ral
arrangement was similar to that of the larger building. The chief feature
of both was a large hall (_e_ in the first plan, _c_ in the second) with a
square niche at one of its extremities (_f_ in the first plan, _d_ in the
second). This niche was paved with a single slab of alabaster, of
considerable size and covered upon both faces with a long inscription
describing in detail the reign of the prince by whom the temple was
consecrated. In the larger of the two buildings the slab in question was
twenty-three feet four inches long and seventeen feet eight inches wide;
its thickness was twelve inches. Upon it stood, in all probability, the
statue of the god. The niche must, in fact, have been the _secos_, or
sanctuary properly speaking. The large oblong hall was the _naos_ or
_cella_. In the larger temple its length was forty-six feet seven inches.
It was preceded by a _pronaos_ or vestibule (Fig. 188, _c_). We have no
evidence as to the purpose of the chamber marked _g_ in our plan. It has a
direct entrance of its own from the outside (_h_). The small temple is
rather less complicated. Two doorways (_b_ and _f_) lead immediately into
the principal hall or naos. A small chamber (_e_) behind the sanctuary was,
perhaps, a kind of storeroom or sacristy. It should be noticed that in the
little temple the doors into the naos were so placed that the image in the
sanctuary could not be seen from without.[487] In both buildings the doors
were flanked by winged lions or bulls, like those of the royal palaces. The
walls of the larger temple were decorated with glazed bricks.

[Illustration: FIG. 190.--Temple with triangular pediment; from Botta.]

These temples of the second class lent themselves to a great variety of
forms. Some of them had their facades crowned by a triangular pediment,
like those of the Greek temples (Fig. 190). It is true that the Khorsabad
relief whence we copy this peculiar arrangement deals with the capture of
an Armenian city, Mousasir, called in the narrative of Sargon's conquests
"the dwelling of the god Haldia,"[488] whose temple must be here figured by
the sculptor. Must we believe that the artist has given his temple a form
unfamiliar to himself in deference to the accounts of those who had taken
part in the campaign? Is it not more probable that he copied some model
which would be recognized by every spectator as that of a temple, from its
frequent occurrence in the neighbourhood of the very palace