I propose in these lectures reviewing the fine arts of those
nations whose civilizations have in any way, immediately or remotely,
contributed to the civilizations of modern times. This limitation ex-
cludes the arts of Japan and China and those of Central and South Amer-
ica. The arts of both Japan and China are having; an effect on modern
taste, but they had no effect in creating it. There is as yet no
Japanese or Chinese element in modern European and American civiliza-
tion.
The Greeks were the discoverers, or inventors, of beauty as we understand and appreciate it. Other principles of art, sublimity,
grandeur, dignity, order, repose and action were understood by their predecessors, the Egyptians, and by the inhabitants of the valleys of
the Euphrates and the Tigris; but there is no beauty in plastic art until the birthday of the Greek people is reached- The arts of the
Orient, of the Chaldeans, the Assyrians, the Medes and the Persians are
of particular interest to the theologian because they seem to reveal
the secular side of the Bible, while their preserved records disclose
the origin of traditions that must have been known to the patriarchs.
Moses was learned in the Wisdom of the Egyptians. Egyptian monuments
explain, in a measure, what that wisdom was and show a people whose
religion was founded upon an unquestioning and active, belief in the
immortality of the soul. Modern faith accepts the belief that God -2- revealed himself directly to Abraham and to Moses. But the descendants of Abraham and the followers of Moses in ordering and establishing the wor- ship of Jehovah must have made use of the methods and customs of the nations among whom they dwelt. The contemporaneous monuments of these nations show iat these methods and customs of worship were, and indicate to what extent these nations believed in one omnipotent, omniscient, ever- lasting and omnipresent God. :"he actual images of the gods whom Baby- lonians and Assyrians worshipped have not been discovered in sufficient numbers to fix their appearances. These images were probably small, and revered more on account of antiquity than on account of particular form or resemblance. So far as discoveries have gone, portraiture was unknown along the Tigris and the Euphrates.
You will be disappointed if you expect to find in these lec- tures discussions about the philosophy of art, its origin, its nature, its sources, etc. etc., questions that appertain to metaphysics rather than to art itself. Not that such questions may not be interesting and valuable, but they belong tc the study of the sentiments and the emotions. The study of art should not be limited to an acquaintance with the chief facts in the history of art, though to know and to dis- tinguish the names, works and schools of the greatest artists and to understand the special characteristics of the greatest art periods is a proper part of modern education" To study specific and long ap- -3-
proved works of art with the idea of imbibing their beauty, making it
a very part of one's self and thus cultivating, purifying, and strength-
ening the artistic sense, is one of the most delightful and beneficial
of exerciese, and is best accomplished by artistic practices with
pencil and paint. I would have every one who intends following these
lectures and hopes to be benefited by them commence at once practical
work in some art. This was the advice given by such teachers as
Taine of Paris and Friederichs of Berlin. Friederichs was not inclined
to admit to his private instruction those who would not supplement his
teaching by work "in an art school, and Taine always asserted that to
understand painting you must have your fingers in the paint pot. Per-
haps the strongest appeal art can make to a University is as an illus-
trator of history and literature. History and literature must join
with art in order to present full and accurate accounts of people and
periods. The lacunae of the one are supplied by the fullness of the
others. No one is complete in its own presentations. Each should
supplement the others. In university work the arts are moreover
closely allied to archaeology. Art and archaeology should work to-
gether. Art needs the help of archaeology for facts and order;
archaeology needs art to give it life and spirit and to keep it from
degenerating into mere observation, investigation and classification. l Without further introduction we will at once commence our special work. There stretches across Africa and Asia a vast connec-
tion of deserts. These deserts have existed ever since the surface of the earth received its present confo nnati on. That man existed be-
fore the present conformation and when the deserts of Africa were open seas, and when such of the deserts of Asia as are below the surface of the today's ocean were also open seas, is assumed, if nct proved, by geologists. It is also assumed that the vast tracts of northern country from which man has been driven by the cold were formerly warm and inhabited by vast populations who were driven downward and westward by decreasing temperatures. The overwhelming herds who began their westward migrations centuries before Christ and kept them up until the fifth century after Christ must have come from somewhere and have started with no intention of return.
The map at which you are looking is supposed to represent the surface of Europe and Asia as they were when man first made his appearance. You will observe that America was united to Asia, Japan to Corea, the north of Africa to Spain, and Great Britain to Prance.
The Black Sea and the Caspian were one with outlet to the north. Water covered large portions of Europe and Asia which are. now dry land.
NTotice, however, that the valleys of the Tile and of the Euphrates were substantially as they are at present. Modem geology shows no changes in these valleys except those made by receding waters; history, none -5-
but those made by alluvial deposits.
