Assyrian discoveries E-Book

George Smith

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Seitenzahl: 498

Beschreibung

In November 1873 English Assyriologist George Smith again left England for Nineveh for a second expedition, this time at the expense of the Museum, and continued his excavations at the tell of Kouyunjik (Nineveh). An account of his work is given in Assyrian Discoveries book, published early in 1875. The rest of the year was spent in fixingtogether and translating the fragments relating to the creation, the results of which were published later in The Chaldaean Account of Genesis (1880, co-written with Archibald Sayce)

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George Smith

Assyrian discoveries

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Cover: Shalmaneser III (Modify: Pekka Mansikka)

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Publisher: Pekka Mansikka, Kittilä, Finland

Manufacturer: Books on Demand, Helsinki, Finland

ISBN: 978-952-69639-1-4

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Publisher’s introduction

George Smith (26th March 1840 – 19th August 1876) was a pioneering English Assyriologist.

Smith's earliest successes were the discoveries of two unique inscriptions early in 1867. The first, a total eclipse of the sun in the month of Sivan inscribed on Tablet K51, he linked to the spectacular eclipse that occurred on 15 June 763 BC, a description of which had been published 80 years earlier by French historian François Clément (1714–1793) in L'art de vérifier les dates des faits historiques. This discovery is the cornerstone of ancient Near Eastern chronology. The other was the date of an invasion of Babylonia by the Elamites in 2280 BC

In 1872, Smith achieved worldwide fame by his translation of the Chaldaean account of the Great Flood, which he read before the Society of Biblical Archaeology on 3 December and whose audience included also the Prime Minister of United Kingdom.

In November 1873 Smith again left England for Nineveh for a second expedition, this time at the expense of the Museum, and continued his excavations at the tell of Kouyunjik (Nineveh). An account of his work is given in Assyrian Discoveries, published early in 1875. The rest of the year was spent in fixing together and translating the fragments relating to the creation, the results of which were published in The Chaldaean Account of Genesis (1880, co-written with Archibald Sayce) (Citation from Wikipedia)

PM-Tiedekirjat

PM-Tiedekirjat (PM-Science books) are mainly E-books with slightly larger text than usual. Books published in this series focus primarily on studies of distant history. Some of the studies are new and some may be ones for which no material has previously been published in Finnish. In addition, a few older English-language publications appear in this series.

Pekka Mansikka, Kittilä, Finland, 2021

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Preface

The following work was written to give in a permanent form some account of the excavations undertaken in 1873 and 1874 on the site of Nineveh; and the pricipal dicoveries which have resulted from these operations. The honour of having started this enterprise belongs to the proprietors of the ”Daily Telegraph” news-paper, and at the close of the first expedition they presented the firman and excavating plant to the trustees of the British Museum to facilitate the renewal of the work. The second expedition was only to take advantage of the remainder of time allowed by the firman, and I was directed to close the excavations within the period allowed by the concession of the Porte.

I have been working in the territory of the Turkish empire, and it is with regret that I have had to mention the unsatisfactory conduct of many of its agents. I have not made the most of this: I have omitted many incidents of bad conduct, and have stated those I have mentioned as moderately and slightly as possible; but I could not have passed the subject over entirely without falsifying my narrative. I have not the smallest doubt that in the government of Asia the Turks are not alive to their own interests, and particularly in the oppressive laws and persecution of the Christians. The American missions in Asiatic Turkey are doing a noble work in the country, but they can only be useful in proportion to the amount of officail support they receive from England and America.

In the body of my work I have acknowledged the assistance I received from several gentleman, official and private, in my expeditions. To these I must add the name of M. Péretié, the french consul at Mosul, who was of great assistance to me in my dealings with the Turkish officials, and took as much interest in my affairs as if I had been a fellow-subject with himself. The presence of M. Péretié at Mosul, and his generous attention to British interets, makes the want of a British consul less felt; but it is extremely unfortunate that in the wide extent of country between Aleppo and Baghdad there is not a single British representative.

1. Former excavations and discoveries in the valley of the Euphrates and Tigris

Interest of subject – Botta’s excavations – Layard’s works – Rawlinson – Hormuzal Rassam – Loftus – Decipherment of cuneiform – Goretefend – Rawlinson – Behistun text – Hincks – Oppert – Later descipherers

The interest attaching to the valley of the Euphrates and Tigris is of the widest kind; and, excepting the land Palestine, no other part of the globe can compare with it in the importance of its traditions, its history, and its monuments.

It is the home of man’s earliest traditions, the palace where Eden was supposed to have been; some of its cities are stated to be older than the Flood; it is the land of the Deluge and of the tower of Babel, and it is the birthplace of the great race of Israel which has played so important a part in the religious history of the world.

In Babylonia arose the first civilized state, and its arts and sciences became the parents of those of the Greeks, and through them also of our own.

Watered by two of the noblest rivers in the world, on each of these stood a great capital, Babylon on the Euphrates, Nineveh on the Tigris; cities which in the earlier period of history were unrivalled, and which even in their ruins have attracted the attention of travellers in all ages, from the time of their overthrow until now. M. Botta, who was appointed French consul at Mosul in 1842, was the first to commence excavations on the sites of the buried cities of Assyria, and to him is due the honour of the first discovery of her long lost palaces.

M. Botta commenced his labours at Kouyunjik, the large mound opposite Mosul, but the found here very little to compensate for his labours. New at the time to excavations, he does not appear to have worked in the best manner; M. Botta at Kouyunjik contented himself with sinking pits in the mound, and on these proving unproductive abandoning them.

While M. Botta was excavating at Kouyunjik, his attention was called to the mounds of Khorsabad by a native of the village on that site; and he sent a party of workmen to the spot to commence excavation. In a few days his perseverance was rewarded by the discovery of some sculptures, after which, abandoning the work at Kouyunjik, he transferred his establishment to Korsabad and thoroughly explored that site.

