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DISCOVERIES
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NINEVEH AND BABYLON.
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HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY
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DISCOVERIES
NINEVEH AND BABYLON;
TBA\T.LS IN AKMESIA, KL'ltDlSTAN, AND THE DESERT:
DEI NO THE KKSIJLT OK A SECOND EXPEDITION
IHK TKrsri;K!5 dk ihk hhitisii miseum.
BY AUSTEN H. LAYAKD, M.P.
NEW YOUK:
li. r. PUTNAM AND CO., in. PARK PLACE.
1853.
3 "^
Re-published simultaneously with the London edition, with the
safiction of the Author.
HARVARD
UNIVERSITY
LIBP^RY
TO
TH£ RIOHT HONORABL.B
THE EARL GRANVILLE
Sjjis 9f Jnme is )tt))tcsttl^,
Iir ADMIE&IION Olf HIS PUBLIC CHARiCIRB,
AND AS A GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MANY ACTS OF
PERSONAL FRIENDSHIP.
PREFACE.
Many unavoidable delays have prevented the earlier pub- lication of this volume. I can no longer appeal, as in the preface of my former work, to the indulgence of my readers on the score of complete literary inexperience; but I can express heartfelt gratitude for the kind and generous reception given, both by the press and the public, to my first labors. I will merely add, that the following pages were written at different periods, and amidst nu- merous interruptions but little favorable to literary occu- pations. This must be my apology, to a certain extent, for the many defects they contain.
Since the publication of my first work on the discoveries at Nineveh much progress has been made in deciphering the cuneiform character, and the contents of many highly interesting and important inscriptions have been given to the public. For these additions to our knowledge we are mainly indebted to the sagacity and learning of two En;ilish scholars, Col. Kawlinson and the Rev. Dr. Hincks. In making use of the results of their researches, I have not c>mitted to own the sources from which my information has \)iii.n derived. I trust, also, that I have in no in- stance availed myself of the labors of other writers, or of the help of friends, without due acknowledgments. 1 have endeavored to assign to every one his proper share in the discoveries recorded in these pages.
A 4
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PBSFAdE. ix
vdumei which will form a second series of the Monuments of Nineveh, and will be published at the same time as the present work. •
I trust it may not be inferred from any remark I have been induced to make in the following pages, that I have any grounds of personal complaint against the Trustees of the British Museum. From them I have ex- perienced uniform courtesy and kindness, which I take this opportunity of acknowledging with gratitude ; but I cannot at the same time forbear expressing a wish, felt in common with myself by many who have the advancement of nati<mal education, knowledge, and taste sincerdy at heart, that that great establishment, so eminently calcu- lated to promote this important end, should be speedily l^ced upon a new and more efficient basis.
To Mr. Thomas ElUs, who has added so much to the value of my work by his translations of inscriptions on Babylonian bowls, now for the first time, through his sa- ;^ity, deciphered ; to those who have assisted me in my labors, and especially to my friend and companion, Mr. Ilormuzd Kassam, to the Rev. Dr. Hincks, to the Rev. S. C. Malan, who has kindly allowed me the use of his masterly sketches, to Mr. Fergusson, Mr. Scharf, and to Mr. Hawkins, Mr. Birch, Mr. Vaux, and the other officers of the British Museum, I beg to express my grateful thanks and acknowledgments.
Ixmdoo, Jftnuarj, 185.H.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
The TrotlMt of the Britiib Moieani mume Exctvationt at NincTeh. — De- partnie from Constaotinople. — Deieription of our Party. — Cawal Yuiof.
— RiOidi ffom TrMsond to Eneroom. — Description of the Country* — Vanahan and Annenian Churches. — Erxeroom. — Reshid Pasha. — The Dndyook Tribes. — Shahan B^. — Turkish Reform. — Journey through Armenia. -» An Armenian Bishop. — The Lakes of Shailu and Nasik. — The Lake of Wan ..... Page l
CHAP. II.
The Lake of Wan. — Akhkt. — Tatar Tombs. «- Ancient Remains. — A I>erTidi. — A Friend. — The Mudir. — Annenian Remains. — An Ar- menian Conrent and Bishop. — Journey to Bitlis. — Nimroud Dagh. — Bitlis. — Journey to Kherzan. — Yezidi Village - - - ^3
CHAP. III.
Reception by the Yezidis. — Village of Guzelder. — Triumphal March to Red wan. — Red wan. ~~ Armenian Church. — Mirza Agha. — The Meiek Taoua, or Brazen Bird. — TiUeh. — Valley of the Tigris. — Bas-reliefs.
— Journey to Dereboun — to Semil. — Abde Agha. — Journey to Mosul.
— The Yezidi Chiefs. — Arrival at Mosul. — Xenophon's March from the Zab to the BUck Sea - - - - - - 42
CHAP. IV.
State of the Excavations on my Return to MosuL — Discoveries at Kou- yunjik. — Tunnels in the Mound. — Bas-reliefs representing Assyrian
Cooqucsu A Well. — Siege of a City. — Nature of Sculptures at Kou-
yuigik. — Arrangements for Renewal of Excavations. — Description of Mound. — Kiamil Pasha. — Visit to Sheikh Adi. — Yezidi Ceremonies.— Sheikh Jindi. — Yezidi Meeting. — Dress of the Women. — Bavian. — Ceremony of the KaidL — Sacred Poem of the Yezidi. — Their Doctrines. — ' Jcnaiyah. — Return to Mosul - - -66
XU CONTENTS.
CHAP. V.
Renewal of Excavations at Kouyunjik. — First Visit to Nimroud. — State of Ruins. — Renew Excavations in MouncL — The Abou Salman Arabs. — Visit of Colonel Rawlinson. — Latiff Agha. — Mr. H. Rassam. — The Jebour Workmen at Kouyunjik. — Discoveries at Kouyunjik. — Sculp- tures representing moving of great Stones and Winged Bulls. — Methods adopted. — Similar Subject on Egyptian Monument. — Epigraphs on Bas-reliefs of moving Bulls. — Sculptures representing Invasion of Moun- tainous Country, and Sack of City. — Discovery of Gateway. — Excavation in high Conical Mound at Nimroud. — Discovery of Wall of Stone. — Feast to the Yezidis at Mosul. — Visit to Khorsabad. — Discovery of Slab. — State of the Ruins. — Futhliyah. — Baazani. — Baasheikhah
Page 96
CHAP. VI.
Discovery of Grand Entrance to the Palace of Kouyunjik — of the Name of Sennacherib in the Inscriptions. — The Records of that King in the In- scriptions on the Bulls. — An abridged Translation of them. — Name of Hezekiah. — Account of Sennacherib's Wars with the Jews. — Dr. Hincks and Col. Rawlinson. — The Names of Sargon and Shalmaneser. — Dis- covery of Sculptures at Kouyunjik, representing tlie Siege of Lachish. — Description of the Sculptures. — Discovery of Clay Seals — of Signets of Egyptian and Assyrian Kings. — Cartouche of Sabaco. — Name of Essar- haddon. — Confirmation of Historical Records of the Bible. — Royal Cylinder of Sennacherib - - - - - 135
CHAP. VII.
Road opened for Removal of Winged Lions. — Discovery of Vaulted Drain — of other Arches — of Painted Bricks. — Attack of the Tai on the Village of Nimroud. — Visit to the Howar. — Description of the Encamp- ment of the Tai. — The Plain of Shomamok. — Sheikh Faras. — Wali Bey. — Return to Nimroud - - - - - l62
CHAP. VIII.
Contents of newly -discovered Chamber. — A Well. — Large Copper Cal- drons. — Bells, Rings, and other Objects in Metal. — Tripods. — Caldrons and large Vessels. — Bronze Bowls^ Cups, and Dishes. — Description of the £mbossin{2;s upon them. — Arms and Armour. — Shields. — Iron In- struments. — Ivory Remains. — Bronze Cubes inlaid with Gold. — Glass Bowls. — Lens. — The Royal Throne - - - . ij(j
CHAP. IX.
Visit to the Winged Lions by Night. — The Bitumen Springs. — Removal of the Winged Lions to the River. — Floods at Nimroud — Loss and
CONTENTS. xiii
ReooTery of Lion. — Yezidi Marriage Festival. — Baazani. — Visit to BftTian. — Site of the Ekttle of Arbela. — Description of Rock-Sculptures. — Inscriptions. — The Shabbaks ... Page 201
CHAP. X.
Visit to Kslsh Sherghat prevented. — Visit to Shomamok. — Keshaf. — The Ho war. — A Bedouin. — His Mission. — Descent of Arab Horses. — Their Pedigree. — Ruins of Mokhamour. — The Mound of the Kasr. — Plsin of Shomsmok. — The Gla or Kalah. — Xenophon and the Ten Thousand. — A Wolf. — Return to Nimroud and Mosul. — Discoveries at Kouyunjik. — Description of the Bas-reliefs - - - 2 1 8
CHAP. XI.
Prrpsrstions for a Journey to the Khabour. — Sculptures discovered there.
— Sheikh Suttum. — His Rediff. — Departure from Mosul. — First En- cmmproent. — Abou Khameera. — A Storm. — Tel Erroah. — A Stranger.
— Tel Jemsl. — The Chief of Tel Afer. — A Sunset in the Desert. — A Jeboor Encampment. — The Belled Sinjar. — The Sinjar Hill. — Mir- kan. — Bukra. — The Dress of the Yezidis. — The Shomal. — Ossofa. — Aldina. — Return to the Belled. — A Snake-Charmer. — Journey con- tinaed in the Desert — Rishwan. — Encampment of the Boraij. — Dress of Arab Women. — Rathaiyah. — Hawking. — A Deputation from the Yezidis. — Arab Encampments. — The Khabour. — Mohammed Emin. — Arrival at Arban ----.- 234
CHAP. XII.
Arhan. — Our Encampment. — Suttum and Mohammed Emin. — Winged Bulls discovered. — Excavations commenced. — Their Results. — Dis- covery of Small Objects — of Second Pair of Winged Bulls — of Lion
— of ( hinese Bottle — of Vase — of Egyptian Scarabs — of Tombs. — The Scene of the Captivity ... - - 272
CHAP. XIII.
H«**idoncc at Arban. — Mohamme<l Emin's Tent. — The Apaydat. — Our Tfiit*. — Bread- baking. — Food of the Bedouins. — Thin Bread. — The Prwluce of their Flocks. — DiseascR amongst them. — Their Remedies. — The IMoul or Drometlary. — Be<louin Warfare. — Suttum's First Wife.
— A Storm. — Turtles. — Lions. — A Bedouin Robber. — Beavers. — Rule to I^jmiyaL — .\ plundering Expedition. — Loss of a Hawk. — Ruins of Shemshani. — A Tradition. — Jebours strike their Tents. — Return to Arban. — Visit to Moghamis ... - 28. 0
CHAP. XIV.
Ijtrz^e Arban. — The Banks of the Khabour. — Artificial Mounds. — Mij- well. — The Cadi of the Bedouins. — The Thar or Bloo*UHc\eu^c. —
XIV CONTENTS.
Caution of Arabs. — A natural Cavern. — An extinct Volcano. — The Confluents of the Khabour. — Bedouin Marks. — Suleiman Agha. — En- campment at Um-Jerjeh. — The Turkish Irregular Cavalry. — Mound of Mijdel. — Ruins on the Khabour. — Mohammed Emin leaves us. — Visit to Kurdish Tents and Harem. — The Milli Kurds. — The Family of Rishwan. — Arab Love-making. — The Dakheel. — Bedouin Poets and Poetry. — Turkish Cavalry Horses - - - - Page 303
CHAP. XV.
Departure from the Khabour. — Arab Sagacity. — The Hoi. — The Lake of Khatouniyah. — Return of Suttum. — Encampment of the Shammar. — Arab Horses — their Breeds — their Value — their Speed. — Sheikh Ferhan. — Yezidi Villages. — Falcons. — An Alarm. — Abou Maria. — Eski Mosul.
— Arrival at Mosul. — Return of Suttum to the Desert - - 322
CHAP. XVL
Discoveries at Kouyunjik. — Procession of Figures bearing Fruit and Game.
— Locusts. — Led Horses. — An Assjrrian Campaign. — Dagon, or the Fish-God. — The Chambers of Records. — Inscribed Clay Tablets. — Return to Nimroud. — Effects of the Flood. — Discoveries. — Small Temple under high Mound. — The Evil Spirit. — Fish-God. — Fine Bas-relief of the King. — Extracts from the Inscription. — Great inscribed Monolith.
— Extracts from the Inscription. — Cedar Beams. — Small Objects. —
— Second Temple. — Marble Figure and other Objects - - 337
CHAP. XVII.
The Summer. — Encampment at KouyfUnjik. — Visitors. — Mode of Life. — Departure for the Mountains. — Akra. — Rock-Tablets at Gunduk. — Dis- trict of Zibari. — Namet Agha. — District of Shirwan — of Baradost — of Gherdi — of Shemdina. — Mousa Bey. — Nestorian Bishop. — Con- vent of Mar Hananisho. — District and Plain of Ghaour. — Dizza. — An Albanian Friend. — Bash-Kalah. — Izzet Pasha. — A Jewish Encamp- ment. ^ — High Mountain Pass. — Mahmoudiyah. — First View of Wan
363
CHAP. XVIU.
Mehemet Pasha. — Description of Wan. — Its History. — Improvement in its Condition. — The Armenian Bishop. — The Cuneiform Inscriptions. — The Caves of Khorkhor. — The Meher Kapousi. — A Tradition. — Ob- servations on the Inscriptions. — Table of Kings mentioned in them. — The Bairam. — An AmenCTn School. — The American Missions. — Protestant Movement in Turkey. — Amikh. — The Convent of Yedi Klissia 389
CHAP. XIX.
Leave Wan. — The Armenian Patriarch. — The Island of Akhtamar. — An Armenian Church. «-> History of the Convent. — Pass into Mukus. — The
CONTENTS. XV
District of Mukus — of Shattak — of Nourdooz. — A Nestorian Village. — Encampments. — Mount Ararat. — Mar Shamoun. — Julamerik. — Valley of Diz. — Pass into Jelu. — Nestorian District of Jelu. — An ancient Church. — The Bishop. — District of Baz — of Tkhoma. — Ketum to Mosul ------ . Page 411
CHAP. XX.
Discoveries at Kouyunjik during the Summer. — Description of the Sculp- tures. — Capture of Cities on a great River. — Pomp of Assyrian King. — Passage of a River. — Alabaster Pavement. — Conquest of Tribes inhabit, ing a Marsh. — Their Wealth. — Chambers with Sculptures belonging to a new King. — Description of the Sculptures. — Conquest of the People of Susiana. — Portrait of the King. — His Guards and Attendants. — The City of Shushan. — Captive Prince. — Musicians. — Captives put to the Torture. — Artistic Character of the Sculptures. — An Inclined Pas- sage. — Two small Chambers. — Colossal Figures. — More Sculptures
437
CHAP. XXI.
Preparations for leaving Nineveh. ~~ Departure for Babylon. — The Awai. — Descent of the River. — Tekrit. — The State of the Rivers of Mesopo- tamia. — Commerce upon them. — Turkish Roads. — The Plain of Dura.
— The Naharwan. — Samarrah. — Kadesia. — Palm Groves. — Kathimain.
— Approach to Baghdad. — The City. — Arrival. — Dr. Ross. — A British Steamer. — Modern Baghdad. — Tel Mohammed. — Departure for Ba- bylon. — A Persian Prince. — Abde Pasha's Camp. — Eastern Falconry. — Hawking the Gazelle. — Approach to Babylon. — The Ruins. — Arrival at Hillah ...-..- 464.
CHAP. XXII.
The Chiefs of Hillah. — Present of Lions. — The Son of the Governor. — Description of the Town. — Zaid. — The Ruins of Babylon. — Changes in the Course of the Euphrates. — The Walls. — V' isit to the Birs Nim- roud. — Description of the Ruin. — View from it. — Excavations and Dis- coveries in the Mound of Babel. — In the Mujelibe or Kasr. — The Tree Athel^. — Excavations in the Ruin of Amran. — Bowls, with Inscriptions in Hebrew and Syriac Characters. — Translations of the Inscriptions. — The Jews of Babylonia ------ 486
CHAP. XXIII.
Slate of the Ruins of Babylon. — Cause of the Disappearance of Buildings. — Nature of original Edifices. — Babylonian Bricks. — The History of Babylon. — Its Fall. — Its remarkable Position. — Commerce. — Canals and Roads. — Skill of Babylonians in the Arts. — Engraved Gems. — Cor- ruption of Manners, and consequent Fall of the City. — The Mecca Pil- grimage. — Sheikh Ibn Reshid. — The Gebel Shammar. — Tribes of Soatbem Mesopotamia. — The Mounds of El Hymer — of Anana - 527
XVI CONTENTS.
CHAP. XXIV.
Ruins in Southern Mesopotamia. — Departure from Hillah. — Sand-Hills.
— Villages in the Jezireh. — Sheikh Karboul. — Ruins. — First View of Niffer. — The Marshes. — Arah Boats. — Arrive at Souk-el- A faij.
— Sheikh Agah. — Town of the Afaij. — Description of the Ruins of Niffer. — Excavations in the Mounds. — Discovery of Coffins — of va- rious Relics. — Mr. Loftus' Discoveries at Wurka. — The Arah Tribes.
— Wild Beasta. — Lions. — Customs of the Afaij. — Leave the Marshes.
— Return to Baghdad. — A Mirage - - - Page 544
CHAP. XXV.
Preparations for Departure. — Sahiman. — Plunder of his Camels. — Leave Baghdad. — Journey through Mesopotamia. — Early Arah Remains. — , The Median Wall. — Tekrit. — Horses stolen. — Instances of Bedouin Honesty. — Excavations at Kalah Sherghat. — Reach Mosul. — Dis- coveries during Absence. — New Chambers at Kouyui^jik. — Description of Bas-reliefs. — Extent of the Ruins explored. — Bases of Pillars. — Small Objects. — Roman Coins struck at Nineveh. — Hoard of Denarii. — Greek Relics. — Absence of Assjrrian Tombs. — Fragment with Egyptian Characters. — Assyrian Relics. — Remains beneath the Tomb of Jonah. —
— Discoveries at Shereef- Khan — at Nimroud. — Names of new Kings.
— Assyrian Weights. — Engraved Cylinders - - - 574
CHAP. XXVL
Results of the Discoveries to Chronology and History. — Names of Assyrian Kings in the Inscriptions. — A Date fixed. — The Name of Jehu. — The Obelisk King. — The earlier Kings. — Sardanapalus. — His Successors. — Pul, or Tiglath-Pileser. — Sargon. — Sennacherib. — Essarhaddon. — The last Assyrian Kings. — Tables of proper Names in the Cuneiform Cha- racter. — Antiquity of Nineveh — Of the Name of Assyria. — Illustrations of Scripture. — State of Judsa and Assyria compared. — Political Con- dition of the Empire. — Assyrian Colonies. — Prosjterity of the Country.
— Religion. — Extent of Nineveh. — Assyrian Architecture — Com- pared with Jewish. — Palace of Kouyunjik restored. — Platform at Nimroud restored. — The Assyrian fortified Inclosures. — Description of Kouyunjik. — Conclusion - - - - 6II
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
Ruined Mosque and Minarets (Erzeroom). In page 1
Ancient Armenian Church at Varzahan. In page 7
Threshing the Com in Armenia. In page 18
Section of \^Tieel of Armenian Cart, In page 21
Armenian Plough^ near Akhlat. In page 22
Early Mussulman Tomb at Akhlat. In page 23
Turbeh, or Tomb^ of Sultan Baiandour^ at Akhlat. Facing page 24
Yezidi Women. In page 41
Kurdish Women at a Spring. In page 42
The Melek Taous^ or Copper Bird of the Yezidis. In page 48
Sculptured Tablet at Fynyk. In page 54
Rock-Sculptures near Jezireh, In page 55
Mosul from the North. In page 65
Subterranean Excavations at Kouyunjik. In page 66
Castle near a River or Marsh (Kouyunjik). In page 68
Valley and Tomb of Sheikh Adi. Facing page 81
Sheikh Nasr^ High Priest of the Yezidis. In page 82
Yezidi Dance at Sheikh Adi. Facing page 86
Yezidi Cawals. In ])age 95
Mound of Niroroud. In page 96 Head-dress of Captives employed by Assyrians in moving Bull (Kouyunjik).
In page 105 Workmen carrying Ropes, Saws^ and other Implements for moving Bull
(Kouyunjik). In page 108
Slag (Kouyunjik). In page 108
Wild Sow and Young, amongst Reeds (Kouyunjik). In page 109 King superintending Removal of Colossal Bull (Kouyunjik). Facing page 1 10
Village with conical Roofs, near Aleppo. In page 112 Assyrians placing a human-headed Bull (partly restored from a Bas-relief at
Kouyunjik). Facing page 1 12
Plan of Northern Entrance to Inclosure of Kouyunjik. In page 122
Tunnel along Eastern Basement Wall (Nimroud). Facing page 125
Tunnel along Western Basement Wall (Nimroud). Facing page 125
M'estem Face of Basement of Tower (Nimroud). Facing page 12f)
Northern Face of Basement of Tower (Nimroud). Facing page \26
Elevation of Stylobate of Temple. In page lli\
Stxtion of Stylobate of Temple. In page 131 Carl with Ropes, and Workmen carrying Saws, Picks, and SliovoN, for
mu%ing Colossal Bull (Kouyunjik). In page 154
a
XVIU LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
35
Bulls with historical Inscriptions of Sennacherib (Kouyunjik). In page Remains of Grand Entrance of the Palace of Sennacherib (Kouyunjik).
Facing page
Existing Remains at Khorsabad, showing original State of Grand Entrance at Kouyunjik. Facing page 136
Sennacherib on his Throne before Lachish. In page 1 50
Jewish Captives from Lachish (Kouyunjik). In page ] 52
Impression of a Seal on Clay. In page 154
Back of the same Seal^ showing the Marks of the String and the Fingers.
In page 154 Assyrian Seals. In page 155
Phoenician Seals. In page 155
Egyptian Seals. In page 156
Impressions of the Signets of the Kings of Assyria and Egypt. (Original Size.) In page 156
Part of Cartouche of Sabaco^ enlarged from the Impression of his Signet.
In page 156 Royal Cylinder of Sennacherib. In page l60
Piece of Clay with Impressions of Seals. In page l6l
Vaulted Drain beneath the North-west Palace atNimroud. In page l62
Bronze Socket of the Palace Gate (Nimroud). In page 16*3
Vaulted Drain beneath South-east Palace (Nimroud). In page l64
Perfect Arch beneath South-east Edifice (Nimroud). In page l65
Arab Tent In page 175
Excavated Chamber in which the Bronzes were discovered (Nimroud).
