque figures, were brought to us as presents. After the political questions had been settled, the young men adjourned to an open spot outside the village to practise with their rifles. They proved excellent shots, seldom missing the very centre of the mark. The villages of Bouran (now deserted), Gundl-Gayli, Kushna, and Aldina, follow to the west of Ossofa, scarcely half a mile in- tervening between each. They are grouped together on the mountain side, which, above and below them. Is divided into ter- races and planted with fig-trees. The loose stones are most care- fully removed from every plot of earth, however small, and built up into walls ; on the higher slopes are a few vineyards. We passed the night at Aldina, in the house of Murad, one of the imprisoned chiefs, whose release I had obtained befoi’e leaving INIosul. I was able to announce the good tidings of his ajiproach- ing return to his wife, to whom he had been lately married, and who had given birth to a child during his absence. Below Aldina stands a remarkable ziareh, inclosed by a wall of Cyclopean dimensions. In the plain beneath, in the midst of a grove of trees, is the tomb of Cawal Hussein, the father of Cawal Yusuf, who died in the Sinjar during one of his periodical visit- ations. He was a priest of sanctity and Influence, and his grave is still visited as a place of pilgrimage. Sacrifices of sheep are made there, but they are merely in remembrance of the deceased, and have no particular religious meaning attached to them. The flesh is distributed amongst the poor, and a sum of money is frequently added. Approving the ceremony as one tending to promote charity and kindly feeling, I gave a sheep to be sacrificed at the tomb of the Cawal, and one of my fellow travellers added a second, the carcases being afterwards divided among the needy. All the villages we had passed during our short day’s journey 256 NINEVEir AND BABYLON. [Chap. XI. stand lilgli on the mountain side, where they have been built for security against the Bedouins. They command extensive views of the plain, the white barracks of Nisibin, although certainly between twenty and thirty miles distant, being visible from them, and the snowy range of Kurdistan forming a magnificent back ground to the pictiu’e. The springs, rising in the hill, are either entirely ab- sorbed in irrigation, or are soon lost in the thirsty plain beneath. Parallel to the Sinjar range is a long narrow valley, scarcely half a mile in width, formed by a bold ridge of white limestone rocks, so friable that the plain for some distance is covered with their fragments. A messenger brought me word during the night that Suttum had returned from his tribe, and was waiting with a party of horsemen to escort us to his tents. I determined, therefore, to cross at once to the Belled by a direct though difficult pass. The Doctor and j\Ir. R., leaving the pathway, scaled the rocks in search of the ibex, or wild goat, which abounds in the highest ridges of the mountain. We visited Nogray and Ameera, before entering the gorge leading to the pass. Only two otlier villages of any importance, Sernoka and Jafri, were left unseen. The ascent of the mountain was extremely precipitous, and we were nearly two hours in reachino; the summit. We then found ourselves on a broad green platform thickly wooded with dwarf oak. I was surprised to see snow still lying in the sheltered nooks. On both sides of us stretched the great Mesopotamian plains. To the south, glittering in the sun, was a small salt lake about fifteen miles distant from the Sinjar, called by the Arabs, IMunalf. Fi'oni it the Bedouins, when in their northern pastures, obtain their sup- plies of salt. AVe descended to the Belled through a narrow valley thick with oak and various shrubs. Game appeared to abound. A Yezidi, who had accompanied us from Aldina, shot three wild boars, and we put up several coveys of the large red partridge. The Doctor and Mr. R., who joined us soon after we had reached our tents, had seen several wild goats, and had found a carcase half devoured by the wolves. In the valley behind the Belled we passed the ruins of a large deserted village, whose Inhabitants, according to Cawal Yusuf, had been entirely destroyed by the plague. AAY were nearly five hours iu crossing the mountain. Suttum and his Bedouin companions were ivaiting for us, but Chap. XI.] YEZIDI SNAKE CHARMERS. 257 were not anxious to start before the following morning. A Yezicli snake-charmer, with his son, a boy of seven or eight years old, came to ray tents in the afternoon, and exhibited his tricks in the midst of a circle of astonished beholders. He first pulled from a bag a number of snakes knotted together, which the bystanders declared to be of the most venomous kind. The child took the reptiles fearlessly from his father, and placing them in his bosom allowed them to twine themselves round his neck and arms. The Bedouins gazed in mute wonder at these proceedings, but when the Sheikh, feigning rage against one of the snakes which had drawn blood from his son, seized it, and biting off its head with his teeth threw the writhing body amongst them, they could no longer restrain their horror and indignation. They uttered loud curses on the infidel snake-charmer and his kindred to the remotest generations. Suttum did not regain his composure during the whole evening, frequently relapsing into profound thought, then suddenly breaking out in a fresh curse upon the Sheikh, who, he declared, had a very close and unholy connection with the evil one. Many days passed before he had completely got over the horror the poor Yezidi’s feats had caused him. The poisonous teeth of the snakes which the Slieikh cai-ried with him had probably been drawn, although he offered to prac- tise upon any specimens we might procure for him. I did not, however, deem it prudent to put him to the test. The ruins of the Sinjar abound with these reptiles, and I had seen many amongst them. Tliat most commonly found is of a dark brown color, nearly approaching to black, and, I believe, harmless. I have met with them above six feet in length. Others, however, are of a more dangerous character, and the Bedouins are in great dread of them. Suttum had changed his deloul for a white mare of great beauty, named Athaiba. She was of the race of Kohalla, of exquisite symmetry, in temper docile as a lamb, yet with an eye of fire, and of a pi'oud and noble carriage when excited in war or in the chase. His saddle was the simple stuffed pad generally used by the Bedouins, without stirrups. A halter alone served to guide the gentle animal. Suttum had brought with him several of the principal members of his family, all of whom were mounted on high-bred mares. One youth rode a bay filly, for which, I was assured, one hundred camels had been offered. We followed a pathway over the broken ground at the foot of the Sinjar, crossing deep watercourses worn by the small streams, s 258 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XT. which lose themselves in the desert. The villages, as on the opposite slope, or “ Shomal,” are higli up on the hill-side. The first we passed was Gabara, inhabited by Yezidis and Mussulmans. Its chief, IlufFo, with a party of horsemen, came to us, and intreated me to show him how to open a spring called Soulak, which, he said, had suddenly been choked up, leaving the village almost without water. Unfortunately, being ignorant of the arts for which he gave me credit, I was unable to afford him any help. Beyond Gabara, and nearer to the plain, we saw some modern ruins named Wer- diyat, and encamped, after a short ride, upon a jileasant stream beneath the village of Jedaila. We remained here a whole day in order to visit Suttum’s tribe, which was now migrating towards the Sinjar. Early in the morning a vast crowd of moving objects could be faintly per- ceived on the horizon. These were the camels and sheep of the Boralj, followed by the usual crowd of men, women, children, and beasts of burden. We watched them as they scattered themselves over the plain, and gradually settled in different pastures. By midday the encampment had been formed and all the stragglers collected. We could scarcely distinguish the black tents, and their site was only marked by culling wreaths of white smoke. In the afternoon Suttum’s father, Rishwan, came to us, accom- panied by several Sheikhs of the Boraij. He rode on a white deloul celebrated for her beauty and swiftness. His saddle and the neck of the animal were profusely adorned with woollen tassels of many colors, glass beads, and small shells, after the manner of the Arabs of Nejd. The well-trained dromedary having knelt at the door of my tent, the old man alighted, and throwing his arms round my neck kissed me on both shoulders. He was tall, and of noble carriage. His beard was white with age, but his form was still erect and his footsteps firm. Rishwan was one of the bravest warriors of the Shammar. He had come, when a child, with his father from the original seat of the tribe in northern Arabia. As the leader of a large branch of the Boraij he had taken a prominent part in the wars of the tribe, and the young men still sought him to head their distant forays. But he had long renounced the toils of the gazou, and left his three sons, of whom Suttum was the second, to maintain the honor of the Saadi. He was a noble sjiecimen of the true Bedouin, both in character and appearance. With the skill and daring of the Arab warrior he united the hospitality, gene- Chap. XI.] VISIT TO SHEIKH RISHWAN. 259 rosity, and good fiiith of a hero of Arab romance. lie spoke in the rich dialect of the desert tongue, with the eloquence pecu- liar to his race. He sat with me during the greater part of the afternoon, and having eaten bread returned to his tent. The Yezidi chiefs of Kerraniyah or Sekkiniyah (the village is known by both names) came to our encampment soon after Rishwan’s arrival. As they had a feud with the Bedouins, I took advantage of their visit to effect a reconciliation, both parties swearing on my hospitality to abstain from plundering one another hereafter. The inhabitants of this village and of Semokiyah give tithes of produce (and also of propei’ty taken in forays) to Hussein Bey alone; whilst others pay tithes to Sheikh Nasr as well as to the chief. Being anxious to reach the end of our journey I declined Sut- tum’s invitation to sleep in his tent, but sending the caravan to the place appointed for our night’s encampment, I made a detour to visit his father, accompanied by Mr. and IMrs. R., the Doctor, Mr. C., and Hormuzd. Although the Boraij were above six miles from the small rivulet of Jedaila, they were obliged to send to it for water.* As we rode towards their tents we passed their camels and sheep slowly wandering towards the stream. The camels, spreading far and wide over the plain, were divided according to their colors; some herds being entirely white, some yellow, and others brown or black. Each animal bore the well-known mark of the tribe branded on his side. The Arabs, who drove them, were mounted on dromedaries carrying the capacious romois, or buckets made of bullock skins, in which water is brought to the encamp- ment for domestic purposes. A Bedouin warrior, armed with his long tufted spear, and urging his fleet deloul, occasionally passed rapidly by us leading his high-bred mare to water, followed by her colt gambolling unre- strained over the greensward. In the throng we met Sahiman, the elder brother of Suttum. He was riding on a bay horse, whose fame had spread far and wide amongst the tribes, and whose ex- ploits were a constant theme of praise and wonder Avith the Sham- mar. He was of the race of Obeyan Sherakh, a breed now almost * In the spring months, when the pastures are good, the sheep and camels of the Bedouins require but little water, and the tents are seldom pitched near a well or stream ; frequently as much as half a day’s journey distant. Suttum assured me that at this time of the year the camels need not be watered for two months, such is the richness of the grass of the Desert. 260 KINEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. XI. extinct, and perhaps more highly prized than any other of the Desert. He had established his fame when but two years old. Ferhan, with the principal warriors of the Khurusseh*, had crossed the Euphrates to plunder the Aneyza. They were met by a supe- rior force, and were completely defeated. The best mares of the tribe fell into the hands of the enemy, and the bay colt alone, al- though followed by the fleetest horses of the Aneyza, distanced his pursuers.f Such noble qualities, united with the 2)urest blood, rendered him worthy to be looked upon as the juiblic property of the Shammar, and no sum of money would induce his owner to part with him. With a celebrated bay horse belonging to the Plamoud, a branch of the same tribe, he was set apart to jjrojiagate the race of the finest horses in Mesojiotamia. In size he was small, but large in bone and of excellent proportions. On all sides I heard extraordinary instanees of his powers of endurance and sjieed. Near the encamjiment of the Boraij was a group of mounds resembling in every res^iect those I have already described. The Bedouins call them Abou-Khaima. Are these singular ruins those of towns or of temples ? Their similarity of form, — a centre mound divided into a series of terraces, ascended by an inclined way or steps, and surrounded by equilateral walls, — would lead to the conjec- ture that they were fire temjiles, or vast altars, destined for Astral worship. It will be seen hereafter that the well-known ruin of the Birs Nimroud, on or near the site of ancient Babylon, is very nearly the same in shajie. When I come to describe those remark- able remains, I will add some further observations u^ion their ori- ginal form. * Five sects or subdivisions of the great tribe of Shammar, renowned for their bravery and virtues, and supposed to be descended from the same stock, are so called. Their hereditary chief is Ferhan. To belong to the Khurusseh is an honorable distinction amongst the Shammar. The five septs are the Boraij, the Fedagha, the Alayian, the Ghishm, and the Hathba ; of this last, and of the family of Ahl-Mohammed, was the celebrated Bedouin chief Sofnk. The other clans forming the tribe of Shammar are the Abde, Assaiyah (divided into As-Subhi and Al-Aslam), Thabet, Hamoud, Theghavgheh, Ghatha, Dhi- rayrie, Ghufayla, and Azumail. All these tribes are again divided into numerous septs. The Assaiyah have nearly all crossed the Euphrates, owing to a blood feud with the rest of the Shammar, and have united with the Aneyza. The Rafiidi, however, a large section of the Aneyza, have left their kindred, and are now incorporated with the Shammar. I It is an error to suppose that the Bedouins never ride horses ; for several reasons, however, they seldom do so. Chap. XI.] EXCAMPJIEXT OF THE BORAIJ. 261 The Bedouins who accompanied us galloped to and fro, engag- ing in mimic war with their long quivering spears, until we reached the encampment of the Boraij. The tents were scattered far and wide over the plain ; for so they are pitched during this season of the year when the pastures are abundant, and no immediate danger is ajiprehended from hostile tribes. At other times they are ranged in parallel lines close together, the Sheikh always occupying the foremost place, facing the side from which the guest, as well as the enemy, is expected, that he may be the first to exercise hos- pitality, and the first to meet the foe. This position, however, varies in winter, when the tent must be closed completely on one side, according to the prevailing wind, so that when the wind changes, the whole camp suddenly, as it were, turns round, the last tent becoming the foremost. It is thought unmannerly to approach by the back, to step over the tent-ropes, or to ride towards the woman’s compartment, which is almost always on the right. Dur- ing warm weather the whole canvass is raised on jioles to allow the air to circulate freely, a curtain being used in the morning and evening to ward off the rays of the sun. The Bedouin can tell at once, when drawing near to an encampment, the tent of the Sheikh. It is generally distinguished by its size, and frequently by the spears standing in front of it. If the stranger be not coming directly towards it, and wishes to be the guest of the chief, he goes out of his way, that on approaching he may ride at once to it with- out passing any other, as it is considered uncourteous and almost an insult to go by a man’s tent without stopping and eating his bread. The owner of a tent has even the right to claim any one as his guest who passes in front of it on entering an encampment. Rishwan, Suttum, Mijwell his younger brother, and the elders of the tribe, were standing before the tent ready to receive us. All the old carpets and coverlets of the family, and ragged enough they were, had been spread out for their guests. As we seated ourselves two sheep were slain before us for the feast ; a ceremony it would not have been considered sufficiently hospitable to perform previous to our arrival, as it might have been doubtful whether the animals had been slain wholly for us. The chief men of the encampment collected round us, crouching in a wide circle on the grass. We talked of Arab politics and Arab war, gliazous, and Aneyza mares stolen or carried off in battle by the Shammar. Huge wooden platters, heavy with the steaming messes of rice and boiled meat, were soon brought in and placed on the ground before 262 KINEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. XI. US, Immense lumps of fresh butter were then heaped upon them, and allowed to melt, the cliief occasionally mixing and kneading the whole up together with his hands. "When the dishes had cooled* the venerable Rishwan stood up in the centre of the tent, and called in a loud voice u])on each person by name and in his turn to come to the feast. We fared first with a few of the principal Sheikhs. The most influential men were next summoned, each however resistino- the honor, and allowing himself to be dragged by Suttum and INIij- well to his place. The children, as is usual, were admitted last, and wound up the entertainment by a general scramble for the frag- ments and the bones. Neither Rishwan nor his sons would eat of the repast they had prepared, the laws of hospitality requiring that it should be left entirely to their guests. After we had eaten, I accom- panied Mrs. R. to the harem, where we found assembled the wives and daughters of Rishwan, of his sons, and of the elders of the tribe, who had met together to see the Frank lady. Amongst them were several of considerable beauty. The wife of Sahlman, the eldest of the three brothers, was most distinguished for her good looks. They were all dressed in the usual long blue shirt, and striped, or black, abba, with a black headkerchief, or keffieh, confined by a band of spun camel’s wool. Massive rings of silvei’, adorned with gems and coral, hung from their noses f, and bracelets * It is considered exceedingly inhospitable amongst the Shanimar to place a hot dish before guests, as they are obliged to eat quickly out of consider- ation for others, who are awaiting their turn, which they cannot do, unless the mess be cool, without burning their mouths, or wasting half their time jack- ing out the colder bits. On one occasion, Ferhan, the great chief of the Sham- mar, and a large number of horsemen having alighted at my tent, I prepared a dinner for them. The Sheikh was afterwards heard to say that the Bey’s feast was sumptuous, but that he had not treated his guests with jjroper hospitality, as the dishes were so hot nobody could eat his fill. t These are “the rings and nose jewels,” which Isaiah (iii. 21.) describes as worn by the Jewish women. It is curious that no representation of them has Arat) Nose and Bracelet of Silver. Chap. XI.] DRESS OF ARAB AVOMEN. 263 in the same metal, and also set with precious stones, encircled their wrists and ankles. Some wore necklaces of coins, coarse amber, agate, cornelian beads and cylinders, mostly Assyrian relics picked up amongst ruins after rain. These ornaments Avere confined to the unmarried girts, and to the youngest and prettiest Avives, Avho on waxing old are obliged to transfer them to a more favored successor. When Bedouin ladies leave their tents, or are on a inarch, they sometimes wear a black kerchief over the lower part of the face, showing only their sparkling eyes. Like the men they also use the keffieh, or head-kei’chief, to cover their features. Their complexion is of a dark rich olive. Their eyes are large, almond- shaped, expressive, and of extraordinary brilliancy and fire. They sutler their black, and luxuriant hair to fall in clusters of curls. Tlieir carriage in youth is erect and graceful. They are able to bear much fatigue, and show great courage and spirit in mo- ments of difficulty and danger. But their beauty is only the companion of extreme youth. With few exceptions, soon after twenty, and the birth of one or two children, they rapidly change into the most hideous of old liacs, the lightniu2:-like brightness of the eye alone surviving the general wreck. When young, the daughters and wives of the chiefs are Avell cared for ; they move with the tribe in the covered camel-saddle, shaded by carpets from the rays of the sun. Daughters are looked upon in the Desert* as a source of strength and advantage, from the alliances they enable the father to make with powerful and influential chiefs, being fre- quently the means of healing feuds Avhich have existed for many yeai's. The children of Rishwan’s family Avere naked, and, of course, dirty. One Avho, singularly enough for a Bedouin, had light flaxen hair and blue eyes, Avas on this account supposed to bear a striking likeness to Mr. C., and had, consequently, been nicknamed the Musauer, the artist, a name by Avhich he Avill probably be knoAvn for the rest of his days. Before Ave left the encampment Suttum led before me as a pre- hitlierto been found in the Assyrian sculptures. I take this opportunity of men- tioning, that I saw a finger-ring sculptured on a fragment at Khorsabad. * Amongst the inhabitants of towns, a daughter is considered a kind of flaw in the family, and the death of a girl, too frequently purposely brought about, is rarely a cause of grief. 264 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XI. sent a handsome grey colt, which was as usual returned with a request to take care of it until it was required, the polite way to decline a gift of this nature.* Suttum having saddled his deloul was ready to accompany us on our journey. As he was to be for some time absent from his tents, he asked to take his wife with him, and I willingly consented, liathaiyah was the sister of Suttam el Meekh, chief of the power- ful tribe of the Abde, one of the principal divisions of the Shammar. Although no longer young she still retained much of her eaidy beauty. There was more than the usual Bedouin fire in her large black eyes, and her hair fell in many ringlets on her shoulders. Her temper was haughty and imperious, and she evidently held more sway over Suttum than he liked to acknowledge, or w^as quite eon- sistent wdth his character as a warrior. He had married her from motives of policy, as cementing an useful alliance with a powerful tribe. She appears to have soon carried matters with a high hand, for poor Suttum had been compelled, almost immediately after his marriage, to send back a young and beautiful wdfe to her father’s tent. This prior claimant upon his affections w^as now' on the Khabour with her tribe, and it was probably on this account that Rathaiyah, knowing the direction he w'as about to take, was so anxious to accompany her husband. She rode on the dromedary behind her lord, a comfortable seat having been made for her wdth a rug and a coverlet. The Sheikh carried his hawk, Hattab, on his wrist, guiding the deloul by a short hooked stick held in the right * As this was known to be a mere matter of form with me, as I made it a rule never to accept presents of this kind, Suttum might have offered me his bay colt, the most valuable horse amongst the Shammar, to increase the display of hospitality. The reason he did not was this, that although he knew I would have returned the horse, I might have expressed a wish to buy it, and have offered a price. An offer of this kind would have at once injured the value of the animal in the eyes of the Bedouins, and its owuier might have been ulti- mately compelled to sell it. On one occasion, when I was amongst the Shammar, at A1 Ilather, an Arab rode into my encampment on a beautiful grey colt. I was so much struck with the animal, that I at once expressed a wish to its rider to purchase it. lie merely intimated that the sum I named was beneath the value. I increased it, but he only shook his head, and rode off. Nevertheless, the report spread amongst the tribes that he had bargained for the sale of his horse. Although of the best blood, the animal was looked upon with suspicion by the Bedouins, and the owner was, some months after, obliged to sell him at a lower price than I had bid, to a horse-dealer of Mosul ! A knowledge of such little prejudices and customs is very necessary in dealing with the Arabs of the Desert, who are extremely sensitive, and easily offended. Chap. XI.] OM-EL-DHIBAN. 265 hand. Khoraif, his rediff, rode on this occasion a second drome- dary named Sheaila, with a Shammar Bedouin. The true Sinjar mountain ends about nine miles from Jedaila, the high ridge suddenly subsiding into low broken liills. From all parts of the plain it is a very beautiful object. Its limestone rocks, Avooded here and there with dwarf oak, are of a rich golden color ; and the numberless ravines, Avhich furrow its sides, form ribs of deep purple shadow. The western part of the Sinjar is inhabited by the Yczidi tribe of Kherranlyah. We rode over the plain in a parallel line to the mountain, and about seven or eight miles from it. Towards nightfall w'e skirted a ridge of very low hills rising to our left. They are called Alouvi and Yusuf Beg. The Desei't abounded in the houbara, or middle-sized bustard, the bird usually hawked by the Arabs, and esteemed by them a great delicacy. Hattab had been principally trained to this game, and sat on the raised ivrist of Suttum, seanning the plain with his jiiercing eye. He saw the crouching quarry long before we could distinguish it, and spreading his wings struggled to release himself from the tresses. Onee free he made one straight, steady swoop towards the bustard, Avhieh rose to meet the eoming foe, but was soon borne down in liis sharp talons. A eombat ensued, which was ended by a horseman riding up, substituting the lure for the game, and hooding the hawk, which was again 2ilaced on its master’s wrist. Thus we rode joyously over the 2ilain, night setting in before we could see the tents. No sound except the mournful note of the small desert owl, which has often misled the weary wanderer*, broke the deep silence, nor could we distinguish the distant fires usually marking the site of an encampment. Suttum, however, well knew where the Bedouins Avould halt, and about an hour after dark Ave heard the Avell-known voice of Dervish, and others of my AA’orkmen, Avho, anxious at our delay, had come out to seek us. The tents stood near a muddy pool of salt Avater, thick Avlth loath- some living things and camels’ dung. The Arabs call tlie 2ilace Om-el-Dhiban, “the mother of files,” from the insects Avhich SAvarm around it, and madden by their sting the camels and horses that drink at the stagnant Avater. Our encampment Avas full of Yezidis of the Kherranlyah tribe, who had ridden from the tents to see me, bringing presents of sheep, flour, and figs. They Avere at Avar, both Avith the Bedouins * Its note resembles the cry of the camel-driver, Avhen leading the herds home at night, for which it is frequently mistaken. 266 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XI. and the inhabitants of the northern side of the mountain. INIy large tent was soon crowded witli guests. They squatted down on the ground in double ranks. For tlie last time 1 spoke on the advantage of peace and union amongst themselves, and I exacted from them a solemn promise that they would meet the assembled tribes at the next great festival in the valley of Sheikh Adi, referring their differences in future to the decision of Hussein Bey, Sheikh Nasr, and the Cawals, instead of appealing to arms. I also reconciled them with the Bedouins, Suttum entering into an engagement for his tribe, and both parties agreeing to abstain from lifting each other’s flocks when they should again meet in the pastures at the foot of the hills. The inhabitants of the Sinjar are too powerful and independent to pay koioee*, or black- mail, to the Shammar, who, indeed, stand in much awe of their Yezidi enemies. They frequently raise their annual revenues, and enrich themselves almost entirely, at the expense of the Arabs. They watch their opportunity, when the tribes are migrating in the spring and autumn, and falling by night on their encamp- ments, plunder their tents, and drive off their cattle. Beturn- ing to the hills, they can defy in their fastnesses the revenge of the Bedouins. The Yezidis returned to their encampment late at night, but about a hundred of their horsemen were again with me before the tents were struck in the morning. They promised to fulfil the engagements entered into on the previous evening, and accom- panied me for some miles on our day’s journey. Cawal Yusuf returned with them on his way back to Mosul. It was agreed that he should buy, at the annual auction, the Mokhatta, or revenues of the Sinjar f, and save the inhabitants from the tyranny and exac- * Literally, “ str engtli- money the small tribes, who wander in the Desert, and who inhabit the villages upon its edge, are obliged to place themselves under the protection of some powei’ful tribe to avoid being utterly destroyed. Each great division of the Shammar receives a present of money, sheep, camels, corn, or barley, from some tribe or another for this protection, which is always respected by the other branches of the tribe. Thus the Jehesh paid howee to the Boraij, the Jebours of the Khabour to Ferlian (the hereditary chief of all the Shammar), the people of Tel Afer to the Assaiyah. Should another branch of the Shammar plunder, or injure, tribes thus paying kowee, their protectors are bound to make good, or revenge, their losses. t Tlie revenues, i. e. the different taxes, tithes, &c. of some pashalics are sold by auction in the spring to the highest bidders, who pay the purchase-money, or give sufficient security, and collect the revenues themselves. This is a sys- tem which has contributed greatly to the ruin of some of the finest provinces in the empire. Chap. XI.] SPRINGS OF JERAIBA. 267 tions of the Turkish tax-gatherer. I wrote letters for him to the authorities of Mosul, recommending such an arrangement, as equally beneficial to the tranquillity of the mountain and the trea- sury of the Pasha.* After leaving Om-el-Dhlban Ave entered an undulating country crossed by deep ravines, worn by the winter torrents. Veins of Mosul marble, the alal)aster of the Assyrian sculptures, occasionally appeared above the soil, interrupting the carpet of flowers spread over the face of the country. We drew near to the low hills into which the Sinjar subsides to tbe west. They are called Jeraiba, are well wooded with the ilex and dwarf oak, and abound in springs, near which the Shammar Bedouins encamp during the summer. Skirting them we found a beaten path, the first we had seen since entering the Desert, leading to the Jebour encampments on the Ivhabour, and we followed it for the rest of the day. It seemed irksome after wandering, as we had listed, over the boundless un- trodden plain, to be again confined to the narrow track of the foot- steps of man. However, the Bedouins declared that tliis pathway led to the best water, and we had committed ourselves to their guidance. Four hours’ ride brought us to a scanty spring; half an hour beyond we passed a second ; and in five and a half hours pitched the tents, for the rest of tlie day, near a small stream. All these springs are called Maalaga, and rising in the gypsum or Mosul marble, have a brackish and disagreeable taste. The Bedouins declare that, although unpalatable, they are exceedingly whole- some, and that even tlieir mares fatten on the waters of Jeraiba. Near our tents were the ruins of an ancient village surrounded by a wall. The spring once issued from the midst of them, but its source bad been choked by rubbish, which, as some hours of day- light still remained, Hormuzd employed the Jebours and Tiayri in removing. Before sunset the supply and quality of the water had much improved. Suttum, who could not remain idle, wandered over the plain on his deloul Avith his haAvk in search of game, and returned in the evening Avith a bag of bustards. He came to me before nightfall, someAvhat doAvneast in look, as if a heavy weight were on his mind. At length, after various circumlocutions, he said that his Avife Avould not sleep under the Avhite tent Avhich I had * Cawal Yusuf actually became the farmer of the revenues for a sum scarcely exceeding 350Z. The inhabitants of the Sinjar were greatly pleased by this con- cession to one of their own faith, and were encouraged to cultivate the soil, and to abstain from mutual aggressions. 268 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XI. lent her, such luxuries being, she declared, only worthy of city ladies, and altogether unbecoming the wife and daughter of a Bedouin. “ So determined is she,” said Suttum, “ in the matter, that, Billah I she deserted my bed last night and slept on the grass in the open air ; and now she swears she will leave me and return on foot to her kindred, unless I save her from the indignity of sleeping under a white tent.” It was inconvenient to humour the fancies of the Arab lady, but as she was inexorable, I gave her a black Arab tent, used by the servants for a kitchen. Under, this sheet of goat-hair canvass, open on all sides to the air, she said she could breathe freely, and feel again that she was a Bedouin. As the sun went down we could distinguish, in the extreme dis- tance, a black line marking the wooded banks of the Khabour, beyond which rose the dark hills of Abd-ul-Azeez. Columns of thin ciu’ling smoke showed that there were encampments of Be- douins between us and the river, but we could neither see their tents nor their cattle. The plains to the south of our encamp- ment was bounded by a range of low hills, called Rhoua and Haweeza. We crossed, during the following evening, a beautiful plain covered with sweet smelling flowers and aromatic herbs, and abounding in gazelles, hares, and bustards. We reached in about two hours the encampments, whose smoke we had seen during the preceding evening. They belonged to Bedouins of the Hamoud branch of the Shammar. The tents were pitched closely together in groups, as if the owners feared danger. We alighted at some distance from them to avoid entering them as guests. The chiefs soon came out to us, bringing camels’ milk and bread. From them we learnt that they had lately plundered, on the high road between ]\Iosul and hlardin, a caravan conveying, amongst other valuable loads, a lai-ge amount of government treasure. The Turkish au- thorities had called upon Ferhan, as responsible chief of the Sham- mar, to restore the money, threatening, in case of refusal, an expedition against the whole tribe. The Hamoud, unwilling to part with their booty, and fearing lest the rest of the Shammar might compel them to do so in order to avoid a war, were now retreating towards the north, and, being strong in horsemen, had openly defied Ferhan. They had been joined by many families from the Assalyah, who had crossed the Euphrates, and united with the Aneyza on account of a blood feud with the Nejm. The Chap. XI. J SHEIKH MOHAMMED EMIN. 269 Hamoucl are notorious for treachery and cruelty, and certainly the looks of those who gathered round us, many of them grotesquely attired in the plundered garments of the slaughtered Turkish sol- diery, did not belie their reputation. They fingered every article of dress we had on, to learn its texture and value. Leaving their encampments, we rode through vast herds of camels and flocks of sheep belonging to the tribe, and at length came in sight of the x’iver. The Khabour flows through the richest pastures and meadows. Its banks were now covered with flowers of every hue, and its windings through the green plain were like the coils of a mighty serpent. I never beheld a more lovely scene. An uncontrollable emotion of joy seized all our party when they saw the end of their journey before them. The horsemen urged their horses to full speed ; the J ebours dancing in a circle, raised their colored kercliiefs on their spears, and shouted their war cry, Hornuizd leading the chorus ; the Tiyari sang their mountain songs and fired their muskets into the air. Trees in full leaf lined the water’s edge. From amongst them issued a body of mounted Arabs. As they drew nigh we recog- nised at their head Mohammed Emin, the Jebour Sheikh, and his sons, who had come out from tlieir tents to welcome us. We dis- mounted to embrace, and to exchange the usual salutations, and then rode onwards, through a mass of flowers, reaching high above the horses’ knees, and such as I had never before seen, even in the most fertile parts of the Mesopotamian wilderness. The tents of the chief were pitched under the ruins of Arban, and on the right or northern bank of the river, which was not at this time fordable. As we drew near to them, after a ride of nearly two hours, Mohammed Emin pointed in triumph to the sculptures, which were the principal objects of my visit. They stood a little above the water’s edge, at the base of a mound of considerable size. We had passed several tels and the double banks of ancient canals, showing that we were still amidst the remains of ancient civilisation. Flocks of sheep and herds of camels were spread over the meadows on both sides of the river. They belonged to the Jebours, and to a part of the Boraij tribe under Moghamis, a distinguished Arab warrior, and the uncle of Suttum. Buffaloes and cattle tended by the Sherabbeen and Buggara, small clans pasturing under the protection of Mohammed Emin, stood 270 KINEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. XI. lazily in tlie long grass, or sought refuge in the stream from the flies and noonday heat. At length we stopped opposite to the encampment of the Jebour Sheikli, but it was too late to cross the river, some time being required to make ready the rafts. We raised our tents, therefore, for the night on the southern bank. They were soon filled by a motley group of Boraij, Hamoud, Assaiyah, and Jebour Arabs. Moghaniis himself came shortly after our arrival, bringing me as a present a well-trained hawk and some bustards, the fruits of his morning’s- sport. The falcon was duly placed on Ids stand in the centre of the spacious tent, and remained during the rest of my sojourn in the East a member of my establishment. His name was Fawaz, and he was a native of the hills of Makhhoul, near Tekrit, celebrated for their breed of hawks. He was of the species called “ chark,” and had been given by Sadoun-el-Mustafa, the chief of the great tribe of Obeid, to Ferhan, the sheikh of the Shamrnar, who had bestowed him in token of friendshij) on Mo2:hamis. A Sheikh of the Hamoud also brought us a wild ass-colt, scarcely two months old, which had been caught whilst following its dam, and had been since fed upon camel’s ndlk.* Indeed, nearly all * I am indebted to ]\Ir. Grey for the follo-sving remarks on the skin of a young wild ass brouglit by me to this country : — “It is, I Lave no doubt, the wild ass, or onager of the ancients. It is evidently the same as the ass without a stripe, which has been described by several authors as the Eqmts Hemionus, found in Cutch, and quite distinct from the Hquus Hemionus described by Pallas as found in the snowy mountains of Asia, and called by Mr. Hodgson Equus Kiang and E. polyodon. The wild ass, or onager, was one of the desiderata of zoologists, as it was only described from some specimens seen at a distance, and not from the examination of specimens, and is characterised by being said to have larger and more acute ears than the Hemione of Pallas. 1 do not find this to be the case in the young specimen you have sent to the Museum. The great difference between the wild ass of the plains of Mesopotamia and the Hemione of Tibet is, that the former is a yellowish white, and the latter a bright bay in summer, both being greyish white in winter. There is also some difl'er- ence in the forms of the skull, and in the disposal of the hole for the transmis- sion of the bloodvessels and nerves of the face.” The Arabs of Mesopotamia frequently capture this beautiful animal when young, and generally kill it at once for food. It is almost impossible to take it when full grown. The colt mentioned in the text died before we returned to Mosul. A second, after living eight or nine months, also died ; and a third met with the same fate. I was desirous of sending a live specimen to England, but thus failed in all my at- tempts to rear one. They became very playful and docile. That which I had at Mosul followed like a dog. Chap. XI.] INTERCHANGE OF PRESENTS. 271 those who came to my tent had some offering, either sheep, milk, curds, or butter; even the Arab boys liad caught for us the elegant jerboa, which burrows in vast numbers on the banks of the river. Suitable presents were made in return. Dinner was cooked for all our guests, and we celebrated our first night on the Khabour by general festivities. Suttum, -with, his Wife, on his Dromedary Sheikh Llobatamad Emin CHAP. XII. ARBAN. OUR ENCAMPMENT. SUTTUM AND MOHAMMED EMIN. WINGED BULLS DISCOVERED. EXCAVATIONS COMMENCED. THEIR RESULTS. DIS- COVERY OF SMALL OBJECTS OF SECOND PAIR OF WINGED BULLS OF LION — OF CHINESE BOTTLE OF VASE OF EGYPTIAN SCARABS OF TOMBS, — THE SCENE OF THE CAPTIVITY. On the morning after our arrival In front of the encampment of Sheikh Mohammed Emin we crossed the Khabour on a small raft, and pitched our tents on its right, or northei’ii, bank. I found the ruins to consist of a large artificial mound of irregular shape. Chap. XII.] BEAUTY OF THE BAXKS OF THE KIIABOUR. 273 washed, and indeed pai'tly carried away by the river which was gradually undermining the perpendicular cliff left by the falling earth. The Jebours were encamped to the west of it. I chose for our tents a recess, like an amphitheatre, fa'cing the stream. We were thus surrounded and protected on all sides. Be- hind us and to the east rose the mound, and to the west were the family and dependents of Mohammed Emin. In the Desert, beyond the ruins, were scattered far and wide the tents of the Jebours, and of several Arab tribes Avho had placed themselves under their protection ; the Sherabeen, wandering keepers of herds of buffaloes ; the Buggara, driven by the incursions of the Aneyza from their pasture grounds at Ras-al-Ain (the source of the Khabour); and some families of the Jays, a large clan residing in the district of Orfa, whose sheikh having quarrelled with his brother chiefs had now joined Mohammed Emin. From the top of the mound the eye ranged over a level country bright -with flowers, and spotted with black tents, and innumerable flocks of sheep and camels. During our stay at Arban the color of these great plains was undergoing a continual change. After being for some days of a golden yellow, a new family of flowers would spring up, and it would turn almost in a night to a bright scarlet, which would again as suddenly give way to the deepest blue. Then the meadows would be mottled with various hues, or would put on the emerald green of the most luxuriant of pastures. The glowing de- scriptions I had so frequently received from the Bedouins of the beauty and fertility of the banks of the Khabour were more than realised. The Arabs boast that its meadows bear three distinct crops of grass during the year, and the wandering tribes look upon its wooded banks and constant greensward as a paradise during the summer months, where man can enjoy a cool shade, and beast can find fresh and tender herbs, whilst all around is yellow, parched, and sapless. In the extreme distance, to the east of us, rose a solitary conical elevation, called by the Ai'abs, Koukab. In front, to the south, was the beautiful hill of the Sinjar, ever varying in color and in outline as the declining sun left fresh shadows on its furrowed sides. Behind us, and not far distant, was the low, wooded range of Abd- ul- Azeez. Artificial mounds, smaller in size than Arban, rose here and there above the thin belt of trees and shrubs skirtine: the river bank. I had brought with me a tent large enough to hold full two hundred persons, and intended as a “ museef,” or place of reception. T 274 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XII. always open to the wayfarer and the Arab visitor ; for the first duty of a traveller wishing to mix with true Bedouins, and to gain an Influence over them, is tlie exercise of hospitality. This great pavilion was pitched in the centre of my encampment, with its en- trance facing the river. To the rijiht were the tents of the Cawass and servants ; one fitted up expressly for the Doctor to receive patients, of whom there was no lack at all times, and the black Arab tent of Rathaiyah, who would not mix with the Jebours. To the left were those of my fellow travellers, and about 200 yards beyond, near the excavations, my own private tent, to which I retired during the day, when wishing to be undisturbed, and to which the Arabs were not admitted. In it, also, we usually break- fasted and dined, except when there were any Arab guests of dis- tinction with whom it was necessary to eat bread. In front of our encampment, and between it and the river, was a sriiall lawn, on which were picketed our horses. Suttum and Mohammed Emin usually eat with us, and soon became perfectly reconciled to knives and forks, and the other restraints of civilised life. Suttum’s tact and intelligence were indeed remarkable. Nothing escaped his hawk-like eye. A few hours had enabled him to form a correct estimate of the character of each one of the party, and he had detected peculiarities which might have escaped the notice of the most observant European. The most polished Turk would have been far less at home in the society of ladies, and during the whole of our journey he never committed a breach of manners, only ac- quired after a few hours’ residence with us. As a companion he was delightful, — full of anecdote, of unclouded spirits, acquainted with the history of every Bedouin tribe, their politics and their wars, and intimate with every part of the Desert, its productions and its inhabitants. INlany happy hours I spent with him, seated, after the sun went down, on a mound overlooking the great plain and the winding river, listening to the rich flow of his graceful Bedouin dialect, to his eloquent stories of Arab life, and to his animated descriptions of forays, wars, and single combats. INIohammed Emin, the Sheikh of the Jebours, w'as a good-na- tured portly Arab, in intelligence greatly inferior to Suttum, and wanting many of the qualities of the pure Bedouin. During our in- tercourse I had every reason to be satisfied with his hospitality and the cordial aid he afforded me. His chief fault was a habit of begging for every thing. Always willing to give he was equally ready to receive. In this respect, however, all Arabs are alike, and when the habit Is understood it is no longer a source of inconvenience, as on a refusal no offence Is taken. The Jebour chief was a com- Chap. XII.] SCULPTURES AT ARBAX. 275 plete patriarch in his tribe, having no less than sixteen children, of whom six sons were horsemen and the owners of mares. The youngest, a boy of four years old named Sultan, was his favorite. His usual costume consisted simply of a red Turkish skull cap, or fez, on his head. He scarcely ever left his father, who always brought the child with him when he came to our tent. He Avas as handsome and dirty as the best of Arab children. His mother, Avho had recently died, was the beautiful sister of Abd-rubbou. I chanced to be her brothex*’s guest Avhen the neAVS of her death was brought to him. An Arab of the tribe, Aveary and AvayAvorn, entered the tent and seated himself Avithout giving the usual salutation ; all present kncAv that he had come from the Khabour and from distant friends. His silence argued evil tidings. By an indirect remark, immediately understood, he told his errand to one Avho sat next him, and Avho in turn whispered it to Sheikh Ibrahim, the chief’s uncle. The old man said aloud, with a sigh, “ It is the Avill and mercy of God ; she is not dead but released ! ” Abd-rubbou at once understood of whom he spake. He arose and went forth, and the wailing of the mother and of the Avomen soon issued from the inner recesses of tlie tent. We were for a day or two objects of curiosity to the Arabs Avho assembled in crowds around our tents. Having never before seen an European, it was natural that they should hasten to examine the strangers. They soon, hoAvevei*, became used to us, and things Avent on as usual. It is a circumstance well Avorthy of mention, and most strongly in favor of the natural integrity of the Arab Avhen his guests are concerned, that diu'ing the whole of our jour- ney and our residence on the Khabour, although Ave lived in open tents, and property of all kinds was scattered about, we had not to complain of a single loss from theft. My first care, after crossing to Arban, was to examine the sculp- tures described by the Arabs. The river having gradually Avorn aAvay the mound had, during the recent floods, left uncovered a pair of Avinged human-headed bulls, some six feet above the Avater’s edge, and full fifty beneath the level of the ruin. Only the fore- part of these figures had been exposed to vieAv, and Mohammed Emin Avould not alloAV any of the soil to be remov'ed before my arrival. The earth Avas soon cleared aAvay, and I found them to be of a coarse limestone, not exceeding feet in height by 4^ in length. Between them Avas a pavement slab of the same material. They resembled in general form the Avell-knoAvn Avinged bulls of Nineveh, but in the style of art they differed consider- 276 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XII. ably from them. The outline and treatment was bold and angu- lar, with an archaic feeling conveying the impression of great antiquity. They bore the same relation to the more delicately finished and highly ornamented sculptiu’es of Nimroud, as the earliest remains of Greek art do to the exquisite monuments of Phidias and Praxiteles. The human features were unfortu- nately much injured, but sucb parts as remained were sufficient to show that the countenance had a peculiar chai’acter, differing from the Assyrian type. The sockets of tlie eyes were deeply sunk, probably to receive the white and the ball of the eye in ivory or glass. The nose was flat and large, and the lips thick and overhanging like those of a negro. Human ears were attached to the head, and bull’s ears to the horned cap, which was low and square at the top, not high and ornamented like those of Khorsabad and Kouyun- jik, nor rounded like those of Ximroud. The hair was elabo- rately curled, as in the pure As- syrian sculptures, though more rudely carved. The wings were small in proportion to the size of the body, and had not the ma- jestic spread of those of the bulls that adorned the palaces of Nine- veh. Above the figure were the following chai’acters*, w'hich are purely Assyrian. Front View of Winded Bull at Arban tyyq y v «< + tiL It w'ould appear from them that the sculptures belonged to the palace of a king whose name has been found on no other monu- ment. No titles are attached to it, not even that of “king;” nor is the country over which he reigned mentioned ; so that some doubt may exist as to whether it really be a royal name. The great accumulation of earth above these sculptui’es proves that, since the destruction of the edifice in which they stood, other * The last letter is in one instance omitted. For a drawing of the hull see ■wood- cut at the end of the chapter. Chap. XII.] SCULPTURES AT ARBAN. 277 habitations have been raised upon its ruins. Arban, indeed, is mentioned by the Arab geographers as a flourishing city, in a singularly fertile district of the Khabour. Part of a minaret, whose walls were cased with colored tiles, and ornamented with cufic in- scriptions in relief, like that of the Sinjar, and the foundations of buildings, are still seen on the mound ; and at its foot, on the western side, are the remains of a bridge which once spanned the stream. But the river has changed its course. The piers, adorned with elegantly shaped arabesque characters, are now on the dry land. I will describe, at once, the results of the excavations carried on during the three weeks our tents were pitched at Arban. To please the Jebour Sheikh, and to keep around our encampment, for greater security, a body of armed men, when the tribe changed their pas- tures, I hired about fifty of IMohammed Emin’s Arabs, and placed them in parties with the woi'kmen who had accompanied me from IMosul. Tunnels were opened behind the bulls already uncovered, and in various parts of the ruins on the same level. Trenches Avere also dug into the surface of the mound. Behind the bulls were found various Assyrian relics; amongst them a copper bell, like those from Nimroud, and fragments of bricks with arrow-headed characters painted yellow with white outlines, upon a pale green ground. In other parts of the mound were discovered glass and pottery, some Assyrian, others of a more doubtful character. Several fragments of earthenware, ornamented with flowers and scrollwork, and highly glazed, had assumed the brilliant and varied iridescence of ancient glass.* It was natural to conclude, from the usual architectural arrange- ment of Assyrian edifices, that the two bulls deserlbed stood at an entrance to a hall, or chamber. W e searched in vain for the remains of walls, although digging for three days to the right and left of the sculptures, a work of considerable difficulty in consequence of the immense heap of superincumbent earth. I then directed a tunnel to be carried towards the centre of the mound, hoping to find a corresponding doorway opposite. I was not disappointed. On the fifth day a similar pair of winged bulls were discovered. They were of the same size, and inscribed with the same cha- racters. A pai’t of one having been originally broken oflp, either in carving the sculpture or in moving it, a fresh piece of stone had These relics are now in the British Musemn. 278 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XII. been carefully fitted into its place. I also dug to the right and left of these sculptures for remains of walls, but without success, and then resumed the tunnelling towards the centre of the mound. In a few days a lion, with extended jaws, sculptured in the same coarse limestone, and in the same bold archaic style as the bulls, was discovered. It had five legs, and the tall had the claw at the end, as in the Nineveh bas-reliefs. In height it was nearly the same as the bulls. I searched in vain for the one which must have formed the opposite side of the doorway. With the exception of these sculptures no remains of building were found in this part of the mound. In another tunnel, opened at some distance from the bulls, half of a human figure in relief was discovered.* The face was in full. One hand grasped a sword or dagger ; the other held some object to the breast. The hair and beard were long and flowing, and ornamented with a profusion of * The height of this fragment was 5 ft. 8 in. Chap. XII.] RELICS DISCOVERED AT ARBAN. 279 curls as in the Assyrian bas-reliefs. The head-dress appeared to consist of a kind of circular helmet, ending in a sharp point. The treatment and style marked the sculpture to be of the same period as the bull and lion. Such were the sculptures dis- covered in the mound of Arban. Amongst smaller objects of dif- ferent periods were some of consi- derable interest, jars, vases, funeral urns, highly-glazed pottery, and fragments of glass. In a trench, on the south side of the ruin, was found a small green and white bottle, in- scribed with Chinese charactei’s. A similar relic was brousrht to me sub- sequently by an Arab from a barrow in the neighbourhood. Such bottles have been discovered in Egy2itian tombs, and considerable doubt exists as to their antiquity, and as to the date and manner of their importa- tion into Egy^it.* The best opinion now is that they are compara- tively modern, and that they were jirobably brought by the .\rabs, in the eighth or ninth century, from the kingdoms of the far East, with which they had at that period extensive com- mercial intercourse. Bottles precisely similar are still offered for sale in the bazars at Cairo, and are used to hold the kohl, or jiowder for staining the eyes of ladies. A jar, about four feet high, in coai'se half-baked clay, was dug out of the centre of the mound. The handles were formed by rudely-designed human figures, and the sides covered with grotesque rejire- sentatlons of men and animals, and arabesque orna- ments in relief. Vases of the same material, ornamented with figures, are fre- quently discovered in digging the foundations of houses in the Chinese Bottle d;s- covertd at Arban. * Wilkinson, in his “ Ancient Egyptians,” vol. lii. p. 107., gives a drawing of a bottle precisely similar to that described in the text, and mentions one which, according to Rosellini, had been discovered in a previously unopened tomb, be- lieved to be of the 18th dynasty ; but there appears to be considerable doubt on the subject. 280 NIXEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. XII. modern town of INIosul. They appear to belong to a comparatively recent period, later probably than the Christian era, but previous to the Arab occupation. As they have upon them human figures, dressed in a peculiar costume, consisting of a high cap and embroi- dered robes, I should attribute them to the Persians. A vase, similar in size and shape to that of Arban, and also covei’ed with grotesque representations of mon- strous animals, the finest S2)ecimen I have seen of this class of antiquities, was found beneath the foundations of the very an- cient Chaldajan church of Meskinta at Mosul, when that edifice was pulled down and rebuilt two years ago.* It was given to me by the Catholic Chahhean Patriarch, to whom it belonged as chief of the com- munity, but was unfortunately destroyed, with other interesting relics, by the Arabs, who plundered a raft laden with antiqui- ties, on its way to Baghdad, after my return to Europe. Amongst other relics discovered at Arban were, a large copper ring, apparently Assyrian ; an ornament in earthenware, resem- bling the pine-cone of the Assyrian sculptures ; a bull’s head in terracotta; fragments of painted bricks, probably of the same period ; and several Egyptian scarabtei. It is singular that en- graved stones and scarabs bearing Egyptian devices, and in some instances even royal cartouches, should have been found on the banks of the Khabour. Similar ob- jects were subsequently dug up at Nimroud, and brought to me by the Arabs from various ruins in Assyria. I will take this opportunity of adding the following remarks by iSIr. Birch on those deposited Figure in Pottery from Mosul. Egyptian Scarab, irora Arban. in the British Museum. * In laying the foundations of the new church, the tombs of two of the early Chaldman patriarchs were discovered amongst other objects of interest. The bodies, being still preserved, were, of course, canonised at once, and turned into a source of profit by the bishop, the faithful paying a small sum for permis- sion to touch the sacred relics. One had been head of the Oriental church be- fore the Arab invasion. By his side was his crozier ending in a silver crook, on which was an inscription in Chaldee letters. The second was of a rather later period. Ilis crozier was of ebony, surmounted by a ball of glass, and in- scribed with the earliest cufic characters. I examined these interesting relics immediately after their discovery. Chap. xII.] SCAKABS DISCOVERED AT ARBAN. 281 1. A scarabffius, having on the base Ba-men-chepr, the prenomen of Thothmes III. Beneath is a scarab between two feathers, placed on the basket sub. 2. A scarabajus in dark steaschist, with the figure of the sphinx (the sun), and an emblem between the forepaws of the monster. The sphinx constantly ap- pears on the scarabsei of Thothmes III., and it is pro- bably to this monarch that the one here described belongs.* After the sphinx on this scarab, are the titles of the king, “ the sun placer of creation,” of Thothmes III. 3. Small scarabeeus of white steaschist, with a brownish hue ; reads Neter nefer nehta JRa-neb-ma, “ The good God, the Lord of the earth, the sun, the Lord of truth, rising in all lands.” This is of Amenophis III., one of the last kings of the eighteenth dynasty, who flourished about the fifteenth century B. c., and who records amongst his conquests As-su- ru (Assyria), Naharaina (Mesopotamia), the Saenkar (Shinar or Sinjar), and Pattana (Padan Aram). The expression, “who rises in all lands,” refers to the solar character of the king, and to his universal dominion. 4. Scarabteus in white steaschist, with an abridged form of the prenomen of Thothmes III., Ra men clieper at en Amen, “ The sun-placer of creation, the type of Ammon.” This monarch was the greatest monarch of the eighteenth dynasty, and conquered Naharaina and the Saenkar, besides receiving tribute from Babel or Babylon and Assyria. 5. ScarabjEus in pale white steaschist, with three emblems that cannot well be explained. They are the sun’s disk, the ostrich feather, the urteus, and the guitar nabluim. They may mean “ Truth the good goddess,” or “ lady,” or ma nefer, “ good and true.” 6. Scarabajus in the same substance, with a motto of doubtful meaning. 7. Scarabse, with a hawk, and God holding the emblem of life, and the words ma nefer, “ good and true.” The meaning very doubtful. * On many scaraba?! in the British Museum, and on those figured by Kla- proth from the Palin Collection, in Leeman’s Monuments, and in the “ Descrip- tion de I’Egypte,” Thothmes is represented as a sphinx treading foreign prisoners under him. 282 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XII. 8. A searabaeus, with a hawk-headed gryphon, emblem of Menta-Ra, or Mars. Behind the mon- ster is the goddess Sati, or Nuben. The hawk- headed lion is one of the shapes into which the sun turns himself in the hours of the day. It is a com- mon emblem in the Aramaean religion. 9. Searabaeus, with hawk-headed gryphon, having before it the uraeus and the “ nabla ” or guitar, hieroglyphic of good. Above it are the hieroglyphs “ Lord of the earth.” 10. Small searabaeus in dark steaschist, with a man in adoration to a king or deity, wearing the crown of the upper country, and holding in the left hand a lotus flower. Between them is the emblem of life. 1 1 . Searabaeus, with the hawk-headed searabaeus, emblem of Ra-cheper, “ the Creator Sun,” flying with expanded wings, four in number, which do not appear in Egyptian mythology till after the time of the Persians, when the gods assume a more Pan- theistic form. Such a representation of the sun, for instance, is found on the Torso Borghese. It will be observed that most of the Egyptian relics discovered in the Assyrian ruins are of the time of the 18th Egyptian dy- nasty, or of the 15th century before Christ; a period when, as we learn from Egyptian monuments, there was a close connection be- tween Assyria and Egypt. Several tombs were also found in the ruins, consisting principally of boxes, or sarcophagi, of earthenware, like those existing above the Assyrian palaces near Mosul. Some, however, were formed by two large earthen jars, like the common Eastern vessel for holding oil, laid horizontally, and joined mouth to mouth. These terra- cotta coffins appear to be of the same period as those found in all the great ruins on the banks of the rivers of Mesopotamia, and are not Assyrian.* They contained human remains turned to dust, with the exception of the skull and a few of the larger bones, and generally three or four urns of highly-glazed blue pottery. Fewer remains and objects of antiquity were discovered in the mounds on the Khabour than I had anticipated. They were suffi- cient, however, to prove that the ruins are, on the whole, of the same character as those on the banks of the Tigris. That the Assyrian em^ure at one time embraced the whole of Mesopotamia, including the country watered by the Khabour, there can be no * Most of the small objects described iu the text are now in the British Museum. Chap. XII.] ANTIQUITY OF SCULPTURES AT ARBAN. 283 doubt, as indeed is shown by the inscriptions on the monuments of Nineveh. Whether the sculptures at Arban belong to the period of Assyrian domination, or to a distinct nation afterwards conquered, or whether they may be looked upon as cotemporary with, or more ancient than, the bas-reliefs of Nimroud, are questions not so easily answered. The archaic character of the treatment and design, the peculiar form of the features, the rude though forcible delineation of the muscles, and the simplicity of the details, certainly convey the impression of greater antiquity than any monuments hitherto discovered in Assyria Proper.* A deep interest, at the same time, attaches to these remains from the site they occupy. To the Chebar were transported by the Assyrian king, after the destruction of Samaria, the captive chil- dren of Israel, and on its banks “ the heavens were opened ” to Ezekiel, and “ he saw visions of God,” and spake his prophecies to his brother exiles.f Around Arban may have been pitched the tents of the sorrowing Jews, as those of the Arabs were during my visit. To the same pastures they led their sheep, and they drank of the same waters. Then the banks of the river were covered with towns and villages, and a palace-temple still stood on the mound, reflected in the transparent stream. We have, however, but one name connected with the Khabour recorded in Scripture, that of Tel- Abib, “ the mound of Abib, or, of the heaps of ears of corn,” but whether it applies to a town, or to a simple artificial elevation, such as still abound, and are still called “ tels,” is a matter of doubt. I sought in vain for some trace of the word amongst the names now given by the wandering Arab to the various ruins on the Khabour and its confluents.^ * A lion very similar to that discovered at Arban, though more colossal in its dimensions, exists near Serong. (Chesney’s Expedition, vol. i. p. 114.) f 2 Kings, xvii. 6. Ezek. i. 1. In the Hebrew text the name of this river is spelt in two different ways. In Kings we have “H^n, Khabour, answering exactly to the Chaboras of the Greeks and Romans, and the Khabour of the Arabs. In Ezekiel it is written "133^ Kebar. There is no reason, however, to doubt that the same river is meant. I The name occurs in Ezekiel, iii. 15. “ Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel- Abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar.” In the Theodosian tables we find Thallaba on the Khabour, with which it may possibly be identified. (Illustrated Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, published by Charles Knight, a very useful and well-digested summary, in note to word.) It is possible that Arbonad, a name apparently given to the Khabour in Judith, ii. 24., may be connected with Arban : however, it is not quite clear what river is really meant, as there appears to be some confusion in the geographical details. The cities on the Khabour, mentioned by the Arab geographers, are Karkisia (Circesium, at the junction of the river with the Euphrates), Makeseen (of which I could find no trace), Arban, and Khabour. I have not been able to discover the site of 284 NIXEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. XII. We know that Jews still lingered in the cities of the Kha- hour until long after the Arab invasion; and we may perhaps recognise in the Jewish communities of Eas-al-Ain, at the sources of the river, and of Karkisia, or Carchemish, at its confluence with the Euphrates, visited and described by Benjamin of Tudela, in the latter end of the twelfth century of the Christian a;ra, the descendants of the captive Israelites. But the hand of time has long since swept even this remnant away, with the busy crowds which thronged the banks of the river. From its mouth to its source, from Carcliemish to Ras-al-Ain, there is now no single permanent human habitation on theKhabour. Its rich meadows and its deserted ruins are alike become tlie encamp- ing places of the wandering Arab. any ruin of the same name as the river. Karkisia, when visited in tiie twelfth century by Benjamin of Tudela, contained about 500 Jewish inhabitants, under two Rabbis. According to Ibn Haukal, it was surrounded by gardens and cultivated lands. The spot is now inhabited by a tribe of Arabs. Wjas«d Bull discovered at Arfeaa Arab Women grinding Corn with a Hardmih. rolling out the Dough, and baking the Bread,- CHAP. XIII. RESIDENCE AT ARBAN. MOHAMMED EMIn’s TENT. THE AGAYDAT. OUR TENTS. BREAD-BAKING. FOOD OF THE BEDOUINS. THIN BREAD. THE PRODUCE OF THEIR FEOCKS. DISEASES AMONGST THEM. THEIR REMEDIES. THE DELOUL OR DROMEDARY. BEDOUIN WARFARE. — SUTTUm’s FIRST WIFE. A STORM. TURTLES. LIONS. — A BEDOUIN ROBBER. BE.WERS. RIDE TO LEDJMIYAT. A PLUNDERING EXPEDITION. LOSS OF A HAWK. RUINS OF SHEMSHANI. — A TRADITION. JEBOURS STRIKE THEIR TENTS. RETURN TO ARBAN. VISIT TO MOGHAMIS. In’ the preceding chapter I have given an account of the dis- coveries made in the ruins of Arban, I will now add a few notes of our residence on the Khabour. A sketch of Arab life, and a description of a country not previously visited by European ti’a- vellers, may be new and not uninteresting to my readers. During the time we dwelt at Arban, we were the guests and under the protection of Mohammed Emin, the Sheikh of the Jebours. On the day we crossed the river, he celebrated our arrival by a feast after the Arab fashion, to which the notables of the tribe Yvere invited. Sheep, as usual, were boiled and served up piecemeal in large wooden bowls, with a mass of butter and 286 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIII. bread soaked in the gravy. The chiefs tent was spacious, though poorly furnished. It was the general resort of those who chanced to wander, either on business or for pleasure, to the Khabour, and was, consequently, never without a goodly array of guests ; from a company of Shammar horsemen out on a foray to the solitary Bedouin who was seeking to become a warrior In his tribe, by first stealing a mare from some hostile encampment. Amongst the strangers partaking, at the time of our visit, of the Sheikh’s hospitality, were Serhan, a chief of the Agaydat, and Dervish Agha, the hereditary Lord of NIsIbln, the ancient NIsIbIs. The tents of the former were at the junction of the Khabour and Euphrates, near Karkisla (the ancient Carchemish), or, as It Is more generally called by the Arabs, Abou-Psera.* The fertile meadows near the confluence of the two rivers formerly belonged to the Jebours, who occupied the banks of the Khabour throughout nearly the whole of Its course. An old feud kept them at con- tinual war with the great tribe of the Aneyza. They long suc- cessfully struggled with their enemies, but having at length been overpowered by superior numbers, they lost their liorses, their flocks, their personal property, and even their tents. Thus left naked and houseless, they sought refuge In the neighbourhood of Mosul, and learnt to cultivate the soil and to become subjects of the Turks. The Agaydat, who before dwelt principally on the western banks of the Euphrates, crossed the river and seized the deserted pastures. The Jebours who had returned to the Khabour, claimed their former encamping grounds, and threat- ened to reoccupy them by force of arms. It was to settle these differences that Serhan had visited Mohammed Emin. After remaining two or three days, he went back to his tents without, however, having succeeded In his mission. I learnt from him that there were many artificial mounds near the confluence of the rivers, but he had never heard, nor had Mohammed Emin, of any sculptures, or other monuments of antiquity, having been found In them. Dervish Agha, of Kurdish descent, was the representative of an ancient flnnlly, whose members were formerly the semi-inde- pendent chiefs of NIsIbln and the surrounding districts. He was still the recognised Muteselllm, or governor of that place, and had been sent to IMohannned Emin by the commander of the Turkish * Col. Chesney states that the real name is “ Abou Serai,” “ the father (or chief) of palaces such may be the case. Chap. XIII.] ARAB MODE OF GRINDING CORN. 287 troops, one Suleiman Agha, who was at tins time encamped in the plain beneath Mardin. His business was to prevail upon the Jebour Sheikh to assist Ferhan in recovering the plundered trea- sure from the Hamoud, and to visit afterwards the encampment of the Agha, with both which requests his host had good reasons not to comply. ISIy own large tent was no less a place of resort than that of INIohammed Emin, and as we were objects of curiosity. Bedouins from all parts flocked to see us. With some of them I was already acquainted, having either received them as my guests at Mosul, or met them during excursions in the Desert. They generally passed one night with us, and then returned to their own tents. A sheep was always slain for them, and boiled with rice, or pre- pared wheat, in the Arab way : if there were not strangers enough to consume the whole, the rest was given to the workmen or to the needy, as it is considered derogatory to the character of a truly hospitable and generous man to keep meat until the follow- ing day, or to serve it up a second time when cold. Even the poorest Bedouin who kills a sheep, invites all his friends and neighbours to the repast, and if there be still any remnants, dis- tributes them amongst the poor and the hungry, although he should himself want on the morrow. We brought provision of flour with us, and the Jebours had a little wheat raised on the banks of the river. Tlie wanderingr Arabs have no other means of grinding their corn than by hand- mills, which they carry with them wherever they go. They are always worked by the women, for it is considered unworthy of a man to engage in any domestic occupation. These handmills are simply two circular flat stones, generally about eigliteen inches in diameter, the upper turning loosely upon a wooden pivot, and moved quickly round by a wooden handle. Tlie grain is poured through the hole of the pivot, and the flour is collected in a cloth spread under the mill. It is then mixed with water, kneaded in a wooden bowl, and pressed by the hand into round balls ready for baking. During these processes, the women are usually seated on the bare ground : hence, in Isaiah *, is the daughter of Babylon told to sit in the dust and on the ground, and “ to take the mill- stones to grind meal.” The tribes who are always moving from place to place bake their bread on a slightly convex iron plate, called a sadj, mode- xlvii. 1, 2. 288 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XII. rately heated over a low fire of brushwood or camels’ dung. The lumps of dough arc rolled, on a wooden platter, into thin cakes, a foot or more in diameter, and laid by means of the roller upon the iron, They are baked in a very short time, and should be eaten hot.* The Kurds, whose flour is far whiter and more care- fully prepared than that of the Arabs, roll the dough into large cakes, scarcely thicker than a sheet of paper. When carefully baked by the same process, it becomes crisp and exceedingly agree- able to the taste. The Arab tribes, that remain for many days in one place, make rude ovens by digging a hole about three feet deep, shaping it like a reversed funnel, and plastering it with mud. They heat it by burning brushwood within, and then stick the lumps of dough, pressed into small cakes about half an inch thick, to the sides with the hand. The bread is ready in two or three minutes. When horsemen go on an expedition, they either carry with them the thin bread first described, or a bag of floui’, which, when they come to water, they moisten and knead on their cloaks, and then bake by covering the balls of dough with hot ashes. All Arab bread is unleavened. If a Bedouin tribe be moving in great haste before an enemy, and should be unable to stop for many hours, or be making a forced march to avoid pursuit over a desert where the wells are very dis- tant from each other, the women sometimes prepare bread whilst riding on camels. The fire is then lighted in an earthen vessel. One woman kneads the flour, a second rolls out the dough, and a third bakes, boys or women on foot passing the materials, as re- quired, from one to the other. But it is very rare that the Be- douins are obliged to have recourse to this process, and I. have only once witnessed it. The fuel used by the Arabs consists chiefly of the dwarf shrubs, growing in most parts of the Desert, of dry grass and of camels’ dung. They frequem*.y carry bags of the latter with them when in summer they march over very arid tracts. On the banks of the great rivers of ]\Iesopotamia, the tamarisk and other trees furnish them with abundant firewood. They are entirely dependent * See woodcut at the head of this chapter. Such was probably the process of making bread mentioned in 2 Sam. xiii. 8, 9. “ So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house; and he was laid down. And she took flour and kneaded it, and made cakes in his s)ght, and did bake the cakes. And she took a pan and poured them out before him.” It will be observed that the bread was made at once, without leaven ; such also was probably tlie bread that Abraham commanded Sarah to make for the three angels. (Gen. xviii. 6.) Chap. XIII.] FOOD OF THE BEDOUINS, 289 for their supplies of wheat upon the villages on the borders of the Desert, or on the sedentary Arabs, who, whilst living in tents, cultivate the soil. Sometimes a tribe is fortunate enough to plunder a caravan laden with eorn, or to sack the granaries of a village; they have then enough to satisfy their wants for some months. But the Bedouins usually draw near to the towns and eultivatcd districts soon after the harvest, to lay in their stoek of grain. A party of men and women, chosen by their companions, then take with them money, or objects for sale or exchange, and drive the camels to the villages, where they load them and return to their tents. Latterly a new and very extensive trade has been opened with the Bedouins for the wool of their sheep, much prized for its superior quality in European markets. As the time for shear- ing is soon after the harvest, the Arabs have ready means of ob- taining their supplies, as well as of making a little money, and buying finery and arms. Nearly the whole revenue of an Arab Sheikh, whatever it may be, is laid out in coi’ii, rice, and other provisions. The quantity of food consumed in the tents of some of the great chiefs of the Be- douins is very considei’able. Almost every traveller who passes the encampment eats bread ■with the Sheikh, and there are generally many guests dwelling under his eanvas. In times of difficulty or scarcity, moi’eovcr, the whole tribe frequently expects to be fed by him, and he considers himself bound, even under such circum- stances, by the duties of hospitality, to give all that he has to the needy. The extraordinary generosity displayed on such occasions by their chiefs forms some of the most favourite stories of the Arabs. The common Bedouin can rarely get meat. His food consists almost exclusively of wheaten bread wdth truffles, which are found in great abundance during the spring, a few wild herbs, such as asparagus, onions, and garlic, fresh butter, curds, and sour milk. But, at certain seasons, even these luxuries cannot be obtained ; for months together he often eats bread alone. The Sheikhs usually slay a sheep every day, of which their guests, a few of their relatives, and their Immediate adherents partake. The women jire- pare the food, and always eat after the men, who rarely leave them much wherewith to satisfy their hunger. The dish usually seen in a Bedouin tent is a mess of boiled meat, sometimes mixed with onions, upon which a lump of fresh butter is placed and allowed to melt. The broad tall of the Mesopotamian u 290 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIII. sheep is used for grease when there Is no butter. Sometimes cakes of bread are laid under tlie meat, and the entertainer tearing up the thin loaves into small pieces, soaks them in the gravy with his hands. The Aneyza make very savory dishes of chopped meat and bread mixed with sour curds, over which, when the huge platter is placed before the guest, is poured a flood of melted butter. Roasted meat is very rarely seen in a Bedouin tent. Rice is only eaten by the Sheikhs, except amongst the tribes who en- camp in the marshes of Southern Mesopotamia, where rice of an inferior quality is very largely cultivated. There it is boiled with meat and made into pilaws. The Bedouins do not make cheese. The milk of their sheep and goats is shaken into butter or turned into curds : it is rarely or never drank fresh, new milk being thought very unwholesome, as by experience I soon found it to be, in the Desert. I have frequently had occasion to describe the process of making butter by shaking the milk in skins. This is also an employment eonfined to the women, and one of a very laborious nature. The curds are formed by boiling the milk, and then putting some of the curds made on the previous day into it and allowing it to stand. When the sheep no longer give milk, some curds are dried, to be used as leaven on a future occasion. This preparation, called leben, is thick and acid, but very agreeable and grateful to the taste in a hot climate. The sour milk, or sheneena, an universal beverage amongst the Arabs, is either butter-milk pure and diluted, or curds mixed with Avatcr. Camel’s milk is drank fresh. It is pleasant to the taste, rich, and exceedingly nourishing. It is given in large quantities to the horses. The Shammar and Aneyza Bedouins have no cows or oxen, those animals being looked upon as the peculiar property of tribes who have forgotten their independence, and degraded themselves by the cultivation of land. The sheep are milked at dawn, or even before daybreak, and again in the evening on their return from the pastures. The milk is immediately turned into leben, or boiled to be shaken into butter. Amongst the Bedouins and Jebours it is considered derogatory to the character of a man to milk a cow or a sheep, but not to milk a camel. The Sheikhs occasionally obtain dates from the cities. They are either eaten dry with bread and leben, or fried in butter, a very favorite dish of the Bedouin.* * In speaking of the Bedouins I mean the Aneyza, Shammar, A1 Dhefyr, and Chap. XIII.] DISEASES OF THE BEDOUINS, 291 To tills spare and simple dish the Bedouins owe their freedom from sickness, and their exti’aordinary power of bearing fiitigue. Diseases are rare amongst them ; and the epidemics, which rage in the cities, seldom reach their tents. The cholera, which has of late visited Mosul and Baghdad with fearful severity, has not yet struck the Bedouins, and they have frequently escaped the plague, when the settlements on the borders of the Desert have been neaidy de- populated by it. The small pox, however, occasionally makes great havoc amongst them, vaccination being still unknown to the Sham- mar, and intermittent fever prevails in the autumn, particulai’ly when the tribes encamp near the marshes in Southern Mesopo- tamia. Rheumatism is not uncommon, and is treated, like most local complaints, with the actual cautery, a red hot iron being ap- plied very freely to the part aftected. Another cure for rheumatism consists in killing a sheep and placing the patient in the hot reek- ing skin. Ophthalmia is common in the desert as well as in all other parts of the East, and may be attributed as much to dirt and neglect as to any other cause, Tlie Bedouins are acquainted with few medicines. The Desert yields some valuable simples, which are, however, rarely used. Dr. Sandwith hearing from Suttum that the Arabs had no opi- ates, asked what they did with one who could not sleep. “ Do ! ” answered the Sheikh, “ why, we make use of him, and set him to watch the camels.” If a Bedouin be ill, or have received a wound, he sometimes comes to the nearest town to consult the barbers, who are frequently not unskilful surgeons. Hadjlr, one of the great chiefs of tlie Shammar, having been struck by a musket ball which lodged beneath the shoulder-blade, visited the Pasha of iSIosul to obtain the aid of the European surgeons attached to the Turkish troops. They declared an operation to be impossible, and refused to undertake it. The Sheikh applied to a barber, who in his shop, in the open bazar, quietly cut down to the ball, and taking it out brought it to the Pasha in a plate, to claim a reward for his skill. It is true that the European surgeons in the service of the Porte are not very eminent in their profession. The Bedouins set broken limbs by means of rude splints. The women suffer little in labor, which often takes place during other great tribes inhabiting Mesopotamia and the Desert to the north of the Gebel Shammar. Witli the Arabs of the Hedjaz and Central Arabia I am unacquainted. 292 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIII. a march, or when they are far from the encampment watering the flocks or collecting fuel. They allow their children to remain at the breast until they are nearly two and even three years old, and, consequently, have rarely many offspring. Soon after our arrival at the Khaboiir I bought a deloul, or dromedary, as more convenient than a horse for making excursions in the Desert. Her name was Sahaima, and she belonged to Mog- hamis, the uncle of Suttum, having been taken by him from the Aneyza; she was well ti’ained, and swift and easy in her paces. The best delouls come from Nedjd and the Gebcl Shammar. They are small and lightly made, the difference between them and a common camel being as great as that between a high-bred Ax’ab mare and an English cart-horse. Their powers of endurance are very great. Suttum mentioned the following as well authenticated instances. With a companion, each being on his own dromedary, he once rode from Ana to Rowah in one day, one of the animals, however, dying soon after they reached their journey’s end. An Ai’ab of the Hamoud, leaving an encampment about five miles inland from Dair, on the west bank of the Euphrates, reached Koukab within twenty-four hours. Suttum rode from Mosul to Khatouniyah in two days.* The deloul is much prized, and the race is carefully preserved. The Arabs breed from them once in two yeai’s, and are very })articular in the choice of the male. An ordinary animal can work for twenty years. Suttum assured me that they could travel in the spring as many as six days without water. Their color is generally light brown and white, darker colors and black are more uncom- mon. Their pace is a light trot kept up for many hours together without fatigue ; they can increase it to an unweildly gallop, a speed they cannot long maintain. A good deloul is worth at the most lOZ., the common price is about 51 . After the day’s work at Arban I generally rode with Suttum into the Desert on our delouls, with the hawks and greyhounds. * Burckbardt (Notes on the Bedouins, &c. p. 262.) mentions as the best au- thenticated instance of the wonderful speed and endurance of a deloul which had come to his knowledge, a journey for a wager, of IL'i miles in eleven hours, including twenty minutes in crossing the Nile twice in a ferry-boat. As that traveller, however, justly remarks, it is by the ease with which they can carry their rider during an uninterrupted journey of several days and nights at a kind of easy amble of five, or five and a half miles, an hour, that they are unequalled by any other animal. Chap. XIII.] REMOVAL OF ENCAMPMENT. 293 During these rides over the flowered greensward, the Arab Sheikh would entertain me with stories of his tribe, of their wars and in- trigues, their successful plundering expeditions, and their occasional defeats. In the evening Mohammed Emin would join our party- in the tent, remaining until tlie night was far spent. Both the Arab chiefs were much troubled by the report of an expedition against the tribes, to which the approach of Suleiman Agha, with a considerable body of troops, to the upper part of the Khabour, had given rise. However, the season was too far advanced for the march of an army through the waterless plains of Mesopo- tamia. A general campaign against the Bedouins must be under- taken in the winter, or very early in the spring, and even then, if organised by the Turks, would probably fiiil. The Shammar would at onee leave Mesopotamia, and take refuge in the deserts of Nedjd, where no troops could follow them. They would, of course, abandon their flocks and the greater part of their eamels, but they would be ready to return as soon as the enemy retreated from the open country, and to revenge themselves amply for their losses upon the unprotected population of the cultivated districts. To bring the Bedouins under subjection, a regular system, steadily pursued, and well selected military posts, are essentially necessary. The grass around Arban having been eaten by the flocks, the Jebours struek their tents at dawn on the 4th of April, and wan- dered down the Khabour in search of fresh pastures. The Boi’aij, too, moved further inland from the river. During the whole morning the Desert around the ruins was a busy scene ; sheep, cattle, beasts of burden, men, women, and children being scattered far and wide over the plain. By midday the crowd had disappeared, and the meadows, which a few hours before had been teeming with living things, were now again left lonely and bare. I know no feeling more melancholy than that caused by the sudden breaking up of a large tribe, and by the sight of the spent fires and rubbish- heaps of a recent encampment ; the silenee and solitude which have suddenly sueeeeded to the busy seene of an Arab community. Mohammed Emin alone, with a few Sherabeen Arabs, remained to protect us. Soon after our arrival at the Khabour, Adla, Suttum’s first ■wife, came to us with her child. After the Sheikh’s marriage with Rathalyah, she had been driven from her husband’s tent by the im- pei'ious temper of his new bride, and had returned to Moghamis her father. Her eldest sister was the wife of Suttum’s eldest 294 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIII. brother Sahliimn, and her youngest, Malzi, was betrothed to Sut- tuin’s youngest brother Midjwell. The three were remarkable for their beauty ; their dark eyes had the true Bedouin fire, and tlieir loner black hair fell in clusters on their shoulders. Their O cousins, the three brothers, had claimed them as their brides accordinor to Bedouin law.* Adla now sought to be reconciled through me to her husband. Rathaiyah, the new wife, whose beauty was already on the wane, dreaded her young rival’s share in the affections of her lord, over whom she had established more influence than a lady might be supposed to exercise over her spouse amongst independent Arabs. The Sheikh was afraid to meet Adla, until, after much negotiation, Hormuzd acting as ambassador, the proud Bathaiyah consented to receive her in her tent. Then the injured lady refused to accept these terms, and the matter was only finished by Hormuzd taking her by the arm and dragging her by force over the grass to her rival. There all the outward forms of perfect reconciliation were satisfactorily gone through, although Suttum evidently saw that there was a different reception in store for himself when there were no European eye-witnesses. Such are the trials of married life in the Desert ! I may here mention that polygamy is very common amongst the Bedouins. It is considered disgraceful for a man to accept money for his daughter, according to the custom in towns and amongst the cultivating tribes ; and a gix-1 cannot be forced against her will to marry a man unless he be her cousin, and legally entitled to demand her hand. On the sixth of April we witnessed a remarkable electrical pheno- menon. During the day heavy clouds had been hanging on the horizon, foreboding one of those furious storms which at this time of the year oecasionally visit the Desert. Late in the afternoon these elouds had gathered into one vast circle, which moved slowly round like an enormous wheel, presenting one of the most extra- ordinary and awful appearances I ever saw. From its sides leaped, Avithout ceasing, forked flames of lightning. Clouds springing up from all sides of the heavens, Avere dragged hurriedly into the vortex, Avhich advaneed gradually toAvards us, and threatened soon to break over our encampment. Fortunately, however, Ave only felt the very edge of the storm, — a deluge of rain and of hail of the size of pigeons’ eggs. The great rolling cloud, attracted by the * Amongst the Bedouins a man has a right to demand his cousin in marriage, and she cannot refuse him. Chap. XIII.] A BEDOUIN YOUTH. 295 Sinjar hill, soon passed away, leaving in undiininished splendor the setting sun. Monday^ Sth of April. The Mogdessi, one oF my servants, caught a turtle in the river measuring three feet In length. The Arabs have many stories of the voracity of these animals, which attain, I am assured, to even a larger size, and Suttum declared that a man had been pulled under water and devoured by one, probably an Arab exaggeration. A Bedouin, who had been attacked by a lion whilst resting, about five hours lower down on the banks of the river, came to our encampment. He had escaped with the loss of his mare. The lion is not uncommon in the jungles of the Khabour, and the Bedouins and Jebours frequently find their cubs in the spring season. In the afternoon, Mohammed Emin learned that the Shera- been buffalo keepers, who lived under his protection paying a small annual tribute, were about to leave him for the Tal of Nisibin, with whom the Jebours had a blood feud. The Sheikh asked the help of my workmen to bring back the refractory tribe, who were encamped about three hours up the river, and the party marched in the evening; singling; their war songs. April dth. Messengers arrived during the night for further assistance, and Suttum mounting his mare joined the combatants. Eai’ly in the morning the Jebours returned In triumph, driving the flocks and buffaloes of the Sherabeen before them. They were soon followed by the tribe, who were compelled to pitch their tents near our encampment. A Bedouin youth, thin and sickly, though of a daring and resolute countenance, sat in my guest tent. His singular appear- ance at once drew my attention. His only clothing was a ker- chief, very dirty and torn, falling over his head, and a ragged cloak, which he drew tightly round him, allowing the end of a knotted club to appear above its folds. His story, which he was at length induced to tell, was characteristic of Bedouin education. He was of the Boraij tribe, and related to Suttum. His father was too poor to equip him with mare and spear, and he was ashamed to be seen by the Arabs on foot and unarmed. He had now become a man, for he was about fourteen years old, and he resolved to trust to his own skill for his outfit as a warrior. Leaving in his father’s tent all his clothes, except his dirty keffieh and his tattered aba, and, without communicating his plans to his friends, he bent his way to the Euphrates. For three months his family hear- 296 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIII. Ing nothing of him, believed him to be dead. During that time, however, he had lived in the river jungle, feeding on roots and herbs, hiding himself during the day in the thickets, and prowling at night round the tents of the Aneyza in searcli of a mare that might have strayed, or might be less carefully guarded than usual. At length the object of his ambition was found, and such a mare had never been seen before ; but, alas ! her legs were bound with iron shackles, and he had brought no file with him. lie succeeded in leading her to some distance from the encampment, where, as morning dawned, to avoid detection, he was obliged to leave his prize and return to his hiding-place. Pie was now on his way back to his tents, intending to set forth again, after recruiting his strength, on new adventures in search of a mare and spear, pro- mising to be wiser in future and to carry a file under his cloak. Suttum seemed very proud of his relative, and introduced him to me as a promising, if not distinguished, character.