Page:History of Art in Persia.djvu/80

 The General Prinxiplbs of Form. 65 mounds* a habit which neither Egypt nor Greece had known. In Mesopotamia, where stone is scarce, the mound consisted of beaten earth or rubbish and a brick casing ; but in mountainous Persia it was of hewn stones of large size. Except for this, the principle was identical; in both instances the edifices rose on artificial supports. Such a disposition as this involved the necessity of artificial ascents so as to connect the plain with the buildings on the terraced platform, which the architect managed by means of inclined planes and spacious staircases, about which the pomp and circum- 3r Fit;. 15. — Persepolis dcMrways. Elevation CLV1I«. '»M Hall of a Hunrlrcd Columns. Comioc of lateral Flanuin and Costs, Pint amUmne, Plate Stance of an Oriental court had ample opportunity for display. The arrange- ment imposed upon the ar- chitect was used by him for intro- ducing variety of aspect in the sides of his colossal substructures, and preparing large plain surfaces for the sculptor (Fig. 16). The plans of the palaces built by the Achaemenidas appear to have been as simple as those of the modern Persians.* When we take up in their consecutive order the different groups of ruins that are scattered on the surface of the plateau, we shall try to g^ess at the destination of the buildings they represent In the mean while the reader will have to be content with a few general remarks. Nowhere have traces of staircases been found here, from which we might suppose that the buildings were many stories high, all the apartments having seemingly been on the ground- floor. In a dry climate like that of Far% no evil effects were to be feared from a similar arrangement ; on well-paved platforms, too, where the feeblest incline sufficed to carry off rain waters. The rooms, those Deseri^H dt (ArtiUnk adela Ftm^ torn. u. pp^ 45, 46. r Digitized by Google
 * In regard to the simplicity in plan of modem Persian palaces, consult TtxnsR,