a rude and
primitive construction--a construction, however, which will bear
comparison with that of the implements to this day in use through modern
Turkey and Persia. Of other agricultural implements we have no specimens
at all, unless the square instrument with a small circle or wheel at
each corner, which appears on the same monument as the plough, may be
regarded as intended for some farming purpose. [PLATE CXXXIV., Fig. 2.]

Besides grain, it seems certain that the Assyrians cultivated the vine.
The vine will grow well in many parts of Assyria; and the monuments
represent vines, with a great deal of truth, not merely as growing in
the countries to which the Assyrians made their expeditions, but as
cultivated along the sides of the rivers near Nineveh, and in the
gardens belonging to the palaces of the kings. In the former case they
appear to grow without any support, and are seen in orchards intermixed
with other fruit-trees, as pomegranates and figs. In the latter they are
trained upon tall trees resembling firs, round whose stems they twine
themselves, and from which their rich clusters droop. Sometimes the long
lithe boughs pass across from tree to tree, forming a canopy under which
the monarch and his consort sip their wine.

Before concluding this chapter, a few remarks will be added upon the
ordinary private life of the Assyrians, so far as the monuments reveal
it to us. Under this head will be included their dress, their food,
their houses, furniture, utensils, carriages, etc., their various kinds
of labor, and the implements of labor which were known to them.

The ordinary dress of the common people in Assyria was a mere plain
tunic, or skirt, reaching from the neck to a little above the knee, with
very short sleeves, and confined round the waist by a broad belt or
girdle. Nothing was worn either upon the head or upon the feet. The
thick hair, carried in large waves from the forehead to the back of the
head, and then carefully arranged in three, four, or five rows of stiff
curls, was regarded as a sufficient protection both from sun and rain.
No head-covering was ever worn, except by soldiers, and by certain
officials, as the king, priests, and musicians. Sometimes, if the hair
was very luxuriant, it was confined by a band or fillet, which was
generally tied behind the back of the head. The beard was worn long, and
arranged with great care, the elaboration being pretty nearly the same
in the case of the k