Part 12
That part of the Kasr that is enclosed on the south by the two mud walls, and on the north by the deep valley in square 7 of the Kasr plan (Fig. 13), we call the Principal Citadel. It was enclosed by a fortification wall, which in the east ran by the side of the Procession Street and in the north turned westward in the great valley just mentioned, where it must have reached the Euphrates of that period. The Principal Citadel in this quarter is, however, only the outcome of a second scheme of Nebuchadnezzar, and the one that was actually carried out. The first scheme, which does not appear to have been carried out, only enclosed one half of the area which was later built upon. Of this we have found the remains of a thick wall in the centre of the Principal Citadel which was intended to form the northern end. It (_k_ 13) ran from west to east, and where it reaches the Procession Street it turned in a southerly direction to join the bastion of the fosse wall at the Ishtar Gate. The wall of burnt brick laid in pure asphalt is 17 metres thick, and is therefore one of the strongest and most massive fortification walls we possess. At the part already excavated there is a doorway which leads through the wall and looks like a long passage. On the north side there are outstanding towers; the extension to the west and eventually to the south we have not yet made out. It is only built to a height of 6.8 metres above zero, and at 4.25 it rests on a foundation banquette.
Of the second completed scheme a terrace of brick rubble was constructed over the entire area, of which the upper level lies at 8 metres above zero. On this terrace stand the foundation walls of the palace, which even now rise as high in parts as 15.5 metres. At about this height the ancient pavement must have been laid. The space between the foundation walls was built up with brick rubble. Thus, in comparison with the Southern Citadel, immense care has been bestowed on the regularity of the foundations. The area lies immediately north of the Arachtu wall, which points to the conclusion that the Principal Citadel was constructed in the bed of the original watercourse, and this explains the unusual form of foundations both here and in the western part of the Southern Citadel, which also overlapped the ancient Arachtu wall.
[Illustration:
FIG. 98.—Blocks of brickwork in the Principal Citadel. ]
In the great courts round which the palace buildings are grouped, as in the Southern Citadel, the filling of brickwork is not arranged in a solid mass but in the form of long blocks about 2 metres in breadth and height. One course of these runs from east to west, the next above from north to south, as is clearly seen in _m_ 12, and again in the south-east corner.
The bright yellow bricks in the upper parts are some of the hardest and best of those struck by Nebuchadnezzar; 7– or 3–lined stamps are used almost exclusively. In the narrow, often scarcely measurable joints there is fine white lime mortar as hard as stone, and here and there matting or reeds, which, however, do no damage to the hardness of the brickwork. In the lower parts the bricks are redder and softer and the mortar is grey, less solid, and reddish at the edges. For this reason the brick robbers have here preferred to work underground in search of the lower bricks, which are more easily removed. Thus the high walls have been largely robbed of their supports, and they are now sunk and split, as though they had been flung together by an earthquake (Fig. 98).
During the progress of the building the details of the plan were frequently altered. Walls were thrown down and doors were displaced, so that at every 10th or 12th course a new plan was adopted. The royal builder must have insisted very specially and with great energy on his own wishes being carried out, for no architect would of his own free will alter plans so frequently during the course of building.
The decorations were still more splendid than those of the southern palace. Remains have been found of large reliefs consisting of a beautiful blue paste, similar to lapis lazuli. The figures were made up of separate pieces, each of which only contained a small part, such as a lock of hair. On the back of these separate pieces there was a prismatic addition, by which they were affixed to some background of which we know nothing.
[Illustration:
FIG. 99.—Inscribed paving slabs—above of Evil-Merodach, below of Nebuchadnezzar. ]
Paving stones of white and mottled sandstone, limestone, and black basalt were used for the pavements, at any rate in the courts. They measure 66 centimetres square, and bear on their edges the name of Nebuchadnezzar, and in one case that of Evil-Merodach (Fig. 99). Here also the ceilings were not vaulted, but according to the inscription quoted later on, they consisted of cedar, cypress, and other wood. In the entrances stood gigantic basalt lions similar to those of Assyrian palaces; of these we have found immense paws and other portions in the north-east corner.
All these facts we have gained as the result of the comparatively trifling excavations hitherto undertaken. These are limited to the central portion with the thick wall mentioned above, a cutting against the east front, and a similar one against the north front and on the north-east corner, but they have occupied a great deal of time owing to the amount of rubbish, as much as 8 to 12 metres deep or more, which has had to be cut through. Limited as the work has been, it has already yielded abundant proofs of the treasures of art and learning that Nebuchadnezzar and his successors heaped up in this portion of the palace for the “amazement of mankind,” as the king states in his inscription. It must always be remembered in this connection that the Kasr has been burrowed over, not once or twice, but repeatedly by brick robbers, for it is not without reason that the mound bears in addition to the name Kasr that of Mudshallibeh, which means “the overturned.” Here in the Principal Citadel this is more apparent than in the Southern Citadel, for here not only the foundation walls but also the spaces between them, which in the Southern Citadel consisted chiefly of earth, have yielded a supply of the greedily-sought brick materials.
