The bas-reliefs in the British Museum

The bas-reliefs in the British Museum

The bas-reliefs in the British Museum

To go still further back, the bas-reliefs in the British Museum, discovered by Mr. Layard in the Assyrian Palace of Nimroud, contain spirited representation of horses with bridles, ridden in hunting and in pursuit of enemies, as well as driven in war-chariots. These horses are Arabs, while those of the Elgin Marbles more resemble the cream-coloured Hanoverians which draw the state carriage of our sovereigns. In one of the Nimroud bas-reliefs, we have cavalry soldiers standing with the bridles of their horses in their hands, waiting, as Mr. Bonomi tells us, for the orders to mount; but, as they stand on the left side, with the bridles in their left hands, it is difficult to understand how they could obey such an order with reasonable celerity.