Page:History of Art in Persia.djvu/164

 Decoration. J53 purple to silver rings and pillars of marble : the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble. And they gave them drink in vessels of gold (the vessels being diverse one from another), and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king." ^ Although the features that attracted the attention of the Jewish writer differ from those over which. the pseudo-Aristotle dwelt with evident complacency, the impression left by perusal of the passages cited above is practically identical One supple- ments the other, and both aid us to reconstitute and put back in their old place the wood-work, the metal and ivory applications,, the draperies of every kind, which, owing to their perishable nature, were doomed to prompt and certain destruction. Ancient his- torians make no allusion to enamelled earths in connection with the palaces of Persia ; yet, arguing from analogy, it could have been safely predicted that they had largely contributed to decorate her edifices even before they were found among the ruins. Their employment is attested, for Babylon, by Ctesias, and recent dis- coveries have fully confirmed his assertion ;^ and for Nineveh, by the result of the excavations;' whilst we have frequently called attention to the close relationship observable between Persian and Chaldean architecture. Moreover, the blue ornamental tiles with which the mosques of Persia are embellished, and the beautiful specimens of her majolica which form the glory of our collections, testify one and all, that up to the last century she might be looked upon as the classic home and birthplace of the charming art of enamel. Was it at all likely that the taste and processes of this mode of ornament would have waited as late as the Middle Ages ' Esther i. 5-7. Rruss {Cottniifntary) is dis|)osed lo believe that the story of Esther was composed at the time of the persecutions directed against the Jews by Antiochus Epipbancs; that is to say, 170 years before our era (p. 291). Dieulafoy thinks that EsUier *' was written in good faith' at Susa by a Susian Jew ; and that, to judge from the Hebrew, its dates may be placed before the advent of Artaxerxes Mnemon, and long before the Parthian conquest " {Le Livre (TEsthtr ft Ic /•alais tAuuirus^ conference Jaite d la Sociite des etudes Juiies, le 14 Avril, 1888, 8vo, Pans, Duilacher). I confins to not being convinced by his line of argument, and am unable to agree with him that the author of the " Meghillab," to give it its Jewish name, wrote de visu about the Susian pjlacc, inasmuch as the instances contained in the narrative in question are of so vague and genera! a character as to fit any Oriental maosion. Nor can I follow him when he designates as a " de:>cription " casual hints thrown out in the tale (pp. 18-30). • Diodorus, II. viii» 6j Hist. 0/ Art, torn. ii. pp. 397-3oa
 * UiiLt lorn. ii. pp. 301-310, Plat-.s XIH.-XV.