# The Nestorians and their Rituals/Volume 1/Chapter 8

An extended note to the description of the tomb of Jonah in this chapter is appended to the book at Note to Page 87.
CHAPTER VIII.
Mosul is considered by Rennell, and after him by Ainsworth, to be a corruption of the Mes-Pylæ of Xenophon; but the correctness of this derivation appears to me very doubtful. The common tradition is, that the present appellation was given to it by the Saracen conquerors of Mesopotamia, who remained here some time before they proceeded northward, and because it was the principal resting-place between Diarbekir and Baghdad the capital of the Caliphs. El-Yakooti, the famous geographer, in his Moajem-ool-Beldân says, that Mosul was anciently called Noo or Nev Ardasheer, (New Artaxerxes,) a name most probably given to it by the Medes after they had wrested this country from the Assyrians; or it may be by the later Persians who were defeated near the ruins of Nineveh by the Roman army under Heraclius, a.d. 627. Strabo speaks of a Persian city called "Artagira," and Ptolemy refers to the same under the title of "Artasisgarta," as being situated on the confines of Upper Armenia and Assyria, on the eastern banks of the Tigris. There is therefore some reason for believing that Ardasheer succeeded Nineveh and occupied its site, and that when the town was removed to the opposite bank of the Tigris the ​additional "New" was prefixed to its name. In the Index of Syrian authors drawn up by Mar Abd Yeshua, a.d. 1298, a translation of which is given in Vol. II. Appendix B., the word "Noo Ardasheer" occurs twice as the title of a place, and the seat of a Nestorian Bishop. In many other Syriac MSS. Mosul is styled "Athoor," and it is not an uncommon practice with ecclesiastical writers of the present day to use the same phraseology: "Mosul, which is Athoor;" but this must be regarded rather as a traditional commemoration of the title of one of the oldest dioceses in these parts, (which was also called "Nineveh" long after that name had ceased to denote the capital of the Assyrian Kings,) than as the common appellative of a particular town then existing.
The destruction of Nineveh by the Medes is thus described in an old Syriac work which I met with at Mosul in 1850: "Nineveh is of old like a pool of water. [Nahum ii. 8.] This was literally accomplished as the fact fully testifies; for Adorbahan the Mede, from whom Aderbijan takes its name, destroyed Nineveh by water, when he came from Media with a great army against Sardanapalus the King of Athoor. The two rivers which ran through the meadows and united in Nineveh he joined with two other rivers, one of which he brought from the Tigris, and the other ran through Nineveh itself. After he had united all four together he brought the force of the water to bear against the city, and destroyed it with a flood according to the prediction of the prophet. After this it was taken by stratagem from Esarhaddon by the Babylonians." The same author writes in another place: "Arbaces the Persian when he took possession of Nineveh, cut a canal from the Tigris, above the city, and flooded it."
The four rivers spoken of in the above extract puzzled me exceedingly, as the Khoser is the only rivulet which now flows through the mounds of Nineveh; but Mr. Layard informed me that he could discover the beds of two other smaller streams, which, with the water turned off from the Tigris, make up the four "rivers" mentioned in the manuscript. The fact here
* ↑ The Arabic word signifies "the place of arrival."
* ↑ Strabo, lib. xi. Ptolemy, lib. v. cap, 13.
* ↑ S. Ephrem, in his poem called the "Basotha d'Ninwayé," which still forms a part of the Nestorian ritual, uses the two words Nineveh and Athoor indiscriminately, as denoting the same place.
THE AUTHOR'S HOUSE AT MOSUL.
​recorded literally fulfils the prophecy of Nahum, and accounts for a stratum of pebbles and sand which has been found a few feet below the surface in the mounds of Koyoonjuk and Nimrood. The labours of Mr. Layard in the work of excavation, and his researches about Nineveh, render any further description of its ancient site, or of the wonderful relics which have been dug up therefrom, unnecessary and superfluous.
