burnt up and carried away the shrubs; flights of locu ing the air, had destroyed the few patches of culti had completed the havoc commenced by the heat The Abou-Salman Arabs, having struck their black now living in ozailis, or sheds constructed of reeds along the banks of the river. The Shemutti and returned to their villages, and the plain presente naked and desolate aspect that it wore in the month ber. The heat, however, was now almost intolerab whirlwinds occasionally swept over the face of t They could be seen as they advanced from the dese along with them clouds of sand and dust. Almost ness prevailed during their passage, which laste about an hour, and nothing could resist their fury. ing home one afternoon after a tempest of this k no traces of my dwellings; they had been comple away. Ponderous wooden frame-works had been the bank, and hurled some hundred yards distan had disappeared, and my furniture was scattered ov When on the mound, my only secure place of beneath the fallen lion, where I could defy the whirlwind the Arabs ceased from their work, and the trenches, almost suffocated and blinded by the of fine dust and sand which nothing could exclude. Although the number of my workmen was excavations were carried on as actively as pos two human-headed lions, at the small entrance hall, already described, led into another char sculptured walls, forming an outward facing to * Storms of this nature are frequent during the early p throughout Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and Susiana. It is dif an idea of their violence. They appear suddenly and withou sign, and seldom last above an hour. It was during one of Tigris" steamer, under the command of Colonel Chesney, was Euphrates; and so darkened was the atmosphere that, alth was within a short distance of the bank of the river, several pe in her are supposed to have lost their lives from not knowing tion to swim. CHAP. V. ing. * DESCRIPTION OF THE SCULPTURES. 83 The slabs to the right and left, had fallen from their original position, and, with the exception of one, were broken. I had some difficulty in raising the pieces from the ground. As the face of the slabs was downwards, the sculpture had been well preserved. To the right was represented the King holding a bow in one hand and two arrows in the other. He was followed by his attendant eunuch, who bore a second bow and a quiver for his use, and a mace, with a head in the form of a rosette, which may have been one of the wooden clubs, topped with iron, mentioned by Herodotus as a weapon used by the Assyrians, or one of those staffs adorned with an apple, a rose, a lily, or an eagle, described by the same historian as carried by the Babylonians. † Standing before him were his vizir and an eunuch, their hands crossed before them, a posture still assumed in the East as one of respect and submission by inferiors in the presence of persons of rank. It is interesting thus to trace the observance of the same customs in the same countries, after the lapse of so many centuries. In the basrelief representing a similar subject discovered in the S. W. ruins, the vizir raises his right hand before the king — an attitude, apparently denoting an oath or homage, in which dependants are seen on the later monuments of the Achæmenian and Sassanian dynasties. Dejoces, who was the successor of the Assyrian monarchs, permitted no one to see him, except certain privileged individuals; and the person of the Persian king, as we learn from the story of Esther, was considered so sacred, that even the queen, who ventured before him without being bidden, was punished with death, "except the king might hold out the golden sceptre that she might live." It might be expected, therefore, that in the Assyrian sculptures those who stand in the royal presence would be portrayed in the humblest posture of submission. These figures were about * Wall D, plan 2. † Herod. lib. vii. c. 68. and lib. i. c. 195. eight feet high; the relief very low, and the ornaments rich and elaborate. The bracelets, armlets, and weapons were all Handles of three Daggers carried in the adorned with the heads of horses, bulls, and rams, the style of which would not have been unworthy of the exquisite chasing of the middle ages; color still remained on the hair, beard, and sandals. The adjoining slab, forming a wall at right angles with these bas-reliefs, was of enormous dimensions, but had been broken in two the upper part had fallen, the lower was still standing in its place. It was only after many ineffectual attempts that I succeeded in raising the fallen half sufficiently to see the sculpture upon it. It was a winged giant about sixteen and a half feet high in low relief, carrying the fir-cone and square utensil; in other respects similar to those already described, except that it had four wings, two rising from each shoulder, and almost completely encircling the figure. On the opposite side of the entrance, were also a vizir and his attendant; but they were followed by figures, differing altogether in dress from those previously discovered, and apparently representing people of another race; some carrying presents or offerings, consisting of armlets, bracelets, and earrings on trays; others elevating their clenched hands, probably in token of submission. They were evidently captives and tribute-bearers from a conquered nation ushered into the presence of the monarch by his minister. Amongst the objects of tribute were two monkeys, held by ropes; one raising itself on its hind legs, the other sitting on the shoulders of its keeper. The costume of these figures consisted of high boots * *This bas-relief is in the British Museum. CHAP. V. DESCRIPTION OF THE SCULPTURES. 85 turned up at the toes, resembling those still in use in Turkey and Persia; conical caps, apparently formed by bands, or folds of felt or linen; and loose shirts descending to the ankles, ornamented down the centre and at the bottom with fringes. The figure with the monkeys was clothed in a short tunic, scarcely reaching to the calf of the leg, and his hair was simply bound up by a fillet. There were traces of black paint on his face, but it is probable that it had been washed down from the hair, as no remains of color have been found on the face of any other figure, although it is possible that the Assyrians, like the Egyptians, may have denoted races, sexes, and the orders of the priesthood by various tints. * To the south of the colossal lions forming the principal entrance to the great hall, the wall was continued by an eagleheaded figure resembling that on the opposite side. Adjoining it was a corner-stone bearing the sacred tree-beyond, the slabs ceased altogether; but I soon found that they had only fallen from their places, and that although broken, the sculptures upon them representing battles, sieges, and other historical subjects, were, as far as it could be ascertained by the examination of one or two, in admirable preservation. The wall of sun-dried bricks, against which they had stood, was still distinctly visible to the height of twelve or fourteen feet. This wall served as my guide in digging onwards, to the distance of about one hundred feet. The first sculpture discovered still standing in its original position, was a winged human-headed bull of yellow limestone. On the previous day we had found the detached human head now in the British Museum. The bull, to which it belonged, and which had formed one side of an entrance, had been broken into several pieces by falling against the opposite sculpture. I lifted the body with difficulty; and discovered under it sixteen copper lions, of admirable execution, forming a regular series, diminishing in size from the largest, which was above one foot *Entrance a, chamber B, plan 2. in length, to the smallest, which scarcely exceeded an inch. A ring attached to the back of each, gave them the appearance of weights. In the same place were the fragments of an earthen vase, on which were represented two figures, with the wings and claws of a bird, the breasts of a woman, and the tail of a scorpion.* Winged humaL-headed Bull. (N. W. Palace, Nimroud.) |