eir archivolts, and
finally the contrast between the bare and gleaming walls on either side and
their depths of shadow--all these combined to give accent to the doorways
and to afford that relief to the monotony of the walls of which they stood
in so great a need. For Assyrian mouldings are even poorer than those of
Egypt. The softness of crude brick, the brittle hardness of burnt brick,
are neither of them well disposed towards those delicate curves by which a
skilful architect contrives to break the sameness of a facade, and to give
the play of light and shadow which make up the beauty of a Greek or
Florentine cornice.

The only mouldings encountered in Assyria have been found on a few
buildings or parts of buildings in which stone was employed. We may quote
as an instance the retaining wall of the small, isolated structure
excavated by Botta towards the western angle of the Khorsabad mound, and by
him believed to be a temple.[309] The wall in question is built of a
hardish grey limestone, the blocks being laid alternately as stretchers and
headers. The wall is complete with plinth, die and cornice (Figs. 98 and
99). The latter is a true cornice, composed of a small torus or bead, a
scotia, and a fillet. The elements are the same as those of the Egyptian
cornice, except in the profile of the hollow member, which is here a
_scotia_ and in Egypt a _cavetto_, to speak the language of modern
architects. The Egyptian moulding is at once bolder and more simple, while
the vertical grooves cut upon its surface give it a rich and furnished
aspect that its Assyrian rival is without.[310]

We have another example of Assyrian mouldings on the winged sphinx found
by Layard at Nimroud (Fig. 85)--the sphinx, that is, that bore a column on
its back. In section this moulding may be compared to a large _scotia_
divided into two _cavettos_ by a _torus_. Its effect is not happy. The
Assyrians had too little experience in stone-cutting to enable them to
choose the most satisfactory proportions and profiles for mouldings.

We may also point to the entablatures upon the small pavilions reproduced
in our Figs. 41 and 42. They are greatly wanting in elegance; in one
especially--that shown in Fig. 42--the superstructure is very heavy in
proportion to the little temple itself and its columns.

[Illustration: FIGS. 98, 99.--Assyrian mouldings. Section and elevation;
from Botta.]

The only moulding, if we may call it so, borrowed by Assyria f