I was accompanied in this visit by my own party, with the addition of Mr.
Ra.s.sam, the vice-consul, and his dragoman. We rode the first day to Baadri, and were met on the road by Hussein Bey and a large company of Yezidi hors.e.m.e.n. Sheikh Nasr had already gone to the tomb, to make ready for the ceremonies. The young chief entertained us for the night, and on the following morning, an hour after sunrise, we left the village for Sheikh Adi. At some distance from the sacred valley we were met by Sheikh Nasr, Pir Sino, the Cawals, the priests, and the chiefs. They conducted us to the same building in the sacred grove that I had occupied on my former visit. The Cawals a.s.sembled around us and welcomed our coming on their tambourines and flutes; and soon about us was formed one of those singularly beautiful and picturesque groups which I have attempted to describe in my previous account of the Yezidi festival.[27]
The Yezidis had a.s.sembled in less numbers this year than when I had last met them in the valley. Only a few of the best armed of the people of Sinjar had ventured to face the dangers of the road now occupied by the Bedouins. Abde Agha and his adherents were fully occupied in defending their villages against the Arab marauders, who, although repulsed after we quitted Semil, were still hanging about the district, bent upon revenge.
The Kochers, and the tribes of Dereboun, were kept away by the same fears.
The inhabitants of Kherzan and Redwan were hara.s.sed by the conscription.
Even the people of Baasheikhah and Baazani had been so much vexed by a recent visit from the Pasha that they had no heart for festivities. His excellency not fostering feelings of the most friendly nature towards Namik Pasha, the new commander-in-chief of Arabia, who was pa.s.sing through Mosul on his way to the head-quarters of the army at Baghdad, and unwilling to entertain him, was suddenly taken ill and retired for the benefit of his health to Baasheikhah. On the morning after his arrival he complained that the a.s.ses by their braying during the night had allowed him no rest; and the a.s.ses were accordingly peremptorily banished from the village. The dawn of the next day was announced, to the great discomfort of his Excellency, who had no interest in the matter, by the c.o.c.ks; and the irregular troops who formed his body-guard were immediately incited to a general slaughter of the race. The third night his sleep was disturbed by the crying of the children, who, with their mothers, were at once locked up, for the rest of his sojourn, in the cellars. On the fourth he was awoke at daybreak by the chirping of sparrows, and every gun in the village was ordered to be brought out to wage a war of extermination against them. But on the fifth morning his rest was sorely broken by the flies, and the enraged Pasha insisted upon their instant destruction. The Kiayah, who, as chief of the village, had the task of carrying out the Governor"s orders, now threw himself at his Excellency"s feet, exclaiming, "Your Highness has seen that all the animals here, praise be to G.o.d, obey our Lord the Sultan; the infidel flies alone are rebellious to his authority. I am a man of low degree and small power, and can do nothing against them; it now behoves a great Vizir like your Highness to enforce the commands of our Lord and Master." The Pasha, who relished a joke, forgave the flies, but left the village.
I have already so fully described the general nature of the annual festival at Sheikh Adi, and the appearance of the valley on that occasion, that I shall confine myself to an account of such ceremonies as I was now permitted to witness for the first time.
About an hour after sunset, Cawal Yusuf summoned Hormuzd and myself, who were alone allowed to be present, to the inner yard, or sanctuary, of the Temple. We were placed in a room from the windows of which we could see all that took place in the court. The Cawals, Sheikhs, Fakirs, and princ.i.p.al chiefs were already a.s.sembled. In the centre of the court was an iron lamp, with four burners--a simple dish with four lips for the wicks, supported on a sharp iron rod driven into the ground. Near it stood a Fakir, holding in one hand a lighted torch, and in the other a large vessel of oil, from which he, from time to time, replenished the lamp, loudly invoking Sheikh Adi. The Cawals stood against the wall on one side of the court, and commenced a slow chant, some playing on the flute, others on the tambourine, and accompanying the measure with their voices.
