Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/73

 Architecture. 57 of the Semitic haram. The twin pediments were a local feature, encountered also in its most elementary form in the rude stone enclosure of Moab, and in its most developed stage at Byblos, Paphos, and Jerusalem. Whether the sanctuary was due to Hittite, Assyrian, or Phoenician influence is a question shrouded in great obscurity. We can only say that the connexion between Phoenicia and the coast cities of Cilicia was intimate and lasted a long time. In the present day, Syrian merchants crowd the bazaars of Mersina, Adana, and Tarsus, and Arabic is as much the language of the country as Turkish. All that can be urged for Deunuk-tach, in the absence of an inscription, is that it was not a Grecian building ; this is its chief claim for being classed with the too rare architectural monuments of Syria and Asia Minor. In the same category should be placed a door, built of square stone blocks, here and there roughly cut, to the height of four metres. It was found on the road leading from Lamas, ancient Lamos, to Kannideli, which some identify with Neapolis of Isauria,^ near the ruins of Aseli- Keui.'^ Symbols, of which a care- ful drawing is difficult to find, are engraved on the lintel. These, so far as can be made out from the very indif- ferent sketch at ourdisposal(Fig. 274), recall Himathite hieroglyphs, albeit with slight differences in the form of caps, ploughshares, vases, etc., easily accounted for. To these may be added the peculiar sign in the legend of the Nymphi warrior, which has been taken for a caduceus and a pair ^ Langlois, loc, cit.^ Pt. II. chap. iv. ^ It is passing strange that Langlois, who first descried this monument, and who was quite aware of the importance of his discovery, should have given no map to guide future travellers to the ruins of Aseli-Keui and Kannideli, of which he only gives verbal descriptions. These localities do not figure in Kiepert's map. It is tantalizing to have to work on such poor materials, which a little care would have made satisfactory. Fig. 274. — Doorway near Aseli-Keui. p. 169. Langlois, Voyage en Ctlicie,