d of a series of perpendicular bands alternately flat and concave,
exactly similar to the flutes of the Ionic order. The summit is crowned by
a plume of palm leaves rising from a double scroll, like two consoles
placed horizontally and head to head. The grace and slenderness of this
stele are in strong contrast to the usually short and heavy forms affected
by the Assyrian architects, especially when they worked in stone. It is
difficult to say what its destination may have been. It was discovered
lying in the centre of an outer court surrounded by offices and other
subordinate buildings; it has neither figure nor inscription.[322] The base
was quite rough and shapeless, and must have been sunk into the soil of the
court, so that the flutes began at the level of the pavement. M. Place
suggests that it may have been a _milliarium_, from which all the roads of
the empire were measured. We do not know that there is a single fact to
support such an unnecessary guess.

The stele of which we have been speaking is unique, but of another
peculiarly Assyrian type there is no lack of examples, namely, of that to
which the name _obelisk_ has, with some want of discrimination, been
applied. The Assyrian monoliths so styled are much shorter in their
proportions than the lofty "needles" of Egypt, while their summits,
instead of ending in a sharp pyramidion, are "stepped" and crowned with a
narrow plateau. (Fig. 111.) These monoliths were never very imposing in
size, the tallest is hardly more than ten feet high.

[Illustration: FIG. 110.--Stele from Khorsabad. Plan and elevation; from
Place.]

[Illustration: FIG. 111.--The obelisk of Shalmaneser II. in the British
Museum.[323] Height 78 inches. Drawn by Bourgoin.]

Whatever name we choose to give to these objects, there can be no doubt as
to their purpose. They are commemorative monuments, upon which both writer
and sculptor have been employed to celebrate the glory of the sovereign. A
long inscription covers the base of the shaft, while the upper part of each
face is divided into five pictures, the narrow bands between them bearing
short legends descriptive of the scenes represented. It was, of course,
important that such figured panegyrics should be afforded the best possible
chance of immortality; and we find that most of these obelisks are composed
of the hardest rocks. Of the four examples in the British Museum, three are
of basalt and one only of limestone.

[Illustration: F