The Project Gutenberg EBook of Discoveries among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, by Austen H. Layard This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Discoveries among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon Author: Austen H. Layard Release Date: June 2, 2012 [EBook #39897] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DISCOVERIES AMONG THE RUINS *** Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) Larger Image G P PUTNAM & Co NEW YORK. NORTH-EASTERN FACADE AND GRAND ENTRANCE OF SENNACHERIBS PALACE KOUYUNJIK Restored from a Sketch by J Fergusson, Esqre DISCOVERIES AMONG THE RUINS OF NINEVEH AND BABYLON; WITH TRAVELS IN ARMENIA, KURDISTAN, AND THE DESERT: BEING THE RESULT OF A SECOND EXPEDITION UNDERTAKEN FOR THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. BY AUSTEN H. LAYARD, M. P. AUTHOR OF “NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS.” “For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin; a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.”—Isaiah xxv. 2. ABRIDGED FROM THE LARGER WORK. NEW-YORK: G. P. PUTNAM & CO., 10 PARK PLACE. 1853. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1853, by GEORGE P. PUTNAM & CO., In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New-York. PREFATORY NOTE. The present Abridgment of Mr. Layard’s Discoveries among the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon has been prepared with much care and attention; and a studious effort has been made to retain, in the Author’s own language, the more interesting and important portions of the larger work. This has been done by omitting the greater part of the minute details of the descriptions of sculpture and monumental remains, by dispensing with several tables of cuneiform characters, elaborate examinations of various matters by scientific men, &c. At the same time there has been retained every thing relating to the Bible, and illustrating and enforcing its truth and the fulfilment of prophecy; as well as the genial and life-like portraitures of Arab habits and customs, and the pleasant adventures of the Author in regions that to most men seem like fairy land. For general use it is confidently hoped and believed that the present volume will be more widely serviceable than the larger work, from its expensiveness and size, could possibly be. S. New-York, May 2d, 1853. PREFACE. Since the publication of my first work on the discoveries at Nineveh much progress has been made in deciphering the cuneiform character, and the contents of many highly interesting and important inscriptions have been given to the public. For these additions to our knowledge we are mainly indebted to the sagacity and learning of two English scholars, Col. Rawlinson and the Rev. Dr. Hincks. In making use of the results of their researches, I have not omitted to own the sources from which my information has been derived. I trust, also, that I have in no instance availed myself of the labors of other writers, or of the help of friends, without due acknowledgments. I have endeavored to assign to every one his proper share in the discoveries recorded in these pages. I am aware that several distinguished French scholars, amongst whom I may mention my friends, M. Botta and M. de Saulcy, have contributed to the successful deciphering of the Assyrian inscriptions. Unfortunately I have been unable to consult the published results of their investigations. If, therefore, I should have overlooked in any instance their claims to prior discovery, I have to express my regret for an error arising from ignorance, and not from any unworthy national prejudice. Doubts appear to be still entertained by many eminent critics as to the progress actually made in deciphering the cuneiform writing. These doubts may have been confirmed by too hasty theories and conclusions, which, on [Pg 3] [Pg 4] [Pg 5] [Pg 6] subsequent investigation, their authors have been the first to withdraw. But the unbiased inquirer can scarcely now reject the evidence which can be brought forward to confirm the general accuracy of the interpretations of the inscriptions. Had they rested upon a single word, or an isolated paragraph, their soundness might reasonably have been questioned; when, however, several independent investigators have arrived at the same results, and have not only detected numerous names of persons, nations, and cities in historical and geographical series, but have found them mentioned in proper connection with events recorded by sacred and profane writers, scarcely any stronger evidence could be desired. The reader, I would fain hope, will come to this conclusion when I treat of the contents of the various records discovered in the Assyrian palaces. To Mr. Thomas Ellis, who has added so much to the value of my work by his translations of inscriptions on Babylonian bowls, now for the first time, through his sagacity, deciphered; to those who have assisted me in my labors, and especially to my friend and companion, Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, to the Rev. Dr. Hincks, to the Rev. S. C. Malan, who has kindly allowed me the use of his masterly sketches, to Mr. Fergusson, Mr. Scharf, and to Mr. Hawkins, Mr. Birch, Mr. Vaux, and the other officers of the British Museum, I beg to express my grateful thanks and acknowledgments. London, January, 1853. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE N. E. Façade and Entrance to Sennacherib’s Palace, restored Frontispiece. The Melek Taous or Copper Bird of the Yezidis 46 Subterranean Excavations at Kouyunjik 61 Mound of Nimroud 84 Head-dress of Captives employed by Assyrians in moving Bull (Kouyunjik) 92 Village with Conical Roofs near Aleppo 97 Bulls with Historical Inscriptions of Sennacherib (Kouyunjik) 113 Sennacherib on his Throne before Lachish 129 Feet of Tripods in Bronze and Iron 151 A Captive (of the Tokkari?) Kouyunjik 193 Lion discovered at Arban 231 Volcanic Cone of Koukab 268 Entrance to small Temple (Nimroud) Facing page 288 Fish-God at Entrance to small Temple (Nimroud) 289 Kurds of Wan 320 Figures of Assyrian Venus in baked Clay 383 The Mujelibé or Kasr (from Rich) 392 Plan of part of the Ruins of Babylon on the Eastern Bank of the Euphrates 396 Jug of Soapstone, from the Mound of Babel 409 Assyrian Pedestal, from Kouyunjik 477 Part of Colossal Head, from Kouyunjik 481 Plan of the Inclosure Walls and Ditches at Kouyunjik 536 Map of Assyria, etc. General Map of Mesopotamia at the end. CONTENTS. [Pg 7] [Pg 8] [Pg 9] CHAPTER I. The Trustees of the British Museum resume Excavations at Nineveh.