Mosul is situated on the western bank of the Tigris, and is surrounded by a good wall, about three miles in circumference, which encloses, besides the town, a large space covered with ruins, and some extensive fields. The houses are built of stone, with arched roofs, and the walls of the court yards partly faced with slabs of sculptured marble, or rather alabaster, after the manner of the buildings which have lately been discovered in the mounds of Nineveh and Nimrood. Many of the houses, however, are in a very dilapidated state, attributable in a great measure to the calamities which have befallen the city during the last century. In 1825 it was visited by a famine which lasted for three successive years; this was succeeded by a plague which raged for nine months, and swept away 18,000 persons in Mosul only. Again, in 1831, 2, the river rose to such a height that the town and much of the surrounding country were flooded for months together. And if we add to these misfortunes the ruin of the native manufactures by the importation of cheaper and better articles from Europe, chiefly the produce of our machinery, together with the misrule to which the place has been so long subjected, we cannot wonder that this once flourishing city has been impoverished, and its prosperity well nigh destroyed.
The only manufactures of Mosul at the present day are cottoncloths and soap, which find a market in the villages around. The principal articles of commerce are the gall-nuts which are ​gathered from the valonîa oaks in Coordistan, and wool which is brought in by the pastoral Arabs and Coords, and exported hence to Europe by way of Baghdad and Aleppo. The staple agricultural produce is wheat and barley, which is so abundant that it hardly repays the cost of cultivation. The former is now [1850] selling for eight and the latter for five pence the hundred weight. The distance of Mosul from Europe must ever prevent the establishment of a lucrative trade in grain, and the want of an export adequate to the large imports from abroad is gradually destroying the resources of this province. Silk might be produced in large quantities in the mountains, where the mulberry grows almost wild; but such is the short-sightedness and supineness of the government, that beneficial measures of this kind are made to give way to trumpery reforms in dress, mere outward changes in the mode of administration, or to vain and ambitious designs of conquest. The cultivation of the mulberry was introduced into Diarbekir about eight years ago, and the result has surpassed the most sanguine expectations.
The transport trade from Mosul to Baghdad is carried on by rafts, the same species of conveyance that was used in the days of Herodotus, and long before his time, as may be ascertained from many illustrations on the slabs which have lately been dug up at Nineveh. These are constructed of a stout frame-work of rough timber, to which a deck of canes is secured with ligatures of bark. Beneath this the sheep-skins are fastened with the opening peering above the reeds, so as to facilitate their being inflated anew in case the air should escape during the voyage. The rafts for carrying merchandize vary from sixteen to twenty feet square, and are floated by as many as five hundred skins. ​Two or more rowers placed on each side help to propel and guide these vessels as they glide down the river. Much smaller rafts with a felt cabin raised above the deck, are constructed for travellers, in one of which we reached Baghdad from Mosul in three days and two nights.
There are only a few gardens near Mosul, but the mountains around supply the town with grapes, pomegranates, apricots, and other fruits; oranges are brought from Baghdad. The banks of the Tigris, however, and the islets formed in the river itself during the summer season produce melons, cucumbers, and many other esculents in abundance. In winter the market is stocked with turnips, carrots and beet-root; and in spring, camel-loads of truffles are brought into the town by the Arabs. The bread here is superior to any in Turkey; and the Kaimak, the cream of buffalo milk, may vie with the produce of the best Devonshire dairies. Snow seldom falls in Mosul during the winter, when the climate is temperate and delightful; but the heat of the summer months is excessive, and obliges the inhabitants to retreat into their serdâbs, (subterranean apartments with which almost all the dwellings are provided,) till after sunset. They then retire to the roofs of the houses, and there dine and pass the night.
There are no less than 19 mosques in the town of Mosul, 250 Mesjids, or chapels, and 12 Medressehs, or schools, besides the ruins of many others. The minaret of the Jâma-ool-Kbeer is an elaborate work of art, rising to the height of 90 feet, and covered with minute bricks which are inlaid after the manner of mosaic. There is a deep curve in the centre which some say was coeval with the building, but this is as much a matter of dispute as the slope in the tower of Pisa. Several of the mosques are said to have been Christian churches; one called Beit-ool-Tekneeti near Bâb-ool-Irâk, was undoubtedly such as far back as the year 1245. It is mentioned under that name in an historical record contained in an ancient manuscript which I discovered at Mosul. According to this document, the Church was dedicated to Mar Theodorus, and the book was written by the Presbyter Dokeek for the use of Deacons Ibraheem and Abdoon, of the house of Zorogheel, and for the noble Dadôn, in the days of Mar Ignatius, Patriarch and ​successor to S. Peter on the throne of Antioch of the Syrians, and of Mar Yohanan Catholicos and Maphrian of Tekneet, Nineveh, and all the East, in the year 1557 of the Grecian era, and of the Hegira 643. The book itself was found in a coffin, together with the skeleton of a human body, which was dug up near the mosque about two centuries ago. The remains were claimed by the Syrians and re-buried in the church of Mar Tooma.