At the north-east corner (Fig. 100), in _q_ 8 of the plan, before our excavations began there was a great basalt figure of a lion trampling on a man who lay beneath him with his right hand on the flank of the animal, and the left on his muzzle. This latter has been chopped away by superstitious hands, and he is marked all over by the stones and flint balls that have been, and are still, flung at him; for he is regarded as the much-feared “Djin.” On one side the Arabs have dug out a deep hole in his flanks, which is now filled in with cement. The reason of this is as follows. A European once came here, and inquired about the lion, which he had probably read of in the books of earlier travellers. The Arabs showed it to him, and after looking at it attentively, he chose from among the small holes in the basalt the right one, into which he thrust a key and turned it, whereupon his hand was immediately filled with gold pieces. Having accomplished his practical joke the traveller went his way, unable as he was to speak Arabic. The worthy Arabs, however, in order to render the treasure available, hammered this hole in the lion, which must have caused them immense labour, for the stone is extremely hard. The figure is not completely carved, and is still little more than blocked out. It therefore looks more ancient than it really is, for it can scarcely be earlier than the time of Nebuchadnezzar (Fig. 101). People are divided as to its meaning. Some see in it Daniel in the lions’ den, and others Babylonia above defeated Egypt. But a concrete past is throughout this period never represented otherwise than in reliefs, and, on the other hand, it is foreign to Babylonian art to take as a basis the representation of an abstract idea.
[Illustration:
FIG. 100.—North-east corner or Principal Citadel, from the north. ]
[Illustration:
FIG. 101.—The basalt lion in the Principal Citadel. ]
[Illustration:
FIG. 102.—The Shamash-resh-ussur stela. ]
Close to the lion but deeper down was found a fine large stela of white limestone, which the “governor of the lands of Sukhi and of the lands of Maër” caused to be made in his honour (Fig. 102). His name was Shamashresh-ussur, and his lands lay in the neighbourhood of the Khabur, on the Euphrates. He caused himself to be represented in the midst of the gods worshipped by him, and the name of each figure is inscribed close to it. In his left hand he holds the club with the rounded stone head, the same that is in use here to-day and called “Hattre.” When the club has the same shaped head in asphalt instead of stone it is called “Mugwar.” His right hand, which is clenched in votive fashion, is raised to the statue of Adad the weather god, who stands before him, with a long beard and long hair, and with shafts of lightning in his hand, and a feather crown on his head. His girdle is wound twice round his body, and then tucked in slanting, exactly as the town Arabs of to-day wear their girdles. Next to Adad stands the somewhat smaller statue of Ishtar. She is raising the right hand in greeting, and is leaning on the bow with her left, upon which her star Venus is resting. The arrangement of her hair differs from that of a man, as one lock hangs long in front of the ear. The third statue is largely broken away. The three great shields worn by the figures in front of the lower part of the body are remarkable, but they are found on representations of other divinities. They hang one above another, and are held in place from behind by ornamented bands. We must suppose them to be gold plates, and they do not occur on the dress of human beings. The statues stand on pedestals, which are decorated with a pattern representing mountains, rows of semicircular peaks which form the same scheme of decoration that the cotton-printer in Persia to-day uses to express mountains on his so-called “Perde” hangings. Other divinities beside these three are introduced by means of their emblems: Marduk by the shafted triangle on a pedestal, Nabu by his writing-stick, Shamash by the winged disc of the sun, which, however, is half broken away, and Sin by the new moon. The relief is worked in the flat level manner characteristic of the Assyrian provincial style of the seventh century B.C.
On the stone face surrounding this sunk relief there is a Neo-Babylonian inscription of many columns, which is thus epitomised by Weissbach: “It begins with a sudden invasion of neighbouring foes (the Tu’mânu people) who were some of them killed, and some overthrown (col. 2, 17–26). Restoration of the fallen canal of Suḫi and inauguration of the same by a trial voyage (2, 27–37). The planting of date palms and setting up of his throne in Ribaniš (2, 38–44). Founding and laying out of the town Gabbari-KAK. Malediction (col. 3). With this the inscription originally ended. The governor, however, continued his works of peace, the planting of palms and introducing of bees (?), and described these further in the 4th and 5th columns.” The stela was inserted in a plinth with the aid of a tenon at the base, as was always done with stelae. This one does not appear to have arrived in Babylon by peaceful methods. As a rule a prince would not have allowed any addition to be made to his inscription.
