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diff --git a/16162.txt b/16162.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..501611d --- /dev/null +++ b/16162.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16103 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient +Eastern World, Vol 2. (of 7): Assyria, by George Rawlinson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 2. (of 7): Assyria + The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, + Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian + or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations. + +Author: George Rawlinson + +Illustrator: George Rawlinson + +Release Date: July 1, 2005 [EBook #16162] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES + +OF THE + +ANCIENT EASTERN WORLD; + + +OR, + + +THE HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AND ANTIQUITIES OF CHALDAEA, ASSYRIA + +BABYLON, MEDIA, PERSIA, PARTHIA, AND SASSANIAN, + +OR NEW PERSIAN EMPIRE. + + +BY + +GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A., + +CAMDEN PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD + + + +IN THREE VOLUMES. + + + +VOLUME I. + +With Maps and Illustrations + + + + +THE SECOND MONARCHY. + + + +ASSYRIA. + + +[Illustration: Map1] + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + +DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. + +"Greek phrase[--]"--HEROD. i. 192. + +The site of the second--or great Assyrian-monarchy was the upper +portion of the Mesopotamian valley. The cities which successively formed +its capitals lay, all of them, upon the middle Tigris; and the heart of +the country was a district on either side that river, enclosed within +the thirty-fifth and thirty-seventh parallels. By degrees these limits +were enlarged; and the term Assyria came to be used, in a loose and +vague way, of a vast and ill-defined tract extending on all sides from +this central region. Herodotus considered the whole of Babylonia to be a +mere district of Assyria. Pliny reckoned to it all Mesopotamia. Strabo +gave it, besides these regions, a great portion of Mount Zagros (the +modern Kurdistan), and all Syria as far as Cilicia, Judaea, and +Phoenicia. + +If, leaving the conventional, which is thus vague and unsatisfactory, we +seek to find certain natural limits which we may regard as the proper +boundaries of the country, in two directions we seem to perceive an +almost unmistakable line of demarcation. On the east the high +mountain-chain of Zagros. penetrable only in one or two places, forms a +barrier of the most marked character, and is beyond a doubt the natural +limit for which we are looking. On the south a less striking, but not +less clearly defined, line--formed by the abutment of the upper and +slightly elevated plain on the alluvium of the lower valley--separates +Assyria from Babylonia, which is best regarded as a distinct country. In +the two remaining directions, there is more doubt as to the most proper +limit. Northwards,we may either view Mount Masius as the natural +boundary, or the course of the Tigris from Diarbekr to Til, or even +perhaps the Armenian mountain-chain north of this portion of the +Tigris, from whence that river receives its early tributaries. Westward, +we might confine Assyria to the country watered by the affluents of the +Tigris, or extend it so as to in elude the Khabour and its tributaries, +or finally venture to carry it across the whole of Mesopotamia, and make +it be bounded by the Euphrates. On the whole it is thought that in both +the doubted cases the wider limits are historically the truer ones. +Assyrian remains cover the entire country between the Tigris and the +Khabour, and are frequent on both banks of the latter stream, giving +unmistakable indications of a long occupation of that region by the +great Mesopotamian people. The inscriptions show that even a wider tract +was in process of time absorbed by the conquerors; and if we are to draw +a line between the country actually taken into Assyria, and that which +was merely conquered and held in subjection, we can select no better +boundary than the Euphrates westward, and northward the snowy +mountain-chain known to the ancients as Mons Niphates. + +If Assyria be allowed the extent which is here assigned to her, she will +be a country, not only very much larger than Chaldaea or Babylonia, but +positively of considerable dimensions. Reaching on the north to the +thirty-eighth and on the south to the thirty-fourth parallel, she had +a length diagonally from Diarbekr to the alluvium of 350 miles, and a +breadth between the Euphrates and Mount Zagros varying from about 300 to +170 miles. Her area was probably not less than 75,000 square miles, +which is more than double that of Portugal, and not much below that of +Great Britain. She would thus from her mere size be calculated to play +an important (part) in history; and the more so, as during the period of +her greatness scarcely any nation with which she came in contact +possessed nearly so extensive a territory. + +Within the limits here assigned to Assyria, the face of the country is +tolerably varied. Possessing, on the whole, perhaps, a predominant +character of flatness, the territory still includes some important +ranges of hills, while on the two sides it abuts upon lofty +mountain-chains. Towards the north and east it is provided by nature +with an ample supply of water, rills everywhere flowing from the +Armenian and Kurdish ranges, which soon collect into rapid and abundant +rivers. The central, southern, and western regions are, however, less +bountifully supplied; for though the Euphrates washes the whole western +and south-western frontier, it spreads fertility only along its banks; +and though Mount Masius sends down upon the Mesopotamian plain a +considerable number of streams, they form in the space of 200 miles +between Balls and Mosul but two rivers, leaving thus large tracts to +languish for want of the precious fluid. The vicinity of the Arabian and +Syrian deserts is likewise felt in these regions, which, left to +themselves, tend to acquire the desert character, and have occasionally +been regarded as actual parts of Arabia. + +The chief natural division of the country is that made by the Tigris, +which, having a course nearly from north to south, between Til and +Samarah, separates Assyria into a western and an eastern district. Of +these two, the eastern or that upon the left bank of the Tigris, +although considerably the smaller, has always been the more important +region. Comparatively narrow at first, it broadens as the course of the +river is descended, till it attains about the thirty-fifth parallel a +width of 130 or 140 miles. It consists chiefly of a series of rich and +productive plains, lying along the courses of the various tributaries +which flow from Mount Zagros into the Tigris, and often of a +semi-alluvial character. These plains are not, however, continuous. +Detached ranges of hills, with a general direction parallel to the +Zagros chain, intersect the flat rich country, separating the plains +from one another, and supplying small streams and brooks in addition to +the various rivers, which, rising within or beyond the great mountain +barriers, traverse the plains on their way to the Tigris. The hills +themselves--known now as the Jebel Maklub, the Ain-es-sufra, the +Karachok, etc.--are for the most part bare and sterile. In form they +are hogbacked, and viewed from a distance have a smooth and even outline +but on a nearer approach they are found to be rocky and rugged. Their +limestone sides are furrowed by innumerable ravines, and have a dry and +parched appearance, being even in spring generally naked and without +vegetation. The sterility is most marked on the western flank, which +faces the hot rays of the afternoon sun; the eastern slope is +occasionally robed with a scanty covering of dwarf oak or stunted +brushwood. In the fat soil of the plains the rivers commonly run deep +and concealed from view, unless in the spring and the early summer, when +through the rains and the melting of the snows in the mountains they are +greatly swollen, and run bank full, or even overflow the level country. + +The most important of these rivers are the following:--the Kurnib or +Eastern Khabour, which joins the Tigris in lat. 37 deg. 12'; the Greater Zab +(Zab Ala), which washes the ruins of Nimrud, and enters the main stream +almost exactly in lat. 30 deg.; the Lesser Zab (Zab Asfal), which effects +its junction about lat. 35 deg. 15'; the Adhem, which is received a little +below Samarah, about lat. 34 deg.; and the Diyaleh, which now joins below +Baghdad, but from which branches have sometimes entered the Tigris a +very little below the mouth of the Adhem. Of these streams the most +northern, the Khabour, runs chiefly in an untraversed country--the +district between Julamerik and the Tigris. It rises a little west of +Julamerik in one of the highest mountain districts of Kurdistan, and +runs with a general south-westerly course to its junction with another +large branch, which reaches it from the district immediately west of +Amadiyeh; it then flows due west, or a little north of west, to Zakko, +and, bending to the north after passing that place, flows once more in a +south-westerly direction until it reaches the Tigris. The direct +distance from its source to its embouchure is about 80 miles; but that +distance is more than doubled by its windings. It is a stream of +considerable size, broad and rapid; at many seasons not fordable at all, +and always forded with difficulty. + +The Greater Zab is the most important of all the tributaries of the +Tigris. It rises near Konia, in the district of Karasu, about lat. 32 deg. +20', long. 44 deg. 30', a little west of the watershed which divides the +basins of Lakes Van and Urymiyeh. Its general course for the first 150 +miles is S.S.W., after which for 25 or 30 miles it runs almost due south +through the country of the Tiyari. Near Amadiyeh it makes a sudden turn, +and flows S.E. or S.S.E. to its junction with the Rowandiz branch +whence, finally, it resumes its old direction, and runs south-west past +the Nimrud ruins into the Tigris. Its entire course, exclusive of small +windings, is above 350 miles, and of these nearly 100 are across the +plain country, which it enters soon after receiving the Rowandiz stream. +Like the Khabour, it is fordable at certain places and during the summer +season; but even then the water reaches above the bellies of horses. It +is 20 yards wide a little above its junction with the main steam. On +account of its strength and rapidity the Arabs sometimes call it the +"Mad River." + +The Lesser Zab has its principal source near Legwin, about twenty miles +south of Lake Urumiyeh, in lat. 36 deg. 40', long. 46 deg. 25'. The source is to +the east of the great Zagros chain; and it might have been supposed that +the waters would necessarily flow northward or eastward, towards Lake +Urumiyeh, or towards the Caspian. But the Legwin river, called even at +its source the Zei or Zab, flows from the first westward, as if +determined to pierce the mountain barrier. Failing, however, to find an +opening where it meets the range, the Little Zab turns south and even +south-east along its base, till about 25 or 30 miles from its source it +suddenly resumes its original direction, enters the mountains in lat. +36 deg. 20', and forces its way through the numerous parallel ranges, +flowing generally to the S.S.W., till it debouches upon the plain near +Arbela, after which it runs S.W. and S.W. by S. to the Tigris. Its +course among the mountains is from 80 to 90 miles, exclusive of small +windings; and it runs more than 100 miles through the plain. Its +ordinary width, just above its confluence with the Tigris, is 25 feet. + +The Diyaleh, which lies mostly within the limits that have been here +assigned to Assyria, is formed by the confluence of two principal +streams, known respectively as the Holwan, and the Shirwan, river. Of +these, the Shirwan seems to be the main branch. This stream rises from +the most eastern and highest of the Zagros ranges, in lat. 34 deg. 45', +long. 47 deg. 40' nearly. It flows at first west, and then north-west, +parallel to the chain, but on entering the plain of Shahrizur, where +tributaries join it from the north-east and the north-west, the +Shirwan changes its course and begins to run south of west, a direction, +which, it pursues till it enters the low country, about lat. 35 deg. 5', +near Semiram. Thence to the Tigris it has a course which in direct +distance is 150 miles, and 200 if we include only main windings. The +whole course cannot be less than 380 miles, which is about the length of +the Great Zab river. The width attained before the confluence with the +Tigris is 60 yards, or three times the width of the Greater, and seven +times that of the Lesser Zab. + +On the opposite side of the Tigris, the traveller comes upon a region +far less favored by nature than that of which we have been lately +speaking. Western Assyria has but a scanty supply of water; and unless +the labor of man is skilfully applied to compensate this natural +deficiency, the greater part of the region tends to be, for ten months +out of the twelve, a desert. The general character of the country is +level, but not alluvial. A line of mountains, rocky and precipitous, but +of no great elevation, stretches across the northern part of the region, +running nearly due east and west, and extending from the Euphrates at +Rum-kaleh to Til and Chelek upon the Tigris. Below this, a vast +slightly undulating plain extends from the northern mountains to the +Babylonian alluvium, only interrupted about midway by a range of low +limestone hills called the Sinjar, which leaving the Tigris near Mosul +runs nearly from east to west across central Mesopotamia, and strikes +the Euphrates half-way between Rakkeh and Kerkesiyeh, nearly in long. +40 deg.. + +The northern mountain region, called by Strabo "Mons Masius," and by the +Arabs the Karajah Dagh towards the west, and towards the east the Jebel +Tur, is on the whole a tolerably fertile country. It contains a good +deal of rocky land; but has abundant springs, and in many parts is well +wooded. Towards the west it is rather hilly than mountainous; but +towards the east it rises considerably, and the cone above Mardin is +both lofty and striking. The waters flowing from the range consist, on +the north, of a small number of brooks, which after a short course fall +into the Tigris; on the south, of more numerous and more copious +streams, which gradually unite, and eventually form two rather important +rivers. These rivers are the Belik, known anciently as the Bileeha, and +the Western Khabour, called Habor in Scripture, and by the classical +writers Aborrhas or Chaboras. [PLATE XXII., Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 22] + +The Belik rises among the hills east of Orfa, about long. 39 deg., lat. 37 deg. +10'. Its course is at first somewhat east of south; but it soon sweeps +round, and, passing by the city of Harran--the Haran of Scripture and +the classical Carrh--proceeds nearly due south to its junction, a few +miles below Rakkah, with the Euphrates. It is a small stream throughout +its whole course, which may be reckoned at 100 or 120 miles. + +The Khabour is a much more considerable river. It collects the waters +which flow southward from at least two-thirds of the Mons Masius, and +has, besides, an important source, which the Arabs regard as the true +"head of the spring," derived apparently from a spur of the Sinjar +range. This stream, which rises about lat. 36 deg. 40', long. 40 deg., flows a +little south of east to its junction near Koukab with the Jerujer or +river Nisi-his, which comes down from Mons Masius with a course not +much west of south. Both of these branches are formed by the union of a +number of streams. Neither of them is fordable for some distance above +their junction; and below it, they constitute a river of such magnitude +as to be navigable for a considerable distance by steamers. The course +of the Khabour below Koukab is tortuous; but its general direction is +S.S.W. The entire length of the stream is certainly not less than 200 +miles. + +The country between the "Mons Masius" and the Sinjar range is an +undulating plain, from 60 to 70 miles in width, almost as devoid of +geographical features as the alluvium of Babylonia. From a height the +whole appears to be a dead level: but the traveller finds, on +descending, that the surface, like that of the American prairies and the +Roman Campagna, really rises and falls in a manner which offers a +decided contrast to the alluvial flats nearer the sea. Great portions of +the tract are very deficient in water. Only small streams descend from +the Sinjar range, and these are soon absorbed by the thirsty soil; so +that except in the immediate vicinity of the hills north and south, and +along the courses of the Khabour, the Belik, and their affluents, there +is little natural fertility, and cultivation is difficult. The soil too +is often gypsiferous, and its salt and nitrous exudations destroy +vegetation; while at the same time the streams and springs are from the +same cause for the most part brackish and unpalatable. Volcanic action +probably did not cease in the region very much, if at all, before the +historical period. Fragments of basalt in many places strew the plain; +and near the confluence of the two chief branches of the Khabour, not +only are old craters of volcanoes distinctly visible, but a cone still +rises from the centre of one, precisely like the cones in the craters of +Etna and Vesuvius, composed entirely of loose lava, scorim, and ashes, +and rising to the height of 300 feet. The name of this remarkable hill, +which is Koukab, is even thought to imply that the volcano may have been +active within the time to which the traditions of the country extend. +[PLATE XXII., Fig. 2.] + +Sheets of water are so rare in this region that the small lake of +Khatouniyeh seems to deserve especial description. This lake is situated +near the point where the Sinjar changes its character, and from a high +rocky range subsides into low broken hills. It is of oblong shape, with +its greater axis pointing nearly due east and west, in length about four +miles, and in its greatest breadth somewhat less than three. [PLATE +XXIII., Fig. 1] The banks are low and parts marshy, more especially on +the side towards the Khabour, which is not more than ten miles distant. +In the middle of the lake is a hilly peninsula, joined to the mainland +by a narrow causeway, and beyond it a small island covered with trees. +The lake abounds with fish and waterfowl; and its water, though +brackish, is regarded as remarkably wholesome both for man and beast. + +[Illustration: PLATE 23] + +The Sinjar range, which divides Western Assyria into two plains, a +northern and a southern, is a solitary limestone ridge, rising up +abruptly from the flat country, which it commands to a vast distance on +both sides. The limestone of which it is composed is white, soft, and +fossiliferous; it detaches itself in enormous flakes from the +mountain-sides, which are sometimes broken into a succession of +gigantic steps, while occasionally they present the columnar appearance +of basalt. The flanks of the Sinjar are seamed with innumerable ravines, +and from these small brooks issue, which are soon dispersed by +irrigation, or absorbed in the thirsty plains. The sides of the mountain +are capable of being cultivated by means of terraces, and produce fair +crops of corn and excellent fruit; the top is often wooded with fruit +trees or forest-trees. Geographically, the Sinjar may be regarded as +the continuation of that range of hills which shuts in the Tigris on the +west, from Tekrit nearly to Mosul, and then leaving the river strikes +across the plain in a direction almost from east to west as far as the +town of Sinjar. Here the mountains change their course and bend to the +south-west, till having passed the little lake described above, they +somewhat suddenly subside, sinking from a high ridge into low undulating +hills, which pass to the south of the lake, and then disappear in the +plain altogether. According to some, the Sinjar here terminates; but +perhaps it is best to regard it as rising again in the Abd-el-aziz +hills, which, intervening between the Khabour and the Euphrates, run in +the same south-west direction from Arban to Zelabi. If this be accepted +as the true course of the Sinjar, we must view it as throwing out two +important spurs. One of these is near its eastern extremity, and runs to +the south-east, dividing the plain of Zerga from the great central +level. Like the main chain, it is of limestone; and, though low, has +several remarkable peaks which serve as landmarks from a vast distance. +The Arabs call it Kebritiyeh, or "the Sulphur range," from a sulphurous +spring which rises at its foot. The other spur is thrown out near the +western extremity, and runs towards the north-west, parallel to the +course of the upper Khabour, which rises from its flank at Ras-el-Ain. +The name of Abd-el-aziz is applied to this spur, as well as to the +continuation of the Sinjar between Arban and Halebi. It is broken into +innumerable valleys and ravines, abounding with wild animals, and is +scantily wooded with dwarf oak. Streams of water abound in it. + +South of the Sinjar range, the country resumes the same level appearance +which characterizes it between the Sinjar and the Mons Masius. A low +limestone ridge skirts the Tigris valley from Mosul to Tekrit, and near +the Euphrates the country is sometimes slightly hilly; but generally the +eye travels over a vast slightly undulating level, unbroken by +eminences, and supporting but a scanty vegetation. The description of +Xenophon a little exaggerates the flatness, but is otherwise faithful +enough:--"In these parts the country was a plain throughout, as smooth +as the sea, and full of wormwood; if any other shrub or reed grew there, +it had a sweet aromatic smell; but there was not a tree in the whole +region." Water is still more scarce than in the plains north of the +Sinjar. The brooks descending from that range are so weak that they +generally lose themselves in the plain before they have run many miles. +In one case only do they seem sufficiently strong to form a river. The +Tharthar, which flows by the ruins of El Hadhr, is at that place a +considerable stream, not indeed very wide but so deep that horses have +to swim across it. Its course above El Hadhr has not been traced; but +the most probable conjecture seems to be that it is a continuation of +the Sinjar river, which rises about the middle of the range, in long. +41 deg. 50', and flows south-east through the desert. The Tharthar appears +at one time to have reached the Tigris near Tekrit, but it now ends in a +marsh or lake to the south-west of that city. + +The political geography of Assyria need not occupy much of our +attention. There is no native evidence that in the time of the great +monarchy the country was formally divided into districts, to which any +particular names were attached, or which were regarded as politically +separate from one another; nor do such divisions appear in the classical +writers until the time of the later geographers, Strabo, Dionysius, and +Ptolemy. If it were not that mention is made in the Old Testament of +certain districts within the region which has been here termed Assyria, +we should have no proof that in the early times any divisions at all had +been recognized. The names, however, of Padan-Aram, Aram-Naharaim, +Gozan, Halah, and (perhaps) Huzzab, designate in Scripture particular +portions of the Assyrian territory; and as these portions appear to +correspond in some degree with the divisions of the classical +geographers, we are led to suspect that these writers may in many, if +not in most cases, have followed ancient and native traditions or +authorities. The principal divisions of the classical geographers will +therefore be noticed briefly, so far at least as they are intelligible. + +According to Strabo, the district within which Nineveh stood was called +Aturia, which seems to be the word Assyria slightly corrupted, as we +know that it habitually was by the Persians. The neighboring plain +country he divides into four regions--Dolomene, Calachene, Chazene, +and Adiabene. Of Dolomene, which Strabo mentions but in one place, and +which is wholly omitted by other authors, no account can be given. +Calachene, which is perhaps the Calacine of Ptolemy, must be the tract +about Calah (Nimrud), or the country immediately north of the Upper Zab +river. Chazene, like Dolomene, is a term which cannot be explained. +Adiabene, on the contrary, is a well-known geographical expression. It +is the country of the Zab or Diab rivers, and either includes the whole +of Eastern Assyria between the mountains and the Tigris, or more +strictly is applied to the region between the Upper and Lower Zab, which +consists of two large plains separated from each other by the Karachok +hills. In this way Arbelitis, the plain between the Karachok and Zagros, +would fall within Adiabene, but it is sometimes made a distinct region, +in which case Adiabene must be restricted to the flat between the two +Zabs, the Tigris, and the harachok. Chalonitis and Apolloniatis, which +Strabo seems to place between these northern plains and Susiana, must be +regarded as dividing between them the country south of the Lesser Zab, +Apolloniatis (so called from its Greek capital, Apollonia) lying along +the Tigris, and Chalonitis along the mountains from the pass of Derbend +to Gilan. Chalonitis seems to have taken its name from a capital city +called Chala, which lay on the great route connecting Babylon with the +southern Ecbatana, and in later times was known as Holwan. Below +Apolloniatis, and (like that district) skirting the Tigris, was +Sittacene, (so named from its capital, Sittace which is commonly +reckoned to Assyria, but seems more properly regarded as Susianian +territory.) Such are the chief divisions of Assyria east of the Tigris. + +West of the Tigris, the name Mesopotamia is commonly used, like the +Aram-Naharaim of the Hebrews, for the whole country between the two +great rivers. Here are again several districts, of which little is +known, as Acabene, Tigene, and Ancobaritis. Towards the north, along the +flanks of Mons Masius from Nisibis to the Euphrates, Strabo seems to +place the Mygdonians, and to regard the country as Mygdonia. Below +Mygdonia, towards the west, he puts Anthemusia, which he extends as far +as the Khabour river. The region south of the Khabour and the Sinjar he +seems to regard as inhabited entirely by Arabs. Ptolemy has, in lieu of +the Mygdonia of Strabo, a district which he calls Gauzanitis; and this +name is on good grounds identified with the Gozan of Scripture, the true +original probably of the "Mygdonia" of the Greeks. Gozan appears to +represent the whole of the upper country from which the longer affluents +of the Khabour spring; while Halah, which is coupled with it in +Scripture, and which Ptolemy calls Chalcitis, and makes border on +Gauzanitis, may designate the tract upon the main stream, as it comes +down from Ras-el-Ain. The region about the upper sources of the Belik +has no special designation in Strabo, but in Scripture it seems to be +called Padan-Aram, a name which has been explained as "the flat Syria," +or "the country stretching out from the foot of the hills." In the later +Roman times it was known as Osrhoene; but this name was scarcely in use +before the time of the Antonines. + +The true heart of Assyria was the country close along the Tigris, from +lat. 35 deg. to 36 deg. 30'. Within these limits were the four great cities, +marked by the mounds at Khorsabad, Mosul, Nimrud, and Kileh-Sherghat, +besides a multitude of places of inferior consequence. It has been +generally supposed that the left bank of the river was more properly +Assyria than the right; and the idea is so far correct, as that the left +bank was in truth of primary value and importance, whence it naturally +happened that three out of the four capitals were built on that side of +the stream. Still the very fact that one early capital was on the right +bank is enough to show that both shores of the stream were alike +occupied by the race from the first; and this conclusion is abundantly +confirmed by other indications throughout the region. Assyrian ruins, +the remains of considerable towns, strew the whole country between the +Tigris and Khabour, both north and south of the Sin jar range. On the +banks of the Lower Khabour are the remains of a royal palace, besides +many other traces of the tract through which it runs having been +permanently occupied by the Assyrian people. Mounds, probably Assyrian, +are known to exist along the course of the Khabour's great western +affluent; and even near Seruj, in the country between Harlan and the +Euphrates some evidence has been found not only of conquest but of +occupation. Remains are perhaps more frequent on the opposite side of +the Tigris; at any rate they are more striking and more important. +Bavian, Khorsabad, Shereef-Khan, Neb-bi-Yunus, Koyunjik, and Nimrud, +which have furnished by far the most valuable and interesting of the +Assyrian monuments, all lie east of the Tigris; while on the west two +places only have yielded relics worthy to be compared with these, Arban +and Kileh-Sherghat. + +It is curious that in Assyria, as in early Chaldaea, there is a special +pre-eminence of four cities. An indication of this might seem to be +contained in Genesis, where Asshur is said to have "builded Nineveh," and +the city Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen; but on the whole it is more +probable that we have here a mistranslation (which is corrected for us +in the margin), and that three cities only are ascribed by Moses to the +great patriarch. In the flourishing period of the empire, however, we +actually find four capitals, of which the native names seem to have been +Ninua, Calah, Asshur, and Bit-Sargina, or Dur-Sargina (the city of +Sargon)--all places of first-rate consequence. Besides these principal +cities, which were the sole seats of government, Assyria contained a +vast number of large towns, few of which it is possible to name, but so +numerous that they cover the whole face of the country with their ruins. +Amomig; them were Tarbisa, Arbil, Arapkha, and Khazeh, in the tract +between the Tigris and Mount Zagros; Haran, Tel-Apni, Razappa (Rezeph), +and Amida, towards the north-west frontier; Nazibina (Nisibis), on the +eastern branch of the Khabour; Sirki (Circesium), at the confluence of +the Khabour with the Euphrates; Anat, on the Euphrates, some way below +this junction; Tabiti, Magarisi, Sidikan, Katni, Beth-Khalupi,etc., in +the district south of the Sinjar, between the lower course of the +Khabour and the Tigris. Here, again, as in the case of Chaldaea, it is +impossible at present to locate with accuracy all the cities. We must +once more confine ourselves to the most important, mind seek to +determine, either absolutely or with a certain vagueness, their several +positions. + +It admits of no reasonable doubt that the ruins opposite Mosul are those +of Nineveh. The name of Nineveh is read on the bricks; and a uniform +tradition, reaching from the Arab conquest to comparatively recent +times, attaches to the mounds themselves the same title. They are the +most extensive ruins in Assyria; and their geographical position suits +perfectly all the notices of the geographers and historians with respect +to the great Assyrian capital. As a subsequent chapter will be devoted +to a description of this famous city, it is enough in this place to +observe that it was situated on the left or east bank of the Tigris, in +lat. 36 deg. 21', at the point where a considerable brook, the Khosr-su, +falls into the main stream. On its west flank flowed the broad and rapid +Tigris, the "arrow-stream," as we may translate the word; while north, +east, and south, expanded the vast undulating plain which intervenes +between the river and the Zagros mountain-range. Mid-way in this +plain, at the distance of from 15 to 18 miles from the city, stood +boldly up the Jabel Maklub and Ain Sufra hills, calcareous ridges rising +nearly 2000 feet above the level of the Tigris, and forming by far the +most prominent objects in the natural landscape. Inside the Ain Sufra, +and parallel to it, ran the small stream of the Gomel, or Ghazir, like a +ditch skirting a wall, an additional defence in that quarter. On the +south-east and south, distant about fifteen miles, was the strong and +impetuous current of the Upper Zab, completing the natural defences of +the position which was excellently chosen to be the site of a great +capital. + +[Illustration: PLATE 24] + +South of Nineveh, at the distance of about twenty miles by the direct +route and thirty by the course of the Tigris, stood the second city of +the empire, Calah, the site of which is marked by the extensive ruins at +Nimrud. [PLATE XXIV., Fig. 1.] Broadly, this place may be said to have +been built at the confluence of the Tigris with the Upper Zab; but in +strictness it was on the Tigris only, the Zab flowing five or six miles +further to the south, and entering the Tigris at least nine miles below +the Nimrud ruins. These ruins at present occupy an area somewhat short +of a thousand English acres, which is little more than one-half of the +area of the ruins of Nineveh; but it is thought that the place was in +ancient times considerably larger, and that the united action of the +Tigris and some winter streams has swept away no small portion of the +ruins. They form at present an irregular quadrangle, the sides of which +face the four cardinal points. On the north and east the rampart may +still be distinctly traced. It was flanked with towers along its whole +course, and pierced at uncertain intervals by gates, but was nowhere of +very great strength or dimensions. On the south side it must have been +especially weak, for there it has disappeared altogether. Here, however, +it seems probable that the Tigris and the Shor Derreh stream, to which +the present obliteration of the wall may be ascribed, formed in ancient +times a sufficient protection. Towards the west, it seems to be certain +that the Tigris (which is now a mile off) anciently flowed close to the +city. On this side, directly facing the river, and extending along it a +distance of 600 yards, or more than a third of a mile, was the royal +quarter, or portion of the city occupied by the palaces of the kings. It +consisted of a raised platform, forty feet above the level of the plain, +composed in some parts of rubbish, in others of regular layers of +sun-dried bricks, and cased on every side with solid stone masonry, +containing an area of sixty English acres, and in shape almost a regular +rectangle, 560 yards long, and from 350 to 450 broad. The platform was +protected at its edges by a parapet, and is thought to have been +ascended in various places by wide staircases, or inclined ways, leading +up from the plain. The greater part of its area is occupied by the +remains of palaces constructed by various native kings, of which a more +particular account will be given in the chapter on the architecture and +other arts of the Assyrians. It contains also the ruins of two small +temples, and abuts at its north-western angle on the most singular +structure which has as yet been discovered among the remains of the +Assyrian cities. This is the famous tower or pyramid which looms so +conspicuously over the Assyrian plams, and which has always attracted +the special notice of the traveller. [PLATE XXIV., Fig. 2.] An exact +description of this remarkable edifice will be given hereafter. + +It appears from the inscriptions on its bricks to have been commenced by +one of the early kings, and completed by another. Its internal structure +has led to the supposition that it was designed to be a place of burial +for one or other of these monarchs. Another conjecture is, that it was a +watch-tower; but this seems very unlikely, since no trace of any mode +by which it could be ascended has been discovered. + +Forty miles below Calah, on the opposite bank of the Tigris, was a third +great city, the native name of which appears to have been Asshur. This +place is represented by the ruins at Kileh-Sherghat, which are scarcely +inferior in extent to those at Nimrud or Calah. It will not be necessary +to describe minutely this site, as in general character it closely +resembles the other ruins of Assyria. Long lines of low mounds mark the +position of the old walls, and show that the shape of the city was +quadrangular. The chief object is a large square mound or platform, two +miles and a half in circumference, and in places a hundred feet above +the level of the plain, composed in part of sun-dried bricks, in part +of natural eminences, and exhibiting occasionally remains of a casing of +hewn stone, which may once have encircled the whole structure. About +midway on the north side of the platform, and close upon its edge, is a +high cone or pyramid. The rest of the platform is covered with the +remains of walls and with heaps of rubbish, but does not show much trace +of important buildings. This city has been supposed to represent the +Biblical Resen; but the description of that place as lying "_between_ +Nineveh and Calah" seems to render the identification worse than +uncertain. + +The ruins at Kileh-Sherghat are the last of any extent towards the +south, possessing a decidedly Assyrian character. To complete our +survey, therefore of the chief Assyrian towns, we must return +northwards, and, passing Nineveh, direct our attention to the +magnificent ruins on the small stream of the Khosrsu, which have made +the Arab village of Khorsabad one of the best known names in Oriental +topography. About nine miles from the north-east angle of the wall of +Nineveh, in a direction a very little east of north, stands the ruin +known as Khorsabad, from a small village which formerly occupied its +summit--the scene of the labors of M. Botta, who was the first to +disentomb from among the mounds of Mesopotamia the relics of an Assyrian +palace. The enclosure at Khorsabad is nearly square in shape, each side +being about 2000 yards long. No part of it is very lofty, but the walls +are on every side well marked. Their angles point towards the cardinal +points, or nearly so; and the walls themselves consequently face the +north-east, the north-west, the south-west, and the south-east. +Towards the middle of the north-west wall, and projecting considerably +beyond it, was a raised platform of the usual character; and here stood +the great palace, which is thought to have been open to the plain, and +on that side quite undefended. + +Four miles only from Khorsabad, in a direction a little west of north, +are the ruins of a smaller Assyrian city, whose native name appears to +have been Tarbisa, situated not far from the modern village of +Sherif-khan. Here was a palace, built by Esarhaddon for one of his +sons, as well as several temples and other edifices. In the opposite +direction at the distance of about twenty miles, is Keremles, an +Assyrian ruin, whose name cannot yet be rendered phonetically. West of +this site, and about half-way between the ruins of Nineveh and Nimrud +or Calah, is Selamiyah, a village of some size, the walls of which are +thought to be of Assyrian construction. We may conjecture that this +place was the Resen, or Dase, of Holy Scripture, which is said to have +been a large city, interposed between Nineveh and Calah. In the same +latitude, but considerably further to the east, was the famous city of +Arabil or Arbil, known to the Greeks as Arbela, and to this day +retaining its ancient appellation. These were the principal towns, whose +positions can be fixed, belonging to Assyria Proper, or the tract in the +immediate vicinity of Nineveh. + +Besides these places, the inscriptions mention a large number of cities +which we cannot definitely connect with any particular site. Such are +Zaban and Zadu, beyond the Lower Zab, probably somewhere in the vicinity +of Kerkuk; Kurban, Tidu (?), Napulu, Kapa, in Adiabene; Arapkha and +Khaparkhu, the former of which names recalls the Arrapachitis of +Ptolemy, in the district about Arbela; Hurakha, Sallat (?), Dur-Tila, +Dariga, Lupdu, and many others, concerning whose situations it is not +even possible to make any reasonable conjecture. The whole country +between the Tigris and the mountains was evidently studded thickly with +towns, as it is at the present day with ruins; but until a minute and +searching examination of the entire region has taken place, it is idle +to attempt an assignment to particular localities of these comparatively +obscure names. + +In Western Assyria, or the tract on the right bank of the Tigris, while +there is reason to believe that population was as dense, and that cities +were as numerous, as on the opposite side of the river, even fewer sites +can be determinately fixed, owing to the early decay of population in +those parts, which seem to have fallen into their present desert +condition shortly after the destruction of the Assyrian empire by the +conquering Medes. Besides Asshur, which is fixed to the ruins at +Kileh-Sherghat, we can only locate with certainty some half-dozen +places. These are Nazibina, which is the modern Nisibin, the Nisibis of +the Greeks; Amidi, which is Amida or Diarbekr; Haran, which retains its +name unchanged; Sirki, which is the Greek Circesium, now Kerkesiyeh; +Anat, now Anah, on an island in the Euphrates; and Sidikan, now Arban, +on the Lower Khabour. The other known towns of this region, whose exact +position is more or less uncertain, are the following:--Tavnusir, which +is perhaps Dunisir, near Mardin; Guzana, or Gozan, in the vicinity of +Nisibin; Razappa, or Rezeph, probably not far from Harran; Tel Apni, +about Orfah or Ras-el-Ain; Tabiti and Magarisi, on the Jerujer, or +river of Nisibin; Katni and Beth-Khalupi, on the Lower Khabour; Tsupri +and Nakarabani, on the Euphrates, between its junction with the Khabour +and Allah; and Khuzirina, in the mountains near the source of the +Tigris. Besides these, the inscriptions contain a mention of some scores +of towns wholly obscure, concerning which we cannot even determine +whether they lay west or east of the Tigris. + +Such are the chief geographical features of Assyria. It remains to +notice briefly the countries by which it was bordered. To the east lay +the mountain region of Zagros, inhabited principally, during the earlier +times of the Empire, by the Zimri, and afterwards occupied by the Medes, +and known as a portion of Media. This region is one of great strength, +and at the same time of much productiveness and fertility. Composed of a +large number of parallel ridges. Zagros contains, besides rocky and +snow-clad summits, a multitude of fertile valleys, watered by the great +affluents of the Tigris or their tributaries, and capable of producing +rich crops with very little cultivation. The sides of the hills are in +most parts clothed with forests of walnut, oak, ash, plane, and +sycamore, while mulberries, olives, and other fruit-trees abound; in +many places the pasturage is excellent; and thus, notwithstanding its +mountainous character, the tract will bear a large population. Its +defensive strength is immense, equalling that of Switzerland before +military roads were constructed across the High Alps. The few passes by +which it can be traversed seem, according to the graphic phraseology of +the ancients, to be carried up ladders; they surmount six or seven +successive ridges, often reaching the elevation of 10,000 feet, and are +only open during seven months of the year. Nature appears to have +intended Zagros as a seven fold wall for the protection of the fertile +Mesopotamian lowland from the marauding tribes inhabiting the bare +plateau of Iran. + +North of Assyria lays a country very similar to the Zagros region. +Armenia, like Kurdistan, consists, for the most part of a number of +parallel mountain ranges, with deep valleys between them, watered by +great rivers or their affluents. Its highest peaks, like those of +Zagros, ascend considerably above the snow-line. It has the same +abundance of wood, especially in the more northern parts; and though its +valleys are scarcely so fertile, or its products so abundant and varied, +it is still a country where a numerous population may find subsistence. +The most striking contrast which it offers to the Zagros region is in +the direction of its mountain ranges. The Zagros ridges run from +north-west to south-east, like the principal mountains of Italy, +Greece, Arabia, Hindustan, and Cochin China; those of Armenia have a +course from a little north of east to a little south of west, like the +Spanish Sierras, the Swiss and Tyrolese Alps, the Southern Carpathians, +the Greater Balkan, the Cilician Taurus, the Cyprian Olympus, and the +Thian Chan. Thus the axes of the two chains are nearly at right angles +to one another, the triangular basin of Van occurring at the point of +contact, and softening the abruptness of the transition. Again, whereas +the Zagros mountains present their gradual slope to the Mesopotamian +lowland, and rise in higher and higher ridges as they recede from the +mountains of Armenia ascend at once to their full heignt from the level +of the Tigris, and the ridges then gradually decline towards the Euxine. +It follows from this last contrast, that, while Zagros invites the +inhabitants of the Mesopotamian plain to penetrate its recesses, which +are at first readily accessible, and only grow wild and savage towards +the interior, the Armenian mountains repel by presenting their greatest +difficulties and most barren aspect at once, seeming, with their rocky +sides and snow-clad summits, to form an almost insurmountable obstacle +to an invading host. Assyrian history bears traces of this difference; +for while the mountain region to the east is gradually subdued and +occupied by the people of the plain, that on the north continues to the +last in a state of hostility and semi-independence. + +West of Assyria (according to the extent which has here been given to +it), the border countries were, towards the south, Arabia, and towards +the north, Syria. A desert region, similar to that which bounds Chaldaea +in this direction, extends along the Euphrates as far north as the 36th +parallel, approaching commonly within a very short distance of the +river. This has been at all times the country of the wandering Arabs. It +is traversed in places by rocky ridges of a low elevation, and +intercepted by occasional _wadys_, but otherwise it is a continuous +gravelly or sandy plain, incapable of sustaining a settled population. +Between the desert and the river intervenes commonly a narrow strip of +fertile territory, which in Assyrian times was held by the Tsukhi or +Shuhites, and the Aramaeans or Syrians. North of the 36th parallel, the +general elevation of the country west of the Euphrates rises. There is +an alternation of bare undulating hills and dry plains, producing +wormwood and other aromatic plants. Permanent rivers are found, which +either terminate in salt lakes or run into the Euphrates. In places the +land is tolerably fertile, and produces good crops of grain, besides +mulberries, pears, figs, pomegranates, olives, vines, and +pistachio-nuts. Here dwelt, in the time of the Assyrian Empire, the +Khatti, or Hittites, whose chief city, Carchemish, appears to have +occupied the site of Hierapolis, now Bambuk. In a military point of +view, the tract is very much less strong than either Armenia or +Kurdistan, and presents but slight difficulties to invading armies. + +The tract south of Assyria was Chaldaea, of which a description has been +given in an earlier portion of this volume. Naturally it was at once the +weakest of the border countries, and the one possessing the greatest +attractions to a conqueror. Nature had indeed left it wholly without +defence; and though art was probably soon called in to remedy this +defect, yet it could not but continue the most open to attack of the +various regions by which Assyria was surrounded. Syria was defended by +the Euphrates--at all times a strong barrier; Arabia, not only by this +great stream, but by her arid sands and burning climate; Armenia and +Kurdistan had the protection of their lofty mountain ranges. Chaldaea +was naturally without either land or water barrier; and the mounds and +dykes whereby she strove to supply her wants were at the best poor +substitutes for Nature's bulwarks. Here again geographical features will +be found to have had an important bearing on the course of history, the +close connection of the two countries, in almost every age, resulting +from their physical conformation. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS. + +"Assyria, celebritate et magnitudine, et multiformi feracitate +ditissima."--AMM. MARC. xxiii + +In describing the climate and productions of Assyria, it will be +necessary to divide it into regions, since the country is so large, and +the physical geography so varied, that a single description would +necessarily be both incomplete and untrue. Eastern Assyria has a climate +of its own, the result of its position at the foot of Zagros. In Western +Assyria we may distinguish three climates, that of the upper or +mountainous country extending from Bir to Til and Jezireh, that of the +middle region on either side of the Sinjar range, and that of the lower +region immediately bordering on Babylonia. The climatic differences +depend in part on latitude; but probably in a greater degree on +differences of elevation, distance or vicinity of mountains, and the +like. + +Eastern Assyria, from its vicinity to the high and snow-clad range of +Zagros, has a climate at once cooler and moister than Assyria west of +the Tigris. The summer heats are tempered by breezes from the adjacent +mountains, and, though trying to the constitution of an European, are +far less oppressive than the torrid blasts which prevail on the other +side of the river. A good deal of rain falls in the winter, and even in +the spring; while, after the rains are past, there is frequently an +abundant dew, which supports vegetation and helps to give coolness to +the air. The winters are moderately severe. + +In the most southern part of Assyria, from lat. 34 deg. to 35 deg. 30', the +climate scarcely differs from that of Babylonia, which has been already +described. The same burning summers, and the same chilly but not really +cold winters, prevail in both districts; and the time and character of +the rainy season is alike in each. The summers are perhaps a little less +hot, and the winters a little colder than in the more southern and +alluvial region; but the difference is inconsiderable, and has never +been accurately measured. + +In the central part of Western Assyria, on either side of the Sinjar +range, the climate is decidedly cooler than in the region adjoining +Babylonia. In summer, though the heat is great, especially from noon to +sunset, yet the nights are rarely oppressive, and the mornings +enjoyable. The spring-time in this region is absolutely delicious; the +autumn is pleasant; and the winter, though cold and accompanied by a +good deal of rain and snow, is rarely prolonged and never intensely +rigorous. Storms of thunder and lightning are frequent, especially in +spring, and they are often of extraordinary violence: hail-stones fall +of the size of pigeon's eggs; the lightning is incessant; and the wind +rages with fury. The force of the tempest is, however, soon exhausted; +in a few hours' time it has passed away, and the sky is once more +cloudless: a delightful calm and freshness pervade the air, producing +mingled sensations of pleasure and repose. + +The mountain tract, which terminates Western Assyria to the north, has a +climate very much more rigorous than the central region. The elevation +of this district is considerable, and the near vicinity of the great +mountain country of Armenia, with its eternal snows and winters during +half the year, tends greatly to lower the temperature, which in the +winter descends to eight or ten degrees below zero. Much snow then +falls, which usually lies for some weeks; the spring is wet and stormy, +but the summer and the autumn are fine; and in the western portion of +the region about Harran and Orfah, the summer heat is great. The climate +is here an "extreme" one, to use on expression of Humboldt's--the range +of the thermometer being even greater than it is in Chaldaea, reaching +nearly (or perhaps occasionally exceeding) 120 degrees. + +Such is the present climate of Assyria, west and east of the Tigris. +There is no reason to believe that it was very different in ancient +times. If irrigation was then more common and cultivation more widely +extended, the temperature would no doubt have been somewhat lower and +the air more moist. But neither on physical nor on historical grounds +Can it be argued that the difference thus produced was; more than +slight. The chief causes of the remarkable heat of Mesopotamnia--so +much exceeding that of many countries under the same parallels of +latitude--are its near vicinity to the Arabian and Syrian deserts, and +its want of trees, those great refrigerators. While the first of these +causes would be wholly untouched by cultivation, the second would be +affected in but a small degree. The only tree which is known to have +been anciently cultivated in Mesopotamia is the date-palm; and as this +ceases to bear fruit about lat. 35 deg., its greater cultivation could have +prevailed only in a very small portion of the country, and so would have +affected the general climate but little. Historically, too, we find, +among the earliest notices which have any climatic bearing, indications +that the temperature and the consequent condition of the country were +anciently very nearly what they now are. Xenophon speaks of the +barrenness of the tract between the Khabour and Babylonia, and the +entire absence of forage, in as strong terms as could be used at the +present day. Arrian, following his excellent authorities, notes that +Alexander, after crossing the Euphrates, kept close to the hills, +"because the heat there was not so scorching as it was lower down," and +because he could then procure green food for his horses. The animals too +which Xenophon found in the country are either such as now inhabit it, +or where not such, they are the denizens of hotter rather than colder +climates and countries. + +The fertility of Assyria is a favorite theme with the ancient writers. +Owing to the indefiniteness of their geographical terminology, it is +however uncertain, in many cases, whether the praise which they bestow +upon Assyria is really intended for the country here called by that +name, or whether it does not rather apply to the alluvial tract, already +described, which is more properly termed Chaldaea or Babylonia. +Naturally Babylonia is very much more fertile than the greater part of +Assyria, which being elevated above the courses of the rivers, and +possessing a saline and gypsiferous soil, tends, in the absence of a +sufficient water supply, to become a bare and arid desert. Trees are +scanty in both regions except along the river courses; but in Assyria, +even grass fails after the first burst of spring; and the plains, which +for a few weeks have been carpeted with the tenderest verdure and +thickly strewn with the brightest and loveliest flowers, become, as the +summer advances, yellow, parched, and almost herbless. Few things are +more remarkable than the striking difference between the appearance of +the same tract in Assyria at different seasons of the year. What at one +time is a garden, glowing with brilliant hues and heavy with luxuriant +pasture, on which the most numerous flocks can scarcely make any +sensible impression, at another is an absolute waste, frightful and +oppressive from its sterilityr. + +If we seek the cause of this curious contrast, we shall find it in the +productive qualities of the soil, wherever there is sufficient moisture +to allow of their displaying themselves, combined with the fact, already +noticed, that the actual supply of water is deficient. Speaking +generally, we may say with truth, as was said by Herodotus more than two +thousand years ago--that "but little rain falls in Assyria," and, if +water is to be supplied in adequate quantity to the thirsty soil, it +must be derived from the rivers. In most parts of Assyria there are +occasional rains during the winter, and, in ordinary years, frequent +showers in early spring. The dependence of the present inhabitants both +for pasture and for grain is on these. There is scarcely any irrigation; +and though the soil is so productive that wherever the land is +cultivated, good crops are commonly obtained by means of the spring +rains, while elsewhere nature at once spontaneously robes herself in +verdure of the richest kind, yet no sooner does summer arrive than +barrenness is spread over the scene; the crops ripen and are gathered +in; "the grass withereth, the flower fadeth;" the delicate herbage of +the plains shrinks back and disappears; all around turns to a uniform +dull straw-color; nothing continues to live but what is coarse, dry, +and sapless; and so the land, which was lately an Eden, becomes a +desert. + +Far different would be the aspect of the region were a due use made of +that abundant water supply--actually most lavish in the summer time, +owing to the melting of the snows which nature has provided in the two +great Mesopotamian rivers and their tributaries. So rapid is the fall of +the two main streams in their upper course, that by channels derived +from them, with the help perhaps of dams thrown across them at certain +intervals, the water might be led to almost any part of the intervening +country, and a supply kept up during the whole year. Or, even without +works of this magnitude, by hydraulic machines of a very simple +construction, the life-giving fluid might be raised from the great +streams and their affluents in sufficient quantity to maintain a broad +belt on either side of the river-courses in perpetual verdure. +Anciently, we know that recourse was had to both of these systems. In +the tract between the Tigris and the Upper Zab, which is the only part +of Assyria that has been minutely examined, are distinct remains of at +least one Assyrian canal, wherein much ingenuity and hydraulic skill is +exhibited, the work being carried through the more elevated ground by +tunnelling, and the canal led for eight miles contrary to the natural +course of every stream in the district. Sluices and dams, cut sometimes +in the solid rock, regulated the supply of the fluid at different +seasons, and enabled the natives to make the most economical application +of the great fertilizer. The use of the hand-swipe was also certainly +known, since it is mentioned by Herodotus, and even represented upon the +sculptures. [PLATE XXV., Fig. 1.] Very probably other more elaborate +machines were likewise employed, unless the general prevalency of canals +superseded their necessity. It is certain that over wide districts, now +dependent for productive power wholly on the spring rains, and +consequently quite incapable of sustaining a settled population, there +must have been maintained in Assyrian times some effective +water-system, whereby regions that at present with difficulty furnish a +few months' subsistence to the wandering Arab tribes, were enabled to +supply to scores of populous cities sufficient food for their +consumption. + +[Illustration: PLATE 25] + +We have not much account of the products of Assyria Proper in early +times. Its dates were of small repute, being greatly inferior to those +of Babylon. It grew a few olives in places, and some spicy shrubs, which +cannot be identified with any certainty. Its cereal crops were good, and +may perhaps be regarded as included in the commendations bestowed by +Herodotus and Strabo on the grain of the Mesopotamian region. The +country was particularly deficient in trees, large tracts growing +nothing but wormwood and similar low shrubs, while others were +absolutely without either tree or bush. The only products of Assyria +which acquired such note as to be called by its name were its silk and +its citron trees. The silk, according to Pliny, was the produce of a +large kind of silkworm not found elsewhere. The citron trees obtained a +very great celebrity. Not only were they admired for their perpetual +fruitage, and their delicious odor; but it was believed that the fruit +which they bore was an unfailing remedy against poisons. Numerous +attempts were made to naturalize the tree in other countries; but up to +the time when Pliny wrote, every such attempt had failed, and the citron +was still confined to Assyria, Persia and Media. + +It is not to be imagined that the vegetable products of Assyria were +confined within the narrow compass which the ancient notices might seem +to indicate. Those notices are casual, and it is evident that they are +incomplete: nor will a just notion be obtained of the real character of +the region, unless we take into account such of the present products as +may be reasonably supposed to be indigenous. Now setting aside a few +plants of special importance to man, the cultivation of which may have +been introduced, such as tobacco, rice, Indian corn, and cotton, we may +fairly say that Assyria has no exotics, and that the trees, shrubs, and +vegetables now found within her limits are the same in all probability +as grew there anciently. In order to complete our survey, we may +therefore proceed to inquire what are the chief vegetable products of +the region at the present time. + +In the south the date-palm grows well as far as Anah on the Euphrates +and Tekrit on the Tigris. Above that latitude it languishes, and ceases +to give fruit altogether about the junction of the Khabour with the one +stream and the Lesser Zab with the other. The unproductive tree, +however, which the Assyrians used for building purposes, will grow and +attain a considerable size to the very edge of the mountains. Of other +timber trees the principal are the sycamore and the Oriental plane, +which are common in the north the oak, which abounds about Mardin (where +it yields gall-nuts and the rare product manna), and which is also +found in the Sinjar and Abd-el-Aziz ranges; the silver poplar, which +often fringes the banks of the streams; the sumac, which is found on the +Upper Euphrates; and the walnut, which grows in the Jebel Tur, and is +not uncommon between the foot of Zagros and the outlying ranges of +hills. Of fruit-trees the most important are the orange, lemon, +pomegranate, apricot, olive, vine, fig, mulberry, and pistachio-nut. +The pistachio-nut grows wild in the northern mountains, especially +between Orfah and Diarbekr. The fig is cultivated with much care in the +Sinjar. The vine is also grown in that region, but bears better on the +skirts of the hills above Orfah and Mardin. Pomegranates flourish in +various parts of the country. Oranges and lemons belong to its more +southern parts, where it verges on Babylonia. The olive clothes the +flanks of Zagros in places. Besides these rarer fruits, Assyria has +chestnuts, pears, apples, plums, cherries, wild and cultivated, qinces, +apricots, melons and filberts. + +The commonest shrubs are a kind of wormwood--the _apsinthium_ of +Xenophon--which grows over much of the plain extending south of the +Khabour--and the tamarisk. Green myrtles, and oleanders with their rosy +blossoms, clothe the banks of some of the smaller streams between the +Tigris and Mount Zagros; and a shrub of frequent occurrence is the +liquorice plant. Of edible vegetables there is great abundance. Truffles +and capers grow wild; while peas, beans, onions, spinach, cucumbers, and +lentils are cultivated successfully. The carob (_Ceratonia Siliqua_) +must also be mentioned as among the rarer products of this region. + +It was noticed above that manna is gathered in Assyria from the dwarf +oak. It is abundant in Zagros, and is found also in the woods about +Mardin, and again between Orfah and Diarbekr. According to Mr. Rich, it +is not confined to the dwarf oak, or even to trees and shrubs, but is +deposited also on sand, rocks, and stone. It is most plentiful in wet +seasons, and especially after fogs; in dry seasons it fails almost +totally. The natives collect it in spring and autumn. The best and +purest is that taken from the ground; but by far the greater quantity is +obtained from the trees, by placing cloths under them and shaking the +branches. The natives use it as food both in its natural state and +manufactured into a kind of paste. It soon corrupts; and in order to fit +it for exportation, or even for the storeroom of the native housewife, +it has to undergo the process of boiling. When thus prepared, it is a +gentle purgative; but, in its natural state and when fresh, it may be +eaten in large quantities without any unpleasant consequences. + +Assyria is far better supplied with minerals than Babylonia. Stone of a +good quality, either limestone, sandstone, or conglomerate, is always at +hand; while a tolerable clay is also to be found in most plices. If a +more durable material is required, basaltic rock may be obtained from +the Mons Masius--a substance almost as hard as granite. On the left +bank of the Tigris a soft gray alabaster abounds which is easily cut +into slabs, and forms an excellent material for the sculptor. The +neighboring mountains of Kurdistan contain marbles of many different +qualities; and these could be procured without much difficulty by means +of the rivers. From the same quarter it was easy to obtain the most +useful metals. Iron, copper, and lead are found in great abundance in +the Tiyari Mountains within a short distance of Nineveh, where they crop +out upon the surface, so that they cannot fail to be noticed. Lead and +copper are also obtainable from the neighborhood of Diarbekr. The +Kurdish Mountains may have supplied other metals. They still produce +silver and antimony; and it is possible that they may anciently have +furnished gold and tin. As their mineral riches have never been explored +by scientific persons, it is very probable that they may contain many +other metals besides those which they are at present known to yield. + +Among the mineral products of Assyria, bitumen, naphtha, petroleum, +sulphur, alum, and salt have also to be reckoned. The bitumen pits of +Kerkuk, in the country between the Lesser Zab and the Adhem, are +scarcely less celebrated than those of Hit; and there are some abundant +springs of the same character close to Nimrud, in the bed of the Shor +Derrell torrent. The Assyrian palaces furnish sufficient evidence that +the springs were productive in old times; for the employment of bitumen +as a cement, though not so frequent as in Babylonia, is yet occasionally +found in them. With the bitumen are always procured both naphtha and +petroleum; while at Kerkuk there is an abundance of sulphur also. Salt +is obtained from springs in the Kerkuk country; and is also formed in +certain small lakes lying between the Sinjar and Babylonia. Alum is +plentiful in the hills about Kifri. + +The most remarkable wild animals of Assyria are the following: the lion, +the leopard, the lynx, the wild-cat, the hyaena, the wild ass, the +bear, the deer, the gazelle, the ibex, the wild sheep, the wild boar, +the jackal, the wolf, the fox, the beaver, the jerboa, the porcupine, +the badger, and the hare. The Assyrian lion is of the maneless kind, and +in general habits resembles the lion of Babylonia. The animal is +comparatively rare in the eastern districts, being seldom found on the +banks of the Tigris above Baghdad, and never above Kileh-Sherghat. On +the Euphrates it has been seen as high as Bir; and it is frequent on the +banks of the Khabour, and in the Sinjar. It has occasionally that +remarkable peculiarity--so commonly represented on the sculptures--a +short horny claw at the extremity of the tail in the middle of the +ordinary tuft of hair. The ibex or wild goat--also a favorite subject +with the Assyrian sculptors--is frequent in Kurdistan, and moreover +abounds on the highest ridges of the Abd-el-Aziz and the Sinjar, where +it is approached with difficulty by the hunter. The gazelle, wild boar, +wolf, jackal, fox, badger, porcupine, and hare are common in the plains, +and confined to no particular locality. The jerboa is abundant near the +Khabour. Beau's and deer are found on the skirts of the Kurdish hills. +The leopard, hyaena, lynx, and beaver are comparatively rare. The last +named animal, very uncommon in Southern Asia, was at one time found in +large numbers on the Khabour; but in consequence of the value set upon +its musk bag, it has been hunted almost to extermination, and is now +very seldom seen. The Khabour beavers are said to be a different species +from the American. Their tail is not large and broad, but sharp and +pointed; nor do they build houses, or construct dams across the stream, +but live in the banks, making themselves large chambers above the +ordinary level of the floods, which are entered by holes beneath the +water-line. + +The rarest of all the animals which are still found in Assyria is the +wild ass (_Equus hemionous_). Till the present generation of travellers, +it was believed to have disappeared altogether from the region, and to +have "retired into the steppes of Mongolia and the deserts of Persia. +But a better acquaintance with the country between the rivers has shown +that wild asses, though uncommon, still inhabit the tract where, they +were seen by Xenophon." [PLATE XXVI., Fig. 1.] They are delicately made, +in color varying from a grayish-white in winter to a bright bay, +approaching to pink, in the summer-time; they are said to be remarkably +swift. It is impossible to take them when full grown; but the Arabs +often capture the foals, and bring them up with milk in their tents. +They then become very playful and docile; but it is found difficult to +keep them alive; and they have never, apparently, been domesticated. The +Arabs usually kill them and eat their flesh. + +[Illustration: PLATE 26] + +It is probable that all these animals, and some others, inhabited +Assyria during the time of the Empire. Lions of two kinds, with and +without manes, abound in the sculptures, the former, which do not now +exist in Assyria, being the more common. [PLATE XXV., Fig. 2.] They are +represented with a skill and a truth which shows the Assyrian sculptor +to have been familiar not only with their forms and proportions, but +with their natural mode of life, their haunts, and habits. The leopard +is far less often depicted, but appears sometimes in the ornamentation +of utensils, and is frequently mentioned in the inscriptions. The wild +ass is a favorite subject with the sculptors of the late Empire, and is +represented with great spirit, though not with complete accuracy. [PLATE +XXVI., Fig. 1.] The ears are too short, the head is too fine, the legs +are not fine enough, and the form altogether approaches too nearly to +the type of the horse. The deer, the gazelle, and the ibex all occur +frequently; and though the forms are to some extent conventional, they +are not wanting in spirit. [PLATE XXVII.] Deer are apparently of two +kinds. That which is most commonly found appears to represent the gray +deer, which is the only species existing at present within the confines +of Assyria. The other sort is more delicate in shape, and spotted, +seeming to represent the fallow deer, which is not now known in Syria or +the adjacent countries. It sometimes appears wild, lying among the +reeds; sometimes tame, in the arms of a priest or of a winged figure. +There is no representation in the sculptures of the wild boar; but a +wild sow and pigs are given in one bas-relief, sufficiently indicating +the Assyrian acquaintance with this animal. Hares are often depicted, +and with much truth; generally they are carried in the hands of men, but +sometimes they are being devoured by vultures or eagles. [PLATE XXVIII +Figs. 1, 2.] No representations have been found of bears, wild cats, +hyaenas, wolves, jackals, wild sheep, foxes, beavers, jerbdas, +porcupines, or badgers. + +[Illustration: PLATE 27] + +There is reason to believe that two other animals, which have now +altogether disappeared from the country, inhabited at least some parts +of Assyria during its flourishing period. One of these is the wild +bull-often represented on the bas-reliefs as a beast of chase, and +perhaps mentioned as such in the inscriptions. This animal, which is +sometimes depicted as en-gaged in a contest with the lion, must have +been of vast strength and boldness. It is often hunted by the king, and +appears to have been considered nearly as noble an object of pursuit as +the lion. We may presume, from the practice in the adjoining country, +Palestine, 96 that the flesh was eaten as food. + +[Illustration: PLATE 28] + +The other animal, once indigenous, but which has now disappeared, was +called by the Assyrians the _mithin,_ and is thought to have been the +tiger. Tigers are not now found nearer to Assyria than the country south +of the Caspian, Ghilan, and Mazanderan; but as there is no conceivable +reason why they should not inhabit Mesopotamia, and as the _mithin_ is +constantly joined with the lion, as if it were a beast of the same kind, +and of nearly equal strength and courage, we may fairly conjecture that +the tiger is the animal intended. If this seem too bold a theory, we +must regard the _mithin_ as the larger leopard, an animal of +considerable strength and ferocity, which, as well as the hunting +leopard, is still found in the country. [PLATE XXVI., Fig. 2.] + +The birds at present frequenting Assyria are chiefly the following: the +bustard (which is of two kinds--the great and the middle-sized), the +egret, the crane, the stork, the pelican, the flamingo, the red +partridge, the black partridge or francolin, the parrot, the Seleucian +thrush (_Turdus Seleucus_), the vulture, the falcon or hunting hawk, the +owl, the wild swan, the bramin goose, the ordinary wild goose, the wild +duck, the teal, the tern, the sand-grouse, the turtle dove, the +nightingale, the jay, the plover, and the snipe. There is also a large +kite or eagle, called "agab," or "the butcher," by the Arabs, which is +greatly dreaded by fowlers, as it will attack and kill the falcon no +less than other birds. + +We have little information as to which of these birds frequented the +country in ancient times. The Assyrian artists are not happy in their +delineation of the feathered tribe; and though several forms of birds +are represented upon the sculptures of Sargon and elsewhere, there are +but three which any writer has ventured to identify--the vulture, the +ostrich, and the partridge. The vulture is commonly represented flying +in the air, in attendance upon the march and the battle--sometimes +devouring, as he flies, the entrails of one of Assyria's enemies. +Occasionally he appears upon the battle-field, perched upon the bodies +of the slain, and pecking at their eyes or their vitals. [PLATE XXVIII., +Fig. 4.] The ostrich, which we know from Xenophon to have been a former +inhabitant of the country on the left bank of the Euphrates, but which +has now retreated into the wilds of Arabia, occurs frequently upon +cylinders, dresses, and utensils; sometimes stalking along apparently +unconcerned; sometimes hastening at full speed, as if pursued by the +hunter, and, agreeably to the description of Xenophon, using its wing +for a sail. [PLATE XXIX., Figs. 1, 2.] The partridge is still more +common than either of these. He is evidently sought as food. We find him +carried in the hand of sportsmen returning from the chase, or see him +flying above their heads as they beat the coverts, or finally observe +him pierced by a successful shot, and in the act of falling a prey to +his pursuers. [PLATE XXIX., Fig. 3.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 29] + +The other birds represented upon the sculptures, though occasionally +possessing some marked peculiarities of form or habit, have not yet been +identified with any known species. [PLATE XXIX., Fig. 2.] They are +commonly represented as haunting the fir-woods, and often as perched +upon the trees. One appears, in a sculpture of Sargon's. in the act of +climbing the stein of a tree, like the nut-hatch or the woodpecker. +Another has a tail like a pheasant, but in other respects cannot be said +to resemble that bird. The artist does not appear to aim at truth in +these delineations, and it probably would be a waste of ingenuity to +conjecture which species of bird he intended. + +We have no direct evidence that bustards inhabited Mesopotamia in +Assyrian times; but as they have certainly been abundant in that region +front the time of Xenophon to our own, there can be little doubt that +they existed in some parts of Assyria during the Empire. Considering +their size, their peculiar appearance, and the delicacy of their flesh, +it is remarkable that the Assyrian remains furnish no trace of them. +Perhaps, as they are extremely shy, they may have been comparatively +rare in the country when the population was numerous, and when the +greater portion of the tract between the rivers was brought under +cultivation. + +The fish most plentiful in Assyria are the same as in Babylonia, namely, +barbel and carp. They abound not only in the Tigris and Euphrates, but +also in the lake of Khutaniyeh, and often grow to a great size. Trout +are found in the streams which run down from Zagros; and there may be +many other sorts which have not yet been observed. The sculptures +represent all the waters, whether river, pond, or marsh, as full of +fish; but the forms are for the most part too conventional to admit of +identification. [PLATE XXIX., Fig. 3.] + +The domestic animals now found in Assyria are camels, horses, asses, +mules, sheep, goats, oxen, cows, and dogs. The camels are of three +colors--white, yellow, and dark brown or black. They are probably all +of the same species, though commonly distinguished into camels proper, +and _delouls_ or dromedaries, the latter differing from the others as +the English race-horse from the cart-horse. The Bactrian or +two-humped camel, though known to the ancient Assyrians, is not now +found in the country. [PLATE XXX., Fig. 1.] The horses are numerous, and +of the best Arab blood. Small in stature, but of exquisite symmetry and +wonderful powers of endurance, they are highly prized throughout the +East, and constitute the chief wealth of the wandering tribes who occupy +the greater portion of Mesopotamia. The sheep and goats are also of good +breeds, and produce wool of an excellent quality. [PLATE XXX., Fig. 2.] +The cows and oxen cannot be commended. The dogs kept are chiefly +greyhounds, which are used to course the hare and the gazelle. + +[Illustration: PLATE 30] + +It is probable that in ancient times the animals domesticated by the +Assyrians were not very different from these. The camel appears upon the +monuments both as a beast of burden and also as ridden in war, but only +by the enemies of the Assyrians. [PLATE XXX., Fig. 3.] The horse is used +both for draught and for riding, but seems never degraded to ignoble +purposes. His breed is good, though he is not so finely or delicately +made as the modern Arab. The head is small and well shaped, the nostrils +large and high, the neck arched, but somewhat thick, the body compact, +the loins strong, the legs moderately slender and sinewy. [PLATE XXX., +Fig. 4.] [PLATE XXXI., Fig. 1.] The ass is not found; but the mule +appears, sometimes ridden by women, sometimes used as a beast of burden, +sometimes employed in drawing a cart. [PLATE XXXI., Fig. 2] [PLATE +XXXII., Figs. 1, 2.] Cows, oxen, sheep, and goats are frequent; but they +are foreign rather tham Assyrian, since they occur only among the spoil +taken from conquered countries. The dog is frequent on the later +sculptures; and has been found modelled in clay, and also represented in +relief on a clay tablet. [PLATE XXXII., Fig. 3.] [PLATE XXXIII., Fig. +1.] Their character is that of a large mastiff or hound, and there is +abundant evidence that they were employed in hunting. + +[Illustration: PLATE 31] + +[Illustration: PLATE 32] + +If the Assyrians domesticated any bird, it would seem to have been the +duck. Models of the duck are common, and seem generally to have been +used for weights. [PLATE XXXIII., Fig. 2.] The bird is ordinarily +represented with its head turned upon its back, the attitude of the +domestic duck when asleep. The Assyrians seem to have had artificial +ponds or stews, which are always represented as full of fish, but the +forms are conventional, as has been already observed. Considering the +size to which the carp and barbel actually grow at the present day, the +ancient representations are smaller than might have been expected. + +[Illustration: PLATE 33] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE PEOPLE. + +"The Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, fair of branches, and with a +shadowing shroud, and of high stature; and his top was among the thick +boughs. . . . Nor was any tree in the garden of God like unto him in his +beauty."--EZEK. xxxi. 3 and 8. + +The ethnic character of the ancient Assyrians, like that of the +Chaldaeans, was in former times a matter of controversy. When nothing +was known of the original language of the people beyond the names of +certain kings, princes, and generals, believed to have belonged to the +race, it was difficult to arrive at any determinate conclusion on the +subject. The ingenuity of etymologists displayed itself in suggesting +derivations for the words in question, which were sometimes absurd, +sometimes plausible, but never more than very doubtful conjectures. No +sound historical critic could be content to base a positive view on any +such unstable foundation, and nothing remained but to decide the +controversy on other than linguistic considerations. + +Various grounds existed on which it was felt that a conclusion could be +drawn. The Scriptural genealogies connected Asshur with Aran, Pier, and +Joktan, the allowed progenitors of the Armaeians or Syrians, the +Israelites or Hebrews, and the northern or Joktanian Arabs. The +languages, physical type, and moral characteristics of these races were +well known: they all belonged evidently to a single family the family +known to ethnologists as the Semitic. Again, the manners and customs, +especially the religious customs, of the Assyrians connected then +plainly with the Syrians and Phoenicians, with whose practices they were +closely allied. Further it was observed that the modern Chaldaeans of +Kurdistan, who regard themselves as descendants of the ancient +inhabitants of the neighboring Assyria, still speak a Semitic dialect. +These three distinct and convergent lines of testimony were sufficient +to justify historians in the conclusion, which they commonly drew, that +the ancient Assyrians belonged to the Semitic family, and were more or +less closely connected with the Syrians, the (later) Babylonians, the +Phoenicians, the Israelites, and the Arabs of the northern portion of +the peninsula. + +Recent linguistic discoveries have entirely confirmed the conclusion +thus, arrived at. We now possess in the engraved slabs, the clay +tablets, the cylinders, and the bricks, exhumed from the ruins of the +great Assyrian cities, copious documentary evidence of the character of +the Assyrian language, and (so far as language is a proof) of the ethnic +character of the race. It appears to be doubted by none who have +examined the evidence, that the language of these records is Semitic. +However imperfect the acquaintance which our best Oriental +archaeologists have as yet obtained with this ancient and difficult form +of speech, its connection with the Syriac, the later Babylonian, the +Hebrew, and the Arabic does not seem to admit of a doubt. + +Another curious confirmation of the ordinary belief is to be found in +the physical characteristics of the people, as revealed to us by the +sculptures. Few persons in any way familiar with these works of art can +have failed to remark the striking resemblance to the Jewish physiognomy +which is presented by the sculptured effigies of the Assyrians. The +forehead straight but not high, the full brow, the eye large and +almond-shaped, the aquiline nose, a little coarse at the end, and unduly +depressed, the strong, firm mouth, with lips somewhat over thick, the +well-formed chin--best seen in the representation of eunuchs--the +abundant hair and ample beard, both colored as black--all these recall +the chief peculiarities of the Jew more especially as he appears in +southern countries. [PLATE XXXIII., Fig. 3.] They are less like the +traits of the Arab, though to them also they bear a considerable +resemblance. Chateaubriand's description of the Bedouin--"_la tete +ovale, le front haut et argue, le nez aquilia, les yeux grandes et coupe +en amandes, le regard humide et singulierement doux_" would serve in +many respects equally well for a description of the physiognomy of the +Assyrians, as they appear upon the monuments. The traits, in fact, are +for the most part common to the Semitic race generally, and not +distinctive of any particular subdivision of it. They are seen now alike +in the Arab, the Jew, and the Chalaedeans of Kurdistan, while anciently +they not only characterized the Assyrians, but probably belonged also to +the Phoenicians, the Syrians, and other minor Semetic races. It is +evident, even from the mannered and conventional sculptures of Egypt, +that the physiognomy was regarded as characteristic of the western +Asiatic races. Three captives on the monuments of Amenophis III., +represented as belonging to the Patana (people of Bashan?), the Asuru +(Assyrians), and the Karukamishi (people of Carchemish), present to us +the sane style of face, only slightly modified by Egyptian ideas. +[PLATE. XXXIV., Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 34] + +White in face the Assyrians appear thus to have borne a most close +resemblance to the Jews, in shape and make they are perhaps more nearly +represented by their descendants, the Chaldaeans of Kurdistan. While the +Oriental Jew has a spare form and a weak muscular development, the +Assyrian, like the modern Chaldaean, is robust, broad-shouldered, and +large-limbed. Nowhere have we a race represented to us monumentally of a +stronger or more muscular type than the ancient Assyrian. The great +brawny limbs are too large for beauty; but they indicate a physical +power which we may well believe to have belonged to this nation--the +Romans of Asia--the resolute and sturdy people which succeeded in +imposing its yoke upon all its neighbors. [PLATE XXXIV., Fig, 2.] + +If from physical we proceed to mental characteristics, we seem again to +have in the Jewish character the best and closest analogy to the +Assyrian. In the first place, there is observable in each a strong and +marked prominency of the religious principle. Inscriptions of Assyrian +kings begin and end, almost without exception, with praises, +invocations, and prayers to the principal objects of their adoration. +All the monarch's successes, all his conquests and victories, and even +his good fortune in the chase, are ascribed continually to the +protection and favor of guardian deities. Wherever he goes, he takes +care to "set up the emblems of Asshur," or of "the great gods;" and +forces the vanquished to do them homage. The choicest of the spoil is +dedicated as a thank-offering in the temples. The temples themselves are +adorned, repaired, beautified, enlarged, increased in manner, by almost, +every monarch. The kings worship them in person, and offer sacrifices. +They embellish their palaces, not only with representations of their own +victories and hunting expeditions, but also with religious figures--the +emblems of some of the principal deities, and with scenes in which are +portrayed acts of adoration. Their signets, and indeed those of the +Assyrians generally, have a religious character. In every way religion +seems to hold a marked and prominent place in the thoughts of the +people, who fight more for the honor of their gods than even of their +king, and aim at extending their belief as much as their dominion. + +Again, combined with this prominency of the religious principle, is a +sensuousness--such as we observe in Judaism continually struggling +against a higher and purer element--but which in this less favored +branch of the Semitic family reigns uncontrolled, and gives to its +religion a gross, material, and even voluptuous character. The ideal and +the spiritual find little favor with this practical people, which, not +content with symbols, must have gods of wood and stone whereto to pray, +and which in its complicated mythological system, its priestly +hierarchy, its gorgeous ceremonial, and finally in its lascivious +ceremonies, is a counterpart to that Egypt, from which the Jew was +privileged to make his escape. + +The Assyrians are characterized in Scripture as "a fierce people." Their +victories seem to have been owing to their combining individual bravery +and hardihood with a skill and proficiency in the arts of war not +possessed by their more uncivilized neighbors. This bravery and +hardihood were kept up, partly (like that of the Romans) by their +perpetual wars, partly by the training afforded to their manly qualities +by the pursuit and destruction of wild animals. The lion--the king of +beasts--abounded in their country, together with many other dangerous +and ferocious animals. Unlike the ordinary Asiatic, who trembles before +the great beasts of prey and avoids a collision by flight if possible, +the ancient Assyrian sought out the strongest and fiercest of the +animals, provoked them to the encounter, and engaged with them in +hand-to-hand combats. The spirit of Nimrod, the "mighty hunter before +the Lord," not only animated his own people, but spread on from them to +their northern neighbors; and, as far as we can judge by the monuments, +prevailed even more in Assyria than in Chaldaea itself. The favorite +objects of chase with the Assyrians seem to have been the lion and the +wild bull, both beasts of vast strength and courage, which could not be +attacked without great danger to the bold assailant. + +No doubt the courage of the Assyrians was tinged with ferocity. The +nation was "a mighty and strong one, which, as a tempest of hail and a +destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, cast down to +the earth with the hand." Its capital might well deserve to be called "a +bloody city," or "a city of bloods." Few conquering races have been +tender-hearted, or much inclined to spare; and undoubtedly carnage, +ruin, and desolation followed upon the track of an Assyrian army, and +raised feelings of fear and hatred among their adversaries. But we have +no reason to believe that the nation was especially bloodthirsty or +unfeeling. The mutilation of the slain--not by way of insult, but in +proof of their slayer's prowess was indeed practised among them; but +otherwise there is little indication of any barbarous, much less of any +really cruel, usages. The Assyrian listens to the enemy who asks for +quarter; he prefers making prisoners to slaying; he is very terrible in +the battle and the assault, but afterwards he forgives, and spares. Of +course in some cases he makes exceptions. When a town has rebelled and +been subdued, he impales some of the most guilty [PLATE XXXV., Fig. 1]; +and in two or three instances prisoners are represented as led before +the king by a rope fastened to a ring which passes through the under +lip, while now and then one appears in the act of being flayed with it +knife [PLATE XXXV., Fig. 2.] But, generally, captives are either +released, or else transferred, without unnecessary suffering, from their +own country to some other portion of the empire. There seems even to be +something of real tenderness in the treatment of captured women, who are +never manacled, and are often allowed to ride on mules, or in carts. +[PLATE XXXVI., Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 35] + +[Illustration: PLATE 36] + +The worst feature in the character of the Assyrians was their treachery. +"Woe to thee that spoilest, though thou wast not spoiled, and dealest +treacherously, though they dealt not treacherously with thee!" is the +denunciation of the evangelical prophet. And in the same spirit the +author of "The Burthen of Nineveh" declares that city to be "full of +lies and robbery"--or, more correctly, full of lying and violence. +Falsehood and treachery are commonly regarded as the vices of the weak, +who are driven to defend themselves against superior strength by the +weapon of cunning; but they are perhaps quite as often employed by the +strong as furnishing short cuts to success, and even where the moral +standard is low, as being in themselves creditable. It certainly was not +necessity which made the Assyrians covenant-breakers; it seems to have +been in part the wantonness of power--because they "despised the cities +and regarded no man;" perhaps it was in part also their imperfect moral +perception, which may have failed to draw the proper distinction between +craft and cleverness. + +Another unpleasant feature in the Assyrian character--but one at which +we can feel no surprise--was their pride. This is the quality which +draws forth the sternest denunciations of Scripture, and is expressly +declared to have called down the Divine judgments upon the race. Isaiah, +Ezekiel, and Zephaniah alike dwell upon it. It pervades the +inscriptions. Without being so rampant or offensive as the pride of some +Orientals--as, for instance, the Chinese, it is of a marked and decided +color: the Assyrian feels himself infinitely superior to all the nations +with whom he is brought into contact; he alone enjoys the favor of the +gods; he alone is either truly wise or truly valiant; the armies of his +enemies are driven like chaff before him; he sweeps them away, like +heaps of stubble; either they fear to fight, or they are at once +defeated; he carries his victorious arms just as far as it pleases him, +and never under any circumstances admits that he has suffered a reverse. +The only merit that he allows to foreigners is some skill in the +mechanical and mimetic arts, and his acknowledgment of this is tacit +rather than express, being chiefly known from the recorded fact that he +employs foreign artists to ornament his edifices. + +According to the notions which the Greeks derived from Ctesias, and +passed on to the Romans, and through them to the moderns generally, the +greatest defect in the Assyrian character--the besetting sin of their +leading men--was luxuriousness of living and sensuality. From Ninyas to +Sardanapalus--from the commencement to the close of the Empire--a line +of voluptuaries, according to Ctesias and his followers, held possession +of the throne; and the principle was established from the first, that +happiness consisted in freedom from all cares or troubles, and unchecked +indulgence in every species of sensual pleasure. This account, +intrinsically suspicious, is now directly contradicted by the authentic +records which we possess of the warlike character and manly pursuits of +so many of the kings. It probably, however, contains a germ of truth. In +a flourishing kingdom like Assyria, luxury must have gradually advanced; +and when the empire fell under the combined attack of its two most +powerful neighbors, no doubt it had lost much of its pristine vigor. The +monuments lend some support to the view that luxury was among the causes +which produced the fall of Assyria; although it may be questioned +whether, even to the last, the predominant spirit was not warlike and +manly, or even fierce and violent. Among the many denunciations of +Assyria in Scripture, there is only one which can even be thought to +point to luxury as a cause of her downfall; and that is a passage of +very doubtful interpretation. In general it is her violence, her +treachery, and her pride that are denounced. When Nineveh repented in +the time of Jonah, it was by each man "turning from his evil way and +from the violence which was in their hands." When Nahum announces the +final destruction, it is on "the bloody city, full of lies and robbery." +In the emblematic language of prophecy, the _lion_ is taken as the +fittest among animals to symbolize Assyria, even at this late period of +her history. She is still "the lion that did tear in pieces enough for +his whelps, and strangled for his lioness, and filled his holes with +prey, and his dens with ravin." The favorite national emblem, if it may +be so called, is accepted as the true type of the people; and blood, +ravin, and robbery are their characteristics in the mind of the Hebrew +prophet. + +In mental power the Assyrians certainly deserve to be considered as +among the foremost of the Asiatic races. They had not perhaps so much +originality as the Chaldaeans, from whom they appear to have derived the +greater part of their civilization; but in many respects it is clear +that they surpassed their instructors, and introduced improvements which +gave a greatly increased value and almost a new character to arts +previously discovered. The genius of the people will best be seen from +the accounts hereafter to be given of their language, their arts, and +their system of government. If it must be allowed that these have all a +certain smack of rudeness and primitive simplicity, still they are +advances upon aught that had previously existed--not only in +Mesopotamia--but in the world. Fully to appreciate the Assyrians, we +should compare them with the much-lauded Egyptians, who in all important +points are very decidedly their inferiors. The spirit and progressive +character of their art offers the strongest contrast to the stiff, +lifeless, and unchanging conventionalism of the dwellers on the Nile. +Their language and alphabet are confessedly in advance of the Egyptian. +Their religion is more earnest and less degraded. In courage and +military genius their superiority is very striking; for the Egyptians +are essentially an unwarlike people. The one point of advantage to which +Egypt may fairly lay claim is the grandeur and durability of her +architecture. The Assyrian palaces, magnificent, as they undoubtedly +were, must yield the palm to the vast structures of Egyptian Thebes. No +nation, not even Rome, has equalled Egypt in the size and solemn +grandeur of its buildings. But, except in this one respect, the great +African kingdom must be regarded as inferior to her Asiatic rival--which +was indeed "a cedar in Lebanon, exalted above all the trees of the +field--fair in greatness and in the length of his branches--so that all +the trees that were in the garden of God envied him, and not one was +like unto him in his beauty." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE CAPITAL. + +"Fuit et Ninus, imposita Tigri, ad solis occasum spectans, quondam +clarissima."--PLIN. H. N. vi. 13. + +The site of the great capital of Assyria had generally been regarded as +fixed with sufficient certainty to the tract immediately opposite Mosul, +alike by local tradition and by the statements of ancient writers, when +the discovery by modern travellers of architectural remains of great +magnificence at some considerable distance from this position, threw a +doubt upon the generally received belief, and made the true situation of +the ancient Nineveh once more a matter of controversy. When the noble +sculptures and vast palaces of Nimrud were first uncovered, it was +natural to suppose that they marked the real site; for it seemed +unlikely that any mere provincial city should have been adorned by a +long series of monarchs with buildings at once on so grand a scale and +so richly ornamented. A passage of Strabo, and another of Ptolemy, were +thought to lend confirmation to this theory, which placed the Assyrian +capital nearly at the junction of the Upper Zab with the Tigris; and for +awhile the old opinion was displaced, and the name of Nineveh was +attached very generally in this country to the ruins at Nimrud. + +Shortly afterwards a rival claimant started up in the regions further to +the north. Excavations carried on at the village of Khorsabad showed +that a magnificent palace and a considerable town had existed in +Assyrian times at that site. In spite of the obvious objection that the +Khorsabad ruins lay at the distance of fifteen miles from the Tigris, +which according to every writer of weight anciently washed the walls of +Nineveh, it was assumed by the excavator that the discovery of the +capital had been reserved for himself, and the splendid work +representing the Khorsabad bas-reliefs and inscriptions, which was +published in France under the title of "Monument de Ninive," caused the +reception of M. Botta's theory in many parts of the Continent. + +After awhile an attempt was made to reconcile the rival claims by a +theory, the grandeur of which gained it acceptance, despite its +improbability. It was suggested that the various ruins, which had +hitherto disputed the name, were in fact all included within the circuit +of the ancient Nineveh; which was described as a rectangle, or oblong +square, eighteen miles long and twelve broad. The remains of Khorsabad, +Koyunjik, Nimrud, and Keremles marked the four corners of this vast +quadrangle, which contained an area of 216 square miles--about ten times +that of London! In confirmation of this view was urged, first, the +description in Diodorus, derived probably from Ctesias, which +corresponded (it was said) both with the proportions and with the actual +distances; and next, the statements contained in the book of Jonah, +which (it was argued) implied a city of some such dimensions. The +parallel of Babylon, according to the description given by Herodotus, +might fairly have been cited as a further argument; since it might have +seemed reasonable to suppose that there was no great difference of size +between the chief cities of the two kindred empires. + +Attractive, however, as this theory is from its grandeur, and harmonious +as it must be allowed to be with the reports of the Greeks, we have +nevertheless to reject it on two grounds, the one historical and the +other topographical. The ruins of Khorsabad, Keremles, Nimrud, and +Koyunjik bear on their bricks distinct local titles; and these titles +are found attaching to distinct cities in the historical inscriptions. +Nimrud, as already observed, is Calah; and Khorsabad is Dur-Sargina, or +"the city of Sargon." Keremles has also its own appellation Dur-* * *, +"the city of the God [--]." Now the Assyrian writers do not consider +these places to be parts of Nineveh, but speak of them as distinct and +separate cities. Calah for a long time is the capital, while Nineveh is +mentioned as a provincial town. Dur-Sargina is built by Sargon, not at +Nineveh, but "near to Nineveh." Scripture, it must be remembered, +similarly distinguishes Calah as a place separate from Nineveh, and so +far from it that there was room for "a great city" between them. And the +geographers, while they give the name of Aturia or Assyria Proper to the +country about the one town, call the region which surrounds the other by +a distinct name, Calachene. Again, when the country is closely examined, +it is found, not only that there are no signs of any continuous town +over the space included within the four sites of Nimrud, Keremles. +Khorsabad, and Koyunjik, nor any remains of walls or ditches connecting +them, but that the four sites themselves are as carefully fortified on +what, by the theory we are examining, would be the inside of the city as +in other directions. It perhaps need scarcely be added, unless to meet +the argument drawn from Diodorus, that the four sites in question are +not so placed as to form the "oblong square" of his description, but +mark the angles of a rhombus very munch slanted from the perpendicular. + +The argument derived from the book of Jonah deserves more attention than +that which rests upon the authority of Diodorus and Ctesias. Unlike +Ctesias, Jonah saw Nineveh while it still stood; and though the writer +of the prophetical book may not have been Jonah himself, he probably +lived not very many years later. Thus his evidence is that of a +contemporary, though (it may be) not that of an eye-witness; and, even +apart from the inspiration which guided his pen, he is entitled to be +heard with the utmost respect. Now the statements of this writer, which +have a bearing on the size of Nineveh, are two. He tells us, in one +place, that it was "an exceeding great city, of three days' journey;" in +another, that "in it were more than 120,000 persons who could not +discern between their right hand and their left." These passages are +clearly intended to describe a city of a size unusual at the time; but +both of them are to such an extent vague and indistinct, that it is +impossible to draw front either separately, or even from the two +combined, an exact definite notion. "A city of three days' journey" may +be one which it requires three days to traverse from end to end, or one +which is three days' journey in circumference, or, lastly, one which +cannot be thoroughly visited and explored by a prophet commissioned to +warn the inhabitants of a coming danger in less than three days' time. +Persons not able to distinguish their right hand from their left may (if +taken literally) mean children, and 120,000 such persons may therefore +indicate a total population of 600,000; or, the phrase may perhaps with +greater probability be understood of moral ignorance, and the intention +would in that case be to designate by it all the inhabitants. If Nineveh +was in Jonah's time a city containing a population of 120,000, it would +sufficiently deserve the title of "an exceeding great city;" and the +prophet might well be occupied for three days in traversing its squares +and streets. We shall find hereafter that the ruins opposite Mosul have +an extent more than equal to the accommodation of this number of +persons. + +The weight of the argument from the supposed parallel ease of Babylon +must depend on the degree of confidence which can be reposed in the +statement made by Herodotus, and on the opinion which is ultimately +formed with regard to the real size of that capital. It would be +improper to anticipate here the conclusions which may be arrived at +hereafter concerning the real dimensions of "Babylon the Great;" but it +may be observed that grave doubts are entertained in many quarters as to +the ancient statements on the subject, and that the ruins do not cover +much more than one twenty-fifth of the space which Herodotus assigns to +the city. + +We may, therefore, without much hesitation, set aside the theory which +would ascribe to the ancient Nineveh dimensions nine or ten times +greater than those of London, and proceed to a description of the group +of ruins believed by the best judges to mark the true site. + +The ruins opposite Mosul consist of two principal Mounds, known +respectively as Nebbi-Yunus and Koyunjik. [PLATE XXXVI., Fig. 2.] The +Koyunjik mound, which lies to the north-west of the other, at the +distance of 900 yards, or a little more than half a mile, is very much +the more considerable of the two. Its shape is an irregular oval, +elongated to a point towards the north-east, in the line of its greater +axis. The surface is nearly flat; the sides slope at a steep angle, and +are furrowed with numerous ravines, worn in the soft material by the +rains of some thirty centuries. The greatest height of the mound above +the plum is towards the south-eastern extremity, where it overhangs the +small stream of the Khosr; the elevation in this part being about +ninety-five feet. The area covered by the mound is estimated at a +hundred acres, and the entire mass is said to contain 14,500,000 tons of +earth. The labor of a man would scarcely excavate and place in position +more than 120 tons of earth in a year; it would require, therefore, the +united exertions of 10,000 men for twelve years, or 20,000 men for six +years, to complete the structure. On this artificial eminence were +raised in ancient times the palaces and temples of the Assyrian +monarchs, which are now imbedded in the debris of their own ruins. + +[Illustration: PLATE 37] + +The mound of Nebbi-Ymus is at its base nearly triangular: [PLATE +XXXVII., Fig. 1.] It covers an area of about forty acres. It is loftier, +and its sides are more precipitous, than Koyunjik, especially on the +west, where it abutted upon the wall of the city. The surface is mostly +flat, but is divided about the middle by a deep ravine, running nearly +from north to south, and separating the mound into an eastern and a +western portion. The so-called tomb of Jonah is conspicuous on the north +edge of the western portion of the mound, and about it are grouped the +cottages of the Kurds and Turcomans to whom the site of the ancient +Nineveh belongs. The eastern portion of the mound forms a burial-ground, +to which the bodies of Mahometans are brought from considerable +distances. The mass of earth is calculated at six and a half millions of +tons; so that its erection would have given full employment to 10,000 +men for the space of five years and a half. + +These two vast mounds--the platforms on which palaces and temples were +raised--are both in the same line, and abutted, both of them, on the +western wall of the city. Their position in that wall is thought to have +been determined, not by chance, but by design; since they break the +western face of the city into three nearly equal portions. The entire +length of this side of Nineveh was 13,600 feet, or somewhat more than +two and a half miles. Anciently it seems to have immediately overhung +the Tigris, which has now moved off to the west, leaving a plain nearly +a mile in width between its eastern edge and the old rampart of the +city. This rampart followed, apparently, the natural course of the +river-bank; and hence, while on the whole it is tolerably straight, in +the most southern of the three portions it exhibits a gentle curve, +where the river evidently made a sweep, altering its course from +south-east nearly to south. + +The western wall at its northern extremity approaches the present course +of the Tigris, and is here joined, exactly at right angles, by the +northern, or rather the north-western, rampart, which runs in a +perfectly straight line to the north-eastern angle of the city, and is +said to measure exactly 7000 feet. This wall is again divided, like the +western, but with even more preciseness, into three equal portions. +Commencing at the north-eastern angle, one-third of it is carried along +comparatively high ground, after which for the remaining two-thirds of +its course it falls by a gentle decline towards the Tigris. Exactly +midway in this slope the rampart is broken by a road, adjoining which is +a remarkable mound, covering one of the chief gates of the city. + +At its other extremity the western wall forms a very obtuse angle with +the southern, which impends over a deep ravine formed by it winter +torrent, and runs in a straight line for about 1000 yards, when it meets +the eastern wall, with which it forms a slightly acute angle. + +It remains to describe the eastern wall, which is the longest and the +least regular of the four. Tins barrier skirts the edge of a ridge of +conglomerate rock, which here rises somewhat above the level of the +plain, and presents a slightly convex sweep to the north east. At first +it runs nearly parallel to the western, and at right angles to the +northern wall; but, after pursuing this course for about three quarters +of a mile, it is forced by the natural convexity of the ridge to retire +a little, and curving gently inwards it takes a direction much more +southerly than at first, thus drawing continually nearer to the western +wall, whose course is almost exactly south-east. The entire length of +this wall is 16,000 feet, or above three miles. It is divided into two +portions, whereof the southern is somewhat the longer, by the stream of +the Khosr-Su; which coming from the north west, finds its way through +the ruins of the city, and then runs on across the low plain to the +Tigris. + +The enceinte of Nineveh forms thus an irregular trapezium, or a +"triangle with its apex abruptly cut off to the south." The breadth, +even in the broadest part--that towards the north--is very +disproportionate to the length, standing to it as four to nine, or as 1 +to 2.25. The town is thus of an oblong shape, and so far Diodorus truly +described it; though his dimensions greatly exceed the truth. The +circuit of the walls is somewhat less than eight miles, instead of being +more than fifty and the area which they include is 1100 English acres, +instead of being 112,000! + +It is reckoned that in a populous Oriental town we may compute the +inhabitants at nearly, if not quite, a hundred per acre. This allows a +considerable space for streets, open squares, and gardens, since it +assigns but one individual to every space of fifty square yards. +According to such a mode of reckoning, the population of ancient +Nineveh, within the enceinte here described, may be estimated at 175,000 +souls. No city of Western Asia is at the present day so populous. + +In the above description of the ramparts surrounding Nineveh, no account +has been given of their width or height. According to Diodorus, the wall +wherewith Ninus surrounded his capital was 100 feet high, and so broad +that three chariots might drive side by side along the top. Xenophon, +who passed close to the ruins on his retreat with the Ten Thousand, +calls the height 150 feet, and the width 50 feet. The actual greatest +height at present seems to be 46 feet; but the _debris_ at the foot of the +walls are so great, and the crumbled character of the walls themselves +is so evident, that the chief modern explorer inclines to regard the +computation of Diodorus as probably no exaggeration of the truth. The +width of the walls, in their crumbled condition, is from 100 to 200 +feet. + +The mode in which the walls were constructed seems to have been the +following. Up to a certain height--fifty feet, according to +Xenophon--they were composed of neatly-hewn blocks of a fossiliferous +limestone, smoothed and polished on the outside. Above this, the +material used was sun-dried brick. The stone masonry was certainly +ornamented along its top by a continuous series of battlements or +gradines in the same material [PLATE XXXVII., Fig. 2] and it is not +unlikely that a similar ornamentation crowned the upper brick structure. +The wall was pierced at irregular intervals by gates, above which rose +lofty towers; while towers, probably of lesser elevation, occurred also +in the portions of the wall intervening between one gate and another. A +gate in the north-western rampart has been cleared by means of +excavation, the form and construction of which will best appear from the +annexed ground-plan. [PLATE XXXVII., Fig. 3.] It seems to have consisted +of three gateways, whereof the inner and outer were ornamented with +colossal human-headed hulls and other figures, while the central one was +merely panelled with slabs of alabaster. Between the gateways were two +large chambers, 70 feet long by 23 feet wide, which were thus capable of +containing a considerable body of soldiers. The chambers and gateways +are supposed to have been arched over, like the castles' gates on the +bas-reliefs. The gates themselves have wholly disappeared: but the +debris which filled both the chambers and the passages contained so much +charcoal that it is thought they must have been made, not of bronze, +like the gates of Babylon, but of wood. The ground within the gate-way +was paved with large slabs of limestone, still bearing the marks of +chariot wheels. + +The castellated rampart which thus surrounded and guarded Nineveh did +not constitute by any means its sole defence. Outside the stone basement +wall lay on every side a water barrier, consisting on the west and south +of natural river courses; on the north and east, of artificial channels +into which water was conducted from the Khosr-su. The northern and +eastern walls were skirted along their whole length by a broad and deep +moat, into which the Khosr-su was made to flow by occupying its natural +bed with a strong dam carried across it in the line of the eastern wall, +and at the point where the stream now enters the enclosure. On meeting +this obstruction, of which there are still some remains, the waters +divided, and while part flowed to the south-east, and reached the Tigris +by the ravine immediately to the south of the city, which is a natural +water-course, part turned at an acute angle to the north-west, and, +washing the remainder of the eastern and the whole of the northern wall, +gained the Tigris at the north-west angle of the city, where a second +dam kept it at a sufficient height. Moreover, on the eastern face, which +appears to have been regarded as the weakest, a series of outworks were +erected for the further defence of the city. North of the Khosr, between +the city wall and that river, which there runs parallel to the wall and +forms a sort of second or outermost moat, there are traces of a detached +fort of considerable size, which must have strengthened the defences in +that quarter. South and south-east of the Khosr, the works are still +more elaborate. In the first place, from a point where the Khosr leaves +the hills and debouches upon comparatively low ground, a deep ditch, 200 +feet broad, was carried through compact silicious conglomerate for +upwards of two miles, till it joined the ravine which formed the natural +protection of the city upon the south. On either side of this ditch, +which could be readily supplied with water from the Khosr at its +northern extremity, was built a broad and lofty wall; the eastern one, +which forms the outermost of the defences, rises even now a hundred feet +above the bottom of the ditch on which it adjoins. Further, between this +outer barrier and the city moat wall interposed a species of demilune, +guarded by a double wall and a broad ditch and connected (as is +thought) by a covered way with Neneveh itself. Thus the city was +protected on this, its most vulnerable side, towards the centre by five +walls and three broad and deep moats; towards the north, by a wall, a +moat, the Khosr, and a strong outpost; towards the south by two moats +and three lines of rampart. The breadth of the whole fortification on +this side is 2200 feet, or not far from half a mile. [PLATE XXXVIII.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 38] + +Such was the site, and such were the defences, of the capital of +Assyria. Of its internal arrangements but little can be said at present, +since no general examination of the space within the ramparts has been +as yet made, and no ancient account of the interior has come down to us. +We can only see that the side of the city which was most fashionable was +the western, which immediately overhung the Tigris; since here were the +palaces of the kings, and here seem also to have been the dwellings of +the richer citizens; at least, it is on this side in the space +intervening between Koyunjik and the northern rampart, that the only +very evident remains of edifices--besides the great Mounds of Koyunjik +and Nebbi-Yunus--are found. The river was no doubt the main attraction; +but perhaps the western side was also considered the most secure, as +lying furthest frown the quarter whence alone the inhabitants expected +to be attacked, namely, the east. It is impossible at present to give +any account of the character of the houses or the the direction of the +streets. Perhaps the time may not be far distant when more systematic +and continuous efforts will be made by the enterprise of Europe to +obtain full knowledge of all the remains which still lie buried at this +interesting site. No such discoveries are indeed to be expected as those +which have recently startled the world but patient explorers would still +be sure of an ample reward, were they to glean, after Layard in the +field from which he swept so magnificent a harvest. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +LANGUAGE AND WRITING. + +Greek phrase [--]--HEROD. iv. 137. + +There has never been much difference of opinion among the learned with +regard to the language spoken by the Assyrians. As the Biblical +genealogy connected Asshur with Eber and Aram, while the Greeks plainly +regarded the Syrians, Assyrians, and Babylonians as a single race, it +was always supposed that the people thus associated must have possessed +a tongue allied, more or less closely, to the Hebrew, the Syriac, and +the Chaldee. These tongues were known to be dialectic varieties of a +single form of speech the Semitic; and it was consequently the general +belief, before any Assyrian inscriptions had been disinterred, that the +Assyrian language was of this type, either a sister tongue to the three +above mentioned, or else identical with some one of them. The only +difficulty in the way of this theory was the supposed Medo-Persic or +Arian character of a certain number of Assyrian royal names; but this +difficulty was thought to be sufficiently met by a suggestion that the +ruling tribe might have been of Median descent, and have maintained its +own national appellatives, while the mass of the population belonged to +a different race. Recent discoveries have shown that this last +suggestion was needless, as the difficulty which it was intended to meet +does not exist. The Assyrian names which either _history_ or the +monuments have handed down to us are Semitic, and not Arian. It is only +among the fabulous accounts of the Assyrian Empire put forth by Ctesias +that Arian names, such as Xerxes, Arius, Armamithres, Mithraus, etc., +are to be found. + +Together with the true names of the Assyrian kings, the mounds of +Mesopotamia have yielded up a mass of documents in the Assyrian +language, from which it is possible that we may one day acquire as full +a knowledge of its structure and vocabulary as we possess at present of +Greek or Latin. These documents have confirmed the previous belief that +the tongue is Semitic. They consist, in the first place, of long +inscriptions upon the slabs of stone with which the walls of palaces +were panelled, sometimes occupying the stone to the exclusion of any +sculpture, sometimes carried across the dress of figures, always +carefully cut, and generally in good preservation. Next in importance to +these memorials are the hollow cylinders, or, more strictly speaking, +hexagonal or octagonal prisms, made in extremely fine and thin terra +cotta, which the Assyrian kings used to deposit at the corners of +temples, inscribed with an account of their chief acts and with +numerous religious invocations. [PLATE XXXIX., Fig. 1.] These cylinders +vary from a foot and a half to three feet in height, and are covered +closely with a small writing, which it often requires a good magnifying +glass to decipher. A cylinder of Tiglath-Pileser I. (about B.C. 1180) +contains thirty lines in a space of six inches, or five lines to an +inch, which is nearly as close as the type of the present volume. This +degree of closeness is exceeded on a cylinder of Asshur-bani-pal's +(about B.C. 660), where the lines are six to the inch, or as near +together as the type of the _Edinburgh Review_. If the complexity of the +Assyrian characters be taken into account, and if it be remembered that +the whole inscription was in every ease impressed by the hand, this +minuteness must be allowed to be very surprising. It is not favorable to +legibility; and the patience of cuneiform scholars has been severely +tried by a mode of writing which sacrifices everything to the desire of +crowding the greatest possible quantity of words into the smallest +possible space. In one respect, however, facility of reading is +consulted, for the inscriptions on the cylinders are not carried on in +continuous lines round all the sides, but are written in columns, each +column occupying a side. The lines are thus tolerably short; and the +whole of a sentence is brought before the eye at once. + +[Illustration: PLATE 39] + +Besides slabs and cylinders, the written memorials of Assyria comprise +inscribed bulls and lions, stone obelisks, clay tablets, bricks, and +engraved seals. Tin seals generally resemble those of the Chaldaeans, +which have been already described: but are somewhat more elaborate, and +more varied in their character. [PLATE XXXIX., Fig. 2.] They do not very +often exhibit any writing; but occasionally they are inscribed with the +name of their owner, while in a few instances they show an inscription +of some length. The clay tablets are both numerous and curious. They are +of various sizes, ranging from nine inches long by six and a half wide, +to an inch and a half long by an inch wide, or even less. [PLATE XL., +Fig. 2.] Sometimes they are entirely covered with writing; while +sometimes they exhibit on a portion of their surface the impressions of +seals, mythological emblems, and the like. Some thousands of them have +been recovered; and they are found to be of the most varied character. +Many are historical, still more mythological; some are linguistic, some +geographic, some again astronomical. It is anticipated that, when they +are deciphered, we shall obtain a complete eneyclopaedia of Assyrian +science, and shall be able by this means to trace a large portion of the +knowledge of the Greeks to an Oriental source. Here is a mine still very +little worked, from which patient and cautious investigators may one day +extract the most valuable literary treasures. The stone obelisks are but +few, and are mostly in a fragmentary condition. One alone is +perfect--the obelisk in black basalt, discovered by Mr. Layard at +Nimrud, which has now for many years been in the British Museum. [PLATE +XL., Fig. 1.] This monument is sculptured on each of its four sides, in +part with writing and in part with bas-reliefs. It is about seven feet +high, and two feet broad at the base, tapering gently towards the +summit, which is crowned with three low steps, or gradines. The +inscription, which occupies the upper and lower portion of each side, +and is also carried along the spaces between the bas-reliefs, consists +of 210 clearly cut lines, and is one of the most important documents +that has come down to us. It gives an account of various victories +gained by the monarch who set it up, and of the tribute brought him by +several princes. The inscribed lions and bulls are numerous. They +commonly guard the portals of palaces, and are raised in a bold relief +on alabaster slabs. The writing does not often trench upon the +sculpture, but covers all those portions of the slabs which are not +occupied by the animal. It is usually a full account of some particular +campaign, which was thus specially commemorated, giving in detail what +is far more briefly expressed in the obelisk and slab inscriptions. + +[Illustration: PLATE 40] + +This review of the various kinds of documents which have been discovered +in the ancient cities of Assyria, seems to show that two materials were +principally in use among the people for literary purposes, namely, stone +and moist clay. The monarchs used the former most commonly, though +sometimes they condescended for some special object to the coarser and +more fragile material. Private persons in their business transactions, +literary and scientific men in their compositions, employed the latter, +on which it was possible to write rapidly with a triangular instrument, +and which was no doubt far cheaper than the slabs of fine stone, which +were preferred for the royal inscriptions. The clay documents, when +wanted for instruction or as evidence, were carefully baked; and thus it +is that they have come down to us, despite their fragility, often in as +legible a condition, with the letters as clear and sharp, as any legend +on marble, stone, or metal that we possess belonging to Greek or even to +Roman times. The best clay, skilfully baked, is a material quite as +enduring as either stone or metal, resisting many influences better than +either of those materials. + +It may still be asked, did not the Assyrians use other materials also? +Did they not write with ink of some kind on paper, or leather, or +parchment? It is certain that the Egyptians had invented a kind of thick +paper many centuries before the Assyrian power arose; and it is further +certain that the later Assyrian kings had a good deal of intercourse +with Egypt. Under such circumstances, can we suppose that they did not +import paper from that country? Again, the Persians, we are told, used +parchment for their public records. Are not the Assyrians a much more +ingenious people, likely to have done the same, at any rate to some +extent? There is no direct evidence by which these questions can be +determinately answered. No document on any of the materials suggested +has been found. No ancient author states that the Assyrians or the +Babylonians used them. Had it not been for one piece of indirect +evidence, it would have seemed nearly certain that they were not +employed by the Mesopotamian races. In some of the royal palaces, +however, small humps of fine clay have been found, bearing the +impressions of seals, and exhibiting traces of the string by which they +were attached to documents, while the documents themselves, being of a +different material, have perished. It seems probable that in these +instances some substance like paper or parchment was used; and thus we +are led to the conclusion that, while clay was the most common, and +stone an ordinary writing material among the Assyrians, some third +substance, probably Egyptian paper, was also known, and was used +occasionally, though somewhat rarely, for public documents. + +[Illustration: Partial PAGE 171] + +The number of characters is very great. Sir H. Rawlinson, in the year +1851, published a list of 216, or, including variants, 366 characters, +as occurring in the inscriptions known to him. M. Oppei t, in 1858, gave +318 forms as those "most in use." Of course it is at once evident that +this alphabet cannot represent elementary sounds. The Assyrian +characters do, in fact, correspond, not to letters, according to our +notion of letters, but to syllables. These syllables are either mere +vowel sounds, such as we represent by our vowels and diphthongs, or such +sounds accompanied by one or two consonants. + +The vowels are not very numerous. The Assyrians recognize three only as +fundamental--_a, i_, and _u_. Besides these they have the diphthongs +_ai_, nearly equivalent to _e_, and _au_, nearly equivalent to _o_. The +vowels _i_ and _u_ have also the powers, respectively, of _y_ and _v_. + +[Illustration: Partial PAGE 172] + +From these sounds, combined with the simple vowels, comes the Assyrian +syllabarium, to which, and not to the consonants themselves, the +characters were assigned. In the first place, each consonant being +capable of two combinations with each simple vowel, could give birth +naturally to six simple syllables, each of which would be in the +Assyrian system represented by a character. Six characters, for +instance, entirely different from one another, represented _pa, pi, pu, +ap, ip, up_; six others, _ka, ki, ke, ak, ik, uk_; six others again, +_ta, ti, tu, at, it, ut_. + +If this rule were carried out in every case, the sixteen consonant +sounds would, it is evident, produce ninety-six characters. The actual +number, however, formed in this way, is only seventy-five. Since these +are seven of the consonants which only combine with the vowels in one +way. Thus we have _ba, bi, bu_, but not _ab, ib, ub; ga, qi, gu_, but +not _ay, iq,ug_; and so on. The sounds regarded as capable of only one +combination are the _mediae, b, q, d_; the aspirates _kh, tj_; and the +sibilants _ts and z_. + +Such is the first and simplest syllabarium: but the Assyrian system does +not stop here. It proceeds to combine with each simple vowel sound two +consonants, one preceding the vowel and the other following it. If this +plan were followed out to the utmost possible extent, the result would +be an addition to the syllabarium of seven hundred and sixty-eight +sounds, each having its proper character, which would raise the number +of characters to between eight and nine hundred! Fortunately for the +student, phonetic laws and other causes have intervened to check this +extreme luxuriance; and the combinations of this kind which are known to +exist, instead of amounting to the full limit of seven hundred and +sixty-eight, are under one hundred and fifty. The known Assyrian +alphabet is, however, in this way raised from eighty, or, including +variants, one hundred, to between two hundred and forty and two hundred +and fifty characters. + +[Illustration: Partial PAGE 173] + +Finally, there are a certain number of characters which have been called +"ideographs," or "monograms." Most of the gods, and various cities and +countries, are represented by a group of wedges, which is thought not to +have a real phonetic force, but to be a conventional sign for an idea, +much as the Arabic numerals, 1, 2, 3. etc., are non-phonetic signs +representing the ideas, one, two, three, etc. The known characters of +this description are between twenty and thirty. + +The known Assyrian characters are thus brought up nearly to three +hundred! There still remain a considerable number which are either +wholly unknown, or of which the meaning is known, while the phonetic +value cannot at present be determined. M. Oppert's Catalogue contains +fourteen of the former and fifty-nine of the latter class. + +It has already been observed that the monumental evidence accords with +the traditional belief in regard to the character of the Assyrian +language, which is unmistakably Semitic. Not only does the vocabulary +present constant analogies to other Semitic dialects, but the phonetic +laws and the grammatical forms are equally of this type. At the same +time the language has peculiarities of its own, which separate it from +its kindred tongues, and constitute it a distinct form of Semitic +speech, not a mere variety of any known form. It is neither Hebrew, nor +Arabic, nor Phoenician, nor Chaldee, nor Syriac, but a sister tongue to +these, having some analogies with all of them, and others, more or +fewer, with each. On the whole, its closest relationship seems to be +with the Hebrew, and its greatest divergence from the Aramaic or Syriac, +with which it was yet, locally, in immediate connection. + +To attempt anything like a full illustration of these statements in the +present place would be manifestly unfitting. It would be to quit the +province of the historian and archeologist, in order to enter upon that +of the comparative philologer or the grammarian. At the same time a +certain amount of illustration seems necessary, in order to show that +the statements above made are not mere theories, but have a substantial +basis. + +The Semitic character of the vocabulary will probably be felt to be +sufficiently established by the following lists: + +[Illustration: Partial PAGE 174] + +[Illustration: PAGE 175] + +[Illustration: PAGE 176] + +[Illustration: PAGE 177] + +[Illustration: Partial PAGE 178] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ARCHITECTURE AND OTHER ARTS. + +"Architecti multarum artium solertes."--Mos. CHOR. (De Assyriis) i. 15. + +The luxury and magnificence of the Assyrians, and the advanced condition +of the arts among them which such words imply, were matters familiar to +the Greeks and Romans, who, however, had little ocular evidence of the +fact, but accepted it upon the strength of a very clear and uniform +tradition. More fortunate than the nations of classical antiquity, whose +comparative proximity to the time proved no advantage to them, we +possess in the exhumed remains of this interesting people a mass of +evidence upon the point, which, although in many respects sadly +incomplete, still enables us to form a judgment for ourselves upon the +subject, and to believe--on better grounds than they possessed--the +artistic genius and multiform ingenuity of the Assyrians. As architects, +as designers, as sculptors, as metallurgists, as engravers, as +upholsterers, as workers in ivory, as glass-blowers, as embroiderers of +dresses, it is evident that they equalled, if they did not exceed, all +other Oriental nations. It is the object of the present chapter to give +some account of their skill in these various respects. Something is now +known of them all; and though in every case there are points still +involved in obscurity, and recourse must therefore be had upon occasion +to conjecture, enough appears certainly made out to justify such an +attempt as the present, and to supply a solid groundwork of fact +valuable in itself, even if it be insufficient to sustain in addition +any large amount of hypothetical superstructure. + +The architecture of the Assyrians will naturally engage our attention at +the outset. It is from an examination of their edifices that we have +derived almost all the knowledge which we possess of their progress in +every art; and it is further as architects that they always enjoyed a +special repute among their neighbors. Hebrew and Armenian united with +Greek tradition in representing the Assyrians as notable builders at a +very early time. When Asshur "went forth out of the land of Shinar," it +was to build cities, one of which is expressly called "a great city." +When the Armenians had to give an account of the palaces and other vast +structures in their country, they ascribed their erection to the +Assyrians. Similarly. when the Greeks sought to trace the civilization +of Asia to its source, they carried it back to Ninus and Semiramis, whom +they made the founders, respectively, of Nineveh and Babylon, the two +chief cities of the early world. + +Among the architectural works of the Assyrians, the first place is +challenged by their palaces. Less religious, or more servile, than the +Egyptians and the Greeks, they make their temples insignificant in +comparison with the dwellings of their kings, to which indeed the temple +is most commonly a sort of appendage. In the palace their art +culminates--there every effort is made, every ornament lavished. If the +architecture of the Assyrian palaces be fully considered, very little +need be said on the subject of their other buildings. + +The Assyrian palace stood uniformly on an artificial platform. Commonly +this platform was composed of sun-dried-bricks in regular layers; but +occasionally the material used was merely earth or rubbish, excepting +towards the exposed parts--the sides and the surface which were always +either of brick or of stone. In most cases the sides were protected by +massive stone masonry, carried perpendicularly from the natural ground +to a height somewhat exceeding that of the plat-form, and either made +plain at the top or else crowned with stone battlements cut into +gradines. The pavement consisted in part of stone slabs, part of +kiln-dried bricks of a large size, often as much as two feet square. The +stone slabs were sometimes inscribed, sometimes ornamented with an +elegant pattern. (See [PLATE XLI., Fig. 2.]) Occasionally the terrace +was divided into portions at different elevations, which were connected +by staircases or inclined planes. The terrace communicated in the same +way with the level ground at its base, being (as is probable) sometimes +ascended in a single place, sometimes in several. These ascents were +always on the side where the palace adjoined upon the neighboring town, +and were thus protected from hostile attack by the town walls. [PLATE +XLI., Fig. 1] Where the palace abutted upon the walls or projected +beyond them--and the palace was always placed at the edge of a town, for +the double advantage, probably, of a clear view and of fresh air--the +platform rose perpendicularly or nearly so; and generally a water +protection, a river, a moat, or a broad lake, lay at its base, thus +rendering attack, except on the city side, almost impossible. + +[Illustration: PLATE 41] + +The platform appears to have been, in general shape, a rectangle, or +where it had different elevations, to have been composed of a +rectangles. The mound of Khorsabad, which is of this latter character, +resembles a gigantic T. [PLATE XLII., Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 42] + +It must not be supposed, however, that the rectangle was always exact. +Sometimes its outline was broken by angular projections and +indentations, as in the plan [PLATE XLII., Fig. 21.] where the shaded +parts represent actual discoveries. Sometimes it grew to be irregular, +by the addition of fresh portions, as new kings arose who determined on +fresh erections. This is the ease at Nimrud, where the platform broadens +towards its lower or southern end, and still more at Koyunjik and Nebbi +Yunus, where the rectangular idea has been so overlaid as to have almost +wholly disappeared. Palaces were commonly placed near one edge of the +mound--more especially near the river edge probably for the better +enjoyment of the prospect, and of the cool air over the water. + +The palace itself was composed of three main elements, courts, grand +halls, and small private apartments. A palace has usually from two to +four courts, which are either square or oblong, and vary in size +according to the general scale of the building. In the north-west palace +at Nimrud, the most ancient of the edifices yet explored, one court only +has been found, the dimensions of which are 120 feet by 90. At +Khorsabad, the palace of Sargon has four courts. [PLATE XLII., Fig. 2.] +Three of them are nearly square, the largest of these measuring 180 feet +each Way, and the smallest about 120 feet; the fourth is oblong, and +must have been at least 250 feet long and 150 feet wide. The palace of +Sennacherib at Koyunjik, a much larger edifice than the palace of +Sargon, has also three courts, which are respectively 93 feet by 84, 124 +feet by 90, and 154 feet by 125. Esarhaddon's palace at Nimrud has a +court 220 feet long and 100 wide. These courts were all paved either +with baked bricks of large size, or with stone slabs, which were +frequently patterned. Sometimes the courts were surrounded with +buildings; sometimes they abutted upon the edge of the platform: in this +latter case they were protected by a stone parapet, which (at least in +places) was six feet high. + +The grand halls of the Assyrian palaces constitute their most remarkable +feature. Each palace has commonly several. They are apartments narrow +for their length, measuring from three to five times their own width, +and thus having always somewhat the appearance of galleries. The scale +upon which they are built is, commonly, magnificent. In the palace of +Asshur-izir-pal at Nimrud, the earliest of the discovered edifices, the +great hall was 160 feet long by nearly 40 broad. In Sargon's palace at +Khorsabad the size of no single room was so great; but the number of +halls was remarkable, there being no fewer than five of nearly equal +dimensions. The largest was 116 feet long, and 33 wide; the smallest 87 +feet long, and 25 wide. The palace of Sennacherib at Koyuhjik contained +the most spacious apartment yet exhumed. It was immediately inside the +great portal, and extended in length 180 feet, with a uniform width of +forty feet. In one instance only, so far as appears, was an attempt made +to exceed this width. In the palace of Esarhaddon, the son of +Sennacherib, a hall was designed intended to surpass all former ones. +[PLATE XLIII., Fig. 2.] Its length was to be 165 feet, and its width 62; +consequently it would have been nearly one-third larger than the great +hall of Sennacherib, its area exceeding 10,000 square feet. But the +builder who had designed this grand structure appears to have been +unable to overcome the difficulty of carrying a roof over so vast an +expanse. He was therefore obliged to divide his hall by a wall down the +middle; which, though he broke it in an unusual way into portions, and +kept it at some distance from both ends of the apartment, still had the +actual effect of subdividing his grand room into four apartments of only +moderate size. The halls were paved with sun-burnt brick. They were +ornamented throughout by the elaborate sculptures, now so familiar to +us, carried generally in a single, but sometimes in a double line, round +the four walls of the apartment. The sculptured slabs rested on the +ground, and clothed the walls to the height of 10 or 12 feet. Above, for +a space which we cannot positively fix, but which was certainly not less +than four or five feet, the crude brick wall was continued, faced here +with burnt brick enamelled on the side towards the apartment, pleasingly +and sometimes even brilliantly colored. 10 The whole height of the walls +was probably from 15 to 20 feet. + +[Illustration: PLATE 43] + +By the side of the halls, or at their ends, and opening into them, or +sometimes collected together into groups, with no hall near, are the +smaller chambers of which mention has been already made. These chambers +are in every case rectangular: in their proportions they vary from +squares to narrow oblongs. 90 feet by 17, 85 by 16, 80 by 15, and the +like. When they are square, the side is never more than about 25 feet. +They are often as richly decorated as the halls, but sometimes are +merely faced with plain slabs or plastered; while occasionally they have +no facing at all, but exhibit throughout the crude brick. This, however, +is unusual. + +The number of chambers in a palace is very large. In Sennacherib's +palace at Koyunjik, where great part of the building remains still +unexplored, the excavated chambers amount to sixty-eight--all, be it +remembered, upon the ground floor. The space covered by them and by +their walls exceeds 40,000 square yards. As Mr. Fergusson observes, "the +imperial palace of Sennacherib is, of all the buildings of antiquity, +surpassed in magnitude only by the great palace-temple of Karnak; and +when we consider the vastness of the mound on which it was raised, and +the richness of the ornaments with which it was adorned, it is by no +means clear that it was not as great, or at least as expensive, a work +as the great palace-temple at Thebes." Elsewhere the excavated +apartments are less numerous; but in no case is it probable that a +palace contained on its ground floor fewer than forty or fifty chambers. + +The most striking peculiarity which the ground-plans of the palaces +disclose is the uniform adoption throughout of straight and parallel +lines. No plan exhibits a curve of any kind, or any angle but a right +angle. Courts, chambers, and halls are, in most cases, exact rectangles; +and even where any variety occurs, it is only by the introduction of +squared recesses or projections, which are moreover shallow and +infrequent. When a palace has its own special platform, the lines of the +building are further exactly parallel with those of the mound on which +it is placed; and the parallelism extends to any other detached +buildings that there may be anywhere upon the platform. When a mound is +occupied by more palaces than one, sometimes this law still obtains, as +at Nimrud, where it seems to embrace at any rate the greater number of +the palaces; sometimes, as at Koyunjik, the rule ceases to be observed, +and the ground-plan of each palace seems formed separately and +independently, with no reference to any neighboring edifice. + +Apart from this feature, the buildings do not affect much regularity. In +courts and facades, to a certain extent, there is correspondence; but in +the internal arrangements, regularity is decidedly the exception. The +two sides of an edifice never correspond; room never answers to room; +doorways are rarely in the middle of walls; where a rooms has several +doorways, they are seldom opposite to one another, or in situations at +all corresponding. + +There is a great awkwardness in the communications. Very few corridors +or passages exist in any of the buildings. Groups of rooms, often +amounting to ten or twelve, open into one another; and we find +comparatively few rooms to which there is any access except through some +other room. Again, whole sets of apartments are sometimes found, between +which and the rest of the palace all communication is cut off by thick +walls. Another peculiarity in the internal arrangements is the number of +doorways in the larger apartments, and their apparently needless +multiplication. We constantly find two or even three doorways leading +from a court into a hall, or from one hall into a second. It is +difficult to see what could be gained by such an arrangement. + +The disposition of the various parts of a palace will probably be better +apprehended from an exact account of a single building than from any +further general statements. For this purpose it is necessary to select a +specimen from among the various edifices that have been disentombed by +the labors of recent excavators. The specimen should be, if possible, +complete; it should have been accurately surveyed, and the survey should +have been scientifically recorded; it should further stand single and +separate, that there may be no danger of confusion between its remains +and those of adjacent edifices. These requirements, though nowhere +exactly met, are very nearly met by the building at Khorsabad, which +stands on a mound of its own, unmixed with other edifices, has been most +carefully examined, and most excellently represented and described, and +which, though not completely excavated, has been excavated with a nearer +approach to completeness than any other edifice in Assyria. The +Khorsabad building--which is believed to be a palace built by Sargon, +the son of Sennacherib--will therefore be selected for minute +description in this place, as the palace most favorably circumstanced, +and the one of which we have, on the whole, the most complete and exact +knowledge. [PLATE XLIV.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 44] + +The situation of the town, whereof the palace of Sargon formed a part, +has been already described in a former part of this volume. The shape, +it has been noted, was square, the angles facing the four cardinal +points. Almost exactly in the centre of the north-west wall occurs the +palace platform, a huge mass of crude brick, from 20 to 30 feet high, +shaped like a T, the upper limb lying within the city walls, and the +lower limb (which is at a higher elevation) projecting beyond the line +of the walls to a distance of at least 500 feet. At present there is a +considerable space between the ends of the wall and the palace mound; +but anciently it is provable that they either abutted on the mound, or +were separated from it merely by gateways. The mound, or at any rate the +part of it which projected beyond the walls, was faced with hewn stone, +carried perpendicularly from the plain to the top of the platform, and +even beyond, so as to form a parapet protecting the edge of the +platform. On the more elevated portion of the mound--that which +projected beyond the walls stood the palace, consisting of three groups +of buildings, the principal group lying towards the mound's northern +angle. On the lower portion of the platform were several detached +buildings, the most remarkable being a huge gateway or propylaeum, +through which the entrance lay to the palace from the city. Beyond and +below this, on the level of the city, the first or outer portals were +placed, giving entrance to a court in front of the lower terrace. + +A visitor approaching the palace had in the first place to pass through +these portals. They were ornamented with colossal human-headed bulls on +either side, and probably spanned by an arch above, the archivolte being +covered with enamelled bricks disposed in a pattern. Received within the +portals, the visitor found himself in front of a long wall of solid +stone masonry, the revetement of the lower terrace, which rose from the +outer court to a height of at least twenty feet. Either an inclined-way +or a flight of steps--probably the latter--must have led up from the +outer court to this terrace. Here the visitor found another portal or +propylaeum of a magnificent character. [PLATE XLIII., Fig. 1.] Midway in +the south-east side of the lower terrace, and about fifty feet from its +edge, stood this grand structure, gateway ninety-feet in width, and at +least twenty-five in depth, having on each side three winged bulls of +gigantic size, two of them fifteen feet high, and the third nineteen +feet. Between the two small bulls, which styled back to back, presenting +their sides to the spectator, was a colossal figure, strangling a +lion--the Assyria Hercules, according to most writers. The larger bulls +stood at right angles to these figures, withdrawn within the portal, and +facing the spectator. The space between the bulls, which is nearly +twenty feet, was (it is probable) arched over. Perhaps the archway led +into a chamber beyond which was a second archway and an inner portal, as +marked in Mr. Fergusson's plan: but this is at present uncertain. + +Besides the great portal, the only buildings as yet discovered on this +lower platform, are a suite of not very extensive apartments. They are +remarkable for their ornamentation. The walls are neither lined with +slabs, nor yet (as is sometimes the case) painted, but the plaster of +which they are composed is formed into sets of half pillars or reeding, +separated from one another by pilasters with square sunk panels. The +former kind of ornamentation is found also in Lower Chaldaea, and has +been already represented; the latter is peculiar to this building. It is +suggested that these apartments formed the quarters of the soldiers who +kept watch over the royal residence. + +About 300 feet from the outer edge of the lower terrace, the upper +terrace seems to have commenced. It was raised probably about ten feet +above the lower one. The mode of access has not been discovered, but is +presumed to have been by a flight of steps, not directly opposite the +propylaeum, but somewhat to the right, whereby entrance was given to the +great court, into which opened the main gateways of the palace itself. +The court was probably 250 feet long by 160 or 170 feet wide. The +visitor, on mounting the steps, perhaps passed through another +propylaeum (_b_ in the plan); after which, if his business was with the +monarch, he crossed the full length of the court, leaving a magnificent +triple entrance, which is thought to have led to the king's _hareem_, on +his left and making his way to the public gate of the palace, which +fronted him when he mounted the steps. The _hareem_ portal, which he +passed, resembled in the main the great propylaeum of the lower +platform; but, being triple, it was still more magnificent exhibiting +two other entrances on either side of the main one, guarded each by a +single pair of winged bulls of the smaller size. Along the _hareem_ +wall, from the gateway to the angle of the court, was a row of +sculptured bas-reliefs, ten feet in height, representing the monarch +with his attendant guards and officers. [PLATE XLIII., Fig. 3.] The +facade occupying the end of the court was of inferior grandeur. [PLATE +XLV., Fig.1. ] Sculptures similar to those along the _hareem_ wall +adorned it; but its centre showed only a single gateway, guarded by one +pair of the larger bulls, fronting the spectator, and standing each in a +sort of recess, the character of which will be best understood by the +ground-plan in the illustration. Just inside the bulls was the great +door of the palace, a single door made of wood-apparently of +mulberry,--opening inwards, and fastened on the inside by a bolt at +bottom, and also by an enormous lock. This door gave entrance into a +passage, 70 feet long and about 10 feet wide, paved with large slabs of +stone, and adorned on either side with inscriptions, and with a double +row of sculptures, representing the arrival of tribute and gifts for the +monarch. All the figures here faced one way, towards the inner palace +court into which the passage led. M. Botta believes that the passage was +uncovered; while Mx. Fergusson imagines that it was vaulted throughout. +It must in any case have been lighted from above; for it would have been +impossible to read the inscriptions, or even to see the sculptures, +merely by the light admitted at the two ends. + +[Illustration: PLATE 45] + +From the passage in question--one of the few in the edifice--no doorway +opened out either on the right hand or on the left. The visitor +necessarily proceeded along its whole extent, as he saw the figures +proceeding in sculptures, and, passing through a second portal, found +himself in the great inner court of the palace, a square of about 100 or +160 feet, enclosed on two sides--the south-east and the south-west-by +buildings, on the other two sides reaching to the edge of the terrace, +which here gave upon, the open country. The buildings on the +south-eastside, looking towards the north-west, and and joining the +gateway by which the had entered, were of comparatively minor +importance. They consisted of a few chambers suitable for officers of +the court, and were approached from the court by two doorways, one on +either side of the passage through which he had come. To his left, +looking towards the north-east, were the great state apartments, the +principal part of the palace, forming a facade, of which some idea may +perhaps be formed from the representation. [PLATE XLVI.] The upper part +of this representation is indeed purely conjectural; and when we come to +consider the mode in which the Assyrian palaces were roofed and lighted, +we shall perhaps find reason to regard it as not very near the truth; +but the lower part, up to the top of the sculptures, the court itself, +and the various accessories, are correctly given, and furnish the only +_perspective_ view of this part of the palace which has been as yet +published. + +[Illustration: PLATE 46] + +The great state apartments consisted of a suite of ten rooms. Five of +these were halls of large dimensions; one was a long and somewhat narrow +chamber, and the remaining four were square or slightly oblong +apartments of minor consequence. All of them were lined throughout with +sculpture. The most important seem to have been three halls _en-suite_ +(VIII., V., and II. in the plan), which are, both in their external and +internal decorations, by far the most splendid of the whole palace. The +first lay just within the north-east facade, and ran parallel to it. It +was entered by three doorways, the central one ornamented externally. +with two colossal bulls of the largest size, one on either side within +the entrance, and with two pairs of smaller bulls, back to back, on the +projecting pylons; the side ones guarded by winged genii, human or +hawk-headed. The length of the chamber was 116 feet 6 inches, and its +breadth 33 feet. Its sculptures represented the monarch receiving +prisoners, and either personally or by deputy punishing them: [PLATE +XLV., Fig. 3.] We may call it, for distinction's sake, "the Hall of +Punishment." + +The second hall (V. in the plan) ran parallel with the first, but did +not extend along its whole length. It measured from end to end about 86 +feet, and from side to side 21 feet 6 inches. Two doorways led into it +from the first chamber, and two others led from it into two large +apartments. One communicated with a lateral hall (marked VI. in the +plan), the other with the third hall of the suite which is here the +special object of our attention. This third hall (II. in the plan) was +of the same length as the first, but was less wide by about three feet. +It opened by three doorways upon a square, court, which has been called +"the Temple Court," from a building on one side of it which will be +described presently. + +The sculptures of the second and third halls represented in a double +row, separated by an inscribed space about two feet in width, chiefly +the wars of the monarch, his battles, sieges, reception of captives and +of spoil, etc. The monarch himself appeared at least four times standing +in his chariot, thrice in calm procession, and once shooting his arrows +against his enemies. [PLATE XLV., Fig. 2.] Besides these, the upper +sculptures on one side exhibited sacred ceremonies. + +Placed at right angles to this primary suite of three halls were two +others, one (IV. in the plan) of dimensions little, if at all, inferior +to those of the largest (No. VIII), the other (VI. in the plan) nearly +of the same length, but as narrow as the narrowest of the three (No. +V.). Of these two lateral halls the former communicated directly with +No. VIII., and also by a narrow passage room (III. in the plan with No. +II.) The other had direct communication both with No. II and No. V., but +none with No. VIII. With this hall (No. VI. ) three smaller chambers +were connected (Nos. IX., XI., and XI.); with the other lateral hall, +two only (Nos. III. and VII. ). One chamber attached to this block of +buildings (I. in the plan) opened only on the Temple Court. It has been +suggested that it contained a staircase; but of this there is no +evidence. + +The Temple Court--a square of 150 feet--was occupied by buildings on +three sides, and open on one only--that to the north-west. The state +apartments closed it in on the north-east, the temple on the south-west: +on the south-east it was bounded by the range of buildings called +"Priests' Rooms" in the plan, chambers of less pretension than almost +any that have been excavated. The principal facade here was that of the +state apartments, on the north-east. On this, as on the opposite side of +the palace, were three portals; but the two fronts were not of equal +magnificence. On the side of the Temple Court a single pair of bulls, +facing the spectator, guarded the middle portals; the side portals +exhibited only figures of genii, while the spaces between the portals +were occupied, not with bulls, but merely with a series of human +figures, resembling those in the first or outer court, of which a +representation has been already given. Two peculiarities marked the +south-east facade. In the first place, it lay in a perfectly straight +line, unbroken by any projection, which is very unusual in Assyrian +architecture. In the second place, as if to compensate for this monotony +in its facial line, it was pierced by no fewer than five doorways, all +of considerable width, and two of them garnished with bulls, of namely, +the second and the fourth. The bulls of the second gateway were of the +larger, those of the fourth were of the smaller size; they stood in the +usual manner, a little withdrawn within the gateways and looking towards +the spectator. + +Of the curious building which closed in the court on the third or +south-west side, which is believed to have been a temple, the remains +are unfortunately very slight. It stood so near the edge of the terrace +that the greater part of it has fallen into the plain. Less than half of +the ground-plan is left, and only a few feet of the elevation. The +building may originally have been a square, or it may have been an +oblong, as represented in the plan. It was approached from the court by +a a flight of stone stops, probably six in number, of which four remain +in place. This flight of steps was placed directly opposite to the +central door of the south-west palace facade. From the level of the +court, to that of the top of the steps, a height of about six feet, a +solid platform of crude brick was raised as a basis for the temple; and +this was faced, probably throughout its whole extent, with a solid wall +of hard black basalt, ornamented with a cornice in gray limestone, of +which the accompanying figures are representations. [PLATE. XLV., Fig. +4.] above this the external work has disappeared. Internally, two +chambers may be traced, floored with a mixture of stones and chalk; and +round one of these are some fragments of bas-reliefs, representing +sacred subjects, cut on the same black basalt as that by which the +platform is cased, and sufficient to show that the same style of +ornamentation prevailed here as in the palace. + +The principal doorway on the north-west side of the Temple Court +communicated by a passage, with another and similar doorway (_d_ on the +plan), which opened into a fourth court, the smallest and least +ornamented of those on the upper platform. + +The mass of building whereof this court occupied the centre, is believed +to have constituted the _hareem_ or private apartments of the monarch. +It adjoined the state apartments at its northern angle, but had no +direct communication with them. To enter it from them the visitor had +either to cross the Temple Court and proceed by the passage above +indicated, or else to go round by the great entrance (X in the plan ) +and obtain admission by the grand portals on the south-west side of the +outer court. These latter portals, it is to be observed, are so placed +as to command no view into the _Hareem_ Court, though it is opposite to +them. The passages by which they gave entrance into that court must have +formed some such angles as those marked by the dotted lines in the plan, +the result being that visitors, while passing through the outer court, +would be unable to catch any sight of what was going on in the _Hareem_ +Court. even if the great doors happened to be open. Those admitted so +far into the palace as the Temple Court were more favored or less +feared. The doorway (_d_) on the south-east side of the _Hareem_ Court +is exactly opposite the chief doorway on the north-west side of the +Temple Court, and there can be no reasonable doubt that a straight +passage connected the two. + +It is uncertain whether the _Hareem_ Court was surrounded by buildings +on every side, or open towards the south-west. M. Botta believed that it +was open; and the analogy of the other courts would seem to make this +probable. It is to be regretted, however, that this portion of the great +Khorsabad ruin still remains so incompletely examined. Consisting of the +private apartments, it is naturally less rich in sculptures than other +parts; and hence it has been comparatively neglected. The labor would, +nevertheless, be well employed which should be devoted to this part of +the ruin, as it would give us (what we do not now possess) the complete +ground-plan of an Assyrian palace. It is earnestly to be hoped that +future excavators will direct their efforts to this easily attainable +and interesting object. + +The ground-pins of the palaces, and some sixteen feet of their +elevations, are all that fire and time have left us of these remarkable +monuments. The total destruction of the upper portion of every palatial +building in Assyria, combined with the want of any representation of the +royal residences upon the bas-reliefs, reduces us to mere conjecture +with respect to their height, to the mode in which they were roofed and +lighted, and even to the question whether they had or had not an upper +story. On these subjects various views have been put forward by persons +entitled to consideration; and to these it is proposed now to direct the +reader's attention. + +In the first place, then, had they an upper story? Mr. Layard and Mr. +Fergusson decide this question in the affirmative. Mr. Layard even goes +so far as to say that the fact is one which "can no longer be doubted." +He rests this conclusion on two grounds first, on a belief that "upper +chambers" are mentioned in the Inscriptions, and, secondly, on the +discovery by himself, in Sennacherib's palace at Koyunjik, of what +seemed to be an inclined way, by which he supposes that the ascent was +made to an upper story. The former of these two arguments must be set +aside as wholly uncertain. The interpretation of the architectural +inscriptions of the Assyrians is a matter of far too much doubt at +present to serve as a groundwork upon which theories can properly be +raised as to the plan of their buildings. With regard to the inclined +passage, it is to be observed that it did not appear to what it led. It +may have conducted to a gallery looking into one of the great halls, or +to an external balcony overhanging an outer court; or it may have been +the ascent to the top of a tower, whence a look-out was kept up and down +the river. Is it not more likely that this ascent should have been made +for some exceptional purpose, than that it should be the only specimen +left of the ordinary mode by which one half of a palace was rendered +accessible? It is to be remembered that no remains of a staircase, +whether of stone or of wood have been found in any of the palaces, and +that there is no other instance in any of them even of an inclined +passage. Those who think the palaces had second stories, believe these +stories to have been reached by staircases of wood, placed in various +parts of the buildings, which were totally destroyed by the +conflagrations in which the palaces perished. But it is at least +remarkable that no signs have been found in any existing walls of rests +for the ends of beams, or of anything implying staircases. Hence M. +Botta, the most careful and the most scientific of recent excavators, +came to a very positive conclusion that the Khorsabad buildings had had +no second story, a conclusion which it would not, perhaps, be very bold +to extend to Assyrian edifices generally. + +It has been urged by Mr. Fergusson that there must have been an upper +story, because otherwise all the advantage of the commanding position of +the palaces, perched on their lofty platforms, would have been lost. The +platform at Khorsabad was protected, in the only places where its edge +has been laid bare, by a stone wall or parapet _six feet in height_. +Such a parapet continued along the whole of the platform would +effectually have shut out all prospect of the open country, both from +the platform itself and also from the gateways of the palace, which are +on the same level. Nor could there well be any view at all from the +ground chambers, which had no windows, at any rate within fifteen feet +of the floor. To enjoy a view of anything but the dead wall skirting the +mound, it was necessary (Mr. Fergusson thinks) to mount to a second +story, which he ingeniously places, not over the ground rooms, but on +the top of the outer and party walls, whose structure is so massive that +their area falls (he observes) but little short of the area of the +ground-rooms themselves. + +This reasoning is sufficiently answered, in the first place, by +observing that we know not whether the Assyrians appreciated the +advantage of a view, or raised their palace platforms for any such +object. They may have constructed them for security only, or for greater +dignity and greater seclusion. They may have looked chiefly for comfort +and have reared them in order to receive the benefit of every breeze, +and at the same time to be above the elevation to which gnats and +mosquitoes commonly rise. Or there may be a fallacy in concluding, from +the very slight data furnished by the excavations of M. Botta, that a +palace platform was, in any case, skirted along its whole length, by a +six-foot parapet. Nothing is more probable than that in places the +Khorsabad parapet may have been very much lower than this; and elsewhere +it is not even ascertained that any parapet at all edged the platform. +On the whole we seem to have no right to conclude, merely on account of +the small portions of parapet wall uncovered by M. Botta, that an upper +story was a necessity to the palaces. If the Assyrians valued a view, +they may easily have made their parapets low in places: if they cared so +little for it as to shut it out from all their halls and terraces, they +may not improbably have dispensed with the advantage altogether. + +The two questions of the roofing and lighting of the Assyrian palaces +are so closely connected together that they will most conveniently be +treated in combination. The first conjecture published on the subject of +roofing was that of M. Flandin. who suggested that the chambers +generally--the great halls at any rate--had been ceiled with a brick +vault. He thought that the complete filling up of the apartments to the +height of fifteen or twenty feet was thus best explained; and he +believed that there were traces of the fallen vaulting in the _debris_ +with which the apartments were filled. His conjecture was combated, soon +after he put it forth, by M. Botta, who gave it as his opinion--first, +that the walls of the chambers, notwithstanding their great thickness, +would have been unable, considering their material, to sustain the +weight, and (still more to bear) the lateral thrust, of a vaulted roof; +and, secondly, that such a roof, if it had existed at all, must have +been made of baked brick or stone-crude brick being too weak for the +purpose--and when it fell must have left ample traces of itself within +the apartments, whereas, in none of them, though he searched, could he +find any such traces. On this latter point M. Botta and M. Flandin--both +eye witnesses--were at variance. M. Flandin believed that he had seen +such traces, not only in numerous broken fragments of burnt brick strewn +through all the chambers, but in occasional masses of brick-work +contained in some of them actual portions, as he thought, of the +original vaulting. M. Botta, however, observed--first, that the quantity +of baked brick within the chambers was quite insufficient for a vaulted +roof; and, secondly, that the position of the masses of brickwork +noticed by M. Flandin was always towards the sides, never towards the +centres of the apartments; a clear proof that they had fallen from the +upper part of the walls above the sculptures, and not from a ceiling +covering the whole room. He further observed that the quantity of +charred wood and charcoal within the chambers, and the calcined +appearance of all the slabs, were phenomena incompatible with any other +theory than that of the destruction of the palace by the conflagration +of a roof mainly of wood. + +To these arguments of M. Botta may be added another from the +improbability of the Assyrians being sufficiently advanced in +architectural science to be able to construct an arch of the width +necessary to cover some of the chambers. The principle of the arch was, +indeed, as will be hereafter shown, well known to the Assyrians, but +hitherto we possess no proof that they were capable of applying it on a +large scale. The widest arch which has been found in any of the +buildings is that of the Khorsabad town-gate uncovered by M. Place, +which spans a space of (at most) fourteen or fifteen feet. But the great +halls of the Assyrian palaces have a width of twenty-five, thirty, and +even forty feet. It is at any rate uncertain whether the constructive +skill of their architects could have grappled successfully with the +difficulty of throwing a vault over so wide an interval as even the +least of these. + +M. Botta, after objecting, certainly with great force, to the theory of +M. Flandin, proceeded to suggest a theory of his own. After carefully +reviewing all the circumstances, he gave it as his opinion that the +Khorsabad building had been roofed throughout with a flat, earth-covered +roofing of wood. He observed that some of the buildings on the +bas-reliefs had flat roofs, that flat roofs are still the fashion of the +country, and that the debris within the chambers were exactly such as a +roof of that kind would be likely, if destroyed by fire, to have +produced. He further noticed that on the floors of the chambers, in +various parts of the palace, there had been discovered stone rollers +closely resembling those still in use at Mosul and Baghdad, for keeping +close-pressed and hard the earthen surface of such roofs; which rollers +had, in all probability, been applied to the same use by the Assyrians, +and, being kept on the roofs, had fallen through during the +conflagration. + +The first difficulty which presented itself here was one of those +regarded as most fatal to the vaulting theory, namely, the width of the +chambers. Where flat timber roofs prevail in the East, their span seems +never to exceed twenty-five feet. The ordinary chambers in the Assyrian +palaces might, undoubtedly, therefore, have been roofed in this way, by +a series of horizontal beans laid across them from side to side, with +the ends resting upon the tops of the side walls. But the great halls +seemed too wide to have borne such a roofing without supports. +Accordingly, M. Botts suggested that in the greater apartments a single +or a double row of pillars ran down the middle, reaching to the roof and +sustaining it. His theory was afterwards warmly embraced by Mr. +Fergusson, who endeavored to point out the exact position of the pillars +in the three great halls of Sargon at Khorsabad. It seems, however, a +strong and almost a fatal objection to this theory, that no bases of +pillars have been found within the apartments, nor any marks on the +brick floors of such bases or of the pressure of the pillars. M. Botta +states that he made a careful search for bases, or for marks of pillars, +on the pavement of the north-east hall (No. VIII.) at Khorsabad, but +that he _entirely failed to discover any_. This negative evidence is the +more noticeable as stone pillar-bases have been found in wide doorways, +where they would have been less necessary than in the chambers, as +pillars in doorways could have had but little weight to sustain. + +M. Botta and Mr. Fergusson, who both suppose that in an Assyrian palace +the entire edifice was roofed in, and only the courts left open to the +sky, suggest two very different modes by which the buildings may have +been lighted. M. Botta brings light in from the roof by means of wooden +_louvres_, such as are still employed for the purpose in Armenia and +parts of India, whereof he gives the representation which is reproduced. +[PLATE XLVII., Fig. 7.] Mr. Fergusson introduces light from the sides, +by supposing that the roof did not rest directly on the walls, but on +rows of wooden pillars placed along the edge of the walls both +internally towards the apartments and externally towards the outer air. +The only ground for this supposition, which is of a very startling +character, seems to be the occurrence in a single bas-relief, +representing a city in Armenia, of what is regarded as a similar +arrangement. But it must be noted that the lower portion of the +building, represented opposite, bears no resemblance at all to the same +part of an Assyrian palace, since in it perpendicular lines prevail, +whereas, in the Assyrian palaces, the lower hues were almost wholly +horizontal; and that it is not even Certain that the upper portion, +where the pillars occur, is an arrangement for admitting light, since it +may be merely an ornamentation. + +The difficulties attaching to every theory of roofing and lighting which +places the whole of an Assyrian palace under covert, has led some to +suggest that the system actually adopted in the larger apartments was +that _hypoethral_ one which is generally believed to have prevailed in +the Greek temples, and which was undoubtedly followed in the ordinary +Roman house. Mr. Layard was the first to post forward the view that the +larger halls, at any rate, were uncovered, a projecting ledge, +sufficiently wide to afford shelter and shade, being carried round the +four sides of the apartment while the centre remained open to the sky. +The objections taken to this view are--first, that far too much heat and +light would thereby have been admitted into the palace; secondly, that +in the rainy season far too much rain would have come in for comfort; +and, thirdly, that the pavement of the halls, being mere sun-dried +brick, would, under such circumstances, have been turned into mud. If +these objections are not removed, they would be, at any rate, greatly +lessened by supposing the roofing to have extended to two-thirds or +three-fourths of the apartment, and the opening to have been +comparatively narrow. We may also suppose that on very bright and on +very rainy days carpets or other awnings were stretched across the +opening, which furnished a tolerable defence against the weather. + +On the whole, our choice seems to lie--so far as the great halls are +concerned--between this theory of the mode in which they were roofed and +lighted, and a supposition from which archaeologists have hitherto +shrunk, namely, that they were actually spanned from side to side by +beams. If we remember that the Assyrians did not content themselves with +the woods produced in their own country, but habitually cut timber in +the forests of distant regions, as, for instance, of Amanus, Hermon, and +Lebanon, which they conveyed to Nineveh, we shall perhaps not think it +impassible that they may have been able to accomplish the feat of +roofing in this simple fashion even chambers of thirteen or fourteen +yards in width. Mr. Layard observes that rooms of almost equal width +with the Assyrian halls are to this day covered in with beams laid +horizontally from side to side in many parts of Mesopotamia, although +the only timber used is that furnished by the indigenous palms and +poplars. May not more have been accomplished in this way by the Assyrain +architects, who had at their disposal the lofty firs and cedars of the +above mentioned regions? + +If the halls were roofed in this way, they may have been lighted by +_louvres_; or the upper portion of the walls, which is now destroyed, +may have been pierced by windows, which are of frequent occurrence, and +seem generally to be some-what high placed, in the representations of +buildings upon the sculptures. [PLATE XLVII Fig. 3.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 47] + +It might have been expected that the difficulties with respect to +Assyrian roofing and lighting which have necessitated this long +discussion, would have received illustration, or even solution, from the +forms of buildings which occur so frequently on the bas-reliefs. But +this is not found to be the actual result. The forms are rarely +Assyrian, since they occur commonly in the sculptures which represent +the foreign campaigns of the kings; and they have the appearance of +being to a great extent conventional, being nearly the same, whatever +country is the object of attack. In the few cases where there is ground +for regarding the building as native and not foreign, it is never +palatial, but belongs either to sacred or to domestic architecture. Thus +the monumental representations of Assyrian buildings which have come +down to us, throw little or no light on the construction of their +palaces. As, however, they have an interest of their own, and will serve +to illustrate in some degree the domestic and sacred architecture of the +people, some of the most remarkable of them will be here introduced. + +[Illustration: PLATE 48] + +The representation No. I. is from a slab at Khorsabad. [PLATE XLVII., +Fig. 4.] It is placed on the summit of a hill, and is regarded by M. +Botta as an altar. No. II. is from the same slab. [PLATE XLIX., Fig. 1.] +It stands at the foot of the hill crowned by No. I. It has been called a +"fishing pavilion;" but it is most probably a small temple, since it +bears a good deal of resemblance to other representations which are +undoubted temples, as (particularly) to No. V. No. III., which is from +Lord Aberdeen's black stone, is certainly a temple, since it is +accompanied by a priest, a sacred tree, and an ox for sacrifice. [PLATE +XLIX., Fig. 2.] The representation No. IV. is also thought to be a +temple. [PLATE XLIX., Fig. 3.] It is of earlier date than any of the +others, being taken from a slab belonging to the North-west Palace at +Nimrud, and is remarkable in many ways. First, the want of symmetry is +curious, and unusual. Irregular as are the palaces of the Assyrian +kings, there is for the most part no want of regularity in their sacred +buildings. The two specimens here adduced (No. II. and No. III.) are +proof of this; and such remains of actual temples as exist are in +accordance with the sculptures in this particular. The right-hand aisle +in No. IV., having nothing correspondent to it on the other side, is +thus an anomaly in Assyrian architecture. The patterning of the pillars +with chevrons is also remarkable; and their capitals are altogether +unique. No. V. is a temple of a more elaborate character. [PLATE XLIX., +Fig. 4.] It is from the sculptures of Asshur-banipal, the son of +Esar-haddon, and possesses several features of great interest. The body +of the temple is a columnar structure, exhibiting at either corner a +broad pilaster surmounted by a capital composed of two sets of volutes +placed one over the other. Between the two pilasters are two pillars +resting upon very extraordinary rounded bases, and crowned by capitals +not unlike the Corinthian. We might have supposed the bases mere +figments of the sculptor, but for an independent evidence of the actual +employment by the Assyrians of rounded pillar-bases. Mr. Layard +discovered at Koyunjik a set of "circular pedestals," whereof he gives +the representation which is figured. [PLATE LI., Fig. 1.] They appeared +to form part of a double line of similar objects, extending from the +edge of the platform to an entrance of the palace, and probably (as Mr. +Layard suggests) supported the wooden pillars of a covered way by which +the palace was approached on this side. Above the pillars the temple +(No. V.) exhibits a heavy cornice or entablature projecting +considerably, and finished at the top with a row of gradines. (Compare +No. II.) At one side of this main building is a small chapel or oratory, +also finished with gradines, against the wall of which is a +representation of a king, standing in a species of frame arched at the +top. A road leads straight up to this royal tablet, and in this road +within a little distance of the king stands an altar. The temple +occupies the top of a mound, which is covered with trees of two +different kinds, and watered by rivulets. On the right is a "hanging +garden," artificially elevated to the level of the temple by means of +masonry supported on an arcade, the arch here used being not the round +arch but a pointed one. No. VI. [PLATE L.] is unfortunately very +imperfect, the entire upper portion having been lost. Even, however, in +its present mutilated state it represents by far the most magnificent +building that has yet been found upon the bas-reliefs. The facade, as it +now stands, exhibits four broad pilasters and four pillars, alternating +in pairs, excepting that, as in the smaller temples, pilasters occupy +both corners. In two cases, the base of the pilaster is carved into the +figure of a winged bull, closely resembling the bulls which commonly +guarded the outer gates of palaces. In the other two the base is +plain--a piece of negligence, probably, on the part of the artist. The +four pillars all exhibit a rounded base, nearly though not quite similar +to that of the pillars in No. V.; and this rounded base in every case +rests upon the back of a walking lion. We might perhaps have imagined +that this was a mere fanciful or mythological device of the artist's, on +a par with the representations at Bavian, where figures, supposed to be +Assyrian deities, stand upon the backs of animals resembling dogs. But +one of M. Place's architectural discoveries seems to make it possible, +or even probable, that a real feature in Assyrian building is here +represented M. Place found the arch of the town gateway which he exhumed +at Khorsabad to spring from the backs of the two bulls which guarded it +on either side. Thus the lions at the base of the pillars may be real +architectural forms, as well as the winged bulls which support the +pilasters. The lion was undoubtedly a sacred animal, emblematic of +divine power, and especially assigned to Nergal, the Assyrian Mars, the +god at once of war and of hunting. His introduction on the exteriors of +buildings was common in Asia Minor but no other example occurs of his +being made to support a pillar, excepting in the so-called Byzantine +architecture of Northern Italy. + +[Illustration: PLATE 49] + +[Illustration: PLATE 50] + +[Illustration: PLATE 51] + +[Illustration: PLATE 52] + +No. VII. _a_ [PLATE LII., Fig. 1] introduces us to another kind of +Assyrian temple, or perhaps it should rather be said to another feature +of Assyrian temples--common to them with Babylonian--the tower or +ziggurat. This appears to have been always built in stages, which +probably varied in number--never, how-ever, so far as appears, exceeding +seven. The sculptured example before us, which is from a bas-relief +found at Koyunjik, distinctly exhibits four stages, of which the +topmost, owing to the destruction of the upper portion of the tablet, is +imperfect. It is not unlikely that in this instance there was above the +fourth a fifth stage, consisting of a shrine like that which at Babylon +crowned the great temple of Belus. The complete elevation would then +have been nearly as in No. VII. _b_. [PLATE XLI., Fig. 3.] + +The following features are worth of remark in this temple. The basement +story is panelled with indented rectangular recesses, as was the ease at +Nimrud [PLATE LIII.] and at the Birs the remainder are plain, as are +most of the stages in the Birs temple. Up to the second of these squared +recesses on either side there runs what seems to be a road or path, +which sweeps away down the hill whereon the temple stands in a bold +curve, each path closely matching the other. The whole building is +perfectly symmetrical, except that the panelling is not quite uniform in +width nor arranged quite regularly. On the second stage, exactly in the +middle, there is evidently a doorway, and on either side of it a shallow +buttress or pilaster. In the centre of the third story, exactly over the +doorway of the second, is a squared niche. In front of the temple, but +not exactly opposite its centre, may be seen the _prophylaea,_ +consisting of a squared doorway placed under a battlemented wall, +between two towers also battlemented. It is curious that the paths do +not lead to the propylaea, but seen to curve round the hill. + +[Illustration: PLATE 53] + +Remains of _ziggurats_ similar to this have been discovered at +Khorsabad, at Nimrud, and at Kileh-Sherghat. The conical mound at +Khorsabad explored by M. Place was found to contain a tower in seven +stages; that of Nimrud, which is so striking an object from the plain, +and which was carefully examined by Mr. Layard, presented no positive +proof of more than a single stage; but from its conical shape, and from +the general analogy of such towers, it is believed to have had several +stages. [PLATE LII., Fig. 2.] Mr. Layard makes their number five, and +crowns the fifth with a circular tower terminating in a heavy cornice; +but for this last there is no authority at all, and the actual number of +the stages is wholly uncertain. The base of this ziggurat was a square, +167 feet 6 inches each way, composed of a solid mass of sun-dried brick, +faced at bottom to the height of twenty feet with a wall of hewn stones, +more than eight feet and a half in thickness. The outer stones were +bevelled at the edges, and on the two most conspicuous sides the wall +was ornamented with a series of shallow recesses arranged without very +much attention to regularity. The other two sides, one of which abutted +on and was concealed by the palace mound, while the other faced towards +the city, were perfectly plain. At the top of the stone masonry was a +row of gradines, such as are often represented in the sculptures as +crowning an edifice. Above the stone masonry the tower was continued at +nearly the same width, the casing of stone being simply replaced by one +of burnt brick of inferior thickness. It is supposed that the upper +stages were constructed in the same way. As the actual present height of +the ruin is 140 feet, and the upper stages have so entirely crumbled +away, it can scarcely be supposed that the original height fell much +short of 200 feet. + +The most curious of the discoveries made during the examination of this +building, was the existence in its interior of a species of chamber or +gallery, the true object of which still re-mains wholly unexplained. +This gallery was 100 feet long, 12 feet high, and no more than 6 feet +broad. It was arched or vaulted at top, both the side walls and the +vaulting being of sun-dried brick. [PLATE LIV., Fig. 2.] Its position +was exactly half-way between the tower's northern and southern faces, +and with these it ran parallel, its height in the tower being such that +its floor was exactly on a level with the top of the stone masonry, +which again was level with the terrace or platform whereupon the Nimrud +palaces stood. There was no trace of any way by which the gallery was +intended to be entered; its walls showed no signs of inscription, +sculpture, or other ornament; and absolutely nothing was found in it. +Mr. Layard, prepossessed with an opinion derived from several confused +notices in the classical writers, believed the tower to be a sepulchral +monument, and the gallery to be the tomb in which was originally +deposited "the embalmed body of the king." To account for the complete +disappearance, not only of the body, but of all the ornaments and +vessels found commonly in the Mesopotamian tombs, he suggested that the +gallery had been rifled in times long anterior to his visit; and he +thought that he found traces, both internally and externally, of the +tunnel by which it had been entered. But certainly, if this long and +narrow vault was intended to receive a body, it is most extraordinarily +shaped for the purpose. What other sepulchral chamber is there anywhere +of so enormous a, length? Without pretending to say what the real object +of the gallery was, we may feel tolerably sure that it was not a tomb. +The building which contained it was a temple tower, and it is not likely +that the religious feelings of the Assyrians would have allowed the +application of a religious edifice to so utilitarian a purpose. + +[Illustration: PLATE 54] + +Besides the ziggerat or tower, which may commonly have been surmounted +by a chapel or shrine, an Assyrian temple had always a number of +basement chambers, in one of which was the principal shrine of the god. +[PLATE LIV.,Fig. 1.] This was a square or slightly oblong recess at the +end of an oblong apartment, raised somewhat above its level; it was +paved (sometimes, if not always) with a single slab, the weight of which +must occasionally have been as much as thirty tons. One or two small +closets opened out from the shrine, in which it is likely that the +priests kept the sacerdotal garments and the sacrificial utensils. +Sometimes the cell of the temple or chamber into which the shrine opened +was reached through another apartment, corresponding to the Greek +_pronaos_. In such a case, care seems to have been taken so to arrange +the outer and inner doorways of the vestibule that persons passing by +the outer doorway should not be able to catch a sight of the shrine. +Where there was no vestibule, the entrance into the cell or body of the +temple seems to have been placed at the side, instead of at the end, +probably with the same object. Besides these main parts of a temple, a +certain number of chambers are always found, which appear to have been +priests' apartments. + +The ornamentation of temples, to judge by the few specimens which +remain, was very similar to that of palaces. The great gateways were +guarded by colossal bulls or lions see [PLATE LV.], accompanied by the +usual sacred figures, and sometimes covered with inscriptions. The +entrances and some portions of the chambers were ornamented with the +customary sculptured slabs, representing here none but religious +subjects. No great proportion of the interior, however, was covered in +this way, the walls being in general only plastered and then painted +with figures or patterns. Externally, enamelled bricks were used as a +decoration wherever sculptured slabs did not hide the crude brick. + +[Illustration: PLATE 55] + +Much the sane doubts and difficulties beset the subjects of the roofing +and lighting of the temples as those which have been discussed already +in connection with the palaces. Though the span of the temple-chambers +is less than that of the great palace halls, still it is considerable, +sometimes exceeding thirty feet. No effort seems made to keep the +temple-chambers narrow, for their width is sometimes as much as +two-thirds of their length. Perhaps, therefore, they were hypaethral, +like the temples of the Greeks. All that seems to be certain is that +what roofing they had was of wood, which at Nimrud was cedar, brought +probably from the mountains of Syria. + +Of the domestic architecture of the Assyrians we possess absolutely no +specimen. Excavation has been hitherto confined to the most elevated +portions of the mounds which mark the sites of cities, where it was +likely that remains of the greatest interest would be found. Palaces, +temples, and the great gates which gave entrance to towns, have in this +way seen the light; but the humbler buildings, the ordinary dwellings of +the people, remain buried beneath the soil, unexplored and even unsought +for. In this entire default of any actual specimen of an ordinary +Assyrian house, we naturally turn to the sculptured representations +which are so abundant and represent so many different sorts of scenes. +Even here, however, we obtain but little light. The bulk of the slabs +exhibit the wars of the kings in foreign countries, and thus place +before us foreign rather than Assyrian architecture. The processional +slabs, which are another large class, contain rarely any building at +all, and, where they furnish one, exhibit to us a temple rather than a +house. The hunting scenes, representing wilds far from the dwellings of +man, afford us, as might be expected, no help. Assyrian buildings, other +than temples, are thus most rarely placed before us. In one case, +indeed, we have an Assyrian city, which a foreign enemy is passing; but +the only edifices represented are the walls and towers of the exterior, +and the temple [No. VI., PLATE L.] whose columns rest upon lions. In one +other we seem to have an unfortified Assyrian village; and from this +single specimen we are forced to form our ideas of the ordinary +character of Assyrian houses. + +It is observable here, its the first place, that the houses have no +windows, and are, therefore, probably lighted from the roof; next, that +the roofs are very curious, since, although flat in some instances, they +consist more often either of hemispherical domes, such as are still so +common in the East, or of steep and high cones, such as are but seldom +seen anywhere. Mr. Layard finds a parallel for these last in certain +villages of Northern Syria, where all the houses have conical roofs, +built of mud, which present a very singular appearance. [PLATE LVI., +Fig. 2.] Both the domes and the cones of the Assyrian example have +evidently an opening at the top, which may have admitted as much light +into the houses as was thought necessary. The doors are of two kinds, +square at the top, and arched; they are placed commonly towards the +sides of the houses. The houses themselves seem to stand separate, +though in close juxtaposition. + +[Illustration: PLATE 56] + +The only other buildings of the Assyrians which appear to require some +notice are the fortified enceintes of their towns. The simplest of these +consisted of a single battlemented wall, carried in lines nearly or +quite straight along the four sides of the place, pierced with gates, +and guarded at the angles, at the gates, and at intervals along the +curtain with projecting towers, raised not very much higher than the +walls, and (apparently) square in shape. [PLATE LVII., Fig 1.] In the +sculptures we sometimes find the battlemented wall repeated twice or +thrice in lines placed one above the other, the intention being to +represent the defence of a city by two or three walls, such as we have +seen existed on one side of Nineveh. + +[Illustration: PLATE 57] + +The walls were often, if not always, guarded by moats. Internally they +were, in every case, constructed of crude brick; while externally it was +common to face them with hewn stone, either from top to bottom, or at +any rate to a certain height. At Khorsabad the stone revetement of one +portion at least of the wall was complete; at Nimrud (Calah) and at +Nineveh itself, it was partial, being carried at the former of those +places only to the height of twenty feet. The masonry at Khorsabad was +of three kinds. That of the palace mound, which formed a portion of the +outer defence, was composed entirely of blocks of stone, square-hewn and +of great size, the length of the blocks varying from two to three yards, +while the width was one yard, and the height from five to six feet. +[PLATE LVII., Fig.2.] The masonry was laid somewhat curiously. The +blocks (A A) were placed alternately long-wise and end-wise against the +crude brick (B), so as not merely to lie against it, but to penetrate it +with their ends in many places. [PLATE LVII, Fig. 2.] Care was also +taken to make the angles especially strong, as will be seen by the +accompanying section. + +The rest of the defences at Khorsabad were of an inferior character. The +wall of the town had a width of about forty-five feet, and its basement, +to the height of three feet, was constructed of stone; but the blocks +were neither so large, nor were they hewn with the same care, as those +of the palace platform. [PLATE LVII., Fig. 3.] The angles, indeed, were +of squared stone; but even there the blocks measured no more than three +feet in length and a foot in height: the rest of the masonry consisted +of small polygonal stones, merely smoothed on their outer face, and +roughly fitting together in a manner recalling the Cyclopian walls of +Greece and Italy. They were not united by any cement. Above the stone +basement was a massive structure of crude brick, without any facing +either of burnt brick or of stone. + +The third kind of masonry at Khorsabad was found outside the main wall, +and may have formed either part of the lining of the moat or a portion +of a tower, which may have projected in advance of the wall at this +point. [PLATE LVIII., Fig. 1.] It was entirely of stone. The lowest +course was formed of small and very irregular polygonal blocks roughly +fitted together; above this came two courses of carefully squared stones +more than a foot long, but less than six inches in width, which were +placed end-wise, one over the other, care being taken that the joints of +the upper tier should never coincide exactly with those of the lower. +Above these was a third course of hewn stones, somewhat smaller than the +others, which were laid in the ordinary manner. Here the construction, +as discovered, terminated; but it was evident, from the _debris_ of hewn +stones at the foot of the wall, that originally the courses had been +continued to a much greater height. + +[Illustration: PLATE 58] + +In this description of the buildings raised by the Assyrians it has been +noticed more than once that they were not ignorant of the use of the +arch. The old notion that the round arch was a discovery of the Roman, +and the pointed of the Gothic architecture, has gradually faded away +with our ever-increasing knowledge of the actual state of the ancient +world; and antiquarians were not, perhaps, very much surprised to learn, +by the discoveries of Mr. Layard, that the Assyrians knew and used both +kinds of arch in their constructions. Some interest, however, will +probably be felt to attach to the two questions, how they formed their +arches, and to what uses they applied them. + +All the Assyrian arches hitherto discovered are of brick. The round +arches are both of the crude and of the kiln-dried material, and are +formed, in each case, of brick made expressly for vaulting, slightly +convex at top and slightly concave at bottom, with one broader and one +narrower end. The arches are of the simplest kind, being exactly +semicircular, and rising from plain perpendicular jambs. The greatest +width which any such arch has been hitherto found to span is about +fifteen feet. + +The only pointed arch actually discovered is of burnt brick. The bricks +are of the ordinary shape, and not intended for vaulting. They are laid +side by side up to a certain point, being bent into a slight arch by the +interposition between them of thin wedges of mortar. The two sides of +the arch having been in this way carried up to a point where the lower +extremities of the two innermost bricks nearly touched, while a +considerable space remained between their upper extremities instead of a +key-stone, or a key-brick fitting the aperture, ordinary bricks were +placed in it longitudinally, and so the space was filled in. + +[Illustration: PLATE 59] + +Another mode of constructing a pointed arch seems to be intended in a +bas-relief, whereof a representation has been already given. The masonry +of the arcade in No. V. [PLATE XLIX., Fig. 4] runs (it will be seen) in +horizontal lines up to the very edge of the arch, thus suggesting a +construction common in many of the early Greek arches, where the stones +are so cut away that an arched opening is formed, though the real +constructive principle of the arch has no place in such specimens. + +With regard to the uses whereto the Assyrians applied the arch, it would +certainly seem, from the evidence which we possess, that they neither +employed it as a great decorative feature, nor yet as a main principle +of construction. So far as appears, their chief use of it was for +doorways and gateways. Not only are the town gates of Khorsabad found to +have been arched over, but in the representations of edifices, whether +native or foreign, upon the bas-reliefs, the arch for doors is commoner +than the square top. It is most probable that the great palace gateways +were thus covered in, while it is certain that some of the interior +doorways in palaces had rounded tops. Besides this use of the arch for +doors and gates, the Assyrians are known to have employed it for drains, +aqueducts, and narrow chambers or galleries. [PLATE LVIII. Fig. 2.]; +[PLATE LIX., Fig. 1.] + +It has been suggested that the Assyrians applied the two kinds of arches +to different purposes, "thereby showing more science and discrimination +than we do in our architectural works;" that "they used the pointed arch +for underground work, where they feared great superincumbent pressure +on the apex, and the round arch above ground, where that was not to be +dreaded." [PLATE LIX., Fig. 2.] But this ingenious theory is scarcely +borne out by the facts. The round arch is employed underground in two +instances at Nimrud, besides occurring in the basement story of the +great tower, where the superincumbent weight must have been enormous. +And the pointed arch is used above ground for the aqueduct and hanging +garden in the bas-relief (see [PLATE XLIX., Fig. 4]), where the +pressure, though considerable, would not have been very extraordinary. +It would seem, therefore, to be doubtful whether the Assyrians were +really guided by any constructive principle in their preference of one +form of the arch over the other. + +In describing generally the construction of the palaces and other chief +buildings of the Assyrians, it has been necessary occasionally to refer +to their ornamentation; but the subject is far from exhausted, and will +now claim, for a short space, our special attention. Beyond a doubt the +chief adornment, both of palaces and temples, consisted of the colossal +bulls and lions guarding the great gateways, together with the +sculptured slabs wherewith the walls, both internal and external, were +ordinarily covered to the height of twelve or sometimes even of fifteen +feet. These slabs and carved figures will necessarily be considered in +connection with Assyrian sculpture, of which they form the most +important part. It will, therefore, only be noted at present that the +extent of wall covered with the slabs was, in the Khorsabad palace, at +least 4000 feet, or nearly four-fifths of a mile, while in each of the +Koyunjik palaces the sculptures extended to considerably more than that +distance. + +[Illustration: PLATE 60] + +The ornamentation of the walls above the slabs, both internally and +externally, was by means of bricks painted on the exposed side and +covered with an enamel. The colors are for the most part somewhat pale, +but occasionally they possess some brilliancy. [PLATE LX., Fig 1.] +Predominant among the tints are a pale blue, an olive green, and a dull +yellow. White is also largely used; brown and black are not infrequent; +red is comparatively rare. The subjects represented are either such +scenes as occur upon the sculptured slabs, or else mere +patterns--scrolls, honeysuckles, chevrons, gradines, guilloches, etc. In +the scenes some attempt seems to be made at representing objects in +their natural colors. The size of the figures is small; and it is +difficult to imagine that any great effect could have been produced on +the beholder by such minute drawings placed at such a height from the +ground. Probably the most effective ornamentation of this kind was by +means of patterns, which are often graceful and striking. [PLATE LX., +2.] + +It has been observed that, so far as the evidence at present goes, the +use of the column in Assyrian architecture would seem to have been very +rare indeed. In palaces we have no grounds for thinking that they were +employed at all excepting in certain of the interior doorways, which, +being of unusual breadth, seem to have been divided into three distinct +portals by means of two pillars placed towards the sides of the opening. +The bases of these pillars were of stone, and have been found _in situ_; +their shafts and capitals had disappeared, and can only be supplied by +conjecture. In the temples, as we have seen, the use of the column was +more frequent. Its dimensions greatly varied. Ordinarily it was too +short and thick for beauty, while occasionally it had the opposite +defect, being too tall and slender. Its base was sometimes quite plain, +sometimes diversified by a few mouldings, sometimes curiously and rather +clumsily rounded (as in No. II., [PLATE LXI., Fig. 1]). The shaft was +occasionally patterned. The capital, in one instance (No. I., [PLATE +LXI., Fig. 3]), approaches to the Corinthian; in another (No. II.) it +reminds us of the Ionic; but the volutes are double, and the upper ones +are surmounted by an awkward-looking abacus. A third (No. III., [PLATE. +LXI., Fig. 2]) is very peculiar, and to some extent explains the origin +of the second. It consists of two pairs of ibex horns, placed one over +the other. With this maybe compared another (No. IV.). the most +remarkable of all, where we have first a single pair of ibex horns, and +then, at the summit, a complete figure of an ibex very graphically +portrayed. + +[Illustration: PLATE 61] + +The beauty of Assyrian patterning has been already noticed. Patterned +work is found not only on the enamelled bricks, but on stone pavement +slabs, and around arched doorways leading from one chamber to another, +where the patterns are carved with great care and delicacy upon the +alabaster. The accompanying specimen of a doorway, which is taken from +an unpublished drawing by Mr. Boutcher, is very rich and elegant, though +it exhibits none but the very commonest of the Assyrian patterns. [PLATE +LXII., Fig. 1.] A carving of a more elaborate type, and one presenting +even greater delicacy of workmanship, has been given in an earlier +portion of this chapter as an example of a patterned pavement slab. +Slabs of this kind have been found in many of the palaces, and well +deserve the attention of modern designers. + +[Illustration: PLATE 62] + +When the architecture of the Assyrians is compared with that of other +nations possessing about the same degree of civilization, the impression +that it leaves is perhaps somewhat disappointing. Vast labor and skill, +exquisite finish, the most extraordinary elaboration, were bestowed on +edifices so essentially fragile and perishable that no care could have +preserved them for manly centuries. Sun-dried brick, a material but +little superior to the natural clay of which it was composed, +constituted everywhere the actual fabric, which was then covered thinly +and just screened from view by a facing, seldom more than a few inches +in depth, of a more enduring and handsomer substance. The tendency of +the platform mounds, as soon as formed, must have been to settle down, +to bulge at the sides and become uneven at the top, to burst their stone +or brick facings and precipitated them into the ditch below, at the same +time disarranging and breaking up the brick pavements which covered +their surface. The weight of the buildings raised upon the monads must +have tended to hasten these catastrophes, while the unsteadiness of +their foundations and the character of their composition must have soon +had the effect of throwing the buildings themselves into disorder, of +loosening the slabs from the walls, causing the enamelled bricks to +start from their places, the colossal bulls and lions to lean over, and +the roofs to become shattered and fall in. The fact that the earlier +palaces were to a great extent dismantled by the later kings is perhaps +to be attributed, not so much to a barbarous resolve that they would +destroy the memorials of a former and a hostile dynasty, as to the +circumstance that the more ancient buildings had fallen into decay and +ceased to be habitable. The rapid succession of palaces, the fact that, +at any rate from Sargon downwards, each monarch raises a residence, or +residences, for himself, is yet more indicative of the rapid +deterioration and dilapidation (so to speak) of the great edifices. +Probably a palace began to show unmistakable symptoms of decay and to +become an unpleasant residence at the end of some twenty-five or thirty +years from the date of its completion; effective repairs were, by the +very nature of the case, almost impossible; and it was at once easier +and more to the credit of the monarch that he should raise a fresh +platform and build himself a fresh dwelling than that he should devote +his efforts to keeping in a comfortable condition the crumbling +habitation of his predecessor. + +It is surprising that, under these circumstances, a new style of +architecture did not arise. The Assyrians were not, like the +Babylonians, compelled by the nature of the country in which they lived +to use brick as their chief building material. M. Botta expresses his +astonishment at the preference of brick to stone exhibited by the +builders of Khorsabad, when the neighborhood abounds in rocky hills +capable of furnishing an inexhaustible supply of the better material. +The limestone range of the Jebel Maklub is but a few miles distant, and +many out-lying rocky elevations might have been worked with still +greater facility. Even at Nineveh itself, and at Calah or Nimrud, though +the hills were further removed, stone was, in reality, plentiful. The +cliffs a little above Koyunjik are composed of a "hard sandstone," and a +part of the moat of the town is carried through "compact silicious +conglomerate." The town is, in fact, situated on "a spur of rock" thrown +off from the Jebel Dlakiub, which, terminates at the edge of the ravine +whereby Nineveh was protected on the south. Calah, too, was built on a +number of "rocky undulations," and its western wall skirts the edge of +"conglomerate" cliffs, which have been scarped by the hand of man. A +very tolerable stone was thus procurable on the actual sites of these +ancient cities; and if a better material had been wanted, it might have +been obtained in any quantity, and of whatever quality was desired, from +the Zagros range and its outlying rocky barriers. Transport could +scarcely have caused much difficulty, as the blocks might have been +brought from the quarries where they were hewn to the sites selected for +the cities by water-carriage--a mode of transport well known to the +Assyrians, as is made evident to us by the bas-reliefs. (See [PLATE +LXII. Fig. 2.]) + +If the best possible building material was thus plentiful in Assyria, +and its conveyance thus easy to manage, to what are we to ascribe the +decided preference shown for so inferior a substance as brick? No +considerable difficulty can have been experienced in quarrying the stone +of the country, which is seldom very hard, and which was, in fact, cut +by the Assyrians, whenever they had any sufficient motive for removing +or making use of it. One answer only can be reasonably given to the +question. The Assyrians had learnt a certain style of architecture in +the alluvial Babylonia, and having brought it with them into A country +far less fitted for it, maintained it from habit, not withstanding its +unsuitableness. In some few respects, indeed, they made a slight change. +The abundance of stone in the country induced them to substitute it in +several places where in Babylonia it was necessary to use burnt brick, +as in the facings of platforms and of temples, in dams across streams, +in pavements sometimes, and universally in the ornamentation of the +lover portions of palace and temple walls. But otherwise they remained +faithful to their architectural traditions, and raised in the +comparatively hilly Assyria the exact type of building which nature and +necessity had led them to invent and use in the flat and stoneless +alluvium where they had had their primitive abode. As platforms were +required both for security and for comfort in the lower region, they +retained them, instead of choosing natural elevations in the upper one. +As clay was the only possible material in the one place, clay was still +employed, notwithstanding the abundance of stone, in the other. Being +devoid of any great inventive genius, the Assyrians found it easier to +maintain and slightly modify a system with which they had been familiar +in their original country than to devise a new one more adapted to the +land of their adoption. + +Next to the architecture of the Assyrians, their mimetic art seems to +deserve attention. Though the representations in the works of Layard and +Botta, combined with the presence of so many specimens in the great +national museums of London and Paris, have produced a general +familiarity with the subject, still, as a connected view of it in its +several stages and branches is up to the present time a desideratum in +our literature, it may not be superfluous here to attempt a brief +account of the different classes into which their productions in this +kind of art fall, and the different eras and styles under which they +naturally range themselves. + +Assyrian mimetic art consists of statues, bas-reliefs, metal-castings, +carvings in ivory, statuettes in clay, enamellings on brick, and +intaglios on stones and gems. + +[Illustration: PLATE 63] + +Assyrian statues are comparatively rare, and, when they occur, are among +the least satisfactory of this people's productions. They are coarse, +clumsy, purely formal in their design, and generally characterized by an +undue flatness, or want of breadth in the side view, as if they were +only intended to be seen directly in front. Sometimes, however, this +defect is not apparent. A sitting statue in black basalt, of the size of +life, representing an early king, which Mr. Layard discovered at +Kileh-Sherghat [PLATE LXIII, Fig. 1], and which is now in the British +Museum, may be instanced as quite free from this disproportion. It is +very observable, however, in another of the royal statues recently +recovered [PLATE LXIII, Fig. 2], as it is also in the monolith bulls +and lions universally. Otherwise, the proportions of the figures are +commonly correct. They bear a resemblance to the archaic Greek, +especially to that form of it which we find in the sculptures from +Branchidae. They have just the same rudeness, heaviness, and stiff +formality. It is difficult to judge of their execution, as they have +mostly suffered great injury from the hand of man, or from the weather; +but the royal statue here represented, which is in better preservation +than any other Assyrian work "in the round" that has come down to us, +exhibits a rather high finish. It is smaller than life, being about +three and a half feet high: the features are majestic, and well marked; +the hair and beard are elaborately curled; the arms and hands are well +shaped, and finished with care. The dress is fringed elaborately, and +descends to the ground, concealing all the lower part of the figure. The +only statues recovered besides these are two of the god Nebo, brought +from Nimrud, a mutilated one of Ishtar, or Astarte, found at Koyunjik +[PLATE LXIII., Fig. 3], and a tolerably perfect one of Sargon, which was +discovered at Idalium, in the island of Cyprus. + +The clay statuettes of the Assyrians possess even less artistic merit +than their statues. They are chiefly images of gods or genii, and have +most commonly something grotesque in their appearance. Among the most +usual are figures which represent either Mylitta (Bettis), or Ishtar. +They are made in a fine terra cotta, which has turned of a pale red in +baking, and are colored with a cretaceous coating, so as greatly to +resemble Greek pottery. Another type is that of an old man, bearded, and +with hands clasped, which we may perhaps identify with Nebo, the +Assyrian Mercury, since his statues in the British Museum have a +somewhat similar character. Other forms are the fish-god Nin, or Nin-ip +[PLATE LXIV., Fig. 1]; and the deities, not yet identified, which were +found by M. Botta under the pavement-bricks at Khorsahad. [PLATE LXIV., +Fig. 2.] These specimens have the formal character of the statues, and +are even more rudely shaped. Other examples, which carry the grotesque +to an excess, appear to have been designed with greater spirit and +freedom. Animal and human forms are sometimes intermixed in them; and +while it cannot be denied that they are rude and coarse, it must be +allowed, on the other hand, that they possess plenty of vigor. M. Botta +has engraved several specimens, including two which have the hind legs +and tail of a bull, with a human neck and arms, the head bearing the +usual horned cap. + +[Illustration: PLATE 64] + +Small figures of animals in terra cotta have also been found. They +consist chiefly of dogs and ducks. A representation of each has been +given in the chapter on the productions of Assyria. The dogs discovered +are made of a coarse clay, and seem to have been originally painted. +They are not wanting in spirit; but it detracts from their merit that +the limbs are merely in relief, the whole space below the belly of the +animal being filled up with a mass of clay for the sake of greater +strength. The ducks are of a fine yellow material, and represent the +bird asleep, with its head lying along its back. + +Of all the Assyrian works of art which have come down to us, by far the +most important are the bas-reliefs. It is here especially, if not +solely, that we can trace progress in style; and it is here alone that +we see the real artistic genius of the people. What sculpture in its +full form, or in the slightly modified form of very high relief, was to +the Greeks, what painting has been to modern European nations since the +time of Cimabue, that low relief was to the Assyrians--the practical +mode in which artistic power found vent among them. They used it for +almost every purpose to which mimetic art is applicable; to express +their religious feelings and ideas, to glorify their kings, to hand down +to posterity the nation's history and its deeds of prowess, to depict +home scenes and domestic occupations, to represent landscape and +architecture, to imitate animal and vegetable forms, even to illustrate +the mechanical methods which they employed in the construction of those +vast architectural works of which the reliefs were the principal +ornamentation. It is not too much to say that we know the Assyrians, not +merely artistically, but historically and ethnologically, _chiefly_ +through their bas reliefs, which seem to represent to us almost the +entire life of the people. + +The reliefs may be divided under five principal heads:--1, War scenes, +including battles, sieges, devastations of an enemy's country, naval +expeditions, and triumphant returns from foreign war, with the trophies +and fruits of victory; 2. Religious scenes, either mythical or real; 3. +Processions generally of tribute-bearers, bringing the produce of their +several countries to the Great King; 4. hunting and sporting scenes, +including the chase of savage animals, and of animals sought for food, +the spreading of nets, the shooting of birds, and the like; and 5. +Scenes of ordinary life, as those representing the transport and +erection of colossal bulls, landscapes, temples, interiors, gardens, +etc. + +The earliest art is that of the most ancient palaces at Nimrud. It +belongs to the latter part of the tenth century before our era; the time +of Asa in Judaea, of Omri and Ahab in Samaria, and of the Sheshonks in +Egypt. It is characterized by much spirit and variety in the design, by +strength and firmness, combined with a good deal of heaviness, in the +execution, by an entire contempt for perspective, and by the rigid +preservation in almost every case, both human and animal, of the exact +profile both of figure and face. Of the illustrations already given in +the present volume a considerable number belong to this period. The +heads [PLATE XXXIII.], and the figures [PLATE XXXV.], represent the +ordinary appearance of the men, while animal forms of the time will be +found in the lion [PLATE XXV.], the ibex [PLATE XXV.], the gazelle +[PLATE XXVII.], the horse [PLATE XXXI.], and the horse and wild bull +[PLATE XXVIII.] It will be seen upon reference that the animal are very +much superior to the human forms, a characteristic which is not, +however, peculiar to the style of this period, but belongs to all +Assyrian art, from its earliest to its latest stage. A favorable +specimen of the style will be found in the lion-hunt which Mr. Layard +has engraved in his "Monuments," and of which he himself observes, that +it is "one of the finest specimens hitherto discovered of Assyrian +sculpture." in [PLATE LXIV., Fig. 3.] The composition is at once simple +and effective. The king forms the principal object, nearly in the centre +of the picture, and by the superior height of his conical head-dress, +and the position of the two arrows which he holds in the hand that draws +the bow-string, dominates over the entire composition. As he turns round +to shoot down at the lion which assails him from behind, his body is +naturally and gracefully bent, while his charioteer, being engaged in +urging his horses forward, leans naturally in the opposite direction, +thus contrasting with the main figure and balancing it. The lion +immediately behind the chariot is outlined with great spirit and +freedom; his head is masterly; the fillings up of the body, however, +have too much conventionality. As he rises to attack the monarch, he +conducts the eye up to the main figure, while at the same time by this +attitude his principal lines form a pleasing contrast to the predominant +perpendicular and horizontal lines of the general composition. The dead +lion in front of the chariot balances the living one behind it, and, +with its crouching attitude, and drooping head and tail, contrasts +admirably with the upreared form of its fellow. Two attendants, armed +with sword and shield, following behind the living lion, serve to +balance the horses drawing the chariot, without rendering the +composition too symmetrical. The horses themselves are the weakest part +of the picture; the forelegs are stiff and too slight, and the heads +possess little spirit. + +It is seldom that designs of this early period can boast nearly so much +merit. The religious and processional pieces are stiff in the extreme; +the battle scenes are overcrowded and confused; the hunting' scenes are +superior to these, but in general they too fall far below the level of +the above-described composition. + +[Illustration: PLATE 65] + +The best drawing of this period is found in the figures forming the +patterns or embroidery of dresses. The gazelle, the ibex, the horse, and +the horseman hunting the wild bull of which representations have been +given, are from ornamental work of this kind. They are favorable +specimens perhaps; but, still, they are representative of a considerable +class. Some examples even exceed these in the freedom of their outline, +and the vigorous action which they depict, as, for instance, the man +seizing a wild bull by the horn and foreleg, which is figured. [PLATE +LXV., Fig. 1.] In general, however, there is a tendency in these early +drawings to the grotesque. Lions and bulls appear in absurd attitudes; +hawk-headed figures in petticoats threaten human-headed lions with a +mace or a strap, sometimes holding them by a paw, sometimes grasping +then round the middle of the tail [PLATE LXV. Fig. 2]; priests hold up +ibexes at arm's length by one of their hindlegs, so that their heads +trail upon the ground; griffins claw after antelopes, or antelopes toy +with winged lions; even in the hunting scenes, which are less simply +ludicrous, there seems to be an occasional striving after strange and +laughable attitudes, as when a stricken bull tumbles upon his head, with +his tail tossed straight in the air [PLATE LXV., Fig. 31], or when a +lion receives his death-wound with arms outspread, and mouth wildly +agape. [PLATE LXVI., Fig. 2.