The Sun.
London, England, 1853-06-16 00:00:00

M. PULSZKY'S LECTURES.

M. Pulszky delivered his second lecture on archeology
and history of ancient art at Willis's Rooms yesterday.
The branch of the subject chosen on the occasion was
confined to the monuments of Nineveh, Babylon, and
Persepolis. M. Pulszky commenced by giving a
very pleasing description of the peculiar characteris-
tics of Assyria and Babylon, and then drew an in-
teresting comparison between them and Egypt. This
was followed by an account of the habits of the
people, showing that the irregular habits of their
shepherd life could never lead to the foundation of large
cities, nor the establishment of important governments.
M. Pulszky then referred to several ancient authors in
proof of this statement, as well as the sculptures in the
Louvre and the British Museum, which also demon-
strated that, in Assyria, the King was everything, and
the people were nowhere represented; but in Egypt the
middle classes were found to be of more importance.
He then observed, as a curious fact, that in the sculp-
tures found at Nineveh, women were not to be found,
but they were seen in those of Egypt, in the pro-
cessions, in concerts, and occupied in educating their
children. A similar difference is also found in religious
matters, for the Assyrian Kings were the high priests,
and the temples were their palaces, while in Egypt the
temples were more important than the King's palaces.
The Assyrians adopted Egyptian ideas, but they always
perverted them. For instance, the vulture, among the
Egyptians, was the emblem of victory. The Assyrians
placed the vulture close to their Kings, but they also
made it sometimes tear the bodies of the slain,. and
at other times the winged globe, that in Egypt
represented the sun, the Assyrians transformed into
a guardian angel to their Kings. M. Pulszky then
traced the progress of art in Assyria, from its rise
to its decline, in a very interesting manner, and com-
pared it with that of Egypt, where the artists drew
their outline more correctly, and did not overcharge it so
much with details. The buildings in Egypt were contrived
to produce grandeur of effect by large broad masses,
while those of Assyria obtained an imposing effect by
their great height. Some very curious remarks were
made with respect to the way in which the reading of
the cuneiform character was discovered at the same
time by different persons. Then came the question
as to how far those inscriptions could be depended
on ; and M. Pulszky described an inscription
in which it was stated that the King had sent
to battle three generals successively, each of whom
was stated to have destroyed the rebels, and at
last the King himself went, when it is recorded
that he beat and crucified his foes, which the lec-
turer said no doubt was the truth, while in the
former instance it was squally certain that the
generals were beaten. M. Pulszky, after illustrating
this part of the subject, at sonic length, concluded his
very agreeable and instructive lecture by observing, that
lying was the inherent vice of despotic courts. The
whole of the address was listened to with marked atten-
tion by a very genteel audience.