Page:History of Art in Persia.djvu/277

268 History of Art in AumQurry. Royal Buildings at Pasargad.e. It vras near Pasargadx that Cyrus defeated A sty ages, and the remembrance of a victory which had raised the Persians to the first rank is said to have endeared the place to him. Hence it was that he built here palaces and treasuries which still existed at the time of the Macedonian invasion/ The ruins covering the little plain which takes its name from the village of Meshed- i-Murghab are supposed to be the remains (^f these edifices (I^^ig- 9 4)- T li e y stand close to the tombs and altars we have described above, ^ and are groiijjcd within a rcctanirle 2400 metres by 700 metres wide, whose cir- cumference corresponds, perhaps, with that of the ancient town. Eight hundred metres northward of the Gabre (Fig. 49) is an area sHghtly raised above the surrounding level, within wiiich rises a solitary pillar, along with three ^ pilasters or antre which formed the corners of the walls (Fig, ii, 23). Taking these into account, as well as the traces left by several columns upon the ground, jambs of doorways and juts of walls, an idea is gained of the disposition of a building 44 m. 60 c. long by 34 m. 60 c. broad (Fig. 130). Among the apparent remains of the antique construction, a four-pillared porch, with two lateral chambers, lends itself to a probable restoration ; then comes a great hypostyle hall, divided ' Strabo, XV iii. 5, 7, 8 ; Arriin, III. xviii. 10. ' //is/, of Art, torn. v. ch. iii. § 2 ; ch. iv. § 3. Digitized by Google