The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus Restored in Conformity With the Recently Discovered Remains

by James Fergusson

Laudibus immodicis Cares ad astra ferant.”

It is absurd to suggest that this might refer to some little structural difficulties about a roof, as no roof was ever less seen than that of this building. Besides, a roof is not a mausoleum; but the upper chamber here was so called, according to Pliny; and the fact, therefore, of people being able to walk round the building and see the town on one side, or the shipping and the sea on the other, through it, under its floor, may well have led the Halicarnassians to boast that their great tomb was supported in the air. This would in those days be even more striking than at present, inasmuch as there was not, so far as we now know, a single two-storied temple or tomb of any importance then existing.

With regard to the dimensions of the chamber, we found above that the upper one was, externally, 63 Greek feet by 52 ft. 6 in., or in the ratio of 5 to 6; and if we deduct half an intercolumniation, or 3 cubits, for the thickness of the walls, we attain 52 ft. 6 in. by 42 feet for the internal dimensions; which is probable, inasmuch as it comes out in the ratio of 4 to 5, and is besides a very probable constructive dimension with reference to the mass of the roof, which was almost wholly supported on these walls. The dimensions of the lower apartment were in all probability identical with those of the upper room. With regard to the mode in which the upper chamber was lighted there can be no difficulty. Four windows are introduced in each side, similar in design to those of the Temple of Minerva Polias at Athens. Less would do; but as it is easier to subdue than to increase the light, it probably was thus.

Both these rooms probably had flat marble roofs. The lower one almost certainly had; and if so, there must have been columns in the centre, as it would have been impossible to throw a marble beam across an apartment 42 feet in width. These pillars would not only add very considerably to their beauty architecturally, but may also to a certain extent have been useful in steadying the external roof; not indeed that this was required, for, whether it was constructed on the principle of a horizontal or of a radiating arch, the abutment and walls are quite sufficient for its support. At this day we should certainly employ a radiating construction; the architects may have preferred the horizontal arch in those days.

For the upper chamber I have suggested a niche at the upper end, opposite the door, where an altar probably was placed; and on either side I fancy there would be sarcophagi, not to contain bodies, but to suggest rites. Such at least is the usual arrangement in all the great tombs I know.

If this apartment was as magnificent as I suppose it to have been, there was, of course, easy access to it, which may without difficulty be attained by the means suggested on the plan (Plate I.). According to this scheme, as a visitor entered the building between the two great piers in the eastern front, he might either ascend by the stairs on his right hand or his left to the peristele; or by the great door in front of him, beyond the stairs, he might enter the lower chamber. From the peristele a second flight of equal extent led to a landing from which a third flight gave access to the peristyle in such a manner as to leave the entrance to the chamber as unencumbered as possible, as probably an altar was placed there.

It will be observed that each of the flights of stairs was perfectly lighted, the lower and upper being open above, and the intermediate flight open from the side. Their existence here will also explain why the intercolumniation was deeper by one-half in front of the cella than in the flanks. But for this difference, the stairs, instead of being 5 ft. 6 in. in width, could barely have been 2 feet wide.

The only other apartment for which it is necessary to find a place in the building is the tomb itself. This fortunately is no difficulty, as the excavated stairs at the west end of the building, and the big stone which was found there, certainly indicate its whereabouts, even if they do not actually fix the spot. Besides this, the expressions used by Guichard in themselves almost suffice—“It was situated beyond a low doorway, after the manner of an antechamber.” This cannot, of course, apply to a vault under the hall first discovered by the Knights, but describes accurately such a chamber as the wider intercolumniations at the further end would fully admit of, while the fact of the stairs being excavated[21] gives the requisite height without interfering with the peristele above.

In the plan and sections I have suggested stairs leading down to it; and even if it is insisted that the Tomb of Mausolus, on the right, was walled up,[22] and the stones let down immediately after the interment, it does not follow that the Tomb of Artemisia, which probably was on the left, may not have been accessible long afterwards; and there may have been other vaults beneath to which it was desirable to give means of access.

There may also have been recesses for sarcophagi or urns in the thickness of the walls on either side of the principal chamber, as represented in the plan; but these are details it is hardly worth while entering into at present. There is no authority for them, so every one may supply or reject them as suits his own fancy.