Discoveries Among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon

by Austen Henry Layard

In this entrance a well, cut through the large pavement slab between the bulls, was afterwards discovered. It contained broken pottery, not one vase having been taken out whole, apparently human remains, and some fragments of calcined sculptured alabaster, evidently detached from the bas-reliefs on the walls. It is doubtful whether this well was sunk after the Assyrian ruins had been buried, or whether it had been from the earliest times a place of deposit for the dead.

A small doorway to the right of the portal formed by the winged bulls, led into a further chamber, in which an entrance had been found into a third room, whose walls had been completely uncovered. Its dimensions were 26 feet by 23, and it had but this one outlet, flanked on either side by two colossal figures, whose lower extremities alone remained, the upper part of the slabs having been destroyed: one appeared to have been eagle-headed, with the body of a man, and the other a monster, with human head and the feet of a lion. The bas-reliefs round the chamber represented the siege of a castle standing on an artificial mound, surrounded at its base by houses. The besieged defended themselves on the walls and turrets with bows, spears, and stones. The Assyrian army was composed of spearmen, slingers, and bowmen, some of whom had already gained the housetops. Male and female captives had been taken and heads cut off; the victorious warriors according to custom, and probably to claim a reward,[21] bringing them to the registrars. In the back ground were wooded mountains; vines and other trees formed a distinct band in the middle of the slabs; and a river ran at the foot of the mound. The dress of the male prisoners consisted either of a long robe falling to the ankles, or of a tunic reaching to the knees, over which was thrown an outer garment, apparently made of the skins of animals, and they wore greaves laced up in front. The women were clothed in a robe descending to the feet, with an outer fringed garment thrown over the shoulders; a kind of hood or veil covered the back of the head, and fell over the neck. Above the castle was the fragment of an inscription in two lines, containing the name of the city, of which unfortunately the first character is wanting. It reads: “The city of ... alammo I attacked and captured; I carried away its spoil.” No name, however, corresponding with it has yet been found in the royal annals, and we can only infer, from the nature of the country represented, that the place was in a mountainous district to the north of Assyria.

This doorway to a third outlet opening to the west, led into a narrow passage, one side of which had alone been excavated; on it was represented the siege of a walled city, divided into two parts by a river. One half of the place had been captured by the Assyrians, who had gained possession of the towers and battlements, but that on the opposite bank of the stream was still defended by slingers and bowmen. Against its walls had been thrown banks or mounds, built of stones, bricks, and branches of trees.[22] The battering-rams, covered with skins or hides looped together, had been rolled up these inclined ways, and had already made a breach in the fortifications. Archers and spearmen were hurrying to the assault, whilst others were driving off the captives, and carrying away the idols of the enemy. The dress of the male prisoners consisted of a plain under-shirt, an upper garment falling below the knees, divided in the front and buttoned at the neck, and laced greaves. Their hair and beards were shorter and less elaborately curled than those of the Assyrians. The women were distinguished by high rounded turbans, ornamented with plaits or folds. A veil fell from the back of this head-dress over the shoulders.[23] No inscription remained to record the name of the vanquished nation.

Such were the discoveries that had been made during my absence. There could be no doubt whatever that all the chambers hitherto excavated belonged to one great edifice, built by one and the same king. I have already shown how the bas-reliefs of Kouyunjik differed from those of the older palaces of Nimroud, but closely resembled those of Khorsabad in the general treatment, in the costumes of the Assyrian warriors, as well as of the nations with whom they warred, and in the character of the ornaments, inscriptions, and details. Those newly uncovered were, in all these respects, like the bas-reliefs found before my departure, and upon which I had ventured to form an opinion as to the respective antiquity and origin of the various ruins hitherto explored in Assyria.

At Kouyunjik there were probably few bas-reliefs, particularly those containing representations of castles and cities, that were not accompanied by a short epigraph or label, giving the name of the conquered king and country, and even the names of the principal prisoners, especially if royal personages. Unfortunately these inscriptions having been usually placed on the upper part of the slabs, which has very rarely escaped destruction, but few of them remain. These remarks should be borne in mind to enable the reader to understand the descriptions of the excavated chambers at Kouyunjik, which will be given in the following pages in the order that they were discovered.

I lost no time in making arrangements for continuing the excavations with as much activity as the funds granted to the Trustees of the British Museum would permit. Toma Shishman was placed over Kouyunjik; Mansour, Behnan (the marble cutter), and Hannah (the carpenter), again entered my service. Ali Rahal, a sheikh of the Jebours, was appointed “sheikh of the mound,” and duly invested with the customary robe of honor on the occasion.

The accumulation of soil above the ruins was so great, that I determined to continue the tunnelling, removing only as much earth as was necessary to show the sculptured walls. But to facilitate the labor of the workmen, and to avoid the necessity of their leaving the tunnels to empty their baskets, I made a number of rude triangles and wooden pulleys, by which the excavated rubbish could be raised by ropes through the shafts, sunk at intervals for this purpose, as well as to admit light and air. One or two passages then sufficed for the workmen to descend into the subterranean galleries.

Many of the Nestorians formerly in my service as diggers, having also heard of my intended return, had left their mountains, and had joined me a day or two after my arrival. There were Jebours enough in the immediate neighbourhood of the town to make up four or five gangs of excavators, and I placed parties at once in the galleries already opened, in different parts of Kouyunjik not previously explored, and at a high mound in the north-west walls, forming one side of the great inclosure opposite Mosul—a ruin which I had only partially examined during my previous visit.[24]

The shape of this great ruin is very irregular; nearly square at the S. W. corner, it narrows almost to a point at the N. E. The palace occupies the southern angle. At the opposite, or northern, extremity are the remains of the village of Kouyunjik, from which the mound takes its name.[25] From this spot a steep road leads to the plain, forming the only access to the summit of the mound for loaded animals or carts. There are ravines on all sides of Kouyunjik, except that facing the Tigris. If not entirely worn by the winter rains, they have, undoubtedly, been deepened and increased by them. They are strewed with fragments of pottery, bricks, and sometimes stone and burnt alabaster, whilst the falling earth frequently discloses in their sides vast masses of solid brick masonry, which fall in when undermined by the rains. Through these ravines are carried the steep and narrow pathways leading to the top of the mound.

The Khauser winds round the eastern base of Kouyunjik, and leaving it near the angle occupied by the ruins of the palace, runs in a direct line to the Tigris. Although a small and sluggish stream, it has worn for itself a deep bed, and is only fordable near the mound immediately below the southern corner, where the direct road from Mosul crosses it, and at the northern extremity where a flour mill is turned by its waters. After rain it becomes an impetuous torrent, overflowing its banks, and carrying all before it. It then rises very suddenly, and as suddenly subsides. The Tigris now flows about half a mile from the mound, but once undoubtedly washed its base. Between them is a rich alluvium deposited by the river during its gradual retreat; it is always under cultivation, and is divided into corn fields, and melon and cucumber beds.[26] In this plain stands the small modern village of Kouyunjik, removed for convenience from its ancient site on the summit of the mound.