If, indeed, we may assume that there was little difference between Assyrian and Babylonian boats, the recently disentombed monuments of Nineveh will afford excellent evidence of their character, whether for purposes of war or pleasure, and confirm remarkably the accuracy of the “Father of History.” Mr. Layard remarks, that vessels (or rather rafts) of an exactly similar construction were used by him for the conveyance of the sculptures he discovered, from Nimrúd to Bussorah. They were generally built of twigs and boughs, and covered with skins smeared with bitumen, to render them water-proof. Other boats represented on the sculptures would seem to have been constructed of planks of poplar, fastened together by wooden pins or trenails, and in some instances by iron nails. But, though using boats and rafts of a rude type for the conveyance of merchandise, there is no reason to suppose that either the Assyrians or the Babylonians had any naval tastes. Like the Egyptians and the Jews, when they wanted vessels of large dimension or strength, they had recourse to their Phœnician neighbours. Thus, Phœnician shipwrights built the vessels for Sennacherib’s invasion of Chaldæa; as they were said to have done for Semiramis.[141]
Again, Shalmaneser, when about to besiege Tyre, manned his ships with Phœnician sailors.[142]
It is probable that the vessels on the Assyrian sculptures range in date from Tiglath Pileser I., B.C. 1110, to nearly the fall of the empire, B.C. 625. The earliest are those of wicker work, covered with skins.
(Layard, II. Series, Pl. 28.)
On other sculptures we see:—
- (1.) Vessels—carrying two chariots, and apparently constructed of planks, with a double arrangement of oars, one set for steering, the other for rowing (Layard, I. Series, Pl. 15, 16).
- (2.) —— conveying planks, large stones, &c. (Layard, II. Series, Pl. 10, 12, 13, &c.).
- (3.) —— carrying horses (Layard’s Nin. and Bab. p. 232).
In one instance, where a huge carved block of stone is being moved (one of the great bulls weighing 10 tons), the boat is evidently a flat-bottomed barge or raft.
After the Cypriote expedition, the Assyrian boats show signs of improvement, hence a lighter and more ornamental class of vessel; one of the best has the prow in the form of a horse’s head.
