no 



THE ( IVIL EXGINEEII AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



^Apbil, 



tlie banqueting-Iiall Iiy fuIJing doors: thus, speiikiiig; of Penelope — 



"Touth'rl at the dreit'If'jl story, she desceruia; 

 Her ha.tly steps a il.itnsel tr.iiii attends. 

 Full where the tlf>mu Its shining valves expnnds* 

 Sudden before tbe rival powers she statids." 



Odyssey. 



The aula was paved with mnvMe; but the floors of the inner 

 a|iartiru"Mts were of piilislicil wood, as were also the im])osts of 

 the f.'ateway. Tlie chaiiiher where tlie treasures were kept is 

 ilescrilied as having' a floor of |polislie(l oak, anil tlie roof supported 

 hy coliiniiis, from one of wliicli I'eiiclopi' took down the how of 

 l.'lysses. Attached to the house was a hase court, whicli contained 

 the stahles, fjranaries, and otlier farm huihliiifjs; in tliis court was 

 a circular structure, with a conical dome, called a tliolus; it had a 

 wooden jiillar in the centre, hut for what use this hiiilding' was 

 desiiTMcd is uiu-ertaiii — it may have been a store-room, or perhaps 

 a threshinj^-floor. 



Ejjyptian influence has been suggested by the tapering form of 

 the dtiors anil windows in Greek architecture; but it must be 

 remembered, that while the e.xterior wall of Ef;yptian buildinj^s 

 assumed a pyramidal form, the apertures were always vertical; in 

 the (ireek, on the contrary, the doors and windows only sloped 

 inwards, the exterior wall being' invariably vertical. 



According to I'ausanias, Lycosura in Arcadia was the most 

 ancient city in Greece; a few Cyclopean walls only remain. — 

 'I'iryns in Argos follows next in date, and is said to have been 

 founded 1710 ii.c, upwards of 900 years before the first recorded 

 Olympiad. Both Himier and Hesiod mention the well-built walls 

 of Tiryns: those of the Acropolis are formed of enormous blocks 

 of unhewn stones; the external wall varies in thickness from 

 19 ft. 9 in. to '2,5 ft. 3 in.; many of the blocks of which it is con- 

 structed are 10 feet in lengtli, and s(mie as much as 13 feet in 

 length by 4, ft. tin. in thickness; their breadth is from 3 feet to 

 7 ft. 6 in. The g.illery of Tiryns is the most ancient vault in 

 Greece; the doorways are formed by stones placed obliquely, and 

 meeting at the summit, thus forming a kind of piiinted arch: this 

 form is met with wherever Cyclojieau remains exist. 



We know nothing of the inhabitants of this city, except from an 

 anecdote Athena^us has left us. It seems they were a wonderfully 

 frivolous and light-headed people, making a jest of the most seri- 

 ous matters, and always ready for a laugh; at last this propensity 

 became beyond a joke, and they applied to the oracle at Del|dji for 

 some means by which to get ipiit of their superabuiulaiit hilarity. 

 The answer vouchsafed was, that they were gravely to sacrifice a 

 bull to the god Poseidon, and with etpial gravity to cast it into the 

 sea. On an appointed day, the inhabitants of Tiryns assembled to 

 witness the much to be desired consummation, and behaved with 

 becoming decorum; till an unlucky youth, repelled in his endea- 

 vour to force his way through the crowd, exclaimed, "What! are 

 you afraid I should swallow your Imll.?" This idea so tickled the 

 fancy of the giddy-patcd multitude, that they burst into a loud 

 laugh, the sacrifice was interrupted, and tliey thenceforward re- 

 signed themselves to an inevitable destiny. 



