Ninevite empire, when the kings were
not so well able to endure hardship. Sennacherib mentions it
on several occasions, with a certain amount of self-pity for
the fatigue he had undergone, but with a real pride in his
own endurance.

A halt was made every evening, either at some village, whose inhabitants
were obliged to provide food and lodging, or, in default of this, on
some site which they could fortify by a hastily thrown up rampart of
earth. If they were obliged to remain in any place for a length of time,
a regular encircling wall was constructed, not square or rectangular
like those of the Egyptians, but round or oval.*

* The oval inclines towards a square form, with rounded
corners, on the bas-reliefs of the bronze gates of
Shalmaneser II. at Balawat.

[Illustration: 193.jpg THE KING CROSSING A MOUNTAIN IN HIS CHARIOT]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Mansell, taken in the
British Museum.

It was made of dried brick, and provided with towers like an ancient
city; indeed, many of these entrenched camps survived the occasion of
their formation, and became small fortified towns or castles, whence a
permanent garrison could command the neighbouring country. The interior
was divided into four equal parts by two roads, intersecting each other
at right angles. The royal tents, with their walls of felt or brown
linen, resembled an actual palace, which could be moved from place to
place; they were surrounded with less pretentious buildings reserved for
the king's household, and the stables.

[Illustration: 194.jpg AN ASSYRIAN CAMP]

Drawn by Boudier, from Layard.

The tent-poles at the angles of these habitations were plated with
metal, and terminated at their upper extremities in figures of goats and
other animals made of the same material. The tents of the soldiers, were
conical in form, and each was maintained in its position by a forked
pole placed inside. They contained the ordinary requirements of the
peasant---bed and head-rest, table with legs like those of a gazelle,
stools and folding-chairs; the household utensils and the provisions
hung from the forks of the support. The monuments, which usually
give few details of humble life, are remarkable for their complete
reproductions of the daily scenes in the camp. We see on them, the
soldier making his bed, grinding corn, dressing the carcase of a sheep,
which he had just killed, or pouring out win