ble that the priests in the sculptures are generally, if
not invariably, beardless. It is scarcely probable that they were
eunuchs, since mutilation is in the East always regarded as a species of
degradation. Perhaps they merely shaved the beard for greater
cleanliness, like the priests of the Egyptians and possibly it was a
custom only obligatory on the upper grades of the priesthood.

We have no evidence of the establishment of set festivals in Assyria.
Apparently the monarchs decided, of their own will, when a feast should
be held to any god; and, proclamation being made, the feast was held
accordingly. Vast numbers, especially of the chief men, were assembled
on such occasions; numerous sacrifices were offered, and the festivities
lasted for several days. A considerable proportion of the worshippers
were accommodated in the royal palace, to which the temple was
ordinarily a mere adjunct, being fed at the king's cost, and lodged in
the halls and other apartments.

The Assyrians made occasionally a religious use of fasting. The evidence
on this point is confined to the Book of Jonah, which, however,
distinctly shows both the fact and the nature of the usage. When a fast
was proclaimed, the king, the nobles, and the people exchanged their
ordinary apparel for sackcloth, sprinkled ashes upon their heads, and
abstained alike from food and drink until the fast was over. The animals
also that were within the walls of the city where the fast was
commanded, had sackcloth placed upon them; and the same abstinence was
enforced upon them as was enjoined on the inhabitants. Ordinary business
was suspended, and the whole population united in prayer to Asshur, the
supreme god, whose pardon they entreated, and whose favor they sought to
propitiate. These proceedings were not merely formal. On the occasion
mentioned in the book of Jonah, the repentance of the Ninevites seems to
have been sincere. "God saw their works, that they turned from their
evil way; and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do
unto them: and he did it not."

The religious sentiment appears, on the whole, to have been strong and
deep-seated among the Assyrians. Although religion had not the
prominence in Assyria which it possessed in Egypt, or even in
Greece--although the temple was subordinated to the palace, and the most
imposing of the representations of the gods were degraded to mere
architectural ornaments--yet the Assyrians appear to h