Side of portal excavated by M. Botta at Khorsabad

M. Botta’s workmen had sunk a well at Kohorsabad,and arrived at one of thepalace walls. Subsequent excavations led to the discovery of many chambers and halls, faced with slabs of gypsum carved over with mythological figures, battle scenes, processions, and similar subjects. Long inscriptions in the cuneiform character ran along the middle of most of the slabs, and some of them were also inscribed at the back. The palace which M. Botta had discovered was built by Sargon, king of Assyria, B.C. 722 to 705; its is one of the most perfect Assyrian buildings yet explored, and forms an excellent example of Assyrian architecture.

Beside the palace on the mound Korsabad, M. Botta also opened the reamains of a temple, and a grand porch decorated by six winged bulls, under which passed the road from the city to the palace. The operations of M. Botta were brought to a close in 1845, and a splendid collection of sculptures and other antiquities, the fruits of his labours, arrived in Paris in 1846 and was desposited in the Louvre.

Afterwards the French government appointed M. Place consul at Mosul, and he continued some of the excavations of his predecessor. Among other antiquities he discovered one of the gates of the city to which the palace of Sargon belonged. This gate was flanked on each side by gigantic winged bulls, and the space between them was spanned by an arch springing from the backs of the bulls.

Mr. Layard, whose attention was early turned in this direction, visited the country in 1840, and afterwards took a great interest in the excavations of M. Botta. At length, in 1845, Layard was enabled through the assistance of Sir Stratford Canning to commence excavations in Assyria himself. On the 8th of November he started from Mosul, and descended the Tigris to Nimroud. Next morning he commenced excavations, and soon discovered the remains of two palaces. Mr. Layard has described in his works with great minuteness his successive excavations, and the remarkable and interesting discoveries he made. At Nimroud he found several buildings, palaces, and temples; at Kouyunjik be found the palace of Sennacherib, and one of the great gates of the city; at Nebbi-yunas a palace of Esarhaddon, and minor monuments at various other sites. After making these dicoveries in Assyria, Mr. Layard visited Babylonia, and opened trenches in several of the mounds there. On the return of Mr. Layard to England, excavations were continued in the Eupharates valley under the superintendence of Colonel (now Sir Henry) Rawlinson. Under his directions, Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, Mr. Loftus, and Mr. Taylor excavated various sites and made numerous discoveries, the British Museum receiving the best of the monuments.

The materials collected in the national museums of France and England, and the numerous inscriptions published, attracted the attention of the learned, and very soon considerable light was thrown on the history, language, manners, and customs of ancient Assyria and Babylonia.

The key to the reading the Persian cuneiform writing had been discovered by Grotefend; but it was left to Sir Henry Rawlinson, in his great work on the Behistun insciption, to read the records of Darius and first decipher the accormpanying Scythic and Assyro-Babylonian texts; thus giving a clue to the reading of the thousands of insciptions discovered in Assyria and Babylonia.

The study of the cuneiform writing was carried on with great zeal and success by Sir H. Rawlinson, Dr. Hincks, Dr. Oppert, Dr. Norris, M. Menant, and H. Fox Talbot, Esq., and recentrly by M. Lenormant, Rev. A. II. Sayce, and Dr. Schrader. Other scholars have also assisted in the work, but have not taken any prominent position in deciphering the inscriptions. Beside the original discovery, the chief merit in deciphering the Assyrian inscriptions belongs to Sir H. Rawlinson, who in 1851 published the discovery of the capture of Samaria by Sargon, the war against Hezekiah by Sennacherib, and the names of many persons and places mentioned in the Bible.

In 1862 Sir Henry Rawlinson published one of the most remarkable Assyrian documents yet discovered, the Assyrianeponym canon, a chronological document giving the outlines of the Assyrian official chronology. This inscription is invaluable in the comparison of Assyrian and Scripture history.

In 1863 he published a number of dicoveries, including the tablet containing the synchronous history of Assyria and Babylonia. Next after Sir Henry Rawlinson comes Dr. Hincksm a successful student both of the Egyptian and Assyrian, and on some points the close rival of Sir Henry Rawlinson. Each of the other scholars has contributed his share to the discoveries which have been made from time to time; these are so numerous that it would take too long to do justice to them here, but the accounts of previous explorations and dicoveries will be found in the following works: –

Botta. Monument de Ninive, Paris, five vols., 1849-50; Memore sur I’Écriture Cuneiforme Assyrienne, Paris, 1949.

Layard. Nineveh and its Remains, London, 1851; Nineveh and Bbabylon, London, 1953; Monuments of Nineveh, Londo, 1851; second series, 1853; Insciption in the Cuneiform Character, London, 1851.

Loftus. Travels in Chaldea and Susiana, London, 1856.

Place. Ninive et I’Assyrie, Paris, 1870.

Grotefend. Zur Erläuter, d. babylon. Keilschrift, 1840; Bemerkungen zur Inschrift eines Thongefässes mit niniv. Keilscrift, Göttingen, 1850-1; Die Tributverzeichniss d. Obelisken aus Nimrud, Göttingen, 1852; Erläuter. Der babyl. Keilinschrift aus Behistun, Göttingen, 1853; Erläuter. Zweier Ausschr. Nebukadnezar’s in babyl. Keilchr., Göttingen, 1854, and some minor papers.

Rawlinson (Sir II. C.) Commentary on the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Babylon and Assyria, London, 1850; Babylonian text of Great Inscription at Behistun, London, 1851; Memoir on the Babylonian and Assyrian Inscriptions, London, 1854; Notes on the early history of Babylonia, London 1856; Orthography of some of the later royal names of Assyrian and Babylonian history, London, 1956; Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. i. 1861, vol. ii. 1866, vol iii. 1870, and numerous papers in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1850 to 1864, and in the ”Athenæum” from 1851 to 1867.

Hincks. Numerous papers in the ”Athenæum”, Transactions of Royal Irish Society, Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, Journal of Sacred Literature, from 1850 to 1866.

Oppert. Études Assyriennes, Insciption Ministre de I’Instruction publique, Paris, 1857; Expédition en Mésopotamie, Paris, 1863; Éléments de la Grammaire Asde Borsippa, Paris, 1857; Rapport au syrienne, Paris, 1860, second edition, 1868; Commentaire de la grande Inscription du Palais de Khorsanad, Paris, 1865; Histoire des Empires de Chaldée et Assyrie, Paris, 1865; Les Insciptions de Dour-Sarkayan (Khorsabad), Paris, 1870.

