Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/167

 The Sanctuary. Iasili-Kaia. 149 To complete the translation of the main instances of his creed by- means of tangible forms, the Pterian artist had no other resource than filling in every available part of the pronaos and utilizing the walls of the adytum. And so far he was not unsuccessful. At the entrance of the main chamber, the eunuch priest erect upon the summit of a hill, grasps in one hand the crooked staff, emblem of his priestly office, and holds up with the other the oediculum, upon which is carved the image of his god. The conspicuous position he holds, coupled with his abnormal size, testifies to the importance and veneration attached to his person. In the adytum, this priest and his god are placed side by side ; they form a group which is not wanting in nobleness and expressive value. The relative proportion of the two figures was well thought out ; the gesture of the god, instinct with tenderness, is as that of a father pressing his son or daughter to his heart ; whilst the phallus in the centre of the oediculum behind the group is sufificient indica- tion of the naturalistic character of the local religion. In the colossal figure which follows are we to seek for a mere abstract image of the deity just referred to, or do not rather the fantastic complex members of which this strange type is composed, reveal the effort of the artist to lend a shape to the supreme deity, in whom no longer dwells sexual difference, but that indetermined mysterious force of which the god and goddess leading the twin processions are but emanations and reflexes ? In the absence of written documents to enlighten us on the subject, this must remain a mere hypothesis — an hypothesis, however, not devoid of a certain degree of probability ; in accord, too, with what we know of Syrian religions, and of their characteristic tendencies. From certain indications, a critical authority believes he discovers here ternary series, triads vaguely outlined ; the twin visible manifesta- tions of which always remain more or less in shadow ; i.e, fall in the background.^ These considerations lead us naturally to inquire as to the probable destination of the various members of this monument. The large hall is the pronaos, or public section ; the lateral chamber is the inner sanctuary, or adytum, where the priests and the images of the worshippers were alone admitted. The latter are represented by the twelve warriors, who file past the god and his chief priests. Externally the only means of communication
 * 1)E VoGu£, he, cit