The Chaldeans have four churches in the town, and one called el-Tâhara close to the city walls. The latter is the best built Christian church in the place, and more attention to ecclesiastical architecture is displayed in the arrangement of the interior than in any similar structure which I have met with in the East. The second volume of this work contains a view of its eastern and western ends.
The Jacobites have four churches in Mosul, three of which are now divided between them and the Papal Syrians. There is nothing in these churches worthy of particular notice; they are for the most part massive but clumsy buildings, and in their internal arrangement similar to those already described at Diarbekir. Mutran Behnâm, however, has lately restored the Jacobite portion of Mar Tooma, which now forms a neat, and for the East a beautiful, church.
The population of Mosul according to the census of 1849 is as follows:
| Mohammedans | 2,050 | families |
| Chaldeans | 350 | families„ |
| Jacobites | 450 | families„ |
| Papal Syrians | 300 | families„ |
| Jews | 200 | families„ |
The only language in general use among the inhabitants of the town is Arabic, which is also spoken by all the villagers in the plains around. The Chaldean and Nestorian peasants know ​also the Fellehi, or vulgar Syriac, and the Yezeedees near Mosul are familiar with the Coordish, which is the only dialect common to Coords, Nestorians, and Yezeedees in the mountain districts.
The classical Syriac is very little known by the Christians at Mosul. The Jacobites and Chaldeans have each a school where this language is taught, but the instruction conveyed is limited to a bare perusal of the psalter and parts of the church ritual. The Jacobites, however, frequently write the Arabic in Syriac characters, which mode of expression is called Carshooni. The Chaldeans do the same, but to a less extent.
The costume of the male population of Mosul differs little from that of other eastern towns, but the head-dress of the females is somewhat peculiar. It consists of a square padded cap, on the top of which is a circular cushion about two inches deep hid under a gilt-plate. This is fastened to the head and neck with a number of kerchiefs forming a species of turban, which by the younger ladies is decked with pearls and other gems. Frontlets of gold coin, elaborately wrought necklaces, anklets, earrings, and bracelets, are as much the pride of the fair sex here as elsewhere. All this display, however, is reserved for the house, as none go abroad without the hideous chequered blue sheet already described, and a square horse-hair veil, which is tied round the head and descends below the neck most effectually hiding every part of the face. Here, as in all other eastern towns, there is as much vanity in the feeling which leads the husband to provide these decorations, as in the wife who wears them, for they serve as an evidence of his prosperity, and his general importance is increased by every new contribution which he makes to his wife's trinkets. It is said that formerly the wealth of Mosul in gold ornaments alone was immense, but since then the greater part, after going through the crucible, has found its way to Liverpool, Manchester, and Glasgow, in payment for cotton prints.
Before leaving this part of our subject, I shall give a short account of whatever is worthy of note in the vicinity of Mosul, in order that the succeeding narrative of the Nestorian affairs may be interrupted as little as possible with extraneous matter. And instead of wearying the reader with the details of the seve​ral excursions which we made during a residence of two years in these parts, I shall confine myself to laying before him a description of such objects as may be generally interesting.
To the north-west of the town, and just without the walls, are several sulphur springs much frequented by the inhabitants during the summer months for their supposed medicinal properties. The water is collected in two open pools, the use of which is appropriated exclusively to the male and female population on alternate days. Much is said of the benefit which persons suffering from chronic rheumatism and kindred complaints have derived from these mineral baths.