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 66] + +The second period of Assyrian mimetic art extends from the latter part +of the eighth to nearly the middle of the seventh century before our +era; or, more exactly, from about B.C. 721 to B.C. 667. It belongs to +the reigns of the three consecutive kings--Sargon, Sennacherib, and +Esar-haddon, who were contemporary with Hezekiah and Manasseh in Judaea, +and with the Sabacos (Shebeks) and Tirhakah (Tehiak) in Egypt. The +sources which chiefly illustrate this period are the magnificent series +of engravings published by MM. Flandin and Botta, together with the +originals of a certain portion of them in the Louvre; the engravings in +Mr. Layard's first folio work, from plate 68 to 83; those in his second +folio work from plate 7 to 44, and from plate 50 to 56; the originals of +many of these in the British Museum; several monuments procured for the +British Museum by Mr. Loftus; and a series of unpublished drawings by +Mr. Boutcher in the same great national collection. + +The most obvious characteristic of this period, when we compare it with +the preceding one, is the advance which the artists have made in their +vegetable forms, and the pre-Raphaelite accuracy which they affect in +all the accessories of their representations. In the bas-reliefs of the +first period we have for the most part no backgrounds. Figures alone +occupy the slabs, or figures and buildings. In some few instances water +is represented in a very rude fashion; and once or twice only do we meet +with trees, which, when they occur, are of the poorest and strangest +character. (See [PLATE LXVI., Fig. 1.]) In the second period, on the +contrary, backgrounds are the rule, and slabs without them form the +exception. The vegetable forms are abundant and varied, though still +somewhat too conventional. Date-palms, firs, and vines are delineated +with skill and spirit; other varieties are more difficult to recognize. +[PLATE LXVI., Fig. 3.] The character of the countries through which +armies march is almost always given--their streams, lakes, and rivers, +their hills and mountains, their trees, and in the case of marshy +districts, their tall reeds. At the same time, animals in the wild state +are freely introduced without their having any bearing on the general +subject of the picture. The water teems with fish, and, where the sea is +represented, with crabs, turtle, star-fish, sea-serpents, and other +monsters. The woods are alive with birds; wild swine and stags people +the marshes. Nature is evidently more and more studied; and the artist +takes a delight in adorning the scenes of violence, which he is forced +to depict, with quiet touches of a gentle character--rustics fishing or +irrigating their grounds, fish disporting themselves, birds flying from +tree to tree, or watching the callow young which look up to them from +the nest for protection. + +In regard to human forms, no great advance marks this period. A larger +variety in their attitudes is indeed to be traced, and a greater energy +and life appears in most of the figures; but there is still much the +same heaviness of outline, the same over-muscularity, and the same +general clumsiness and want of grace. Animal forms show a much more +considerable improvement. Horses are excellently portrayed, the +attitudes being varied, and the heads especially delineated with great +spirit. Mules and camels are well expressed, but have scarcely the vigor +of the horses. Horned cattle, as oxen, both with and without humps, +goats, and sheep are very skilfully treated, being represented with much +character, in natural yet varied attitudes, and often admirably grouped. + +[Illustration: PLATE 67] + +[Illustration: PLATE 68] + +The composition during this period is more complicated and more +ambitious than during the preceding one; but it may be questioned +whether it is so effective. No single scene of the time can compare for +grandeur with the lion-hunt above described. The battles and siege are +spirited, but want unity; the hunting scenes are comparatively tame; the +representations of the transport of colossal bulls possess more interest +than artistic merit. On the other hand, the manipulation is decidedly +superior; the relief is higher, the outline is more flowing, the finish +of the features more delicate. What is lost in grandeur of composition +is, on the whole, more than made up by variety, naturalness, improved +handling, and higher finish. + +The highest perfection of Assyrian art is in the third period, which +extends from B.C. 667 to about B.C. 640. It synchronizes with the reign +of Asshur-bani-pal, the son of Essarhaddon, who appears to have been +contemporary with Gyges in Lydia, and with Psammetichus in Egypt. The +characteristics of the time are a less conventional type in the +vegetable forms, a wonderful freedom spirit, and variety in the forms of +animals, extreme minuteness and finish in the human figures, and a +delicacy in the handling considerably beyond that of even the second or +middle period. The sources illustrative of this stage of the art consist +of the plates in Mr. Layard's "Second Series of Monuments," from plate +45 to 49, the originals of these in the British Museum, the noble series +of slabs obtained by Mr. Loftus from the northern palace of Koyunjik, +and of the drawings made from them, and from other slabs, which were in +a more damaged condition by Mr. Boutcher, who accompanied Mr. Loftus in +the capacity of artist. + +Vegetable forms are, on the whole, somewhat rare. The artists have +relinquished the design of representing scenes with perfect +truthfulness, and have recurred as a general rule to the plain +backgrounds of the first period. This is particularly the case in the +hunting scenes, which are seldom accompanied by any landscape +whatsoever. In processional and military scenes landscape is introduced, +but sparingly; the forms, for the most part, resembling those of the +second period. Now and then, however, in such scenes the landscape has +been made the object of special attention, becoming the prominent part, +while the human figures are accessories. It is here that an advance in +art is particularly discernible. In one set of slabs a garden seems to +be represented. Vines are trained upon trees, which may be either firs +or cypresses, winding elegantly around their stems, and on either side +letting fall their pendent branches laden with fruit. [PLATE LXVIII.. +Fig. 2.] Leaves. branches, and tendrils are delineated with equal truth +and finish, a most pleasing and graceful effect being thereby produced. +Irregularly among the trees occur groups of lilies, some in bud, some in +full blow, all natural, graceful, and spirited. [PLATE LXIX., Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 69] + +[Illustration: PLATE 70] + +It is difficult to do justice to the animal delineation of this period. +without reproducing before the eye of the reader the entire series of +reliefs and drawings which belong to it. It is the infinite variety in +the attitudes, even more than the truth and naturalness of any +particular specimens, that impresses us as we contemplate the series. +Lions, wild asses, dogs, deer, wild goats, horses, are represented in +profusion: and we scarcely find a single form which is repeated. Some +specimens have been already given, as the hunted stag and hind [PLATE +XXVII.] and the startled wild ass [PLATE XXVI.] Others will occur among +the illustrations of the next chapter. For the present it may suffice to +draw attention to the spirit of the two falling asses in the +illustration [PLATE LXIX., Fig. 3], and of the crouching lion in the +illustration [PLATE LXIX., Fig. 2]; to the lifelike force of both ass and +hounds in the representation [PLATE LXX., Fig. 1], and here particularly +to the bold drawing of one of the dogs' heads in full, instead of in +profile--a novelty now first occurring in the bas-reliefs. As instances +of still bolder attempts at unusual attitudes, and at the same time of a +certain amount of foreshortening, two further illustrations are +appended. The sorely wounded lion in the first [PLATE LXX., Fig. 2] +turns his head piteously towards the cruel shaft, while he totters to +his fall, his limbs failing him, and his eyes beginning to close. The +more slightly stricken king of beasts in the second [PLATE LXXI.], urged +to fury by the smart of his wound, rushes at the chariot whence the +shaft was sped, and in his mad agony springs upon a wheel, clutches it +with his two fore-paws, and frantically grinds it between his teeth. +Assyrian art, so far as is yet known, has no finer specimen of animal +drawing than this head, which may challenge comparison with anything of +the kind that either classic or modern art has produced. + +[Illustration: PLATE 71] + +[Illustration: PLATE 72] + +As a specimen at once of animal vigor and of the delicacy and finish of +the workmanship in the human forms of the time, a bas-relief of the king +receiving the spring of a lion, and shooting an arrow into his mouth, +while a second lion advances at a rapid pace a little behind the first, +may be adduced. (See [PLATE LXXII.]) The boldness of the composition, +which represents the first lion actually in mid-air, is remarkable; the +drawing of the brute's fore-paws, expanded to seize his intended prey, +is lifelike and very spirited, while the head is massive and full of +vigor. There is something noble in the calmness of the monarch +contrasted with the comparative eagerness of the attendant, who +stretches forward with shield and spear to protect has master from +destruction, if the arrow fails. The head of the king is, unfortunately, +injured; but the remainder of the figure is perfect and here, in the +elaborate ornamentation of the whole dress, we have an example of the +careful finish of the time--a finish, which is so light and delicate +that it does not interfere with the general effect, being scarcely +visible at a few yards' distance. + +[Illustration: PLATE 73] + +The faults which still remain in this best period of Assyrian art are +heaviness and stiffness of outline in the human forms; a want of +expression in the faces, and of variety and animation in the attitudes; +and an almost complete disregard of perspective. If the worst of these +faults are anywhere overcome, it would seem to be in the land lion-hunt, +from which the noble head represented below is taken; and in the +river-hunt of the same, beast, found on a slab too much injured to be +re-moved, of which a representation is given. [PLATE LXXIII.] From what +appears to have remained of the four figures towards the prow of the +boat, we may conclude that there was a good deal of animation here. The +drawing must certainly have been less stiff than usual; and if there is +not much variety in the attitudes of the three spearmen in front, at any +rate those attitudes contrast well, both with the stillness of the +unengaged attendants in the rear, and with the animated but very +different attitude of the king. + +Before the subject of Assyrian sculpture is dismissed, it is necessary +to touch the question whether the Assyrians applied color to statuary, +and, if so, in what way and to what extent. Did they, like the +Egyptians, cover the whole surface of the stone with a layer of stucco, +and then paint the sculptured parts with strong colors--red, blue, +yellow, white, and black? Or did they, like the Greeks, apply paint to +certain portions of their sculptures only, as the hair, eyes, beard and +draperies? Or finally, did they simply leave the stone in its natural +condition, like the Italians and the modern sculptors generally? + +The present appearance of the sculptures is most in accordance with the +last of these three theories, or at any rate with that theory very +slightly modified by the second. The slabs now offer only the faintest +and most occasional traces of color. The evidence, however, of the +original explorers is distinct, that _at the time of discovery_ these +traces were very much more abundant. Mr. Layard observed color at Nimrud +on the hair, beard, and eyes of the figures, on the sandals and the +bows, on the tongues of the eagle-headed mythological emblems, on a +garland round the head of a winged priest(?), and on the representation +of fire in the bas-relief of a siege. At Khorsabad, MM. Botta and +Flandin found paint on the fringes of draperies, on fillets, on the +mitre of the king, on the flowers carried by the winged figures, on bows +and spearshafts, on the harness of the horses, on the chariots, on the +sandals, on the birds, and sometimes on the trees. The torches used to +fire cities, and the flames of the cities themselves, were invariably +colored red. M. Flandin also believed that he could detect, in some +instances, a faint trace of yellow ochre on the flesh and on the +background of bas-reliefs, whence he concluded that this tint was spread +over every part not otherwise colored. + +It is evident, therefore, that the theory of an absence of color, or of +a very rare use of it, must be set aside. Indeed, as it is certain that +the upper portions of the palace walls, both inside and outside, were +patterned with colored bricks, covering the whole space above the slabs, +it must be allowed to be extremely improbable that at a particular line +color would suddenly and totally cease. The laws of decorative harmony +forbid such abrupt transitions; and to these laws all nations with any +taste instinctively and unwittingly conform. The Assyrian reliefs were +therefore, we may be sure, to some extent colored. The real question is, +to what extent in the Egyptian or in the classical style? + +In Mr. Layard's first series of "Monuments," a preference was expressed +for what may be called the Egyptian theory. In the Frontispiece of that +work, and in the second Plate, containing the restoration of a palace +interior, the entire bas-reliefs were represented as strongly colored. A +jet-black was assigned to the hair and beards of men and of all +human-headed figures, to the manes and tails of horses, to vultures, +eagle heads, and the like: a coarse red-brown to winged lions, to human +flesh, to horses' bodies, and to various ornaments, a deep yellow to +common lions, to chariot wheels, quivers, fringes, belts, sandals, and +other portions of human apparel; white to robes, helmets, shields. +tunic's, towns, trees, etc.; and a dull blue to some of the feathers of +winged lions and genii, and to large portions of the ground from which +the sculptures stood out. This conception of Assyrian coloring, framed +confessedly on the assumption of a close analogy between the +ornamentation of Assyria and that of Egypt, was at once accepted by the +unlearned, and naturally enough was adopted by most of those who sought +to popularize the new knowledge among their countrymen. Hence the +strange travesties of Assyrian art which have been seen in so-called +"Assyrian Courts," where all the delicacy of the real sculpture has +disappeared, and the spectator has been revolted by grim figures of +bulls and lions, from which a thick layer of coarse paint has taken away +all dignity, and by reliefs which, from the same cause, have lost all +spirit and refinement. + +It is sufficient objection to the theory here treated of, that it has no +solid basis of fact to rest upon. Color has only been _found_ on +portions of the bas-reliefs, as on the hair and beards of men, on +head-ornaments, to a small extent on draperies, on the harness of +horses, on sandals, weapons, birds, flowers, and the like. Neither the +flesh of men, nor the bodies of animals, nor the draperies generally, +nor the backgrounds (except perhaps at Khorsabad), present the slightest +appearance of having been touched by paint. It is inconceivable that, if +these portions of the sculptures were universally or even ordinarily +colored, the color should have so entirely disappeared in every +instance. It is moreover inconceivable that the sculptor, if he knew his +work was about to be concealed beneath a coating of paint, should have +cared to give it the delicate elaboration which is found at any rate in +the later examples. All leads to the conclusion that in Assyrian as in +classical sculpture, color was sparingly applied, being confined to such +parts as the hair, eyes, and beards of men, to the fringes of dresses, +to horse trappings, and other accessory parts of the representations. In +this way the lower part of the wall was made to harmonize sufficiently +with the upper portion, which was wholly colored, but chiefly with pale +hues. At the same time a greater distinctness was given to the scenes +represented upon the sculptured slabs, the color being judiciously +applied to disentangle human from animal figures, dress from flesh, or +human figures from one another. + +The colors actually found upon the bas-reliefs are four only--red, blue, +black, and white. The red is a good bright tint, far exceeding in +brilliancy that of Egypt. On the sculptures of Khorsabad it approaches +to vermilion, while on those of Nimrud it inclines to a crimson or a +lake tint. It is found alternating with the natural stone on the royal +parasol and mitre; with blue on the crests of helmets, the trappings of +horses, on flowers, sandals, and on fillets; and besides, it occurs, +unaccompanied by any other color, on the stems and branches of trees, on +the claws of birds, the shafts of spears and arrows, bows, belts, +fillets, quivers, maces, reins, sandals, flowers, and the fringe of +dresses. It is uncertain whence the coloring matter was derived; perhaps +the substance used was the suboxide of copper, with which the Assyrians +are known to have colored their red glass. + +The blue of the Assyrian monuments is an oxide of copper, sometimes +containing also a trace of lead. Besides occurring in combination with +red in the cases already mentioned, it was employed to color the foliage +of trees, the plumage of birds, the heads of arrows, and sometimes +quivers, and sandals. + +White occurs very rarely indeed upon the sculptures. At Khorsabad it was +not found of all; at Nimrud it was confined to the inner part of the eye +on either side of the pupil, and in this position it occurred only on +the colossal lions and bulls, and a very few other figures. On bricks +and pottery it was frequent, and their (sp.) it is found to have been +derived from tin; but it is uncertain whether the white of the +sculptures was not derived from a commoner material. + +Black is applied in the sculptures chiefly to the hair, beards, and +eyebrows of men. It was also used to color the eyeballs not only of men, +but also of the colossal lions and bulls. Sometimes, when the eyeball +was thus marked, a line of black was further carried round the inner +edge of both the upper and the lower eyelid. In one place black bars +have been introduced to ornament an antelope's horns. On the older +sculptures black was also the common color for sandals, which however +were then edged with red. The composition of the black is uncertain. +Browns upon the enamelled bricks are found to have been derived from, +iron; but Mr. Layard believes the black upon the sculptures to have +been, like the Egyptian, a bone black mixed with a little gum. + +The ornamental metallurgy of the Assyrians deserves attention next to +their sculpture. It is of three kinds, consisting, in the first place, +of entire figures, or parts of figures, cast in a solid shape; secondly, +of castings in a low relief; and thirdly, of embossed work wrought +mainly with the hammer, but finished by a sparing use of the graving +tool. + +[Illustration: PLATE 74] + +The solid castings are comparatively rare, and represented none but +animal forms. Lions, which seem to have been used as weights, occur most +frequently, [PLATE LXXIV., Fig. 1.] None are of any great size; nor have +we any evidence that the Assyrians could cast large masses of metal. +They seem to have used castings, not (as the Greeks and the moderns) for +the greater works of art, but only for the smaller. The forms of the few +casts which have come down to us are good, and are free from the +narrowness which characterizes the representations in stone. + +Castings in a low relief formed the ornamentation of thrones [PLATE +LXXIV., Figs. 2, 3], stools, and sometimes probably of chariots. They +consisted of animal and human figures, winged deities, griffins, and the +like. The castings were chiefly in open-work, and were attached to the +furniture which they ornamented by means of small nails. They have no +peculiar merit, being merely repetitions of the forms with which we are +familiar from their occurrence on embroidered dresses and on the +cylinders. + +[Illustration: PLATE 75] + +The embossed work of the Assyrians is the most curious and the most +artistic portion of their metallurgy. Sometimes it consisted of mere +heads and feet of animals, hammered into shape upon a model composed of +clay mixed with bitumen. [PLATE LXXV., Figs. 1, 2.] Sometimes it +extended to entire figures, as (probably) in the case of the lions +clasping each other, so common at the ends of sword-sheaths (see [PLATE +LXXV., Fig. 3]), the human figures which ornament the sides of chairs or +stools, and the like. [PLATE. LXXV., Fig. 3.] Occasionally it was of a +less solid but at the same time of a more elaborate character. In a +palace inhabited by Sargon at Nimrud, and in close juxtaposition with a +monument certainly of his time, were discovered by Mr. Layard a number +of dishes, plates, and bowls, embossed with great taste and skill, which +are among the most elegant specimens of Assyrian art discovered during +the recent researches. Upon these were represented sometimes hunting +scenes, sometimes combats between griffins and lions, or between men and +lions, sometimes landscapes with trees and figures of animals, sometimes +mere rows of animals following one another. One or two representations +from these bowls have been already given. They usually contain a star or +scarab in the centre, beyond which is a series of bands or borders, +patterned most commonly with figures. [PLATE LXXVI., Fig 1.] It is +impossible to give an adequate idea of the delicacy and spirit of the +drawings, or of the variety and elegance of the other patterns, in a +work of moderate dimensions like the present. Mr. Layard, in his Second +Series of "Monuments," has done justice to the subject by pictorial +representation, while in his "Nineveh and Babylon" he has described the +more important of the vessels separately. The curious student will do +well to consult these two works, after which he may examine with +advantage the originals in the British Museum. + +[Illustration: PLATE 76] + +One of the most remarkable features observable in this whole series of +monuments, is its semi-Egyptian character. The occurrence of the scarab +has been just noticed. It appears on the bowls frequently, as do +sphinxes of an Egyptian type; while sometimes heads and head-dresses +purely Egyptian are found, as in [PLATE LXXVI., Fig. 2], which are +well-known forms, and have nothing Assyrian about them and in one or two +instances we meet with hieroglyphics, the _onk_ (or symbol of life), + +[Illustration: _onk_ on page 223] + +the ibis, etc. These facts may seem at first sight to raise a great +question namely, whether, afterall, the art of the Assyrians was really +of home growth, or was not rather imported from the Egyptians, either +directly or by way of Phoenicia. Such a view has been sometimes taken; +but the most cursory study of the Assyrian remains _in chronological +order_, is sufficient to disprove the theory, since it will at once show +that the earliest specimens of Assyrian art are the most un-Egyptian in +character. No doubt there are certain analogies even here, as the +preference for the profile, the stiffness and formality, the ignorance +or disregard of perspective, and the like; but the analogies are exactly +such as would be tolerably sure to occur in the early efforts of any two +races not very dissimilar to one another, while the little resemblances +which alone prove connection, are entirely wanting. These do not appear +until we come to monuments which belong to the time of Sargon, when +direct connection between Egypt and Assyria seems to have begun, and +Egyptian captives are known to have been transported into Mesopotamia in +large numbers. It has been suggested that the entire series of Nimrud +vessels is Phoenician, and that they were either carried off as spoil +from Tyre and other Phoenician towns, or else were the workmanship of +Phoenician captives removed into Assyria from their own country. The +Sidonians and their kindred were, it is remarked, the most renowned +workers in metal of the ancient world, and their intermediate position +between Egypt and Assyria may, it is suggested, have been the cause of +the existence among them of a mixed art, half Assyrian, half Egyptian. +The theory is plausible; but upon the whole it seems mere consonant with +all the facts to regard the series in question as in reality Assyrian, +modified from the ordinary style by an influence derived from Egypt. +Either Egyptian artificers--captives probably--may have wrought the +bowls after Assyrian models, and have accidentally varied the common +forms, more or less, in the direction which was natural to them from old +habits; or Assyrian artificers, acquainted with the art of Egypt, and +anxious to improve their own from it, may have consciously adopted +certain details from the rival country. The workmanship, subjects, and +mode of treatment, are all, it is granted, "more Assyrian than +Egyptian," the Assyrian character being decidedly more marked than in +the case of the ivories which will be presently considered; yet even in +that case the legitimate conclusions seems to be that the specimens are +to be regarded as native Assyrian, but as produced abnormally, under a +strong foreign influence. + +The usual material of the Assyrian ornamental metallurgy is bronze, +composed of one part of tin to ten of copper which are exactly the +proportions considered to be best by the Greeks and Romans, and still in +ordinary use at the present day. In some instances, where more than +common strength was required, as in the legs of tripods and tables, the +bronze was ingeniously cast over an inner structure of iron. This +practice was unknown to modern metallurgists until the discovery of the +Assyrian specimens, from which it has been successfully imitated. + +We may presume that, besides bronze, the Assyrians used, to a certain +extent, silver and gold as materials for ornamental metal-work. The +earrings, bracelets, and armlets worn by the kings and the great +officers of state were probably of the more valuable metal, while the +similar ornaments worn by those of minor may have been of silver. [PLATE +LXXVI., Fig. 3.] One solitary specimen only of either class has been +found; but Mr. Layard discovered several moulds, with tasteful designs +for earrings, both at Nimrud and at Koyunjik; and the sculptures show +that both in these and the other personal ornaments a good deal of +artistic excellence was exhibited. The earrings are frequent in the form +of a cross, and are sometimes delicately chased. The armlets and +bracelets generally terminate in the heads of rams or bulls, which seem +to have been rendered with spirit and taste. + +[Illustration: PLATE 77] + +[Illustration: PLATE 78] + +By one or two instances it appears that the Assyrians knew how to inlay +one metal with another. [PLATE LXXVI, Fig. 5.] The specimens discovered +are scarcely of an artistic character, being merely winged scarabaei, +outlined in gold on a bronze ground [PLATE LXXVI., Fig. 4.] The work, +however, is delicate, and the form very much more true to nature than +that which prevailed in Egypt. + +The ivories of the Assyrians are inferior both to their metal castings +and to their bas-reliefs. They consist almost entirely of a single +series, discovered by Mr. Layard in a chamber of the North-West Palace +at Nimrud, in the near vicinity of slabs on which was engraved the name +of Sargon. The most remarkable point connected with them is the +thoroughly Egyptian character of the greater number which at first sight +have almost the appearance of being importations from the valley of the +Nile. Egyptian profiles, head-dresses, fashions of dressing the hair, +ornaments, attitudes, meet us at every turn; while sometimes we find the +representations of Egyptian gods, and in two cases hieroglyphics within +cartouches. (See [PLATE LXXVIII.]) A few specimens only are of a +distinctly Assyrian type, as a fragment of a panel, figured by Mr. +Layard [PLATE LXXVII., Fig. 1], and one or two others, in which the +guilloche border appears. These carvings are usually mere low reliefs, +occupying small panels or tablets, which were mortised or glued to the +woodwork of furniture. They were sometimes inlaid in parts with blue +grass, or with blue and green pastes let into the ivory, and at the same +time decorated with gilding. Now and then the relief is tolerably high, +and presents fragments of forms which seem to have had some artistic +merit. The best of these is the fore part of a lion walking among reeds +(p. 373), which presents analogies with the early art of Asia Minor. +[PLATE LXXVII., Fig. 3.] One or two stags' heads have likewise been +found, designed and wrought with much spirit and delicacy. [PLATE +LXXVII., Fig. 3.] It is remarked that several of the specimens show not +only a considerable acquaintance with art, but also an intimate +knowledge of the method of working in ivory. One head of a lion was "of +singular beauty," but unfortunately it fell to pieces at the very moment +of discovery. + +It is possible that some of the objects here described may be actual +specimens of Egyptian art, sent to Sargon as tribute or presents, or +else carried off as plunder in his Egyptian expedition. The appearance, +however, which even the most Egyptian of them present, on a close +examination, is rather that of Assyrian works imitated from Egyptian +models than of genuine Egyptian productions. For instance, in the tablet +figured on the page opposite, where we see hieroglyphics within a +cartouche, the _onk_ or symbol of life, the solar disk, the double +ostrich-plume, the long hair-dress called _namms_, and the _tam_ or +_kukupha_ sceptre, all unmistakable Egyptian features--we observe a +style of drapery which is quite unknown in Egypt, while in several +respects it is Assyrian, or at least Mesopotamian. It is scanty, like +that of all Assyrian robed figures; striped, like the draperies of the +Chaldaeans and Babylonians: fringed with a broad fringe elaborately +colored, as Assyrian fringes are known to have been, and it has large +hanging sleeves also fringed, a fashion which appears once or twice upon +the Nimrud sculptures. [PLATE LXXVII, Fig. 4.] But if this specimen, +notwithstanding its numerous and striking Egyptian features, is rightly +regarded as Mesopotamian, it would seem to follow that the rest of the +series must still more decidedly be assigned to native genius. + +[Illustration: PLATE 79] + +The enamelled bricks of the Assyrians are among the most interesting +remains of their art. It is from these bricks alone that we are able to +judge at all fully of their knowledge and ideas with respect to color; +and it is from them also chiefly that an analysis has been made of the +coloring materials employed by the Assyrian artists. The bricks may be +divided into two classes--those which are merely patterned, and those +which contain designs representing men and animals. The patterned bricks +have nothing about them which is very remarkable. They present the usual +guilloches, rosettes, bands, scrolls, etc., such as are found in the +painted chambers and in the ornaments on dresses, varied with +geometrical figures, as circles, hexagons, octagons, and the like; and +sometimes with a sort of arcade-work, which is curious, if not very +beautiful. [PLATE LXXIX., Fig. 1.] The colors chiefly used in the +patterns are pale green, pale yellow, dark brown, and white. Now and +then an intense blue and a bright red occur, generally together; but +these positive hues are rare, and the taste of the Assyrians seems to +have led them to prefer, for their patterned walls, pale and dull hues. +The same preference appears, even more strikingly, in the bricks on +which designs are represented. There the tints almost exclusively used +are pale yellow, pale greenish blue, olive green, white, and a brownish +black. It is suggested that the colors have faded, but of this there is +no evidence. The Assyrians, when they used the primitive hues, seem, +except in the case of red, to have employed subdued tints of them, and +red they appear to have introduced very sparingly. Olive-green they +affected for grounds, and they occasionally used other half-tints. A +pale orange and a delicate lilac or pale purple were found at Khorsabad, +while brown (as already observed) is far more common on the bricks than +black. Thus the general tone of their coloring is quiet, not to say +sombre. There is no striving after brilliant effects. The Assyrian +artist seeks to please by the elegance of his forms and the harmony of +his hues, not to startle by a display of bright and strongly-contrasted +colors. The tints used in a single composition vary from three to five, +which latter number they seem never to exceed. The following are the +combinations of five hues which occur: brown, green, blue, dark yellow, +and pale yellow; orange, lilac, white, yellow, and olive-green. +Combinations of four hues are much more common: e.q., red, white, +yellow, and black; deep yellow, brown lilac, white, and pale yellow; +lilac, yellow, white, and green; yellow, blue, white, and brown, and +yellow, blue, white, and olive-green. Sometimes the tints are as few as +three, the ground in these cases being generally of a hue used also in +the figures. Thus we have yellow, blue, and white on a blue ground and +again the same colors on a yellow ground. We have also the simple +combinations of white and yellow on a blue ground, and of white and +yellow on an olive-green ground. + +In every ease there is at harmony in the coloring. We find no harsh +contrasts. Either the tones are all subdued, or if any are intense and +positive, then all (or almost all) are so. Intense red occurs in two +fragments of patterned bricks found by Mr. Layard. It is balanced by +intense blue, and accompanied in each case by a full brown and a clear +white, while in one case it is further accompanied by a pale green, +which has a very good effect. A similar red appears on a design figured +by M. Botta. Its accompaniments are white, black, and full yellow. Where +lilac occurs, it is balanced by its complementary color, yellow, or by +yellow and orange, and further accompanied by white. It is noticeable +also that bright hues are not placed one against the other, but are +separated by narrow bands of white, or brown and white. This use of +white gives a great delicacy and refinement to the coloring, which is +saved by it, even where the hues are the strongest, from being coarse or +vulgar. + +The drawing of the designs resembles that of the sculptures except that +the figures are generally slimmer and less muscular. The chief +peculiarity is the strength of the outline, which is almost always +colored differently from the object drawn, either white, black, yellow, +or brown. Generally it is of a uniform thickness (as in No. I., [PLATE +LXXIX., Fig. 2]), sometimes, though rarely, it has that variety which +characterizes good drawing (as in No. II., [PLATE LXXIX Fig. 2]). +Occasionally there is a curious combination of the two styles, as in the +specimen [PLATE LXXX., Fig. 1]--the most interesting yet +discovered--where the dresses of the two main figures are coarsely +outlined in yellow, while the remainder of the design is very lightly +sketched in a brownish black. + +[Illustration: PLATE 80] + +The size of the designs varies considerably. Ordinarily the figures are +small, each brick containing several; but sometimes a scale has been +adopted of such a size that portions of the same figure must have been +on different bricks. A foot and leg brought by Mr. Layard from Nimrud +must have belonged to a man a foot high; while part of a human face +discovered in the same locality is said to indicate the form to which +it belonged, a height of three feet. Such a size as this is, however, +very unusual. + +It is scarcely necessary to state that the designs on the bricks are +entirely destitute of _chiaroscuro_. The browns and blacks, like the +blues, yellows, and reds, are simply used to express local color. They +are employed for hair, eyes, eye-brows, and sometimes for bows and +sandals. The other colors are applied as follows: yellow is used for +flesh, for shafts of weapons, for horse trappings, sometimes for horses, +for chariots, cups, earrings bracelets, fringes, for wing-feathers, +occasionally for helmets, and almost always for the hoofs of horses; +blue is used for shields, for horses, for some parts of horse-trappings, +armor, and dresses, for fish, and for feathers; white is employed for +the inner part of the eye, for the linen shirts worn by men, for the +marking on fish and feathers, for horses, for buildings, for patterns on +dresses, for rams' heads, and for portions of the tiara of the king. +Olive-green seems to occur only as a ground; red only in some parts of +the royal tiara, orange and lilac only in the wings of winged monsters. +It is doubtful how far we may trust the colors on the bricks as +accurately or approximately resembling the real local hues. In some +cases the intention evidently is to be true to nature, as in the eyes +and hair of men, in the representations of flesh, fish, shields, bows, +buildings, etc. The yellow of horses may represent cream-color, and the +blue may stand for gray, as distinct from white, which seems to have +been correctly rendered. The scarlet and white of the king's tiara is +likely to be true. When, however, we find eyeballs and eyebrows white, +while the inner part of the eye is yellow, the blade of swords yellow, +and horses' hoofs blue we seem to have proof that, sometimes at any +rate, local color was intentionally neglected, the artist limiting +himself to certain hues, and being therefore obliged to render some +objects untruly. Thus we must not conclude front the colors of dresses +and horse trappings on the bricks which are three only, yellow, blue and +white--that the Assyrians used no other hues than those, even for the +robes of their kings. It is far more probable that they employed a +variety of tints in their apparel, but did not attempt to render that +variety on the ordinary painted bricks. + +The pigments used by the Assyrians seem to have derived their tints +entirely from minerals. The opaque white is found to be oxide of tin; +the yellow is the antimoniate of lead, or Naples yellow, with a slight +admixture of tin; the blue is oxide of copper, without any cobalt; the +green is also from copper; the brown is from iron; and the red is a +suboxide of copper. The bricks were slightly baked before being painted; +they were then taken from the kiln, painted and enamelled on one side +only, the flux and glazes used being composed of silicate of soda aided +by oxide of lead; thus prepared, they were again submitted to the action +of fire, care being taken to place the painted side upwards, and having +been thoroughly baked were then ready for use. + +The Assyrian intaglios on stones and gems are commonly of a rude +description; but occasionally they exhibit a good deal of delicacy, and +sometimes even of grace. They are cut upon serpentine, jasper, +chalcedony, cornelian, agate, sienite, quartz, loadstone, amazon-stone, +and lapis-lazuli. The usual form of the stone is cylindrical; the sides, +however, being either slightly convex or slightly concave, most +frequently the latter. [PLATE LXXIX., Fig. 3.] The cylinder is always +perforated in the direction of its axis. Besides this ordinary form, a +few gems shaped like the Greek--that is, either round or oval--have been +found: and numerous impressions from such gems on sealing-clay show that +they must have been a tolerably common. The subjects which occur are +mostly the same as those on the sculptures--warriors pursuing their +foes, hunters in full chase, the king slaying a lion, winged bulls +before the sacred tree, acts of worship and other religious or +mythological scenes. [PLATE LXXXI. Fig. 1.] There appears to have been a +gradual improvement in the workmanship from the earliest period to the +time of Sennacherib, when the art culminates. A cylinder found in the +ruins of Sennacherib's palace at Koyunjik, which is believed with reason +to have been his signet, is scarcely surpassed in delicacy of execution +by any intaglio of the Greeks. [PLATE LXXXI., Fig. 1.] The design has a +good deal of the usual stiffness, though even here something may be said +for the ibex or wild-goat which stands upon the lotus flower to the +left: but the special excellence of the gem is in the fineness and +minuteness of its execution. The intaglio is not very deep but all the +details are beautifully sharp and distinct, while they are on so small a +scale that it requires a magnifying glass to distinguish them. The +material of the cylinder is translucent green felspar, or amazon-stone, +one of the hardest substances known to the lapidary. + +[Illustration: PLATE 81] + +The fictile art of the Assyrians in its higher branches, as employed for +directly artistic purposes, has been already considered; but a few pages +may be now devoted to the humbler divisions of the subject, where the +useful preponderates over the ornamental. The pottery of Assyria bears a +general resemblance in shape, form, and use to that of Egypt; but still +it has certain specific differences. According to Mr. Birch, it is, +generally speaking, "finer in its paste, brighter in its color, employed +in thinner masses, and for purposes not known in Egypt." Abundant and +excellent clay is furnished by the valley of the Tigris, more especially +by those parts of it which are subject to the annual inundation. The +chief employment of this material by the Assyrians was for bricks, which +were either simply dried in the sun, or exposed to the action of fire in +a kiln. In this latter case they seem to have been uniformly +slack-baked; they are light for their size, and are of a pale-red color. +The clay of which the bricks were composed was mixed with stubble or +vegetable fibre, for the purpose of holding it together--a practice +common to the Assyrians with the Egyptians and the Babylonians. This +fibre still appears in the sun-dried bricks, but has been destroyed by +the heat of the kiln in the case of the baked bricks, leaving behind it, +however, in the clay traces of the stalks or stems. The size and shape +of the bricks vary. They are most commonly square, or nearly so; but +occasionally the shape more resembles that of the ancient Egyptian and +modern English brick, the width being about half the length, and the +thickness half or two-thirds of the width. The greatest size to which +the square bricks attain is a length and width of about two feet. From +this maximum they descend by manifold gradations to a minimum of one +foot. The oblong bricks are smaller; they seldom much exceed a foot in +length, and in width vary from six to seven and a half inches. Whatever +the shape and size of the bricks, their thickness is nearly uniform, the +thinnest being as much as three inches in thickness, and the thickest +not more than four inches or four and a half. Each brick was made in a +wooden frame or mould. Most of the baked bricks were inscribed, not +however like the Chaldaean, the Egyptian, and the Babylonian, with an +inscription in a small square or oval depression near the centre of one +of the broad faces, but with one which either covered the whole of one +such face, or else ran along the edge. It is uncertain whether the +inscription was stamped upon the bricks by a single impression, or +whether it was inscribed by the potter with a triangular style. Mr. +Birch thinks the former was the means used, "as the trouble of writing +upon each brick would have been endless." Mr. Layard, however, is of a +different opinion. + +In speaking of the Assyrian writing, some mention has been made of the +terra cotta cylinders and tablets, which in Assyria replaced the +parchment and papyrus of other nations, being the most ordinary writing +material in use through the country. The purity and fineness of the +material thus employed is very remarkable, as well as its strength, of +which advantage was taken to make the cylinders hollow, and thus at once +to render them cheaper and more portable. The terra cotta of the +cylinders and tablets is sometimes unglazed; sometimes the natural +surface has been covered with a "vitreous silicious glaze or white +coating." The color varies, being sometimes a bright polished brown, +sometimes a pale yellow, sometimes pink, and sometimes a very dark tint, +nearly black. The most usual color however for cylinders is pale yellow, +and for tablets light red, or pink. There is no doubt that in both these +cases the characters were impressed separately by the hand, a small +metal style of rod being used for the purpose. + +[Illustration: PLATE 82] + +Terra cotta vessels, glazed and unglazed, were in common use among the +Assyrians, for drinking and other domestic purposes. They comprised +vases, lamps, jugs, amphorae, saucers, jars, etc. [PLATE LXXX., Fig. 2.] +The material of the vessels is fine, though generally rather yellow in +tone. The shapes present no great novelty, being for the most part such +as are found both in the old Chaldaean tombs, and in ordinary Roman +sepulchres. Among the most elegant are the funeral urns discovered by M. +Botta at Khorsabad, which are with a small opening at top, a short and +very scanty pedestal, and two raised rings, one rather delicately +chased, by way of ornament. [PLATE LXXXI., Fig. 2.] Another graceful +form is that of the large jars uncovered at Nimrud [PLATE LXXXII., Fig. +1], of which Mr. Layard gives a representation. Still more tasteful are +some of the examples which occur upon the bas-reliefs, and seemingly +represent earthen vases. Among these may be particularized a lustral +ewer resting in a stand supported by bulls' feet, which appears in front +of a temple at Khorsabad [PLATE LXXXI., Fig. 3], and a wine vase (see +[PLATE LXXXI., Fig. 4]) of ample dimensions, which is found in a banquet +scene at the same place. Some of the lamps are also graceful enough, and +seem to be the prototypes out of which were developed the more elaborate +productions of the Greeks. [PLATE LXXXII., Fig. 2.] Others are more +simple, being without ornament of any kind, and nearly resembling a +modern tea-pot (see No., IV. [PLATE LXXXII., Fig. 2.]) The glazed +pottery is, for the most part, tastefully colored. An amphora, with +twisted arms, found at Nimrud (see [PLATE LXXXIII., Fig. 1]) is of two +colors, a warm yellow, and a cold bluish green. The green predominates +in the upper, the yellow in the under portion; but there is a certain +amount of blending or mottling in the mid-region, which has a very +pleasant effect. A similarly mottled character is presented by two other +amphorae from the same place, where the general hue is a yellow which +varies in intensity, and the mottling is with a violet blue. In some +cases the colors are not blended, but sharply defined by lines, as in a +curious spouted cup figured by Mr. Layard, and in several fragmentary +specimens. Painted patterns are not uncommon upon the glazed pottery, +though upon the unglazed they are scarcely ever found. The most usual +colors are blue, yellow, and white; brown, purple, and lilac have been +met with occasionally. These colors are thought to be derived chiefly +from metallic oxides, over which was laid as a glazing a vitreous +silicated substance. On the whole, porcelain of this fine kind is rare +in the Assyrian remains, and must be regarded as a material that was +precious and used by few. + +[Illustration: PLATE 83] + +Assyrian glass is among the most beautiful of the objects which have +been exhumed. M. Botta compared it to certain fabrics of Venice and +Bohemia, into which a number sit different colors are artificially +introduced. But a careful analysis has shown that the lovely prismatic +hues which delight us in the Assyrian specimens, varying under different +lights with all the delicacy and brilliancy of the opal, are due, not to +art, but to the wonder-working hand of time, which, as it destroys the +fabric, compassionately invests it with additional grace and beauty. +Assyrian glass was either transparent or stained with a single uniform +color. It was composed, in the usual way, by a mixture of sand or silex +with alkalis, and, like the Egyptian, appears to have been first rudely +fashioned into shape by the blowpipe. It was then more carefully shaped, +and, where necessary, hollowed out by a turning machine, the Marks of +which are sometimes still visible. The principal specimens which have +been discovered are small bottles and bowls, the former not more than +three or four inches high, the latter from four to five inches in +diameter, [PLATE LXXXIII., Fig. 4.] The vessels are occasionally +inscribed with the name of a king, as is the case in the famous vase of +Sargon, found by Mr. Layard at Nimrud, which is here figured. [PLATE +LXXXIII., Fig. 2.] This is the earliest known specimen of _transparent +glass_, which is not found in Egypt until the time of the Psammetichi. +The Assyrians used also opaque glass, which they colored, sometimes red, +with the suboxide of copper, sometimes white, sometimes of other hues. +They seem not to have been able to form masses of glass of any +considerable size; and thus the employment of the material must have +been limited to a few ornamental, rather than useful, purposes. A +curious specimen is that of a pipe or tube, honey-combed externally, +which Mr. Layard exhumed at Koyunjik, and of which the cut [PLATE +LXXXIII., Fig. 1] is a rough representation. + +An object found at Nimrud, in close connection with several glass +vessels, is of a character sufficiently similar to render its +introduction in this place not inappropriate. This is a lens composed of +rock crystal, about an inch and a half in diameter, and nearly an inch +thick, having one plain and one convex surface, and somewhat rudely +shaped and polished which, however gives a tolerably distinct focus at +the distance of 4 1/2 inches from the plane side, and which may have +been used either as a magnifying glass or to concentrate the rays of the +sun. The form is slightly oval, the longest diameter being one and +six-tenths inch, the shortest one and four-tenths inch. The thickness is +not uniform, but greater on one side than on the other. The plane +surface is ill-polished and scratched, the convex one, not polished on a +concave spherical disk, but fashioned on a lapidary's wheel, or by some +method equally rude. As a burn, glass the lens has no great power; but +it magnifies fairly, and may have been of great use to those who +inscribed, or to those who sought to decipher, the royal memoirs. It is +the only object of the kind that has been found among the remains of +antiquity, though it cannot he doubled that lenses were known and were +used as burning glasses by the Greeks. + +Some examples have been already given illustrating the tasteful +ornamentation of Assyrian furniture. It consisted, so far as we know, of +tables, chairs, couches, high stools, foot-stools, and stands with +shelves to hold the articles needed for domestic purposes. As the +objects themselves have in all cases ceased to exist, leaving behind +them only a few fragments, it is necessary to have recourse to the +bas-reliefs for such notices as may be thence derived of their +construction and character. In these representations the most ordinary +form of table is one in which the principal of our camp-stools seems to +be adopted, the legs crossing each other as in the illustrations [PLATE +LXXXIV.]. only two legs are represented, but we must undoubtedly regard +these two as concealing two others of the same kind at the opposite end +of the table. The legs ordinarily terminate in the feet of animals, +sometimes of bulls, but more commonly of horses. Sometimes between the +two legs we see a species of central pillar, which, however, is not +traceable below the point where the legs cross one another. The pillar +itself is either twisted or plain (see No. III., [PLATE LXXXIV.]). +Another form of table, less often met with, but simpler, closely +resembles the common table of the moderns. It has merely the necessary +flat top, with perpendicular legs at the corners. The skill of the +cabinet-makers enabled them to dispense in most instances with +cross-bars (see No. I.), which are, however, sometimes seen (see No. +II., No. III., and No. IV.), uniting the legs of this kind of tables. +The corners are often ornamented with lions' or rams' heads, and the +feet are frequently in imitation of some animal form (see No. III. and +No. IV.). Occasionally we find a representation of a three-legged table, +as the specimen [PLATE LXXXIV., Fig. 4], which is from a relief at +Koyunjik. The height of tables appears to have been greater than with +ourselves; the lowest reach easily to a man's middle; the highest are +level with the upper part of the chest. + +[Illustration: PLATE 84] + +Assyrian thrones and chairs were very elaborate. The throne of +Sennacherib exhibited on its sides and arms three rows of carved +figures, one above another (PLATE LXXXIV.,Fig. 3), supporting the bars +with their hands. The bars, the arms, and the back were patterned. The +legs ended in a pine-shaped ornament very common in Assyrian furniture. +Over the back was thrown an embroidered cloth hinged at the end, which +hung down nearly to the floor. A throne of Sargon's was adorned on its +sides with three human figures, apparently representations of the king, +below which was the war-horse of the monarch, caparisoned as for battle. +[PLATE LXXXV., Fig. 1.] Another throne of the same monarch's had two +large and four small figures of men at the side, while the back was +supported on either side by a human figure of superior dimensions. The +use of chairs with high backs, like these, was apparently confined to +the monarchs. Persons of less exalted rank were content to sit on seats +which were either stools, or chairs with a low back level with the arms. + +[Illustration: PLATE 85] + +Seats of this kind, whether thrones or chairs, were no doubt constructed +mainly of wood. The ornamental work may, however, have been of bronze, +either cast into the necessary shape, or wrought into it by the hammer. +The animal heads at the ends of arms seem to have fallen under the +latter description [PLATE LXXXV., Fig. 2.] In some cases, ivory was +among the materials used: it has been found in the legs of a throne at +Koyunjik, and may not improbably have entered into the ornamentation of +the best furniture very much more generally. + +The couches which we find represented upon the sculptures are of a +simple character. The body is flat, not curved; the legs are commonly +plain, and fastened to each other by a cross-bar, sometimes terminating +in the favorite pine-shaped ornament. One end only is raised, and this +usually curves inward nearly in a semicircle. [PLATE LXXXV., Fig. 3.] +The couches are decidedly lower than the Egyptian; and do not, like +them, require a stool or steps in order to ascend them. + +Stools, however, are used with the chairs or thrones of which mention +was made above--lofty seats, where such a support for the sitter's feet +was imperatively required. [PLATE LXXXV.. Fig. 4.] They are sometimes +plain at the sides, and merely cut _en chevron_ at the base; sometimes +highly ornamented, terminating in lions' feet supported on cones, in the +same (or in volutes), supported on balls, and otherwise adorned with +volutes, lion castings, and the like. The most elaborate specimen is the +stool (No. III.) which supports the feet of Asshur-bani-pal's queen on a +relief brought from the North Palace at Koyunjik, and now in the +National Collection. Here the upper corners exhibit the favorite +gradines, guarding and keeping in place an embroidered cushion; the legs +are ornamented with rosettes and with horizontal mouldings, they are +connected together by two bars, the lower one adorned with a number of +double volutes, and the upper one with two lions standing back to back; +the stool stands on balls, surmounted first by a double moulding, and +then by volutes. + +Stands with shelves often terminate, like other articles of furniture, +in animals' feet, most commonly lions', as in the accompanying +specimens. [PLATE LXXXV., Fig. 5.] + +Of the embroidered robes and draperies of the Assyrians, as of their +furniture, we can judge only by the representations made of them upon +the bas-reliefs. The delicate texture of such fabrics has prevented them +from descending to our day even in the most tattered condition; and the +ancient testimonies on the subject are for the most part too remote from +the times of the Assyrians to be of much value. Ezekiel's notice is the +only one which comes within such a period of Assyria's fall as to make +it an important testimony, and even from this we cannot gather much that +goes beyond the evidence of the sculptures. The sculptures show us that +robes and draperies of all kinds were almost always more or less +patterned; and this patterning, which is generally of an extremely +elaborate kind, it is reasonable to conclude was the work of the needle. +Sometimes the ornamentation is confined to certain portions of garments, +as to the ends of sleeves and the bottoms of robes or tunics; at others +it is extended over the whole dress. This is more particularly the case +with the garments of the kings, which are of a magnificence difficult to +describe, or to represent within a narrow compass. [PLATE LXXXVI, Fig. +1.] One or two specimens, however, may be given almost at random, +indicating different styles of ornamentation usual in the royal apparel. +Other examples will be seen in the many illustrations throughout this +volume where the king is represented. It is remarkable that the earliest +representations exhibit the most elaborate types of all, after which a +reaction seems to set in simplicity is affected, which, however, is +gradually trenched upon, until at last a magnificence is reached little +short of that which prevailed in the age of the first monuments. The +draperies of Asshur-izir-pal in the north-west palace at Nimrud, are at +once more minutely labored and more tasteful than those of any later +time. Besides elegant but unmeaning patterns, they exhibit human and +animal forms, sacred trees, sphinxes, griffins, winged horses, and +occasionally bull-hunts and lion-hunts. The upper part of this king's +dress is in one instance almost covered with figures, which range +themselves round a circular breast ornament, whereof the cut opposite is +a representation. Elsewhere his apparel is less superb, and indeed it +presents almost every degree of richness, from the wonderful embroidery +of the robe just mentioned to absolute plainness. In the celebrated +picture of the lion-hunt. [PLATE LXXXVI., Fig. 2.] With Sargon, the next +king who has left many monuments, the case is remarkably different. +Sargon is represented always in the same dress--a long fringed robe, +embroidered simply with rosettes, which are spread somewhat scantily +over its whole surface. Sennacherib's apparel is nearly of the same +kind, or, if anything, richer, though sometimes the rosettes are omitted +His grandson, Asshur-bani-pal, also affects the rosette ornament, but +reverts alike to the taste and the elaboration of the early kings. He +wears a breast ornament containing human figures, around which are +ranged a number of minute and elaborate patterns. [PLATE LXXXVII.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 86] + +[Illustration: PLATE 87] + +To this account of the arts, mimetic and other, in which the Assyrians +appear to have excelled, it might be expected that there should be added +a sketch of their scientific knowledge. On this subject, however, so +little is at present known, while so much may possibly become known +within a short time, that it seems best to omit it, or to touch it only +in the lightest and most cursory manner. When the numerous tablets now +in the British Museum shall have been deciphered, studied, and +translated, it will probably be found that they contain a tolerably full +indication of what Assyrian science really was, and it will then be seen +how far it was real and valuable, in what respects mistaken and +illusory. At present this mine is almost unworked, nothing more having +been ascertained than that the subjects whereof the tables treat are +various, and their apparent value very different. Comparative philology +seems to have been largely studied, and the works upon it exhibit great +care and diligence. Chronology is evidently much valued, and very exact +records are kept whereby the lapse of time can even now be accurately +measured. Geography and history have each an important place in Assyrian +learning; while astronomy and mythology occupy at least as great a share +of attention. The astronomical observations recorded are thought to be +frequently inaccurate, as might be expected when there were no +instruments, or none of any great value. Mythology is a very favorite +subject, and appears to be treated most fully; but hitherto cuneiform +scholars have scarcely penetrated below the surface of the mythological +tablets, baffled by the obscurity of the subject and the difficulty of +the dialect (in) which they are written. + +[Illustration: PLATE 88] + +On one point alone, belonging to the domain of science, do the Assyrian +representations of their life enable us to comprehend, at least to some +extent, their attainments. The degree of knowledge which this people +possessed on the subject of practical mechanics is illustrated with +tolerable fulness in the bas-reliefs, more especially in the important +series discovered at Koyunjik, where the transport of the colossal bulls +from the quarry to the palace gateways is represented in the most +elaborate detail. [PLATE LXXXVIII.] The very fact that they were able to +transport masses of stone, many tons in weight, over a considerable +space of ground, and to place then on the summit of artificial platforms +from thirty to eighty (or ninety) feet high, would alone indicate +considerable mechanical knowledge. The further fact, now made clear from +the bas-reliefs, that they wrought all the elaborate carving of the +colossi before they proceeded to raise them or put them in place, is an +additional argument of their skill, since it shows that they had no fear +of any accident happening in the transport. It appears from the +representations that they placed their colossus in a standing posture, +not on a truck or wagon of any kind, but on a huge wooden sledge, shaped +nearly like a boat, casing it with an openwork of spars or beams, which +crossed each other at right angles, and were made perfectly tight by +means of wedges. To avert the great danger of the mass toppling over +sideways, ropes were attached to the top of the casing, at the point +where the beams crossed one another, and were held taut by two parties +of laborers, one on either side of the statue. Besides these, wooden +forks or props were applied on either side to the second set of +horizontal cross-beams, held also by men whose business it would be to +resist the least inclination of the huge stone to lean to one side more +than to the other. The front of the sledge on which the colossus stood +was curved gently upwards, to facilitate its sliding along the ground, +and to enable it to rise with readiness upon the rollers, which were +continually placed before it by laborers just in front, while others +following behind gathered them up when the bulky mass had passed over +there. The motive power was applied in front by four gangs of men who +held on to four large cables, at which they pulled by means of small +ropes or straps fastened to them, and passed under one shoulder and over +the other--an arrangement which enabled them to pull by weight as much +as by muscular strength, as the annexed figure will plainly show. [PLATE +LXXXIX., Fig. 1.] The cables appear to have been of great strength, and +are fastened carefully to four strong projecting pins--two near the +front, two at the back part of the sledge, by a knot so tied that it +would be sure not to slip. [PLATE LXXXIX., Fig. 4.] Finally, as in spite +of the rollers, whose use in diminishing friction, and so facilitating +progress, was evidently well understood, and in spite of the amount of +force applied in front, it would have been difficult to give the first +impetus to so great a mass, a lever was skilfully applied behind to +raise the hind part of the sledge slightly, and so propel it forward, +while to secure a sound and firm fulcrum, wedges of wood were inserted +between the lever and the ground. The greater power of a lever at a +distance from the fulcrum being known, ropes were attached to its upper +end, which could not otherwise have been reached, and the lever was +worked by means of them. + +We have thus unimpeachable evidence as to the mode whereby the +conveyance of huge blocks of stone along level ground was effected. But +it may be further asked, how were the blocks raised up to the elevation +at which we find them placed? Upon this point there is no direct +evidence; but the probability is that they were drawn up inclined ways, +sloping gently from the natural ground to the top of the platforms. The +Assyrians were familiar with inclined ways, which they used almost +always in their attacks on walled places, and which in many cases they +constructed either of brick or stone. The Egyptians certainly employed +them for the elevation of large blocks; and probably in the earlier +times most nations who affected massive architecture had recourse to the +same simple but uneconomical plan. The crane and pulley were applied to +this purpose later. In the Assyrian sculptures we find no application of +either to building, and no instance at all of the two in combination. +Still each appears on the bas-reliefs separately--the crane employed for +drawing water from the rivers, and spreading it over the lands, the +pulley for lowering and raising the bucket in wells. [PLATE LXXXIX., +Fig. 3.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 89] + +We must conclude from these facts that the Assyrians had made +considerable advances in mechanical knowledge, and were, in fact, +acquainted, more or less, with most of the contrivances whereby heavy +weights have commonly been moved and raised among the civilized nations +of Europe. We have also evidence of their skill in the mechanical +processes of shaping pottery and glass, of casting and embossing metals, +and of cutting intaglios upon hard stones. Thus it was not merely in the +ruder and coarser, but likewise in the more delicate processes, that +they excelled. The secrets of metallurgy, of dyeing, enamelling, +inlaying, glass-blowing, as well as most of the ordinary manufacturing +processes, were known to them. In all the common arts and appliances of +life, they must be pronounced at least on a par with the Egyptians, +while in taste they greatly exceeded, not that nation only, but all the +Orientals. Their "high art" is no doubt much inferior to that of Greece; +but it has real merit, and is most remarkable considering the time when +it was produced. It has grandeur, dignity, boldness, strength, and +sometimes even freedom and delicacy; it is honest and painstaking, +unsparing of labor, and always anxious for truth. Above all, it is not +lifeless and stationary, like the art of the Egyptians and the Chinese, +but progressive and aiming at improvement. To judge by the advance over +previous works which we observe in the sculptures of the son of +Esarhaddon, it would seem that if Assyria had not been assailed by +barbaric enemies about his time, she might have anticipated by above a +century the finished excellence of the Greeks. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. + +"Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hoofs +shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind."--ISA. +v. 28. + +In reviewing, so far as our materials permit, the manners and customs of +the Assyrians, it will be convenient to consider separately their +warlike and their peaceful usages. The sculptures furnish very full +illustration of the former, while on the latter they throw light far +more sparingly. + +The Assyrians fought in chariots, on horseback, and on foot. Like most +ancient nations, as the Egyptians, the Greeks in the heroic times, the +Canaanites, the Syrians, the Jews and Israelites, the Persians, the +Gauls, the Britons, and many others, the Assyrians preferred the chariot +as most honorable, and probably as most safe. The king invariably went +out to war in a chariot, and always fought from it, excepting at the +siege of a town, when he occasionally dismounted and shot his arrows on +foot. The chief state-officers and other personages of high rank +followed the same practice. Inferior persons served either as cavalry or +as foot-soldiers. + +The Assyrian war-chariot is thought to have been made of wood. Like the +Greek and the Egyptian, it appears to have been mounted from behind +where it was completely open, or closed only by means of a shield, which +(as it seems) could be hung across the aperture. It was completely +panelled at the sides, and often highly ornamented, as will be seen from +the various illustrations given in this chapter. The wheels were two in +number, and were placed far back, at or very near the extreme end of the +body, so that the weight pressed considerably upon the pole, as was the +case also in Egypt. They had remarkably broad felloes, thin and delicate +spokes, and small or moderate sized axels. [PLATE LXXXIX. Fig. 2], and +[PLATE XC., Figs. 1, 2.] The number of the spokes was either six or +eight. The felloes appear to have been formed of three distinct circles +of wood, the middle one being the thinnest, and the outer one far the +thickest of the three. Sometimes these circles were fastened together +externally by bands of mental, hatchet-shaped. In one or two instances +we find the outermost circle divided by cross-bars, as if it had been +composed of four different pieces. Occasionally there is a fourth +circle, which seems to represent a metal tire outside the felloe, +whereby it was guarded from injury. This tire is either plain or +ornamented. + +[Illustration: PLATE 90] + +The wheels were attached to an axletree, about which they revolved, in +the usual manner. The body was placed directly upon the axletree and +upon the pole, without the intervention of any springs. The pole started +from the middle of the axle-tree, and, passing below the floor of the +body in a horizontal direction, thence commonly curved upwards till it +had risen to about half the height of the body, when it was again +horizontal for awhile, once more curving upwards at the end. It usually +terminated in an ornament, which was sometimes the head of an animal--a +bull, a horse, or a duck--sometimes a more elaborate and complicated +work of art. [PLATE XC., Fig. 3.] Now and then the pole continued level +with the bottom of the body till it had reached its full projection, and +then rose suddenly to the height of the top of the chariot. It was often +strengthened by one or more thin bars, probably of metal; which united +it to the upper part of the chariot-front. + +Chariots were drawn either by two or three, never by four, horses. They +seem to have had but a single pole. Where three horses were used, one +must therefore have been attached merely by a rope or thong, like the +side horses of the Greeks, and, can scarcely have been of much service +for drawing the vehicle. He seems rightly regarded as a supernumerary, +intended to take the place of one of the others, should either be +disabled by a wound or accident. It is not easy to determine from the +sculptures how the two draught horses were attached to the pole. Where +chariots are represented without horses, we find indeed that they have +always a cross-bar or yoke; but where horses are represented in the act +of drawing a chariot, the cross-bar commonly disappears altogether. It +would seem that the Assyrian artists, despairing of their ability to +represent the yoke properly when it was presented to the eye end-wise, +preferred, for the most part, suppressing it wholly to rendering it in +an unsatisfactory manner. Probably a yoke did really in every case pass +over the shoulders of the two draught horses, and was fastened by straps +to the collar which is always seen round their necks. + +These yokes, or cross-bars, were of various kinds. Sometimes they appear +to have consisted of a mere slight circular bar, probably of metal, +which passed through the pole; sometimes of a thicker spar, through +which the pole itself passed. In this latter case the extremities were +occasionally adorned with heads of animals. [PLATE XCI., Fig. 1.] The +most common kind of yoke exhibits a double curve, so as to resemble a +species of bow unstrung. [PLATE XCI., Fig. 2.] Now and then a specimen +is found very curiously complicated, being formed of a bar curved +strongly at either end, and exhibiting along its course four other +distinct curvatures having opposite to there apertures resembling eyes, +with an upper and a lower eyelid. [PLATE XCI., Fig. 3.] It has been +suggested that this yoke belonged to a four-horse chariot, and that to +each of the four eyes (_a a a a_) there was a steed attached; but, as no +representation of a four-horse chariot has been found, this suggestion +must be regarded as inadmissible. The probability seems to be that this +yoke, like the others, was for two horses, on whose necks it rested at +the points marked _b b_, the apertures (_c c c c_) lying thus on either +side of the animals' necks, and furnishing the means whereby the he was +fastened to the collar. It is just possible that we have in the +sculptures of the later period a representation of the extremities +(_d d_) of this kind of yoke, since in them a curious curve appears +sometimes on the necks of chariot-horses, just above the upper end of +the collar. + +[Illustration: PLATE 91] + +Assyrian chariots are exceedingly short: but, apparently, they must have +been of a considerable width. They contain two persons at the least; and +this number is often increased to three, and sometimes even to four. +[PLATE XCI. Fig. 4.] The warrior who fights from a chariot is +necessarily attended by his charioteer; and where he is a king, or a +personage of high importance, he is accompanied by a second attendant, +who in battle-scenes always bears a shield, with which he guards the +person of his master. Sometimes, though rarely, four persons are seen in +a chariot--the king or chief, the charioteer, and two guards, who +protect the monarch on either side with circular shields or targes. The +charioteer is always stationed by the side of the warrior, not as +frequently with the Greeks, behind him. The guards stand behind, and, +owing to the shortness of the chariot, must have experienced some +difficulty in keeping their places. They are evidently forced to lean +back-wards from want of room, and would probably have often fallen out, +had they not grasped with one hand a rope or strap firmly fixed to the +front of the vehicle. + +There are two principal types of chariots in the Assyrian sculptures, +which may be distinguished as the earlier and the later. The earlier are +comparatively low and short. The wheels are six-spoked, and of small +diameter. The body is plain, or only ornamented by a border, and is +rounded in front, like the Egyptian and the classical chariots. [PLATE +XCII., Fig 1.] Two quivers are suspended diagonally at the side of the +body, while a rest for a spear, commonly fashioned into the shape of a +human head, occupies the upper corner at the back. From the front of the +body to the further end of the pole, which is generally patterned and +terminates in the head and neck of a ball or a duck, extends an +ornamented structure, thought to have been of linen or silk stitched +upon a framework of wood, which is very conspicuous in the +representation. A shield commonly hangs behind these chariots, perhaps +closing the entrance; and a standard is sometimes fixed in them towards +the front, connected with the end of the pole by a rope or bar. + +[Illustration: PLATE 92] + +The later chariots are loftier and altogether larger than the earlier. +The wheel is eight spoked, and reaches as high as the shoulders of the +horses, which implies a diameter of about five feet. [PLATE XCII., Fig. +2. ] The body rises a foot or rather more, above this; and the riders +thus from their elevated position command the whole battle-field. The +body is not rounded, but made square in front: it has no quivers +attached to it externally, but has, instead, a projection at one or both +of the corners which seems to have served as an arrow-case. This +projection is commonly patterned, as is in many cases the entire body of +the chariot, though sometimes the ornamentation is confined to an +elegant but somewhat scanty border. The poles are plain, not patterned, +sometimes, however, terminating in the head of a horse; there is no +ornamental framework connecting them with the chariot, but in its stead +we see a thin bar, attached to which, either above or below, there is in +most instances a loop, whereto we may suppose that the reins were +occasionally fastened. No shield is suspended behind these chariots; but +we sometimes observe an embroidered drapery hanging over the back, in a +way which would seem to imply that they were closed behind, at any rate +by a cross-bar. + +The trappings of the chariot-horses belonging to the two periods are not +very different. They consist principally of a headstall, a collar, a +breast-ornament, and a sort of huge tassel pendent at the horse's side. +The headstall was formed commonly of three straps: one was attached to +the bit at either end, and passed behind the ears over the neck; +another, which was joined to this above, encircled the smallest part of +the neck; while a third, crossing the first at right angles, was carried +round the forehead and the cheek bones. At the point where the first and +second joined, or a little in front of this, rose frequently a waving +plume, or a crest composed of three huge tassels, one above another; +while at the intersection of the second and third was placed a rosette +or other suitable ornament. The first strap was divided where it +approached the bit into two or three smaller straps, which were attached +to the bit in different places. A fourth strap sometimes passed across +the nose from the point where the first strap subdivided. All the straps +were frequently patterned; the bit was sometimes shaped into an animal +form and streamers occasional floated from the nodding plume or crest +which crowned the heads of the war-steeds. + +The collar is ordinarily represented as a mere broad band passing round +the neck, not of the withers (as with ourselves). but considerably +higher up, almost midway between the withers and the cheek-bone. +Sometimes it is of uniform width while often it narrows greatly as it +approaches the back of the neck. It is generally patterned, and appears +to have been a mere flat leathern band. It is impossible to say in what +exact way the pole was attached to it, though in the later sculptures we +have elaborate representations of the fastening. The earlier sculptures +seem to append to the collar one or more patterned straps, which, +passing round the horse's belly immediately behind the fore legs, served +to keep it in place, while at the same time they were probably regarded +as ornamental; but under the later kings these belly Lands were either +reduced to a single strap, or else dispensed with altogether. + +The breast-ornament consists commonly of a fringe, more or less +complicated. The simplest form, which is that of the most ancient times, +exhibits a patterned strap with a single row of long tassels pendent +from it, as in the annexed representation. At a later date we find a +double and even a triple row of tassels. + +The pendent side-ornament is a very conspicuous portion of the +trappings. It is attached to the collar either by a long straight strap +or by a circular band which falls on either side of the neck. The upper +extremity is often shaped into the form of an animal's head, below which +comes most commonly a circle or disk, ornamented with a rosette, a +Maltese cross, a winged bull, or other sacred emblem, while below the +circle hang huge tassels in a single row or smaller ones arranged in +several rows. In the sculptures of Sargon at Khorsabad, the tassels of +both the breast and side ornaments were colored, the tints being in most +cases alternately red and blue. + +Occasionally the chariot-horses were covered from the ears almost to the +tail with rich cloths, magnificently embroidered over their whole +surface.' [PLATE XCIII., Fig. 2.] These cloths encircled the neck, which +they closely fitted, and, falling on either side of the body, were then +kept in place by means of a broad strap round the rump and a girth under +the belly. + +[Illustration: PLATE 93] + +A simpler style of clothing chariot-horses is found towards the close of +the later period, where we observe, below the collar, a sort of triple +breastplate, and over the rest of the body a plain cloth, square cut, +with flaps descending at the arms and quarters, which is secured in its +place by three narrow straps fastened on externally. The earlier kind of +clothing has the appearance of being for ornament but this looks as if +it was meant solely for protection. + +Besides the trappings already noticed, the Assyrian chariot-horses had +frequently strings of beads suspended round their necks, between the +ears and the collar; they had also, not unfrequently, tassels or bells +attached to different parts of the headstall [PLATE XCIII., Fig. 3], and +finally they had, in the later period most commonly, a curious ornament +upon the forehead, which covered almost the whole space between the ears +and the eyes, and was composed of a number of minute bosses, colored, +like the tassels of the breast ornament, alternately red and blue. + +Each horse appears to have been driven by two reins--one attached to +either end of the bit in the ordinary manner, and each passed through a +ring or loop in the harness, whereby the rein was kept down and a +stronger purchase secured to the driver. The shape of the bit within the +mouth, if we may judge by the single instance of an actual bit which +remains to us, bore a near resemblance to the modern snaffle. [PLATE +XCIV., Fig. 1.] Externally the bit was large, and in most cases +clumsy--a sort of cross-bar extending across the whole side of the +horse's face, commonly resembling a double axe-head, or a hammer. +Occasionally the shape was varied, the hatchet or hammer being replaced +by forms similar to those annexed, or by the figure of a horse at full +gallop. The rein seems, in the early times, to have been attached about +midway in the cross-bar, while afterwards it became usual to attach it +near the lower end. This latter arrangement was probably found to +increase the power of the driver. + +[Illustration: PLATE 94] + +The use of the bearing-rein, which prevailed in Egypt, was unknown to +the Assyrians, or disapproved by them. The driving-reins were separate, +not stitched or buckled together, and were held in the two hands +separately. The right hand grasped the reins, whatever their number, +which were attached at the horses' right cheeks, while the left hand +performed the same office with the remaining reins. The charioteer urged +his horses onward with a powerful whip, having a short handle, and a +thick plaited or twisted lash, attached like the lash of a modern +horsewhip, sometimes with, sometimes without, a loop, and often +subdivided at the end into two or three tails. [PLATE XCIV., Fig. 4.] + +Chariot-horses were trained to three paces, a walk, a trot, and a +gallop. In battle-pieces they are commonly represented at full speed, in +marches trotting, in processions walking in a stately manner. Their +manes were frequently hogged, though more commonly they lay on the neck, +falling (apparently) upon either side indifferently. Occasionally a +portion only was hogged, while the greater part remained in its natural +condition. The tail was uncut, and generally almost swept the ground, +but was confined by a string or ribbon tied tightly around it about +midway. Sometimes, more especially in the later sculptures, the lower +half of the tail is plaited and tied up into a loop or bunch [PLATE +XCIV., Fig. 5], according to the fashion which prevails in the present +day through most parts of Turkey and Persia. + +The warrior who fought from a chariot was sometimes merely dressed in a +tunic, confined at the waist by a belt; sometimes, however, he wore a +coat of mail, very like the Egyptian, consisting of a sort of shirt +covered with small plates or scales of metal. This shirt reached at +least as low as the knees, beneath which the chariot itself was +sufficient protection. It had short sleeves, which covered the shoulder +and upper part of the arm, but left the elbow and fore-arm quite +undefended. The chief weapon of the warrior was the bow, which is always +seen in his hands, usually with the arrow upon the string; he wears, +besides, a short sword, suspended at his left side by a strap, and he +has commonly a spear within his reach; but we never see him using +either of these weapons. He either discharges his arrows against the foe +from the standing-board of his chariot, or, commanding the charioteer to +halt, descends, and, advancing a few steps before his horses' heads, +takes a surer and more deadly aim from _terra firma_. In this case his +attendant defends him from missiles by extending in front of him a +shield, which he holds in his left hand, while at the same time he makes +ready to repel any close assailant by means of a spear or sword grasped +firmly in his right. The warrior's face and arms are always bare; +sometimes the entire head is undefended, though more commonly it has the +protection of a helmet. This, however, is without a visor, and does not +often so much as cover the ears. In some few instances only is it +furnished with flaps or lappets, which, where they exist, seem to be +made of metal scales, and, falling over the shoulders, entirely conceal +the ears, the back of the head, the neck, and even the chin. + +The position occupied by chariots in the military system of Assyria is +indicated in several passages of Scripture, and distinctly noticed by +many of the classical writers. When Isaiah began to warn his countrymen +of the 'miseries in store for them at the hands of the new enemy which +first attacked Judea in his day, he described them as a people "whose +arrows were sharp, and all their bows bent, whose horses' hoofs should +be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind." When in after +days he was commissioned to raise their drooping courage by assuring +them that they would escape Sennacherib, who had angered God by his +pride, he noticed, as one special provocation of Jehovah, that monarch's +confidence in the multitude of his chariots. Nahum again, having to +denounce the approaching downfall of the haughty nation, declares that +God is "against her, and will burn her chariots in the smoke." In the +fabulous account which Ctesias gave of the origin of Assyrian greatness, +the war-chariots of Ninus were represented as amounting to nearly eleven +thousand, while those of his wife and successor, Semiramis, were +estimated at the extravagant number of a hundred thousand. Ctesias +further stated that the Assyrian chariots, even at this early period, +were armed with scythes, a statement contradicted by Xenophon, who +ascribes this invention to the Persians, and one which receives no +confirmation from the monuments. Amid all this exaggeration and +inventiveness, one may still trace a knowledge of the fact that +war-chariots were highly esteemed by the Assyrians from a very ancient +date, while from other notices we may gather that they continued to be +reckoned an important arm of the military service to the very end of the +empire. + +Next to the war-chariots of the Assyrians we must place their cavalry, +which seems to have been of scarcely less importance in their wars. +Ctesias, who amid all his exaggerations shows glimpses of some real +knowledge of the ancient condition of the Assyrian people, makes the +number of the horsemen in their armies always greatly exceed that of the +chariots. The writer of the book of Judith gives Holofernes 12,000 +horse-archers, and Ezekiel seems to speak of all the "desirable young +men" as "horsemen riding upon horses." The sculptures show on the whole +a considerable excess of cavalry over chariots, though the preponderance +is not uniformly exhibited throughout the different periods. + +During the time of the Upper dynasty, cavalry appears to have been but +little used. Tiglath-Pileser I. in the whole of his long Inscription has +not a single mention of them, though he speaks of his chariots +continually. In the sculptures of Asshur-izir-pal, the father of the +Black-Obelisk king, while chariots abound, horsemen occur only in rare +instances. Afterwards, under Sargon and Sennacherib, we notice a great +change in this respect. The chariot comes to be almost confined to the +king, while horsemen are frequent in the battle scenes. + +In the first period the horses' trappings consisted of a head-stall, a +collar, and one or more strings of beads. The head-stall was somewhat +heavy, closely resembling that of the chariot-horses of the time, +representations of which have been already given. It had the same heavy +axe-shaped bit, the same arrangement of straps, and nearly the same +ornamentation. The only marked difference was the omission of the crest +or plume, with its occasional accompaniment of streamers. The collar was +very peculiar. It consisted of a broad flap, probably of leather, shaped +almost like a half-moon, which was placed on the neck about half way +between the ears and the withers, and thence depended over the breast, +where it was broadened out and ornamented by large drooping tassels. +Occasionally the collar was plain, but more often it was elaborately +patterned. Sometimes pomegranates hung from it, alternating with the +tassels. + +The cavalry soldiers of this period ride without any saddle. Their legs +and feet are bare, and their seat is very remarkable. Instead of +allowing their legs to hang naturally down the horses' sides, they draw +them up till their knees are on a level with their chargers' backs, the +object (apparently) being to obtain a firm seat by pressing the base of +the horse's neck between the two knees. The naked legs seem to indicate +that it was found necessary to obtain the fullest and freest play of the +muscles to escape the inconveniences of a fall. + +The chief weapon of the cavalry at this time is the bow. Sword and +shield indeed are worn, but in no instance do we see them used. Cavalry +soldiers are either archers or mere attendants who are without weapons +of offence. One of these latter accompanies each horse-archer in battle, +for the purpose of holding and guiding his steed while he discharges his +arrows. The attendant wears a skull cap and a plain tunic, the archer +has an embroidered tunic, a belt to which his sword is attached, and one +of the ordinary pointed helmets. + +In the second period the cavalry consists in part of archers, in part of +spearmen. Unarmed attendants are no longer found, both spearmen and +archers appearing to be able to manage their own horses. Saddles have +now come into common use: they consist of a simple cloth, or flap of +leather, which is either cut square, or shaped somewhat like the +saddle-cloths of our own cavalry. A single girth beneath the belly is +their ordinary fastening; but sometimes they are further secured by +means of a strap or band passed round the breast, and a few instances +occur of a second strap passed round the quarters. The breast-strap is +generally of a highly ornamented character. The headstall of this period +is not unlike the earlier one, from which it differs chiefly in having a +crest, and also a forehead ornament composed of a number of small +bosses. It has likewise commonly a strap across the nose, but none under +the cheek-bones. It is often richly ornamented, particularly with +rosettes, bells, and tassels. + +The old pendent collar is replaced by one encircling the neck about +halfway up, or is sometimes dispensed with altogether. Where it occurs, +it is generally of uniform width, and is ornamented with rosettes or +tassels. No conjecture has been formed of any use which either form of +collar could serve; and the probability is that they were intended +solely for ornament. + +[Illustration: PLATE 95] + +A great change is observable in the sculptures of the second period with +respect to the dress of the riders. [PLATE XCV., Fig. 1.] The cavalry +soldier is now completely clothed, with the exception of his two arms, +which are bare from a little below the shoulder. He wears most commonly +a tunic which fits him closely about the body, but below the waist +expands into a loose kilt or petticoat, very much longer behind than in +front, which is sometimes patterned, and always terminates in a fringe. +Round his waist he has a broad belt; and another, of inferior width, +from which a sword hangs, passes over his left shoulder. His legs are +encased in a close-fitting pantaloon or trouser, over which he wears a +laced boot or greave, which generally reaches nearly to the knee, though +sometimes it only covers about half the calf. [PLATE XCV., Fig. 2.] This +costume, which is first found in the time of Sargon, and continues to +the reign of Asshur-bani-pal, Esarhaddon's son, may probably be regarded +as the regular cavalry uniform under the monarchs of the Lower Empire. +In Sennacherib's reign there is found in conjunction with it another +costume, which is unknown to the earlier sculptures. This consists of a +dress closely fitting the whole body, composed apparently of a coat of +mail, leather or felt breeches, and a high greave or jack boot. [PLATE +XCVI., Fig. 1.] The wearers of this costume are spearmen or archers +indifferently. The former carry a long weapon, which has generally a +rather small head, and is grasped low down the shaft. The bow of the +latter is either round-arched or angular, and seems to be not more than +four feet in length; the arrows measure less than three feet, and are +slung in a quiver at the archer's back. Both spearmen and archers +commonly carry swords, which are hung on the left side, in a diagonal, +and sometimes nearly in a horizontal position. In some few cases the +spearman is also an archer, and carries his bow on his right arm, +apparently as a reserve in case he should break or lose his spear. + +[Illustration: PLATE 96] + +The seat of the horseman is far more graceful in the second than in the +first period his limbs appear to move freely, and his mastery over his +horse is such that he needs no attendant. The spearman holds the bridle +in his left hand; the archer boldly lays it upon the neck of his steed, +who is trained either to continue his charge, or to stand firm while a +steady aim is taken. [PLATE XCV., Fig. 3.] + +In the sculptures of the son and successor of Esarhaddon, the horses of +the cavalry carry not unfrequently, in addition to the ordinary saddle +or pad, a large cloth nearly similar to that worn sometimes by +chariot-horses, of which a representation has been already given. It is +cut square with two drooping lappets, and covers the greater part of the +body. Occasionally it is united to a sort of breastplate which protects +the neck, descending about halfway clown the chest. The material may be +supposed to have been thick felt or leather, either of which would have +been a considerable protection against weapons. + +While the cavalry and the chariots were regarded as the most important +portions of the military force, and were the favorite services with the +rich and powerful, there is still abundant reason to believe that +Assyrian armies, like most others, consisted mainly of foot. Ctesias +gives Minis 1,700,000 footmen to 210,000 horsemen, and 10,600 chariots. +Xenophon contrasts the multitude of the Assyrian infantry with the +comparatively scanty numbers of the other two services: Herodotus makes +the Assyrians serve in the army of Xerxes on foot only. The author of +the book of Judith assigns to Holofernes an infantry force ten times as +numerous as his cavalry.--The Assyrian monuments entirely bear out the +general truth involved in all these assertions, showing us, as they do, +at least ten Assyrian warriors on foot for each one mounted on +horseback, and at least a hundred for each one who rides in a chariot. +However terrible to the foes of the Assyrians may have been the shock of +their chariots and the impetuosity of their horsemen, it was probably to +the solidity of the infantry, to their valor, equipment, and discipline, +that the empire was mainly indebted for its long series of victories. + +In the time of the earliest sculptures, all the Assyrian foot-soldiers +seem to have worn nearly the same costume. This consisted of a short +tunic, not quite reaching to the knees, confined round the waist by a +broad belt, fringed, and generally opening in front, together with a +pointed helmet, probably of metal. The arms, legs, neck, and even the +feet, were ordinarily bare, although these last had sometimes the +protection of a very simple sandal. [PLATE XCVI., Fig. 2.] Swordsmen +used a small straight sword or dagger which they wore at their left side +in an ornamented sheath, and a shield which was either convex and +probably of metal, or oblong-square and composed of wickerwork. [PLATE +XCVI., Fig. 2.] Spearmen had shields of a similar shape and +construction, and carried in their right hands a short pike or javelin, +certainly not exceeding five feet in length. [PLATE XCVI., Fig. 4.] +Sometimes, but not always, they carried, besides the pike, a short +sword. Archers had rounded bows about four feet in length, and arrows a +little more than three feet long. Their quivers, which were often highly +ornamented, hung at their backs, either over the right or over the left +shoulder. [PLATE XCVI., Fig. 4.] They had swords suspended at their left +sides by a cross-belt, and often carried maces, probably of bronze or +iron, which bore a rosette or other ornament at one end, and a ring or +strap at the other. The tunics of archers were sometimes elaborately +embroidered; and on the whole they seem to have been regarded as the +flower of the foot-soldiery. Generally they are represented in pairs, +the two being in most cases armed and equipped alike; but, occasionally, +one of the pair acts as guard while the other takes his aim. In this +case both kneel on one knee, and the guard, advancing his long wicker +shield, protects both himself and his comrade from missiles, while he +has at the same time his sword drawn to repel all hand-to-hand +assailants. [PLATE XCVII., Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 97] + +In the early part of the second period, which synchronizes with the +reign of Sargon, the difference in the costumes of the foot-soldiers +becomes much more marked. The Assyrian infantry now consists of two +great classes, archers and spear-men. The archers are either light-armed +or heavy-armed, and of the latter there are two clearly distinct +varieties. The light-armed have no helmet, but wear on their heads a +mere fillet or band, which is either plain or patterned. [PLATE XCVI., +Fig. 3.] Except for a cross-belt which supports the quiver, they are +wholly naked to the middle. Their only garment is a tunic of the +scantiest dimensions, beginning at the waist, round which it is fastened +by a broad belt or girdle, and descending little more than half-way down +the thigh. In its make it sometimes closely resembles the tunic of the +first period, but more often it has the peculiar pendent ornament which +has been compared to the scotch phillibeg, and which will be here given +that name. It is often patterned with squares and gradines. The +light-armed archer has usually bare feet; occasionally, however, he +wears the slight sandal of this period, which is little more than a cap +for the heel held in place by two or three strings passed across the +instep. There is nothing remarkable in his arms, which resemble those of +the preceding period: but it may be observed that, while shooting, he +frequently holds two arrows in his right hand besides that which is upon +the string. He shoots either kneeling or standing, generally the latter. +His ordinary position is in the van of battle, though sometimes a +portion of the heavy-armed troops precede him. He has no shield, and is +not protected by an attendant, thus running more risk than any of the +rest of the army. + +The more simply equipped of the heavy archers are clothed in a coat of +mail, which reaches from their neck to their middle, and partially +covers the arms. Below this they wear a fringed tunic reaching to the +knees, and confined at the waist by a broad belt of the ordinary +character. Their feet have in most instances the protection of a sandal, +and they wear on their heads the common or pointed helmet. They usually +discharge their arrows kneeling on the left knee, with the right foot +advanced before them. Daring this operation they are protected by an +attendant, who is sometimes dressed like themselves, sometimes merely +clad a tunic, without a coat of mail. Like them, he wears a pointed +helmet; and while in one hand he carries a spear, with the other he +holds forward a shield, which is either of a round form--apparently, of +metal embossed with figures--or oblong-square in shape, and evidently +made of wickerwork. Archers of this class are the least common, and +scarcely ever occur unless in combination with some of the class which +has the heaviest equipment. + +The principal characteristic of the third or most heavily armed class of +archers is the long robe, richly fringed, which descends nearly to their +feet, thus completely protecting all the lower part of their person. +[PLATE XCVII., Fig. 2.] Above this they wear a coat of mail exactly +resembling that of archers of the intermediate class, which is sometimes +crossed by a belt ornamented with crossbars. Their head is covered by +the usual pointed helmet, and their feet are always, or nearly always, +protected by sandals. They are occasionally represented without either +sword or quiver, but more usually they have a short sword at their left +side, which appears to have been passed through their coat of mail, +between the armor plates, and in a few instances they have also quivers +at their backs. Where these are lacking, they generally either carry two +extra arrows in their right hand, or have the same number borne for them +by an attendant. They are never seen unattended: sometimes they have +one, sometimes two attendants, who accompany them, and guard them from +attack. One of these almost always bears the long wicker shield, called +by the Greeks [yeppov] which he rests firmly upon the ground in front of +himself and comrade. The other, where there is a second, stands a little +in the rear, and guards the archer's head with a round shield or targe. +Both attendants are dressed in a short tunic, a phillibeg, a belt, and a +pointed helmet. Generally they wear also a coat of mail and sandals, +like those of the archer. They carry swords at their left sides, and the +principal attendant, except when he bears the archer's arrows, guards +him from attack by holding in advance a short spear. The archers of this +class never kneel, but always discharge their arrows standing. They seem +to be regarded as the most important of the foot-soldiers, their +services being more particularly valuable in the siege of fortified +places. + +The spearmen of this period are scarcely better armed than the second or +intermediate class of archers. Except in very rare instances they have +no coat of mail, and their tunic, which is either plain or covered with +small squares, barely reaches to the knee. The most noticeable point +about them is their helmet, which is never the common pointed or conical +one, but is always surmounted by a crest of one kind or another. [PLATE +XCVII.. Fig. 3.] Another very frequent peculiarity is the arrangement of +their cross-belts, which meet on the back and breast, and are ornamented +at the points of junction with a circular disk, probably of metal. The +shield of the spearman is also circular, and is formed generally, if not +always--of wickerwork, with (occasionally) a central boss of wood or +metal. [PLATE XCVII., Fig. 4.] In most cases their legs are wholly bare; +but sometimes they have sandals, while in one or two instances they wear +a low boot or greave laced in front, and resembling that of the cavalry. +[PLATE XCVII.. Fig. 4.] The spear with which they are armed varies in +length, from about four to six feet. [PLATE XCVIII.. Fig. 1.] It is +grasped near the lower extremity, at which a weight was sometimes +attached, in order the better to preserve the balance. Besides this +weapon they have the ordinary short sword. The spear-men play an +important part in the Assyrian wars, particularly at sieges, where they +always form the strength of the storming party. + +[Illustration: PLATE 98] + +Some important changes seen to have been made under Sennacherib in the +equipment and organization of the infantry force. These consisted +chiefly in the establishment of a greater number of distinct corps +differently armed, and in an improved equipment of the more important of +them. Sennacherib appears to have been the first to institute a corps of +slingers, who at any rate make their earliest appearance in his +sculptures. They were kind of soldier well-known to the Egyptians and +Sennacherib's acquaintance with the Egyptian warfare may have led to +their introduction among the troops of Assyria. The slinger in most +countries where his services were employed was lightly clad, and +reckoned almost as a supernumerary. It is remarkable that in Assyria he +is, at first, completely armed according to Assyrian ideas of +completeness, having a helmet, a coat of mail to the waist, a tunic to +the knees, a close-fitting trouser, and a short boot or greave. The +weapon which distinguishes him appears to have consisted of two pieces +of rope or string, attached to a short leathern strap which received the +stone. [PLATE XCVIII., Fig. 4.] Previous to making his throw, the +slinger seems to have whirled the weapon round his head two or three +times, in order to obtain on increased impetus--a practice which was +also known to the Egyptians and the Romans. With regard to ammunition, +it does not clearly appear how the Assyrian slinger was supplied. He has +no bag like the Hebrew slinger, no _sinus_ like the Roman. Frequently we +see him simply provided with a single extra stone, which he carries in +his left hand. Sometimes, besides this reserve, he has a small heap of +stones at his feet; but whether he has collected them from the field, or +has brought them with him and deposited them where they lie, is not +apparent. + +Sennacherib's archers fall into four classes, two of which may be called +heavy-armed and two light-armed. None of them exactly resemble the +archers of Sargon. The most heavily equipped wears a tunic, a coat of +mail reaching to the waist, a pointed helmet, a close-fitting trouser, +and a short boot or greave. [PLATE XCVIII., Fig. 1.] He is accompanied +by an attendant (or sometimes by two attendants) similarly attired, and +fights behind a large wicker shield or _gerrhon_. A modification of this +costume is worn by the second class, the archers of which have bare +legs, a tunic which seems to open at the side, and a phillibeg. They +fight without the protection of a shield, generally in pairs, who shoot +together. [PLATE XCVIII., Fig. 3.] + +The better equipped of the light-armed archers of this period have a +costume which is very striking. Their head-dress consists of a broad +fillet, elaborately patterned, from which there often depends on either +side of the head a large lappet, also richly ornamented, generally of an +oblong-square shape, and terminating in a fringe. [PLATE XCVIII., Fig. +2.] Below this they wear a closely fitting tunic, as short as that worn +by the light-armed archers of Sargon, sometimes patterned, like that, +with squares and gradines, sometimes absolutely plain. The upper part of +this tunic is crossed by two belts of very unusual breadth, which pass +respectively over the right and the left shoulder. There is also a third +broad belt round the waist; and both this and the transverse belts are +adorned with elegant patterns. The phillibeg depends from the girdle, +and is seen in its full extent, hanging either in front or on the right +side. The arms are naked from the shoulder, and the legs from +considerably above the knee, the feet alone being protected by a scanty +sandal. The ordinary short sword is worn at the side, and a quiver is +carried at the back; the latter is sometimes kept in place by means of a +horizontal strap which passes over it and round the body. [PLATE XCIX., +Fig. 2.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 99] + +The archers of the lightest equipment wear nothing but a fillet, with or +without lappets, upon the head, and a striped tunic, longer behind than +in front, which extends from the neck to the knees, and is confined at +the waist by a girdle. [PLATE XCIX., Fig. 1.] Their arms, legs, and feet +are bare, they have seldom any sword, and their quiver seems to be +suspended only by a single horizontal strap, like that represented in +[PLATE XCIX., Fig. 2.] They do not appear very often upon the monuments: +when seen, they are interspersed among archers and soldiers of other +classes. + +Sennacherib's foot spearmen are of two classes only. The better armed +have pointed helmets, with lappets protecting the ears, a coat of mail +descending to the waist and also covering all the upper part of the +arms, a tunic opening at the side, a phillibeg, close-fitting trousers, +and greaves of the ordinary character. [PLATE XCIX., Fig. 3.] They carry +a large convex shield, apparently of metal, which covers them almost +from head to foot, and a spear somewhat less than their own height. +Commonly they have a short sword at their right side. Their shield is +often ornamented with rows of bosses towards the centre and around the +edge. It is ordinarily carried in front; but when the warrior is merely +upon the march, he often bears it slung at his back, as in the +accompanying representation. There is reason to suspect that the +spearmen of this description constituted the royal bodyguard. They are +comparatively few in number, and are usually seen in close proximity to +the monarch, or in positions which imply trust, as in the care of +prisoners and of the spoil. They never make the attacks in sieges, and +are rarely observed to be engaged in battle. Where several of them are +seen together, it is almost always in attendance upon the king whom they +constantly precede upon his journeys. + +The inferior spearmen of Sennacherib are armed nearly like those of +Sargon. They have crested helmets, plain tunics confined at the waist by +a broad girdle, cross-belts ornamented with circular disks where they +meet in the centre of the breast, and, most commonly, round wicker +shields. The chief points wherein they differ from Sargon's spearmen is +the following: they usually (though not universally) wear trousers and +greaves; they have sleeves to their tunics, winch descend nearly to the +elbow; and they carry sometimes, instead of the round shield, a long +convex one arched at the top. [PLATE XCIX., fig. 4.] Where they have not +this defence, but the far commoner targe, it is always of larger +dimensions than the targe of Sargon, and is generally surrounded by a +rim. [PLATE XCIX., Fig. 4.] Sometimes it appears to be of metal: but +more often it is of wickerwork, either of the plain construction common +in Sargon's time, or of one considerably more elaborate. + +Among the foot soldiers of Sennacherib we seem to find a corps of +pioneers. They wear the same dress as the better equipped of the +spearmen, but carry in their hands, instead of a spear, a doubled-headed +axe or hatchet, wherewith they clear the ground for the passage and +movements of the army. They work in pairs, one pulling at the tree by +its branches while the other attacks the stem with his weapon. + +After Sennacherib's time we find but few alterations in the equipment of +the foot soldiers. Esarhaddon has left us no sculptures, and in those of +his son and successor, Asshur-bani pal, the costumes of Sennacherib are +for the most part reproduced almost exactly. The chief difference is +that there are not at this time quite so many varieties of equipment, +both archers and spearmen being alike divided into two classes only, +light armed and heavy-armed. The light-armed archers correspond to +Sennacherib's bowmen of the third class. They have the fillet, the plain +tunic, the cross-belts, the broad girdle, and the phillibeg. They differ +only in having no lappets over the ears and no sandals. The heavy-armed +archers resemble the first class of Sennacherib exactly, except that +they are not seen shooting from behind the _gerrhon_. + +In the case of the spearmen, the only novelty consists in the shields. +The spearmen of the heavier equipment, though sometimes they carry the +old convex oval shield, more often have one which is made straight at +the bottom, and rounded only at top. [PLATE C., Fig. 1. ] The spearmen +of the lighter equipment have likewise commonly a shield of this shape, +but it is of wicker work instead of metal, like that borne occasionally +by the light-armed spearmen of Sennacherib. + +[Illustration: PLATE 100] + +Besides spearmen and archers, we see among the foot soldiers of +Asshur-bani-pal, slingers, mace-bearers, and men armed with battle axes. +For the slingers Sennacherib's heavy equipment has been discarded; and +they wear nothing but a plain tunic, with a girdle and cross-belts. +[PLATE C., Fig. 2.] The mace-bearers and men with axes have the exact +dress of Asshur-bani-pal's heavy-armed spearmen, and may possibly be +spearmen who have broken or lost their weapons. It makes, however, +against this view, that they have no shields, which spearmen always +carry. Perhaps, therefore, we must conclude that towards the close of +the empire, besides spearmen, slingers, and archers, there were distinct +corps of mace-bearers and axe-bearers. + +The arms used by the Assyrians have been mentioned, and to a certain +extent described, in the foregoing remarks upon the various classes of +their soldiers. Some further details may, however, be now added on their +character and on the variety observable in them. + +The common Assyrian pointed helmet has been sufficiently described +already, and has received abundant illustration both in the present and +in former chapters. It was at first regarded as Scythic in character; +but Mr. Layard long ago observed that the resemblance which it bears to +the Scythian cap is too slight to prove any connection. That cap +appears, whether we follow the foreign, or the native representations of +it, to have been of felt, whereas the Assyrian pointed helmet was made +of metal: it was much taller than the Assyrian head-dress, and it was +less upright. [PLATE C, Fig. 3.] + +The pointed helmet admitted of but few varieties. In its simplest form +it was a plain conical casque, with one or two rings round the base, and +generally with a half-disk in front directly over the forehead. [PLATE +C. Fig. 4.] Sometimes, however, there was appended to it a falling +curtain covered with metal scales, whereby the chin, neck, ears, and +back of the head were protected. More often it had, in lieu of this +effectual but cumbrous guard, a mere lappet or cheek-piece, consisting +of a plate of metal, attached to the rim, which descended over the ears +in the form of a half-oval or semicircle. If we may judge by the remains +actually found, the chief material of the helmet was iron; copper was +used only for the rings and the half-disk in front, which were inlaid +into the harder metal. + +As if to compensate themselves for the uniformity to which they +submitted in this instance, the Assyrians indulged in a variety of +crested helmets. [PLATE. C., Fig. 5.] We cannot positively say that they +invented the crest; but they certainly dealt with it in the free spirit +which is usually seen where a custom is of home growth and not a foreign +importation. They used either a plain metal crest, or one surmounted by +tuffs of hair; and they either simply curved the crest forwards over the +front of the helmet, or extended it and carried it back-wards also. In +this latter case they generally made the curve a complete semicircle, +while occasionally they were content with a small segment, less even +than a quarter of a circle. They also varied considerably the shape of +the lappet over the ear, and the depth of the helmet behind and before +the lappet. + +[Illustration: PLATE 101] + +Assyrian coats of mail were of three sizes, and of two different +constructions. In the earlier times they were worn long, descending +either to the feet or to the knees; and at this period they seem to have +been composed simply of successive rows of similar iron scales sewn on +to a shirt of linen or felt. [PLATE CI., Fig. 1.] Under the later +monarchs the coat of mail reached no lower than the waist, and it was +composed of alternate bands of dissimilar arrangement and perhaps of +different material. Mr. Layard suggests that at this time the scales, +which were larger than before, were "fastened to bands of iron or +copper." But it is perhaps more probable that scales of the old +character alternated in rows with scales of a new shape and smaller +dimensions. [PLATE CI., Fig. 2.] The old scales were oblong, squared at +one end and rounded at the other, very much resembling the Egyptian. +They were from two to three inches, or more, in length, and were placed +side by side, so that their greater length corresponded with the height +of the wearer. The new scales seem to have been not more than an inch +long; they appear to have been pointed at one end, and to have been laid +horizontally, each a little overlapping its fellow. It was probably +found that this construction, while possessing quite as much strength as +the other, was more favorable to facility of movement. + +Remains of armor belonging to the second period have been discovered in +the Assyrian ruins. The scales are frequently embossed over their whole +surface with groups of figures and fanciful ornaments. The small scales +of the first period have no such elaborate ornamentation, being simply +embossed in the centre with a single straight line, which is of copper +inlaid into the iron. + +The Assyrian coat of mail, like the Egyptian, had commonly a short +sleeve, extending about half way down to the elbow. [PLATE CI.. Fig. 1.] +This was either composed of scales set similarly to those of the rest of +the cuirass, or of two, three, or more rows placed at right angles to +the others. The greater part of the arm was left without any protection. + +A remarkable variety existed in the form and construction of the +Assyrian shields. The most imposing kind is that which has been termed +the _gerrhon_, from its apparent resemblance to the Persian shield +mentioned under that name by Herodotus. [PLATE CI.. Fig. 1.] This was a +structure in wickerwork, which equalled or exceeded the warrior in +height, and which was broad enough to give shelter to two or even three +men. In shape it was either an oblong square, or such a square with a +projection at top, which stood out at right angles to the body of the +shield; or, lastly, and most usually, it curved inwards from a certain +height, gradually narrowing at the same time, and finally ending in a +point. Of course a shield of this vast size, even although formed of a +light material, was too heavy to be very readily carried upon the arm. +The plan adopted was to rest it upon the ground, on which it was +generally held steady by a warrior armed with sword or spear, while his +comrade, whose weapon was the bow, discharged his arrows from behind its +shelter. Its proper place was in sieges, where the roof-like structure +at the top was especially useful in warding off the stones and other +missiles which the besieged threw down upon their assailants. We +sometimes see it employed by single soldiers, who lean the point against +the wall of the place, and, ensconcing themselves beneath the penthouse +thus improvised, proceed to carry on the most critical operations of the +siege in almost complete security. + +Modifications of this shield, reducing it to a smaller and more portable +size, were common in the earlier times, when among the shields most +usually borne we find one of wicker-work oblong-square in shape, and +either perfectly fiat, or else curving slightly inwards both at top and +at bottom. This shield was commonly about half the height of a man, or a +little more; it was often used as a protection for two, but must have +been scanty for that purpose. + +Round shields were commoner in Assyria than any others. They were used +by most of those who fought in chariots, by the early monarchs' personal +attendants, by the cross-belted spear-men, and by many of the spearmen +who guarded archers. In the most ancient times they seem to have been +universally made of solid metal, and consequently they were small, +perhaps not often exceeding two feet, or two feet and a half, in +diameter. They were managed by means of a very simple handle, placed in +the middle of the shield at the back, and fastened to it by studs or +nails, which was not passed over the arm but grasped by the hand. The +rim was bent inwards, so as to form a deep groove all round the edge. +The material of which these shields were composed was in some cases +certainly bronze; in others it may have been iron: in a few silver, or +even gold. Some metal shields were perfectly plain; others exhibited a +number of concentric rings, others again were inlaid or embossed with +tasteful and elaborate patterns. + +[Illustration: PLATE 102] + +Among the later Assyrians the round metal shield seems to have been +almost entirely disused, its place being supplied by a wicker buckler of +the same shape, with a rim round the edge made of solid wood or of +metal, and sometimes with a boss in the centre. [PLATE CII., Fig. 1.] +The weight of the metal shield must have been considerable; and this +both limited their size and made it difficult to move them with +rapidity. With the change of material we perceive a decided increase of +magnitude, the diameter of the wicker buckler being often fully half the +warrior's height, or not much short of three feet. + +Convex shields, generally of an oblong form, were also in common use +during the later period, and one kind is found in the very earliest +sculptures. This is of small dimensions and of a clumsy make. Its curve +is slight, and it is generally ornamented with a perpendicular row of +spikes or teeth, in the centre of which we often see the head of a lion. +[PLATE CII., Fig. 2.] + +The convex shields of later date were very much larger than these. +[PLATE CIII., Fig. 3.] They were sometimes square at bottom and rounded +at top, in which case they were either made of wickerwork, or +(apparently) of metal. These latter had generally a boss in the centre, +and both this and the edge of the shield were often ornamented with a +row of rosettes or rings. Shields of this shape were from four to five +feet in height, and protected the warrior from the head to the knee. On +a march they were often worn upon the back, like the convex shield of +the Egyptians, which they greatly resembled. + +[Illustration: PLATE 103] + +The more ordinary convex shield was of an oval form, like the convex +shield of the Greeks, but larger, and with a more prominent centre. +[PLATE CIII., Fig. 1.] In its greater diameter it must often have +exceeded five feet, though no doubt sometimes it was smaller. It was +generally ornamented with narrow bands round the edge and round the boss +at the centre, the space between the bands being frequently patterned +with ring; or otherwise. Like the other form of convex shield, it could +be slung at the back, and was so carried on marches, on crossing rivers, +and other similar occasions. + +The offensive arms certainly used by the Assyrians were the bow, the +spear, the sword, the mace, the sling, the axe or hatchet, and the +dagger. They may also have occasionally made use of the javelin, which +is sometimes seen among the arrows of a quiver. But the actual +employment of this weapon in war has not yet been found upon the +bas-reliefs. If faithfully represented, it must have been very +short,--scarcely, if at all, exceeding three feet. [PLATE CIII., Fig. +2.] + +Assyrian bows were of two kinds, curved and angular. Compared with the +Egyptian, and with the bows used by the archers of the middle ages, they +were short, the greatest length of the strung bow being about four feet. +They seem to have been made of a single piece of wood, which in the +angular bow was nearly of the same thickness throughout, but in the +curved one tapered gradually towards the two extremities. At either end +was a small knob or button, in the later times often carved into the +representation of a duck's head. [PLATE CIII, Fig. 3.] Close above this +was a notch or groove, whereby the string was held in place. The mode of +stringing was one still frequently practised in the East. The bowman +stooped, and placing his right knee against the middle of the bow on its +inner side, pressed it downwards, at the same time drawing the two ends +of the bow upwards with his two hands. [PLATE CIII, Fig. 4.] A comrade +stood by, and, when the ends were brought sufficiently near, slipped the +string over the knob into the groove, where it necessarily remained. The +bend of the bow, thus strung, was slight. When full drawn, however, it +took the shape of a half-moon, which shows that it must have possessed +great elasticity. [PLATE CIV., Fig. 4.] The bow was known to be full +drawn when the head of the arrow touched the archer's left hand. + +[Illustration: PLATE 104] + +The Assyrian angular bow was of smaller size than the curved one. It was +not often carried unless as a reserve by those who also possessed the +larger and better weapon. [PLATE CIV., Fig. 5.] + +Bows were but seldom unstrung. When not in use, they were carried +strung, the archer either holding them by the middle with his left hand, +or putting his arm through them, and letting them rest upon his +shoulders, or finally carrying them at his back in a bow case. [PLATE +CIV., Fig. I. ] The bow-case was a portion of the quiver, as frequently +with the Greeks, and held only the lower half of the bow, the upper +portion projecting from it. + +Quivers were carried by foot and horse archers at their backs, in a +diagonal position, so that the arrows could readily be drawn from them +over the right shoulder. They were commonly slung in this position by a +strap of their own, attached to two rings, one near the top and the +other near the bottom of the quiver, which the archer slipped over his +left arm and his head. Sometimes, however, this strap seems to have been +wanting, and the quiver was either thrust through one of the +cross-belts, or attached by a strap which passed horizontally round the +body a little above the girdle. [PLATE CIV.,Fig. 2.] The archers who +rode in chariots carried their quivers at the chariot's side, in the +manner which has been already described and illustrated. + +The ornamentation of quivers was generally elaborate. [PLATE CIV., Fig. +3.] Rosettes and bands constituted their most usual adornment; but +sometimes these gave place to designs of a more artistic character, as +wild bulls, griffins, and other mythic figures. Several examples of a +rich type have been already given in the representations of chariots, +but none exhibit this peculiarity. One further specimen of a chariot +quiver is therefore appended, which is among the most tasteful hitherto +discovered. [PLATE CIV., Fig. 3. ] + +The quivers of the foot and horse archers were less richly adorned than +those of the bowmen who rode in chariots, but still they were in almost +every case more or less patterned. The rosette and the band here too +constituted the chief resource of the artist, who, however, often +introduced with good effect other well-known ornaments, as the +guilloche, the boss and cross, the zigzag, etc. + +Sometimes the quiver had an ornamented rod attached to it, which +projected beyond the arrows and terminated in a pomegranate blossom or +other similar carving. [PLATE CV. Fig. 1]. To this rod was attached the +rings which received the quiver strap, a triple tassel hanging from them +at the point of attachment. The strap was probably of leather, and +appears to have been twisted or plaited. + +[Illustration: PLATE 105] + +It is uncertain whether the material of the quivers was wood or metal. +As, however, no remains of quivers have been discovered in any of the +ruins, while helmets, shields, diggers, spear-heads, and arrow-heads +have been found in tolerable abundance, we may perhaps assume that they +were of the more fragile substance, which would account for their +destruction. In this case their ornamentation may have been either by +carving or painting, the bosses and rosettes being perhaps in some cases +of metal, mother-of-pearl, or ivory. Ornaments of this kind were +discovered by hundreds at Nimrud in a chamber which contained arms of +many descriptions. Quivers have in some cases a curious rounded head, +which seems to have been a lid or cap used for covering the arrows. They +have also, occasionally, instead of this, a kind of bag at their top, +which falls backwards, and is ornamented with tassels. [PLATE CV., Fig. +2.] Both these constructions, however, are exceptional, a very large +majority of the quivers being open, and having the feathered ends of the +arrows projecting from them. + +There is nothing remarkable in the Assyrian arrows except their perfect +finish and completeness in all that constitutes the excellence of such a +weapon. The shaft was thin and straight, and was probably of reed, or of +some light and tough wood. The head was of metal, either of bronze or +iron, and was generally diamond-shaped, like a miniature spear-head. +[PLATE CV., Fig. 4. ] It was flattish, and for greater strength had +commonly a strongly raised line down the centre. The lower end was +hollowed, and the shaft was inserted into it. The notching and +feathering of the shaft were carefully attended to. It is doubtful +whether three feathers were used, as by ourselves and by the Egyptians, +or two only as by many nations. The fact that we never see more than +two feathers upon the monuments cannot be considered decisive, since the +Assyrian artists, from their small knowledge of perspective, would have +been unable to represent all three feathers. So far as we can judge from +the representations, it would seem that the feathers were glued to the +wood exactly as they are with ourselves. The notch was somewhat large, +projecting beyond the line of the shaft--a construction rendered +necessary by the thickness of the bowstring., which was seldom less than +of the arrow it-self. [PLATE CV., Fig. 5.] + +The mode of drawing the bow was peculiar. It was drawn neither to the +ear, nor to the breast, but to the shoulder. In the older sculptures the +hand that draws it is represented in a curiously cramped and unnatural +position, which can scarcely be supposed to be true to nature. But in +the later bas-reliefs greater accuracy seems to have been attained, and +there we probably see the exact mode in which the shooting was actually +managed. The arrow was taken below the feathers by the thumb and +forefinger of the right hand, the forefinger bent down upon it in the +way represented in the accompanying illustration, and the notch being +then placed upon the string, the arrow was drawn backwards by the thumb +and forefinger only, the remaining three fingers taking no part in the +operation. [PLATE CVI., Fig. 1.] The bow was grasped by the left hand +between the fingers and the muscle of the thumb, the thumb itself being +raised, and the arrow made to pass between it and the bow, by which it +was kept in place and prevented from slipping. The arrow was then drawn +till the cold metal head touched the forefinger of the left hand, upon +which the right hand quitted its hold, and the shaft sped on its way. To +save the left arm from being bruised or cut by the bowstring, a guard, +often simply yet effectively ornamented, was placed upon it, at one end +passing round the thumb and at the other round the arm a little above +the elbow. [PLATE CVI., Fig. 2.