Media, like Assyria, is a country of such extent and variety that, in
order to give a correct description of its climate, we must divide it
into regions. Azerbijan, or Atropatene, the most northern portion, has
a climate altogether cooler than the rest of Media; while in the more
southern division of the country there is a marked difference between
the climate of the east and of the west, of the tracts lying on the
high plateau and skirting the Great Salt Desert, and of those contained
within or closely abutting upon the Zagros mountain range. The
difference here is due to the difference of physical conformation, which
is as great as possible, the broad mountainous plains about Kasvin,
Koum, and Kashan, divided from each other by low rocky ridges, offering
the strongest conceivable contrast to the perpetual alternations of
mountain and valley, precipitous height and deep wooded glen, which
compose the greater part of the Zagros region.
The climate of Azerbijan is temperate and pleasant, though perhaps
somewhat overwarm, in summer; while in winter it is bitterly severe,
colder than that of almost any other region in the same latitude. This
extreme rigor seems to be mainly owing to elevation, the very valleys
and valley plains of the tract being at a height of from 4000 to 5000
feet above the sea level. Frost commonly sets in towards the end of
November--or at latest early in December; snow soon covers the ground
to the depth of several feet; the thermometer falls below zero; the sun
shines brightly except when from time to time fresh deposits of snow
occur; but a keen and strong wind usually prevails, which is represented
as “cutting like a sword,” and being a very “assassin of life.” Deaths
from cold are of daily occurrence; and it is impossible to travel
without the greatest risk. Whole companies or caravans occasionally
perish beneath the drift, when the wind is violent, especially if a
heavy fall happen to coincide with one of the frequent easterly gales.
The severe weather commonly continues till March, when travelling
becomes possible, but the snow remains on much of the ground till May,
and on the mountains still longer. The spring, which begins in April, is
temperate and delightful; a sudden burst of vegetation succeeds to the
long winter lethargy; the air is fresh and balmy, the sun pleasantly
warm, the sky generally cloudless. In the month of May the heat
increases--thunder hangs in the air--and the valleys are often close
and sultry. Frequent showers occur, and the hail-storms are sometimes so
violent as to kill the cattle in the fields. As the summer advances the
heats increase, but the thermometer rarely reaches 90° in the shade, and
except in the narrow valleys the air is never oppressive. The autumn is
generally very fine. Foggy mornings are common; but they are succeeded
by bright pleasant days, without wind or rain. On the whole the climate
is pronounced healthy, though somewhat trying to Europeans, who do not
readily adapt themselves to a country where the range of the thermometer
is as much as 90° or 100°. In the part of Media situated on the great
plateau--the modern Irak Ajemi--in which are the important towns of
Teheran, Isfahan, Hamadan, Kashan, Kasvin, and Koum. the climate is
altogether warmer than in Azerbijan, the summers being hotter, and the
winters shorter and much less cold. Snow indeed covers the ground
for about three months, from early in December till March; but the
thermometer rarely shows more than ten or twelve degrees of frost, and
death from cold is uncommon. The spring sets in about the beginning of
March, and is at first somewhat cool, owing to the prevalence of the
_baude caucasan_ or north wind,a which blows from districts where the
snow still lies. But after a little time the weather becomes delicious;
the orchards are a mass of blossom; the rose gardens come into bloom;
the cultivated lands are covered with springing crops; the desert itself
wears a light livery of green. Every sense is gratified; the nightingale
bursts out with a full gush of song; the air plays softly upon the
cheek, and comes loaded with fragrance. Too soon, however, this charming
time passes away, and the summer heats begin, in some places as early as
June 18 The thermometer at midday rises to 90 or 100 degrees. Hot gusts
blow from the desert, sometimes with great violence. The atmosphere is
described as choking; and in parts of the plateau it is usual for the
inhabitants to quit their towns almost in a body, and retire for several
months into the mountains. This extreme heat is, however, exceptional;
in most parts of the plateau the summer warmth is tempered by cool
breezes from the surrounding mountains, on which there is always a good
deal of snow. At Hamadan, which, though on the plain, is close to the
mountains, the thermometer seems scarcely ever to rise above 90°, and
that degree of heat is attained only for a few hours in the day. The
mornings and evenings are cool and refreshing; and altogether the
climate quite justifies the choice of the Persian monarchs, who selected
Ecbatana for their place of residence during the hottest portion of the
year. Even at Isfahan, which is on the edge of the desert, the heat is
neither extreme nor prolonged. The hot gusts which blow from the east
and from the south raise the temperature at times nearly to a hundred
degrees; but these oppressive winds alternate with cooler breezes from
the west, often accompanied by rain; and the average highest temperature
during the day in the hottest month, which is August, does not exceed
90°.
