The Portland daily press., 1882-03-17
THE AssYRIAN COLLECTION.
Rev. w B. Hayden in the British Mu-
scum.

Rev. w. B. Hayden delivered another lee
ture on the British Museum last evening, this
time on the Assyrian collection, to a very in
terested audience.
| The lecturer prefaced his main discourse with
a brief sallusion to the coin and gem rooms OF
| the Museum. The value stored in these rooms is
| well nigh fabulous There are single gems
worth $4,000 in money, while their historic
| value cannot be appreciated. There are the
coins of the Egyptians, Phonicians and Etru-
rians; the firing money" of the Britons prior to
the Roman conquest; the antique gold and sill
yer pieces of ancient Carthage; shekels and
half-shekels of Israel $50 B. c., and one bear
| ing correct portrait of Artaxerxes IL b. y.
405-359. There are two Lydian coins, of gold
and silver respectively, of Cresuss time 900
B. G. There is splendid intaglio of Julius
Caesar executed by Dioskobidoi, marvel of
fine work; an alabasuer jar found on the site OF
the mausoleum at Holicarnassus, of the time
of Xerxes; the celebrated Portland Vase"
of which all our readers have doubtless heard,
an exquisite work of art and 1850 years old,
and restored vases from the Cypriote tombs
which General Cesnola has conveyed lately to
bu6 M6tIOpOubdu huoouu VI <Alb IL ANOW
York.
The speaker then proceeded with the lecture
proper-"The Assyrian Remains" The lee
turer dwelt upon the ce,ossal-winged and man
headed bulls that guard the entrance to the
hall, mathematical of the forms spoken OF IN
John; the first like lion, the second Ike
calf, the third with the face of a man, and the
fourth like an eagle flying. This figure stood
for the Assyrian God, Min, and associated with
him was the winged and man-headed lion god
Nergal, the complement of Min. The lion and
bull we're the two strongest ANIMALS in Assyria,
frequently waging war with each other. Min
was the personifcation of heavenly powers and
attributes next to the Divine, and formed the
root idea with the Assyrians OF supervising
watch and guard.
The long galleries, into which the visitor
now enters have their walls decorated with
sculptured tablets and slabs, arranged as form
erly in the royal halls of Asshgr-izir-pal SEN
nacherib and Sargon. Here, in the "Nimrod
Gallery we see the very objects on which
rested the eyes of Asshur-izir-pa, the Assyrian
Napoleon, when he entered his dining room.
$50 years before Christ. This is the king to
whom Rawlinson attributes, during his TWEEN
ty-iiye year, reign, the attainment OF Assyria
to the foremost place in art, wealth, influence
and splendor, and who shas shown Europe that
many Of the iuxuries now enjoyed were also
equalled by his Asatic people nine centuries
before the Christian era. Here is slab giving
the king in his royal robes, with six slabs be-
side him representing the king with his at
tendants coming from the chase watched over
by his guardian angels, distinguished by their
wings. The figures are all sumptuously at.
tired, their robes fringed and embroidered
with sacred or mystical ornaments, the sandals
are painted in black and red, the bows of the
chamberlains in red, and the eyes of all OF
them in black.
In the other gallery is the great hall of As
shur bani-pal, the grandson OF Sennacherio.
All the sculptures here, with one exception,
belong to his time Nearly all the representa-
tions are scenes connected with war. large
part of the figures are nearly the size OF lie,
and executed with much spirit and skill.
Here and there is lion hunt, wildly set
forth The largest and finest of these covers
two slabs. 1t is an amateur hunt engaged in
by Asshur-bani-pal (Sardanapulus) himself,
with royal party A large area, formed by
spearmeD, prevents the escape OF the animals,
The lions are let loose from cages and are
killed by the monarch by arrows, while horse
men attend and gallop round in different d.
rections. One or two lions are seen IN differ
emit groups attacking the king The fury of
the wounded and agony of the dying lions, as
also the impotence of four dogs restrained by
their keepers, are admirably delineated. The
exception mentioned above is a representation
of the assault and capture OF the city OF Lack
ISL. III Edfosliuc, NY COHANIAOlio, IL eAsS u~Jo
of Hezekiah, King of Judah This invasion
of Judah by Sennacherib is mentioned in the
eighteenth chapter OF the Second Book OF
Kings, as also in the Second Book OF Chron-
Giles, where, too, the fact is alluded to, that
Sennacherib's headquarters were at the city OF
Lackish. In the scriptural narratives, how
ever, all account of the siege and capture OF
the place is omitted; while here on the slabs
we have, in addition to the assault, view OF
the fortified camp, with the reception OF pris-
oners from the conquered city.
The speaker then gave very interesting
description of the three tablets containing the
ChaldeaD account of the Creation, Deluse and
Tower of Babel. The language of the Assy-
rian religion belongs 90 what is known as the |
Akdad tongue, but enough to know of it to
show that Uruk reigned $500 years B, G, aud
from him the line went back through S6 kings,
for "a 900 years. to the time of the Deluge, be |
fore which an unknown period runs back to
the Creation. If Xsuthrus, the Chaldean name
for Noah the ark-builder, is identical with the
Zoroaster of the Greeks, he must have been a
more ancient and mythic character than
generally supposed, for Herodotus places Noah
5000 years before Plato's death, and 5000 before
the Trojan war. 1t is supposed there were
originally twelve of these archaic tablets and
it is hoped, III Tina, all will be recovered and
deciphered.
In the middle of this gallery are i've table
cases of Assyrian objects discovered 10 excava-
tions. The most remarkable are the signet cylin-
der of King Ilgi, son of the first monarch Uruk,
2400 years before Christ, and one of Uruk him
self, or 700 years before Abraham In the
"Assyrian Side-Room' is the ancient library,
some of the books 80 called hollow clay cyiin-
ders but really octagonal prisms in fine terra
Gotta, worked very thin, with the euneform
writing proceeding from left to right and SO
fine, although so clear, that there are six lines
to the inch. When they are all deciphered
we shall possess a complete history OF Chaldean
and Assyran literature and civilization.
The ancient Egyptian religion is not that of
tie New church of our day, but the remains
confirm the views of ancient history taken in
the new church as we'll as the literal teachings
of the Old and New Testaments.
The lecture last night was handsomely IL
Illustrated by Lamson with the stereopticon.