could be traced upon the sun-dried bricks, forming the back of these recesses.

The painted ornaments were elaborate and graceful in design. The Assyrian bull was frequently portrayed, sometimes with wings, sometimes without. Above the animals were painted battlements, similar to those of castles, as represented in the sculptures. Below them, forming a kind of cornice, were squares and circles, tastefully arranged; and more elaborate combinations were not wanting. The colors found were blue, red, white, yellow, and black. I doubt whether any green was used in this building; the green on the under coating of plaster, being rather the result of the decomposition of the blue. The pale yellow of the ground, on which the designs were painted, resembles the tint on the walls of Egypt; but it is possible that white had changed to this color.

But the most important discovery, connected with these upper chambers, was that of the slabs forming the pavement of the two entrances a and b. Upon them were the names and titles of five kings, in genealogical succession; commencing with the father of the founder of the northwest palace, and ending with the grandson of the builder of the centre edifice. By this valuable record, I was able to verify the connection between the names already discovered, and to add two more to the list.*

I could not ascertain whether there were any chambers, or remains of buildings, beneath this upper edifice; or whether this was a tower constructed on the solid outer wall. A deep trench was opened on the eastern side of it,† and about twenty feet below the surface, a pavement of brick and several square slabs of alabaster were uncovered; but these remains did not throw any light upon the nature of the building above; nor were they sufficient to show that the northwest palace had been carried under these upper chambers. To the south of them there were no remains of building, the platform

* One of these slabs will be placed in the British Museum.
+ At d, in plan 1.

of unbaked bricks being continued up to the level of the flooring of the chambers; but there is reason to believe that this part of the mound is of a more recent date than that to the north of it, and was added at a subsequent period.

In the centre of the mound, to the north of the great winged bulls, I had in vain endeavored to find traces of building. Except the obelisk, two winged figures, and a few fragments of yellow limestone, which appeared to have formed part of a gigantic bull or lion, no remains of sculpture had yet been discovered. On excavating to the south, I found a well-formed tomb, built of bricks, and covered with a slab of alabaster. It was about five feet in length, and scarcely more than eighteen inches in breadth in the interior. On removing the lid, parts of a skeleton were exposed to view; the skull and some of the larger bones were still entire; but, on an attempt being made to move them, they crumbled into dust. With them were three earthen vessels. A vase of reddish clay, with a long narrow neck, stood in a dish of such delicate fabric, that I had great difficulty in removing it entire. Over the mouth of the vase was placed a bowl or cup, also of red clay. This pottery appears to have stood near the right shoulder of the body. In the dust, which had accumulated round the skeleton, were found beads and small ornaments belonging to a necklace. The beads are of opaque colored glass, agate, cornelian, and amethyst. A small crouching lion of lapis lazuli, pierced on the back, had been attached to the end of the necklace. The vases and ornaments are Egyptian in their character, being identical with similar remains found in the tombs of Egypt, and preserved in collections of antiquities from that country. With the beads was a cylinder, on which is represented the king in his chariot, hunting the wild bull, as in the bas-relief from the northwest palace. The surface of the cylinder has been so much worn and injured, that it is difficult to distinguish the figures upon it. A copper ornament resem bling a modern seal, two bracelets of silver, and a pin for the hair were also discovered. I carefully collected and preserved

these interesting remains, which seemed to prove that the body had been that of a female.

On digging beyond this tomb, I found a second, similarly constructed, and of the same size. In it were two vases of highly glazed green pottery, elegant in shape, and in perfect. preservation. Near them was a copper mirror, and a copper lustral spoon, all Egyptian in form.

