Consisting of the private apartments, it is naturally less rich in sculptures than other parts; and hence it has been comparatively neglected.

The labor would, nevertheless, be well employed which should be devoted to this part of the ruin, as it would give us (what we do not now possess) the complete ground-plan of an Assyrian palace.

It is earnestly to be hoped that future excavators will direct their efforts to this easily attainable and interesting object.
The ground-pins of the palaces, and some sixteen feet of their elevations, are all that fire and time have left us of these remarkable monuments.

The total destruction of the upper portion of every palatial building in Assyria, combined with the want of any representation of the royal residences upon the bas-reliefs, reduces us to mere conjecture with respect to their height, to the mode in which they were roofed and lighted, and even to the question whether they had or had not an upper story.

On these subjects various views have been put forward by persons entitled to consideration; and to these it is proposed now to direct the reader's attention.
In the first place, then, had they an upper story?
Mr.Layard and Mr.
Fergusson decide this question in the affirmative.