The wealth of Nineveh is called endless by the prophet Nahum. He mentions the abundance of carved and molten images, of costly vessels in the "house of their god." The monuments exhibit not only the "carved" images; beside many actual remains, they prove that costly furniture was in extensive use in the temples, at the court, and among the great officers of Assyria. The tables, stools, seats, drinking-vessels, vases, harness and bridles of horses, shown in the reliefs of the palace, are wrought with great delicacy and with good taste. The yokes of the chariots, the bows and bow-covers, exhibit very delicate carved work. On the robes of the kings we see groups of wild animals inwoven, partly real in form, as lions, partly mythical, like scenes of hunting and war. The ear-drops, which the kings and other persons of distinction wear, the bands round the arms and wrists, are of artistic work, and generally closed by the heads of lions, rams, and bulls; the weapons also, the handles and sheaths of the swords and daggers, must have been finished with great care and neatness, and in an excellent style. The not inconsiderable number of vessels of copper and bronze, of pitchers, stained glass, ivory articles, necklaces, armrings, and eardrops, which have been preserved in the ruins, prove that the monuments represent the possession of the Assyrians, without exaggeration of their beauty, that Assyria, besides what was brought to her by trade, possessed a school of artisans long trained in the art, and excellently taught, without which such great and excellent works in architecture and sculpture would have been impossible. Of the tombs of the Assyrians few have been opened as yet. The coffins, like those in the Babylonian sepulchres, are narrow and small, and only contain skeletons, with bands on the arms and neck, and some simple clay vessels beside the coffins.[416] FOOTNOTES: [395] Ezek. xxi. 3-9. [396] Nahum iii. 17, 18. [397] Ezek. xxiii. 6, 12. [398] E. Schrader, "Z. D. M. G." 25, 449 ff.; G. Smith, "Assyrian Canon;" Vol. II. p. 328, and above, p. 171, _note_. [399] G. Smith, "Assurb." p. 252. [400] Isaiah v. 26-29. [401] Herod. 7, 63. [402] Isaiah xxxvii. 33; cf. 2 Kings xix. 32; above, p. 127. [403] Layard, "Nineveh," p. 378. [404] Vol. II. p. 4. [405] Nahum ii. 9; iii. 16. [406] G. Rawlinson, "Monarchies," 1^2, p. 254 ff. [407] Lyell, 'Elements of Geology,' ed. 3. p. 368. [408] Xenoph. "Anab." 3, 4, 7-9. [409] Layard, "Nineveh and its Remains," 2, 44. [410] The so-called Archive of Assurbanipal in chambers 40 and 41 on Layard's plan. [411] Lénormant, "Etudes Accadiennes," 1, 3, p. 67 ff.; E. Schrader, "Jen. Lit. Z." 4th April, 1874. [412] G. Smith, "Disc." p. 248. [413] G. Rawlinson, "Monarchies," 2^2, 16, 17; Layard, "Mon." Pl. 69 _note_, 45, 47, 48. [414] Ezekiel also supports this, xxiii. 14, 15. [415] Layard, _loc. cit._ p. 327, 328. [416] Layard, _loc. cit._ p. 304. CHAPTER X. JUDAH UNDER MANASSES AND JOSIAH.