Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/397

Rh doorways have a rich ornament round the architraves and lintels, of the same character as that on the temple gate at Cyaneæ The column standing at the side of the proscenium has a rich Corinthian capital.

The rock tombs at Myra are divided into two groups,—those by the theatre, and those on the side of the mountain leading to the entrance of the Dembra Gorge. The first group is very rich—tomb rises above tomb halfway up the mountain side. Some of the tombs have pediments and bas-reliefs, others again are of the simple Lycian form, with projecting roofs, panels, and mullions. (See Plate 16.) One or two stand entirely out from the rock. Inside the portico of a Lage tomb, called by Spratt "The Lover's Tomb," of the Lycian form, the following inscription is roughly scratched on the wall:—

The second group contains those tombs with sculptures so fully described by Sir Charles Fellows, in his interesting work on Lyeia, Among these tombs is a fine one with a pedimental façade of the Ionic order. The body of the tomb is entered by a square doorway, on either side of which is a square half-column with mullions, which have been surmounted by a lion's head. Beyond these were round columns; above the doorway nms a frieze of draped male and female figures, reclining and standing in various attitudes—apparently a funereal subject. The sculptures are of a good period. On the pediment is sculptured, in low relief, a spirited combat between a Lycian lion and a bull: the lion has seized his adversary by the neck, and the bull is butting at him with his horns.

The Turkish burial-ground near the small village in the plain is full of ancient fragments.

Passing above the second group of rock tombs, and having ascended a few steps cut in the rock, we came to a wall composed of Hellenic blocks, which .supports the narrow pathway; a little further on are more steps, and a small sarcophagus cut out of. the rock. On the rock on the left are some niches. The top of the mountain is reached by a steep and stony path on the north side. On the summit is a castle of an oblong form, and, for the most part,