In page 176 Bronze Bells found in a Caldron (Nimroud). In page 177
Horse Trappings from a Bas-relief at Kouyunjik, showing probable Use of Ivory Studs and Metal Rosettes. In page 178
Feet of Tripods in Bronze and Iron. In page 178
Bronze Ornaments. Facing page 178
Bronze Object. Facing page 178
Bronze Hock. Facing page 178
Ivory and Mother of Pearl Studs (Nimroud). Facing page 178
Feet of Tripods in Bronze and Iron. Facing page 178
Bronze Vessels^ taken from the Interior of a Caldron. Facing page 1 80
Bronze Vessel taken from the Interior of a Caldron. Facing page 180
Bronze Head of a Mace. Facing page 1 80
Bronze Handle of a Dish or Vase. Facing page 180
Bronze Wine Strainer. Facing page 180
Bronze Dish, from Nimroud. In page 183
Bronze Dish, from Nimroud. In page 184
Handles of Bronze Dishes, from Nimroud. In page 185
Bronze Cup, 6jin. diameter, and I4 in. deep. In page 186
Engraved Scarab in Centre of same Cup. In page 1 86
Embossed Figures on the Bronze Pedestal of a Figure from Polledrara, in the British Museum. In page 1 89
Embossed Figure on the Bronze Pedestal of a Figure from Polledrara.
In page 1 89 Bronze Pedestal of Figure from Polledrara. In page 190
Bronze Cup, from Nimroud. In page I90
36
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. XIX
Bronze Shields, from Nimroud. In page 193
An Iron Pick, from Nimroud. In page 194<
Half of a double-handled Saw, from Nimroud.* In page I95
Part of Ivory Sceptre. In page I95
Bronse Cubes inlaid with Gold. (Original Size.) In page I96
Glass and Alabaster Vases bearing the Name of Sargon, from Nimroud.
In page I97
Fragments of Bronze Ornaments of the Throne (Nimroud). In page I98
Bronse Bull's Head from Throne. In page I99
Bronze Head, part of Throne, showing bitumen inside. In page 199
Bronze Binding of Joints of Throne. In page I99
Bronze Casing, from the Throne (Nimroud). In page 200
A Group of Yezidis. In page 201
Rock.Sculpture (Bavian). In page 210
Sacred Symbols or Royal Tablets (Bavian). In page 211
Fallen Rock-Sculptures (Bavian). In page 214
Assyrian Fountain (Bavian). In page 215
Hussein Bey, the Chief of the Yezidis, and his Brother. In page 217
The Author's House at Nimroud. In page 218
A Captive (of the Tokkari ?) Kouyunjik. In page 230 Bas-relief from Kouyunjik, representing a fortified City, a River with a Boat
and Raft, and a Canal. In page 231 Baa-relief representing a River, and Gardens watered by Canals (Kouyunjik)
In page 232 A wad. Sheikh of the Jehesh. In page 233 Our first Encampment in the Desert. In page 234 Sheikh Suttum. In page 239 Roman Coin of Gordian and Tranquillina, struck at Singara. (British Mu- seum.) In page 250 Interior of a Vezidi House at Bukra, in the Sinjar. In page 252 Arab Nose Ring and Bracelet of Silver. In page 262 Suttura, with his Wife, on his Dromedary. In page 271 Sheikh Mohammed £min. In page 272 Front View of Winged Bull at Arban. In page 276* Lion discovered at Arban. In page 278 Bas-relief discovered at Arban. In page 279 Chinese Bottle discovered at Arban. In page 279 Figure in Pottery from Mosul In page 280 Egyptian Scarab from Arban. In page 280 Scarabs discovered at Arban. In page 281 Scarabs discovered at Arban. In page 282 Winged Bull discovered at Arban. In page 284 Arab Women grinding Corn with a Ilandmill, rolling out the Dough, and baking the Bread. In page 285 Saildling a Deloul, or Dromedary. In page 302 Kunlish Women. In page 303 The Tent of the Milli Chief. In page 321 Volcanic Cone of Koukab. In page 322 Arab Camels. In page 336 An Entrmnce to the Great Hall of the North-west Palace (Nimroud).
In page 337
a 2
XX LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
Attendants carrying Pomegranates and Locusts (Kouyunjik). Facing page 338 The King in his Chariot passing through a Stream in a Valley (Kouyunjik).
Facing page 340 Assyrian Cylinder, with Dagon, or the Fish-god. In page 343
Fish-god on Gems in the British Museum. In page 343
Inscribed Tablet impressed with Seals. In page 346
Inscribed Tablet, with Inscription at one End in Cursive Cliaracters.
In page 346 Entrance to small Temple (Nimroud). Facing page 348
Fish-god at Entrance to small Temple (Nimroud). In page 350
Fragment in Blue Clay (Nimroud). In page 357
Eye in Black Marble and Ivory (Nimroud). In page 357
Box in Chalcedony (Nimroud). In page 358
Box in Porcelain ? (Nimroud). In page 358
Fragment in Porcelain ? (Nimroud). In page 358
Entrance to a small Temple (Nimroud). Facing page 36 1
Statute of King, from Temple (Nimroud). In page 36l
Head in Gypsum, from smaJl Temple (Nimroud). In page 362
Ivory Head from small Temple (Nimroud). In page 362
Landing Place with Ferryboats on the Tigris at Mosul. In page 363
Rock-Sculptures near the Village of Gunduk. In page 369
The Castle of Mahmoudiyah. In page 388
Kurds of Wan. In page 389
The Town and Rock of Wan. Facing page 392
Interior of a Tomb in the Rock (Wan), In page 39^
Ground Plan of the same Tomb (on the same Scale). In page 396
Kurd of the Neighbourhood of Wan. In page 410
A Nestorian Family employed in the Excavations at Kouyunjik. In page 411 Summer Sleeping- Place in the Hills. In page 436
Arabs and Nestorians moving a Slab at Kouyunjik. In page 437
Metal Vessel or Casket (Kouyunjik). In page 444
Assyrian Warriors in a Cart, captured from the Elamites (Kouyunjik).
In page 447 Musicians and Singers coming out to meet the Conquerors (Kouyunjik).
In page 455 Assyrians flaying their Prisoners alive, and carrying away Heads of the Slain (Kouyunjik). Facing page 456
Assyrians torturing their Captives (Kouyunjik). In page 458
Wall of ascending Passage in the Palace of Kouyunjik. Facing page 460 Colossal Figures at an Entrance (Kouyunjik). In page 462
Tunic of Colossal Figures on opposite Sculpture. In page 462
Cases containing Sculptures ready for Embarkation. In page 46*3
A Kellek or Raft on the Tigris. In page 464
Bronze Ball from Tel Mohammed. In page 477
Figures of Assyrian Venus in baked Clay. In page 477
A Hooded Falcon (Chark) on its Stand. In page 485
The Mujelib or Kasr (from Rich). In page 486
Plan of Part of the Ruins of Babylon on the Eastern Bank of the Euphrates
In page 490 Eastern Face of the Birs Nimroud, with proposed Restoration. In page 497 Bottle of Ribbed Glass^ from the Mound of Babel. In page 503
LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
XJCl
Ghss Bottles from the Mound of Babel.
Glaxed Earthenware Vessel^ from the Mound of Babel.
Jug of Soapstone, from the Mound of Babel.
Fragment from Uie Mujelib^ (Babylon).
Earthen Jars found in Babylonian Ruins.
No. 1. An Earthen Inscribed Bowl, from Babylon.
depth 3 inches. No. 3. An Earthen inscribed Bowl^ from Babylon.
depth H inch. Bowl No. 5. Diameter 4} inches^ depth 2^ inches. Bowl No. 6. Diameter 5 inches, depth 3 inches. Inscribed Earthen Bowls from Babylon. Terracotta Tablet from Babylon, representing an Indian Dog. Babylonian Cylinder in Sienite (Size of the Original). Engraved Gem from Babylon. Cylinder in the British Museum. Heads of Arab Delouls. Arab Man and Woman. Lid of glazed Coffin. Glased Coffins from Babylonia. Terracotta Model of a Body in a Coffin. Ram in baked Clay^ from Nifier, Engraved Pebble.
Fragments of engraved Shells from Wurka* Inscribed Object in Clay, from Wurka. Arab Sheep.
In page 503 In page 503 In page 504 In page 508 In page 509
Diameter 6 inches, In page 513
Diameter 6 inches, In page 517 In page 520 In page 521 In page 526 In page 527 In page 538 In page 538 In page 539 In page 543 In page 544 In page 558 In page 558 In page 560 In page 562 In page 562 In page 563 In page 564 In page 573
Nestorian and Arab Workmen, with Jar discovered at Nimroud. In page 574
In page 582 In page 5S3 In page 583 In page 585 In page 587
Loading a Camel (Kouyunjik).
Captives resting (Kouyunjik).
Captives in a Cart (Kouyunjik).
A Battle in a Marsh in Southern Mesopotamia (Kouyunjik).
Chariot with circular Shield attached (Kouyunjik).
Assyrians cutting down tlie Palm Trees belonging to a captured City (Kou- yunjik). In page 588
Assyrian Petlcstalj from Kouyunjik. In page 590
Coin of Trajan, struck at Nineveh. In page 51)1
Coin of Maximinus, struck at Nineveh. In page 591
Fragment of stamped Pottery, from Kouyunjik, probably of the Persian Period. In page 591
Greek or Roman Relics, from Kouyunjik. Facing page 592
Fragment of Dish, with Inscriptions in Hieroglyphs, from Kouyunjik.
In page 594
Stone Vessel, from Kouyunjik.
Handle of Marble Dish, from Kouyunjik.
Copper Instrument, from Kouyunjik.
Fragments of hollow Tubes in Glass, from Kouyunjik.
Gold Ear-ring with Pearls, from Kouyunjik.
Terracotta Vessel, from Kouyunjik.
Moulds for Ciold and Silver Ear-rings, from Nimroud.
Motdda for Gold and Silver Ear-rings, from Kouyunjik and Nimroud.
Facing page 59(>
In page 595 Facing page 596 Facing page 596 Facing page 596 Facing page 596 Facing page 596 Faring page 596
XXU LIST OP ENGRAVINGS.
Egyptian weighing Rings of Metal with Weights in the form of a seated
Lion. In page 602
Cylinders in green Jasper. In page 602
Ancient Assyrian Cylinder, in Serpentine. In page 603
Assyrian Cylinders^ in Serpentine. In page 604
Assyrian Cylinder, in Agate. In page 604
Assyrian Cylinder^ in Porcelain or Quartz. In page 604
Babylonian Cylinders, in Iron Hematite, and Jasper. In page 605
Babylonian Cylinder, in green Jasper. In page 605
Babylonian Cylinder (in Jasper). In page 606
Cylinders, with Semetic Characters. In page 606 Persian Cylinders, in red Cornelian, in Chalcedony, in Rock Crystal, and in
Onyx. In page 607
Clay Tablet with Cylinder, impressed, from Kouyunjik. In page 609
Part of Colossal Head, from Kouyunjik. In page 6l0
Tomb of the Prophet Jonah, and the River Khauser. In page 6 11
Bas-relief representing Pul, or Tiglath-Pileser (Nimroud). Facing page 6l8 Captives from Padan-Aram, Assyria, and Carchemish, of the Time of Ame-
nophis III. In page 62S
Exterior of a Palace, from a Bas-relief at Kouyunjik. In page 647
Throne Room, Teheran. In page 649
Plan of the Inclosure Walls and Ditches at Kouyunjik. In page 658
Double Ditch and Walls of Inclosure of Kouyunjik. Facing page 660
Last View of Mosul. In page 664
DIRECTIONS FOR PLACING THE PLATES '
AND MAPS.
N.E. Facade and EDtranoe to Sennaeherib's Palace^ restored - FfontUpiece
Plan I. of czcaTated Chambert, Kouyunjik
SzcaTatioiii, Koayuigik ...
Egjftium monng a Coloetiii from the Quarriet -
Plan II. of Square Tower and Small Temple
Moond of Arban on the Khabour
Lake and Island, Kbatouniyah ...
Entrance passage, Kouyunjik ...
Flsb-God^ Kouyunjik - - - -
Archive Chamber, Kouyunjik - - -
Entrance to Temple, Nimroud - - -
PUn III. Platform and Palaces, Nimroud
Map of Assyria, &c. - - 1 _
General Map of Mesopotamia - J
|
- to/ace page &J |
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9f |
104 |
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fi |
115 |
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123 |
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» |
273 |
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>$ |
324, |
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yf |
340 |
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» |
343 |
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>y |
345 |
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>y |
351 |
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fi |
653 |
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at the end |
NINEVEH AND BABYLON.
After a few months' residence in Knglnnd during the year 1848, to recruit a constitution wurn by lung exposure to the eiLXt&msft
2 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I.
of an Eastern climate, I received orders to proceed to my post at Her Majesty's Embassy in Turkey. The Trustees of the British Museum did not, at that time, contemplate further excavations on the site of ancient Nineveh. Ill health and limited time had prevented me from placing before the public, previous to my return to the East, the results of my first researches with the illus- trations of the monuments and copies of the inscriptions recovered from the ruins of Assyria. They were not published until some time after my departure, and did not consequently receive that careful superintendence and revision necessary to works of this nature. It was at Constantinople that I first learnt the general interest felt in England in the discoveries, and that they had been universally received as fresh illustrations of Scripture and prophecy, as well as of ancient history sacred and profane.
And let me here, at the very outset, gratefully acknowledge that generous spirit of English criticism which overlooks the incapacity and shortcomings of the laborer when his object is worthy of praise, and that object is sought with sincerity and singleness of purpose. The gratitude, which I deeply felt for encouragement rarely equalled, could be best shown by cheerfully consenting, without hesitation, to the request made to me by the Trustees of the British Museum, urged by public opinion, to undertake the superintend- ence of a second expedition into Assyria. Being asked to furnish a plan of operations, I stated what appeared to me to be the course best calculated to produce interesting and important results, and to enable us to obtain the most accurate information on the ancient history, language, and arts, not only of Assyria, but of its sister kingdom. Babylonia. Perhaps my plan was too vast and general to admit of performance or warrant adoption. I was merely directed to return to the site of Nineveh, and to continue the researches commenced amongst its ruins.
Arrangements were hastily, and of course inadequately, made in England. The assistance of a competent artist was most de- sirable, to portray with fidelity those monuments which injury and decay had rendered unfit for removal. Mr. F. Cooper was selected by the Trustees of the British Museum to accompany the expedition in this capacity. Mr. Hormuzd Kassam, already well known to many of my readers for the share he had taken in my first discoveries, quitted England with him. They both joined me at Constantinople. Dr. Sandwith, an English physician on a visit to the East, was induced to form one of our party. One Abd-el-Messiah, a Catholic Syrian of Mardin^ an active and
CBiJP.L] CAWAL TUSUF. 3
trustworthy servant during my former residence in Assyria, was fortunately at this time in the capital, and again entered my service: my other attendants were Mohammed Agha, a cawass, and an Armenian named Serkis. The faithful Bairakdar, who had so well served me during my previous journey, had accompanied the English commission for the settlement of the boundaries between Turkey and Persia ; with the understanding, however, that he was to meet me at Mosul, in case I should return. Cawal Yusuf, the head of the Preachers of the Yezidis, with four chiefs of the districts in the neighbourhood of Diar- bekir, who had been for some months in Constantinople, completed my party.
Ajfter my departure from Mosul, in 1847, the military conscrip- tion, enforced amongst the Mussulman inhabitants of the Pashalic, was extended to the Yezidis, who, with the Christians, had been previously exempted from its operation on the general law sanc- tioned by the Koran, and hitherto acted upon by most Mohamme- dan nations, that none but true believers can serve in the armies of the state. On the ground that being of no recognised infidel sect, they must necessarily be included, like the Druses and Ansyri of Mount Lebanon, amongst Mussulmans, the Government had recently endeavoured to raise recruits for the regular troops amongst the Yezidis, The new regulations had been carried out with great severity, and had given rise to many acts of cruelty and oppression on the part of the local authorities. Besides the feeling common to all Easterns against compulsory service in the army, the Yezidis had other reasons for opposing the orders of the Government. They could not become nizam, or disciplined soldiers, without openly violating the rites and observances enjoined by their faith. The bath, to which Turkish soldiers are compelled weekly to resort, is a pollution to them, when taken in common with Mussulmans; the blue color, and certain portions of the Turkish uniform are absolutely prohibited by their law ; and they cannot eat several articles of food included in the rations distributed to the troops. The recruiting officers refused to listen to these objections, en- forcing their orders with extreme and unnecessary severity. The Yezidis, always ready to suffer for their fuith, resisted, and many died under the tortures inflicted upon them. They were, moreover, still exposed to the oppression and illegal exactions of the local governors. Their children were still lawful objects of public sale, and, notwithstanding the introduction of the re-
B 2
4 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [CvAP. I.
formed system of government into the provinces, the parents were subject to persecution, and even to death, on account of their religion. In this state of things, Hussein Bej and Sheikh Nasr, the chiefs of the whole community, hearing that I was at Con- stantinople, determined to send a deputation to lay their griev- ances before the Sultan, hoping that through my assistance they could obtain access to some of the Ministers of State. Cawal Yusuf and his companions were selected for the mission ; and money was raised by subscriptions from the sect to meet the ex- penses of their journey.
After encountering many difficulties and dangers, they reached the capital and found out my abode. I lost no time in present- ing them to Sir Stratford Canning, who, ever ready to exert his powerful influence in the cause of humanity, at once bronght their wrongs to the notice of the Porte. Through his kindly intercession a firman, or imperial order, was granted to the Ye- zidis, which freed them from nil illegal impositions, forbade the sale of their children as slaves, secured to them the full enjoy- ment of their religion, and placed them on the same footing as other sects of the empire. It was further promised that arrange- ments should be made to release them from such military regula- tions as rendered their service in the army incompatible with the strict observance of their religious duties. So often can influence, well acquired and well directed, be exercised in the great cause of humanity, without distinction of persons or of creeds ! This is but one of the many instances in which Sir Stratford Canning has added to the best renown of the British name.
Cawal Yusuf, having fulfilled his mission, eagerly accepted my proposal to return with me to Mosul. His companions had yet to obtain certain documents from the Porte, and were to remain at Constantinople until their business should be completed. The Cawal still retained the dress of his sect and office. His dark face and regular and expressive features were shaded by a black turban, and a striped aba of coarse texture was thrown loosely over a robe of red silk.
Our arrangements were complete by the 28th of August (1849), and on that day we left the Bosphorus by an English steamer bound for Trebizond. The size of my party and its consequent incumbrances rendering a caravan journey absolutely necessary, I determined to avoid the usual tracks, and to cross eastern Armenia and Kurdistan, both on account of the novelty of part of the country in a geographical point of view, and its political
Chaf. L] TUBKI8H ROADS. 5
interest as having only recently been brought under the immediate control of the Turkish government.
We disembarked at Trebizond on the Slst, and on the follow- ing day commenced our land journey. The country between this port and Erzeroom has been frequently travers^ and de- scribed. Through it pass the caravan routes connecting Persia with the Black Sea, the great lines of intercourse and com- merce between Europe and central Asia. The roads usually frequented are three in number. The summer, or upper, road is the shortest, but is most precipitous, and, crossing very lofty mountains, is closed after the snows commence; it is called Tchairltr, from its fine upland pastures, on which the horses are usuallv fed when caravans take this route. The middle road has few advantages over the upper, and is rarely followed by merchants, who prefer the lower, although making a considerable detour by Gumi^h Khaneh, or the Silver Mines. The three unite at the town of Baiburt, midway between the sea and Erzeroom. Although an active and daily increasing trade is carried on by these roads, no means whatever have until recently been taken to improve them. They consist of mere mountain tracks, deep in mud or dust according to the season of the year. The bridges, built when the erection and repair of public works were imposed upon the local governors, and deemed a sacred duty by the semi- independent hereditary families, who ruled in the provinces as Pashas or Dcreh- Bevs, have been long permitted to fall into decay, and commerce is frc<|uently 8to[)ped for days by the swollen torrent or fordless stream. This has been one of the many evil results of the system of centralisation so vigorously commenced by Sultan Mahnioud, and so steadily carried out during the present reign. The local gtjveniors, receiving a fixed salary, and rarely permitted to remain above a few months in one office, take no interest whatever in the pnispcrity of the districts placed under their care. The funds assigned by the Porte for public works, small and totally inade- quate, are squandered away or purloined long before any part can be applied to the objects in view.
Since my visit to Trebizond a road for carts has been com- menced, which is to lead from that [)ort to the Persian frontiers ; but it will, probably, like other undertakings of the kind, be abaod<>ne<l long before completed, or if ever completed will l>o permitted at once to fall to ruin from the want of common rejMiir. And yet the Persian trade is one of the chief sources ot tcn^uw^ of the Turkish Qinjnrc, and unlcfls conveniences arc aflfordcd ?v)t \\i
B 3
6 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. L
prosecution, will speedily pass into other hands. The southern shores of the Black Sea, twelve yeais ago rarely visited by a foreign vessel, are now coasted by steamers belonging to three companies, which touch nearly weekly at the principal ports ; and there is com- merce and traffic enough for more. The establishment of steam communication between the port« and the capital has given an activity previously unknown to internal trade, and has brought the inhabitants of distant provinces of the empire into a contact with the capital, highly favorable to the extension of civilisation, and to the enforcement of the legitimate authority of the government. The want of proper harbours is a considerable drawback in the navigation of a sea so unstable and dangerous as the Euxine. Trebizond has a mere roadstead, and from its position is otherwise little calculated for a great commercial port, which, like many other places, it has become rather from its hereditary claims as the representative of a city once famous, than from any local advantages.
The only harbour on the southern coast is that of Batoun, nor is there any retreat for vessels on the Circassian shores. This place is therefore probably destined to become the emporium of trade, both from its safe and spacious port, and from the facility it affords of internal communication with Persia, Georgia, and Armenia. From it the Turkish government might have been in- duped to construct the road since commenced at Trebizond, had not a political influence always hostile to any real improvement in the Ottoman empire opposed it with that pertinacity which is generally sure to command success.
