RUINS AT AL HADHR.

On one of the walls at Al Hadhr is the finely-sculptured figure of a griffin, with twisted tail, about five feet from the ground, also relievi of busts, birds, griffins, &c.; on the southern wall, about ten feet from the ground, is a line of eight monsters, bulls with human heads, the relief reaching to the shoulders; they are full-faced, and about the size of life; a cornice is above; one hall is 32 paces long, and 12 broad, and the height must apparently have been 60 feet.

The party having made an elaborate examination of the ruins, and Layard having taken copies of various inscriptions, and sketches of some sculptures, they returned to Mósul.

BABYLON, PERSEPOLIS, BESITHUN, NAHR-EL-KELB, AND CYPRUS.

HOWEVER uncertain and meagre may be our general records of the history of Assyria, we have still existing in various countries several monuments which indisputably indicate the ancient extent of the empire. Cuneiform inscriptions, sculptures, and in some instances, ruins, have been disclosed, not merely in Babylonia, but in Persia, Media, Armenia, and Cyprus; and as some acquaintance with these remains will importantly assist in the investigation of the recent discoveries on the banks of the Tigris, we trust that the following short account of them, and of the localities where they are found, will not be misplaced.

Having already, in the Historical Section, noticed the chief cities of Babylonia, those founded by Nimrod, we shall now limit ourselves simply to a cursory reference to the ruins of Babylon and the other principal mounds in this part of Mesopotamia. The first and most important is the Birs Nimroud, which, if not originally distinct from Babylon itself, appears to have been very early separated from it. The square superficies of the mound is 49,000 feet, and its elevation at the south-east corner is 64 feet. To the south of it is the Muje lebeh, having a square superficies of 120,000 feet, and a height

of only 28 feet; beyond these again is the mound Amram Ibn Ali, having an area of 104,000 feet, and an elevation of 23 feet. The Mujelebeh has been read as if it were Mukalliba, from Kilba, "the overturned, or overthrown," whereas a much nearer affinity exists in Mujelebeh, plural of Jelib, "a slave or captive, the house of the captives," and not improbably the residence of the Israelites who remained in Babylon. This reading is favoured by the name Harút and Marút given to the mound by the natives, from a tradition, that near the foot of the ruin there is an invisible pit, where D'Herbelot relates that the rebellious people are hung with their heels upwards until the Day of Judgment.'

The kasr, or palace, is a mound of about 2100 feet in length and breadth, and from the sculptures, inscribed bricks, and glazed and coloured tiles, found there, it is generally regarded as the site of the large palace celebrated for its hanging gardens. The Amram Ibn Ali has been plausibly identified with the western palace. These three groups of mounds were all enclosed by ridges and mounds of ramparts forming two lines of defence in the shape of a triangle, of which the Mujelebeh was one solid angle; the other beyond Amram, and the third to the east. The fourth quarter is marked in its central space by the mound Al-Heimar, or Hamúr, an isolated eminence having a superficies of 16,000 feet, and an elevation of 44 feet, with a ruin on the summit eight feet high. It is said that in the time of Alexander antique monuments abounded in the Lamlúm marshes, which are 76 miles south of Babylon, and Arian says, that the monuments or tombs of the Assyrian kings were reported to be placed in the marshes; a report nearly substantiated by the fact that Messrs. Frazer and Ross found glazed earthenware coffins on some of the existing mounds. Beyond Sarút, and below Kút Amarah, are the ruins of a bridge of masonry over the Tigris, which bridge was probably on the line of road attributed to Semiramis. At Teib, the road joins a causeway of considerable length, and it possibly terminated at or near Tel Heimár.3 It is to be regretted that none of the researches in the mounds of Babylon have hitherto thrown any light on the structural arrangements of the Assyrian palaces; in the absence, therefore, of the details which 1 Ainsworth's "Researches in Assyria," p. 169. 2 Ainsworth.