— Departure from Constantinople.—Description of our Party.—Roads from Trebizond to Erzeroom.—Description of the Country.—Armenian Churches.—Erzeroom.—Reshid Pasha.—The Dudjook Tribes.— Shahan Bey.—Turkish Reform.—Journey through Armenia.—An Armenian Bishop.—The Lakes of Shailu and Nazik 15 CHAPTER II. The Lake of Wan.—Akhlat.—Tatar Tombs.—Ancient Remains.—A Dervish.—A Friend.—The Mudir.—Armenian Remains.—An Armenian Convent and Bishop.—Journey to Bitlis.—Nimroud Dagh.—Bitlis.— Journey to Kherzan.—Yezidi Village 30 CHAPTER III. Reception by the Yezidis.—Village of Guzelder.—Triumphal March to Redwan.—Redwan.—Armenian Church.—The Melek Taous, or Brazen Bird.—Tilleh.—Valley of the Tigris.—Bas-reliefs.—Journey to Dereboun.—To Semil.—Abde Agha.—Journey to Mosul.—The Yezidi Chiefs.—Arrival at Mosul.—Xenophon’s March from the Zab to the Black Sea 42 CHAPTER IV. State of the Excavations on my Return to Mosul.—Discoveries at Kouyunjik.—Tunnels in the Mound.—Bas-reliefs representing Assyrian Conquests.—A Well.—Siege of a City.—Nature of Sculptures at Kouyunjik.—Arrangement for Renewal of Excavations.—Description of Mound.—Kiamil Pasha.—Visit to Sheikh Adi.—Yezidi Ceremonies.— Sheikh Jindi.—Yezidi Meeting.—Dress of the Women.—Bavian.— Doctrines of the Yezidi.—Jerraiyah.—Return to Mosul 61 CHAPTER V. Renewal of Excavations at Kouyunjik.—First Visit to Nimroud.—State of Ruins.—Renew Excavations in Mound.—Visit of Col. Rawlinson.— Mr. H. Rassam.—The Jebour Workmen at Kouyunjik.—Discoveries at Kouyunjik.—Sculptures representing moving of great Stones and Winged Bulls.—Methods adopted.—Epigraphs on Bas-reliefs of moving Bulls.—Sculptures representing Invasion of Mountainous Country, and Sack of City.—Discovery of Gateway.—Excavation in high conical Mound at Nimroud.—Discovery of Wall of Stone.—Visit to Khorsabad.—Discovery of Slab.—State of the Ruins.—Futhliyah.— Baazani.—Baasheikhah 84 CHAPTER VI. Discovery of Grand Entrance to the Palace of Kouyunjik.—Of the Name of Sennacherib in the Inscriptions.—The Records of that King in the Inscriptions on the Bulls.—An Abridged Translation of them.— Name of Hezekiah.—Account of Sennacherib’s Wars with the Jews.— Dr. Hincks and Col. Rawlinson.—The Names of Sargon and Shalmaneser.—Discovery of Sculptures at Kouyunjik, representing the Siege of Lachish.—Description of the Sculptures.—Discovery of Clay Seals.—Of Signets of Egyptian and Assyrian Kings.—Cartouche of Sabaco.—Name of Essarhaddon.—Confirmation of Historical Records of the Bible.—Royal Cylinder of Sennacherib 113 CHAPTER VII. [Pg 10] Road open for removal of Winged Lions.—Discovery of Vaulted Drain. —Of other Arches.—Of Painted Bricks.—Attack of the Tai on the Village of Nimroud.—Visit to the Howar.—Description of the Encampment of the Tai.—The Plain of Shomamok.—Sheikh Faras.— Wali Bey.—Return to Nimroud 137 CHAPTER VIII. Contents of newly-discovered Chamber.—A Well.—Large Copper Caldrons.—Bells, Rings, and other Objects in Metal.—Tripods.— Caldrons and large Vessels.—Bronze Bowls, Cups, and Dishes.— Description of the Embossings upon them.—Arms and Armour.— Shields.—Iron Instruments.—Ivory Remains.—Bronze Cubes inlaid with Gold.—Glass Bowls.—Lens.—The Royal Throne 150 CHAPTER IX. Visit to the Winged Lions by Night.—The Bitumen Springs.—Removal of the Winged Lions to the River.—Floods at Nimroud.—Yezidi Marriage Festival.—Baazani.—Visit to Bavian.—Site of the Battle of Arbela.—Description of Rock-Sculptures.—Inscriptions.—The Shabbaks 167 CHAPTER X. Visit to Kalah Sherghat prevented.—Visit to Shomamok.—Keshaf.— The Howar.—A Bedouin.—His Mission.—Descent of Arab Horses.— Their Pedigree.—Ruins of Mokhamour.—The Mound of the Kasr.— Plain of Shomamok.—The Gla or Kalah.—Xenophon and the Ten Thousand.—A Wolf.—Return to Nimroud and Mosul.—Discoveries at Kouyunjik.—Description of the Bas-reliefs 182 CHAPTER XI. Preparations for a Journey to the Khabour.—Sculptures discovered there.—Sheikh Suttum.—His Rediff.—Departure from Mosul.—First Encampment.—Abou Khameera.—A Storm.—Tel Ermah.—A Stranger.—Tel Jemal.—The Chief of Tel Afer.—A Sunset in the Desert. —A Jebour Encampment.—The Belled Sinjar.—The Sinjar Hill.— Mirkan.—Bukra.—The dress of the Yezidis.—The Shomal.—Ossofa. —Aldina.—Return to the Belled.—A Snake-Charmer.—Journey continued in the Desert.—Rishwan.—Encampment of the Boraij.— Dress of Arab Women.—Rathaiyah.—A Deputation from the Yezidis. —Arab Encampments.—The Khabour.—Mohammed Emin.—Arrival at Arban 195 CHAPTER XII. Arban.—Our Encampment.—Suttum and Mohammed Emin.—Winged Bulls discovered.—Excavations commenced.—Their Results.— Discovery of Small Objects—of Second Pair of Winged Bulls.—of Lion —of Chinese Bottle—of Vase—of Egyptian Scarabs—of Tombs.—The Scene of the Captivity 225 CHAPTER XIII. Residence at Arban.—Mohammed Emin’s Tent.—The Agaydat.—our Tents.—Bread-baking.—Food of the Bedouins.—Thin Bread.—The Produce of their Flocks.—Diseases amongst them.—Their Remedies.— The Deloul or Dromedary.—Bedouin Warfare.—Suttum’s First Wife.— A Storm.—Turtles.—Lions.—A Bedouin Robber.—Beavers.—Ride to Ledjmiyat—A Plundering Expedition.—Loss of a Hawk.—Ruins of Shemshani.—Return to Arban.—Visit to Moghamis 237 CHAPTER XIV. [Pg 11] [Pg 12] Leave Arban.—The Banks of the Khabour.—Artificial Mounds.— Mijwell.—The Cadi of the Bedouins.—The Thar or Blood-Revenge.— Caution of Arabs.—A natural Cavern.—An extinct volcano.—The Confluents of the Khabour.—Bedouin Marks.—Suleiman Agha.— Encampment at Um-Jerjeh.—The Turkish Irregular Cavalry.—Mound of Mijdel.—Ruins on the Khabour.—Mohammed Emin leaves us.— Visit to Kurdish Tents and Harem.—The Milli Kurds.—The Family of Rishwan.—Arab Love-making.—The Dakheel.—Bedouin Poets and Poetry.—Turkish Cavalry Horses 252 CHAPTER XV. Departure from the Khabour.