ed the capture
of the fortress that has just fallen into his hands.

It is not, however, with an explanation of the scene that we are at
present concerned; our business is with the structure of the pavilion
itself, with the slender columns and the rich capitals at their summits,
with the domed roof, made, no doubt, of several skins sewn together and
kept in place by metal weights. The capitals and the two wild goats perched
upon the shafts must have been of metal.

As for the tall and slender columns themselves, they were doubtless of
wood. The chevrons and vertical fillets with which they are decorated may
either have been carved in the wood or inlaid in metal.

[Illustration: FIG. 68.--Tabernacle; from the Balawat Gates.]

The pavilion we have just described was a civil edifice, the temporary
resting place of the sovereign. The same materials were employed in the
same spirit and with a similar arrangement in the erection of religious
tabernacles (see Fig. 68). The illustration on this page is taken from
those plates of beaten bronze which are known as the _Gates of Balawat_ and
form one of the most precious treasures in the Assyrian Galleries of the
British Museum.[244] They represent the victories and military expeditions
of Shalmaneser II. In the pavilion that we have abstracted from this long
series of reliefs may be recognized the field-chapel of the king. When that
cruel but pious conqueror wished to thank Assur for some great success, he
could cause a tabernacle like this to be raised in a few minutes even upon
the field of battle itself. It is composed of four light columns supporting
a canopy of leather which is kept in form by a fringe of heavy weights.
Rather above the middle of these columns two rings give an opportunity for
a knotted ornament that could also be very quickly arranged, and the
brilliant colours of the knots would add notably to the gay appearance of
the tabernacle. Under the canopy the king himself is shown standing in an
attitude of worship and pouring a libation on the portable altar. The
latter is a tripod, probably of bronze, and upon it appears a dish with
something in it which is too roughly drawn to be identified. On the right
stands a second and smaller tripod with a vessel containing the liquid
necessary for the rite.

The graphic processes of the Assyrian sculptor were so imperfect that at
first we have some difficulty in picturing to ourselves the originals of
these representa