Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 1.djvu/222

 2oo A HISTORY OF ART IN CHALD/KA AND ASSYRIA. used- at all, or used in a very restricted fashion, in more solid structures, such as palaces and temples. Of all these that which most closely results from the necessities of wooden or metal construction is the column, and we therefore find that it is in this tent-architecture that it takes on the characteristics that distinguish it from the Egyptian column and give it an originality of its own. 4. 77/c' Column. As Chalckea, speaking broadly, made no use of stone in its buildings, the stone column or shaft was unknown to its archi- tects ; at least not a single fragment of such a thing has been found among the ruins. Here and there cylindrical piers built up of small units seem to have been employed. These are some- times of specially moulded bricks, 1 sometimes of sandstone frag- ments supported by a coat of masonry. Time has separated the stones of the latter, and it is now only represented by fragments whose shape betrays their original destination. Taylor, indeed, found one of these piers still in place during his excavations at Abou-Sharein, but his sketch and description are so confused that it is quite useless to reproduce them.' 2 On the other hand, Chaldaea preceded Assyria in the art of raising airy structures mainly composed of wood and metal, and by them she was led to the use of slender supports and a decora- tion in which grace and elegance were the most conspicuous features. We have a proof of this in a curious monument recently acquired by the British Museum. It comes from Abou-Abba, about sixteen miles south-west of Bagdad, and is in a marvellous state of preservation. Abou-Abba has been recognized as the site of the ancient Sippara, one of the oldest of Chaidoean towns. Its sanctuaries, in which the sun-god, Samas, was chiefly adored, always maintained a great importance. The monument in question is a tablet of very close-grained grey stone lit inches long 6 inches high and, in the centre, about 3 inches thick. Its thickness increases from top to bottom. The 1 See above, p. 118, note i. 2 TAYLOR, Notes on Aboii-Sliarcin, and Td-d-La/un, (Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xv. p. 404). - -En.