At the back of Trebizond, as indeed along the whole of this singularly bold and beautiful coast, the mountains rise in lofty peaks, and are wooded with trees of enormous growth and ad- mirable quality, furnishing an unlimited supply of timber for commerce or war. Innumerable streams force their way to th'e sea through deep and rocky ravines. The more sheltered spots are occupied by villages and hamlets, chiefly inhabited by a hardy and industrious race of Greeks. In spring the choicest flowers perfume the air, and luxuriant creepers clothe the limbs of gigantic trees. In summer the richest pastures enamel the uplands, and the inhabitants of the coasts drive their flocks and herds to the higher regions of the hills. The foi*est8, nourished by the exhalations and rains engendered by a large expanse of water, form a belt, from thirty to fifty miles in breadth, along the Black Sea. Beyond^ the dense woods cease, as do also the rugged
Cur.L]
AftHENIAlf CHUBCHES.
ntTine and rock; peak. They are succeeded by still higher moun- tains, mofltljr rounded in their fonns, some topped with eternal snow, barren of wood and even of vegetation, except during the enmmer, when they are covered wilh Alpine flowers and herbs. The villages in the valleys are inhabited by Turks, Lazes (Mussul- mans), and Armenians; the soil is fertile, and pfroduces much com. Our journey to Erzeroom was performed without incident. A heavy and uninterrupted run for two days tried the patience and temper of those who for the first time encountered the difficulties and incidents of Bastem travel The only place of any interest, passed during our ride, was a small Armenian vill^e, the remuns of a larger, with the ruins of three early Christian churches, or
baptisteries. These remarkable buildings, of which many ex- amples exist, belong to an order of architecture peculiar to the
8 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Cbap. I.
most eastern districts of Asia Minor and to the ruins of ancient Ar- menian cities *, on the bordera of Turkey and Persia. The one, of which I have given a sketch, is an octagon, and may have been a baptistery. The interior walls are still covered with the remains of elaborate frescoes representing scripture events and national saints. The colors are vivid, and the forms, though rude, not inelegant or incorrect, resembling those of the frescoes of the Lower Empire still seen in the celebrated Byzantine church at Trebizond, and in the chapels of the convents of Mount Athos. The knotted capitals of the thin tapering columns grouped toge- ther, the peculiar arrangement of the stones over the doorway, supporting each other by a zigzag, and the decorations in general, call to mind the European Gothic of the middle ages. These churches date probably before the twelfth century : but there are no inscriptions, or other clue, to fix their precise epoch, and the various styles and modifications of the architecture have not been hitherto sufficiently studied to enable us to determine with accuracy the time to which any peculiar ornaments or forms may belong. Yet there are many interesting questions connected with this Armenian architecture which well deserve elucidation. From it was probably derived much that passed into the Gothic, whilst the Tatar conquerors of Asia Minor adopted it, as will be hereafter seen, for their mausoleums and places of worship. It is peculiarly elegant both in its decorations, its proportions, and the general arrangement of the masses, and might with advantage be studied by the modem architect. Indeed, Asia Minor contains a mine of similar materials unexplored and almost unknown.
The churches of Varzahan, according to the information I re- ceived from an aged inhabitant of the village, had been destroyed some fifty years before by the Lazes. The oldest people of the place remembered the time wh^n divine worship was still performed within their walls.
We reached Erzeroom on the 8th, and were most hospitably received by the British consul, Mr. Brant, a gentleman who has long, well, and honorably sustained our influence in this part of Turkey, and who was the first to open an important field for our commerce in Asia Minor. With him I visited the commander-in- chief of the Turkish forces in Anatolia, who had recently returned
* Particularly of Ani. Mons. Texier is, I believe, the only traveller who has attempted to give elaborate plans, elevations, drawings, and restorations of these interesting edifices.
Chap.L] the dudjook tribes. 9
from a Buccessful expedition against the wild mountain tribes of central Armenia. Reshid Pasha, known as the " Guzluy^ or " the Wearer of Spectacles," enjoyed the advantages of an European education, and had already distinguished himself in the military career. With a knowledge of the French language he united a taste for European literature, which, during his numerous expe- ditions into districts unknown to western travellers, had led him to examine their geographical features, and to make inquiries into the manners and religion of their inhabitants. His last exploit had been the subjugation of the tribes inhabiting the Dudjook Moun- tains, to the south-west of Erzeroom, long in open rebellion against the Sultan. The account he gave me of the country and its occu- pants, much excited a curiosity which the limited time at my com- mand did not enable me to gratify. According to the Pasha, the tribes are idolatrous, worshipping venerable oaks, great trees, huge solitary rocks, and other grand features of nature. He was inclined to attribute to them mysterious and abominable rites. This calumny, the resource of ignorance and intolerance, from which even primitive Christianity did not escape, has generally been spread in the East against those whose tenets are unknown or carefully concealed, and who, in Turkey, are included under the general term, indicating their supposed obscene ceremonies, of Cheragh-sonderan, or " Extinguishers of Lights." They have a chief priest, who is, at the same time, a kind of political head of the sect. He had recently been taken prisoner, sent to Constan- tinople, and from thence exiled to some town on the Danube. They s[)eak a Kunli^h dialect, though the various septs into which they are divided have Arabic names, apparently showing a south- ern origin. Of their history and early migrations, however, the Pa^ha could learn nothing. The direct road between Trebizond and Mesopotamia once [)as^^cd through their districts, and the ruins <»f spacious and well-built khans are still seen at regular intervals f»n the remains of the old causeway. But from a remote period, the country had been closed a;^ainst the strongest caravans, and no tnivellcr would venture into the power of tribes notorious for their cruelty and lawlessness. The Pasha spoke of re-opening the road, rebuilding caravanserais, and restoring trade to its ancient channel — go<Ml intentions, not wanting amongst Turks of his class, and which, if carried out, might restore a country rich in natural resources to more than its ancient pros[)€rity. The account he gave me is not perha[)8 to be strictly relied on, but a district hitherto inaccessible
10 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. L
may possibly contain the remains of ancient races, monuments of antiquity, and natural productions of sufficient importance to merit the attention of the traveller in Asia Minor.
The city of Erzeroom is rapidly declinii^ in importance, and is almost solely supported by the Persian transit trade. It would be nearly deserted if that traffic were to be thrown into a new channel by the construction of the direct road from Batoun to the Persian frontiers. It contains no buildings of any interest, with the exception of a few ruins of those monuments of early Mussul- man domination, the elaborately ornamented portico and minaret faced with glazed tiles of rich yet harmonious coloring, and the conical mausoleum, peculiar to most cities of early date in Asia Minor. The modem Turki.'^h edifices, dignified with the names of palaces and barracks, are meeting the fate of neglected mud. Their crumbling walls can scarcely shelter their inmates in a climate almost unequalled in the habitable globe for the rigor of its winters.
The districts of Armenia and Kurdistan, through which lay our road from Erzeroom to Mosul, are sufficiently unknown and interesting to merit more than a casual mention. The map will show that our route by the lake of Wan, Bitlis, and Jezirah was nearly a direct one. It had been but recently opened to caravans. The haunts of the last of the Kurdish rebels were on the shores of this lake. After the fall of the most powerful of their chiefs, Beder Khan Bey, they had one by one been subdued and carried away into captivity. Only a few months had, however, elapsed since the Beys of Bitlis, who had longest resisted the Turkish arms, had been captured. With them rebellion was extinguished for the time in Kurdistan.
Our caravan consisted of my own party, with the addition of a muleteer and his two assistants, natives of Bitlis, who furnished me with seventeen horses and mules from Erzeroom to Mosul. The first day's ride, as is customary in the East, where friends accompany the traveller far beyond the city gates, and where the preparations for a journey are so numerous that everything cannot well be remembered, scarcely exceeded nine miles. We rested for the night in the village of Guli, whose owner, one Shahan Bey, had been apprised of my intended visit. He had rendered his newly- built house as comfortable as his means would permit for our accommodation, and, after providing us with an excellent supper, passed the evening with me. Descended from an ancient family of Derch-Beys he had inherited the hospitality and polished man-
Cbap. L] TUBKISH BEFOBH. 11
ners of a class now almost extinct^ and of which a short account may not be uninteresting.
The Turkish conquerors, after the overthrow of the Greek empire, parcelled out their newly acquired dominions into military fiefs. These tenures varied subsequently in size from the vast possessions of the great families, with their hosts of retainers, such as the Kara Osmans of Magnesia, the Pasvan Oglus, and others, to the small spa/iiliks of Turkey in Europe, whose owners were obliged to perform personal military service when called upon by the state. Between them, of middle rank, were the Dereh-Beys, literally the " LfOrds of the Valley," who resided in their fortified castles, or villages, and scarcely owned more than a nominal allegiance to the Sultan, although generally ready to accompany him in a great national war against the infidels, or in expeditions against too powerful and usurping subjects. Sultan Mahmoud, a man of undoubted genius and of vast views for the consolidation and centralisation of his empire, aimed not only at the extirpation of all those great families, which, either by hereditary right or by local influence, had assumed a kind of independence ; but of all the smaller Dereh*Beys and Spahis. This gigantic scheme, which changed the whole system of tenure and local administration, whether political or financial, he nearly carried out, partly by force of anns and partly by treachery. Sultan Abd-ul-Mejid, freed from the difficulties and embarrassments with which an unfortunate war with Russia and successful rebellions in Albania and Egypt had surrounded his father, has completed what Mahmoud commenced. Not only have the few remaining Dereh-Beys been destroyed or re- movcil one by one, but even military tenure has been entirely abo- lished by arbitrary enactments, which have given no compensation to the owners, and have destroyed the only hereditary nobility in the empire. 0[)inion8 may differ as to the wisdom of the course pursued, and as to its probable results. Whilst greater personal se- curity has been undoubtedly established throughout the Ottoman dominions, whilst the subjects of the Sultan are, theoretically at lex-^t, no longer exposed to the tyranny of local chiefs, but are go- Temed by the more e(iuitable and tolerant laws of the empire ; his throne has lost the support of a race bred to military life, undisci- plined it is true, but brave and devoted, always ready to join the holy fftandard when unfurled against the enemies of the nation and iu religion, a race who carried the Turkish arms into the heart of Europe, and were the terror of Christendom. Whether a regular anny, disciplined as far as jmssiblc after the fashiou o( ALutoy^^)
1 2 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I.
Will supply the place of the old Turkish irregular cavalry and infantry, remains to be seen, and, for reasons which it is scarcely necessary to enter into, may fairly be doubted. With the old system the spirit which supported it is fast dying away, and it may be questioned whether, in Mussulman Turkey, discipline can ever compensate for its loss. The country has certainly not yet recovered from the change. During the former state of things, with all the acts of tyranny and oppression which absolute power engendered, there was more happiness among the people, and more prosperity in the land. The hereditary chiefs looked upon their Christian subjects as so much property to be improved and protected, like the soil itself. They were a source of revenue; consequently heavy taxes which impeded labor, and drove the la- borer from the land, were from interest rarely imposed upon them. The Government left the enforcement of order to the local chiefs ; all the tribute received from them was so much clear gain to the treasury, because no collectors were needed to raise it, nor troops to enforce its payment. The revenues of the empire were equal to great wars, and there was neither public debt nor embarrassment. Now that the system of centralisation has been fully carried out, the revenues are more than absorbed in the measures necessary to collect them, and the officers of government, having no interest whatever in the districts over which they are placed, neglect all that may tend to the prosperity and well-being of their inhabitants. It may be objected in extenuation that it is scarcely fair to judge of the working of a system so suddenly introduced, and that Turkey is merely in a transition state ; the principle it has adopted, what- ever its abuse, being fundamentally correct. One thing is certain, that Turkey must, sooner or later, have gone through this change. It is customary to regard these old Turkish lords as inexorable tyrants — robber chiefs who lived on the plunder of travellers and of their subjects. That there were many who answered to this description cannot be denied ; but they were, I believe, exceptions. Amongst them were some rich in virtues and high and noble feeling. It has been frequently my lot to find a representative of this nearly extinct class in some remote and almost unknown spot in Asia Minor or Albania. I have been received with affec- tionate warmth at the end of a day's journey by a venerable Bey or Agha in his spacious mansion, now fast crumbling to ruin, but still bright with the remains of rich, yet tasteful, oriental deco- ration ; his long beard, white as snow, falling low on his breast ; his many- folded turban shadowing his benevolent yet manly
Cbap.L] shah an bey. 13
coanteiiance, and his limbs enveloped in the noble garments rejected by the new generation ; his hall open to all comers, the guest neither asked from whence he came or whither he was going, dipping his hands with him in the same dish ; his servants, standing with reverence before him, rather his children than his servants; his revenues spent in raising fountains* on the wajside for the weary traveller, or in building caravanserais on the dreary plain ; not only professing but practising all the duties and virtues enjoined by the Koran, which are Christian duties and virtues too; in hb manners, his appearance, his hospitality, and his faithful- ness a perfect model for a Christian gentleman. The race is fast passing away, and I feel grateful in being able to testify, with a few others, to its existence once, against prejudice, intolerance, and 80 called reform.
But to return to our host at Guli. Shahan Bey, although not an old man, was a very favorable specimen of the class I have described. He was truly, in the noble and expressive phraseology of the East, an " Ojiak Zadeh," " a child of the hearth," a gentle- man bom. His family had originally migrated from Daghistan, and his father, a pasha, had distinguished himself in the wars with Russia. He entertained me with animated accounts of feuds between his ancestors and the neighbouring chiefs, when without their anne<l retainers neither could venture beyond their imme- diate territories, contrasting, with good sense and a fair knowledge of his subject, tlic former with the actual state of the country. On the followiniT morninix, when 1 bade him adieu, he would not allow me to rewanl either himself or his servants, for hospitality extcn«led to so larjje a comnanv. He rode with me fur some dij»tance on n)y route, witii his greyhounds and followers, and then returned to his viliafre.
Fn»m (iuli we crossed a hitrh ranj^c of mountains, runningr nearly ea>t and west, by a pass called Ali-Baba, or Ala-Baba, en- joying from the summit an extensive view of the plain of Pasvin, onre one of the most thickly |>eopled and best cultivated districts in Armenia, The Christian inhabitants were partly induced by prc^mi-es of lan<l and protection, and partly compelled by force, to accompany the Russian army into Georgia after the end
• T)ie mo*t unolwTvanl an<l hasty traveller in Turkey would soon bocom<» a#«|u»i(it(.il with lhi*» fart, cruiM he na*! the nlo^le^t an«l pious instri|)tion, oarveil In T''Vu'f f»n a •niull marl.le taMi't of the j)ure>t while, aihirniu;: al!no>t every kaif-ruinc*] fountain at which he stops lu refIe^h himself l)y the way.si<lo.
14 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I.
of the last war with Turkey. By similar means that part of the Pashalic of Erzeroom adjoining the Russian territories was almost stripped of its most industrious Armenian population. To the south of us rose the snow-capped mountains of the Bin-Ghiul> or the " Thousand Lakes/' in which the Araxes and several con- fluents of the Euphrates have their source. We descended from the pass into undulating and barren downs. The villages, thinly scattered over the low hills, were deserted by their inhabitants, who, at this season of the year, pitch their tents and seek pasture for their flocks in the uplands. We encamped for the night near one of these villages, called Gundi-Miran, or, in Turkish, Bey-Kiui, which has the same meaning, " the village of the chief." A man who remained to watch the crops of com and barley went to the tents, and brought us such provisions as we required. The inhabitants of this district are Kurds, and are still divided into tribes. The owners of Gundi-Miran, and the surrounding villages, are the Ziraklu (the armour-wearers), who came originally from the neighbourhood of Diarbekir. Within a few months of our visit they were in open rebellion against the government, and the country had been closed against travellers and caravans.
Next day we continued our journey amongst undulating hills, abounding in flocks of the great and lesser bustard. Innmerable sheep-walks branched from the beaten path, a sign that villages were near ; but, like those we had passed the day before, they had been deserted for the yilaks^ or summer pastures. These villages are still such as they were when Xenophon traversed Armenia. " Their houses," says he, ** were under ground ; the mouth resembling that of a well, but spacious below : there was an entrance dug for the cattle, but the inhabitants descended by ladders. In these houses were goats, sheep, cows, and fowls with their young." • The low hovels, mere holes in the hill-side, and the common refuge of man, poultry, and cattle, cannot be seen from any distance, and they are purposely built away from the road to escape the unwelcome visits of travelling government oflScers and marching troops. It is not un- common for a traveller to receive the first intimation of his approach * to a village by finding his horse's fore feet down a chimney, and himself taking his place unexpectedly in the family circle through the roof. Numerous small streams wind among the valleys, mark- ing by meandering lines ofperpetual green their course to the Arras,
* Anabasis, lib. iv. c. 5.
CuAP.L] THE SUBHAN DAGH, 15
or Araxes. We crossed that river about midday by a ford not more than three feet deep, but the bed of the stream is wide, and after rains, and during the spring, is completely filled by an- im- passible torrent. On its southern bank we found a caravan re- posing, the horses and mules feeding in the long grass, the travellers sleeping in the shade of their piled up bales of goods. Amongst the merchants we recognised several natives of Mosul who trade with Erzeroom, changing dates and coarse Mosul fabrics for a fine linen made at Riza, — a small place on the Black Sea, near Trebizond, — > and much worn by the wealthy and by women.
During the afternoon we crossed the western spur of the Tiektab Mountains, a high and bold range with three well defined peaks, which had been visible from the summit of the Ala-Baba pass. From the crest we had the first view of Subhan, or Sipan, Dagh ♦, a magnificent conical peak, covered with eternal snow, and rising abruptly from the plain to the north of Lake Wan. It is a con- spicuous and beautiful object from every part of the surrounding country. We descended into the wide and fertile plain of Hinnis. The town was just visible in the distance, but we left it to the right, and halted for the night in the large Armenian village of Koeli, after a ride of more than nine hours. I was received at the gue«t-houset with great hospitality by one Misrab Agha, a Turk,
• SIpan 13 a Kurdish corruption of Subhan, i.e. Praise. The mountain is so called, because a tradition asserts that whilst Noah was carried to and fro by the waters of the dehigc, the ark struck ajrainst its peak, and the patriarch, alarmed by the shoik, exclaimed " Subhanu-Uah," " Praise be to God !'* It has also been conjectured that the name is derived from " Surp,*' an Armenian word meaning " holy.** It has only been ascended once, as far as I am aware, by Europeans. Mr. Brant, the British consul of Erzeroom, accompanied by Lieut. GIas<x>tt and Dr. Dickson, reacrhed the summit on the 1st of September, 1838, aft^r experiencing considerable fatigue and inconvenience from some pecu- liarity in the atmosphere (not, it would appear, the result of any very con- siderable elevation). They found within the cone a small lake, apparently 61Iing the hollow of a crater; and scoria and lava, met with in abundance during the ascent, indicated the existence, at some remote period, of a volcano. L'nfortunately, the barometers with which the party were provided, were out of order, and Mr. Brant has only been able to estimate the height of the i&ountain by approximation, at 10,000 feet, which I believe to be under the mark. (S«*e Mr. Brant's highly interesting memoir in the tenth volume of the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, p. 49.)
t Almost every village in Turkey, not on a high road, and not provided with a caravanserai or khan, contains a house reserved exclusivelv for the enter- Uioment of guests, in which travellers are not only lodged, but fed, gratuitously. li it maintained by the joint contribution of the villagers, or sometimes by the bequests of individuals, and b under the care cither of the chief of
16 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [ChaP. I.
to whom the village formerly belonged as Spahilik or military tenure, and who, deprived of his hereditary rights, had now farmed its revenues. He hurried with a long stick among the low houses, and heaps of dried dung, piled up in every open space for winter fuel, collecting fowls, curds, bread, and barley, abusing at the same time the tanzimaty which compelled such exalted travellers as ourselves, he said, " to pay for the provisions we condescended to accept." The inhabitants were not, however, backward in furnish- ing us with all we wanted, and the flourish of Misrab Agha's stick was only the remains of an old habit. I invited him to supper with me, an invitation he gladly accepted, having himself contri- buted a tender lamb roasted whole towards our entertainment.
The inhabitants of Kosli could scarcely be distinguished either by their dress or by their general appearance from the Kurds. They seemed prosperous and were on the best terms with the Mussulman farmer of their tithes. This village, with others in the district, had been nearly deserted after the Russian war, the in- habitants migrating into Georgia. Several families had recently returned, but having finished their harvest were desirous of recross- ing the frontier, probably a manoeuvre to avoid the payment of cer- tain dues and taxes. Of this Misrab Agha was fully aware. " The ill-mannered fellows," exclaimed he, " having filled their bellies with good things, and taken away the fat of the land, want to go back to the Muscovites ; but they deceive themselves, they must now sit where they are*" The emigrants did not indeed speak very favourably of the condition of those who had settled in Russia. Many wish to return to their old villages in Turicey, where they can enjoy far greater liberty and independence. This was subsequently confirmed to me by others who had come back to their native settlements. The Russian government, however, by a strict military surveillance along the Georgian frontiers, prevents as far as possible this desertion.
Kosli stands at the foot of the hills forming the southern boundary of the plain of Hinnis, through which flows a branch of the Murad Su, or Lower Euphrates. We forded this river near the ruins of a bridge at Kara Kupri. The plain is generally well cultivated, the principal produce being corn and hemp, The vil- lages, which are thickly scattered over it, have the appearance of
the village, or of a person expressly named for the purpose, and called the Oda- Bashi, the chief of the guest-room. Since the introduction of the tanzimat (re- formed system), this custom is rapidly falling into disuse in most parts of Turkey frequented by European travellers.
C«AF. L] A THBESHING-FLOOB. 17
extreme wretchedness, and, with their low houses and heaps of dried manure piled upon the roofs and in the open spaces around, look more like gigantic dunghills than human habitations. The Kurds and Armenian Christians, both hardy and industrious races, are pretty equally divided in numbers, and live sociably in the same filth and misery. The extreme severity of the winter, — the snow lying deep on the ground for some months, — prevents the cultiva- tion of fruit trees, and the complete absence of wood gives the country a desolate aspect. Bustards, cranes, and waterfowl of various kinds abound.
We left the plain of Hinnis by a pass through the mountain range of Zemak. In the valleys we found clusters of black tents belonging to the nomad Kurds, and the hill-sides were covered with their flocks. The summit of a high peak overhang- ing the road is occupied by the ruins of a castle formerly held by Kurdish chiefs, who levied black-mail on travellers, and carried their depredations into the plains. On reaching the top of the pass we had an uninterrupted view of the Subhan Dagh, From the village of Karagol, where we halted for the night, it rose abruptly before us. This magnificent peak, with the rugged moun- twifl of Kurdistan, the river Euphrates winding through the plain, the peasants driving the oxen over the corn on the threshing- floor, and the groups of Kurdish horsemen with their long spears and flowing garments, formed one of those scenes of Eastern travel which leave an indelible impression on the imagination, and bring back in after years indescribable feelings of pleasure and rejx»ge.
