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mound there were four different palaces discovered by Sir 
Henry Layard during his researches, the oldest of which, 
whose sculptures were found in better preservation than any 
other Assyrian bas-reliefs yet discovered, belonged to Assur- 
nazir-pal, the father of Shalmaneser, mentioned in the second 
of Kings, who reigned about 860 B.C. The second, which is 
called in Layard's “ Nineveh and Babylon” the central palace, 
was very much destroyed, and beyond a few scattered sculp- 
tures and some entrances embellished with human-headed 
bulls, no complete edifice was found. Here was also found 
the famous black obelisk now in the British Museum, on which 
is represented that king's conquest of Cappadocia, Armenia, 
Media, Babylonia, Syria, and Phoenicia. It is related here 
also that “ Jehu, the son of Omri,* gave Shalmaneser a tribute 
of gold, silver, and articles manufactured from gold” ; and one 
of the figures represented on the obelisk prostrating himself on 
the ground before the great king was either Jehu himself or his 
ambassador. The third building at Nimroud, which is called the 
south-west palace, was found very much destroyed by fire; and 
from the records found on some of the dilapidated sculptures it 
seemed that this palace was built by Esarhaddon, the son of Sen- 
nacherib, who, to save himself the expense and trouble of bring- 
ingtherequired material from a distant quarry, contented himself 
by removing the sculptures from the other palaces at Nimroud, 
turned the bas-relief to the brick wall or support, and had his 
own designs engraved on the back of them. In the chronicle 
of this king he says that he had built a magnificent palace at 
that part of Nineveh called Nebbi Younis, but hitherto nothing 
has been discovered at that mound deserving the praise that 
Esarhaddon lavished upon it. As I shall have occasion here- 
after to refer to this mound, I must pass to the fourth building 
discovered at Nimroud, called the south-east palace, which was 
supposed to have been erected by the grandson of Esarhaddon, 
believed to be Saracus of Berosus, mentioned by Abydenus, in 
whose time the prophecy of Nahum was fulfilled, when the utter 
annihilation of that great Assyrian kingdom took place. The 
style of architecture of this, (scarcely worth the dignified 
name of palace,) was very inferior to any Assyrian building 
that has been discovered. It was built, as Sir Henry Layard 
supposes, when the empire was decaying and art declining, 
because there were neither sculptures nor paintings visible, 
* Assyrian scholars identify this king of Israel with Jehu, the son f 
Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi, mentioned in 2 Kings ix. 2 ; and 
they consider the parental name of “ Omri ” to have been given to him by 
the Assyrians from their association with a former king of the same name. 