A peculiarity in the climate of the plateau which deserves to be noticed
is the extreme dryness of the atmosphere. In summer the rains which fall
are slight, and they are soon absorbed by the thirsty soil. There is a
little dew at nights, especially in the vicinity of the few streams;
but it disappears with the first hour of sunshine, and the air is left
without a particle of moisture. In winter the dryness is equally
great; frost taking the place of heat, with the same effect upon the
atmosphere. Unhealthy exhalations are thus avoided, and the salubrity of
the climate is increased; but the European will sometimes sigh for the
soft, balmy airs of his own land, which have come flying over the sea,
and seem to bring their wings still dank with the ocean spray.
Another peculiarity of this region, produced by the unequal rarefaction
of the air over its different portions, is the occurrence, especially in
spring and summer, of sudden gusts, hot or cold, which blow with great
violence. These gusts are sometimes accompanied with, whirlwinds, which
sweep the country in different directions, carrying away with them
leaves, branches, stubble, sand, and other light substances, and causing
great annoyance to the traveller. They occur chiefly in connection with
a change of wind, and are no doubt consequent on the meeting of two
opposite currents. Their violence, however, is moderate, compared
with that of tropical tornadoes, and it is not often that they do any
considerable damage to the crops over which they sweep.
One further characteristic of the flat region may be noticed. The
intense heat of the summer sun striking on the dry sand or the saline
efflorescence of the desert throws the air over them into such a state
of quivering undulation as produces the most wonderful and varying
effects, distorting the forms of objects, and rendering the most
familiar strange and hard to be recognized. A mud bank furrowed by the
rain will exhibit the appearance of a magnificent city, with columns,
domes, minarets, and pyramids; a few stunted bushes will be transformed
into a forest of stately trees; a distant mountain will, in the space of
a minute, assume first the appearance of a lofty peak, then swell out at
the top, and resemble a mighty mushroom, next split into several parts,
and finally settle down into a flat tableland. Occasionally, though not
very often that semblance of water is produced which Europeans are are
apt to suppose the usual effect of mirage. The images of objects are
reflected at their base in an inverted position; the desert seems
converted into a vast lake; and the thirsty traveller, advancing towards
it, finds himself the victim of an illusion, which is none the less
successful because he has been a thousand times forewarned of its
deceptive power.
In the mountain range or Zagros and the tracts adjacent to it, the
climate, owing to the great differences of elevation, is more varied
than in the other parts of the ancient Media. Severe cold prevails in
the higher mountain regions for seven months out of the twelve, while
during the remaining five the heat is never more than moderate. In
the low valleys, on the contrary, and in other favored situations, the
winters are often milder than on the plateau; while in the summers, if
the heat is not greater, at any rate it is more oppressive. Owing to the
abundance of the streams and proximity of the melting snows, the air is
moist; and the damp heat, which stagnates in the valleys, broods fever
and ague. Between these extremes of climate and elevation, every variety
is to be found; and, except in winter, a few hours’ journey will almost
always bring the traveller into a temperate region.
In respect of natural productiveness, Media (as already observed)
differs exceedingly in different, and even in adjacent, districts. The
rocky ridges of the great plateau, destitute of all vegetable mold, are
wholly bare and arid, admitting not the slightest degree of cultivation.
Many of the mountains of Azerbijan, naked, rigid, and furrowed, may
compare even with these desert ranges for sterility. The higher parts
of Zagros and Elburz are sometimes of the same character; but more often
they are thickly clothed with forests, affording excellent timber and
other valuable commodities. In the Elburz pines are found near the
summit, while lower down there occur, first the wild almond and the
dwarf oak, and then the usual timber-trees of the country, the Oriental
plane, the willow, the poplar, and the walnut. The walnut grows to a
large size both here and in Azerbijan, but the poplar is the wood most
commonly used for building purposes. In Zagros, besides most of these
trees, the ash and the terebinth or turpentine-tree are common; the oak
bears gall-nuts of a large size; and the gum-tragacanth plant frequently
clothes the mountain-sides. The valleys of this region are full of
magnificent orchards, as are the low grounds and more sheltered nooks of
Azerbijan. The fruit-trees comprise, besides vines and mulberries, the
apple, the pear, the quince, the plum, the cherry, the almond, the nut,
the chestnut, the olive, the peach, the nectarine, and the apricot.