The threshing-floor, which added so much to the beauty and interc??t of the picture at Karagol, had been seen in all the villages we had pa-^sed during our day's journey. The abundant harvest had hoen gathered in, and the corn was now to be threshed and fftun.d tor the winter. The process adopted is simple, and nearly furh ai it was in patriarchal times. The children either drive horr*<'s round and round over the heaps, or standing upon a sledge Muck full of sharp flints on the under part, are drawn by oxen »#ver the scattered sheaves. Such were " the threshing-sledges amu-d with teeth'' mentioned by Isaiah. In no insUince are the aninialf* muzzled — ** thou shall not uuizzle the ox when he treadeth «»ijt the corn;*' but they linger to jnck up a scanty mouihful as th«y are urged on by the boys and young girls, to whom the duties of the threshing-floor are chiefly as>*igned. The grain is winnowed l)y the men and women, who throw the com aud blnxv*
c
NISEVEH AND BABTLOK.
together into the aJr with a wooden ehovel) leaving the wind to carry away the chaff whilst the seed falls to the ground. The wheat 18 then raked into heape and left on the threshing-floor
until the tithe- gatherer has taken his portion. The straw is stored for the winter, as provender for the cattle,"
The Kurdish inhabitants of this plain are chieBy of the tribe of Mamanli, once very powerful, and mustering nearly 2O00 horse- men for war, according to the information I received from one of their petty chiefs who lodged with ua for the night in the guest- house of Karagot. After the Kussian war, part of the tribe was included in the ceded terriiory. Their chief resides at Malaskert.
* Theae processes of thresliing and winnoiring appear to have been used from the earliest time m Asia, Isaiah alludes to it when addressing the Jewa (Kxviii. 27, 28. See TranBlutiou hy the Rev. John Jones) ; —
" The dill is not threshed with the lhre*hivg iledgt. Nor is the wheel of the wain piade to roll over the cummin.
Bread corn a threshed :
But not for ever will he continue thus to thresh it;
Though he driveth along Ibe wheels of his wain,
Ayid hit hortei, he will not bruise it to dust." " The oxen and the young asses, that till the ground
Shall eat clean provender.
Which hath been winnowed icifA the shovel utiAttMhiha fan." (xxx. 24.) " Behold, I have made thee a new sharp threshing wain (sledge) armed \m&
pointed teeth" (ili. IS.) " Thou shalt winnow them, and the wind shall carr; them away." (xll. 16.)
Chap. I.] A KURDISH VILLAGE. 19
We crossed the principal branch of the Euphrates soon after leaving Karagol. Although the river is fordable at this time of year, during the spring it is nearly a mile in breadth, overflowing its banks, and converting the entire plain into one great marsh. We had now to pick our way through a swamp, scaring, as we advanced, myriads of wild-fowl. I have rarely seen game in such abundance and such variety in one spot ; the water swarmed with geese, duck, and teal, the marshy ground with herons and snipe, and the stubble with bustards and cranes. After the rains the lower road is impassable, and caravans are obliged to make a con- siderable circuit along the foot of the hills.
We were not sorry to escape the fever-breeding swamp and mud of the pl^n, and to enter a line of low hills, separating us from the lake of Gula Shailu. I stopped for a few minutes at an Armenian monastery, situated on a small platform overlooking the plain. The bishop was at his breakfast, his fare frugal and episcopal enough, consistincr of nothinc]r more than boiled beans and sour milk. He insisted that I should partake of his repast, and I did so, in a small room scarcely large enough to admit the round tray containing the dishes, into which I dipped my hand with him and his chaplain. I found him profoundly ignorant, like the rest of his class, grumbling about taxes, and abusing the Turkish go- vernment. All I could learn of the church was that it contained the body of a much venerated saint, who had lived about the time of St. Gregory the Illuminator, and that it was the resort of the afflicted and diseased who trusted to their faith, rather than to medicine, for relief. The whole establishment belongs to the large Armenian village of Kop, which could be faintly distinguished in the plain below. The Kurds had plundered the convent of its books and its finery, but the church remained pretty well as it had been some fifteen centuries ago.
After a pleasant ride of five hours we reached a deep clear lake, embedded in the mountaini*, two or three pelicans, ** swan and sha- dow double," and myriads of water-fowl, lazily floating on its blue waters. Piron, the village where we halted for the night, stands at the further end of the Gula Shailu, and is inhabited by Kurds of the tribe of Ha^ananlu, and by Armenians, all living in good fel- lowiibip amidst the dirt and wretchedness of their eternal dung- heap*. Ophthalmia had made sad havoc amongst them, and the doctor was soon surrounded by a crowd of the blind and diseased clamoring for relief. The villagers said that a Persian, professing to be a Hakim, had passed through the pkce some time before, and had
c 2
20 NIKEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I.
offered to cure all bad eyes on payment of a certain sum in ad- vance. These terms being ^reed to, he gave his patients a powder which left the sore eyes as they were, and destroyed the good ones. He then went his way : " And with the money in his pocket too," added a ferocious-looking Kurd, whose appearance certainly threw considerable doubt on the assertion ; " but what can one do in these days of accursed Tanzimat (reform) ? "
The district we had now entered formerly belonged to Sheriff Bey, the rebellious chief of Moush, but, since his capture last year, had been made miri, or government property. Although all the Mohammedan inhabitants of this part of Kurdistan are Kurds, those alone are called so who live in tents ; those who reside in villages are known simply as "Mussulman."
The lake of Shailu is separated from the larger lake of Nazik, by a range of low hills about six miles in breadth. We reached the small village of ESiers, built on its western extremity, in about two hours and a half, and found the chief, surrounded by the principal inhabitants, seated on a raised platform near a well- built stone house. He assured me, stroking a beard of spot- less white to confirm his words, that he was above ninety years of age, and had never seen an European before the day of my visit. Half blind, he peered at me through his blear eyes until he had fully satisfied his curiosity; then spoke contemptuously of the Franks, and abused the Tanzimat, which he declared had destroyed all Mussulman spirit, had turned true believers into infidels, and had brought his own tribe to ruin, meaning, of course, that they could no longer prey upon their neighbours. His son, more of a courtier, and probably thinking that something might be gained by praising the present state of things, spoke less unfa- vourably of reform, though, I doubt not, entertaining equal aver- sion to it in his heart. The old gentleman, notwithstanding his rough exterior, was hospitable after his fashion, and would not suffer us to depart until we had eaten of every delicacy the village could afford.
Our path lay along the banks of the lake. The people of Khers declare that the Nazik Gul only contains fish during the spring of the year, and then but of the one kind caught in the lake of Wan. I was unable to account for this fact, repeated by the peasants whom we met on our road, until reaching the eastern end of the lake I found that a communication existed between it and that of Wan, by a deep ravine, through which the waters, swollen during the rains and by the melting of the snows in spring, dis-
Cbap. L] ABMENIAN PLOUGH. 21
charge themselves near Akhlat^ At this season there was only water enough in the ravine to show the difference of level. In spring the fish seek the creeks and fresh-water streams to spawn, and at that time alone are captured by the inhabitants of the shores of the lake of Wan. During the rest of the year, they leave the shallows and are secure from the nets of the fishermen.f The only fish known is of the size and appearance of a herring. It is caught during the season in such abundance that it forms, when dried and salted, provision for the rest of the year, and a consider- able article of exportation. 1 was informed, however, by a Christian, that a large fish, probably of the barbel kind, was found in the Xazik Gul, whose waters, unlike those of Wan, are fresh and sweet. Leaving the Nazik Gul we entered an undulating country traversed by very deep ravines, mere channels cut into the sand- stone by mountain torrents. The villages are built at the bottom of these gulleys, amidst fruit trees and gardens, sheltered by per- pendicular rocks and watered by running streams. They are undi^overed until the traveller reaches the very edge of the pre- cipice, when a pleasant and cheerful scene opens suddenly beneath hu* feet He would have believed the upper country a mere desert had he not spied here and there in the distance a peasant slowly driving his plough through the rich soil. The inha- bitants of this district are more industrious and ingenious than their neiglibours. They carry the produce of their harvest not on the backs of animalia, as in most parts of Asia Minor, but in carl» entirely made of wood, no iron being used even in the
wheels, which arc ingeniously built of walnut, oak, and kara agatch (literally, black tree — ? thorn), the stronger woods being used for rough spokes let into the nave. The plough also differs from that in jreneml use in Asia. To the share are attached two parallel boards, about four feet long and a foot broad, which separate the soil and leave a deep ' and well defined furrow.
• Tb< Bbailu Ulo ha«, I wm inn»rmc<l, a similar communication with the >f ara4 Su. IJoth lakei are wrongly placed in the Prunnian and other majMi, and lh**ir o«itl«lii unnoticed.
t Vakuti, in hit pecjrraphical work, the " Moajem cl Buldan," mcntioni ihm dicAppearance of the fi-^h, which are only to he seen, he nays, during^ U\t^ BOQiitt of tbe year. He addiS however, frogn and f hellfiih.
c 3
NISEVEH AND BABTLO^f.
We rode for two or three hoars on these uplands, nntU, suddenly reaching the edge of a ravine, a beautiful prospect of lake, wood- land, and moant^n, opened before us.
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— T*TAm -roMBS.— ANCIBST BBMAISB.— A DBRmB. H AIMENIAH COnVKIT AXD
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The fint view the traveller obtains of the Lake of Wan, on de- fcentling towards it from the billri above Akblnt, is singularly beau- tifuL Tbis great inland sea, of the deepest blue, is bounded to the east by ranges of serrated snow -capped mountains, peering one above ibe other, and springing here and there into the highest peaks of Tiyari and Kurdistan ; beneath them lica the sacred inland of Akhtamar, just visible in the distance, like a dark shadow on the water. At the further end rises the one sublime cone of the Suhhan, and along the lower part of the eastern shorce BtTClcVtM iW Nimrond Di^h, varied h ahtpe, and rich in local traivlUAk
24 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IL
At our feet, as we drew nigh to the lake, were the gardens of the ancient city of Akhlat, leaning minarets and pointed mauso- leums peeping above the trees. We rode through vast burying- grounds, a perfect forest of upright stones seven or eight feet high of the richest red colour, most delicately and tastefully carved with arabesque ornaments and inscriptions in the massive character of the early Mussulman age. In the midst of them rose here and there a conical turbeh ^ of beautiful shape, covered with exquisite tracery. The monuments of the dead still stand, and have become the monuments of a city, itself long crumbled into dust. Amidst orchards and gardens are scattered here and there low houses rudely built out of the remains of the earlier habitations, and fragments of cornice and sculpture are piled up into walls around the cultivated plots.
Leaving the servants to pitch the tents on a lawn near one of the finest of the old Mussulman tombs, and in a grove of lofty trees, beneath whose spreading branches we could catch distant views of the lake, I walked through the ruins. Emerging from the gardens and crossing a part of the great burying-ground, I came upon a well-preserved mausoleum of the same deep red stone, now glow- ing in the rays of the sun ; its conical roof rested on columns and arches, and on a kubkh^ or place to direct the face in prayer, deco- rated with all the richness, yet elegance, of Eastern taste. The cor- nice supporting the roof was formed by many bands of ornament, each equally graceful though differing one from the other. The columns stood on a base rising about nine feet from the ground, the upper part of which was adorned with panels, each varying in shape, and containing many-angled recesses, decorated with different patterns, and the lower part projected at an angle with the rest of the building. In this basement was the chamber ; the mortal remains of its royal occupant had long ago been torn away and thrown to the dust. Around the turbeh were scattered richly carved head and foot stones, marking the graves of less noble men; and the whole was enclosed by a grove of lofty trees, the dark-blue lake glittering beyond. Whilst the scene was worthy of the pencil of a Turner, each detail in the building was a study for an architect. Tradition names the tomb that of Sultan Baiandour f, one of the chiefs of the great Tatar tribes, who crossed the frontiers of Persia in the fifteenth century. The
* The small building which sometimes covers a Mohammedan tomb is so called.
t A sultan of the Ak-Eoujunlu, or White-sheep Tatars, from whom the tribe •'^red their name of Baiandouru
26 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. II.
building still resisting decay is now used as a storehouse for grain and straw by a degenerate race, utterly unmindful of the glories of their ancestors. Near this turbeh were others, less well pre- served, but equally remarkable for elegant and varied decoration, their conical roofs fretted with delicate tracery, carved in relief on the red stone. They belong, according to local tradition, to Sultans of the Ak-Kouyunlu and Kara-Kouyunlu Tatars, the well-known tribes of the White and Black Sheep.
Beyond the turbeh of Sultan Baiandour, through a deep ravine such as I have already described, runs a brawling stream, crossed by an old bridge ; orchards and gardens make the bottom of the narrow valley, and the cultivated ledges as seen from above, a bed of foliage. The lofty perpendicular rocks rising on both sides are literally honeycombed with entrances to artificial caves, — ancient tombs, or dwelling-places. On a high isolated mass of sandstone stand the walls and towers of a castle, the remains of the ancient city of Khelath, celebrated in Armenian history, and one of the seats of Armenian power. I ascended to the crumbling ruins, and examined the excavations in the rocks. The latter are now used as habitations, and as stables for herds and ilocks. The spacious entrances of some are filled up with stones for protection and comfort, a small opening being left for a door- way. Before them, on the ledges overlooking the ravine, stood here and there groups of as noble a race as I have anywhere seen, tall, brawny men^ handsome women, and beautiful children. They were Kurds, dressed in the flowing and richly-colored robes of their tribe. I talked with them and found them courteous, in- telligent, and communicative.
Many of the tombs are approached by flights of steps, also cut in the rock. An entrance, generally square, unless subsequently widened, and either perfectly plain or decorated with a simple cornice^ opens into a spacious chamber, which frequently leads into others on the same level, or by narrow flights of steps into upper rooms. There are no traces of the means by which these entrances were closed : they probably were so by stones, turning on rude hinges, or rolling on rollers.* Excavated in the walls, or some-
♦ Tombs, with entrances closed by stones, ingeniously made to roll back into a groove, still exist in many parts of the East. We learn from both the Old and New Testament, that such tombs were in common use in Palestine, as well as in other countries of Asia. The stone was " rolled away from the sepulchre" in which Christ was laid ; which we may gather from the context was a chamber cut into the rock, and intended to receive many bodies, although it had not
Chap, II.] BUIXS OF AKHLAT. 27
times sunk into the floor, are recesses or troughs, in which once lay the bodies of the dead, whilst in small niches, in the sides of the chambers, were placed lamps and sacrificial objects. Tombs in every respect similar are found throughout the mountains of As- syria and Persia, as far south as Shiraz ; but I have never met with them in such abundance as at Akhlat. Their contents were long ago the spoil of conquerors, and the ancient chambers of the dead have been for centuries the abodes of the livincj.
Leaving the valley and winding through a forest of fruit trees, here and there interspersed with a few primitive dwellings, I came to the old Turkish castle, standing on the very edge of the lake. It is a pure Ottoman edifice, less ancient than the turbehs, or the old walls towering above the ravine. Inscriptions over the gateways state that it was partly built by Sultan Selim, and partly by Sultan Suleiman, and over the northern entrance occurs the date of 975 of the Hejira. The walls and towers are still standing, and need but slight repair to be again rendered capable of defence. They inclose a fort, and about 200 houses, with two mosques and baths, fast falling into decay, and only tenanted by a few miserable families, who, too poor or too idle to build anew, linger amongst the ruins. In the fort, separated from the dwell- ing places by a high thick wall and a ponderous iron-bound gate now hanging half broken away from its rusty hinges, there dwelt, until very recently, a notorious Kurdish freebooter, of the name of Mehemet Bey, who, secure in this stronghold, ravaged the sur- rounding country, and sorely vexed its Christian inhabitants. He fled on the approach of the Turkish troops, after their successful expedition against Nur-Ullah Bey, and is supposed to be wandering in the mountains of southern Kurdistan.
After the capture of Beder Khan Bey, Osman Pasha, the com- mander-in-chief of the Turkish army, a man of enterprise and liberal views, formed a plan for restoring to Akhlat its ancient prosperity, by making it the capital of the north-eastern pro- vinces of the Turkish empire. He proposed, by grants of land, to induce the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages to remove to the town, and by peculiar privileges to draw to the new settlement the artizans of Wan, Bitlis^ Moush, and even Erzeroom. Its po-
bcen Qfed before. Such, alio, was the tomb of Lazarus. Raphael, who ii ■iiifiilarlj correct in delineating Eastern habits and costumes in his scriptural pieces, has thus portrajed the tomb of the Saviour in a sketch in the Oxford Collection.
28 NINEVEH AND BABYLON* [Chap. II.
sition on the borders of a vast lake is favourable to traffic, and its air is considered very salubrious. From its vicinity to the Persian and Bussian frontiers it might become of considerable importance as a military depot. Osraan Pasha was about to construct a palace, a bazar, and barracks, and to repair the walls of the old castle, when death put an end to his schemes. In Turkey a man in power, from principle, never carries out the plans, or finishes the buildings of his predecessor ; and Akhlat, one of the most beautiful spots that the imagination can picture, will probably long remain a heap of ruins. Scarcely a sail flutters on the water. The only commerce is carried on by a few miserable vessels, which venture in the finest weather to leave the little harbour of Wan to search for wood and com on the southern shores of the lake.
The ancient city of Khelath was the capital of the Armenian province of Peznouni. It came under the Mohammedan power as early as the ninth century, but was conquered by the Greeks of the Lower Empire at the end of the tenth. The Seljuks took it from them, and it then again became a Mussulman principality. It was long a place of contention for the early Arab and Tatar conquerors. Shah Armen* reduced it towards the end of the twelfth century. It was besieged, without result, by the cele- brated Saleh-ed-din, and was finally captured by his nephew, the son of Melek Adel, in A. D. 1207.
The sun was setting as I returned to the tents. The whole scene was lighted up with its golden tints, and Claude never composed a subject more beautiful than was here furnished by nature herself. I was seated outside my tent gazing listlessly on the scene, when I was roused by a well-remembered cry, but one which I had not heard for years. I turned about and saw stand- ing before me a Persian Dervish, clothed in the fawn-colored gazelle skin, and wearing the conical red cap, edged with fur, and embroidered in black braid with verses from the Koran and invo- cations to Ali, the patron of his sect. He was no less surprised than I had been at his greeting, when I gave him the answer peculiar to men of his order. He was my devoted friend and ser- vant from that moment, and sent his boy to fetch a dish of pears, for which he actually refused a present ten times their value. He
* Shah Armen, i. e. King of Armenia, was a title assumed by a dynasty reigning at Akhlat, founded by Sokman Kothby, a slave of the Seljuk prince, Kothbedin Ismail, who established an independent principality at Akhlat in A.D. 1100, which lasted eighty years.
Chap. II.] RUINS OF AKHLAT. 29
declared that I was one of his craft, and was fairly puzzled to make out where I had picked up my knowledge of his mystery and phraseology. But he was not my first Dervish friend; I had bad many adventures in company with such as he.
Whilst we were seated chatting in the soft moonlight^ Hormuzd was suddenly embraced by a young man resplendent with silk and gold embroidery and armed to the teeth. He was a chief from the district of Mosul and well known to us. Hearing of our arrival he had hastened from his village at some distance to welcome us, and to endeavour to persuade me to move the encampment and partake of his hospitality. Failing, of course, in prevailing upon me to change my quarters for the night, he sent his servant to his wife, who was a lady of Mosul, and formerly a friend of my companion's, for a sheep. We found ourselves thus unexpectedly amongst friends. Our circle was further increased by Christians and Mus- sulmans of Aklilat, and the night was far spent before we retired to rest.
In the morning, soon after sunrise, I renewed my wanderings amongst the ruins, first calling upon the Mudir, or governor, who received me seated under his own fig-tree. He was an old grey- beard, a native of the place, and of a straightforward, honest bearing. I had to listen to the usual complaints of poverty and over-taxation, although, after all, the village, with its extensive gardens, only con- tributed yearly ten purses, or less than forty-five pounds, to the public revenue. This sum seems small enough, but without trade, and distant from any high road, there was not a para of ready money, according to the Mudir, in the place.
The governor's cottage stood near the northern edge of Akhlat, and a little beyond it the road again emerged into that forest of richly-carved tombs which surrounds the place, like a broad belt — the accumulated remains of successive generations. The triumph of the dead over the living is perhaps only thus seen in the East. In England, where we grudge our dead their last resting places, the habitations of the living encroach on the burial-ground; in the East it is the grave-yard which drives before it the cottage and the mansion. The massive headstones still stand erect long after the dwelling-places of even the descendants of those who placed them there have passed away. Several handsome turbehs, resembling in their genenil form those I had already visited, though dtflfering from them in their elegant and elaborate details, were scattered amongst the more humble tombs.
30 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. II.
From the Mudir's house I rode to the more ancient part of the city and to the rock tombs. The ravine, at no great distance from where it joins the lake, is divided into two branches, each watered by an abundant stream. I followed them both for four or five miles, ascending by the one, then crossing the upland which divides them, and descending by the other. Both afford innumerable pleasant prospects, — the water breaking in frequent cascades over the rocky bottom, beneath thick clusters of gigantic chesnuts and elms, the excavated cliffs forming bold frames to the pictures. I entered many of the rock-tombs, and found all of them to be of the same character, though varying in size. The doors of some have been enlarged, to render the interior more convenient as dwelling- places, and there are but few which have not been blackened by the smoke of the fires of many centuries. The present population of the ravine, small and scanty enough, resides almost entirely in these caves. Amongst the tombs there are galleries and passages in the cliffs without apparent use, and flights of steps, cut out of the rock, which seem to lead nowhere. I searched and inquired in vain for inscriptions and remains of sculpture, and yet the place is of undoubted antiquity, and in the immediate vicinity of cotem- porary sites where cuneiform inscriptions do exist.
During my wanderings I entered an Armenian church and con- vent standing on a ledge of rock overhanging the stream, about four miles up the southern ravine. The convent was tenanted by a bishop and two priests. They dwelt in a small low room, scarcely lighted by a hole carefully blocked up with a sheet of oiled paper to shut out the cold ; dark, musty, and damp, a very parish clerk in England would have shuddered at the sight of such a residence. Their bed, a carpet worn to threads, spread on the rotten boards ; their diet, the coarsest sandy bread and a little sour curds, with beans and mangy meat for a jubilee. A miserable old woman sat in a kind of vault under the staircase preparing their food, and passing her days in pushing to and fro with her skinny hands the goat's skin containing the milk to be shaken into butter. She was the housekeeper and handmaiden of the episcopal establish- ment. The church was somewhat higher, though even darker than the dwelling-room, and was partly used to store a heap of mouldy corn and some primitive agricultural implements. The whole was well and strongly built, and had the evident marks of antiquity. The bishop showed me a rude cross carved on a rock outside the convent, which, he declared, had been cut by one of the disciples of the Saviour himself. It is, at any rate, considered a relic of very
CmAF. II.] AN ARMENIAN CONVENT. 31
great sanctity, and is an object of pilgrimage for the surrounding Christian population. Near the spot are several tombs of former bishops, the head and foot stones of the same deep mellow red stone, and as elaborately carved as those of the old Tatar chiefs near the lake, although differing from them somewhat in the style of their ornaments ; the cross, and the bold, square, ancient Armenian character being used instead of the flowery scroll-work and elongated letters of the early Mussulman conquerors. The bishop, notwithstanding his poverty, was, on the whole, better informed than others of his order I had met in the provinces. He had visited the capital, had even studied there, and possessed a few books, amongst which, fortunately for himself, and I hope for his congregation, he was not ashamed to include several of the very useful works issued by the American missionary press, and by that praiseworthy religious society, the Mekhitarists of Venice. The older books and MSS. of the church, together with its little store of plate, its hangings, and its finery, were gone. The last rummage was made by Mehemet Bey, the Kurdish free- booter of the castle on the lake, who, having been expelled from his stronghold by the exasperated inhabitants of Akhlat, took refuge in the Armenian convent, and defended it for nearly a year against his assailants, living of course, the while, upon the scanty ttores of the priests, and carrying off, when he had no lungt-r need of the position, the little property he had pulled out of every nook and corner. The tyranny of this chief had driven nearly the whole Cliri»tian population from Akhlat. About twenty families only remained, and they were huddled toge- ther in the rock toml);*, and on the ledges immediately opposite the convent. They are not allowed to possess the gardens and orchards near the lake, which are looked upon as the peculiar pro[»ertv of the ancient ^lu^sulman inhabitants, to be enjoyed by ihcir orthod4)X descendants, who employ neither care nor labor in keeping them up, trusting to a rich soil and a favorable climate fur their annual fruits.
