Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 1.djvu/280

 258 A HISTORY OF ART IN CHALD^EA AND ASSYRIA. Egypt, while their summits, instead of ending in a sharp pyra- midion, are "stepped" and crowned with a narrow plateau. (Fig. iii.) These monoliths were never very imposing in size, the tallest is hardly more than ten feet high. Whatever name we choose to give to these objects, there can be no doubt IG. ill. The obelisk of Shaliraneser II. in the British Museum. 1 Height 78 inches. Drawn by Bourgoin. as to their purpose. They are com- memorative monuments, upon which both writer and sculptor have been 1 Besides the obelisk of Shalmaneser II., which is in a marvellous state of preservation, the British Museum possesses three other objects of the same kind. Two of these were made for Assurnazirpal ; the third, the most ancient of all, dates from the time of Tiglath Pileser I. ; unhappily only fragments of it remain. FIG. no. Stele from Khorsabad. Plan and elevation ; from Place.