ANCIENT CARVED IVORIES 13
ber in which they were discovered. A date of about 980 Β. C. was proposed by him for these remains.*
A
most interesting piece is a complete panel 9 in. long and 6 in. wide,
carved with two seated divinities adoring a cartouche with Egyptian
hieroglyphics, supposed to signify the name of an Assyrian deity or
king; above is a disk with plumes. The dress and general appearance of
the figures and the whole style of composition point to Egypt, although
certain details are believed to indicate that this may have been the
work of an Assyrian, or more probably of a Phoenician artist, t
In
the annals of Tukulti Ninip, King of Assyria (889-884 B. C), this
monarch records the receipt of rich tribute at the city of Anat, in the
Euphrates, from Ilu-ibni, prefect of the land of Suhi. Besides three
talents of silver and twenty minas of gold, the prefect sent him an
ivory throne and three other objects made of ivory. %
Even
more ancient than any of the Assyrian ivories in the Louvre or in the
British Museum, and rivalling in age the early dynastic objects of
Egyptian workmanship, are some carvings found at Bismaya, in the very
heart of Mesopotamia, by Dr. Edgar James Banks in the course of his
excavations there during the early part of the year 1904. These
objects, discovered on or near the site of an ancient palace temple of
the Sumerian or pre-Semitic period, may have been executed as far back
as 4000 B. C, and belong in any case to the fourth millennium before
the commencement of our era. The workmanship is somewhat rude, various
animal figures being represented, for example a cat, and fishes, both
black and white, over 4 in. in length. Although the
"Layard, "Nineveh and Its Remains," 2d ed., London, 1849, Vol. II, pp. 205 sqq.
tLayard, "The Monuments of Nineveh," London, 1849 (1st Series), p. 20,
PI. 89. JV. Scheil, "Annales de Tukulti Ninip, roi d'Assyrie," Paris,
1909, p. 19. Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études, Fase. 168.
