"سرد لإقامة في كردستان وفي موقع نينوى القديمة؛ مع مذكرات رحلة إلى بغداد عبر نهر دجلة ووصف زيارة إلى شيراز وبرسبوليس." [‎١‎٣‎٨] (٤٥٠/١٧٣)

liinifltilitliiifm
WfftTTTn
138
RUINS OF TOPRAK KALAA. [CH. XVIII.
might be seen lines of stone-masonry with lime
cement; on the surface, fragments of building, and
large square bricks. We observed one piece ot stone
carved like the fragment of a statue, or line orna
ment, which we saw distinctly through our glasses,
as we were close to the shore, but could not land, as
I have said above, owing to the violence of the
current and the eddies, formed, I believe, by the
fragments of building in the water. The men of
the kelleks absolutely refused to make the attempt.
These ruins are well worth investigation. They form
a mass of about twenty feet high, extending north
and south along the west bank of the river for nearly
two miles, and apparently very far in. The dis
tance from Mousul by land is said to be twenty-
two hours. The Hamreen hills are close behind,
with several caves, looking like Dakhmehs, or ancient
places for exposing the dead, on the summits. These
ruins of Toprak Kalaa appear to be most perfect;
and from their desolate and out-of-the-way situation,
they seem only to have suffered by natural decay,
and never to have been disturbed by the hand ol
man. The Turks call the place Toprak Kalaa; the
Arabs, Kalaat ul Shirgath; which mean the same
thing—the castle of earth. They all say it was
ruined long before the time of Islam.
Here is the southern boundary of the territory ol
Mousul, on the west side of the Tigris ; its boundary
on the east side is the great Zab.