of soldiers always on the look-out, who found here a pleasant shade to protect them from a scorching sun, to which even the inhabitants of the city found their way when they met to discuss their affairs or to converse upon the news of the day. On each side of these long passages recesses were made, and even actual halls for the guards. Several of the dramas related in the Biblical books are developed in such places, under such vaults. The present state of one of the entrances of Khorsabad enables us to ascertain that the custom of assembling at the city gate goes back to the time of the Chaldæo-Assyrians. This gate was still surmounted by its semicircular arch decorated with an archivolt in enamelled bricks. The structure formed a projection of 82 feet from the wall; built on a rectangular plan, it was itself pierced by an opening defended by two projecting bastions. After passing through this first structure, a court was reached which gave access to the opening [Illustration: Fig. 59.--Plan of a gate at Khorsabad (after Place, pl. 18).] [Illustration: Fig. 60.--Gate of Khorsabad (restoration by Place, pl. 8)] in the rampart proper flanked by two square towers. Through this gate a second court was reached, separated again from a third court by a new opening; lastly, the wall at the bottom of this third court had again an aperture which gave access to the town. Thus it was necessary to pass successively through four doors to penetrate into Dur-Sarrukin, and a structure, symmetrical with that on the outside, projected from the wall into the interior of the fortress. These massive structures formed by themselves a real stronghold, 22,965 feet square, with vaulted passages and galleries, the chief of which is not less than 278 ft. long. It is clear that such buildings, which would invariably serve as meeting-places, form fresh and cool retreats in countries where the heat is such that it was impossible to gather in the Forum or in the Agora, as at Rome or Athens. CHAPTER III. _ASSYRIAN SCULPTURE AND PAINTING._ § I. STATUES, STELÆ, AND OBELISKS.