2 25 THE RITUAL OF BARROWS AND CIRCLES. 



sides of the Apennines had the same shape and the same specific 

 direction, for their sharp angle always pointed to the nearest 

 hillside, as if in veneration of some long-vanished temple on 

 high. 



A similar recognition was given by the synagogues of Palestine ; 

 they were so constructed that the worshippers, when they entered 

 and as they prayed, looked towards Jerusalem. 



In like manner at the present time Mohammedan mosques are 

 erected with an intention, not always accomplished, to look in 

 the direction of Mecca. 



It is remarkable, however, that the Birs Nimroud, of IMesopo- 

 tamia — the traditional Tower of Babel, the Kaaba of IVIecca, the 

 Temple of Jerusalem, the Parthenon and Stonehenge — all face to 

 the north of east, to the summer sunrise. 



In the days of the Empire, all Roman buildings, secular as 

 well as consecrated, were rectangular, and were oriented in the 

 secondary sense, south and north. But in earlier times as 

 regards sacred buildings, the correct official rules were well 

 summarised by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, Caesar's military engineer, 

 who wrote 20 years before Christ. 



" If there is nothing to prevent it "he says, " and the use of 

 " the edifice allow it, the temples of the immortal gods should 

 " have such an aspect that the statue in the cella [the sanctuary] 

 " may look towards the west, so that those who enter to sacrifice 

 " or to make offerings, may have their faces to the east, as well 

 " as to the statue in the temple. Thus suppliants and those 

 " performing their vows seem to have the temple, the east, and 

 " the deity looking at them, as it were, at the same moment. 



" Hence all the altars of the gods should be placed towards 

 *' the east. But if the nature of the site do not permit this, the 

 " temple is to be placed so that the greater part of the city may 

 " be seen from it. 



" Moreover, if temples be built on the bank of a river, as 

 " those in Egypt on the Nile, they should lace the river. 

 " [Speaking generally the Nile runs north and south.] So, also, 

 •' if temples of the gods be erected on the road side, they should 



