Chaldea From the Earliest Times to the Rise of Assyria   By: Zénaïde A. (Zénaïde Alexeïevna) Ragozin (1835-1924)

From the Earliest Times to the Rise of Assyria

(Treated As a General Introduction to the Study of Ancient History)

by

ZÉNAÏDE A. RAGOZIN

Member of the "Société Ethnologique" of Paris; of the "American Oriental Society"; Corresponding Member of the "Athénée Oriental" of Paris; Author of "Assyria," "Media," Etc.

"He (Carlyle) says it is part of his creed that history is poetry, could we tell it right." EMERSON.

Fourth Edition

[Illustration: SHAMASH THE SUN GOD. (From the Sun Temple at Sippar.)]

London T. Fisher Unwin Paternoster Square

New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons

MDCCCXCIII

TO THE MEMBERS OF

THE CLASS,

IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE OF MANY HAPPY HOURS, THIS VOLUME AND THE FOLLOWING ONES ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY THEIR FRIEND.

THE AUTHOR.

IDLEWILD PLANTATION, SAN ANTONIO,

CLASSIFIED CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

I. PAGE MESOPOTAMIA. THE MOUNDS. THE FIRST SEARCHERS 1 18

§ 1. Complete destruction of Nineveh. §§ 2 4. Xenophon and the "Retreat of the Ten Thousand." The Greeks pass the ruins of Calah and Nineveh, and know them not. § 5. Alexander's passage through Mesopotamia. § 6. The Arab invasion and rule. § 7. Turkish rule and mismanagement. § 8. Peculiar natural conditions of Mesopotamia. § 9. Actual desolate state of the country. § 10. The plains studded with Mounds. Their curious aspect. § 11. Fragments of works of art amidst the rubbish. § 12. Indifference and superstition of the Turks and Arabs. § 13. Exclusive absorption of European scholars in Classical Antiquity. § 14. Forbidding aspect of the Mounds, compared with other ruins. § 15. Rich, the first explorer. § 16. Botta's work and want of success. § 17. Botta's great discovery. § 18. Great sensation created by it. § 19. Layard's first expedition.

II.

LAYARD AND HIS WORK 19 35

§ 1. Layard's arrival at Nimrud. His excitement and dreams. § 2. Beginning of difficulties. The Ogre like Pasha of Mossul. § 3. Opposition from the Pasha. His malice and cunning. § 4. Discovery of the gigantic head. Fright of the Arabs, who declare it to be Nimrod. § 5. Strange ideas of the Arabs about the sculptures. § 6. Layard's life in the desert. § 7. Terrible heat of summer. § 8. Sand storms and hot hurricanes. § 9. Layard's wretched dwelling. § 10. Unsuccessful attempts at improvement. § 11. In what the task of the explorer consists. § 12. Different modes of carrying on the work of excavation.

III.

THE RUINS 36 93