Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 1.djvu/128

88 together. As we were not prepared for the labour which it would have required to excavate here, we proceeded along the ridge of the mound in a southerly direction. About the centre of the ridge, and close by one of the modern footpaths, were a number of square stones, and among them two massive blocks, one on each side of the path, which have evidently formed part of a gateway. Here again we found numerous fragments of brick scattered about in every direction, most of which bore a number of cuneiform characters.

"Proceeding onward to the south-western angle, where a low cone or rather mound rises above the platform, we discovered a slab partly buried in the earth, and measuring three feet by five, on which we perceived several cuneiform letters. After some labour we succeeded in exhuming the stone, and found the following inscription very clearly engraven on the surface:—



"After comparing this inscription and several of the fragments found on the bricks at Nimrood, with those lately discovered at Khorsabad, I am convinced that the character, and consequently the language of both is the same. The cuneiform inscriptions dug up at Khorsabad differ from those found at Persepolis, and in other parts of Persia, as also from those which exist in the vicinity of Van; and as far as my knowledge ex-