Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/192

ASSYRIAN ART. glazed faïence, and inside in wall-paintings and in the coloring of the sculptured dadoes in all the large halls and passageways. But we cannot yet say that in these particular forms which the Assyrians gave to their colored decoration they were following Babylonian models. Certainly, it seems as if they innovated in one very important particular, that is, in the use of long lines of bas- reliefs for internal decoration. The alabaster and soft limestone which they quarried on their borders had not been available to their south- ern neighbors, the Babylonians: and in these ma- terials the Assyrian sculptor reveled quite as much as had the Egyptian, and he carved on these slabs sculptures appropriate in subject for all the different parts of the palaces and tem- ples. There is nothing to show how the Assyr- ians treated sepulchral or private architecture, though future excavations may do this. But their military architecture can be studied on several sites, especially at Dur-Sargina (Khor- sabad). The use of crude brick for the mass of all platforms, substructures, and bulk of walls subjected the buildings to the same disintegrating process through infiltration of water, as in Baby- lonia, which made constant repair necessary and led to the collapse of the vaults after the build- ings had been abandoned. In fact, the Assyrian practice of using the crude bricks before they were dry produced a sort of brick amalgam far softer and more destructible than the Babylo- nian; nor were the Assyrians so careful to face this pesé with hard-burned and enameled bricks as were the Babylonians. In the interiors they usually protected it below by the dado of sculptured slabs and above only by a thin layer of painted stucco. In one way the Assyrians had the advantage, by using quarried stone blocks for facing their foundations; but, again, they did not use the good lime-mortar or beds of bitumen with which the Babylonians cemented their courses of brick.

The immensely thick walls — sometimes 20 and 30 feet — were made necessary by the great weight of the massive vaults and flat roofs, which made a second story impossible in palaces and houses, and also made it necessary to admit light from above, as windows cut through such walls would be almost useless. Beth these facts made the residences extremely cool — a most important item in such a hot climate. Of course the As- syri;ui >ise of the arcli. vault, and dome was rudimentary; each unit being supported on its solid walls, so that there were no long linos of arcades, no grouping of domes supported on piers. But there was a type of lighter architec- ture in accessories, such as porches and pavilions, shrines and small temples, summer-houses and belvederes. Here small columns of stone or mar- ble, or of wood sheathed in metal (e.g. bronze), supported architraves and decorated roofs. Where fancy could have play without regard to structural necessities, we see the Assyrian sup- porting his columns on the backs of lions or sphinxes, surmounting their capitals with ga- zelles and antelopes. They here used capitals of at least two orders — cubic and Ionic — of ex- tremely well-proportioned and appropriate types. But in these rather ephemeral works there lay such a contrast to the main buildings, with their heavy, unrelieved masses, that no harmony could be established between them.

The royal palaces of Assyria are its best pre-

served as well as most characteristic monuments. The religious fanaticism of the Babylonians had given to their temples the same preponderance that the civil despotism of Assyria gave to its palaces, in comparison with which the temples were insignificant. Long before Nineveh, the capital of Assyria was Calah, the modern Nim- rud (q.v.). Here most of the prominent Assyrian kings from the Thirteenth to the Seventh Cen- tury built or rebuilt palaces. The palace of King Asurnazirpal (B.C. 885-860) has been most systematically excavated, and was the most artis- tic. That of Esarhaddon shows how, notwith- standing the dread of the curses called down upon such sacrilegious work, the pernicious habit was indulged in by the later Assyrian kings of despoiling older palaces to decorate their own. Nineveh itself is represented by the mounds of Nebbi Yunas and Koyunjik; only the latter has been excavated, especially the palaces of Sennacherib and Asurbanipal, whose sculptures decorate the British Museum. That of Sennache- rib was masjnificent. One of its vaulted halls measured 176 X 40 feet; another 124 X 30 feet. Many other mounds conceal superb palaces. One of these has been excavated with scientific care, the city and palace of Sargon at Khorsabad (q.v.), called Dur-Sargina, 'City of Sargon.' Sar- gon's own official account of its construction has been preserved in several inscriptions, and the ruins help us to understand it. Nothing in palace architecture of any age — not even Nero's Golden House — could have surpassed this Assyrian palace. It was built during B.C. 721- 05, as a sort of Versailles to the neighbor- ing Nineveh; it was never disturbed by later monarchs, and represents the plans of a sin- gle architect. As for the city, it formed an almost perfect square; it was on flat ground, as usual. Its walls are about 80 feet thick, and their present height of 40 to 60 feet is but a fraction of the original height, which was, how- ever, considerably less than the 348 feet given by Herodotus to the walls of Babylon. They were strengthened by about 167 towers. On each of three sides were two gates, one of which was the decorated state gateway for foot-passengers, en- riched with figured enameled bricks and sculp- tured bulls and winged genii. These gateways were immense edifices, covering 10,000 square yards, and their courts and vaulted halls and passages were the market-places and forums of the city. The royal palace itself made a break in the city-wall, being partly inside, partly out- side the city-line. Its plan includes 209 apart- ments. Its level was high above that of the city, and its outer wall was defended by towers. The area covered was nearly 25 acres (128,500 square yards). The arrangement of apartments in three general groups each around a main court, sup- plemented by other smaller courts, is the clearest commentary upon the conditions of ancient life in the East, which have been more or less handed down to modern times. First comes the Seraglio for the men, joined to the Selamlik, or state apartments. Second is the Harem, or pri- vate apartments of the king, his wives, and their attendants. Third is the Khan, or dependencies, offices, and storerooms. The Seraglio itself had 10 courts and 60 apartments. Each court, with its chambers and passages, was a separate unit. Even the largest state court could be used, by the help of awnings, for ceremonial occasions. The