to be found throughout
Egyptian and Indian art--never in that of Assyria.

Of the time of Rameses the Second we have two figures in a mural
painting, an ally and an enemy, a guest and a prisoner, both clothed
in embroidered garments, _parsemes_ with the prehistoric cross.

[Illustration: Fig. 11.
Egyptian Enemy and Ally.]

In the chapter on ecclesiastical art I shall again refer to this
immemorial symbolical and conventional pattern. I much regret that, in
the absence of a translation, I am prevented from availing myself of
the accumulated learning on the subject of "The Prehistoric Cross," by
Baron Ernest de Bunsen.

[Illustration: Pl. 27.
Imitation of a Carpet carved in stone, from Nineveh, showing the
Indian Lotus and the Assyrian Daisy. (In the British Museum.)]

There was a pattern called the "crenelated" which apparently was
derived from the Assyrian battlement, and is found throughout classic
art, somewhat conventionalized.[118] It is named as an embroidered
pattern in the inscription recording votive offerings of dresses in
the temple of Athene at Athens.[119]

[Illustration: Fig. 12.
Crenelated Pattern.]

We know something of the conventional and symbolical embroideries of
Nineveh, which are quite unlike those of India, except in the adoption
of the lotus for decoration.[120] These are best understood by
illustrations; and, therefore, I give one of the beautiful sculptured
carpets from Nineveh, in the British Museum (Pl. 27), showing the
Assyrian use of the lotus and cone, and the embroidered garment of a
king from one of the sculptures in low relief (Plate 1). These are
very stately--perfectly conventional and decorative; and we feel that
they have grown where we find them, and are not borrowed from another
civilization. What strikes us most, is the constant repetition and the
little variety of ornament in these patterns. The forms are strongly
marked--wheels or whorls, or daisies, often repeated. (The daisy
belongs to Assyria as the lotus to Egypt.) The flowers are simply
leafless blossoms. Splendid embroideries of sacred emblematical
designs are, however, occasionally found, such as those from Layard's
"Monuments" (Plate 2).

Much has been written on the early symbolism of plants and flowers.
The sun-myths have enlisted all floral legendary lore, and
conventional ornament was largely drawn from them.

Many symbols are present to us when we name certain plants. The lily