ASSYRIAN TRANSEPT. 
] <56 
has not been recovered. To the left is the symbolical tree, and part 
of the wing of a figure on the missing slab ; to the right is the king, 
wearing a collar of mystical ornaments, and standing between twa 
winged and eagle-headed figures, each holding the fir-cone and basket. 
41. A winged figure, with double-horned cap, and richly-em¬ 
broidered dress, standing with the fir-cone and basket in the usual 
posture of adoration. 
The South door leads to the 
ASSYRIAN TRANSEPT. 
The first, or Western compartment of this Room, contains the 
remainder of the monuments of Sardanapalus the Great. 
Facing the visitor, on entering, 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-riiievo 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, com¬ 
prising 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 of the God of War. 
Against the pilasters, on either side of the room, are two colossal 
human-headed, winged, and triple-horned lions, which originally 
flanked the portal of a chamber in the North-West Edifice ; the back¬ 
grounds of the slabs are covered with cuneiform inscriptions. This 
concludes the series from Nimroud. 
On the opposite, or East side of this room, is the Khorsabad com¬ 
partment, containing monuments from the Palace of Sargina, the 
founder of the later Assyrian dynasty, and also (it is believed) the 
same person as Shalmaneser, who carried the ten tribes into captivity 
in the reign of Hoshea, E.c. 721. 
Two colossal human-headed and winged bulls, each sculptured in 
mezzo-riiievo both in front and on one side, are placed, agreeably to 
their original arrangement, as on the two sides of the entrance of an 
inner chamber. Under the body of each bull is an Assyrian inscrip¬ 
tion, but that on the left-hand figure has been purposely effaced in 
ancient times. 
Beside each bull is a colossal human figure, in mezzo-riiievo, 
winged, and double-horned, having in one hand the fir-cone, and in the 
other the basket, employed in sacrificial rites. These, with the two 
bulls, were obtained from Khorsabad in 1849 by Sir H. C. Rawlinson, 
K.C.B. 
Within the chamber thus formed is the collection of bas-reliefs 
procured from Khorsabad in 1847 by Mr.-Hector, a merchant at Mosul* 
On the East Wall, facing the entrance, are two colossal figures, of a 
