In a letter to Dr. Perkins from Mosul on November 3, 1852, Rev. Lobdell wrote; "I took up the journal of the American Oriental Society, and it occured to me that I might ask a question or two of you regarding your article on a visit to Mosul, with profit to myself at least. I do not write as a reviewer, but as an inquirer. My first query is : On the supposition that the river washed the walls of the city in the days of its glory, have you any way of accounting for the existence of the iron clamped dam across the Tigris near Nimrud. It seems pretty evident, that the dam, the remains of which are still magnificent, must have been made in order to turn the water near Selamiyeh over the plain. It would have given great facilities for irrigation. You are aware that quite a garden lines the river now, near the bend at the northwest angle of the plain .... The native idea, that it (the dam) was a footpath for Nimrud to visit the Hamam Alil, or Sulphur Springs, the other side, will hardly satisfy a Yankee .... What do you think of the idea, that the "exceeding great city of three days journey", has reference to Jonahs preaching through the various streets ? If that idea is tenable, Nineveh would have been large enough without Khorsabad and Nimrud." (page 204-205) "The sun was just setting, when we returned to Baadri, and the shepherds were leading their immense flocks from the hills to their folds. All carried arms. The Kurds and the Arab respect no right but that of might, any more than the Czar or the House of Hapsburg. The shades of evening cast a wild gloom over fort and tree and plain ; a silence disturbed only by the bleating of the flocks and the sullen growl of the watch-dogs on the roofs. A few years since, this quite spot was the scene of a butchery of the most horrid kind. The cruel Kurd has found the Sultan, influenced by England, too strong for him ; and it is hoped the world will never again hear of such atrocities as those of Bader Khan Bey." (page 218) "He (Rev. Lobdell) was also much interested, at this time, in investigating the composition and significance of the names of Assyrians and Babylonians which we find in the Scriptures, and the relations of the liturgies of the Nestorian and Jacobite churches to that of the ancient and venerable church of Syria, or Antioch. He discovered, to his surprise, that the Jacobites and Nestorians had essentially the same liturgy, and that they held it so sacred that even papal power and cunning had not been able to induce converts from those churches to relinquish it." (page 259) "In the court of the Jacobite church was a rough palm tree, hanging with green dates, and in that of the Syrian church a fine olive tree. The extreme scarcity of trees in the Tigris valley renders them of great value." "The ruins in the suburbs of Bartullah (a village near Mosul) are quite extensive. Grievous taxation has scattered the inhabitants. Indeed, the Turkish system of raising revenue is utterly opposed to the prosperity of the people. Often, instead of a tithe, a half of the annual crops is wrenched from the poor villagers." (page 268) Memoir of Rev. Henry Lobdell, M.D., Missionary of the American Board at Mosul.
Including the Early History of the Assyrian Mission.
by Rev. W.S. Tyler / 1859
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