On the plains of the high plateau there is a great scarcity of
vegetation. Trees of a large size grow only in the few places which are
well watered, as in the neighborhood of Hamadan, Isfahan, and in a
less degree of Kashan. The principal tree is the Oriental plane, which
flourishes together with poplars and willows along the water-courses;
cypresses also grow freely; elms and cedars are found, and the orchards
and gardens contain not only the fruit-trees mentioned above, but also
the jujube, the cornel, the filbert, the medlar, the pistachio nut, the
pomegranate, and the fig. Away from the immediate vicinity of the rivers
and the towns, not a tree, scarcely a bush, is to be seen. The common
thorn is indeed tolerably abundant in a few places; but elsewhere the
tamarisk and a few other sapless shrubs are the only natural products of
this bare and arid region.
In remarkable contrast with the natural barrenness of this wide tract
are certain favored districts in Zagros and Azerbijan, where the herbage
is constant throughout the summer, and sometimes only too luxuriant.
Such are the rich and extensive grazing grounds of Khawah and Alishtar,
near Kermanshah, the pastures near Ojan and Marand, and the celebrated
Chowal Moghan or plain of Moghan, on the lower course of the Araxes
river, where the grass is said to grow sufficiently high to cover a
man on horseback. These, however, are rare exceptions to the general
character of the country, which is by nature unproductive, and scarcely
deserving even of the qualified encomium of Strabo.
Still Media, though deficient in natural products, is not ill adapted
for cultivation. The Zagros valleys and hillsides produce under a very
rude system of agriculture, besides the fruits already noticed, rice,
wheat, barley, millet, sesame, Indian corn, cotton, tobacco, mulberries,
cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and the castor-oilplant. In Azerbijan the
soil is almost all cultivable, and if ploughed and sown will bring good
crops of the ordinary kinds of grain. Even on the side of the desert,
where Nature has shown herself most niggardly, and may seem perhaps to
deserve the reproach of Cicero, that she behaves as a step mother to
a man rather than as a mother, a certain amount of care and scientific
labor may render considerable tracts fairly productive. The only want
of this region is water; and if the natural deficiency of this necessary
fluid can be anyhow supplied, all parts of the plateau will bear crops,
except those which form the actual Salt Desert. In modern, and still
more in ancient times, this fact has been clearly perceived, and an
elaborate system of artifical irrigation, suitable to the peculiar
circumstances of the country, has been very widely established. The
system of _kanats_, as they are called at the present day, aims at
utilizing to the uttermost all the small streams and rills which descend
towards the desert from the surrounding mountains, and at conveying
as far as possible into the plain the spring water, which is the
indispensable condition of cultivation in a country where--except for
a few days in the spring and autumn--rain scarcely ever falls. As the
precious element would rapidly evaporate if exposed to the rays of the
summer sun, the Iranian husbandman carries his conduit underground,
laboriously tunnelling through the stiff argillaceous soil, at a depth
of many feet below the surface. The mode in which he proceeds is as
follows. At intervals along the line of his intended conduit he first
sinks shafts, which he then connects with one another by galleries,
seven or eight feet in height, giving his galleries a slight incline,
so that the water may run down them freely, and continuing them till he
reaches a point where he wishes to bring the water out upon the surface
of the plain. Here and there, at the foot of his shafts, he digs wells,
from which the fluid can readily be raised by means of a bucket and a
windlass; and he thus brings under cultivation a considerable belt of
land along the whole line of the _kanat_, as well as a large tract at
its termination. These conduits, on which the cultivation of the plateau
depends, were established at so remote a date that they were popularly
ascribed to the mythic Semiramis, the supposed wife of Ninus. It is
thought that in ancient times they were longer and more numerous than at
present, when they occur only occasionally, and seldom extend more than
a few miles from the base of the hills.
