Identifier: fivegreatmonarch011862rawl (find matches)
Title: The five great monarchies of the ancient eastern world; or, The history, geography, and antiquites of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, and Persia
Year: 1862 (1860s)
Authors: Rawlinson, George, 1812-1902
Subjects: Mauritius Export Development and Investment Authority History, Ancient
Publisher: London, J. Murray
Contributing Library: Boston Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
instance (No. I.), approaches to theCorinthian; in another (No. II.) itreminds us of the Ionic; but thevolutes are double, and the upperones are surmounted by an awkward-looking abacus. A third (No. III.)is very peculiar, and to some extentexplains the origin of the second. Itconsists of two pairs of ibex horns,placed one over the other. With thismay be compared another (No. lY.),the most remarkable of all, where wehave first a single pair of ibex horns. Sec above, p. 38.S, No. IV. Chap. VI. ORNAMENTATION. 417 and then, at the summit, a complete figure of anibex, very graphically portrayed. The beauty of Assyrian patterning has beenalready noticed. Patterned work is found not onlyon the enamelled bricks, but on stone pavementslabs, and around arched doorways leading from onechamber to another, where the patterns are carvedwith great care and delicacy upon the alabaster.The accompanying specimen of a doorway, which istaken from an unpublished drawing by Mr. Boutcher,
Text Appearing After Image:
Ornamental doorway (North Palace, Koyunjik). is very rich and elegant, though it exhibits nonebut the very commonest of the Assyrian patterns.A carving of a more elaborate type, and one pre- VOL. I. 2 E 418 THE SECOND MONAECHY. Chap. VI. senting even greater delicacy of workmanship, liasbeen given in an earlier portion of this chapter^as an example of a patterned pavement slab. Slabsof this kind have been found in many of thepalaces, and w^ell deserve the attention of moderndesigners. When the architecture of the Assyrians is com-pared with that of other nations possessing aboutthe same degree of civilisation, the impression thatit leaves is perhaps somewhat disappointing. Yastlabour and skill, exquisite finish, the most extra-ordinary elaboration, were bestowed on edifices soessentially fragile and perishable that no care couldhave preserved them for many centuries. Sun-driedbrick, a material but little superior to the naturalclay of which it was composed, constituted every-where the

Note About Images