A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria, Vol. 1 (of 2)

CHAPTER IV.. Religious Architecture.

RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE.

§ 1. Attempts to Restore the Principal Types 364-382

§ 2. Ruins of Staged Towers 382-391

§ 3. Subordinate Types of the Temple 391-398

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PLATES.

I. Babil To face page 154

II. Rectangular Chaldæan temple 370

III. Square double-ramped Chaldæan temple 378

IV. Square Assyrian temple 380

FIG. PAGE

1. Brick from Erech 24

2. Fragment of an inscription engraved upon the back of a statue from Tello 25

3. Seal of Ourkam 38

4. Genius in the attitude of adoration 42

5. Assurbanipal at the chase 45

6. Demons 61

7. Demons 62

8. Eagle-headed divinity 63

9. Anou or Dagon 64

10. Stone of Merodach-Baladan I 73

11. Assyrian cylinder 74

12. Assyrian cylinder 74

13. Gods carried in procession 75

14. Gods carried in procession 76

15. Statue of Nebo 81

16. Terra-cotta statuette 83

17. A Chaldæan cylinder 84

18. The winged globe 87

19. The winged globe with human figure 87

20. Chaldæan cylinder 95

21. Chaldæan cylinder 95

22. The King Sargon and his Grand Vizier 97

23. The suite of Sargon 99

24. The suite of Sargon 101

25. Fragment of a bas-relief in alabaster 105

26. Bas-relief of Tiglath Pileser II 106

27. Feast of Assurbanipal 107

28. Feast of Assurbanipal 108

29. Offerings to a god 109

30. Convoy of prisoners 111

31. Convoy of prisoners 112

32. Babylonian brick 118

33. Brick from Khorsabad 119

34. Temple 128

35. Tell-Ede, in Lower Chaldæa 129

36. Haman, in Lower Chaldæa 131

37. Babil, at Babylon 135

38. A fortress 138

39. View of a town and its palaces 140

40. House in Kurdistan 141

41. Temple on the bank of a river, Khorsabad 142

42. Temple in a royal park, Kouyundjik 143

43. View of a group of buildings, Kouyundjik 145

44. Plan of angle, Khorsabad 147

45. Section of wall through AB in Fig. 44 147

46. Elevation of wall, Khorsabad 148

47. Section in perspective through the south-western part of Sargon's palace at Khorsabad 149

48. Temple at Mugheir 154

49. Upper part of the drainage arrangements of a mound 159

50. Present state of one of the city gates, Khorsabad 161

51. Fortress; from the Balawat gates, in the British Museum 164

52. The palace at Firouz-Abad 170

53. The palace at Sarbistan 170

54. Section through the palace at Sarbistan 171

55. Restoration of a hall in the harem at Khorsabad 174

56. Royal tent, Kouyundjik 175

57. Tent, Kouyundjik 175

58. Interior of a Yezidi house 178

59. Fortress 180

60. Crude brick construction 181

61. Armenian "lantern" 183

62-65. Terra-cotta cylinders in elevation, section and plan 184

66. Outside staircases in the ruins of Abou-Sharein 191

67. Interior of the royal tent 193

68. Tabernacle; from the Balawat gates 194

69. The seal of Sennacherib 196

70. Type of open architecture in Assyria 197

71. Homage to Samas or Shamas 203

72. Sheath of a cedar-wood mast, bronze 205

73. Interior of a house supported by wooden pillars; from the gates of Balawat 206

74. Assyrian capital, in perspective 207

75. Capital; from a small temple 209

76. View of a palace 210

77. Capital; from a small temple 212

78. Capital 212

79. Chaldæan tabernacle 212

80. Ivory plaque found at Nimroud 212

81. The Tree of Life 213

82. Ornamental base, in limestone 214

83. Model of a base, side view 215

84. The same, seen from in front 215

85. Winged Sphinx carrying the base of a column 216

86. Façade of an Assyrian building 216

87, 88. Bases of columns 217

89. Tomb-chamber at Mugheir 222

90. Interior of a chamber in the harem of Sargon's palace at Khorsabad 225

91. Return round the angle of an archivolt in one of the gates of Dour-Saryoukin 227

92. Drain at Khorsabad, with pointed arch 229

93. Sewer at Khorsabad, with semicircular vault 232

94. Sewer at Khorsabad, with elliptical vault 233

95. Decorated lintel 238

96. Sill of a door, from Khorsabad 240

97. Bronze foot, from the Balawat gates, and its socket 243

98, 99. Assyrian mouldings. Section and elevation 245

100. Façade of a ruined building at Warka 246

101. Decoration of one of the harem gates, at Khorsabad 247

102. View of an angle of the Observatory at Khorsabad 249

103. Lateral façade of the palace at Firouz-Abad 251

104. Battlements from an Assyrian palace 251

105. Battlements from the Khorsabad Observatory 252

106. Battlements of Sargon's palace at Khorsabad 255

107. Altar 255

108. Altar in the Louvre 256

109. Altar in the British Museum 257

110. Stele from Khorsabad 258

111. The obelisk of Shalmaneser II. in the British Museum 258

112. Rock-cut stele from Kouyundjik 259

113. Fragment from Babylon 263

114. Human-headed lion 267

115. Bas-relief with several registers 269

116. Ornament painted upon plaster 275

117. Ornament painted upon plaster 275

118. Ornament painted upon plaster 276