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 106] + +The Assyrians had two kinds of spears, one a comparatively short weapon, +varying from five to six feet in length, with which they armed a +portion of their foot soldiers, the other a weapon nine or ten feet +long, which was carried by most of their cavalry. The shaft seems in +both cases to have been of wood, and the head was certainly of metal, +either bronze or iron. [PLATE CVI., Fig. 3.] It was most usually +diamond-shaped, but sometimes the side angles were rounded off, and the +contour became that of an elongated pear. [PLATE CVI., Fig. 4.] In other +instances, the jambs of the spear-head were exceedingly short, and the +point long and tapering. The upper end of the shaft was sometimes +weighted, and it was often carved into some ornamental form, as a +fir-cone or a pomegranate blossom, while in the earlier times it was +further occasionally adorned with streamers. [PLATE CVI., Fig. 4.] The +spear of the Assyrians seems never to have been thrown, like that of the +Greeks, but was only used to thrust with, as a pike. + +The common sword of the Assyrians was a short straight weapon, like the +sword of the Egyptians, or the _acinaces_ of the Persians. It was worn +at the left side, generally slung by a belt of its own which was passed +over the right shoulder, but sometimes thrust through the girdle or +(apparently) through the armor. It had a short rounded handle, more or +less ornamented [PLATE CVII.. Fig. 1], but without any cross-bar or +guard, and a short blade which tapered gradually from the handle to the +point. The swordsman commonly thrust with his weapon, but he could cut +with it likewise, for it was with this arm that the Assyrian warrior was +wont to decapitate his fallen enemy. The sheath of the sword was almost +always tastefully designed, and sometimes possessed artistic excellence +of a high order. [PLATE CVII., Fig. 3.] The favorite terminal ornament +consisted of two lions clasping one another, with their heads averted +and their mouths agape. Above this, patterns in excellent taste usually +adorned the scabbard, which moreover exhibited occasionally groups of +figures, sacred trees, and other mythological objects. + +[Illustration: PLATE 107] + +Instead of the short sword, the earlier warriors had a weapon of a +considerable length. This was invariably slung at the side by a +cross-belt passing over the shoulder. In its ornamentation it closely +resembled the later short sword, but its hilt was longer and more +tasteful. + +One or two instances occur where the sword of an Assyrian warrior is +represented as curved slightly. The sheath in these cases is plain, and +terminates in a button. [PLATE CVII, Fig. 5.] + +The Assyrian mace was a short thin weapon, and must either have been +made of a very tough wood, or--and this is more probable of metal. +[PLATE CVIII., Fig. 7.] It had an ornamented head, which was sometimes +very beautifully modelled and generally a strap or string at the lower +end, by which it could be grasped with greater firmness. Foot archers +frequently carried it in battle, especially those who were in close +attendance upon the king's person. It seems, however, not to have been +often used as a warlike weapon until the time of the latest sculptures, +when we see it wielded, generally with both hands, by a certain number +of the combatants. In peace it was very commonly borne by the royal +attendants, and it seems also to have been among the weapons used by the +monarch himself, for whom it is constantly carried by one of those who +wait most closely upon his person. [PLATE., CVIII., Fig. I.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 108] + +The battle-axe was a weapon but rarely employed by the Assyrians. It is +only in the very latest sculptures and in a very few instances that we +find axes represented as used by the warriors for any other purpose +besides the felling of trees. Where they are seen in use against the +enemy, the handle is short, the head somewhat large, and the weapon +wielded with one hand. Battle-axes had heads of two kinds. [PLATE +CVIII., Fig. 1.] Some were made with two blades, like the _bipennis_ of +the Romans. and the _labra_ of the Lydians and Carians; others more +nearly resembled the weapons used by our own knights in the middle ages, +having a single blade, and a mere ornamental point on the other side of +the haft. + +The dagger was worn by the Assyrian kings at almost all times in their +girdles, and was further often assigned to the mythic winged beings, +hawk headed or human-headed, which occur so frequently in the +sculptures; but it seems to have been very seldom carried by subjects. +It had commonly a straight handle, slightly concave, and very richly +chased, exhibiting the usual Assyrian patterns, rosettes, chevrons, +guilloches, pine-cones, and the like. [PLATE CVII., Fig. 6.] Sometimes, +however, it was still more artistically shaped, being cast into the form +of a horse's head and neck. In this case there was occasionally a chain +attached at one end to the horse's chin, and at the other to the bottom +of his neck, which, passing outside the hand, would give it a firmer +hold on the weapon. The sheaths of daggers seem generally to have been +plain, or nearly so, but occasionally they terminated in the head of an +animal, from whose mouth depended a tassel. [PLATE CVIII., Fig. 2.] + +Though the Assyrian troops were not marshalled by the aid of standards, +like the Roman and the Egyptian, yet still a kind of standard is +occasionally to be recognized in the bas-reliefs. This consists of a +pole of no great height, fixed upright at the front of a chariot, +between the charioteer and the warrior, and carrying at the top a +circular frame, within which are artistic representations of gods or +sacred animals. Two bulls, back to back, either trotting or running at +speed, are a favorite device. Above there sometimes stands a figure in a +horned cap, shooting his arrows against the enemy. Occasionally only one +bull is represented, and the archer shoots standing upon the bull's +back. Below the circular framework are minor ornaments, as lions' and +bulls' heads, or streamers adorned with tassels. [PLATE CVIII., Fig. 2.] + +We do not obtain much information from the monuments with respect to the +military organization or the the tactics of the Assyrians. It is clear, +however, that they had advanced beyond the first period in military +matters, when men fight in a confused mass of mingled horse, foot, and +chariots, heavy-armed and light-armed spear-men, archers, and stingers, +each standing and moving as mere chance may determine. It is even +certain that they had advanced beyond the second period, when the +phalanx order of battle is adopted, the confused mass being replaced by +a single serried body presenting its best armed troops to the enemy, and +keeping in the rear, to add their weight to the charge, the weaker and +more imperfectly protected. It was not really left for Cyaxares the Mede +to be the first to organize an Asiatic army--to divide the troops into +companies and form distinct bodies of the spearmen, the archers, and the +cavalry. The Assyrian troops were organized in this way, at least from +the time of Sennacherib, on whose sculptures we find, in the first +place, bodies of cavalry on the march unaccompanied by infantry; +secondly, engagements where cavalry only are acting against the enemy; +thirdly, long lines of spearmen on foot marching in double file, and +sometimes divided into companies; and, fourthly, archers drawn up +together, but similarly divided into companies, each distinguished by +its own uniform. We also meet with a corps of pioneers, wearing a +uniform and armed only with a hatchet, and with bodies of slingers, who +are all armed and clothed alike. If, in the battles and the sieges of +this time, the troops seem to be to a great extent confused together, we +may account for it partly by the inability of the Assyrian artists to +represent bodies of troops in perspective, partly by their not aiming at +an actual, but rather at a typical representation of events, and partly +also by their fondness for representing, not the preparation for battle +or its first shock, but the rout and flight of the enemy and their own +hasty pursuit of them. + +The wars of the Assyrians, like those of ancient Rome, consisted of +annual inroads into the territories of their neighbors, repeated year +after year, till the enemy was exhausted, sued for peace, and admitted +the suzerainty of the more powerful nation. The king in person usually +led forth his army, in spring or early summer, when the mountain passes +were opened, and, crossing his own borders, invaded some one or other of +the adjacent countries. The monarch himself invariably rode forth in his +chariot, arrayed in his regal robes, and with the tiara upon his head: +he was accompanied by numerous attendants, and generally preceded and +followed by the spearmen of the Royal Guard, and a detachment of +horse-archers. Conspicuous among the attendants were the charioteer who +managed the reins, and the parasol-bearer, commonly a eunuch, who, +standing in the chariot behind the monarch, held the emblem of +sovereignty over his head. A bow-bearer, a quiver-bearer, and a +mace-bearer were usually also in attendance, walking before or behind +the chariot of the king, who, however, did not often depend for arms +wholly upon them, but carried a bow in his left hand, and one or more +arrows in his right, while he had a further store of the latter either +in or outside his chariot. Two or three led horses were always at hand, +to furnish a means of escape in any difficulty. The army, marshalled in +its several corps, in part preceded the royal _cortege_, in part +followed at a little distance behind it. + +On entering the enemy's country, if a wooded tract presented itself, the +corps of pioneers was thrown out in advance, and cleared away the +obstructions. When a river was reached too deep to be forded, the horses +were detached from the royal and other chariots by grooms and +attendants; the chariots themselves were embarked upon boats and rowed +across the stream; while the horses, attached by ropes to a post near +the stern of the boat, swam after it. The horses of the cavalry were +similarly drawn across by their riders. The troops, both cavalry and +infantry, and the attendants, a very numerous body, swam the stream, +generally upon inflated skins, which they placed under them, holding the +neck in their left hand, and sometimes increasing the inflation as they +went by applying the orifice at the top of the neck to their mouths. +[PLATE CVIII., Fig. 3.] We have no direct evidence as to the mode in +which the baggage of an army, which must have been very considerable, +was conveyed, either along the general line of route, or when it was +necessary to cross a river. We may conjecture that in the latter case it +was probably placed upon rafts supported on inflated skins, such as +those which conveyed stones from distant quarries to be used in the +Assyrian buildings. In the former, we may perhaps assume that the +conveyance was chiefly by beasts of burden, camels and asses, as the +author of the book of Judith imagined. Carts may have been used to some +extent; since they were certainly employed to convey back to Assyria the +spoil of the conquered nations. + +[Illustration: PLATE 109] + +It does not appear whether the army generally was provided with tents or +not. Possibly the bulk of the soldiers may have bivouacked in the open +field, unless when they were able to obtain shelter in towns or villages +taken from the enemy. Tents, however, were certainly provided for the +monarch and his suite. [PLATE CIX., Fig. 1.] Like the tents of the +Romans, these appear to have been commonly pitched within a fortified +enclosure, which was of an oval shape. They were disposed in rows, and +were all nearly similar in construction and form, the royal tent being +perhaps distinguished from the others by a certain amount of +ornamentation and by a slight superiority of size. The material used for +the covering was probably felt. All the tents were made open to the sky +in the centre, but closed in at either extremity with a curious +semicircular top. [PLATE CIX., Fig. 1.] The two tops were unequal of +size. Internally, either both of them, or at any rate the larger ones, +were supported by a central pole, which threw out branches in different +directions resembling the branches of a tree or the spokes of a parasol. +Sometimes the walls of the tent had likewise the support of poles, which +were kept in place by ropes passed obliquely from the top of each to the +ground in front of them, and then firmly secured by pegs. Each tent had +a door, square-headed, which was placed at the side, near the end which +had the smaller covering. The furniture of tents consisted of tables, +couches, footstools, and domestic utensils of various kinds. [PLATE +CIX., Fig. 1.] Within the fortified enclosure, but outside the tents, +were the chariot and horses of the monarch, an altar where sacrifice +could be made, and a number of animals suitable for food, as oxen, +sheep, and goats. + +It appears that occasionally the advance of the troops was along a road. +Ordinarily, however, they found no such convenience, but had to press +forward through woods and over mountains as they best could. Whatever +the obstructions, the chariot of the monarch was in some way or other +conveyed across them, though it is difficult to suppose that he could +have always remained, as he is represented, seated in it. Probably he +occasionally dismounted, and made use of one of the led horses by which +he was always accompanied, while sometimes he even condescended to +proceed on foot. [PLATE CIX., Fig. 2.] Tile use of palanquins or litters +seem not to have been known to the Assyrians, though it was undoubtedly +very ancient in Asia; but the king was sometimes carried on men's +shoulders, seated on his throne in the way that we see the enthroned +gods borne in many of the sculptures. + +The first object in entering a country was to fight, if possible, a +pitched battle with the inhabitants. The Assyrians were always confident +of victory in such an encounter, being better armed, better disciplined, +and perhaps of stronger frames than any of their neighbors. There is no +evidence to show how their armies were drawn up, or how the troops were +handled in an engagement; but it would seem that in most cases, after a +longer or a shorter resistance, the enemy broke and fled, sometimes +throwing away his arms, at other tunes fighting as he retired, always +vigorously pursued by horse and foot, and sometimes driven headlong into +a river. Quarter was not very often given in a battle. The barbarous +practice of rewarding those who carried back to camp the heads of foemen +prevailed; and this led to the massacre in many cases even of the +wounded, the disarmed, and the unresisting, though occasionally quarter +was given, more especially to generals and other leading personages whom +it was of importance to take alive. Even while the engagement continued, +it would seem that soldiers might quit the ranks, decapitate a fallen +foe, and carry off his head to the rear, without incurring any reproof; +and it is certain that, so soon as the engagement was over, the whole +army turned to beheading the fallen, using for this purpose the short +sword which almost every warrior carried at his left side. A few unable +to obtain heads, were forced to be content with gathering the spoils of +the slain and of the fled, especially their arms, such as quivers, hews, +helmets, and the like; while their more fortunate comrades, proceeding +to an appointed spot in the rear, exhibited the tokens of their valor, +or of their good luck, to the royal scribes, who took an exact account +of the amount, of the spoil, and of the number of the enemy killed. + +When the enemy could no longer resist in the open field, he usually fled +to his strongholds. Almost all the nations with whom the Assyrians waged +their wars possessed fortified cities, or castles, which seem to have +been places constructed with a good deal of skill, and possessed of no +inconsiderable strength. According to the representations of the +sculptures, they were all nearly similar in character, the defences +consisting of high battlemented walls, pierced with loopholes or windows +towards their upper part, and flanked at intervals along their whole +course by towers. [PLATE CIX., Fig. 3.] Often they possessed two or more +_enceintes_, which in the bas-reliefs are represented one above the +other; and in these cases the outermost circuit was sometimes a mere +plain continuous wall, as in the illustration. They were entered by +large gateways, most commonly arched, and closed by two huge gates or +doors, which completely filled up the aperture. Occasionally, however, +the gateways were square-headed, as in the illustration, where there +occurs, moreover, a very curious ornamentation of the battlements. +[PLATE CX., Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 110] + +These fortified places the Assyrians attacked in three principal ways. +Sometimes they endeavored to take them by escalade, advancing for this +purpose a number of long ladders against different parts of the walls, +thus distracting the enemy's attention and seeking to find a weak point. +Up the ladders proceeded companies of spearmen and archers in +combination, the spearmen invariably taking the lead, since their large +shields afforded them a protection which archers advancing in file up a +ladder could not have. Meanwhile from below a constant discharge was +kept up by bowmen and slingers, the former of whom were generally +protected by the _gerrhon_ or high wicker shield, held in front of them +by a comrade. The besieged endeavored to dislodge and break the ladders, +which are often represented in fragments; or, failing in this attempt, +sought by hurling down large stones, and by discharges from their bows +and slings, to precipitate and destroy their assailants. If finally they +were unable by these means to keep the Assyrians from reaching the +topmost rounds of the ladders, they had recourse to their spears, and +man to man, spear to spear, and shield to shield, they still struggled +to defend themselves. The Assyrians always represent the sieges which +they conduct as terminating successfully: but we may be tolerably sure +that in many instances the invader was beaten back, and forced to +relinquish his prey, or to try fresh methods of obtaining it. + +If the escalade failed, or if it was thought unadvisable to attempt it, +the plan most commonly adopted was to try the effect of the +battering-ram. [PLATE CX., Fig. 3.] The Assyrian armies were abundantly +supplied with these engines, of which we see as many as seven engaged in +a single siege. They were variously designed and arranged. Some had a +head shaped like the point of a spear; others, one more resembling the +end of a blunderbuss. All of them were covered with a frame-work, which +was of ozier, wood, felt, or skins, for the better protection of those +who worked the implement; but some appear to have been stationary, +having their framework resting on the ground itself, while others were +moveable, being provided with wheels, which in the early times were six, +but in the later times four only. Again, sometimes, combined with the +ram and its framework was a moveable tower containing soldiers, who at +once fought the enemy on a level, and protected the engine from their +attacks. Fire was the weapon usually turned against the ram, torches, +burning tow, or other inflammable substances being cast from the walls +upon its framework, which, wherever it was of ozier or of wood, could be +easily set alight and consumed. To prevent this result, the workers of +the ram were sometimes provided with a supply of water, which they could +direct through leathern or metal pipes against the combustibles. At +other times they sought to protect themselves by suspending from a pole +in front of their engine a curtain of cloth, leather, or some other +non-inflammable substance. + +Another mode of meeting the attacks of the battering-ram was by catching +the point with a chain suspended by its two ends from the walls, and +then, when the ram was worked, diverting the stroke by drawing the head +upwards. To oppose this device, the besiegers provided some of their +number with strong metal hooks, and stationed them below the ram, where +they watched for the descent of the chain. As soon as ever it caught the +head of the ram, they inserted their hooks into its links, and then +hanging upon it with their whole weight, prevented its interference with +the stroke. + +Battering-rams were frequently used against the walls from the natural +ground at their foot. Sometimes, however, the besiegers raised vast +mounds against the ramparts, and advanced their engines up these, thus +bringing theirs on a level with the upper and weaker portions of the +defences. Of this nature probably were the mounds spoken of in Scripture +as employed by the Babylonians and Egyptians, as well as the Assyrians, +in their sieges of cities. The intention was not so much to pile up the +mounds till they were on a level with the top of the walls as to work +the battering-ram with greater advantage from them. A similar use was +made of mounds by the Peloponnesian Greeks, who nearly succeeded in +taking Plataea in this way. The mounds were not always composed entirely +of earth; the upper portion was often made of several layers of stone or +brick, arranged in regular order, so as to form a sort of paved road, up +which the rams might be dragged with no great difficulty. Trees, too, +were sometimes cut down and built into the mound. + +Besides battering-rams, the Assyrians appear to have been acquainted +with an engine resembling the catapult, or rather the _balista_ of the +Romans. [PLATE CXI., Fig. 1.] This engine, which was of great height, +and threw stones of a large size, was protected, like the ram, by a +framework, apparently of wood, covered with canvas, felt, or hides. The +stones thrown from the engine were of irregular shape, and it was able +to discharge several at the same time. The besiegers worked it from a +mound or inclined plane, which enabled them to send their missiles to +the top of the ramparts. It had to be' brought very close to the walls +in order to be effective--a position which gave the besieged an +opportunity of assailing it by fire. Perhaps it was this liability which +caused the infrequent use of the engine in question, which is rare upon +the earlier, and absent from the later, sculptures. + +The third mode of attack employed by the Assyrians in their sieges of +fortified places was the mine. While the engines were in full play, and +the troops drawn up around the place assailed the defenders of the walls +with their slings and bows, warriors, singly, or in twos and threes, +advanced stealthily to the foot of the ramparts, and either with their +swords and the points of their spears, or with implements better suited +for the purpose, such as crowbars and pickaxes, attacked the foundations +of the walls, endeavoring to remove the stones one by one, and so to +force an entrance. While thus employed, the assailant commonly either +held his shield above him as a protection or was guarded by the shield +of a comrade; or, finally, if he carried the curved _gerrhon_, leant it +against the wall, and then placed himself under its shelter. [PLATE CX., +Fig. 2.] Sometimes, however, he dispensed with the protection of a +shield altogether, and, trusting his helmet and coat of mail, which +covered him at all vital points, pursued his labor without paying any +attention to the weapons aimed at him by the enemy. + +Occasionally the efforts of the besiegers were directed against the +gates, which they endeavored to break open with axes, or to set on fire +by an application of the torch. From this latter circumstance we may +gather that the gates were ordinarily of wood, not, like those of +Babylon and Veii, of brass. In the hot climate of Southern Asia wood +becomes so dry by exposure to the sun that the most solid doors may +readily be ignited and consumed. + +[Illustration: PLATE 111] + +When at last the city or castle was by some of these means reduced, and +the garrison consented to surrender itself, the work of demolition, +already begun, was completed. Generally the place was set on fire; +sometimes workmen provided with pickaxes and other tools mounted upon +the ramparts and towers, hurled down the battlements, broke breaches in +the walls, or even levelled the whole building. [PLATE CXII., Fig. 1.] +Vengeance was further taken by the destruction of the valuable trees in +the vicinity, more especially the highly prized date-palms, which were +cut with hatchets half through their stems at the distance of about two +feet from the ground, and then pulled or pushed down. [PLATE CXI., Fig. +2.] Other trees were either treated similarly, or denuded of their +branches. Occasionally the destruction was of a less wanton and vengeful +character. Timber-trees were cut down for transport to Assyria, where +they were used in the construction of the royal-palaces; and fruit-trees +were occasionally taken up by the roots, removed carefully, and planted +in the gardens and orchards of the conquerors. Meanwhile there was a +general plundering of the captured place. The temples were entered, and +the images of the gods, together, with the sacred vessels, which were +often of gold and silver, were seized and carried off in triumph. +[PLATE CXI., Fig. 4.] This was not mere cupidity. It was regarded as of +the utmost importance to show that the gods of the Assyrians were +superior to those of other countries, who were powerless to protect +either their votaries or even themselves from the irresistible might of +the servants of Asshur. The ordinary practice was to convey the images +of the foreign gods from the temples of the captured places to Assyria, +and there to offer then at the shrines of the principal Assyrian +deities. Hence the special force of the proud question, "Where _are_ the +gods of Hanath and of Arpad? _Where are_ the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, +and Ivah? Where are they but carried captive to Assyria, prisoners and +slaves in the temples of those deities whose power they ventured to +resist?" + +The houses of the city were also commonly plundered, and everything of +value in them was carried off. Long files of men, each bearing some +article of furniture out of the gate of a captured town, are frequent +upon the bas-reliefs, where we likewise often observe in the train of a +returning army carts laden with household stuff of every kind, +alternating with long strings of captives. All the spoil seems to have +been first brought by the individual plunderers to one place, where it +was carefully sorted and counted in the presence and under the +superintendence of royal scribes, who took an exact inventory of the +whole before it was carried away by its captors. [PLATE CXI., Fig. 3.] +Scales were used to determine the weight of articles made of the +precious metals, which might otherwise have been subjected to clipping. +We may conclude from these practices that a certain proportion of the +value of all private spoil was either due to the royal treasury, or +required to be paid to the gods in acknowledgment of their aid and +protection. Besides the private spoil, there was a portion which was +from the first set apart exclusively for the monarch. This consisted +especially of the public treasure of the captured city, the gold and +silver, whether in bullion, plate, or ornaments, from the palace of its +prince, and the idols, and probably the other valuables from the +temples. + +The inhabitants of a captured place were usually treated with more or +less of severity. Those regarded as most responsible for the resistance +or the rebellion were seized; generally their hands were manacled either +before them or behind their backs, while sometimes fetters were attached +to their feet, and even rings passed through their lips, and in this +abject guise they were brought into the presence of the Assyrian king. +Seated on his throne in his fortified camp without the place, and +surrounded by his attendants, he received them one by one, and instantly +pronounced their doom. On some he proudly placed his foot, some he +pardoned, a few he ordered for execution, many he sentenced to be torn +from their homes and carried into slavery. + +Various modes of execution seem to have been employed in the case of +condemned captives. One of them was empalement. This has always been, +and still remains, a common mode of punishment in the East; but the +manner of empaling which the Assyrians adopted was peculiar. They +pointed a stake at one end, and, having fixed the other end firmly into +the ground, placed their criminal with the pit of his stomach upon the +point, and made it enter his body just below the breastbone. This method +of empaling must have destroyed life tolerably soon, and have thus been +a far less cruel punishment than the crucifixion of the Romans. We do +not observe it very often in the Assyrian sculptures, nor do we ever see +it applied to more than a few individuals. It was probably reserved for +those who were considered the worst criminals. Another very common mode +of executing captives was by beating in their skulls with a mace. In +this case the victim commonly knelt; his two hands were placed before +him upon a block or cushion: behind him stood two executioners, one of +whom held him by a cord round the neck, while the other, seizing his +back hair in one hand, struck him a furious blow upon the head with a +mace which he held in the other. [PLATE CXI., Fig. 5.] It must have been +rarely, if ever, that a second blow was needed. + +Decapitation was less frequently practised. The expression, indeed. "I +cut off their heads," is common in the Inscriptions but in most +instances it evidently refers to the practice, already noticed, of +collecting the heads of those who had fallen in battle. Still there are +instances, both in the Inscriptions and in the sculptures, of what +appears to have been a formal execution of captives by beheading. In +these cases the criminal, it would seem, stood upright, or bending a +little forwards, and the executioner, taking him by a lock of hair with +his left hand, struck his head from his shoulders with a short sword, +which he held in his right. [PLATE CXII., Fig. 5.] + +It is uncertain whether a punishment even more barbarous than these was +not occasionally resorted to. In two or three bas-reliefs executioners +are represented in the act of flaying prisoners with a knife. The bodies +are extended upon the ground or against a wall, to which they are +fastened by means of four pegs attached by strings or thongs to the two +wrists and the two ankles. The executioner leans over the victim, and +with his knife detaches the skin from the flesh. One would trust that +this operation was not performed until life was extinct. We know that it +was the practice of the Persians, and even of the barbarous Scythians, +to flay the corpses, and not the living forms, of criminals and of +enemies; we may hope, therefore, that the Assyrians removed the skin +from the dead, to use it as a trophy or as a warning, and did not +inflict so cruel a torture on the living. + +Sometimes the punishment awarded to a prisoner was mutilation instead of +death. Cutting off the ears close to the head, blinding the eyes with +burning-irons, cutting off the nose, and plucking out the tongue by the +roots, have been in all ages favorite Oriental punishments. We have +distinct evidence that some at least of these cruelties were practised +by the Assyrians. Asshur-izir-pal tells us in his great Inscription that +he often cut off the noses and the ears of prisoners; while a slab of +Asshur-bani-pal, the son of Esarhaddon, shows a captive in the hands of +the torturers, one of whom holds his head firm and fast, while another +thrusts his hand into his mouth for the purpose of tearing out the +tongue. + +The captives carried away by the conquerors consisted of men, women, and +children. The men were formed into bands, under the conduct of officers, +who urged theme forward on their way by blows, with small regard to +their sufferings. Commonly they were conveyed to the capital, where they +were employed by the monarchs in the lower or higher departments of +labor, according to their capacities. The skilled workmen were in +request to assist in the ornamentation of shrines and palaces, while the +great mass of the unskilled were made use of to quarry and drag stone, +to raise mounds, make bricks, and the like. Sometimes, instead of being +thus employed in task-work in or near the capital, the captives were +simply settled in new regions, where it was thought that they would +maintain the Assyrian power against native malcontents. Thus Esarhaddon +planted Babylonians, Susanchites, Dehavites, Elamites, and others in +Samaria, while Sargon settled his Samaritan captives in Gauzanitis and +in "the cities of the Medes." + +[Illustration: PLATE 112] + +The women and children carried off by the conquerors were treated with +more tenderness than the men. [PLATE CXII., Fig. 2.] Sometimes on foot, +but often mounted on mules, or seated in carts drawn by bullocks or +asses, they followed in the train of their new masters, not always +perhaps unwilling to exchange the monotony of domestic life at home for +the excitement of a new and unknown condition in a fresh country. We +seldom see them exhibiting any signs of grief. The women and children +are together, and the mothers lavish on their little ones the usual +caresses and kind offices, taking them in their laps, giving then the +breast, carrying them upon their shoulders, or else leading them by the +hand. At intervals they were allowed to stop and rest; and it was not +even the practice to deprive them of such portion of their household +stuff as they might have contrived to secure before quitting their +homes. This they commonly bore in a bag or sack, which was either held +in the hand or thrown over one shoulder, When they reached Assyria, it +would seem that they were commonly assigned as wives to the soldiers of +the Assyrian army. + +Together with their captives, the Assyrians carried off vast quantities +of the domesticated animals, such as oxen, sheep, goats, horses, asses, +camels, and mules. The numbers mentioned in the Inscriptions are +sometimes almost incredible. Sennacherib, for instance, says that in one +foray he bore off from the tribes on the Euphrates "7200 horses and +mares, 5230 camels, 11,000 mules, 120,000 oxen, and 800,000 sheep"! +Other kings omit particulars, but speak of the captured animals which +they led away as being "too numerous to be counted," or "countless as +the stars of heaven." The Assyrian sculptors are limited by the nature +of their art to comparatively small numbers, but they show us horses, +camels, and mules in the train of a returning army, together with groups +of the other animals, indicative of the vast flocks and herds +continually mentioned in the Inscriptions. + +Occasionally the monarchs were not content with bringing home +domesticated animals only, but took the trouble to transport from +distant regions into Assyria wild beasts of various kinds. +Tiglath-Pileser I. informs us in general terms that, besides carrying +off the droves of the horses, cattle, and asses that he obtained from +the subjugated countries, he "took away and drove off the herds of the +wild goats and the ibexes, the wild sheep and the wild cattle;" and +another monarch mentions that in one expedition he carried off from the +middle Euphrates a drove of forty wild cattle, and also a flock of +twenty ostriches. The object seems to have been to stock Assyria with a +variety and an abundance of animals of chase. + +The foes of the Assyrians would sometimes, when hard pressed, desert the +dry land, and betake themselves to the marshes, or cross the sea to +islands where they trusted that they might be secure from attack. Not +unfrequently they obtained their object by such a retreat, for the +Assyrians were not a maritime people. Sometimes, however, they were +pursued. The Assyrians would penetrate into the marshes by means of reed +boats, probably not very different from the _terradas_ at present in use +among the Arabs of the Mesopotamian marsh districts. Such boats are +represented upon the bas-reliefs as capable of holding from three to +five armed men. On these the Assyrian foot-soldiers would embark, taking +with them a single boatman to each boat, who propelled the vessel much +as a Venetian gondolier propels his gondola, i.e., with a single long +oar or paddle, which he pushed from him standing at the stern. They +would then in these boats attack the vessels of the enemy, which are +always represented as smaller than theirs, run them down or board them, +kill their crews or force them into the water, or perhaps allow them to +surrender. Meanwhile, the Assyrian cavalry was stationed round the marsh +among the tall reeds which thickly clothed its edge, ready to seize or +slay such of the fugitives as might escape from the foot. + +When the refuge sought was an island, if it lay near the shore, the +Assyrians would sometimes employ the natives of the adjacent coast to +transport beams of wood and other materials by means of their boats, in +order to form a sort of bridge or mole reaching from the mainland to the +isle whereto their foes had fled. Such a design was entertained, or at +least professed, by Xerxes after the destruction of his fleet in the +battle of Salamis, and it was successfully executed by Alexander the +Great, who took in this way the new or island of Tyre. From a series of +reliefs discovered at Khorsabad wo may conclude that more than two +hundred years before the earlier of these two occasions, the Assyrians +had conceived the idea, and even succeeded in carrying out the plan, of +reducing islands near the coast by moles. + +Under the Chaldaeans, whose "cry was in their ships," the Assyrians seem +very rarely to have adventured themselves upon the deep. If their +enemies fled to islands which could not be reached by moles, or to lands +across the sea, in almost every instance they escaped. Such escapes are +represented upon the sculptures, where we see the Assyrians taking a +maritime town at one end, while at the other the natives are embarking +their women and children, and putting to sea, without any pursuit being +made after them. In none of the bas-reliefs do we observe any sea-going +vessels with Assyrians on board and history tells us of but two or three +expeditions by sea in which they took part. One of these was an +expedition by Sennacharib against the coast of the Persian Gulf, to +which his Chaldaean enemies had fled. On this occasion he brought +shipwrights from Phoenicia to Assyria, and made them build him ships +there, which were then launched upon the Tigris, and conveyed down to +the sea. With a fleet thus constructed, and probably manned, by +Phoenicians, Sennacherib crossed to the opposite coast, defeated the +refugees, and embarking his prisoners on board, returned in triumph to +the mainland. Another expedition was that of Shalmaneser IV. against the +island Tyre. Assyrians are said to have been personally engaged in it; +but here again we are told that they embarked in ships furnished to then +by the Phoenicians, and maimed chiefly by Phoenician sailors. + +When a country was regarded as subjugated, the Assyrian monarch commonly +marked the establishment of his sovereignty by erecting a memorial in +some conspicuous or important situation within the territory conquered, +as an enduring sign of his having taken possession. These memorials were +either engraved on the natural rock or on solid blocks of stone cut into +the form of a broad low stele. They contained a figure of the king, +usually enclosed in an arched frame; and an inscription, of greater or +less length, setting forth his name, his titles, and some of his +exploits. More than thirty such memorials are mentioned in the extant +Inscriptions, and the researches of recent times have recovered some ten +or twelve of them. They uniformly represent the king in his sacerdotal +robes, with the sacred collar round his neck, and the emblems of the +gods above his head, raising the right hand in the act of adoration, as +if he were giving thanks to Asshur and his guardian deities on account +of his successes. + +. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + +It is now time to pass from the military customs of the Assyrians to a +consideration of their habits and usages in time of peace, so far as +they are made known to us either by historical records or by the +pictorial evidence of the has reliefs. And here it may be convenient to +treat separately of the public life of the king and court, and of the +private life of the people. + +In Assyria, as in most Oriental countries, the keystone of the social +arch, the central point of the system, round which all else revolved, +and on which all else depended, was the monarch. "_L'etat, c'est moi_" +might have been said with more truth by an Assyrian prince than even by +the "_Grand Monarque_," whose dictum it is reported to have been. Alike +in the historical notices, and in the sculptures, we have the person of +the king presented to us with consistent prominence, and it is +consequently with him that we most naturally commence the present +portion of our inquiry. + +The ordinary dress of the monarch in time of peace was a long flowing +robe, reaching to the ankles, elaborately patterned and fringed, over +which was worn, first, a broad belt, and then a species of open mantle, +or chasuble, very curiously contrived. [PLATE CXII., Fig. 3.] This +consisted mainly of two large flaps, both of which were commonly +rounded, though sometimes one of them was square at bottom. These fell +over the robe in front and behind, leaving the sides open, and so +exposing the under dress to view. The two flaps must have been sewn +together at the places marked with the dotted lines _a b_ and _c d_, the +space from _a_ to _c_ being left open, and the mantle passed by that +means over the head. At _d g_ there was commonly a short sleeve _(h)_, +which covered the upper part of the left arm, but the right arm was left +free, the mantle falling of either side of it. Sometimes, besides the +flaps, the mantle seems to have had two pointed wings attached to the +shoulders (_a f b_ and _c e h_ in the illustration), which were made to +fall over in front. Occasionally there was worn above the chasuble a +broad diagonal belt ornamented with a deep fringe and sometimes there +depended at the back of the dress a species of large hood. + +The special royal head-dress was a tall mitre or tiara, which at first +took the shape of the head, but rose above it to a certain height in a +gracefully curved line, when it was covered in with a top, flat, like +that of a hat, but having a projection towards the centre, which rose up +into a sort of apex, or peak, not however pointed, but either rounded or +squared off. The tiara was generally ornamented with a succession of +bands, between which were commonly patterns more or less elaborate. +Ordinarily the lowest band, instead of running parallel with the others, +rose with a gentle curve towards the front, allowing room for a large +rosette over the forehead, and for other similar ornaments. If we may +trust the representations on the enamelled bricks, supported as they are +to some extent by the tinted reliefs, we may say that the tiara was of +three colors, red, yellow, and white. The red and white alternated in +broad bands; the ornaments upon them were yellow, being probably either +embroidered on the material of the head-dress in threads of gold, or +composed of thin gold plates which may have been sown on. The general +material of the tiara is likely to have been cloth or felt; it can +scarcely have been metal, if the deep crimson tint of the bricks and the +reliefs is true. [PLATE CXII., Fig. 4.] + +In the early sculptures the tiara is more depressed than in the later, +and it is also less richly ornamented. It has seldom more than two +bands, viz., a narrow one at top, and at bottom a broader curved one, +rising towards the front. To this last are attached two long strings or +lappets, which fall behind the monarch's back to a level with his elbow. +[PLATE CXIII., Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 113] + +Another head-dress which the monarch sometimes wore was a sort of band +or fillet. This was either elevated in front and ornamented with a +single rosette, like the lowest band of the tiara, or else of uniform +width and patterned along its whole course. In either case there +depended from it, on each side of the back hair, a long ribbon or +streamer, fringed at the end and sometimes ornamented with a delicate +pattern. [PLATE CXIII., Fig 2.] + +The monarch's feet were protected by sandals or shoes. In the early +sculptures sandals only appear in use, shoes being unknown (as it would +seem) until the time of Sennacherib. The sandals worn were of two kinds. +The simplest sort had a very thin sole and a small cap for the heel, +made apparently of a number of strips of leather sewn together. It was +held in place by a loop over the great-toe, attached to the fore part of +the sole, and by a string which was laced backwards and forwards across +the instep, and then tied in a bow. [PLATE CXIII., Fig. 4.] + +The other kind of sandal had a very different sort of sole; it was of +considerable thickness, especially at the heel, from which it gradually +tapered to the toe. Attached to this was an upper leather which +protected the heel and the whole of the side of the foot, but left the +toes and the instep exposed. A loop fastened to the sole received the +great-toe, and at the point where the loop was inserted two straps were +also made fast, which were then carried on either side the great-toe to +the top of the foot, where they crossed each other, and, passing twice +through rings attached to the edge of the upper leather, were finally +fastened, probably by a buckle, at the top of the instep. [PLATE CXIII., +Fig. 6.] + +The shoe worn by the later kings was of a coarse and clumsy make, very +much rounded at the toe, patterned with rosettes, crescents, and the +like, and (apparently) laced in front. In this respect it differed from +the shoe of the queen, which will be represented presently, and also +from the shoes worn by the tribute-bearers. [PLATE CXIII, Fig. 5.] + +The accessory portions of the royal costume were chiefly belts, +necklaces, armlets, bracelets, and earrings. Besides the belt round the +waist, in which two or three highly ornamented daggers were frequently +thrust, and the broad fringed cross-belt, of which mention was made +above, the Assyrian monarch wore a narrow cross-belt passing across his +right shoulder, from which his sword hung at his left side. This belt +was sometimes patterned with rosettes. It was worn over the front flap +of the chasuble, but under the back flap, and was crossed at right +angles by the broad fringed belt, which was passed over the right arm +and head so as to fall across the left shoulder. + +The royal necklaces were of two kinds. Some consisted merely of one or +more strings of long lozenge-shaped beads slightly chased, and connected +by small links, ribbed perpendicularly. [PLATE CXIII., Fig. 7.] The +other kind was a band or collar, perhaps of gold, on which were hung a +number of sacred emblems: as the crescent or emblem of the Moon-God, +Sin; the four-rayed disk, the emblem of the Sun-God, Shamas; the +six-rayed or eight-rayed disk, the emblem of Gula, the Sun-Goddess; the +horned cap, perhaps the emblem of the king's guardian genius; and the +double or triple bolt, which was the emblem of Vul, the god of the +atmosphere. This sacred collar was a part of the king's civil and not +merely of his sacerdotal dress; as appears from the fact that it was +sometimes worn when the king was merely receiving prisoners. [PLATE +CXIII., Fig. 8.] + +The monarch wore a variety of armlets. The most common was a plain bar +of a single twist, the ends of which slightly overlapped each other. A +more elegant kind was similar to this, except that the bar terminated in +animal heads carefully wrought, among which the heads of rams, horses, +and ducks were the most common. A third sort has the appearance of being +composed of a number of long strings or wires, confined at intervals of +less than an inch by cross bands at right angles to the wires. This sort +was carried round the arm twice, and even then its ends overlapped +considerably. It is probable that all the armlets were of metal, and +that the appearance of the last was given to it by the workman in +imitation of an earlier and ruder armlet of worsted or leather. [PLATE +CXIV., Fig. 1. ] + +[Illustration: PLATE 114] + +The bracelets of the king, like his armlets, were sometimes mere bars of +metal, quite plain and without ornament. More often, however, they were +ribbed and adorned with a large rosette at the centre. Sometimes, +instead of one simple rosette, we see three double rosettes, between +which project small points, shaped like the head of a spear. +Occasionally these double rosettes appear to be set on the surface of a +broad bar, which is chased so as to represent brickwork. In no case can +we see how the bracelets were fastened; perhaps they were elastic, and +were slipped over the hand. [PLATE CXIV., Fig. 3.] + +Specimens of royal earrings have been already given in an earlier +chapter of this volume. The most ordinary form in the more ancient times +was a long drop, which was sometimes delicately chased Another common +kind was an incomplete Maltese cross, one arm of the four being left out +because it would have interfered with the ear. [PLATE CXIV., Fig. 2.] In +later times there was a good deal of variety in the details; but the +drop and the cross were always favorite features. + +When the monarch went out to the hunt or to the battle, he laid aside +such ornaments as encumbered him, reserving however his earrings, +bracelets, and armlets, and then, stripping off his upper dress or +chasuble, appeared in the under robe which has been already described. +This robe was confined at the waist by a broad cincture or girdle, +outside of which was worn a narrowish belt wherein daggers were often +thrust. In early times this cincture seems to have been fastened by a +ribbon with long streaming ends, which are very conspicuous in the +Nimrud sculptures. At the same period the monarch often wore, when he +hunted or went out to battle, a garment which might have been called an +apron, if it had not been worn behind instead of in front. This was +generally patterned and fringed very richly, besides being ornamented +with one or more long pendent tassels. [PLATE CXIV., Fig. 4.] + +The sacerdotal dress of the king, or that which he commonly wore when +engaged in the rites of his religion, differed considerably from his +ordinary costume. His inner garment, indeed, seems to have been the +usual long gown with a fringe descending to the ankles; but this was +almost entirely concealed under an ample outer robe, which was closely +wrapped round the form and kept in place by a girdle. A deep fringe, +arranged in two rows, one above the other, and carried round the robe in +curved sweeps at an angle with the horizontal line, is the most striking +feature of this dress, which is also remarkable for the manner in which +it confines and conceals the left arm, while the right is left free and +exposed to view. A representation of a king thus apparelled will be +found in an earlier part of this work, taken from a statue now in the +British Museum. It is peculiar in having the head uncovered, and in the +form of the implement borne in the right hand. It is also incomplete as +a representation, from the fact that all the front of the breast is +occupied by an inscription. Other examples show that the tiara was +commonly worn as a part of the sacerdotal costume; that the sacred +collar adorned the breast, necklaces the neck, and bracelets the two +arms; while in the belt, which was generally to some extent knotted, +were borne two or three daggers. The mace seems to have been a necessary +appendage to the costume, and was always grasped just below its head by +the left hand. + +We have but one representation of an Assyrian queen. Despite the +well-known stories of Semiramis and her manifold exploits, it would seem +that the Assyrians secluded their females with as rigid and watchful a +jealousy as modern Turks or Persians. The care taken with respect to the +direction of the passages in the royal hareem has been noticed already. +It is quite in accordance with the spirit thus indicated, and with the +general tenor of Oriental habits, that neither in inscriptions nor in +sculptured representations do the Assyrians allow their women to make +more than a most rare and occasional appearance. Fortunately for us, +their jealousy was sometimes relaxed to a certain extent; and in one +scene, recovered from the _debris_ of an Assyrian palace we are enabled +to contemplate at once the domestic life of the monarch and the attire +and even the features of his consort. + +It appears that in the private apartments, while the king, like the +Romans and the modern Orientals, reclined upon a couch leaning his +weight partly upon his left elbow, and having his right arm free and +disposable, her majesty the queen sat in a chair of state by the couch's +side, near its foot, and facing her lord. [PLATE CXV., Fig. 1.] Two +eunuchs provided with large fans were in attendance upon the monarch, +and the same number waited upon the queen, standing behind her chair. +Her majesty, whose hair was arranged nearly like that of her royal +consort, wore upon her head a band or fillet having something of the +appearance of a crown of towers, such as encircles the brow of Cybele on +Greek coins and statues. Her dress was a long-sleeved gown reaching from +the neck to the feet, flounced and trimmed at the bottom in an elaborate +way, and elsewhere patterned with rosettes, over which she wore a +fringed tunic or frock descending half-way between the knees and the +feet. [PLATE CXV., Fig. 3.] In addition to these two garments, she wore +upon her back and shoulders a light cloak or cape, patterned (like the +rest of her dress) with rosettes and edged with a deep fringe. Her feet +were encased in shoes of a clumsy make, also patterned. Her ornaments, +besides the crown upon her head, were earrings, a necklace, and +bracelets. Her hair was cushioned, and adorned with a drapery which hung +over the back. Her feet rested on a handsome footstool, also cushioned. + +On the slab from which this description is taken the royal pair seem to +be refreshing themselves with wine. Each supports on the thumb and +fingers of the right hand a saucer or shallow drinking-cup, probably of +some precious metal, which they raise to their lips simultaneously, as +if they were pledging one another. The scene of the entertainment is the +palace garden; for trees grow on either side of the main figures, while +over their heads, a vine hangs its festoons and its rich clusters. By +the side of the royal couch, and in front of the queen, is a table +covered with a table-cloth, on which are a small box or casket, a +species of shallow bowl which may have held incense or perfume of some +kind, and a third article frequently seen in close proximity to the +king, but of whose use it is impossible to form a conjecture. At the +couch's head stands another curious article, a sort of tall vase +surmounted by a sugarloaf, which probably represents an altar. The king +bears in his left hand the lotus or sacred flower, while the queen holds +in hers what looks like a modern fan. All the lower part of the +monarch's person is concealed beneath a coverlet, which is plain, except +that it has tassels at the corners and an embroidered border. + +The officers in close attendance upon the monarch varied according to +his employment. In war he was accompanied by his charioteer, his +shield-bearer or shield-bearers, his groom, his quiver-bearer, his +mace-bearer, and sometimes by his parasol-bearer. In peace the +parasol-bearer is always represented as in attendance, except in hunting +expeditions, or where he is replaced by a fan-bearer. The parasol, which +exactly resembled that still in use throughout the East, was reserved +exclusively for the monarch. [PLATE CXVI., Fig. 1.] It had a tall and +thick pole, which the bearer grasped with both his hands, and in the +early times a somewhat small circular top. Under the later kings the +size of the head was considerably enlarged; and, at the same time, a +curtain or flap was attached, which, falling from the edge of the +parasol, more effectually protected the monarch from the sun's rays. The +head of the parasol was fringed with tassels, and the upper extremity of +the pole commonly terminated in a flower or other ornament. In the later +time both the head and the curtain which depended from it were richly +patterned. If we may trust the remains of color upon the Khorsabad +sculptures, the tints preferred were red and white, which alternated in +bands upon the parasol as upon the royal tiara. + +There was nothing very remarkable in the dress or quality of the royal +attendants. Except the groom, the charioteer, and the shield-bearers, +they were in the early times almost invariably eunuchs; but the later +kings seem to have preferred eunuchs for the offices of parasol-bearer +and fan-bearer only. The dress of the eunuchs is most commonly a long +fringed gown, reaching from the neck to the feet, with very short +sleeves, and a broad belt or girdle confining the gown at the waist. +Sometimes they have a cross-belt also; and occasionally both this and +the girdle round the waist are richly fringed. The eunuchs commonly wear +earrings, and sometimes armlets and bracelets; in a few instances they +have their necks adorned with necklaces, and their long dresses +elaborately patterned. Their heads are either bare, or at most encircled +with a fillet. + +[Illustration: PLATE 115] + +A peculiar physiognomy is assigned to this class of persons--the +forehead low, the nose small and rounded, the lips full, the chin large +and double, the cheeks bloated. [PLATE CXV., Fig. 2.] They are generally +represented as shorter and stouter than the other Assyrians. Though +placed in confidential situations about the person of the monarch, they +seem not to have held very high or important offices. The royal Vizier +is never a eunuch, and eunuchs are rarely seen among the soldiers; they +are scribes, cooks, musicians, perhaps priests; as they are +grooms-in-waiting, huntsmen, parasol-bearers, and fan-bearers; but it +cannot be said with truth that they had the same power in Assyria which +they have commonly possessed in the more degraded of the Oriental +monarchies. It is perhaps a sound interpretation of the name Rabsaris in +Scripture to understand it as titular, not appellative, and to translate +it "the Chief Eunuch" or "the Master of the Eunuchs;" and if so, we have +an instance of the employment by one Assyrian king of a person of this +class on an embassy to a petty sovereign: but the sculptures are far +from bearing out the notion that eunuchs held the same high position in +the Assyrian court as they have since held generally in the East, where +they have not only continually filled the highest offices of state, but +have even attained to sovereign power. On the contrary, their special +charge seems rather to have been the menial offices about the person of +the monarch, which imply confidence in the fidelity of those to whom +they are entrusted, but not submission to their influence in the conduct +of state affairs. And it is worthy of notice that, instead of becoming +more influential as time went on, they appear to have become less so; in +the later sculptures the royal attendants are far less generally eunuchs +than in the earlier ones; and the difference is most marked in the more +important offices. + +[Illustration: PLATE 116] + +It is not quite certain that the Chief Eunuch is represented upon the +sculptures. Perhaps we may recognize him in an attendant, who commonly +bears a fan, but whose special badge of office is a long fringed scarf +or band, which hangs down below his middle both before him and behind +him, being passed over the left shoulder. [PLATE CXVI., Fig. 2.] This +officer appears, in one bas-relief, alone in front of the king; in +another, he stands on the right hand of the Vizier, level with him, +facing the king as he drinks; in a third, he receives prisoners after a +battle; while in another part of the same sculpture he is in the king's +camp preparing the table for his master's supper. There is always a good +deal of ornamentation about his dress, which otherwise nearly resembles +that of the inferior royal attendants, consisting of a long fringed gown +or robe, a girdle fringed or plain, a cross-belt generally fringed, and +the scarf already described. His head and feet are generally bare, +though sometimes the latter are protected by sandals. He is found only +upon the sculptures of the early period. + +Among the officers who have free access to the royal person, there is +one who stands out with such marked prominence from the rest that he has +been properly recognized as the Grand Vizier or prime minister at once +the chief counsellor of the monarch, and the man whose special business +it was to signify and execute his will. The dress of the Grand Vizier is +more rich than that of any other person except the monarch; and there +are certain portions of his apparel which he and the king have alone the +privilege of wearing. These are, principally, the tasselled apron and +the fringed band depending from the fillet, the former of which is found +in the early period only, while the latter belongs to no particular +time, but throughout the whole series of sculptures is the distinctive +mark of royal or quasi-royal authority. To these two may be added the +long ribbon or scarf, with double streamers at the ends, which depended +from, and perhaps fastened, the belt--a royal ornament worn also by the +Vizier in at least one representation. [PLATE CXVI., Fig. 3.] + +The chief garment of the Vizier is always a long fringed robe, reaching +from the neck to the feet. This is generally trimmed with embroidery at +the top, round the sleeves, and round the bottom. It is either seen to +be confined by a broad belt round the waist, or else is covered from the +waist to the knees by two falls of a heavy and deep fringe. In this +latter case, a broad cross-belt is worn over the left shoulder, and the +upper fall of fringe hangs from the cross-belt. A fillet is worn upon +the head, which is often highly ornamented. The feet are sometimes bare, +but more often are protected by sandals, or (as in the accompanying +representation) by embroidered shoes. Earrings adorn the ears; +bracelets, sometimes accompanied by armlets, the arms. A sword is +generally worn at the left side. + +The Vizier is ordinarily represented in one of two attitudes. Either he +stands with his two hands joined in front of him, the right hand in the +left, and the fingers not clasped, but left loose--the ordinary attitude +of passive and respectful attention, in which officers who carry nothing +await the orders of the king,--or he has the right arm raised, the elbow +bent, and the right hand brought to a level with his month, while the +left hand rests upon the hilt of the sword worn at his left side. [PLATE +CXVII., Fig. 1.] In this latter case it may be presumed that we have the +attitude of conversation, as in the former we have that of attentive +listening. When the Vizier assumes this energetic posture he is commonly +either introducing prisoners or bringing in spoil to the king. When he +is quiescent, he stands before the throne to receive the king's orders, +or witnesses the ceremony with which it was usual to conclude a +successful hunting expedition. + +The pre-eminent rank and dignity of this officer is shown, not only by +his participation in the insignia of royal authority, but also and very +clearly by the fact that, when he is present, no one ever intervenes +between him and the king. He has the undisputed right of precedence, so +that he is evidently the first subject of the crown, and he alone, is +seen addressing the monarch. He does not always accompany the king on +his military expeditions but when he attends them, he still maintains +his position, having a dignity greater than that of any general, and so +taking the entire direction of the prisoners and of the spoil. + +The royal fan-bearers were two in number. They were invariably eunuchs. +Their ordinary position was behind the monarch, on whom they attended +alike in the retirement of private life and in religious and civil +ceremonies. On some occasions, however, one of the two was privileged to +leave his station behind the king's chair or throne, and, advancing in +front, to perform certain functions before the face of his master. He +handed his master the sacred cup, and waited to receive it back, at the +same time diligently discharging the ordinary duties of his office by +keeping up a current of air and chasing away those plagues of the +East--the flies. The fan-bearer thus privileged wears always the long +tasselled scarf, which seems to have been a badge of office, and may not +improbably mark him for the chief Eunuch. In the absence of the Vizier, +or sometimes in subordination to him, he introduced the tribute-bearers +to the king, reading out their names and titles from a scroll or tablet +which he held in his left hand. [PLATE CXVII., Fig. 2.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 117] + +[Illustration: PLATE 118] + +The fan carried by these attendants seems in most instances to have been +made of feathers. It had a shortish handle, which was generally mere or +less ornamented, and frequently terminated in the head of a ram or other +animal. [PLATE CXVIII., Fig. 1.] The feathers were sometimes of great +length, and bent gracefully by their own weight, as they were pointed +slantingly towards the monarch. Occasionally a comparatively short fan +was used, and the feathers were replaced by a sort of brush, which may +have been made of horse-hair, or possibly of some vegetable fibre. + +The other attendants on the monarch require no special notice. With +regard to their number, however, it may be observed that, although the +sculptures generally do not represent them as very numerous, there is +reason to believe that they amounted to several hundreds. The enormous +size of the palaces can scarcely be otherwise accounted for: and in one +sculpture of an exceptional character, where the artist seems to have +aimed at representing his subject in full, we can count above seventy +attendants present with the monarch at one time. Of these less than +one-half are eunuch; and these wear the long robe with the fringed belt +and cross-belt. The other attendants wear in many cases the same +costume; sometimes, however, they are dressed in a tunic and greaves, +like the soldiers. + +There can be no doubt that the court ceremonial of the Assyrians was +stately and imposing. The monarch seems indeed not to have affected that +privacy and seclusion which forms a predominant feature of the +ceremonial observed in most Oriental monarchies. He showed himself very +freely to his subjects on many occasions. He superintended in person the +accomplishment of his great works. In war and in the chase he rode in an +open chariot, never using a litter, though litters were not unknown to +the Assyrians. In his expeditions he would often descend from his +chariot, and march or fight on foot like the meanest of his subjects. +But though thus familiarizing the multitude with his features and +appearance, he was far from allowing familiarity of address. Both in +peace and war he was attended by various officers of state, and no one +had speech of him except through them. It would even seem as if two +persons only were entitled to open a conversation with him--the Vizier +and the Chief Eunuch. When he received them, he generally placed himself +upon his throne, sitting, while they stood to address him. It is +strongly indicative of the haughty pride of these sovereigns that they +carried with them in their distant expeditions the cumbrous thrones +whereon they were wont to sit when they dispensed justice or received +homage. On these thrones they sat, in or near their fortified camps, +when the battle or the siege was ended, and thus sitting they received +in state the spoil and the prisoners. Behind them on such occasions were +the two fan-bearers, while near at hand were guards, scribes, grooms, +and other attendants. In their palace halls undoubtedly the ceremonial +used was stricter, grander, and more imposing. The sculptures, however, +furnish no direct evidence on this point, for there is nothing to mark +the scene of the great processional pieces. + +In the pseudo-history of Ctesias, the Assyrian kings were represented as +voluptuaries of the extremest kind, who passed their whole lives within +the palace, in the company of their concubines and their eunuchs, +indulging themselves in perpetual ease, pleasure, and luxury. We have +already seen how the warlike character of so many monarchs gives the lie +to these statements, so far as they tax the Assyrian kings with sloth +and idleness. It remains to examine the charge of over-addiction to +sensual delights, especially to those of the lowest and grossest +description. Now it is at least remarkable that, so far as we have any +real evidence, the Assyrian kings appear as monogamists. In the +inscription on the god Nebo, the artist dedicates his statue to his +"lord Vol-lush (?) and his _lady_, Sammuramit." In the solitary +sculptured representation of the private life of the king, he is seen in +the company of one female only. Even in the very narrative of Ctesias, +Ninus has but one wife, Semiramis; and Sardanapalus, notwithstanding his +many concubines, has but five children, three sons and two daughters. It +is not intended to press these arguments to an extreme, or to assume, on +the strength of them, that the Assyrian monarchs were really faithful to +one woman. They may have had--nay, it is probable that they had--a +certain number of concubines; but there is really not the least ground +for believing that they carried concubinage to an excess, or +over-stepped in this respect the practice of the best Eastern +sovereigns. At any rate they were not the voluptuaries which Ctesias +represented them. A considerable portion of their lives was passed in +the toils and dangers of war; and their peaceful hours, instead of being +devoted to sloth and luxury in the retirement of the palace, were +chiefly employed, as we shall presently see, in active and manly +exercises in the field, which involved much exertion and no small +personal peril. + +The favorite occupation of the king in peace was the chase of the lion. +In the early times he usually started on a hunting expedition in his +chariot, dressed as when he went out to war, and attended by his +charioteer, some swordsmen, and a groom holding a led horse. He carried +a bow and arrows, a sword, one or two daggers, and a spear, which last +stood in a rest made for it at the back of the chariot. Two quivers, +each containing an axe and an abundant supply of arrows, hung from the +chariot transversely across its right side, while a shield armed with +teeth was suspended behind. When a lion was found, the king pursued it +in his chariot, letting fly his arrows as he went, and especially +seeking to pierce the animal about the heart and head. Sometimes he +transfixed the beast with three or four shafts before it succumbed. +Occasionally the lion attacked him in his chariot, and was met with +spear and shield, or with a fresh arrow, according to the exigencies of +the moment, or the monarch's preference for one or the other weapon. On +rare occasions the monarch descended to the ground, and fought on foot. +He would then engage the lion in close combat with no other weapon but a +short sword, which he strove to plunge, and often plunged, into his +heart. [PLATE CXVIII., Fig. 2.] + +In the later time, though the chariot was still employed to some extent +in the lion-hunts, it appears to have been far more usual for the king +to enjoy the sport on foot. He carried a straight sword, which seems to +have been a formidable weapon; it was strong, very broad, and two feet +or a little more in length. Two attendants waited closely upon the +monarch, one of whom carried a bow and arrows, while the other was +commonly provided with one or two spears. From these attendants the king +took the bow or spear at pleasure, usually commencing the attack with +his arrows, and finally despatching the spent animal with sword or +spear, as he deemed best. Sometimes, but not very often, the spearman in +attendance carried also a shield, and held both spear and shield in +advance of his master to protect him from the animal's spring. Generally +the monarch faced the danger with no such protection, and received the +brute on his sword, or thrust him through with his pike. [PLATE CXVIII., +Fig. 3;] [PLATE CXIX., Fig. 1.] Perhaps the sculptures exaggerate the +danger which he affronted at such moments; but we can hardly suppose +that there was not a good deal of peril incurred in these hand-to-hand +contests. + +[Illustration: PLATE 119] + +Two modes of hunting the king of beasts were followed at this time. +Either he was sought in his native haunts, which were then, as now, the +reedy coverts by the side of the canals and great streams; or he was +procured beforehand, conveyed to the hunting-ground, and there turned +out before the hunters. In the former case the monarch took the field +accompanied by his huntsmen and beaters on horse and foot, these last +often holding dogs in leash, which, apparently, were used only to +discover and arouse the game, but were not slipped at it when started. +No doubt the hunt was sometimes entirely on the land, the monarch +accompanying his beaters along one or other of the two banks of a canal +or stream. But a different plan is known to have been adopted on some +occasions. Disposing his beaters to the right and left upon both banks, +the monarch with a small band of attendants would take ship, and, while +his huntsmen sought to start the game on either side, he would have +himself rowed along so as just to keep pace with them, and would find +his sport in attacking such lions as took the water. The monarch's place +on these occasions was the middle of the boat. Before him and behind him +were guards armed with spears, who were thus ready to protect their +master, whether the beast attacked him in front or rear. The monarch +used a round bow, like that commonly carried in war, and aimed either at +the heart or at the head. The spearmen presented their weapons at the +same time, while the sides of the boat were also sufficiently high above +the water to afford a considerable protection against the animal's +spring. An attendant immediately behind the monarch held additional +arrows ready for him; and after piercing the noble brute with three or +four of these weapons, the monarch had commonly the satisfaction of +seeing him sink down and expire. The carcass was then taken from the +water, the fore and hind legs were lashed together with string, and the +beast was suspended from the hinder part of the boat, where he hung over +the water just out of the sweep of the oars. + +At other times, when it was felt that the natural chase of the animal +might afford little or no sport, the Assyrians (as above stated) called +art to their assistance, and, having obtained a supply of lions from a +distance, brought them in traps or cages to the hunting-ground, and +there turned them out before the monarch. The walls of the cage was made +of thick spars of wood, with interstices between them, through which the +lion could both see and be seen: probably the top was entirely covered +with boards, and upon these was raised a sort of low hut or sentry-box, +just large enough to contain a man, who, when the proper moment arrived, +peeped forth from his concealment and cautiously raised the front of the +trap, which was a kind of drop-door working in a groove. [PLATE CXIX., +Fig. 2.] The trap being thus opened, the lion stole out, looking +somewhat ashamed of his confinement, but doubtless anxious to vent his +spleen on the first convenient object. The king, prepared for his +attack, saluted him, as he left his cage, with an arrow, and, as he +advanced, with others, which sometimes stretched him dead upon the +plain, sometimes merely disabled him, while now and then they only +goaded him to fury. In this case he would spring at the royal chariot, +clutch some part of it, and in his agony grind it between his teeth, or +endeavor to reach the inmates of the car from behind. If the king had +descended from the car to the plain, the infuriated beast might make his +spring at the royal person, in which case it must have required a stout +heart to stand unmoved, and aim a fresh arrow at a vital part while the +creature was in mid-air, especially if (as we sometimes see represented) +a second lion was following close upon the first, and would have to be +received within a few seconds. It would seem that the lions on some +occasions were not to be goaded into making an attack, but simply +endeavored to escape by flight. To prevent this, troops were drawn up in +a double line of spearmen and archers round the space within which the +lions were let loose, the large shields of the front or spearmen line +forming a sort of wall, and the spears a _chevaux de frise_, through +which it was almost impossible for the beasts to break. In front of the +soldiers, attendants held hounds in leashes, which either by their +baying and struggling frightened the animals back, or perhaps assisted +to despatch them. [PLATE CXIX., Fig. 3.] The king meanwhile plied his +bow, and covered the plain with carcasses, often striking a single beast +with five or six shafts. + +The number of lions destroyed at these royal _battues_ is very +surprising. In one representation no fewer than eighteen are seen upon +the field, of which eleven are dead and five seriously wounded. The +introduction of trapped beasts would seem to imply that the game, which +under the earlier monarchs had been exceedingly abundant,--failed +comparatively under the later ones, who therefore imported it from a +distance. It is evident, however, that this scarcity was not allowed to +curtail the royal amusement. To gratify the monarch, hunters sought +remote and savage districts, where the beast was still plentiful, and, +trapping their prey, conveyed it many hundreds of miles to yield a +momentary pleasure to the royal sportsman. + +It is instructive to contrast with the boldness shown in the lion-hunts +of this remote period the feelings and conduct of the present +inhabitants of the region. The Arabs, by whom it is in the main +possessed, are a warlike race, accustomed from infancy to arms and +inured to combat. "Their hand is against every man, and every man's hand +is against them." Yet they tremble if a lion is but known to be near, +and can only with the utmost difficulty be persuaded by an European to +take any part in the chase of so dangerous an animal. + +The lioness, no less than the lion, appears as a beast of chase upon the +sculptures. It seems that in modern times she is quite as much feared as +her consort. Indeed, when she has laid up cubs, she is even thought to +be actually the more dangerous of the two. [PLATE CXX., Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 120] + +Next to the chase of the lion and lioness, the early Assyrian monarchs +delighted in that of the wild bull. It is not quite certain what exact +species of animal is sought to be expressed by the representations upon +the sculptures; but on the whole it is perhaps most probable that the +Aurochs or European bison (_Bos urus_ of naturalists) is the beast +intended. At any rate it was an animal of such strength and courage +that, according to the Assyrian belief, it ventured to contend with the +lion. [PLATE CXX., Fig. 2.] The Assyrian monarchs chased the wild bull +in their chariots without dogs, but with the assistance of horsemen, who +turned the animals when they fled, and brought them within the monarch's +reach. [PLATE CXX., Fig. 3.] The king then aimed his arrows at them, +and the attendant horsemen, who were provided with bows, seem to have +been permitted to do the same. The bull seldom fell until he had +received a number of wounds; and we sometimes see as many as five arrows +still fixed in the body of one that has succumbed. It would seem that +the bull, when pushed, would, like the lion, make a rush at the king's +chariot, in which case the monarch seized him by one of the horns and +gave him the _coup de grace_ with his sword. + +The special zest with which this animal was pursued may have arisen in +part from its scarcity. The Aurochs is wild and shy; it dislikes the +neighborhood of man, and has retired before him till it is now found +only in the forests of Lithuania, Carpathia, and the Caucasus. It seems +nearly certain that, in the time of the later kings, the species of wild +cattle previously limited, whatever it was, had disappeared from Assyria +altogether; at least this is the only probable account that can be given +of its non-occurrence in the later sculptures, more especially in those +of Asshur-bani-pal, the son of Esarhaddon, which seem intended to +represent the chase under every aspect known at the time. We might +therefore presume it to have been, even in the early period, already a +somewhat rare animal. And so we find in the Inscriptions that the +animal, or animals, which appear to represent wild cattle, were only met +with in outlying districts of the empire--on the borders of Syria and in +the country about Harrah; and then in such small numbers as to imply +that even there they were not very abundant. + +When the chase of the nobler animals--the lion and the wild bull--had +been conducted to a successful issue, the hunters returned in a grand +procession to the capital, carrying with then as trophies of their +prowess the bodies of the slain. These were borne aloft on the shoulders +of men, three or four being required to carry each beast. Having been +brought to an appointed spot, they were arranged side by side upon the +ground, the heads of all pointing the same way; and the monarch, +attended by several of his principal officers, as the Vizier, the Chief +Eunuch, the fan-bearers, the bow and mace bearers, and also by a number +of musicians, came to the place, and solemnly poured a libation over the +prostrate forms, first how-ever (as it would seem) raising the cup to +his own lips. It is probable that this ceremony had to some extent a +religious character. The Assyrian monarchs commonly ascribe the success +of their hunting expeditions to the gods Nin (or Ninip) and Nergal; and +we may well understand that a triumphant return would be accompanied by +a thank-offering to the great protectors under whose auspices success +had been achieved. [PLATE CXX., Fig. 4.] + +Besides the wild bull and the lion, the Assyrians are known to have +hunted the following animals: the onager or wild ass, the stag, the ibex +or wild goat, the gazelle, and the hare. + +The chase of the wild ass was conducted in various ways. The animal was +most commonly pursued with dogs. The large and powerful hounds of the +Assyrians, of which a certain use was made even in the chase of the +lion, have been already noticed; but it may be desirable in this place +to give a fuller account of them. They were of a type approaching to +that of our mastiff, being smooth haired, strong limbed, with a somewhat +heavy head and neck, small pointed but drooping ears, and a long tail, +which was bushy and a little inclined to curl. They seem to have been +very broad across the chest, and altogether better developed as to their +fore than as to their hind parts, though even their hind legs were +tolerably strong and sinewy. They must have been exceedingly bold, if +they really faced the hunted lion; and their pace must have been +considerable, if they were found of service in chasing the wild ass. + +[Illustration: PLATE 121] + +The hunters are represented as finding the wild asses in herds, among +which are seen a certain number of foals. The King and his chief +attendants pursue the game on horseback, armed with bows and arrows, and +discharging their arrows as they go. Hounds also--not now held in leash, +but free--join in the hunt, pressing on the game, and generally singling +out some one individual from the herd, either a young colt or sometimes +a full-grown animal. [PLATE CXXI., Fig. 1.] The horsemen occasionally +brought down the asses with their shafts. [PLATE CXXI.. Fig. 2.] When +their archery failed of success, the chase depended on the hounds, which +are represented as running even the full-grown animal to a stand, and +then worrying him till the hunters came up to give the last blow. +Considering the speed of the full-grown wild ass, which is now regarded +as almost impossible to take, we may perhaps conclude that the animals +thus run down by the hounds were such as the hunters had previously +wounded; for it can scarcely be supposed that such heavily-made dogs as +the Assyrian could really have caught an unwounded and full-grown wild +ass. [PLATE CXXI., Fig. 3.] + +Instead of shooting the wild ass, or hunting him to the death with +hounds, an endeavor was sometimes made to take him alive. [PLATE CXXI., +Fig. 4] A species of noose seems to have been made by means of two ropes +interlaced, which were passed--how, we cannot say--round the neck of the +animal, and held him in such a way that all his struggles to release +himself were vain. This mode of capture recalls the use of the lasso by +the South Americans and the employment of nooses by various nations, not +merely in hunting, but in warfare. It is doubtful, however, if the +Assyrian practice approached at all closely to any of these. The noose, +if it may be so called, was of a very peculiar kind. It was not formed +by means of a slip-knot at the end of a single cord, but resulted from +the interlacing of two ropes one with the other. There is great +difficulty in understanding how the ropes were got into their position. +Certainly no single throw could have placed then, round the neck of the +animal in the manner represented, nor could the capture have been +effected, according to all appearance, by a single hunter. Two persons, +at least, must have been required to combine their efforts--one before +and one behind the creature which it was designed to capture. + +[Illustration: PLATE 122] + +Deer, which have always abounded in Assyria were either hunted with +dogs, or driven by beaters into nets, or sometimes shot with arrows by +sportsmen. The illustration (PLATE CXXII., Fig. 1) represents a dog in +chase of a hind, and shows that the hounds which the Assyrians used for +this purpose were of the same breed as those employed in the hunt of the +lion and of the wild ass. In [PLATE CXXII., Fig. 2.] we have a stricken +stag, which may, perhaps, have been also hard pressed by hounds, in the +act of leaping from rocky ground into water. It is interesting to find +this habit of the stag, with which the modern English sportsman is so +familiar, not merely existing in Assyria, but noticed by Assyrian +sculptors, at the distance of more than twenty-five centuries from our +own time. + +When deer were to be taken by nets, the sportsman began by setting in an +upright position, with the help of numerous poles and pegs, a long, low +net, like the [dikrvov] of the Greeks. [PLATE CXXII., Fig. 1.] This was +carried round in a curved line of considerable length, so as to enclose +an ample space on every side excepting one, which was left open for the +deer to enter. The meshes of the net were large and not very regular. +They were carefully secured by knots at all the angles. The net was +bordered both at top and at bottom by a rope of much greater strength +and thickness than that which formed the network; and this was fastened +to the ground at the two extremities by pegs of superior size. [PLATE +CXXIII., Fig. 2.] The general height of the net was about that of a man, +but the two ends were sloped gently to the ground. Beaters, probably +accompanied by dogs, roused the game in the coverts, which was then +driven by shouts and barkings towards the place where the net was set. +If it once entered within the two extremities of the net (_a b_, [PLATE +CXXIII., Fig. 1]), its destruction was certain; for the beaters, +following on its traces, occupied the space by which it had entered, and +the net itself was not sufficiently visible for the deer to rise at it +and clear it by a leap. + +[Illustration: PLATE 123] + +In the chase of the ibex or wild goat, horsemen were employed to +discover the animals, which are generally found in herds, and to drive +them towards the sportsman, who waited in ambush until the game appeared +within bowshot. [PLATE CXXIII., Fig. 3.] An arrow was then let fly at +the nearest or the choicest animal, which often fell at the first +discharge. [PLATE CXXIII., Fig. 4.] The sport was tame compared with +many other kinds, and was probably not much affected by the higher +orders. + +The chase of the gazelle is not shown on the sculptures. In modern times +they are taken by the grayhound and the falcon, separately or in +conjunction, the two being often trained to hunt together. They are +somewhat difficult to run down with dogs only, except immediately after +they have drunk water in hot weather. That the Assyrians sometimes +captured them, appears by a hunting scene which Mr. Layard discovered at +Khorsabad, where an attendant is represented carrying a gazelle on his +shoulders, and holding a hare in his right hand. [PLATE CXXIV., Fig. 1.] +As gazelles are very abundant both in the Sinjar country and in the +district between the Tigris and the Zagros range, we may suppose that +the Assyrians sometimes came upon them unawares, and transfixed them +with their arrows before they could make their escape. They may also +have taken them in nets, as they were accustomed to take deer; but we +have no evidence that they did so. + +[Illustration: PLATE 124] + +The hare is seen very commonly in the hands of those who attend upon the +huntsmen. It is always represented as very small in proportion to the +size of the men, whence we may perhaps conclude that the full-grown +animal was less esteemed than the leveret. As the huntsmen in these +representations have neither nets nor dogs, but seem to obtain their +game solely by the bow, we must presume that they were expert enough to +strike the hare as it ran. + +There is no difficulty in making such a supposition as this, since the +Assyrians have left us an evidence of their skill as marksmen which +implies even greater dexterity. The game which they principally sought +in the districts where they occasionally killed the hare and the gazelle +seems to have been the partridge; and this game they had to bring down +when upon the wing. We see the sportsmen in the sculptures aiming their +arrows at the birds as they mount into the air [PLATE CXXIV., Fig. 21,] +and in one instance we observe one of the birds in the act of falling to +the ground, transfixed by a well aimed shaft. Such skill is not uncommon +among savage hunting tribes, whose existence depends on the dexterity +with which they employ their weapons; but it is rarely that a people +which has passed out of this stage, and hunts for sport rather than +subsistence, retains its old expertness. + +Hunting the hare with dogs was probably not very common, as it is only +in a single instance that the Assyrian remains exhibit a trace of it. On +one of the bronze dishes discovered by Mr. Layard at Nimrud may be seen +a series of alternate dogs and hares, which shows that coursing was not +unknown to the Assyrians. [PLATE CXXIV., Fig. 3.] The dog is of a kind +not seen elsewhere in the remains of Assyrian art. The head bears a +resemblance to that of the wolf; but the form generally is that of a +coarse grayhound, the legs and neck long, the body slim, and the tail +curved at the end; offering thus a strong contrast to the ordinary +Assyrian hound, which has been already represented more than once. + +Nets may sometimes have been employed for the capture of small game, +such as hares and rabbits, since we occasionally see beaters or other +attendants carrying upon poles, which they hold over their shoulders, +nets of dimensions far too small for them to have been used in the +deer-hunts, with balls of string and pegs wherewith to extend them. +[PLATE CXXIV., Fig. 4.] The nets in this case are squared at the ends, +and seem to have been about eight or nine feet long, and less than a +foot in height. They have large meshes, and, like the deer nets, are +bordered both at top and bottom with a strong cord, to which the +net-work is attached. Like the classical [evodia], they were probably +placed across the runs of the animals, which, being baffled by then and +turned from their accustomed tracks, would grow bewildered, and fall an +easy prey to the hunters. Or, possibly, several of them may have been +joined together, and a considerable space may then have been enclosed, +within which the game may have been driven by the beaters. The ease of +these three weak and tinnier animals, the gazelle, the hare, and the +partridge, was not regarded as worthy of the monarch. When the king is +represented as present, he takes no part in it, but merely drives in his +chariot through the woods where the sportsmen are amusing themselves. +Persons, however, of a good position, as appears from their dress and +the number of their attendants, indulged in the sport, more especially +eunuchs, who were probably those of the royal household. It is not +unlikely that the special object was to supply the royal table with +game. + +[Illustration: PLATE 125] + +The Assyrians do not seem to have had much skill as fishermen. They +were unacquainted with the rod, and fished by means of a simple line +thrown into the water, one end of which was held in the hand. [PLATE +CXXV., Figs. 1, 2.] No float was used, and the bait must consequently +have sunk to the bottom, unless prevented from so doing by the force of +the stream. This method of fishing was likewise known and practised in +Egypt, where, however, it was far more common to angle with a rod. +Though Assyrian fish-hooks have not been found, there can be no doubt +that that invention was one with which they were acquainted, as were +both the Egyptians and the early Chaldaeans. + +Fishing was carried on both in rivers and in stews or ponds. The angler +sometimes stood or squatted upon the bank; at other times, not content +with commanding the mere edge of the water, he plunged in, and is seen +mid-stream, astride upon an inflated skin, quietly pursuing his +avocation. [PLATE CXXVI., Fig. 1.] Occasionally he improved his position +by amounting upon a raft, and, seated at the stern, with his back to the +rower, threw out his line and drew the fish from the water. Now and then +the fisherman was provided with a plaited basket, made of rushes or +flags, which was fastened round his neck with a string, and hung at his +back, ready to receive the produce of his exertions. + +[Illustration: PLATE 126] + +It does not appear that angling was practised by the Assyrians the way +that the monuments show it to have been practised in Egypt, as an +amusement of the rich. The fishermen are always poorly clothed, and seem +to have belonged to the class which worked for its living. It is +remarkable that do not anywhere in the sculptures see nets used for +fishing; but perhaps we ought not to conclude from this that they were +never so employed in Assyria. The Assyrian sculptors represented only +occasionally the scenes of common everyday life; and we are seldom +justified in drawing a negative conclusion as to the peaceful habits of +the people on any point from the mere fact that the bas-reliefs contain +no positive evidence on the subject. + +A few other animals were probably, but not certainly, chased by the +Assyrians, as especially the ostrich and the bear. The gigantic bird, +which remained in Mesopotamia as late as the time of Xenophon, was well +known to the Assyrian artists, who could scarcely have represented it +with so much success, unless its habits had been described by hunters. +The bear is much less frequent upon the remains than the ostrich; but +its occurrence and the truthfulness of its delineation where it occurs, +indicate a familiarity which may no doubt be due to other causes, but is +probably traceable to the intimate knowledge acquired by those who +hunted it. [PLATE CXXVI., Fig. 2.] + +Of the other amusements and occupations of the Assyrians our knowledge +is comparatively scanty; but some pages may be here devoted to their +music, their navigation, their commerce, and their agriculture. On the +first and second of these a good deal of light is thrown by the +monuments, while some interesting facts with respect to the third and +fourth may be gathered both from this source and also from ancient +writers. + +That the Babylonians, the neighbors of the Assyrians, and, in a certain +sense, the inheritors of their empire, had a passion for music, and +delighted in a great variety of musical instruments, has long been known +and admitted. The repeated mention by Daniel, in his third chapter, of +the cornet, flute, harp sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of +music--or, at any rate, of a number of instruments for which those terms +were once thought the best English equivalents--has familiarized us with +the fact that in Babylonia, as early as the sixth century B.C., musical +instruments of many different kinds were in use. It is also apparent +from the book of Psalms, that a variety of instruments were employed by +the Jews. And we know that in Egypt as many as thirteen or fourteen +different kinds were common. In Assyria, if there was not so much +variety as this, there were at any rate eight or nine quite different +sorts, some stringed, some wind, some merely instruments of percussion. +In the early sculptures, indeed, only two or three musical instruments +are represented. One is a kind of harp, held between the left arm and +the side, and played with one hand by means of a quill or _plectrum_. +[PLATE CXXVI., Fig. 3.] Another is a lyre, played by the hand; while a +third is apparently cymbal. But in the later times we see besides these +instruments--a harp of a different make played with both hands, two or +three kinds of lyre, the double pipe, the guitar or cithern, the +tambourine, a nameless instrument, and more than one kind of drum. + +The harp of the early ages was a triangular instrument, consisting of a +horizontal board which seems to have been about three feet in length, an +upright bar inserted into one end of the board, commonly surmounted by +an imitation of the human hand, and a number of strings which crossed +diagonally from the board to the bar, and, passing through the latter, +hung down some way, terminating in tassels of no great size. The strings +were eight, nine, or ten in number, and (apparently) were made fast to +the board, but could be tightened or relaxed by means of a row of pegs +inserted into the upright bar, round which the strings were probably +wound. No difference is apparent in the thickness of the strings; and it +would seem therefore that variety of tone was produced solely by +difference of length. It is thought that this instrument must have been +suspended round the player's neck. It was carried at the left side, and +was played (as already observed) with a quill or electrum held in the +right hand, while the left hand seems to have been employed in pressing +the strings so as to modify the tone, or stop the vibrations, of the +notes. The performers on this kind of harp, and indeed all other +Assyrian musicians, are universally represented as standing while they +play. + +The harp of later times was constructed, held, and played differently. +It was still triangular, or nearly so; but the frame now consisted of a +rounded and evidently hollow, sounding-board, to which the strings were +attached with the help of pegs, and a plain bar whereto they were made +fast below, and from which their ends depended like a fringe. The number +of strings was greater than in the earlier harp, being sometimes as many +as seventeen. The instrument was carried in such a way that the strings +were perpendicular and the bar horizontal, while the sounding-board +projected forwards at an angle above the player's head. It was played by +the naked hand, without a plectrum; and both hands seem to have found +their employment in pulling the strings. [PLATE CXXVII., Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 127] + +Three varieties of the lyre are seen in the Assyrian sculptures. One of +them is triangular, or nearly so, and has only four strings, which, +being carried from one side of the triangle to the other, parallel to +the base, are necessarily of very unequal length. Its frame is +apparently of wood, very simple, and entirely devoid of ornament. This +sort of lyre has been found only in the latest sculptures. [PLATE +CXXVI., Fig. 4.] + +Another variety nearly resembles in its general shape the lyre of the +Egyptians. It has a large square bottom or sounding-board, which is +held, like the Egyptian, under the left elbow, two straight arms only +slightly diverging, and a plain cross-bar at top. The number of strings +visible in the least imperfect representation is eight; but judging by +the width of the instrument, we may fairly assume that the full +complement was nine or ten. The strings run from the cross-bar to the +sounding-board, and must have been of a uniform length. This lyre was +played by both hands, and for greater security was attached by a band +passing round the player's neck. [PLATE CXXVII., Fig. 2.] + +The third sort of lyre was larger than either of the others, and +considerably more elaborate. It had probably a sounding-board at bottom, +like the lyre just described, though this, being carried under the left +elbow, is concealed in the representations. Hence there branched out two +curved arms, more or less ornamented, which were of very unequal length; +and these were joined together by a cross-bar, also curved, and +projecting considerably beyond the end of the longer of the two arms. +Owing to the inequality of the arms, the cross-bar sloped at an angle to +the base, and the strings, which passed from the one to the other, +consequently differed in length. The number of the strings in this lyre +seems to have been either five or seven. [PLATE CXXVIII., Figs. 2, 3.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 128] + +The Assyrian guitar is remarkable for the small size of the hollow body +or sounding-board, and the great proportionate length of the neck or +handle. There is nothing to show what was the number of the strings, nor +whether they were stretched by pegs and elevated by means of a bridge. +Both hands seen to be employed in playing the instrument, which is held +across the chest in a sloping direction, and was probably kept in place +by a ribbon or strap passed round the neck. [PLATE CXXVIII., Fig. 1.] + +It is curious that in the Assyrian remains, while the double pipe is +common, we find no instance at all either of the flute or of the single +pipe. All three were employed in Egypt, and occur on the monuments of +that country frequently; and though among the Greeks and Romans the +double pipe was more common than the single one, yet the single pipe was +well known, and its employment was not unusual. The Greeks regarded the +pipe as altogether Asiatic, and ascribed its invention to Marsyas the +Phrygian, or to Olympus, his disciple. We may conclude from this that +they at any rate learnt the invention from Asia; and in their decided +preference of the double over the single pipe we may not improbably have +a trace of the influence which Assyria exercised over Asiatic, and thus +even over Greek, music. [PLATE CXXVIII., Fig. 1.] + +The Assyrian double pipe was short, probably not exceeding ten or twelve +inches in length. It is uncertain whether it was really a single +instrument consisting of two tubes united by a common mouthpiece, or +whether it was not composed of two quite separate pipes, as was the case +with the double pipes of the Greeks and Romans. + +The two pipes constituting a pair seem in Assyria to have been always of +the same length, not, like the Roman "right" and "left pipes," of +unequal length, and so of different pitches. They were held and played, +like the classical one, with either hand of the performer. There can be +little doubt that they were in reality quite straight, though sometimes +they have been awkwardly represented as crooked by the artist. + +The tambourine of the Assyrian was round, like that in common use at the +present day; not square, like the ordinary Egyptian. It seems to have +consisted simply of a skin stretched on a circular frame, and to have +been destitute altogether of the metal rings or balls which produce the +jingling sound of the modern instrument. It was held at bottom by the +left hand in a perpendicular position, and was struck at the side with +the fingers of the right. [PLATE CXXIX., Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 129] + +Assyrian cymbals closely resembled those in common use throughout the +East at the present day. They consisted of two hemispheres of metal, +probably of bronze, running off to a point, which was elongated into a +bar or handle. The player grasped a cymbal in each hand, and either +clashed theme together horizontally, or else, holding one cupwise in his +left, brought the other down upon it perpendicularly with his right. +[PLATE CXXX., Fig. 1.] + +Two drums are represented on the Assyrian sculptures. + +One is a small instrument resembling the _tubbul_, now frequently used +by Eastern dancing girls. The other is of larger size, like the _tubbul_ +at top, but descending gradually in the shape of an inverted cone, and +terminating almost in a point at bottom. Both were carried in front, +against the stomach of the player--attached, apparently, to his girdle; +and both were played in the same way, namely, with the fingers of the +open hands on the top. [PLATE CXXX., Fig. 2.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 130] + +A few instruments carried by musicians are of an anomalous appearance, +and do not admit of identification with any known species. One, which is +borne by a musician in a processional scene belonging to the time of +Sennacherib, resembles in shape a bag turned upside-down. By the manner +in which it is held, we may conjecture that it was a sort of rattle--a +hollow square box of wood or metal, containing stones or other hard +substances which produced a jingling noise when shaken. But the purpose +of the semicircular bow which hangs from the box is difficult to +explain, unless we suppose that it was merely a handle by which to carry +the instrument when not in use. Rattles of different kinds are found +among the musical instruments of Egypt; and one of them consists of a +box with a long handle attached to it. The jingling noise produced by +such instruments may have corresponded to the sound now emitted by the +side-rings of the tambourine. + +Another curious-looking instrument occurs in a processional scene of the +time of Asshur-bani-pal, which has been compared to the modern +_santour_, a sort of dulcimer. It consisted (apparently) of a number of +strings, certainly not fewer than ten stretched over a hollow case or +sounding-board. The musician seems to have struck the strings with a +small bar or hammer held in his right hand, while at the same time he +made some use of his left hand in pressing them so as to produce the +right note. It is clear that this instrument must have been suspended +round the neck, though the Assyrian artist has omitted to represent the +belt which kept it in place. [PLATE CXXIX., Fig. 2.] + +In addition to all these various instruments, it is possible that the +Assyrians may have made use of a sort of horn. An object is represented +on a slab of Sennacherib's which is certainly either a horn or a +speaking-trumpet. It is carried by one of the supervisors of the works +in a scene representing the conveyance of a colossal bull to its +destination. In shape it no doubt resembles the modern speaking-trumpet, +but it is almost equally near to the tuba or military trumpet of the +Greeks and Romans. This will appear sufficiently on a comparison of the +two representations, one of which is taken from Mr. Layard's +representation of Sennacherib's slab, while the other is from a +sculpture on the column of Trajan. As we have no mention of the +speaking-trumpet in any ancient writer, as the shape of the object under +consideration is that of a known ancient instrument of music, and as an +ordinary horn would have been of great use in giving signals to workmen +engaged as the laborers are upon the sculpture, it seems best to regard +the object in question as such a horn--an instrument of great power, but +of little compass--more suitable therefore for signal-giving than for +concerts. [PLATE CXXX., Fig. 3.] + +Passing now from the instruments of the Assyrians to the general +features and character of their music, we may observe, in the first +place, that while it is fair to suppose them acquainted with each form +of the triple symphony, there is only evidence that they knew of two +forms out of the three--viz, the harmony of instruments, and that of +instruments and voices in combination. Of these two they seem greatly to +have preferred the concert of instruments without voices; indeed, one +instance alone shows that they were not wholly ignorant of the more +complex harmony. Even this leaves it doubtful whether they themselves +practised it: for the singers and musicians represented as uniting their +efforts are not Assyrians, but Susianians, who come out to greet their +conquerors, and do honor to the new sovereign who has been imposed on +them, with singing, playing, and dancing. + +Assyrian bands were variously composed. The simplest consisted of two +harpers. A band of this limited number seems to have been an established +part of the religious ceremonial on the return of the monarch from the +chase, when a libation was poured over the dead game. The instrument in +use on these occasions was the antique harp, which was played, not with +the hand, but with the _plectrum_. A similar band appears on one +occasion in a triumphal return from a military expedition belonging to +the time of Sennacherib. [PLATE CXXI.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 131] + +In several instances we find bands of three musicians. In one case all +three play the lyre. The musicians here are certainly captives, whom the +Assyrians have borne off front their own country. It has been thought +that their physiognomy is Jewish, and that the lyre which they bear in +their hands may represent that "kind of harp" which the children of the +later captivity hung up upon the willows when they wept by the rivers of +Babylon. There are no sufficient grounds, however, for this +identification. The lyre may be pronounced foreign, since it is unlike +any other specimen; but its ornamentation with an animal head is +sufficient to show that it is not Jewish. And the Jewish _kinnor_ was +rather a harp than a lyre, and had certainly more than four strings. +Still, the employment of captives as musicians is interesting, though we +cannot say that the captives are Jews. It shows us that the Assyrians, +like the later Babylonians, were in the habit of "requiring" music from +their prisoners, who, when transported into a "strange land," had to +entertain their masters with their native melodies. + +Another band of three exhibits to us a harper, a player on the lyre, and +a player on the double pipe. A third shows a harper, a player on the +lyre, and a musician whose instrument is uncertain. In this latter case +it is quite possible that there may originally have been more musicians +than three, for the sculpture is imperfect, terminating in the middle of +a figure. + +Bands of four performers are about as common as bands of three. On an +obelisk belonging to the time of Asshur-izir-pal we see a band composed +of two cymbal-players and two performers on the lyre. A slab of +Sennacherib's exhibits four harpers arranged in two pairs, all playing +with the _plectrum_ on the antique harp. Another of the same date, which +is incomplete, shows us a tambourine-player, a cymbal-player, a player +on the nondescript instrument which has been called a sort of rattle, +and another whose instrument cannot be distinguished. In a sculpture of +a later period, which is represented above, we see a band of four, +composed of a tambourine-player, two players on two different sorts of +lyres, and a cymbal-player. + +It is not often that we find representations of bands containing more +than four performers. On the sculptures hitherto discovered there seem +to be only three instances where this number was exceeded. A bas-relief +of Sennacherib's showed five players, of whom two had tambourines; two, +harps of the antique pattern; and one, cymbals. Another, belonging to +the time of his grandson, exhibited a band of seven, three of whom +played upon harps of the later fashion, two on the double pipe, one on +the guitar, and one on the long drum with the conical bottom. Finally, +we have the remarkable scene represented in the illustration, a work of +the sane date, where no fewer than twenty-six performers are seen +uniting their efforts. Of these, eleven are players on instruments, +while the remaining fifteen are vocalists. The instruments consist of +seven harps, two double pipes, a small drum or tubbel, and the curious +instrument which has been compared to the modern _santour_. The players +are all men, six out of the eleven being eunuchs. The singers consist of +six women and nine children of various ages, the latter of whom seem to +accompany their singing, as the Hebrews and Egyptians sometimes did, +with clapping of the hands. Three out of the first four musicians are +represented with one leg raised, as if dancing to the measure. [PLATE +CXXXII., Fig. I.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 132] + +Bands in Assyria had sometimes, though not always, time-keepers or +leaders, who took the direction of the performance. These were commonly +eunuchs, as indeed were the greater number of the musicians. They held +in one hand a double rod or wand, with which most probably they made +their signals, and stood side by side facing the performers. [PLATE +CXXXII., Fig. 2.] + +The Assyrians seem to have employed music chiefly for festive and +religious purposes. The favorite instrument in the religious ceremonies +was the antique harp, which continued in use as a sacred instrument from +the earliest to the latest times. On festive occasions the lyre was +preferred, or a mixed band with a variety of instruments. In the quiet +of domestic life the monarch and his sultana were entertained with +concerted music played by a large number of performers: while in +processions and pageants, whether of a civil or of a military character, +bands were also very generally employed, consisting of two, three, four, +five, or possibly more, musicians. Cymbals, the tambourine, and the +instrument which has been above regarded as a sort of rattle, were +peculiar to these processional occasions: the harp, the lyre, and the +double pipe had likewise a place in them. + +In actual war, it would appear that music was employed very sparingly, +if at all, by the Assyrians. No musicians are ever represented in the +battle-scenes: nor are the troops accompanied by any when upon the +march. Musicians are only seen conjoined with troops in one or two +marching processions, apparently of a triumphal character. It may +consequently be doubted whether the Assyrian armies, when they went out +on their expeditions, were attended, like the Egyptian and Roman armies, +by military bands. Possibly, the musicians in the processional scenes +alluded to belong to the court rather than to the camp, and merely take +part as civilians in a pageant, wherein a share is also assigned to the +soldiery. + +In proceeding, as already proposed, to speak of the navigation of the +Assyrians, it must be at once premised that it is not as mariners, but +only as fresh-water sailors, that they come within the category of +navigators at all. Originally an inland people, they had no power, in +the earlier ages of their history, to engage in any but the secondary +and inferior kind of navigation; and it would seem that, by the time +when they succeeded in opening to themselves through their conquests a +way to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, their habits had become +so fixed in this respect that they no longer admitted of change. There +is satisfactory evidence which shows that they left the navigation of +the two seas at the two extremities of their empire to the subject +nations--the Phoenicians and the Babylonians contenting themselves with +the profits without sharing the dangers of marine voyages, while their +own attention was concentrated upon their two great rivers--the Tigris +and the Euphrates, which formed the natural line of communication +between the seas in question. + +The navigation of these streams was important to the Assyrians in two +ways. In the first place it was a military necessity that they should be +able, _readily and without delay_, to effect the passage of both of +them, and also of their tributaries, which were frequently too deep to +be forded. Now from very early times it was probably found tolerably +easy to pass an army over a great river by swimming, more especially +with the aid of inflated skins, which would be soon employed for the +purpose. But the _materiel_ of the army--the provisions, the chariots, +and the siege machines--was not so readily transported, and indeed could +only be conveyed across deep rivers by means of bridges, rafts, or +boats. On the great streams of the Tigris and Euphrates, with their +enormous spring floods, no bridge, in the ordinary sense of the word, is +possible. Bridges of boats are still the only ones that exist on either +river below the point at which they issue from the gorges of the +mountains. And these would be comparatively late inventions, long +subsequent to the employment of single ferry boats. Probably the +earliest contrivance for transporting the chariots, the stores, and the +engines across a river was a raft, composed hastily of the trees and +bushes growing in the neighborhood of the stream, and rendered capable +of sustaining a considerable weight by the attachment to it of a number +of inflated skins. A representation of such a raft, taken from a slab of +Sennacherib, has been already given. Rafts of this kind are still +largely employed in the navigation of the Mesopotamian streams, and, +being extremely simple in their construction, may reasonably be supposed +to have been employed by the Assyrians from the very foundation of their +empire. + +To these rafts would naturally have succeeded boats of one kind or +another. As early as the time of Tiglath-Pileser I. (ab. B.C. 1120) we +find a mention of boats as employed in the passage of the Euphrates. +These would probably be of the kind described by Herodotus, and +represented on one of the most ancient bas-reliefs--round structures +like the Welsh coracles, made of wickerwork and covered with skins, +smeared over with a coating of bitumen. Boats of this construction were +made of a considerable size. The one represented contains a chariot, and +is navigated by two men. [PLATE CXXXIII., Fig. 1.] In the later +sculptures the number of navigators is raised to four, and the boats +carry a heavy load of stone or other material. The mode of propulsion is +curious and very unusual. The rowers sit at the stem and stern, facing +each other, and while those at the stem pull, those at the stern must +have pushed, as Herodotus tells us that they did. The make of the oars +is also singular. In the earliest sculptures they are short poles, +terminating in a head, shaped like a small axe or hammer; in the later, +below this axe-like appendage, they have a sort of curved blade, which +is, however, not solid, but perforated, so as to form a mere framework, +which seems to require filling up. [PLATE CXXXIII., Fig. 3.