* It is thought no disgrace thus to steal a mare as long as the thief has not eaten bread in the tent of her owner. . April Wth. The waters of this river had been rising rapidly since the recent storm, and had now spread over the meadows. "We moved our tents, and the Arabs took refuge on the mound, which stood like an island in the midst of the flood. The Jebours killed four beavers, and brought three of their young to us alive. They had been driven from their holes by the swollen stream. Mohammed Emin eagei'ly accepted the musk bags, which are much valued as majouns by the Turks, and, consequently, fetch a large price in the towns. The Arabs eat the flesh, and it was cooked for us, but pi'oved coarse and tough. The young we kept for some days on milk, but they eventually died. Their cry re- sembled that of a newborn infant. The Khabour beavers appeared to me to differ in several respects from the American. The tail, instead of being large and broad, was short and pointed. They do not build huts, but burrow in the banks, taking care to make the entrance to their holes below the surface of the stream to avoid de- tection, and the chambers above, out of reach of the ordinary floods. Beavers were formerly found in large numbers on the Khabour, but in consequence of the value attached to the musk bag, they have * The title of haraymi (thief), so far from being one of disgrace, is considered evidence of great prowess and capacity in a young man. Like the Spartans of old he only sufiers if caught in the act. There was a man of the Assaiyah tribe who had established an immense renown by stealing no less than ninety horses, amongst which was the celebrated mare given by Sofuk to Beder Khan Bey. Chap. XIII.] MOUND OF SUED ADI. 297 been hunted almost to extermination by the Arabs. Mohammed Emin assured me that for several years not moi'e tlian one or two bad been seen. Sofuk, the great Shammar Sheikh, used to con- sider the musk bag of a beaver the most acceptable present lie could send to a Turkish Pasha, whose friendship he wished to secure. Two Sheikhs of the Buggara Arabs, who inhabit the banks of the Euphrates opposite Dair, visited our encampment. They described some large mounds near their tents, called Sen, to which they offered to take me ; but I was unable to leave my party. The tribe is nominally under the Pasha of Aleppo, but only pay him taxes when he can send a sufficient force to collect them. Our encampment was further increased by several families of Jays, who had fled from the north on account of some quarrel with the rest of the tribe. They inhabit the country round the ancient Harran and Orfa, the Ur of the Chaldees, and still called Urrha by the Bedouins. April I2th. We rode this morning with Mohammed Emin, Suttum, and the Sheikhs of the Buggara, Jays, and Sherabeen, to the tents of the Jebours, which had now been moved some miles down the river. Kathaiyah remained behind. The large tents and the workmen were left under the care of the Bairakdar. The chiefs were mounted on well-bred mares, except one of the Jays Sheikhs, who rode a handsome and high-mettled horse. He was gaily dressed in a scarlet cloak lined with fur, a many-colored keffieh, and new yellow boots. His steed, too, was profusely adorned with silken tassels, and small bells, chains, and other ornaments of silver, reminding me forcibly of the horses of the Assyrian sculptures. He had been in the service of the Turks, whose language he had learned, and from whom he had acquired bis taste for finery. He was a graceful rider, and managed his horse with great dexterity. About three miles from Arban we passed a small artificial mound called Tel Hamer (the red); and similar ruins abound on the banks of the river. Near it we met four Shammar Bedouins, who had turned back empty-handed from a thieving expedition to the Aneyza, on account of the floods of the Euphrates, which they described as spreading over the surrounding country like a sea. Three hours from Arban we reached a remarkable artificial mound called Shedadi, washed by the Khabour. It consists of a lofty platform, nearly square, from the centre of which springs a cone. On the top are the tombs of several Jebour chiefs, marked by the raised earth, and by small trees now dry, fixed upright in 298 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIII. the graves. I found fragments of pottery and bricks, but no trace of inscriptions. Between Shedadl and Arban we saw several ruined bridges, probably of the time of the Caliphs. The mounds are evidently the remains of a much earlier civilisation, when the Assyrian em- pire extended far beyond the Khabour, and when, as we learn from the inscriptions, tlie whole face of the country was covered with cities, and with a thriving and wealthy population. We did not reach the encampment of Mohammed Emin, spreading three or four miles along the Khabour, until after sunset. The chief’s tents were pitched near a mound called Ledjmiyat, on a bend of the river, and opposite to a very thick zor or jungle, known to the Arabs as El Bostan “ the garden,” a kind of stronghold of the tribe, which the Sheikh declared could resist the attack of any num- ber of nizam (regular troops), if only defended by Jebours. Sut- tum looked upon the grove rather as a delicious retreat from the rays of the summer’s sun, to which the Boraij occasionally re- sorted, than as a place for war. During the evening, the different Sheikhs assembled in my tent to plan a ghazou, or plundering expedition, for the following day, against the Agaydat, encamped at Abou Psera (Carchemish), Suttum was much cast down at not being able to join them, and mourned over his life of inactivity. I urged him to go, but he vowed that, as long as we were under his protection, he would not leave us. I should have taken this opportunity to visit the Kha- bour to its mouth, but did not wish to ajipear to mix myself up with the broils of the tribes.* On the following morning, Mohammed Emin, with two of his sons, the horsemen of the tribe, and the Sheikhs who were his guests, started on their ghazou. They were all mounted on mares, except the Jays chief and one of Mohammed Emin’s sons, who rode a beautiful white horse of the Khalawi race. I accompanied them as far as a large ruin called Shemshani. Suttum came with us carrying his hawk, Ilattab, on his wrist. The plain, like all the country watered by the Khabour, was one vast meadow teeming with flowers. Game abounded, and the falcon soon flew towards a bustard, which his piercing eye had seen lurking in the long grass. The sun was high in the heavens, * The confluence of the Euphrates and Khabour is, according to Arab reckon- ing, one day’s journey from Ledjmiyat, and two short from Arban. Arban is two long days from Nisibin, three from Orfa, and four from Severek. Chap. XIII.] REACH SIIEMSIIANI. 299 already soaring In the sky, was the enemy of the trained hawk, the “ agab” a kind of kite or eagle, whose name, signifying “ butcl'.er,” denotes his bloody propensities.* Although far beyond our ken, he soon saw Hattab, and darted upon him in one swoop. The affrighted falcon immediately turned from his quarry, and with shrill cries of distress flew towards us. After circling round, un- able from fear to alight, he turned towards the Desert, still fol- lowed by his relentless enemy. In vain his master, following as long as his mare could carry him, waved the lure, and called the hawk by his name ; he saw him no more. Whether the noble bird escaped, or fell a victim to the “ butcher,” we never knew. Suttum was inconsolable at his loss. He wept when he returned without his hdcon on his wrist, and for days he would suddenly exclaim, “ O Bej ! Billah ! Hattab was not a bird, he was my bro- ther.” He was one of the best trained hawks I ever saw amongst the Bedouins, and was of some substantial value to his owner, as he would daily catch six or seven bustards, except during the hottest part of summer, when the falcon is unable to hunt. About a mile and a half below Ledjmiyat, but on the opposite bank of the river, was another large mound called Fedghami. We reached Shemshani in an hour and three quarters. It is a consi- derable ruin on the Khabour, and consists of one lofty mound, sur- rounded on the Desert side by smaller mounds and heaps of rubbish. It abounds in fragments of glazed and plain pottery, bricks, and black basaltic stone, but I could find no traces of sculpture or in- scription. The remains of walls protrude in many places from the soil. Above the ancient ruins once stood a castle, the foundations of which may still be seen. The Arabs have many traditions attaching to these ruins. Among others, that they are the remains of the capital of an in- fidel king, whose daughter, at the time of the first Mussulman inva- sion, eloped with a true believer. The lovers were pursued by the father, overtaken, and killed (the lady having, of course, first em- braced Islamism), in a narrow valley of the neighbouring hills. A flickering flame, still distinctly seen to rise from the earth on Friday nights, marks the spot of their martyrdom. The city soon fell into the hands of the Mussulmans, who took a signal revenge upon its idolatrous inhabitants. The Jebours some years ago cultivated the lands around Shem- * Easterns never hawk, if they can avoid it, when the sun is high, as the bird of prey described in the text then appears in search of food. 300 KINEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIII. shani, and there are still many traces of watercourses, and of the square plots set apart for rice.* Leaving Mohammed Emin to continue his journey we returned to our tents. On our road we met Moghamis, and a large party of Bedouins on their way to join the Jebour horsemen, for they also had been invited to take part in the attack on the Agaydat, and to share in the spoil. They rode their swift dromedaries, two men on each, the leading the mare of his companion; that of the Sheikh was of the Obeyan race, and far famed in the Desert. She was without saddle or clothes, and we could admire the ex- quisite symmetry and beauty of her form. We dismounted, embraced, and exchanged a few words. The Bedouins then continued their rapid course over the Desert, We passed other riders on delouls and mares, hastening to join the main body, or to meet their friends at the rendezvous for the night near Abou Psera. The attack on the tents was to be made at dawn on the followincj morning, the true Bedouin never taking an unfair advantage of his enemy in the dark. April 14t/n We were awoke long before dawn by the Jeboui’s striking their tents. By sunrise the whole encampment had dis- appeared, and we were left almost alone. They were returning towards Arban, fearing lest the Agaydat, assisted by the Aneyza, might seek a speedy revenge after the attack upon them. We breakfasted, and then soon overtook the line of march. For two hours we amused ourselves by riding through the dense and busy throng, I have already described the singular spectacle of a great Arab tribe changing its pastures, — its mingled crowd of women and girls, some with burdens, others without, of warriors on high- bred mares and on fleet camels, of shepherds with their knotted clubs, of sheep, goats, camels, beasts of burden, children, lambs, and all the various appendages of Arab life, A more stirring and joyous scene ean scarcely be imagined. The family of the chief, as is usual, moved in front of the tribe. We left them pitching their tents near the mound of Shedadi, and rode to our own encampment at Arban. On the 16th of April, Mohammed Emin and his sons returned from their expedition, driving before them their spoil of cows, oxen, and mares. The Agaydat were taken by surprise, and made but a * Between Shemsbani and the mouth of the Khahour, according to Moham- med Emin, are the following mounds — El Murgadeh (about five miles distant), El Hussain, Sheikh Ahmed, Suor, and El Efdaya. Chap. XIII.] VISIT MOGIIAMIS. 301 feeble defence ; there was, consequently, little bloodshed, as is usually the case when Arabs go on these forays. The fine horse of the Jays chief had received a bad gunshot wound, and this was the only casualty amongst my friends. Mohammed Emin brought me one or two of the captured mares as an offering. They were, of course, returned, but they Involved the present of silk dresses to the Sheikh and his sons. April ISifA. To-day we visited the tents of Moghamls and his tribe ; they were pitched about five miles from the river. The face of the Desert was as burnished sold. Its last chanse was to flowers of the brightest yellow hue*, and the whole plain was dressed with them. Suttum rioted in the luxuriant herbase and scented air. 1 never saw him so exhilarated. “ What Kef (de- light),” he continually exclaimed, as his mare waded through the flowers, “has God given us equal to this? It is the only thing worth living for. Ya Bej ! what do the dwellers in cities know of true happiness, they have never seen gi’ass or flowers? i\Iay God have jjity on them ! ” The tents were scattered far and wide over the plain. The mares recently returned from the foray wandered loose in the midst of them, crojiping the rich grass. We were most hospitably received by Mogbarnis. Such luxuries, in the way of a ragged car- pet and an old coverlet, as his tent could afford, had been spread for Mrs. R., whose reputation had extended far and wide amongst the Arabs, and who was looked upon as a wonder, but always treated with the greatest consideration and respect. The wild Bedouin would bring a present of camel’s milk or truffles, and the boys caught jerboas and other small animals for the Frank lady. During the whole of our journey she was never exposed to annoyance, although wearing, with the exception of the Tarboush, or an Arab cloak, the European dress Moghamls clad himself in a coat of chain mail, of ordinary ma- terials and rude workmanship, but still strong enough to resist the coarse iron S 2 iear-heads of the Arab lance, tbough certainly no pro- tection against a well-tempered blade. The Arabs wear their armour beneath the shirt, because an enemy would otherwise strike at the mare and not at her rider. f * I have already mentioned the changes in the colors of the Desert. Almost in as many days white had succeeded to pale straw color, red to white, blue to red, lilac to blue, and now the face of the country was as described in the t(!xt f One of the principal objects of Bedouins in battle being to carry off their adversaries’ mares, they never wound them if they can avoid it, but endeavour to kill or unhorse the riders. 302 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [CUAP. XIII. After we had enjoyed all the luxuries of an Arab feast, visited the women’s compartments, where most of the ladies of the tribe had assembled to greet us, examined the “ chetab,” or camel saddle, used by the wives of the chiefs*, and enquired into various details of the harem, we returned as we came, through the flowers and long grass to our tents at Arban. * See woodcut, p. 63., of the abridged edition of my “ Nineveh and its Remains,” for a sketch of this extraordinary contrivance. Saddling a Deloul or Dromedary. ) Kuidish Women. CHAP. XIV. LEAVE ARBAN. THE BANKS OF THE KHABOUK. — ARTIFICIAL MOUNDS. MIJWELL. THE CADI OF THE BEDOUINS. THE THAR OR BLOOD-REVENGE. CAUTION OF ARABS. A NATURAL CAVERN. AN EXTINCT VOLCANO. THE CONFLUENTS OF THE KHABOUR. BEDOUIN MARKS. SULEIMAN AGHA. ENCAMPMENT AT UM-JERJEH. THE TURKISH IRREGULAR CAVALRY. MOUND OF MIJDEL. RUINS ON THE KHABOUR. MOHAMMED EMIN LEAVES US. VISIT TO KURDISH TENTS AND HAREM. THE MILLI KURDS. THE FAMILY OF RISHWAN. ARAB LOVE-MAKING. THE DAKHEEL. BEDOUIN POETS AND POETRY. TURKISH CAVALRY HORSES. The liot weather was rapidly drawing near. Enough had not been discovered in the mound of Arban, nor were there ruins of sufficient importance near the river, to induce me to remain much longer on the Khabour. I wished, however, to explore the stream, as far as I was able, towards its principal source, and to visit Suleiman Agha, the Turkish commander, who was now encamped on its banks. In answer to a letter, he urged me to come to his tents, and to bring the Sheikh of the Jebours with me, pledging himself to place no restraint whatever on the perfect 304 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIV. liberty of the Arab chief. With such a guarantee, I ventured to invite Mohammed Emin to accompany me. After much liesitation, arising from a very natural fear of treacheiy, he consented to do so. On the 19th of April we crossed the Khabour, and encamped for tlie night on its southern bank. On the following morning we turned fi’om the ruins of Arban, and commenced our journey to the eastward. The Jebours were now dwelling higher up tlie stream, and JMohammed Emin, with his two sons, and Abdullah his nephew, met us on our way. lie was still in doubt as to whe- ther he should go with me or not ; but at last, after more than once turning back, he took a desiderate resolution, and pushed his mare boldly forward. Ilis children commended him, with tears, to my protection, and then left our caravan for their tents. We rode from bend to bend of the river, without following its tortuous coiu’se. Its banks are belted with poplars, tamarisks, and brushwood, the retreat of wild boars, francolins, and other game, and studded with artificial mounds, the remains of ancient settle- ments. This deserted though rich and fertile district must, at one time, have been the seat of a dense population. It is only under such a government as that of Turkey that it could remain a wilderness. The first large ruin above Arban, and some miles from it on the left bank of the river, is called Mlshnak. Accord- ing to a tradition preserved by the Jebours, the Persians were defeated near it, with great slaughter, in the early days of Islam, by the celebrated Arab tribe of the Zobeide. About one mile and a half beyond is another ruin called Abou Shalah, and tbree miles further up the stream a third, called Taaban, upon which are the remains of a modern fort. Near Taaban, JMohammed Emin had recently built a small enclosure of rude stone walls, a place of refuge in case of an attack from the Aneyza Bedouins. Around it the Jebours sow corn and barley, re-opening the ancient water- courses to bring water to their fields. The wheat was almost ready for the sickle even at this early season of the year. After a short day’s journey of four hours and a half we raised our tents for the night amongst luxuriant herbage, which afforded abundant pasture for our horses and camels. The spot was called Nahab. The river, divided into two branches by a string of small wooded islands, is fordable except during the freshes. Near our encampment was a large mound named JNIehlaibiyah, and in the stream I observed fragments of stone masonry, probably the remains of ancient dams for irrigation. Chap. XIV.J THE TIIAK, OR BLOOD REVENGE. 305 Next morning Suttum returned to his tents with Rathalyah, leaving us under the care of his younger brother Mijwell. After I had visited the Turkish commander, whom lie did not appear over anxious to meet, he was to join us in the Desert, and accompany me to Mosul. Mijwell was even of a more amiable disposition than his brother ; was less given to diplomacy, and troubled himself little with the politics of the tribes. A pleasant smile lighted up his features, and a fund of quaint and original humor made him at all times an agreeable companion. Although he could neither read nor write, he was one of the cadis or judges of the Shammar, an office hereditary in the family of the Saadi, at the head of which is Rishwan. The old man had delegated the dignity to his younger son, who, by the consent of his brothers, will enjoy it after their father’s death. Disputes of all kinds ai’e referred to these recognised judges. Their decrees are obeyed with readiness, and the other members of the tribe are rarely called upon to enforce them. They administer rude justice; and, although pretending to follow the words of the Prophet, are rather guided by ancient custom than by the law of the Koran, which binds the rest of the Mohammedan world. The most common source of litigation is, of coiu’se, stolen property. They receive for their decrees, payment in money or in kind ; and he who gains the suit has to pay the fee. Amongst the Shammar, if the dispute relates to a deloul, the cadi gets two gazees, about eight shillings ; if to a mai*e, a deloul ; if to a man, a mare.* Various ordeals, such as licking a red-hot iron, are in use, to prove a man’s innocence. If the accused’s tongue is burnt, no doubt exists as to his guilt. One of the most remarkable laws in force amongst the wander- ing Arabs, and one probably of the highest antiquity, is the law of blood, called the Thar, prescribing the degrees of consanguinity within which it is lawful to revenge a homicide. Although a law, rendering a man responsible for blood shed by any one related to him within the fifth degree, may appear to members of a civilised community one of extraordinary I'igour, and involving almost ma- nifest injustice, it must nevertheless be admitted, that no power vested in any one individual, and no punishment however severe, could tend more to the maintenance of order and the prevention of bloodshed amongst the wild tribes of the Desert. As Burckhardt * Burckhardt gives a somewhat different table of fees as existing amongst the Bedouin tribes with which he was acquainted. His whole account of Arab law is singularly interesting and correct ; there is, indeed, very little to be added to it. (See his Notes on the Bedouins, p. 66.) X 306 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. LChap. XIV. has justly remarked, “ this salutary institution has contributed in a greater degree than any other circumstance, to prevent tlie war- like tribes of Arabia from exterminating one another.” If a man commit a homicide, the cadi endeavours to prevail upon the family of the victim to accept a compensation for the blood in money or in kind, the amount being regulated according to custom in different tribes. Should the offer of “ blood-money ” be refused, the “ Thar ” comes into operation, and any person witli- in the “ khomse,” or the fifth degree of blood of the homicide, may be legally killed by any one within the same degree of consangui- nity to the victim.* This law is enforced between tribes remote from one another, as well as between families, and to the blood revenge may be at- tributed many of the bitter feuds which exist amongst the Arab clans. It affects, in many respects, their social condition, and has a marked influence upon their habits, and even upon tlieir manners. Thus an Arab will never tell his name, especially if it be an un- common one, to a stranger, nor mention that of his father or of his tribe, if his own name be ascertained, lest there should be Thar between them. Even children are taught to observe this custom, that they may not fall victims to the blood revenge. Hence the extreme suspicion with which a Bedouin regards a stranger in the open country, or in a tent, and his caution in disclosing anything relating to the movements, or dwelling-place, of his friends. In most encampments are found refugees, sometimes whole families, who have left their tribe on account of a homicide for which they are amenable. In case, after a murder, j)ersons within the “ Thar ” take to flight, three days and four hours are by immemorial custom allowed to the fugitives before they can be pursued. Frequently they never return to their friends, but remain with those who give them protection, and become incorporated into the tribe by wliich they are adopted. Thus there are families of the Harb, Aneyza, * Burckliardt has thus defined the terms of this law : “ The Thar rests with the khomse, or fifth generation, those only having a right to revenge a slain parent, whose fourth lineal ascendant is, at the same time, the fourth lineal as- cendant of the person slain ; and, on the other side, only those male kindred of the homicide are liable to pay with their own for the blood shed, whose fourth lineal ascendant is at the same time the fourth lineal ascendant of the homicide. The present generation is thus comprised within the number of the khomse. The lineal descendants of all those who are entitled to revenge at the moment of the manslaughter inherit the right from their parents. The right to blood- revenge is never lost ; it descends on both sides to the latest generation.” (Notes on Arabs, p. 85.) Chap. XIV.] A NATURAL CAVERN. 307 Dhofyr, and other great clans, who for this cause have joined the Shaminar, and are now considered part of them. Frequently the homicide himself will wander from tent to tent over the Desert, or even rove through the towns and villages on its borders, with a chain round his neck and in rags, begging contributions from the charitable to enable him to pay the apportioned blood-money. I have frequently met such unfortunate persons who have spent years in collecting a small sura. I will not weary the reader with an ac- count of the various rules observed in carrying out this law, where persons are killed in private dissensions, or slain in the act of steal- ing, in war, or in the ghazou. In each case the cadi determines, according to the ancient custom of the tribe, the proper compen- sation. INIijwell now took Suttum’s place in the caravan, and directed the order of our march. Four miles from Nahab we passed a large mound called Thenenir, at the foot of which is a spring much vene- rated by the Arabs. Around it the Jebours had sown a little wheat. Near this ruin an ancient stone dam divides the Khabour into several branches : it is called the ^‘Saba Sekour,” or the seven roeks. Leaving the caravan to pursue the direct road, I struck across the country to the hill of Koukab, accompanied by Mohammed Emin and Mijwell. This remarkable cone, rising in the midst of the plain, had been visible from our furthest point on the Kha- bour. Some of the Arabs declared it to be an artificial mound; others said, that it was a mountain of stones. Mohammed Emin would tell me of a subterranean lake beneath it, in a cavern large enough to afford refuge to any number of men. As we drew nearer, the plain was covered with angular fragments of black basalt, and crossed by veins, or dykes, of the same volcanic rock. Mohammed Emin led us first to the mouth of a cave in a rocky ravine not far from the foot of the hill. It was so choked with stones that we could scarcely squeeze ourselves through the opening, but it. became wider, and led to a descending passage, the bottom of which was lost in the gloom. We ad- vanced cautiously, but not without setting in motion an avalanche of loose stones, which, increasing as it rolled onwards, by its loud noise disturbed swarms of bats that huns; to the sides and ceilingr of the cavern. Flying towards the light, these noisome beasts almost compelled us to retreat. They clung to our clothes, and our hands could scarcely prevent them settling on our faces. The rustling of their wings was like the noise of a great wind, and an 308 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIV. abominable stencb arose from the recesses of the cave. At length they settled again to their daily sleep, and we were able to go forward. After descending some fifty feet, we found ourselves on the margin of a lake of fresh water. The pitchy darkness prevented our ascertaining its size, which could not have been very great, although the Arabs declared that no one could reach the op|X)site side. The cave is frequently a place of refuge for the wandering Arabs, and the Bedouins encamp near it in summer to drink the cool water of this natural reservoir. Mohammed Emin told me that last year he had found a lion in it, who, on being disturbed, merely rushed out and fled across the plain. Leaving the cavern and issuing from the ravine, we came to the edge of a wide crater, in the centre of which rose the remark- able cone of Koukab. To the left of us was a second crater, whose lips were formed by the jaggy edges of basaltic rocks, and in the plain around were several others smaller in size. They were all evidently the remains of an extinct volcano, which had been active within a comparatively recent geological period, even perhaps within the time of history, or tradition, as the name of the mound amongst the Arabs denotes a jet of fire or flame, as well as a constellation. I ascended the cone, which is about 300 feet high, and composed entirely of loose lava, scoria, and ashes, thus resembling precisely the cone rising in the craters of Vesuvius and Aitna. It is steep and difficult of ascent, except on one side, where the summit is easily reached even by horses. Within, for it is hollow, it re- sembles an enormous funnel, broken away at one edge, as if a molten stream had burst through it. Anemonies and poppies, of the brightest scarlet hue, covered its side ; although the dry lava and loose ashes scarcely seemed to have collected sufficient soil to nourish their roots. It would be difficult to describe the richness and brilliancy of this mass of flowers, the cone from a distance having the appearance of a huge inverted cup of burnished coj>per, over which poured streams of blood. From the summit of Koukab I gazed upon a scene as varied as extensive. Beneath me the two principal branches of the Khabour united their waters. I could track them for many miles by the dark line of their wooded banks, as they wound through the golden plains. To the left, or the west, was the true Khabour, the Cha- boras of the ancients ; a name it bears from its source at Eas-al-ain Chap.XIV.] BEDOUIN MARKS. 309 (i. e. the head of the spring).* The second stream, that to the east, is called by the Arabs the Jerujer (a name, as uttered by the Bedouins, equally difficult to pronounce and to write), and is the ancient Mygdonius, flowing through Nisibin.f Khatouniyah and its lake were just visible, backed by the solitary hill of the Sinjar. The Kurdish mountains bounded the view to the east. In the plain, and on the banks of the rivers, rose many artificial mounds ; whilst, in the extreme distance to the north could be distinguished the flocks and black tents of a large wandering tribe. They were those of the Chichi and Milli Kurds, encamped with the Turkish commander Suleiman Agha. On some fragments of basaltic rock projecting from the summit of the cone, were numerous rndely-cut signs, which might have been taken for ancient and unknown characters. They were the devices of the Shammar, carved there on the visit of different Sheikhs. Each tribe, and, indeed, each subdivision and family, has its peculiar mark, to be placed upon their property and burnt upon their camels. Mijwell identified the signs ; that of his own family, the Saadi, being amongst them. In little recesses, care- fully sheltered by heaped-iqi stones, were hung miniature cradles, like those commonly suspended to the poles of a Bedouin tent. They had been placed there as exvotos by Shammar Avomen who Avished to be mothers. After I had examined the second large crater, — a deep holloAv, surrounded by basaltic rocks, but without a projecting cone of lava, — Ave rode toAvards the Jerujer, on Avhose banks the caravan was to await us. The plain Avas still covered Avith innumerable fragments of basalt embedded in scarlet poppies. We found our companions near the junction of the rivers, Avhere a raft had been constructed to enable us to cross the smaller stream. I had sent the Bairakdar two days before to apprise Suleiman Agha of my intended visit, and to learn hoAV far I could Avith safety take Mo- hammed Emin Avith me to the Turkish camp. He had returned. One of the sources of this branch of the Khabour is, I am told, in the Kharej Dagh, to the west of Mardin. This small stream, called Ajjurgub, falls into the river near Ras-al-Ain. f The name of Hawaii, by which this branch of the Khabour appears to have been called by the Arab geographers, and which is retained in our maps, ap- pears to be derived from the “ Hoi,” which will be described hereafter. The coui’se of the stream is also erroneously laid down in all the maps ; and, what is more curious, is as wrongly described by the Arab writers, some of whom place a branch of it to the south-east of the Sinjar, coufounding it apparently with the Thathar. 310 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIV, and was waiting for me. The Aglia had given a satisfactory guarantee for the Sheikh’s safety, and had sent an officer, with a party of irregular troops, to receive me. We had scarcely crossed the river before a large body of horse- men were seen approaching us. As they drew nigh I recognised in the Turkish commander an old friend, “ the Topal,” or lame, Sulei- man Agha, as he was generally called in the country. He had been Kiayah or lieutenant-governor, to the celebrated Injeh Bai- rakdar Mohammed Pasha, and, like his former master, possessed considerable intelligence, energy, and activity. From his long connection with the tribes of the Desert, his knowledge of their manners, and his skill in detecting and devising treacheries and stratagems, he was generally chosen to lead expeditions against the Arabs. He was now, as I have stated, endeavoring to recover the government treasure ])lundered by the Hamoud Bedouins. He was suiTounded by Hyta-Bashis, or commanders of irregular cavalry, glittering with gold and silver-mounted arms, and rich in embroidered jackets, and silken robes, by Aghas of the Cdiichi and Mill! Kurds, and by several Arab chiefs. About five hundred horsemen, preceded by their small kettle-drums, crowded behind him. His tents were about six miles distant ; and, after exchang- ing the usual salutations, we turned towards them. Many fair speeches could scarcely calm the fears of the timid Jebour Sheikh. IMijwell, on the other hand, rode boldly along, casting contemp- tuous glances at the irregular cavalry, as they galloped to and fro in mimic combat. The delta, formed by the two streams, was covered with tents. We wended our way through crowds of sheep, horses, cattle, and camels. The Chichi and ^lilli Kurds, who encamp during the s})i’ing at the foot of the mountains of Mardin, had now sought, under the pi'otection of the Turkish soldiery, the rich pastures of the Kliabour, and many families of the Shei'abbeen, Buggara, and II arb Arabs had joined the encampment.* Suleiman Agha lived under the spacious eanvas of the Chichi chief. The tents of the Kurdish tribes, who wander in the low country at the foot of the mountains in winter and spring, and seek the hill pastiu’es in the summer, and especially those of the prin- cipal men, are remarkable for their size, and the richness of their * The Ilai'b is a branch of the great tribe of the same name inhabiting the northern part of the Iledjaz, winch, in consequence of some blood-feud, mi- grated many years ago to Mesopotamia. y ! John Murray Altcmarle Street , L852 N Oheralier Inh Chap. XIV.] ENCAMPMENT AT UM-JERJEII. 311 carpets and furniture. They are often divided into as many as four or five distinct compartments, by screens of light cane or reeds, bound together with many-colored woollen threads, disposed in elegant patterns and devices. Carpets hung above these screens complete the divisions. In that partition set aside for the women a similar partition incloses a kind of private room for the head of the family and his wives. The rest of the harem is filled with piles of carpets, cushions, domestic furniture, cooking utensils, skins for making butter, and all the necessaries of a wandering life. Here the handmaidens prepare the dinner for their master and his guests. In the tents of the great chiefs there is a separate compartment for the servants, and one for the mares and colts. I sat a short time with Suleiman Agha, drank coffee, smoked, and listened patiently to a long discourse on the benefits of tanzimat, which had put an end to bribes, treachery, and irregular taxation, especially intended for IMohammed Emin, who was however by no means reassured by it. I then adjourned to my own tents, which had been pitched upon the banks of the river opposite a well-wooded island, and near a ledge of rocks forming one of those beautiful falls of water so frequent in this part of the Khabour. Around us were the pavilions of the Hytas, those of the chiefs marked by their scarlet standards. At a short distance from the stream the tents of the Kurds were pitched in parallel lines forming regular streets, and not scattered, like those of the Bedouins, without order over the plain. Between us and them were picketed the horses of the cavalry, and as far as the eye could reach be- yond, grazed the innumerable flocks and herds of the assembled tribes. AVe were encamped near the foot of a large artiflcial Tel called Umjerjeh ; and on the opposite side of the Khabour were other mounds of the same name. My Jebour workmen began to exca- vate in these ruins the day after our arrival. I remained in my tent to receive the visits of the Kurdish chiefs and of the com- manders of the irregular cavalry. From these freebooters I have derived much curious and interestinor information relatinir to the various provinces of the Turkish empire and their inhabitants, mingled with pleasant anecdotes and vivid descriptions of men and manners. They are generally very intelligent, frank, and hospit- able. Although too often unscrupulous and cruel, they unite many of the good qualities of the old Turkish soldier with most of his vices. They love hard-drinking and gambling, staking their horses, arms, and even clothes, on the most childish game of chance. 312 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [CiiAP. XIV. Their pny, at the same time, is miserably small, rarely exceeding a few shillings a month, and they are obliged to plunder the peace- able inhabitants to supply tlieir actual wants. The race is now fast disappearing before the Nizam, or regular troops. On the second day, accompanied by INIijwell, I visited a large mound called Mijdel, on the right bank of the river about five miles above Umjerjeh. We rode through the golden meadows, crossing the remains of ancient canals and watercourses, and pass- ing the ruins of former habitations. A Sheikh of the Buggara was with us, an intelligent Arab, whose tribe in times of quiet encamp at Bas-al-Ain near the sources of the Khabour. The Aneyza were out on this side of the Euphrates, and were prowling over the Desert in search of plunder. As Suleiman Agha declared that, without an escort of at least one hundred horsemen, I could not go to Ras-al-Ain, I was unable to visit the extensive ruins which are said to exist there. Bas-al-Ain was once a place of considerable Importance. It was known to the ancients under the name of Basina. Benjamin of Tudela found two hundred Jews dwelling there in the 12th cen- tury.* The Arabs assured me that columns and sculptures still mark the site of the ancient city. Their accounts are, however, probably exaggerated. Mijdel is a lofty platform, surrounded by groups of smaller mounds, amongst which may still be traced the lines of streets and canals. It is about four or five miles from the ridge of Abd-ul- Azeez. These low hills, scantily wooded with dwarf oak, are broken into innumerable valleys and ravines, whicli abound, it is said, with wild goats, boars, leopards, and other animals. Accord- ing to my Bedouin Informants, the ruins of ancient towns and villages still exist, but they could only give me the name of one, Zakkarah. The hills are crossed in the centre by a road called jVIaghliyah, from an abundant spring. On the opposite side of the Khabour, and running parallel with the Abd-ul-Azeez range, is another line of small hills, called Hamma, in which there are many wells f * The name is by some eiTor omitted in the Hebrew text, but it is evident, from tlie distance to Ilarran, that lias-al-Ain is meant. Asher (Benjamin of Tudela’s Itinerary), note to passage, vol. ii. p. 128.) points out that it should be the sources of the Khabour, not the mouth, as usually translated. f The Buggara chief gave me the following names for mounds, in the order in wliich they occur, between Mijdel and Ras-al-Ain. The Gla (Kalah) or Tel Romana, a large mound visible from Mijdel ; El Mogas, near a ford and a place called El Auja ; El Tumr, about four hours from Umjerjeh, at the junc- Chap. XIV.] VISIT THE MILLI. 313 The Shammar Bedouins encamp on the banks of this part of the Khabour during the hot months. The mound of Mijdel is a favorite resort of the Boraij in the “ eye of the summer the waters of the river are always cool, and there is sufficient pasture for the flocks and herds of the whole tribe. An Arab whom I met in the tent of one of the Hyta-Bashis, pretended that he was well acquainted with the ruins called Verhan-Shehr*, of which I had so frequently heard from the natives of Mardin and the Shammar. He described them as being; on a hill three days distant from our encampment, and to consist of columns, buildings, and sculptured stones like those of Palmyra. The Turkish Government at one time wished to turn the ancient edifices into barracks, and to place a garrison in the place to keep the Arabs in check. In the evening Mohammed Emin left us. Suleiman Agha had already invested him with a robe of honor, and had prevailed upon him to join with Ferhan in taking measures for the re- covery of the plundered treasure. The scarlet cloak and civil treatment had conciliated the Jebour chief, and when he parted with the Turkish commander in my tent there was an unusual display of mutual compliments and pledges of eternal friendship. Mijwell looked on with indignant contempt, swearing between his teeth that all Jebours were but degenerate, ploughing Arabs, and cursing the whole order of temminalis.\ We were detained at Umjerjeh several days by the severe illness of iSIr. Hormuzd Rassam. I took the opportunity to visit the tents of the Milli, whose chief, Mousa Agha, had invited us to a feast. On our way thither we passed several encamjiments of Chichi, Sherrabeen, and Harb, the men and women running out and pressing us to stop and eat bread. The spacious tent of the chief was divided by partitions of reeds tastefully interwoven with colored rvool. The coolest part of the salamlik had been prepared for our reception, and was spread with fine carpets and tion of the Zergan, a small stream coming from Ghours, in the mountains to the west of Mardin ; ElTawileh, a large mound fourteen or fifteen miles from Mij- del, and just visible ; Om Kaifah, Tal Jahash, and Gutinah. On the river bank opposite to IMijdel, are several groups of mounds called Dibbs. Near Ras-al- Ain is a mound, whether natural or artificial I could not ascertain, called El Chibeseh. * I. e. The ancient ruined city, a name very generally given by the Turks to ruins. t The form of salutation used by the Tui-ks, consisting of raising the hand from the breast, or sometimes from the ground, to the forehead. 314 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIV. silken cushions. The men of the tribe, amongst whom were many tall and handsome youths, were dressed in clean and becoming garments. They assembled in great numbers, but left the top of the tent entirely to us, seating themselves, or standing at the sides and bottom, which was wide enough to admit twenty-four men crouched together in a row. The chief and his brothers, followed by their servants bearing trays loaded with cups, presented the coffee to their guests. After some conversation we went to the hai’em, and were re- ceived by his mother, a venerable lady, with long silvery locks and a dignified countenance and demeanor. Her dress was of the purest wliite and scrupulously clean. Altogether she was almost the only comely old woman I had seen amongst Eastern tribes. The wives and daughters of the chiefs, with a crowd of women, were collected in the tent. Amongst them were many distin- guished by their handsome features. They had not the rich olive complexion or graceful carriage of the Bedouin girls, nor their piercing eyes or long black eyelashes. Their beauty was more European, some having even light hair and blue eyes. It was evident, at a glance, that they were of a different race from the wandering tribes of the Desert. The principal ladies led us into the private compartment, divided by colored screens from the rest of the tent. It was furnished with more than usual luxury. The cushions were of the choicest silk, and the carpets (in the manufacture of which the Milli excel) of the best fabric. Sweetmeats and coffee had been prepared for us, and the women did not object to partake of them at the same time. Mousa Agha’s mother described the various marriage cere- monies of the tribe. Our account of similar matters in Europe excited great amusement amongst the ladies. The Milli girls are highly prized by the Kurds. Twenty purses, neaily lOOZ., we were boastingly told, had been given for one of unusual attractions. The chief pointed out one of his own wives who had cost him that sum. Other members of the same establishment had deserved a less ex- travagant investiture of money. The prettiest girls were called before us, and the old lady appraised each, amidst the loud laughter of their companions, who no doubt rejoiced to see their friends valued at their true worth. They were all tatooed on the arms, and on other parts of the body, but less so than the Bedouin ladles. The operation is performed by Arab women, Avho wander from tent to tent for the purpose. Several were present, and wished to give us an immediate proof of their skill upon ourselves. Chap. XIV.] THE MILLI. 315 "We declined however. It is usually done at the age of six or seven : the punctures are made by a needle, and the blue color is produced by a mixture of gunpowder and indigo rubbed into the wounds. The process is tedious and painful, as the designs are frequently most elaborate, covering the whole body. The Kurdish ladies do not, like the Mussulman women of the town, conceal their features with a veil ; nor do they object to mingle, or even eat, with the men. During my stay at Umjerjeh I invited the harem of the Chichi chief, and their friends, to a feast in my tent — an invitation they accepted with every sign of satisfaction. The Milli were formerly one of the wealthiest Kurdish tribes. Early in this century, when the liereditary chiefs in different parts of the empire were still almost independent of the Porte, this clan held the whole plain country between the hills of Mardin and the Khabour, exacting a regular haj, or black-mail, from caravans and travellers passing through their territories. This was a fruitful soiu’ce of revenue when an extensive commerce was carried on between Aleppo and Baghdad, and the Aghas were frequently, on account of their wealth and power, raised to the rank of pashas by the Sultan. The last was Daoud Pasha, a chief well-known in INIesopotamia. Like other Kurdish tribes, the Milli had been brought under the immediate control of the local governors, and were now included within the pashalic of Diarbekir. They still possessed all the riches that nomades can well possess, when they were wantonly plundered, and almost reduced to want, by the Turkish troops three years ago. Although the Porte openly con- demned the outrage, and had promised compensation, no step what- ever had been taken to restore the stolen property, the greater part of which had passed into the government treasury. We had an excellent dinner in the salamlik, varied by many savoury dishes and delicacies sent from the harem : such as truffles, dressed in diffei’ent ways, several preparations of milk and cream ; honey, curds, &c. After we had retired, the other guests were called to the feast by relays. The chief, however, always remained seated before the dishes, eating a little with all, and leaving his brother to summon those who were invited ; such being the custom amongst these Kurds. jMijwell, during our visit, had been seated in a corner, his eyes wandering from the tent and its furniture to the horses and mares picketed without, and to the flocks pasturing around. He cast, every now and then, signiflcant glances towards me, which said jilainly enough, “ All this ought to belong to the Bedouins. These 316 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIV. people and their property were made for ghazous." As we rode away I accused him of evil intentions. “ Billah, ya Bej ! ” said he, “ there is, indeed, enough to make a man’s heart grow white with envy ; but I have now eaten his bread under your shadow, and should even his stick, wherewith he drives his camel, fall into my hand, I wo.uld send it to him.” lie entertained me, as we re- turned home, with the domestic affairs of his family. Rathaiyah had offered herself in marriage to Suttum, and not he to her ; a common proceeding, it would appear, among the Bedouins. Sut- tum had consented, because he thought it politic to be thus allied Avith the Abde, one of the most powerful branches of the Sham- mar, generally at Avar Avith the rest of the tribe. But his new Avife, besides having sent aAvay her rival, had already offended his family by her pride and haughtiness. Mijwell rather looked upon his brother Avith pity, as a henpecked husband. He himself, al- though already married to one Avife, and betrothed to IMaizi, Avhom he Avould soon be able to claim, Avas projecting a third marriage. His heart had been stolen by an unseen damsel, Avhose beauties and virtues had been the theme of some Avandering Arab rhjuners, and she Avas of the Fedhan Aneyza, the mortal enemies of the Shammar. Her father Avas the sheikh of the tribe, and his tents Avere on the other side of the Euphrates. The difficulties and dangers of the courtship served only to excite still more the ardent mind of the Bedouin. His romantic imagination had jiictured a perfection of loveliness ; his Avhole thoughts Avere now occujiied in devising the means of possessing this treasure. * He had ah’eady ajiprlsed the girl of his love by a trusty messenger, one of her own tribe, living Avith the Shammar. His confidant had extolled the graces, proAvess, and Avealth of the young Sheikh, Avith all the elo- quence of a Bedouin poet, and had elicited a favorable rcjdy. IMore than one interchange of sentiments had, by such means, since passed betAveen them. The damsel had, at last, promised him her hand, if he could claim her in her own tent. MljAvell had now planned a scheme Avhich he Avas eager to put into execution. Waiting until the Fedhan were so encamped that he could ap- proach them witliout being previously seen, he Avould mount his deloul, and leading his best mare, ride to the tent of the girl’s father. IMeat would, of course, be laid before him, and having eaten he Avould be the guest, and under the protection of the * Burckhardt remarks that “ Bedouins are, perhaps, the only people of the East that can be entitled true lovers.” (Notes on Bedouins, p. 155.) Chap. XIV.] THE LAV’S OF DAKHEEL. 317 Sheikh. On the following morning he Avould present his mare, describing her race and qualities, to his host, and ask his daughter ; offering, at the same time, to add any other gift that might be thought worthy of her. The father, who would probably not be ignorant of what had passed between the lovei’s, would at once consent to the union, and give back the mare to his future son-in- law. The marriage would shortly afterwards be solemnised, and an alliance would thus be formed between the two tribes. Such was Mij well’s plan, and it was one not unfrequently adopted by Bedouins under similar circumstances. A Bedouin will never ask money or value in kind for his daughter, as fathers do amongst the sedentary tribes and in towns, where girls are literally sold to their husbands, but he will consult her wishes, and she may, as she thinks fit, accept or reject a suitor, so long as he be not her cousin. Presents are frequently made by the lover to the damsel herself before marriage, but rarely to the parents. Although the Bedouin chiefs have sometimes taken wives from the towns on the boi’ders of the Desert, such as Mosul, Bagh- dad, or Aleppo, it is very rare to find townspeople, or Arabs of the cultivating tribes, married to Bedouin women. I have, however, known instances. The laws of Dakheel, another very remarkable branch of Be- douin legislation, in force amongst the Shammar, ai’e nearly the same as those of the Aneyza and Hedjaz Arabs, of which Burckhardt has given so full and interesting an account. I have little, there- fore, to add upon the subject, but its importance demands a few words. No customs are more religiously respected by the true Arab than those regulating the mutual relations of the protected and protector. A violation of Dakheel (as this law is called) would be considered a disgrace not only upon the individual but upon his family, and even upon his tribe, which never could be wiped out. No greater insult can be offered to a man, or to his clan, tlian to say that he has broken the Dakheel. A disregard of this sacred obligation is the first symptom of degeneracy in an Arab tribe ; and when once it exists, the treachery and vices of the Turk rapidly succeed to the honesty and fidelity of the true Arab character. The relations between the Dakheel and the Dakhal (or the pro- tector and protected) arise from a variety of circumstances, the principal of which are, eating a man’s salt and bread, and claiming his protection by doing certain acts, or repeating a eertain formula of words. Amongst the Shammar, if a man can seize the end of a string or thread, the other end of which is held by his enemy, he 318 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. NIV. immediately becomes his Dakhecl.*' If he touch the canvas of a tent, or can even throw his mace towards it, he is the Dakheel of its owner. If he can spit upon a man, or touch any article belong- ing to him with his teeth, he is Dakhal, unless of course, in case of theft, it he the person who caught him. A woman can protect any number of persons, or even of tents.f If a horseman ride into a tent, he and his horse are Dakhal. A stranger who has eaten with a Shammar, can give Dakheel to his enemy; for instance, I could protect an Aneyza, though there is blood between his tribe and the Shammar. According to Mijwcll, any person, by pre- viously calling out “Nuffa” (I renounce), may reject an applica- tion for Dakheel. The Shammar never plunder a caravan within sight of their encampment, for as long as a stranger can see their tents they consider him their Dakheel. If a man who has eaten bread and slept in a tent, steal his host’s horse, he is dishonored, and his tribe also, unless they send back the stolen animal. Should the horse die, the thief himself should be delivered up, to be treated as the owner of the stolen property thinks fit. If two enemies meet and exchange the “ Salam aleikum ” even by mistake, there is peace between them, and they will not fight. It is disgraceful to rob a woman of her clothes ; and if a female be found amongst a party of plundered Arabs, even the enemy of her tribe will give her a horse to ride back to her tents. If a man be jmrsued by an enemy, or even be on the ground, he can save his life by calling out “ Dakheel,” unless there be blood between them. It would be considered cowardly and unworthy of a Shammar to deprive an * For the very singular customs as to the confinement and liberation of a hai'atny, or robber, and of the relation between a rabat and his rabiet, or the captor and the captive, see Burckhardt’s Notes on the Bedouins, p. 89. I can bear witness to the truth and accuracy of his account, having during my early wanderings amongst the Bedouins witnessed nearly everything he describes. The English reader can have no correct idea of the habits and manners of the wandering tribes of the Desert, habits and manners probably dating from the remotest antiquity, and consequently of the highest interest, without reading the truthful descriptions of this admirable traveller. •j" 111 the winter of the year my residence in Babylonia, after an engage- ment near Baghdad, between the Boraij and the Turkish regular troops, in which the latter were defeated, a flying soldier was caught within sight of an encampment. His captors were going to put him to death, when he stretched his hands towards the nearest tent, claiming the Dakheel of its owner, who chanced to be Sahiman, Mij well’s eldest brother. The Sheikh w'as absent from home, but his beautiful wife Noura answered to the appeal, and seizing a tent-pole beat off his pursuers, and saved his life. This conduct was much applauded by the Bedouins. Chap. XIV.] THE LAWS OF DAKUEEL. 319 enemy of his camel or horse where he could neither reach water or an encampment. When Bedouins meet persons in the midst of the Desert, they will frequently take them within a certain distance of tents, and, first pointing out their site, then deprive them of their property. An Arab who has given his protection to another, whether formally, or by an act which confers the privilege of Dakheel, is bound to protect his Dakhal under all circumstances, even to the risk of his own property and life. I could relate many in- stances of the greatest sacrifices having been made by individuals, and even of whole tribes having been involved in war with jiower- ful enemies by whom they have been almost utterly destroyed, in defence of this most sacred obligation. Even the Turkish rulers respect a law to which they may one day owe their safety, and more than one haughty Pasha of Baghdad has found refuge and pi’otection in the tent of a poor Arab Sheikli, whom, during the days of his prosperity, he had subjected to every injury and wrong, and yet who would then defy the government itself, and risk his very life, rather than surrender his guest. Tlie essence of Arab virtue is a respect for the laws of hospitality, of which the Dakheel in all its various forms is but a part. Amongst the Bedouins who watched our camels was one Saoud, a poet of renown amongst the tribes. With the exception of a few ballads that he had formerly composed in honor of Sofuk, and other celebrated Shammar Sheikhs, he chiefly recited extemporary stanzas on passing events, or on persons who were present. He would sit in my tent of an evening, and sing his verses in a wild, though plaintive, strain, to the great delight of the assembled guests, and particularly of Mijwell, who, like a true Bedouin, was easily affected by poetry, especially with such as might touch his own passion for the unknown lady. He would sway his body to and fro, keeping time with the measure, sobbing aloud as the poet sang the death of his companions in war, breaking out into loud laughter when the burden of the ditty was a satire upon his friends, making extraordinary noises and grimaces to show his feelings, more like a drunken man than a sober Bedouin. But when the bard improvised an amatory ditty, the young chief’s excitement was almost beyond control. The other Bedouins were scarcely less moved by these rude measures, which have the same kind of effect on the wild tribes of the Persian mountains. Such verses, chaunted by their self-taught poets, or by the girls of their en- campment, will drive wai’riors to the combat, fearless of death, or 320 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIV. prove an ample reward on their return from the dangers of the ghazou or the fight. The excitement they produce exceeds that of the grape. He who would understand the influence of the Ho- meric ballads in the heroic ages, should witness the eflfect which similar compositions have upon the wild nomades of the East. Amongst the Kurds and Lours I have not met with bards who chanted extemporary verses. Episodes from the great historical epics of Persia, and odes from their favorite poets, are recited during war or in the tents of their chiefs. But the art of improvising seems innate in the Bedouin. Although his metre and mode of recitation are rude to European ears, his rich and sonorous language lends itself to this species of poetry, whilst his exuberant imagina- tion furnishes him with endless beautiful and appropi'iate allegories. The wars between the tribes, the ghazou, and their struggles with the Turks, are inexhaustible themes for verse, and in an Arab tent there is little else to afford excitement or amusement. The Bedouins have no books ; even a Koran is seldom seen amonofst them : it is equally rare to find a wandering Arab who can read. They have no written literature, and their traditional history consists of little more than the tales of a few storytellers who wander from encamp- ment to encampment, and earn their bread by chanting verses to the monotonous tones of a one-stringed fiddle made of a gourd covered with sheep-skin. The extemporary odes which Saoud sung before us were chiefly in jB'aise of those present, or a good-natured satire upon some of our party. The day of our departure now drew nigh, and Suleiman Agha, to do us honor, invited us to a general review of the irregular troojis under his command. The horsemen of the Milli and Chichi Kurds, and of the Arab tribes wdio encamped with them, joined the Turkish cavalry, and added to the Interest and beauty of the display. The Idyta-Bashis were, as usual, resplendent in silk and gold. There were some high-bred horses in the field ; but the men, on the whole, were badly mounted, and the irregular cavalry is daily degenerating throughout the empire. The Turkish Government have unwisely neglected a branch of their national armies to which they owed most of their great victories, and at one time their superiority over all their neighbours. The abolition of the Spahiliks, and other mili- tary tenures, has, of course, contributed much to this result, and has led to the deterioration of that excellent breed of horses which once distinguished the Ottoman light cavalry. No effort is now made by the government to keep up the race, and the scanty pay Chap. XIV.] THE IRREGULAR CAVALRY. 321 of the irregular troops is not suffieient to enable them to obtain even seeond-rate animals. Everything has been sacrificed to the regular army, undoubtedly an essential element of national defence ; but in a future war the Turks will probably find reason to regret that they have altogether sacrificed to it the ancient irregular horse. The Kurds, although encumbered by their long flowing gar- ments and huge turbans, are not bad horsemen. Mij well, however, as he scanned the motley crowd with his eagle eye, included them all in one expression of ineffable contempt. Tiie Tent of tlie lililla Chief. Volcanic Cone of Koukab. CHAP. XV. DEPARTURE FROM THE KHABOUR. ARAB SAGACITY. THE IIOL. THE TAKE OF KHATOUNIYAH. — RETURN OF SUTTUM. ENCAMPMENT OF THE SHAMMAR. ARAB HORSES THEIR BREEDS THEIR VALUE THEIR SPEED. SHEIKH FERHAN. YEZIDI VILLAGES. FALCONS. AN AL.\RM. ABOU MARIA. ESKI MOSUL. — ARRIVAL AT MOSUL. RETURN OF SUTTUM TO THE DESERT. IMe. Hormuzu Rassam having sufficiently recovered from his dan- gei’ous illness to be able to ride a deloul, and no remains, except pottery and bricks, having been discovered in the mounds of Um- jerjeh, we left the encampment of Suleiman Agha on the 29th of April, on our return to Mosul. We crossed the Jerujer near its junction with the Khabour, Avhei’e two mounds, named A1 Ilasieha and Abou-Bekr, rise on the left bank of the river. We again visited the remarkable volcanic cone of Koukab. As we drew near to it, Mijwell detected, in the loose soil, the foot- prints of two men, which he Immediately recognised to be those of Shammar thieves returning from the Kurdish encampments. The sagacity of the Bedouin in determining from such marks, whether Chap. XV.] ARAB SAGACITY. 323 of man or beast, and, from similar indications, the tribe, time of passing, and business, of those who may have left them, with many other particulars, is well known. In this respect he resembles the American Indian, though the circumstances differ under which the two ai’e called upon to exercise this peculiar faculty. The one seeks or avoids his enemy in vast plains, which, for three-fourths of the year, are without any vegetation ; the other tracks his pi’ey through thick woods and high grass. This quickness of perception is the result of continual observation and of caution encouraged from earliest youth. When the warriors of a tribe are engaged in distant forays or in war, their tents and flocks are frequently left to the care of a mere child. He must receive strangers, amongst whom may be those having claims of blood upon his family, and must guard against marauders, who may be lurking about the en- campment. Every unknown sign and mark must be examined and accounted for. If he should see the track of a horseman he must ask himself why one so near the dwellings did not stop to eat bread or drink water ? was he a spy ; one of a pax'ty meditating an attack ? or a traveller, who did not know the site of the tents ? When did he pass ? From whence did he come? Whilst the child in a civilised country is still under the care of its nurse, the Bedouin boy is compelled to exercise his highest faculties, and on his prudence and sagacity may sometimes depend the safety of his tribe. The expert Bedouin can draw conclusions from the footprints and dung of animals that would excite the astonishment of an European, He will tell whether the camel was loaded or unloaded, whether recently fed or suffering from hunger, whether fatigued or fresh, the time when it passed by, whether the owner was a man of the desert or of the town, whether a friend or foe, and sometimes even the name of his tribe. I have frequently been cautioned by my Bedouin companions, not to dismount from my dromedary, that my footsteps might not be recognised as those of a stranger ; and my deloul has even been led by my guide to prevent those who might cross our path detecting that it was ridden by one not thoroughly accustomed to the management of the animal. It would be easy to explain the means, simple enough indeed, by which the Arab of the Desert arrives at these results. In each case there is a train of logical deduction, raei’ely requiring common acuteness and great experience. We encamped for the night near the mound of Thenenir, and resumed our journey on the following morning. Bidding farewell 324 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XV. to the pleasfint banks of the Khaboiir, we struck into the Desert in the direction of tlie Sinjar. Extensive beds of gypsum, or alabaster, such as was used in the Assyrian edifices, formed for some miles the surface of the jilain. Its salt and nitrous exuda- tions destroy vegetation, unless there be sufficient soil about it to nourish the roots of herbs ; generally, only the cracks and fissures in the strata are marked by lines of grass and flowers crossing the plain like the meshes of a many-colored net. We soon approached a dense mass of reeds and rank herbage, covei'ing a swamp called the Hoi, which extends from the Lake of Khatouniyah to within a short distance of the Khabour. This jungle is the hiding-place of many kinds of wild beasts: lions lurk in it, and in the thick cover the Bedouins find their cubs. As we drew near to the first spring that feeds the marsh, about eight miles from Thenenir, we saw a leopard stealing from the high grass. When pursued, the animal turned and entered the thickets before the horseman could approach it. When we reached the head spring of the Hoi, the Jebours fired the jungle, and the flames soon spread far and wide. Long after we had left the marsh we could hear the crackling of the burning reeds, and until nightfall the sky w^as darkened by thick volumes of smoke. During our journey an Arab joined us, riding on a deloul, Avith his wife. His two children were crammed into a pair of saddle bags, a black head peeping out of either side. He had quarrelled Avith his kinsmen, and Avas moving Avith liis family and little pro- perty to another tribe. After a six hours’ ride Ave found ourselves upon the margin of a small lake, Avhose quiet surface reflected the deep blue of the cloudless sky. To the south of it rose a line of low undulating hills, and to the east the furroAved mountain of the Sinjar. On all other sides was the Desert, In Avhich this solitary sheet of Avater lay like a mirage. In the midst of the lake was a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a narroAV causeway, and beyond it a small island. On the former Avere the ruins of a town, whose fall- ing Avails and tOAvers were doubled in the clear Avaters. It Avould be difficult to Imagine a scene more calm, more fair, or more un- locked for in the midst of a Avilderness. It Avas like faiiyland. The small tOAvn of Khatouniyah Avas, until recently, inhabited by a tribe of Arabs. A feud, arising out of the rival pretensions of two chiefs, sprang up amongst them. The factions fought, many persons were killed, and the place was consequently deserted, one Chap. XV.] LAKE OF KHATOUNIYAH. 325 party joining tlie Tai Arabs near Nisibin, the other the Yezidis of Keraniyah. W e traced the remains of cultivation, and the dry water-courses, which once irrigated plots of rice and melon beds. The lake may be about six miles in cii’cumference. From its abundant supply of water, and its central position between the Sinjar and the Khabour, Khatouniyah must at one time have been a place of some importance. The few remains that exist do not belong to an earlier period than the Arab. The small town occupies the whole of the penin- sula, and is surrounded by a wall, rising from the water’s edge, with a gate opening on the narrow causeway. The houses were of stone, and the rooms vaulted. In the deserted streets were still standing the ruins of a small bazar, a mosque, and a bath. The water of the lake, although bi'ackish, like nearly all the springs in this part of the Desert, is not only drinkable, but, ac- cording to the Bedouins, exceedingly wholesome for man and beast. It abounds in fish, some of which are said to be of very consider- able size. As we approached the Bairakdar, seeing something struggling in a shallow rode to it, and captured a kind of barbel, weighing above twenty pounds. Waterfowl and waders, of various kinds, congregate on the shores. The stately crane and the grace- ful egret, with its snow-white plumage and feathery crest, stand lazily on its margin ; and thousands of ducks and teal eddy on its surface round the unwieldy pelican. Our tents were pitched on the very water’s edge. At sunset a few clouds which lingered in the western sky were touched with the golden rays of the setting sun. The glowing tints of the heavens, and the clear blue shadows of the Sinjar hills, mirrored in the motionless lake, imparted a calm to the scene which well matched with the solitude around. We had scarcely resumed our march in the morning when we spied Suttum and Khoraif coming towards us, and urging their fleet mares to the toji of their speed. A Jebour, leaving our encampment at Umjerjeh, when Hormuzd was dangerously ill, had spread a report * in the Desert, that he was actually dead. * The manner in which reports are spread and exaggerated in the Desert is frequently highly amusing. In all encampments there are idle vagabonds who live by carrying news from tribe to tribe, thereby earning a dinner and spend- ing their leisure hours. As soon as a stranger arrives, and relates anything of interest to the Arabs, some such fellow will mount his ready-saddled deloul, and make the best of his way to retail the news in a neighbouring tent, from 326 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XV. To give additional authenticity to his tale he had minutely de- scribed the process by which iny companion’s body had been first salted, and then sent to Frankistan in a box, on a camel. Suttum, as we met, showed the most lively signs of grief ; but when he saw the dead man himself restored to life, his joy and his embraces knew no bounds. We rode over a low undulating country, at the foot of the Sinjar hills, every dell and ravine being a bed of flowers. About five miles from Khatouniyah we passed a small reedy stream, called Sutfeyra, on which the Boraij (Suttum’s tribe) had been encamped on the previous day. They had now moved further into the plain, and we stopped at their watering-place, a brackish rivulet called Sayhel, their tents being about three miles distant from us in the Desert. We pitched on a rising ground immediately above the stream. Beneath us was the golden plain, swarming with moving objects. The Khorusseh, and all the tribes under Ferhan, had now congregated to the north of the Sinjar previous to their sum- mer migration to the pastures of the Khabour. Their mares, camels, and sheep came to Sayhel for water, and during the whole day there was one endless line of animals passing to and fro before our encampment. I sat watching them from my tent. As each mare and horse stopped to drink at the troubled stream, Suttum named its owner and its breed, and described its exploits. The mares were generally followed by two or three colts, who are suffered, even in their third year, to run loose after their dams, and to gambol unrestrained over tlie plain. It is to their perfect free- dom whilst young that the horses of the Desert owe their speed and the suppleness of their limbs. It may not be out of place to add a few remarks on the subject of Arab horses. The Bedouins, as it is well known, divide their thorough-breds into five races, descended, as some declare, from the five favourite mares of the Prophet. The names, however, of these breeds vary amongst different tribes. Aceordlng to Suttum, who was better acquainted with the history and traditions of the Bedouins than almost any Arab I ever met, they are all derived wlience it is carried, in the same way, to others. It is extraordinary how rapidly a report spreads in this manner over a very great distance. Sofuk sent to in- form the British resident at Baghdad, of the siege and fall of Acre, many days before the special messenger dispatched to announce that event reached the city ; and I have frequently rejected intelligence received from Bedouins, on account of the apparent impossibility of its coming to me through such a source, which has afterwards proved to be true. Chap. XV.] ARAB nOESES. 327 from one original stock, the Koheyleli, which, in course of time, was divided, after the names of celebrated mares, into the following five branches: — Obeyan Sherakh, Hedba Zayhi, Manekia Hed- rehji, Shouaymah Sablah, and Margoub.* These form the Kamse, or the five breeds, from which alone entire horses are chosen to propagate the race. From the Kamse have sprung a number of families no less noble, perhaps, than the original five ; but tlie Shammar receive their stallions with suspicion, or reject them al- together. Among the best known are the Wathna Khersan, so called from the mares being said to be worth their weight in gold ; (noble horses of this breed are found amongst the Arab tribes in- habiting the districts to the east of the Euphrates, the Beni Lam, A1 Kamees, and A1 Kithere ;) Khalawi, thus named from a wonder- ful feat of speed performed by a celebrated mare in Southern Mesopotamia; Jaiaythanif, and Julfa. The only esteemed race in the Desert which, according to Suttum, cannot be traced to the Kamse, is the Saklawi, although considered by the Shammar and by the Bedouins of the Gebel Shammar, as one of the noblest, if not the noblest, of all. It is divided into three branches, the most valued being the Saklawi Jedran, which is said to be now almost extinct. The agents of Abbas Pasha, the Viceroy of Egypt, sent into all parts of the Desert to purchase the best horses, have especially sought for mares of this breed. The prices given for them would appear enormous even to the English reader. A Sheikh of the great tribe of the A1 Dhofyr was offered and refused for a mare no less than 1200/., the negociation being carried on through Faras, Sheikh of the Montefik, who received handsome presents for the trouble he had taken in the matter. As much as a thousand pounds is said to have been given to Sheikhs of the Aneyza for well-known mares. So that, had the Pasha’s challenge been accepted, the best blood in Ai'abia would have been matched against the English racer. During my residence in the Desert I saw several horses which were purchased for the Viceroy. To understand how a man, who has perhaps not even bi'ead * According to Burckhardt, the five are, Taueyse, Manekia, Koheylch, Sak- lawi, and Julfa. He probably received these names from the Arabs of the Hedjaz, who are less acquainted with the breeds of horses than the Shammar or Aneyza Bedouins. (Notes on Arabs, p. 116., but at p. 253. he observes, that the Nedjd Arabs do not reckon the Manekia and Julfa in the Kamse.) f A well-known horse, named Merjian, long in my possession, and originally purchased from the Arabs by my friend Mr. Ross, was of this breed. 328 XINEVEII AND 15AI5YLON. [Chap. XV. to feed himself and his children, can witlistand the temptation of such large sums, it must be rememl)ered that, besides the affection proverbially felt by the Bedouin for his mare, which might, jjcr- haps, not be proof against such a test, he is entirely dependent upon her for his happiness, his glory, and, Indeed, his very exist' ence. An Arab possessing a horse unrivalled in speed and en- durance, and it wovdd only be for such that prices like those I have mentioned would be offered, is entirely his own master, and can defy the world. Once on its back, no one can catch him. He may rob, j)lunder, fight, and go to and fro as he lists. He believes in the word of his Prophet, “ tliat noble and fierce breeds of horses are true riches.” Without his mare, money would be of no value to him. It would either become the prey of some one more powerful and better mounted than himself, would be spent in festivities, or be distributed amongst his kinsmen. He could only keep his gold by burying it in some secret place, and of what use would it then be to one who is never two days in the same spot, and wdio wanders over a space of three or four hundred miles in the course of a few months? No man has a keener sense of the joys of liberty, and a heartier hatred of restraint, than the true Bedouin. Give him the Desert, his mare, and his spear, and he Avill not envy the wealth and power of the greatest of the earth. He plunders and robs for the mere pleasure and excitement which danger and glory afford. All he takes he divides amongst his friends, and he gladly risks his life to get that which is spent in an hour. An Arab will beg for a whole day for a shirt or a kerchief, and, five minutes after he has obtained it, he will give it to the first person who may happen to admire it. A mare is generally the property of two or more persons, who have a share in her progeny, regulated by custom, and differing ac- cording to the tribe. All the offspring of five celebrated mai’es belong by usage to the head of the sub-tribe of the Ahl-Mohammed, and whenever horses descended from them are captured by the Shammar from the Aneyza or other tribes, they may be claimed by him. They are merely brought to Ferhan, the present chief, as a matter of form, and he returns them to their captors. Sofuk (his father), however, wmuld frequently insist upon his right, and bestow valuable mares thus obtained upion his immediate retainers. The five breeds are Saklawi Jedran, Emlayah, Margoub, Hedba Enzaii, and Hamdaniyah. The largest number of horses, as well as those of the most es- teemed breeds, are still to be found, as in the time of Burckhardt, Chap. XV.] ARAB HORSES. 329 amongst the . tribes who inhabit Mesopotamia and the great plains watered by tlie Euphrates and Tigris. These rich pastures, nou- rished I)y the rains of winter and spring, the climate, and — ac- cording to the Arabs — tbe brackish water of the springs rising in the gypsum, seem especially favorable to the rearing of horses. The best probably belong to the Shammar and Aneyza tribes, a rivalry existing between the two, and fame giving the superiority sometimes to one, sometimes to the other. The mares of the Aneyza have the reputation of being the largest and most powerful, but as the two tribes are always at war, plundering and robbing one another almost daily, their horses are continually changing owners. The present Sheikh of the Gebel Shammar, Ibn Resbid, has, I am informed, a very choice stud of mares of the finest breeds, and their reputation has spread far and wide over the Desert. The Nawab of Oude, the Ekbal-ed-Doulah, a good judge of horses, who had visited many of the tribes, and had made the pilgrimage to the holy cities by the little frequented route through the interior of Xedjd, assured me that the finest horses he had ever seen were in the possession of the Shereef of Mecca. The Indian market is chiefiy supplied by the Montefik tribes inhabiting the banks of the lower Euphrates ; but the purity of their stock has been neglected in consequence of tbe great demand, and a Montefik horse is not valued by the true Bedouin. Horse-dealers, generally of the mixed Arab tribe of Agayl, pay periodical visits to the Shammar and Aneyza to purchase colts for exportation to India. They buy horses of high caste, which frequently sell for large sums at Bombay. The dealers pay, in the Desert, from 30Z. to 150/. for colts of two, three, and four years. The Agayles attach less importance to blood than the Bedouins, and provided the horse has points which seem suited to the Indian market, they rarely ask his pedigree. The Arabs hence believe that Eu- ropeans know nothing of blood, which with them is the first con- sideration. The horses thus purchased are sent to Bombay by native vessels at a very considerable risk, whole cargoes being lost or thrown overboard during storms every year. The trade Is consequently very precarious, and less flourishing now than it used to be. With the exception of one or two great dealers at Baghdad and Busrah, most of those who have been engaged in It have been ruined. The Arab horse is more remarkable for its exquisite symmetry and beautiful proportions, united with wonderful powers of en- 330 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XV. durance, than for extraordinary speed. I doubt whether any Arab of the best blood has ever been brought to England. The difficulty of obtaining them is so great, that they are scarcely ever seen beyond the limits of the Desert. Their color is generally white, light or dark grey, light chesnut, and bay, with white or black feet. Black is exceedingly rare, and I never remember to have seen dun, sorrel, or dapple. I refer, of course, to the true-bred Arab, and not to the Turcoman or to Kurdish and Turkish races, which are a cross between the Arab and Persian. Their average height is from 14 hands to 14|, rarely reaching 15 ; I have only seen one mare that exceeded it. Notwith- standing the smallness of their stature they often possess great strength and courage. I was credibly informed that a cele- brated mare of the Manekia breed, now dead, carried two men in chain armour beyond the reach of their Aneyza pursuers. But their most remarkable and valuable quality is the power of performing long and arduous marches upon the smallest possible allowance of food and water. It is only the mare of the wealthy Bedouin that fjets even a regular feed of about twelve handfuls of barley, or of rice in the husk, once in twenty-four hours. During the spring alone, when the pastures are green, the horses of the Arabs are sleek and beautiful in appearance. At other times they eat nothing but the withered herbs and scanty hay gathered from the parched soil, and are lean and unsightly. They are never placed under cover during the intense heat of an Arabian summer, nor protected from the biting cold of the Desert winds during winter. The saddle is rarely taken from their backs, nor are they ever cleaned or groomed. Thus apparently neglected, they are but skin and bone, and the townsman marvels at seeing an animal, which he would scarcely take the trouble to ride home, valued almost beyond price. Although docile as a lamb, and I'equiring no other guide than the halter, when the Arab mare hears the war-cry of the tribe, and sees the quivering spear of her rider, her eyes glitter with fire, her blood-red nostrils open wide, her neck is nobly arched, and her tail and mane are raised and spread out to the wind. The Bedouin proverb says, that a high-bred mare when at full speed should hide her rider between her neck and her tail. The Shammar Bedouins give their horses, particularly when young, large quantities of camels’ milk. I have heard of mares eating raw fiesh, and dates are frequently mixed with their food Chap. XV.] ARAB HORSES. 331 by the tribes living near the mouth of the Euphrates. The Shammar and Aneyza shoe their horses if possible, and wan- dering farriers regularly visit their tents. If an Arab cannot afford to shoe his mare entirely, he will shoe her fore-feet. The Chaab (or Kiab) do not usually shoe their horses. The shoes, like those used in all parts of the East, consist of a thin iron plate covering the whole foot, except a small hole in the centre. They are held by six nails, are clumsily made, and usually more clumsily put on. The Arab horse has but two ordinary paces, a quick and easy walk, sometimes averaging between four and five miles an hour, and a half running canter. The Bedouin rarely puts his mare to full speed unless pursued or pursuing. In racing, the Arabs, and indeed Easterns in general, have no idea that the weight carried by the rider makes any difference. I have frequently pointed out to the Turkish authorities the fitness of the rich plains watered by the Euphrates and Tigris for a government stud. It would be difficult, in the present state of things, to induce the Bedouins to place themselves under the restraint necessary to such an undertaking ; but there are many half-sedentary tribes, who are well acquainted with the manage- ment of horses, and know the best pastures of the Desert. If properly protected and supported they could defy the Bedouins, and maintain permanent stations in any part of Mesopotamia. A noble race of horses, now rajfidly becoming extinct, for the breed of true Arabs is, I believe, daily deteriorating *, and their number decreasing, might prove a source of strength and wealth to the empire. In the evening, as I was seated before my tent, I observed a large party of horsemen and riders on delouls approaching our encampment. They stopped at the entrance of the large pavilion reserved for guests, and picketing their mares, and turning loose their dromedaries adorned with gay trappings, seated themselves on the carpets. The chiefs were our old friends, Mohammed Emin and Ferhan, the great Shammar Sheikh. We cordially embraced after the Bedouin fashion. I had not seen Ferhan since * Burckhardt states that the number of horses in Arabia did not in his time exceed 50 , 000 . It has probably considerably decreased since. The defeat of the Wahabys, the conquest of Arabia, and the occupation of Syria by the Egyptians, have contributed greatly both to the diminution and deterioration of the race. I have had no means of ascertaining, even proximately, the number of horses belonging to such tribes as the Shammar and Aneyza. 332 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [CniP. XV. the treachei’ous murder of his father by Nejlb Pasha of Baghdad*, to which he alluded with touching expressions of grief, bewailing his own incoinpetency to fill Sofuk’s place, and to govern the divided tribe. He was now on his way with the Jebour Sheikh to recover, if possible, the government treasure, plundered by the Hainoud, for which, as head of the Shaininar, he was held respon- sible by the Porte. After they had eaten of the feast we were able to prepare for them, they departed about sunset for the tents of the Jebours. I embraced IMohammed Emin for the last time, and saw him no more during my residence in Assyria. The scene at the watering-place at Sayhel was so changing and varied, that I had little cause to regret a delay of two days on the spot. Long before dawn the sheep and camels gathered round the spring, and it was night before the last she 2 iherd had driven away his flocks. My tents, moreover, were filled with Bedouins from various tribes, who supplied me with information, and enter- tained me with traditions and tales of the Desert. On the 4th of May we made a short day’s journey of five hours to a beautiful stream issuing from the Sinjar hill, beneath the village of Khersa or Chersa. A Bedouin of the Boraij tribe accomiianled us riding on a swift white dromedary of a true Nedjd breed. This animal was scarcely taller than a large English horse. It had been ca^iturcd by its present owner with another of the same race, and several ordinary camels, during a three months’ ghazou, or plundering expedition, which he had undertaken with the war- riors of his tribe into the interior of Arabia. Leaving the jiHln, which was siieckled as far as the eye could reach with the flocks and tents of the Bedouins, we skirted the very foot of the Sinjar. Khersa had been deserted by its in- habitants, who had rebuilt their village higher uji on the side of the hill. Since the loss of Ilattab, Suttum had never ceased pining for a falcon worthy to take his [dace. He had been counting the hours to his visit to this part of the Sinjar, known only to yield to the borders of the Persian Gulf in producing the finest and bravest hawks for the chase. The Yezidis carefully [ireserve their nests as hereditary jiropcrty, in which certain families have a vested interest. The young birds, with the exception of one left to pre- vent the parents deserting the [dace, are taken when half-fledged. * Nineveh and its Kemains, vol. i. p. 113. Chap, XV.] BUYING HAWKS. 333 They are then sold, generally to the Bedouins, for comparatively large prices, from five to twenty gazees (1/. to 4/.) being given according to the reputation of the nest, whose peculiar qualities are a matter of notoriety amongst true sportsmen. Three birds only, in each brood, are thought worthy of being trained. The first hatched is the most esteemed, and is called “ Nadir the second ranks next, and is known as tlie “ Azeez.” A hunting- hawk of the Sinjar species brought up by hand is called “ Charkh.” It strikes its quarry on the ground, and not in the air, and is prin- cipally fiown at gazelles, bustards, and hares. The young are sold by weight. Suttum sat, scales in hand, examining the unfledged birds with the eye of a connoisseur, and weighing them with scrupulous care. All that were brought to him were, however, rejected, the Sheikh protesting that the Infidels were cheating him, and had sold all the nadirs and azeczes to more fortunate Bedouins. Next day we made but little progress, encamping near a spring under the village of Aldina, whose chief, Murad, had now returned from his captivity. Grateful for my intercession in his behalf, he brought us sheep and other provisions, and met us wdth his people as we entered the valley. The ISIutesellim was in his village collecting the revenues, but the inhabitants of Nogi’ay had refused to contribute the share assigned to them, or to receive the governor. He begged me to visit the rebellious Yezidis, and the whole day was spent in devising schemes for a general peace. At length the chiefs consented to accompany me to Aldina, and, after some reduction in the Salian, to pay the taxes. During the negociations, Suttum, surrounded by clamorous Yezidis, was sitting in the shade, examining and weighing un- fledged hawks. At length three were deemed worthy of his notice : one being pretty well advanced in days was sent to his tent for education, under the charge of the rider of the Nedjd deloul. The others, being yet in a weak state, were restored to the nest, to be claimed on his return from Mosul. The largest bird, being a very pi'omlsing specimen, cost five gazees or 11 . ; the others, three gazees and a half, as the times were hard, and the tax-gatherers urgent for ready money. We rode on the following day for about an hour along the foot of the Sinjar hill, which suddenly subsides into a low undulating country. The narrow valleys and ravines were blood-red with gigantic poppies. The Bedouins adorned the camels and horses with the scarlet flowers, and twisted them into their own head-dresses 334 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XV. and long garments. Even the Tiyari dressed themselves up in the gaudy trappings of nature, and as we journeyed chanting an Arab war-song, we resembled the return of a festive procession from some sacrifice of old. During our weary marches under a burning sun, it required some such episodes to keep up the drooping spirits of the men, who tolled on foot by our sides. Poetry and flowers are the wine and spirits of the Arab ; a couplet is equal to a bottle, and a rose to a dram, without the evil effects of either. Would that in more civilised climes the sources of excitement were equally harmless ! The large artificial mound of Tel Shour rose in the plain to the right of us. About nine miles from our last encamping place we crossed a stream of sweet water named Aththenir, and stopped soon after for the day in the bosom of the hills, near some reedy ponds, called Fukka, formed by several springs. As this was a well- known place of rendezvous for the Bedouins when out on the ghazou, Suttum disjdayed more than usual caution in choosing the place for our tents, ascending with Khoralth a neighbouring peak to survey the country and scan the plain below. In the afternoon the camels had wandered from the encampment in search of grass, and we were reposing in the shade of our tents, when we were roused by the cry that a large body of men were to be seen in the distance. The Bedouins immediately sought to drive back their beasts. Suttum unplatting his long hair, and shaking it in hideous disorder over his head and face, and baring his arms to the shoulder, leapt with his quivering spear into the saddle. Having first placed the camp in the best posture of de- fence I was able, I rode out with him to reconnoitre. But our alarm was soon quieted. The supposed enemy proved to be a party of poor Yezidis, who, taking advantage of our caravan, were going to hlosul to seek employment during the summer. In the evening Suttum inveighed bitterly against a habit of some travellers of continually taking notes before strangers. I endea- voured to explain the object and to remove his fears. “ It is all very well,” said the Sheikh, “ and I can understand, and am willing to believe, all you tell me. But supposing the Turks, or any body else, should hereafter come against us, there are many foolish and suspicious men in the tribe, and I have enemies, who would say that I had brought them, for I have shown you everything. You know what would be the consequences to me of such a report. As for you, you are in this place to-day, and 100 days’ journey off to-morrow, but I am always here. There is not a plot of grass or Chap. XV.] TAKING NOTES. 335 a spring that that man (alluding to one of our party) does not write down.” Suttum’s complaints were not unreasonable, and travellers cannot be too cautious in this respect, when amongst in- dependent tribes, for even if they do not bring difficulties upon themselves, they may do so upon others. We had a seven hours’ ride on the delouls, leaving the caravan to follow, to the large ruin of Abou Maria *, passing through Tel Afer. The Jehesh were encamped about two miles from the place. ]\Iy workmen had excavated for some time in these remarkable mounds, and had discovered chambers and several enormous slabs of Mosul marble, but no remains whatever of sculpture. They had, however, dug out several entire bricks bearing the name of the founder of the north-west palace at Nlmroud, but unaccompanied by that of any town or temple. The ruins are of considerable extent, and might, if fully exploi’ed, yield some valuable relics. A short ride of three hours brought us to Eski (old) Mosul, on the banks of the Tigris. According to tradition this is the original site of the city. There are mounds, and the remains of walls, which are 2 )robably Assyrian. Ujion them are traces of build- ings of a far more recent jicriod. My workmen had opened several trenches and tunnels in the jorincipal ruin, and at a subse- quent period Awad, with a jiarty of Jehesh, renewed the exca- vations in it, but no relics throwing any light upon its histoiy were discovered. Mosul was still nine caravan hours distant, and we encamped the next night at Hamaydat, where many of our friends came out to meet us. On the 10th of May we were again within the walls of the town, our desert trip having been accomjjlished without any mishaji or accident whatever. Suttum left us two days after for his tents, fearing lest he should be too late to join the warriors of the Khorusseh, who had planned a grand gliazou into Nedjd. They were to be away for thirty days, and expected to bring back a great spoil of mares, dromedaries, and camels. As for three days they would meet with no wells, they could only ride their delouls, each animal carrying a spearman and a musketeer, with their skins of water and a scanty stock of jirovisions. They generally contrive to return from these expeditions with considerable booty. Suttum urged me to accom- pany them ; but I had long renounced such evil habits, and other * I have elsewhere described the ruins and springs of Abou Maria. (JNineveh and its liemains, vol. i. p. 312.) 336 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XV, 1 occupations kept me in Mosul. Finding that I was not to be per- suaded, and that the time was at length come for us to part, he embraced me, crammed the presents we had made to himself and his wives into his saddle-bags, and, mounting his deloul, rode off with Mijwell towards the Desert. Arab Camels. An Entrance to the Great Hall of the North-west Palace iNimroad). CHAP. XVI. DISCOVERIES AT KOUYUNJIK PROCESSION OF FIGURES BEARING FRUIT AND GAME. LOCUSTS. LED HORSES. AN ASSYRIAN CAMPAIGN. DAGON, OB THE FISH-GOD. THE CHAMBERS OF RECORDS. INSCRIBED CLAY TABLETS. — RETURN TO NIMROUD. EFFECTS OF THE FLOOD. DISCOVERIES. SMALL TEMPLE UNDER HIGH MOUND. THE EVIL SPIRIT. FISH-GOD.. — - FINE BAS- RELIEF OF THE KING. EXTRACTS FROM THE INSCRIPTION. GREAT IN- SCRIBED MONOI.ITH. EXTRACTS FROM THE INSCRIPTION. CEDAR BEAMS SMALL OBJECTS. SECOND TEMPLE. MARBLE FIGURE AND OTHER OBJECTS. Duuing my absence In the Desert, the excavations at Kouyunjik had been actively carried on under the superintendence of Toma Shishman. On my arrival he described many interesting dis- coveries, and I hastened to the ruins, crossing in a rude ferry-boat the river, now swollen, by the spring rains, to more than double its usual size.* * The Tigris this year had risen much liigher than usual. I have already mentioned that the plain of Nimroud ivas completely under water ; opposite ^losul the flood nearly reached the mounds of Kouyunjik and Nebbi Yunus. Z 338 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [CHHr.XVI. The earth liatl been completely removed from the sides of the long gallery, on the walls of which had been portrayed the trans- port of the lai'ge stone and of the winged bulls.* An outlet was discovered near its western end, opening into a narrow descending passage ; an entrance, it would appear, into the palace from the river side.f Its length was ninety-six feet, its breadth not more than thirteen. The walls were panelled with sculptured slabs about six feet high.J Those to the right, in descending, represented a procession of servants cari’ying fruit, flowers, game, and supplies for a banquet, preceded by mace-bearers. The first servant following the guard bore an object which I should not hesitate to identify with the pineapple, unless there were every reason to believe that the Assyrians were unacquainted with that fruit. The leaves sprout- ing from the top proved that it was not the cone of a pine tree or fir. After all, the sacred symbol held by the winged figures in the Assyrian sculptures, may be the same fruit, and not, as I have conjectured, that of a coniferous tree.§ The attendants who followed carried clusters of ripe dates and flat baskets of osier-work, filled with pomegranates, apples, and bunches of grapes. They raised in one hand small green boughs to drive away the flies. Then came men bearing hares, partridges, and dried locusts fastened on rods. The locust has ever been an article of food in the East, and is still sold in the markets of many towns in Arabia. H Being introduced in this bas-relief amongst the choice delicacies of a banquet, it was probably highly prized by the Assyrians. The locust-bearers were followed by a man with strings of pomc- *1^0. XLIX. Plan I. f No. LI. same Plan. J The figures are about feet in height. § It has been suggested to me that the object carried by the winged figures may be the fruit of the fan palm, a tree whose general usefulness has rendered it sacred to the natives of parts of South America, but which, as far as I am aware, could not have grown in Assyria, or in any countries visited by the Assyrians. II Burckhardt (Notes on the Bedouins, p. 269.) gives the following account of the mode of pre])aring them : — “ The Arabs in preparing locusts as an article of food, throw them alive into boiling water, with which a good deal of salt has been mixed : after a few minutes they are taken out and dried in the sun. The head, feet, and wings are then torn ofi‘; the bodies are cleansed from the salt and perfectly dried ; after which process whole sacks are filled with them by the Bedouins. They are sometimes eaten broiled in butter ; and they often con- stitute materials for a breakfast when spread over unleavened bread mixed with butter.” It has been conjectured that the locust eaten by John the Baptist in the wilderness was the fruit of a tree ; but it is more probable that the prophet used a common article of food, abounding even in the Desert. Attendants carrying Pomegranates and Locusts (Kouyunjik) 340 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVI. granates ; then came, two by two, attendants carrying on their shoulders low tables, such as are still used in the East at feasts, loaded with baskets of cakes and fruits of various kinds. The procession was finished by a long line of servants bearing vases of flowers. These fisures were dressed in a short tunic, confined at the Avaist by a shawl or girdle. They Avore no head-gear, their hair falling in curls on their shoulders. On the opposite Avails of the passage Avere fourteen horses Avith- out trappings, each horse having a simple halter twisted round its loAver jaAV, by which it was led by a groom. The animals and men Avere designed with considerable truth and spirit. The procession Avas marshalled by a staff-bearer, or chamberlain. The dresses of the grooms Avere richer than those of the banquet-bearers. They Avore a short tunic and an embroidered belt, and to this Avas at- tached that ornament of fur, or colored fringe, pecidiar to the cos- tumes of the Avarriors of the later Assyrian period.