Discoveries Among the Ruins of Nineveh and BabylonLayard, Austen Henry
History
Discoveries Among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon
Layard, Austen Henry
Babylon (Extinct city); Middle East -- Description and travel; Nineveh (Extinct city); Scientific expeditions
The plates above described are the most interesting specimens brought to
this country: there are others, indeed, scarcely less remarkable for
beauty of workmanship, or, when plain or ornamented with a simple star in
the centre, for elegance of form. Of the seventeen deep bowls discovered,
only three have embossings, sufficiently well preserved, to be described;
the greater part appear to be perfectly plain. The most remarkable is
8-1/2 inches in diameter, and 3-3/4 inches deep, and has at the bottom, in
the centre, an embossed star, surrounded by a rosette, and on the sides a
hunting scene in bold relief.
A second, 7-1/2 inches in diameter, and 3-3/4 inches deep, has in the
centre a medallion similar to that in the one last described, and on the
sides, in very high relief, two lions and two sphinxes of Egyptian
character, wearing a collar, feathers, and housings, and a head-dress
formed by a disc with two uræi. Both bowls are remarkable for the boldness
of the relief and the archaic treatment of the figures, in this respect
resembling the ivories previously discovered at Nimroud. They forcibly
call to mind the early remains of Greece, and especially the metal work,
and painted pottery found in very ancient tombs in Etruria, which they so
closely resemble not only in design but in subject, the same mythic
animals and the same ornaments being introduced, that we cannot but
attribute to both the same origin. The third, 7-3/4 inches in diameter,
and 2-1/2 inches deep, has in the centre a star formed by the Egyptian
hawk of the sun, bearing the disc, and having at its side a whip, between
two rays ending in lotus flowers; on the sides are embossed figures of
wild goats, lotus-shaped shrubs, and dwarf trees of peculiar form.
Of the cups the most remarkable are:--
No. 1., diameter 5-5/8 inches, and 2-1/4 inches deep, very elaborately
ornamented with figures of animals, interlaced and grouped together in
singular confusion, covering the whole inner surface; apparently
representing a combat between griffins and lions; a very curious and
interesting specimen, not unlike some of the Italian chasing of the cinque
cento. No. 2., a fragment, embossed with the figures of lions and bulls,
of very fine workmanship.
Of the remaining cups many are plain but of elegant shape, one or two are
ribbed, and some have simply an embossed star in the centre.
About 150 bronze vessels discovered in this chamber are now in the British
Museum, without including numerous fragments, which, although showing
traces of ornament, are too far destroyed by decomposition to be cleaned.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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