Norris. Memoirs on the Scythic Version of the Behistun Inscription, London, 1853; Assyrain and Babylonian Weights, London; Assyrian Dictionary vol. i. 1868, vol. ii. 1870, vol. Iii. 1872.

Fox Talbot. Various papers in the Journal of Sacred Literature, Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, and Journal Biblical Archæology.

Lenormant. Essai sur un Monument Mathématique Chaldéen, Paris, 1868; Lettres Assyriologiques, Paris, 1871; La Magie chez les Chaldéens, Paris, 1874; Les premières Civilisations, Paris, 1874; Manuel d’histoire ancienne de I’Orient, Paris, 1869; Choix de texts Cunéiformes inédites, Paris, 1873.

Menant. Les Briques de Babylon, Paris, 1859; Sur les Inscriptions Assyriennes du Musée Britannique, 1862-3; Inscriptions de Hammourabi, Paris, 1863; Exposé des Éléments de la Grammaire Assyrienne, Paris, 1868; Le Syllabaire Assyrien, Paris, 1869-73; Leçons d’Epigraphie Assyrienne, Paris, 1873.

Sayce. On Akkadian Grammar, Journal of Philology, 1870; Assyrian Grammar, London, 1872; articles in Transactions of Society of Biblical Archæology.

Schrader. In Zeitschrift d. d. Morgenl. Gesellsch., 1869; Die assyrisch-babylonischen Keilinschschriften, Leipzig, 1872; Die Keilinschcriften und das alte Testament, Giessen, 1872.

Brandis. Ueber d. histor. Gewinn aus d. Entziffer. der. assyr. Inschriften, Berlin, 1856.

De Saulcy. Recherches sur I’Écriture Cunéiforme Assyrienne, Paris, 1849.

Rawlinson (George), The Five Great Monarchies of the ancient Eastern World, second edition, London, 1871; Herodotus, second edition, London.

2. Discoveries from 1866 to 1872

Date of Jehu – Annals of Assurbanipal – Eclipse B.C 763 – Pekah – Hoshea – Azariah – Early Elamite conquest – Religions calendar – Sabbaths – Early Babylonian history – Chaldean accopt of the deluge – Offer of the ”Daily Telegraph”

Everyone has some bent or inclination which, if fostered by favourable circumstances, will colour the rest of life. My own taste has always been for Oriental studies, and from my youth I have taken a great interest in Eastern explorations and dicoveries, particularly in the great work in which Layard and Rawlinson were a engaged.

For some years I did little or nothing, but in 1866, seeing the unsatisfactory state of our knowledge of those parts of Assyrian history which bore upon the history of the Bible, I felt anxious to do something towards settling a few of the questions involved. I saw at the time that the key of some of the principal difficulties in the case lay in the annals of Tiglath Pileser, and I wrote to Sir Henry Rawlinson to ask him if the casts and fragments of the inscriptions of this reign were available for reference and examination. Sir Henry Rawlinson, with whom I had coresponded before, took a generous interest in any investigations likely to throw light on the studies in which he held so distinguished a place, and he at once accorded me permission to examine the large store of paper casts in his work-room at the British Museum.

This work I found one of considerable difficulty, as the casts were most of them very fragmentary, and I was quite inexperienced, and had little time at my dispos.

In this my first examination of original text, I did not obtain much of consequence belonging to be period I was in search of; but I lighted on a curious inscription of Shalmaneser II., which formed my first dicovery in Assyrian. On a remarkable obelisk of black stone, dicovered by Layard in the centre of the mound of Nimroud, there are five lines of sculpture, representing the tribute reveived by the Assyrian monarch from different countries; and attached to the second one is an insciption which was deciphered independetly by Sir Henry Rawlinson and the late Dr. Hincks, and which reads, ”Tribute of Jehu, son of Omri (here follow the names of the articles), I received.” It was recognized that this was the Jehu of the Bible, but the date of the transaction could not be determined from the insciption. The new text which I had found gave a longer and more perfect account of war against Hazael king of Syria, and related that it was in the eighteenth year of Shalmaneser when he received the tribute from Jehu.

BLACK OBELISK.Discovery by Layard at Nimroud.

A short account of this text I published in the ”Athenæum”, 1866, and being encouraged to proceed in my researches by Sir Henry Rawlinson and Dr. Birch, the keeper of the Oriental department of the Bristish Museum, I next set to work on the cylinders containing the history of Assurbanipal, the Sardanapalus of the Greeks. The annals of this monarch were then in considerable confusion, through the mutilated condition of the records; but by comparing the various copies, I soon obtained a fair text of the earlier part of these insciptions, and Sir Henry Rawlinson proposed that I should be engaged by the trustees of the British Museum to assist him in the work of preparing a new volume of ”Cuniform Insciptions.” Thus, in the beginning of 1867, I entered into official life, and regularly prosecuted the study of the cuneiform texts. I owed my first step to Sir Henry Rawlinson, whose assistance has been to me of the greatest value throughout my work.

My next discovery related to the tablet printed in ”Cuneiform Inscriptions,” vol. ii. p. 52, and there called a tablet of distribution of officers. This tablet I found to be a canon of Assyrian history, and accertained that the eclipse mentioned in it corresponded with the one in ”L’Art de vérifier les dates,” for 15th June, B.C 763.On pointing out my evidence to Sir Henry Rawlinson, he remembered a histotical fragment which corresponded with this tablet, and by fitting it into the tablet he completed and proved the discovery.

I now again took up the examination of the annals of Tiglath Pileser, and had the good fortune to find several new fragments of the history of this period, and discovered notices of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah king of Israel, and Hoshea king of Israel.

In the same year, I found some new portions of the Assyrian canon, one with the name of the Shalmaneser who, according to the Second Book of Kings, attacked Hoshea king of Israel. In 1968, continuing my ivestigations, I discovered several accounts of an early conquest of Babylonia by the Elamites. This conquest is stated to have happened 1635 years before Assurbanipal’s conquest of Elam, or B.C 2280, which is the earliest date yet found in the inscriptions.

