[115] These are “the rings and nose jewels,” which Isaiah (iii. 21.) describes as worn by the Jewish women. It is curious that no representation of them has hitherto been found in the Assyrian sculptures. I take this opportunity of mentioning, that I saw a finger-ring sculptured on a fragment at Khorsabad.
[116] As this was known to be a mere matter of form with me, as I made it a rule never to accept presents of this kind, Suttum might have offered me his bay colt, the most valuable horse amongst the Shammar, to increase the display of hospitality. The reason he did not was this, that although he knew I would have returned the horse, I might have expressed a wish to buy it, and have offered a price. An offer of this kind would have at once injured the value of the animal in the eyes of the Bedouins, and its owner might have been ultimately compelled to sell it. On one occasion, when I was amongst the Shammar, at Al Hather, an Arab rode into my encampment on a beautiful grey colt. I was so much struck with the animal, that I at once expressed a wish to its rider to purchase it. He merely intimated that the sum I named was beneath the value. I increased it, but he only shook his head, and rode off. Nevertheless, the report spread amongst the tribes that he had bargained for the sale of his horse. Although of the best blood, the animal was looked upon with suspicion by the Bedouins, and the owner was, some months after, obliged to sell him at a lower price than I had bid, to a horse-dealer of Mosul! A knowledge of such little prejudices and customs is very necessary in dealing with the Arabs of the Desert, who are extremely sensitive, and easily offended.
[117] Its note resembles the cry of the camel-driver, when leading the herds home at night, for which it is frequently mistaken.
[118] Literally, “strength-money:” the small tribes, who wander in the Desert, and who inhabit the villages upon its edge, are obliged to place themselves under the protection of some powerful tribe to avoid being utterly destroyed. Each great division of the Shammar receives a present of money, sheep, camels, corn, or barley, from some tribe or another for this protection, which is always respected by the other branches of the tribe. Thus the Jehesh paid kowee to the Boraij, the Jebours of the Khabour to Ferhan (the hereditary chief of all the Shammar), the people of Tel Afer to the Assaiyah. Should another branch of the Shammar plunder, or injure, tribes thus paying kowee, their protectors are bound to make good, or revenge, their losses.
[119] Cawal Yusuf actually became the farmer of the revenues for a sum scarcely exceeding 350l. The inhabitants of the Sinjar were greatly pleased by this concession to one of their own faith, and were encouraged to cultivate the soil, and to abstain from mutual aggressions.
[120] These relics are now in the British Museum.
[121] The height of this fragment was 5 ft. 8 in.
[122] A lion very similar to that discovered at Arban, though more colossal in its dimensions, exists near Serong. (Chesney’s Expedition, vol. i. p. 114.)
[123] 2 Kings, xvii. 6. Ezek. i. 1. In the Hebrew text the name of this river is spelt in two different ways. In Kings we have חָבור, Khabour, answering exactly to the Chaboras of the Greeks and Romans, and the Khabour of the Arabs. In Ezekiel it is written כְּבָר, Kebar. There is no reason, however, to doubt that the same river is meant.
[124] The name occurs in Ezekiel, iii. 15. “Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-Abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar.” In the Theodosian tables we find Thallaba on the Khabour, with which it may possibly be identified. (Illustrated Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, published by Charles Knight, a very useful and well-digested summary, in note to word.) It is possible that Arbonad, a name apparently given to the Khabour in Judith, ii. 24., may be connected with Arban: however, it is not quite clear what river is really meant, as there appears to be some confusion in the geographical details. The cities on the Khabour, mentioned by the Arab geographers, are Karkisia (Circesium, at the junction of the river with the Euphrates), Makeseen (of which I could find no trace), Arban, and Khabour. I have not been able to discover the site of any ruin of the same name as the river. Karkisia, when visited in the twelfth century by Benjamin of Tudela, contained about 500 Jewish inhabitants, under two Rabbis. According to Ibn Haukal, it was surrounded by gardens and cultivated lands. The spot is now inhabited by a tribe of Arabs.