he piers or columns composed? Had they been of stone their
remains would surely have been found among the ruins; but no such things
have ever come to light, so we may conclude that they were of timber or
brick; the roof, at least, must have been wood. The joints may have been
covered with protecting plates of metal by which their duration was
assured. We have a curious example of the use of these bronze sheaths in
the remains of gilded palm-trees found by M. Place in front of the _harem_
at Khorsabad. He there encountered a cedar trunk lying upon the ground and
incased in a brass coat on which all the roughnesses of cedar bark were
imitated. The leaves of doors were also protected by metallic bands, which
were often decorated with bas-reliefs.

[Illustration: FIG. 40.--House in Kurdistan; from Layard.]

Must we conclude that stone columns were unknown in Chaldaea and Assyria? As
for Chaldaea, we have no positive information in the matter, but we know
that she had no building stone of her own. The Chaldaean sculptor might
indeed import a few blocks of diorite or basalt, either from Arabia, Egypt,
or the valleys of Mount Zagros, for use in statues which would justify such
expense; but the architect must have been restricted to the use of material
close at hand. In Assyria limestone was always within reach, and yet the
Assyrians never succeeded in freeing themselves from traditional methods
sufficiently to make the column play a part similar to that assigned to it
by the peoples of Egypt and Greece. Their habits, and especially the habit
of respect for the practices and traditions of Chaldaea, were too strong for
them. Their use of the column, though often tasteful and happy, is never
without a certain timidity. One is inclined to think they had an inkling of
the possibilities latent in it, but that they lacked the courage necessary
to give it full play in the interiors and upon the facades of their large
palaces and towers. In the bas-reliefs we find columns used in the kiosques
built upon the river banks (Fig. 41), and in the pavilions or chapels
studded over the royal gardens (Fig. 42). The excavations, moreover, have
yielded pedestals and capitals which, rare as they are, have a double claim
to our regard. The situations in which they have been discovered seem to
show that columns were sometimes used in front of doorways, to support
porches or covered ways extending to the full limits of the esplanade;
secondly, their f