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
In these ruins was also found a mass of lead melted by the fire, for
embedded in it was the iron head of a hatchet. Amongst the various small
objects collected were figures of winged deities, &c., of clay, colored in
the mass with a blue derived from copper; eyes, beards, hair, and
ornaments in enamel, probably belonging to figures of wood, metal, or
ivory, resembling the cryselaphantine statues of the Greeks; eyes of black
marble inlaid with ivory, with the eye-balls of a bright blue enamel,
belonging to similar statues; and arms, legs, and other parts of figures
in charred wood.
Fragments of porcelain (?), parts of a cup or vase, with carvings in low
relief, several inscribed fragments of agate, lapis-lazuli, cornelian, and
other precious materials, beads, cylinders, and one or two clay tablets
with inscriptions and impressions of seals, complete the list of small
objects discovered in this temple.
About one hundred feet to the east of the building last described, and on
the very edge of the artificial platform, I discovered a second temple.
Its principal entrance faced the south, and was on the same level as the
north-west palace. This gateway was formed by two colossal lions with
extended jaws, gathered up lips and nostrils, flowing manes, and ruffs of
bristly hair. The heads, though to a certain extent conventional in form,
were designed with that vigor so remarkably displayed by the Assyrian
sculptor in the delineation of animals. The limbs conveyed the idea of
strength and power, the veins and muscles were accurately portrayed, and
the outline of the body was not deficient in grace and truth. But the
front of the animal, which was in full, was narrow and cramped, and
unequal in dignity to the side. The sculptor has given five legs to the
animal for the same reason that he gave them to the sphinxes, that they
might offer a complete front and side view.
This gateway, about eight feet wide, was paved with one inscribed slab.
The height of the lions was about eight feet, and their length thirteen.
An inscription was carved across them. In front of them, in the corners
formed by walls projecting at right angles with the entrance, were two
altars, hollow at the top, and ornamented with gradines resembling the
battlements of a castle. The exterior walls appeared to have been adorned
with enamelled bricks, many of which still remained.
Unfortunately, one of these lions had been too much injured by fire to
bear removal. The other, although cracked in several places when
discovered, and consequently moved in pieces, has been preserved, and is
now in the British Museum.
The Lion portal led into a chamber 57 feet by 25. At one end was a recess
similar to that in the opposite temple, and also paved with one great
alabaster slab, inscribed on both sides. This monolith, 19-1/2 ft. by 12
ft., was likewise broken into several pieces, and had been injured in
parts by fire.
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