* It is probable that the sculptures forming the upper end of the passage, but now entirely destroyed, represented the king receiving this double procession. The passage may have led to the ban- queting-hall, or to a chamber, Avhere royal feasts Avere sometimes held, and was therefore adorned with appropriate subjects. At its western end the gallery turned abruptly to the north, its walls being there built of solid stone-masonry. I lost all further traces of it, as the Avorkmen Avere unable, at that time, to carry on the tunnel beneath an accumulated mass of earth and rubbish about forty feet thick. I did not, consequently, ascertain its western outlet. We had, however, nearly reached the edge of the mound ; and as there Avas no space left for a chamber of any size beyond, this passage may have opened on a flight of steps, or on an Incline leading from the river, and forming a kind of private entrance or postern into the palace. As the workmen could no longer, without some danger, excavate in this part of the ruins, they had returned to the chamber already described as containing a series of bas-reliefs representing the cap- ture and sack of a large city in the mountains, and as opening into the broad gallery on Avhose walls Avere depictured the various pro- * Specimens of the led horses, and of the figures bearing locusts, are now in the British Museum. The slabs in this passage had been so much injured by fire, that only a few of them could be removed. See Plates 7, 8, and 9. of the 2nd series of the Monuments of Nineveh for the entire series. jcnn jiiTirrayjUBeinarie street, ioo;' j4?v/ua/€' N.CKevaiier.lith r I The Kang m hia Chariot passing through a Stream in a Valley Kouvyun^ik). 342 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [CuAP. XVI. cesses employed by the Assyrians in moving their colossal figures.* From this chamber branched to the south a narrow passage fj whose sculptured panels had been purposely destroyed. It led into a great hall, which the workmen did not then explore. | They continued for a few feet along its western side, and then turning through a doorway, discovered a chamber, from which again, always following the line of wall, they entered a spacious apart- ment §, completely surrounded with bas-reliefs, representing one continuous subject. The Assyrian army was seen foi’ding a broad river amidst wooded mountains. The scidptor had endeavored to convey the idea of a valley by reversing the trees and mountains on one side of the stream. Rivulets flowed from the hills to the river, irrigating in their course vineyards and orchards. The king in his chariot was followed by a long retinue of warriors on foot and on horses richly caparisoned, by led horses with even gayer trap- pings, and by men bearing on their shoulders his second chariot, which had a yoke ornamented with bosses and carvings. He was preceded by his army, the variously accoutred spearmen and the bowmen forming separate regiments or divisions. After crossing the river they attacked the enemy’s strongholds, which they captured one by one, putting to death or carrying into captivity their in- habitants. Unfortunately, the bas-reliefs describing the general result of the campaign, and probably the taking of the principal city, had been destroyed. Over one of the castles could be traced a few letters, giving no clue, however, to its name or site. The captives wore a kind of turban wrapped in several folds round the head, and a short tunic confined at the waist by a broad belt. From the nature of the country it may be conjectured that the sculp- tures represented a campaign in some part of Armenia, and I am inclined to identify the river with the Euphrates, near whose head- waters, as we learn from the bull inscriptions, Sennacherib waged one of his most important wars. The slabs at the western end of this chamber were actually curved backioards, showing the enormous pressure that must have taken place from the falling in of the upper part of the building, - * No. XLVIII. Plan I. ■)■ No. XLII. same Plan; 72 feet long, and 11 broad. J No. XIX. same Plan. § Nos. XXIX. and XXXVIII. same Plan. The reader will understand tlie way in which the excavations were here carried on by referring to the Plan. It will he perceived that there is an uninterrupted line of wall, along which the tunnel was carried, from No XLII. to No. XXXVIII., through entrances b, g, and on th« spot by S.C.Malan John Morray, Albemarle Street, 1862 N Chevalier bth Chap. XVI ] THE EISn-GOD. 343 by which not only the alabaster w.ns bent, but driven into the wall of sundried bricks. On the north side of the chamber were two doorways leading Into separate apartments. Each entrance was formed by two colossal bas-reliefs of Dajron. or the fish-god. Unfortunately the upper part of all these figures had been destroyed, but as the lower remained from above the waist we can have no diffi- culty in restoring the whole, especially as the same image is seen entire on a fine Assyrian cylinder of agate in my posses- sion. It combined the human shape with that of the fish. The head of the fish formed a mitre above that of the man, whilst its scaly back and fanlike tail fell as a cloak behind, leaving the human limbs and feet exposed. The figure wore a fringed tunic, and bore the two sacred emblems, the basket and the cone.* We can scarcely hesitate to identify this mythic form with the Cannes, or sacred man-fish, who, according to the traditions pre- served by Berossus, issued from the Erythrajan Sea, instructed the Chaldajans in all wisdom, in the sciences, and in the fine arts, and was afterwards worshipped as a god in the temples of Baby- lonia. Its body, says the historian, was that of a fish, hut under the head of a fish teas that of a man, and to its tail were joined women’s feet. Five such monsters rose from the Persian Gulf at fabulous intervals of time.f It has been conjectured that this myth denotes the conquest of Chaldea at some remote and prehistoric period, by a comparatively civilised na- tion coming in ships to the mouth of the Euphrates. I had already J Identified with the Babylonian idol a figure in a ba.s-relief at Khorsabad, having the human form to the waist, and the ex- Fish-god OD Gems in the Br.tisli Aluseum. . . p i o i i trennties ot a fish, buch figures are also frequently found on antique cylinders and gems, but those at Kou- yunjik agreed even more minutely with the description of Berossus, * It is remarkable that on this cylinder the all-seeing eye takes the place of the winged human figure and the globe in the emblem above the sacred tree. t Cory’s fragments, page 30. J See Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ik p. 466. AssyiiauCyhi der, with Dagon, or the Fish god. 344 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVI. for the human head was actually beneath that of the fish, whilst the human feet were added to the spreading tail. The Dagon of the Philistines and of the inhabitants of the Phmnician coast was worshipped, according to the united opinion of the Hebrew commentators on the Bible, under the same form.* * * § When the ark of the Lord was brought into the great temple of the idol at Ashdod, and the statue fell a second time, “ the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the fishy part of Dagon was left to him.” -f- His worship appears to have extended over Syria, as well as Mesopotamia and Chaldaea. He had many temples, as we learn from the Bible, in the country of the Philistines, and it was pro- bably under the ruins of one of them that Samson buried the people of Gaza who had “ gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice.” f We also find a Beth-Dagon, or the house of Dagon, amongst the uttermost cities of the children of Judah §, and another city of the same name in the inheritance of the children of Asher. |] Colonel Rawlinson states that he has read the name of Dagon amongst the gods of the Assyrians in the cuneiform inscriptions. The first doorway, guarded by the fish-gods, led into two small chambers opening into each other, and once panelled with bas- reliefs, the greater part of which had been destroyed.^ On a few fragments, still standing against the walls, could be traced a city on the shore of a sea whose waters were covered with galleys. I shall call these chambers “ the chambers of records,” for, like “ the house of the rolls,” or records, which Darius ordered to be searched for the decree of Cyrus, concerning the building of the temple of Jerusalem**, they appear to have contained the decrees of the Assyrian kings as well as the archives of the empire. I have mentioned elsewhere ft that the historical records and public documents of the Assyrians were kept on tablets and cylinders * The authorities respecting this god are collected in Selden, “ De Dis Syris,” and in Beyer’s commentary. Abarbanel, in his commentary on Samuel, says that Dagon had the form of a fish, from the middle downwards, with the feet and hands of a man. t 1 Sam. V. 4. | Judges, xvi. 23. § Joshua, XV. 41. From the connection of this verse with the 33rd, it would appear that the town was in a valley. II Joshua, xix. 27. 1 Mac. x. 83. f Nos. XL. and XLI. Plan I. ** Ezra, vi. 1. ff Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 185. hi' ' ^ «»< Chap. XVl-l THE CHAMBERS OF RECORDS. 345 of baked clay. Many specimens have been brought to this country. On a large hexagonal cylinder presented by me to the British IVIuseum are the chronicles of Essarhaddon : on a similar cylinder discovered in the mound of Nebbi Yunus, opposite Mosul, and for- merly in the possession of the late Colonel Taylor, are eight years of the annals of Sennaclierib ; and on a barrel-shaped cylinder long since placed in the British Museum, and known as Bellino’s, we have part of the records of the same king.* The importance of such relics will be readily understood. They present, in a small compass, an abridgment, or recapitulation, of the inscriptions on the great monuments and palace walls, giving in a chronological series the events of each monarch’s reign. The writing is so minute, and the letters are so close one to another, that it requires consi- derable experience to separate and transcribe them. Fragments of other cylinders have also been discovered, and many inscribed tablets, from three to six inches in length, have been long preserved in England and in various European collections. The chambers I am describing appear to have been a depository in the palace of Nineveh for such documents. To the height of a foot or more from the floor they were entirely filled with them ; some entire, but the greater part broken into many fragments, probably by the falling in of the upper part of the building. They were of different sizes ; the largest tablets were flat, and mea- sured about 9 inches by 6| inches ; the smaller were slightly convex, and some were not more than an inch long, with but one or two lines of writing. The cuneiform characters on most of them were singularly sharp and well defined, but so minute in some instances as to be almost illegible without a magnifying glass. These documents appear to be of various kinds. Many are his- torical records of wars, and distant expeditions undertaken by the Assyrians ; some seem to be royal decrees, and are stamped with the name of a king, the son of Essarhaddon ; others again, divided into parallel columns by horizontal lines, contain lists of the gods, and probably a register of offerings made in their temples. On one Dr. Hincks has detected a table of the value of certain cunei- form letters, expressed by different alphabetical signs, according to various modes of using them ; a most important discovery : on another, apparently a list of the sacred days in each month ; and * In the collection of inscriptions published by the Trustees of the British hluseum will be found a transcript of my cylinder ; of part of a second, also brought by me to this country ; and of Bellino’s. 346 NINEVEH AND RABYLON. [CilAP. XVI. on a tliird, what seems to be a calendar. It is liighly probable that a record of astronomical observations may exist amongst them, for we know from ancient writers, that the Babylonians in- scribed such things upon burnt bricks. As avc find from the Inscribed Tablet impressed with Seals Inscribed Tablet, with Inscription at one End iu Cursive Characters. Bavlan inscriptions, that the Assyrians kept a very accurate com- putation of time, Ave may reasonably expect to obtain valuable chronological tables and some information as to their methods of dividing the year, and even the day. Many are sealed with seals, and may prove to be legal contracts or conveyances of land. Others bear rolled impressions of those engraved cylinders so frequently found in Babylonia and Assyria, by some believed to be amu- lets. The characters appear to have been formed by a very deli- cate Instrument before the clay was hardened by fire, and the process of accurately making letters so minute and complicated must have required considerable ingenuity and experience. On some tablets are found Phoenician, or cursive Assyrian characters and other signs. The adjoining chambers contained similar relics, but in far smaller numbers. Many cases were filled wltb these tablets before Chap. XYI.] FLOODS AT NIMKOUD. 347 I left Assyria, and a vast number of them have been found, I under- stand, since my departure. A large collection of them is already deposited in the British Museum. We cannot overrate their value. They furnish us with materials for the complete decipherment of the cuneiform character, for restoring the language and history of Assyria*, and for inquiring into the customs, sciences, and, we may perhaps even add, literature, of its people.f The documents that have thus been discovered at Nineveh probably exceed all that have yet been afforded by the monuments of Egypt. But years must elapse before the innumerable fragments can be put together, and the inscriptions transcribed for the use of those who in England and elsewhere may engage in the study of the cuneiform character. It is to be hoped that the Trustees of the British Museum will under- take the publication of documents of such importance to the history of the ancient world. The second entrance formed by the fish-gods opened into a small chamber, whose sides had been lined with bas-reliefs re- presenting the siege of a castle, in a country wooded with fir trees, amongst which were long lines of warriors on foot, on horse- back, and in chariots.^ But there were no remains of inscription, and no peculiarity of costume to identify the conquered people. A few days after our return to Mosul, I floated down the river on a raft to Nimroud. The flood, which had spread over the plain during my absence in the Desert, had destroyed a part of the vil- lage. The mud walls of my own house were falling in. The roof was supported by a few rude beams, and the rooms with their fur- niture were deep in mud and silt. The stables and outhouses had become a heap of ruins, and the enclosure wall with Ibrahim Agha’s loopholes had completely disappeared. The centre of the plain of Nimroud was now a lai’ge lake, and the cultivated fields were overspread with slime. The Shemutti gathered round me as I arrived, and told me of crops destroyed, and of houses swept away. * Col. Rawlinson states that he has found the name of Sargon’s father and grandfather on one of these clay tablets. (Outlines of Assyrian History, xxix.) t According to a tradition, Seth wrote the history and wisdom of the ages preceding the Deluge on burnt and unburnt bricks, or tablets, that they might never perish ; for if water destroyed the unburnt, the burnt would remain ; and if fire destroyed the baked tablets, those which had not been exposed to heat would only become hardened. + No. XXXIX. Plan I. 348 NINEVEH ANU BABYLON. [Chap. XVI. The workmen had not been idle during my absence and disco- veries of considerable interest and importance had been made in the high mound on the level of the artificial platform. The first trenches had been opened in the side of the ravine between the ruins of the tower and those of the north-west palace. A pavement of large square bricks, bearing the usual superscription of the early Nimroud king, was soon uncovered. It led to a wall of sundried bricks, coated with plaster, which proved to be part of a small temple. I have already mentioned * that a superstructure of bricks rested upon the stone basement-wall of the tower, at the north-west corner of the mound. It was against the eastern and southern faces of this upper building that the newly discovered temple abutted. Four of its chambers were explored, chiefly by means of tunnels carried tlu'ough the enormous mass of earth and rubbish in which the ruins were buried. The great entrances were to the east. The principal portal f was formed by two colossal human-headed lions, sixteen feet and a half high and fifteen feet long. They were flanked by tlu-ee small winged figures, one above the other, and divided by an ornamental cornice, and between them w'as an in- scribed pavement slab of alabaster. In front of each was a square stone, apparently the pedestal of an altar, and the walls on both sides were adorned with enamelled bricks. About thirty feet to the right, or north, of the lion gateway was a second entrance at each side of which were two singular figures. One was that of a monster, whose head, of fanciful and hideous form, had long pointed ears and extended jaws, armed with huge teeth. Its body was covered with feathers, its fore-feet were those of a lion, its hind legs ended in the talons of an eagle, and it had spreading wings and the tail of a bird. Behind this strange image was a winged man, whose dress consisted of an upper garment with a skirt of skin or fur, an under robe fringed with tassels, and the sacred horned hat. A long sword was suspended from his shoulders by an embossed belt ; sandals, armlets, and bracelets, completed his attire. § He grasped in each hand an object in the form of a double trident, resembling the thunderbolt of the Greek Jove, which he was in the attitude of hurling against the monster, who turned furiously towards him. This group appears to represent the bad spirit driven out by a * Page 125. t Ent. 1. B. Plan II. J Ent. 2. B. same Plan. § Plate 5. of 2nd series of the Monuments of Nineveh. Entrance to small Temple (Nimroud) 350 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [chap. XVI good deity ; a fit subject for the entrance to a temple, dedi- cated to the god of war. The singular combination of forms by which the Assyrian sculptor portrayed the evil principle, so prominent an element in the Chaldajan, and afterwards in the Magian, religious system, cannot fail to strike the reader. The co-existence of a principle of evil and darkness, with the prin- ciple of good and light, their contests for supremacy, the temporary suecess of the former, and its ultimate defeat, appear to have been from the earliest periods essential features in the religious tenets of a large portion of mankind. They thus sought to account for the antagonistic power of evil, exemplified in man by the bad passions, moral and physical infirmities, and death, and in nature by those awful phenomena which occasionally visit the face of the earth, or even by that periodical decay to which nature herself is sub- ject. The belief was not altogether confined to the countries watered by the Euphrates and Tigris, and to Persia. With certain modifications it extended westward, and in the common impersonification of the evil one, which has passed into Christen- dom, may perhaps be traced the mon- strous forms of the Assyrian demon. On the slabs at right angles to these sculptures, forming the outer part of the entrance, were two colossal human figures, without wings, wearing gar- lands on their heads, and bearing branches ending in three flowers. Within the temple, at right angles to the entrance, were sculptured fish- gods, somewhat different in form from those in the palace of Kouyunjik. The fish’s head formed part of the three-horned cap usually worn by the winged figures. The tail only reached to the waist of the man, who was dressed in the tunic and long furred robe, commonly seen in the bas- reliefs of Nimroud.* Fisb-God. at Entrance to small Temple (Nimroud). * Specimens of all these figures are now in the British Museum. % f , 1. a 1 - * ■**•?*■ V<>, F Cooper John Murray, Albemarle Street. 18S2 N Chevalier 'tth Chap. XVI ] ASSYRIAN DEITIES. 351 To the right of this entrance, and apparently outside the walla of the temple, was discovered one of the finest specimens of As- syrian sculpture brought to this country. It represents the early Niinroud king in high relief, carved on a solid block of limestone, cut into the shape of an arched frame, in the form of the rock tablets of Bavian and the Nahr-el-Kelb. The monarch wears his sacrificial robes, and carries the sacred mace in his left hand. Round his neck are hung the four sacred signs, the crescent, the star or sun, the trident, and the cross. His waist is encircled by the knotted cord, and in his girdle are three daggers. Above his head are the mythic symbols of Assyrian worship, the winged globe, the crescent, the star, the bident, and the horned cap. The entire slab, 8 ft. 8 in. high, by 4 ft. 6 in. broad, and 1 ft. 3 in. thick, is covered, behind and before, except where the sculpture intervenes, with an inscription, in small and admirably formed arrow-headed characters. It was fixed on a plain square pedestal and stood isolated from the building. In front of it was an altar of stone, supported on lions’ feet, very much resembling in shape the tripod of the Greeks. It would seem from the altar before this figure, that the Assy- rians, like other nations of old, were in the habit of deifying the heroes of their race, and that the king who extended the bounds of the empire to distant lands, and raised temples to the gods, received after his death divine honors. Unfortunately, the heat of the fire which had consumed the build- ing, had also broken this monument into two pieces. From the carelessness shown in its transport to England, this fine specimen of Assyrian sculpture sustained still further injury, and the lower part is now almost destroyed. The inscription must have contained when entire several hundred lines, and is divided on the back of the slabs into two columns. It commences with an invocation to the god Ashur, the supreme lord, the king of the circle of the twelve great gods. Then follow the names of these deities. They are the same as those on the black obelisk belonging to the son of the king represented on this slab, although they are not placed in the same order, which is so far important as it enables us to determine the exact name and title of each. These divinities may preside over the twelve months, corresponding with the same circle in the Egyptian mythology, with which it is possible they may hereafter, to a cer- tain extent, be identified. The first-named is Arm (?), the last 352 NINEVEH AND BAliYLON. [Chap. XVI. Ishtar, probably Astarte, or the moon, and not Venus, as some have believed.* After this invocation occurs the name of the founder of the north-west palace, read by Dr. Hincks, Assaracbal, and by Colonel Rawlinson, Sardanapalus, with a long exordium, apparently of a religious nature, which has not yet been satisfactorily deciphered. Then follows a full account of his various campaigns and Avars, of Avhlch I will give extracts, Avhen I describe similar inscriptions on other monuments discovered in the same building. The lion entrance led into a chamber 46 ft. by 19 ft. Its Avails of sundried brick Avere coated Avith plaster, on Avhich the remains of figures and ornaments in color could still be faintly traced. f Nearly opposite to the entrance Avas a doorway f panelled Avith slabs sculj)tured Avlth Avinged figures carrying maces. Flanking it on the four sides were priests Avearing garlands. The inner door led into a chamber 47 ft. by 31ft.§, ending in a recess paved Avith one enormous alabaster slab, no less than 21 ft. by 16 ft. 7 In., and 1 ft. 1 in. thick. Tills monolith had been broken into several pieces probably by the falling in of the roof of the building, and had in seA'eral 2)hices been reduced to lime by the burning beams of the ceiling. The Avhole of its surface, as Avell as the side facing the chamber, was occujiied by one inscrip- tion, 325 lines In length, divided into tAvo parallel horizontal columns, and carved Avith the greatest sharpness and care. On subsequently raising the detached pieces, I found that the back of the slab, resting on a solid mass of sundried bricks, Avas also covered Avith cuneiform Avriting, occujiying three columns. It is difficult to understand Avhy so much labor should have been apparently throAvn away upon an inscrijition Avhich Avould re- main unseen until the edifice Itself Avas utterly destroyed. Still more curious is the fact, that Avhllst this inscription contains all the historical details of that on the opposite side, the records of two or three more years are added, and that the upper inscrijitlon stops abrujitly in the middle of a sentence. It is possible that the builders of the tenqile, foreseeing its ruin, had determined that if their enemies should through malice deface their annals, there should still remain another record, inaccessible and unknown, Avhich * This is evident from Lucian’s “ De Dea Syra," c. 4. ; and see Gesenius’s “ Tbesaurus” in voce “ Asbtoreth.” (1 Kings, xi. 5. 33. 2 Kings, xxiii. 13.) Qiiaire, wlietber tbe bull's borns placed on tbe bead of this divinity were not origintilly tbe borns of tbe moon’s crescent ? t B. cb. a. Plan 2. J Ent. 3. B. same Plan. § B. cb. b. same Plan. Chap. XVI.J INSCRIBED MONOLITH. 353 would preserve the histoi^ of their greatness and glory unto all time. The inscription on this great monolith appears to have been similar in its historical details to that on the king in the frame. I shall quote some specimens, translated by Dr. Ilincks, to show the minuteness with which the Assyrian kings chronicled every event of their reign, and the consequent value of their historical records. It is to be remarked that, although these inscriptions are in the form of annals, the years are not mentioned. The king generally sets out on his campaigns in one particular month, the name of which is given; probably in the autumn, when the heats of summer were over. In the beginning of his reign he collected his army, and made his first expedition into the country of Nummi, or Numi, probably Elam or Susiana, subsequently, as we shall find, called Numaki or Xuvaki. He took many cities, towns, and dis- tricts whose names have not been identified. He slew their women, their slaves, and their children, and carried away their cattle and flocks. Their fighting men escaped to a hill Jo/'t i?'). “ Their houses he burned like stiibhle’’^ (?). Many other countries to the south and south-east of Assyria, some of which are men- tioned on the obelisk, were conquered during this campaign. The city of Nishtun (?) is particularly described as one of considerable importance. He seized its king or governor, whose name reads Babou, the son of Baboua, and imprisoned him in Babylon. “ At that time the cities of Nerib (their position is doubtful), their jirin- cipal cities, he destroyed. From Xerib he departed to the city of Tushka .... A palace for his dwelling he made there, and placed pillars (?)* at the gates, and put a statue of ... . (probably some kind of stone) .... and set up tablets, and made a place for them in the citadel.”! He appears subsequently to have turned his arms to the north, and to have received tribute from the kings of Xahiri (the country between the head waters of the Euphrates and Tigris) consisting of chariots {?), horses . . . . (probably some other animal), silver, gold, various objects of copper, oxen, sheep, and asses (?) ; he then placed an officer of his own over the conquered people. * Perhaps inscribed pillars, sucb as Darius set up when he crossed the Bos- phorus. (Herod, iv. 87.) f Similar tablets appear to have been frequently put up by the Assyrian kings, as we see from a bas-relief at Khorsabad, representing Sargon be- sieging a castle, on the walls of which there is a tablet of himself, or one of his predecessors. A A 354 NIXEVETI AND BABYLON. [Chap. X\I, An account follows of the building of the north-west palace of Kiinroud, which, when deciphered, will be of considerable interest, and may enable us to restore that edifice. It had been founded by one of his forefatliers, but had been deserted and allowed to fall into ruins. He now rebuilt it, raising jnllars of zcood(?) and of some other material, and setting up thrones, and three other objects always mentioned in connection with the thrones, but the precise nature of which has not as yet been determined. The inhabitants of the countries over whom he ruled sent things of gold, silver, copper, andAo7«(?), for the new palace. He also built two cities on the Euphrates, o?ie on each banh(f), calling one after his own name, and the other after the name of the great god Ashnr. Numerous expeditions to countries to the north, west, and south of Assyria are then related In detail. Amongst them one to Carchemish, where he received the tribute of Sangara, king of the Khatti (tlie Hittites or people of Syria), including a great variety of gold and silver ornaments, some apparently to be recognised by their pure Elebrew names. As few of the cities and countries conquered and visited by this king have. yet been identified, and a mere repetition of the same dry details would scarcely interest the reader, I will merely give literal versions, as far as they can be given, of the history of two of the most important campaigns. They will show the style of these remarkable chronicles, and the minuteness with whicli events were recorded. The first paragraph relates to the campaign of the king on the borders of the Euphrates. “ On the 22nd day of the month .... I departed from Calah (the quarter of Nineveh now called Nimroud). I crossed the Tigris. On the banks of the Tigris I received mucli tribute. In the city of Tabit I halted. I occiqned the banks of the river Karma (? the Hermus, or eastern confluent of the Kliabour). In the city of IMegarice I halted. From the city of Megarice I departed. I occupied the banks of the Khabour (Chaboras). I halted at the city of Sadikanni (? or Kar-dikannI). I received the tribute of Sadikanni. From Sadikanni I departed. In Kednl I halted. I received the tribute of the city of Kedni. From Kedni I departed to the city of . . . lemml. In the city of . . . lemmi I halted. From the city of . . . leininl I departed. In the city of Beth- Khilapi I halted. The tribute of Beth-Khilapi I received, gold, silver,” and many other articles, amongst which are apparently objects of clothing, or embroidered stuffs. Then follow his marches day by Chap. XVI.] KECORDS OF THE KING. 355 day to the cities of Sirki, Tzufrl, Naqua-rabani, and Klndani, from each of which he received tribute in gold, silvei’, several objects not identified, cattle, and sheep. The inscription goes on — “ The city of Kindani stands on the right bank of the river Euphrates. From Kindani I departed: on a mountain, by the side of the Eu- phrates, I halted. From the mountain I departed. In Beth-She- baiya, over against Karid, I halted. The city of Karid stands on the right bank of the river Euphrates. From Bath-Shebaiya I departed : on the top of (or above) Anat I halted. Anat stands in the middle of the Euphrates” (agreeing with the position of the modern town of Ana). He then attacked and took the ])rincipal city of Shada (?), of the country of Suka, and the city of Tzuri^.'), the capital of Shadu (?), whose inhabitants were assisted by the soldiers of Bishi (a nation also alluded to in the second year of the annals of Sennacherib). Nebo-Baladan, king of Kar-Duniyas, is then mentioned, showing that the campaign was carried dowti the banks of the Eiq)hrates fiir to the south of Babylon. Tlie second extract is from the records of a campaign in northern Syria. Having first crossed the Euphrates : “ From Kunulua, the capital of Lubarna, the Sharutinian *, I departed. The Arantu (Orontes) I crossed. On the banks of the Arantu I encamped. From the banks of the Arantu I departed. Between the countries of Sarahan and Tapan (?) I occu]fied the country. By the seashore I encamped. To the city of Ariboua (?), a principal city of Lubarna, the Sharutinian, I returned. (undeciphered passage). I caused some men oj Assyria to dwell in his palace (?). Whilst I was in Ariboua the cities of Lukuta I took. I slew many of their men. I overthrew and burned their cities. Their Jiyhting men (or ? the deserters from my army) 1 laid hold of. On stakes over against their city I impaled them.f At that time the countries that are upon * This city, one apparently of considerable size and importance, must have stood somewhere near Antioch, or between Antioch and Aleppo. The Sharu- tinians may probably be identified with the Shairetana of the Egyptian monu- ments, at one time the allies, and at another the enemies, of Egypt. Few tra- vellers are aware that, above the city of Antioch, carved in the rock, are colossal figures of an Egyptian sphinx and two priests. I have been informed that there are other similar monuments in the neighbouring mountains. f This barbarous practice, frequently represented in the bas-reliefs, seems, therefore, to have prevailed from the earliest times in the East. Darius impaled 3000 Babylonians when he took their city. (Herod, iii. 159.) The last in- stance with which I am acquainted of this punishment having been inflicted in A A 2 356 KINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chaf. XVI. Lebanon I took possession of, to tlie great sea of the country of Akkari (the Mediterranean). On the great sea I put my ser- vants (?). Sacrifices to the gods I offered. The tribute of the kings of the people who dwelt near the sea, of the Tyrians, the Sidouians, the Kubalians, the Mahalatai (?), the Ma . . . . ai, the Kha . . . ., and the Akkarians (all nations to the north of Tyre), and of the city of Arvad, which is in the middle of the sea — silver and gold pieces, rings (?) of copper, inpots of copper, two kinds of clothiny (?) (perhaps the dyed cloth of T y ] c, or embroideries such as are frequently mentioned in the Bible), great ‘ pagouti' and small ‘ jmpouii' (meaning not determined), some wooden objects, apparently of cedar, and pearls (?), from the rivers at or between the sea.* I went to the mountain of Kamana (the Camanus, in the north of Syria). I sacrificed to the gods. I made bridges (or beams), and pillars (?). From Kamana I brought them to Bithkara, for my own house, for the temple of San, for the temple of the sun. I went to the forests and cut them down, and made bridges (?) (or roofs or beams) of the wood, for Ishtar, misti’ess of the city of Kineveh, my protectress.” j' The chief events of the reign of this king arc briefly alluded to in the standard and other inscriptions discovei’ed in the north- west palace at Nimroud ; but in the records just described we have a minuteness of geographical detail, which enables us to trace the course of his expeditions with great certainty. The forms of ex- pression in these chronicles differ from those on later monuments. There even appears to be an occasional attempt at poetical illus- tration : for instance, instead of giving the exact amount of spoil taken from a conquered country, the king declares that “ it ex- ceeded the stars of heaven ; ” and when speaking of the destruc- tion of enemy’s cities, he likens it to “ tlie burning of stubble" (?). His expeditions seem to have been attended l)y great cruelties and sacrifice of human life, and he celebrates the burning of in- numerable women and children. The evidence of the populous state of IMesopotamia at that period quite corresponds with the Turkey, was at Baghdad, where, about ten years ago, Nejib Pasha impaled four rebel Arab Sheikhs, one at each corner of the bridge. They survived for many hours. It is said that, unless they drink water, when they instantly die, per- sons so treated will live even for two or three days. * Might this word, translated conjecturally pearls, mean the shell fish from which the Tyrian dye was extracted ? J The whole of the last passage is very obscure ; the translation is partly con- jectural. Chap. XVI-1 SMALL OBJECTS. 357 vast number of artificial mounds, the ruins of ancient settle- ments, still existing in that country, and described in the foregoing pages. Oi)ening into the recess paved with this great monolith was a small room, or rather closet, 13 feet by 3, which may have been used to keep the sacrificial utensils and the garments of the priests. The entrance formed by the good spirit driving out the evil principle led into a chamber * connected by separate doorways with the two rooms last described. The walls were simply plastered, and there were no remains found in it but the fragments of an inscribed slab. Standing one day on a distant part of the mound, I smelt the sweet smell of burning cedar. The Arab workmen, excavating in the small temjile, had dug out a beam, and, the weather being cold, had at once made a fire to warm themselves. The wood was cedar ; probably one of the very beams mentioned in the inscrip- tion as brought from the forests of Lebanon by the king who built the edifice. After a lapse of nearly three thousand years, it had retained its original fragrance. Many other such beams were discovered*, and the greater part of the rubbish in which the ruin was buried, consisted of charcoal of the same wood. It is likely that the whole superstructure, as well as the roof and floor of the building, like those of the temple and palace of Solo- mon, were of this precious material. In these ruins was also found a mass of lead melted by the fire, for embedded in it was the iron head of a hatchet. Amongst the various small objects collected were. Figures of winged deities, &c., of clay, colored in the mass with a blue derived from copper ; eyes, beards, hair, and ornaments in * Several specimens are now in the British Museum. B. Chamber C., Plan II. A A 3 358 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVI. enamel, probably belonging to figures of wood, metal, or ivory, resembling the cryselapbantine statues of the Greeks ; eyes of black marble inlaid with ivory, with the eye-balls of a bright blue enamel, belonging to similar statues ; and arms, legs, and other parts of figures in charred wood. A box of chalcedony probably used for Box in Cbalcedony (Nimroud). Boxin Porcelain? (Nimroud). some precious ointment. Another box of the same shape in por- celain (?) has holes round the rim, and was originally inlaid with gold, traces of which still remain. Fragments of porcelain (?), parts of a cup or vase, with carvings in low relief, representing a castle with women on the walls, the hind legs of a camel, and a captive carrying a cauldron. An inscription appears to have described the event represented, and to have contained the name of a king. Only a few characters remain. Several inscribed fragments of agate, lapis-lazuli, cornelian, and other precious materials, beads, cy- linders, and one or two clay tablets Avith inscriptions and impressions of seals, complete the list of small ob- jects discovered in this temple. The inscriptions across the sculp- tured slabs are nearly the same as the standard inscription in the north- west palace; those at the back also contain the name of the founder of that edifice, who, it thus appears, was likewise the builder of the temple. About one hundred feet to the east of the building last described, and on the very edge of the artificial platform, I discovered a Chap. XVI. I ENTRANCE GUARDED BY LIONS. 359 second temple. Its principal entrance, faced the south, and was on the same level as the north-west palace. This gateway was formed by two colossal lions with extended jaws, gathered up lips and nostrils, flowing manes, and ruffs of bristly hair. The heads, though to a certain extent conventional in form, were designed with that vigor so remarkably displayed by the Assyrian sculptor in the delineation of animals. The limbs conveyed the idea of strength and power, the veins and muscles were accurately por- trayed, and the outline of the body was not deficient in grace and truth. But the front of the animal, which was in full, was narrow and cramped, and unequal in dignity to the side. In the general ti’eatment the whole sculpture had much of that peculiar feeling and character that mark the archaic monuments of Greece, and it w^as on this account peculiarly interesting. In it, indeed, we may perhaps trace those conventional forms fx’ora which the Greek artist first derived his ideal Lion.* The sculptor has given five less to the animal for the same reason that he gave them to the sphinxes, that they might offer a complete front and side view. This gateway, about eight feet wide, was paved with one in- scribed slab. The height of the lions was about eight feet, and their length thirteen. An inscription was carved across them. In front of them, in the corners formed by walls projecting at right angles with the entrance, w'ere two altars, hollow at the top, and ornamented with gradines resembling the battlements of a castle.f The exterior w'alls appeared to have been adorned with enamelled bricks, many of which still remained. Unfortunately, one of these lions had been too much injured by fire to bear removal. The other, although cracked in several places when discovered, and consequently moved in pieces, has been preserved, and is now in the British Museum. The Lion portal led into a chamber 57 feet by 25.| At one end was a recess similar to that in the opposite temple, and also paved with one great alabaster slab, inscribed on both sides. This monolith, 19^ ft. by 12 ft., was likewise broken into several pieces, and had been injured in parts by fire. The inscription on the upper side, divided into two columns, and containing 230 lines, was nearly the same as that on the king in the frame and on the monolith in the other temple. It * Plate 2., 2nd series of Monuments of Nineveh. f An altar nearly similar in shape is seen on the top of a hill, in a bas-relief at Khorsabad, Botta, plate 16. + C. Plan II. A A 4 Chap. XVI.] STATUE OF THE KING. 361 Avas also a record of the wars and campaigns of the early Nimroud king, and was important as enabling us to restore such parts of the other inscriptions as are Avanting, and as furnishing various readings of the same text. The inscription on the under part Avas a mere abridgment of the other. Nearly in the centre of the principal cliamher Avere tAvo small slabs joined to- gether. On each Avas the same inscrip- tion, merely containing passages from the standard inscx'iption. The other rooms in the same build- ing contained no inscriptions, sculptures, or other objects of interest. The Avails had been plastered and painted. In the earth above the great in- scribed slab, Avas found an interesting figure, 3 feet 4 inches high, and cut in a hard, compact limestone. It appeared to represent the king himself attired as high priest in his sacrificial robes. In his right hand he held an instrument resembling a sickle, and in his left the sacred mace. Hound his Avaist was the knotted girdle; and his left arm, like that of the king in the opposite temple, Avas partly concealed by an outer robe. His garments descended to his feet, the toes alone projecting from them. The beard and hair Avere elaborately curled. The features Avere majestic, and the ge- neral proportions of the statue not alto- gether incorrect, Avith the exception of a Avant of breadth in the side view pecu- liar to Assyrian Avorks of art of this Statue of King, from Temple (Nimrouct). nature. It was, hoAvever, chiefly re- markable as being the only entire statue “ in the round ” of this period, hitherto discovered in the ruins of Nineveh. On the breast is an inscription nearly in these words : — After the name and titles of the king, “ The conqueror from the upper passage of the Tigris to Lebanon and the Great Sea, who all countries, from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof. 362 KINEVEII AND BABYLON. [CuAP. XVI, has reduced under his authority.” The statue was, therefore, pro- bably raised after his return from the campaign in Syria described, as we have seen, on the monoliths, and alluded to in the standard inscription. This statue originally stood on a pedestal of reddish lime- stone, which, with the figure itself, was found broken into several pieces. They have been restored, and are now in the British Museum.* Amongst the smaller objects discovered whilst removing the earth from the chambers in this edifice were several rudely carved heads in alabaster, which may have been parts of a throne or altar, or of some architectural or- nament ; fragments of enamel belonging to wooden or ivory figures ; and the head of a griffin or mythic animal in ivory, most pro- bably belonging to a wooden figure, or to the top of a staff, as there are holes for the nails 'Tem5"e(NimJou’d).®™^ by wlilch it was fastcncd. The two interesting buildings just described, the only undoubted remains of temples hitherto found at Nim- roud, complete the discoveries at the northern extremity of the mound. They enable us, as will hereafter be seen, to restore part of the group of edifices raised on the grand platform in this quarter of Nineveh. Ivory Head from small Temple (Nimroud) Plate 52, of 2nd series of the Monuments of Nineveh. Landing Place with Ferryboats on ttie Tigris at Mosul. CHAP. XVII. THE SUMMER. ENCAMPMENT AT KOUYUNJIK. VISITORS. MODE OF LIFE. DEPARTURE FOR THE MOUNTAINS. AKRA. ROCK-TABLETS AT GUNDUK. DISTRICT OF ZIBARI. NAMET AGHA. DISTRICT OF SHIRWAN — OF BARA- DOST OF GHERDI OF SHEMDINA. MOUSA BEY. NESTORIAN BISHOP. CONVENT OF MAR HANANISHO. DISTRICT AND PLAIN OF GHAOUR. DIZZA. AN ALBANIAN FRIEND. BASU-KALAH. IZZET PASHA. A JEWISH ENCAMP- MENT. HIGH MOUNTAIN PASS. MAHMOUDIYAH. FIRST VIEW OF WAN. The difficulties and delay in crossing the Tigris, now swollen by the melting of the mountain snows, induced me to pitch my tents on the mound of Kouyunjik, and to reside there with all my party, instead of daily passing to and fro in the rude ferry-boats to the ruins. The small European community at Mosul was increased in June by the arrival of a large party of travellers. Two English gentlemen and their wives who passed through on their way to Baghdad: the Hon. Mr. Walpole, who has since published an ac- count of his adventures in the East; the Rev. Mr. Malan, to whom I am indebted for many beautiful sketches, and of whose kindness in affording me these valuable illustrations I again seize the 364 NIXEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVII. opportunity of making a grateful acknowledgment ; the E-ev. J\lr. Bowen, an English clergyman, on a tour of Inspection to the Eastern churches, with whom I spent many agreeable and profitable hours amongst the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, and his companion, INIr. Sandresky, Avere our visitors, and were most of them my guests. Our tents Avere pitched at the northern corner of Kouyunjik, near some earthen banks and embrasures, Avhich tradition points out as the batteries of Nadir Shah, Avhen he directed his guns against the toAvn of hlosul. The spring Avas noAV fast passing aAvay ; the heat became daily greater; the corn Avas cut, and the plains and hills put on their summer clothing of dull parched yelloAV. “ The pasture is withered, the tender herb faileth, tlie green hei’b is no more.” * It Avas the season, too, of the sherghis, or burning Avinds fi’om the south, Avhich occasionally swept over the face of the country, driving, in their short-lived fiuy, everything before them. Their coming Avas foretold by a sudden fall in the baro- meter, Avhich rose again as soon as they had passed. It required the united exertions of my Avorkmen to hold the flapping canvas of the large tent, Avhilst the smaller Avere generally carried far aAvay, and their contents hurled in every direction over the mound or the pi aim I At Nimroud the excavations had been almost stopped : at Kouyunjik they Avere still carried on as actively as my means Avould permit. I Avas noAV occupied in moving and packing sculptures from both ruins. From Nimroud the beautiful bas- relief of the king in the arched frame, described in the pre- vious chapter, tlie good spirit driving out the evil principle, the fish-god, the colossal lion from the small temple, and several other interesting sculptures, were taken to the river-bank, and sent on rafts to Busrah. At Kouyunjik none of the slabs could be removed entire. I could only pack in fragments several of the bas-reliefs representing the moving of the great bulls, six of the led horses, the figures bearing locusts and game for the banquet, from the descending passage, and one or two battle-scenes de- scribed in the previous pages. The cases Avere dragged in carts to the Tigris, unloaded below the piers of the ancient bridge, and there placed on rafts prepared to receive them. During the day, when not otherwise occupied, I made draAvlngs * Isaiah, xv. 6. Translation by the Rev. John Jones. t Isaiah describes these whirlwinds, xxi. 1. (same version), “ Like the southern tempests violently rushing alon" from the Desert, he cometh from a terrible land.” Chap. XVII.] JOURNEY TO THE MOUNTAINS. 365 of the bas-reliefs discovered in the subterranean passages. My guests, choosing some convenient place underground near the par- ties who were at work, spread their carpets beneath the crumbling sculptures. We all went below soon after the sun had risen, and remained there, without again seeking the open air, until it was far down in the western horizon. The temjierature in the dark tunnels was cool and agreeable, nearly twenty degrees of Fahrenheit lower than that in the shade above; but I found it unwholesome, the sudden change in going in and out causing intermittent fever. After the sun had set we dined outside the tents, and afterwards reclined on our carpets to enjoy tlie cool balmy air of an Eastern night. The broad silver river wound through the plain, the great ruin cast its dark shadows in the moonlight, the lights of “ the lodges in the gardens of cucumbers”* flickered at our feet, and the deep silence was only broken by the sharp report of a rifle fired by the watchful guards to frighten away the wild boars that lurked in the melon beds. We slept under the open sky, making our beds in tlie field. Around us were the tents of tlie Jebour workmen ; their chiefs and the overseers generally ga- thered round us to talk over the topics of the day until the night was far spent. July had set in, and we were now in “ the eye of the summer.” ]\Iy companions had been unable to resist its heat. One by one we dropped off with fever. The Doctor, after long suffering, had gone with Mr. Walpole to the cooler regions of the Kurdish hills, there to wait until the state of the excavations might enable me to join them. Mr. Cooper, too, had so much declined in health that I sent him to the convent of Mar INIetti, on the summit of the Gebel Makloub. Mr. Horrnuzd Rassain and myself struggled on the longest, but at length we also gave way. Fortunately our ague attacks did not coincide. We were prostrate alternate days, and were, therefore, able to take charge alternately of the works. By the 11th of July I had sent to Busrah the first collection of sculp- tures from Kouyunjik, and on that day, in the middle of the hot stage of fever, and half delirious, I left Mosul for the mountains. There were still parts of central Kurdistan unvisited by the European traveller. The districts belonging to the Zibari Kurds, between Rahwanduz and the Nestorian valleys, had but recently made a * Isaiali, i. 8. These temporary huts are raised in the gardens and plantations of melons, cucumbers, and other fruit, by the men who watch day and night to protect them against thieves and wild animals. 366 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVII. tartly and partial submission to the Porte, and, still unoecupied by Turkish garrisons or troops, aeknowledged only their own hereditary clilefs. The tribes inhabiting them are renowned for their lawless- ness, and commeree had not yet penetrated into their strongholds. I determined, therefore, first to visit these distriets on my way to Wan, to devote some days to the examination of the ruins and cuneiform inscriptions in and near that city, and then to return to ISIosul through the unexploi'ed uplands to the south of the lake of Wan, and by such of the Nestorian valleys as I had not seen during my former journey in the mountains. I should then spend the hottest part of the summer in the cool regions of Kurdistan, and be again at Nineveh by September, when the heats begin to decline. Few European travellers can brave the perpendicular rays of an Assy rian sun. Even the well-seasoned Arab seeks the shade during the day, and journeys by night, unless driven forth at noontide into the plain by necessity, or the love of war. As we had no motive for neglecting the usual precautions, we struck our tents late in the afternoon, and got upon our horses at the foot of tlie mound of Kouyunjik as the sun went down. With me were Ilormuzd, my old servants, and the faithful Bairakdar. Mr. Cooper was to join us on the following day, and we were to seek the Doctor and Mr. Walpole at Aki'a. Five hours’ ride over the plain brought us to the small Turcoman village of Bir Hillan (the well of stone), which stands on the south-eastern spur of the ISIakloub hills. After two hours’ rest we continued our journey, and crossed this spur before morning dawned. The Gebel INIakloub is here divided into two distinct ranges by a deep valley. The southern ridge, rocky and furrowed like the northern, is called the Gebel Ain-es-sufra (the hill of the yellow spring), from a discolored fountain in one of its ravines, a place of })ilgrimage of the Yezidls. One of the annual festivals of this sect falling on the day of our journey, we saw many families wending their way to the holy place. The villages, which formerly stood on the hill side, have been long since deserted. Leaving the Gebel Makloub, we descended into a broad plain, stretching from It to the first Kurdish range, and soon found ourselves on the banks of the Ghazir, here a clear sparkling stream clothed with tall oleanders, now bending under their rosy blossoms. We sought the shade of some spreading walnut-trees, during the heat of the day, near the small Kurdish village of Kalmawa. Here jNIr. Cooj)er joined us, and we were again on our way In Chap. XTII.] REACH AKRA, 367 the afternoon. Instead of striking for the mountains by the direct path across the plain of Navkur, we rode along the foot of a range of low hills, forming its western boundary, to the large Kurdish village of Bardaresh. Having rested for a few hours, we descended in the middle of the night into a plain receiving the drainage of the surrounding highlands, and during the rainy season almost im- passable from mud. In the summer the broad fissures and deep crevices, formed by the heat of the sun, render it scarcely less difficult to beasts of burden. Scattered over it are many flourishing villages, inhabited almost entirely by Kurds, who cultivate the rich and fruitful soil. Winding streams irrigate fields of cotton, tobacco, and rice, and turn numerous corn-mills. Artificial mounds, the remains of ancient civilisation, but of small size when com- pared with the great ruins of Assyria, rise amongst the hovels of the Kurdish peasants. I passed several that bore marks of having been tapped by my industrious agents, but none appeared to contain ruins. They had not been sufficiently examined to show for what purpose they had been raised. After we had crossed the parched and burning plain we entered a valley in the Kurdish hills, watered by a stream called Melik or Gherasin. We had to climb over much broken ground — rocky ridge and ravine — before reaching the slope of the moun- tain covered with the gardens and orchards of Akra. IVe tar- ried for a moment at a cool spring rising in a natural grotto, and collected into two large basins. As such places usually are, it Avas, if not a sacred, a genial spot to the Mussulmans, and they had chosen a small open terrace near for a burial ground. Saints abound amongst the Kurds, as amongst all ignorant people, and there are few grave-yards without a large supply of their tombs: that near the fountain of Akra appeared to be particularly favored, and the place of mourning was made gay by the many- colored shreds and remnants of old garments, which fluttered like streamers from the tall head-stones.* We had no difficulty in finding our European fellow-travellers. The first Kurd we met pointed towards a well-wooded garden ; above its trees peered their white tents. As we rode into it, hoAvever, no one came out to welcome us. I entered the first tent, and there, stretched on their carpets, in a state of half-conscious- * The custom of placing ex-voto offerings on or near the tomb of a holy per- son — generally pieces torn from the garments — prevails throughout the East. Frequently the branches of a neighbouring tree, and the iron gi’ating of the windows of the resting-place of a saint, are completely covered with such relics. 3G8 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVII. ness, the prey to countless flies, lay the Doctor and Mr. Walpole. It was with difficulty I could rouse them to learn the histoiy of their fever. The whole party were in the same state ; the servants prostrate like their masters. I lost no time in enforcing a system of diet, and placing my patients under a course of treat- ment for ague, with which long experience had given me some acquaintance. In the same garden was encamped the IMutesellim, or Turkish governor, of Akra. As it was the month of Ramazan, when good Mussulmans eschew all food .from dawn to sunset, he passed the day in sleep, to awake as the sun went down and the hour of feasting drew neai\ It was evening, consequently, before I visited him. He sat under a large open shed built with green boughs. It was well furnished with soft divans, and stood on the very brink of a large hash, or reservoir, of clear water, which reflected the flickering light of numerous colored lamps hung from the branches of the surrounding trees. Although Akra stands on the mountain-side, it is still within the region of the great heats, and the inhabitants pass the summer-nights beneath the sky. During this season they leave their dwellings, and encamp in the gardens. The town contains nearly six hun- dred families, and the whole district about three hundred villages and hamlets, furnishing a considerable part of the revenues of the pashalic of Mosul. Some days elapsed before my companions were able to journey. I took advantage of the delay to visit some bas-reliefs near the neighbouring village of Gunduk. M^e passed on the road several liamlets, inhabited partly by Kurds and partly by Catholic Chal- daians, recently converted from the Nestorian Church.* In Gun- duk there are still about twenty families who have remained in the Nestorian faith, and a few Jews. The village is pleasantly built on the slope of a hill, overhanging a deep valley filled with shady gardens. There ai’e two sculptured tablets in the rocks above Gunduk. They have been carved at the mouth of a spacious natural cavern, whose roof is fretted with stalactites, and down whose sides trickles cool clear water, and hang dank ferns and creeping plants. It is called Guppa d’Mar Yohanna, or the cure of St. John, and near it is an ancient Nestorian church dedicated to Saint Audishlo. The bas-i’eliefs are Assyrian. The upper re2)resents a man slaying a * These villages were Khurfa, Ras-al-ain, Khardiz, and Sbiekhi, or Sheikh hlohammed. Chap. XVII.] BAS-IIELIEFS AT GUXDUK. 3G9 wiki goat with a spear. In the lower, as far as I could distinguish the sculpture, which is high on the rock and much injured, are two women facino- each other, and seated on stools. Hach holds a child above a kind of basin or circular vessel, as if in the act of baptizing it. Behind the seated female to the left, a figure bears a third child, and is followed by a woman. On the opposite side is a group of three persons, apparently sacrificing an animal. There are no traces of inscriptions on or near the tablets. . Rock-Sculptures near tLe Village of Guaduk. Whilst I was examining these sculptures, the Xestorian Kiayah came to me. He was a shamasha or deacon, a venerable old man with a white beard falling on his breast. The upper sculpture, he said, represented Saint John with his horse ; hence the name of the cavern ; the lower was some church ceremony which he could not exactly explain, lleturning with him to his dwelling, where he had pi’epared a plentiful breakfast, we passed the heat of the day under a shady porch overlooking the plain. 15 15 370 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVII. There are several Nestorlan Chaldaeaii villages at the foot of these hills. Three miles to the north of Gunduk is Shoush, and beyond it Shermen, frequently the residence of INIar Shamoun, the Nestorian patriarch. At a short distance from Shermen farther northwards, is the gorge of Bavlan, with its remarkable rock-sculptures. On the 17th July my companions were able to move to the higher mountains. We all longed for a cooler climate, and we rejoiced as at sunrise we left our garden. The town, through which we passed, contains a few well built stone houses, rising one above the other, a mosque, a bath, and a ruined castle ; and was formerly the stronghold of an Independent chief, who enjoyed the title of pasha, and boasted, like his relation of Amadiyah, a descent from the Abasside caliphs. The last, JMohammed Seyyid, has long been a kind of prisoner at INIosul. A precipitous and difficult path leads up the mountain. From the summit of the pass, the eye wanders over the plains of Navkur and Sheikhan, the broken hill country around Arbil, and the wind- ings of the Zab and the Ghazlr. On the opposite side is a deep valley dividing the Akra hills from a second and loftier range. We now entered the region of dwarf oaks, and stopped, after a short day’s journey, at the Kurdish hamlet of Hashtgah, sur- rounded by gigantic trees and watered by numerous streams. It is in the Kurdish district of Zibari, still governed by one of the few remaining hereditary chiefs. Through the valley ran a broad clear stream, one of the confluents of the Zab, called by the Kurds Durusho or Bairaisho.*' We rode along its banks for nearly an hour, and then struck into a narrow gorge thickly wooded with oak. Another stony and precipitous pass was between us and the principal district of Zibari. From its summit the main stream of the Zab is seen winding through a rich valley, beyond which rise the more central and loftier mountains of Kurdistan, with their snow-bearing peaks. Descending into the low country we rode by the village of Birikapra, the residence of Mustafii Agha, the former head of the Zibari tribes. The present chief, Namet Agha, dwells at Keren, * For this valley I received three different naineSfUassanawa, Ilassan-maima, and Nahala, the latter from the Zibari chief. Tlie difficulty of getting a correct name either of a place or a person from a Kurd is very great, and travellers in Kurdistan can scarcely avoid falling into frequent errors in this respect. The same name is pronounced in a variety of ways, and is subject to all manner of additions and contractions. If it have any meaning, the difficulty is, of course, less. Chap. XVII.] XAMET AGIIA. 371 about two miles beyond. He had lately been at Mosul to receive from the Pasha his cloak of investiture, and during his visit had been my guest. His abilities and acquirements were above the ordinary Kurdisli standard, which indeed is low enough ; for, as the Arab ju'overb declares, “ Be the Kurd a Kurd or a prophet, he will still be a bear.” He spoke Persian with fluency, and was not ignorant of Arabic. As he was well acquainted with the geography of Kurdistan, I learnt from him many interesting parti- culars relating to the less-known districts of the mountains. The Kurds belong to a sect of Mussulmans notoriously strict in the observance of their religious duties. The Agha had feasted all night, and was now sleeping through his daily fast. He was stretched on a rich carpet beneath a cluster of trees, and near a I'eservoir of water, outside the walls of his small mud castle. A thin white cloak, embroidered with silk and golden threads, was thrown over him, and whilst one attendant fanned his head, a second gently kneaded his naked feet. I begged that he should not be disturbed, and we proceeded to settle ourselves for the day under the trees. The unusual stir, however, soon awoke the chief. He welcomed me with friendly warmth : and, although forbidden to eat himself, he did not leave Ins guests uncared for. The breakfast brought to us from his harem comprised a variety of sweetmeats and savoury dishes, which did credit to the skill of the Kui’dish ladies. I was the bearer of a letter to him from the Pasha : no accept- able communication, however, as It treated of new taxes, a subject very generally disagreeable, upon tobacco, cotton, and fruit, which the Zibari Kurds were now for the first time called upon to pay. The salian, too, a kind of property tax, was raised from twenty-five to sixty thousand piastres (about 550/.). The late successful ex- peditions against the chiefs of Bohtan and Hakkiari had encouraged the Porte to ask money of the previously independent tribes under Namet Agha ; and although no Turkish troops had yet entered their mountains, the Kurds deemed it advisable to comply for the present with the demand rather than run the risk of an invasion, and a still more dreaded evil, the conscription. There are about fifty Catholic Chaldtean families, recent con- verts from Nestorianism, in Heren. They have a church, and had no cause to complain of their Kurdish masters, especially during the government of the present chief. Namet Agha’s authority extended over Zibari, Shirwan, GherdI, Baradost, and Shemdeena, from Akra to the Persian frontier. B B 2 372 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XN'H. These districts are occupied by ditFerent Kurdlsli tribes, each having its own chief; but they had then submitted to tlie Aglia of Zibari, and paid their tribute through him to the governor of Mosul. Namet placed me under the protection of his cousin, IMullah Agha, who was ordered to escort us to the borders of the pashalic of Ilakkiari, now occupied by the Turkish troops. Our guide was a tall sinewy mountaineer, dressed in the many- colored loose garments, and huge red and black turban folded round the high conical felt cap, which gives a {(eculiar and ungainly appearance to the inhabitants of central Kurdistan. lie was accompanied by three attendants, and all were on foot, the precipitous and rocky pathways of the mountains being scarcely practicable for horses, which are rarely kept but by the chiefs. They carried their long rifles across their shoulders, and enormous daggers in their girdles. We left Keren early on the morning of the 19th, and soon reaching the Zab rode for two hours along its banks, to a spot where a small raft had been made ready for us to cross the stream. Many villages were scattered through the valley on both sides of the river, and the soil is not ill cultivated. The Zab is not fordable in this part of its course. Numerous eddies and rapids, caused by sunken rock, render it unnavigable even by rafts, except during the floods of spring. We had some difficulty in crossing, and were compelled to pass the night in the small village of liizan, near the ferry, as one of the baggage- mules refused to swim the stream, and was not forced over until near dawn on the following morning. We now entered the tract which has probably been followed for ages by the mountain clans in their periodical migrations. Be- sides the sedentary population of these districts, there are certain no- made Kurdish tribes called Kochers, who subsist entirely by their flocks. As they do not engage in agriculture, but rely upon the rich pastures of Assyria, they change their encamping grounds according to the season of the year, gradually ascending from the plains watered by the Tigris and Zab towards the highest peaks in summer, and returning to the low country as the winter draws nigh. The principal Kocher tribes, found in this part of Kurdistan, are the Herki, whose encampments we had seen during our visit to the Tai in the early spring.* They are notorious petty thieves and robbers, and during their annual migrations * See chap. X. Chap. XVII.] MSTKICT OF BARADOST. 373 commit serious depredations upon the settled inhabitants of the district on their way, and more especially upon the Christians. As they possess vast flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, their track has in most places the appearance of a beaten road, and is, con- sequently, well-fitted for beasts of burden. The country beyond, or to the east of, the Zab is broken into a number of parallel ranges of wooded hills, divided by narrow ravines. Small villages are scattered here and there on the moun- tain sides, in the midst of terraces cultivated with wheat and planted with fruit trees. The scenery occasionally assumes a character of beauty and grandeur, as the deep green valleys open beneath the traveller’s feet, and the lofty snow-capped peaks of Rahwanduz rise majestically in the clear blue sky. The nights were still sufficiently warm for us to sleep in the open air. During the middle of the day the heat of the sun compelled us to seek for shade. Our first rest, after leaving the Zab, was in the gardens of Kouran, and our first night’s encampment near the small hamlet of Bani, on the declivity of a mountain. On the 21st July, crossing a high ridge, we left the district of Zibari, and entered that of Shirwan, whose chief, Miran Bey, came out to meet us at the head of his armed retainers. He led us to the large village of Bersiyah, situated beneath a bold and lofty peak called Piran. A feast had been prepared for us, and we rested under a walnut-tree. Through the valley beneath ran a considerable confluent of the Zab*, dividing the districts of Shirwan and Gherdi. During the afternoon, we rode for three hours along this stream, through open valleys and narrow gorges, until we reached HarounI, in the district of Baradost. Most of the villages in these mountains have small mud forts, with either four or six towers, — the places of refuge and de- fence of the numerous petty chiefs during their frequent broils and blood-feuds. We met a few Jewish families who wander from village to village. The men are pedlars and goldsmiths, and are not unwelcome guests, even in the intolerant families of the Kui'ds, as they make and refashion the ornaments of the ladles. On one of the many peaks towering above Harouni, is the large village of Khan-i-resh, with its orchards and gardens, the * Three names were given me for this stream : Av Sherah, Rudbar Keklik, and Berasghird. B B 3 374 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVI I. residence of the chief of the district of Baradost. We reached it by a very rapid ascent in an hour and a lialf.* We were received by the Mir, Fezullah Bey, in a spacious cliam- ber, supported by wooden pillars, and completely open on the side facing the valley, over which it commanded an extensive and beautiful prospect. The turban of the chief, a Cashmere shawl strijied red and white, vied in size with the largest headgear we had seen in Kiu’distan. Ills robes were of silk richly embroidered, and his dark eyes were rendered more lustrous by a profuse be- smearing of hold over the eyelids. lie was surrounded by a crowd of well-armed and well-dressed attendants, and received us as if he had been the petty sovereign of the hills. Although he had condescended for the last two years to contribute some eight purses (35/.) towards the Turkish revenues, he still boasted an entire independence, and submitted with evident ill-will to the control of the Agha of Zibari, under whom his tribes had been placed by the Pasha of Mosul.f He received IMullah Agha, however, with civility, and read the letters of introduction fx’om Namet Agha, of which I was the bearer. Like most of the mountain chiefs, he spoke Persian, the language used in Kurdistan for all wi’itten communications, and in books, except the Koran and a few pious works, which are in Arabic. The Kurdish dialects ai’e mere corruptions of the Persian, and are not, with rare exceptions, employed in writing. The Mir pressed me to pass the night with him as his guest ; but after partaking of his breakfast, I continued my journey, and reached, by sunset, the small turreted stronghold of Beygishni. The next morning we crossed one of the shoulders of the lofty peak of Ser-i-Resh, into the valley of Chappata.| We were met on the way by a party of Nestorians, who had come out to see me, headed by the brother of the Bishop of Gherdi. He urged me to turn aside to the Christian villages, of which there are several in the valley ; but as it was necessary to visit the Mir of Gherdi, through whose territories we were now travelling, and whose jxro- tection we consequently required, I declined his invitation. He Avalked by me as far as Zernln, the castle of the Kurdish chief, and then left a relation to guide us to the dwelling of the Bishop of Shemesdin or Shemdeena. As usual, he complained of bitter * Khan-i-resh is, by observation, 4372 feet above the level of the sea. t It vras this chief, or one of his dependants, I believe, who plundered and was about to murder two American missionaries, who attempted to cross the mountains the year after my visit. I Or Chapnaia, in Chaldaean. Chap. XVII.] THE CHIEF OF SHEMDINA. 375 oppression and injustice from the Kurdish Mlrs, who had lately driven a large part of the Christian population across the frontiers into Persia. The Mir of Gherdi was away from his castle ; and, after having rested there and eaten bread, Ave left the bold upland upon Avhich the village stands, and entered a Avild and narroAv gorge. A very steep patliAvay led us to the summit of the northern shoulder of the Ser-i-Resh, from Avhence we gazed over a sea of mountain ranges, Avhose higher peaks Avere Avhite Avith eternal snow. As we Avound down a rugged track on the opposite side of the pass, Ave came upon a party of gaily dressed Kurds, crouching in a circle round a bubbling spring. They Avere lahya Bey, the Mir, and his people, Avho had come from Rua to meet me. The chief, after the usual exchange of civilities, insisted upon returning to that vil- lage Avith us, and mounted his fine white mare, Avhose tail Avas dyed bright red with henna to match his OAvn capacious scarlet troAvsers. I could scarcely refuse his offer of hospitality, although our day’s journey Avas thereby much shortened, and Ave rode to- gether doAvn the mountain until, turning into a valley, Ave found the chief’s carpets spread beneath the trees, Avith the repast that he had prepared for us. We had noAV left the naked hills which skirt the Assyrian plains, and had entered the Avooded districts of Kurdistan. On the following day we journeyed through a valley thick Avith Avalnuts and other large trees, and followed the Avindings of a stream, called by the Kurds Shambo, one of the principal con- fluents of the Zab. We crossed it, backAvards and fonvards, by Avicker suspension bridges, until we ascended, through a forest of orchards Avatered by innumerable streamlets, to Nera, the vil- lage of Mousa Bey, the chief of Shemdina. The solitude of the place Avas only broken by a few boys Avho were bathing in a braAvliug stream. The chief himself and the inhabitants Avere still slumbering after their night’s observance of the Ramazan. We pitched our tents near some springs on an open lawn, and Avaited the return of an aged servant Avho had been disturbed by the noise of our caravan, and had under- taken to announce our arrival to his master. We had evidently to deal Avith a man of civilisation and luxury, for the old Kurd shortly returned folloAved by numerous attend- ants, bearing sherbets and various Persian delicacies, in china boAvls. Mousa Bey himself came to us in the afternoon, and his manners and conversation confirmed the impression that his B B 4 376 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVII. breakfast bad produced. Intercourse with Persia, beyond whose frontiers his own tribe sometimes wandered, had taught him the manners and language of his neiglibours. lie was some- what proud of his acquirements; and when he found that he could exhibit them before the crowd of armed followers that re- spectfully surrounded him, by talking to me in a learned tongue, a bond of friendship was immediately established between us. He told me that he was descended from one of the most ancient of Kurdish families, whose records for many hundred years still exist ; and he boasted that Sheikh Tahar, the great saint, had deemed him the only chief worthy, from his independence of the infidel government of the Sultan, to receive so holy a personage as him- self after the downfall of Beder Khan Bey. This Sheikh Tahar, who as the main instigator of many atrocious massacres of the Chris- tians, and esjiecially of the Nestorians, ought to have been pursued into the uttermost parts of the mountains by the Turkish troops, and hanged as a public example, was now suffering from fever. He sent to me for medicine ; but as his sanctity would not permit him to see, face to face, an unbelieving F rank, and as he wished to have a remedy without going through the usual form of an in- terview with the Doctor, I declined giving him any help in the matter. IMousa Bey was at this time almost the only chief in Kur- distan who had not yet made a formal submission to the Turkish government. His territories were, therefoi’e, a place of refuge for those fugitives who, less fortunate than himself, had been driven from their strongholds by the arms or intrigues of the Porte. He bewailed the discords which severed the tribes, and made them an easy prey to the Osmanli. It is, indeed, fortunate for the Sultan that this warlike population, extending from the Black Sea to the neighbourhood of Baghdad, has never obeyed one head, but has been split into a thousand clans, ever engaged in their petty blood-feuds, and opening, for the sake of private re- venge, their almost inaccessible valleys and mountains to the com- mon enemy. The Turks, wise in their generation, have pursued their usual policy successfully in Kurdistan; the dissensions of the chiefs have been fomented, and, thus divided, they have fallen one by one victims to treachery or to force. In Nera are many Jewish families, who make a livelihood by weaving the colored woollen stuffs worn by the Kurds. The Bishop of Shemisden (or Shemdeena), hearing of my arrival, sent one of his brothers to meet me. He came to us in the evening. CuAP. XVII.] A XESTOlUAN BISIIOI’. 377 and inveighed against the fanaticism and tyranny of the Bey, who, he declared, had driven many Christians from their villages into Persia ; on the morrow I shonld myself witness the unhappy state of the poor Nestorians. We rose early on the following day, and left Nera long before the population was stirring, by a very steep pathway, winding over the face of a precipice, and completely overhanging the vil- lage. Reaching the top of the pass we came upon a natural carpet of Alpine flowers of every hue, spread over the eastern declivity of the mountain, and cooled and moistened by the snows and glaciers which fringed the deep basin. The valley at our feet was the Nestorian district of Shemisden, thickly set with Christian villages, the first of which, Bedewi, we reached after passing a few cultivated patches cleared from the forest of oaks. The Inhabit- ants who flocked out to see us were miserably poor, the children starved and naked, the men and women scarcely half-covered with rags. Leaving the caravan to proceed to our night’s I’esting- place, I turned down the valley with my companions to visit the bishop at his convent * of Mar Hananisho. A ride of three quarters of an hour brought us to the episcopal residence.f Mar Isho, the bishop, met me at some distance from it. He was shabbily dressed, and not of prepossessing appearance ; but he appeared to be good-natured, and to have a fair stock of common sense. After we had exchanged the common salutations, seated on a bank of wild thyme, he led the way to the porch of the church. Ragged carpets and felts had been spread in the dark vestibule, in the midst of sacks of corn, bourghoul, and other provisions for the bishop’s establishment. Various rude agricultural instruments, and spinning wheels, almost filled up the rest of the room ; for these primitive Christians rely on the sanctity of their places of worship for the protection of their temporal stores. The church itself was entered by a low doorway, through which a man of moderate size could scarcely squeeze himself, and was even darker than the anteroom. It is an ancient building, and the bishop knew nothing of the date of its foundation. Although ser- vice is occasionally performed, the communion is not administered in it. One or two tattered parchment folios, whose title-pages * As I have used the word convent, it may be necessary to remind the reader that the Nestorians have no establishments answering to Koman Catholic places of retirement, and that monastic vows are not taken by them. t The height of the convent above the level of the sea is, by observation, 6625 feet. 378 KIIvEVElI AND BABYLON [CuAP. XA'II. were unfortunately wanting, but wliicli were evidently of an early period, were heaped uj) in a corner with a few modern manuscripts on paper, the prey of mildew and insects. The title of the bishop is “ Metropolitan of Roustak,” a name of which I could not learn the origin. Ills jurisdiction extends over many Nestorian vil- lages chiefly in the valley of Shemisden.* Half of this district is within the Persian territories, and from the convent we could see the frontier dominions of the Shah. It is in the high road of the periodical migrations of the great tribe of Ilerki, who pass like a locust-cloud twice a year over the settlements of the unfortunate Christians, driving befoi’C them the flocks, spoiling the granaries, and carrying away even the miserable furniture of the hovels. It is in vain that the sufferers carry their complaints to their Kiu’dish master ; he takes from them double the lawful taxes and tithes. The Turkish government has in this part of the moun- tains no power, if it had the inclination, to protect its Christian subjects. After we had partaken of the frugal breakfast of milk, honey, and fruit prepared for us by the bishop, we tunied again into the high road to Bash-Kalah. We had another pass to cross before de- scending into the valley of Ilarouna, where our caravan had en- camped for the night. On the mountain top were several Nes- torlan families crouching, half naked, for shelter beneath a projecting rock. They seized the bridles of our horses as we rode by, beseeching us to help them to recover their little property, which, but a few hours before, had been swept away by a party of Ilerki Kurds. I could do nothing for these poor people, who seemed in the last stage of misery. On the other side of the valley we spied the black tent of the robbers, and their vast flocks of sheep and herds of horses roving over the green pastures. Tlieir encampments were scattered over the uplands even to the borders of the snow, and to the feet of the bare perpendicular peaks forming the highest crests of the mountains. We were not * The following are the villages in the valley of Shemisden, or Shemdeena. Those marked K. are inhabited by Mussulman Kurds, those with an N. by Nestorians: — Butaimo (N.), Bedewi(N.), Benerwi (K.), Sheikhan (K.), Bakurt (K.), Souri (K.), Bebabi(N.),Bemulli(K.), Fakkayien (K.), Tatte (K.), Mezrai (K.), Beburka (K.), Khusna (K.), Gurdekki (K.), Jemanan (K.), Shaweeta (K.), Gaouna Gundi (K.), Maseru (K.), Gara (K.), Bedinari (K-), Mullai (K.), Ga- laishim (K.), Peshkalan (K.), M.adrita (K.), Bale (K.), Katoona (N. and K.), Ilallana (N). The remaining Kestorian villages in the district of Shemisden are Souraserri, Hallan, Teis, Nerdoosa, Tallana, Harounan, Serdost, Deriean, Serunos, Derrieya, Mar Isho, Beyghirdi, and Bentur. Chap. XVII.] THE PLAIN OP GHAOUII. 379 certain what our own fate might be, were we to fall in with a band of these notorious marauders. From the summit of the pass we looked down into two deep and well-wooded valleys, hemmed in by mountains of singularly picturesque form. In that to the left we could indistinctly see two large villages, Erawa and Serunos, the latter once the dwelling- place of the Mirs of Shemdeena. We descended into the more northern valley, and passing the miserable Nestorlan hamlet of Sourasor, and the ruined church and deserted Christian village of Tellana, reached our tents about sunset. They were pitched near Harouna, whose Nestorian inhabitants were too poor to furnish us with even the common coarse black bread of barley. A low ridge separated us from the district of Ghaour or Ghiaver, a remarkable plain of considerable extent ; the basin, it would seem, of some ancient lake, and now a vast morass, receiving the drain- age of the great mountains which surround it. To the west it is bounded by a perfect wall of rock, from which spring the lofty snow- clad peaks of Jelu, the highest of central Kur- distan. To the east, a line of hills form the frontier limits of Turkey and Persia. We had now quitted the semi-independent Kurdish valleys, and had entered the newly created province of Hakkiari, governed by a Pasha, who resides at Bash-Kalah. The plain of Ghaour is, however, exposed to the depredations of the Herki Kurds, who, when pursued by the Turkish troops, seek a secure retreat in their rocky fastnesses, beyond the limits of the pashallc. The district contains many villages, inhabited by a hardy and industrious race of Nestorian Christians. The American mission- aries of Ooroomiyah have crossed the frontier since my visit, and have, I am informed, opened schools in them with encouraging prospects of success. Ghaour is a Nestorian bishopric. We were obliged to follow a track over the low hills skirting the plains in order to avoid the marsh. On its very edge we passed several Kurdish villages, the houses being mere holes in tlie earth, almost hidden by heaps of dry dung collected for fuel. The snow lies deep in this elevated region during more than half the year, and all communication is cut off with the rest of the world, ex- cept to the adventurous footman who dares brave the dangers of the mountain storm. During the summer the moist earth brings forth an abundance of flowers, and the plain was now chequered with many-colored patches. Here and there were small fields of grain, which had just time to ripen between the snows of the long 380 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVII. winters. The husbandman with his rude plough, drawn sometimes by ten buffaloes, was even now preparing the heavy soil for the seed. The cold is too great for the cultivation of barley*, of fruits and even of most vegetables, and there is not a solitary tree in the plain. The supplies of the inhabitants are chiefly derived from Persia. A ride of six hours and a-half brought us to the large village of Dizza, the chief place of the district, and the residence of a Turkish Mudir, or petty governor. This office was filled by one Adel Bey, the brother of Izzet, tlie Paslia of the provinee. A small foree of regular and irregular troops was quartered with him, on the inhabitants, and he had two guns to awe the Kurds of the neighbourhood. Soon after my arrival I called on him. Seated near him on the divan I found my old friend Ismail Agha of Tepelin, Avho had shown me hospitality three years before in the ruined castle of Amadiyah.f He was now in com- mand of the Albanian troops forming part of the garrison. A change had come over him since we last met. The jacket and arms which had once glittered with gold, were now greasy and dull. His face was as worn as his garments. After a cordial greeting he made me a long speech on his fortunes, and on that of Albanian irregulars in general. “ Ah ! Bey,” said he, “ the power and wealth of the Osmanlis is at an end. The Sultan has no longer any authority. The accursed Tanzimat (Reform) has been the ruin of all good men. Why, see Bey, I am obliged to live upon my pay ; I cannot eat from the treasury, nor can I squeeze a piastre — what do I say, a piastre ? not a miserable half- starved fowl, out of the villagers, even though they be Cliristians. Forsooth they must talk tome about reform, and ask for money ! The Albanian’s occupation is gone. Even Tafil-Bousi (a celebrated Albanian condottiere) smokes his pipe, and becomes fat like a Turk, It is the will of God. I have foresworn raki, I believe in the Koran, and I keep Ramazan.” The night was exceedingly cold. The change from the heat of the plains to the cool nights of the mountains had made havoc amongst our party. Nearly all our servants were laid up with fever, as well as the Doctor and Mr. Walpole, who had rarely been * The plain of Ghaour is, by observation, 6493 feet above the level of the sea. f Nineveh and its Remains, vol. i. p. 163. Chap. XVII.] VALLEY OF THE ZAB. 381 free from its attacks during the journey. I could not, however, delay, and on the following morning our sickly caravan was again toiling: over the hills. We had now entered the Armenian districts. The Christian inhabitants of Dizza are of that race and faith. F rom the elevated plain of Ghaour a series of valleys leads to Bash-Kalah, and the stream which winds through them joins the liead waters of the Zab. We encamped for tlie night at the Kurdish village of Perauniss. Next day, near the village of Charderrah (the four valleys), we passed some ponds of muddy water, bubbling with gaseous ex- halations of a sulphurous smell* , and reached in the afternoon Antiss, inhabited by Armenians and Nestorians Lower down the same valley we found several mineral sjirings, depositing large quantities of carbonate of lime In fantastic forms, and converting into stone all that they touched. Basins, one rising above the other like those of an artificial fountain, re- ceived the trickling water as it Issued from long conduits, \Giich appeared to be cut through the whitest marble. Here and there gas issued from the earth with a hissing noise, but the temperature of the spring was not higher than that of the pools we had examined the day before. The branch of the Zab, which we had seen gradually swollen by small mountain rills, had become a considerable stream. AVe forded it near the ruins of a fine bridge, apparently of early Turkish masonry, and beneath an old deserted castle called Kalia- non. We now entered the valley of this great confluent of the Tigris, its principal source being but a few miles to the north of us, near the frontiers of Persia. The land is so heavy, that the rude plough of the country requires frequently as many as eiglit pairs of oxen. The Armenian ploughmen sit on the yokes, and whilst guiding or urging the beasts with a long iron-pointed goad, chant a mono- tonous ditty, to which the animals appear so well accustomed, that when the driver ceases from his dirge, they also stop from their labors. A dell near our jiath was pointed out to me as the spot where the unfortunate traveller Schulz was murdei’ed by Nur Ullali Bey, the Kurdish chief of Hakkiari.f Turning up a narrow valley * The highest temperature of the water at the escape of gas was 82° ; that of the atmosphere 71°. t I subsequently met in the Nestorian district of Baz, a Christian, who was 382 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVII. towards the liigli mountains, we suddenly came in sight of the castle of Bash-Kalah, one of tlie ancient strongholds of Kur- distan. Its position is remarkably picturesque. It stands on a lofty rock, jutting out from the mountains which rise in a per- pendicular wall behind it. At its foot are grouped the houses of a village. We were met on the outskirts of the village by the Muhrdar, or seal-bearer, of the Pasha, with an escort of cawasses. He led us to a convenient spot for our tents, near a spring, and shortly after brought provisions for ourselves and horses, sent by the governor, who, it being early in the afternoon, was still in bed after his night’s vigils. It Avas not until long after dark that I visited Izzet Pasha. I found him encamped at a considerable ele- vation in a rocky ravine*, which we reached, guided by cawasses carrying huge glass lanterns, by a very precipitous and difficult track. A small rivulet had been dammed up in front of his tents and formed a reservoir which mirrored the red light of a number of torches. I remained with him until the night was far advanced, and then returned to our encampment. He Informed me that thei’e was a direct road from Bash-Kalah to Mosul of forty hours, through Beit-Shebbet, Daoudiyah, and Dohuk, which, with vei’y little labor and expense, could be made practicable for guns. Izzet Pasha’s province, formed out of the territories of several Kurdish chiefs who had been recently captured and sent in exile to distant parts of the empire, consisted principally of the district of A1 Bagh (of which Bash-Kalah is the chief place), the mountainous regions of Hakkiari, Avith the Nestorian valleys, Berwari and Amadiyah. The Avhole of this countiy had, for the first time, been in tlie service of Nur Ullah Bey at the time of the murder, and Avas employed to bury the body. According to him, Schulz, avIio passed by the name of Yohanan, Avas taken by the guides, furnished him by a Persian Prince, to Nur Ullah Bey, instead of to Mar Shamoon, Avhom he intended to visit. lie was described in a letter sent to the Kurdish chief as a dangerous man, who Avas spying out the country ; an impression Avhich Avas confirmed by his habit of making notes continually and openly. He remained ten days Avith the Bey, and then con- tinued his journey accompanied by Kurdish guards, who killed him by their master’s orders beside a stream called Av Spiresa, near the castle of Pisa, close to Bash-Kalah. Tavo of his Christian servants Avere murdered with him ; his tAvo Persian attendants were taken to Nur Ullah Bey, and also put to death. * The place of our encampment at Bash-Kalah was, by observation, 7818 feet above the level of the sea. Chap. XVII.] A -JEAVISII EXCAMPMENT. 383 brought under the immediate control of the Porte. The Pasha was desirous of ascertaining its resources, and especially the extent of its mineral wealth, of which exaggerated reports had reached Constantinople. The inexperienced officers sent to survey his pashalic, had already discovered one or two mines, the most pro- fitable hitherto being one of arsenic, which he had farmed on advantageous terms to some Armenian merchants. Bash-Kalah was formerly the dwelling-place of Nur Ullah Bey, a Kurdish chief well-known for his rapacious and blood-thirsty character, and as the murderer of Schulz. He joined Beder Khan Bey in the great massacres of the Nestorians, and for many years sorely vexed those Christians who were within his rule. After a long resistance to the troops of the Sultan, he was captured about two years before my visit, and banished for life to the island of Candia. Late at night I visited Wall Pasha, the commander of the Turkish troops, who resided in the stronghold of the former chief. I reached the harem, then occupied by the general, through many dark passages leading from the arched gateway. The walls and towers are ill-built, and it was chiefly owing to its inacces- sible position that the castle was so long able to defy the undis- ciplined forces sent against it. ]My companions and servants being much in want of rest, I stopped a day at Bash-Kalah. On resuming our journey we took a direct though difficult track to Wan, only open in the middle of summer. Following a small stream, we entered a ravine leading into the very heart of the mountains. Three hours’ ride, always rapidly ascending along the banks of the rivulet, brought us to a large encampment. The flocks had been driven down from the higher pastures, and were gathered together to be milked before the black tents. A party of women already crouched round their sheep. Their long hair was platted in tresses ending in tassels mingled with gold coins. From a high turban of gay colors, also adorned with coins, a thin white veil fell over their shoul- ders, and their flowing garments were of bright silk. The children ran to and fro with wooden bowls, and a erirl standlno; near sang a plaintive air, beating the measure on a tam- bourine. The features of the women and of the men, who came out of their tents as we rode up, as well as the tongue in which they addressed one another, showed at once that they were not Kurds. They were Jews, shepherds and wanderers, of the 384 NIXEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVII. Stock, may be, of those who, witli their high priest Ilyreanus, were carried away captive from Jerusalem by Tigranes in the second century of our era, and placed in the city and neighbourhood of AVan, Tlieir descendants, two hundred years after, were already so numerous that Shapour (Sapores) II. destroyed no less tluui 10,000 1‘amilies in AYan alone.