The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-09-24 00:00:00

THE ANTIQUITIES OF NINEVEH.

On Tuesday, at the Collegiate Institution, Geo. Scharf,
jun., Esq., delivered, to a crowded and respectable audi.
dence, the first of two lectures on the interesting subject
of " Nineveh and its Antiquities." The lecture was en-
riched by a variety of splendid drawings, illustrative of
the curious sculpture recently discovered by Mr. Layard
in his explorations of Nimroud. Mr. Scharf began by an
explanation of the geographical features of the country
lying between the Tigris and the Euphrates, the general
feature of which he showed to ho a uniform flatness. On
the seacoast Babylon was situated, but the ruins of Ni-
neveh were situated far inland. He made reference to
the historical narrations of Diodorus Siculus, corrobora-
ting as they do the Biblical descriptions. Nineveh was
the first great city of which the Bible bore record, (in the
tenth chapter of Genesis,) and during a long course of
years it appeared to alternate in prosperity with Babylon,
which ultimately, from its position, gained commercial
ascendancy. Both places, he need.not say, lay for many
centuries neglected, if not forgotten. It was a peculiarity
in Grecian antiquities that all their cities were found to

have been erected o 3 eminences, and it Was well ic;;;;;

that all Celtic nations raised mounds to cover the remains
a their distinguished dead. In Mesopotamia to build
upGn eminences of course was impossible, but research
founded upon analogy had led to the discovery that its
inhabitants, in founding cities, had reared, in the first
instance, an immense artificial pedestal of baked clay,
and built on this. M. Layard, during his travels in that
region in 1840, was struck with the appearance of an
immense mound on the banks of the Tigris 1,800 feet in
length, 90 feet high, and 50 feet it diameter, in the im-
mediate neighbourhood of seven similar but smaller cones.
Previously to this, M. Boiteux, the French consul, had
made some excavations at Mom?, and enriched the Lou-
vre with specimens of sculpture which he had obtained.
Encouraged by assistance from home, M. Layard com-
menced an excavation of these mounds in Nienrond, and
the result was patent to the world. M. Boiteux had in
that locality been discouraged by piercing the wall of
brick referred to without making any discovery, but M.
Layard, knowing that the practice of Celtic nations in
burying the dead was first to deposit the body in a hole,
then pile upon it a great mass of stone, and afterwards
add earth, turned this knowledge to account in the pre-
sent instance, and, instead of commencing excavating
from the bottom of the mounds, commenced his explora-
tion from the top, and with the richest results. He had
laid bare three ancient palaces, which must have been
constructed at least twelve centuries before our era, and
had succeeded in dragging to light and the speculative
inspection of antiquaries a variety of rich alabaster sculp-
ture, the most wonderful of which was the colossal
" winged lion" which is now on its way to London, and
which, it appears, may be expected every day.
A very spirited representation of a lion, forming a pro-
minent object on a screen, which the lecturer exhibited,
gave occasion to a few remarks on naturalhistory. When
the original was first landed in England, it excited no
little speculation among the learned. Having a kind of
thorn or claw projecting from the end of its tail, which was
coiled up over its back, some at once pronounced it to be of
astronomical import, and to signify the conjunction of Leo
and Scorpio. Others saw in it a realization of the story
of the lion, when roused, lacerating his sides in order to
stimulate himself to greater fury. By a singular coinci-
dence, about the same time, a living lion was brought to
this country having the same appendage. It was thus
ascertained that the sculpture at Nineveh was simply an
accurate portrait of the animal, which, however, belonged
to a species of which very few specimens had reached
Europe. Out of nineteen examined by Professor Owen,
only one of the kind had been found, and that was in the
Jandin des Plantes, at Paris.

The sculptured lion represented in the drawing had
formed part of a hunting group, a portion of the wheel of
the king's chariot, against which it had reared itself, being
seen on the same slab. There seemed to be some
association between this animal and the counts
Ninevites ; for we found the prophet Nahum exclaming,
" Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding. place
of the young lions, where the lion, even the lion, even the
old lion, walked, and the lion's whelp, and none mad(
them afraid ?" This had also been curiously corroborated,

peculiar
!• of the

Sir Robert Ker Porter and his friends, on one occasion,
saw, on the heights at a distance, what they took to be a
hostile party of Arabs taking aim at them. On a nearer
approach, however, it turned out to be two noble lions,

walking leisurely along the ridge of the hills
fested no desire to escape, and were not scared away 'even
by the clapping of hands.

ho mani-

Mr. Scharf next entered upon the subject of language
in connexion with these sculptures, commencing with a
review of the labours of Champollion and Young, and
tracing the successive steps by which the art of decipher-
.

ing ancient inscriptions has been brought down to the
present time and applied to the cuneiform or arrow-
headed characters found at Nineveh. This was done in

a very clear and satisfactory manner, the points immedi-
ately under consideration being rendered much more
intelligible and interesting by reference to the system of
which they form a part. The ingenious process suggested
by Dr. Buckland for restoring the ivories and other
matters of detail were subsequently brought forward,
and the attention of the audience was kept up unremit-
tingly to the close of the lecture.

EXHIBITION OF 1851

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD

SlR,—May 1 request the favour of you to correct an
error in several papers in reference to the exhibition of
1851. It is the LIVERPOOL POLYTECHNIC SOCIETY, and
not the Royal Institution which has raised a fund to aid
in carrying out the design of his Royal Highness the Prince
Albert, for the exposition of 1851. Of that fund, £5O
will be forwarded to the executive committee in London,
and the balance will he paid to the local committee in
Liverpool.—Yours respectfully, . _ _

C. F. SALT, Secretary

Liverpool, September 23, 1850.

THE FIRST OF NOVEMBER.—Considering the moment-
ous questions that will occupy the attention of the Town
Council during the coming year, it is matter of surprise
that the wards have not bestirred themselves before now
in the selection of proper men to fill the seats that will
fall vacant on the Ist of November. One or two vacan-
cies will be caused in addition to those arising from the
ordinary operation of the municipal act. At the end of
this month, Mr. George Booker, one of the members for
Rodney-street Ward, will have been absent from En-
gland more than six months, and will consequently have
become disqualified. He had not left the West Indies at
the date of the last advices, and therefore cannot return
in time. This, with the retirement of Mr. James Aspi-
nail Tobin, who, it is rumoured, is to be elected an alder-
man; will leave two openings in Rodney-street Ward.
Mr. Samuel Holme ought to be returned for that ward,
and as the water question is now disposed of, it is ex-
tremely probable that be will be. A new candidate will
also be required in West Derby Ward, in the room of
Mr. Josias Booker, whose stay in the West Indies will be
more protracted than that of his brother. It is generally
under. stood that Mr. T. B. Horsfall, whose term of office,
a s alderman, expires this year, will not return to the
Council. We trust the report will not be correct ; for we
could ill afford to lose the benefit of his clear and culti-
vated understanding, sound practical information, and
moderrte and gentlemanly bearing. We have as yet
heard of very few names of parties who are likely to come
forward. Overtures have been made, we helium, to Mr.
Samuel Holme, from several wards, and declined. A
number of the electors of St. Peter's Ward are desirous
to secure the services of that gentleman's brother, Mr.
James Holme, and he will be in all likelihood the sit-
ting member. Mr. Alderman Bent is spoken of as the
next occupant of the civic chair. We subjoin a list of the
retiring members for each ward, including aldermen :

EVE RTON..
SCOTLAND

VAUXHALL
ST. PAUL'S
EXCHANGE