Nineveh, famous in the ancient world, as the splendid capital of the
Assyrian empire, had been hidden some two thousand years in its unknown
grave, when a French _savant_ and a wandering English scholar sought out
the seat of that once mighty power, and throwing off its shroud of sand
and ruin, revealed to the astonished world its temples, palaces, and
idols, the representations of the wars of the ancient Assyrians, and
their triumphs in civilization and art. Niebuhr was one of the first to
give attention to these ruins, and especially to stimulate the curiosity
and enterprise of others. And after him Rich, Botta, and others, and
especially and above all, Layard, carried on investigations which have
brought to light the wonderful remains of this long-buried city. The
earliest successful excavations were made by Botta at Khorsabad, in
1843; and by these he was led on to the discovery of an immense monument
worthy to be compared in richness and ornament to the most sumptuous
productions bequeathed us by ancient Egypt. The first discovery was of
the remains of a chamber, which evidently was but part of a large
building buried in the mound, the walls of which were covered with
bass-reliefs. And next, finding a bronze lion, and the heads and wings
of the winged bulls, M. Botta was satisfied that the whole space was
full of ancient remains. After various difficulties and obstacles, which
were at length overcome, in 1844, he had three hundred laborers at work
making excavations, while an artist copied the bass-reliefs and
inscriptions as fast as they were uncovered. These, with the most
remarkable and best preserved pieces of sculpture, were sent to Paris,
where they arrived in 1846, and where they now form one of the greatest
attractions in the noble museum of the Louvre.
The last and most important, however, of the laborers in the field of
Assyrian antiquities, is Austen Henry Layard, who visited this region in
1840, and again in 1842. In 1845, under the patronage, and through the
assistance of Sir Stratford Canning, he again went to Assyria, and
commencing his excavations, first discovered the long wished for
bass-reliefs on the twenty-eighth of November. Soon afterward he dug up
a gigantic human head, much to the terror of the Arabs, who believed it
to be the head of Nimrod himself. Next, he came upon a rich collection
of sculptures, in an excellent state of preservation, among which were
kings, priests, griffins, eunuchs, symbolic trees, &c., &c. Another
discovery was that of a vaulted chamber, in the center of a wall some
fifty feet thick, and fifteen feet below the surface of the mound, the
top of which was as regularly arched as any modern room could be.
Tubular drain-tiles for carrying off the water that fell from the roofs
of buildings, and thin layers of bitumen under the floors and slabs, to
keep them from the dampness of the ground beneath, were also discovered
in various places. The gigantic lions which M. Botta had seen, were also
examined by Mr. Layard; and new chambers, covered with bass-reliefs of
battles, sieges, victories, triumphs, banquetings, sacrifices, &c., were
explored. A large obelisk of black marble was shipped for England; and
from some twenty chambers explored within about four months, numerous
articles were gathered and sent forward to the same country.
As a specimen of the wonderful sculptures brought to light by the
indefatigable labors of Layard, we may mention the _colossal winged
bull_, represented in the cut on page 584. The features of the face, the
cap on the head, and the arrangement of the hair and beard, are Persian.
The wings extend over the back. The figure is supposed to represent one
of the Assyrian deities, as the attributes of intelligence, strength,
and swiftness, are typified by the head of a man, the body of a bull,
and the wings of an eagle. Somewhat similar to this was another large
sculpture of a _colossal winged lion_, on a slab nine feet square. The
countenance of this figure is noble and benevolent in expression; the
features being of a true Persian type. It wears an egg-shaped cap, with
a cord round the base of it. The hair at the back of the head has seven
ranges of curls; the beard being divided into three ranges of curls,
with intervals of wavy hair. The elaborately sculptured wings extend
over the back of the animal to the very verge of the slab. All the flat
surface is covered with what is termed a cuneiform inscription. Round
the loins is a succession of numerous cords, which are drawn into four
separate knots; at the extremities are fringes, forming as many distinct
tassels. The strength of the lion is admirably delineated in the
sculpture, showing that the artist had a complete acquaintance with the
details of its figure and anatomy. Both these huge sculptures were sent
to England, though only with immense labor and expense; and they are now
in the British museum.
[Illustration: COLOSSAL WINGED BULL FROM NINEVEH.]