2 The next map shows portions of Europe, Africa and Asia as
they are today and as they probably will remain until the next grand
catastrophe renders the earth umfit for human habitation. With the
exception of the valleys of the bile and of the Euphrates, vast deserts
stretch from the Atlantic over the north of Africa, Arabia, and unin-
terruptedly in a northeast direction to the Pacific Ocean. To the
east of the Ganges the deserts are no longer on, or below, the level
of the ocean, but from two, to three thousand feet above it. The
valley of the Nile and the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris have
points in common. They each break the deserts with their waters and
with watered oases of fertility. The waters of all these rivers
overflow at stated times and need artificial control. The valleys
have also points of difference. The Nile flows north: the Euphrates
and Tigris flow south. The Nile is about as long as the other two
put together. The Nile valley is bounded by rocke hills full of
excellent material for building. There are no, rocky hills near the
Euphrates; so that Chaldean and Assyrian building was of perishable
bricks which have tumbled and crumbled, leaving only vast mounds and
ground outlines where were temples and palaces. By common consent
of archaeologists civilization commenced along the Mile or along the
Euphrates. Though Biblical history and oriental tradition give the -6-
Euphrates the precedence, Egyptologists still claim that Nile civili-
zation is the earlier. The partisans of each river are pushing back
the origin of things at a rate to stagger the intellect of the ordi-
nary layman. The latest statement I have seen is In an article by
Y. Oppert, a distinguished French oriental scholar, who speaks with
apparent approval of the Chaldean claim that the flocd took place
41,697 years before the birth of Christ and that kings were reigning
in Chaldea 432,000 years before the flood. That ?:gyptologists will
put up against this stupendous claim remains to be seen.
So far as these lectures are concerned the priority will be
accorded to Asia. Sunday school teaching must not and can not be
forgotten. Until Noah and his ark are demonstrated out of existence
let them remain with mt. Ararat and the Tower of Babel as historic
verities, and let all civilized nations continue to trace their descent
back to Shem, Ham and Japhet. It is odd that as yet no Egyptian tra-
dition of the flood has been found. But the Egyptians cared little
for their past. They were filled with the deeds of the present, while their speculations and cogitations were given to the future. In
Chaldean literature, on the other hand, there are accounts of the origin
of things which accord marvelously with those of the Bible. Heaven,
hell, the spirit of evil, the creation and the fall of man, the flood,
the confusion of languages and the dispersion of races, are told as -7-
graphically and as creditably as in Genesis. The differences between
the two accounts are only of detail and of nomenclature. So let the
Euphrates enjoy its superior antiquity in peace.
3 The next map is from Goodspeed's history of the Babylonians
and Assyrians- Though the very latest archaeology may find fault
with it, it will serve to give you a general idea of the country under
consideration. Following the rivers up from the Persian Gulf in the
lower right hand corner, you can trace the Juphrates to its sources,
along the northern slope of the Taurus Mountains of modern Armenia.
The Tigris has its sources along the southern slopes of the same moun-
tain ranges. The two rivers are at, first quite a distance apart and
embrace the country called by the Greeks Mesopotamia. To the east
of Mesopotamia and the river Tigris is Assyria. You see Minevah, its
capital, directly on the boundary line vthich just there corresponds
to the river. To the south of both Assyria and Mesopotamia Is Baby-
lonia, reaching to the Persian Gulf. The boundary lines between these
countries varied. When Babylonia was at the height of its power it
embraced not only Mesopotamia and Assyria, but Syria, Palestine and
Egypt, and extended north and east indefinitely. So also, when
Assyria arose and reached the zenith of its power its boundaries extended
in all directions far beyond the limits of this map. And when finally
the Medes and Persians came out of the East and captured Babylonia -8-
their rule reached from the Indus to beyond the Tile and embraced the
shores, and the islands, of the Aegean Sea.
With the details of the histories of all these people the art student has most fortunately little concern. When paleontologists,
ethnologists, and iconographists have reached definite conclusions, the art student accepts them without question and is happy. In return he
often aids his chronological brother by exposing and comparing the peculiarities of monuments and by showing that certain peculiarities are limited to periods or to races. If certain peculiarities of building, for instance, belong to certain races, wherever those pecu-
liarities appear there those races must have dwelt ; and if certain
peculiarities do not appear except within certain limited periods, then, wherever found, they must be in a measure contemporaneous. If the
same designs appear in Gothic windows of Germany, France and England,
then the windows must be of about the same time.
Oriental scholars agree that the earliest civilization of
the valley was near the Persian Gulf, south of Babylon, and in the
country called on the map Kaldi. Here somewhere was TTr of the OhAl-
deans; here, Garash, Eridu, Shirpula, and other cities, in which
reigned independent kings whose reiLms extend far back of the reach of written history. Monuments are being discovered all the while since
discoveries commenced, which are carrying the names of rulers and the -9-
records of their deeds further and further back into the mists of
ant iquity. The desire to get at the beginning of things is as strong
in man as is the desire to peer into the future. ]Tot far from where
the joint rivers flow into the Persian Gulf is the modern Turkish town
of Bassorak. There in 1877 the French had as vice-consul a M. de
Sarzec, a learned orientalist and an energetic explorer. He was led
by suggestive indications to explore the country about another
Turkish town called Tello, situated on a subsidiary stream connecting
the Tigris with the Euphrates, and running south near the 46 degree
of latitude. Here, or hereabout, Sarzec concluded, must have stood
the old city of Shirpula, called Shirpuma on the map. De Sarzec's
diggings were continued during the years 1878,1879,1880 and 1881,
and resulted in the discovery of statues and bas-reliefs of the*old
Chaldean kingdoms and of inscriptions which fix the chronology of many
of the Acrks found. These treasures are now in the Louvre in Paris,
where they can be studied at leisure. To some of them I beg to call
your attention, as they seem to mark the very beginnings of sculpture.
About 1881 M. de Sarzec was promoted to the consulate at Bagdad, where
his superior position enabled him to pursue his investigations with
still greater success until his death in 1901. The French are contin-
uing his investigations, while tnglish and Germans are crowding in also.
4 One of the earliest of the French finds is in the next view. -10-
It is a small bit of limestone only about six inches high by four wide
and about an inch thick- The relief is so low as to be hardly visible.