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 133] + +Beside these round boats, which correspond closely with the _kufas_ in +use upon the Tigris and Euphrates at the present day, the Assyrians +employed for the passage of rivers, even in very early times, a vessel +of a more scientific construction. The early bas-reliefs exhibit to us, +together with the _kufas_, a second and much larger vessel, manned with +a crew of seven men--a helmsman and six rowers, three upon either side +and capable of conveying across a broad stream two chariots at a time, +or a chariot and two or three passengers. This vessel appears to have +been made of planks. It was long, and comparatively narrow. It had a +flattish bottom, and was rounded off towards the stem and stern, much as +boats are rounded off towards the bows at the present day. It did not +possess either mast or sail, but was propelled wholly by oars, which +were of the same shape as those used anciently by the rowers in the +round boats. In the steersman's hand is seen an oar of a different kind. +It is much longer than the rowing oars, and terminates in an oval blade, +which would have given it considerable power in the water. [PLATE +CXXXIII., Fig. 4.] The helmsman steered with both hands; and it seems +that his oar was lashed to an upright post near the stern of the vessel. + +It is evident that before armies could look habitually to being +transported across the Mesopotamian streams, wherever they might happen +to strike them in their expeditions, by boats of these two kinds, either +ferries must have been established at convenient intervals upon them, or +traffic along their courses by means of boats must have been pretty +regular. An Assyrian army did not carry its boats with it, as a modern +army does its pontoons. Boats were commonly found in sufficient numbers +on the streams themselves when an army needed them, and were impressed, +or hired, to convey the troops across. And thus we see that the actual +navigation of the streams had another object besides the military one of +transport from bank to bank. Rivers are Nature's roads; and we may be +sure that the country had not been long settled before a water +communication began to be established between towns upon the +river-courses, and commodities began to be transported by means of them. +The very position of the chief towns upon time banks of the streams was +probably connected with this sort of transport, the rivers furnishing +the means by which large quantities of building material could be +conveniently concentrated at a given spot, and by which supplies could +afterwards be regularly received from a distance. We see in the Assyrian +sculptures the conveyance of stones, planks, etc. along the rivers, as +well as the passage of chariots, horses, and persons across them. Rafts +and round boats were most commonly used for this purpose. When a mass of +unusual size, as a huge paving-stone, or a colossal bull or lion, had to +be moved, a long, flat-bottomed boat was employed, which the mass +sometimes more than covered. In this case, as there was no room for +rower's, trackers were engaged, who dragged the vessel along by means of +ropes, which were fastened either to the boat itself or to its burden. +[PLATE CXXXIII., Fig. 2.] + +During the later period of the monarchy various improvements took place +in Assyrian boat-building. The Phoenician and Cyprian expeditions of the +later kings made the Assyrians well acquainted with the ships of +first-rate nautical nations; and they seem to have immediately profited +by this acquaintance, in order to improve the appearance and the quality +of their own river boats. The clumsy and inelegant long-boat of the +earlier times, as replaced, even for ordinary traffic, by a light and +graceful fabric, which was evidently a copy from Phoenician models. +Modifications, which would seem trifling if described, changed the whole +character of the vessels, in which light and graceful curves took the +place of straight lines and angles only just rounded off. The stem and +stern were raised high above the body of the boat, and were shaped like +fishes' tails or carved into the heads of animals. [PLATE CXXXIII., Fig. +2.] Oars, shaped nearly like modern ones, came into vogue, and the +rowers were placed so as all to look one way, and to pull instead of +pushing with their oars. Finally, the principle of the bireme was +adopted, and river-galleys were constructed of such a size that they had +to be manned by thirty rowers, who sat in two tiers one above the other +at the sides of the galley, while the centre part, which seems to have +been decked, was occupied by eight or ten other persons. + +In galleys of this kind the naval architecture of the Assyrians seems to +have culminated. They never, so far as appears, adopted for their boats +the inventions with which their intercourse with Phoenicia had rendered +them perfectly familiar, of masts, and sails. This is probably to be +explained from the extreme rapidity of the Mesopotamian rivers, on which +sailing boats are still uncommon. The unfailing strength of rowers was +needed in order to meet and stem the force of the currents; and this +strength being provided in abundance, it was not thought necessary to +husband it or eke it out by the addition of a second motive power. +Again, the boats, being intended only for peaceful purposes, were +unprovided with beaks, another invention well known to the Assyrians, +and frequently introduced into their sculptures in the representations +of Phoenician vessels. [PLATE CXXXIII., Fig. 5.] + +In the Assyrian biremes the oars of the lower tier were worked through +holes in the vessel's sides. This arrangement would of course at once +supply a fulcrum and keep the oars in their places. But it is not so +easy to see how the oar of a common row-boat, or the uppermost tier of a +bireme, obtained their purchase on the vessel, and were prevented from +slipping along its side. Assyrian vessels had no rowlocks, and in +general the oars are represented as simply rested without any support on +the upper edge of the bulwark. But this can scarcely have been the real +practice; and one or two representations, where a support is provided, +may be fairly regarded as showing what the practice actually was. In the +figure of a _kufa_, or round boat, already given, it will be seen that +one oar is worked by means of a thong, like the [--] or [--] of the +Greeks, which is attached to a ring in the bulwark. In another +bas-relief, several of the oars of similar boats are represented as kept +in place by means of two pegs fixed into the top of the bulwark and +inclined at an angle to one another. [PLATE CXXXIII., Fig. 6.] Probably +one or other of these two methods of steadying the oar was in reality +adopted in every instance. + +With regard to Assyrian commerce, it must at the outset be remarked that +direct notices in ancient writers of any real authority are scanty in +the extreme. The prophet Nahum says indeed, in a broad and general way, +of Nineveh, "Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of +heaven;" and Ezekiel tells us, more particularly, that Assyrian +merchants, along with others, traded with Tyre "in blue clothes, and +broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel." But, except these two, +there seem to be no notices of Assyrian trade in any contemporary or +quasi-contemporary author. Herodotus, writing nearly two hundred years +after the empire had come to an end, mentions casually that "Assyrian +wares" had in very ancient times been conveyed by the Phoenicians to +Greece, and there sold to the inhabitants. He speaks also of a river +traffic in his own day between Armenia and Babylon along the course of +the Euphrates, a fact which indirectly throws light upon the habits of +earlier ages. Diodorus, following Ctesias, declares that a number of +cities were established from very ancient times on the banks of both the +Tigris and the Euphrates, to serve as marts of trade to the merchants +who imported into Assyria the commodities of Media and Paraetacene. +Among the most important of these marts, as we learn from Strabo, were +Tiphsach or Thapsacus on the Euphrates, and Opis upon the Tigris. + +It is from notices thus scanty, partial, and incidental, eked out by +probability, and further helped by a certain number of important facts +with respect to the commodities actually used in the country, whereof +evidence has been furnished to us by the recent discoveries, that we +have to form our estimate of the ancient commerce of the Assyrians. The +Inscriptions throw little or no light upon the subject. They record the +march of armies against foreign enemies, and their triumphant return +laden with plunder and tribute, sometimes showing incidentally what +products of a country were most in request among the Assyrians; but they +contain no accounts of the journeys of merchants, or of the commodities +which entered or quitted the country in the common course of trade. + +The favorable situation of Assyria for trade has often attracted remark. +Lying on the middle courses of two great navigable streams, it was +readily approached by water both from the north-west and from the +south-east. The communication between the Mediterranean and the Southern +or Indian Ocean naturally--almost necessarily--followed this route. If +Europe wanted the wares and products of India, or if India required the +commodities of Europe, by far the shortest and easiest course was the +line from the eastern Mediterranean across Northern Syria, and thence by +one or other of the two great streams to the innermost recess of the +Persian Gulf. The route by the Nile, the canal of Neco, and the Red Sea, +was decidedly inferior, more especially on account of the dangerous +navigation of that sea, but also because it was circuitous, and involved +a voyage in the open ocean of at least twice the length of the other. + +Again, Assyria lay almost necessarily on the line of land communication +between the north-east and the south-west. The lofty Armenian +mountain-chains--Niphates and the other parallel ranges--towards the +north, and the great Arabian Desert towards the south, offered +difficulties to companies of land-traders which they were unwilling to +face, and naturally led them to select routes intermediate between these +two obstacles, which could not fail to pass through some part or other +of the Mesopotamian region. + +The established lines of land trade between Assyria and her neighbors +were probably very numerous, but the most important must have been some +five or six. One almost certainly led from the Urumiyeh basin over the +_Keli-shin_ pass (lat. 37 deg., long. (45 deg. nearly)), descending on Rowandiz, +and thence following the course of the Greater Zab to Herir, whence it +crossed the plain to Nineveh. At the summit of the Kell-shin pass is a +pillar of dark blue stone, six feet in height, two in breadth, and one +in depth, let into a basement block of the same material, and covered +with a cuneiform inscription in the Scythic character. At a short +distance to the westward on the same route is another similar pillar. +The date of the inscriptions falls within the most flourishing time of +the Assyrian empire, and their erection is a strong argument in favor of +the use of this route (which is one of the very few possible modes of +crossing the Zagros range) in the time when that empire was in full +vigor. + +Another line of land traffic probably passed over the same +mountain-range considerably further to the south. It united Assyria with +Media, leading from the Northern Ecbatana (Takht-i-Suleiman) by the +Banneh pass to Suleimaniyeh, and thence by Kerkuk and Altura-Kiupri to +Arbela and Nineveh. + +There may have been also a route up the valley of the Lesser Zab, by +Koi-Sinjah and over the great Kandil range into Lajihan. There are said +to be Assyrian remains near Koi-Sinjah, at a place called the Bihisht +and Jehennen ("the Heaven and Hell") of Nimrud, but no account has been +given of them by any European traveller. + +Westward there were probably two chief lines of trade with Syria and the +adjacent countries. One passed along the foot of the Sinjar range by +Sidikan (_Arban_) on the Khabour to Tiphsach (or Thapsacus) on the +Euphrates, where it crossed the Great River. Thence it bent southwards, +and, passing through Tadmor, was directed upon Phoenicia most likely by +way of Damascus. Another took a more northern line by the Mons Masius to +Harran and Seruj, crossing the Euphrates at Bir, and thence +communicating both with Upper Syria and with Asia Minor. The former of +these two routes is marked as a line of traffic by the foreign objects +discovered in such abundance at Arban, by the name Tiphsach, which means +"passage," and by the admitted object of Solomon in building Tadmor. The +other rests on less direct evidence; but there are indications of it in +the trade of Harran with Tyre which is mentioned by Ezekiel, and in the +Assyrian remains near Seruj, which is on the route from Harran to the +Bir fordway. + +Towards the north, probably, the route most used was that which is +thought by many to be the line followed by Xenophon, first up the valley +of the Tigris to Til or Tilleh, and then along the Bitlis Chai to the +lake of Van and the adjacent country. Another route may have led from +Nineveh to Nisibis, thence through the Jebel Tur to Diarbekr, and from +Diarbekr up the Western Tigris to Arghana, Kharput, Malatiyeh, and Asia +Minor. Assyrian remains have been found at various points along this +latter line, while the former is almost certain to have connected the +Assyrian with the Armenian capital. + +Armenian productions would, however, reach Nineveh and the other great +central cities mainly by the Tigris, down which they could easily have +been floated from Tilleh. or even from Diarbekr. Similarly, Babylonian +and Susianian productions, together with the commodities which either or +both of those countries imported by sea, would find their way into +Assyria up the courses of the two streams, which were navigated by +vessels capable of stemming the force of the current, at least as high +as Opis and Thapsacus. + +We may now proceed to inquire what were the commodities which Assyria, +either certainly or probably, imported by these various lines of land +and water communication. Those of which we seem to have some indication +in the existing remains are gold, tin, ivory, lead, stones of various +kinds, cedar-wood, pearls, and engraved seals. + +Many articles in gold have been recovered at the various Assyrian sites +where excavations have been made; and indications have been found of the +employment of this precious metal in the ornamentation of palaces and of +furniture. The actual quantity discovered has, indeed, been small; but +this may be accounted for without calling in question the reality of +that extraordinary wealth in the precious metals which is ascribed by +all antiquity to Assyria. This wealth no doubt flowed in, to a +considerable extent, from the plunder of conquered nations and the +tribute paid by dependent monarchs. But the quantity obtained in this +way would hardly have sufficed to maintain the luxury of the court and +at the same time to accumulate, so that when Nineveh was taken there was +"none end" of the store. It has been suggested that "mines of gold were +probably once worked within the Assyrian dominions," although no gold is +now known to be produced anywhere within her limits. But perhaps it is +more probable that, like Judaea and Phoenicia, she obtained her gold in +a great measure from commerce, taking it either from the Phoenicians, +who derived it both from Arabia and from the West African coast, or else +from the Babylonians, who may have imported it by sea from India. + +Tin, which has not been found in a pure state in the remains of the +Assyrians, but which enters regularly as an element into their bronze, +where it forms from one-tenth to one-seventh of the mass, was also, +probably, an importation. Tin is a comparatively rare metal. Abundant +enough in certain places, it is not diffused at all widely over the +earth's surface. Neither Assyria itself nor any of the neighboring +countries are known to have ever produced this mineral. Phoenicia +certainly imported it, directly or indirectly, from Cornwall and the +Scilly Isles, which therefore became first known in ancient geography as +the Cassiterides or "Tin Islands." It is a reasonable supposition that +the tin wherewith the Assyrians hardened their bronze was obtained by +their merchants from the Phoenicians in exchange for textile fabrics and +(it may be) other commodities. If so, we may believe that in many +instances the produce of our own tin mines which left our shores more +than twenty-five centuries ago, has, after twice travelling a distance +of many thousand miles, returned to seek a final rest in its native +country. + +Ivory was used by the Assyrians extensively in their furniture, and was +probably supplied by them to the Phoenicians and the Greeks. It was no +doubt sometimes brought to them by subject nations as tribute; but this +source of supply is not sufficient to account, at once, for the +consumption in Assyria itself, and for the exports from Assyria to +foreign countries. A regular trade for ivory seems to have been carried +on from very early times between India and Dedan (Bahrein,?) in the +Persian Gulf. The travelling companies of the Dedanim, who conveyed +this precious merchandise from their own country to Phoenicia, passed +probably along the course of the Euphrates, and left a portion of their +wares in the marts upon that stream, which may have been thence conveyed +to the great Assyrian cities. Or the same people may have traded +directly with Assyria by the route of the Tigris. Again, it is quite +conceivable--indeed, it is probable--that there was a land traffic +between Assyria and Western India by the way of Cabal, Herat, the +Caspian Gates, and Media. Of this route we have a trace in the land +animals engraved upon the well-known Black Obelisk, where the +combination of the small-eared or Indian elephant and the rhinoceros +with the two-humped Bactrian camel, sufficiently marks the line by which +the productions of India, occasionally at, any rate, reached Assyria. +The animals themselves were, we may be sure, very rarely transported. +Indeed, it is not till the very close of the Persian empire that we find +elephants possessed--and even then in scanty numbers--by the western +Asiatic monarchs. But the more portable products of the Indus region, +elephants' tusks, gold, and perhaps shawls and muslins, are likely to +have passed to the west by this route with far greater frequency. + +The Assyrians were connoisseurs in hard stones and gems, which they seem +to have imported from all quarters. The lapis lazuli, which is found +frequently among the remains as the material of seals, combs, rings, +jars, and other small objects, probably came from Bactria or the +adjacent regions, whence alone it is procurable at the present day. The +cornelian used for cylinders may have come from Babylonia, which, +according to Pliny furnished it of the best quality in the more ancient +times. The agates or onyxes may have been imported from Susiana, where +they were found in the bed of the Choaspes (_Kerkhah_), or they may +possibly have been brought from India. Other varieties are likely to +have been furnished by Armenia, which is rich in stones; and hence too +was probably obtained the _shamir_, or emery-stone, by means of which +the Assyrians were enabled to engrave all the other hard substances +known to them. + +That cedar-wood was imported into Assyria is sufficiently indicated by +the fact that, although no cedars grew in the country, the beams in the +palaces were frequently of this material. It may not, however, have been +exactly an article of commerce, since the kings appear to have cut it +after their successful expeditions into Syria, and to have carried it +off from Lebanon and Amanus as part of the plunder of the country. + +Pearls, which have been found in Assyrian ear rings, must have been +procured from the Persian Gulf, one of the few places frequented by the +shell-fish which produces then. The pearl fisheries in these parts were +pointed out to Nearchus, the admiral of Alexander, and had no doubt been +made to yield their treasures to the natives of the coasts and islands +from a remote antiquity. The familiarity of the author of the book of +Job with pearls is to be ascribed to the ancient trade in them +throughout the regions adjoining the Gulf, which could not fail to bring +them at an early date to the knowledge of the Hebrews. + +Engraved stones, generally in the shape of scarabs, seem to have been +largely imported from Egypt into Assyria, where they were probably used +either as amulets or as seals. They have been found in the greatest +plenty at Arban on the lower Khabour, the ancient Sidikan or Shadikanni, +which lies nearly at the extreme west of the Assyrian territory; but +many specimens have likewise been obtained from Nineveh and other of the +central Assyrian cities. + +If we were to indulge in conjecture, we might add to this list of +Assyrian importations at least an equal number of commodities which, +though they have not been found in the ancient remains, may be fairly +regarded, on grounds of probability, as objects of trade between Assyria +and her neighbors. Frankincense, which was burnt in such lavish +profusion in the great temple at Babylon, was probably offered in +considerable quantities upon Assyrian altars, and could only have been +obtained from Arabia. Cinnamon, which was used by the Jews from the time +of the Exodus, and which was early imported into Greece by the +Phoenicians, who received it from the Arabians can scarcely have been +unknown in Assyria when the Hebrews were familiar with it. This precious +spice must have reached the Arabians from Ceylon or Malabar, the most +accessible of the countries producing it. Mullins, shawls, and other +tissues are likely to have come by the same route as the cinnamon; and +these may possibly have been among the "blue clothes and broidered work +and rich apparel" which the merchants of Asshur carried to Tyre in +"chests, bound with cords and made of cedar-wood." Dyes, such as the +Indian lacca, raw cotton, ebony and other woods, may have come by the +same line of trade; while horses and mules are likely to have been +imported from Armenia, and slaves from the country between Armenia and +the Halys River. + +If from the imports of Assyria we pass to her exports, we leave a region +of uncertain light to enter upon one of almost total darkness. That the +"wares of Assyria" were among the commodities which the Phoenicians +imported into Greece at a very early period, we have the testimony of +Herodotus; but he leaves us wholly without information as to the nature +of the wares themselves. No other classical writer of real authority +touches the subject; and any conclusions that we may form upon it must +be derived from one of two sources, either general probability, or the +single passage in a sacred author which gives us a certain amount of +authentic information. From the passage in question, which has been +already quoted at length, we learn that the chief of the Assyrian +exports to Phoenicia were textile fabrics, apparently of great value, +since they were most carefully packed in chests of cedar-wood secured by +cords. These fabrics may have been "blue cloaks," or "embroidery," or +"rich dresses" of any kind, for all these are mentioned by Ezekiel; but +we cannot say definitely which Assyria traded in, since the merchants of +various other countries are joined in the passage with hers. Judging by +the monuments, we should conclude that at least a portion of the +embroidered work was from her looms and workshops; for, as has been +already shown, the embroidery of the Assyrians was of the most delicate +and elaborate description. She is also likely to have traded in rich +apparel of all kinds, both such as she manufactured at home, and such as +she imported from the far East by the lines of traffic which have been +pointed out. Some of her own fabrics may possibly have been of silk, +which in Roman times was a principal Assyrian export. Whether she +exported her other peculiar productions, her transparent and colored +glass, her exquisite metal bowls, plates, and dishes, her beautifully +carved ivories, we cannot say. They have not hitherto been found in any +place beyond her dominion, so that it would rather seem that she +produced them only for home consumption. Some ancient notices appear to +imply a belief on the part of the Greeks and Romans that she produced +and exported various spices. Horace speaks of Assyrian nard Virgil of +Assyrian _amomuum_, Tibullus of Assyrian odors generally. AEschylus has +an allusion of the same kind in his Agamemnon. Euripide, and Theocritus, +who mention respectively Syrian myrrh and Syrian frankincense, probably +use the word "Syrian" for "Assyrian." The belief thus implied is not, +however, borne out by inquiry. Neither the spikenard nor the amonmum, +nor the myrrh tree, nor the frankincense tree, nor any other actual +spice, is produced within the limits of Assyria, which must always have +imported its own spices from abroad, and can only have supplied them to +other countries as a carrier. In this capacity she may very probably, +even in the time of her early greatness, have conveyed on to the coast +of Syria the spicy products of Arabia and India, and thus have created +an impression, which afterwards remained as a tradition, that she was a +great spice-producer as well as a spice-seller. + +In the same way, as a carrier, Assyria may have exported many other +commodities. She may have traded with the Phoenicians, not only in her +own products, but in the goods which she received from the south and +east, from Bactria, India, and the Persian Gulf,--such as lapis lazuli, +pearls, cinnamon, muslins, shawls, ivory, ebony, cotton. On the other +hand, she may have conveyed to India, or at least to Babylon, the +productions which the Phoenicians brought to Tyre and Sidon from the +various countries bordering upon the Mediterranean Sea and even the +Atlantic Ocean, as tin, hides, pottery, oil, wine, linen. On this point, +however, we have at present no evidence at all; and as it is not the +proper office of a historian to indulge at any length in mere +conjecture, the consideration of the commercial dealings of the +Assyrians may be here brought to a close. + +On the agriculture of the Assyrians a very few remarks will be offered. +It has been already explained that the extent of cultivation depended +entirely on the conveyance of water. There is good reason to believe +that the Assyrians found a way to spread water over almost the whole of +their territory. Either by the system of _kanats_ or subterranean +aqueducts, which has prevailed in the East from very early times, or by +an elaborate network of canals, the fertilizing fluid was conveyed to +nearly every part of Mesopotamia, which shows by its innumerable mounds, +in regions which are now deserts, how large a population it was made to +sustain under the wise management of the great Assyrians monarchs. Huge +dams seem to have been thrown across the Tigris in various places, one +of which (the Afrui) still remains, seriously impeding the navigation. +It is formed of large masses of squared stones, united together by +cramps of iron. Such artificial barriers were intended, not (as Strabo +believed) for the protection of the towns upon the river from a hostile +fleet, but to raise the level of the stream, in order that its water +might flow off into canals on one bank or the other, whence they could +be spread by means of minor channels over large tracts of territory. The +canals themselves have in most cases been gradually filled up. In one +instance, however, owing either to the peculiar nature of the soil or to +some unexplained cause, we are still able to trace the course of an +Assyrian work of this class and to observe the manner and principles of +its construction. + +[Illustration: PLATE 134] + +In the tract of land lying between the lower course of the Great Zab +River and the Tigris, in which was situated the important town of Calah +(now Nimrud), a tract which is partly alluvial, but more generally of +secondary formation, hard gravel, sandstone, or conglomerate, are the +remains of a canal undoubtedly Assyrian, which was carried for a +distance of more than five-and-twenty miles from a point on the Khazr or +Ghazr Su, a tributary of the Zab, to the south-eastern corner of the +Nimrud ruins. [PLATE CXXXIV., Fig. 1.] Originally the canal seems to +have been derived from the Zab itself, the water of which was drawn off, +on its northern bank, through a short tunnel--the modern Negoub--and +then conducted along a cutting, first by the side of the Zab, and +afterwards in a tortuous course across the undulating plain, into the +ravine formed by the Shor-Derreh torrent. The Zab, when this part of the +work was constructed, ran deep along its northern bank, and, sending a +portion of its waters into the tunnel, maintained a constant stream in +the canal. But after awhile the river abandoned its north bank for the +opposite shore; and, water ceasing to flow through the Negoub tunnel, it +became necessary to obtain it in some other way. Accordingly the canal +was extended northwards, partly by cutting and partly by tunnelling to +the Ghazr Su at about two miles above its mouth, and a permanent supply +was thenceforth obtained from that stream. The work may have been +intended in part to supply Calah with mountain water; but the remains of +dams and sluices along its course sufficiently show that it was a canal +for irrigation also. From it water was probably derived to fertilize the +whole triangle lying south of Nimrud between the two streams, a tract +containing nearly thirty square miles of territory, mostly very fertile, +and with careful cultivation well capable of supporting the almost +metropolitan city on which it abutted. + +In Assyria it must have been seldom that the Babylonian system of +irrigation could have been found applicable, and the water simply +derived from the rivers by side-cuts, leading it off from the natural +channel. There is but little of Assyria which is flat and alluvial; the +land generally undulates, and most of it stands at a considerable height +above the various streams. The water therefore requires to be raised +from the level of the rivers to that of the lands before it can be +spread over them, and for this purpose hydraulic machinery of one kind +or another is requisite. In cases where the subterranean conduit was +employed, the Assyrians probably (like the ancient and the modern +Persians) sank wells at intervals, and raised the water from them by +means of a bucket and rope, the latter working over a pulley. Where they +could obtain a bank of a convenient height overhanging a river, they +made use of the hand-swipe, and with its aid lifted the water into a +tank or reservoir, whence they could distribute it over their fields. In +some instances, it would seem, they brought water to the tops of hills +by means of aqueducts, and then, constructing a number of small +channels, let the fluid trickle down them among their trees and crops. +They may have occasionally, like the modern Arabs, employed the labor of +an animal to raise the fluid; but the monuments do not furnish us with +any evidence of their use of this method. Neither do we find any trace +of water-wheels, such as are employed upon the Orontes and other swift +rivers, whereby a stream can itself be made to raise water from the land +along its bunks. + +According to Herodotus, the kinds of grain cultivated in Assyria in his +time were wheat, barley, sesame, and millet. As these still constitute +at the present day the principal agricultural products of the county, we +may conclude that they were in all probability the chief species +cultivated under the Empire. The plough used, if we may judge by the +single representation of it which has come down to us, was of a rude and +primitive construction--a construction, however, which will bear +comparison with that of the implements to this day in use through modern +Turkey and Persia. Of other agricultural implements we have no specimens +at all, unless the square instrument with a small circle or wheel at +each corner, which appears on the same monument as the plough, may be +regarded as intended for some farming purpose. [PLATE CXXXIV., Fig. 2.] + +Besides grain, it seems certain that the Assyrians cultivated the vine. +The vine will grow well in many parts of Assyria; and the monuments +represent vines, with a great deal of truth, not merely as growing in +the countries to which the Assyrians made their expeditions, but as +cultivated along the sides of the rivers near Nineveh, and in the +gardens belonging to the palaces of the kings. In the former case they +appear to grow without any support, and are seen in orchards intermixed +with other fruit-trees, as pomegranates and figs. In the latter they are +trained upon tall trees resembling firs, round whose stems they twine +themselves, and from which their rich clusters droop. Sometimes the long +lithe boughs pass across from tree to tree, forming a canopy under which +the monarch and his consort sip their wine. + +Before concluding this chapter, a few remarks will be added upon the +ordinary private life of the Assyrians, so far as the monuments reveal +it to us. Under this head will be included their dress, their food, +their houses, furniture, utensils, carriages, etc., their various kinds +of labor, and the implements of labor which were known to them. + +The ordinary dress of the common people in Assyria was a mere plain +tunic, or skirt, reaching from the neck to a little above the knee, with +very short sleeves, and confined round the waist by a broad belt or +girdle. Nothing was worn either upon the head or upon the feet. The +thick hair, carried in large waves from the forehead to the back of the +head, and then carefully arranged in three, four, or five rows of stiff +curls, was regarded as a sufficient protection both from sun and rain. +No head-covering was ever worn, except by soldiers, and by certain +officials, as the king, priests, and musicians. Sometimes, if the hair +was very luxuriant, it was confined by a band or fillet, which was +generally tied behind the back of the head. The beard was worn long, and +arranged with great care, the elaboration being pretty nearly the same +in the case of the king and of the common laborer. Laborers of a rank a +little above the lowest wore sandals, indulged in a fringed tunic, and +occasionally in a phillibeg, while a still higher class had a fringed +tunic and phillibeg, together with the close-fitting trouser and boot +worn by soldiers. These last are frequently eunuchs, who probably +belonged to a corps of eunuch laborers in the employ of the king. + +Persons of the humbler laboring class wear no ornament, neither armlet, +bracelet, nor earrings. Armlets and bracelets mark high rank, and indeed +are rarely found unless the wearer is either an officer of the court, or +at any rate a personage of some consideration. Earrings seem to have +descended lower. They are worn by the attendants on sportsmen, by +musicians, by cavalry soldiers, and even occasionally by foot soldiers. +In this last case they are seldom more than a simple ring, which may +have been of bronze or of bone. In other cases the ring mostly supports +a long pendant. + +[Illustration: PLATE 135] + +Men of rank appear to have worn commonly a long fringed robe reaching +nearly to the feet. The sleeves were short, only just covering the +shoulder. Down to the waist, the dress closely fitted the form, +resembling, so far, a modern jersey; below this there was a slight +expansion, but still the scantiness of the robe is very remarkable. It +had no folds, and must have greatly interfered with the free play of the +limbs, rendering rapid movements almost impossible. A belt or girdle +confined it at the waist, which was always patterned, sometimes +elaborately. [PLATE CXXXV., Fig. 1.] If a sword was carried, as was +frequently the case, it was suspended, nearly in a horizontal position, +by a belt over the left shoulder, to which it was attached by a ring, or +rings, in the sheath. There is often great elegance in these +cross-belts, which look as if they were embroidered with pearls or +beads. [PLATE CXXXV., Fig. 2.] Fillets, earrings, armlets, and (in most +instances) bracelets were also worn by Assyrians of the upper classes. +The armlets are commonly simple bands, twisted round the arm once or +twice, and often overlapping' at the ends, which are plain, not +ornamented. [PLATE CXXXV., Fig.] The bracelets are of slighter +construction; their ends do not meet; they would seem to have been of +thin metal, and sufficiently elastic to be slipped over the hand on to +the wrist, which they then fitted closely. Generally they were quite +plain; but sometimes, like the royal bracelets, they bore in their +centre a rosette. Sandals, or in the later times shoes, completed the +ordinary costume of the Assyrian "gentleman." + +Sometimes both the girdle round the waist, and the cross-belt, which was +often worn without a sword, were deeply fringed, the two fringes falling +one over the other, and covering the whole body from the chest to the +knee. Sometimes, but more rarely, the long robe was discarded, and the +Assyrian of some rank wore the short tunic, which was then, however, +always fringed, and commonly ornamented with a phillibeg. + +Certain peculiar head-dresses and peculiar modes of arranging the hair +deserve special attention from their singularity. [PLATE CXXXV., Fig. +4.] They belong in general to musicians, priests, and other official +personages, and may perhaps have been badges of office. For instance, +musicians sometimes wear on their heads a tall stiff cap shaped like a +fish's tail; at other times their head-dress is a sort of tiara of +feathers. + +Their hair is generally arranged in the ordinary Assyrian fashion; but +sometimes it is worn comparatively short, and terminates in a double row +of crisp curls. Priests have head-dresses shaped like truncated cones. A +cook in one instance, wears a cap not unlike the tiara of the monarch, +except that it is plain, and is not surmounted by an apex or peak. A +harper has the head covered with a close-fitting cap, encircled with a +row of large beads or pearl; from which a lappet depends behind, +similarly ornamented. A colossal figure in a doorway, apparently a man, +though possibly representing a god, has the hair arranged in six +monstrous curls, the lowest three resting upon the shoulder. [PLATE +CXXXV., Fig. 6.] + +Women of the better sort seem to have been dressed in sleeved gowns, +less scanty than those of the men, and either striped or else patterned +and fringed. Outside this they sometimes wore a short cloak of the same +pattern as the gown, open in front and falling over the arms, which it +covered nearly to the elbows. Their hair was either arranged over the +whole of the head in short crisp curls, or carried back in waves to the +ears, and then in part twisted into long pendent ringlets, in part +curled, like that of the men, in three or four rows at the back of the +neck. [PLATE CXXXV., Fig. 5.] A girdle was probably worn round the +waist, such as we see in the representations of goddesses, while a +fringed cross-belt passed diagonally across the breast, being carried +under the right arm and over the left shoulder. The feet seem to have +been naked, or at best protected by a sandal. The head was sometimes +encircled with a fillet. + +[Illustration: PLATE 136] + +Women thus apparelled are either represented as sitting in chairs and +drinking from a shallow cup, or else as gathering grapes, which, instead +of growing naturally, hang up on branches that issue from a winged +circle. The circle would seem to be emblematic of the divine power which +bestows the fruits of the earth upon man. [PLATE CXXXVI., Fig. 1.] + +The lower class of Assyrian women are not represented upon the +sculptures. We may perhaps presume that they did not dress very +differently from the female captives so frequent on the bas-reliefs, +whose ordinary costume is a short gown not covering the ankles, and an +outer garment somewhat resembling the chasuble of the king. The head of +these women is often covered with a hood where the hair appears, it +usually descends in a single long curl. The feet are in every case +naked. + +The ornaments worn by women appear to have been nearly the same as those +assumed by men. They consisted principally of earrings, necklaces, and +bracelets. Earrings have been found in gold laid in bronze, some with +and some without places for jewels. One gold earring still held its +adornment of petals. Bracelets were sometimes of glass, and were slipped +over the hand. Necklaces seem commonly to have been of beads, strung +together. A necklace in the British Museum is composed of glass beads +of a light blue color, square in shape and flat, with horizontal +flutings. [PLATE CXXXVI., Fig. 2.] Glass finger-rings have also been +found, which were probably worn by women. + +We have a few remains of Assyrian toilet articles. A bronze disk, about +nine inches in diameter, with a long handle attached, is thought to have +been a mirror. In its general shape it resembles both the Egyptian and +the classical mirrors; but, unlike them, it is perfectly plain, even the +handle being a mere flat bar. [PLATE CXXXVI., Fig. 3.] We have also a +few combs. One of these is of iron, about three and a half inches long, +by two inches broad in the middle. It is double, like a modern +small-tooth comb, but does not present the feature, common in Egypt, of +a difference in the size of the teeth on the two sides. The very ancient +use of this toilet article in Mesopotamia is evidenced by the fact, +already noticed, that it was one of the original hieroglyphs whence the +later letters were derived. Another comb is of lapis lazuli, and has +only a single row of teeth. [PLATE CXXXVII., Fig. 1.] The small vases of +alabaster or fine clay, and the small glass bottles which have been +discovered in tolerable abundance, were also in all probability intended +chiefly for the toilet. They would hold the perfumed unguents which the +Assyrians, like other Orientals, were doubtless in the habit of using, +and the dyes wherewith they sought to increase the beauty of the +countenance. + +[Illustration: PLATE 137] + +No doubt the luxury of the Assyrian women in these and other respects +was great and excessive. They are not likely to have fallen short of +their Jewish sisters either in the refinements or in the corruptions of +civilization. When then we hear of the "tinkling ornaments" of the Jewish +women in Isaiah's time, "their combs, and round tires like the moon," +their "chains and bracelets and mufflers," their "bonnets, and ornaments +of the legs, and head-bands, and tablets and ear-rings," their "rings +and nose-jewels," their "changeable suits of apparel, and mantles, and +wimples, and crisping-pins," their "glasses, and fine linen, and hoods, +and veils," their "sweet smells, and girdles, and well-set hair, and +stomachers," we may be sure that in Assyria too these various +refinements, or others similar to them, were in use, and consequently +that the art of the toilet was tolerably well advanced under the second +great Asiatic Empire. That the monuments contain little evidence on the +point need not cause any surprise; since it is the natural consequence +of the spirit of jealous reserve common to the Oriental nations, which +makes them rarely either represent women in their mimetic art or speak +of them in their public documents. + +If various kinds of grain were cultivated in Assyria, such as wheat, +barley, sesame, and millet, we may assume that the food of the +inhabitants, like that of other agricultural nations, consisted in part +of bread. Sesame was no doubt used, as it is at the present day, +principally for making oil; while wheat, barley, and millet were +employed for food, and were made into cakes or loaves. The grain used, +whatever it was, would be ground between two stones, according to the +universal Oriental practice even at the present day. It would then he +moistened with water, kneaded in a dish or bowl, and either rolled into +thin cakes, or pressed by the hand into smalls balls or loaves. Bread +and cakes made in this way still form the chief food of the Arabs of +these parts, who retain the habits of antiquity. Wheaten bread is +generally eaten by preference; but the poorer sort are compelled to be +content with the coarse millet or _durra_ flour, which is made into +cakes, and then eaten with milk, butter, oil, or the fat of animals. + +Dates, the principal support of the inhabitants of Chaldaea, or +Babylonia, both in ancient and in modern times, were no doubt also an +article of food in Assyria, though scarcely to any great extent. The +date-palm does not bear well above the alluvium, and such fruit as it +produces in the upper country is very little esteemed. Olives were +certainly cultivated under the Empire, and the oil extracted from them +was in great request. Honey was abundant, and wine plentiful. +Sennacherib called his land "a land of corn and wine, a land of bread +and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey;" and the products here +enumerated were probably those which formed the chief sustenance of the +bulk of the people. + +Meat, which is never eaten to any great extent in the East was probably +beyond the means of most persons. Soldiers, however, upon an expedition +were able to obtain this dainty at the expense of others; and +accordingly we find that on such occasions they freely indulged in it. +We see them, after their victories, killing and cutting up sheep and. +oxen, and then roasting the joints, which are not unlike our own, on the +embers of a wood-fires [PLATE CXXXVII., Fig. 2.] In the representations +of entrenched camps we are shown the mode in which animals were prepared +for the royal dinner. They were placed upon their backs on a high table, +with their heads hanging over its edge; one man held them steady in this +position, while another, taking hold of the neck, cut the throat a +little below the chin. The blood dripped into a bowl or basin placed +beneath the head on the ground. [PLATE CXXXVII., Fig. 3.] The animal was +then no doubt, paunched, after which it was placed either whole, or in +joints--in a huge pot or caldron, and, a fire being lighted underneath, +it was boiled to such a point as suited the taste of the king. [PLATE +CXXXVII., Fig. 5.] While the boiling progressed, some portions were +perhaps fried on the fire below. [PLATE CXXXVII., Fig. 5.] Mutton +appears to have been the favorite meat in the camp. At the court there +would be a supply of venison, antelope's flesh, hares, partridges, and +other game, varied perhaps occasionally with such delicacies as the +flesh of the wild ox and the onager. + +Fish must have been an article of food in Assyria, or the monuments +would not have presented us; with so many instances of fishermen. +Locusts were also eaten, and were accounted a delicacy, as is proved by +their occurrence among the choice dainties of a banquet, which the royal +attendants are represented in one bas-relief as bringing into the palace +of the king. Fruits, as was natural in so hot a climate, were highly +prized; among those of most repute were pomegranates, grapes, citrons, +and, apparently, pineapples. [PLATE CXXXVII., Fig. 4.] + +There is reason to believe that the Assyrians drank wine very freely. +The vine was cultivated extensively, in the neighborhood of Nimrud and +elsewhere; and though there is no doubt that, grapes were eaten, both +raw and dried, still the main purpose of the vineyards was +unquestionably the production of wine. Assyria was "a land of corn and +wine," emphatically and before all else. Great banquets seem to have +been frequent at the court, as at the courts of Babylon and Persia, in +which drinking was practised on a large scale. The Ninevites generally +are reproached as drunkards by Nahum. In the banquet-scenes of the +sculptures, it is drinking and not eating that is represented. +Attendants dip the wine-cups into a huge bowl or vase, which stands on +the ground and reaches as high as a man's chest and carry them full of +liquor to the guests, who straightway fall to a carouse. [PLATE +CXXXVIII., Fig. 1.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 138] + +The arrangement of the banquets is curious. The guests, who are in one +instance some forty or fifty in number, instead of being received at a +common table, are divided into messes of four, who sit together, two and +two, facing each other, each mess having its own table and its own +attendant. The guests are all clothed in the long tasselled gown, over +which they wear the deeply fringed belt and cross-belt. They have +sandals on their feet, and on their arias armlets and bracelets. They +sit on high stools, from which their legs dangle; but in no case have +they footstools, which would apparently have been a great convenience. +Most of the guests are bearded men, but intermixed with them we see a +few eunuchs. Every guest holds in his right hand a wine-cup of a most +elegant shape, the lower part modelled into the form of a lion's head, +from which the cup itself rises in a graceful curve. [PLATE CXXXVIII., +Fig. 2.] They all raise their cups to a level with their heads, and look +as if they were either pledging each other, or else one and all drinking +the same toast. Both the stools and the tables are handsome, and +tastefully, though not very richly, ornamented. Each table is overspread +with a table-cloth, which hangs down on either side opposite the guests, +but does not cover the ends of the table, which are thus fully exposed +to view. In their general make the tables exactly resemble that used in +a banquet scene by a king of a later date, but their ornamentation is +much less elaborate. On each of them appears to have been placed the +enigmatical article of which mention has been already made as a strange +object generally accompanying the king. Alongside of it we see in most +instances a sort of rude crescent. These objects have probably, both of +them, a sacred import, the crescent being the emblem of Sin, the +Moon-God, while the nameless article had some unknown religious use or +meaning. + +In the great banqueting scene at Khorsabad, from which the above +description is chiefly taken, it is shown that the Assyrians, like the +Egyptians and the Greeks in the heroic times, had the entertainment of +music at their grand feasts and drinking bouts. At one end of the long +series of figures representing guests and attendants was a band of +performers, at least three in number, two of whom certainly played upon +the lyre. The lyres were ten-stringed, of a square shape, and hung round +the player's neck by a string or ribbon. + +The Assyrians also resembled the Greeks and Romans in introducing +flowers into their feasts. We have no evidence that they wore garlands, +or crowned themselves with chaplets of flowers, or scattered roses over +their rooms; but still they appreciated the delightful adornment which +flowers furnish. In the long train of attendance represented at Koyunjik +as bringing the materials of a banquet into the palace of the king, a +considerable number bear vases of flowers. [PLATE CXXXVIII., Fig. 3.] +These were probably placed on stands, like those which are often seen +supporting jars, and dispersed about the apartment in which the feast +was held, but not put upon the tables. + +We have no knowledge of the ordinary houses of the Assyrians other than +that which we derive from the single representation which the sculptures +furnish of a village certainly Assyrian. It appears from this specimen +that the houses were small, isolated from one another, and either +flat-roofed, or else covered in with a dome or a high cone. They had no +windows, but must have been lighted from the top, where, in some of the +roofs, an aperture is discernible. The doorway was generally placed +towards one end of the house; it was sometimes arched, but more often +square-headed. + +The doors in Assyrian houses were either single, as commonly with +ourselves, or folding (_fores_ or _valvoe_), as with the Greeks and +Romans, and with the modern French and Italians. Folding-doors were the +most common in palaces. They were not hung upon hinges, like modern +doors, but, like those of the classical nations, turned upon pivots. At +Khorsabad the pavement slabs in the doorways showed everywhere the holes +in which these pivots had worked, while in no instance did the wall at +the side present any trace of the insertion of a hinge. Hinges, however, +in the proper sense of the term, were not unknown to the Assyrians; for +two massive bronze sockets found at Nimrud, which weighed more than six +pounds each, and had a diameter of about five inches, must have been +designed to receive the hinges of a door or gate, hung exactly as gates +are now hung among ourselves. [PLATE CXXXVIII., Fig. 4.] The +folding-doors were fastened by bolts, which were shot into the pavement +at the point where the two doors met; but in the case of single doors a +lock seems to have been used, which was placed about four feet from the +ground, and projected from the door itself, so that a recess had to be +made in the wall behind the door to receive the lock when the door stood +open. The bolt of the lock was of an oblong square shape and was shot +into the wall against which the door closed. + +The ordinary character of Assyrian furniture did not greatly differ from +the furniture of modern times. That of the poorer classes was for the +most part extremely plain, consisting probably of such tables, couches, +and low stools as we see in the representations which are so frequent, +of the interiors of soldier's tents. In these the tables are generally +of the cross-legged kind; the couches follow the pattern given in a +previous page of this volume, except that the legs do not end in +pine-shaped ornaments; and the stools are either square blocks, or +merely cut _en chevron_. There are no chairs. The low stools evidently +form the ordinary seats of the people, on which they sit to converse or +to rest themselves. [PLATE CXXXIX., Fig. 1.] The couches seem to have +been the beds whereon the soldiers slept, and it may be doubted if the +Assyrians knew of any other. [PLATE CXXXIX., Fig. 2.] In the case of the +monarch we have seen that the bedding consisted of a mattress, a large +round pillow or cushion, and a coverlet; but in these simple couches of +the poor we observe only a mattress, the upper part of which is slightly +raised and fitted into the curvature of the arm, so as to make a +substitute for a pillow. [PLATE CXXXIX., Fig. 2.] Perhaps, however, the +day-laborer may have enjoyed on a couch of this simple character +slumbers sounder and more refreshing than Sardanapalus amid his +comparative luxury. + +[Illustration: PLATE 139] + +The household utensils seen in combination with these simple articles of +furniture are few and somewhat rudely shaped. A jug with a long neck, an +angular handle, and a pointed bottom, is common: it usually hangs from a +nail or hook inserted into the tent-pole. Vases and bowls of a simple +form occur, but are less frequent. The men are seen with knives in their +hands, and appear sometimes to be preparing food for their meals; but +the form of the knife is marked very indistinctly. Some of the household +articles represented have a strange and unusual appearance. One is a +sort of short ladder, but with semicircular projections at the bottom, +the use of which is not apparent; another may be a board at which some +game was played; while a third is quite inexplicable. [PLATE CXXXIX., +Fig. 8.] From actual discoveries of the utensils themselves, we know +that the Assyrians used dishes of stone, alabaster, and bronze. They had +also bronze cups, bowls, and plates, often elaborately patterned. The +dishes had commonly a handle at the side, either fixed or movable, by +which, when not in use, they could be carried or hung on pegs. [PLATE +CXXXIX., Fig. 6.] Chaldrons of bronze were also common: they varied from +five feet to eighteen inches in height, and from two feet and a half to +six feet in diameter. Jugs, funnels, ladles, and jars have been found in +the same metal; one of the funnels is shaped nearly like a modern wine +strainer. [PLATE CXXXIX., Fig. 4.] + +The Assyrians made use of bronze bells with iron tongues, and, to render +the sound of these more pleasing, they increased the proportion of the +tin to the copper, raising it front ten to fourteen per cent. The bells +were always of small size, never (so far as appears) exceeding three +inches and a quarter in height and two inches and a quarter in diameter. +It is uncertain whether they were used, as modern bells, to summon +attendants, or only attached, as we see them on the sculptures, to the +collars and headstalls of horses. + +Some houses, but probably not very many, had gardens attached to them. +The Assyrian taste in gardening was like that of the French. Trees of a +similar character, or tall trees alternating with short ones, were +planted in straight rows at an equal distance from one another, while +straight paths and walks, meeting each other at right angles, traversed +the grounds. Water was abundantly supplied by means of canals drawn off +from a neighboring river, or was brought by an aqueduct from a distance. +A national taste of a peculiar kind, artificial and extravagant to a +degree, caused the Assyrians to add to the cultivation of the natural +ground the monstrous invention of "Hanging Gardens:" an invention +introduced into Babylonia at a comparatively late date, but known in +Assyria as early as the time of Sennacherib. A "hanging garden" was +sometimes combined with an aqueduct, the banks of the stream which the +aqueduct bore being planted with trees of different kinds. At other +times it occupied the roof of a building, probably raised for the +purpose, and was supported upon a number of pillars. [PLATE CXXXIX., +Fig. 5.] + +The employments of the Assyrians, which receive some illustration from +the monuments, are, besides war and hunting--subjects already discussed +at length--chiefly building, boating, and agriculture. Of agricultural +laborers, there occur two or three only, introduced by the artists into +a slab of Sennacherib's which represents the transport of a winged bull. +They are dressed in the ordinary short tunic and belt, and are employed +in drawing water from a river by the help of hand-swipes for the purpose +of irrigating their lands. Boatmen are far more common. They are seen +employed in the conveyance of masses of stone, and of other materials +for building, ferrying men and horses across a river, guiding their boat +while a fisherman plies his craft from it, assisting soldiers to pursue +the enemy, and the like. They wear the short tunic and belt, and +sometimes have their hair encircled with a fillet. Of laborers, employed +in work connected with building, the examples are numerous. In the long +series of slabs representing the construction of some of Sennacherib's +great works, although the bulk of those employed as laborers appear to +be foreign captives, there are a certain number of the duties--duties +less purely mechanical than the others which are devolved on Assyrians. +Assyrians load the hand-carts, and sometimes even draw them [PLATE +CXXXIX., Fig. 7], convey the implements--pickaxes, saws, shovels, +hatchets, beams, forks, coils of rope--place the rollers, arrange the +lever and work it, keep the carved masses of stone steady as they are +moved along to their proper places, urge on the gangs of forced laborers +with sticks, and finally direct the whole of the proceedings by signals, +which they give with their voice or with a long horn. Thus, however +ample the command of naked human strength enjoyed by the Assyrian king, +who had always at his absolute disposal the labor of many thousand +captives, still there was in every great work much which could only be +intrusted to Assyrians, who appear to have been employed largely in the +grand constructions of their monarchs. + +The implements of labor have a considerable resemblance to those in +present use among ourselves. The saws were two-handed; but as the handle +was in the same line with the blade, instead of being set at right +angles to it, they must have been somewhat awkward to use. The shovels +were heart-shaped, like those which Sir C. Fellows noticed in Asia +Minor. The pickaxes had a single instead of a double head, while the +hatchets were double-headed, though here probably the second head was a +mere knob intended to increase the force of the blow. [PLATE CXL., Fig. +1.] The hand-carts were small and of very simple construction: they were +made open in front and behind, but had a slight framework at the sides. +They had a pole rising a little in front, and were generally drawn by +two men. The wheels were commonly four-spoked. When the load had been +placed on the cart, it seems to have been in general secured by two +bands or ropes, which were passed over it diagonally, so as to cross +each other at the top. + +[Illustration: PLATE 140] + +Carts drawn by animals were no doubt used in the country; but they are +not found except in the scenes representing the triumphant returns of +armies, where it is more probable that the vehicles are foreign than +Assyrian. They have poles--not shafts--and are drawn by two animals, +either oxen, mules, or asses. The wheels have generally a large number +of spokes--sometimes as many as eleven. Representations of these carts +will be found in early pages. + +The Assyrians appear to have made occasional use of covered carriages. +Several vehicles of this kind are represented on an obelisk in the +British Museum. They have a high and clumsy body, which shows no window, +and is placed on four disproportionately low wheels, which raise it only +about a foot from the ground. In front of this body is a small +driving-place, enclosed in trelliswork, inside which the coachman stands +to drive. Each of these vehicles is drawn by two horses. It is probable +that they were used to convey the ladies of the court; and they were +therefore carefully closed, in order that no curious glance of +passers-by might rest upon the charming inmates. [PLATE CXL., Fig. 3.] +The _carpentum_, in which the Roman matrons rode at the great public +festivals, was similarly closed, both in front and behind, as is evident +from the representations which we have of it on medals and tombs. + +Except in the case of these covered vehicles, and of the chariots used +in war and hunting, horses (as already observed) were not employed for +draught. The Assyrians appear to have regarded them as too noble for +this purpose, unless where the monarch and those near to him were +concerned, for whose needs nothing was too precious. On the military +expeditions the horses were carefully fed and tended. Portable mangers +were taken with the army for their convenience; and their food, which +was probably barley, was brought to them by grooms in sieves or shallow +boxes, whence no doubt it was transferred to the mangers. [PLATE CXL., +Fig. 2.] They appear to have been allowed to go loose in the camp, +without being either hobbled or picketed. Care was taken to keep their +coats clean and glossy by the use of the curry-comb, which was probably +of iron. [PLATE CXL., Fig. 4.] + +Halters of two kinds were employed. Sometimes they consisted of a mere +simple noose, which was placed in the horse's mouth, and then drawn +tight round the chin. More often (as in the illustration) the rope was +attached to a headstall, not unlike that of an ordinary bridle, but +simpler, and probably of a cheaper material. Leading reins, fastened to +the bit of an ordinary bridle, were also common. + +Such are the principal points connected with the peaceful customs of the +Assyrians, on which the monuments recently discovered throw a tolerable +amount of light. Much still remains in obscurity. It is not possible as +yet, without drawing largely on the imagination, to portray in any +completeness the private life even of the Assyrian nobles, much less +that of the common people. All that can be done is to gather up the +fragments which time has spared; to arrange them in something like +order, and present them faithfully to the general reader, who, it is +hoped, will feel a certain degree of interest in them severally, as +matters of archeology, and who will probably further find that he +obtains from them in combination a fair notion of the general character +and condition of the race, of its mingled barbarism and civilization, +knowledge and ignorance, art and rudeness, luxury and simplicity of +habits. The novelist and even the essayist may commendably eke out the +scantiness of facts by a free indulgence in the wide field of +supposition and conjecture: but the historian is not entitled to stray +into this enchanted ground. He must be content to remain within the tame +and narrow circle of established fact. Where his materials are abundant. +he is entitled to draw graphic sketches of the general condition of the +people; but where they are scanty, as in the present instance, he must +be content to forego such pleasant pictures, in which the coloring and +the filling-up would necessarily be derived, not from authentic data, +but from his own fancy. + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +RELIGION. + +"The graven image, and the molten image."--NAHUM i. 14 + + +The religion of the Assyrians so nearly resembled--at least in its +external aspect, in which alone we can contemplate it--the religion of +the primitive Chaldaeans, that it will be unnecessary, after the full +treatment which that subject received in an earlier portion of this +work, to do much more than notice in the present place certain +peculiarities by which it would appear that the cult of Assyria was +distinguished from that of the neighboring and closely connected +country. With the exception that the first god in the Babylonian +Pantheon was replaced by a distinct and thoroughly national deity in the +Pantheon of Assyria, and that certain deities whose position was +prominent in the one occupied a subordinate position in the other, the +two religious systems may be pronounced, not similar merely but +identical. Each of them, without any real monotheism, commences with the +same preeminence of a single deity, which is followed by the same +groupings of identically the same divinities; and after that, by a +multitudinous polytheism, which is chiefly of a local character. Each +country, so far as we can see, has nearly the same worship-temples, +altars, and ceremonies of the same type--the same religious emblems--the +same ideas. The only difference here is, that in Assyria ampler evidence +exists of what was material in the religious system, more abundant +representations of the objects and modes of worship; so that it will be +possible to give, by means of illustrations, a more graphic portraiture +of the externals of the religion of the Assyrians than the scantiness of +the remains permitted in the case of the primitive Chaldaeans. + +At the head of the Assyrian Pantheon stood the "great god." Asshur. His +usual titles are "the great Lord," "the King of all the Gods," "he who +rules supreme over the Gods." Sometimes he is called "the Father of the +Gods," though that is a title which is more properly assigned to Belus. +His place is always first in invocations. He is regarded throughout all +the Assyrian inscriptions as the especial tutelary deity both of the +kings and of the country. He places the monarchs upon their + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +RELIGION. + +"The graven image, and the molten image."--NAHUM i. 14 + + +The religion of the Assyrians so nearly resembled--at least in its +external aspect, in which alone we can contemplate it--the religion of +the primitive Chaldaeans, that it will be unnecessary, after the full +treatment which that subject received in an earlier portion of this +work, to do much more than notice in the present place certain +peculiarities by which it would appear that the cult of Assyria was +distinguished from that of the neighboring and closely connected +country. With the exception that the first god in the Babylonian +Pantheon was replaced by a distinct and thoroughly national deity in the +Pantheon of Assyria, and that certain deities whose position was +prominent in the one occupied a subordinate position in the other, the +two religious systems may be pronounced, not similar merely but +identical. Each of them, without any real monotheism, commences with the +same preeminence of a single deity, which is followed by the same +groupings of identically the same divinities; and after that, by a +multitudinous polytheism, which is chiefly of a local character. Each +country, so far as we can see, has nearly the same worship-temples, +altars, and ceremonies of the same type--the same religious emblems--the +same ideas. The only difference here is, that in Assyria ampler evidence +exists of what was material in the religious system, more abundant +representations of the objects and modes of worship; so that it will be +possible to give, by means of illustrations, a more graphic portraiture +of the externals of the religion of the Assyrians than the scantiness of +the remains permitted in the case of the primitive Chaldaeans. + +At the head of the Assyrian Pantheon stood the "great god." Asshur. His +usual titles are "the great Lord," "the King of all the Gods," "he who +rules supreme over the Gods." Sometimes he is called "the Father of the +Gods," though that is a title which is more properly assigned to Belus. +His place is always first in invocations. He is regarded throughout all +the Assyrian inscriptions as the especial tutelary deity both of the +kings and of the country. He places the monarchs upon their throne, +firmly establishes then in the government, lengthens the years of their +reigns, preserves their power, protects their forts and armies, makes +their name celebrated, and the like. To him they look to give them +victory over their enemies, to grant them all the wishes of their heart, +and to allow them to be succeeded on their thrones by their sons and +their sons' sons, to a remote posterity. Their usual phrase when +speaking of him is "Asshur, my lord." They represent themselves as +passing their lives in his service. It is to spread his worship that +they carry on their wars. They fight, ravage, destroy in his name. +Finally, when they subdue a country, they are careful to "set up the +emblems of Asshur," and teach the people his laws and his worship. + +The tutelage of Asshur over Assyria is strongly marked by the identity +of his name with that of the country, which in the original is complete. +It is also indicated by the curious fact that, unlike the other gods, +Asshur had no notorious temple or shrine in any particular city of +Assyria, a sign that his worship was spread equally throughout the whole +land, and not to any extent localized. As the national deity, he had +given name to the original capital; but even at Asshur (_Kileh-Sherghat_) +it may be doubted whether there was any building which was specially his. +Therefore it is a reasonable conjectures that all the shrines throughout +Assyria were open to his worship, to whatever minor god they might happen +to be dedicated. + +In the inscriptions the Assyrians are constantly described as "the +servants of Asshur," and their enemies as "the enemies of Asshur." The +Assyrian religion is "the worship of Asshur." No similar phrases are +used with respect to any of the other gods of the Pantheon. + +We can scarcely doubt that originally the god Asshur was the great +progenitor of the race, Asshur, the son of Shen, deified. It was not +long, however, before this notion was lost, and Asshur came to be viewed +simply as a celestial being--the first and highest of all the divine +agents who ruled over heaven and earth. It is indicative of the +(comparatively speaking) elevated character of Assyrian polytheism that +this exalted and awful deity continued from first to last the main +object of worship, and was not superseded in the thoughts of men by the +lower and more intelligible divinities, such as Shamas and Sin, the Sun +and Moon, Nergal the God of War, Nin the God of Hunting, or Vul the +wielder of the thunderbolt. + +[Illustration: PLATE 141] + +The favorite emblem under which the Assyrians appear to have represented +Asshur in their works of art was the winged circle or globe, from which +a figure in a horned cap is frequently seen to issue, sometimes simply +holding a bow (Fig. I.), sometimes shooting his arrows against the +Assyrians' enemies (Fig II.). This emblem has been variously explained; +but the most probable conjecture would seem to be that the circle +typifies eternity, while the wings express omnipresence, and the human +figure symbolizes wisdom or intelligence. The emblem appears under many +varieties. Sometimes the figure which issues from it has no bow, and is +represented as simply extending the right hand (Fig. III.); occasionally +both hands are extended, and the left holds a ring or chaplet (Fig. +IV.). [PLATE CXLI., Fig. 1.] In one instance we see a very remarkable +variation: for the complete human figure is substituted a mere pair of +hands, which seem to come from behind the winged disk, the right open +and exhibiting the palm, the left closed and holding a bow. [PLATE +CXLI., Fig. 2.] In a large number of cases all sign of a person is +dispensed with, the winged circle appearing alone, with the disk either +plain or ornamented. On the other hand, there are one or two instances +where the emblem exhibits three human heads instead of one--the central +figure having on either side of it, a head, which seems to rest upon the +feathers of the wing. [PLATE CXLI., Fig. 3.] + +It is the opinion of some critics, based upon this form of the emblem, +that the supreme deity of the Assyrians, whom the winged circle seems +always to represent, was in reality a triune god. Now certainly the +triple human form is very remarkable, and lends a color to this +conjecture; but, as there is absolutely nothing, either in the +statements of ancient writers, or in the Assyrian inscriptions, so far +as they have been deciphered, to confirm the supposition, it can hardly +be accepted as the true explanation of the phenomenon. The doctrine of +the Trinity, scarcely apprehended with any distinctness even by the +ancient Jews, does not appear to have been one of those which primeval +revelation made known throughout the heathen world. It is a fanciful +mysticism which finds a Trinity in the Eicton, Cneph, and Phtha of the +Egyptians, the Oromasdes, Mithras, and Arhimanius of the Persians, and +the Monas, Logos and Psyche of Pythagoras and Plato. There are abundant +Triads in ancient mythology, but no real Trinity. The case of Asshur is, +however, one of simple unity, He is not even regularly included in any +Triad. It is possible, however, that the triple figure shows him to us +in temporary combination with two other gods, who may be exceptionally +represented in this way rather than by their usual emblems. Or the three +heads may be merely an exaggeration of that principle of repetition +which gives rise so often to a double representation of a king or a god, +and which is seen at Bavian in the threefold repetition of another +sacred emblem, the horned cap. + +It is observable that in the sculptures the winged circle is seldom +found except in immediate connection with the monarch. The great King +wears it embroidered upon his robes, carries it engraved upon his +cylinder, represents it above his head in the rock-tablets on which he +carves his image a stands or kneels in adoration before it, fights under +its shadow, under its protection returns victorious, places it +conspicuously in the scenes where he himself is represented on his +obelisks. And in these various representations he makes the emblem in a +great measure conform to the circumstances in which he himself is +engaged at the time. Where he is fighting, Asshur too has his arrow on +the string, and points it against the king's adversaries. Where he is +returning from victory, with the disused bow in the left hand and the +right hand outstretched and elevated, Asshur takes the same attitude. In +peaceful scenes the bow disappears altogether. If the king worships, the +god holds out his hand to aid; if he is engaged in secular arts, the +divine presence is thought to be sufficiently marked by the circle and +wings without the human figure. + +An emblem found in such frequent connection with the symbol of Asshur as +to warrant the belief that it was attached in a special way to his +worship, is the sacred or symbolical tree. Like the winged circle, this +emblem has various forms. The simplest consists of a short pillar +springing from a single pair of rams' horns, and surmounted by a capital +composed of two pairs of rams' horns separated by one, two, or three +horizontal bands; above which there is, first, a scroll resembling that +which commonly surmounts the winged circle, and then a flower, very much +like the "honeysuckle ornament" of the Greeks. More advanced specimens +show the pillar elongated with a capital in the middle in addition to +the capital at the top, while the blossom above the upper capital, and +generally the stem likewise, throw out a number of similar smaller +blossoms, which are sometimes replaced by fir-cones or pomegranates. +[PLATE CXLI., Fig. 4. ] Where the tree is most elaborately portrayed, we +see, besides the stem and the blossoms, a complicated network of +branches, which after interlacing with one another form a sort of arch +surrounding the tree itself as with a frame. [PLATE CXLII., Fig.1.] + +[Illustration: PLATE 142] + +It is a subject of curious speculation, whether this sacred tree does +not stand connected with the _Asherah_ of the Phoenicians, which was +certainly not a "grove," in the sense in which we commonly understand +that word. The _Asherah_ which the Jews adopted from the idolatrous +nations with whom they came in contact, was an artificial structure, +originally of wood, but in the later times probably of metal, capable of +being "set" in the temple at Jerusalem by one king, and "brought out" by +another. It was a structure for which "hangings" could be made, to cover +and protect it, while at the same time it was so far like a tree that it +could be properly said to be "cut down," rather than "broken" or +otherwise demolished. The name itself seems to imply something which +stood, straight up; and the conjecture is reasonable that its essential +element was "the straight stem of a tree," though whether the idea +connected with the emblem was of the same nature with that which +underlay the phallic rites of the Greeks is (to say the least) extremely +uncertain. We have no distinct evidence that the Assyrian sacred tree +was a real tangible object: it may have been, as Mr. Layard supposes, a +mere type. But it is perhaps on the whole more likely to have been an +actual object; in which case we can not but suspect that it stood in the +Assyrian system in much the same position as the _Asherah_ in the +Phoenician, being closely connected with the worship of the supreme god, +and having certainly a symbolic character, though of what exact kind it +may not be easy to determine. + +An analogy has been suggested between this Assyrian emblem and the +Scriptural "tree of life," which is thought to be variously reflected in +the multiform mythology of the East. Are not such speculations somewhat +over-fanciful There is perhaps, in the emblem itself, which combines the +horns of the ram--an animal noted for procreative power--with the image +of a fruit or flower-producing tree, ground for supposing that some +allusion is intended to the prolific or generative energy in nature; but +more than this can scarcely be said without venturing upon mere +speculation. The time perhaps ere long arrive when, by the +interpretation of the mythological tablets of the Assyrians, their real +notions on this and other kindred subjects may become known to us. Till +then, it is best to remain content with such facts as are ascertainable, +without seeking to penetrate mysteries at which we can but guess, and +where, even if we guess aright, we cannot know that we do so. + +The gods worshipped in Assyria in the next degree to Asshur appear to +have been, in the early times, Anu and Vul; in the later, Bel, Sin, +Shamas, Vul, Nin or Ninip, and Nergal. Gula, Ishtar, and Beltis were +favorite goddesses. Hoa, Nebo, and Merodach, though occasional objects +of worship, more especially under the later empire, were in far less +repute in Assyria than in Babylonia; and the two last-named may almost +be said to have been introduced into the former country from the latter +during the historical period. + +For the special characteristics of these various gods--common objects of +worship to the Assyrians and the Babylonians from a very remote +epoch--the reader is referred to the first part of this volume, where +their several attributes and their position in the Chaldaean Pantheon +have been noted. The general resemblance of the two religious systems is +such, that almost everything which has been stated with respect to the +gods of the First Empire may be taken us applying equally to those of +the Second; and the reader is requested to make this application in all +cases, except where some shade of difference, more or less strongly +marked, shall be pointed out. In the following pages, without repeating +what has been said in the first part of this volume, some account will +be given of the worship of the principal gods in Assyria and of the +chief temples dedicated to their service. + + +ANU. + +The worship of Anu seems to have been introduced into Assyria from +Babylonia during the times of Chaldaean supremacy which preceded the +establishment of the independent Assyrian kingdom. Shamas-Vul, the son +of Ishii-Dagon, king of Chaldaea, built a temple to Anu and Vul at +Asshur, which was then the Assyrian capital, about B.C. 1820. An +inscription of Tiglath-Pileser I., states that this temple lasted for 621 +years, when, having fallen into decay, it was taken down by Asshurdayan, +his own great-grandfather. Its site remained vacant for sixty years. +Then Tiglath-Pileser I., in the beginning of his reign, rebuilt the +temple more magnificently than before; and from that time it seems to +have remained among the principal shrines in Assyria. It was from a +tradition connected with this ancient temple of Shamas-Vul, that Asshur +in later times acquired the name of Telane, or "the Mound of Anu," which +it bears in Stephen. + +Anu's place among the "Great Gods" of Assyria is not so well marked as +that of many other divinities. His name does not occur as an element in +the names of kings or of other important personages. He is omitted +altogether from many solemn invocations. It is doubtful whether he is +one of the gods whose emblems were worn by the king and inscribed upon +the rock-tablets. But, on the other hand, where he occurs in lists, he +is invariably placed directly after Asshur; and he is often coupled with +that deity in a way which is strongly indicative of his exalted +character. Tiglath-Pileser I., though omitting him from his opening +invocation, speaks of him in the latter part of his great Inscription, +as his lord and protector in the next place to Asshur. Asshur-izir-pal +uses expressions as if he were Anu's special votary, calling himself +"him who honors Anu," or "him who honors Anu and Dugan." His son, the +Black-Obelisk king, assigns him the second place in the invocation of +thirteen gods with which he begins his record. The kings of the Lower +Dynasty do not generally hold him in much repute; Sargon, however, is an +exception, perhaps because his own name closely resembled that of a god +mentioned as one of Anu's sons. Sargon not infrequently glorifies Anu, +coupling him with Bel or Bil, the second god of the first Triad. He even +made Anu the tutelary god of one of the gates of his new city, +Bit-Sargina (Khorsabad), joining him in this capacity with the goddess +Ishtar. + +Anu had but few temples in Assyria. He seems to have had none at either +Nineveh or Calah, and none of any importance in all Assyria, except that +at Asshur. There is, however, reason, to believe that he was +occasionally honored with a shrine in a temple dedicated to another +deity. + + +BIL, or BEL. + +The classical writers represent Bel as especially a Babylonian god, and +scarcely mention his worship by the Assyrians; but the monuments show +that the true Bel (called in the first part of this volume Bel-Nimrod) +was worshipped at least as much in the northern as in the southern +country. Indeed, as early as the time of Tiglath-Pileser I., the +Assyrians, as a nation, were especially entitled by their monarchs "the, +people of Belus;" and the same periphrasis was in use during the period +of the Lower Empire. According to some authorities, a particular quarter +of the city of Nineveh was denominated "the city of Belus" which would +imply that it was in a peculiar way under his protection. The word Bel +does not occur very frequently as an element in royal names: it was +borne, however, by at least three early Assyrian kings: and there is +evidence that in later times it entered as an element into the names of +leading personages with almost as much frequency as Asshur. + +The high rank of Bel in Assyria is very strongly marked. In the +invocations his place is either the third or the second. The former is +his proper position, but occasionally Anu is omitted, and the name of +Bel follows immediately on that of Asshur. In one or two places he is +made third, notwithstanding that Anu is omitted, Shamas, the Sun-god, +being advanced over his head; but this is very unusual. + +The worship of Bel in the earliest Assyrian times is marked by the royal +names of Bel-snmili-kapi and Bel-lush, borne by two of the most ancient +kings. He had a temple at Asshur in conjunction with Il or Ra, which +must have been of great antiquity, for by the time of Tiglath-Pileser I. +(B.C. 1130) it had fallen to decay and required a complete restoration, +which it received from that monarch. He had another temple at Calah; +besides which he had four "arks" or "tabernacles," the emplacement of +which is uncertain. Among the latter kings, Sargon especially paid him +honor. Besides coupling him with Anu in his royal titles, he dedicated +to him--in conjunction with Beltis, his wife--one of the gates of his +city, and in many passages he ascribes his royal authority to the favor +of Bel and Merodach. He also calls Bel, in the dedication of the +eastern gate at Khorsabad, "the establisher of the foundations of his +city." + +It may be suspected that the horned cap, which was no doubt a general +emblem of divinity, was also in an especial way the symbol of this god. +Esarhaddon states that he setup over "the image of his majesty the +emblems of Asshur, the Sun, Bel, Nin, and Ishtar." The other kings +always include Bel among the chief objects of their worship. We should +thus expect to find his emblem among those which the kings specially +affected; and as all the other common emblems are assigned to distinct +gods with tolerable certainty, the horned cap alone remaining doubtful, +the most reasonable conjecture seems to be that it was Bel's symbol. + +It has been assumed in some quarters that the Bel of the Assyrians was +identical with the Phoenician Dagon. A word which reads _Da-gan_ is +found in the native lists of divinities, and in one place the +explanation attached seems to show that the term was among the titles of +Bel. But this verbal resemblance between the name Dagon and one of Bel's +titles is probably a mere accident, and affords no ground for assuming +any connection between the two gods, who have nothing in common one with +the other. The Bel of the Assyrians was certainly not their Fish-god; +nor had his epithet Da-gaga any real connection with the word _dag,_ "a +fish." To speak of "Bel-Dagon" is thus to mislead the ordinary reader, +who naturally supposes from the term that he is to identify the great +god Belus, the second deity of the first Triad, with the fish forms upon +the sculptures. + + +HEA, or HOA. + +Hen, or Hoa, the third god of the first Triad, was not a prominent +object of worship in Assyria. Asshur-izir-pal mentions him as having +allotted to the four thousand deities of heaven and earth the senses of +hearing, seeing, and understanding; and then, stating that the four +thousand deities had transferred all these senses to himself, proceeds +to take Hoa's titles, and, as it were, to identify himself with the god. +His son, Shalmaneser II., the Black-Obelisk king gives Hoa his proper +place in his opening invocation, mentioning him between Bel and Sin. +Sargon puts one of the gates of his new city under Hoa's care, joining +him with Bilat Ili--"the mistress of the gods"--who is, perhaps, the +Sun-goddess, Gula. Sennacherib, after a successful expedition across a +portion of the Persian Gulf, offers sacrifice to Hoa on the seashore, +presenting him with a golden boat, a golden fish, and a golden coffer. +But these are exceptional instances; and on the whole it is evident that +in Assyria Hoa was not a favorite god. The serpent, which is his emblem, +though found on the black stones recording benefactions, and frequent on +the Babylonian cylinder-seals, is not adopted by the Assyrian kings +among the divine symbols which they wear, or among those which they +inscribe above their effigies. The word Hoa does not enter as an element +into Assyrian names. The kings rarely invoke him. So far as we can tell, +he had but two temples in Assyria, one at Asshur (Kileh-Sherghat) and +the other at Calah (Nimrud). Perhaps the devotion of the Assyrians to +Nin--the tutelary god of their kings and of their capital--who in so +many respects resembled Hoa, caused the worship of Hoa to decline and +that of Nin gradually to supersede it. + + +MYLITTA, or BELTIS. + +Beltis, the "Great Mother," the feminine counterpart of Bel, ranked in +Assyria next to the Triad consisting of Anu, Bel, and Hoa. She is +generally mentioned in close connection with Bel, her husband, in the +Assyrian records. She appears to have been regarded in Assyria as +especially "the queen of fertility," or "fecundity," and so as "the +queen of the lands," thus resembling the Greek Demeter, who, like +Beltis, was known as: "the Great Mother." Sargon placed one of his gates +under the protection of Beltis in conjunction with her husband, Bel: and +Asshur-bani-pal, his great-grandson, repaired and rededicated to her a +temple at Nineveh, which stood on the great mound of Koyunjik. She had +another temple at Asshur, and probably a third at Calah. She seems to +have been really known as Beltis in Assyria, and as Mylitta (Mulita) in +Babylonia, though we should naturally have gathered the reverse from the +extant classical notices. + + +SIN, or THE MOON. + +Sin, the Moon-god, ranked next to Beltis in Assyrian mythology, and his +place is thus either fifth or sixth in the full lists, according as +Beltis is, or is not, inserted. His worship in the time of the early +empire appears from the invocation of Tiglath-Pileser I., where he +occurs in the third place, between Bel and Shamas. [PLATE CXLII., Fig. +2.] His emblem, the crescent, was worn by Asshur-izir-pal, and is found +wherever divine symbols are inscribed over their effigies by the +Assyrian kings. There is no sign which is more frequent on the +cylinder-seals, whether Babylonian or Assyrian, and it would thus seem +that Sin was among the most popular of Assyria's deities. His name +occurs sometimes, though not so frequently as some others, in the +appellations of important personages, as _e, g._ in that of Sennacherib, +which is explained to mean "Sin multiplies brethren." Sargon, who thus +named one of his sons, appears to have been specially attached to the +worship of Sin, to whom, in conjunction with Shamas, he built a temple +at Khorsabad, and to whom he assigned the second place among the +tutelary deities of his city. + +The Assyrian monarchs appear to have had a curious belief in the special +antiquity of the Moon-god. When they wished to mark a very remote +period, they used the expression "from the origin of the god Sin." This +is perhaps a trace of the ancient connection of Assyria with Babylonia, +where the earliest capital, Ur, was under the Moon-god's protection, and +the most primeval temple was dedicated to his honor. + +Only two temples are known to have been erected to Sin in Assyria. One +is that already mentioned as dedicated by Sargon at Bit-Sargina +(Khorsabad) to the Sun and Moon in conjunction. The other was at Calah, +and in that Sin had no associate. + + +SHAMAS. + +Shamas, the Sun-god, though in rank inferior to Sin, seems to have been +a still more favorite and more universal object of worship. From many +passages we should have gathered that he was second only to Asshur in +the estimation of the Assyrian monarchs, who sometimes actually place +him above Bel in their lists. His emblem, the four-rayed orb, is worn by +the king upon his neck, and seen more commonly than almost any other +upon the cylinder-seals. It is even in some instances united with that +of Asshur, the central circle of Asshur's emblem being marked by the +fourfold rays of Shamas. + +The worship of Shamas was ancient in Assyria. Tiglath-Pileser I., not +only names him in his invocation, but represents himself as ruling +especially under his auspices. Asshur-izir-pal mentions Asshur and +Shamas as the tutelary deities under whose influence he carried on his +various wars. His son, the Black-Obelisk king, assigns to Shamas his +proper place among the gods whose favor he invokes at the commencement +of his long Inscription. The kings of the Lower Empire were even more +devoted to him than their predecessors. Sargon dedicated to him the +north gate of his city, in conjunction with Vul, the god of the air, +built a temple to him at Khorsabad in conjunction with Sin, and assigned +him the third place among the tutelary deities of his new town. +Sennacherib and Esarhaddon mention his name next to Asshur's in passages +where they enumerate the gods whom they regard as their chief +protectors. + +Excepting at Khorsabad, where he had a temple (as above mentioned) in +conjunction with Sin, Shamas does not appear to have had any special +buildings dedicated to his honor. His images are, however, often noticed +in the lists of idols, and it is probable therefore that he received +worship in temples dedicated to other deities. His emblem is generally +found conjoined with that of the moon, the two being placed side by +side, or the one directly under the other. [PLATE CXLII., Fig. 3.] + + +VUL, or IVA. + +This god, whose name is still so uncertain, was known in Assyria from +times anterior to the independence, a temple having been raised in his +sole honor at Asshur, the original Assyrian capital, by Shamas-Vul, the +son of the Chaldaean king Ismi-Dagon, besides the temple (already +mentioned) which the same monarch dedicated to him in conjunction with +Anu. These buildings having fallen to ruin by the time of +Tiglath-Pileser I., were by him rebuilt from their base; and Vul, who +was worshipped in both, appears to have been regarded by that monarch as +one of his special "guardian deities." In the Black-Obelisk invocation +Vul holds the place intermediate between Sin and Shamas, and on the same +monument is recorded the fact that the king who erected it held, on one +occasion, a festival to Vul in conjunction with Asshur. Sargon names Vul +in the fourth place among the tutelary deities of his city, and +dedicates to him the north gate in conjunction with the Sun-god, Shamas. +Sennacherib speaks of hurling thunder on his enemies like Vul, and other +kings use similar expressions. The term Vul was frequently employed as +an element in royal and other names; and the emblem which seems to have +symbolized him--the double or triple bolt--appears constantly among +those worn by the kings, and engraved above their heads on the +rock-tablets. [PLATE CXLII., Fig. 4.] + +Vul had a temple at Calah besides the two temples in which he received +worship at Asshur. It was dedicated to him in conjunction with the +goddess Shala, who appears to have been regarded as his wife. + +It is not quite certain whether we can recognize any representations of +Vul in the Assyrian remains. Perhaps the figure with four wings and a +horned cap, who wields a thunderbolt in either hand, and attacks +therewith the monster, half lion, half eagle, which is known to us from +the Nimrod sculptures, may be intended for this deity. If so, it will be +reasonable also to recognize him in the figure with uplifted foot, +sometimes perched upon an ox, and bearing, like the other, one or two +thunderbolts, which occasionally occurs upon the cylinders. It is +uncertain, however, whether the former of these figures is not one of +the many different representations of Nin, the Assyrian Hercules; and, +should that prove the true explanation in the one case, no very great +confidence could be felt in the suggested identification in the other. + + +GULA. + +Gula, the Sum-goddess, does not occupy a very high position among the +deities of Assyria. Her emblem, indeed, the eight-rayed disk, is borne, +together with her husband's, by the Assyrian monarchs, and is inscribed +on the rock-tablets, on the stones recording benefactions, and on the +cylinder-seals, with remarkable frequency. But her name occurs rarely in +the inscriptions, and, where it is found, appears low down in the lists. +In the Black-Obelisk invocation, out of thirteen deities named, she is +the twelfth. Elsewhere she scarcely appears, unless in inscriptions of a +purely religious character. Perhaps she was commonly regarded as so much +one with her husband that a separate and distinct mention of her seemed +not to be requisite. + +Gula is known to have had at least two temples in Assyria. One of these +was at Asshur, where she was worshipped in combination with ten other +deities, of whom one only, Ishtar, was of high rank. The other was at +Calah, where her husband had also a temple. She is perhaps to be +identified with _Bilat-Ili_, "the mistress of the gods," to whom Sargon +dedicated one of his gates in conjunction with Hoa. + + +NINIP, or NIN. + +Among the gods of the second order, there is none whom the Assyrians +worshipped with more devotion than Nin, or Ninip. In traditions which +are probably ancient, the race of their kings was derived from him, and +after him was called the mighty city which ultimately became their +capital. As early as the thirteenth century B.C. the name of Nin was +used as an element in royal appellations; and the first king who has; +left us an historical inscription regarded himself as being in an +especial way under Nin's guardianship. Tiglath-Pileser I., is "the +illustrious prince whom Asshur and Nin have exalted to the utmost wishes +of his heart." He speaks of Nin sometimes singly, sometimes in +conjunction with Asshur, as his "guardian deity." Nin and Nergal make +his weapons sharp for him, and under Nin's auspices the fiercest beasts +of the field fall beneath them. Asshur-izir-pal built him a magnificent +temple at Nimrud (Calah). Shamas-Vul, the grandson of this king, +dedicated to him the obelisk which he set up at that place in +commemoration of his victories. Sargon placed his newly-built city in +part under his protection, and specially invoked him to guard his +magnificent palace. The ornamentation of that edifice indicated in a +very striking way the reverence of the builder for this god, whose +symbol, the winged bull, guarded all its main gateways, and who seems to +have been actually represented by the figure strangling a lion, so +conspicuous on the _Hareem_ portal facing the great court. Nor did +Sargon regard Nin as his protector only in peace. He ascribed to his +influence the successful issue of his wars; and it is probably to +indicate the belief which he entertained on this point that he +occasionally placed Nin's emblems on the sculptures representing his +expeditions. Sennacherib, the son and successor of Sargon, appears to +have had much the same feelings towards Nin, as his father, since in his +buildings he gave the same prominence to the winged bull and to the +figure strangling the lion; placing the former at almost all his +doorways, and giving the latter a conspicuous position on the grand +facade of his chief palace. Esarhaddon relates that he continued in the +worship of Nin, setting up his emblem over his own royal effigy, +together with those of Asshur, Shamas, Bel, and Ishtar. + +It appears at first sight as if, notwithstanding the general prominency +of Nin in the Assyrian religious system, there was one respect in which +he stood below a considerable number of the gods. We seldom find his +name used openly as an element in the royal appellations. In the list of +kings three only will be found with names into which the terms Nin +enters. But there is reason to believe that, in the case of this god, it +was usual to speak of him under a periphrasis; and this periphrasis +entered into names in lieu of the god's proper designation. Five kings +(if this be admitted) may be regarded as named after him, which is as +large a number as we find named after any god but Vul and Asshur. + +The principal temples known to have been dedicated to Nin in Assyria +were at Calah, the modern Nimrud. There the vast structure at the +north-western angle of the great mound, including the pyramidical +eminence which is the most striking feature of the ruins, was a temple +dedicated to the honor of Nin by Asshur-izir-pal, the builder of the +North-West Palace. We can have little doubt that this building +represents the "busta Nini" of the clasical writers, the place where +Ninus (Nin or Nin-ip), who was regarded by the Greeks as the +hero-founder of the nation, was interred and specially worshipped. Nin +had also a second temple in this town, which bore the name of _Bit-kura_ +(or Beth-kura), as the other one did of _Bit-zira_ (or Beth-zira). It +seems to have been from the fame of Beth-zira that Nin had the title +_Pal-zira_, which forms a substitute for Nin, as already noticed, in one +of the royal names. + + +MERODACH. + +Most of the early kings of Assyria mention Merodach in their opening +invocations, and we sometimes find an allusion in their inscriptions, +which seems to imply that he was viewed as a god of great power. But he +is decidedly not a favorite object of worship in Assyria until a +comparatively recent period. Vul-lush III., indeed claims to have been +the first to give him a prominent place in the Assyrian Pantheon; and it +may be conjectured that the Babylonian expeditions of this monarch +furnished the impulse which led to a modification in this respect of the +Assyrian religious system. The later kings, Sargon and his successors, +maintain the worship introduced by Vul-lush. Sargon habitually regards +his power as conferred upon him by the combined favor of Merodach and +Asshur, while Esarhaddon sculptures Merodach's emblem, together with +that of Asshur, over the images of foreign gods brought to him by a +suppliant prince. No temple to Merodach, is, however, known to have +existed in Assyria, even under the later kings. His name, however, was +not infrequently used as an element in the appellations of Assyrians. + + +NERGAL. + +Among the Minor gods, Nergal is one whom the Assyrians seem to have +regarded with extraordinary reverence. He was the divine ancestor from +whom the monarchs loved to boast that they derived their descent--the +line being traceable, according to Sargon, through three hundred and +fifty generations. They symbolized him by the winged lion with a human +head, or possibly sometimes by the mere natural lion; and it was to mark +their confident dependence on his protection that they made his emblems +so conspicuous in their palaces. Nin and Nergal--the gods of war and +hunting, the occupations in which the Assyrian monarchs passed their +lives--were tutelary divinities of the race, the life, and the homes of +the kings, who associate the two equally in their inscriptions and their +sculptures. + +Nergal, though thus honored by the frequent mention of his name and +erection of his emblem, did not (so far as appears) often receive the +tribute of a temple. Sennacherib dedicated one to him at Tarbisi (now +Sherif-khan), near Khorsabad; and he may have had another at Calah +(Nimrud), of which he is said to have been one of the "resident gods." +But generally it would seem that the Assyrians were content to pay him +honor in other ways without constructing special buildings devoted +exclusively to his worship. + + +ISHTAR. + +Ishtar was very generally worshipped by the Assyrian monarchs, who +called her "their lady," and sometimes in their invocations coupled her +with the supreme god Asshur. She had a very ancient temple at Asshur, +the primeval capital, which Tiglath-Pileser I., repaired and beautified. +Asshur-izir-pal built her a second temple at Nineveh, and she had a +third at Arbela, which Asshur-bani-pal states that he restored. Sargon +placed under her protection, conjointly with Anu, the western gate of +his city; and his son, Sennacherib, seems to have viewed Asshur and +Ishtar as the special guardians of his progeny. Asshur-bani-pal, the +great hunting king was a devotee of the goddess, whom he regarded as +presiding over his special diversion, the chase. + +What is most remarkable in the Assyrian worship of Ishtar is the local +character assigned to her. The Ishtar of Nineveh is distinguished from +the Ishtar of Arbela, and both from the Ishtar of Babylon, separate +addresses being made to them in one and the same invocation. It would +appear that in this case there was, more decidedly than in any other, an +identification of the divinity with her idols, from which resulted the +multiplication of one goddess into many. + +The name of Ishtar appears to have been rarely used in Assyria in royal +or other appellations. It is difficult to account for this fact, which +is the more remarkable, since in Phoenicia Astarte, which corresponds +closely to Ishtar, is found repeatedly as an element in the royal +titles. + + +NEBO. + +Nebo must have been acknowledged as a god by the Assyrians from very +ancient times, for his name occurs as an element in a royal appellation +as early as the twelfth century B.C. He seems, however, to have been +very little worshipped till the time of Vud-lush III., who first brought +him prominently forward in the Pantheon of Assyria after an expedition +which he conducted into Babylonia, where Nebo had always been in high +favor. Vul-lush set up two statues to Nebo at Calah and probably built +him the temple there which was known as Bit-Siggil, or Beth-Saggil, from +whence the god derived one of his appellations. He did not receive much +honor from Sargon; but both Sennacherib and Esarhaddon held him in +considerable reverence, the latter even placing him above Merodach in an +important invocation. Asshur-bani-pal also paid him considerable +respect, mentioning him and his wife Warmita, as the deities under whose +auspices he undertook certain literary labors. + +It is curious that Nebo, though he may thus almost be called a late +importation into Assyria, became under the Later Dynasty (apparently) +one of most popular of the gods. In the latter portion of the list of +Eponyms obtained from the celebrated "Canon," we find Nebo an element in +the names as frequently as any other god excepting Asshur. Regarding +this as a test of popularity we should say that Asshur held the first +place; but that his supremacy was closely contested by Bel and Nebo, who +were held in nearly equal repute, both being far in advance of any other +deity. + +Besides these principal gods, the Assyrians acknowledged and worshipped +a vast number of minor divinities, of whom, however, some few only +appear to deserve special mention. It may be noticed in the first place, +as a remarkable feature of this people's mythological system, that each +important god was closely associated with a goddess, who is commonly +called his wife, but who yet does not take rank in the Pantheon at all +in accordance with the dignity of her husband. Some of these goddesses +have been already mentioned, as Beltis, the feminine counterpart of Bel; +Gala, the Sun-goddess, the wife of Shamas; and Ishtar, who is sometimes +represented as the wife of Nebo. To the same class belong Sheruha, the +wife of Asshur; Anata or Anuta, the wife of Anu; Dav-Kina, the wife of +Hea or Hoa; Shales, the wife of Vul or Iva; Zir-banit, the wife of +Merodach; and Laz, the wife of Nergal. Nin, the Assyrian Hercules, and +Sin, the Moon-god, have also wives, whose proper names are unknown, but +who are entitled respectively "the Queen of the Land" and "the great +Lady." Nebo's wife, according to most of the Inscriptions, is Warmita; +but occasionally, as above remarked, this name is replaced by that of +Ishtar. A tabular view of the gods and goddesses, thus far, will +probably be found of use by the reader towards obtaining a clear +conception of the Assyrian Pantheon: + +[Illustration: Page 358] + +It appears to have been the general Assyrian practice to unite together +in the same worship, under the same roof, the female and the male +principle. The female deities had in fact, for the most part, an +unsubstantial character: they were ordinarily the mere reflex image of +the male, and consequently could not stand alone, but required the +support of the stronger sex to give then something of substance and +reality. This was the general rule; but at the same time it was not +without certain exceptions. Ishtar appears almost always as an +independent and unattached divinity; while Beltis and Gula are presented +to us in colors as strong and a form as distinct as their husbands, Bel +and Shamas. Again, there are minor goddesses, such as Telita, the +goddess of the great marshes near Babylon, who stand alone, +unaccompanied by any male. The minor male divinities are also, it would +seem, very generally without female counterparts. + +Of these minor male divinities the most noticeable are Martu, a son of +Anu, who is called "the minister of the deep," and seems to correspond +to the Greek Erebus; Sargana, another son of Anu, from whom Sargon is +thought by some to have derived his name Idak, god of the Tigris; +Supulat, lord of the Euphrates; and Il or Ra, who seems to be the +Babylonian chief god transferred to Assyria, and there placed in a +humble position. Besides these, cuneiform scholars recognize in the +Inscriptions some scores of divine names, of more or less doubtful +etymology, some of which are thought to designate distinct gods, while +others may be names of deities known familiarly to us under a different +appellation. Into this branch of the subject it is not proposed to enter +in the present work, which addresses itself to the general reader. + +It is probable that, besides gods, the Assyrians acknowledged the +existence of a number of genii, some of whom they regarded as powers of +good, others as powers of evil. The winged figure wearing the horned +cap, which is so constantly represented as attending upon the monarch +when he is employed in any sacred function, would seem to be his +tutelary genius--a benignant spirit who watches over him, and protects +him from the spirits of darkness. This figure commonly bears in the +right hand either a pomegranate or a pine-cone, while the left is either +free or else supports a sort of plaited bag or basket. [PLATE CXLII., +Fig. 6.] Where the pine-cone is carried, it is invariably pointed +towards the monarch, as if it were the means of communication between +the protector and the protected, the instrument by which grace and power +passed from the genius to the mortal whom he had undertaken to guard. +Why the pine-cone was chosen for this purpose it is difficult to form a +conjecture. Perhaps it had originally become a sacred emblem merely as a +symbol of productiveness after which it was made to subserve a further +purpose, without much regard to its old symbolical meaning. + +The sacred basket, held in the left hand, is of still more dubious +interpretation. It is an object of great elegance, always elaborately +and sometimes very tastefully ornamented. Possibly it may represent the +receptacle in which the divine gifts are stored, and from which they can +be taken by the genius at his discretion, to be bestowed upon the mortal +under his care. + +Another good genius would seem to be represented by the hawk-headed +figure, which is likewise found in attendance upon the monarch, +attentively watching his proceedings. This figure has been called that +of a god, and has been supposed to represent the Nisroch of Holy +Scripture; but the only ground for such an identification is the +conjectural derivation of Nisroch from a root _nisr_, which in some +Semitic languages signifies a "hawk" or "falcon." As _nisr_, however, +has not been found with any such meaning in Assyrian, and as the word +"Nisroch" nowhere appears in the Inscriptions, it must be regarded as in +the highest degree doubtful whether there is any real connection between +the hawk-headed figure and the god in whose temple Sennacherib was +assassinated. [PLATE CXLII., Fig. 5.] The various readings of the +Septuagint version make it extremely uncertain what was the name +actually written in the original Hebrew text. Nisroch, which is utterly +unlike any divine name hitherto found in the Assyrian records, is most +probable a corruption. At any rate there are no sufficient grounds for +identifying the god mentioned, whatever the true reading of his name may +be, with the hawk-headed figure, which has the appearance of an +attendant genius rather than that of a god, and which was certainly not +included among the main deities of Assyria. + +[Illustration: PLATE 143] + +Representations of evil genii are comparatively infrequent; but we can +scarcely be mistaken in regarding as either an evil genius, or a +representation of the evil principle, the monster--half lion, half +eagle--which in the Nimrud sculptures retreats from the attacks of a +god, probably Vul, who assails him with thunderbolts. [PLATE CXLIII., +Fig. I.] Again, in the case of certain grotesque statuettes found at +Khorsabad, one of which has already been represented, where a human +figure has the head of a lion with the ears of an ass, the most natural +explanation seems to be that an evil genius is intended. In another +instance, where we see two monsters with heads like the statuette just +mentioned, placed on human bodies, the legs of which terminate in +eagles' claws--both of them armed with daggers and maces, and engaged in +a struggle with one another--we seem to have a symbolical representation +of the tendency of evil to turn upon itself, and reduce itself to +feebleness by internal quarrel and disorder. A considerable number of +instances occur in which a human figure, with the head of a hawk or +eagle, threatens a winged human-headed lion--the emblem of Nergal--with +a strap or mace. In these we may have a spirit of evil assailing a god, +or possibly one god opposing another--the hawk-headed god or genius +driving Nergal (i.e., War) beyond the Assyrian borders. + +If we pass from the objects to the mode of worship in Assyria, we must +notice at the outset the strongly idolatrous character of the religion. +Not only were images of the gods worshipped set up, as a matter of +course, in every temple dedicated to their honor, but the gods were +sometimes so identified with their images as to be multiplied in popular +estimation when they had several famous temples, in each of which was a +famous image. Thus we hear of the Ishtar of Arbela, the Ishtar of +Nineveh, and the Ishtar of Babylon, and find these goddesses invoked +separately, as distinct divinities, by one and the same king in one and +the same Inscription. In other cases, without this multiplication, we +observe expressions which imply a similar identification of the actual +god with the mere image. Tiglath-Pileser I., boasts that he has set Anu +and Vul (i.e., their images) up in their places. He identifies +repeatedly the images which he carries off from foreign countries with +the gods of those countries. In a similar spirit Sennacherib asks, by +the mouth of Rabshakeh, "_Where are the gods_ of Hamath and of Arpad? +_Where are the gods_ of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?"