Читать книгу The dawn of astronomy. A study of the temple-worship and mythology of the ancient Egyptians онлайн

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The ancient cities which have so far been excavated and the modern names of the sites are as follows:

Nineveh = Kouyunjik. Babylon = Birs Nimrûd. Calah = Nimrûd. Erech = Warka. Ur of the Chaldees = Mukeyyer. Ashur = Kalat Sherkât. Dur Sarginu = Khorsabad.

Let us take, for instance, the region in the valley near where the Upper Zab joins the main stream. We gather from the map published in 1867 by Place,[11] that Nimrûd, the modern Calah, is near the junction, while the mounds of Kouyunjik, Mosul, and Khorsabad, representing the ancient Dur Sarginu, are to the north (36° N. latitude). There are two other mounds shown on the map at Djigan and Tel Hakoab.

Now, by inspection it is quite clear that none of the mounds except that of Nimrûd lie east and west. It becomes important, therefore, to determine their orientation; but, alas! this is nearly impossible with the sole exception of Khorsabad, for no measures appear to have been made.

At first sight the matter seems more hopeful in the case of Khorsabad, for we have not only the plans of Place, but those of Botta and Flandin.[12] The plans seem oriented with care, so far as the existence of a compass direction is concerned—for that is present while it too often is lacking in such productions—but in neither series is it stated whether N. means true or magnetic north.