Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/48

18 Assyrian Architecture. the right bank of the Tigris. The palaces and buildings brought to light have been named after the villages of Nimrad, Khorsabad, and Koyunjik, near which they were found, and are most probably the ruins of ancient Nineveh. They are intricate buildings, erected on terraces of brick, and consist of a number of narrow apartments and long galleries, grouped about a central court. No very distinct- ive architectural forms have as yet been discovered — such as columns of a characteristic style ; but this is in a great measure atoned for by the richness of the decorative Fig. 10. — "Winged Bulls of the gateway at Khorsabad. details. The bas-reliefs, sculptured on tablets or alabaster slabs and covering the lower part of the walls, are very beau- tifully carved. They commemorated the chief events in the lives of the Assyrian rulers. Many of them have been removed to the British Museum ; of these the "Lion Hunt," from the palace of Nimrud, the " Siege of a Town," and the " Erection of a Colossal Bull," are among the most remarkable. The ornaments of the variegated glazed slabs of the pavements and the upper parts of the walls are in many cases excellent. The beauty of the drawing and the