to have constituted the _hareem_ or private apartments of the monarch.
It adjoined the state apartments at its northern angle, but had no
direct communication with them. To enter it from them the visitor had
either to cross the Temple Court and proceed by the passage above
indicated, or else to go round by the great entrance (X in the plan )
and obtain admission by the grand portals on the south-west side of the
outer court. These latter portals, it is to be observed, are so placed
as to command no view into the _Hareem_ Court, though it is opposite to
them. The passages by which they gave entrance into that court must have
formed some such angles as those marked by the dotted lines in the plan,
the result being that visitors, while passing through the outer court,
would be unable to catch any sight of what was going on in the _Hareem_
Court. even if the great doors happened to be open. Those admitted so
far into the palace as the Temple Court were more favored or less
feared. The doorway (_d_) on the south-east side of the _Hareem_ Court
is exactly opposite the chief doorway on the north-west side of the
Temple Court, and there can be no reasonable doubt that a straight
passage connected the two.

It is uncertain whether the _Hareem_ Court was surrounded by buildings
on every side, or open towards the south-west. M. Botta believed that it
was open; and the analogy of the other courts would seem to make this
probable. It is to be regretted, however, that this portion of the great
Khorsabad ruin still remains so incompletely examined. Consisting of the
private apartments, it is naturally less rich in sculptures than other
parts; and hence it has been comparatively neglected. The labor would,
nevertheless, be well employed which should be devoted to this part of
the ruin, as it would give us (what we do not now possess) the complete
ground-plan of an Assyrian palace. It is earnestly to be hoped that
future excavators will direct their efforts to this easily attainable