ARBAN.--OUR ENCAMPMENT.--SUTTUM AND MOHAMMED EMIN.--WINGED BULLS
DISCOVERED.--EXCAVATIONS COMMENCED.--THEIR RESULTS.--DISCOVERY OF
SMALL OBJECTS--OF SECOND PAIR OF WINGED BULLS--OF LION--OF CHINESE
BOTTLE--OF VASE--OF EGYPTIAN SCARABS--OF TOMBS.--THE SCENE OF THE
CAPTIVITY.
On the morning after our arrival in front of the encampment of Sheikh
Mohammed Emin, we crossed the Khabour on a small raft, and pitched our
tents on its right, or northern, bank. I found the ruins to consist of a
large artificial mound of irregular shape, washed, and indeed partly
carried away by the river, which was gradually undermining the
perpendicular cliff left by the falling earth. The Jebours were encamped
to the west of it. I chose for our tents a recess, like an amphitheatre,
facing the stream. We were thus surrounded and protected on all sides.
Behind us and to the east rose the mound, and to the west were the family
and dependents of Mohammed Emin. In the Desert, beyond the ruins, were
scattered far and wide the tents of the Jebours, and of several Arab
tribes who had placed themselves under their protection; the Sherabeen,
wandering keepers of herds of buffaloes; the Buggara, driven by the
incursions of the Aneyza from their pasture grounds at Ras-al-Ain (the
source of the Khabour); and some families of the Jays, a large clan
residing in the district of Orfa, whose sheikh having quarrelled with his
brother chiefs had now joined Mohammed Emin. From the top of the mound the
eye ranged over a level country bright with flowers, and spotted with
black tents, and innumerable flocks of sheep and camels. During our stay
at Arban the color of these great plains was undergoing a continual
change. After being for some days of a golden yellow, a new family of
flowers would spring up, and it would turn almost in a night to a bright
scarlet, which would again as suddenly give way to the deepest blue. Then
the meadows would be mottled with various hues, or would put on the
emerald green of the most luxuriant of pastures. The glowing descriptions
I had so frequently received from the Bedouins of the beauty and fertility
of the banks of the Khabour were more than realised.
In the extreme distance, to the east of us, rose a solitary conical
elevation, called by the Arabs, Koukab. In front, to the south, was the
beautiful hill of the Sinjar, ever varying in color and in outline as the
declining sun left fresh shadows on its furrowed sides. Behind us, and not
far distant, was the low, wooded range of Abd-ul-Azeez. Artificial mounds,
smaller in size than Arban, rose here and there above the thin belt of
trees and shrubs skirting the river bank.
I had brought with me a tent large enough to hold full two hundred
persons, and intended as a "museef," or place of reception, always open to
the wayfarer and the Arab visitor; for the first duty of a traveller
wishing to mix with true Bedouins, and to gain an influence over them, is
the exercise of hospitality. This great pavilion was pitched in the centre
of my encampment, with its entrance facing the river. To the right were
the tents of the Cawass and servants; one fitted up expressly for the
Doctor to receive patients, of whom there was no lack at all times, and
the black Arab tent of Rathaiyah, who would not mix with the Jebours. To
the left were those of my fellow travellers, and about two hundred yards
beyond, near the excavations, my own private tent, to which I retired
during the day, when wishing to be undisturbed, and to which the Arabs
were not admitted. In it, also, we usually breakfasted and dined, except
when there were any Arab guests of distinction with whom it was necessary
to eat bread. In front of our encampment, and between it and the river,
was a small lawn, on which were picketed our horses. Suttum and Mohammed
Emin usually eat with us, and soon became perfectly reconciled to knives
and forks, and the other restraints of civilised life. Suttum's tact and
intelligence were indeed remarkable. Nothing escaped his hawk-like eye. A
few hours had enabled him to form a correct estimate of the character of
each one of the party, and he had detected peculiarities which might have
escaped the notice of the most observant European. The most polished Turk
would have been far less at home in the society of ladies, and during the
whole of our journey he never committed a breach of manners, only acquired
after a few hours' residence with us. As a companion he was
delightful,--full of anecdote, of unclouded spirits, acquainted with the
history of every Bedouin tribe, their politics and their wars, and
intimate with every part of the Desert, its productions and its
inhabitants. Many happy hours I spent with him, seated, after the sun went
down, on a mound overlooking the great plain and the winding river,
listening to the rich flow of his graceful Bedouin dialect, to his
eloquent stories of Arab life, and to his animated descriptions of forays,
wars, and single combats.