It represents a man with a shawl wrapt about his loins. His feet are
bare and he is naked from his waist up- He wears a cap decked with,
two large upright feathers. The two posts in front of him probably
mark the entrance to a sanctuary before which he lifts his left hand
in adoration. The position of the right arm is so decidedly feminine
that the beard is necessary to give assurance of the sex of the party.
The epistographic signs can not be made out. They belong to the time
when Chaldean writing was forming itself out of the original ideograms.
This must certainly have been more than four thousand years before
Christ. It may have been forty thousand years before Christ. ' The
resemblance of the fragment to Aztec fragments must strike every
American. Nothing could be more rude, more primitive; nothing more
indicative of the very first efforts in depiction. The eye is enormous
and full to the front. The nose is quite equal to the eye.
mouth is not without an expression of humility, while the right arm is
carried just as modest maids and dames carry their arms nowadays. The
artistic element of moderation is apparent.
5 Another fragment of a later period is equally interesting.
It is the stone head of a post used perhaps to indicate boundaries, or
placed in front of temples as in the first view. The piece is about -11-
7 inches long and about 18 inches in circumference. The hole for the
post does not go all the way through the piece, so that there is space
at the end for the circular device which you see at the top of the view.
This represents a lion-headed eagle. The eyes are hollowed out and
were undoubtedly filled with metal, or sparkling stones. About the
circumference are six lions, each biting into the back of the one in
front of him. The action brings their heads to the front and makes
a grand circle of heads. Their eyes were treated in the same way as
those of the lion-headed eagle. You notice the serious, solenn and
reverential expression of the biting heads. The signs are better
defined than on the first monument and have been made out by a clever
Frenchman to read: 'q esilim, Ling, of K ist, who built the temple of
Kin-Ghirson, or Ghirsu, gives this to tin-Ghirson; Sourgal-sourgour,
being patesi of Shirpula. " "Patesi" means governor. The god Nin
Ghirson was the great sun god and had his particular worship and name
at Shirpula. When Sougal lived and reigned no one knows. It may
have been about 33Q0 B. C. At all events, Mesilim and Sourgal-sourgour,
or Sugalshriggar, as some call him, were contemporaries. The post-
head must have been valuAble or it would not have been worthy of pre-
sentation to the sun god, one of the great gods of the Chaldeans.
6 The next view shows a monument that has, or claims to have,
a definite date. It represents a king of Shirpula named T1r-T?ina who
flourished 3200 years before Christ. fiery little progress seems to -12-
have been made in sculpture during the centuries which preceded his
reign. Figures have the same extraordinary eyes and noses, but
there is better understanding of the proportion between heads and
bodies. The scene divides itself into two parts. In the upper
part Ur-Nina appears in the garb of a common workman, with the basket
on his head which answers to the modern hod. The inscription sets
him forth as the builder of temples to the gods. He is apparently
showing off his piety and his humility to his four children who are
marshalled by their instructor. In the lower part the king is rest-
ing from his sacred labors and is aprarently about refreshing himself
with a drink in the presence of the same obedient and admiring children.
The party behind the king, ja probably the royal cup-bearer. The whole
composition is only about 18 inches long by about 12 high. The hole
in the middle is a puzzle. The object may have been a votive offering
to be hung up in a shrine. So many fragments of similar bas-reliefs
have been, and are being, found that the style must be accepted as the
fashion that prevailed at the court of King Ur-Nina.
7 Far more interesting are statues in diorite of an individual
named Gudea. Gudea, according to Goodspeed, was patesi of ihirpula
in 3100 B. C. According to Lewis Bayles Paton, another Chaldean au-
thority, he was king of Lagash in 2650 B. C. Lagash is not far from
Shirpula and the two may have been confounded. But between 3100 and -13-
2650 there is a difference of 450 years. Archaeologists must agree
nearer if they expect the regard and sympathies of art students. At
all events, Gudea lived in a period when sculpture had already reached
a certain excellence and was fall of promises for the future. Nine
statues of Gudea were discovered by de Sarzec and are now in the Louvre.
Unfortunately they are all headless so we cannot know how Gudea looked.
But they all, like the one in the view, represent him clothed in the
garb of a humble suppliant. This seems to consist of a species of
shawl which passes under the right arm. How it would fall were the
left arm dropped is a puzzle. The hands are crossed in front of the
breast in a deprecatory and humble attitude. You may recall that Ur-
Nina's children appear before their father in the same humble attitude.
The inscription on the statue sets Gudea forth as a worshipper of a
goddess called Nin-Narsag, whoie called the mother of the gods and
who may therefore correspond to the Greek Cybele.
The upper part of the statue is fine and bold. Bones and
muscles are well indicated and strongly modeled. Notice how long are
the fingers, and how strongly pressed together as if to emphasize the
expression of humility. When the artist reached the feet of his
sitter his skill gave out. He didn't know what to do. So in his
perplexity he has represented them upright as if Gudea were standing
on the end of his toes. It may be that t; e block of' stone was not --14»
large enough to represent to feet in any other way. This statue
with its head on could not have been over four feet high. Some of.
the other Gudea statues are still smaller. Cne is about natural
size; one is colossal.
