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Nineveh and its Remains, by
Austin Henry Layard, esq., D. C. L., 2 vols.
8vo. New York, George P. Putnam, 1849. (Received
from Carey & Hart.)—Nineveh, the ancient capital of
Assyria! what emotions pass over the mind of the
believer in Scripture, and the lover of research in
ancient things, when contemplating the theme. To
think, that upwards of two thousand years ago,
before the conquest of Persia by Alexander, Nineveh
was no more, and now to behold its ruins reopened,
its sculptures exposed to view, and its remains
transported first to India, and then to the shores
of distant Albion, an island unknown when Assyria
flourished, when Nineveh was alive with a multitude
of men, with kings and conquerors dwelling in its
palaces! See an adventurer coming from the west to
contemplate the mounds which are the sepulchres of
an ancient empire, and then, behold him removing
with patient industry, directed by skill and
science, the accumulated earth which form the tomb
of former greatness. It is curious, it is marvelous,
and nevertheless true, that the feat has been
accomplished, and this by the adventurous, roving
spirit, who feels himself at home amidst the Arab’s
tents, and the worshippers of the spirit of evil, no
less than among the mountaineers who profess the
same faith with himself. It would please us much,
could our magazine afford us space enough to comment
on the contents of these two beautiful volumes, as
they deserve. But, our readers are all as well
aware, as we ourself, that a monthly periodical of
so circumscribed a nature as ours, is not the proper
vehicle for long reviews; so we must rest content
with the usual <<165>> brief space which we can give
to literary articles. Let it, however, not be
imagined that the volumes before us, have only
antiquarian value; far from it, they have an
important bearing on Scripture and Scripture
history, and they afford another evidence that where
the contents of our blessed Bible are brought in
comparison with historical events correctly
ascertained, and where the ethnographic descriptions
alluded to, are subjected to a searching
investigation, the book of books is always
triumphantly vindicated as true, in fact and theory.
This must afford a consoling reflection to the
tribes of the weary foot and distressed spirit, who
have roamed, and wandered, and suffered all the
evils which the conquered have to endure, merely,
that they might preserve the legacy of truth, which
they originally received from Abraham. It must
console them, we say, that they always find, that
they have not laboured for the preservation of a
cunning falsehood, for an instrument of oppression
and mental slavery; but, that they have toiled and
suffered for what is true in itself, and priceless
in its value.
We are apt to consider, that
the expressions of the Bible, are figurative, when
employing large numbers. For instance, when we are
told that Jonah was sent to Nineveh, a city which
was great before God, and three days’ journey in
extent, we suppose that this could not be so; but,
that the extent may have been large indeed, but
hardly as large as here indicated. Now, however, the
researches of Mr. Layard go to confirm the idea,
that the dimensions in Jonah, are accurate, not
supposititious. He says, in a note to vol. ii. p.
196—“From the northern extremity of Kouyunjik to
Nimroud is about eighteen miles; the distance from
Nimroud to Karamles, about twelve; the opposite
sides of the square the same: these measurements
correspond accurately with the elongated quadrangle
of Diodorus. Twenty miles is a day’s journey of the
East, and we have, consequently, the three days’
journey of Jonah, for the circumference of the
city.”