—Arab Sagacity.—The Hol.—The Lake of Khatouniyah.—Return of Suttum.—Encampment of the Shammar.— Arab Horses—their Breeds—their Value—their Speed.—Sheikh Ferhan.—Yezidi Villages.—Falcons.—An Alarm.—Abou Maria.—Eski Mosul.—Arrival at Mosul.—Return of Suttum to the Desert 268 CHAPTER XVI. Discoveries at Kouyunjik.—Procession of Figures bearing Fruit and Game.—Locusts.—Led Horses.—An Assyrian Campaign.—Dagon, or the Fish-God.—The Chambers of Records.—Inscribed Clay Tablets.— Return to Nimroud.—Effects of the Flood.—Discoveries.—Small Temple under high Mound.—The Evil Spirit.—Fish-God.—Fine Bas- relief of the King.—Extracts from the Inscription.—Great inscribed Monolith.—Extracts from the Inscription.—Cedar Beams.—Small Objects.—Second Temple.—Marble Figure and other Objects 280 CHAPTER XVII. The Summer.—Encampment at Kouyunjik.—Visitors.—Mode of Life. —Departure for the Mountains.—Akra.—Rock-Tablets at Gunduk.— District of Zibari.—Namet Agha.—District of Shirwan—of Baradost— of Gherdi—of Shemdina.—Mousa Bey.—Nestorian Bishop.—Convent of Mar Hananisho.—Dizza.—An Albanian Friend.—Bash-Kalah.— Izzet Pasha.—A Jewish Encampment.—High Mountain Pass.— Mahmoudiyah.—First View of Wan 300 CHAPTER XVIII. Mehemet Pasha.—Description of Wan.—Its History.—Improvement in its Condition.—The Armenian Bishop.—The Cuneiform Inscriptions.— The Caves of Khorkhor.—The Meher Kapousi.—A Tradition.— Observations on the Inscriptions.—The Bairam.—An American School. —The American Missions.—Protestant Movement in Turkey.—Amikh. —The Convent of Yedi Klissia 320 CHAPTER XIX. Leave Wan.—The Armenian Patriarch.—The Island of Akhtamar.—An Armenian Church.—History of the Convent.—Pass into Mukus.—The District of Mukus—of Shattak—of Nourdooz.—A Nestorian Village.— Encampments.—Mount Ararat.—Mar Shamoun.—Julamerik.—Valley of Diz.—Pass into Jelu.—Nestorian District of Jelu.—An ancient Church.—The Bishop.—District of Baz—of Tkhoma.—Return to Mosul 337 CHAPTER XX. [Pg 13] Discoveries at Kouyunjik during the Summer.—Description of the Sculptures.—Capture of Cities on a great River.—Pomp of Assyrian King.—Alabaster Pavement.—Conquest of Tribes inhabiting a Marsh. —Their Wealth.—Chambers with Sculptures belonging to a new King. —Description of the Sculptures.—Conquest of the People of Susiana.— Portrait of the King.—His guards and Attendants.—The City of Shushan.—Captive Prince.—Musicians.—Captives put to the Torture. —Artistic Character of the Sculptures.—An Inclined Passage.—Two small Chambers.—Colossal Figures.—More Sculptures 356 CHAPTER XXI. Preparations for leaving Nineveh.—Departure for Babylon.—Descent of the River.—Tekrit.—The State of the Rivers of Mesopotamia.— Commerce upon them.—Turkish Roads.—The Plain of Dura.—The Naharwan.—Samarrah.—Kadesia.—Palm Groves.—Kathimain.— Approach to Baghdad.—The City.—Arrival.—Dr. Ross.—A British Steamer.—Modern Baghdad.—Tel Mohammed.—Departure for Babylon.—A Persian Prince.—Abde Pasha’s Camp.—Eastern Falconry.—Hawking the Gazelle.—Approach to Babylon.—The Ruins. —Arrival at Hillah 372 CHAPTER XXII. The Chiefs of Hillah.—Present of Lions.—The Son of the Governor.— Description of the Town.—Zaid.—The Ruins of Babylon.—Changes in the Course of the Euphrates.—The Walls.—Visit to the Birs Nimroud. —Description of the Ruin.—View from it.—Excavations and Discoveries in the Mound of Babel.—In the Mujelibé or Kasr.—The Tree Athelé.—Excavations in the Ruin of Amran.—Bowls, with Inscriptions in Hebrew and Syriac Characters.—The Jews of Babylonia 392 CHAPTER XXIII. State of the Ruins of Babylon.—Cause of the Disappearance of Buildings.—Nature of original Edifices.—Babylonian Bricks.—The History of Babylon.—Its Fall.—Its Remarkable Position.—Commerce. —Canals and Roads.—Skill of Babylonians in the Arts.—Engraved Gems.—Corruption of Manners, and consequent Fall of the City.—The Mecca Pilgrimage.—Sheikh Ibn Reshid.—The Gebel Shammar.—The Mounds of El Hymer—of Anana 419 CHAPTER XXIV. Ruins in Southern Mesopotamia.—Departure from Hillah.—Sand-Hills. —Villages in the Jezireh.—Sheikh Karboul.—Ruins.—First View of Niffer.—The Marshes.—Arab Boats.—Arrive at Souk-el-Afaij.— Sheikh Agab.—Town of the Afaij.—Description of the Ruins of Niffer. —Excavations in the Mounds.—Discovery of Coffins—of various Relics.—Mr. Loftus’ Discoveries at Wurka.—The Arab Tribes.—Wild Beasts.—Lions.—Customs of the Afaij.—Leave the Marshes.—Return to Baghdad.—A Mirage 437 CHAPTER XXV. [Pg 14] Preparations for Departure.—Sahiman.—Plunder of his Camels.— Leave Baghdad.—Journey through Mesopotamia.—Early Arab Remains.—The Median Wall.—Tekrit.—Horses stolen.—Instances of Bedouin Honesty.—Excavations at Kalah Sherghat.—Reach Mosul.— Discoveries during Absence.—New Chambers at Kouyunjik.— Description of Bas-reliefs.—Extent of the Ruins explored.—Bases of Pillars.—Small objects.—Roman Coins struck at Nineveh.—Hoard of Denarii.—Greek Relics.—Absence of Assyrian Tombs.—Fragment with Egyptian Characters.—Assyrian Relics.—Remains beneath the Tomb of Jonah.—Discoveries at Shereef-Khan—at Nimroud.—Assyrian Weights.—Engraved Cylinders 463 CHAPTER XXVI. Results of the Discoveries to Chronology and History.—Names of Assyrian Kings in the Inscriptions.—A Date fixed.—The Name of Jehu. —The Obelisk King.—The earlier Kings—Sardanapalus.—His Successors.—Pul, or Tiglath Pileser.—Sargon.—Sennacherib.— Essarhaddon.—The last Assyrian Kings.—Tables of proper Names in the Assyrian Inscriptions.—Antiquity of Nineveh.—Of the Name of Assyria.—Illustrations of Scripture.—State of Judæa and Assyria compared.—Political Condition of the Empire.—Assyrian Colonies.— Prosperity of the Country.—Religion.—Extent of Nineveh.—Assyrian Architecture—Compared with Jewish.—Palace of Kouyunjik restored. —Platform at Nimroud restored.—The Assyrian fortified Inclosures.— Description of Kouyunjik.—Conclusion 491 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. CHAPTER I. THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM RESUME EXCAVATIONS AT NINEVEH.—DEPARTURE FROM CONSTANTINOPLE.—DESCRIPTION OF OUR PARTY.—ROADS FROM TREBIZOND TO ERZEROOM.—DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY.— ARMENIAN CHURCHES.—ERZEROOM.—RESHID PASHA.