BOOK III, GROUP OF GISTS AND Ibid., p. 65. 1846, February. Ibid., p. 66. urged his horse to emulate the speed with which the grateful, though mysterious, tidings had been brought to him. No sooner had he entered the new trench at the mound, than he saw a splendidly sculptured head, the form of which assured him at a glance that it must belong to a winged bull or lion like to those of Persepolis and of Khorsabad. Its preservation was perfect, its features sharply cut. The Arab workmen stood looking at it with intent and fearexpressing eyes-but with open palms. The first word that came from their lips begged a 'back-sheesh,' in honour of the auspicious occasion. The terror of one of them, only, had led him to scamper at full speed to his tent, that he might hide himself from the frightful monster whose aspect seemed to threaten vengeance on those rash men who had dared to disturb his long repose, in the bowels of the earth. This is not the Scarcely had Mr. LAYARD glanced at NIMROD' before he found that more than half the tribe whose encampment he had just left had followed hard at his heels. They were headed by their Sheikh. It would be difficult to depict, in few words, the conflict of their feelings. Admiration, terror, anger, had each a part in the emotion which was evinced, no less in their gestures than in their words. 'There is no God but GOD, and MAHOMED is his prophet! work of men's hands, but of those infidel giants whom the Prophet-peace be with him!-has said, that "they were higher than the tallest date-tree." This is one of the idols which NOAH-peace be with him!-cursed before the Flood.' Such were the words of Sheikh ABD-UR-RAHMAN himself. He showed great reluctance, at first, to enter the trench. But when once in, he examined the image with great and continued earnestness. All his followers echoed his verdict. Chap. IV. GROUP OF GISTS AND EXPLORERS. its Remains; passim. But the townspeople of Mósul were more difficult to deal BOOK III, with. The Cadi called a meeting of the Mufti and the ANOTHER Ulema, to discuss the most effectual protest against such an atrocious violation of the Koran as that committed by the unbelieving explorer and his mercenary labourers. Their notions about NIMROD were very vague. Some thought him to have been an ancient true-believer; others had a strong misgiving that he, like his unearther, was but an infidel. They were all clear that the digging must be stopped. It tasked all Mr. LAYARD's skill, experience, and Nineveh and force of character, to surmount these new difficulties. When they had been at length overcome-with the brilliant results known now to most Englishmen-he had to face the enormous difficulties of transport. The great humanheaded lions he was obliged to leave in their original position. A multitude of smaller sculptures (many of them reduced in bulk by sawing) were safely brought to England. The first arrivals came in 1847.* In 1849 and in 1850, the excavations in the mounds first opened were vigorously resumed, and new researches were made in several directions. Early in 1850, the explorers buckled to the task of removing the lions. That chapter in Mr. LAYARD's familiar narrative is not the least interesting one. * It is a slight blemish in Mr. Layard's otherwise admirable books that they are loose in the handling of dates. It is sometimes necessary to turn over hundreds of pages in order to be sure of the year in which a particular excavation was made, or in which an interesting incident occurred. Sometimes, again, there is an actual conflict of dates, e. g. Discoveries in the Ruins, &c. (1853), p. 3, 'After my departure from Mósul in 1847,' and again, p. 66, 'On my return to Europe in 1847;' but at p. 162, we read: 'Having been carefully covered up with earth, previous to my departure in 1848, they [the lions] had been preserved,' &c. I mention this simply because it is possible that error may thus, once or twice, have crept into the marginal dates given above, though pains has been taken about these. BOOK III, GROUP OF The explorations partially interrupted in 1847 were resumed in 1849. From the October of that year until April, 1851, they were carried on with even more than the old energy, for the means and appliances were more ample, and the encouragements drawn from success followed each the Ruins of other in far quicker succession. GISTS AND Discoveries in Nineveh and Babylon (1853), pp. 162, 163; 201-209; seqq. Dec., 1849. The suspension had been but partial, for Mr. Hormuzd RASSAM, then British Vice-Consul at Mósul, had been empowered to keep a few men still digging at Kouyunjik. He had there unearthed several new sculpture-lined chambers of no small interest. But at Nimroud nothing worthy of mention had been done during LAYARD'S absence. That was now his first object. Kouyunjik, however, for a long Oct. and Nov. time gave the best yield. 