By help of the irrigation thus contrived, the great plateau of Iran will
produce good crops of grain, rice, wheat, barley, Indian corn, doura,
millet, and sesame. It will also bear cotton, tobacco, saffron, rhubarb,
madder, poppies which give a good opium, senna, and assafoetida.
Its garden vegetables are excellent, and include potatoes, cabbages,
lentils, kidney-beans, peas, turnips, carrots, spinach, beetroot, and
cucumbers. The variety of its fruit-trees has been already noticed.
The flavor of their produce is in general good, and in some cases
surpassingly excellent. No quinces are so fine as those of Isfahan,
and no melons have a more delicate flavor. The grapes of Kasvin are
celebrated, and make a remarkably good wine.
Among the flowers of the country must be noted, first of all, its roses,
which flourish in the most luxuriant abundance, and are of every variety
of hue. The size to which the tree will grow is extraordinary, standards
sometimes exceeding the height of fourteen or fifteen feet. Lilacs,
jasmines, and many other flowering shrubs are common in the gardens,
while among wild flowers may be noticed hollyhocks, lilies, tulips,
crocuses, anemones, lilies of the valley, fritillaries, gentians,
primroses, convolvuluses, chrysanthemums, heliotropes, pinks,
water-lilies, ranunculuses, jonquils, narcissuses, hyacinths, mallows,
stocks, violets, a fine campanula (Michauxia levigata), a mint (Nepeta
longiflora), several sages, salsolas, and fagonias. In many places the
wild flowers during the spring months cover the ground, painting it with
a thousand dazzling or delicate hues.
The mineral products of Media are numerous and valuable. Excellent stone
of many kinds abounds in almost every part of the country, the most
important and valuable being the famous Tabriz marble. This curious
substance appears to be a petrifaction formed by natural springs, which
deposit carbonate of lime in large quantities. It is found only in one
place, on the flanks of the hills, not far from the Urumiyeh lake. The
slabs are used for tombstones, for the skirting of rooms, and for the
pavements of baths and palaces; when cut thin they often take the place
of glass in windows, being semi-transparent. The marble is commonly of
a pale yellow color, but occasionally it is streaked with red, green, or
copper-colored veins.
In metals the country is thought to be rich, but no satisfactory
examination of it has been as yet made. Iron, copper, and native steel
are derived from mines actually at work; while Europeans have observed
indications of lead, arsenic, and antimony in Azerbijan, in Kurdistan,
and in the rocky ridges which intersect the desert. Tradition speaks
of a time when gold and silver were procured from mountains near
Takht-i-Suleman, and it is not unlikely that they may exist both there
and in the Zagros range. Quartz, the well-known matrix of the precious
metal, abounds in Kurdistan.
Of all the mineral products, none is more abundant than salt. On the
side of the desert, and again near Tabriz at the mouth of the Aji Su,
are vast plains which glisten with the substance, and yield it readily
to all who care to gather it up. Saline springs and streams are also
numerous, from which salt can be obtained by evaporation. But, besides
these sources of supply, rock salt is found in places, and this is
largely quarried, and is preferred by the natives.
Other important products of the earth are saltpetre, which is found
in the Elburz, and in Azerbijan; sulphur, which abounds in the same
regions, and likewise on the high plateau; alum, which is quarried near
Tabriz; naphtha and gypsum, which are found in Kurdistan; and talc,
which exists in the mountains near Koum, in the vicinity of Tabriz, and
probably in other places.
The chief wild animals which have been observed within the limits of
the ancient Media are the lion, the tiger, the leopard, the bear, the
beaver, the jackal, the wolf, the wild ass, the ibex or wild goat, the
wild sheep, the stag, the antelope, the wild boar, the fox, the hare,
the rabbit, the ferret, the rat, the jerboa, the porcupine, the mole,
and the marmot. The lion and tiger are exceedingly rare; they seem to
be found only in Azerbijan, and we may perhaps best account for their
presence there by considering that a few of these animals occasionally
stray out of Mazanderan, which is their only proper locality in this
part of Asia. Of all the beasts, the most abundant are the stag and the
wild goat, which are numerous in the Elburz, and in parts of Azerbijan,
the wild boar, which abounds both in Azerbijan, and in the country about
Hamadan, and the jackal, which is found everywhere. Bears flourish in
Zagros, antelopes in Azerbijan, in the Elburz, and on the plains near
Sultaniyeh. The wild ass is found only in the desert parts of the high
plateau; the beaver only in Lake Zeribar, near Sulefmaniyeh.