I was ajxain struck during my ride with the beauty of the children, who assembled round me, i.-suinf;, like true Troglodytes, from their rocky dwcllinf^-places. Near the end of the ravine, on the etlge of a precijiice clothed with creepers, is a half-fallen tur- Ufh, of elegant projM)rtions and rich in architectural detail. It overliangd the transparent stream, which, struggling down its rocky bed, i* cror'^ed by a ruined bridge ; a scene calling to mind the well-known view of Tivoli. Beyond, and nearer to the lakii, vxi^
32 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. II,
other turbehs^ all of which I examined^ endeavoring to retain some slight record of their peculiar ornaments. The natives of the place followed me as I wandered about and found names for the ancient chiefs in whose honor the mausoleums had been erected. Amongst them were Iskender^ Hassan^ and Haroun, the Padishas^ or sultans^ of the Tatar tribes.*
On my return to our encampment the tents were struck, and the caravan had already began its march. Time would not pei*mit me to delay, and with a deep longing to linger on this favored spot I slowly followed the road leading along the margin of the lake to Bitlis. I have seldom seen a fairer scene, one richer in natural beauties. The artist and the lover of nature may equally find at Akhlat objects of study and delight. The architect, or the tra- veller, interested in the history of that graceful and highly original branch of art, which attained its full perfection under the Arab rulers of Egypt and Spain, should extend his journey to the re- mains of ancient Armenian cities, far from high roads and mostly unexplored. He would then trace how that architecture, deriv- ing its name from Byzantium, had taken the same development in the East as it did in the West, and how its subsequent com- bination with the elaborate decoration, the varied outline, and tasteful coloring of Persia had produced the style termed Sara- cenic, Arabic, and Moresque. He would discover almost daily, de- tails, ornaments, and forms, recalling to his mind the various orders of architecture, which, at an early period, succeeded to each other in Western Europe and in Englandf; modifications of style for which we are mainly indebted to the East during its close union with the
* Iskender, the son of Kara Yusuf, second sultan of the Tatar dynasty of the Black Sheep, began to reign a. d. 1421, and was murdered by his son, Shah Kobad. Hassan, commonly called Usun, or the Long, the first sultan of the Baiandouri, or White Sheep, Tatars, succeeded to the throne a.d. 1467. Neither of these sultans, however, appear to have died at Akhlat. I have been unable to find the name of Haroun amongst the sultans of these Tatar dynasties. It is possible that the turbehs may be more ancient than the period assigned to them by the inhabitants of Akhlat, and that they may belong to some of the earlier Mussulman conquerors.
f The sketch, not very accurate unfortunately in its details, of the ruined Armenian church at Yarzahan (p. 7.), will sufficiently show my meaning, and point out the connection indicated in the text. I would also refer to M.Texier's folio work on Armenia and Persia, for many examples of Armenian churches, illustrating the transition between the Byzantine and what we may undoubtedly term Gothic. It would be of considerable importance to study the remains of churches still scattered over Armenia, and of which no accurate plans or draw- ings have been published.
CSAF. IL] ARMENIAN ABCHITECTUBE. 33
West by the bond of Christianitj. The Crusaders^ too, brought bsck into Christendoin, on their return from Asia, a taste for that rich and harmonious union of color and architecture which had abieady been so successfully introduced by the Arabs into the coun- tries they had conquered.
This connection between Eastern and Western architecture is one well worthy of study, and cannot be better illustrated than by the early Christian ruins of Armenia, and those of the Arsacian and Sassanian periods still existing in Persia. As yet it has been almost entirely overlooked, nor are there any plans or drawings of even the best known Byzantine, or rather Armenian, remains in Asia Minor, upon which sufficient reliance can be placed to admit of the analogies between the styles being fully proved. The union of early Christian and Persian art and architecture produced a style too little known and studied, yet affording combinations of b^iuty and grandeur, of extreme delicacy of detail and of boldness of outline, worthy of the Highest order of intellect.*
Our road skirted the foot of the Nimroud Dagh, which stretches from Akhlat to the southern extremity of the lake. We crossed several dykes of lava and scoria, and wide mud-torrents now dry, the outpourings of a volcano long since extinct, but the crater of which may probably still be traced in a small lake said to exist on the very summit of the mountain. There are several villages, chiefly inhabited by Cliristians, built on the water's edge, or in the ravines worn by tlie streams descending from the hills. Our ruad gradually led :i\vay from the lake. With CjiwivI Yusuf and my Oimjttinions I left the caravan far behind. The night came on, and we were shrouded in darkness. We sought in vain for lh«- village which was to afford us a resting-place, and soon lost our uncertain track. The Cawal took the opportunity of relating talfji collected during former journeys on this spot, of robber Kurds and munlert^ travellers, which did not tend to remove the anxiety felt by some of my party. At length, after wandering to
• 11)»* Aral)*, a wild an<! uncultivated jHOple, probahly di'rived their flr^t «'•• n- ff :in:liit«Mture f)n the roiKjuest of the Per>ian proviiiees. The pecu- i:»r and hi-jhlv ta«»t<'t'ul stvle of th«* IVrsian?*, of which traces may still be seen in :h*: r»-inaiii* of the cvlrhrated palace of Chosrocs, at Ctesiphon, and in otlier r\.:.* «.f *'.u;hiTn Ter-'ia un«l Khuzistan, united with the Uyzantine churches ar.d pilar*-. ««f Syria, pr«Ml»jcc<l the Saracenic. Alrea<ly some such niodificu- tl-n Kad, I am «nnvinc«>d, taken place in Armenia by a similar pnM-ess, the V*'T*\xn and Imi»eriftl jxjwer l^'in^r continually brought into contact in that k r./.l*.m. 1 cannot dwell longer up<m this subject, which well merits invcs-
tt^AtMXt.
D
34 KINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. II.
and fro for above an hour, we heard the distant jingle of the ca^- ravan bells. We rode in the direction of the welcome sound, and soon found ourselves at the Armenian village of Keswak, stand- ing in a small bay, and sheltered by a rocky promontory jutting boldly into the lake.
Next morning we rode along the margin of the lake, still crossing the spurs of the Nimroud Dagh, furrowed by numerous streams of lava and mud. In one of the deep gulleys, opening from the mountdn to the water's edge, are a number of isolated masses of sandstone, worn into fantastic shapes by the winter torrents, which sweep down from the hills. The people of the country call them " the Camels of Nimrod." Tradition says that the rebellious patriarch endeavoring to build an inaccessible castle, strong enough to defy both God and man, the Almighty, to punish his arrogance, turned the workmen as they were working into stone. The rocks on the border of the lake are the camels, who with their burdens were petrified into a perpetual memorial of the Divine vengeance. The unfinished walls of the castle are still to be seen on the top of the mountain ; and the surrounding country, the seat of a primaeval race, abounds in similar traditions.
We left the southern end of the lake, near the Armenian village of Tad wan, once a place of some importance, and con- taining a caravanserai, mosques, and baths built by Khosrew Pasha in the sixteenth century. Entering an undulating country we soon gazed for the last time on the deep blue expanse of water, and on the lofty peaks of the Hakkiari mountains. The small trickling streams, now running towards the south, and a gradual descent showed that we had crossed the water-shed of central Asia, and had reached the valleys of Assyria. Here and there the ruins of a fine old khan, its dark recesses, vaulted niches, and spacious stalls, blackened with the smoke of centuries, served to mark one of the great highways, leading in the days of Turkish prosperity from central Armenia to Baghdad. We had crossed this road in the plain of Hinnis. It runs from Erzeroom to Moush and thence to Bitlis, leaving to the east the Nimroud Dagh, which separates it from the lake of Wan. Commerce has deserted it for very many years, and its bridges and caravanserais have long fallen into decay ; when, with the restoration of order and tranquillity to this part of Turkey, trade shall revive, it may become once more an important thoroughfare, uniting the northern and southern pro- vinces of the empire.
We soon entered a rugged ravine worn by the mountain rills, collected into a large stream. This was one of the many
CaiP. IL] TOWN OP BITLIS. 35
bead-waters of the Tigris. It was flowing tumultuously to our own bourne, and, as we gazed upon the troubled waters, they seemed to carry us nearer to our journey's end. The ravine was at first wild and rocky ; cultivated spots next appeared, scattered in the dry bed of the torrent ; then a few gigantic trees ; gardens and orchards followed, and at length the narrow valley opened on the long straggling town of Bitlis.
The governor had provided quarters for us in a large house belonging to an Armenian, who had been tailor to Beder Khan Bey. From the terrace before the gate we looked down upon the bazars built in the bottom of a deep gulley in the centre of the town. On an isolated rock opposite to us rose a frowning castle, and, on the top of a lofty barren hill, the fortified dwelling of Sheriff Bey, the rebel chief, who had for years held Bitlis and the surrounding country in subjection, defying the authority and the arms of the Sultan. Here and there on the mountain sides were little sunny landscapes, gardens, poplar trees, and low white houses surrounded by trellised vines.
My party was now, for the first time during the journey, visited with that curse of Eastern travel, fever and ague. The doctor was prostrate, and having then no experience of the malady, at once had dreams of typhus and malignant fever. A day's rest wa* necessary, and our jaded horses needed it as well as we, for there were bad mountiin roads and long marches before us. I had a further olject in remaining. Three near relations of Cawal Yu«uf returning from their annual visitation to the Yczidi tribes in rJeor^ia and northern Armenia, had been murdered two years bcf<»re, near Bitlis, at tlic instigation of the Kurdish Bey. Tiie money collected by the Cawals for the benefit of the sect and \t< prie9th<MKl, together with their personal effects, had been taken bv SiieriffBev, and I was desirous of aiding Cawal Yusuf in their rer*ovcrv. Koshid Pasha had given me an official order f(>r their restoration out of the property of the late chief, and it rested with me to see it enforced. I called early in the morninp^ on the ciudir or governor, one (if the household of old Essad Pasha, who wx* at that time fjovernor-general of Kurdistan, including Bitlis, M«»u«h, and the surrounding country, and re!<idcd at Diarbekir. He gave me the assistance I rerjuired for the recovery of tlie proji^rty of the murdered Cawals, and spoke in great contempt of the Kunls n(»w that they had been sulxlned, treatinf:^ like do;:s xhff^ who stood humbly l)efore him. The Turks, however, hat! but recently dared to assume this haughty tone. Long uder \\\e
p 2
36 NINETEH AND BABYLON. [Ghulp. II.
fall of Beder Khan Bey, the chiefs of Hakkiari, Wan, Moush, and Bitlis had maintained their independence, and Sheriff Bey had only been sent that spring to the capital to pass the rest of his days in exile with the author of the Nestorian massacre.
The governor ordered cawasses to accompany me through the town. I had been told that ancient inscriptions existed in the castle, or on the rock, but I searched in vain for them: those pointed out to me were early Mohammedan. Bitlis contains many picturesque remains of mosques, baths, and bridges, and was once a place of considerable size and importance. It is built in the very bottom of a deep valley, and on the sides of ravines, worn by small tributaries of the Tigris. The best houses stand high upon the declivities, and are of stone, ornamented with large arched windows, trellis work, and porticoes ; many of them being surrounded by groves of trees. The bazars are in the lowest parts of the town, and low, ill-built, and dirty. They are generally much crowded, as ,in them is carried on the chief trade of this part of Kurdistan. The export trade is chiefly supplied by the pro- duce of the mountains ; galls, honey, wax, wool, and carpets and stuffs, woven and dyed in the tents. The dyes of Kurdistan, and particularly those from the districts around Bitlis, Sert, and Jezireh, are celebrated for their brilliancy. They are made from herbs gathered in the mountains, and from indigo, yellow berries, and other materials, imported into the country. The colors usually worn by both men and women are a deep dull red and a bright yellow, mingled with black, a marked taste for these tints, to the exclusion of almost every other, being a peculiar characteristic of the Kurdish race from Bayazid to Suleimaniyah. The carpets are of a rich soft texture, the patterns displaying considerable elegance and taste : they are much esteemed in Turkey. There was a fair show of Manchester goods and coarse English cutlery in the shops. The sale of arms, once extensively carried on, had been prohibited. The trade is chiefly in the hands of merchants from Mosul and Erze- room, who come to Bitlis for galls, at present almost the only article of export from Kurdistan to the European markets. This produce of the oak was formerly monopolised by Beder Khan Bey, and other powerful Kurdish chiefs, but the inhabitants are now per- mitted to gather them without restriction, each village having its share in the woods. The wool of the mountains is coarse, and scarcely fit for export to Europe ; and the ** teftik," a fine under- hair of the goat, although useful and valuable, is not collected in sufficient quantity for commerce. There is a race of sheep in Kur-
CbaP. R] TOWN OF BITLIS. 37
distan producing a long silken wool^ like that of Angora, but it is not common, and the fleeces being much prized as saddle and other ornaments hy the natives, are expensive. There are, no doubt, many productions of the mountains, besides valuable minerals, which i4)pear to abound, that would become lucrative objects of commerce were tranquillity fully restored, and trade encouraged. The slaughter-houses, the resort of crowds of mangy dogs, are near the bazars, on the banks of the stream, and the effluvia arising fit>m them is most offensive.
Having examined the town I visited the Armenian bishop, who dwells in a large convent in one of the ravines branching off from the main valley. On my way I passed several hot springs, some gurgling up in the very bed of the torrent The bishop was maudlin, old, and decrepit ; he cried over his own personal woes, and over those of his community, abused the Turks, and the American missionaries, whispering confidentially in my ear as if the Kurds were at his door. He insisted in the most endearing terms, and occasionally throwing his arms round my neck, that I should drink a couple of glasses of fiery raki, although it was still early morning, pledging me himself in each glass. He showed me his church, an ancient building, well hung with miser- able daubs of saints and miracles. On the whole, whatever may hare l)een their condition under the Kurdish chiefs, the Christians of Bitlis at the time of my visit had no very great grounds of com- plainL I found them well inclined and exceedingly courteous, thcise who had shops in the bazar rising as I passed. The town contains about seven hundred Annenian and forty Jacobite families (the fonner have four churches), but no Nestorians, although formerly a jiart of the Christian population was of that sect.
There are three roatls from Bitlis to Jezirch ; two over the mountains through Sert, generally frecjuented by cjiravans, but very difficult and precipitous ; a third more circuitous, and wind- ing through the valleys of the eastern branch of* the Tigris. I ch<j5>e the last, as it enabled me to visit the Yczidi villages of the di.-trict of Kherzan. We left Bitlis on the 2()th. Soon ttfuing from the gardens of the town we found ourselves amidst a forest of oaks of various descriptions.* It was one of those deep, narrow, and rocky valleys abounding in Kurdistan ; the
• In the iipp«*n<lix will be fouinl a note, with which I have been kiiully fa- ▼«#n-«l \tj Dr. Limllcv, upon the new and remarkable oaks found in the>e iiioiin- lAitts Mod DOW for the first time grown in this country from acorns sent Uoiuc V>>i vuvi
D S
38 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IL
foaming torrent dashing through it, to be crossed and re-^crossed, to the great discomfort of the laden mules, almost at every hundred yards, and from the want of bridges generally impassable during the spring and after rains. In autumn and winter the declivities are covered with the black tents of the Kochers, or wandering Kurds, who move in summer to the higher pastures. The tribes inhabiting the valley are the Selokeen, the Hamki, and the Babosi, by whom the relatives of Cawal Yusuf were murdered. There are no villages near the road-side. They stand in deep ravines branching out from the main valley, either perched on pre- cipitous and almost inaccessible ledges of rock, or hid in the re- cesses of the forest. Several bridges and spacious khans, whose ruins still attest the ancient commerce and intercourse carried on through these mountains, are attributed, like all other public works in the country, to Sultan Murad during his memorable expedition against Baghdad (a.d. 1638).
About five miles from Bitlis the road is carried by a tunnel, about twenty feet in length, through a mass of calcareous rock, projecting like a huge rib from the mountain's side. The mineral stream, which in the lapse of ages has formed this deposit, is still at work, projecting great stalactites from its sides, and threatening to close ere long the tunnel itself. There is no in- scription to record by whom and at what period this passage was cut. It is, of course, assigned to Sultan Murad, but is probably of a far earlier period. There are many such in the mountains * ; and the remains of a causeway, evidently of great antiquity, in many places cut out of the solid rock, are traceable in the valley. We pitched our tents for the night near a ruined and deserted khan.
We continued during the following day in the same ravine, crossing by ancient bridges the stream which was gradually gather- ing strength as it advanced towards the low country. About noon we passed a large Kurdish village called Goeena, belonging to Sheikh Ifassim, one of those religious fanatics who are the curse of Kurdistan. He was notorious for his hatred of the Yezidis, on whose districts he had committed numerous depre- dations, murdering those who came within his reach. His last ex- pedition had not proved successful ; he was repulsed with the loss of many of his followers. We encamped in the afternoon on the
* See Col. SheiFs Memoir in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol.viii. p. 81.
Chaf, IL] valley of BITLI9, 39
bank of the torrent, near a cluster of Kurdish tents, concealed from view by the brushwood and high reeds. The owners were poor but hospitable, bringing us a lamb, jahgourt, and milk. Late in the evening a party of horsemen rode to our encampment. They were a young Kurdish chief, with his retainers, carrying off a girl with whom he had fallen in love, — not an uncommon occurrence in Kurdistan. They dismounted, eat bread, and then hastened on their journey to escape pursuit.
Starting next morning soon after dawn we rode for two hours along the banks of the stream, and then, turning from the val- ley, entered a country of low undulating hills. Here we left the Bitlis stream, which is joined about six hours beyond, near a village named Kitchki, by the river of Sert, another great feeder of the Tigris. This district abounds in saline springs and wells, whose waters, led into pans and allowed to evaporate, deposit much salt, which is collected and forms a considerable article of export even to the neighbourhood of Mosul.
We halted for a few minutes in the village of Omais- el-Koran, belonging to one of the innumerable saints of the Kurdish moun- tains. The Sheikh himself was on his terrace superintending the repur of his house, gratuitously undertaken by the neighbouring villagers, who came eagerly to engage in a good and pious work. Whil«jt the chief enjoys the full advantages of a holy character the place itself in a Ziorah, or place of pilgrimage, and a visit to it is conridercd by the ignorant Kurds almost as meritorious as a joiirnoy to Mecca; such pilgrimages being usually accompanied by an ofTering in money, or in kind, arc not discouraged by the Sheikh.
Leaving a small plain, we ascended a low range of hills by a pre<>ipitous pathway, and halted on tlie summit at a Kurdish village naine<l Khokhi. It was filled with Boshi-Bozuks, or im-pilar troops, collecting the revenue, and there was such a gt'nt-r.il confusion, quarrelling of men and screaming of women, thrit we could scarcely get bread to eat. Yet the officer assured me that the whole sum to be raised amounted to no more than wventy jjiastres falx^ut thirteen shillings). The poverty of the \illnjre must indeed have been extreme, or the bad will of the inhabitants outnigeous.
It was evening; Insfore we descende<l into the plain country of th<- district of Kherzan. The Yezidi village of Ilainki had been vl«lrih» for some time from the heights, and we turned towards it. A§ xhv sun was fast sinking, the peasiuits were leaving the thresh- ing-floor, and gathering together their implements of UuftWwdr^.
i> 4
40 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. I L
They saw the large company of horsemen drawing nigh, and took us for irregular troops, — the terror of an Eastern village. Cawal Yusufy concealing all but his eyes with the Arab kefieh» which he then wore, rode into the midst of them, and demanded in a preremptory voice provisions and quarters for the night. The poor creatures huddled together, unwilling to grant, yet fearing to refuse. The Cawal having enjoyed their alarm for a moment, threw his kerchief from his face, exclaiming, " O evil ones 1 will you refuse bread to your priest, and turn him hungry from your door?" There was surely then no unwillingness to receive us. Casting aside their shovels and forks, the men threw themselves upon the Cawal, each struggling to kiss his hand. A boy ran to the village to spread the news, and from it soon issued women, children, and old men, to welcome us. A few words sufficed to explain from whence we came, and what we required. Every one was our servant. Horses were unloaded, tents pitched, lambs brought, before we had time to look around. There was a general rejoicing, and the poor Yezidis seemed scarcely able to satiate themselves with looking on their priest ; for a report had gone abroad, and had been industriously encouraged by the Mussulmans, who had heard of the departure of the deputation for Constantinople, that Yusuf and his com- panions had been put to death by the Sultan, and that not only the petition of the Yezidis had been rejected, but that fresh tor- ments were in store for them. For eight months they had received no news of the Cawal, and this long silence had confirmed their fears ; but ^' he was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found;" and they made merry with all that the village could aifurd.
Yusuf was soon seated in the midst of a circle of the elders. He told his whole history, with such details and illustrations as an Eastern alone can introduce, to bring every fact vividly before his listeners. Nothing was omitted: his arrival at Constantinople, his reception by me, his introduction to the ambassador, his inter- view with the great ministers of state, the firman of future pro- tection for the Yezidis, prospects of peace and happiness for the tribe, our departure from the capital, the nature of steam-boats, the tossing of the waves, the pains of sea-sickness, and our journey to Kherzan. Not the smallest particular was forgotten ; every person and event were described with equal minuteness ; almost the very number of pipes he had smoked and coffees he had drunk was given. He was continually interrupted by exclamations of
Cmap.IL]
A TEZIDI VILLAGE.
gntitude and wonder; and, when he had finiehed, it was my turn to be the ohject of unbounded welcomes and salutations.
