CIVIL ARCHITECTURE. 



TanpU* 



.Vcuader 



dc*M and grove* of frees. The wall* which encompassed 

 the city trv Mid by Herodoiua to hive been $85 fret 



l,i.;t-. 1 - " ' ' >< i they wrn- bi:i!t (.f bri, ^., la:il 

 in a mortar made of bitumrn ; they were surrounded by 

 , from which the bricks had been made. Damn 

 Hy*<ape* afterward* reduced them to 50 cubiti in 

 height. There w.rc 25 gmtei in each tide, oppotite to 

 the $treet ; and upon the wall*, between the gates, were 

 JoftT tower*. The tide* of the river were faced with 

 bnck work a* quay* ; and in the middle of the city was 

 a bridge. This bridge wa* constructed of pillars set at 

 11 feet distance, and covered with stones laid horizontal- 

 ly t the roadwiy wa* 90 feet wide. Above the city two 

 Caaal* were cut from the Euphrates to convey the flood 

 water to the Tigris, and to the west wa* an artificial 

 lake 4O mile* tquare, which received the water of the 

 river while the quays were constructing ; the lake was 

 afterward* used for watering lands. At each end of the 

 bridge was a palace ; the old one at the east end was sur- 

 rounded by three walls placed at a considerable distance 

 from each other, the whole being 30 furlongs in circuit. 

 The new one, by Nebuchadnezzar, was on the western 

 tide, and is said to have been eight miles in circuit, but 

 this no d >ubt also included the royal gardens and parks. 

 The wall* were embellished with sculpture, particularly 

 one piece representing Queen Semirarnis on horseback, 

 throwing her javelin at a leopard, while her husband Mi- 

 nus is piercing a lion. The temple of Belus occupied one 

 square. Near the old palace, in the middle, stood the an- 

 cient tower, the bate of which was about 600 feet on each 

 tide, it consisted of eight towers placed on each other, 

 and each 75 feet high : it diminished as it rose, and was 

 ascended by means of an inclined plane, which passed 

 eight times round the tower. In these towers were a- 

 partments supported by pillars : these were the temples, 

 the uppermost being the most sacred. The top is said 

 to have been an observatory. Nebuchadnezzar surround- 

 this tower with buildings, so as to occupy a square of 

 two furlongs on the side, and surrounded by a wall two 

 miles and a half in circuit. There were several bra/en 

 gate*, and many idoU of gold, especially one of Belus 

 30 feet high, placed on a pedestal 50 feet high. 



Cyrus, about 5fO B. C. took Babylon, by diverting 

 the water of the Euphrates, and entering by the diy 

 channel into the city. Susa being his capital, Babylon 

 rapidly declined in grandeur : having revolted, it was 

 again taken by a vile stratagem by Darius Hystaspes, 

 who demolished its gates, and reduced the walls. His 

 successor Xerxes, in 478 B. C. when returning from his 

 inglorious expedition to Greece, plundered and demolish- 

 ed the tower of Belus. The enterprising Alexander, 

 in 321 B. C. meant to have rebuilt it, and actually em- 

 ployed workmen to clear out the ruins, but his premature 

 death interfered with this and many other splendid pro- 

 ,1111 jrctt. In 294 B. C. it was almost exhausted of it* in- 

 to habitant* by Seleucus Nicanor to people his new city 

 * Seleucia. It suffered greatly by the neglect of the Par- 

 thian princes before the Christian zra ; and in the 4th 

 century, Jerome inform* us, that, " its walls were em- 

 ployed by the Persian prince* as an enclosure for wild 

 beasts, preterved there for the chase." 



Such has been the rise, progress, and termination of 

 ihii singular city, where architecture was practised on a 

 truly gigantic scale. Had the materials employed been 

 granite, porphyry, or marble, instead of bricks, we 

 should still, doubtless, with regard to mass, have had 

 fragment* worthy to be compared with thove of Upper 

 Egypt ; but as it it, we are to remember, that the latter 

 pan f the period we have becD contemplating, is distant 



24OO year*, and that the constructing and ornamenting of Htory. 