8 In this rapid review I can only show you one more specimen
of Chaldean sculpture. This fragment is only about eight inches
long, so that hen the little lady was entire she could not have been
but little over a foot and a half high" This little statuette has so
many good qualities, is so close to nature, is so near to classic ex-
cellence, that it is natural to expect to see it followed by a fully
developed art. Though critics are inclined on account of the clasp6d
bands and the exaggerated eyebrows to assign the work to the Gudea
period, in the absence of logical conjecture I am inclined to put it
later and not faraway from the termination of the first Babylonian
empire, when irruptions and dynastic changes seem to have put an end
to artistic progress.
9 A sketch of the lady's profile will show how near the original
must haV'e been to us in format ion of features and in expression, and
how clever was the artist in bringing out the characteristics of a
contented, good natured, self-possessed and straightforward, middle-
aged woman. It seems a pity that an art that had proceeded so far
could not have taken a few steps farther. -15-
How these early people lived and worshipped, how they built
their temples and palaces, can only be conjectured. Their only build-
ing materials were brick, rubble and plaster; substances unfit to with-
stand the ravages of time. Vast mounds attest, however, to the grand
size of their edifices, and suggestive indications have kindled the
imagination of clever draughtsmen to devise restoration.
10 Charles Chipiez, a trench architect, who was associated with
George Perrot in the production of the magnificent histories of art
which are being published in Paris, particularly distinguished himself
in this kind of restoration. Of course his restorations are criti-
cised by those who do not agree with him. His idea of the early
Chaldean temple is rresented in the view. He imagines the temple to
have been erected on top of a magnificent series of receding platforms,
reaching hundreds of feet into the upper air and connected by inclined
roadways. The temple itself was comparatively small and contained
little beyond the statues of the gods to be revered and wo rehippe d.
The notion that the tower of Babel was built after this fashion and
that all Chaldean temples were fashioned after the tower of Babel may
be entertained. Kot ice how small the houses of the city appear in
comparison with the huge temple and how diminutive are the men in the
right-hand corner in comparison with the height of the surrounding walls.
Before proceeding to the consideration of the arts of the -16-
Assyrians and Persians a few facts of general history must be reviewed.
11 Early Chaldea, or Babylonia, existed from nobody knows when.
At the period of its greatest prosperity it must have embraced the
whole of the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris and may have extended
its sway across Syria to the I.Iediterranean Sea. About 1800 B-0-
Babylonia was invaded by a semi-civilized people from the east known
as the Kassites. They conquered the country, adopted its ways and
manners, and ruled it for 300 years or more. They failed to conquer
Assyria which, assuming independence, began to grow, had kings of its
own *o more than once defeated the Kassites, and established them-
selves on the throne of Babylonia, to be in turn defeated and driven
out by the Kassites. For over a thousand years the exact relations
between Babylon and Assyria are complex and hard to be understood-
During the greater part of this period Babylonia was dependent upon
Assyria, whose kings are the great kings of the Orient. About 605
B. C. Nabupalucur, king of Babylonia, in conjunction with Cyaxares,
king of the Medes, invaded and utterly destroyed ITinevah, which does
not appear again in history. Sixty years later, or about 540 B. C.,
Cyrus, the Persian, invades Babylonia, captures the capital, and termi-
nates for all time the Babylonian kingdom.
During the long period of Assyrian ascendency there were
several kings who distinguished themselves by the magnificence of -17- their reigns, their victories and their buildings. Takuti Ninib in .
1250 B. C. conquered Babylonia over which he ruled as king. Tiglath
Pileser in 1100 B. C. extended his conquests in all directions and was a mighty man of war who, and whose successor, established the capital at Ninevah. About 850 Ashurnacirpal III reigned and was followed by
Shalmaneser II. These two were great warriors and extended the limits of Assyria from the Persian Gulf to the 'ý-editerranean. They had their capital at 1alkhi, a few rhiles south c: f Ninevah. You see it on the map called Calash, or Nimroud, not far from where the river lab falls into the Tigris. In 710 Assyria was at its height under Sargon, who destroyed the kingdom of Israel and whose reign was a series cP magnif- icent victories. lie built his palace at E orsabad, about as far to the north of Ninevah as is Versailles from Paris. It probably in its day was the Versailles of Ninevah. After him came Sennacherib, who was also king of Babylonia and whose exploits were nearly equally glorious.
His palace was within the walls of Ninevah where is now the Arab vil- lage of Ronioundjik. Under Ashurbanipal, who reigned from 668 to 626, the Egyptians were defeated and the Assyrians captured Thebes. He also built a palace within the walls of Ninevah where is now the Arab village of Nebi Younes. The map shows these sites, Khorsabad at the top, Calash or kalkhi near the bottom, with Ninevah between. In the right-hand top corner of the map you see where Darius made his last -18- and disastrous stand against Alexander the Great. The map embraces a territory of about thirty-five miles by twenty. After Ashurbanipal,
Assyria rapidly declined until its defeat and destruction in 605.