—THE DUDJOOK TRIBES.—SHAHAN BEY.— TURKISH REFORM.—JOURNEY THROUGH ARMENIA.—AN ARMENIAN BISHOP.—THE LAKES OF SHAILU AND NAZIK. After a few months’ residence in England during the year 1848, to recruit a constitution worn by long exposure to the extremes of an Eastern climate, I received orders to proceed to my post at Her Majesty’s Embassy in Turkey. The Trustees of the British Museum did not, at that time, contemplate further excavations on the site of ancient Nineveh. Ill health and limited time had prevented me from placing before the public, previous to my return from the East, the results of my first researches, with the illustrations of the monuments and copies of the inscriptions recovered from the ruins of Assyria. They were not published until some time after my departure, and did not consequently receive that careful superintendence and revision necessary to works of this nature. It was at Constantinople that I first learnt the general interest felt in England in the discoveries, and that they had been universally received as fresh illustrations of Scripture and prophecy, as well as of ancient history sacred and profane. And let me here, at the very outset, gratefully acknowledge that generous spirit of English criticism which overlooks the incapacity and shortcomings of the laborer when his object is worthy of praise, and that object is sought with sincerity and singleness of purpose. The gratitude, which I deeply felt for encouragement rarely equalled, could be best shown by cheerfully consenting, without hesitation, to the request made to me by the Trustees of the British Museum, urged by public opinion, to undertake the superintendence of a second [Pg 15] [Pg 16] expedition into Assyria. Being asked to furnish a plan of operations, I stated what appeared to me to be the course best calculated to produce interesting and important results, and to enable us to obtain the most accurate information on the ancient history, language, and arts, not only of Assyria, but of its sister kingdom, Babylonia. Perhaps my plan was too vast and general to admit of performance or warrant adoption. I was merely directed to return to the site of Nineveh, and to continue the researches commenced amongst its ruins. Arrangements were hastily, and of course inadequately, made in England. The assistance of a competent artist was most desirable, to portray with fidelity those monuments which injury and decay had rendered unfit for removal. Mr. F. Cooper was selected by the Trustees of the British Museum to accompany the expedition in this capacity. Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, already well known to many of my readers for the share he had taken in my first discoveries, quitted England with him. They both joined me at Constantinople. Dr. Sandwith, an English physician on a visit to the East, was induced to form one of our party. One Abd-el-Messiah, a Catholic Syrian of Mardin, an active and trustworthy servant during my former residence in Assyria, was fortunately at this time in the capital, and again entered my service: my other attendants were Mohammed Agha, a cawass, and an Armenian named Serkis. The faithful Bairakdar, who had so well served me during my previous journey, had accompanied the English commission for the settlement of the boundaries between Turkey and Persia; with the understanding, however, that he was to meet me at Mosul, in case I should return. Cawal Yusuf, the head of the Preachers of the Yezidis, with four chiefs of the districts in the neighbourhood of Diarbekir, who had been for some months in Constantinople, completed my party. In consequence of the severe and unjust treatment of the Yezidis, in compelling them to serve in the Turkish army, Hussein Bey and Sheikh Nasr, the chiefs of the whole community, hearing that I was at Constantinople, sent a deputation to the Sultan. Through Sir Stratford Canning’s friendly interference, a firman was obtained, and they were freed from all illegal impositions for the future. Our arrangements were complete by the 28th of August (1849), and on that day we left the Bosphorus by an English steamer bound for Trebizond. The size of my party and its consequent incumbrances rendering a caravan journey absolutely necessary, I determined to avoid the usual tracks, and to cross eastern Armenia and Kurdistan, both on account of the novelty of part of the country in a geographical point of view, and its political interest as having only recently been brought under the immediate control of the Turkish government. We disembarked at Trebizond on the 31st, and on the following day commenced our land journey. The country between this port and Erzeroom has been frequently traversed and described. Through it pass the caravan routes connecting Persia with the Black Sea, the great lines of intercourse and commerce between Europe and central Asia. The roads usually frequented are three in number. The summer, or upper, road is the shortest, but is most precipitous, and, crossing very lofty mountains, is closed after the snows commence; it is called Tchaïrler, from its fine upland pastures, on which the horses are usually fed when caravans take this route. The middle road has few advantages over the upper, and is rarely followed by merchants, who prefer the lower, although making a considerable detour by Gumish Khaneh, or the Silver Mines. The three unite at the town of Baiburt, midway between the sea and Erzeroom. Although an active and daily increasing trade is carried on by these roads, no means whatever have until recently been taken to improve them. They consist of mere mountain tracks, deep in mud or dust according to the season of the year. The bridges have been long permitted to fall into decay, and commerce is frequently stopped for days by the swollen torrent or fordless stream. This has been one of the many evil results of the system of centralization so vigorously commenced by Sultan Mahmoud, and so steadily carried out during the present reign. Since my visit to Trebizond a road for carts has been commenced, which is to lead from that port to the Persian frontiers; but it will, probably, like other undertakings of