PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 413* 



in the East it "became in some cases largely developed. A stage 

 of the development in Ceylon is described as follows : 



" In the Rajavali Devenipiatissa is said to have ' caused caverns to be 

 cut in the solid rock at the sacred place of Mihintala ' ; and these are the 

 earliest residences for the higher orders of the priesthood in Ceylon, of 

 which a record has been preserved." 



" The temples of Buddha were at first as unpretending as the residences 

 of the priesthood. No mention is made of them during the infancy of 

 Buddhism in Ceylon, and at which period caves and natural grottoes were 

 the only places of devotion." 



Referring to later stages, during which there arose " stupendous 

 ecclesiastical structures," Tennent adds : 



"The historical annals of the island record with pious gratitude the 

 series of dagobas, wiharas, and temples erected by" Devenipiatissa "and 

 his successors." 



A dagoba " is a monument raised to preserve one of the relics of Go- 

 tama . . . and it is candidly admitted in the Mahawanso that the inten- 

 tion in erecting them was to provide ' objects to which offerings could be 

 made.' " 



Here though we do not get evidence that the architects were the 

 priests, yet other passages show that Buddhist temples were the 

 works of converted kings acting under direction of the priests. 

 Moreover, the original development of architecture for religious 

 purposes, and the consequent sacredness of it, is curiously implied 

 by the fact that the priesthood " forbade the people to construct 

 their dwellings of any other material than sun-baked earth." 



This last extract recalls the general contrast which existed in 

 ancient historic kingdoms between the dwellings of the people 

 and the buildings devoted to gods and kings. The vast mounds 

 from which Layard exhumed the remains of Babylonian and 

 Assyrian temples are composed of the debris of sun-dried bricks, 

 mingled, doubtless, with some decomposed wood otherwise used 

 for constructing ordinary houses. Layers upon layers of this 

 debris were accumulated until the temples were buried, as some 

 temples are even now being buried in Egypt. Whether it was 

 because of the costliness of stone, or because of the interdict 

 on use of stone for other than sacred purposes, or whether 

 these causes co-operated, the general implication is the same 

 architecture began in subservience to religion (comprehending 

 under this name ancestor- worship, simple and developed) ; and 

 was, by implication, under the control of the priesthood. Such 

 further evidence as Ancient Babylonia yields, though indirect, is 

 tolerably strong. Saying of the temple and palace " solemn 

 rites inaugurated its construction and recommended its welfare 

 to the gods," and implying that its plan was governed by estab- 

 lished tradition (of which the priests were by implication the 

 depositaries) Perrot and Chipiez write : 



