[195] In the inventory this monument is described as acquired in Syria, that is to say it was bought from M. Peretié, at Beyrout. M. Peretié was a well-known collector, and objects found in Mesopotamia were continually brought to him from Mossoul, Bagdad, and Bassorah. There can be no doubt as to the origin of this little monument; the execution is certainly Chaldæan or Assyrian. The same monster, rampant, is to be found on the Assyrian cylinder described by M. Lenormant under the title, Le Dieu-lune délivré de l’Attaque des mauvais Esprits (Gazette archéologique, 1878, p. 20).
[196] As to where this colossus was found, see Layard, Nineveh, vol. i. p. 68.
[197] De Longperier, Deux bronzes Antiques de Van (in his Œuvres, vol. i. pp. 275–278).
[198] In de Longperier’s reproduction of one of these figures, the ring attached to its back is shown.
[199] G. Perrot, Les Fouilles de M. de Sarzec en Chaldée, in the Revue des deux Mondes, for October 1, 1882. A methodical account of the whole enterprise will be found in a forthcoming work, which will bear for title: Découvertes en Chaldée, par M. E. de Sarzec, ouvrage publié par les soins de la conservation des antiquités orientales au Musée du Louvre. Its quarto size will make it a more convenient work than those of Botta and Place. The illustrations will be produced by the Dujardin heliogravure process.
[200] Saïd-Hassan and Chatra, of which we have made use to give some approximate idea as to where Tello is situated, are marked upon the map given by Loftus (Travels and Researches, &c.).
[201] Vol. I. Chap. I. § 4.
[202] M. Oppert believes that he has discovered in the inscriptions of Gudea, proof that the stone he employed came from Egypt. We cannot attempt to discuss the phrases which seem to him to bear that sense. We have some difficulty, however, in believing either that they took the trouble to transport such ponderous blocks across the desert, or that they sent them on a voyage round the whole peninsula of Arabia, a voyage that must have lasted some months, and that when similar materials were within reach. See what Mr. Taylor says about the district which is called Hedjra (heap of stones, from Hadjar, stone), from the numerous masses of black granite that may be found there. This district is almost opposite Schenafieh, not far from Bahr-ul-nejef (Notes on Abou-Sharein, p. 404, of vol. xv, of the Royal Asiatic Society’s Journal).
[203] Heuzey, Les Fouilles de la Chaldée, p. 16 (extracted from the Revue archéologique for January, 1881).
[204] Perhaps we should rather give the Chaldæan artist the credit of having produced a not untruthful bird’s-eye view. The bodies in the sepulchre are evidently stretched side by side, and they diminish in size from front to back, as their distance from the eye of the spectator increases. The two living men are mounting upon the edge, or wall, of the grave, an edge such as the tomb figured on p. 358 of Vol. I. (Fig. 164) must have had before its lid was put on. In these two figures there is an unmistakable attempt to give the effect of distance in varying their size. A curious detail in this relief is the post with a rope knotted round it that appears in the lower left hand corner.—Ed.