The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-06-14


ofpsinting, and particularly Of fresco paint
ing. no was the moving spirit Of tho Arunde
Society. a trustee OF the National Gallery
and deserves TO be long remembered for
his efforts TO revive the lost or dying art
Industries Of Venice
II was while he was in Bagdad, In ls+O
that LAyard first got glimpse OF Baby
lonia. Il shall never forget he says
the effect produced upon me by the LONG
lines and vast masses Of mounds which
marked the site Of ancient Babylon al they
appeared n the distance one morning az
the day broke behind them The desola.
ton. the solitude. those shapeless heaps
all that remain Of a great and renowned
city. are we'll calculated to impress and
excite the imagination. As when ! first
beheld the mounds Of Nineveh. a longing
came over me to learn what was hidden
within them. and a kind OF presentmont
that should one day seek to clear up the
mystery He goes on to recall that he
visited all the principal ruins. including
the Bin Nimrud, believed by the old travel
lers to be the ruins OF the Tower OF Babel
itself. and the vast mound which they
had identified with the palace and hanging
gardens Of Semiramis At that time no
remains Of antiquity were to be found
except a rude sculpture In black basalt
representing a lion standing over pros
trate man. The old travellers had mag
ined that they had discovered In It some
allusion't to Daniel in the lions den" The
inhabitants Of Hillah. small town which
had risen on the site OF the ancient city,
, were in the habit OF digging into the great
mounds OF bricks to build their houses.
( an this search, which had evidently con-
tinued for ages a vast amount OF solid
! masonry had been destroyed. and the re-
| mains Of great buildings had been reduced
| to mere heaps of rubbish. leaving no trace
Of their original plan and structure. The
! bricks employed in the construction Of
these edifces were for the most part i'm
| pressed with an inscription in the COM
| dictated signs OF the cuneiform writings.
| This inscription is now known to contain
the names and titles Of the great Baby
lonian monarch. Nebuchadnezzar. AT the
time IiS40l the characters had not been
deciphered. and the meaning OF the legend
waA unknown. picked up many OF these
bricks with the remains upon them OF the
layer of bitunen and reeds. which. &C.
cording to Herodotus. was placed between
thei courses. The Arabs who were en-
gagged in searching for bricks occasionally
discovered small cylinders in some rare
or precious material covered with mystic
figures. and with arrowheaded inscriptions
and various idols and other small objects
in baked clay or bronze" Layard adds that
in his ride to Babylon and back to Bagdad
what struck him most and gave him the
most convincing proofs of the greatness,
scientific knowledge and civilization of the
ancient Babylonian empire, were the in
Vulnerable lines Of lofty and solid mounds
which traversed the plain in every direction
These are the remains of the great canals.
now dry, which once formed marvellous
system Of irrigation, converting this part
Of Mesopotamia into one great garden.
II.
Some letters printed in the second of
these volumes give an account OF Lay
ards first excavations in Assyria during
ls45-48. In the first Of these We read:
THE ruins called Nimrud are situated
near the Tigris. about eighteen miles from
Mosul. They consist entirely of artificial
mounds and are very extensive. The
great mound into which l AIN digging is
about 800 feet in length. 900 in breadth
and 90 or 70 in height. 1t appears to be one
great palace, principally built of marble,
which has been plundcred, destroyed as far
as possible by fire. and has remained ever
stree under the accumulated dust of ages.
| l.ayard then believed this site to Ike that OF
Resen mentioned in Genesis. K, IL, as be-
tween Nineveh and Calah, a great city.
built by Ashur. He notes that tradition
=, i'll assigns TO it this origin. the surrounding
Arabs calling the great mound the palace OF
Asur, or Athur. In letter written some
three weeks later he reports that after
! having discovered several chambers built
of slabs Of white marble. lighted upon
sculptures resembling in character those
OF NJ Botta's monument at khorsabad
/ have now no doubt that the whole mound
! Of Nimrud vast az 1t Is. contains the ruins
of one great palace. and that. il l am able to
continue my excavations, shall be richly
rewarded He goes on to say that -the
slabs have uncovered, forming the side Of
chamber. are pretty we'll preserved. One
represents warriors fighting in chariots,
another the siege Of city, another men on
! horseback, all executed with much spirit"
In February, 1919. Layard writes from
| Nimrud The corner of the mound which
| first opened seems to have been destroyed
! by f1re the marble used in the building
ia much cracked and, being almost on a
! level with the surface. is otherwise much
damaged: but, further in the mound, the
blocks begin to Ike perfect, and have now
many fine sculptures beautifully preserved,
! The first and damaged corner is. however,
! very interesting. as the building appears
to have been constructed with the remains
Of more ancient edifce. and many Of the
marble sabs--even those with sculptures
are reversed in the walls. The figures
represented have mostly pointed caps
and have other peculiartiee in their COR
tune" In the same letter We read Il
have just discovered two beautiful lions,
but, unfortunately, they have lost their
heads. which appear to have been human.
like those of the two great bulls already
uncovered; also, like them, they have
winga. The two lions form a gateway, or
entrance, on the west. The bulls are in
the centre Of the mound, and without
further excavation it Is impossible
to make out what their position and
use in the building originally was.
The extraordinary animals are sculp-
tured in very high relief upon solid block
Of marble, IA feet long and 10 or II feet high.
IL