the kind be abandoned long before completed, or if ever completed will be permitted at once to fall to ruin from the want of common repair. And yet the Persian trade is one of the chief sources of revenue of the Turkish empire, and unless conveniences are afforded for its prosecution, will speedily pass into other hands. The southern shores of the Black Sea, twelve years ago rarely visited by a foreign vessel, are now coasted by steamers belonging to three companies, which touch nearly weekly at the principal ports; and there is commerce and traffic enough for more. The want of proper harbors is a considerable drawback in the navigation of a sea so unstable and dangerous as the Euxine. Trebizond has a mere roadstead, and from its position is otherwise little calculated for a great commercial port, which, like many other places, it has become rather from its hereditary claims as the representative of a city once famous, than from any local advantages. The only harbour on the southern coast is that of Batoun, nor is there any retreat for vessels on the Circassian shores. This place is therefore probably destined to become the emporium of trade, both from its safe and spacious port, and from the facility it affords of internal communication with Persia, Georgia, and Armenia. At the back of Trebizond, as indeed along the whole of this singularly bold and beautiful coast, the mountains rise in lofty peaks, and are wooded with trees of enormous growth and admirable quality, furnishing an unlimited supply of timber for commerce or war. Innumerable streams force their way to the sea through deep and rocky ravines. The more sheltered spots are occupied by villages and hamlets, chiefly inhabited by a hardy and industrious race of Greeks. In spring the choicest flowers perfume the air, and luxuriant creepers clothe the limbs of gigantic trees. In summer the richest pastures enamel the uplands, and the inhabitants of the coasts drive their [Pg 17] [Pg 18] [Pg 19] flocks and herds to the higher regions of the hills. Our journey to Erzeroom was performed without incident. A heavy and uninterrupted rain for two days tried the patience and temper of those who for the first time encountered the difficulties and incidents of Eastern travel. The only place of any interest, passed during our ride, was a small Armenian village, the remains of a larger, with the ruins of three early Christian churches, or baptisteries. These remarkable buildings, of which many examples exist, belong to an order of architecture peculiar to the most eastern districts of Asia Minor and to the ruins of ancient Armenian cities, on the borders of Turkey and Persia. There are many interesting questions connected with this Armenian architecture which will deserve elucidation. From it was probably derived much that passed into the Gothic, whilst the Tatar conquerors of Asia Minor adopted it, as will be hereafter seen, for their mausoleums and places of worship. It is peculiarly elegant both in its decorations, its proportions, and the general arrangement of the masses, and might with advantage be studied by the modern architect. Indeed, Asia Minor contains a mine of similar materials unexplored and almost unknown. We reached Erzeroom on the 8th, and were most hospitably received by the British consul, Mr. Brant, a gentleman who has long, well, and honorably sustained our influence in this part of Turkey, and who was the first to open an important field for our commerce in Asia Minor. With him I visited the commander-in-chief of the Turkish forces in Anatolia, who had recently returned from a successful expedition against the wild mountain tribes of central Armenia. Reshid Pasha, known as the “Guzlu,” or the “Wearer of Spectacles,” enjoyed the advantages of an European education, and had already distinguished himself in the military career. With a knowledge of the French language he united a taste for European literature, which, during his numerous expeditions into districts unknown to western travellers, had led him to examine their geographical features, and to make inquiries into the manners and religion of their inhabitants. His last exploit had been the subjugation of the tribes inhabiting the Dudjook Mountains, to the south-west of Erzeroom, long in open rebellion against the Sultan. The account he gave me of the country and its occupants, though curious and interesting, is not perhaps to be strictly relied on, but a district hitherto inaccessible may possibly contain the remains of ancient races, monuments of antiquity, and natural productions of sufficient importance to merit the attention of the traveller in Asia Minor. The city of Erzeroom is rapidly declining in importance, and is almost solely supported by the Persian transit trade. It would be nearly deserted if that traffic were to be thrown into a new channel by the construction of the direct road from Batoun to the Persian frontiers. It contains no buildings of any interest, with the exception of a few ruins of monuments of early Mussulman domination; and the modern Turkish edifices, dignified with the names of palaces and barracks, are meeting the fate of neglected mud. The districts of Armenia and Kurdistan, through which lay our road from Erzeroom to Mosul, are sufficiently unknown and interesting to merit more than a casual mention. Our route by the lake of Wan, Bitlis, and Jezirah was nearly a direct one. It had been but recently opened to caravans. The haunts of the last of the Kurdish rebels were on the shores of this lake. After the fall of the most powerful of their chiefs, Beder Khan Bey, they had one by one been subdued and carried away into captivity. Only a few months had, however, elapsed since the Beys of Bitlis, who had longest resisted the Turkish arms, had been captured. With them rebellion was extinguished for the time in Kurdistan. Our caravan consisted of my own party, with the addition of a muleteer and his two assistants, natives of Bitlis, who furnished me with seventeen horses and mules from Erzeroom to Mosul. The first day’s ride, as is customary in the East, where friends accompany the traveller far beyond the city gates, and