Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 3. (of 7): Media - The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, - Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian - or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations. by George Rawlinson
page 40 of 155 (25%)
regions, and likewise on the high plateau; alum, which is quarried near
Tabriz; naphtha and gypsum, which are found in Kurdistan; and talc,
which exists in the mountains near Koum, in the vicinity of Tabriz, and
probably in other places.

The chief wild animals which have been observed within the limits of
the ancient Media are the lion, the tiger, the leopard, the bear, the
beaver, the jackal, the wolf, the wild ass, the ibex or wild goat, the
wild sheep, the stag, the antelope, the wild boar, the fox, the hare,
the rabbit, the ferret, the rat, the jerboa, the porcupine, the mole,
and the marmot. The lion and tiger are exceedingly rare; they seem to
be found only in Azerbijan, and we may perhaps best account for their
presence there by considering that a few of these animals occasionally
stray out of Mazanderan, which is their only proper locality in this
part of Asia. Of all the beasts, the most abundant are the stag and the
wild goat, which are numerous in the Elburz, and in parts of Azerbijan,
the wild boar, which abounds both in Azerbijan, and in the country about
Hamadan, and the jackal, which is found everywhere. Bears flourish in
Zagros, antelopes in Azerbijan, in the Elburz, and on the plains near
Sultaniyeh. The wild ass is found only in the desert parts of the high
plateau; the beaver only in Lake Zeribar, near Sulefmaniyeh.

The Iranian wild ass differs in some respects from the Mesopotamian. His
skin is smooth, like that of a deer, and of a reddish color, the belly
and hinder parts partaking of a silvery gray; his head and ears are
large and somewhat clumsy; but his neck is fine, and his legs are
beautifully slender. His mane is short and black, and he has a black
tuft at the end of his tail, but no dark line runs along his back or
crosses his shoulders. The Persians call him the _gur-khur_, and chase
him with occasional success, regarding his flesh as a great delicacy.
DigitalOcean Referral Badge