The ordinary character of Assyrian furniture did not greatly differ from the furniture of modern times.  That of the poorer classes was for the most part extremely plain, consisting probably of such tables, couches, and low stools as we see in the representations which are so frequent, of the interiors of soldier’s tents.  In these the tables are generally of the cross-legged kind; the couches follow the pattern given in a previous page of this volume, except that the legs do not end in pine-shaped ornaments; and the stools are either square blocks, or merely cut en chevron.  There are no chairs.  The low stools evidently form the ordinary seats of the people, on which they sit to converse or to rest themselves. [PLATE CXXXIX., Fig. 1.] The couches seem to have been the beds whereon the soldiers slept, and it may be doubted if the Assyrians knew of any other. [PLATE CXXXIX., Fig. 2.] In the case of the monarch we have seen that the bedding consisted of a mattress, a large round pillow or cushion, and a coverlet; but in these simple couches of the poor we observe only a mattress, the upper part of which is slightly raised and fitted into the curvature of the arm, so as to make a substitute for a pillow. [PLATE CXXXIX., Fig. 2.] Perhaps, however, the day-laborer may have enjoyed on a couch of this simple character slumbers sounder and more refreshing than Sardanapalus amid his comparative luxury.

[Illustration:  PLATE 139]

The household utensils seen in combination with these simple articles of furniture are few and somewhat rudely shaped.  A jug with a long neck, an angular handle, and a pointed bottom, is common:  it usually hangs from a nail or hook inserted into the tent-pole.  Vases and bowls of a simple form occur, but are less frequent.  The men are seen with knives in their hands, and appear sometimes to be preparing food for their meals; but the form of the knife is marked very indistinctly.  Some of the household articles represented have a strange and unusual appearance.  One is a sort of short ladder, but with semicircular projections at the bottom, the use of which is not apparent; another may be a board at which some game was played; while a third is quite inexplicable. [PLATE CXXXIX., Fig. 8.] From actual discoveries of the utensils themselves, we know that the Assyrians used dishes of stone, alabaster, and bronze.  They had also bronze cups, bowls, and plates, often elaborately patterned.  The dishes had commonly a handle at the side, either fixed or movable, by which, when not in use, they could be carried or hung on pegs. [PLATE CXXXIX., Fig. 6.] Chaldrons of bronze were also common:  they varied from five feet to eighteen inches in height, and from two feet and a half to six feet in diameter.  Jugs, funnels, ladles, and jars have been found in the same metal; one of the funnels is shaped nearly like a modern wine strainer. [PLATE CXXXIX., Fig. 4.]