[285] See [Frontispiece to this volume].
[286] Such also appears to have been the case at Nimroud.
[287] 1 Kings, vii. 2. It is only by supposing it to have been one great hall that we can at all understand the proportions and form of the building as subsequently given. The Hebrew word, as its Arabic equivalent still does, will bear both meanings. Pharaoh’s daughter’s house, which was “like unto the porch,” was probably the harem or private apartment.
[288] Palaces of Nineveh restored, p. 181. That the Assyrians were, however, acquainted with slanting roofs may be inferred from a bas-relief discovered at Khorsabad. (Botta, Plate 141.)
[289] Jerem. xix. 13.
[290] Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. part ii. ch. 2.
[291] Daniel, v. 5.
[292] 1 Kings, vi. 28. I cannot, however, but express my conviction that much of the metal called gold both in the sacred writings and in the profane authors of antiquity, was really copper, alloyed with other metals, the aurichalcum, or orichalcum, of the Greeks, such as was used in the bowls and plates discovered at Nimroud.
[293] Rich estimates the entire length of the inclosure at about four miles, and its greatest breadth at nearly two. This appears to me rather above the actual extent of the ruins. It must also be remembered that they narrow off from the northern side to a few hundred yards at the southern. I have not hitherto had time to lay down my survey of Nimroud. The general plan of the mound in my first work must be considered as a mere rough sketch.
[294] Rich’s Narrative, vol. ii. p. 60.