Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/257

 bk. II. ch. vir. LYCIAN TOMBS. 225 world. The oldest of them cannot well be carried farther back than the Persian conquest of Cyrus and Harpagus. In other words, it seems perfectly evident that up to that period the Lycians used only Avood for their buildings, and that it was only at that time, and prob- ably from the Greeks or Egyptians, that they, like the Persians them- selves, first learnt to substitute for their frail and perishable structures otliers of a more durable material. 115. Lyciaii Tomb. (From I'ritish Museum.) As already observed, the same process can be traced in Egypt in the earliest ages. In Central Asia the change was effected by the Persians. In India between the 2nd and 3rd centuries b. c. In Greece — in what Avas not borrowed from the Egyptians — the change took place a little earlier than in Lycia, or say in the 7th century b. c. What is important to observe here is that, wherever the process can be detected, it is in vain to look for earlier buildings. It is only in the infancy of stone architecture that men adhere to wooden foi-ms ; and as soon as habit gives them familiarity Avith the new material, they VOL. I. — 15