--and again unable to +rise to the conception of a purely spiritual deity, supposes that, +because Hezekiah has destroyed all the images throughout Judaea, he has +left his people without any divine protection. The carrying off of the +idols from conquered countries, which we find universally practised, was +not perhaps intended as a mere sign of the power of the conqueror, and +of the superiority of his gods to those of his enemies; it was probably +designed further to weaken those enemies by depriving them of their +celestial protectors; and it may even have been viewed as strengthening +of the conqueror by multiplying his divine guardians. It was certainly +usual to remove the images in a reverential manner; and it was the +custom to deposit them in some of the principal temples of Assyria. We +may presume that there lay at the root of this practice a real belief in +the super-natural power of the in images themselves, and a notion that, +with the possession of the images, this power likewise changed sides and +passed over from the conquered to the conquerors. + +Assyrian idols were in stone, baked clay, or metal. Some images of Nebo +and of Ishtar have been obtained from the ruins. Those of Nebo are +standing figures, of a larger size than the human, though not greatly +exceeding it. They have been much injured by time, and it is difficult +to pronounce decidedly on their original workmanship: but, judging by +what appears, it would seem to have been of a ruder and coarser +character than that of the slabs or of the royal statues. The Nebo +images are heavy, formal, inexpressive, and not over well-proportioned; +but they are not wanting in a certain quiet dignity which impresses the +beholder. They are unfortunately disfigured, like so many of the lions +and bulls, by several lines of cuneiform writing inscribed round their +bodies; but this artistic defect is pardoned by the antiquarian, who +learns from the inscribed lines the fact that the statues represent +Nebo, and the time and circumstances of their dedication. + +Clay idols are very frequent. They are generally in a good material, and +are of various sizes, yet never approaching to the full stature of +humanity. Generally they are mere statuettes, less than a foot in +height. Specimens have been selected for representation in the preceding +volume, from which a general idea of their character is obtainable. They +are, like the stone idols, formal and inexpressive in style, while they +are even ruder and coarser than those figures in workmanship. We must +regard them as intended chiefly for private use among the mass of the +population, while we must view the stone idols as the objects of public +worship in the shrines and temples. + +Idols in metal have not hitherto appeared among the objects recovered +from the Assyrian cities. We may conclude, however, from the passage of +Nahum prefixed to this chapter, as well as from general probability, +that they were known and used by the Assyrians, who seem to have even +admitted them--no less than stone statues--into their temples. The +ordinary metal used was no doubt bronze; but in Assyria, as in +Babylonia, silver, and perhaps in some few instances gold, may have been +employed for idols, in cases where they were intended as proofs to the +world at large of the wealth and magnificence of a monarch. + +The Assyrians worshipped their gods chiefly with sacrifices and +offerings, Tiglath-Pileser I., relates that he offered sacrifice to Anu +and Vul on completing the repairs of their temple. Asshur-izir-pal says +that he sacrificed to the gods after embarking on the Mediterranean. +Vul-lush IV, sacrificed to Bel-Merodach, Nebo, and Nergal, in their +respective high seats at Babylon, Borsippa, and Cutha. Sennacherib +offered sacrifices to Hoa on the sea-shore after an expedition in the +Persian Gulf. Esarhaddon "slew great and costly sacrifices" at Nineveh +upon completing his great palace in that capital. Sacrifice was clearly +regarded as a duty by the kings generally, and was the ordinary mode by +which they propitiated the favor of the national deities. + +[Illustration: PLATE 144] + +With respect to the mode of sacrifice we have only a small amount of +information, derived from a very few bas-reliefs. These unite in +representing the bull as the special sacrificial animal. In one we +simply see a bull brought up to a temple by the king; but in another, +which is more elaborate, we seem to have the whole of a sacrificial +scene fairly, if not exactly, brought before us. [PLATE CXLIV., Fig. 1.] +Towards the front of the temple, where the god, recognizable by his +horned cap, appears seated upon a throne, with an attendant priest, who +is beardless, paying adoration to him, advances a procession consisting +of the king and six priests, one of whom carries a cup, while the other +five are employed about the animal. The king pours a libation over a +large bowl, fixed in a stand, immediately in front of a tall fire-altar, +from which flames are rising. Close behind this stands the priest with a +cup, from which we may suppose that the monarch will pour a second +libation. Next we observe a bearded priest directly in front of the +bull, checking the advance of the animal, which is not to be offered +till the libation is over. The bull is also held by a pair of priests, +who walk behind him and restrain him with a rope attached to one of his +fore-legs a little above the hoof. Another pair of priests, following +closely on the footsteps of the first pair, completes the procession: +the four seem, from the position of their heads and arms, to be engaged +in a solemn chant. It is probable, from the flame upon the altar, that +there is to be some burning of the sacrifice; while it is evident, from +the altar being of such a small size, that only certain parts of the +animal can be consumed upon it. We may conclude therefore that the +Assyrian sacrifices resembled those of the classical nations, consisting +not of whole burnt offerings, but of a selection of choice parts, +regarded as specially pleasing to the gods, which were placed upon the +altar and burnt, while the remainder of the victim was consumed by +priest or people. + +Assyrian altars were of various shapes and sizes. One type was square, +and of no great height; it had its top ornamented with gradines, below +which the sides were either plain or fluted. Another which was also of +moderate height, was triangular, but with a circular top, consisting of +a single flat stone, perfectly plain, except that it was sometimes +inscribed round the edge. [PLATE CXLIII. Fig. 2.] A third type is that +represented in the sacrificial scene. [PLATE CXLIV.] This is a sort of +portable stand--narrow, but of considerable height, reaching nearly to a +man's chin. Altars of this kind seem to have been carried about by the +Assyrians in their expeditions: we see them occasionally in the +entrenched camps, and observe priests officiating at them in their dress +of office. [PLATE CXLIII., Fig. 3.] + +Besides their sacrifices of animals, the Assyrian kings were accustomed +to deposit in the temples of their gods, as thank-offerings, many +precious products from the countries which they overran in their +expeditions. Stones and marbles of various kinds, rare metals, and +images of foreign deities, are particularly mentioned; but it would seem +to be most probable that some portion of all the more valuable articles +was thus dedicated. Silver and gold were certainly used largely in the +adornment of the temples, which are sometimes said to have been made "as +splendid as the sun," by reason of the profuse employment upon them of +these precious metals. + +It is difficult to determine how the ordinary worship of the gods was +conducted. The sculptures are for the most part monuments erected by +kings; and when these have a religious character, they represent the +performance by the kings of their own religious duties, from which +little can be concluded as to the religious observances of the people. +The kings seem to have united the priestly with the regal character; and +in the religious scenes representing their acts of worship, no priest +ever intervenes between them and the god, or appears to assume any but a +very subordinate position. The king himself stands and worships in close +proximity to the holy tree; with his own hand he pours libations; and it +is not unlikely that he was entitled with his own arm to sacrifice +victims. + +But we can scarcely suppose that the people had these privileges. +Sacerdotal ideas have prevailed in almost all Oriental monarchies, and +it is notorious that they had a strong hold upon the neighboring and +nearly connected kingdom of Babylon. The Assyrians generally, it is +probable, approached the gods through their priests; and it would seem +to be these priests who are represented upon the cylinders as +introducing worshippers to the gods, dressed themselves in long robes, +and with a curious mitre upon their heads. The worshipper seldom comes +empty-handed. He carries commonly in his arms an antelope or young goat, +which we may presume to be an offering intended to propitiate the deity. +[PLATE CXLIV., Fig. 2.] + +It is remarkable that the priests in the sculptures are generally, if +not invariably, beardless. It is scarcely probable that they were +eunuchs, since mutilation is in the East always regarded as a species of +degradation. Perhaps they merely shaved the beard for greater +cleanliness, like the priests of the Egyptians and possibly it was a +custom only obligatory on the upper grades of the priesthood. + +We have no evidence of the establishment of set festivals in Assyria. +Apparently the monarchs decided, of their own will, when a feast should +be held to any god; and, proclamation being made, the feast was held +accordingly. Vast numbers, especially of the chief men, were assembled +on such occasions; numerous sacrifices were offered, and the festivities +lasted for several days. A considerable proportion of the worshippers +were accommodated in the royal palace, to which the temple was +ordinarily a mere adjunct, being fed at the king's cost, and lodged in +the halls and other apartments. + +The Assyrians made occasionally a religious use of fasting. The evidence +on this point is confined to the Book of Jonah, which, however, +distinctly shows both the fact and the nature of the usage. When a fast +was proclaimed, the king, the nobles, and the people exchanged their +ordinary apparel for sackcloth, sprinkled ashes upon their heads, and +abstained alike from food and drink until the fast was over. The animals +also that were within the walls of the city where the fast was +commanded, had sackcloth placed upon them; and the same abstinence was +enforced upon them as was enjoined on the inhabitants. Ordinary business +was suspended, and the whole population united in prayer to Asshur, the +supreme god, whose pardon they entreated, and whose favor they sought to +propitiate. These proceedings were not merely formal. On the occasion +mentioned in the book of Jonah, the repentance of the Ninevites seems to +have been sincere. "God saw their works, that they turned from their +evil way; and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do +unto them: and he did it not." + +The religious sentiment appears, on the whole, to have been strong and +deep-seated among the Assyrians. Although religion had not the +prominence in Assyria which it possessed in Egypt, or even in +Greece--although the temple was subordinated to the palace, and the most +imposing of the representations of the gods were degraded to mere +architectural ornaments--yet the Assyrians appear to have been really, +nay, even earnestly, religious. Their religion, it must be admitted, was +of a sensuous character. They not only practised image-worship, but +believed in the actual power of the idols to give protection or work +mischief; nor could they rise to the conception of a purely spiritual +and immaterial deity. Their ordinary worship was less one of prayer than +one by means of sacrifices and offerings. They could, however, we know, +in the time of trouble, utter sincere prayers; and we are bound +therefore to credit them with an honest purpose in respect of the many +solemn addresses and invocations which occur both in their public and +their private documents. The numerous mythological tablets testify to +the large amount of attention which was paid to religious subjects by +the learned; while the general character of their names, and the +practice of inscribing sacred figures and emblems upon their signets, +which was almost universal, seem to indicate a spirit of piety on the +part of the mass of the people. + +The sensuous cast of the religion naturally led to a pompous ceremonial, +a fondness for processional display, and the use of magnificent +vestments. These last are represented with great minuteness in the +Nimrud sculptures. The dresses of those engaged in sacred functions seem +to have been elaborately embroidered, for the most part with religious +figures and emblems, such as the winged circle, the pine-cone, the +pomegranate, the sacred tree, the human-headed lion, and the like. +Armlets, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings were worn by the officiating +priests, whose heads were either encircled with a richly-ornamented +fillet, or covered with a mitre or high cap of imposing appearance. +Musicians had a place in the processions, and accompanied the religious +ceremonies with playing or chanting, or, in some instances, possibly +with both. + +It is remarkable that the religious emblems of the Assyrian are almost +always free from that character of grossness which in the classical +works of art, so often offends modern delicacy. The sculptured remains +present us with no representations at all parallel to the phallic +emblems of the Greeks. Still we are perhaps not entitled to conclude, +from this comparative purity, that the Assyrian religion was really +exempt from that worst feature of idolatrous systems--a licensed +religious sensualism. According to Herodotus the Babylonian worship of +Beltis was disgraced by a practice which even he, heathen as he was, +regarded as "most shameful." Women were required once in their lives to +repair to the temple of this goddess, and there offer themselves to the +embrace of the first man who desired their company. In the Apocryphal +Book of Baruch we find a clear allusion to the same custom, so that +there can be little doubt of its having really obtained in Babylonia; +but if so, it would seem to follow, almost as a matter of course, that +the worship of the same identical goddess in the an joining country +included a similar usage. It may be to this practice that the prophet +Nahum alludes, where he denounces Nineveh as a "well-favored harlot," +the multitude of whose harlotries was notorious. + +Such then was the general character of the Assyrian religion. We have no +means of determining whether the cosmogony of the Chaldaeans formed any +part of the Assyrian system, or was confined to the lower country. No +ancient writer tells us anything of the Assyrian notions on this +subject, nor has the decipherment of the monuments thrown as yet any +light upon it. It would be idle therefore to prolong the present chapter +by speculating upon a matter concerning which we have at present no +authentic data. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CHRONOLOGY AND HISTORY. + + +The chronology of the Assyrian kingdom has long exercised, and divided, +the judgments of the learned. On the one hand, Ctesias and his numerous +followers--including, among the ancients, Cephalion, Castor, Diodorus +Siculus, Nicolas of Damascus, Trogus Pompeius, Velleius Paterculus, +Josephus, Eusebius, and Moses of Chorene; among the moderns, Freret, +Rollin, and Clinton have given the kingdom a duration of between +thirteen and fourteen hundred years, and carried hack its antiquity to a +time almost coeval with the founding of Babylon; on the other, +Herodotus, Volney, Ileeren, B. G. Niebuhr, Brandis, and many others, +have preferred a chronology which limits the duration of the kingdom to +about six centuries and a half, and places the commencement in the +thirteenth century B.C. when a flourishing empire had already existed in +Chaldaea, or Babylonia, for a thousand years, or more. The questions +thus mooted remain still, despite of the volumes which have been written +upon them, so far undecided, that it will be necessary to entertain and +discuss theirs at some length in this place, before entering on the +historical sketch which is needed to complete our account of the Second +Monarchy. + +The duration of a single unbroken empire continuously for 1306 (or 1360) +years, which is the time assigned to the Assyrian Monarchy by Ctesias, +must be admitted to be a thing hard of belief, if not actually +incredible. The Roman State, with all its elements of strength, had (we +are told), as kingdom, commonwealth, and empire, a duration of no more +than twelve centuries. The Chaldaean Monarchy lasted, as we have seen, +about a thousand years, from the time of the Elamite conquest. The +duration of the Parthian was about five centuries of the first Persian, +less than two and a half; of the Median, at the utmost, one and a half; +of the later Babylonian, less than one. The only monarchy existing under +conditions at all similar to Assyria, whereto an equally long--or rather +a still longer--duration has been assigned with some show of reason, is +Egypt. But there it is admitted that the continuity was interrupted by +the long foreign domination of the Hyksos, and by at least one other +foreign conquest--that of the Ethiopian Sabacos or Shebeks. According to +Ctesias, one and the same dynasty occupied the Assyrian throne during +the whole period, of thirteen hundred years. Sardanapalus, the last king +in his list, being the descendant and legitimate successor of Ninus. + +There can be no doubt that a monarchy lasting about six centuries and a +half, and ruled by at least two or three different dynasties, is per se +a thing far more probable than one ruled by one and the same dynasty for +more than thirteen centuries. And therefore, if the historical evidence +in the two cases is at all equal--or rather, if that which supports the +more improbable account does not greatly preponderate--we ought to give +credence to the more moderate and probable of the two statements. + +Now, putting aside authors who merely re-echo the statements of others, +there seem to be, in the present case, two and two only distinct +original authorities--Herodotus and Ctesias. Of these two, Herodotus is +the earlier. He writes within two centuries of the termination of the +Assyrian rule, whereas Ctesias writes at least thirty years later. He is +of unimpeachable honesty, and may be thoroughly trusted to have reported +only what he had heard. He had travelled in the East, and had done his +best to obtain accurate information upon Oriental matters, consulting on +the subject, among others, the Chaldaeans of Babylon. He had, moreover, +taken special pains to inform himself upon all that related to Assyria, +which he designed to make the subject of an elaborate work distinct from +his general history. + +Ctesias, like Herodotus, had had the advantage of visiting the East. It +may be argued that he possessed even better opportunities than the +earlier writer for becoming acquainted with the views which the +Orientals entertained of their own past. Herodotus probably devoted but +a few months, or at most a year or two, to his Oriental travels; Ctesias +passed seventeen years at the Court of Persia. Herodotus was merely an +ordinary traveller, and had no peculiar facilities for acquiring +information in the East; Ctesias was court-physician to Artaxerxes +Mnemon, and was thus likely to gain access to any archives which the +Persian kings might have in their keeping. But these advantages seem to +have been more than neutralized by the temper and spirit of the man. He +commenced his work with the broad assertion that Herodotus was "a liar," +and was therefore bound to differ from him when he treated of the same +periods or nations. He does differ from him, and also from Thucydides, +whenever they handle the same transactions; but in scarcely a single +instance where he differs from either writer does his narrative seem to +be worthy of credit. The cuneiform monuments, while they generally +confirm Herodotus, contradict Ctesias perpetually. He is at variance +with Manetho on Egyptian, with Ptolemy on Babylonian, chronology. No +independent writer confirms him on any important point. His Oriental +history is quite incompatible with the narrative of Scripture. On every +ground, the judgment of Aristotle, of Plutarch, of Arrian, of Scaliger, +and of almost all the best critics of modern times, with respect to the +credibility of Ctesias, is to be maintained, and his authority is to be +regarded as of the very slightest value in determining any controverted +matter. + +The chronology of Herodotus, which is on all accounts to be preferred, +assigns the commencement of the Assyrian Empire to about B.C. 1250, or a +little earlier, and gives the monarchy a duration of nearly 650 years +from that time. The Assyrians, according to him, held the undisputed +supremacy of Western Asia for 520 years, or from about B.C. 1250 to +about B.C. 730--after which they maintained themselves in an independent +but less exalted position for about 130 years longer, till nearly the +close of the seventh century before our era. These dates are not indeed +to be accepted without reserve; but they are approximate to the truth, +and are, at any rate, greatly preferable to those of Ctesias. + +The chronology of Berosus was, apparently, not very different from that +of Herodotus. There can be no reasonable doubt that his sixth Babylonian +dynasty represents the line of kings which ruled in Babylon during the +period known as that of the Old Empire in Assyria. Now this line, which +was Semitic, appears to have been placed upon the throne by the +Assyrians, and to have been among the first results of that conquering +energy which the Assyrians at this time began to develop. Its +commencement should therefore synchronize with the foundation of an +Assyrian Empire. The views of Berosus on this latter subject may be +gathered from what he says of the former. Now the scheme of Berosus gave +as the date of the establishment of this dynasty about the year B.C. +1300; and as Berosus undoubtedly placed the fall of the Assyrian Empire +in B.C. 625, it may be concluded, and with a near approach to certainty, +that he would have assigned the Empire a duration of about 675 years, +making it commence with the beginning of the thirteenth century before +our era, and terminate midway in the latter half of the seventh. + +If this be a true account of the ideas of Berosus, his scheme of +Assyrian chronology would have differed only slightly from that of +Herodotus; as will be seen if we place the two schemes side by side. + +[Illustration: PAGE 371] + +In the case of a history so ancient as that of Assyria, we might well be +content if our chronology were vague merely to the extent of the +variations here indicated. The parade of exact dates with reference to +very early times is generally fallacious, unless it be understood as +adopted simply for the sake of convenience. In the history of Assyria, +however, we may make a nearer approach to exactness than in most others +of the same antiquity, owing to the existence of two chronological +documents of first-rate importance. One of these is the famous Canon of +Ptolemy, which, though it is directly a Babylonian record, has important +bearings on the chronology of Assyria. The other is an Assyrian Canon, +discovered and edited by Sir H. Rawlinson in 1862, which gives the +succession of the kings for 251 years, commencing (as is thought) B.C. +911 and terminating B. C. 660, eight years after the accession of the +son and successor of Esarhaddon. These two documents, which harmonize +admirably, carry up an exact Assyrian chronology almost from the close +of the Empire to the tenth century before our era. For the period +anterior to this we have, in the Assyrian records, one or two isolated +dates, dates fixed in later times with more or less of exactness; and of +these we might have been inclined to think little, but that they +harmonize remarkably with the statements of Berosus and Herodotus, which +place the commencement of the Empire about B.C. 1300, or a little later. +We have, further, certain lists of kings, forming continuous lines of +descent from father to son, by means of which we may fill up the blanks +that would otherwise remain in our chronological scheme with approximate +dates calculated from an estimate of generations. From these various +sources the subjoined scheme has been composed, the sources being +indicated at the side, and the fixed dates being carefully distinguished +from those which are uncertain or approximate. + +[Illustration: PAGE 372] + +It will be observed that in this list the chronology of Assyria is +carried back to a period nearly a century and a half anterior to B.C. +1300, the approximate date, according to Herodotus and Berosus, of the +establishment of the "Empire." It might have been concluded, from the +mere statement of Herodotus, that Assyria existed before the time of +which he spoke, since an empire can only be formed by a people already +flourishing. Assyria as an independent kingdom is the natural antecedent +of Assyria as an Imperial power: and this earlier phase of her existence +might reasonably have been presumed from the later. The monuments +furnish distinct evidence of the time in question in the fourth, fifth, +and sixth kings of the above list, who reigned while the Chaldaean +empire was still flourishing in Lower Mesopotamia. Chronological and +other considerations induce a belief that the four kings who follow +like-wise belonged to it; and that, the "Empire" commenced with +Tiglathi-Nin I., who is the first great conqueror. + +The date assigned to the accession of this king, B.C. 1300, which +accords so nearly with Berosus's date for the commencement of his 526 +years, is obtained from the monuments in the following manner. First, +Sennacherib, in an inscription set up in or about his tenth year (which +was B.C. 694), states that he recovered from Babylon certain images of +gods, which had been carried thither by Meroclach-idbin-akhi, king of +Babylon, who had obtained them in his war with Tiglath-Pileser, king of +Assyria, 418 years previously. This gives for the date of the war with +Tiglath-Pileser the year B.C. 1112. As that monarch does not mention the +Babylonian war in the annals which relate the events of his early years, +we must suppose his defeat to have taken place towards the close of his +reign, and assign him the space from B.C. 1130 to B.C. 1110, as, +approximately, that during which he is likely to have held the throne. +Allowing then to the six monumental kings who preceded Tiglath-Pileser +average reigns of twenty years each, which is the actual average +furnished by the lines of direct descent in Assyria, where the length of +each reign is known, and allowing fifty years for the break between +Tiglathi-Nin and Bel-kudur-uzur, we are brought to (1130 + 120 + 50) +B.C. 1300 for the accession of the first Tiglathi-Nin, who took Babylon, +and is the first king of whom extensive conquests are recorded. +Secondly. Sennacherib in another inscription reckons 600 years from his +first conquest of Babylon (B.C. 703) to a year in the reign of this +monarch. This "six hundred" may be used as a round number; but as +Sennacherib considered that he had the means of calculating exactly, he +would probably not have used a round number, unless it was tolerably +near to the truth. Six hundred years before B.C. 703 brings us to B.C. +1303. + +The chief uncertainty which attaches to the numbers in this part of the +list arises from the fact that the nine kings from Tiglathi-Nin +downwards do not form a single direct line. The inscriptions fail to +connect Bel-kudur-uzur with Tiglathi-Nin, and there is thus a probable +interval between the two reigns, the length of which can only be +conjectured. + +The dates assigned to the later kings, from Vul-lush II., to Esarhaddon +inclusive, are derived from the Assyrian Canon taken in combination with +the famous Canon of Ptolemy. The agreement between these documents, and +between the latter and the Assyrian records generally, is exact; and a +conformation is thus afforded to Ptolemy which is of no small +importance. The dates from the accession of Vul-lush II. (B.C. 911) to +the death of Esarhaddon (B.C. 668) would seem to have the same degree of +accuracy and certainty which has been generally admitted to attach to +the numbers of Ptolemy. They have been confirmed by the notice of a +great eclipse in the eighth year of Asshur-dayan III., which is +undoubtedly that of June 15, B.C. 763. + +The reign of Asshur-bani-pal (Sardanapalus), the son and successor of +Esarhaddon, which commenced B.C. 668, is carried down to B.C. 626 on the +combined authority of Berosus, Ptolemy, and the monuments. The monuments +show that Asshur-bani-pal proclaimed himself king of Babylon after the +death of Saul-mugina whose last year was (according to Ptolemy) B.C. +647: and that from the date of this proclamation he reigned over Babylon +at least twenty years. Polyhistor, who reports Berosus, has left us +statements which are in close accordance, and from which we gather that +the exact length of the reign of Asshur-bani-pal over Babylon was +twenty-one years. Hence, B.C. 626 is obtained as the year of his death. +As Nineveh appears to have been destroyed B.C. 625 or 624, two +years only are left for Asshur-bani-pal's son and successor, +Asshur-emid-illin, the Saracus of Abydenus. + +The framework of Assyrian chronology being thus approximately, and, to +some extent, provisionally settled, we may proceed to arrange upon it +the facts so far as they have come down to us, of Assyrian history. + +In the first place, then, if we ask ourselves where the Assyrians came +from, and at what time they settled in the country which thenceforth +bore their name, we seem to have an answer,at any rate to the former of +these two questions, in Scripture. "Out of that land"--the land of +Shinar--"went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh." The Assyrians, +previously to their settlement on the middle Tigris, had dwelt in the +lower part of the great valley--the flat alluvial plain towards the +mouths of the two streams. It was here, in this productive region, where +nature does so much for man, and so little needs to be supplied by +himself, that they had grown from a family into a people; that they had +learnt or developed a religion, and that they had acquired a knowledge +of the most useful and necessary of the arts. It has been observed in a +former chapter that the whole character of the Assyrian architecture is +such as to indicate that their style was formed in the low flat +alluvium, where there were no natural elevations, and stone was not to +be had. It has also been remarked that their writing is manifestly +derived from the Chaldaean; and that their religion is almost identical +with that which prevailed in the lower country from a very early time. +The evidence of the monuments accords thus, in the most striking way, +with the statement of the Bible, exhibiting to us the Assyrians as a +people who had once dwelt to the south, in close contact with the +Chaldaeans, and had removed after awhile to a more northern position. + +With regard to the date of their removal, we can only say that it was +certainly anterior to the time of the Chaldaean kings, Purna-puriyas and +Kurri-galzu, who seem to have reigned in the fifteenth century before +our era. If we could be sure that the city called in later times Asshur +bore that name when Shamas-Vul, the son of Ismi-Dagon, erected a temple +there to Anu and Vul, we might assign to the movement a still higher +antiquity for Shamas-Vul belongs to the nineteenth century B.C. As, +however, we have no direct evidence that either the city or the country +was known as Asshur until four centuries later, we must be content to +lay it down that the Assyrians had moved to the north certainly as early +as B.C. 1440, and that their removal may not improbably have taken place +several centuries earlier. + +The motive of the removal is shrouded in complete obscurity. It may have +been a forced colonization, commanded and carried out by the Chaldaean +kings, who may have originated a system of transplanting to distant +regions subject tribes of doubtful fidelity; or it may have been the +voluntary self-expatriation of an increasing race, pressed for room and +discontented with its condition. Again, it may have taken place by a +single great movement, like that of the Tartar tribes, who transferred +their allegiance from Russia to China in the reign of the Empress +Catherine, and emigrated in a body from the banks of the Dun to the +eastern limits of Mongolia or it may have been a gradual and protracted +change, covering a long term of years, like most of the migrations +whereof we read in history. On the whole, there is perhaps some reason +to believe that a spirit of enterprise about this time possessed the +Semitic inhabitants of Lower Mesopotamia, who voluntarily proceeded +northwards in the hope of bettering their condition. Terah conducted one +body from Ur to Harran: another removed itself from the shores of the +Persian Gulf to those of the Mediterranean; while probably a third, +larger than either of these two, ascended the course of the Tigris, +occupied Adiabene, with the adjacent regions, and, giving its own tribal +name of Asshur to its chief city and territory, became known to its +neighbors first as a distinct, and then as an independent and powerful +people. + +The Assyrians for some time after their change of abode were probably +governed by Babylonian rulers, who held their office under the Chaldaean +Emperor. Bricks of a Babylonian character have been found at +Kileh-Sherghat, the original Assyrian capital, which are thought to be +of greater antiquity than any of the purely Assyrian remains, and which +may have been stamped by these provincial governors. Ere long, however, +the yoke was thrown off, and the Assyrians established a separate +monarchy of their own in the upper country, while the Chaldaean Empire +was still flourishing under native monarchs of the old ethnic type in +the regions nearer to the sea. The special evidence which we possess of +the co-existence side by side of these two kingdoms is furnished by a +broken tablet of a considerably later date, which seems to have +contained, when complete, a brief but continuous sketch of the +synchronous history of Babylonia and Assyria, and of the various +transactions in which the monarchs of the two countries had been engaged +one with another, from the most ancient times. This tablet has preserved +to its the names of three very early Assyrian kings--Asshur-bil-nisi-su, +Buzur Asshur, and Asshur-upallit, of whom the two former are recorded to +have made treaties of peace with the contemporary kings of Babylon; +while the last-named intervened in the domestic affair's of the country, +depriving an usurping monarch of the throne, and restoring it to the +legitimate claimant, who was his own relation. Intermarriages, it +appears, took place at this early date between the royal families of +Assyria and Chaldaea; and Asshur-upallit, the third of the three kings, +had united one of his daughters to Purna-puriyas, a Chaldaean monarch +who has received notice in the preceding volume. On the death of +Purna-puriyas, Kara-khar-das, the issue of this marriage, ascended the +throne; but he had not reigned long before his subjects rebelled against +his authority. A struggle ensued, in which he was slain, whereupon a +certain Nazi-bugas, an usurper, became king, the line of Purna-puriyas +being set aside. Asshur-upallit, upon this, interposed. Marching an army +into Babylonia, he defeated and slew the usurper, after which he placed +on the throne another son of Purna-puriyas, the Kurri-galzu already +mentioned in the account of the king's of Chaldaea. + +What is most remarkable in the glimpse of history which this tablet +opens to us is the power of Assyria, and the apparent terms of equality +on which she stands with her neighbor. Not only does she treat as an +equal with the great Southern Empire--not only is her royal house deemed +worthy of furnishing wives to its princes but when dynastic troubles +arise there, she exercises a predominant influence over the fortunes of +the contending parties, and secures victory to the side whose cause she +espouses. Jealous as all nations are of foreign inter-position in their +affairs, we may be sure that Babylonia would not have succumbed on this +occasion to Assyria's influence, had not her weight been such that, +added to one side in a civil struggle, it produced a preponderance which +defied resistance. + +After this one short lift, the curtain again drops over the history of +Assyria for a space of about sixty years, during which our records tell +us nothing but the mere names of the king's. It appears from the bricks +of Kileh-Sherghat that Asshur-upallit was succeeded upon the throne by +his son, Bel-lush, or Behiklhus (Belochush), who was in his turn +followed by his son, Pudil, his grandson. Vul-lush, and his +great-grandson, Shahmaneser, the first of the name. Of Bel-lush, Pudil, +and Vul-lush I., we know only that they raised or repaired important +buildings in their city of Asshur (now Kileh-Sherghat), which in their +time, and for some centuries later, was the capital of the monarchy. + +This place was not very favorably situated, being on the right bank of +the Tigris, which is a far less fertile region than the left, and not +being naturally a place of any great strength. The Assyrian territory +did not at this time, it is probable, extend very far to the north: at +any rate, no need was as yet felt for a second city higher up the Tigris +valley, much less for a transfer of the seat of government in that +direction. Calah was certainly, and Nineveh probably, not yet built; but +still the kingdom had obtained a name among the nations; the term +Assyria was applied geographically to the whole valley of the middle +Tigris; and a prophetic eye could see in the hitherto quiescent power +the nation fated to send expeditions into Palestine, and to bear off its +inhabitants into captivity. + +Shahnaneser I. (ab. B.C. 1320) is chiefly known in Assyrian history as +the founder of Calah (Nimrud), the second, apparently, of those great +cities which the Assyrian monarchs delighted to build and embellish. +This foundation would of itself be sufficient to imply the growth of +Assyria in his time towards the north, and would also mark its full +establishment as the dominant power on the left as well as the right +bank of the Tigris. Calah was very advantageously situated in a region +of great fertility and of much natural strength, being protected on one +side by the Tigris, and on the other by the Shor-Derreh torrent, while +the Greater Zab further defended it at the distance of a few miles on +the south and south-east, and the Khazr or Ghazr-Su on the north east. +Its settlement must have secured to the Assyrians the undisturbed +possession of the fruitful and important district between the Tigris and +the mountains, the Aturia or Assyria Proper of later times, which +ultimately became the great metropolitan region in which almost all the +chief towns were situated. + +It is quite in accordance with this erection of a sort of second +capital, further to the north than the old one, to find, as we do, by +the inscriptions of Asshur-izir-pal, that Shalmaneser undertook +expeditions against the tribes on the upper Tigris, and even founded +cities in those parts, which he colonized with settlers brought from a +distance. We do not know what the exact bounds of Assyria towards the +north were before his time, but there can be no doubt that he advanced +them; and he is thus entitled to the distinction of being the first +known Assyrian conqueror. + +With Tiglathi-Nin, the son and successor of Shalmaneser I., the spirit +of conquest displayed itself in a more signal and striking manner. The +probable date of this monarch has already been shown to synchronize +closely with the time assigned by Berosus to the connnencement of his +sixth Babylonian dynasty, and by Herodotus to the beginning of his +Assyrian Empire. Now Tiglathi-Nin appears in the Inscriptions as the +prince who first aspired to transfer to Assyria the supremacy hitherto +exercised, or at any rate claimed, by Babylon. He made war upon the +southern kingdom, and with such success that he felt himself entitled to +claim its conquuest, and to inscribe upon his signet-seal the proud +title of "Conqueror of Babylonia." This signet-seal, left by him (as is +probable) at Babylon, and recovered about six hundred years later by +Sennacherib, shows to us that he reigned for some time in person at the +southern capital, where it would seem that he afterwards established an +Assyrian dynasty--a branch perhaps of his own family. This is probably +the exact event of which Berosus spoke as occurring 526 years before +Phul or Pul, and which Herodotus regarded as marking the commencement of +the Assyrian "Empire." We must not, however, suppose that Babylonia was +from this time really subject continuously to the Court of Nineveh. The +subjection may have been maintained for a little less than a century; +but about that time we find evidence that the yoke of Assyria had been +shaken off, and that the Babylonian monarchs, who have Semitic names, +and are probably Assyrians by descent, had become hostile to the +Ninevite kings, and were engaged in frequent wars with them. No real +permanent subjection of the Lower country to the Upper was effected till +the time of Sargon; and even under the Sargonid dynasty revolts were +frequent; nor were the Babylonians reconciled to the Assyrian sway till +Esarhaddon united the two Crowns in his own person, and reigned +alternately at the two capitals. Still, it is probable that, from the +time of Tiglathi-Nin, the Upper country was recognized as the superior +of the two: it had shown its might by a conquest and the imposition of a +dynasty--proofs of power which were far from counterbalanced by a few +retaliatory raids adventured upon under favorable circumstances by the +Babylonian princes. Its influence was therefore felt, even while its +yoke was refused; and the Semitizing of the Chaldaeans, commenced under +Tiglathi-Nin, continued during the whole time of Assyrian preponderance; +no effectual Turanian reaction ever set in; the Babylonian rulers, +whether submissive to Assyria or engaged in hostilities against her, +have equally Semitic names; and it does not appear that any effort was +at any time made to recover to the Turanian element of the population +its early supremacy. + +The line of direct descent, which has been traced in uninterrupted +succession through eight monarchs, beginning with Asshur-bel-nisi-su, +here terminates; and an interval occurs which can only be roughly +estimated as probably not exceeding fifty years. Another consecutive +series of eight kings follows, known to us chiefly through the famous +Tiglath-Pileser cylinder (which gives the succession of five of them), +but completed from the combined evidence of several other documents. +These monarchs, it is probable, reigned from about B.C. 1230 to B C. +1070. + +Bel-kudur-uzur, the first monarch of this second series, is known to us +wholly through his unfortunate war with the contemporary king of +Babylon. It seems that the Semitic line of kings, which the Assyrians +had established in Babylon, was not content to remain very long in a +subject position. In the time of Bel-kudur-uzur, Vul-baladan, the +Babylonian vassal monarch, revolted; and a war followed between him and +his Assyrian suzerain, which terminated in the defeat and death of the +latter, who fell in a great battle, about B.C. 1210. + +Nin-pala-zira succeeded. It is uncertain whether he was any relation to +his predecessor, but clear that he avenged him. He is called "the king +who organized the country of Assyria, and established the troops of +Assyria in authority." It appears that shortly after his accession, +Vul-baladan of Babylon, elated by his previous successes, made an +expedition against the Assyrian capital, and a battle was fought under +the walls of Asshur in which Nin-pala-zira was completely successful. +The Babylonians fled, and left Assyria in peace during the remainder of +the reign of this monarch. + +Asshur-dayan, the third king of the series, had a long and prosperous +reign. He made a successful inroad into Babylonia, and returned into his +own land with a rich and valuable booty. He likewise took down the +temple which Shamas-Vul, the son of Ismi-Dagon, had erected to the gods +Asshur and Vul at Asshur, the Assyrian capital, because it was in a +ruinous condition, and required to be destroyed or rebuilt. Asshur-dayan +seems to have shrunk from the task of restoring so great a work, and +therefore demolished the structure which was not rebuilt for the space +of sixty years from its demolition. He was succeeded upon the throne by +his son Mutaggil-Nebo. + +Mutaggil-Nebo reigned probably from about B.C. 1170 to B.C. 1150. We are +informed that "Asshur, the great Lord, aided him according to the wishes +of his heart, and established him in strength in the government of +Assyria." Perhaps these expressions allude to internal troubles at the +commencement of his reign, over which he was so fortunate as to triumph. +We have no further particulars of this monarch. + +Asshur-ris-ilim, the fourth king of the series, the son and successor of +Mutaggil-Nebo, whose reign may be placed between B.C. 1150 and B.C. +1130, is a monarch of greater pretensions than most of his predecessors. +In his son's Inscription he is called "the powerful king, the subduer of +rebellious countries, he who has reduced all the accursed." These +expressions are so broad, that we must conclude from them, not merely +that Asshur-ris-ilim, unlike the previous kings of the line, engaged in +foreign wars, but that his expeditions had a great success, and paved +the way for the extensive conquests of his son and successor, +Tiglath-Pileser. Probably he turned his arms in various directions, like +that monarch. Certainly he carried them south-wards into Babylonia, +where, as we learn from the synchronistic tablet of Babylonian and +Assyrian history, he was engaged for some time in a war with +Nebuchadnezzar (_Nabuk-udor-uzur_), the first known king of that name. +It has been conjectured that he likewise carried them into Southern +Syria and Palestine, and that, in fact, he is the monarch designated in +the book of Judges by the name of Chushan-ris-athaim, who is called "the +king of Mesopotamia (Aram-Naharaim)," and is said to have exercised +dominion over the Israelites for eight years. This identification, +however, is too uncertain to be assumed without further proof. The +probable date of Chushan-ris-athaim is some two (or three) centuries +earlier; and his title, "king of Mesopotamia," is one which is not +elsewhere applied to Assyrians monarchs. + +A few details have come clown to us with respect to the Babylonian war +of Asshur-ris-ilim. It appears that Nebuchadnezzar was the assailant. He +began the war by a march up the Diyalch and an advance on Assyria along +the outlying Zegros hills, the route afterwards taken by the great +Persian road described by Herodotus. Asshur-ris-ilim went out to meet +him in person, engaged him in the mountain region, and repulsed his +attack. Upon this the Babylonian monarch retired, and after an interval; +the duration of which is unknown, advanced a second time against +Assyria, but took now the direct line across the plain. Asshur-ris-ilim +on this occasion was content to employ a general against the invader. He +"sent" his chariots and his soldiers towards his southern border, and +was again successful, gaining a second victory over his antagonist, who +fled away, leaving in his hands forty chariots and a banner. + +Tiglath-Pileser I., who succeeded Asshur-ris-ilim about B.C. 1130, is +the first Assyrian monarch of whose history we possess copious details +which can be set forth at some length. This is owing to the preservation +and recovery of a lengthy document belonging to his reign in which are +recorded the events of his first five years. As this document is the +chief evidence we possess of the condition of Assyria, the character and +tone of thought of the king, and indeed of the general state of the +Eastern world, at the period in question--which synchronizes certainly +with some portion of the dominion of the Judges over Israel, and +probably with the early conquests of the Dorians in Greece--it is +thought advisable to give in this place such an account of it, and such +a number of extracts as shall enable the reader to form his own judgment +on these several points. + +The document opens with an enumeration and glorification of the "great +gods" who "rule over heaven and earth," and are "the guardians of the +kingdom of Tiglath-Pileser." These are "Asshur, the great Lord, ruling +supreme over the gods; Bel, the lord, father of the gods, lord of the +world; Sin, the leader(?) the lord of empire(?); Shamus, the establisher +of heaven and earth; Vul, he who causes the tempest to rage over hostile +lands; Nin, the champion who subdues evil spirits and enemies; and +Ishtar, the source of the gods, the queen of victory, she who arranges +battles." These deities, who (it is declared) have placed +Tiglath-Pileser upon the throne, have "made him firm, have confided to +him the supreme crown, have appointed him in might to the sovereignty of +the people of Bel, and have granted him preeminence, exaltation, and +warlike power," are invoked to make the "duration of his empire continue +forever to his royal posterity, lasting as the great temple of +Kharris-Matira." + +In the next section the king glorifies himself, enumerating his royal +titles as follows: "Tiglath-Pileser, the powerful king, king of the +people of various tongues; king of the four regions; king of all kings; +lord of lords; the supreme (?); monarch of monarchs; the illustrious +chief, who, under the auspices of the Sun-god, being armed with the +sceptre and girt with the girdle of power over mankind, rules over all +the people of Bel; the mighty prince, whose praise is blazoned forth +among the kings; the exalted sovereign, whose servants Asshur has +appointed to the government of the four regions, and whose name he has +made celebrated to posterity; the conqueror of many plains and mountains +of the Upper and Lower country; the victorious hero, the terror of whose +mane has overwhelmed all regions; the bright constellation who, as he +wished, has warred against foreign countries, and under the auspices of +Bel--there being no equal to him--has subdued the enemies of Asshur." + +The royal historian, after this introduction, proceeds to narrate his +actions first in general terms declaring that he has subdued all the +lands and the peoples round about, and then proceeding to particularize +the various campaigns which he had conducted during the first five years +of his reign. The earliest of these was against the Muskai, or +Moschians, who are probably identical with the Meshech of Holy +Scripture--a people governed (it is said) by five kings, and inhabiting +the countries of Alzi and Purukhuz, parts (apparently) of Taurus or +Niphates. These Moschians are said to have neglected for fifty years to +pay the tribute due from them to the Assyrians, from which it would +appear that they had revolted during the reign of Asshur-dayan, having +previously been subject to Assyria. At this time, with a force amounting +to 20,000 men, they had invaded the neighboring district of Qummukh +(Commagene), an Assyrian dependency, and had made themselves masters of +it. Tiglath-Pileser attacked them in this newly-conquered country, and +completely defeated their army. He then reduced Commagene, despite the +assistance which the inhabitants received from some of their neighbors. +He burnt the cities, plundered the temples, ravaged the open country, +and carried off, either in the shape of plunder or of tribute, vast +quantities of cattle and treasure. + +The character of the warfare is indicated by such a passage as the +following: + +"The country of Kasiyara, a difficult region, I passed through. With +their 20,000 men and their five kings, in the country of Qummukh I +engaged. I defeated them. The ranks of their warriors in fighting the +battle were beaten down as if by the tempest. Their carcasses covered +the valleys and the tops of the mountains, I cut off their heads. Of the +battlements of their cities I made heaps, like mounds of earth (?). +Their moveables, their wealth, and their valuables I plundered to a +countless amount. Six thousand of their common soldiers, who fled before +my servants, and accepted my yoke, I took and gave over to the men of my +own territory as slaves." + +The second campaign was partly in the same region and with the same +people. The Moschians, who were still loth to pay tribute, were again +attacked and reduced. Commagene was completely overrun, and the +territory was attached to the Assyrian empire. The neighboring tribes +were assailed in their fastnesses, their cities burnt, and their +territories ravaged. At the same time war was made upon several other +peoples or nations. Among these the most remarkable are the Khatti +(Hittites), two of whose tribes, the Kaskiaits and Urumians, had +committed an aggression on the Assyrian territory: for this they were +chastised by an invasion which they did not venture to resist, by the +plundering of their valuables, and the carrying off of 120 of their +chariots. In another direction the Lower Zab was crossed, and the +Assyrian arms were carried into the mountain region of Zagros, where +certain strongholds were reduced and a good deal of treasure taken. + +The third campaign was against the numerous tribes of the Nairi, who +seem to have dwelt at this time partly to the east of the Euphrates, but +partly also in the mountain country west of the stream from Smmeisat to +the Gulf of Iskenderun. These tribes, it is said, had never previously +made their submission to the Assyrians. They were governed by a number +of petty chiefs or "kings," of whom no fewer than twenty-three are +particularized. The tribes east of the Euphrates seem to have been +reduced with little resistance, while those who dwelt west of the river, +on the contrary, collected their troops together, gave battle to the +invaders, and made a prolonged and desperate defence. All, however, was +in vain. The Assyrian monarch gained a great victory, taking 120 +chariots, and then pursued the vanquished Nairi and their allies as far +as "the Upper Sea,"--i.e., the Mediterranean. The usual ravage and +destruction followed, with the peculiarity that the lives of the "kings" +were spared, and that the country was put to a moderate tribute, viz., +1200 horses and 200 head of cattle. + +In the fourth campaign the Aramaeans or Syrians were attacked by the +ambitious monarch. They occupied at this time the valley of the +Euphrates, from the borders of the Tsukhi, or Shuhites, who held the +river from about Anah to Hit, as high up as Carchemish, the frontier +town and chief stronghold of the Khatti or Hittites. Carchemish was not, +as has commonly been supposed, Circesium, at the junction of the Khabour +with the Euphrates, but was considerably higher up the stream, certainly +near to, perhaps on the very site of, the later city of Mabog or +Hierapolis. Thus the Aramaeans had a territory of no great width, but +230 miles long between its north-western and its south-eastern +extremities. Tiglath-Pileser smote this region, as he tells us, "at one +blow." First attacking and plundering the eastern or left bank of the +river, he then crossed the stream in boats covered with skins, took and +burned six cities on the right bank, and returned in safety with an +immense plunder. + +The fifth and last campaign was against the country of Musr or Muzr, by +which some Orientalists have understood Lower Egypt. This, however, +appears to be a mistake. The Assyrian Inscriptions designate two +countries by the name of Musr or Muzr, one of them being Egypt, and the +other a portion of Upper Kurdistan. The expedition of Tiglath-Pileser I., +was against the eastern Musr, a highly mountainous country, consisting +(apparently) of the outlying ranges of Zagros between the greater Zab +and the Eastern Khabour. Notwithstanding its natural strength and the +resistance of the inhabitants, this country was completely overrun in an +incredibly short space. The armies which defended it were defeated, the +cities burnt, the strongholds taken. Arin, the capital, submitted, and +was spared, after which a set tribute was imposed on the entire region, +the amount of which is not mentioned. The Assyrian arms were then turned +against a neighboring district, the country of the Comani. The Comani, +though Assyrian subjects, had lent assistance to the people of Musr, and +it was to punish this insolence that Tiglath-Pileser resolved to invade +their territory. Having defeated their main army, consisting of 20,000 +men, he proceeded to the attack of the various castles and towns, some +of which were stormed, while others surrendered at discretion. In both +eases alike the fortifications were broken down and destroyed, the +cities which surrendered being spared, while those taken by storm were +burnt with fire. Ere long the whole of the "far-spreading country of the +Comani" was reduced to subjection, and a tribute was imposed exceeding +that which had previously been required from the people. + +After this account of the fifth campaign, the whole result of the wars +is thus briefly summed up:--"There fell into my hands altogether, +between the commencement of my reign and my fifth year, forty-two +countries with their kings, from the banks of the river Zab to the banks +of the river Euphrates, the country of the Rhatti, and the upper ocean +of the setting sun. I brought them under one government; I took hostages +from them; and I imposed on them tribute and offerings." + +From describing his military achievements, the monarch turns to an +account of his exploits in the chase. In the country of the Hittites he +boasts that he had slain "four wild bulls, strong and fierce," with his +arrows; while in the neighborhood of Harran, on the banks of the river +Khabour, he had killed ten large wild buffaloes (?), and taken four +alive. These captured animals he had carried with him on his return to +Asshur, his capital city, together with the horns and skins of the slain +beasts. The lions which he had destroyed in his various journeys he +estimates at 920. All these successes he ascribes to the powerful +protection of Nin and Nergal. + +The royal historiographer proceeds, after this, to give an account of +his domestic administration, of the buildings which he had erected, and +the various improvements which he had introduced. Among the former he +mentions temples to Ishtar. Martu, Bel, Il or Ra, and the presiding +deities of the city of Asshur, palaces for his own use, and castles for +the protection of his territory. Among the latter he enumerates the +construction of works of irrigation, the introduction into Assyria of +foreign cattle and of numerous beasts of chase, the naturalization of +foreign vegetable products, the multiplication of chariots, the +extension of the territory, and the augmentation of the population of +the country. + +A more particular account is then given of the restoration by the +monarch of two very ancient and venerable temples in the great city of +Asshur. This account is preceded by a formal statement of the +particulars of the monarch's descent from Ninpala-zira, the king who +seems to be regarded as the founder of the dynasty--which breaks the +thread of the narrative somewhat strangely and awkwardly. Perhaps the +occasion of its introduction was, in the mind of the writer, the +necessary mention, in connection with one of the two temples, of +Asshur-dayan, the great-grandfather of the monarch. It appears that in +the reign of Asshur-dayan, this temple, which, having stood for 641 +years, was in a very ruinous condition, had been taken down, while no +fresh building had been raised in its room. The site remained vacant for +sixty years, till Tiglath-Pileser, having lately ascended the throne, +determined to erect on the spot a new temple to the old gods, who were +Anu and Vul, probably the tutelary deities of the city. His own account +of the circumstances of the building and dedication is as follows:-- + +"In the beginning of my reign, Anu and Vul, the great gods, my lords, +guardians of my steps, gave me a command to repair this their shrine. So +I made bricks; I levelled the earth; I took its dimensions (?); I laid +down its foundations upon a mass of strong rock. This place, throughout +its whole extent, I paved with bricks in set order (?); fifty feet deep +I prepared the ground; and upon this substructure I laid the lower +foundations of the temple of Anu and Vul. From its foundations to its +roof I built it up better than it was before. I also built two lofty +towers (?) in honor of their noble godships, and the holy place, a +spacious hall, I consecrated for the convenience of their worshippers, +and to accommodate their votaries, who were numerous as the stars of +heaven. I repaired, and built, and completed my work. Outside the temple +I fashioned everything with the same care as inside. The mound of earth +on which it was built I enlarged like the firmament of the rising stars +(?), and I beautified the entire building. Its towers I raised up to +heaven, and its roofs I built entirely of brick. An inviolable shrine(?) +for their noble godships I laid down near at hand. Anu and Vul, the +great gods, I glorified inside the shrine. I set them up in their +honored purity, and the hearts of their noble godships I delighted." + +The other restoration mentioned is that of a temple to Vul only, which, +like that to Anu and Vul conjointly, had been originally built by +Shamas-Vul, the son of Ismi-Dagon. This building had likewise fallen +into decay, but had not been taken down like the other. Tiglath-Pileser +states that he "levelled its site," and then rebuilt it "from its +foundations to its roofs." enlarging it beyond its former limits, and +adorning it. Inside of it he "sacrificed precious victims to his lord, +Vul." He also deposited in the temple a number of rare stones or +marbles, which he had obtained in the country of the Nairi in the course +of his expeditions. + +The inscription then terminates with the following long invocation:-- + +"Since a holy place, a noble hall, I have thus consecrated for the use +of the Great Gods, my lords Anu and Vul, and have laid down an adytum +for their special worship, and have finished it successfully, and have +delighted the hearts of their noble godships, may Anu and Vul preserve +me in power! May they support the men of my government! May they +establish the authority of my officers! May they bring the rain, the joy +of the year, on the cultivated land and the desert, during my time! In +war and in battle may they preserve me victorious! Many foreign +countries, turbulent nations, and hostile kings I have reduced under my +yoke! to my children and my descendants, may they keep them in firm +allegiance! I will lead my steps" (or, "may they establish my feet"), +"firm as the mountains, to the last days, before Asshur and their noble +godships! + +"The list of my victories and the catalogue of my triumphs over +foreigners hostile to Asshur, which Anu and Vul have granted to my arms, +I have inscribed on my tablets and cylinders, and I have placed, [to +remain] to the last days, in the temple of my lords, Ann and Vul. And I +have made clean (?) the tablets of Shamas-Vul, my ancestor; I have made +sacrifices, and sacrificed victims before them, and have set them up in +their places. In after times, and in the latter days..., if the temple +of the Great Gods, my lords Anu and Vul, and these shrines should become +old and fall into decay, may the Prince who comes after me repair the +ruins! May he raise altars and sacrifice victims before my tablets and +cylinders, and may he set them up again in their places, and may he +inscribe his name on them together with my name! As Anu and Vul, the +Great Gods, have ordained, may he worship honestly with a good heart and +full trust! + +"Whoever shall abrade or injure my tablets and cylinders, or shall +moisten them with water, or scorch them with fire, or expose them to the +air, or in the holy place of God shall assign them a place where they +cannot be seen or understood, or shall erase the writing and inscribe +his own name, or shall divide the sculptures (?) and break them off from +my tablets, may Anu and Vul, the Great Gods, my lords, consign his name +to perdition! May they curse him with an irrevocable curse! May they +cause his sovereignty to perish! May they pluck out the stability of the +throne of his empire! Let not his offspring survive him in the kingdom! +Let his servants be broken! Let his troops be defeated! Let him fly +vanquished before his enemies! May Vul in his fury tear up the produce +of his land! May a scarcity of food and of the necessaries of life +afflict his country! For one day may he not be called happy! May his +name and his race perish!" + +The document is then dated--"In the month Kuzalla (Chisleu), on the 29th +day, in the year presided over by Inailiya-pallik, the Rabbi-Turi." + +Perhaps the most striking feature of this inscription, when it is +compared with other historical documents of the same kind belonging to +other ages and nations, is its intensely religious character. The long +and solemn invocation of the Great Gods with which it opens, the +distinct ascription to their assistance and guardianship of the whole +series of royal successes, whether in war or in the chase; the pervading +idea that the wars were undertaken for the chastisement of the enemies +of Asshur, and that their result was the establishment in an +ever-widening circle of the worship of Asshur; the careful account which +is given of the erection and renovation of temples, and the dedication +of offerings; and the striking final prayer--all these are so many +proofs of the prominent place which religion held in the thoughts of the +king who set up the inscription, and may fairly be accepted as +indications of the general tone and temper of his people. It is evident +that we have here displayed to us, not a decent lip-service, not a +conventional piety, but a real, hearty earnest religious faith--a faith +bordering on fanaticism--a spirit akin to that with which the Jews were +possessed in their warfare with the nations of Canaan, or which the +soldiers of Mahomet breathed forth when they fleshed their maiden swords +upon the infidels. The king glorifies himself much; but he glorifies the +gods more. He fights, in part, for his own credit, and for the extension +of his territory; but he fights also for the honor of the gods, whom the +surrounding nations reject, and for the diffusion of their worship far +and wide throughout all known regions. His wars are religious wars, at +least as much as wars of conquest; his buildings, or, at any rate, those +on whose construction he dwells with most complacency, are religious +buildings; the whole tone of his mind is deeply and sincerely religious; +besides formal acknowledgments, he is continually letting drop little +expressions which show that his gods are "in all his thoughts," and +represent to him real powers governing and directing all the various +circumstances of human life. The religious spirit displayed is, as might +have been expected, in the highest degree exclusive and intolerant; but +it is earnest, constant, and all-pervading. + +In the next place, we cannot fail to be struck with the energetic +character of the monarch, so different from the temper which Ctesias +ascribes, in the broadest and most sweeping terms, to all the successors +of Ninus. Within the first five years of his reign the indefatigable +prince conducts in person expeditions into almost every country upon his +borders; attacks and reduces six important nations, besides numerous +petty tribes; receiving the submission of forty-two kings; traversing +the most difficult mountain regions; defeating armies, besieging towns, +destroying forts and strongholds, ravaging territories; never allowing +himself a moment of repose; when he is not engaged in military +operations, devoting himself to the chase, contending with the wild bull +and the lion, proving himself (like the first Mesopotamian king) in very +deed "a mighty hunter," since he counts his victims by hundreds; and all +the while having regard also to the material welfare of his country, +adorning it with buildings, enriching it with the products of other +lands, both animal and vegetable, fertilizing it by means of works of +irrigation, and in every way "improving the condition of the people, and +obtaining for them abundance and security." + +With respect to the general condition of Assyria, it may be noted, in +the first place, that the capital is still Asshur, and that no mention +is made of any other native city. The king calls himself "king of the +four regions," which would seem to imply a division of the territory +into districts, like that which certainly obtained in later times. The +mention of "four" districts is curious, since the same number was from +the first affected by the Chaldaeans, while we have also evidence that, +at least after the time of Sargon, there was a pre-eminence of four +great cities in Assyria. The limits of the territory at the time of the +Inscription are not very dearly marked; but they do not seem to extend +beyond the outer ranges of Zagros on the east, Niphates on the north, +and the Euphrates upon the west. The southern boundary at the time was +probably the commencement of the alluvium; but this cannot be gathered +from the Inscription, which contains no notice of any expedition in the +direction of Babylonia. The internal condition of Assyria is evidently +flourishing. Wealth flows in from the plunder of the neighboring +countries; labor is cheapened by the introduction of enslaved captives; +irrigation is cared for; new fruits and animals are introduced; +fortifications are repaired, palaces renovated, and temples beautified +or rebuilt. + +The countries adjoining upon Assyria at the west, the north, and the +east, in which are carried on the wars of the period, present +indications of great political weakness. They are divided up among a +vast number of peoples, nations, and tribes, whereof the most powerful +is only able to bring into the field a force of 20,000 men. The peoples +and nations possess but little unity. Each consists of various separate +communities, ruled by their own kings, who in war unite their troops +against the common enemy; but are so jealous of each other, that they do +not seem even to appoint a generalissimo. On the Euphrates, between Hit +and Carchemish, are, first, the Tsukhi or Shuhites, of whom no +particulars are given; and, next, the Aramaeans or Syrians, who occupy +both banks of the river, and possess a number of cities, no one of which +is of much strength. Above the Aramaeans are the Khatti or Hittites, +whose chief city, Carchemish, is an important place; they are divided +into tribes, and, like the Aramaeans, occupy both banks of the great +stream. North and north-west of their country, probably beyond the +mountain-range of Amanus, are the Muskai (Moschi), an aggressive people, +who were seeking to extend their territory eastward into the land of the +Qummukh or people of Commagene. These Qummukh hold the mountain country +on both sides of the Upper Tigris, and have a number of strongholds, +chiefly on the right bank. To the east they adjoin on the Kirkhi, who +must have inhabited the skirts of Niphates, while to the south they +touch the Nairi, who stretch from Lake Van, along the line of the +Tigris, to the tract known as Commagene to the Romans. The Nairi have, +at the least, twenty-three kings, each of whom governs his own tribe +or city. South of the more eastern Nairi is the country of Muzra +mountain tract well peopled and full of castles, probably the region +about Amadiyeh and Rowandiz. Adjoining Muzr to the east or north-east, +are the __Quwanu or Comani, who are among the most powerful of Assyria's +neighbors, being able, like the Moschi, to bring into the field an army +of 20,000 men. At this time they are close allies of the people of +Muzr--finally, across the lower Zab, on the skirts of Zagros, are +various petty tribes of small account, who offer but little resistance +to the arms of the invader. + +Such was the position of Assyria among her neighbors in the latter part +of the twelfth century before Christ. She was a compact and powerful +kingdom, centralized under a single monarch, and with a single great +capital, in the midst of wild tribes which clung to a separate +independence, each in its own valley or village. At the approach of a +great danger, these tribes might consent to coalesce and to form +alliances, or even confederations; but the federal tie, never one of +much tenacity, and rarely capable of holding its ground in the presence +of monarchic vigor, was here especially weak. After one defeat of their +joint forces by the Assyrian troops, the confederates commonly +dispersed, each flying to the defence of his own city or territory, with +a short-sighted selfishness which deserved and ensured defeat. In one +direction only was Assyria confronted by a rival state pomsessing a +power and organization in character not unlike her own, though scarcely +of equal strength. On her southern frontier, in the broad flat plain +intervening between the Mesopotamian upland and the sea--the kingdom of +Babylon was still existing; its Semitic kings, though originally +established upon the throne by Assyrian influence, had dissolved all +connection with their old protectors, and asserted their thorough +independence. Here, then, was a considerable state, as much centralized +as Assyria herself, and not greatly inferior either in extent of +territory or in population, existing side by side with her, and +constituting a species of check, whereby something like a balance of +power was still maintained in Western Asia, and Assyria: was prevented +from feeling herself the absolute mistress of the East, and the +uncontrolled arbitress of the world's destinies. + +Besides the great cylinder inscription of Tiglath-Pileser there exist +five more years of his annals in fragments, from which we learn that he +continued his aggressive expeditious during this space, chiefly towards +the north west, subduing the Lulumi in Northern Syria, attacking and +taking Carchemish, and pursuing the inhabitants across the Euphrates in +boats. + +No mention is made during this time of any collision between Assyria and +her great rival. Babylon. The result of the wars waged by +Asshur-ris-ilim against Nebuchadnezzar I., had, apparently, been to +produce in the belligerents a feeling of mutual respect; and +Tiglath-Pileser, in his earlier years, neither trespassed on the +Babylonian territory in his aggressive raids, nor found himself called +upon to meet and repel any invasion of his own dominions by his southern +neighbors. Before the close of his reign, however, active hostilities +broke out between the two powers. Either provoked by some border ravage +or actuated simply by lust of conquest, Tiglath-Pileser marched his +troops into Babylonia. For two consecutive years he wasted with fire and +sword the "upper" or northern provinces, taking the cities of +Kurri-Galzu--now Akkerkuf--Sippara of the Sun, and Sippara of Anunit +(the Sepharvaim or "two Sipparas" of the Hebrews), and Hupa or Opis, on +the Tigris; and finally capturing Babylon itself, which, strong as it +was, proved unable to resist the invader. On his return be passed up the +valley of the Euphrates, and took several cities from the Tsukhi. But +here, it would seem that he suffered a reverse. Merodach-iddiu-akhi, his +opponent, if he did not actually defeat his army, must, at any rate, +have greatly harassed it on its retreat; for he captured an important +part of its baggage. Indulging a superstition common in ancient times, +Tiglath-Pileser had carried with him in his expedition certain images of +gods, whose presence would, it was thought, secure victory to his arms. +Merodach-iddiu akhi obtained possession of these idols, and succeeded in +carrying them off to Babylon, where they were preserved for more than +400 years, and considered as mementoes of victory. + +The latter days of this great Assyrian prince were thus, unhappily, +clouded by disaster. Neither he, nor his descendants, nor any Assyrian +monarch for four centuries succeeded in recovering the lost idols, and +replacing them in the shrines from which they were taken. A hostile and +jealous spirit appears henceforth in the relations between Assyria and +Babylon; we find no more intermarriages of the one royal house with the +other; wars are frequent--almost constant--nearly every Assyrian +monarch, whose history is known to us in any detail, conducting at least +one expedition into Babylonia. + +A work still remains, belonging to the reign of this king, from which it +appears that the peculiar character of Assyrian mimetic art was already +fixed in his time, the style of representation being exactly such as +prevailed at the most flourishing period, and the workmanship, +apparently, not very inferior. In a cavern from which the Tsupnat river +or eastern branch of the Tigris rises, close to a village called +Korkhar, and about fifty or sixty miles north of Drarbekr, is a +bas-relief sculptured on the natural rock, which has been smoothed for +the purpose, consisting of a figure of the king in his sacerdotal dress +with the right arm extended and the left hand grasping the sacrificial +mace, accompanied by an inscription which is read as follows:--"By the +grace of Asshur, Shamas, and Vul, the Great Gods, I., Tiglath-Pileser, +king of Assyria, son of Asshurris-ilim, king of Assyria, who was the son +of Mutaggil-Nebo, king of Assyria, marching from the great sea of +Akhiri' (the Mediterranean) to the sea of Nairi" (Lake of Van) "for the +third time have invaded the country of Nairi." [PLATE CXLIV Fig. 3.] + +The fact of his having warred in Lower Mesopotamia is almost the whole +that is known of Tiglath-Pileser's son and successor, Asshur-bil-kala. A +contest in which he was engaged with the Babylonian prince, +Merodach-shapik-ziri (who seems to have been the successor of +Merodach-iddin-akhi), is recorded on the famous synchronistic tablet, in +conjunction with the Babylonian wars of his father and grandfather; but +the tablet is so injured in this place that no particulars can be +gathered from it. From a monument of Asshur-bil-kala's own time--one of +the earliest Assyrian sculptures that has cone down to us--we may +perhaps further conclude that he inherited something of the religious +spirit of his father, and gave a portion of his attention to the +adornment of temples, and the setting up of images. + +The probable date of the reign of Asshur-bil-kala is about B.C. +1110-1090. He appears to have been succeeded on the throne by his +younger brother, Shamas-Vul, of whom nothing is known, but that he +built, or repaired, a temple at Nineveh. His reign probably occupied the +interval between B.. 1090 and 1070. He would thus seem to have been +contemporary with _Smendes_ in Egypt and with Samuel or Saul in Israel. +So apparently insignificant an event as the establishment of a kingdom +in Palestine was not likely to disturb the thoughts, even if it came to +the knowledge, of an Assyrian monarch. Shamas-Vul would no doubt have +regarded with utter contempt the petty sovereign of so small a territory +as Palestine, and would have looked upon the new kingdom as scarcely +more worthy of his notice than any other of the ten thousand little +principalities which lay on or near his borders. Could he, however, have +possessed for a few moments the prophetic foresight vouchsafed some +centuries earlier to one who may almost be called his countryman, he +would have been astonished to recognize in the humble kingdom just +lifting its head in the far West, and struggling to hold its own against +Philistine cruelty and oppression, a power which in little more than +fifty years would stand forth before the world as the equal, if not the +superior, of his own state. The imperial splendor of the kingdom of +David and Solomon did, in fact, eclipse for awhile the more ancient +glories of Assyria. It is a notable circumstance that, exactly at the +time when a great and powerful monarchy grew up in the tract between +Egypt and the Euphrates, Assyria passed under a cloud. The history of +the country is almost a blank for two centuries between the reigns of +Shamas-Vul and the second Tiglathi-Nin, whose accession is fixed by the +Assyrian Canon to B.C. 889. During more than three-fourths of this time, +from about B.C. 1070 to B.C. 930, the very names of the monarchs are +almost wholly unknown to us. It seems as if there was not room in +Western Asia for two first-class monarchies to exist and flourish at the +same time; and so, although there was no contention, or even contact, +between the two empires of Judaea and Assyria, yet the rise of the one +to greatness could only take place under the condition of a coincident +weakness of the other. + +It is very remarkable that exactly in this interval of darkness, when +Assyria would seem, from the failure both of buildings and records, to +have been especially and exceptionally weak, occurs the first appearance +of her having extended her influence beyond Syria into the great and +ancient monarchy of Egypt. In the twenty-second Egyptian dynasty, which +began with Sheshonk I., or Shishak, the contemporary of Solomon, about +B.C. 900, Assyrian names appear for the first time in the Egyptian +dynastic lists. It has been supposed from this circumstance that the +entire twenty-second dynasty, together with that which succeeded it, was +Assyrian; but the condition of Assyria at the time renders such a +hypothesis most improbable. The true explanation would seem to be that +the Egyptian kings of this period sometimes married. Assyrian wives, who +naturally gave Assyrian names to some of their children. These wives +were perhaps members of the Assyrian royal family; or perhaps they were +the daughters of the Assyrian nobles who from time to time were +appointed as viceroys of the towns and small states which the Ninevite +monarchs conquered on the skirts of their empire. Either of these +suppositions is more probable than the establishment in Egypt of a +dynasty really Assyrian at a time of extraordinary weakness and +depression. + +When at the close of this long period of obscurity, Assyria once more +comes into sight, we have at first only a dim and indistinct view of her +through the mists which still enfold and shroud her form. We observe +that her capital is still fixed at Kileh-Sherghat, where a new series of +kings, bearing names which, for the most part, resemble those of the +earlier period, are found employing themselves in the repair and +enlargement of public buildings, in connection with which they obtain +honorable mention in an inscription of a later monarch. Asshur-dayan, +the first monarch of this group, probably ascended the throne about B.C. +930, shortly after the separation of the two kingdoms of Israel and +Judah. He appears to have reigned from about B.C. 930 to B.C. 911. He +was succeeded in B.C. 911 by his son Vul-lush II., who held the throne +from B.C. 911 to B.C. 889. Nothing is known at present of the history of +these two monarchs. No historical inscriptions belonging to their reigns +have been recovered; no exploits are recorded of them in the +inscriptions of later sovereigns. They stand up before us the mere +"shadows of mighty names"--proofs of the, uncertainty of posthumous +fame, which is almost as often the award of chance as the deserved +recompense of superior merit. + +Of Tiglathi-Nin, the second monarch of the name, and the third king of +the group which we are considering, one important historical notice, +contained in an inscription of his son, has come down to us. In the +annals of the great Asshur-izirpal inscribed on the Nimrud monolith, +that prince, while commemorating his war-like exploits, informs us that +he set up his sculptures at the sources of the Tsupnat river alongside +of sculptures previously set up by his ancestors Tiglath-Pileser and +Tiglathi-Nin. That Tiglathi-Nin should have made so distant an +expedition is the more remarkable from the brevity of his reign, which +only lasted for six years. According to the Canon, he ascended the +throne in the year B.C. 889; he was succeeded in B.C. 883 by his son +Asshur-izir-pal. + +With Asshur-izir-pal commences one of the most flourishing periods of +the Empire. During the twenty-five years of his active and laborious +reign. Assyria enlarged her bounds and increased her influence in almost +every direction, while, at the same time, she advanced rapidly in wealth +and in the arts; in the latter respect leaping suddenly to an eminence +which (so far as we know) had not previously been reached by human +genius. The size and magnificence of Asshur-izir-pal's buildings, the +artistic excellence of their ornamentation, the pomp and splendor which +they set before us as familiar to the king who raised them, the skill in +various useful arts which they display or imply, have excited the +admiration of Europe, which has seen with astonishment that many of its +inventions were anticipated, and that its luxury was almost equalled, by +an Asiatic people nine centuries before the Christian era. It will be +our pleasing task at this point of the history, after briefly sketching +Asshur-izir-pal's wars, to give such an account of the great works which +he constructed as will convey to the reader at least a general idea of +the civilization and refinement of the Assyrians at the period to which +we are now come. + +Asshur-izir-pal's first campaign was in north-western Kurdistan and in +the adjoining parts of Armenia. It does not present any very remarkable +features, though he claims to have penetrated to a region "never +approached by the kings his fathers." His enemies are the Numi or Elami +(i.e., the mountaineers) and the Kirkhi, who seem to have left their +name in the modern Kurkh. Neither people appears to have been able to +make much head against him: no battle was fought: the natives merely +sought to defend their fortified places; but these were mostly taken and +destroyed by the invader. One chief, who was made prisoner, received +very barbarous treatment; he was carried to Arbela, and there flayed and +hung up upon the town wall. + +The second expedition of Asshur-izir-pal, which took place in the same +year as his first, was directed against the regions to the west and +north-west of Assyria. Traversing the country of Qummukh, and receiving +its tribute, as well as that of Serki and Sidikan (Arban), he advanced +against the Laki, who seem to have been at this time the chief people of +Central Mesopotamia, extending from the vicinity of Hatra as far as, or +even beyond, the middle Euphrates. Here the people of a city called +Assura had rebelled, murdered their governor, and called in a foreigner +to rule over them. Asshur-izir-pal marched hastily against the rebels, +who submitted at his approach, delivering up to his mercy both their +city and their new king. The latter he bound with fetters and carried +with him to Nineveh; the former he treated with almost unexampled +severity. Having first plundered the whole place, he gave up the houses +of the chief men to his own officers, established an Assyrian governor +in the palace, and then, selecting from the inhabitants the most guilty, +he crucified some, burnt others, and punished the remainder by cutting +off their ears or their noses. We can feel no surprise when we are +informed that, while he was thus "arranging" these matters, the +remaining kings of the Laki submissively sent in their tribute to the +conqueror, paying it with apparent cheerfulness, though it was "a heavy +and much increased burden." + +In his third expedition, which was in his second year, Asshur-izir-pal +turned his arms to the north, and marched towards the Upper Tigris, +where he forced the kings of the Nairi, who had, it appears, regained +their independence, to give in their submission, and appointed them an +annual tribute in gold, silver, horses, cattle, and other commodities. +It was in the course of this expedition that, having ascended to the +sources of the Tsupnat river, or Eastern Tigris, Asshur-izir-pal set up +his memorial side by side with monuments previously erected on the same +site by Tiglath-Pileser and by the first or second Tiglathi-Nin. + +Asshur-izir-pal's fourth campaign was towards the south-east. He crossed +the Lesser Zab, and, entering the Zagros range, carried fire and sword +through its fruitful valleys--pushing his arms further than any of his +ancestors, capturing some scores of towns, and accepting or extorting +tribute from a dozen petty kings. The furthest extent of his march was +probably the district of Zohab across the Shirwan branch of the Diyaleh, +to which he gives the name of Edisa. On his return he built, or rather +rebuilt, a city, which a Babylonian king called Tsibir had destroyed at +a remote period, and gave to his new foundation the name of Dur-Asshur, +in grateful acknowledgment of the protection vouchsafed him by "the +chief of the gods." + +In his fifth campaign the warlike monarch once more directed his steps +towards the north. Passing through the country of the Qummukh, and +receiving their tribute, he proceeded to war in the eastern portion of +the Mons Masius, where he took the cities of Matyat (now Mediyat) and +Kapranisa. He then appears to have crossed the Tigris and warred on the +flanks of Niphates, where his chief enemy was the people of Kasiyara. +Returning thence, he entered the territory of the Nairi, where he +declares that he overthrew and destroyed 250 strong walled cities, and +put to death a considerable number of the princes. + +The sixth campaign of Asshur-izir-pal was in a westerly direction. +Starting from Calah or Nimrud, he crossed the Tigris, and, marching +through the middle of Mesopotamia a little to the north of the Sinjar +range, took tribute from a number of subject towns along the courses of +the rivers Jerujer, Khabour, and Euphrates, among which the most +important were Sidikan (now Arban), Sirki, and Anat (now Anah). From +Anat, apparently his frontier-town in this direction, he invaded the +country of the Tsukhi (Shuhites), captured their city Tsur, and forced +them, notwithstanding the assistance which they received from their +neighbors the Babylonians, to surrender the themselves. He then entered +Chaldaea, and chastised the Chaldaeans, after which he returned in +triumph to his own country. + +His seventh campaign was also against the Shuhites. Released from the +immediate pressure of his arms, they had rebelled, and had even ventured +to invade the Assyrian Empire. The Laki, whose territory adjoined that +of the Shuhites towards the north and east, assisted them. The combined +army, which the allies were able to bring into the field amounted +probably to 20,000 men, including a large number of warriors who fought +in chariots. Asshur-izir-pal first attacked the cities on the left bank +of the Euphrates, which had felt his might on the former occasion; and, +having reduced these and punished their rebellion with great severity, +he crossed the river on rafts, and fought a battle with the main army of +the enemy. In this engagement he was completely victorious, defeating +the Tsukhi and their allies with great slaughter, and driving their +routed forces headlong into the Euphrates, where great numbers perished +by drowning. Six thousand five hundred of the rebels fell in the battle; +and the entire country on the right bank of the river, which had escaped +invasion in the former campaign, was ravaged furiously with fire and +sword by the incensed monarch. The cities and castles were burnt, the +males put to the sword, the women, children, and cattle carried off. Two +kings of the Laki are mentioned, of whom one escaped, while the other +was made prisoner, and conveyed to Assyria by the conqueror. A rate of +tribute was then imposed on the land considerably in advance of that to +which it had previously been liable. Besides this, to strengthen his +hold on the country, the conqueror built two new cities, one on either +bank of the Euphrates, naming the city on the left bank after himself, +and that on the right bank after the god Asshur. Both of these places +were no doubt left well garrisoned with Assyrian soldiers, on whom the +conqueror could place entire reliance. + +Asshur-izir-pal's eighth campaign was nearly in the same quarter; but +its exact scene lay, apparently, somewhat higher up the Euphrates. +Hazilu, the king of the Laki, who escaped capture in the preceding +expedition, had owed his safety to the refuge given him by the people of +Beth-Adina. Asshur-izir-pal, who seems to have regarded their conduct on +this occasion as an insult to himself, and was resolved to punish their +presumption, made his eighth expedition solely against this bold but +weak people. Unable to meet his forces in the field, they shut +themselves up in their chief city, Kabrabi (?), which was immediately +besieged, and soon taken and burnt by the Assyrians. The country of +Beth-Adina, which lay on the left or east bank of the Euphrates, in the +vicinity of the modern Balis, was overrun and added to the empire. Two +thousand five hundred prisoners were carried off and settled at Calah. + +The most interesting of Asshur-izir-pal's campaigns is the ninth, which +was against Syria. Marching across Upper-Mesopotamia, and receiving +various tributes upon his way, the Assyrian monarch passed the Euphrates +on rafts, and, entering the city of Carchemish, received the submission +of Sangara, the Hittite prince, who ruled in that town, and of various +other chiefs, "who came reverently and kissed his sceptre." He then +"gave command" to advance towards Lebanon. Entering the territory of the +Patena, who adjoined upon the northern Hittites, and held the country +about Antioch and Aleppo, he occupied the capital, Kinalua, which was +between the Abri (or Afrin) and the Orontes; alarmed the rebel king, +Lubarna, so that he submitted, and consented to pay a tribute; and then, +crossing the Orontes and destroying certain cities of the Patena, passed +along the northern flank of Lebanon, and reached the Mediterranean. Here +he erected altars and offered sacrifices to the gods, after which he +received the submission of the principal Phoenician states, among which +Tyre, Sidon, Byblus, and Aradus may be distinctly recognized. He then +proceeded inland, and visited the mountain range of Amanus, where he cut +timber, set up a sculptured memorial, and offered sacrifice. After this +he returned to Assyria, carrying with him, besides other plunder, a +quantity of wooden beams, probably cedar, which he carefully conveyed to +Nineveh, to be used in his public buildings. + +The tenth campaign of Asshur-izir-pai, and the last which is recorded, +was in the region of the Upper Tigris. The geographical details here are +difficult to follow. We can only say that, as usual, the Assyrian +monarch claims to have over-powered all resistance, to have defeated +armies, burnt cities, and carried off vast numbers of prisoners. The +"royal city" of the monarch chiefly attacked was Amidi, now Diarbekr, +which sufficiently marks the main locality of the expedition. + +While engaged in these important wars, which were all included within +his first six years, Asshur-izir-pal, like his great predecessor, +Tiglath-Pileser, occasionally so far unbent as to indulge in the +recreation of hunting. He interrupts the account of his military +achievements to record, for the benefit of posterity, that on one +occasion he slew fifty large wild bulls on the left bank of the +Euphrates, and captured eight of the same animals; while, on another, he +killed twenty ostriches (?), and took captive the same number. We may +conclude, from the example of Tiglath-Pileser, and from other +inscriptions of Asshur-izir-pal himself, that the captured animals were +convoyed to Assyria either as curiosities, or, more probably, as objects +of chase. Asshur-izir-pal's sculptures show that the pursuit of the wild +bull was one of his favorite occupations; and as the animals were scarce +in Assyria, he may have found it expedient to import them. + +Asshur-izir-pal appears, however, to have possessed a menagerie park in +the neighborhood of Nineveh, in which were maintained a variety of +strange and curious animals. Animals called _paguts_ or +_pagats_--perhaps elephants--were received as tribute from the +Phoenicians during his reign, on at least one occasion, and placed in +this enclosure, where (he tells us) they throve and bred. So well was +his taste for such curiosities known, that even neighboring sovereigns +sought to gratify it; and the king of Egypt, a Pharaoh probably of the +twenty-second dynasty, sent him a present of strange animals when he was +in Southern Syria, as a compliment likely to be appreciated. This love +of the chase, which he no doubt indulged to some extent at home, found +in Syria, and in the country on the Upper Tigris, its amplest and most +varied exercise. In an obelisk inscription, designed especially to +commemorate a great hunting expedition into these regions, he tells us +that, besides antelopes of all sorts, which he took and sent to Asshur, +he captured and destroyed the following animals:--lions, wild sheep, red +deer, fallow-deer, wild goats or ibexes, leopards large and small, +bears, wolves, jackals, wild boars, ostriches, foxes, hyaenas, wild +asses, and a few kinds which have not been identified. From another +inscription we learn that, in the course of another expedition, which +seems to have been in the Mesopotamian desert, he destroyed 360 large +lions, 257 large wild cattle, and thirty buffaloes, while he took and +sent to Calah fifteen full-grown lions, fifty young lions, some +leopards, several pairs of wild buffaloes and wild cattle, together with +ostriches, wolves, red deer, bears, cheetas, and hyeenas. Thus in his +peaceful hours he was still actively employed, and in the chase of many +dangerous beasts was able to exercise the same qualities of courage, +coolness, and skill in the use of weapons which procured him in his wars +such frequent and such great successes. + +[Illustration: PLATE 145] + +Thus distinguished, both as a hunter and as a warrior, Asshur-izir-pal, +nevertheless, excelled his predecessors most remarkably in the grandeur +of his public buildings and the free use which he made of the mimetic +and other arts in their ornamentation. The constructions of the earlier +kings at Asshur (or Kileh-Sherghat), whatever merit they may have had, +were beyond a doubt far inferior to those which, from the time of +Asshur-izir-pal, were raised in rapid succession at Calah, Nineveh, and +Beth-Sargina by that monarch and his successors upon the throne. The +mounds of Kileh-Sherghat have yielded no bas-reliefs, nor do they show +any traces of buildings on the scale of those which, at Nimrud, +Koyunjik, and Khorsabad, provoke the admiration of the traveller. The +great palace of Asshur-izir-pal was at Calah, which he first raised from +a provincial town to be the metropolis of the empire. [PLATE CXLV., Fig. +1.] It was a building 360 feet long by 300 broad, consisting of seven or +eight large halls, and a far greater number of small chambers, grouped +round a central court 130 feet long and nearly 100 wide. The longest of +the halls, which faced towards the north, and was the first room entered +by one who approached from the town, was in length 154 and in breadth 33 +feet. The others varied between a size little short of this, and a +length of 65 with a breadth of less than 20 feet. The chambers were +generally square, or nearly so, and in their greatest dimensions rarely +exceeded ten yards. The whole palace was raised upon a lofty platform, +made of sun-burnt brick, but externally cased on every side with hewn +stone. There were two grand facades, one facing the north, on which side +there was an ascent to the platform from the town: and the other facing +the Tigris, which anciently flowed at the foot of the platform towards +the west. On the northern front two or three gateways, flanked with +andro-sphinxes, gave direct access to the principal hall or audience +chamber, a noble apartment, but too narrow for its length, lined +throughout with sculptured slabs representing the various actions of the +king, and containing at the upper or eastern end a raised stone platform +cut into steps, which, it is probable, was intended to support at a +proper elevation the carved throne of the monarch. A grand portal in the +southern wall of the chamber, guarded on either side by winged +human-headed bulls in yellow limestone, conducted into a second hall +considerably smaller than the first, and having less variety of +ornament, which communicated with the central court by a handsome +gateway towards the south; and, towards the east, was connected with a +third hall, one of the most remarkable in the palace. This chamber was a +better-proportioned room than most, being about ninety feet long by +twenty-six wide; it ran along the eastern side of the great court, with +which it communicated by two gateways, and, internally, it was adorned +with sculptures of a more finished and elaborate character than any +other room in the building. Behind this eastern hall was another opening +into it, of somewhat greater length, but only twenty feet wide; and this +led to five small chambers, which here bounded the palace. South of the +Great Court were, again, two halls communicating with each other; but +they were of inferior size to those on the north and west, and were far +less richly ornamented. It is conjectured that there were also two or +three halls on the west side of the court between it and the river; but +of this there was no very clear evidence, and it may be doubted whether +the court towards the west was not, at least partially, open to the +river. Almost every hall had one or two small chambers attached to it, +which were most usually at the ends of the halls, and connected with +them by large doorways. + +Such was the general plan of the palace of Asshur-izir-pal. Its great +halls, so narrow for their length, were probably roofed with beams +stretching across them from side to side, and lighted by small _louvres_ +in their roofs after the manner already described elsewhere. Its square +chambers may have been domed, and perhaps were not lighted at all, or +only by lamps and torches. They were generally without ornamentation. +The grand halls, on the contrary, and some of the narrower chambers, +were decorated on every side, first with sculptures to the height of +nine or ten feet, and then with enamelled bricks, or patterns painted in +fresco, to the height, probably, of seven or eight feet more. The entire +height of the rooms was thus from sixteen to seventeen or eighteen feet. + +The character of Asshur-izir-pal's sculptures has been sufficiently +described in an earlier chapter. They have great spirit, boldness, and +force; occasionally they show real merit in the design; but they are +clumsy in the drawing and somewhat coarse in the execution. What chiefly +surprises us in regard to them is the suddenness with which the art they +manifest appears to have sprung up, without going through the usual +stages of rudeness and imperfection. Setting aside one mutilated statue, +of very poor execution, and a single rock tablet, we have no specimens +remaining of Assyrian mimetic art more ancient than this monarch. That +art almost seems to start in Assyria, like Minerva from the head of +Jove, full-grown. Asshur-izir-pal had undoubtedly some constructions of +former monarchs to copy from, both in his palatial and in his sacred +edifices; the old palaces and temples at Kileh-Sherghat must have had a +certain grandeur; and in his architecture this monarch may have merely +amplified and improved upon the models left him by his predecessors; but +his ornamentation, so far as appears, was his own. The mounds of +Kileh-Sherghat have yielded bricks in abundance, but not a single +fragment of a sculptured slab. We cannot prove that ornamental +bas-reliefs did not exist before the time of Asshur-izir-pal; indeed the +rock tablets which earlier monarchs set up were sculptures of this +character; but to Asshur-izir-pal seems at any rate to belong the merit +of having first adopted bas-reliefs on an extensive scale as an +architectural ornament, and of having employed them so as to represent +by their means all the public life of the monarch. + +The other arts employed by this king in the adornment of his buildings +were those of enamelling bricks and painting in fresco upon a plaster. +Both involve considerable skill in the preparation of colors, and the +former especially implies much dexterity in the management of several +very delicate processes. + +The sculptures of Asshur-izir-pal, besides proving directly the high +condition of mimetic art in Assyria at this time, furnish indirect +evidence of the wonderful progress which had been made in various +important manufactures. The metallurgy which produced the swords, +sword-sheaths, daggers, earrings, necklaces, armlets, and bracelets of +this period, must have been of a very advanced description. The +coach-building which constructed the chariots, the saddlery which made +the harness of the horses, the embroidery which ornamented the robes, +must, similarly, have been of a superior character. The evidence of the +sculptures alone is quite sufficient to show that, in the time of +Asshur-izir-pal, the Assyrians were already a great and luxurious +people, that most of the useful arts not only existed among them, but +were cultivated to a high pitch, and that in dress, furniture, jewelry, +etc., they were not very much behind the moderns. + +Besides the magnificent palace which he built at Calah, Asshur-izir-pal +is known also to have erected a certain number of temples. The most +important of these have been already described. They stood at the +north-western corner of the Nimrud platform, and consisted of two +edifices, one exactly at the angle, comprising the higher tower or +_ziggurat_, which stood out as a sort of corner buttress from the great +mound, and a shrine with chambers at the tower's base; the other, a +little further to the east, consisting of a shrine and chambers without +a tower. These temples were richly ornamented both within and without; +and in front of the larger one was an erection which seems to show that +the Assyrian monarchs, either during their lifetime, or at any rate +after their decease, received divine honors from their subjects. On a +plain square pedestal about two feet in height was raised a solid block +of limestone cut into the shape of an arched frame, and within this +frame was carved the monarch in his sacerdotal dress, and with the +sacred collar round his neck, while the five principal divine emblems +were represented above his head. In front of this figure, marking +(apparently) the object of its erection, was a triangular altar with a +circular top, very much resembling the tripod of the Greeks. Here we may +presume were laid the offerings with which the credulous and the servile +propitiated the new god,--many a gift, not improbably, being intercepted +on its way to the deity of the temple. [PLATE CXLV., Fig. 2.] + +Another temple built by this monarch was one dedicated to Beltis at +Nineveh. It was perhaps for the ornamentation of this edifice that he +cut "great trees" in Amanus and elsewhere during his Syrian expedition, +and had them conveyed across Mesopotamia to Assyria. It is expressly +stated that these beams were carried, not to Calah, where +Asshur-izir-pal usually resided, but to Nineveh. + +A remarkable work, probably erected by this monarch, and set up as a +memorial of his reign at the same city, is an obelisk in white stone, +now in the British Museum. On this monument, which was covered on all +its four sides with sculptures and inscriptions, now nearly obliterated, +Asshur-izir-pal commemorated his wars and hunting exploits in various +countries. The obelisk is a monolith, about twelve or thirteen feet +high, and two feet broad at the base. It tapers slightly, and, like the +Black Obelisk erected by this monarch's son, is crowned at the summit by +three steps or gradines. This thoroughly Assyrian ornamentation seems to +show that the idea of the obelisk was not derived from Egypt, where the +pyramidical apex was universally used, being regarded as essential to +this class of ornaments. If we must seek a foreign origin for the +invention, we may perhaps find it in the pillars [Greek ---- ----] which +the Phoenicians employed, as ornaments or memorials, from a remote +antiquity, objects possibly seen by the monarch who took tribute from +Tyre, Sidon, Aradus, Byblus, and most of the maritime Syrian cities. + +Another most important work of this great monarch was the tunnel and +canal already described at length, by which at a vast expenditure of +money and labor he brought the water of the Greater Zab to Calah. +Asshur-izir-pal mentions this great work as his in his annals; and he +was likewise commemorated as its author in the tablet set up in the +tunnel by Sennacherib, when, two centuries later, he repaired it and +brought it once more into use. + +It is evident that Asshur-izir-pal, though he adorned and beautified +both the old capital, Asshur, and the now rising city of Nineveh, +regarded the town of Calah with more favor than any other, making it the +ordinary residence of his court, and bestowing on it his chief care and +attention. It would seem that the Assyrian dominion had by this time +spread so far to the north that the situation of Asshur (or +Kileh-Sherghat) was no longer sufficiently central for the capital. The +seat of government was consequently moved forty miles further up the +river. At the same time it was transferred from the west bank to the +east, and placed in the fertile region of Adiabene, near the junction of +the Greater Zab with the Tigris. Here, in a strong and healthy position, +on a low spur from the Jebel Maklub, protected on either side by a deep +river, the new capital grew to greatness. Palace after palace rose on +its lofty platform, rich with carved woodwork, gilding, painting, +sculpture, and enamel, each aiming to outshine its predecessors; while +stone lions, sphinxes, obelisks, shrines,and temple-towers embellished +the scene, breaking its monotonous sameness by variety. The lofty +_ziggurat_ attached to the temple of Nin or Hercules, dominating over +the whole, gave unity to the vast mass of palatial and sacred edifices. +The Tigris, skirting the entire western base of the mound, glassed the +whole in its waves, and, doubling the apparent height, rendered less +observable the chief weakness of the architecture. When the setting sun +lighted up the view with the gorgeous hues seen only under an eastern +sky, Calah must have seemed to the traveller who beheld it for the first +time like a vision from fairy-land. + +After reigning gloriously for twenty-five years, from B.C. 883 to B.C. +858, this great prince--"the conqueror" (as he styles himself), "from +the upper passage of the Tigris to Lebanon and the Great Sea, who has +reduced under his authority all countries from the rising of the sun to +the going down of the same"--died, probably at no very advanced age, and +left his throne to his son, who bore the name of Shalmaneser. + +Shalmaneser II., the son of Asshur-izir-pal, who may probably have been +trained to arms under his father, seems to have inherited to the full +his military spirit, and to have warred with at least as much success +against his neighbors. His reign was extended to the unusual length of +thirty-five years, during which time he conducted in person no fewer +than twenty-three military expeditions, besides entrusting three or four +others to a favorite general. It would be a wearisome task to follow out +in detail these numerous and generally uninteresting campaigns, where +invasion, battle, flight, siege, submission, and triumphant return +succeeded one another with monotonous uniformity. The style of the court +historians of Assyria does not improve as time goes on. Nothing can well +be more dry and commonplace than the historical literature of this +period, which recalls the early efforts of the Greeks in this +department, and exhibits a decided inferiority to the compositions of +Stowe and Holinshed. The historiographer of Tiglath-Pileser I., between +two and three centuries earlier, is much superior, as a writer, to those +of the period to which we are come, who eschew all graces of style, +contenting themselves with the curtest and dryest of phrases, and with +sentences modelled on a single unvarying type. + +Instead, therefore, of following in the direct track of the annalist +whom Shalmaneser employed to record his exploits, and proceeding to +analyze his account of the twenty-seven campaigns belonging to this +reign, I shall simply present the reader with the general result in a +few words, and then draw his special attention to a few of the +expeditions which are of more than common importance. + +It appears, then, that Shalmaneser, during the first twenty-seven years +of his reign, led in person twenty-three expeditions into the +territories of his neighbors, attacking in the course of these inroads, +besides petty tribes, the following nations and countries:--Babylonia, +Chaldaea, Media, the Zimri, Armenia, Upper Mesopotamia, the country +about the head-streams of the Tigris, the Hittites, the Patena, the +Tibareni, the Hamathites, and the Syrians of Damascus. He took tribute +during the same time from the Phoenieian cities of Tyre, Sidon, and +Byblus, from the Tsukhi or Shuhites, from the people of Muzr, from the +Bartsu or Partsu, who are almost certainly the Persians, and from the +Israelites. He thus traversed in person the entire country between the +Persian Gulf on the south and Mount Niphates upon the north, and between +the Zagros range (or perhaps the Persian desert) eastward, and, westward, +the shores of the Mediterranean. Over the whole of this region he made +his power felt, and even beyond it the nations feared him and gladly +placed themselves under his protection. During the later years of his +reign, when he was becoming less fit for warlike toils, he seems in +general to have deputed the command of his armies to a subject in whom +he had great confidence, a noble named Dayan-Asshur. This chief, who +held an important office as early as Shahnaneser's fifth year, was in +his twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, thirtieth, and thirty-first employed +as commander-in-chief, and sent out, at the head of the main army of +Assyria, to conduct campaigns against the Armenians, against the +revolted Patena, and against the inhabitants of the modern Kurdistan. It +is uncertain whether the king himself took any part in the campaigns of +these years, the native record the first and third persons are +continually interchanged, some of the actions related being ascribed to +the monarch and others to the general; but on the whole the impression +left by the narrative is that the king, in the spirit of a well-known +legal maxim assumes as his own the acts which he has accomplished +through his representative. In his twenty-ninth year, however, +Shalmaneser seems to have led an expedition in person into Khirki (the +Niphates country), where he "overturned, beat to pieces, and consumed +with fire the towns, swept the country with his troops, and impressed on +the inhabitants the fear of his presence." + +The campaigns of Shalmaneser which have the greatest interest are those +of his sixth, eighth, ninth, eleventh, fourteenth, eighteenth, and +twenty-first years. Two of these were directed against Babylonia, three +against Ben-hadad of Damascus, and two against Khazail (Hazael) of +Damascus. + +In his eighth year Shalmaneser took advantage of a civil war in +Babylonia between King Merodach-sum-adin and a younger brother, +Merodach-bel-usati (?), whose power was about evenly balanced, to +interfere in the affairs of that country, and under pretence of helping +the legitimate monarch, to make himself master of several towns. In the +following year he was still more fortunate. Having engaged, defeated, +and slain the pretender to the Babylonian crown, he marched on to +Babylon itself, where he was probably welcomed as a deliverer, and from +thence proceeded into Chaldaea, or the tract upon the coast, which was +at this time independent of Babylon, and forced its kings to become his +tributaries. "The power of his army," he tells us, "struck terror as far +as the sea." + +The wars of Shalmaneser in Southern Syria commenced as early as his +ninth year. He had succeeded to a dominion in Northern Syria which +extended over the Patena, and probably over most of the northern +Hittites; and this made his territories conterminous with those of the +Phoenicians, the Hamathites, the southern Hittites, and perhaps the +Syrians of Damascus. At any rate the last named people felt themselves +threatened by the growing power on or near their borders, and, convinced +that they would soon be attacked, prepared for resistance by entering +into a close league with their neighbors. The king of Damascus, who was +the great Ben-hadad, Tsakhulena, king of Hamath, Ahab, king of Israel, +the kings of the southern Hittites, those of the Phoenician cities on +the coast, and others, formed an alliance, and, uniting their forces, +went out boldly to meet Shalnaneser, offering him battle. Despite, +however, of this confidence, or perhaps in consequence of it, the allies +suffered a defeat. Twenty thousand men fell in the battle. Many chariots +and much of the material of war were captured by the Assyrians. But +still no conquest was effected. Shalmaneser does not assert that he +either received submission or imposed a tribute; and the fact that he +did not venture to renew the war for five years seems to show that the +resistance which he had encountered made him hesitate about continuing +the struggle. + +Five years, however, having elapsed, and the power of Assyria being +increased by her successes in Lower Mesopotamia, Shalmaneser, in the +eleventh year of his reign, advanced a second time against Hamath and +the southern Hittites. Entering their territories unexpectedly, he was +at first unopposed, and succeeded in taking a large number of their +towns. But the troops of Ben-hadad soon appeared in the field. +Phoenicia, apparently, stood aloof, and Hamath was occupied with her own +difficulties; but Ben-hadad, having joined the Hittites, again gave +Shalmaneser battle; and though that monarch, as usual, claims the +victory, it is evident that he gained no important advantage by his +success. He had once more to return to his own land without having +extended his sway, and this time (as it would seem) without even any +trophies of conquest. + +Three years later, he made another desperate effort. Collecting his +people "in multitudes that were not to be counted," he crossed the +Euphrates with above a hundred thousand men. Marching southwards, he +soon encountered a large army of the allies, Damascenes, Hamathites, +Hittites, and perhaps Phoenicians, the first-named still commanded by +the undaunted Ben-hadad. This time the success of the Assyrians is +beyond dispute. Not only were the allies put to flight, not only did +they lose most of their chariots and implements of war, but they appear +to have lost hope, and, formally or tacitly, to have forthwith dissolved +their confederacy. The Hittites and Hamathites probably submitted to the +conqueror; the Phoenicians withdrew to their own towns, and Damascus was +left without allies, to defend herself as she best might, when the tide +of conquest should once more flow in this direction. + +In the fourth year the flow of the tide came. Shalmaneser, once more +advancing southward, found the Syrians of Damascus strongly posted in +the fastnesses of the Anti-Lebanon. Since his last invasion they had +changed their ruler. The brave and experienced Ben-hadad had perished by +the treachery of an ambitious subject, and his assassin, the infamous +Hazael, held the throne. Left to his own resources by the dissolution of +the old league, this monarch had exerted himself to the utmost in order +to repel the attack which he knew was impending. He had collected a very +large army, including above eleven hundred chariots, and, determined to +leave nothing to chance, had carefully taken up a very strong position +in the mountain range which separated his territory from the neighboring +kingdom of Hamath, or valley of Coele-Syria. Here he was attacked by +Shalmaneser, and completely defeated, with the loss of 16,000 of his +troops, 1121 of his chariots, a quantity of his war material, and his +camp. This blow apparently prostrated him; and when, three years later, +Shalmaneser invaded his territory, Hazael brought no army into the +field, but let his towns, one after another, be taken and plundered by +the Assyrians. + +It was probably upon this last occasion, when the spirit of Damascus was +cowed, and the Phoenician cities, trembling at the thought of their own +rashness in having assisted Hazael and Ben-hadad, hastened to make their +submission and to resume the rank of Assyrian tributaries, that the +sovereign of another Syrian country, taking warning from the fate of his +neighbors, determined to anticipate the subjection which he could not +avoid, and, making a virtue of necessity, to place himself under the +Assyrian yoke. Jehu, "son of Omri," as he is termed in the +Inscription--i.e., successor and supposed descendant of the great Omri +who built Samaria, sent as tribute to Shalmaneser a quantity of gold and +silver in bullion, together with a number of manufactured articles in +the more precious of the two metals. In the sculptures which represent +the Israelitish ambassadors presenting this tribute to the great king, +these articles appear carried in the hands, or on the shoulders, of the +envoys, but they are in general too indistinctly traced for us to +pronounce with any confidence upon their character. [PLATE CXLVI., Fig. +1] + +[Illustration: PLATE 146] + +Shalmaneser had the same taste as his father for architecture and the +other arts. He completed the _ziggurat_ of the Great Temple of Nin at +Calah, which his father had left unfinished, and not content with the +palace of that monarch, built for himself a new and (probably) more +magnificent residence on the same lofty platform, at the distance of +about 150 yards. This edifice was found by Mr. Layard in so ruined a +condition, through the violence which it had suffered, apparently at the +hands of Esarhaddon, that it was impossible either to trace its plan or +to form a clear notion of its ornamentation. Two gigantic winged bulls, +partly destroyed, served to show that the grand portals of the chambers +were similar in character and design to those of the earlier monarch, +while from a number of sculptured fragments it was sufficiently plain +that the walls had been adorned with bas-reliefs of the style used in +Asshur-izir-pal's edifice. The only difference observable was in the +size and subjects of the sculptures, which seemed to have been on a +grander scale and more generally mythological than those of the +North-West palace. + +The monument of Shalmaneser which has attracted most attention in this +country is an obelisk in black marble, similar in shape and general +arrangement to that of Asshur-izir-pal, already described, but of a +handsomer and better material. This work of art was discovered in a +prostrate position under the debris which covered up Shalmaneser's +palace. It contained bas-reliefs in twenty compartments, five on each of +its four sides; the space above, between, and below then being covered +with cuneiform writing, sharply inscribed in a minute character. The +whole was in most excellent preservation. + +The bas-reliefs represent the monarch, accompanied by his vizier and +other chief officers, receiving the tribute of five nations, whose +envoys are ushered into the royal presence by officers of the court, and +prostrate themselves at the Great King's feet ere they present their +offerings. The gifts brought are, in part, objects carried in the +hand--gold, silver, copper in bars and cubes, goblets, elephants' tusks, +tissues, and the like--in part, animals such as horses, camels, monkeys +and baboons of different kinds, stags, lions, wild bulls, antelopes, +and--strangest of all--the rhinoceros and the elephant. One of the +nations, as already mentioned, is that of the Israelites. The others +are, first, the people of Kirzan, a country bordering on Armenia, who +present gold, silver, copper, horses, and camels, and fill the four +highest compartments with a train of nine envoys: secondly, the Muzri, +or people of Muzr, a country nearly in the same quarter, who are +represented in the four central compartments, with six envoys conducting +various wild animals; thirdly, the Tsukhi, or Shuhites, from the +Euphrates, to whom belong the four compartments below the Muzri, which +are filled by a train of thirteen envoys, bringing two lions, a stag, +and various precious articles, among which bars of metal, elephants' +tusks, and shawls or tissues are conspicuous; and lastly, the Patera, +from the Orontes, who fill three of the lowest compartments with a train +of twelve envoys bearing gifts like those