"There can be no doubt that the campaign against the cities of Palestine, recorded in the inscriptions of Sennacherib in this palace, is that described in the Old Testament; and it is of great interest, therefore, to compare the two accounts, which will be found to agree in the principal incidents mentioned to a very remarkable extent. In the Second Book of Kings it is said—'Now, in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib, king of Assyria, come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. And Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent to the king of Assyria, to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me; that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasures of the king's house. At that time did Hezekiah cut off [the gold from] the doors of the temple of the Lord, and [from] the pillars which Hezekiah, king of Judah, had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.'"

When Mr. Layard revisited Kouyunjik in 1849, there were no vestiges of the sculptured walls discovered two years previously. The more recent trenches, however, dug under the superintendence of Mr. Ross, were still open; and the workmen employed by direction of the British Museum had run tunnels along the walls within the mound, to save the trouble of clearing away the soil, which had accumulated to a depth of thirty feet above the ruins. Under the direction of Layard, the excavations were resumed with great spirit, and before the lapse of many weeks, several chambers had been entered, and numerous bas-reliefs discovered. One hall, 124 feet by 90 feet, appears, says Layard, "to have formed a center, around which the principal chambers in this part of the palace were grouped. Its walls had been completely covered with the most elaborate and highly-finished sculptures. Unfortunately, all the bas-reliefs, as well as the gigantic monsters at the entrances, had suffered more or less from the fire which had destroyed the edifice; but enough of them still remained to show the subject, and even to enable him, in many places, to restore it entirely."

Continuing his discoveries in the mound, Layard "opened no less than seventy-one halls and chambers, also passages, whose walls, almost without an exception, had been paneled with slabs of sculptured alabaster, recording the wars, the triumphs, and the great deeds of the Assyrian king. By a rough calculation, about 9,880 feet, or nearly two miles of bas-reliefs, with twenty-seven portals formed by colossal winged bulls and lion sphinxes, were uncovered in that part alone of the building explored during his researches. The cut on page 435 shows some of them. The greatest length of the excavations was about 720 feet, the greatest breadth about 600 feet. The pavement of the chambers was from twenty to thirty-five feet below the surface of the mound. The measurements merely include that part of the palace actually excavated."

DISCOVERED IN THE PALACE.[ToList]

EXPLANATION OF CUT.

1.
2.
Figures from the portal of the palace of Sennacherib, having the forms of winged bulls with human heads, bearing crowns.
3. King Sennacherib on his throne. A sculpture found at Nimroud, dating from the 7th century Before Christ.
4. A king on the hunt.
5. The storming of a fortress. In the foreground are two warriors clad in armor, helmeted and heavily armed with swords and spears.
6.
7.
Vases of glass and alabaster engraved with the word Sargon. From Nimroud.
8. Vessel of glazed earthenware—, found at Babel.
9. Bronze drinking cup ornamented with the head of an animal.
10. Lamp of earthenware.
11. Stuff woven in patterns of Assyrian style. From relief at Nimroud.
12. Table formed of fragments of sculptures found at Nimroud.
13.
14.
15.

Swords.
16. Bent sword.
17. Double edged ax.
18. Spear.
19. Quiver filled with arrows and elaborately sculptured.
20. Bow.
21.
22.
23.

Daggers and knife in one case.
24. Helmet.
25. Round shield such as was borne by foot soldiers.
26. Breastplate of a knight of high degree.
27. Parasol found at Nimroud. (Now in British Museum.)
28. Ear-ring of gold.
29.
30.
31.
32.


Bracelets of gold.
21.
22.

Diadems.
35. Wall painting representing lions.

Most of the sculptures discovered in this hall and group of chambers have been deposited in the British Museum.