Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 1.djvu/420

 392 A HISTORY OF ART ix CIIALD.KA AND ASSYRIA. an Assyrian moulding reproduced in our Figs. 98 and 99. This edifice is remarkable, not only for its cornice, but also because it is built of limestone and decorated with sculptures carved from slabs of basalt, the only things of the kind that have been discovered in the Khorsabad ruins. The general arrangements are unlike those of any other part of the palace. Unfortunately the building is in a very bad condition. Even its plan can only be restored in part. Thomas is inclined to see in it rather a throne room, or divan, as it would be called in the modern East, than a temple. The few bas-reliefs which may be certainly recog- nized as having belonged to it are not religious in their character ; they represent hunting scenes, battles and prisoners bringing tribute. Although Thomas's restoration is, as he himself con- o fesses, entirely conjectural, we have no serious motive for pro- nouncing the building to have been a temple. 1 <-> o On the other hand, Layarcl seems to have had good reasons for recognizing small temples in the structures he cleared near the great staged tower at Nirnroucl. 2 The more important of the two was actually touching that tower (Fig. 188). The character of the building is at once betrayed by the nature of its sculptures, which are religious rather than historical figures of gods and genii, scenes of adoration and mystic theology. And it was not without a purpose thas it was put into close juxta- position with a zigguratt, an arrangement that proves it to have formed a part of a collection of buildings consecrated, by the prince whose cl welling covered the rest of the platform, to the gods in whose protection he placed his trust. The second and smaller temple stands about thirty yards to the east on the very edge of the artificial mcund (Fig. 189). An altar with three feet carved in the shape of lion's paws was found in front of the en- trance. 3 There were no bas-reliefs : the decorations were carried out in paint. The number of rooms was less, but their general arrangement was similar to that of the larger building. The chief feature of both was a large hall (e in the first plan, c in the 1 See PLACE, Ninire, vol. i. pp. 149-151, and vol. ii. pp. 6-7, and 36-42. This building is at the western angle of the area occupied by the Khorsabad ruins (vol. ni. plate 3). The restoration will be found in the plate numbered 37 bis. 2 Discoveries, &c., pp. 348-357, 359-362 ; and Monuments, &c., second series, plate 5. 5 This is now in the British Museum. ED.