Ninevah seems to have completely disappeared- Even its site was un- known. until the beginning of the last century. Since then explorers from England, France and Germany have vied with each other in their investigations. Not only the position of both p?inevah and Babylon have been ascertained, but the sites of temples and palaces within their borders have been explored and measured. Moreover, specimens of the sculpture which adorned the buildings have been removed until the British Museum in London and the Louvre in Paris are places where the sculpture of the Assyrians for hundreds of years of its growth can be studied and compared- The one striking characteristic of Assyrian sculpture is its uniformity; its changelessness. Early in its history it became fixed. It acquired certain peculiar mannerisms and retained them right through to the and without change, without perceptible modi- fication. Sculpture was therefore an art practised not for the pur- pose of representing actual persons, or to personify sentiments or emotions, but for the purpose of transmitting from generation to gener- ation certain fixed ideas. It follows therefore that the date of a statue, or a bas-relief, cannot be determined by its style. Were it not for the inscriptions which usually mark them it would be almost -19-
impossible to distinguish a work of the tenth century B. C. from one
of the sixth century B. C. The comprehension of Assyrian sculpture
is therefore easy; as a few examples suffice. The corridors of the
British Museum and the basement of the Louvre are so dark that careful
drawings of the monuments are better for purposes of study than photo-
graphs taken directly from the monuments themselves.
12 This view is of one of the few statues in the round which
have as yet been found amid the ruins of Ninevah. The statue was
found by Layard, the &nglish explorer, at the entrance to a small tem-
ple within the supposed limits of, kalkhi. It represents Ashurna-
cirpal III. who lived and reigned, as already stated, about 850 B. C.
The statue has no particular artistic merit. It is big, muscular,
and strong. The king carries a dagger in one hand, symbolizing his
power, and a sickle in the other to show how those will be cut down
who oppose his power. If eaayrians had such eyes, eyebrows, hair and
beards, they must have been remarkable persons. To arrange a beard
in so elaborate a manner would take more time and skill than barbers
nowadays can command. Perhar, s hair and beard were false and were
only put on when ceremony demanded. The king seems to be girt with
a fringed shawl wound several times about his person and reaching down
to the feet. Above the waist he wears a tight fitting woolen jacket.
There is no crown or other indication of sovereignty. It was, however, -20-
13 in reliefs that Assyrian sculptors were chiefly occupied- Many
notable monuments of Ashurbanipal and of his successor Sargon have
been discovered at Nimrod by Layard and other explorers. The view
gives one of these showing Ashurbanipal offering a libation.
under Ashurbanipal Assyrian relief sculpture reached its highest de-
velopment, this relief must be taken as a fine specimen of Assyrian
art. The king rests his left hand on his bow, while in his right he
holds the cup he is about to empty in honor of his god. Facing him
is a eunuch, who waves in front of the king the fly duster, vtich
signalizes royalty. Notice the large development of both of the
parties and the strong markings of the arm muscles. Notice that the
eyes are turned fully to the front though the faces are in profile.
Notice how stiff and straight are the fingers and how motionless are
the bodies from the hips down. These are some of the unchanging
qualities of this extraordinary art. The scene is solemn and digni-
fie d- The composition is harmonious. Notice that the various
angles of the arms do not interfere, but accord pleasantly. Across
the lower part of the composition rims an inscription which sets forth
Ashurbanipal's victories and his piety. The slab is Very large, the
figures being nearly seven feet high.
Next to Ashurbanipal in art importance and in chronological
sequence is Sargon, perhaps the greatest of all the Assyrian monarchs. -21-
14 The view shows his palace at Khorsabad as it may have been
when complete and occupied by his imperial majesty. Khoraabad, as
already stated, is the modern name of an Arabian village seven or eight
miles north of the site of rinevah.
Sargon's palace covered about twenty-five acres, and is an
example of the palaces built by eastern monarchs. The palaces of the
heroes of the Trojan 'Var were similarly constructed. Roman villas
show a resemblance of arrangement, and even castles of the feudal ages
show points of resemblance. The type demands large halls, or spaces,
for ceremony and show; abundant provisions for servants, guards and
retainers; strong walls for defence, and a high tower some, There for
outlook and for a retreat of last resort. In eastern specimens, there
was, in addition, the harem, or rooms for wives, concubines and chil-
dren. The palace of the sultan at Constantinople today is a close
repetition in arrangement and divisions of 3argon's palace. According
15 to the plan there were endless long and narrow corridors. Most of
the rooms seem to have been disproportionately long and narrow. How
people lived comfortably in such apartments does not appear. Nor does
it appear how such apartments were lighted and ventilated. Still it
may be supposed that Sargon and his extensive family knew how to make
themselves comfortable; that they slept well, bathed in the morning,
and commenced the day with a substantial breakfast. Since man appeared -22-
on the face of the earth he. has made himself comfortable whenever he
has had the time and the means. His notions of comfort vary with
vazying civilizations, but the fundamental ideas remain the same. The
plan of the palace of Minos, which is being exhumed in Crete, bears an
extraordinary resemblance to the plan in the view.
16 The next view attempts to give you an idea of how the chief
entrance to Sargon's palace may have looked- The only things about
the sketch that mad=be accepted as reliable are the winged bulls placed
about the door of entrance, and the manner in which they are placed.
Some are placed alongside the entrance with their faces outward.
Others are placed on the outside of the entrance-way facing the entrance-
way and at right angles to the first bulls. The outside bulls have
their faces turned so that they as well as the inside bulls face those
who may be approaching the palace" Notice moreover that the inside
bulls are larger than the outside bulls. These bulls are such a
feature of Assyrian sculpture that they deserve consideration. A
number, discovered in the ruins of the various palaces that stood in
or near N inevah, now adorn the museums or Europe.
17 The next view shows one from the British Museum. It also
shows the difficulty of obtaining strong and clear photographs in the
18 dark and gloomy halls of that institution. In the Louvre at Paris
better photographs can be secured, but even these for purposes of study -23-
are unsatisfactory. These two bulls came from Sargon's palace and
were on each side of the main entrance seen in the sketch. They were
19 the larger bulls, those looking straight outwards. A sketch of the
one on the left will make the peculiarities of the sculpture clear.
