Discoveries among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon Part 5

The sculptures in the palace itself had rapidly fallen to decay, and of those which had been left exposed to the air after M. Botta's departure, scarcely any traces remained. Since my former visit to Khorsabad, the French consul at Mosul had sold to Col. Rawlinson the pair of colossal human-headed bulls and winged figures, now in the great hall of the British Museum. They had stood in a propylaeum, about 900 feet to the south-east of the palace, within the quadrangle, but not upon the artificial mound. In form this small building appears to have been nearly the same as the gateway, in the walls of Kouyunjik, and like it was built of brick and panelled with low limestone slabs. From the number of enamelled bricks discovered in the ruins it is probable that it was richly decorated in color.

Trenches had also been opened in one of the higher mounds in the line of walls, and in the group of ruins at the S. W. corner of the quadrangle, but no discoveries of any interest had been made. The centre of the quadrangle was now occupied by a fever-breeding marsh formed by the waters of the Khauser.

We pa.s.sed the night at Futhliyah, a village built at the foot of the Gabel Makloub, about a mile and a half from Khorsabad. Near Futhliyah, and about two miles from the palace of Khorsabad, is a lofty conical Tel visible from Mosul, and from most parts of the surrounding country. It is one of those isolated mounds so numerous in the plains of a.s.syria, which do not appear to form part of any group of ruins, and the nature of which I have been unable to determine. Its vicinity to Khorsabad led me to believe that it might have been connected with those remains, and might have been raised over a tomb. By my directions deep trenches were opened into its sides, but only fragments of pottery were discovered.

From Futhliyah we rode across the plain to the large village of Baazani, chiefly inhabited by Yezidis. There we found Hussein Bey, Sheikh Nasr, and a large party of Cawals a.s.sembled at the house of one Abd-ur-rahman Chelibi, a Mussulman gentleman of Mosul, who had farmed the revenues of the place.

Near Baazani are a group of artificial mounds of no great size. Having examined them, and taken leave of the chiefs, I rode to the neighbouring village of Baasheikhah, only separated from Baazani by a deep watercourse, dry except during the rains. Both stand at the very foot of the Gebel Makloub. Immediately behind them are craggy ravines worn by winter torrents. In these valleys are quarries of the kind of alabaster used in the a.s.syrian palaces, but I could find no remains to show that the a.s.syrians had obtained their great slabs from them, although they appear to be of ancient date.

I have mentioned, in my former work, the a.s.syrian ruin near Baasheikhah.

It is a vast mound, little inferior in size to Nimroud, irregular in shape, uneven in level, and furrowed by deep ravines worn by the winter rains. Standing, as it does, near abundant quarries of the favorite sculpture-material of the a.s.syrians, and resembling the platforms of Kouyunjik or Khorsabad, there was every probability that it contained the remains of an edifice like those ruins. There are a few low mounds scattered around it, but no distinct line of walls forming an inclosure.

During the former excavations only earthen jars, and bricks, inscribed with the name of the founder of the centre palace at Nimroud, had been discovered. A party of Arabs and Tiyari were now opening trenches and tunnels in various parts of the mound, under the superintendence of Yakoub Rais of Asheetha. The workmen had uncovered, on the west side of the ruin near the surface, some large blocks of yellowish limestone apparently forming a flight of steps; the only other antiquities of any interest found during the excavations were a few bricks bearing the name of the early Nimroud king, and numerous fragments of earthenware.

It is remarkable that no remains of more interest have been discovered in this mound, which must contain a monument of considerable size and antiquity. Although the trenches opened in it were numerous and deep, yet the ruin has not yet probably been sufficiently examined. It can scarcely be doubted that on the artificial platform, as on others of the same nature, stood a royal palace, or some monument of equal importance.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Bulls, with historical Inscriptions of Sennacherib (Kouyunjik).]