The Sheikhs and chiefs now formed a procession, walking two by two. At their head was Sheikh Jindi. He wore a tall s.h.a.ggy black cap, the hair of which hung far over the upper part of his face. A long robe, striped with horizontal stripes of black and dark red, fell to his feet. A countenance more severe, and yet more imposing, than that of Sheikh Jindi could not well be pictured by the most fanciful imagination. A beard, black as jet, waved low on his breast; his dark piercing eyes glittered through ragged eyebrows, like burning coals through the bars of a grate. The color of his face was of the deepest brown, his teeth white as snow, and his features, though stern beyond measure, singularly n.o.ble and well formed. It was a byword with us that Sheikh Jindi had never been seen to smile. To look at him was to feel that a laugh could not be born in him. As he moved, with a slow and solemn step, the flickering lamp deepening the shadows of his solemn and rugged countenance, it would have been impossible to conceive a being more eminently fitted to take the lead in ceremonies consecrated to the evil one. He is the _Peesh-namaz_, "the leader of prayer," to the Yezidi sect. Behind him were two venerable sheikhs. They were followed by Hussein Bey and Sheikh Nasr, and the other chiefs and Sheikhs came after.
Their long robes were all of the purest white. As they walked slowly round, sometimes stopping, then resuming their measured step, they chanted prayers in glory and honor of the Deity. The Cawals accompanied the chant with their flutes, beating at intervals the tambourines. Round the burning lamp, and within the circle formed by the procession, danced the Fakirs in their black dresses, with solemn pace timed to the music, raising and swinging to and fro their arms after the fashion of Eastern dancers, and placing themselves in att.i.tudes not less decorous than elegant. To hymns in praise of the Deity succeeded others in honor of Melek Isa and Sheikh Adi. The chants pa.s.sed into quicker strains, the tambourines were beaten more frequently, the Fakirs became more active in their motions, and the women made the loud _tahlel_, the ceremonies ending with that extraordinary scene of noise and excitement that I have attempted to describe in relating my first visit. When the prayers were ended, those who marched in procession kissed, as they pa.s.sed by, the right side of the doorway leading into the temple, where a serpent is figured on the wall; but not, as I was a.s.sured, the image itself, which has no typical or other meaning, according to Sheikh Nasr and Cawal Yusuf.
Hussein Bey then placing himself on the step at this entrance, received the homage of the Sheikhs and elders, each touching the hand of the young chief with his own, and raising it to his lips. All present, afterwards, gave one another the kiss of peace.
The ceremonies having thus been brought to a close, Hussein Bey and Sheikh Nasr came to me, and led me into the inner court. Carpets had been spread at the doorway of the temple for myself and the two chiefs; the Sheikhs, Cawals, and princ.i.p.al people of the sect, seated themselves, or rather crouched, against the walls. By the light of a lamp, dimly breaking the gloom within the temple, I could see Sheikh Jindi unrobing. During the prayers, priests were stationed at the doorway, and none were allowed to enter except a few women and girls: the wives and daughters of sheikhs and cawals had free access to the building, and appeared to join in the ceremonies. The Vice-Consul and Khodja Toma were now admitted, and took their places with us at the upper end of the court. Cawal Yusuf was then called upon to give a full account of the result of his mission to Constantinople, which he did with the same detail, and almost in the same words, that he had used so frequently during our journey. After he had concluded, I endeavored to urge upon them to avail themselves of the new privileges and opportunities for advancement and cultivation thus afforded them. It was finally agreed that letters of thanks, sealed by all the chiefs of the Yezidis, should be sent to the Grand Vizir, Reshid Pasha, for the reception given to the Yezidi deputation, and to Sir Stratford Canning for his generous intercession in their behalf.
Soon after sunrise on the following morning the Sheikhs and Cawals offered up a short prayer in the court of the temple, but without any of the ceremonies of the previous evening. Some prayed in the sanctuary, frequently kissing the threshold and holy places within the building. When they had ended, they took the green cloth covering from the tomb of Sheikh Adi, and, followed by the Cawals playing on their tambourines and flutes, walked with it round the outer court. The people flocked about them, and reverently carried the corner of the drapery to their lips, making afterwards a small offering of money. After the cover had again been thrown over the tomb, the chiefs and priests seated themselves round the inner court. The Fakirs and Sheikhs especially devoted to the service of the sanctuary, who are called Kotcheks, now issued from the kitchens of the temple bearing large platters of smoking _harisa_[28], which they placed on the ground. The company collected in hungry groups round the messes, and whilst they were eating, the _Kotcheks_ standing by called upon them continually in a loud voice to partake of the hospitality of Sheikh Adi. After the empty plates had been removed, a collection was made towards the support of the temple and tomb of the saint.
