Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/60

 44 A History of Art in Sardinia and Jud^a. § 2. — Architecture. We know almost nothing of the architecture of the Hlttltes, nor are we better acquainted with the forms of their tombs and temples ; our scanty knowledge being confined to the nature of the fortresses they raised to defend their cities and the decoration resorted to for the houses of the great. Owing to the difficulty of penetrating into Northern Syria, scarcely any excavations have been made. The few travellers that have crossed this region on horseback were fain to content themselves with cursorily noting as they went the remains of buildings seen above ground. The history of plastic art must await to be written until the day when the pickaxe shall have attacked, and shafts shall have been sunk in the tells which are found in places here as they are in Mesopotamia. Until then our only evidence relates to civil architecture. These tribes lived in constant conflict with their neighbours, who to the north and south threatened their liberties, or among them- selves ; the bone of contention being now a fat pasturage, now a conterminous bridge or pass. Such feuds between rival clans or sheikhs are even now laying waste Kurdistan, part of which was formally Hittlte ground. In an unsettled state of society like this, the main concern of the people is to erect sturdy walls, behind which they can find shelter ; nor, as we have seen, were the Hittites slow in availing themselves of every spot fortified by nature, which they further strengthened by artificial means. The remains of the walls of Kadesh, if they still exist, are hidden in the mounds washed by the lake Homs or in the tell Neby ; but Carchemlsh still preserves visible signs of its ancient wall and chief buildings.^ The area of the fortified town did not exceed three kilometres in circuit. It was oblong in shape, and on the right bank of the Euphrates, which covered its side to the east and its width to the south. From this point extended suburbs, where ^ Our information is borrowed from the Times (August ii, 1880) entitled: " Carchemish, from a Correspondent." It is much to be regretted that the intelligent observer did not think fit to add a plan and drawings to indicate the materials and the character of the structures. As we are sendmg to the printer, we at length receive a number of the Graphic (December 11, 1880) which contains, if not all we should wish, sketches made on the spot by Mr. Chas. Boscawen. The Addenda to this volume will contain the most interesting ; but, of course, as they were only used as illustrations by the paper, we cannot expect to find them strictly accurate.