As the Cawal sat on the ground, with hie nobie features and flowing robes, surrounded by the elders of the village, eager listeners to every word which dropped from their priest, and look- ing towards him with looks of profound veneration, the picture brought vividly to my mind many scenes described in the sacred volumes. I/et the painter who would throw o£F the convention- alities of the age, who would feel as well as portray the incidents of Holy Writ, wander in the East, and mix, not as the ordinary traveller, bnt as a student of men and of nature, with its people. He will daily meet with customs which he will otherwise be at a loss to understand, and be brought face to face with those who have retained with little change the manners, language, and dress of a patriarchal race.
I WAS awoke on the following morning by the tread of horees and the noise of many yoices. The good people of Hamki having sent messengers in the night to the surrounding villages to spread the news of our arrival, a large body of Yezidia on horse and on foot had already assembled, although it was not yet dawn, to greet us and to escort us on our journey. They were dressed in their gayest garments, and had adorned their turbans with flowers and green leaves. Their chief was Akko, a warrior well known in the Yezidi wars, etill active and daring, although his beard had long turned grey. The head of the village of Guzelder, with the prin- cipal inhabitants, had come to invite me to eat bread in his house, and we followed him. As we rode along we were joined by parties
Cmap. in.] DECEPTION OF TEZIDIS 43
of horsemen and footmen, each man kissing my hand as he arrived, the horsemen alighting for that purpose. Before we reached 6u- zelder the procession had swollen to many hundreds. The men had assembled at some distance from the village, the women and children, dressed in their holiday attire, and carrying boughs of trees, congregated on the housetops. As I approached sheep were brought into the road and slain before my horse's feet, and as we entered the yard of Akko's house, the women and men joined in the loud and piercing " tahlel." The chiefs family were assembled at his door, and his wife and mother insisted upon helping me to dis- mount We entered a spacious room completely open to the air on one side, and distinguished by that extreme neatness and clean- liness peculiar to the Yezidis. Many-colored carpets were spread over the floor, and the principal elders took their seats with me.
Soon after our arrival several Fakirs*, in their dark coarse dresses and red and black turbans, came to us from the neighbour- ing villages. One of them wore round his neck a chain, as a sign that he had renounced the vanities of the world, and had devoted himself to the service of God and his fellow-creatures. Other chiefs and horsemen also flocked in, and were invited to join in the feast, which was not, however, served up until Cawal Yusuf had related his whole history once more, without omitting a single detail. After we had eaten of stuffed lambs, pillaws, and savory dishes and most luscious grapes, the produce of the district, our entertainer placed a present of home-made carpets at my feet, and we rose to depart. The horsemen, the Fakirs, and the princi- |ial inhabitants of Guzelder on foot accompanied me. At a short distance from the village we were met by another large body of Yezi<lis, and by many Jacobites, headed by one Namo, who, by the variety of his arms, the richness of his dress, a figured Indian eilk robe, with a cloak of precious fur, and his tastefully decorated Arab niare, mijj^ht rather have been taken fur a Kurdish bey than the head of a Christian village. A bishop and several priests were with him. Two hours' ride, with this great company, the horse- men g:illoping to and fro, the footmen discharging their firearms, brou;^ht us to the large village of Koahana. The whole of the po- pulation, mostly dressed in pure white, and wearing leaves and flowers in their turbans, had turned out to meet us ; women stood un the road-siile with jars of fresh water and bowls of sour milk, whilst others with the children were assembled on the housetops
• Tlic \ov^ est order of the Yezidi priesthood.
44 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. 111.
making the tahleL Resisting an invitation to alight and eat bread, and having merely stopped to exchange salutations with those as- sembled, I continued on the road to Bedwan, our party swollen by a fresh accession of followers from the village. Ere long we were met by three Cawals on their periodical visitation to the district. They were nearly related to Cawal Yusuf, and old friends of my own. With them, amongst others, were several young Mussulmans, who appeared to be on the best terms with their Yezidi friends, but had probably ridden out with them to show their gay dresses and admirable horsemanship. As we passed through the defile leading into the plain of Redwan, we had the appearance of a triumphal procession, but as we approached the small town a still more enthusiastic reception awaited us. First came a large body of horsemen, collected from the place itself, and the neighbouring villages. They were followed by Yezidis on foot, carrying flowers and branches of trees, and preceded by musicians playing on the tubbul and zemai.* Next were the Armenian community headed by their clergy, and then the Jacobite and other Christian sects, also with their respective priests; the women and children lined the entrance to the place and thronged the housetops. I alighted amidst the din of music and the *^ tahlel" at the house of Nazi, the chief of the whole Yezidi district, two sheep being slain before me as I took my feet from the stirrups.
Nazi's house was soon filled with the chiefs, the principal visi- tors, and the inhabitants of Bedwan. Again had Cawal Yusuf to describe all that had occurred at Constantinople, and to confirm the good tidings of an imperial firman giving the Yezidis equal rights with Mussulmans, a complete toleration of their religion, and relief from the much dreaded laws of the conscription. At length breakfast was brought and devoured. It was then agreed that Nazi's house was likely to be too crowded during the day to permit me to enjoy comfort or quiet, and with a due regard to the duties of hospitality, it was suggested that I should take up my quarters in the Armenian church, dining in the evening with the chiefs to witness the festivities.
The change was indeed grateful to me, and I found at length a little repose and leisure to reflect upon the gratifying scene to which I had that day been witness. I have, perhaps, been too minute in the account of my reception at Bedwan, but I record
* A large drum beaten at both ends, and a kind of oboe or pipe.
Cmaf. iil] town of bedwak. 45
with pleasure this instance of a sincere and spontaneous display of gratitude on the part of a much maligned and oppressed race. To those, unfortunately too many, who believe that Easterns can only be managed by violence and swayed by fear, let this record be a proof that there are high and generous feelings which may not only be relied and acted upon without interfering with their authority, or compromising their dignity, but with every hope of laying the foundation of real attachment and mutual esteem.
The church stands on the slope of a mound, on the summit of which are the ruins of a castle belonging to the former chiefs of Redwan. It was built expressly for the Christians of the Arme- nian sect by Mirza Agha, the last semi-independent Yezidi chief, a pleasing example of toleration and liberality well worthy of imitation by more civilised men. The building is peculiar and primitive in its construction ; one side of the courtyard is occu- pied by stables for the cattle of the priests ; above them is a low room with a dead wall on three sides and a row of arches on the fourth. On the opposite side of the court is an iwan, or large vaulted chamber, completely open on one side to the air ; in its centre, supported on four columns, is a gaudily painted box containing a picture of the Virgin ; a few miserable daubs of saints are pasted on the walls. This is the church, when in sum- mer the heat prevents the use of a closed room. It can only be divided from the yard by a curtain of figured cotton print, drawn across when unbelievers enter the building; a low doorway to the left leads into a dark inner church, in which pictures of the Virgin and siiints can faintly bo distinguished by the light of a few pro- pitiatory lamps struggling with the gloom. Service was performed in the of)en iwan during the afternoon, the congregation kneeling uncovered in the yard.
The priests of the different communities called upon me as soon a« I was ready to receive their visits. The most intelligent amongst them was a Roman Catholic Chaldajan, a good-humoured, tolenint fellow, who with a very small congregation of his own (li<l not bear any ill will to his neighbours. With the principal Yezidi chiefs, t(M», I had a long and interesting conversation on the j'tatc of their peoi)lc and on their prospects. Nazi is descended fnun the ancient hereditar)' lonls of Red wan. The last of them waj» Mirza Agha, his uncle, whose history and end were those of many of the former indc] pendent chieftains of Turkey. When the celebrated Keshid Pasha had subdued northern Kurdistan and
46 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IIL
was marching to the south, Mirza Agha, dreading the approach of the army, submitted to the Sultan, and agreed to receive a Turkish governor in his castle. The officer chosen for the post was one Emin Agha. He had not been long in Redwan before he carried away by force the beautiful wife of the Yezidi chief. Mirza Agha, instead of appealing to arms, went to Reshid Pasha, and feigning that the woman was a slave and not his wife, protested that Emin Agha might come back without fear to his govern- ment. ' The Turk did return, but he and his followers were no sooner in the power of the chief than they fell victims to his revenge. Reshid Pasha then marched against Redwan, but being called away against the rebel Bey of Rahwanduz, was unable to subdue the district. After the successful termination of the expedition against the Kurdish bey, Mirza Agha again made an unqualified submission, was received into favour, and appointed governor over his own people. On the death of Reshid Pasha he was invited to the quarters of the new Turkish commander, and treacherously murdered during his visit. His former wife, who, according to the laws of the sect, could not be received again into the community, had been placed in the harem of the murderer ; she died on hearing the fate of her Yezidi husband. The body of Mirza Agha was brought by some faithful attendants to his native place, and lies under a neat turbeh on the banks of the stream to the west of the town. Nazi, his nephew, was his suc- cessor, but long oppression has reduced him to poverty ; the old castle has been deserted, and is fast falling to ruin, whilst its owner occupies a mud hovel like the meanest of his followers.
Redwan is called a town, because it has a bnzar, and is the chief place of a considerable district. It may contain about eight hundred rudely-built huts, and stands on a large stream, which joins the Diarbekir branch of the Tigris, about five or six miles below. The inhabitants are Yezidis, with the exception of about one hundred Armenian, and forty or fifty Jacobite and ChaldaBan families. A Turkish Mudir, or petty governor, generally resides in the place, but was absent at the time of my visit.
The sounds of rejoicing had been heard during the whole after- noon ; raki had circulated freely, and there were few houses which had not slain a lamb to celebrate the day. After we had dined, the dances commenced in the courtyard of Nazi's house, and were kept up during the greater part of the night, the moon shedding its pale light on the white robes of the Yezidi dancers.
CSAP. nL] MELEK TAOUS. 47
But as the sun was setting we were visited by one of those sudden storms or whirlwinds which frequently riot over the plains of Mesopotamia and through the valleys of Assyria. Although it lasted scarcely more than half an hour, it tore down in its fury tents and more solid dwellings, and swept from the housetops the beds and carpets already spread for the night's repose. After its passage, the air seemed even more calm than it had been be- fore, and those who had been driven to take shelter from its violence within the walls resumed their occupations and their dances.
We slept in the long room opening on the courtyard, and were awoke long before daybreak by the jingling of small bells and the mumbling of priests. It was Sunday, and the Armenians com- mence their church services betimes. I gazed half dozing, and without rising from my bed, upon the ceremonies, the bowing, rais- ing of crosses, and shaking of bells, which continued for above three hours, until priests and congregation must have been well nigh exhausted. The people, as during the previous afternoon's service, stood and knelt uncovered in the courtyard.
The Cawals, who are sent yearly by Hussein Bey and Sheikh Nasr to instruct the Yezidis in their faith, and to collect the contributions forming the revenues of the great chief, and of the tomb of Sheikh Adi, were now in Rcdwan. The same Cawals do not tiike the same rounds every year. The Yezidis are parcelled out into four divisions for the purpose of these annual vis^itations, those of the Sinjar, of Khcrzan, of the pashalic of AlepjK), and of the villages in northern Armenia, and within the Kus^ian frontiers. The Yezidis of the Mosul districts have the Cawals alwavs amonirjit them. I was aware that on the occa- ^iMn of these journeys the priests carry with them the celebrated Melek Taous, or brazen peacock, as a warrant for their mis- hiun. A favourable opportunity now offered itself to see this niyjj^tiTious figure, and I asked Cawal Yusuf to gratify my curi- c>-ity. lie at once acceded to my request, and the Cawals and elders <'tT»ring no oljection, I was conducted early in the morning into a dark inner room in Nazi's house. It was some time before my eyes h.-id l>ec*»me j?iitlieiently accustomed to the dim light to distinguish an object, frr»ni which a large red coverlet had been raised on my entry. The Cawals drew near with every sign of respect, bowing and kl'^-ing the corner of the cloth on which it was placed. A stand c»t bright copper or brass, in shape like the candlesticks genenilly UAtd in Mosul and Baghdad, was surmounted by the rude vuuv^^
48
NINEVEH AND BABYLON.
[Chap. III.
of a bird in the same metal, and more like an Indian or Mexican
idol than a cock or peacock. Its peculiar workmanship indicated some antiquity, but I could see no traces of inscription upon it. Before it stood a copper bowl to receive contributions, and a bag to contain the bird and stand, which takes to pieces when carried from place to place. There are four such images, one for each district visited by the Cawals. The Yezidis declare that, notwith- standing the frequent wars and massacres to which the sect has been exposed, and the plunder and murder of the priests during their journeys, no Melek Taous has ever fallen into the hands of the Mussulmans. Cawal Yusuf, once crossing the desert on a mission to the Sinjar, and seeing a body of Bedouin horsemen in the distance, buried the Melek Taous. Having been robbed and then left by the Arabs, he dug it up and carried it in safety to its destination. Mr. Hormuzd Rassam was alone permitted to visit the image with me. As I have elsewhere observed*, it is not looked upon as an idol, but as a symbol or banner, as Sheikh Nasr termed it, of the house of Hussein Bey.
Having breakfasted at Nazi's house we left Redwan, followed by a large company of Yezidis, whom I had great difficulty in persuading to turn back about three or four miles from the town. My party was increased by a very handsome black and tan grey- hound with long silky hair, a present from old Akko, the Yezidi chief, who declared that he loved him as his child. The affec- tion was amply returned. No delicacies or caresses would induce Touar, for such was the dog's name, to leave his master. He laid himself down and allowed one of the servants to drag him by a rope over the rough ground, philosophically giving tongue to his com- plaints in a low howl. This greyhound, a fine specimen of a noble breed, much prized by the Kurds and Persians, became, from his highly original character and complete independence, a great fa- vourite with us. He soon forgot his old masters, and formed an equal attachment for his new. Another dog, a shepherd cur, had
The Melek Taows. or Copper Bird of th« YezidlB.
* Nineveh and its Remiuns, vol. i. p. 298.
Cmaf. III.] xenophon's retreat. 49
accompanied our caravan the whole way from Trebizond. He joined us without invitation, and probably finding the livino- to his taste, and the exercise conducive to health, remained with us acknowledging the hospitality shown him by keeping watch over the horses by night.
Cawal Yusuf, and the Yezidi chiefs, had sent messengers even to Hussein Bey to apprise him of our coming. As they travelled along they scattered the news through the country, and I was re- ceived outside every village by its inhabitants. At Kunduk, two hours from Redwan, we found a second breakfast prepared for us, and were obliged to alight. Below this place the Redwan stream joins the Diarbekir branch of the Tigris, the two forming' a broad river. Near are the remains of Husn Kaifa, and of other ancient cities, which I was unable to visit.
We had scarcely left Kunduk when we were met by a party of Christians, with the Kiayah of the village of Aoudi at their bead. I was again obliged to stop, cat bread, and receive an oflFering of home-made carpets, of which we had now well nigh received a mule-load as presents. The inhabitants of the district were suffering much from oppression and illegal taxation.
The Kiayah, with some horsemen, accompanied us to Tilleh, where the united waters of Bitlis, Sert, and the upper districts of Bohtan, join the western branch of the Tigris. The two streams are about cqu'xl in size, aii^' at this time of the year both ford- able in certain places. Wc crossed the lower, or eastern, which we ffund wide and exeeedingly rapid, the water, however, not reacli- inir above the saddle-irirths. The viHa^^jers rai.sed the lii^reraire, and «nj»|K>rted the horses a^^alnst the current, which rushing over I'Kir^e an<l slippery stones, allonling an uncertain footing, tlireatened to swt-ep the animals down the stream. Our travelling companion, the dt»jx from Trebizond, having made several vain attemi)ts to brave tin- rapi<ls, quietly retired, thinking our company not worth any furtlar ri.-k. Touar, more fortunate, was carried over in the arms of a KTvant.
The siM)t at which wc crossed was one of peculiar interest. It was li<:re that the Trn Thousand in their memorable retreat forded this river, calle<l, by Xenophon, the Centritis. The Greeks having fought their way over the lofty mountains of the Carduchians, found their further progress towards Armenia arrested by a rapid •trr-am. The ford was deep, and its passage disputed by a fornii- «LtMe fon;c of Armenian.-*, Mygdonians, and Chalda\ins, drawn up on an tiiiinencc 300 or 400 feet from the river. In this strait
E
50 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. III.
Xenophon dreamt that he was in chains, and that suddenly his fetters burst asunder of their own accord. His dream was fulfilled when two youths casually found a more practicable ford, by which the army, after a skilful stratagem on the part of their com- mander, safely reached the opposite bank.*
The village of Tiileh belongs to Hassan Agha, a Kurdish chief, who lives in a small mud fort. He maintained, during the time of Beder Khan Bey, a sort of independence, sorely oppressing Chris- tians and Yezidis. Unfortunately the Turks, with their usual want of foresight and justice, had enabled him to continue in his evil ways by selling him the revenues and tithes of the district, and naming him its governor. He came out and invited me into his castle, pressing me to pass the night with him, and regaling us with pipes and coffee. It was near Tiileh that the Sultan's troops, assisted by the Yezidis, completely defeated Khan Mahmoud, who was marching with the tribes of Wan and Hakkiari to the help of Beder Khan Bey.
The sun had set before our baggage had been crossed, and we sought, by the light of the moon, the difiicult track along the Tigris, where the river forces its way to the low country of Assyria, through a long, narrow, and deep gorge. Huge rocks rose per- pendicularly on either side, broken into many fantastic shapes, and throwing their dark shadows over the water. In some places they scarcely left room for the river to pursue its course ; and then a footpath, hardly wide enough to admit the loaded mules, was carried along a mere ledge overhanging the gurgling stream. The gradual deepening of this outlet during countless centu- ries is strikingly shown by the ledges which jutt out like a suc- cession of cornices from the sides of the cliffs. The last ledge left by the retiring waters formed our pathway. The geological history of the Tigris, and, consequently, of the low country, at its entry into the plain, is strikingly illustrated by this rocky ra- vine. In winter this drainer of the springs and snows of the high- lands of Armenia and Kurdistan is swollen into a most impetuous torrent, whose level is often full thirty feet above the summer average of the river.
We found no village until we reached Chellek. The place had been deserted by its inhabitants for the Yilaks, or mountain pas- tures. On the opposite side of the river (in the district of Asheeti) danced the lights of a second village, also called Chellek, but dis-
* ADub. book iv. c. 3.
Chaf. iil] the village of funduk. 51
tiDguished from the one on the eastern bank by the addition of ** All Rummo," the name of a petty Kurdish chiefs who owns a mud fort there.
After some search we found a solitary Kurd, who had been left to watch the small patches of cultivation belonging to the villagers. Taking us for Turkish soldiers, he had hidden himself on our arri- TaL He offered to walk to the tents, and returned after midnight with provisions for ourselves and barley for our horses.
For three hours during the following morning we followed the bold and majestic ravine of the Tigris, scenes rivalling each other in grandeur and beauty opening at every turn. Leaving the river, where it makes a sudden bend to the northward, we com* menced a steep ascent, and in an hour and a half reached the Christian village of Khouara. We rested during the heat of the day under the grateful shade of a grove of trees, and in the afternoon continued our journey, ascending again as soon as we had left the village, towards the crest of a mountain, from whence, according to Cawal Yusuf, we were to behold all the world ; and certainly, when we reached the summit, there was about as much of the world before us as could well be taken in at one ken. We stood on the brink of the great platform of Central Asia. Beneath us were the vast plains of Mesopotamia, lost in the hazy di^itance, the undulating land between them and the Tau- rus confounded, from so great a height, with the plains them- selves ; the hills of the Sinjar and of Zakko, like ridges on an emboc's'ed map; tlie Tigris and the Khabour, winding through the low country to their place of junction at Dereboun ; to the right, facing the setting sun, and catching its last rays, the high cone of Mardin ; behind, a confused mass of peaks, some snow-capped, all rugged and broken, of the lofty mountains of Bohtan and Malataiyah ; between tlieni and the northern range of Tauruj*, the deep mvine of the river and the valley of Redwan. I watched the bluulows as they lengthened over the plain, melting one by one into the general gloom, and then descended to the large Kurdish village of Funduk, whose inhabitants, during the rule of lie<ler Klian Bey, were notorious amongst even the ;*avage tribcr of Bohtan for their hatred and insolence to Christians.
Although we had now nothing to fear, I preferred seeking an^>ther sjH>t for our night's halt, and we passed through the nar- row etreetft as the families were settling tliemselves on the house- lojj* for their night's rest. We had ridden about half a mile when we heard a confused murmur in the village, aud saw scvcnxl KutvJA
E 2
52 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. III.
running towards us at the top of their speed. Mr. C.> had been fairly frightened into a state of despair by the youngest of our party, who entered with mischievous minuteness into the details of the innumerable robberies and murders, authentic and otherwise, committed by the people of Funduk. He now made up his mind that his last hour was come, but gallantly prepared his double-barrelled pistols. Neither Cawal Yusuf nor myself could exactly make out what was in store for us, until the foremost of the runners, seizing my bridle, declared that the Kiayah, or chief, would not allow me to proceed without partaking of his hospitality ; that it was worse than an insult to pass his house without eating bread and sleeping under his roof. Other Kurds soon came up with us, using friendly violence to turn my horse, and swearing that the chief, although suffering from severe illness, would come out him- self unless I consented to retrace my steps. It was useless to per- sist in a refusal after such a di8i)lay of hospitality, and notwith- standing the protests of my companion, who believed that we were rushing into the jaws of destruction, I rode back to the village.
Kesoul Kiayah, although laboring under a fit of ague, was standing at his door to receive me, surrounded by as ferocious a set of friends as one could well desire to be in company with. " He had entertained," he exclaimed, as he saluted me, " Osman Pasha and Ali Pasha, and it would be a disgrace upon his house if the Bey passed without eating bread in it." In the meanwhile a sheep had been slain, and comfortable carpets and cushions spread on the housetop. His greeting of Yusuf, although he knew him to be a Yezidi, was so warm and evidently sincere, that I was at a loss to account for it, until the Cawal explained to me that when Khan Mahmoud and Beder Khan Bey's troops were defeated near Tilleh, the Kiayah of Funduk fell into the hands of the men of Redwan, who were about to inflict sum^ mary justice upon him by pitching him into the river. He was rescued by our friend Akko, who concealed him in his house until he could return to Kurdistan in safety. To show his gratitude he has since condescended to bestow on the Yezidi chief the title of father, and to receive with a hearty welcome such travellers of the sect as may pass through his village. The Kurds of Funduk wear the Bohtan dress in its full perfection, a turban nearly three feet in diameter, shalwars or trowsers of enormous width, loose embroi- dered jackets, and shirt sleeves sweeping the ground ; all being striped deep dull red and black, except the under-linen and one ker- chief tied diagonally across the turban, which is generally of bright
Chap. IIL] KURDISH HOSPITALITY. 53
yellow. They are armed, too, to the teeth, and as they crouched round the fires on the housetops, their savage countenances peering through the gloora, my London companion, unused to such scenes, might well have fancied himself in a den of thieves. The Kiayah, notwithstanding his bad reputation, was exact in all the duties of hospitality ; the supper was abundant, the coffee flowed perpetually, and he satisfied my curiosity upon many points of revenue, internal administration, tribe-history, and local curiosities.