In the year 1869, I dicovered among other things a curious religious calendar of the Assyrians, in which every month is divided into four weeks, and the seventh days, or ”Sabbaths,” are marked out as days on which no work should be underataken.

During 1870, I was engaged in preparing for publication my large work on the history of Ashurbanipal, in which I gave the cuneiform texts, transciptions, and translations of the historical documents of this important reign. The work, which was very expensive, on account of the cuneiform type, was published in 1871, at the cost of Mr. J. W. Bosanquet and Mr. H. Fox Talbot.

My next discoveries were in the field of early Babylonian history, and these were published in the first volume of the ”Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archæology,”

In 1872, I had the good fortune to make a far more intresting discovery, namely, that of the tablets containing the Chaldean account of the deluge. The first fragment I discovered contained about half of the account: it was the largest single fragment of these legends.

As soon as I recognized this, I began a search among the fragments of the Assyrian library to find the remainder of the story.

This library was first discovered by Mr. Layard, who sent home many boxes full of fargments of terra-cotta tablets, and after the close of Mr. Layard’s work, Mr. Hormuzd Rassam and Mr. Loftus recovered much more of this collection. The fragments of clay tablets were of all sizes, from half an inch to a foot long, and were thickly coated with dirt, so that they had to be cleaned before anything could be seen the surface. Whenever I found anything of interest, it was my practice to examine the most likely parts of this collection, and pick out all the fragements that would join, or throw light on the new subject. My search for fragments of the Deluge story was soon rewarded by some good finds, and I then ascertained that this tablet, of which I obtained three copies, was the eleventh in a series of tablets giving the history of an unknown hero, named Izdubar; and I subsequently ascertained that this series contained in all twelve tablets. These tablets were full of remarkable interest, and a notice of them being published, they at once attracted a considerable amount of attention, both in England and abroad. I arranged to give the public, as soon as possible a translation and account of these fragments in a lecture before the Biblical Arhæological Society, and this was delivered on the 3rd of December, 1872. My latest discoveries and completer accounts of these tablets will given in my present work.

In consequence of the wide interest taken at the time in these discoveries, the proprietors of the ”Daily Telegraph” newspaper came forward and offered to advance a sum of one thousand guineas for fresh researches at Nineveh, in order to recover more of these interesting insciptions, the terms of agreement being that I should conduct the expendition, and should supply the ”Telegraph” from time to time with accounts of my journeys and discoveries in the East in return.

3. From London to Mosul

Paris – Marseilles – Mediterranean – Palermo – Etna – Syra – Smyrna – Alexandretta – Beilan, Hotels – Pass of Beilan – Afrin – Robber – Aleppo – Turkish holiday – Euphrates – Teharmelek – Orfa – American missions – Christians in Turkey – Varremshaher – River Khabour – Nisibis

The offer of the proprietors of the ”Daily Telegraph” being accepted by the trustees of the British Museum, I received leave of absence for six months and directions to proceed to East and open excavations for the recovery of further cuneiforn inscriptions. It would have been better to have waited until the next autumn before starting, but I desired that there should be no disappointment to the proprietors of the ”Daily Telegraph,” who had generously offered to pay the expenses, and who naturally wished some letters in return while the subject was fresh in the public mind, so I resolved to start at once, and after receiving much advice and assistance from my friend Mr. Edwin Arnold, himself an old Eastern traveller, I got off from London on the evening of the 20th of January, 1873, and crossed the Channel during the night. At the weather was stormy, I paid the usual tribute to Neptune; but reached the French coast in good condition for breakfast. On my way I fell in with an active partizan of the fallen empire, going back to France to try to work a change in political affairs there. This gentleman lightened my journey and amused me very much by his endeavours to whitewash the late French government, and to persuade me to read some recent passages in history through his spectacles.

In rested the next night in Paris, and on the morning of the 22nd went to view the Assyrian collection at the Louvre, some notice of which I sent to the ”Telegraph.” It is impossible in a short notice to give a correct description of this admirable collection, which, altough not of great extent, contains several valuable antiquities, the larger part of which were discovered by M. Botta at Khorsabad, and principally belong to reign of Sargon, the monarch mentioned by Isaiah.

Among the remarkable in the Louvre there is a bronze statuette of the time of Kudur-mabuk, an early Elamite king, and a series of metal tablets inscribed with the records of Sargon, which were buried in the foundations of his city in the mound of Khorsabad. After a hasty glance at these and numerous other treasures, I departed in the evening for Marseilles, where I arrived on the afternoon of the 23rd, and midday on the 24th of January I left Marseilles for the East.

The whole of this part of my journey was new to me, and consequently had a double interest; but it has been passed over by many travelles and often described before, so I can dismiss it with a short notice. I took passage on one of the steamers of the Messageries Maritimes company, named the ”Said.”

Passing out of the harbour of Marseilles, I got a good view of the fortifications built for the defence of this port, and looking from and unprofessional point of view, it seemed to me that if they ever came into use some of the fine houses near the sea would be in very exposed positions; but it is always difficult to accommodate fortifications to a large and flourishing city.

There is a desolate, weather-worn appearance about the south coast of France, and an apparent absence of good sites for seaports and hadbours; rugged rocks appear everywhere, and although in many places romantic, they appear to be of the same character all along the shore. Passing alog the straits which divide Corsica from Sardinia, some fine scenery presents iself, beautiful rocks, bays, promontories, and islands are seen in succession, and among other places, Caprera, the island home of Garibaldi, comes into view. The coast, however, still presents the same desolate appearance, and very few boats are seen.

The captain of the ”Said,” M. Girard, was a capital companion on the voyage, and paid the greatest attention to his passengers. I was much indebted to him throughout the journey; he had read of my recent Assyrian dicoveries, and whenever we came to any place likely to interest me, he took me on shore to examine it.

