ever, forbids the supposition that they were used as paddles, as does also their great length. They are slender, dilated at the extremity, and slightly curved back. The rowers are four or five in number, all rowing on the same side; but probably those of the other side are purposely omitted, and the number may be conventional. They all face the forepart of the ship, so that the impulse must have been given by a forward stroke, a pushing rather than pulling, contrary to what is usual amongst us; and they all stand to row.* The beams of timber, hewn and squared, were partly stowed on board and partly towed behind, each vessel. The former are represented as resting on the elevated prow and stern, no rope or any other mode of confinement being drawn, to show how they were retained in that situation. It is, however, quite unlikely that they were really so placed, both on account of the narrowness of the points on which they would rest, and also from the great weight, which would at such an elevation endanger the safety of the ship, if not render it impossible for her to maintain her upright position. Hence we may believe with M. Botta, that we have here one of those instances of false perspective, which are so common in both Egyptian and Assyrian art, * Perhaps to give more force to the stroke ;-as we find in Apollonius Rhodius: While yet their arms each forceful oar extend, Argon. (Greene) i. 136. This is still a common mode of rowing upon the Swiss lakes. and that these beams were either stowed in the bottom of the vessel itself, or fastened along the sides. About the others there can be but one opinion. A hole having been bored through one end of each beam, a rope was passed through it, and fastened to the stern-post, and thus three timbers, floating in the sea, were towed behind. It is interesting to find that the manner of transporting timber here represented, is still common in the same region. The learned discoverer remarks that "the pieces of timber which even at the present day arrive at Mosul from the mountains of Koordistan are pierced in the same way at one of their extremities, through which is passed a cord for the purpose of dragging them through the forests to the spot where they are formed into rafts which descend the Tigris."* At the extremity of the fourth slab the fleet has reached its destination. The ships are run up towards the beach prow foremost, as near as their draught of water will allow, and unlade their cargoes. The beams on board are first discharged; the men lifting them out, on their shoulders and in their arms, and pushing them on to the shore; where others (the crews of the other galleys), forming themselves into gangs with ropes over their shoulders, receive the beams into the bights, and partly drag and partly carry them away in the same manner as at first. We are thus brought to the last slab, which is unfortunately defective in the very part of greatest Mon. de Nin. v. 101. interest. For here was represented the fortified place, which was the object of the expedition; it was situated upon a mountain, up which a road, apparently bounded by a battlemented wall on each side, led to the gate. The fortress itself is wholly gone; M. Botta concludes from the part of the slab that remains, that the water originally extended above it, and that the sculptor intended to depict it as isolated in the midst of the waves. At the base of the hill on which the city stood, the beams are ranged in parallel series, with great regularity, the perforated end of each being turned to the right and left alternately. This may be considered to express the commencement of a strong bridge or pier, by which alone the besieging army could approach the walls; the construction of which was so indispensable as to warrant all the labour and time and expense evidently incurred in the transport of the timber. Another such pier is partially seen at another quarter of the fortress, which was probably assailed from several points; if this latter is not rather the pile of timber laid down as brought from the vessels, ready for the use of the engineers. We have hitherto spoken only of the outward fleet; but other ships are represented, sailing in the opposite direction, doubtless returning for another cargo. These are of exactly the same form and size as the former, but they exhibit this difference, that whereas the laden ships are moved only by oars, and are not furnished with a mast, the latter make use of both these means of progression. This is an ad * ditional reason for thinking that the timber was stowed in the bottom of the ship rather than over the sides, for its presence there might easily interfere with the mast, which was therefore unstepped. In returning, however, it resumes its position, a single spar rising from the centre of the ship, bearing a watching-tub, or "crow's-nest" at its summit, and supported by two stays going respectively to the prow and to the stern. The appendages at the mast-head are of two forms; one of these is shaped like an inverted bell, the same form as we find in the Egyptian naval sculptures, in the war-ships of the Shairdana (Sidonians ?) and Palishta (Philistines), as well as those of the Egyptians;† the other is square. The fastening of the stays goes around the former, but with the latter they are connected only by the two lower corners. Hence M. Botta suggests, that this square object is a sail, concealing the crow's-nest, and that, if so, the stays are none other than the braces which trim the sail. "Doubtless," he observes, *The mast was usually capable of being put up or taken out at will: + We learn from Euripides (Hecub. 1237, with the Schol.) and other authors, that the ancient galleys were furnished with a structure of this sort, fashioned like a drinking-cup, and called zagxov. The mariners ascended into it to manage the sail, to keep watch, and to discharge missiles, just as we see them represented in the Egyptian sculptures. It was sometimes made of bronze, and was sufficiently large to contain two, or even three men. |