Ten hours to the south of Mosul, at a place called Hamman Ali, is another copious bituminous spring, the water of which is so hot that many faint on first stepping into it. A tolerably commodious building covers the spring, whither resort all kinds of impotent folk, who frequently come a distance of ten or even twenty days' journey to test its virtues. The tales told by the Mussulmans of the cures effected by bathing at Hamman Ali on persons afflicted with rheumatic and other chronic diseases are almost incredible.
About three hours' ride to the west of the baths is a natural well, 140 ft. deep and 50 ft. in diameter, called el-Khasfeh, in which thousands of wild pigeons build their nests undisturbed by the natives, who believe that ill-luck will inevitably follow any attempt to dislodge them. In the beginning of 1844 Mohammed Pasha determined to have a day's sporting here, and accordingly ordered all the villagers around to attend and bring their nets. With these he covered the mouth of the well, and beyond its brink formed a narrow gallery six feet high, to the inside of which a curtain was attached, capable of being let down at pleasure. After the pigeons had been driven into the gallery, the curtain was made to descend, and no less than seven mule-loads of these birds were taken. I arrived too late to witness the proceedings, but on reaching the spot we found a number of dead pigeons on the ground which the Pasha's followers had not thought it worth while to remove. This violation of the mysterious Khasfeh was the talk of the town for several days, and many ventured to prognosticate the downfall of the offender. In this instance the popular superstition was ​strengthened by the almost sudden death of Mohammed Pasha a short time after.
Directly opposite to Mosul, and about half a mile from the Tigris, is the large Moslem village of Nebi Yoonas built upon one of the principal mounds of Nineveh, and in a line with Koyoonjuk. It can scarcely be doubted that many valuable relics lie buried under the modern village; but the veneration of the Mohammedans for the tomb of the prophet Jonah would deem sacrilegious and profane any attempt to excavate near the mosque which covers it, or among the graves which are scattered over the surface of the mound. The mosque itself is held to be so sacred that no Christian is allowed to enter its precincts. Through the influence of one of the Pashas my sister was permitted to visit it, and from her I received the following description of the interior: "After passing through a spacious court to a fine open terrace, we descended into the mosque, which is a square building lighted by several windows of stained glass. The eastern end is separated from the nave by a row of noble arches, giving it the appearance of an aisle. At the southern extremity there is a pulpit of elaborate workmanship, and the floor is covered with rich carpets. A door, which is always kept locked, opens into a narrow passage about thirty feet long, from which we descended through another entrance into a square and lofty apartment with a concave roof. In the centre of this stands a box or coffin, measuring ten feet by five, and raised about five feet from the ground, on the south end of which is placed an enormous turban composed of the most costly silks and shawls. The coffin itself is also covered with equally rich materials, and is encircled by a railing surmounted with large silver knobs, on which, as also on the walls around, are suspended a number of embroidered towels and silk bathing cloths. The walls are further decorated with mirrors, party-coloured porcelain, and sentences from the Koran written in the florid style of Arabic caligraphy. In one corner are placed a gilt ewer and basin, a ball of French soap, a comb, and a pair of scissors, for ​the use of the prophet Jonah, who the Mohammedans firmly believe rises from his tomb at the set times of prayer, and performs his ablutions according to the strict injunctions of their law. The Mussulmans in general deem the tomb far too sacred an object to be approached, and for the most part content themselves with looking at it from a grated window in the body of the mosque."
I shall next conduct my readers to Nimrood, not with the design however of entering into any details respecting the interesting remains which have lately been dug up therefrom, and which have been so fully described by Mr. Layard; but in order to lay before them an account of our visit, which there is reason to believe had some influence in setting on foot the work of successful excavation. I was accompanied in my trip to Nimrood in March 1844 by Mr. Ditell, a Russian traveller, and being at Constantinople a few months after, when I related to Sir Stratford Canning the discoveries which we had made, was requested by him to draw up in writing the result of our researches. The following is a copy of what I then transmitted to his Excellency, which I shall adduce here in its original form because it gives an exact account of the mound before any attempt had been made to bring to light the hidden treasures which it contained.
* ↑ The remains of the palace lately dug up at Koyoonjuk bear evident signs of having been burnt. The following extract from the author already quoted accounts for this circumstance: "Jonah went to Nineveh in the second year of the reign of King Uzziah, whilst Sardanapalus was King of Nineveh and Babylon. After this, Arbaces the Mede made war upon Sardanapalus, and overcame him; whereupon Sardanapalus destroyed himself by fire. And Arbaces reigned twenty years, and was succeeded by Pul, the son of Sardanapalus, who put an end to the Empire of the Medes."
