HOW THE GREAT STATUES WERE MOVED: A CONTEMPORARY RECORD FROM THE MONUMENTS OF NINEVEH

The large size of the buildings of Assyria, the great quantities of stone transported for the sculptures, and the immense size of many blocks—the bulls weighing nearly 50 tons each—all show that there was not only considerable skill, but also large ideals and directive ability. Layard found that 300 men were wanted for drawing his cart bearing the great bull; and the sledge used by the Assyrians for the transport must have needed as many or more. The tools used were much in advance of those of the Egyptians.

LARGER IMAGE

The striking omission is that of literature in the form of tales or poetry of actual life; there seems, amid all the myriads of tablets, to be nothing similar to the tales of the various periods of Egypt. We look in vain for the tales of the magicians, the romances of adventure, of love, or of history, which restore to us the living view of Egyptian thought. The Babylonian was severely commercial or scientific, and his poetical ideas were only developed in his theology; he seems to have had no play of fancy or taste for the excitement of story-telling. Similarly in the Middle Ages the “Thousand and One Nights,” though often referring to Baghdad, are yet tales of entirely Egyptian source and idea.

Wonderful Training of Babylonians

But for his own purposes the Babylonian was well educated from a literary point of view, and, considering the complexity of his writing, he was probably better trained than any modern people except the Chinese. The hundreds of signs which he had to remember had long lost their pictorial significance, and needed an attentive memory and long training; yet not only in public documents, but also in private letters, mistakes are but rarely found. Classification of the signs, classified lists of words of Sumerian and Semitic, grammatical works, and reading books were the apparatus used. Even the peasantry and sometimes the slaves learned to write, and there was hardly more need of a professional scribe than there is in England to-day. But this general education belonged to the Sumerian stock, and was much diminished where the Semite was in the majority, so that in Assyria only the upper classes could write, and nail-marks of contracting parties are common. The feeling for literature kept the names of great writers in remembrance, and the authors of the main religious pieces, such as the Epic of Gilgames, are still known. The Egyptian, on the other hand, has not preserved the name of a single author; even Pentaur was probably only a scribe. The honouring of literature led to the Assyrian kings amassing great libraries, and to the princes becoming librarians and secretaries. The copying of ancient tablets for the new libraries was a large business, carefully planned; and the scribe was required to exactly state where his original was defective and what uncertainties existed in the reading. Even private persons sought to obtain favour by presenting copies of works to the temple libraries.

Shall We Find an Assyrian State History?

Of the classes of writings, the religious works are noticed later; the historical writings are mainly Assyrian, recording the constant wars with other lands, and the tribute and booty brought from them. That there was a complete State history is shown by the ready allusions to the time since certain events had happened. Ashur-bani-pal recounts 1,635 years since the Elamite king had carried off an image. Nabonidus searched for and found the tablet of Naramsin, which he says had not been seen for 3,200 years; he recites that there were 800 years from his time to Shagarakti-buriash, and 700 years from Burnaburiash to Hammurabi. These references show that we may hope to recover a complete State history from Assyria, as we may hope yet for a complete historical papyrus from Egypt.

The despatches and correspondence give full light on detail of politics and affairs, showing the conditions of various countries; and where a sufficient number have been preserved together it is possible to build up a continuous history of a period, as in the case of the Tellal-Amarna letters. The yearly annals of a reign belong more to the historical division, and such records of Sennacherib, Ashur-bani-pal, and others are of the highest value. The private letters give a full view of the current life; and the business documents, especially receipts, are the commonest of all records, showing the trade, the law, and the business of the country in all its fulness.

Beginning of Astronomy