We passed the night on the roof without any adventure, and resumed our journey before dawn on the following morning, to the great relief of Mr. C, who rejoiced to feel himself well out of the hands of such dangerous hosts. Crossing a mountain wooded with dwarf oaks, by a very difficult pathway, carried along and over rocks containing many excavated tombs, we descended to Fynyk, a \'illage on the Tigris supposed to occupy the site of an ancient town (Phoenica).* We rested during the heat of the day in one of the pleasant gardens with which the village is surrounded. At its entrance was a group of girls and an old Kurd baking bread in a hole in the ground, plastered with clay. " Have you any bread?** we asked. — "No, by the Prophet I** "Any butter- milk ?"— " No, by my faith ! " " Any fruit ?"—" No, by Allah I " — the trees were groaning under the weight of figs, pomegranates, pears, and grapes. He then asked a string of questions in his turn: " Whence do you come?" — " From afar!" " What is vour l)U3ines3?" — " What God commands!" " Whither arc vou goin^?'* — *' As Go<l wills!" The old gentleman, having thus hatij^fied himself as to our character and intentions, although our answers were undoubtedly vapjue enough, and might have been cl.-<Mvhcrc considered evasive, left us without saying a word more, but soon after came hack bearing a large bowl of curds, and a baiik't filled with the finest fruit. Placinjr tliese dainties before mo, he onlercd the girls to hake bread, which they speedily did, briniring us the hot cakes as they drew them from their primitive (•ven.
• It waj* at tin' f«x>t of this fitccp descent that Xenophon was compelled to turn olT, as caravans still are, from the river, and to hrave the dlllicultii's of a m' untain pa>!», (h»fende<i by the warlike Cardiulji or Kurds. Tln» UlKMlian, who «%T rc<l tn <*on»tni(t a hri<!;;c with the inllate<l skins of sheep, "loats, oxen, and at.*-.-*, anchoring them with stonen, and covering them with fascines and earth, had |K.*rhap<« taken his iilea from the rafts whiih were then used for the navi- {r:&ti<>n of the Ti;:ris, a:* they arc to this day. As tliere was a lar^'e hody ^'^^ the tnrmr on the opposite fide, rea«!y tr) dispute the passage, the Greeks were unable to irail iheiiviclvcs of his ingenious sug^iestion.
B 3
54 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Ch*p. III.
After we had brenkfasted, some Kurds who had gathered round U8, offered to take me to a rock, sculptured, they said, with unknown Frank figures. "We rode up a narrow and ehady ravine, through which leapt a brawling torrent, watering fruit trees and melon beds. The rocks on both sides were honeycombed with tombs. The baa-relief ia somewhat above the line of cultivation, and is aur- EiJ rounded by excavated chambers. It consists of two figures, dressed in loose vests and trowsers, one .apparently resting his hand on the shoulder of the other. There are the remains of an inscription, but too much weather-worn to be copied with any accuracy. The costume of the figures, and the forms of the £\'\ mSSte ^'^dS^- '' • characters, aa far as they can be A ^^ v'^^'^^^^S^aBw^"^'' <'>3l^i"gi'is'>e<^) prove that the tab- ' 5ff Iv iJfeJ^S^W&':/ let belongs to the Parthian period.
It closely resembles monuments of the same epoch existing in the s.,iip-.^™j irtirt .. Fi'^ij'. mountains of Persia.* Most of the
surrounding tombs, like those of Akhlat, contain three troughs or niches for the dead, one on each side, and a third facing the entrance.
We quitted Fynyk in the afteruoon. Accompanied by Cawal Yusuf and Mr. C, I left the caravan to examine some rock- sculptures, in a valley leading from Jezireh to Dei^hileh, the former stronghold of Cedcr Khan Bey. The sculptures are about two miles from the high road, near a small fort built by Mir Saif- ed-din % and now occupied by a garriaou of Amaouts. There are two tablets, one above the other ; the upper contains a warrior on horseback, the lower a single figure. Although no traces of in-
* ParticuUrlj those which I discovered nenr Shimbor, in the mountains of Susiann. (Journal of Geog. Soc. vol. xvi, p. 84.)
f Mir Suif-ed-din whs Ihe hereditary chief of Bohtan, in whose name Beder Khun Bey exercised his authority. His son, Asdensliir (a corruption of Ardeshir) Bey, ig now under turveillance amongst the Turks. So well aware was Beder Khan Bey of the necessity of keeping up the idea amongst the Kurds, that his power wag delegated to him by the Mir, that he signed most of his public documents with that chiePs sea), although he confined him a close prisoner uotil his death.
Chap. IIL]
BOCK SCULFTUB&9.
55
Gcription remun, the bas-reliefs may confidently be nastgned to the same period as that at Fynyk. Beaeath them is a long cutting, and tunnel in the rock, probably an ancient watercourse for irriga- tion, to record the construction of which the tablets may have been sculptured. On our return we passed a solitary Turkish officer, followed by his servant, winding up the gorge on hia way to Dcr- ghileh, where one AH Pasha was stationed with a detachment of troops ; a proof of the cliange which had taken place in the country
icv iiiv i:u-t Mfil, "hen BcU'i- Khan IJey wa:> still [lowcrful, and
. Turk w.^uIJhiiie vc.iliirtd int.. that (viM valley.
Wo f..nn.l the caravan at ^li.nsouriyah. ivIiltc ihcy h;ul .
It- I. .1 .1 .1 C- .!._ -iirlit Till' "
no 1
lal.Iir-hed tholn^^■I
lat.Ii.hed tho.n^oIvcs f..r ll.e nl-lit. This is one of llie very fow Nt-i-I.-rian C'li:ilil;v:in vilhigfs of the plain* wliii;h liaw nut gone over to lU- Koniini Calliolic fuith. It contains a cliurch, and snpp^rU B priot. The irdialalnnis complained mueli of oppre^.-^ion, and, unfortunately, chiefly from bmtlier Christians formerly iif their own cr.'e<l. I w:m nuK'h Mriirk with llic intelligtnre and hcniily uf ihc children j one Uiy, scarcely twelve years of age, was already a K 4
56 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. III.
shamasha, or deacon, and could read with ease the Scriptures and the commentaries.
We left Mansouriyah at four in the morning, passing Jezirch about dawn, its towers and walls just visible through the haze on the opposite bank of the Tigris. Shortly after we were unexpectedly met by a number of Yezidi horsemen, who, having heard of our ap- proach from the messengers sent to Hussein Bey, had ridden through the night from Dereboun to escort us. They were mounted on strong, well-bred Arab mares, and armed with long lances tipped with ostrich-feathers. We learnt from them that the country was in a verj' disturbed state, on account of the incursions of the Desert Arabs ; but as a strong party was waiting to accompany us to Semil, I determined upon taking the shorter, though more danger- ous and less frequented, road by Dereboun. This road, impracti- cable to caravans except whe^i the river Khabour is fordable, winds round the spur of the Zakko hills, and thus avoids a difficult and precipitous pass. We stopped to breakfast at the large Catholic Chaldasan village of Tiekhtan, one of the many settlements of the same sect scattered over the singularly fertile plain of Zakko. The Yezidi Kochers, or Nomades, had begun to descend from the moun- tain pastures, and their black tents and huts of boughs and dried grass were scattered amongst the villages. We forded the Khabour, where it is divided into several branches, and not far from its junc- tion with the Tigris. The water in no part reached much above the horses' bellies, and the stream was far less rapid than that of the eastern Tigris, at Tilleh. Dereboun is a large Yezidi village stand- ing on the western spur of the Zakko range. Numerous springs burst from the surrounding rocks, and irrigate extensive rice- grounds. Below is the large Christian village of Feshapoor, where there is a ferry across the Tigris. We were most hospitably entertained by the Yezidi chief, one of the horsemen who had met us near Jezireh.
We mounted our horses as the moon rose, and resumed our journey, accompanied by a strong escort, which left us when we were within five or six miles of Semil. It was late in the forenoon before we reached our halting- place, after a dreary and fatiguing ride. We were now fairly in the Assyrian plains; the heat was in- tense— that heavy heat, which seems to paralyse all nature, causing the very air itself to vibrate. The high artificial mound of the Yezidi village, crowned by a modem mud-built castle, had been visible in the distance long before we reached it, miraged into double its real size, and into an imposing group of towers and
C«AF, m.] VILLAGE OF SEMIL. 57
fortifications. Almost overcome with weariness, we toiled up to it, and found its owner, Abde Agha, the Yezidi chieftain, seated in the gate, a vaulted entrance with deep recesses on both sides, used as places of assembly for business during the day*, and as places of rest for guests during the night. He was of a tall, commanding figure, with the deepest and most powerful voice I ever heard. We arrived earlier than he had expected, our forced march from Dereboun having saved us some hours, and he apologised for not having ridden out to meet us. His reception was most hospitable ; the lamb was slain and the feast prepared. But, in the midst of our greetings, a man appeared breathless before him. The Bedouins had attacked the neighbouring district and village of Pashai, belonging to Abde Agha's tribe. No time was lost in idle preparations. The messenger had scarcely delivered bis message, and answered a few necessary inquiries, before the high bred mare was led out ready saddled from the harem ; her owner leapt on her back, and followed by a small body of horse- men, his immediate dependants, galloped off in the direction of the Tigris. Wearied by my long night's march I retreated to a cool dark chamber in the castle, uumindful of the bloody business on which its owner had sallied forth.
AUle Agha did not return that day, but his wife well performed all the duties of hospitality in his stead. Mc8:;enger8 occasionally came ninning from tlie scene of the fight with the latest news, mo:*tly, as in such cases, greatly exaggerated, to the alarm of those who remained in the castle. But the chief himself did not appear until near dawn the following morning, as wc were preparing to renc-w our journey. He had not been idle during his absence, and his adiierents ct)ncurred in stating that he had killed five Arabs with his own hand. His brother, however, had received a danger- ous w(»ijnd, and one of his relations had been slain. He advised u^ to make the best of our way to Tel Eskoff, before the Arabs were cither repulsed, or had succeeded in taking Pashai. He could not furnish us with an escort, as every man capable of bearing
• Thi" custom of aj*seii»l»lin|j and transacting buHiness in the pate is con- tinual! v relVrred to in the Hible. See 2 Sam. xix. 8., where kinp David is r.j.fv.-nled as fitting in the fjate; coinp. *2 Chron. xviii. 9., and Dan. ii. 49. 'Hi** patefi of Jewi>h hou>e8 were |>rf»!»ahly similar to that described in the U'%t, Such entran<H»« are also found in Persia. Frequently in the gates of < :tJt.-«, a* at Mosul, these reeew»CJ» are used as shops for the sale of wheat and barirr, brea^l and gPH.*ery. Klisha prophoies that a measure of fine Hour shall ^-L- *>ild f<»r a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in thr gate ai Saiujiria. '1 Kings, vii. 1. and 18.
58 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. LChap. III.
arms was wanted to defend the district against the Bedouins, who were now swarming over the river to support their companions. Taking a hasty leave of us, and changing his tired mare, he rushed again to the fight. We rode off in the direction of the hills, taking an upper road, less likely to be occupied by the Arabs.
About three miles from Semil we saw a horseman closely pursued by a Bedouin, who was fast coming up with him, but on observing us turned back, and soon disappeared in the distance. The fugitive was a Mosuleean Spahi, with broken spear, and speechless with terror. When he had sufficiently recovered himself to speak, he declared that the Bedouins had defeated the Yezidis, and were spreading over the country. Although not putting much faith in the information, I urged on the caravan, and took such precautions as were necessary. Suddenly a large body of horsemen appeared on a rising ground to the east of us. We could scarcely expect Arabs from that quarter ; however, all our party made ready for an attack. Cawal Yusuf and myself, being the best mounted, rode towards them to reconnoitre. Then one or two horsemen advanced warily from the opposite party. We ncared each other. Yusuf spied the well-known black turban, dashed forward with a shout of joy, and in a moment we were surrounded, and in the embrace of friends. Hussein Bey and Sheikh Nasr, with the Cawals and Yezidi elders, had ridden nearly forty miles through the night to meet and escort me, if needful, to Mosul 1 * Their delight at seeing us knew no bounds ; nor was I less touched by a display of grati- tude and good feeling, equally unexpected and sincere.
They rode with us as far as Tel Eskoff, where the danger from the Arabs ceased, and then turned their hardy mares, still fresh after their long journey, towards Sheikhan. I was now once more with old friends. We had spent the first day of our journey, on leaving Mosul two years ago, in the house of Toma, the Christian Kiayah of Tel Eskoff; we now eat bread with him the kst on our return. In the afternoon, as we rode towards Tel Kef, I left the high road with Hormuzd to drink water at some Arab tents. As we approached we were greeted with exclamations of joy, and were soon in the midst of a crowd of men and women, kissing our knees, and exhibiting other tokens of welcome. They were Jebours, who had been employed in the excavations. Hearing that we were again going to dig after old stones, they at once set about striking their tents to join us at Mosul or Nimroud.
As we ncared Tel Kef we found groups of my old superintend- ents and workmen by the road side. There were fat Toma,
Chap. III.] A HAPPY MEETING. 59
Mansour, Behnan, and Hannah, joyful at meeting me once more, and at the prospect of fresh service. In the village we found Mr. Rassam (the vice-consul) and Khodja Toraa, his dragoman, who had made ready the feast for us at the house of the Chaldsean bishop. Next morning, as we rode the three last hours of our journey, we met fresh groups of familiar faces : — Merjan, with my old groom holding the stirrup ready for me to mount, the noble animal looking as beautiful, as fresh, and ns sleek as when I last saw him, although two long years had passed ; former servants, A wad and the Sheikhs of the Jebours, even the very greyhounds who had been brought up under my roof. Then as we ascend an eminence midway, walls, towers, minarets, and domes rise boldly from the margin of the broad river, cheating us into the belief, too soon to be dispelled, that Mosul is still a not unworthy representa- tive of the great Nineveh. As we draw near, the long line of lofty mounds, the only remains of mighty bulwarks and spacious gates, detach themselves from the low undulating hills : now the vast mound of Kouyunjik overtops the surrounding heaps ; then above it peers the white cone of the tomb of the prophet Jonah ; many other well-remembered spots follow in rapid succession; but we cannot lin^jer. Hastening over the creakinij brid^je of boats, we force our way through the crowded bazars, and alight at the house I had left two years ago. Old servants take their places as a matter of course, and, uninvited, pursue their regular occupations as if they had never been interrupted. Indeed it seemed as if we had but returned from a summer's ride ; two years had passed away like a dream.
I may in this place add a few words on part of the route pur- sued by Xenophon and the Ten Thousand during their memo- rable retreat, the identification of which had been one of my principal objects during our journey. I have, in the course of my narrative, already pointed out one or two spots signalled by re- markable events on their march.
I must first state my conviction that the parasang, like its repre- sentative the modern farsang or farsakh of Persia, was not a mca.«ure of distance very accurately determined, but rather indi- cated a certain amount of time employed in traversing a given space. Travellers are well aware that the Persian farsjikh varies considerably according to the nature of the country, and the usual modes of conveyance adopted by its inhabitants. In the plains of Khorassan and central Persia, where mules and horses are chiefly used by caravans, it is equal to about four miles, whilst in the
60 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IIL
mountainous regions of Western Persia, where the roads are diffi- cult and precipitous, and in Mesopotamia and Arabia, where camels are the common beasts of burden, it scarcely amounts to three. The farsakh and the hour are almost invariably used as expressing the same distance. That Xenophon reckoned by the common mode of computation of the country is evident by his employing, almost always, the Persian " parasang " instead of the Greek stadium ; and that the parasang was the same as the modern hour, we find by the distance between Larissa (Nimroud) and Mespila (Kouyunjik) being given as six parasangs, corresponding ex- actly with the number of hours assigned by the present inhabit- ants of the country, and by the authorities of the Turkish post, to the same road. The six hours in this instance are equal to about eighteen English miles.
The ford, by which the Greeks crossed the Great Zab (Zabates) may, I think, be accurately determined. It is still the principal ford in this part of the river, and must, from the nature of the bed of the stream, have been so from the earliest periods. It is about twenty-five miles from the confluence of the Zab and Tigris.* A march of twenty-five stadia, or nearly three miles, in the direction of Larissa, would have brought them to the Ghazir, or Bumadus ; and this stream was, I have little doubt, the deep valley formed by the torrent where Mithridates, venturing to attack the re- treating army, was signally defeated.! This action took place eight stadia beyond the valley; the Persian commander having neglected to intercept the Greeks when endeavoring to cross the difficult ravine, in which they would most probably have been entangled. A short march of three parasangs, or hours J, brought them to Larissa, the modern Nimroud. The Greeks could not have crossed the Zab above the spot I have indicated, as the bed of the river is deep, and confined within high rocky banks. They might have done so helow the junction of the Ghazir, and a ravine worn by winter rains may correspond with the valley mentioned by Xenophon, but I think the Ghazir far more likely to have been the torrent bed viewed with so much
* Mr. Ainsworth would take the Greeks up to the modern ferry, where there could never have been a ford, and which would have been some miles out of their route. (Travels in the Track of the Ten Thousand.)
t Anab. book iii. ch. 4.
{ Xenophon merely says that they marched the rest of the day. After the action, they could scarcely have advanced more than three parasangs, or nine miles.
Chaf. m.] xenophon's retreat. 61
alann by the Greek commander^ and the passage of which Mith- ridates might have disputed with some prospect of success.*
That Larissa and Mespila are represented by the ruins of Nimrond and Kouyunjik no one can reasonably doubt. Xeno- phon's description corresponds most accurately with the ruins and with the distance between them.
From Mespila the Greeks marched four parasangs and probably halted near the modem village of Batnai, between Tel Kef and Tel Eskof, an ancient site exactly four hours, by the usual cara- van road, from Kouyunjik. Many ancient mounds around Batnai mark the remains of those villages, from which, after having re- pulsed the Persian forces under Tissaphernes and Orontas, the Greeks obtained an abundant supply of provisions. Instead of fording the Khabour near its junction with the Tigris, and thus avoiding the hills, they crossed them by a precipitous pass to the site of the modern Zakko. They reached this range in four days, traversing it on the fifth, probably by the modern caravan road. The distance from Batnai to Zakko, according to the Turkish post, is twenty hours. This would give between four and five hours, or parasangs, a day for the march of the Greeks, the distance they usually performed. They were probably much retarded during the last day, by having to fight their way over three distinct moun- tain ridges- It is remarkable that Xenophon docs not mention the Khabour, although he irust have crossed that river either by a f^»nl or by a bridge t before reaching the plain. Yet the stream \* broail and rapid, and the fords at all times deep. Nor does he alhidc to the Hazel, a confluent of the Khabour, to which he came during his first day's march, after leaving Zakko. These f»nii-ri<»n3 prove that he does not give an accurate itinerary of hi- ruute.
Four days' march, the first of only sixty stadia, or about seven xiiilc!!*, brought the Greeks to tlie high mountains of Kurdistan, which, meeting the Tigris, shut out all further advance except by difficult and precipitous passes, already occupied by the Persians.
• In ("liaptor X. will be found some further roniarks on this subject; many r»a-T.*, ba*t*<l ii|H.n |>er*ional exiKTiunce, may be adduced for the probability f.f X'T.ophon's j>r»fiTrin;r the upper ford.
^ H»* pn»bablv t'H>k tiie more difficult road over the pass, and not that round th- 'pur, in ord«r to cro*'?* the Khabour by a bridge or ferry. It niu^t be re- m-iu^«-r*Ml that it wa* winter, and that the rivers were eonscfjuently sw(»lk'ii.
• Thi^ halt, aft' T "o ^hort a day's mareh, may have been occasioned by the li^jd. Tlie distance corresponds with sufficient accuracy.
62 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. III.
Xenophon, having dislodged the enemy from the first ridge, returned to the main body of the army, which had remained in the plain. This must have been near Fynyk, where the very foot of the Kurdish mountains is first washed by the riven The spot agrees accurately with Xenophon's description, as it does with tlie distance. " The Greeks," says he, " came to a place where the river Tigris is, both from its depth and breadth, absolutely im- passable; no road appeared, the craggy mountains of the Car- duchians hanging over the river." The offer of the Rhodian to cross the army on inflated skins, bound together to form a bridge, having been rejected, on account of the strong force assembled on the opposite side to dispute the passage, the Greeks marched back to the villages. The Persian prisoners informed Xenophon that four roads branched off from this spot : one to the south, by which the Greeks had retreated from Babylonia ; the second east- wards, to Susa and Ecbatana, by the plain of Zakko, the modern AmadiySh, Suleimaniyah, and the foot of the great range of Zagros; a third to the west, crossing the Tigris, near Jezireh, and thence through Orfa, Aintab, Tarsus, and the Cilician gates to Lydia and Ionia; and a fourth across the mountains of the Carduchians, or Kurdistan. The tribes infesting this fourth road were represented to Xenophon as notorious for their courage and warlike habits. They only held intercourse with the inha- bitants of the low country, when they were at peace with the governor residing in the plain, and such has been precisely the case with their descendants to this day. This route was, however, preferred, as it led into Armenia, a country from which they might choose their own road to the sea, and which abounded in villages and the necessaries of life.
The Greeks appear to have followed the route taken by Sultan Murad in his expedition against Baghdad, and, recently, by part of the Turkish forces sent against Beder Khan Bey; in fact, the great natural highway from the remotest period between east- ern Armenia and Assyria. Beyond the Carduchian mountains there were, according to the prisoners, two roads into Armenia, one crossing the head waters of the principal branch of the Tigris, the other going round them ; that is, leaving them to the left. These are the roads to this day foUowed by caravans, one crossing the plains of Kherzan to Diarbekir, and thence, by well-known mountain-passes to Kharput, the other passing through Bitlis. Xenophon chose the latten The villages in the valleys and recesses of the mountains are still found around Funduk ; and, on
Chap. UL] XENOPHON's RETREAT. 63
their first day's inarch over the Carduchian hills, the Greeks probably reached the neighbourhood of this village. There now remained about ten parasangs to the plain through which flows the eastern branch of the Tigris ; but the country was difficult, and at this time of the year (nearly midwinter)*, the lower road along the river was impassable. The Greeks had, therefore, to force their way over a series of difficult passes, all stoutly defended by warlike tribes. Tliey were consequently four days in reaching the Centritis, or eastern Tigris, the united waters of the rivers of Bit lis, Sert, and Boh tan. The stream was rapid, the water reach- ing to the breast, and the ford, owing to the unevenness of the liottom and the loose, slippery stones, exceedingly difficult ; such, it will be remembered, we found to be the case near Tilleh. The opposite banks were, moreover, defended by the combined forces of the Armenians, Mygdonians, and Chaldaeans. It was impossible to cross the river at this spot in the face of the enemy. At length a ford was discovered higher up, and Xenophon, by skilful strategy, effected the passage. This must have been at a short distance from Tilleh, as the river, narrowed between rocky banks, is no longer fordable higher up. The Greeks came upon the Centritis soon after leaving the Carduchian mountains.