* ↑ A Turkish admiral accompanied by several naval officers and engineers passed through Mosul in March, 1850, on their way to Basra, where they have orders to erect a dock, and to build ships of war for the Porte. Thousands of pounds will doubtless be spent upon this undertaking, which, if laid out upon an object such as that above alluded to, might in a few years yield a large increase to the public revenue, and be the means of enriching the country generally. The commerce of the Turks in the Arabian Sea and in the Persian Gulf is fully protected by the cruizers of the East India Company, so that unless they intend to impose their rule upon the Arabs of Bahrein, Oman, Muscat, and Yemen, which are governed badly enough now, but would hardly be bettered by the paternal sway of the Osmanlis, it is difficult to conceive the object of this new scheme.
* ↑ They are as follows: Mar Miskinta, Mar Shimoon-oos-Safa, Mar Gheorghees, and Mar Ishayah, which latter includes three other churches under the same roof dedicated severally to Mar Kuriakòs, Mar Yohanan, and Mar Gheorghees. The ruins of a few other Chaldean, once Nestorian, churches, are still pointed out at Mosul, an account of the principal one is given in Vol. ii.
* ↑ Mar Tooma, Mar Khoodèmi, and two dedicated to "Sitna Miriam," our Lady Mary.
* ↑ The Christians say that this building was once a church. The order of the interior as above described, so foreign to the plan general in mosques, seems to favour the common tradition. The separation of the eastern end indicates the position of the bema.
NIMROOD FROM THE NORTH.
​"The mound called 'Nimrood' is situated about twenty miles to the south of Mosul, on the eastern banks of the river Tigris. We reached the large village of Sulleimîa in five hours' ride from the town and took with us from thence several Coords provided with spades and shovels to assist us in case we should discover any thing near the surface worth excavating. Nimrood was distinctly visible from Sulleimîa, which being built on an eminence commands a wide prospect of the plain beyond in which the mound is situated. A high cone with an unbroken surface, rising above the general level of the mound, was the principal object which attracted our attention at this distance. We crossed the well-cultivated plain, and in less than half an hour reached the foot of the mound. The soil in the immediate vicinity had been ploughed, and barley was shooting up in the furrows. To our great surprise and delight we found that the ground was literally strewn with fragments of brick covered with cuneiform inscriptions, which circumstance fully confirmed the testimony of Rich, who visited the spot about twenty-five years since, and who has given several fac-similes of these fragments in his excellent 'Notes on Coordistan.' After a careful search we were obliged to relinquish the hope of finding any whole bricks in the plain, where the ground had evidently been long subjected to the plough. We next surveyed the mound: it forms a parallelogram measuring 570 paces by 450, the exterior edges rising to an elevation of 45 feet, and declining inwards so as to form a concave of the inclosed area, which was covered here and there with patches of furrowed soil, and crossed by several foot-paths. The rains, which have formed small beds through the mound, have laid bare several specimens of the ruins concealed under the superincumbent soil and rubbish. These we found to consist generally of red bricks, cemented together with bitumen, after the manner of the ruins already discovered at ancient Babylon.
"We next ascended the cone which rises from the north-east angle of the mound to the height of forty feet above the general elevation of the platform. Its exterior is quite level, except where a portion of some massive stone projects beyond the surface. At the summit is a deep fissure through which we discovered the evident remains of architecture confusedly thrown ​together. As we were not prepared for the labour which it would have required to excavate here, we proceeded along the ridge of the mound in a southerly direction. About the centre of the ridge, and close by one of the modern footpaths, were a number of square stones, and among them two massive blocks, one on each side of the path, which have evidently formed part of a gateway. Here again we found numerous fragments of brick scattered about in every direction, most of which bore a number of cuneiform characters.
