Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 1.djvu/197

 CONSTRUCTION. 175 from rain by the semi-dome, and from the sun by curtains or mats hung across the arched opening. This arrangement may very well be dictated by ancient tradition. It is well suited to the climate, a consideration which never fails to exercise a decisive influence over architecture." And yet there would, perhaps, have been room for hesitation had no support to this induction been afforded by the figured monuments ; for the inhabitants of the province of Mossoul have deserted the traditions of their ancestors in more than one par- ticular. They have given up the use of crude brick, for instance, so far, at least as the walls of their houses are concerned. They have supplied its place with stone and plaster, hence their dwellings are less fresh and cool than those of their fathers. In such a question the present throws a light upon the past, but the two have distinctive features of their own, even when the physical n FIG. 56. Royal Tent, Kouyundjik British Museum. Fio. 57. Tent, Kouyundjik. British Museum. characteristics of the country have remained the same. The best evidence in favour of the employment of such an arrangement in Assyria is that of the bas-relief. We there not infrequently encounter an object like those figured on this page. Sometimes it is in the midst of what appears to be an entrenched camp, sometimes in a fortified city. Its general aspect, certain minor details, and sometimes an accompanying inscription, permit us to recognize in it the marquee or pavilion of the king. 2 Now the roofs of these structures evidently consist of two semi-domes, 1 Ninive, vol. i. p. 131. 2 In both the examples here reproduced the sculptor has indicated the cords by which the canvas walls were kept in place. We find almost the same profile in a bas-relief at Khorsabad (BOTTA, Monument de Ninive, pi. 146), but there it is cut with less decision and there are no cords. Between the two semi-domes the figure of a man rises above the wall to his middle, suggesting the existence of a barbette within. Here the artist may have been figuring a house rather than a tent.