Page:History of Art in Phrygia, Lydia, Caria and Lycia.djvu/96

 8o HISTORY OF ART IN ANTIQUITY. the singularity of its ornamentation, the mythical name of "Midas" written on the fa9ade, its situation at the head of the valley amidst picturesque rocks fringed with gloomy firs, have all helped to bring it out from among the rank and file sur- rounding it, which are either lost in the depths of plantations or buried out of sight in the clefts of the rock, a small aperture on the apex and an insignificant rude front being alone visible. The royal monument, on the other hand, has no trees to take from the proportions of its fine frontage (which starts from the ground, giving it an amplitude not to be seen anywhere else) and stupendous base of rock, 7 or 8m. high ; nothing, in fact, diverts the eye of the beholder from lasili Kaia (the Great Written Stone), as the native woodmen style it. Like a magnet, it has attracted and attracts every traveller who has visited or visits these parts ; it is the first, he wishes to see, and when he leaves it for a while, it is only that he may return to it, He makes it his head-quarters, the better to examine it. Our visit was in 1861. Solicitous as we were to push on to Ancyra, where a long and important work awaited us, we made all the same arrangements to spend the night in a neighbouring tomb, so as to devote another day to the monuments of the Midas necropolis. But Fate willed it otherwise ; this time in the guise of a heavy storm of rain and wind, which broke out during the night and did so much damage to our photographing apparatus, that it was rendered useless for the time. As the Midas plateau was not down in our programme, we did not feel justified in wasting the time requisite to take measurements, and make hand-sketches and photographs with a light camera of the tombs it contains. Reluctantly, therefore, and with heavy hearts, we set our faces towards our real goal, followed by the regret of not being able to tarry here for one week at least, so as to take exact measurements of the principal tombs, which even now have not yet been acquired to archaeology. Five and twenty years have gone by, and the sequel of the History of Art takes me back to these very wood- lands and picturesque rocks, that I may properly characterize and define the style and processes of Phrygian art from the remains it has left behind. Once again in my essayal approximately to date and classify the tombs met with in this region, the Midas rock, better than any other, will serve as starting-point and term ^ of comparison for tombs, the oldest of which may perhaps go