CHAPTER 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 INSCRIPTIONS 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.--DISCOVERY OF SCULPTURES AT KOUYUNJIK, REPRESENTING THE SIEGE OF LACHISH.--DESCRIPTION OF THE SCULPTURES.--DISCOVERY OF CLAY SEALS--OF SIGNETS OF EGYPTIAN AND a.s.sYRIAN KINGS.--CARTOUCHE OF SABACO.--NAME OF ESSARHADDON.--CONFIRMATION OF HISTORICAL RECORDS OF THE BIBLE.--ROYAL CYLINDER OF SENNACHERIB.

During the month of December, several discoveries of the greatest interest and importance were made, both at Kouyunjik and Nimroud. I will first describe the results of the excavations in the ruins opposite Mosul.

I must remind the reader that, shortly before my departure for Europe in 1848, the forepart of a human-headed bull of colossal dimensions had been uncovered on the east side of the Kouyunjik Palace. This sculpture then appeared to form one side of an entrance or doorway, and it is so placed in the plan of the ruins accompanying my former work.[48] The excavations had, however, been abandoned before any attempt could be made to ascertain the fact. On my return, I had directed the workmen to dig out the opposite sculpture. A tunnel, nearly 100 feet in length, was accordingly opened at right angles to the bull, first discovered, but without coming upon any other remains than a pavement of square limestone slabs which stretched without interruption as far as the excavation was carried. I consequently discontinued the cutting, as it was evident that no entrance could be of so great a width, and as there were not even traces of building in that direction.

The workmen having been then ordered to uncover the bull which was still partly buried in the rubbish, it was found that adjoining it were other sculptures, and that it formed part of an exterior facade. The upper half of the next slab had been destroyed, but the lower still remained, and enabled me to restore the figure of the a.s.syrian Hercules strangling the lion, similar to that discovered between the bulls in the propylaea of Khorsabad, and now in the Louvre. The hinder part of the animal was still preserved. Its claws grasped the huge limbs of the giant, who lashed it with the serpent-headed scourge. The legs, feet, and drapery of the G.o.d were in the boldest relief, and designed with great truth and vigor.

Beyond this figure, in the same line, was a second bull. The facade then opened into a wide portal, guarded by a pair of winged bulls, twenty feet long, and probably, when entire, more than twenty feet high. Forming the angle between them and the outer bulls were gigantic winged figures in low relief, and flanking them were two smaller figures, one above the other.

Beyond this entrance was a group similar to and corresponding with that on the opposite side, also leading to a smaller entrance into the palace, and to a wall of sculptured slabs; but here all traces of building and sculpture ceased, and we found ourselves near the edge of the water-worn ravine.

Thus a facade of the south-east side of the palace, forming apparently the grand entrance to the edifice, had been discovered. Ten colossal bulls, with six human figures of gigantic proportions, were here grouped together, and the length of the whole, without including the sculptured walls continued beyond the smaller entrances, was 180 feet. They had represented the conquest of a district, probably part of Babylonia, watered by a broad river and wooded with palms, spearmen on foot in combat with a.s.syrian hors.e.m.e.n, castles besieged, long lines of prisoners, and beasts of burden carrying away the spoil. Amongst various animals brought as tribute to the conquerors, could be distinguished a lion led by a chain.

The bulls, as I have already observed, were all more or less injured. The same convulsion of nature--for I can scarcely attribute to any human violence the overthrow of these great ma.s.ses--had shattered some of them into pieces, and scattered the fragments amongst the ruins. Fortunately, however, the lower parts of all, and, consequently, the inscriptions, had been more or less preserved. To this fact we owe the recovery of some of the most precious records with which the monuments of the ancient world have rewarded the labors of the antiquary.

On the great bulls forming the centre portal of the grand entrance, was one continuous inscription, injured in parts, but still so far preserved as to be legible almost throughout. It contained 152 lines. On the four bulls of the facade were two inscriptions, one inscription being carried over each pair, and the two being of precisely the same import. These two distinct records contain the annals of six years of the reign of Sennacherib, besides numerous particulars connected with the religion of the a.s.syrians, their G.o.ds, their temples, and the erection of their palaces, all of the highest interest and importance.

