the centre chambers, appeared to form parts of one extensive edifice. Between the palace in the southwest corner and the ruins last described, was a deep ravine; whether an ancient artificial ascent to the platform, gradually deepened and widened by the winter rains, or entirely a natural watercourse, I was unable to determine. Along its sides, to a considerable depth, were exposed masses of brickwork. I directed several trenches to be carried from this ravine into the southeastern corner, in the expectation of finding buildings beneath the chambers already explored. A few fragments of sculptured alabaster, the remains of a winged bull in yellow limestone, and a piece of black stone bearing small figures, evidently from an obelisk resembling that found in the centre. palace, were discovered; but to the west of the upper building. I could also trace walls of sun-dried brick, still bearing remains of painted ornaments, but the excavations were not sufficiently extensive to enable me to ascertain the nature and extent of the edifice. Finding no sculptured slabs, I did not continue my researches in this part of the ruins. It only remains for me to mention a singular discovery on the eastern face of the mound, near its northern extremity. I had opened a trench* from the outer slope, with a view to ascertain the nature of the wall surrounding the inner buildings. I found no traces of stone, or of alabaster slabs; the wall being built of sun-dried bricks and nearly fifty feet thick. In its centre, about fifteen feet below the surface of the platform, the workmen came upon a small vaulted chamber, built of baked bricks. It was about ten feet high, and the same in width. The arch was constructed upon the well-known principle of vaulted roofs-the bricks being placed sideways, one against the other, and having been probably sustained by a framework until the vault was completed. This chamber was nearly blocked up with rubbish, the greater part being a kind of slag * r, plan 1. The sides of the bricks, forming the arched roof and the walls, were almost vitrified, and had evidently been exposed to very intense heat. In fact, the chamber had the appearance of a large furnace for making glass, or for fusing metal. I am unable to account for its use. It is buried in the centre of a thick wall, and I could find no access to it from without. If, therefore, either originally a furnace or serving for any other purpose, it must have been used before the upper part of the wall was built. Several trenches were opened in other parts of the mound.* Every where I found traces of buildings, and generally reached a pavement of baked bricks between ten and fifteen feet beneath the surface. In the northern half of the mound, the name of the founder of the earliest palace was written upon all these bricks. No remains, however, of sculptured slabs or inscriptions were discovered; but many small objects of considerable interest were occasionally taken out of the rubbish: amongst them I may mention three lions' paws in copper, of beautiful form, which may have belonged to the bottom of a couch or throne.† The ruins were, of course, very inadequately explored; but with the small sum at my disposal I was unable to pursue my researches to the extent that I could have wished. If, after carrying a trench to a reasonable depth and distance, no remains of sculpture or inscription appeared, I abandoned it and renewed the experiment elsewhere. By this mode of proceeding I could ascertain, at least, that in no part of the mound was there any very extensive edifice still standing; although it is highly probable that slabs taken from such an edifice, and placed together in readiness for removal, like those discovered in the centre, may still be buried under the soil. But there is nothing to point out the spot where such remains may be deposited, and I might have sought after them in vain for months. *At o, p, q, 8, and t, in plan 1. ✦ Found at p, plan 1. There were too many tangible objects in view to warrant an outlay in experiments, perhaps leading to no results; and I have left a great part of the mound of Nimroud to be explored by those, who may hereafter succeed me in the examination of the ruins of Assyria. CHAPTER XII. 1 HAD long wished to excavate in the mounds of Kalah Sherghat, ruins rivalling those of Nimroud and Kouyunjik in extent. An Arab, from the Shammar, would occasionally spend a night amongst my workmen, and entertain them with accounts of idols and sculptured figures of giants, which had long been the cause of wonder and awe to the wandering tribes, who occasionally pitch their tents near the place. On my first visit, I had searched in vain for such remains; but the Arabs, who are accustomed to seek for pasture during the spring in the neighborhood, persisted in their assertions, and offered to show me where these strange statues, carved, it was said, in black stone, were to be found. As there is scarcely a ruin in Mesopotamia without its wondrous tale of apparitions and Frank idols, I concluded that Kalah Sherghat was to be ranked amongst the number, and that all these accounts were to be attributed to the fertile imagination of the Arabs. As the vicinity is notoriously dangerous, being a place of rendezvous for all plundering parties, whether of the Shammar, the Aneyza. or the Obeid, I had deferred a visit to the ruins, until I could remain amongst them for a short time under the protection of some powerful tribe. This safeguard was also absolutely necessary in the event of my sending workmen to the place, to carry on excavations. The pastures in the neighborhood of Mosul having this year been completely dried from the want of rain, the three great divisions of the Jebour Arabs sought the jungles on the banks of the Tigris below Mosul. Abd'rubbou with his tribe descended the river, and first pitching his tents at Senidij,* near the confluence of the Tigris and the Zab, subsequently moved towards Kalal Sherghat. I thought this a favorable time for excavating in the great mound; and the Sheikh having promised to supply me with Arabs for the work, and with guards for their defence, I sent Mansour, one of my super intendents, to the spot. I followed some days afterwards, accompanied by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, the Bairakdar, and several well-armed men, chosen from amongst the Jebour who were employed at Nimroud. We crossed the river on a small raft-our horses having to swim the stream. Striking into the desert by the Wadi Jehennem, we rode through a tract of land, at this time of year usually covered with vegetation; but then, from the drought, a barren waste. During some hours' ride we scarcely saw any human being, except a solitary shepherd in the distance, driving before him his half-famished flocks. We reached at sunset a small encampment of the Jebour. The tents were pitched in the midst of a cluster of high reeds on the banks of the Tigris, and nearly opposite to the tomb of Sultan Abdallah. They were so well concealed, that it required the experienced eye of a Bedouin to detect them,† by the thin smoke rising above the thicket. The cattle and sheep found scanty pasturage in a marsh formed by the river. The Arabs were as poor and miserable as their beasts; they received us, however, with hospitality, and killed a very lean lamb for our entertainment. Near the encampment was a quadrangle, resembling on a small scale the great inclosures of Nimroud and Kouyunjik, A corruption of Sunedik, the plural form of Sanduk, a box. The place is so called by the Arabs from the peculiar form of the rocks near the river. In the desert, the vicinity of an encampment is generally marked by some sign well known to the members of the tribe. It would otherwise be very difficult to discover the tents, pitched, as they usually are, in some hollow or ravine to conceal them from hostile plundering parties. |