The palaces consisted of separate buildings constructed on terraces of varying heights and connected by stairs. As a consequence, the unity of the collection of immense cubes was one of artistic grouping rather than of real connection. A façade was formed by the arrangement of the por tals, on which the human-beaded bulls or lions, familiar to the history of sculpture, served as symbolic ornamentation.
The furnishing of these palaces as the residences of the kings and their courts depended of course on the arrangement of the interior. Un fortunately, the remains of the walls which have been preserved are not high enough to enable us to draw any conclusions as to the arrangement of the dwelling apartments even in the lower stories. Guided by the ruins and by written and pictured indications, an attempt has been made on Plate 16 1) to represent the interior of a hall in a royal Assyrian palace. Whether it be correct in details, especially as regards the windows of the side-walls, must be left undecided. Thus much is certain: that the light entered generally by means of an opening in the ceiling, and that the rooms in which such an opening could not be made, as those of the lower stories, remained in darkness. Even in later times indications of windows are rare, and at all events there is no evidence of other than little peep holes in the upper stories looking upon the street. It is possible that the openings toward the courts were larger.
From the substructures which remain intact under the rubbish we obtain more definite information as to the arrangements of the lower parts of the rooms. Here the brick walls were faced with large slabs of alabaster decorated with inscriptions and bas-reliefs. Beneath the paved floors drains are still to be found. As an additional furnishing of these apartments we must naturally take it for granted that the palaces con tained all that the luxury of that age could bestow.
The material tastes of the people demanded the adornment of all the terminals of the interior with the brightest and gayest of projecting bor ders. The alabaster facings, which sometimes reached a height of twelve feet, were painted, as was also the smooth stucco above it. The doorposts afforded space for lavish ornamentation, while the interior passages con necting the rooms with one another and with the court were probably closed with costly tapestries.
Notwithstanding the considerable extent of some of these rooms, they were always narrow, which is probably explained by the fact that no mode of constructing ceilings was known other than by means of wooden beams, whose length determined the width of the rooms. It may be presumed that in harmony with the whole the ceilings were also covered with painted and gilded panel-work. The highest story was more lightly con structed, on the inner side perhaps wholly of wood. The side of the rooms facing the court was open like a gallery, or had, at least imme diately under the roof; rows of apertures for air and light.
The above description applies in general to the Babylonian palaces, except that the latter, probably in view of the destruction which the kings of Babylon had themselves brought upon the Assyrians, were surrounded with strong fortifications. The circumference of these seats of royalty was reckoned by miles. The earlier palace lay on the right bank of the Euphrates; the later one was built by Nabopolassar and enlarged by Nebuchadnezzar. The latter erected the so-called "hanging gardens" or terrace-built parks to please his Median spouse Amyitis, who had been accustomed to the sight of mountains. They were, as is known, famous among the ancients as one of the world's wonders, and were ascribed to Semiramis, whose name and career are now considered as belonging not to history, but to mythology.
Diodorns gives the following description of the hanging gardens: "To please a Persian lady these gardens were intended to imitate the moun tain-meadows and the tree-gardens of her land. The paradises (garden) was four hundred feet on every side; it had an ascent like a mountain, and stories one over the other, so that it looked like a theatre. Under the ascent were vaults, which bore the weight of the garden, in moderate height one over the other. The highest vault, which supported the highest layer of the garden, was fifty cubits in height, so that it was of an equal height with the towers of the outer wall (of the citadel). The walls of the pleasure-garden were artificially strengthened; they were twenty-two feet in width; the passages were ten feet in width: the caps of the vaults were covered with stone slabs sixteen feet in length and four feet in breadth. On these were layers of reeds, with a large amount of bitumen, and upon this a double laver of burnt tiles united with gypsum; on this followed a third layer of plates of lead, that the moisture of the earth might not penetrate into the masonry. On the lead plates was then placed as much earth as was sufficient for the roots of the largest trees. This earth was then smoothed and planted with trees of every kind which could give pleasure by their size and grace. In the vaults were various objects of the royal household economy: one of the uppermost contained the machinery by which water was raised through pipes from the river." The possess fairly accurate descriptions of the capitals. The plan of Nineveh was a long quadrilateral; the circumference of the wall was four hundred and eighty stadia; the height was roo feet, and the breadth permitted three chariots to move side by side on the top; it was strengthened by 1500 towers, each zoo feet high. Nevertheless, this bulwark fell before the united forces of the Males and Babylonians, and Xenophon, who with his army passed (about 400 B. c.) through the ruins of Nineveh, found but few remains of its most prominent structures.