 Asiatic cities, wa* governed by the vanity and caprice of "^ "Y""'' 

 despotic sovereigns, instead of the unvarying pursuit* of 

 a permanent independent priesthood. 



From the best authorities, it appears, that Nineveh xineveL 

 resembled Babylon in form, extent, and population. 

 Diodoru* Siculut say* it was 4*0 stadia in circuit, that 

 its wall* were 200 feet high, and that there were 1500 

 towers. Strabo admits, that it was larger than Babylon. 

 It was taken by Arbacea and Belesis, 747 B. C. ; and 

 again by Astyaget, 626 B. C. when it wat totally 

 ruined. 



The next imperial cities were Susa and Ecbatana. Susa. 

 Susa was built or restored by Darius Hystaspe* ; it was 

 an oblong of 120 stadia in circuit, and situated upon the 

 river Ulilai, or Cutxus. 



Ecbatana was built by Deioces, king of the Medes ; it Ecuatana. 

 stood upon a gentle declivity, 12 stadia from the Mount 

 Orontes ; its circuit was 150 stadia ; it was unwalled, but 

 had a strong citadel or palace, encompassed by seven 

 walls, each distinguished by a separate colour, and rising 

 gradually above each other. Herodotus says, it was 

 about the size of Athens. Some are of opinion, that the 

 present Taurus is the same as Ecbatana, but there are 

 now no vestiges of the famous citadel or palace. It is 

 said by Sir John Chardin to have been, at the time of 

 his visit, the second city in Persia, and at that time to 

 contain 15,000 houses, 15,000 shops, 300 caravanserate*, 

 and 250 mosques ; that the total population was 550,000, 

 and that the piazzas exceeded those of Ispahan. 



Of all the ancient Persian cities, the ruins of f ersepo- Penepolit. 

 lis alone now exhibit to us a specimen of their palace 

 architecture. It is situated in 30 4O' N. latitude, and 

 84 E. longitude, in the province of Fars or Faristan, in 

 a fertile plain about 4O leagues in length, and from 2 to 

 6 in breadth. There arc, it is said, 880 village* in this 

 plain, and 1500 in a circle 12 leagues round Persepolis. 



Diodorua says, that Cambynes, after destroying the 

 Egyptian temples, carried the spoils into Persia, and 

 adorned the edifices he constructed by means of Egyptian 

 workmen. But it is known that Cambyses d't- d before 

 he reached Persia, and therefore it is more probable these 

 works may be attributed to his successors Darius and 

 Xerxes ; for Strabo states, that the kings of Persia, after 

 decorating the palace of Susa, did the same to Perse- 

 polis and Pasargade. 



There are no vestiges of the city of Persepolis, but the 

 extensive terraces, lofty columns, and Egyptian door- 

 ways of the palace, are singularly striking, (See Plate 

 CL1I1.) they are usually .denominated the forty co- 

 lumns, but the traces of 205 were discovered by Le Brim, 

 who spent three months in exploring, measuring, and de- 

 lineating the ruins and sculptures. Of this superb build 

 ing, the walls of three sides were then visible ; ttu- facade 

 was GOO paces from north to south, and 300 from east to 

 west. The 19 columns then standing were from 70 to 

 72 feet high, and 17 inches 7 nails in circumference. 

 From the annexed Plates and the discussions under the 

 Practice of Architecture, it will be seen, that these co- 

 lumns were different from the Egyptian : they appear 

 too slender to support much weight, and therefore 

 strengthen the probability of this being a summer pa- 

 lace, where temporary coverings were employed. 



Le Brun, after stating what is said by Diodoru* Siculus 

 Ptolemy of Alexandria, Strabo, Quintus Curtius, Stepha- 

 ntis, Ammianus Marcellinus, and Josephus, endeavour* 

 to prove, from the sculptures, tbst this wa* the palace 

 of Persepolis, destroyed by Alexander :J27 B. C. The Sculpture, 

 dress and arms of the figures are partly Persian and partly 



No traces 



of t lie city. 



PUT* 



Ul.lll. 



Three siilcs 

 of the pa- 

 lace visible. 