In the first place, the bulls have wings and human heads. The bull
ears are preserved and the horns are singularly represented as growing
in pairs from over each ear. Horns, to the Assyrian mind, indicated
kingly power. The animal has the hair on his hide cut after the
manner of French poodles. All the details of muscle, tail, hair and
beard are elaborated most carefully- There is one singularity to
which your attention must be drawn; that is, the strange compromise
between relief and sculpture in the round- There are two sides to
this slab. The other side is a repetition or this side. Looking
at the animal from directly in front he appears as a statue in the
round. The head and breast stand out boldly, and two legs solidly
planted seem the supports of an independent bo. y. But the moment
you begin to pass around the figure you see the extraordinary trick
by which the introduction of an extra leg takes from the bull his
stationary attitude and makes him march. The sketch is drawn at
such an angle that the two front legs as well as the extra leg appear.
These strange beings were supposed to be the incarnation of good
spirits, and their office was supposed to be guarding the abodes of -24-
royalty against bad spirits in whose existence Assyrians had firm be-
lief and of whose activities they had wholesome fear. Sargon's palace was also profusely ornamented with flat reliefs. It has been estimated
that t here must have been about two miles of. them. They represent
Sargon at war; Sargon at peace; Sargon feasting, hunting, and Sargon
performing the various official duties of his priestly kingship. That abundance of color was used by Sargon's furnishers and decoraters cannot
be doubted. There is nothing left to prove the assertion, however,
beyond bits of colored tiles-used in subordinate decorative cornices and entablatures, and the known delight of all eastern nations in strong
colors and plenty of them.
Sargon's son and successor Sennacherib built his palace within the limits of Ninevah. Sennacherib's wars with Hezekiah are known to
Bible readers, who will remember that his troops, while besieging Jeru-
salem, had the uncomfortable experience of waking up one bright morning and finding that they were all dead corpses. His ; *. lace was built on the same plan as his father's, and though not so extensive had larger courts and more spacious apartments. The reliefs that decked his palace did not differ from those that decked his father's, and the ef-
fects in both palaces were doubly enhanced by brilliant colot. As
the Englishman, Layard, was the exhumer of Sennacherib's palace, most
of the discovered reliefs are in the British Museum. -25-
20 One of thEm is interesting as it seems to give an inside
view of Assyrian life. The view only gives a pert of the scene. You
must imagine along the continuation of the ropes which stretched. out
to the left, hundreds of workmen tugging with all their might. On a
sled is one of the huge bulls used, as we have seen, In ornamenting
palaces. The block is still rough. Apparently the human head of
the animal was not carved until the block was in place. Assyrian art-
ists were ignorant of, or ignored, perspective. Rows of people and
things which were on the same plane they put on top of one another.
You must imagine the rows of trees at the bottom and at the top of the
composition to be on the same plane with all the intervening figures.
Behind the sled are workmen with a huge pry which they wield to boost
the sled along, while other workmen insert wedges between the pry and
the rear of the sled. These workmen have beards to indicate their
superior position. Other wort-men, without beards, are carrying sticks
which, properly greased of course, still other workmen are laying in
front of the sled for it to run on. rotiee the whacks that some of
the carrying workmen are receiving from their bearded bosses. One
wort n is being knocked down, another turns and implores pity. Above
are workmen pulling carts laden with extra ropes, should any of the
ropes in use give way. The scene was undountedly lively from an
Assyrian point of view, and must have been regarded as a successful -26-
work of art.
Ashurbanipal, the grandson of Sennacherib, was the last of
the grand Assyrian monarchs. Babylon, Syria, Palestine and egypt were
under his sway- He too built his palace within the limits of Ninevah,
and it too has been explored and studied. He was the most sumptuous
of all Assyrian kings, undoubtedly the king who suggested to the Greeks
their conception of the n thical Sardanapalus. The reliefs of his
palace show his wars, and particularly his successes as a killer of lions.
21 One of the finest of all Assyrian reliefs shows a lion stricken
to death by an arrow from this king's bow. The arrow has pierced his
lungs, or a large blood vessel, for blood pours from his mouth. Death
approaches. His prodigious muscular force barely holds him- In a
22 moment more he will fall. Equally cruel and tragic is the relief of
a lioness who, though her hind quarters are paralyzed with wounds, still
drags herself towards her enemies with undiminished ferocity. The
Assyrians must have been bloodthirsty indeed if they, rejoiced in such
works of art, if works of art they may be called.
23 Another relief shows that lions were imported. This pre-
supposes arenas and cruel shows: such shows as the Romans had during
the days of hero and Caligula, which filled the Coliseum with hundreds
of thousands of delighted spectators. The attendant who has just
lifted the door of the cage seems to have a cage of his own, undoubt- -27- edly for protection should the beast turn against him. He is a grand animal and undoubtedly made fine sport for Ashurbanipal and his courtiers while pouring out his life's blood.
Ashurbanipal was the last of the great Assyrian monarchs.
After his death the empire rapidly dissolved. About 600 B. C. the Baby- lonians, assisted by nations from the east, arose against Ninevah, cap- tured it and destroyed it. Then commenced the second Babylonian empire, which under Nebuchadnezzar was as powerFul and as glorious as had ever been Assyria. But the new empire was of short duration. The modes and the Persians along the western border were becoming stronger, and more determined to possess the fertile valleys. About 550 Cyrus founds the Medo-Persian empire. About 540 B. C. he invades Babylonia, captures the capital, and unites the whole country to his possessions.
