ry condition. One alone is
perfect--the obelisk in black basalt, discovered by Mr. Layard at
Nimrud, which has now for many years been in the British Museum. [PLATE
XL., Fig. 1.] This monument is sculptured on each of its four sides, in
part with writing and in part with bas-reliefs. It is about seven feet
high, and two feet broad at the base, tapering gently towards the
summit, which is crowned with three low steps, or gradines. The
inscription, which occupies the upper and lower portion of each side,
and is also carried along the spaces between the bas-reliefs, consists
of 210 clearly cut lines, and is one of the most important documents
that has come down to us. It gives an account of various victories
gained by the monarch who set it up, and of the tribute brought him by
several princes. The inscribed lions and bulls are numerous. They
commonly guard the portals of palaces, and are raised in a bold relief
on alabaster slabs. The writing does not often trench upon the
sculpture, but covers all those portions of the slabs which are not
occupied by the animal. It is usually a full account of some particular
campaign, which was thus specially commemorated, giving in detail what
is far more briefly expressed in the obelisk and slab inscriptions.

[Illustration: PLATE 40]

This review of the various kinds of documents which have been discovered
in the ancient cities of Assyria, seems to show that two materials were
principally in use among the people for literary purposes, namely, stone
and moist clay. The monarchs used the former most commonly, though
sometimes they condescended for some special object to the coarser and
more fragile material. Private persons in their business transactions,
literary and scientific men in their compositions, employed the latter,
on which it was possible to write rapidly with a triangular instrument,
and which was no doubt far cheaper than the slabs of fine stone, which
were preferred for the royal inscriptions. The clay documents, when
wanted for instruction or as evidence, were carefully baked; and thus it
is that they have come down to us, despite their fragility, often in as
legible a condition, with the letters as clear and sharp, as any legend
on marble, stone, or metal that we possess belonging to Greek or even to
Roman times. The best clay, skilfully baked, is a material quite as
enduring as either stone or metal, resisting many influences better than
either of those materials.