These ceremonies occupied us until nearly mid-day; we then sat by the fountain in the valley, and the men and women danced before us, the boys climbing into the trees and hanging on the boughs to see the dancers.
Sugar, dates, and raisins were afterwards scrambled amongst the children.
The men soon took part in the amus.e.m.e.nt. A party of Kurds, bringing grapes from the mountains to sell at the festival, were maliciously pointed out as good objects for a joke. The hint was no sooner given than they, their donkeys, and their grapes, were all rolled into one heap under a mountain of human beings. The Kurds, who were armed, resisted manfully; and, ignorant of our intentions, might have revenged themselves on their a.s.sailants, but were soon restored to good humour when they found that they were to receive ample compensation for their losses and personal injuries. There was general laughing in the valley, and the Yezidis will long remember these days of simple merriment and happiness.
In the afternoon the wives and daughters of the chiefs and Cawals called upon me. The families of the Cawals, evidently descended from the same stock, are remarkable for the beauty both of the men and women, all of whom are strikingly like one another. Their complexion is, perhaps, too dark, but their features are regular and admirably formed. The dresses of the girls were elegant, and as rich as the material they could obtain would allow. Some wove flowers into their hair, others encircled their black turbans with a single wreath of myrtle, a simple and elegant ornament. They all wore many strings of coins, amber, coral, agate, and gla.s.s beads round their necks, and some had the black skull cap completely covered with gold and silver money. A kind of ap.r.o.n of grey or yellowish check, like a Scotch plaid, tied over one shoulder, and falling in front over the silk dress, is a peculiar feature in the costume of the Yezidi girls, and of some Christians from the same district. Unmarried women have the neck bare, the married conceal it with a white kerchief, which pa.s.ses under the chin, and is tied on the top of the head. The brightest colors are worn by the girls, but the matrons are usually clothed in plain white.
The females of the Cawal families always wear black turbans and skull caps. Cawal Yusuf, to show how the Frank ladies he had seen at Constantinople were honored by their husbands, made his young wife walk arm in arm with him before us, to the great amus.e.m.e.nt of the bystanders.
At night the same religious ceremonies were repeated in the temple, and I was allowed to sleep in the room overlooking the inner court from whence I had witnessed them on the previous evening. After all had retired to rest, the Yezidi Mullah recited, in a low chanting tone, a religious history, or discourse, consisting of the adventures and teachings of a certain Mirza Mohammed. He stood before the burning lamp, and around him were at full length on the stone pavement, and covered by their white cloaks, the sleeping Sheikhs and Cawals. The scene was singularly picturesque and impressive.
Next morning I visited, with Mr. Ra.s.sam and Mr. Cooper, the rock-sculptures of Bavian, which are not more than six miles from the valley of Sheikh Adi in the same range of hills; but I will defer a description of these remarkable monuments until I come to relate my second journey to the spot.
Cawal Yusuf had promised, on the occasion of the festival, to show me the sacred book of the Yezidis. He accordingly brought a volume to me one morning, accompanied by the secretary of Sheikh Nasr, the only Yezidi, as far as I am aware, who could read it. It consisted of a few tattered leaves, of no ancient date, containing a poetical rhapsody on the merits and attributes of Sheikh Adi, who is identified with the Deity himself, as the origin and creator of all things, though evidently distinguished from the Eternal Essence by being represented as seeking the truth, and as reaching through it the highest place, which he declares to be attainable by all those who like him shall find the truth.[29]
This was the only written work that I was able to obtain from the Yezidis; their cawals repeated several prayers and hymns to me, which were purely laudatory of the Deity, and un.o.bjectionable in substance. Numerous occupations during the remainder of my residence in a.s.syria prevented me prosecuting my inquiries much further on this subject. Cawal Yusuf informed me that before the great ma.s.sacre of the sect by the Bey of Rahwanduz, they possessed many books which were lost during the general panic, or destroyed by the Kurds. He admitted that this was only a fragmentary composition, and by no means "the Book" which contained the theology and religious laws of the Yezidi. He even hinted that the great work did still exist, and I am by no means certain that there is not a copy at Baasheikhah or Baazani. The account given by the Cawal seems to be confirmed by the allusion made in the poem to the "Book of Glad Tidings,"
and "the Book that comforteth the oppressed," which could scarcely have been inserted for any particular purpose, such as to deceive their Mohammedan neighbours.
