When Layard got to the trench he saw something concealed by Arab cloaks and baskets. The diggers tore the coverings off as he approached, and Layard beheld the giant head of a sculptured figure buried up to the neck in the soil. It was a human head, nearly as tall as a man, and belonging to one of those fine human-headed winged bulls now in the British Museum. One Arab was so terrified of the monster that he dropped his basket and ran madly to Mosul. He babbled the most alarming tales of the terror that the stranger was releasing from the earth, and the rumours quickly spread through the bazaars. People for miles around rushed to the scene to gaze on the idol of the infidels. [Illustration: _By courtesy of the British Museum_ ONE OF THE COLOSSAL, HUMAN-HEADED, WINGED FIGURES, TWICE AS TALL AS A MAN, WHICH SIR A. H. LAYARD DUG OUT OF THE MOUNDS ON THE TIGRIS, AND WHICH REVEAL THE HIGH CIVILIZATION TO WHICH THE ANCIENT ASSYRIANS ATTAINED. IT IS COVERED WITH AN INSCRIPTION IN CUNEIFORM CHARACTERS, AND A NOTABLE FEATURE IS THE FIVE LEGS] The diggers were delighted at the discovery, and under Layard’s direction they managed to uncover the top of another head a dozen feet away. The men worked in a half frenzy, digging away and running to and fro with the baskets of rubbish like mad creatures. To celebrate the find, Layard gave a great feast. Sheep were killed, musicians made music. Figures whirled hither and thither in the flicker of the campfires, dancing wildly over the desert in front of the goat-hair tents, shouting and leaping until far into the night. If by a miracle the clock could have been put back twenty-five centuries, the simple tents would have changed to noble palaces and the feasting Arabs into Assyrian courtiers, with King Sennacherib drinking out of a golden goblet! As it was, the Arabs were stamping the past under their feet. Wonder after wonder was laid bare by the picks of Layard’s diggers. He found three palaces, all of different ages, some of which had been built with slabs of alabaster taken from earlier edifices. It was plain that the latest had been destroyed by fire, the vengeful fire which led to the final obliteration of Assyrian civilization. In the days of their glory the palaces were magnificent, standing on massive platforms about 20 feet high, built of sun-dried bricks, with fine wide terraces and sculptured halls. The Tigris flowed by the walls, and mighty winged lions and bulls guarded the entrances. The ancient sculptors who carved these figures were no mean artists. Their art was highly developed, and their skill in carrying out the details and ornamentation quite remarkable. They had arrived at a better idea of perspective than the Egyptians, and their figures were more lifelike, especially the animals, the muscles of which were carved very faithfully.