148 
ASSYRIAN GALLERIES. 
right hand raises a dagger; the left, as well as the legs and feet, are 
lost. 
In the middle of the Room stands an obelisk in white calcareous 
stone, much corroded by weather, which was found near the centre of 
the mound at Kouyunjik. The apex is shaped into three gradines, 
and on each side are eight small bas-reliefs, representing the exploits 
of Sardanapalus the Great, an Assyrian king who reigned about tw 7 o 
centuries before Sennacherib, and whose principal monuments are to 
be seen in the Nimroud collection. The king appears in different 
scenes, engaged in battle, or besieging cities, concluding treaties, re¬ 
ceiving tribute, hunting the wild ass or the oryx, or seated without 
the gate, as if delivering judgment. In other reliefs are warriors 
collecting spoil of cattle and horses, and carrying bowls, and bags 
with booty; a ceremony, apparently sacrificial, before two altars; and 
a procession with instruments and music. On the apex, and between 
some of the bas-reliefs, are remains of an inscription. 
Towards the North end of the room is the upper part of an obe¬ 
lisk, also found at Kouvunjik, but belonging to the same king as the 
preceding. In a sunk panel on one side is a figure, apparently of a 
king, holding in each hand some objects now defaced, and receiving 
four other figures, who from their head-dress and gestures, and the 
smaller scale of representation, may be considered captives, or tribute- 
bearers. Above are seen two hands, probably of a Deity, issuing 
from a species of aureole, and one holding a bow; on either side of 
them are sacred or mystic objects. The obelisk is surmounted by 
two gradines, and on its back and sides is an inscription in honour of 
Sardanapalus. This, and the preceding monument, were obtained in 
1855, having been excavated at Kouyunjik under the direction of 
Xieutenant-Colonel ST Henry C. Rawlinson, K. C.B., H. M. Con¬ 
sul General at Baghdad. 
Towards the South end of the Room is a circular bowl in lime¬ 
stone, much mutilated. Round the exterior is a frieze of small 
figures in relief, representing groups of men and lions in combat, pro¬ 
bably forms of the Assyrian Hercules. This object was procured by 
Air. Layard, with the bas-reliefs already described. 
NIMROUD CENTRAL SALOON. 
With this room commences tne series of sculptures excavated by 
Mr. Layard, in 1847 and 1850, in different parts of the great mound 
at Nimroud. They are, with a few exceptions, executed in a species 
of alabaster, abounding in Mesopotamia, which is easily decomposed 
either by moisture or fire. 
To the left of the door, on entering from the Kouyunjik Gallery, 
is a group of sculptures found in a ruin termed bv Mr. Layard, with 
reference to its position on the mound, the South-West Palace. This 
edifice w 7 as erected by Essarhaddon, the son and successor of Sen¬ 
nacherib, wdth materials obtained, in great measure, from the spolia¬ 
tion of the palaces erected by the earlier Assyrian dynasty on the 
North-West side, and in the centre of the mound. 
