INTRODUCTION.

I.
	PAGE
Mesopotamia.—The Mounds.—The First Searchers	[1-18]
§ 1. Complete destruction of Nineveh.—§§ 2-4. Xenophon and the"Retreat of the Ten Thousand." The Greeks pass the ruins ofCalah and Nineveh, and know them not.—§ 5. Alexander's passagethrough Mesopotamia.—§ 6. The Arab invasion and rule.—§ 7.Turkish rule and mismanagement.—§ 8. Peculiar naturalconditions of Mesopotamia.—§ 9. Actual desolate state of thecountry.—§ 10. The plains studded with Mounds. Their curiousaspect.—§ 11. Fragments of works of art amidst the rubbish.—§12. Indifference and superstition of the Turks and Arabs.—§13. Exclusive absorption of European scholars in ClassicalAntiquity.—§ 14. Forbidding aspect of the Mounds, comparedwith other ruins.—§ 15. Rich, the first explorer.—§ 16.Botta's work and want of success.—§ 17. Botta's greatdiscovery.—§ 18. Great sensation created by it.—§ 19.Layard's first expedition.
II.
Layard and his Work	[19-35]
§ 1. Layard's arrival at Nimrud. His excitement and dreams.—§2. Beginning of difficulties. The Ogre-like Pasha of Mossul.—§3. Opposition from the Pasha. His malice and cunning.—§ 4.Discovery of the gigantic head. Fright of the Arabs, whodeclare it to be Nimrod.—§ 5. Strange ideas of the Arabs aboutthe sculptures.—§ 6. Layard's life in the desert.—§ 7.Terrible heat of summer.—§ 8. Sand-storms and hothurricanes.—§ 9. Layard's wretched dwelling.—§ 10.Unsuccessful attempts at improvement.—§ 11. In what the taskof the explorer consists.—§ 12. Different modes of carrying onthe work of excavation.
III.
The Ruins	[36-93]
§ 1. Every country's culture and art determined by itsgeographical conditions.—§ 2. Chaldea's absolute deficiency inwood and stone.—§ 3. Great abundance of mud fit for thefabrication of bricks; hence the peculiar architecture ofMesopotamia. Ancient ruins still used as quarries of bricks forbuilding. Trade of ancient bricks at Hillah.—§ 4. Variouscements used.—§ 5. Construction of artificial platforms.—§ 6.Ruins of Ziggurats; peculiar shape, and uses of this sort ofbuildings.—§ 7. Figures showing the immense amount of laborused on these constructions.—§ 8. Chaldean architectureadopted unchanged by the Assyrians.—§ 9. Stone used forornament and casing of walls. Water transport in old and moderntimes.—§ 10. Imposing aspect of the palaces.—§ 11.Restoration of Sennacherib's palace by Fergusson.—§ 12.Pavements of palace halls.—§ 13. Gateways and sculptured slabsalong the walls. Friezes in painted tiles.—§ 14. Proportionsof palace halls and roofing.—§ 15. Lighting of halls.—§ 16.Causes of the kings' passion for building.—§ 17. Drainage ofpalaces and platforms.—§ 18. Modes of destruction.—§ 19. TheMounds a protection to the ruins they contain. Refilling theexcavations.—§ 20. Absence of ancient tombs in Assyria.—§ 21.Abundance and vastness of cemeteries in Chaldea.—§ 22. Warka(Erech) the great Necropolis. Loftus' description.—§ 23."Jar-coffins."—§ 24. "Dish-cover" coffins.—§25. Sepulchralvaults.—§ 26. "Slipper-shaped" coffins.—§ 27. Drainage ofsepulchral mounds.—§ 28. Decoration of walls in paintedclay-cones.—§ 29. De Sarzec's discoveries at Tell-Loh.
IV.
The Book of the Past.—The library of Nineveh	[94-115]
§ 1. Object of making books.—§ 2. Books not always ofpaper.—§ 3. Universal craving for an immortal name.—§ 4.Insufficiency of records on various writing materials.Universal longing for knowledge of the remotest past.—§ 5.Monumental records.—§ 6. Ruins of palaces and temples, tombsand caves—the Book of the Past.—§§ 7-8. Discovery by Layardof the Royal Library at Nineveh.—§ 9. George Smith's work atthe British Museum.—§ 10. His expeditions to Nineveh, hissuccess and death.—§ 11. Value of the Library.—§§ 12-13.Contents of the Library.—§ 14. The Tablets.—§ 15. Thecylinders and foundation-tablets.