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mountains, trees, and a river, to indicate the nature of the country.

The west entrance of this hall* led into a further chamber, a part only of which I was able to explore. On twc slabs was a mountainous country, with a river running through the midst of it. The higher parts of the mountains were clothed with a forest of pines or firs, the middle region by vineyards, and the lower by trees resembling those sculptured on other slabs, probably the dwarf oak of the country. As the king was represented in his chariot, accompanied by many horsemen in the midst of the forest, it may be presumed that the Assyrians had opened roads through the mountainous districts of their empire.

Warriors forming a Phalanx before the Walls of a besieged City. (Kouyunjik.)

The remaining slabs were covered from top to bottom with rows of warriors, spearmen, and archers, in their respective costumes, and in martial array. Each slab must have contained several hundred minute figures, which probably represented regularly disciplined troops; for like the Egyptians, the

*Entrance b, ch. C, plan 4.

Assyrians were evidently acquainted with military tactics and possessed organised armies. In several bas-reliefs, troops were represented drawn up to form a kind of phalanx, or the more modern military square.

The three small chambers to the west of the hall last described had been so much injured by fire that few slabs retained traces of sculpture. Amongst the bas-reliefs remaining were the siege and capture of a city standing on the banks of a river in the midst of forests and mountains, with warriors cutting down trees, to form an approach to the castle, and carrying away the idols of the conquered people; a fisherman fishing with a hook and line in a pond†; and warriors receiving long lines of captives, amongst whom were women and children riding mules.

The wide portal, formed by the winged bulls at the upper end of the great hall first discovered, opened into a small chamber, which had no other entrance. One side of it had been completely destroyed. The remaining bas-reliefs represented the siege and sack of a city between two rivers, in the midst of groves of palm trees, and consequently, it may be conjectured, in some part of Mesopotamia. There was,

fortunately, an inscription above the captured city, which probably contains its name. The king was represented, several times, in his chariot, superintending the operations of the siege. The besiegers were cutting down the palms to open and clear the approaches to the walls.

A part only of the chamber to the east of the great hall § was uncovered. Many of the sculptures had been intentionally destroyed with some sharp instrument, and all had suffered, more or less, from fire. On some could be traced warriors urging their horses at full speed; and others discharging their arrows backwards. Beneath the horsemen were rows of chariots

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A HORSEMAN PURSUED BY ASSTRIAN WARRIORS. (Kouyunjik.)

Enemies of the Assyrians discharging their
Arrows behind them. (Kouyunjik.)

Head-dress of a Riding Horse
(Kouyunjik.)

and led horses. In their trappings and harness the Kouyunjik horses differed completely from those represented in the bas

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reliefs of Nimroud. Their heads were generally surmounted by an arched crest, and bells or tassels were hung round their necks; or, as at Khorsabad, high plumes, generally three in number, rose between their ears. After my departure from Mosul, Mr. Ross continued the excavations in this chamber, and found several other slabs, and an entrance formed by four sphinxes. The bas-reliefs appear to have been part of the series previously uncovered, and represented chariots, horsemen, archers, and warriors in mail. The country, in which the events recorded took place, was indicated by a river and palm trees. In front of these bas-reliefs, he discovered an immense square slab, which he conjectures to have been a dais or altar, resembling that in the great hall of the N.W. palace at Nimroud.

This was the extent of my discoveries at Kouyunjik. From the dimensions of some of the halls it is evident that the ruins are those of a building of great extent and magnificence. The mound upon which it stood was once washed by the river. Then also the edifice, now covered by the village of Nebbi Yunus, rose above the stream, and the two palaces were enclosed in one vast square by lofty walls cased with stone-their towers adorned with sculptured alabaster, and their gateways formed by colossal bulls.

As I have described the ruins as they were discovered during the excavations, it may not be here out of place to add a few words on the subject of the architecture of the Assyrians, and restore, as far as the remains will permit, the fallen palaces.

The architecture of a people must naturally depend upon the materials afforded by the country, and upon the object of their buildings. The descriptions, already given in the course of this work of the ruined edifices of ancient Assyria, are sufficient to show that they differed, in many respects, from those of any other nation with which we are acquainted. Had the Assyrians, so fertile in invention, so skilful in the arts, and

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