compared to the gigantic wonders of Egyptian mechanical skill, they yet
represent the typical forms of Assyrian art as characteristically as do
the Egyptian shafts the architecture of that land. A small specimen
carved in black basalt, 2.1 m. high and 0.6 m. broad at base, was
discovered in Nimrud and has been transported to the British Museum.
(_Fig._ 59.) The gently diminished pier is crowned with a terraced
pyramid, thus giving the principal monumental form of Mesopotamia, on a
small scale, as distinctly as the termination of Egyptian obelisks does
the more strictly geometrical pyramid of the Nile land. The steps and
part of the shaft are carved with cuneiform inscriptions, and with
reliefs which represent an act of homage--the presentation to the king
of various gifts, animals, etc.
[Illustration: Fig. 60.--Assyrian Dwellings. Relief from Coyundjic.]
Rich as are the results of scientific investigations in regard to the
palaces of Assyria, they are deficient in everything concerning the
cities, which could have been but mean and insignificant in comparison
with the royal dwellings. Only scanty traces of the fortification walls
around Coyundjic, Corsabad, and Nimrud have been preserved. From reliefs
these appear to have been provided with projecting galleries for
defence, with square or circular loop-holes, and with battlements of
rectangular or oblique outline. As before mentioned, there have been
preserved at Kisr-Sargon (Corsabad) the remains of a round-arched city
gate, flanked with winged lions. (A skilful restoration of this is given
by Viollet-le-Duc in his _Entretiens_.) The small hills of rubbish
within the city did not tempt the closer investigation of excavators,
who found such inexhaustible rewards for their labors at the palace
terraces. Private dwellings, which were not, like the chambers of the
kings, constructed with hewn and sculptured stones as a revetment of the
weak masonry of unburnt bricks, are now in so complete a state of
destruction that an understanding of their original form is hardly
possible. The known reliefs are not adequate to convey satisfactory
information in regard to them. Among the clearest of these is a relief
of Coyundjic (_Fig._ 60), which shows buildings with hemispherical and
oval cupolas, much like those still customary in some parts of Syria.
The openings for light and air are distinctly indicated in the summit of
the vaults. On the other hand, dwellings like that shown in _Fig._ 61,
which often occur in great numbers within the enclosure of fortification
walls, are of most perplexing construction, unless assumed to be tents.
Some interior views indicate this character, and the surrounding walls
might accordingly be considered the fortifications of an encampment. The
plan-like illustrations of walled towns, where the houses are repeated
in conventionalized forms, give no definite information concerning the
peculiarities of Assyrian domestic architecture. (_Fig._ 62.) They
remind us rather of the topographical usage prevalent during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of our era, when, in similar
manner, approximate representations of houses and cottages were
typically employed to designate a village, a town, or a city, upon maps
from which no conception of the nature of the structures could be
obtained. But it may be concluded from these views that a majority of
the dwellings consisted of a higher and a lower division, each being
provided with an independent platform.
[Illustration: Fig. 61.--Tent-like Dwelling. Relief from Coyundjic.]
[Illustration: Fig. 62.--Susa. Assyrian Relief from Coyundjic.]
The character of Egyptian architecture was essentially influenced by the
rich colored ornamentation which covered and enlivened so much of the
wall-surface with the coilanaglyphic paintings peculiar to that country.
