volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

Turkish Obstruction. 233
soldiers to Sinjiix to prevent Ayub from carrying off for
himself the large sums of money which he was squeezing
out of the Yazidis there.
Referring then to the excavations at Kuyunjik, he
said that much treasure had been found in the mounds
during the past year and a half, and that, he had reason
to believe that the men employed by Nimrud Rassam had
made away with it. This sort of thing must be stopped,
he said, and he was going to send soldiers to watch the
mound day and night, and expected me to pay them for
their services. He was well aware of the fact that our
permit for Kuyunjik expired on December 10th, but he
was willing to come to an arrangement with me whereby
1 could go on digging after that date, provided I agreed
to keep silence as regards his share in the matter. I
thanked him for his offer and told him that we had
decided to stop work in the mound on December gth,
and I declined to pay for the services of the soldiers
whom he proposed to send to watch the digging. This
did not please him at all, and from that day until I
left Mosul our work at Kuyunjik was hampered and
obstructed in every way which the ingenuity of the
Turkish official could devise. As I had got into my
possession everything which had been found since I
left Mosul the year before, and saw no chance of finding
much else that winter, I closed the excavations. I
decided to take aU the digging tools and baskets down
the river with me for use at Der, and I had them packed
up ready in boxes.
In spite of the rain and mud many of the MusuHs,
both of the clergy and laity, paid me visits during the
week after my return to Mosul, and they seemed to be
glad to see me again and were at aU events very cordial
in their greetings. Several of my visitors came to
report that they had acquired manuscripts during my
absence in England, and we arranged times when I
could see them and discuss prices with them. Among
such visitors were some Muslim women who brought
me many manuscripts, chiefly Kur'ans, which had
been the property of their husbands and which they