where the preparations for a journey are so numerous that everything cannot well be remembered, scarcely exceeded nine miles. We rested for the night in the village of Guli, whose owner, one Shahan Bey, had been apprised of my intended visit. He had rendered his newly-built house as comfortable as his means would permit for our accommodation, and, after providing us with an excellent supper, passed the evening with me. Descended from an ancient family of Dereh- Beys, he had inherited the hospitality and polished manners of a class now almost extinct, in consequence of the policy pursued by the Turkish sultans, Mahmoud and Abdul-Medjid, to break down the great families and men of middle rank, who were more or less independent, and to consolidate and centralize the vast Ottoman empire. It is customary to regard these old Turkish lords as inexorable tyrants—robber chiefs, who lived on the plunder of travellers and of their subjects. That there were many who answered to this description cannot be denied; but they were, I believe, exceptions. Amongst them were some rich in virtues and high and noble feeling. It has been frequently my lot to find a representative of this nearly extinct class in some remote and almost unknown spot in Asia Minor or Albania. I have been received with affectionate warmth at the end of a day’s journey by a venerable Bey or Agha in his spacious mansion, now fast crumbling to ruin, but still bright with the remains of rich, yet tasteful, oriental decoration; his long beard, white as snow, falling low on his breast; his many-folded turban shadowing his benevolent yet manly countenance, and his limbs enveloped in the noble garments rejected by the new generation; his hall open to all comers, the guest neither asked from whence he came or whither he was going, dipping his hands with him in the same dish; his servants, standing with reverence before him, rather his children than his servants; his revenues spent in raising fountains[1] on the wayside for the weary traveller, or in building caravanserais on the dreary plain; not only professing, but practising all the duties and virtues enjoined by the Koran, which are Christian duties and virtues too; in his manners, his appearance, his hospitality, and his faithfulness, a perfect model for a Christian gentleman. The race is fast passing away, and I feel grateful in being [Pg 20] [Pg 21] [Pg 22] [Pg 23] able to testify, with a few others, to its existence once, against prejudice, intolerance, and so-called reform. Our host at Guli, Shahan Bey, although not an old man, was a very favorable specimen of the class I have described. He was truly, in the noble and expressive phraseology of the East, an “Ojiak Zadeh,” “a child of the hearth,” a gentleman born. His family had originally migrated from Daghistan, and his father, a pasha, had distinguished himself in the wars with Russia. He entertained me with animated accounts of feuds between his ancestors and the neighbouring chiefs; and steadily refused to allow any recompense to himself or his servants for his hospitality. From Guli we crossed a high range of mountains, running nearly east and west, by a pass called Ali-Baba, or Ala- Baba, enjoying from the summit an extensive view of the plain of Pasvin, once one of the most thickly peopled and best cultivated districts in Armenia. The Christian inhabitants were partly induced by promises of land and protection, and partly compelled by force, to accompany the Russian army into Georgia after the end of the last war with Turkey. By similar means, that part of the Pashalic of Erzeroom adjoining the Russian territories was almost stripped of its most industrious Armenian population. To the south of us rose the snow-capped mountains of the Bin-Ghiul, or the “Thousand Lakes,” in which the Araxes and several confluents of the Euphrates have their source. We descended from the pass into undulating and barren downs. The villages, thinly scattered over the low hills, were deserted by their inhabitants, who, at this season of the year, pitch their tents and seek pasture for their flocks in the uplands. Next day we continued our journey amongst undulating hills, abounding in flocks of the great and lesser bustard. Innumerable sheep-walks branched from the beaten path, a sign that villages were near; but, like those we had passed the day before, they had been deserted for the yilaks, or summer pastures. These villages are still such as they were when Xenophon traversed Armenia. “Their houses,” says he, “were under ground; the mouth resembling that of a well, but spacious below: there was an entrance dug for the cattle, but the inhabitants descended by ladders. In these houses were goats, sheep, cows, and fowls, with their young.”[2] The low hovels, mere holes in the hill-side, and the common refuge of man, poultry, and cattle, cannot be seen from any distance, and they are purposely built away from the road, to escape the unwelcome visits of travelling government officers and marching troops. It is not uncommon for a traveller to receive the first intimation of his approach to a village by finding his horse’s fore feet down a chimney, and himself taking his place unexpectedly in the family circle through the roof. Numerous small streams wind among the valleys, marking by meandering lines of perpetual green their course to the Arras, or Araxes. We crossed that river about mid-day by a ford not more than three feet deep, but the bed of the stream is wide, and after rains, and during the spring, is completely filled by an impassable torrent. During the afternoon we crossed the western spur of the Tiektab Mountains, a high and bold range with three well defined peaks, which had been visible from the summit of the Ala-Baba pass. From the crest we had the first view of Subhan, or Sipan, Dagh, a magnificent conical peak, covered with eternal snow, and rising abruptly from the plain to the north of Lake Wan. It is a conspicuous and beautiful object from every part of the surrounding country. We descended into the wide and fertile plain of Hinnis. The town was just visible in the distance, but we left it to the right, and halted for the