Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/206

 174 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE Part I. proximity. Every one ascending the ramp or standing on its summit must have looked into its courts, unless they were covered with awn- ino-s or roofs in some manner we do not quite understand ; and we can hardly assume that such a tower was intended as the praymg place of the king and the king only. The fact is undoubted, however we may explain it. F'rom the above description it Avill be observed that in every case the principal part, the great mass, of the palace was the terrace on which it stood, which was raised by artificial means to a height of 30 ft. and more, and, as shown in the ilhistration (Woodcut No. 61), carefully reveted Avith stone. On this stood the palace, consisting principally of one great block of private apartments situated around an inner square court. From this central mass two or three suites of apartments projected as wings, so arranged as to be open to the air on three sides, and to give great vai-iety to the outline of the pal- ace as seen from below, and great play of light and shade in every aspect under which the bi;ilding could be surveyed. So far also as Ave can judge, the whole arrangements were admirably adapted to the climate, and the ornaments not only elegant in themselves, but singu- larly expressive and appro})riate to the situations in which they are found. Another most important discovery of M. Place is that of the great arched gates of the city. These were apparently always constructed 67. City Gateways, Khorsabad. (From M. Place.) in pairs — one for the use of foot-passengers, the other for wheeled carriages, as shown by the marks of wheels worn into the pavement in the one case, wliile it is perfectly smooth in the other.i ^ From the disnovory of these arches, M. Place jumijod instantly to the con- elusion that hcranse the Assyrians could construct aii aich IS feet span with kiln- burnt bricks for a city Rate, therefore they vaulted all the rooms of their pal- aces with .s^nr-dried bricks, though some of these apartmeuts were tipward of 40 feet in width ! It would have been (piite as logical to reason that because all the gates of all the walled cities in Europe "are arched,