Chapter VII: Manners and Customs of Babylonia-Assyria (1)

WAR METHODS

The horseman lifteth up both the bright sword and the glittering
spear: and there is a multitude of slain, and a great number of
carcases; and there is none end of their corpses; they stumble upon
their corpses.--_Nahum_ iii. 3.

In following the political fortunes of Babylonia and Assyria we have necessarily caught glimpses from time to time of the conditions of civilisation which form everywhere the background of the picture. But it is desirable to view some phases of this civilisation more in detail, and an attempt will be made in the present book to summarise these conditions as a whole, and to elaborate certain details in reference to the more interesting or more important themes. Such an attempt within the spacial limits necessarily imposed cannot hope to be altogether satisfactory. In particular it must be borne in mind that we are dealing, or attempting to deal, with a period of time not less than three thousand years in extent, even if we consider only the minimum epoch covered by a tolerably sure chronology.

It is obvious that in such a sweep of time numerous changes must take place in the manners and customs of the people, and multiform alterations must be developed in the various phases of civilisation. This would necessarily be true even if the history of a single people were involved. But, in point of fact, as we have seen, we have here to do with four tolerably distinct peoples--the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, and the Chaldeans. To attempt a brief exposition of the varied civilisations of these four peoples during a period of several millenniums within brief bounds, would clearly be a presumptuous task were full details accessible as to all the periods involved. But we have already seen that such details are not accessible. Meagre details have come down to us from the Sumerians, and only less meagre ones Babylonians; and the reminiscences of the Chaldeans, notwithstanding their later period in history, are but slightly less vague. It is the Assyrians that must be looked to chiefly for data that can afford us, at best, an inferential knowledge of their predecessors; and we must all along remember that we are to a certain extent seeing with Assyrian eyes in attempting to view the Babylonian civilisation. Still, it should be recalled that important changes in the manners and customs of any people are usually of slow development everywhere, and that they were perhaps particularly so here, because we have to do with the most conservative of races. The Babylonians and Assyrians were own cousins to the Hebrews, and no doubt partook in full measure of what Goethe styles the “obstinate persistency” of that race. The main outline of their civilisation, therefore, probably remained unchanged generation after generation.

On the other hand, it must be understood that the Sumerians, whatever their precise racial affinities, were a very different people from the Semitic races that superseded them. There is reason to believe that they were essentially a creative race, whereas the Semites, and in particular the Assyrians, were pre-eminently copyists and adapters rather than originators. It would appear that all the chief features of the later Assyrian civilisation were adumbrated, if not indeed fully elaborated, in that early day when the Sumerians were dominant in southern Babylonia. Even the cuneiform system of writing, with all its extraordinary complexities, is believed by philologists to give unequivocal evidence of Sumerian origin. But however correct this view may be, we are constrained to view the Sumerians solely in the light of their successors. The monumental remains exhumed from amid the ruins of the palace of Asshurbanapal supply us with the chief documents for the interpretation of a civilisation that had passed away something like three thousand years before this palace itself or its documentary treasures came into being.

This is somewhat as if one were to study the manners and customs of the Italians of to-day in order to gain a knowledge of the civilisation of Rome in the time of the Tarquinians. The parallel is really not quite so complete as it might at first sight appear, for in many respects practical civilisation changed more in the nineteenth century than in all the previous centuries of recorded history. Beyond cavil, the civilisation of the time of Sargon I had far greater resemblance to the time of Asshurbanapal than the Rome of the early kings bears to the Rome of King Victor Emmanuel. Nevertheless, we should bear this corrective view in mind in the alleged attempt to deal with Mesopotamian civilisation as a whole.

OUR SOURCES

The sources of our knowledge of Mesopotamian history have been pretty fully discussed in previous chapters. Beyond the classical traditions, our sole reliance must be placed upon the monuments. And of these the sculptures are by far the most important in their bearings upon the civilisation of the people.

Very little is said, except inferentially, by the written inscriptions, that throws any definite light upon the manners and customs of the people. But fortunately the Assyrians in particular were much given to pictorial presentation of the scenes of at least certain features of their everyday life; their bas-reliefs, therefore, furnish us with the clearest index as to their life customs. The interpretation of these bas-reliefs in this light was first taken up in detail by Sir Henry Layard, and his expositions remain to this day the most complete and satisfactory. We shall have occasion to turn frequently to his pages in the present book, supplementing his accounts with certain elaborations, in particular with reference to the religious and legal documents, based on the more recent readings of the inscriptions.

However much the customs of the Babylonians and Assyrians may have changed in the course of ages, there was one important regard in which there was probably no conspicuous alteration from first to last. This was the character of the government. Like other orientals, the Mesopotamians had no conception of any government except a thoroughly despotic one. They were ruled by kings whose authority was absolute, and whose will was accepted as the sole law. A change of government meant merely the overthrow of one king by some one who, attaining supreme authority, was himself to be recognised as king.

