e,
was irresistibly attracted by the reputed wealth of the Great Ctesiphon,
and, marching thither, entered the unresisting city, with his troops, in
the sixteenth year of the Hegira, the four hundred and eleventh from the
foundation of the Sassanian kingdom by Artaxerxes, son of Babek.

Ctesiphon was, undoubtedly, a rich prize. Its palaces and its gardens,
its opulent houses and its pleasant fields, its fountains and its
flowers, are celebrated by the Arabian writers, who are never weary of
rehearsing the beauty of its site, the elegance of the buildings,
the magnificence and luxury of their furniture, or the amount of the
treasures which were contained in them. The royal palace, now known as
the Takht-i-Khosru, especially provoked their admiration. It was built
of polished stone, and had in front of it a portico of twelve marble
pillars, each 150 feet high. The length of the edifice was 450 feet, its
breadth 180, its height 150. In the centre was the hall of audience, a
noble apartment, 115 feet long and 85 high, with a magnificent vaulted
roof, bedecked with golden stars, so arranged as to represent the
motions of the planets among the twelve signs of the Zodiac, where the
monarch was accustomed to sit on a golden throne, hearing causes
and dispensing justice to his subjects. The treasury and the various
apartments were full of gold and silver, of costly robes and precious
stones, of jewelled arms and dainty carpets. The glass vases of the
spice magazine contained an abundance of musk, camphor, amber, gums,
drugs, and delicious perfumes. In one apartment was found a carpet
of white brocade, 450 feet long and 90 broad, with a border worked in
precious stones of various hues, to represent a garden of all kinds of
beautiful flowers. The leaves were formed of emeralds, the blossoms
and buds of pearls, rubies, sapphires, and other gems of immense value.
Among the objects found in the treasury were a horse made entirely of
gold, bearing a silver saddle set with a countless multitude of jewels,
and a camel made of silver, accompanied by a foal of which the material
was gold. A coffer belonging to Isdigerd was captured at the bridge over
the Nahrwan canal as its guardians were endeavoring to carry it off.
Among its contents were a robe of state embroidered with rubies and
pearls, several garments made of tissue of gold, the crown and seal of
Chosroes (Anushirwan?), and ten pieces of silk brocade. The armory of
Chosroes also f