On the morning of the 26th we came in sight of Sicily, and entered the bay of Palermo. The weather was now fine, and the appearance of the island beautiful. The city of Palermo is built round the bay, and it is backed by fine sloping mountains, which seemed covered by verdure even at this time of the year. The appearance of the city from the sea is charming, and the bay appears well sheltered, and affords excellent anchorage. Palermo seems to enjoy a fair amount of prosperity; there was at this time in the bay a good show of foreign shipping, including some British vessels. I went on shore with Captain Girard, and we made our way up the principal street. There are many noble old mansions, and much on every side to remind one of days gone by. We passed into the cathedral; a fine building evidently the work of different ages, and in it we saw the tombs of the old kings of Sicily. Some of these monuments are very fine, and the interior of the building altogether seemed fitted for the gorgeous ceremonials of the Italian worship. Service was then going on in the cathedral, but the point that seemed most painful to English eyes was the confessional, which was carried out during the service and in the church. Over the principal entrance of the building stood a portrait of Victor Emmanuel. This astonished me very much, on account of the hatred of the Catholic clergy to him.

Passing out of the cathedral, was went to view a Roman villa which had been excavated and cleared for inspection, being protected all round by an iron rail. The solid thick walls, the mosaic pavements, courtyard, and various rooms and offices, formed a curious picture of the style of this great nation now passed away. Considerable interest appears to be taken in archæology at Palermo, and other remains have been discovered in the same neighbourhood. Palermo has prospered very much since the formation of the kingdom of Italy, but there still remains round it the curse of brigandage. Passing out of Palermo in the evening, we steamed towards the straits dividing Italy from Sicily. Just before dawn the next morning the captain sent to wake me, and I went on deck to enjoy the lovely view of sunrise over Etna. Night still hung over the landscape, and the lights of Reggio on the Italian shore, and Messina on the Sicilian coast, fringed the sea on either side like rows of stars. Soon after, the first rays of the morning sun tinted the top of Etna with a fiery pink, and mountains stood out like a giant, towering above all the surrounding hills, clothed in a mantle of snow, with a few light, fleery clouds playing about its summit. Gradually the glow of light crept down the side of Etna, while a dark leaden hue spread over the rest of the scene; then as the light descended, and peak after peak caught the rays, new effects of light and shade were given, ever varying, but always beautiful. The morning dispersed the clouds, and put an end to these pleasing views; but there continued to be ample interest in watching the sothern shore of Italy, with its romantic and beautiful scenery.

Our course now lay towards the Greek archipelago, and on the 28th we passed the bay of Navarino, the scene of the disastrous defeat of the Turkish fleet. A little later we passed a bold rock, jutting out into the sea with steep and lofty sides, having half-way up from the sea a solitary cell, in which resides a hermit who cultivates a patch of sloping ground round his dwelling, but principally subsists on the alms of strangers. Just past his hermitage are seen on a ledge of the rock the remains of a considerable monastery, the ruined arches of which seem almost like fantastic portions of the rocks which back them. The feelings which prompted men to build on these rugged rocks, and to inhabit such lonely and inaccessible spots, must have been in marked contrast to the spirit of intercourse and activity now so universal.

Next morning, 29th, we came in sight of Syra, and anchored in front of the town. Syra is the principal port of the Greek archipelago, and is a thriving and important place. It has a large and increasing trade, and appeared to be much frequented by Austrian vessels. The town prsesents a beautiful appearance from the sea, being situated on the side of a hill facing the harbour, the houses rising one above another until they nearly crown the eminence.

Many of the buildings are of marble, and look very fine in the distance, while it is a common custom to paint a light tint over the faces of the houses, so that these add to the general effect.

The main portion of the town is inhabited by Greeks, who profess the faith of the Eastern church, but some of the people are Catholics, and such is the feeling between the two that they have to inhabit different portions of the town, the Catholic quarter lying higher up the hill with a zone of neutral territory to separate it from the Greek town. Even this division does not prevent strife, and the intermediate space is sometimes the scene of conflicts between adherents of the two faiths.

I went on shore with the captain, landing at the base of the rocks to the left of the town. On approaching the shore I found that the appearance of fertility observed from the vessel was deceptive; the rocks round Syra having a green colour, while the ground is as barren and stony as it can well be. The captain tried some shooting, but only bagged one bird about as large a sparrow. We now abandoned the field and passed through the tanners’ quarter, the place of a thriving industry, the appearance of which was very curious; from there we went to the office of the Messageries company, and afterwards visited the theatre and cathedral. The

appearance of the public buildings is not so fine on close inspection, as the stone with which they are built is left too rough. The Greeks of Syra, and in fact of most other places, are large, strongly-made people, but they have not the symmetry of form and classical features of the Greeks of antiquity; they are active and enterprising, and are taking the lead all over the East.

In the afternoon we left Syra, and next morning anchored in front of the town of Smyrna. I had now arrived in the Turkish dominions, and Smyrna was the first town I saw in Asia.

On reaching the deck in the morning I was surrounded by a number of Greeks, touts for the different hotels; these men pressed their services upon me, offering to show me everything, from the temple of Diana to the bazaars of Smyrna. I declined their aid, and with some little difficulty

got rid of them, but I was followed by one gentleman who thought me rather green; he informed me that the others were all cheats, advised me not to have anything to do with them, and wound up by hoping I would go ashore in his boat. I thanked him for his information, and told him that when I wanted to go on shore I could find a boat, and so I sent off the last of my persecutors. Later in the day I went on shore with the captain, and we no sooner touched the land than we were followed by two men who wanted to show us over the town; one of these, an old Jew, followed us all the time, and did all he could to induce us to make purchases at the various shops. We passed along the principal streets and through the bazaars; all the throroughfares were very narrow, and crowded with various animals and people carrying packages: it was difficult to pick our way among these crowds, which distracted our attenntion from the shops and goods. All sorts of things were exposed for sale, icluding antiquities, arms, uniforms, and Eastern dresses. Here and there were Eastern refreshment houses, where natives were cooking dirty-looking messes; one of these dishes appeared to me particularly repulsive, it consisted of small portions of meat and intestines of kids strung on skewers like cat’s meat, and roasted before a charcoal fire. This dainty appeared in particular request, and the sellers were calling aloud to passers-by bot to miss the opportunity of trying it, as it was then in perfection. In the market-place we saw a number of natives getting up a fight between some turkeys and a cock, and they seemed to enjoy it immensely. Next day we went to Caravan Street, the spot from which all the caravans start for the interior of Asia. This road was in a worse state than any of the others, and if possible more crowded; it was nothing but one long mudpudding, through which continually passed strings of camels in each direction, every caravan being led by a donkey, which carried the personal effects of the owner. Smyrna itself is a town of very mixed appearance, half European and half Asiatic; the inhabitants do not appear to very favourable specimens; a well-know Oriental traveller has described the place as containing the rag-tag of Europe and the bob-tail of Asia. The commerce of the city is considerable, but the water grows shallower every year, and the ports is gradually silting up.

