Page:History of Art in Primitive Greece - Mycenian Art Vol 2.djvu/38

 Funereal Rite^. ^1 formed part of the filling ; proving that when the earth was heaped against the facade, the plaster was still fresh and moist. This vault is regularly planned ; here are no rebuildings, or niches pierced in the wall, or pits dug in the ground, or lateral chambers, as in many another tomb (Fig. 249). The construction, decora- tion, arrangement, and every detail about this grave show that they all formed part of the original plan ; a fact which Fig. 249. — Mycenae. Plan of rock-cut tomb. favours the hypothesis by which we explain the exceptional spontaneity found here, relating to all the operations demanded by funereal rites. Were affairs managed after this fashion in buildings like the two great domed-tombs at Mycenae, and the no less magnificent sepulchre at Orchomenos ? ^ Given the belief in an after life, the seal of which is perceptible on everything domed-tombs. VOL. II. C
 * Tsoundas is inclined to think that a very similar arrangement existed in the