The ancient Hittite stela which was found to the east of the lion (Figs. 103, 104) must also be regarded as booty. On the front of the somewhat coarse-grained block of dolerite there stands the weather god (Teshup?), with the rays of lightning in his left hand, the axe in his right hand, and a sword in his girdle. He wears a short-sleeved garment, peaked shoes, and a remarkable cap with a knob at the top and horns or double rims at the sides, as well as bracelets and an anklet on the right foot. The lips are shaven, and a long lock of hair falls down on his shoulder. The rounded back of the stela contains a long, well-preserved inscription of Hittite hieroglyphs,—a script which is still undeciphered. There is a similar representation on the east side of the outer citadel gateway of Sendjirli, and no doubt our stela comes from the same region of Northern Syria. The style of its relief is between that of the citadel gateway and of the town gate of Sendjirli, and it may therefore be ascribed to the tenth century B.C. (see F. v. Luschan, _Ausgrabungen von Sendschirli_, iii.).
[Illustration:
FIGS. 103, 104.—The Hittite stela.
Obverse. Reverse. ]
[Illustration:
FIG. 105.—Pavement slab of Adad-nirari. ]
The same prolific site yielded also a basalt paving stone with an inscription that showed it to belong to the palace of Adad-nirari (ii.), the son of Asurdan, son of Tiglathpileser (Fig. 105). Whether this palace of Adad-nirari (911?–891) stood here or in Assyria cannot be proved. At any rate this paving stone appears to have been set in the Principal Citadel of Nebuchadnezzar as an object of interest.
Fifteen fragments of dolerite with inscriptions belong to stelae of the same kind as one that was found by brick robbers shortly before the beginning of our excavations, in the north-east corner of the Principal Citadel. It is an upright semi-cylindrical block inscribed on both sides, on which Nabonidus reports in detail on his endowment of temples in Babylon and other places (see Scheil, “Inscription de Nabonide,” in the _Recueil de travaux rel. à la philologie_, etc., xviii. p. 15). A block of dolerite which formed part of a thick large stela was found in _r_ 9 of the Kasr plan. It contains in Neo-Babylonian writing a duplicate of the famous inscription which Darius Hystaspes (521–485) engraved on the rocks of Bagistana in Persian, Susian, and Babylonian.
The numerous fragments of building cylinders which have been found on the Kasr, naturally refer principally to the building of the palace, the Ishtar Gate, and the fortification walls. The greater number are Nebuchadnezzar’s, but there are a few of Sardanapalus, Nabopolassar, Nabonidus, and Neriglissar.
A number that were found actually in the Principal Citadel are of buildings outside the Kasr, such as Etemenanki, and of buildings outside Babylon. Thus we have an inscription of Nabonidus of E-ḫul-ḫul in Haran, one of E-bar-ra in Sippara, and one of Nebuchadnezzar from E-ul-la in Sippara, and also an E-an-na of Sardanapalus and others. It appears therefore that such documents were systematically collected and preserved in the Principal Citadel.
Any one who compares the comparatively small area that is excavated with the extent of that which is yet untouched, and realises how much has already been found, will see how much yet remains to be done and acquired in the Principal Citadel, apart from the gain to science that would ensue from laying open the palace buildings.
The palace did not extend quite as far as the fortification wall on the north. The foundations of the front consist of excellent brickwork laid in asphalt and reeds, while in the foundations behind broken brick laid in lime mortar is employed throughout.
Between the palace and the fortification walls there was an open strip in which a wide canal, originally 13 metres broad, which led from the Euphrates, flowed from here almost to the eastern wall. Smaller conduits, 1.2 metres wide, roofed over with tilted bricks, branched off from it through the massive foundations of the Principal Citadel to supply it with water. They were connected with the palace level by quadrangular well shafts. The embankment of the canal in front of the palace and of the northern fortification wall, projecting from their foundations, formed a rampart 2 metres broad, and at this level we have fixed our zero, which serves as the starting-point for the level of the entire city and its buildings. The water-level of Nebuchadnezzar’s time was at about this height, for here the projecting courses of the coverings of the smaller conduits begin, and the pavement in the door of the northern wall is only some 1.5 metres higher than our zero.
