ays
and the back wall, were two recesses of the same character. Curiously
enough, these side doorways and recesses fronted the pillars, not the
intercolumniations.

[Illustration: PLATE XLVI.]

No sculpture, so far as appears, adorned this apartment, excepting
in the doorways, which however had in every case this kind of
ornamentation. The doorways in the back wall exhibited on their jambs
figures of the king followed by two attendants, one holding a cloth, and
the other a fly-chaser. [PLATE XLV., Fig. 3.] These figures had in every
case their faces turned towards the apartment. The front doorway showed
on its jambs the monarch followed by the parasol-bearer and the bearer
of the fly-chaser, with his back turned to the apartment, issuing forth,
as it were, from it. On the jambs of the doors of the side apartments
was represented the king in combat with a lion or a monster, the king
here in every case facing outwards, and seeming to guard the entrances
to the side chambers.

At the back of the hall, and at either side, were chambers of very
moderate dimensions. The largest were to the rear of the building,
where there seems to have been one about forty feet by twenty-three, and
another twenty-eight feet by twenty. The doorways here had sculptures,
representing attendants bearing napkins and perfumes. The side chambers,
five in number, were considerably smaller than those behind the great
hall, the largest not exceeding thirty-four feet by thirteen.

It seems probable that this palace was without any second story. There
is no vestige in any part of it of a staircase--no indication of its
height having ever exceeded from twenty-two to twenty-five feet. It was
a modest building, simple and regular, covering less than half the space
of an ordinary palace in Assyria. [PLATE XLV., Fig. 2.] Externally,
it must have presented an appearance not very dissimilar to that of
the simpler Greek temples; distinguished from them by peculiarities of
ornamentation, but by no striking or important feature, excepting
the grand and elaborately sculptured staircase. Internally, it was
remarkable for the small number of its apartments, which seem not to
have been more than twelve or thirteen, and for the moderate size of
most of them. Even the grand central hall covered a less area than three
out of the five halls in the country palace of Sargon. The effect
of this room was probably fine, though it must have been somewhat
over-crowded