Upon the palace buildings of Mesopotamia painting and sculpture were
something more than mere decorative adjuncts to the architectural
construction. They may even be said to have predominated. The brick
walls of Nineveh, instead of bearing ornamental slabs, were themselves
upheld by the richly sculptured revetment. The works of the sculptor and
the painter take a more important place in the history of Assyrian art
than do those of the architect. This, however, was not the case in the
earliest ages of the Chaldæan empire, for monuments like the Temple of
the Moon at Ur (Mugheir), and like the remains at Warka, appear to have
been almost destitute of carved, if not of painted, ornamentation. The
simple treatment of wall-surfaces with glazed and colored tiles, even
when laid in the variegated patterns of the Chaldæan buildings, can
hardly be spoken of as painting; and in that country no surely attested
remains of sculpture have been discovered. Nor could the carving of
stone flourish in the later Babylonian period. The remoteness from
mountains and quarries of the great cities, and especially of the
capital itself, which stood in the midst of an extended alluvion, was
too great to allow stone material to be readily procured even for the
revetment of walls. Only one fragment of a larger relief was found by
Layard among the ruins of Babylon,[E] and this was so entirely similar
to the Assyrian sculptures that it would, without further question, have
been regarded as the work of Nineveh had not the Babylonian character of
the cuneiform inscriptions indicated its origin. A colossal statue of
black basalt, representing a lion standing upon a human being, a work
known to travellers for over a century, still lies in position, half
buried in the earth; it might convey an adequate idea of the sculpture
of Babylon were it not so weathered and imperfect as not to be
considered worth removal. The most numerous examples of the
stone-carving of Southern Mesopotamia--that is to say, of Babylonia--are
given by the cylindrical seals of syenite, basalt, agate, carnelian,
etc. These stones generally measure about 0.03 m. in length and 0.01 m.
in diameter; they are perforated in the line of their axis, to allow of
their being strung upon a cord or fixed upon a metal wire, by which, if
held as a handle, the seal could be rolled over some soft substance,
such as wax, thus leaving the impression of the figures engraved upon
it. (_Fig_. 63.) The great variance between the style of these cylinders
and that of Mesopotamian reliefs is mainly due to the totally different
technical peculiarities of intaglio and relief-cutting. The seals of
Babylonia and Assyria are usually so much alike that they are to be
distinguished only by the character of the cuneiform inscriptions, or,
in some instances, by the mythological subjects represented. The origin
of many of the carved cylinders which lack such indications cannot be
determined, the place of their discovery being of slight importance in
the case of objects so easily transportable. Numbers of these seals
exist in all large European museums, being picked up by the inhabitants
of Hillah after torrents of rain have furrowed the earth in which they
lie concealed.
[Illustration: Fig. 63.--Babylonian Seal in the British Museum, and its
Impression.]
[Illustration: Fig. 64.--Wall Decoration of Enamelled Tiles.]
The Babylonians made up for this national lack of monumental works of
sculpture, due, as has been seen, to the difficulty of obtaining
suitable material, by the development of another branch of decorative
art. Favored by the clayey earth of the Chaldæan alluvion, they did not
content themselves with the manufacture of admirable bricks, or with
exact and durable masonry of this material, but developed a glazed
decoration of their outer surfaces. The walls of chambers seem generally
to have been prepared with a coating of plaster and then painted.
Naturally, no traces of this process exist, but passages in the books
of the Biblical prophets indicate it to have been customary. Exterior
walls, which, on account of climatic influences, could not thus be
treated, were ornamented with enamelled and variously colored tiles.
Upon the steps of temple terraces this was effected by glazing the outer
sides of all the bricks with a single color, but for palace walls entire
compositions were so formed that each separate tile was drawn and
colored in reference to the entire representation. (_Fig._ 64.) Remains
show the glazing to have been quite thick; the colors, chiefly bright
blue, red, dark yellow, white, and black, have been perfectly preserved.
A French traveller of the last century relates that a chamber with walls
of colored tiles, representing, among other objects, the sun, moon, and
a cow, was unearthed from the hill of Mudjelibeh, one of the mounds of
ruins formed by the overthrow of the Babylonian palaces. An account
given by Diodoros, who describes a great hunting scene upon the
innermost city wall, shows how extended this enamel painting must have
been. Among many figures the queen, Semiramis, took a prominent part in
the action, throwing a spear at a panther from her position on
horseback, while the lance of the king transfixed a lion. The general
character of the composition can be understood from the analogy of
similar scenes represented upon reliefs from Nineveh.
[Illustration: Fig. 65.--Statue of a King, from Nimrud. (British
Museum.)]
The palace decorations naturally developed in an entirely different
manner in Northern Mesopotamia--Assyria. The spurs of neighboring
mountains advanced from all sides close upon Nineveh, and good
building-stones, notably the most beautiful alabaster, are found in the
plain, under the shallow strata of alluvial earth. The flat colored
decoration of the walls with glazed bricks was superseded by a carved
revetment of lavish richness, which so generally covered the lower half
of larger palace chambers with reliefs that an almost inexhaustible
material is presented for elucidation of the style by the fragments
discovered during the short period of twenty years.
