Author:
Geoffrey Turner
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John Malcolm Russell
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Chapter Abstracts

Sources

This chapter lists the sources drawn on for this work, that is in the main the manuscript and as yet mostly unpublished primary sources which are to be found in the Layard Papers now in the Department of Manuscripts of the British Library, in the Department of Western Asiatic Antiquities of the British Museum, and in the Central Archives of the British Museum. New transcriptions are then given of Layard’s field notes, LN 1 from his first campaign of 1847, and of LN 2C, LN 2E and John Russell’s fair-copy version LN 3 all from Layard’s second campaign; this followed by attributions of the Original Drawings to the artists Layard, Cooper, Bell and Hodder, and also to Churchill who made drawings for Col. Williams of the Turco-Persian Boundary Commission in the spring of 1849. The chapter concludes with concordances of Chamber letters and Room numbers, and the documentation for the entrance figures in the palace.

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 gives details of Layard’s first excavations on Kuyunjik, starting in April 1847, where he excavated the Throneroom Suite of Sennacherib’s palace, including Throneroom B(I), Chambers A(IV), C(V), D(XLV), E(XLIII), F(XVII), G(III), and XVI, and Forecourt H and Court I(VI). The records of these discoveries are supplemented by the important corpus of photographs and drawings made by John Russell of the reliefs still extant in 1989 and 1990. Following Layard’s departure in late June 1847, small scale excavations continued on the site under the supervision of H.J. Ross and the foreman Toma Shishman, under the overall supervision of the British vice-consul Christian Rassam and his English wife Matilda. In late March 1849 Col. Williams of the Turco-Persian Boundary Commission passed through Mosul, and became so engrossed with the discoveries that he set up camp on Kuyunjik and in effect took control of the operations, staying until mid-April and sending detailed reports of the investigations to Layard.

Chapter 2

Chapters 2–5 deal with the discoveries made by Layard in his second campaign, October 1849-April 1851, these described in the sequence that they took place, divided by lengthy trips that Layard made in the meanwhile. Chapter 2 covers the first six months of this campaign, 30 September 1849–20 March 1850, after which Layard left for the Khabour. Excavations during this period were carried out in Court I(VI), Gallery O(XLIX), Passages L(XII) and N(XLII), and Chambers J(XIII), K(XIV), M(XLVIII), P(IX), Q(X), R(VII), S(VIII), AAA(XI), XX(XXII), and Forecourt H, revealing the Grand Entrance into Throneroom B(I). The chapter also includes summaries of excavations during this period at the Nergal Gate and city wall, Khorsabad, and Nimrud, and concludes with accounts of the shipment of sculptures by raft in April 1850 and of Layard’s trip to the Khabour.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 covers the period 10 May–11 July 1850, following which Layard spent 7 weeks in the north. Excavations continued in Gallery O(XLIX), Sloping Passage T(LI), Court U(XIX), and Chambers V(XXXVIII), W(XLI), X(XL), and Y(XXXIX). Also included are the author’s observations on Stewart Rolland’s scene, a study of Layard’s notebook sketch plans, and accounts of the measuring, drawing, documentation, moving, and packing of the sculptures.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 covers the period 30 August–10 October 1850, following which Layard spent 20 weeks in the south. During this period, excavations were conducted in three areas. The first was the west wing of Court U(XIX), including Chambers Z(XXIX), MM(XXXIV), NN(XXXVII), OO(XXXVI), PP(XXXV), AA/CC(XXX), BB(XXXIII), DD(XXXI), and EE(XXXII). The second area was the southeast terrace platform WW(LX) and YY, together with the adjacent ascending passage VV(LXI), and the rooms at the southwest edge of the palace, including Chambers SS(LVII), TT(LVIII), UU(LIX), QQ(LV), and RR(LVI). The third area was the south side of Court U(XIX), including Passage FF(XXVIII) and Chambers GG(XXIV), HH(XXV), LLL(XXVII), MMM(XXVI), NNN, and OOO(XXIII). The chapter concludes with an account of the moving and packing of slabs.

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 covers the period 6/7 March–28 April 1851, including an account of the discoveries made at Kuyunjik during Layard’s long absence in the south. During this period excavations were carried out in the north wing of Court U(XIX), including Chambers D(XLV), E/KK(XLIII), XVI, F(XVII), J(XIII), II(XLVI), JJ(XLVII), KK(XLIII), and LL(XLIV). The northwest corner of the palace was also investigated at this time, including Court EEE(LXIV), and Chambers BBB(LXII), CCC(LXIII), DDD(LXV), FFF(LXVII), GGG(LXX), HHH(LXXI), III(LXIX), JJJ(LXVI), and KKK(LXVIII). The chapter also includes proposed solutions to the question of how access was gained to the northwest corner, a study of Campbell Thompson’s New Chambers, observations on the making of the MS Plan, and accounts of the tragic tenure of the artist Bell and of acquisitions of sculptures by American missionaries.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 deals with the investigations on the southwest side of the palace, these treated here together as being more practical, the first work in this area being that of Ross in early 1848 and finishing with L.W. King’s and R. Campbell-Thompson’s final British Museum seasons in 1903–1905, when the enigmatic “New bull entrance” was discovered. New reconstructions are proposed for the rooms in this area and for the Grand Entrance that provided access to them.

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 covers the work on Kuyunjik under the general direction of H.C. Rawlinson following Layard’s return to England on 28 April 1851 and until Rawlinson in turn left Baghdad in February 1855, followed by the departure of W.K. Loftus in March the same year, or thereabouts. The chapter covers the discoveries of Hormuzd Rassam in the palaces of Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal during this period, including the White and Broken Obelisks and the Ishtar Temple Passage reliefs, followed by the work for the Assyrian Excavation Fund under the direction of Loftus and William Boutcher. Particular focus is on the multiple shipments of sculptures on behalf of the British Museum, the Louvre, and a variety of institutional and private recipients.

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