History of Ancient Art

by Franz von Reber

As the entablature was in all probability entirely constructed of wood, and has disappeared without a trace, the restoration of this part of the building is difficult. But the normal forms may yet be determined with greater correctness than is presented in Coste’s restoration (Fig. 82), which is a tasteful combination of the scotia and roundlet cornice common to both Egyptian and Assyrian architecture, with dentils and the leaved ornaments found above all the doors and windows of Persian remains, and with the decorations upon the borders of staircase buttresses. A number of rock-cut tombs appertaining to the early Persian kings, the Achemenidæ, and dating from the time of Darius, represent the façades of royal palaces, and give important information concerning the exterior appearance of such structures. The oldest and best-preserved of these is designated by cuneiform inscriptions as the tomb of Darius. (Fig. 83.) It is especially interesting as illustrating the formation of the entablature. An epistyle, triply stepped, like that of the Ionic style, so that each face slightly projects beyond the one beneath it, is placed above the transverse beam, which lies upon the backs of the double-headed animals forming the capitals of the columns. The multiplication of the faces of the epistyle is explained by the weakness of the timber produced by Mesopotamia and Persia, which, in opposition to the single and massive Doric lintel-block, required the employment of several beams to obtain the desired capability of support. Upon it followed the ornaments known as dentils, representatives of the small and closely lying joists of the horizontal, slightly projecting roof. They are quite similar to the dentils upon the tombs of Beni-hassan, and to those of the still more naïve imitations of wooden houses found in Lycia, which will be considered in the following section.

In Persia, the proportions of the dentils and of the distances between them are still characteristic of the original timbered construction—a truthfulness of imitation which was lost as early as the development of the Ionic style. The nature of the band following above is not clear; it might be natural to suppose in it a representative of such a hollow cornice with leaves as Coste has introduced upon his entablature, were it not that a frieze-relief with ornamental lions is visible upon this member in another tomb, and that a remarkable block of the Palace of Darius at Persepolis bears further testimony against it. One of the corner piers of the front portico of that building has been preserved to such a height that the side bearing of the lintel can be observed. This renders the projection and outline of the entablature certain. It was six times stepped, and may best be reconstructed, as in Fig. 84, by a series of narrow bands, which represent in some measure the layers of the horizontal ceiling and roof. From a comparison with the rock-cut tomb, it is plain that a further cornice, like that over the door and window-frames, was here not possible. If a parapet had been desired for the accessible platform of the roof, it must have taken the form of a light balustrade, not that of a heavy scotia cornice.

The oldest and, because best-preserved, the most intelligible of the royal dwellings upon the terrace of Persepolis is that shown by inscriptions to have been built by Darius. (Fig. 85; and K upon the topographical plan of Persepolis, Fig. 78.) It exhibits a regular and well-considered plan, the oblong form and general disposition of which are somewhat similar to the simpler Greek houses. A flight of steps led from each side to the narrow southeastern front—a double tetrastyle loggia. This was flanked by two moderately large rooms, which, as they could be entered only from the portico and had no connection with the interior, were probably intended for guards or servants. A door, between four windows, opened into the square hall, the ceiling of which was supported by sixteen columns, standing in line with those of the loggia. This space corresponded to the atrium of Greek and Roman houses. Three of its sides, that of the front being excepted, had access to inner rooms—those upon the right and left being small, while, opposite the entrance, they were more spacious, and separated from the hall by a corridor. The walls were enriched by niches as well as by door and window openings. Through one of the chambers upon the left was a lateral entrance, reached by a double flight of steps upon the southwest. Notwithstanding the preservation of the special foundation terrace, of the steps, of the door, window, and niche frames, as well as of some corner piers, the ruin did not at first glance make evident the disposition here described. All the columns of the palace have disappeared. It is uncertain whether this is because the supports of the less pretentious structure were of wood, or whether stone shafts, of the moderate dimensions which must be assigned to them, were carried away during the two thousand years in which the ruins of the palace terrace have served as a quarry for neighboring towns. The square plinths upon which the columns stood have, however, remained in their original position, so that the number and site of the supports may be easily and surely determined. The greater portion of the walls has also disappeared. Some corner piers and the marble frames of doors, windows, and niches, cut from immense monolithic blocks, alone stand erect; but their perfect state of preservation and well-marked position permit the nature of the wall between them to be determined without difficulty. It seems that this was of small quarried stones, or even of brick, thus being easily removed, or, in the latter case, reduced to dust by atmospheric influences; while the massive door and window casings were secure from removal by man and from the injuries of time. Their stepped jambs are decorated upon the inner side with reliefs; the heavy lintels have a scotia cornice, carved with a triple row of leaves and bordered below by an astragal. Of the openings for providing light to the great hall no traces remain. If, as is usually supposed, the windows now recognizable were all that ever existed, the chambers of the palace would have been most gloomy, with the exception of the hall of columns, which had four openings upon the loggia, besides the door. The light of the hall itself must have been dim, for it could not enter directly, the windows and doors being beneath the shade of the deep portico, with its double range of columns; and when still more impeded by the close-standing shafts of the hypostyle, it would have been wholly insufficient for the chambers. It is further to be remarked that several of the inner rooms have no direct communication with the hall, while if they had depended on it for light they would certainly have been provided with window-openings in place of the blind niches. It is evident from the existence of a second story, presently to be discussed, that horizontal apertures in the roof and ceiling could not have existed; this would be even more inadmissible here than in the palace buildings of Nineveh. It is necessary, however, to assume other openings for illumination and ventilation than those now to be observed in the ruins, and windows were most probably arranged in the manner in which the Orientals still secure their dwellings from the view of the outer world while admitting light and air—the manner customary with the Assyrians, as well as with the more ancient Greeks. The apertures were probably upon the exterior walls, just under the ceiling, high above the ground. All traces of architectural members in such a position must necessarily have disappeared when the mass of masonry which supported them was overthrown. It is possible that their form was entirely plain, like that given in the restoration of the Palace of Darius at the head of this section (Fig. 77), and offered no carved details to aid in their recognition.