* AVe encamped near the Jewish nomades, and I visited their tents, but could learn nothing of their history. They fed their Hocks, as their fathers had done before them, in these hills, and paid taxes to the governor of Bash-Kalah. There were many other families, keepers of sheep like themselves, scattered over the mountains ; they were shepherds again, as they had been when they were an abomination to the Egyptians. AVe had now reached the higher regions of Kurdistan.! Next morning we soon left the narrow flowery valley and the brawling stream, and entered an undulating upland covered with deep snow, considerably more than ten thousand feet above the level of the sea. On all sides of us were towering peaks, and to the ■west a perfect sea of mountains, including the lofty ranges of Hak- kiari and Bohtan. Far away to the north was the azure basin of Lake AVan, and beyond it rose the solitary white cone of the Subhan Dagh. A light wind drove a few fleecy clouds across the sunny landscape, now veiling some distant hill, now hiding in shadow the deep valleys. A covey of large birds sailed with a rapid swoop, and with the whistling sound peculiar to the partridge kind, from an opposite height, and alighted within a few yards of me. They were the Kabk-i-dereh, or the Our-kaklik as they are called by the Turks ; a gigantic partridge, almost the size of a small turkey, only found in the highest regions of Armenia and Kurdistan. Descending rapidly, and passing, near the foot of the mountain, one or two miserable, half-deserted Kurdish hanflets, we entered a long narrow ravine, shut in by perpendicular cliffs of sandstone and conglomerate. This outlet of the mountain streams opens into the valley of Malnnoudiyah, in the centre of which rises an isolated rock crowned by the picturesque castle of Kosh-Ab. * Moses of Choreiio, 1. ii. c. 19. St. Martin, Mum. sur TArmenia, vol. i. p. 139. These Jews, 1 am assured, indulge, like their Mussulman neighbours, in polygamy. •f The Jewish encampment was 9076 feet above the level of the sea. Chap. XVII.] THE FEOXTIEUS OF PERSIA. 38.5 We pitched our tents on a green lawn, near the bank of the foaming stream which sweeps round the foot of the castellated rock. Soon after our arrival a Kurdish Bey, of venerable appear- ance, a descendant of the hereditary chiefs of INIahmoudiyah, called upon me. He had once been the owner of the castle, but had been driven from it by an adventurer of some celebrity in this part of Kurdistan. This marauder had recently been captured by tlie Turks, who had seized his property, but had not restored it to its rightful owner. The village, once a town, whose ruined mosques, baths, and bridges still remain, was named Mahmoudiyah, after a certain Mahmoud Bey, who was of the noble Kurdish family claiming lineal descent from the Abbasside Caliphs, of which the Bey of Jezireh, or Bohtan, is the acknowledged head. The castle, built in the fifteenth century, is called Nerin, or more generally Kosh- Ab, “ the sweet water,” from the pure stream flowing beneath it. Two brothers, named Khan Murad and Khan Abdal, mere mountain robbers, brought together some years ago a band of fol- lowers who laid waste this part of Kui'distan. Khan Abdal, by a sudden night attack, seized the castle of Kosh-Ab, and soon sub- dued the surrounding country. In this stronghold the brothers long defied the Turkish government, levying black-mail upon such caravans as ventured to pass through their territories, and oppress- ing with fines and forced conversions their Christian subjects. It was but the year before our visit that they had yielded to the troops sent against them, and had been sent into banishment, with the rest of the rebel chiefs, to Candia. With the Kurdish Bey came one Ahmed Agha, a chief of the large border tribe of Mogri, an intelligent man, who convei’sed freely on the state of the country, and gave me some interesting information regarding the frontiers. The fear of the conscription has driven many families into Persia, and into the more independent districts of Kurdistan. On the whole, the wandering tribes are be- coming less formidable to the Porte than they formerly were. The northern frontiers between Turkey and Persia are no less unsettled than the southern. The tribes that inhabit them refusing allegiance to both governments, and receiving encouragement from both in aggressions upon their neighbours, have hitherto been sure of a place of refuge by crossing the border, when their depredations have at length driven either power to send a military expedition against them. A commission was finally named by the two Mo- 386 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVII. liaramedan states, in conjunction with England and Russia, to settle the long-vexed question of the boundaries, which, in 1841, nearly led to a war between them. Dijdoinatic difficulties and national jealousies, embittered by religious differences, have hitherto retai'ded the labors of this joint commission ; but it is to be hoped that, by the help of the European officers who are members of it, the survey will ere long be completed, and the terms proposed be accepted. The uncertainty which has so long existed as to the nationality of the various frontier tribes wilt then be set at rest, and some of the principal causes of the unsettled state of Kurdis- tan, and of the frequent disputes between the two powers, will be removed. To the east of the district of Mahmoudlyah, and in that of Karasou, are many Yezedi villages and a considerable Jewish popu- lation.* Both races are much oppressed by the Kurdish chiefs, who take their property, and even their lives, with perfect In- difference, “ the Cadis,” as Ahmed Agha Informed me, “ having given fetwahs (decrees) that both were lawfful to the true be- liever.” We rose early next morning, and went up to the castle. As it was still Ramazan, the small garrison of regular troops and undisciplined Albanians had feasted during the night and were now sleeping. We knocked at the iron-bound gate for some time without arousing the slumberers. At length a slipshod sen- tinel, who appeared to have been fast asleep at his post drew back the rusty bolts. He would not, however, admit us, until he had received orders from the officer in command, who, with much good-nature, slipt on a threadbare uniform, turned out the scarcely awakened guard, and received us with military honors. The castle is falling into ruins, though its towers still rise boldly from the edge of the precipice, overhanging at a giddy height the valley below. In them, open to the cool breezes of the mountain, are the dwelling-rooms of the old Kurdish chiefs, adorned with tasteful lattice-work, and with the painted panellings and gilded cornices of Persia. They are now tenanted by the Turkish troops, whose bright arms and highly-polished kitchen utensils hang on the gaudy walls. A few long brass guns * Amongst the Jewish population scattered widely over this part of ancient hledia, might be sought the descendants of the ten tribes, with more proba- bility than in the various lands which ingenious speculation has pointed out as the dwelling-places of the remnant of Israel. Chap. XVII.] ARRIVAL AT WAN. 387 richly embossed, the work of the early Turkish conquerors of Kurdistan, lie, upset from their carriages, on the crumbling battle- ments. After drinking coffee and smoking pipes with the captain of the guard, we w'alked down the narrow pathway leading to the valley and, mounting our horses, joined the caravan, which had preceded us on the road to Wan. Hormuzd having been seized with a severe attack of fever, and a heavy storm breaking over us, we stopped, after a ride of about fourteen miles, at the Armenian village of Hindostan, situated in a rich but thinly peo[>led valley, called Khawassan. On the following morning we crossed this valley to Nourtcliouk, at the outskirts of which I was met by the priest at the head of the inhabitants. A range of low hills now separated us from the plain and lake of Wan. We soon reached their crest, and a landscape of surpassing beauty was before us. At our feet. Intensely blue and sparkling in the rays of the sun, was the inland sea, with the sublime peak of the Subhan Dagh, mirrored in its transparent waters. The city, with its castle-crowned rock and its embattled walls and towers, lay embowered in orchards and gardens. To our right a rugged snow-capped mountain ojiened midway into an amphitheatre, in wdiich, amidst lofty trees, stood the Armenian convent of Yedi Klissia (the seven churches). To the west of the lake was the Nimroud Dagh, and the highlands nourishing the sources of the great rivers of IVIesopotamia. The bills forming the foreground of our picture were carpeted with the brightest flowers, over which wandered the flocks, whilst the gaily dressed shepherds gathered around us as we halted to con- template the enchanting scene. We now descended rapidly towards Wan, and as we issued into the plain, a party of horsemen galloped tow'ards us. I soon recognised amongst them my friend Mr. Bowen ; with him were the Cawass-Bashi and a troop of irregular cavalry, sent out by the Pasha to escort me into the city. Nor did the governor’s kindness end with this display of welcome. After winding for nearly an hour through orchards and gardens, whose trees were bending under the weight of fruit, and then through the narrow and crowded streets, we were led to his serai or palace, which, such as it was, had been made ready for our use, and where his treasurer was waiting to receive us. Notwithstanding the fast, an abundant breakfast of various meats and sweet messes, cooked after the c c 2 388 NIXEVEII AXD BABYLON. [Chap. XVII. Turkish fashion, had been prepared for us, and we soon found re- j)ose upon a spacious divan, surrounded by all the luxuries of Eastern life. The Castle of Mahmoudiyah. Kurds of Wan. CHAP. XVIII. MEHEMET PASHA. DESCRIPTION OF WAN. ITS HISTORY. — IMPROVEMENT IN ITS CONDITION.— THE ARMENIAN BISHOP. THE CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS. THE CAVES OF KHORKHOR. THE MEHER KAPOUSI. — A TRADITION. OB- SERVATIONS ON THE INSCRIl’TIONS. TABEE OF KINGS MENTIONED IN THEM, THE BAIRAM. AN ARMENIAN SCKOOE. — THE AMERICAN MISSIONS. PRO- TESTANT MOVEMENT IN TURKEY. AMIKH. THE CONVENT OF YEDI KLISSIA. Meiiemet Pasha was llvln" durlnq; the fiist of Ramazan in a kiosk in one of the gardens outside the city walls. We had scarcely eaten, before he came himself to welcome us to Wan. He was the son of the last Bostandji-Bashi of Constantinople, and liaving been brought up from a child in the imperial palace, was a man of pleasing and dignified manners, and of considerable information. Although he had never left his native country, he was not ig- norant of the habits and customs of Europe. He had long served the Sultan in difficult and responsible ])Osts, and to his discretion and sagacity was chiefly to be attributed the subju- gation of Beder-Khan Bey and tlie rebel Kurdish tribes. His rule was mild and conciliating, and he possessed those qualities so rai’e in a Turkish governor, yet so indispensable to the clvlli- c c 3 390 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVIII. sation and well-being of the empire, — a strict honesty in the admi- nistration of the revenues of his province, and a sense of justice beyond the reach of bribes. From Christians and Kurds we had received, during our journey through his pashalic, the highest testi- mony to his tolerance and integrity. In the evening I returned his visit, and found him surrounded by the chiefs and elders of the city, and by the officers of his house- hold. I sat with him till midnight, the time passing in that agreeable conversation which a well-educated Turk so well knows how to sustain. I remained a week at Wan, chiefly engaged in copying the cuneiform inscriptions, and in examining its numerous remarkable monuments of antiquity. The city is of very ancient date. It stands on the borders of a large and beautiful lake, a site eminently suited to a pros- perous community. The lofty mountains bordering the inland sea to the east, here recede in the form of an amphitheatre, leaving a rich plain five or six miles in breadth, in the midst of which rises an isolated, calcareous rock. To the summit of this natural stronghold, there is no approach, except on the western side, where a gradual but narrow ascent is defended by walls and bastions. From the earliest ages it has consequently been the acropolis of the city, and no position could be stronger before the discovery of the engines of modern warfare. The fortifications and castle, of a comparatively recent date, are noiv in ruins, and are scarcely defensible, with their few rusty guns, against the attacks of the neighbourliifi Kurds. According to Armenian history, the Assyrian queen Semlramis founded the city, which, after her, was originally named Schamiram- jerd. Here, in the delicious gardens which she had planted in the fertile j)lain, and which she had watered with a thousand rills, she sought refuge from the intolerable heats of a Mesopotamian summer, returning again, on the approach of winter, to her palaces at Nineveh. The first city having fallen to decay, it is said to have been rebuilt, shortly before the invasion of Alexander the Great, by an Armenian king named Wan, after whom it was subsequently called. It appears to have been again abandoned, for we find that it was once more raised from its foundations in the second century B. c. by Vagharschag, the first king of the Arsacian dynasty of Armenia, who made it the strongest city In the kingdom. In the eleventh century it was ceded by the royal family of the Ardz- Chap. XVIII.] THE CITY or AVAN. 391 rounis to the Greek emperors, from Avhom it aa’hs taken by the Seljuk Turks. It fell, In 1392, into the hands of Timourlane, who, according to his custom, gave the inhabitants over to the sword. Even In his day, the great monuments of solid stone, raised by the Assyrian queen, were still shown to the stranger, jNIoses of Chorene, the early historian of Armenia, has faithfully described its ])Osition and its antiquities ; the isolated hill, rising in the midst of a broad plain covered with flourishing villages, and watered by innumerable streams ; the chapels, chambers, treasuries, and caverns cut in the living rock, and the great inscriptions written, as it were, on the face of the precipice, as pages are Avritten with a pen on Avax. Twelve thousand Avorkmen and six thousand master masons Avere employed, he declares, by Semi- ramis to execute those mighty Avorks. The artificial caves and the inscriptions still remain, but modern research has prov^ed that they belong to a far different period than that to Avhich they Avere assigned by the Armenian antiquary. The first traveller Avho, in modern times, examined the remark- able I'emains of antiquity at Wan Avas the unfortunate Schulz, He visited the place in 1827. The cuneiform inscriptions carved on the rock Avere knoAvn to exist long before his day, but he Avas the first to copy them, and from his copies they have been published by the Asiatic Society of France.* Since the time of Schulz, the city has undergone many changes. It Avas seized by the rebel Kurdish chief, Khan Mahmoud, Avho massacred the Turkish garrison, inflicted large fines upon the Christians, and grievously oppressed the dependent villages. After the troops of the Sultan had made many vain attempts to recover the place, it finally yielded tAVO years before my journey. Under the mild rule of IMeheinet Pasha it Avas rapidly rising to prosperity. The pro- tection he had given to the Armenians had encouraged that enterprising and industrious people to enlarge their commerce, and to build Avarehouses for trade. Two handsome khans, Avith bazars attached, Avere nearly finished, Shojis for the sale of European articles of clothing and of luxury had been opened ; and, Avhat Avas of still moi’e importance, several native schools had already been established. These improvements Avere chiefly due to one Sharan, an Armenian merchant and a man of liberal and enlightened vieAvs, who had seconded Avith energy and libe- * In the ninth volume of the ncAV series of their Transactions; a memoir hy Schulz accompanies the inscriptions. c c 4 392 NIXEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVIII. rallty the desire of tlie Pasha to ameliorate the social condition of the Christian population.* Shortly after my arrival, the Armenian bishop called upon me. He was dressed in the peculiar costume of his order, — long black robes and a capacious black hood almost concealing his head, — and Avas accompanied by the priests and principal laymen of his diocese. On his breast he wore the rich diamond crescent and star of the Turkish order of merit, of which he was justly proud. It had been asked for him of the Sultan by the Pasha, as an encourage- ment to the Cbiistians, and as a proof of the spirit of tolerance Avhicli animated the government. If such principles Avere fully carried out in Turkey, there Avould be good hope for the empire. Although he had been duly elected several years before to his epi- scopal dignity, he still Avanted the formal consecration of the patri- arch of his church. This ceremony had hitherto been omitted on account of differences which had estranged the Armenian elergy residing in the Turkish dominions from the head of their sect, Avhose seat is the convent of Echmladsin, made over to Russia at the close of the last Avar. These differences, arising from political interference in the management of the affairs of the Chiu’ch, had for some time threatened a division in the com- munity, that portion of it Avhich acknowledges the authority of the Sultan Avishlng to place itself under a patriarch Avho resides at Cis, in Cilicia, and, consequently, beyond foreign control. The quarrel had now, hoAvever, been settled, and the bishop Avas on the eve of his dej)arture to receive that consecration which Avas essential to his due admission into the Armenian hierarchy. The modern toAvn of Wan stands at the foot, and to the south of, the isolated I’ock. Its streets and bazars are small, narrow, and dirty ; but its houses are not ill built. It is surrounded by fruit- ful gardens and orchards, irrigated by artificial rivulets derived from the streams rising in the Yedi Klissia mountains. It may contain between tAvelve and fifteen thousand inhabitants. The * I must not omit to mention the name of Dr. Bimerstein, a German gentle- man at tlie head of the quarantine establishment, from whom I received much civility and assistance during my stay at Wan, and who, by the influence he had obtained over the Pasha, and by his integrity and good sense, had con- tributed considerably towards the improvement in the condition of the Chris- tians, and the general prosperity of the pashalic. lie was a pleasing ex- ception in a class made up of the refuse and outcasts of Europe, Avho have done more than is generally known to corrupt the Turkish character, and to bring an European and a Christian into contempt. I am proud to say that an Englishman is not, I believe, to be found amongst them. 394 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVIII. whole paslialic at the time of my visit paid an annual sum of six thousand purses (about 27,OOOZ.) to the Turkish treasury. In the town there was a garrison of a thousand foot and five hundred horse, and the commander of the troops in the district and in the adjoining province of Hakkiari was at the head of five thousand men.* The old hereditary pashas of ^Yan, as well as the principal families, were of Turkish origin, and came, I was informed by some of their descendants, from Konia (Iconium), about three hundred years ago. The chiefs, however, of the surrounding districts are Kurds. Two families, named the Topchi-oglus and the Timour-oglus, divided the town into opposite factions, which were continually at war, and carried their bloody feuds almost daily into the streets. The Timour-oglus were the most powerful, and it was through their means that Khan Mahmoud jjossessed himself of the place. The inscriptions of Wan are of two distinct periods, though all in the cuneiform writing. The most ancient are in a chax’acter identical with that on the oldest monuments of Assyria.! The only one not entirely in this Assyrian character is on the southern face of the rock, inaccessible from all sides, but easily legible on account of the -size and distinctness of its letters, by a glass from below. It was copied by Schulz, and is a trilingual tablet of Xerxes the son of Darius, very nearly word for word the same as those of the same king at Ilamadan (Ecbatana) and Persepolis. The earliest inscriptions are found on two square stones built into a wall near the western gateway of the city, and imme- diately beneath the only entrance to the castle. This wall ap- pears to have been part of the old fortifications, and at a more recent period formed one of the sides of a Christian church, dedi- cated to St. John, but now in ruins-! The inscribed stones were taken from some far more ancient building. * Wan is about 5600 feet above the level of the sea. t The distinguishing feature of the Wan writing is a tendency to repeat the horizontal wedge when two wedges intersect : thus for >^. In this cha- racter are the inscriptions at Pahlou, on the Euphrates (Brit. Mus. Series, p. 74.), on a rock near Malatiyah on the same river (copied by M. Muhlbach, and pub- lished by the Syro-Egyptian Society), on a column at Patnos (copied by the Hon. F. Walpole), and in various parts of Armenia, but principally in the neigh- bourhood of Lake Wan. ! In Schulz’s collection only one of these iuscrqxtions is given (No. 1.); one is seven, the other eight lines in length. Chap. XVIII.] INSCRIPTIONS AT AVAN. 395 The tAVO inscriptions are similar, and contain the names of a king and his father, which have not been satisfactorily deci- phered. They are Avritten, I -+ -n-^<1 IhTT Hincks identifies with Babylon, and as enumerating, first in detail, the amount of booty taken from three different countries, and afterwards giv- ing the total amount of the whole. By this double account the one checking the other, a clue was afforded to the signs represent- ing numerals in the Assyrian inscriptions, as well as to their respective values, a discovery for which we are indebted to the sagacity of Dr. Hiucks-l; It gives, moreover, a long list of nations conquered by the Armenian king, of which the principal appears to be called Abana, a name not yet identified. The Pasha had kindly placed the “ Mimar Basin,” or archi- tect in chief of the town, an intelligent and honest Armenian, named Nikbos, under my orders during my researches at Wan. I also found in the place a half- crazy Cawass, who had been all the way to Constantinople to obtain a firman for leave to dig for treasure beneath the inscribed tablets. The imperial document had been * Schulz gives this tradition, which, like many others, is probably of very ancient date. f Schulz, No. xii. J See Dr. Ilincks’s Paper on the Wan Inscriptions, in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Chap. XYIII.] INSCRIPTIONS AT WAN. 393 granted, with a clause, however, that a share of the riches dis- covered sliould be paid into the Sultan’s treasury. His search had hitherto been vain, although his purse had been emptied ; but he knew all the old stones and Inscriptions in the neighbourhood. With the aid of these two men I carried on excavations for a short time at the foot of the northern face of the rock, without other results than clearing away the earth from one or two half- burled tablets, and laying bare the artificially smoothed rock. About a mile and a half to the east of the town, near a small village in the gardens of Wan, is a recess in the rock 15 feet 8 inches high, and 6 feet 7 inches broad, containing a long cuneiform inscription. On the tablet may still be traced the remains of the yellow varnish, or glaze, mentioned by Schulz. The ancient Persians appear to have protected their rock-carved inscriptions by similar means from the effects of the atmosphere, traces of the glaze having been discovered on the great monument of Bisutun.* The inscription is called Meher Kapousi, which, ac- cording to the people of Wan, means the Shepherd’s Gate, from a tradition that a shepherd, having fallen asleep beneath it, was told in a dream the magic word that opened the sjiell-bound portal. He awoke and straightway tried the talisman. The stone doors flew apart, disclosing to his wondering eyes a vast hall filled with inex- haustible treasures ; but as he entered they shut again behind him. He filled with gold the bag in which, as he tended his Hocks, he carried his daily food. After repeating the magic summons, he was permitted to issue into the open air. But he had left his crook, and must return for it. The doors were once more unclosed at his bidding. He sought to retrace his steps, but had forgotten the talisman. His faithful doji waited outside until nightfall. As its master did not come back, it then took up the bag of gold and carrying it to the shepherd’s wife, led her to the gates of the cave. She could hear the cries of her husband, and they are heard to this day, but none can give him help. The inscription of the Meher Kapousi originally consisted of ninety-five lines, comprising the same record twice repeated. Only about sixty are now legible. It was carved by order of two kings, who appear to have reigned together, and whose names Dr. Hincks reads, Ishpulnish and Minnas. It contains little else than a list of sacrifices and offerings made to a multitude of gods, * Col. Rawlinson, Memoir on the Inscriptions of Behistan, in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 400 NIXEVEII AND BABYLON, [Chap. XVIII. each one receiving a shai’e probably according to his importance in the celestial hierarchy, the lowest in rank getting only one sheep, and the highest seventeen oxen and thirty-four sheep. With the gods of Armenia are mentioned those of foreign nations, who have the smallest portion of the honors, some obtaining but half an ox. Near the Shepherd’s Gate the rocks are excavated into a vast number of caves. In some places long flights of steps lead no- where, but finish abruptly in the face of the perpendicular precipice ; in others the clltf is scarped to a great height without any apparent object. A singular shaft, with stairs, leading into a cavern, is called Zimzim. It is difficult to account for the use and orlffin of these singular excavations ; their height from the plain and their inac- cessible position almost preclude the idea of their having been quarries. Several slabs of black basalt. Inscribed with cuneiform cha- racters, have been built into the interior walls of two ancient Arme- nian churches within the town of Wan.* They had been white- W'ashed with the rest of the building, but the bishop obligingly ordered the plaster to be removed from them. Some of the in- scriptions are no longer legible. In the church of St. Peter and St. Paul I found parts of four legends f, which appear to refer to two kings, grandfather and grandson, whose names, according to Dr. Hincks, are Ishpulnish and Milidduris. They are historical, containing a record of the capture of many cities, and of the amount of spoil carried away from conquered countries. In the church of Surp Sahak I was able to transcribe two in- scriptions, one under the altar, the other in the vestibule beneath the level of the floor, Avhich had to be broken up and removed before I could reach the stone. The longest consists of forty lines, the other of twenty-seven. The beginning and ending of the lines in both are wanting. They belong to a king whose name Dr. Ilincks reads Arghistis, and one of them celebrates the capture of no less than 453 cities and 105 temples or palaces, and the carrying away of 25,170 (?) men, 2734 officers, 73,700 sheep, and an immense number of women, oxen, and other spoll.| The only inscription at Wan that I could not copy was the tri- * These churches are probably of great antiquity, but no record appears to remain of the date of tlieir foundation. They are dark and rudely built, and have nothing remarkable in them. t Two are given by Schulz, Nos. xxxviii. and xxxix. J The beginnings of the lines having been destroyed, the numbers are not all complete. Chap. XV I II.] INSCIilPTIOXS AT WAN. 401 lingual tablet of Xerxes. It is on the most Inaccessible part of the rock, about seventy or eighty feet above tlie plain. Not having a glass of sufficient power, I was unable to distinguish the charac- ters from below. As it had been accurately transcribed by Schulz, and resembles those of the same king at Persepolis and Hamadan, I did not think It necessary to incur any risk or expense in reach- ing it by means of ropes or scaffolding.* In the rock there are numerous excavated chambers, some even exceeding In dimensions those I have described ; but, with the exception of a simple seat or bench of stone, about two and a half feet high on one side of them, they ai’e perfectly plain and un- ornamented. They ajipear to have been used as tombs, and Schulz declares that he found human bones in them ; but it is doubtful whether those remains belonged to the original occupants. Some are approached by flights of steps cut in the precipice ; others are altogether inaccessible except by ropes from above. As they all more or less resemble the one previously mentioned, I will not give a particular account or accurate measurements of them.! I add a list of the kings mentioned In the inscriptions of Wan in the order of their succession, which may be interesting to the historical student. 1. >— <|>— < Lutlbrl, orLutlbar. | 2. ^4- ^n^ spp- ^yy- ishpuinish. 4. y- ^yyy^ yy v. Minnas. 5. y-< 6. *^yy^y ^y ^yy^y MUidduris. * This inscription was copied, with a strong telescope, by Schulz, and is pub- lished with the rest of his transcripts. t Schulz has given the measurements, and a detailed account of each cavern, in his Memoirs. J The above are Dr. Hincks’s version of the reading of the names. He entertains some doubt as to the correctness of the second and sixth, the first part of which is the name of a goddess, perhaps the Mylitta of Herodotus though in the Babylonian inscriptions it seems to be written “ Gula.” It must be observed that they are sometimes written with orthographical variations in D D j- Arghistis. 402 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XAHII. It Is yet doubtful to what family of languages the Wan inscrip- tions must he assigned. Some believe it to be a Tatar dialect ; or, at least, to he largely intermixed with the ISIongolian element. Dr. Ilincks, on the contrary, is of opinion that it is Indo-Germanic, and adduces, in proof, various instances of case-endings correspond- ing with the Sanscrit.* Two of the inscriptions, and tlie earliest in date, as I have already observed, are in pure Assyrian. With regard to the date of the monuments tliere appears to be a clue which may enable us to fix it with some degree of certainty. In an inscription from Ivliorsabad f, amongst the kings conquered by Sargon one is mentioned whose name corresponds with Ar- ghistis, the fifth in the Wan dynasty. Supposing the two, therefore, to be the same, and there is no reason to doubt their being so, we may assume that the monarchs of the Wan records reigned from about the middle of the eighth century before Christ to the end of the seventh ; and the evidence afforded by the forms of the characters leads to this conjecture. It is possible that between the death of the obelisk king and the reign of Sargon, the Assyrian monarchs were unable to enforce their authority beyond the lofty range of mountains to the north-east of Nineveh, and that a dynasty, which may indeed have been a branch from that of Assyria |, es- tablished itself during that period in Armenia, and maintained its Independence until a great conqueror again sat on the throne of Nineveh. It is to be remarked that Dr. Hincks believes he has even found an Invasion of Babylonia recorded in these Armenian inscriptions. If such be the case, it must be inferred that the ter- tbe inscriptions, and tliat those in tlie above list are, according to Dr. Ilincks’s view, in the nominative case. * On the inscriptions of Wan. Page 14., Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. f Botta, pi. 151. 1. 5. I Since the above was written Col. Rawlinson has announced three synchro- nisms between the inscriptions of Nineveh and AVan. “Lutipari is found con- tending with Sardanapalus (the builder of the north-west palace at Nimroud) ; his son Semiduri is attacked by Deleboras (the obelisk king) ; and the fifth AVan monarch, Arghisti, is an antagonist of Sargon.” Dr. Hincks, however, denies the second identification, and entertains considerable doubt, therefore, as to the first. (Literary Gazette, Dec. 18. 1852, p. 931.) It is a curious fact that the earliest inscriptions found at AVan should be in Assyrian, whilst the others are in an essentially distinct language. Connected with the Armenian tradition, that the two sons of Sennacherib, after they had slain their father, fled into Armenia, and established royal dynasties, which reigned over that country with northern Mesopotamia (St Martin, vol. i. p. 163.), it might have led to the con- jecture that the inscriptions were of a more recent period, and of the time be- tween the fall of the Assyrian empire and the rise of the Persian. Chap. XVIII.] CLOSE OF THE RAMAZAN. 403 ritories of the Assyrians were at that time confined within very narrow limits round their capital city. In the Khorsabad inscription Arghlstls is called king of !ty a- cious building newly erected, and at that time scarcely finished. ISIore than two hundred children of all ages were assembled. They went through their exercises and devotions at the sound of a bell Avith great order and precision, alternately standing and squatting on their hams on small cushions j)laced in rows across the hall. An outer room held basins and toAvels for washing, and the cloaks and shoes taken off on entering. Books Avere scarce. There Avere not more than a score in the Avhole school. The first class, Avhich had made some progress, had a few elementary Avorks on astronomy and history, published by the Armenian press at Constantinople and Smyrna, but only one copy of each. The boys, at my request, sang and chanted their pi’ayers, and repeated their simple lessons. Such schools, imperfect though they be, are proofs of a great and increasing improvement In the Christian communities of Tiukey.* A change of considerable importance, and Avhich, it is to be hoped, may lead to the most beneficial results, is now taking place In the Armenian Church. It is undoubtedly to be attributed to the judi- cious, earnest, and zealous exertions of the American missionaries; their establishments, scattered over nearly the Avhole Turkish empire, have awakened amongst the Christians, and principally amongst the Armenians, a spirit of inquiry and a desire for the reform of abuses, and for the cultivation of their minds, Avhich must ultimately tend to raise their political, as Avell as their social, position in the human scale. It is scarcely fifteen years since the first institution for Christian instruction on Protestant * The desire of a large luimhcr of the Armenians to improve their institu- tions, and to adopt the manners of Europe, is a highly interesting, and indeed important, fact. I was amused, after having contributed a trifle to the funds of the school, at having presented to me a neatly printed and ornamented receipt, Avith the amount of my donation duly fdled up in the blank space left for the purpose, the document being signed by the head of the school. Chap. XVIII.] IIESULTS OF THE AMEIUCAN MISSIONS. 405 (independent) pi’inciples was ojiened by those excellent men in Constantinople. By a wise selection of youths from different parts of the empire, who from their character and abilities were deemed worthy of the choice, they were shortly enabled to send into the provinces those who could sow the seeds of truth and knowledge, without incurring the suspicions attaching to strangers, and without laboring under that ignorance of the manners and languages of those amongst whom they mix, whicdi must always prove so serious an obstacle to foreigners in their intercyurse with the natives. A movement of this nature could scarcely escape persecution. The Armenian clergy, not unfavor- able to the darkness and bigotry which had for centuries disgraced their Church, and exercising an uncontrolled povver over an ignorant and simple people, soon raised a cry against the “ Evan- gelists,” as they were contemptuously called. By such misrepre- sentations and calumnies as are always ready at hand to the enemies of progress and reform, they were able to enlist in their favor the Turkish authorities at the capital and in the provinces. Unfor- tunately, four sects alone, the Roman Catholic, the Armenian, the Greek, and the Copt, were recognised by the Porte amongst their Christian subjects. The reformed Armenian Church was con- sequently without an acknowledged head, and unable, to com- municate directly with the government, to make known its tenets, or to complain of the acts of injustice and persecution to which it was exposed. Many persons fell victims to their opinions. Some were cruelly tortured in the house of the Patri- arch himself, and others were imprisoned or utterly ruined in Constantinople and the provinces. Sir Stratford Canning at length exerted his powerful Influence to protect the injured sect from these wanton cruelties. Through his exertions and those of Lord Cowley, when minister, a firman was obtained from the Sultan, placing the new Protestant community on the same footing as the other Churches of the empire, assigning to it a head, or agent, through whom it could apply directly to the ministers, and extending to it other privileges enjoyed by the Roman Catholics and Greeks. This act of toleration and justice has given fresh vigor to the spirit of inquiry bred by the American mis- sionaries. There is now scarcely a town of any importance in Turkey without a Protestant community, and in most of the prin- cipal cities the American mission has opened schools, and is educa- ting youths for the priesthood. Fortunately for the cause, many men of Irreproachable character and of undoubted sincerity from the D D 3 40fi NIXEVEH AND P.ABYLOX. [CuAP. XVII r. Armenian nation have been associated with it, and its success has not been endangered, like that of so many other movements of the same kind, by interested, or hasty conversions. Those who have watched the effect that this desire for improvement and for reli- gious freedom is gradually producing upon a large and important section of the Christian population of Turkey, may reasonably hope that the time is not far distant when it may exercise a marked influence upon other Christian sects, as well as upon those who surround them ; preparing them for the enjoyment of extended political privileges, and for the restoration of a pure and rational faith to the East. The influence of this spirit of inquiry, fostered by the American missions, has not been alone confined to those who have been cut off from their own community. The Armenian clergy, no longer able to coerce their flocks, or to persecute those who left them, have found that the only mode of checking the schism is to re- form the abuses of their own Church, and to educate and instruct their people. Schools in opposition to the American establish- ments have been opened in the capital and in most of the large towns of Asia Minor ; and elementary and theological woi'ks, of a far more liberal character than any hitherto published in Turkey, have been printed by Armenian printing-presses in Con- stantinople and Smyrna, or introduced into the country from Venice. This is another, though an indirect, result of their labors, which the American missionaries may justly contemplate with satis- faction, unmlngled with any feelings of jealousy or ill-will. Whilst on this subject, and connected as I have been with the Nestorians, I must not omit a tribute of praise to the admirable establishments of the American missions amongst the Chaldasans of Ooroomiyah in Persia, under the able direction of the Rev. Mr. Perkins.* It was with much regret that I was compelled to give * I cannot refrain from recording the names of tlie Rev. Messrs. Goddall, Dwight, Holmes, Hamlin, and Schauffler, of the Constantinople missionary station ; the late excellent and enterprising Dr. Smith, who, like the estimable Dr. Grant, his fellow-laborer in the same field, and many others of his country- men, has recently fallen a victim to his zeal and devotion ; the Rev. Eli Smith of Reyrout, and Perkins of Ooroomiyah ; men who will ever be connected with the first spread of knowledge and truth amongst the Christians of the East, and of whom their country may justly be proud. Personally I must express my grati- tude to them for many acts of kindness and friendship. The American mission h.as now establishments in Smyrna, Brousa, Trebizond, Erzeroom, Diarbekir, hlosul, Aintab, Aleppo, and many other cities in Asia Minor, together with native agents all over Turkey. Chap. XYIII.] THE BISHOP OF WAN. 407 up the plan I had formed of visiting that small colony from the New World. The Rev. Mr. Bowen, who crossed the frontiers from Wan, has in a true Christian spirit borne witness in the English Church to the enlightened and liberal spirit in which their labors are carried on. Forty or fifty schools have been opened in the town of Ooroomiyah and surrounding villages. The abuses that have crept into this primitive and highly interesting Church ai’e being re- formed, and the ignorance of its simple clergy gradually dispelled. A printing-press, for which type has been purposely cut, now pub- lishes for general circulation the Scriptures and works of educa- tion in the dialect and character peculiar to the mountain tribes. The English language has been planted in the heart of Asia, and the benefits of knowledge are extended to a race which, a few years ago, was almost unknown even by name to Eui'ope. The Armenian bishop of Wan was not wanting in intelligence and in liberal feeling; but, like most of his order, he was pro- foundly Ignorant. lie had not seen the valuable works in his native language, even those of the fathers of his Church, published by the Mechitarists of Venice ; and was equally surprised and gratified with printed copies of the works of Moses of Chorene, Eusebius, and one or two other authors in Armenian which I had with me. The convents of Wan and of the neighbourhood, he said, were once rich in ancient manuscripts, but they had been carried away by camel-loads some two hundred years before by the Persians, and were believed still to be preserved in Isfahan. With the excep- tion of a few printed copies of the Scriptures, and some religious works for the use of the churches, there are now no books in the city. He received with pleasure from Mr. Bowen a copy of the New Testament in the vulgar Armenian tono;ue, remarkino; that it would be a great advantage to the common people to have a version of the Scriptures in a language which they could under- stand. He was probably not aware that the head of his church had utterly condemned its use, and had anathematised all those who re- ceived it. My companions had been compelled, from ill health, to leave the plain, and had taken refuge in the convent of Yedi Klissia, from the sultry heats of the plain. Before joining them I visited the village of Amlkh, where, according to my Armenian guide, Nikoos, an inscription was engraved on the rocks. I left the city on the 10th of August, Wan stands at a short distance from the lake, and the few boats which traffic along the shores anchor at a small Iskelli, or port, about a mile and a half from the gates. The greater i> 1) 4 408 NINEVEU AXI) BABYLOX. [CuAP.XVllI. part of this village is now under water, the lake having gradually j'isen during the last few years. The inhabitants pretend that this rising is caused by a periodical ebbing and flowing each con- tinuing for seven years, and that the waters will again fall to their former level. It is certain, however, that, from some cause or other which I cannot explain, many villages on the borders of the lake are now partly submerged, and that there appears to have been for some years a gradual increase in the waters. Leaving the small port, and passing some pans in which a kind of alkaline deposit is collected from the water of the lake to be used as soap, we struck into a fine undulating corn country, abound- ing in Christian villages. The soil is well cultivated, though by dint of much labor. Eight, or even ten, pairs of oxen are fre- quently yoked to a plough, which differs from that seen in any other part of Tux’key; and having two wheels, one larger than the other, more resembles those in common use in England. The landscape was richly tinted by lai’ge plots of bright yellow thistles*, cul- tivated for the oil expressed from the seeds, and used by the Ar- menians during their numerous fasts. We reached at sunset a deep bay hemmed in by gardens and orchards, and sheltered from the wind by an amphitheatre of low rocky hills. I pitched my tent about a mile froixi the village of Amikh, near a transpai’ent spring, in a small glade shelving to the water’s edge, and em- bowered in white roses. Early next morning I sought the inscriptions which I had been assured were graven on the rocks near an old castle, standing on a bold pi'ojecting promontory above the lake. After climbing up a dangerous precipice by the help of two or three poles, in which large nails had been inserted to afford a footing, I reached a small natural cave in the rock. A few crosses and ancient Arme- nian letters were rudely cut near its entrance. There was nothing else, and I had to return as I best could, disappointed, as many a traveller has been under similar circumstances before me. From Amikh I I'ode across the country in a direct line to the monastery of Yedl Klissia, whose gardens on the side of the lofty mountain of Wurrak are visible from most parts of the plain. I stopped for an hour at the church of Kormawor before ascend- ing to the convent. An aged priest, with beard white as snow, and wearing a melon-shaped ca[), and long black robes, was the guardian of the 2flace. lie led me into an arcade surrounding Called in Turkish Khanjerek. Chap. XVIII.] COXVKNT OF YEDI KLISSIA. 409 the inner court of the building. Seeing that I was a Frank, he fancied at once that I was searching for inscriptions, and pointed to a circular stone, the base of a wooden column, which, he said, he had shown many years before to a traveller, meaning Schulz.* It bears three imperfect lines of cuneiform writing, part of an in- scription belonging to one of the Wan kings, whose name Dr. Hincks read Minnas. It appears to record the foundation of a temple. A second Inscription on a black stone, and several fragments with the same royal name, are built into the walls. f I copied that which remained of the legends, the old priest hooking a pair of primitive spectacles on his nose, and watching my movements with anxious curiosity. lie entreated me, with every term of endearment, to communicate the contents to him. Were they talismans for the discovery of riches, or words of promise to the Armenian nation ? They recorded, I told him, the past glories of his race, and might be regarded as a promise that by education, integrity, and reform, these glories might be revived. This explanation was scarcely sufficiently definite to satisfy him. However, in return for the interpretation, he offered me a frugal breakfast of cheese and sour milk. Eight hours’ ride from Amikh brought me to the large Armenian convent of Yedi Klissia, or the seven churches, built of substantial stone masonry, and inclosing a spacious courtyard planted with trees. It has more the appearance of a caravanserai than that of a place of religious retreat, and is beautifully situated near the mouth of a wooded ravine, halfway up a bold mountain, which ends in snowy peaks. Spread beneath it is a blue lake and a smiling plain, and the city, with its bold castellated rock, and its turreted walls half hid in gardens and orchards. The church, a substantial modern edifice, stands within the court- yard. Its walls are covered with pictures as primitive in design as in execution. There is a victorious St. George blowing out the brains of a formidable dragon with a bright bi’ass blunderbus, and saints, attired in the traditionary garments of Europe, performing extravagant miracles. The intelligence of the good priest at the head of the convent was pretty well on a par with his illustrated church history. He was a specimen of the Armenian clergy of Asia Minor. As he described each subject to me, he spoke of the Nestorians as heretics, because they were allowed, by the canons * The inscription is published in his collection, No. xxiii. f Scliulz, No. xxiv. 410 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XVIII. of their church, to marry their mothers anil grandmothers ; of the Protestants as freemasons or atheists ; and of the great nations of Europe as the Portuguese, the Inglese, the Muscovs, and the Ahhash (Abyssinians). I found two short cuneiform inscriptions ; one on a stone amongst the ruins of the old church, the other built into the walls of the new.* They also belong to Minnas, and merely contain the name and titles of the king. * Nos. xxvili. and xxix. Schulz’s Collection. Schulz gives three from this convent, one of which may have been covered by the ruins of the former church since his visit. Xiird. of the neigbljourlicod of Wan. A Nestorian Family employed in the Excavations at Kouyunjik. CHAP. XIX. LEAVE WAN. THE ARMENIAN PATRIARCH. — THE ISLAND OF AKHTAMAR. AN ARMENIAN CHURCH. — HISTORY OF THE CONVENT. PASS INTO MUKUS. THE DISTRICT OF MUKUS OF SHATTAK — OF NOURDOOZ. A NESTORIAN VILLAGE. ENCAMPMENTS. MOUNT ARARAT. MAR SHAMOUN. — JULA- MERIK. VALLEY OF DIZ. — PASS INTO JELU. NESTORIAN DISTRICT OF JELU. AN ANCIENT CHURCH. THE BISHOP. — DISTRICT OF BAZ OF TKHOMA. RETURN TO MOSUL. Sickness had overcome both Dr. Sandwith and Mr. Cooper. A return to the burning plains of Assyria might have proved fatal, and I advised them to seek, Avithout further delay, the cooler climate of Europe. Mr. Walpole, too, who had been long suf- fering from fever, now determined upon quitting my party and taking the direct road to Erzeroom. In the afternoon of the 12th August I left the gates of the con- vent of Yedi Klissia with Mi’. Hormuzd Rassam. Once more I Avas alone with my faithful friend, and Ave trod together the wind- ing pathway Avhich led down the mountain side. We had both been suffering from fever, but Ave still had strength to meet its 412 NINEVKII AND BABYLON. [CuAi>. XIX. attacks, and to bear cheerfully, now unhindered, the difficulties and anxieties of our wandering life. We made a short journey of three and a lialf hours to the ])lea- sant village of Artainit or Adremit, and encamped beneath its fruit trees in a garden near the lake.* Our path on the following day led through a hilly district, sometimes edging a deep bay, then again winding over a rocky promontory. We crossed by a bridge the large stream which we had seen at Mahmoudlyah, and ■which here discharges itself into the lake. The feast of St. George had been celebrated during the previous day at the church of Narek, and we passed, as we rode along, merry groups of Ar- menians returning from their pilgrimage. The women, seated with their children on the backs of mules and asses, and no lon"er fearing the glances of haughty Kurds, had lifted their veils from their ruddy faces. They were dressed In scarlet cloaks, which half concealed their festive robes. To their platted hair was attached a square black pad of silk hung with tassels, and some- times with coins. INIost of the men carried umbrellas to pro- tect themselves from the rays of the sun. In the midst of them we met, surrounded by a crowd of adherents, the Patriarch of Akhtamar, once the head of the Armenian Church, but now only recognised by a small section of Christians living in the province of Wan. He rode a mule, and was dressed in long black robes, with a silken cowl hanging over his head. Several youthful priests, some carrying silver-headed wands, followed close behind him. He was on his way to the city, and I thus lost the oppor- tunity of seeing him at his residence on the sacred island. On the shores of the lake we found many encampments of gipsies ; the men to be distinguished by their swarthy countenances, the women and children by their taste for beggino-. We passed through Vastan ; in the eleventh century the residence of the royal Armenian family of Ardzrouni, but now a mere village. The convent boat was on the beach, three miles above the usual landing-place. Four sturdy monks were about to row it back to the island. As they offered to take me with them, I left the cara- van to journey onwards to our night’s encamping place, and with ]\Ir. llassam and the Bairakdar, we were soon gliding over the calm surface of the lake. Not a breeze rippled the blue expanse. The burning rays of the sun were still bill upon us, and the pant- * Tliei-e are two cuneiform inscriptions near the village, -which are included in Schulz’s collection. CuAP. XIX.] AN ARMENIAN CIIURCII. 413 ing boatmen were nearly two hours before they reached the convent. In the absence of the Patriarch we were received by an intelliuent and courteous monk named Klrikor. His lialr, as well as his beard, had never known tlie scissors, and fell In long luxuriant curls over his shoulders. It was of jetty black, for he was still a young man, although he had already passed twenty years of a monastic life. Pie led us through an arched doorway Into the spacious courtyard of the convent, and thence into an upper room furnished with comfortable divans for the reception of guests. Tea was brought to us after the Persian fashion, and afterwards a more substantial breakfast, in wliicli the dried fish of the lake formed the principal dish. Klrikor had visited Jeru- salem and Constantinople, had read many of the works issued by the Venetian press, and was a man of superior acquirements for an Armenian monk of the orthodox faitli. Tlie church, wliich is within the convent walls, is built of the sandstone of a rich deep red color that has been quarried for the turbehs of Akhlat. Like other religious edifices of the same period and of the same nation, it is in the form of a cross, with a small hexagonal tower, ending in a conical roof, rising above the centre. The first monastery was founded by a Prince Theodore in A.D. 653 : and the church is attributed to the Armenian king Kak- hik, of the family of Ardzrouni, who reigned in the tenth century ; but the island appears from a very remote date to have con- tained a castle of the Armenian kings. The entrance and vesti- bule of the church are of a different style from the rest of the building, being a bad imitation of modern Italian architectui’e. They were added about one hundred years ago by a patriarch, whose tomb is in the courtyard. The interior is simple. A few rude pictures of saints and miracles adorn tlie walls, and a gilded throne for the Patriarch stands near the altar. The exterior, how- ever, is elaborately ornamented with friezes and broad bands of sculptured figures and scroll woi'k, the upper part being almost covered with bas-reliefs, giving to the whole building a very striking and original appearance. The conical roof of the tower, rising over the centre of the cross, rests iqion a frieze of hares, foxes, and other animals. Above arched windows are bands of rich foliage, and beneath them, at the base of the tower, a row of small vaulted recesses. T'he roof of the transept is supported by human heads. Beneath is a frieze, Assyrian in its charac- ter, and resembling the embossed designs on some of the bronze 414 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIX. dishes described in a 2 >i’evious Chapter.* It consists of lions springing upon stags, and figures of wild goats, hares, and deer. Under the projecting roof of the aisle is a frieze, formed of bundles of grapes mingled with grotesque forms of men, animals, and birds. Next is a row of the heads of similar figures, pro- jecting in high relief from the wall. They are succeeded by bas- reliefs representing Scripture stories from the Old and New Tes- taments, divided into separate subjects by medallions with images of Armenian saints. An elaborate border of scroll work completes the exterior decoration about half way up the building. The human form is rudely portrayed in these sculptures ; but the general design is far from inelegant, and the ornaments rich and appro- priate. I know of no similar specimen of Armenian architecture, and I regret that time would not allow me to make detailed draw- ings of the edifice.f In a gi'ave-yard outside the church are several most elaborately carved tombstones belonging to the early Armenian patrlai’chs. That of Zachariah, who died in the fourteenth century, and who was for one year 2 )atrlarch at Echmiadsin and for nine years at Akhtamar, is especially worthy of notice for the richness and elegance of its ornaments. In the portico is a circular black stone, like a millstone, with short cuneiform inscriptions on the two flat sides. They contain the name of the king who carved the great tablet of the Meher Kapousi near Wan, which Dr. Hincks reads Minnas. The inscrip- tions do not appear to record any events of importance.! A library of manuscripts, said to have been once preserved in the convent, no longer exists. Kirikor assured me that many works of value had been removed some years ago to the capital by oi’der of the Constantinopolitan Patriarch. The Patriai’chate of Akhtamar, or Aghthamar, was founded in 1113 by an archbishop of the island, who declared himself inde- pendent of the universal Patriarch, residing at Echmiadsin. Its jurisdiction docs not extend far beyond the immediate neighbour- hood of Wan, and the ecclesiastic who fills the office is generally even more ignorant than other dignitaries of the Armenian * Chapter VIII. f This building affords another clue to the origin of the early Mussulman architecture — Arab and Tatar — of which remains exist in many parts of Asia Minor, and particularly at Akhlat. ! Nos. XX. and xxi. in Schulz’s collection. One inscription contains ten, and the other, nine short lines. Chap. XIX.] VILLAGE OF NAREK. 415 Church. The present Patriarch, I was informed, obtained his no- mination by bribing the celebrated Kurdish chief, Khan Mahmoud, within whose territories his followers mainly reside. The convent and church are built on a small rocky island about five miles from the shore. On an adjacent islet are the ruined Avails of a castle partly covered by the rising waters of the lake. Intercourse with the main land is carried on by the one crank boat which, whenever the Aveather permits, goes backAvards and for- Avards daily for such provisions as are required by the inmates of the monastery. Khan Mahmoud took the place by collecting together the vessels belonging to Wan for the transport of his troops. Late in the afternoon, accompanied by the monk Klrikor, I Avas roAved to the farm and garden belonging to the convent, near the village of Ashayansk. We had scarcely reached the land ere a violent storm of wind suddenly arose, and lashed the Avaters of the lake into liiofh waves croAvned Avlth foam. The monks dracsed o &0 the boat high on the beach to save it from being dashed to jiieces. I Avas Avell satisfied not to have encountered the gale, Avith which our frail bark could scarcely have struggled. It Avas, however, but one of those mountain squalls Avhich sometimes sweep doAvn the deep valleys, and expend their fury in a short hour. By sunset the air was again serene, and the face of the blue lake once more reflected, like a mirror, the snoAV-Avhlte gulls and black cormorants that floated on its surface. A fcAV monks live on the farm, and tend the property of the convent, supplying the Patriarch Avlth the produce of the dairy and orchards. They received us very hospitably. Kirikor rode Avith me on the following morning as far as the large Armenian village of Narek, in Avhich there is a church dedicated to St. George, much frequented in pilgrimage by the Christians of Wan and the surrounding country. It Avas built by one Tateos Arakil, in the ninth century, according to the priest of the place ; but, according to Kirikor, by a certain Theodorus in the time of King Kakhik. It has probably been added to and repaired at various periods, and there are parts, such as the belfry, which are modern, whilst others bear evident marks of antiquity. It is a strong solid build- ing, of the same red sandstone as the tombs of Akhlat. We had noAV left the lake of Wan, and our track led up a deep ravine, Avhlch gradually became more narroAV as Ave drew nigh to the high mountains that separated us from the unexplored districts of !Mukus and Bohtan. We passed a large Armenian village named 416 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. NIX. Pagwantz, near which, on the summit of a precipitous rock, stands the ruined castle of Khan Malimoud, tlie rebel chief. He was the eldest of seven brothers, all of whom governed under him different districts on the borders of the lake, and soi’cly op- pressed the Christian inhabitants. Five were captured and are in banishment. On both sides of the ravine were villages and ruined castles. Numerous streams from the hill-sides irrigated plots of cultivated ground. Ere long we entered a rocky barren tract, patched here and there with fragrant Alpine flowers. After climbing up a steep declivity of loose stones like the moraine of a Swiss glacier, and dragging our horses with much difficulty after us, we found oui'selves amidst eternal snow, over which we toiled for nearly two hours, until we reached the crest of the mountain, and looked down into the deep valley of Mukus. This is con- sidered one of the highest passes in Kurdistan, and one of the most difficult for beasts of burden. The flocks of the nomade Kurds of Bohtan were feeding in the gullies, cropping the sweet and tender hei’bs nourished by the snow. The descent was even more rapid and precipitous than the ascent, and we could scarcely pre- vent our weary horses from rolling down into the ravine with the stones wdiicli we put into motion at every step. At the foot of the pass is a small Armenian church called Khorous Kllssla, or “ the church of the cock,” because a black cock is said to Avarn the traveller when the snowdrifts hide the mountain tracks. There Avas no other patlnvay doAvn the rocky ravine than the dry bed of the torrent. As we approached the Avidening valley the springs beffan to collect together and to form a considerable stream, throu<>:h Avhich we had to wade as we best could. A track, occasionally followed by the solitary foot -traveller, and by the shepherds in their periodi- cal migrations to the uplands, had been carried here and there over the foaming AA^ater by trunks of trees. But these simple bridges had been Avashed away during a recent storm. Leaving the laden horses to find their Avay over the stones and through the torrent, I rode oiiAvards Avith Ilormuzd. We passed soon after a deep natural cavern, from Avhich biu’st, Avhite Avitli foam and struggling through a bed of pink flowers, a most abundant spring. This Avas one of the prlncijial sources of the eastern branch of the Tigris, here called the river of Mukus, Avhieh, according to an Armenian tradition, only issued from the rock for about five hundred years ago. A ride of eight hours brought us to the large scattered village of Mukus, the principal place of the district of the same name. Chap. XIX.] THE DISTRICT OF MUKUS. 417 We were met, as we drew near, by the Mudir or governor, an active bustling Turk, who liad already chosen, with the usual taste of an Eastern, the prettiest spot, a lawn on the banks of the river, for our tents, and had collected provisions for ourselves and our horses. The good Pasha of Wan had sent to the dif- ferent chiefs on our way, and had ordered preparations to be everywhere made for our reception. The Tigris is here a deep stream, and is crossed by a stone bridge. Tlie houses are built witliout order, on the slopes of the mountain, each family choosing some open place more free from stones than the usual rocky de- clivities to cultivate a small plot of ground. There is no room for them in the narrow valley. The place may contain altogether about two thousand inhabitants. The district of Mukus, anciently Mogkh, and one of the pro- vinces of the Armenian kingdom, had only lately been brought under the authority of the Sultan.* Like the rest of this part of Kurdistan, it had long maintained its independence under here- ditary chiefs, the last of whom, Abdal Bey, after several times defeating the Turkish troops sent against him, was at length cajitured as he was flying into Persia. Of its sixty villages forty are inhabited by Christian Armenians. The revenues amounted the year of my visit to little more than 100,000 piastres (about 910/.), of which the village of Mukus contri- buted 42,000. The garrison consisted of only forty regular soldiers and forty Albanians, so completely had the seizure of their chiefs discouraged the wild Kurdish tribes who dwell in the mountains, and were formerly in open rebellion against the Porte. This nomade race forms the principal part of the Mus- sulman population, and is the most fierce and independent in Kurdistan. Mukus was anciently celebrated for its mines. Kone are now worked, and even the site of the greater part of them is unknown. The Pasha of Wan had sent miners from Arghana to examine those of silver and copper, but their report being unfavorable, no further attempt was made to explore them. The Armenians of Mukus weave the striped woollen stuffs, some of rich * The ancient Armenian province of Mogkh was bounded on the south by a part of Assyria called by the Armenians Arovasdan. It was governed by Ar- menian princes, whose descendants still reigned there in the tenth century. (St. Martin, i. 175., who by mistake places Mukus on the Khabour.) Ammianus Marcellinus mentions the district under the name of Moxoene. According to a tradition, the mountains to the south of the lake of Wan were the original seat of the Armenian race. (St. Martin, i. 206.) E E 418 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIX. color and fine texture, worn by the Kurds, and export a little honey and wax, but have no other trade. The border districts are Karkar (containing about eighteen villages), Ivhiawash, Isparut, Bidar, and Shattak.* The IMudir showed the greatest anxiety for our welfare during the night, continually visiting our tents to see that the Albanians he had placed as guards over our property did not sleep, as the village swarmed with Bohtan thieves. The principal Armenians of Mukus with their pi’iests spent a morning with me. They knew of no ruins or inscriptions in the district, and I found them even more ignorant than their fellow-countrymen of the districts around Wan, whose stupidity has passed into a Turkish proverb. Long subjection to the Kurds and a constant intercourse with INIussuhnans, have led them to adopt their manners and dress ; their religion at the same time consists of mere outward profession, and the punctual perform- ance of a few ceremonies and fasts. We left Mukus early in the afternoon, accompanied by the IMudir. The path following the course of the river, leads to Sert Jezireh and the Assyrian plains. We soon turned from it, and entered a valley running eastwards. On the mountain-sides Avere many villages, buried, like those of Tiyari, in orchards and groves of Avalnuts. We forced our Avay through thickets and through matted climbing plants hanging from the branches of trees, the track being continually lost in rivulets or in Avater- courses for irrigation. The A'alley soon narrowed into a wild gorge. High above us In a cave in the rock Avas an ancient Chris- tian chapel, which I visited, but Avithout finding anything of in- terest in it. The ravine ended at length In the gardens of Aurenj. We chose amongst them a sheltered nook for our night’s resting- place. Next day Ave crossed a high mountain ridge covei’ed in some places Avlth snow, separating the district of Mukus from that of Shnttak. Its northern and Avestern slopes are the summer pas- tures of the Miran Kurds, Avhose flocks Avere still feeding on the * The principal villages in the Mukus district are A ughin, Nourav'os, Kasr, Achichos, Kerkichos, Aurenj, Kotzabiloor, Auveriss, Parangos, Mangoneh, Koinos, Ketchoks, Ainaghus, Marakos, and Berwar. Of the nine districts into which, according to the Armenian Avriters, the province of Mogkh Avas divided, I could recognise no name in the modern villages and valleys. From IMukus to Jezireh there are five caravan days’ journeys, and to Sert three, by difEcult mountain roads. Chap. XIX.] THE DISTRICT OF SHATTAK. 419 green lawns and in the flowery glens. On the opposite side of the pass we found an encampment of Hartushi Kurds, under one Omar Agha, a noble old chieftain, who welcomed us with un- bounded hospitality, and set before me every luxury that he pos- sessed. I could scarcely resist his entreaties that we should pass the night under his tent. I had honored it, he declared, by enter- ing into it. All that it contained, his children, his wives, and his flocks, were, upon his head, no longer his but my property. I had no wish to profit by his generosity, and at length we parted. Resuming our journey we descended by a precipitous pathway into a deep valley. A broad stream, another arm of the eastern Tigris, wound through it ; its glittering waters had been just visible amidst the gardens of Shattak, from the mountain-top. Here again the Mudir had been apprised of our coming, and was ready to receive us. He had collected provisions for ourselves and horses in an open space on the river bank. Shattak is a small town, rather than a village. It is chiefly inhabited by Armenians, an industrious and hardy race, cultivating the sides of the mountains, on which are built their villages, and weaving in considerable quantities the gay -colored woollen stuffs so much esteemed by the Kurds. In nearly every house was a loom, and the rattle of the shuttle came from almost every door. The large and flourishing Armenian communities inhabiting the valleys between lake Wan and the district of Jezireh, appear to be unknown to modern geographers, and are unnoticed in our best maps. The difficulties and dangers of the road have hitherto deterred travellers from entering their mountains. The existence of this people in the very heart of Kurdistan might, if taken ad- vantage of by the Porte, be the means of establishing an impor- tant trade, and of quieting and civilising a country but recently brought under its rule. The mountains produce galls, wool (some of which has the same silky texture as that of Angora), the small under-wool of the goat called teftik (a valuable article of export), and minerals. In the bazar at Shattak I saw a few English prints, and other European wares brought for sale fi'om Wan. The priests and principal Armenians of the place came to me soon after my arrival, and I learnt from them that efforts had already been made to inijirove the condition of the Christian com- munity, now that the oppressive rule of the Kurdish hereditary chiefs had been succeeded by the more tolerant government of the E E 2 420 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIX. Sultan. A school had been opened, chiefly by the help of Sheran, the active and liberal Armenian banker of Wan. The town itself is called by the Armenians Tank, by the Kurds Shokh, and when spoken of together with the numerous villages that surround it, Shattak. It stands near the junction of two considerable streams, forming one of the head-waters of the eastern Tigris, and uniting with the Bohtan-Su. The largest comes from the district of Albagh. These streams, as well as that of Mukus, abound in trout of the most delicious flavor. The entire district contains fifty villages and numerous mezras or hamlets. The revenues are about the same as those of Mukus. A few Mus- sulmans live on the right bank of the stream opposite Shokh, round the ruins of an old castle, medresseh (college), and mosque, all apparently at one time handsome and well-built edifices. They prove that the place was once a flourishing Mohammedan town. The castle belonged to Nur-Ullah Bey, from whoin it was taken by Beder Khan Bey, who gave it to Omar Agha, a chief of the Ilartushi Kurds, the last independent lord of the place. We left Shokh on the 17th August by a bridge crossing the principal stream. The Mudir rode with us up a steep moun- tain, rising on the very outskirts of the town. After a long and difficult ascent we came to a broad green platform called Tagu, the pastures of the people of Shattak, and now covered with their tents and flocks. This high ground overlooked the deep valleys, through which wound the two streams, and on whose sides were many smiling gardens and villages. We stopped at an encampment of Miran Kurds, a large and wealthy tribe, pas- turing their flocks far and wide over the mountains and ravines of Shattak and Nourdooz. Their chief had died five days before. We had passed on the road his son, a boy covered with em- broidery and gold, and surrounded by armed servants. He was on his way to Wan to receive a cloak of investiture from the Pasha, who had I’ecognised him as lord of the clan. Crossing a high mountain pass, on which snow still lingered, we descended into a deep valley like that of Shattak, chiefly cul- tivated by Armenians. We crossed a small stream, and ascended on the opposite side to Ashkaun, whose inhabitants were outside the village, near a clear spring, wasliing and shearing their sheep. We had now entered Nourdooz, a district under a Mudir ap- pointed by the Pasha of Wan, and living at a large village called Pir-bedelan, Chap. XIX.] A NESTORIAN EXCAMPMENT. 421 Our ride on the following day was over upland pastures of great richness, and through nan-ow valleys watered by numerous streams. Here and there were villages inhabited by Kurds and Armenians. We were now approaching the Nestorian districts. The first man of the tribe we met was an aged buffalo-keeper, who, in answer to a question in Kurdish, spoke to me in the Chaldee dialect of the mountains. Hormuzd and my servants rejoiced at the prospect of leaving the Armenian settlements, whose inhabitants, they de- clared, were for stupidity worse than Kurds, and for rapacity worse than Jews. Chilghiri was the first Nestorian village on our way. The men, with their handsome wives and healthful children, came out to meet us. We did not st02i there, but continued our journey to Merwanen, which we found deserted by its inhabitants for the Zomas, or summer pastures. The Kiayah, or chief, however, with one or two of his people, had ridden down to examine the state of the crops, and turning his horse he led us up the steej) j)athway to his tents. They were huddled up in a little rocky nook, high on the mountain, and in the midst of snow. Unlike the Kurds, the Nestorians do not shift their encaiuji- ments, but remain on one spot during the whole time tliey are in the Zomas. They thus live for some months in the midst of the dung of animals and filth of all kinds, whilst vermin abounds as plentifully as in their wretched villages. The cattle and flocks are ke^it during the night in folds, formed by a circular wall four or five feet high, built of loose stones. The dwellings indeed consist of little more than such rude inclosures, with coarse black ffoat-hair canvas stretched over them. As the nights are cold, and jirotection from the high winds is necessary in these lofty regions, a shallow pit is dug in the centre of the hut, in which the family crouches for warmth when not engaged in out- door occupations. Although jioor and needy, the peojile of Mer- wanen were not less hospitable than other Nestorians I had met with. They brought us as the sun went down smoking messes of millet boiled in sour milk and mixed with mountain herbs. The Nestorian Christians of these Kurdish districts dress like their Mussulman neighbours, and can scarcely be distinguished from them. They still go armed, and are less exjiosed to oppression tlian the suffering tribes of Tiyari. The Kiayah and a party of musketeers escorted us next day to a large encampment of Har- tushi Kurds, near the outlet of a green valley, watered by many £ £ 3 422 KINEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap, XIX. streams, forming the most easterly sources of the Tigris.* Abd- ur-Rahman, the chief, was absent from his tents collecting the annual salian or revenue of the tribe. In his absence we were received under his capacious goat- hair tent by a conceited mollah, who, being the spiritual adviser of its master, considered himself also the joint owner of his personal property. lie did the honors, as if we were his guests, in a very patronising fashion. A scene of activity rarely witnessed in a Kurdish community reigned around. The banks of a small stream runnins: throusch the midst of the camp were crowded with sheep : some being washed in the pure water, others being under the scissors of the shearers. Groups of boys and women were already beating and pressing the newly cut wool into felt, a manufacture of the Hartushi Kurds much prized for its close yet soft texture. In the tents girls were seated before the long wai’ps stretched over the green-sward for the woof of their beautiful carpets. I was not unknown to these mountaineers, who wander during the winter in the plains to the east of the Tigris, below Jezireh, and frequently come into Mosul to trade. A group of chiefs, gaily dressed in the striped cloth of Bohtan, soon collected round us. The wives of Abd-ur-Rahman Agha did not suffer their liusband’s good name for hospitality to be forfeited. Although Hormuzd and myself w'ere the only partakers of the feast, a primitive table-cloth formed of the skins of the wild goat was spread before us, and covered with a gi’eat pile of the white and delicate mountain bread. The mountain rising above us Avas the boundary betAveen the pashalics of Wan and Hakkiari and the Avatershed of the Tigris and Zab. On the opposite side the streams uniting their waters flowed tOAvards the latter river. The first district Ave entered was that of Lewen, inhabited chiefly by Nestorians. The Avhole population with their flocks had deserted their villages for the Zomas. We ascended to the encampment of the people of Billi, a Avretched assemblage of dirty hovels, half tent and half cabin, built of stones and black canvas. Behind it towered, amidst eternal snoAvs, a bold and majestic peak, called Karnessa-ou-Daoleh.f Round the base of this mountain, over loose stones and sharp rocks, and through ravines deep in snoAV, Ave dragged our Aveary horses next day. The Kurdish shepherds that Avander there, The several streams forming the headwaters of the eastern branch of the Tigris mentioned in this Chapter Avere not before known, I believe, to geo- graphers. t The encampment at Billi was 8612 feet above the level of the sea. Chap. XIX.] MOUNT ARARAT. 423 a wild and hardy race, have no tents, but, during the summer months, live in the open fields with their floeks, without any covering whatever. After a wearisome and indeed dangerous ride, we found ourselves on a snowy platform variegated with Alpine plants. The tiny streams which trickled through the ice were edged with forget- me-nots of the tenderest blue, and with many well-remembered European flowers. I climbed up a solitary rock to take bearings of the principal peaks ai'ound us. A sight as magnificent as unexpected awaited me. Far to the north, and high above the dark mountain ranges which spread like a troubled sea beneath my feet, rose one solitary cone of unspotted white sparkling in the rays of the sun. Its form could not be mistaken ; it was INIount Arai’at. My Nestorian guide knew no more of this stately mountain, to him a kind of mythic land far beyond the reach of human travel, than that it was witliin the territories of the Muscovites, and that the Christians called it Bashut-tama- hamda. From this point alone was it visible, and we saw' it no more during our journey.* To the east of us wei’e mountains scarcely less imposing or picturesque in form than Ararat, but more rocky and more naked. \Ve were again drawing near to the lofty peaks of Jelu, beneath whose eastern precipices we had journeyed in the plain of Gaour. But the Zab divided us from them. Into the deep and narrow valley through wdiich this river flows we gazed from the top of the Kar- nessa-ou-Daoleh Pass. Over against us were the Nestorian dis- tricts, at one time inhabited by the only Independent Christian tribes of Asia, and still the dwelling-places of this remnant of a primitive church. We descended rapidly by a difficult track, passing here and there encampments of Km-ds and the tents and flocks of the people of Julamerik. To the green pastures succeeded the region of cul- tivated fields, and we seemed to approach more settled habitations. Following a precipitous pathway, and mounted on a tall and sturdy mule, we spied an aged man wdth long robes, black turban, and a white beai’d which fell almost to his girdle. A few lusty moun- taineers, in the striped dress and conical felt eap of the Christian tribes, walked by his side and supported him on the animal, which with difficulty scrambled over the loose stones. We at once re- * The bearing I obtained of Mount Ararat (N”. 13°. 30" E.), corresponds correctly with its position on the best maps. Our distance was about 145 miles. £ £ 4 424 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIX. cognised the features of Mar Shamoun, the Patriareh of the Nes- torians, or, as he proudly terms himself, “ of the Chaldaeans of the East.” He had not known of our coming, and he shed tears of joy as he embraced us. Kochhannes, his residence, was not far distant, and he turned back with us to the village. Since I had seen him misfortune and grief, more than age, had w'orn deep furrows in his brow, and had turned his hair and beard to silvery grey. We had last met at Mosul, the day previous to his escape from confine- ment into Persia. Since that time he had been wandering on the confines of the two border counti’ies, but had now sought repose once more in the old seat of the patriarchs of the mountain tribes. We soon reached his dwelling. It is solidly built of hewn stone, and stands on the very edge of a precipice overhanging a ravine, through which winds a branch of the Zab. A dark vaulted passage led us into a room, scarcely better lighted by a small window, closed by a greased sheet of coarse paper. The tattered remains of a felt carpet, spread in a corner, was the whole of its furniture. The garments of the Patriarch were hardly less worn and ragged. Even the miserable allowance of 300 piastres (about 21. 10s.), which the Porte had promised to pay him monthly on his return to the mountains was long in arrears, and he was supported entirely by the contributions of his faithful but poverty-stricken flock. Kochhanes was, moreover, still a heap of ruins. At the time of the massacre Mar Shamoun scarcely saved himself by a precipitous flight before the ferocious Kurds of Beder Khan Bey entered the village and slew those who still lingered in it, and were from age or infirmities unable to escape. Mar Shamoun, at the time of my visit, had no less cause to bewail the misfortunes of his people than his personal sufferings. The latter were perhaps partly to be attributed to his own want of prudence and foresight. Old influences, which I could not but deeply deplore, and to which I do not in Christian charity wish further to allude*, had been at work, and I found him even more bitter in his speech against the American missionaries than against his Turkish or Kurdish oppressors. He had been taught, and it is to be regretted * Those who wish to have a painful picture of the nature of the interference amongst the Nestorians, to which I allude, may read Mr. Badger’s Nestorians and their Rituals, and Mr. Fletcher’s Travels in Assyria. Although Mr. Badger natur.ally gives his own version of these transactions, the impartial reader will have no difficulty in seeing the misfortunes to which the unfortunate opposition to the American missions naturally led. Chap, XIX.] THE NESTORIAN PATRIARCH. 425 that his teachers were of the Church of England, that those who were endeavoring to eivilise and instruct his flock were seceders from the orthodox community of Christians, heretical in doctrine, rejecting all the sacraments and ordinanees of the true faith, and intent upon reducing the Nestorians to their own hopeless condition of infidelity. His fears were worked on by the assur- anee that, ere long, through their means and teaching, his spi- ritual as well as his temporal authority would be entirely de- stroyed. I found him bent upon deeds of violence and intolerant persecution, which might have endangered, for the second time, the safety of this people as well as his own. I strove, and not without success, to calm his unreasonable violence. I pointed out to him his true position with regard to the American missions, trying to remove the calumnies which had been heaped upon them, and to show in what respects they could benefit and improve the condition of the Nestorians. I could not disguise from him that in education and the free circulation of the Scriptures, there could alone be found any hope for his people. I showed him that, if he wished to foster an intei’est which had been naturally felt amongst Protestants for the remains of a primitive Church, exposed to great oppression and great sufferings, he must reform the abuses which had unfortunately crept into it, and endeavor to render his clergy equal to the task of instructing and guiding their flocks. He answered, as might have been expected, that he wished to be helped in that labor by priests of the episcopal Church of Eng- land, whose doctrines and discipline were more in conformity with the Nestorlan, than those of the American missionax'ies. If such men would join him, he was ready, he declared, to co-operate with them in reforming abuses, and educating the community. It was almost in vain I observed to him that, as the Church of England had hitherto not listened to his appeals, and as there was no immediate prospect of help from her, it was his duty, as well as his true interest, to assist in the good work so zealously and disinterestedly begun by the American missionaries, and which they were desirous of carrying on with his sanction and support. The Nestorlan community had greater wrongs to complain of than their Patriarch. The Turkish government, so far from ful- filling the pledges given to the British embassy, had sent officers to the mountains who had grievously ill-treated and oppressed the Christian inhabitants. The taxes, which the Porte had jiromised to remit for three years, in consideration of the losses sustained 426 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIX. by the unfortunate Kestorians during the massacres, had not been, it is true, levied for that time, but had now been collected al- together, whole districts being thus reduced to the greatest misery and want. Every manner of cruelty and torture had been used to compel the suffering Christians to yield up the little property they had concealed from the rapacity of the Turkish authori- ties. The pastures and arable lands around their villages had been taken away from them and given to their Kurdish tyrants. Taxes had been placed upon every object that could afford them food, and upon their mills, their looms, and their hives, even upon the bundles of dried grass for their cattle, brought with great labor from the highest mountains. There was no tribunal to which they could apply for redress. A deputation sent to the Pasha had been ill-treated, and some of its members were still in prison. There was no one in authority to plead for them. They had even suffered less under the sway of their old oppressors, for, as a priest touchingly remarked to me, “ The Kurds took away our lives, but the Turks take away wherewith we have to live.” My tents were pitched on a lawn near Mar Shamoun’s dwelling. Near to us was a small church, built about 150 years ago, on an iso- lated rock. The only entrance to it is by a low door, high up from the ground, and reached by a ladder. The interior consists of a yai’d in which service is performed during summer, and an inner chamber for winter. Mar Shamoun officiated every evening about sunset in the open air, reading the whole service himself, dressed in his usual robes. A few persons from the ruined village attended, and formed his conofreo:ation. We remained a day with the Patriarch, and then took the road to Julamerik, three caravan hours distant from Kochhannes. This town has been more than once visited and described by English travellers. Its castle, strongly built and defended by towers and bastions, is picturesquely situated upon a bold rock, overlooking the valley of the Zab. It was until lately held by the celebrated Kurdish rebel chief, Nur-Ullah Bey, but, since his capture, it has been garrisoned by a small force of Turkish regular troops. The town and bazars are far below it.* They were almost deserted, their inhabitants, as is the custom of the country, living in tents with their flocks amid the summer pastures on the mountains. • Julamerik is 5625 feet above the level of the sea. Chap. XIX.] TERILOUS MOUNTAIN TRAVELLING. 427 Near Julamerik we met many poor Nestorians flying, with their wives and ehilclren, they knew not whither, from the oppression of the Turkish governors. The direct road by Tiyari to Mosul is carried along the river Zab, through ravines searcely practical)le to beasts of burden. It issues into the lower valleys near the village of Lizan. In- stead, however, of descending the stream, we turned to the north, in order to cross it higher up by a bridge leading into Diz. I had not yet visited this Nestorian district. Mar Sha- moun, as well as the people of J ulamerik, declared that the moun- tain pathways could not be followed by beasts of burden ; but a man of Taal offering to show us a track open to horsemen, we placed ourselves under his guidance. On the banks of the Zab, I found the remains of an ancient road, cut in many places in the solid rock. It probably led from the Assyrian plains into the upper provinces of Armenia. There are no inscriptions or ruins to show the period of its construction ; but, from the greatness of the work, I am inclined to attribute it to the As- syrians. We picked our way over the slippery pavement as long as we could find some footing for oiu-selves and our beasts, but in many places, where it had been entirely destroyed, we were compelled to drag our horses by main force over the steep rocks and loose detritus, which sloped to the very edge of the river. At length, after many falls, and more than once turning back from the polished rocks, across which the track was carried, we found ourselves before a wicker suspension bridge. This primitive structure had been almost washed away by recent floods, and now hung from the tottering piers by a slender rope of twisted osiers. It seemed scarcely able to bear the weight of a man. However, some Nestorians, who, seeing us from the opposite side of the river, had come to our help, undertook to carry our baggage across, and then to lead the horses over one by one. After some delay this dangerous passage was effected without accident, and we entered the valley of Diz. But there was another stream between us and the first Nestorian villag-e. We had to ford an impetuous torrent boiling and foaming over smooth rocks, and reaching above our saddle-girths. One of the baggage mules lost its footing. The eddying waters hurried it along and soon hurled it into the midst of the Zab. The animal having, at length, re- lieved itself from its burden, swam to the bank. Unfortunately it bore my own trunks ; my notes and inscriptions, the fruits 428 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIX. of my labors at Wan, together with the little property I possessed, were carried far away by tlie stream. After the men from the village had long searched in vain, the lost load was found about midnight, stopped by a rock some miles down the river. We passed the night in the miserable village of llabban Au- dlshio. Only two families dwelt in it; the other inhabitants had been slain in the massacre. The church was large, but de- serted, for there was no priest to serve in it. Three brothers, who owned the only huts still standing near, fed a few lamjis with oil, and burnt daily before the altar a little incense, whose grateful perfume scented the evening breeze. Near the church were the ruins of a former dwelling-place of Mar Shamoun, who once re- sided in this village. On the opposite side of the valley, but high in the mountains, was the village of Seramus. The pathway to it being precipitous, and inaccessible even to mules, we turned to Madis, the residence of the Melek, or chief, of the district of Diz. We crossed the stream by a rude bridge consisting of two poles, resting on opposite rocks. The horses and mules again forded the torrent, but this time without mishap. The Melek was abroad collecting the taxes, which he had been summoned to pay to the governor of Julamerik. The villages of Diz, like those of the Nestorlan valleys in general, stand in the midst of orchards and cultivated terraces. They were laid waste, and the houses burnt, during the first massacre. Diz was the first Christian district attacked by Beder Khan Bey. The Inhabitants made a long and deter- mined resistance, but were at length overpowered by numbers. Those who fell into the hands of the Kurdish chieftain were put to death without mercy, none being spared, as in Tiyari, for slaves. The trees were cut down, and the villages reduced to their pre- sent state of misery ^md desolation. They might slowly have re- covered had not the Turks, by an unjust and oppressive system of government and taxation, checked all the efforts of these poor but industrious people to cultivate their lands, and rebuild their ruined dwellings. We continued our journey through a deep and narrow valley hemmed in by high mountains and by perpendicular cliffs. The Melek met us on the road near the village of Cherichereh, or Kllssa. The old man turning back with me, I dismounted and sat with him beneath a walnut-tree. He had little to tell but the usual tale of misery and distress. The Tui’kish governor had called upon the district to pay about 1507., a small sum certainly, but Chap. XIX.] VALLEY OF DIZ. 429 more than he could collect by seizing all the little property of the inhabitants. Even the seed for their next harvest had been taken from them, as well as the very millet with which they made their coarse bread. The valley produces nothing but a little rice, garas (a kind of millet), and barley, a few walnut and apple trees and hemp. Scarcely any wheat is raised, and the taxes levied on mills almost prevent its being ground into flour. The district formerly contained thirteen villages. Only one hundred and twenty families with three priests were left. Many had run away to avoid the payment of taxes, and the rest only waited until they could escape the vigilance of the Turkish authorities to follow the ex- ample. Melek Beniamen implored me to help him in his diffi- culties ; but I could do no more than offer words of sympathy and consolation. Leaving the Melek to pursue his tax-gathering, we rode through a mngnificent valley, now narrowing into a wild gorge walled with precipitous cliffs, then opening into an amphitheatre of rocks encircling a village imbedded in trees. A church, called ]\Iar- shalita, built on a natural pinnacle, was a conspicuous object as we journeyed in the ravine below. It was far too high and difficult of access for the pious wayfarer to turn aside to it from his path ; a cross had, therefore, been rudely cut, by way of compromise, in a stone by the roadside beneath it, and the Nestorians who were with ns kissed it reverentially as we passed. Another lofty rock was pointed out to us as the place of refuge of a few of those who escaped the massacre : on a third could be seen the remains of an ancient castle, attributed, like all such ruins in the East, to the Franks. The valley at length was abruptly closed by the towering peaks and precipices of the Jelu mountain. At its foot is the village of Khouresin, where we encamped for the night. The inhabitants were, for the most part, like the other people of Dlz, in the Zomas, or summer pastures. The next morning, after with difficulty dragging our weary beasts up a steep and even dangerous mountain track, we found the Nestorian families with their flocks at the very base of those cliffs of naked rock, which, rising far above the surrounding moun- tains of Hakkiari, form the peak of Jelu, and are visible even from INIosul. On all sides of them was snow ; but the small recess in which they had built their miserable hovels of loose stones, mud, and dried grass, was carpeted with Alpine herbs and flowers. These poor people were in extreme wretchedness and want; even their clothing had been taken for taxes. 430 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIX, Not far from the Zomas of Diz were the tents of the vlllajiers of Jelu. They also had encamped on the very verge of eternal snow, but within the boundaries of Diz, as there were no pastures on the other side of the pass in their own district. They wei’e better clothed, and showed more signs of comfort, if not of wealth, than their unfortunate neighbours. Many of the men spoke a little Arabic, and even Turkish, learnt during their yearly visits as basket-makers to the low country. We were still separated from the valley of Jelu by a shoulder jutting from the lofty Soppa-Durek mountain. Before reaching this rocky ridge we had to cross a broad tract of deep snow, over which we had much difficulty in dragging our heavily-laden mules. When on the crest of the pass we found ourselves surrounded on all sides by rugged peaks, the highest being that known as the Toura Jelu, of which we had scarcely lost sight from the day we had left Mosul. It is probably the highest mountain in central Kurdistan, and cannot be under, if it be not Indeed above, 15,000 feet. On its precipitous sides, rising like an artificial wall of rock, the snow cannot rest ; but around it are eternal glaciers. Some Nestorian hunters assured me that they had followed the wild goat even to its summit, whence they gazed upon a view of sub- lime extent and grandeur, the Desert stretching like a vast sea beneath tliem, and the city of IMosul distinctly visible in the dis- tance. The pass we crossed before descending into the valley of Jelu is considered the highest in the Nestorian country, and is probably more than 11,000 feet above the level of the sea.