s come down to our
times is the colossal lion standing over the prostrate figure of a
man, which is still to be seen on the Kasr mound, as has been already
mentioned. The accounts of travellers uniformly state that it is a work
of no merit--either barbarously executed, or left unfinished by the
sculptor--and probably much worn by exposure to the weather. A sketch
made by a recent visitor and kindly communicated to the author, seems to
show that, while the general form of the animal was tolerably well hit
off, the proportions were in some respects misconceived, and the details
not only rudely but incorrectly rendered. The extreme shortness of
the legs and the extreme thickness of the tail are the most prominent
errors; there is also great awkwardness in the whole representation of
the beast's shoulder. The head is so mutilated that it is impossible
to do more than conjecture its contour. Still the whole figure is not
without a certain air of grandeur and majesty. [PLATE XVII., Fig. 3.]

The human appears to be inferior to the animal form. The prostrate man
is altogether shapeless, and can never, it would seem, have been very
much better than it is at the present time.

Modelled figures in clay are of rare occurrence. The best is one figured
by Ker Porter, which represents a mother with a child in her arms. The
mother is seated in a natural and not ungraceful attitude on a rough
square pedestal. She is naked except for a hood, or mantilla, which
covers the head, shoulders, and back, and a narrow apron which hangs
down in front. She wears earrings and a bracelet. The child, which
sleeps on her left shoulder, wears a shirt open in front, and a short
but full tunic, which is gathered into plaits. Both figures are in
simple and natural taste, but the limbs of the infant are somewhat too
thin and delicate. The statuette is about three inches and a half high,
and shows signs of having been covered with a tinted glaze. [PLATE
XVII., Fig. 2.]

The single figure of a king which we possess is clumsy and ungraceful.
It is chiefly remarkable for the elaborate ornamentation of the
head-dress and the robes, which have a finish equal to that of the best
Assyrian specimens. The general proportions are not bad; but the form is
stiff, and the drawing of the right hand is peculiarly faulty, since it
would be scarcely possible to hold arrows in the manner represented.
[PLATE XVIII., Fig. 2.]

[Illustration: PLATE VXIII.]

The engra