In the prophecy of Nahum, who was of the first captivity, and resident (if not born) at Elkosh in Assyria, there is much allusion to chariots, sug gested doubtless by their frequency before his eyes in the streets of Nineveh, and throughout the As syrian empire. In fact, when prophesying the downfall of Nineveh, he gives a particular and animated description of their action in the streets of the great city : The shield of his mighties is made red : The valiant men are clothed in scarlet : The chariots are as the fire of lamps, in the day when he prepareth And the horsemen spread fear In the streets, the chariots madden : They run to and fro in the broad places : Their appearance is as lamps, they run as lightning. Nahum ii. 3, 4, These allusions to the horsemen and chariots of Nineveh give much interest to one of the very re cent discoveries of M. Botta, on the site of that very ancient city. In excavating a certain mass of building, which appears to have formed part of some much more extensive pile, he discovered various inscriptions and sculptures, which seem to shew that the work was earlier than the age of Cyrus, and may be referred to the times of the Assyrian empire. In one place is a bas-relief, re presenting a horseman at full gallop. Another part of the same wall represents two horsemen galloping side by side, with another following at a short distance. Further on, two armed horse men are visible, one following the other at full gallop. The movement of the horses is very ani mated ; and both men and horses shew traces of colour. In another place are two horsemen walk ing their horses side by side. The only horseman visible has a sword ; a quiver and bow are over his shoulder, and his legs are clothed in mail. These figures are very interesting, not only in connection with the prophecy which so distinctly mentions the horsemen of Nineveh, but because they are, in fact, the only mounted figures which occur among the more ancient monuments of Asia. None have been found at Babylon, none at Persepolis ; and among the numerous sculptures and paintings of Egypt, only one solitary unarmed figure, who seems to have crossed the back of the animal by accident. But the matter of greatest in terest is the discovery of a curious bas-relief, re presenting a chariot drawn by two horses, and containing three persons. The principal of these appears to be a bearded man, lifting his right arm, and holding in his left hand a bow. He wears a
tiara painted red (' the valiant men are clothed in searlet'); behind him is a beardless slave, carrying a fringed parasol, and at his left is the charioteer holding the reins and the whip. The principal person and the charioteer wear ear-rings. The chariot-wheels have eight spokes; the chariot itself has been covered with carving, now impossible to be made out. The most noticeable thing is a bench, which seems to be attached to the chariot by a double belt, and which M. Botta supposes to have been a metal rod, intended to secure the solidity of the whole. The horses are admirably drawn, and afford indications of pure Arabian blood. Their harness is very rich, and still bears evident traces of colouring, among which blue and red only can be distinguished, the rest having turned black. Behind the chariot rides a cavalier, bearing a lance, with a sword at his belt, and a quiver over his shoulder (Athenaam, July 29, From this description it would appear that the Assyrian chariots were considerably different from those of the ancient Egyptians, and even from those of the Persians, with which we are acquaint ed through the Persepolitan sculpture (now in the British Museum), here copied (No. 179), and which are of a much heavier build than those of Egypt, as perhaps the more mountainous charac ter of the country required. The chariots of Assyria would seem in some respects to have cupied a middle place between the other two. Among other points we observe that the spokes of siderable diameter, had four horses abreast ; and, in early ages, there were occasionally hooks or scythes attached to the axles. In fighting from chariots great dexterity was shewm by the warrior, not only in handling his weapons, but also in step ping out upon the pole to the horses' shoulders, in order the better to attain his enemies, and the charioteer was an important person, sometimes equal in rank to the warrior himself. Both the the wheels are never more than six in the Egyptian chariot, while in the Assyrian there are eight, and in the Persian eleven. Not very different from the Persian chariot is one represented on a coin found at Babylon (No. 1S0) ; but the spokes of the wheels are eight, as in the Assyrian chariot. This coin has given occasion to much unsound specula tion in the attempt to connect it with the history of Daniel.