le, on which they sit to converse or
to rest themselves. [PLATE CXXXIX., Fig. 1.] The couches seem to have
been the beds whereon the soldiers slept, and it may be doubted if the
Assyrians knew of any other. [PLATE CXXXIX., Fig. 2.] In the case of the
monarch we have seen that the bedding consisted of a mattress, a large
round pillow or cushion, and a coverlet; but in these simple couches of
the poor we observe only a mattress, the upper part of which is slightly
raised and fitted into the curvature of the arm, so as to make a
substitute for a pillow. [PLATE CXXXIX., Fig. 2.] Perhaps, however, the
day-laborer may have enjoyed on a couch of this simple character
slumbers sounder and more refreshing than Sardanapalus amid his
comparative luxury.

[Illustration: PLATE 139]

The household utensils seen in combination with these simple articles of
furniture are few and somewhat rudely shaped. A jug with a long neck, an
angular handle, and a pointed bottom, is common: it usually hangs from a
nail or hook inserted into the tent-pole. Vases and bowls of a simple
form occur, but are less frequent. The men are seen with knives in their
hands, and appear sometimes to be preparing food for their meals; but
the form of the knife is marked very indistinctly. Some of the household
articles represented have a strange and unusual appearance. One is a
sort of short ladder, but with semicircular projections at the bottom,
the use of which is not apparent; another may be a board at which some
game was played; while a third is quite inexplicable. [PLATE CXXXIX.,
Fig. 8.] From actual discoveries of the utensils themselves, we know
that the Assyrians used dishes of stone, alabaster, and bronze. They had
also bronze cups, bowls, and plates, often elaborately patterned. The
dishes had commonly a handle at the side, either fixed or movable, by
which, when not in use, they could be carried or hung on pegs. [PLATE
CXXXIX., Fig. 6.] Chaldrons of bronze were also common: they varied from
five feet to eighteen inches in height, and from two feet and a half to
six feet in diameter. Jugs, funnels, ladles, and jars have been found in
the same metal; one of the funnels is shaped nearly like a modern wine
strainer. [PLATE CXXXIX., Fig. 4.]

The Assyrians made use of bronze bells with iron tongues, and, to render
the sound of these more pleasing, they increased the proportion of the
tin to the copper, raising it front ten to fourteen per cent. The bells