I will here add a few notes concerning the Yezidis and their faith to those contained in my former work; they were chiefly obtained from Cawal Yusuf.
They believe that Christ will come to govern the world, but that after him Sheikh Medi will appear, to whom will be given special jurisdiction over those speaking the Kurdish language, including the Yezidis (this is evidently a modern interpolation, derived from Mussulman sources, perhaps invented to conciliate the Mohammedans).
All who go to heaven must first pa.s.s an expiatory period in h.e.l.l, but no one will be punished eternally. Mohammedans they exclude from all future life, but not Christians. (This may have been said to avoid giving offence.)
The Yezidis will not receive converts to their faith; circ.u.mcision is optional. When a child is born near enough to the tomb of Sheikh Adi, to be taken there without great inconvenience or danger, it should be baptized as early as possible after birth. The Cawals in their periodical visitations carry a bottle or skin filled with the holy water, to baptize those children who cannot be brought to the shrine.
There are forty days fast in the spring of the year, but they are observed by few; one person in a family may fast for the rest.[30] They should abstain during that period as completely as the Chaldaeans from animal food. Sheikh Nasr fasts rigidly for one month in the year, eating only once in twenty-four hours and immediately after sunset.
Only one wife is strictly lawful, although the chief takes more; but concubines are not forbidden. The wife may be turned away for great misconduct, and the husband, with the consent of the Sheikhs, may marry again; but the discarded wife never can. Even such divorces ought only to be given in cases of adultery; for formerly, when the Yezidis administered their own temporal laws, the wife was punished with death, and the husband of course was then released.
The religious, as well as the political, head of all Yezidis, wherever they may reside, is Hussein Bey, who is called the Kalifa, and he holds this position by inheritance. As he is young and inexperienced, he deputes his religious duties to Sheikh Nasr. Sheikh Nasr is only the chief of the Sheikhs of the district of Sheikhan. The Cawals are all of one family, and are under the orders of Hussein Bey, who sends them periodically to collect the voluntary contributions of the various tribes. The amount received by them is divided into two equal parts, one of which goes to the support of the tomb of Sheikh Adi, and half of the other to Hussein Bey, the remainder being equally shared by the Cawals. Neither the priests nor Hussein Bey ever shave their beards. They ought not to marry out of their own order, and though the men do not observe this rule very strictly, the women are never given in marriage to one out of the rank of the priesthood. Hussein Bey ought to take his wife from the family of Chul Beg.
After death, the body of a Yezidi, like that of a Mohammedan, is washed in running water, and then buried with the face turned towards the north star.
I have stated that it is unlawful amongst the Yezidis to know how to read or write. This, I am a.s.sured, is not the case, and their ignorance arises from want of means and proper teachers. Formerly a Chaldaean deacon used to instruct the children. Cawal Yusuf mentioned accidentally, that, amongst the Yezidis, the ancient name for G.o.d was Azed, and from it he derived the name of his sect. Their Kublah, he declared, was the polar star and not the east.
On my way to Mosul from Sheikh Adi, I visited the ruins of Jerraiyah, where excavations had been again carried on by one of my agents. No ancient buildings were discovered. The princ.i.p.al mound is lofty and conical in shape, and the base is surrounded by smaller mounds, and irregularities in the soil which denote the remains of houses. I had not leisure during my residence in a.s.syria to examine the spot as fully as it may deserve.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Mound of Nimroud.]