In my first work I pointed out the evidence, irrespective of the inscriptions, which led me to identify the builder of the great palace of Kouyunjik with Sennacherib.[49] Dr. Hincks, in a memoir on the inscriptions of Khorsabad, read in June, 1849, but published in the "Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy"[50] in 1850, was the first to detect the name of this king in the group of arrowheaded characters at the commencement of nearly all the inscriptions, and occurring on all the inscribed bricks from the ruins of this edifice. Subsequent discoveries confirmed this identification, but it was not until August, 1851, that the mention of any actual event recorded in the Bible, and in ancient profane history, was detected on the monuments, thus removing all further doubt as to the king who had raised them.

Shortly after my return to England my copies of these inscriptions having been seen by Colonel Rawlinson, he announced in the Athenaeum of the 23d August, 1851, that he had found in them notices of the reign of Sennacherib, "which placed beyond the reach of dispute his historic ident.i.ty," and he gave a recapitulation of the princ.i.p.al events recorded on the monuments, the greater part of which are known to us through history either sacred or profane. These inscriptions have since been examined by Dr. Hincks, and translated by him independently of Colonel Rawlinson. He has kindly a.s.sisted me in giving the following abridgment of their contents.

The inscriptions begin with the name and t.i.tles of Sennacherib. It is to be remarked that he does not style himself "King, or rather High Priest, of Babylon," as his father had done in the latter part of his reign, from which it may be inferred that at the time of engraving the record he was not the immediate sovereign of that city, although its chief may have paid tribute to him, and, no doubt, acknowledged his supremacy. He calls himself "the subduer of kings from the upper sea of the setting sun (the Mediterranean) to the lower sea of the rising sun (the Persian Gulf)." In the first year of his reign he defeated Merodach Baladan, a name with which we are familiar, for it is this king who is mentioned in the Old Testament as sending letters and a present to Hezekiah[51], when the Jewish monarch in his pride showed the amba.s.sadors "the house of his precious things, the silver and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominions that Hezekiah showed them not;" an act of vain boasting which led to the reproof of the prophet Isaiah, and to his foretelling that all this wealth, together with the descendants of its owner, should be carried away as spoil to the very city from which these amba.s.sadors came. Merodach Baladan is called king of Kar-Duniyas, a city and country frequently mentioned in the a.s.syrian inscriptions, and comprising the southernmost part of Mesopotamia, near the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates, together with the districts watered by those two rivers, to the borders of Susiana. This king, with the help of his Susianian allies, had recently recovered Babylon, from which Sargon, Sennacherib's father, had expelled him in the twelfth year of his reign. The battle appears to have been fought considerably to the north of that city. The result was that Sennacherib totally defeated Merodach Baladan, who fled to save his life, leaving behind him his chariots, _wagons_ (?), horses, mares, _a.s.ses_ (?), camels, and _riding horses with their trappings for war_ (?). The victorious king then advanced to Babylon, where he plundered the palace, carrying off a vast treasure of gold, silver, vessels of gold and silver, precious stones, men and women servants, and a variety of objects which cannot yet be satisfactorily determined. No less than seventy-nine cities (or fortresses), all the castles of the Chaldaeans, and eight hundred and twenty small towns (or villages), dependent upon them, were taken and spoiled by the a.s.syrian army, and the great wandering tribes "that dwelt around the cities of Mesopotamia," the Syrians (Arameans), and Chaldaeans, &c., &c., were brought under subjection. Sennacherib having made Belib[52], one of his own officers, sovereign of the conquered provinces, proceeded to subdue the powerful tribes who border on the Euphrates and Tigris, and amongst them the Hagarenes and Nabathaeans. From these wandering people he declares that he carried off to a.s.syria, probably colonising with them, as was the custom, new-built towns and villages, 208,000 men, women, and children, together with 7200 horses and mares, 11,063 _a.s.ses_ (?), 5230 camels, 120,100 oxen, and 800,500 sheep. It is remarkable that the camels should bear so small a proportion to the oxen and a.s.ses in this enumeration of the spoil. Amongst the Bedouin tribes, who now inhabit the same country, the camels would be far more numerous.[53] It is interesting to find, that in those days, as at a later period, there was both a nomade and stationary population in Northern Arabia.