night in the large Armenian village of Kosli, after a ride of more than nine hours. I was received at the guesthouse (a house reserved for travellers, and supported by joint contributions), with great hospitality by one Misrab Agha, a Turk, to whom the village formerly belonged as Spahilik or military tenure, and who, deprived of his hereditary rights, had now farmed its revenues. He hurried with a long stick among the low houses, and heaps of dry dung, piled up in every open space for winter fuel, collecting fowls, curds, bread, and barley, abusing at the same time the tanzimat, which compelled such exalted travellers as ourselves, he said, “to pay for the provisions we condescended to accept.” The inhabitants were not, however, backward in furnishing us with all we wanted, and the flourish of Misrab Agha’s stick was only the remains of an old habit. I invited him to supper with me, an invitation he gladly accepted, having himself contributed a tender lamb roasted whole towards our entertainment. The inhabitants of Kosli could scarcely be distinguished either by their dress or by their general appearance from the Kurds. They seemed prosperous and were on the best terms with the Mussulman farmer of their tithes. The village stands at the foot of the hills forming the southern boundary of the plain of Hinnis, through which flows a branch of the Murad Su, or Lower Euphrates. We forded this river near the ruins of a bridge at Kara Kupri. The plain is generally well cultivated, the principal produce being corn and hemp. The villages, which are thickly scattered over it, have the appearance of extreme wretchedness, and, with their low houses and heaps of dried manure piled upon the roofs and in the open spaces around, look more like gigantic dunghills than human habitations. The Kurds and Armenian Christians, both hardy and industrious races, are pretty equally divided in numbers, and live sociably in the same filth and misery. We left the plain of Hinnis by a pass through the mountain range of Zernak. On reaching the top of the pass we had an interrupted view of the Subhan Dagh. From the village of Karagol, where we halted for the night, it rose abruptly before us. This magnificent peak, with the rugged mountains of Kurdistan, the river Euphrates winding through the plain, the peasants driving the oxen over the corn on the threshing-floor, and the groups of Kurdish horsemen with their long spears and flowing garments, formed one of those scenes of Eastern travel which leave an indelible impression on the imagination, and bring back in after years indescribable feelings of pleasure and [Pg 24] [Pg 25] [Pg 26] [Pg 27] repose. We crossed the principal branch of the Euphrates soon after leaving Karagol. Although the river is fordable at this time of year, during the spring it is nearly a mile in breadth, overflowing its banks, and converting the entire plain into one great marsh. We had now to pick our way through a swamp, scaring, as we advanced, myriads of wild- fowl. I have rarely seen game in such abundance and such variety in one spot; the water swarmed with geese, duck, and teal, the marshy ground with herons and snipe, and the stubble with bustards and cranes. After the rains the lower road is impassable, and caravans are obliged to make a considerable circuit along the foot of the hills. We were not sorry to escape the fever-breeding swamp and mud of the plain, and to enter a line of low hills, separating us from the lake of Gula Shailu. I stopped for a few minutes at an Armenian monastery, situated on a small platform overlooking the plain. The bishop was at his breakfast, his fare frugal and episcopal enough, consisting of nothing more than boiled beans and sour milk. He insisted that I should partake of his repast, and I did so, in a small room scarcely large enough to admit the round tray containing the dishes, into which I dipped my hand with him and his chaplain. I found him profoundly ignorant, like the rest of his class, grumbling about taxes, and abusing the Turkish government. After a pleasant ride of five hours we reached a deep clear lake, embedded in the mountains, two or three pelicans, “swan and shadow double,” and myriads of waterfowl, lazily floating on its blue waters. Piron, the village where we halted for the night, stands at the further end of the Gula Shailu, and is inhabited by Kurds of the tribe of Hasananlu, and by Armenians, all living in good fellowship amidst the dirt and wretchedness of their eternal dung-heaps. Ophthalmia had made sad havoc amongst them, and the doctor was soon surrounded by a crowd of the blind and diseased clamoring for relief. The villagers said that a Persian, professing to be a Hakim, had passed through the place some time before, and had offered to cure all bad eyes on payment of a certain sum in advance. These terms being agreed to, he gave his patients a powder which left the sore eyes as they were, and destroyed the good ones. He then went his way: “And with the money in his pocket too,” added a ferocious-looking Kurd, whose appearance certainly threw considerable doubt on the assertion; “but what can one do in these days of accursed Tanzimat (reform)?” The lake of Shailu is separated from the larger lake of Nazik, by a range of low hills about six miles in breadth. We reached the small village of Khers, built on its western extremity, in about two hours and a half, and found the chief, surrounded by the principal inhabitants, seated on a raised platform near a well-built stone house. He assured me, stroking a beard of spotless white to confirm his words, that he was above ninety years of age, and had never seen an European before the day of my visit. Half blind, he peered at me through his blear eyes until he had fully satisfied his curiosity; then spoke contemptuously of the Franks, and abused the Tanzimat. The old gentleman, notwithstanding his rough exterior, was hospitable after his fashion, and would not suffer us to depart until we had eaten of every delicacy the village could afford. Leaving the Nazik Gul, we entered an undulating country traversed by very deep ravines, mere channels cut into the sandstone by