At Smyrna we had several new passengers bound for same port as myself, Alexandretta. We also took on board a number of Asiatics going on pilgrimage; they travelled fourth class, living on the deck at the fore part of the vessel: they were exceedingly devout and equally filthy, and from the time they took possession we avoided that part of the vessel.

On the 1st of February we arrived at Rhodes, and again laded to inspect the town. The are some curious old cannon in the fort, and many buildings worth visiting. Among other places we looked into one of rhe mosques; some of the faithful were devoutly engaged in worship within the building, and their shoes, which they had taken off according to Oriental custom, stood at the porch. I could not avoid the reflection that in our own highly-favoured country those boots would not have remained long at the door.

Next day we passed along the southern coast of Asia Minor, here called Caramania. This coast is bold and rocky in the extreme, and there did not appear to be either shelter or port over the whole distance. At one spot there stood the ruins of a large town, walls, houses, aqueducts, and other structures covered the whole space, and some parts seemed as if only abandoned yesterday; the whole seene, however, was utterly desolate, not a human being or sign of cultivation being visible.

On the 3rd we arrived at Mersina, a small port doing a great amount of trade, the goods being brought from the interior on camels. The appearance of Mersina is very unfavourable, and the town is unhealthy, there being always a great amount of fever. The port is not sheltered, and in rough weather landing is diffioult. From Mersina we steamed to Alexandretta, the port to which I was bound; and bidding farewell to Captain Girard, I went on shore in company with Mr. Forbes, an English merchant, and we called on Mr. Franck, the British cobsul.

The consul and Madame Franck received us very kindly, and we stayed and lunched with them before starting. Mr. Franck at once assisted me to get a servant, and Mrs. Franck packed up some useful things for the road. I remained some hours at Alexandretta while preparations were made for the journey, and was able to examine the place.

Alexandretta is the finest port on the Syrian coast; the bay is well sheltered and the anchorange good; the place seems shut in by mountains, and on a board spit of sand lying along the water at the foot of the mountains the town is built. The scenery round is beautiful, and the position is suitable for building a large port, but Alexandretta is only a small place, badly built and unhealthy. The commerce of the place is considerable, and all goods, to go overland to Aleppo or Bagdad, pass through here.

I landed at Alexandretta on the 4th of February, and the same day day in the afternoon started for Mosul. After passing along the level ground for a little distance, we began to ascend the mountains, which looked so picturesque from Alexandretta. The road here is very fair for Turkey, and the scenery beautiful. As I was new to this travelling, it took us three hours to get from Alexandretta to first station, Beilan. I was accompanied by two of my fellow-passengers in the ”Said,” Mr. Forbes and Mr. Kerr. Mr. Forbes was on a pleasure trip into the interior, and mr. Kerr was going to Aleppo on business. Arriving in the evening at Beilan, we looked for accommodation, and first turned to a new khan just building; only the skeleton of this place was up, and it did not appear sufficient for our purposes, so we went further on to the residence of one named Yakub, who kept what he has pleased to call the ”hotel” of Beilan. This place consisted simply of rough wooden rooms and benches, with a strong suspicion of vermin. Mr. Forbes, an experienced traveller, declared he smelt bugs and fleas, not to mention other things, and mounting again, he rode back to the khan, choosing the insufficient shelter in preference to the small company.

Mr. Kerr and I resolved to stay and try it, and Mr. Forbes called on us a little later to dine. Our hotel had no windows, holes in the wall served that purpose, and the boards or logs of the floor were placed so wide apart that there seemed some danger of slipping down into the next apartment; a bench served as table, the guests brought their own cutlery, &c., and dispensed with tablecloths as a useless luxury. The single course consisted of a tough fowl that might have remembered the Assyrian empire. After our rich repast, Yakub, the proprietor, brought to us a book, in which his various visitors had written their experience of his place. Yakub, who could not read, thought that these entries were all praise, and begged us to add some notice of our satisfaction to the collection. We took the book and looked it through; it was full of the richest and most appropriate remarks about the ”hotel:” one discoursed about the age of the fowls, another about the vermin; others gave cautions to the travellers who might come after; one advised his successors not to fall through the holes in the floor, as they would be astonished at the appearance of the apartment below, another wrote that the place was comfortable, and the holes in the floor ”very convenient.” After inserting some remarks in this book, Mr. Forbes left, and Mr. Kerr and myself commenced a battle with the fleas; ultimately our weariness got the better of us, and we fell asleep I awoke in the night and found a heavy storm was raging, which bid fair to spoil our next day’s travelling. Next day Mr, Forbes went on to Antioch, and Mr. Kerr and I rode through the Beilan pass. Beilan itself is romatically situated in the gorge of the pass, the houses being built up the mountains on each side. There are beautiful springs and streams of water, and the rocks in some places are covered with maiden-hair. The pass of Beilan is the only road from Alexandretta to the interior, and if railway is ever constructed in this part of the world, this pass is the only place which will present any great engineering difficulty. The local traffic in the interior of Asiatic Turkey is, however, so small, that a railway could only pay the contractors, and it would take many years before any internal traffic could be developed. The storm which had happened in the night had made the pass slippery and difficult to travel over, and I was glad after riding through it to rest at the coffee station of Delebekir. This station is situated near where the pass opens on the plain Antioch; on the right lies the lake of Antioch, a large sheet of water with swampy sides, which sometimes extends over a considerable part of the plain.