In the brief space which can be allotted to the ruins of Nineveh, it
would be impossible to give more than a glance at all the wonderful
discoveries made there. A mere outline is all that will be attempted,
while for the complete description, the reader is referred to the
published volumes of Layard himself. The platform of Khorsabad, for
example, was in somewhat the shape of the letter T; and the latter, or
south-eastern end of this was nine hundred and seventy-five feet wide,
by four hundred and twenty deep; and here some of the principal
monuments were found. The great portal to the building, forming the
center of the façade, consisted, on each side, of three colossal bulls,
with human heads and eagles’ wings, and a gigantic figure of a man, each
formed of a single block of alabaster. Passing through this gateway, we
come to a court three hundred and forty by one hundred and fifty-seven
feet, the entrance of which is guarded by symbolic figures which are
combinations of the man, the bull, and the eagle, bearing a general
resemblance to those spoken of above. Near by is a gigantic figure,
supposed to be intended for Nimrod himself; and also another of a winged
man, or divinity, with four wings, offering a pine cone with one hand,
and holding a basket in the other. In the different chambers, are
bass-reliefs of the great king and his officers, in their various
appropriate dresses; the sword, the sandals, the bracelets, the
ear-rings, and even the fly-flappers of the attending eunuchs, all being
perfectly distinct as if carved but yesterday. Not far from these, are
seen the king’s cup-bearers, and his grooms leading horses; a
representation of the building of a port, or road, and ships bringing
timber and other materials to be used in the work; and then come
sea-monsters and various inhabitants of the deep, among which are the
shell-fish which furnished the famous Tyrian dye. In another apartment,
the gate of which was fastened by a huge wooden lock, are seen the
figures of tribute-bearers from the various conquered nations, the
governors of provinces, &c., bringing their offerings; and in another,
priests, and the eagle-headed divinity, the king himself, and images of
baked clay, of frightful aspect, which seem to have been teraphim or
idols of some kind. In still other apartments, are the symbolic trees;
sieges of highly fortified places, with battering-rams and other
instruments of war; manacled prisoners; bow-men and spear-men; eunuchs
engaged, in one place in weighing spoil, and in another in hewing a
prisoner to pieces; the magi, and philosophers; courts of justice;
prisoners bound for trial or punishment; the king putting out the eyes
of a captive; full illustrations of the pleasures of the table and the
chase; the king and his sons engaged in hunting, and also in shooting at
a target; various kinds of birds and animals; full historical pictures
of various events; the burning of forts and besieged cities; chairs,
altars, chariots, horses, tables, vases, &c.: in a word, almost
everything connected with the daily life, or social customs, or civil
history of the people. The king’s court, the historical chamber, the
inner chamber, the divining-chamber, the hall of judgment, the hall of
historical records, the chamber of audience, the presence-chamber, the
banqueting-hall, the retiring-chamber—all these are but a part of the
names of apartments in this single palace, each of which abounds in the
sculptures and bass-reliefs which are naturally suggested by their
respective titles.
A large number of these wonderful sculptures have been transported to
England, and are now in the British museum. The great winged lion and
bull are there, to fix the attention and excite the wonder of every
visitor; and with these, more than a hundred other sculptures or
bass-reliefs representing scenes like those already described. Many of
these are from Nimroud, where have been found some representations not
mentioned above, such, for example, as various forms of chariots;
mummers dancing; stables, and horses being curried; the interior of the
royal kitchen; birds of prey, picking at the dead and dying on the
battle-field; troops crossing rivers; the siege of Damascus; lion and
bull hunts; Parthian bow-men; the felling of trees; elephants, camels,
and monkeys, &c., &c., all in a style of both art and sculpture quite
different from those at Khorsabad, and apparently less ancient than the
latter. And in addition to all these things, the sculptures relating to
costume and dress are quite numerous in many of the apartments of these
ruins. The head-dress, the mode of wearing the beard and hair, vases,
rings, bracelets, umbrellas, bronzes, the arrangement of funerals, ivory
caskets and ornaments, carved heads of various animals, (used as
ornaments,) and many other kinds of curiosities, have been found in
great numbers.
Among the more recent discoveries, made so lately as 1850, Mr. Layard
thinks he has found, in the Nimroud mound, the very throne on which the
reigning monarch of some three thousand years ago sat in his splendid
palace. It is composed of metal and ivory; the former being richly
wrought, and the latter most beautifully carved. It seems to have been
separated from the state apartments by means of a large curtain, the
rings by which this was drawn and undrawn being still preserved. No
human remains have been found, and everything indicates the destruction
of the palace by fire; the throne itself being partially fused, as if by
great heat. Beautifully engraved copper vessels have been found at
Nimroud; and in Nineveh, a large assortment of slabs illustrative of the
rule, conquests, domestic life, and arts of the ancient Assyrians; and
apparently there can be no limit to the number of such discoveries, if
they are but prosecuted for a sufficient length of time, and with a
sufficient number of laborers. In 1852, Mr. Layard was appointed to an
important official post at home, by the British government, so that his
personal attention to the researches he had so long carried on, was of
course suspended. But since that date, the French explorers have been
able to examine the whole palace of Khorsabad and its dependencies; in
doing which, they have obtained proof that the Assyrians were not
ignorant of any of the principles or resources of architecture. Among
their discoveries, is a gate twelve feet high, apparently one of the
entrances to the city; several constructions in marble, beautifully
wrought; the cellar of the palace, with regular rows of wine jars, which
have at the bottom the violet-colored deposit from the evaporated wine,
&c. And in the adjoining mounds and hills within a few leagues of
Khorsabad, they have found monuments, tombs, jewelry, articles of gold
and stone, colossal figures and bass-reliefs, and last, but far from
least, _a series of full length portraits of the kings of Assyria_! All
these discoveries, as soon as made, are copied by the photographic
process, and sent to Paris, so that ere long, doubtless, all will be
able to see how they appear when reproduced by the skill of the
engraver.