'Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society, from January 1847 to May 1849. Edited by the Secretary. Volume VIII.' [‎266] (375/496)

undermined their bases ; and bricks, bearing the cuneiform inscriptions,
similar to those of Babylon, abound in the vicinity. This city was
coeval with Babylon, Nineveh, and Resen,* and is frequently mentioned
by ancient and the more modern oriental authors. For its identity
and discovery we are indebted to Major Rawlinson, who has, in his in
teresting march from Zohab to Khuzistan, given a very full and elaborate
description of the various monuments of antiquity in this neighbourhood.
With great regret we were compelled to leave these relics without
examining them minutely, although portions of them can be seen indis
tinctly from the Khan, the great heat and our other occupations prevent
ing an inspection of them until sunset, at which time a visit would have
been useless, as, to be seen in perfection, requires the full blaze of the
noonday sun.
Crossing the Holwan by the bridge near the Khan at 8*5 p. m., we
passed through the gorge in the Dukkani Baud range, in which the river
flows, and kept a course between 110 ° and 146°, through the plain of
Bishiweh. This plain occupies the space between the low spur denomi
nated the Dukkani Baud to the West, and the heights of Zagros on the
East. It is plentifully watered by mountain streams, and well cultivated.
It terminates at the foot of the Taki Girrah (Gates of Zagros) pass,
which we reached at 10 * 20 ; having passed an excavated sepulchre,|
supposed to have once contained a sarcophagus in the Dukkani Baud
range, about two and a half miles S. E. of Sari-pul. The moon having
not yet risen prevented a sight of this remarkable spot, but as we com
menced the ascent of the farfamed pass, that luminary burst forth in all
her splendour above the oak-crowned crests of the Zagros.
The ascent proved rather a laborious one, over a zigzag and very
rough road, formed of loose masses of fallen rock, and large boulders of
stone like gigantic pebbles. The elevation of the road may be about
20 ° ; and, in its present state, is certainly ill adapted for the passage of
either troops or artillery.
A little labour and expense would, however, place it in as efficient a
state as it no doubt was in the remote ages when Cyrus, Darius Hys-
taspes, and Alexander, led their mail-clad legions, their elephant trains,
and unwieldy engines of war through its defiles, when conquest oi the
* Genesis X. v. 2 to 12 ; and for other scriptural notices refer to 2n<l Ei n o >
Chap. XVII. v. 6 to 11.—2nd Chron. v. 26.—B. C 710*715.
I •
Royal Geographical Journal, Part I. of 1830, page 38-30.