Many other tombs were opened, containing vases, plates, mirrors, spoons, beads, and ornaments. Some of them were built of baked bricks, carefully joined, but without mortar; others were formed by large earthen sarcophagi, covered with an entire alabaster slab, similar to those discovered in the southeast corner of the mound, and already described.*

Having carefully collected and packed the contents of the tombs, I removed them and dug deeper into the mound. 1 was surprised to find, about five feet beneath them, the remains of a building. Walls of unbaked bricks could still be traced; but the slabs, with which they had been cased, were no longer in their places, being scattered about without order, and lying mostly with their faces on the flooring of unbaked bricks. Upon them, were both sculptures and inscriptions. Slab succeeded to slab; and when I had removed nearly twenty tombs, and cleared away the earth from a space of about fifty feet square, the ruins, which had been thus uncovered, presented a very singlar appearance. Above one hundred slabs were exposed to view, packed in rows, one against the other, as slabs in a stonecutter's yard, or as the leaves of a gigantic book. Every slab was sculptured; and as they were placed in a regular series, according to the subjects upon them, it was evident that they had been moved, in the order in which they stood, from their original positions against the walls of sun-dried brick; and had been left as found preparatory to their removal elsewhere. That they were not thus arranged before being used in the building for which they had been orignally sculp

* See Vol. I. p. 285.

tured, was evident from the fact, proved beyond a doubt by repeated observation, that the Assyrians carved their slabs after, and not before, they were placed. Subjects were continued on adjoining slabs, figures and chariots being divided in the centre. There were places for the iron brackets, or dovetails. They had evidently been once filled, for I could still trace marks and stains left by the metal. To the south of the centre bulls were two gigantic figures, similar to those discovered to the north.

These sculptures resembled, in many respects, some of the bas-reliefs found in the southwest palace, in which the sculptured face of the slab was turned, it will be remembered, towards the walls of unbaked bricks. It appeared, therefore, that the centre building had been destroyed, to supply materials for the construction of this edifice. But here were tombs over the ruins. The edifice had perished, and in the earth and rubbish accumulating above its remains, a people whose funereal vases and ornaments were identical in form and material with those found in the catacombs of Egypt, had buried their dead. What race, then, occupied the country after the destruction of the Assyrian palaces? At what period were these tombs made? What antiquity did their presence assign to the buildings beneath them? These are questions which I am yet unable to answer; and which must be left undecided, until the origin and age of the contents of the tombs can be satisfactorily determined.

The bas-reliefs differed considerably from those of the northwest palace, both in the character of the sculpture, and the treatment of the subjects; in the costumes of the figures, in the caparisons of the horses, and in the form of the chariots. The distinction was so great, that the short period elapsing between the reigns of a father and son could scarcely have given rise, except under extraordinary circumstances, to so considerable a change in all these points. As the centre bulls

* See Vol. I. p. 28..

were inscribed with the name of the son of the founder of the northwest building, it might be presumed that the ruins near them belong to the same period as the rest of the palace. However, this is liable to doubt. The bulls, as it has already been pointed out,* may have stood alone on the platform, and may have been placed long previous to the construction of an edifice. There were a few inscriptions accompanying the bas-reliefs, and they may hereafter serve to decide the question. On the greater number of slabs, however, the space between the bas-reliefs was left without any inscription.

The subjects principally recorded by the sculptures thus found collected together, with the exception of a few gigantic figures of the king and his attendant eunuchs, and of the winged priests or divinities, were battle-pieces and sieges. Some cities were represented as standing on a river, in the midst of groves of date-trees; others on mountains. Amongst the conquered people were warriors mounted on camels. It may be inferred, therefore, that a part of these sculptures were made to record the invasion or conquest of an Arab nation, or perhaps of a part of Babylonia; the inhabitants of the cities being assisted by auxiliaries, or allies from the neighboring desert. The conquered race, as in the bas-reliefs of the northwest palace, were generally without helmets or armor, their hair falling loosely on their shoulders. Some, however, were provided with helmets, which vary in shape from those worn by the

conquerors.

A battering ram, differing in form from that seen in the earlier sculptures, was found on bas-reliefs representing sieges. They were unaccompanied by the moving tower; some were provided with two rams, the ends of which, instead of being broad and blunt, were pointed, and resembled the heads of

spears.

On two slabs (occupied by one subject) were bas-reliefs of considerable interest. They have been sen. to England, and