line of the main wall, except at the north and south corners, where it
formed two bastion-like projections. At Semneh, on the opposite bank, the
site was less favourable. The east side was protected by a belt of cliffs
going sheer down to the water's edge; but the three other sides were well-
nigh open (fig. 35). A straight wall, about fifty feet in height, carried
along the cliffs on the side next the river; but the walls looking towards
the plain rose to eighty feet, and bristled with bastion-like projections
(A.B.) jutting out for a distance of fifty feet from the curtain wall,
measuring thirty feet thick at the base and thirteen feet at the top, and
irregularly spaced, according to the requirements of the defence. These
spurs, which are not battlemented, served in place of towers. They added to
the strength of the walls, protected the walk round the top, and enabled
the besieged to direct a flank attack against the enemy if any attempt were
made upon the wall of circuit. The intervals between these spurs are
accurately calculated as to distance, in order that the archers should be
able to sweep the intervening ground with their arrows. Curtains and
salients are alike built of crude brick, with beams bedded horizontally in
the mass. The outer face is in two parts, the lower division being nearly
vertical, and the upper one inclined at an angle of about seventy degrees,
which made scaling very difficult, if not impossible. The whole of the
ground enclosed by the wall of circuit was filled in to nearly the level of
the ramparts (fig. 36). Externally, the covering wall of stone was
separated from the body of the fortress by a dry ditch, some 100 to 130
feet in width. This wall closely followed the main outline, and rose to a
height which varied according to the situation from six to ten feet above
the level of the plain. On the northward side it was cut by the winding
road, which led down into the plain. These arrangements, skilful as they
were, did not prevent the fall of the place. A large breach in the
southward face, between the two salients nearest to the river, marks the
point of attack selected by the enemy.