* These mountains abound in bears, leopards, wolves, chamois, wild goats, and sheep, of which I was assured there are three distinct varieties. The lai’ge yellow partridge, as well as the red- legged, are also found in great numbers. From the top of the pass we looked down into a deep abyss. The flocks of the Jelu villagers had worn a small pathway in its almost perpendicular sides during their periodical migrations to and from the Zomas ; but frequently it was only marked by a polished line across flat, slippeiy rocks of enormous breadth, or by a faint streak over the loose stones. Down this terrible descent we had to drag our jaded horses, leaving our track marked in blood. I have had some experience in bad mountain roads, but I do not remember to have seen any much worse than that lead- * According to observation by the boiling water thermometer the encamp- ment of the people of Jelu was 10,000 feet above the level of the sea, conse- quently the crest of the pass must have exceeded 1 1 ,000. Chap. XIX.] THE NESTORIANS OF JELU. 431 ing into Jelu. After numerous accidents and great labor we left a rocky gully, and found ourselves on a slope ending, at a dizzy depth, in a torrent scarcely visible from our path. The yielding soil offered even a more difficult footing for our beasts than the polished rocks. One of our mules soon fell, and rolled over and over with an avalanche of stones for two or three hundred feet. We fully expected to find the animal dashed to pieces ; but breaking away from the broad pack-saddle, it con- trived to check its rapid course and to regain its legs. Its load, however, was hurled into the valley, and we watched it as it bounded from rock to rock, until it was lost to sight in the depths below. We continued our journey, and it was an hour or two before the active mountaineers succeeded in recovering our lost baggage. The wild mountain ravine was now changed for the smiling valley of Jelu. Villages, embowered in trees, filled every nook and shel- tered place. We descended to Zerin or Zerayni, the principal settlement, and the residence of the Melek. To our left were two other villages, Alzan and Meedee. As my large caravan descended the hill-side, the inhabitants of Zerin took us at once for Turks, and we lacked that hospitable reception which two or three years before would have awaited a stranger in these Christian communities. AVlierever the Osmanli has placed his foot, he has bred fear and distrust. His visit has ever been one of oppression and rapine. The scarlet caj:), and the well-known gai’b of a Turkish irregular, are the signals for a general panic. The women hide in the innermost re- cesses to save themselves from insult; the men slink into their houses, and offer a vain protest against the seizure of their pro- perty. In many parts of Turkey the new system and the better discipline of the army have placed a check upon these scenes of injustice and violence, and the villager may hope to get some, if not adequate, pay for the supj)lies he furnishes to tliose who quarter themselves upon him. But in the Nestorian valleys the old habits were still in vigor, and the appearance of a stranger caused a general hiding and dismay. When, at last, we had satis- fied the trembling people of Zerin that we were not Mussulmans, they insisted upon our being Americans, of whom they had, at that moment, for certain religious reasons, almost as great a distrust. At length they made out that I was the Balios* of * Consuls are so called in Southern Turkey and Persia, and all European strangers are supposed to be consuls. 432 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [CuAP. XIX. !Mosul, and the Melek arriving at tliis crisis we were received with due hospitality. Our baggage was cai’ried to the roof of a house, and provisions were brought to us without delay. Although, during his expedition into Tiyari, Beder Khan Bey had seized the flocks of the people of Jelu, and had coiupelled them, moreover, to pay large contributions in money and in kind, he had not been able to enter their deep and well-guarded valleys.* The blackened walls, the roofless house, the plundered church, and the neglected vineyard, which marked in other parts of the moun- tains the once flourishing villages of the Nestorian tribes, did not disfigure the smiling district of Jelu. Its inhabitants, too, still maintained to a certain extent the appearance of their former prosperity, notwithstanding the rapacity and injustice of their new masters. Both men and women were gaily dressed in the many-coiored garments usually worn by their Mussulman neigh- bours. The Nestorlans of Jelu have no trade to add to their wealth. Shut out from all intercourse with the rest of the world, dui’lng six months of the year, by the deep snows of the lofty moun- tains that surround them, it is only in summer that they are able to exchange a few loads of fruit and a little honey and wax in the districts about Amadiyah for such supplies of corn as may serve for their immediate wants. Many of the men, however, wander during the winter into Asia Minor, and even into Syria and Palestine, following the trade of basket-making, in which they are very expert. Thus they save money, and are able in the summer to cultivate the land around their villages. There was only one priest in Zerin, and there appeared to be in Jelu less of that earnest religious feeling so peculiar to the Nestorians than in any other Christian district I had visited. The travels of the men, and their intercourse with the rest of the Christian world have not improved their morals, their habits, or their faith. f The district of Jelu is under a bishop whose spiritual jurisdic- tion also extends over Baz. He resides at Martha d’Umra (the village of the church) separated by a bold rocky ridge from Zerin. It was Sunday as we descended through orchards, by a precipitous * Beder Khan Bey was afterwards troubled by a conscientious scruple for not having also visited Jelu with fire and sword, and massacred the Infidels. He was projecting an invasion of the district the year that he was captured by the Turkish troops. t The villages of Jelu are Zorin, Biri Khanee, Martha d’Umra, Kara, Muta, Tellana, Bokhrani or Be Bukra, Uri, Nerik, Zer, Gubawa, Serpilta, Shemsiki, Maturie, Bispira, and Bakshi (Kurdish). Chap. XIX.] CHURCH IN VALLEY OF JELU. 433 pathway, to his dwelling. The bishop was away. He had gone lower down the valley to celebrate divine service for a distant congregation. The inhabitants of the village were gathered round the church in their holiday attire, and received us kindly and hos- pitably. From a belfry issued the silvery tones of a bell, which echoed through the valley, and gave an inexpressible charm to the scene. It is not often that such sounds break upon the tra- veller’s ear in the far East, to awaken a thousand pleasant thoughts, and to recall to memory many a happy hour. This church is said to be the oldest in the Nestorian mountains, and is a plain, substantial, square building, with a very small entrance. To me it was peculiarly interesting, as having been the only one that had escaped the ravages of the Kurds, and as containing therefoi’e its ancient furniture and ornaments. Both the church and the dark vestibule were so thickly hung with relics of the most singular and motley description, that the ceiling was completely concealed by them. Amongst the objects which first attracted my attention were numerous China bowls and jars of elegant form and richly colored, but black with the dust of ages. They were suspended, like the other relics, by cords from the roof. I was assured that they had been there from time out of mind, and had been brought from the distant empire of Cathay by those early missionaries of the Chaldaean Church, who bore the tidings of the gospel to the shores of the Yellow Sea. If such were really the case, some of them might date so far back as the sixth or seventh centuries, when the Nestorian Church flourished in China, and its missions were spread over the whole of central Asia. The villagers would not, in the absence of their bishop, allow me to move any of these sacred relics. The sister of the Patriarch, they said, had endea- vored to wash one some years before, and it had been broken. Hung with the Cliina vases was the strangest collection of objects that could well be imagined : innumerable bells, of all forms and sizes, many probably Chinese, suspended in long lines from one side to the other of the church, making a loud and discordant jingle when set in motion ; porcelain birds and animals, grotesque figures in bronze, remains of glass chandeliers, two or three pairs of old bullion epaulets, and a variety of other things, all brought at various periods by adventurous inhabitants of the village, who had wandered into distant lands, and had returned to their homes with some evidence of their travels to place in their native church. The walls were dressed with silks of every color and texture, and with common Manchester prints. Notwithstanding the undoubted F F 434 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XIX, antiquity of the church and Its escape from plunder, I searched in vain for ancient manuscripts. We followed the valley to the village of Nara, where the bishop was resting after his morning duties. A young man of lofty stature and handsome countenance, dressed In the red-striped loose garments of the Kurds, and only distinguished by a turban of black silk from those around him, came out to meet us. A less episcopal figure could scarcely be imagined ; but, although he seemed some Kiu’dlsh hunter or warrior, he gave us his benedic- tion as he drew near. We seated ourselves together beneath the shade of a gigantic tree ; and whilst the good people of the village were preparing a simple repast of yaghourt and garas, we discussed the affairs of the church and the political condition of the tribe. It was difficult to determine whom the poor bishop feared most, the Turks or the American missionaries; the first, he declared, threatened his temporal, the others his spiritual, authority. I gave him the best advice I was able on both subjects, and urged him not to reject the offer that had been made to instruct his people, but to identify himself with a progress on which might be founded the only reasonable hope for the regenei’ation of his creed and race. Unfortunately, as in the case of Mar Shamoun, strange influences had been at work to prejudice the mind of the bishop. A broad and rapid torrent crossed by a bridge, and a steep mountain wooded with oak, over which we climbed by a rugged pathway, separate the districts of Jelu and Baz. The first vil- lage we came to was Shouwa, but we rested for the night at Martha Akhtayiah *, adjoining Ergub, the furthest limits of my journey to the Nestorian districts in 1846. Our reception here was far different from that we had experienced in Jelu. We were at once recognised by the villagers. The men and women crowded round us, vieing with each other in offers of hospitality. We alighted at the clean and spacious house of the Melek, who was, however, away at the time of our arrival. The inhabitants had been shamefully ill-used and over-taxed by the Turkish au- thorities, and were driven to a state of despair. I had, as usual, to listen to sad tales of misery and misfortune, without having it in my power to offer either consolation or relief. We were now in the track I had followed during my former visit to the mountains.! Crossing the precipitous pass to the * 7. e. The lower village, corrupted into Maklitaijah. f Nineveh and its Remains, vol. i. p. 209. Chap. XIX.] NESTORIAN PERSECL’TIOXS. 435 west of Baz, which, since my first visit, had been the scene of one of the bloodiest episodes of the Nestorian massacre, we en- tered the long narrow ravine leading into the valley of Tkhoma. We stopped at Gunduktha, where, four years before, I had taken leave of the good priest Bodaka, who had been amongst tlie first victims of the fury of the Kurdish invaders. The Kasha, who now ministered to the spiritual wants of the people, the Rais of the village, and the principal inhabitants, came to us as we stopped In the churcliyard. But they were no longer the gaily dressed and well-armed men who liad welcomed me on my first jour- ney. Their garments were tattered and worn, and their counte- nances haggard and wan. The church, too, was in ruins ; around were the charred remains of the burnt cottages, and the neglected orchards ovei’grown with weeds. A body of Turkish troops had lately visited the village, and had destroyed the little that had been restored since the Kurdish invasion. The same taxes had been collected three times, and even four times, over. The rela- tions of those who had ran away to escape from these exactions had been compelled to pay for the fugitives. The chief had been thrown, with his arms tied behind his back, on a heap of burning straw, and compelled to disclose where a little money that had been saved by the villagers had been buried. The priest had been torn from the altar, and beaten before his congregation. Men showed me the marks of torture on their body, and of iron fetters round their limbs. For the sake of wringing a few piastres from this poverty-stricken people, all these deeds of vio- lence had been committed by officers sent by the Porte to pro- tect the Christian subjects of the Sultan, whom they pretended to have released from the misrule of the Kurdish chiefs. The smiling villages described in the account of my previous journey were now a heap of ruins. From four of them alone 770 persons had been slain. Beder Khan Bey had driven off, according to the returns made by the Meleks, 24,000 sheep, 300 mules, and 10,000 head of cattle; and the confederate chiefs had each taken a proportionate share of the property of the Christians. No flocks were left by which they might raise money wherewith to pay the taxes now levied upon them, and even the beasts of burden, which could have carried to the markets of more wealthy districts the produce of their valley, had been taken away.* * On my return to JSIosul I sent to Constantinople a report of the exactions and cruelties to which the Nestorians had been subjected by their Turkish rulers ; but nothing, I fear, has been done to amend their condition. r F 2 436 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [CiiAP.XIX. We remained a night in Tkhoma to see the iSIeleks who came to us from Tkhoma Gowaia. On the following morning, it being the Feast of the Virgin, the people assembled for prayers — a crowd of miserable, half-naked men, women, and children. Leav- ing the valley, we crossed the high mountain inclosing Tkhoma to the south, and passed through Pinianish into Chaal, a district in- habited by INIussulmans, and which had consequently not suffered from the ravages of the Kurdish chiefs. It presented, with its still flourishing villages surrounded by gardens and vineyards, a vivid contrast to the unfortunate Christian valley we had just left. A rapid descent through a rocky gorge brought us to the Zab, over which there were still the remains of a bridge, consisting of two poles fastened together by osier bands placed across the stone piers. It almost required the steady foot and practised head of a mountaineer to cross the roaring stream by this perilous structure. The horses and mules were with much trouble and delay driven into the river, and after buffeting with the whirlpools and eddies reached, almost exhausted, the opposite bank. We now entered the valley of Berwarl, and, crossing the pass of Amadlyah, took the road to Mosul, through a country I had already more than once visited. Leaving the caravan and our jaded horses, I hastened onwards with Hormuzd, and travelling through a night reached Mosul in the afternoon of the 30th of August, after an absence of seven weeks. Summer Sleep>m^ i'lace m the Hills I Arabs aad Nestonaus moving a Slab at Kouyunjik CHAP. XX. BISCOVERIES AT KOUYUNJIR DURING THE SUMMER. — DESCRIPTION OF THE SCULPTURES. CAPTURE OF CITIES ON A GREAT RIVER. POMP OF ASSYRIAN KING. — PASSAGE OF A RIVER ALABASTER PAVEMENT. — CONQUEST OF TRIBES INHABITING A MARSH. THEIR WEALTH. CHAMBERS WITH SCULP- TURES BELONGING TO A NEW KING. — DESCRIPTION OF THE SCULPTURES. CONQUEST OF THE PEOPLE OF SUSIANA. PORTRAIT OF THE KING. HIS GUARDS AND ATTENDANTS. THE CITY OF SHUSHAN. CAPTIVE PRINCE. MUSICIANS. — CAPTIVES PUT TO THE TORTURE. ARTISTIC CHARACTER OF THE SCULPTURES. AN INCLINED PASSAGE. — TWO SMAXL CHAMBERS. — COLOSSAL FIGURES. MORE SCULPTURES. Whilst I had been absent in the mountains the excavations had been continued at Kouyunjik, notwithstanding the summer heats. Nearly all the Arabs employed in the sjiring at Nimroud had been I I 438 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XX. removed to these ruins, and considerable progress had consequently been made in clearing tlie earth from them. Several chambers, discovered before 1 left INlosul, had been emptied, and new rooms with interesting seulptures had been explored. It has been seen* that tlie narrow passage leading out of the south-west corner of the great hall containing the bas-reliefs repre- senting the moving of the winged bulls turned to the left, and by another gallery conneeted this part of the edifice with a second hall of even larger proportions than that first discovered.f It was not quite square, the longest sides, those from west to east, being rather more than 140 feet, and the others 126 feet. It had four grand entrances, formed by eolossal human-headed bulls, one on each side.J The sculjitures panelling the western wall were for the most part still entire. They recorded, as usual, a campaign and a victory, and were probably but a portion of one continuous subject carried round the entire hall. [I'lie conquered eountry appeared to have been traversed by a great river, the representation of which took up a third of the bas-relief. It was filled with crabs and fish of various kinds, and its banks were wooded with date bearing palms. On one side of the stream was the king in his chariot, surrounded by his bodyguard and followed by his led horses. On the opposite bank the Assyrian army laid siege to a detached fort, forming an outwork to a city surrounded by high battlemented walls, and defended by lofty towers rising one above the other in stages. Five square gateways opened upon a small stream or canal. The city walls seemed deserted by the inhabitants, but the fort was de- fended by archers. Drawn up before it were warriors variously armed, and cavalry discharging their arrows without dismounting from their horses, A kneeling Assyrian, protecting himself by a broad wicker shield, was forcing the stones from the lower part of the fortifications with an instrument probably of iron. When the Assyrian warriors had taken and plundered this city, they brought human heads to the registrars, according to their mili- tary laws, to show the numbers of the slain. The spoil, consist- ing of furniture, arms, and vessels of elegant form, was registered by the scribes, to be divided amongst the victorious troops, whilst the captives were either to be apportioned as slaves, or settled * See p.Tge 338.' f Nos. XII., XLII., and XIX. Plan I. Tliat to tlie east has already been described, p. 230. It is to be observed t.liat neither of these entrances are exactly in the middle of the sides of the hall. Chap. XX.] DESCRIPTION OF THE BAS-RELIEFS. 439 as colonists In some distant part of the dominions of the great king. The women with their children were seen riding in carts drawn by oxen. Tlie dress of the male prisoners consisted of a short tunic encircled at the waist by a broad belt, that of the women of an inner shirt and an outer fringed robe falling to the ankles : the hair of both was confined by a simple band or fillet round the teni2)les. Next came the siege and capture of a city standing on the opposite bank of the same great river, and surrounded by a ditch edged with lofty reeds. The Assyrian footmen and cavalry had already crossed this dike, and were closely pressing the besieged, who, no longer seeking to defend themselves, were asking for quarter. A warrior, covering himself with his large circular shield, was attempting to set fire to one of the gates with a torch. Part of the city had already been taken, and the conquerors were driving away captives and cattle. Carts drawn by oxen were laden with furniture and large metal vessels. On the other side of the river, Sennacherib in his gorgeous war chariot, and surrounded by his guards, received the captives and the spoil. It is remark- able that this was almost the only figure of the king which had not been wantonly mutilated, probably by those who overthrew the Assyrian empire, burned its palaces, and levelled its cities with the dust* In this bas-relief the furniture of the horses was particularly rich and elaborate. Above the yoke rose a semicircular orna- ment, set round with stars, and containing the image of a deity. The chariot of the Assyrian monarch, his retinue, and his attire, accurately corresponded with the descriptions given by Xenophon of those of Cyrus, when he marched out of his palace in proces- sion, and by Quintus Curtius of those of Darius, when he went to battle in the midst of his army. The Greek general had seen the pomp of the Persian kings, and could describe it as an eye- witness. After the sacred bulls and horses, he says, came a white chariot with a perch of gold adorned with a crown or wreath sacred to Jove. Cyrus wore a tiara or turban raised high above his head, and a vest of purple, half mixed with white. By him was his driver. Four thousand guards led the way, and two thousand walked on each side. The principal officers were on horseback richly attired, and behind them were the royal led horses, with bridles of gold, and coverings wrought with raised work, precisely as we * This bas-relief is now in the British Museum, r F 4 440 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XX see them in the sculptures. The procession was finished by the troops of various nations, horse and foot, who were in the pay of the monarch.* The description of Quintus Curtius is no less illus- trative of the Assyrian monuments. “ The doryphori (a chosen body of spearmen) preceded the chariot, on either side of which were the effigies of the gods in gold and silver. The yoke was inlaid with the rarest jewels. From it ■projected two golden figures of Nmiis and Belus, each a cubit in length. . . . The king was distinguished from all those who surrounded him, by the magnifi- cence of his robes, and by the cidaris or mitre upon his head. By his side walked two hundred of his relations. Ten thousand warriors bearing spears, whose staffs were of silver and heads of gold, fol- lowed the royal chariot. The king’s led horses, forty in number, concluded the procession.” t Allowing for a little exaggei’ation on the part of the historian, and for the conventional numbers used by the Assyrian sculptor to represent large bodies of footmen and cavalry, we might suppose that Quintus Curtius had seen the very bas-reliefs I am describing, so completely do they tally with his description of the appearance and retinue of the Persian king. The usual spoil, the elegantly-shaped bed and throne, the bundle of spears, the swords, and the graceful vase, were brought to the victorious monarch, and heaped up before him with the gory heads of the slain. The captives, bearing skins probably containing water and flour to nourish them during a long and harrasslng march, were fettered in pairs, and urged onwards by their guards. The women were partly on foot, and partly with their children on mules and in carts drawn by oxen. Mothers were represented holding the water-skins for their young ones to quench their thirst, whilst in some instances fathers had placed their weary children on their shoulders, for they were marching during the heat of a Meso- ])otamlan summer, as the sculptor had shown by introducing large clusters of dates on the palms. Thus wei'e di’iven the in- habitants of Samaria through the Desert to Halah and Habor, by the river of Gozan and the cities of the Medes f, and we may see in these bas-reliefs a picture of the hardships and sufferings to which the captive people of Israel were exposed when their cities * Cjrop. lib. viii. c. 3. The bas-reliefs in Chamber XXXVIII. (Plan I.) very accurately corresponded with this description. ■j" Quint. Curt. lib. iii. c. 3. I have quoted this description in my Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 365. The Persian king, although represented on the walls of Persepolis with a crown, also wore a high cap or upright turban, as we learn from Xenophon (Anab. lib. ii. c. 5.). J 2 Kings, xvii. 6. Chap. XX.] DESCKIPTION OF THE BAS-RELIEFS. 441 fell into the hands of the Assyrian king, and their inhabitants were sent to colonise the distant provinces of his empire.* On the south side of the hall, parts of four slabs only had been preserved ; the sculpture upon the others had been so completely destroyed, that even the subject could no longer be ascertained. The fragments still remaining, graphically depicted the passage of the river by the great king. His led horses had been partly stripped of their costly furniture, and the grooms were taking them to the water’s edge. One horse had already been detached from the royal chariot, and a groom was removing the yoke from the second. A charioteer still held the reins, and an eunuch raised a parasol above the monarch’s head. Men were represented making ready the skins probably to form a raft for the king to cross the stream. Some carried such as had already been inflated, others were blow- ing into those that were still empty, and tying up the orifice after they had been filled. The bas-relief represented very accurately a scene that may be daily witnessed, without the x’oyal warrior, on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates. Many warriors, supporting their spears and heavy shields on their backs by coi’ds, had already commenced crossing the stream on their skins, and horses led by their grooms were swimming to the opposite bank.f Not a fragment of inscription remained to identify the country represented in the bas-reliefs I have just described. From the size of the river, far exceeding that of any other seen in the sculptures of Kouyunjik, I am inclined to believe that it must have been the combined waters of the Euphrates and Tigris, now known as the Shat-el-Arab. The broad canals derived from the main stream, and the banks clothed with palms, are the present characteristics of the same district. Dr. Hincks has conjectured that the “ Bartu Marratu,” literally the “ Bitter or Sait River ” of the inscriptions on the Kouyunjik bulls, was not the Persian Gulf as supposed by Colonel Rawlinson but the great stream formed by the united waters of the rivers of Mesopotamia, on the opposite sides of which, as we have seen, were two cities of the name of Naghit, taken by Sennacherib in the sixth year of his reign. § The bas- * See 2d series of the Monuments of Nineveh, Plates 42 and 43., for part of the series described in the text. f Plate 41. of 2d series of the Monuments of Nineveh. These interesting bas-reliefs were unfortunately on the raft, which, after my return to Europe, was plundered by the Arabs on its passage to Baghdad. j; Outlines of Assyrian History, p. xxxviii. § See p. 146. 442 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap, XX. reliefs correspond with sufficient accuracy to the account in the annals to make this conjecture not improbable. No country visited by the Assyrians, excej)t that watei'ed by the Tigris and Eu- phrates in the lower part of their course, or after their confluence, j)ossesses the natural features represented in these sculptures. In the south side of the hall a centre portal flanked by winged bulls, and two small entrances, formed by gigantic figures, opened into a long chamber* * * § , whose sculptured walls had been burnt to lime. On the calcined slabs, however, could still be traced Assyrian war- riors mounting by ladders to the assault of besieged cities, batter- ing-rams, long lines of archers, slingers, and spearmen, a sea with double-banked galleys similar to those frequently described, and a fortified camp, containing pavilions and tents, in which were men engaged in various domestic occupations. The king, as usual, su- perintended the operations from his chariot. To judge from the i’ragments that remained of this series of sculptures, the most skilful artist of the day must have been employed in its execu- tion. At 'both ends of the chamber, doors, guarded by colossal figures, led into smaller apartments, in which the bas-reliefs had been almost entirely destroyed.! Facing the great portal was a corresponding, but still wider, entrance, formed by a pair of human- hcaded lions. Between them was an enormous alabaster pavement slab, sculptured in relief, with a very elegant design, consisting of a border of alternate tulips or lotus flowers and cones, inclosing similar ornaments arranged in squares and surrounded by rosettes.f On either side of this grand portal were doors, guarded by co- lossal figures, amongst which was the fish-god. Little remained of the chamber into which these three entrances Ied.§ A few fragments, wdth part of a jjrocession of captives and warriors, were alone left on the walls. We were now upon the very brink of the southern side of the mound, and had conse- quently reached the furthest chamber in this part of the palace. There were no traces of an exterior wall. Returning to the great hall we found an entrance formed by colossal figures leading into a long narrow chamber ||, about 70 feet by 12, whose walls had partly escaped the general wreck. It appeared to be the remains of an entrance into the palace, like that on the western face, or a gallery leading to the outer terrace, * No. XXIV. Plan I., 98 by 27 feet. t Nos. XXV. and XXVI. Plan I. X Plate 56. 2d series of the Monuments of Nineveh. § No. XXVII. Plan I. || No. XXVIII., same Plan. Chap. XX. J DESCRIPTION OF THE BAS-RELIEFS. 443 which probiibly surroiinded the building. On its alabaster panels were seul[)tured the conquest of some of those tribes which in- habited, from the remotest period, the vast marshes formed by the Euphrates and Tigris in Chaldaja and Babylonia. The swamps of Lemlun are still spread over this low land, and are the place of refuge of a wild and barbarous raee of Arabs, not improbably, as I have already observed, the descendants of the very people repre- sented in the bas-reliefs of Kouyunjik. With these, or similar tribes, the Assyrians, during the time of Sennacherib, appear to have been in frequent war, and expeditions against them were re- corded on the walls of more than one ehamber of his palace.* Un- fortunately there were no remains of epigraphs or other inscriptions on the bas-reliefs. They may, perhaps, represent part of that campaign against INIerodach-Baladan, king of Kar-Duniyas, re- corded in the first j'ear of the annals of Sennacherib on the great bulls of Kouyunjik and at Bavian. This king appears to have ruled over all the tribes inhabiting Chaldaja, including, therefore, those that dwelt in the great marshes at the confluence of the rivers. In these bas-reliefs the swamps with the jungles of lofty reeds, the narrow passages cut through them like streets, and the shal- low stagnant water abounding in fish, were faithfully, though rudely, portrayed. Men and women, seated on rafts, were hiding themselves in the thick brakes, whilst the Assyrian war- riors followed the fugitives in light boats of wicker work, pro- bably taken from the enemy, and such as are used to this day by the inhabitants of the same marshes. Some had overtaken and were killing their victims. Others were returning to the banks with captives, and with the heads of the slain. In the water were the bodies of the dead already food for the fishes. The fighting men of the conquered tribes were armed with bows, and wore short tunies ; the women had long fringed robes ; the hair of both was eonfined round the temples by a fillet. This dress appears from the sculptures to have been common to all the nations inhabit- ing the country watered by the lower part of the Euplu-ates and Tigris. Although the people represented in these bas-reliefs dwelt in the swampy districts of Chaldaea, unless, indeed, they had only taken refuge in them to escape the vengeance of the Assyrian king, they appear to have been as rich, if not richer, than any others con- quered by Sennacherib. With the exception of three slabs and * Two campaigns into Babylonia are recorded in the bull inscriptions. 444 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [CiiAP. XX. part of a fourth, containing the battle in the marsh, the entire walls of the chamber were scul[)tured with the captives and spoil brought by the victorious troops to their king. Unfortunately the image of Sennacherib himself in his chariot, which, to judge from a fragment or two found in the rubbish, must have exceeded all others in the palace, both in size and in the finish and richness of the details, had been entirely destroyed. Women and children on foot, on asses, and in carts drawn by oxen, Avaggous laden with furniture, caldrons and vessels in metal, oxen, mules, camels, sheep and goats, vases and jars of the most elegant forms, spears, swords, and shields, curiously carved couches, chairs, and tables, were included in the booty with which the Assyrian conquei'ors re- turned in triumph to Nineveh. Amongst the objects in metal was an elegant casket, or vessel, probably of gold or silver, the upper part of which, shaped like the walls of a castle with battle- ments and towers, rested upon a column whose capital was formed by Ionic volutes (another in- stance of the early use of this order of architecture on the banks of the Tigris). The whole was supported by projecting cmwed feet ending in the hoofs of bulls, and stood on the cone- shaped ornament so frequently seen in Assyi’ian furniture. Some of the captives carried on their shoulders wicker baskets, such as are still made in Babylonia, and large bottles, probably of lea- ther. The country through which they passed abounded in the date-bearing palm. The Assy- rian warriors, hungry after their long march, were represented before a fire roasting the limbs of a sheep. Drawings from this highly interesting series of bas-reliefs, so illustrative of the wars of the Assyrians, will be found in the second series of my work on the Monuments of Nineveh.* Metal Vessel or Casket vKouyanjik) * Plates 25, 26. and 35. Chap. XX.] DESCRIPTION OF THE BAS-RET.IEFS. 445 Returning to the great hall, from which this gallery led, I found on its western side three other entrances, corresponding with those on the southern, the centre formed by a pair of winged bulls in a fossiliferous limestone.* * * § They led into a chamber 58 feet by 34, panelled with unsculptured slabs of the same material as the colossi at the principal portal. Three similar doorways opened into a parallel chamber of the same length, though rather narrower.f Its walls had been ornamented with carved alabaster slabs, of which a few fragments remained. A fortified camp, con- taining the usual pavilions and tents ; priests sacrificing a sheep before a fire altar; a castle on the sea-shore; double-banked gal- leys hung round with shields ; and long lines of captives (the women wearing hoods fitting close over their heads, and falling to their feet behind — the men turbans of several folds, such as ai-e frequently represented at Khorsabad) ; were amongst the bas- reliefs still preserved. Three doorways on the western side of this chamber, similar to those on the eastern, led into as many distinct rooms, uncon- nected w'ith each other. There were thus three magnificent portals, one behind the other, each formed by winged bulls facing the same way, and all looking towards the great hall; the largest colossi, those in front, being above 18 feet high, and the smallest, those lead- ing into the inner chamber, about 12.| It would be difficult to con- ceive any interior architectural arrangement more imposing than this triple group of gigantic forms as seen in perspective by those who stood in the centre of the hall, dimly lighted from above, and harmoniously colored or overlaid, like the cherubims in the temple of Solomon, with gold. The inner centre portal led into the chamber, containing the sculptured records of Sennacherib’s memorable eampaign against Lachish, already described.§ Of the apartments on each side of it |], the walls of that to the right had almost entirely disap- peared, and that to the left had not been explored before my de- parture. At the upper or southern ends of the two parallel chambers just described, were entrances opening into a room 82 feet by 24, whose walls were of the same unsculpturcd limestone. IT From * No. XXIX. rian T. ■j- No. XXXIV. same Plan. About 29 feet wide. I These were entrances I and k, No. XXIX. and b, No. XXXVI. same Plan § No. XXXVI. same Plan., see p. 150. II No. XXXVII., No. XXXV., same Plan. ^ No. XXX , same Plan. 446 NINEVEH AND BABYLON, [Chap XX. it a portal formed by winged lions in the same material, led into an apartment 76 feet by 26, standing on the edge of the mound, and consequently one of the last on this side ot tlie palace.* Only six slabs, neither of them entire, remained against its walls; the rest had been purposely destroyed and the fragments used for the foundations of a building raised over the Assyrian ruins. These slabs, like the sphinxes f, were of a limestone abound- ing in fossils, probably “ the polished stone, full of shells,” no- ticed by Xenophon in the plinth of the walls of Mespila. 1. It is harder and more difficult to work than the usual alabaster or gypsum, yet it admits of high finish. The six slabs, still standing, were covered from top to bottom with small figui’cs, most elaborately carved, and designed with great spirit. Although bearing a general resemblance to the bas-reliefs of Kouyunjik, there was sufficient in the style of art and in the details, to show that they were not of exactly the same period. Fortunately seve- ral epigraphs still remained over the principal groups, and enable us to determine to what monarch the sculptures belong, and to identify the events and incidents they portray. The three slabs to the right of the winged lions on entering, were occupied by a bighly curious representation of a battle. The subject was incomplete, and could not be restored. The As- syrians, having besieged and captured some great city, appeared to be pursuing the flying enemy. On the first remaining slab was part of a mound, on wbich a castle was probably built. Down the side of the artificial elevation ran the defeated war- riors, no longer attempting defence, but giving themselves up to despair. One was plucking out his beard, a common action amongst easterns to denote grief; some tearing their hair, and others turning round to ask for quarter from their merciless pursuers. On the sides of the mound were the dead and dying, and the bows and quivers of tbe slain, A wounded mule was falling to the ground, whilst his rider, pierced by an arrow, raised his hands to Implore for mercy. An Assyrian soldier, or ally, distin- guished by a low round cap, and a kind of belt or shawl twisted round his breast, was dragging a body towards him, probably with the intention of cutting oft" the head. Beneath the mound a horse- man was piercing with his spear a flying enemy, and two war- * No. XXXIII. Plan I. f Tlii.s limestone being full of shells ami other fossils, has, when polished, a very pleasing appearance. ]; Anab. c iii. lib. 4. , Chap. XX.] DESCKirnOX of the bas-reliefs. 447 riors in a car drawn by a mule, were hastening from the battle- field. The remainder of the subject was divided by horizontal parallel lines into six parts or friezes ; of which, however, only three were entire. From the number of figures introduced, and the com- plicated nature of the action, it is difficult to describe these im- portant bas-reliefs intelligibly. In the lowest compartment, archers and spearmen, some on horses, were represented in close combat with the enemy, whose ar- mies, like those of tlie Assyrians, were composed of footmen and cavalry. The battle-field was strewn with the slain, and with their scattered arms ; but, as usual, the sculptor, to flatter the vanity of liis countrymen, had not portrayed a single Assyrian either dead or wounded. In the second frieze the enemy were seen fighting in carts drawn by mules. In the next compartment were Assyrian warriors bearing the heads of the slain, and leavinjx the field of battle in a cart captured from the foe. Above this group was an epigraph, unfor- tunately much mutilated, which recorded the slaughter of a king, whosename was (? Tiranish), and who, we learn from other inscriptions on the same sculptures, reigned over Elam, or Susiana. The lines being incomplete, the meaning of the whole inscription is not qiii clear. * The name is defeetive in this inscription, but can be restored from others in the same series of bas-reliefs. Assyrian Warriois in a Cart, captured from ihe Elamites (Kouyunjik) 448 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XX Behind the cart with the Assyrian warriors, was the tent of the registrar, to which had been led a captive chief and his two attendants. Within were collected a heap of human heads, whilst warriors were bringing more of these bloody trophies to the appointed scribes. In another part of the battle was seen the chariot of one of the princes of the Elamites. Four spirited horses, wounded by arrows, were plunging and rear- ing *; and the chief with his charioteer were falling from the overturned chariot. Beneath was a group representing an Assy- rian warrior holding his horse by the bridle, and advancing to- wards a fallen enemy, who, turning towards his conqueror, placed one hand upon his throat, a gesture either of entreaty, or to in- dicate his approaching fate. Above him was an epigraph, com- mencing apparently with his name, of which only one letter re- mained, and declaring that he was a general of the Susianian king (?). Around these groups, Assyrians, armed with battle-axes and maces, were slaying the unresisting foe. In this part of the bas-relief were two short epigraphs, which appeared to state that the slaughtered warriors were sons of the king of Elam. These princes were distinguished by a peculiar round cap, to which was attached a long feather falling down the back, a head-dress subse- quently worn by Persian kings. They were clothed in embroi- dered and fringed robes, and their chariots were drawn by four horses. Crows and vultures were represented feasting upon the carcases of the slain. Adjoining the field of battle was a broad river, into which the Assyrians were driving the retreating enemy : it was filled with the dead bodies of men and horses, and with bows and quivers. Above the battle scenes were the eonqueroi’s torturing, and lead- ing into captivity, their prisoners. They were divided into three rows, parts of two only had been preserved. Several of the captives were apparently about to undergo some dreadful torture ; with their hands manacled in iron fetters, they knelt over an object which might be a chafing-dish with hot coals or a vessel to receive their blood. One of the torturers held his victim by a collar round his neck ; whilst a second, seizing the unfortunate prisoner by his hair, was about to strike him with an iron-headed mace. The epigraphs declare that the war recorded by these sculptures * This group of horses is remarkable for its spirit and correct delineation. Chap. XX.J OKSCKJrXIOX OF THE BAS-KELIEFS. 449 Avas undertaken by an Assyrian king, whose image was repre- sented on a slab not yet described, against the people of Elam or Susiana. It is of considerable importance thus to identify the conquered people, and to be able to ascertain the costume, the arms, and the mode of warfare of a nation Avell known in an- cient history. The Elamites, we find from these bas-reliefs, used even in war, besides chariots, a kind of cart drawn by mules, and consisting of a flat stnge raised iqion lofty wheels, which had as many as twelve and even sixteen spokes. The largest of these cars could hold five or six persons, and were adorned Avith a fringed or embroidered cloth. The smallest it Avoidd appear contained only two, the Avarrior and the charioteer, Avho sat on a kind of raised seat. Such carts are probably alluded to by the prophet Ezekiel Avhen he speaks of “ the chariots, loaggons, and Avheels,” belonging to “ tlie Babylonians, and all the Chaldasans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians,” Avho should come up against Jerusalem.* The harness of the mules consisted of a simple band round the chest, hung Avith rosettes and tassels, pro- bably of colored avooI. They Avere guided either by reins, or by a long I'od held by the charioteer in his right hand. Mules Avere also, it Avould seem, ridden by this people in battle, and Avere then caparisoned like horses.f The dress of the fighting men con- sisted chiefly of a tunic, or single shirt, falling to the knee, and bound at the Avaist by a narrow girdle. Some of them had round their shoulders a kind of band knotted in front. This appears to have been a contrivance to support the quiver suspended at the back. Their hair Avas long, and Avas confined by a fillet, or ri- band tied behind the head in a kind of boAv. The captive chief and his attendants in the tent Avore robes falling to the knee in front, and to the ankles behind. Those Avho fought on foot AA'ere armed Avith the bow, but the cavalry used the spear. The archers carried at their backs quivers of peculiar form, and ornamented at the sides and on the top Avith rosettes. 1 have already described * Ezek. xxiii. 23, 24. t Susiana is still celebrated for its mules. These animals were evidently much esteemed by the ancients. They were even used by kings. When David sent for Solomon to be anointed king over Israel he caused him to ride on his mule. (1 Kings, i. 33.) They Avere also noted for their swiftness and endurance (2 Sam. xiii. 2.), Aveie used for posts (Esther, viii. 10.), and Avere amongst objects of tribute and spoil, as Ave see them represented in the sculptures. (1 Kings, X. 2.5. 2 Chron. ix. 24.) G G 450 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XX. the peculiar dress of the princes ; it was completed by high boots or greaves laced up in front, and probably of yellow leather.* Amongst the captives were men clothed in fringed robes and a short under-tunic : these w'ere probably the lords of the land. The women wore their hair in curls, falling on their shoulders, and bound above tlie temples by a band or fillet. Some had one long ringlet on each side of the face. Their children were either naked or clothed in simple shirts. The Assyrian troops were divided into cavalry and foot. The horsemen carried the bow and spear, and wore coats of mail, high greaves, and the pointed helmet, that characteristic part of the Assyrian military costume from the earliest period. Their horses Avere covered with clothes, and even, it would seem, with a kind of leather armour, reaching from the head to the tail, to protect them from the an’ows of the enemy.f It consisted of several sepa- rate pieces fastened together by buttons or loops. Over it was thrown an ornamented saddle-cloth or a leopard’s skin, upon which the rider sat. Under the head of the horse was hung a bell or a tassel. The reins appear to have been tightened round the neck of the animal by a sliding button, and then dropped when the warrior was engaged in the fight. Between the horse’s ears was an arched crest, and the different parts of the harness were richly embroidered and ornamented with rosettes. These trappings, it will be perceived, differed from those represented in sculptures of an earlier epoch. The costumes of the footmen, as in the bas- reliefs of Sennacherib, varied according to their arms. The archers, probably auxiliaries from different tribes in alliance with the Assyrians, were dressed in very short tunics scarcely cover- ing the thigh. A broad belt, with the fringed ornament pecu- liar to the later Assyrian period, encircled their waist, and over their shoulders they wore a cross belt, of chequered cloth resembling a Scottish plaid, to support the quiver. Their hair, confined by a plain fillet, was rolled up behind in one large curl. All the spear- men had the pointed helmet ; but some Avore coats of mall and metal greaves, and others a simple tunic, Avithout any covering to their legs. Their shields protected nearly the Avhole person, and Avere rounded at the top and straight at the bottom. Some appear to have been faced Avith small square pieces of leather, others to have been made * Boots of yellow leather formed a part of the dress of the Persian kings. (Cyrop. lib. viii. c. 3.) It appears from Ezekiel (xvi. 10.), that the skins of badgers were much esteemed for boots. t Cyrus covered his chariot-horses, all but the eyes, with armour. (Xenophon, Inst. 1. vi.) Chap. XX.] DESCRIPTION OF THE BAS-RELIEFS. 451 entirely of metal, with embos.sed edges. For the first time we see in these bas-reliefs, the Assyrians using the battle-axe and the mace in battle. On the opposite side of the lion-entrance were also three slabs, but better preserved than those I have just described. They formed part of the same subject, which had evidently been car- ried round tlie four walls of the chamber. They represented the triumph of the Assyrian king, and, like the battle scenes, wei’e divided by horizontal lines into several bands or friezes. The monarch stood in his chariot, surrounded by his body-guai’d. Un- fortunately his face, with those of the charioteer and the eunuch bearing the pai'asol, had been purposely defaced, like that of Sen- nacherib on his monuments, probably when the united armies of the INIedes and Babylonians destroyed the palace. The royal robes were profusely adorned with rosettes and fringes ; the attendant eunucli was dressed in a ehequered garment resembling a Scotch plaid. The parasol was embroidered with rosettes, and ornamented with tassels, and to it was hung the long piece of cloth or silk as a pro- tection from the side rays of the sun. Tlie chariot, part of whlcli had been desti’oyed, was most elaborately decorated. The body was carved with an elegant pattern of intersecting circles and rosettes, and edged by a tasteful border. In a circular panel was a kneeling figure drawing a bow, probably the protecting deity of the Assyrian king. A round boss projected from tlie fore part of the chariot, and beneath it was a case to receive the arrows and bow. The chariot was more lofty than that seen in earlier Assyrian sculptures. The wheels were unusually large, and had eight spokes, encircled by an ornamental border. The har- ness of the horses consisted of a band under the chest, with rosettes and tassels, a cluster of large tassels hanging over the shoulder from the yoke, an embroidered or ivory-studded breast- band, and head-pieces similarly adorned. Two lofty plumes, or panaches, rose between their ears. In front of the chariot were two warriors or guards in em- broidered robes and greaves. Their long hair was bound by a fillet, whose tasselled ends fell loose behind. They were jweceded by two remarkable figures, both eunuchs, and probably intended for portraits of some well-known officers of the royal household. One was old and corpulent : his forehead was high and ample ; his nose curved and small, and his chin round and double. The wrinkles of the brow, the shaggy eyebrows, and the bloated cheeks, with the stubble beard peculiar to beings of his class, were very faithfully represented. His short hair was tied Avith G G 2 452 NINEVEH AND BABYLON, [CuAr. XX. a fillet. Ills companion was younger, and had not the same marked features. He carried before him a square object resembling a closed box or book, perhaps a clay tablet containing some decree or register, such as were discovered in the ruins. Both wore long plain shirts, and round their waists a simple cord, in which was fixed a whip, probably a sign of their office. Above this remarkable group was an inscription in eight lines fortunately almost entire. From it we learn that the name of the king, whose deeds were thus recorded, was written in cuneiform characters ][y • We knoAV from relics found at Nimroud and Kouyunjik that he was the son of Essar- haddon, and the grandson of Sennacherib, and the conqueror of Susiana. He was the Assordanes of the chronological tables, and his name begins with the monogram for the Assyrian deity, Asshur.*’ These bas-reliefs record his conquest of the country of ”^1 (Nuvaki?), a name by which Susiana or Ely- mais was anciently known ; as we also find from the inscrip- tions at Khorsabad, as well as from those of Bisutun.j- In the same inscription a king of Armenia is also mentioned ; and it would appear that the great men of that country were sent to the Assyrian monarch whilst in Susiana. They may have been taken prisoners by his generals, or may have brought him their allotted tribute. Above the royal chariot was a row of trees, and beneath a procession of mace-bearers and led horses, richly caparisoned. A lower compartment contained a curious ground plan of a city. In it were the following characters, i=;y reading “ the district of Madaktu ” (?). It will be seen from an in- scription to be subsequently noticed, that Susa or Shushan ac- tually stood in a district of this name ; and it is highly probable that we have, in the bas-relief, a representation of the city. Its position between two rivers well agrees with that of existing ruins generally believed to mark its site. The smaller stream would be the Shapour, and the larger the Euloeus or river of Dizful.:f The city was surrounded by a wall, with equidistant * Dr. Hincks reads the name Assaracbal. -]■ Ravvlinson’s Memoir, Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xiv. p. 16. In the Khorsabad inscriptions we find the better-known name of “Elam” inter- changeable with Nuvaki. J A full account of these rivers, and a description of the ruins upon them, will he found in my Memoir on the Province of Khuzistan, in vol. xvi. of the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. Chap. XX.] Tllii CITY OF SUUSIIAN. 453 towers and gatew.ays. The houses were flat roofed, and some had one tower or upper chamber, and others two. They had no windows, and their doors were square. Thus, in general form, and probably in the interior arrangements, they closely resembled the common dwellings of the Egyptians, of which a very interest- ing model is now in the British Museum.* Nor were they unlike the meaner houses of the modern town of Shushter, the representa- tive of ancient Susa. Unfortunately, part of the slab containing the city had been destroyed, and many of the more important edifices were probably wanting. Outside the walls were groves of palms and other trees, and a kind of suburb of houses scat- tered amongst the gardens as around Baghdad and Busrah. On the river bank stood two forts with towers, one raised on an artificial mound. Near the large river, at the bottom of the slab, was either a pond in the midst of palm trees, or the source of a rivulet which fell into the main stream. f The adjoining slab was divided into eight bands or friezes, by parallel lines, and the next slab into seven. On both were rejiresented the Assyrian army returning from its victorious cam- paign, and bringing to the king the captives and the spoil. The prisoners, who were probably considered rather rebels to his autho- rity than enemies, were being cruelly tortured in his presence. The principal group was that of the eunuch general, or Tartan, leading a chief or prince of the conquered people. With one hand he grasped his captive by the wrist, and raised in the other a long and massy spear. At his back was hung a quiver and bow, and an embossed belt encircled his mailed vest. The prisoner wore a simple robe falling to his ankles, and a knotted fillet round his head. Above him was an inscription unfortu- nately much mutilated. It appears to have declared that he was one of the sons or chiefs of the Susianian monarch, defeated and slain in battle near the district of Madaktu (the name, it will be remembered, over the city on the adjoining slab), and near the city of Shushan ; and that the Assyrian king had placed one of his own generals on the conquered throne.| * Wilkinson’s Ancient Egyptians, vol. ii. p. 109. f It is possible that the two rivers above and the two below may represent but two streams ; and that the spring or pool may be the sources of the Sha- pour, which are in the plain not far distant from Susa. (See my Memoir, Geog. Soc. Journal, vol. xvi. p. 56.) I So many characters are unfortunately wanting in this epigraph, that the in- scription cannot be satisfactorily translated. It commences, it would appear, with the name of the Susianian king, although written without the first cha- G G 3 454 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. I Chap. XX. Before the captive prince were gathered a number of the Susianians, probably the subjects of the slaughtered king, who had come to surrender to the Assyrian general, for they still carried their arms, and were not led by the victorious warriors. Some of them knelt, some bowed to the ground, and others, stretched at full length, rubbed their heads in the dust, all signs of grief and submission still practised in the East. They were followed by a led horse, and by a cart drawn by a mule, resembling those represented in the battle scenes. Another Tartan of the Assyrian army, holding his war-horse and carrying his spear, also received the homage of the conquered Susianians. The Assyrian generals were welcomed by bands of men and women, dancing, singing, and playing on instruments of music. Thus, “ when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistines, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music.”* We find from various passages in the Scriptures, that the instruments of music chiefly used on such triumphant occasions were the harp, one with ten strings (rendered viol or lyre in some versions, but pro- bably a kind of dulcimer), the tabor and the pipe f , precisely those represented in the bas-reliefs. First came flve men ; three carried harps of many strings, which they struck with both hands, dancing at the same time to the measure ; a fourth played on the double- pipes, such as are seen on the monuments of Egypt |, and were used by the Greeks and Romans. They were blown at the end like the flutes of the modern Yezidis, which they probably resembled in tone and form. The fifth musician carried an instrument not unlike the modern santour of the East, consisting of a number of strings stretched over a hollow case or sounding board. The strings, pressed with the fingers of the left hand to produce the notes, were struck with a small wand or hammer held in the right. racter found on the other slabs. The captive, however, w.as not the monarch himself, who was slain, as it has been seen, in the battle. The name of Shushan, written, as in the book of Daniel, for Susa, is highly interesting. It places be- yond a doubt the identification of the site of the campaign. * 1 Sam. xviii. 6. f Isaiah, v. 12. In Daniel, iii. 5. we have mention of the “cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer ; ” but it is scarcely possible to determine what these instruments really were : they probably resembled those represented in the bas-reliefs described in the text. The instrument of ten strings men- tioned in Psalm xxxiii. 2., xlii. 3., and cxliv. 9., may have been the harp of the sculptures, and the psaltery the smaller stringed instrument. J Wilkinson’s Ancient Egyptians, vol. ii. p. 232 — 234, &c. Chap. XX.] MUSICIANS. 455 The men were followed by six female musicians, four playing on harps, one on the double pipes, and the sixth on a kind of drum beaten with both hands, resembling the still used by Eastern dancing The musicians were accomjianied by six women and nine boys and girls of different ages, singing and clapping their hands to the measure. The first were distinguished by various head-dresses. Some wore their hair in long ringlets, some platted or braided, and others con- fined in a net.* One held her hands to her throat, as the Arab and Persian women still do when they make those shrill and vibrating sounds peculiar to the vocal music of the East. The whole scene, in- deed, was curiously illustrative of modern Eastern customs. The mu- sicians portrayed in the bas-relief were probably of that class of public performers who apjtear in Turkey and Egypt at marriages, and on other occasions of rejoicing. Behind the two Assyrian gene- rals were cavalry, chariots, led horses, and armed warriors, formino" two friezes of considerable beauty, no less remarkable for the delicacy of the execution than for the very spirited and correct delineation of the animals. * The modern fashion appears, there- fore, to be but a revival of a very ancient one. Isaiah includes “ the caps of net- work” amongst the various articles of dress of the Jewish women (ch. iii. v. 8., Rev. Mr. Jones’ version). Musicians and Sinjjers coming out to meet the Conquerors ;.Kouyunjik). 456 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XX. A long line of warriors, some bearing maces, bows, spears, and shields, and others crossing their hands before them in the common Eastern attitude of respect, formed a frieze across the centre of the slabs. They were the attendants and body-guard of the king, and were represented of different heights, being probably picked men formed into companies or regiments according to their size and strength. They walked in front of a row of trees. Above the Assyrian warriors were the captives and their tor- turers. The former differed In costume from the Susianian fighting- men represented in the adjoining bas-reliefs. They were distin- guished by the smallness of their stature, and by a very marked Jewish countenance — a sharp, hooked nose, short bushy beard, and long narrow eyes. Could they have belonged to the Hebrew tribes which were carried away from Samaria and Jerusalem, and placed by Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, or Essarhaddon, as colonists in the distant regions of Elam, and who, having become power- ful in their new settlements, had revolted against their Assyrian rulers, and were once again subdued ? They woi’e a kind of conical cap, to which were attached two or more tails or ribands, an inner garment reaching a little below the knee, an outer fringed robe falling down the back to the ankles, and boots turned up at the toes and laced in front. A band hanging over their shoulders ended in a tassel. Some in iron fetters were being led be- fore the king, for judgment or pardon. Others had been con- demned to the torture, and were already in the hands of the executioners. Two were stretched naked at full length on the ground, and whilst their limbs were held apart by pegs and cords they were being flayed alive. Beneath them were other unfor- tunate victims undergoing abominable punishments. The brains of one were apparently being beaten out with an Iron mace, whilst an officer held him by the beard. A torturer was wrenching the tongue out of the mouth of a second wretch who had been pinioned to the ground. The bleeding heads of the slain were tied round the necks of the living who seemed reserved for still more barbarous tortures. Above these groups was a short epigraph, commencing by two determinative signs of proper names, each followed by a blank space, which the sculptor probably left to be filled up with the names of the principal victims. It then declares that these men, having spoken blasphemies (?) against Asshur, the great god of the Assyrians, their tongues had been pulled out (^Lishane- shunu eshlup, both words being almost purely Hebrew), and iBsyriauB flayinfi theii Prisoners alive, and carrying away Heads of the Slain tKouyunjik.i, 458 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XX. that tliey had afterwards been put to death (or tor- tured). The inscription, therefore, corresponds with the sculpture beneath. It is by such confirmatory evi- dence that the accuracy of the translations of the cu- neiform characters may be tested. The only spoil repre- sented in these bas-reliefs as carried away by the Assyrians consisted of horses and bundles of pre- cious woods. At the top of each slab was a frieze of warriors drawn up in array, and at the bottom a broad river filled with those killed in the fight, and horses, mules, chariots, carts, bows, and quivers. These highly Interesting bas-reliefs had been ex- posed, like all the other sculptures of Kouyunjik, to the fire which had de- stroyed the palace. Al- though each slab was cracked into many pieces, tlie sculptures themselves had suffered less in- jury than any others dis- covered in the same ruins, the hard fossillferous lime- stone not having become calcined by the heat like the alabaster. The out- line was still sharp and the details perfectly pre- served. Considerable care Assyrians torturing tlieir Captives (Kouyunjik). Chap. XX.] CONQUEST OF SUSIANA. 459 was required to move them. But the pieces were at length packed, and since their arrival in England have been admirably restored, with the rest of the bas-reliefs now in the British Museum, by Mr. Sumsion. The whole series has been given from my drawings in the second series of the Monuments of Nineveh.* Unfortunately no slabs but those I have described remained against the walls of this apartment, nor were there any other bas- reliefs of the same king found in the ruins. Several detached slabs of limestone, covered on both sides with inscriptions record- ing certain events of the reign of this monarch, have, however, been discovered both at Konyunjik and Nebbi Yunus. Amongst other conquests they relate that of Susiana, and describe the over- throw of its king as represented in the sculptures. The Susia- nians appear to have recently rebelled ; for they were subject to the Assyrians In the time of the predecessors of this king, and are mentioned amongst the allies fighting in the armies of Senna- cherib. These inscriptions were probably votive tablets placed in temples and other public buildings to celebrate this victory.f Although the bas-reliefs were carved by a later king, the chamber itself, like the rest of the edifice, was built by Sennacherib, and on the back of each slab were Inscribed his name and usual titles. The inscriptions behind the winged lions at the entrance also con- tained his name, but were especially interesting as describing the cutting of those sculptures and their transport to Nineveh. They will, consequently, enable us to determine the Assyrian word both for the colossi and for the stone of which they were made. The slabs round the room appear, therefore, to have been originally plain, as in the adjoining chambers, and to have been subsequently sculptui’ed by order of the son and successor of Essarhaddon. These bas-reliefs prove that many changes had taken place in the arts and dress of the people of Assyria between the reign of Sennacherib and that of his grandson. The later sculp- tures are principally distinguished by their minute finish, the sharpness of the outline, and the very correct delineation of the animals, and especially of the horses. W e now approach the j^eriod of the fall of the Assyrian empire and of the rise of the kingdoms of Babylon and Persia. The arts passed from Assyria to the sister nations and to Ionia. There is much in the bas-reliefs 1 have just described to remind us of the early works of the Greeks immediately * Plate 43. to 49. f One of these inscriptions is published in the British Museum Series, p. 85. Many of the tablets from the chamber of archives, in Konyunjik, bear the name of this king. 460 NINEVEH AND EABYLON. [CUAP. XX. after the Persian war, and to illustrate a remark of the illustrious Niebuhr, that “ a critical history of Greek art would show how late the Greeks commenced to practise the arts. After the Persian war a new world opens at once, and from that time they advanced with great strides. But everything that was produced before the Persian war — a few of those works are still extant — was, if we judge of it without prejudice, altogether barbarous.”* * * § The chamber containing these sculptures had an enti’ance open- ing upon the edge of the mound. Of this doorway there only remained, on each side, a block of plain limestone, which may, however, have been the base of a sphinx or other figure. The outer walls to which it led f had been panelled with the usual ala- baster slabs, with bas-reliefs of a campaign in a country already represented in another part of the palace and distinguished by the same deep valley watered by a river, the vineyards and wooded mountains. Over one of the castles captured and desti’oyed by the Assyrians was written, “ Sennacherib, King of Assyria. The city of Bit-Kubitalmi I took, the sj)oll I carried away, (the city) I burned.” Whether these walls belonged to a chamber or formed part of the southei'n face of the palace could not now be determined, as they were on the very brink of the platform. At right angles to them, to the west, a pair of winged bulls opened upon another wall, of which there were scarcely any remains, and midway between the two entrances was a deep doorway §, flanked on both sides by four colossal mythic figures, amongst which were the fish god and the deity with the lion’s head and eagle’s feet. It led to an inclined or ascending passage, nine feet wide in the nar- rowest part and ten in the broadest, and forty-four feet in length to where it turned at right angles to the left. It was paved with hard lime or plaster about an inch and a half thick. The walls were built of the finest sundried bricks, admirably fitted together, and still perfectly preserved. Three rows of square projections, each formed by two bricks, were carried along both sides of the passage. Here and there were circular holes purposely cut into the brick-work. I can offer no other conjecture as to the original use either of these projections or of the holes, except that they supported shelves on which the archives and other public do- * Niebuhr’s Thirty-fourth Lecture on Ancient History. • • t No. LX. Plan I. J In No. XXXVIIL, same Plan. See page 340. § Entrance b, No. LX. 462 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XX. cuments were deposited, for it was in tins jiassage that were dis- covered the detached seals described in a former chapter. This inclined way probably led to the upper chambers of the palace, or to the galleries which may have been carried round the 2)rincipal chambers and halls. I have only to describe two more rooms discovered in this part of the ruins during the summer.* They opened into the chamber jiarallel with that containing the sculptured records of the son of Essarhaddon. The entrances to both were formed by two pairs of figures, each pair con- )f a man wearing the cap surmounted by a lis, and a lion-headed le-footed human figure dagger in one hand, and holding a mace in the other. These sculptures wei’e re- markable for the boldness of the re- lief and their high finish. The bas-reliefs on the walls of the two chambers recorded the same campaign against a nation dwelling amidst a wooded and mountainous country, and in strongly for- tified cities, which the Assyrians took by assault, using battering rams to make breaches in the walls, and scaling ladders to mount to the assault. The besieged defended themselves with arrows and stones, but their strongholds were captured, and a vast amount of spoil and captives fell into the hands of the conquerors. The men had short, bushy hair and beards, and wore an inner garment reaching to the knee, an outer cloak of skins or fur, and gaiters laced in front. The robes of the women were short ; their hair hung low down their backs, and was then gathered uj) into one large curkf Such were the discoveries made at Kouyunjik during the sum- mer. At Nimroud the excavations had been almost sus2)cnded. I have already described those 2)arts of the high mound or tower, and of the adjoining small temples which were ex2)lored by the few * No. XXXI., 26 by 14 feet, and No. XXXII., 22 by 20 feet, f I’hites 19. and 31. of the INIonumcnts of Nineveh, 2d series. colossal sisting ( o horned fleur-de- and eaji o Tunic of colo figures on oj site sculptun- Chap. XX.] REMOVAL OF THE SCULPTURES. 463 workmen who still remained amongst the ruins, rather to retain possession of the place than to carry on extensive operations. I was engaged until the middle of October in moving and pack- ing bas-reliefs from Kouyunjik ; a task of considerable trouble, and demanding much time and labor, as the slabs, split into a thousand fragments by the fire, had to be taken completely to pieces, and then arranged and numbered, with a view to their future restora- tion.* Nearly a hundred cases containing these remains wei’e at length dragged to the river side, to await the rafts by which they were to be forwarded to Busrah, where a vessel was shortly ex- pected to transport them to England. * These bas-reliefs have been admirably put together under the superintend- ence of Mr. Sumsion of the British Museum. Cases containing Sculptures ready for Embarkation . A Kellek or Baft on the Ti^iis. CHAP. XXL PREPARATIONS FOR LEAVING NINEVEH. — DEPARTURE FOR BABYLON. — THE AWAI. DESCENT OF THE RIVER. TEKRIT, — THE STATE OF TUB RIVERS OF MESOPOTAMIA. COMMERCE UPON THEM. TURKISH ROADS. THE PLAIN OF DURA. — THE NAHARWAN. SAMARRAH. KADESIA. PALM GROVES. KATHIMAIN. APPROACH TO BAGHDAD. — THE CITY, ARRIVAL. DR. ROSS. A BRITISH STEAMER. MODERN BAGHDAD. — TEL MOHAMMED. DEPARTURE FOR BABYLON. A PERSIAN PRINCE. — ABDE PASHa’s CAMP. EASTERN FAL- CONRY. HAWKING THE GAZELLE. APPROACH TO BABYLON. THE RUINS. ARRIVAL AT HILLAH. The winter was now drawing near, and the season was favorable for examining the remains of ancient cities in Babylonia. The Trustees of the British INIuseum had partly sanctioned a plan sub- mitted to them for excavations amongst ruins, no less important and vast, and of no less biblical and historical interest than those of XIneveh. I had included, In my original scheme, many remark- able sites both in Clialdaja and Susiana, but, as I have before observed, my limited means did not permit me to carry out my plan to Its fullest extent. As the operations at Nimroud were now, however, suspended, I determined to employ fewer men at Kouyunjik, and to devote myself, during the cold weather, to re- searches amongst the great mounds of Southern Mesopotamia. My Jebours were now so skilled and experienced in excavating, that I deemed It more economical to take a party of them with Chap. XXI.] DEPARTURE FOR BABYLOX. 465 me than to engage new workmen on the various sites that I might visit. At the same timej liaving thus my own men, I should be independent of the people of the country, who might either be un- willing to labor, or might require exorbitant pay. I aecordingly selected about thirty of the best Arabs employed in the excava- tions at Nineveh, to accompany me on the rafts which bore the sculptures. Awad and Latiff Agha, having charge of my horses and dromedary, took the high road through Arbil, and were to meet me at Baghdad. They left Mosul about a week before me, and had scarcely made a day’s journey before they were attacked by a party of Bedouin marauders. After losing the deloul and one of the horses, they fortunately succeeded in making their escape. Having again entrusted Toma Shisman with the superintendence of the excavations, and given him all necessary directions for carry- ing on the work, I quitted Mosul on the 18 th of October, accom- panied by Hormuzd and Mr. Romaine, an English traveller, on his w'ay to India. There were cases enough containing sculptures from Kouyunjik to load a raft of considerable size. My Jebours, well-armed with guns, went with them for defence, as the banks of the river were swarming with Bedouins, who had nearly in- terrupted all Intercourse both by the river and high road be- tween Mosul and Baghdad. Hormuzd, who had met with a severe accident, was placed in a bed on a small kellek ; Mr. Ro- maine occupied with me another of the same size. I have already described these primitive vessels, by which the trade of the countries watered by the rivers of Mesopotamia is now mainly carried on.* Ours in no way differed from those in ordinary use, except that a wooden framework covered with thick felt was raised upon them, to shelter us during the night, and to guard us during the day from the burning rays of the sun. The servants and cooking apparatus were on the large raft, and we all kept close conqoany for convenience and mutual protection. We stopped for the first night beneath the mound of Hammum All, in which a party of my workmen had opened several trenches without making any discoveries. On the following morning we crossed the foaming rapids of the Awai, or great dam. During the previous three years the river had gained much ground to the eastward, washing away the alluvial soil of the plain, and gradually seeking its ancient bed at the foot of the mound. The * Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 96. H H 466 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXI. stone- work wliicli, on my first visit to Niinroud, just jutted from the higli bank, now stood, like a tower, almost in the centre of the Tigris, dividing the impetuous stream into two roaring cata- racts. Solid masonry beneath the level of the river connected this isolated mass with the opposite bank. I endeavored to trace it inland, but after digging for some days without coming to the end, I relinquished the attempt. I am inclined to believe, from the result of this experiment, that the Awai is rather the remains of foundations of a wall and towers, gradually concealed by the deposits of the Tigris during the constant changes in its bed, than of a dam to keep up the level of the river for irrigation. The stream, now wearing its way back, will again uncover these ruins. The wall may originally have stood on the western bank, and its position may have been reversed liy the change in the course of the river. AYhether it surrounded a distinct city, or whether it formed part of the inclosure of ancient Nineveh, I am unable to say. It would have required time and labor, which were better employed, to trace its course, deeply buried as it is beneath the soil. There were still some arrangements connected with the exca- vations to be made at Nimroud, and it was not until the 20th that we fairly began our voyage. The navigation of the river as far as Kalah Sherghat was so insecure, that I deemed it prudent, in order to avoid a collision with the Arabs, to ensrase a Bedouin chief to accompany us. The tents of the Ajel, a branch of the Jebours, being pitched near the junction of the Tigris and the Zab, were then the resort of parties from the wandering tribes in search of provisions or news. In them we found one Awaythe, a Sheikh of the Fedagha Shammar, who agreed to give us his protection until we had passed the danger. Placing one of his sons on his mare, and ordering him to follow us along the banks of the river, he stepped upon my raft, where he spent his time in giving us accounts of wars and ghazous, smoking his pipe and pounding coffee. The waters of the Tigris were at this season of the year too low to permit our travelling after dark before reaching the alluvial plains of Babylonia. As fiir down as Tekrit the river is continu- ally crossed by reefs of rocks, and interrupted by rapids, which are now impediments to its free navigation, although offering no real obstruction to European skill. During the freshes and in the spring months the raftmen float fearlessly onwards through the night. Chap. XXI.] TEKEIT. 467 We reached Tekrit in three days without accident or adventure. Bedouin tents and moving swarms of men and animals were oc- casionally seen on the river banks, but under the protection of our Sheikh we met with no hindrance. Tekrit is almost the only permanent settlement of any importance between Mosul and Baghdad. It is now a small town, but was once a place of some size and strength. The remains of an ancient castle, surrounded by a ditch, crown a high sandstone rock rising from the river, and amidst the crumbling hovels of the present inhabitants are seen the ruins of mosques, baths, and well-built houses, and that labyrinth of tombs which invariably marks the site of an ancient Mohammedan city Tekrit is chiefly famous as the birth- place of the celebi’ated Saleh-ed-din, better known to the En- glish reader as Saladin, the hero of the Crusades, and the mag- nanimous enemy of our Richard Coeur-de-Lion. His father, Ayub, a chief of a Kurdish tribe of Rahwanduz, was governor of its castle for the Seljukian monarchs of Persia. Mosul itself sustained a siege from Saladin, who was repulsed by its Atabeg, or hereditary prince.* Military expeditions into the Sinjar and other parts of Mesopotamia were amongst the exploits of this great Mussulman hero. Tekrit is now inhabited by a few Arabs, who carry on, as rafts- men, the traffic of the river between Mosul and Baghdad. To the latter city much corn is annually sent by water from Shomamok and the districts on the lesser Zab. The people of Tekrit also levy a baj, or tax, upon all rafts passing their town, a privilege farmed to them by the Pasha of Baghdad. It is so considerable, and the mode of raising so oppressive, that it is a great impediment to trade. Kothiug marks more completely the results of the unjust and injurious system pursued by the Porte in its Arabian territories than the almost entire absence of permanent settlements and of commercial intercourse on the l)anks of the Euphrates and Tigris. Two of the finest rivers of Asia, reaching into the very heart of the Turkish dominions, spreading fertility through districts almost unequalled for the richness of their soil and for the varied nature of their produce, and navigable one for nearly 850 miles from * In the year of the Hegira 581. The name of the Ataheg was Azz-ed-din. Saladin is said to have endeavored to take the city by turning the waters of the Tigris into a canal towards Nineveh. He did not, however, succeed, but the Atabeg, to put an end to the siege, consented to proclaim him in the mosques, and to strike money in his name. H H 2 468 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XX. the sea, the other for nearly 600 miles, are of no account what- ever to the State upon whicli nature has conferred such eminent advantages. The depredations of the Arabs, unchecked by the government, and the rapacity and dishonesty of the Turkish au- thorities, who levy illegal and exorbitant taxes ujion every mode of transit, whether by land or water, and who make monopolies of all articles of produce and of merchandize, effectually check the efforts of the natives themselves, by no means deficient in com- mercial activity and enterprise, to engage in trade, or to navigate the rivers. Even the European merchant, Avith privileges secured by treaties, and protection afforded by consuls and diplomatic agency, is scarcely able to struggle against tlie insecurity of the country through which he must convey his goods, and against the black- mail exacted by Arab Sheikhs, secretly encouraged or abetted by the Turkish governors. From the most wanton and disgraceful neglect, the Tigris and Euphrates, in the lower part of their course, are breaking from their natural beds, forming vast marshes, turning fertile districts into a Avilderness, and becoming unnavlgable to vessels of even the smallest burden. The very high-way from Mosul, and, consequently, from the capital, to Baghdad, in order to avoid the restless Bedouin, is carried along the foot of the Kurdish hills, leaving the river, adding many days to the journey, and exposing caravans to long delays from SAVollen streams. Even this road is no longer secure, for the utter negligence and dishonesty that have of late marked the conduct of the Turkish authorities in Southern Turkey have led to the in- terruption of this channel of commerce. Many villages Avhlch once offered a safe retreat and necessary supplies to travellers are now deserted. By an ancient laAv of the Turkish empire, a laAV prevailing amongst nearly all the Tatar tribes, a local governor Avas held personally responsible for losses from open robbery on the high- ways Avitl)ln his jurisdiction. This responsibility has been removed, and no other remedy substituted by the Tanzimat, or reformed system. It is, of course, absurd for a native merchant to apply for protection or compensation to the Turkish Government, or to seek redress in a court of law against nomade tribes who defy the au- thority and arms of the Sultan. The direct road to Baghdad from the north Avould be across Mesopotamia, and along the banks of the Tigris, through a coun- try uninterrupted by a single stream of any size, or by a single hill. Whilst caravans are now frequently nearly six Aveeks on their way from INIosul to Baghdad, they would scarcely be as Chap. XXL] THE RIVERS OF MESOPOTAMIA. . 469 many days by the Desert. A few military posts on the river, a proper system of police, encouragement to the cultivating tribes to settle in villages, and the construction of a common cart-road, would soon lead to perfect security and to the establishment of considerable trade. This is not the place to discuss the relative merits of the various routes to India, but it may be observed that the time is probably not far distant, when a more direct and speedy communication than hitherto exists with that empire, will be sought by the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, where railways and steam navigation can both be advantageously brought into operation. The onlj'^ impediments between the Syrian coast and those rivers in any part of their course, arise from the want of proper security ; and may, consequently, with a little energy and a comparatively small outlay, be effectually removed. The naviga- tion of the Persian Gulf is, at all times, open and safe; and a glance at the map will show that a line through the Mediter- ranean, the port of Suedia, Aleppo, Mosul, Baghdad, Busrah, and the Indian Ocean to Bombay is as direct as can well be desired. This must be the second Indian route before extended civilisation and Christianity can afford a reasonable basis for those gigantic schemes which would carry a line of iron through countries almost unknown, and scarcely yet visited by a solitary European traveller. With these prospects, and with the Incalculable advantages which a ffourishing commerce and a safe and speedy transit through, perhaps, the richest portions of its dominions would confer upon the Turkish empire, it would seem that more than Eastern apathy is shown in not taking some steps tending to restore security to the country watered by the Tigris and Euphrates, and to en- courage the peaceful settlement of its wandering and predatory inhabitants. Between Tekrit and Baghdad there is much to interest the traveller who for the first time fioats down a river windinir through the great alluvial plains of Chaldoea. The country has, however, been so frequently described *, that I will not detain the reader with more than a general sketch of it. Our rafts glided noiselessly onwards, without furrowing with a ripple the quiet surface of the stream. Leaving Tekrit, we first passed a small whitewashed Mussulman tomb, rising on the left or eastern bank, in a plain that still bears the name of Dura. It was here, as some * See especially Narrative of a Eesidence in Koordistan, &c., by the late C. J. Rich, esq., vol. ii. chap, xviii. H H 3 470 NINEVEH AND BABYLON, [Chap. XXI. believe, that “ Nebuchadnezzar the king made an Image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits and breadth six cubits, and called together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces to its dedication, and that certain Jews would not serve his gods, nor fall down and worship the golden image that he had set up.”* It is now a wilderness, with here and there a shape- less mound, the remains of some ancient habitation. Tlie place is not otherwise unknown to history, for it was here that, after the death of the Emperor Julian, his successor Jovian concluded a dis- graceful peace with the Persian king Sapores (Shapour), and saved the Roman army by yielding to the enemy the five great pro- vinces to the east of the Tigris, It was here, too, that be crossed the Tigris, a broad and deep sti’eam f, and commenced his disastrous reti’eat through Mesopotamia, Not far below, and on the same side of the river, the great canal of the Naharwan, the wonder of Arab geographers, robbed the Tigris of a large portion of its waters. Its innumerable arms spi’ead fertility over many districts, once rich in villages and gar- dens, but now almost a desert. Lofty banks, all that remains of this mighty work, may still be traced, stretching, like natural hills, far across the plains, here crossed by the remains of a richly-decorated bridge, there losing themselves amidst a confused hea2i of mounds, marking the site of some ancient town.J Below the Naharwan, ruins, walls, and dwellings, built chiefly of large pebbles, united by a strong cement, a mode of construction jiecullar to the Sassanian and early Arab periods, stand on the alluvial cliffs. They are called Eski, or old, Baghdad ; the Arabs, as usual, assigning a more ancient site to the modern city. On the opposite side of the Tigris, another mass of falling masonry, named Ashek, crowns a jirojecting ridge. A tower, about two hundred feet high, now rises above the east- ern bank of the river. An ascending way winds round it on the out- side like the sjiiral of a screw, reminding the traveller of the common * Daniel, iii. f It will be remembered that Jovian attempted first to cross the river on the same kind of bridge as the Rhodian proposed to construct for Xenophon and the Ten Thousand, — a floating platform of inflated skins of sheep, oxen, and goats, covered with a floor of earth and fascines. (Gibbon’s Decline and Fall, vol. iv. c. 24.) f For a very full and highly interesting account of the Naharwan, see a Memoir by Captain Jones in the 9th volume of the Transactions of the Geo- graphical Society of Bombay. Chap. XXI.] RUINS ON THE TIGRIS. 471 ideal pictures of the Tower of Babel. It marks the site of the ancient city of Samarrah, where the Boman army under Jovian rested after marching and fighting a long summer’s day.* It suli- sequently became the capital of Motassem Billah, the eighth caliph of the Abbasside dynasty. Weary of the frequent seditions of the turbulent inhabitants of Baghdad, he resolved to change the seat of government, and chose Samarrah as his residence. If he did not build, he beautified, the city, and displayed in it that magnifi- cence which distinguished the successors of the Prophet, notwith- standing the example of humility set by the founder of their faith. The Arab historians describe his stables containing one hundred and thirty thousand pied horses, each of which daily emptied its nosebag filled with earth on a certain spot in the city. The soil thus brought together formed at length a terrace, on which the Caliph built a hall of surpassing splendor, but known as “ the Palaee of the Nosebags” from its singular origin. A half-mined mosque is now a place of pilgrimage to Mussulmans of the Sheeah sect, for it is said to cover the tombs of the last Imaums of the race of Ali, and to be the hiding-place of the twelfth prophet, Mehdi, -who is to appear at the second coming of Christ. The modern town, inhabited by Arabs, consists of a few falling houses surrounded by a mud wall, defended by bastions and towers. On both sides of the river, as the raft is carried gently along by the now sluggish current, the traveller sees huge masses of brick work jutting out from the falling banks, or overhanging the precipice of earth which hems in the stream. Here and there are more perfect ruins of buildings — walls of the solid masonry of the Sassanian period, and cupolas fretted with the elegant tracery of early Arab architecture. These are the remains of the palaces and castles of the last Persian kings and of the first Caliphs. The place is still called Gadesia or Kadesia, and near it was fought that great battle which gave to the new nation issuing from the wilds of Arabia the dominion of the Eastern world.! Remains of an earlier period are not wanting. A huge mound abut- ting on the west bank of the river, and still within sight of Samarrah, is known to the Arabs as the Sidd-ul-Nimroud, the ivall or ram- part of Nimroud. By some it is believed to be part of the Median wall which guarded, in the days of old, the immediate territory of Babylon against invasion from the north. A few heaps of earth on an angle formed by the junction of the Naharwan and another * Gibbon’s Decline and Fall, chap. 24. H H 4 t Ibid. eh. 51. 472 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXI. great canal derived from the Tigris, may represent the ancient Clialdasan city of Opis. The current becomes more gentle at every broad reach, until the raft scarcely glides past the low banks. The water has lost its clearness and its purity ; tinged by the alluvial soil it has turned to a pale yellow color. The river at length widens into a noble stream. Pelicans of snowy plumage and colored wildfowl float lazily on the waters, and white herons stand motionless on the margin. A dark line now bounds the southern horizon. It gradually breaks into vast groves of the feathery palm. The loud creaking of waterwheels disturbs the silence which has hitherto reigned over the deserted waters, and groups of half-naked Arabs gather to- gether on the banks to gaze at the travellers. A solitary raft of firewood for Baghdad floats, like ourselves, almost imperceptibly along. We are now amidst the date groves. If it be autumn, clusters of golden fruit hang beneath the fan-like leaves; if spring, the odor of orange blossoms fills the air. The cooing of the doves that flutter amongst the branches, begets a pleasing melancholy, and a feeling of listlessness and repose. The raft creeps round a projecting bank, and two gilded domes and four stately minarets, all glittering in the rays of an eastern sun, suddenly rise high above the dense bed of palms. They are of the mosque of Kathlmain, which covers the tombs of two of the Imaums or holy saints of the Sheeah sect. The low banks swarm with Arabs, — men, women, and naked children. Mud hovels screened by yellow mats, and groaning water-wheels worked by the patient ox, are seen beneath the palms. The Tigris becomes wider and wider, and the stream is almost motionless. Circular boats, of reeds coated with bitumen, skim over the water. Horsemen, and riders on white asses*, hurry along the river side. Turks in flowing robes and broad turbans, Persians in high black caps and close-fitting tunics, the Bokhara pilgrim in his white head-dress and wayworn gar- ments, the Bedouin chief in his tasseled keffieh and striped aba, Baghdad ladles with their scarlet and white draperies fretted with * The white ass of Baghdad is much esteemed in the East. Some are of considerable size, and, when fancifully dyed with henna, their tails and ears bright red, and their bodies spotted, like an heraldic talbot, with the same color, they bear the chief priests and the men of the law, as they appear to have done from the earliest times. (Judges, v. 10.) Chap. XXI.] ARRIVAL AT BAGHDAD. 473 threads of gold, and their black horsehair veils, concealing even their wanton eyes, Persian women wrapped in their sightless garments, and Arab girls in their simple blue shirts, are all mingled together in one motley crowd. A busy stream of tra- vellers flows without ceasing from the gates of the western suburb of Baghdad to the sacred precincts of Kathimain. A pine-shaped cone of snowy whiteness rises to the right ; near it are one or two drooping palms, that seem fast falling to decay, like the building over which they can no longer throw their shade. This is the tomb of Zobeide, the lovely queen of Haroun- al-Reshld, a name that raises many a pleasant association, and recalls to memory a thousand romantic dreams of early youth. A mosque cut in two, a singular object, next appears on the eastern bank. The river has gradually undermined and carried away the other part, leaving the innermost recesses of its dome, of which exactly half remains, its places of prayer, and its chapel-like chambers open to the air. Colored cupolas and minarets rise on all sides above the jialms, until the trees are succeeded by a long line of mud-built houses. We pass the palace of the governor, an edifice of mean materials and proportions. At its windows the Pasha himself and the various officers of his household may be seen reclining on their divans, amidst wreaths of smoke. A crazy bridge of boats crosses the stream, and appears to bar all further progress. At length the chains are loosened, two or three of the rude vessels are withdrawn, and the rafts glide gently through. A few minutes more, and we are anchored beneath the spreading folds of the British flag, opposite a handsome building, not crumb- ling into ruins like its neighbours, but kept in repair with Euro- pean neatness. A small iron steamer floats motionless before it. We have arrived at the dwelling of the English Consul-general and political agent of the East India Company at Baghdad.* * I have not attempted to give more than a mere sketch of the banks of the Tigris between Mosul and Baghdad. It would exceed the limits of this work to dwell upon the various interesting sites near a river so rich in historical associations, or to enter into a geographical account of the country. Captain Jones, of the Indian navy, whose accurate surveys of the lower part of Mesopotamia, including Babylonia and Chaldaea, deserve to be better known to the English public, and to whose knowledge of the native cha- racter, and tact and energy as a traveller as well as a public officer, I cannot bear too high a testimony, has furnished the best accounts hitherto published of the Tigris in this part of its course, in his papers communicated to the Geo- graphical Society of Bombay. 474 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXL It was early In the morning of the 26th October that I landed at the well-remembered quay of the British residency. In the absence of Colonel Rawlinson, then in England, his political duties had been confided to Captain Kemball, now the East India Com- pany’s Resident at Bushire. lie received me with great kindness, and I acknowledge with gratitude the hospitality and effective as- sistance I invariably experienced from him during my sojourn at Baghdad, and my researches in Babylonia. More than ten years had jiassed since my first visit to the city. Time had worked its changes amongst those who then formed the happy and hospitable English society of Baghdad. Dr. Ross was no more. In him Arab as well as European, rich as well as poor, Mohammedan as well as Christian, had lost a generous and faithful friend. His intimate knowledge of the country and Its various Inhabitants ; his long intercourse with the Bedouins, by whom he was universally known and beloved, and the high character he bore amongst the people of the city itself, rendered him the traveller’s best counsellor; whilst his ever ready hospitality and genial disposition made his house a pleasant home after the toils of eastern travel. He had died as heroically as he had braved a lingering illness, about a year before. Twelve years ago four steamers floated on the Tigris, and were engaged in exploring the then almost unknown rivers of Mesopo- tamia and Susiana. Their officers formed a small English colony in Baghdad. Three of those vessels had long been withdrawn, one alone having been left to keep up a monthly communication be- tween this city and Busrah. Its presence was of no less importance to British merchants and residents who were in correspondence with India than to the Turkish authorities, as all intercoui'se by land with the south was frequently interrupted for months together by the predatory Arabs. Other reasons make it equally desirable that one steamer should still remain on the \vaters of southern Turkey which flow into [the Persian Gulf, and the results of her presence, both politically and scientifically, have fully justified the confidence that the East India Company have placed in Captain Jones as her commander. It is only to be regretted that a vessel better suited to the navigation of the rivers has not been selected. The expedition under Col. Chesney, and the subsequent ascent of the Euphrates, by far the most arduous undertaking connected with its navigation, but accomplished with great skill by Captain Campbell of the East India Company’s serviee, have j)i’oved that for ordinary jmrposes this river in its present condition is not navi- Chap. XXI.] CITY OF BAGHDAD. 