f this nature on which we have obtained any
light from recent researches in Mesopotamia.

The ordinary dress of the common people among the Chaldaeans seems to
have consisted of a single garment, a short tunic, tied round the waist,
and reaching thence to the knees, a costume very similar to that worn by
the Madan Arabs at the present day. To this may sometimes have been
added an _abba,_ or cloak, thrown over the shoulders, and falling below
the tunic, about half-way down the calf of the leg. The material of the
former we may perhaps presume to have been linen, which best suits the
climate, and is a fabric found in the ancient tombs. The outer cloak was
most likely of woollen, and served to protect hunters and others against
the occasional inclemency of the air. The feet were unprotected by
either shoes or sandals; on the head was worn a skull-cap, or else a band
of camel's hairs--the germ of the turban which has now become universal
throughout the East.

The costume of the richer class was more elaborate. A high mitre, of a
very peculiar appearance, or else a low cap ornamented with two curved
horns, covered the head. [PLATE XIX. Fig. 1.] The neck and arms were
bare. The chief garment was a long gown or robe, extending from the neck
to the feet, commonly either striped or flounced, or both; and sometimes
also adorned with fringe. This robe, which was scanty according to
modern notions, appears not to have been fastened by any girdle or
cincture round the waist, but to have been kept in place by passing over
one shoulder, a slit or hole being made for the arm on one side of the
dress only. In some cases the upper part of the dress seems to have been
detached from the lower, and to have formed a sort of jacket, which
reached about to the hips.

[Illustration: PLATE 19]

The beard was commonly worn straight and long, not in crisp curls, as by
the Assyrians. [PLATE XIX., Fig. 2.] The hair was also worn long,
either gathered together into a club behind the head, or depending in
long spiral curls on either side the face and down the back. Ornaments
were much affected, especially by the women. Bronze and iron bangles and
armlets, and bracelets of rings or beads, ear-rings, and rings for the
toes, are common in the tombs, and few female skeletons are without them.
The material of the ornaments is generally of small value. Many of the
rings are formed by grinding down a small kind of shell; the others are
of