Mohammed Emin, the Sheikh of the Jebours, was a good-natured portly Arab,
in intelligence inferior to Suttum, and wanting many of the qualities of
the pure Bedouin. During our intercourse I had every reason to be
satisfied with his hospitality and the cordial aid he afforded me. The
Jebour chief was a complete patriarch in his tribe, having no less than
sixteen children, of whom six sons were horsemen and the owners of mares.
The youngest, a boy of four years old, named Sultan, was as handsome and
dirty as the best of Arab children. His mother, who had recently died, was
the beautiful sister of Abd-rubbou. I chanced to be her brother's guest
when the news of her death was brought to him. An Arab of the tribe, weary
and wayworn, entered the tent and seated himself without giving the usual
salutation; all present knew that he had come from the Khabour and from
distant friends. His silence argued evil tidings. By an indirect remark,
immediately understood, he told his errand to one who sat next him, and
who in turn whispered it to Sheikh Ibrahim, the chief's uncle. The old man
said aloud, with a sigh, "It is the will and mercy of God; she is not dead
but released!" Abd-rubbou at once understood of whom he spake. He arose
and went forth, and the wailing of the mother and of the women soon issued
from the inner recesses of the tent.
My first care, after crossing to Arban, was to examine the sculptures
described by the Arabs. The river having gradually worn away the mound
had, during the recent floods, left uncovered a pair of winged
human-headed bulls, some six feet above the water's edge, and full fifty
beneath the level of the ruin. Only the forepart of these figures had been
exposed to view, and Mohammed Emin would not allow any of the soil to be
removed before my arrival. The earth was soon cleared away, and I found
them to be of a coarse limestone, not exceeding 5-1/2 feet in height by
4-1/2 in length. Between them was a pavement slab of the same material.
They resembled in general form the well-known winged bulls of Nineveh, but
in the style of art they differed considerably from them. The outline and
treatment was bold and angular, with an archaic feeling conveying the
impression of great antiquity. They bore the same relation to the more
delicately finished and highly ornamented sculptures of Nimroud, as the
earliest remains of Greek art do to the exquisite monuments of Phidias and
Praxiteles. The human features were unfortunately much injured, but such
parts as remained were sufficient to show that the countenance had a
peculiar character, differing from the Assyrian type. The sockets of the
eyes were deeply sunk, probably to receive the white and the ball of the
eye in ivory or glass. The nose was flat and large, and the lips thick and
overhanging like those of a negro. Human ears were attached to the head,
and bull's ears to the horned cap, which was low and square at the top,
not high and ornamented like those of Khorsabad and Kouyunjik, nor rounded
like those of Nimroud. The hair was elaborately curled, as in the pure
Assyrian sculptures, though more rudely carved. The wings were small in
proportion to the size of the body, and had not the majestic spread of
those of the bulls that adorned the palaces of Nineveh.
It would appear from them that the sculptures belonged to the palace of a
king whose name has been found on no other monument. No titles are
attached to it, not even that of "king;" nor is the country over which he
reigned mentioned; so that some doubt may exist as to whether it really be
a royal name.
The great accumulation of earth above these sculptures proves that, since
the destruction of the edifice in which they stood, other habitations have
been raised on its ruins. Arban, indeed, is mentioned by the Arab
geographers as a flourishing city, in a singularly fertile district of the
Khabour. Part of a minaret, whose walls were cased with colored tiles,
and ornamented with cufic inscriptions in relief, like that of the Sinjar,
and the foundations of buildings, are still seen on the mound; and at its
foot; on the western side, are the remains of a bridge which once spanned
the stream. But the river has changed its course. The piers, adorned with
elegantly shaped arabesque characters, are now on the dry land.
