Throughout history, people have tried to imagine the past by looking at ruins.
One of the most failed attempts to do so was the 1854 Assyrian Court exhibition at London’s Crystal Palace. Widely mocked & reviled by the public, it was finally destroyed in the most fitting manner.
One of the most failed attempts to do so was the 1854 Assyrian Court exhibition at London’s Crystal Palace. Widely mocked & reviled by the public, it was finally destroyed in the most fitting manner.
The Crystal Palace was a revolutionary building. It used the new technologies of sheet glass & cast iron to create a 92,000 m² greenhouse, an enormous exhibition space in London's Hyde Park.
When the exhibition closed, it was rebuilt in 1854 in South London’s Sydenham Hill.
When the exhibition closed, it was rebuilt in 1854 in South London’s Sydenham Hill.
The Crystal Palace held exhibits on technology & science, but a large number of the halls were also set out to display examples of ancient archaeology & architecture from around the world.
There were halls for dozens of ancient cultures, from Greece & Egypt to Ceylon & Persia.
There were halls for dozens of ancient cultures, from Greece & Egypt to Ceylon & Persia.
The halls were carnivalesque & garish, but one drew particular revulsion & mockery from the general public.
This was the one wedged between the northwest ladies' restroom, the refreshment stands & botanical garden: it was the Assyrian hall, known as "The Nineveh Court".
This was the one wedged between the northwest ladies' restroom, the refreshment stands & botanical garden: it was the Assyrian hall, known as "The Nineveh Court".
The Nineveh Court was designed by architect James Fergusson, along with aristocratic adventurer Austen Henry Layard.
Layard was a superstar. He had excavated in Nimrud & Nineveh, in modern-day Mosul, & was famous for uncovering the lion hunt reliefs & the library of Ashurbanipal
Layard was a superstar. He had excavated in Nimrud & Nineveh, in modern-day Mosul, & was famous for uncovering the lion hunt reliefs & the library of Ashurbanipal
The ancient city of Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, the dominant power in the ancient Near East until its destruction in 612 BCE.
It was the largest city in the world, with over 120,000 people if the book of Jonah is to be believed (biblegateway.com/passage/?searc…)
It was the largest city in the world, with over 120,000 people if the book of Jonah is to be believed (biblegateway.com/passage/?searc…)
“I could not but feel some satisfaction at the result of my labours”, Layard wrote after his excavations at Nineveh and Nimrud.
“Scarcely a year before, with the exception of the ruins of Khorsabad, not one Assyrian monument was known.”
(Layard, 1867 archive.org/stream/nineveh…).
“Scarcely a year before, with the exception of the ruins of Khorsabad, not one Assyrian monument was known.”
(Layard, 1867 archive.org/stream/nineveh…).
Despite Layard's boasts, he wasn’t wrong about his achievements. News of his excavations in Mesopotamia caused a sensation back home, & set off a frenzy of interest in the Assyrian Empire.
So when the Crystal Palace was built, of course the Nineveh Court had to be included.
So when the Crystal Palace was built, of course the Nineveh Court had to be included.
The only problem was, no one really knew what the Assyrian palaces had looked like. Layard had said only years before that a packing case could be filled with the sum of European knowledge about Assyria.
Undeterred, the two set about creating their architectural fantasy.
Undeterred, the two set about creating their architectural fantasy.
The Assyrian court was extravagant & colourful, designed "to convey to the spectator as exact an idea as possible of Assyrian architecture."
It was an architectural compilation of the ruins at Khorsabad, Nineveh & Nimrud, replete with palm trees & a lily pond.
It was an architectural compilation of the ruins at Khorsabad, Nineveh & Nimrud, replete with palm trees & a lily pond.
The court combined fragments from different periods: carved panels from Khorsabad, British Museum sculptures & casts Layard had made during excavations. Where there were gaps, the designers copied the Persian palace at Persepolis, or just made it up.
The result was a mess.
The result was a mess.
For example. although no columns had ever been excavated at Nineveh or any other Assyrian site, Layard & Fergusson added ones in Greek style, & because "columns need capitals" they added blue bull-headed decorations to the tops.
(Source: books.google.co.uk/books?id=LPWhA…)
(Source: books.google.co.uk/books?id=LPWhA…)
The public was quick to notice the garish failure. It was mocked in the press, & poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti wrote a mournful poem about the arrival of Assyrian sculptures in London, called "The Burden of Nineveh".
