Part 14 (2/2)
A few days after our return to Mosul, I floated down the river on a raft to Ni e The centre of the plain of Nie lake, and the cultivated fields were overspread with sliathered round me as I arrived, and told me of crops destroyed, and of houses swept away
The work my absence, and discoveries of considerable interest and ih 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 pave the usual superscription of the early Ni, 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[148] that a superstructure of bricks rested upon the stone basement-wall of the tower, at the north-west corner of the ainst the eastern and southern faces of this upper building that the newly discovered temple abutted Four of its chambers were explored, chiefly by h the enormous mass of earth and rubbish in which the ruins were buried The great entrances were to the east The principal portal was formed by two colossal huh and fifteen feet long They were flanked by three sures, one above the other, and divided by an ornamental cornice, and between them was an inscribed 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
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO A SMALL TEMPLE, (NIMROUD)]
About thirty feet to the right, or north, of the lion gateas a second entrance, at each side of which were two singular figures One was that of apointed ears and extended jaws, are 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 iared with tassels, and the sacred horned hat A long sas suspended from his shoulders by an embossed belt; sandals, arrasped in each hand an object in the for the thunderbolt of the Greek Jove, which he was in the attitude of hurling against the monster, who turned furiously towards him
[Illustration: Fish-God, at Entrance to sroup appears to represent the bad spirit driven out by a good deity; a fit subject for the entrance to a teular combination of forms by which the assyrian sculptor portrayed the evil principle, so proian, religions systeht angles to these sculptures, for the outer part of the entrance, were two colossal huarlands on their heads, and bearing branches ending in three flowers
Within the teles to the entrance, were sculptured fish-Gods, somewhat different in form from those in the palace of Kouyunjik The fish's head fored figures The tail only reached to the waist of thefurred robe, coht of this entrance, and apparently outside the walls of the temple, was discovered one of the finest speciht to this country It represents the early Nih 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 sacredthe 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 lobe, 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
Unfortunately, the heat of the fire which had consu, had also broken this monument into two pieces Froland, 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 suprereat Gods Then follow the names of these deities The first-named is _Anu_ (?), the last Ishtar, probably Astarte, or the moon, and not Venus, as some have believed[149]
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 exordiuious nature, which has not yet been satisfactorily deciphered Then follows a full account of his various cans and wars
The lion entrance led into a chamber 46 ft by 19 ft Nearly opposite to the entrance was a doorway panelled with slabs sculptured inged figures carrying maces The inner door led into a cha in a recess paved with one enormous alabaster slab, no less than 21 ft by 16 ft 7 in, and 1 ft 1 in thick This monolith had been broken into several pieces probably by the falling in of the roof of the building, and had in several places been reduced to li The whole of its surface, as well as the side facing the chath, divided into two parallel horizontal colureatest sharpness and care On subsequently raising the detached pieces, I found that the back of the slab, resting on a solid mass of sun-dried bricks, was also covered with cuneifor three columns It is difficult to understand why so much labor should have been apparently throay upon an inscription which would remain unseen until the edifice itself was utterly destroyed Still more curious is the fact, that whilst 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 inscription stops abruptly in the middle of a sentence It is possible that the builders of the te its ruin, had deterh malice deface their annals, there should yet remain another record, inaccessible and unknohich would preserve the history of their greatness and glory unto all tireat monolith appears to have been si in the frame I shall quote some specimens, translated by Dr Hincks, to show the s chronicled every event of their reign, and the consequent value of their historical records It is to be reh these inscriptions are in the forenerally sets out on his caiven; probably in the autu 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 Nuvaki He took many cities, towns, and districts 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 fort_ (?)
”Their houses he burned like _stubble_” (?) Many other countries to the south and south-east of assyria, some of which are n The city of _Nishtun_ (?) is particularly described as one of considerable iovernor, 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 principal cities, he destroyed From Nerib he departed to the city of Tushka A palace for his dwelling he ates, and put a statue of
(probably some kind of stone)and set up tablets, and made a place for the of the north-west palace of Nimroud, which, when deciphered, will be of considerable interest, and may enable us to restore that edifice He also built two cities on the Euphrates, _one on each bank_ (?), calling one after his own nareat God Ashur
Numerous expeditions to countries to the north, west, and south of assyria are then related in detail Ast theara, king of the Khatti (the Hittites or people of Syria), including a great variety of gold and silver ornanised by their pure Hebrew 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 iven, of the history of two of the ns They will show the style of these remarkable chronicles, and the minuteness hich events were recorded
The first paragraph relates to the ca on the borders of the Euphrates
”On the 22nd day of the month I departed from Calah (the quarter of Nineveh now called Niris I received much tribute In the city of Tabit I halted I occupied the banks of the river Karma (? the Herarice I halted Froarice I departed I occupied the banks of the Kabour (Chaboras) I halted at the city of _Sadikanni_ (? or Kar-dikanni) I received the tribute of the city of Kedni From Kedni I departed to the city of lemmi In the city of lemmi I halted From the city of lemmi I departed In the city of Beth-Khilapi I halted The tribute of Beth-Khilapi I received, gold, silver,” and st which are apparently objects of clothing, or embroidered stuffs Then follow his marches day by day to the cities of Sirki, Tzufri, Naqua-rabani, and Kindani, froold, silver, 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 the mountain, by the side of the Euphrates, I halted Froainst 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 thewith the position of the modern town of Ana) He then attacked and took the principal city of _Shadu_ (?), of the country of Suka, and the city of _Tzur_ (?), 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 n was carried _down_ the banks of the Euphrates far to the south of Babylon
The second extract is fro first crossed the Euphrates:
”From Kunulua, the capital of Lubarna, the Sharutinian[150], I departed
The Arantu (Orontes) I crossed On the banks of the Arantu I encamped