CHAPTER V.
RENEWAL OF EXCAVATIONS AT KOUYUNJIK.--FIRST VISIT TO NIMROUD.--STATE OF RUINS.--RENEW EXCAVATIONS IN MOUND.--VISIT OF COLONEL RAWLINSON.--MR. H. Ra.s.sAM.--THE JEBOUR WORKMEN AT KOUYUNJIK.--DISCOVERIES AT KOUYUNJIK.--SCULPTURES REPRESENTING MOVING OF GREAT STONES AND WINGED BULLS.--METHODS ADOPTED.--EPIGRAPHS ON BAS-RELIEFS OF MOVING BULLS.--SCULPTURES REPRESENTING INVASION OF MOUNTAINOUS COUNTRY, AND SACK OF CITY.--DISCOVERY OF GATEWAY.--EXCAVATION IN HIGH CONICAL MOUND AT NIMROUD.--DISCOVERY OF WALL OF STONE.--VISIT TO KHORSABAD.--DISCOVERY OF SLAB.--STATE OF THE RUINS.--FUTHLIYAH.--BAAZANI.--BAASHEIKHAH.
We were again in Mosul by the 12th of October. The Jebours, my old workmen, had now brought their families to the town. I directed them to cross the river, and to pitch their tents over the excavations at Kouyunjik, as they had formerly done around the trenches at Nimroud. The Bedouins, unchecked in their forays by the Turkish authorities, had become so bold, that they ventured to the very walls of Mosul, and I felt it necessary to have a strong party on the ruins for self-defence. The Jebours were, however, on good terms with the Bedouins, and had lately encamped amongst them.
About one hundred workmen, divided into twelve or fourteen parties, were employed at Kouyunjik. The Arabs, as before, removed the earth and rubbish, whilst the more difficult labor with the pick was left entirely to the Nestorian mountaineers. My old friend, Yakoub, the Rais of Asheetha, was named superintendent of the Tiyari workmen, for whom I built mud huts near the foot of the mound.
The work having been thus begun at Kouyunjik, I rode with Hormuzd to Nimroud for the first time on the 18th of October. It seemed but yesterday that we had followed the same track. We stopped at each village, and found in each old acquaintances ready to welcome us. From the crest of the hill half way, the first view of Nimroud opened upon us; the old mound, on which I had gazed so often from this spot, and with which so many happy recollections were bound up, rising boldly above the Jaif, the river winding through the plain, the distant wreaths of smoke marking the villages of Naifa and Nimroud. I dismounted at my old house, which was still standing, though somewhat in ruins, for it had been the habitation of the Kiayah during my absence, and to avoid the vermin swarming in the rooms, my tent was pitched in the court-yard, and I dwelt entirely in it.
The village had still, comparatively speaking, a flourishing appearance, and had not diminished in size since my last visit. The _tanzimat_, or reformed system of local administration, had been introduced into the pashalic of Mosul, and although many of its regulations were evaded, and arbitrary acts were still occasionally committed, yet on the whole a marked improvement had taken place in the dealings of the authorities with the subjects of the Sultan. The great cause of complaint was the want of security. The troops under the command of the Pasha were not sufficient in number to keep the Bedouins in check, and there was scarcely a village in the low country which had not suffered more or less from their depredations. Nimroud was particularly exposed to their incursions, and the inhabitants lived in continual agitation and alarm.
By sunrise I was amongst the ruins. The mound had undergone no change.
There it rose from the plain, the same sun-burnt yellow heap that it had stood for twenty centuries. The earth and rubbish, which had been heaped over the excavated chambers and sculptured slabs, had settled, and had left uncovered in sinking the upper part of several bas-reliefs. A few colossal heads of winged figures rose calmly above the level of the soil, and with two pairs of winged bulls, which had not been reburied on account of their mutilated condition, was all that remained above ground of the north-west palace, that great storehouse of a.s.syrian history and art.