If Mr. Layard had brought us no
other illustration of Scripture, we should be
gratified with this single fact; but he has, in his
somewhat desultory narrative, added much more than
he, perhaps, himself supposed, to elucidate the word
of God. It will be perceived, that in his first
chapter, he speaks of the accidental discovery, by
Mr. Botta, the French consul at Mosul, some time in
the year 1842 or ‘43, of the ruins at Khorsabad, a
village to the north of Mosul. And, after saying,
how he had been led thither, whilst excavating the
mound at Kouyunjik, opposite Mosul, to Khorsabad,
Mr. L. continues: “He directed a wider trench to be
formed, and to be carried in the direction of the
wall, (which had been discovered previously in
sinking a well in the mound.) He soon found that he
had opened a <<166>>chamber, which was connected
with others, and constructed of slabs of gypsum,
covered with sculptured representations of battles,
sieges, and similar events. His wonder may be
imagined, a new history had been suddenly opened to
him—the records of an unknown people were before
him. He was equally at a loss to account for the age
and the nature of the monument. The art shown in the
sculptures; the dresses of the figures; their arms
and the objects accompanying them, were all new to
him, and afforded no clue to the epoch of the
erection of the edifice, and to the people who were
its founders. Numerous inscriptions were cut between
the bas-reliefs, and evidently contained the
explanation of the events there recorded, in
sculpture. They were in cuneiform, or, arrow-head
character. The nature of these inscriptions
afforded, at least, evidence that the building was
of a period preceding the conquest of Alexander; for
it was generally admitted, that after the
subjugation of the west of Asia, by the Macedonians,
the cuneiform writing ceased to be employed. But too
little was then known of these characters, to enable
Mr. Botta to draw any inference from the peculiar
arrangement of the wedges, (the letters formed by
the arrow-head or wedge,) which distinguished the
varieties used in different countries. However, it
was evident, that the monument appertained to a very
ancient, and very civilized people; and it was
natural from its position to refer it to the
inhabitants of Nineveh, a city, which, although it
could not have occupied a site so distant from the
Tigris, must have been in the vicinity of the place.
Mr. Botta had discovered an Assyrian edifice, the
first, probably which had been exposed to the view
of man, since the fall of the Assyrian empire.”
“Mr. Botta was not long in
perceiving, that the building, which he had thus
partly excavated, unfortunately owed its destruction
to fire; and that the gypsum slabs, reduced to lime,
were rapidly falling to pieces on exposure to the
air. No precaution could arrest this rapid decay;
and it was to be feared that this wonderful monument
had only been uncovered to complete its ruin. The
records of victories and triumphs, which had long
attested the power, and swelled the pride of
Assyrian kings, and had resisted the ravages of
ages, were now passing away for ever. They could
scarcely be held together until an inexperienced
pencil could secure an imperfect evidence of their
former existence. Almost all that was first
discovered thus speedily disappeared; and the same
fate has befallen nearly every thing subsequently
found at Khorsabad. A regret is almost felt, that so
precious a memorial of a great nation should have
been thus exposed to destruction, when no precaution
could keep entire and secure the greatest part of
<<167>> it; but, as far as the object of the
monument, is concerned, the intention of its
founders will be amply fulfilled, and the records of
their might, will be more widely spread, and more
effectually preserved, by modern art, than the most
exalted ambition could have contemplated.”
So far the account. Now however
we may differ from the conclusion of Mr. L., that
though the fabric of the Assyrian king crumbled into
dust at its first exposure to the light of day, his
ambition will be more gratified by the diffusion of
his fame, through modern art, that is, always
provided the inscriptions will be deciphered, which
hitherto they have not been: there can be no doubt
of the accomplishment of prophecy, and of prophecy
verified by the discovery. We refer our readers to
the prediction of Nahum respecting Nineveh, of which Khorsabad doubtless formed a portion or dependency.
The prophet says, (iii. 13,) “Behold thy people, in
the midst of thee, are women; unto thy enemies are
opened the gates of thy land; fire hath devoured thy
bars.” He next speaks of the manners of the
Assyrians:—“Water for the siege draw unto thyself;
fortify thy strongholds; tread the clay, stamp the
mortar, lay hold of the brick-mould. There the fire
shall devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off; it
shall consume thee like the canker-worm. Thy
shepherds slumber, O king of Asshur; thy mighty ones
shall rest, thy people are scattered on the
mountains, and there is none to gather them.” The
fire, the prophet said, should reach the strongholds
of the mighty kings of Assyria, the heroes should
perish, the people be scattered; and the discoveries
of the burnt remains, the calcified walls of
Khorsabad, without one being able for centuries to
decipher the inscriptions on the monuments, had
they even been known to exist, prove how utter must
have been the destruction, how overpowering the
overthrow which befell the kingdom of Judah’s
oppressors and Israel’s captors, the mighty
monarchy of Assyria.