"Proceeding onward to the south-western angle, where a low cone or rather mound rises above the platform, we discovered a slab partly buried in the earth, and measuring three feet by five, on which we perceived several cuneiform letters. After some labour we succeeded in exhuming the stone, and found the following inscription very clearly engraven on the surface:—
"After comparing this inscription and several of the fragments found on the bricks at Nimrood, with those lately discovered at Khorsabad, I am convinced that the character, and consequently the language of both is the same. The cuneiform inscriptions dug up at Khorsabad differ from those found at Persepolis, and in other parts of Persia, as also from those which exist in the vicinity of Van; and as far as my knowledge ex​tends they were thought unique until the discoveries made at Nimrood. This identity of character may be useful in deciding the age to which we are to attribute the building of Khorsabad, a subject which has hitherto puzzled all who have examined the remains found there; and if it can be established, as I believe it can beyond any reasonable doubt, that Nimrood is the ancient Larissa, then Khorsabad must at least have existed two thousand five hundred years ago, as the former appears to have been a flourishing city at the time of Xenophon's celebrated retreat four centuries prior to the Christian era.
"From the immense quantity of bricks which lie scattered in the vicinity of the mound, I think it probable that the ancient city was built in the plain, and that the mound covers what may have been the acropolis or temple, or some other public building or buildings similar to those of Khorsabad, the original uses of which have not yet been determined. However this may be, the indications of extensive ruins concealed under the mound are numerous and sufficiently obvious to convince the most inexperienced observer, and I hope that an attempt will soon be made to rescue this ancient city from the oblivion in which it has so long lain.
"Rich, I believe, was the first who identified Nimrood with Larissa, but, if I remember rightly, he simply mentions his conviction on this point without adducing any proof. After examining the locality with some care, and comparing it with Xenophon's description of Larissa, I fully coincide with the conclusion of Rich: Nimrood occupies the position which exactly corresponds with that of Larissa. According to the Grecian historian, his troops did not cross the Zabatus (Zab river) until late in the day, for it was 'after the soldiers had dined,' from which it is plain that the army could not have proceeded very far on their journey this side of the river: in fact, it is clearly stated that they did not travel all that day more than twenty-five stadia, or three English miles. The day following they remained in the same place, and the day after, 'having crossed a valley formed by a torrent,' they reached Larissa on the river Tigris, having had another skirmish with the Persians during their march. This torrent must have been the Bumudas (the modern Khazir), as no other stream exists hereabouts, if we except the ​insignificant rill flowing from Ter Jilla. From this it results that we must look for the site of Larissa on this side of the Zab and Khazir, and supposing Xenophon to have crossed the former river by the present ferry, which is about ten miles distant from Nimrood, on the day he reached Larissa, his army must have marched seven miles (three miles from the Zab having been accomplished the day before), a reasonable distance, considering the annoyance which they received from the pursuing Persians.
"The position of Nimrood corresponds, therefore, with that of ancient Larissa, and the fact that the former is situated only half a mile from the Tigris is another argument in favour of its identity, for Xenophon describes Larissa as being on the Tigris.
"The relative position of Mes-Pylæ and Larissa, as given by the Grecian historian, is a further coincidence to strengthen our argument. Mes-Pylæ is by Ainsworth identified with the mounds upon which the modern village of Nebi Yoonas is built, and generally thought to be the site of ancient Nineveh. After referring to the intermediate distance between the Zab and Nebi Yoonas in proof of his opinion, he adds, 'a strongly corroborative proof of the identity of the Mes-Pylæ of Xenophon with the Nineveh of antiquity may be derived from the circumstance of the existence of shells in the stone of which the plinth of the wall was fabricated, it being a fact that the common building stone of this neighbourhood (Nebi Yoonas) is highly fossiliferous, while a similar stone is not met with to the northward or southward of Mes-Pylæ.' If then it is not to be doubted that Mes-Pylæ was Nineveh, or occupied its site, the distance between that place and Nimrood exactly corresponds with the six parasangs which separated Larissa from Mes-Pylæ, and there being no other mound of note existing at this distance from Mes-Pylæ, it results that Nimrood must be Larissa.
"A further coincidence corroborative of this identity, is the existence of the cone at the north-eastern angle of the mound of Nimrood, which not improbably forms the remains of the pyramid mentioned by Xenophon as standing close to the city of Larissa.
