and climatic conditions are strong and easily determined. Only a few exam- 

 ples are needed to show how the art of gardening has steadily progressed in one 

 direction for centuries, and we shall see at the same time how styles have been 

 influenced by the necessities of life and by surroundings. 



It must, however, be remembered that almost no trace is left of the famous 

 gardens of antiquity. We know where many of them were situated, we know 

 the dimensions and some of the details of others, but to gain an idea of their 

 effect we must always draw largely on our imaginations. Contemporaneous litera- 

 ture aids us a little ; a knowledge of the flora of the country helps us to finish 

 oflF the picture ; but the whole must in the end be, necessarily, a fabric of the 

 imagination. 



The formal garden had its beginning many centuries ago. Owing to the 

 admirable pictorial descriptions of the ancient Egyptians, we have a fairly accu- 

 rate idea of their gardens six thousand years back. Maspero, in his " Dawn of 

 Civilization," tells about a garden a description of which is carved on the tomb 

 of Amten, an important Egyptian nobleman who lived four thousand years 

 before Christ. " He built," says Maspero, " upon the remainder of the land 

 a magnificent villa, of which he has considerately left us the description. The 

 boundary wall formed a square 350 feet on each face, and consequently con- 

 tained a superficial area of 122,500 square feet. A well-built dwelling-house, 

 furnished with all the necessaries of life, was surrounded by ornamental and fruit- 

 bearing trees, — the common palm, the nebek, fig trees, and acacias, — several ponds, 

 neatly bordered with greenery, afl^orded a habitat for aquatic birds ; trellised vines, 

 according to custom, ran in front of the house, and two plots of ground planted 

 with vines in full bearing supplied the owner with wine every year." 



An interesting drawing, found in a Theban tomb some forty centuries old, 

 shows, in a curiously combined plan, elevation, and section, a garden almost exactly 

 like that described above. We can see not only all the parts mentioned in the 

 earlier account, but can recognize certain trees and plants, see the birds swim- 

 ming on the ponds, and the vines climbing on the trellises. The whole was 

 laid out with paths and terraces, so as to afford shade from the hot sun and 

 shelter from the burning winds; and is an interesting example of the utilitarian 

 and the decorative garden combined. 



The fame of such gardens as these, together with other forms of Egyptian 

 art, traveled to the neighboring Eastern countries. Not only did the conquerors 

 often adopt the artistic traditions of a vanquished nation, but commerce, too 

 assisted in spreading art. The Assyrians, the Persians, the Phoenicians, and the 