It is obvious that the great canal was open above. It was later replaced by a smaller one only 1.8 metres wide, which runs beside its southern bank wall and was certainly covered in. At this later period a broad road 9.5 metres wide led between the palace and the north wall, which consisted of three brick courses laid in asphalt. Upon it were Parthian houses and brick graves. We cut into them with our trench at the mound “Atele” (_n_ 8). On this hill, which rises to 18 metres above zero, stood in Oppert’s time a nebek tree; the Arabs believed that this had grown out of a tent stake that Ali had driven in here. From a shoot of this tree the solitary nebek sprang that still flourishes in the long low region of the Northern Citadel.
For a time I held the opinion that this canal was the Libil-ḫigalla, because bricks with the Aramaic stamp “Libilḫi” were found here. Later on, however, similar bricks were found on other parts of the Kasr, which rendered my earlier reasons fallacious.
The following passage in the great _Steinplatten_ inscription, 8, 31–9, 28 (_K.B._ iii. 2, p. 27), refers principally to the palace of the Principal Citadel, but includes also the fortification walls of the Northern Citadel, to which we shall return later: “Because my heart did not wish the dwelling-place of my Majesty to be in another place, because I did not build a royal dwelling in any other place, and because I did not consign the kingly property to all lands, my dwelling-place in Babylon grew insufficient for the dignity of my Majesty. Because the fear of Marduk my lord dwelt in my heart, I did not change his street in order to widen my fortress, the seat of my royalty in Babylon. I did his sanctuary no damage, nor did I dam up his canal, but I sought at a distance room for myself. That no assault of battle may approach Imgur-Bel the dûr of Babil, on the other side of Nimitti-Bel the šalḫû of Babil, for 490 ells of land I made for a protection two mighty walls of asphalt and burnt bricks as dûr like mountains, and built between them a building of burnt brick (bitik agurri), and made upon it a lofty seat for my royal dwelling of asphalt and burnt brick, and joined it to the palace of my father. In a not unfavourable month, on a propitious day, I grounded its foundations firmly on the bosom of the underworld, and raised its summit high like the mountains. Within 15 days I finished the building and made the seat of government illustrious. I caused mighty cedars, the product of high mountains, thick asûḫu-trees, and selected fine cypresses to be laid lengthways for its roofing. Door leaves of mismakanna, cedar, cypress, and usû-wood and ivory inlaid with silver and gold and adorned with copper; bronze hinges and thresholds I fitted into its doorways, and caused its summits to be encompassed with a blue cornice (? kilîli). A mighty dûr of asphalt and burnt brick I caused to surround it mountains high” (trans. by Delitzsch).
By the blue cornice is meant either the frieze of lions on a blue ground or the above-mentioned reliefs in lapis-lazuli paste. That asphalt alone is mentioned as mortar, and not the lime that was so freely used in the Principal Citadel, need cause no wonder in face of the usual inaccuracy in regard to details. The statement that the palace was built and completed in 15 days is, however, truly marvellous and scarcely credible, and something must lie behind these words that has not yet been correctly understood. It was believed, however, in the ancient world without reservation. Berosus (Josephus, _Antiq. Jud._ x. 11) apparently derived his information from the same inscription when he says that the second palace which joined on to the ancestral palace was finished in 15 days, notwithstanding its magnificence and size.
XXVII THE FORTIFICATION WALLS OF THE PRINCIPAL CITADEL
The Principal Citadel, which adjoins the Arachtu wall on the south, was protected on the east and north by two strong walls, while the western front probably lay open until Nabonidus built his Euphrates wall here.
The southern portion of the 7–metres-thick west wall was placed on the old wall of Nebuchadnezzar’s first projected building, which we lighted on in the centre of the Principal Citadel. In it the main entrance to the palace undoubtedly lay, but the wall is not yet completely excavated. Small mud houses backed against the wall and were placed on the upper Nebuchadnezzar pavement, but they were buried below the later pavement that laid the Street horizontal.
On the other side of the Procession Street there ran a parallel wall also 7 metres thick. The part that connects it with the Ishtar Gate corresponds with the cross wall on the other side, and like it has shallow foundations. Later a strengthening piece was added to it. It contains two doors close to each other, and a third door lies at a short distance from the northern end. The footing of the wall at the east was concealed by a bank of earth piled up against it, which with its walk on the top reached almost to the height of the Procession Street. At the edge of this walk there is an additional slender wall which may have been built in Persian times, and which appears to have surrounded the whole of the northern Kasr, and to have cut through several of the older walls that stretched eastwards. At the north both walls end in a powerful bastion. These marked the corners at which one turned westward, the other eastward from the Procession Street at an obtuse angle. Transversely across the Procession Street between the bastions there are two mud walls, each with a door in the centre, forming a gateway court, which in conjunction with the bastions bore the appearance of an actual fortified gateway. This gateway was destroyed when the whole length of the Street was laid horizontal with the latest pavement of broken brick.