Collecting together my old excavators from the Shemutti and Jehesh (the Arab tribes who inhabit Nimroud and Naifa), and from the tents of a few Jebours who still lingered round the village to glean a scanty subsistence after the harvest, I placed workmen in different parts of the mound. The north-west palace had not been fully explored. Most of the chambers which did not contain sculptured slabs, but were simply built of sundried bricks, had been left unopened. I consequently directed a party of workmen to resume the excavations where they had been formerly abandoned. New trenches were also opened in the ruins of the centre palace, where, as yet, no sculptures had been discovered in their original position against the walls. The high conical mound forming the north-west corner of Nimroud, the pyramid as it has usually been called, had always been an object of peculiar interest, which want of means had hitherto prevented me fully examining. With the exception of a shaft, about forty feet deep, sunk nearly in the centre, and pa.s.sing through a solid ma.s.s of sun-dried bricks, no other opening had been made into this singular ruin. I now ordered a tunnel to be carried into its base on the western face, and on a level with the conglomerate rock upon which it rested.
As I ascended the mound next morning I perceived a group of travellers on its summit, their horses picketted in the stubble. Ere I could learn what strangers had thus wandered to this remote region, my hand was seized by the faithful Bairakdar. Beneath, in an excavated chamber, wrapped in his travelling cloak, was Rawlinson deep in sleep, wearied by a long and hara.s.sing night"s ride. For the first time we met in the a.s.syrian ruins, and besides the greetings of old friendship there was much to be seen together, and much to be talked over. The fatigues of the journey had, however, brought on fever, and we were soon compelled, after visiting the princ.i.p.al excavations, to take refuge from the heat of the sun in the mud huts of the village. The attack increasing in the evening it was deemed prudent to ride into Mosul at once, and we mounted our horses in the middle of the night.
During two days Col. Rawlinson was too ill to visit the excavations at Kouyunjik. On the third we rode together to the mound. After a hasty survey of the ruins we parted, and he continued his journey to Constantinople and to England, to reap the laurels of a well-earned fame.
My readers would be wearied were I to relate, day by day, the progress of the excavations, and to record, as they were gradually made, the discoveries in the various ruins. It will give a more complete idea of the results of the researches to describe the sculptured walls of a whole chamber when entirely explored, instead of noting, one by one, as dug out, bas-reliefs which form but part of the same subject. I will, therefore, merely mention that during the months of October and November, my time was spent between Kouyunjik and Nimroud, and that the excavations were carried on at both places without interruption. Mr. Cooper was occupied in drawing the bas-reliefs discovered at Kouyunjik, living in Mosul, and riding over daily to the ruins. To Mr. Hormuzd Ra.s.sam, who usually accompanied me in my journeys, were confided, as before, the general superintendence of the operations, the payment of the workmen, the settlement of disputes, &c.
His services were invaluable, and of the greatest consequence to the success of my labors.
The Arab workmen were divided into several cla.s.ses, and their wages varied according to their respective occupations, as well as according to the time of year. They were generally paid weekly by Hormuzd. The diggers, who were exposed to very severe labor, and even to considerable risk, received from two piastres and a half to three piastres (from 5_d._ to 6_d._) a-day; those who filled the baskets from two piastres to two and a half; and the general workmen from one and a half to two piastres. The earth, when removed, was sifted by boys, who earned about one piastre for their day"s labor. These wages may appear low, but they are amply sufficient for the support of a family in a country where the camel-load of wheat (nearly 480 lbs.) is sold for about four shillings, and where no other protection from the inclemencies of the weather is needed than a linen shirt and the black folds of an Arab tent.[31]
The Kouyunjik workmen were usually paid in the subterraneous galleries, some convenient s.p.a.ce where several pa.s.sages met being chosen for the purpose; those of Nimroud generally in the village. A scene of wild confusion ensued on these occasions, from which an inexperienced observer might argue a sad want of order and method. This was, however, but the way of doing business usual in the country. When there was a difference of opinion, he who cried the loudest gained the day, and after a desperate struggle of voices matters relapsed into their usual state, every one being perfectly satisfied. Screaming and gesticulation with Easterns by no means signify ill will, or even serious disagreement. Without them, except of course amongst the Turks, who are staid and dignified to a proverb, the most ordinary transactions cannot be carried on, and they are frequently rather symptoms of friendship than of hostility.