475 gable even in the lower part of its course. The neglect to keep up the embankments has increased the obstacles, and it is doubt- ful whether a steamer of even the smallest useful size could now find its way through the great marshes that absorb the waters of the Euphrates for nearly 200 miles above its confluence with the Tigris at Korna. The latter river is, for the present, navigable from the Persian Gulf to vessels drawing from three to four feet water almost as far as Teki-it, and probably, for vessels purposely constructed, as far as Nimroud. The usual negligence and indiffer- ence of the Tiu’kish government are, however, bringing about the same changes In the course and condition of this stream as in those of the Euphrates. The banks were formerly kept in repair by the tribes inhabiting the lower part of Mesopotamia, who per- formed this service to the state * in place of the payment of taxes and tribute. Of late years the Porte has taken them under its own charge, and they have, of course, been allowed to fall into complete decay. The tribes at the same time defy the government, and contribute nothing to the public revenues. The river has be- gun to desert its bed, and is now forming vast swamps over the low country, which was probably rescued by the ancient Babylonians from the Chaldsean lake. Baghdad, with its long vaulted bazars rich with the produce and merchandise of every clime, its mixed population of Turks, Arabs, Persians, Indians, and men of all Eastern nations, its palm groves and gardens, its painted palaces and unsightly hovels, its present misery and its former magnificence, have been so frequently described, that I will not detain the reader with any minute account of this celebrated city. Tyranny, disease, and inundations have brought it very low. Nearly half of the space inclosed within its walls is now covered by heaps of ruins, and the population is daily decreasing, without the hope of change. During * The banks of the Euphrates and Tigris in the lower part of their course were formerly kept in repair by the great tribe of the Montefik. The following characteristic anecdote is related of Ajel, its celebrated chief. Ilis father had confided certain dams to the care of the head of a dependent tribe. When the old Sheikh died, his tributary, taking advantage of the youth and inexperi- ence of Ajel, refused to obey the orders sent to him, and allowed the embank- ments to fall into decay. Ajel, who was already distinguished for his courage and resolution, went up with his adherents to the tents of the rebellious chief. At an interview he commanded him to repair the dams, and, on his refusal, ordered his own men to begin the work, and to drive the Sheikh into the earth with the first stake. His directions were strictly obeyed, and the Arab was forced with a stake through his body into the very foundations of the embank- ment. 476 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXI. my residence in Baghdad no one conld go far beyond the gates without the risk of falling into the hands of wandering Arabs, who prowled unchecked over the plains, keeping the city itself almost in a continual state of siege. Notwithstanding these draw- backs, the importance of its position is so great that Baghdad must at all times command a considerable trade. It is a link between the East and the West ; it is the store-house from which the tribes of the Desert obtain their clothing and their supplies, and it is the key to the holy places annually sought by thousands upon thousands of Persian pilgrims of the Sheeah sect. It is remarkable that, with the exception of the ruins of an ancient medresseh or college, and of a few foundations of edifices, there is scarcely a trace to be found in Baghdad of that magni- ficent city, “the Abode of Peace,”* on which, according to the general testimony of Arab historians and geographers, corroborated by Western travellers, the Caliphs lavished every resource of Eastern wealth and Eastern taste. The stranger will now seek in vain for the palaces and gardens of Haroun-al-Reshid, and the universities and mosques of A1 Mamoun. Even the very names of those great princes, the glory of Islam, are almost forgotten, or are only heard in the crowded coffee-house, when the Arab storyteller relates his fanciful tale. The only remains of the Babylonian period hitherto discovered within the city walls are the ruins of an enormous drain or subter- ranean passage, built of large square bricks bearing the name of Nebuchadnezzar; the lofty pile of sundried bricks, intermixed with layers of reeds, called Akker-Kuf, which now rises in the midst of a marsh to the west of the Tigils, about four or five miles from the city gates, has frequently been described.! During my * Baghdad was named by A1 Mansour, the second caliph of the Abbasside dynasty, and the founder of the modern city, “ Dar-al-Salam,” the Abode of Peace, a title still used in official documents by the Porte. The Persian historians pretend that the original city wms built by the first kings of Persia, and that it was named “ Bagh Dad,” the Garden of Dad, from an idol previously wor- shipped there. The foundations of the second city were laid by A1 Mansour in the 145th year of the Hejira (a.d. 762). It was captured and laid waste by the Tatar conqueror, Ilolaku Khan, who put to a cruel death Mostazem, the last of the Calijihs. From that time it has been continually a place of contention between the Turks and Persians. It contained, before the great plague of 1830, 110,000 inhabitants, but can now scarcely hold many more than 50,000. It is divided into two parts by the Tigris, the smaller quarters forming suburbs on the western bank. t See particularly Ker Porter’s Travels, vol. ii. p. 275, &c. Chap. XXI.] DEPARTURE FROM BAGHDAD. 477 visit to Baghdad it was not easy to reach this ruin on account of the swamp, and as it is merely a solid mass of mud masonry, excavations in it would scarcely have led to results of any Interest or importance. I found the country around Baghdad so overrun with Bedouins and other tribes in open revolt against the government, that it was some time before I could venture to leave the city for the ruins of Babylon. Not to lose time, I employed the Jebours who had accompanied me from Mosul in excavating some mounds not far from the gates of the city, on the eastern bank of the Tigris. The largest was called Tel INIohammed, and was about four miles from Baghdad, near the Arab village of Gherara. The only ob- jects of any interest discovered there were several hollow bronze balls, with the name of a king engraved upon them in Babylonian cuneiform characters*; a few rude images of the Assyrian Venus in baked clay, such as are found in most ruins of the same period ; a pair of bronze ankle- rings, some ter- racotta vases, and other relics of the same nature. Foundations in brick Bronze Ball from Tel Mohammed. masonry were also uncovered, but there were no traces of sculp- ture or inscriptions. It was not until the 5th of December that I was able to leave Baghdad. I had been struggling with my old enemy, inter- mittent fever, and the surrounding country was still in the hands of the Arabs, two reasons for remaining within the gates. At length Abde Pasha, the governor of the province, placed himself at the head of his troojis, and marched against the rebellious tribes. Before beginning his campaign, however, he had to dam the mouth * Two of these balls weigh respectively 1 lb. 5J oz. and 1 lb. 4j oz. Several objects of the same kind had previously been discovered in this ruin by the crew of the steamer under Captain J ones. Figures of Assyrian Venus in baked Clay. 478 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. LChap. XXI. of a large canal called the Ilindiyah. This artificial channel, gradually widened by the current of the Euphrates during the spring floods, now led nearly half the waters of the river into vast marshes to the west of Babylon. Into these Inaccessible swamps the Arabs had driven their buffaloes, and there they defied the Turkish troops. The Pasha’s first object was to close the canal, and thus in time to drain the morasses. Before going to Hillah I determined to visit the governor, and to make acquaintance with several Shelklis of the southern tribes friendly to the Turkish government who were in his camp. I accordingly left Baghdad, accompanied by ISI. Arlstarki, an accom- plished Greek gentleman in the service of the Porte, and by one Ahmed-al-Khod, a highly intelligent, active, and faithful Arab of the tribe of the Agayl, who had long been in the service of Captain tTones. His acquaintance with the country, and his connection by marriage with Ferhan the Shainmar chief, rendered him a very useful guide and companion in a journey through the Desert. The marshes formed by the Saklawiyah, a second great canal derived from the Euphrates, had reached almost to the very walls of the western suburb of Baghdad, interrupting communication by land, and spreading miasma and disease through the city. To get into the highway to Hillah, we were obliged to make a circuit of some miles, fording ditches, wading through water and deep mud, and crossing wide streams by crazy bridges of boats. We had been nearly three hours on horseback before we rode through the vaulted gateway of the Khan-i-Zad, the first habitable caravanserai on the road. In the middle of the spacious court- yard, reclining on carpets spread upon a raised platform*, we found Timour Mirza, one of the exiled Persian princes. He was surrounded by hawks of various kinds standing on perches fixed into the ground, and by numerous attendants, each bearing a falcon on his wrist. Amongst his own countrymen and the Arabs the prince held the first place as a sportsman; his gun was unerring * The great caravanserais or khans on the high roads between Baghdad and the sacred places are handsome and substantial edifices. They have been built by Persian kings, or by wealthy and pious men of the same nation for the accommodation of pilgrims. A large open squai’e, in which are gene- rally two raised platforms of brickwork for travellers to sleep on during summer, is surrounded by small apartments or cells, two deep, for winter use. Behind them, spacious stables for horses run round the whole building, and within these stables, on both sides, are other cells for travellers. These khans are chiefly constructed of bricks dug out of the ancient ruins which abound in the country. They are usually about six miles apart. Chap. XXI.] ABDE pasha’s CAMP. 479 in its aim, his falcons Avere unequalled for their training, and he knew every hunting-ground Avithin many days’ journey of Bagh- dad. He Avas no less famed for courage in Avar than for skill in the chase, and his exploits in both are equally notorious among the tribes of Mesopotamia. We slept in one of the arched recesses forming a side of the doorway of the caravanserai, amidst a crowd of pilgrims and tra- vellers, Avhose beasts of burden of every description completely filled the yard. Timour Mirza had not forgotten to bring his Persian cook, Avho prepared us several savoury dishes from the game taken by his master’s hawks. During the evening we Avere enter- tained by tAvo Arabs of the Agayl irregular troops, Avho played Avith extraordinary skill on the small kettle drums Avhich they carried before their company in Avar. The plains betAveen Khan-i-Zad and the Euphrates are covered AvIth a perfect network of ancient canals and Avatercourses ; but “ a drought is upon the waters of Babylon, and they Avere dried.”* Their lofty embankments, stretching on every side in long lines until they are lost In the hazy distance, or magnified by the mirage into mountains, still defy the hand of time, and seem rather the Avork of nature than of man. The face of the country, too, is dotted AvIth mounds and shapeless heaps, the remains of ancient toAvns and Aulla^es. A long ride of ten hours throimh this scene of solitude and desolation brought us to the tents of the Pasha of Baghdad, pitched on the western bank of the Euphrates, below the village of Musseiyib, and on the inlet of the HIndiyali canal. A string of boats had been placed across the river to connect the camp of the governor Avith Baghdad. As we approached Ave heal’d a loud hum of human voices ; but the Avhole encampment Avas concealed by dense clouds of dust. Once over the bridge Ave found ourselves in the midst of a croAvd of Turkish soldiers, Arabs, and Avorkmen of every kind hurrying to and fro in Avild dis- order ; some bearing earth and mud in baskets, or in their cloaks, others bending under the Aveight of bundles of brusliAvood, mats, and ropes. Women and girls Avere mingled Avith the men, and as they labored they chanted in a monotonous tone verses on the Pasha and their chiefs, improvised for the occasion. This busy throng Avas building up the dam Avhich Avas to shut out the Avaters of the Euphrates from the canal, dry the marshes, and bring the rebellious tribes to obedience. The nature of the * Jeremiah, 1. 38. 480 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXI. materials and of the work did not, however, promise a very favor- able or speedy result. They had indeed no sooner raised half their frail barrier of earth and fascines, than the impetuous current washed away in a night the fruits of a month’s toil. The Pasha had summoned to his aid all the tribes that still owned his autho- rity ; his tents were crowded with Arab Sheikhs from the plains, and Kurdish Beys from the mountains. About two thousand regular troops and a large body of Irregular horse and foot com- pleted the motley army he had gathered I’ound him at the HIndiyah. I spent the following day with Abde Pasha, who was an ar- dent sportsman, and entertained me with hawking. The Arab and Kurdish chiefs, who were in his camp, were summoned at dawn to accompany him. Most of them had their own falcons and huntsmen — an indispensable part of the establishment of an eastern nobleman. AVe formed altogether a very gay and goodly company. Bustards, hares, gazelles, francollns, and several wild animals abounded in the jungle and the plains, and before we returned In the afternoon scarcely a horseman was without some trophy of the chase dangling from his saddle. Two of the hereditary Pashas of Kurdistan, claiming descent from the ancient Arab tribe of Beni Klialed, were with us. Deprived of their family possessions, and living as exiles In Bagh- dad, no longer able to wage war or to go on marauding expe- ditions, their chief emjdoyment was hunting. They w'ere formerly renowned for their well-trained falcons. The Bedouins, too, of whom there were many In the camp, are, as I have already remarked, much given to the chase, and especially to hawking. Unable to obtain a variety of falcons, they generally use the species called Charh, a bird found in the SInjar, in the hills near Arbil, and in the rocky ravines of northern Meso- potamia. They educate them with care ; but the great trainers in the East are the Persians and Kurds. The Turks are seldom sufficiently active to engage in these manly pursuits. The hawk most valued by Eastern sportsmen is the Shaheen, a variety of the northern peregrine falcon, and esteemed the most noble of the race. Although the smallest in size, it is celebrated for its courage and daring, and is constantly the theme of Persian verse. There are several kinds of Shaheen, each distinguished by its size and plumage ; those from the Gebel Shammar, in Nedjd, are the most prized, but being only brought by occasional jiilgrims from INIecca, are very rare. The next best are said to come from Tokat, In Asia Minor. The Chap. XXI.] EASTERN FALCONRY. 481 Shaheen should be caught and trained when young. It strikes its quarry in the air, and may be taught to attack even the largest eagle, which it will boldly seize, and, checking its flight, fall with it to the ground. The sportsman should, however, be at hand to release the falcon immediately, or it will soon fall a victim to its temerity. It is usually flown at the crane, the middle bustard (houbara), geese, and francolins. There is a va- riety called the Bahree, found on the borders of the Persian Gulf, which can be taught to catch geese, ducks, and all manner of waterfowl ; but it is difficult to keep and train. The next in value is the Balaban, which can be trained to strike its quarry either in the air or on the ground. It is found in the neighbourhood of Baghdad and in other parts of Meso- potamia ; is caught and trained when full grown, and is flown at gazelles, hares, cranes, bustards, partridges, and francolins. The Baz and Shah Baz (?Astur palumbarius, the goshawk, and the Falco lanarius) is remarkable for the beauty of its speckled plumage and for its size. It strikes in the air and on the ground, and, if well trained, may take cranes and other large game. The Balaban and Baz, when used by the Persians for hunting hares, are sometimes dressed in a kind of leather breeches ; otherwise, as they seize their prey with one talon, and a shrub or some other object with the other, they might have their limbs torn asunder. The Chark (? Falco cervialis), the usual falcon of the Bedouins, always strikes its quarry on the ground, except the eagle, which it may be trained to fly at in the air. It is chiefly used for gazelles and bustards, but will also take hares and other game. The bird usually hawked by the Arabs is the middle-sized bus- tard, or houbai’a. It is almost always captured on the ground, and defends itself vigorously with wings and beak against its assailant, which is often disabled in the encounter. The falcon is generally trained to this quarry with a fowl. The method pursued is very simple. It is first taught to take its raw meat from a man, or from the ground, the distance being daily increased by the falconer. AVhen the habit is acquired, the flesh is tied to the back of a fowl ; the falcon will at once seize its usual food, and receives also the liver of the fowl, which is immediately killed. A bustard is then, if possible, captured alive, and used in the same way. In a few days the training is coni[)lete, and the hawk may be flown at any large bird on the ground. The falcomy, however, in which Easterns take most delight, is that of the gazelle. For this very noble and exciting sport. 482 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXI. the falcon and greyhound must be trained to hunt together by a process unfortunately somewhat cruel. In the first place, the bird is taught to eat its daily ration of raw meat fastened on the stuffed head of a gazelle. The next step is to accustom it to look for its food between the horns of a tame gazelle. The distance be- tween the animal and the falconer is daily increased, until the hawk will seek its meat when about half a mile off. A grey- hound is now loosed upon the gazelle, the falcon being flown at the same time. When the animal is seized, which of course soon takes place, its throat is cut, and the hawk is fed with a part of its flesh. After thus sacrificing three gazelles, the education of the falcon and greyhound is declared to be complete. The chief art in the training is to teach the two to signal out the same gazelle, and the dog not to injure the falcon when struggling on the ground with the quarry. The greyhound, however, soon learns to watch the movements of its companion, without whose assistance it could not capture its prey. The falcon, when loosed from its tresses, flies steadily and near the ground towards the retreating gazelles, and marking one, soon separates it from the herd. It then darts at the head of the affrighted animal, throws it to the ground, or only checks it in its rapid course. The greyhound rarely comes up before the blow has been more than once repeated. The falconer then hastens to secure the quarry. Should the dog not succeed in capturing the gazelle after it has been struck for the third or fourth time, the hawk will geneially sulk and refuse to hunt any longer. I once saw a very powerful falcon belonging to Abde Pasha hold a gazelle until the horsemen succeeded in spearing the animal. The fleetness of the gazelle is so great, that, without the aid of the hawk, very few dogs can overtake it, unless the ground be heavy after rain.* The pursuit of the gazelle with the falcon and hound over the The gazelle can also be taken immediately after it has drunk water, in hot weather. The Arabs watch for them with their dogs at the pools. The Arab greyhound is small, and, unlike the Persian, has short hair. It is a very fleet and beautiful animal, bearing the same relation to the English greyhound as the Arab does to the English horse. From the Eastern stock our breed may also have been derived. They are much prized, and, among some tribes, the race is as carefully preserved as that of their mares. The best greyhounds are found amongst the Obeid and Beni Lam. I have seen dogs from those tribes which could capture a gazelle at any time of the year, and take alove as many as six or seven Desert hares in a couple of hours. They are very tender, and even in Assyria require clothing during the winter. Chap. XXI.] THE RUINS OF BABYLON. 483 boundless plains of Assyria and Babylonia is one of the most exhilarating and graceful of sports, displaying equally the noble qualities of the horse, the dog, and the bird. The time of day best suited for hawking is very early in the morning, before the eagles and kites are soaring in the sky. The falcon should not be fed for several hours before it is taken to the chase. AVhen not hunting, the Arabs give it meat only once a day. Some hawks require to be hooded, such as the Chark and the Shaheen ; others need no covering for the eyes. The hood is generally made of colored leather, with eyes woi’ked on it in beads, and gold and variegated threads. Tassels and ornaments of vai’ious kinds are added, and the great chiefs frequently adorn a favourite bird with pearls and jR’ecious stones. To the legs are sometimes fastened small bells. Few hawks will return to the falconer with- out the lure, which consists of the wing of a bustard or fowl, or of a piece of meat attached to a string, and swung round in the air. The Eastern huntsman has a different call for each variety of fiilcon. A good chark will sometimes take as many as eight or ten bustards or five or six gazelles in the coui’se of a morning. I have introduced these remarks on falconry, founded on per- sonal experience, as this noble science is pi’obably of the greatest antiquity, and is still the favorite pursuit of the Eastern warrior.* Before leaving the camp I obtained letters to the principal chiefs of the southern tribes from the Pasha as well as from AVadi, the Sheikh of the Zobeide, and other influential Sheikhs. The town of Hillah was about eighteen miles from the Turkish tents further down the Euphrates. AA^e were obliged to take the long- est road by tbe eastern bank of tlie river, as the Arabs infested the country to the west. Between Musseiyib and the ruins of Babylon the country abounds in dry canals and ancient mounds. A few villages, surrounded by palm groves, stand on the banks of the Euphrates and on the channels, which still carry the waters of the river into the heart of Mesopotamia. After riding about four bours we perceived a huge hill to the south. As we drew nearer its flat table- like top and perpendicular sides, rising ab- ruptly from an alluvial plain, showed that it was the work of man, and not a natural elevation. At length we could plainly distinguish around it great embankments, the remains of walls and canals. Gradually, as the caravan slowly advanced, the ruin as- * A falconer bearingr a hawk on his wrist appeared to be represented in a bas- relief which I saw at Khorsabad on my last visit to those ruins. I I 2 484 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXI. sumed a definite shape. It was the mound of Babel, better known to travellers as the Mujelibe, a name not now given to it by the Arab inhabitants of the surrounding country. This is the first great ruin seen on approaching ancient Baby- lon from the north. Beyond It long lines of palms hem in the Euphrates, which now winds through the midst of the ancient city. To the vast mound of Babel succeed long undulating heaps of earth, bricks, and pottery. A solitary mass of brickwork, rising from the summit of the largest mound, marks the remains known to the Arabs as the “ iVIujelibe,” or the “ overturned.”* Other shapeless heaps of rubbish cover for many an acre the face of the land. The lofty banks of ancient canals fret the country like natural ridges of hills. Some have long been choked with sand ; others still cany the waters of the river to distant villages and palm groves. On all sides, fragments of glass, marble, pottery, and inscribed brick are mingled with that peculiar nitrous and blanched soil, which, bred from the remains of ancient habitations, checks or destroys vegetation, and renders the site of Babylon a naked and hideous waste. Owls start from the scanty thickets, and the foul jackall skulks through the furrows. Truly “ the glory of kingdoms and the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency is as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Wild beasts of the desert lie there ; and their houses are full of doleful creatures ; and owls dwell there, and satyrs dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces,” for her day has come.f A few black tents and fiocks of sheep and camels were scattered over the yellow plain. They belonged chiefly to the Zobeide, an ancient tribe, renowned in the history of the conquering Arabs under their first caliphs, and now pasturing their flocks in the wilds of Babylonia. I From Amran, the last of the great mounds, a broad and well-trodden track winds through thick groves of palms. About an hour’s ride beneath pleasant shade brings the traveller to the falling gateway of the town of Hillah. A mean • This is the Kasr of Rich and subsequent travellers. f Isaiah, xiii. 19 — 22., and compare Jeremiah, 1. 39.: “therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the island shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein.” A large grey owl is found in great numbers, fre- quently in flocks of nearly a hundred, in the low shrubs among the ruins of Babylon. J From this tribe was the celebrated lady of Ilaroun-al-Reshid, “ the Zobeide,” as she was called from her origin. Chap. XXI.] THE TOWN OF HILLAH. 485 bazar, crowded with Arabs, camels, and asses, leads to a bridge of boats across the Eujihrates. The principal part of the town, containing the fort and the residence of the governor, is on the opposite side of the river. We turned off, however, to the left, as our quarters had been made ready on the western bank. A party of irregular troops sent out to meet me, conducted my caravan to a spacious house standing on the very edge of the stream, and belonging to one of the principal families of the place. It had once contained rich furniture, and handsomely decorated rooms in the Persian style, but was now fast falling into utter ruin. The cold wind whistled through the rotten wooden panels of the windows, for there was no glass, and the crumbling ceiling and floor threatened to give way together. In this frail dwelling we prepared to pass a part of our winter In Babylonia. A Hooded Falcon (Chark) on its Stand. I I 3 CHAP. XXII. THE CHIEFS OF HILLAH. — PRESENT OF ETONS. THE SON OF THE GOVERNOR. — DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN. ZAID. — -THE RUINS OF BABYLON. CHANGES IN THE COURSE OF THE EUPHRATES. THE WALLS. VISIT TO THE BIRS NIMROUD. DESCRIPTION OF THE RUIN. VIEW FROM IT. EXCAVATIONS AND DISCOVERIES IN THE MOUND OF BABEL IN THE MUJELIBE OR KASR. THE TREE ATHELE. EXCAVATIONS IN THE RUIN OF AMRAN. BOWLS, WITH INSCRIPTIONS IN HEBREW AND SYRIAC CHARACTERS. TRANSLATIONS OF THE INSCRIPTIONS. THE JEWS OF BABYLONIA. My first care on arriving at Hillah was to establish friendly relations with the principal inhabitants of the town as well as with the Turkish officer in command of the small garrison that guarded its mud fort. Osman Pasha, the general, received me with courtesy and kindness, and during the remainder of my stay gave me all the help I could require. On my first visit he pre- Thap. XXII.] TUE YOUTHFUL GOVERNOR. 487 sented me with two lions. One was nearly of full size, and was well known in the bazars and thoroughfares of Hillah, through which he was allowed to wander unrestrained. The inhabitants could accuse him of no other objectionable habit than that of taking pos- session of the stalls of the butchers, who, on his approach, made a hasty retreat, leaving him in undistui’bed possession of their stores, until he had satisfied his hunger and deemed it time to depart. He would also wait the coming of the large kuffas, or wicker boats, of the fishermen, and driving away their owners, would help him- self to a kind of large barbel, for which he appeared to have a decided relish. For these acts of depredation the beast was perhaps less to be blamed than the Pasha, who rather encouraged a mode of obtaining daily rations, which, although of questionable honesty, relieved him from butcher’s bills. When no longer hun- gry he would stretch himself in the sun, and allow the Arab boys to take such liberties with him as in their mischief they might devise. He was taller and larger than a St. Bernard dog, and, like the lion, generally found on the banks of the rivers of Mesopotamia, was without the dark and shaggy mane of the African species.* The other lion was but a cub, and had recently been found by an Arab in the Hindiyah marshes. Unfortunately it fell ill of the mange, to which the animal when confined is very liable, and soon after died. The other was too old to be sent to England by land, and I was thus unable to procure specimens for this coun- try of the Babylonian lion, which has not, I believe, been seen in Europe. The Mudir, or governor of Hillah, was Shabib Agha, the head of one of the principal families of the town. He elaimed a kind of hereditary right to this office. He was aged and infirm, suffer- ing from asthma, and little able to manage public affairs, which were chiefly confided to his youngest and favorite son, a boy of about twelve years old. It was with this ehild that, in common with the Inhabitants of Hillah, I transacted business. He received and paid visits with wonderful dignity and decorum. His notes and his inquiries after my health and wants were eouched in the most elo- quent and suitable terms. Pie showed a warm and affectionate in- * I have, however, seen lions on the river Karoon, with a long black mane. The inhabitants of the country make a distinction between them and the common maneless lion ; the former are Kafir, or inhdels, the others Mussulmans. By a proper remonstrance, and at the same time pronouncing the profession of faith, a true believer may induce the one to spare his life, but the unbelieving lion is inexorable. 1 1 4 488 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXII. terest in my welfare and in the success of my undertakings which was quite touching. Every morning he crossed the river with a crowd of secretaries, slaves, and attendants, to ascertain by personal inspec- tion whether I needed any help. His salutations were exjiressed with the greatest gravity. “ We trust that it has pleased God to preserve your Excellency’s health. Our town is yours as well as our house. Our harem begs your Excellency’s acceptance of sour milk and francolins. May we show that we are your slaves, by ordering the irregular troops to accompany you on your ride ; your person is more precious to us than our eyes, and there are evil men, enemies of our Lord the Sultan, abroad in the Desert,” and so on. He then gave me his usual report on the political state of the country, and related the successes of the Pasha or of the rebels ; I am afraid his sympathies were more with the latter than with the legitimate power. At the same time he Issued orders for rations to be collected for the troops, dictated letters to be sent to the Turkish authorities, summoned levies from the Arab tribes, and settled disputes amongst the inhabitants of the town, oc- casionally diverting himself with a peep into a kaleidoscope. In which he took great delight, and which I afterwards presented to him. He was a noble boy, with black sparkling eyes, and a bright olive complexion. He wore the long silken robes of a town Arab, with the fringed keffieh or striped head-kerchief of the Bedouin falling over his shoulders. On the whole, he made as good and active a governor as I have often met with in an Eastern town, and was an instance of that precocity which is fre- quently seen in Eastern children. A cordial friendship was soon established between us, and, during my stay at Hillah, Azeez Agha, for such was his name, was my constant guest. From the principal people of Hillah, as well as from Shabib Agha (the father of Azeez), I received every help. The day after my arrival they sent me presents of francolins, gazelles, and other game, and during my stay were unremitting in their atten- tions. Hillah, like most towns in this part of Turkey, is peopled by Arabs, once belonging to different tribes, but now forgetting their clanships in a sedentary life. They maintain, however, a friendly intercourse with the Bedouins and with the wild inhabit- ants of the marshes, being always ready to unite with them In throwing off their obedience to the Sultan, and frequently main- taining for some time their independence. As several families divide the authority and have their private feuds, which lead to constant Chap. XXII.] ARAB HOSPITALITY. 489 broils and bloodshed, the town, thus weakened, falls an easy prey to the Turks when regular troops are sent against it. At the time of my visit, its inhabitants were anxiously wait- ing the result of the expedition of Abde Pasha against the re- bellious tribes. Their allegiance to the Turkish governor and the consequent payment of taxes depended upon its success. If the Pasha were beaten they would declare openly in favor of the Arabs, with whom, it was suspected, they were already in communication. The Hindiyah marshes are within sight of the town, and the Kazail (the tribe that dwell in them) ravaged the country to its gates. I was consequently unable to do more than visit the cele- brated ruin of the Birs Nimroud. To excavate in it in the then disturbed state of the country was impossible. Hillah may contain about eight or nine thousand Inhabitants. A few half-ruined mosques and public baths are its principal build- ings. Its bazar supplies the Desert Arabs with articles of clothing, arms, dates, coffee, and corn, and contains a few common Man- chester goods and English cutlery and hardware. The Euphrates flows through the town, and is about two hundred yards wide and fifteen feet deep*; a noble stream, with a gentle current, admirably fitted for steam navigation. The houses, chiefly built of bricks taken from the ruins of ancient Babylon, are small and mean. Around the town, and above and below it for some miles, are groves of palm trees, forming a broad belt on both sides of the river. In the plain beyond them a few canals bear water to plots culti- vated with wheat, barley, and rice. Amongst the inhabitants of Hillah with whom I became ac- quainted was one Zaid, a Sheikh of the Agayl, a very worthy, hospitable fellow. His tribe had migrated from the Gebel Sham- mar when he was still a boy. Its members had mostly taken service under the Turkish government, and amongst the most useful troops of the Pasha of Baghdad are these brave and ac- tive, though undisciplined, musketeers. Zaid himself was one of their chiefs, and received regular pay, small enough Indeed, from the Baghdad treasury. He lived in Hillah, where his house, open to every traveller, was a place of meeting for the Arabs of the Desert from Nejd to the Sinjar. To keep up this unbounded hospitality he had a date grove and a few sheep, and cultivated a little land outside the walls of the town. He was thus supplied * See Col. Chesney’s Expedition for the Survey of the Euphrates and Tigris, vol. i. p. 57. 490 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXII. with nearly all that was necessary for an Arab entertainment.* * There were few parts of northern Arabia that he had hot visited, and few Arab tribes with whose history and condition he was not acquainted. Constant intercourse with the chiefs who frequented his hospitable inuseef made him familiar with all that was passing in the Desert, and rendered him an amusing and instructive com- panion. He usually accompanied me in my expeditions, and jiroved an invaluable guide. With one Ali, also a cliief of the Agayl, a man of wit and anecdote, though somewhat of a buffoon, and with other Sheikhs, he usually spent the evening with me, relating Arab stories, and describing distant regions and tribes, until the night was far spent. Having thus established relations with the principal inhabitants of the town, who could assist or interrupt me, as they were well or ill disposed, I could venture to commence excavations in the most important ruins on the site of Babylon. Half con- cealed among tlie palm- trees on the eastern banks of the Euphrates above Hillah, are a few hamlets belonging to Arabs, who till the soil. From them I was able to procure work- men, and thus to make up, with the addition of my Jebours, several parties of excavators. They were placed under the superin- tendence of Latiff Agha and an intelligent Chal- doean Christian of Bagh- dad, who had entered my service. The ruins of Babylon have been so frequently de- scribed!, I prefer giv- ing a general sketch of them to entering: into ac- ■"ioo Plan of Part of the Ruins of Babylon on the Eastern Bank of the Euphrates. * Tlie generous hospitality frequently shown by men living, like Zaid, upon the smallest means, is one of the most interesting features of Arab character. t The most accurate and careful description is that by Mr. Rich, to whom I Chap. XXII.] RUIN OF BABEL. 491 curate details of measurements and distances ; at the same time referring my reader to the accompanying plan, which will enable him to understand the position of the principal mounds. The road from Baghdad to Hillah crosses, near the village of Mohawill, a wide and deep canal still carrying water to distant gardens. On the southern bank of this artificial stream is a line of earthen ramparts, which are generally believed to be the most northern remains of the ancient city of Babylon. From their summit the traveller scans a boundless plain, through which winds the Euphrates, with its dark belt of evergreen palms. Rising in the distance, high above all surrounding objects, is the one square mound, in form and size more like a natural hill than the work of men’s hands. This is the first great ruin to the east of the river, and the Arab, as I have said, names it “ Babel.” The traveller, before reaching this ruin, still about four miles distant, follows a beaten track winding amidst low mounds, and crossing the embankments of canals long since dry, or avoiding the heaps of drifted earth which cover the walls and foundations of buildings. Some have here traced the lines of the streets, and the divisions between the inhabited quarters of ancient Babylon. They believe them to correspond wdth the descriptions of ancient authors, who declare that the city was divided into a number of equal squares by parallel thoroughfares. But it is perhaps more than doubtful, whether existing remains warrant any such supposition, or whether any definite plan could be restored from them. As yet no traces whatever have been discovered of that great wall of earth rising, according to Herodotus, to the height of 200 royal cubits, and no less than fifty cubits broad ; nor of the ditch that encompassed it. The mounds seem to be scattered without order, and to be gradually lost in the vast plains to the eastward. But southward of Babel, for the distance of nearly three miles, there is almost an uninterrupted line of mounds, the ruins of vast edifices, collected together as In the heart of a great city. They are inclosed by earthen ramparts, the remains of a line of walls which, leaving the foot of Babel, stretched inland about two miles and a half from the present bed of the Euphrates, and then turning shall have frequent occasion to refer, and whose valuable memoirs on the site of the city were my text books during my researches at Babylon. In the pre- face, by his widow, to the collected edition of his memoirs will be found an in- teresting summary of the researches and discoveries of previous travellers. Ker Porter, Mr. Buckingham, and several other travellers, have given accounts more or less full of the ruins. 492 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXII. nearly at right angles completed the defences on the southern side of the principal buildings that mark the site of Babylon, on the eastern bank of the river.* Between its most southern point and Hillah, as between Mohawill and Babel, can only be traced low heaps and embankments scattered irregularly over the plain. It is evident that the space inclosed within this continuous ram- part, could not have contained the whole of that mighty city, whose magnificence and extent were the wonder of the ancient world. The walls of Babylon, aecording to Herodotus, measured 120 stadia on eaeh side, and formed a perfect square of 480 stadia, or nearly sixty miles. Several later writers have repeated his statement. Strabo and Diodorus Siculus have however reduced the circuit of the city to 385 and 360 stadia ; and such, according to Clitarchus, were its dimensions when it yielded to Alexander. The existing remains within the rampart agree as little in form as in size with the descriptions of Babylon ; for the city was a perfect square. Mr. Rich, in order to explain these difficulties, was the first to suggest that the vast ruin to the west of the Euphrates, called the Birs Nlmroud, should be included within the limits of Babylon. He endeavored, at the same time, to identify it with the temple of Belus, which, according to Hero- dotus, stood in one of the western divisions of the city. There is no doubt that, by imagining a square large enough to include the smaller mounds scattered over the plains from Mohawill to below Hillah on one side of the river, and the Birs Nimroud at its south- western angle on the other, the site of a city of the dimensions attributed to Babylon might be satisfactorily determined. But then it must be assumed, that neither the outer wall nor the ditch so minutely described by Herodotus ever existed. According to the united testimony of ancient authors, the city was divided by the Euphrates into two parts. The principal exist- ing ruins are to the east of the river, there are very few remains to the west, between Hillah and the Birs Nimroud. Indeed, in some parts of the plain, there are none at all. This fact might, to a certain extent, be explained in the following manner. To this day the Euphrates has a tendency to change its course and to lose itself in marshes to the west of its actual bed. We find that the low country on that side was subject to continual inundations from the earliest periods, and that, according to a tradition, Semi- * The plan in the text, which is taken from Ker Porter s work, makes the lines of these ramparts too straight. In Rich’s they form almost a segment of a circle. A correct survey of the ruins is much wanted. Chap. XXII.] CHANGES IN THE EUPHRATES. 493 ramis built embankments to restrain the river, whilst a later queen seems to have taken advantage of the overflowing of its waters to disc a sreat lake outside the walls.* We know, too, from Arrian t, that the western quarter of the city was surrounded and de- fended by enormous marshes, which prevented all access to it. These swamps were fed by the Euphrates. The changes in its course to which the Euphrates was thus liable, appear only to have taken place to the ivest of its present bed. After the most careful examination of the country, I could find no traces whatever of its having at any time flowed much further than it now does to the east, although during unusual floods it occasionally spreads over the plain on that side. The great mounds still rising on the eastern bank prove this. Supposing, there- fore, the river from diflerent causes to have advanced and receded during many centuries, between the Hindlyah marshes and its present channel, it will easily be understood how the ruins, which may once have stood on the western bank, have gradually been washed away, and how tlie existing flat alluvial plain has taken their place. In this manner the complete disappearance of the principal part of the western division of the city may, I think, be accounted foiv It is more difficult to explain the total absence of all traces of the external wall and ditch so fully and minutely described by Hero- dotus and other ancient writers, and, according to their concur- rent accounts, of such enormous dimensions. If a vast line of fortifications, with its gates, and equidistant towers, all of stu- pendous height and thickness, did once exist, it is scarcely to be believed that no part whatever of it should now remain. Darius and other conquerors, it is true, are said to have pulled down and destroyed these defences ; but it is surely impossible that any human labor could have obliterated their very traces. + Even supposing thnt the ruins around Hillah do not represent the site of ancient Babylon, there are no remains elsewhere in Mesopotamia to correspond witli those great ramparts. If there had been they could not have escaped the researches of modern travellers. But Herodotus states that, in the midst of each division of the city, there was a circular space surrounded by a lofty wall : one * Herod. 1. i. c. 184, 185. f Lib. vii. c. 17. and Diod. Sic. ii. 7. 4 According to Berossus, Cyrus ordered the exterior walls of Babylon to be entirely destroyed, that the inhabitants of the city might not again revolt. (Josephus contra Apion, 1. i. § 20.) But Herodotus says expressly that Cyrus did not, but that Darius did pull down the fortifications (1. iii. c. 159.). 494 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXII. contained the royal palace ; the other, the temple of Belus. There can be little difficulty in admitting that the mounds within the earthen rampart on the eastern bank of the river might repre- sent the first of these fortified inclosures, which we know to have been on that side of the Euphrates. It is not impossible, as Rich has suggested, that the Birs Nimroud, around which — as it will be seen — there are still the traces of a regular wall,'may be the remains of the second ; or that the gradual changes in the course of the river just described, may have completely destroyed all traces of it. It may be Inferred, I think, from the descriptions of Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus*, that Babylon was built on the same ge- neral plan as Nineveh. More than one fortified inclosure, formed by lofty walls and towers, and containing the royal palaces and the temples with their numerous dependent buildings, courtyards, and gardens, rose in different quarters of the city. They were so built and guarded as to be able to resist an enemy and stand a protracted siege. Around them were the common dwellings of the people, with their palm groves, their orchards, and their small plots of corn-land. It must not be forgotten that the outer walls of Nineveh as well as those of Babylon have entirely dlsapj)eared. Are we to suppose that the historians in their descriptions confounded them with those surrounding the temples and palaces ; and that these exterior fortifications were mere ramparts of mud and brush- wood, such as are still raised round modern Eastern cities ? Such defences, when once neglected, would soon fall to dust, and leave no traces behind. I confess that I can see no other way of accounting for the entire disappearance of these exterior walls.f I will now describe the results of my researches amongst the ruins near Hillah. Parties of w'orkmen were placed at once on the two most important mounds, the Babel of the Arabs (the Mu- jelibe of Rich) and the Mujelibe (the Kasr of the same traveller). I was compelled, as I have stated, to abandon my plan of ex- cavating in the Birs Nimroud. This great pile of masomy is about six miles to the south-west of Hillah. It stands on the very edge * Diodorus Siculus particularly describes, after Ctesias, the two fortified palaees (1. ii. c. 8.). f Aby den us. states (ap. Euseb. Pra;p. Evang. 1. ix. c. 41.) that the first wall of Babylon, built by Belus, had disappeared, and was rebuilt by Nebuchadnez- zar. It must be borne in mind how much ancient authors copied from one another. Nearly all the descriptions which have reached us of Babylon appear to have been founded on the account of Herodotus and the uncertain statements of Ctesias. Chap. XXII.] THE BIRS NIMROUD. 495 of tlie vast marsh, formed by the waters of the Hindlyah canal, and by the periodical floods of the Euphrates. The plain between it and the town is, in times of quiet, under cultivation, and is irrigated by a canal derived from the Euphrates near the village of Anana. Tliis year, however, in consequence of the rebellion of the tribes of A1 Khazail and A1 Maidan, who inhabit the morasses, the land had been left unsown. Sliortly after my arrival at Hillah I visited the Blrs Nimroud, accompanied by Zaid, and a party of well-anned Agayls. My companions did a little business on their own account on tlie way. Spying a party of the Khazail Arabs retreating from the marshes with their tents and cattle, they fell upon them, and, “ under my shadow,” carried off a few cows and sheep, inflict- ing at the same time some severe lance wounds upon the owners, who would have been more summarily dealt with but for my intercession. This was unfortunately the only opportunity I had of examining these remarkable ruins during my residence in Baby- lonia.* The country became daily more disturbed, and no Arabs could be induced to pitch their tents near the mounds, or to work there. The Birs Nimroud, “ the palace of Nimrod ” of the Arabs, and “ the prison of Nebuchadnezzar” of the Jews ; by old travellers believed to be the very ruins of the tower of Babel ; by some, again, supposed to represent the temple of Belus, the wonder of the ancient world ; and, by others, to mark the site of Bor- sippa, a city celebrated as the highplace of the Chaldaian wor- ship, is a vast heap of bricks, slag, and broken pottery. The dry nitrous earth of the parched plain, driven before the furious south wind, has thrown over the huge mass a thin covering of soil in which no herb or green thing can And nourishment or take root. Thus, unlike the grass-clothed mounds of the more fertile districts of Assyria, the Birs Nimroud is ever a bare and yellow heap. It rises to the height of 198 feet, and has on its summit a com- pact mass of brickwork, 37 feet high by 28 broad |, the whole being thus 235 in perpendicular height. Neither the original form or object of the edifice, of which it is the ruin, have hitherto been determined. It is too solid for the walls of a building, and its shape is not that of the remains of a tower. It is pierced by * I had visited it on several occasions during previous journeys. For the first time in 1840, with Mr. Mitford. t These dimensions are from Rich. I was unable to take any measurements during my hurried visit. 496 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXII square holes, apparently made to admit air through the compact structure. On one side of it, beneath the crowning masonry, lie huge fragments torn from the pile itself. The calcined and vitreous surface of the bricks fused into rock-like masses, show that their fall may have been caused by lightning ; and, as the ruin is rent almost from top to bottom, early Christian travellers, as well as some of more recent date, have not hesitated to recognise in them proofs of that divine vengeance, which, according to tra- dition, arrested by fire from heaven the impious attempt of the first descendants of Noah. Even the Jews, it would appear, at one time Identified the Blrs Nimroud with the Tower of Babel. Benjamin of Tudela gives the following curious account of the ruin. “ The tower built by the dispersed generation is four miles from Hlllah. It is con- structed of bricks, called Al-ajur (the word still used by the Arabs for kiln-burnt bricks) ; the base measures 2 miles, the breadth 240 yai’ds, and the height about 100 canna. A spiral passage, built into the tower (from ten to ten yards), leads up to the summit, from which there is a prospect of twenty miles, the country being one wide plain, and quite level. The heavenly fire which struck the tower, split it to its very foundation.”* No traces whatever now remain of the spiral passage spoken of by the Jewish traveller, and it is most probable that he was misled in describing it by the appearance of the ruins. Whatever may have been the original edifice, of which the Birs Nimroud is the ruin, or whoever its founder, it is certain that as yet no remains have been discovered there more ancient than of the time of Nebuchadnezzar. Every inscribed brick taken from it — and there are thousands and tens of thousands — • bear the name of this king. It must, however, be remembered, that this fact is no proof that he actually founded the building. He may have merely added to, or rebuilt an earlier edifice. Thus, although it would appear by the inscriptions from Nimroud, that the north-west palaee was originally raised by a king who lived Ion" before him whose name occurs on the walls of that monu- ment, yet not one fragment has been found of the time of that earlier monarch. Such is the case in other Assyrian ruins. It is, therefore, not impossible that at some future time more ancient remains may be discovered at the Birs. I will now describe the ruins. It must first be observed, that they are divided into two distinct parts, undoubtedly the re- * Asher’s Transl. p. 107. Chap. XXII.] THE BIKS NIMROUD. 497 mains of two different buildings. A rampart or wall, the remains of which are marked by mounds of earth, appears to have inclosed both of them. To the west of the high mound, topped by the tower- like pile of masonry, is a second, which is larger but lower, and in shape more like the ruins on the eastern bank of the Euphrates. It is traversed by ravines and watercourses, and strewed over it are the usual fragments of stone, brick, and pottery. Upon its sum- mit are two small Mohammedan chapels, one of which, the Arabs declare, is built over the spot where Nimroud cast the patriarch Abraham into the fiery furnace, according to the common Eastern tradition. Not having been able to excavate in this mound, I could not ascertain whether it covers the remains of any ancient building. Travellers, as far as I am aware, have hitherto failed in sug- gesting any satisfactory restoration of the Birs. It is generally represented, without sufficient accuracy, as a mere shapeless mass. But if examined from the summit of the adjoining mound, its out- line would at once strike any one acquainted with the ruins to the west of Mosul, described in a former part of this work.* The simi- larity between them will be recognised, and it will be seen that they are all the remains of edifices built upon very nearly, if not precisely, the same plan. The best published representations of the Birs Nimroud appear to me to be those contained in a memoir of that accurate and observing traveller, the late Mr. Rich.f I give one of his sketches, over which I have placed a proposed re- storation of the form of the original building ; the present shape of the mound, as in Mr. Ricli’s sketch, being in dark outline. It will be perceived that the mound rises abruptly from the plain on one face, the western, and falls to its level by a series of gra- dations on the opposite Such is precisely the case with the ruins of Mokhamour, Abou- Khameera, and Tel Ermah. The brickwork still visible in the lower parts of the mound, as r on the Ruins of Babylon (London, 1816), plates 2 and 3. K K 498 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXII. well as in the upper, shows the sides of several distinct stages or terraces.* I believe the isolated mass of masonry to be the remains of one of the highest terraces, if not the highest, and the whole edifice to have consisted, on the eastern or south-eastern side, oi a series of stages rising one above the other, and, on the western or north-western, of one solid perpendicular wall. The back of the building may have been painted, as, according to Diodorus Siculus were the palaces of Babylon, with hunting or sacred scenes, and may have been decorated with cornices or other architectural orna- ments. There were no means of ascent to it. Nor was it accessible in any part unless narrow galleries were carried round it at different elevations. The diagram shows how far the proposed restoration suits with the actual form of the ruin ; but it must be borne in mind that the number of terraces is merely conjectural, and that there might have been more or less. The upper stage may have been larger, and the proportions of the others altogether different. The wood-cut is merely meant to give what I conjecture to have been the general form of the edifice. It is probable that the ascents from terrace to terrace con- sisted of broad flights of steps, or of inclined ways, carried up the centre of each stage. Such we may judge, from the descrip- tions of Diodorus, was the form of some of the great buildings at Babylon. The ascents to the different terraces of the hanging gardens, he says, were like the gradines of a theatre.f: There are * This may be perceived in the sketches given by Rich. He observed, indeed, as did also Mr. Buckingham, these indications of stages. He says, “ In the side of the pile, a little below the summit, is very clearly to be seen part of another brick wall, precisely resembling the fragment which crowns the summit, but which still encases and supports its part of the mound. This is clearly indicative of another stage of greater extent.” (P. 167. of the collected edition of his Memoirs.) Since writing the above I have found in a treatise by M. Von Gumpach (Die Zeitrech- nungder Baby lonier und Assyrer, Heidelberg, 1852, p. 25.), some remarks upon the sundial mentioned in 2 Kings, xx. 8 — 1 1 ., and Isaiah, xxxviii.'8. The author conjectures that it may have been presented to Ahaz by Tiglath Pileser, and he restores it very nearly in the shape I have suggested as having been that of the edifices of which the Birs Nimroud, and other great ruins in Mesopotamia, are the remains ; viz. a series of steps or terraces, on which an upright pole cast its shadow. He observes that the hours were marked by the coincidence of the shadow of the gnomon with the edge of the steps (degrees). (See also his Dissertation on the Old Testament, Heidelberg, 1852, p. 181.) Could these great structures have been raised for any astronomical purpose ? It would be important to examine them carefully, in order to ascertain whether they all face precisely the same way. ■f Lib. ii. c. 8. ]; Lib. ii. c. 10. Such is the form that Calmet and other antiquaries have given to the hanging gardens of Babylon in their restored plans of the city. Chap. XX U.] THE TEMPLE OF BELUS. 499 certainly traces of tliem in the mounds in the Desert west of Mosul, if not in the Birs Nimroud. Herodotus states that the temple of Belus at Babylon consisted of a series of towers. His description is not very clear*, but it may be inferred that the various parts of the structure were nearly square. The base was undoubtedly so, and so also may have been the upper stories, although generally represented as round. There is nothing in the word used by Herodotus (Trvpyos) to show that they were eireular, and that they were solid masses of masonry appears to me to be evident, for upon the upper one, was eonstructed the temple of the god. The aseent, too, was on the outside. Without, howevei', venturing to identify the Birs Nimroud with the ruins of this temple, it may be ob- served that it is highly probable one uniform system of building was adopted in the East, for sacred purposes, and that these aseending and receding platforms formed the general tj-pe of the Chaldoean and Assyrian temples. A step may still be traeed around the foot of the ruin, probably part of the basement or first platform, and as the whole is surrounded by the remains of a quadrangular inclosure, it is in every respect like those in the Desert to the west of Mosul. Around the Birs are heaps of rub- bish marking the sites of ancient buildings. f The edifice, of which this remarkable ruin is the remains, was built of kiln-burnt bricks. Fragments of stone, marble, and basalt, scattered amongst the rubbish, show that it was adorned with other materials. The cement by which the bricks were united is of so tenacious a quality, that it is almost impossible to detach one from the mass entire. The ruin is a specimen of the perfection of the Babylonian masonry. I will not enter into the many disputed questions connected with the topography of Babylon, nor will I endeavor to identify the various existinsc ruins with the magnificent edifices described by ancient authors. The subject was fully investigated by the late Mr. Bich, and the published controversy between him and IMajor Rennellj:, has left little to be added. A theory, first I * His words are, “ It is a square building, each side of which is of the length of two stadia. In the midst rises a solid tower (or terrace), of the depth and height of one stadium, upon which is another tower and then another, to the number of eight. These towers are ascended from the outside, a way leading round each of them ; and, in the middle of the whole structure, there are conve- nient resting places. On the last tower is built alarge temple,” &c. (1. i. c. 181.) j- Rieh, with his usual accuracy, has described all these indications of build- ing. (First Memoir, p. 37.) See his collected Memoirs, republished by his widow, 1839. K K 2 500 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXII. believe put forward by Col. Rawlinson, that the ruins around Hillah do not mark the site of the first Babylon, which must be sought for further to the south, as far even as Niffer, has, I pre- sume, been abandoned. There cannot, however, be a doubt that Nebuchadnezzar almost entirely rebuilt the city, and perhaps not exactly on the ancient site ; a conjecture, as I have shown, perfectly in accordance with Scripture and with Eastern customs.* An accurate survey of the ruins is now chiefly required, and will, I trust, be shortly added to the many valuable contributions already made by Capt. Jones to Eastern archteology and comparative geography. Recent travellers, amongst whom, I believe, may be included Col. Rawlinson, are of opinion that the Birs Nimroud cannot be identified, as conjectui'ed by Rich, with the temple of Belus, but that it marks the site of the celebrated ChaldEean city of Borsippa, which Rich traced four leagues to the south of Hillah f, in some mounds called Boursa by the Arabs. Until more authentic information be obtained from inscriptions and actual remains, the question cannot, I think, be considered as settled. From the summit of the Birs Nimroud I gazed over a vast marsh, for Babylon is made “ a possession for the bittern and pools of water.” f In the midst of the swamps could be faintly distin- guished the mat huts of the Kazail, forming villages on the small islands. The green morass was spotted with flocks of the black buffalo. The Arab settlements showed the activity of a hive of bees. Light boats were skimming to and fro over the shallow water, whilst men and women urged onwards their flocks and laden cattle. The booming of the ca,nnons of the Turkish army, directed against the fort of Hawaina, resounded in the distance ; and the inhabitants of the marsh were already hurrying with their property to safer retreats in anticipation of the fall of their stronghold. To the south-west, in the extreme distance, rose the palm trees of Kifil, casting their scanty shade over a small dome, the tomb of Ezekiel. To this spot annually flock in crowds, as their fore- fathers have done for centuries, the Jews of Baghdad, Hillah, and other cities of Chaldeea, the descendants of the captives of Jerusalem, who still linger in the land of their exile. Although tradition alone may place in the neighbourhood of Babylon the tomb of the prophet, yet from a very early period the spot appears to have been sought in pilgrimage by the pious Hebrew. * Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 173. •f Memoirs, p. 79. | Isaiah, xiv. 23. Chap. XXII.] THE TOMB OF EZEKIEL. 501 I visited the edifice some years ago. It is now but a plain building, despoiled of the ornaments and manuseripts which it once appears to have contained. The description given by Ben- jamin of Tudela of this place is so curious, that I cannot forbear transcribing it. “ On the banks of the Euphrates stands the syna- gogue of the prophet Ezekiel, who rests in peace. The place of the synagogue is fronted by sixty towers, the room between every two of which is also occupied by a synagogue ; in the court of the largest stands the ark, and behind it is the sepulchre of Ezekiel, the son of Busi, the Cohen. This monument is covered by a large cupola, and the building is very handsome ; it was erected by Jeconiah, king of Judah, and the 35,000 Jews who went along with him, when Evil Merodach released him from the prison, which was situated between the river Chaboras and another river. Tlie name of Jeconiah, and of all those who came with him, are in- scribed on the wall, the king’s name first, that of Ezekiel last. This place is considered holy unto the present day, and is one of those, to which people resort from remote countries in order to pray, particularly at the season of the new year and atonement day. Great rejoicings take place there about this time, which are attended even by the Prince of the Captivity and the presidents of the Colleges of Baghdad. The assembly is so large, that their temporary abodes cover twenty miles of open ground, and attracts many Arabian merchants, who keep a market or fair. On the day of atonement, the proper lesson of the day is read from a very large manuscript Pentateuch of Ezekiel’s own hand- writing. A lamp burns night and day on the sepulchre of the prophet, and has always been kept burning since the day that he lighted it himself ; and the oil and wicks are renewed as often as necessary. A large house belonging to the sanctuary contains a very nume- rous collection of books, some of them as ancient as the second, some even coeval with the first temple, it being customary that who ever dies childless, bequeaths his books to the sanctuary. Even in time of war neither Jew nor Mohammedan ventures to despoil and profanate the sepulchre of Ezekiel.” * * Asher’s translation. On the Tigris, near its junction with the Euphrates, is the traditionary tomb of Ezra. Tlie Jews, from the first centuries of the Christian aera, also appear to have visited this spot as the place of sepulture of the prophet. Benjamin of Tudela says of it, “ The sepulchre of Ezra, the priest and scribe, is in this place (name lost), where he died on his journey from K H 3 502 NINEVEH AND nAEYLON. [Chap. XXII. We galloped back from the Birs Nimroud to Ilillah^ crossing the dreary and deserted 2 >kdn w ithout meeting any of those ma- rauders who were wandering over the face of the country. I remained in Ilillah until the 19th December, riding every day to the ruins on the eastern hank of the river, and personally superintending the excavations. The first trenches were opened in the great mound of Babel, about five miles from the gate of Ilillah, and three quarters of a mile from the river.* I sought the subterranean passage opened and described by Mr. Rich, and on removing the rubbish I soon came to “ the quadran- gular funnel, about thirteen feet square, of burnt brick and bitu- men,” which he had discovered. After the lapse of forty years, it had been once more completely filled with earth. The workmen a^ain entered the undero;round chamber in which Mr. Rich found a coffin of wood, containing a skeleton still well preserved. The entrance to other galleries which had not been explored, were still closed by large burnt bricks, amongst which were a few square stones, inscribed on one edge with two lines of cuneiform cha- racters, containing the name and titles of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Chaldees, the inscription usually found on Babylonian bricks. It was evident that they had originally belonged to an edifice erected by that monarch, and had been taken from its ruins to form this covering to the vaults and tombs. Beneath this masonry were found several entire coffins, precisely similar to that discovered by Mr. Rich. They still held skeletons, more or less entire, which fell to pieces as soon as exposed to the air. No relic or ornament had been buried with the bodies. The wood of the coffins was in the last stage of decay, and could only be taken out piecemeal. A foul and unbearable stench issued from these loathsome remains, and from the passages which had be- come the dens of wild beasts, who had worked their way into them from above. It was almost impossible to stay for many minutes underground. Even the Arabs wei'e compelled to leave their work after a few days. On the northern side of the mound, above these places of se- pulture, are the remains of a massive wall of sundried brick. The Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes.” In the early part of the 13th century, a cele- brated Jewish poet, named Jehuda Charisi ben Salomo, described both tombs in verse. (Dr. Zunz’s Essay in 2d volume of Asher’s ed. of Benjamin of Tudela.) * P. 26. The dimensions of the mound, as given by Rich, are, the northern faee, 200yards in length; the southern, 219 ; the eastern, 182 ; and the western, 136. The elevation at the N. E. angle, 141 feet. Chap. XXII.] DISCOVERIES AT BABEL. 503 masonry is not united by bituminous cement, as In the vaults, but apparently by simple mud, as in modern Arab buildings, and be- tween each course of bricks are spread thin layers of reeds still perfectly preserved. The coffins discovered at Babel are of a comparatively recent period, and are not pure Babylonian. At the very earliest they may be of the time of the Seleucidte, but I am inclined to think that they are even of a still later date. It is evident that they were buried after the destruction of the edihce covered by the mound. Upon that great heap, over the fallen palace or temple, was probably raised one of those citadels, which formed the de- fences of a city built long after the destruction of the Babylonian empire and its magnificent capital, and which resisted the arms of Demetrius Poliorcetes.* Of that stronghold the thick wall of sun- dried brick on the northern side Is pi'obably the remains. Numerous deep trenches opened on the surface of the mound, and several tunnels carried Into its sides at different levels, led to no other discovery than that of numerous I’elics of a doubtful period, such as are found in large numbers, in a more or less pei-fect state, amongst all Babylonian ruins, especially after heavy rains have washed away the loose soil, or have deepened the ravines. The most interesting were arrow-heads in bronze and iron, small glass Bottle of Ribbed Glass, from Glass Bottles, from the Mound of Babel, the Mound of Babel. Glazed Earthenware Vessel, from the Mound of Babel. bottles, some colored, others ribbed and otherwise ornamented, and vases of earthenware of various forms and sizes, sometimes glazed with a rich blue color. A large and interesting collection of similar relics has been sent to this country by Mr. Loftus, from the ruins of Niffer and Wurka, * Diod. Sic. 1. xix. s. 100. K K 4 504 NINEVEH AND BABYLON'. [Chap. XXII. and are now in the British ISIuseum. They are picked up in a more or less perfect state by most travellers on the great mounds of Hillah. I doubt, however, Avhethcr they should be considered as strictly Babylonian, The greater part of them undoubtedly belong to a period considerably posterior to the fall of the empire. The earliest may be of the time of the Greek occupation, whilst the latest are probably of the sixth or seventh century of the Christian aera. It would, perhaps, be impossible to point out any very certain method of ascertaining the exact age of different specimens. With them are constantly discovered Greek and Roman terracotta figures, lamps, bronzes, and coins, and also gems and coins of the Arsacian and Sassanian dynasties of Persia. At Babel was also found, at some depth below the snrface, a curious jug, which I should have been inclined to believe altogether modern, had there not been one nearly similar in form, and of the same substance, in Mr, Rich’s collection in the British Museum, and consequently, it may be presumed, ob- tained from the same ruins. It is of soapstone, rudely carved and ornamented, and re- sembles in shape the vessels still used by the Arabs for ab- lutions. Scattered over the mound, and at a little depth beneath the surface, Avere nume- rous bricks, bearing the usual superscrip- tion of Nebuchad- nezzar. No an- cient masonry was, however, discovered, from which these bricks had been de- Jug of Soapstone, from tbe Mound of Babel. t'XCllGCl It was thus evident that the remains of the original edifice, if any still existed, Avere to be sought far beneath the surface and I accordingly opened tunnels at the very foot of the mound nearly on a level Avith the plain. A few days labor enabled me to ascer- tain that we had at last found the ancient building. On the eastern side the Avorkmen soon reached solid piers and walls of Chap. XXII.] DISCOVERIES AT BABEL. 505 brick masonry, buried under an enormous mass of loose bricks, earth, and rubbish. We uncovered eight or ten piers and several walls branching in various directions, but I failed to trace any plan, or to discover any remains whatever of sculptured stone or painted plaster. During tlie remainder of my stay in Babylonia Avorkmen con- tinued to excavate in this part of the mound, uncovering a confused heap of ruin and standing masonry. The enormous accumulation of loose rubbish above them, not a hard compact mass, as at Nine- veh, but continually crumbling and falling in, exposed the men to a risk scarcely Avarranted by tlie results of their labors. I much doubt Avhether even more extensive excavations Avould lead to any important discoveries. It is possible, hoAvever, that detached inscriptions or sculptured slabs might be obtained. On the western and southern sides of the mound Avere also discovered, at the very base, remains of solid masonry. The bricks bore the usual superscription of Nebuchadnezzar, and Avere firmly cemented together with fine Avhite mortar. It is thus evident that a vast edifice once stood either on the level of the plain, or raised upon enormous piers and buttresses of brickAvoi'k, and that the tombs, and any traces of building that may exist on or near the present surface of the mound, are of a more recent period. I Avill not attempt to decide Avhether Babel be the remains of a great palace of Nebuchadnezzar, of the celebrated hanging gardens, or of a temple. The Jews, in the time of Benjamin of Tudela, appear to have believed it to be the ruins of the palace, and near it Avas pointed out the site of the burning fiery furnace in Avhich Chana- niah, Mishael, and Asariah (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego) Avere thrown by the command of the king. The I’uin is not with- out its Mohammedan tradition. Within it are suspended by the heels, until the day of judgment, the two fallen angels, Harut and Marut, and the Arabs relate endless tales of the evil spirits which haunt the place. The only remains of building not covered by soil and sand, but still standing above ground, on the site of Babylon, and part of the ancient city, are about one mile to the south of the mound last described. It is the Kasr, or Palace, of Rich, a name by Avhich it is now generally known to ti'avellers, but the Arabs call it the Mujelibe, or the “ overturned.” It rises on the river bank, and is about seven hundred yards square. The principal part of this great ruin consists of loose bricks, tiles, and fragments of stone ; but nearly in the centre a solid mass of masonry, still 506 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXII. entire, and even retaining traces of architectural ornament, pro- trudes from the confused heap of rubbish,* Piers, buttresses, and pilasters may be traced ; but the woi’k of destruction has been too complete to allow us to determine whether they belong to the interior or exterior of a palace. I souglit in vain for some clue to the general plan of the edifice. The bricks are of a pale yellow color, and are not exceeded in quality by any found in the ruins of Babylonia. They are as firmly bound together by a fine lime cement, as those at the Birs Nimroud, and cannot be separated entire. Upon nearly every brick is clearly and deeply stamped the name and titles of Nebuchadnezzar, and the in- scribed face is always placed downwards. This wonderful piece of masonry is so perfect, and so fresh in color, that it seems but the work of yesterday, although it is undoubtedly part of a build- ing which stood in the midst of old Babylon. This ruin has for ages been the mine from which the builders of cities rising after the fall of Babylon have obtained their ma- terials. To this day there are men who have no other trade than that of gathering bricks from this vast heap and taking them for sale to the neighbouring towns and villages, and even to Baghdad. There is scarcely a house in Hillah which is not al- most entirely built with them ; and as the traveller passes through the narrow streets, he sees in the walls of every hovel a record of the glory and power of Nebuchadnezzar. To obtain these materials, the masonry which had withstood the decay of ages has been gradually destroyed, until only the present shapeless mass remains, whilst the heap Itself has been tunnelled in every direction in search of such entire brickwork as may still exist beneath the surface. This process having now gone on for centuries, the ruin has been more fully explored than it could possibly be by any stranger with limited time and means at his command. Those who had been engaged from childhood in this brick-trade, assured me that no sculptures or inscribed slabs had been discovered in their time, and that no remains of stone walls existed in any part of the mound. The tunnels explored by my workmen led to nothing but solid brick- masonry. The subterranean passage described by Richf still exists, but so completely filled with rubbish, that I was unable to * See woodcut at the head of this chapter, taken from Mr. Rich’s collected Memoirs by the permission of Mrs. Rich. t Memoirs, p. 64. It is floored and walled with bricks, and covered with great blocks of sandstone. CiiAP. XXII.] THK TREE ATIIELE. 507 clear it entirely during my residence at Hillah. It is not more than seven feet high, and looks like an enormous drain rather than an entrance to a great building. A large number of the fragments of brick found in this ruin are covered with a thick enamel or glaze. The colors have resisted the effects of time, and preserve their original brightness. Parts of figures and ornaments may still be traced on many specimens. The principal colors are a brilliant blue, red, a deep yellow, white, and black.* We learn from ancient authors that the walls of the palaces of Babylon were painted with the figures of men and animals, and there can be no doubt that these enamelled bricks are from the walls of an edifice. In the last century De Beauchamp, a French traveller, was told that a chamber with walls of varnished bricks had been discovered in this very mound, and that uj)on the sides of one of them were depicted figures of a cow and of the sun and moon, a story to which some credit may be attached, as these emblems are now known to be Assyro-Babylonlan. I searched In vain, however, for some traces of them. Fragments of glass, Babylonian gems and cylinders, small bronze figures, and other relics of this nature are occasionally found on the mound by the Arabs, and are bought by the Jews of Hillah, who sell them again to European travellers. The huge lion described by Richf and seen by De Beauchamp, still exists half buried in the rubbish. The animal stands over a man with outstretched arms, which has led some imaginative travellers to see in the group a representation of Daniel in the lions’ den. The figures are in black basalt, either so barbarously executed as to show very little progress in art, or left unfinished by the sculptor. It would scarcely be worth removal. Near the northern edge of the ruin is the solitary tree Athele, well-known to the Arabs, and the source of various traditions. It is said to have stood in the hanging gardens of Babylon, and to have been saved by God from the general destruction which over- whelmed the impious city, that All might tie his horse to its trunk after the defeat of the enemies of the Prophet in the great battle of Hillah. No other tree of the same kind exists, according to the same tradition, in the whole world. It is, however, I believe, a species of tamarisk, whose long feathery branches tremble in * The nature of these colors has been alluded to in another part of this work, see note p. 166. Some additional remarks will be found in an Appendix. f Memoirs, p. 64. 508 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXII. the breeze with a melanclioly murmur well suited to the desolate heaj) over which it may have waved for a thousand years. It was a hopeless task to excavate in a shapeless lieap of rubbish of such vast extent, wliich had already been explored in every direc- tion. With the exception of the solitary pile of masonry rising in the centre, the ruin consisted of little else than of shattered brick- work. I continued, however, a few of the tunnels already opened, but the falling rubbish, which had more than once overwhelmed the seekers after bricks, soon compelled me to desist. The only relic of any interest I was fortunate enough to discover was a frag- ment of limestone, on which were parts of two figures, undoubtedly those of gods. The name of one deity is added in Babylonian cha- racters to its sculptured image. It is probably only a small portion of a slab or frieze containing a series of similar figures ; but I was unable, after a careful and prolonged search, to find any other pieces. The fragment, however, is interesting, as showing that the Babylo- nians portrayed their divinities in the same manner as the Assyrians. They wear the same high head-dress ornamented with feathers and rosettes, the long curled hair and beard, and the embroidered gar- ments, and they hold the same staff with a ring as the gods in the rock sculptures of Bavian. With the exception of a few rudely engraved gems and enamelled bricks, this was the only relic I obtained from the Mujelibe. Excavations Avere carried on for some days in the smaller mounds scattered over the plain bet weefi Babel and the ruin last described, but without any results, ex- cept the discovery of the remains of brick masonry, of a few earthen vases, and of some fragments of glass. The last ruin I examined Avasa mound of great extent, sometimes called by the Arabs Jumjuma, from a neighbouring village of that name, and sometimes, as stated by Rich, Ayiran ben Ali, from a Koubbe, or small domed tomb, of a Mohammedan saint Fragment from the Mujelihe vBahylon). Chap. XXII.] JEWISH RELICS. 509 on its summit. No masonry is here seen as in the Miijelibe. All remains of buildings, if there be any still existing, are deeply buried beneath the loose niti’ous earth. It is traversed by innu- merable ravines, and its form and level are equally irregular.* I opened trenches in various parts, but could find no traces of an edifice of any kind. Some small objects of considerable interest were, however, discovered. Although not of the true Babylonian epoch, they are, on more than one account, highly important. The mound of Amran, as well as nearly all those in Baby- lonia, had been used as a place of burial for the dead long after the destruetion of the great edifices whose ruins it covers. Some specimens of glass, and several terracotta figures lamps, and jai‘s, dug out of it, are evidently (I [ I of the time of the Seleucidaj or of the Greek occupation. With these relics were five ciqis or bowls of earthenware, and fragments of others, covered on the inner surface with letters written in a kind of ink. Similar objects had al- ready been found in other Babylonian ruins. Two from the collection of the Earthen Jars found m Babylonian Euins. Ml’. StCWart had bceil dcpOSitcd in the British Museum, and amongst the antiquities recently purchased by the Trustees from Colonel Bawlinson are eight sjiecimens, ob- tained at Baghdad, where they are sometimes offered for sale by the Arabs ; but it is not known from what sites they were brought. The characters upon them are in form not unlike the Hebrew, and on some they resembled the Sabsean and Syriac. These books had not attracted notice, nor had the inscriptions upon them been fully examined before they were placed in the hands of Mr. Thomas Ellis, of the manuscript department in the British Museum, a gentleman of great learning and ingenuity as a Hebrew scholar. He has succeeded, after much labor, in deci- phering the inscriptions, and I will now give, in his own words, an account of these singular relics. A discovery relating to the Jews of the captivity in Babylon, and consequently of great interest to Oriental scholars, and especi- * Rich gives its dimensions as 1 100 yards by 800, but the form is so irregular, and it is so difficult to determine where the ruins cease altogether, that, without a very careful and accurate survey, it appeared to me impossible to ascertain its exact size. The same remark applies to the Mujelibe, and to nearly all the mounds except Babel, whose sides are steep and well-defined. The others lose themselves almost insensibly in the plain. 510 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXII. ally to biblical students, was made by INIr. Layard during bis second expedition to Assyria. Amongst the various curious ob- jects found on the banks of the Euphrates, and in the ruins of ancient Babylonia, were several bowls or cu[)s of terracotta, round the inner surface of which were inscriptions in the ancient Chaldajan language, written in chai’acters wholly unknown, and, I believe, never before seen in Europe. The letters appear to he an admixture of the Syriac and Palmyrine *, and in some instances resemble the ancient Phoenician. The subjects of these inscrip- tions are amulets or charms against evil spirits, diseases, and every kind of misfortune. They must have been written long prior to any existing manuscripts of the ancient Hebrew and Chaldajan lan- guages that we now know of, there being no divisions between words (except in one instance. No. 5., where the forms of the letters would seem to indicate a later date), nor are there any vowel points. But the most remarkable circumstance connected with these inscriptions is, that the characters used on the bowl marked No. 1. answer precisely to the description given of the most an- cient Hebrew letters in the Babylonian Talmud, which contains an account of the nature and origin of the letters used by the Jews. In the tract Sanhedrin we are told that the Jews called their cha- racters Assyrian, nniB’N, and that they loere brouyht with them from Assyria. Abraham de Balmis in his Hebrew grammar states, that the characters called Assyrian were composed of straight lines : his words are, Hoy nxv'i n'nvmxn mc’V'O ; the Latin ver- sion of this in the same grammar is, ‘ Quia est recta in suis Uteris et exivit nobiscum ex Assyria.' The orthography of these inscriiitions is very defective, and sometimes pure Hebrew sentences are found mixed with the Chaldee, especially in No. 5. ; and the words ‘ Halle- luiah ’ and ‘ Selah ’ occur in nearly every one of them. All this tends to confirm the opinion that the writei's were Jews; for it is well known that the early Christians were utterly ignorant of Hebrew, nor is there any proof that it was cultivated at Babylon ; on the contrary, it was at Babylon that the Hebrew ceased to be a spoken language, the Jews being compelled, by their lengthened cap- tivity, to adopt the Chaldjean, whilst at the same time they were corrupted by the idolatry and superstitions of the Babylonians. The Chalda3ans were formerly famous for divination, astrology, and witchcraft, and there is no doubt but that the Jews were not * See the inscriptions discovered in the ruins of Palmyra, published in the “Philosophical Transactions,” vol xlviii. part 2. : their dates are from A. d. 49 to 258, and will be found on comparison to resemble very closely the characters used on the bowl No. 1. Chap. XXII.] JEWISH RELICS. 511 only led away by these practices, but brought them with them into their own country; for we find that the Jewish captives taken to Rome by Titus Vespasian, immediately after the destruction ot Jerusalem, were acquainted with astrology, casting nativities, and magic. We are told this by Juvenal, the Roman satirist.* It is wortliy of remark, that although the Roman ladies consulted all sorts of astrologers and soothsayers, such as the Armenians, Jews, and those of Comagena, the Chaldaeans were considered the most proficient in the art. Thus Juvenal, in describing a lady who had consulted cunning men about her nativity, ‘ Chaldceis sed major erit Jiducia: quicquid dixerit astrologus, credent a fonte re- latum Ammonisd That is. But her chief dependence is upon the Chaldcean conjurors ; whatever an astrologer of that sort pronounces, she receives as an answer from Jupiter Ammonf In later times we find that the practices of magicians in and about Babylon were not fallen into disuse. Benjamin of Tudela, in his Travels, states that ‘ Baghdad contained many ivise men, and magicians, proficient in all sorts of loitchcraft.' '3'D D'yni’’ .□'D’lDin n03n It is customary in many parts of the East at the present day, when a person is ill whose malady baffles the skill of the ordinary phy- sician, to send for a magician, who frequently attempts to cure the patient by writing a charm on some convenient utensil, such as a bowl, plate, or bason, and commanding the sick person to put water into the vessel containing the charm, and to drink it up. It seems highly probable that the bowls from Babylon, now in the British ISIuseum, have been used for a similar purpose ; one, it would seem, contained some substance like soup, and had never been en- tirely washed out ! “ With respect to the translation I have only to state, that in many passages it is mere conjecture, for the ink is faded in so many places that it is quite impossible to decipher two sentences together; but the difficulty is increased tenfold through there being no distinction between daleth n, resh n, and frequently lamed nor is there any distinction between vav zain r, and medial nun : ; nor between he n and cheth n, and sometimes tau n is written like cheth n. The Syriac inscription on No. 6. has no distinction whatever between he on and cheth *>j, as may be seen in the word 1A for 1 Aj_ootA\ 3, and XCD for otXcd; but * See Sat. iii. v. 13, et seq.. Sat. vi. vv. 541 — 546. f Sat. vi. vv. 552 — 554. I Asher’s edition, p. 105. Ileb. text, p. 64. 512 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXII. this is known to be a peculiarity of the Sabsean dialect. Add to this, that many passages in amulets of this kind wei’e never in- tended to be deciphered, being made uj) of the initial and final letters of some mystic legends, without making any sense whatever by tliemselves. These abbreviations are very numerous in No. 4. “ In concluding these remarks, there is one thing to which I wish to call the attention of Oriental scholars, namely, the subject of the inscription of No. 1. It is a letter of dismissal, or bill of divorce to Satan, and other evil spirits. The word used to ex- press this is NtO'J, the very word found in the Talmud to express the same thing, pi. puj, and almost invariably used for a bill of divorce, instead of nnn3 nsD. (Dent. xxiv. 1,2.) See the tract Gittin in the Talmud, which treats of divorce. That this is the true interpretation of NOO is evident from the explanation given of this word by Bar Bahlul in his Syriac and Arabic lexicon, under he has the following: — wQl.»o^ ; that is, ‘1-6^ according to Bar Serushai, a canal; also, A letter op DISMISSAL or RELEASE PROM AN OBLIGATION.’ This last answers precisely to tOJ in the Talmud. The word occurs three times in the inscription. The ancient Jews supposed that the devils or evil spirits were propagated like mankind ; that they eat, and drank, married, and, it would seem, quarreled with their wives, and divorced them, as may be seen in the following remarkable passage : — ‘ And as the devils write bills of divorce, and give them to their ivives, and return not unto them again, so you, in like manner, receive this, &c.’ * ' “ I now proceed to give translations of such bowls as I have been able to decipher. No. 1. “ This is a bill of divorce to the Devil, and to . . . and to Satan, and to Nerig, and to Zachiah, and to Abitur of the moun- tain, and to . . . and to the night monsters, commanding them to cease from Beheran in Batnaiun, and from the country of the north, and from all who are tormented by them therein. Behold, I make the counsels of these devils of no effect, and annul the ^ * See a full account of these superstitions in Bartolocci’s Bibliotheca Rab- binica. Chap. XXII.] JEWISH RELICS. 513 power of the ruler of the night-monsters.* I conjure you all, mon- sters, . . . both male and female, to go forth. I conjure you and . . . by the sceptre of the powerful one, who has power over the devils, and over the night- monsters, to quit these habitations. Behold, I now make you cease from troubling them, and make the influence of your presence cease in Beheran of Batnaiun, and in their fields. In the same manner as the devils write bills of divorce and give them to their wives, and return not unto them again, receive ye your bill of divorce, and take this written authority, and go forth, leave quickly, flee, and depart from Beheran in Batnaiun, in the name of the living j hy the seal of the powerful one, and by this signet of authority. Then will there flow rivers of water in that land, and there the parched ground will be watered. Amen, Amen, Amen. Selah.” * This word (lilith) occurs once in Isaiah (xxxiv. 14.), and is translated in our version “ a screech owl.” But these nocturnal monsters were considered L L 514 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXII. INSCRIPTION ON THE BOWL NO. 1. REDUCED TO HEBREAV CHARACTERS. norbi njDD^i n • • • Kio’j ]nn pnn p pbonn Nn’Vbi [£i^ • • • Niro -nD’HNbi bo nno loni pi pi nni V"'"’ in’ci^T pnobjD n D'xbNn’ "nin "nmD'TQ nn’b’b ebon noby ^^:lynt^o nn^b’bi Dn:i mm oiby n::pi: im dn nn’b’b by o’bcy Kim mnu Dp’m nn’jiiDm loab'b didi ] on» n'-b::n nh kh ii/i:n"no nnwn Kn’b’b iby ]n’ty ]onm mn pi pi in pnm rino pi n:o bipty pn’by ^mn Kb Dim pn’it^yb ^on’i p ib’rKi ipniyi impi ipoi |UnDo ibopi pD’D’j '’DDirn]ni"mj"’n Di^yn pi p’jnn pi p.iDi nno ’bm p n’npT’yni kid’j Dp’m .iMpt'yn "Md »"nnn nbo iDK ]DK pK nni^y ido otyi nibyi No. 2. “ . . . These idols shall be driven out of his house, and will take away these enchanters avIio whisper. “ A remedy from heaven to take away these diseases, . . . and to expel demons, and to cast out Satan, and idolatry, and curses, and Nidra ; prohibiting every male and female idolater. This remedy will also render secure all the children of men from the whisper- ings of the enchanters, and will totally subvert them, and thrust them out of your house, and they shall go forth from your servants also, and from their habitations ; in the name of Him tvho can sub- vert the earth, the heavens, the stars, and planets, and who can break down the support of all the children of men ; who can render void the effects of witchcraft, whether of the mother, or of the daughter, by tbe Jews to have been in the form of a beautiful female who lay in wait for children by night. Not unlike them were the fabled women ■'E/iirovcra and the ovoKevraupm of the Greeks, the lamiEe and striges of the Romans, and the ghouls of the Arabs, who are supposed to be female monsters who tear men in pieces. Chap. XXII.] JEWISH RELICS. 515 or of the daughter-in-law, or of the mother-in-law, far and near, whether in the desert or in the city. . . . That fell on his face, and . ... at the knees of your enemies, and by the mouth of Levatta, . . . and the strong foundations of the earth. . . . This amulet puts an end to Levatta, whether new or old ; and guards from the whisperings of these enchanters, in the name of Batiel and Qatuel. And by the guardianship of an angel to whom there are eleven names, SS. BB. H.S. RIH. CCC. ACS. CAS. ID. EIH. HRIH. IH. OINI. HCH. QPH. ANG. PAA. NSC. CSC. ICI. CVV. NHA. II. . . . And to all who transgress against the names of this angel, for by these names the captives will be let free from their captivity, and from every Nidra, Levatta, Patihi, and Isarta; as well as from every other evil spirit, the old one, his son, and his daughter ; and every evil enchanter that causes diseases, and all kinds of sorrow, and all the captives shall be secure from the enchanters who whisper, every Nidra, Levatta, and all the diseases which are on the earth, and those which come from heaven. Observe . . . the voice . . . the earth that . . . and heaven that . . . the names from this world . . . the voice of the woman of Levatta was heard . . . and was sent to the kings : for he will surely treat us as strangers, and will bring vengeance upon us, and hold us in captivity, will assuredly .... from . . . .of the woman of Levatta .... from thy word, that thou mayest not take vengeance upon us, nor curse us with a heavier curse than ive now suffer. Amen, Amen, Selah, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Selah, Halleluiah, Halleluiah, V.V.V. Beware, V.V.V.V. to thyself and to all. . . .” INSCRIPTION ON THE BOWL NO. 2. REDUCED TO HEBREW CHARACTERS. ^n’3!:: ny ]nnn” n’n’n \t2 I’pfln nDDDi pniD i n vn“iD pn’n nnD'on n in simoR nnn3 bj RnmP nnnDi nno iip£3D nDjiDi rniD in’snn in nn ddt s'nnpi: N'mnD'^T “on im n’n’n im *p rnnn iri’Dnn in nmp ipan ipsnm p Iinnnti^ Syi nby vbn rmpi inn’:ip im mn • The phrase p pi'ano ought, perhaps, to be read, n’SHD lO 516 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXIT. O’DH O’dh xnN nD’sn riDsn Dvr.n ii'yan ^^nD‘lb b:n hd’dh ’btJD n,*3'pi nnipT [npnm] Nns^nni ^mmi nD“nm n£3^? Syi j^nnnn ™pi nop“n N,t:nn‘:’ kid'N' NDpn N‘toi‘7 ‘^'N’nn DiJi^n rniD ]n’£D N'npn’yii s'mnn Nnoib nn r\^b nwt hdn':’,’.: ^^D■^ Vj^inpn "n’:’y"n’n’“i"nnn""i’D"Kr»DDXODD"nn "Dnnn"DD V'pn by W“t bDb"”^?