The Iranian wild ass differs in some respects from the Mesopotamian. His
skin is smooth, like that of a deer, and of a reddish color, the belly
and hinder parts partaking of a silvery gray; his head and ears are
large and somewhat clumsy; but his neck is fine, and his legs are
beautifully slender. His mane is short and black, and he has a black
tuft at the end of his tail, but no dark line runs along his back or
crosses his shoulders. The Persians call him the _gur-khur_, and chase
him with occasional success, regarding his flesh as a great delicacy.
He appears to be the _Asinus onager_ of naturalists, a distinct species
from the _Asinus hemippus_ of Mesopotamia, and the _Asinus hemionus_ of
Thibet and Tartary.
It is doubtful whether some kind of wild cattle does not still inhabit
the more remote tracts of Kurdistan. The natives mention among the
animals of their country “the mountain ox;” and though it has been
suggested that the beast intended is the elk, it is perhaps as likely
to be the Aurochs, which seems certainly to have been a native of the
adjacent country of Mesopotamia in ancient times. At any rate, until
Zagros has been thoroughly explored by Europeans, it must remain
uncertain what animal is meant. Meanwhile we may be tolerably sure that,
besides the species enumerated, Mount Zagros contains within its folds
some large and rare ruminant.
Among the birds the most remarkable are the eagle, the bustard, the
pelican, the stork, the pheasant, several kinds of partridges, the
quail, the woodpecker, the bee-eater, the hoopoe, and the nightingale.
Besides these, doves and pigeons, both wild and tame, are common; as are
swallows, goldfinches, sparrows, larks, blackbirds, thrushes, linnets,
magpies, crows, hawks, falcons, teal, snipe, wild ducks, and many other
kinds of waterfowl. The most common partridge is a red-legged species
(_Caccabis chukar_ of naturalists), which is unable to fly far, and is
hunted until it drops. Another kind, common both in Azerbijan and in
the Elburz, is the black-breasted partridge (_Perdix nigra_)--a bird not
known in many countries. Besides these, there is a small gray partridge
in the Zagros range, which the Kurds call seslca. The bee-eater (_Merops
Persicus_) is rare. It is a bird of passage, and only visits Media
in the autumn, preparatory to retreating into the warm district of
Mazandoran for the winter months. The hoopoe (_Upupa_) is probably still
rarer, since very few travellers mention it. The woodpecker is found in
Zagros, and is a beautiful bird, red and gray in color.
Media is, on the whole, but scantily provided with fish. Lake Urumiyeh
produces none, as its waters are so salt that they even destroy all the
river-fish which enter them. Salt streams, like the Aji Su, are equally
unproductive, and the fresh-water rivers of the plateau fall so low
in summer that fish cannot become numerous in them. Thus it is only in
Zagros, in Azerbijan, and in the Elburz, that the streams furnish any
considerable quantity. The kinds most common are barbel, carp, dace,
bleak, and gudgeon. In a comparatively few streams, more especially
those of Zagros, trout are found, which are handsome and of excellent
quality. The river of Isfahan produces a kind of crayfish, which is
taken in the bushes along its banks, and is very delicate eating.
It is remarkable that fish are caught not only in the open streams of
Media, but also in the _kanats_ or underground conduits, from which
the light of day is very nearly excluded. They appear to be of one sort
only, viz., barbel, but are abundant, and often grow to a considerable
size. Chardin supposed them to be unfit for food; but a later observer
declares that, though of no great delicacy, they are “perfectly sweet
and wholesome.”
Of reptiles, the most common are snakes, lizards, and tortoises. In the
long grass of the Moghan district, on the lower course of the Araxes,
the snakes are so numerous and venomous that many parts of the plain are
thereby rendered impassable in the summer-time. A similar abundance
of this reptile near the western entrance of the Girduni Siyaluk pass
induces the natives to abstain from using it except in winter. Lizards
of many forms and hues disport themselves about the rocks and stones,
some quite small, others two feet or more in length. They are quite
harmless, and appear to be in general very tame. Land tortoises are also
common in the sandy regions. In Kurdistan there is a remarkable frog,
with a smooth skin and of an apple-green color, which lives chiefly in
trees, roosting in them at night, and during the day employing itself in
catching flies and locusts, which it strikes with its fore paw, as a cat
strikes a bird or a mouse.