The resting place at Delebekir is a hut of the rudest description, and here we sat a few minutes to partake of Turkish coffee before going on the next stage of the journey. Our road now lay across an extensive plain, through which wanders the river Kara Su, a tributary of the Oronres, a broad, shallow, sluggish stream. The whole plain is wild and desolate, overgrown with rushes and wild plants, but capable of a high degree of cultivation. Across the swampy parts were ruined causeways and ancient bridges, all in a state of dilapidation very characteristic of Turkey. In the evening we came to Ain Bada a station where the plain is broken by ranges of hills. Here we put up at the khan, and shared its accommodation with a number of native travellers going between Alexandretta and Aleppo. The khan was as usual a rough building of stones and mud thatched over to keep out the rain. The ground formed the floor, a slight depression in the middle made a place for a fire, and round the sides was a rough platform, of boards ti sleep upon. We sat on this platform, smoking and drinking coffee, and watching with amusement the native travellers. These gentleman appeared to have been playing some game of chance and quarrelled over it; they broke out into bad language and called each other cheats, the matter ending in a fight. The Arabs pulled and tugged each other all about the place, and prsesently laying hold of one of their number, pushed him by general consent out of the khan. We now had peace, and soon made ourselves comfortable for the night, and early in the morning started again on our way. The road from Ain Bada passes through a wild and more rugged country, intersected by sterile mountains, on which a few goats only find subsistence; it is broken about the middle by a plain really part of of the plain of Antioch, through which here runs the river Afrin, also tributary of the Orontes. At Afrin we rested to have our mid-day meal, and here we heard of the exploits of a famous robber who was at large in the district. This man had been one of the irregular soldiers in the Turkish army, but afterwards had abandoned the service and taken to the road. He had carried on his depredations for some years, and with all their effors the authorities had failed to capture him. A reward was now offered for his capture, but had as yet produced no result. This man was guilty of no cruelty in his robberies, and through a little generosity to some of the villagers he secured himself friends and hiding-places when the agents of the government were after him. A little while before I arrived there, he had plundered the station of Afrin.

Coming in the night with a band of followers, he hammered at the door and called out that they were travellers who had lost their way, and begged shelter until the morning. On the owner opening the door, he was seized and bound, while the robbers ransacked the place and carried off everything but an old clock. While we were at Afrin a party of Turkish irregulars arrived, and the officer in charge of the detachment immediately inquired my business in the country; but without waiting for an answer, he showed his penetration by saying, ”Oh, I know, you are come to survey the country for a railroad.” Leaving Afrin, we journeyed to Termanin, where we put up for the night. Here we lodged at a private house, and were more comfortable than we had yet been. I saw little of the place, but the country seemed to consist of rich plains, crossed and broken here and there by barren, stony mountains. On the morning of the 7th of February we started early from Termanin, and rode to Aleppo. The road was rough and hilly, and this part of the country lies a considerable height above the sea. Outside the city we were met by M. Costi, a friend of Mr. Kerr, and we put up at an apology for an hotel, called the ”locanda.” Aleppo is a fine city, and is said to have nearly half a million of inhabitants, It has a noble castle, and is surrounded by fortifications. All the best of the city is Saracenic is its architecture, and the castle and walls are now partly in ruins. The streets are narrow, and paved with small slippery stones; the houses are very fair for an Eastern town, and there are many public buildings.

In the evening, Mr. Kerr and I paid a visit to M. Costi, who lived in the Christian quarter of the town. It was late at night when we returned to the locanda, and, as there are no lights in the streets of these Eastern cities, we were escorted home by a man bearing a large Oriental lantern.

Next morning, I called on Mr. Skene, our consul at Aleppo. He received me in a most friendly manner, and offered me every assistance in his power. I was afterwards continually indebted to his good offices in the Turkish territory.

It was now the Turkish festival of Korban Bairam, and all business was suspended, so I could not move from Aleppo; and being obliged to stay, I wandered round the city to see the festival. Everybody was out, and all seemed enjoying themselves in a very childish fashion, grave, bearded men taking turns in swings like so many boys at a fair. On Sunday we rode out to see the public gardens, which are very good: they were established by a former pacha, but have been for some time neglected, as his successors, being pious Moslems, and consequently bigoted and ignorant, do notunderstand the use of such places.

On the 11th, I completed my arrangements, and started on the 12th of February for Mosul. A Swiss gentleman, travelling on business to the same place, asked leave to accompany my caravan, and we started together from Aleppo about midday, arriving in the evening at Tel Karamel, where we put up with the chief of the village. We were installed in a large building, divided by mud partitions into four or five parts, in one of which was a raised place, which was assigned to us. Into the rest of the building they brought our mules and all their own cattle. As soon as we were settled, a crowd of natives came in, and stood all round us, to observe our manners and customs; such was the curiosity of these people that they did not separate until they had seen us go to bed.

Next morning we rode to the village of Beglabeg, and, on the 14th, from Beglabeg to Muzar. On the 15th of February, we started early in the morning, and after a ride of about three hours came in sight of the river Euphrates. As I looked on this noble stream, called in ancient days the Great River, thoughts of the mighty empires and powerful monarchs once ruling beside its waters passed through my mind. The river is worthy of its associations: it is a broad, powerful stream, grand even now in its neglected condition.

We arrived at the river opposite the town of Biradjik, and, crossing in one of the ferry-boats, made our way along the narrow, crooked streets to the khan. When I started from Aleppo, I intended to ride to Diarbekr, and take a raft from there to Mosul; I consequently engaged my caravan to go to Diarbekr. I now asked my mule-driver to go to Mosul, but he refused: he was a native of Baghdad, and wanted to go to that town, and Mosul was 200 miles nearer to his home than Diarbekr, so that it was to his advantage to go to Mosul; but he saw that I desired to change the route, and resolved to make as much money as possible out of the circumstances.

