Copy 1

Nineveh and its remains: with an account of a visit to the Chaldaean Christians of Kurdistan, and the Yezidis, or devil-worshippers; and an enquiry into the manners and arts of the ancient Assyrians / [Sir Austen Henry Layard].

  • Layard, Austen Henry, 1817-1894.
Date:
1849
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Nineveh and its remains: with an account of a visit to the Chaldaean Christians of Kurdistan, and the Yezidis, or devil-worshippers; and an enquiry into the manners and arts of the ancient Assyrians / [Sir Austen Henry Layard]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    careful survey of the site of all the ruins, which is published in the collection of his journals, edited by his widow. With the exception of a small stone chair, and a few remains of inscriptions, Mr. Rich obtained no other Assyrian relics from the ruins on the site of Nineveh ; and he left Mosul, little suspecting that in these mounds were buried the palaces of the As¬ syrian Kings. As he floated down the Tigris to Baghdad, he landed at Nimroud, and examined the great mound. He was struck by its evident antiquity, and learnt the tales of the inhabitants of the neigh¬ bouring villages connecting the ruins with Nimrod’s own city, and the better authenticated tradition that they were those of A1 Athur, or Ashur, from which the whole country anciently received its name. He obtained a few specimens of bricks bearing cuneiform characters, and proceeded with his journey. The fragments collected by Mr. Rich were subse¬ quently placed in the British Museum, and formed the principal, and indeed almost only, collection of Assyrian antiquities in Europe. A case scarcely three - feet square enclosed all that remained, not only of the great city, Nineveh, but of Babylon itself! Other museums in Europe contained a few cylinders and gems, which came from Assyria and Babylonia; but they were not classified, nor could it be deter¬ mined to what exact epoch they belonged. Of As¬ syrian art nothing was known, not even by analogy. The architecture of Nineveh and Babylon was a matter -of speculation, and the poet or painter restored their