in the sepulchral chamber, and stood ready to strike
any one who dared to enter: these had human figures, or lions' heads
joined to the bodies of men. Others, moreover, hovered over the house in
order to drive off the spectres who might endeavour to enter through the
roof. During the last hours in which the dead body remained among its
kindred, it reposed under the protection of a legion of gods.

We must not expect to find on the plains of the Euphrates the rock-cut
tombs, the mastabas or pyramids, of Egypt. No mountain chain ran on
either side of the river, formed of rock soft enough to be cut and
hollowed easily into chambers or sepulchral halls, and at the same time
sufficiently hard to prevent the tunnels once cut from falling in.

[Illustration: 111.jpg CHALDEAN TOMB WITH FLAT ROOF.]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch by Taylor.

The alluvial soil upon which the Chaldaean cities were built, far from,
preserving the dead body, rapidly decomposed it under the influence of
heat and moisture: vaults constructed in it would soon be invaded by
water in spite of masonry; paintings and sculpture would soon be
eaten away by nitre, and the funereal furniture and the coffin quickly
destroyed. The dwelling-house of the Chaldaean dead could not, therefore,
properly be called, as those of Egypt, an "eternal house." It was
constructed of dried or burnt brick, and its form varied much from
the most ancient times. Sometimes it was a great vaulted chamber, the
courses forming the roof being arranged corbel-wise, and contained the
remains of one or two bodies walled up within it.* At other times
it consisted merely of an earthen jar, in which the corpse had
been inserted in a bent-up posture, or was composed of two enormous
cylindrical jars, which, when united and cemented with bitumen, formed a
kind of barrel around the body. Other tombs are represented by wretched
structures, sometimes oval and sometimes round in shape, placed upon a
brick base and covered by a flat or domed roof. The interior was not of
large dimensions, and to enter it was necessary to stoop to a creeping
posture. The occupant of the smallest chambers was content to have with
him his linen, his ornaments, some bronze arrowheads, and metal or clay
vessels. Others contained furniture which, though not as complete as
that found in Egyptian sepulchres, must have ministered to all the
needs of the spirit. The body was stretched, fully clothed, upon a
mat