Page 110 - The Art & Architecture of the Ancient Orient_Neat

THE LATE ASSYRIAN PERIOD
ally clear (Figure 36). The main room of the suite is No. 7. It has stone rails for a mov-
able hearth. The inner room (6) is connected with a bedroom (5) and a bathroom (4).
Another, smaller, bedroom suite with bath (Nos. 1, 2, 3) is connected with the main
room. The recess (8) of the court would accommodate the bodyguard.
Before leaving the subject of Assyrian architecture a word must be said about the
privatc houses. As far as they arc known, they differ from those built at Ur during the
Isin-Larsa Period (Figure 22), which were centred round a square court and resemble
the houses of that and earlier epochs found elsewhere, for instance at Tell Asmar, in pos­
sessing a central oblong room or court. I11 a history of art they do not call for comment.

Sculpture in ti-ie Round

Assyrian sculpture in the round is, as far as it is known, insignificant. We have a few
uncouth statues of deities standing with folded hands;15 they represent, probably,
secondary figures, like those holding a flowing vase in the temples of Khorsabad. Some
royal statues of the ninth century b.c. are known; and of these the figure of Assur-
nasirpal II (Plate 82), forty inches high, is the most complete. It is not only impersonal,
as one would expect, but dull. The composition is indifferent; the various regalia and the
details of the costume are not really integrated; the basic shape, a flattened cylinder, is
weakly emphasized by the fringes of the shawl in which the king is swathed. The
mediocrity of the statue becomes clear, if we compare it with a figurine of an unidenti­
fied king carved in amber (Plates 80-1). It is true that tills belongs to a different category;
it is a jeweller’s piece, and it differs from the stone figures as the figurines of Gudea
(Plate 49) and Idu-ilum (Plate 61 c) differ from contemporary monumental works;
those are light and graceful, where these are ponderous. But the contrast goes deeper,
as a comparison of the heads shows. In both cases we see a typical Armenoid physio­
gnomy, and the question of likeness does not arise. But the amber statuette presents a
spirited rendering. The low forehead; the broad, short skull, the strong nose; the fine

glazed bricks, Khorsabad

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