n Assyrian slabs from Nineveh, where we see it employed
for the transport of heavy building material;(3) its form and structure
indeed suggest a prehistoric origin. The _kuffah_ is one of those
examples of perfect adjustment to conditions of use which cannot be
improved. Any one who has travelled in one of these craft will agree
that their storage capacity is immense, for their circular form and
steeply curved side allow every inch of space to be utilized. It is
almost impossible to upset them, and their only disadvantage is lack
of speed. For their guidance all that is required is a steersman with a
paddle, as indicated in the Epic. It is true that the larger kuffah of
to-day tends to increase in diameter as compared to height, but
that detail might well be ignored in picturing the monster vessel
of Ut-napishtim. Its seven horizontal stages and their nine lateral
divisions would have been structurally sound in supporting the vessel's
sides; and the selection of the latter uneven number, though prompted
doubtless by its sacred character, is only suitable to a circular craft
in which the interior walls would radiate from the centre. The use of
pitch and bitumen for smearing the vessel inside and out, though unusual
even in Mesopotamian shipbuilding, is precisely the method employed in
the _kuffah's_ construction.

(1) Arab. _kuffah_, pl. _kufaf_; in addition to its common
use for the Baghdad coracle, the word is also employed for a
large basket.

(2) Herodotus, I, 194.

(3) The _kuffah_ is formed of wicker-work coated with
bitumen. Some of those represented on the Nineveh sculptures
appear to be covered with skins; and Herodotus (I, 94)
states that "the boats which come down the river to Babylon
are circular and made of skins." But his further description
shows that he is here referred to the _kelek_ or skin-raft,
with which he has combined a description of the _kuffah_.
The late Sir Henry Rawlinson has never seen or heard of a
skin-covered _kuffah_ on either the Tigris or Euphrates, and
there can be little doubt that bitumen was employed for
their construction in antiquity, as it is to-day. These
craft are often large enough to carry five or six horses and
a dozen men.

We have no detailed description of Ziusudu's "great boat", beyond the
fact that it was covered in and had an opening, or light-hole, which
could be closed. But the