Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/138

 122 A History of Art in Sardinia and Jud^a, less supported a public structure, either civil or military. Scattered on the surface of that portion of the rampart which is over the subterraneous passage, are massive stones, with a cyma moulding rudely carved upon them, which formerly belonged to a doorway, now fallen in. In troublous times, when the enemy tried to force this gate, a sortie through the unsuspected inner passage might be effective from its very suddenness. These few indications suffice to give an idea of the defences of a city, which we hope will be completed by some future explorer, when the elements upon the art of fortification used by the nations of Asia Minor, before their point of touch with Hellas, will be brought to light, enabling us to compare the resem- blances and divergencies which are observable in the methods of Oriental as against Greek engineers. Nor is this all ; it Is quite possible that the tra- ditions relating to the founda- tion of Greek cities, which told of heroes who had come from Asia, would find their fulfil- ment here ; and that strong analogy would be discovered between the fortress under notice, and those of Mycenae and Tiryns. It should be noticed that the wall curtain, so far as we examined it, is nowhere flanked by towers, not even about doorways. The omission is the more striking that a similar mode of defence was resorted to in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Syria, from the remotest antiquity, to prevent the enemy approaching the wall.^ In the present state of the structure, the question of whether the lacune was supplemented by embattlements cannot be decided with absolute certainty, but all tends to prove their non-existence. The Cappadocian architect, therefore, with his smooth wall top, without salience, shows less skill and knowledge of his art than his Assyrian colleague. Moreover, he does not appear to have foreseen or calculated that the length of line of the city wall was out of all proportion with the smallness of the place and consequent garrison entrusted with its defence ; so that when surrounded by a superior ^ Hist, of Art, torn. ii. p. 350. Fig. 308. — Subterraneous Passage. Restored Section of Entrance. Perrot, p. 329.