volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

Saldmiyah and the NimrM Rapids. 89
succumb. In the course of the evening we found the
stench unbearable, and we were obUged to move our
raft some distance down-stream. The night was very
cold and in the morning we found that our beds and
rugs were drenched with dew.
Being anxious to avoid visits from the people of
Hammam 'Ali we pushed out into the stream at dawn,
February 27th, and in a short time we found ourselves
opposite to the village of Salamiyah (east bank).
YUkut (iii, p. 113) speaks of the beauty of the village
and says that it was one of the largest of the province
of Mosul, and that it was situated quite close to the
ruined city of Athur.^ The Arab town must have been
built on the ruins of an ancient Assyrian town, for a
fragment of a fine cylinder, and a part of a sculptured
slab, and bricks inscribed in cuneiform were found
here. 2 When Layard was carrying on his excavations
at Nimriid he lived in the modern village, but I have
found no evidence in his books that he ever attempted
to examine archaeologically the walls of the ancient
town. We made no attempt to land at Salamiyah
and so floated down to the Nimrud rapid. At the lower
end of it are the remains of what appears to be an
ancient stone dam which is called " Away," i.e., the
" roarer," or " SaJchar al-Away."' When the river is
low these remains project nearly a couple of feet above
the water, and they are said to consist of huge slabs of
limestone held in position by metal clamps. Rich speaks
of the " roaring " caused by the water rushing over it
like a rapid, " boiling with great impetuosity."* Layard
thought that these stones were the remains of the
foundations of a wall and towers which had been
gradually concealed by the deposits of the Tigris, and
that the wall had once stood on the western bank.'
^ This town is mentioned by Ibn al-Athtr in his account of the
campaign of alih ibn Mahmud ; see vol. viii, p. 163.
^ Felix Jones, Topography of Nineveh, p. 455.
' Rich calls this dam " Zikr ul-Aawaze " (Sakhar al-'Awaz ?).
* Narrative, ii, p. 129.
° Nineveh and Babylon, p. 466.