riginally constructed by
Assur-nasir-pal I. (885-860 B.C.), and restored and reoccupied by Sargon
(722-705 B.C.). In it were found the winged lions, now in the British
Museum, the fine series of sculptured bas-reliefs glorifying the deeds of
Assur-nasir-pal in war and peace, and the large collection of bronze
vessels and implements, numbering over 200 pieces; (_b_) the Central
palace, in the interior of the mound, toward its southern end, erected by
Shalmaneser II. (860-825 B.C.) and rebuilt by Tiglath-pileser III. (745-727
B.C.). Here were found the famous black obelisk of Shalmaneser, now in the
British Museum, in the inscription on which the tribute of Jehu, son of
Omri, is mentioned, the great winged bulls, and also a fine series of slabs
representing the battles and sieges of Tiglath-pileser; (_c_) the
South-West palace, in the S.W. corner of the platform, an uncompleted
building of Esarhaddon (681-668 B.C.), who robbed the North-West and
Central palaces, effacing the inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser, to obtain
material for his construction; (_d_) the smaller West palace, between the
South-West and the North-West palaces, a construction of Hadad-nirari or
Adadnirari III. (812-783 B.C.); (_e_) the South-East palace, built by
Assur-etil-ilani, after 626 B.C., for his harem, in the S.E. corner of the
platform, above the remains of an older similar palace of Shalmaneser;
(_f_) two small temples of Assur-nasir-pal, in connexion with the
_ziggurat_ in the N.W. corner; and (_g_) a temple called E-Zida, and
dedicated to Nebo, near the South-East palace. From the number of colossal
figures of Nebo discovered here it would appear that the cult of Nebo was a
favourite one, at least during the later period. The other buildings on the
E. side of the platform had been ruined by the post-Assyrian use of the
mound for a cemetery, and for tunnels for the storage and concealment of
grain. While the ruins of Calah were remarkably rich in monumental
material, enamelled bricks, bronze and ivory objects and the like, they
yielded few of the inscribed clay tablets found in such great numbers at
Nineveh and various Babylonian sites. Not a few of the astrological and
omen tablets in the Kuyunjik collection of the British Museum, however,
although found at Nineveh, were executed, according to their own testimony,
at Calah for the _rab-dup-[vs]arr[=e]_ or principal librarian during the
reigns of Sargon and Sennacherib (716-684 B.C.). From this i