FIG. 105.
ASSYRIAN SOLDIERS PURSUING
THE FLEEING ENEMY ACROSS A STREAM
The stream occupies the right half of the scene. As drawn by the Assyrian
artist it may be recognized by the fish and the curling waves; also by
the bows and quivers full of arrows floating downstream, along with the
bodies of two dead hotses, one on his back with feet up. Two dead men,
with arrows sticking in their bodies, are drifting in midstream. Three
of the living leap from the bank as their pursuers stab them with spears
or shoot them with drawn bow: The Assyrian spearmen carry tall shields,
but the archer needs both hands for his bow and carries no shield. The
dead are strewn along the shore, occupying the left half of the scene.
At the top the vultures are plucking out their eyes; in the middle an Assyrian
is cutting off a head; beside him another plants his foot on a dead man’s
head and steals his weapons. The vegetation along the river is shown
among the bodies.
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