central opening (u) we find each side of the passage of communication is sculptured with a representation of the king followed by his chief cup-bearer, walking into the chamber (v), and met at the threshold by the Rab Signeen, the chief of the governors or one of the Hakim, or wise men of the court. On the floor of the passage is a slab inscribed with two columns of cuneatic. The chamber itself has four openings, two with doors, and two without, so that when the leaves of the former were closed, the chamber became the sole line of communication to the adjoining apartment through the passage (o). The smaller entrance (s) on the left we shall designate the sacred door, because it is guarded by winged divinities and their attendant magi. The decorations on the walls are divided into two lines of illustration by the text in the vernacular of Assyria, a text that we hope may soon be as intelligible as are the accompanying illustrations in the universal language of art.

Turning to the right so as to read the events in their proper succession, or chronological order, we perceive that a large piece of the historical record is wanting; nothing in fact being left until we pass the large door-way (E), and then on the second slab of the upper line (Botta, pl. 89) nought but an indication of some chariots and horses which seem to belong to the king, who is receiving a procession of tribute-bearers (Botta, pl. 88) clad in richly embroidered short tunics, with sleeves terminating above the elbow. They wear massive bracelets, a band round the waist, a short sword, but neither boots nor shoes. Their beards are short, but the head-dress cannot be discovered owing to the calcination of the upper part of the slabs. We may presume that the frieze represents the successful termination of the expedition against this people, and that the former part of the campaign was to have been read on that portion of the wall now defaced: The next slab affords us nothing but the feet of some figures, and then the advance of the regular troops under cover of tall shields to the attack of a city. In advance of these are those warriors who carry the round shield, and wear the crested helmet resembling the Greek in form, one of whom is, with terrible barbarity, plunging his sword into the throat of a supplicant, (Botta, pl. 90). Almost the whole of the adjoining slab has disappeared, excepting a tower of the city seen behind two men in short

204

KHORSABAD.-THE CHARGE.

tunics and having oval shields, who seem determined to resist the furious onset of a charioteer (fig. 79).

The bas-relief being in a bad condition, it is difficult to make out the details; but it would seem that the vanquished are again different from any we have as yet seen. They have a short beard, and no hair is visible upon the top of the head; they are clothed in a tunic descending only to the middle of their thighs; their legs are encased in short boots; their

Fig. 79.-THE CHARGE (BOTTA, pl. 92), UPPER PART.

shields are of a pointed oval, and their sabres bent so as to resemble a Turkish yatagan. One of these vanquished people is under the horses' feet, while another appears up in the air through faulty perspective; a third is flying before the car; lastly, two of them are standing face to face with the enemy, and protecting their bodies with their shields, as if still wishing to defend themselves resolutely with the help of their lances.

This brings us to the end of the room and to the angle of the passage (o), on the sides of which the subject is continued (Botta, pl. 100), the chariots of the great king being opposed by another body of the same people, who are again seen routed by the regular cavalry (Botta, pl. 99), and also by the chariots of the king, interspersed with small detachments of cavalry (Botta, pl. 94), notwithstanding which successive disasters, they continue to oppose on foot the progress of the invader. We have now arrived at the small side entrance (s), which we

have called the "sacred door;" on the jambs belonging to the room is sculptured the figure of a magus, his right hand elevated, as if reciting the incantation inscribed on the slab of the pavement, and his left holding the trilobed plant. Between this small recess and the entrance from the outer hall, the upper part of the slabs is entirely calcined. Here then, from the entrance (u) whence we set out, we begin to read the lower line of illustration.

On the first slab the representation of a fort upon a hill is indistinctly traceable, and we have, then, nothing further till slab 21 at the end of the room, when we have the attack of a city by some of the regular troops, bowmen, under cover of a high curved shield. What is left of the city walls seems to indicate that they were accessible only by scaling ladders, which some of the crested spearmen with round shields are mounting under cover of the arrows of the naked bowmen; there is now an interval of a slab, followed by another fort or city (Botta, pl. 97), situated on a hill, and also only accessible by scaling ladders. This city is defended by men wearing turbans. The subject of the next slab, 25, is misplaced in Botta in consequence of a mistake in the title. It represents the attack of another side of the same city by the crested spearmen.

Passing the door (F) we find a fortress of one range of towers situated on a rocky hill; the fort has been approached by a body of the regular archers who wear a breast-plate (Botta, pl. 86) over a short tunic, and the pointed cap, and carry a round shield, with zigzag decoration round the inner margin. The towers are defended by men who use the spear. It is to be remarked that the Assyrians have not set fire to the gates of this city, as appeared to be their usual practice in attacking a fortified place. Behind the bowmen is the general of the Assyrian army, who heads the attack of the regular troops on this side the city; he wears a breast-plate and long tunic, and is sheltered by a high shield, curving over at the top, borne by a bearded man in a short tunic. Upon the rocks on which the fort is built is a native contending with one of the enemy bearing the round shield.

We next see that a troop of horse has been detached from the main army to the attack of a very remarkable place, built upon a precipitous rocky eminence on the sea coast (Botta, pl. 89), and that on their march they encounter a body of the

206

KHORSABAD.-ATTACK ON AN ADVANCED FORT.

natives, among whom is an African (Botta, pl. 88). The towers of the fort are defended by spearmen, and all the people on the walls wear a hood, or cover their heads with a part of their cloak (fig. 80). As usual, the attack is led by the crested

Fig. 80.-THE ATTACK OF AN ADVANCED FORT (BOTTA, pl. 93).

warriors, who carry the spear and round shield, followed by long-haired bowmen; the military tactics displayed are worthy of remark, the van discharging their arrows kneeling on one knee, while the rear rank stand up so as not to interfere with the free action of the line in advance. Though the place attacked is of small dimensions, it is evidently of importance, as it forms the landing-place guarding the pass to the interior of the country, and is besides contiguous to a much larger place, of which the citadel, built on a detached hill behind the town, is of considerable extent. Two battering rams have been propelled against the walls, up an inclined road built of hewn stone, and between the besiegers and the castle are some cuneatic characters. On the other side of the town the attack is conducted by the regular troops, under the command of the eunuch, who draws his bow from behind the shelter of the long curved shield. In advance of the heavy-armed infantry on this side also of the town, is a troop of crested spearmen. Nearer the passage of communication (o) is a group of inhabitants of the last town, carried away captive, and guarded by a bowman with pointed cap, and bearing a sceptre (Botta, pl. 92), fig. 81. Both men and women are tall, and wear the

fringed haram, or blanket, thrown over the head and left shoulder, exactly like that worn by the Arabs at the present day. One of the women is carrying a small girbeh, or waterskin, in her hand, and her feet, like those of the other prisoners, are bound with sandals exactly similar to those seen in Sennaar and Arabia. The sole is maintained in the middle by a band fastened on each side of the foot to a strap that goes

round it, passing behind the heel; another strap secures the anterior extremity of the sole by passing between the toes. A second female, clothed in the same manner, is seen carrying a naked child astride on her left shoulder, just as Arabian women do now. Before this woman is a eunuch with a pointed helmet, raising his sceptre in his right hand. This eunuch does not wear his usual civil attire, but is completely armed: the coat of mail is seen on his shoulders, from which his quiver is suspended, and he holds a bow in his left hand; his legs are covered with a tissue of close rings of mail, over which are half-boots, laced up in front. Three personages walk before the eunuch; they are men belonging to the same nation as the women; their dress is exactly the same, and their sex can only be distinguished by their physiognomy and their beard; the latter is shorter than that of the Assyrians; the hair cannot be seen, as it is hidden by the hood. We shall see these prisoners conducted into the presence of the king.