112 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



LApkji,, 



jnifi^lit have been a happy man, had lie not rommitted the folly 

 <if takin;,'' the weaker siile aj,'ainst the stronirer, in a contest 

 hetween Ajiollo and I'an, when he was punished with a pair (pf 

 asses' ears hy the anirry Sun-jjod; he was likewise tormented hy 

 evil ilreams, in attempting to relieve himself from which, he died, 

 and it is to he hoped slept well at last in his gorgeous tomb. The 



Tomb of Blidas, King of Phrygia 



tomb at any rate is real, and remains to this day. The rock iipon 

 wliich it is carved is of volcanic tufa, isolated, and presentinj^ ,i 

 surface of about 131G square feet. The sculptured surface, exclu- 

 sive of the margin and pediment, is about +1 feet by 37 feet. Tlie 

 outside measurement of the niche is about 17 feet wide and 3g feet 

 deep; but the interior is not above G.^ feet in width, and so shal- 

 low, that it is difficult to conceive how a human corpse could have 

 been deposited there. The niche must formerly have been closed 

 by a slab of stone, upon which the ornamental pattern was con- 

 tinued. Over the pediment are two circular forms, meant to 

 represent either shields or volutes; and there are other richly- 

 sculptured fafades in the neighbourhood, wiih similar ornaments. 



The custom of suspending shields, not only over sepulchres, but 

 on the city walls and on the temples, was so ancient and universal, 

 that there is every reason to believe such to have been the origin 

 and intention of these ornaments, even when they take a more 

 volute-like form. Ezekiel alludes to this usage in chap, xxvii., 

 V. 11 : "They hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; 

 they have made thy beauty perfect;" and we know that the 

 ancient Greeks frequently presented shields as votive offerings, 

 when they were suspended on the walls of the temple. 



Alany Phrygian tombs are sculptured in the form of a richly- 

 ornamented and panelled doorway; but the door is fictitious, the 

 opening to the tomb being above. These tombs are entered by 

 shafts pierced in the rock, with niches in the sides, at intervals, to 

 facilitate the descent. In some instances, the excavated rock- 

 chambers communicate by means of these chimney-like shafts; so 

 that tier after tier, and chamber after chamber, may be traversed, 

 like a vast mine in the heart of the mountain. In some caves, 

 sarc(qdiagi are found; in others, funeral beds; and, in many, no 

 traces of their having been occupied, either by dead or li\ing. 



In Lycia and Xanthus, the tombs differ widely from those of 

 I'lirygia; many of the excavated chandlers have apertures singu- 

 larly resendjling the heavy nuillioned windows of the middle ages; 

 these are generally finished with denticulated ornaments and 

 pediments. In Xaiithus, sepulchres are found in the form of 

 towers, something resembling iu f(u-m high pedestals: perhaps they 

 may formerly have supjiorted sidiinxes, or statues. The tower or 

 pillar is a very ancient form of monument, immediately succeeding 

 the stone of memorial; there are two of great antiquity in the 

 north of Syria, between Tripolis and Tartous. The pedestal of the 

 first is about 6 feet in height; on this there are said to have been 

 four sphinxes, but they are now too much mutilated to be recog- 

 nisable. On the pedestal stands a circular c(dumn, about 20 feet 

 iu hei^;ht, divided into two parts, by a deuticuhifcd ornament, and 

 surnniunted by a small pyramid. The other ]iillar in- tower stands 

 at a distance of about 30 feet fr(uu the first, and is of similar form, 

 excejit that the sunmiit is dome-shaped, instead of pyramidal. 



The most remarkable tombs in Xanthus and Lycia are those in 

 the form of sarcophagi, raised ujnui a jiedestal; they are evidently 



hewn after the model of constructions in wood, and differ from 

 those of any other region hitherto explored. I use the word Sar- 

 cojihiiijux instead of the correct Greek term Sunix^ as being more 

 familiar. According to Pliny, a peculiar stone, found in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Assos, in .Vsia Minor, had the property of consuming 

 the bodies inclosed within it, whence it was called by the Romans 

 ■sarvo-pliuyus, or flesh-eating. 



Ancient Towers north of Syria. 



The Lycian and Xanthian sepulchres display a mixture of Greek 

 and Persian, or perha]is Assyrian taste; many of them are richly 

 decorated with bas-reliefs, as may be seen by referring to the 

 Xanthian marbles in the British Museum. One great peculiarity 

 of these tombs is the high-pitched roof, though such must have 

 been familiar to Homer, for in a passage in the Iliad, he compares 

 Ajax and Ulysses grasping each other in wrestling to the pointed 

 roof: — 



" Close locked above, their heads and arms are mix'd, 



Bfloiv Oieir planted teet at distance bx'.. ; 



hiUf two str.'ng ritl'ters which the binltlei forms. 



Proof to the wintry wind and howlnig st.rms; 



Tiieir lops connected, but at wider space, 



Fix'd uu the ceutre stands their solid base." 



Iliad. 



In Caria, also, the sepulchres are elaborate and beautiful. Ac- 

 coriling to Air. Hamilton, they form three sides of a square, the 

 fourth being .against the side of a hill, and must have the appear- 

 ance of porticoes leading to temples within the rock. At Hali- 

 carnassus, in this kingdom, was the celebrated tomb of Mausoleus, 

 king of C'aria, erected to his memory by his widow, Artemisia, 

 who is said to have drank up her husband's ashes, in despair, at 

 his death. Unlike many inconsolable widows, she never married 

 again, but died brokeu-iiearted in less than two years, after having 

 superintended the erection of this splendid monument, intended 

 to perpetuate her love and grief. This tomb stood upon a platform 

 411 feet in circumference; four architects were employed in its 

 construction; and as it was built at the time of Greek pre-eminence 

 (about 353 n.c), was doubtless in the (ireek style. It was called 

 the Uruiixii/eiiiii, and %vas so renowned for its beauty, that it has 

 given a name to all magnificent places of sepulture of subsequent 

 erection. 



In the Troad, and in Lydia, it was the custom to construct a 

 tumulus over the grave. Mr. Hamilton says, tliat in one plain in 

 Lydia, there are upwards of sixty tumuli, called by the Turks Hen 

 Tepeh (the thousand hills.) The'largest one, known as the Tomb of 

 Halyattes, is nearly half-a-mile in circumference. I have men- 

 tioned the antiipiity of the custom of burying under a tumulus in 

 a former lecture. Homer refers to it in tht ftdlowing passage: — 



" New all the sons of warlike Greece summiid 

 Tliy destuied tomb, and cast a ni'ghty iitoinid) 

 High on the shore the growing hi.l we raise. 

 That wide the extended Helle>po'il surveys; 

 Where all from age to age. who p ss ttie const. 

 May point Achilles' tomb, and haii the mighty Ghost." 



Odyssey. 



It would be neither interesting nor instructive, to enter further 

 into the antiquities of .Vsia Minor, rich as it is in remains of the 

 rarest architectural wtu-ks. The beautiful ruins of Ionia, jiCtolia, 

 &c., will be iiKiluded in the history of (Jreek architecture; and 

 any further notice of those existiiig previous to the rise of the 

 Hellenic colonies, would but be a tedious list of Cyclopean and 