But the assumption and retention of exclusive power in a body politic by one individual presupposes a triumph of physical force. Kingship in its oriental manifestation has its foundation in military power. We find, therefore, that the Babylonian or Assyrian monarch is able to make himself felt and remembered just in proportion as he is a competent military leader. To be a great king he must be a great conqueror. A record of conquests is substantially the whole story of the royal annals. It is a very sanguinary and inhuman story as we have seen.

The texts of the inscriptions deal with results rather than with methods. We are told the names of peoples against whom warfare was waged; lists of captives and booty are not forgotten, the idea being of course to perpetuate the glory of the conqueror. To that end the name of the conqueror himself is always given, the narrative being usually told in the first person; but one never hears so much as the name of a subordinate. It is the king alone to whom credit is to be given.

What the inscriptions lack in the way of reference to details of the art of warfare is supplied by the Assyrian bas-reliefs. These represent armies in action and enable us to form a very clear picture of the war costumes, the weapons, and to a certain extent of the battle methods of the Assyrians. In particular the details are given of the methods of assault by which the Assyrians were accustomed to break down the walls of a rebellious city. Battering-rams and scaling-towers are depicted in the most realistic manner, and are a favourite subject of the artist--partly, no doubt, because they lend themselves to pictorial presentation; partly, perhaps, because the Assyrians excelled in this particular phase of warfare. But other phases of warfare are by no means overlooked. Even such details as the beheading or flaying alive of captives are presented with gruesome realism.

For the reason already stated, our text will have to do chiefly with the art of war as practised by the Assyrians, rather than by their predecessors. Whether any of the implements or methods employed in this relatively late period originated with the Assyrians themselves, we have no present means of deciding. The presumption is, however, that the Assyrian king pursued the art of war in much the same way it had been practised by the old Babylonian kings from time immemorial.[a]

As the Assyrians possessed disciplined and organised troops, it is probable that they were also acquainted, to a certain extent, with military tactics, and that their battles were fought upon some kind of system. We know that such was the case with the Egyptians; and their monuments show that amongst their enemies, also, there were nations not unacquainted with the military science. They had bodies of troops in reserve; they advanced and retreated in rank, and performed various manœuvres. Although, in the Assyrian sculptures, we have no attempt at an actual representation of the general plan of a battle, as in some Egyptian bas-reliefs, yet from the order in which the soldiers are drawn up before the castle walls, and from the phalanx which they then appear to form, it seems highly probable that similar means were adopted, to resist the assaults of the enemy in the open field.

The king himself, attended by his vizier, his eunuchs, and principal officers of state, was present in battle, and not only commanded, but took an active part in the affray. Even [the traditional] Sardanapalus, when called upon to place himself at the head of his armies to meet the invading [traditional] Medes, showed, a courage equal to the occasion, and repulsed his enemies. Like the Persian monarchs who succeeded, him in the dominion of Asia, the Assyrian king was accompanied to the war, however distant his seat might be, by his wives, his concubines, and his children, and by an enormous retinue of servants. Even his nobles were similarly attended. Their couches were of gold and silver, and the hangings of the richest materials. Vessels of the same precious metals were used at their tables; their tents were made of the most costly stuffs, and were even adorned with precious stones. The canopy or tent of Holofernes was of purple, gold, and emeralds and precious stones; and every man had gold and silver (vessels) out of the king’s house. (Judith ii. 18.) This book contains an interesting account of the luxurious manner of living of the great Assyrian warriors, confirming what has been said in the text, and showing that the Persians were, in this respect, as almost in every other, imitators of the Assyrians. Herodotus (Lib. IX., c. 82 and 83) describes the equipage, furnished with gold and silver, and with various coloured hangings, and the gold and silver couches and tables, found in the tents of Mardonius after the defeat of the Persian army. They had been left by Xerxes when he fled from Greece. They were also accompanied by musicians, who are represented in the sculptures as walking before the warriors, on their triumphant return from battle.

The army was followed by a crowd of sutlers, servants, and grooms; who, whilst adding to its bulk, acted as an impediment upon its movements, and carried ruin and desolation into the countries through which it passed. As this multitude could not depend entirely for supplies upon the inhabitants, whom they unmercifully pillaged, provisions in great abundance, as well as live-stock, were carried with them. Holofernes, in marching from Nineveh with his army, took with him “camels and asses for their carriage, a very great number, and sheep, and oxen, and goats without number, for their provision; and plenty of victuals for every man.”