119. Plan and elevation of part of a façade at Warka 278

120. Cone with coloured base 279

121, 122. Rosettes in glazed pottery 290

123. Detail of enamelled archivolt 291

124. Detail of enamelled archivolt 292

125. Enamelled brick in the British Museum 293

126. Ornament upon enamelled brick 294

127. Fragment of a glazed brick 295

128. Fragment of a glazed brick 297

129. Ivory tablet in the British Museum 301

130. Fragment of an ivory tablet 301

131. Threshold from Kouyundjik 303

132. Rosette 304

133. Bouquet of flowers and buds 305

134. Painted border 306

135. Fragment of a threshold 306

136. Door ornament 307

137. Palmette 308

138. Goats and palmette 308

139. Winged bulls and palmette 309

140. Stag upon a palmette 310

141. Winged bull upon a rosette 311

142. Stag, palmette, and rosette 311

143. Plan of a temple at Mugheir 312

144. Plan of the town and palace of Sargon at Khorsabad 313

145. General plan of the remains at Nimroud 314

146. Bronze statuette 316

147. Bronze statuette 317

148. Bronze statuette 318

149. Terra-cotta cone 319

150. Terra-cotta cylinder 320

151. The transport of a bull 324

152. Putting a bull in place 326

153. Chaldæan plan 327

154. Assyrian plan; from the Balawat gates in the British Museum 329

155. Plan and section of a fortress 329

156. Plan, section, and elevation of a fortified city 330

157. Plan and elevation of a fortified city 331

158. Fortress with its defenders 333

159, 160. Vases 342

161. Plaque of chiselled bronze. Obverse 350

162. Plaque of chiselled bronze. Reverse 351

163. Tomb at Mugheir 357

164. Tomb at Mugheir 358

165. Tomb at Mugheir 358

166. Tomb, or coffin, at Mugheir 359

167. Map of the ruins of Mugheir 362

168. View of the Birs-Nimroud 367

169-171. Longitudinal section, plan, and horizontal section of the rectangular type of Chaldæan temple 370

172. Map of Warka, with its ruins 371

173. Type of square, single-ramped Chaldæan temple 375

174-176. Transverse section, plan, and horizontal section of a square, single-ramped, Chaldæan temple 377

177-179. Transverse section, plan, and horizontal section of a square, double-ramped Chaldæan temple 378

180-182. Square Assyrian temple. Longitudinal section, horizontal section, and plan 380

183. Map of the ruins of Babylon 383

184. Actual condition of the so-called Observatory, at Khorsabad 387

185. The Observatory, restored. Elevation 388

186. The Observatory, restored. Plan 389

187. The Observatory. Transverse section through A B 390

188. Plan of a small temple at Nimroud 393

189. Plan of a small temple at Nimroud 393

190. Temple with triangular pediment 394

TAIL-PIECES, &c.

Lion's head, gold (French National Library) Title-page

Lion's head, glazed earthenware (Louvre) 113

Two rabbits' heads, ivory (Louvre) 334

Cow's head, ivory (British Museum) 363

Eagle, from a bas-relief (British Museum) 398

A HISTORY OF ART

CHALDÆA AND ASSYRIA

CHAPTER I.. The General Characteristics of Chaldæo-Assyrian Civilization.

THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHALDÆO-ASSYRIAN CIVILIZATION.

§ 1.--Situation and Boundaries of Chaldæa and Assyria.

The primitive civilization of Chaldæa, like that of Egypt, was cradled in the lower districts of a great alluvial basin, in which the soil was stolen from the sea by long continued deposits of river mud. In the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, as in that of the Nile, it was in the great plains near the ocean that the inhabitants first emerged from barbarism and organized a civil life. As the ages passed away, this culture slowly mounted the streams, and, as Memphis was older by many centuries than Thebes, in dignity if not in actual existence, so Ur and Larsam were older than Babylon, and Babylon than Nineveh. The manners and beliefs, the arts and the written characters of Egypt were carried into the farthest recesses of Ethiopia, partly by commerce but still more by military invasion; so too Chaldaic civilization made itself felt at vast distances from its birthplace, even in the cold valleys and snowy plateaux of Armenia, in districts which are separated by ten degrees of latitude from the burning shores where the fish god Oannes showed himself to the rude fathers of the race, and taught them "such things as contribute to the softening of life." In Egypt progressive development took place from north to south, while in Chaldæa its direction was reversed. The apparent contrast is, however, but a resemblance the more. The orientation, if such a term may be used, of the two basins, is in opposite directions, but in each the spread of religion with its rites and symbols, of written characters with their adaptation to different languages, and of all those arts and processes which, when taken together, make up what we call civilization, advanced from the seaboard to the river springs.

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