63 



Along the west and north walls of this room are 

 examples of bas-reliefs found in the ruins of the cities 

 of Assyria. The striking, human-headed, winged 

 hulls and lions with their supernumerary legs are 

 found at the portals of the palaces. The other pieces 

 in low relief shown on the walls are typical of the 

 carved slabs of alabaster or limestone found forming a 

 wainscoting some eight feet high around the brick 

 walls of the buildings. 



The next object of interest is the copy of the fa- 

 mous Rosetta stone. It was discovered in 1799 by 

 Napoleon's officers during the French occupation of 

 Egypt in an excavation made at Fort St. Julian, near 

 Rosetta. It dates from 195 B. C. Its interest lies 

 in the fact that it contained a decree in the Greek, 

 the clemotic, and the hieroglyphics, which ultimately, 

 through the labors of Ohampollion and others, led to 

 the deciphering of the early history of Egypt as 

 contained in the hieroglyphics. The casts of early 

 Egyptian rulers give a good idea of early Egyptian 

 art and of the ethnological features of the race at that 

 time. The case at the end contains a mummy and 

 mummy cases. On the right are reproductions of 

 ancient Greek vases that will especially interest art- 

 ists and lovers of the ceramic art. They are from 

 the celebrated terra-cotta factory of Copenhagen. 

 Then come casts from the originals in Yucatan of the 