Quintus Curtius thus describes the march of a Persian army: The signal was given from the tent of the king, on the top of which, so as to be seen by all, was placed an image of the sun, in crystal. The holy fire was borne on altars of silver, surrounded by the priests, chanting their sacred hymns. They were followed by three hundred and sixty-five youths, according to the number of the days in the year, dressed in purple garments. The chariot, dedicated to the supreme deity, or to the sun, was drawn by snow-white horses, led by grooms wearing white garments, and carrying golden wands. The horse especially consecrated to the sun was chosen from its size. It was followed by ten chariots, embossed with gold and silver, and by the cavalry of twelve nations, dressed in their various costumes, and carrying their peculiar arms. Then came the Persian immortals, ten thousand in number, adorned with golden chains, and wearing robes embroidered with gold, and long-sleeved tunics, all glittering with precious stones. At a short interval fifteen thousand nobles, who bore the honourable title of relations of the king, walked in garments which, in magnificence and luxury, more resembled those of women than of men. The doryphori (a chosen company of spearmen) preceded the chariot in which the king himself sat, high above the surrounding multitude. On either side of this chariot were effigies of the gods in gold and silver. The yoke was inlaid with the rarest jewels. From it projected two golden figures of Ninus and Belus, each a cubit in length. A golden eagle with outspread wings was placed between them. The king was distinguished, from all those who surrounded him, by the magnificence of his robes, and by the cidaris, or mitre, upon his head. By his side walked two hundred of the most noble of his relations. Ten thousand warriors, bearing spears whose staffs were of silver and heads of gold, followed the royal chariot. The king’s led horses, forty in number, and thirty thousand footmen, concluded the procession. At the distance of one stadium followed the mother and wife of the king, in chariots. A crowd of women, the handmaidens and ladies of the queens, accompanied them on horseback. Fifteen cars, called armamaxæ, carried the children of the king, their tutors and nurses, and the eunuchs. The king’s three hundred and sixty concubines, who accompanied him, were adorned with royal splendour. Six hundred mules and three hundred camels bore the royal treasury, guarded by the archers. The friends and relations of the ladies were mingled with a crowd of cooks and servants of all kinds. The procession was closed by the light-armed troops.

The armies were provided with the engines and materials necessary for the siege of the cities they might meet with in their expedition. If any natural obstructions impeded the approach to a castle, such as a forest or a river, they were, if possible, removed. Rivers were turned out of their courses, if they impeded the operations of the army; and warriors are frequently represented in the sculptures cutting down trees which surround a hostile city.

The first step in a siege was probably to advance the battering-ram. If the castle was built, as in the plains of Assyria and Babylonia, upon an artificial eminence, an inclined plane, reaching to the summit of the mound, was formed of earth, stones, or trees, and the besiegers were then able to bring their engines to the foot of the walls. This road was not unfrequently covered with bricks, forming a kind of paved way, up which the ponderous machines could be drawn without much difficulty.

This mode of reaching the walls of a city is frequently alluded to by the prophets, and is described by Isaiah: “Thus saith the Lord, concerning the king of Assyria, he shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, _nor cast a bank against it_.” Similar approaches were used by the Egyptians. They not only enabled the besiegers to push their battering-rams up to the castle, but at the same time to escalade the walls, the summit of which might otherwise have been beyond the reach of their ladders.

The battering-rams were of several kinds. Some were joined to movable towers which held warriors and armed men. The whole then formed one great temporary building, the top of which is represented in the sculptures, as on a level with the walls, and even turrets, of the besieged city. In some bas-reliefs the battering-ram is without wheels; it was then perhaps constructed on the spot, and was not intended to be moved. The movable tower was probably sometimes unprovided with the ram; but I have not met with it so represented in the sculptures. When Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem, he “built forts against it round about.” These forts or towers, if stationary, were solidly constructed of wood; if movable, they consisted of a light frame covered with wickerwork. The Jews were forbidden to cut down and employ, for this purpose, trees which afford sustenance to man. “Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down: and _thou shalt build bulwarks against the city_ that maketh war with thee until it be subdued.”

When the machine containing the battering-ram consisted of a simple framework, not forming an artificial tower, a cloth of some kind of drapery edged with fringes and otherwise ornamented appears to have been occasionally thrown over it. Sometimes it may have been covered with hides. It moved either on four or on six wheels, and was provided with one ram or with two. The mode of working the rams cannot be determined from the Assyrian sculptures. It may be presumed, from the representations in the bas-reliefs, that they were partly suspended by a rope fastened to the outside of the machine, and that men directed and impelled them from within. Such was the plan adopted by the Egyptians, in whose paintings the warriors, working the ram, may be seen through the frame. Sometimes this engine was ornamented by a carved or painted figure of the presiding divinity, kneeling on one knee and drawing a bow. The artificial tower was usually occupied by two warriors: one discharged his arrows against the besieged, whom he was able from his lofty position to harass more effectually than if he had been below; the other held up a shield for his companion’s defence. Warriors are not unfrequently represented as stepping from the machine to the battlements.

Ezekiel alludes to all these modes of attack. “Lay siege against it,” he exclaims, speaking of the city of Jerusalem, “and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering-rams against it round about.”

