It is probable that the more ancient city was surrounded by suburbs. The mausolea are spread over a considerable area; and, even in Erkizan, the houses are built up with the faced stones which are characteristic of the ancient masonry. In this quarter we remark, beside the base of a tomb, a capital, enriched with an Arab ornament, and a large stone, elaborately chiselled. Both these objects are observed at random, lying unheeded on the ground. The Government house is a solid stone building; the graceful pointed arch which we notice over a doorway would seem to indicate that the influence of the monuments is still alive. Adjoining it is placed the prison. There are two or three shops, with deep verandahs over the shop, the whole surmounted by the roof. The dwellings are widely scattered; and, if window glass were universal, they would present an appearance both of solidity and of comfort. Little lanes intersect the gardens; the murmur of water and the scent of the flowering olives fill the air with sweetness and pleasant sounds.
Fig. 181. Akhlat: Iki Kube—(The Kala, or Ottoman City, in the background).
Such are some of the notes one makes when on a day of midsummer we wend our way on horseback through the straggling settlement of Erkizan with the purpose of exploring the ancient sites. As we pass the prison, an old Armenian protrudes his head from one of the windows, and begs us to intercede on his behalf. On the outskirts of the oasis we are met by the Kaimakam, mounted on a white mare, with black and yellow trappings, and with a two-months-old foal at foot. In his company, and in that of a green-turbaned khoja, whom he employs as writer, we pass an old mulberry tree on the fringe of the fertile zone, and enter the waste on a westerly course.
A ride of twenty minutes, walking our horses, brings us to the iki kube, or two tombs ([Fig. 181] and see the plan, Nos. 1 and 2). They are separated by an interval of about ten yards. Let me describe, once for all, the design of such edifices, known in the country by the name of kumbet. A circular, or drum-shaped structure rests on a deep pedestal, which slopes outwards to a square base. But the four angles of the pedestal are cut away in the shape of a wedge, the point of the wedge resting on the base. The whole is surmounted by a conical roof. On the level of the ground, an arched aperture gives access to a chamber, built in the hollow of the base. In this chamber, or beneath its floor, was presumably placed a coffin; but the catafalques, if such existed, have disappeared. The ground, too, has buried the base in most cases, so that you can only just crawl through the top of the arched aperture. On the other hand, the floor of the circular structure, resting on the pedestal, is high above the ground; and, in the absence of any stairs, you are obliged to clamber up the face of the pedestal, making use of little crevices in the stones. Four open doorways, placed at regular intervals in the circumference, at once serve as entrances to the upper chamber, and as windows, through which the landscape expands on every side.
It is supposed that the prospective occupant of the tomb, or the pious visitors to this place of burial, would sit and rest within this cool, circular chamber, beneath the lofty roof, enjoying the views of the country around. They would, however, have needed a ladder to reach the entrances. The interiors are quite plain; in one instance (No. 1) we observed traces of plaster; but, as a rule, there is neither ornament nor covering of the surface of the masonry, in which one admires the even joints of the blocks of faced stone. The material of these tombs is stone throughout—a pink volcanic stone. All the resources of the decorative sculptor are lavished upon the exterior, especially about the doorways, the four niches in the intervening spaces, and the cornice beneath the roof. In some cases raised stone mouldings enrich the surface of the roof. Sometimes a frieze is carried beneath the cornice, the most effective being hewn out of white marble.[3] They are inscribed with sentences from the Koran. The beautiful Arabic letters vary the effect of the elaborate geometrical patterns in the decorated spaces of the walls beneath. The personal inscriptions are usually found over the doorways; and, in some instances, are engraved upon white marble slabs. The two tombs which we are now visiting both possess such inscriptions; the khoja copied them; they are in Arabic prose. Those on the first tomb (No. 1) record that it is the burial-place of a great Emir, by name Nughatay Agha, and of the lady, wife to Nughatay. The date of his death is given as A.H. 678, or A.D. 1279. The second tomb is described as that of Hasan Timur Agha, son of this Nughatay, who died in A.H. 680 or A.D. 1281.[4]
Quite close to the iki kube, in a north-westerly direction, is situated a third tomb, which is still erect (No. 3). It is less richly decorated than the preceding, and is without any commemorative inscription. Making westwards, we at once enter one of the shadiest of the oases, passing a fourth mausoleum within its fringe (No. 4). A much less tasteful structure than the others, it is also of different design. Within the chamber are ordinary graves, with marble headstones; the inscriptions on the headstones, and on a marble slab in the wall outside, indicate that it was the burial-place of some Kurdish princes of Modkan in the first quarter of the eighteenth century. Almost opposite this tomb, which is without architectural merit, a most curious edifice, quite ruinous, is observed upon some waste land (No. 4b). Built into a pile of massive masonry are some slabs or blocks of stone, of Cyclopean character. The largest has the appearance of a lintel; it is twelve and a half feet long and three in thickness. The recess behind the slabs, upon which it rests transversely, is blocked up by a wall. A portion of a grinding stone is seen lying on the ground, perhaps belonging to a linseed press.
The oasis belongs to the quarter of Iki Kube, and the gardens contain a number of modern dwellings. It is remarkable for the size and leafiness of the walnut trees. The remains of several ancient edifices rise from among the foliage, or are strewn upon the grass. The most notable is a square building of some size, with an octagonal and conical roof (No. 5). The walls are featured by square windows; but the architecture is plain and without ornament, and the appearance is stumpy and without grace. Perhaps it was a tomb like the rest. A smaller mausoleum of similar design is seen by the wayside (No. 6). It is almost buried beneath the ground. Before we leave the oasis, to visit the walled city on the shore, we are shown a subterraneous and vaulted chamber, now used as a store for hay.
We now change direction and cross a zone of desert between the oasis and the walled city. When close to the north-western tower, we pause to admire the site, which commands the whole expanse of the lake. The view is only bounded by the distant ridge of Varag, which rises behind Van. The walls describe the figure of a parallelogram, of which the two long sides have a length of about a quarter of a mile, and descend in a south-easterly direction to the margin of the lake. The breadth of the figure, along the shore, is about half its length. The slope, although gradual, is not inconsiderable; the north-western tower is 130 feet higher than the level of the lake. The wall on the south overlooks a shallow ravine, through which trickles a little stream.
The character of the walls may be described as a single rampart, with hollow towers at intervals, some round, and others pentagonal. The rampart has a thickness of about six feet, and consists of a pile of stone, faced with hewn and jointed blocks after the manner of the old Armenian masonry. But the greater part of this facing has fallen away or been stripped off, displaying the raggedness of the pile within. We could find no evidence of breaches having been made in the enclosure; nor were there any visible traces of its having undergone a siege. The wall along the shore has long since disappeared;[5] and the lake has encroached upon its rocky bank. About halfway down the more southerly wall is situated the inner walled enclosure of the palace or citadel. This inner fortress comprises an area which is roughly rectangular, and which is of no great extent. It is flanked along the three inner sides by a rampart and towers, but the city wall is at the same time the wall of the citadel along the fourth or outer side. The site is signalised by a slight projection of the fortification, and by the greater propinquity of the towers to each other. From the tower at the north-eastern angle of the citadel a cross wall is carried down to the sea. The upper portion of the principal enclosure, as well as the space within the citadel, is now completely bare. Nothing but the foundations of houses and buildings can be discovered within that area. The few modern houses are collected in the south-east corner, and have been built from the material of the old fortress. Their inhabitants resemble phantoms rather than human beings; but the orchards, which are confined to this lower part of the enclosure, enhance the picturesqueness of the old kala, sloping down the hillside to the blue water.