[Illustration: Fig. 66.--Winged Lion from Nimrud. (British Museum.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 67.--Winged Bull from Nimrud. (British Museum.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 68.--Lion from Nimrud. (British Museum.)]
Sculpture so concentrated itself upon this decorative field of revetment
reliefs that it appears rarely to have ventured the execution of
independent works. Statues in the full round are extremely rare, and the
few known are nearly as similar to each other as are those of Egypt. The
best-preserved figure was found in the so-called temple at the foot of
the terraced pyramid of Nimrud, and has been carried to the British
Museum. (_Fig._ 65.) It is about 1 m. in height, hewn from a hard
limestone, and represents a king in the garb of a priest. The round head
is covered with long thick hair, which, falling somewhat over the
forehead, is not parted, but divided into wavy horizontal rows; it ends
upon the shoulders in a straight section of closely and regularly
arranged spiral curls. The imposing beard is still more
conventionalized; beginning in thick curls, it is arranged in alternate
courses of rope-like twists and rows of small coils. The ends of the
mustache curl into marked spirals. The large eyes, of rather oblique
position, are situated too low, and are consequently without expression.
Their strap-like lids do not sufficiently protrude, while the thick
eyebrows, excessively curved upward and meeting above the bridge of the
nose, so interfere with the natural form of the forehead as to give to
the face a gloomy and almost bestial expression. The curved Semitic nose
is broad and fleshy, as are all the features, which, though not
appearing puffy, have a decided tendency to fatness. The well-formed ear
is placed lower than is that of Egyptian statues, and is ornamented with
large rings. The thick and short neck disappears behind under the full
locks of hair; the round shoulders make the back appear broader than the
breast, but are more correctly modelled than those of Egyptian figures.
The long priestly garment, thickly fringed, covers one of the fleshy
arms up to the wrist, and falls without folds or indication of the lower
body beneath it, being girded around the stout waist by a twisted sash;
it leaves only the toes visible. The right hand holds an instrument
formed like an augur’s crook, probably of some sacred significance; the
left grasps the sceptre. Arms and hands have broad muscles, blunt,
rounded outlines, and the short and thick proportions peculiar to the
entire body. With the exception of the face, the sculptor made few
absolute misrepresentations of nature, though evidently more skilled in
relief-carving, and paying but little attention to the side view. An
inscription upon the breast designates the statue as that of King
Ashurakbal, the builder of the northwestern palace and of the so-called
temple of Nimrud, “the conqueror of the upper valley of the Tigris to
Lebanon and the great sea, who brought under his power all the lands,
from the rising to the setting of the sun.”
[Illustration: Fig. 69.--Relief from Corsabad. (Louvre.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 70.--Fragments of Reliefs from Nimrud. (British
Museum.)]
The monsters mentioned above form a peculiar transitional step between
the full round and relief sculpture. (_Figs._ 66 and 67.) Winged bulls,
or, more rarely, lions, with human heads and animal ears, flanked the
larger portals as sacred guardians of the entrance. On the sides of the
passage they were executed in relief up to the heads, which were worked
almost entirely free, and project, with the royal or divine tiara, from
the main block. In the front view, the breast and fore legs, as well as
the head, appear in the round. This combination of round and relief
carving resulted in two abnormities. In the first place, the animals
have five legs, as the side was allowed four, while the front, besides
the support which it had in common with the side, demanded another, that
it might not appear one-legged. Further, the monsters seem, in the
relief, to be striding and advancing, but in the front view to be firmly
standing. These cherubims--for thus the commentators of the Bible call
such “forms having a human head, the body of a lion or bull, and the
wings of an eagle”--are among the most characteristic works of
Mesopotamian sculpture. They were imposing symbols of guardian deities;
the hair of the head and beard curled tightly, as did that of breast,
abdomen, and the end of the tail; the feathers of the powerful wings
were almost straight, the legs hard and muscular, the expression of the
face severe and majestic. Lions of normal formation, exceptionally
occurring in the place of these cherubims, show so masterly an
understanding of nature and such wise conventionalization that, with the
sphinx-like lions of Egypt (compare _Fig._ 31), they rank among the most
successful representations of animals in any period of sculpture.
