Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/91

 WESTERN ASIATIC ARCHITECTURE. 33 Pyramids and other early structures were near the delta of the Nile. In Western Asia the march of civilization spread north- wards from Babylon (the Gate of God) to Nineveh, while in Egypt it spread southwards from Memphis to Philae, but in both cases it developed from the sea inland. ii. Geological. — The whole district of Chaldaea or Lov.-er Mesopotamia is alluvial, being formed of the thick mud or clay deposited by the two great rivers Tigris and Euphrates. The soil, containing no stone and bearing no trees, could be made into bricks, which thus became the usual building material. The general body of the walls was constructed of the ordinary sun- dried bricks, while "kiln-burnt" and sometimes glazed or vitrified bricks of different colors were used as a facing. As a cementing material, bitumen or pitch, applied in a heated state, seems to have been used, being obtained from bitumen springs found in the district, as at Is, on the Euphrates. Mortar, made of calcareous earth, was used in the latest periods. In Assyria, where stone was not scarce, the walls were also faced, internally and externally, with alabaster or limestone slabs, on which were carved the bas-reliefs or inscriptions, which are so important from an historical point of view. iii. Climate. — The unhealthy exhalations from the vast swamps in Chaldaea, and the swarms of aggressive and venomous insects infesting the entire region during the long summer, rendered the construction of elevated platforms for the towns and palaces not only desirable, but almost essential. Moreover, the floods during the rainy season, when torrents fell for weeks at a time, further demanded the need for such structures. Persia is for the most part a high tableland and has been described as a country of sunshine, gardens, and deserts, with a climate ranging from the extremes of heat and cold. iv. Religion. — The people were worshippers of the heavenly bodies, such as the sun and the moon, and of the powers of nature, such as the wind and thunder. Numbers of omen tablets have survived, and bear witness to the extreme superstition which existed. Ormuzd, the god of light and of good, as opposed to Ahriman, the god of darkness and evil, was worshipped with fire as his symbol. Temples, and even images, do not seem to have been necessary, as sacrifices and the worship of fire and sun appear to have been conducted in the open air, and thus the essential stimulus was wanting for the rise and development of religious art. On the other hand, the man-headed bulls, placed at the entrances of temples and palaces, probably had a mythical mean- ing, and appear to belong to the class of beneficent genii or to that of the great deities of the Chaldaean pantheon. V. Social and Political.— Judging from their history, the F.A. D