400 A R C II I T E C T U R E [ASSYRIAN. )lis * Of the domestic structures of the same early time we have no remains, but it would appear that the grander buildings had courts, surrounded by colonnades, somewhat in the Egyptian style, the columns and beams being of wood, coloured, and sometimes gilt, or coated with metal. Above was a sloping roof. We learn particularly from this that the Persian or Median architects were thoroughly well used to a wooden construction. Some 50 years after Cyrus, the chief buildings at Perse- polis and Susa were constructed ; large portions still remain, and form some of the grandest ruins in existence. Of these we have measured drawings worked out by Messrs Texier and Flandin, from which we derive the chief part of our knowledge, although we have very interesting accounts by Sir It. K. Porter, Mr Rich, Mr Morier, Mr Loftus, &c. Buildings The existing buildings at Persepolis occupy a remarkable
- it Perso- position on an elevated platform (partly, it would seem,
artificial) at the foot of a steep rock in the face of which were cut out the tomb chambers of the Persian kings. The platform was 1425 feet on the west side, and 926 feet on the north, about the size of the Horticultural Gardens in Lon don, including the arcades and conservatory. It was raised about 40 feet above the level of the adjoining country, and faced with a wall, built with stones of an immense size. The platform was approached by the grandest flight of steps in the world, each step being 22 feet long. Having scaled these, the stranger would pass through the first building, viz., the Propylreum of Xerxes, a building whose remains have given rise to several theories as to its original plan and purpose. There remain two grand gateways 24 feet apart, with portions, more or less perfect, between these, of four columns 45 feet high. The gateways had openings of 13 feet, and each of their piers was partly composed of bulls, admirably executed, and strikingly like the Assyrian sculptures at the Louvre from Khorsabad. The human heads of these animals are crowned with coronets of leaves, and from the top of the coronets to the hoofs, the animal measures 19 feet. Nothing further has been discovered which would throw light on the general plan of the building. Mr Fergusson believes that it was enclosed and roofed, and served as a justice hall, or place of assembly at the entrance of the palace. M. Flandin s idea is, that the structure was a mere open portico roofed, but without walls, except perhaps for a few feet in height. Through this structure was the entrance to the grand palace, the Chehil Minar, i.e., hall of 40 columns, an Eastern mode of expressing a great many, as there were really 72. It was approached by a magnifi cent staircase, each step of which served as a pedestal to a figure (1 ft. 9 in. high) in bas-relief , the whole representing a procession, and of great value as giving the varied costumes, &c., of the period. The columns of the palace are arranged in four divisions, viz., one of 3G columns in the centre, and three each of 12 columns in two rows, divided from the centre by a space of about GO feet. Of all these only 10 are standing, but the bases of most remain, and the whole ground is covered with the ruins of the columns that have fallen. Their height varied from 60 feet (includ ing capital and base) in the front division, to 67 ft. 4 in. in the centre one. In these columns there is an advance upon the architecture of Egypt, for they have bases, richly carved, and capitals of a form unknown to our art, before or since. The typical form is that of the double-headed bull with a deep cavity between the heads, evidently in tended to hold a beam. There is a quaint grandeur about these columns, from their design and their gigantic size. The capitals of one division, the western, are 7 feet high, and 12 ft. 2 in. wide, whilst the shafts, 54 ft. 10 in. high, are each composed of only four great marble blocks. Unfortunately we have only fragments of these buildings, with no history or tradition to guide us as to their perfect forms. There are no walls, no doorways, and no roofs. Mr Fergusson in his restoration places walls between the several divisions, and thus forms them into one grand, enclosed structure, with a mass of columns in the centre, and three porticoes at the sides. He also believes that there was an upper story, to which, indeed, some Persian writers have alluded. Sir R. K. Porter s restoration, with that of Messrs Flandin, Coste, and Texier, is quite different. They believe that the four groups of columns were isolated and had no enclosing walls, but were simply screened by curtains ; that the centre divi sion had a flat roof with an opening in the centre, protected by an awning, for light and ventilation ; that the roof, cor nices, and superstructure of all kinds, were of wood, as no fragment of a stone cornice, lintel, or tile has been found. Now it so happens that at Susa there was another great Rem;;im> palace, similar, or nearly so, in size and plan to that at Su^.. Persepolis, and with an inscription showing it to have been built by Artaxerxes Mnemon, son of Xerxes. The height of the columns is unknown, but the capitals and bases correspond closely with those at Persepolis. The capitals have singular volutes under the double bull s heads, the whole being 28 feet high, the capitals alone being thus as high as the columns and bases together of St Martin s, Lon don. Mr Loftus examined this struc ture carefully, and satisfied himself that no walls had ever existed. In addition to this an ancient drain has been found at Persepolis, in the very line which one of the main walls must have occupied. Mr Loftus therefore agrees with Sir R. K. Porter and the others in their restoration. The de scription in Esther i. 6, has been sup posed to refer to this palace. Two other structures at Fersepolis were really enclosed viz., the palaces of Darius and Xerxes. Each has the four divisions of columns, as at the Chehil Minar and Susa; but the jambs to the doors and other por tions of the enclosure still remain. These were clearly places for habita tion. A still larger enclosed build ing, the hall of 100 columns, has also left gigantic fragments. The size and arrangement are unknown ; but it must have been about 225 feet square, and enclosed by walls, some of the doorways and blank windows of which remain. The excavated tombs of the kings, high up in the face of the mountain, just as described by Diodorus, are the only other important remains of ancient Persia. To sum up as to our knowledge of Persian art, the greater part of the remains are columnar, not an edifice is built on the Assyrian plan, and there is little to remind us of Assyria except the human headed bull. The doors and windows somewhat resemble those of Egypt. They have the same plain architrave, the large roll, cavetto, and fillet at top. But the sides of the portals are straight ; there are no massive pylons, and the whole character of the columns, bases, and capitals is utterly unlike any known remains of Egyptian or Assyrian art. By what stages the Persian architects arrived at the singular work at Persepolis and Susa we cannot now judge. All we know is that Persian art was developed contemporaneously with that of Greece, though with utterly different results. The elegant form of the Greek temples, the curve of the Assyrian arch, would seem to have been unknown to the Persians, who, it appears likely, worked out their latest forms by gradual FIG. 41. Compound Capital and Base of
Column at Susa.
