The feet were shod with sandals, though the Babylonians, as a rule, went barefoot. So also did the lower classes among the Assyrians, as well as a portion of the army. The sandals were attached to the foot by leather thongs, and the heel was protected by a cap. The boot, however, was introduced from the colder regions of the north before the twelfth century B.C. At all events, Merodach-nadin-akhi is depicted as wearing soft leather shoes, and Sennacherib adopted a similar foot-covering. This was laced in front like the high-laced boots with which the Assyrian cavalry were provided toward the end of the reign of Tiglath-pileser III. The priest was distinguished by a curiously flounced dress, made perhaps of a species of muslin, which descended to the feet, and is often pictured on the early seals. Over his shoulders was flung a goat’s skin, the symbol of his office, like the leopard’s skin worn by the priests in Egypt. In the early Babylonian period the dress of all classes was naturally much more simple than that of a later date. The poor were contented with a short kilt, the King and his family with a long one. One of the early rulers of Lagas, for instance, is represented as wearing only a skull-cap and a kilt which reaches nearly to the ankles. It was under the Semitic empire of Sargon of Akkad that the long robe seems first to have become common. But it was worn over the left shoulder only, and as the tunic was not yet introduced into ordinary use, the right shoulder was left bare. Even Naram-Sin, the conqueror of Sinai, is depicted as clad in this simple costume in a bas-relief found near Diarbekr. The robe is quilted, and on the King’s head is a conical cap of felt. The statues of the age of Gudea also show no sign of the tunic. The development out of the kilt must belong to a later age. The costume of the women does not appear to have differed much from that of the men. Both alike adopted the long robe. But representations of women are unfortunately rare. The Queen of Assur-bani-pal is dressed in a long, sleeveless robe, over which is a fringed frock reaching to the knees, and over this again a light cape, also fringed and embroidered with rosettes. This may, therefore, be regarded as the official dress of a grand lady in the closing days of the Assyrian empire.