Among insects, travellers chiefly notice the mosquito, which is in many
places a cruel torment; the centipede, which grows to an unusual size;
the locust, of which there is more than one variety; and the scorpion,
whose sting is sometimes fatal.
The destructive locust (the _Acridium peregrinum_, probably) comes
suddenly into Kurdistan and southern Media in clouds that obscure the
air, moving with a slow and steady flight and with a sound like that
of heavy rain, and settling in myriads on the fields, the gardens, the
trees, the terraces of the houses, and even the streets, which they
sometimes cover completely. Where they fall, vegetation presently
disappears; the leaves, and even the stems of the plants, are devoured;
the labors of the husbandman through many a weary month perish in a day;
and the curse of famine is brought upon the land which but now enjoyed
the prospect of an abundant harvest. It is true that the devourers are
themselves devoured to some extent by the poorer sort of people; but the
compensation is slight and temporary; in a few days, when all verdure is
gone, either the swarms move to fresh pastures, or they perish and cover
the fields with their dead bodies, while the desolation which they have
created continues. [PLATE III., Fig. 2.]
[Illustration: PLATE III.]
Another kind of locust, observed by Mr. Rich in Kurdistan, is called by
the natives _shira-kulla_, a name seemingly identical with the
_chargol_ of the Jews, and perhaps the best clue which we possess to
the identification of that species. Mr. Rich describes it as “a large
insect, about four inches long, with no wings, but a kind of sword
projecting from the tail. It bites,” he says, “pretty severely, but
does no harm to the cultivation.” We may recognize in this description
a variety of the great green grasshopper (_Locusta viridissima_), many
species of which are destitute of wings, or have wing-covers only, and
those of a very small size.
The scorpion of the country (_Scorpio crassicauda_) has been represented
as peculiarly venomous, more especially that which abounds in the city
and neighborhood of Kashan; but the most judicious observers deny that
there is any difference between the Kashan scorpion and that of other
parts of the plateau, while at the same time they maintain that if the
sting be properly treated, no danger need be apprehended from it. The
scorpion infests houses, hiding itself under cushions and coverlets, and
stings the moment it is pressed upon; some caution is thus requisite
in avoiding it; but it hurts no one unless molested, and many Europeans
have resided for years in the country without having ever been stung by
it. [PLATE III., Fig. 3.]
The domestic animals existing at present within the limits of the
ancient Media are the camel, the horse, the mule, the ass, the cow, the
goat, the sheep, the dog, the cat, and the buffalo. The camel is the
ordinary beast of burden in the flat country, and can carry an enormous
weight. Three kinds are employed--the Bactrian or two-humped camel,
which is coarse and low; the taller and lighter Arabian breed; and a
cross between the two, which is called _ner_, and is valued very
highly. The ordinary burden of the Arabian camel is from seven to eight
hundredweight; while the Bactrian variety is said to be capable of
bearing a load nearly twice as heavy.
Next to the camel, as a beast of burden, must be placed the mule the
mules of the country are small, but finely proportioned, and carry a
considerable weight. They travel thirty miles a day with ease, and are
preferred for journeys on which it is necessary to cross the mountains.
The ass is very inferior, and is only used by the poorer classes.
Two distinct breeds of horses are now found in Media, both of which seem
to be foreign--the Turkoman and the Arabian. The Turkoman is a large,
powerful, enduring animal, with long legs, a light body, and a big
head. The Arab is much smaller, but perfectly shaped, and sometimes
not greatly inferior to the very best produce of Nejd. A third breed is
obtained by an intermixture of those two, which is called the _bid-pai_,
or “wind footed,” and is the most prized of all.
The dogs are of various breeds, but the most esteemed is a large kind of
gray hound, which some suppose to have been introduced into this part of
Asia by the Macedonians, and which is chiefly employed in the chase of
the antelope. The animal is about the height of a full sized English
grayhound, but rather stouter; he is deep-chested, has long, smooth
hair, and the tail considerably feathered. His pace is inferior to that
of our grayhounds, but in strength and sagacity he far surpasses them.