The Persians were different people from the Babylonians and the Assyrians. They were what we call Caucasians; that is, of the same original stock as ourselves. The Babylonians and Assyrians were a mixed race, in which semitic elements predominated. The Persians were superior in morality and in religion. Their conceptions of divinity were higher. They did not worship idols" They believed in a good
god and in = evil god. The two gods were continually fighting, and
though in this life neither seemed to get the better of the other,
Permian faith looked forward to a time 'then the good god would triumph. -28-
The good god was called Ahura-Mazda; the bad god, Angro-MaYnyous.
(Maspero III, p. 577)
24 The good god is frequently represented in sculpture. He is
a snail but reverend person, who ends up in an inverted bunch of feathers.
He stands in a ring from which flow two streamers and from which also
extend wings. A singular conception of decidedly Egyptian character.
As heat and light were the greatest of human goods, and as
fire represented them both, the Persians worshipped fire. Altars with
ever living fire took the place of trxnples and were objects of relig-
ious ceremony.
Monuments of Persian art are still to be seen amid the ruins
of Persopolis, where Darius and some of his successors built palaces
and other secular buildings. The ruins of Persopolis are about two
hundred and fifty miles east from the head of the Persian Gulf. The
ruins of Susa, another of the great cities of Persia which have been
explored, are about one hundred miles due north of the west end of the
head of the Persian Gulf.
25 The view shows the plateau of Persopolis and the ruins as
they appear today. Why Darius and his successors should have selected
such a 3pot for their palaces does not appear. Today the country is
dreary and uninviting. Perhaps in 50o B"C" it was fertile, wooded
and attractive. The platform erected b;,j Darius I is about 1500 feet -29-
long by about 800 feet wide- It was built up from 30 to 40 feet high
and surrounded by a wall surmounted by a parapet- The platform runs
nearly east and west with a slight tip to the southeast. The ascent
to the platform was by a double stairway, still preserved- You see
it on the left in the foreground, and by a carriageway, which wound
around to the right to the upper right-hand corner of the platform, and
then continued up the hill. There are eight distinct ruins on the
26 platform. A plan will show their positions better. You nctice the
steps and directly in front of them a building marked 1, called the
propylaea of Darius. To the rear of the platform, marked 8, is the
building known as the hall of the 100 columns, which was the throne
hall of Darius. To the right of the propylaea, and on a level about
10 feet higher than the general level of the platform, are three build-
ings, numbers 2,3 and 5. ! lumber 2 is t hp grand hypostyle hall of
Xerxes, his throne room, 4iile 3 and 5 were the respective residences
of Darius and Xerxes. ';What numbers 4,6 and 7 were has. not as yet
been definitely made out. As the Persians made use of atone in cer-
tain parts of their buildings, more of them is left than of the build-
ings of the Babylonians and Assyrians.
27 The next view will show you the stairways as they appear to-
da,y. You must exercise your wits a bit in order to understand the
view. There was undoubtedly an outside platform from whici the steps -30-
started. Two broad stairways led in opposite directions up to broad
landing-places, from which two equally broad and converging stairways
led up to the platform, so that whether you took the stairs to the
right or those to the left, you landed at about the same place on the
platform. The stairs to the right in the view are the stairs of the
right-hand stairway leading from the ground to its landing-place.
The stairs in the center of the view are the stairs of' the left-hand
stairway from the landing-place up to the platform. The steps were
very low, about three to a foot, so that horses could go up and down,
as they probably did, as horses were dear to the Persians and took
part in their ceremonies. On the platform, and to the left, are the
existing ruins of the propylaea, and to the right the remaining columns
of the hypostyle ball of Xerxes; while beyond them in the distance are
the ruins of the habitations of Darius and Xerxes.
28 The next view will show you the ruins of the propylaea as
they appear today- The huge beasts which stand guard on each side
the entrance are of the same family as those of Ninevah" They have
but one side, however, and no fifth leg. You can measure their
height from that of the man with a gun who stands between them. An
inscription on the building states that it was built by Xerxes.
29 The next view shows it as it may have been when Xerxes'
architects pronounced it finished. It is evident that the building -31-
was neither a throne room nor a dwelling; but a monument corresponding
30 to the arch of triumph of Roman and of modern times. Of the throne,
or hypostyle, hall of Xerxes which stood on the right and not far from
the propylaea there are left standing a number of columns and sufficient
indications to pezmit the plan of the building to be accurately drawn.
31 The next view gives a conception of one corner of it as it stood on
its elevated platform. To form an idea of the magnificence of the
edifice you must imagine every color of the rainbow used in the deco-
ration of plynth, column, entablature and ceiling.
32 Persian columns are so peculiar that their peculiarities
should be observed. The view shows the various carts of which they
were composed, but gives no idea of their height. The height of the
columns of the Parthenon at Athens is about six times their diameters.
The height of many of the columns of Persopolis is twelve times the
diameter. They are so slight in comrarison with their height that
it is evident they had no great weight to bear. The entablatures
and roofs of Persian buildings were of wood and not of stone as in
Egypt and Greece. The base of the column had, as you see, the shape
of an inverted bell. The shaft was fluted, but the most extraordi-
nary member was the complicated capital with its many divisions and
the strange animals which crowned it. These sometimes resemble bulls;
at other times unicorns; sometimes horses. The patterns were the -32-
33 same all over Persia. H. Dieulafoy, an energetic exploring Frenchman,
has brought to Paris from Susa specimens of these capitals, which have,
been set up in the Louvre. Compare the dimensions of the one in the
view with the dimensions of the door of the room where it is placed.