Archers on the walls hurled stones from slings, and discharged their arrows against the warriors in the artificial towers; whilst the rest of the besieged were no less active in endeavouring to frustrate the attempts of the assailants to make breaches in their walls. By dropping a doubled chain or rope from the battlements, they caught the ram, and could either destroy its efficacy altogether or break the force of its blows. Those below, however, by placing hooks over the engine, and throwing their whole weight upon them, struggled to retain it in its place.

The besieged, if unable to displace the battering-ram, sought to destroy it by fire and threw lighted torches or firebrands upon it. But water was poured upon the flames, through pipes attached to the artificial tower. Other engines and instruments of war were employed by the besiegers. With a kind of catapult, apparently consisting of a light wooden frame covered with canvas or hides, they threw large stones and darts against the besieged, who, in their turn, endeavoured to set fire to it by torches. A long staff with an iron head, resembling a spear, was used to force stones out of the walls. Mines were also opened, and the assailants sought to enter the castle through concealed passages. Those who worked on them, or advanced to the attack, were perhaps protected by the _testudo_, as represented in the Egyptian paintings; but this defence is not seen in the Assyrian sculptures. Attempts were made to set fire to the gates of the city by placing torches against them, or to break them open with axes.

Mounting to the assault by ladders was constantly practised, and appears to have been the most general mode of attacking a castle; for ladders are found on those bas-reliefs in which neither the battering-ram nor other engines are introduced. It is remarkable that the battering-ram is not introduced in the sculptures hitherto discovered at Kuyunjik, nor, as far as I am aware, in those of Khorsabad. It would appear, therefore, that at the period of the building of those edifices it had fallen into disuse. Scaling-ladders appear in Egyptian sculptures as early as the XIXth Dynasty. Ramses III is seen taking a city, by their means, at Medinet Habu. They reached to the top of the battlements, and several persons could ascend them at the same time. Whilst warriors, armed with the sword and spear, scaled the walls, archers posted at the foot of the ladders kept the enemy in check and drove them from the walls.

The troops of the besieging army were ranged in ranks below. The king was frequently present during the attack. Descending from his chariot, which remained stationary at a short distance behind him, he discharged his arrows against the enemy. He was attended by his shield bearer and eunuchs, one of whom generally held over him the emblem of royalty, the umbrella, whilst the others bore his arms. He is sometimes represented in his chariots, superintending the operations, or repulsing a sally. Warriors of high rank likewise came in chariots, accompanied by their shield bearers and charioteers. The vizier and the chief of the eunuchs are frequently seen in the midst of the combatants.

The besieging warriors were protected, as I have already mentioned, by large shields of wickerwork, sometimes covered with hides, which concealed the entire person. Three men frequently formed a group; one held the shield, a second drew the bow, and a third stood ready with a sword to defend the archer and shield bearer, in case the enemy should sally from the castle. The besieged manned the battlements with archers and slingers, who discharged their missiles against the assailants. Large stones and hot water were also thrown upon those below. A woman from the battlement of Thebez cast a millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and broke his skull (Judges ix. 53).

When the battering-ram had made a breach, and the assault had commenced, the women appeared upon the walls; and, tearing their hair or stretching out their hands, implored mercy. The men are not unfrequently represented as joining in asking for quarter. When the assailants were once masters of the place, an indiscriminate slaughter appears to have succeeded, and the city was generally given over to the flames. In the bas-reliefs warriors are seen decapitating the conquered and plunging swords or daggers into their hearts, holding them by the hair of their heads. The prisoners were either impaled and subjected to horrible torments or carried away as slaves. The manner of impaling, adopted by the Assyrians, appears to have differed from that still in use in the East. A stake was driven into the body immediately under the ribs. When Darius took Babylon he impaled three thousand prisoners (Herod, iii. 159). In a bas-relief discovered at Khorsabad, a man was represented flaying a prisoner with a semicircular knife. The Scythians scalped and flayed their enemies, and used their skins as horse-trappings (Herod, iv. 64).

The women, children, and cattle were led away by the conquerors; and that it was frequently the custom of the Assyrians to remove the whole population of the conquered country to some distant part of their dominions, and to replace it by colonies of their own, we learn from the treatment of the people of Samaria. Eunuchs and scribes were appointed to take an inventory of the spoil. They appear to have stood near the gates, and wrote down with a pen, probably upon rolls of leather, the number of prisoners, sheep, and oxen, and the amount of the booty, which issued from the city. The women were sometimes taken away in bullock carts, and are usually seen in the bas-reliefs bearing a part of their property with them--either a vase or a sack perhaps filled with household stuff. They were sometimes accompanied by their children, and are generally represented as tearing their hair, throwing dust upon their heads, and bewailing their lot.

