Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/249

 Elevation of the Temple. 227 S external enclosure, whilst in front they look upon the pavement and towards the gate. Finally, to each of the towers or kitchens at the four corners, we have given a corresponding square. 1 The roofs of all the houses and porches are necessarily terraced or flat. It is a mode of covering that from time immemorial has obtained in Syria. We read, moreover, that the Jews in the last siege fought from the top of the por- ticoes. We shall adopt this gateway as a general type. It is distinguished by a single bay flanked by pillars, with a plain architrave surmounted by an Egyptian cavetto ; a device borrowed from the valley of the Nile, by those universal adap- ters, the Phoenicians. We meet with it also in the tombs of Absalom and Zachariah, near Jerusalem (Figs. 141, 142). The former is partly rock-hewn, partly built with massive stones. The main en- trance, with bay and inner vestibule, widely projecting on the roof of the porch in which it is framed, will be seen on the second plan (Plate IV.). Beyond it are the niches and the passage, the latter being analogous to that which in Assyria traverses the massive block of masonry in the gateways from side to side. 2 But we have supposed it uncovered to let in the light upon the outer and inner vestibules. Here we must give at some length our reasons for having invested these pylons with features that are 1 Ezek. xlvi. 21-24. 2 Hist, of Art, torn. ii. pp. 480-482, Fig. 214. tmM = . - - j IllJiiilll •..< r.i'i, ' - ■ l -".°'H':| , •■/'' : : -i WM>}> '«. .£ JiM Fig. 142.— Entablature in the Tomb of Absalom. DeSaulcy, Voyage. Atlas, Plate XXXVIII.