A comparison of the rock-cut façade upon the tomb of Darius with the palace of that king will aid in the consideration of the upper story. As the tomb represents the palace with but slight variations, even agreeing tolerably well with its proportions, it may be supposed that the monarch copied his dwelling upon the front of his grave, that he might, as it were, inhabit it even after his death. This is not an isolated instance of such a proceeding in the history of architecture. The second story, distinctly recognizable upon the tomb, cannot be regarded as an insignificant decoration, especially as the Palace of Darius at Persepolis seems, from its plan, to have been thus arranged. The limited area covered, exceeded by many a modern private house, renders an enlargement by a second story natural; and this is also made probable by the hypostyle, which occupies a place where an open court, with full upper light, would otherwise have been more suitable. Space for the staircases was provided by the two narrow corridors next the rear chambers. The second story was not, however, extended over the entire ground-plan, but seems to have left the flat roof of the side chambers as an elevated veranda, perhaps sheltered from the sun by canopies, as the talar, a similar though smaller upper structure, stands as a pavilion upon the modern houses of Persia. The walls of the second story could scarcely have been placed elsewhere than upon the otherwise unreasonably thick partition-enclosure of the hypostyle hall. They could not have stood over an intercolumniation, as upon the façade of the rock-cut tomb—for this would have been difficult, if not impossible of construction—but in other respects the upper part of the palace may have been like that representation. Its corner supports, which are a strange combination of scotias and roundlets, ending below in lion’s paws and above in a one-sided lion capital, have, at least, every appearance of being copied from an architectural model, and are similar in their lower half to the legs of the throne given in Fig. 87. The standing figures, which, in double row, support the ceiling, may have been carved in relief or simply painted. That this was a common ornament is evident from its repetition upon the reliefs of gateways, where such typical figures are admirably characterized as representatives of the various nations subjugated by the Persian power, they literally supporting the throne. The entrance and the second-story windows may be supposed to have been upon the side opposite the front, where the veranda was broadest and the staircases led from the lower floor, as otherwise the imitation of the façade upon the rock-cut tomb would have shown windows and doors as well as a staircase, which probably led in double flight to the uppermost roof. That this house-top was flat and accessible is evident from the reliefs considered in this connection (Figs. 83 and 87), one of which represents the royal throne shaded by a canopy, the other one of those fire-altars which, according to Persian custom, was placed upon the highest level of the house. This altar upon the summit of a royal palace is mentioned in the Bible, when Hezekiah, overthrowing the Sabæan worship of the sun, destroyed “the altar which is upon the top of the upper rooms of Ahaz.” In the restoration of the Palace of Darius (Fig. 77), the introduction of the altar with the royal canopy may be considered as more than a mere decoration of the design. This simplest and best-preserved ruin upon the terrace of Persepolis permits a comparatively trustworthy understanding of the elements of Persian palace architecture.