By the end of November several entire chambers had been excavated at Kouyunjik, and many bas-reliefs of great interest had been discovered. The four sides of the hall, part of which has already been described,[32] had now been explored.[33] In the centre of each side was a grand entrance, guarded by colossal human-headed bulls.[34] This magnificent hall was no less than 124 feet in length by 90 feet in breadth, the longest sides being those to the north and south. It appears to have formed a centre, around which the princ.i.p.al chambers in this part of the palace were grouped. Its walls had been completely covered with the most elaborate and highly-finished sculptures. Unfortunately all the bas-reliefs, as well as the gigantic monsters at the entrances, had suffered more or less from the fire which had destroyed the edifice; but enough of them still remained to show the subject, and even to enable me in many places to restore it entirely.
The narrow pa.s.sage leading from the great hall at the south-west corner had been completely explored. Its sculptures have already been described.[35] It opened into a chamber 24 feet by 19, from which branched two other pa.s.sages. The one to the west was entered by a wide doorway, in which stood two plain spherical stones about three feet high, having the appearance of the bases of columns, although no traces of any such architectural ornament could be found. This was the entrance into a broad and s.p.a.cious gallery, about 218 feet long and 25 wide. A tunnel at its western end, cut through the solid wall, as there was no doorway on this side of the gallery, led into the chambers excavated by Mr. Ross, thus connecting them with the rest of the building.
I have already described the bas-reliefs representing the conquest of a mountainous country on the southern side of the great hall.[36] The same subject was continued on the western wall, without much variety in the details. But on the northern, the sculptures differed from any others yet discovered, and from their interest and novelty merit a particular notice. But before giving a description of them, I must return to the long gallery to the west of the great hall, as the sculptures still preserved in it form part of and complete this important series.
The slabs on one side of this gallery had been entirely destroyed, except at the eastern end; and from the few which still remained, every trace of sculpture had been carefully removed by some sharp instrument. Along the opposite wall (that to the right on leaving the great hall) only eight bas-reliefs still stood in their original position, and even of these only the lower part was preserved. Detached fragments of others were found in the rubbish, and from them I ascertained that the whole gallery had been occupied by one continuous series, representing the different processes adopted by the a.s.syrians in moving and placing various objects used in their buildings, and especially the human-headed bulls, from the first transport of the huge stone in the rough from the quarry, to the raising of these gigantic sculptures in the gateways of the palace-temples. On these fragments were seen the king in his chariot, superintending the operations, and workmen carrying cables, or dragging carts loaded with coils of ropes, and various implements for moving the colossi.
I will commence, then, by a description of the sculptures still standing in their original position in the gallery. A huge block of stone (probably of the alabaster used in the a.s.syrian edifices), somewhat elongated in form so as to resemble an obelisk in the rough, is lying on a low flat-bottomed boat floating on a river. It has probably been towed down the Tigris from some quarry, and is to be landed near the site of the intended palace, to be carved by the sculptor into the form of a colossal bull. It exceeds the boat considerably in length, projecting beyond both the head and stern, and is held by upright beams fastened to the sides of the vessel, and kept firm in their places by wooden wedges. Two cables are pa.s.sed through holes cut in the stone itself, and a third is tied to a strong pin projecting from the head of the boat. Each cable is held by a large body of men, who pull by means of small ropes fastened to it and pa.s.sed round their shoulders. Some of these trackers walk in the water, others on dry land. The number altogether represented must have been nearly 300, about 100 to each cable, and they appear to be divided into distinct bands, each distinguished by a peculiar costume. Some wear a kind of embroidered turban, through which their long hair is gathered behind; the heads of others are encircled by a fringed shawl, whose ends hang over the ears and neck, leaving the hair to fall in long curls upon the shoulders. Many are represented naked, but the greater number are dressed in short chequered tunics, with a long fringe attached to the girdle. They are urged on by taskmasters armed with swords and staves. The boat is also pushed by men wading through the stream. An overseer, who regulates the whole proceedings, is seated astride on the fore-part of the stone. His hands are stretched out in the act of giving commands.