Media, Babylon and Persia : including a study of the Zend-Avesta or religion of Zoroaster, from the fall of Nineveh to the Persian war . circlets of gold ; they havegolden bracelets at the wrist and golden jewels intheir ears. Their spears have a silver call at thelower end. We know from Herodotus that thisequipment belonged to the royal bodyguard ofl^icked warriors, known by the name of The TenThousand, or, The Immortals, from their num-ber, and because, as soon as a man died, in battle orfrom sickness, another forthwith took his place, sothat there never were more nor less than ten thou-sand
Media, Babylon and Persia : including a study of the Zend-Avesta or religion of Zoroaster, from the fall of Nineveh to the Persian war . circlets of gold ; they havegolden bracelets at the wrist and golden jewels intheir ears. Their spears have a silver call at thelower end. We know from Herodotus that thisequipment belonged to the royal bodyguard ofl^icked warriors, known by the name of The TenThousand, or, The Immortals, from their num-ber, and because, as soon as a man died, in battle orfrom sickness, another forthwith took his place, sothat there never were more nor less than ten thou-sand,—and it is highly interesting to find oneselfconfronted A\ith contemporary ami autluntic repre-sentations of members of that famous body. Per-haps the most interesting detail about them is thefact, revealed by this discovery, that some of their THE LATE nrSCOTEKIES AT Sf/SA. 337 uniforms were covered with scutcheon badoes, wovenor embroidered in tlic stuff, very much hke tlioseworn by the retainers of noble and royal houses inthe Middle Ages. Let us hear Mr, Dieulafoys de-scription :. 45. (;ei) drtau, of tiik design woven into the KICIII HAND archers ROBES.(See Frontispiece.) ... On a while ground arc regularly scatlcrcd black lozengesbordered with yellow. In the middle of each lozenge is painted a whiteknoll bearing three towers—one yellow and two white. The designis framed liy a yellow line in relief. This ornament represents, in theclearest possible manner, the citadel of Susa ; this, at least, is theconventional representation of it on the Assyrian sculptures thatrefer to the capture of Susa by Asshurbanipal. When the great lordsof the Middle Ages had their arms embroidered or woven into thegarments of their retainers, they little that they had beenanticipated by the Persian monarchs ! The Lion-frieze and the Archer-frieze are not the only specimens of Tersian enamelled brick Z 53^ i\ii:dta, , and per^ta. decoration brouglit to light at Susa.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookpublishernewyorkgpputnamsso
