Emblem of the Deity. (N.W. Palace, Nimroud.) In page 212 In page 213 In page 214 A Table. (N.W. Palace, Nimroud.) Tables, or Stands for Jars. (N.W. Palace, Nimroud.) Eunuch Warrior in Battle. (N.W. Palace, Nimroud.) Horsemen -one drawing the Bow, the other holding the Reins of both Horses. (N.W. Palace, Nimroud.) In page 216 A Boat carrying a Chariot, and Men swimming on inflated Skins. (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) Nimroud.) In page 220 Flying Warrior turning back to discharge an Arrow. (N. W. Palace, In page 221 The Obelisk. In page 225 Elephant and Monkeys. (Obelisk, Nimroud.) Bactrian or Two-humped Camels. (Obelisk, Nimroud.) The Bull, the Rhinoceros and an Antelope. (Obelisk, Nimroud.) Large Monkey & Ape. (Obelisk, Nimroud.) In page 226 In page 227 Figures on Lions. (S. W. Palace, Nimroud.) In page 228 In page 229 In page 230 In page 245 (Nimroud.) In page 249 Figures on Lions. (S. W. Palace, Nimroud.) Sphinx from S. W. Palace. (Nimroud.) The King. (N.W. Palace, Nimroud.) Pottery found in the Tombs above the Ruins at Nimroud. Assyrian Horsemen pursuing a Man, probably an Arab, (Centre Palace, Nimroud.) Helmets. (Centre Palace, Nimroud.) In page 253 on a Camel. In page 254 In page 255 In page 257 Warriors before a besieged City. A Battering Ram drawn up to the Walls, and Captives impaled. (Centre Palace, Nimroud.) Assyrian Warriors fighting with the Enemy. An Eagle is carrying away the Entrails of the Slain. (Centre Palace, Nimroud.) Captive Women in a Cart drawn by Oxen. (Centre Palace, Nimroud.) Walled City standing on a River or on the Sea. (Centre Palace, Nim In page 258 roud.) In page 259 Enemy asking quarter of Assyrian Horsemen. (S. W. Palace, Nimroud.) In page 261 Part of a Bas-relief, showing a Pulley, and a Warrior cutting a Bucket from a Rope. In page 262 Idols carried in Procession by Assyrian Warriors. (S.W. Ruins, Nimroud.) Facing page 263 In page 272 Facing page 297 Sitting figure in Basalt, from Kalah Sherghat. Excavated Ruins at Kouyunjik. In page 310 In page 317 In page 322 Facing page 323 Warrior with Shield. (Kouyunjik.) In page 324 Head-Dress of the King (Kouyunjik.) Manacles for the Feet. (Khorsabad and Kouyunjik.) Manacles for the Hands. (Khorsabad and Kouyunjik.) A Galley. (Kouyunjik.) A Galley. (Kouyunjik.) A Galley. (Khorsabad.) In page 325 In page 327 In page 328 Coin probably of a City on the Syrian Coast during the Persian Occupation. In page 329 Castle of a Maritime People, probably the Tyrians. (Kouyunjik.) In page 330 Scribes writing down the Number of the Slain. (Kouyunjik.) A City taken by Assault, and the Inhabitants led Warriors forming a Phalanx before the Walls of a (Kouyunjik.) A Slinger. In page 332 In page 333 Facing page 334 away Captive. In page 335 besieged City. In page 336 In page 338 A Horseman pursued by Assyrian Warriors. (Kouyunjik.) In page 339 NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. CHAPTER I. FIRST JOURNEY IN ASSYRIA. ITS RUINS. DURING the autumn of 1839 and winter of 1840, I had been wandering through Asia Minor and Syria, scarcely leaving untrod one spot hallowed by tradition, or unvisited one ruin consecrated by history. I was accompanied by one no less curious and enthusiastic than myself.* We were both equally careless of comfort and unmindful of danger. We rode alone; our arms were our only protection; a valise behind our saddles was our wardrobe, and we tended our own horses, except when relieved from the duty by the hospitable inhabitants of a Turcoman village or an Arab tent. Thus unembarrassed by needless luxuries, and uninfluenced by the opinions and prejudices of others, we mixed amongst the people, acquired without effort their manners, and enjoyed without alloy those emotions which My travelling companion, during a long journey from England to Hamadan, was Edward Ledwich Mitford, Esq., now of her Majesty's civil service in the island of Ceylon. B scenes so novel, and spots so rich in varied association, cannot fail to produce. I look back with feelings of grateful delight to those happy days when, free and unheeded, we left at dawn the humble cottage or cheerful tent, and lingering as we listed, unconscious of distance and of the hour, found ourselves, as the sun went down, under some hoary ruin tenanted by the wandering Arab, or in some crumbling village still bearing a well-known name. No experienced dragoman measured our distances and appointed. our stations. We were honored with no conversations by pashas, nor did we seek any civilities from governors. We neither drew tears nor curses from villagers by seizing their horses, or searching their houses for provisions: their welcome was sincere; their scanty fare was placed before us; we ate, and came and went in peace. I had traversed Asia Minor and Syria, visiting the ancient seats of civilisation, and the spots which religion has made holy. I now felt an irresistible desire to penetrate to the regions beyond the Euphrates, to which history and tradition point as the birthplace of the wisdom of the West. Most travellers, after a journey through the usually frequented parts of the East, have the same longing to cross the great river, and to explore those lands which are separated on the map from the confines of Syria by a vast blank stretching from Aleppo to the banks of the Tigris. A deep mystery hangs over Assyria, Babylonia, and Chaldæa. With these names are linked great nations and great cities dimly shadowed forth in history; mighty ruins, in the midst of deserts, defying, by their very desolation and lack of definite form, the description of the traveller; the remnants of mighty races still roving over the land; the fulfilling and fulfilment of prophecies; the plains to which the Jew and the Gentile alike look as the cradle of their race. After a journey in Syria the thoughts naturally turn eastward; and without treading on the remains of Nineveh and Babylon our pilgrimage is incomplete. I left Aleppo, with my companion, on the 18th of March. |