wenty-eight broad, the whole
being thus 235 feet in perpendicular height," _Discoveries_, p. 495. LAYARD
says, however, that the dimensions here given were taken from RICH, as he
had no time to take measurements during his hurried visit. ED.

[474] _Discoveries_, p. 495.

[475] We take these details from Professor RAWLINSON's essay on the
topography of Babylon.

[476] XENOPHON, _Anabasis_, iii, 4, 9.

[477] LAYARD, _Discoveries_, pp. 126-128, and map 2.

[478] At Kaleh Shergat, where the site of an important, but as yet
unidentified Assyrian city has been recognized, there is a conical mound,
recalling in its general aspect the Nimroud tower, which must contain all
that is left of a _zigguratt_; but no deep excavations have yet been made
in it (LAYARD, _Nineveh_, vol. ii. p. 61).

[479] PLACE, _Ninive_, vol. i. pp. 147-148, and plates 36-37.

[480] See above, pp. 272-274.

[481] We have already mentioned the size of its steps; see page 192. The
gradient for the first stage was about one in twenty. In the upper stages
it must have been far steeper, as the circumference of the stages was much
less, while their height remained the same. It never became very abrupt
however, as supposing that the original number of stories was seven, the
gradient would not be more than about one in fourteen close to the summit.

[482] LENORMANT, _Histoire ancienne_, vol. ii. p. 200 (3rd edition).

[483] The position occupied by this staged tower in the plan of the royal
palace at Khorsabad suggests that perhaps neither of the two explanations
of its purpose here alluded to is the true one. It is placed immediately
outside the Harem wall--and as to the identity of the Harem there can be no
doubt--in such a way that any one ascending it must have had an
uninterrupted view into the numerous courts of the women's apartments. Such
a possibility seems inconsistent with the numerous precautions taken to
secure the privacy of that part of the palace (see Vol. II. Chapter I. Sec.
2). Perhaps the real solution of the difficulty is to be found in a
suggestion made, but only to be cast aside, by Mr. FERGUSSON, that this
Khorsabad _zigguratt_ was, in fact, a private oratory for the exclusive use
of Sargon himself (_History of Architecture_, vol. i. p. 173).--ED.

Sec. 3.--_Subordinate Types of the Temple._

Side by side with these pyramidal temples the Assyrians seem to have placed
others of a less ambitious kind, dedicated, no doubt, to de