The kings of
one great mountain race that had its capital at Van borrowed from the
Assyrians this method of recording their achievements, and, adopting the
Assyrian character, have left numerous rock-inscriptions in their own
language in the mountains of Armenia and Kurdistan. In some instances
the action of rain and frost has nearly if not quite obliterated the
record, and a few have been defaced by the hand of man. But as the
majority are engraved in panels cut on the sheer face of the rock, and
are inaccessible except by means of ropes and tackle, they have escaped
mutilation. The photograph reproduced will serve to show the means that
must be adopted for reaching such rock-inscriptions in order to examine
or copy them.
[Illustration: 413.jpg WORK IN PROGRESS ON ONE OF THE ROCK-INSCRIPTIONS
OF SENNACHERIB]
In The Gorge Of The River Gomel, Near Bavian.
The inscription shown in the photograph is one of those cut by
Sennacherib in the gorge near Bavian, through which the river Gomel
flows, and can be reached only by climbing down ropes fixed to the top
of the cliff. The choice of such positions by the kings who caused the
inscriptions to be engraved was dictated by the desire to render it
difficult to destroy them, but it has also had the effect of delaying to
some extent their copying and decipherment by modern workers.
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