Saragon resided at Caleh, where he had taken up his quarters in the former palace of Assur-nazir-pal, while his new city was still in the hands of the builders.  Every moment that he could spare from his military and administrative labours was devoted to hastening on the progress of the work, and whenever he gained a victory or pillaged a district, he invariably set aside a considerable part of the booty in order to meet the outlay which the building involved.  Thus we find that on returning from his tenth campaign he brought with him an immense convoy laden with timber, stone, and precious metals which he had collected in the neighbourhood of Mount Taurus or among the mountains of Assyria, including coloured marbles, lapis-lazuli, rock crystal, pine, cedar, and cypress-wood, gold, silver, and bronze, all of which was destined for Dur-Sharrukin; the quantity of silver included among these materials was so great that its value fell to a level with that of copper.

[Illustration:  404.jpg PLAN OF THE EXCAVATED PORTIONS OF THE PALACE AT DUR-SHARRUKIN]

     Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the plan by Thomas, in Place.

The interior of the building, as in the case of the old Chaldaean palaces, was separated into two well-marked divisions.  The larger of these was used by the king in his public capacity, and to this the nobles and soldiers, and even the common people, were admitted under certain conditions and on certain days prescribed by custom.  The outer court was lined on three sides by warehouses and depots, in which were stored the provisions, commodities, and implements required for the host of courtiers and slaves who depended on the sovereign for support.  Each room had, as may still be seen, its own special purpose.  There were cellars for wine and oil, with their rows of large oblong jars; then there were store-rooms for implements of iron, which Place found full of rusty helmets, swords, pieces of armour, maces, and ploughshares; a little further on were rooms for the storage of copper weapons, enamelled bricks, and precious metals, and the king’s private treasury, in which were hidden away the spoils of the vanquished or the regular taxes paid by his subjects; some fine bronze lions of marvellous workmanship and lifelike expression were found still shut up here.

[Illustration:  405.jpg ONE OF THE BRONZE LIONS FROM DUR-SHARRUKIN]

     Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the original in the Louvre.

The kitchens adjoined the pantries, and the stables for horses and camels communicated direct with the coach-houses in which the state chariots were kept, while the privies were discreetly hidden in a secluded corner.  On the other side, among the buildings occupying the southern angle of the courtyard, the menials of the palace lived huddled together, each family quartered in small, dark rooms.  The royal apartments, properly so called, stood at the back of these domestic offices, facing the south-east, near the spot where the inclined plane debouched on to the city ramparts.  The monumental entrance to these apartments was guarded, in accordance with religious custom, by a company of winged bulls; behind this gate was a lawn, then a second gate, a corridor and a grand quadrangle in the very centre of the palace.