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PREFACE
It is with considerable diffidence that I venture to submit the following narrative to the reader. The opinions of friends, and a desire on my part to communicate the little information that opportunities may have enabled me to acquire, with regard to a country and city so little known as Assyria and Nineveh, have alone induced me to undertake a work of this nature under the united disadvantages of incapacity, literary inexperience, ill health, and a very short residence in England. When I add that I have, at the same time, been engaged in preparing for the press an illustrated work on the Monuments of Nineveh, and in superintending the publication, for the Trustees of the British Museum, of the Cuneiform inscriptions brought by me from Assyria, occupations which have demanded considerable time and care, I may perhaps appeal with more confidence to the kind indulgence of my readers, and particularly of those who are far more competent than myself to enter into the enquiries I have ventured to add to my personal narrative.
A general dissertation, such as that contained in the latter part of this work, requires a very extensive acquaintance with those ancient and modern authors who have written or casually touched upon similar subjects. The necessity of a residence in the country, and the consequent absence of books, have prevented me from consulting many works which might have afforded valuable information, and have rendered difficult the verification of quotations obtained, in many instances, during hurried visits to London.
With more time and opportunities at my command, this dissertation might have been rendered more entertaining and useful. I should not have added it to the narrative, had I not felt that there were many observations which could only have occurred to one engaged, like myself, in a very close examination of the ruins of Assyria, and which, right or wrong, should be recorded, if recorded at all, whilst still fresh in my memory. I may perhaps venture to hope that, although these general remarks may be of little value, they will at least afford some assistance to others who may engage, in similar enquiries.
Being anxious to avoid entering upon debateable subjects, it was originally my intention to state merely the results of my researches; but, as I proceeded with my work, I found it necessary to touch upon topics connected with Assyrian history and chronology. This was almost indispensable, in order to give the reader an idea of the extent of the discoveries and of the arguments they furnish. The opinions, however, which I have ventured to offer must be considered rather in the light of suggestions. Many things that have appeared to me to be facts may require further proof before they can be generally admitted. An examination of the ruins of Assyria still unexplored, and a fuller acquaintance with the monuments and inscriptions already discovered, are required to enable us to arrive at satisfactory results in an enquiry such as I have entered into. Still it appears to me that we have already sufficient data to warrant the attempt. These words of caution are necessary, and I trust the reader will acquit me of any wish to mislead him, or to make more of my subject than it deserves.
With regard to my personal narrative, I may owe an apology to the reader for introducing subjects not included in the title of my work, for adding narratives of my visits to the Tiyari and Yezidis, and a dissertation upon the Chaldaeans of Kurdistan. I have thought that it might not be uninteresting to give such slight sketches of manners and customs as would convey a knowledge of the ...
Austen Henry Layard
Nineveh, and its Remains
A. And W. Galignani and C°
A. And W. Galignani and C° Baudry's European Library Nineveh, and its Remains; With an Account of a Visit to the Chaldjean Christians of Kurdistan, and the Yesidis, or Devil Worshippers; And an Enquiry into the Manners and Arts of the Ancient Assyrians. By Austen Henry Layard, D.C.L.
"She sawmen pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldcans pourtrayed with vermilion, "Girded with girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon their beads, all of them princes to look to, after the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of their nativity." Ezekiel. xxiii. 14, 15,
Paris, A. And W. Galignani and C°, Rue Vivienne, n° 18. Baudry's European Library, Quai Malaquais, n° 3. 1850.
Paris. - Printed by E. Brière, rue Sainte-Anne, 55.