In the same year, Sennacherib received a great tribute from the conquered Khararah, and subdued the people of Kherimmi, whom he declares to have been long rebellious (neither people can as yet be identified), rebuilding (? or consecrating) the city of the latter, and sacrificing on the occasion, for its dedication to the G.o.ds of a.s.syria, one ox, ten sheep, ten goats or lambs, and twenty other animals.

In the second year of his reign, Sennacherib appears to have turned his arms to the north of Nineveh, having reduced in his first year the southern country to obedience. By the help of Ashur, he says, he went to Bis.h.i.+ and Yasubirablai (both names of doubtful reading and not identified), who had long been rebellious to the kings his fathers. He took Beth Kilamzakh, their princ.i.p.al city, and carried away their men, small and great, horses, mares, _a.s.ses_ (?), oxen, and sheep. The people of Bis.h.i.+ and Yasubirablai, who had fled from his servants, he brought down from the mountains and placed them under one of his eunuchs, the governor of the city of Arapkha. He made tablets, and _wrote on them the laws (or tribute) imposed upon the conquered, and set them up_ in the city. He took permanent possession of the country of Illibi (Luristan ?), and Ispabara, its king, after being defeated, fled, leaving the cities of Marubishti and Akkuddu, the royal residences, with thirty-four princ.i.p.al towns, and villages not to be counted, to be destroyed by the a.s.syrians, who carried away a large amount of captives and cattle. Beth-barrua, the city itself and its dependencies, Sennacherib separated from Illibi, and added to his immediate dominions. The city of _Ilbinzash_ (?) he appointed to be the chief city in this district. He abolished its former name, called it Kar-Sanakhirba (_i. e._ the city of Sennacherib), and placed in it a new people, annexing it to the government of Kharkhar, which must have been in the neighbourhood of Holwan, commanding the pa.s.s through Mount Zagros.

In the third year of his reign, Sennacherib appears to have overran with his armies the whole of Syria. He probably crossed the Euphrates above Carchemish, at or near the ford of Thapsacus, and marched to the sea-coast, over the northern spur of Mount Lebanon. The Syrians are called by their familiar biblical name of Hitt.i.tes, the Khatti, or Khetta, by which they were also known to the Egyptians. The first opposition he appears to have received was from Luli (or Luliya), king of Sidon, who had withheld his homage; but who was soon compelled to fly from Tyre to Yavan in the middle of the sea. Dr. Hincks identifies this country with the island of Crete, or some part of the southern coast of Asia Minor, and with the Yavan ([Hebrew]) of the Old Testament, the country of the Ionians or Greeks, an identification which I believe to be correct. This very Phoenician king is mentioned by Josephus (quoting from Menander), under the name of Elulaeus, as warring with Shalmaneser, a predecessor of Sennacherib. He appears not to have been completely subdued before this, but only to have paid homage or tribute to the a.s.syrian monarchs.[54]

