DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29898#0220
184 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE. Paet I.
It is impossible, of course, to say how mucb further the palace
extended, though it is probable that nearly all the apartments which
were reveted with sculptures have been laid open; but what has been
excavated occupies so small a portion of the mound that it is impos-
sible to be unimpressed with the conviction that it forms but a very
small fraction of the imperial palace of ISTineveh. Judging even from
what has as yet been uncovered, it is, of all the buildings of antiquity,
alone surpassed in magnitude by the great palace-temple at Karnac ;
and when we consider the vastness of the mound on which it was
raised, and the richness of the ornaments with which it was adorned,
a doubt arises whether it was not as great, or at least as expensive, a
work as the great palace-temples of Thebes. The latter, however, were
built with far higher motives, and designed to last through ages, while
the palace at Nineveh was built only to gratify the barbaric pride of
a wealthy and sensual monarch, and perished with the ephemeral
dynasty to which he belonged.
Palace of Esaehaddon.
Another Assyrian palace, of which considerable remains still exist,
is that of Esarhaddon, commonly known as the South-West Palace at
JSTimroud. Like the others, this too has been destroyed by fire, and
the only part that remains sufficiently entire to be described is the
entrance or southern hall. Its general dimensions are 165 ft. in length
by 62 ft. in width, and it consequently is the
largest hall yet found in Assyria. The archi-
tects, however, either from constructive neces-
sities or for purposes of state, divided it down
thecentre by a wall supporting dwarf columns,1
forming a central gallery, to which access was
had by bridge galleries at both ends, a mode of
arrangement capable of great variety and pictur-
esqueness of effect, and of which there is little
doubt that the builders availed themselves to
the fullest extent. This led into a courtyard of
considerable dimensions, surrounded by apart-
ments, but they are all too much destroyed by
fire to be intelligible.
Another great palace, built, as appears from
son of Esarhaddon, has been discovered nearly
in the centre of the mound at Koyunjik. Its terrace-wall has been
explored for nearly 300 ft. in two directions from the angle near
69. Hall of St/uth-West Palace.
Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.
the inscriptions, by a
1 [This assumption is speculative, no
trace of sucli dwarf columns having
been found ; to raise a solid wall tliirteen
feet tliick to carry a gallery seems
unlikely.—Er.]
It is impossible, of course, to say how mucb further the palace
extended, though it is probable that nearly all the apartments which
were reveted with sculptures have been laid open; but what has been
excavated occupies so small a portion of the mound that it is impos-
sible to be unimpressed with the conviction that it forms but a very
small fraction of the imperial palace of ISTineveh. Judging even from
what has as yet been uncovered, it is, of all the buildings of antiquity,
alone surpassed in magnitude by the great palace-temple at Karnac ;
and when we consider the vastness of the mound on which it was
raised, and the richness of the ornaments with which it was adorned,
a doubt arises whether it was not as great, or at least as expensive, a
work as the great palace-temples of Thebes. The latter, however, were
built with far higher motives, and designed to last through ages, while
the palace at Nineveh was built only to gratify the barbaric pride of
a wealthy and sensual monarch, and perished with the ephemeral
dynasty to which he belonged.
Palace of Esaehaddon.
Another Assyrian palace, of which considerable remains still exist,
is that of Esarhaddon, commonly known as the South-West Palace at
JSTimroud. Like the others, this too has been destroyed by fire, and
the only part that remains sufficiently entire to be described is the
entrance or southern hall. Its general dimensions are 165 ft. in length
by 62 ft. in width, and it consequently is the
largest hall yet found in Assyria. The archi-
tects, however, either from constructive neces-
sities or for purposes of state, divided it down
thecentre by a wall supporting dwarf columns,1
forming a central gallery, to which access was
had by bridge galleries at both ends, a mode of
arrangement capable of great variety and pictur-
esqueness of effect, and of which there is little
doubt that the builders availed themselves to
the fullest extent. This led into a courtyard of
considerable dimensions, surrounded by apart-
ments, but they are all too much destroyed by
fire to be intelligible.
Another great palace, built, as appears from
son of Esarhaddon, has been discovered nearly
in the centre of the mound at Koyunjik. Its terrace-wall has been
explored for nearly 300 ft. in two directions from the angle near
69. Hall of St/uth-West Palace.
Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.
the inscriptions, by a
1 [This assumption is speculative, no
trace of sucli dwarf columns having
been found ; to raise a solid wall tliirteen
feet tliick to carry a gallery seems
unlikely.—Er.]