NIMROUD SIDE GALLERY. 95 
richly accoutred, and a third fragment, inscribed, and having on it the 
feet of two men and a horse. 
On the Wall facing the window is a slab with two horses’ heads, richly 
caparisoned, and the upper part of the figure of a foreign tributary, the 
size of life. Beneath this is the only slab obtained by Mr. Layard from 
Khorsabad, in black stone, and representing, in bas-relief, three Assyrian 
sportsmen in a wood, with bows and arrows, killing deer, hares, and birds. 
In a detached position, near the window, is a mutilated statue, in 
basalt, of a male figure of the size of life, seated on a square throne 
covered with inscriptions. Found by A. H. Layard, Esq., M.P., at 
Kalah Sherghat, in 1847. 
On the opposite, or West side of this Saloon, commences the col¬ 
lection of sculptures excavated by Mr. Layard, in 1847 and 1850, 
in different parts of the great mound at Nimroud, a few miles below 
Mosul, on the Tigris. 
The first portion of this collection consists of remains from an 
extensive ruin termed by Mr. Layard, with reference to its position 
on the mound, the North-West Palace, with a few others from a small 
adjacent Temple of the God of War,— edifices erected by Ashurakhbal, 
or Sardanapalus the Great, the earliest Assyrian monarch whose monu¬ 
ments we possess. The sculptures are, with a few exceptions, executed 
in a species of alabaster abounding in Mesopotamia, which is easily 
decomposed either by moisture or fire. 
The two colossal human-headed, winged, and triple-horned lions, 
which form an entrance to the whole, were originally on either side of 
the portal of a chamber in the North-West Edifice. They are sculp¬ 
tured in mezzo-rilievo in front and on one side, and, like all the figures 
found in similar situations, are provided with five legs, so as to appear 
perfect from both points of view. The backgrounds of the slabs are 
covered with cuneiform inscriptions. 
Beyond these is a high insulated slab of limestone, arched at the 
head, and sculptured or engraved all round. In front, within a raised 
border, is a mezzo-rilievo figure of the king, standing apparently in a 
religious attitude, his right hand raised, and in his left a mace: he 
is attired in the sacrificial robe, and has a collar decorated with mystical 
ornaments: above him are various sacred symbols. The unsculptured 
area of the panel, and the sides and back of the slab, are covered with 
a long and finely-cut inscription, comprising an invocation to the 
Assyrian gods, and a chronicle of the King’s conquests. The lower 
part of the stone has suffered both from fire in ancient times, and more 
recently from water. Immediately in front stands a triangular altar, 
which was originally so placed before the high slab. These objects 
were found outside one of the entrances to the small Temple. 
NIMROUD SIDE-GALLERY. 
The bas-reliefs on the left, or West side of this room, were all found 
in a chamber of the North-West Edifice marked B in Mr. Layard’s 
ground plan of this ruin, and formed part of the frieze. Those on the 
right, or East side, are partly from other chambers of the same edifice, 
partly from the small adjacent Temple of the God of War. 
The slabs with large figures bear inscriptions running horizontally 
