the rock must have occupied many months; and on examining the tablets minutely, Major Rawlinson observed an elaborateness of workmanship which is not found in other places. Wherever, from the unsoundness of the stone, it was difficult to give the necessary polish to the surface, other fragments were inlaid, embedded in molten lead, and the fittings were so carefully managed, that a very careful scrutiny is required at present to detect the artifice; holes or fissures, which perforated the rock, have been filled up also with the same material; and the polish, which has been bestowed on the entire sculpture, could only have been accomplished by mechanical meaus.

The execution of the inscriptions is the most wonderful part of the work; for extent, for beauty, for uniformity and correctness, they are perhaps unequalled in the world. Major Rawlinson assigns the palm of merit to the Median writing, and infers that the artist was himself a Mede; but the Persian portion is, he says, also far superior to any engraving that is met with at Persepolis or Hamadán; and the Babylonian legends, though less elaborately finished, are hardly below the general standard. "It would be very hazardous," he adds, " to speculate on the means employed to engrave the work in an age, when steel was supposed to have been unknown; but I cannot avoid noticing a very extraordinary device which has been employed, apparently to give a finish and durability to the writing. It was evident to myself, and to those who, in company with me, scrutinised the execution of the work, that, after the engraving of the rock had been accomplished, a coating of siliceous varnish had been laid on, to give a clearness of outline to each individual letter, and to protect the surface against the action of the elements. This varnish is of infinitely greater hardness than the limestone rock beneath it. It has been washed down in several places, by the trickling of water for three-and-twenty centuries, and it lies in flakes upon the foot ledge like thin layers of lava. It adheres in other portions of the tablet to the broken surface, and still shows, with sufficient distinctness, the forms of the characters, although the rock beneath is entirely honeycombed and destroyed. It is only, indeed, in the great fissures caused by the outbursting of the natural springs, and in the lower part of the tablet, where I suspect artificial mutilation, that the varnish has entirely disappeared."

Of the personal history of Darius, and of his reign, and of the

establishment of the system of Zoroaster, as the national faith, we have already spoken at some length; but the interpretation of the great inscription at Behistun has added several important facts, which we did not know before; and, while it has confirmed all essential points of the history of Herodotus, has rectified also some statements, where he probably misunderstood his informants, or was himself deceived by them.

From the inscriptions, as now decyphered, Major Rawlinson has gathered, that while Darius was still occupied in the reformation of the national faith, an insurrection broke out in Susiana; that it was, however, partial, and that it seems to have been suppressed, on the seizure of the chief ringleader, without the employment of any military force. Simultaneously with this émeute, occurred a far more important event,—the first revolt of Babylon. A pretended son of Nabonidus raised the standard of the house of Nabonasser; and under his guidance the rebellion assumed so formidable a character, that Darius was obliged to march in person from Media. He fought two actions with the rebels, one at the passage of the Tigris, and the other on the Euphrates, and was successful in both; and Babylon appears to have surrendered without making any resistance. Darius spent a considerable period, perhaps two years, in Babylon, and was called thence to suppress another outbreak, which occurred in Susiana. This he accomplished apparently with little difficulty, as the inhabitants of that province were well affected to him, and delivered into his hands the rival leader. Soon after, a more formidable rebellion broke out: Assyria and Armenia joined together, and Media combined with them, in an attempt to recover their independence. Electing to the throne a real or supposed descendant of the ancient line of kings, they fought six battles with the generals whom Darius sent against them, and, apparently with such success, that the king himself was in the end compelled to repair in person to the scene of conflict. In the third year of his reign, Darius ascended from Babylon to Media; brought his enemy almost immediately to action, defeated him at Rhages, and taking him prisoner, put him to death at Ecbatana.

Major Rawlinson remarks on the similarity of the description of the operations of Nabuchodonosor, as detailed in the book of Judith, with those of Darius, which may be collected from the Behistun inscriptions, and states, that admitting the identity of Phraortes

and Arphaxad, and substituting the name of Darius for Nabuchodonosor, the Chaldæan legend will be singularly applicable. Yet the comparison of the dates, and the general connection of the events show, we think, as has been already pointed out, that the story of Judith refers to the earlier period of Nabuchodonosor, and not to the later times of Darius Hystaspes.

The flames of rebellion spread onwards into Sagartia, and from thence even to Parthia and Hyrcania, where Hystaspes, the father of Darius, was at that time governor. This ruler took the field against the rebels, and Darius himself seems to have moved from Rhages to encounter them. The campaign terminated favourably, but the spirit of disaffection having extended itself to Margiana, which was conterminous with Parthia, the Satrap of Bactria was compelled to undertake further operations, to vindicate the royal authority. At the same time the king was compelled to encounter opposition even in the heart of his native province, Persis, for another impostor arose, who personated the missing Smerdis, about whom there was so much mystery; and the prestige of the name of Cyrus induced many to favour the ambitious views of his suppositious son. Darius did not go himself against this new enemy, but sent one of his lieutenants; but it appears, that he moved to the southward during the progress of the war, in order that he might be ready in case of need. Success was for a time doubtful, and the contest was prolonged by a diversion which the counterfeit Smerdis made in the direction of Arachosia, in the hope of raising a body of troops to co-operate with him from the eastward. The rebellion was, however, in the end put down. The impostor in Persia, and his lieutenant in Arachosia, were taken and slain, and Darius was left free to turn his attention to Babylonia, where a second insurrection had broken out during his absence in the north. It appears that this war was of short duration, and the resistance made by the rebels slight, as, this time, Darius was able to effect by a lieutenant what he had been compelled to do before in person.

A period of peace appears now to have succeeded; and it is probable that he halted at Behistun, on the high road to Babylon, to return thanks to Ormazd, the divinity, to whose tutelary care he ascribed his uninterrupted and, at length, complete success. At this period, then, in the fifth year of his reign, B. c. 516, Major Rawlinson supposes him to have executed the extensive sculptures