s not clear whether they were all on the
ground-floor, or whether they formed different stories. Mr. Fergusson,
in his ingenious work on the restoration of the palaces of Nineveh, in
which he has, with great learning and research, fully examined the
subject of the architecture of the Assyrians and ancient Persians,
endeavors to divide the Khorsabad palace, after the manner of modern
Mussulman houses, into the Salamlik or apartments of the men, and the
Harem, or those of the women. The division he suggests must, of
course, depend upon analogy and conjecture; but it may, we think, be
accepted as highly probable, until fuller and more accurate
translations of the inscriptions than can yet be made may furnish us
with some positive data on the subject. In the ruins of Kouyunjik
there is nothing, as far as we are aware, to mark the distinction
between the male and female apartments. Of a temple no remains have as
yet been found at Kouyunjik, nor is there any high conical mound as at
Nimroud and Khorsabad.

[Illustration: VIEW OF A HALL.
(_Of which 71 were discovered in the Palace._)]

In all the Assyrian edifices hitherto explored we find the same
general plan. On the four sides of the great courts or halls are two
or three narrow parallel chambers opening one into the other. Most of
them have doorways at each end leading into smaller rooms, which have
no other outlet. It seems highly probable that this uniform plan was
adopted with reference to the peculiar architectural arrangements
required by the building, and we agree with Mr. Fergusson in
attributing it to the mode resorted to for lighting the apartments.

Early excavators expressed a belief that the chambers received light
from the top. Although this may have been the case in some instances,
yet recent discoveries now prove that the Assyrian palaces had more
than one story. Such being the case, it is evident that other means
must have been adopted to admit light to the inner rooms on the
ground-floor. Mr. Fergusson's suggestion, that the upper part of the
halls and principal chambers was formed by a row of pillars supporting
the ceiling and admitting a free circulation of light and air, appears
to us to meet, to a certain extent, the difficulty. It has, moreover,
been borne out by subsequent discoveries, and by the representation of
a large building, apparently a palace, on one side of the bas-reliefs
from Kouyunjik.

Although the larger halls may have bee