^"^‘n:)0"0DD0D:!^<"N£3p:N^"Dp^^ Vd P ’nm ndh^d:!^ ]’Snm ;nn t^nnor ipn p Nn::”n "m-n i^niD’NT ^ynQ^ Nntoib nn’j [liijD’:! 1D13 mnyo ^fnD^b^ m’j bD p I’nn^ in’sno ]d ]''nbD p’dni \b2m2 Sp [n]ir^ti; nTD r\^Dybi bD [np] nv-inVi bDi bp ii^by pin p:: 'Jn[b:)n^^]■^ Nmpi Dip:i no: no: tdPd r^by CNnoJibn npC^r] NO’bi i^nn’sm \t2 ddd'i id ’d ddt Mib^: bjiJT NDp:i ’DDDNmP] nhd':’t ^^mJrDD [’Nn] dv^d nn[on] i in No. 3. Is an abrklgment of No. 2., with some slight variations. It is to be observed, that the word ‘^father ” (iON, abba) is inserted in this inscription before “ mother, daughter,” &c. It is probable that the omission of this word in No. 2. was an oversight of the writer. INSCRIPTION ON THE BOWL NO. 3. REDUCED TO HEBREW CHARACTERS. pDN nD’rnDi IjDd pCpJon nDmsn pn^n PDH nD’DQ bD NDDlbl HD p ]’nPD bD '(PbO pi’DD p imbD pDt< DD bD DOT .VDDpTJ NmD’^{ iTHDoti^^: bvT v">my by ibrn pD pnnn p vniD Chap. XXII.] JEWISH RELICS. 517 No- 3. An Earthen inscribed Bowl, from Babylon. — Diameter 6 inches, depth inch. n:3’Dn nDsm o’Dn nrD'sn pjDn nD£3n Nm^m ndnh NrroiS nnti^n ’n bDi pniyt:^ nj:pi nnnpm npnn nn:^ Nncnn NnbDi byi nnti^ Dbm nnsi^ N“inin K:3’pi nr.:p“n "3'pnj^ Ntob n?3ii3m hd}^ t^pDj^n 5^n NHDib K/t:nn‘7 ND’S'nD’bnn '-\m in n’‘? ^’^<■^ so ]“i pnnD vtdhd nn"“T'n nni" DND:)"Q3"f^DDD'’n^“.D Kn3"DD “avn b3b[i]NViD2ii>\!:“T dd N3p:f^ NDp’nn n’"Di7 NDDibi rn’j b:) p ’nnr pDw^ pbn by Nn:3i ’jn pr p NnLi^’n ’mn bDi iPD’n3i I’lDNi ]bnno ’JO ' 7 D 1 ’DOT DO pioyo ’D’D ’tynn ‘701 JL L 3 518 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXII. in’mi p) nn’ p:DnD p^ p P Nn’V'j n\i:£y’bn Vdt Nnp b:)i ‘in’rn"”mpT Nn:^ nddP nnti^n ndd’k bp K.tDbv pin pj nyt2^ D’TDDi Hf2 vDDipvb.v: D’pm pii’ pbD r\by :^^^{^^ NDDib N’i5i>*i NDibi Nnn’Ki’ Ko. 4. “ V. V. V. V. Beware of the diseases whlcli are upon thee, and upon . . . from all evil diseases V, V. V. V. . . . sorrow and bodily infirmities from now even for ever. A remedy from heaven against the whisperings of enchanters who are not far hence, and also against demons. This anudet will deliver you from evil sor- cerers and from Ahdi, and from Levatta, and tribulations, from the machinations of the Assyrians, and from extremities, and from trea- chery, and from rebellion, from Shoq, and from Nidra, and tlie sorrows of all the cliildren of Adam. And thy petition shall be in the name of Barakiel, Ramiel, Raamiel, Nahabiel, and Sharmiel will take vengeance . . . these nine angels will guard and protect you from evil enchanters, and from Abdi the powerful, and from the nets of the enchanters that whisper, and from . . . in heaven and Nura. Amen. Amen. Selah. V.V.V.V. Beware V.V.V.V V.V.V.V. Beware .... from now even for [ever]. A remedy . . . against the enchanters who whisper, who are not far from hence, and also against demons .... and from Levat[ta~\, .... tribulation, from Asdarta, from the machinations of the Assyrians, from extre- mities, and from treachery, and from rebellion, from Shoq, and from Nidra .... of all the children of men ... in the name of Bar- hiel . . . — miel . . . — miel, Raamiel . . . — kiel, Sharinie[l, AJehriel against evil enchanters and from Abdi the powerful, and from the nets of . . .” INSCRIPTION ON THE BOWL NO. 4. REDUCED TO HEBREW CHARACTERS. P"i’D,^b p RniDR dbw “lyi nnvD hdnidt pnniDD p b'lin nid pnt^^’bT njrj pm n’b"T p pmn pji Nnmn}^ pi NnnnR p RnpJt:Sdd n’D[:]n pin y[i]Dc^ CD]iii' pin pniDc^ DJ1^^ '^Diy ic’ini Dip Dip bDp pi’DD ph’En’JH : nbD |DN [pDJ^ DC’DIDC'] Chap. XXII.] JEAVISH RELICS. 521 No. 6. AN INSCRIPTION ON A BOAVL IN A DIALECT RESEMBLING THE SAB^AN. “ all fears, and against all' sicknesses, and against all night-monsters Avho avIII receive for himself good, but for wickedness and these mysteries .... Avho shall rise up and kill him and falling into flames, and Avas heard and would rejoice to have his thirst quenched . . . and immediately the brother to this man came, and being compassionate, he took him to his own habitation and the altar called Santa and good fortune called Sauto. Hear ye then the words of your fathers, and despise them not ; for by disobedience you Avill be jmnished, and into burning fire. Believe ye, therefore, and keep these Avords. Amen, and Amen. Selah.” After this folloAVS a duplicated Estranghelo Syriac al|ihabet, then a serpent is drawn round the inner margin, close to the rim. Bowl No. 6. Diameter 5 inches, depth 3 inchw. 522 KINEVEn AND BABYLON. LChap. XXII. INSCRIPTION ON THE BOWL NO. 6. REDUCED TO SYRIAC CHARACTERS. y'l’Z-Ax AX 'Alo ] 2CT1 '^015 If-I.A . . . |SQ-kj 5 o loCT |ci-«.V^O II No. 7. GENERAL CONTENTS OF THE INSCRIPTIONS ON THE FRAG- MENTS. “ A remedy from heaven to take away fevers and diseases, and to guard from sudden death, from Injustice and treachery ; and will loosen the bonds of those who are afflicted, from the machinations of the devil and all evil spirits. By the instrumentality of this amulet you are protected from the wiles of Satan, who is con- strained and under the control of a mighty angel, to whom there are eleven names. [Here follow mysterious and cabalistic names made up of the initial letters of mystic legends, in the same manner as the modern Jews of the East and West make their portable amulets, and which are never meant to be undei’stood by any one, not even by the writer. All the fragments, which are written in the characters resembling the Palmyrine, finish the charm by invocations to good angels and genii, as follows.] I ViXECLED LiP ZZZZZ La, L» r, o Chap. XXII.] THE JEWS OF BABYLON. 523 charge you in the name of Nadkiel, Ramiel, Daniael, Hachael, and Shanniel. Amen. Amen. Amen. Selah. Amen. [On one of them] Halleluiah, Amen.” Such then are the contents of the inscriptions on these curious bowls as deciphered by Mr. Ellis. Little doubt can, I think, exist as to their Jewish origin : and such being the case, there is no reason to question their having belonged to the descendants of those Jews who were carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon and the sur- rounding cities. These strangers appear to have clung with a tenacity peculiar to their race to the land of their exile. We can trace them about Babylon from almost the time of their deportation down to the twelfth century of the Christian era, when the Hebrew traveller, Benjamin of Tudela, wandered over the regions of the East and among the cities of the captivity to seek the remnant of his ancient nation. During the Persian dominion in Mesopotamia we find them enduring tortures and persecution rather than help to rebuild a temple dedicated to a false god.* In the time of the Roman supremacy in the East they appear to have been a turbulent race, rebelling against their rulers and waging civil war amongst them- selves.! They had celebrated schools in many cities of Assyria and Chaldaga. As early as the third century Hebrew travellers visited Baby- lon, and some of them have left records of the state of their countrymen. The Babylonian Talmud, compiled in the beginning of the sixth eentury, contains many valuable notiees of the condi- tion of the Jewish eolonles in Babylonia, and enumerates more than two hundred Babylonian towns then under the Persian rule, inhabited by Jewish families. In manuscripts of the eighth and ninth centuries we have further mention of these eolonies.J In the twelfth century, Benjamin of Tudela found no less than twenty thousand Jews dwelling within twenty miles of Babylon, and worshipping in the synagogue, built, according to tradition, by the prophet Daniel himself. In Hillah alone were ten * Josephus against Appian, 1. i. cviii. The Jewish historian quotes from Hecatseus, who gives a characteristic account of the attachment of the Jews to their faith. ! They were subdued by Lusius Quietus during the reign of the emperor Trajan. J See Dr. Zunz’s valuable essay on the Geographical Literature of the Jews, in the 2d vol. of Asher’s Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela. 524 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXII. thousand persons and four synagogues, and he gives the number of families and of their places of worship, in every town he visited, keeping during his journey an exact daily itinerary, which includes nearly all the stations on the modern caravan routes. Allowing for some exaggeration on the part of this tra- veller, it is still evident that a very considerable Jewish population lived in the cities of Babylonia. It has greatly diminished, and in some places has entirely disappeared. A few families still linger at Hillah, and in Baghdad the principal native trade and money ti’ansactions are cai’ried on by Jews, who are the bankers and brokers of the governors of the city, as they no doubt anciently were of the Abasside Caliphs. According to their own tradition these Hebrew families were descended from the Jews of the captivity. They still preserved their pedigrees, and traced their lineage to the princes and ju’ophets of Judah. Their chief resided at Baghdad, and his title was “ Lord Prince of the Captivity.” He was lineally descended, according to his people, from king David himself. Even Moham- medans acknowledged his claim to this noble birth, and called him “ Our Lord, the son of David.” His authority extended over the countries of the East as far as Thibet and Hlndostan. He Avas treated on all occasions with the greatest honor and respect, and Avhen he appeared in public he wore robes of embroidered silk, and a Avhite turban encircled by a diadem of gold.* We may then safely conclude, that these earthen bowls belonged to JeAVS of Babylonia and Chaldtea. Indeed in one of the inscrip- tions (No. 2.) the Avriter appears to call those for Avhom the charm Avas intended the “ people of the captivity a title Avhich Avas pre- served amongst the Jews of Mesopotamia until the thirteenth or four- teenth century. Similar relics have been found as I have stated in many ruins near Babylon. I discovered an entire bowl, as well as many fragments, at Niffer. Nearly at the same time, seA^eral Avere dug out of a mound about half-way between Baghdad and Hillah,'but they Avei'e unfortunately dispersed or destroyed before I could ob- tain possession of them. On all these sites during the first cen- turies of the Christian mra, dwelt Jewish fiunilies. It Avould appear that the charms Avere either the Avork of stranger Jews, or Avere Avrltten in Babylonia for persons Avho had come from a distance. The two cities or towns mentioned on the bowls, num- bered 1 and 5, were in the north of Mesopotamia. Batnaiun * Benjamin of Tudela’s Travels; and see Milman’s History of the Jews, book xix. &c. Chap. XXII.] JEWISH INSCRIPTIONS. 525 is frequently mentioned by the early Christian fathers. It was near Edessa, the modern Orfa, and was at one time well-known by its Ai’abic name of Serug.* Pozikiah appears to have been on the Euphrates, near Samosate, and consequently not far from Batnaiun. A Christian convent stood there at a very early pe- riod, f The bowls must, therefore, either have been brought from those places to Babylon, or were prepared for some of their inhabitants by Babylonish Jews, who, like the Chaldaeans, amongst whom they dwelt, apjiear have been celebrated for their skill in the art of writing charms. The Sabajan characters on one of the cups tends to show that the latter was the case. I may remark that the two names were deciphered by Mr. Ellis before he was aware of the existence of the places, a satisfactory proof in favor of the general correctness of his interpretations. As no date whatever is found in the inscriptions, it is difficult to determine the exact time when they were written. We must endea- vour to form some opinion upon such internal evidence as they may afford. Mr. Ellis remai’ks, that, “as this is the first time anything of the kind has been examined in Eurojie, he can only hazard a conjecture from the forms of the letters, which are, certainly, the most ancient known specimens of the Chaldagan, and appear to have been invented for the purpose of writing the cuneiform character in a more cursive and expeditious manner.”! In sup[)ort of this conjecture he cites the language of the Assyrian inscrIj)tions as closely resembling that on the bowls. The relics, however, are evidently of different dates. The most ancient seems to be that containing “the Bill of Divorce to the Devils” (No. 1.). It might be referred to the second or third century before Christ, but may be of a later period. Others, such as No. 5. and No. 6. are undoubtedly of a more recent date, and might even have been written as late as the fifth century of our era. The Syriac characters on the latter bowl appear to have marks of a Sal)aian or Mendean origin, and on a bowl from Mr. Stewart’s collection there is an inscription, unfortunately almost destroyed and no longer decipherable, in that peculiar character still used by the Sabajans of Susiana. * Assemani (Bibl. Orient, vol. i. p. 283.) gives a full account of this town f See Assemani, vol. ii. p. 359. J The form of the letters certainly approach the cuneiform character when written with simple lines, as it is sometimes seen on Assyrian relics and monu- ments. (See Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 179.) I am not, however, at present ready to admit that the early Chaldee square letters were derived from this source. 526 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXII. In the forms of expression and in the names of the angels, these inscriptions bear a striking analogy to the apocryphal book of Enoch, which is supposed to have been written by a Jew of the captivity, shortly before the Christian era. That singular rhapsody also mentions the “ sorceries, incantations, and dividing of roots and trees,” which appear to have been practised by the Jews at that period, and to be alluded to on the bowls.* As to the original use of these vessels it is not Improbable, as conjectured by Mr. Ellis, that the writing was to be dissolved in water, to be drank as a cure against disease, or a precaution acainst the arts of witchcraft and magic. Similar remedies are O o still resorted to in the East in cases of obstinate illness, and there are Mullahs who make the preparation of such charms their peculiar profession. The modern inscriptions generally consist of sentences from the Koran, interspersed with various mystic signs and letters. But if such was their object it is evident that they could not have been used for that purpose, as the writing upon them is perfectly fresh, and it is essential that it should be entirely washed into the water to make the remedy efficacious. As they were found at a considerable depth beneath the surface In mounds which had un- doubtedly been used as places of sepulture, I am rather Inclined to believe that they were charms burled with the dead, or em- ployed for some purpose at funeral ceremonies, and afterwards placed in the grave. In conclusion, I will only observe that the inscriptions in the woodcuts are as nearly as possible facsimiles of the originals, though reduced in size, and that they were copied with the greatest care by Mr. Scharf, under the superintendence of Mr. Ellis. I trust, therefore, that Hebrew scholars may be induced to examine their contents, and to investigate further the history and date of these very curious relics. * See Book of Enoch translated by Bishop Lawrence, particularly chap. vii. sect. 2. and chap. Ixviii. Among the names of the angels who came down to the daughters of men and instructed them in sorcery and the magic arts, we find Tamiel, Agheel, Azael, and Ramiel, and Raamiel, as on the bowls No. 2 and 3. Jnsciibod Earthea Bowls, from Babylon, Terracotta Tablet from Babylon., representing an Inciian Dog CHAP. XXIII. STATE OF THE RUINS OF BABYLON. CAUSE OF THE DISAPPEARANCE OF BUILD- INGS. NATURE OF ORIGINAL EDIFICES. BABYLONIAN BRICKS. THE HIS- TORY OF BABYLON. ITS FALL. ITS REMARKABLE POSITION. COMMERCE. CANALS AND ROADS. SKILL OF BABYLONIANS IN THE ARTS. ENGRAVED GEMS. CORRUPTION OF MANNERS, AND CONSEQUENT FALL OF THE CITY. THE MECCA PILGRIMAGE. SHEIKH IBN RESHID. -THE GEBEL SHAMMAR. TRIBES OF SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA. THE MOUNDS OF EL HYMER OF ANANA. Such then were the discoveries amongst the ruins of an- cient Babylon. They were far less numerous and important than I could have anticipated, nor did they tend to prove that there were remains beneath the heaps of earth and rubbish which would reward more extensive excavations. It was not even pos- 528 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXIII. sible to trace the general plan of any one edifice ; only shape- less piles of masonry, and isolated walls and piers, were brought to light — giving no clue whatever to the original form of the buildings to which they belonged. If the tradition be true that Xerxes, to punish the Babylonians and humiliate their priests, ordered them utterly to destroy their temples and other great public edifices, and that Alexander the Great employed 10,000 men in vain to clear away the rubbish from the temple of Belus alone*, it is not surprising that with a small band of Arabs little progress should have been made in uncovering any part of the ancient buildings. No sculptures or inscribed slabs, the panelling of the walls of palaces, have been discovered amongst the ruins of Babylon as in those of Nineveh. Scarcely a detached figure in stone, or a solitary tablet, has been dug out of the vast heaps of rubbish. “ Babylon is fallen, is fallen ; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground.” f The complete absence of such remains is to be explained by the nature of the materials used in the erection of even the most costly edifices. In the immediate vicinity of Babylon there were no quarries of alabaster, or of limestone, such as existed near Nineveh. The city was built in the midst of an alluvial country, far removed from the hills. The comparatively recent deposits of the mighty rlvei’s which have gradually formed the Mesopo- tamian plains consist of a rich and very thick clay. Con- sequently stone for building purposes could only be obtained from a distance. The black basalt, a fiivorlte material amongst the Babylonians for carving detached figures, and for architectural ornaments, as appears from numerous fragments found amongst the ruins, came from the Kurdish mountains, or fi’om the north of Mesopotamia. It was probably floated down the Euphrates and Tigris on rafts from those districts. Limestone of an inferior quality might have been quarried nearer to the city, but it seems to have been little used for building purposes. The Assyrian alabaster could have been brought from Nineveh, and the water communication by the rivers and canals offered great facilities for transport ; yet enormous labor and expense would have been required to supply such materials in sufficient quantities to construct an entire edifice, or even to panel the walls of its chambers. * Strabo, lib. xvi. p. 1049. Oxf. ed. Arrian, lib. vii. 17. I Isaiah, xxi. 9. Chap. XXIII.] TABLET OF XEBCCIIADNEZZAU. 529 The Babylonians were, therefore, content to avail themselves of the building materials whicb they found on the spot. With the tenacious mud of their alluvial plains, mixed with chopped straw, they made bricks, whilst bitumen and other substances collected from the immediate neighbourhood furnished them with an excel- lent cement. A knowledge of the art of manufacturing glaze, and of compounding colors, enabled them to cover their bricks with a rich enamel, thereby rendering them equally ornamental for the exterior and intei’ior of their edifices. The walls of their palaces and temples were also coated, as we learn from several passages in the Bible, with mortar and plaster, which, judging from their cement, must have been of very fine quality. The fingers of the man’s hand wrote the words of condemnation of the Babylonian empire “ upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace.”* Upon those walls were painted historical and religious subjects, and various ornaments, and, according to Diodorus Siculus, the bricks were enamelled with the figures of men and animals. Images of stone were no doubt introduced into the buildings. We learn from the Bible that figures of the gods in this material, as well as in metal, w’cre kept in the Babylonian temples. But such sculptures were not common, otherwise more remains of them must have been discovered in the ruins. On one of the most Important Babylonian relics brought to this country we have some highly curious notices of the archi- tecture of the Babylonians. They are contained in tablets in- scribed upon a black stone, and divided into ten columns. The inscription commences, according to Dr. Hincks, with the name and titles of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, whose reign began, it may be inferred from Ptolemy’s Canon, B. c. 604. He is called “ Nabukudurruchur, king of Babylon, son of Nabubaluchun, king of Babylon.” We may infer that his grandfather was not a king from the omission of his name. The subsequent part of the in- scription contains no notice of any foreign conquests, but speaks of the building of various temples and palaces in addition to the walls of Babylon and Borsippa. Mention is also made of works undertaken at Bit-Sliaqqathu and Bit-Zidaf ; but whether these * Daniel, v. 5. I The first name may mean the “ liouse of peace ” (compare Hebrew the second “ the house of pride,” or “ the house of enlargement.” The two places are mentioned together in a fragment of tlie annals of Pul (li, M. Series, 34. 6 ). On Lord Aberdeen’s stone Bit Shaqqathu is called “ the palace of the Gods,” and is mentioned in connection with Babylon ; whilst on Grotfend’s cylinder the Gods of the two places are spoken of as distinct from each other. (Dr. Ilincks.) M .tl 530 NIXEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXIII. were distinct cities may be doubted. Minute details are given of the various ornaments used in some of the temples and palaces, and these decorations appear to have been very rich. If tlie tab- lets could be completely deciphered, and the meaning of many doubtful words accurately ascertained, much information would be obtained relating to Babylonian architecture. The walls were built of burned bricks and bitumen lined with gypsum and other mate- rials, Some seem to have been wainscotted. Over these walls was woodwork, and on the top an awning sustained by poles, like “ the white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings, and pillars of marble,” in Ahasuerus’ palace at Shushan.* Some of the woodwork is said to have been gilt, other parts silvered : and a large portion of it was brought from Lebanon. Marduk appears in this inscription as the principal deity of Babylon, holding the place that Ashur does on the monuments of Nineveh. He is called “ the great Lord,” “Lord of Lord,” “ Elder of the Gods,” &c. Nebu seems to hold the second rank. The king offers him thanksgiving for what he has already done, and prays for his blessing on himself and his house.f It may be conjectured that in their general j)lan the Babylonian palaces and temples resembled those of Assyria. We know that the arts, the religion, the customs, and the laws of the two kindred peo[)le were nearly identical. They spoke, also, the same language, and used, very nearly, the same written characters. One appears to have borrowed from the other ; and, without attempting to de- cide the question of priority of independent existence as a nation and of civilisation, it can be admitted that they had to a certain extent a common origin, and that they maintained for many cen- turies an intimate connection. We find no remains of columns at Babylon, as none have been found at Nineveh. If such architectural ornaments Avere used, they must have been either of wood or of brick. The massy pillars, with Egyptian-like capitals, usually chosen by artists for the restoration of Belshazzar’s palaces and temples, are the mere creations of fancy, and are not Avarranted by any existing remains Avhatever.j; The Babylonian * Estlier i. 6. f This inscription was obtained from some ruins near Baghdad by Sir Harford Jones, and is noAv in the iMuseum of the East India Company. A facsimile of it has been published. I According to Strabo, the Babylonians, being unable to procure other wood, made their beams and columns of the trunks of palm trees, binding them together with twisted reeds, and then painting the Avhole with colors. (Lib. xvi. p. 1050. Oxf. ed.) Chap. XXIII.] BABYLONIAN BRICKS. 531 column more probably resembled, in form and proportions, that of Nineveh and Persepolis. It may have been a modification of the Assyrian which afterwards gave birth to the Persian, for it was through Babylon that the arts appear to have penetrated partly, if not entirely, into Persia. Although the building materials thus used in the great edifices of Babylon may seem extremely mean when compared with those employed in the stupendous palace-temples of Egypt, and even in the less massive edifices of Assyria, yet the Babylonians appear to have raised, with them alone, structures which excited the wonder and admiration of the most famous travellers of an- tiquity. The profuse use of color, and the taste displayed in its combination, and in the ornamental designs, together with the solidity and vastness of the immense substructure upon which the buildings proudly stood, may have chiefly contributed to pro- duce this effect upon the minds of strangers. The palaces and temples, like those of Nineveh, were erected upon lofty platforms of brickwork. The origin of Assyrian architecture, which I have elsewhere described*, was especially that of Babylon. The bricks, as in Assyria, were either simply baked in the sun, or were burnt in the kiln. The latter are of more than one shape and quality. Some are square ; others are oblong, f Those from the Birs Nimroud are generally of a dark red color, whilst those from the Mujelibe are mostly of a light yellow. Specimens have been fre- quently brought to this country, and are to be found in many public and private collections. It is well known that a large number of them have inscrijitions in a complex cuneiform character peculiar to Babylon. By comparing several bricks, it will be seen that the superscriptions have been impressed upon them by a stamp, on which the whole inscription was cut in relief. Each character was not made singly, as on the Assyrian bricks, and this is the distinction between them. The Babylonian inscribed bricks long excited the curiosity of the learned, and gave rise to a variety of ingenious speculations as to their use and meaning. By some they were believed to be public documents ; others saw in the writing de- dications to the gods, or registers of gifts to temples. The question has now been entirely set at rest by the discovery made by Dr. HIncks, that almost every brick hitherto obtained from the ruins * Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. 2d part, chap. ii. f The usual dimensions of the Babylonian bricks are as nearly as possible one foot square, by three and a half inches thick. Rich says thirteen inches square. ]\Ir. Birch has conjectured that they may represent multiples of some Babylonian measure, perhaps the cubit. M M 2 532 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXIII. of Babylon bears the same inscription, with the exception of one or two unimportant words, and tliat they record the building of the city by Nebuchadnezzar the son of Nabubaluchun (?). As many as eight lines in close writing, and sometimes letters in a cursive character, allied to the Phoenician and other Semetic alpha- bets, are stamped on a few of these bricks : but such specimens are very rare, and the inscriptions upon them have not yet, as far as I am aware, been satisfactorily deciphered. On some bricks are rude figures of animals. A few inscribed tablets of stone and baked clay, figures in bronze and terracotta, metal objects of various kinds, and engraved cylinders and gems, have been almost the only undoubted Baby- lonian antiquities hitherto brought to Europe. Such relics are preserved in many cabinets. The small original collection in the British Museum belonged partly to Sir Robert Ker Porter, and partly to Mr. Rich. It may not be out of place to add a few remarks upon the history of Babylon. The time of the foundation of this celebrated city is still a question which does not admit of a satisfactory determination, and into which I will not enter. Some believe it to have taken place at a comparatively recent date ; but if, as Egyptian scholars assert, the name of Babylon is found on monuments of the eighteenth Egyptian dynasty, we have positive evidence of its existence at least in the fifteenth century before Chi-ist.* After the rise of the Assyrian empire, it appears to have been at one time under the direct rule of the kings of Nineveh, and at another to have been go- verned by its own independent chiefs. Expeditions against Baby- lonia are recorded in the earliest inscriptions yet discovered in Assyria ; and, as it has been seen, even in the time of Senna- cherib and his immediate predecessors, large armies were still fre- quently sent against its rebellious inliabltants. The Babylonian kingdom was, however, almost absorbed in that of Assyria, the dominant power of the East. When this great empire began to decline, Babylon rose for the last time. Media and Persia were equally ready to throw off the Assyrian yoke, and at length the allied armies of Cyaxares and the father of Nebuchadnezzar cap- tured and destroyed the capital of the Eastern world. Babylon now rapidly succeeded to that proud position so long held by Nineveh. Under Nebuchadnezzar she acquired the power forfeited by her rival. The bounds of the city were ex- tended ; buildings of extraordinary size and magnificence were * Mr. Birch has found more than one notice of Babylon on Egyptian monu- ments of the time of Thothiues III. C'liAP. XX I II.] FALL OF BABYLON. 533 erected : her victorious armies conquered Syria and Palestine, and jienetrated into Egypt. Her commerce, too, had now spread far and wide, from the east to the west, and she became “a land of traffic and a city of merchants.”* But her greatness as an independent nation was short-lived. Tlie neighbouring kingdoms of Media and Persia, united under one monarch, had profited, no less than Babylon, by the ruin of tlie Assyrinn empire, and were ready to dispute with her the dominion of Asia. Scarcely half a century had elapsed from the fall of Kineveh, when “Belshazzar, the king of the Chalda;ans, was slain, and Darius, the Median, took the kingdom.” f From that time Babylonia sank into a mere province of Persia. It still, how- ever, retained much of its former power and trade, and, as we learn from the inscriptions of Bisutuu, as well as from ancient authors, struggled more than once to regain its ancient inde- pendence. After the defeat of Darius and the overthrow of the Persian supremacy, Babylon opened its gates to Alexander, who deemed the city not unworthy to become the capital of his mighty em- pire. On his return from India he wished to rebuild the temple of Belus, which had fallen into ruins, and in that great work he had intended to employ his army, now no longer needed for war. The priests, however, who had appropriated the revenues of this sacred shrine, and feared lest they would have again to apply them to their rightful purposes, appear to have prevented him from carrying out his design J The last blow to the prosperity and even existence of Babylon was given by Seleucus when he laid the foundation of his new capi- tal on the banks of the Tigris (b. c. 322). Already Patrocles, his general, had compelled a large number of the inhabitants to abandon their homes, and to take refuge in the Desert, and in the pi’ovince of Susiana.§ The city, exhausted by the neighbourhood of Seleucia, * Ezekiel, xvii. 4. f Daniel, v. 30, 31. This event took place b.c. 538. Whether the Darius of the book of Daniel be C^rus himself, or a Median who commanded the armies of that monarch, and was afterwards appointed viceroy of Babylon, is one of the many disputed points of ancient history. J Arrian, Exp. Alex. 1. vii. c. 17. See Jeremy’s Epistle in the Apocryphal book of Baruch, vi. 10, 11. and 28., for instances of the cupidity of the Baby- lonian priests. They had even stripped the idols of their robes and ornaments to adorn their wives and children. This epistle contains a very curious account of the idol worship of the Babylonians. ^ Diod. Sic. xix. 100. M M 3 534 NINEVEH AND BAI5YLON. [Chap. XXIII. returned to its ancient solitude.* * * § According to some authors, neither the walls nor the temple of Belus existed any longer, and only a few Chaldicans continued to dwell around the ruins of their sacred edifices. f Still, however, a part of the population appears to have returned to their former seats, for in the early part of the second century of the Christian aera we find the Parthian king, Evemerus, send- ing numerous families from Babylon into Mediate be sold as slaves, and burning many great and beautiful edifices still standing in the In the time of Augustus, the city Is said to have been entirely deserted, except by a few Jews who still lingered amongst the ruins.§ St. Cyril, of Alexandria, declares, that in his day, about the beginning of the fifth century, in consequence of the chok- ing up of the great canals derived from the Euphrates, Babylon had become a vast marsh : and fifty years later the river is de- scribed as having changed its course, leaving only a small channel to mark its ancient bed. Then were verified the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, that the mighty Babylon should be but “ pools of water,” “ that the sea should come upon hei’, and that she should be covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.” || In the beginning of the seventh century, at the time of the Arab invasion, the ancient cities of Babylonia were “ a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness.” Amidst the heaps that marked the site of Babylon herself there rose the small town of Ilillah.^ Long before Babylon had overcome her rival Nineveh she was famous for the extent and importance of her commerce. No po- * Caeterb ad solitudinem rediit e.xhausta vicinitate Seleuciaj. (Pliny, 1. vi. c. 30.) Sti’abo states that part of the city was destroyed by the Persians, and part by time, and that the rest perished in consequence of the neglect of the Macedonians. It had become, he declares, a vast solitude (lib. xvi. p. 2049.). f Pausanias, Attic, c. 16. But, according to Pliny, the temple of Belus still existed in his day (lib. vi. c. 30.). I B c. 127. Diod. Sic. Fragin. 1. xxxiv. c. 21. Justin, 1. xlii. c. 1. Athe- naeus, 1. xi. p. 463. § And yet Trajan is said to have visited the house in Babylon in which Ale.xander died, and to have performed religious ceremonies to the memory of the hero. (Dio in Excerpt, p. 785.) II Isaiah, xiv. 23. Jeremiah, li. 42. H See an interesting Memoir on Babylon, by M. de St. Croix, in the 48th vol. of the Transactions of the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, in which all the authorities on the subject of the gradual decay of the city are collected. Chap. XX II I.] BABYLONIAN KOADS. 535 sition could have then been more favourable than hers for carrying on a trade with all the regions of the known world. She stood upon a navigable stream that brought to her quays the 2 B’o- duce of the tennierate highlands of Armenia, ajiproached in one part of its course within almost one hundred miles of the Medi- terranean Sea, and emptied its waters into a gulf of the Indian Ocean. Parallel with this great river was one scarcely inferior in size and importance. The Tigris, too, came from the Armenian hills, flowed through the fertile districts of Assyria, and carried their varied jiroduce to the Babylonian cities. Moderate skill and enterprise could scarcely fail to make Babylon, not only the emporium of the Eastern world, but the main link of commercial Intercourse between the East and the West. The inhabitants did not neglect the advantages bestowed upon them by nature. A system of navigable canals that may excite the admiration of even the modern engineer, connected together the Euplu'ates and Tigris, those great arteries of her commerce. "With a skill, showing no common knowledge of the art of sur- veying, and of the j)rinciples of hydraulics, the Babylonians took advantage of the difterent levels in the plains, and of the periodical rises in the two rivers, to complete the water communication be- tween all parts of the jirovince, and to fertilise by artificial irri- gation an otherwise barren and unproductive soil. xllexander, after he had transferred the seat of his eunrire to the East, so fully understood the importance of these great works, that he ordered them to be cleansed and rejiaired, and superintended the work in jierson, steering his boat with his own hand through the channels. I have so frequently had occasion to mention them, and to describe their actual remains, that I will not weary the reader with a further account of them. High-roads and causeways across the Desert united Syria and Palestine with Babylonia. Fortified stations protected the mer- chant from the wandering tribes of Arabia, walled cities served as restlng-jflaces and store-houses, and wells at regular intervals gave an abundant supply ®f water during the hottest season of the year. One of those highways was carried through the centre of IMesojio- tamia, and crossing the Eujihrates near the town of Anthemusia led into central Syria.* A second appears to have left Babylon by the western quarter of the city, and entered Idumasa, after jiassing through the country of the Nabatlneans. Others branched off to Strabo, lib. xvi. p. 1061. Oxf. ed. M M 4 536 NIXEVEII AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXIII. Tiulraor, and to cities wliich were built in the midst of the Desert almost solely for purposes of trade. To the east of Babylonia was the celebrated military and com- mercial road described by Herodotus.* It led from Sardis to Susa in ninety days journey, and was furnished, at intervals of about fifteen miles, with stations and public hostelries, probably resem- bling the modern caravanserais of Persia. jMerchandise and travellers descended the rivers uj)on rafts of skins, as well as in boats built of reeds coated with bitumen, or of more solid materials. The land trade was no doubt princi- pally carried on, as at the present day, by caravans of merchants, who loaded their goods on the backs of camels, horses, and asses. The Assyrian sculptures show that waggons and carts drawn by mules and oxen wei’e not unknown, and as the roads appear to have been carefully kept in rejiair, this more convenient and cheaper mode of transporting merchandise was probably not neglected. It is difficult to determine to how far the Babylonians may have navigated in vessels the Indian Ocean. | Of the various articles of merchandise stored in Babylon, the j)roduce of the islands and shores of the Persian Gulf, and even of India, formed no inconsiderable part. Pearls, from the fisheries of Bahrein, which still supply Arabia, Persia, and Turkey, and perhaps even from Ceylon; cotton spices, frankincense, precious stones, ivory, ebony, silks, and dyes, were amongst the objects of trade brought to her mai’kets. They could only have been obtained from the southern coasts of Arabia, and directly or Indirectly from the Indian peninsula. We learn from the Kouyunjik Inscriptions that the people inhabiting the country at the mouths of the united waters of the Tigris and Euphrates pos- sessed vessels in which, when defeated by the Assyrians, they took refuge on the sea. The prophet Isaiah also alludes to the ships of the Chalda;ans.| Timber for ship-building could have been floated with ease from the mountains of Armenia to the very quays of Babylon, or to her ports at the head of the Persian Gulf. We have seen that Sennaeherib sent down the Tigris, the materials for the construction of the vessels required in the siege of the cities of southern Chaldmn, and that he employed Phoenician mariners to build and navigate them. * L. V. c. 52 and 53. t Ileeren, with his usual critical skill, has investigated the subject in his essay on the commerce of the Babylonians, in the 2d vol. of his Historical llesearches. J xliii. 14. Chap. XXIII.] CO-AIMEROE OF BABYLOX. 537 But although a coasting' trade might have existed along the shores of the Persian Gulf and of the ocean as far as India, yet a a very considerable trade was also carried on by land with the same country, through Media, Hyrcania, and the centre of Asia. It was by this road that gold and various precious stones were probably supplied to Babylon and Nineveh. A race of dogs too, much prized by the Babylonians, was brought from India. A satrap of Babylon is declared to have devoted the revenues of four cities *, to the support of a number of these animals. On a small terracotta tablet in the British Museum, from Col. Rawlinson’s collection, obtained, I believe, at Baghdad, but probably found in some ancient ruin in the neighbourhood, is the figure of a man leading a large and powerful dog, which has been identified with a species still existing in Thibet.! Tin, cedar-wood, and various articles, were brought from Phmnicia and other parts of Syria, which were in return sup- plied with the produce of India and the Persian Gulf, through Babylon.! Whilst the Babylonians thus Imported the produce of the East and West, they also supplied foi’eign countries with many valuable articles of trade. Corn, which according to tradition first grew wild in Mesopotamia, and was there first eaten by man, was cul- tivated to a great extent, and was sent to distant provinces. The Babylonian carpets, silks, and woollen fabrics, woven or em- broidered with figures of mythic animals and with exquisite designs, Avere not less famous for the beauty of their texture and Avorkmanship, than for the richness and variety of their colors. The much-prized Sindones, or floAving garments, Avere the Avork of the looms of Babylon even long after she had ceased to be a clty.§ The engraved gems and eylinders discovered in the ruins bear * Herod. 1. i. c. 192. ! See woodcut at the head of the chapter. ! Ezekiel, xxvii. 15. § Of the early reputation of the looms of Babylon we may form an idea from the fact of “ a goodly Babylonish garment” (i.e. garment of Shinar) beim'- mentioned in the book of Joshua (vii. 21.) amongst the objects buried by Achan in his tent. In a curious decree of the time of Diocletian, regulatino- the maximum value of articles of clothing and food throughout the Roman empire, several objects from Babylon are specified. Babylonian skins of the first quality are rated at 500 denarii ; of the second quality at 40 ; Babylonian shoes, called mullai, at 120 denarii per pair; and a Babylonian girdle at 100. Plain Babylonian socks are also mentioned, but the amount at which they were valued is wanting. This decree Avas discovered at Eski Ilissar, the ancient Stratoniceia, in Asia Minor. (See Leake's Asia l\Iinor.) 538 NINEVEH ANH BABYLON. [Chap. XXIII. Babyloniaa Cyliader ia Sieuite ^Si^e of the Original; ample witness to the skill of the Babylonian lapidaries. Many of these relics exist in European collections, and, during my resi- dence at Ilillah, I was able to obtain several interesting specimens from the Arabs, who usually pick them up on the mounds after rain, d'he most I’e- markable of them is a cylinder of spotted slenlte, upon which are incised seven figures, and a few Babylonian charac- ters. The figures are cut with delicacy and s[)irlt. Six appear to represent foreign cap- tives. They are led by a warrior, armed with bow and arrows, and having on his back a quiver ending in a sharp point like the head of a spear. The prisoners are clothed in robes of skin or fur. One wears a flat projecting cap, and two of them carry weapons in the form of a pickaxe. The fourth figure seems to be that of a woman, and the last two are smaller in size than the others. One bears on his shoulders a table or stool, the other a bag hanging on a hooked stick. The letters of the inscription are rudely formed, and have not yet been deciphered. Another interesting gem obtained by me at Babylon is an agate cone, upon the base of Avhich is engraved a winged priest or deity, standing in an attitude of prayer before a cock on an altar. Above this group is the crescent moon. The Hebrew commenta- tors* conjecture that Nergal, the idol of the men of Cuth, had the form of a cock.f On a cy- linder in the British Museum there is a subject almost similar. A priest, wearing the sacrificial dress, stands at a table, before an altar bearing a crescent, and a smaller altar, on which stands a cock. It would ajjpear, therefore, that this bird was either worshipped by the Baby- Engravvd Gem from Babylon. * Selden, De Dis Syi'is, p. 251. f “ And the men of Cuth made Nergal,” in Samaria, where they had been transplanted after the first captivity. (2 Kings, xvii. 30.) The country of the Cuthites was probably in the neighbourhood of Babylon, though the commenta- tors have not agreed upon its e.xact site. Josephus says that it was in Persia (.\nticp ix. 14.). Chap. XXIII.] DECAY OF BABYLON. 539 Ionian s or by some neighbouring" nation ; or that it was sacri- ficed, as In Greece, on the celebration of certain reli- gious ceremonies.* In the last chapter of this work I shall describe other engraved gems found in the ruins of Assyria and Babylonia, and shall then show the use to which they were applied. The vast trade, that ren- Cylmder in the British Maseum. dered Babylon the gather- ing-place of men from all parts of the known world, and supplied her with luxuries from the remotest climes, had at the same time the effect of corrupting the manners of her people, and producing that general profligacy and those effeminate customs which mainly contributed to her fall. The description given by Herodotus of the state of the population of the city when under the dominion of the Persian kings, is fully sufficient to explain the cause of her speedy decay and ultimate ruin. The account of the Greek historian fully tallies with the denunciations of the Hebrew pro- phets against the sin and wickedness of Babylon. Her inha- bitants had gradually lost their warlike character. When the Persians broke into their city they were revelling in debauchery and lust ; and when the Macedonian conqueror appeared at their gates, they received with indifference the yoke of a new master. It is not difficult to account for the rapid decay of the country around Babylon. As the inhabitants deserted the city the canals were neglected. When once those great sources of fertility were choked up, the plains became a wilderness. Upon the waters conveyed by their channels to the Innermost parts of Mesopotamia depended not only the harvests, the gardens, and the palm groves, but the very existence of the numerous towns and villages far removed from the river banks. They soon turned to mere heaps of earth and rubbish. Vegetation ceased, and the plains, parched by the burning heat of the sun, were ere long once again a vast arid waste. Such has been the history of Babylon. Her career was equally * Can this image have any connection with the brazen figure of the bird which I have described in a former part of this work as belonging to the Yezidis ? 540 NINEVEH AND BAEVLON. [Chap. XX II I. sliort and splendid ; and althongdi slie has thus perished from the face of the eartli, lier ruins are still classic, indeed sacred, ground. The traveller visits, with no common emotion, those shapeless heaps, the scene of so many great and solemn events. In this plain, according to tradition, the primitive families of our race first found a resting-place. Here Nebuchadnezzar boasted of the glories of his city, and was punished for his pride. To these deserted halls were brought the captives of Judtea. In them Daniel, undazzled by the glories around him, remained steadfast to his faith, rose to be a governor amongst his rulers, and pro- phesied the downfall of the kingdom. There was held Belshazzar’s feast, and was seen the writing upon the wall. Between those crumbling mounds Cyrus entered the neglected gates. Those massive ruins cover the spot where Alexander died. Soon after my arrival at Hillah, the caravan of the Hadj, or annual pilgrimage to Mecca, passed through the town on its way to Baghdad. I met the pilgrims outside the walls. The friends and relations of those who had undertaken this difficult and peril- ous journey had come out to greet them on their return. The holy places had this year been visited by the cholera, and of the many who had crossed the Desert few had survived. In the crowd that had assembled on the high road were mingled scenes of grief and joy. Here a parent was lamenting for his child, there a child was seeking in vain foi’ his parent. A few yards distant, those more fortunate were embracing and weeping. The mournful wail of the women was heard above the merry laugh of those who had again found their friends. A few stately old Seyyids, who appeared to be without kith or kin in this world, rode along unmoved on their white asses, rejoicing In the sanctity acquired by the faithful per- formance of one of *the chief duties imposed upon true believers. The wild Bedouins of Nejd, who had guided and protected the pilgrims during their arduous journey, jvissed through the throng on their weary dromedaries. iVfter a lapse of some years the annual hadj from the south of Turkey and Persia had been able to follow the direct road to Mecca across the desert of Nejd and the interior of Arabia. The country on the way is inhabited by numerous Arab tribes, go- verned by different chiefs, and usually at war with each other. It is, moreover, infested by bands of Bedouins, who, combining for the purpose of plunder, leave their tents in the Syrian plains and undertake journeys of two or three months, merely to inter- cept and plunder caravans. Of late years Ibn Reshid, a chief of the Gcbel Shammar, has by Chap. XXIII.] SHEIKH IBN UESIIID. 541 his courage and abilities acquired the whole of that district ; and has rendered himself sufficiently powerful to hold iu check the various tribes which surround it. Pilgrims under his protection could, therefore, again venture to take the shortest road to JNlecca. lie undertook to furnish them with camels, and to answer for their safety from Hillah to the holy cities and baek. The terms agreed upon were, that eaeh Arab pilgrim should pay 150 ghazees (rather more than 26/.). Of this sum 70 ghazees was to go to the Sheikh, and the rest to the owner of the camels. Persian pil- grims, being heretical in doctrine, had, of course, to be taxed ac- cordingly, and the sum required from them amounted to nearly 100 /. The chief punctually fulfilled his engagement, and the caravan I have described was the first that had crossed the Desert for many years without accident or molestation. It was under the charge of Abd-ur-Rahman, a relation of Ibn Reshid. I frequently saw this Sheikh during his short residence at Hillah, and he urged me to return with him to the Gebel Shammar. Zaid and several other Agayls offered to accompany me; and it was with great regret that I felt unable, on various accounts, to undertake a journey into a country so little known, and so interesting, as central Arabia.* A better opportunity could scarcely have occurred for entering Nedjd. Aeeording to my Bedouin friends, a rider on a good deloul could reach the first village in Gebel Shammar within eight days ; or, as Suttum expressed it, a man might go through his mid-day prayers in the mosque of Hillah on one Friday, and be in the Gebel in time to perform the same ceremony on that day week. But for three days there are no wells, and a supply of water must be carried in skins for that time. Sheikh Abd-ur-Rahman, described the Gebel Shammar as abounding in fertile valleys, where the Arabs had villages and cultivated lands. The inhabitants are of the same great tribe of Shammar as those who wander over the plains of IMesopotamia. Suttum told me tliat his family still possessed their gardens in the hills ; and although, from long absence, their produee had been gathered by strangers, yet that he could by law at any time return and claim them. Ibn Reshid was deseribed to me as a powerful, and, for an Arab, an enlightened chief, who had restored security to the countrv, and * Dr. Wallin, a native of Finland, is, I believe, the only European traveller who has passed through this part of Arabia. See an account of his Journej in the 20th vol. of the Royal Gcog. Soc. Journal, p. 293. 542 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXIII. who desired to encourage trade and the passage of caravans through his territories. II is mares and horses, collected from the tribes of central Arabia, were declared to excel all those of the Desert in beauty and in Idood. Hawking and hunting are his favorite amusements, and game abounds in the hills and plains. Amongst the wild animals are lions, leopards, deer, and a kind of ox or large antelope, I couhl, not learn exactly which, called Wothaiyah, said to have long spiral horns, and to be exceedingly fierce and dangerous. I was assured that in the Gebel Shammar there are ruins of large cities, attributed by the Arabs to the Jews. Inscriptions in an unknown character are also said to exist on slabs of stone and on rocks. They may be that class called Himyarl, found in other parts of the Arabian peninsula. The principal tribes encamping near Hlllah, and in the south of Mesopotamia, are the Maldan, the Kazail, the Zobeide, and the Montefik.* The Maidan, according to their traditions, are de- scended from the people who dwelt in the marshes long before the time of the Prophet.f The Kazail are said to have come from Mecca, and to have been the original guardians of the holy Kaaba, the keys of which were sold by their chief for a bottle of wine ; an anecdote told by Arab authors of the Khazaltes, who may, however, be of the same tribe. The Zobeide are famous in the history of the first Mohammedan wars, and are still nume- rous and powerful. The Montefik possess vast palm groves, and have erected permanent settlements on the banks of the lower Euphrates. Their principal town is Soug-el-Shiouk, the market of the Sheikhs, where their chief resides. About two hours and a half, or eight miles to the north-east of Hillah, a mound, scarcely inferior in size to those of Babylon, rises in the plain. It is called El Hymer, meaning, according to the Arabs, the red, from its color. The ruin has assumed a pyramidal form, but it is evidently tbe remains of a solid square structure, con- sisting, like the Blrs Nimroud, of a series of terraces or platforms. It may be conjectured, therefore, that it was a sacred edifice built upon the same general plan as all the temples of Babylonia and Assyria. The basement or substructure ap[>ears to have been of sundried brick ; the upper part, and probably the casing of the lower, of bricks burnt in the kiln. Many of the latter are in- * There are numerous smaller tribes, such as the Shammar-Togha and the Jebour, but they are generally under the chiefs of the greater. t Strabo states that, in his time, to the south of Mesopotamia, were wandering Arab tribes, who were shepherds and thieves (lib.xvi. p. 1807. Oxf. cd.). Chap. XXIII.] BABYLONIAN RUINS. 543 scribed with the name and titles of Nebuchadnezzar. Althout without keeping the accustomed watch. I was awoke in the middle of the night by an unusual noise close to my tent. I immediately gave the alarm, but it was too late. Two of our horses had been stolen, and in the darkness we could not pui'sue the thieves. Sahiman bi’oke out in reproaches of himself as the * There were two watering stations at a considerable distance to the left of ns. The first (about eight hours from Karnaineh), called Sultaniyah ; the se- cond (nine hours and a half), Mangour. They are encamping places of the Shamniar. r p '2 580 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXV. cause of our mishap, and wandered about until dawn in search of some clue to the authors of the theft. At length he tracked them, declared unhesitatingly that they were of the Shammar, pointed out, from marks almost imperceptible to any eye but to that of a Bedouin, that they were four in number, had left their delouls at some distance from our tents, and had already journeyed far before they had been drawn by our fires to the encamp- ment. These indications were enough. He swore an oath that he woidd follow and bring back our stolen horses wherever they might be, for it was a shame upon him and his tribe that, whilst under his protection in the Desert, we had lost any thing belonging to us. And he religiously kept his oath. When we parted at the end of our journey, he began at once to trace the animals. After six weeks’ search, during which he went as far asAna on the Euphrates, where one had been sold to an Arab of the town, he brought them to Mosul. I was away at the time, but he left them with Mr. Rassam, and returned to the Desert without asking a reward for performing an act of duty imperative on a Bedouin. Such in- stances of honesty and good faith are not uncommon amongst the wandering Arabs, as I can bear witness from personal experience. Mr. Rassam frequently sent Suttum across the Desert with as much as five or six hundred pounds in money, and always with the most complete confidence. His only reward was an occasional silk dress, or one or two camel loads of corn for his family, the whole of the value of a few shillings.* Of late years the wool of the Bedouin sheep has been in considerable demand in the European markets, and a large trade in this article has already been opened with the Shammar. Money is generally advanced some months before the sheep are sheared, to enable the Ai’abs to buy their winter stock of provisions. IMr. Rassam has thus paid beforehand several thousand pounds without any written or other guarantee whatever. The tribes leave the neighbourhood of the town, and are not again heard of until their long strings of camels are seen bringing the promised wool. I remember a Be- douin coming all the way alone from the neighbourhood of Baghdad to pay Mr. Rassam a trifling sum, I think between three and four shillings, the balance of a wool account between them. A youth of the great tribe of the Aneyza having quarrelled with his j^arents, ran away and came to Mosul, when he entered * I have lately learnt, to my great grief, that poor Suttum has been killed in some afi'ray with the Aneyza. Chap. XXV.] KALAII SHERGIIAT. 581 as a student in a college. He became a Mullah, and had almost forgotten his early friends, when the tribe, driven by a famine from the Syrian desert, crossed the Euphrates, and encamped near the town to buy corn. Ihn Gayshish, their Sheikh, hearing chance that the fugitive was still alive, and now a member of the priesthood, sent a messenger to him to say, that since he had quitted his tents his fatlier had died, and had left a certain number of camels, which had been divided according to the law amongst his family. Those allotted to him had been in the safe keeping of the tribe, and had increased yearly. The chief was now ready to do with them as their rightful owner might direct. ]\Ir. Rassam had, at my request, sent a party of Jebours to renew the excavations at Kalah Sherghat, which had been very imperfectly examined. The springs of Belaliss are separated from the shoulder of the Gebel Makhoul, which over-hangs the ruins, by a wild rocky valley, called Wadi Jehannem, the Valley of Hell. We crossed it and the hills in about three hours and a half, and came suddenly upon the workmen, who, of course, took us for Bedouin plunderers, and prepared to defend themselves. They had opened trenches in various parts of the great mound, but had made no discoveries of any importance, and 1 am inclined to doubt whether an edifice containing any number of sculptures or inscrip- tions ever existed on the platform. Fragments of a winged bull in the alabaster of the Nineveh palaces, part of a statue in black stone with a few cuneiform characters, and pieces of a large inscribed slab of copper, were, it is true, found in the ruins ; but these remains were scarcely sufficient to warrant the continuation of the excava- tions on a spot so difficult of access, and exposed to so much risk from the Desert Arabs. I collected the fragments of a large in- scribed cylinder in baked clay *, and a copper cup, a few vases in common pottery, and some beads, which had been taken from tombs similar to those before opened on the mound. We encamped in the jungle to the north of the ruins, and were visited by fifteen men of the Albou Mohammed, who frankly con- fessed that they were thieves, out on their vocation. As the tribe does not bear a very good character for honesty, and as it might have struck our guests that they had no need of going further to fulfil the object of their journey, we violated the duties of hos- * Of the same size and form as that containing the records of Essarhaddon, given by me to the British Museum. It has been only partly restored, and the inscription, which appears to be historical, has not yet been deciphered. p p 3 582 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXV. pitallty, and put some of them In irons for the night, as a guarantee for the good eonduet of the rest. I ordered the Jebours to leave Kalah Sherghat, and to return with us to Mosul. We now travelled through a country which I have before described.* Abd’rubbou with his Jebours were encamped in the rich pastures of Jernaf. He came out with his horsemen to meet us. We eat bread in his tent, stopped for the night near the bitumen springs of the Klyarah, and galloped the following day into Mosul. INIr. Bell, who had been sent to Assyria by the Trustees of the British Museum to succeed Mr. Cooper as artist to the expedition, had arrived in the town two days before. I rode with him with- out delay to Kouyunjik, to examine the excavations made during my absence. I will now describe the sculptures uncovered whilst I was at Baghdad and after my return to Mosul, previous to my departure for England. To the north of the great centre hallf four new chambers had been discovered. The first f was 96 feet by 23. On its walls were represented the return of an Assyrian army from war, with their spoil of captives and cattle. The prisoners were distinguished by a cap turned back at the top, not unlike the Phrygian bonnet re- versed, short tunics, and a broad belt. The women had long curls falling over their shoulders, and were clothed in fringed robes. The fighting-men of the conquered tribe wore a simple fillet round their short hair ; a tunic, falling in front to the knee, and behind, to the calf of the leg ; a wavy girdle, and a cross-belt round their breasts, ending in two large tassels. At their backs they carried a quiver topped by a circular ornament. The captives bore small squares, which, from their apparent weight, were probably meant to represent ingots of gold, or some other metal. Their beasts of burden were laden with the same objects. A kneeling camel, receiving its load, was designed with considei’able truth and spirit. The legs bent under, the tail raised, the foot of the man on the neck of the animal to keep it * Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. ch. xii. t No. XIX. Plan I. i No. XLIII. same Plan. Chap. XXV.] SCULPTUKES AT KOUYUNJIK. 583 from rising, whilst a second adjusts the burden from behind, form a group seen every day in the Desert and in an Eastern town. The camel saddle, too, neaidy resembled that still used by the Arabs. The women rode on mules, and in carts drawn by these animals and sometimes by men. Asses and waggons bore caldrons, and sacks, probably containing corn. One bas-relief represented captives rest- ing ; two unharnessed mules stood eating their barley in front of the loaded cart ; a woman seated on a stone held her child upon her knees, whilst her husband drank water from a cup. Th is chamber opened at one end into a small room *, 23 feet by 13. On its walls were represented a captive tribe, dressed in short tunics, a skin falling from their shoulders, boots laced up in front, and cross- bands round their legs ; they had short, bushy hair and beards. In the outer chamber two doorways opposite the grand en- n trances into the great hall, led into a parallel apartment, 62 feet by 16 feet.f On its walls was represented the conquest of the * No. XLIV. Plan I. f No. XLVI. same Plan, p p 4 584 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXV. same [)eople, wearing the reversed Phrygian bonnet. There were long lines of prisoners ; some in carts, others on foot. The fighting men, armed with bows and quivers, were made to bear part of the spoil. In the costumes of the warriors and captives, and in the forms of the waggons and war-carts, these bas-reliefs bore a striking re- semblance to the sculptures of the son of Essarhaddon, described in a previous chapter.* * * § It may, therefore, be inferred that the conquest of the same nation was celebrated in both, and that on these walls we have recorded the successful wars of Sennacherib in the country of Susiana or Elam.f This chamber, like the one parallel to it, led at one end into a small room 17 feet square.^ On its walls, the campaign recorded in the adjoining chamber had been continued. The bas-reliefs still preserved represented the king in his chariot receiving the cap- tives ; musicians playing on harps before him ; mountains and forests, and a castle whose name, written - ->f rin (?) -M has not been identified or deciphered. § These rooms completed the discoveries on the southern side of the palace. On the northern side of the same edifice, and on the river-face of the platform, one wall of a third great hall had been uncovered ; the other walls had not been excavated at the time of my departm’C from Mosul. From the very ruinous state of this part of the building, and from the small accumulation of earth above the level of the foundations, it is doubtful whether any sculp- tures still exist in it. The standing wall had three entrances 11, the centre formed by winged lions, and the others by fish gods. Of the bas-reliefs only fragments now remained. In one set was depictured the conquest of another ti'ibe dwelling in the marshes of southern Mesopotamia. The Assyrians pursued their enemies, in wicker boats, such as I have described in my ac- count of the Afaij Arabs; and on the islands formed by the small * See Chapter 20. f See Plates 33 and 34. of the 2nd series of the Monuments of Nineveh for drawings of several of the bas-reliefs in the two chambers. I No. XLVII. Plan I. § These bas-reliefs were amongst those which had not been drawn at the time of my departure. I am not aware whether ]\Ir. Ilodder, the artist chosen by the Trustees of the British Museum as the successor of Mr. Bell, has since made copies of them. II No. LXIV. Plan I. Chap. XXV.] SCULPTURES AT KOUYUNJIK, 585 streams flowing through the morass, were Assyrian warriors on horseback. It will be seen by the accompanying woodcut how A Battle in a Marsh in Scutbem Mesopotamia 'Kouyunjik]. closely the country resembled that now inhabited by the Afaij tribes. The captive women wore long robes fringed and embroidered. The palm-tree flourished on the dry land outside the swamps.* On the same side of the hall was represented the conquest of a second nation, whose men were clothed in long garments, and whose women wore turbans, with veils falling to their feet. The Assyrians had plundered their temples, and were seen carrying * See also Plate 27. of the 2d series of the Monuments of Nineveh. 586 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXV. away their idols. “ Of a truth. Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their countries, and have cast their gods into the fire ; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them.”* Unfortunately the bas-reliefs were so much injured that the nature of these images could not be satisfactorily ascertained. The figures apjieared to be beai’dless, with the exception of one, which is that of a man raising his right arm, and bearing a mace.f The three entrances led into one chamber 86 feet by 24.| On its calcined walls were only the faint traces of bas-reliefs. I could distinguish a line of chariots in a ravine between mountains, war- riors throwing logs on a great burning pile of wood, castles on the tops of hills, Assyrians carrying away spoil, amongst which was a royal umbrella, and the king on his throne receiving his army on their return from battle with the captives and booty. The walls of a small room § opening into the northern end of this chamber had almost entirely disappeared. The fragments found in the rubbish showed that they had also been covei’cd with sculp- ture. Opposite to and corresponding with the three entrances from the hall were three other doorways leading into a parallel chamber of somewhat smaller dimensions. 1| Parts of four slabs were the only sculptures sufficiently well preserved to be drawn : they represented the siege of a great city, whose inany-towered walls were defended by slingers, archers, and spearmen. The king himself in his chariot was present at the attack. Around him were his warrloi’s and his led-hoi'ses. Three more chambers were discovered in this part of the building. They were on the very edge of the river-face of the mound. The walls of the outer room IF had been almost entirely destroyed. An entrance, formed by colossal winged figures, led from it into a second chamber, about 24 feet square, in which the sculptures were still partly preserved. Amongst the bas-reliefs was another battle in a marsh. The Assyrian warriors were seen fighting in boats, and bringing their captives to the shore, one of the vessels being towed by a man swimming on an inflated skin.** Sennacherib himself, in his chariot, in the midst of a grove of palm-trees, * Isaiah, xxxvii. 18, 19. ■)• Plate 30. of the 2d series of the Monuments of Nineveh. j No. LXV. Plan I. § No. LX VI. same Plan, 26 feet by 19. II No. LXVII. same Plan. Its length was about 82 feet, and its breadth 16. ^ No. LXXI. same Plan. ** No. LXX. same Plan. Chap. XXV.] SCULPTURES AT KOUYUNJIK. 587 received the prisoners, and the heads of the slain. Above him was the following short epigraph, commencing with his name and title, which I have omitted, as they were written in the usual form.* I- -E! (?) Tf \ T- (1) II 1IT -sir -fif 4-m -TKl ET !?< Ell dl? ?;< 1 ^1< -114 (?) 1- V/ -tl «< It must be observed that variants, or different letters having the same alphabetic value, are sometimes used In all these names, and that the name of the site of the building is not written as on bricks from the centre palace. Several tombs containing vases, beads and or- naments, were discovered above the centre palace. A few large earthen jars from different parts of the mound, a number of small cups of peculiar shape from the ruins of the upper chambers, other pottery of various kinds, and some rude figures in baked clay, were the principal relics found during the excavations at Nimroud. In the north-west palace was also discovered a duck, with Its head turned upon its back, in greenstone, similar to that in white marble engraved In the first series of the Monuments of Nineveh.* These two objects are of considerable Interest, as we learn from short inscriptions upon them, deciphered by Dr. Hincks, that they are weights of thirty mana, or half a Babylonian talent. The inscription on the duck found during the second excavations at Nimroud is as follows : — Cup from Upper Cbara bers vNimroud'. «< ET -^T -H4 H ST- >ETT ET -+ :=;tt That on the other has already been published.f They have been examined at the mint, and are found to weigh 40 lb. 4 oz. f See Britisk Museum Series, p. 83. F. * Plate 95. A. Mfi 3 z n(pi» =■h 4 ^i -;».. ..: . -m. , ,. i ■ * ^ 1 ' ’ ■ )/■ <■*■' %, ^^ '■ ' ■'' v<^ 'T t’ \*0t U V; ^ «s. ••»•*■ ' ,fcj i- . *■ " A» ' 'I ’^*vT*-‘ ^ ’O Twts* J:^y ■ f‘«a ' * •'♦ » ■ ‘ M , 7 ". ^^\,r V ^ : 'i? ^ L ^ ^1 ‘ ^ £. *• ' ^ 1 ., 1 IV -*, . ^ ,r n*..4«« •.I- ••' • n? #1 , ?*' .Ir^ ?V' '=»i-Il1s. i ,.- •■ ■ ► ^•-- » PVV ^ i^"*-»** ' - . 1-^ iT.n » ,f^ n - . « . - » INSCRIPTIONS ON BRONZE LION-WEIGHTS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM. Tk^ ii^res wv tTie ccUwat 64 ^- ~U'^igktg (ff fJit. l^rofixes iJte Chap. XXV.] ASSYRIAN WEIGHTS. 601 4 dwt. 4 gr. and 39 lb. 1 oz. 1 dwt. 6 gr. The difference between them is owinsr to the head of one having been broken off. * It may be inferred that two similar figures in baked clay, in- scribed with Assyrian numerals, from the same ruins, and others of small size in agate, onyx, and other hard materials, are likewise ' weights, probably parts of the talent or of the mana. It is also highly probable that the curious series of bronze lions discovered at Nimroud during my first researches were used for a like pur- pose. Since the coating of green rust has been removed from them, they are found in several instances to bear two short in- scriptions, one in cuneiform characters with the name of Senna- cherib, the other in Phoenician, or cursive Semetlc letters, accom- panied by parallel lines or notches cut in the bronze.f Dr. * The actual weight of the large clucks in the British Museum being 480 oz. troy, the mana would be equal to 16 oz., with a small fraction over. The Attic mana has been computed to be 14 oz., with a small fraction. It would conse- cpiently be to the Babylonian talent as 7 to 8. According to Herodotus (lib. iii. c. 89.) the Eubcean talent was to the Babylonian as 6 to 7. If this statement be correct, the Euboean would be to the Attic as 48 to 49. (Dr. Hincks.) The authorities on the subject of the Babylonian talent, &c. are collected in Bdeckb’s Hebraisches, Phcenicisches, und Syrisches Gewicht und Geld ; and see Art. “Pondera” in Smith’s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antic^uities. ■j*It must be remembered that the dirt upon them and the decomposition they have undergone, make some difference in their weight. I add a table of the weights of fifteen, and the numbers of lines or marks upon such as have bad the rust removed. A certain relative proportion appears to exist be- tween them. In a parallel column, for the sake of comparison, I have placed the weight of the ducks in the British Museum. No. 5. has been plugged with lead. Those marked with a cross have the rings remaining. .Weight of Lions. Number of Marks on Lions. Weight of Ducks. lb. oz. dwt. gr. lb. OZ. dwt. gr. 1 . X38 11 6 16 15 40 4 4 4 2. X 13 4 12 22 5 39 1 1 6 3. 7 11 12 12 3 6 2 3 4. X5 6 8 8 2 5. id. 2 5 14 13 6. 2 9 4 4 2 4 2 3 7. 2 6 9 4 1 13 17.36 8. 1 9 12 2 1 4 23.36 9. Xl 5 17 2 X 4 19.65 10. 1 4 2 2 1 3 15.65 11. id. 1 12. X 7 15 0 5 3 8.65 13. X 7 13 8 4 1 15.625 14. 6 8 10 0 1 9.85 15. 1 15 0 3 1 6.75 602 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXV. Lepsius has recently published a bas-relief from an Egyptian tomb, representing a man weighing rings of gold or silver, with weights Egyptian weighing Kings of Metal, with Weights in the form of a seated Lion in the form of a bull’s head, and of a seated lion with a ring on its back, precisely similar to those from Nineveh, now in the British Museum.* The engraved cylinders or gems, of which a large collection was brought by me to England, form an important as well as^an interesting class of As- syrian and Babylonian antiquities. They vary in size, from about two inches to a quarter of an inch, and are either quite circular, or barrel- Cylindera in green Jasper sliapcd. Or sllglltly CUrVCd inwards like that represented in the accompanying woodcut. They are usually of laplslazuli, rock-crystal, cornelian, amethyst, chal- cedony, agate, onyx, jasper, quartz, serpentine, sienite, oriental alabaster, green felspar, and hasmatite. The workmanship vai’ies * Lepsius’ Denkmiiler Atheilung 111. Bl. 39. No. 3. See also Wilkinson’s Ancient Egyptians (vol. ii. p. 10.) for weights in the form of a crouching an- telope. Mr. Stuart Poole suggests that the use of the bull’s head as a weight explains the well-known Greek proverb, (iuvs ini (iEschyl. Agam. 36., &c.), applied to a person who had taken a bribe. The commentators state that the bull was a talent, but go no further. For engravings of the bronze lions in the British Museum see 1st series of the Monuments of Nineveh, Plate 96. Chap. XX Y.] ASSYRIAN CYLINDERS. 603 in different specimens, that of some being of considerable sharpness and delicacy, and that of others so coarse as scarcely to enable us to recognise the objects engraved upon them. The subjects are generally eitlier religious or historical, usually the former, and on many are short inscriptions in the cuneiform character. These cy- linders belong to several distinct periods.* The most ancient with which I am acquainted are those of the time of the kings who built the oldest edifices hitherto discovered at Nineveh. Col. Raw- linson states, that on one recently found in the ruins of Sliereef- Khan are the names of two of the predecessors of the early Nimroud king. If such be the case, which I am rather inclined to doubt, we have proof of the antiquity of this specimen. From the similarity of the subjects, and of the style of art between them and the sculptures in the north-west palace at Nimroud, I have ventured to assign others collected by me to the same period. Nearly all the cylinders of tliis class are cut in serpentine, and the designs upon them are generally rude and coarsely engraved. The subjects are usually the king in his chariot discharging his arrows against a lion or wild bull, warriors in battle, the monarch or priests in adoration before the emblem of the deity, the eagle-headed god, winged bulls and Hons, and other mythic animals, accompanied by the common Assyrian symbols, the sun, the moon, the seven stars, the winged globe, the sacred tree, and * For engravings of cylinders obtained during the excavations, see the 2nd series of the Monuments of Nineveh, Plate 69. Mr. Cullimore has published a number of similar gems from various collections. 604 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXV. the wedge or euneatic element. An unique specimen, apparently of this period, represents a man armed with a spear, standing in the midst of thirty- two human heads, probably the seal^of a suceessful warrior. Upon another is a turtle and a bird before a human figure. The next in order of date are those of the time of Sargon and his successors. To this period belong the cylinder with the fish-god, and that whieh I believe to be the signet of Senna- cherib himself, deseribed in a previous part of this work.* A very fine specimen, cut in agate, represents an Assyrian goddess, perhaps Astarte, or the Moon, surrounded by ten stars, with a clog seated before her. In front of her is tlie moon’s creseent, and a priest in an attitude of adoration. A tree and a rampant goat, both common Assyrian symbols, complete the group. On others of the same age we find the gods represented under various forms. the king and priests worshipping before them, altars and various signs peculiar to the period, and the usual mythic emblems. On a small cylinder in white porcelain or quartz is engraved a cow of Ante, p. 160. One cylinder bears his name. Chap. XXY.] ENGRAVED CYLINDERS. 605 the Indian bi'eed suckling a calf, an Assyrian emblem, which occurs amongst the ivory carvings discovered at Nimroud.* The pure Babylonian cylinders are more commonly found in European collections than the Assyrian. They are usually en- graved with sacred figures, accompanied by a short inscription in the Babylonian cuneiform character, containing the names of the owner of the seal and of the divinity, under whose particular protection he had probably placed himself. They are usually cut in a red iron ore or haematite, which appears to have been a favorite Babylonian Cylinders. material for such objects. Many specimens, however, are in agate, jasper, and other hard substances. Amongst the most interesting cylinders of this kind obtained by me is that in spotted sienite described in a previous chapter f, and one in green jasper, re- markable for the depth of the intaglio and spirit of the design, re- presenting the Assyrian Hercules contending with a buffalo, and * A similar group is seen in a bas-relief at Khorsabad. Botta, pi. 141. t See p. 538. 606 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXV. a horned human figure, with the exti*eraities of a bull, fighting with a lion. Between the two groups Is an antelope with long spiral horns, an animal not found at this day in Mesopotamia.* A class of cylinders of very rude workmanship, and usually in hajmatite, are pi'obably of the latest Babylonian period. Upon them are usually found the figures of various deities, and especially of Venus, some- times represented with the waters of life flowing from her breasts. Amongst the most curious is one in jasper, engraved with a man seated in a car of peculiar construction di’awn by four horses : in front of him are seven human heads and two birds. A few cylinders and gems, Assyrian in character, are Inscribed with Semetic letters, resembling the Phoenician and cursive Baby- lonian. They are rare, and have chiefly been found, I believe. Babylouian Cyliudar (lu Jaspen. Cylinders, with Semetic Characters. in ruins on the banks of the Euphrates to the north of Babylon, near Hit and Ana. I would attribute them, therefore, to the Semetic population which inhabited the districts on the eastern borders of the Syrian desert. They appear to belong to various periods, from the time of the lower Assyrian dynasty (of which three fine specimens are in the possession of Captain Jones of Baghdad) to that of the Persian occupation of Babylonia. To the first period I assign a cylinder in the British Museum, representing two figures, half man half bull, raising the winged emblem of the deity over the sacred tree. On one side of them is a priest carry- ing a goat, such as is seen in the Khoi'sabad sculptures, and on * Could this animal represent the Wothaiyah, described to me by the Arabs of Gebel Shammar as existing in Nedjd ? See page 542. Chap. XXV.] ENGRAVED CYLINDERS. 607 the other a man in the act of worship. Of the Persian epoch an interesting example exists in the same collection. On it is engraved the king contending with a winged human-headed bull and a griffin beneath the image of the god Ormuzd. The first word of the inscription is pure Hebrew, Dnn, Katham, “ the seal,” and then follow the names of a man and of his father, which I am not able to decipher satisfactorily. Persian cylinders frequently bear an inscription in the cuneiform character peculiar to the monuments of the Achaemenian dynasty. The most interesting specimen of this class is the well-known gem of green chalcedony in the British Museum, on which is engraved king Darius in his chariot, with his name and that of his father. This was probably a royal signet. Another, in the same collection, bears the name of one Arsaces, who appears to have been a cham- In Rcci Crystal. In Onyx Persian Cylinders berlain, or to have held some other office in the Persian court.* The device represents the god Typhon (?) f full-faced, holding a * The inscription reads, “ Arshaka nama Athiyabusbana “ Arsaces by name, the chamberlain” (?). f Represented on Egyptian monuments. 608 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXV. lotus flower In each hand beneath the symbol of the supreme Deity supported by two priests. A very fine cylinder in rock crystal, brought by me to tins country, and now also in the British Museum, has the god Ormuzd represented as at Persepolis, raised by two winged bulls with human heads, above an oval, contain- ing the image of a king. The engraving on this gem is remark- able for its delicacy and minuteness. Persian cylinders are recognised at once by the draperies of the figures, gathered up into folds, as in the sculptures of the Achaemenlan dynasty, a peculiarity never found on pure Assyrian or Babylonian monuments ; by the crown of the king ; by the form of the supreme deity, or Ormuzd and by the monstrous animals, resembling the sculptures on the walls of Persepolis. Although gems and precious stones of the Arsacian and Sassanian dynasties of Persia, engraved with subjects and mythical figures precisely similar to those on Assyrian and Babylonian relics, are by no means uncom- mon ; yet no cylinders, as far as I am aware, have hitherto been found of those periods. Seals in this form do not appear to have been used after the fall of the Achajmenian power. It has been conjectured that these cylinders were amulets, en- graved with a kind of horoscope of the owner, or with the figures of the deities who were supposed to preside over his nativity and fortunes. But It is evident from the specimens above described, that they were seals or signets to be Impressed on clay and other materials on which public and private documents were written.* Herodotus states that the Babylonians were accustomed to have their signets constantly with them, as a modern Eastern always carries his seal.f The manner in which they were used Is shown in the accompanying engraving of an inscribed terracotta tablet from Kouyunjik. The seal was evidently rolled on the moist clay, at the same time as the letters were impressed.^ The tablet was then placed in * Mr. Landseer (Sabaean Researches, p. 3.) has conjectured that they were “ used as signets, impressed for the purposes of ratifying such social and religious transactions as called for a sacred pledge.” t Lib. i. c. 195. As a written signature is of no value, except in parti- cular cases, in the East, and as all documents to be valid must be sealed with seals bearing the names of the parties to them, the engraved signet is of great importance, and the trade of an engraver one of considerable responsi- bility. The punishment for forging seals is very severe, and there are many regulations enforced for securing their authenticity. 1 Compare Job, xxxviii. 14. “ It is turned as clay to the seal.” Chap. XXV.] ENGRAVED CA'EINDEKS. 609 the furnace and baked. All these cylinders have been pierced, and one specimen, found by my workmen In a mound in the desert near the Sinjar, still retained its copper setting. They re- Clay Tablet with Cylmder, impressed, from KouyuDjik. volved upon a metal axis, as Mr. Landseer conjectured *, like a garden rolling-stone. Such then were the objects of sculpture and the smaller relies found at Nimroud and Kouyunjik. I will now endeavour to con- vey to the reader, in conclusion, a general idea of the results of the * Sabfean Researches, p. 7., a work which, with much useless speculation, contains many ingenious conjectures. R R 610 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXV, excavation.s, as far as they may tend to increase our acquaintance with the history of Assyria, and to illustrate the religion, the arts, and the manners of her inhabitants. Part of Colossal Head, from Kouyunjik lomb of the Prophet Jonah, and the River Kbauser. CHAP. XXVI. RESULTS OF TUB DISCOVERIES TO CHRONOLOGY AND HISTORY. — NAMES OP ASSYRIAN KINGS IN THE INSCRIPTIONS. A DATE FIXED. THE NAME OF JEHU. THE OBELISK KING. THE EARLIER KINGS. — SARD ANAP ALUS. HIS SUCCESSORS. PUL, OR TIGLATH PILESER. SARGON. SENNACHERIB.^ ESSARHADDON. THE LAST ASSYRIAN KINGS. TABLES OF PROPER NAMES IN THE CUNEIFORM CHARACTER. ANTIQUITY OF NINEVEH. OF THE NAME OF ASSYRIA. ILLUSTRATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. STATE OF JUD^A AND ASSYRIA COMPARED. POLITICAL CONDITION OF THE EMPIRE. ASSYRIAN COLONIES. PROSPERITY OF THE COUNTRY. RELIGION. EXTENT OF NINEVEH. ASSYRIAN ARCHITECTURE. COMPARED WITH JEWISH. PALACE OF KOU- Y'UNJIK RESTORED. — PLATFORM AT NIMROUD RESTORED. THE ASSYRIAN FORTIFIED INCLOSURES. DESCRIPTION OF KOUYUNJIK. CONCLUSION. Although ten years have barely elapsed since the first discovery of ruins on the site of the great city of Nineveh, a mass of inform- ation, scarcely to be overrated for its importance and interest, has already been added to our previous knowledge of the early his- tory and comparative geography of the East. When in 1849 I pub- lished the narrative of my first researches in Assyria, the numerous R R ‘2 612 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. inscriptions recovered from tlie remains of the buried palaces were still almost a sealed book; for although an interpretation of some had been hazarded, it was rather upon mere conjecture than upon any well-established philological basis. I then, however, expressed my belief, that ere long their contents would be known with almost certainty, and that they would be found to furnish a history, pre- viously almost unknown, of one of the earliest and most powerful empires of the ancient world- Since that time the labors of English scholars, and especially of Col. Rawlinson and Dr. Hincks, and of M. de Saulcy, and other eminent investigators on the Continent, have nearly led to the fulfilment of those anticipations; and my present work would be incomplete were I not to give a general sketch of the results of their Investigations, as well as of my own researches. I will not detain the reader by any account of the various pro- cesses adopted in deciphering, and of the steps gradually made in the investigation ; nor will I recapitulate the curious corroborative evidence which has led in many instances to the verification of the interpretations. Such details, philologically of the highest in- terest, and very creditable to the sagacity and learning of those pursuing this difficult inquiry, will be found in the several treatises published by the investigators themselves.* The results, however, are still very incomplete. It is, indeed, a matter of astonishment that, considering the time which has elapsed since the discovery of the monuments, so much progress has been already made. But there is every prospect of our being able, ere long, to ascertain the general contents of almost every Assyrian record. The Baby- lonian column of the Bisutun inscription, that invaluable key to the various branches of cuneiform writing, has at length been pub- lished by Col. Rawlinson, and will enable othei’s to carry on the investigation upon sure grounds. I will proceed, therefore, to give a slight sketch of the contents of the inscriptions as far as they have been examined. The earliest king of whose reign we have any detailed account was the builder of the north-west palace at Nimroud, the most ancient edifice * I refer, of course, more particularly to tlie several papers by Col. Raw- linson and Dr. Hincks in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, and by the latter in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, especially in the twenty-second volume, recently published, and entitled, “ On the Assyrio- Babylonian Phonetic characters.” I take this opportunity of mentioning, with the praise it most fully deserves, the very interesting summary of the dis- coveries at Nineveh, Babylon, and Persepolis, published by my friend Mr. Vau.K of the British Museum. (Nineveh and Persopolis. London, 1851 .) Chap. XXVI.] ASSYRIAN HISTORY. 613 hitherto discovered in Assyria. His records, however, with other inscriptions, furnish the names of five, if not seven, of his prede- cessors, some of whom, there is reason to believe, erected palaces at Nineveh, and originally founded those which were only rebuilt by subsequent monarchs.* * * § It is consequently important to ascertain the period of the accession of this early Assyrian king, and we ap- parently have the means of fixing it with sufficient accuracy. His • son, we know, built the centre palace at Nimroud, and raised the ■ obelisk, now in the British Museum, inscribing upon it the principal events of his reign. He was a great conqueror, and subdued many I distant nations. The names of the subject kings who paid him tri- {; bute are duly recorded on the obelisk, in some instances with sculp- tured representations of the various objects sent. Amongst those kings wasone whose name reads “Jehu, the son of Khumri (Omri),” and who has been identified by Dr. Hincks and Col. Rawlinson ; with Jehu, king of Israel. This monarch was certainly not the son, although one of the successors of Omri, but the term “ son of” appears to have been used throughout the East in those days, as ' it still is, to denote connection generally, either by descent or by succession. Thus we find in Scripture the same person called “the son of Nimshi,” and “the son of Jehosaphat, the son of Nimshi.”-]- An identification connected with this word Khumri or ! Omri is one of the most interesting instances of corroboi’ative evidence that can be adduced of the accuracy of the interpreta- tions of the cuneiform character. It was observed that the name of a city resembling Samaria was connected, and that in in- scriptions containing very different texts, with one reading Beth Khumri or Omri.J This fact was unexplained until Col. liaw- linson perceived that the names were, in fact, applied to the same place, or one to the district, and the other to the town. Samaria having been built by Omri, nothing is more probable than that — in accordance with a common Eastern custom — it should have been called, after its founder, Beth Khumri, or the house of Omri.§ * The north-west palace at Nimroud, for instance, appears to have been founded by an earlier king than the one whose name is in the standard in- scription. So also Kouyunjik. •f- Compare 1 Kings, xx. 16. and 2 Kings, ix. 2. 1 Sargon is called on the monuments of Khorsabad, “ the conqueror of Sa- maria and of the circuit of Beth Khumri.” (Dr. Hincks, Trans, of the R. Irish Acad. vol. xxii.) § Omri “bought the hill Samaria of Shamar for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built after the name of Shamar, owner of the hill, Samaria.” (1 Kings, xvi. 24.) B E 3 NINE\'KII AND IJABYDON. [Chap. XXA^I. ()]4 As a further proof of the identity of the Jehu mentioned on the obelisk with the king of Israel, Dr. Ilincks, to whom we owe this important discovery *, has found on the same monument the name of Hazael, whom Elijah was ordered by the Almighty to anoint king of Syria.f Supposing, therefore, these names to be correctly identified, — and our Assyrian chronology for this period rests as yet, it must be admitted, almost entirely upon this supposition, — we can fix an aj)proximate date for the reign of the obelisk king. Jehu ascended the throne about 885 B. C. ; the accession of the Assyrian monarch must, consequently, be placed somewhere between that time and the commencement of the ninth century B.C., and that of his father in the latter part of the tenth. | In his records the builder of the north-west palace mentions, amongst his predecessors, a king whose name is identical with the one from whom, according to the inscriptions at Bavian, were taken certain idols of Assyria 418 years before the first or second year of the reign of Sennacherib. According to Dr. Ilincks, Sennacherib ascended the throne in 703 B. c. § We have, there- fore, 1121 B. C. for the date of the reign of this early king.|| There are still two kings mentioned by name in the inscriptions from the north-west palace at Nimroud, as ancestors of its builder, who have not yet been satisfactorily placed. It is probable that the earliest reigned somewhere about the middle of the twelfth century B. c. Colonel Rawlinson calls him the founder of Nine- veh^; but there is no proof whatever, as far as I am aware, in support of this conjecture. It is possible, however, that he may have been the first of a dynasty which extended the bounds of the Assyrian em[)ire, and was founded, according to Herodotus, about five centuries before the Median invasion, or in the twelfth * It must be observed that Col. Kawliuson detected these names about the same time at Baghdad. In consequence of the distance from England, the pri- ority of publication fell to Dr. Hincks. 1 Kings, xix. 15. J Colonel Rawlinson suggests about 930 b.c. It is, I am convinced, impos- sible to fix to a year any event happening at such remote periods, and I confess that it appears to me a waste of time and learning to engage in lengthened discussions, chiefly founded upon premises of doubtful worth, on such minute questions of chronology, which, even if determined to our satisfaction, would after all be of little or no importance. $ Col. Rawlinson says 716. (Outlines, p. xxix.) II Another king of the same name reigned long after the builder of the north- west palace. 1 Outlines of Assyrian History, p. xxii. Chap. XXVI.] ASSYHIAN IlISTOKY. 615 century B. c. ; but there apj)ears to be evidence to show that a city bearing tlie name of Nineveh stood on the banks of the Tigris long before that period. * * * § The second king, whose name is unplaced, appears to be men- tioned in the inscriptions as the original founder of the north-west palace at Nlmi'oud. According to the views just expressed, he must have reigned about the end of the twelfth century B. c. Colonel Rawlinson states that on a cylinder discovered in a mound near Kouyunjik he believes he has found the names of his two immediate successors.f But this may be doubted until we have further proof. The hither and grandfiither of the builder of the north-west palace are mentioned in nearly evei’y inscription from that edifice. Their names, according to Colonel Rawlinson, are Adrammelech and Anaku-Merodach. They must have reigned in the middle of the tenth century B. C. We have no records of either of them. The first king of whom we have any connected historical chro- nicle was the builder of the well-known edifice at Nimroud from which were obtained the most perfect and interesting bas-reliefs brought to this country. In my former work I stated that Colonel Rawlinson believed his name to be Niniis, and had identified him with that ancient king, according to Greek history, the founder of the Assyrian empire.]: He has since given up this reading, and has suggested that of Assardanbal, agreeing with the historic Sar- danapalus. Dr. Hincks, however, assigning a diffei’ent value to the middle character (the name being usually written with three), reads Ashurakhbal. It is certain that the first monogram stands both for the name of the country of Assyria and for that of its protecting deity. AYe might consequently assume, even were other proof wanting, that it should be read Assur or Ashur. I have elsewhere § given a description of the various great mo- numental records of this king, with extracts from their contents. He appears to have carried his arms to the west of Nineveh * Especially if, as Egyptian scholars still maintain, the name is found on Egyptian monuments of the 18th dynasty. Herodotus assigns 505 years to the dynasty of the Ileraclidm from Ninus to Candaules, king of Sardis (1. i. c. 7.) Query whether this led to his also assigning 500 to be the duration of the Assyrian empire founded by Ninus. -f- Outlines of Assyrian History, p. xxii. Dr. Hincks believes this king to have been the immediate predecessor of the builder of the north-west palace. I Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 228. § See chap. 16. K R 4 616 NINKVEII AXD BAI5YLON. [Chap. XXVI. across Syria to the Mediterranean Sea, to the south into Chaldaja, probably beyond Babylon (tlie name of this city does not, how- ever, as far as I am aware, occur in the inscriptions), and to the north into Asia Minor and Armenia. Of his son, whose name Colonel liawllnson reads Temenbar and DIvanubara, and Dr. Hincks DIvannbar, we have full and Im- portant historical annals, including the principal events of thirty- one years of his reign. They are engraved ui)on the black obelisk, and upon the backs of the bulls in the centre of the mound of NImroud. Colonel llawlinson w’as the first to give a connected translation of them.