Page:A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria Vol 2.djvu/58

40 A History of Art in Ciialri.a and Assyria. other three sides we cannot now be certain, as on that side the mound has been much broken away by the floods of the Tigris, which once bathed its foot. There is nothing to forbid the hypo- thesis of a grand staircase on this side leading up from the river bank. 1 In the central and south-western palaces, built by Shalmaneser II. and his grandson Vulnirari III. the excavations have not been carried far enough to allow the plans to be restored. The ex- plorers have been content to carry off inscriptions and fragments of sculpture in stone, ivory, and metal. 2 The south-western palace T or palace of Esarhaddon, has been the scene of explorations sufficiently prolonged to give us some idea of its general arrangements (Fig. 16). A curious circumstance was noticed by the English explorers. While the works of x^ssurbanipal bore the strongest marks of care and skill, those of Esarhaddon showed signs of having been carried out with a haste that amounted to precipitation, and his palace was never finished. Nearly all the alabaster slabs were taken from older buildings. 3 Most of these were fixed with their original carved surfaces against the wall, but a few were turned the proper way. Doubtless, had time served, these would have been smoothed down and re-worked. Nothing was finished, however, but the bulls and sphinxes at the doors (Vol. I. Fig. 85) and a few reliefs in their immediate neighbourhood. 4 Esarhaddon died, no doubt, before the comple- tion of the work, which was never continued. And yet his architect was by no means lacking in ambition. Upon the southern face of the building he intended to build the largest hall, which, so far as we know, was ever attempted in an 1 This idea is favoured by Layard (Discoveries, p. 654), 2 The central palace was partly destroyed even in the days of the Assyrians, by a king who wished to make use of its materials. Layard (Nineveh, ii. p. 19) found more than a hundred sculptured slabs stacked against each other, as if in a warehouse. The architect of Esarhaddon, the author of this spoliation, had not finished his work when it was suddenly interrupted. For a full account of the discoveries in the south-eastern palace, see Layard, Nineveh, ii. pp. 38-40. 3 Especially from the central palace (Layard, Discoveries, p. 656). The small rectangles shown on our plan at each side of the wall dividing the rooms marked 2 and 3 from each other, represent slabs lying on the ground at the foot of the wall for whose decoration they were intended. They were never put in place. The bases of circular pedestals, standing very slightly above the ground, are also marked. Sir H. Layard could not divine their use. 4 Layard, Nineveh, vol. ii. pp. 25, 26, and 29.