[25] “The little sheep.” Kouyunjik is, however, generally known to the Arabs by the name of Armousheeyah.
[26] The river Tigris flows in this part of its course, and until it reaches Saimarrah, on the confines of Babylonia, through a valley varying from one to two miles in width, bounded on both sides by low limestone and conglomerate hills. Its bed has been undergoing a continual and regular change. When it reaches the hills on one side, it is thrown back by this barrier, and creeps gradually to the opposite side, leaving a rich alluvial soil quickly covered with jungle. This process it has been repeating, backwards and forwards, for countless ages, and will continue to repeat as long as it drains the great highlands of Armenia. At Nimroud it is now gradually returning to the base of the mound, which it deserted some three thousand years ago; but centuries must elapse before it can work its way that far.
[27] Nineveh and its Remains, vol. i. ch. ix.
[28] A mixture of bruised wheat, chopped meat, milk and curds, boiled into a thick pulpy mass, over which melted butter is poured. It is a favorite dish in Syria and Mesopotamia, and is cooked by families on great festivals, or on certain days of the year, in consequence of vows made during sickness or in travel.
[29] For a translation of this singular poem, see the larger work, of which the present volume is an abridgment.
[30] This reminds me of the Bedouins, who, when they come into a town in a party, send one of their number to the mosque to pray for his companions as well as himself.
[31] At Mosul, a bullock, very small certainly when compared with our high-fed cattle, is sold for forty or fifty piastres, 8s. or 10s.; a fat sheep for about 4s.; a lamb for 2s. or 2s. 6d. Other articles of food are proportionably cheap. The camel-load of barley was selling at my departure for ten or twelve piastres (2s. or 2s. 6d.). A common horse is worth from 3l. to 5l.; a donkey about 10s.; a camel about the same as a horse.
[33] It will be borne in mind that it was necessary to carry tunnels round the chambers, and along the walls, leaving the centre buried in earth and rubbish, a very laborious and tedious operation with no more means at command than those afforded by the country.
[34] All these entrances were formed in the same way as that in the south-eastern side, described p. 66., namely, by a pair of human-headed bulls, flanked on each side by a winged giant, and two smaller figures one above the other.