Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/387

 Bk. IV. Ch. V. TOMBS. 355 feature except the apparent absence of a door and on the whole, it seems, if finished, to deserve its name less than either of the other two. Perhaps the most singular object among these tombs, if tombs they are, is the flat facade with three stories of pillars one over the other — slightly indicated on the left of the Corinthian tomb in Woodcut No. 234. It is like the proscenium of some of the more recent Greek theatres. If it Avas really the frontispiece to a tomb, it was totally unsuitable to the purpose, and is certainly one of the most complete misapplications of Greek architecture ever made. Generally speaking, the interiors of these buildings are so plain that 235. Rock-cut interior at Petra. (From Laborde's " Sinai," p. 198.) travellers have not cared either to draw or measure them ; one, how- ever, rei)resented in the annexed woodcut (No. 235), is richly orna- mented, and, as far as can be judged from what is published, is as unlike a tomb as it is like a vihara. But, as before remarked, they all require re-examination before the purpose for which they were cut can be ])ronounced u])on with any certainty. The next group of tombs is that at Jerusalem. These are undoubtedly all sepulchres. By far the greater number of them are wholly devoid of architectural ornament. To the north of the city is a group known as the Tombs of the Kings, with a fa9ade of a