Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/207

 Bk. II. Ch. III. KHOPvSABAD. 175 Those appropriated to carriages had plain jambs rising perpen- dicularly 12 or 15 ft. These supported a semi-circular arch, 18 ft. in diameter, adorned on its face with an archivolt of great beauty, 68. City Gateway at Khorsabad. (From M. Place.) formed of blue enamelled bricks, with a ]»attern of figures and stars of a warm yellow color, relieved upon it. therefore all the rooms of the houses in- side are arched also; and far more logical to reason that, because we can construct arches 100 or 1.50 feet span for our bridges, we should construct equally wide vaults for our roo)n. We do not, however; nor did the Assyrians. In tile tirst place, a mud-ljrick vault 40 feet in span would crush with its own Aveight ; and if employed in such rooms, for instance, as v., vi., andvii.of Botta's plan, they must have been in absolute darl^ness. The truth of the matter is, that 1 foresaw and announced 31. Place's discovery long before he went to Khors- abad.* Whati he has done since does not induce me to alter any feature in the restoration I then proposed. The Rev. Geo. Rawlinson's proposal to cover the halls with flat roofs of timber, stored," p. 259. without any supports, is equally unten- able.! If he had asked any practical l)uilder what extent he would roof in this manner without any framing, and with no other protection above than a heavy flooring of mud, he would probably have foimd 20 feet more than most men would like to undertake, and some of the halls require roofs 42 and 43 feet in span. In India we cannot roof spans beyond 2.5 or 2(5 feet, though we have saul and teak timber: at best, the Assyrians had cedar. In India also we have perfectly burnt tiles and exquisite chunam; neither of which the Assyrians possessed, or at least used for this piu'pose, or their remains would have been found on the floors. If Mr. Rawlinson will show the Indians how to accomplish 40 feet with even these per- fect materials, he would be the greatest t Ancient Monarchies, vol. i. p. 385.
 * " Palaces of Nineveh and Persepolis Re-