"In stating, as I have done, that Khorsabad was contemporary ​with Larissa, and therefore existed at the time of Xenophon, I by no means fix the age of these cities to that period. There is good ground for believing that both may lay claim to a much older origin, for Bochart, with some reason, identifies Larissa with the Resen of the Old Testament.
"It would be as difficult a task for me to attempt to account for the different names given to the ancient Resen, as it is to determine why Mes-Pylæ and not Nineveh was the appellation given to the capital of Ninus by the historian Xenophon. I think it likely that Larissa did not long continue to be known under that name after the retreat of the Ten Thousand. A small village called Daraoosh (Darius) still exists between Nimrood and the Tigris, and it is not improbable that this appellation may have succeeded that of Larissa, and has been preserved in the name of the village after the parent city had been destroyed. The extraordinary character of the ruins, and their vicinity to Nineveh, affords a much easier solution of the modern title of Nimrood, by which name the spot does not appear to have been known until the period of the Mohammedan conquest. A little beyond the mound are several wells, which at certain seasons of the year throw up a large quantity of bitumen. In all probability, it was from this source that the builders of Nimrood collected the same material, which they used as cement. The produce of the springs is now claimed by the Pasha of Mosul."
The above was accompanied by the subjoined letter:—
"Malta, 26th October, 1844.
"Sir,
"I have the honour to forward to your Excellency a few remarks on the mound of Nimrood, which I ought to have ​sent some time since, but have been prevented from doing so by press of business.
"As it is my intention to leave Malta for London on the 5th of the ensuing month, it has occurred to me whether it might not tend to induce the government to undertake the excavation of this interesting mound, if I were to lay before them such notices as I have collected respecting it during my sojourn in the east. Should your Excellency judge that my services in this respect are likely to be useful, I shall feel much obliged if you would lay the subject before the Earl of Aberdeen, and give me a letter of introduction to his lordship. At the same time, if your Excellency has no further need of the fac-simile of the cuneiform inscription which I left with you at Constantinople, I shall feel thankful if you will take the trouble to forward the same to me, at 79, Pall Mall, London.
"I have the honour to be, &c.&c.
"To His Excellency,
"The Right Hon. Sir Stratford Canning, &c.&c.&c.
"Constantinople."
Shortly after this. Sir Stratford Canning liberally undertook the work of excavation, which was carried on under the able direction and supervision of Mr. Layard. Since then, the British Government has given its support to the measure, and Nimrood is still proving the richest mine of Assyrian antiquities which has yet been discovered. The slabs and other sculptures dug up from this mound, are in a more perfect state of preservation, and more exquisitely finished, than any which have been found in these parts. The grand task, however, remains yet to be accomplished, namely, the complete deciphering of the character, and the true exposition of the numerous inscriptions engraved on these monuments of by-gone days. Every lover of science must wish Major Rawlinson success in this laborious undertaking which he has entered upon with such zeal; and we do not doubt that, so far as the records shall be found to have any bearing upon the historical facts handed down in Holy Writ, they will supply an additional and important testimony to the genuineness and authenticity of the Old Testament Scriptures. ​It having been ascertained, chiefly through the researches of the indefatigable scholar alluded to, that the language of the inscriptions is a dialect of the Semitic family, it is to be hoped that the oldest Syriac MSS. will be sought out and examined, wherein many traditions are preserved of the Babylonian and Assyrian dynasties, which may tend to corroborate the results of modern investigation.
* ↑ I sent a copy of the inscription immediately after discovering it to Major Rawlinson, who at once recognized it as similar in character to those of Khorsabad.
* ↑ I now think that Reish Aina, or Râs-ool-Ain, on the Khaboor, (the Chebar of Ezekiel,) and the seat of a Nestorian Bishop, as late as the thirteenth century, is the site of the ancient Resen. The Syriac author of the Lookâté, already quoted, writes: "Rehoboth is Hdheyyew, that is, Erbeel, [Arbela]; Calah is Jeirahân; Resan is Reish Aina; Arakh is Urhai, [Urfah]; Akar is Nisibis; and Kilya is Seleucia."
* ↑ This village has disappeared, and has been replaced by another, situated nearer the mound, and inhabited by Jeboor Arabs.