After the city had been taken, a throne for the king appears to have been placed in some conspicuous spot within the walls. He is represented in the sculptures as sitting upon it, attended by his eunuchs and principal officers, and receiving the prisoners brought bound into his presence. The chiefs prostrate themselves before him, whilst he places his foot upon their necks, as Joshua commanded the captains of Israel to put their feet upon the necks of the captive kings. This custom long prevailed in the East. In the rock sculpture of Behistun, Darius is seen with his foot upon the neck of Gometes, the rebellious Magian, who declared himself to be Bardius, the son of Cyrus. When inferior prisoners were captured, their hands were tied behind, or their arms and feet were bound by iron manacles.

They were urged onward by blows from the spears or swords of the warriors to whom they were entrusted. In a bas-relief from Khorsabad, captives are led before the king by a rope fastened to rings passed through the lip and nose. This sculpture illustrates the passage in 2 Kings xix. 28: “I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips.” The king is represented in the bas-relief as holding a rope fastened to a ring, which passes through the lips of a prisoner, one of whose eyes he appears to be piercing with his spear.

In the sculptures of Khorsabad and Kuyunjik, captives are seen bringing small models of their cities to the victorious king, as a token of their subjection. Similar models are borne in triumphal processions.

The heads of the slain were generally collected, and brought either to the king or to an officer appointed to take account of their number. When Ahab’s seventy sons were killed, their heads were cut off, and brought in baskets to Jezreel. They were afterwards, laid “in two heaps at the entering in of the gate” (2 Kings x. 8). The Egyptians generally counted by hands. This mode of reckoning the loss of the enemy was long resorted to in the East.

As soon as the soldiers entered the captured city, they began to plunder, and then hurried away with the spoil. They led off the horses, carried forth on their shoulders furniture and vessels of gold, silver, and other metals, and made prisoners of the inhabitants, who, probably, became the property of those who seized them. The Assyrian warriors are seen in the sculptures bearing away in triumph the idols of the conquered nations, or breaking them into pieces, weighing them in scales, and dividing the fragments. Thus Hosea prophesied that the calf, the idol of Samaria, should be carried away by the Assyrians.

When the city had been sacked it was usually given up to the flames and utterly destroyed. The surrounding country was also laid waste. If it had been a capital--a place of strength and renown--it was seldom rebuilt on the same spot, which was avoided as unfortunate by those who survived the catastrophe and returned to the ruins.

ASSYRIAN WAR COSTUMES AND WAR METHODS

The costume of the warriors differed according to their rank and the nature of the service they had to perform. Those who fought in chariots, and held the shield for the defence of the king, are generally seen in coats of scale armour, which descend either to the knees or to the ankles. A large number of the scales were discovered in the earliest palace of Nimrud. They were generally of iron, slightly embossed or raised in the centre, and some were inlaid with copper. They were probably fastened to a shirt of felt or coarse linen. Such is the armour always represented in the most ancient sculptures. At a later period other kinds were used; the scales were larger, and appear to have been fastened to bands of iron or copper. The armour was frequently embossed with groups of figures and fanciful ornaments; but there is no reason to believe that the rich designs on the breasts of the kings were on metal.

The warriors were frequently dressed in an embroidered tunic, which was probably made of felt or leather, sufficiently thick to resist the weapons then in use. On the sculptures of Kuyunjik they are generally seen in this attire. Their arms were bare from above the elbow, and their legs from the knees downward, except when they wore shirts of mail which descended to the ankles. They had sandals on their feet. The warriors on the later Assyrian monuments, particularly on those of Khorsabad, are distinguished by a peculiar ornament, somewhat resembling the Highland phillibeg. It appears to be fastened to the girdle, and falls below the short tunic.

In the sculptures of Kuyunjik and of monuments of the same period, the dress of the soldiers appears to vary, according to the manner in which they are armed. Those with spear and shield wear pointed or crested helmets, and plain or embroidered tunics, confined at the waist by a broad girdle. A kind of cross belt passes over the shoulders, and is ornamented in the centre of the breast by a circular disk, probably of metal. The slingers are attired in the embroidered tunic, which I conjecture to be of felt or leather; and wear a pointed helmet, with metal lappets falling over the ears. Both the spearmen and slingers have greaves, which appear to have been laced in front.

The archers are dressed in very short embroidered tunics, which scarcely cover half the thigh, the rest of the leg being left completely bare. They are chiefly distinguished from other warriors by the absence of the helmet. A simple band round the temples confines the hair, which is drawn up in a bunch behind.

It is probable that these various costumes indicate people of different countries, auxiliaries in the Assyrian armies, who used the weapons most familiar to them, and formed different corps or divisions. Thus, in the army of Xerxes were marshalled men of many nations, each armed according to the fashion of his country, and fighting in his own peculiar way. We may, perhaps, identify, in the Assyrian sculptures, several of the costumes described by the Greek historian as worn by those who formed the vast army of the Persian king.

The arms of the early Assyrians were the spear, the bow, the sword, and the dagger. The sling is not represented in the most ancient monuments as an Assyrian weapon, although used by a conquered nation; it was, perhaps, introduced at a later period. The bows were of two kinds: one long and slightly curved, the other short and almost angular; the two appear to have been carried at the same time by those who fought in chariots.

