Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 1.djvu/278

 256 A HISTORY OF ART IN CIIALD.EA AND ASSYRIA. of a lion. The table is circular, and decorated round the edge with cuneiform characters. A third type is to be found in an altar from Nimroud, now in the British Museum (Fig. 109) ; it dates from the reign of Ram- manu-nirari, who appears to have lived in the first half of the eighth century before our era. 1 The rolls at each end of this altar FIG. 108. Altar in the Louvre. Height 32 inches. - are very curious and seem to be the prototype of a form with which the Grseco-Roman sarcophagi have made us familiar. 1 Upon some other monuments brought from the same place by Mr. Hojrnuzd Rassam, and also exhibited in the Nimroud central saloon, we may read by the side of Rammanu-nirari's name that of his spouse Sammuramat, who seems to have been associated with him in the government, and to have been the recipient of particular honours. The name of this princess has caused some to recognize in her the fabulous Semiramis of the Greek writers. In consequence of facts that have escaped us she may well have furnished the first idea for the romantic legends whose echo has come down to our times. 1 There is an altar almost exactly similar to this in the British Museum. It was found in front of the temple of the War God, Nimroud. ED.