mountain torrents. The villages are built at the bottom of these gulleys, amidst fruit-trees and gardens, sheltered by perpendicular rocks and watered by running streams. They are undiscovered until the traveller reaches the very edge of the precipice, when a pleasant and cheerful scene opens suddenly beneath his feet. He would have believed the upper country a mere desert had he not spied here and there in the distance a peasant slowly driving his plough through the rich soil. The inhabitants of this district are more industrious and ingenious than their neighbours. They carry the produce of their harvest not on the backs of animals, as in most parts of Asia Minor, but in carts entirely made of wood, no iron being used even in the wheels, which are ingeniously built of walnut, oak, and kara agatch (literally, black tree—? thorn), the stronger woods being used for rough spokes let into the nave. The plough also differs from that in general use in Asia. To the share are attached two parallel boards, about four feet long and a foot broad, which separate the soil and leave a deep and well defined furrow. We rode for two or three hours on these uplands, until, suddenly reaching the edge of a ravine, a beautiful prospect of a lake, woodland, and mountain opened before us. CHAPTER II. THE LAKE OF WAN.—AKHLAT.-TATAR TOMBS.— ANCIENT REMAINS.—A DERVISH.—A FRIEND.— THE MUDIR.—ARMENIAN REMAINS.—AN ARMENIAN CONVENT AND BISHOP.—JOURNEY TO BITLIS.—NIMROUD DAGH.—BITLIS.—JOURNEY TO [Pg 28] [Pg 29] [Pg 30] KHERZAN.—YEZIDI VILLAGE. The first view the traveller obtains of the Lake of Wan, on descending towards it from the hills above Akhlat, is singularly beautiful. This great inland sea, of the deepest blue, is bounded to the east by ranges of serrated snow- capped mountains, peering one above the other, and springing here and there into the highest peaks of Tiyari and Kurdistan; beneath them lies the sacred island of Akhtamar, just visible in the distance, like a dark shadow on the water. At the further end rises the one sublime cone of the Subhan, and along the lower part of the eastern shores stretches the Nimroud Dagh, varied in shape, and rich in local traditions. At our feet, as we drew nigh to the lake, were the gardens of the ancient city of Akhlat, leaning minarets and pointed Mausoleums peeping above the trees. We rode through vast burying-grounds, a perfect forest of upright stones seven or eight feet high of the richest red colour, most delicately and tastefully carved with arabesque ornaments and inscriptions in the massive character of the early Mussulman age. In the midst of them rose here and there a conical turbeh[3] of beautiful shape, covered with exquisite tracery. The monuments of the dead still stand, and have become the monuments of a city, itself long crumbled into dust. Amidst orchards and gardens are scattered here and there low houses rudely built out of the remains of the earlier habitations, and fragments of cornice and sculpture are piled up into the walls around the cultivated plots. Beyond the turbeh, said to be that of Sultan Baiandour through a deep ravine such as I have already described, runs a brawling stream, crossed by an old bridge; orchards and gardens make the bottom of the narrow valley, and the cultivated ledges as seen from above, a bed of foliage. The lofty perpendicular rocks rising on both sides are literally honeycombed with entrances to artificial caves, ancient tombs, or dwelling-places. On a high isolated mass of sandstone stand the walls and towers of a castle, the remains of the ancient city of Khelath, celebrated in Armenian history, and one of the seats of Armenian power. I ascended to the crumbling ruins, and examined the excavations in the rocks. The latter are now used as habitations, and as stables for herds and flocks. Many of the tombs are approached by flights of steps, also cut in the rock. An entrance, generally square, unless subsequently widened, and either perfectly plain or decorated with a simple cornice, opens into a spacious chamber, which frequently leads into others on the same level, or by narrow flights of steps into upper rooms. There are no traces of the means by which these entrances were closed: they probably were so by stones, turning on rude hinges, or rolling on rollers. Leaving the valley and winding through a forest of fruit trees, here and there interspersed with a few primitive dwellings, I came to the old Turkish castle, standing on the very edge of the lake. It is a pure Ottoman edifice, less ancient than the turbehs, or the old walls towering above the ravine. Inscriptions over the gateways state that it was partly built by Sultan Selim, and partly by Sultan Suleiman, and over the northern entrance occurs the date of 975 of the Hejira. In the fort there dwelt, until very recently, a notorious Kurdish freebooter, of the name of Mehemet Bey, who, secure in this stronghold, ravaged the surrounding country, and sorely vexed its Christian inhabitants. He fled on the approach of the Turkish troops, after their successful expedition against Nur-Ullah Bey, and is supposed to be wandering in the mountains of southern Kurdistan. The ancient city of Khelath was the capital of the Armenian province of Peznouni. It came under the Mohammedan power as early as the ninth century, but was conquered by the Greeks of the Lower Empire at the end of the tenth. The Seljuks took it from them, and it then again became a Mussulman principality. It was long a place of contention for the early Arab and Tartar conquerors. Shah Armen[4] reduced it towards the end of the twelfth century. It was besieged, without result, by the celebrated Saleh-ed-din, and was finally captured by his nephew, the son of Melek Adel, in a. d. 1207. The sun was setting as I returned to the tents. The whole scene was lighted up with its golden tints, and Claude never composed a subject more beautiful than was here furnished by nature herself. I was seated outside my tent gazing listlessly on the scene, when I was roused by a well-remembered cry, but one which I had not heard for years. I turned about and saw standing before me a Persian Dervish, cloth...