Sennacherib placed a person, whose name is doubtful (Col. Rawlinson reads it Tubaal), upon the throne of Luli, and appointed his annual tribute. All the kings of the sea-coast then submitted to him, except Zidkaha (compare Zedekiah) or Zidkabal, king of Ascalon. This chief was, however, soon subdued, and was sent, with his household and wealth, to a.s.syria, ----(name destroyed), the son of _Rukipti_ (?), a former king, being placed on the throne in his stead. The cities dependent upon Ascalon, which had not been obedient to his authority, he captured and plundered. A pa.s.sage of great importance, which now occurs, is unfortunately so much injured that it has not yet been satisfactorily restored. It appears to state that the _chief priests_ (?) and people of Ekron (?) had dethroned their king Padiya, who was dependent upon a.s.syria, and had delivered him up to Hezekiah, king of Judaea. The kings of Egypt sent an army, the main part of which is said to have belonged to the king of Milukhkha, (Meroe, or aethiopia), to Judaea, probably to help their Jewish allies. Sennacherib joined battle with the Egyptians, totally defeated them near the city of Al....ku, capturing the charioteers of the king of Milukhkha, and placing them in confinement. This battle between the armies of the a.s.syrians and Egyptians appears to be hinted at in Isaiah and in the Book of Kings.[55]

Padiya having been brought back from Jerusalem, was replaced by Sennacherib on his throne. "Hezekiah, king of Judah," says the a.s.syrian king, "who had not submitted to my authority, forty-six of his princ.i.p.al cities, and fortresses and villages depending upon them, of which I took no account, I captured and carried away their spoil. I _shut up_ (?) himself within Jerusalem, his capital city. The fortified towns, and the rest of his towns, which I spoiled, I severed from his country, and gave to the kings of Ascalon, Ekron, and Gaza, so as to make his country small.

In addition to the former tribute imposed upon their countries, I added a tribute, the nature of which I fixed." The next pa.s.sage is somewhat defaced, but the substance of it appears to be, that he took from Hezekiah the treasure he had collected in Jerusalem, 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, the treasures of his palace, besides his sons and his daughters, and his male and female servants or slaves, and brought them all to Nineveh. The city itself, however, he does not pretend to have taken.

There can be little doubt that the campaign against the cities of Palestine recorded in the inscriptions of Sennacherib at Kouyunjik, is that described in the Old Testament. The events agree with considerable accuracy. We are told in the Book of Kings, that the king of a.s.syria, in the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah, "came up against all the fenced cities of Judah and took them,"[56] as he declares himself to have done in his annals. And, what is most important, and perhaps one of the most remarkable coincidences of historic testimony on record, the amount of the treasure in gold taken from Hezekiah, thirty talents, agrees in the two perfectly independent accounts.[57] Too much stress cannot be laid on this singular fact, as it tends to prove the general accuracy of the historical details contained in the a.s.syrian inscriptions. There is a difference of 500 talents, as it will be observed, in the amount of silver. It is probable that Hezekiah was much pressed by Sennacherib, and compelled to give him all the wealth that he could collect, as we find him actually taking the silver from the house of the Lord, as well as from his own treasury, and cutting off the gold from the doors and pillars of the temple, to satisfy the demands of the a.s.syrian king. The Bible may therefore only include the actual amount of money in the 300 talents of silver, whilst the a.s.syrian records comprise all the precious metal taken away. There are some chronological discrepancies which cannot at present be satisfactorily reconciled, and which I will not attempt to explain. It is natural to suppose that Sennacherib would not perpetuate the memory of his own overthrow; and that, having been unsuccessful in an attempt upon Jerusalem, his army being visited by the plague described in Scripture, he should gloss over his defeat by describing the tribute he had previously received from Hezekiah as the general result of his campaign.

There is no reason to believe, from the biblical account, that Sennacherib was slain by his sons _immediately_ after his return to Nineveh; on the contrary, the expression "he returned and dwelt at Nineveh," infers that he continued to reign for some time over a.s.syria. We have accordingly his further annals on the monuments he erected. In his fourth year he went southward, and subdued the country of Beth-Yakin, defeating Susubira, the Chaldaean, who dwelt in the city of Bittut on the river--(Agammi, according to Rawlinson). Further mention is made of Merodach Baladan. "This king whom I had defeated in a former campaign, escaped from my princ.i.p.al servants and fled to an island (name lost); his brothers, the seed of his father's house, whom he left behind him on the coast, with the rest of the men of his country from Beth-Yakin, near the _salt_ (?) river (the Shat-el-Arab, or united waters of the Tigris and Euphrates), I carried away, and several of his towns I threw down and burnt; a.s.surnad_immi_ (?

a.s.surnadin, according to Rawlinson), my son, I placed on the throne of his kingdom." He appears then to have made a large government, of which Babylon was the chief place.