The arrows were probably made of reeds, and were kept in a quiver slung over the back. The king, however, and the great officers of the state were followed by attendants, who carried the quivers and supplied their masters with arrows. The bow was drawn to the cheek or to the ear, as by the Saxons, and not to the breast, after the fashion of the Greeks. The barbs were of iron and copper, several of both materials having been found in the ruins. When in battle it was customary for the archer to hold two arrows in reserve in his right hand; they were placed between the fingers, and did not interfere with the motion of the arm whilst drawing the bow. When marching he usually carried the larger bow over his shoulders, having first passed his head through it. The bow of the king was borne by an attendant. The smaller bows were frequently placed in the quiver, particularly by those who fought in chariots. A leather or linen guard was fastened by straps to the inside of the left arm to protect it when the arrow was discharged. The swords were worn on the left side, and suspended by belts passing over the shoulders or round the middle; some were short and others long. I have already alluded to the beauty of the ornaments on the hilt and sheath.

The dagger appears to have been carried by all, both in time of peace and war; even the priests and divinities are represented with them. They were worn indifferently on the left and right side, or perhaps on both at the same time. Generally two, or sometimes three, were inserted into one sheath, which was passed through the girdle. The handles, as I have already mentioned, were most elaborately adorned, and were frequently in the shape of the head of a ram, bull, or horse, being made of ivory or rare stones. A small chain was sometimes fastened to the hilt or to the sheath, probably to retain it in its place. A dagger, resembling in form those of the sculptures, was found amongst the ruins of Nimrud; it is of copper. The handle is hollowed, either to receive precious stones, ivory, or enamel.

The spear of the Assyrian footman was short, scarcely exceeding the height of a man; that of the horseman appears to have been considerably longer. The iron head of a spear from Nimrud is in the British Museum. The shaft was probably of some strong wood, and did not consist of a reed, like that of the modern Arab lance. The large club pointed with iron, mentioned by Herodotus amongst the weapons carried by the Assyrians, is not represented in the sculptures; unless, indeed, the description of the historian applies to the mace, a weapon in very general use amongst them, and frequently seen in the bas-reliefs. This weapon consisted of a short handle, probably of wood, to which was fixed a head, evidently of metal, in the shape of a flower, rosette, lion, or bull. To the end of the handle was attached a thong, apparently of leather, through which the hand was passed. I have not found any representation of warriors using the hatchet, except when cutting down trees, to clear the country preparatory to a siege. It is, however, generally seen amongst the weapons of those who fought in chariots, and was carried in the quiver, with the arrows and short angular bow.

In the bas-reliefs of Kuyunjik, slingers are frequently represented amongst the Assyrian troops. The sling appears to have consisted of a double rope, with a thong, probably of leather, to receive the stone; it was swung round the head. The slinger held a second stone in his left hand, and at his feet is generally seen a heap of pebbles ready for use. That the Persian slingers were exceedingly expert, used very large stones, and could annoy their enemies whilst out of the reach of their darts or arrows, we learn from several passages in Xenophon.

The javelin is frequently included amongst the weapons of the Assyrian charioteers; but the warriors are not represented as using it in battle. It was carried in the quiver amongst the arrows.

The shields of the Assyrians were of various forms and materials. In the more ancient bas-reliefs a circular buckler, either of hide or metal, perhaps in some instances of gold and silver, is most frequently introduced. King Solomon made three hundred shields of beaten gold, three pounds of gold to each shield (1 Kings x. 17). The servants of Hadad-ezer, king of Zobah, carried shields of gold (2 Samuel viii. 7). The shield of Goliath was of brass. It was held by a handle fixed to the centre. Light oblong shields of wickerwork, carried in a similar manner, are also found in the early sculptures; but those of a circular form appear to have been generally used by the charioteers.

Suspended to the backs of the chariots, and also carried by warriors, are frequently seen shields in the shape of a crescent, narrow and curved outwards at the extremities. The face is ornamented by a row of angular bosses, or teeth, in the centre of which is the head of a lion. In the sculptures of Khorsabad the round shield is often highly ornamented. It resembles, both in shape and in the devices upon it, the bucklers now carried by the Kurds and Arabs, which are made of the hide of the hippopotamus. In the bas-reliefs of Kuyunjik some warriors bear oval shields, very convex, and sufficiently large to cover the greater part of the body. The centre and outer rim are decorated with bosses.