We do not find many of the products of Media celebrated by ancient
writers. Of its animals, those which had the highest reputation were its
horses, distinguished into two breeds, an ordinary kind, of which
Media produced annually many thousands, and a kind of rare size and
excellence, known under the name of Nisaean. These last are celebrated
by Herodotus, Strabo, Arrian, Ammianus Marcellinus, Suidas, and others.
They are said to have been of a peculiar shape; and they were equally
famous for size, speed, and stoutness. Strabo remarks that they resemble
the horses known in his own time as Parthian; and this observation seems
distinctly to connect them with the Turkoman breed mentioned above,
which is derived exactly from the old Parthian country. In color they
were often, if not always, white. We have no representation on the
monuments which we can regard as certainly intended for a Nissean horse,
but perhaps the figure from Persepolis may be a Persian sketch of the
animal. [PLATE III., Fig. 4.]
The mules and small cattle (sheep and goats) were in sufficient repute
to be required, together with horses, in the annual tribute paid to the
Persian king.
Of vegetable products assigned to Media by ancient writers, the most
remarkable is the “Median apple,” or citron. Pliny says it was the sole
tree for which Media was famous, and that it would only grow there
and in Persia. Theophrastus, Dioscorides, Virgil, and other writers,
celebrate its wonderful qualities, distinctly assigning it to the same
region. The citron, however, will not grow in the country which has been
here termed Media. It flourishes only in the warm tract between Shiraz
and the Persian Gulf, and in the low sheltered region, south of the
Caspian, the modern Ghilan and Mazanderan. No doubt it was the inclusion
of this latter region within the limits of Media by many of the
later geographers that gave to this product of the Caspian country an
appellation which is really a misnomer.
Another product whereto Media gave name, and probably with more reason,
was a kind of clover or lucerne, which was said to have been introduced
into Greece by the Persians in the reign of Darius, and which was
afterwards cultivated largely in Italy. Strabo considers this plant to
have been the chief food of the Median horses, while Dioscorides assigns
it certain medicinal qualities. Clover is still cultivated, in the
Elburz region, but horses are now fed almost entirely on straw and
barley.
Media was also famous for its silphium, or assafoetida, a plant which
the country still produces, though not in any large quantity. No drug
was in higher repute with the ancients for medicinal purposes; and
though the Median variety was a coarse kind, inferior in repute, not
only to the Cyrenaic, but also to the Parthian and the Syrian, it seems
to have been exported both to Greece and Borne, and to have been largely
used by druggists, however little esteemed by physicians.
The other vegetable products which Media furnished, or was believed to
furnish, to the ancient world, were bdellium, amomum, cardamomum, gum
tragacanth, wild-vine oil, and sagaponum, or the _Ferula persica_. Of
these, gum tragacanth is still largely produced, and is an important
article of commerce. Wild vines abound in Zagros and Elburz, but no oil
is at present made from them. Bdellium, if it is benzoin, amomum, and
cardamomum were perhaps rather imported through Media than the actual
produce of the country, which is too cold in the winter to grow any good
spices.
The mineral products of Media noted by the ancient writers are nitre,
salt, and certain gems, as emeralds, lapis lazuli, and the following
obscurer kinds, the zathene, the gassinades, and the narcissitis. The
nitre of Media is noticed by Pliny, who says it was procured in
small quantities, and was called “halmyraga.” It was found in certain
dry-looking glens, where the ground was white with it, and was obtained
there purer than in other places. Saltpetre is still derived from the
Elburz range, and also from Azerbijan.
The salt of Lake Urumiyeh is mentioned by Strabo, who says that it
forms naturally on the surface, which would imply a far more complete
saturation of the water than at present exists, even in the driest
seasons. The gems above mentioned are assigned to Media chiefly by
Pliny. The Median emeralds, according to him, were of the largest size;
they varied considerably, sometimes approaching to the character of the
sapphire, in which case they were apt to be veiny, and to have flaws
in them. They were far less esteemed than the emeralds of many other
countries. The Median lapis lazuli, on the other hand, was the best of
its kind. It was of three colors--light blue, dark blue, and purple.
The golden specks, however, with which it was sprinkled--really spots
of yellow pyrites--rendered it useless to the gem-engravers of Pliny’s
time. The zathene, the gassinades, and the narcissitis were gems of
inferior value. As they have not yet been identified with any known
species, it will be unnecessary to prolong the present chapter by a
consideration of them.