Mr. Layard has for his motto
the 14th and 15th verses of the twenty-third of
Ezekiel, which describe the images of Chaldeans
drawn, or engraved on the walls of houses, as he
found them actually represented in the ruins of the
palaces discovered by him in the great mound at
Nimroud, which, as we have said already, is
undoubtedly the remains, the sepulchre rather, of
ancient Nineveh. Mr. L. simply places on the title
page the English version; but, in his second volume,
page 239, note, he endeavours to give a new and
better translation, and what is singular, he makes
it almost identical with the translation of Hyman
Arnheim, whose views are generally followed in our
new version of the Pentateuch. The English version
is:—“She saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images
of the Chaldeans, portrayed in vermilion.<<168>>
Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in
dyed attire upon their heads, all of them princes to
look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of
Chaldea, the land of their nativity.”
Mr. Layard renders it:—“She saw
men of sculptured (or painted) workmanship
upon the wall, likenesses of the Chaldeans, pictured
(or sculptured) in shashar; girded with girdles on
their loins, with coloured flowing head-dresses
upon their heads, with the aspect of princes
all of them, the likeness of the sons of
Babel-Chaldea, the land of their nativity.” Mr.
Arnheim has it:—“She saw men painted on the wall,
images of the Casdim, painted with vermilion,*
girded with girdles on their loins, with hanging
down turbans on their heads, all appearing as
champions in chariots,†
according to the likenesses of the sons of Babel-Casdim,
the land of their birth.”
We say Mr. A.’s version is
curious, because twelve years ago, when it was first
written, no such pictures of Chaldean and Assyrian
warriors, sculptured on the walls, dressed in the
style described by Ezekiel, were then discovered, as
far as known to us; and hence the deviation ventured
by him on the usual version is not a little curious.
That Mr. Layard should do it after seeing the very
objects before his eyes is not very remarkable; and
slight as may appear the improvement upon the
English Bible, it is important, nevertheless, that a
corrected version of the two verses before us should
tally so much better with the actual discoveries
lately made, besides reading so much more
harmoniously than what so many think the perfection
of harmony, that even Jews look with distrust upon
any attempt by mien of their own nation to give them
a new version of the word of God.
We find that we have already
written a long article, suggested more by Mr. L.’s
book than indicting a review thereof. But the
purpose of our magazine is the elucidation of the
Jewish religion, and whatever tends to that is our
legitimate province. We do not deny ourself the
anticipation of again recurring to the volumes
before us more than once, if our space will permit
us. But, in the mean time, we recommend them to the
curious and intelligent, who want something more
than light reading to fill up their leisure hours.
We cannot say that we share all Mr. L’s.
conclusions; but he has afforded us many hours of
instruction already in going through the greater
part of his volumes; and we are pleased to see by
the papers of the day on which we write this, that
he has been appointed an attaché to the British
Embassy at Constantinople, <<169>> and that the
British Museum have granted him a large sum to
pursue his researches, which he left scarcely half
finished. We may mention that figures of a colossal
winged bull, with human heads; of a winged
human-headed lion, with many sculptures in ivory,
bas-reliefs and other curiosities, have already been
gathered up by him and sent to the British Museum;
and no doubt, should he be spared, he will enrich
yet farther his country with astonishing remains of
antiquity, to a greater extent than Mr. Botta has
done for France. The monuments of Nineveh are to be,
or have been engraved under the direction of the
British Museum, and will therefore soon become
accessible to the learned, who will thus have an
opportunity of endeavouring to decipher the writing
of a dead language, of which no other remains are
left than are found in the monuments of Persia,
Assyria, and Babylonia, of which those of Assyria
are supposed to be the oldest by Mr. Layard.
We regret that we are not
enough of an antiquary to value to the fullest
extent the labours of Mr. L.; but this much we know,
that he has opened a new vista into the history of a
long-forgotten people, and one which had the most
important bearing on the event of our own nation;
and we shall with pleasure hail him again, should he
give at a future day the fruits of his labour in the
land which sheltered the first promoters of
civilization, and where, perhaps, our progenitor
Abraham taught his priceless view of the unity of
God; though we differ from Mr. L. in supposing that
Abraham was, perhaps, domesticated at Nineveh;
because he is represented as having come from the
other side of the river, which is always meant for
Euphrates, and the Assyrian capital was on the east
of the Tigris. Nevertheless, the same doctrines
probably prevailed on both the east and west side
of that river, and the fame of the great reformer,
no doubt, spread over the land which then was a
stranger to the worship of the true God. |