Prominent among the subjects shown by the reliefs, serving the purposes
of mural decoration, is the so-called tree of life, a symbol not
adequately explained, a plant form woven in ribbons and anthemions to an
ornamental play of lines, before which stand sacrificing figures or
winged genii with eagle-heads, holding in the one hand a basket, in the
other a species of pine-cone, or in the one a lotos-flower or a scourge,
and in the other a gazelle or a small lion. Upon this follow the long
processions advancing in homage before the king, which so fittingly
covered the walls of the courts. The monarch stands to receive his
vizier, who is followed by several warriors. (_Fig._ 69.) Behind stand
eunuchs--one holding a sun-shade, another a fan for flies, a third a
handkerchief, a fourth drinking-vessels, a fifth jugs with bottoms
formed like the jaws of a lion (used to dip out wine from the large
cooling-vessels), a sixth a wine-skin; the two following have a large
platter with food and the stand belonging thereto; another comes with
two models of cities, perhaps to be explained as dishes; then two with a
throne, the next with a table, those following with a bench; others,
again, with a magnificent chariot, the tongue of which is carved as a
horse’s head and the cross-pieces as the heads of gazelles, while the
rich back of the seat is supported by human figures; two helmeted
warriors follow this, with a less elaborate war-chariot, and others lead
four horses to the scene. A similar representation shows subjects
bringing gifts to the king. Some lead horses; numbers of others present
flowers and fruits, among which apples, pomegranates, grapes,
pineapples, figs, etc., may be distinguished; those following offer
cakes, locusts strung upon sticks, hares, birds, and the like. The
figures upon these ceremonial reliefs, generally over life-size, are
carefully executed to the smallest detail. Little can be said concerning
their peculiarities of feature beyond that stated above, in the
consideration of the statue of King Ashurakbal. In opposition to the
wiry toughness of the Egyptian type, the voluptuous and vigorous fulness
of the Assyrian appears distinctly in the full cheeks, the thick eyelids
and brows, the widely opened eyes with curved and projecting balls, the
energetic aquiline nose, the pouting lips, and the imposing growth of
hair and beard, so neglected in Egyptian sculptures. Eunuchs are
characterized by a lack of beard; the usual fulness degenerates into
mere obesity in all the features, but especially in the heavy and
hanging under-jaw, and the weak, fleshy arms, the only parts of the body
not hidden by the garments. The fragments illustrated by _Fig._ 70, when
compared with Egyptian heads from reliefs (_Fig._ 28), will convey an
idea of the entire difference of race and artistic style in the lands of
the Tigris and of the Nile.
[Illustration: Fig. 71.--Temple. Relief from Corsabad.]
In the works of Assyria, as in those of Egypt, the breast is usually
presented in front view, for the reasons already set forth, but the
attempt to show this part of the body in true profile is more common in
the former country; an instance may be observed in the vizier of _Fig._
69. The wrists, like the arms, are muscular and stout; the hands broad,
coarse, and awkwardly stiff. Bracelets, closing firmly by means of a
spiral spring, are placed upon the wrists and above the elbows. The
magnificence of these and similar ornaments, which have frequently been
copied by modern jewellers, and also the dignity of the swords and other
accoutrements, strictly depend upon the rank of the wearer, being graded
from the king and vizier to the warrior and eunuch. The most customary
garment in time of peace reached from the neck to the ankles, and was
often edged with a fringe of tassels and a double or fourfold border of
pearls. The underdress is smooth and white, that of the king alone being
richly patterned. The overgarment seems to have consisted almost wholly
of fringes, leaving the right arm free. The royal mantle was also in
this respect an exception, having two sleeves and covering the
shoulders, besides being ornamented with rosettes or embroidered with
mythological representations. The feet in Assyrian reliefs are long and
powerful, more supple and true to nature than the hands, though the
toes lie too closely upon the ground. The monarch and his escort have
rings upon the great toe of each foot; they wear a kind of sandal which
covers only the heel, in wise recognition of the fact that a complete
sole disturbs in some measure the natural elastic action of the ball of
the foot and the toes. When the underdress is short, as is the case in
hunting and warlike costumes, the leg below the knee is correctly but
rather stiffly modelled; the muscles protrude like hard bands, without
giving to the limb the vigorous force peculiar to Egyptian works. Yet
the whole composition, as well as every detail of Assyrian sculpture,
displays more direct study of nature than was to be found in Egypt,
where the figures were created upon an abstract model,--a canon founded
more upon convention than upon observation of life. Instead of remaining
behind reality, as did the Egyptian, the Assyrian sculptor went beyond
natural truth, exaggerating and coarsening. There the figures were
without flesh and blood, ghost-like, as if their slim trunks and
extremities were not fitted for earthly nourishment; here the material
existence was expressed in the most positive manner. A voluptuous
fulness was chosen as a type of the luxurious and contemplative
Mesopotamian, in the same way as the elastic leanness of the Egyptian
figure characterized the sinewy Fellah, emaciated from scanty
nourishment and fatiguing exertion in his dry climate.
