Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 2.djvu/239

Rh exquisite morsel. It shows a winged lion with the head of a woman, and a king or priest who holds one of her paws in his left hand, while with his right he seems to threaten her with a mace. Such dexterity as this is not to be seen in works in the round (see Fig. 60). But with the reign of Assurnazirpal commences another series of royal monuments in which the artist, not being compelled to quit work in relief, felt himself more at home. We refer to those round-headed steles on which the standing figure of the king is relieved against a flat ground bordered by a raised edge. An inscription is engraved sometimes upon the bed of the relief, sometimes on the reverse of the stele. An effigy of Assurnazirpal belonging to this class is now in the British Museum. It was discovered still standing in the entrance to one of the temples built by that sovereign on the platform of Cal ah. Before the

Fig. 115. — Detail from the royal robe of Assurnazirpal ; from Layard.

stele there was an altar similar to that shown on page 256 of our first volume. This altar is also in the British Museum. 1 From the existence of these steles it has been concluded, with no little probability, that the Assyrian kings, or at least some of them, re- ceived divine honours after their deaths. We have chosen that of Samas-vul II. for reproduction, on account of its good condition (Fig. 116). It differs but little from the stele of Assurnazirpal. High up in the field and in front of the head may be noticed symbols like those on the land marks (see Figs, in, 112, and 143). The king's right hand is raised in the attitude of adoration. In his left he holds a sceptre, with a ball of ivory or metal at one end and a tassel at the other. These steles must have been set VOL. II.