1849, In December the south-east façade of the Kouyunjik Palace was uncovered. It was found to be a hundred and eighty feet in length, and contained, among other sculptures, ten colossal bulls and six human figures. The accompanying inscriptions contained the early annals of SENNACHERIB, and of his wars with MERODACH BALADAN.* Presently, the labours on the north-west palace at Nimroud were also richly rewarded. The somewhat higher antiquity of that building, as compared with the homogeneous structures of Kouyunjik and Khorsabad, had already impressed itself with the force of conviction on Mr. LAYARD'S individual mind. The fact now became manifest to all eyes that had the capacity to see. These Nimroud monuments belong, according to the opinion of the best archæologists,-most of them, to the *The Berodach-Baladan of 2 Kings, xx, 12, who 'sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah, when he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.' Chap. IV. GROUP OF GISTS AND EXPLORERS. eighth, some of them, however, to the earlier part of the BOOK III, seventh centuries B.C. They now occupy the most cen- ANOTHER tral of the Assyrian Galleries in the British Museum. The monuments of Kouyunjik and of Khorsabad are probably but little anterior to the supposed date (625 B.C.) of the destruction of Nineveh. These are exhibited in galleries adjacent to the 'Nimroud Central Saloon.' To describe only a few of them in connection with the interesting circumstances of their respective disclosures would demand another chapter. A word or two, however, must be given to one among the earlier discoveries (October, 1846), and to one among the latest of those made (in the spring of 1851), whilst Mr. LAYARD himself remained in the neighbourhood of Mósul. OF THE MARBLE OBELISK, 1846, October (found in centre of the great mound). Nineveh and its Remains, vol. i, p. 345. (1849 edit.) At Nimroud many trenches had, in those early days, been DISCOVERY opened unprofitably. Mr. LAYARD doubted whether he ought to carry them further. Half inclined to cease, in this direction, he resolved, finally, that he would not abandon a cutting on which so much money and toil had been spent, until the result of yet another day's work was shown. 'I mounted my horse,' he says-to ride into Mósul-but had scarcely left the mound when a corner of black marble was uncovered, lying on the very edge of the trench.' It was part of an obelisk seven feet high, lying about ten feet below the surface. Its top was cut into three gradines, covered with wedge-shaped inscriptions. Beneath the gradines were five tiers of sculpture in low-relief, continued on all sides. Between every two tiers of sculpture ran a line of inscription. Beneath the five tiers, the unsculptured surface was covered with inscriptions. These, as subsequent researches have shown, contain the Annals of SHALMANESER, King of Assyria, during thirty-one years towards the close of the ninth century before our Lord. The tribu BOOK III, ANOTHER GROUP OF GISTS AND Ibid., 346. THE DIS taries of the great monarch are seen in long procession, bearing their offerings. In the appended cuneiform record of these tributaries are mentioned JEHU, of the House of OMRI,' and his contemporary HAZAEL, King of Syria. Well may the proud discoverer call his trophy a 'precious relic.' Mr. We now leap over more than four eventful years. LAYARD is about to exchange the often anxious but always glorious toils of the successful archæologist, for the not less anxious and very often exceedingly inglorious toils of the politician. He will also henceforth have to exchange many a pleasant morning ride and many a peaceful evening 'tobaccoparliament' with Arabs of the Desert, for turbulent discussions with metropolitan electors, and humble obeisances in order to win their sweet voices. Just before he leaves Mósul come some new unearthings of Assyrian sculpture, to add to the welcome tidings he will carry into England. He found, he tells us-in one of the closing chapters of COVERIES AT his latest book-that to the north of the great centre-hall four new chambers, full of sculpture, had been discovered. On the walls of a grand gallery, ninety-six feet by twentythree, was represented the return of an Assyrian army from a campaign in which they had won loads of spoil and a long array of prisoners. The captured fighting men wore a sort of Phrygian bonnet reversed, short tunics, and broad belts. The women had long tresses and fringed robes. Sometimes they rode on mules or were drawn— by men as well as by mules-in chariots. The captives were the men and women of Susiana. The victor was SENNACHERIB. KOUYUNJIK OF THE SPRING OF 1851. Discoveries at Nineveh and Babylon (edit. 1853), pp. 582-584. In several subsequent years—1853, 1854, 1855, when most Englishmen were intently acting, or beholding with |
