M Y E N &. 503 
thickness. There are other stones also of im- c * iAP - 
mease size within the Tomb; but this is the 
most considerable ; and perhaps it may be 
mentioned, as the largest slab of hewn stone in 
the world 2 . Over this entrance there is a tri- 
angular aperture; the base of the triangle co- 
inciding with the lintel of the portal, and its vertex 
terminating pyramidically upwards, so as to 
complete, with the inclining sides of the door, 
an acute, or lancet arch. This style of archi- 
tecture, characterizing all the buildings of 
Mycence and of Tiryns, is worthy of particular 
attention ; for without dwelling upon any nuga- 
tory distinctions as to the manner wherein 
such arches were constructed ; whether by 
projecting horizontal courses of stone, or by 
the latter invention of the curvature e'xemplified 
in all the older Saracenic buildings 3 , it is evident 
that the acute or lancet arch is, in fact, the oldest 
form of arch known in the world; and that 
examples of it may be referred to, in buildings 
(2) Excepting only Pompey's Pillar: but this is of a different form, 
being not so wide, although much longer. The famous pedestal of the 
statue of Peter the Great, at Petersburg, often described as an entire 
mass of granite, consists of several pieces. 
(3) See " Two Letters on the subject of Gothic Architecture," by the 
Rev. John Haggitt; Camb. 1813 ; wherein the Eastern origin of the 
" Pointed Style" is clearly demonstrated. 
