Fig. 92.—Tablet with figure of boar in relief (British Museum).
At Babylon, whither the seat of government was transferred after the fall of Nineveh, the modellers seem to have made a great artistic effort. Mr. Rassam obtained from the ruins of the southern capital a small terra-cotta tablet, 1¾ in. by 2¾ in., on which the figure of a boar, such as lived among the reeds and marshes of Mesopotamia, is modelled in relief. The forms of the animal are here reproduced with all the excellence of the later Assyrian artists, by Azaru, of the tribe Esaggilai (doubtless connected with the great Chaldæan Temple), whose name inscribed on the back adds to the interest of the little work. Solid figurines have
Fig. 93.—The Divine Mother. Terra-cotta (Louvre).
Fig. 94.—Istar. Terra-cotta (Louvre).