(Full poem: bartleby.com/270/11/195.html)
(Full poem: bartleby.com/270/11/195.html)
Rossetti's brother William didn't hide his criticism in art. Nineveh Court, he said, was "a nightmare Life in Death."
Its colours were "hard, glaring & uncombined... opaque heavy patchwork of blues, reds & yellows with ghastly oases of white."
(books.google.co.uk/books?id=1W49q…)
Its colours were "hard, glaring & uncombined... opaque heavy patchwork of blues, reds & yellows with ghastly oases of white."
(books.google.co.uk/books?id=1W49q…)
Layard never stopped defending the court.
"The question whether the colouring is in good or bad taste," he sniped, "is one the Crystal Palace Company never, so far as I know, asked themselves. Their object was to reproduce the works of antiquity with the utmost fidelity."
"The question whether the colouring is in good or bad taste," he sniped, "is one the Crystal Palace Company never, so far as I know, asked themselves. Their object was to reproduce the works of antiquity with the utmost fidelity."
However, his co-designer James Fergusson soon turned on him & became one of its harshest critics.
“In the Assyrian palaces we have the flesh & no bones”, he wrote. It presented an illegible mixture of time & place, he said, revelling in the “multicoloured excess” of the ancients
“In the Assyrian palaces we have the flesh & no bones”, he wrote. It presented an illegible mixture of time & place, he said, revelling in the “multicoloured excess” of the ancients
He called the courts "fictions", like "teaching theology by means of the theological novel”.
"There are some minds," he wrote, "which can only be approached by having their wholesome food so clogged with sweetness or savored with spices as to destroy its nutritious qualities"
"There are some minds," he wrote, "which can only be approached by having their wholesome food so clogged with sweetness or savored with spices as to destroy its nutritious qualities"
Ironically, although the Nineveh Court was a shallow simulation of the ancient palace of Nineveh, it managed to match its fate.
After acting as the capital of the world for centuries, in 612 BCE Nineveh was finally sacked & burned by an alliance of neighbouring states.
After acting as the capital of the world for centuries, in 612 BCE Nineveh was finally sacked & burned by an alliance of neighbouring states.
The Crystal Palace was also destroyed by fire on 30 November 1936, which spread after a mysterious explosion in the women's cloakroom.
Its wooden flooring & the flammable exhibits fuelled the fire until it was unstoppable. The Assyrian Court went up in flames with the rest.
Its wooden flooring & the flammable exhibits fuelled the fire until it was unstoppable. The Assyrian Court went up in flames with the rest.
"In a few hours we have seen the end of the Crystal Palace,” said its heartbroken manager Sir Henry Buckland. “Yet it will live in the memories not only of Englishmen, but the whole world".
No part of the Nineveh Court display survived.
No part of the Nineveh Court display survived.
100,000 people came to Sydenham Hill to watch Crystal Palace burn. Winston Churchill was among them, & remarked, "This is the end of an age".
This was prophetic: in less than 3 years, World War II would begin, & the flames would spread to engulf London & the rest of the world.
This was prophetic: in less than 3 years, World War II would begin, & the flames would spread to engulf London & the rest of the world.
Today the Nineveh Court lives on only in the grainy photographs of Victorian visitors.
It reminds us of a time when one great, falling empire was enchanted with tales of another. It shows the attempts we've always made to imagine the past, so often fraught with failure.
It reminds us of a time when one great, falling empire was enchanted with tales of another. It shows the attempts we've always made to imagine the past, so often fraught with failure.
Further reads:
- Exhibition Guidebook, 1854: archive.org/stream/ninevah…
- Lending, Promenade Among Words & Things, 2015: journal.eahn.org/articles/10.53…
- Malley, From Archaeology to Spectacle, 2013: books.google.co.uk/books?id=LPWhA…
- Piggott, Palace of the People, 2004: books.google.co.uk/books?id=1W49q…
- Exhibition Guidebook, 1854: archive.org/stream/ninevah…
- Lending, Promenade Among Words & Things, 2015: journal.eahn.org/articles/10.53…
- Malley, From Archaeology to Spectacle, 2013: books.google.co.uk/books?id=LPWhA…
- Piggott, Palace of the People, 2004: books.google.co.uk/books?id=1W49q…
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