. Nineveh and Babylon : a narrative of a second expedition to Assyria during the years 1849, 1850, & 1851. e thousand years ago, from the BritishIsles! The embossed and engraved vessels from Nimroud affordmany interesting illustrations of the progress made by theancients in metallurgy. From the Egyptian character of thedesigns, and especially of the drapeiy of the figures, in severalof the specimens, it may be inferred that some of them werenot Assyrian, but had been brought from a foreign in the ivories, however, the workmanship, subjects, and * The embossing appears to have been pi
. Nineveh and Babylon : a narrative of a second expedition to Assyria during the years 1849, 1850, & 1851. e thousand years ago, from the BritishIsles! The embossed and engraved vessels from Nimroud affordmany interesting illustrations of the progress made by theancients in metallurgy. From the Egyptian character of thedesigns, and especially of the drapeiy of the figures, in severalof the specimens, it may be inferred that some of them werenot Assyrian, but had been brought from a foreign in the ivories, however, the workmanship, subjects, and * The embossing appears to have been pioduced by a process stillpractised by silversmiths. The metal was laid upon a bed of mixed clayand bitumen, and then punched from the outside. t For a full description of the bronzes and other objects found in thischamber, see the unabridged edition of my Nineveh and Babylon,chap. viii. II.] ASSYRIAN ARMS. 63 mode of treatment are more Assyrian than Egyptian, andseem to show that the artist either copied from Egyptianmodels, or was a native of a country, perhaps Phoenicia,under the influence of Bronze Shields from Nimroud. Around the vessels I have described were heaped arms,remains of armour, iron instruments, glass bowls, and variousobjects in ivory and bronze. The arms consisted of swords,daggers, shields, and the heads of spears and arrows, whichbeing chiefly of iron fell to pieces almost as soon as exposed 64 NINEVEH AND BABYLON. [Chap. to the air. A few specimens have alone been shields stood upright, one against the other, supportedby a square piece of brick work, and were so much decayedthat only two could be sent to England. They are of bronze,and circular, the rim bending inwards, and forming a grooveround the edge. The handles are of iron, and fastened bysix bosses or nails, the heads of which form an ornament onthe outer face of the shield.* The diameter of the largestand most perfect is 2 feet 6 inches. The armour consisted of parts of breast
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidninevehbabyl, bookyear1882
