The East side of the Hellenic Room room opens into the

ASSYRIAN GALLERIES.

A suite of three long and narrow apartments, running North and South to a length exceeding 300 feet, with an additional room or transept, crossing from their Southern extremity, contains the collection of sculptures excavated, chiefly by Mr. Layard, in the years 1847-1850, on the site, or in the vicinity, of ancient Nineveh. To these has been added a further collection from the same region, excavated in 1853-55, by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam and Mr. W. K. Loftus, under the direction of Sir H. C. Rawlinson, K.C.B., at that time Her Majesty's Consul-General at Baghdad, and another excavated or obtained by Mr. G. Smith, in a mission to Mesopotamia, undertaken by the proprietors of the Daily Telegraph, and presented by them to the Museum.

This latter collection is arranged, partly in a small room adjoining one of the long galleries, and partly in the Assyrian Basement Room.

These discoveries were for the most part made in extensive mounds, formed by the natural accumulation of the soil over the débris of ruined edifices, in the three following localities:1. Nimroud, believed to be the ancient Calah of Scripture, on the banks of the Tigris, about twenty miles below the modern Mosul. 2. Khorsabad, a site about ten miles to the Northeast of Mosul, which was excavated for the French Government by M. Botta, and from which was procured the greater part of the valuable collection now in the Louvre, though a few specimens of sculpture have also been obtained for the British Museum. 3. Kouyunjik, still indicated by local tradition as the site of Nineveh, nearly opposite Mosul, on the Tigris.

This classification of the localities, which correspond broadly with three successive periods in Assyrian history, forms the basis of the arrangement adopted for the sculptures.

(1.) The monuments from Nimroud, which may be approximately described as ranging from B.C. 880 to B.C. 630, occupy the Nimroud Central Saloon, in which the visitor, entering from the Greek Galleries, first finds himself; the long apartment immediately to the South, called the Nimroud Gal

lery; and the western compartment of the adjoining Assyrian Transept.

(2.) The sculptures from Khorsabad, executed under a monarch who is believed to have reigned about B.C. 721, are collected in the eastern compartment of the Assyrian Transept, a position not properly corresponding with their chronological sequence, but unavoidably adopted from the deficiency of space in apartments not originally constructed for this class of antiquities.

(3.) The monuments obtained by Mr. Layard from Kouyunjik, which may (with due allowance for the uncertainty of all Assyrian chronology) be placed between B.C. 721 and B.C. 625-the supposed era of the destruction of Ninevehare arranged in the long room distinguished as the Kouyunjik Gallery. The additional collections excavated by Mr. Rassam and Mr. Loftus, principally at Kouyunjik, and placed in the Assyrian basement, may be regarded as supplementary to that contained in the last-mentioned gallery.

Besides the series of sculptures, the Assyrian collection includes a variety of smaller, but highly curious and instructive objects, discovered at Nimroud and Kouyunjik. These are now exhibited in Table Cases in the galleries.

In the Kouyunjik Gallery is also a Table Case containing various small articles from Babylonia and Susiana. These far-famed regions have as yet yielded to modern researches no large sculptured monuments, nor any artistic remains commensurate with the wealth and power of the Empires of which they were the seat. The principal Babylonian sites which have hitherto been more or less explored are-1. The scattered mounds of Warka, Tel-Sifr near Sinkara, Abu-Shahrein, and Muqueyer, all dating from the most remote antiquity, and the last supposed to represent the Biblical "Ur of the Chaldees." 2. The Birs-i-Nimrúd, commonly regarded as the remains of the Tower of Babel, but more probably the site of the ancient fortress of Borsippa, the earliest portion of which was erected by an ancient king of Babylonia, though it was entirely rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar. 3. The mounds of Babylon itself, which contain no monuments earlier than the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.

In accordance with the system here pursued, under which the visitor to the Sculpture Galleries is conducted, as far as possible, continuously from the later monuments to the earlier, it is necessary, after quitting the Greek collection, to pass through the Nimroud Central Saloon, by its North door, to the

KOUYUNJIK GALLERY.

The Collection of bas-reliefs in this room was procured by Mr. Layard, in 1849 and 1850, from the remains of a very extensive Assyrian edifice at Kouyunjik, which appears, from the inscriptions remaining on many of its sculptures, to have been the palace of Sennacherib, who is supposed to have commenced his reign about B.C. 700. It was subsequently occupied by his grandson Assurbanipal, who reigned towards the middle of the seventh century B.C. Monuments of both these` kings are included in the collection. Those of Sennacherib are sculptured generally in gypsum or alabaster, those of. Assurbanipal in a harder limestone. Most of the sculptures were split and shattered by the action of fire, the palace having apparently been burnt, probably at the destruction of Nineveh indeed, many single slabs reached this country in 300 or 400 pieces. These have been simply rejoined, without attempt at restoration. To the left on entering is

No. 1. A cast from a bas-relief cut in the rock, at the mouth of the Nahr-el-Kelb River, near Beyrout, in Syria, close to the immemorial highway between Egypt and Asia Minor. It represents Esarhaddon standing in the conventional attitude of worship, with sacred or symbolical emblems of deities above him, and is covered with a cuneiform inscription. In the rock, adjoining the original relief, are six similar Assyrian tablets, and three Egyptian bas-reliefs, with hieroglyphic inscriptions, bearing the name of Rameses II., who at an earlier period is supposed to have passed through Palestine.