In the fifth year he defeated the Tokkari, capturing their princ.i.p.al stronghold or Nipour (_detached hill-fort_ ?), and others of their castles. He also attacked Maniyakh, king of _Okku_ or _Wukku_ (?), a country to which no previous a.s.syrian king had penetrated. This chief deserted his capital and fled to a distance. Sennacherib carried off the spoil of his palace and plundered his cities. This expedition seems to have been to the north of a.s.syria in Armenia or Asia Minor.

In the following year Sennacherib again marched to the mouths of the Euphrates and Tigris, and attacked the two cities of Naghit and Naghit Dibeena. Both cities belonged to the King of Elam (Elamti), or Nuvaki, the two names being used indifferently for the same country. The a.s.syrian king, in order to reach them, was compelled to build s.h.i.+ps, and to employ the mariners of Tyre, Sidon, and Yavan, as navigators. He brought these vessels down the Tigris, and crossed on them to the Susianian side of the river, after having first, it would seem, taken the city Naghit which stood on the western bank. He offered precious sacrifices to a G.o.d (?

Neptune, but name doubtful) on the bank of the salt river, and dedicated to him a s.h.i.+p of gold, and two other golden objects, the nature of which has not been determined. Mention is then made of his having captured Naghit Dibeena, together with three other cities, whose names cannot be well ascertained, and of his crossing the river _Ula_ (? the Ulai of Daniel, the Eulaeus of the Greeks, and the modern Karoon). Unfortunately the whole of the pa.s.sage which contains the record of the expedition against these cities is much defaced, and has not yet been satisfactorily restored. It appears to give interesting details of the building of the s.h.i.+ps on the Tigris, by the men of Tyre and Sidon, and of the navigation of that river.

Such are the princ.i.p.al historical facts recorded on the bulls placed by Sennacherib in his palace at Nineveh. I have given them fully, in order that we may endeavour to identify the sculptured representations of these events on the walls of the chambers and halls of that magnificent building, described in the course of this work.

As the name of Sennacherib, as well as those of many kings, countries and cities, are not written phonetically, that is, by letters having a certain alphabetic value, but by monograms, and the deciphering of them is a peculiar process, which may sometimes appear suspicious to those not acquainted with the subject, a few words of explanation may be acceptable to my readers. The greater number of a.s.syrian proper names with which we are acquainted, whether royal or not, appear to have been made up of the name, epithet, or t.i.tle, of one of the national deities, and of a second word, such as "slave of," "servant of," "beloved of," "protected by;" like the "Theodosius," "Theodorus," &c. of the Greeks, and the "Abdullah," and "Abd-ur-Rahman," of Mohammedan nations. The names of the G.o.ds being commonly written with a monogram, the first step in deciphering is to know which G.o.d this particular sign denotes. Thus, in the name of Sennacherib, we have first the determinative of "G.o.d," to which no phonetic value is attached; whilst the second character denotes an a.s.syrian G.o.d, whose name was San. The first component part of the name of Essarhaddon, is the monogram for the G.o.d a.s.sur. It is this fact which renders it so difficult to determine, with any degree of confidence, most of the a.s.syrian names, and which leads me to warn my readers that, with the exception of such as can with certainty be identified with well-known historic kings, as Sargon, Sennacherib, and Essarhaddon, the interpretation of all those which are found on the monuments of Nineveh, is liable to very considerable doubt. In speaking of them I shall, therefore, not use any of the readings which have been suggested by different writers.

