Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/128

 112 A History of Art in Sardinia and Jud^a. foundation was alone stone built, but that the superincumbent layers consisted of unbaked bricks, which have been reduced to powder or mud. Did the holes serve to unite the first layer of bricks, by having small pointed pieces of wood stuck into them, which in their turn entered the under-part of the brick, and which, being filled with soft clay, through induration became incorporated with the superincumbent bricks ? Both contrivances are possible ; but the same result could have been obtained at less expenditure of labour, by mere indentation in the upper face of the stone. That the bricks in crumbling away should not have formed a mound, under which the foundations of the edifice would have been buried, is explained by the fact that it stood on the slope of the hill, hence torrential rains and the melting of the snow have cleared and washed away all that was not stone or adhering to the rock (Fig. 294). The other explanation that has been proposed is that the building of the palace was interrupted by the Lydian invasion. But against this hypothesis are the following facts : that both esplanades are blocked up with rubbish ; that the cyclopaean blocks are not everywhere above ground ; that there are traces of hinges, and that a few paces from the entrance was a throne, now overturned, decorated with twin lions, that have sunk in the ground, from which we had no time to rescue them. This is our reason for having reproduced the annexed woodcuts (Figs. 296, 297, 298) from Texier's drawings.^ As will be observed, the manipulation recalls Assyrian and those Hittite examples which we have passed In review in a former chapter. Here, too, the body of the lion is unduly elongated, and the impression of high relief is obtained by the same means. The throne stood formerly In the court of the building, but was dragged out by the inhabitants in the hope of finding a treasure which they thought might be concealed beneath it. The main division is a vast rectangle 25 m. long by 21, covering nearly half the surface built over. Three doorways (i In plan), with a double vestibule, gave access to It from the outside. That this was a court where, as in Assyria, stood the throne (found outside) on which the monarch sat on stated days to transact ^ The dimensions given by Texier do not seem to us to be quite correct ; nor is the throne of marble, as stated by him, but of white calcareous stone, like the foundation wall.