* * * § This king, like his father, was a great conqueror. He waged war, either in person or by bis generals, in Syria, Armenia, Babylonia, Chaldaja, Media, and Persia. He received tribute, as it has been seen, from Jehu, king of Israel, and, according to Colonel Bawlinson, from the kings of Egypt, who were dependent upon him.f The two royal names next in order occur on the pavement slabs of the upper chambers, on the west face of the mound of Nimroud.J They may belong to the son and grandson, and immediate suc- cessors, of the obelisk king. Such is Colonel Rawlinson’s view. Dr. Hincks, however, has suggested another reading of these in- scriptions. He believes that Ashurakhbal had a brother of the same name as his son, the obelisk king ; that this brother reigned over Mesopotamia, but not over Assyria, the empire being at that time divided ; that his son succeeded to the obelisk king (his cousin), uniting the two kingdoms, and leaving them to his immediate descendant, the second king on the pavement slabs. The two names have not been satisfactorily deciphered. Colonel Bawlinson reads them Shamas-Adar and Adrammelech II.; Dr. Hincks only ventures to suggest Shamsiyav for the first. On the Assyrian tablet, from the tunnel of Negoub§, are appa- rently two royal names, which may be placed next in order. They * In his interesting and valuable paper read, in 1850, before the Royal Asiatic Society (published in part 2. of vol. xii. of their Journal). -j- Thi.s, however, appears very doubtful. J See iny Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 196., where this genealogy was first pointed out. § Discovered during the first expedition. (Nineveh and its Remains, vol. i. p. 81.) This tablet was unfortunately broken and carried away before I could verify my copy of the inscription, published in the British Museum Series, p. 35. During my second residence in IMosul I was able to examine the fragments which are now in the convent of the Catholic missionary monks, and to restore the greater part of it. It appears to contain an account of the cutting of the Chap. XXVI.] ASSVniAN inSTOKY. 617 are merely mentioned as those of ancestors or predecessors of the king who caused the record to be engraved. Dr. Hincks reads them Baldasi and Asliurkish. As the inscription is much mu- tilated, some doubt may exist as to the correctness of its inter- 2)retation. The next king of whom we have any actual records appears to have rebuilt or added to the palace in the centre of the mound of Kimroud. Tlie edifice was destroyed by a subsequent monarch, who carried away its sculptiu’es to decorate a palace of his own. All the remains found amongst its ruins, with the excejition of the great bulls and the obelisk, belong to a king whose name occurs on a jiavement-slab discovered in the south-west jwlacc. * The walls and chambers of this building were, it will be remembered, decorated with bas-reliefs brought from elsewdiere. By comparing the inscriptions ujion them, and upon a pavement-slab of the same jjeriod, with the sculptures in the ruins of the centre j>alace, we find that they all belong to the same kingf, and we are able to identify him through a most important discovery, for which we are also indebted to Dr. Hincks. In an inscription on a bas-relief representing part of a line of war-ehariots, he has detected the name of Menahem, the king of Israel, amongst those of other monarchs paying tribute to the king of Assyria, in the eighth year of his reign.]: This Assyrian king must, consequently, have been either the immediate ^predecessor of Pul, Pul himself, or Tiglath Pileser, the name on the pavement-slab not having yet been deciphered. § The bas-reliefs adorning his palace, like those at Khorsabad, appear to have been accompanied by a comjilete series of his annals. Unfortunately only fragments of them remain. With remarkable tunnel through the rock In which the tablet was found, and of the canal leading from it. U'hese great works were undertaken to convey the waters of the river Zab either to Nimroud or to the surrounding plain for irrigation. * British Museum Series, p. 17. f Compare British Museum Series, p. 17. 1. 7. with p. 52. 1. 3., andp. 17. 1. 17 and 18. with p. 51. 1. 6. second column ; and also an unpublished inscrip- tion from the south-west palace in the British Museum. J British Museum Series, p. 50. 1. 10. This interesting discovery was first announced in the Athenaeum of Jan. 3. 1852. § These three kings came against Israel (2 Kings, xv. 19. and 29., and 1 Chron. v. 26.) ; but Pul is particularly mentioned as receiving tribute from Menahem, and Tiglath Pileser, as carrying away Israelites into captivity in the time of Pekah, between whose reign and that of Menahem only two years elapsed. (2 Kings, xv. 23.) G18 KINEYEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. the exception of the general record on the pavement-slab, no per- fect inscription has hitherto, as far as I am aware, been found.* His first campaign seems to have been in Chaldaea, and during his reign he carried his arms into the remotest parts of Armenia, and across the Euphrates into Syria as far as Tyre and Sidon. Ihere is a passage in one of his inscriptions still unpublished, which reads, “ as far as the river Oukarish ” that might lead us to believe that his conquests were even extended to the centi’al provinces of Asia and to the Oxus. His annals con- tain verv ample lists of conquered towns and tribes. Amongst the former are Harran and Ur. He rebuilt many cities, and placed his subjects to dwell in them. Colonel liawllnson conjectures that the first Assyrian dynasty ended with this kingj, but of this we have as yet no proof. The next monarch, whose name is found on Assyrian monuments, was the builder of the palace of Khorsabad, now so well known from M. Botta’s excavations and the engravings of its sculptures pub- lished by the French government. His name, though read with slight variations by different interpreters, is admitted by all to be that of Sargon, the Assyrian king mentioned by Isaiah. The names of his father and grandfather are said to have been found on a clay tablet discovered at Kouyunjik, but they do not appear to have been monarchsof Assyria.^ The ruins of Khorsabad furnish us with the most detailed and ample annals of his reign. Unfortunately an in- scription, containing an account of a campaign against Samaria in his first or second year, has been almost entirely destroyed. But, in one still preserved, 27,280 Israelites are described as having been carried into captivity by him from Samaria and the several districts or provincial towns dependent upon that city. § Sargon, like his predecessors, was a great warrior. He even extended his conquests beyond Syria to the islands of the Mediterranean Sea, and a tablet set up by him has been found in Cyprus. || He warred also in Baby- * Colonel Rawlirson, in a letter recently published in the Athena?um, stales that he has discovered the complete annals of Tiglath Rileser, but I am not aware whether it is to this king that he alludes. •f- Outlines of Assyrian History, p xxvi. I Rawlinson. Outlines of Assyrian History, p. xxix. \ The inscription is given in the 145th plate of Botta’s great work (see line 12.). I understand that the French consul at Mosul has recently dis- covered two entire historical cylinders of Sargon at Khorsabad ; they may furnish us with some of the details wanting on the monuments. II Now in the Royal Museum of Berlin. 0 r) 0 0 0 Bas-relief, represeminj Pul, or T iJlath-Pileser (Nimroud), 620 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. Ionia, Suslana, Armenia, ami Media, and apparently received tribute from the kings of Egypt. Colonel Rawlinson believed that the names “ Tiglath Pileser ” and “ Shalmaneser,” were found on the monuments of Khorsabad as epi- thets of Sargon, and that they were applied in the Old Testament to the same king, lie has now changed his opinion with regard to the first, and Dr. Hincks contends that the second is not a name of this king, but of his pi’edecessor, — of whom, however, it must be observed, we have hitherto been unable to trace any mention on the monuments, unless, as that scholar suggests, he is alluded to in an inscription of Sargon from Khorsabad.* From the reign of Sargon we have a complete list of kings to the fall of the empire, or to a period not far distant from that event. He was succeeded by Sennacherib, Avhose, annals have been given in a former part of this volume. His name was identified, as I have before stated, by Di*. Hincks, and this great discovery furnished the first satisfactory starting-point, from which the various events recorded in the inscriptions have been linked with Scripture history. Colonel Rawlinson places the accession of Sennacherib to the throne in 716, Dr. Hincks in 703 |, which appears to be more in accordance with the canon of Ptolemy. The events of his reign, as recorded in the inscriptions on the walls of his palace, are mostly related or alluded to in sacred and profane history. I have already described his wars in Judiea, and have compared his own account with that contained in Holy Writ. His second campaign in Babylonia is mentioned in a fragment of Polyhistor, preserved by Eusebius |, in which the name given to Sennacherib’s son, and the general history of the war appear to be nearly the same as those on the monuments. The fragment is highly interesting as corroborating the accuracy of the interpreta- tion of the inscriptions. I was not aware of its existence when the translation given in the sixth chapter of fliis volume was printed. “ After the reign of the brother of Sennacherib, Acises reigned over the Babylonians, and when he had governed for the space of thirty days he was slain by Marodach Baladan, who held the empire by force during six months ; and he was slain and succeeded by a jierson named Elibus (Belib). But in the third year of his (Elibus) reign Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, levied an array against the * IMem. Trans, of Irish Acad. vol. xxii. t See Appendi.x to his Memoir in the twenty-second vol. of Trans, of the Irish Academy. J Cory’s Fragments. Chap. XXV:.] ASSYRIAN HISTORY. 621 Babylonians ; and In a battle, in which they were engaged, routed and took him prisoner with his adherents, and commanded them to be carried into the land of the Assyrians. Having taken upon himself the government of the Babylonians, he appointed his son, Asordanius, their king, and he himself retired again into Assyria.” This son, however, was not Essarhaddon, his suc- cessor on the throne of Assyria. The two names are distinguished by a distinct orthography in the cuneiform inscriptions. Senna- cherib raised monuments and caused tablets recording his victories to be carved in many countries which he visited and subdued. His image and inscriptions at the mouth of the Nahr-el-Kelb in Syria are well known. During my journey to Europe I found one of his tablets near the village of Hasana (or Hasan Agha), chiefly re- markable from being at the foot ofGebelJudi, the mountain upon which, according to a wide-spread Eastern tradition, the ark of Noah rested after the deluge.* * * § Essarhaddon, his son, was his successor, as ive know from the Bible. He built the south-west palace at Nimroud, and an edifice whose ruins are now covered by the mound of the tomb of Jonah opposite Mosul. His annals are inscribed on the cylinder pre- sented by me to the British Museum. f Like his father he was a great warrior, and he styles himself in his inscriptions “ King of Egypt, conqueror of AEthiopia.”J It was probably this king who carried IManasseh, king of Jerusalem, captive to Babylon. § The name of the son and successor of Essarhaddon was the same as that of the builder of the north-west palace of Nimroud. His father, as we have seen ||, had erected a dwelling for him In the suburbs or on the outskirts of Nineveh. His principal campaign appears to have been in Suslana or Elam, and some of the beau- tiful and elaborate bas-reliefs which he caused to be carved on the walls of the palace of Sennacherib at Kouyunjik have already been described.lF As the greater number of the inscribed tablets found in the ruins of that edifice are of his time, many of them bearing his name, we may hope to obtain some record of the prin- cipal events of his reign. * See an interesting note on this subject in Rich's Narrative, vol. ii. p. 123. -f- British Museum Series, p. 20 — 21)., and also on a fragment of a similar cylinder, p. 54 — 58. I This title was first read and pointed out to me by Dr. Ilincks. Col. Raw- linson has, I believe, since found fuller mention of the Egyptian campaign of this king. § 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11 P. 598. 1 Chap. 20. 622 NINEVEH AN1> DABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. Ills son built tlie south-east palace on the mound ol' Nimroud, probably over the remains of an earlier edifice. Bricks from its ruins give his name, which has not yet been deciphered, and those of his father and grandfather. We know nothing of his history from cotemjioraneous records. He was one of the last, if not the last, king of the second dynasty ; and may, indeed, as I have already suggested, have been that monarch, Sardanapalus, or Saraciis, who was conquered by the combined armies of the Medes and Babylonians under Cyaxares in B. c. 606., and who made of his palace, his wealth, and his wives one great funeral pile.* d'here are apparently two royal names still unplaced ; that on the bulls at Arbanf, which may not be the name of a king of Nineveh, and that on the black stone in the possession of Lord Aberdeen, which appears to belong to an Assyrian king of the second dynasty. Unless the latter be a variant, or different reading of one of those already mentioned, it may be the name of a suc- cessor of the builder of the south-east palace. For convenience of reference I give a table of the royal names hitherto discovered, with their English versions according to Dr. Ulncks and Col. Rawlinson, the principal monuments on which they are found, and the approximate date of the reigns of the several kings. In a second table will be found the most impor- tant proper and geographical names in the Assyrian inscriptions which have been identified with those in the Bible. To make this list more useful to the biblical student I have added their forms in Hebrew, as well as in cuneiform letters. A third table contains the names of the thirteen great gods of Assyria, with their read- ings according to Dr. Hincks. O O * AVe have a curious illustration of the magnificent suicide of Sardanapalus in the history of Zimri, king of Israel. “ And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king’s house, and burnt the king’s house over him with fire and died.” 1 Kings xvii. 18. There is nothing, therefor^ improbable in the romantic history of the Assyrian king. t P. 276. Chap. XXVI.] TABLE OF ROYAL NAMES. 623 c; o 55 <1 O cc w pa <1 -g rt cS to 9 'S c 3 g PQ, '0 "aE g O c3 “ a - o c c/2 R AAA ■iA A Hr uT •ijr 4- 4 A A AA Y T El Tk a PQ O o o m AA tJO •iH- A a 4 son £ A I 4 >4- A ■fcc ® a o to *i- A AA A V Hr A Y T Si Tr 5h , t Is iii “ >— A AA ffi «T ri 4 o a s fc/} .s 3 Ti § O <*> ^ O 3-2 .s'© C3 ^ S o. fl '3 o g d cj w i? 3^ C.2 •— «1 CC A- O o '■•« © « O g cj a« fco d .3 *” •ts o 624 NINEVKII AND BABYLON, LChap. XXVI. ^ a rt d d d d a S 0 • H fi 00 CQ d d d H «•-• 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 t 0 CO 0 i- lO l^w a ■^pq 0 0 00 00 t- .1 t, S o . U ‘<-c ^ U 2 r S ^ ^ S ^ «-W rn ->» oT cT ^ rt ^ o .2! r— O C3 t-t £ 15 ^2 J « Ph m £15 2 £ £2 Cl-' •c pq cq •- • 2-c S O c« o i/J „ 3 c3 rt -O PL, q-i fco 0^ ^ d ;1 h ^ I 3 2 d fl r§ 5 C/2 < to 05 0 1^ d •_ -ri .-S3 K d d d '■ — ^ V o> To &N d d S 3 P P d d >• V»H 0 P 0 (n < CO d s d hC > d *co d 3 s d ’ CO d d $H 3 03 H 0 T P-. Sq C/2 c2 <5 CQ << e*»* i o A A Aa>A- WA “ “ 4 U AT n AAA + 4< tu ik 4- A i- A 1 ^ AA ► >- T AA a: 0 lil 151 i M Tr Chap. XXVI.] TABLE OF ROYAL NAMES. 625 o W 02 g u .2 S 5 CO o ca d o CO bJO s *>- ^ o o d C3 O s= CO d ^ ' 02 w bo a 2 .H S a. B ^ ^ n g d ^ 5 d J2 CO < : CO bJO d d o CO d CO ‘a a j=i CO *1 a a o B CS |2i I *1 ^Tl“ lU U li ifi I ii A i i Jr if , AU I 1 ‘ £► a A '-" A vy * AU' . AA >f 'U ^ i Ji { + \ ^ A A 4-^ & I AA yy if AAAI if H i AA *f •i- 4- i A JL CO lC 1^ 00 l-H S S 626 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Ckap. XXVI TABLE II. — Names of Kings, Countries, Cities, &c., mentioned in the Old Testament, which occur in the Assyrian Inscriptions. Name. Cuneiform. Hebrew. Jehu ►Eli =111= li nth; Omri ►11 »=Cfrl ►111 -E * S f Menahem 1- Sv 4 1- Dn2D Hezekiah TT/ YY TT< YT ill li li =111= ^n»ptn T • ; • Hazael YY/ YY TT< TT ^►+ ►+ ‘?Ntn Merodach Baladan . . ►Jf- < ►tl nsbA Tjn^-ia (or in monograms J y|[ >• — ) Pharoah il- im =111= nji'iD Sargon « t =1 DupD Sennacherib ►4- «< A h- nnnjp Essarhaddon -V - Ii’7n"")D4N Dagon Ell T Nebo ►A -11 At tJfi=l J udaca ►Eli =111= £11 li min'* T ; Jerusalem iti Af mi 4^ii- El Samaria -IKl ^1 (or >4tl *^T) Ashdod m U ill Ti Arvad ^1) Jins Carchemish w -ttt: li’^osns Hebar or Chebar 1 (river) ( ’ ‘ 51< EV ns3 or nian Harran 11 EMI Ml nn T T Ur Mll= E=ll (“rthl EMI) n^is Gozan (the people of^ D 11 -^1 11 11 (?) T, Mesopotamia . . 4 <0 -M A-+ *=e -n3a V T d'p'P T no • T D")D - T IV TT T T njn /ir33 T * D")t< T Mesliek . Tubal Assyria . Assyrians. Pethor Telassar . ^fr'i — ^ £l ECPl 11 11 il- EAl -^111 AeI gE £l -IKl "linsp T " ; * The names of Babylon and Nineveh are found in various other forms. Chap. XXVI.] TABLE OF GODS. 629 TABLE III. — Names of the Thirteen Great Gods of Assyria, as they occur on the upright tablet of the King, discovered at Nimroud. 1. (or >^) (or 2. If d- 3. 4. «< (or >- -+ -II -TT) 5. - + I) (or ► + m 6. (or <; ) 7. + 8. 9. 10. tlT 11. 12. w + 13. < -El (» -*f < VT) (op .-jf- pp-r) Asshur, the King of the Circle of the Great Gods. Anu, the Lord of the Moun- tains, or of Foreign Countries. (?) San. Merodach (? Mars). Yav (? Jupiter). Bar. Nebo (? Mercury). (?) Mylit (or Gula), called the Consort of Bel and the Mother of the Great Gods (? Venus). (?) Dagon. Bel (? Saturn) Father of the Gods. SuAMASH (the Sun). IsHTAR (the Moon). s s 3 630 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI, Although no mention appears to be made in the Assyrian in- scriptions of kings who reigned before the twelfth century B.C., this is by no means a proof that the empire, and its capital Nineveh, did not exist long before that time. I cannot agree with those who w'ould limit the foundation of both to that period. The sup- position seems to me quite at variance with the testimony of sacred and profane history. The existence of the name of Nineveh on monuments of the eighteenth Egyjitian dynasty is still considered almost certain by Egyptian scholars. I have in my former work quoted an instance of it on a tablet of the time of Thothmes III., or of the beginning of the fourteenth century b, c.* Mr. Birch has since pointed out to me three interesting cartouches copied by Dr. Lepsius in Egypt, and published in his great work f, which completely remove any doubt as to the name of Assyria having been also known as early as the eighteenth dynasty. They occur at the foot of one of the columns of Soleb, and are of the age of Amenoj)his III., or about the middle of the fourteenth century * Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 224. A second mention of Nineveh has been recently found by Mr. Birch on a monument of Thothmes III., engraved in Lepsius’ Auswahl. Taf. xii. 1. 21. Unfortunately the line before the name is wanting, and the event connected with the mention of Nineveh cannot be determined. Following it, however, is a sentence stating that Thoth- mes “ erected his tablet in Naharaina (Mesopotamia), for the extension of the frontiers of Kami (Egypt),” showing that the campaign described was actually carried on near the borders of the Tigris. t Denkmaler, Abeth III. Bl. 88. Chap. XXVI.] THE ASSYRIAN RECORDS. 631 before Christ. The three figures, with their arms bound behind, represent Asiatic captives, as is proved by their peculiar features and headdress, a knotted fillet round the temples, corresponding with that seen in the Nineveh sculptures. Each cartouche con- tains the name of the country from whicli the prisoner was brought. The first is Parana, or Padan-Aram; the second is written A-su-ru, or Assyria; and the third, Ka-ru-ka-mishi, Car- chemish. On another column are Saenkar (^? Shinar or Sinjar) ; Naharaina, or Mesopotamia ; and the Khita, or Hittites.* The mention in succession of these Asiatic nations, contiguous one to the other, proves the correctness of the reading of the word As- syria, which might have been doubted had the name of that country stood alone. Mr. Birch has detected a still earlier notice of Assyi'ia in the statistical tablet of Karnak. The king of that country is there stated to have sent to Thothmes III., in his fortieth year, a tribute of fifty pounds nine ounces of some article called chesbit, sup- posed to be a stone for coloring blue. It would appear, there- fore, that in the fifteenth century a kingdom, known by the name of Assyria, with Nineveh for its capital, had been established on the borders of the Tigris. Supposing the date now assigned by Col. Rawlinson to the monuments at Nimroud to be correct, no sculptures or relics have yet been found which we can safely attri- bute to that period; future researches and a more complete exa- mination of the ancient sites may, however, hereafter lead to the discovery of earlier remains. As I have thus given a general sketch of the contents of the In- scrij)tions, it may not be out of place to make a few observations upon the nature of the Assyrian records, and their importance to the study of Scripture and profane history. In the first place, the care with which the events of each king’s reign were chro- nicled is worthy of remark. They were usually written in the form of regular annals, and in some cases, as on the great mono- liths at Nimroud, the royal progress during a campaign appears to have been described almost day by day. We are thus furnished with an interesting illustration of the historical books of the Jews. There is, however, this marked difference between them, that whilst the Assyrian records are nothing but a dry narrative, or rather register, of military campaigns, spoliations, and cruelties, * Probably the Ilittites dwelling in northern Syria, near the Euphrates, mentioned in the campaigns of the Nimroud king. See p. 354. s s 4 G32 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. events of little importance but to those immediately concerned in them, the historical books of the Old Testament, apart from the deeds of war and blood which they chronicle, contain the most In- teresting of private episodes, and the most sublime of moral lessons. It need scarcely be added, that this distinction is pre- cisely what we might have expected to find between them, and that the Christian will not fail to give to it a due weight. It may, however, be objected, that these Assyrian inscriptions being merely records of national events, such as at this day might be placed upon public monuments, did not admit of any irrelevant reflec- tions or details of private life and incident ; but that the Hebrew books being more strictly a connected and written history, the author could draw his own inferences, and point out to his readers the moral of his story. The Assyrians, it may be added, might have had similar volumes, which have long since perished. This, indeed, may have been the case, but the nature of more private documents, such as those on the clay cylindei’s and tablets described in the foregoing pages, leads, as far as they have been hitherto deciphered, to an opposite conclusion. The monuments of Nineveh, as well as the testimony of his- tory, tend to prove that the Assyrian monarch was a thorough Eastern despot, unchecked by popular opinion, and having comjdete ])ower over the lives and property of his subjects — rather adored as a god than feared as a man, and yet himself claiming that authority and general obedience in virtue of his reverence for the national deities and the national religion. It was only when the gods themselves seemed to Interpose that any check was placed upon the royal pride and lust ; and it is probable that when Jonah entered Nineveh crying to the people to repent, the king, believing him to be a sj)ecial minister from the supreme deity of the nation, “ arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.”* The Hebrew state, on the contrary, was, to a certain extent, a limited monarchy. The Jewish kings wei'e amenable to, and even guided by, the ojilnion of their subjects. The prophets boldly upbi’aided and threatened them; their warnings and menaces were usually received with re- spect and fear. “ Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast * It was not necessary to the efTect of his preaching that Jonah should be of the religion of the people of Nineveh. I have known a Christian priest frighten a whole IMussulman town to tents and repentance by publicly pro- claiming that he had received a divine mission to announce a coming earth- quake or plague. Chap. XXVI.] POLITICAL STATE OF ASSYRIA. 633 spoken,” exclaimed Hezekiali to Isaiah, when the prophet reproved him for his pride, and foretold the captivity of his sons and the destruction of his kingdom*; a prophecy which none would have dared utter in the jiresence of the Assyrian king, except, as it would appear by the story of Jonah, he were a sti’anger. It can scarcely, therefore, be expected that any history other than bare chronicles of the victories and triumphs of the kings, omitting all allusion to their reverses and defeats, could be found in Assyria, even were portable rolls or books still to exist, as in Egypt, beneath the ruins. It is remarkable that the Assyrian records should, on the whole, be so free from the exaggerated forms of expression, and the magniloquent royal titles, which are found in Egyptian docu- ments of the same nature, and even in those of modern Eastern sovereigns. I have already pointed out the internal evidence of their truthfulness so far as they go. We are further led to place confidence in the statements contained in the Insci'iptions by the very minuteness with which they even give the amount of the spoil ; the two registrars, “ the scribes of the host,” as they are called in the Biblet, being seen in almost every bas-relief, writing down the various objects brought to them by the victorious war- riors, — the heads of the slain, the prisoners, the cattle, the sheep|, the furniture, and the vessels of metal. The next reflection arising from an examination of the Assyrian records relates to the political condition and constitution of the empire, which appear to have been of a very peculiar nature. The king, we may infer, exercised but little direct authority be- yond the immediate districts around Nineveh. Tlie Assyrian dominions, as far as we can yet learn from the inscriptions, did not extend much further than tlie central provinces of Asia Minor and Armenia to the north, not reaching to the Black Sea, though pro- bably to the Caspian. To the east they included the western provinces of Persia ; to the south, Susiana, Babylonia, and the northern part of Arabia. To the west the Assyrians may have penetrated into Lycia, and perhaps Lydia; and Syria was con- * 2 Kings, XX. 19. f 2 Kings, XXV. 19. J Driving away the cattle and sheep of a conquered people, and accounting them amongst the principal spoil, has ever been the custom of Eastern nations who have not altogether renounced a nomadic life, and whose chief wealth conse- quently consisted in these animals. When Asa defeated the Ethiopians, “ he carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem.” (2 Chron. xiv. 15.) 634 NIXEVEII AND BABYLON. LChap. XXVI. sidered within the territories of the great king ; Egypt and Meroe (^lithiopia) \vere the farthest limits reached by the Assyrian armies. According to Greek history, however, a much greater ex- tent must be assigned to Assyrian influence, if not to the actual Assyrian empire, and we may hereafter find that such was in fact the case. I am here merely referring to the evidence afforded bj actual records as far as they have been deciphered. The empire appears to have been at all times a kind of con- federation formed by many tributary states, whose kings were so far Independent, that they were only bound to furnish troops to the supreme lord in time of war, and to pay him yearly a certain tribute. Hence we find successive Assyrian kings fighting with exactly the same nations and tribes, some of which were scarcely more than four or five days’ march from the gates of Nineveh. On the occasion of every change at the capital, these tributary states seem to have striven to throw off the Assyrian yoke, and to have begun by refusing to pay their customary tribute. A new campaign was consequently necessary to bring them to obedience. We learn from the inscriptions, that when a city or kingdom was thus subdued, however near it might have been to Nineveh, when not actually forming a part of the imperial dis- trict, a new ruler w'as appointed to it with the title of “ King,” written in the same cuneiform characters on the monuments as when applied to the head of the empire.* Hence, too, the Assyrian armies, as the army of Xerxes described by Herodotus f, were made up of many various nations, retaining their own costumes, arms, and modes of warfare. The Jewish tribes, as it had long been suspected by biblical scholars, can now be proved to have held their dependent position upon the Assyrian king, from a very early period, indeed long before the time inferred by any passage in Scripture. Whenever an expe- dition against the kings of Judah or Israel is mentioned in the Assyrian records, it is stated to have been undertaken on the gi’ound that they had not paid their customary tribute.^ The political state of the Jewish kingdom under Solomon ap- pears to have been very nearly the same as that of the Assyrian * This fact illustrates the passage in Isaiah (x. 8, 9.), “ For he saith, Are not my pi-inces altogether lungs f Is not Calno as Carcheniish ? Is not Hamath as Arpad ? Is not Samaria as Damascus ? ” f Lib. vii. J The same thing may, indeed, be inferred from several passages in Chronicles and Kings. See particularly 2 Kings, xvi. 7. xvii. 4. Chap XXVI.] ASSYRIAN COLONIES. 635 empire. The inscriptions in this instance again furnish us with an interesting illustration of the Bible. The scriptural account of the power of the Hebrew king resembles, almost Avord for Avord, some of the paragraphs in the great inscriptions at Nimroud. “ Solomon reigned over the kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life He had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tipsah even unto the Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river.” * * * § The political condition of Assyria can only be compared in modern times Avlth that of India, Avhen the peninsula was di- vided into numerous distinct sovereignties under a nominal depen- dence to the emperor of Delhi as the head of the Mogul dynasty ; or to that of Turkey in the last century, Avhen the empire Avas made up of a number of semi- independent pashalics, governed by hereditary rulers, from Avhom the Sultan demanded little more than yearly tribute, and a contribution of troops in Avar, though invested Avith an absolute poAver over them of life and death, arising from his mixed political and religious character, sometimes exercised and submitted to in a manner inexplicable to those un- acquainted Avith the Eastern charactei’. In the custom, frequently alluded to in the inscriptions, of re- moving the inhabitants of conquered cities and districts to distant parts of the empire, and of replacing them by colonists from Nineveh or from other subdued countries, Ave have another in- teresting illustration of Scripture history. It has been generally inferred that there was but one carrying aAvay, or at the most two, of the people of Samaria, although three, at least, appear to be distinctly alluded to in the Bible; the first, by Pul f ; the second, by Tiglath-Pileser J ; the third, by Shalmaneser.§ It Avas not until the time of the last king that Samaria Avas destroyed as an independent kingdom. On former occasions only the in- habitants of the surrounding toAvns and villages seem to have * 1 Kings, iv. 21. and 24. He reigned over all the from the river even unto the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt and the kings “ brought him every in.an his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, harness, and spices, horses and mules, a rate year by year.” (2 Chron. ix. 24. 26.) Such were probably the very articles brought yearly to the As- syrian king, and enumerated in his records. f 1 Chron. V. 26. J 1 Chron. v. 6. and 26. § 2 Kings, xvii. 6. xviii. 11. 636 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. been taken as captives. Such we find to have been the case with many other nations who were subdued or punished for re- bellion by the Assyrians. The conquerors, too, as we also learn from the inscriptions, established the worshiji of their own gods in the conquered cities, raising altars and temples, and appointing priests for their service. So after the fall of Samaria, the strangers who were placed in its cities, “ made gods of their own and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made.” * The vast number of fiimilies thus sent to dwell in distant countries, must have wrought great changes in the physical con- dition, language, and religion of the people with which they were intermixed. When the Assyrian records are with more certainty interpreted, we may, perhaps, be able to explain many of the anomalies of ancient Eastern philology and comparative geo- graphy. We further gather from the records of the campaigns of the Assyrian kings, that the countiy, both in Mesopotamia and to the west of the Euphrates, now included in the general term of “ the Desert,” was at that remote period, teeming with a dense popu- lation both sedentary and nomade ; that cities, towns, and villages arose on all sides ; and that, consequently, the soil brought forth produce for the support of this great congregation of human beings. It will have been seen from many parts of the foregoing narrative, that there are still traces in these now desolate regions of their ancient wealth and prosperity. Mounds of earth, covering the ruins of buildings, or the sites of fenced stations and forts, are scat- tered far and wide over the plains. When the winter rains furrow the fiice of the land, inscribed stones, graven pottery, and masses of brick work, the certain signs of former habitations, are everywhere found by the wandering Arab. All those settlements depended almost exclusively upon artificial Irrigation. Hence the dry beds of enormous canals and countless watercourses, which are S}>rcad like a network over the face of the country. Even the traveller, accustomed to the triumphs of modern science and civili- sation, gazes with wonder and awe upon these gigantic works, and I’eflects with admiration upon the industry, the skill, and the power of those who made them. And may not the waters be again turned into the empty channels, and may not life be again spread over those parched and arid wastes ? Upon them no other curse has alighted than that of a false religion and a listless race. * 2 Kings, xvii. 29. Chap. XXVI.] THE ASSYKIAN GODS. 637 Of the information as to the religious system of the Assyrians which may be derived from the inscriptions, I am still unwilling to treat In the present state of our knowledge of their contents. It is highly probable that the large collection of clay tablets now In the British Museum may hereafter furnish us with important matter connected with the subject ; but a far moi'e intimate acquaintance with the character than we yet possess is required before the translation of such documents can be fully relied on. All we can now venture to infer is, that the Assyrians worshipped one supreme God, as the great national deity under whose immediate and special protection they lived, and their empire existed.* The name of this god appears to have been Asshurf, as nearly as can be determined, at present, from the inscriptions. It was identified with that of the empire itself, always called “ the country of Asshur;” it entered into those of both kings and private persons, and was also applied to particular cities. With Asshur, but ap- parently far inferior to him in the celestial hierarchy, although called the great gods, were associated twelve other deities, whose names I have given in table No. 3. Some of them may possibly be identified with the divinities of the Greek Pantheon, although it is scarcely wise to hazard conjectures which must ere long be again abandoned. These twelve gods may also have presided over the twelve months of the year, and the vast number of still inferior gods, in one inscription, I believe, stated to be no less than 4000, over the days of the year, various phenomena and productions of nature, and the celestial bodies. It is difficult to understand such a sys- tem of polytheism, unless we suppose that whilst there was but one supreme god, represented sometimes under a triune form, all the so- called Inferior gods were originally mere names for events and outward things, or symbols and myths. Although at one time * Different nations appear to have had different names for their supreme deity ; thus the Babylonians called him Nebo. f It would appear that Col. Rawlinson has given up the translation of this name, Assarac, upon which he first insisted. (Outlines of Assyrian History, p. xviii.) Hence one of his arguments against its identification with the Biblical Nisroch no longer exists. I may here observe that I am still inclined to believe that the name was applied to the eagle-headed figure of the sculp- tures. It is possible that Sennacherib may have been slain in the temple of Asshur, and that the Hebrews, seeing everywhere the commonest of the As- syrian mythic figures, may have believed it to be the peculiar god of the Assy- rians, to which they consequently gave a name denoting an eagle. The fact of its occurring on the door-posts with Dagon and other undoubted representations of deities, proves that it must be ranked amongst them, whilst they may all originally have been, as I have pointed out in the text, mere myths or symbols. 638 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. generally accepted as such even by the common people, their true meaning was only known in a corrupted age to the priests, by whom they were turned into a mystery and a trade. It may, in- deed, be inferred from many passages in the Scriptures, that a system of theology not far differing from the Assyrian prevailed at times amongst the Jews themselves. Asshur is generally, if not always, typified by the winged figure in the circle.* Although the kings of the later dynasty are sometimes represented worship- ping the minor deities, I know of no monument on which the earlier monarchs are seen adoring any other figure than that of Asshur. The question as to the space occupied by the city of Nineveh at the time of its greatest prosperity is still far from being set at rest. Cul.Rawlinson, founding his opinion upon the names on bricks from the several sites, believes the inclosures of Nimroud, Kouyunjik, and Khorsabad, and the small mounds of Shereef-Khan, scarcely three miles from Kouyunjik, as well as others in the immediate neigh- bourhood, to be the remains of distinct cities. He would even separate the mound of Nebbi Yunus from Kouyunjik, identifying the former with Nineveh, and making the latter a mere suburb. A glance at the ])lan of the ruins will show this conjecture to be quite untenable. Discoveries in both mounds prove that they belong to nearly the same period, and that Nebbi Yunus is the more recent of the two.f The supposition that any of these groups of mounds represent alone the city of Nineveh can in no way be reconciled with the accounts in Scripture and in the Greek authors, which so remarkably coincide as to its extent ; a difficulty which leads Col. Eawlinson to say, that all these ruins “ formed one of that group of cities which, in the time of the prophet Jonah, were known by the common name of Nineveh.”:}; It is indeed true, * See woodcuts, Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 448. There is some doubt whether the figure standing on an animal, frequently represented on Assyrian monuments as worshipped by the king, as at Bavian for instance (2nd series of the Monuments of Nineveh, Plate 51.), be Asshur, or one of the twelve gods. I am inclined to the latter opinion ; as on cylinders the figures of the deities standing on animals are frequently seen in act of adoration before the supreme god in the circle. f On the inscriptions of Assyria and Babylonia, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xii. p. 418. The expression used by Col. Rawlinson with regard to the mound of Nebbi Yunus, “ the huge mound opposite Mosul,” rather tends to mislead : it is, in fact, much inferior in size to Kouyunjik, and other great ruins in Assyria. I On the Inscriptions of Babylonia and Assyria, p. 417. Chap. XXVI.] EXTENT OF NINEVEH. 639 that, on bi-icks from different mounds, distinct names appear to be given to each locality, and that those from Kouyunjik are in- scribed with the name of Nineveh, whilst those from Nimroud and Khorsabad bear others which have not yet been satisfactorily deciphered.* These names are preceded by a determinative monogram ( ' H | ) assumed to signify a city, but which undoubtedly also applies to a fort or fortified palace.f Na- hum describes Nineveh as a city of many strongholds and gates J, and such I believe it to have been, each fort or stronghold having a different name. The most important, as it was the best defended, may at one time have been the palace at Kouyunjik, which being especially called Nineveh, gave its name to the whole city. By no other supposition can we reconcile the united testimony of ancient writers as to the great size of Nineveh with the present re- mains. It is very doubtful whether these fortified inclosures con- tained many buildings besides the royal palaces, and such temples and public edifices as were attached to them. At Nimroud, exca- vations were made in various parts of the inclosed space, and it was carefully examined with a view to ascertain whether any foundations or remains of houses still existed. None were dis- covered except at the south-eastern corner, where, as already de- scribed §, the height of the earth above the usual level at once shewed the existence of ruins. In most parts of the inclosure, the natural soil seems never to have been disturbed, and in some places the conglomerate rock is almost denuded of earth. Such is also the ease opposite Mosul. The remains of one or two buildings appear to exist within the inclosure ; but in the greater part there are no indications whatever of ancient edifices, and the conglomerate rock is, as at Nimroud, on a level with the surrounding soil. * Col. Rawlinson reads the name of Levkeh or Calah on the bricks from Nim- roud, and consequently identifies the ruins with the Calah of Genesis, one of the primitive cities of Assyria, but I cannot believe that the four cities mentioned in the Bible could have stood within so short a distance of each other, par- ticularly as we are told that Resen, “ a great city, was between Nineveh and Calah.” (Genesis, x. 12.) f In like manner the common determinative sign signifies a country, a hill, and a mine. (Dr. Hincks’ Mem. on the Assyro-Babylonian Phonetic Characters, note, p. 301. Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. xxii.) It appears to be also used on some bricks in the same way as the determinative described in the text. J Ch. iii. 12—14. § P. 165. 640 NIXEVEn AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. At Khorsabacl, the greater part of the inclosed spaee is so much hcloio the surrounding countiy, that it is covered with a marsh formed hy the small river Kliauser, which flows near the ruins. Within the walls, which are scarcely more than a mile square, can only he traced the remains of one or two buildings, and of a pro- pylajum, standing below the platform, and above two hundred yards from the ascent to the palace*, but they are at once per- ceived by well-defined inequalities in the soil. If the walls forming the inclosures of Khorsabad and other As- syrian ruins were the outer defences of a city, abruptly facing the open country, it is difficult to account for the fact of the palace having been built in the same line, and actually forming part of them. All access to it must have been strongly fortified, and even the view over the surrounding country, the chief object of such a position, must have been shut out. After several careful excavations of the ruins and of the spaces Inclosed by the ramparts of earth, I am still inclined to the opinion that they were royal dwellings with their dependent buildings, and parks or paradises, fortified like the palace- temples of Egypt, capable of standing a prolonged siege, and a place of refuge for the inhabitants in case of invasion. They may have been called by different names, but they were all included within the area of that great city known to the Jews and to the Greeks as Nineveh. I will not pretend to say that the whole of this vast space was thickly inhabited or built upon. As I have elsewhere observed, we must not judge of Eastern cities by those of Europc.f In * From this propylajum came the two colossal bulls in the British Museum ; it was part of the royal palace. f Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. part ii. ch. 2. A recent trigonometrical survey of the country by Captain Jones proves, I am informed, that the great ruins of Kouyunjik, Nimroud, Karamless, and Khorsabad, form very nearly a perfect parallelogram, corresponding with the conjecture I ventured to make in my former work. A recent writer (Bonomi, Nineveh and its Pa- laces, p. 94.), adopting the theory of the greater extent of Nineveh, has en- deavored to prove that the Gebel Makloub is the remains of its eastern walls, stating that he “ has the testimony of a recent observant traveller, Mr. Barker, who has no doubt that the so-called ‘ mountain’ is entirely the work of man.” Unfortunately it happens that the Gebel Makloub is somewhat higher, and far more precipitous and rocky than the Malvern hills. It would, indeed, have required Titans to raise such a heaven-reaching wall ! Scarcely less extravagant are the conjectures that the mound is called Kouyumjik, not Kouyunjik, because silver ornaments may have been found there, and that Yaroumjeh, a mere Turkish name meaning “ the half-way village,” is “ roum,” “ signifying the territory and inhabitants of the Roman empire,” and, consc- Chap. XXVI.] ASSYRIAN ARCHITECTURE. 641 Asia, gardens and orchards, containing suburbs and even distinct villages, collected round a walled city are all included by the natives under one general name. Such is the case with Isfahan and Damascus, and such I believe it to have been with ancient Nineveh. It appears to me quite inconsistent with Eastern cus- toms, as well as with historic testimony, to place within so short a distance of each other several great and distinct cities. Recent researches have in no way shaken the opinion that I ventured to express in my former work, partly founded upon arguments de- rived from the fact of each of these separate fortified palaces having been built by different kings.* A few remarks are necessary on the additional information afforded by recent discoveries as to the architecture and architec- tural decorations, external and internal, of the Assyrian palaces. The inscriptions on their walls, especially on those of Kouyunjik and Khorsabad, appear to contain important and even minute details, not only as to their general plan and mode of construc- tion, but even as to the materials employed for their different parts, and for the objects of sculpture and ornaments placed in them. This fact furnishes another remarkable analogy be- tween the records of the Jewish and the Assyrian kings. To the history of their monarchs and of their nation, the Hebrew chroniclers have added a full account of the building and adorn- ment of the temple and palaces of Solomon. In both cases, from the use of technical words, we can scarcely hope to understand, with any degree of certainty, all the details. It is impossible to comprehend, by the help of the descriptions alone, the plan or appearance of the temple of Solomon. This arises not only from our being unacquainted with the exact meaning of various Hebrew architectural terms, but also from the difficulty experienced even in ordinary cases, of restoring from mere descrijition an edifice of any kind. In the Assyrian inscriptions we labor, of course, under still greater disadvantages. The language in which they are written is as yet but very imperfectly known, and although we quently, a part of Nineveh, “ Roman and ancient being synonymous terms ! ” The line, too, indicated in IVIr. Bonomi’s diagram for the former bed of the Tigris, in order to complete the parallelogram, would take the river over a range of steep limestone hills. I may here observe that the name of “ Nini- ouah” is not known in the country as applied either to the mound of Nebbi Yunus, or any other ruin in the country. Before founding theories upon such grounds, it would be as well to have some little acquaintance with the localities and with the languages spoken by the people of the country. * Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. part il. c. 2. T T 642 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. may be able to explain with some confidence the general meaning of the historical paragraphs, yet when we come to technical words relating to architecture, even with a very intimate acquaintance with the Assyrian tongue, we could scarcely hope to ascertain their precise signification. On the other hand, the materials, and the general plan of the Assyrian palaces are still preserved, whilst of tlie great edifices of the Jews, not a fragment of masonry, nor the smallest remains are left to guide us. As Mr. Fergusson* has shown, the architecture of the one people may he illustrated by that of the other. With the help of the sacred books, and of the ruins of the palaces of Nineveh, together with that of cotempo- rary and later remains, as well as from customs still existing in the East, we may, to a certain extent, restore the principal bulld- insfs of both nations. c> Before suggesting a general restoration of the royal edifices of Nineveh, I shall endeavor to point out the analogies which appear to exist between their actual remains and what is recorded of the temple and palaces of Solomon. In the first place, as Sennache- rib in his inscriptions declares himself to have done, the Jewish king sent the bearers of burdens and the hewers into the mountains to hi’ing great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones f, to lay the foundations, wdiich were probably artificial platforms, resembling the Assyrian mounds, though constructed of more solid materials. We have the remains of such a terrace or stage of stone masonry, perhaps built by king Solomon himself, at Baalbec. The enor- mous size of some of the hewn stones existing in that struc- ture, and of those still seen in the quarries, some being more than sixty feet long, has excited the wonder of modern travellers. The dimensions of the temple of Jerusalem, threescore cubits longj, twenty broad, and thirty high, were much smaller than those of the great edifices explored in Assyria. Solomon’s owm palace, however, appears to have been considerably larger, and to have more nearly approached in its proportions those of the kings of Nineveh, for it was one hundred cubits long, fifty broad, and thirty high. “ The porch before the temple,” twenty cnbits by ten §, * See Ills liighly interesting work, entitled “The Palaces of Nineveh and Persepolis restored,” to which I shall have frequent occasion to refer in the remarks in the text, and to which I take this opportunity of acknowledging my obligations. t 1 Kings, V. 15. J The Jewish cubit appears to have been about eighteen inches. § 1 he height, according to 2 Chron. iii. 4., was 120 cubit.s, which would appear to be an error slipt into the text, although Josephus gives the same dimensions, adding an upper story or structure. Chap. XXVI.] THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. 643 may have been a propylajun, such as was discovered at Khorsabad in front of the palace. The chambers, with the exception of the oracle, were exceedingly small, the largest being only seven cubits broad, “ for without, in the icall of the house, he made numerous rests round about, that the beams should not be fixstened in the walls of the house.” The words in italics are inserted in our version to make good the sense, and may consequently not convey the exact meaning, which may be, that these chambers were thus narrow that the beams might be supported without the use of pillars, a reason already suggested for the narrowness of the greater number of chambers in the Assyrian palaces. These smaller rooms ap- pear to have been built round a large central chamber, called the oracle, the whole arrangement thus corresponding with the halls and surrounding rooms at Nimroud, Khorsabad, and Kou- yunjik. The oracle itself was twenty cubits square, smaller far in dimensions than the Nineveh halls ; but it was twenty cubits high — an important fact, illustrative of Assyrian archi- tecture, for as the building was thirty cubits in height, the oracle must not only have been much loftier than the adjoining chambers, but must have had an upper structure of ten cubits.* Within it xvere the two cherubim of olive wood ten cubits high, with wings each five cubits long, “ and he carved all the house around with carved figures of chei’ubim and palm trees, and open flowers, within and without.” The cherubim have been described by Biblical commentators as mythic figures, uniting the human head with the body of a lion, or an ox, and the wings of an eagle.t If for the palm trees we substitute the sacred tree of the Nineveh sculptures, and for the open flowers the Assyrian tulip- shaped ornament — objects most probably very nearly resembling each other — we find that the oracle of the temple was almost identical, in general form and in its ornaments, with some of the chambers of Nimroud and Khorsabad. In the Assyrian halls, too, the winged human-headed bulls were on the side of the wall, and their wings, like those of the cherubim, “ touched one another in the midst of the house.” f The dimensions of these figures were in some cases nearly the same, namely, fifteen feet * Mr. Fergusson has pointed out, from the account of Josephus, the proba- bility of the temple having had two stories. (The Palaces of Nineveh restored p. 222.) f See Calmet’s Dictionary of the Bible. See frontispiece to Fergussou’s Palaces of Nineveh restored. T T 2 644 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. square. The doors were also carved with cherubim and palm trees, and open flowers, and thus, with the other parts of the build- ing, corresponded with those of the Assj^rlan palaces. On the walls at Nineveh the only addition appears to have been the introduction of the human form and the image of the king, which were an abomination to the Jews. The pomegranates and lilies of Solo- mon’s temple must have been nearly identical with the usual As- syrian ornament, in which, and particularly at Khorsabad, the pomegranate frequently takes the place of the tulip and the cone. But the description given by Josephus of the interior of one of Solomon’s houses, already quoted by Mr. Fergusson in support of his Ingenious arguments, even more completely corresponds Avith, and illustrates the chambers in the palaces of Nineveh. “ Solomon built some of these (houses) with stones of ten cu- bits, and wainscoted the ivalls with other stones that were saxoed, and were of great value, such as were dug out of the bowels of the earth, for ornaments of temples, &c. The arrangement of the curious workmanship of these stones was in three rows ; but the fourth was pre-eminent for the beauty of its sculpture, for on it were represented trees, and all sorts of plants, with the shadows caused by their branches and the leaves that hung down from them. These trees and plants covered the stone that was beneath them, and their leaves were wrought so wonderfully thin and subtile, that they appeared almost in motion ; but the rest of the wall, up to the roof, was plastered over, and, as it were, Avrought over Avith various colors and pictures.”* To complete the analogy betAveen the two ediflces. It would appear that Solomon Avas seven years building the temple, and Sennacherib about the same time building his great palace at Kou- yunjik.f The ceiling, roof, and beams of the temple Avere of cedar Avood. The discoveries in the ruins at Nimroud shoAV that the same pre- cious wood Avas used in the Assyrian edifices ; and the king of NineA'eh, as Ave learn from the inscriptions, employed men, pre- cisely as Solomon had done, to cut it in Mount Lebanon. Fir Avas also employed in the Jewish buildings, and probably In those of Assyria. J * Josephus, b. viii. c. 2. Fergusson’s Palaces of Nineveh, p. 229. •f It will be remembered that the annals on the bulls of Kouyunjik include six years of his reign, and must consequently have been inscribed on them in the seventh year. } 1 Kings, V. 8. Chap. XXVI.] PALACE OF SENNACHERIB. 645 In order to understand the proposed restoration of the palace at Kouyunjlk from the existing remains, the reader must refer to the plan of the excavated ruins.* It will be perceived that the building does not face the cardinal points of the compass. I will, however, assume, for convenience sake, that it stands due north and south. To the west, therefore, it immediately overlooked the Tigris; and on that side was one of its principal facades. The edifice must have risen on the very edge of the platform, the foot of which was at that time washed by the river. If, therefore, there were any access to the palace on the river front, it must necessarily have been by a flight of steps, or an inclined way leading down to the water’s edge, and there might have been great stairs parallel to the basement wall as at Persepolis. Al- thouo'h from the fact of there having been a grand entrance to the palace on this side, it is highly probable that some such ap- proach once existed, no remains whatever of it have been dis- covered. The western facade, like the eastern, was formed by five pairs of human-headed bulls, and numerous colossal figures*, forming three distinct gateways. The principal approach to the palace appears, however, to have been on the eastern side, where the great bulls bearing the annals of Sennacherib still stand. In the frontispiece I have been able, by the assistance of Mr. Fergusson, to give a restoration of this magnificent facade and entrance. Inclined ways, or broad flights of steps, appear to have led up to it from the foot of the platform, and the remains of them, consisting of huge squared stones, are still seen in the ravines, which are but the ancient ascents, deep- ened by the winter rains of eenturies. From this grand entrance direct access could be had to all the principal halls and chambers in the palace ; that on the westeni face, as appears from the ruins, only opened into a set of eight rooms. The chambers hitherto explored appear to have been gi’ouped round three great halls marked Nos. VI., XIX., and LXIV. on the Plan. It must be borne in mind, however, that the palace extended considerably to the north-east of the grand entrance, and that there may have been another hall, and similar dependent chambers in that part of the edifice. To the east of hall LXIV. and to the north of No. VI. there were also remains of buildings. Only a part of the palace has been hitherto excavated, and we are not in possession of a perfect ground-plan of it. t See Frontispiece to this volume. T T 3 See Plan I. 646 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. The general arrangement of the chambers at Kouyunjik is simi- lar to that of Khorsabad, thougli the extent of the building is very much greater. It is also to be remarked that the Khorsabad mound falls gradually to the level of the 2^1aln, ai^jiai’ently showing the remains of a succession of broad terraces, and that jiarts of the jjalace, such as the propylasa, were actually beneath the platform, and removed some distance from it in the midst of the walled in- closure. At Kouyunjik, however, the whole of the royal edifice, with its de2)endent buildings, appears to have stood on the summit of the artificial basement *, whose lofty perpendicular sides could only have been accessible by steps, or inclined ways. No projjylaea, or other edifices connected with the jialace, have as yet been dis- covered below the jdatform. The inscri2)tlons appear to refer to four distinct parts of the jialace, three of which, inhabited by the women, seem subsequently to have been reduced to one. It is not clear whether they wei’e all on the ground-floor, or whether they formed different stories. Mr. Fergusson, in his ingenious work on the restoration of the palaces of Nineveh, in which he has, with great learning and research, fully examined the subject of the architecture of the Assyrians and ancient Persians, availing himself of the facts then furnished by the discoveries, endeavors to divide the Khorsabad palace, after the manner of modern Mussulman houses, into the Salamlik or apartments of the men, and the Harem or those of the women. The division he suggests, must, of course, de^jend ujion conjecture ; but it may, I think, be considered as highly probable, until fuller and more accurate translations of the inscriptions than can yet be made may furnish us with some positive data on the subject. In the ruins of Kouyunjik there is nothing, as far as I am aware, to mark the distinction between the male and female apartments. Su^)- jiosing Mr. Fergusson’s theory to be correct, and following the analogy between the two buildings, the hall marked XIX. on the Plan would best correspond with the harem court of Khorsabad. Of a temjjle no remains have as yet been found at Kouyunjik f, nor is there any high conical mound as at Nimroud and Khorsabad. In all the Assyrian edifices hitherto explored we have the same general interior plan. On the four sides of the great halls are two or three narrow parallel chambers opening one into the other. * Such also appears to have been the case at Nimroud. t Col. Rawlinson recently mentions a temple at Kouyunjik (Outlines of Assyrian History, p. 23.), but I question whether it be not simply a part of the palace. Chap. XXVI.] MODE OF LIGHTING. 647 INIost of them have doorways at each end leading Into smaller rooms, whicli have no other outlet. It seems highly probable that this uniform plan was adopted with reference to the peculiar archi- tectural arrangements required by the building, and I agree with Mr. Fergusson in attributing it to the mode resorted to for lighting the apartments. In my former work I expressed a belief that the chambers re- ceived light through an opening in the roof. Although this may have been the case in some instances, yet recent discoveries now prove that the Assyrian palaces had more than one story. Such beins the fact, it is evident that other means must have been adopted to admit daylight to the Inner rooms on the ground-floor. Mr. Fergusson’s suggestion, that the upper part of the halls and principal chambers was formed by a row of pillars supporting the ceiling and admitting a free circulation of light and air, appears to me to meet, to a certain extent, the difficulty. It has, moreover, been borne out by subsequent discoveries, and by the representation of a large building, apparently a palace, on one of the bas-reliefs T X 4 648 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. discovered at Kouyunjik.* In the accompanying woodcut an edi- fice is seen with openings at equal distances immediately beneath the roof, each opening being formed by two pillars with capitals resembling the Ionic. In the restoration of the exterior of the Kouyunjik palace forming the frontispiece to this volume, a some- what similar capital has been adopted in preference to that taken by jNIr. Fergusson from Persepolis, which, although undoubtedly, like the other architectural details of those celebrated ruins, As- syrian in character, are not authorised by any known Assyrian lemains.t A row of pillars, or of alternate pillars and masonry, would answer the pur2)ose intended, if they ojiened into a well-lighted hall. Yet inner chambers, such as are found in the ruins of Kouyunjik, must have remained in almost entire darkness. And it is not improbable that such was the case, to judge from modei'n Eastern houses, in which the absence of light is eonsidered essential to secure a cool temper- ature. The sculptures and decorations in them could then only be seen by torchlight. The great halls were jirobably in some cases entirely open to the air, like the court-yards of the modern houses of Mosul, whose walls are still adorned with sculptured alabaster. IVhen they were covered in the roof was borne by enormous pillars of wood or brickwork, and rose so far above the surrounding part of the building, that light was admitted by columns and buttresses immediately beneath the ceiling. It is most probable that there were two or three stories of chambers opening into them, either by columns or by windows. Such appears to have been the case in Solomon’s temple; for Josephus tells us that the great inner sanctuary was surrounded by small rooms, “over these rooms were other rooms, and others above them, equal both in their measure and numbers, and that these reached to a height equal to the lou'er part of the house, for the upper had no buildings about it.” IVe have also an illustration of this arrangement of chambers in the modern houses of some parts of Persia |, in wdiich a great cen- tral hall, called an Iwan, rises to the top of the building, and has small I'ooms in two or three separate stories, opening by’ windows * See also 2nd series of Monuments of Xineveh, Plate 40. t See frontispiece to !Mr. Fergusson’s Palaces of Nineveh restored. The pure Ionic volute occurs amongst the bronze ornaments from the throne in the British ^Museum. I have lately, however, found, amongst the small objects brought by me to this country, what appears to be part of a double bull pre- cisely similar to the capitals of Persepolis. Between the figures is a groove for the beam. It may have belonged to some model of a building or of a column. J Especially of Isfahan, Hamadan, and Kermanshah. Ch-vp. XXVI.] rSE OF PILLAE=. 649 into it, whilst the inner chambers, having no windows at all, have no more light than that which reaches them through the door. Sometimes these side chambers open into a centre court, as I have suggested may have been the case in the Xineveh palaces, then a projecting roof of woodwork protects the carved and painted walls from injurv by the weather. Curtains and awnings were also sus- pended above the windows and entrances, to ward off the rays of the sun. The accompanying wood-cut of the great Iwan or throne- room of a royal palace at Teheran, taken from Mr. Fergusson's work, will show the arrangement of these central halls and courts. Although no remains or even traces of pillars have hitherto been discovered in the Assyrian ruins, I now think it highly probable, as suggested by ^Ir. Fergusson, that they were used to support the roof. The sketch of a modem Yezidi house in the Sinjar, given in a previous part of this volume *, is a good illustration not only of this mode of supporting the ceiling, but of the manner in which light may have been admitted into the side chambers. It is curious, however, that no stone pedestals, upon which wooden columns may have rested, have been found in the ruins, nor are there marks of them on the pavement. I * F. 262 . 650 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. can scarcely account for the entire absence of all such traces. However, unless some support of this kind were resorted to, it is impossible that even the large chambers at Kouyunjik, without in- cluding the central halls, could have been covered in. The great hall, or house as it is rendered in the Bible *, of the forest of Lebanon was thirty cubits high, upon four rows of cedar pillars with cedar beams upon the pillars. The Assyrian kings, we have seen, cut wood in the same forests as King Solomon ; and probably used it for the same purposes, namely, for pillars, beams, and ceilings. Tlie dimen- sions of this hall, 100 cubits (about 150 feet) by 50 cubits (75 feet), very much resemble those of the centi’e halls of the palaces of Nineveh. “The porch of pillars” was fifty cubits in length; equal, therefore, to the breadth of the hall, of which I pi-esume it to have been an inclosed space at the upper end, whilst “ the porch for the throne Avhere he might judge, even the porch of judgment .... covered with cedar wood from one side of the floor to the other,” was probably a raised place beneath it, corre- sponding with a similar platform where the host and guests of honor are seated in a modern Eastern house. Supposing the thi’ee parts of the building to have been arranged as I have suggested, we should have an exact counterpart of them in the hall of audience of the Persian palaces. The upper part of the room in which I have fre- quently seen the governor of Isfahan, was divided from the rest of a magnificent hall by columns, and his throne was a raised place of carved woodwork adorned with rich stuffs, ivor}q and other precious materials. Suppliants and attendants stood outside the line of pillars, and the officers of the court within. Such also may have been the interior arrangement of the great halls in the Assyrian edifices. That the Ninevlte palaces had more than one story, at least in some parts if not in all, can now no longer be doubted. The inscrijitions appear to describe distinctly the upper rooms, and at Kouyunjik, as it has been seen, an Inclined way was discovered leading to them.f Without there had been an upper structure, it would be impossible to account for the enormous accumulation of rubbish, consisting chiefly of remains of buildings, over the ruins * 1 Kings, vii. 2. It is only by supposing it to have been one great hall that we can at all understand the proportions and form of the building as subse- quently given. The Hebrew word, as its Arabic equivalent still does, will bear both meanings. Pharaoh’s daughter’s house, which was “ like unto the porch^' was probably the harem or private apartment. t Ko. LXI. Plan I. See page 460. Chap. SXVI.] ASSYRIAN PALACE RESTORED. 651 of Kouyunjlk and Khorsabad. These upper rooms were probably- built of sundrled bricks and wood, but principally of the latter material, and may have been connected with the lower by winding staircases, as in the temple of Solomon, as well as by inclined ways. The roofs were flat, as those of all Eastern houses are to this day ; and, as suggested by Mr. Fergusson*, they may have been crowned by a wooden talar, or platform, and altars upon which sacrifices were ofiered, — “The houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink- offerings to other gods.”f I have already described the internal decorations of the Assy- rian palaces |, and have little more to add upon the subject. The walls of Kouyunjlk were more elaborately decorated than those of Nimroud and Khorsabad. Almost every chamber explored, and they amount to above seventy, was panelled with alabaster slabs carved with numerous figures and with the minutest details. Each room appears to have been dedicated to some particular event, and in each, aj)parently, was the image of the king himself. In fact, the walls recorded in sculpture what the inscriptions did in writing, — the whole history of Senna- cherib’s reign, his great deeds in peace as well as in war. It will be remarked that whilst in other Assyrian edifices the king is frequently represented taking an active part in war, slaying his enemies, and fighting beneath a besieged city, he is never repre- sented at Kouyunjik otherwise than in an attitude of triumph, in his chariot or on his throne, receiving the captives and the spoil. Nor is he ever seen tortui’ing his prisoners, or putting them to death with his own hand. There were chambers, however, in the palace of Sennacherib, as well as in those of Nimroud and Khorsabad, whose walls were simply coated with plaster, like the walls of Belshazzar’s palace at Babylon. § They may have been richly ornamented in color with figures of men and animals, as well as with elegant designs; or they may have been panelled with cedar wainscoting, as the chambers in the temple and palaces of Solomon, and in the great edifices of Babylon. Gilding, too, appears to have been exten- Palaces of Nineveh restored, p. 181. That the Assyrians -were, however, acquainted with slanting roofs may be inferred from a bas-relief discovered at Khorsabad. (Botta, Plate 141.) f Jerem. xix. 1.3. I Nineveh and its Kemalns, vol. ii. part ii. ch. 2. § Daniel, v. 5. 652 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. sively used in decoration, and some of the great sphinxes may have been overlaid with gold, like the cherubim in Solomon’s temple.* At Kouyunjik, the pavement slabs were not insci’ibed as at Nimroud; but those between the winged bulls at some of the entrances, were carved with an elaborate and very elegant pat- tern.f The doors were probably of wood, gilt and adorned with precious materials, like the gates of the temple of Jerusalem, and they appear to have turned in stone sockets, for amongst the ruins were found many black stones hollowed in the centre, and bearing an inscription in these words : “ Sennacherib, the great king, king of Assyria, brought this stone from the distant mountains, and used it for the sockets of the pillars of the doors of his palace.” To ward off the glare of an Eastern sun hangings or curtains of gay colors and of rich materials were probably suspended to the pillars supporting the ceiling, or to wooden poles raised for the purpose, as in the palaces of Babylon and Shushan. Such hang- ings, as we have seen, appear to be described in the tablets of king Nebuchadnezzar. The frontispiece to this volume will enable the reader to understand how they were used. This engraving from a beautiful water-color drawing, made by Mr. Baynes under the superintendence of Mr. Fergusson, represents the Eastern facade and the great entrance to the palace of Sennacherib, as they are supposed originally to have been. The lower part of the building actually exists, and is drawn to scale ; the upper part of course is mainly founded upon conjecture; but the preceding remarks may show that we are not altogether without materials to autho- rise some such restoration. The edifice represented in the bas- relief discovered at Kouyunjik has furnished some of the archi- tectural details, the battlemented finish to the walls is still seen at Kouyunjik and Nimroud, and the various decorations introduced in other places are all taken from Assyrian monuments. The two poles with streamers in the foreground, are from a bas-relief at Khorsabad. The sculptures at the sides of the steps are those from the descending passage at Kouyunjik. The stone facing of * 1 Kings, vi. 28. I cannot, however, but express my conviction that much of the metal called gold both in the sacred writings and in the profane authors of antiquity, was really copper, alloyed with other metals, the aurichalcum, or orichalcum, of the Greeks, such as was used in the bowls and plates discovered at Nimroud. t 2nd series of the Monuments of Nineveh, Plate 56. I Chap. XXVI.] PALACES AT XIMROUD. 653 the platform Is that of the basement of the tower at Nimroud. The Hons, Assyrian in character, are placed on the steps con- jectu rally, and the steps themselves are restored. The design upon the pavement is found on slabs at the entrances at Kouyunjik. The excavations carried on at Nimroud during the last expe- dition have enabled me to restore, to a certain extent, the several buildings on the platform, and to obtain some idea of their original appearance. I have endeavoured, with the able assistance of Mr. Fergusson, to convey in a colored frontispiece to the Second Series of my larger work on the Monuments of Nineveh, the general effect of these magnificent edifices when they still rose on their massy basement, and were reflected in the broad stream of the Tigris. I must refer the reader who desires to follow me in the following description to the accompanying general plan of the platform and palaces at Nimroud.* On the artificial platform, built of regular layers of sundried bricks In some parts, and entirely of rubbish in others, but cased on all sides with solid stone masonry, stood at one time at least nine distinct buildings. Between each was a terrace, paved with stone, or with large kiln-burnt bricks, from one and a half to two feet square. At the north-western corner rose the great tower, the tomb of the founder of the principal palace. I have described its basement, encased with massive masonry of stone, relieved by recesses and other architectural ornaments. The upper part built of brick, was most probably painted, like the palaces of Babylon, Avith figures and mythic emblems. Its summit, I conjecture, to have consisted of several receding gradines like the top of the black obelisk, and I have ventured to crown it with an altar on which may have burnt the eternal fire. Adjoining this tower were, as we have seen, two small temples, dedicated to Assyrian gods. One ac- tually abutted on it, although there was no communication what- ever, as far as I could discover, between the interior of the two buildings ; the other was about 1 00 feet to the east. They were both adorned with sculptures, and had evidently been more than one story high, and their beams and ceilings were of cedar wood. They contained statues of the gods, and the fullest records of the reign of the king their founder, engraved on immense monoliths. Between them was a way up to the platform from the north. Between the small temples and the north-west palace were two ♦ Plan III. NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. 6.')4 great flights of steps, or inclinefl ways, leading np from the margin of the river. Their sites are still marked by deep ravines. They opened upon a broad paved terrace. The north-west palace having been so fully described in my former work, I need only add that I have now been able to ascertain the position of its principal facade and entrance. It was to the north, facing the tower, and nearly re- sembled the grand approaches to Koiiyunjik and Khorsabad. The two gateways formed by the sphinxes with the human form to the waist*, appear to have flanked a grand centre portal to which they were united on both sides, as in Sennacherib’s palace, by colossal figures of human-headed bulls and lions and winged priests. The remains of no other great entrance to the palace have yet been dis- covered, but I have little doubt from several Indications in the ruins, that there was a similar fa 9 ade on the river side, and that a terrace, ascended by broad flights of steps, overlooked the Tigris.f To tlie south of the north-west palace was a third ascent to the summit of the platform, also marked by a ravine in the side of the mound. Beyond it were the upper chambers, built by the fourth king in succession from Sardanapalus, probably over the remains of an earlier edifice. Excavations made in different parts of the small mound covering their ruins, show that they consisted of three distinct groups, built round a solid central mass of sundried bricks. The great accumulation of earth above them, proves that this building must have had more than one story. The upper chambers were separated from the palace of Essar- haddon, the most southern on this side of the platform, by a fourth grand approach to the terraces. Remains of great blocks of stone, of winged bulls, and of colossal figures in yellow limestone, were found in the ravine. Essarhaddon’s palace was raised some feet above the north-west and centre edifices. It has been so entirely destroyed by fire, and by the removal of the slabs from its walls, that a complete ground-plan of it cannot be restored. In the arrangment of its chambers, as far as we are able to judge from the ruins, it differed from other Assyrian buildings with which we are acquainted. The hall, above 220 feet long, and 100 broad, open- ing at the northern end by a gateway of winged bulls on a terrace, which overlooked the grand approach and the principal * See woodcut at head of Chapter XVI. f I understand that Mr. Horinuzd Rassam has lately discovered the remains of some very fine bas-reliefs near this edge of the mound. PALACES AT NIMROUD. 655 palaces, and at the opposite end having a triple portal guarded by- three pairs of colossal sphinxes, which commanded the open country and the Tigris winding through the plain, must have been a truly i magnificent feature in this palace. It occupied the corner of the ' platform, and an approach of which considerable remains still exist led up from the plain to its southern face. Around the grand hall appear to have been built a number of small chambers ; and this Assyrian building probably answers in its general plan, more than any other yet discovered, to the descriptions in the Bible of the palace of Solomon, especially if we assume that the ante- chamber, divided into two parts, corresponds with the portico of the Jewish structures. The palace of Essarhaddon was considerably below the level of that of his grandson, and was separated from it by what appears, from a very deep and wide ravine, to have been the principal ap- proach to the platform. The south-east edifice was very inferior, both in the size of its apartments and in the materials employed in its construction, to the other royal buildings. It was probably built when the empire was fast falling to decay, and, as is usual in such cases, the arts seem to have declined with the power of the people. In this palace there was no great hall, nor even any sculptured slabs. It consisted of a number of rooms of small proportions, panelled by common limestone slabs, roughly hewn and not much above three feet and a half high.* The upper part of the walls was simply plastered. I have not been able to find any grand entrance, fa9ade, or exterior architecture, and recent excavations have only led to the discovery of a few new chambers containing no objects of interest. Tliere are traces of an earlier building beneath it. The terraces to the west, overlooking the approach from the plain, were floored with thick lime-plaster or cement, which still remains. Returning northwards, we come to the only traces of an ap- proach on the eastern side of the platform, and consequently from the Interior of the walled inclosure. It is remarkable that there should have been but one on this face ; and it is even more curious, that the only sides of the mound on which there are any re- mains of walls or fortifications, are the eastern and northern, where the royal residences would have overlooked the cityq sup- posing it to have been contained within the existing ramparts of earth. The edifices facing what would, in that case, have been the open country, were left apparently defenceless. * Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. p. 38. 656 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. On the west side of the platform no actual ruins have been dis- covered, although there are undoubtedly traces of building in several places, and I think it not improbable that a temple, or some similar edifice, stood there. It only remains for me to mention the palace in the centre of the platform, founded by the king whose name is believed to read Divanubar or Divanubra, but rebuilt almost entirely by Pul or Tiglath-Pileser. Excavations carried on during the second expe- dition, brought to light the walls of a few additional chambers and numerous fragments of interesting sculptures.* But the edifice was so utterly destroyed by Essarhaddon, who used the materials in the construction of his own dwelling-place, that it is impossible to ascertain its general plan, or even the arrangement of any of its rooms. The great inscribed bulls and the obelisk, we know to have been of the time of the older king ; and the bas-reliefs of battles and sieges, heaped up together as if ready for removal, to have belonged to the later. Around this edifice was a pavement of large square bricks, extending on one side to the north-west palace and the small temples, and on the other to the upper chambers, Essharhad- don’s palace, and that of his grandson. In the ramparts of earth, marking the inclosure wall of Nim- roud to the north, fifty-eight towers can still be distinctly traced. To the east there were about fifty, but all traces of some of them are entirely gone. To the south the wall has almost dis- appeai’ed, so that it could not have been of great size or thick- ness on that side. The level of the inclosure is here, however, considerably above the plain, and it is not improbable that the Tigris actually flowed beneath part of it, and that the remainder was defended by a ivide and deep ditch, either supplied by the small stream still running near the ruins, or by the river. At the south-eastern corner of the inclosure, as I have already mentioned t, is a mound of considerable height, and the re- mains of a square edifice ; they may have been a fort or castle. I searched in vain for traces of gates in the Avails on the northern side. A high double mound, which probably marks the ruins of an entrance, Avas excavated ; but no stone masonry or sculp- tured figures Avere discovered, as in a similar mound in the in- * Among.st them were winged figures struggling with mythic animals, and various other groups such as are seen on cylinders and on the robes of the king in the north-west palace. They appear to have been sculptured in colossal pro- portions on the walls of this palaee. I See p. 164. Ch^p. XXVI.] ASSYRIAN FORTIFIED INCLOSURES. 657 closure of Kouyunjik. I conclude, therefore, that the gateways of the quarter of Nineveh repi'esented by Nimroud were not, like those of the more northern divisions of the city, adorned with sculptures, but were built of the same materials as the walls, and were either arched or square, being formed, like the gates of modern Arab cities, by simple beams of wood. It is evident that the inclosure of Nimroud was regularly for- tified, and defended by walls built for the purpose of resisting an enemy, and sustaining a prolonged siege. That of Khorsabad was precisely similar. There also the platform, on which the great palace stood, formed part of the walls, — a fact for which I can scarcely offer any satisfactory explanation. It would seem more consistent with security that the dwelling of the king, the temples of the gods, and the edifices containing the archives and treasures of the kingdom, should have been in the centre of the for- tifications, equally protected on all sides. The palaces of Nimroud and Kouyunjik, built on a platform, washed by a deep and broad river, were, to a certain extent, guarded from the approach of an enemy. But at Khorsabad such was not the case. The royal residence overlooked the plain country, and was accessible from it, unless the summit of the platform were strongly fortified on the western side, of which there is no trace. Of the fortified inclosures still existing, that surrounding Kouyunjik is the most remarkable, and was best calculated to withstand the attack of a powerful and numerous army. I give a plan of the ruins from Mr. Bicli’s survey, which will enable the reader to understand the following description.* Its form, it will be perceived, was irregular. The side facing the river, including the mounds of Kouyunjik and Nebbi-Yunus (a), and the northern (or north-western) {b), are at right angles to each other, and in nearly a straight line.f From the eastern * Rich estimates the entire length of the inclosure at about four miles, and its greatest breadth at nearly two. This appears to me rather above the actual extent of the ruins. It must also be remembered that they narrow off from the northern side to a few hundred yards at the southern. Captain Jones has recently made a very careful trigonometrical survey of the ruins, but his plans have not yet, I believe, reached this country. Numerous occupations during my residence in Assyria prevented me completing a similar work, which I the less regretted as it was to be done by one so much more competent. I have not hitherto had time to lay down my survey of Nimroud. The general plan of the mound in my first work must be considered as a mere rough sketch. ■f Plate 70. in the 2nd series of the Monuments of Nineveh will convey an idea of the nature of the earthen ramparts forming the inclosure round Kou- yunjik. The upper lithograph represents the northern line of wall. u u 658 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. XXVI. corner of the northern face, the inner wall (c) forms the segment of a circle towards the southern end of the western, the two being Plan oi the Inclosure "Walls and Ditches at Kouyunjik. only 873 yards apart at their extremities {d).* * * § On the four sides are the remains of towers and curtains, and the walls appear to have consisted of a basement of stone and an upper structure of sundried bricks. The top of the stone masonry was orna- mented Avith gradines, as at Nimroud.f There were probably nu- mei’ous gateways, and their sites are still shown by mounds ex- ceeding those around in height and size ; but the only two which have hitherto been explored are in the northern and eastern walls, and have been described in a previous chapter.^ The Avestern Avail (a) Avas Avashed by the river, and needed no other defence. § A deep ditch, of which traces still exist, appeal's * Rich’s Narrative, vol. ii. p. 60. t See p. 125. Several blocks of limestone cut into this form, and evidently fallen from the tops of the walls, are scattered about the ruins. It is possible that the upper structure of sundried bricks may have been similarly ornamented. J Chap. 5. § It will be borne in mind that the Tigris has now changed its course. Chap. XXVI. 1 DEFENCES AT KOUTUNJIK. 659 to have been dug beneath the northern (5). That to the south ( — ft.-l-JSl- i=J= i=3=^T^ --I- a==i=1=to T — r ri-jzMz: :Az=g=i=o— U —I c -?- -.- /r; !3 eE-eS= Stfc Z5.-^=J= 670 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Appendix. APPENDIX III. li'otcs of the Specimens from Nineveh, hindiy favored to the Author by Dr. Percy, of the School of Mines. “ In the collection of Assyrian antiquities, with which Mr. Layard has enriched the British Museum, are numerous illustrations of ancient metallurgy, consisting of vessels, weapons, and miscellaneous articles, which clearly prove that the Assyrians of old possessed considerable skill in the art of working metals. Several of these specimens have been examined in the metallurgical laboratory of the School of Mines at the Museum of Practical Geology; and I have now pleasure in pre- senting a summary of the results as far as the investigation has pro- ceeded. “1. A portion of a bronze bowl, or dish, from Nimroud . — The surface generally had a green coating of carbonate of copper, which was crys- talline where it was thickest. Below the thickest parts of tliis coating, was a layer of red or sub-oxide of copper, also more or less distinctly crystalline. A portion of the metal free from crust was analysed, and found to be composed of copper and tin in the following proportions : “ 3. This was a very remarkable specimen. It was a small casting, in the shape of the fore-leg of a bull. It formed the foot of a stand, con- sisting of a ring of iron, resting on three feet of bronze. It was deeply corroded in places, and posteriorly was fissured at the upper part. A section was made, which disclosed a central piece of iron, over which the bronze had been cast. At the upper part, where it had been broken off, the iron had rusted, and so produced the crack above-mentioned. The casting was sound, and the contact perfect between the iron and sur- rounding bronze. It was evident on inspection that the bronze had been cast round the iron, and that the iron had not been let into the bronze ; and in this opinion I am confirmed by Mr. Robinson of Pimlico, who has had considerable experience in bronze casting. Copper . Tin . . Composition. . 89-51 . 0-63 100-14. Tin 9-78 99-03". See woodcut, ante, p. 179. Appendix.] NOTES ON ASSYRIAN METALLURGY. 671 Composition. Copper 88'37 Tin 11-33 9970. Some interesting considerations are suggested by this specimen. “ The iron was employed either to economise the bronze, for the purpose of ornament, or because it was required in the construction. If the former, iron must have been much cheaper than bronze, and, there- fore, probably more abundant than has been generally supposed. No satisfactory conclusion can be arrived at on this point from the fact, that bronze antiquities are much more frequently found than those of iron ; for the obvious reason, that bronze resists, much better than iron, destruction by oxidation. Although, I think, tliere are reasons for sup- posing that iron was more extensively used by the ancients than seem to be generally admitted ; yet, in the specimens in question, it appears to me most probable, that the iron was used because it was required in the construction. And if this be so, the Assyrians teach a lesson to many of our modern architects and others, who certainly do not always employ metals in accordance icith their special properties. The in- strument under consideration, it will be borne in mind, was one of the feet of a stand composed of an iron ring resting upon vertical legs of bronze. A stand of this kind must have been designed to support weight, probably a large cauldron ; and it is plain that the ring portion should therefore be made of the metal having the greatest tenacity, and the legs of metal adapted to sustain vertical or superincumbent weight. Now this combination of iron and bronze exactly fulfils the conditions required. I do not say that a ring of bronze might not have been made sufficiently strong to answer the purpose of the ring of iron ; but I do say that, in that part of the instrument, iron is more fitly em- ployed than bronze. Moreover, the contrast of the two metals, iron and bronze, may also have been regarded as ornamental. “ 4. A small bell, corroded like the preceding. Composition. Copper 84’79 Tin 1410 9 ^ 9 . The proportion of tin was probably increased in this specimen, with reference to its use as a bell; though some of the ancient coins, rings, and other artic'.os have been found to have the same composition. “ These analyses were made by one of the assistant-chemists, Mr. T. Philipps. “ The first three specimens described have the composition of the bronze, which was most extensively employed by the ancients. Expe- rience seems to have amply proved that this alloy is best adapted to the various purposes for which it was designed. It is extremely durable, although in some of Mr. Layard’s specimens corrosion has proceeded to 672 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Appendix. such an extent, as to have left no trace of the alloy in a metallic state, both the copper and tin having been completely oxidised. One such specimen consists of a white central stratum, composed chiefly of stannic acid coated with suboxide of copper, which in its turn is coated with green carbonate. This alloy is excellent for casting, and for works of art, such as statues and bas-reliefs, may be especially recommended ; ivorks in the production of which no unwise considerations respecting the cost of the metal should be allowed. Moreover, the ancients have left us abundant evidence of their great skill in the working of this alloy. They were able to cast it extremely thin, which is no small difficulty ; and with great labour fashioned it into articles for domestic use, into shields for war, and vessels for the service of their temples, which they skilfully elaborated by chasing and by curious ornamental tracery. They applied it, moreover, in their most sumptuous decorations, as the ornaments obtained by Mr. Layard, from the throne of the Assyrian monarch, will testify. “ There are numerous other objects in metal in Mr. Layard’s collection at the British Museum, which are extremely interesting in respect to the mode of manufacture, and which require very accurate examination before they can be properly described by the metallurgist. The beautiful workmanship of the vessels which Mr. Layard believes to have been used in religious ceremonials, is especially deserving of attention, and demonstrates the skill of the Assyrians in their treatment of bronze. “ One specimen particularly deserves attention. It was a thin hollow casting in bronze, which was attached to the end of one of the arms of the throne. This casting had evidently been chased, and for that purpose must have been filled with some soft material, such as pitch, which is used at the present time. In the interior there was some black matter, which, on examination, I found to burn like pitch, and leave an earthy residue, so that probably a mixture of asphaltum and earth had been employed for the purpose mentioned. “ Glass . — I have only examined one of tlie specimens of glass in Mr. Layard’s collection. It was a fragment from a vase, the surface of which was dull and green, as though encrusted with green carbonate of copper. This color was quite superficial, and the glass itself was opaque, and of a fine sealing wax red color, due to suboxide of copper. Tlie external green coating was caused by atmospheric action on the surface of the glass, and the consequent conversion of the suboxide into green carbonate of copper. This specimen is interesting as showing the early use of suboxide of copper as a coloring agent for glass. The ancients were in the habit of employing several substances in their glass and colored glazes for bricks, of which I have not yet found any account published. We have evidence to show that they were acquainted with the use of oxide of lead as a flux in their vitreous glazes, and with Naples yellow and stannic acid as coloring agents.” Appendix.] NOTES ON ASSYRIAN METALLURGY. 673 Mr. Vaux, of the British Museum, has added the following interest- ing note on the metallurgy of the ancients ; — “ 1. The earliest form of metal work appears to have been employed in the ornamentation of sacred vessels, for temples, &c., and in the manu- facture of idols for the services of religion. This was called daidaWeiv. Thus Hesiod (E. 152.) speaks of psr -Evyta yliKKtoiZi re oikoi. Probably this was little more than wood covered with thin plates of copper or bronze (see also Horn. Odys. iv. 72. ; vii. 86.); and for the use of ivory [though this, I imagine, is of later introduction]. (Eurip., Iph. Aul. 583., who speaks of i\e=^-