On the monuments of Khorsabad representations have been discovered of chairs, supported by animals and human figures. The intention in the use of figures was probably to depict prisoners taken in war.
Chairs, thrones, stools and tables were square in shape. The ends of the rails and legs were carved, and the ornamentation employed for these and similar positions included the heads of lions, bulls and rams, the sacred palm and pine cone.
No. 16. Capitals from Persepolis.
The seats of chairs and thrones were much higher than is now customary, and necessitated the use of foot-stools. In some cases both chairs and tables were made to fold on a central pivot.
In some cases metal was used either for part or for the complete structure.
Exact chronology is a matter of surmise, but at an early period, about 4000 B.C., in the valley of the Nile and in Mesopotamia, civilization had attained a very high level, extremely favourable to the development of architecture and the artistic crafts.
The early Greeks, as a result of the peculiar formation of their coast line, like the later Scandinavians, were adventurers on the sea, piratical and trading, and were thus brought into communication with, and influenced by, the arts of Egypt and Chaldea.