'Narrative of a Residence in Koordistan, and on the Site of Ancient Nineveh; with Journal of a Voyage down the Tigris to Bagdad and an Account of a Visit to Shirauz and Persepolis.' [‎31] (56/450)

CH. XIII.] CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS. 31
which measures one foot four inches in thickness,
covered with writing, that was dug up in this mound ;
and to-day we were shown some fragments built up
in the foundations of houses. One of these, a broken
piece of gypsum with cuneiform characters, "was in
the kitchen of a wretched house, and appeared to be
part of the wall of a small passage which is said to
reach far into the mount. Some people dug into it
last year ^ but as it went under the houses, and they
were afraid ol undermining them, they closed it up
again with rubbish, and only that portion oi it \\liu ii
had been laid open, and forms part ol a kitchen, is
now visible. A little farther on, in a small loom
occupied by the women ol an inhabitant ol the town,
who very politely went out to allow us to inspect it
at our leisure, was another inscription, in very large
cuneiform letters, on a piece of gypsum. It laces
south, and runs east and west. Only about three
feet of it are now open, though it is said to extend
several yards west; but it has since been plastered
over with mud. This inscription is the more curious,
as it seems to occupy its original position. It is not
much above the floor of the room, is about two feet
high, and below the level of the surface of the mound.
The cuneiform characters are in their proper posi
tion. The inscription is said to have been discovered
in building the room, and was left just where it was
found, only plastered over with mud like the rest of
* Now in the British Museum.— Ed.