Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/565

Rh Bk. I. Ch. V. PERSIA. 549 981. Plan of Tomb of Zobeid^, Bag- dad. Scale loe ft. to 1 in. Bagdad which may belong to this epoch ; and even if it should prove to be more modern, is interesting from its presenting us with a new form of pyramidal roof. It is known as the tomb of Zobeide, the favorite wife of Plaroun al-Kashid ; i but as it stands alone, and we have no earlier buildings from which we can trace it, and no later one of a date sufficiently near to enable us to check any conclusion we might arrive at, we must be content to assume the tradition as correct till the contrary is proved. It is an oc- tagonal building, 80 ft. in diameter externally and 130 ft. in height, with an entrance porch attached to one- side. With such dimensions as these it would hardly attract remark in the vicinity of an Indian city, but the form of its roof is very peculiar. My own impression is that it is borrowed from earlier buildings, possibly even of the old Babylonian or Assyrian periods. Its greatest claim on our interest, however, arises from the fact that something very like it is found in India in the ear- liest Hindu and Jaina temples, for Avhich no reasonable origin has yet been assigned. All recent discov- eries seem to point to Assyria as the source of much which is found in the early architecture and my- thology of India, and this, among other indications, is well worthy of attention. The same form occurs aajain in a building known as the Tomb of Ezekiel, near Bagdad (Woodcut No. 983), the date of which has never been satisfactorily ascer- tained. It occurs, also, at Susa, on the so-called tomb of Daniel, and generally seems to be so usual in the age of the caliphs, and is so peculiar, that it must have long been in use before it could become so generally diffused. From these, which may belong to the age of the caliphs, we pass at once to the Seljukians, who seem to have been possessed of stronger building instincts. One of the earliest buildings of this race of which anything like 982. Elevation of Tomb of Zobeide, Bag- dad. Scale 50 ft. to 1 in. 1 For the plan and elevation of this building I am indebted to the unpublished drawings of the late M. C. Texier.