The most perfect and interesting Pelasgic ruin in Greece is the 

 ancient Mycena;, in Argolis, the capital city of the unfortunate 

 race of Atrevis. Its early kings were so wealthy, as to gain for it 

 the title of the "Golden ]Mycena?." The citadel is an oblong, 

 nearly 1000 feet in lengtli, and is entered by two gates, on oppo- 

 site sides. There were towers on each side the gates, but none 

 round the walls. The custom of consecrating gates, by placing 

 over or upon them sacred images, has existed in every |ieriod of 

 history: the (iate of the Lions (so called), at .Myceiue, is an ex- 

 ample of this time-honoured usage. As tlie citadel was conse- 

 crated ground, the principal entrance-gate was likewise hidy; the 

 image placed above was the symbol of the tutelary deity, the 

 liieron before which the jieople worshipped: as in Ezekiel xlvi. 3., 

 "Likewise the people of the land sh.iU worship at the door of this 

 gate, before the Lurd, in the Sabbaths and in the new moons;" and 

 again, in Psalms, Ixxxvii. '2, "'J'he Lord lo\etli the gates of Zion 

 more than all the dwellings of .Tacob." The people of Mycenaj 

 and Argos were worshippers of Apollo, as the Suu-god, the same 

 divinity as the Indian IJacchus, ' 'i'lie animals sculptured above 

 the gateway are evidently intended for panthers, not lions: the 

 panther was consecrated to the Indian IJacchus; the orb and pillar, 

 placed between the panthers, were also dedicated to Apollo, or sun 

 worship. 



Not only were religious ceremonies performed, but markets, and 

 courts of judicature, were held before the holy gate; for this pur- 

 pose, a paved court or open space was necessary, where the kings 



* Here agaiu we meet with a renniulit ut the old Alithratic worsbi)). 



or judges could hold their sitting.s on solemn occasions. This 

 custom is alluiled to in many passages of holy writ, as in Deutero- 

 nomy xvi, 28: "Judges and oflScers shalt thou make thee in all thy 

 gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes; 

 and they shall judge the people with just judgment." In 1st 

 Kings, xxii. 10: "And the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat the 

 king of Judah, sat each on his throne, having ]nit on their robes 

 in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the 

 prophets prophesied before them." In the Book of Proverbs, i. 21: 

 "She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the 

 gates;" and in Prov. xxxi. 23: "Her husband is known in the 

 gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land." At Myce- 

 na;, the walls of the citadel project in parallel lines, so as to form 

 an area, or oblong court, before the gateway. The Litms' Gate is 

 now nearly filled up with earth and rubbish, so that its height 

 cannot be ascertained; it is 9i feet in breadth; the stone fornung 

 the lintel is 15 feet in lengtli, 6 ft. 8 in. in breadth, and !• feet in 

 height. The panthers, with the orb and pillar, are sculptured on 

 a piece of green basalt, of triangular form, which is let in above 

 the lintel: the opposite gateway is constructed in a similar manner, 

 but the triangular stone above the lintel is jilain, not sculptured. 

 In some instances there would seem to have been an outer gate, as 

 David is described as sitting hetwuen the gates, waiting to hear the 

 result of the battle between Joab and Absalom. 



Ancient Gateway, Asia Minor, 



There is a very curious gateway in .^sia Minor, near the Turk- 

 ish village of Euytik, equally illustrative of the custom to which I 

 have just alluded. The imjiosts are nearly 12 feet in height: on 

 the outside of each is sculptured a sphinx-like figure in high relief 

 • — monstrous creatures, with human heads, birds' bodies, and lion's 

 claws; these were, no doubt, the sacred liiera, perhaps symbolical 

 of regal government. The walls, which are Cyclopean, here ad- 

 vance about It feet on each side the gateway; the stones forming 

 the lower course round the t:ourt are squared, and rudely sculp- 

 tured with figures in low relief. Within the gateway there is an 

 avenue of large stones, which must have led into the city. This 

 ruin is perhaps one of the most curious relics of the heroic age 

 now in existence. 



These gateways with upright imposts and a flat lintel across, 

 may be called Cyclopean, as they are always found in connection 

 with rude unhewn masonry; when the span was too great for a 

 block of stone, a wooden beam was placed across as a lintel. — ■ 

 Pelasgic gateways are generally rude arches, formed by the courses 

 of stones projecting one over another, capped by a flat stone at the 

 summit: the accompanying drawing is an illustration of this style 

 of coustnictioii — the (iateway of .\ncient Ejihesus, which, it will 

 be observed, approaches very closely to the perfect arch in out- 

 line. 



Immediately without the walls of JNIycena?, rises a mound or 

 tumulus, and within this is the tholus or vaulted chamber, some- 

 times called the Treasury of Atreus, but now generally known as 

 the Tomb of Agamemnon. The treasury of Atreus is mentioned 

 as a brazen chamber; but this vault could scarcely have been so 

 described, even if the walls had been lined with metal ])lates, as 

 has been conjectured from the nails in the wall. Nor is it pro- 

 bable that a treasury, containing the wealth of the state, would be 

 situated witlumt the walls of the citadel; besides, the very form of 

 the tumulus seems to announce a sepulchre; and the comparison 



