[77] M. OPPERT also considers the evidence of Ctesias as worthless (_Expédition scientifique_, vol. i. p. 292). Sir HENRY LAYARD on the other hand believes in the great Nineveh of that writer (_Nineveh_, vol. ii. p. 243). He is chiefly influenced by the often quoted verses of the Book of Jonah, in which it is declared: “Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey,” and that there were in it “more than six-score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand,” which, with the ordinary proportion of children to adults, would give a total population of about 800,000. We shall not waste time in explaining that all these expressions are but poetic ways of saying that Nineveh was a great city. It is a singular idea to look for topographical and statistical information in a book which makes a prophet sail from Joppa for Spain and, immediately afterwards, without any preparation, speaks of him as preaching in the streets of Nineveh. Add to this that, according to the most recent criticism, the Book of Jonah is not older than the sixth century before our era, so that it must have been written long after the fall of Nineveh, and when its power was no more than a memory (see NŒLDEKE, _Histoire littéraire de l’Ancien Testament_, p. 116). [In Sir H. Layard’s latest published remarks on the extent of Nineveh, he rejects the statements of Diodorus for much the same reasons as those given by M. Perrot (article on _Nineveh_ in Smith’s _Dictionary of the Bible_, 1863 edition).--ED.] [78] BOTTA, _Monument de Ninive_, vol. v. p. 21. OPPERT, _Expédition_, vol. i. p. 292. LAYARD, vol. ii. p. 243. The English explorers have found traces of some external works and of a ditch which is now filled with the waters of the Khausser. RAWLINSON, _The Five Great Monarchies_, vol. i. pp. 259–261. [79] LAYARD, _Discoveries_, pp. 120–122. [80] It has no scale. [81] HERODOTUS, i. 178. [82] HERODOTUS, i. 179. Herodotus says that the Chaldæans _constructed buildings of a single chamber along each parapet of the wall, leaving room between them_ for a four-horse chariot to turn. His words are: ὲπάνω δὲ τοῦ τείχεος παρὰ τὰ ἔσχατα, οἰκήματα μουνόκωλα ἔδειμαν, τετραμμένα ἐς ἄλληλα· τὸ μέσον δὲ τῶν οἰκημάτων ἔλιπον τεθρίππῳ περιέλασιν.--ED. [83] DIODORUS, ii. vii. 4. [84] In many carved pictures of sieges we see soldiers who appear to be digging mines (LAYARD, _Monuments_, series i. plates 19, 20, 66. RAWLINSON, _The Five Great Monarchies_, vol. i. p. 473). [85] PLACE, _Ninive_, vol. i. p. 165; vol. ii. p. 11. [86] PLACE, _Ninive_, vol. i. pp. 197–198. [87] _Art in Ancient Egypt_, Vol. I. p. 342. [88] See Vol. I. Page 242, and Fig. 97. [89] All these details are taken from PLACE, _Ninive_, vol. i. pp. 169–182. [90] _Genesis_ xix. 1. [91] _Genesis_ xxiii. 10. [92] _Ruth_ iv. 1 and 2. [93] See also 2 Kings vii. 1.--ED. [94] _Esther_ ii. 21. [95] _Esther_ iii. 2, 3, iv. 2, 6.