The swordsman commonly thrust with his weapon, but he could cut with it likewise, for it was with this arm that the Assyrian warrior was wont to decapitate his fallen enemy.

The sheath of the sword was almost always tastefully designed, and sometimes possessed artistic excellence of a high order.

[PLATE CVII., Fig.

3.] The favorite terminal ornament consisted of two lions clasping one another, with their heads averted and their mouths agape.

Above this, patterns in excellent taste usually adorned the scabbard, which moreover exhibited occasionally groups of figures, sacred trees, and other mythological objects.
[Illustration: PLATE 107] Instead of the short sword, the earlier warriors had a weapon of a considerable length.