Although no question can reasonably exist as to the identification of the king who built the palace of Kouyunjik with the Sennacherib of Scripture, it may still be desirable to place before my readers all the corroborative evidence connected with the subject. In so doing, however, I shall have to refer to the discoveries made at a subsequent period, and which ought consequently to be described, if the order of the narrative be strictly preserved, in a subsequent part of this work. In the first place, it must be remembered that the Kouyunjik king was undoubtedly the son of the founder of the palace at Khorsabad. He is so called in the inscriptions behind the bulls in the S. W. palace at Nimroud, and in numerous detached inscriptions on bricks, and on other remains from those ruins and from Kouyunjik. Now the name of the Khorsabad king was generally admitted to be Sargon, even before his relations.h.i.+p to the Kouyunjik king was known; although here again we are obliged to attach phonetic powers to characters used as monograms, which, when occurring as simple letters, appear to have totally different values. Colonel Rawlinson states, that this king bears in other inscriptions the name of Shalmaneser, by which he was better known to the Jews.[58] Dr. Hincks denies that the two names belong to the same person.

Unfortunately the upper parts of nearly all the bas-reliefs at Kouyunjik having been destroyed the epigraphs are wanting; and we are unable, as yet, to identify with certainty the subject represented with any known event in the reign of Sennacherib. There is, however, one remarkable exception.

During the latter part of my residence at Mosul a chamber was discovered in which the sculptures were in better preservation than any before found at Kouyunjik. Some of the slabs, indeed, were almost entire, though cracked and otherwise injured by fire; and the epigraph, which fortunately explained the event portrayed, was complete. These bas-reliefs represented the siege and capture by the a.s.syrians, of a city evidently of great extent and importance. It appears to have been defended by double walls, with battlements and towers, and by fortified outworks. The country around it was hilly and wooded, producing the fig and the vine. The whole power of the great king seems to have been called forth to take this stronghold. In no other sculptures were so many armed warriors seen drawn up in array before a besieged city. The besieged defended themselves with great determination. Spearmen, archers, and slingers thronged the battlements and towers, showering arrows, javelins, stones, and blazing torches upon the a.s.sailants. Part of the city had, however, been taken.

Beneath its walls were seen a.s.syrian warriors impaling their prisoners, and from the gateway of an advanced tower, or fort, issued a procession of captives, reaching to the presence of the king, who, gorgeously arrayed, received them seated on his throne. The vanquished people were distinguished from the conquerors by their dress, those who defended the battlements wore a pointed helmet, differing from that of the a.s.syrian warriors in having a fringed lappet falling over the ears. Some of the captives had a kind of turban with one end hanging down to the shoulder, not unlike that worn by the modern Arabs of the Hedjaz. Others had no head-dress, and short hair and beards. Their garments consisted either of a robe reaching to the ankles, or of a tunic scarcely falling lower than the thigh, and confined at the waist by a girdle. The women wore long s.h.i.+rts, with an outer cloak thrown, like the veil of modern Eastern ladies, over the back of the head and falling to the feet.

Several prisoners were already in the hands of the torturers. Two were stretched naked upon the ground to be flayed alive, others were being slain by the sword before the throne of the king. The haughty monarch was receiving the chiefs of the conquered nation, who crouched and knelt humbly before him. They were brought into the royal presence by the Tartan of the a.s.syrian forces, probably the Rabshakeh himself, followed by his princ.i.p.al officers. The general was clothed in embroidered robes, and wore on his head a fillet adorned with rosettes and long ta.s.seled bands.

The throne of the king stood upon an elevated platform, probably an artificial mound, in the hill country. Its arms and sides were supported by three rows of figures one above the other. The wood was richly carved, or encased in embossed metal, and the legs ended in pine-shaped ornaments, probably of bronze. The throne, indeed, appears to have resembled, in every respect, one discovered in the north-west palace at Nimroud, which I shall hereafter describe.[59] Over the high back was thrown an embroidered cloth, doubtless of some rare and beautiful material.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Sennacherib on his Throne before Lachish.]

