Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/192

 174 A History of Art in Sardinia and Jud^a. Our description of these sculptures would be incomplete should mention not be made of a most curious detail, first noticed by- Hamilton and Barth, our precursors'in this field of inquiry. On the inner face of the dexter-hand door-post is a carving of a Fig. 339.— Sacrificial Bull. Eyuk. Plate LVII. double-headed eagle, which is precisely similar in shape to that at Boghaz-Keui. In each claw is clutched an animal, which from its size and long ears we take to be a hare (Plate VHI. E, Fig. 343).^ Of the figure which stood upon it nothing remains but the end of Fig. 340. — Lion devouring a Ram. Side view. Eyuk. Plate LVII. his long mantle, and a " tip-curved " shoe — the latter a significant detail unnoticed by Hamilton, both here and at Boghaz-Keui;^ ^ Barth thought it might be a mouse. The modelling is so rude and indistinct that it is difficult to give a decided opinion. We may however remark that the hare is of frequent occurrence in Hittite engravings ; that the eagle swooping down upon a timid hare was a favourite theme in Oriental art ; and that a wee mouse would have been poor game for the king of birds. ^ But Hamilton wrote before the Hittite theory had been started. — Editor.