3 Ainsworth's "Researches."

might be anticipated, we must content ourselves with the foregoing brief mention of the mounds, and seek elsewhere for information in aid of the immediate purpose of the present chapter.

As the Persian empire grew out of the ruins of the Assyrian empire, and Persepolis, the capital of that empire, succeeded to those of Assyria, it is to Persepolis we should naturally direct our inquiries respecting the architecture of its prede cessors; and, fortunately for our object, the ruins of Persepolis consist of those parts of the buildings which have entirely disappeared from the remains in Assyria, such as gates, columns, and window-frames, besides the stair-cases of the great platform, and those of the lesser elevations. The chief features of the ruins, however, are the tall, slender columns which stand out prominently to view, from which the place has obtained the descriptive appellative of Tel el Minar, the "hill of minarets," the natives considering the columns of the palaces of the kings to resemble the minarets of their mosques. The remains of this magnificent capital lie in north latitude 29° 59′ 39′′, east longitude 84°, and the appearance of the ruins, as approached from the south-west, is most imposing. They are situated at the base of a rugged mountain, and the artificial terrace on which they are built commands an immense plain, bounded on all sides by dark cliffs; the plain of the Merdasht is now, however, only a swampy wilderness, and a few solitary columns and scattered ruins are all that remain of the splendid city that once gave life and animation to the scene. It is to Sir Robert Ker Porter we are indebted for the most copious, accurate, and intelligent account of Persian antiquities in general, and to his Travels, therefore, must we turn for the best description of Persepolis. Sir Robert conjectures, from the mounds and fragments scattered about in various directions, that the capital originally extended from the pillared ruins along the whole foot of the mountain, connecting itself with Nakshi Roustam, and thence spreading over the plain to the north-west. The most conspicuous of the existing remains being the Tel-el-Minar, the palace thus described by Diodorus Siculus:1 "This stately fabric, or citadel, was surrounded with a treble wall; the first was sixteen cubits high, adorned with many sumptuous buildings and aspiring turrets. The second

1 Diod. Sic., bk. xvii. c. 7.

was like to the first, but as high again as the other. The third was drawn like a quadrant, four square, sixty cubits high, all of the hardest marble, and so cemented as to continue for ever. On the four sides are brazen gates, near to which are gallows (or crosses) of brass twenty cubits high; these were raised to terrify the beholders, and the other for the better strengthening and fortifying the place. On the east side of the citadel, about 400 feet distant, stood a mount called the Royal Mount, for here are all the sepulchres of the kings, many apartments and little cells being cut into the midst of the rocks; into which cells there is no direct passage, but the coffins with the dead bodies are by instruments hoisted up, and so let down into these vaults. In this city were many stately lodgings, both for the king and his soldiers, of excellent workmanship, and treasury chambers most commodiously contrived for the laying up of money."

Sir Robert's investigations included that part of the mountain situated behind the platform which Diodorus describes, as this division of the hill probably comprises the Royal Mount, where the tombs are found, and likewise on the ground above appear several mounds and stony heaps, marking three distinct lines of walls and towers. The artificial plain on which the ruins stand is a very irregular shape, the west front being 1425 feet long; the north, 926; and the south, 802 feet. The surface has become very uneven from the fallen ruins and accumulated soil; but to the north-west masses of the native rock show themselves, still bearing the marks of the original. implements with which the mass has been hewn. In the deeper cavities beyond the face of the artificial plain, a partially worked quarry is visible. Nothing can exceed the strength and beauty with which the rocky terrace has been constructed; its steep faces are formed of dark-grey marble, cut into gigantic square blocks, exquisitely polished, and without mortar, fitted with such precision, that when first executed the platform must have appeared as part of the solid mountain itself. The present height of the platform from the plain is 30 feet; but Sir Robert's observations satisfied him that the clearing away of the rubbish would give an additional depth of 20 feet, and probably more; though, on the southern side, it could never have exceeded 30 feet; while to the north it varies from 16 to 26 feet. This artificial plain consists of three ter