both limited their size and made it difficult to move them with
rapidity. With the change of material we perceive a decided increase of
magnitude, the diameter of the wicker buckler being often fully half the
warrior's height, or not much short of three feet.

Convex shields, generally of an oblong form, were also in common use
during the later period, and one kind is found in the very earliest
sculptures. This is of small dimensions and of a clumsy make. Its curve
is slight, and it is generally ornamented with a perpendicular row of
spikes or teeth, in the centre of which we often see the head of a lion.
[PLATE CII., Fig. 2.]

The convex shields of later date were very much larger than these.
[PLATE CIII., Fig. 3.] They were sometimes square at bottom and rounded
at top, in which case they were either made of wickerwork, or
(apparently) of metal. These latter had generally a boss in the centre,
and both this and the edge of the shield were often ornamented with a
row of rosettes or rings. Shields of this shape were from four to five
feet in height, and protected the warrior from the head to the knee. On
a march they were often worn upon the back, like the convex shield of
the Egyptians, which they greatly resembled.

[Illustration: PLATE 103]

The more ordinary convex shield was of an oval form, like the convex
shield of the Greeks, but larger, and with a more prominent centre.
[PLATE CIII., Fig. 1.] In its greater diameter it must often have
exceeded five feet, though no doubt sometimes it was smaller. It was
generally ornamented with narrow bands round the edge and round the boss
at the centre, the space between the bands being frequently patterned
with ring; or otherwise. Like the other form of convex shield, it could
be slung at the back, and was so carried on marches, on crossing rivers,
and other similar occasions.

The offensive arms certainly used by the Assyrians were the bow, the
spear, the sword, the mace, the sling, the axe or hatchet, and the
dagger. They may also have occasionally made use of the javelin, which
is sometimes seen among the arrows of a quiver. But the actual
employment of this weapon in war has not yet been found upon the
bas-reliefs. If faithfully represented, it must have been very
short,--scarcely, if at all, exceeding three feet. [PLATE CIII., Fig.
2.]

Assyrian bows were of two kinds, curved and angular. Compared with the
Egyptian, and with the bows used by the archers of the mi