I will describe, at once, the results of the excavations carried on during
the three weeks our tents were pitched at Arban. To please the Jebour
Sheikh, and to keep around our encampment, for greater security, a body of
armed men, when the tribe changed their pastures, I hired about fifty of
Mohammed Emin's Arabs, and placed them in parties with the workmen who had
accompanied me from Mosul. Tunnels were opened behind the bulls already
uncovered, and in various parts of the ruins on the same level. Trenches
were also dug into the surface of the mound.
Behind the bulls were found various Assyrian relics; amongst them a copper
bell, like those from Nimroud, and fragments of bricks with arrow-headed
characters painted yellow with white outlines, upon a pale green ground.
In other parts of the mound were discovered glass and pottery, some
Assyrian, others of a more doubtful character. Several fragments of
earthenware, ornamented with flowers and scrollwork, and highly glazed,
had assumed the brilliant and varied iridescence of ancient glass.[120]
It was natural to conclude, from the usual architectural arrangement of
Assyrian edifices, that the two bulls described stood at an entrance to a
hall or chamber. We searched in vain for the remains of walls, although
digging for three days to the right and left of the sculptures, a work of
considerable difficulty in consequence of the immense heap of
superincumbent earth. I then directed a tunnel to be carried towards the
centre of the mound, hoping to find a corresponding doorway opposite. I
was not disappointed. On the fifth day a similar pair of winged bulls were
discovered. They were of the same size, and inscribed with the same
characters. A part of one having been originally broken off, either in
carving the sculpture or in moving it, a fresh piece of stone had been
carefully fitted into its place. I also dug to the right and left of these
sculptures for remains of walls, but without success, and then resumed
the tunnelling towards the centre of the mound. In a few days a lion, with
extended jaws, sculptured in the same coarse limestone, and in the same
bold archaic style as the bulls, was discovered. It had five legs, and the
tail had the claw at the end, as in the Nineveh bas-reliefs. In height it
was nearly the same as the bulls. I searched in vain for the one which
must have formed the opposite side of the doorway.
[Illustration: Lion discovered at Arban.]
With the exception of these sculptures, no remains of building were found
in this part of the mound. In another tunnel, opened at some distance from
the bulls, half of a human figure in relief was discovered.[121] The face
was in full. One hand grasped a sword or dagger; the other held some
object to the breast. The hair and beard were long and flowing, and
ornamented with a profusion of curls as in the Assyrian bas-reliefs. The
head-dress appeared to consist of a kind of circular helmet, ending in a
sharp point. The treatment and style marked the sculpture to be of the
same period as the bull and lion.
Such were the sculptures discovered in the mound of Arban. Amongst smaller
objects of different periods were some of considerable interest, jars,
vases, funeral urns, highly-glazed pottery, and fragments of glass. In a
trench, on the south side of the ruin, was found a small green and white
bottle, inscribed with Chinese characters.
A jar, about four feet high, in coarse half-baked clay, was dug out of the
centre of the mound. The handles were formed by rudely-designed human
figures, and the sides covered with grotesque representations of men and
animals, and arabesque ornaments in relief.
Vases of the same material, ornamented with figures, are frequently
discovered in digging the foundations of houses in the modern town of
Mosul. They appear to belong to a comparatively recent period, later
probably than the Christian era, but previous to the Arab occupation. As
they have upon them human figures, dressed in a peculiar costume,
consisting of a high cap and embroidered robes, I should attribute them to
the Persians. A vase similar in size and shape to that of Arban, and also
covered with grotesque representations of monstrous animals, the finest
specimen I have seen of this class of antiquities, was found beneath the
foundations of the very ancient Chaldaean church of Meskinta at Mosul, when
that edifice was pulled down and rebuilt two years ago. It was given to me
by the Catholic Chaldaean Patriarch, to whom it belonged as chief of the
community, but was unfortunately destroyed, with other interesting relics,
by the Arabs, who plundered a raft laden with antiquities, on its way to
Baghdad, after my return to Europe.
