TCD MS 3416 page 22
[May 1916]
sort. It was here that the 2nd Echelon of officers containing Major Henley 43rd saw the bodies of some wretched Armenians recently massacred by the Turks. After our short rest the moon had risen and was sufficiently bright to enable us to proceed, and a few hours more marching took us into SHARGAT.
Shargat is the site of Assur, at one time the capital of the Assyrian Empire, about the year 780 B.C, about which date the Assyrian Empire attained the height of its grandeur under the Kings of Niviveh, of which the principal were;- Sargon, who defeated Sabacon king of Egypt at Raphia 722 B.C. in the 25 dynasty, Sennacherib and Assurbanipal. They ruled all the region of the Persian Gulf, the Caspian, Armenia, Syria, and Palestine up to Egypt. But the Assyrians had stirred up too much hatred against themselves, and in 606 BC a coalition of Babylonians & Medes overthrew their empire and Assur (Shargat) was razed to the ground.
This site has been excavated by the Germans, during recent years; the well built house in which they lived for some 7 years is now a Turkish Barrack.