The sculptures on the left, or West side of the Gallery, are all of the period of Sennacherib, and illustrate the wars he carried on, and the tributes he received. They are, for the most part, fragments of more extensive works. teresting subjects are as follows:

The most in

No. 2. A galley, with a beak, propelled by two banks of rowers. Nos. 4-8. A series of slabs, mutilated in the upper part, which commemorate apparently the expedition of Sennacherib into Southern Babylonia against Merodach Baladan, the same king, apparently, who is mentioned in Scripture as having sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, and to whose messengers the Jewish monarch exhibited all the treasures of his house. The campaign is represented in the basrelief as occurring in a marshy district; a stream, probably that of the Tigris or Euphrates, is seen filled with islands overgrown with reeds, or jungle; in the water appear numerous fish and crabs; upon the islands many of the enemy have taken refuge, whilst the Assyrians pursue them in boats; and to the right (Nos. 6, 7, 8), on the banks of the stream, are collected the prisoners and spoil.

Nos. 15, 16, 17. A series, of which the upper portion is lost, representing the return from a battle.

Nos. 20-29. Part of a series, representing the siege of a fortified city by the Assyrians. The city is seen on Slab No. 25, planted on a high dome-shaped hill, whilst the assailants advance on each side to scale the walls with ladders. On Nos. 27-29 are represented the results of the contest, the triumph of the besiegers, and the collection of prisoners and spoil. The whole of this series is blackened by fire.

Nos. 34-43. Part of a series of sculptures which originally lined the two walls of a long narrow gallery, leading, by an inclined plane, from Kouyunjik towards the Tigris. On the one side, descending the slope, were fourteen horses, led by grooms; on the other, ascending into the palace, were servitors bearing food for a banquet. The figures are somewhat smaller than life, designed with much freedom and truth; and by comparison with the Panathenaic frieze in the Second Elgin Room, they may furnish a good point of view for estimating the capabilities and defects of Assyrian art. No. 39, on which is seen a marshal or chamberlain with a staff, was originally placed, as here, at a projection in the wall. Amongst the attendants or servitors, represented on Nos. 41-43, is one bearing in each hand a rod with two rows of dried locusts, which are to this day used as food by the Arabs. The other attendants carry wine-skins, birds, pomegranates, and other fruit.

No. 44. A semicircular-headed slab, with a small mutilated figure, standing before a table of offerings, near which are various symbols.

Next follow six slabs (No. 45–50), of a hard, fossiliferous limestone, and of which the surface is in high preservation. They were sculptured under Assurbanipal, and represent the victories of that monarch over the Elamites, or inhabitants of Susiana.

The first three slabs, Nos 45-47, represent a battle between the forces of Assur-bani-pal and, Te-umman King of Elam, on the plain

between the river Eulæus and the city of Shushan. The successive scenes of the battle are depicted with great spirit; the rout of the Elamites; the overturning of the chariot of Te-umman, who falls to the ground wounded by an arrow; the attempt of Te-umman to escape by the aid of Parritu, his son; Parritu defending his father; he draws a bow, and Te-umman calls to him to shoot the arrow; the Assyrians cutting off the head of Te-umman; Assyrian warriors in a chariot, carrying the head of Te-umman to Assur-bani-pai.

The remaining three slabs, Nos. 48-50, exhibit, first, the reception at Arbela, by Assur-bani-pal, of two ambassadors from the King of Armenia; while the officers of the Assyrian king point out to the Armenian envoys the tortures inflicted on the Elamite prisoners. Second, a general of Assur-bani-pal conducts Ummanigas, nephew of Te-umman, to be installed as King of Elam; the Elamites come out to pay homage to the new king; in the distance is the city of Madaktu, presenting a curious general view of an Asiatic town.

The remaining bas-reliefs in this room all belong to the period of Sennacherib.

The next six (Nos. 51-56) formed originally part of a series illustrating the architectural works of that king, including, probably, the construction of the very edifice from which the slabs were obtained. On Nos. 51 and 52 is seen the conveyance of a colossal human-headed bull, lying sideways on a sledge, which is propelled, over wooden rollers, partly by ropes in front, partly by a lever behind. On one side is a lofty mound, which labourers are erecting with stones or earth, and which is perhaps designed for the platform of the future palace. The workmen are guarded by soldiers, and superintended by Sennacherib himself, in a chariot drawn by two men. A similar mound is represented on Slab No. 53, with an adjoining stone-quarry or clay-pit, where the materials of construction are prepared. On No. 54 is a portion of a group moving some weighty object; on No. 55 another colossal bull, represented as before; and on No. 56 the monarch, in his chariot, directing some operation sculptured on a lost portion of the series. The background of the slabs exhibits men carrying axes, saws, ropes, and other implements; and along the top are representations of the natural scenery of the country, water filled with fish, anglers floating on inflated skins, boats, banks lined with trees, and a jungle of reeds, in which are deer, and a wild sow with her young.

Nos. 57-59. Across the middle of these slabs a broad river is represented as passing. On its further bank, nearly insulated by a smaller stream, is a city, besieged by the army of Sennacherib, whilst on the right is seen a long procession of captives, with cattle and other spoil. On the nearer bank appears the king in a chariot, amidst officers and attendants, with a large collection of trophies and booty.

No. 60. A human figure, with a lion's head, of uncertain meaning. In the centre of the room is an obelisk of white calcareous stone, discovered at Kouyunjik by Mr. Rassam, originally executed for Assur-izir-pal, an Assyrian king who reigned about two centuries