Page:History of Art in Persia.djvu/256

 246 Hi$TORY OF Art in Antiquity. 1 1 1 light, symbol of goodness, could not shine in honour of the god of darkness. Iran never advanced to the last consequence of dualism ; that is to say, it never taught the expediency of sacrificing to Angro- MainyOs, the author of all evil, so as to appease and disarm him. If, how- ever, Persia offers two examples of altars of this nature, or twin plinths, the rule does not seem to have been absolute. At Ghflr, near FerQz, is an isolated monument, without a pendant thereto, whose base disappears under stones that have fallen from above ; to w hich the Persians also apply the name of aiesh-gah (Fig. 1 24). The appearance of the Fiu. 121. — r»- HundK. Plu OINudCoSTt, PUte CCIU. Fio. 122. — I'asar- gadx. Plan of ailar. JHd. 1 ' ' • ' ^ WMI; Fig. laj^Puargadx. Elevation and sectioo of alUrs. FHd. ruin is a stony mass, which time has not yet entirely covered with earth, whose function can have been no other than to elevate the sacred hearth so as ' '. to make it visible at a distance.* The ', four corners of the ' ^ - - building emerge from the rubbish. Between these kind of advanced works the wall is not ap- parent ; to judge, however, from the talus formed by the accumulated materials and the marks left by the stones, we are led to infer that the central block of the construction had a very prominent salience beyond those at the sides (see Fig. 124). By sounding these fragments, it has been ascertained that the Fig. 124.— FeiSs-Abad. Fifc>teinple. Prewntatatt. Gconrtriail iiifade. /«/., Arte XXXVII. by Google
 * Flamdin and Coste, Pent tumnme^ pp. 36, 37.