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BOUNDARY OF NINEVEH.

whence we turn again to run the boundary of 184 miles to the western angle; and from thence we run the last line of boundary until we reach our starting point at Khorsabad.

N.B. The L in the Arabic article when preceding words beginning with G, D, N, R, S, SH, T, takes the sound of the first letter, as "Es-Sufra," instead of "El-Sufra."

The parallelogram, or line of boundary, being thus completed, we have now to ascertain how far it accords with the localities of the researches; and we find that it not only comprehends the principal mounds which have already been examined, but many others, in which ruins are either actually, or almost certainly, known to exist. No. 1 is Khorsabad. Following the line of the Gebel Mekloub, we find within the

enclosure Nos. 2 and 3, Bazani and Bashika, in close proximity to a village called Tel Billa, the designation Tel, hill, being, we think, a sure indication of an ancient site in a level country where every elevation is artificial. No. 4 is Ain Es-sufra, so called from its being the source of a yellow stream. No 5, Mar Daniel (Saint Daniel), a village or convent, built on the Gebel Mekloub. No. 6, Tergilla-probably Tel Gilla-from the easy mutation of r into l in the Arabic as well as in other languages, it would then possess the epithet which marks ruins-Tel-hill, Tel Gilla. No. 7, Sheikh Emeer. No. 8, Karamles, a known ruin, the largest mound within the enclosure, second in importance to the great mound of Kouyunjik; and here we should propose a mutation of the k in Karamles into the strong aspirate hh, which would indicate the site of some sacred structures. No. 9, Kara Kush, also a known ruin. Kara in the Turkish means black, and seems in some way connected with ruins; for in other places where the word kara is used, there are known to be ruins. No. 10, Karoumjeh, ruins known to exist; but without this evidence the mound and name together would suggest the fact, the word roum among the Turks signifying the "territory or inhabitants of the Greek Empire," roum and ancient being synonymous terms. We now cross the river, and our line conducts us to No. 11, a mound in the city of Mósul itself, where a search would probably be rewarded, as in other examples of mounds, by the discovery of antiquities. No. 13, Tel Kaif, "the hill or mound of delight;" and here we again recognise in the name an ancient site, though no description of the place has as yet appeared. Tel Kaif completes the circuit to Khorsabad, whence so many sculptures have been extracted. Immediately within the enclosure, and opposite the city of Mósul, are the well-known mounds of Kouyunjik and Nebbi Yunis. It may here be noticed, that by the mutation of the n into m in the name of this mound (one which commonly takes place), we should have the word Kouyoumjik, the Turkish word for "silversmith," a meaning more in harmony with the fact of silver ornaments having been dug out of it, than the word as it now stands, which signifies "little sheep." These two conspicuous mounds are surrounded by a chain of smaller elevations, forming the irregular enclosure which Rich considered to be the walls inclosing the palace. Although the foregoing

110

WALLS OF ANCIENT NINEVEH.

description contains many names of places that have not the significant affix, Tel, or Koum, we have included them, from a persuasion that they all mark the sites of ancient buildings. In a country like that bordering the Tigris, any elevation above the ordinary level of the plain would, for obvious reasons, be sought in forming a settlement; and every height being manifestly artificial, it follows, almost beyond dispute, that all the hills, whether inhabited or otherwise, are likely to contain ruins. Another important object of remark, connected with this subject, is the thickness of the wall surrounding the palace of Khorsabad, which Botta states to be 15 mètres, i. e. 48 feet 9 inches, a very close approximation to the width of the wall of the city itself, which was 'so broad, as that three chariots might be driven upon it abreast." This is about half the thickness of the wall of Babylon, upon which "six chariots could be driven together," and which Herodotus3 tells us were 87 feet broad, or nearly double that of the palace at Khorsabad. The extraordinary dimensions of the walls of cities is supported by these remains at Khorsabad. The Median wall (see page 65) still existing, in part nearly entire, and which crosses obliquely the plain of Mesopotamia from the Tigris to the banks of the Euphrates (see map, Fig. 9), a distance of 40 miles, is another example. The great wall of China, also, of like antiquity, we are told, " traverses high mountains, deep valleys, and, by means of arches, wide rivers, extending from the province of Shen Si to Wanghay, or the Yellow Sea, a distance of 1500 miles. In some places, to protect exposed passages, it is double and treble. The foundation and corner stones are of granite, but the principal part is of blue bricks, cemented with pure white mortar. At distances of about 200 paces are distributed square towers or strong bulwarks." In less ancient times the Roman walls in our own country supply additional proof of the universality of this mode of enclosing a district or guarding a boundary before society was established on a firm basis. It may be objected against the foregoing speculations on the boundary of Nineveh, that the river runs within the walls instead of on the outside. In reply, we submit that when the walls were destroyed, as described by the historian, the flooded river would force for itself another 1 Diod. Sic., bk. ii. c. 1. 2 Idem. 3 Herod. bk. i. 4 Popular Encyclopædia, vol. ii. p 185, edit. 1848.

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channel, which in process of time would become more and more devious from the obstructions offered by the accumulated ruins until it eventually took the channel in which it now flows. The area we have indicated is of the recorded figure, and many important mounds are situated upon, or in the directions of, the lines of the wall, while the enclosure itself is full of known or inferential ruins. A consideration of the arguments leads us to the conclusion that the concurring facts strongly support the supposition that Nimroud, instead of being a part of Nineveh, is really the Resen of Genesis. The close proximity of the two cities does not present itself as an objection to us, because it was obviously essential for men to congregate together for security, in early stages of society. Every settlement doubtless became the nucleus of a city, which was ultimately enclosed by walls sufficiently extensive to include not only dwellings for man, but land for flocks and herds, and for the produce of grain; hence we see no reason why the sites of Calah, Resen, and Nineveh may not still be recognised under the modern names of Kalah Sherghat, Nimroud, and Niniouah.

B

Fig. 24.-WALLS OF NINEVEH.

A LITTLE more than forty miles in a direct line to the southward of Nimroud, but on the right bank of the Tigris, there exists another mound, covering the ruins of Assyrian palaces. The place is now called Kalah Sherghat, and probably marks the southern limits of the early Assyrian empire. But, apart from the interest attached to its position, and the character of its remains, there is every reason to believe that it marks the site of the ancient Calah, one of the cities founded by Nimroud, and alluded to in Holy Writ.

We follow with pleasure Mr. F. W. Ainsworth's graphic account of the journey to Kalah Sherghat and Al Hadhr, published in Transactions of London Geographical Society, as it contains much valuable information on the natural characteristics and resources of the country through which he passed: "We started on Saturday, April 18th, 1840, travelling at first across the cultivated alluvial plain south of Mósul, named the Karakójah. At this season of the year, barley was in ear, and beans in flower; fig, almond, and mulberry-trees were in full bloom, but the pistachio as yet only budding. On the sandy deposits of the river the water-melon had put forth its