The direct and most practicable road would now have been along the river banks to Bitlisf, but owing to the frequent incursions of the Carduchi, the villages in that direction had been abandoned, and the Greeks were compelled to turn to the westward, to find provisions and habitations. Still there was no road into Ar- nieni.i, particuhirly at this time of year, for an army encum- bered with baggage, except that through the Bitlis valley. The
• It is a matter of surprij^e that Cyrus should have chosen the very middle i'i ««uniiner for liis ex|R'dition into Hahyhinia, aud still more wonderful that the (*rc»kN unu?c<l to the intense heats of Meso{>otamia, and encumbered with their h«.-.«% y arms and armour, should have been able to brave the climate. No 'I urki*h (»r Persian commander would in these days venture to undertake a campaii^n a;iuinst the Arabs in this season of the year; for, besides the heat, the want of water would be almost an insurmountable obstacle. During their rvtrvdt, the (ireeks had to encounter all the rigor of an Armenian winter; so that, during the tew months they were under arms, they went through the most trying extremen of clininte. The expedition of Alexander was also under- taken in the middle of summer. It must, however, be borne in mintl, that Me- «^'{f»taniia was probably then thickly peopled and well cultivated, and that cjuialu and wells of water must have abounded.
t That by Sert parses over very precipitous mountains, and is only now taken by caravans, K'cause it is more secure than the other, and leads through a towo in which there is ftomc trade.
64 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IIL
remains of an ancient causeway are even now to be traced, and this probably has always been the great thoroughfare between western Armenia and the Assyrian plains. Xenophon consequently made nearly the same detour as I had made on my journey from Constantinople.
Six marches, of five parasangs each, brought them to the small river Teleboas. I am convinced that this river cannot be identified with the Kara Su, which would be at least between forty and fifty parasangs, or from eight to ten days' march, from Tilleh, supposing Xenophon to have made the smallest possible deviation to the west. I believe the Teleboas to have been the river of Bitlis.* After crossing the low country of Kherzan, well described by Xenophon as " a plain varied by hills of an easy ascent," the Greeks must neces- sarily have turned slightly to the eastward to reach the Bitlis valley, as inaccessible mountains stopped all further progress. My caravan was thirty-three hours in journeying from Bitlis to Tilleh, corre- sponding exactly with the six days' march of the Greeks. They probably came to the river somewhat below the site of the modem town, where it well deserves the epithet of " beautiful." It may have then had, as at this day, many villages near its banks. It will be observed that Xenophon says that they came to^ not that they crossedy the Teleboas.
From this river they reached the Euphrates in six marches, making, as usual, five parasangs each day ; in all, thirty parasangs, or hours. Now from the Kara Su to the Euphrates, even suppos- ing the Greeks to have gone far to the eastward out of the direct route on the plain of Malaskert, there would scarcely be twenty parasangs, whereas the high road from Bitlis to Northern Armenia would lead in exactly thirty hours, or six marches, to the Euphrates, which it crosses near Karaghal. I believe, therefore, that, after issuing from the valley of Bitlis, Xenophon turned to the westward, leaving the lake of Wan a little to the right, though completely concealed from him by a range of low hill8.f Skirting the western foot of the Nimroud Dagh range, he passed through a plain thickly inhabited, abounding in well-provisioned villages, and crossed here and there by ranges of hills. This country still tal- lies precisely with Xenophon's description.
♦ It must be borne in mind that the river of Bitlis joins the Sert Su before it falls into the main branch of the Tigris at Tilleh, and might therefore, under a different name, have appeared another river to Xenophon.
t Hai^l he seen this large inland sea, he would probably have mentioned it.
. IIL] UNCEHTAINTT OF XENOPHON'S NARRATIVE. 65
We have not, I conceive, sufficient data in Xenophon's narrative to identify with any degree of certainty his route after crossing the Euphrates. We know that about twenty parasangs from that river the Greeks encamped near a hot spring, and this spring might be recognised in one of the many which abound in the country. It is most probable that the Greeks took the road still used by caravans through the plains of Hinnis and Hassan- Kalah, as offering the fewest difficulties. But what rivers are we to identify with the Phnsis and Harpasus, the distance between the Euphrates and Phasis l>cing seventy parasangs, and between the Phasis and Harpasus ninety-five, and the Harpasus being the larger of the two rivers? I cannot admit that the Greeks turned to the west, and passed near the site of the modern Erzeroom. There are no rivers in that direction to answer the description of Xenophon. •Moreover, the Greeks came to the high mountain, and beheld the sea for the first time, at the distance of thirty-two parasangs from Trebizond. Had they taken either of the three modem roads from Erzeroom to the coa^t, and there are no others, they must have seen the Euxine in the immediate vicinity of Trebizond, certainly not more than six or eight pnrasangs from that city. I am on the whole inclined to be- lieve, that either the Greeks took a very tortuous course after leaving the Euphrates, making daily but little actual progress towards the gTc.il end of their arduous journey, the sea coast, or that there i.-i a con-iifJcraUle error in the amount of parasangs given by Xeno- j»hon ; that the Harpasus must be the Tcherouk, and the Pli.isis either the Araxes or the Kur '; and that Mount Thechcs, the holy mountain from whidi the Greeks behekl the sea, was between I>:itoun and Trebizond, the army having followed the valley of the T«:h<roiik, but leaving it before reaching the site of the modern jH.rt on the l>laek Soa.
• In n**^.!^. howrvor, wouM a <//rrrMine of marrli between these two rivers, T'-r N*iw.Mn nuv ntli.-r two rivers which ran possibly* aII^wer to his description, t^lv tiiih the ili-tanres j^iven by Xeuophon.
Chip. IV.] STATE OP EXCAVATIONS AT MOSUL. 67
mound, and had uncovered several interesting bas-reliefs, which I have already described from his own account of his discoveries.* That gentleman had, to my great regret, left Mosul. Since his departure the excavations had been placed under the charge of Mr. Rassam, the English vice-consul, who was directed by the Trustees of the British Museum to employ a small number of men, rather to retain possession of the spot, and to prevent interference on the part of others, than to carry on extensive operations. Toma Shishman, or " the Fat," was still the overseer of the workmen, and accompanied me on my first visit to the ruins.
Hut little change had taken place in the great mound since I had last seen it. It was yellow and bare, as it always is at this time of the year. Heaps of earth marked the site of former exca- vations, the chambers first discovered having been again completely buried with rubbish. Of the sculptured walls laid bare two years before no traces now remained. The trenches dug under Mr. Ross's directions, in the southern corner, opposite the town of Mosul, were still open. It was evident at a glance that the chambers he had entered did not, as he had been led to suppose, belong to a second palace. They formed part of the same great edifice once standing on this angle of the mound, and already partly explored. The style of the bas-reliefs, and of the inscrip- tion?!, marked them at once a;< of tlie same ci)ocli as those previously di-^ovcred. They belongCMl to tlie same king, and also recorded \i\:? '.var-i and his triumphs. The same great fire, too, whicli had ri'j<^<\ in the rcj^t of the bulldlnir, turning the sculptured panelling to linir, (lefacinjT the ancient records, and reducinjj the edifice to a luap of ashes and rubbish, had done its work here. But four rr five feet remained of the bas-reliefs once coverinjj the walls of §un -dried bricks to the height of eiglit or nine, and even these fniLMnents were generally too much ilefaccd to admit of minute d* r^^riplion.
The walls of two chambers had been laid bare. In onef? the lower port of a long series of sculptures was still partly i)reserved, I'Ut the upper had been completely destroyed, the very alabaster it-^ If having disiippcarc<l. The bas-reliefs recorded the subjection bv the A^svrian kinj; of a nation inhabiting; the banks of a river. The (*aptiv<' women are distinguished l)y long embroidered robes fringc^^l with tassels, and the castles have a peculiar wedge-shaped
• S»'C Xint'voh and it:* ncriiain", v(»l. ii. j>. 131*. t No. LI. rian I.
r 2
NINEVEH AKD BABYLON.
ornament on tlie walls. The towns probably stood in the midst of marshes, as they appear to be surrounded by canes or reeds, as
well ns by groves of palm trees. The Assyrians having capture the strong places by escalade, carried the inhabitants into captivity, and drove away cattle, camels, and carts drawn by oxen. Some of the men bear large baskets of osier wort, and the women vases or cauldrons. The king, standing in his chariot, attended by his warriors, and preceded by an eunuch registering the number of prisoners and the amount of the spoil, receives the conquered chiefs. Not a vestige of inscription remains to record the name of the Tanquished people; but we may conjecture, from the river and the palm trees, that they inhabited some district in southern Meso- potamia. They were, probably, one of the numerous Arab tribes who lived in the marshes formed by the Euphrates and Tigris, and took advantage, as their descendants do to this day, of their almost inaccessible position in the midst of vast swamt>s to be in continual rebellion against the supreme government. Many of these tribes, it will hereafter be seen, are mentioned amongst the southern con- quests of the king who built the palace. In the southern wall of this chamber was a doorway formed by plain, upright slabs of a close-grained magnesian limestone, almost as hard as flint ; between them were two email, crouching lions, in the usual
mum
«(
EXCAVATED CHAMBERS
KIH"\TNJIK.
1 'I'l *„--^ . pj-
#/ /■
f'ty-" f i^ "^ ^ '/■
'.tt
lAF.IV.] SCm-PTUEES DISCOVERED. 69
ibftster. This entrance led into a further room, of which only a nail part had been explored.* The walls were panelled with wealptured slabs of the same compact limestone. The sculptured remains hitherto discovered in the mound of ouyunjik had been reached by digging down to them from the vfiftce, and then removing the rubbish. After the departure of Ir. Ross, the accumulation of earth above the ruins had become i considerable, frequently exceeding thirty feet, that the work- cn, to avoid the labor of clearing it away, began to tunnel OBg the wails, sinking shafts at intervals to admit light and air. lie hardness of the soil, mixed with pottery, bricks, and remains f buildings raised at various times over the buried ruins of • Assyrian palace, rendered this process easy and safe with Anary care and precaution. The subterraneous passages were now, and were propped up wlien necessary either by leaving Imnns of earth, as in mines, or by wooden beams. These long iBeries, dimly lighted, lined with the remains of ancient art, broken IM projecting from the crumbling sides, and the wild Arab and wdj Xestorian wandering through their intricacies, or working ; li^ir dark recesses, were singularly picturesque. Toma Shishman had removed the workmen from the southern mer of the mound, where the sculptures were much injured, id had opened tunnels in a part of the building previously ex- ored, commencing where I had left off on my departure from [osuLf I descended into the vaulled passages by an inclined ■y, through which the workmen issued from beneath to throw ray the ruhbish dug out from the ruins. At the bottom I found yself before a wall forming the southern side of the great Hall, •eovered, though only partly explored, during my former rc- •rches. J The sculptures, faintly seen through the gloom, were ill well enough preserved to give a complete history of the llject n^presented, although, with the rest of the bas-reliefs of !<Wiyunjik, the fire had nearly turned them to lime, and had !lcked them into a thousand pieces. The faces of the slabs id been entirely covered with figures, varying from three inches
♦Ko. Llir. PlanL
t At No. VI. same plan. * The cbambers marked with letters in the Plan of
^junjik in the 2tl vol. of " Nineveh and its Remains," are distinguished, for
•venienee of general referenee, by numl>ers in Plan I. of tliis work, which in-
fcdet all those excavated durlnjj the first expedition, as well as those discovered
ttinjf the second : the letters arc, however, also inserted.
I No. VI. Plan I.
F 3
70 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IV.
to one foot in height, carefully finished, and designed with great spirit.
Ill this series of bas-reliefs the history of an Assyrian conquest was more fully portrayed than in any other yet discovered, from the going out of the monarch to battle, to his triumphal return after a complete victory. The first part of the subject has already been described in my former work.* The king, accompanied by his chariots and horsemen, and leaving his capital in the As- syrian plains, passed through a mountainous and wooded district, t He does not appear to have been delayed by the siege of many towns or castles, but to have carried the war at once into the high country. His troops, cavalry and infantry, are represented in close combat with their enemies, pursuing them over hills and through valleys, beside streams, and in the midst of vineyards. The Assyrian horsemen are armed with the spear and the bow, using both weapons whilst at full speed : their opponents seem to be all archers. The vanquished turn to ask for quarter ; or, wounded, fall under the feet of the advancing horses, raising their hands im- ploringly to ward off the impending deathblow. The triumph fol- lows. The king standing in his chariot, beneath the royal parasol, followed by long lines of dismounted warriors leading richly capa- risoned horses, and by foot soldiers variously armed and accoutred, is receiving the captives and spoil taken from the conquered people. First approach the victorious warriors, throwing the heads of the slain into heaps before the registering officers. They are followed by others leading, and urging onwards with staves, the prisoners — men chained together, or bound singly in fetters, and women, some on foot, carrying their children on their shoulders, and leading them by the hand, others riding on mules. The procession is finished by asses, mules, and flocks of sheep. As on the bas-reliefs uncovered by Mr. Boss, there is unfortunately no inscription by which the name of the conquered people can be determined. We are left to conjecture the site of the country they inhabited from its natural features, rudely portrayed in the bas-reliefs, or from notices that may hereafter — on a better ac- quaintance with the cuneiform character — be found in the great inscriptions on the bulls containing the history of the wars of the
* Nineveh and its Remains, rol. ii. p. 134.
f The long lines of variously armed troops, described in my former work (vol. ii. p. 134.) as covering several slabs from top to bottom, form the army of the king marching to this campaign. Monuments of Nineveh, Plate 81.
Chap. IV.] SCULPTURES DESCRIBED. 71
A^yrian king. The mountains, valleys, and streams, the vines and dwarf oaks, probably indicate a region north of Assyria, in Armenia, Media, or Kurdistan, countries we know to have been invaded by the royal builder of the palace. The dress of the men consists of a short tunic ; that of the women, of a shirt falling to the ankles, and cut low in front of the neck.*
In the side of the hall sculptured with these bas-reliefs was a wide portal, formed by a pair of gigantic human-headed bulls.t They bad suffered, like all those previously discovered, from the fire, and the upper part, the wings and human head, had been completely destroyed. The lower half had, however, escaped, and the inscrip- tions were consequently nearly entire. Joined to the forepart of the bulls were four small figures, two on each side, and one above the other. They had long hair, falling in large and massive curls on their shoulders, wore short tunics descending to the knee, and held a pole topped by a kind of cone in one hand, raising the other as in act of adoration4 At right angles with the slabs bearing these sculptures were colossal figures carrying the oft-repeated cone and ba^iket.
In this entrance a well, cut through the large pavement slab between the bulls, was afterwards discovered. It contained broken pottery, not one vase having been taken out whole, apparently human remain?, and some fragments of calcined sculptured alabaster ^ evidently detached from the bas-reliefs on the walls. It is doubt- ful whether this well was sunk after the Assyrian ruins had been buried, or whetlier it had been from the earliest times a place of dej)o:*it fur tlie dead. The remains of bas-reliefs found in it, at a cousicKrable depth, show that it must liavc been filled up alter the dc»trueliou of the Assyrian palace; and, as no such wells exist in ffiinilar entrances, 1 am inclined to believe that, like many others di.-H:overed during the excavations, it had been made by lh«»e who built on the mound above the ancient ruins. When frinkin^ the shaft they probably met with the pavement slab, and cut tliruugli it. It appears to have been afterwards choked bv ilie lallln;^ in of the rubbish throu^^h which it had been
• Two |»late.4 from thesi* s]>irite«l sculptures are jrivcn in the 2tl series of the M'»numciits of Nineveh, Plat<.-d 37. 38. They rei>re»eut the battle, and part of th*' triiiuiph.
t Kntrjmrk. Xo. VI. Plan I.
♦ On,- *u. h figure hai Keen phire<l in the Driti.-h Museum, an«l see *2«1 series of the Munuuicnl.1 uf Nine\ eh, Plated.
r 4
72 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IV.
carried, and hence the fragments of sculptured alabaster mixed with the broken pottery. Being unable to support its crumbling sides, I was obliged to abandon the attempt after digging to the depth of about fifteen feet.
A small doorway to the right of the portal formed by the winged bulls, led into a further chamber*, in which an entrance had been found into a third room f, whose walls had been com- pletely uncovered. Its dimensions were 26 feet by 23, and it had but this one outlet, flanked on either side by two colossal figures, whose lower extremities alone remained, the upper part of the slabs having been destroyed : one appeared to have been eagle-headed, with the body of a man, and the other a monster, with human head and the feet of a lion. The bas-reliefs round the chamber represented the siege of a castle standing on an arti- ficial mound, surrounded at its base by houses. The besieged defended themselves on the walls and turrets with bows, spears, and stones. The Assyrian army was composed of spearmen, slingers, and bowmen, some of whom had already gained the housetops. Male and female captives had been taken and heads cut off; the victorious warriors according to custom, and pro- bably to claim a reward X , bringing them to the registrars. The led horses and body-guard of the king was still preserved, but that part of the bas-relief containing the monarch himself, pro- bably standing in his chariot, had been destroyed. In the back ground were wooded mountains ; vines and other trees formed a distinct band in the middle of the slabs; and a river ran at the foot of the mound. The dress of the male prisoners consisted either of a long robe falling to the ankles, or of a tunic reaching to the knees, over which was thrown an outer garment, apparently made of the skins of animals, and they wore greaves laced up in front. The women were clothed in a robe descending to the feet, with an outer fringed garment thrown over the shoulders; a kind of hood or veil covered the back of the head, and fell over the neck. Above the castle was the fragment of an inscription in two lines, containing the name of the city, of which unfor- tunately the first character is wanting. It reads : " The city of . . . alammo I attacked and captured ; I carried away its spoil." No
• No. Xin. Plan I. t No. XIV. same plan.
X It is still the custom in Persia, and was so until lately in Turkey, for soldiers to bring the heads of the slain to their officers after a battle, and to claim a small pecuniary reward.
Chip. IV.] SCULPTURES DESCRIBED. 73
Dame^ however, corresponding with it has yet been found In the royal annals, and we can only infer, from the nature of the country represented, that the place was in a mountainous district to the north of Assyria.* It is remarkable that in this chamber, as in others afterwards explored, some of the slabs (those adjoining the entrance) had been purposely defaced, every vestige of sculp- ture having been carefully removed by a sharp instrument.
Returning to the great hall, I found that a third outlet had been discovered, opening, however, to the west. This entrance had been guarded by six colossal figures, three on each side. The upper part of all of them had been destroyed. They appear to have been eagle-headed and Hon -headed monsters, f
This doorway led into a narrow passage, one side of which had alone been excavated ; on it was represented the siege of a walled city, divided into two parts by a river. One half of the place had been captured by the Assyrians, who had gained possession of the towers and battlements, but that on the opposite bank of the stream was still defended by slingers and bowmen. Against its walls had been thrown banks or mounds, built of stones, bricks, and branches of trees, f The battering-rams, covered with skins or hides looped together, had been rolled up these inclined ways, and had already made a breach in the fortifications. Archers and spearmen were hurrying to the assault, whilst others were driving (itf the captives, and carrying away the idols of the enemy. The drc!JS of the male pri:?oners consisted of a plain under shirt, an uj'per garment falling below the knees, divided in the front anl buttoned at the neck, and laced greaves. Their hair and beanln were ^horter and le."?s ehiborutely curled than those of the A«c*'yriiins«. The women were distin«^iiished by high rounded turl.:inj*, ornamented with plaits or folJs. A veil fell from the back of tiiiri headJre.ss over the shoulders. § No inscription re- njuiiK-d to record the name of the vanquished nation. Their ciU'tles .-tood in a wooded and mountainous country, and their
• As imirli of th(? I »ai»- relief!* as could he moved U now in the liritish MuMMim ; MM* also 2d iRTJes <»f tlie Mouuiueiits ot" Nineveh, Plate S\).
t Kill ranee i. No. \l. IMan I.
J Fur an a«rouijt of the>e njounds reprei'ente<l in the Assyrian sculptures, and th«- manner in wliii h ihey illustrate various pas^s^ages in Scripture, see my Ninc- \iU and its Heniain", vol ii. p. 3(17. and mtte.
§ Such \* ihe ctH'tunie of the women in !«hips in a bas-relief discovereil during my former re*«*ar<he» ("ee Nineveh and its Kemains V()l. ii. p. 121). and Muiiu- mcrit» *>( Nin<'veh, i'lateTl.), and which, I have conjectured, ujay represent tic cupiure of Tyre or Sidun.
74 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. IV.
peculiar costume^ and the river passing through the centre of their chief city, may help hereafter to identify them.
The opposite side of this narrow chamber, or passage, was shortly afterwards uncovered. The bas-reliefs on its walls re- presented the king in his chariot, preceded and followed by his warriors. The only remarkable feature in the sculptures was the highly decorated trappings of the horses, whose bits were in the form of a horse at full speed.
Such were the discoveries that had been made during my absence. There could be no doubt whatever that all the chambers hitherto excavated belonged to one great edifice, built by one and the same king. I have already shown how the bas-reliefs of Kouyunjik differed from those of the older palaces of Nimroud, but closely resembled those of Khorsabad in the general treat- ment, in the costumes of the Assyrian warriors, as well as of the nations with whom they warred, and in the character of the ornaments, inscriptions, and details. Those newly uncovered were, in all thgse respects, like the bas-reliefs found before my departure, and upon which I had ventured to form an opinion as to the respective antiquity and origin of the various ruins hitherto explored in Assyria. The bas-reliefs of Nimroud, the reader may remember, were divided into two bands or friezes by inscriptions ; the subject being frequently confined to one tablet, or slab, and arranged with some attempt at composition, so as to form a sepa- rate picture. At Kouyunjik the four walls of a chamber were generally occupied by one series of sculptures, representing a con- secutive history, uninterrupted by inscriptions, or by the divisions in the alabaster panelling. Figures, smaller in size than those of Nimroud, covered from top to bottom the face of slabs, eight or nine feet high, and sometimes of equal breadth.
The sculptor could thus introduce more action, and far more detail, into his picture. He aimed even at conveying, by rude representations of trees, valleys,