Finding I could do nothing with him, I took him to the court. The cort house was like fair Eastern dwelling. On reaching it, we were ushered through the door into an open court, suurounded by a balcony; and ascending to the balcony by a flight of steps, we were admitted into the police-court, or judgement hall. The method of proceeding here is very comfotable, and the officials were very polite. All sat round the room on cushions, as is the custom in the East, and coffee and cigarettes were passed round before entering upon business. After some little difficulty an agreement was made with the driver, and we prepared to start next morning. Biradjik, the town at which I was staying, is more substantially built than most Eastern towns; a light, soft stone, apparently half chalk, half limestone, serves for many of the structures. The town is situated on an uneven elevation of this stone, just at the edge of the Euphrates; it is a station of some importance, and possesses a large ruined castle, which is very curious. Biradjik is probably the Tul-barsip of Assyrian inscriptions, which was added to the Assyrian empire B.C 856.

On the 16th February, I started from Biradjik, and travelled to Tcharmelek. Tcharmelek is a curious-looking village, and its dome-shaped dwellings strikingly resemble some of the pictures of villages in the Assyrian sculptures. On finding an apartment here, the natives crowded round us as they did at Tel Karamel. But there was a sound of rude music in the distance, which, they said, proceeded from a wedding company, so, after seeing us into bed, the natives turned off to see as much as they could of the bride and bridgegroom. On the 17th, we rode to Orfa. The road from Tcharmelek to Orfa gradually becomes rougher and more rocky as you proceed, and in the latter part is artificial, being carried along the side of a mountain gorge. On emerging from this gorge, a wide fertile plain is seen extending for many miles, and almost entirely surrounded by mountains. Just by the gorge, Orfa is situated, partly built on the plain, and partly up the face of a hill. It is a very old town, with some relics of various ages: there are buildings of the Roman and Saracenic time, inscriptions in Greek, Pehlevi, and Arabic, and many curious tombs cut in the rock. I called on Pastor Hagub, of the American mission, and from him reveived a kind welcome. He gave me some details of the noble work now being accomplished by the American missionaries in these countries, and of the difficulties which they met with. People in England and America, who read every now and then in the papers that the Grand Vizier has issued an order for the protection of liberty of conscience, and conceding justice to the Christians, little know the useless character of such announcements. The grinding tyranny under which the Cristians suffer, and the defiance of all solemn promises in places beyond the notice of the representatives of European powers, clearly show the nature of the Moslem rule. It is an astonishing fact that a Christian country like England upholds the Porte, and yet does not insist on justice being done to the Christians in Turkey. No end of promises are given, but anyone conversant with Turkey knows the distance between promise and performance. Probably it is not generally know in England and America that no Mahometan in Asian dare turn Christian. Util this state of affairs is altered, missions in Asiatic Turkey will not produce the fruit they ought.

After bidding farewell to Pastor Hagub, I made ready to leave Orfa on the 18th, but the weather was so stormy that it was some time before I could get off. A Turkish gentleman, who had come to Alexandretta in the same vessel as myself, had travelled up the country nearly at the same time, and was now at Orfa. He started on the 18th to go on further, but got wet through in the storm, and turned back. I tried to persuade him to start again with me, but he would not venture. I went off about midday, the storm having subsided. The road was in an awful condition through the rain, and resemblend a mud-pudding; and we had not gone far before we came near a camel lying down in the path. Just before we reached it, the camel suddenly got up, and our animals taking fright started off; mine carried me half across a field, when I managed to pull it up. My Swiss companion was not so fortunate; he rode a mule, and this creature at once threw him. Hedropped into the mud-pudding, and arose painted from head to foot. After this little misfortune, we managed to reach Adana, without further adventure. Round Adaba, and in the region neyond it, snow had been falling, and we could see the mountains in front covered with it. The house we put up in at Adana had one curiosity – its door was formed of an ancient threshing machine. This was a large frame of wood, in which were fixed hundreds of small worked flints, similar to those which are found in prehistoric deposits. The use of such an instrument shows the small amount of change produced by thousands of years in the East. Leaving Adana we rode over part of the mountain range of Karajah Dagh, which was covered with snow and bitterly cold, and obtained a very indifferent shelter at Dashlook. The chief of Dashlook is much under the influence of his wife, who has more power than women uaually possess in the East. This lady, who is a confirned smoker, begged some tobacco from us, which I readily presented to her, as she was hospitable hostess.

On the 20th we rode to Tel Gauran, or Telligori, where we had again a kind receipon, and starting from there early in the morning, arrived in the middle of the day at Varenshaher. Varenshaher is a poor village stituated in the midst of the ruins of a fine Roman town; it serves as a government station between Orfa and Nisibin. Here we changed our guides, and I then went on to an encampment which they called Engerlu. This part of the country is very curious; the soil is throughout a rich red earth, and the country is nearly level from the Karajah Dagh and Mardin mountains on the north, to the Hamma and Sinjar hills on the south; but all along the northern part the ground is covered by fagments of scored weatherbeaten rock, thicker near the mountains and gradually becoming less numerous further south; as a general rule, wherever a hill stands up in the plain the hill is covered with these boulders, even where there are few or none on the plain. The mountains north of this plain give rise to a considerable number of small streams, which unite lower down to form the river Khabour. On the 22nd we arrived at one of the principal branches of this river; we found it difficult to cross, as we had lost the road to the ford, and the whole country is do desolate that we found bo one of whom to inquire. The banks of this stream were very beautiful; it had cut out a deep valley, passing through the top soil and a stratum of rock similar in appearance to the Mardin mountains; at the bottom of this cutting it was flowing then, a beautiful stream swollen by the winter rains. We contrived to descend this gully, and then forded the stream, and as we climbed up the face of the rocks on the other side we startled a pair of eagles which had made their nest in the rock.

Soon after we found again the road to Nisibin, and came in sight of the towers of Dinasar, which are visible for many miles. I endeavoured to reach the place, but at sunset found myself still many miles away. The evening was beautiful, and setting sun threw splendid tints on to the Mardin mountains to the north; lovely colours which we seldom see off the painter’s canvas played about these peaks, and I was so taken by by the beautiful scene that I lingered to look at it until the sun went down. Darkness now setting in I lost my way, but was fortunately found by one of my guides, and after some difficulty we reached the village of Aburumeha. The inhabitants of this place were Christians, but they showed no hospitality, and at first refused to receive me. I could not, however, go on in the night, so I compelled them to give me a shelter, and in the morning started for Nisibin.