Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 2.djvu/34

 1 6 A History of Art in Ciiald.ea and Assyria. where both steps and balustrade, being cut in the rock, are still in good preservation ; at Khorsabad, however, there is now no vestige of such a staircase. If the steps have not been carried away they must lie entombed at the very bottom of the débris. We cannot say then that our restoration is, in this particular, beyond contention, but it is both probable in itself and entirely in the spirit of Assyrian architecture. These steps must have been the shortest way from the town to the palace. Horsemen, chariots, convoys of provisions had to make a détour and reach both the palace plat- form and that of the city walls by the south-eastern ramp. Let us, too, make use of that approach, and, when we have gained the summit of the incline, turn to our left and pass through the first doorway. This must have been carefully fortified and guarded, for it led directly to the heart of the royal dwelling. It has now entirely disappeared with the northern corner of the mound on which it stood, but we need not hesitate to restore it, with a whole suite of buildings inclosing what must have been the chief court of the palace, so far, at least, as dignity was concerned (H on the plan). 1 West and south-west of this quadrangle there is a group of chambers excavated by Botta, to which we have given the name of the seraglio. The seraglio contained ten courts and no less than sixty rooms or passages, intimately connected by the doors pierced through their walls. M. Place divides this great collection of chambers into two distinct parts, which, he thinks, had different duties to fulfil. He calls the first part, that in which the courts marked I, J, K, L occur, the sculptural part} It contained the sélamlik proper, consisting of the largest and most splendidly decorated halls. The narrow gallery separating court I from court J is 150 feet long and 19 feet wide. The other rooms opening out of court J are 106 feet long by 26^ feet wide. This court J is the real centre of the sélamlik ; it is almost exactly square, with a superficial measure- ment of about 11,236 square feet. The eight doors that open upon it give access to every part of the palace. Four of these doorways are supported by bulls ; they were all vaulted, and their arches decorated with bands of enamelled brick. As for the walls 1 This court was about 206 feet wide, by $66 feet long. 2 The letters on our plan signify courts, or rooms — like some of those in the harem — that were only partially roofed in.