Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/196

 164 HISTOEY OF ARCHITECTURE. Pakt I. Still remains to reward an energetic and skilful research in these mounds. Still, seven palaces have been more or less perfectly exhumed ; four at Nimroud, two at Koyunjik, and one at Khorsabad. Among these we have the palaces of Sennacherib and Sardanapalus, of Esarhaddon, Sargon, Shalmaneser, and probably of Tiglath Pileser. Consequently the palaces of all the great kings, whose names are so familiar to us, are laid bare. Beyond these, the palace of Asshur- bani-pal worthily commences the series before the kings of Assyria came into contact with the inhabitants of Syria, and consequently before their Biblical record begins. It may be that other works of the same kings may be discovered, or the buildings of some less cele- brated monarch. But if we do not know all that is to be known, we may rest assured that we already have acquired the greater part of the knowledge that is to be obtained from these explorations. Nimroud. The oldest of the buildings hitherto excavated in Assyria is the North-West Palace at Nimroud, built by Asshui--bani-pal, about the year 884 i?. c. Though not the largest, it more than makes up for this deficiency l)y the l^eauty of its sculptures and the general elegance of its ornaments. As will be seen by the annexed woodcut (No. 59), the excavated portion of the palace is nearly a square, about .330 ft. each way. The principal entrance was on the north, at the head of a noble flight of stei:)S leading from the river to the level of the terrace on which the ]>alace stood. From this, two entrances, adorned with Avinged bulls, led to a great hall, 152 ft. in length by 32 in width, at the upper end of Avliich was situated the throne, and at the lower a smaller ajiartment or vestibule opened on the terrace that overlooked the river. Witliin the great hall was one of smaller dimensions, open- ing into the central court of the ])alace, the entrance of which Avas so arranged as to ensure privacy, proving that it partook of the nature of the private ajiartments or hareem of the palace. To the eastward of this was a suite of apartments, three deep, decreasing in width as they receded from the light, but so arranged that the inner apart- ments must have been entirely dark Iiad the walls been carried to the ceiling. As will, however, be presently explained in describing Khors- abad, it is more than ])robable that the walls extended to only half the height of the rooms, and formed terraces M'ith dwarf pillars on their summits, between which light was introduced, and they, in fact, formed the upper story of the building. To the south was a double suite, a})])arently the ban(|ueting-halls of the palace; and to the west- ward a foiiilli suite, more ruined, however, than the rest, owing to its being situated so near the edge of the terrace. As far as can be made out, the rooms on this face seem to have been arranged three deep :