The royal feet rested upon a high footstool of elegant form, fas.h.i.+oned like the throne, and cased with embossed metal; the legs ended in lions'

paws. Behind the king were two attendant eunuchs raising fans above his head, and holding the embroidered napkins.

The monarch himself was attired in long loose robes richly ornamented, and edged with ta.s.sels and fringes. In his right hand he raised two arrows, and his left rested upon a bow; an att.i.tude, probably denoting triumph over his enemies, and in which he is usually portrayed when receiving prisoners after a victory.

Behind the king was the royal tent or pavilion: and beneath him were his led horses, and an attendant on foot carrying the parasol, the emblem of royalty. His two chariots with their charioteers, were waiting for him.

The trappings of the horses were handsomely decorated, and an embroidered cloth, hung with ta.s.sels, fell on their chests. Two quivers, holding a bow, a hatchet, and arrows, were fixed to the side of the chariot.

This fine series of bas-reliefs, occupying thirteen slabs, was finished by the ground-plan of a castle, or of a fortified camp containing tents and houses. Within the walls was also seen a fire-altar with two beardless priests, wearing high conical caps, standing before it. In front of the altar, on which burned the sacred flame, was a table bearing various sacrificial objects, and beyond it two sacred chariots, such as accompanied the Persian kings in their wars.[60] The horses had been taken out, and the yokes rested upon stands. Each chariot carried a lofty pole surmounted by a globe, and long ta.s.sels or streamers; similar standards were introduced into scenes representing sacrifices[61] in the sculptures of Khorsabad.

Above the head of the king was an inscription, which may be translated, "Sennacherib, the mighty king, king of the country of a.s.syria, sitting on the throne of judgment, before (or at the entrance of) the city of Lachish (Lakhisha). I give permission for its slaughter."

Here, therefore, was the actual picture of the taking of Lachish, the city, as we know from the Bible, besieged by Sennacherib, when he sent his generals to demand tribute of Hezekiah, and which he had captured before their return[62]; evidence of the most remarkable character to confirm the interpretation of the inscriptions, and to identify the king who caused them to be engraved with the Sennacherib of Scripture. This highly interesting series of bas-reliefs contained, moreover, an undoubted representation of a king, a city, and a people, with whose names we are acquainted, and of an event described in Holy Writ. They furnish us, therefore, with ill.u.s.trations of the Bible of very great importance. The captives were undoubtedly Jews, their physiognomy was strikingly indicated in the sculptures, but they had been stripped of their ornaments and their fine raiment, and were left bare-footed and half-clothed. From the women, too, had been removed "the splendor of the foot ornaments and the caps of network, and the crescents; the ear-pendants, and the bracelets, and the thin veils; the head-dress, and the ornaments of the legs and the girdles, and the perfume-boxes and the amulets; the rings and the jewels of the nose; the embroidered robes and the tunics, and the cloaks and the satchels; the transparent garments, and the fine linen vests, and the turbans and the mantles, for they wore instead of a girdle, a rope; and instead of a stomacher, a girdling of sackcloth."[63]

Other corroborative evidence as to the ident.i.ty of the king who built the palace of Kouyunjik with Sennacherib, is scarcely less remarkable. In a chamber, or pa.s.sage, in the south-west corner of this edifice, were found a large number of pieces of fine clay bearing the impressions of seals, which, there is no doubt, had been affixed, like modern official seals of wax, to doc.u.ments written on leather, papyrus, or parchment. Such doc.u.ments, with seals in clay still attached, have been discovered in Egypt, and specimens are preserved in the British Museum. The writings themselves had been consumed by the fire which destroyed the building or had perished from decay. In the stamped clay, however, may still be seen the holes for the string, or strips of skin, by which the seal was fastened; in some instances the ashes of the string itself remain,[64]

with the marks of the fingers and thumb.