Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/147

 The Sanctuary. Iasili-Kaia. 131 leave no doubt as to their belonging to the stronger sex ^ (Fig. 312) (Plate VIII. D). Doubts may be entertained with regard to the two central figures of this group, who, but for the hair, which is cut short, and smoking caps (see Figs. 262, 269), might well pass as women, with their trailing robes and redundant outlines. We are of opinion that these, and the two larger effigies in Figs. 314 and 321, were eunuch priests. The two principal figures on each side are nearly 2 m. high ; those immediately attendant upon them are i m. 70 c, and the others from 80 c. to 75 c. Such a difference of scale is common to all primitive people, and was born of the desire to indicate the relative importance of personages, which in their simple conception could only be reached by marked difference of stature. Hence the rank and file were never apportioned the height of kings and priests, these in their turn yielded the palm to deities. Agreeably to these notions, which it is not necessary further to develop, it is clear that the two figures heading the procession (which we take to be gods) are the most important in the group. Opinions are divided as to the subject these figures were intended to represent. At first Texier considered them as the meeting of the Amazons and Paphlagonians ; later " Ashtoreth calling to immortality an impeccant prince ; " l with the gods Amanus and Andates, who, on the statement of Strabo, were worshipped on the same altars with her.^ Raoul-Rochette and Lajard, on the other hand, believe that they were intended for the two great Assyrian deities — the god Sandan and Mylitta, Ashtoreth, Aphrodite. Others again, among whom Hamilton,* are inclined to recognize in them the meeting of two conterminous kings, to commemorate a treaty of peace concluded between them, under the auspices of their respective deities. But which nations, we may ask, were they ? We know abso- which he pubhshed in an interesting account (" On the Early Historical Relation between Phrygia and Cappadocia,"y<?z^;7/^/ 0/ the Royal Asiatic Society y vol. xv. Pt. I. pp. 14-21) of these bas-reliefs, which he carefully examined, failed to carry conviction to our minds. "^ The citation is from E. Vinet, whose article, " Les Missions de Phenicie et d'Asie Mineure," published by Didicr in a miscellaneous volume, entitled LArt et rArcheoloj^ie, 1874, was suggestive of many an instructive comparison. " Memoire sur rilercule phenicien et assyrien {Academie des Inscriptions^ torn, xvii, 1848, p. 180). Lajard, Recherches sur ie culte de Vent4Sy p. 119.
 * M. Ramsay recognizes a certain number of women in this group. His reasons,
 * Researches^ tom. i. pj). 394, 395.