The shield used during a siege concealed the whole person of the warrior, and completely defended him from the arrows of the enemy. It was made either of wickerwork or of hides, and was furnished at the top with a curved point, or with a square projection, like a roof, at right angles to the body of the shield, which may have served to defend the heads of the combatants against missiles discharged from the walls and towers. Such were probably the shields used by the Persian archers at the battle of Platæa. The archers, whether fighting on foot or in chariots, were accompanied by shield bearers, whose office it was to protect them from the shafts of the enemy. Sometimes one shield covered two archers. The shield bearer was usually provided with a sword, which he held ready drawn for defence. The king was always attended in his wars by this officer, and even in peace one of his eunuchs usually carried a circular shield for his use. This shield bearer was probably a person of rank, as in Egypt. On some monuments of the later Assyrian period he is represented carrying two shields, one in each hand.

A great part of the strength of the Assyrian armies consisted in chariots and horsemen, to which we have frequent allusion in the inspired writings. The chariots appear to have been used by the king and the highest officers of state, who are never seen in battle on horseback nor, except in sieges, on foot. They contained either two or three persons. The king was always accompanied by two attendants--the warrior protecting him with a shield (who was replaced during peace by the eunuch bearing the parasol), and the charioteer. The principal warriors were also frequently attended by their shield bearers, though more generally by the driver alone.

The chariot was used during a siege, as well as in open battle. The king and his warriors are frequently represented as fighting in chariots with the enemy beneath the walls of a castle, or as having dismounted from their cars, to discharge their arrows against the besieged. In the latter case, grooms on foot hold the horses. When the king in his chariot formed part of a triumphal procession, armed men led the horses. The chariot was also preceded and followed by men on foot.

The horsemen formed a no less important part of the Assyrian army than the charioteers.--“Assyrians clothed in blue, captains and rulers, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding upon horses” (Ezekiel xxiii. 6). Horsemen are seen in the most ancient sculptures of Nimrud. It is singular, as observes Sir Gardner Wilkinson (_Ancient Egyptians_, Vol. I, p. 288), that horsemen are nowhere represented on the monuments of Egypt, although there can be no doubt, from numerous passages in the sacred writings, that cavalry formed an important part of the Egyptian armies. I have already mentioned that disciplined bodies of cavalry were represented in the bas-reliefs of Kuyunjik. We learn from the Book of Judith that Holofernes had twelve thousand archers on horseback (Judith ii. 15). Solomon had twelve thousand horsemen (1 Kings x. 26). The king himself is never represented on horseback, although a horse richly caparisoned, apparently for his use,--perhaps to enable him to fly, should his chariot horses be killed,--is frequently seen led by a warrior, and following his chariot.

In the earliest sculptures the horses, except such as are led behind the king’s chariot, are unprovided with cloths or saddles. The rider is seated on the naked back of the animal. At a later period, however, a kind of pad appears to have been introduced; and in a sculpture at Kuyunjik was represented a high saddle not unlike that now in use in the East.[b]

THE ARTS OF PEACE IN BABYLONIA-ASSYRIA

Nothing else, perhaps, is so vitally important in the life-history of a nation as its contact with other nations. Such contact alone, it would seem, can enable a nation in some measure to ward off the lethargy of age, or to overcome the incubus of custom and superstition.

The isolated nation does not get beyond a certain stage of evolution. It learns a few secrets, and seems powerless to learn others of itself. Only through contact with another community can it improve its customs, get new ideas, acquire better habits of thought and action. We have already pointed out how Egypt profited in this regard through the foreign associations that came with the inroad of conquering tribes from the south and east.

Babylon, however, occupied a far more favourable position than Egypt for contact with other nations, not alone through such warlike channels, but also through the yet more beneficent channels of peaceful commerce. A glance at the map shows that Mesopotamia occupies the very centre of the world of ancient civilisation. By reaching out its hand, so to speak, this way or that, it came in contact with every civilised nation of the period except China. It was the connecting link between Persia and India on the one hand, and Lydia, Syria, and Egypt on the other. Even Chinese ideas were to some extent accessible through the mediation of India. No other great nation of antiquity compares with Babylonia in this regard; and perhaps this was the most important reason why this little strip of fertile land between the two great rivers supported a continuous civilisation, on the whole ever advancing, millennium after millennium.

If one would correctly understand the development of that Mesopotamian civilisation, of which our own culture is the direct outgrowth, one must give heed to the commercial relations which were so important a factor of national growth, without which, indeed, no such civilisation as that of Babylon and Nineveh could have come into existence.

But, of course, commerce builds up local industries. A nation must be a producer of useful commodities before it can hope to secure, by peaceful means, the commodities produced by other nations. In connection with the commercial relations of a nation we must study also its home industries, that is to say, broadly speaking, its agricultural and manufacturing conditions. We must see something also of the social customs that grow out of, and rest upon these industrial conditions; and of the laws that are the official expression of the communal intelligence--the index of the communal conscience of the epoch.[a] And first we have the privilege of quoting from one who himself saw Babylon, that is, of course, Herodotus.

