The temple of E-sagil erected at Babylon in honour of this same god was covered with gold, silver and precious stones by Ashur-bani-pal,[118] king of Assyria from 668 to 626 B.C. Yet later Nebuchadnezzar added his contribution to the great work of restoration; he built a certain magnificent chamber called Ekua, the walls of which he made of pure gold, and the cedar-wood roof of which he also covered with the same precious metal, while he similarly decorated the cedar-wood roof of Nabû’s shrine with gold. Gold was further used for personal adornment; in the Amran mound at Babylon, which represents the site of the world-renowned E-sagil, a gold ear-ring was found upon a platform composed of bricks bearing the name of Nebuchadnezzar, and therefore possibly belonging to his time, while a plate of gold was also found in the same neighbourhood, and rings of gold are perpetually mentioned in Babylonian and Assyrian literature.
Many golden face-masks, ear-rings, necklaces and other pieces of jewellery have been found in Babylonia, but for the most part their date is uncertain, the only certainty about them being their comparative lateness: they may probably be assigned to the Sassanidian period, and consequently their treatment will be outside the scope of the present volume.
[Illustration: FIG. 45.—(Cf. Cat., p. 372; _Déc. en Chald._, Pl. 43.) (Musée de Louvre.)]
Silver was also used for much the same purposes as those for which gold was employed. The finest and at the same time the earliest specimen of the Babylonian silversmith’s art has been bequeathed to us by Entemena, one of the more famous rulers of the first dynasty of Lagash, and takes the form of a magnificent silver vase. This renowned vase (cf. Fig. 45) is some twenty-eight inches in height, and rests upon a copper base seven inches high, while the largest diameter is eighteen inches. The copper base is supported by four feet resembling the paws of lions, and on the centre of the vase just above two of these feet, is engraved the lion-headed eagle with outstretched wings whose two claws firmly grip the backs of two lions facing in opposite directions, a motif frequently found on the works of art belonging to the period of the first dynasty of Lagash, and representing the heraldic arms of that ancient city. Above the other two feet of the base the motif is slightly varied, the two lions being exchanged in one case for two deer, in the other for two goats. Each lion is engaged in putting its teeth into the mouth of the deer or the goat of the adjoining group, the whole thus forming a continuous chain admirably suited for the decoration of a circular vase. The lion-headed eagles and their submissive animals, are separated from the upper and lower portions of the vase by means of a double fish-bone line; upon the upper part of the vase are seven heifers all facing in the same direction, and all in a semi-reclining attitude, one of their fore-legs being raised preparatory to standing up; these heifers are marvellously life-like and true to nature, and already we seem to see in them the forerunners of those masterpieces of Assyrian art which adorned the palace walls of Ashur-bani-pal. This scene of country life was evidently very popular at this period, it occurs on the little sculptured block seen in Fig. 27, as well as elsewhere. But success in the reproduction of animal life at this epoch seems to have been largely conditioned by the artist’s abstention from trying to depict the animals full-face; when he aspires to the latter the result is amazingly stereotyped and formal, and a comparison between the lion-headed eagles and the lions on the one hand, and these spirited heifers, at once reveals the contrast, as well as the cause of the contrast. The artist himself was evidently conscious of his failure, for he has striven, but it must be admitted without much success, to impart life to his lions and lion-headed eagles by elaborating the wings of the one and the mane of the other by means of an altogether extravagant amount of detailed attention. The inscription round the neck informs us that this vase was dedicated by Entemena, the fourth successor of Ur-Ninâ, to the god Nin-girsu in his temple Eninnu, during the priesthood of one Dudu, whose name also occurs on the little sculptured block (cf. Fig. 27), thus proving the contemporaneity, which the style of art to which the decorations on both conform would have independently led us to infer.