. History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia and Assyria . E ASSYRIAN TRIANGLE 801 and Suleimanyeh, while Nineveh guarded it on the north-east, and several lines of walled cities—among whichDiir-Sharrukin and Imgur-Bel can stiU be identified—protected it on the north and east, extending from theTigris as far as the Ghazlr and Zab. It was necessaryfor an enemy tobreak throughthis complex de-fensive zone, andeven after thishad been suc-cessfully accom-plished and thewalls of thecapital had beenreached, thesight whichwould meet theeye was wellcalculated todismay even themost resolute invader. Yi
. History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia and Assyria . E ASSYRIAN TRIANGLE 801 and Suleimanyeh, while Nineveh guarded it on the north-east, and several lines of walled cities—among whichDiir-Sharrukin and Imgur-Bel can stiU be identified—protected it on the north and east, extending from theTigris as far as the Ghazlr and Zab. It was necessaryfor an enemy tobreak throughthis complex de-fensive zone, andeven after thishad been suc-cessfully accom-plished and thewalls of thecapital had beenreached, thesight whichwould meet theeye was wellcalculated todismay even themost resolute invader. Yiewed as a whole, Ninevehappeared as an irregular quadrilateral figure, no two sidesof which were parallel, lying on the left bank of theTigris. The river came right up to the walls on thewest, and the two mounds of Kouyunjik and Nebi-Yunus,on which stood the palaces of the Sargonides, wereso skilfully fortified that a single wall connecting thetwo sufficed to ward off all danger of attack on this south waU, which was the shortest of the four,. 302 THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDEAN EMPIRE being only about 870 yards in length, was rendered inac-cessible by a muddy stream, while the north wall, some2150 yards long, was protected by a wide moat whichcould be filled from the waters of the Khuzur. Theeastern front had for a long time depended for its safetyon a single wall reinforced by a moat, but Sennacherib,
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