Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/200

 1 82 A History of Art in Sardinia and Judaea. ments in Pteria, and class it among those that were erected before the campaign of Croesus, i,e, coeval with the princes who resided at Boghaz-Keui and Eyuk/ At any rate, there can be no two opinions with regard to this monumental sepulchre being as perfect a specimen and as picturesque as any to be met with in Asia Minor or Greece herself. Its position at the head of the ravine, with its grand background of rocks streaked with crimson red, set aglow by the sun, that seems always to be shining on the porch, impart to it an air of magnificence that it would not have in a different light. On the left hand is another tomb, almost destitute of ornament. It is entered by a plain rectangular doorway, or, rather, it may be approached by a ladder ; for, owing to the smooth surface of the perpendicular rock, nothing else will meet the case, as we had occasion to learn. Needless to say that in this secluded spot it was an object not to be procured. As at Kapoulou-Kaia, here also is a subterraneous passage which connected the terrace, 8 or 10 m. high, with the bottom of the ravine occupied by the torrent. Other stairways, open to the sky, conducted from the platform to the summit of the pinnacle, yielding no room for fortifications ; indeed, we found no traces of structures anywhere. The only possible explanation for their presence in this and other instances — from Alajah to Kutchuk-Yamili, for example — is that they led to natural caves, inhabited by the natives, seated side by side with the tombs of the dead ; the friable schistose stone could be easily pierced and the grotto enlarged for either purpose. In fact, there was here, as in many other parts of Asia Minor, a troglodyte group, that used these winding paths, now obliterated, for ascending to lofty caves, which have become inaccessible. They were the lanes of these peculiar hamlets. 1 Compare Gherdek-Kaiasi with Dikili-Tach, "raised stones," so called because of a tall column, formed by a number of superimposed drums, the sole fragment of a Byzantine building, perhaps a church, to judge from the style and inscription pre- served on the pillar. The antse, and stout columns tapering towards the top, one on each side of twin sturdy pillars composing the portico in front of the sepulchral chamber, seem to be of more ancient date, save the frontel, which belongs to an earlier Greek style. Whether the massiveness of these supports was due to the forethought or ignorance of the builder, there is no doubt that it admirably har- monizes with the rugged surface of the cliff out of which they are carved. This monument was published and described by Texier in Description de VAsie Mineure^ in folio, torn. ii. pp. 84, 85 ; Plates XCII. and XCIII.