of the Israelites. + +Besides this interesting monument, there are very few remains of art +which can be ascribed to Shalmaneser's time with any confidence. The +sculptures found on the site of his palace belonged to a later monarch, +who restored and embellished it. His own bas-reliefs were torn from +their places by Esarhaddon, and by him defaced and used as materials in +the construction of a new palace. We are thus left almost without +materials for judging of the progress made by art during Shalmaneser's +reign. Architecture, it may be conjectured, was modified to a certain +extent, precious woods being employed more frequently and more largely +than before; a fact of which we seem to have an indication in the +frequent expeditions made by Shalmaneser into Syria, for the single +purpose of cutting timber in its forests. Sculpture, to judge from the +obelisk, made no advance. The same formality, the same heaviness of +outline, the same rigid adherence to the profile in all representations +both of man and beast, characterize the reliefs of both reigns equally, +so far as we have any means of judging. + +Shalmaneser seems to have held his court ordinarily at Calah, where he +built his palace and set up his obelisk; but sometimes he would reside +for a time at Nineveh or at Asshur. He does not appear to have built any +important edifice at either of these two cities, but at the latter he +left a monument which possesses some interest. This is the stone statue, +now in a mutilated condition, representing a king seated, which was +found by Mr. Layard at Kileh-Sherghat, and of which some notice has +already been taken. Its proportions are better than those of the small +statue of the monarch's father, standing in his sacrificial dress, which +was found at Nimrud; and it is superior to that work of art, in being of +the size of life; but either its execution was originally very rude, or +it must have suffered grievously by exposure, for it is now wholly rough +and unpolished. + +The later years of Shahuaneser appear to have been troubled by a +dangerous rebellion. The infirmities of age were probably creeping upon +him. He had ceased to go out with his armies; and had handed over a +portion of his authority to the favorite general who was entrusted with +the command of his forces year after year. The favor thus shown may have +provoked jealousy and even alarm. It may have been thought that the +legitimate successor was imperilled by the exaltation of a subject whose +position would enable him to in gratiate himself with the troops, and +who might be expected, on the death of his patron, to make an effort to +place the crown on his own head. Fears of this kind may very probably +have so worked on the mind of the heir apparent as to determine him not +to await his father's demise, but rather to raise the standard of revolt +during his lifetime, and to endeavor, by an unexpected _coup-de-main,_ +to anticipate and ruin his rival. Or, possibly, Asshur-danin-pal, the +eldest son of Shalmaneser, like too many royal youths, may have been +impatient of the long life of his father, and have conceived the guilty +desire, with which our fourth Henry is said to have taxed his +first-born, a "hunger for the empty chair" of which the aged monarch, +still held possession. At any rate, whatever may have been the motive +that urged him on, it is certain that Asshur-danin-pal rebelled against +his sire's authority, and, raising the standard of revolt, succeeded in +carrying with him a great part of the kingdom. At Asshur, the old +metropolis, which may have hoped to lure back the Court by its +subservience, at Arbela in the Zab region, at Amidi on the Upper Tigris, +at Tel-Apni near the site of Orfa, and at more than twenty other +fortified places, Asshur-danin-pal was pro-claimed king, and accepted by +the inhabitants for their sovereign. Shalmaneser must have felt himself +in imminent peril of losing his crown. Under these circumstances he +called to his assistance his second son Shamas-Vul, and placing him at +the head of such of his troops as remained firm to their allegiance, +invested him with full power to act as he thought best in the existing +emergency. Shamas-Vul at once took the field, attacked and reduced the +rebellious cities one after another, and in a little time completely +crushed the revolt and reestablished peace throughout the empire. +Asshur-danin-pal, the arch conspirator, was probably put to death; his +life was justly forfeit; and neither Shamas-Vul nor his father is likely +to have been withheld by any inconvenient tenderness from punishing +treason in a near relative, as they would have punished it in any other +person. The suppressor of the revolt became the heir of the kingdom; and +when, shortly afterwards, Shalmaneser died, the piety or prudence if his +faithful son was rewarded by the rich inheritance of the Assyrian +Empire. + +Shalmaneser reigned, in all, thirty-five years, from B.C. 858 to B.C. +823. His successor, Shamas-Vul, held the throne for thirteen years, from +B.C. 823 to B.C. 810. Before entering upon the consideration of this +latter monarch's reign, it will be well to cast your eyes once more over +the Assyrian Empire, such as it has now become, and over the nations +with which its growth had brought it into contact. Considerable changes +had occurred since the time of Tiglath-Pileser I., the Assyrian +boundaries having been advanced in several directions, while either this +progress, or the movements of races beyond the frontier, had brought +into view many new and some very important nations. + +The chief advance which the "Terminus" of the Assyrians had made was +towards the west and the north-west. Instead of their dominion in this +quarter being bounded by the Euphrates, they had established their +authority over the whole of Upper Syria, over Phoenicia, Hamath, and +Samaria, or the kingdom of the Israelites. These countries were not +indeed reduced to the form of provinces; on the contrary, they still +retained their own laws, administration, and native princes; but they +were henceforth really subject to Assyria, acknowledging her suzerainty, +paying her an annual tribute, and giving a free passage to her armies +through their territories. The limit of the Assyrian Empire towards the +west was consequently at this time the Mediterranean, from the Gulf of +Iskanderun to Cape Carmel, or perhaps we should say to Joppa. Their +north-western boundary was the range of Taurus next beyond Amanus, the +tract between the two belonging to the Tibareni (Tubal), who had +submitted to become tributaries. Northwards, little if any progress had +been made. The chain of Niphates--"the high grounds over the effluents +of the Tigris and Euphrates"--where Shalmaneser set up "an image of his +majesty," seems still to be the furthest limit. In other words, Armenia +is unconquered, the strength of the region and the valor of its +inhabitants still protecting it from the Assyrian arms. Towards the east +some territory seems to have been gained, more especially in the central +Zagros region, the district between the Lower Zab and Holwan, which at +this period bore the name of Hupuska; but the tribes north and south of +this tract were still for the most part unsubdued. The southern frontier +may be regarded as wholly unchanged: for although Shalmaneser warred in +Babylonia, and even took tribute on one occasion from the petty kings of +the Chaldaean towns, he seems to have made no permanent impression in +this quarter. The Tsukhi or Shuhites are still the most southern of his +subjects. + +The principal changes which time and conquest had made among the +neighbors of Assyria were the following. Towards the west she was +brought into contact with the kingdom of Damascus, and, through her +tributary Samaria with Judea. On the north-west she had new enemies in +the _Quins_ (Coans?) who dwelt on the further side of Amanus, near the +Tibareni, in a part of the country afterwards called Cilicia, and the +Cilicians themselves, who are now first mentioned. The Moschi seem to +have withdrawn a little from this neighborhood, since they no longer +appear either among Assyria's enemies or her tributaries. On the north +all minor powers had disappeared; and the Armenians (Urarda) were now +Assyria's sole neighbors. Towards the east she had come into contact +with the _Mannai,_ or Minni, about Lake Urumiyeh, with the Harkhar in +the Van region and in north-western Kurdistan, with the Bartsu or +Persians and the Mada or Medes in the country east of Zagros, the modern +province of Ardelan, and with the Tsimri, or Zimri, in Upper Luristan. +Among all her fresh enemies, she had not, however, as yet found one +calculated to inspire any serious fear. No new organized monarchy +presented itself. The tribes and nations upon her borders were still +either weak in numbers or powerless from their intestine divisions; and +there was thus every reason to expect a long continuance of the success +which had naturally attended a large centralized state in her contests +with small kingdoms or loosely-united confederacies. Names celebrated in +the after history of the world, as those of the Medes and Persians, are +now indeed for the first time emerging into light from the complete +obscurity which has shrouded there hitherto; and tinged as they are with +the radiance of their later glories, they show brightly among the many +insignificant tribes and nations with which Assyria has been warring for +centuries; but it would be a mistake to suppose that these names have +any present importance in the narrative or represent powers capable as +yet of contending on equal terms with the Assyrian Empire, or even of +seriously checking the progress of her successes. The Medes and Persians +are at this period no more powerful than the Zimri, the Minni, the +Urarda, or than half a dozen others of the border nations, whose +appellations sound strange in the ears even of the advanced student. +Neither of the two great Arian peoples had as yet a capital city, +neither was united under a king: separated into numerous tribes, each +under its chief, dispersed in scattered towns and villages, poorly +fortified or not fortified at, all, they were in the same condition as +the Nairi, the Qummukh, the Patena, the Hittites, and the other border +races whose relative weakness Assyria had abundantly proved in a long +course of wars wherein she had uniformly been the victor. + +The short reign of Shamas-Vul II., presents but little that calls for +remark. Like Shalmaneser II., he resided chiefly at Calah, where, +following the example of his father and grandfather, he set up an +obelisk (or rather a stele) in commemoration of his various exploits. +This monument, which is covered on three sides with an inscription in +the hieratic or cursive character, contains an opening invocation to Nin +or Hercules, conceived in the ordinary terms, the genealogy and titles +of the king, an account of the rebellion of Asshur-bani-pal, together +with its suppression, and Shamas-Vul's own annals for the first four +years of his reign. From these we learn that he displayed the same +active spirit as his two predecessors, carrying his arms against the +Nairi on the north, against Media and Arazias on the east, and against +Babylonia on the south. The people of Hupuska, the Minni, and the +Persians (Bartsu) paid him tribute. His principal success was that of +his fourth campaign, which was against Babylon. He entered the country +by a route often used, which skirted the Zagros mountain range for some +distance, and then crossed the flat, probably along the course of the +Diyaleh, to the southern capital. The Babylonians, alarmed at his +advance, occupied a strongly fortified place on his line of route, which +he besieged and took after a vigorous resistance, wherein the blood of +the garrison was shed like water. Eighteen thousand were slain; three +thousand were made prisoners; the city itself was plundered and burnt, +and Shamas-Vul pressed forward against the flying enemy. Hereupon the +Babylonian monarch, Merodach-belatzu-ikbi, collecting his own troops and +those of his allies, the Chaldaeans, the Aramaeans or Syrians, and the +Zimri--a vast host--met the invader on the river Daban--perhaps a branch +of the Euphrates--and fought a great battle in defence of his city. He +was, however, defeated by the Assyrians, with the loss of 5000 killed, +2000 prisoners, 100 chariots, 200 tents, and the royal standard and +pavilion. What further military or political results the victory may +have had is uncertain. Shamas-Vul's annals terminate abruptly at this +point, and we are left to conjecture the consequences of the campaign +and battle. It is possible that they were in the highest degree +important; for we find, in the next reign, that Babylonia, which has so +long been a separate and independent kingdom, is reduced to the +condition of a tributary, while we have no account of its reduction by +the succeeding monarch, whose relations with the Babylonians, so far as +we know, were of a purely peaceful character. + +The stele of Shamas-Vul contains one allusion to a hunting exploit, by +which we learn that this monarch inherited his grandfather's partiality +for the chase. He found wild bulls at the foot of Zagros when he was +marching to invade Babylonia, and delaying his advance to hunt them, was +so fortunate as to kill several. + +We know nothing of Shamas-Vul as a builder, and but little of him as a +patron of art. He seems to have been content with the palaces of his +father and grandfather, and to have been devoid of any wish to outshine +them by raising edifices which should throw theirs into the shade. In +his stele he shows no originality; for it is the mere reproduction of a +monument well known to his predecessors, and of which we have several +specimens from the time of Asshur-izir-pal downwards. It consists of a +single figure in relief--a figure representing the king dressed in his +priestly robes, and wearing the sacred emblems round his neck, standing +with the right arm upraised, and enclosed in the customary arched frame. +This figure, which is somewhat larger than life, is cut on a single +solid block of stone, and then placed on another broader block, which +serves as a pedestal. It closely resembles the figure of +Asshur-izir-pal, whereof a representation has been already given. + +The successor of Shamas-Vul was his son Vul-lush, the third monarch of +that name, who ascended the throne B.C. 810, and held it for twenty-nine +years, from B.C. 810 to B.C. 781. The memorials which we possess of this +king's reign are but scanty. They consist of one or two slabs found at +Nimrod, of a short dedicatory inscription on duplicate statues of the +god Nebo brought from the same place, of some brick inscriptions from +the mound of Nebbi Vunus, and of the briefest possible notices of the +quarters in which he carried on war, contained in one copy of the Canon. +As none of these records are in the shape of annals except the last, and +as only these and the slab notices are historical, it is impossible to +give any detailed account of this long and apparently important reign. +We can only say that Vul-lush III., was as warlike a monarch as any of +his predecessors, and that his efforts seem to have extended the +Assyrian dominion in almost every quarter. He made seven expeditions +across the Zagros range into Media, two into the Van country, and three +into Syria. He tells us that in one of these expeditions he succeeded in +making himself master of the great city of Damascus, whose kings had +defied (as we have seen) the repeated attacks of Shalmaneser. He reckons +as his tributaries in these parts, besides Damascus, the cities of Tyre +and Sidon, and the countries of Khumri or Samaria, of Palestine or +Philistia, and of Hudum (Idumaea or Edom). On the north and east he +received tokens of submission from the Nairi, the Minni, the Medes, and +the Partsu, or Persians. On the south, he exercised a power, which seems +like that of a sovereign, in Babylonia; where homage was paid him by the +Chaldaeans, and where, in the great cities of Babylon, Borsippa, and +Cutha (or Tiggaba), he was allowed'to offer sacrifice to the gods Bel, +Nebo, and Nergal. There is, further, some reason to suspect that, before +quitting Babylonia, he established one of his sons as viceroy over the +country; since he seems to style himself in one place "the king to whose +son Asshur, the chief of the gods, has granted the kingdom of Babylon." + +It thus appears that by the time of Vul-lush III., or early in the +eighth century u.e., Assyria had with one hand grasped Babylonia, while +with the other she had laid hold of Philistia and Edom. She thus touched +the Persian Gulf on the one side, while on the other she was brought +into contact with Egypt. At the same time she had received the +submission of at least some portion of the great nation of the Medes, +who were now probably moving southwards from Azerbijan and gradually +occupying the territory which was regarded as Media Proper by the Greeks +and Romans. She held Southern Armenia, from Lake Van to the sources of +the Tigris; she possessed all Upper Syria, including Commagene and +Amanus she had tributaries even on the further side of that mountain +range; she bore sway over the whole Syrian coast from Issus to Gaza; her +authority was acknowledged, probably, by all the tribes and kingdoms +between the coast and the desert, certainly by the Phoenicians, the +Hamathites, the Patena, the Hittites, the Syrians of Damascus, the +people of Israel, and the Idumaeans, or people of Edom. On the east she +had reduced almost all the valleys of Zagros, and had tributaries in the +great upland on the eastern side of the range. On the south, if she had +not absorbed Babylonia, she had at least made her influence paramount +there. The full height of her greatness was not indeed attained till a +century later; but already the "tall cedar" was "exalted above all the +trees of the field; his boughs were multiplied; his branches had become +long; and under his shadow dwelt great nations." + +Not much is known of Vul-lush III., as a builder, or as a patron of art. +He calls himself the "restorer of noble buildings which had gone to +decay," an expression which would seem to imply that he aimed rather at +maintaining former edifices in repair than at constructing new ones. He +seems, however, to have built some chambers on the mound of Nimrod, +between the north-western and the south-western palaces, and also to +have had a palace at Nineveh on the mound now called Nebbi Ynnus. The +Nimrud chambers were of small size and poorly ornamented; they contained +no sculptures; the walls were plastered and then painted in fresco with +a variety of patterns. They may have been merely guard-rooms, since they +appear to have formed a portion of a high tower. The palace at Nebbi +Ynnus was probably a more important work; but the superstitious regard +of the natives for the supposed tomb of Jonah has hitherto frustrated +all attempts made by Europeans to explore that mass of ruins. + +Among all the monuments recovered by recent researches, the only works +of art assignable to the reign of Vul-lush are two rude statues of the +god Nebo, almost exactly resembling one another. From the representation +of one of them, given on a former page of this volume, the reader will +see that the figures in question have scarcely any artistic merit. The +head is disproportionately large, the features, so far as they can be +traced, are coarse and heavy, the arms and hands are poorly modelled, +and the lower part is more like a pillar than the figure of a man. We +cannot suppose that Assyrian art was incapable, under the third +Vul-lush, of a higher flight than these statues indicate; we must +therefore regard them as conventional forms, reproduced from old models, +which the artist was bound to follow. It would seem, indeed, that while +in the representation of animals and of men of inferior rank, Assyrian +artists were untrammelled by precedent, and might aim at the highest +possible perfection, in religious subjects, and in the representation of +kings and nobles, they were limited, by law or custom, to certain +ancient forms and modes of expression, which we find repeated from the +earliest to the latest times with monotonous uniformity. + +If these statues, however, are valueless as works of art, they have yet +a peculiar interest for the historian, as containing the only mention +which the disentombed remains have furnished of one of the most +celebrated names of antiquity--a name which for many ages vindicated to +itself a leading place, not only in the history of Assyria, but in that +of the world. To the Greeks and Romans Semiramis was the foremost of +women, the greatest queen who had ever held a sceptre, the most +extraordinary conqueror that the East had ever produced. Beautiful as +Helen or Cleopatra, brave as Tomyris, lustful as Messalina, she had the +virtues and vices of a man rather than a woman, and performed deeds +scarcely inferior to those of Cyrus or Alexander the Great. It is an +ungrateful task to dispel illusions, more especially such as are at once +harmless and venerable for their antiquity; but truth requires the +historian to obliterate from the pages of the past this well-known +image, and to substitute in its place a very dull and prosaic figure--a +Semiramis no longer decked with the prismatic hues of fancy, but clothed +instead in the sober garments of fact. The Nebo idols are dedicated, by +the Assyrian officer who had them executed, "to his lord Vul-lush and +his lady _Sammuramit_" from whence it would appear to be certain, in the +first place, that that monarch was married to a princess who bore this +world-renowned name, and, secondly, that she held a position superior to +that which is usually allowed in the East to a queen-consort. An +inveterate Oriental prejudice requires the rigid seclusion of women; and +the Assyrian monuments, thoroughly in accord with the predominant tone +of Eastern manners, throw a veil in general over all that concerns the +weaker sex, neither representing to us the forms of the Assyrian women +in the sculptures, nor so much as mentioning their existence in the +inscriptions. Very rarely is there an exception to this all but +universal reticence. In the present instance, and in about two others, +the silence usually kept is broken; and a native woman comes upon the +scene to tantalize us by her momentary apparition. The glimpse that we +here obtain does not reveal much. Beyond the fact that the principal +queen of Vul-lush III., was named Semiramis, and the further fact, +implied in her being mentioned at all, that she had a recognized +position of authority in the country, we can only conclude, +conjecturally, from the exact parallelism of the phrases used, that she +bore sway conjointly with her husband, either over the whole or over a +part of his dominions. Such a view explains, to some extent, the +wonderful tale of the Ninian Semiramis, which was foisted into history +by Ctesias; for it shows that he had a slight basis of fact to go upon. +It also harmonizes, or may be made to harmonize, with the story of +Semiramis as told by Herodotus, who says that she was a Babylonian +queen, and reigned five generations before Nitocris, or about B.C. 755. +For it is quite possible that the Sammuramit married to Vul-lush III., +was a Babylonian princess, the last descendant of a long line of kings, +whom the Assyrian monarch wedded to confirm through her his title to the +southern provinces; in which case a portion of his subjects would regard +her as their legitimate sovereign, and only recognize his authority as +secondary and dependent upon hers. The exaggeration in which Orientals +indulge, with a freedom that astonishes the sober nations of the West, +would seize upon the unusual circumstance of a female having possessed a +conjoint sovereignty, and would gradually group round the name a host of +mythic details, which at last accumulated to such an extent that, to +prevent the fiction from becoming glaring, the queen had to be thrown +back into mythic times, with which such details were in harmony. The +Babylonian wife of Vul-lush III., who gave him his title to the regions +of the south, and reigned conjointly with him both in Babylonia and +Assyria, became first a queen of Babylon, ruling independently and +alone, and then an Assyrian empress, the conqueror of Egypt and +Ethiopia, the invader of the distant India, the builder of Babylon, and +the constructor of all the great works which were anywhere to be found +in Western Asia. The grand figure thus produced imposed upon the +uncritical ancients, and was accepted even by the moderns for many +centuries. At length the school of Heeren and Niebuhr, calling common +sense to their aid, pronounced the figure a myth. It remained for the +patient explorers of the field of Assyrian antiquity in our own day to +discover the slight basis of fact on which the myth was founded, and to +substitute for the shadowy marvel of Ctesias a very prosaic and +commonplace princess, who, like Atossa or Elizabeth of York, +strengthened her husband's title to his crown, but who never really made +herself conspicuous by either great works or by exploits. + +With Vul-lush III., the glories of the Nimrud line of monarchs come to a +close, and Assyrian history is once more shrouded in a partial darkness +for a space of nearly forty years, from B.C. 781 to B.C. 745. The +Assyrian Canon shows us that three monarchs bore sway during this +interval--Shalmaneser III., who reigned from B.C. 78l to B.C. 771, +Asshur-dayan III., who reigned from B. C. 771 to B.C. 753, and +Asshur-lush, who held the throne from the last-mentioned date to B.C.. +745, when he was succeeded by the second Tiglatli-Pileser. The brevity +of these reigns, which average only twelve years apiece, is indicative +of troublous times, and of a disputed, or, at any rate, a disturbed +succession. The fact that none of the three monarchs left buildings of +any importance, or, so far as appears, memorials of any kind, marks a +period of comparative decline, during which there was a pause in the +magnificent course of Assyrian conquests, which had scarcely known a +check for above a century. The causes of the temporary inaction and +apparent decline of a power which had so long been steadily advancing, +would form an interesting subject of speculation to the political +philosopher; but they are too obscure to be investigated here, where our +space only allows us to touch rapidly on the chief known facts of the +Assyrian history. + +One important difficulty presents itself at this point of the narrative, +in an apparent contradiction between the native records of the Assyrians +and the casual notices of their history contained in the Second Book of +Kings. The Biblical Pul--"the king of Assyria" who came up against the +land of Israel and received from Menahem a thousand talents of silver, +"that his hand might be with him to confirm the kingdom in his hand," is +unnoticed in the native inscriptions, and even seems to be excluded from +the royal lists by the absence of any name at all resembling his in the +proper place in the famous Canon. Pul appears in Scripture to be the +immediate predecessor of Tiglath Pileser. At any rate, as his expedition +against Menahem is followed within (at the utmost) thirty-two years by +an expedition of Tiglath Pileser against Pekah, his last year (if he was +indeed a king of Assyria) cannot have fallen earlier than thirty-two +years before Tiglath-Pileser's first. In other words, if the Hebrew +numbers are historical some portion of Pul's reign must necessarily fill +into the interval assigned by the Canon to the kings for which it is the +sole authority--Shalmaneser III., Asshur-dayan III., and Asshur-lush. +But these names are so wholly unlike the name of Pul that no one of them +can possibly be regarded as its equivalent, or even as the original from +which it was corrupted. Thus the Assyrian records do not merely omit +Pul, but exclude him: and we have to inquire how this can be accounted +for, and who the Biblical Pul is, if he is not a regular and recognized +Assyrian monarch. + +Various explanations of the difficulty have been suggested. Some would +regard Pul as a general of Tiglath-Pileser (or of some earlier Assyrian +king), mistaken by the Jews for the actual monarch. Others would +identify him with Tiglath-Pileser himself. But perhaps the most probable +supposition is, that he was a pretender to the Assyrian crown, never +acknowledged at Nineveh, but established in the western (and southern) +provinces so firmly, that he could venture to conduct an expedition into +Lower Syria, and to claim there the fealty of Assyrians vassals. Or +possibly he may have been a Babylonian monarch, who in the troublous +times that had now evidently come upon the northern empire, possessed +himself of the Euphrates valley, and thence descended upon Syria and +Palestine. Berosus, it must be remembered, represented Pul as a +Chaldaean king; and the name itself, which is wholly alien to the +ordinary Assyrian type, has at least one counterpart among known +Babylonian namies. + +The time of Pul's invasion may be fixed by combining the Assyrian and +the Hebrew chronologies within very narrow limits. Tiglath-Pileser +relates that he took tribute from Menahem in a war which lasted from his +fourth to his eighth year, or from B.C. 742 to B.C. 738. As Menahem only +reigned ten years, the earliest date that can be assigned to Puls +expedition will be B.C. 752, while the latest possible date will be B.C. +746, the year before the accession of Tiglath-Pileser. In any case the +expedition fells within the eight years assigned by the Assyrian Canon +to the reign of Asshur-lush, Tiglath-Pileser's immediate predecessor. + +It is remarkable that into this interval falls also the famous era of +Nabonassar, which must have marked some important change, dynastic or +other, at Babylon. The nature of the change will be considered at length +in the Babylonia a section. At present it is sufficient to observe that, +in the declining condition of Assyria under the kings who followed +Vul-lush III., there was naturally a growth of power and independence +among the border countries. Babylon, repenting of the submission which +she had made either to Vul-lush III., or to his father, Shamas-Vul II., +once more vindicated her right to freedom, and resumed the position of a +separate and hostile monarchy. Samaria, Damascus, Judaea, ceased to pay +tribute. Enterprising kings, like Jeroboam II., and Menahem, taking +advantage of Assyria's weakness, did not content themselves with merely +throwing off her yoke, but proceeded to enlarge their dominions at the +expense of her feudatories. Judging of the unknown from the known, we +may assume that on the north and east there were similar defections to +those on the west and south--that the tribes of Armenia and of the +Zagros range rose in revolt, and that the Assyrian boundaries were thus +contracted in every quarter. + +At the same time, within the limits of what was regarded as the settled +Empire, revolts began to occur. In the reign of Asshur-dayan III. (B.C. +771-753), no fewer than three important insurrections are recorded--one +at a city called Libzu, another at Arapkha, the chief town of +Arrapachitis, and a third at Gozan, the chief city of Gauzanitis or +Mygdonia. Attempts were made to suppress these revolts; but it may be +doubted whether they were successful. The military spirit had declined; +the monarchs had ceased to lead out their armies regularly year by year, +preferring to pass their time in inglorious ease at their rich and +luxurious capitals. Asshur-dayan III., during nine years of his +eighteen, remained at home, under-taking no warlike enterprise. +Asshur-lush, his successor, displayed even less of military vigor. +During the eight years of his reign he took the field twice only, +passing six years in complete inaction. At the end of this time, Calah, +the second city in the kingdom, revolted; and the revolution was brought +about which ushered in the splendid period of the Lower Empire. + +It was probably during the continuance of the time of depression, when +an unwarlike monarch was living in inglorious ease amid the luxuries and +refinements of Nineveh, and the people, sunk in repose, gave the +themselves up to vicious indulgences more hateful in the eye of God than +even the pride and cruelty which they were want to exhibit in war, that +the great capital was suddenly startled by a voice of warning in the +streets--a voice which sounded everywhere, through corridor, and lane, +and square, bazaar and caravanserai, one shrill monotonous cry--"Yet +forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." A strange wild man, +clothed in a rough garment of skin, moving from place to place, +announced to the inhabitants their doom. None knew who he was or whence +he had come; none had ever beheld him before; pale, haggard, +travel-stained, he moved before then like a visitant from another +sphere; and his lips still framed the fearful words--"Yet forty days, +and Nineveh shall be overthrown." Had the cry fallen on them in the +prosperous time, when each year brought its tale of victories, and every +nation upon their borders trembled at the approach of their arms, it +would probably have been heard with apathy or ridicule, and would have +failed to move the heart of the nation. But coming, as it did, when +their glory had declined; when their enemies, having been allowed a +breathing space, had taken courage and were acting on the offensive in +many quarters; when it was thus perhaps quite within the range of +probability that some one of their numerous foes might shortly appear in +arms before the place, it struck them with fear and consternation. The +alarm communicated itself from the city to the palace; and his trembling +attendants "came and told the king of Nineveh," who was seated on his +royal throne in the great audience-chamber, surrounded by all the pomp +and magnificence of his court. No sooner did he hear, than the heart of +the king was touched, like that of his people; and he "arose from his +throne, and laid aside his robe from him, and covered himself with +sackcloth and sat in ashes." Hastily summoning his nobles, he had a +decree framed, and "caused it to be proclaimed and published through +Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither +man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor +drink water: but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry +mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and +from the violence that is in their hands." Then the fast was proclaimed, +and the people of Nineveh, fearful of God's wrath, put on sackcloth +"from the greatest of them even to the least of them." The joy and +merriment, the revelry and feasting of that great city were changed into +mourning and lamentation; the sins that had provoked the anger of the +Most High ceased; the people humbled themselves; they "turned from their +evil way," and by a repentance, which, if not deep and enduring, was +still real and unfeigned, they appeased for the present the Divine +wrath. Vainly the prophet sat without the city, on its eastern side, +under his booth woven of boughs, watching, waiting, hoping (apparently) +that the doom which he had announced would come, in spite of the +people's repentance. God was more merciful than man. He had pity on the +"great city," with its "six score thousand persons that could not +discern between their right hand and their left," and, sparing the +penitents, left their town to stand unharmed for more than another +century. + +The circumstances under which Tiglath-Pileser II., ascended the throne in +the year B.C. 745 are unknown to us. No confidence can be placed in the +statement of Bion and Polyhistor which seems to have been intended to +refer to this monarch, whom they called Beletaras--a corruption perhaps +of the latter half of the name--that he was, previously to his elevation +to the royal dignity, a mere vine-dresser, whose occupation was to keep +in order the gardens of the king. Similar tales of the low origin of +self-raised and usurping monarchs are too common in the East, and are +too often contradicted by the facts, when they come known to us, for +much credit to attach to the story told by these late writers, the +earlier of whom, must have written five or six hundred years after +Tiglath-Pileser's time. We aught, however, conclude, without much chance +of mistake, from such a story being told, that the king-intended +acquired the throne irregularly; that either he was not of the blood +royal, or that, being so, he was at any rate not the legitimate heir. +And the conclusion at which we should thus arrive is confirmed by the +monarch's inscriptions; for though he speaks repeatedly of "the kings +his fathers." and even calls the royal buildings at Galati. "the palaces +of his fathers," yet he never mentions his actual father's name in any +record that has come down to us. Such a silence is so contrary to the +ordinary practice of Assyrian monarchs, who glory in their descent and +parade it on every possible occasion, that, where it occurs, we are +justified in concluding the monarch to have been an usurper, deriving +his title to the crown, not from his ancestry or from any law of +succession, but from a successful revolution, in which he played the +principal part. It matters little that such a monarch, when he is +settled upon the throne, claims, in a vague and general way, connection +with the kings of former times. The claim may often have a basis of +truth; for in monarchies where polygamy prevails, and the kings have +numerous daughters to dispose of, almost all the nobility can boast that +they are of the blood royal. Where the claim is in no sense true, it +will still be made; for it flatters the vanity of the monarch, and there +is no one to gainsay it. + +Only in such cases we are sure to find a prudent vagueness--an assertion +of the fact of the connection, expressed in general terms, without any +specification of the particulars on which the supposed fact rests. + +On obtaining the crown whatever the circumstances under which he +obtained it--Tiglath-Pileser immediately proceeded to attempt the +restoration of the Empire by engaging in a series of wars, now upon one, +now upon another frontier, seeking by his unwearied activity and energy +to recover the losses suffered through the weakness of his predecessors, +and to compensate for their laches by a vigorous discharge of all the +duties of the kingly office. The order of these wars, which formerly it +was impossible to determine, is now fixed by means of the Assyrian +Canon, and we may follow the course of the expeditions conducted by +Tiglath-Pileser II., with as much confidence and certainty as those of +Tiglath-Pileser I., Asshur-izir-pal, or the second Shalmaneser. It is +scarcely necessary, however, to detain the reader by going through the +entire series. The interest of Tiglath-Pileser's military operations +attaches especially to his campaigns in Babylonia and in Syria, where he +is brought into contact with persons otherwise known to us. His other +wars are comparatively unimportant. Under these circumstances it is +proposed to consider in detail only the Babylonian and Syrian +expeditions, and to dismiss the others with a few general remarks on the +results which were accomplished by them. + +Tiglath-Pileser's expeditions against Babylon were in his first and in +his fifteenth years, B.C. 745 and 731. No sooner did he find himself +settled upon the throne, than he levied an army, and marched against +Southern Mesopotamia, which appears to have been in a divided and +unsettled condition. According to the Canon of Ptolemy, Nabonassar then +ruled in Babylon. Tiglath-Pileser's annals confuse the accounts of his +two campaigns; but the general impression which we gather from them is +that, even in B.C. 745, the country was divided up into a number of +small principalities, the sea-coast being under the dominion of +Merodach-Baladan, who held his court in his father's city of Bit-Yakin; +while in the upper region there were a number of petty princes, +apparently independent, among whom may be recognized names which seem to +occur later in Ptolemy's list, among the kings of Babylon to whom he +assigns short reigns in the interval between Nabonassar and +Mardocempalus (Merodach-Baladan). Tiglath-Pileser attacked and defeated +several of these princes, taking the towns of Kur-Galzu (now Akkerkuf), +and Sippara or Sepharvaim, together with many other places of less +consequence in the lower portion of the country, after which he received +the submission of Merodach-Baladan, who acknowledged him for suzerain, +and consented to pay an annual tribute. Tiglath-Pileser upon this +assumed the title of "King of Babylon" (B.C. 729), and offered sacrifice +to the Babylonian gods in all the principal cities. + +The first Syrian war of Tiglath-Pileser was undertaken in his third year +(B.C. 743), and lasted from that year to his eighth. In the course of it +he reduced to subjection Damascus, which had regained its independence, +and was under the government of Rezin; Samaria, where Menahem, the +adversary of Pul, was still reigning; Tyre, which was under a monarch +bearing the familiar name of Hiram; Hamath, Gebal, and the Arabs +bordering upon Egypt, who were ruled by a queen called Khabiba. He +likewise met and defeated a vast army under Azariah (or Uzziah), king of +Judah, but did not succeed in inducing him to make his submission. It +would appear by this that Tiglath-Pileser at this time penetrated deep +into Palestine, probably to a point which no Assyrian king but Vul-lush +III., had reached previously. But it would seem, at the same time, that +his conquests were very incomplete; they did not include Judaea or +Philistia, Idumaea, or the tribes of the Hauran; and they left untouched +the greater number of the Phoenician cities. It causes us, therefore, no +surprise to find that in a short time, B.C. 734, he renewed his efforts +in this quarter, commencing by an attack on Samaria, where Pekah was now +king, and taking Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Jamoah, and Kedesh, +and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, and +carrying them captive to Assyria, thus "lightly afflicting, the land of +Zebulun and the land of Naphtali," or the more northern portion of the +Holy Land, about Lake Merom, and from that to the Sea of Gennesareth. + +This attack was-followed, shortly (B.C. 733) by the most important of +Tiglath-Pileser's Syrian wars. It appears that the common danger, which +had formerly united the Hittites, Hamathites, and Damascenes in a close +alliance, now caused a league to be formed between Damascus and Samaria, +the sovereigns of which--Pekah and Rezin--made an attempt to add Judaea +to their confederation, by declaring war against Ahaz, attacking his +territory, and threatening to substitute in his place as king of +Jerusalem a creature of their own, "the son of Tabeal." Hard pressed by +his enemies, Ahaz applied to Assyria, offering to become +Tiglath-Pileser's "servant"--i.e, his vassal and tributary--if he would +send troops to his assistance, and save him from the impending danger. +Tiglath-Pileser was not slow to obey this call. Entering Syria at the +head of an army, he fell first upon Rezin, who was defeated, and fled to +Damascus, where Tiglath-Pileser besieged him for two years, at the end +of which time he was taken and slain. Next he attacked Pekah, entering +his country on the north-east, where it bordered upon the Damascene +territory, and overrunning the whole of the Trans-Jordanic provinces, +together (apparently) with some portion of the Cis-Jordanic region. The +tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, who had +possessed the country between the Jordan and the desert from the time of +Moses, were seized and carried away captive by the conqueror, who placed +them in Upper Mesopotamia, on the affluents of the Bilikh and the +Khabour, from about Harran to Nisibis. Some cities situated on the right +bank of the Jordan, in the territory of Issachar, but belonging to +Manasseh, were at the same time seized and occupied. Among these, +Megiddo in the great plain of Esdraelon, and Dur or Dor upon the coast, +some way below Tyre, were the most important. Dur was even thought of +sufficient consequence to receive an Assyrian governor at the same time +with the other principal cities of Southern Syria. + +After thus chastising Samaria, Tiglath-Pileser appears to have passed on +to the south, where he reduced the Philistines and the Arab tribes, who +inhabited the Sinaitic desert as far as the borders of Egypt. Over these +last he set, in lieu of their native queen, an Assyrian governor. He +then returned towards Damascus, where he held a court, and invited the +neighboring states and tribes to send in their submission. The states +and tribes responded to his invitation. Tiglath-Pileser, before quitting +Syria, received submission and tribute not only from Ahaz, king of +Judah, but also from Mit'enna, king of Tyre; Pekah, king of Samaria; +Khanun, king of Gaza; and Mitinti, king of Ascalon: from the Moabites, +the Ammonites, the people of Arvad or Aradus, and the Idumaeans. He thus +completely re-established the power of Assyria in this quarter, once +more recovering to the Empire the entire tract between the coast and the +desert from Mount Amanus on the north to the Red Sea and the confines of +Egypt. + +One further expedition was led or sent by Tiglath-Pileser into Syria, +probably in his last year. Disturbances having occurred from the revolt +of Mit'enna of Tyre and the murder of Pekah of Israel by Hoshea, an +Assyrian army marched westward, in B.C. 725, to put them down. The +Tyrian monarch at once submitted; and Hoshea, having entered into +negotiations, agreed to receive investiture into his kingdom at the +hands of the Assyrians, and to hold it as an Assyrian territory. On +these terns peace was re-established, and the army of Tiglath-Pileser +retired and recrossed the Euphrates. + +Besides conducting these various campaigns, Tiglath-Pileser employed +himself in the construction of some important works at Calah, which was +his usual and favorite residence. He repaired and adorned the palace of +Shalmaneser II., in the centre of the Nimrud mound; and he built a new +edifice at the south-eastern corner of the platform, which seems to have +been the most magnificent of his erections. Unfortunately, in neither +case were his works allowed to remain as he left them. The sculptures +with which he adorned Shalmaneser's palace were violently torn from +their places by Esar-haddon, and, after barbarous ill-usage, were +applied to the embellishment of his own residence by that monarch. The +palace which he built at the south-eastern corner of the Nimrud mound +was first ruined by some invader, and then built upon by the last +Assyrian king. Thus the monuments of Tiglath-Pileser II., come to us in +a defaced and unsatisfactory condition, rendering it difficult for us to +do full justice either to his architectural conceptions or to his taste +in ornamentation. We can see, however, by the ground plan of the +building which Mr. Loftus uncovered beneath the ruins of Mr. Layard's +south-east palaces that the great edifice of Tiglath-Pileser was on a +scale of grandeur little inferior to that of the ancient palaces, and on +a plan very nearly similar. The same arrangement of courts and halls and +chambers, the same absence of curved lines or angles other than right +angles, the same narrowness of rooms in comparison with their length, +which have been noted in the earlier buildings, prevailed also in those +of this king. With regard to the sculptures with which, after the +example of the former monarchs, he ornamented their walls, we can only +say they seem to have been characterized by simplicity of treatment--the +absence of all ornamentation, except fringes, from the dresses, the +total omission of backgrounds, and (with few exceptions) the limitation +of the markings to the mere outlines of forms. The drawing is rather +freer and more spirited than that of the sculptures of Asshur-izir-pal; +animal forms, as camels, oxen, sheep, and goats, are more largely +introduced, and there is somewhat less formality in the handling. But +the change is in no respect very decided, or such as to indicate an era +in the progress of art. + +Tiglath-Pileser appears, by the Assyrian Canon, to have had a reign of +eighteen years. He ascended the throne in B.C. 747, and was succeeded in +B.C. 727 by Shalmaneser, the fourth monarch who had borne that +appellation. + +It is uncertain whether Shalmaneser IV, was related to Tiglath-Pileser +or not. As, however, there is no trace of the succession having been +irregular or disputed, it is most probable that he was his son. He +ascended the throne in B.C. 727, and ceased to reign in B.C. 722, thus +holding the royal power for less than six years. It was probably very +soon after his accession, that, suspecting the fidelity of Samaria, he +"came up" against Hoshea, king of Israel, and, threatening him with +condign punishment, so terrified him that he made immediate submission. +The arrears of tribute were rendered, and the homage due from a vassal +to his lord was paid; and Shalmaneser either returned into his own +country or turned his attention to other enterprises. But shortly +afterwards he learnt that Hoshea, in spite of his submission and +engagements, was again contemplating defection; and, conscious of his +own weakness, was endeavoring to obtain a promise of support from an +enterprising monarch who ruled in the neighboring country of Egypt. The +Assyrian conquests in this quarter had long been tending to bring them +into collision with the great power of Eastern Africa, which had once +held, and always coveted, the dominion of Syria. Hitherto such relations +as they had had with the Egyptians appear to have been friendly. The +weak and unwarlike Pharaohs who about this time bore sway in Egypt had +sought the favor of the neighboring Asiatic power by demanding Assyrian +princesses in marriage and affecting Assyrian names for their offspring. +But recently an important change had occurred. A brave Ethiopian prince +had descended the valley of the Nile at the head of a swarthy host, had +defeated the Egyptian levies, had driven the reigning monarch into the +marshes of the Delta, or put him to a cruel death, and had established +his own dominion firmly, at any rate over the upper country. Shebek the +First bore sway in Memphis in lieu of the blind Bocchoris; and Hoshea, +seeing in this bold and enterprising king the natural foe of the +Assyrians, and therefore his own natural ally and friend, "sent +messengers" with proposals, which appear to have been accepted; for on +their return Hoshea revolted openly, withheld his tribute, and declared +himself independent. Shalmaneser, upon this, came up against Samaria for +the second time, determined now to punish his vassal's perfidy with due +severity. Apparently, he was unresisted; at any rate, Hoshea fell into +his power, and was seized, bound, and shut up in prison. A year or two +later Shalmaneser made his third and last expedition into Syria. What +was the provocation given him, we are not told; but this time, he came +up _throughout all the land_ and being met with resistance, he laid +formal siege to the capital. The siege commenced in Shahnaneser's fourth +year, B.C. 724, and was protracted to his sixth, either by the efforts +of the Egyptians, or by the stubborn resistance of the inhabitants. At +last, in B.C. 722, the town surrendered, or was taken by storm; but +before this consummation had been reached, Shalmaneser's reign would +seem to have come to an end in consequence of a successful revolution. + +While he was conducting these operations against Samaria, either in +person or by means of his generals, Shalmaneser appears to have been +also engaged in hostilities with the Phoenician towns. Like Samaria, +they had revolted at the death of Tiglath-Pileser; and Shalmaneser, +consequently, marched into Phoenecia at the beginning of his reign, +probably in his first year, overran the entire country, and forced all +the cities to resume their position of dependence. The island Tyre, +however, shortly afterwards shook off the yoke. Hereupon Shalmaneser +"returned" into these parts, and collecting a fleet from Sidon, +Paleo-Tyrus, and Akko, the three most important of the Phoenician towns +after Tyre, proceeded to the attack of the revolted place. His vessels +were sixty in number, and were manned by eight hundred Phoenician +rowers, co-operating with probably, a smaller number of unskilled +Assyrians. Against this fleet the Tyrians, confiding in their maritime +skill, sent out a force of twelve vessels only, which proved, however, +quite equal to the occasion; for the assailants were dispersed and +driven off, with the loss of 500 prisoners. + +Shalmaneser, upon this defeat, retired, and gave up all active +operations, contenting himself with leaving a body of troops on the +mainland, over against the city, to cut off the Tyrians from the +supplies of water which they were in the habit of drawing from the river +Litany, and from certain aqueducts which conducted the precious fluid +from springs in the mountains. The Tyrians, it is said, held out against +this pressure for five years, satisfying their thirst with rain water, +which they collected in reservoirs. Whether they then submitted, or +whether the attempt to subdue them was given up, is uncertain, since the +quotation from Menander, which is our sole authority for this passage of +history, here breaks off abruptly. + +The short reign of Shalmaneser IV, was, it is evident, sufficiently +occupied by the two enterprises of which accounts have now been +given--the complete subjugation of Samaria, and the attempt to reduce +the island Tyre. Indeed, it is probable that neither enterprise had been +conducted when a dynastic revolution, caused by the ambition of a +subject, brought the unhappy monarch's reign to an untimely end. The +conquest of Samaria is claimed by Sargon as an event of his first year; +and the resistance of the Tyrians, if it really continued during the +full space assigned to it by Menander, must have extended beyond the +terns of Shalmaneser's reign, into the first or second year of his +successor. It was probably the prolonged absence of the Assyrian monarch +from his capital, caused by the obstinacy of the two cities which he was +attacking, that encouraged a rival to come forward and seize the throne; +just as in the Persian history we shall find the prolonged absence of +Canbyses in Egypt produce a revolution and change of dynasty at Susa. In +the East, where the monarch is not merely the chief but the sole power +in the state, the moving spring whose action must be continually exerted +to prevent the machinery of government from standing still, it is always +dangerous for the reigning prince to be long away from his metropolis. +The Orientals do not use the language of mere unmeaning compliment when +they compare their sovereigns with the sun, and speak of them as +imparting light and life to the country and people over which they rule. +In the king's absence all languishes; the course of justice is +suspended; public works are stopped; the expenditure of the Court, on +which the prosperity of the capital mainly depends, being withdrawn, +trade stagnates, the highest branches suffering most; artists are left +without employment; work-men are discharged; wages fall; every industry +is more or less deranged, and those engaged in it suffer accordingly; +nor is there any hope of a return of prosperity until the king comes +home. Under these circumstances a general discontent prevails; and the +people, anxious for better times, are ready to welcome any pretender who +will come forward, and, on any pretext whatever, declare the throne +vacant, and claim to be its proper occupant. If Shalmaneser continued to +direct in person the siege of Samaria during the three years of its +continuance, we cannot be surprised that the patience of the Ninevites +was exhausted, and that in the third year they accepted the rule of the +usurper who boldly proclaimed himself king. + +What right the new monarch put forward, what position he had previously +held, what special circumstances, beyond the mere absence of the +rightful king, facilitated his attempts, are matters on which the +monuments throw no light, and on which we must therefore be content to +be ignorant. All that we can see is, that either personal merit or +official rank and position must have enabled him to establish himself; +for he certainly did not derive any assistance from his birth, which +must have been mediocre, if not actually obscure. It is the custom of +the Babylonian and Assyrian kings to glory in their ancestry, and when +the father has occupied a decently high position, the son declares his +sire's name and rank at the commencement of each inscription, but Sargon +never, in any record, names his father, nor makes the slightest allusion +to his birth and descent, unless it be in vague phrases, wherein he +calls the former kings of Assyria, and even those of Babylonia, his +ancestors. Such expressions seem to be mere words of course, having no +historical value: and it would be a mistake even to conclude from them +that the new king intended seriously to claim the connection of kindred +with the monarchs of former times. + +It has been thought indeed, that Sargon, instead of cloaking his +usurpation under some decent plea of right, took a pride in boldly +avowing it. The name Sargon has been supposed to be one which he adopted +as his royal title at the time of his establishment upon the throne, +intending by the adoption to make it generally known that he had +acquired the crown, not by birth or just claim, but by his own will and +the consent of the people. Sargon, or Sar-gina, as the native name is +read, means "the firm" or "well-established king," and (it has been +argued) "shows the usurper." The name is certainly unlike the general +run of Assyria royal titles; but still, as it is one which is found to +have been previously borne by at least one private person in Assyria, it +is perhaps best to suppose that it was the monarch's real original +appellation, and not assumed when he came to the throne; in which case +no argument can be founded upon it. + +Military success is the best means of confirming a doubtful title to the +leadership of a warlike nation. No sooner, therefore, was Sargon +accepted by the Ninevites as king than he commenced a series of +expeditions, which at once furnished employment to unquiet spirits, and +gave the prestige of military glory to his own name. He warred +successively in Susiana, in Syria, on the borders of Egypt, in the tract +beyond Amanus, in Melitene and southern Armenia, in Kurdistan, in Media, +and in Babylonia. During the first fifteen years of his reign, the space +which his annals cover, he kept his subjects employed in a continual +series of important expeditions, never giving himself, nor allowing +them, a single year of repose. Immediately upon his accession he marched +into Susiana, where he defeated Hum-banigas, the Elamitie king, and +Merodach-Baladan, the old adversary of Tiglath-Pileser, who had revolted +and established himself as king over Babylonia. Neither monarch was, +however, reduced to subjection, though an important victory was gained, +and many captives taken, who were transported into the country of the +Hittites, In the same year, B.C. 722, he received the submission of +Samaria, which surrendered, probably, to his generals, after it had been +besieged two full years. He punished the city by depriving it of the +qualified independence which it had enjoyed hitherto, appointing instead +of a native king an Assyrian officer to be its governor, and further +carrying off as slaves 27,280 of the inhabitants. On the remainder, +however, he contented himself with re-imposing the rate of tribute to +which the town had been liable before its revolt.--The next year, B.C. +721, he was forced to march in person into Syria in order to meet and +quell a dangerous revolt. Yahu-bid (or Ilu-bid), king of Hamath--a +usurper like Sargon himself--had rebelled, and had persuaded the cities +of Arpad Zimira, Damascus, and Samaria to cast in their lot with his, +and to form a confederacy, by which it was imagined that effectual +resistance might be offered to the Assyrian arms. Not content merely to +stand on the defensive in their several towns, the allies took to the +field; and a battle was fought at Kar-kar or Garrrar (perhaps one of the +many Aroers), where the superiority of the Assyrian troops was once more +proved, and Sargon gained a complete victory over his enemies. Yahu-bid +himself was taken and beheaded; and the chiefs of the revolt in the +other towns were also put to death. + +Having thus crushed the rebellion and re-established tranquillity +throughout Syria, Sargon turned his arms towards the extreme south, and +attacked Gaza, which was a dependency of Egypt. The exact condition of +Egypt at this time is open to some doubt. According to Manetho's +numbers, the twenty-fifth or Ethiopian dynasty had not yet begun to +reign. Bocchoris the Saite occupied the throne, a humane but weak +prince, of a contemptible presence, and perhaps afflicted with +blindness. No doubt such a prince would tempt the attack of a powerful +neighbor; and, so for, probability might seem to be in favor of the +Manethonian dates. But, on the other hand, it must be remembered that +Egypt had lately taken an aggressive attitude, incompatible with a time +of weakness: she had intermeddled between the Assyrian crown and its +vassals, by entering into a league with Hoshea: and she had extended her +dominion over a portion of Philistia, thereby provoking a collision with +the Great Power of the East. Again, it is worthy of note that the name +of the Pharaoh who had dealings with Hoshea, if it does not seen at +first sight very closely to resemble the Egyptian Shebek, is, at any +rate, a possible representative of that word, while no etymological +skill can force it into agreement with any other name in this portion of +the Egyptian lists. Further, it is to be remarked that at this point of +the Assyrian annals, a Shebek appears in them, holding a position of +great authority in Egypt, though not dignified with the title of king. +These facts furnish strong grounds for believing that the Manethonian +chronology, which can be proved to be in many points incorrect, has +placed the accession of the Ethiopians somewhat too late, and that that +event occurred really as early as B.C. 725 or B.C. 730. + +At the same time, it must be allowed that all difficulty is not removed +by this supposition. The Shebek _Sibahe_ (or _Sibaki_) of the Assyrian +record bears an inferior title, and not that of king. He is also, +apparently, contemporary with another authority in Egypt, who is +recognized by Sargon as the true "Pharaoh," or native ruler. Further, it +is not till eight or nine years later that any mention is made of +Ethiopia as having an authority over Egypt or as in any way brought into +contact with Sargon. The proper conclusion from these facts seems to be +that the Ethiopians established themselves gradually; that in B.C. 720, +Shebek or Sabaco, though master of a portion of Egypt, had not assumed +the royal title, which was still borne by a native prince of little +power--Bocchoris, or Scthos--who held his court somewhere in the Delta; +and that it was not till about the year B.C. 712 that this shadowy +kingdom passed away, that the Ethiopian rule was extended over the whole +of Egypt, and that Sabaco assumed the full rank of an independent +monarch. + +If this be the true solution of the difficulty which has here presented +itself, we must conclude that the first actual collision between the +powers of Egypt and Assyria took place at a time very unfavorable to the +former. Egypt was, in fact, divided against itself, the fertile tract of +the Delta being under one king, the long valley of the Nile under +another. If war was not actually going on, jealousy and suspicion, at +any rate, must have held the two sovereigns apart; and the Assyrian +monarch, coming at such a time of intestine feud, must have found it +comparatively easy to gain a triumph in this quarter. + +The armies of the two great powers met at the city of Rapikh, which +seems to be the Raphia of the Greeks and Romans, and consequently the +modern _Refah_ a position upon the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, about +half-way between Gaza and the Wady-el-Arish, or "River of Egypt." Here +the forces of the Philistines, under Khanun, king of Gaza, and those of +Shebek, the Tar-dan (or perhaps the Sultan) of Egypt, had effected a +junction, and awaited the approach of the invader. Sargon, having +arrived, immediately engaged the allied army, and succeeded in defeating +it completely, capturing Khanun, and forcing Shebek to seek safety in +flight. Khanun was deprived of his crown and carried off to Assyria by +the conqueror. + +Such was the result of the first combat between the two great powers of +Asia and Africa. It was an omen of the future, though it was scarcely a +fair trial of strength. The battle of Raphia foreshadowed truly enough +the position which Egypt would hold among the nations from the time that +she ceased to be isolated, and was forced to enter into the struggle for +preeminence, and even for existence, with the great kingdoms of the +neighboring continent. With rare and brief exceptions, Egypt has from +the time of Sargon succumbed to the superior might of whatever power has +been dominant in Western Asia, owning it for lord, and submitting, with +a good or bad grace, to a position involving a greater or less degree of +dependence. Tributary to the later Assyrian princes, and again, +probably, to Nebuchadnezzar, she had scarcely recovered her independence +when she fell under the dominion of Persia. Never successful, +notwithstanding all her struggles, in thoroughly shaking off this hated +yoke, she did but exchange her Persian for Greek masters, when the +empire of Cyrus perished. Since then, Greeks, Romans, Saracens, and +Turks have, each in their turn, been masters of the Egyptian race, which +has paid the usual penalty of precocity in the early exhaustion of its +powers. + +After the victories of Aroer and Raphia, the Assyrian monarch appears to +have been engaged for some years in wars of comparatively slight +interest towards the north and the north-east. It was not till B.C. 715, +five years after his first fight with the Egyptians, that he again made +an expedition towards the south-west, and so came once more into contact +with nations to whose fortunes we are not wholly indifferent. His chief +efforts on this occasion were directed against the peninsula of Arabia. +The wandering tribes of the desert, tempted by the weak condition to +which the Assyrian conquest had reduced Samaria, made raids, it appears, +into the territory at their pleasure, and carried off plunder. Sargon +determined to chastise these predatory bands, and made an expedition +into the interior, where "he subdued the uncultivated plains of the +remote Arabia, which had never before given tribute to Assyria," and +brought under subjection the Thamudites, and several other Arab tribes, +carrying off a certain number and settling them in Samaria itself, which +thenceforth contained an Arab element in its population. Such an effect +was produced on the surrounding nations by the success of this inroad, +that their princes hastened to propitiate Sargon's favor by sending +embassies, and excepting the position of Assyrian tributaries. The +reigning Pharaoh, whoever he may have been, It-hamar, king of the +Sabaeans, and Tsamsi, queen of the Arabs, thus humbled themselves, +sending presents, and probably entering into engagements which bound +them for the future. + +Four years later (B.C. 711) Sargon led a third expedition into these +parts, regarding it as important to punish the misconduct of the people +of Ashdod. Ashdod had probably submitted after the battle of Raphia, and +had been allowed to retain its native prince, Azuri. This prince, after +awhile, revolted, withheld his tribute, and proceeded to foment +rebellion against Assyria among the neighboring monarchs; whereupon +Sargon deposed him, and made his brother Akhimit king in his place. The +people of Ashdod, however, rejected the authority of Akhimit, and chose +a certain Yaman, or Yavan, to rule over them, who strengthened himself +by alliances with the other Philistine cities, with Judaea, and with +Edom. Immediately upon learning this. Sargon assembled his army, and +proceeded to Ashdod to punish the rebels; but, before his arrival, Yaman +had fled away, and "escaped to the dependencies of Egypt, which" (it is +said) "were under the rule of Ethiopia." Ashdod itself, trusting in the +strength from which it derived its name, resisted; but Sargon laid siege +to it and in a little time forced it to surrender. Yaman fled to Egypt, +but his wife and children were captured and, together with the bulk of +the inhabitants, were transported into Assyria, while their place was +supplied by a number of persons who had been made prisoners in Sargon's +eastern wars. An Assyrian governor was set over the town. + +The submission of Ethiopia followed. Ashdod, like Samaria, had probably +been encouraged to revolt by promises of foreign aid. Sargon's old +antagonist, Shebek, had recently brought the whole of Egypt under his +authority, and perhaps thought the time had come when he might venture +once more to measure his strength against the Assyrians. But Sargon's +rapid movements and easy capture of the strong Ashdod terrified him, and +produced a change of his intentions. Instead of marching into Philistia +and fighting a battle, he sent a suppliant embassy, surrendered Yaman, +and deprecated Sargon's wrath. The Assyrian monarch boasts that the king +of Meroe, who dwelt in the desert, and had never sent ambassadors to any +of the kings his predecessors, was led by the fear of his majesty to +direct his steps towards Assyria and humbly bow down before him. + +At the opposite extremity of his empire, Sargon soon after-wards gained +victories which were of equal or greater importance. Having completely +reduced Syria, humiliated Egypt, and struck terror into the tribes of +the north and east, he determined on a great expedition against Babylon. +Merodach-Baladan had now been twelve years in quiet possession of the +kingdom. He had established his court at Babylon, and, suspecting that +the ambition of Sargon would lead him to attempt the conquest of the +south he had made preparations for resistance by entering into close +alliance with the Susianians under Sutruk-Nakhunta on the one hand, and +with the Aramaean tribes above Babylonia on the other. Still, when +Sargon advanced against him, instead of giving him battle, or even +awaiting him behind the walls of the capital, he at once took to flight. +Leaving garrisons in the more important of the inland towns, and +committing their defence to his generals, he himself hastened down to +his own city of Beth-lakin, which was on the Euphrates, near its mouth, +and, summoning the Aramaeans to his assistance, prepared for a vigorous +resistance in the immediate vicinity of his native place. Posting +himself in the plain in front of the city, and protecting his front and +left flank with a deep ditch, which he filled with water from the +Euphrates, he awaited the advance of Sargon, who soon appeared at the +head of his troops, and lost no time in beginning the attack. We cannot +follow with any precision the exact operations of the battle, but it +appears that Sargon fell upon the Babylonian troops, defeated them, and +drove them into their own dyke, in which many of therm were drowned, at +the same time separating them from their allies, who, on seeing the +disaster, took to flight, and succeeded in making their escape. +Merodach-Baladan, abandoning his camp, threw himself with the poor +remains of his army into Beth-Yakin, which Saigon then besieged and +took. The Babylonian monarch fell into the hands of his rival, who +plundered his palace and burnt his city, but generously spared his life. +He was not, however, allowed to retain his kingdom, the government of +which was assumed by Sargon himself, who is the Arceanus of Ptolemy's +Canon. + +The submission of Babylonia was followed by the reduction of the +Aramaeans, and the conquest of at least a portion of Susiana. To the +Susianin territory Sargon transported the Comnumkha from the Upper +Tigris, placing the mixed population under a governor, whom he made +dependent on the viceroy of Babylon. + +The Assyrian dominion was thus firmly established on the shores of the +Persian Gulf. The power of Babylon was broken. Henceforth the Assyrian +rule is maintained over the whole of Chaldaea and Babylonia, with few +and brief interruptions, to the close of the Empire. The reluctant +victim struggles in his captor's grasp, and now and then for a short +space shakes it off; but only to be seized again with a fiercer gripe, +until at length his struggles cease, and he resigns himself to a fate +which he has come to regard as inevitable. During the last fifty years +of the Empire, from B.C. 650 to B.C. 625, the province of Babylon was +almost as tranquil as any other. + +The pride of Sargon received at this time a gratification which he is +not able to conceal, in the homage which was paid to him by sovereigns +who had only heard of his fame, and who were safe from the attacks of +his armies. While he held his court at Babylon, in the year B.C. 708 or +707, he gave audience to two embassies from two opposite quarters, both +sent by islanders dwelling (as he expresses it) "in the middle of the +seas" that washed the outer skirts of his dominions. Upir, king of +Asmun, who ruled over an island in the Persian Gulf,--Khareg, perhaps, +or Bahrein,--sent messengers, who bore to the Great King the tribute of +the far East. Seven Cyprian monarchs, chiefs of a country which lay "at +the distance of seven days from the coast, in the sea of the setting +sun," offered him by their envoys the treasures of the West. The very +act of bringing presents implied submission; and the Cypriots not only +thus admitted his suzerainty, but consented to receive at his hands and +to bear back to their country a more evident token of subjection. This +was an effigy of the Great King carved in the usual form, and +accompanied with an inscription recording his name and titles, which was +set up at Idalium, nearly in the centre of the island, and made known to +the Cypriots the form and appearance of the sovereign whom it was not +likely that they would ever see. + +The expeditions of Sargon to the north and north-east had results less +splendid than those which he undertook to the south-west and the south; +but it may be doubted whether they did not more severely try his +military skill and the valor of his soldiers. The mountain tribes of +Zagros, Taurus, and Niphates,--Medes, Armaenians, Tibarini, Moschi, +etc.,--were probably far braver men and far better soldiers than the +levies of Egypt, Susiana, and Babylon. Experience, moreover, had by this +time taught the tribes the wisdom of uniting against the common foe, and +we find Ambris the Tibareni in in alliance with Mita the Moschian, and +Urza the Armenian, when he ventures to revolt against Sargon. The +submission of the northern tribes was with difficulty obtained by a long +and fierce struggle, which--so far as one belligerent was concerned +--terminated in a compromise. Ambris was deposed, and his country placed +under an Assyrian governor; Mita consented, after many years of +resistance, to pay a tribute; Urza was defeated, and committed suicide, +but the general pacification of the north was not effected until a +treaty was made with the king of Van, and his good-will purchased by the +cession to him of a considerable tract of country which the Assyrians +had previously taken from Urza. + +On the side of Media the resistance offered to the arms of Sargon seems +to have been slighter, and he was consequently able to obtain a far more +complete success. Having rapidly overrun the country, he seized a number +of the towns and "annexed them to Assyria," or, in other words, reduced +a great portion of Media into the form of a province. He also built in +one part of the country a number of fortified posts. He then imposed a +tribute on the natives, consisting entirely of horses, which were +perhaps required to be of the famous Nisaean breed. + +After his fourteenth year, B.C. 708, Sargon ceased to lead out his +troops in person, employing instead the services of his generals. In the +year B.C. 707 a disputed succession gave him an opportunity of +interference in Illib, a small country bordering on Susiana. Nibi, one +of the two pretenders to the throne, had applied for aid to +Sutruk-Nakhunta, king of Elam, who held his court at Susa, and had +received the promise of his favor and protection. Upon this, the other +claimant, who was named Ispabara, made application to Sargon, and was +readily received into alliance, Sargon sent to his assistance "seven +captains with seven armies," who engaged the troops of Sutruk-Naklnurta, +defeated them, and established Ispabara on the throne? In the following +year, however, Sutruk-Nakhunta recovered his laurels, invading Assyria +in his turn, and capturing cities which he added to the kingdom of +Susiana. + +In all his wars Sargon largely employed the system of whole-sale +deportation. The Israelites were removed from Samaria, and planted +partly in Gozan or Mygdonia, and partly in the cities recently taken +from the Medes. Hamath and Damascus were peopled with captives from +Armenia and other regions of the north. A portion of the Tibareni were +carried captive to Assyria, and Assyrians were established in the +Tibarenian country. Vast numbers of the inhabitants of the Zagros range +were also transported to Assyria; Babylonians, Cuthaeans, Sepharvites, +Arabians, and others, were placed in Samaria; men from the extreme east +(perhaps Media) in Ashdod. The Commukha were removed from the extreme +north to Susiana; and Chaldaeans were brought from the extreme south to +supply their place. Everywhere Sargon changed the abodes of his +subjects, his aim being, as it would seem, to weaken the stronger races +by dispersion, and to destroy the spirit of the weaker ones by severing +at a blow all the links which attach a patriotic people to the country +it has long inhabited. The practice had not been unknown to previous +monarchs, but it had never been employed by any so generally or on so +grand a scale as it was by this king. + +From this sketch of Sargon's wars, we may now proceed to a brief +consideration of his great works. The magnificent palace which he +erected at Khorsabad was by far the most important of his constructions. +Compared with the later, and even with the earlier buildings of a +similar kind erected by other kings, it was not remarkable for its size. +But its ornamentation was unsurpassed by that of any Assyrian edifice, +with the single exception of the great palace of Asshur-bani-pal at +Koyunjik. Covered with sculptures, both internally and externally, +generally in two lines, one over the other, and, above this, adorned +with enamelled bricks, arranged in elegant and tasteful patterns; +approached by noble flights of steps and through splendid propylaea; +having the advantage, moreover, of standing by itself, and of not being +interfered with by any other edifice, it had peculiar beauties of its +own, and may be pronounced in many respects the most interesting of the +Assyrian building's. United to this palace was a town enclosed by strong +walls, which formed a square two thousand yards each way. Allowing fifty +square yards to each individual, this space would have been capable of +accommodating 80,000 persons. The town, like the palace, seems to have +been entirely built by Sargon, who imposed on it his own name, an +appellation which it retained beyond the time of the Arab conquest. + +It is not easy to understand the exact object of Sargon in building +himself this new residence. Dur-Sargina was not the Windsor or +Versailles of Assyria--a place to which the sovereign could retire for +country air and amusements from the bustle and heat of the metropolis. +It was: as we have said, a town, and a town of considerable size, being +very little lees than half as large as Nineveh itself. It is true that +it possessed the advantage of a nearer vicinity to the mountains than +Nineveh: and had Sargon been, like several of his predecessors, a mighty +hunter, we might have supposed that the greater facility of obtaining +sport in the woods and valleys of the Zagros chain formed the attraction +which led him to prefer the region where he built his town to the banks +of the Tigris. But all the evidence that we possess seems to show that +this monarch was destitute of any love for the chase; and seemingly we +must attribute his change of abode either to mere caprice, or to a +desire to be near the mountains for the sake of cooler water, purer air, +and more varied scenery. It is no doubt true, as M. Oppert observes, +that the royal palace at Nineveh was at this time in a ruinous state; +but it could not have been more difficult or more expensive to repair it +than to construct a new palace, a new mound, and a new town, on a fresh +site. + +Previously to the construction of the Khorsabad palace, Sargon resided +at Caleb. He there repaired and renovated the great palace of +Asshur-izir-pal, which had been allowed to fall to decay. At Nineveh he +repaired the walls of the town, which were ruined in many places, and +built a temple to Nebo and Merodach; while in Babylonia he improved the +condition of the embankments, by which the distribution of the waters +was directed and controlled. He appears to have been to a certain extent +a patron of science, since a large number of the Assyrian scientific +tablets are proved by the dates upon then: to have been written in his +day. + +The progress of mimetic art under Sargon is not striking but there are +indications of an advance in several branches of industry, and of an +improved taste in design and in ornamentation. Transparent glass seems +now to have been first brought into used and intaglios to have been +first cut upon hard stones. The furniture of the period is greatly +superior in design to any previously represented, and the modelling of +sword-hilts, maces, armlets, and other ornaments is peculiarly good. The +enamelling of bricks was carried under Sargon to its greatest +perfection: and the shape of vases, goblets, and boats shows a marked +improvement upon the works of former times. The advance in animal forms, +traceable in the sculptures of Tiglath-Pileser II., continues: and the +drawing of horses' heads, in particular, leaves little to desire. + +After reigning gloriously over Assyria for seventeen years, and for the +last five of them over Babylonia also, Sargon died, leaving his crown to +the most celebrated of all the Assyrian Monarchs, his son Sennacherib, +who began to reign B.C. 705. The long notices which we possess of this +monarch in the books of the Old Testament, his intimate connection with +the Jews, the fact that he was the object of a preternatural exhibition +of the Divine displeasure, and the remarkable circumstance that this +miraculous interposition appears under a thin disguise in the records of +the Greeks, have always attached an interest to his name which the kings +of this remote period and distant region very rarely awaken. It has also +happened, curiously enough, that the recent Mesopotamian researches have +tended to give to Sennacherib a special prominence over other Assyrian +monarchs, more particularly in this country, our great excavator having +devoted his chief efforts to the disinterment of a palace of this king's +construction, which has supplied to our National Collection almost +one-half of its treasures. The result is, that while the other +sovereigns who bore sway in Assyria are generally either wholly unknown, +or float before the mind's eye as dim and shadowy forms, Sennacherib +stands out to our apprehension as a living and breathing man, the +impersonation of all that pride and greatness which we assign to the +Ninevite kings, the living embodiment of Assyrian haughtiness, Assyrian +violence, and Assyrian power. The task of setting forth the life and +actions of this prince, which the course of the history now imposes on +its compiler, if increased in interest, is augmented also in difficulty, +by the grandeur of the ideal figure which has possession of men's minds. + +The reign of Sennacherib lasted twenty-four years, from B.C. 705 to B.C. +681. The materials which we possess for his history consist of a record +written in his fifteenth year, describing his military expeditions and +his buildings up to that time; of the Scriptural notices to which +reference has already been made; of some fragments of Polyhistor +preserved by Eusebius; and of the well-known passage of Herodotus which +contains a mention of his name. From these documents we shall be able to +make out in some detail the chief actions of the earlier portion of his +reign, but they fail to supply any account of his later years, unless we +may assign to that portion of his life some facts mentioned by +Polyhistor, to which there is no allusion in the native records. + +It seems probable that troubles both abroad and at home greeted the new +reign. The Canon of Ptolemy shows a two years' interregnum at Babylon +(from B.C. 704 to B.C. 702) exactly coinciding with the first two years +of Sennacherib. This would imply a revolt of Babylon from Assyria soon +after his accession, and either a period of anarchy or rapid succession +of pretenders, none of whom held the throne for so long a time as a +twelvemonth. Polyhistor gives us certain details,from which we gather +that there were at least three monarchs in the interval left blank by +the Canon--first, a brother of Sennacherib, whose name is not given; +secondly, a certain Hagisa, who wore the crown only a month; and, +thirdly, Merodach-Baladan, who had escaped from captivity, and, having +murdered Hagisa, resumed the throne of which Sargon had deprived him six +or seven years before. Sennacherib must apparently have been so much +engaged with his domestic affairs that he could not devote his attention +to these Babylonian matters till the second year after his accession. In +B.C. 703 he descended on the lower country and engaged the troops of +Merodach-Baladan, which consisted in part of native Babylonians, in part +of Susianians, sent to his assistance by the king of Elam. Over this +army Sennacherib gained a complete victory near the city of Ibis, after +which he took Babylon, and overran the whole of Chaldaea, plundering +(according to his own account) seventy-six large towns and 420 villages. +Merodach-Baladan once more made his escape, flying probably to Susiana, +where we afterwards find his sons living as refugees. Sennacherib, +before quitting Babylon, appointed as tributary king an Assyrian named +Belipni, who seems to be the Belibus of Ptolemy's Canon, and the Elibus +of Polyhistor. On his return from Babylonia he invaded and ravaged the +territory of the Aramaean tribes on the middle Euphrates--the Tumuna, +Ruhua, Gambulu, Khindaru, and Pukudu (Pekod), the Nabatu or Nabathaeans, +the Hagaranu or Hagarenes, and others, carrying into captivity more than +200,000 of the inhabitants, besides great numbers of horses, camels, +asses, oxen, and sheep. + +In the following year, B.C. 702, Sennacherib made war on the tribes in +Zagros, forcing Ispabara, whom Sargon had established in power, to fly +from his country, and conquering many cities and districts, which he +attached to Assyria, and placed under the government of Assyrian +officers. + +The most important of all the expeditions contained in Sennacherib's +records is that of his fourth year, B.C. 701, in which he attacked +Luliya king of Sidon, and made his first expedition against Hezekiah +king of Judah. Invading Syria with a great host, he made Phoenicia the +first object of his attack. There Luliya--who seems to be the Mullins of +Menander, though certainly not the Elulaeus of Ptolemy's Canon, had +evidently raised the standard of revolt, probably during the early years +of Sennacherib, when domestic troubles seem to have occupied his +attention. Luliya had, apparently, established his dominion over the +greater part of Phoenicia, being lord not only of Sidon, or, as it is +expressed in the inscription, of Sidon the greater and Sidon the less, +but also of Tyre, Ecdippa, Akko, Sarepta, and other cities. However, he +did not venture to await Sennacherib's attack, but, as soon as he found +the expedition was directed against himself, he took to flight, quitting +the continent and retiring to an island in the middle of the +sea--perhaps the island Tyre, or more probably Cyprus. Sennacherib did +not attempt any pursuit, but was content to receive the submission of +the various cities over which Luliya had ruled, and to establish in his +place, as tributary monarch, a prince named Tubal. He then received the +tributes of the other petty monarchs of these parts, among whom are +mentioned Abdilihat king of Avrad. Hurus-milki king of Byblus. Mitinti +king of Ashdod, Puduel king of Beth-Ammon, a king of Moab, a king of +Edom, and (according to some writers) a "Menahem king of Samaria." After +this Sennacherib marched southwards to Ascalon, where the king, Sidka, +resisted him, but was captured, together with his city, his wife, his +children, his brothers, and the other members of his family. Here again +a fresh prince was established in power, while the rebel monarch was +kept prisoner and transported into Assyria. Four towns dependent upon +Ascalon, viz., Razor, Joppa, Beneberak, and Beth Dagon, were soon +afterwards taken and plundered. + +Sennacherib now pressed on against Egypt. The Philistine city of Ekron +had not only revolted from Assyria, expelling its king, Path, who wwas +opposed to the rebellion, but had entered into negotiations with +Ethiopia and Egypt, and had obtained a promise of support from them. The +king of Ethiopia was probably the second Shebek (or Sabaco) who is called +Sevechus by Manetho, and is said to have reigned either twelve or +fourteen yeats. The condition of Egypt at the time was peculiar. The +Ethiopian monarch seems to have exercised the real sovereign power: but +native princes were established under him who were allowed the title of +king, and exercised a real though delegated authority over their several +cities and districts. On the call of Ekron both princes and sovereign +had hastened to its assistance, bringing with them an army consisting of +chariots, horsemen, and archers, so numerous that Sennacherib calls it +"a host that could not be numbered." The second great battle between the +Assyrians and the Egyptians took place near a place called Altaku, which +is no doubt the Eltekeh of the Jews, a small town in the vicinity of +Ekron. Again the might of Africa yielded to that of Asia. The Egyptians +and Ethiopians were defeated with great slaughter. Many chariots, with +their drivers, both Egyptian and Ethiopian, fell into the hands of the +conqueror, who also took alive several "sons" of the principal Egyptian +monarch. The immediate fruit of the victory was the fall of Altaku, +which was followed by the capture of Tamna, a neighboring town. +Sennacherib then "went on" to Ekron, which made no resistance, but +opened its gates to the victor. The princes and chiefs who had been +concerned in the revolt he took alive and slew, exposing their bodies on +stakes round the whole circuit of the city walls. Great numbers of +inferior persons who were regarded as guilty of rebellion, were sold as +slaves. Padi, the expelled king, the friend to Assyria, was brought +back, reinstated in his sovereignty, and required to pay a small tribute +as a token of dependence. + +The restoration of Padi involved a war with Hezekiah, king of Judah. +When the Ekronites determined to get rid of a king whose Assyrian +proclivities were distasteful to them, instead of putting him to death, +they arrested him, loaded him with chains, and sent him to Hezekiah for +safe keeping. By accepting this charge the Jewish monarch made himself a +partner in their revolt; and it was in part to punish this complicity, +in part to compel him to give up Padi, that Sennacherib, when he had +sufficiently chastised the Ekronite rebels, proceeded to invade Judaea, +Then it was--in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, according to the +present Hebrew text--that "Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against +all the fenced cities of Judah and took them. And Hezekiah, king of +Judah, sent to the king of Assyria to Lshish, saying, I have offended; +return from me; that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king +of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah, king of Judah, three hundred talents +of silver and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the +silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of +the king's house. At that time did Hezekiah cut off [the gold from] the +doors of the house of the Lord, and [from] the pillars which Hezekiah, +king of Judah, had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria." + +Such is the brief account of this expedition and its consequences which +is given us by the author of the Second Book of Kings, who writes from a +religious point of view, and is chiefly concerned at the desecration of +holy things to which the imminent peril of his city and people forced +the Jewish monarch to submit. It is interesting to compare with this +account the narrative of Sennacherib himself, who records the features +of the expedition most important in his eyes, the number of the towns +taken and of the prisoners carried into captivity, the measures employed +to compel submission, and the nature and amount of the spoil which he +took with him to Nineveh. + +"Because Hezekiah, king of Judah," says the Assyrian monarch, "would not +submit to my yoke, I came up against him, and by force of arms and by +the might of my power I took forty-six of his strong fenced cities; and +of the smaller towns which were scattered about I took and plundered a +countless number. And from these places I captured and carried off as +spoil 200,150 people, old and young, male and female, together with +horses and mares, asses and camels, oxen and sheep, a countless +multitude. And Hezekiah himself I shut up in Jerusalem, his capital +city, like a bird in a cage, building towers round the city to hem him +in, and raising banks of earth against the gates, so as to prevent +escape.... Then upon this Hezekiah there fell the fear of the power of +my arms and he sent out to me the chiefs and the elders of Jerusalem +with thirty talents of gold and eight hundred talents of silver, and +divers treasures, a rich and immense booty.... All these things were +brought to me at Nineveh, the seat of my government, Hezekiah having +sent them by way of tribute, and as a token of his submission to my +power." + +It appears then that Sennacherib, after punishing the people of Ekron, +broke up from before that city, and entering Judaea proceeded towards +Jerusalem, spreading his army over a wide space, and capturing on his +way a vast number of small towns and villages, whose inhabitants he +enslaved and carried off to the number of 200,000. Having reached +Jerusalem, he commenced the siege in the usual way, erecting towers +around the city, from which stones and arrows were discharged against +the defenders of the fortifications, and "casting banks" against the +walls and gates. Jerusalem seems to have been at this time very +imperfectly fortified. The "breaches of the city of David" had recently +been "many;" and the inhabitants had hastily pulled down the houses in +the vicinity of the wall to fortify it. It was felt that the holy place +was in the greatest danger. We may learn from the conduct of the people, +as described by one of themselves, what were the feelings generally of +the cities threatened with destruction by the Assyrian armies. Jerusalem +was at first "full of stirs and tumult;" the people rushed to the +housetops to see if they were indeed invested, and beheld "the choicest +valleys full of chariots, and the horsemen set in array at the gates." +Then came "a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity"--a +day of "breaking down the walls and of crying to the mountains." Amidst +this general alarm and mourning there were, however, found some whom a +wild despair made reckless, and drove to a ghastly and ill-timed +merriment. When God by His judgments gave an evident "call to weeping, +and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth--behold +joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and +drinking wine"--"Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die." +Hezekiah after a time came to the conclusion that resistance would be +vain, and offered to surrender upon terms, an offer which Sennacherib, +seeing the great strength of the place, and perhaps distressed for +water, readily granted. It was agreed that Hezekiah should undertake the +payment of an annual tribute, to consist of thirty talents of gold and +three hundred talents of silver, and that he should further yield up the +chief treasures of the place as a "present" to the Great King. Hezekiah, +in order to obtain at once a sufficient supply of gold, was forced to +strip the walls and pillars of the Temple, which were overlaid in parts +with this precious metal. He yielded up all the silver from the royal +treasury and from the treasury of the Temple; and this amounted to five +hundred talents more than the fixed rate of tribute. In addition to +these sacrifices, the Jewish monarch was required to surrender Padi, his +Ekronite prisoner, and was mulcted in certain portions of his dominions, +which were attached by the conqueror to the territories of neighboring +kings. + +Sennacherib, after this triumph, returned to Nineveh, but did not remain +long in repose. The course of events summoned him in the ensuing year +B.C. 700--to Babylonia, where Merodach-Baladan, assisted by a certain +Susub, a Chaldaean prince, was again in arms against his authority. +Sennacherib first defeated Susub, and then, directing his march upon +Beth-Yakin, forced Merodach-Baladan once more to quit the country and +betake himself to one of the islands of the Persian Gulf, abandoning to +Sennacherib's mercy his brothers and his other partisans. It would +appear that the Babylonian viceroy Belibus, who three years previously +had been set over the country by Sennacherib, was either actively +implicated in this revolt, or was regarded as having contributed towards +it by a neglect of proper precautions. Sennacherib, on his return from +the sea-coast, superseded him, placing upon the throne his own eldest +son, Asshur-inadi-su, who appears to be the Asordanes of Polyhistor, and +the Aparanadius or Assaranadius of Ptolemy's Canon. + +The remaining events of Sennacherib's reign may be arranged in +chronological order without much difficulty, but few of them can be +dated with exactness. We lose at this point the invaluable aid of +Ptolemy's Canon, which contains no notice of any event recorded in +Sennacherib's inscriptions of later date than the appointment of +Assaranadius. + +It is probable in that in the year B.C. 699 Sennacherib conducted his +second expedition into Palestine. Hezekiah, after his enforced +submission two years earlier, had entered into negotiations with the +Egyptians, and looking to receive important succors from this quarter, +had again thrown off his allegiance. Sennacherib, understanding that the +real enemy whom he had to fear on his south-western frontier was not +Judaea, but Egypt, marched his army through Palestine--probably by the +coast route--and without stopping to chastise Jerusalem, pressed +southwards to Libnah and Lachish, which were at the extreme verge of the +Holy Land, and were probably at this tune subject to Egypt. He first +commenced the siege of Lachish with all his power; and while engaged in +this operation, finding that Hezekiah was not alarmed by his proximity, +and did not send in his submission, he detached a body of troops from +Ins main force, and sent it under a Tartan or general, supported by two +high officers of the court--the Rabshakeh or Chief Cupbearer, and the +Rob-saris or Chief Eunuch--to summon the rebellious city to surrender. +Hezekiah was willing to treat, and sent out to the Assyrian camp, which +was pitched just outside the walls, three high officials of his own to +open negotiations. But the Assyrian envoys had not cone to debate or +even to offer terms, but to require the unconditional submission of both +king and people. The Rabshakeh or cupbearer, who was familiar with the +Hebrew language, took the word and delivered his message in insulting +phrase, laughing at the simplicity which could trust in Egypt, and the +superstitious folly which could expect a divine deliverance, and defying +Hezekiah to produce so many as two thousand trained soldiers capable of +serving as cavalry. When requested to use a foreign rather than the +native dialect, lest the people who were upon the walls should hear, the +bold envoy, with an entire disregard of diplomatic forms, raised his +voice and made a direct appeal to the popular fears and hopes thinking +to produce a tumultuary surrender of the place, or at least an outbreak +of which his troops might have taken advantage. His expectations, +however, were disappointed; the people made no response to his appeal, +but listened in profound silence; and the ambassadors, finding that they +could obtain nothing from the fears of either king or people, and +regarding the force that they had brought with them as insufficient for +a siege, returned to their master with the intelligence of their +ill-success. The Assyrian monarch had either taken Lachish or raised its +siege, and was gone on to Libnah, where the envoys found him. On +receiving their report, he determined to make still another effort to +overcome Hezckiah's obstinacy and accordingly he despatched fresh +messengers with a letter to the Jewish king, in which he was reminded of +the fate of various other kingdoms and peoples which had resisted the +Assyrians, and once more urged to submit himself. It was this letter +perhaps a royal autograph--which Hezekiah took into the temple and there +"spread it before the Lord," praying God to "bow down his ear and hear; +to open his eyes and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib, which had +sent to reproach the living God." Upon this Isaiah was commissioned to +declare to his afflicted sovereign that the kings of Assyria were mere +instruments in God's hands to destroy such, nations as He pleased, and +that none of Sennacherib's threats against Jerusalem should be +accomplished. God, Isaiah told him would "put his hook in Sennacherib's +nose, and his bridle in his lips, and turn him back by the way by which +he came." The Lord had said, concerning the king of Assyria, "He shall +not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it +with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the +same shall he return, and shall not come into this city. For I will +defend this city, to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant +David's sake." + +Meanwhile it is probable that Sennacherib, having received the +submission of Libnah, had advanced upon Egypt. It was important to crush +an Egyptian army which had been collected against him by a certain +Sethos, one of the many native princes who at this time ruled in the +Lower country before the great Ethiopian monarch Tehrak or Tirhakah, who +was known to be on his march, should effect a junction with the troops +of this minor potentate. Sethos, with his army, was at Pelusium; and +Sennacherib, advancing to attack him, had arrived within sight of the +Egyptian host, and pitched his camp over against the camp of the enemy, +just at the time to when Hezekiah received his letter and made the +prayer to which Isaiah was instructed to respond. The two hosts lay down +at night in their respective stations, the Egyptians and their king full +of anxious alarm, Sennacherib and his Assyrians proudly confident, +intending on the morrow to advance to the combat and repeat the lesson +taught at Raphia and Altaku. But no morrow was to break on the great +mass of those who took their rest in the tents of the Assyrians. The +divine fiat had gone forth. In the night, as they slept, destruction +fell upon them. "The angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp +of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand; and when they +arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses." A +miracle, like the destruction of the first-born, had been wrought, but +this time on the enemies of the Egyptians, who naturally ascribed their +deliverance to the interposition of their own gods; and seeing the enemy +in confusion and retreat, pressed hastily after him, distressed his +flying columns, and cut off his stragglers. The Assyrian king returned +home to Nineveh, shorn of his glory, with the shattered remains of his +great host, and cast that proud capital into a state of despair and +grief, which the genius of an AEschylus might have rejoiced to depict, +but which no less powerful pen could adequately portray. + +It is difficult to say how soon Assyria recovered from this terrible +blow. The annals of Sennacherib, as might have been expected, omit it +altogether, and represent the Assyrian monarch as engaged in a +continuous series of successful campaigns, which seem to extend +uninterruptedly from his third to his tenth year. It is possible that +while the Assyrian expedition was in progress, under the eye of +Sennacherib himself, a successful war was being conducted by one of his +generals in the mountains of Armenia, and that Sennacherib was thus +enabled, without absolutely falsifying history, to parade as his own +certain victories gained by this leader in the very year of his own +reverse. It is even conceivable that the power of Assyria was not so +injured by the loss of a single great army, as to make it necessary for +her to stop even for one year in the course of her aggressive warfare; +and thus the expeditions of Sennacherib may form an uninterrupted +series, the eight campaigns which are assigned to him occupying eight +consecutive years. But on the other hand it is quite as probable that +there are gaps in the history, some years having been omitted +altogether. The Taylor Cylinder records but eight campaigns, yet it was +certainly written as late as Sennacherib's fifteenth year. It contains +no notice of any events in Sennacherib's first or second year; and it +may consequently make other omissions covering equal or larger +intervals. Thus the destruction of the Assyrian army at Pelusium may +have been followed by a pause of some years' duration in the usual +aggressive expeditions; and it may very probably have encouraged the +Babylonians in the attempt to shake off the Assyrian yoke, which they +certainly made towards the middle of Sennacherib's reign. + +But while it appears to be probable that consequences of some importance +followed on the Pelusiac calamity, it is tolerably certain that no such +tremendous results flowed from it as some writers have imagined. The +murder of the disgraced Sennacherib "within fifty-five days" of his +return to Nineveh, seems to be an invention of the Alexandrian Jew who +wrote the Book of Tobit. The total destruction of the empire in +consequence of the blow, is an exaggeration of Josephus, rashly credited +by some moderns. Sennacherib did not die till B.C. 681, seventeen years +after his misfortune; and the Empire suffered so little that we find +Esar-haddon, a few years later, in full possession of all the territory +that any king before him had over held, ruling from Babylonia to Egypt, +or (as he himself expresses it) "from the rising up of the sun to the +going down of the same." Even Sennacherib himself was not prevented by +his calamity from undertaking important wars during the latter part of +his reign. We shall see shortly that he recovered Babylon, chastised +Susiana, and invaded Cilicia, in the course of the seventeen years which +intervened between his flight from Pelusium and his decease. Moreover, +there is evidence that he employed himself during this part of his reign +in the consolidation of the Western provinces, which first appear about +his twelfth year as integral portions of the Empire, furnishing eponyms +in their turn, and thus taking equal rank with the ancient provinces of +Assyria Proper, Adiabene, and Mesopotamia. + +The fifth campaign of Sennacherib, according to his own annals, was +partly in a mountainous country which he calls Nipur or Nibur--probably +the most northern portion of the Zagros range where it abuts on Ararat. +He there took a number of small towns, after which he proceeded westward +and contended with a certain Maniya king of Dayan, which was a part of +Taurus bordering on Cilicia. He boasts that he penetrated further into +this region than any king before him; and the boast is confirmed by the +fact that the geographical names which appear are almost entirely new to +us. The expedition was a plundering raid, not an attempt at conquest. +Sennacherib ravaged the country, burnt the towns, and carried away with +him all the valuables, the flocks and herds, and the inhabitants. + +After this it appears that for at least three years he was engaged in a +fierce struggle with the combined Babylonians and Susianians. The +troubles recommenced by an attempt of the Chaldaeans of Beth-Yakin to +withdraw themselves from the Assyrian territory, and to transfer their +allegiance to the Elymaean king. Carrying with them their gods and their +treasures, they embarked in their ships, and crossing "the Great Sea of +the Rising Sun"--i.e., the Persian Gulf--landed on the Elamitic coast, +where they were kindly received and allowed to take up their abode. Such +voluntary removals are not uncommon in the East; and they constantly +give rise to complaints and reclamations, which not unfrequently +terminate in an appeal to the arbitrament of the sword. Sennacherib does +not inform us whether he made any attempt to recover his lost subjects +by diplomatic representations at the court of Susa. If he did, they were +unsuccessful; and in order to obtain redress, he was compelled to resort +to force, and to undertake an expedition into the Elamitie territory. It +is remarkable that he determined to make his invasion by sea. Their +frequent wars on the Syrian coasts had by this time familiarized the +Assyrians with the idea, if not with the practice, of navigation; and as +their suzerainty over Phoenicia placed at their disposal a large body of +skilled shipwrights, and a number of the best sailors in the world, it +was natural that they should resolve to employ naval as well as military +force to advance their dominion. We have seen that, as early as the time +of Shalmaneser, the Assyrians ventured themselves in ships, and, in +conjunction with the Phoenicians of the mainland, engaged the vessels of +the Island Tyre. It is probable that the precedent thus set was followed +by later kings, and that both Sargon and Sennacherib had had the +permanent, or occasional services of a fleet on the Mediterranean. But +there was a wide difference between such an employment of the navies +belonging to their subjects on the sea, to which they were accustomed, +and the transfer to the opposite extremity of the empire of the naval +strength hitherto confined to the Mediterranean. This thought--certainly +not an obvious one--seems to have first occurred to Sennacherib. He +conceived the idea of having a navy on both the seas that washed his +dominions; and, possessing on his western coast only an adequate supply +of skilled shipwrights and sailors he resolved on transporting from his +western to his eastern shores such a body of Phoenicians as would enable +him to accomplish his purpose. The shipwrights of Tyre and Sidon were +carried across Mesopotamia to the Tigris, where they constructed for the +Assyrian monarch a fleet of ships like their own galleys, which +descended the river to its mouth, and astonished the populations +bordering on the Persian Gulf with spectacle never before seen in those +waters. Though the Chaldaeans had for centuries navigated this inland +sea, and may have occasionally ventured beyond its limits, yet neither +as sailors nor as ship-builders was their skill to compare with that of +the Phoenicians. The masts and sails, the double tiers of oars, the +sharp beaks of the Phoenician ships, were (it is probable) novelties to +the nations of these parts, who saw now, for the first time, a fleet +debouche from the Tigris, with which their own vessels were quite +incapable of contending. + +When his fleet was ready Sennacherib put to sea, and crossed in his +Phoenician ships from the mouth of the Tigris to the tract occupied by +the emigrant Chaldaeans, where he landed and destroyed the newly-built +city, captured the inhabitants, ravaged the neighborhood, and burnt a +number of Susianian towns, finally reembarking with his captives. +Chaldaean and Susianian whom he transported across the gulf to the +Chaldaean coast, and then took with him into Assyria. This whole +expedition seems to have taken the Susianians by surprise. They had +probably expected an invasion by land, and had collected their forces +towards the north-western frontier, so that when the troops of +Sennacherib landed far in their rear, there were no forces in the +neighborhood to resist them. However, the departure of the Assyrians on +an expedition regarded as extremely perilous, was the signal for a +general revolt of the Babylonians, who once more set up a native king in +the person of Susub, and collected an army with which they made ready to +give the Assyrians battle on their return. Perhaps they cherished the +hope that the fleet which had tempted the dangers of an unknown sea +would be seen no more, or expected that, at the best, it would bring +back the shattered remnants of a defeated army. If so, they were +disappointed. The Assyrian troops landed on their coast flushed with +success, and finding the Babylonians in revolt, proceeded to chastise +them; defeated their forces in a great battle; captured their king, +Susub; and when the Susianians came, somewhat tardily, to their succor, +attacked and routed their army. A vast number of prisoners, and among +them Susub himself, were carried off by the victors and conveyed to +Nineveh. + +Shortly after this successful campaign, possibly in the very next year, +Sennacherib resolved to break the power of Susiana by a great expedition +directed solely against that country. The Susianians had, as already +related, been strong enough in the reign of Sargon to deprive Assyria of +a portion of her territory; and Kudur-Nakhunta, the Elymaean king, still +held two cities, Beth-Kahiri and Raza, which were regarded by +Sennacherib as a part of his paternal inheritance. The first object of +the war was the recovery of these two towns, which were taken without +any difficulty and reattached to the Assyrian Empire. Sennacherib then +pressed on into the heart of Susiana, taking and destroying thirty-four +large cities, whose names he mentions, together with a still greater +number of villages, all of which he gave to the flames. Wasting and +destroying in this way he drew near to Vadakat or Badaca, the second +city of the kingdom, where Kudur-Nakhunta had for the time fixed his +residence. The Elamitic king, hearing of his rapid approach, took +fright, and, hastily quitting Badaca, fled away to a city called +Khidala, at the foot of the mountains, where alone he could feel himself +in safety. Sennacherib then advanced to Badaca, besieged it, and took it +by assault; after which affairs seem to have required his presence at +Nineveh, and, leaving his conquest incomplete, he returned home with a +large booty. + +A third campaign in these parts, the most important of all, followed. +Susub, the Chaldaean prince whom Sennacherib had carried off to Assyria, +in the year of his naval expedition escaped from his confinement, and, +returning to Babylon, was once more hailed as king by the inhabitants. +Aware of his inability to maintain himself on the throne against the +will of the Assyrians, unless he were assisted by the arms of a powerful +ally, he resolved to obtain, if possible, the immediate aid of the +neighboring Elamitic monarch. Kolar-Nakhunta, the late antagonist of +Sennacherib, was dead, having survived his disgraceful flight from +Badaca only three months; and Ummanminan, his younger brother, held the +throne. Susub, bent on contracting an alliance with this prince, did not +scruple at an act of sacrilege to obtain his end. He broke open the +treasury of the great temple of Bel at Babylon, and seizing the gold and +silver belonging to the god, sent it as a present to Ummanminan, with an +urgent entreaty that he would instantly collect his troops and march to +his aid. The Elamitic monarch, yielding to a request thus powerfully +backed, and perhaps sufficiently wise to see that the interests of +Susiana required an independent Babylon, set his troops in motion +without any delay, and advanced to the banks of the Tigris. At the same +time a number of the Aramaean tribes on the middle Euphrates, which +Sennacherib had reduced in his third year, revolted, and sent their +forces to swell the army of Susub. A great battle was fought at Khaluli, +a town on the lower Tigris, between the troops of Sennacherib and this +allied host; the combat was long and bloody, but at last the Assyrians +conquered. Susub and his Elamitic ally took to flight and made their +escape. Nebosumiskun, a son of Merodach-Baladan, and many other chiefs +of high rank, were captured. The army was completely routed and broken +up. Babylon submitted, and was severely punished; the fortifications +were destroyed, the temples plundered and burnt, and the images of the +gods broken to pieces. Perhaps the rebel city now received for viceroy +Regibelus or Mesesimordachus, whom the Canon of Ptolemy, which is silent +about Susub, makes contemporary with the middle portion of Sennacherib's +reign. + +The only other expedition which can be assigned, on important evidence, +to the reign of Sennacherib, is one against Cilicia, in which he is said +to have been opposed by Greeks. According to Abydenus, a Greek fleet +guarded the Cilician shore, which the vessels of Sennacherib engaged and +defeated. Polyhistor seems to say that the Greeks also suffered a defeat +by land in Cilicia itself, after which Sennacherib took possession of +the country, and built Tarsus there on the model of Babylon. The +prominence here given to Greeks by Greek writers is undoubtedly +remarkable, and it throws a certain amount of suspicion over the whole +story. Still, as the Greek element in Cyprus was certainly important at +this time, and as the occupation of Cilicis, by the Assyrians may have +appeared to the Cyprian Greeks to endanger their independence, it is +conceivable that they lent some assistance to the natives of the +country, who were a hardy race, fond of freedom, and never very easily +brought into subjection. The admission af a double defeat makes it +evident that the tale is not the invention of Greek national vanity. +Abydenus and Polyhistor probably derive it from Berosus, who must also +have made the statement that Tarsus was now founded by Sennacherib, and +constructed, after the pattern of Babylon. The occupation of newly +conquered countries, by the establishnient in them of large cities in +which foreign colonists were placed by the conquerors, was practice +commenced by Sargon, which his son is not unlikely to have followed. +Tarsus was always regarded by the Greeks as an Assyrian town; and +although they gave different accounts of the time of its foundation, +their disagreement in this respect does not invalidate their evidence as +to the main fact itself, which is intrinsically probable. The evidence +of Polyhistor and Abydenus as to the date of the foundation, +representing, as it must, the testimony of Berosus upon the point, is to +be preferred; and we may accept it as a fact, beyond all reasonable +doubt, that the native city of St. Paul derived, if not its origin, yet, +at any rate, its later splendor and magnificence, from the antagonist of +Hezekiah. + +That this Cilician war occurred late in the reign of Sennacherib, +appears to follow from the absence of any account of it from his general +annals. These, it is probable, extend no further than his sixteenth +year, B.C. 689, thus leaving blank his last eight years, from B.C. 689 +to 681. The defeat of the Greeks, the occupation of Cilicia, and the +founding of Tarsus, may well have fallen into this interval. To the same +time may