upon as approximate. The Greeks did not
amuse themselves, we may be sure, with measuring the monuments they
encountered on their march, even if Tissaphernes gave them time. But we may
fairly conclude from this evidence that in some of the Assyrian town-walls
the proportion between the plinth and the superstructure was very different
from what it is in the only example that has come down to us.

At Khorsabad, then, stone played a much more important part in the palace
wall than in that of the town, but even in the latter position it is used
with skill and in no inconsiderable quantity; on the other hand, it is only
employed in the interior of the palace for paving, for lining walls, for
the bases, shafts and capitals of columns, and such minor purposes. In the
only palace that has been completely excavated, that of Sargon at
Khorsabad, everything is built of brick. Layard alone speaks of a
stone-built chamber in the palace of Sennacherib at Kouyundjik, but he
gives no details.

It would seem as if the Assyrians were content with showing themselves
passed-masters in the art of dressing and fixing stone, and, that proof
given, had never cared to make use of the material in the main structures
of their buildings. Like the Chaldaeans, they preferred brick, into the
management of which, however, they introduced certain modifications of
their own. The crude brick of Nineveh and its neighbourhood was used while
damp, and, when put in place, did not greatly differ from pise.[171] Spread
out in wide horizontal courses, the slabs of soft clay adhered one to
another by their plasticity, through the effect of the water with which
they were impregnated and that of the pressure exercised by the courses
above.[172] The building was thus, in effect, nothing but a single huge
block. Take it as a whole, put aside certain parts, such as the doorways
and drains, that were constructed on rather different principles, shut your
eyes to the merely decorative additions, and you will have a huge mass of
kneaded earth which might have been shaped by giants in a colossal mould.

The masons of Babylon and of other southern cities made a much more
extensive use of burnt brick than those of the north. In Assyria the masses
of pise have as a rule no other covering than the slabs of alabaster and
limestone, and above, a thin layer of stucco. In Chaldaea the crude walls of
the houses and towers were cuirassed with those excellent burnt bricks
which the