BABYLON AND ITS CUSTOMS DESCRIBED BY AN EYE-WITNESS

The Assyrians are masters of many capital towns; but their place of greatest strength and fame is Babylon, which, after the destruction of Nineveh, was the royal residence. It is situated on a large plain, and is a perfect square; each side, by every approach, is 120 furlongs in length; the space, therefore, occupied by the whole is 480 furlongs. [The different reports of the extent of the walls of Babylon are given as follows: By Herodotus at 120 stadia each side, or 480 in circumference. By Pliny and Solinus at 60 Roman miles, which, at eight stadia to a mile, agrees with Herodotus. By Strabo at 385 stadia. By Diodorus, from Ctesias, 360; but from Clitarchus, who accompanied Alexander, 365; and, lastly, by Curtius, 368. It appears highly probable that 360 or 365 was the true statement of the circumference.]

So extensive is the ground which Babylon occupies, its internal beauty and magnificence exceeds whatever has come within my knowledge. It is surrounded by a trench, very wide, deep, and full of water; the wall beyond this is two hundred royal cubits high, and fifty wide; the royal exceeds the common cubit by three digits. [These measures, being taken from the proportions of the human body, are more permanent than any other. The foot of a moderate-sized man and the cubit, that is the space from the end of the fingers to the elbow, have always been near twelve and eighteen inches respectively.--BELOE.]

I here think it right to describe the use to which the earth dug out of the trench was converted, as well as the particular manner in which they constructed the wall. The earth of the trench was first of all laid in heaps, and, when a sufficient quantity was obtained, made into square bricks and baked in a furnace. They used as cement a composition of heated bitumen, which, mixed with tops of reeds, was placed betwixt every thirtieth course of bricks. Having thus lined the sides of the trench, they proceeded to build the wall in the same manner, on the summit of which, and fronting each other, they erected small watch-towers of one story, leaving a space betwixt them, through which a chariot and four horses might pass and turn. In the circumference of the wall, at different distances, were an hundred massy gates of brass, whose hinges and frames were of the same metal. Within an eight days’ journey from Babylon is a city called Is [Hit], near which flows a river of the same name, which empties itself into the Euphrates. With the current of this river, particles of bitumen descend towards Babylon, by the means of which its walls were constructed. The great river Euphrates, which, with its deep and rapid streams, rises in the Armenian Mountains, and pours itself into the Red Sea, divides Babylon into two parts. The walls meet and form an angle with the river at each extremity of the town, where a breastwork of burnt bricks begins, and is continued along each bank. The city, which abounds in houses from three to four stories in height, is regularly divided into streets. Through these, which are parallel, there are transverse avenues to the river, opened through the wall and breastwork, and secured by an equal number of little gates of brass.

The first wall is regularly fortified; the interior one, though less in substance, is of almost equal strength. Besides these, in the centre of each division of the city, there is a circular space surrounded by a wall. In one of these stands the royal palace, which fills a large and strongly defended space. The temple of Jupiter Belus occupies the other, whose huge gates of brass may still be seen. It is a square building, each side of which is of the length of two furlongs. In the midst a tower rises, of the solid depth and height of one furlong, upon which, resting as a base, seven other turrets are built in regular succession. The ascent is on the outside, which, winding from the ground, is continued to the highest tower; and in the middle of the whole structure there is a convenient resting-place. In the last tower is a large chapel, in which is placed a couch magnificently adorned, and near it a table of solid gold; but there is no statue in the place. No man is suffered to sleep here; but the apartment is occupied by a female, who, as the Chaldean priests affirm, is selected by their deity from the whole nation as the object of his pleasures.

They themselves have a tradition, which cannot easily obtain credit, that their deity enters this temple and reposes by night on this couch. A similar assertion is also made by the Egyptians of Thebes; for, in the interior part of the temple of the Theban Jupiter, a woman in like manner sleeps. Of these two women, it is presumed that neither of them has any communication with the other sex. In which predicament the priestess of the temple of Pataræ in Lycia is also placed. Here is no regular oracle; but whenever a divine communication is expected, the priestess is obliged to pass the preceding night in the temple.

In this temple there is also a small chapel, lower in the building, which contains a figure of Jupiter in a sitting posture, with a large table before him; these, with the base of the table and the seat of the throne, are all of the purest gold, and are estimated by the Chaldeans to be worth eight hundred talents. On the outside of this chapel there are two altars: one is of gold, the other is of immense size, and appropriated to the sacrifice of full-grown animals; those only which have not left their dams may be offered on the altar of gold. Upon the larger altar, at the time of the anniversary festival in honour of their god, the Chaldeans regularly consume incense, to the amount of a thousand talents. There was formerly in this temple a statue of gold, twelve cubits high; this, however, I mention from the information of the Chaldeans, and not from my own knowledge. Darius, the son of Hystaspes, endeavoured by sinister means to get possession of this, not daring openly to take it; but his son Xerxes afterwards seized it, putting the priest to death who endeavoured to prevent its removal. The temple, besides those ornaments which I have described, contains many offerings of individuals.