have belonged Sennacherib's conquest of Edom. + +There is reason to suspect that these successes of Sennacherib on the +western limits of his empire were more than counterbalanced by a +contemporaneous loss at the extreme south-east. The Canon of Ptolemy +marks the year B.C. 688 as the first of an interregnum at Babylon which +continues from that date till the accession of Esar-haddon in B.C. 680. +Interregna in this document--[--Greek--] as they are termed--indicate +periods of extreme disturbance, when pretender succeeded to pretender, +or when the country was split up into a number of petty kingdoms. The +Assyrian yoke, in either case, must have been rejected; and Babylonia +must have succeeded at this time in maintaining, for the space of eight +years, a separate and independent existence, albeit troubled and +precarious. The fact that she continued free so long, while she again +succumbed at the very commencement of the reign of Esar-haddon, may lead +us to suspect that she owed this spell of liberty to the increasing +years of the Assyrian monarch, who, as the infirmities of age crept upon +him, felt a disinclination towards distant expeditions. + +The military glory of Sennacherib was thus in some degree tarnished; +first, by the terrible disaster which befell his host on the borders of +Egypt; and, secondly, by his failure to maintain the authority which, in +the earlier part of his reign, he had estaldished over Babylon. Still, +notwithstanding these misfortunes, he must be pronounced one of the most +successful of Assyria's warrior kings, and altogether one of the +greatest princes that ever sat on the Assyrian throne. His victories of +Eltekeh and Khaluli seem to leave been among the most important battles +that Assyria ever gained. By the one Egypt and Ethiopia, by the other +Susiana and Babylon, were taught that, even united, they were no match +for the Assyrian hosts. Sennacherib thus wholesomely impressed his most +formidable enemies with the dread of his arms, while at the same time he +enlarged, in various directions, the limits of his dominions. He warred +in regions to which no earlier Assyrian monarch had ever penetrated; and +he adopted modes of warfare on which none of them had previously +ventured. His defeat of a Greek fleet in the Eastern Mediterranean, and +his employment of Phoenicians in the Persian Gulf, show an enterprise +and versatility which we observe in few Orientals. His selection of +Tarsus for the site of a great city indicates a keen appreciation of the +merits of a locality, if he was proud, haughty, and self-confident, +beyond all former Assyrian kings, it would seem to have been because he +felt that he had resources within himself--that he possessed a firm +will, a bold heart, and a fertile invention. Most men would have laid +aside the sword and given themselves wholly to peaceful pursuits, after +such a disaster as that of Pelusium. Sennacherib accepted the judgment +as a warning to attempt no further conquests in those parts, but did not +allow the calamity to reduce him to inaction. He wisely turned his sword +against other enemies, and was rewarded by important successes upon all +his other frontiers. + +But if, as a warrior, Sennacherib deserves to be placed in the foremost +rank of the Assyrian kings, as a builder and a patron of art he is still +more eminent. The great palace which he raised at Nineveh surpassed in +size and splendor all earlier edifices, and was never excelled in any +respect except by one later building. The palace of Asshur-bani-pal, +built on the same platform by the grandson of Sennacherib, was, it must +be allowed, more exquisite in its ornamentation; but even this edifice +did not equal the great work of Sennacherib in the number of its +apartments, or the grandeur of its dimensions. Sennacherib's palace +covered an area of above eight acres. It consisted of a number of grand +halls and smaller chambers, arranged round at least three courts or +quadrangles. These courts were respectively 154 feet by 125, 124 feet by +90, and probably a square of about 90 feet. Round the smallest of the +courts were grouped apartments of no great size, which, it may be +suspected, belonged to the seraglio of the king. The seraglio seems to +have been reached through a single narrow passage, leading out of a long +gallery--218 feet by 25--which was approached only through two other +passages, one leading from each of the two main courts. The principal +halls were immediately within the two chief entrances one on the +north-east, the other on the opposite or south-west front of the palace. +Neither of these two rooms has been completely explored: but the one +appears to have been more than 150 and the other was probably 180 feet +in length, while the width of each was a little more than 40 feet. +Besides these two great halls and the grand gallery already described, +the palace contained about twenty rooms of a considerable size, and at +least forty or fifty smaller chambers, mostly square, or nearly so, +opening out of some hall or large apartment. The actual number of the +rooms explored is about sixty; but as in many parts the examination of +the building is still incomplete, we may fairly conjecture that the +entire number was not less than seventy or eighty. + +The palace of Sennacherib preserved all the main features of Assyrian +architecture. It was elevated on a platform, eighty or ninety feet above +the plain, artificially constructed, and covered with a pavement of +bricks. It had probably three grand facades--one on the north-east, +where it was ordinarily approached from the town, and the two others on +the south-east and the south-west, where it was carried nearly to the +edge of the platform, and overhung the two streams of the Khosr-su and +the Tigris. Its principal apartment was that which was first entered by +the visitor. All the walls ran in straight lines, and all the angles of +the rooms and passages were right angles. There were more passages in +the building than usual but still the apartments very frequently opened +into one another; and almost one-half of the rooms were passage-rooms. +The doorways were mostly placed without any regard to regularity, seldom +opposite one another, and generally towards the corners of the +apartments. There was the curious feature, common in Assyrian edifices, +of a room being entered from a court, or from another room, by two or +three doorways, which is best explained by supposing that the rank of +the person determined the door by which he might enter. Squared recesses +in the sides of the rooms were common. The thickness of the walls was +great. The apartments, though wider than in other palaces, were still +narrow for their length, never much exceeding forty feet; while the +courts were much better proportioned. + +It was in the size and the number of his rooms, in his use of passages, +and in certain features of his ornamentation, that Sennacherib chiefly +differed from former builders. He increased the width of the principal +state apartments by one-third, which seems to imply the employment of +some new mode or material for roofing. In their length he made less +alteration, only advancing from 150 to 180 feet, evidently because he +aimed, not merely at increasing the size of his rooms, but at improving +their proportions. In one instance alone--that of a gallery or +passage-room, leading (apparently) from the more public part of the +palace to the hareem or private apartments--did he exceed this length, +uniting the two portions of the palace by a noble corridor, 218 feet +long by 25 feet wide. Into this corridor he brought passages from the +two public courts, which he also united together by a third passage, +thus greatly facilitating communication between the various blocks of +buildings which composed his vast palatial edifice. + +The most striking characteristic of Sennacherib's ornamentation is its +strong and marked realism. It was under Sennacherib that the practice +first obtained of completing each scene by a background, such as +actually existed as the time and place of its occurrence. Mountains, +rocks, trees, roads, rivers, lakes, were regularly portrayed, an attempt +being made to represent the locality, whatever it might be, as +truthfully as the artist's skill and the character of his material +rendered possible. Nor was this endeavor limited to the broad and +general features of the scene only. The wish evidently was to include +all the little accessories which the observant eye of an artist might +have noted if he had made his drawing with the scene before him. The +species of trees is distinguished, in Sennacherib's bas-reliefs; +gardens, fields, ponds, reeds, are carefully represented; wild animals +are introduced, as stags, boars, and antelopes; birds fly from tree to +tree, or stand over their nests feeding the young who stretch up to +them; fish disport themselves in the waters; fishermen ply their craft; +boatmen and agricultural laborers pursue their avocations; the scene is, +as it were, photographed, with all its features--the least and the most +important--equally marked, and without any attempt at selection, or any +effort after artistic unity. + +In the same spirit of realism Sennacherib chooses for artistic +representation scenes of a commonplace and everyday character. The +trains of attendants who daily enter his palace with game and locusts +for his dinner, and cakes and fruit for his dessert, appear on the walls +of his passages, exactly as they walked through his courts, bearing the +delicacies in which he delighted. Elsewhere he puts before us the entire +process of carving and transporting a colossal bull, from the first +removal of the huge stone in its rough state from the quarry, to its +final elevation on a palace mound as part of the great gateway of a +royal residence. We see the trackers dragging the rough block, supported +on a low flat-bottomed boat, along the course of a river, disposed in +gangs, and working under taskmasters who use their rods upon the +slightest provocation. The whole scene must be represented, and so the +trackers are all there, to the number of three hundred, costumed +according to their nations, and each delineated with as much care as it +he were not the exact image of ninety-nine others. We then observe the +block transferred to land, and carved into the rough semblance of a +bull, in which form it is placed on a rude sledge and conveyed along +level ground by gangs of laborers, arranged nearly as before, to the +foot of the mound at whose top it has to be placed. The construction of +the mound is most elaborately represented. Brickmakers are seen moulding +the bricks at its base, while workmen, with baskets at their backs, full +of earth, bricks, stones, or rubbish, toil up the ascent--for the mound +is already half raised--and empty their burdens out upon the summit. The +bull, still lying on its sledge, is then drawn up an inclined plane to +the top by four gangs of laborers, in the presence of the monarch and +his attendants. After this the carving is completed, and the colossus, +having been raised into an upright position, is conveyed along the +surface of the platform to the exact site which it is to occupy. This +portion of the operation has been represented in one of the +illustrations in an earlier part of this volume. From the representation +there given the reader may form a notion of the minuteness and +elaboration of this entire series of bas-reliefs. + +Besides constructing this new palace at Nineveh, Sennacherib seems also +to have restored the ancient residence of the kings at the sane place, a +building which will probably be found whenever the mound of Nebbi-Yunus +is submitted to careful examination. He confined the Tigris to its +channel by an embankment of bricks. He constructed a number of canals or +aqueducts for the purpose of bringing good water to the capital. He +improved the defences of Nineveh, erecting towers of a vast size at some +of the gates. And, finally, he built a temple to the god Nergal at +Tarbisi (now Sherif khan), about three miles from Nineveh up the Tigris. + +In the construction of these great works he made use chiefly, of the +forced labor with which his triumphant expeditions into foreign +countries had so abundantly supplied him. Chaldaeans, Aramaeans, +Armenians, Cilicianns and probably also Egyptians, Ethiopians, +Elamites, and Jews, were employed by thousands in the formation of the +vast mounds, in the transport and elevation of the colossal bulls, in +the moulding of the bricks, and the erection of the walls of the various +edifices, in the excavation of the canals, and the construction of the +embankments. They wrought in gangs, each gang having a costume peculiar +to it, which probably marked its nation. Over each was placed a number +of taskmasters, armed with staves, who urged on the work with blows, and +severely punished any neglect or remissness. Assyrian foremen had the +general direction of the works, and were entrusted with all such +portions as required skill or judgment. The forced laborers often worked +in fetters, which were sometimes supported by a bar fastened to the +waist, while sometimes they consisted merely of shackles round the +ankles. The king himself often witnessed the labors, standing in his +chariot, which on these occasions was drawn by some of his attendants. + +The Assyrian monuments throw but little light on the circumstances which +led to the assassination of Sennacherib; and we are reduced to +conjecture the causes of so strange an event. Our various sources of +information make it clear that he had a large family of sons. The eldest +of them, Asshurinadi-su, had been entrusted by Sennacherib with the +government of Babylon and might reasonably have expected to succeed him +on the throne of Assyria; but it is probable that he died before his +father, either by a natural death, or by violence, during one of the +many Babylonian revolts. It may be suspected that Sennacherib had a +second son, of whose name Nergal was the first element; and it is +certain that he had three others, Adrammelech (or Ardumuzanes), +Sharezer, and Esar-haddon. Perhaps, upon the death of Asshur-inadi-su, +disputes arose about the succession. Adrammelech and Sharezer, anxious +to obtain the throne for themselves, plotted against the life of their +father, and having slain him in a temple as he was worshipping, +proceeded further to remove their brother Nergilus, who claimed the +crown and wore it for a brief space after Sennacherib's death. Having +murdered him, they expected to obtain the throne without further +difficulty; but Esar-haddon, who at the time commanded the army which +watched the Armenian frontier, now came forward, assumed the title of +King, and prepared to march upon Nineveh. It was winter, and the +inclemency of the weather precluded immediate movement. For some months +probably the two assassins were recognized as monarchs at the capital, +while the northern army regarded Esar-haddon as the rightful successor +of his father. Thus died the great Sennacherib, a victim to the ambition +of his sons. + +It was a sad end to a reign which, on the whole, had been so glorious; +and it was a sign that the empire was now verging on that decline which +sooner or later overtakes all kingdoms, and indeed all things sublunary. +Against plots without, arising from the ambition of subjects who see, or +think they see, at any particular juncture an opportunity of seizing the +great prize of supreme dominion, it is impossible, even in the most +vigorous empire, to provide any complete security. But during the period +of vigor, harmony within the palace, and confidence in each other +inspires and unites all the members of the royal house. When discord has +once entered inside the gates, when the family no longer holds together, +when suspicion and jealousy have replaced the trust and affection of a +happier time, the empire has passed into the declining stage, and has +already begun the descent which conducts, by quick or slow degrees, to +destruction. The murder of Sennacherib, if it was, as perhaps it was, a +judgment on the individual, was, at least equally, a judgment on the +nation. When, in an absolute monarchy, the palace becomes the scene of +the worst crimes, the doom of the kingdom is sealed--it totters to its +fall--and requires but a touch from without to collapse into a heap of +ruins. + +Esar-haddon, the son and successor of Sennacherib, is proved by the +Assyrian Canon, to have ascended the throne of Assyria in B.C. 681--the +year immediately previous to that which the Canon of Ptolemy makes his +first year in Babylon, viz., B.C. 680. He was succeeded by his son +Asshur-bani-pal, or Sardanapalus, in B.C. 668, and thus held the crown +no more than thirteen years. Esar-haddon's inscriptions show that he was +engaged for some time after his accession in a war with his +half-brothers, who, at the head of a large body of troops, disputed his +right to the crown. Esar-haddon marched from the Armenian frontier, +where (as already observed) he was stationed at the time of his father's +death, against this army, defeated it in the country of Khanirabbat +(north-west of Nineveh), and proceeding to the capital, was universally +acknowledged king. According to Abydenus, Adrammelech fell in the +battle; but better authorities state that both he and his brother, +Sharezer, escaped into Armenia, where they were kindly treated by the +reigning monarch, who gave them lands, which long continued in the +possession of their posterity. + +The chief record which we possess of Esar-haddon is a cylinder +inscription, existing in duplicate, which describes about nine +campaigns, and may probably have been composed in or about his tenth +year. A memorial which he set up at the mouth of the Nahr-el-Kolb, and a +cylinder of his son's, add some important information with respect to +the latter part of his reign. One or two notices in the Old Testament +connect him with the history of the Jews. And Abydenus, besides the +passage already quoted, has an allusion to some of his foreign +conquests. Such are the chief materials from which the modern inquirer +has to reconstruct the history of this great king. + +It appears that the first expedition of Esar-haddon was into Phoenicia. +Abdi-Milkut king of Sidon, and Sandu-arra king of the adjoining part of +Lebanon, had formed an alliance and revolted from the Assyrians, +probably during the troubles which ensued on Sennacherib's death. +Esar-haddon attacked Sidon first, and soon took the city; but +Aladi-Milkut made his escape to an island--Aradus or Cyprus--where, +perhaps, he thought himself secure. Esar-haddon, however, determined on +pursuit. He traversed the sea "like a fish," and made Abdi-Milkut +prisoner; after which he turned his arms against Sandu-arra, attacked +him in the fastnesses of his mountains, defeated his troops, and +possessed himself of his person. The rebellion of the two captive kings +was punished by their execution; the walls of Sidon were destroyed; its +inhabitants, and those of the whole tract of coast in the neighborhood, +were carried off into Assyria, and thence scattered among the provinces; +a new town was built, which was named after Esarhaddon, and was intended +to take the place of Sidon as the chief city of these parts; and +colonists were brought from Chaldaea and Susiana to occupy the new +capital and the adjoining region. An Assyrian governor was appointed to +administer the conquered province. + +Esar-haddon's next campaign seems to have been in Armenia. He took a +city called Arza**, which, he says, was in the neighborhood of Muzr, and +carried off the inhabitants, together with a number of mountain animals, +placing the former in a position "beyond the eastern gate of Nineveh." +At the same time he received the submission of Tiuspa the Cimmerian. + +His third campaign was in Cilicia and the adjoining regions. The +Cilicians, whom Sennacherib had so recently subdued, reasserted their +independence at his death, and allied themselves with the Tibareni, or +people of Tubal, who possess at the high mountain tract about the +junction of Amaans and Taurus. Esar-haddon inflicted a defeat on the +Cilicians, and then invaded the mountain region, where he took +twenty-one towns and a larger number of villages, all of which he +plundered and burnt. The inhabitants he carried away captive, as usual +but he made no attempt to hold the ravaged districts by means of new +cities or fresh colonists. + +This expedition was followed by one or two petty wars in the north-west +and the north-east after which Esar-haddon, probably about his sixth +year B.C. 675, made an expedition into Chaldaea. It appears that a son +of Merodach-Baladan, Nebo-zirzi-sidi by name, had re-established himself +on the Chaldaean coast, by the help of the Susianians; while his +brother, Nahid-Marduk, had thought it more prudent to court the favor of +the great Assyrian monarch, and had quitted his refuge in Susiana to +present himself before Esar-haddon's foot-stool at Nineveh. This +judicious step had all the success that he could have expected or +desired. Esar-haddon, having conquered the ill-judging Nebo-zirzi-sidi, +made over to the more clear-sighted Nahid-Marduk the whole of the +maritime region that had been ruled by his brother. At the same time the +Assyrian monarch deposed a Chaldaean prince who had established his +authority over a small town in the neighborhood of Babylon, and set up +another in his place, thus pursuing the same system of division in +Babylonia which we shall hereafter find that he pursued in Egypt. + +Esar-haddon after this was engaged in a war with Edom. He there took a +city which bore the same name as the country--a city previously, he +tells us, taken by his father--and transported the inhabitants into +Assyria, at the same time carrying off certain images of the Edomite +gods. Hereupon the king, who was named Hazael, sent an embassy to +Nineveh, to make submission and offer presents, while at the same time +he supplicated Isar-haddon to restore his gods and allow them to be +conveyed back to their own proper country. Esarhaddon granted the +request, and restored the images to the envoy; but as a compensation for +this boon, he demanded an increase of the annual tribute, which was +augmented in consequence by sixty-five camels. He also nominated to the +Edomite throne, either in succession or in joint sovereignty, a female +named Tabua, who had been born and brought up in his own palace. + +The expedition next mentioned on Esar-haddon's principal cylinder is one +presenting some difficulty. The scene of it is a country called Bazu, +which is said to be "remote, on the extreme confines of the earth, on +the other side of the desert." It was reached by traversing it hundred +and forty _farsakhs_ (490 miles) of sandy desert, then twenty _farsakhs_ +(70 miles) of fertile land, and beyond that a stony region. None of the +kings of Assyria, down to the time of Esar-haddon, had ever penetrated +so far. Bazu lay beyond Khazu, which was the name of the stony tract, +and Bazu had for its chief town a city called Yedih, which was under the +rule of a king named Laile. It is thought, from the combinaqon of these +names, and from the general description of the region--of its remoteness +and of the way in which it was reached--that it was probably the +district of Arabia beyond Nedjif which lies along the Jebel Shammer, and +corresponds closely with the modern Arab kingdom of Hira. Esar-haddon +boasts that he marched into the middle of the territory, that he slew +eight of its sovereigns, and carried into Assyria their gods, their +treasures, and their subjects; and that, though Laile escaped him, he +too lost his gods, which were seized and conveyed to Nineveh. Then +Laile, like the Idumaean monarch above mentioned, felt it necessary to +humble himself. He went in person to the Assyrian capital, prostrated +himself before the royal footstool, and entreated for the restoration of +his gods; which Esar-haddon consented to give back, but solely on the +condition that Laile became thenceforth one of his tributaries. + +If this expedition was really carried into the quarter here supposed, +Esar-haddon performed a feat never paralleled in history, excepting by +Augustus and Nushirvan. He led an army across the deserts which +everywhere guard Arabia on the land side, and penetrated to the more +fertile tracts beyond them, a region of settled inhabitants and of +cities. He there took and spoiled several towns; and he returned to his +own country without suffering disaster. Considering the physical perils +of the desert itself, and the warlike character of its inhabitants, whom +no conqueror has ever really subdued, this was a most remarkable +success. The dangers of the simoom may have been exaggerated, and the +total aridity of the northern region may have been overstated by many +writers; but the difficulty of carrying water and provisions for a large +army, and the peril of a plunge into the wilderness with a small one, +can scarcely be stated in too strong terms, and have proved sufficient +to deter most Eastern conquerors from even the thoughts of an Arabian +expedition. Alexander would, perhaps, had he lived, have attempted an +invasion from the side of the Persian Gulf; and Trajan actually +succeeded in bringing under the Roman yoke an outlying portion of the +country--the district between Damascus and the Red Sea; but Arabia has +been deeply penetrated thrice only in the history of the world; and +Esar-haddon is the sole monarch who ever ventured to conduct in person +such an attack. + +From the arid regions of the great peninsula Esar-haddon proceeded, +probably in another year, to the invasion of the marsh-country on the +Euphrates, where the Aramaean tribe of the Gambulu had their +habitations, dwelling (he tells us) "like fish, in the midst of the +waters"--doubtless much after the fashion of the modern Khuzeyl and +Affej Arabs, the latter of whom inhabit nearly the same tract. The +sheikh of this tribe had revolted; but on the approach of the Assyrians +he submitted himself, bringing in person the arrears of his tribute and +a present of buffaloes, whereby he sought to propitiate the wrath of his +suzerain. Esar-haddon states that he forgave him; that he strengthened +his capital with fresh works, placed a garrison in it, and made it a +stronghold to protect the territory against the attacks of the +Susianians. + +The last expedition mentioned on the cylinder, which seems not to have +been conducted by the king in person, was against the country of Bikni, +or Bikan, one of the more remote regions of Media--perhaps Azerbijan. No +Assyrian monarch before Esar-haddon had ever invaded this region. It was +under the government of a number of chiefs--the Arian character of whose +names is unmistakable--each of whom ruled over his own town and the +adjacent district. Esar-haddon seized two of the chiefs and carried them +off to Assyria, whereupon several others made their submission, +consenting to pay a tribute and to divide their authority with Assyrian +officers. + +It is probable that these various expeditions occupied Esarhaddon from +B.C. 681, the year of his accession, to B.C. 671, when it is likely that +they were recorded on the existing cylinder. The expeditions are ten in +number, directed against countries remote from one another; and each may +well have occupied an entire year. There would thus remain only three +more years of the king's reign, after the termination of the chief +native record, during which his history has to be learnt from other +sources. Into this space falls, almost certainly, the greatest of +Esar-haddon's exploits the conquest of Egypt; and, probably, one of the +most interesting episodes of his reign--the punishment and pardon of +Manasseh. With the consideration of these two events the military +history of his reign will terminate. + +The conquest of Egypt by Esar-haddon, though concealed from Herodotus, +and not known even to Diodorus, was no secret to the more learned +Greeks, who probably found an account of the expedition in the great +work of Berosus. All that we know of its circumstances is derived from +an imperfect transcript of the Nahr-el-Kelb tablet, and a short notice +in the annals of Esar-haddon's son and successor, Asshur-bani-pal, who +finds it necessary to make an allusion to the former doings of his +father in Egypt, in order to render intelligible the state of affairs +when he himself invades the country. According to these notices, it +would appear that Esar-haddon, having entered Egypt with a large army, +probably in B.C. 670, gained a great battle over the forces of Tirhakah +in the lower country, and took Memphis, the city where the Ethiopian +held his court, after which he proceeded southwards, and conquered the +whole of the Nile valley as far as the southern boundary of the Theban +district. Thebes itself was taken and Tirhakah retreated into Ethiopia. +Esar-haddon thus became master of all Egypt, at least as far as Thebes +or Diospolis, the No or No-Amon of scripture. He then broke up the +country into twenty governments, appointing in each town a ruler who +bore the title of king, but placing all the others to a certain extent +under the authority of the prince who reigned at Memphis. This was Neco, +the father of Psammetichus (Psamatik I.)--a native Egyptian of whom we +have some mention both in Herodotus and in the fragments of Manetho. The +remaining rulers were likewise, for the most part, native Egyptians: +though in two or three instances the governments appear to have been +committed to Assyrian officers. Esar-haddon, having made these +arrangements, and having set up his tablet at the mouth of the +Nahr-el-Kelb side by side with that of Rameses II., returned to his own +country, and proceeded to introduce sphinxes into the ornamentation of +his palaces, while, at the same time, he attached to his former titles +an additional clause, in which he declared himself to be "king of the +kings of Egypt, and conqueror of Ethiopia." + +The revolt of Manasseh king of Judah may have happened shortly before or +shortly after the conquest of Egypt. It was not regarded as of +sufficient importance to call for the personal intervention of the +Assyrian monarch. The "captains of the host of the king of Assyria" were +entrusted with the task of Manasseh's subjection; and, proceeding into +Judaea, they "took him, and bound him with chains, and carried him to +Babylon," where Esar-haddon had built himself a palace, and often held +his court. The Great king at first treated his prisoner severely; and +the "affliction" which he thus suffered is said to have broken his pride +and caused him to humble himself before God, and to repent of all the +cruelties and idolatries which had brought this judgment upon him. Then +God "was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him +back again to Jerusalem into his kingdom." The crime of defection was +overlooked by the Assyrian monarch, Manasseh was pardoned, and sent back +to Jerusalem: where he was allowed to resume the reins of government, +but on the condition, if we may judge by the usual practice of the +Assyrians in such cases, of paying an increased tribute. + +It may have been in connection with this restoration of Manasseh to his +throne--an act of doubtful policy from an Assyrian point of view--that +Esar-haddon determined on a project by which the hold of Assyria upon +Palestine was considerably strengthened. Sargon, as has been already +observed when he removed the Israelites from Sumaria, supplied their +place by colonists from Babylon, Cutha, Sippara, Ava, Hamath, and +Arabia; this planting a foreign garrison in the region which would be +likely to preserve its fidelity. Esar-haddon resolved to strengthen this +element. He gathered men from Babylon, Orchoe, Susa, Elymais, Persia, +and other neighboring regions, and entrusting them to an officer of high +rank--"the great and noble Asnapper"--had them conveyed to Palestine and +settled over the whole country, which until this time must have been +somewhat thinly peopled. The restoration of Manasseh, and the +augmentation of this foreign element in Palestine, are thus portions, +but counterbalancing portions, of one scheme--a scheme, the sole object +of which was the pacification of the empire by whatever means, gentle or +severe, seemed best calculated to effect the purpose. + +The last years of Esar-haddon were, to some extent, clouded with +disaster. He appears to have fallen ill in B.C. 669: and the knowledge +of this fact at once produced revolution in Egypt. Tirhakah issued from +his Ethiopian fastnesses, descended the valley of the Nile, expelled the +kings set up by Esar-haddon, and re-established his authority over the +whole country. Esar-haddon, unable to take the field, resolved to resign +the cares of the empire to his eldest son, Asshur-bani-pal, and to +retire into a secondary position. Relinquishing the crown of Assyria, +and retaining that of Babylon only, he had Asshur-bani-pal proclaimed +king of Assyria, and retired to the southern capital. There he appears +to have died in B.C. 668, or early in B.C. 667, leaving Asshur-bani-pal +sole sovereign of the entire empire. + +Of the architecture of Esar-haddon, and of the state of the arts +generally in his time, it is difficult to speak positively. Though he +appears to have been one of the most indefatigable constructors of great +works that Assyria produced, having erected during the short period over +which his reign extended no fewer than four palaces and above thirty +temples, yet it happens unfortunately that we are not as yet in a +condition to pronounce a decisive judgment either on the plan of his +buildings or on the merits of their ornamentation of his three great +palaces, which were situated at Babylon, Calah, and Nineveh, one +only--that at Calah or Nimrud has been to any large extent explored. +Even in this case the exploration was far from complete, and the ground +plan of his palace is still very defective. But this is not the worst. +The palace itself had never been finished; its ornamentation had +scarcely been begun; and the little of this that was original had been +so damaged by a furious conflagration, that it perished almost at the +moment of discovery. We are thus reduced to judge of the sculptures of +Esar-haddon by the reports of those who saw them ere they fell to +pieces, and by one or two drawings, while we have to form our conception +of his buildings from a half-explored fragment of a half-finished +palace, which was moreover destroyed by fire before completion. + +The palace of Esar-haddon at Calah was built at the south-western corner +of the Nimrud mound, abutting towards the west on the Tigris, and +towards the south on the valley formed by the Shor-Derreh torrent. It +faced northwards, and was entered on this side from the open space of +the platform, through a portal guarded by two winged bulls of the +ordinary character. The visitor on entering found himself in a large +court, 280 feet by 100, bounded on the north side by a mere wall, but on +the other three sides surrounded by buildings. The main building was +opposite to him, and was entered from the court by two portals, one +directly facing the great northern gate of the court, and the other a +little to the left hand, the former guarded by colossal bulls, the +latter merely reveted with slabs. These portals both led into the same +room--the room already described in an earlier page of this work--which +was designed on the most magnificent scale of all the Assyrian +apartments, but was so broken up through the inability of the architect +to roof in a wide space without abundant support, that, practically, it +formed rather a suite of four moderate-sized chambers than a single +grand hall. The plan of this apartment will be seen by referring to +[PLATE XLIII., Fig. 2.] Viewed as a single apartment, the room was 165 +feet in length by 62 feet in width, and thus contained an area of 10,230 +square feet, a space nearly half as large again as that covered by the +greatest of the halls of Sennacherib, which was 7200 feet. Viewed as a +suite of chambers, the rooms may be described as two long and narrow +halls running parallel to one another, and communicating by a grand +doorway in the middle, with two smaller chambers placed at the two ends, +running at right angles to the principal ones. The small chambers were +62 feet long, and respectively 19 feet and 23 feet wide; the larger ones +were 110 feet long, with a width respectively of 20 feet and 28 feet. +The inner of the two long parallel chambers communicated by a grand +doorway, guarded by sphinxes and colossal lions, either with a small +court or with a large chamber extending to the southern edge of the +mound; and the two end rooms communicated with smaller apartments in the +same direction. The buildings to the right and left of the great court +seem to have been entirely separate from those at its southern end: to +the left they were wholly unexamined; on the right some explorations +were conducted which gave the usual result of several long narrow +apartments, with perhaps one or two passages. The extent of the palace +westward, southward, and eastward is uncertain: eastward it was +unexplored; southward and westward the mound had been eaten into by the +Tigris and the Shor-Derreh torrent. + +The walls of Esar-haddon's palace were composed, in the usual way, of +sun-dried bricks, reveted with slabs of alabaster. Instead, however, of +quarrying fresh alabaster slabs for the purpose, the king preferred to +make use of those which were already on the summit of the mound, +covering the walls of the north-western and central palaces, which, no +doubt, had fallen into decay. His workmen tore down these sculptured +monuments from their original position, and transferring them to the +site of the new palace, arranged them so as to cover the freshly-raised +walls, generally placing the carved side against the crude brick, and +leaving the back exposed to receive fresh sculptures, but sometimes +exposing the old sculpture, which, however, in such cases, it was +probably intended to remove by the chisel. This process was still going +on, when either Esarhaddon died and the works were stopped, or the +palace was destroyed by fire. Scarcely any of the new sculptures had +been executed. The only exceptions were the bulls and lions at the +various portals, a few reliefs in close proximity to them, and some +complete figures of crouching sphinxes, which had been placed as +ornaments, and possibly also as the bases of supports, within the span +of the two widest doorways. There was nothing very remarkable about the +bulls; the lions were spirited, and more true to nature than usual; the +sphinxes were curious, being Egyptian in idea, but thoroughly +Assyrianized, having the horned cap common on bulls, the Assyrian +arrangement of hair, Assyrian earrings, and wings nearly like those of +the ordinary winged bull or lion. [PLATE CXLVI., Fig. 2.] The figures +near the lions were mythic, and exhibited somewhat more than usual +grotesqueness, as we learn from the representations of them given by Mr. +Layard. + +While the evidence of the actual monuments as to the character of +Esar-haddon's buildings and their ornamentation is thus scanty, it +happens, curiously, that the Inscriptions furnish a particularly +elaborate and detailed account of them. It appears, from the principal +record of the time, that the temples which Esar-haddon built in Assyria +and Babylonia--thirty-six in number--were richly adorned with plates of +silver and gold, which made then (in the words of the Inscription) "as +splendid as the day." His palace at Nineveh, a building situated on the +mound called Nebbi Yunus, was, we are told, erected upon the site of a +former palace of the kings of Assyria. Preparations for its construction +were made, as for the great buildings of Solomon by the collection of +materials, iii wood, stone, and metal, beforehand: these were furnished +by the Phoenician, Syrian, and Cyprian monarchs, who sent to Nineveh for +the purpose great beams of cedar, cypress, and ebony, stone statues, and +various works in metals of different kinds. The palace itself is said to +have exceeded in size all buildings of former kings. It was roofed with +carved beams of cedar-wood; it was in part supported by columns of +cypress wood, ornamented and strengthened with rings of silver and of +iron; the portals were guarded by stone bulls and lions; and the gates +were made of ebony and cypress ornamented with iron, silver, and ivory. +There was, of course, the usual adornment of the walls by means of +sculptured slabs and enamelled bricks. If the prejudices of the +Mahometans against the possible disturbance of their dead, and against +the violation by infidel hands of the supposed tomb of Jonah, should +hereafter be dispelled, and excavations be freely allowed in the Nebbi +Yunus mound, we may look to obtain very precious relics of Assyrian art +from the palace of Esar-haddon, now lying buried beneath the village or +the tombs which share between them this most important site. + +Of Esar-haddon's Babylonian palace nothing is at present known, beyond +the mere fact of its existence; but if the mounds at Hillah should ever +be thoroughly explored, we may expect to recover at least its +ground-plan, if not its sculptures and other ornaments. The Sherif Khan +palace has been examined pretty completely. It was very much inferior to +the ordinary palatial edifices of the Assyrians, being in fact only a +house which Esar-haddon built as a dwelling for his eldest son during +his own lifetime. Like the more imposing buildings of this king, it was +probably unfinished at his decease. At any rate its remains add nothing +to our knowledge of the state of art in Esar-haddon's time, or to our +estimate of that monarch's genius as a builder. + +After a reign of thirteen years, Esar-haddon, "king of Assyria, Babylon, +Egypt, Meroe, and Ethiopia," as he styles himself in his later +inscriptions, died, leaving his crown to his eldest son, +Asshur-bani-pal, whom he had already associated in the government. +Asshur-bani-pal ascended the throne in B.C. 668, or very early in B.C. +667; and his first act seems to have been to appoint as viceroy of +Babylon his younger brother Saul-Mugina, who appears as Sam-mughes in +Polyhistor, and as Saosduchinus in the Canon of Ptolemy. + +The first war in which Asshur-bani-pal engaged was most probably with +Egypt. Late in the reign of Esar-haddon, Tirhakah (as already stated +619) had descended from the upper country, had recovered Thebes, +Memphis, and most of the other Egyptian cities, and expelled from them +the princes and governors appointed by Esar-haddon upon his conquest. +Asshur-bani-pal, shortly after his accession, collected his forces, and +marched through Syria into Egypt, where he defeated the army sent +against him by Tirhakah in a great battle near the city of Kar-banit. +Tirhakah, who was at Memphis, hearing of the disaster that had befallen +his army, abandoned Lower Egypt, and sailed up the Nile to Thebes, +whither the forces of Asshur-bani-pal followed him; but the nimble +Ethiopian retreated still further up the Nile valley, leaving all Egypt +from Thebes downwards to his adversary. Asshur-bani-pal, upon this, +reinstated in their former governments the various princes and rulers +whom his lather had originally appointed, and whom Tirhakah had +expelled; and then, having rested and refreshed his army by a short stay +in Thebes, returned victoriously by way of Syria to Nineveh. + +Scarcely was he departed when intrigues began for the restoration of the +Ethiopian power. Neco and some of the other Egyptian governors, whom +Asshur-bani-pal had just reinstated in their posts, deserted the +Assyrian side and went over to the Ethiopians. Attempts were made to +suppress the incipient revolt by the governors who continued faithful; +Neco and one or two of his copartners in guilt were seized and sent in +chains to Assyria; and some of the cities chiefly implicated, as Sais, +Mendes, and Tanis (Zoan), were punished. But the efforts at suppression +failed. Tirliakah entered Upper Egypt, and having established himself at +Thebes, threatened to extend his authority once more over the whole of +the Nilotic valley. Thereupon Asshur-bani-pal, having forgiven Neco, +sent him, accompanied by a strong force, into Egypt; and Tirhakah was +again compelled to quit the lower country and retire to Upper Egypt, +where he soon after died. His crown fell to his step-son, Urdamane, who +is perhaps the Rud-Amun of the Hieroglyphics. This prince was at first +very successful. He descended the Nile valley in force, defeated the +Assyrians near Memphis, drove them to take refuge within its walls, +besieged and took the city, and recovered Lower Egypt. Upon this +Asshur-bani-pal, who was in the city of Asshur when he heard the news, +went in person against his new adversary, who retreated as he advanced, +flying from Memphis to Thebes, and from Thebes to a city called Kipkip, +far up the course of the Nile. Asshur-bani-pal and his army now entered +Thebes, and sacked it. The plunder which was taken, consisting of gold, +silver, precious stones, dyed garments, captives male and female, ivory, +ebony, tame animals (such as monkeys and elephants) brought up in the +palace, obelisks, etc., was carried off and conveyed to Nineveh. +Governors were once more set up in the several cities, Psammetichus +being probably among them; and, hostages having been taken to secure +their fidelity, the Assyrian monarch returned home with his booty. + +Between his first and second expedition into Egypt, Asshur-bani-pal was +engaged in warlike operations on the Syrian coast, and in transactions +of a different character with Cilicia. Returning from Egypt, he made an +attack on Tyre, whose king, Baal, had offended him, and having compelled +him to submit, exacted from him a large tribute, which he sent away to +Nineveh. About the same time Asshur-bani-pal entered into communication +with the Cilician monarch, whose name is not given, and took to wife a +daughter of that princely house, which was already connected with the +royal race of the Sargonids. + +Shortly after his second Egyptian expedition, Asshur-bani-pal seems to +have invaded Asia Minor. Crossing the Taurus range, he penetrated to a +region never before visited by any Assyrian monarch; and, having reduced +various towns in these parts and returned to Nineveh, he received an +embassy of a very unusual character. "Gyges, king of Lydia," he tells +us, "a country on the sea-coast, a remote place, of which the kings his +ancestors had never even heard the name, had formerly learnt in a dream +the fame of his empire, and had sent officers to his presence to perform +homage on his behalf." He now sent a second time to Asshur-bani-pal, and +told him that since his submission he had been able to defeat the +Cimmerians, who had formerly ravaged his land with impunity; and he +begged his acceptance of two Cimmerian chiefs, whom he had taken in +battle, together with other presents, which Asshur-bani-pal regarded as +a "tribute." About the same time the Assyrian monarch repulsed the +attack of the "king of Kharbat," on a district of Babylonia, and, having +taken Kharbat, transported its inhabitants to Egypt. + +After thus displaying his power and extending his dominions towards the +south-west, the north-west, and the south-east, Asshur-bani-pal turned +his arms towards the north-east, and invaded Minni, or Persarmenia--the +mountain-country about Lakes Van and Urumiyeh. Akhsheri, the king, +having lost his capital, Izirtu, and several other cities, was murdered +by his subjects; and his son, Vahalli, found himself compelled to make +submission, and sent an embassy to Nineveh to do homage, with tribute, +presents, and hostages. Asshur-bani-pal received the envoys graciously, +pardoned Vahalli, and maintained him upon the throne, but forced him to +pay a heavy tribute. He also in this expedition conquered a tract called +Paddiri, which former kings of Assyria had severed from Minni and made +independent, but which Asshur-bani-pal now attached to his own empire, +and placed under an Assyrian governor. + +A war of some duration followed with Elam, or Susiana, the flames of +which at one time extended over almost the whole empire. This war was +caused by a transfer of allegiance. Certain tribes, pressed by a famine, +had passed from Susiana into the territories of Asshur-bani-pal, and +were allowed to settle there; but when, the famine being over, they +wished to return to their former country, Asshur-bani-pal would not +consent to their withdrawal. Urtaki, the Susianian king, took umbrage at +this refusal, and, determining to revenge himself, commenced hostilities +by an invasion of Babylonia. Belubager, king of the important Aramaean +tribe of the Gambulu, assisted him and Saul-Mugina, in alarm, sent to +his brother for protection. An Assyrian army was dispatched to his aid, +before which Urtaki fled. He was, however, pursued, caught and defeated. +With some difficulty he escaped and returned to Susa, where within a +year he died, without having made any fresh effort to injure or annoy +his antagonist. + +His death was a signal for a domestic revolution which proved very +advantageous to the Assyrians. Urtaki had driven his older brother, +Umman-aldas, from the throne, and, passing over the rights of his sons, +had assumed the supreme authority. At his death, his younger brother, +Temin-Umman, seized the crown, disregarding not only the rights of the +sons of Umman-aldas, but likewise those of the sons of Urtaki. As the +pretensions of those princes were dangerous, Temin-Umman endeavored to +seize their persons with the intention of putting them to death; but +they, having timely warning of their danger, fled; and, escaping to +Nineveh with their relations and adherents, put themselves under the +protection of Asshur-bani-pal. It thus happened that in the expedition +which now followed, Asshur-bani-pal had a party which favored him in +Elam itself. Temin-Umman, however, aware of this internal weakness, made +great efforts to compensate for it by the number of his foreign allies. +Two descendants of Merodach-Baladan, who had principalities upon the +coast of the Persian Gulf, two mountain chiefs, one of them a +blood-connection of the Assyrian crown, two sons of Belu-bagar, sheikh +of the Gambulu, and several other inferior chieftains, are mentioned as +bringing their troops to his assistance, and fighting in his cause +against the Assyrians. All, however, was in vain. Asshur-bani-pal +defeated the allies in several engagements, and finally took Temin-Umman +prisoner, executed him, and exposed his head over one of the gates of +Nineveh. He then divided Elam between two of the sons of Urrtaki, +Umman-ibi and Tammarit, establishing the former in Susa, and the latter +at a town called Khidal in Eastern Susiana. Great severities were +exercised upon the various princes and nobles who had been captured. A +son of Temin-Umman was executed with his father. Several grand-sons of +Merodach-Baladin suffered mutilation, A Chaldaean prince and one of the +chieftains of the Clambulu had their tongues torn out by the roots. +Another of the Gambulu chiefs was decapitated. Two of the Temin-Umman's +principal officers were chained and flayed. Palaya, a grandson of +Merodach-Baladan, was mutilated. Asshur-bani-pal evidently hoped to +strike terror into his enemies by these cruel, and now unusual, +punishments, which, being inflicted for the most part upon royal +personages, must have made a profound impression on the king-reverencing +Asiatics. + +The impression made was, however, one of horror rather than of alarm. +Scarcely had the Assyrians returned to Nineveh, when fresh troubles +broke out. Saul-Mugina, discontented with his position, which was one of +complete dependence upon his brother, rebelled, and, declaring himself +king of Babylon in his own right, sought and obtained a number of +important allies among his neighbors. Umman-ibi, though he had received +his crown from Asshur-bani-pal, joined him, seduced by a gift of +treasure from the various Babylonian temples. Vaiteha, a powerful +Arabian prince, and Nebo-belsumi, a surviving grandson of +Merodach-Baladan, came into the confederacy; and Saul-Mugina had fair +grounds for expecting that he would be able to maintain his +independence. But civil discord--the curse of Elam at this period--once +more showed itself, and blighted all these fair prospects. Tammarit, the +brother of Ummman-ibi, finding that the latter had sent the flower of +his army into Babylonia, marched against him, defeated and slew him, and +became king of all Elam. Maintaining, however, the policy of his +brother, he entered into alliance with Saul-Mugina, and proceeded to put +himself at the head of the Elamitic contingent, which was serving in +Babylonia. Here a just Nemesis overtook him. Taking advantage of his +absence, a certain Inda-bibi (or Inda-bigas), a mountain-chief from the +fastnesses of Luristan, raised a revolt in Elam, and succeeded in +seating himself upon the throne. The army in Babylonia declining to +maintain the cause of Tammarit, he was forced to fly and conceal +himself, while the Elamitic troops returned home. Saul-Mugina then lost +the most important of his allies at the moment of his greatest danger +for his brother had at length marched against him at the head of an +immense army, and was overrunning his northern provinces. Without the +Elamites it was impossible for Babylon to contend with Assyria in the +Open field. + +All that Saul-Mugina could do was to defend his towns, which +Asshur-bani-pal besieged and took, one after another. The rebel fell +into his brother's hands, and suffered a punishment more terrible than +any that the relentless conqueror had as yet inflicted on his captured +enemies. Others had been mutilated, or beheaded; Saul-Mugina was burnt. +The tie of blood, which was held to have aggravated the guilt of his +rebellion, was not allowed to be pleaded in mitigation of his sentence. + +A pause of some years' duration now occurred. The relations between +Assyria and Susiana were unfriendly, but not actually hostile. Inda-bibi +had given refuge to Nebo-bel-sumi at the time of Saul Mugina's +discomfiture, and Asshur-bani-pal repeatedly but vainly demanded the +surrender of the refugee. He did not, however, attempt to enforce his +demand by an appeal to arms; and Inda-bibi might have retained his +kingdom in peace, had not domestic troubles arisen to disturb him. He +was conspired against by the commander of his archers, a second +Umman-aldas, who killed him and occupied his throne. Many pretenders, at +the same time, arose in different parts of the country; and +Asshur-bani-pal, learning how Elam was distracted, determined on a fresh +effort to conquer it. He renewed his demand for the surrender of +Nebo-bel-sumi, who would have been given up had he not committed +suicide. Not content with this success, he (ab. B.C. 645) invaded Elam, +besieged and took Bit-Inibi, which had been strongly fortified, and +drove Umunan-aldas out of the plain country into the mountains. Susa and +Badaca, together with twenty-four other cities, fell into his power; and +Western Elam being thus at his disposal, he placed it under the +government of Tammarit, who, after his flight from Babylonia, had become +a refugee at the Assyrian court. Umman-aldas retained the sovereignty of +Eastern Elam. + +But it was not long before fresh changes occurred. Tammarit, finding +himself little more than puppet-king in the hands of the Assyrians, +formed a plot to massacre all the foreign troops left to garrison this +country, and so to make himself an independent monarch. His intentions, +however, were discovered, and the plot failed. The Assyrians seized him, +put him in bonds, and sent him to Nineveh. Western Elam passed under +purely military rule, and suffered, it is probable, extreme severities. +Under these circumstances, Umman-aldas took heart, and made ready, in +the fastnesses to which he had fled, for another and a final effort. +Having levied a vast army, he, in the spring of the next year, made +himself once more master of Bit-Imbi, and, establishing himself there, +prepared to resist the Assyrians. Their forces shortly appeared; and, +unable to hold the place against their assaults, Umman-aldas evacuated +it with his troops, and fought a retreating fight all the way back to +Susa, holding the various strong towns and rivers in succession. +Gallant, however, as was his resistance it proved ineffectual. The lines +of defence which he chose were forced, one after another; and finally +both Susa and Badaca were taken, and the country once more lay at +Asshur-bani-pal's mercy. All the towns made their submission. +Asshur-bani-pal, burning with anger at their revolt, plundered the +capital of its treasures, and gave the other cities up to be spoiled by +his soldiers for the space of a month and twenty-three days. He then +formally abolished Susianian independence, and attached the country as a +province to the Assyrian empire. Thus ended the Susianian war, after it +had lasted, with brief interruptions, for the space of (probably) twelve +years. + +The full occupation given to the Assyrian arms by this long struggle +encouraged revolt in other quarters. It was probably about the time when +Asshur-bani-pal was engaged in the thick of the contest with Umman-ibi +and Saul-Mugina that Psammetichus declared himself independent in Egypt, +and commenced a war against the princes who remained faithful to their +Assyrian suzerain. Gyges, too, in the far north-west, took the +opportunity to break with the formidable power with which he had +recently thought it prudent to curry favor, and sent aid to the Egyptian +rebel, which rendered him effective service. Egypt freed herself from +the Assyrian yoke, and entered on the prosperous period which is known +as that of the twenty-sixth (Saite) dynasty. Gyges was less fortunate. +Assailed shortly by a terrible enemy, which swept with resistless force +over his whole land, he lost his life in the struggle. Assyria was well +and quickly avenged; and Ardys, the new monarch, hastened to resume the +deferential attitude toward Asshur-bani-pal which his father had +unwisely relinquished. + +Asshur-bani-pal's next important war was against the Arabs. Some of the +desert tribes had, as already mentioned, lent assistance to Saul-Mugina +during his revolt against his suzerain, and it was to punish this +audacity that Asshur-bani-pal undertook his expedition. His principal +enemy was a certain Vaiteha, who had for allies Natun, or Nathan, king +of the Nabathivans, and Ammu-ladin, king of Kedar. The fighting seems to +have extended along the whole country bordering the Euphrates valley +from the Persian Gulf to Syria, and thence southwards by Damascus to +Petra. Petra itself, Muhab (or Moab), Hudumimtukrab (Edom), Zaharri +(perhaps Zoar), and several other cities were taken by the Assyrians. +The final battle was fought at a place called Kutkhuruna, in he +mountains near Damascus, where the Arabians were defeated with great +slaughter, and the two chief, who had led the Arab contingent to the +assistance of Saul-Mugina were made prisoners by the Assyrians. +Asshur-bani-pal had them conducted to Nineveh, and there publicly +executed. + +The annals of Asshur-bani-pal here terminate. They exhibit him to us as +a warrior more enterprising and more powerful than any of his +predecessors, and as one who enlarged in almost every direction the +previous limits of the empire. In Egypt he completed the work which his +father Esar-haddon had begun, and established the Assyrian dominion for +some years, not only at Sais and at Memphis, but at Thebes. In Asia +Minor he carried the Assyrian arms far beyond any former king, +conquering large tracts which had never before been invaded, and +extending the reputation of his greatness to the extreme western limits +of the continent. Against his northern neighbors he contended with +unusual success, and towards the close of his reign he reckoned, not +only the Minni, but the Urarda, or true Armenians, among his +tributaries. Towards the south, he added to the empire the great country +of Susiana, never subdued until his reign: and on the west, he signally +chastised if he did not actually conquer, the Arabs. + +To his military ardor Asshur-bani-pal added a passionate addiction to +the pleasure of the chase. Lion-hunting was his especial delight. +Sometimes along the banks of reedy streams, sometimes borne mid-channel +in his pleasure galley, he sought the king of beasts in his native +haunts, roused him by means of hounds and beaters from his lair, and +despatched him with his unerring arrows. Sometimes he enjoyed the sport +in his own park of paradise. Large and fierce beasts, brought from a +distance, were placed in traps about the grounds, and on his approach +were set free from their confinement, while he drove among them in his +chariot, letting fly his shafts at each with a strong and steady hand, +which rarely failed to attain the mark it aimed at. Aided only by two or +three attendants armed with spears, he would encounter the terrific +spring of the bolder beasts, who rushed frantically at the royal +marksman and endeavored to tear him from the chariot-board. Sometimes he +would even voluntarily quit this vantage-ground, and, engaging with the +brutes on the same level, without the protection of armor, in his +everyday dress, with a mere fillet upon his head, he would dare a close +combat, and smite them with sword or spear through the heart. + +When the supply of lions fell short, or when he was satiated with this +kind of sport. Asshur-bani-pal would vary his occupation, and content +himself with game of an inferior description. Wild bulls were probably +no longer found in Assyria or the adjacent countries, so that he was +precluded from the sport which, next to the chase of the lion occupied +and delighted the earlier monarchs. He could indulge, however, freely in +the chase of the wild ass still to this day a habitant of the +Mesopotamian region; and he would hunt the stag, the hind, and the ibex +or wild goat. In these tamer kinds of sport he seems, however, to have +indulged only occasionally--as a light relaxation scarcely worthy of a +great king. + +Asshur-bani-pal is the only one of the Assyrian monarchs to whom we can +ascribe a real taste for learning and literature. The other kings were +content to leave behind them some records of the events of their reigns, +inscribed on cylinders, slabs, bulls, or lions, and a few dedicatory +inscriptions, addresses to the gods whom they especially worshipped. +Asshur-bani-pal's literary tastes were far more varied--indeed they were +all-embracing. It seems to have been under his direction that the vast +collection of clay tablets--a sort of Royal Library--was made at +Nineveh, from which the British Museum has derived perhaps the most +valuable of its treasures. Comparative vocabularies, lists of deities +and their epithets, chronological lists of kings and eponyms, records of +astronomical observations, grammars, histories, scientific works of +various kinds, seems to have been composed in the reign, and probably at +the bidding of this prince, who devoted to their preservation certain +chambers in the palace of his grandfather, where they were found by Mr. +Layard. The clay tablets on which they were inscribed lay here in such +multitudes in some instances entire, but more commonly broken into +fragments--that they filled the chambers _to the height of a foot or +more from the floor_. Mr. Layard observes with justice that "the +documents thus discovered at Nineveh probably exceed [in amount of +writing] all that has yet been afforded by the monuments of Egypt." They +have yielded of late years some most interesting results, and will +probably long continue to be a mine of almost inexhaustible wealth to +the cuneiform scholar. + +As a builder, Asshur-bani-pal aspired to rival, if not even to excel, +the greatest of the monarchs who had preceded him. His palace was built +on the mound of Koyunjik, within a few hundred yards of the magnificent +erection of his grandfather, with which he was evidently not afraid to +challenge comparison. It was built on a plan unlike any adopted by +former kings. The main building consisted of three arms branching from +at common centre, and thus in its general shape resembled a gigantic T. +The central point was reached by a long ascending gallery lined with +sculptures, which led from a gateway, with rooms attached, at a corner +of the great court, first a distance of 190 feet in a direction parallel +to the top bar of the T, and then a distance of 80 feet in a direction +at right angles to this, which brought it down exactly to the central +point whence the arms branched. The entire building was thus a sort of +cross, with one long arm projecting from the top towards the left or +west. The principal apartments were in the lower limb of the cross. Here +was a grand hall, running nearly the whole length of the limb, at least +145 feet long by 28 feet broad, opening towards the east on a great +court, paved chiefly with the exquisite patterned slabs of which a +specimen has already been given, and communicating towards the west with +a number of smaller rooms, and through them with a second court, which +looked towards the south-west and the south. The next largest apartment +was in the right or eastern arm of the cross. It was a hall 108 feet +long by 24 feet wide, divided by a broad doorway in which were two +pillar-bases, into a square antechamber of 24 feet each way, and an +inner apartment about 80 feet in length. Neither of the two arms of the +cross was completely explored; and it is uncertain whether they extended +to the extreme edge of the eastern and western courts, thus dividing +each of there into two; or whether they only reached into the courts a +certain distance. Assuming the latter view as the more probable, the two +courts would have measured respectively 310 and 330 feet from the +north-west to the south-east, while they must have been from 230 to 250 +feet in the opposite direction. From the comparative privacy of the +buildings, and from the character of the sculptures, it appears probable +that the left or western arm of the cross formed the hareem of the +monarch. + +The most remarkable feature in the great palace of Asshur-bani-pal was +the beauty and elaborate character of the ornamentation. The courts were +paved with large slabs elegantly patterned. The doorways had sometimes +arched tops beautifully adorned with rosettes, lotuses, etc. The +chambers and passages were throughout lined with alabaster slabs, +bearing reliefs designed with wonderful spirit, and executed with the +most extraordinary minuteness and delicacy. It was here that were found +all those exquisite hunting scenes which have furnished its most +interesting illustrations to the present history. Here, too, were the +representations of the private life of the monarch, of the trees and +flowers of the palace garden, of the royal galley with its two banks of +oars, of the libation over four dead lions, of the temple with pillars +supported on lions, and of various bands of musicians, some of which +have been already given. Combined with these peaceful scenes and others +of a similar character, as particularly a long train, with game, nets, +and dogs, returning from the chase, which formed the adornment of a +portion of the ascending passage, were a number of views of sieges and +battles, representing the wars of the monarch in Susiana and elsewhere. +Reliefs of a character very similar to these last were found by Mr. +Layard in certain chambers of the palace of Sennacherib, which had +received their ornamentation from Asshur-bani-pal. They were remarkable +for the unusual number and small size of the figures, for the variety +and spirit of the attitudes, and for the careful finish of all the +little details of the scenes represented upon them. Deficient in +grouping, and altogether destitute of any artistic unity, they yet give +probably the best representation that has come down to us of the +confused _melee_ of an Assyrian battle, showing us at one view, as they +do, all the various phases of the flight and pursuit, the capture and +treatment of the prisoners, the gathering of the spoil, and the cutting +off the heads of the slain. These reliefs form now a portion of our +National Collection. A good idea may be formed of them from Mr. Layard's +Second Series of Monuments, where they form the subject of five +elaborate engravings. + +Besides his own great palace at Koyun-jik, and his additions to the +palace of his grandfather at the same place, Asshur-bani-pal certainly +constructed some building, or buildings, at Nebbi Yunus, where slabs +inscribed with his name and an account of his wars have been found. If +we may regard him as the real monarch whom the Greeks generally intended +by their Sardanapalus, we may say that, according to some classical +authors, he was the builder of the city of Tarsus in Cilicia, and +likewise of the neighboring city of Anchialus; though writers of more +authority tells us that Tarsus, at any rate, was built by Sennacherib. +It seems further to have been very generally believed by the Greeks that +the tomb of Sardanapalus was in this neighborhood. They describe it as a +monument of some height, crowned by a statue of the monarch, who +appeared to be in the act of snapping his fingers. On the stone base was +an inscription in Assyrian characters, of which they believed the sense +to run as follows:--"Sardanapalus, son of Anacyndaraxes, built Tarsus and +Anchialus in one day. Do thou, O stranger, eat, and drink, and amuse +thyself; for all the rest of human life is not worth so much as +_this_"--"this" meaning the sound which the king was supposed to be +making with his fingers. It appears probable that there was some figure +of this kind, with an Assyrian inscription below it, near Anchialus; +but, as we can scarcely suppose that the Greeks could read the cuneiform +writing, the presumed translation of the inscription would seem to be +valueless. Indeed, the very different versions of the legend which are +given by different writers sufficiently indicate that they had no real +knowledge of its purport. We may conjecture that the monument was in +reality a stele containing the king in an arched frame, with the right +hand raised above the left, which is the ordinary attitude, and an +inscription below commemorating the occasion of its erection. Whether it +was really set up by this king or by one of his predecessors, we cannot +say. The Greeks, who seem to have known more of Asshur-bani-pal than of +any other Assyrian monarch, in consequence of his war in Asia Minor and +his relations with Gyges and Ardys, are not unlikely to have given his +name to any Assyrian monument which they found in these parts, whether +in the local tradition it was regarded as his work or no. + +Such, then, are the traditions of the Greeks with respect to this +monarch. The stories told by Ctesias of a king, to whom he gives the +same name, and repeated from him by later writers, are probably not +intended to have any reference to Asshur-bani-pal, the son of +Esar-haddon, but rather refer to his successor, the last king. Even +Ctesias could scarcely have ventured to depict to his countrymen the +great Asshur-bani-pal, the vanquisher of Tirhakah, the subduer of the +tribes beyond the Taurus, the powerful and warlike monarch whose +friendship was courted by the rich and prosperous Gyges, king of Lydia, +as a mere voluptuary, who never put his foot outside the palace gates, +but dwelt in the seraglio, doing woman's work, and often dressed as a +woman. The character of Asshur-bani-pal stands really in the strongest +contrast to the description--be it a portrait, or be it a mere sketch +from fancy--which Ctesias gives of his Sardanapalus. Asshur-bani-pal, +was beyond a doubt one of Assyria's greatest kings. He subdued Egypt and +Susiana; he held quiet possession of the kingdom of Babylon; he carried +his arms deep into Armenia; he led his troops across the Taurus, and +subdued the barbarous tribes of Asia Minor. When he was not engaged in +important wars, he chiefly occupied himself in the chase of the lion, +and in the construction and ornamentation of temples and palaces. His +glory was well known to the Greeks. He was no doubt one of the "two +kings called Sardanapalus," celebrated by Hellanicus; he must have been +"the warlike Sardanapalus" of Cailisthenes; Herodotus spoke of his great +wealth; and Aristophanes used his name as a by-word for magnificence. In +his reign the Assyrian dominions reached their greatest extent, Assyrian +art culminated, and the empire seemed likely to extend itself over the +whole of the East. It was then, indeed, that Assyria most completely +answered the description of the Prophet--"The Assyrian was a cedar in +Lebanon, with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of high +stature; and his top was among the thick boughs. The waters made him +great; the deep set him up on high with her rivers running about his +plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. +Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and +his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long, because of the +multitude of waters, when he shot forth. All the fowls of the heaven +made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the +beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt +_all great nations_. Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of +his branches for his root was by great waters. The cedars in the garden +of God could not hide him; the fir-trees were not like his boughs; and +the chestnut-trees were not like his branches; _nor any tree in the +garden of God was like unto him in his beauty_." + +In one respect, however, Assyria, it is to be feared, had made but +little advance beyond the spirit of a comparatively barbarous time. The +"lion" still "tore in pieces for his whelps, and strangled for his +lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin." +Advancing civilization, more abundant literature, improved art, had not +softened the tempers of the Assyrians, nor rendered them more tender and +compassionate in their treatment of captured enemies. Sennacherib and +Esar-haddon show, indeed, in this respect, some superiority to former +kings. They frequently spared their prisoners, even when rebels, and +seem seldom to have had recourse to extreme punishments. But +Asshur-bani-pal reverted to the antique system of executions, +mutilations, and tortures. We see on his bas-reliefs the unresisting +enemy thrust through with the spear, the tongue torn from the mouth of +the captive accused of blasphemy, the rebel king beheaded on the field +of battle, and the prisoner brought to execution with the head of a +friend or brother hung round his neck. We see the scourgcrs preceding +the king as his regular attendants, with their whips passed through +their girdles; we behold the operation of flaying performed either upon +living or dead men; we observe those who are about to be executed first +struck on the face by the executioner's fist. Altogether we seem to have +evidence, not of mere severity, which may sometimes be a necessary or +even a merciful policy, but of a barbarous cruelty, such as could not +fail to harden and brutalize alike those who witnessed and those who +inflicted it. Nineveh, it is plain, still deserved the epithet of "a +bloody city," or "a city of bloods." Asshur-bani-pal was harsh, +vindictive, unsparing, careless of human suffering--nay, glorying in his +shame, he not merely practised cruelties, but handed the record of them +down to posterity by representing them in all their horrors upon his +palace walls. + +It has been generally supposed that Asshur-bani-pal died about B.C. 648 +or 647, in which case he would have continued to the end of his life a +prosperous and mighty king. But recent discoveries render it probable +that his reign was extended to a much greater length--that, in fact, he +is to be identified with the Cinneladanus of Ptolemy's Canon, who held +the throne of Babylon from B.C. 647 to 626. If this be so, we must place +in the later years of the reign of Asshur-bani-pal the commencement of +Assyria's decline--the change whereby she passed from the assailer to +the assailed, from the undisputed primacy of Western Asia to a doubtful +and precarious position. + +This change was owing, in the first instance, to the rise upon her +borders of an important military power in the centralized monarchy, +established, about B.C. 640, in the neighboring territory of Media. + +The Medes had, it is probable, been for some time growing in strength, +owing to the recent arrival in their country of fresh immigrants from +the far East. Discarding the old system of separate government and +village autonomy, they had joined together and placed themselves under a +single monarch; and about the year B.C. 634, when Asshur-bani-pal had +been king for thirty-four years, they felt themselves sufficiently +strong to undertake an expedition against Nineveh. Their first attack, +however, failed utterly. Phraortes, or whoever may have been the real +leader of the invading army, was completely defeated by the Assyrians; +his forces were cut to pieces, and he himself was among the slain. +Still, the very fact that the Medes could now take the offensive and +attack Assyria was novel and alarming; it showed a new condition of +things in these parts, and foreboded no good to the power which was +evidently on the decline and in danger of losing its preponderance. An +enterprising warrior would doubtless have followed up the defeat of the +invader by attacking him in his own country before he could recover from +the severe blow dealt him; but the aged Assyrian monarch appears to have +been content with repelling his foe, and made no effort to retaliate. +Cgaxares, the successor of the slain Median king, effected at his +leisure such arrangements as he thought necessary before repeating his +predecessor's attempt. When they were completed--perhaps in B.C. 632--he +led his troops into Assyria, defeated the Assyrian forces in the field, +and, following up his advantage, appeared before Nineveh and closely +invested the town. Nineveh would perhaps have fallen in this year; but +suddenly and unexpectedly a strange event recalled the Median monarch to +his own country, where a danger threatened him previously unknown in +Western Asia. + +When at the present day we take a general survey of the world's past +history, we see that, by a species of fatality--by a law, that is, whose +workings we cannot trace--there issue from time to time out of the +frozen bosons of the North vast hordes of uncouth savages--brave, +hungry, countless--who swarm into the fairer southern regions +determinedly, irresistibly; like locusts winging their flight into a +green land. How such multitudes come to be propagated in countries where +life is with difficulty sustained, we do not know; why the impulse +suddenly seizes them to quit their old haunts and move steadily in a +given direction, we cannot say: but we see that the phenomenon is one of +constant recurrence, and we therefore now scarcely regard it as being +curious or strange at all. In Asia. Cimmerians, Scythians, Parthians, +Mongols, Turks; in Europe, Gauls, Goths, Huns, Avars, Vandals, +Burgundians, Lombards, Bulgarians, have successively illustrated the +law, and made us familiar with its operation. But there was a time in +history before the law had come into force; and its very existence must +have been then unsuspected. Even since it began to operate, it has so +often undergone prolonged suspension, that the wisest may be excused if, +under such circumstances, they cease to bear it in mind, and are as much +startled when a fresh illustration of it occurs, as if the like had +never happened before. Probably there is seldom an occasion of its +coming into play which does not take men more or less by surprise, and +rivet their attention by its seeming strangeness and real +unexpectedness. + +If Western Asia had ever, in the remote ages before the Assyrian +monarchy was established, been subject to invasions of this +character--which is not improbable--at any rate so long a period had +elapsed since the latest of them, that in the reigns of Asshur-pani-pal +and Cyaxares they were wholly forgotten and the South reposed in happy +unconsciousness of a danger which might at any time have burst upon it, +had the Providence which governs the world so willed. The Asiatic +steppes had long teemed with a nomadic population, of a war-like temper, +and but slightly attached to its homes, which ignorance of its own +strength and of the weakness and wealth of its neighbors had alone +prevented from troubling the great empires of the South. Geographic +difficulties had at once prolonged the period of Ignorance, and acted as +obstructions, if ever the idea arose of pushing exploring parties into +the southern regions; the Caucasus, the Caspian, the sandy deserts of +Khiva and Kharesm, and the great central Asiatic mountain-chains, +forming barriers which naturally restrained the northern hordes from +progressing in this direction. But a time had now arrived when these +causes were no longer to operate; the line of demarcation which had so +long separated North and South was to be crossed; the flood-gates were +to be opened, and the stream of northern emigration was to pour itself +in a resistless torrent over the fair and fertile regions from which it +had hitherto been barred out. Perhaps population had increased beyond +all former precedent; perhaps a spirit of enterprise had arisen; +possibly some slight accident--the exploration of a hunter hard pressed +for food, the chattering tongue of a merchant, the invitation of a +traitor--may have dispelled the ignorance of earlier times, and brought +to the knowledge of the hardy North the fact that beyond the mountains +and the seas, which they had always regarded as the extreme limit of the +world, there lay a rich prey inviting the coming of the spoiler. + +The condition of the northern barbarians, less than two hundred years +after this time, has been graphically portrayed by two of the most +observant of the Greeks, who themselves visited the Steppe country to +learn the character and customs of the people. Where civilization is +unknown, changes are so slow and slight, that we may reasonably regard +the descriptions of Herodotus and Hippocrates, though drawn in the fifth +century before our era, as applying, in all their main points, to the +same race two hundred years earlier. These writers describe the +Scythians as a people coarse and gross in their habits, with large +fleshy bodies, loose joints, soft swollen bellies, and scanty hair. They +never washed themselves; their nearest approach to ablution was a +vapor-bath, or the application of a paste to their bodies which left +them glossy on its removal. They lived either in wagons, or in felt +tents of a simple and rude construction; and subsisted on mare's milk +and cheese, to which the boiled flesh of horses and cattle was added, as +a rare delicacy, occasionally. In war their customs were very barbarous. +The Scythian who slew an enemy in battle immediately proceeded to drink +his blood. He then cut off the head, which he exhibited to his king in +order to obtain his share of the spoil; after which he stripped the +scalp from the skull and hung it on his bridle-rein as a trophy. +Sometimes he flayed his dead enemy's right arm and hand, and used the +skin as a covering for his quiver. The upper portion of the skull he +commonly made into a drinking-cup. The greater part of each day he spent +on horseback, in attendance on the huge herds of cattle which he +pastured. His favorite weapon was the bow, which he used as he rode, +shooting his arrows with great precision. He generally carried, besides +his bow and arrows, a short spear or javelin, and sometimes bore also a +short sword or a battleaxe. [PLATE CXLVI., Fig. 3.] + +The nation of the Scythians comprised within it a number of distinct +tribes. At the head of all was a royal tribe, corresponding to the +"Golden Horde" of the Mongols, which was braver and more numerous than +any other, and regarded all the remaining tribes in the light of slaves. +To this belonged the families of the kings, who ruled by hereditary +right, and seem to have exercised a very considerable authority. We +often hear of several kings as bearing rule at the same time; but there +is generally some indication of disparity, from which we gather that--in +times of danger at any rate--the supreme power was really always lodged +in the hands of a single man. + +The religion of the Scythians was remarkable, and partook of the +barbarity which characterized most of their customs. They worshipped the +Sun and Moon, Fire, Air, Earth, Water, and a god whom Herodotus calls +Hercules. But their principal religious observance was the worship of +the naked sword. The country was parcelled out into districts, and in +every district was a huge pile of brushwood, serving as a temple to the +neighborhood, at the top of which was planted an antique sword or +scimitar. On a stated day in each year solemn sacrifices, human and +animal, were offered at these shrines; and the warm blood of the victims +was carried up from below and poured upon the weapon. The human +victims--prisoners taken in war--were hewn to pieces at the foot of the +mound, and their limbs wildly tossed on high by the votaries, who then +retired, leaving the bloody fragments where they chanced to fall. The +Scythians seem to have had no priest caste; but they believed in +divination; and the diviners formed a distinct class which possessed +important powers. They were sent for whenever the king was ill, to +declare the cause of his illness, which they usually attributed to the +fact that an individual, whom they named, had sworn falsely by the Royal +Hearth. Those accused in this way, if found guilty by several bodies of +diviners, were beheaded for the offence, and their original accusers +received their property. It must have been important to keep on good +terms with persons who wielded such a power as this. + +Such were the most striking customs of the Scythian people, or at any +rate of the Scythians of Herodotus, who were the dominant race over a +large portion of the Steppe country. Coarse and repulsive in their +appearance, fierce in their tempers, savage in their habits, not +individually very brave, but powerful by their numbers, and by a mode of +warfare which was difficult to meet, and in which long use had given +them great expertness, they were an enemy who might well strike alarm +even into a nation so strong and warlike as the Medes. Pouring through +the passes of the Caucasus--whence coming or what intending none +knew--horde after horde of Scythians blackened the rich plains of the +South. On they came, as before observed, like a flight of locusts, +countless, irresistible--swarming into Iberia and Upper Media--finding +the land before them a garden, and leaving it behind them a howling +wilderness. Neither age nor sex would be spared. The inhabitants of the +open country and of the villages, if they did not make their escape to +high mountain tops or other strongholds, would be ruthlessly massacred +by the invaders, or at best, forced to become their slaves. The crops +would be consumed, the herds swept off or destroyed, the villages and +homesteads burnt, the whole country made a scene of desolation. Their +ravages would resemble those of the Huns when they poured into Italy, or +of the Bulgarians when they overran the fairest provinces of the +Byzantine Empire. In most instances the strongly fortified towns would +resist them, unless they had patience to sit down before their walls and +by a prolonged blockade to starve them into submission. Sometimes, +before things reached this point, they might consent to receive a +tribute and to retire. At other times, convinced that by perseverance +they would reap a rich reward, they may have remained till the besieged +city fell, when there must have ensued an indescribable scene of havoc, +rapine, and bloodshed. According to the broad expression of Herodotus, +the Scythians were masters of the whole of Western Asia from the +Caucasus to the borders of Egypt for the space of twenty-eight years. +This statement is doubtless an exaggeration; but still it would seem to +be certain that the great invasion of which he speaks was not confined +to Media, but extended to the adjacent countries of Armenia and Assyria, +whence it spread to Syria and Palestine. The hordes probably swarmed +down from Media through the Zagros passes into the richest portion of +Assyria, the flat country between the mountains and the Tigris. Many of +the old cities, rich with the accumulated stores of ages, were besieged, +and perhaps taken, and their palaces wantonly burnt, by the barbarous +invaders. The tide then swept on. Wandering from district to district, +plundering everywhere, settling nowhere, the clouds of horse passed over +Mesopotamia, the force of the invasion becoming weaker as it spread +itself, until in Syria it reached its term through the policy of the +Egyptian king, Psammetichus. This monarch, who was engaged in the siege +of Ashdod, no sooner heard of the approach of a great Scythian host, +which threatened to overrun Egypt, and had advanced as far as Ascalon, +than he sent ambassadors to their leader and prevailed on him by rich +gifts to abstain from his enterprise. From this time the power of the +invaders seems to have declined. Their strength could not but suffer by +the long series of battles, sieges, and skirmishes in which they were +engaged year after year against enemies in nowise contemptible; it would +likewise deteriorate through their excesses; and it may even have +received some injury from intestine quarrels. After awhile, the nations +whom they had overrun, whose armies they had defeated, and whose cities +they had given to the flames, began to recover themselves. Cyaxares, it +is probable, commenced an aggressive war against such of the invaders as +had remained within the limits of his dominions, and soon drove them +beyond his borders. Other kings may have followed his example. In a +little while long, probably, before the twenty-eight years of Herodotus +had expired--the Scythian power was completely broken. Many bands may +have returned across the Caucasus into the Steppe country. Others +submitted, and took service under the native rulers of Asia. Great +numbers were slain and except in a province of Armenia which +henceforward became known as Sacasene, and perhaps in one Syrian town, +which we find called Scythopolis, the invaders left no trace of their +brief but terrible inroad. + +If we have been right in supposing that the Scythian attack fell with as +much severity on the Assyrians as on any other Asiatic people, we can +scarcely be in error if we ascribe to this cause the rapid and sudden +decline of the empire at this period. The country had been ravaged and +depopulated, the provinces had been plundered, many of the great towns +had been taken and sacked, the palaces of the old kings had been burnt, +and all the gold and silver that was not hid away had been carried off. +Assyria, when the Scythians quitted her, was but the shadow of her +former self. Weak and exhausted, she seemed to invite a permanent +conqueror. If her limits had not much shrunk, if the provinces still +acknowledged her authority, it was from habit rather than from fear, or +because they too had suffered greatly from the northern barbarians. We +find Babylon subject to Assyria to the very last; and we seem to see +that Judaea passed from the rule of the Assyrians under that of the +Babylonians, without any interval of independence or any need of +re-conquest. But if these two powers at the south-eastern and the +south-western extremities of the empire continued faithful, the less +distant nations could scarcely have thrown off the yoke. + +Asshur-bani-pal, then, on the withdrawal of the barbarians, had still an +empire to rule, and he may be supposed to have commenced some attempts +at re-organizing and re-invigorating the governmental system to which +the domination of the Scythe must have given a rude shock. But he had +not time to effect much. In B.C. 626 he died, after a reign of forty-two +years, and was succeeded by his son, Asshur-emid-ilin, whom the Greeks +called Saracus. Of this prince we possess but few native records; and, +unless it should be thought that the picture which Ctesias gave of the +character and conduct of his last Assyrian king deserves to be regarded +as authentic history, and to be attached to this monarch, we must +confess to an almost equal dearth of classical notices of his life and +actions. Scarcely anything has come down to us from his time but a few +legends on bricks, from which it appears that he was the builder of the +south-east edifice at Nimrud, a construction presenting some remarkable +but no very interesting features. The classical notices, apart from the +tales which Ctesias originated, are limited to a few sentences in +Abydenus, and a word or two in Polyhistor. Thus nearly the same +obscurity which enfolds the earlier portion of the history gathers about +the monarch in whose person the empire terminated; and instead of the +ample details which have crowded upon us now for many consecutive +reigns, we shall be reduced to a meagre outline, partly resting upon +conjecture, in our portraiture of this last king. + +Saracus, as the monarch may be termed after Abydenus, ascended the +throne at a most difficult and dangerous crisis in his country's +history. Assyria was exhausted; and perhaps half depopulated by the +Scythic ravages. The bands which united the provinces to the sovereign +state, though not broken, had been weakened, and rebellion threatened to +break out in various quarters. Ruin had overtaken many of the provincial +towns; and it would require a vast outlay to restore their public +buildings. But the treasury was wellnigh empty, and did not allow the +new monarch to adopt in his buildings the grand and magnificent style of +former kings. Still Saracus attempted something. At Calah he began the +construction of a building which apparently was intended for a palace, +but which contrasts most painfully with the palatial erections of former +kings. The waning glory of the monarchy was made patent both to the +nation and to strangers by an edifice where coarse slabs of common +limestone, unsculptured and uninscribed, replaced the alabaster +bas-reliefs of former times; and where a simple plaster above the slabs +was the substitute for the richly-patterned enamelled bricks of Sargon, +Sennacherib, and Asshur-bani-pal. A set of small chambers, of which no +one exceeded forty-five feet in length and twenty-five feet in its +greatest breadth, sufficed for the last Assyrian king, whose shrunken +Court could no longer have filled the vast halls of his ancestors. The +Nimrud palace of Saracus seems to have covered less than one-half of the +space occupied by any former palace upon the mound; it had no grand +facade, no magnificent gateway; the rooms, curiously misshapen, as if +taste had declined with power and wealth, were mostly small and +inconvenient, running in suites which opened into one another without +any approaches from courts or passages, roughly paved with limestone +flags, and composed of sun-dried bricks faced with limestone and +plaster. That Saracus should have been reduced even to contemplate +residing in this poor and mean dwelling is the strongest possible proof +of Assyria's decline and decay at a period preceding the great war which +led to her destruction. + +It is possible that this edifice may not have been completed at the time +of Saracus's death, and in that case we may suppose that its extreme +rudeness would have received certain embellishments had he lived to +finish the structure. While it was being erected, he must have resided +elsewhere. Apparently, he held his court at Nineveh during this period; +and was certainly there that he made his last arrangements for defence, +and his final stand against the enemy, who took advantage of his weak +condition to press forward the conquest of the empire. + +The Medes, in their strong upland country, abounding in rocky hills, and +running up in places into mountain-chains, had probably suffered much +less from the ravages of the Scyths than the Assyrians in their +comparatively defenceless plains. Of all the nations exposed to the +scourge of the invasion they were evidently the first to recover +themselves, partly from the local causes here noticed, partly perhaps +from their inherent vigor and strength. If Herodotus's date for the +original inroad of the Scythians is correct, not many years can have +elapsed before the tide of war turned, and the Medes began to make head +against their assailants, recovering possession of most parts of their +country, and expelling or overpowering the hordes at whose insolent +domination they had chafed from the first hour of the invasion. It was +probably as early as B.C. 627, five years after the Scyths crossed the +Caucasus, according to Herodotus, that Cyaxares, having sufficiently +re-established his power in Media, began once more to aspire after +foreign conquests. Casting his eyes around upon the neighboring +countries, he became aware of the exhaustion of Assyria, and perceived +that she was not likely to offer an effectual resistance to a sudden and +vigorous attack. He therefore collected a large army and invaded Assyria +from the east, while it would seem that the Susianians, with whom he had +perhaps made an alliance, attacked her from the south. + +To meet this double danger. Saracus, the Assyrian king, determined on +dividing his forces: and, while he entrusted a portion of them to a +general, Nabopolassar, who had orders to proceed to Babylon and engage +the enemy advancing from the sea, he himself with the remainder made +ready to receive the Medes. In idea this was probably a judicious +disposition of the troops at his disposal; it was politic to prevent a +junction of the two assailing powers, and, as the greater danger was +that which threatened from the Medes, it was well for the king to +reserve himself with the bulk of his forces to meet this enemy. But the +most prudent arrangements may be disconcerted by the treachery of those +who are entrusted with their execution; and so it was in the present +instance. The faithless Nabopolassar saw in his sovereign's difficulty +his own opportunity and, instead of marching against Assyria's enemies, +as his duty required him, he secretly negotiated an arrangement with +Cyaxares, agreed to become his ally against the Assyrians, and obtained +the Median king's daughter as a bride for Nebuchadnezzar, his eldest +son. Cyaxares and Nabopolassar then joined their efforts against +Nineveh; and Saracus, unable to resist them, took counsel of his +despair, and, after all means of resistance were exhausted, burned +himself in his palace. It is uncertain whether we possess any further +historical details of the siege. The narrative of Ctesias may embody a +certain number of the facts, as it certainly represented with truth the +strange yet not incredible termination. But on the other hand, we cannot +feel sure, with regard to any statement made solely by that writer, that +it has any other source than his imagination. Hence the description of +the last siege of Nineveh, as given by Diodorus on the authority of +Ctesias, seems undeserving of a place in history, though the attention +of the curious may properly be directed to it. + +The empire of the Assyrians thus fell, not so much from any inherent +weakness, or from the effect of gradual decay, as by an unfortunate +combination of circumstances--the occurrence of a terrible inroad of +northern barbarians just at the time when a warlike nation, long settled +on the borders of Assyria, and within a short distance of her capital, +was increasing, partly by natural and regular causes, partly by +accidental and abnormal ones, in greatness and strength. It will be +proper, in treating of the history of Media, to trace out, as far as our +materials allow, these various causes, and to examine the mode and +extent of their operation. But such an inquiry is not suited for this +place, since, if fully made, it would lead us too far away from our +present subject, which is the history of Assyria; while, if made +partially, it would be unsatisfactory. It is therefore deferred to +another place. The sketch here attempted of Assyrian history will now be +brought to a close by a few observations on the general nature of the +monarchy, or its extent in the most flourishing period, and on the +character of its civilization. + +The independent kingdom of Assyria covered a space of at least a +thousand years; but the empire can, at the utmost, be considered to have +lasted a period short of seven centuries, from B.C. 1300 to B.C. 625 or +624--the date of the conquest of Cyaxares. In reality, the period of +extensive domination seems to have commenced with Asshur-ris-ilim, about +B.C. 1150, so that the duration of the true empire did not much exceed +five centuries. The limits of the dominion varied considerably within +this period, the empire expanding or contracting according to the +circumstances of the time and the personal character of the prince by +whom the throne was occupied. The extreme extent appears not to have +been reached until almost immediately before the last rapid decline set +in, the widest dominion belonging to the time of Asshur-bani-pal, the +conqueror of Egypt, of Susiana, and of the Armenians. In the middle part +of this prince's reign Assyria was paramount over the portion of Western +Asia included between the Mediterranean and the Halys on the one hand, +the Caspian Sea and the great Persian desert on the other. Southwards +the boundary was formed by Arabia and the Persian Gulf; northwards it +seems at no time to have advanced to the Euxine or to the Caucasus, but +to have been formed by a fluctuating line, which did not in the most +flourishing period extend so far as the northern frontier of Armenia. +Besides her Asiatic dominions, Assyria possessed also at this time a +portion of Africa, her authority being acknowledged by Egypt as far as +the latitude of Thebes. The countries included within the limits thus +indicated, and subject during the period in question to Assyrian +influence, were chiefly the following: Susiana, Chaldaea, Babylonia, +Media, Matiene or the Zagros range, Mesopotamia; parts of Armenia, +Cappadocia, and Cilicia; Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine. Idummaea, a +portion of Arabia, and almost the whole of Egypt. The island of Cyprus +was also, it is probable, a dependency. On the other hand, Persia +Proper, Bactria, and Sogdiana, even Hyrcania, were beyond the eastern +limit of the Assyrian sway, which towards the north did not on this side +reach further than about the neighborhood of Kasvin, and towards the +south was confined within the barrier of Zagros. Similarly on the west, +Phrygia, Lydia, Lycia, even Pamphylia, were independent, the Assyrian +arms having never, so far as appears, penetrated westward beyond Cilicia +or crossed the river Halys. + +The nature of the dominion established by the great Mesopotamian +monarchy over the countries included within the limits above indicated, +will perhaps be best understood if we compare it with the empire of +Solomon. Solomon reigned over _all the kingdoms_ from the river +(Euphrates) unto the land of the Philistines and unto the border of +Egypt: they _brought presents_ and served Solomon all the days of his +life. The first and most striking feature of the earliest empires is +that they are a mere congeries of kingdoms: the countries over which the +dominant state acquires an influence, not only retain their distinct +individuality, as is the case in some modern empires, but remain in all +respects such as they were before, with the simple addition of certain +obligations contracted towards the paramount authority. They keep their +old laws, their old religion, their line of kings, their law of +succession, their whole internal organization and machinery; they only +acknowledge an external suzerainty which binds them to the performance +of certain duties towards the Head of the Empire. These duties, as +understood in the earliest times, may be summed up in the two words +"homage" and "tribute;" the subject kings "serve" and "bring presents." +They are bound to acts of submission; must attend the court of their +suzerain when summoned, unless they have a reasonable excuse; must there +salute him as a superior, and otherwise acknowledge his rank; above all, +they must pay him regularly the fixed tribute which has been imposed +upon them at the time of their submission or subjection, the +unauthorized withholding of which is open and avowed rebellion. Finally, +they must allow his troops free passage through their dominions, and +must oppose any attempt at invasion by way of their country on the part +of his enemies. Such are the earliest and most essential obligations on +the part of the subject states in an empire of the primitive type like +that of Assyria; and these obligations, with the corresponding one on +the part of the dominant power of the protection of its dependants +against foreign foes, appear to have constituted the sole links which +joined together in one the heterogeneous materials of which that empire +consisted. + +It is evident that a government of the character here described contains +within it elements of constant disunion and disorder. Under favorable +circumstances, with an active and energetic prince upon the throne, +there is an appearance of strength, and a realization of much +magnificence and grandeur. The subject monarchs pay annually their due +share of "the regulated tribute of the empire;" and the better to secure +the favor of their common sovereign, add to it presents, consisting of +the choicest productions of their respective kingdoms. The material +resources of the different countries are placed at the disposal of the +dominant power; and skilled workmen are readily lent for the service of +the court, who adorn or build the temples and the royal residences, and +transplant the luxuries and refinements of their several states to the +imperial capital. But no sooner does any untoward event occur, as a +disastrous expedition, a foreign attack, a domestic conspiracy, or even +an untimely and unexpected death of the reigning prince, than the +inherent weakness of this sort of government at once displays +itself--the whole fabric of the empire falls asunder--each kingdom +re-asserts its independence--tribute ceases to be paid--and the mistress +of a hundred states suddenly finds herself thrust back into her +primitive condition, stripped of the dominion which has been her +strength, and thrown entirely upon her own resources. Then the whole +task of reconstruction has to be commenced anew--one by one the rebel +countries are overrun, and the rebel monarchs chastised--tribute is +re-imposed, submission enforced, and in fifteen or twenty years the +empire has perhaps recovered itself. Progress is of course slow and +uncertain, where the empire has continually to be built up again from +its foundations, and where at any time a day may undo the work which it +has taken centuries to accomplish. + +To discourage and check the chronic disease of rebellion, re-course is +had to severe remedies, which diminish the danger to the central power, +at the cost of extreme misery and often almost entire ruin to the +subject kingdoms. Not only are the lands wasted, the flocks and herds +carried off, the towns pillaged and burnt, or in some cases razed to the +ground, the rebel king deposed and his crown transferred to another, the +people punished by the execution of hundreds or thousands as well as by +an augmentation of the tribute money; but sometimes wholesale +deportation of the inhabitants is practised, tens or hundreds of +thousands being carried away captive by the conquerors, and either +employed in servile labor at the capital or settled as colonists in a +distant province. With this practice the history of the Jews, in which +it forms so prominent a feature, has made us familiar. It seems to have +been known to the Assyrians from very early times, and to have become by +degrees a sort of settled principle in their government. In the most +flourishing period of their dominion--the reigns of Sargon, Sennacherib, +and Esar-haddon--it prevailed most widely, and was carried to the +greatest extent. Chaldaeans were transported into Armenia, Jews and +Israelites into Assyria and Media, Arabians, Babylonians, Susianians, +and Persians into Palestine--the most distant portions of the empire +changed inhabitants, and no sooner did a people become troublesome from +its patriotism and love of independence, than it was weakened by +dispersion, and its spirit subdued by a severance of all its local +associations. Thus rebellion was in some measure kept down, and the +position of the central or sovereign state was rendered so far more +secure; but this comparative security was gained by a great sacrifice of +strength, and when foreign invasion came, the subject kingdoms, weakened +at once and alienated by the treatment which they had received, were +found to have neither the will nor the power to give any effectual aid +to their enslaver. + +Such, in its broad and general outlines, was the empire of the +Assyrians. It embodied the earliest, simplest, and most crude conception +which the human mind forms of a widely extended dominion. It was a +"kingdom-empire," like the empires of Solomon, of Nebuchadnezzar, of +Chedor-laomer, and probably of Cyaxares, and it the best specimen of its +class, being the largest, the longest in duration, and the best known of +all such governments that has existed. It exhibits in a marked way both +the strength and weakness of this class of monarchies--their strength in +the extraordinary magnificence, grandeur, wealth, and refinement of the +capital; their weakness in the impoverishment, the exhaustion, and the +consequent disaffection of the subject states. Ever falling to pieces, +it was perpetually reconstructed by the genius and prowess of a long +succession of warrior princes, seconded by the skill and bravery of the +people. Fortunate in possessing for a longtime no very powerful +neighbor, it found little difficulty in extending itself throughout +regions divided and subdivided among hundreds of petty chiefs incapable +of union, and singly quite unable to contend with the forces of a large +and populous country. Frequently endangered by revolts, yet always +triumphing over them, it maintained itself for five centuries gradually +advancing its influence, and was only overthrown after a fierce struggle +by a new kingdom formed upon its borders, which, taking advantage of a +time of exhaustion, and leagued with the most powerful of the subject +states, was enabled to accomplish the destruction of the long-dominant +people. + +In the curt and dry records of the Assyrian monarchs, while the broad +outlines of the government are well marked, it is difficult to +distinguish those nicer shades of system and treatment which no doubt +existed, and in which the empire of the Assyrians differed probably from +others of the same type. One or two such points, however, may perhaps be +made out. In the first place, though religious uniformity is certainly +not the law of the empire, yet a religious character appears in many of +the wars, and attempts at any rate seem to be made to diffuse everywhere +a knowledge and recognition of the gods of Assyria. Nothing is more +universal than the practice of setting up in the subject countries the +laws of Asshur or "altars to the Great Gods." In some instances not only +altars but temples are erected, and priests are left to superintend the +worship and secure its being properly conducted. The history of Judaea +is, however, enough to show that the continuance of the national worship +was at least tolerated, though some formal acknowledgment of the +presiding deities of Assyria on the part of the subject nations may not +improbably have been required in most cases. + +Secondly, there is an indication that in certain countries immediately +bordering on Assyria endeavors were made from time to time to centralize +and consolidate the empire, by substituting, on fit occasions, for the +native chiefs, Assyrian officers as governors. The persons appointed are +of two classes--"collectors" and "treasurers." Their special business +is, of course, as their names imply, to gather in the tribute due to the +Great King, and secure its safe transmission to the capital; but they +seem to have been, at least in some instances, entrusted with the civil +government of their respective districts. It does not appear that this +system was ever extended very far, Lebanon on the west, and Mount Zagros +on the east, may be regarded as the extreme limits of the centralized +Assyria. Armenia, Media, Babylonia, Susiana, most of Phoenicia, +Palestine, Philistia, retained to the last their native monarchs; and +thus Assyria, despite the feature here noticed, kept upon the whole her +character of a "kingdom-empire." + +The civilization of the Assyrians is a large subject, on which former +chapters of this work have, it is hoped, thrown some light, and upon +which only a very few remarks will be here offered by way of +recapitulation. Deriving originally letters and the elements of learning +from Babylonia, the Assyrians appear to have been content with the +knowledge thus obtained, and neither in literature nor in science to +have progressed much beyond their instructors. The heavy incubus of a +dead language lay upon all those who desired to devote themselves to +scientific pursuits; and, owing to this, knowledge tended to become the +exclusive possession of a learned or perhaps a priest class, which did +not aim at progress, but was satisfied to hand on the traditions of +former ages. To understand the genius of the Assyrian people we must +look to their art and their manufactures. These are in the main probably +of native growth; and from them we may best gather an impression of the +national character. They show us a patient, laborious, pains-taking +people, with more appreciation of the useful than the ornamental, and of +the actual than the ideal. Architecture, the only one of the fine arts +which is essentially useful, forms their chief glory; sculpture, and +still more painting, are subsidiary to it. Again, it is the most useful +edifice--the palace or house--whereon attention is concentrated--the +temple and the tomb, the interest attaching to which is ideal and +spiritual, are secondary, and appear (so far as they appear at all) +simply as appendages of the palace. In the sculpture it is the actual +the historically true--which the artist strives to represent. Unless in +the case of a few mythic figures connected with the religion of the +country, there is nothing in the Assyrian bas-reliefs which is not +imitated from nature. The imitation is always laborious, and often most +accurate and exact. The laws of representation, as we understand them, +are sometimes departed from, but it is always to impress the spectator +with ideas in accordance with truth. Thus the colossal bulls and lions +have five legs, but in order that they may be seen from every point of +view with four; the ladders are placed edgewise against the walls of +besieged towns, but it is to show that they are ladders, and not mere +poles; walls of cities are made disproportionately small, but it is +done, like Raphael's boat, to bring them within the picture, which would +otherwise be a less complete representation of the actual fact. The +careful finish, the minute detail, the elaboration of every hair in a +beard, and every stitch in the embroidery of a dress, reminds us of the +Dutch school of painting, and illustrates strongly the spirit of +faithfulness and honesty which pervades the sculptures, and gives them +so great a portion of their value. In conception, in grace, in freedom +and correctness of outline, they fall undoubtedly far behind the +inimitable productions of the Greeks; but they have a grandeur and a +dignity, a boldness, a strength, and an appearance of life, which render +them even intrinsically valuable as works of art, and, considering the +time at which they were produced, must excite our surprise and +admiration. Art, so far as we know, had existed previously only in the +stiff and lifeless conventionalism of the Egyptians. It belonged to +Assyria to confine the conventional to religion, and to apply art to the +vivid representation of the highest scenes of human life. War in all its +forms--the-march, the battle, the pursuit, the siege of towns, the +passage of rivers and marshes, the submission and treatment of captives, +and the "mimic war" of hunting the chase of the lion, the stag, the +antelope, the wild bull, and the wild ass, are the chief subjects +treated by the Assyrian sculptors; and in these the conventional is +discarded; fresh scenes, new groupings, bold and strange attitudes +perpetually appear, and in the animal representations especially there +is a continual advance, the latest being the most spirited, the most +varied, and the most true to nature, though perhaps lacking somewhat of +the majesty and grandeur of the earlier. With no attempt to idealize or +go beyond nature, there is a growing power of depicting things as they +are--an increased grace and delicacy of execution, showing that Assyrian +art was progressive, not stationary, and giving a promise of still +higher excellence, had circumstances permitted its development. + +The art of Assyria has every appearance of thorough and entire +nationality; but it is impossible to feel sure that her manufactures +were in the same sense absolutely her own. The practice of borrowing +skilled workmen from the conquered states would introduce into Nineveh +and the other royal cities the fabrics of every region which +acknowledged the Assyrian sway; and plunder, tribute, and commerce would +unite to enrich them with the choicest products of all civilized +countries. Still, judging by the analogy of modern times, it seems most +reasonable to suppose that the bulk of the manufactured goods consumed +in the country would be of home growth. Hence we may fairly assume that +the vases, jars, bronzes, glass bottles, carved ornaments in ivory and +mother-of-pearl, engraved gems, bells, dishes, earrings, arms, working +implements, etc., which have been found at Nimrud, Khorsabad, and +Koyunjik, are mainly the handiwork of the Assyrians. It has been +conjectured that the rich garments represented as worn by the kings and +others were the product of Babylon, always famous for its tissues; but +even this is uncertain; and they are perhaps as likely to have been of +home manufacture. At any rate the bulk of the ornaments, utensils, +etc'., may be regarded as native products. They are almost invariably of +elegant form, and indicate a considerable knowledge of metallurgy and +other arts as well as a refined taste. Among them are some which +anticipate inventions believed till lately to have been modern. +Transparent glass (which, however, was known also in ancient Egypt) is +one of these; but the most remarkable of all is the lens discovered at +Nimrud, of the use of which as a magnifying agent there is abundant +proof. If it be borne in mind, in addition to all this, that the +buildings of the Assyrians show them to have been well acquainted with +the principle of the arch, that they constructed tunnels, aqueducts, and +drains, that they knew the use of the pulley, the lever, and the roller, +that they understood the arts of inlaying, enamelling, and overlaying +with metals, and that they cut gems with the greatest skill and finish, +it will be apparent that their civilization equalled that of almost any +ancient country, and that it did not fall immeasurably behind the +boasted achievements of the moderns. With much that was barbaric still +attaching to them, with a rude and inartificial government, savage +passions, a debasing religion, and a general tendency to materialism, +they were, towards the close of their empire, in all the ordinary arts +and appliances of life, very nearly on a par with ourselves; and thus +their history furnishes a warning--which the records of nations +constantly repeat--that the greatest material prosperity may co-exist +with the decline--and herald the downfall--of a kingdom. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +[Illustration: PAGE 508] + +[Illustration: PAGE 509] + +[Illustration: PAGE 510] + +[Illustration: PAGE 511] + +[Illustration: PAGE 512] + +[Illustration: PAGE 513] + + + + +LIST OF AUTHORS AND EDITIONS QUOTED IN THE NOTES. + +ABULPHARAGIUS, Chronicon Syriacum, ed. J. Bruno, Lipsim, 1789. +Agathangelus, Historia Regni Tiridatis, in C. Muller's Fragm. Hist. + Gr. vol. v.,Parisiis, 1870. +Agathias, in the Corpus Script. Hist. Byz. of B. G. 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