The Historians' History of the World 01

The battering-rams were of several kinds. Some were joined to movable towers which held warriors and armed men. The whole then formed one great temporary building, the top of which is represented in the sculptures, as on a level with the walls, and even turrets, of the besieged city. In some bas-reliefs the battering-ram is without wheels; it was then perhaps constructed on the spot, and was not intended to be moved. The movable tower was probably sometimes unprovided with the ram; but I have not met with it so represented in the sculptures. When Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem, he “built forts against it round about.” These forts or towers, if stationary, were solidly constructed of wood; if movable, they consisted of a light frame covered with wickerwork. The Jews were forbidden to cut down and employ, for this purpose, trees which afford sustenance to man. “Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down: and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee until it be subdued.”

When the machine containing the battering-ram consisted of a simple framework, not forming an artificial tower, a cloth of some kind of drapery edged with fringes and otherwise ornamented appears to have been occasionally thrown over it. Sometimes it may have been covered with hides. It moved either on four or on six wheels, and was provided with one ram or with two. The mode of working the rams cannot be determined from the Assyrian sculptures. It may be presumed, from the representations in the bas-reliefs, that they were partly suspended by a rope fastened to the outside of the machine, and that men directed and impelled them from within. Such was the plan adopted by the Egyptians, in whose paintings the warriors, working the ram, may be seen through the frame. Sometimes this engine was ornamented by a carved or painted figure of the presiding divinity, kneeling on one knee and drawing a bow. The artificial tower was usually occupied by two warriors: one discharged his arrows against the besieged, whom he was able from his lofty position to harass more effectually than if he had been below; the other held up a shield for his companion’s defence. Warriors are not unfrequently represented as stepping from the machine to the battlements.

Ezekiel alludes to all these modes of attack. “Lay siege against it,” he exclaims, speaking of the city of Jerusalem, “and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering-rams against it round about.”

Archers on the walls hurled stones from slings, and discharged their arrows against the warriors in the artificial towers; whilst the rest of the besieged were no less active in endeavouring to frustrate the attempts of the assailants to make breaches in their walls. By dropping a doubled chain or rope from the battlements, they caught the ram, and could either destroy its efficacy altogether or break the force of its blows. Those below, however, by placing hooks over the engine, and throwing their whole weight upon them, struggled to retain it in its place.

The besieged, if unable to displace the battering-ram, sought to destroy it by fire and threw lighted torches or firebrands upon it. But water was poured upon the flames, through pipes attached to the artificial tower. Other engines and instruments of war were employed by the besiegers. With a kind of catapult, apparently consisting of a light wooden frame covered with canvas or hides, they threw large stones and darts against the besieged, who, in their turn, endeavoured to set fire to it by torches. A long staff with an iron head, resembling a spear, was used to force stones out of the walls. Mines were also opened, and the assailants sought to enter the castle through concealed passages. Those who worked on them, or advanced to the attack, were perhaps protected by the testudo, as represented in the Egyptian paintings; but this defence is not seen in the Assyrian sculptures. Attempts were made to set fire to the gates of the city by placing torches against them, or to break them open with axes.

An Assyrian Archer