The wonders of the world

by John Loraine Abbott

RUINS OF NINEVEH.

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.

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.