[Illustration: Fig. 72.--Relief from Nimrud.]
[Illustration: Fig. 73.--Wounded Lioness, from Coyundjic.]
More than three quarters of the historical reliefs are warlike scenes,
mostly on a small scale, with figures less than half a meter high.
Cities are surrounded, set on fire, and plundered; when the fortress is
situated upon a height, the besiegers build ramparts of fascines, and,
sheltered by these, attack the walls with battering-rams similar to
those used by the Romans. The defenders attempt to burn these offensive
machines with torches and to cripple them with chains, the latter being
warded off from below with hooks and poles. It is also shown how warfare
was carried on in the open field, upon wooded mountains, in swamps, and
on the marshy banks of rivers, with the aid of lances, slings, and bows.
The archers are sometimes protected by a kind of chain mail. It is
represented with great clearness and fulness how the defeated enemies
seek to save themselves by flight to a swamp, how friends and foes swim
rivers supported upon inflated skins, while the king is transported in
his chariot upon a ferry-boat. Some battle-fields are covered with the
slain, whose severed heads are piled up to form a trophy of victory
truly Oriental. At times the male prisoners of war are shown suffering
death by torture; they are stripped to the skin and beaten with clubs,
or are impaled and flayed alive in great numbers. The tongues and ears
of others are cut off; while prisoners of higher rank are dragged by
rings through the under-lip before the victorious king, who languidly
deigns to blind them with a lance. At the same time, the monarch
receives homage from kneeling subjects; players of stringed instruments
celebrate his victory, while eunuchs record the amount of booty brought
before him. The spoil is shown with great circumstantiality; female
captives, holding children by the hand and infants at the breast,
advance on foot or are borne upon carts, and all manner of utensils and
provisions are carried upon beasts of burden and drays. The captured
herds--beeves, sheep, and camels--are given with wonderful truth to
nature; like the animal types occurring in the act of homage upon the
obelisk of Nimrud already mentioned, they are of masterly
characterization--the peculiarities of the lion, antelope, buffalo,
rhinoceros, elephant, and ape being carefully observed and admirably
rendered. The same understanding of animal forms is shown in the
often-repeated hunting scenes: the conception of the wounded beasts is
truly wonderful. (_Fig._ 73.) Besides the capture of gigantic lions and
buffaloes, the snaring of small game, hares and birds, is shown. Even
the various species of fish can be distinguished in the reliefs, which
show net and rod fishing.
[Illustration: Fig. 74.--Transport of Stone. Relief from Coyundjic.]
Many industrial occupations are also represented. Trees are felled, the
trunks of which are floated upon the river as rafts, or are dragged
behind boats, for the building of a royal palace; terraced mounds are
heaped up by enslaved laborers with baskets of earth. Larger masses of
building-stone, and the cherubims already described, are brought down
stream from the quarries by means of rafts, the buoyancy of which is
increased by inflated skins bound beneath them. (_Fig._ 74.) The statues
are carried to the terrace platforms by inclined planes, up which they
are drawn by hosts of workmen, who pull upon the cordage attached to the
sledge, which slides over rollers, and are driven forward by blows from
the over-seers. (_Fig._ 75.)
[Illustration: Fig. 75.--Transport of a Cherubim.]