Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/316

 284 ETRUSCAN ARCHITECTURE Part I. Tombs. i- The tombs of the Etruscans now found may be divided into two classes — first, those cut in the rock, and resembling dwelling-houses; secondly, the circular tumuli, which latter are by far the most numer- ous and im])ortant class. Each of these may be again subdivided into two kinds. The rock- cut tombs include, firstly those with only a fa9ade on the face of the rock and a sepulchral chamber within ; secondly, those cut quite out of the rock and standing free all round. To this class probably once belonged an immense number of tombs built in the ordinary way ; but all these have totally disappeared, and consequently the class, as now under consideration, consists entirely of excavated examples. The second class may be divided into those tumuli erected over chambers cut in the tufaceous rock which is found all over Etruria, and those which have chambers built above-ground. In the present state of our knowledge it is impossible to say which of these classes is the older. We know that the Egyptians buried in caves long before the Etruscans landed in Italy, and at the same time raised pyramids oer rock-cut and built chambers. We know too that Al)raham was buried in the cave of Machpelah in Syria. On the other hand, the tombs at Smyrna (Woodcut No. Ill), the treasuries of jMycenffi (Woodcut No. 122), the sepulchre of Alyattes (Woodcut No. 113), and many others, are proofs of the antiquity of the tumuli, which are found all over Europe and Asia, and appear to have existed from the earliest a^es. The comparative anti(juity of the different kinds of tombs being thus doubtful it Avill be sufiicient for the jnirposes of the present work to classify them architecturally. It may probably be assumed with safety that all the modes which have been enumerated, Avere practised by the Etruscans at a period very slightly subsequent to their migra- tion into Italy. Of the first class of the rock -cut tombs — those with merely a fa9ade externally — the most remarkable group is that at Castle d'Asso. At this place there is a perpendicular cliff with hundreds of these tombs ranged along its face, like houses in a street. A similar arrangement is found in Egypt at Beni Hassan, at Petra, and Gyrene, and around all the more ancient cities of Asia Minor. In Etruria they generally consist of one chamber lighted by the doorway only. Their internal arrangement appears to be an imitation of a dwelling chamber, Avith fm-niture, like the apartment itself, cut out of the rock. Externally they have little or no pretension to archi- tectural decoration. It is true that some tombs are found adorned with frontispieces of a debased Doric oi- Ionic order; but these were exe- cuted at a much later ])eriod and under Roman domination, and