704 
ARCHITECTURE OF PERSIA. 
venture to conclude that it was the germ whence, were the 
means extant, we might trace every ramification of that branch 
of the art, throughout the earliest nations of Cush and Elam. To 
the former, we might even ascribe the architectural glories of 
the temple of Jerusalem, Solomon having received his chief 
workmen from Tyre; and the Tyrians being a people bordering 
on the ancient Assyrian empire, probably they learnt their art 
of the masters in Nineveh ; in the same way that “ Hiram, the 
widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali,” acquired his knowledge in 
the capital of the Phoenician king. From this very school of 
Hiram, Cadmus and his followers emigrated; and we can hardly 
doubt, that with the letters and sciences of his country, he 
would bestow some principles of its architecture on the people of 
Greece. Herodotus, speaking of Ecbatana, the capital of the 
Medes, while he gives an interesting detail of its splendour, 
ascribes its foundation to Dejoces, the Arphaxad of Scripture, 
who reigned about seven hundred years before the Christian 
era. Other writers honour that city with a little older date, sup¬ 
posing it to have been a work of ’Arbaces, who, about a century 
antecedent to the election of Dejoces, had assisted to overthrow 
the great Assyrian empire ; and dividing it betwixt himself and 
Belesis, governor of Babylon, so far from doing any thing extra¬ 
ordinary at that time for Ecbatana, (where, doubtless, he had 
resided during his delegated power,) as soon as he took posses¬ 
sion of his moiety of the spoil, and thence became king of 
Assyria, he removed to Nineveh; and the provincial capital, of 
course, fell into comparative neglect. This Arbaces is sup¬ 
posed to be the Tiglath-Pileser of Scripture, who first carried the 
tribes into captivity, and scattered them amongst the cities of 
Media. When that country was released from the yoke of 
