104 
NIMROUD CENTRAL SALOON’. 
roud, is from an inner chamber of the same small temple with the lion 
just described. 
At the North-Eastern Angle of the Room is a group of sculptures 
from the South-Western Edifice of Nimroud, which was erected by 
Essarhaddon subsequently to those hitherto mentioned, and decorated 
chiefly with bas-reliefs taken from their walls. 
The first object is a colossal head, in a triple-horned tiara, of a 
winged and human-headed bull, on a larger scale than any yet brought 
to Europe. The nose, and lower portion of the face and neck, are 
restored. 
Next the Northern door are two slabs: on the upper is a horse¬ 
man, wearing a crested helmet, pursued by two Assyrian horsemen, 
who are wmunding his horse with their spears. 
Below this is a fragment of a subject representing a besieged city: a 
bucket lowered by a pulley is seen through the walls: one of the be¬ 
siegers is cutting its rope. 
Over the slabs is a head from a small statue, apparently of an 
eunuch; the nose, which was originally a separate piece let in, has 
been lost. 
On the adjoining Wall is a large bas-relief, divided horizontally into 
two tiers, the upper of which bears a representation of a strong city on a 
mound or hill, having walls with battlements and tow r ers, and from which 
sheep, and captives bearing spoil, are being driven by Assyrian w’arriors. 
The lower scene represents a king in his chariot moving in proces¬ 
sion, part of another chariot appearing before him. The king is at¬ 
tended by a parasol-bearer and a charioteer, and his horses are led by 
two ushers. The inscription, which separates the two tiers, mentions, 
according to Dr. Hincks, the receipt of tribute from Menahem, King 
of Israel, and seems therefore to prove that this sculpture was origi¬ 
nally executed for Pul, who invaded Samaria about 769 b.c. 
Above this is a slab on w r hich are two horsemen in conical helmets 
pursuing a third, and thrusting him from his horse with their spears. 
Behind is a vulture, bearing off the intestines of a fallen warrior. 
The door in the North side of this Room leads to the 
KOUYUNJIK SIDE-GALLERY. 
The collection of bas-reliefs in this room was procured by Mr. 
Layard, in 1849 and 1850, from the remains of a very extensive 
Assyrian edifice excavated by him in the great mound of Kouyunjik, 
opposite Mosul, on the Tigris. This edifice appears, from the in¬ 
scriptions remaining on many of its sculptures, to have been the palace 
of Sennacherib, w ho is supposed to have reigned from about B.c. 716 to 
E.c. 698. It was subsequently occupied by his grandson Ashurakhbal, 
or Sardanapalus the younger, who reigned towards the middle of the 
seventh century, b.c. Monuments of both these kings are included in 
the collection. Those of Sennacherib are sculptured generally in 
gypsum or alabaster, those of Ashurakhbal in a harder limestone. 
Most of the sculptures were split and shattered by the action of fire, 
the palace having apparently been ruined by a conflagration, probably 