Then imagine a hall of a hundred aolumna each over 5U feet high, and
each surmounted by a similar capital* The exercise may help to give
you an idea of the magnificence of Persian monarchs.
34 The hall of Darius, of which the view attempts to give an
idea of the original splendor of the interior, was by far the largest
building on the plateau. It was about 300 feet long by 225 feet wide.
Its roof was supported by 100 columns which were only a little less
35 high than those of the hall of Xerxes. In and about the ruins of
this hall have been discovered numerous pieces off' sculptured relief
which show the difference between Persian and Assyrian sculpture.
The two are alike in general character, but differ in particulars.
There is an absence of the muscular exaggeration that appears in Assy-
rian relief. The figure of the king is more simply and naturally
dressed. You observe, too, that he has a long and straight nose. He
seems to be disposing of a terrible griffin with the same ease with
which his brethren of Assyria disposed of equally terrible lions.
The large halls on the plateau were only used on state occa-
sions: when the king appeared in pomp before his people; when foreign -33-
ambassadors or triumphant generals were received. The actual habita-
tions of the kings were smaller and contained halls and rooms for
everyday use.
36 The view shows the plan of the house built and occupied by
Darius. First came a portico supported by eight piers. On each side
of the portico were rooms probably for the king's guards. Behind the
portico was the court common to all eastern habitations. Its sixteen
piers undoubtedly supported a wooden roof. About the'oourt were th e
ordinary living rooms of the establishanent, while back of it were the
private rooms of the king and his family. There are no signs of
staircases anywhere. The palace had but one story and seems a very
small habitation for so great a sovereign. It was only about 200 feet
long by 100 feet wide. That contrast to the palaces of the Assyrian
kings
37 The last view I may show you of Persopolis is. an attempted
restoration of the plateau with all the buildings in their original
condition. The artist has committed a mistake in making the individ-
ual stones of the surrounding walls so large, for the effect is to
make the buildings and the whole plateau appear ridiculously small.
The wall is so prominent that its scale predominates a lesson for the
practical artist in scale and in its proper selection.
Persopolis is close to a river which flows into one of those -34-
singular lakes without outlets, of which there are said to be many in
the interior of Persia. About equal distance away on the other side
38 of the river are royal sepulchres. There are only four of them and
only one bears an inscription. That one, however, is the largest, and
39 the inscription proclaims it to be the tomb of Darius. The next view
shows it and shcrs the character of all these tombs. They are all ex-
cavated in the sides o° r(cks which rise nearly perpendicularly from
the valley. They are all divided into three vertical sections, each
section about 25 feet in height. And as the first or lowest section
is at least 25 feet above the soil, the top of the tomb is over 100
feet above the valley. The lowest section is simply a quadrangular
cutting into the face of tie rock, which serves as a species of verti-
cal vestibule for the second section, which represents the entrance to
a palace. In the tomb of Darius the proportions between door, columns,
and architrave are precisely those of his palace on the Persopolis
plateau. Weithin the door, excavated in the rock, is a small chapel,
or corridor, and back of it smaller chambers, in the floor of which
are narrow excavations for coffins. In the tomb of Darius there are
three of the smaller chapels and in each, three receptacles for coffins.
The receptacles occupy the entire floor of epch mall chapel. The
third vertical section represents Darius in adoration in front of an
altar on which burns the everlasting fire- He stands on a species of -35-
staging which is borne up by two rows of figures. These rows must be
regarded, not as one above the other, but as on each aide of the stag-
ing and as on the same level. There are twenty-eight of these figures,
and as they are all differently clothed, it has been suggested that
they represent twenty-eight of the chief countries over which Darius
ruled. Above the king floats Ahura-Mazda and the solar disk. The
whole forms a solemn and impressive composition. How far the con-
ception was purely Persian, how far Egyptian or Greek ideas may be recog-
nized, are questions you will be better able to consider when you have
studied the arts of the Greeks and of the Egyptians.
4Ü There are scattered about Persia ruins of other buildings
which show that at the time they were built both the arch and the dome
were understood by architects. The sketch is of a restoration, but
there is sufficient of the building left to justify the restoration.
The origin of the dome are questions which interest investigators and
questions which will never be answered. As research keeps going back
it continues to find man in many respects very much such an individual
as he is today, making the best of his surroundings, busy in supplying
his comforts, skillful in devising new methods of house-building and
house-keeping, profiting by the experiences of the past, continually
putting old materials to new uses. The first man to build an arch was
probably as proud of his accomplishment as is Marconi of his wireless -36- telegraph. He undoubtedly showed it to his neighbors with pride, and
there were probably no patent laws at the time to prevent his neighbors
from right off making arches of their own and enjoying them. The Per-
sian buildings may be very old and the parent buildings of the style
from which was developed Byzantine, Turkish and Arabian architecture.
Their date is uncertain; may never be definitely established.
The lecturer should apologize for talking about countries he has not visited. So please accept my apology, with the hope that one
of these days we may be addressed by some one who has seen these
countries, who has preserved the impressions they made upon him, and Hereafter who has power to transmit his impressions to others. in
our journeys I will only take you where I have been myself.