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later palaces. We intend simply to indicate in what part of the mound Mr. Layard himself says that he found the several pieces of sculpture we have to describe.

It is as well, also, briefly to mention, before we proceed to the sculptures themselves, the form and fashion of Assyrian buildings, that our readers may have a clearer idea of the character of the structures which these monuments once adorned. Mr. Layard has given a very clear account of the mode of building adopted by the ancient people, and of the course to be pursued in excavating their ruins. “The Assyrians," says he, "when about to build a palace or public edifice, appear to have first constructed a platform or solid mass of sun-dried bricks, about thirty or forty feet above the level of the plain. Upon it they raised the monument. When the building was destroyed, its ruins, already half-buried by the falling-in of the upper walls and roof, remained of course on the platform, and were, in process of time, completely covered up by the dust and sand carried about by the hot winds of summer. Consequently, in digging for its remains, the first step is to reach the platform of sundried bricks. When this is discovered, the trenches must be opened to the level of it, and not deeper; they should be continued in opposite directions, care being taken to keep along the platform. By these means, if there be any ruins, they must necessarily be discovered, supposing the trenches to be long enough, for the chambers of the Assyrian edifices are generally narrow, and their walls or the slabs which cased them, if fallen, must sooner or later be reached."

The Assyrian sculptures, in the Nimrúd Room, may be divided into

I. THOSE FROM THE N.W. PALACE.

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I. THOSE FROM THE N.W. PALACE.

They belong to two classes-alti and bassi-rilievi. Of these, the Museum possesses but few of the class of alti-rilievi; the only specimens which have yet come to England being the Bull and the Lion; themselves, perhaps, the finest specimens of Assyrian workmanship which have yet been discovered. They are both nearly of the same size, the bull being rather the largest, and about

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ten feet and a half square, and have considerable resemblance the one to the other in their general treatment. The lion is, we think, the most striking of the two, and in the finest style of Assyrian workmanship. The body and the limbs are well executed, and the muscles well developed, so as to produce the idea of great strength and activity. Large expanded wings rise from each chest, and are carried over the entire length of the figure, and a girdle singularly knotted, and ending in tassels, encircles the loins. The human head is bearded, and surmounted by a conical сар, which is perfectly smooth at the top, but has three horns on the outside on each side of it. The ear appears outside the cap, wearing an earring, and the long hair falls down from under it upon the wings, and is plaited at the end. On the flat part of the slab, between the legs and under the belly, is a Cuneiform inscription.

It will be observed that this curious sculpture is furnished with five legs, an arrangement which M. Botta found prevailing also at Khorsabád. It is supposed to have been adopted in order that the spectators, whether approaching the room at the entrance of which they stood or coming out of it, might, in either case, have a complete view of the animals. If they were proceeding from the chamber, they would see the head and fore part in full; if, on the other hand, they were passing alongside the lion and the bull, they would see that portion which was in relief. Hence the two fore legs were placed together for the front view, and the four legs in their natural order for the side. On comparing the bull with the lion, though there are great similarities, some differences may be remarked; for instance, the ear is not human, and has no ear-ring, and there is no band round the loins; the representation, too, of the hair on the back and under his belly is curious, fanciful, and conventional. These two great sculptures are among the latest arrivals in England, having been detained for a long time at Basrah, from a difficulty in finding ships large enough to convey them.

It is not yet possible, and we hardly think that for this purpose the interpretation of the inscriptions will be of much avail, to determine what was the object of these two representations of animals. Mr. Layard has however conjectured, with some reason, that they are incarnations of the idea of the Supreme Power. "What more noble forms," says he, "could have ushered the people into the Temple of their Gods? What more sublime images could have been borrowed from nature by men who sought, unaided by the light of revealed religion, to embody their conceptions of the wisdom, power, and ubiquity of a Supreme Being? They could find no better type of

intellect and knowledge than the head of the man; of strength, than the body of the lion; of ubiquity, than the wings of a bird." On the other hand, however, it is very doubtful whether there are any representations of the Deity except the Feroher, which we shall notice hereafter.

The bassi-rilievi may be divided into two classes-those which are small and do not exceed three feet six inches in height, and which were arranged originally in double rows along the walls of the building with a line of inscriptions between them; and those which are above seven feet in height, and were arranged as single slabs: of these larger slabs, fifteen are now in the Museum. It seems hardly necessary to describe them individually at any length: we shall, however, indicate their several subjects, omitting the largest slab, which contains a group of four figures standing two and two on each side of what has been called the Sacred Tree, as this one will, from its subject, be more conveniently classed with the smaller slabs which contain similar subjects. The large slabs are as follows:

The first, the King standing to left, with his right hand resting upon the upper part of his staff, and his left on his sword-hilt; a beautiful and admirably-preserved specimen of the earliest Assyrian workmanship. The second, the King standing to left, and holding a bowl on the tips of his right-hand fingers, with an attendant eunuch facing him, who holds a flyflapper and a bent bow. The bow and the sandals of the figures exhibit traces of red and black colours. The third, the King and an eunuch standing facing different ways. The fourth, the King and a winged figure standing to right on the slab, in marvellous preservation, the finest lines traced upon the drapery being apparent on looking closely into it. The fifth, the sixth, and seventh, which were three consecutive slabs in the building itself, with one subject of the King seated to left attended by an eunuch who stands behind with a bent bow and flyflapper, opposite to another eunuch holding the flyflapper and a bowl with a curious handle, and a winged figure with fir-cone and basket, and another eunuch with bow, and a winged figure on slab No. 7. The eighth, a very curious slab containing two figures with monkeys-probably, as the same subjects appear on the Obelisk from the Central Palace, the tribute of some nation: the dress of these figures differs considerably from that which appears to have been the usual Assyrian type. The ninth and tenth, two standing figures, which it has been customary to call Nisroch, though Colonel Rawlinson believes, and we think rightly, that they cannot be identified with that Scriptural deity. There is indeed little ground

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