a man, subjoined to the fish's tail. His voice, too, was articulate, and human; and a representation of him has been preserved even to this day."—(Cory's Fragments, p. 22.) In another place it is added that no less than five such monsters had risen from the Persian Gulf at different intervals of time. There can be little doubt that Dagon was the representative of this mythical monster. There appears, also, to have been a female type of Dagon, who bore the name of Atargatis, or Derceto (the Dercetis of Ovid). We are not aware that any representations of her have been discovered -but the type itself was a natural one, as, among the ancients, the Fish was a well-known symbol of fruitfulness. (Herod. ii. 72, &c.) Oannes has been conjectured to be the same as the Assyrian god Anu, perhaps no other than the Patriarch Noah deified. The name has been preserved in many other proper names, as Telane (the hill of Anu), Shalman, or Shalmaneser (Sallam Anu-"the likeness of Anu"). : The remaining sculptures in this room are from the N.W. edifice before, however, we proceed to them it will be well to complete the account of those which are connected with the Temple. It was not far from the entrance to it, that the representation of the early Nimrúd King within an arched frame (now placed close to the great Lions in the ASSYRIAN TRANSEPT) was discovered. It is a high insulated slab of limestone, arched at the top, 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, wearing the sacrificial robes, and carrying the sacred mace in his left hand. Around his neck are hung the four sacred signs-the Crescent, the Lunar Star, the Trident, and the Cross; and above him are other sacred or astrological emblems. The whole slab behind and before, except where the figure intervenes, is covered with an inscription in small but beautifully executed arrow-head characters. It was fixed on a plain square pedestal, and was isolated from the building; before it stood a square stone, supported on three lion's feet, which, if—as is probably the case—an altar, has a remarkable analogy with Grecian types. This splendid specimen of the labour and skill of these ancient people had been cracked by the fire which destroyed the temple, and the lower portion of the inscription had been injured by the heat. We regret however to add that it has been still more R cruelly ruined by the carelessness of those to whom the transshipment of these curious monuments has been entrusted. When the slab arrived in England it was evident from the discoloration of all the lower half of it, and from the mouldering state of the portion which had been most exposed to the action of the fire, that this sculpture must have been left for a long time (probably months) in some place (most likely the shore at Basrah) where it was liable to the constant overflow of salt water. Indeed, when the slab was first unpacked in the vaults of the British Museum, the lower portion of it was so black from saline discoloration, that scarcely a character could be traced upon it. A considerable portion of the inscription has been translated by Dr. Hincks, who considers the figure to be a portrait of Assur Akh-bal (or he reads the name elsewhere Assur-yuchura-bal). This is the same king whom Colonel Rawlinson from an examination of this and other inscriptions, has called Sardanapalus, and who was the founder of the N. W. edifice at Nimrúd. It is probable that his reign lasted from about B. c. 930 to about B.c. 900. The altar, if it be one, may have been placed before this royal portrait in subsequent ages, when the founder of the chief edifice at Nimrúd came to be worshipped as a God by its inhabitants. In the next room, which has been called the NIMRÚD CENTRAL SALOON, are some monuments which were found in connexion with a second temple, which Mr. Layard discovered during the progress of the same excavations, about a hundred feet from the former one. These are a colossal lion, and the only statue (strictly so-called) which has yet been met with. The colossal lion stands at present against the northern wall of this saloon. It originally formed one of two such figures which stood at the southern entrance of this temple on the same level with the N. W. edifice, and on the very edge of the great artificial platform. Mr. Layard remarks that "the heads, though to a certain extent conventional in form, were designed with that vigour so remarkably displayed by the Assyrian sculptor in the delineation of animals. The limbs conveyed the idea of strength and power, the veins and muscles were accurately pourtrayed, and the outline of the body was not deficient in grace and truth. But the front of the animal which was in full was narrow and cramped, and unequal in dignity to the side. In the general treatment the whole sculpture had much of that peculiar feeling and character that mark the archaic monuments of Greece, and it was on this account peculiarly interesting. In it, indeed, we may perhaps trace those conventional forms from which the Greek artist first derived his ideal lion." This lion, and the temple of which it had formed the entrance, belonged like the former temple to the time of Sardanapalus, as was proved by a monolith covered with inscriptions, which formed the pavement of a recess at the end of the chamber into which the lion portal led. The statue is placed against the nearest pilaster on the east Sardanapalus. end of the NIMRÚD CENTRAL SALOON. It represents the king standing with his head bare, and a fringed robe wound round 66 his body. In his right hand is an instrument resembling a sickle, and in his left the usual mace. The breast bears an inscription delicately engraven, and stating of him, after his name and titles, that he was The conqueror from the upper passage of the Tigris to Lebanon, and the Great Sea, who has reduced under his authority all countries, from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof." This statue was found in the earth above the great inscribed slab of which we have just spoken; its original pedestal, which is of very hard compact limestone, has been preserved, and now supports it as of old. Mr. Layard thinks from the inscription that in all probability this statue was set up, on the return of the king from the campaign in Syria, which is described with full details on many of his inscriptions. Having made this digression in order to describe together the different sculptures discovered in connexion with the two temples, we now return to the NIMRÚD SIDE GALLERY, and the first slab we come to is No. 33. Winged male figure with the head of an eagle holding the fir-cone and basket, sumptuously attired in embroidered and fringed robes, and elaborately finished. We have already given an engraving of this figure (see p. 38) and stated that it has been usual to call this figure Nisroch, and to suppose that it was before this figure Sennacherib was worshipping, when he was slain by his sons. We have also pointed out some of the difficulties which beset this identification, and throw doubt on what at first seems so plausible and so probable. A smaller figure of the same type, but less well preserved and turned in the opposite direction, is placed beside the large slab. 35 is, we believe, the only representation of the female form which has yet been met with of a large size; it is very peculiar in having four wings, a double-horned cap, and a profusion of ornaments round the neck in her left hand is a necklace, probably a sacrificial offering, if she be not, as some have thought, a Deity. On her eyes are still the remains of colour. The next slab, 36, is one of the most spirited in the whole collection. It represents a chieftain in his chariot, going at full gallop. The warrior, as usual, stands upright, and the chariot is urged forward at the utmost speed by a charioteer, who leans forward over the horses with his whip in his right hand. Under the chariot appears a dead lion, with two arrows sticking in him. The : |