Discoveries Among the Ruins of Nineveh and BabylonLayard, Austen Henry
History
Discoveries Among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon
Layard, Austen Henry
Babylon (Extinct city); Middle East -- Description and travel; Nineveh (Extinct city); Scientific expeditions
In front of the chariot were two warriors or guards in embroidered robes
and greaves. Their long hair was bound by a fillet, whose tasselled ends
fell loose behind. They were preceded by two remarkable figures, both
eunuchs, and probably intended for portraits of some well-known officers
of the royal household. One was old and corpulent; his forehead was high
and ample; his nose curved and small, and his chin round and double. The
wrinkles of the brow, the shaggy eyebrows, and the bloated cheeks, with
the stubble beard peculiar to beings of his class, were very faithfully
represented. His short hair was tied with a fillet. His companion was
younger, and had not the same marked features. He carried before him a
square object resembling a closed box or book, perhaps a clay tablet
containing some decree or register, such as were discovered in the ruins.
Both wore long plain shirts, and round their waists a simple cord, in
which was fixed a whip, probably a sign of their office.
Above this remarkable group was an inscription in eight lines fortunately
almost entire. From it we learn the name of the king, whose deeds were
thus recorded. He was the son of Essarhaddon, and the grandson of
Sennacherib, and the conqueror of Susiana. He was the Assordanes of the
chronological tables, and his name begins with the monogram for the
Assyrian deity, Asshur.
These bas-reliefs record his conquest of the country of (Nuvaki ?), a name
by which Susiana or Elymais was anciently known; as we also find from the
inscriptions at Khorsabad, as well as from those of Bisutun.
It is highly probable that we have, in the bas-relief, a representation of
the city of Susa or Shusan. Its position between two rivers well agrees
with that of existing ruins generally believed to mark its site. The
smaller stream would be the Shapour, and the larger the Euloeus or river
of Dizful. The city was surrounded by a wall, with equidistant towers and
gateways. The houses were flat roofed, and some had one tower or upper
chamber, and others two. They had no windows, and their doors were square.
Thus, in general form, and probably in the interior arrangements, they
closely resembled the common dwellings of the Egyptians, of which a very
interesting model is now in the British Museum.[182] Nor were they unlike
the meaner houses of the modern town of Shushter, the representative of
ancient Susa.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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