DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5253#0114
82 SCULPTURE IN WESTERN ASIA.
Assyrian sculptures here, from about 1140-1100 B.C., have the human figure
very low and squat; there are no decorations of dress, hair, and beard, as in
later Assyrian sculpture; and the whole cast of the figures calls to mind that
of the ancient Babylonian king of 1120 B.C., whose tablet is now to be seen
in the British Museum.
But, while the first period of Assyrian empire offers almost nothing for the
study of sculpture, the second period is rich in works which have been brought
to light.
This second period, lasting for about three hundred years, is ushered in by
the powerful form of Assur-nazir-pal, who reigned in the ninth century B.C.
(885-860), when Greek minstrels were probably first sounding Homeric verse.
The warlike exploits of this monarch are found recorded in lengthy inscrip-
tions, which dwell on the victories he won, and the cruel manner in which
he dealt with his captives. We learn that after one campaign he had his vic-
tims flayed alive : in another he cut off their hands, feet, noses, and ears, and
put out their eyes. Of the heads of decapitated prisoners he made one mound,
and of their limbs another; thus signalizing in a most ghastly manner the great-
ness of his power. Captives allowed to live, he impressed into hard service;
forcing them to raise a vast mound for his new palace at Nimroud, believed to
be the ancient Calah of Scripture, which now became the most important city
in the land. Excavations made by Layard in these mounds, about twenty miles
south of modern Mosul, uncovered the ruins of Assur-nazir-pal's palace, as well
as others of a later date. Among this complex of buildings, the one termed
the North-west Palace, and two adjoining smaller structures, were found to con-
tain numerous sculptures. Twenty-five chambers, large and small, were uncov-
ered in the north-west edifice, every one of them yielding its share of carvings.
Other chambers, where a simple stucco seemed to take the place of the sculp-
tures, were only partially excavated.
At many of the doorways communicating between these chambers, as well
as at what seemed outer gateways, strange figures were found, still keeping-
watch on either side of the entrance. Of these portal guardians, called by
the ancient Assyrians Kirubi,'20 and, doubtless, allied to the cherubim which,
in Hebrew story, guard the entrance to the garden of Eden, more than a dozen
pairs were found, of various size and composition. Each figure is carved out
of one solid block of alabaster; the surface of the largest being on one side
two hundred and seventy-two square feet, and of the smallest twenty-five
square feet. These colossal figures seem to have been commenced at the quar-
ries ; since reliefs now in the British Museum, from the rums of Sennacherib's
palace at Koyunjik, indicate their transportation. Here we see the figure of
a majestic bull, lying sideways on a sledge, and, again, standing upright, tow-
ering high above the pygmy human beings dragging it to its destination.
Assyrian sculptures here, from about 1140-1100 B.C., have the human figure
very low and squat; there are no decorations of dress, hair, and beard, as in
later Assyrian sculpture; and the whole cast of the figures calls to mind that
of the ancient Babylonian king of 1120 B.C., whose tablet is now to be seen
in the British Museum.
But, while the first period of Assyrian empire offers almost nothing for the
study of sculpture, the second period is rich in works which have been brought
to light.
This second period, lasting for about three hundred years, is ushered in by
the powerful form of Assur-nazir-pal, who reigned in the ninth century B.C.
(885-860), when Greek minstrels were probably first sounding Homeric verse.
The warlike exploits of this monarch are found recorded in lengthy inscrip-
tions, which dwell on the victories he won, and the cruel manner in which
he dealt with his captives. We learn that after one campaign he had his vic-
tims flayed alive : in another he cut off their hands, feet, noses, and ears, and
put out their eyes. Of the heads of decapitated prisoners he made one mound,
and of their limbs another; thus signalizing in a most ghastly manner the great-
ness of his power. Captives allowed to live, he impressed into hard service;
forcing them to raise a vast mound for his new palace at Nimroud, believed to
be the ancient Calah of Scripture, which now became the most important city
in the land. Excavations made by Layard in these mounds, about twenty miles
south of modern Mosul, uncovered the ruins of Assur-nazir-pal's palace, as well
as others of a later date. Among this complex of buildings, the one termed
the North-west Palace, and two adjoining smaller structures, were found to con-
tain numerous sculptures. Twenty-five chambers, large and small, were uncov-
ered in the north-west edifice, every one of them yielding its share of carvings.
Other chambers, where a simple stucco seemed to take the place of the sculp-
tures, were only partially excavated.
At many of the doorways communicating between these chambers, as well
as at what seemed outer gateways, strange figures were found, still keeping-
watch on either side of the entrance. Of these portal guardians, called by
the ancient Assyrians Kirubi,'20 and, doubtless, allied to the cherubim which,
in Hebrew story, guard the entrance to the garden of Eden, more than a dozen
pairs were found, of various size and composition. Each figure is carved out
of one solid block of alabaster; the surface of the largest being on one side
two hundred and seventy-two square feet, and of the smallest twenty-five
square feet. These colossal figures seem to have been commenced at the quar-
ries ; since reliefs now in the British Museum, from the rums of Sennacherib's
palace at Koyunjik, indicate their transportation. Here we see the figure of
a majestic bull, lying sideways on a sledge, and, again, standing upright, tow-
ering high above the pygmy human beings dragging it to its destination.