Lehre und Wehre St. Louis, Missouri — November 1911, Seite 505

German transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

Cited in Eckhardt's Reallexikon (1907) under: Wiſſenſchaft · Wiſſenſchaft 12

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Die Assyriologie und das Alte Testament. 505

the manenvers of theé cart.. . . Tbe cçart was the topic f general
conversation in Mosul until tke arrival. from Europe, of some chil-
dren's tovs. — barking dogs and moving puppéts, — wliich gave rise
to fresh éxcitement. and filled éeven the graveést of the clergy with
wWonder at the learning and wisdonl of the Infidels. ... To senable
me to move the bull from the ruins and to place it on the cart in
the plain below, it was necessarg to cut a trench néearly two hundred
féct long. abaut fftéen féet wide. and, in some places. twenty fect
Aecb. Theéreé béine no meéaus at my disposal to raise theé sculpture
out of the trenchés, like the smaller basreliefs, this road was neces-
Sary. ... The bull was ready to be moved. The earth had been
tuken from under it, it was now only supported by beams resting
agaiust the opposité wall. Amongst the wood obtained from the
mountains were séveral thick rollers. The bull was to be lowered
upon these rollers. ... The men being ready and all preparations
cοomplété, I orderéd the werlges to bé struck out from under tlié
scuhture to be movecl. Still. however, it remained firmly in its place.
A ropé having béeen passed around it, six or eight men easily tilted
it Over. The ropes held well. The mass gradually descended, the
Chaldaeans propping it up firmly with the béeams. It was a moment
of great anxiétv. The drums and shrill pipés of the Kurdish mu-
sicians increased theé din and confusion caused by the war-ery of
the Arabs. who were half frantic with excitement. They had thrown
off nearly all their garments; their hair floatéd in the wind, anel
they indulged in the wildeést postures and gesticulations as they
clung to the ropés. The bull once in motion, it was no longer
possible to gain à hearing. The loudest cries L could produce were
buriéd in à heap of discordant sounds. Away went the bull, steady
ehough as long as supported by the props behind; but as it game
nearer to the rollers, the beams could no longer be used. The cables
and ropes stretched more and more . .. and all broke together when
the sculpture was within four or five féeet of the rollers. The bull
Was precipitated to the ground. Those who held the ropes thus
suddenly reléased, followed its éxample, and were rolling over one
another in the dust. A sudden silence suceceded to the clamor.
Jrushed into the trenches, prepareéd to find the bull in many pieces.
It would be diffeult to deéscribe my satisfaction when Isaw it lying
precisely where Iwished to place it, and uninqured! The Arabs no
sooner got on their legs again than, seeing the result of the accident,
chey darted out of the trenches, and seizing by the hands the women
Vho were looking on, formed a large circle, and yelling their war⸗
ery with redoubled energy, commenced Ua most mad dance. The
musicians exerted themselves to the utmost; but their music was
drowned by the cries of the dancers. It would bave been uscless to
endeavor to put a check upon these proceedings. I preferred allowing
the men to wear themselves out — a result which, considering the

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