in coming upon fragments of sculptured alabaster, and after two or three days' labour an entrance was discovered, formed by two winged figures, which had been purposely destroyed. The legs and the lower part of the tunic were alone preserved. The proportions were gigantic, and the relief higher than that of any sculpture hitherto discovered in Assyria. This entrance led into a chamber, of which slabs about five feet high and three broad alone remained standing. There were marks of the chisel over them all; but from their size, it appeared doubtful whether figures had ever been sculptured upon them. As no slabs of alabaster or fragments of the same material were found, it is probable that the upper part of the walls was constructed of kiln-burnt bricks, with which the whole chamber was filled up, and which indeed formed the greater part of the mound. On the sides of many of them was an inscription, containing the name of the king who built the edifices of which Kouyunjik and Nebbi Yunus are the remains. The pavement was of limestone. After tracing the walls of one chamber, I renounced a further examination, as no traces of sculpture were to be found, and the accumulation of rubbish was very considerable.

This building appears to have been either a guardhouse at one of the entrances into the quadrangle, or a tower defending the walls. From the height of the mound it would seem that there were two or more stories.

The comparative rest obtained in Mosul so far restored my strength, that I returned to Nimroud

in the middle of August, and again attempted to renew the excavations. I uncovered the top of the slabs of chamber H from entrance e to entrance b, and discovered the chambers I and R.* Upon most of them were similar sculptures; the king standing between two winged figures, and holding in one hand a cup, in the other a bow. The only new feature in this chamber was a recess cut out of the upper part of slab No. 3. I am at a loss to account for its use; from its position it might have been taken for a window, opening into chamber G; but there was no corresponding aperture in the slab, which formed the facing of the wall at its back in that chamber. It may have been used as a place of deposit for sacred vessels and instruments, or as an altar for sacrifice; a conjecture which may be strengthened by the fact of a large square stone, slightly hollowed in the centre, and probably meant to contain a fluid, being generally found in front of the slabs in which such recesses

occur.

The slabs in chamber R were unsculptured, having the usual inscription across them. The pavement was formed by alabaster slabs. Entrance b led me into a further chamber, narrow and long in its proportions. I only uncovered the upper part of a few of the slabs. Upon them were two bas-reliefs, separated by the usual inscription; the upper (similar on all the slabs) represented two winged human figures with the horned cap, kneeling on one knee

*Plan 3.

before the mystic tree; their hands are stretched out, one towards the top, and the other towards the bottom of the emblem before them. In the lower compartments were eagle-headed figures facing each other in pairs, and separated by the same symbol.

The state of my health again compelled me to renounce for the time my labours at Nimroud. As I required a cooler climate, I determined to visit the Tiyari mountains, inhabited by the Chaldæan Christians, and to return to Mosul in September, when the violence of the heat had abated.

CHAP. VI.] DEPARTURE FOR THE TIYARI MOUNTAINS. 147

CHAP. VI.

DEPARTURE FOR THE TIYARI MOUNTAINS.

KHORSABAD.

SHIEKH

ADI. A KURDISH ENCAMPMENT. — A CHALDEAN VILLAGE. CONVERTS TO ROMAN CATHOLICISM. AMADIYAH. — A TURKISH GOVERNOR. -ALBANIAN IRREGULARS.—AN ALBANIAN CHIEF. CHALDEAN VILLAGES.-A KURDISH

THE VALLEY OF BERWARI.
BEY. -ASHEETHA.

THE preparations for my departure for the Tiyari mountains were completed by the 28th August, and on that day I started from Mosul. My party consisted of Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, Ibrahim Agha, two Albanian irregulars, who were to accompany me as far as Amadia, a servant, a groom, and one Ionan, or Ionunco, as he was familiarly called, a half-witted Nestorian, whose drunken frolics were reserved for the entertainment of the patriarch, and who was enlisted into our caravan for the amusement of the company. We rode our own horses. As Ionunco pretended to know all the mountain roads, and volunteered to conduct us, we placed ourselves under his guidance. I was provided with Bouyourouldis, or orders, from the Pasha to the authorities as far as Amadiyah, and with a letter to Abd-ul-Summet Bey, the Kurdish chief of Berwari, through whose territories we had to pass. Mar Shamoun, the patriarch, furnished me with a very strong letter of recommendation to the meleks and priests of the Nestorian districts.

As I was anxious to visit the French excavations

at Khorsabad on my way to the mountains, I left Mosul early in the afternoon, notwithstanding the great heat of the sun. It was the sixth day of Ramazan, and the Mahommedans were still endeavouring to sleep away their hunger when I passed through the gates, and crossed the bridge of boats. Leaving my baggage and servants to follow leisurely, I galloped on with the Albanians, and reached Khorsabad in about two hours.

The mound is about fourteen miles N.N.E. of Mosul. A village formerly stood on its summit, but the houses were purchased and removed by M. Botta, when the excavations were undertaken by the French Government. It has been rebuilt in the plain at the foot of the mound. The Khausser, a small stream issuing from the hills of Makloub, is divided into numerous branches as it approaches the village, and irrigates extensive rice grounds. The place is consequently very unhealthy, and the few squalid inhabitants who appeared, were almost speechless from ague. During M. Botta's excavations, the workmen suffered greatly from fever, and many fell victims to it.

The mode of carrying on the excavations resembled that which I adopted at Nimroud; and the general plan of construction is the same as in the Assyrian edifices already described. There are, however, more narrow passages in this building than at Nimroud, and the chambers are inferior in size. At the same time the slabs used in their construction are in general higher, though narrower. The relief in the larger