Amongst other relics discovered at Arban were, a large copper ring,
apparently Assyrian; an ornament in earthenware, resembling the pine-cone
of the Assyrian sculptures; a bull's head in terracotta; fragments of
painted bricks, probably of the same period; and several Egyptian
scarabaei. It is singular that engraved stones and scarabs bearing Egyptian
devices, and in some instances even royal cartouches, should have been
found on the banks of the Khabour. Similar objects were subsequently dug
up at Nimroud, and brought to me by the Arabs from various ruins in
Assyria.
It may be well for the reader to observe in this connection, that most of
the Egyptian relics discovered in the Assyrian ruins are of the time of
the 18th Egyptian dynasty, or of the 15th century before Christ; a period
when, as we learn from Egyptian monuments, there was a close connection
between Assyria and Egypt.
Several tombs were also found in the ruins, consisting principally of
boxes, or sarcophagi, of earthenware, like those existing above the
Assyrian palaces near Mosul. Some, however, were formed by two large
earthen jars, like the common Eastern vessel for holding oil, laid
horizontally, and joined mouth to mouth. These terracotta coffins appear
to be of the same period as those found in all the great ruins on the
banks of the rivers of Mesopotamia, and are not Assyrian. They contained
human remains turned to dust, with the exception of the skull and a few of
the larger bones, and generally three or four urns of highly-glazed blue
pottery.
Fewer remains and objects of antiquity were discovered in the mounds on
the Khabour than I had anticipated. They were sufficient, however, to
prove that the ruins are, on the whole, of the same character as those on
the banks of the Tigris. That the Assyrian empire at one time embraced the
whole of Mesopotamia, including the country watered by the Khabour, there
can be no doubt, as indeed is shown by the inscriptions on the monuments
of Nineveh. Whether the sculptures at Arban belong to the period of
Assyrian domination, or to a distinct nation afterwards conquered, or
whether they may be looked upon as cotemporary with, or more ancient than,
the bas-reliefs of Nimroud, are questions not so easily answered. The
archaic character of the treatment and design, the peculiar form of the
features, the rude though forcible delineation of the muscles, and the
simplicity of the details, certainly convey the impression of greater
antiquity than any monuments hitherto discovered in Assyria Proper.[122]
A deep interest, at the same time, attaches to these remains from the site
they occupy. To the Chebar were transported by the Assyrian king, after
the destruction of Samaria, the captive children of Israel, and on its
banks "the heavens were opened" to Ezekiel, and "he saw visions of God,"
and spake his prophecies to his brother exiles.[123] Around Arban may have
been pitched the tents of the sorrowing Jews, as those of the Arabs were
during my visit. To the same pastures they led their sheep, and they drank
of the same waters. Then the banks of the river were covered with towns
and villages, and a palace-temple still stood on the mound, reflected in
the transparent stream. We have, however, but one name connected with the
Khabour recorded in Scripture, that of Tel-Abib, "the mound of Abib, or,
of the heaps of ears of corn," but whether it applies to a town, or to a
simple artificial elevation, such as still abound, and are still called
"tels," is a matter of doubt. I sought in vain for some trace of the word
amongst the names now given by the wandering Arab to the various ruins on
the Khabour and its confluents.[124]
We know that Jews still lingered in the cities of the Khabour until long
after the Arab invasion; and we may perhaps recognise in the Jewish
communities of Ras-al-Ain, at the sources of the river, and of Karkisia,
or Carchemish, at its confluence with the Euphrates, visited and described
by Benjamin of Tudela, in the latter end of the twelfth century of the
Christian aera, the descendants of the captive Israelites.
But the hand of time has long since swept even this remnant away, with the
busy crowds which thronged the banks of the river. From its mouth to its
source, from Carchemish to Ras-al-Ain, there is now no single permanent
human habitation on the Khabour. Its rich meadows and its deserted ruins
are alike become the encamping places of the wandering Arab.