Zoroaster was a reformer rather than a founder of a religion; and the sites that became fire-temples after his date (the seventh century before Christ) were probably shrines of some kind of worship for ages before that period. Thus the explorer can still find near them (and often buried under their advancing flanks as they grew in size) the tombs of chiefs of the Bronze Age, with spear-heads and sword-blades of that metal, and finely worked golden ornaments of a distinctive shell-like pattern. These were the tribes, one may suppose, that the Assyrians encountered, when (somewhere about 1000 B.C.) they tried to extend their empire into this fertile country, and fought a battle on the waters of the lake of which a picture still remains among their carvings. Their warriors were supported on inflated sheep-skins; a precaution that seems hardly necessary in such water, for Lake Urmi is a good second in the matter of buoyancy to the Dead Sea itself. The lake is of a good size, perhaps forty miles by eighty, though at no place is it more than about thirty feet in depth. Its saltness is remarkable, for the bather sits in deep water much as in an armchair, with his head and shoulders emerging. Swimming is difficult, for the legs are so apt to kick clean out above the surface; and on landing, any scratch or cut on the person makes its presence very noticeable. The rash British Consul who once took a header in, as he was accustomed to do in ordinary salt water, is not likely soon to forget his experience. It is, of course, a "dead sea," for there is absolutely nothing living in it save a variety of shrimp of low organization. All fish carried down into it by the rivers die at once. Still it is an exhilarating place for a swim, provided that a bucket of fresh water is available for a wash down before attempting to dry. There are rocky promontories on the shore at intervals, but, as a rule, the water is very shallow near the bank; a fact borne impressively into the consciousness of a member of the Royal Geographical Society who was making investigations in this land. His boat grounded hopelessly three-quarters of a mile from shore, and he had to wade that distance in waist-deep water with a muddy bottom; while every time he lifted a foot, a large bubble of sulphuretted hydrogen rose to the surface, and burst under his nose!