ANCIENT CARVED IVORIES 13 



ber in which they were discovered. A date of about 980 B. 

 C. was proposed by him for these remains.* 



A most interesting piece is a complete panel 9 in. long and 

 6 in. wide, carved with two seated divinities adoring a 

 cartouche with Egyptian hieroglyphics, supposed to signify 

 the name of an Assyrian deity or king; above is a disk with 

 plumes. The dress and general appearance of the figures 

 and the whole style of composition point to Egypt, although 

 certain details are believed to indicate that this may have 

 been the work of an Assyrian, or more probably of a Phoeni- 

 cian artist, t 



In the annals of Tukulti Ninip, King of Assyria (889-884 

 B. C), this monarch records the receipt of rich tribute at 

 the city of Anat, in the Euphrates, from Ilu-ibni, prefect of 

 the land of Suhi. Besides three talents of silver and twenty 

 minas of gold, the prefect sent him an ivory throne and 

 three other objects made of ivory. | 



Even more ancient than any of the Assyrian ivories in 

 the Louvre or in the British Museum, and rivalling in age the 

 early dynastic objects of Egyptian workmanship, are some 

 carvings found at Bismaya, in the very heart of Mesopota- 

 mia, by Dr. Edgar James Banks in the course of his excava- 

 tions there during the early part of the year 1904. These 

 objects, discovered on or near the site of an ancient palace 

 temple of the Sumerian or pre-Semitic period, may have 

 been executed as far back as 4000 B. C, and belong in any 

 case to the fourth millennium before the commencement of 

 our era. The workmanship is somewhat rude, various ani- 

 mal figures being represented, for example a cat, and fishes, 

 both black and white, over 4 in. in length. Although the 



*Layard, "Nineveh and Its Remains," 2d ed.. Tendon, 1849, Vol. II, pp. 205 sqq. 

 fLayard, "The Monuments of Nineveh," London, 1849 (1st Series), p. 20, PI. 89. 

 tV. Scheil, "Annales de Tukulti Ninip, roi d'Assyrie," Paris, 1909, p. 19. Bibliotheque 

 de I'Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Fasc. 168. 



